This past week...

J & A pretending they care...  J ran over to hug her after she got him a birthday present... 

A opening her "going to college" gift.  She was a bit stunned.  Almost speechless!

J waiting to blow his candles out...

J, R and Mom at G & R's picnic.

The baby!!!

Me holding the cutie last Monday!!!

Some photos from the past week or two...

On the way to where?  Lowe's, of course!  We had gone 24 hours without visiting either a Lowe's or a Home Depot!

Hello from Little E!!!  We went out to dinner with her, her mommy and daddy, and her Nana P.

My niece A, at our house, just before we went shopping to get her a planner for:  college!  NO!  Say it isn't so!  She can't possibly be old enough to go to college!!!

My nephew J and his girlfriend J; they came up to the lake for the afternoon yesterday.  We had a great time!  Hope they visit again soon!

He's building a canoe...

If you've ever read any of my blog, you've probably figured out that my husband just doesn't like to sit still.

In fact, it's safe to say that he CAN'T sit still. I do believe he'd spontaneously combust if forced to sit down and do nothing for any length of time. With one notable exception: when we go on a cruise he has no problem parking himself in a chaise lounge and just veg'g. But ONLY on a cruise ship!

His latest project is a cedar strip canoe. He read and read, and bought magazines and books, and read some more, and finally decided to buy a kit, rather than buy all the supplies himself, at least for his first boat.

So here are some representative photos, so far...  The last 5 were taken today, with the application of the first coat of epoxy...

Impressive, right?!  And he's all mine, girls!!!

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile...

Jack went to my mom's house to pull weeds yesterday, weeds that were allowed to overtake the garage from the neighbor's house...  Not paying attention to the fact that he's not 20 years old anymore, he pulled weeds for two hours.  Pull, turn, toss, turn.  Pull, turn, toss, turn.

And so on.  And so on.

He pulled weeds for two hours and after two hours, couldn't stand up at all.

He's in agony. 

He can't stand up straight, he's walking like an old man, bent over, with even his head bowed down, looking toward the ground.

You know he's hurting when he takes 3 Advil without argument.

Usually I'm walking behind him, like a good squaw, but these past two days?  He can't keep up with me.  He's in slow motion, and can't speed it up at all!

Please send get well wishes his way!

I have to brag...

I have an absolutely BEE-YOU-TEA-FULL great niece.  Here, let me prove it to you...
And my mom?  She's beautiful, too.

Lions and Tigers and BEARS, OH MY!!!

So we were at the lake this weekend.  We've had conversations like this one many times over the last nine years ---
Me:  I think it's really cool that a bear crossed the frozen lake and climbed up on to Bob and Chris' deck a few years before we moved next door.
Him:  It may be cool but we REALLY don't want a bear on our deck.
Me:  Well, okay, maybe not ON our deck, but I think it would be SO cool to see a bear up close.
Him:  Not TOO close.
Me:  Okay, not TOO close, but close enough so it's not, like on the other side of the lake.

FYI.  It's official.  In the bank parking lot IS.TOO.CLOSE.

Woodbury Commons

Back when I was younger I could spend the entire day in a malll, just shopping my little heart out. 

Now?

Well, no.

We went to Woodbuy Commons today; both J and I took off from work to spend the day together in celebration of our annniversary yesterday...  He suggested we go up to Woodbury (about an hour's drive away), and just browse around.  The trip was a success - I picked up one Xmas present for friend E, a cute little 9-month sweatshirt and sweatpants outfit for baby E, and of course, the day wouldn't be complete if I didn't buy myself a pocketbook so I picked up one at the Fossil store.

It was a beautiful day, weather-wise:  bright and sunny without any humidity.  After the humid days we've been having (3 heatwaves in a row!),  it was a welcome day.

Can your legs be numb from the hips down, and still hurt???  And my feet?  I can DEFINITELY tell that I spent the day on them!  According to J's cheap pedometer, we only walked about two miles, but I really think we walked more...  We stopped at Applebee's for lunch, then heated up some leftovers when we got home, for dinner. 

