Vacation 2010 - Outer Banks

Vacation Part One

Vacation this week started 5 days ago when Ryan and I left New Jersey and headed to Tennessee to pick Danny up from his Part I of vacation.  We drove for 13 hours and arrived late Friday night and spent the day with my parents on Saturday and hit the road to North Carolina on Sunday morning.  We arrived in the Outer Banks around 8pm after driving another 11 hours.  Monday we spent recouping, or should I say I spent recouping...the boys spent fishing.
I have a ton of pictures to show you and will set up a link as soon as I find my cable.  We went to the Hattaras Lighthouse yesterday..Danny and I made it to the top, Ryan almost made it before they closed the lighthouse due to "inclimate weather".  Today we spent the morning at the beach together before I was made a fishing widow again.
Hope you are all having a good week.  Back home on Sunday XXXOOO

Random thoughts and a Martha Stewart rant

Today when I went out for lunch I saw a women walk down her driveway and across the lawn to her mailbox. Upon further inspection I noticed she was ONLY wearing sox...SERIOUSLY??? Do people really do that? If you are going to go through the hassle of putting on sox why not keep a slip on by the door so you don't have to go out in your sox. Personally I NEVER go outside in just sox, it tracks too much crap into the house that I will have to clean up later. I prefer clean sox and floors.

When I went out I took my back issues of magazines with me to go through and headed to the park for fresh coffee and some catching up. I first finished Good Housekeeping as this is my newest subscription. It was good but not the best one ever as far as recipes are concerned. I would think summer editions would be better since more people pick things like magazine up to read at the beach...but I digress.
So to follow was Martha Stewart, whom I have subscribed to religiously since the day the magazine was started. As a young (or should I say NEW) wife and nesting mother-to-be I wanted to BE Martha Stewart. I loved her ideas, creativity, and her prospective. It seems that PRISON has changed my beloved Martha into a women I don't recognize...she is a SELL OUT. I used to love her magazine I would get them and go through them with such enthusiasm, it would never sit around more then a few hours and I HAD to see what the months offering were. There were home making ideas, kids crafts, adult crafts and recipes I wanted to try...now there are advertisements and redecoration's done by OTHER people. Did Martha run out of "Good Things" to show us? Or has it just come down to the fact that she is too busy to share? Where is the personal touch I long for? I use to feel like she'd show these things to me because she knew I NEEDED to know them...now I feel like I no longer count. I've been gardening for a lot of years because she inspired me to WANT to, is she too busy to tend to her garden anymore? Does she even take a minute to show us what we can do with all the extra product we have grown for her...NO! Well Martha, I am sad to say that after a decade of loving you, I must say goodbye to your commercial magazine and your sell out ways...prison has changed you in ways I can no longer overlook.

Happy Monday XXXOOO

And he's gone...

On Thursday I took Danny down to meet my dad to start his vacation in TN. We left the house early and headed down, arrive in Baltimore around noon. When I called my Dad to let him know, he told me he would meet us at the airport at 330pm...ugh, what now? Well being the VERY resourceful women I am, I took advantage of where we were and suggested a trip to the National Aquarium. Which by the way was VERY well received and enjoyed. Afterwards we walked along the harbor and looked in a few shops, then it was time to head to the airport.
All said and done Danny and my Dad were checked in and through security and I was on the road by 4:30pm heading back to NJ. As I arrived home 9pm my cell phone rang and it was Danny informing me that they arrive in Knoxville and he was very happy to hear I had gotten home and we had "the same day".
Now the house is empty and the little voice in my head is not screaming at me. I am up way too early for a Saturday...
XXXOOO

I'm on a roll now

I know it's been less then 12 hours since my last post, but I'm on a roll now and it feels pretty damn good!

Last night I met up with 2 friends from grade school and we had a really nice time. I find the difference between going out with my high school friends and my grade school friends in the level of alcohol consumed. We caught up and had a nice time and great conversation. Our other friends were missed but note your names weren't taken in vein, unless you deserved it!

Today finds me up early, shocking I know, and itching to do something. The weather is beautiful and I feel I should get out and take a walk or something productive. Yet I find myself glued to this computer talking to you about what I SHOULD be doing.
HAPPY SATURDAY
XXXOOO

What makes you happy?

Today I read a post of a fellow blogger. She posted her guilty pleasures in life and I found it so inspiring that I decided to post a list of my own. I don't know that I will have 8, but we do share a few of the same likes so I will try not to poach her post.

#1 Food
I love food...all kinds of food. If I had to choose I would say dessert and Southern BBQ are my favorites. I love to cook them, eat them, serve them and share them. Adult beverages fall into this catagory too...namely Blue Mood Pale Ale and Dove Chocolate martini's

#2 Reading
I love to ready just about anything. I love child development books, love stories and love story murder mystries...who am I kidding I will ready anything. I love the Stephanie Plum series...I wish I had a Lula! I love a book called "the blessings of a skinned knee" it's about raising a self reliant child as the Orthodox Jews raise thier children. Very well written and great for reference.

#3 Volunteering
I love volunteering...if I could do it full time I would. I have been told that I am a near professional volunteer. I will do almost anything and find it VERY hard to say no when asked. I find this aspect of my life to be very rewarding and to see the joy on a childs face at the end of an event usually makes all the long hours worth it.

#4 Traveling
I love to travel and am willing to go anywhere. I love going on business trips, weekend excursions (which I NEVER see anymore) and long vacations. I like to road trip or fly, but if I can drive and see the things there are to see along the way, you bet I will! I love going to Disney, but have been banned from going by my husband this year. Maybe I can plan a Disney Cruise...think he'd see the difference?

#5 Being a Mommy
Being a Mommy is the BESTEST job ever! I love when my son goes from being little mister tough guy to, "can we snuggle?". These days are becoming increasingly far and few between, so I enjoy them when I can. When I ask Danny is he wants to take a ride, wheather it's to the farmers market or another state he alwasys says, "Sure". He always keeps the conversation going and is curious about everything. He askes questions about who, what, when, where and why and just when I think I'm at the edge of the cliff...he wants to snuggle again!

Okay, so my pleasures aren't really guilty ones, but these are the things that make up my life. I could go on about my job, which I love, but it's not always a pleasure.
I hope you all have a great weekend

Happy Friday
XXXOOO

I want to be famous!

I always wanted to be famous, that is why I started this blog...so far that isn't working out for me! I saw Julie and Julia this past fall and loved it. My first thought was, "I can write a blog and be 'discovered'", I had already started my blog by then, but I know with a little motivation I could become something great in the blogospere. Mind you, I am not talented in any manner..I cannot draw a stick figure, nor have I developed any recipe of my own; I am not rich, famous or glamourous. I am just a working mother with a drive to be domestic. My blog would be witty and scarcastic, facing everyday issues. To date I have stayed true to that and along the way I have thrown in a few profanities, to which I am not proud.
Today I read through the blogs that I follow and find that these women (yes, sexist I know) are all truely talented in thier own way. Most can bake the pants off of Betty Crocker, others deal with Spectrum kids, some shop well and one of my VERY FAVORITES is an extrodenary women and doesn't even know it and a great writer to boot! What I wouldn't give to be even the slightest bit talented...
Danny leaves for Tennessee in a week, maybe I will work on my fame and talent while he is gone. Mind you, I am not looking for fortune, just fame.

Happy Thursday
XXXOOO