Quickie in Norfolk...

Just where do you think I am going with this post? 

Come on, get your mind out of the gutter.

I had a business trip to Norfolk, VA where I rented out the Nauticus for the night.

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the place was as I had never been there before but the night was awesome; good food, good times and good venue.

A success!

In one day and out the next...I am now home again.

As I said, I had a quickie in Norfolk!

We're B-A-N-A-N-A-S for Dylan!

We're absolutely bananas over Dylan and he's not even arrived yet!

My daughter's baby shower went off EXACTLY as planned regardless of which plan I needed to go to, LOL.

She arrived at the restaurant a little ahead of schedule and no one was on the look out so she walked towards the noise and stood there waving until someone noticed her and said, "Oh look, she's here." To which everyone responded, "Surprise!"

She knew it would be this weekend but had no idea exactly when since 'seeds' had been planted for different happenings for the weekend.  Luckily, this was the first happening of the weekend and she was told all others were not real!

We had four hours reserved but were finished in 3 hours and 15 minutes, amazing considering the amount of presents that were there to open.  I enlisted the help of her two neices to bring presents to their Aunt and my nephew to be the 'present taker' and get it outta the way as soon as she was finished looking at each present.

Feedback has been very good from guests so I guess I succeeded in pulling off the affair.  I took Sunday off and lounged around recouperating from all my planning and organizing.

And now, we await the little monkey's arrival.  Can't wait to swing with him in my arms!  September can't come soon enough.

Gotta Love the USPS

Ahhhh, the USPS Priority Mail Service, you just gotta love it.

In addition to making my very own personalized confections for the baby shower, I purchased chocolate monkey taffies from a seller on Etsy. Concerned about shipping them was raised, especially with the heat waves we've had this summer....eeehhhh gash it's been hot...(see post Hot, Hot, Hot).

The seller assured me that she'd be able to pack them so they'd arrive safe and sound. I ordered 75 of them at a pretty penny each. They were shipped USPS Priority Mail and tracking numbers provided and well as 'signature required' so they would not sit in the heat.

Lo and behold, the precious cargo with 'Perishable' written on three sides arrived...

Needless to say, just about 20 of them were able to be salvaged. I had to negotiate with the seller to refund me some money and I am in a pickle (no not Kosher pickle) to find something to replace them for my guests....

Ah, the best laid plans can get tossed around by the gorillas at the USPS Priority Mail facilities and make one utilize Plan C, or was that D? Hmmmm, either way, Saturday will come and go whether my Plan A, Plan B, Plan C or Plan D has to be used.

Que sera, sera!

Remaining Flexible is the Key...

Well, it sure is good that I am flexible.

Just when I thought I had all my ducks in a row and did all that planning...

my beautiful, pregnant daughter decides to stop and spend the day with me and got things

Initially she said she'd be here around 2:30pm, so I figured I could make the Chocolate Covered Oreos in the morning. I got the first batch in the fridge and just took out the second batch's freshly melted chocolate from the microwave when the phone rings.

Hi Mom, just dropped hubby off at train station so he can get to NYC and instead of heading home, I figured I just come to your house....

OH NO, what am I to do with all these molds, melted chocolate, chilling in the fridge chocolate covered oreos and all the other stuff I just layed out?????

EAT THEM OF COURSE!

No, just kidding (Again). I had to scramble to 'hide' all this stuff.

And as luck would have it, she spent the entire day until 9pm with me....

so it's a good thing I am flexible because I only have 10 cookies made and 90 more to go.

It's All in the Details...Plan, Plan and Plan some more!

I am planning a baby shower for my daughter next weekend. It's for my first grandchild, a boy! I truly love to plan these things, especially when I have the time and space.

I created, ordered, mailed out invitations to guests with an RSVP request. I am having it at a restaurant so I don't have to clean the house, worry about the weather and overburden my central air.

Is it just me or if someone places RSVP it means 'REPLY PLEASE'? Not regrets only but REPLY either way. I have just had to send out two separate mass emails 'Reminding' the guests to let me know as the restaurant needs a head count tomorrow.

Invite list had 78 guests and over half of them needed 'Reminding'... eee gash, this drives me nuts! I do all this planning and half the folks lack the courtesy to let me know if they will be there.

I guess this act of 'Reminding' touched a sore spot with me. You see, when my daughter got married and we needed to provide a count to the caterer, I had to contact about 25 of the guests who received invitations WITH reply cards to see if they were planning on attending... what's up with folks today?

This weekend will be spent trying to finish up on details but the good news/bad news is my daughter is nosey AND she likes to stop over at the house so I've already been informed she will be by tomorrow for a visit....guess I will have to burn the midnight oil making the chocolate covered oreos and hide them somewhere before she arrives. ;)

OR MAYBE I WILL JUST EAT THEM ALL! NOT, JUST KIDDING!

