Looky Who's on my Dashboard!

Yes, this is on my car dashboard at the moment.

And yes, that is a vintage 1980 something Michael Jackson doll.

Complete with silver sequined glove and socks.

My girls found it in the basement this weekend. I don't think they believed me when I told them I had one. Haha!

For many years, my brother would give out "action figure" type dolls for Christmas. I am not sure how this started, but he was giddy every Christmas time when pe0ple opened up his gift. Some other beauties were Mr. T, Donald Trump, and Mr. Incredible. I think the stupid economy got in the way eventually, because no one has been blessed with one in awhile.

I will know that the economy has hit rock bottom when my mom does not give him Legos every Christmas.

For now, Michael and I will be singing Thriller around town.

Frag'n Friday!

Friday: the day where you shake your head to the side a little and bits and pieces of things that happened over the week fall out. This = Friday Fragments. Thanks Mrs. 4444's!

*2 records have been smashed this week. One is that the girls and I got in/out of Friendly's in less than 40 minutes. Friendly's is notorious for being the slowest restaurant on the planet. We took a gamble yesterday and it paid off! Yay Fribbles!

The second one is that both girls finished their summer reading yesterday a whole week before school starts!!! That means I don't have to turn into mean mom and duck tape them to their book for the last few days of "summer". Phew.

*This lady was at the beach the other day. It was smokin'hot out.


*Hurricane Bill was a bust last weekend and it is looking like Tropical Storm Danny will be a bust this weekend. Of course, now that I have made this prediction, Danny will be picking up speed and heading directly for Cape Cod as a Class 3 hurricane.

*This is a picture of B and her friend C. I didn't retouch or do anything to this picture. It looks like they are in the middle of the Bahamas or something. On Skaket Beach in Orleans, you can walk about a mile straight out at low tide. There are so many sandbars. This was me going out to tell them to get their butts in because the tide was coming in fast. They were fine on the sandbars, but in between, it gets rather deep. I said, "Didn't you notice that no one else is out here with you?" Their comeback, "We thought they all just wanted to go eat lunch." Oh boy.


*We went shoe/sneaker shopping yesterday. Let's just say that there is something to be said for the Mr. Hanes' shoe store on the corner when I was growing up. My mom dragged the 3 of us in there, he sat us in a big chair, measured our feet, gave us 2 options and sent us all home with new shoes and probably a lollipop.

Yesterday, I was sent home with no shoes/sneakers for either girl and a headache.

*No matter your political views, we happened to be driving back on Cape yesterday at the same time Sen. Kennedy was being driven off Cape. It was amazing to see all the people lining the highway with signs and flags. I pulled over (along with every other driver) to watch the procession and to give the girls a bit of history in the making. I did not have my camera, but took this with B's cell phone. I think it will be bigger if you click on it.

* Have a great weekend :)

Catching up with Joyce!

How did it get to be Thursday already? Time flies when you have school looming on the horizon.

Yesterday, I had the great fortune to see a friend I had not seen in about 23 ish years! Joyce was down visiting another friend (yes, she has lots) with her 2 cute boys and we made a beach date (with my sister too).

Let me back up a bit. Way back when, I summered in Ogunquit, Maine and lived on a hill that ended as a dead end. Cut through a few trees at the end and it turned into a parking lot for the gift shop that Joyce's parents owned. 4 kids in their family, 3 in mine, we always had a good time together and they accepted us as the "summer kids". So we spent most of our tween/teen years hanging out, playing kick the can, going to the beach, working, sleep overs etc... We lost touch after we went to college, but through the Ogunquit gossip line,loosely kept track. Thanks to Facebook, we have reunited!

As Joyce walked through my house yesterday and looked at pictures of the girls when they were little, she said, "I feel like I don't know about a whole section of your life." And it is true and I was thinking the same thing about her. The great thing about old friends is that they know a whole section of your life that many people do not. They were by your side through all the bad fashion statements, the bad hair decisions and drama. Yet, they didn't run and hide or talk badly about you behind your back. It was funny for the girls to listen to Joyce, my sister Karen and I talk about the stuff we used to do. Yes, we were once your age, K and B.

