Snow much fun...

We went snowmobiling for the day yesterday. It was really tiring but fun. Some of the trails were in excellent condition and some were horrendous! We went through muddy, rocky, icy parts that were hairy. When I got nervous, I'd sing "Love Song" by Sara Boreallis (sp?). We went over a railroad bridge (scared the you know what out of me) but I managed to zoom across. We had to go down the sides of a few roads and up a snowbank, down the street, which was kind of scary too.

I got a little nervous during one area and gunned it so I didn't get stuck in the icy mess and I almost hit a tree! I stopped just in time, a little off the trail. My ds was so cute. He got off his sled and ran over to see if I was ok. He pulled my skis out of the snow and moved the machine for me. We had the best day together. I only wish it could be like that all the time.

Here are some photos. We didn't take a huge amount. I am SO sore today. My back, shoulders, arms and thigh muscles just ache. Can't wait to go out and help dh shovel the stairs and walks. It's SNOWING again. So surprising.




























This was one of our stops right in the middle of an apple orchard. You can see Mt. Washington way off in the distance to the left of the mountain range.











This is a place called Devil's Den. It is breathtaking at the top. You can't see from the photo but it drops down where the snow ends and it's a LONG way down. You can see for miles.










ds caught dh eating in this one! LOL As you can see from my do, this is not a glamorous sport! It was really bright up there too so we are squinting in the photo.











And speaking of eating, you see the funniest things on the trail. Our friends got hot dogs from this place. We brought sandwiches and snacks.

Friday's Feast One Hundred Seventy Seven

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?

I love to laugh and do it as much as possible. I probably laugh at least 5 times a day.

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?

I have several pairs. My current favorite are the big movie star ones that are the tortoise look.

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?

Oooh, I'd definitely do the Orient Express. It looks like such a beautiful trip on the Travel Channel. It goes through 5 National Parks, I believe.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.

We are spread out pretty wide but we still have that small town atmosphere/mentality. We have several cute little mom & pop shops. We also have a ski area.

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?

I don't think I would like to change the color but if I have to choose, maybe pinky/orange? It's so pretty at sunset these days. Took this on my way home the other night.

weeeeeeeeeeeeee.....

My dh's machine was squeaking away last night. I was getting irritated but didn't feel like getting into a cold bed in the spare room. I'm wiped out again.

I made a few cards last night. My friend lent me a cute SU set, Painted Garden. I forgot the camera so I can't post. They were just ok.

I've decided I need to sort my SU paper by color, not by color family. I used to keep it by family (In Color, Soft Subtles, Brights, etc.). I can't do this any longer. I can't see what I have or make up my mind what I need. Can't wait to place my order next week. It's been way too long since I've gotten anything new (well, ok, so it was Christmas, but still....).

Stolen Love Hate Meme

Got this at Stacy's Blog and I thought I'd play along.


I love to eat: Can’t it just end there? I really love filet mignon, shrimp, ribs, nachos, you name it. And I have a major sweet tooth.
I hate to eat: fish & lima beans. I do love shellfish but not finfish.
I love to go: to the beach.
I hate to go: to that doctor for my yearly checkup I can’t beat your answer, Stacy!
I love it when: I get a snow day!
I hate it when: I call the emergency number and the man says the univ. is open with no weather-related cancellations, and I’ve already psyched myself up for a snow day.
I love to see: poor people win the lottery.
I hate to see: anyone being beaten up. It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
I love to hear: my favorite songs on the way to work.
I hate to hear: annoying radio and television commercials. Sometimes I can’t get those stupid songs out of my head for days!
Please let me know if you are going to play along!

Nothing new....

I was going to get some cards done last night for my group swaps but when my son came to the door for band practice I heard some little scratches on the door. It was cute little Reese and my son's sweet gf.

A was making an adorable tissue box cover. She used brown/pink/green flowered paper and tons of green & pink buttons. SO cute! So while she did that, I tried to figure out my SU order without breaking the bank.

I made a boiled dinner and Reese was looking hungry. I ended up giving her bits of ham and some potatoes. I still cannot believe my attitude about this little dog. I'm wondering what made me change my mind about not liking dogs in my house? I think it's because she's not a jump-on-you kind of dog and she's so little and cute. I still don't think I'll ever have a pet. I just like when she visits. As for cats, I'll never like them.

