I'm not on vacation (have to work!) but have sorta taken a vacation from blogging. Too darn tired! Christmas wore us out and now we prep for the big party tomorrow night.
Will blog over the weekend...hopefully with video from Christmas morning!
Happy New Year!
I'm sure my mother will agree, I'm probably the worst 'kid' when it comes to Christmas. I can't stand the waiting. It's different now, I'm all about the kid! And the husband. I'm excited I get presents too, but not like I was before I had a husband and kid. I get excited about buying their gifts and whether or not they are going to like it on Christmas. And right about now, I'M JUST READY FOR IT TO BE CHRISTMAS NOW!!!!!
(Even though my husband already knows what one of his gifts is...I will not be letting Leda know what Daddy's gift is next year..."Hey Daddy, there's no (insert word of thing that is ACTUALLY IN THE BOX) in that present. Nope, not in that box there for you!" Thanks kid!)
We are doing Christmas at home again this year. We'll head on over to Rachel's for dinner tomorrow night and we'll have Granddad and Fay over for dinner on Christmas day. Last year we tried Beef Wellington for Christmas dinner and I am so not lying when I tell you I have been waiting ALL YEAR for Christmas dinner this year because we are SO doing THAT again! Yum! I'm going to try a bread pudding this year for dessert...of course, as I always find out when I decide to do something THREE DAYS before, I will have to plan better for this bread pudding next year...panettone bread is called for but can I find that bread in our little hamlet? Not a chance. So I am going to substitute and hope for the best. It's all about the custard anyway, right?
Today was Leda's last day at Nursery school until next year (two weeks!) so they had a holiday program. And I will not lie...I cried. Okay, I didn't like full force ball out loud, I teared up. But another mother or two saw and thought I was cute, apparently. Oh well. What's a girl to do when her little child is singing Christmas carols with all the other kids and has the loudest 'HEY' during Jingle Bells?
(not the best video...and that's me trying not to laugh!)
Santa came in to visit with the kids after they sang, but Leda wasn't having none of that...She did go say hello just so she could get the candy cane, but there was no sitting on the lap or conversing with the man! I hope she gets what she wants this year! ;-)
I'm trying not to realize that my child is growing up. She's not a baby any more. There will be more holiday concerts and school stuff. She's getting close to writing her own name! We are stunned by this development. Tonight she was helping me make the cards for our neighbors and for Aunt Rachel and Uncle Wayne and she drew pictures of all of us. She said "this is Daddy and he's frustrated." Which was absolutely hilarious, but before we could think to laugh about it, we looked at each other and thought, "where did the kid learn that word? And how could she have just said that in context, with perfect pronunciation?"
But that wasn't all...later in the evening, she got in trouble for doing something that she was asked to stop doing, so she got a time out. She hates time outs...cries the entire time, every time! It was getting close to the end of the time out when she says, "I want to apologize now!" Okay, sure...HUH??? Did you just say apologize? With, again, perfect pronunciation? Do you know what it means? "I'm sorry," she says. Okay, seriously, why do they have to grow up?
The kid, she's going to Harvard...on scholarship...she's S.M.A.R.T! ;-)
So, I'm off to relax for the rest of the evening...I've finished all my Christmas Chores! All I can do now is wait for Christmas day! Oh, and fret about my box of presents for our family in Portland, OR, sitting in some UPS warehouse waiting for the snow to clear so they can be delivered! Yes, I decide NOT to procrastinate and get all my shopping done in time to ship UPS Ground and what happens? It snows. IN PORTLAND, OR! Totally procrastinating next year!
Merry, Merry Christmas! HEY!
Well, this was a busy weekend. I get to relax (sorta) and it's late on a Sunday evening...not much relaxing going on here!
We made cookies, decorated cookies, made more cookies, finished our shopping, wrapped the last of the gifts, cleaned house, decorated cookies, decorated the tree...had Granddad and Fay over for dinner and decorated cookies! Whewww! Lots of decorating going on!
Oh, and we wished Aunt Aimee a very Happy Birthday! (well, at least Mama and Daddy did...Leda wasn't in the talking mood!)
But we are now done. We can relax and enjoy the last three days before Christmas! Well, except for the planning and shopping for our Christmas dinner! ;-)
Some scenes from our busy weekend before Christmas....
(clockwise from top: Snickerdoodles, Split Seconds (with added sprinkles per Leda), Gingerbread Men, and Chocolate Chip Cookies (with DARK chocolate chips! Yummmm!)
New Penguin Ornament
New Wine Glass Ornament
Leda's 2008 Ornament
Other New Penguin ornament!
Not a very good picture of the Finished Tree!
Since I completely stopped doing the Friday Random 10, you get 20 this week...Also, not so random because I picked some of my favorite Christmas songs. And no Christmas Song list would be complete without Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses or any Christmas song by BRRRRRUUUUUUCCCCCEEEEE!
I do believe that Leda and I will be listening to this playlist tomorrow while we make Christmas Cookies! We are going to experiment and make Gingerbread cookies tomorrow! Yummmmm!
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Bruce Springsteen
Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You, Billy Squier
I Believe In Father Christmas, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
The Little Drummer Boy, Harry Connick, Jr.
Christmas Wrapping, Waitresses
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Harry Connick, Jr.
Feliz Navidad, José Feliciano
Rock & Roll Christmas, George Thorogood & The Destroyers
Father Christmas, The Kinks
Santa Claus And His Old Lady, Cheech & Chong
Merry Christmas Baby, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
O Come All Ye Faithful, Amy Grant
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), U2
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Harry Connick, Jr.
Christmas All Over Again, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Josh Groban
Step Into Christmas, Elton John
Silent Night, Elvin Bishop
White Christmas, Bing Crosby
Ave Maria, Harry Connick, Jr.
Visiting Santa this year was a challenge!
Last year, the kid went right up to Santa, climbed right on up on his lap and had a conversation with him while the adults (including her mother and father) stood around looking absolutely amazed that the child was not frightened of the man as every other child her age was!
This year, after a false start (we attempted to visit on Monday night but the line was incredibly long and the kid hadn't had a nap all day!), we headed off for the mall again last night and after a quick dinner, got ourselves into line and only had to wait for about a half hour. Santa was on break but we only had to wait 15 minutes for him to return (apparently he was feeding the reindeer!)
This may have been the start of the problem...Santa walked in and walked down the line of parents and children and said hello and shook hands with all the kids as he made his way to his seat. Leda grabbed her visual aid (a picture of the ONE toy she was going to ask Santa to bring her) and prepared herself for Santa...as he got to us, the kid, she lost her nerve and hid behind me, her father, anything she could to get away from the Santa man! We were stunned! This is the kid that for the 15 minutes prior to the arrival of the Man in the Red Suit gave hugs and kisses to the little 1 year old girl in line in front of us and laughed with her parents...two complete strangers! But Santa, she hid from!
Well, I figured, we had several kids in front of us and Santa sitting down might be easier to deal with than Santa standing and walking, so I figured maybe Leda would calm down and be more than happy to speak with Santa and let us get a great picture of her with the Man! Oh, I am a dreamer!
Leda seemed excited about talking with Santa right up to the very minute it was her turn. She started to walk toward him and burst into tears...oh, it was very dramatic. I had to sit down next to Santa to show her that he wasn't scary, but that made her cry even louder. I coaxed her over to me and got her to sit on my lap, but she wouldn't look at Santa. I had her give me her visual aid and I showed it to Santa and pointed out all the things on it that she wanted - it was a picture of a Disney princess package that came with Cinderella, Prince Charming, a horse and carriage, and lots of dresses. I mentioned the Cinderella, the Prince and the horse. Leda finally piped up and said "and lots of dresses!"
The picture was a bust...looked horrible, so we decided not to spend the money. Brock did get the whole episode on video, but I will refrain from embarrassing my daughter and only post a picture from that video...our 2008 portrait with Santa!
Santa was very patient (I guess he kinda has to be, it's not like this thing doesn't happen all day long to the poor man!) and very kind to Leda. She did sort of wave at him as we left, and he promised that she would get a visit from him on Christmas Eve night and I would bet a million that she will get EXACTLY what she asked him for (and then some!)
Maybe next year she'll be okay with Santa again!
I think these are pretty self-explanatory...
Leda Sings Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
Leda Sings Jingle Bells
I have a feeling this month's posts will not stray far from the Christmas Theme! Sorry!
Just a few thoughts about Christmas...or the month of December....
1. How come you can always find tape any other month of the year, but come December, when you REALLY need it, it is either completely gone, hidden, lost, etc? I always have to buy more! And then, somewhere around June, I will find a HUGE stash of tape, that I will put in a place that I THINK I will remember come time to wrap Christmas presents...you think I know where that place is??? NO!!! Unless it's Target where I will be headed tonight!
2. On the other hand, I have more wrapping paper than I know what to do with. I will not need to purchase wrapping paper at Target! Well, except for the roll that will be used to wrap Santa's presents to Leda because Santa can't POSSIBLY have the same wrapping paper as me! He doesn't shop at the same Target!
3. Each year gets harder and harder...the first couple of years of Leda's life (my goodness, I make it sound like she's 15!) I could go shopping for her Christmas presents with her in the same cart...now, I have to make sure I hide everything well...the kid's crafty! Will need safe as hard to crack as Fort Knox to hide presents in by the time she's a teenager!