I am going to sleep  like a baby tonight.  And I have made a new resolution for work:  I will work my tail off to try and keep the day under control, and when I come home tomorrow, if we don't go to the movies (2 free tickets every Tuesday night from our cable company), I'm going to lay down in bed and rest.  And rest some more.

And then I'll get up and do it again.

[Back to our regularly scheduled programming....]

From my past (revisited)

So this is a repeat of what I posted on my sisters' blog, with a few additions...

I was visiting a blog I recently found, written by a single dad with multiple children in his care, and he was mentioning his childhood, a childhood that started before the 1980s. It got me to thinking, as I'm much older than he is, that there must be quite a bit I'd forgotten about... Here are just a few things...

1. Marlin Perkins & Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
2. The Wonderful World of Walt Disney
3. Pilgrim8-7407
4. manual typewriters and the race to get 1 of the 10 electric typewriters in Mrs. Costello's typing class
5. riding in the back seat without a seat belt
6. Channel Lumber
7. Great Eastern Mills
8. Kresge's
9. Two Guys
10. signing up at the Computer Lab to access a computer in college (OMG, I'm truly O.L.D.)
11. Gino's
12. American Bandstand
13. Saturday Night Fever (edited:  I spent $11 of my monthly $20 allowance on the double album)
14. Abbott & Costello
15. Korvette's
16. Creature Feature
17. Seaside Heights when you could walk on a beach without stepping on cigarette butts
18. crabbing in the bay with Uncle W
19. TV without a remote
20. black and white TV 'cause that's all there was
21. Romper Room
22. The Bowery Boys
23. Wonderama with Bob McAllister
24. Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans
25. My Favorite Martian
26. My baloney has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R...
27. Apollo 11
28. the Manson Murders
29. the birth of the bikini and the mini-skirt
30. The Munich Massacre at the Olympics
31. gas rationing and even/odd days
32. Watergate
33. Pope John Paul II
34. The Me Decade
35. the famine in Bangladesh
36. life before the VCR
37. bra-burning
38. Mr. Ed
39. Pixie Stix
40. Jack's Deli (only if you're from Bloomfield, NJ, will this mean anything to you!)
41. Bradlee's
42. B. Dalton Booksellers
43. Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips on Saturday afternoons when we went to the library
44. baton twirling class at the Civic Center
45. the swings at my grandfather's house
46. the lily pond at my grandfather's house
47. Tommy as Santa Claus at my grandmother's on Christmas Eve
48. my cousin singing Olivia Newton John's I Honestly Love You
49. the start of the Electric Company and Sesame Street
50. HR Pufnstuf
51. Land of the Lost on TV
52. The Greatest American Hero (okay, yes, I love TV!)
53. Lawrence Welk
54. Guy Lombardo
55. The first Rockin' New Year's Eve in 1973
56. The Edge of Night
57. The Secret Storm
58. Luke and Laura
59. the Son of Sam murders
60. Ted Bundy
61. Dirty Harry (1971)

Anyway, some of these were happy memories, some were newsworthy (and not so happy), but all of them were from my youth, in the 1960s and 1970s.  I skipped senior year in high school to go to the Freshman Honors Program at the University of Delaware from 1977 to 1978 and went back to my high school to graduate with my class in 1978.  There are many memories from that first year of college that I could have put on this list, but I didn't.  The most valuable memory is meeting my friend Chris in November 1978 and becoming friends with him "officially" in January 1978.  We've been friends ever since.

I remember getting our dog, Belle, in 1970.  Belle was a beautiful Samoyed and she's spoiled me for any other breed of dog.  If and when we get a dog (we're planning to get one when he/we retire) I'll be pushing for a Samoyed, although I know hubby dearest is pushing for a chocolate lab or a black lab.  The one thing we agree on for sure is no small dogs!  I remember the kids in my school stopping to pet my dog through the fence.

I remember learning to ride a bicycle on M DeF's bicycle; we didn't have a bicycle when I was young.  It was purple and had a banana seat.  I thought I was SO very accomplished when I didn't fall down and go boom!

