The 9 layers of ME!
I saw this one over at Postcards from the Edge and wanted to do it!
LAYER ONE:
Name: Krys S.
Birth date: December 18, 1960
Birthplace: Montclair, NJ
Current Location: Clifton, NJ
Eye Color: Blue-green, depending on what I'm wearing
Hair Color: Brown with blonde highlights
Height: 5'8"
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
LAYER TWO:
Your heritage: 1/2 Polish, 1/2 American (Dutch, English, Lenni Lenape)
The shoes you wore today: tan sandals
Your weakness: Those disgusting circus peanut candies! (I stay away from them or I'll eat the whole bag!)
Your fears: Fire, losing my family
Your perfect pizza: Mystic Pizza with extra cheese and meatballs
Goal you’d like to achieve: Lose 11 more pounds
LAYER THREE:
Your most overused phrase on AIM: 'kay
Your first waking thoughts: I wonder if I could get away with calling out sick today?
Your best physical feature: My height
What you miss the most: My family around me
LAYER FOUR:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald’s or Burger King: Burger King
Single or group dates: I LOVE a date with my husband but we both really like going out with our friends!
Adidas or Nike: Niether - Avia
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Couldn't tell you, not too picky
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee
LAYER FIVE:
Smoke: Never, not once
Cuss: Yes, damn it! (Oops!)
Sing: I sing - badly. Knew DH and I were meant for each other when we started singing along to the radio in the car, out loud, not caring that the other heard how bad we are (although he's worse than me!).
Take a shower everyday: Absolutely, but maybe once in a while I'll miss a day on the weekend, at the lake
Do you think you’ve been in love: Absolutely
Want to go to college: Graduated University of Delaware
Liked high school: Loved it
Want to get married: I did - best decision I ever made!
Believe in yourself: More so each day
Get motion sickness: No
Think you’re attractive: Well, no one runs screaming into the wind, but there's a LOT of room for improvement!
Think you’re a health freak: No
Get along with your parent(s): Yes, even when we're not! (Miss you, Dad!)
Like thunderstorms: Not really
Play an instrument: Wish I could - took a couple weeks of piano lessons once
LAYER SIX:
In the past month…
Drank Alcohol: No
Smoked: Never did, never will
Done a drug: Never did, never will
Made out: Yes
Gone on a date: Yes
Gone to the mall: Yes
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No, not an Oreo fan
Eaten sushi: Ewww! No!
Been on stage: No
Been dumped: No, thank goodness!
Gone skating: No
Made homemade cookies: No
Gone skinny dipping: No, unless you count in the shower!
Dyed your hair: No
Stolen anything: No
LAYER SEVEN:
Ever…
Played a game that required removal of clothing: Yes.
If so, was it mixed company: Yes, with my husband!
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
Been caught “doing something”: No
Been called a tease: Yes, but he was teasing!
Gotten beaten up: Nope
Shoplifted: I tried, but my dad caught me, spanked me, and it's never crossed my mind again!
Changed who you were to fit in: No
LAYER EIGHT:
Age you hope to be married: I thought I'd be married by 28. So I was off by a decade!
Numbers and Names of Children: 1 daughter, Maria, and 1 son, John
Describe your Dream Wedding: My dad would have walked me down the aisle and we would have danced the Father/Daughter dance. I still can't watch another bride dance with her dad without breaking down. Other than that, my wedding WAS my dream wedding!
How do you want to die: Before my husband, and in my sleep
Where you want to go to college: Already graduated from the University of Delaware
What do you want to be when you grow up: Financially stable
What country would you most like to visit: France
LAYER NINE:
Number of people I could trust with my life: 4
Number of CDs that I own: Maybe 30
Number of piercing: One, unless you count both ears!
Number of tattoos: Zero
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: 3 that I know of (when my dad died, when we got married, and when we wanted to add on to our house at the lake)
Number of scars on my body: 4
Number of things in my past that I regret: 1

YOUR TURN! If you decide to play…let me know cause I wanna read your 9 layers!

Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium.

I'm SUCH a tourist! I just LOVE going places I've never been and taking over 500 pictures (of course only about 250 were actually in focus and bright enough to see!) and doing all the touristy things you can do...

We drove up to Mystic on Friday morning. Friday, our 9th anniversary. And we spent it driving. Together. In one vehicle. And I wasn't driving. 'Nough said.

We got there with no traffic events and that includes no traffic over the George Washington Bridge. I think that's the first time I've driven over it and not hit disgusting delays. We took our time on the way to Mystic, stopping once at the Connecticut Tourist Center on I-95. We picked up, oh, I don't know, 20 or 30 pamphlets which, for the rest of the trip, were strewn on the car floor under my feet. (I should have thought to take a picture of that - THAT would have been a great scrapping picture! Perhaps I can recreate it...)

