Saturday, December 27, 2008

SHUT UP AND BE GREATFUL.

This year we were the recipients of some extremely generous gifts.
It hasn't been a very abundant year for us, and we haven't had the best luck with health in the family...But we have good friends who are so supportive and are willing to attend my own personal pitty parties. We were overwhelmed with the generosity and good will this Christmas
So, I think I'll just start focusing on all the blessings we have and shut up.
Carlie was so inundated with gifts this year that she actually stopped opening gifts halfway thru Christmas, and refused to open anymore....then dissolved in tears onto my lap.
A Little break for some juice and a snack and she was right back there, neck deep in ribbon and wrapping paper.
Mom was actually feeling good, and came over around 8am Christmas morning!
My Father-in-law is here with us until Sunday or Monday and seems to be having a good time with Carlie. Of course she LOVES his attention)
Today my Brother and Sister-in-law are coming and were going to the Brazilian Grille for dinner.
I'll post some pic's asap.

Friday, December 19, 2008

I'M BETTER NOW.....

Mom's back to her old self again...THANK GOD
Still having some issues, but she's OK.
We actually got a Christmas tree the other night!
Can I find time to do anything else?... We'll see.
At least it's going to snow. :)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY????


OK, Here's how my Christmas season is going so far this year....
My husband is having a hell of a time finding work, my daughter has had a fever for the last 4 days and has been attatched at my hip, I spent the last half of my 39th birthday in the ER with my Mother who had a bad reaction to some medication she was prescribed and now has spent the last 3 days at my house, halucinating, babbling and uttering nonsense too confused to be home alone. We havent gotten a christmas tree...I have projects I can't even begin and I have no money to do any Christmas shopping...OH and also, I have to work this coming weekend, so there goes any grain of time to do anything anyway!. I think we just need to postpone Christmas this year at our house. I never thought I'd say this, as Christmas is my (usually)FAVORITE time of year but here it goes...BAH HUMBUG!!!! There, I said it...on the record. I can't even listen to Christmas music as it just depresses me. OH did I mention that I got my daughters cold?...ya...that too.
I think I'll just crawl back into bed...wake me when it's spring.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

I lost a friend/co-worker the other night, She went to bed and just never woke up...She was only 42. I don't know why she didn't wake up, I just know that she will be deeply missed. She was funny and fair and a truely nice person. She also knew how to do her job well and the department she was in will never be able to replace her. She was also a big pain in the butt, but that's one of the reasons I liked her.
I feel for her family...They seemed like they really needed her. It's all very sad.
I decided to go to the wake in Bourne last week and took my friend Amy there as well. I had to stop for gas and when I began to pull out of the gas station to merge onto the highway my truck died at the bottom of the exit from the gas station. If I had started to pull out I would have been sitting in oncoming traffic....THANK YOU GUARDIAN ANGELS!!!
Amy and I waited from 5:30-7pm for AAA to come and tow me the thirty feet backwards into the service station parkinglot because the tow truck wasn't there!!....UUUGH Needless to say we missed the wake, Amy went to the burial and memorial service, but I stayed at work and skipped it. I am just not good at the whole consoleing thing.
I'll send a card.
Anyway, the truck looks like it needs a fuel pump and there goes my bonus check we use for Christmas shopping every year..... ....What next? Can we have a run on GOOD luck for a while now?...PLLLLEEEEAAASE??????

Saturday, November 29, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!


I really do get a kick out of saying Merry Christmas for the first couple of weeks after Thanksgiving...Especially when I get a snarl in response. Some people just don't get the Christmas spirit as soon as we do around here I guess.
Carlie and I met Fooseberry and her Mom Mary Ann with Foosebery's girls Olivia and Ava at Mahoney's this morning for pictures with Santa! Carlie had a little problem sitting in Santa's lap and it definitely shows in the picture...she looks HORRIFIED.
After that, Carlie and I stopped at Sherwin Williams so that I can finally pick out a paint color for our bathroom, bu I couldn't decide and came home for some inspiration and advice. A year or so ago I came up with the brilliant idea to paint our bathroom a grayish purple. I went to the store and bought the paint and brought it home and SLAPPED it up in the bathroom. WELL..... It wasn't exactly the color I thought it would be. It was more like a grape purple....and the walls needed prep.....and my husband was ready to kill me because it looked awful...I mean BAAAAD....And we've lived with it like that ever since. In the meantime, we developed this mildew problem. So between the terrible grape paint job, there was this mildew issue going on as well. NOT PRETTY. 2 weeks ago we decided enough was enough and my husband stripped the whole bathroom, sanded fixed,filled holes...and primed the whole room white. I found this adorable shower curtain pink with little white daisies with yellow centers that I just bought on Overstock. So after consulting with my decorating advisor I have decided to keep the bathroom white and just do pink and maybe yellow accents... maybe even freehand a few of those daisies here and there on the walls. Were putting up shelving and hopefully organizing our lives alittle bit finally. At least it will look nice for the holidays, I expect my husbands family on Christmas eve. so...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

