2013 Resolution Jump Start... Knock #1 off the list!

I'll be ringing out 2012 with a special dinner at my daughter's new home. Her hubby is making a delish lobster tail and filet dinner to thank me for all the help I have been over the last two weeks while they moved in and prepared for the Christmas holiday.

I'll be home before the ball drops, so no DUI checkpoints for me.

I am happy to report that I have already done one of my 2013 resolutions... go paperless and do online bill paying.

Now, to tackle losing some of my unwanted weight by going on a 'live' it (not diet... have to change my behavior and start buying fresh food to cook).  My motivation?  My other daughter's wedding on April 19.  I am thinking this one may take a bit more effort but I need (and want) to do it.

I'll be super busy the first four months of 2013...

• January will see me in Orlando at my company sales meeting.
• February will see me hosting my daughter's wedding shower and hubby's 60th birthday celebration.
• March will see me welcoming my newest grandson into my arms to smother with love & planning some type of 'bachlorette' party for my daughter.
• April will see me celebrating my daughter's wedding with family and closest of friends.
• May, God willing, will see me celebrate another birthday but by this time, all the hub-bub will be over and I can sit back and relax!
• September... going to try to plan a visit to our 50th state, Hawaii as a bday present to hubby and visit my niece who's just left for a year assignment for work.

Happy New Year to throngs of people who await the pearls of wisdom to drop from my fingertips!  Okay, well maybe not throngs but to the one or two of you who do!  Health and happiness are wished for you in 2013.

A Break

Looking forward to a much needed break.

After today, I will not report to the office until next year.

I will spend time doing what I love most...

spending time with family and friends

celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,

my Lord and Saviour.

I am excited as I anticipate His arrival

and celebrating Christmas morning with

Dylly in his new house as he awakens to

see what Santa Claus has left him for

being such a good boy!

If I don't post anything else before the holiday,

Merry Christmas to All

Wishing you Peace, Joy 

and Blessings of the Season.

With Heartfelt Wishes

Exciting Day Today...

My daughter, her hubby and my Scrump-dylly-icous

purchase their new home today.

Plans are to move in slowly over the next week with

the official moving day to be next Friday.

They'll be in the house just in time to celebrate the 

first of many Merry Christmases....

Hope Santa doesn't leave all Dylan's gifts in their

old house!

Today, this house will be made a home!

Wishing them years of health and happiness as they

raise their family in this beautiful house.

The One Thing You Can Always Count On...

Someone once said, There's two things you can count on in life... death and taxes.

As I navigate my life I have found that there is one thing you can count on... one constant...
change.

May as well embrace it because it's inevitable.

Looking forward to the change ahead at work as my department goes through a reorganization to make us work like a global organization since we are, afterall, a global organization.

I now report to a Frenchman, mais oui!

Change... it's just around the corner.

It's Groundhog Day!

Relapse, again... and he denies... like I am a complete idiot...

Only when caught does he concede... amazing how he can lie and deny.

I know he's addicted... I know he does it once he gives his PO a clean urine...

He goes and gets high... this has been the pattern I have seen in recent weeks.

I am about to have a coronary or stroke... this is killing my inner soul.

I told him he has to get out because I cannot witness him killing himself anymore.

This horrible addiction affects more than the addict.

It's sucking my life right out of me... and I am sad, mad and furious.

It's Groundhog Day... here we go again.  Please keep me in your prayers.

I could use a shoulder right about now... but alas I am left with only my words

on this simple blog.  I wish  you an addict-free life because it truly sucks.

Thanksgiving Table

Can you believe my luck?

I tried to upload my photos

and in doing so,

I deleted all the images on 

the data card?

Luckily, I could poach these two images

from my daughter who

thankfully took images of the

Thanksgiving Table...

But I am saddened because I 

had some good shots of the family too.

Oh well, another view of l'table d'me!

Remember, there's always room for more and

I can add another potato to the pot.

Let the Christmas season begin!

Thanksgiving

With all the turmoil that pops up in my life,
I do find time to be very humble and thankful.

Thank you to God and Jesus, my lord and savior for
blessing me with family and friends that surround me
and make my life whole.

Thank you to family and friends who love me,
with all my faults and imperfections.