I tried to take a pic of us off of FB, but could not, so no comparing from younger years to now. I'll just give you the now!

Me, Karen and Joyce

Joyce and her boys, me and my girls. Funny how we each got a blond and a redhead!

B showing the boys Uncle Davey's fishing boat. The boys were very impressed that it had "beds and a microwave!"

'Ode to the "Transfer Station" Men

The dump, when I was little, was no more than a big hole in the ground. Everyone would back their cars up to the edge (why none went over is beyond me) and just chuck their bags. No need to seperate anything. No need to recycle. Just throw the shit over.

I would often go with my dad on this Saturday am chore. We would joke about the pile of trash getting so high someone could build a ski area on it. One day my dad accidentally threw his keys into that big pit with the trash.

Stranded at the dump.

Years before cell phones.

Somehow, my mom came and brought another set of keys and we were rescued!

Fast forward to June '09, my Toyota Camery was the only car to get the dump sticker.....not the pick up truck.( I think Matt can't find the registration to get the dump sticker on purpose because he hates the dump). So I go to the dump every few days with our house trash and once or twice a week with our renters' trash because I love it. NOT.

Pardon me: The dump is now called a transfer station. And we are suppose to separate, recycle and reuse. We've come a long way baby.

I hadn't gotten the trash during the week last week from the renters. I just went on Saturday after they left. It smelled horrible in my garage and many of the bags were covered with maggots. If there is one thing that freaks me out, it is little white worm-like maggots. I am shuddering now just thinking about them!

So the reason of my post today is a shout out to trash collectors!!! For you to deal with maggots, smelly trash, recyclables, drippy bags etc... I salute you. For you to be able to drive your rig into the transfer station building without passing out from the heat induced stench, I bow down to you. For the amount of showers and the Purel you must use, God bless you. I, in no uncertain terms, would want your job as my full time job.

As a matter of fact, I might bottle that stench and a few maggots to remind me next summer why I need to hire you. I have felt this way for years and yet continue to drive my own trash to the Transfer station.

I am not worthy of your stench resolve. You rock.

What is Erosion?

This was suppose to go with the "prelude", but I couldn't figure it out. Oops

Prelude to Bill

So, we are just getting brushed by Hurricane Bill tonight, but B and I thought we would give you a little look at the calm before the storm (so to speak).

The view from what we fondly call "Hazel's Shanty" of the beach.

A seagull hanging out.

The gale warning flag at the Coast Guard station.

The sky was pretty cool. You couldn't see the waves crashing on the outer beaches due to the fog, but you sure could hear them!

I tried to picnik this and show you exactly where Hazel's Shanty is, but my dinosaur of a computer kept shutting down on the picnik site. VERY annoying! Anyway, toward the left of the photo there is a little gray garden shed with a white door and a little window. It is on maybe 1/2 tenth of an acre of lawn. It once was a regular house with about 10 other houses as neighbors. A storm came in the late 80's and decimated the neighborhood (basically the neighborhood fell into the ocean). My sister's husband's family (got that?) who own the land, put up a little shed and a few picnic tables. It is a perfect spot to sit and watch the water!

B's idea to take this picture of her walking in the water and it was a good one!

Someone's beautiful garden. No, definitely not mine. Since it is on the ocean, it could be killed off tonight because of the salt spray.

Should be a rocking and rolling time at the wedding I have to get to at 5:30 on the beach! Yee-ha!

Friday Fragments

Time to unleash the dam of little tidbits in my mind for the week.... Thanks Mrs. 4444s!

*I finally remembered to bring some of my Blogher bags to the grocery store. B and I had a fun time opening them up and seeing which sponsor they were from. It made a nice display on my kitchen floor, too.
*It's still beach time here on Cape Cod. I love this picture of K Click on it to see the sand in her hair.