We went to the hotel and couldn't check in; we were too early. We drove to Mystic and walked around the shops. It was like someone was smiling down on us: no traffic on the way there, parking right on the street... We saw the Mystic Drawbridge stop traffic for several minutes while some GORGEOUS boats passed through below us.

We went back to the hotel after 3pm to check in and there it was: my 1st mistake. I booked the room online but didn't notice the miniature cigarette on the room icon. It was a smoking room but I didn't know it. I DID notice they didn't ask me if I wanted smoking or non-smoking so I put a note on my reservation for a non-smoking room. When we were there to check in they told us they were sold out and didn't know if they could move us. While we were there she answered the phone a few times and each time the person was told, "Sorry, we're sold out. We have no rooms. I don't think there are many rooms available in town..." They offered to put some kind of machine in our room to take out as much smoke as possible, some sort of air purifier or something, so we thanked them, opened the window and put the A/C on 60 degrees, then left them to clean the air.

We went back to town and ate at Mystic Pizza. (Tourist here, remember?!?) And the pizza was, indeed, terrific! The movie was playing (no sound) on several TV screens around the room so DH and I spent the time reciting dialogue... Can you tell we've seen the movie?!?

We walked around a bit more and returned to the now freezing room. There's no way, for the record, to get smoke out of a smoking room. So we left the window open and the A/C on, put our pillows on the window ledge to air out, called the front desk for another non-smelly blanket, turned on the television and watched some mindless stuff for an hour or so. They were very cooperative and brought up a blanket within 10 minutes or so. At least that helped when it was time to go nappies...

On Saturday we went to Mystic Seaport. We went in every building, walked in/on/around every ship, visited every shop in case they had some have-to-have-it junk, and had an absolute BLAST checking out all the wooden boats that were docked there for the Antique Boat Show we didn't know would be there!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, then went to Mystic Aquarium. It rained ALL.DAY. Not part of the day. ALL.DAY. So the 30% of the Aquarium that was outside we were lucky enough to tour in the early morning so we didn't get too wet; it was drizzling then. The skies opened around lunchtime, with such thunder and lightning, and we spent the afternoon indoors. A bit damp and a bit chilly, but not soaking wet, at least! We left around 3pm for the trip home and didn't get home 'til around 7:30 - a much longer return trip than the trip there.

We didn't eat any lunch; we stopped on the road, ate some tortilla chips and salsa, then continued on our way. By the time we got home we were ravenous! DH made himself an omelet and I ate my leftover Citrus Chicken (mmm!). Then we just sat down and relaxed.

On Monday we got up and went to Home Depot (surprise, surprise!). Then our friends M & G called and said they'd love to go with us to the lake and see the house (I had to go pick up a book). We took them on a mini tour on 1 side of the lake, stopped at a house that was for sale, a house we were all interested in... It's under construction, framed, sided, windowed, and roofed, with 2 tubs installed (or possibly just set into place), and a deck, but nothing else. No electric, no plumbing, no anything else. We called our realtor to get a price for M & G, but if they're not interested, to be quite honest, DH and I are! I just wish the real estate market was a bit better. It would have been PERFECT to get it at the price our realtor recommended three years ago, fix it and resell it, when homes were still moving at if not top dollar, at least for what they were worth. Now it would be a tough thing to do; we'd be carrying it for a while. Not sure it's something we really want to get into, but we're mulling it over...

Well, I'm at work and at some point I have to get back to doing what they pay me to do, so I'm gonna sign off now! Toodles!

An award!!! An award!!! I've won an award!!! I've never won an award before!!!

My blogging friend, Miss Hope, has awarded me the Brilliant Weblog Premio-2008 Award! [Personally I think the southern sun has caused her to feel a bit faint - surely I don't deserve such an award... If you read her blog, you'll see she thinks I have a busy life. Not really, not busy...]

The only catch is that I have to pass the Award along to seven other worthy bloggers. (I suppose I can't really just send it on back to Miss Hope, since she's already received her award but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE visit her - she'll be your friend, too!)

So let's try it... here you go...

