Monday, August 30, 2010

Summer Wrap-Up

I am considering this Summer one of the best in my life so far.

We started the season with a visit from Allison in May. This, of course, meant we had to have a party!! YAY!!

Shortly thereafter, we heard of the birth of a dozen St. Bernard pups out in Michigan. This was followed by Mr. Wonderful dancing around the house chanting, "I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE!" There were several negotiations, but finally a decision was made and plans were set in place to get a puppy.

An impromptu 4th of July get-away to Florida led to us meeting my new friend, face to face (see previous post).

Then it was off to Michigan. Little Michael and I had a wonderful adventure and made an awesome memory. Bringing Brandy home to Mr. Wonderful was almost as exciting as giving birth to my last child... (in many ways, it was MORE exciting... sorry, Bobby)

Who could forget the 80th Surprise Birthday party for my mom?? (still putting away stuff from that party....)

I entertained classmates from high school - we had not seen eachother in 36 years!!

OFF TO BOSTON!!! Allison and I had the BEST TIME EVER!! We partied hardy and slept little!! When I got off the plane in NY, with my sunglasses and baseball cap and Mr. Wonderful greeted me with the biggest kiss and hug and said, "You look beautiful", I fell in love with him all over again.

KUDOS to Michelle, "Fred", and Allison as they journey through the withdrawal of cigarettes. I am so proud of you all.

We will officially wrap up the Summer with a BBQ at a friend's house this weekend.

All that is left of the Summer is to pick the rest of the tomatoes off the plants, and dry the herbs from my herb garden.... OH YEAH - AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE KEY WEST TRIP AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER!!!!!

As always, there are many tribulations in life... it is the wise person who chooses to focus on the joys and blessings... They say wisdom comes with age. I am looking forward to growing old....

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Hey Ma, wanna come?

Each year Outback Restaurant runs a contest, sponsored by Sam Adams. The restaurants compete against each other to see who can sell the most Sam Adams beer in a specified period of time. Happy to say, Allison has won AGAIN. The winner gets an all expense paid trip (for 2) to Boston. Allison told me that she has won the contest so many years in a row that they are thinking of renaming the contest to, "Let's send Allison to Boston again".

When she called to tell me she won, I was as proud as I was when she was 10 and her softball team won first place. Mothers revel in their children's victories. When she continued with her conversation and asked if I would be her guest I was THRILLED beyond belief!!

It is always wonderful when Allison comes home to visit.

I always plan an annual trip with a group of women to go visit Allison and we look forward to the planning and executing of that trip each year, too.

But THIS trip is different. This will just be Allison and me.... no other family, no other friends. We will have some quality time together - and the best thing of all.... it was HER idea....

Monday, August 09, 2010

Catholic School Education

Things I have learned in Catholic School:

God is everywhere and He loves everyone.

You should go to Church every Sunday and every Holy Day of Obligation.

There are 2 kinds of sins: Venial Sin and Mortal Sin

Sex is for the sole purpose of creating life. The church does not sanction birth control.

There are 7 Sacraments: Baptism, Penance, First Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Last Rites

GOD is made up of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

There are 10 Commandments and they should be the guideline for how you live your life.

There are Angels and Saints who will help us if we ask.

It is better to give than to receive.

Always bless yourself with Holy Water upon entering and exiting the Church.

No matter how thin you are, you can never look good in a pleated skirt –

I learned that when it seems like you are all alone in the world, God reaches out and holds your heart for you.

I think the most important lesson I learned in Catholic School is to smile and be nice to people. Having hooked up with old classmates through facebook, I have been told over and over that the one thing they remember is me smiling all the time. What a wonderful way to be remembered!!

I guess it WAS worth all that tuition!

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

You are HOW OLD??

I recently hosted a surprise 80th birthday party for my mom. We gave her a surprise 50th and a surprise 75th - I figured we didn't have to do it again until she was 100, but I was out-voted. My mom always thought is best to keep her age a secret (yeah, I know... I don't get it either...)

I have been struggling about how to write about this party. I can choose to recall all the ridiculous effort that went into pulling off the surprise. I can tell about the hard work and $$$ that goes into such an affair. I can even let you all know how we worked at coming up with the guest list.... But I think it is better to remember the sweeter moments...

I loved how the out-of-state guests (Allison and my sister) came a day early so we could start the party the day before the actual event.

I loved how we had a betting pool to see how long it would take my mother to say something stupid about our new puppy. Mr. Wonderful won, he guessed 10 seconds.

I loved how Allison told my mom how nice it was that we finally got a dog (St. Bernard) who can carry her ashes.

I loved how Bobby supplied the Ice Luge so we could all have ice cold Black Cherry Bacardi shots.

I loved how my cousins did not bat an eye when I asked them to travel from Jersey to Long Island on a Saturday in the Summer (God Bless you all for not mentioning the Hampton's Beach Traffic).

I loved how a "second generation cousin" actually WANTED to be there and she came bearing gifts - ASSORTED JELLO SHOTS!!

I loved how my 83 yr. old aunt (mom's sister) smacked me several times for making irreverent statements (WHO, ME? Irreverent??)

I loved how Mr. Wonderful volunteered to drive home some kids so they could continue to party until wee hours of the night.

I loved how "extended family" (read that: "Angela and Linda's friends") were happy to be a part of it all and helped in making the day a success.

I loved when I woke up the next morning, knowing that the house was still overflowing with love from the day before.

Happy Birthday, Mom. Thanks for giving me the excuse to have a party and make so many wonderful memories with my family.


Brother, Sister, Mother, ME!