1. You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas station. What do you get?
XXX Vitamin Water, a pack of gum, potato chips and something chocolatey

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?
Humpback whale

3. Who’s your favorite redhead?
My friend Moonshine!  Hi!

4. What do you order when you’re at IHOP?
Pancakes…DUH!

5. Last book you read?
I can’t remember the last book I completed in its entirety, but I’ve been in the middle of the second to last Harry Potter book, a Jane Green book and

6. Describe your mood.
content right now, but mad someone took my parking spot here at work this morning.  It’s a motorcycle, I should just go roll it out of the way and park there.

7. Describe the last time you were injured.
I was here at work, a couple weeks ago and I was walking out of a double door only the other door was closed and as I walked by it, there was a thin piece of meatl protruding from the edge of the closed door and in my haste to walk out, I bumped up against that piece of metal with my arm, i still have the bruise to show for it.

8. Of all your friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?
tough call…I’d have to say Pocklock because she pees so damn much that we’d be able to float to the top in no time flat!

9. Rock concert or symphony?
Symphony

10. What is the wallpaper of your cell phone?
A picture Auntie Pocklock took of LF on her cell phone when she was watching her one day a while ago. (note: Pocklock, can you please take an updated picture next time you see LF…your phone takes better pics than mine!)

11. Favorite soda?
Sprite

12. What type of shirt are you wearing?
Orange with a swoop neck line and a tied knot on the bottom hem

13. If you could only use one form of transportation?
Boat

14. Most recent movie you have watched in theater?
Horton Hears a Who

15. Name an actor/actress/singer you have had the hots for.
Matthew McConaghey

16. What’s your favorite kind of cake?
Death By Chocolate

17. What did you have for dinner last night?
Pasta with meatballs

18. Look to your left, what do you see?
a bunch of unfinished projects and my desk phone

19. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
not if I can help it!

20. Favorite toy as a child?
Matchbox cars

21. Do you buy your own groceries?
we do the bulk of shopping together, but if we need anything on a certain day, LFD will go to the grocery store to get it.

22. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?
of course

23. Gummy Worms or Hershey Kisses?
Hershey kisses

24. What’s your favorite fruit?
Mango

25. Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel?
no

26. Do you like running long distances?
sometimes, it depends on what type of run it is

27. What is your secret trash food pleasure?
mac & cheese

28. What color are your bedsheets?
brown or blue, depending…this week brown!

29. What’s your favorite flower?
Gerbera Daisies

30. Do you do ballet?
no

31. Do you listen to classical music?
not really but i would if i had too

32. What is the first TV Theme song that pops in your head?
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them and there you have the facts of life….the facts of life…

33. Are you really worried about Global warming?
nope…I have very strong opinions about this topic that you really don’t want to get me started on it

34. What temperature is it outside right now?
65-ish

35. Do people consider you smart?
i don’t know…maybe any commenters will tell you…

36. On what occasions do you lie?
i try not to

37. Are you signed on [to] AIM?
no

38. Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together?
no

39. How do you feel about your family?
in the famous words of my mom, “i love them all, but not together!” when we’re all together it’s a mess and someone always winds up stomping off in a hissy

40. Do you have an iPod?
yes

41. What time do you go to bed?
9

42. What CD is currently in your CD player?
in my car…6 cd changer…laurie berkner, sea tunes for kids, tim mcgraw, dierks bentley, kenny chesney & i don’t remember the last one

43. What movie do you know every line to?
Fern Gully

44. What is your favorite salad dressing?
Bleu cheese

45. What do you want for Christmas this year?
gift certificates to Best Buy so I can buy a digital SLR camera

46. What family member/friend lives the farthest from you? Where?
brother in Maui (well, my cousin lives in China too – so he’s really the fartest)

47. Do you like hugs?
LOVE HUGS!

48. Last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
when I interviewed back in November/December

49. What’s the way people most often mispronounce any part of your name?
I most get people calling me by my real first name and not my nickname.  which annoys the crap out of me

50. Last person you hugged?
LF when I dropped her off at daycare

This past weekend, hubbie and I attended my 10 year college reunion.  At my alma mater, the College of Mt. St. Vincent (CMSV), they hold reunions every year.  The way it works is, they bring together classes that have a 5 year separation, so anyone graduating in a year ending “1” or “6”, reunion together!  Anyone graduating in a year ending in a “2” or “7”, reunion together!  Anyone graduating in a year ending in a “3” or “8”, reunion together (that’s mine)! Anyone graduating in a year ending in a “4” or “9”, reunion together!  And anyone graduating in a year ending in a “5” or “0”, reunion together.  Make sense?  Ok, good! 