Stampin', stampin' stampin'

I had a friend over to stamp today. We didn't get as much done as we would like to have but at least we caught up on chit chat. I feel like I stamped all day!!

Here are a couple. A very nice friend (wink, wink, Kimi) lent me this beautiful Club Scrap stamp and this is what we came up with for a design.














This was my design:









Got this idea from a CTMH catty:









Can I tell you...I'm a little sick of Valentines and it's not even Feb.!!

p.s. Yeah, Patriots!!!!!!! They made history by being the first team ever to win 18-0.

Photos from my class...

Here are the two projects we did in my CTMH class the other night. I just love this cute little mailbox!! Kristen is so talented, isn't she?!!

Friday's Feast One Hundred Seventy six

Appetizer
What is your favorite beverage? Water is my non-alcoholic beverage of choice. And I love margaritas!!

Soup
Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.

At work I have my little smily highlighter (posted last week), a steno pad for my daily notes/reminders, a big pad of promotional post-its.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are? I'd say about a 9.5. I have a hard time telling a lie. You can see it in my face if I'm telling one.

Main Course
If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why? Hmmmmmmm...I'm not having any thoughts here other than trying to change Intercourse, PA. Not a nice name, or I certainly wouldn't want to live there and have to state my address! How about Relations, PA?!! That would sound a little nicer.

Dessert
What stresses you out? What calms you down? I get stressed out with my 17 yo.'s shenanigans or when one of my boys are driving in the snow. I usually calm down by playing in my craft room. It takes my mind off it.

For my blog friend, Linda....

I am not really confident posting my layouts so I'm not sure if I can post pages. I did post this on SBA to show the painted title. The lower photo (cropped out) had me in a bathing suit and I could not post that!! The photo was bad enough from the waist up. I'll see if I can find pages without me on them.

Class last night...

I wish I had time to take photos of the two adorable projects we made last night in my CTMH class.

We used some adorable cream & black printed paper and red and black cardstock. We made a beautiful card and an adorable little mailbox. I'll have to see if I can post a photo of the mailbox tomorrow - so cute! I can't decide who to give it to - my mom or my ds and his gf. I'll fill it with some sweets.

I got home around 10 and was so tired. I took a few minutes to unwind and hit the hay. My dh coughed all night and morning long. I am so tired!!!!!!!! I swear I WILL go in the spare bedroom tonight. It's just so hard to get up when you're all nice and warm in bed.

Misc. ramblings....

Ugh...my dh was up coughing all night long. I'm wiped out. I don't know how I'm going to make it through to 10. I have a card class tonight and we're usually done around 10:00. My ds has a horrible cold too and it's finals week. I better not get it. I told the two of them to keep their cooties to themselves.

I had another creative night. It took a little longer but I did another 2 pg. layout in my Hawaii album. I only have another two page and a single or two left. Funny, I procrastinated in starting the album but now I'm trying to extend it. I am having so much fun reliving those great memories. I thought I'd do a page titled, "Scenes from Kauai" or something like that and just put some random photos that I didn't use on my layouts.

What have you been up to?

Ah....music...

Just can't get enough. What I'm wondering is, does anyone buy cds anymore? With downloads for Ipods/MP3's, do you still buy music?

I've been keeping a list of my "needs" for if and when I can afford to buy some new music. I don't download but my dh does. I think I still prefer the hardcopy cd!

This is what I want: Jack Johnson/Sleeping through Static, Brandi Carlile(yes spelled correctly)/Stories, Sara Borelis (don't know the name), Amy Winehouse, Paolo Nutini.

I could listen to Jack forever and not be sick of his soothing voice.

Anyway, I also wanted to post about my scrapping mojo. I have no idea how I got it but this weekend I think I scrapped 6 pages. I also made two cards.

I wasn't stressing about the layout design or anything. I calmly put them together in record time and I was happy with the outcome. I completed a Dust it Off challenge from SBA and used paint. I had a title in the wrong shade of blue/green so I painted some of it white and blue and it matched perfectly. Well, I was going to post and then I realized it's on my home computer. Oh well...I'm just happy that this sudden creativity has come to me. Not sure how long it will last.

Thank you, Mr. Ariens...

I don't know what we'd do without Mr. A. Here are a few pix from today.
Mr. A:













Look, Ma, no stairs!!!














Before Mr. A.:














After:

What does Your Name Mean...

