And The Winner Is.....

Sunday night The Girl and I went to Brenda's to construct gingerbread houses with the kids. This is a holiday tradition that has evolved into a "contest" of sorts. Brenda gets the graham crackers, mixed the icing and prepares the base. We bring the candy for decorating and an enthusiam to WIN! Just kidding....we also brought wine. This year was a little different with my father getting into it as well. I kept my house small (everyone else tried to build large houses, and they promptly fell apart....too bad for them!) and concentrate on the decorating details. Tha above pic is before the final touches. Oh, yes. It gets better!

Brenda had the most trouble with keeping her house standing.....she was getting very aggravated, as you can tell by the look on her face.

I just noticed that her house in that pic looks good. Trust me, it kept collapsing and she threw it in the trash soon thereafter. The big BABY!!

My father built a house. Hard to really tell in that pic but his decorations were haphazard at best.

Obviously he was extremely proud of his accomplishment. Eh...it was ok, I guess. My mother was just hoping the whole didn't end up on her head!! Now THAT would of been funny!

Here is another picture of the winning house (my house). The judging was totally impartial....I declared myself the winner and that was that. I think I did a pretty, pretty, pretty good job.

Of course I had some help from The Girl...she was sort of the runner...helping out where necessary. I find doing the holiday stuff with The Girl so twinkley....and it's a reminder (you think I need one??) of how lucky I am to have her to share it all with. I'm very lucky.

And I build a mean gingerbread house.

Things To Be Thankful For....

There are so many things....thankful we have Dana-Farber so close and accessible to us. Alan is making very small steps towards recuperating. Brenda just told me he ate a small cup of jello last night. That is a very big deal for him. I'm thankful the kids are all healthy and happy, growing like weeds and each smart and funny in their own ways. Watching them go from babies to PEOPLE has been amazing. Not having kids, I feel very fortunate to have them in my life. My mother turns 70 yrs old in February. Wow! That sounds old but she doesn't seem that old. My father will turn 70 soon thereafter and he really doesn't seem that old. He golfs every day, is incredibly active for ANY age. He never stops. My mother has some minor health issues but for her age, she's very healthy. They spend the winters in Florida and I think that might be what's keeping them healthy and youngish. They certainly enjoy their life and their grandchildren. I was very close to my mothers parents and I love seeing Alex, Lucas and Ella having that same closeness with my parents. They're a big bunch of nuts but they're my nuts, and I'm thankful for all of them, even when they're driving ME nuts.
This is the second Thanksgiving for The Girl and me. I know I've said it many (very many) times before but I'm thankful for her every single day. My life is better in so many ways with her in it.
We are having the whole nutty bunch for dinner tomorrow and there's lots to do. But it'll be fun and I'm looking forward to cooking a big dinner in the new kitchen.
I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. And tell people how much they mean to you. People like that!

I'm a "bit" behind.....

Ok, it has been a while. I know. Lots of things have been happening since the last post. I think it might be easier to just bullet point it. So, it no particular order:

• Alan finished his radiation therapy at the end of August. He has a feeding tube and is still, for the most part, unable to swallow. He has good/bad days. Thankfully, more good than bad. We saw him the other night and he was trying to swallow a VERY small teaspoon of sherbert.


• In August we made final plans for our kitchen remodel. We bought the appliances (refrigerator, stove, wine fridge, range hood) and decided on a contractor. Cabinets and granite was picked out, light fixtures and new paint color for walls.


• It took us about 6 trys for the paint color. The Girl painted the walls at least 6 times before we decided on one.


• On Sept. 11 our house was robbed. Various items were stolen, windows broken/damaged, door lock jimmied. Luckily, no one was home and the robbers didn't make any mess or cause the house any real damage. We had just bought a new tv and Wii system, neither were stolen. However, my digital camera WAS stolen and accounts for the lack of pictures accompyning this post.


• I have to replace the camera, it's making me nuts not having one. I have my eye on a Nikon SLR.


• We were very into the whole election process, watching lots of analysis. And, needless to say, are VERY pleased with the outcome.


• Things with The Girl are great, as always. I know it sounds disgustingly gross and obnoxious but the longer we're together, the more I realize how lucky I am to have her in my life and how right we are for each other. I always knew, in some part of my compromised brain what I wanted a relationship to be like and now, with her, I have it. It just grows stronger and gets better as time goes by. I have never loved someone so completely and I couldn't be happier with her.


• In mid October the remodel started. It took about 3 weeks, which is not that long. It felt longer but, it was SO worth it. If I had a camera, I'd post pictures. But I don't. Soon.