Anyway…my mom also graduated from CMSV…in 1963!!!  I graduated in 1998!!!  So, my mom and I are fortunate enough to reunion together, which makes it all the more fun!!!  At my 5 year reunion, I was the only one from my class who attended, and actually wound up rooming with my mom and her friend from college!!!  Words can not express enough how special this is to me to celebrate our reunions together.  What are the odds a mother and daughter would have such a special opportunity.  And since I have such a wonderful relationship with my mom in the first place…I mean she IS my first and foremost best friend in this whole entire world…it just makes it all the more special to share our reunions together.  Shhh…next time will be her 50th reunion from college and I can’t wait for that!!!  This is not the only time we have been the mother-daughter team on trips…we often take part in a Catholic retreat and THAT is some very very special time I share with my mom…I wouldn’t trade it for anything!  I pray some day LF and I have similar opportunities in some way, shape or form!  THAT would be super special to me.

But I digress…this time, my best friend from college, DreaBea, was going to be coming down from Maine with her husband and we were so excited for the weekend. 

This is the BEST picture ever…because really, in my photo albums from college, there is actually a picture of her on that very same toilet in the same pose…but ACTUALLY going potty at the time!!!

Throughout the weekend I updated my Twitter, so that I would remember things that needed to be included in this post.  Smart, no?  And now that my pictures have been uploaded to Flickr I can truly give you a reunion weekend recap Twitter/Flickr style!!! 

It begins while we were traveling from home down to the Yonkers/Bronx area.  The first tweet is a little cryptic, so it’s a good thing I’m explaining each one!

“Lets recap.going to my reunion.i got home was holding LF she peed it leaked on me.shirt change.on our way we realized we dont have our d … … 06:20 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

Nothing went right in the rush rush rush of getting out of the house!!!  What this should have said at the end was…”realized we don’t have our dressy clothes for the dinner dance!”  We totally got about 20 minutes away from home on the highway (and were not going back) and hubbie turned to me and said, “Huh…I totally left my dress shirt at home!”  To which I rolled my eyes and about half way through rolling them just once I turned to him realizing…and said, “Huh, I totally left my dress at home too!”  We are big doofus’!!!  But here we are all gussied up in those dressy clothes.  How’d we get them, you ask?  Well, that best friend from college I mentioned was going to be cutting out on the reunion to go to her nieces Communion and would be going right past our area, and she went just a little out of the way to stop and pick up our clothes from our house for us!!!  See?  Best friend from college status is totally valid!!! 

This picture was taken outside the back of our dorm building, specifically the suite we had senior year!

“Just left my sweet girl at my friends house…not sure what to feel! 07:03 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

This was a bit of a bumpy road for LF.  She was not at all happy about the situation and made it very clear.  We tried to get her situated as best as possible but there is just no graceful way to make this transition.  I left her in my friend’s arms on the floor with her bottle of milk.  She eventually got over it, but it took until after bath time for her to settle in. 

“36 hours without a toddler…this will test my adult social skillz! 07:06 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

Here I was just preparing myself for trying to go from socializing with a toddler to making actual adult conversation.  I think I did okay.  But I don’t think I was half as social this weekend as I was all through college!  I would talk to anyone in college, I was a bit reserved and hesitant this weekend. DreaBea on the other hand was yak yak yakking the entire weekend with anyone and everyone…and I admire that about her!

“Seriously? The wine the college chose to serve all weekend is cabernet savignon…my favorite! 08:22 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

Upon realizing at dinner on Friday night that the college was serving white and red wine and red wine was going to be cabernet savignon, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.  That is my favorite wine of choice these days.  We arrived at dinner, at the desk to check in and I knew DreaBea had already arrived.  The desk to check in for dinner was right outside the doors to the cafeteria.  As I stood there I muttered under my breath to the woman sitting there checking me in, “I am going to be accosted in about 5 seconds, I just thought I’d warn you!”  And sure enough, out of the cafeteria comes this screaming banchie (read: my best friend from college screaming with excitement at seeing me).  The woman at the desk then understood what I was trying to say. 

“Margarita party! Woot woot! 09:40 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

We got our drink on!  Margaritas (not frozen) and Corona and the Yankee game in Cahill Lounge!!!  Good times…good good times!!! 

Clearly a fun time was had by all at the margarita party!!!