What Michelle Means

Got this from Stacy's blog and also saw it on Dawn's....I just have to say, the last two paragraphs are pretty true with the exception of being flaky and irresponsible. The rest is not me!!!!!! You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

No blues for me.....

Well, I should rephrase that - no Blues music for me. I felt rotten. I must have picked up a stomach bug. I never do that! I felt weak, shaky and didn't want to eat. That's when you know it's a problem because I always want to eat! I was so disappointed. I really wanted to go.

Anyway, I finished my first book of the year, Promise Me, by Harlan Corban. I will definitely try another of his. I really enjoyed it. I started a Nicholas Sparks today, True Believer. My mom had it in her room so I decided to give it a shot.

We are going to get another nasty snow storm which will start around 4 a.m. on Monday. We are supposed to get about 11-13 inches in my area. I yi yi!!! (or however you spell that).

p.s. Lost another pound - now down 8 lbs.!!!

Teenage driving....

Scares me half to death! Just when I thought I was getting "OK" with my 17 yo driving, he came in last night and said he and his buddies just hit a telephone pole. There was black ice and they didn't realize it. His friend was driving. They were heading straight for it but at the last minute, they went the other way and his mirror hit on the passenger side and snapped back and shattered the window.

They had glass all over them but they were fine. This morning my son woke up to glass jabbing his leg. Apparently the two of them who slept here must have kept their sweatshirts on and the glass was in the pockets. Need to vacuum it all up down here. I don't want to step on it!

I am so thankful that they are fine. I know where it happened and they weren't going fast, just turning a corner. I hope it's a wake up call when it's late at night and the roads are wet. I'll be a nervous wreck once again tonight.

I am going out to see a Blues band though. My hubby is staying home to watch his precious Patriots which is fine. I don't blame him at all. It is the playoffs!!

Friday's Feast One Hundred Seventy Five

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called? My middle name is my mom's name, Lorraine. It's not my favorite but it's only a middle. I wouldn't mind changing my name but I like it the way it is too. I would change it to something like Julia or Julie. I've always loved those names. I also love the name Dana but it just doesn't go with my last name. I'd change my last for sure! I'd like something easy but not Smith....maybe Jones or something I do not have to spell!

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

I would use that microfiber with a little bit of stretch, nice and soft too. I would always go with blacks and grays with colors mixed in like aqua, lavender, kiwi green.

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why? I hate washing floors. I always feel like the bathrooms need to be done twice because of the hairspray dust/sticky stuff. And I hate having to hurry up and dry the hardwood floors.

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life? I'm afraid of heights but I don't know why. I know my brother fell out of the apple tree when we were younger! LOL He was fine but it was scary.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment. I'm at my desk at work and I see my computer my Palm Pilot and my little furry highlighter.

More high school....

Ok, did I make it too long? Feel free to answer a couple if you want. I didn't mean to scare people away! LOL

This will definitely scare you. Here are two photos. I guess we clean up ok, huh?!! The first looks like we are poor little hobos. We were on the way to Nantucket on the ferry. I just love the legs! LOL The second is my sr. prom. My mom made the dress. Too funny, huh?!!

High School Days - Then vs. Now....

I hope you'll play along. I've been thinking about how funny it would be to post high school photos and I thought of a few questions to go along with the photo. I'll share a couple more photos later.

1. What was your favorite food and is it still the same? I used to love sweets then. My mom's baked goods were the best! I'm still the same ol' sweet tooth and I love to bake.

2. What was your hair color and is it the same (via bottle or natural)? My hair was blonde and is currently blonde with the help of highlights.

3. Was your personality any different back then than it is now? I was pretty shy then. I won't speak up in a big meeting still, but I will start a conversation with a stranger in the elevator. And I will speak up for myself to a person or two.

4. Were you a follower or leader? I was a follower and definitely caved into peer pressure. I acted tough around the tough kids. I smoked because my friends did, etc. I'll leave it at that.

Today, I am a little of both. I tend to start little groups (craft related) and try to get people going but I am mostly a follower (no caving in to peer pressure though!).

5. What kind of music did you listen to back then? Same now? I was definitely a Classic Rock kind of girl. I still love some Classic Rock like Eagles, Steve Miller, Allman Bros., but it's not what I have tuned in on the radio. I'm not sure what genre you call the music I listen to - maybe Adult Contemporary or Alternative? It's definitely not top 40 or disco/rap.