Thank you to our founding fathers,
who created this great nation, USA,
for people of all races and religion to
live with freedom.

Thank you to our armed forces who continue
to work to keep our freedom.

With all the turmoil in my life,
I am thankful that there are good times to
balance the bad times.

Oh yes, I am thankful.

As I celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday with my
family... I wish you, my dear readers,
a very safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

And now... let the Christmas season begin...
AFTER Thanksgiving Day!

It Crosses All Economic and Social Classes...

I read and saw on the news that
Jon Bon Jovi's 19 year old daughter Stephanie
overdosed on Heroin yesterday and was taken
to the hospital.

This killer drug does not discriminate when choosing its victims
... and their families.

Matters not if you live in the ghetto on welfare,
if you are city or suburban,
rich and want for nothing...

This drug KILLS... people, families and countless lives.

Those people caught dealing Heroin deserve the death penalty,
no questions asked.

They are responsible for 97% of their customers' eventual deaths.
They are responsible for 100% of their customers' families dying because there's nothing that can be done to help their loved one once Heroin has entered their blood stream.
They are responsible for the next big epidemic since the bubonic plague.

No wasting the tax payers' money and housing them in jail.
No appeals for those convicted.
They should be executed immediately after their conviction
because they are murderers.

I hate Heroin but not as much as I hate those people who are
responsible for getting it into the hands of their customers.

I pray for the Bongiovi family.  If this is their first dealing with this drug,
they are in for a terrible, terrible time.  They will need the strength to fight this
battle and for the struggles they will face in the time ahead.

It crosses all economic and social classes without discrimination and causes the death 97% of the time.

Rough Patches...

Some are easier to navigate than others...
This is an others.

Sandy is coming...

Who invited her to visit the Mid-Atlantic states?

Weather forecasters are saying that people living in
my area should have gone to the State Stores and
purchased all the Wine & Spirits we could...

Hmmmm, I'm not even sure that drinking will make
Sandy look any better.

Think I'll just huddle under the covers and
watch some movies, that is, of course, we
have power to do so.

The sun will NOT come out tomorrow,
or the day after that, or maybe even the day after that...
but the sun will come out one day.

Time to batten down the hatches.

Such a Dilemma...

What am I to do?

Walked into the bathroom this morning
only to find wrappers and little baggies
lying by the toilet.

Have I told you lately how much I hate
the evil monster known as Heroin?

I confronted him by making him go and look.
'It must have fell out of my pocket when I
was going to the bathroom.'  'It's old.'

Liar, liar pants on fire!

Let's check your pants then....
some more wrappers and baggies... used.
Then when I searched, a syringe, closed packet (used)
and several packets still held together by their
purple rubberband... unused...

What if's begin to creep into my thoughts...
Dylly was here and picked these up and put
them in his mouth?

Please God, please help us to get away from
this evil monster Heroin.

Help me to understand what I am to do.
Help us to fight this GD battle.
Help rid us of this daily torment.
Help...help...help.

Relapse...

Oh how I hate that word.

Yes, he's relapsed AGAIN!

Locked bedroom door,
light on,
knock after knock after knock unanswered.
Name called time after time after time, no response.

Woke hubby up to find the bedroom keys
so I could find out what lie behind closed doors.

Nervous yet calm to what lie ahead.

Loud knock, louder knock, loudest knock and name called loudly.

Finally noise from within.
Nervousness lessened.
Door opens and he emerges stating he woke up midway through the night
and meant to unlock the door but must have fallen back to sleep
and continues to walk past towards the bathroom.

Notice the bed wasn't 'slept' in and then
notice the bags and wrappers on the bedspread.
Gathering of 'evidence' and turn to show hubby who
has arrived with the keys.

Relapse AGAIN!

He simply cannot deny it, I have the proof.
He wants to deny it, I have the proof.
Caught AGAIN!

Funny he SAYS this is the 2nd time since rehab.
Such a great manipulator, liar and  experienced addict.

2nd time because I confronted him and said
Do you take us for complete idiots.  We suspected such last week.

Oh how the web he weaves is tangled and by no fault of my own,
I am trapped in the gripping web strings sitting there awaiting destiny.