4. Since when is the Lucy and Linus Theme a Christmas song. I've heard it played on the All Christmas All the Time radio station three times in the past two days! Don't get me wrong, I so bop my head to it each time it comes on...and Leda LOVES it. I just didn't realize it was a Christmas song!
That's it for now. Just some thoughts I've thought in the past couple of days. Not the only ones, just the Christmas Theme ones! ;-)
The ability to, come December, attempt to purchase EVERY SINGLE THING the child puts on her Christmas list.
I've already purchased way too much from Daddy and Mommy and I haven't even attempted to figure out what she is going to ask Santa for!
Since Brock is off to a automobile thingy show for the rest of the week, I was with the kid all day today. And since I was so fortunate to schedule a dr. appt on the same day he leaves, and it's not a day when she is at day care, I need to take her along with me! Lovely! (Just a note about my child - she is absolutely the most perfect child! She was the BEST kid today...she really helped me out. I am sure this means that by Friday, I will be wishing I had kept my mouth shut about how good she was today!)
Anyway, she announces to the nurse at the drs office that Santa is going to bring her a Prince for her Cinderella, a horse and carriage for her Cinderella and lots of dresses for her. Well, this is news to me! And, the kid isn't talking about the Barbie size Cinderella I purchased for her for Christmas either! She's talking about the little Cinderella's with the rubbery clothes that her father and I hate so much!
So, I got to thinking, maybe I should purchase the big Prince Charming and Horse and Carriage for the Barbie size Cinderella and have that be her present from Santa.
So I'm searching and I find just about everything...then I started to think...the kid isn't visiting Santa until next Monday. By then, she'll be planning to ask Santa for a set of WWF wrestler dolls and a ring for them to fight in (no, I don't let my child watch WWF...she has no idea what that is and I intend to keep it that way...I'm just being sarcastic here...about her wanting the dolls...oh, whatever!)
I think I will hold off on the present from Santa until I hear her ask him specifically for it. Let's just hope it is something I can get in the less than two weeks before Christmas that I will have at that moment!
Of course, I will probably just get the darn Prince, horse and carriage for the kid. It's hard for me not to over shop for the kid, I inherited the gene for Christmas overdoing it from my Mother! And I love it!
I know, I know, I've been very neglectful of my blog the past week....but after a full month of posting, it's hard not to take a week off! ;-)
Besides, there's been plenty to do around here. Christmas is coming fast so we are in the midst of getting ready...finishing up the shopping, wrapping presents, getting ready to ship them off to various family members all over the country!
Then there's the Christmas cards to prepare and send and the New Year's Eve invites to make and send out! Oh my, and the parties! We attended Miss Paige's 5th birthday party this past weekend (FIVE!!! How the heck did she get to be five already! And does that mean my baby is actually going to be FOUR in a few months?? My goodness!)
This coming weekend is my company party in Atlantic City and Brock is off for Orlando for the four days preceding! Leda will spend the weekend with her girlfriends doing things 4 and 5 year old girls do when their parents are away (well, only Leda's parent's will be away, and someone will be supervising the girls!!)
And my baby is suffering a cold with a stuffy nose and a cough that is keeping her at night. Hopefully she and I will sleep better tonight. Currently she is supervising this blog post by sitting on my lap while I post and she's being very loving! Which means I will soon have another cold!! Yippee!
So you can see, I've been quite busy while I've been away. I will try not to be so neglectful anymore!
For some reason, this past weekend, I really didn't feel much like blogging. Not much like elaborating upon what we did each day. I felt like relaxing and enjoying what we were doing (or not doing) and not worrying about blogging it.
We had a great time. We really enjoyed ourselves this weekend. It was kinda nice to see lots of snow (probably six inches) and keep ourselves warm inside with family. It was nice to enjoy Grandpa and Nana Pam and Great-Nana Rose and Aunt Stacy and Uncle Todd and Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie.
Leda had a great time playing and showing off for the adults. She was the center of the universe this weekend and she pretty much knew it! She enjoyed it to the hilt. She dressed up in her Tinkerbell and Snow White outfits and pranced around on Thanksgiving. She had books for Grandpa to read to her. She played with all her toys.
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner. Nana Pam made an awesome turkey and my pies didn't turn out too darn bad...Thanks to Mom for the great pie crust recipe (although I used Apple Cider Vinegar instead of White Vinegar because we couldn't find the white vinegar...not that it matter much, the pie crust was a hit!). Stacy made my favorite corn pudding and the most awesome (but deadly!) mash potatoes EVER! There is nothing in the world that could not be made better with a pound of butter and a pound of cream cheese!
On Friday we relaxed...pretty much did nothing all day long. Which was SO nice. We napped in the afternoon and when we awoke, Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie were here. And we had a great afternoon with them and then a nice relaxed dinner. And there was more pie!
On Saturday we relaxed...are you getting the pattern here? Brock made everyone a little breakfast on Saturday morning and we hung out and talked and relaxed and then around lunch time Aunt Stacy and Uncle Todd took Great-Nana Rose home to her place and Uncle Todd caught an airplane ride home. We were sad to see both of them go! Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie and Brock and Leda and I and Grandpa went up to visit Grandma Sally's grave and put flowers on her and Great-Grandparents Kingsley's graves. It was kinda nice in the snow (but it always seems we when we visit there is always snow!)
Saturday evening was an evening of leftovers and very old Trivial Pursuit. We had a great time playing the game all evening, but the questions were really odd and really old (being as the game came out in the early 1980s!) It was fun, we laughed and had a grand ole time! We even kept Aunt Maggie up past her bedtime! ;-)
Sunday was the day we were coming home. We went out for a little breakfast and then packed up the car, took pictures with Grandpa and Nana and Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie and headed home. The car ride home wasn't all that much fun...it precipitated all the way home! It was snowing when we left New York and was raining the rest of the way home through Pennsylvania! It pretty much sucked! But Leda had fun watching Sleeping Beauty twice and Aladdin once! And even got a little nap in while she was at it!
We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Sad to leave our wonderful family, but happy to be home. And not too happy about having to go back to work! The coming weeks we'll get ready for Christmas! We'll be home again this year (no more vacation time) and are looking forward to having a nice relaxing Christmas season. Guess we'll get those lights up next weekend!
Click here to see more Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures!
Somewhere around 2am this morning I awoke with a start...totally forgot to blog on Saturday! oops!
We were just having way too much fun with Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie and Grandpa and Nana! Just didn't have the time to think about blogging!
And tonight, I'm tired and achy...hoping I'm not coming down with something else...I haven't quite gotten over whatever is causing the cough!
But we are home and safe and hopefully going to be warm soon...Brock is starting a fire. And we'll hit the sheets early tonight and hopefully start December on a positive note...hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow??
Oh well, I blogged 29 out of 30 days. Most were boring, but I made the effort! Too bad I totally blew it! ;-)
Don't know if it's just having a Friday off from work or all the Turkey from yesterday, but I've been tired all day! I guess it's a good thing we didn't do much today!
We played around the house, read, went shopping at Silas's and napped. Then Aunt Maggie and Uncle Dan came and Leda is in all her glory showing off for all the new relatives!
Maybe more to report tomorrow. Maybe we will actually go out and play in the snow tomorrow!
Today was a full day. A day full of baking (pies), making thanksgiving dinner, spending time with family, playing in the snow and TURKEY!
A successful day all around. My pies came out pretty good...Apple was a hit (thanks Mom!) and we'll save the pumpkin for tomorrow night.
Leda's been having a ball playing with her toys, dressing up for the adults and just plain being cute!
We'll see what the rest of the weekend brings. Uncle Dan and Aunt Maggie are here tomorrow afternoon. I think we may have to try and build a snowman tomorrow! There's plenty of snow here! ;-)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Off to Grandpa's house...heading north into the wilderness.
Packing the kid, the dog, the various other necessities into the car and off we go.
Tomorrow there will be pies to make, Turkey to eat, and at least one if not two playings of Alice's Restaurant! It's a Thanksgiving Tradition around these here parts. I'm gonna take it with us to NY. Gotta love iTunes!
Lite post today, since we are gonna spend the next 5 or so hours on the road. But I'll be posting tomorrow! And the next day. And so on and so forth! Internet gods willing!
This weekend we are heading off to Grandpa's house (Brock's parents) for Thanksgiving. Brock's brother Daniel and his wife Maggie will be in town from the west and we wanted to spend a few days with them while they are on the "right" coast! And I don't mean that politically!
The last time we had seen Aunt Maggie is a year and a half ago when she and Uncle Dan got married. That was the week I came down with pneumonia. I started coughing on Saturday and it has gradually gotten worse and it's the same type of cough I had that week! Oh Joy! I said to Brock this morning that I didn't want Maggie thinking that every time we see her I get sick! ;-)
So I am coughing my way through the days (and nights, oh even more joy!) and hoping that this thing will go away. And I am planning to make two pies on Thursday morning! Nothing like a little extra pressure piled on!
Leda and I are going to watch Snoopy tonight! Leda has been bugging me for a few weeks now that she wanted to see Snoopy again. So on Sunday night I told her that we'd be watching Snoopy on Tuesday night. This caused a ton of heartache around here on Sunday night. Leda's not so good on her days yet...she thought I meant that on Sunday we'd watch Snoopy and it's been just crazy around here ever since! When I told her this morning that it was Tuesday, she just beamed!