*School is looming in the distance, so the girls are cramming to finish their summer reading. At least B is, K is working too much at the barn
*B made "beach salad" the other day with crab on top. It was delicious? Looked nice, anyway and kept her busy for an hour.

* Suburban Scrawl Reviews was giving away one of these handy dandy Hairzings this week. We got them from a lovely girl at Blogher and B LOVES wearing it. It's going in her hair on the first day of school. Yup, already decided.

*I tried my new Eye-Fi today which is a wireless device that goes from camera to computer automatically. It is very cool, but I have much to learn and will update you as I figure it out. Here is one of my first pictures with it. One of the things I need to figure out is why the pic is so small. Another question: What kind of crazy antics is Mr. P.H. pulling here?
*Looks like we might get brushed by Hurricane Bill tomorrow night. Oh, did I mention Amy and I are shooting a wedding on the beach at 5:30 tomorrow night? I hope the bridesmaids use a lot of hairspray in their up-dos.

Have a super weekend!!!!

Sinus, Boobs, Inhalers, Oh My!

I was keeping a list of things I need to "discuss" with my Dr for the past few weeks. I got to #5 on the list yesterday, so I made an appointment with him for this morning (no sense in rushing).

The office has been nicely updated and painted which makes it so much more relaxing to sit in the waiting room. (yeah, right). A chipper 20 something nurse called my name and my first thought was, "Where's Robbie?" Robbie is the nurse that has been there for like 5 years. She was awesome and has evidently moved. Bwwwwaaaahhhhhh!

I immediately walked over to the dreaded weighing machine in the corner. It looms there like a mechanical beast with all knowing eyes. It taunts me and growls, "let's see how the 5 glasses of wine and pound of m&ms* you consume every day is affecting you". I tell it to shut up. I can't help it if I am experiencing a few minor set backs in life at the moment which I self medicate with wine and m&ms. It gets me back though, when I see my weight. Damn scale, wins every time.

I evidently waddle into the exam room where perky nurse asks me what is up (other than my weight). I hand her my list of ailments and refills. She appears to be impressed with this list and laughs that I had scientifically written "boob pain" as number 2. When I try to use the word breast, Frank Perdue comes to mind, so I stick with boob. I guess I was the ideal patient because my vitals were good and my temp was exactly 98.6. This was good to her. I knew that a normal temp really meant that I was sick. Just a sinus infection, but my temp never gets to normal or above unless I am sick.

So she leaves and 3 chapters later, the Dr comes in (who is very laid back and cool). He tells me about Robbie's going away party which was at an outdoor restaurant complete with tiki bar and pool. I love it when a Dr. can appreciate a good tiki bar as much as I can. So we talk about the sinus infection, the refills, the inhaler and the benefits of one over the other, then we get to the fun part.

"Put this johnny on, open in the front."

He comes back with the perky nurse so there is proof that he isn't feeling me up for fun. I haven't been felt up in a long time, so I will take it where I can get it. Of course it is my right boob that is having the stabbing pain every once and awhile. I lay down. Evidently there was something wrong with the filter in my brain because I start talking like a stand up comedian in Vegas.

"It's the right one. She's the popular one anyway. I have had a few biopsies on her and a lump removed."
"After I felt myself up and couldn't come up with any new lumps or bumps, I thought I would come here."
"Oh, you are going to check the left one too? Yeah, she doesn't get nearly the action my right boob does. She's the 'unpopular' one."

Once he told me to sit up, my filter in my brain started up again and I could talk in regular, non-embarrasing sentences. He said nothing was there that he felt, but I would have a diagnostic mammogram instead of a regular one in November.

I raced out of his office as fast as my chubby legs would carry me with my 4 prescriptions in hand and what was left of my dignity. I can't wait until November!

*Mom, I have used creative license here to embellish this a bit. Please do not call AA or Over Eaters Anonymous on me yet.

Maine trip, finally....