6. Did you have a lot of friends or just a few good ones? I had a lot of different friends. I hung out with the hippies, the jocks and brainiacs. I guess I'm the same now. I do have a bunch of friends but not any really close ones. My bff lives in MI.

7. What was your clothing like? Were you a trendsetter or conservative? And what about now? I wore bell bottomed hip hugger jeans, pheasant tops, tube tops and short shorts, etc. My mom always made sure I had the latest clothes. I guess I'm pretty much the same now but I try to buy a combination of trendy and classic. I definitely do NOT wear tube tops and short shorts! LOL

8. Did you have hobbies/activities then? And now - same or different? Back then I was not a crafty person. I never played any sports either. I was a dancer (ballet, tap & jazz) and that took up my time.

9. What was your favorite color? Still the same? Mine was red back then. My room was red, black and white. I love turquoise (I guess that's what you call it - light teal/aqua).

10. What did you want to be when you grew up? In my yearbook I said I wanted to marry my bf and be a secretary. LOL I did marry my bf, became a secretary for a while and moved up the ranks a bit.



Ok, have fun and let me know if you're playing along! Here's my photo. I couldn't find a print so I had to take a photo from my scrapbook. The quality isn't great.

7 Weird Things About Me...

I was tagged by Jodi to tell 7 weird things about me. So here goes…

1. I like to use a different shampoo every day. I have about 6 in my shower.
2. I am very anal about how things are put away, and it drives everyone nuts.(sorry, had to copy Jodi here...it's so true - ex., when I put the dishes away, the Fiestaware has to be in color order - never two colors on top of each other.
3. I am obsessed with anything stamp or scrap related. I know what the new products are before my lss does!!
4. I drive fast but get on my son's case about going 2 miles over the speed limit.
5. I hate any type of fish except shellfish (clams, lobster, scallops, shrimp).
6. I won't go to a party if I feel too fat (or if I can't hide it in clothes).
7. I love the beach but rarely swim.

I’m going to tag:

Maia
Linda (snoopmurph)
Teresa
Kimi
Betsy

Pond view....

Ok, I ramble on and on about the beautiful view on my way to work. I finally brought my camera in case the sun was pretty. I wasn't disappointed. The only problem is that you can see the house and car and a bobbly thing on the telephone wire. I did this while driving (slow, of course). I cropped the house out. Thought you might like to see what I'm always babbling about!!

Heads up - I've been talking about doing a baby photo post and a high school photo post. I've come up with a few questions to ask about high school but I need to dig out my senior picture. Maybe I can post tomorrow. So dig out your senior picture!

Blah, blah, blah....

Just ramblings. I took a personal day today. First I had a final Sp.Ed. meeting at my ds' school. That went very well! I was so happy to hear the positive for a change. It was a huge relief.

Came home to eat and oldest called me AGAIN to get his insurance info. I'm going to strangle him if I have to look it up one more time. I faxed to his dr. last night but the number were too small. Grrrrr.......some day he will do all of these things himself. I shouldn't complain, the kid works as many hours as they'll give him. When he's not working, he's at school.

Anyway, I have a dentist appt. later for a filling. Before that my youngest will probably call to have me pick him up at school and/or drive him to work.

So much for the "PERSONAL" day. It wasn't mine.

I just have to share that I agonzied over a card last night. My boss asked me to make one for someone who is returning to work. I couldn't decide what colors to use, what design, etc. - all because she asked me to make it. If I was sitting there playing, it would have been easy. I hate the pressure I put on myself but can't do a thing about it.

I'll have to finish it after the dentist if there's time before dinner.

Happy Monday!

What a gorgeous sunrise today! I was driving past the pond near me and the sky was so pretty on the other side. Of course, when I got there, it was not above me. Isn't that weird how it looks like you'll drive right under it (like the moon?)? Anyway, I really should take my camera with me.

It feels balmy out. I think it was about 38 degrees on my way in. It will get up to the 50's today and 60's tomorrow???!!!! This is winter. How do you go from 4 degrees to 60 in a week? I'm not complaining but I just know we'll get used to the higher temps and then we'll have a cold front from Canada! Grrrrr...

So what do you think of my new photo? I thought it was funny. Get a load of the radiator in the background and that ugly fake poodle!!! LOL

Trying to turn a new leaf....