So we'll cuddle all nice and warm together and watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. I can't wait!
This morning came too soon. Leda had no nap yesterday so she just collapsed at bedtime last night. So tired was she that she didn't use the potty before bed. So tired were we that we didn't notice!
3AM...Leda calls out. Brock goes in to check on her and her bed is wet. Both of us are wishing we had remembered to have her go potty before bed! Instead of changing the sheets (we DID remove the wet ones) we had her get into bed with us. I think the 10 minutes or less that it would have taken to change the bed would have been worth the hour or so of sleep I lost due to little kicking feet and a dog who had to sleep on top of me as well!
So, this morning came a little too soon!
Leda came into my office before she left for daycare and gave me cuddles. She asks:
Leda: "What day is today, Mama?"
Mommy: "Monday."
Leda: "Oh. I don't like Monday's."
Mommy: (a little laugh!) "Me neither honey. Why don't you like Mondays?"
Leda: "I don't know, I just don't."
Mommy: "What day do you like?"
Leda: "Ummm, Tuesdays and Thursdays."
So, there you have it. We don't like Monday's in these here parts!
Well, I thought about it, I really did. I was going to come up with an amazing post tonight, but alas, I decided to clean out our storage closet instead.
Now, I'm just sore and tired. Almost happy that my storage closet will store more stuff now that we cleaned it up a bit and got rid of stuff that we didn't need anymore. We've still got a bit to do, but I might actually end up with an office that doesn't have piles of stuff in it. Because I will be able to put the stuff away.
I'm also a bit stressed...I've decided I really need to start doing something with the stuff I have kept over the years and loath to get rid of. Like Christmas, Birthday, etc. cards that I have kept since, well, for like ever! I just don't know what to do with it. I have some ideas, so I guess I'll have to see what I can end up doing with it....maybe my office won't be so clean after all!
And, I'm depressed. My Eagles Suck. Not much more to say about that.
So, I'm saving my inspired posts for next weekend when I get FOUR DAYS OFF! WooHoo!
I am. I am so far ahead of the game, I'm practically planning for Christmas 2009.
Well, okay, I'm not that good! But I went shopping today for Christmas Cards and I think I have half of Leda's stocking purchased! And then some! I'm so proud of myself.
And I didn't forget the Christmas Cards. In fact, I've already purchased a certain person's birthday cards (and she should remember this for when she gets the cards the first week of January (two weeks AFTER said birthday) because I purchased them A MONTH A HEAD OF TIME and will forget where I put them. Seriously!)
Oh, and yes, I shopped at Target! Well, and A.C. Moore. I promised Leda some crafts that she and I would do this weekend. Mostly it's me doing the crafts, because there is glue involved. But she helped. And we planted a spruce tree and some alyssum flowers ("carpet of snow") - we planted the seeds in small little pots and we'll watch them grow over the next couple of weeks. And if they do grow, we'll re-pot them and Leda can take care of them. It will give her a project for the winter!
Anyway, I went shopping at Target. Le Target! Why do I shop there and not Walmart or any mom-pop stores? Well, first, I love Target. LOVE Target. I'm addicted to Target. Don't know why, I just do. I'm not a big fan of KMart...I will shop there in a pinch, but I'm just not a big fan...I think Target's stuff is better quality and for around the same price, most of the time. The kids clothes are good quality and cheap!
I do shop the smaller stores, it just depends on what I am looking for and what I will pay. My favorite little shop downtown is Charmed Spirit. I've made friends with the owner and I do like shopping there. However, it is very specialty...upscale gifts and Trollbeads (thus the reason I shop there!) I love Earthmart, an 'organic' shop downtown, and I have purchased from there, but the prices are a bit expensive, so it's a treat to shop there, rather than a way of life. I love our Cheese shop downtown, but again, a treat to shop there....special occasions.
I don't like Walmart. I don't know why, I just don't. That's not to say I haven't purchased from Walmart, I have. But if I have a choice, I'd shop at Target.
I'm not a huge shopper. I only really shop when I need to or when there is something I want. I don't like going to malls or to even Target during the holiday season (I don't do malls anytime unless there is something specific I really need or want...I worked at malls for years and have had my fill of malls! I make it to the mall maybe once or twice a year) because I can't stand holiday shoppers. (Another thing I got from working for years in retail!)
So, where do you like to shop? Why? And who is ready for the Holiday season?
Okay, so it is ONE of my favorite scenes in The Sound of Music...Off to find the song on iTunes...
Geez, YouTube has got everything!
It's SNOWING! I'm torn between pure joy and absolute fear....pure joy that it's SNOWING and absolute fear that this winter is gonna SUCK! Oh well! Music's good this morning...
You Don't Love Me, Matthew Sweet
You Make Loving Fun, Fleetwood Mac
Sweet Savannah, Shooter Jennings
Back Door Man, The Doors
Bringing Out The Elvis, Faith Hill
Short Skirt/Long Jacket, Cake
White, Discussion, Live
Private Eyes, Hall & Oates
Bobby Jean, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
A Trick Of The Tail, Genesis
Tonight I decided to leave Jillian in her box and I did Pilates instead. Reason, because I had a busy day at work, so busy in fact, that I barely drank enough water and I didn't eat lunch. I know, really bad habits if I am going to try and lose some weight, but by the time I had a few minutes to eat, it was 3:30 in the afternoon and I couldn't justify having lunch then.
I had misplaced my favorite Pilates DVD (we own a small house...every DVD we own is accounted for EXCEPT for the one that I want to watch at the moment!) and I was really bummed about it. The instructor is Ana Caban who I really liked...she made it fun...mostly by how she explained the exercises.
I've only just recently discovered the joys of On Demand. Actually, we've know about them for some time, we've used it to keep Leda happy when she wanted Little Bear and he just wasn't on any channel. But I hadn't really ventured further than Kids. I discovered how easy it was to order movies in May. That was cool! And I read somewhere that they also had exercise programs on there as well.
So last night, after my grueling workout with Jillian, I checked out On Demand. And found a whole BUNCH of exercise programs. If there is anything you want to do, it is probably on On Demand! And I found a Pilates program with Ana Caban! Totally different from my missing DVD, but there it was! And I thought, this would be great in the mornings!
Of course, I didn't get my butt out of bed this morning to do Pilates! And based on my busy day, I didn't think doing Jillian's workout would be a good idea. So, I did Pilates this evening.
Leda and Duff thought this was grand! Duff lay on one side of me watching every move I made and Leda was either sitting in her chair watching me and laughing or laying down next to me going, "Look Mommy, I can do that." At one point, Brock wanted to take a picture of her and me doing Rolling Like A Ball together! It was very cute. And no, he didn't take the picture because it would have been the last picture he would ever take! ;-)
Todd finally came through. Apparently he was studying too hard or going to class or something of that sort and was too busy to give me any ideas for posts until the past Sunday. And, I wasn't paying attention until today!
And I like the ideas. I've been thinking about several and there's a few posts here over the next couple of days. There are some I will skip, but not because they aren't thought provoking. Like, how can I realistically tell you what our family can do to reduce it's carbon footprint when I live in an idealistic world? ;-)
I also won't be writing a post about how I would design Obama's cabinet because, well, I'm not President and I really wouldn't be good at it (now, get Brock to start a blog and ask HIM to design the cabinet...he's the political junkie in this family!) Besides, I'd be picking Hugh Jackman for Press Secretary and George Clooney for Chief of Staff, just so I could look at them on a daily basis!
Speaking of Hugh...FINALLY, People Magazine does something I completely agree with...They make Hugh the Sexist Man Alive. Oh yes! Guess what I will be purchasing this week?? I can't believe it took People Magazine this long to come around! Geez! (Seriously, Hugh is uber-sexy. Yumm!)
So, thank you Todd! I'm looking forward to writing my posts now! You came through last year, and I thank you for the ideas for the rest of the month! You can have some of the pumpkin pie I am making for Thanksgiving. Or the Apple...because apparently in a total moment of craving, I decided I needed to make my Mother's Apple Pie and a pumpkin pie too for Thanksgiving so I signed myself up! Yum! I can taste the pie crust now!
And that witch Jillian Michaels, well, she can just stay home for Thanksgiving. She's been kicking my butt for the past two days and will each day until Thanksgiving. Man, I am going to need a break from her for a few days! So she will stay home when we head to Brock's family's house for Thanksgiving. Then, she can kick my butt again when I get home. (Yeah, I know, not exactly how the 30 day shred is supposed to be done, but that's what I get for starting it a week and a half before Thanksgiving!)
Okay, that was horrible.
I'm sure that Jillian wouldn't suggest doing this right before dinner, but hey, I just can't do mornings. And, I am pretty sure that doing this first thing in the morning would kill me. Because I am pretty sure I came about 2 seconds away from death about 5 minutes into the 20 minute workout.
But I stuck with it. Even with Leda saying, "Hey, I can do that. Look Mommy, look at me, I can do that," all while Jillian is kicking my ass butt! Oh, and not only did Leda want me to see what she could do (which was about three moves WHILE she sat on the couch and drank her milk) she drank all my water, too! Nice kid!
I had read where people mentioned that this workout was pretty darn hard, so hard in fact that it caused some to want to vomit during or after. I thought, it can't be that hard. Oh, but it is! I did want to vomit afterwards. I didn't so I am hoping that is a good sign. (Not exactly sure when not vomiting when wanting to became a good sign??) I will say that if you want an appetite suppressant that will help you get into shape, this is your DVD!
