my 80's crush...

at least this is what the computer says :)

Your 80s Hunk Is

Jason Bateman

Who's" Your 80s Hunk?

happy birthday rachel

my good buddy Rachel at Mommy learns to blog... turns 33 today...

we have a whole lot in common Rachel and I... crazy how many obscure things we have in common... 33 is not one of them... I'm 37

but... one of my favorite birthday memories was also my 16th... no... not that sweet sixteen kind of thing... I had this boyfriend... who will just say didn't get how to be a boyfriend... he basically stood me up and I was left home alone feeling like a looser... have no fear... my soon to be best friend Mike swooped in and took me with some others to see the rock horror picture show... the movie was canceled but we ended up having our own little party in the parking lot with rice and all that other stuff you bring with you to the "show"... I remember very little else from that night...just that Mike made me laugh... and that is what I love best.

in a VERY close second... my 28th b-day... one week after my wedding... I was on my honeymoon with super husband and he woke me up with a cake full of candles... I love cake... it's all I every want for my birthday... and this is exactly how he woke me up for the first of my birthdays we spent together...

i feel like i've finally made it in blogland...

my very first award...
thanks Wendy...

This award came with rules. But they are pretty simple...

It was originated by Crystal at Memoirs of a Mommy in honor of the organ donor who saved her young son, Noah's, life. Amazing woman...thanks for introducing me Wendi!

In order to accept this award, I have to link back to her (see above)... and share it with other blogs that you read and love...

a real anti-supermom

eat your veggies

loving our simple life

smart a$$ mom

mom learns to blog

good morning

I always knew the day would come... the one where the cats knock over the habitrail and chase the gerbils to their death... thankfully all that happened... for now is a the chasing and what looks like a surface wounds...

Sometime last night the cats busted in to B's room and knocked this over...

oh how I wanted to go get my camera and take the photo of it sitting on the ground...shattered... bark everywhere.. but super hubby would have blown a fuse if I did that... I'm sure you can understand...

A new boy in the club

Ben is pretty happy that there is finally another boy in the club even if he is 7 years younger. Seems like almost all of our friends have girls... And Lucas is extra special because he and Ben were almost exactly the same size at birth...

welcome Lucas...

Laura, Mark and Audrey welcomed Lucas on July 13, 2008 at 7:04 pm, weighing in at 10
pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 22 inches.

back to work

does this really need explaining... you can tell my kids still think I'm their 24/7 play thing even though vacation is over... because there are Lego's and brushes on my desk mixed in with my HUGE pile of crap to be done...

Re-entry is VERY hard...

orange car... really?

so it seems that many of you are wondering what the story is behind my orange car...
first things first...

I picked this color... and I LOVE my car.
second thing... it is my company car... and I got it in February...
what is it?... Saturn Vue...

so why did I pick orange? technically it is called sunburst orange...

there are really 2 reasons... one I'm sick of coming out in to the parking lot to a sea of tan, white and black and not being able to find my car... then there is the whole dreary NW winter where I figured a little color would do me good... and lastly... and frankly completely cheesy... I work for BIC... and our main color is orange...

not really but that is what I tell people when I'm looking for another reason...

This would also be a good place to insert one of my favorite gas station stories...

in sales I'm at the gas station a lot and in my new ride I get comments... one man... 300 + lb African American catholic with the personality of the world came up to me and asked what color I called my car because he was certain he wanted that to be the color of his casket...

only one?

it's my first day back from my totally kick ass 2 week vacation with my family... naturally I have a crap load of work...and the whole house thing to deal with...thankfully I'm working from home this week... hubby took a bump on the plane ride home so he won't be around until midnight...

this is why I chose this for my post today... because I spent all my free time (not that I really had it) catching up on my bloggie friends...

Nabbed from Jen @ Cheaper than Therapy.

It's harder than it looks when you're a woman of too-many-words.

Each answer can only be one word. Did I change a few of the questions? Yes, I do that.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your significant other? vacation
3. Your hair? big
4. Your mother? thoughtful
5. Your father? smart
6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? over
8. Your favorite drink? liquid
9. Your dream/goal? energy
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your friends? interesting
12. Your fear? boredom
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? vacation
14. Where were you last night? plane
15. What you’re not? skinny
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. One of your wish list items? computer
18. Where you grew up? Michigan
19. The last thing you did? worked
20. What are you wishing? completion
21. Your TV? entertainment
22. Your pets? annoying
23. Your computer? IBM
24. Your life? full
25. Your mood? confused
26. Missing someone? parents
27. Your car? orange
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? Target
30. Your summer? fun
31. Loves? family
32. Your favorite word? indefatigable
33. Last time you laughed? morning
34. Last time you cried? yesterday

jumping...

I lost $20... I was so sure that C was going to jump off the dock that I told B that if he didn't I would give him $20... I lost...

everyone did it but C, Nate and Nonno who wasn't wearing his suit...

I took the photos and was too fast for Nonno to capture the moment.. I was missed... that's me floating with the pink shoes to show you I actually got in the water... not an easy feet for me... not a big fan of water where I can't see the bottom...

mini golf

there are so many traditions on summer vacation... and mini golf is no exception... we saved it for the VERY end this year to avoid B and the constant nagging of... can we go again! once is enough for me... it is fun... but it is also HOT... muggy and their are always bugs... this year the bug of choice was beettle... good times...