I've lost 5 lbs. so far, in about a week. This always happens and then it slows down but that's okay.

Today I started doing yoga/pilates On Demand. It was an easy class but I wanted to start that way. It was meant for those 50+ and I'm not there yet!! Give me a couple of years. ;-)

After that I cleaned my bathroom, dusted and vacuumed the upstairs. I got all cleaned up and then decided to shovel the patio. My dh is obsessed with getting rid of snow. I think it's because he doesn't want it to melt tomorrow and flood the basement. He asked my youngest to do it but, of course, he hasn't been home. He slept over one friend's on Fri. night and another last night. I decided to save myself the aggravation and do it myself. It was good exercise so I didn't mind. My dh will be p*ssed but too bad. I'm capable.

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can bring myself to do the yoga or pilates a couple of times a week at home instead of paying the $120 for the class. I just can't afford it right now and I hated the time (6 p.m. on Thurs. night). First off, I don't get home until 5:25 and second, it is the only night my hairdresser can take me. So every 4 weeks I was running out of pilates and up 30 min. for my hair. No more.

I thought I could do the treadmill on Mon. Wed. & Fri. or Sat. My oldest ds' band practices in my room on Tues. & Thurs. So I can do the pilates or yoga on those nights and on Sunday. Sounds like a plan to me!

Friday's Feast One Hundred Seventy Four

Appetizer
When was the last time you received a surprise in the mail, and what was it?

I got several sheets of Stampin Up cardstock in the new colors from my SU rep. It was so nice of her to share!!!

Soup
If you could have a summer and/or winter home, where would you want it to be? Well, we are in the process of trying to build in Maine. MY preference would be at the ocean but a beautiful pristine lake will do!!












Salad
Pick one: pineapple, orange, banana, apple, cherry.
Pineapple

Main Course
Describe the nicest piece of clothing that you own.
All I can come up with right now is my sherpa coat. It's really cold here and it helped keep me warm walking across the parking lots to work.

Dessert
If you could forget one whole day from your life, which day would you choose to wipe from your memory?

There are several but I guess I would say the one day last yr. when my ds' teeth were punched into the roof of his mouth. After waiting in the ER for an hour, we had to sit and wait for the oral surgeon to squeeze him in for an hour and a half surgery. I felt so bad for him. He just sat spitting blood into a bag for hours. Sorry, probably TMI, but it's a mother's worst feeling - helplessness.

Recipe for my Personality.....

The Recipe For michelle

3 parts Happiness 2 parts Naughtiness 1 part Panache Splash of Power Finish off with an olive

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Ok, I really didn't have anything to do with this. I just put my name in!! LOL

No skirts for me this week....

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr! It was 4 degrees when I left the house today. It's supposed to get up to a whopping 15. I know I've been complaining but I think I'd rather have snow at this point! I hope this doesn't last long.

On a different subject, I seriously need a new photo (I'm repeating again) but I cannot take a photo of myself. I've tried. I just want a portion of my face. Maybe I'll get dh or ds to take one later. I don't like looking at my face any more than I like hearing my voice on voice mail!! I mean, do I really sound like or look like that?!!

I need to find something more interesting to blog about....

Happy New Year....

Happy New Year to my fellow bloggers! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays.

Our New Years Eve was fun. We went to a neighbors house and had Chinese food, martinis, margaritas, champagne and played games. There was no karaoke this year which wasn't a bad thing. I cannot sing but I forget that fact after a couple of drinks.

Anyway, had a very low key day yesterday. Today the diet begins.. I put on way too many pounds over the holidays. South Beach, here I come!

I really need a new profile photo. Have to think about that one.

It's doing it again....

I seriously didn't mean for it to LET IT SNOW this many times. I'm sick to death of it. We are supposed to get another 4-6 inches today. I'm never using that saying on my Christmas cards again!

I'm also getting tired of the view. I have a couple of windows I can shoot from that don't have screens. I try not to get the neighbors' houses in the pictures so they always look the same.

It's coming down really fast. It went from this:









to this in 20 min.:








Happy New Year!

Cute little doggie....

My son came to borrow my car for his move tomorrow and brought his little dog, Reese. She's so adorable. I bought this sweater for her for Christmas.

It's kind of weird. I am so anti-pets. I sit on the floor and pet this one and talk to her. We have this little connection, I guess. My son cannot believe it!