So, I guess I will be feeling it tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get out of the office a little early tomorrow and start this workout an hour before dinner, so I can actually eat without wanting to die!
If I can keep this up AND find my favorite Pilate's DVD (Now, that's something I can do in the morning!), I might actually get this body into some kinda shape by the New Year and maybe, just maybe, I'll look smokin' hot next summer! Oh yeah! If not, I'll be hunting Jillian Michaels down for a little revenge!
Seriously. Can't think of anything to write. All interesting thoughts are avoiding my brain apparently. For like the entire month. (Yeah, I'm sure there are some of you thinking that they've been avoiding my brain for a lot longer than that!)
There is just nothing that is interesting me these days. Nothing. Nada. Zip. It's quite sad. At least, there's nothing interesting that I haven't already written about. Like the past. There's lots of that going on! But I've written enough of that.
I'm not giving up though. This might be a post about nothing, but at least it's a post! I mean, come on, Seinfeld was on for nine seasons of nothing. I can at least make it another 13 days. Hopefully they won't be 13 days of nothing. At least, for those of you who still come here, I hope for your case, it's not 13 days of nothing.
So, how about a cute picture? Yesterday the Durhams joined us for dinner and football/NASCAR. Leda and Paige 'read' a book. It was very cute!
Okay, here you go. Cyndy's Christmas List. And no, nothing from Brock yet. So don't ask! I've already asked him. A billion times. Hopefully soon.
First, Leda's List didn't mention that Tinkerbell the Movie and Cinderella and Ariel Barbies are already something that Santa has already has on his list of things to deliver, so refrain! ;-) I don't think I put them on her lists, but just in case, already done!
So, my list. And yes, it will probably be TOTALLY unsexy again this year. But it's what I want!
First and foremost....my Amazon wishlist. I want everything on this list!!! ;-) It is in order of items added to my list, but everything on this list is still something I want! It has been cleaned up recently.
donna karan cashmere mist perfume
donna karan cashmere silk cologne
kitchen compost keeper, stainless steel would be nice. Something like this
Buddha statue
Candles, candle holders, nice smells
A NFL Championship. In the next five years would be nice.
Microplane Grater. Something like this
Wooden Lemon Reamer. Something like this
iTunes gift cards
A wideangle lens for my Nikon D50 ;-)
If I can think of anything else I need or want, will make sure to update!
Family...I will forward lists in email in the next couple of days or so. Maybe when I get Brock's list? ;-)
Have at it!
I realized this morning that I am just too old to stay out until 2am! But it was lots of fun!
I got together with an old friend last night and we sat around and talked all night. By the time we thought about looking at the clock, it was REALLY late! By the time I got home, it was after 2! It was fun, but morning time comes early around here due to some evil spawn of my loins! ;-)
So today, after we did a little cleaning, was a lazy day. A little napping, a little football, and some friends for dinner. A perfect Sunday afternoon.
Go Eagles!
A few days ago, we decided today would be a good day for Leda's first trip to a real movie theater! It is supposed to be rainy and yucky (although really warm) so, perfect, right?
So about ten minutes before we leave to go grab some lunch and the movie - the sun is out.
Oh well, anyway, headed off for a nice little lunch/late breakfast and then headed off to the movie theater to catch Madagascar 2. Leda was very excited. We got there and headed first for the restrooms to make sure that the two large lemonades she had for lunch didn't interrupt the movie and then we headed over to the popcorn lady and got us some popcorn. With butter!
I have to say, movie theater popcorn is not what it used to be. The butter just doesn't match what butter used to be in the movie theater. It's a shame, really.
Anyway, off to the movie theater to catch us some seats...Actually Leda and Brock headed off to the theater while I was in line getting the popcorn, so they scored some good seats. We settled in and watched the previews...some good stuff coming out over the next couple of months!
Then, the movie started. It was a good movie. The penguins are hysterical! Leda sat in her seat for about 5 minutes, then spent all but about 15 minutes in my lap...those 15 minutes she spent in Brock's lap! She liked it. The theater was packed with kids...I haven't been to many kids movies lately, so it was a little surprising that there was so much up and down and moving around! But Leda handled herself pretty well!
At the end of the movie, as the credits were scrolling and the music was playing, it was fun to look around the theater and see all the kids dancing! That was cute!
So, first movie in a movie theater has been done and was a giant success! What fun it was!
Have you seen this video yet...Seriously, click there and go see this video...it's of a little kid at the Phillies Parade a few weeks back. You know the one...the WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL parade? Yeah, that one!
Anyway, it's all over the news up here...This kids mom took him down to the parade and as they were waiting for the parade to get started, she started taking this video of him on Broad Street. And she asks him "how big?" and he raises his hands up high. And every time he does, the people on the other side of the street, also waiting for the parade, raise their hands up and cheer. And the kid's like, dude, what the heck is up with all those people over there?
It's like dripping with cute! Be careful, could cause cavities, it's so sweet!
I dare you not to feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Go on, dare ya!
Thank the Gods it is Friday! I'm probably not sleeping late tomorrow morning (we'll see!) because I'm going to get motivated and get my butt up early and start the 30 Day Shred! Ha! As I said, we'll see!
Here's what I'm listening to...
I Wanna Be Adored, The Stone Roses
Room At The Top, Adam Ant
Gimme Me Some Lovin', The Spencer Davis Group
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Rock Rock (Til You Drop), Def Leppard
Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through, Meat Loaf
Not Even The Trees, Hootie & The Blowfish
The Interlocutor, Squirrel Nut Zippers
Before He Cheats, Carrie Underwood
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Indigo Girls
Tonight at dinner, we saw a report about some investigative work that is being done about how (or who, or from where) Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated. The report indicated that through some testing, the investigators have determined that the damage done to Kennedy was most likely created by a shot from the 6th floor of the Book Depository. (I can't find a link to the report...it was on the NBC Nightly News.)
It was an interesting story and Brock and I were having a discussion about it and I used the name Lee Harvey Oswald by just saying "Oswald". And as we were talking about it, Leda says, "Mommy, why are you talking about the Blue Guy?"
And Brock and I said, "What? What Blue Guy?"
And then it hit me. Leda heard me say "Oswald" and immediately thought I was talking about this guy. Oswald to Leda is a big blue octopus who hangs out with a wiener dog named "Weenie."
Wait until Arlen Specter and the conspiracy theorists get wind of this!
Amazing the things that kids growing up today will grow up without!
I got to go shopping by myself tonight. I therefore plugged the earphones in to the iPod and rocked my way around KMart! Hope the guys watching the security cameras had a blast, I did.
While I was rockin' it out, and on the way home, and while wrapping my niece's birthday present, I had various random thoughts. Some struck me as funny. Some not so much. But hey, I needed a post, so this is what ya get!
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I'm probably too old to dig Nickelback. But I do! More importantly, I'm pretty sure that when my husband reads this, he's going to think, "What the heck is a Nickelback." Anyway, I do. Dig them. And I dig my old man, too! (love ya honey!)
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I think the fact I use the word "dig" to describe how much I really like something PROVES I am too old to dig Nickelback! Oh well!
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You can inherit genes that make your hair the color it is, your eyes the color they are, and possibly various diseases...so why can't you inherit the gene for wrapping presents well? I can't for the life of me wrap a gift as well as my mother can. Geez!
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What in the heck does someone need - NEED - an assault rifle? Someone being not a policeman, soldier, SWAT team member? Really. I'd like to know.
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Why do the weirdest people seem to all be at the KMart on a Wednesday night?
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Did you know that Top Chef starts tonight?? Yipppeeee!
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When the heck should I start my Christmas shopping? Oh, I know, WHEN FAMILY MEMBERS START GIVING ME LISTS!
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So much for what is in my head tonight! I've got a post or two that will actually keep you interest (I hope) brewing. Hopefully I can get them written in the next day or two and hopefully I will be able to come up with more! There's more than half a month left! Ugh!
Our child has become awfully bossy these days. Or rather, she takes us to task for doing things that we probably, at some point or two, have told her not to do.
This makes life interesting. I've been told during a major sporting event that I should be quiet when people are trying to sleep. She's right, I do need to resist my natural urge to yell and scream during a major sporting event that a Philadelphia team is playing in, especially when said game is taking place after 8PM (the kid's bed time). Just not sure if I want my three-year-old child reminding me!
Brock and I were talking in the kitchen while he was making dinner just a few days ago and Leda comes out of her room and tells us, "shhhhh, my baby is sleeping" and stomps back into her bedroom. Brock and I had a little giggle about that.
I was on the phone with my sister last night, in the living room while Brock was watching TV and the kid was playing with her baby doll. At one point, the kid comes up to me and announces, "YOU woke my baby up. You need to be quiet!" Okay, definitely cute, but out of hand! Brock took her up to get ready for bed around that time, probably explaining to her that it's okay for us to talk on the phone in the living room and that the baby should have been sleeping in her bedroom!
Just after Leda finished her lunch today, she was heading out of the dining room and past my office as Brock said something to her from the dining room, where he was still eating. Leda promptly tells him, "You shouldn't speak with your mouthful!" Well, then!