HOT DAMN I DID IT

Ok, It has its flaws....but I made my first pie's.....from scratch...crust and all.
To anyone who is a seasoned cook (no pun intended) this might not seem like a big deal, but to me it's HUGE I have had this fear of making pie pastry forever! Since Mom wasn't up to doing the pies this year...(we put her on cranberry sauce duty) It was up to me. I started out Wednesday morning by baking 4 loaves of bread, 2 Cranberry orange and 2 Pumpkin raisin. About 3pm I started getting my nerve up to tackle this whole pastry thing. I figured I would do this later in the day so that when Carlie came home from school, she and I could do cinnimon pinwheels from the left over pastry like I used to do with my Mom when I was a kid.
I made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie and guess what? NO PIE DOUGH LEFTOVER!!!
The part I was so looking forward too..... no go. So for next year... 3 batches of pie pastry and damn it Carlie and I are going to be in cinnimon pinwheel heaven. We were robbed!!!
I woke up this morning and started right in...prepping everything and planning. Mom and my Aunt Ann were going to come here for dinner...around 10:30am Mom called and told me that she wasn't up to going anywhere today so we shifted to plan B We were going to her house and brining the whole dinner with us. About 4 O'clock we got there and had a great dinner. Mom was wiped out by the whole thing so we packed it all up and were home and in jammies by 7pm.
I am so figgin tired I don't know how I'm sitting here typing!! It was nice to do the whole dinner myself, it made me feel good to be able to do that for my Mom after all the years she did it for us...kind of like she passed the torch. Now I get to do this for Carlie....how cool is that?
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!...oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

HAPPY WINTER

Damn it's gotten cold outside!! What happened to fall? I looked outside yesterday and it was summer, this morning was fall and now there's flurries and it's 24 friggin degrees outside. Where is the time going???
My baby girl is now a little girl and I'm staring down the gun barrell of 40. How did this happen? I'm not supposed to get old, everyone else is. DID SOMEONE NOT GET THE MEMO??

Saturday, November 15, 2008

FIRST HAIRCUT


WE COULDNT BELIEVE HOW GOOD CARLIE WAS FOR HER FIRST HAIRCUT. WE TOOK HER TO SNIP IT'S IN PLYMOUTH. THE GIRL WHO CUT HER HAIR WAS NAMED TINA AND SHE WASN'T AT ALL THE TYPE OF PERSONALITY I EXPECTED TO MEET IN A HAIR SALON FOR KIDS. SHE WAS SORT OF GRUMPY, NOT VERY FRIENDLY AND DEFINATLEY NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING SMALL TALK. WHILE SHE CUT THOSE CURLS OFF AND THEY SWIRLED TO THE FLOOR IN SOFT GOLD PILES, I WAS IN NEED OF SOME REASSURANCE AND WASN'T ABOUT TO GET IT FROM TINA . HENRI TOOK THE TRUCK OVER TO BJ'S FOR A CHEAP FILL UP ON GAS WHILE THIS WAS ALL GOING ON BECAUSE HE COULDN'T BARE TO SEE IT HAPPEN.
THE HAIRCUT COST $16.95 AND I INSISTED IN BAGGING UP EVERY SINGLE CURL THAT CAME OFF AND TOOK THEM ALL HOME. CARLIE GOT A PRIZE AND A TRIM, HER HAIR LOOKS MUCH HEALTHIER AND SHE'S CUTE AS EVER....OF COURSE. AS FOR TINA, I THINK WE'LL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE NEXT TIME.




WEEKEND GET AWAY







WE FINALLY MADE IT UP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE IN MID OCTOBER.
HENRI'S DAD CAME UP TOO. WE WERE THERE FROM FRIDAY TILL SUNDAY AFTERNOON. WE HAD CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE SKIES AND TEMPERATURES IN THE 60's THE WHOLE TIME. THE LEAVES WERE AT PEAK AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
WE TOOK A COUPLE TRIPS TO THE PIERMONT FARM AND SAW THE COWS,HORSES, CHICKENS AND PIGS, THE PUMPKINS WERE EVERYWHERE AND IT WAS THE PICTURE PERFECT AUTUMN COUNTRY TRIP. CARLIE WAS BESIDE HERSELF WITH THE COWS. SHE WOULDNT GO VERY CLOSE BUT SHE WAS FASCINATED WITH THEM.
WE WENT TO NORTH CONWAY FOR LUNCH TOOK THE KANKAMANGAS TRAIL AND STOPPED ALONG THE WAY TO SEE THE SIGHTS.
WE TOOK OUR TIME HEADING HOME AND ALL IN ALL IT WAS A GREAT WEEKEND.
CARLIE AND "GUMPA" HAD A BALL TOGETHER, AND SHE ASKED FOR HIM FOR DAYS AFTER.




Thursday, November 13, 2008

IT'S BEEN A WHILE.....

PP





Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.... I recently got a comment from a post in June and realized that that's the last time I blogged. So alohas happened since June. Henri's job with the bank wasn't all it was cracked up to be. They decided a mutual parting of the ways was the best thing. So were back to that again. He's been sending out resume's like mad but due to this lovely economy, the interviews are coming few and far between.





Mom was in remission for all of about 5 minutes. Her tumor grew some more and she's back on chemo. This cocktail of chemo s making her sick as a dog. Hopefully we'll have a happy ending. My job was sheer hell all summer but were fully staffed now and things have settled down and I'm back to just doing my own job.... Thank God!!





Halloween was a blast this year, Carlie was a cow and moo'd herself silly. She started out in her costume at 10 in the morning, we went to visit Uncle Andy, Jess at the coffee shop, the VNA luncheon then home for a break to set up the walkway for trick or treaters. Back in the costume and over to Nanna's then home for trick or treating! By the fourth house she wouldn't even moo anymore we were exhausted. I couldn't get us home fast enough. We were in our jammies and cuddled up in the big chair for the rest of the night. I love being a Mom.

