The girls and I went to Rockport, Maine for 5 days at the beginning of the month. Remember, no internet access? Anyway, we had a blast and met up with my roommate from Bates and her family. If you are from or know Maine then you will know that (once you view the video) that it was an EFFORT for me to stop at Bowdoin and buy my Uncle something and take pictures. (He went there/big school rivals!) That should put me at the top of the inheritance list.

The weather was foggy, hazy, hot, humid, clear, dry.... yup, we ran the gammet of everything except snow. Watch the damn video, it only took me about 2 hours to make it. The girls picked the song. I was going with something more sea or friend oriented, but they liked this. I am a sucker. Actually, I just needed to get my ass of the chair and away from the computer for a bit, so I agreed.

If you ever are in need of a Maine tourguide, I am your girl!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I love a good sale!!!!

Have you ever heard of the Filene's Basement Bridal event? It's where hundreds of designer bridal gowns are marked down to ridiculous prices and soon to be brides, camp out and rush the store at like 6:30 in the morning.

Thursday was suppose to be a big day in Chatham, where 3 upscale stores put all their "old" merchandise on sale. When I say "sale", I mean BIG TIME SALE. They even have the sale in a vacant store front. It was called B.A.D.A. (Bad Ass Discount something).
See the golden tickets around the sign? Those were given to their best customers or some local store owners. Are you seeing an eerie resemblance to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The Golden Ticket owners were allowed to cut the line and go in whenever they wanted. I think they got to try stuff on, too. That was not for the average folk.

We got there at 12 on Thursday when it was suppose to start and because it was raining, the sale was postponed to the next day at 10. (I have no idea, what it had to do with rain, but whatever!!!!). We (B,K and me) show up at 10 on Fri. to this line....

And the smart thing (?) we got into it. There had been people waiting there since before 8 am to get into this sale! As I found out in line, it is a once every 2 year sale. The group that they cater to is teens/twenties who are a size 4. What the heck was I doing in this line you ask? K, really, really, really wanted to go because she L.O.V.E.S. one of the stores and I am a nice mom and a sucker for a sale. There were instructions when the store opened.... (and some girl yelled these out to the crowd)....

NO TRYING ON
NO HAGGLING
NO RETURNS
CASH ONLY
BE NICE

A friend of mine and her daughter happened to be infront of us. So we bantered back and forth for 1 1/2 hours before we got into the store. As we got closer, the tension grew! We saw girls coming out of the store with armfuls of clothes. We soon realized that the idea was to grab as much as you could inside and bring it outside (where one could breathe) to decide on what you wanted.

There were cars draped in quilts so you could lay your purchases on the hood, etc and decide. Oh and did I mention it was HOTTTTT?! Yeah. Hot. Oh and No. Airconditioning. In. Store. It was basically insane.
When it was our turn, the girls were giddy and we skipped in. The store was suffering hot and full of sale driven women (and even some kids under 10!!). There was nothing in the store that was over $50. The jewelry was $1, the bags were $5, the sunglasses were $1, it was crazy. The dresses ranged in price from $5-$50. The only brand name that I recognized was Juicy cuiture. (Bascically, the brands they had are not found at Target). I headed straight to the jewelry table because I knew I could afford it and fit into it. It did not disappoint, I got $2o worth! The girls found some cute dresses for $5-10 a piece. The daughter of the friend in front of us in line, almost fainted from heat at the end. Yes, it was that overwhelming.

We laughed at our bargains and were giddy for hours after. Then K said the dreaded sentence....
"I want to go back tomorrow and get there at 8 am".
Oy.

And remember the fact that I am a good mom who REALLY enjoys a bargain? We got there at 8:30 and were 15th in line (with our lawn chairs, Dunkin Donuts and books). Yup, that meant that we got in in the first wave of shoppers at 10. We knew what we were doing and had a game plan that would have made the New England Patriots jealous (sorry Mrs. 4444s). I got a little carried away and thought a few of these junior sizes would look good on me, HAHAHAHA.

In 2 years, I will fully stick to the jewelry and bag tables!