1. Jeanette at A Passion for Scrapbooking, Decorating and Shopping - Some day my house will look like hers - NOT! I found her while I was trying to design a scrapping room but she's since become one of my favorite bloggers. She somehow has the time to find all this stuff, but the thing that appeals to me the most is her vision. She has an idea in her head of how she wants her house to look, and is on a path to getting it. Not like me - not only is my dinner table full of leftovers and hand-me-downs, but my home is, too!!! One of the nicest things about Jeanette is she's so responsive - if you drop her an email or a comment, it's not unusual to hear back from her...
2. Dawn at Because I Said So is the mother of 6. Now although I haven't birthed them from my loins, I'm the (step)mom of 2 (adult kids) and every time I visit the salon, I ask if there's a grey hair in there. So far, no, but I know, deep inside, it's just a matter of time! 6 kids! Young'uns, too! But she has time to write a book, visit BlogHer as a speaker... I haven't even done a load of laundry in weeks (thank goodness DH is on summer break and he's been doing them!)... Dawn and I have never met, but my neighbor has 5 boys, and when I read Dawn's blog, I can so easily pretend that she lives right next door!!!
3. I actually had the chance to meet Suzanne when I visited my sister in AZ this past spring. If you know me, you know that I am obsessed with becoming organized. Not that I've done it, not that I'm particularly in the process of doing it, but along with time management (another lofty goal!), I read all I can read about organization with the intention of applying it (someday). Suzanne has this great website called Let's Talk Organizing. I actually won several hours of organizing help from her when she opened her new offices; that's how we "met" and when I found myself heading out AZ-way, we both jumped at the opportunity to meet. She's a fun, bubbly lady who loves her kids, Scotland, 2008 Dodge Caravans and her blog - go and read her blog for some terrific ideas and you'll meet a great person, too!
4. I have the pleasure of working with Ellen at a not-to-be-named publishing house in NJ (yes, if you do a bit of digging, you could figure it out...). Her blog is IT-oriented, family-oriented, music-oriented, work-oriented - in no particular order! She's a bright, funny woman and I think you should visit her blog to laugh and learn (again, in no particular order!).
5. Although I can't say that I'm personally friends with Heather, I think her site, Dooce, is one of the best blogs I've ever run across. Her writing is outstanding, and what a way with words!! I'll warn you - it's not for the faint of heart! But if you read nothing else, read her monthly newsletters to her daughter Leta - that is one mom just filled to bursting with love for her baby girl!!! And be sure to check out her three daily photo postings - love her sense of style and Chuck and Coco? A picture is worth a thousand words!

I can't do it. I can't come up with 7. I don't want to just list 7 blogs I read. I wanted them to be friends. Blog pals. Like Miss Hope. I read quite a few blogs, most of them, though, topical - they're scrapping blogs, and while they're great, they're not my friends, and I can't speak personally about the authors. There are a couple up there that are more acquaintances than friends, but as you know, their lives are open to us through their blogs and we just feel like we know them!

Even though Miss Hope has already received this award from her friend Chelle, I think she deserves it again, so she's my #6!

I have a #7 but it's a private blog and she wouldn't be too thrilled with receiving this award. So E, #7 is for you, but you'll never know about it 'cause I won't tell you about it, and you don't know I have a blog...

Thanks to all who kept my daughter in their prayers last week.

The surgery was successful in a number of ways. No tumors. No cysts. They removed a lot of endometriosis that was spreading toward her back, but there was none on her organs. Her recovery will be painful; after all, her insides were all moved around and scraped... No need to remove her ovary, as she had thought...

AND she's feeling better, post-op, and can't wait to come home. So much so, in fact, that she's been calling us several times a day... She's staying with her mom, which is good for her - her little brother and sister are there to entertain her, but she's really looking forward to being here, in her own apartment.

I suggested she put together a shopping list and her Dad and I can buy what she needs and get it into the apartment before she comes home. We'd be happy to go down and pick her up; don't know yet how or when she's coming back up here, but we hope it's before Friday, when we leave for our mini vacation in...

Ta da!

Mystic, CT!

I've always wanted to go there! Jack originally wanted to go to a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, but we're last-minute planners (unless we're traveling with others who are not!) and our anniversary weekend wasn't available. Plus, quite frankly, the rooms were much more expensive than we're comfortable spending. I just can't wrap my arms (or my checkbook!) around more than $200 a night for a bed and a bathroom, no matter how nice they are, not when I have to pay for them! When I'm traveling for work and getting reimbursed? Money is no object! But we just need a clean room, clean sheets and a clean bathroom - we're only going to be there to shower and sleep...

I can't wait to go! I'll post some pictures next week, when we return!

I'd like to ask for your prayers...

My DSD has been suffering for YEARS from endometriosis, along with a pre-big-C condition of her cervix, and severe cramping and ovarian tumors and fibroid tumors.

This Friday she goes in (again) for a laparoscopy. While it's minimally invasive, she was pretty sore the last time she had one done.