Friday, August 22, 2008

New Hampshire




I am dreaming about New Hampshire now.....


I got a comment from my smart ass friend Fooseberry and now I can't stop thinking about going to New Hampshire. I absolutely love it up north, and she knows it.


Our family friends own a "cabin" in New Hampshire ( I say cabin but it's actually a house)


I've been going up there since I was 17 years old. Back then it was me, Susan and Lisa. It was always an adventure. I couldn't even get into some of the scandals that went on there, but we always had something to talk about after we got home. Lisa and Susan tolerated each other most of the time but they had some moments that I thought they were going for blood, and that left me running interference the entire weekend. Good thing there was plenty of liquor up there. Then the boyfriends came up. And there were fights and pissy attitudes and drama. Then we got it together, Lisa moved away and we all got married. I think the best part is that I got to get married there. I can't believe now I'm going to be bringing my daughter there...Time sure flies.

DANCING IN THE RAIN

Is it Friday yet???
I have been waiting for this weekend and dreaming of this weekend for half a month. The fact is I have NO plans!! I am just going to go with the flow and enjoy having no where to be and nothing to do ( except a million home projects but they don't count) We have no company coming, no parties to attend, no appointments to keep....aaah heaven!
My job has been really getting to me lately. We have a girl out on FMLA right now and I'm getting PORKED with all her work. I'm not really liking it, there's not much I can do about it and it doesn't look like she's coming back right away so I guess I'm stuck.
I spent 45 minutes ranting about my job to my husband last night and that's not like me. I'm so frustrated with the whole situation. I love my job when I can do MY job and not my job AND someone else's.
I need a vacation. I mean a real vacation...where I DON'T have to help my mother move or I'm not on Maternity leave running back and forth to Boston and trying to heal from an emergency C-section, a vacation where I can actually recharge and get a fresh perspective. Unfortunately I don't see anything like that coming my way any time soon.
I think I need to sit and draw more. I defiantly need to draw more...but when? Maybe this weekend I can talk Henri into taking Carlie and disappearing for a few hours while I sit and decompress with some paper and my favorite pencil. Having time to draw is like meditation to me. I can sit and draw and hours slip away without notice. Inspiration...That's what I need. I haven't been really inspired to draw something in so long it's ridiculous. Maybe I'll work on getting inspired today. I recently discovered a saying that I promptly posted at my desk at work. "It's not about making it through the storm, It's about learning to dance in the rain."
So today I'm gonna dance.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

REMISSION!!!!




REMISSION!!! Mom got the news a couple of weeks ago. Her doctors are amazed at how well she tolerated chemo and at the fact that it worked so fast.
The following week she got a blood clot in her leg....life is a roller coaster huh??
Henri and I have been working on cleaning out some of the accumulated CRAP we seem to have compiled over the past 6 years that we've been in this house. How does it happen? I remember walking into this house completely empty and thinking...I'm never going to have enough stuff to fill all this space.....HA HA HA HA HA!!!!.... Oh how foolish.
I took 3 bags of old clothes and shoes out of the bedroom. We tore up the rug and rearranged the furniture a little. What a difference. NEXT is the basement (cue creepy music)
My daughter had her final evaluation by early intervention this week and has been labeled a perfectly normal child. Sweetest words anyone ever said to us. She comes up with a new word about every day which thrills us to no end, except the occasional swear...I really have no idea where she would hear words like that. Probably cable.
We had a death in the family....Bubbles got the Ick and died a week ago. Carlie hasn't seemed to notice and were on the fence about getting another fish or not. I asked about bereavement days but my boss thought I was joking.... go figure.






Tuesday, July 22, 2008

WE WENT TO THE FAIR!!!







For as far back as I can remember, my Mom has taken me to the fair. It was always the highlight of my summer. I loved the animals, the crafts, the smells, the people....I just love the fair. We almost always had an entry in some category or another. Mostly Chickens, ducks one year and rabbits a few times. We won a few, but mostly it was just being part of the fair that was the most important part for us. I remember one year we entered my rooster"Brandon" and my father "hypnotized" him by holding him upside down and gently stroking his throat and chest. He drew a crowd and the rooster was sound asleep. I thought I had the coolest Dad. I remember entering our Basset hound "Angel" in the dog show and winning first place. When I turned 12 I could volunteer and I did...every year in the chick hatching exhibit. I used to get such a kick out of handing kids the little balls of fluffy just hatched chicks, I loved answering questions about egg hatching and incubating and taking care of the newly hatched chicks.



Then I turned into a teenager...That was the end of my volunteering for a while. I would rather go to the carnival with my friends and "hang out", not be stuck in one place all day. When I was in my 20's I volunteered again for a few years but that was about it. I found other things to do and my allegiance to the fair started to fade. I skipped a few years, it's been sporadic ever since. But last night we went to the fair with Carlie....It was like seeing the fair for the first time all over again! Henri and I made a mad dash for the farm animals. We whisked her in to see the cows , the sheep, the turkeys....and she was TERRIFIED of all. NOT what I was anticipating. Oh well... maybe next year. She did hold a chick, but it was so F#$%^ing hot in there it was almost impossible to breathe. She did say "MOOOO" alot for the rest of the night, so I think she might have enjoyed the cows despite her reaction. We had "fair food" for dinner, Italian ice, fried dough, potato pancakes and a deep fried Twinkies. I wanted to get her a huge cotton candy but forgot as we made our way to the carnival side of the fair. I don't think I have ever seen so many people at the fair at one time. It was RIDICULOUS!!! It was going on 8:30pm, way past bedtime, hotter than hell and crowded loud and obnoxious. We had enough. Henri and I couldn't get to our car fast enough. both of us were dripping with sweat, it was so bad. In the end we decided it was a good time, but we were both glad it only comes once a year.