I remember the first time I had a crush on a guy, Rick G. from my grammar school.  In our 8th grade mimeographed "yearbook" there was a Remember When page.  Totally by accident, I'm sure, the editor included "Remember when Krys C. has a crush on Ricky G.?"  Oh, if only they'd gotten their tenses right!  I can so vividly remember being mortified.  And I blush really bright red when I'm embarrassed!!!

I remember calling white German Shepherds "lemon shepherds" when I was small.

I don't remember this, but my mom loves to tell the story of how I walked around the neighborhood, a mere not-yet-5-years-old new kid on the block, knocking on doors to introduce myself and ask if they had any children I could play with - obviously I was still an only child at this time!

I remember walking to grammar school and back and thinking I was such hot stuff because I could walk alone.  We lived 5 houses from the school.  I really wasn't that cool!

I remember TM getting in trouble in the cafeteria in grammar school for blowing the wrapper from his straw across the table.  Sister Adrien used to stand in the choir-loft-that-would-eventually-become-the-library and ring the school bell if anyone misbehaved at lunch.

I remember when she retired, my dad made her a gavel out of a piece of wood whose grain looked like the Virgin Mary.  People thought she was so strict, but I really liked her a LOT!

I remember getting hayfever for the first time during the STA summer picnic in the summer of 1977, at just 16 years of age.  Never had allergies before that!

And I suppose I could go on forever, but this has been enough of a break.  Gotta go back to work.  I reallly loved remembering these things.  Would love to read YOUR childhood memories...

I am seriously jealous...

I am a total fan of Dooce, aka Heather Armstrong.  If you don't know who she is, read her blog, but prepared to laugh harder than you've ever laughed in your life, and WARNING: although you might get offended by her language, and you might get offended by her politics (and there's a good chance you might support her politics all the way!), one thing you WON'T be is bored!

She recently moved into a new house, and I feel the need to share this link with you.  Just take a look at this hallway and know that I.WOULD.GIVE.MY.RIGHT.ARM.AND.MY.LEFT.ONE.TOO to have a hallway like this one in my house.  It doesn't really matter to me what the rest of the house looks like, although it is gorgeous now and will be even more beautiful when they're fully moved in and decorated, but OMG.I.WANT.THIS.HALLWAY.

Click here to see the hallway.

'Nough said.

Drive By - What a Great Idea!

One of my favorite design blogs is The Inspired Room.  Melissa has awesome taste, and this?  This is one of her best ideas!  She likes to drive by and take pictures of houses that appeal to her, or perhaps it's a picture of a special characteristic of the house (the color of their front door, for example). 

Well this house is about 4 miles from my home, on the way to the hospital; unfortunately we've had to pass it too many times!  Every time I pass it I swear I'm going to take a photo of it because although the Tudor style doesn't do it for me, all those flowers do!!!

Melissa, thanks for the inspiration!!!

OUCH!

So I beat J home from work today.  G and E from next door came running over and G wanted to see the boat that J is building in the cellar.  (In case I didn't mention it, he's building a 13-1/2' cedar strip canoe.)  I took the boys into the house and headed for the basement stairs.  When I opened the door, I thought it quite odd that J had left tools and extension cords and wrapping stuff all over the stairs but thought perhaps time had gotten away from him and he had to rush off to work...  I picked up the stuff so the stairs were clear and we went to look at the canoe.

The boys left and I went and changed out of my work clothes.  Then I went outside, put the sprinkler on and sat on the swing to read.  When J got home, he came in apologizing for what he did to my kitchen.  I was a bit baffled and followed him inside.

It turns out his project d'jour was to remove the basement staircase window and replace it with a new window that has a screen.  Apparently he removed the old window, inserted the new replacement window, and proceeded to unlatch the new window so he could open it and screw it into place.

WARNING:  NO PHOTOS BUT RATHER GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF HIS INJURY FOLLOWS.  Skip the next two paragraphs if you have a weak stomach!

The upper window dropped down onto his right thumb with such force that it, and I quote the Immedicenter doctor:  "It blew out his finger."

There was no sharp edge to cut the finger; the force of the upper pane falling down onto his finger actually popped his finger open, like a balloon.

