My Birthday!

What better way to celebrate my 29th birthday
anniversary (also known as my 34th birthday) than with my parents??

Ed always spoils me rotten, but nothing and I mean NOTHING
compares to a birthday with your parents when you live 2000 miles apart.

I really didn't want to do anything special.
We'd already had our fun-tastic day in Pigeon Forge and I was
perfectly content to do nothing but sit at home and play scrabble!

The folks wouldn't take no for an answer and we ended up eating
out at my favorite buffet! The restuarant was practically empty, and we
were totally at our leisure! Mom and Dad SPOILED me with gifts.
Theatre gift certificates, books, clothing gift certificates AND a brand new
popcorn popper! (We blew mine up a few nights earlier)

But the real gift was just having them with us.
The gift of grandparents snuggling their grandbabies.
The gift of an extra set of hands.
The gift of conversation over the scrabble board.
The gift of the kids minding their p's and q's for the grandparents sake.

It was a wonderful birthday and
I am SO lucky to be loved as much as I am.


My Birthday roses from Ed with Papa and Di snuggling in the background.

The Titanic Museum & The Tramway to my Death

Tuesday, we spent the entire day in the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area.

We'd originally planned to go on Monday,
but the weather was not cooperating and
the outing was pushed back a day.

Our first stop was at the Titanic Museum.
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, some of the "attractions" in the
Pigeon Forge / Sevierville area can be a little hokey.
We once went on an "indoor roller coaster ride" in downtown Gatlinburg thatwas nothing more than a roller coaster car in front a big screen TV
that moved slightly from side to side.
So, despite my trepidation, we decided it was worth a visit.

Driving up, the first thing you think is "This is HUGE".
I remember when they built it, and it looks bigger now than it did
whilst under construction.



Once we arrived, we cued up outside, and were given our boarding passes, as well as our boarding time. The line wasn't long at all, and I think we waited about 10 minutes to be shown in.

Speaking of the boarding passes, this is actually when I knew, I was going to love the museum. Each boarding pass has the Titanic information on the front, but on the reverse you're given the information of a real passenger that was aboard Titanic the day it made it into the history books.

My passenger's name was Marian Thayer.
"A rich socialite from Pennsylvania traveling in the prestigious first class".
Brooke also had a first class passenger, Dominick had a 3rd class passenger,
and Dad was given one of the crew members.
(I can't remember who Mom and Di had)

When it's time to board, you're given a brief intro (they also want your money at this point) and let loose into the museum. It's a self guided walking tour, and you're given the option to purchase the audio guide for an additional $10.

I can't go into all of the details of the museum,
but it's impressive and absolutely
entertaining.

Some of the highlights for me were:
- The scale models of the ship.
- The recreation of the rooms in 3rd class.
- The handwritten letters and personal effects.
- And the iceberg room, where you can dip your hands into water chilled to 28 degrees.

At the end of the tour, in the memorial room you can look up the passenger on your boarding pass and find out whether they were one of the few who survived.
Most were not so lucky.


It took us a little over 2 hours to do the walk through,
and I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it!
If you're ever in the area ... GO.

After the Museum, we had a tre' gourmet lunch at Taco Bell!
(We really know how to do it up here in TN!)

With our bellies filled, we made the beautiful drive from
Pigeon Forge into Gatlinburg.

I've always wanted to take the Aerial Tramway from Gatlinburg proper
to the little ski attraction called Ober Gatlinburg.
(You might remember Ober Gatlinburg from THIS post).
But, Ed is absolutely terrified resistant to heights, so we've never had the
opportunity to try it. Well, we have now!!! We waited in line for about 20 mintues and then they packed us in like sardines and UP we went.
I have never, ever thought of myself as being afraid of heights, but each time we passed a tower (holding up the cables) and the gondola dipped in space.... My stomach took on it's own gravitational pull and I gripped Dominick's shirt as though that might in some small way help if we came crashing down to our death's.



At the top, I'd remembered Ober Gatlinburg as being a bit more lively, and I'll blame the horrid ski conditions this winter for the lack luster scene that awaited us. Most of the shops looked closed or uninteresting, but we watched the ice skaters, looked around outside for a few minutes before deciding to take the tram back down. (Plus, Dad was starting to come down with a cold and I could tell he was ready for a rest).