There will definitely be some Reese layouts in my future!

IPod Ear buds

A few of my blogger friends asked to see these so I thought I'd post. I actually haven't had a chance to test them out other than putting them in my ears without pain. My Ipod died because I had it on the docking station which was unplugged for the Christmas lights.

Anyway, here is the box and what is inside. I used the smallest ones and they feel good - not at all like those huge buttons that came with it. Thank you, Santa!!

Where the problem began....

Here are a few snow on the roof photos which caused my dh's problem. He's planning on taking my son out through the bedroom window this afternoon to get rid of the rest. We are supposed to get more tonight. Right now it's freezing rain. Just lovely weather!!

A few shots of the gorgeous sb gift...

Here are the front and back covers and a few pages of the scrapbook that my son's gf made me. She was such a doll to put it all together. I am pretty sure it's one of the kits from The Button Farm (side bar) but I forgot to ask her.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

We had a nice day. First my oldest came with his gf and little dog. We all opened presents at the same time which was nice. They headed to ME and we headed to my aunt's house.

I had several cousins in town - one from NYC and one from Washington, DC, and lots from the area. My aunt & uncle came up from FL too. It was so nice to see everyone.

I ate too much and I'm exhausted but it was a really nice day. DH is feeling better but still a little off. He will have to follow up with his cardiologist on Wed.

I got some nice gifts which I did not expect. I got several Giga punches to nest with others that I have, a Tonic guillotine cutter and paper piercer, some Stickles, glue dots, daubers, a scrapbook and several paper packages from CTMH, a SU gift cert., a Take Ten magazine, even a small scrapbook that's all done. My son's gf made one from a Button Farm kit. So cute! I'll have to try and post some photos later.

I also got some nice non-sbr gifts - new ear buds for my Ipod that actually FIT; Bath & Body Works stuff, camera case, jacket, LL Bean fleeces, scarf & glove set, sweater, I can't remember what else, but it was a whole lot more than I expected since we cut way back this year. Some of the above was from my mom & my ds.

I hope Santa was good to all of you!!

No party for us...

DH was feeling miserable after shoveling/raking snow off our porch roof yesterday. Came in to rest and felt worse. He waited for it to pass but it didn't. He said he'd never felt like that before. He was dizzy, nauseous, and had a lot of pressure on his chest & his arms were tingly. I called 911 and they took him to the hospital. The initial tests came back ok but they kept him overnight and they'll do more today before releasing him (as long as the tests are fine).

The head nurse said he'd be lucky to get out at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve. So....even if he gets home earlier, we won't go next door. He doesn't want to relive the incident and answer a million questions. I still wonder if anyone saw the ambulance, police car and fire truck.

And I still want to know why the fire truck has to go to a call like that. I will ask my cousin, the cop.

Christmas Eve...

Well, I'm having a hard time again coming up with a memory that I can post. So I'll tell you what we have done for the last 8-10 yrs. on Christmas Eve.

Our neighbors have an open house from 4-9:00. We used to take the boys to church, let them open their one gift and then head next door. We haven't been to church in quite a while (sorry) so we head next door around 4 or so.

The boys were always allowed to pick one gift (non-Santa) on Christmas Eve, AFTER they behaved in church. My youngest (17) still likes to do this even though he's the only one. I have no idea what he'll pick this year since there's not a lot under the tree! Maybe he'll wait until the morning. My oldest is having a big party at their apt. so they won't be around.

Anyway, a lot of the neighbors gather to chitchat, have some wine or beer and a ton of appetizers (can't spell hors d'). We have a lot of laughs and it's hard to head out the door at 9. Sometimes it's at 9:30-10:00 for those who don't have wrapping and all that to do. Some have left a little tipsy, only to go home to pull gifts down from the attic in that condition! LOL

I make this appetizer every year. I start with fused oil w/garlic, oregano, and several spices. This is brushed on small baguette slices and then topped with thinly sliced mozzarella and proscuitto. Then it's broiled until the ham is a little crispy. This is a favorite of a lot of the neighbors but the real reason I keep making it is one of the boy's birthdays is on Christmas Eve. I always feel bad for him. His mom always brings a cake over and everyone sings but I still feel bad with it being so close to Christmas. His eyes light up when he sees my app! It's so cute.