• We went to a great Halloween party at a client of The Girl's. Sharon and Tommy had a big party and it was so nice of them to include us.
• The Girl turned 38 on 11/06. We had thai food (her choice) and I gave her a gift certificate to a spa for a massage. She GIVES massages everyday so I thought it would be nice for her to receive one for a change. Alison was horrified that I'd give her a gift certificate but The Girl was very happy with it.
• We are hosting Thanksgiving and all my family will be there. Not sure if Alan will come over or not. It might be too hard for him to smell all the food and be unable to eat. He has been avoiding smelling food if he can. I hope we're able to see him but will totally understand if he just can't.
• After the house was robbed we decided to install an alarm system. From the time of the robbery to the installation of the alarm, I don't think we slept through the night! Every noise would put us on high alert. Now, with the alarm, we feel safe.
• My friend Deb shared something last week and I was not only surprised to hear but I was also a bit concerned. She told me she subscribes to this website, flylady.com. It sounds a bit cultish to me and we might have to stage an intervention. Deb, please, step away from flylady. Followers of flylady call themselves flybabies. I'm afraid she's a short step from redhats. I was surprised because Deb and I have coffee together most Saturday mornings and she had never mentioned flylady before. Usually, she just talks about the craft fair she's organizing...her other obsession.
• As for Tax Hell....I'm in Tax Heck right now. Lots of things with a 12/15 deadline. I've also been doing more Foreign tax projects than usual. I had one client that inherited property in Switzerland and she wanted me to review the paperwork. Ok, fine. Except it was in german. Sorry, I need English. I was able to convert the Swiss Franc's to $$ but that was about it. Another woman called and wanted me to review her 2007 tax return. She had a rental property in Paris and wasn't confident the accountant had handled it properly. I was able to alleviate her fears, convert the Euro's and retain her as a new client for 2008. I'm just that good. : )
• In late October I had a client call and ask me who he should vote for! That was a new one. I explained to him that I couldn't, in good conscience, tell him who to vote for. I was quietly whispering "obama...obama...obama..."
• I'm being sued by a pool company I had a dispute with in 2005. I'm trying to get all my paperwork together for the court date of 12/15/08. We'll see how that goes.
• OH...and Monday, Alison was arrested! The scofflaw has bounced a check in 1987, for $29! She was stopped for speeding, her warrant came up and she was handcuffed and taken to court. By a state trooper. Then her fun really began. She was shackled. Brought before a judge and it was eventually dropped. Her car had been impounded and the whole thing was a goat-f**k of the worst kind. I am so sorry she had to go through that, honestly. And I might never stop laughing.
• That's most of it, for now. I do enjoy blogging. I just got so far behing that it seemed impossible to catch up. Hopefully, I won't let 3 1/2 months go by until my next post!

Girls....

For her 5th birthday present, The Girl and I gave Ella a day of clothes shopping and lunch at her favorite place, The Cheesecake Factory. The Girl had a cell phone to exchange so Ella and I went on ahead to The Children's Place to begin the shopping. I had been warned that Ella is very finicky about her clothes. She knows what she likes and there is NO changing her mind. We started looking around and she was immediately drawn to a display of tee shirts. Not just plain tee shirts, no. These were PINK and PURPLE! They had butterflies and princesses on them. Very sparkly. She was sure she wanted one (they were 2 for $15, I told her to pick out 2) Next, she spied a rack of skirts. I, on the other hand, was looking at a table of cargo pants. These were very cute and I thought she would like them. I called her over and pointed them out. She took one look at them and said, "Auntie, I take my clothes very seriously. I know what I'm doing, let me do this myself." Ok!! I guess she knows what she's doing then! Ella was able to find her sizes, match the clothes and give me the things to hold she wanted to try on. Glad I could be of some help. The Girl eventually met us in the store and for some reason, I'm not sure why, was able to help Ella pick out some sweater/shirt thing to match one of the skirts she had. Hmmm....wonder why MY picks were no good and The Girl was able to help?

Naan

I made Indian Pizza's for dinner last night. I know that sounds odd but I used Naan as the dough. I had done this once before and went with the traditional toppings of tomato sauce and cheese. This time, I wanted to do something different and zippy. Zippy is good! So, I topped The Girl's with carmelized onions, ham and mozzarella cheese. I think goat cheese would of been a better choice but, The Girl is not so much a fan of the Zippy as I am. For my Indian Pizza, I chopped some garlic, cleaned some shrimp and combined that with olive oil and grated romano cheese. This mixture I spread on the naan and topped it with some shredded Mozzarella. Into a
450o oven they went for about 15 minutes. OH my. This was so good I wish I had made an extra one for lunch.
Live it.
Learn it.

FIVE!