Brooke and Mimi by the ice skating rink.

Here are a few shots from the gondola on the way down:




Once down, we wandered a bit, but decided we'd best head back to Pigeon Forge before the traffic got too bad. We needn't have worried. The traffic was already bad.
A rock slide earlier in the day had traffic stopped. Not crawling, not inching... STOPPED. So for 45 mintues we sat in the Suburban with the windows down (the weather was amazing) and talked and laughed and that was that.

It was an absolutely perfect day.

That's Craft-tastic!

There is magic that happens when Grandparents come to visit.

And it's called: Crafts.

I too do crafts with my kids.
And it usually ends with one of them slinging paint
in the others face, someone breaking the others popsicle sticks
and almost always someone gluing their fingers together. (Usually me)

But when MIMIs do crafts, it's happy-magic-peaceful-time.
You can practically hear Snow White singing off in the distance as the
kids do EXACTLY as Mimi instructs.
(This is when I ran to my room and read 6 chapters of a book I've been neglecting)

Loose Lips Sink Ships

For months I've been keeping a secret.

Which is kind of a miracle.

Secrets haven't always been my forte'.
As a child, if I knew it.. I told it.
As a teenager, if I was told it, I squealed it.
So, thank the Gods, that I've finally learned to keep these big lips shut!

I'm glad I've mastered some self control (at least in the secret keeping department) because the million white lies I've told to make this happen were SO worth it!!

So what was this secret of epic proportions??

THE GRANDPARENTS WERE COMING!

You need to keep in mind it's been over 2 years since my kids have
had the pleasure of basking in their grandparents glow. It was a BIG deal.

Big enough that I knew I'd need a decoy visitor.
How else would I explain the painting, cleaning, redecorating and
sleepless nights that happen when important company comes to call?

So I used an old friend. (Totally unbeknownst to her by the way!)
I chose someone who is important to me, but would make absolutely
no difference to the kids. And it worked!!

For weeks leading up to my parents arrival,
I blamed everything that needed being done on my Girlfriend.
Painting the guestroom and basement: Blame it on her.
Cleaning every square inch of everything: Blame it on her.
Making them wash extra hard behind the ears: Blame it on her.

I think maybe they hated her for the extra labor I forced on them.
_______

Despite months of preparation, white lies, and clandestine phone calls, I hadn't really given too much thought to the big reveal. But I knew we'd come up with something!

After picking up my Mom in Knoxville, we grabbed dinner and planned our big surprise. We agreed that we'd drive back to Morristown and surprise Brooke at her ballet class and then take the Littles by storm at the house.
That plan was kaboshed when Ed called to say that Brooke's class had been cancelled.

Thinking quick, Mom and I came up with a new plan!
I'm not saying I stuck with that plan, because as soon as we put the plan into effect,
I forgot it! Which makes what happened next kind of funny.

Ed arrived a few minutes ahead of us, and made sure the kids were inside.
Mom and I pulled up moments later and put our brilliant, albeit entirely forgettable, plan into action.

Here is what I was supposed to do: I was supposed to go inside the house and act as though my friends flight had been delayed and I'd be going back to Knoxville later to pick her up. And then I was supposed to say "Oh, and by the way, why is Dad selling my scooter?" To which the kids would jump up in protest and say "WHAT??" I'd then explain that a woman had just pulled up to the house to check it out, and by the way, she's in the garage right now trying to buy it! The kids and I love my scooter, and I KNEW this would be alarming enough to make them run to garage to prevent Ed from selling it and then VOILA... MIMI!!!

But I was REALLY excited (The kind of excited where you want to bite down on something to keep it all in!) and the bonds keeping my uber secret were strained to the max, so I blundered it a teeny bit.

Here's how it went down:
Kids: "Hi Mom, where's your friend?"
Me : SHE DIDN'T SHOW UP!! AND GUESS WHAT?
I BOUGHT A TON OF GROCERIES AND NOW YOU MUST
GET OUT THERE AND HELP ME UNLOAD THEM!