Friday Fragments

It's Friday and time for Friday Fragments! Thanks to Mrs. 4444's, for starting the tradition and giving me a place to stick some random thoughts and happenings.

*Does this look like a stressed out dog to you?
How about now?
Yes, my dog was diagnosed with an ulcer this week. WTF? She has the run of the house. Maybe it's the goat at the barn that is causing her angst?

*K was in a horse show last weekend and won 6 or so ribbons. Doesn't she look so grown-up in her horse duds?
*With the anniversary of Woodstock this week, there was an article in our local paper about some locals that went to Woodstock. K only heard Mrs. MacPherson's name and Woodstock and said, "Mrs. M played Woodstock?" She was thinking of Snoopy's friend, Woodstock. Guess I need to broaden her horizons.

*A wonderful package arrived in the mail yesterday because I was one of the winners in the Wonderful World of Wieners fundraising give away! Hallie has done a wonderful job raising over $5000 for organ donation! And she has about 25 days of giveaways to go with it! Here's what I won...
Fabulous!

*B just said to me, "If I have to give up a sport, then you should have to give up one of your networking tools (as in Blog, FB, Twitter). " Sorry kid. I am the adult and what else am I suppose to do all day while you are in school? Work?
Just so you know I am not being mean making her give up something, she is on the jump rope team (3xs a week), sings (1-2xs a week), swims (1-2xs a week) and plays soccer (2-3xs a week), oh and then there is school, homework and she wants to take drama after school. Something has got to go or she has to figure out how to add a few more days into the week.

Happy Friday!!!!

Tragedy in the Woods

A few weeks ago, a 62 year old woman went for a trail ride with her family from our barn. The barn does trail rides all the time. Usually one of the teen girls lead the ride with Matt or V, the barn boss, picking up the rear. They walk through a lot of protected land between 2 towns. People love them!

Unfortunately, tragedy struck this one day when the horse behind the woman's horse stepped on it's hoof, or nipped at it or something. Whatever happened, the horse bolted with the woman and the woman clipped a tree and died. Pure accident. Pure nightmare for all who witnessed it. Pure sadness all around.

When I was in grad school, I lived at home during the week and at the Cape on weekends. I came home from class one night to find a note on the counter from my dad that said something to the effect of "MJ is dead. At the L's house. Come over." How I got into my car and drove the 1/2 mile to their house, I don't know. All I remember is walking into the house, seeing the siblings and cousins sitting in one room, the dad in the hallway, the mom sitting at the kitchen table with friends and my parents. It was surreal and I was crying asking them if it was really true and pretty much being hysterical. My parents brought me into the living room, sat me down and gave me something very strong.

Evidently, MJ (16) had been skiing that afternoon with his school team at Waterville Valley, NH. All of us grew up racing for Waterville and skiing all the time. He had his helmet on, he was an expert skier and he just happened to catch an edge and fly backwards into the woods where he hit the back of his neck on a tree. He died instantly. It sucked. I was 7 years older than MJ, but I would always tease him that I was going to marry him when he got older. He was a great kid, with a beautiful smile and the nicest blue eyes.

So, of course, anytime someone dies from an accident, it always brings me back to the night of MJ. What this all has taught me is that life is short. You get one chance at life and you better do the things that you love and appreciate them. When it is your time, it's your time. I tried to explain this to the girls after the barn accident. Basically I told them that it was important to see the glass as half full and live and appreciate life and try to learn lessons from life's tragedies even though the lessons aren't often obvious.

Maybe tragedies are just a reminder that life is precious.

Notable Quoteable

Phew, I am back from the woods of Maine where there was no internet service. It was painful to not have internet. I don't even have it on my phone. You are feeling my pain, right? Anyway, I have lots to tell and pictures to share, but I need to 'tame the beast' first. The beast would be the mess of my house and the laundry that has finally arrived via Pony Express from Blogher. I did want to leave you with the best quote that a friend of mine's 4 year old conjured up while we were in Maine.

"Mommy, who created people? God or Barack Obama?"