She also takes great pleasure in coming to me when Brock makes her mad (usually by telling her she can't do something she wants to do or even when they are playing around) and telling me that I must come help her put Daddy in in Time Out. "Because he's a bad boy" I am told. This is only one example of how she tries to pit the two of us against one another. Our favorite is when she will ask me if she can do something and I tell her no, she heads right off to find Daddy and ask him the same exact thing, hoping to get a different answer! We are pretty used to this happening so that we usually check with the other before we give her an answer! She still attempts it though...guess she is hedging her bets that one of us will eventually just give in!
Ah, life with a three-and-a-half-year-old...never a dull moment!
I need help. I'm totally drawing blanks on what to write, so unless you want a whole month of lame posts, give me some ideas!!
One or two or three ideas would be good! My brain is a bit fried this week, having had to take a test for certification for work that took a week and was just horrible! So coming up with something to write about with any hope of entertaining the HORDES of people who flock to my blog has suffered due to having to use all brain cells on work. And those 10 brain cells are very, very tired people, so give em a hand and give me a topic or two!
In the meantime, I guess I could always spend the rest of the month complaining about my Eagles and Andy Reid's UNBELIEVABLY stupid challenge and play on 4 and 1...Yeah, I know, I'm not the coach, I probably couldn't have done much better...blah, blah, blah. The run on 4 and 1 was STUPID and I challenge anyone to tell me I'm wrong. Even Tiki Barber said it was a bad call...and I HATE when I have to agree with Tiki*. But that's besides the point...the challenge against whether the guy was down before the ball came out for a possible fumble...BAD, BAD, BAD! What the heck was that??
Seriously, do you want me to blog about that for the rest of the month? If not, give me an idea! A good idea! And nothing technical in nature!
Thank you in advance,
The Management
*I mean, it's bad enough I'm rooting for Warren Sapp on Dancing with the Stars that I don't need to be agreeing with Tiki Barber! What is this world coming too????
Wow! Did we have fun last night. Even feeling like crap didn't dampen the mood too much!
Leda was so excited to have 'visitors' last night that when Caitlyn and Paige (tag-team babysitting!) arrived, Leda completely forgot Brock and I were still in the house...I swear she would have practically pushed us out the door if she could have! What a change from the last time...and all times prior to that. Usually there is lots of crying and screaming, "I want to go with you!" as we are walking out the door! My, how times have changed!
So we headed off to our night out, but not before we realized, about a mile from the house (thank goodness!) that we forgot the concert tickets! So a quick back to the house and then we were on our way. First, dinner at Plush, which was as good as it ever is. Was nice and relaxing, well, except for the first couple of minutes, which were the last couple of seconds of the Penn State game, in which they lost. That was a bummer. Other than that, dinner was awesome.
Then, over to the Keswick for the concert. Alro was joined by his son Abe on keyboards and a drummer, guitarist and bass player. After his first song, he brought out a special guest...turns out to be David Bromberg! And apparently, this was a last minute thing, but boy, it didn't sound that way!
Wow, it was great. Arlo brought out The Burn Sisters who he explained had joined him on his benefit for the victims of Katrina and he enjoyed them so much, that he told them they had to tour with him! So there were lots of musicians on the stage and boy, did it sound awesome.
Every time we have seen Arlo, it's been different. This was our fourth time seeing him, and it never gets old! He played some new songs and some old songs, and some of his father's songs and some songs by Lead Belly and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. It was so good.
We've seen Arlo play with his family and we've seen him play with other musicians and we've seen him play alone. This was the most musician's he has had on stage with him and it was so well done. It was rocking and moving and funny and somber. It was really great. And Arlo told his stories. And that was awesome. He didn't do Alice's Restaurant, but that's more than okay! We'd heard him do it twice (at the last two concerts of his that we attended) and that was good enough for me! Besides, as he said last night, that's why he put it on an album! And, it would take up a good portion of the concert, therefore he would not be able to play as many other songs.
And, he ended the night with My Peace, probably now one of my all time favorite songs...
My peace my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you
My peace is all I ever had that’s all I ever knew
I give my peace to green and black and red and white and blue
My peace my peace is all I’ve got that I can give to you
My peace, my peace is all I’ve got and all I've ever known
My peace is worth a thousand times more than anything I own
I pass my peace around and about ‘cross hands of every hue;
I guess my peace is justa ‘bout all I’ve got to give to you
(words by Woody Guthrie, music by Arlo Guthrie)
We had a great night. I kinda wish I didn't have a cold, it would have been that much more enjoyable! I highly recommend catching an Arlo concert! It's well worth it!
Make that a week...it's been overcast and sometimes raining just about all week around here. I think the sun peaked out for about an hour or two yesterday. That's been it.
So we didn't get a whole lot done today. Besides the fact I have a cold that has been slowly moving into my head, darn it!
We did head off to Ikea and bought some bookcases...one for our bedroom and one for Leda's. Leda's got a ton of books that need a place to live and since we moved her clothes into a smaller dresser...well, one that doesn't take up so much wall space, we have some more room to use!
Brock and I are off to see Arlo Guthrie tonight. So I am looking very forward to having a good dinner. Hoping that the cold and the headache will try and hold off until after Arlo plays. Don't expect Alice's Restaurant tonight...but expect lots of good music!
Because we have a kid who is now old enough to ask for everything under the sun and knows exactly (EXACTLY) what a toy catalog is, Leda and I sat down this evening and went over what she wanted for Christmas. So, here's Leda's Christmas List (or what we have edited to be Leda's Christmas list because, you know, she wants everything!)
Don't get your hopes up...this does not mean that you will soon get a Cyndy and/or Brock Christmas list...gotta keep you waiting a little bit!
Leda's Amazon Wish List
Leda's etoys.com Wish List
Leda's Toys to Grow On Wish List
There are a few things on these lists I'd like to point out...
1. Books. She loves books. Books are always a good thing!
2. Train set...Ask her why she needs a train set and she will respond, "because I don't have one." Same goes for the pirate ship. Although, I have to say, she does like to play with train sets (and pirate ships.)
3. Horses...she is all about horses these days. Must run in the blood.
4. The really expensive stuff...not necessary to purchase. She said that she wanted to ask Santa, so I put it on the list. There were LOTS of stuff I told her we couldn't put on the list because we had to save stuff for other girls and boys...because really, if she had her way, EVERYTHING would be on the list!)
5. Most everything is a suggestion. Except for one thing...A bathroom for her doll house (On the Amazon list) - Leda is absolutely positive that her doll house is not ACTUALLY a doll house because it doesn't have a bathroom. She must have one. Or else, we will have to purchase her a whole new dollhouse. One that has a bathroom. And in this housing market, moving to a new house is just gonna kill the dollhouse family. They have enough money to add a bathroom, but not enough to purchase a whole other house. Save them, please!
(Oh, and about the dollhouse family...Mom has disappeared and I think Dad ran off with Snow White (or Cinderella...both are pretty much home wreckers). So you will notice that on the amazon list there is another dollhouse family listed - this one has a grandmother to watch the kids while their parents are off galavanting around with Diego and the Princesses.)
So, there you have it...I'll add to as I get more requests from the kid.
Today my shuffle is gettin' the Led out...Already about 20 songs past my top 10 and have heard at least 4 Led Zepplin songs...right now, rockin' out to a little Black Dog!
Celebration Day, Led Zeppelin
Six Months In A Leaky Boat, Split Enz
Rocket, Def Leppard
From the Beginning, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Do You Want To Dance?, Bette Midler
Oye Mamacita, Los Lonely Boys
Angel From Montgomery, The Angels
Everyday America, Sugarland
Blue Angel, Squirrel Nut Zippers
Another Rainy Night (Without You), Queensrÿche
It's the end of the week. I'm fighting a cold and looking forward to an evening with Arlo Guthrie tomorrow night (plus dinner at our favorite before-concert-at-the-Keswick restaurant, Plush.)
Have a great weekend!
Tonight we are off to grab some sushi and go have some dinner with a friend with a 4-week old baby. We can't wait to meet her!
And I'm really looking forward to the sushi!
So much for best laid plans...I had planned to get some sleep last night, but turns out, due to a sore throat, I spent most of the night coughing myself awake! So not happy with my body! It is not cooperating.
Hopefully after some good sushi, baby cuddling time, visit with a good friend and maybe a glass of wine, I can come home, catch CSI and Life on Mars and head off to dreamland without interuption! That would be nice.
Then, I might be able to come up with a truly inspiring post! Instead of this rambling mess!
The past two weeks have seen me up past my bed time too many times! Phillies and Presidency have me low on sleep! Turns out, the Eagles will probably have me up late on Sunday for the Sunday Night game. Geez! Will I ever sleep again?
Yes, I stayed up late last night. Watched until the bitter end (12:45am, when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer). I watched history....no, I participated in history last night. And, putting aside who won and who lost, I am so proud of this country. You came out and voted! Highest percentage of eligible voters to vote since 1908! That right there is amazing! Because, if we are going to be a democracy, you gotta vote...you gotta make your voice heard.
And I'm totally impressed with the college-age voting block! In our area, they more than doubled their turn out! That is awesome!
I've found myself emotional throughout today, especially when I think of Martin Luther King Jr. and his words and his works and how far this country has come since I was born - since well before! How last night we came so much closer to the dream that we ARE all equal and we could all achieve the highest achievement with hope and hard work. And that makes me swell with pride for this country.
And - no more campaign ads! Wooo Hooo!