“At my 10 yr college reunion…anyone graduating in a yr ending in a 3 or an 8 is here…my mom graduated in 63 so she’s here too! 10:43 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

Just clarifying for those playing along at home following my weekend updates!  On the walk back up the hill to the dorm I called a guy friend I used to be really close with in college, but don’t really talk to very much anymore (unfortunately).  It was really good to talk to him.  I was hoping he’d come to the Sunday Brunch, but he didn’t!  We recounted many of our memories over the phone though.  I told him I still had every note he every wrote to me and he told me he still had our spiral notebook journal we graduated to writing in when the notes got to be too much to keep track of and wanted a journal we could keep them all contained in. 

“It is way past my bedtime! 11:42 PM May 30, 2008 from txt”

11:42 pm and I was so tired!!!  I don’t remember where I wrote this, I think we were still sitting in Cahill drinking!!! 

“Labyrinth…that’s what that circular thingy is called…remind me tomorrow. 01:59 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

On the way back up the hill, one of the many many hills on the campus, we remembered that “circular thing cut out in the grass” and then we couldn’t think of it’s name.  Well it came to me as I was trying to fall asleep Friday night, and I was just reminding myself by Twittering it’s name J ! Which by the way, in the day light we found out it’s gone from where it was.  We are unsure if it was remade elsewhere, but I’m thinking it was not! 

“I wish i was not awake! 07:28 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

Because seriously, why did I wake up at just after 7 a. figgin m.  Just why?  THAT is so not fair!  Even when I CAN sleep in…I CAN’T!!! 

“No dog whining to go out no kid pleading to have a baba no cat serenading me for food…THEN WHY AM I AWAKE B4 NOON? 07:34 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

See?  I even listed the reasons WHY I shouldn’t have been awake!!!  Will I ever be able to sleep in again?

“I’m about to take a shower in a dorm bathroom…YOU ARE SO JEALOUS! 07:43 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

Admit it!  Just admit it…you totally wanted to be me…wearing Crocs to take a shower in the dorm bathroom!!!  You are so green with envy right now…they are considering renaming you evergreen!  At one point DreaBea and I both shouted from the shower at almost the same time that our butt cheek hit the shower stall wall and we were so skeeved by that thought!!!  It was almost more than we could bare! 

“Out to brefix at the old diner stomping ground! 09:32 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

When I tell you the only thing we could complain about was breakfast service on Saturday morning, believe me…it IS the only thing we could possibly complain about!  When we arrived at breakfast (allllllllllllll the way at the bottom of the hill) we realized all that was being served was less than you would even find at a continental breakfast.  There were danishes, bagels and fruit!  That’s it!  And we were not happy about it.  Considering we were about to embark on the walking tour, we needed some protein to get us to lunch time.  So we did what any college student would do when faced with a poor choice of food…we high tailed it to the diner…our old stomping ground.  The diner hubbie and I spent the wee hours of the morning in on our one year anniversary…the same diner on that same day we found out about Princess Diana and Mother Teresa dying!!!  We rehashed old memories and ate our breakfast and were very full when we left.  And ready to walk it off doing the walking tour!!! 

“The meal the college was providing was just not going to cut it…bagels & fruit is not sufficient! 10:03 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

 See?  I even Twittered our disapproval of the food selection too!! 

“Time for the walking tour! 10:19 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

And, dear god, when you embark on a tour of the campus with every graduate from now back to 1928…it’s a very sloooooooow walking tour!!!  We made it through two buildings and then went off on our own to tour by ourselves. Just check out how beautiful the campus is and the improvements they’ve made!!!

The top of the castle

FAT ASS SQUIRREL!!! 

the castle

administration building where most classes are held

the entire right side and middle of this building are BRAND SPANKIN NEW!!!

brand spankin new radio station

brand spankin new tv studio set

new computer labs

hubbie on the tv studio set

my portion of our senior year suite

the little chapelette right next to my room senior year (this is probably the reason why I graduated!)

my dorm room (a triple that I shared with ugh…I can’t even talk about them…blech!!!)

the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in the administration building on campus…also where hubbie and I tied the knot!

“Art studio? We didn’t have an art studio when i went here! 10:40 AM May 31, 2008 from txt”

I stand corrected, we HAD an art studio when I attended college and I’m still unsure as to why I didn’t take any classes at all.  Afterall, art was my favorite class!  The college made many upgrades since I was there.  The main buildings are wireless now, so if students have laptops they can connect. There are countless new computer labs and like I mentioned above these gorgeous art studios.  Not to mention the television studio and radio station!!!  I was floored by the improvements they’ve made and the improvements they will be making. 