Tuesday, July 15, 2008

























OK...so my Mother- in- law passed away Tuesday of last week.
It was a blessing that she died so quickly...she was in alot of uncontrolled pain. From the time she found out she had cancer to her death was 2 weeks. Henri and I took Carlie and Rufus to Ct. this past weekend to see his Dad and meet up with Henri's Aunt Leila and cousin Lorena. Lou and Liz (Henri's brother and our sister-in-law) were supposed to show up, but didn't make it.
We got there late Saturday afternoon( our 5th wedding anniversary too by the way:)), Lorena who is my age and Leila who is Lorena's mother were there already from Boston. We hung out on the deck with everyone, had a couple cocktails and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the area. It's definatly BOONIES Connecticut.
Carlie was having a great time running up and down the deck...unfortunately it was pretty high up and not exactly "kid friendly" so we all took turns saving her life.
Rufus stayed right around the yard which I was surprised at, but Lorena brought her dog Sebastian with her and the "cousins" had a good romp together, that was what kept Rufus from going somewhere else for entertainment. It was good for him to be able to blow off some steam and run a while. Me,Henri, Carlie,Rufus and Lorena all slept in the camper in the driveway. It was kind of like a slumber party. We ended the night by
Lorena giving me a belly dance lesson....good visual? or what?
Sunday,Lorena and Leila left for home, so we took Dad with us to the butterfly gardens in Deerfield. http://www.magicwings.com/ I have been wanting to bring Carlie there since I was first pregnant. The place is amazing, and beautiful. Henri took me there while we were dating. As a matter of fact, We almost got married there.
Anyway.... Carlie had a BLAST . The butterflies are all over the place, there's so many that all you can feel is wings brushing past you... It's absolutely enchanting.
Henri and I were going to go to our favorite restaurant in Springfield Saturday night to celebrate our anniversary just the two of us, but we decided to invite Henri's Dad to go and I decided I wanted Carlie to go too. (Lou and Liz were going to babysit) I would tell you the name of the place, but it's German and I would absolutely BUTCHER the name....so if you want to know that bad, call me, I'll say it to you. ANYWAAAAY......... We had some time before our dinner reservations after the butterfly garden, so we took a ride up to Mt. Sugarloaf http://www.mtsugarloaf.com/ and walked up to the observation tower. What a beautiful day it was up there! We even got to see 3 juvenile parogren falcons!! After that we made our way thru Springfield and we all had an FABULOUS dinner, and for dessert, Bananas Foster ...The waitress made it at the table and Carlie was AMAZED with the whole prep...and then they set it on FIRE!, You should have seen her eye's bug out when flames came up!!!
It was a good day and a good end. We got back to Ct. and all went to bed early. I was EXHAUSTED!
Monday morning we left for home. It was 2 days that felt like a week. I don't think I appreciated my A/C enough before this trip...I do now!!! I think Dad is bringing his camper to my friend Andy's boat yard and leaving it there for the summer so he'll have his own space and can visit whenever he wants. That's good, I think Henri's a little worried about his dad. He seems a little lost. I imagine I would be a little lost too after 43 years your other half is suddenly missing...I don't even want to imagine what that's like. I just hope he comes around often and visits Carlie. She ADORES him and he adores her. It's really something to see.


Thursday, July 10, 2008

Bad news/Good news

My mother in law passed away Tuesday afternoon.
My husband is doing fine....He went to see her in the hospital knowing that she was dying and said goodbye. He got his closure. I'm sorry Carlie won't remember her Grandmother, she adored Carlie and called her " little darlin'". She's being cremated, no funeral.
Henri, Carlie, Rufus and I are heading out to Ct. this weekend to spend the weekend with his Dad. Saturday happens to be our 5th wedding anniversary, we are going to do a little Western Ma. tour I hope. I wanted to go to our favorite German restaurant in Springfield on Saturday night, but Henri's Aunt and cousin are going to be visiting at his parents house on Saturday, so we'll have to postpone that dinner till Sunday. Maybe we can pawn Carlie off on Uncle Lou and Auntie Liz for a while for that.
I really am looking forward to being back in Ct. and Western Ma. again...too bad it's for this.

On a brighter note, my Mom had an appointment with her Oncologist yesterday and got good news. She has one more chemo appointment and then back to Jordan hospital for a PET scan to see if she needs ANY MORE CHEMO!!!.... She might not need it anymore!!!....How cool is that?
I can't believe how well she's tolerated the whole thing. She's exhausted all the time, anemic and her O2 levels are a little out of whack at times but overall, she has done Amazingly well....Everyone including her doctor is impresed....WHEW!
Guess I better start my day. More later....bye