I asked who is going to notify PO?

Then the typical rants start about...
running away - he won't go back to prison.

• Mind you, this was his resolution the last time he was in front of the judge as he sat in the prison when he had a hot urine the last time.
• In order to be released, he fired his public defender and told the judge, if I have another hot urine, you can put me back in prison and I will serve my entire term starting at day one.
• It worked, he got released.
  As you know, he relapsed and finally asked for help and we got him to rehab.30 days.

He rants more.
I'm not going back.
I might as well kill myself.

I don't like this roller coaster ride anymore.
Like him, I too want off.

So, how did your Friday morning start?
I hope it started far better than mine.
Mine sucked!

84 and 14

Yesterday when I heard the news that

Andy Williams died at the age of 84,

my first thought was of how I so enjoyed

his Christmas specials when I was growing 

up!  Oh how handsome I thought he was.

While seeing a report on TV later on, 

they flashed up his birth year, 1927...

That got me to thinking.  Dad was born in

1928, around the same age as Andy...

As many long time readers know, Dad passed

away in January 1987 (a week before my youngest,

my Andy, was born).  Had he lived til today, like 

Andy Williams, Dad would have been 84.

WOW!

Happy 84th Birthday Dad!

Sorta reminds you of Andy Williams, huh?

Wish we could be blowing out your candles

instead of thinking and wishing about it.

Miss you today, miss you always. 

oh and the 14, what does that have to do with it?

Google is 14 years old today!

Happy 14th Birthday Google!

Use you just about EVERY DAY.

Approaching 22,000 milestone!

For some bloggers this is simply peanuts!
For me, it's big time...
I would never have thought that there'd
be 22,000 hits on my simple blog...
but we're almost there, almost!

Maybe, just maybe, someday
I will try to make this blog o' mine
something.

For now, you're stuck with my
simple posts about things that
happen along my road of life.

Thanks for stopping and
Thanks for viewing...
all 22,000 of ya!

Well it's official...

The announcement went out on facebook

by mommy & daddy

so I can officially share the news with you!

My Scrump-Dylly-icious isn't the only one that

SUPER EXCITED!

SHHHHH... I have a secret!

I'm gonna be a big brother!

Couldn't you just EAT HIM UP?

I am SUPER EXCITED to have yet

another Scrumptious to hold, snuggle

and most of all, LOVE!

It will be a busy Spring season in 2013.

Newest addition to the family due March 15th.

Next addition to the family will be April 19th,

that's when my other daughter gets married

and her hubby will 'officially' become my son!

Have a good day!

LOOK Who's Two...

Can't get my camera upload onto the laptop, darn!

Well if I could, you'd see an updated picture of my
Scrump-Dylly-icious.  He's two today and I love
him more today than I did on the day he was born...

But THAT day, that day will go down as one of
my MOST FAVORITE days of my life!

His personality is so funny.  He knows how to make you laugh.
He's grown so much.

I am looking forward to him blowing out his candles
later today as we celebrate his arrival two years ago.
We'll be doing a Toy Story kinda day with Woody,
Buzz and the Evil Dr. Pork Chop! :)

He's been a bright spot in my life and a source of
nothing but happiness.

Thank you God for blessing me with this little man.

Can you believe that summer is almost over?

My how time flies.
Another Labor Day Holiday Weekend is history.
Another school year has begun for our youngsters.
Another football season has begun.

I remember when I was young how I thought that the days dragged on forever.
Oh how I wish time could slow down to that pace again.
I miss that time.

I wonder what would life be like (similar to that Benjamin Buttons movie) where you had the brain of an adult and the body of a child... what things would we choose to do differently?  Can you imagine?  I think I'd choose to play more... what happened to knocking up and playing with your friends? As an adult, I wish I could do that now.
Simply knock up and have fun with people you like to be with.

It also wouldn't hurt if mom and dad took over all the bills and worries that life throws at you.

My how time flies.
Another fall season to look forward to and see it fly by...
Christmas is just around the corner.

... it's yours...

to keep.

Heroin is a Worldwide Monster

How sad...
BBC Article on Heroin in Pakistan

... Set Them Free

Everything Good Must Come to an End...

Well my long awaited vacation is winding down to an end.