Tonight, I'm gonna pack myself into bed early, maybe read a book, definitely go to sleep early and turn my attention to the most important competition in this country...Dancing With The Stars! Go Warren, Go Lance! Woo Hoo! (but no, I haven't been voting - only in my heart. I know, I'm such a bad example!)
Tonight's gonna go on forever!
We've all voted, it's now a waiting game. And listening to the spin! Oh boy, can't wait!
Leda went with me to the polling place, as she has for every vote since she was born. She ate pretzels and 'stole' popcorn from the snack for workers table and was happy to see her Daddy who has been working the poll all day. They've had long lines all day. Luckily we only had to wait for 10 minutes.
So we voted. Now we wait to see who wins.
Well, here we are, the day before the election! A very important election and historic either way. Living in a 'swing' state, the phone has been ringing off the hook this past 48 hours! I guess, since both Brock and I have volunteered for one of the campaigns, we aren't getting as many as others! I know some people have had twice as many calls and visits as us!
Being that this election season has been the LONGEST of all time (like, hasn't this been going on for.EVER), I'm so looking forward to the day when not one news station or news program will discuss politics. At least not election politics! It's been a long hard road.
Leda's been aware that something is happening. She knows the candidates names and knows the one we are supporting. We've even been good about not portraying the other side as bad or wrong, just that this is an election and that both sides are good, we just like one candidate more than the other. That it is okay to disagree, it doesn't mean that who you disagree with is bad. But in three-year-old land, there's only good and bad. This is what we get for letting her watch princess movies!
It occurred to me yesterday, as I was trying to explain to her who Joe Biden was (since she was confusing him with John McCain...hey, they both have gray hair, it's an easy mistake) that the next election cycle, Leda's going to be old enough to start understanding more about our democracy. And it bummed me out a little bit, considering the historic connotation of this election and how Leda will have to read about it in history books rather than 'live' it. That she will more than likely not remember this because she's too young.
Then I realized that either way this election goes, something that seemed almost impossible when I was a kid is no longer impossible. That an African-American man CAN be President or a woman CAN be Vice-President. And my child will never have to wonder when in her lifetime would one of those things happen.
And, regardless of your party affiliation, isn't that pretty darn cool?
Get out in vote! And if you aren't registered, get registered and vote in the next election. It's a right as an American that we ALL are born with. We shouldn't take it lightly as it is something a lot of other people in this world don't have the right to do. VOTE!
What a beautiful weekend we had this weekend.
Yesterday was a work around the house day. With some resting in between! Brock cleaned up a lot of leaves around the house and saved some to pull into a pile for Leda to play in...since she's old enough to want to try and I told him it would be okay if he made sure there were no sticks!
So Leda got to jump around in the leaves yesterday! 
Last night we rented movies and had tacos for dinner before we sat down to movie night. We rented Madagascar for Leda. We figured that would be a good movie for all of us and since I am thinking that her first movie theater movie might be Madagascar 2, it was a good pick. We got The Happening and Charlie Wilson's War for the adults!
Madagascar was HYSTERICAL! Totally recommend this movie to adults as well as kids. We all enjoyed the movie, but I think Leda and I laughed the loudest at Brock who got absolutely hysterical in some parts! After Leda went to bed Brock and I watched The Happening, which we rented because part of it was filmed in Phoenixville. And, I like M. Night Shyamalan.
Well, I was disappointed. Really disappointed. Because I like M. Night Shyamalan, I also like John Leguizamo, who acted the best in the film, but wasn't in but 15 minutes of the movie! The acting was bad, the story was bad. It was just bad. There was one part I got a little nervous, thought maybe something "horror-like" might happen, but no, it didn't. The movie was just bad.
It was pretty late when we finished that movie, so we saved the other movie for tonight or tomorrow.
Today was a busy day. Brock took Leda off with him to get wood from our daycare while I went down to help out the local campaign office. I ended up doing a little canvasing around town - not one of my favorite things to do, but I met a really nice girl, just out of college and we walked around hanging our reminder to vote signs (luckily, we didn't have to knock on doors and talk to people!). Of course, we had to get one of the hilly neighborhoods, where houses are either UP hill or DOWN hill and my poor old body is feeling it! So, guess Jillian Michaels will have to wait for Wednesday! ;-)
So, here I am watching my Eagles (not doing so well right now!) and waiting for Brock and Leda to get back from their afternoon errand (something about trailer ramps) and then we are off to the Durhams for a little soup and grill cheese for dinner! Yummmm! Perfect end to a fall weekend!
This years Halloween was my favorite!
As I alluded to yesterday, Leda had decided in the morning that she did not want to be the Little Mermaid, she wanted to be Cinderella. And she was quite insistent that she had a Cinderella costume, it was in her closet. Well, there was no Cinderella costume, but there was lots of crying so I told the child to go off to daycare for their Halloween party with her Little Mermaid costume and Mommy would figure out something for Trick-or-Treating. That seemed to be a good deal for Leda, so the crying stopped and off to daycare she went.
I figured I had to go to Kmart to see if they had a Cinderella costume left. I had called my boss (and friend, who so happens to be the house we go to for Trick-or-Treating, and the Halloween Party this year!) and he said, come on over, we've got a bunch of princess dresses, no Cinderella, but lots of other princesses. So, I ran over there, got a bunch of dresses and headed off to the grocery store to buy our contribution of food to the party.
Since I was right next door to Kmart, I decided, what would it hurt, I'll stop in and see what they have. And lo and behold, I found the perfect costume! A blue fairy! Which was what Leda had been wanting to be for 2 whole months! And decided that she had to be something else because we couldn't find a blue fairy costume at Target! So I grabbed the blue fairy costume and with visions of holding the Mother of the Year trophy, giddily purchased the costume for half off and ran home!
Leda came home from daycare and I said to her, come see what I have for you! She immediately said, is it a Cinderella costume (she forgets nothing) and I said, no, something totally better. And I showed it to her. There was much rejoicing! "A blue fairy! I'm going to be a blue fairy! Where'd you get it, Mommy?" Oh, at the Mother of the Year store, of course! 
We got Leda all dressed up (no, Brock and I did not dress up this year!) and we headed on over to the Shiers for the Trick-or-Treating! There were lots of kids this year! Mostly the same kids, a few new ones! We headed out around the neighborhood. This was the first year that Leda was not going to be riding in the wagon! She did pretty good, for the first 1/3rd of the evening...
At this point in the evening, we've only hit about 1/3rd of houses, Leda says to me, "Mommy, I don't want to go to any more houses. I have enough candy." I told her she just had her membership card to the Kid's Club totally revoked! What do you mean you don't want to get any more candy! Are you kidding. Do you feel sick? No, well, young lady, get up to that house and get more candy! Mommy needs her yearly supply of candy! Oh yes, we had to force the kid to trick-or-treat! What parent has to force their kid to trick-or-treat?? Oh, don't worry, we didn't drag her kicking and screaming to each house...I held her bag, which is really want she wanted anyway...she just didn't want to hold the bag!
A few houses more and she was doing okay...we asked her to help Nathan, who is only a few months younger than Leda. So she grabbed Nathan by the hand and off to each house they went. Oh, it was cuter than a basket full of bunnies!
We stopped at one house for their party and then back to the Shiers for their party. Leda was excited because then she could play with all the toys! We hung out for awhile and then, when the kid looked like she would fall over and sleep right where she stood, we headed home!
It was an awesome night. We had lots of fun! And Leda was just so excited that she got to be the blue fairy after all! It was my favorite Halloween.
It's Halloween. Leda has decided she doesn't want to be the Little Mermaid, she wants to be Cinderella. We don't have a Cinderella costume. Even though for the past 12 hours or so, she has insisted that she bought one and it's in her closet. Oh yes, tonight is gonna be a barrel full of monkeys!
Can you say trip to KMart? Does that win me Mother of the Year or Sucker of the Year? Can't decide which one!
Oh well, at least the music is pretty darn good this morning:
Indian Summer Sky, U2
I'm A Boy, The Who
Adia, Sarah McLachlan
American Woman, The Guess Who
Sweet Girl, Fleetwood Mac
Medley: Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In, The 5th Dimension
Great Heart, Johnny Clegg & Savuka
Running From An Angel, Hootie & The Blowfish
Favorite Year, Dixie Chicks
Hooked On a Feeling, B.J. Thomas
And FINALLY....Philly has a sports Championship!
WOOOO HOOOO!
Fireworks all over the area...it sounds like 4th of July here!
Parade on Friday...won't be going, but might be watching! ;-)
Awesome! And the kid, she slept right through it! Well...after she fell asleep in the 7th inning!
And there are people dancin' in the streets in Philly. It's awesome.
Phillies score in the bottom of the 6th (geez, it's like the game JUST started!) and of course, I cheer. Loudly. There was clapping. And WooHooing It was kinda loud. My bad.
A few minutes later, child's bedroom door opens and I ask her what she thinks she is doing (as she is supposed to be sleeping) and she announces she needs to use the potty. As she goes into the bathroom, she stops and looks me in the eye and says...
"When someone is trying to sleep, you are supposed to be quiet."
To which I agree with her and appologize for being too loud and tell her I will do better.
I think I was just told off by a three year old.
This is the reason I hate evening games, by the way. I have to remember to be quiet. It's in the family genes to be loud. Geez!
Like that is news to anyone who knows me!