My blogging has been spotty, at best. I have not been feeling very well lately. Since we came back from Vegas I've had some kind of bug that I just can't shake. This week is Ella's birthday....she's FIVE. Last night was her family party which was a cookout and cupcakes in Topsfield. Today is her friends party, theme....UNDER THE SEA! And Friday is her ACTUAL birthday. Brenda decided to celebrate a little early because Alan starts round three of Chemo on Thursday. I have pictures of the family party, the cupcakes Ella made herself and the beautiful fruit salad The Girl assembled.





That Girl....she was quite a catch!

A Few More....

I still have a few more pics from Vegas. I've been sick and got a bit behind. I am on a high dose of Prednisone so that's always fun! Let's increase the dose and see what happens. I know I've outlined the side effects of the Pred. In all their fun and glory. This time, in addition to the sweats and hunger and puffiness, I seem to be somewhat depressed. I know I'm not really depressed and it's just a short-term effect but, wow. I get things in my head and they go round and round. Like a loop. Fun times.

I Love Lucy....The Lucy Show.............HERE'S LUCY!!

Trevi.....Lunch at Caesars.

I enjoy making The Girl stand and point at things. Here she is, pointing at things, at The Wynn. And her and Abe. For some reason, she's pointing at herself!

My least favorite pic. Funny but not. I'm kidding. It's funny.

I guess.

Leaving Las Vegas...

I did like the "Wheel of Fortune" slots......FREE SPIN, FREE SPIN!!!

Me and Georgie.....

The Girl and her Cats!

It was so hot out when I took this pic, I wanted to jump into that fountain.

Us at M&M World

She's a natural daredevil.

The BlueMen freak me out a little.

I prefer Mini-Golf....I LOVE the windmill!

The Girl and Jessica Simpson...I have to say, not Madame Tussauds best effort.

The Girl in Fake Paris. It was very cute there. Just like her!

We went, we saw, we played, we ate and we came home and BOTH got sick! The Girl and I are not great travelers. I had to go the dr and get the meds (HELLO Prednisone!) and The Girl is feeling like crap and running a fever (she still will work and most likely mow the lawn). The pictures show us when we were young, carefree and still had our health! Before Vegas kicked us in the ass.....

And We're Back......

Lots of pics to post....I'll start with these few for today. I am very tired and I think I'm getting sick. I still need to grocery shop and do some stuff around the house. I got caught up at work so I think I'm leaving here soon....I need to pick up an inhaler and breathe!

What Happens In.......

Will not stay there! We are off to Vegas for the weekend and I plan on taking lots of pictures. We have our roll of quarters and we are ready to hit the casino.

Big gamblers? Not so much. We'll see a show or two, eat at some great restaurants and hopefully have lots 'o fun!

This is the first "real" trip for The Girl and me so I'm very much looking forward to the time alone together. A little anxious about all the flying/travel. Vegas is WAY out of my circle but it's good for me to push the circle a bit.

Pucci/Trull OUT!

Wordle.Net.....Try it!

Things I .....

Right now, in no particular order, I am Loving:

• Finding a non-stop flight for our return from Vegas.
• Summer weather (thunderstorms and all.)
• Our flowers blooming
• Farm Strawberries
• My new CROCS!
• Katy Perry kissing a girl and liking it
• Lime green Vespa's
• Floppy shorts
• Iced Coffee
• The Girl (Let's play....STATING THE OBVIOUS!)
• A clean pool with no dead animals floating around
• Getting ready for vacation
• Fast Verdict for Neil Entwistle
• Big Brother starting soon!
• Buying locally grown veggies
• Dana-Farber Hospital
• Watching The Girl cut the lawn
• Iced Tea/Lemonade
• Grilling
• Mondays off
• Monday, coincidentally, is The Girl's day off!
• Vacation next week!

NOT LOVING:

• The Gloucester Pregnancy Pact...ENOUGH ALREADY!
• Figuring our how much liquid you can carry on a plane
• All Dunkin Donuts employee's
• Clumps of cat hair
• Elliot Weinstein
• Flying next week
• Summer re-runs
• Dead animals floating in pool
• Waiting for my requests to come in to the library
• Red Tide, I want my bivalves!

Alan Update

Alan has finished his first round of chemo. Now it's very important that he stay well hydrated and take the myriad of meds he's been prescribed. Brenda has been extremely positive and a great support for him. Lucas and Ella really don't get what's going on but Alex sure does. He's a sensitive kid generally and this has turned his world a bit off its axis, I think.

There are 2 more rounds of chemo Alan has to go through but the really good news is after just the first round the swelling in his neck has gone down a LOT and the pressure in his head has been alleviated. The nausea is starting to get the best of him and this morning Breda said the mouth-sores and throat-sores are making it increasingly difficult for him to eat/drink. If he's unable to drink the fluids required he'll have to go in for IV fluids. All the fluid is very important to keep his kidney's flushed. That chemo...it will either kill ya or cure ya.