I enjoyed my time away from the bump and grind of the office.  Put the metallic glaze on the painted walls of the dining room, but am not as pleased with it as I thought I would be.  Decided to step away from it and let it sit for a bit to see if it grows on me... but still, not as pleased as I had hoped to be.

Thinking of putting another layer of metallic glaze on the walls but NOT do any 'techniques' to manipulate it, just let it be as it is when painted on.  

Visited with in-laws and went out for a nice leisurely lunch to catch up.  Next year we may even plan a trip to Annapolis (I have never been and have always wanted to go) together.

Had the chance to head down to the shore for a couple of days to spend time with my brother and his family.  My daughters and my Scrump-Dylly-icious were there too.

Heck, I even got a load on one night having hubby make me two doubles of the Captain and Diet Coke! Yeah, you read that right, two drinks = load on for me!

We had a blast playing a game called Apples to Apples.  The greatest thing about this game is that everyone from my 6 year old Godson to my 80 year old mother could play and have fun laughing at the different outcomes.  Heck they even make a 'Junior Jewish version' that I am sure my Jewish friend's family would find funny... I may not get that version being goy but if this version is as much fun as our everyday version... you'll have a fun evening.

As I wind down my vacation these last two days, hubby and I will head to the rehab that my son admitted himself to for a two hour class that must be attended before any visiting rights are extended.  Geesh, I have been through so many of these 'two hour sessions' over the past decade... I suppose I can do one more.

Please keep us in your prayers.  Heroin is such a hard drug to overcome and he's struggled for years with this addiction.  Heroin kills more than the addicts... it kills the people who love the addict... it kills happiness and a 'normal' life... it alters everything.  BUT... there is some success with battling it, very small amount of addicts ever overcome the addiction (3%).  BUT... this time, he knew he needed to go to rehab immediately because he knew he'd use again if he didn't and... he said he cannot continue to live his life this way.

Tomorrow we may be eligible for visitation so we may go and see him to see how he's doing.  

Then Monday, it's back to work.  Ahhh life, ain't it grand?

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N is here!

I am glad that this week finally arrived!

I needed this vacation badly.

So happy to ignore the clock and for the next

seven days do what I want, when I want.

Little Stay-cation and Va-cation combo...

Heading down to the shore for some

Fun in the sun mid-week!

Oh, I need this week away from work...

bum, bump, bum, bump, bum, bump...

Heart rated = 106

Got to see pictures yesterday of
the new little miracle...
6 weeks old...
will have to wait til
March 15th
to meet the little
Mr. or Miss

:)

The lord works in mysterious ways...

...and who am I to question why?


A few posts ago, I posted about Dylly's mom
and the great sadness we felt at the loss of
her early term pregnancy.


Was it right to feel so sad over this little life that
had just begun?  She was so new into her pregnancy,
we tried to understand how we were already so 
bonded to this new life within her womb.


Well, as many of you know who have had the heartache
of miscarriage, there's a hormone level that rises as the 
pregnancy evolves.


My daughter had to go several times to have blood work
done to ensure the levels were going down to confirm 
she was not carrying a child any longer.


She did so and went last week for her final blood work test.
Being totally tired of going and the level going down but not
yet at zero, she expressed her frustration.


While on a conference call at work, a 'Private Number' was calling
her.  She figured it was the lab or doctor's office with the results of 
her lastest (and hopefully final) hormone levels.  


Cursing under her breath, saying 'If it comes back at 5 and they make me
go again, I will absolutely scream!'.


Lo and behold, the lord works in mysterious ways, doesn't she?


They were calling to give her the results of her latest round of blood work.
'Your blood work came back and your hormone level is 800.  You're 
pregnant! Congratulations!'


Surprised as all heck and excited beyond belief, she's gone for 2nd round and
an ultrasound and she is, in fact, pregnant once again!


Is it right to be so happy over this little life that has JUST begun?
She's truly so new into this pregnancy, is it possible that we
have already bonded?


Good news/bad news kinda thing though.  When she called to tell me,
I said I was excited but cautiously optomistic... and then added, with our 
luck, she'll be due on April 19th... the day of her sister's wedding...HA!


When she did her rudimentary calculation, her due date is April 13th.