Saturday, July 5, 2008

My lovely neighborhood

The weekend visitors next door have turned into a week long war with a house full of 20 something year olds...Henri had to run to Ct. to see his Mom who is in the hospital from her pain and I was here with Carlie by myself. Wednesday night, those little bastards were so obnoxious it was ridiculous. I woke up at 11:30 to-Hooting and hollering, 2am-screaming and loud music, 3am-car alarm, 4am-car alarm...now I am PISSED. 5am-car alarm, 7am- Carlie. I was so tired and so angry.... 10am Carlie and I marched over there. The yard was so full of cars, they were parked all over the front and back yard. The first car I came across was full of guys getting ready to go to the beach by the looks of it. I snapped at the first kid that made eye contact- "I want to know who's in charge of this house. You guys kept me awake all night and I.. AM.. PISSED!"
I think I scared him because he looked stunned and muttered..." uh, I don't know" Then ducked his head in the car like he was asking one of his friends but then he wasn't brave enough to make eye contact again with me. So another kid got out of the back seat after they decided I wasn't going away and said " I think the gentleman your looking for is inside, I'll get him." A couple minutes later this guy came out...( damn he's fine.) He introduced himself as "Jay" and listened politely as I told him off. ( the whole time Carlie's blowing him kisses...not helping!) He was apologetic and said that Thursday night was the last party, then they were leaving. He promised that they would bring it inside at 11:30pm and that they would try to keep it down until then. He seemed sincere, and as I said before...I know what it's like, I've been there. So I shook his hand and left on a positive note. Later that day, he came to my door and brought me a bottle of wine all wrapped up with a bow to thank me for coming over and speaking to him and not just calling the cops. ( which I did already that week) Nice of him, so I shook his hand again and he got a kiss blown to him from Carlie. That night they were pretty good, I slept the night through. But THEN...
I woke up to BLASTING country music, an arriving parade of motorcycles, and the entire house next door chanting "U-S-A!- U-S-A!- U-S-A!" Happy fourth of July.
This went on all day....Needless to say Carlie and I didn't spend much time outside.
Well... I survived, This morning they all left in a long parade of cars, and as they passed my house, they honked and waved....little assholes.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION


Today is the end of my week long vacation with Carlie..... I am going to miss her so much tomorrow when I go back to work.

Just in this past week she's done so many new things....I can't believe how fast she's learning and how many new words she has....I LOVE it. We went to the Strawberry festival and went shopping, we visited my girlfriends at work in Hyannis. We went for trike rides and dips in the pool...I think my favorite part of this week was just swinging on my glider with Carlie. When I got that glider, I sat on it wishing and dreaming of having a baby....Then, while I was pregnant I sat there dreaming about swinging with the baby when it was born.

When Carlie was in the NICU in Boston I sat there and prayed ALOT for her... And can't help but to think of that while she's sitting across from me now , singing twinkle twinkle little star and smiling.... What a blessing she is.

We had the weekend renters from HELL next door again.

My neighborhood is pissed about the parties they have when they come down.

I heard 3 neighbors today complaining about them and telling me that they called the police a few times last night. It's a big group of kids ( yes i said kids) in thier 20's and having a damned good time....I've kept my share of neighbors awake till the wee hours of the morning....I figure this is payback. Two of the "kids" came over this evening and apologized for last night. Unfortunately they are still there, so I fear this might be an all week thing.... It'll be interestiong to say the least.

It's almost bed time...Gotta get up and go to work tomorrow....wish me a quiet night??!!

.

Friday, June 27, 2008


So far so good..... Mom is still tolerating chemo like a champ. She even came and picked up her dog and took her home the other day ( good sign)
Henri's mom on the other hand is in alot of pain and was planning a trip here this coming weekend but cancelled due to the pain she's in. They are going to start her out with radiation on her back to try and alleviate some of the tumor that is causing it all....
On a happier note, I have been on vacation all week with my daughter! We took a trip with Dad Monday to Taunton to buy a trike from a woman I found on Craigs list. WE LOVE IT and she was really cool.... she gave us alot of books and some laminated pages of to do ideas that I am dying to try.
Tuesday we filled up the swimming pool in he back yard and Carlie got in.... too cold, but she stood and splashed and drank , I gave her the hose and she had fun with that too.
We went to the children's museum in Mashpee with her early intervention nurse Carol Wednesday, there were about 10 6-8 year olds in there raising holy hell and kind of took the place over, so until they left it wasn't much fun....But once they were gone Carlie got to do what she wanted and had a good time.
Today were going to make play dough and go out on the porch with it if it isn't too muggy.
I might try to get over to FooseBerry's too...We were there yesterday to pick up a couple yard toys (THANKS JEN!!) And had a great time with her and Ava, Olivia and Caleb the monster boxer....I described him to my husband as Rufus plus 30 lbs...you have my sympathy Jen.
We had a great time in the HUGE backyard...must be nice.
Also, I got to see my Mom's old house and what the new owners did to it so far yesterday morning...OMG it's beautiful!!! They knocked out walls and re did the bathroom and ...wow.
for years we talked about what we would do to the house if we had the money to do it ,but never even thought about what they did... it's great, Must be nice to have that kind of money.
Well....Carlie's running around now with her shirt over her head so I think I better go before she hits the hutch head on.....