He was rather adamant that he wasn't going to the emergency room or the Immedicenter, but I played the good wife card:  after begging that he go, saying "please" several times, I reminded him that I rarely if ever ask him for anything but I was asking him to go and get his finger checked out.  He spends his days with his hands in oil, or in gasoline, or in the dirt, or sanding his canoe...  Imagine any of that getting into an open wound.  We're talking an immediate infection.

He agreed to go so we spent a good hour, hour-and-a-half in the Immedicenter.  When the nurse and the doctor looked at it, their immediate reaction was that he definitely needed stitches.

So, four stitches and a tetanus shot later...  His right thumb is wrapped up in what the nurse called a "fancy" bandage:  which in layman's terms means that it's a bandage with gauze wrapped around his full thumb, rather than just a small bandaid on the tip of his finger...  He's a bit annoyed but admitted I was right to make him go.  We have to go back on Sunday morning for them to check it, and the stitches are to be removed in 10 days.  It was a very deep cut.  No I-told-you-sos, but I'll enjoy telling the story...  Now that I know he's okay.  ;-D

I'm a Great Aunt!

And while yes, I AM a great aunt, I'm also now a Great Aunt!!! (Please read this with all of the appropriate fan fare it deserves!!!)

My great niece was born on Friday, July 2, 2010, at 3:51 in the afternoon. She was 8 lbs, 4 oz, and 20-3/4 inches long. Effective immediately she will be referred to as "great niece E" on this blog - it's not my place to post her name and all that...

Last night great niece E's mommy invited J and me over to see the baby.  When I got home from work, J was already home and the first thing out of my mouth, before "Hi, Hon, how was your day?  I missed you!" (Sure, that's EXACTLY how we greet each other after a long day at work!  Well, that's true at least a couple of times a week...   LOL!) was "C invited us over to see the baby tonight!"

J's response?  "I guess that's what we're doing tonight!"

And we did.  And she's so darned adorable!  She's gained some weight, she's fitting perfectly into all these beautiful little outfits we all bought her, AND J and I got to entertain her while her mommy and daddy ate dinner!  Her parents are already trying to get her onto the right day/night schedule; she's got them a bit mixed up!  Now, I never birthed me no babies, so I kept my suggestions and opinions to myself (yes, I can do that when I want to!), but you know something?  They're going to find out soon enough that they're on the baby's schedule, at least for the first couple of weeks!  The baby isn't even 1 week old yet!  Gradually that beautiful little baby girl will get her days and nights straight:  you're just naturally more active during the day, and it's naturally quieter and darker at night... 

Welcome to our world, Little E!!!

Unplugged...

So I spent Sunday unplugged along with P. Well, unplugged except for the requisite phone call to Mom first thing in the morning, and a check-in with P during our Day of Unplugged-ness. (We both pretty much agreed to that phone calls, especially to Mom to check in, were allowed if necessary. Except for Mom and P, the only other phone call I accepted was from DSD, post-surgery. (I couldn't not talk with her; we needed to know how she was doing.)

I started my day at church and then we took a ride up to Bagel Station, on Route 15, where they sell "the best bagels in New Jersey." And it's not just our opinion; they have a sign!!! J had his usual asiago cheese bagel, "the best [I've] ever had!!" And I had a garlic bagel: the first time I had a garlic bagel from them - okay, but their everything is better. I think next time I'll either try J's asiago or the bacon, egg and cheese one...

Then we went home, planted ourselves in lounge chairs on the dock, and absorbed some Vitamin D for a few hours! (I'm not responsible for the scientific accuracy of my blogging!) I have a nice tan from yesterday. It was warmer than on Saturday, a bit more humid, but far from as humid as today. (I only lasted 1/2 an hour today.)

I read a lot: I read Tess Gerritsen's new Ice Cold, James Patterson's new Private, and finished 3 short stories in a book called The Bodyguard (I like Cherry Adair and she was one of the authors). I also finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and started Karen Rose's Silent Scream.

I scrapped some, too, and worked on my art journal. I made this mini book with pictures from A's graduation party.

We went to bed without the usual DVD or TV movie; after all, it was "Unplugged Day."

And that was it...

Unplugged!