Oh, the lord works in mysterious ways for sure.


Oh... before I forget... SSSSHHHHHHHhhhhhhh... IT'S OUR LITTLE SECRET UNTIL THE FIRST TRIMESTER IS COMPLETED BUT I AM SO EXCITED I HAD TO SHARE!

If I could only hold out...

The always welcomed vacation is still three long weeks
away and I am soooo longing to be off and away!


Question is, can I hold out until then?


Hmmmm, guessing I really have no choice but
I am already thinking about it, already!

Happy 33rd Birthday Son!

Today, or rather 33 years ago today, I welcomed

my first born into this world!

Oh, how I'd love to go back in time and hold, hug

and kiss him like I used to do.

He was my bunny, my stephanotis, my stevearino and

I loved him so!

Today, he's grown into a responsible, educated young man.

I know, you couldn't tell he's responsible from this picture but he's a free spirit and I think this picture is cool.  

A wee bit old, he's now sporting a much shorter hair style.

My wish for him is that he find someone to 

share his life with and be happy.

Happy Birthday Stephen (& me)

I love you more today than yesterday

but not as much as tomorrow!

BTW, it's International Kissing Day!

Hope his someone special drops a great,

big smooch on him!

Yang/Flow/Good Post

Ah, that balance in life...

Here's an example of something I find GREAT JOY in celebrating...

My Scrump-Dylly-icious!

Celebrating July 4, 2012.

God Bless him and

God Bless America!

Love'em both.

Puts a smile right on my face, everytime!

Don't you agree?

They come in threes, right?

Well, it's time for some other chump to get some bad luck/news. The other shoe dropped, lucky me!

First was my daughter's miscarriage.
Second was my mom's hospital stay.
Third, happened today... anyone care to make a guess?

Anyone? Anyone?

Beuller? Beuller?

Well if you've followed my blog for a while you know I have a son who's a heroin drug addict and has been in and out of prison.


He's been out on parole, living at home and unable (or should I say unwilling??? perhaps) to find full-time work.  Hubby brought him for his weekly meeting with his PO and for the first time decided to sit and wait for him since there was an open parking spot right outside the building.


Call it good luck or father's intuition but after waiting for just over a half hour, a man came out of the building and told him his urine came back hot and our son would not be going home.  Instead, he's back in prison.


Needless to say, I am sad but I feel empty too.  It's a difficult feeling to describe.  I have been dealing with my son's addiction for years, FOR YEARS!!!! And he's only 25.


If anyone in blogosphere is reading this and you believe in God and the power of prayer like I do, I am asking a huge favor.  Please say a prayer for my son and another for my hubby.  He's so upset and it's difficult for him to handle this particular situation with our youngest child.  And finally, I am going to ask for a little prayer for me to help me to continue to deal with this sad, sad situation.


With heartfelt thanks and a tear running down my cheek, I ask God to give me the strength to persist.


So, any good news out there?  I could use some good news right about now... share please :)

When it rains...

It pours...

Yesterday, was superglued to my desk for most of the day.
An email came out (didn't see it, was too busy working) 15 minutes
prior to it being over...Landlord for our building complex was having a
Water Ice and Soft Pretzel social outside our main lobby.
Colleague yelped, Come On, let's get some.
Hopped up and was away for 10 - 15 minutes...
Don't you know, when I return my phone is telling me I have
a message!
I sit there all day and not a peep and I leave for a few minutes
and lo and behold, there's a voicemail.
Pointed that out to my colleague and we laughed about it.
About 15 minutes later, I finally get to listen to the message
and go to my colleague and say,
'Remember that voicemail I had? Take a gander at what it's about.'
She thought for a moment and said, 'Um, supplier cancelled the Webex?'
and I said, 'Come on, it's ME we're talking about!' and she laughed
and said, 'OMG, some catastrophe has happened!'

BINGO! well sorta...

It was my daughter the nurse telling me that my hubby took my
mother to the ER.  She was having chest pains.  With her history,
best to get it  checked out.  No need to leave work.

Needless to say, they kept her overnight for observation.  Good news,
it wasn't heart related... bad news, she's still there.

Honestly, I should have started writing a book with all the life
stories I have experienced... I am not that creative to make up
this stuff.