Please cross your fingers, light a candle, say a prayer - whatever you're comfortable with... She's been in pain for years and years, and with other stuff going on in her life, being healthy would bring her a lot of peace of mind...

Thanks, friends!

THIS, THIS is why, other than the fact that I'm married to the most perfect man in the world, I am SO GLAD I'M NOT SINGLE.

Please allow me to warn you - you will be disgusted by this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acERZQIAjUk

I know nothing about the background of this clip; I heard it on a blog I visit once a week or so. Be sure to read the history on YouTube. And whatever you do, don't go to Dmitri's website...

Now keep in mind that I'm no great beauty. Men have never crawled out of the woodwork and fought each other have the honor of taking me out on a date. (They don't run screaming into the wind, either, though!) In fact, you can count on one finger how many boyfriends I've had, and on one hand how many different men I've dated in my life at least once. BUT, before you think me a pathetic loser, keep in mind that when you're waiting for Mr. Right, it's not such bad a thing to not have to suffer through all those Mr. Wrongs...

I knew all about the theory of kissing a few toads before you find your prince. However, I've discarded that theory as absolutely DISGUSTING after watching the various Bachelors and Bachelorettes kiss several toads, all within hours (or minutes!) of each other, whilst looking for Mr./Miss Right. [Insert disgusted shiver here.]

I'm a firm believer in waiting for THE ONE. And I also believe we all have a ONE. We just have to be open to the possibilities, just not open for business!!!

And I truly believe, in my heart of hearts, that Dmitri is not THE ONE for ANYONE!!!

Sex and the City.

A movie I would have bet money I'd never see.

And I'd have lost.

Last week my niece called me and asked if I wanted to go see it with her. I debated and debated. After all, it's not my cup of tea.

The movie tickets were free. And I hadn't been to a movie in months and months and months and I miss going to the movies.

And surprisingly, it wasn't bad. Now, none of the girls will win an Academy Award for their performances, but if you look beneath the sex and the city and the labels, it did a good job illustrating the devotion and dedication best girlfriends have with/for each other.

And I'll never brag that I went to see it. After all, I spent a lot of minutes over the life of the HBO show telling how "I don't watch porn" and "I saw 5 minutes of an episode once and all I saw was Samantha having sex with some guy."

But it brought back girlfriends and fun and parties and get-togethers and I miss the Entenmann's Pineapple Crunch Cake after the Domino's Garbage Pie with Coke or Pepsi, and the pot (or pots) of coffee we'd go through with dessert.

Oh well, even though the girls never really moved on, we did, but I can't wait for dinner at the Olive Garden and a little girl talk!!!

Assorted photos, as promised weeks ago...

Went to Teaberry's in Flemington with Mom, P and A for a girly lunch, to celebrate P's b'day. Yummy food and wonderful conversation!









Shopping at Ikea for a scrapping Expedit... Parked in the parking garage. Saw a car "parked" in the middle of the street, missing a bumper or two. Saw a spark under the hood. Within minutes (and AFTER we moved my car away!), it was up in flames! DH wanted to put the fire out with an extinguisher, but the police officer wouldn't let him. He said the firemen were on their way. Had he let Jack do it, the poor guy's car could have been saved. Instead, totaled.










In June my handsome nephew graduated from high school. When last updated, he's heading for college at William Paterson. Hope he does it, and does it well.










Traveled to Chicago at the end of June, on business. Here's the closest I got to Navy Pier.

Okay, fine. I've been tagged. By Miss Hope at http://phopecj.blogspot.com/

Let me tell you, if I didn't think she was just the cat's meow, I'd be ignoring that tag and running the other way... But since she's THIS awesome... Here goes...


Here's the deal. Think back on the last 15 years of your life.What would you tell someone that you hadn't seen or talked to for 15 years? How would you sum up your life? You get 10 bullet points. A list of 10 things to summarize about you. At the end of your list, tag 5 more people and send on the love.


Ten things about me during the past 15 years, hmmm??? Okay...