The kids, in their PJ's, stumbled out into the garage to find a
stranger talking to their Dad. And they walked RIGHT past her.
If it hadn't been for my idiotic grin and the fact that I was practically
jumping out of my skin, I'm not sure the kids would have ever caught on.
First, Diana sucked in her breath, then Dominick looked from me to her to me to her and finally Brooke walked up to her and tapped her on the back and practically hugged the life out of her.

AND VOILA... MIMI!

It was perfect.
But it would have been more perfect if I'd remembered to grab the camera.

STAY TUNED FOR POSTS ABOUT THE REST OF THEIR VISIT!!!

Daffodils and Dirty Knees

It almost felt like spring today and but for the Weatherman threatening us with crummy weather later this week, I would almost have let myself believe that the gray skies, doom and gloom of winter were behind us.

But, I digress. It was a gorgeous day, and the kids spent almost all of it outside. To be quite honest, it's one of the things I love best about my kids. They'd much rather be outside any given moment than inside. ... They're good kids.

So, imagine my delight when Diana brought in a special surprise for me:
Are they gorgeous or what??



There is a ditch that runs along the back side of property
and until today I didn't know that wild daffodils grow
there in abundance.
I LOVE daffodils! They're my birth flower!
What a perfect gift from my little princess Di.


And then there's Dominick.
He too spent the entire day outside.
But he didn't bring me flowers.
He did what boys do!
He brought me laundry.

This isn't even a 1/5th of the mess he was.

Oh well. I'll take the daffodils and dirty knees if it means
they'll be my little ones in the sun a bit longer!

Dominick's 9th Birthday

After Brooke's whirlwind of a birthday, I was determined to set out enough
time for Dominick to celebrate his properly. (Alas, no shopping mania for him).

Friday morning Dominick and I worked on the cake he'd designed.
I don't want to brag exactly (YES I DO) but it was kind of awesome!!

He drew me the picture and we worked together to make this:

After dropping Anthony at work, I took Dominick to Kmart to buy
the Big Wheel he'd been wanting. Despite it saying they had 4 in stock,
the shelves were bare and all of the "searching the back" came up empty.

After a few moments of pouting, Dom and I went back to look
and found something even BETTER! (I love when that happens!)
It was a few dollars more, but it was worth the extra cost.

The Razor Rip Rider is bigger than the version he'd wanted and
we don't have to worry about him outgrowing it overnight!



As soon as we'd left the store, I dropped
Dominick off to Ed and had just
enough time to get Diana to her jazz class.

Then, on the way home, I picked up Dominick's
pick for his birthday dinner:
McDonald's chicken McBites.
(I sure do have some classy kids!)

We ate dinner, sang the song, opened gifts and eventually cut into the cake!







He was thrilled with the Legos, Nerf Gun, (from his older sister) and bumper cars
and we were thrilled that he was thrilled! :)
All in all, a great 9th birthday!

Brooke's 15th Birthday

Brooke's birthday can only be described as a WHIRLWIND!

I think her entire "party" was about 7.5 minutes long! Poor thing. :(

Between Getting Anthony to work, Diana to ballet and tending to the customer who needed "immediate attention" (only to leave me waiting on him for over an hour) we had just enough time to slap some icing on the cake I'd baked, sing the song, blow out the candles and whisk Brooke away to ballroom!

Her "real" gift, was our annual Mother-daughter shopping spree in
Knoxville the next morning and we did have a blast!!
Armed with cash and gift cards, she had an amazing day picking out books galore, jewelry and even ... a new friend from build-a-bear!
(I guess you never really outgrow build-a-bear!)

Here are the few pictures I managed to get:

Nancy's Sweepstakes Answers

Nancy's has been running a sweepstakes with a grand prize being a trip to Paris.
(Oo la la)

Slight problem, on the contest entry page it asks you to:
"Flip to the back of the NEW box and answer the following question exactly
as it appears on the box: What three times of day are
perfect for enjoying a Nancy's Quiche?"

Well, up until this week, none our groceries stores had the new box!
BUT THEY DO NOW!

So, for anyone searching: Here's the back of the new box!




You can enter the sweepstakes here: http://www.nancys.com/paris/

The Greatest Book You'll Never Read

I love to read and I read a lot.
I can cruise through 6 books a month without breaking a sweat.

So, when the Dollar Tree started carrying hardback books, the habit escalated.
HOW can you say no to a book-for-a-buck? (Book for a buck) (I totally just made that up and I love it) (OMG! We should have a BFAB club!)