Oh, and today, she witnessed a horrific accident.  Actually she said
she was just inches away from being involved and miraculously, no
injuries.  A man and his kids could have been killed by the driver,
traveling at a high rate of speed, ran a red light.  The man and the kids'
vehicle clipped the speeding vehicle.  He said, had my daughter not
slammed on her brakes, he would not have followed suit out of instinct.
He never saw the clown coming into the intersection.  Had he not
slammed on his breakes, his car would have been T-boned and his
family would have been killed!

Oh, I need a drink... a nice, long, slow, cool drink!  Cheers!

Feeling Blue, Boo Hoo...

My Scrump-Dylly-icious' mom miscarried.

We're feeling sad.

She Said 'YES' to The Dress!

What a relief to have this out of the way.

• Dress, check!
• Veil, check!
• Slip, check!

Simply Stunning!

Don't you agree?


So we did a lil' celebrating...
with our friends
Moet & Chandon!
:)

Heading in the Right Direction!

Getting close to done... 
Getting close to being excited!
Just a lil' more wallpaper and finish moldings
but here's a glimpse of the progress to 
Whet your appetites.

Coffee's brewing, almost time for some Joe!

Some Jewels for the Wall Cabinets

 

 

Some Jewels for the Island and Buffet Cabinets 

 

Angles, angles and more angles!

Wallpaper begins! 

  

So much more to do but 

it's finally looking like a 

kitchen and eating area! 


Cushions for benches,
Walnut Dining Double Pedestal Table,
Ghost Chairs (oh so pretty),
and the pieces de resistance...
Wall Sconces and Chandeliers!


Oh, and the Dining Room transformation
to follow...
Will I ever be finished???

Another Day,

Another year.

What's that they say?

Good fences make good neighbors?

Well, out back, new neighbors moved in about 9 months ago.  Never have met them.  Apparently male neighbor stopped by and said something to my son about the fence and how he wanted to fix it was it okay?  My son said yeah, knowing that we were going to be putting up a new one AFTER the kitchen and deck are done, that was the 3rd project...

Well, this smacked a$$ decided to butcher my Rose of Sharons along my side of the fence and leave anywhere from 3 inches to 16 inches of trunk in the ground.  Mind you these plants were behind our shed (3 years old) but they were mature and very tall and blocked our view of his house, which is in poor condition.

The fence is in very sad shape and needs replacement but this smacked a$$ took it upon himself to come onto my property and cut down my mature plants without asking.

I'm so pissed I feel like contacting a Real Estate Lawyer and suing the crap outta this smack!  Ugh, I guess the crappy fence made a crappy neighbor... assuming we'll not be friends either!

@#$!$#@!#@%!$#@$$#!@@%$#@$%@%$#@$#@&#^%*(*&)(*)&^%$%#@&*%(O)*&^%$#@

It's Getting There...

New eating area getting walls, 

Counters and backsplash are on their way to finish...

Almost done, invites to come!

I can smell a kitchen in the offing! YAY!

It's really getting harder...

to get up and go to a job I hate.

Actually, it's not the job so much as being told just about everything I am doing is wrong!

Got reamed again yesterday.

I have never felt like a failure as much as I do since taking this role.  I do believe my boss is pushing me to leave so I guess I will begin to do a job that I truly, truly hate to do... look for a new job!

Ugh, time to get ready and head into the office!  I tell ya, if I'm gonna get reamed, I'd at least like to have an orgasm for putting up with it!

Grrrrrrrrrrr...

My Princess Bride

As I said, we are in the 'Say Yes to the Dress' phase for my daughter's wedding day...

Thought I'd share a few images of her in some of the dresses she's tried on so far.  The decision is going to be very hard since she's beautiful in everyone!  I know, I am probably biased but she truly is beautiful!

This first one is the one the salon owner brought out for her.

This one, however, is the sole reason we went to the salon... this is the dress she wanted to see and try on.

Simply smashing!

Then we tried one with some 'bling'

See, beautiful, huh?

Then one a little more inline with her ideal gown...

She'll be such a beautiful bride!  Even if she's in a brown sack!

We liked #2 and #4... still more shopping to go.