So one of my sisters and I were totally hooked on the idea of unplugging for a day last year when Stacy Julian suggested it (at least I think it was her!). The idea is that you leave your cell phone home, you don't turn on the laptop or the computer, you totally walk away from the television and the radio. A return, as it were, to the days of yore, before all those electronic devices began sucking the life out of us and stealing 20 of the 24 hours in our day!

I will admit right now that it will be nigh impossible for me to be totally unplugged from the world. P and I have both agreed that despite our voluntary sacrifice of our cell phones that day, there is one exception: we both have to call Mom at home and check up on her, just to be sure she's okay. Mom's celebrating an anniversary of her 39th birthday this August and I just don't like to go a day without talking with her... The one other exception to the unplugged rule is that we are allowed to use our cameras to document the day: perhaps, as P suggested, a photo of a delicious meal I finally had time to prepare, or a photo from a long, leisurely walk that I finally had time to take, or a photo of the stack'o'books I'll now have time to plow through...

My husband, too, will fight me tooth and nail when I ask him to leave the radio off on Sunday. We normally have the radio on while we sit on the dock and sun or watch the boats or while he works feverishly around the house. I will try my best to convince him to not put the radio on on Sunday, that he will cause me to be actually "cheating" during our "unplugged day." Worst case scenario, I can take advantage of the time to go upstairs, where I can't hear the radio, and I can work on some crafting and art projects that are totally backed up 'cause somewhere, somehow, my day doesn't include 24 whole hours anymore. I'm convinced that my days are only 12 hours long otherwise how could I get so little done in one day?

I'm behind by 2 projects in my Year in the Life of an Art Journal class and I'm really missing the whole creating process. Some dedicated time at my desk is just what the doctor ordered! Besides, I'm picking up two books that I reserved at B&N and I'll have some unstructured time to do nothing but read...

So here's the dealio: I will try to remember to stay OFF.THE.COMPUTER on Sunday. If you see me post something on Sunday, REMIND ME THAT IT'S MY UNPLUGGED DAY. Of course, if it's you, P, well then YOU shouldn't be on the computer either!!! That's all I'm sayin'!!!

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"

When I grow up, I want to be Jessica! To have this absolutely unbridled enthusiasm and love for life - would that we could ALL be Jessica!!!

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Wow.

This book has been getting so many rave reviews since its publication in February, 2009.

I got a copy last spring, that's A YEAR AGO, for those of you who think I might be referring to spring of 2010... But I never read it. I kept meaning to, but there was so much hype about the book, and I'm not one to jump on a book's bandwagon (with the exception of Harry Potter - I was a HUGE fan from day one!)...

But this past weekend, I forgot to pack a book for the lake. I'd finished whatever it was I was reading before, and although I recently started Eat, Love, Pray (in anticipation of the upcoming movie), I left it home. So I was bookless.

But The Help was on the bookshelf upstairs so I thought it would be a great time to start it, grabbed it along with my suntan lotion and went out onto the dock.

Let me quote a couple of Amazon reviewers:

JK8 said: "This is the best book I have read in years! I can't recommend it enough!"
KMG55 said: "I was torn between not being able to put the book down and not wanting it to end. "
Elaine said: "I was so disappointed when it ended because I wanted to keep going, I wanted to know more about what happened to these women."
Reading Addict said: "...this was an amazing book. The book was very well written and very hard to put down."
nemo22657 said: "I don't rate many books as 5 stars but this book grabbed me from the beginning."

Now these are just five random quotes I picked out of the 2000+ reviews posted on Amazon.

Here's MY review: *****. Five stars! A GREAT book. LOVED it! Would recommend it to anyone interested in the civil rights movement in the US, anyone who likes to just get sucked into a time in our history we're too young to have experienced up close and personal...

I really liked it a lot and I'm so glad I read it!

If you want to read it, just let me know. I'd be happy to pass it along!

Happy (Not So Much) Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, J! You are a wonderful man, a fantastic father, and the best husband a girl could ever have! Thanks for putting us first, your kids and me, ahead of yourself, ahead of the rest of the world. Thanks for worrying about me through my recent health scare, thanks for helping me stay strong, thanks for helping around the house (okay, thanks for doing everything around the house!), thanks for wanting it all for us and doing what you have to do to make sure we achieve it. You are the absolute BEST! I love you with all my heart!