What I hate about the app is that I have to buy the baguette at the last possible moment so I have to go to the crowded store either today or tomorrow morning. I am going to one that's not near the mall. I heard the traffic was on the highway waiting to get off the ramp yesterday. Nope, not me.

I wonder if my 17 yo. will come over and visit everyone. They love my boys. They are much older than the other neighborhood kids and they've babysat or done landscaping so they love to see them. They haven't seen my oldest in a couple of yrs.

I will really miss my neighbors when we move out. We have some great traditions like the block party, the Christmas Eve open house, the Super Bowl parties, New Years Eve bash, summer deck party, etc. We are lucky to have such fun neighbors!

What do you do on Christmas Eve?

Guess what?

Got another Christmas cd!!! I'm so excited. One of they guys at work gave me an Elvis Christmas to add to my collection!! Yay!

Believe it or not....

Ok, first off, I have to admit that I lied. I do not have 50 Christmas cds. I have close to 40. I didn't mean to exaggerate.

I found out about the real Santa from my aunt when I was about 10? Not really sure about the age but I remember the conversation in detail. I can picture the apartment we lived in and my mom's bedroom.

My aunt is 9 months older than I am. Yes, my Nana had my aunt and my mom found out she was pregnant with her first at 20 yrs. old, 2 yrs. after she was married. My Nana had 11 pregnancies, 8 children, 7 daughters and one son who is no longer with us due to a motorcycle accident at 21 yrs.

Anyway, I'm rambling. My aunt, Rose, told me that Santa was my mom and how did I think that one guy could possibly get around the whole world in one night?! I was incredibly disappointed but I was glad to know. I told my mom and Rose got in trouble! We were very close growing up. She was always at my house or I was at hers. It was nice since I didn't have sisters, just two brothers. I felt like I did with my mom's younger sisters. Three of them shared a bedroom and that's where I was many weekends for sleepovers.

How did you find out?

Christmas music...

Ok, it's not a memory but I just wanted to talk about Christmas music. I have a collection of Christmas cds. It ranges from traditional Bing Crosby, Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson all the way to Moody Blues, Jon Bon Jovi, Run DMC, Springsteen, Sting, Sheryl Crow, even some Alternative/Punk Christmas songs. Oh yeah, and Transiberian Orchestra.

I think I have close to 50 cds. This is the first year I'm not adding to it. I usually see one or two I just have to have. My dh tells me I have too many but I just love a variety. He likes traditional. I prefer the newer versions.

Some of my favorites are: Sheryl Crow & Jon Bon Jovi's versions of Blue Christmas (Nancy Wilson of Heart also does an excellent version of this); Sarah McLachlan and Bare Naked Ladies, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; (forget the name - maybe Ronnie Spector?) Rockin Around the Christmas Tree; Sarah McLachlan's version of Joni Mitchell's Wish I had a River to skate away on song. Of course, I love Transiberian Orchestra too.

Can you tell I love music? I know I'm missing some great ones but there are just too many to name.

I keep 6 in my car at a time and put it on shuffle. After two or three days, I take the 6 in and bring 6 more out. It's time for a change tonight.

I will try to come up with a memory for tomorrow. My brain is currently fried.

A Philly Christmas....

One year while we were living in PA, my BIL & SIL came to visit just before Christmas. It was so nice to have family with us at that time.

We took them into Philly to tour the Liberty Bell and all of the sights. We took a carriage ride and it was so much fun. The kids got a big kick out of it. The photo is kind of blurry - sorry! It's the only one I have. (I'm on the right)











The other place we went is to Peddler's Village. This was a cute shopping village in the country (15 min. from us). There is an old carousel that is beautiful. It's indoors and they had it decorated for Christmas. I do have pictures of that but they're in my old trunk somewhere or on a layout. I just searched Peddler's Village and found this photo of the carousel.

Anyway, it was a nice time and it was really nice having family with us for Christmas.

Way back when.....

Way back before we had kids, my mom and stepdad owned a restaurant in NH. They were always working so when you went up to visit, you were put to work. My dh always got the dishwasher job. I was put on the ice cream machine, chopping veggies or filling the ketchup bottles. That was a disaster one time! I had a bottle explode all over me. I ran into the kitchen laughing so hard, they thought I was crying and bleeding!