Friday, June 20, 2008

Mom is doing great, her cyst has disappeared on her arm which is what they are using as a guide to see if the chemo is working or not. Her doctor is THRILLED with the results. She has been tolerating chemo so far pretty damned good, She's tired, but hasn't lost her hair at all and as usual is in good spirits. but they keep saying it gets worse... So we wait for the other shoe to drop....Such is life.
On the other hand.... Got a call from Henri's mom yesterday...Her cancer is back. It's in her bones- spine, hip and liver. This poor woman's hair just grew back from the breast cancer treatments she finished this past winter!!!
Henri was thinking about taking Roo to Ct. for a visit this weekend to lighten things up at the homestead, but his Mom has a bridge tournament in Sturbridge on Saturday and won't be home.
I mentioned this to Julie, a friend of mine from work who also does my readings and raike. She has been telling me since Carlie was born that she will be sensitive. Julie said that the timing of Carlies arrival was no mistake, and told me to think about it... She showed up just in time to help out two sick Grandmothers. Henri's Mom said more than once that Carlie was what got her through chemo, and I know that she is getting my Mom through hers now. Julie also said to me that she can literally see the wings on my child, and that she is a healer and that's why she's here... She gave me goosebumps.
Carlie is not just a little healer, she's also very close to 2 and really starting to act like it.
We have little temper tantrums now...and she's starting to think it's funny to slap you in the face... it's NOT. She is just too much. If she knows she's not supposed to do it, she'll do it just to test you. I am on vacation next week with her and looking forward to spending it with her just hanging out and having fun. I hope everyone can stay reasonably healthy for those few days so I can relax....We'll see.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Down the road






The road to hell is paved with good intentions.... so they say.
I believe I have traveled that road a few times recently. This weekend was a weird one... Mom called me Saturday morning at 7:30 to tell me she had been brought by ambulance to the hospital at 4am and was calling from the ER....HUH?
She was having severe back pain and tried to drive but couldn't even walk it was so bad. Now...For my mother to take an ambulance she must have been in some major pain. I've watched that woman break the hell out of her wrist and have it set at the ER all with no drugs. The next day she figured since shes out of work for a while...she dug up the front walkway and laid a new brick one, then cleared the underbrush from the whole back yard. with ONE hand!!! So you see, this was serious. They concluded she sprained her back (I don't agree but whatever)
The funny thing is ( And this is where the theory thateverything happensfor a reason comes in again) At first they thought it was kidney stones so they did some blood work. Good thing they did because her platelet count was dangerously low! So while they had her there they ordered some platelets for an infusion. She could have bleed to death if anything had happened to her... OMG. Well, in all this time, and since we couldn't really do anything for her, Henri,Carlie and I took a quick trip down to Orleans to pick up some roof slates that someone was giving away on Craig's list. What a beautiful day it was for a ride... too bad we had to rush, it was a nice trip.
I hit the mother load with those slates! There were at least 50...maybe more. I will paint a few and donate them to Carlie's daycare to sell. They are trying to raise money for a new playground set. And the rest... I'll sell. pic's above are slates that I've done in the past and sold. $45 and willing to barter.
Any takers??


















Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Angel box

MY OWN ANGEL

Where I work, we have a lot of wu-wu around. Wu-wu meaning...psychic...medium...aura, crystal herbal type people. I love it. If I have a headache, I can walk around the corner and get energy healing from one person or a quick reading from another. It's perfectly acceptable to take a wu-wu break and clear the office of negative energy. There are crystals laying out allot of the time for anyone to stop and infuse with a happy thought or just hold and take some energy if needed. Anyway, the point of this is that someone set out an angel box the other day. Your supposed to write down a problem or worry and slip it into the box with the intention that the angels will take it off your mind. You give it to the angels. I slipped a paper in yesterday for Henri to find a good steady job. Well, he got a call today from the bank he applied to weeks ago and they offered him a great job. Maybe we can get back on track now.

I will miss him being home though, I'm getting spoiled by having him around. Well.... can't have everything right? Anyway,just wanted to share the good news.

Mom is having a bad day today, she's nauseous and feeling downright icky. Yesterday she told me she thought her hair was starting to fall out. I grabbed a handful of her hair in the back and tugged...she yelled. no hair came out. which is a good thing because I told her if a clump had come out I might have peed myself right there in the car. So far she's still attached to it. Thank goodness.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Porch sitter




I had a useless weekend.




I had big plans for cleaning out my bedroom and doing some purging. Well, we purged a little, got rid of 3 bags of old clothes... took down the heavy curtains and have the sheers up, that lightened things up in there... just so much to do. I wanted to clean out the cubby and take out the rug and replace it with runners.... didn't do it.


Saturday got away from me. Before I knew it it was 4pm. Henri and I took Carlie to Friendlys for dinner and then I went to Christmas tree shop while Henri took Carlie over to Staples.


Sunday morning we met Andy and his girlfriend for breakfast and Mom came. We had a good time and a fabulous breakfast. ( At,Food for Thought in Falmouth)


After that we went to the wholesale nursery in Waquoit where I found Pampas grass and a couple hostas that I have been looking for... Took Carlie home to get her down for a nap...NO LUCK!! Sooo... Out on the porch she went in the pack and play with books and dollies and a blanket... and I planted my little heart out. Moved a hydrangea, dug up my daffodils by mistake (oops)


I cant wait to see them fill out and looking forward to seeing the grass bloom. Next weekend I'll go grab a couple other things...maybe some phlox maybe something else... I'll see.


It was just nice to be outside and doing something with that damned dirt patch at my front door.