Really, I am. I am going to attempt to do another NaBloPoMo for this November. That means, a post a day for 30 days. No cheating! That means a significant post (no one liners!) I did it last year, hopefully I can do it again!
I'll probably need some topics. So, HELP ME already!
One thing I will be posting about is the 30 Day Shred. Brock promised he will do it with me. We'll see how far we both get. I love Jillian Michaels...I have watched the Biggest Loser thinking, if she was my trainer, I'd get my butt back in shape in no time. Because, well, she scares me! Apparently this DVD work out kicks you-know-what. It should arrive in the mail on Saturday! So I'll probably be dragging my butt out of bed early on Monday morning to start my 30 days!
So November is gonna be an interesting month. Hopefully I can keep up on both adventures! Stay tuned!
I just watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown with Leda for the first time ever. Her first time ever...god only knows how many times I have seen it. However, it would be the first time in a LONG time for me!
Anyway, I got to thinking about how similar Philadelphia sports is to Charlie Brown. I mean, what is up with Charlie Brown? He's a good guy. He's even a good sport. He is willing to trust Lucy when she tells him, even signs an affidavit, that she will NOT pull the football out from under him when EVERY.SINGLE.TIME she does pull the football out and Charlie ends up flat on his back again.
It's like that with our sports here in this town...every time we think we might actually...well, you know...obtain the unobtainable (I am so not going to jinx our chances by mention the big event that a certain ball team in this city was participating in last night)....the proverbial football is pulled out from underneath of us. Usually this is done by our own team, but this time, the gods are playing havoc with our emotions. I mean, a nor'easter? In October? Snow? Seriously? I'm tellin' ya, I know exactly how Charlie Brown feels!
Enough of that...hopefully the previously mentioned 'big event' will be completed tomorrow night in a fashion that will make this town NOT feel like Charlie Brown! In the meantime...I just had the most enjoyable 60 minutes with my daughter, introducing her to the Peanuts gang for the first time ever. She thought the whole Lucy, the football and Charlie thing was hysterical! (yeah, figures my kid would find the humor in that!) And she thinks Snoopy is just the funniest, silliest dog she has ever seen. He was her favorite!
And commercials...boy do they suck! Leda kept asking, "is it coming back on? When is it coming back on. Where did they go...those kids? Are they coming back?" Yeah, commercials, they suck!
She wants to watch it again. I either have to go out and buy the DVD (which, to me, takes some of the magic out of these shows that we grew up watching only once a year, but that's just me) or the kid, she's gonna have to start learning disappointment!
Considering that she lives in Philadelphia and is being brought up a Philadelphia sports team fan, it's a lesson she's probably gonna need to embrace early on!
Watch this...I haven't even started the post and I am already going to go on a tangent (hey, it's what I'm known for)...
I wanted to use the word "reminiscing" for this post because, well, that's what this post is about! But I needed to look it up to make sure I was spelling it correctly. And that just got me going on a whole other tangent (see – I told you I was known for going on tangents!)...because what should pop up in the Google results...like #2 in the Google results (really, you go try it!) is the video of the song "Reminiscing" by the Little River Band. Well, I just HAD to click the link and oh.my.god I was thrown back 30 years in like 2.5 beats of the music!
So now, my iTunes account is $4.95 lighter and I'm rocking out to the Little River Band! Why, you ask, would the song "Reminiscing" cost $4.95? Well, I would answer, because I got reacquainted with "The Lonesome Loser" and "Lady". Oh and do you remember "The Night Owls?" And, I had to have "Cool Change." Oh, I thought of buying the whole album, and I might still! This will get me started.
Okay, back to the post...
The past several days have found me thinking about the early 80s when I was in high school and the early 90s when I was just out of college. Facebook is the culprit for most of it. It turns out a lot of people I went to high school with are on Facebook and I've been catching up with them! One went so far as to post the class picture from seventh grade on the internets. ON THE INTERNETS people! Are we nuts???
Well, since I hadn't thought to include my maiden name in my Facebook profile, and I hadn't done a whole lot of searching for people I knew on Facebook yet, I guess people who come across my name in a search for people from my high school don’t recognize me by my married name. Until the previously mentioned photo was posted with my name attached to my picture. (And let me tell you, it's not flattering - the picture, that is! There is a very bad attempt at what I can only guess is Farrah Fawcett hair and then there’s the overalls I am wearing. Ewwww! (Oh, didn’t ya know, I was a fashion plate back then!))
I've had a few people I haven't heard from since, well, high school, friend me in the past couple of days. And there's been conversations with friends from long ago about people we used to hang out with and then there is the searching through yearbooks and scrapbooks to remember what people looked like. Oh, and that just gets you thinking about band trips and football games and dances and all kinds of things that make you cringe at first, but then you remember them fondly! (Probably because you find out there isn't any photographic evidence!)
And with all this remembering, I decided to look up a few friends my College years on facebook and found one who I got in touch with. And that brought out another I hadn't spoke with in several years. And it goes on and on. I’m kinda digging this Facebook phenomena.
On Saturday night, we headed over to South Jersey to spend the evening at Aunt Rachel’s for the annual Alloway Halloween Parade. The Parade got rained out but Rachel and her friends Sue and Jackie and I sat around and talked about all the trouble they used to get into together (I tagged along there for a while back in the early 90s!) Oh, more cringing…I mean it’s one thing to discuss the stupid and crazy things you did quietly through email with friends, but to discuss it out loud in front of your husband is so a different story!
And with the Phillies on the verge of…well, let’s just talk about that after it happens because I don’t want to be accused of jinxing anything. So let’s just say that around these parts there’s a lot of thinking back to 1980!
So, you see, it has been several days of reminiscing. And I'm finding that to be exhausting! But lots of fun. And frustrating, because I realize I don't remember half of what I did way back when! (Which, in some ways, is not so bad! hehe) I’m finding it to be cathartic in a way. I haven’t quite begun to look for pictures that have been put away – I did find a few scrapbooks that have pictures from way back when. I might be posting some here and there. Don’t worry, won’t be posting pictures of others without permission! I am not going to risk another picture of me dressed up funny with a horrible attempt at a popular hairstyle making it to the internets again! Unless I post it myself!
One of my high school friends posted an old class picture from (gulp!) 1980 or 1981 (when the heck was I in 7th grade??) on Facebook (what an evil, evil invention, Facebook, that is, not pictures) (well, maybe pictures too!) and I got to searching for old pictures.
Haven't a clue where most of them are as I was never really good about putting them in places I could get to them easily, like, say in an album that sits on a shelf? Nope, I used to store them in shoe boxes. Yep, if I ever want to remember what fashionable shoe I was wearing during Jr. High or High School, I just have to find my old pictures! (For that matter, every corsage I had from major dances in highschool are also stuffed into shoe boxes, stored in my hope chest...Do you know how hard it is for me to throw out a shoe box? Oh, therapy is usually involved!)
And as I get older, I tend to forget where I put things. Especially now that I have lots of nooks and cranny's of the house to hide things!
Well, it turns out (as Brock points out), we at one point in our early lives in this house had the resourcefulness to shove all the pictures we could find into a big plastic box. At least one that I was able to get to easily this evening! So I'm digging through that box and I found some negatives of pictures I KNOW I have around here somewhere. Graduation pictures and Prom pictures. Oh, I am sure there is a band trip or two in there too. So guess what I will be doing this weekend when I have some time. That's right, tracking down them old pictures and scanning them in and posting them to Facebook! Payback is a bitch! ;-)
But that's not really what I meant to post about. No, I got to thinking about how much pictures are a daily occurrence for us today (and by us, I mean everyone). With digital cameras, it's so easy to have a picture taken of something or someone every single day. And not just special events, but just everyday ordinary things.
I mean, pictures back when I was in jr. high and high school were taken on special occasions - Prom, Graduation, Band Trips, Football games, Homecoming. Any everyday type pictures that were taken were taking by the Yearbook staff or by the kids who put together the newspaper. And that was probably because they could develop the pictures on their own! It was expensive to take pictures to be developed. And time consuming...I mean, it used to take A WEEK or more to get pictures! Remember that? Wow, can you imagine??
It was just something I thought about when I thought about finding my old pictures. I know where just about every picture I have taken in the past 5 or so years, on my computer...they are all digital. Prior to that, they are hidden somewhere in this house in an old shoe box! And no, they were not Manolo Blahniks!
Good one today!
For You, Bruce Springsteen
Lorenzo, Phil Collins
Only Human (From the Casa Nova Sessions), Jason Mraz
Stompin' At The Savoy, Harry Connick, Jr.
Reason To Believe, Bruce Springsteen
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), The Four Tops
Radio, Smash Mouth
Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo, Rick Derringer
Sara, Fleetwood Mac
Kiss From A Rose, Seal
Can.Not.Wait...
Season 5 of Top Chef starts November 12th.
Now you know where I will be every Wed night at 10PM.
This time around, they are in NYC! Awesome!
Can.Not.Wait!
Apparently, I'm not the only one around here who isn't getting enough sleep!
I was sitting at my desk yesterday when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked out the window and I saw this squirrel stretching out on this branch. I wasn't quite sure what he was doing. I thought he was stretching to reach something, when all of a sudden, he went slack, closed his eyes and seemingly fell asleep. For about three or four minutes before he sat up again, scratched a few times and bounded down the tree and off toward the creek.