And now I'm simply reprinting my blogpost from a couple of years ago, dedicated to my dad and J's dad. It's been two more years since I wrote this, and I don't miss you any less. In fact, I probably miss you MORE each day!

http://krysworld.blogspot.com/2008/06/happy-fathers-day-daddy-you-must-know.html

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You must know how much I miss you. I know you're there, somewhere, still a part of my life. Still watching over me. Still keeping an eye on me and guiding me when I need a helping hand.

When I hear the dishes settle on the drainboard, I think, "Hi, Dad!"

When I see a gardening book, I think of you.

When I see an Oldsmobile, I think of you.

When I visit the Harley Davidson factory and I smell the odor of machinery and grease, I think of you.

When Jack starts a project at the house, I think of you. (And I hope you keep an eye on him,too!)

When I see a cemetery, I think of you.

Whenever it's March 16, or June 14, or July 25, or August 12, or December 18, I think of you.

Whenever I have a moment, I think of you.

It doesn't really require a specific thing to make me think of you - you're still so much a part of my every day life that even though you've been gone since March 16, 1987, I talk to you every day.

I think of you every day.

I miss you every day.

When I got married, I stood up on that altar, wishing not for a happy marriage, but that you were there. I prayed for a sign from you: a breeze in that hotter-than-hot church, a window slamming, a car backfiring - I wanted you there so badly that anything would have been a sign from you!!! I wanted you to walk me down the aisle. I wanted to dance that father-daughter dance the worst way. To this day, nine years after I got married, twenty-one years after you died, I can't watch a bride dance with her dad without crying. And it doesn't matter who the bride is: Vanessa, Carrie, or a complete stranger on television.

I cry.

I miss you.

And I am angry that I didn't get to dance with you on my wedding day.

But you know what?

When it's time, when I move toward the light, when I die, you'd better be there to dance the first dance with me.

Happy Father's Day, Mr. S.

I wish you were here.

I wish I got to have a father-in-law.

I know I met you. I know you know who I am, and I truly believe that you know Jack and I are married and happy and I know you're happy for us. And I'm happy to hear Patty talk about you and say that she knows you liked me, that you were happy when Jack and I were together, and that you were annoyed with him when we split up.

But I wanted to know all that in the first-person!

I wanted to visit you during the week, have a cup of coffee or tea with you, and eat some sugar-free Jello with you.

I wanted to see you with your grandchildren. (I truly believe if you and Mom were still here that all that nonsense with Johnny would never have happened. And if you're bored wherever you are, we could use a little help with your grandson!)

I wanted to get to know you as your daughter-in-law, not just that nice girl that Jack was dating.

I'm going to have to settle for making you a part of my day, a part of our day, in all those small ways you would have been were you still here.

I mention you to Jack, I ask him about you as a dad, as a grandfather. He misses you. So very much that he can't really talk about you without tearing up, and that's the way it should be. You know what he says? He says all those times you asked him to hang around and do some work with you and he didn't 'cause he was on his way out to play or to hang with his friends - he says he should have spent that time with you. He misses learning from you, learning to do things like create the Christmas wreaths and grave blankets. He does that for you. In your memory. In your honor. Not 'cause he really likes to do it. It makes him sad. But it's a way to keep you alive with us in a really small way.

I never got to tell you I love you in real life. I hope you know now, though, that I love you and I miss you. And I'm going to be the best daughter-in-law you ever had (not a tough task, I know, considering the competition!) and a great wife to your son. I promise.

I'm Not Perfect (in case you were wondering!)

Okay, I read these two posts today (reality check... and my real reality) and that proverbial lightbulb went off inside my head!!! I'm NOT perfect, and I know there are a bunch of you reading this that would agree wholeheartedly!