We even got Nonni to come along... we always got to the same place... fantasy land in Seekonk, MA.

Nancy and I are VERY competitive... this is no exception... I started out with a hole in one but by teh back 9 I was feeling the heat and started to crack under the pressure... I beat her by 1 - naturally super husband beat us both... me only by 2 this year which is a far cry from the double digits he usually has on me.

C loved it too... and just like B he has asked to go every hour since we went :)

2nd Beach

The heat wave is here and they say only to get worse... I was not certain the beach was the right idea... i was convinced it would be hot as hell with no shade...

the sea breeze was perfect and the surf just what the boys wanted...

wordless wednesday

Can you tell he's too young to escape my camera :)

People have been asking about my camera...
Cannon PowerShot S5 IS... I love it even if it is a bit big.

Boston

One of Nancy's favorite places to visit is the Boston Aquarium... last time I didn't even go with them... but this year I didn't want to miss out...

C is completely in LOVE with turtles... and I was convinced that after we got all the way to the top of the tank and he watched the turtles a bit longer he was going to want to leave... we all know what that means for me... chasing him around outside waiting for everyone else to finish... to my amazement he didn't burn out nearly as fast as I thought and I think we actually saw about 90% of the exhibits...

Next stop... Faneuil Hall for lunch... MMMac & cheese and then a detour to see Fenway... home of the Boston Red Sox for those of you not into baseball... or living under a rock... naturally C fell asleep so our only photo was of the building (garbage area) sans kids...

summer crush

Amy and I managed to get out kids together for some play time in the park and a trip for ice cream... in my mind I am secretly hoping that B and Amy's oldest (blue shirt) will have some sort of secret summer crush on each other as they grow older...

This year we managed to get almost immediately down to play time with the two of them... as if they see each other once a month... made my heart swell... silly I know... I've decided this winter I'm giong to encourage them to become email pals... would that be "keyboard pals"?

old friends

One of the great parts about my parents living in Bristol is that I also have a very dear friend here that attended RWU with me... back then it was Roger Williams College...in fact I barely recognize the place now and every time I come back there is some giant new project... building...fountain...water tower...parking garage... A long way from the small college we remember...

Amy and I manage to gather at least once while I'm here we try to do it several times, but summer is a busy time for her and this year it turned out that we didn't get but one night and the potential for a kids night later in the week.

What I love best is that once we get thru the formalities ... family...parent...kids...work...summer plans...and trips down memory lane...we still manage to have great conversations about things that matter to us... whether it is school politics... dealing with the emotions of being a mom... the emotions of our kids... or the struggles or our communities... I always say goodbye to here grateful that she is still my friend...

I am completely aware that although we may have been the most unlikely match in college to become fast friends... it turns out we have a whole lot in common at the core... and no matter where life takes me she is the kind of friend who I will gather with and we will pick up right where we left off...

Newport...Kites...and water

Nancy and Nate arrived on Saturday night... B & C were VERY excited... I'm excited because now B has someone to play with and C might for just one minute stop hanging on me EVERY second...

First on the to do list... crap hunting...
cabbies as C calls them...
what do they eat C?
macaronni...hotdogs...bars...

After filling the bucket we decide that a trip to Brenton point in Newport to see some kites is in order... pack up the fluffernutters and hit the road...

totally not thinking...it is Sunday in the summer...everyone in New England has decided that the "stay cation" is the only way to go...it is CROWDED!...but the kites are awesome...lobsters...lady bugs...fish...scuba divers... the kids are loving it....

Naturally we head to the rocks... with the wind the waves are awesome... poor Nancy almost has a heart attack thinking about one of the boys falling off the edge... and then she herself slips and falls...sorry no pictures of that...crazy thing is I took over 300 photos...

New England style

My grandmother moved out of her house about a year ago... she tried the assisted living thing but ended up in a nursing home in the Alzheimer wing - she has dementia with Lewy Bodies...

So she lived in her house for at least 30 years... this was also a summer house when my mother was growing up that she winterized when I was a baby...

so what does all this have to do with New England style you ask? Her house was FULL of stuff... some good... some bad... lots of trash...lots of treasure... and my mother is the one dealing with all the "stuff"... it's everywhere... she is having a hard time letting go...that is when I find this...

I can't decide what I like more... the painting of the VERY old guy (painted by my great grandfather) behind the drivers seat... the dusty old Nantucket basket that my great grandmother used to go to the market... or the fantastic old Cunard cruise ship menus I found when I stumbled across this in the garage...

I am slowly becoming scared to death of what I will face when it is my turn to go thru my parents things... heirlooms are sounding more and more like a burden...

100 posts

somehow I made it to 100! wow... and what better thing to blog about that the fact that my kids are driving me crazy

I'm still on vacation... for another week... I'm sure you super moms out there are going to think this is lame of me... but I'm exhausted... being around my kids 24/7... holy crap... I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation...I see a business trip in my near future.

I've always said this... moms who stay at home rock... I have no idea how you do it...

wordless wednesday

mystic seaport

I have a very fantasy memory of this place... In my mind I wanted to go to camp there in the worst way, my mom doesn't think that is true... which means I either never told her (the likely answer) or it is a dream ;)

Despite the heat we had a great time... took in a play where both B and Super Husband took part... I took over 200 photos today

a day @ Nonni's

step one...
arts and crafts

step two...
get critters for ecosystem

step three...
jump off dock
step four...
slip and slide...