It was so darn cute, I had to take a picture.
Apparently 3-4 minutes is all a little squirrel needs. Me, I could use a whole darn afternoon!
A closer look...
We had a really busy weekend! On Saturday, we finished cleaning the house and headed on out to meet the Durhams and Karen and Sydney for a trip to Linvilla for a hayride and maybe a pumpkin or two!
The day was beautiful, albeit a little chilly! So we dressed accordingly. We got to Linvilla and headed first for the lunch lines...luckily this year, we got there a little earlier than last and it didn't take too long to get some lunch. A good thing when you have 3 hungry pre-schoolers. So we had a little lunch and headed over for a hayride.
It was a nice little hayride though the woods and through the orchards. We saw pears and peaches (well, peach trees!) and pumpkin patches and squash and tomatoes and peppers and of course, apple trees (and TONS of apples!). The girls enjoyed the hayride, even sitting at the front, right behind the tractor where the dust flew up in our faces! Oh joy!
After the hayride, we headed over to the playground and the girls ran around and tried every piece of equipment they could! They climbed and slid down slides and down poles and 'drove' trucks and saw turkeys and chickens. They had everything but swings, which Leda pointed out to me about a billion times!
We got them all to sit still for a few seconds so we could get a group picture!
After we finally dragged the kids off the playground, we all headed for home. First, I stopped at the farm market and purchased two pies for dinner - one apple that had just come out of the oven and one pumpkin, in lieu of the pumpkin we DIDN'T purchase! We'll get pumpkins closer to home this coming weekend.
Home we headed were I started to prep for dinner. We had the Durhams, Karen and Sydney, Chris, the Shiers and the Gabbs all join us for dinner on Saturday night. The adults had a nice sit down dinner and then we had the pies purchased earlier that day at Linvilla. And it was a good thing I bought two pies! The pumpkin pie went first...just about everyone went straight for the pumpkin pie! We had a little sliver of apple left over! And everyone had a slice! It was YUMMMM! good!
Sunday was a slower day, but since I didn't sleep well the night before, I dragged all day. I had to work a bit in the morning and then Leda and I headed out shopping. We met Aunt Karen for a little troll bead shopping and then we headed off to Target to shop for Leda's Halloween outfit.
Leda had announced several weeks ago, actually, two months ago, that she wanted to be a fairy for Halloween. A week later, she said she wanted to be a pirate. So I decided then we would wait for as long as we could to get her outfit! A week later, she was back to wanting to be a fairy and added that it was a BLUE fairy she wanted to be.
So we headed to Target to hopefully (with fingers crossed) find a blue fairy outfit, or something we could pretend was a blue fairy outfit. Leda saw the Cinderella outfit and wanted to be Cinderella! Then she wanted to be the Little Mermaid. I pointed out the Tinkerbell outfits (okay, they weren't blue, but they were a fairy! A famous fairy at that!) but she decided that she definitely wanted to be the Little Mermaid. "Besides, Mommy," she says to me, "they don't have any blue fairy outfits. So I'll just be the Little Mermaid this year." Well, okay. At least she was very grown up about it and there was no fussing. Awesome!
Of course, there is still two weeks before Halloween. I am sure that gives her plenty of time to change her mind!!
It was a good weekend. Busy and fun. We are looking forward to heading over to Aunt Rachel's this Saturday for the Halloween Parade in Alloway! The first of many wearings of the Halloween costume!
After this, I'm going 70s - a little Simon & Garfunkel, Mott the Hoople...I might even have to download a little Bowie...I'm feeling like some Glam Rock today! (okay, so S&G don't fit that bill, but whatever!)
I Can't Stand It, The Velvet Underground
Drive In Drive Out, Dave Matthews Band
Sweet Jane, Mott The Hopple
Minimum Wage, They Might Be Giants
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), US 3 Featuring Rahsaan & Gerard Presencer
Highway In The Wind, Arlo Guthrie
My Sweet Girl, John Hiatt
The Devil Went Down To Gerorgia, The Charlie Daniels Band
Good Times Bad Times, Led Zeppelin
Deadbeat Club, The B-52's
Wonder what got me in the Glam Rock mood? Watched Life on Mars again last night...loving that show! Favorite line from last night..."If ignorance was a drug, you'd be high all the time." Love it!
It's bedtime at the Yates household and it's Daddy's turn to read books. And all I hear is Leda screaming the names of body parts at the top of her lungs. Ah, I think to myself, I know exactly which book Brock is reading...Ain't Gonna Paint No More !
Ain't Gonna Paint No More is our favorite book. Leda got it for her birthday. She loves it. We love reading it. It's a very cute and fun book! It's got a rhythmic chant to it, and I think it might end up being the first book reads on her own!
And it's so exciting to hear her scream with glee the body part that is mentioned at the end of each phrase! Oh, and the giggling!
For example...
"So I take some red and I paint my...(and on the next page is the body part, but Leda yells it out before we turn the page) HEAD!" (giggle!!)
Seriously, try not to laugh out loud when you read this book with Leda!
Just one of those things I look forward to once or twice a week when the book gets put into rotation!
Tonight, while Leda takes a bath and I clean the rest of the bathroom (multi-tasking!):
Leda: Why do we have belly buttons?
Me: Because that's where you were attached to Mommy when you lived in my belly.
Leda: That was when I was really, really little and couldn't talk.
Me: That's right. And then you were born. That's why your birthday is so special.
Leda: And then I had a birthday party! A BIG birthday party!
Me: That's right!
Leda: Then I got bigger.
That was the basic gist of the conversation. It was probably one of the cutest conversations I've had with her lately!
Thank god she didn't ask how she got into Mommy's belly in the first place. SO not ready for that conversation!
We spent the past weekend at the seashore. It was a beautiful weekend! We totally lucked out. The weekend had been planned for a couple of months now, we offered to close up the beach house for the Durhams way back in July. We just hadn't picked the weekend until the beginning of September. You never know what you are gonna get!
Well, we got shorts weather. Shorts and sweatshirts that could be removed when the sun got you all warmed up. The mornings and evenings were cool but the days were just plain nice! We headed down right after work on Friday night and stopped for dinner on the way. We got to the shore house around 9 pm and hung out for awhile, aired out the place and got Leda into bed by 10 or 11!
Figured we'd all sleep in on Saturday! Me, sleep in at the beach? Yeah, not often heard of, but I was tired so I was looking forward to sleeping until 8, MAYBE even 9 am. Apparently, the kid, she takes after me...up at 6:30 AM down at the beach!
We spent a leisurely morning, got ourselves showered and dressed and headed down to Stone Harbor around 10am for the Art and Music festival. We walked along the shopping district, checking out the stores (most all were open and having sales!) and checked out the art for sale. I was wearing my new York College sweatshirt, purchased the previous weekend (!!) and was a little freaked out to be stopped by not one York College alumni, not TWO York College alumni, but FOUR(!!) York College alumni...all within a few stores of one another!! It was a little bizarre! Very interesting to run into so many YCP alumni! 
We made a few purchases (books and a coloring book for Leda) and headed back to Avalon to the Seafood festival! Turns out, we picked a great weekend for events as well as weather! We walked through the booths and looked at all the fun stuff for sale and Leda and I bought some bracelets. Then we had some seafood for lunch...Leda and Brock shared some fried shrimp (and hot dogs) and I had an awesome crab cake sandwich! And all steps from the beach! Awesome!
We headed back to the house for naps. We spent a lazy afternoon napping and after naps, we took a walk down to the beach. Leda was practically soaking wet within 5 seconds of hitting the beach! The water was actually WARMER this past weekend than it was when we were there in early July. The water in July was about 58 degrees (due to a southeastern wind blowing the warmer water out to sea) and this weekend the water was about 66 degrees! It definitely felt warmer!
After our walk down the beach, we took Duff for a walk to the bay. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach in Avalon and we were a bit nervous about breaking a law we had already broke several times before on prior trips! On our walk on the beach, we noticed many dogs romping around, but we decided that we'd take Duff for a walk to the bay and then we needed to get ready for dinner.
We had a really nice dinner at the Winddrift. Leda was so well behaved! We had a lovely dinner and walked out to the beach afterward to watch some kids playing football. Before dinner we had seen some kids on the soccer field playing football (American) and Leda announced she wanted to play soccer when she grew up!
After dinner, we headed home and just hung out. Leda went to bed and Brock and I watched a movie, a little news and headed off to bed ourselves. Sunday was another early morning, but this Sunday down the shore was without Kohlers doughnuts as they closed for the season last month! boo! 
Sunday was clean up and close up day. Intermixed with a little roaming around town and walking on the beach. We took Duff out on the beach in the morning and we all had a great time. Leda was again, soaked in no time at all! Duff was a little apprehensive about being on the beach, we expect he's starting to show his age a bit.
We headed downtown so I could purchase a new sweatshirt and some sunglasses and then we took a drive down (actually, up!) to the north end of town. We walked out on the jetty at the end of Avalon, where the ocean meets the bay. We saw some fish in a tidal pool. We looked for the bald eagle that the fishermen say had landed on the jetty the day before (we didn't see him)! And, of course, I complained that I didn't have my darn camera!
Back to the house for some lunch and then the real work began. We checked off all the things on our list and packed up the car and headed for home around 2PM. We were VERY sad to leave the beach. With any luck, we'll be heading back next summer!
See some more pictures here!
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