• First and foremost, 15 years (and a little more) with my husband. Those 15 years are 15 of the best of my life. How wonderful to spend that time with the love of my life. A man who loves me. A man I don't doubt in any way, shape or form. A man who puts me first over and above all else, although it is in addition to his kids... Knowing that no one will ever come ahead of me - what a feeling!! [Insert pretty white daisy.] He loves me. He loves me. He loves me. He loves me... Get the picture?
• Secondly, 15 years (and a little more) without my dad. 15 years of missing the first man in my life. Missing the dad who taught me what a dad and a husband should be. The man who taught me that nothing comes ahead of your family. The man who taught me not to settle for second best. The man who taught me that I could do anything.
• Thirdly, I've been a stepmother since 1999. I've known the kids much longer than that; their dad and I started dating in 1990. Being a mother has always been my #1, numero uno, top'o'the'heap goal in life. I still can't get my arms around the thought that I'm not ever going to give birth. Although I didn't birth my stepkids from my loins, I can't imagine loving them any more than I do. And I can't imagine any more pain than watching them suffer through the slings and arrows of puberty and young adulthood and the pride in watching them become adults in their own right.
• Fourthly, I was born in 1960, to two very traditional parents. I always thought the way to go was to find a job and stay there until you retire. In 2003 I got laid off from a job I'd been at for 15 years (love that number!) and had planned to be at until I retired. What do you do? You dust yourself off, wrongly assume the world is out there for the taking, and remain unemployed for a year-and-a-half, waiting for a job to come along that will pay the bills and not make you the most miserable S.O.B. on the planet. And guess what?! It most certainly did come along! I learned that there are companies out there who put you, the person, ahead of you, the professional. And that's actually part of their HR policy!
• Fifthly, for 15 years (and 37 more), I've been a sister and a daughter and an aunt and an in-law. As I've gotten older, I've watched my mom lose a sister, and then her parents. I've watched my sisters grow up and become smart, beautiful, loving women I'm so very proud of. (Sorry about ending that sentence with a preposition!) I have a handsome, smart nephew who just graduated from high school. I have a beautiful, smart niece who has a couple of years to go before she graduates from highs school. I'm mad about them both! And I've been lucky enough to gain a huge family of in-laws who I absolutely ADORE! They've welcomed me into their family, along with my small troup of family members, with open arms. They are so very loving and an absolutely wonderful group of people.
• Sixthly (yes, I'm going to torture you with those numbers...), I had the absolute best mother-in-law anyone could ever have. Losing her to colon and liver cancer in 2001 was horrible. I was lucky enough to be able to spend every day except 2 with her from her diagnosis in October 2000, to her death May 24, 2001. And I don't regret a thing except that Jack and I were married such a short time before her illness and her death that I didn't have a chance to learn how to cook from her! And another regret that ties into my relationship with her: she made me realize how much I regret my behavior when my dad was sick. He was sick from August 1986 and he died March 16, 1987. And I didn't spend the time with him that I should have. I was much younger. But I should have known better. I know you can't change the past, but I wish I could.
• Seventhly, I am so very lucky to have so many wonderful friends in my life. One I met in college, and we're still thisclose. A few were friendly acquaintances in high school, but we got to be friends when we worked on our HS reunions together. Some others are neighbors I met when we moved into our neighborhood. Others are friends I met at various jobs, who became more than work friends, who became important forever friends. My sisters, too, are my friends, as is my sister-in-law and my nieces-in-law. I'm blessed to have these wonderful people in my life.
• Eighthly, and I've blogged about this before. I've discovered a hidden inner bit of creativity that I never knew I had. I scrap. There, I said it. And I am happy with what I scrap. So happy that we're actually dedicating space to my scrapping in our lake house, by means of our combination guest room/scrap room. And my DH has recognized how important scrapping is to me, so much so that he's the one all gung ho about putting a really quality space together, not just slapping a few plastic drawers in a room and calling it done!
• Ninthly, I've discovered that even though I'm - gasp! - 47 years old/young, and currently on the down side of that hill, and only 2-1/2 years away from - bigger GASP! - 50, I am still a young, vital woman with quite a lot left to do in her life, even if she does them with a few more aches and pains every morning. I've started to make a list, a "Bucket List," if you would. Here are a few highlights - Things I Want to Do: travel; learn to cook; learn to quilt; get a pet; when I retire, work somehow/someway to help children learn to read and learn to love reading; be a good - no - great wife (okay, so I have some work ahead of me!)...
• Tenthly, and maybe almost as important as the nine that came before, I've learned in the past 15 years to really like myself. To believe I have a lot to offer. To recognize that I'm worth it (credit to L'Oreal).

I'm supposed to tag 5 more people and ask them to do this. I'm don't think I can come up with five - not many of my friends are bloggers and those that are would run the other way if I tagged them. What I will do, though, is ask a few email buddies to participate. Perhaps we can share these insights that way!
Thanks, Miss Hope, for tagging me - I had barrels of fun doing this and it was a real challenge to me to stay away from the ole' "in 1993, I turned 33 and was driving a Honda Accord" format. I tried to rise to the challenge and describe the "me" I've been these past 15 years. Hope I did an acceptable job...