LOSS

Just the word LOSS itself conjurs up negative feelings, emotions and thoughts. :-(



There's all types of LOSS; actual loss, casualty loss, direct loss, indirect loss and total loss to name a few.



Sometimes LOSS is defined as:

• The state of being deprived; the loss of a friend.


• Death; to mourn the loss of a pet.


• The accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen; to discover the loss of a necklace.


• The failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.

Sometimes, LOSS can be a good thing too. :-)

Last night, my weight loss continued with an additional pound off my bones. YAY! Was hoping for more but I'll take the loss and be happy! It was in the right direction.

See this LOSS is considered a good LOSS, however, most times LOSS is not considered something positive.

An example of this would be, "Last night, not only did I have a weight loss of an additional pound, I suffered the loss of something beloved."

Hot, Hot, H-O-T!

Wow, what a heat wave we've had here. Just when you thought it couldn't get any hotter, it does!

How high will it go?

Triple digit heat...Day #1

Triple digit heat...Day #2

So, do you think this is what they mean when they say it's hotter than haties? If not, it feels darn close but the truth is, once you hit 100, what's the difference between 100 and 103?...or 100 and 105?

N-O-T M-U-C-H

Tonight's the night...

Well, I've not hopped on that scale once this past week but I have been journaling religiously. Here's to less of me to love as I return for my first week's weigh in.

Permit Me To Be Nostalgic for a Moment...

I can hardly believe it's been 31 years today that I gave birth to my first child, a son, and life as I knew it would never be the same.

I can recall the silly things first-time parents do since they have no idea what to expect and what to do.

We had just made settlement on our new home the evening of July 5th and went over and checked out the place. Move in day was to be that weekend. After going to our new home (and no I was NOT carried over the threshold!) and walking around, we went back to my s-i-l's house where we had a room until our house was ours.

That night, I started with what I thought were 'contractions'. They were contractions but not the kind that mean delivery is imminent, silly me... no one told me it hurts and these didn't hurt they were simply a nuisance.

Regardless, the expectant father had me at the hospital at 6am. I took a shower but did not get to put on make up nor fix my hair. Boy oh boy, those pictures of me are a sight to see! I learned my lesson with successive births. :)

Dr. induced labor (yuck! again I say no one told me it hurt!) and 11 hours later we delivered a bouncing baby boy, 9lbs 3oz 21", a real slugger! So much for imminent delivery huh?

Dr. was teaching obstetrics so there were students in the room. After delivery, hubby made calls to family about the arrival. He was SO EXCITED! A boy! Then the baby was circumcized right there next to me and hubby in delivery room. Guess closest I'll ever be to a bris. LOL

When they readied the baby to take to the nursery, hubby says, "It's cold in here isn't it?" and everyone says, "No." Then hubby, so proud as a peacock, follows the cart with our son out of the delivery room and watches as he's wheeled to the nursery.

It was then the reason for his 'feels cold' was understood by all in the delivery room...as he leaned out the door to watch his son being wheeled away, his gown opened up and lo and behold, his white ass was revealed. That along with sitting on one of those metal stools in the room would make any one a bit cold... He wanted to make sure he was sterile so when he was told to go and gown up...he removed EVERYTHING and donned the gown, hat and mask on.

Oh what roars of laughter arose in the delivery room!

We were famous in the hospital with the staff...and there's more funny hospital stories AND moving into a house while in the hospital but that can be shared at another time.

We tell all first time parents our story so they don't do what we did and in the throws of things they all say they think of that story and laugh!

Ah, it hardly seems possible that my firstborn is 31 years old today. He's turned into a creative, talented and good young man. He's been following his passion and working on music every chance he gets. I am a proud mother.

Thirty-one years ago today my life was transformed and I became a mother. It's been the best reward God has bestowed upon me. So thank you God and thank you Jesus for the blessing of motherhood some 31 years ago.

P.S. (Thanks for letting me be nostalgic for a moment... <3)

Rockin' in the Cradle of Liberty! Happy 4th of July All

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL!

Growing up in the shadows of the Cradle of Liberty, one can take for granted exactly what happened here in 1776.


Our forefathers met and signed the Declaration of Independence, a document that contains one of the most known phrases in the world,

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS."

Liberty - the philosophy that ascertains that individuals have the right to behave according to one's own responsibility and free will.

There's monuments that celebrate liberty; i.e. the Libery Bell and the Statue of Liberty.

As we grill, lounge and celebrate this 4th of July holiday weekend, let us not forget the battles fought by our forefathers to provide us this liberty some 234 years ago.

God Bless You and God Bless America!

Have a safe and Happy 4th!