Stephanie Howell blogged about how one of her friends talked about women scrapbookers in the industry being obligated to make their lives look perfect. Stephanie's opinion? And I quote: "a resounding no." Thank goodness! That would rank right up there with the false idea that all American women are a size zero. (For crying out loud! They didn't even HAVE a size zero when I was younger! And by the way, I really resent going into a store and seeing size 10 or size 12 clothes tucked and pinned to make them fit the size 2 mannequin - why not use real size mannequins??? Okay, I'm off my soapbox!)

I'd love to live in a neat, clean house. But I like "stuff." I have a lot of "stuff." And my "stuff" is all over my house. And I don't make a boatload of money so I can't afford to spend any of it on a maid. (Sure, if I didn't buy clothes and scrapping stuff, I could pay to have a maid... hmmm... hold on, I'll be right back! Gotta check my finances... Yea, I could afford one, but dear hubby doesn't want one!)

I admit that, right now, right this minute, if I could, I'd chuck it all and start from scratch, get a smaller house, choose light, airy colors, keep a LOT fewer tchotchkes around the house, hang more pictures on the walls, and JUST.HAVE.LESS.STUFF. But my house isn't there (yet). And I don't clean my house all the time.

We have two. Houses. I leave Friday night to go to the lake house, which is actually a little better simply 'cause we're not there all the time (but I DO need to clean off my island and my dining room table up there). We leave before 7am to go to work, five days a week, and get home 12 hours later. When exactly, after a full day at work, am I supposed to cook, clean, vaccuum, wash, dust, sort, put away? Deep down inside, yea, I want a neat, clean house. But if it looks a little lived in, perhaps a little messier than it should, I figure (1) I don't have bugs, it's just a bit messy and dusty, and (2) if you're coming over to visit, you're coming to see me or my husband, not a neat and clean house. Deal with it!

Here's my version of the "not perfect me":

• I'm NOT perfect
• If I can be 1/2 the mom my mother was, I'm already WAY ahead of the game
• I am a terrible housekeeper
• My husband does the laundry
• I don't cook very well
• I don't want to be perfect
• I wear the same clothes all the time even though I have quite a few more
• I spend too much money on books and scrapping supplies
• Yet I don't scrap as much as I'd like (it's all at the lake so I have only the weekends to do it)
• I can't remember the last time I dusted
• I missed my best neighbor friend's birthday
• We eat out several times a week 'cause I don't cook
• I really want to throw away everything I own and start over
• I have too much stuff
• I am not the best wife I can be (although I beat the first one, hands down!)
• My husband does all the gardening
• I need to lose weight
• I need to save more money
• I should bring my breakfast and lunch to work, and just treat myself once a week
• I should pray more
• I should gossip less
• I need to exercise more (Who am I kidding? I need to exercise - period)
• I have really strong opinions
• I'd rather read than do anything else
• I also like to play on the computer and watch TV
• I waste a lot of time at work on the computer

And then there's...

• I'm a decent daughter, sister, wife, aunt - even though I could do better
• I believe in God and go to church each week and try to live a good, honest life
• Although I'm not as smart as I used to be, I think I do okay (I try to live by my dad's "Use it or lose it" manifesto!)
• I care
• I am a loving mom
• I'm a good friend
• I have really strong opinions

I started to do the "good" list and I had trouble; I'm not big on tooting my own horn. But I do know that although I'm far from perfect, I'm not going to H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEYSTICKS, either. I am a good person, with a big heart, and I would do almost anything for my family and friends (I draw the line at anything illegal!). But perfect? Huh-uh. Not so much.

And that's OKAY.

My, my, my, it HAS been a while...

You know something? I'm really not that busy. I really don't do all that much except for work and sleep. Here, I'll prove it -