Anyway, back to the Christmas memory...one Christmas Eve we waited until the restaurant closed so that we could celebrate with the family. My two brothers and three stepsisters were there, some with spouses or significant others.

We sat opened gifts, ate and drank all we wanted. It was so much fun taking over the restaurant. My stepdad made the best drinks. I remember one of my favorites was a Bahama Mama. Yum. They used to make fried veggies (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, onions and peppers). I can't remember what else we had but it was all delish! For dessert we had ice cream sundaes. So we nibbled, drank and opened. What fun!

I still wish my kids could have been around when they had that restaurant. They would have had a blast visiting Nana and Gramps and running the ice cream machine! I wish I had a photo to share but the only one is in one of my scrapbooks.

Blasted with Snow....

We got 8 inches on Thurs. and an additional 10 or so yesterday. I took some photos
from the inside (too cold to go out).





























The last is my favorite. The sun was so pretty but I would have to go out in the snow to get it. I stood on the upper level of my porch and shot throught the window without a screen.

This brings me to my next memory. My dh and I moved away from our families to MI and we were really lonely. I was pregnant with our first child. Anyway, we were dying to fly home for Christmas. We got out just before a huge storm. When we got home, we had to dig our way into the condo! It had been plowed but our walkway was completely covered. I think they had over 2 feet of snow. They were known for having tough winters. We were happy we missed the storm. The rest of the winter wasn't so bad and we moved out the following November, before any storms.

My old life in PA...

I used to have a great job and a lot of work friends when we lived in PA. It was a start-up company and everyone was pretty young. Most of us were in our early 30's.

Anyway, each Christmas the upper mgmt. would let us fly down to Tampa for the Christmas party. First it was just the management team (5 of us). My dh would take care of the boys and household duties for the weekend. We would have a great time socializing with our counterparts who lived in the Tampa area. It was nice to bond with them since we dealt with them daily on the phone. We would jump from nightclub to nightclub. I seriously don't know how we did it.

The last year I was there they decided to invite the whole PA office to go down for the party. I think there were probably 18-20 of us. We stayed at a nice resort on the beach. The Tampa folks got to stay too. After the official Christmas party was over we went out.

We were up until the early dawn hours just partying away! I remember going to breakfast around 3 a.m. or so. We all crashed after that. On the flight home, it was very quiet because we were all sad to leave and exhausted. Ah, those were the days. Back to reality!!

I decided not to be lazy and post a few photos. Don't laugh too hard!


The two Michelle's (I'm on the right).






The girls on the beach. I'm on the left.

Twinkling lights...

Our neighbors directly across the street in PA were our best friends. We did everything together. Our youngest children were even born on the same day! LOL It was weird because we were due two weeks apart but I had my son two weeks early. It was the talk of the neighborhood. That's another story though...

Anyway, their family adopted us for holidays. Our families were back in MA so we didn't have anyone to celebrate with. We would go over for dinner on Easter, Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, etc. They were Arabic (the wife and her family). I swear after a while I could tell what they were talking about! I was usually right.

Ok, I'm rambling. The reason I bring up the M's is on Christmas night, we would load the kids up in the van and go riding around looking for the best Christmas lights/display.

There was one house in Northeast Philly that actually lit up their lawn! They had rows of lights covering the entire front lawn and also the house. I wish I had pictures to post!

There was another house not too far from us. It was a million dollar home which was huge at that point (13-14 yrs. ago). Now it's not so rare. They had a walk through display. They had glass cases with beautiful moving Santas or Christmas scenes. Our kids loved this. The house was completely lit as well. They had a little box for donations but it wasn't required.

There was another neighborhood we went to that had a huge amount of lights. I don't know how their neighbors stood the brightness! It was a very posh neighborhood and their house lit the entire street! They had santas and elves who popped out at you and lights that blinked and did all kinds of cool things.

To this day, my kids remember those rides with the M's. We miss them dearly. I wonder if they still go for the ride....

Matching pajamas......

I came across this photo last night and remembered how cute the boys always looked in their matching pjs. This particular Christmas was Dick Tracy. There were many shots like this (Superman, Ghostbusters, you get the picture). It wasn't always easy finding matching ones because they're four years apart.

I really miss those days. The boys would watch Santa go down the street in the fire engine, take a nice bath and get into their new pjs. They'd get to open one present, have a little time to play, and then it was bed time. They were so excited, they could hardly stand it!