Spent some time on the porch just sitting and looking out... Love my porch. All in all, it was a nice weekend.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Good friends







I stayed home from work yesterday. I still wasn't feeling all that great, I'm not sure exactly what my problem was but more than anything I think it was a mental health day. I had an unexpected visitor around 2, my friend Jen and her two girls Olivia and Ava.
They came bearing gifts... Jen has been taking a sewing class for all of about a month and she made me the most coolest fabulous pocketbook! I was speechless when I saw how well she made it, it looks store bought. I love it. But even better, inside was this dress for Carlie!
My daughter has just started walking, you can't put a dress on a crawling kid so this will be the first dress she's been in for a LONG time! God she's cute. By the way, it fits fine...THANK YOU JEN!!!!!
That wasnt the end of my surprises for the day. About 7pm I got a call from my old friend Lisa who I blogged about a while ago. She's been having some health problems and going into the hospital for exploritory surgery today. She offered to come over so around 7:30pm she was here and it was like 9 years melted away...yes nine years. Too long. It felt so good to sit and catch up with her. I'm looking forward to doing it again soon.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Memorial Day Weekend

AAAAHHHH...silence.
My jerk neighbors have finally gone HOME, the baby's sleeping,the dog's sleeping,my in-laws are gone and my husband just went out to do some errands....AAAAAHhhhhh.....
Mom is having the best day yet since her chemo. Friday she goes again. I know it just gets worse, but it feels good thinking for a while that it won't.
The weekend was good, Monday I spent some time with Mom and ran an errand for her, then went home and had dinner with the other side of the family. My daughter has my father in law so charmed it's ridiculous. This isn't a mushy kind of guy. This is a guy who didn't want to hold her as an infant because " kids don't really fascinate me like they do most people".
Well dunk me in gravy and call me buttermilk biscuit if this guy ain't fascinated with MY kid!!!
He makes goo goo noises and funny faces and reads her the Boston Globe. It's extremely entertaining.
SOOOO.... I woke up this morning with some gross lower GI issue ,went to work and came home an hour later. I'm so glad I did!!!.....SILENCE!!... I think I'm going to take a nap.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Home sweet Home


Saturday was great... I woke up early and headed to Pocasset to get the lilacs. I got a bunch of purple lilacs and two plants one white, one purple. I stopped at Mom's and surprised her with the boquet...she was thrilled.

Had to do a couple errands and headed home.

As soon as Carlie went to sleep I headed out to plant my lilacs. i put one on either side of the front porch with dreams of someday sitting there with a cup of coffee in the morning smelling the sweet scent of all my beautiful lilacs surrounding me.... CAN'T WAIT!

We went out for ice cream with my friend Cindy and her son John who is 8. He is so good with Carlie it's amazing. After ice cream we drove over to Falmouth Harbor and the kids played on the lawn near the band stand for about an hour. I brought a big bottle of bubbles so they had a great time chasing them.

By that time it was late and way past Carlies bedtime. We came home to find the house next to us full of college students partying like it's 1999...ALL NIGHT! ( dating myself?)

OK, I remember what it's like to be in my 20's, I know this is probably some kind of cosmic payback because God knows I have done my share of keeping neighbors awake. BUT COME ON!! It was dawn and they were still out there!

I am such an old fart....lol

Well, one neighbor called the cops around midnight and that calmed everything down for about half an hour, or until the police had left. At least this year they didnt have fireworks. Nothing like living next to rental property.

I have so much to do today... Henri just took Carlie to the store to do the shopping so I could get some housework done. My in laws are coming tomorrow around noon.

There's plenty of booze on the bar. I'll be fine.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Smooth Sailing


Today was actually Mom's first day of chemo.

She did really well....her oxygen levels dropped a bit at first but they got her straightened out and she was fine.

Tonight her oxygen level fell again so she's laying low and vowing to call her doctor or the VNA if she feels worse.

So we have her dog Cricket here for tonight....maybe longer.

Cricket is a sweet tan and white 7 year old shi tzu. Henri calls her "little fluffer"
she was one of the most adorable puppies I have ever seen...I highly recommend a shi tzu.
Problem is, she can't jump high enough to get on our bed in the night so she bounces at the edge and makes pathetic doggy noises until you pick her up and put her on the bed....then she gets bored 20 minutes later, gets down and 5 minutes later decides she wants back up on the bed so once again...bounce....bounce.....bounce...good thing she's cute.
Rufus is insanely jealous of her by the way...and she barely tolerates his puppy vigor. Interesting to watch I must say.
I have a 3 day weekend this weekend hooray!...I am going to Pocasset in the morning to get some lilacs from a woman that offered them on freecycle www.freecycle.com and hopefully meet my friend Jen there.
I have to clean the house as my in laws are back from the big spring trip and will be here for a visit from Monday until Tuesday. Lastly and most important chore, I have to work on my illustrations for this childrens book!! I was supposed to have some drawings for him by the end of May... It's the end of May and I have done nothing. Hmmmm...wonder why artistic inspiration escapes me lately? I think I'll e-mail him and let him know I haven't forgotten him and let him know what's going on.
I have the pictures in my head, I just need to get them out on paper and perfect them. He needs examples in black and white, two, three and four colors because the more color in the illustration, the more it costs to print.
I also have another name to finish, this one is "Julia" and 8 year old into ballet, gymnastics and soccer. Getting those three to flow in a picture is NOT easy, lemme tell ya!!
Well, I think it might be bed time. Got lots to do tomorrow.
Goodnight:)
bounce.....bounce.......bounce.......bounce........bounce...................................................