The pic is from November 07, when we were all in Florida and out to dinner at Shrimpers. The Girl is sitting next to Alan.
This couldn't be ONLY about Alan, could it??

A Little Meandering.....

It's late and I'm tired. We had the whole clan over for dinner....still cleaning the kitchen! But it seemed like everyone had a good time, good conversation and the kids were very well behaved (as usual!!) I have some pics from the kids swimming during the short lived heat-wave we had last week. Last week I went to Lucas' second grade science fair. He built a wheel of fortune type thing. You spin and he asked a question regarding great white whales. If you got it correct, you won a tattoo! It was very cute and he was excited to show off his work. Unfortunately Brenda was with Alan while he had his surgery that morning so they couldn't attend. My father, Ella and I went and Lucas seemed happy about that.

Cat TV.....

Now that we have the doors open to enjoy the spring air, Sammy and Charlie love to look out and enjoy the view. The Girl calls it "Cat TV"....It could be the chipmunks or birds or squirrels. We're not sure. But they DO love it. And it apparently puts them in the mood to show a little love to each other. I'm a tried and true dog person but even I have to admit it's pretty cute.

Want To Take a Dip??

We had the pool opened this week and this is the result of heavy shocking, algaecide, back-washing and the filter running 24/7. This is about 75% better than it did look, so there's that. We bought new chair cushions and arranged the table/chairs a little differently this year. The girl is very fengISH...it's a word! Or a concept, not sure.

We also bought a new car this week, a 2009 Toyora Corolla. Hopefully, The Girl will save some $$ on gas. Now we are going to concentrate on selling the Mini....

It's Been a Week....

So last week was my birthday, I think I've mentioned that. On Saturday afternoon I went to my sisters house and she made lunch, we had a key lime pie, they sang...candles...the whole magilla. My parents were there, Brenda, the kids and Alan. The Girl was working so her and I had plans to celebrate that evening. It was all great fun, nice weather, good food. Everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon, lots of laughing and some crying (Ella got stung on the chin, see pic of her with ice-pack)

Saturday nite The Girl and I started out at Kowloon (I wanted a Blue Hawaiian), we had some thai apps and played some keno. Then we went to have a real dinner at Carrabbas (Sangria this time!) We had a great nite and I remember thinking how much better this birthday was than my last(had to put Harriet to sleep)


Sunday morning we get up and start to make breakfast. I see I have a voice-mail so I listen to it while still in my happy birthday to me place. VM from my Dad...he took my mother to the hospital late Saturday nite with bad pain in her stomach. Turns out she has gall stones and pancreatitis! She was admitted to the hospital and heavily drugged. I call my sister to see when she's going to se my mother, I thought we could arrange to go at different times. She tells me she's taking her huzzband to the ER, he's having pressure/pain in his head. (He has a lump on his neck that he was supposed to get removed last week)...So, off they go to the hospital and they bring the 3 kids to us. I have to go the bakery because my family was supposed to come to our house for my birthday party Sunday nite. The cake is lovely. Oh, wait...that's not how you spell my name!!


As it turns out, my mother had her gall bladder removed. She'll be fine. Alan (The Huzzband) is the one we're worried about. He had a cat scan that showed a mass in his head/neck that they found suspicious. Then this week he had 3 biopsies that came back cancerous. He's scheduled for an MRI tomorrow (Saturday) and surgery June 10th. The silver lining is the Dr said this type of cancer is "highly treatable." We are all very worried about him but he has a great attitude and we are all there to help them in any/every way.
It's just so weird that last Saturday we were all having lunch, everything was so...NORMAL (as normal as it gets in my family!) and the next day, BOOM...

Kids...They Say Stuff We Think

I was on the phone with Ella yesterday.....

Me: "Are you coming to my birthday party on Sunday?"

Ella: "Yes. My mommy is 40 and my daddy is 41, how old are you Auntie?"

Me: "How old do you think I am?" {this is a bad question to ask ANYONE, especially a 4 yrs old!!!}

Ella: "18?"

Me: "yup...that's right!"

Ella: "Auntie, are you fooling me? How old are you really?"

Me: "I'll be 46 yrs old"

Ella: "OH MY GOD!!!!"

The Cat In the Sink....

Meet Sammy. Sammy likes to sit in the bathroom sink. She'll sit there all day if you let her. It's not like she has anywhere to GO...or anything else to DO (except sleep.) Sammy likes running water. She has a bowl of fresh water on the floor next to her food dish. That water, for some reason, is not good enough for her. Running water seems to be the key. She drinks the running water from the bathroom sink as if she's on the verge of dehydration!
For laughs, sometimes while Sammy's sitting in the sink, waiting with baited breath for the water to magically start running, I'll put the water on FULL-FORCE!
Let me tell ya, that cat can RUN!