But it's a risky business when choosing a BFAB because, sometimes, there's a totally valid reason for a hardcover book to find itself on the Dollar Tree shelves as it's final resting place. Sometimes (thrice to be exact) it truly stinks! But then sometimes....

You find a book so incredibly poignant and beautiful
(if not graphic and totally inappropriate),
that it makes you wonder how you'd never heard of it!

I picked up and bought MY BOOK (as we will now refer to the book that you'll never read) because I thought the cover was pretty.
I didn't even read the jacket, I bought it simply for the artwork.

When I got home, I put it on my nightstand and knew I'd get to get to it eventually.
A few weeks later I found it cued up in the pile and began the story.

The first few chapters were nothing short of torturous. The unnamed narrator is in a car accident that leaves him with 3rd degree burns over all of his body transforming him into a severely disfigured version of himself. And the author spares no detail when describing the inner workings of a burn unit. It turned my stomach enough to make me want to walk away from the book entirely. The next chapter covered the narrators fantasy of killing himself immediately upon his release from the hospital. Again, it's graphic.
I've read many (MANY) books that kept me turning the pages just in the hopes that it would "get good" only to be bitterly disappointed on the last page.
This is not one of those books.
It does "get good".
No, it "gets incredible"!

When the narrator meets a psych patient who claims to be a 700 year old nun from Germany, the entire dynamic of the book changes. And it's not the only outlandish claim the nun, Marianne, makes! She also claims to have known the narrator in the 1300's when he'd worked for the Condotta as a mercenary soldier.

From there, the author spins a beautiful tale.
Marianne takes in the burn victim and tell him 4 poignant ancient love stories
before revealing to him their own love story from so long ago.

I am doing this book absolutely no justice as I try, in vain, to "sum it up".
As the Kirkus review puts it, "this spellbinding narrative seems considerably less ludicrous when reading it than when summarizing it.” One hopes.

I won't say more (I've given you too much already) but I can say that when I finished the book at 2am a few nights ago, I was sobbing.It very well could be the greatest love story of all time.

And for that reason, I can't share it with you.

- For one, you won't like it.
It's graphic, stomach turning and delves into some very controversial topics.

-Secondly, it has questionable language. I'm just trying to protect you.

-But finally, and this is the kicker, it's mine.
Have you ever seen a movie you loved so much that you recommended it to all of your friends only for them to come back and say "Eh, it was alright"?
Well, that is this for me! I love this book so much, that anything less than "OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW AWESOMELY AWESOME THAT AMAZING BOOK WAS!" will break my heart.

But, if you REALLY want to read it (which you won't)
I'll give you a teeny tiny clue:


So, good luck with that.

Crochet, I hate you

Sunday night I decided I wanted to learn how to crochet.

I've never, ever knitted or crocheted and decided this could be a new night time hobby. (Anything to keep my fingers moving, so they'll stop transporting snack food to the whole in my head that keeps making me fat.)

I spent hours searching the web and Youtube and after watching this video realized that crocheting is TOTALLY my thing. Busy fingers, repetitive patterns and in the end you get a crocheted Doohicky something-or-other. PERFECTO!!

Monday I popped in to Hobby Lobby and bought my crochet domination supplies. An assortment of hooks and a pretty bundle of yarn. Later that night, I decided I'd give myself a few hours practice before I began the cute hat pattern I'd found.

It only took me an hour to realize, I can absolutely NOT crochet. Not even close. Everything from finding a way to keep the yarn positioned, to the correct tension, to making the stupid little loopy things, and forcing the hook through the right loop... I CAN'T DO IT!

It is the most frustrating thing in the world, to find something I want to do,
but cannot convince my fingers to do correctly.
Knowing I'm BAD at something makes one other thing perfectly clear:

I do not care how long it takes.. I am going to OWN crocheting.
I am going to learn this stupid skill if it kills me.
I will live, eat and breathe crochet.
My crochet hook will be a new appendage.
I will become one with the yarn.

And once I master it, I am going to crochet the hell out of everything I touch.
There are going to be doilies.
Maybe even some scarfs.
And hats, oh yes, there will be hats!

Stay tuned.