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Happy Hump Day

GOOD MORNING!!!!
I got up this morning, showered dressed and got Carlie to school in time to come back home and have another cup of coffee and make my lunch. Henri is at a second interview right now in Hyannis.... SENDING HIM WHITE LIGHT AND GOOD VIBES!!!
I hang around with the woo-woo crew alot at work as you can see.
Not much new, Mom has her first round of chemo today...we think....it's all sort of up in the air but she has to be there at noon.
We had a rough night with Carlie, she has allergies like her dad, poor thing has a cough and runny nose. about 2am that cough woke her up. Henri got up with her and got her settled on his lap with my new quilt made for me by hand by a friend at work, I traded her some artwork for it....anyway, Carlie coughed, gagged and threw up all over the quilt Henri and the floor....sigh...
So for anyone with kids out there reading this...you know whats next. Laundry...change clothes,all the lights on everyone up...eeegads.
Poor baby, she was a wreck. But we got everything cleaned up and put back and dried and off to sleep she went. I love being a Mom.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Ode to Maggie Magoo






















Maggie Maggo...Born in Franklin Ma. on a cold December night in 1991. One of 8 mismatched puppies who didn't even look like they were related. Half lab,half Shar pei.
My Dad was bed ridden at the time, and we had an 8 year old beautiful sweet loving muffin of a German Shepard named Treau(pronounced Troy) but he was very sick and needed to be put down. He was going to the vet for just that the next day and we were all sick about it. Mom and I had been checking the want ad's magazine for dogs and came across this ad for lab/boxer mix puppies in Franklin ( what did they know?...it was a shar pei.) So we went to see the litter since we were having such a hard time finding a litter of puppies at that time of year locally.
We got to a big house at about 8pm and met the family who had the litter. It was a young family With a couple young kids. We went to the basement and found this most mixed up bunch of puppies all squirming around. My mother focused in on a little black runt off to one side, but I saw this little blond bouncing monster puppy with tiny ears and a squished up face and a curly little tail and had to have her!...Mom and I flipped a quarter and I won. Next problem, she was only 5 weeks old...But the mom to the litter had walked away from them right after birth. She herself was just 11 months old! After a lot of convincing, we talked the family into letting us bring that little blond squishy faced puppy home with us.
The next day was so hard, we had to say goodbye to our dear sweet boy Treau....But Maggie Magoo was there, and she was not letting us feel down....She was like a little clown and got us all through a really sad time.
Maggie and I were inseparable. She went to work with me every day when I was on the road as a Home Health aide. She'd help me in the garden by shaking out big clumps of weeds I'd pulled out... She rid our entire neighborhood of groundhogs. She'd chase a rock till she dropped. That was her absolute favorite!!
One of our ducks was named Ollie and the two of them would wrestle.
He'd fly just above her head and she'd jump up, knock him out of the sky, then he'd grab hold of her neck and she'd drag him all around the yard like he was skiing!!!.. I wish I had gotten it on film. Anyway,she was with me through some pretty rough times and some pretty cool times.
When I got married and got pregnant, she changed. She became this horrid destructive monster dog that I didn't even know. She destroyed everything she could get into.... She even clawed and chewed my bedroom door...she tore open a 50lb bag of sunflower seeds that we had just bought and left in the kitchen...what a mess!! I could have killed her....The night the baby was born, she literally chewed her way out of a wire kennel. Henri came home at 5am to find her bloody and half in/half out of the kennel. ..She knew. Things did get better with her after the baby was born and eventually she went back to her old self again.
She was 14 now, and showing signs of age....finally.
at 15 and a half, it broke my heart put her down. She had stopped eating and was showing signs of pain. I couldn't do that to her. She and I went to the vet and he put her out, then to sleep. It was the most peaceful end to her life I could have hoped for.The staff at Mashpee vet and Dr. Mark Oldham were beyond wondeful and understanding...I can't say enough about them. I brought her back home when it was over. We buried her in the backyard and planted a beautiful snowball hydrangea on her grave. I call it my "Maggie tree" and this spring it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!...of course.
I have never mourned a dog like I have mourned her. I feel like part of me is buried out there with her.... But it's comforting to know she's out there...home where she belongs.
My beautiful Maggie girl. I miss you.
Now there's Rufus......ugh.

I'm an artist





I'm an artist. You have no idea how funny that sounds to me. I just recently started calling myself that. I never thought of myself as an artist...I always thought being an artist was meant for "real artists" like famous painters and sculptors ...and weirdly dressed people who live in P-town and have fabulously famous friends and rich neighbors. and work in "media"....not markers and pencil like me. But, I have been introduced as an artist more than three time's so I think I'm going to try it out. Everything I draw has a cartoon sort of tone. I can draw more realistically, but it's not as much fun. I also sculpt. I'd love to do some bigger scale sculpting but I stick with 1lb blocks on sculpy clay and make my little clay creatures. Pretty much they are the creatures in my head, all cartoonish and in 3D. Pretty cool.
I have been drawing children's names with bits of their personality or family history drawn in.
I also have done pet caricatures. The children's names have been the most lucrative. I am also talking with a local author about illustrating his children's book. I really have so much to do with that by the end of May, it's ridiculous. When I draw or paint.... I go into my own little world. It's like meditation and hours just slip away. Oddly enough from the day I got pregnant, I lost complete interest in any kind of art. I didn't care about drawing.....anything! As soon as I wasn't pregnant, BOOM it all came back again! I always said it was because the baby was sucking the creativity out of me and absorbing it in itself. I believe that's true. My daughter is a musical little stinker...maybe she'll be a singer or a musician who knows? But one thing I do know.....it's my therapy,my escape.... I love it.