A Week in My Life

Saturday - Up at 6:30am, showered, to WW at 8am (down .6 lbs - better than UP!), then to breakfast with mom and Jack, home to meet E to get our summer pedicure, then to the mall. I bought a pair of sandals, a purple dress, and a grey skirt. I need tops for the skirt. We had lunch at the Olive Garden. I went home around 4:30, popped on over to Shop Rite, made dinner, and we watched some TV and went to bed.
Sunday - Up at 7am, to church for 8am mass, breakfast with mom and Jack and T, home to shower (yes, I went to church without showering), then to C's so Jack could help J put the new floor in their spare room. C and I met P at the mall, they returned some clothes and bought some new ones, and we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. I had Southwestern Quesadillas and an unsweetened iced tea or two. Then we went to P's house, T&K came over, G was there and BOY, does he know JUST which buttons to push to annoy his sisters! Then Jack picked me up and we went home, ate some dinner, did some computer work for the After-School Kindergarten graduation, watched some TV, and went to bed.
Monday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Worked all day. Drove in since I had a follow up appointment with Dr. V. for my (dental) implant. (Lord knows I don't need any other kind!) Picked mom up on the way, intending to drop her at the Caldwell Shop Rite so she could shop while I was at the doctor. But nothing goes as planned; there was road construction all over Bloomfield Avenue and I was a few minutes late for the appointment so mom came with me and we both went to Shop Rite afterwards. Dropped mom home, went home, picked up Jack and we went to Subway for a sandwich, then to P's for dessert. We took a ride with P&B to see a Corvette he's thinking of buying; it was already sold so he looked at another that was $15K more and liked that one better. Home to watch some TV then we went to bed.
Tuesday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Worked all day. Went home, made dinner, ate dinner, picked up mom, went to Amazing Savings; Jack bought me some highlighters and some scrapping paper. Took mom home, thinking we were going to Barnes & Noble, but we went home, watched some TV, and went to bed.
Wednesday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Working all day. Called to reschedule Jack's dentist appointment 'cause he got called for jury duty that same day. Will be going home to make dinner, eat dinner, watch some TV and go to bed.
Thursday - More of the same to come.
Friday - More of the same to come, but we will be visiting C's new house; Friday is slated to be their closing day. Will probably bring some cartons over and try to help her unpack a little, if they're ready for that...

So why is it, exactly, that I don't seem to have enough time to look at my calendar, realize that today is my colleague's b'day, start working on the little favors I volunteered to make for A's graduation party - my baby niece is graduating from high school in two weeks! No, she's not still a baby, but she'll always be a baby in my heart!

Well, off to get some lunch, then I'll be back to catch up on my Google Reader, Facebook, and Twitter sites... Oh, yea, THAT'S why I have no free time - it's YOUR fault, me trying to squeeze in all those feeds, those Tweets, those FB posts... Stop it, will ya? Stop being so darned interesting!

(Please insert "went online for a few hours" into each day above.)

Photos I.O.U.

So I went to Book Expo America last Wednesday and took a couple of pictures, one I liked was this veritable sea of carry-on luggage, all tagged for pick up by their owners later in the day. I swear, if there were this many stored, why were my feet rolled over at least 50 times on the floor???!!! By the way, rolling carts? Not allowed on the floor. HA! She says. HA!

So then I was pushing my way through the crowd and I heard some girl say, "Jesse's Girl! He sang Jesse's Girl!" Now, if you're of a certain age, you watched Rick Springfield as Noah Drake on General Hospital, back in the original, younger days of Luke and Laura. And you wanted to BE Mrs. Springfield. You could picture yourself convincing Noah he no longer wanted to be the carefree, flirtatious bachelor he was. You could picture yourself redecorating that modern, spartan bachelor pad into a cozy lovenest for two. I turned my head, and there he was!!! The line was just too long for me; I'm too old to stand on a line for a picture of a slightly overweight me with the crush of my teen years... But I wasn't too old to lean in as close as I could to try for a photo or two!

Sorry this photo is sideways - I forgot to rotate it before I dropped it into this post. This is a piece of art I created for my art journal. It reads, "She decided to ENJOY more, and endure less." (Kobi Yamada, She)

A beautiful iris, or three, from the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. I didn't miss them this year. These photos were the test pictures for my new point and shoot camera. I'm pretty happy with them. These were taken in the evening, without a flash, and with no sunlight on the flowers.

And a special note to Miss Hope, I'm reading Laura Bush's book right now - LOVE IT! And guess what I got for Mother's Day from my little sister! A signed Conservative Victory, by Sean Hannity. She had to pull some publishing strings to get it for me, but get it she did!!!