“Let’s remember this college used to be an all girls school…we’re at lunch…hubbies ears are bleeding from all the clucking! 01:12 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

The only men on the entire weekend were husbands of graduates.  There were maybe a total of 20 men…MAYBE!  There were ceremonies and in order to get the entire room of women quieted down it took a good ½ hour!  This was perhaps the most annoying part.  Why can’t women just shut up!  It was at this time when we waited for everyone to quiet down that I realized and did the math…if LF skips a grade or uses her summers to take extra courses and can graduate early (assuming she goes to the Mount), she too can reunion with me and her grandma!!!  Heh!!! 

“That there are ladies here from the class of 1938 boggles my mind! 02:16 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

At one point during lunch on Saturday I looked over at a table of aged women in the front corner, the most aged looking in the room.  When I lifted my eyes from the women to the sign sitting on the table indicating their graduation year, it read “1938”!!!  I was absolutely in awe of these fine women.  That would make them about 91!!! They still had their wits about them and were gorgeous!!! 

“Just sung our alma mater fight song! 02:38 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

I’ll be posting video of the entire cafeteria singing this song.  It’s something to hear!!! (a cat chortling in an abandoned alley way comes to mind!) 

“Waiting for my dress to arrive! 07:16 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

Saturday after lunch we had some down time.  Hubbie slept the better part of that time.  My mom’s friend asked me to give her a tour of the campus as it was given to us that morning.  She missed it and wanted to see what was happening.  I worked on some projects for some babies on the way.  And I took a very short cat nap!!! And let me tell you, waiting for DreaBea, well, let’s just say I’ve been waiting for her for 14 years so I’m pretty much used to it by now.  Once my dress did arrive?  I had put on my undergarments including a bra with straps, and then put the dress on only to realize the dress was a halter top, so I had to make an adjustment, change bras so that I was wearing one that had the option of unhooking the straps…it wasn’t perfect, but it worked nonetheless.  Phew!

“There’s just nothing like watching old people dance! 09:58 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

And then came dinner dance time!!!  I emphasize dance!!!  Watching old people dance is totally quality entertainment.  Arms flail, knees dip, bottoms jiggle…it’s just quite the site!!!  I specifically recall at one point the dj was playing one of the songs where you follow the moves (I had never heard this one before) and everyone on the dance floor was following along except this one guy who clearly had enough to drink and was booggie ooggieing to his own beat!!!  But hey, he was having a good time, so who am I to judge, right?  Still…nothing like watching old folk dance! 

“I totally got stuck in the ladies room with no toilet paper and had to wait for someone to come in and help me! 10:10 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

I’m sure God was punishing me for Twittering that comment about watching old people dance, by making me have to go pee and then getting stuck in the bathroom with no toilet paper.  Some things just never change when it comes to college bathrooms though!!!  I eventually was rescued about 5 minutes later when a woman walked into the stall next to me and I begged for a square! 

“No college party complete until the dj plays the electric slide! 10:53 PM May 31, 2008 from txt”

And I remembered it, and I did it, and I didn’t wind up tripping over myself or others…maybe I hadn’t had enough to drink yet!!!  HA! 

“If the only form of entertainment left were watching people dance id be okay with that! 05:24 AM June 01, 2008 from txt”

I just couldn’t stop thinking about the old people dancing!!  I’m not sure why this didn’t post on Twitter until 5:24 a.m. but rest assured I was not up and thinking about old people dancing at 5:24 a.m.!!! 

“Going to sleep now. Was up too long gabbing! 02:53 AM June 01, 2008 from txt”

Good god, when you get old friends together you can gab gab gab until all you can do is gab some more!!! I enjoyed it though!!!  But 3 a.m. was probably a little too late!!!  I think I’m still feeling the effects of that late night gab fest even today!!! 

“Going to scoop up my kid before the family picnic! I’m busting to see my little girl! 08:31 AM June 01, 2008 from txt”

Sunday morning came very fast after my 3 a.m. bed time.  But sure enough I was motivated.  We were packed and showered and had put everything in the car by 8:30 a.m. and on the road to pick up LF just 15 minutes away.  We would be coming back to the college for the brunch, but had to go get LF first.  Before going to Brunch we went to mass at 9:30.  I don’t think the priest was quite as understanding as Fr. William is in our parish at home.  LF would not be quiet.  I managed to confine her until after the homily, but then she wanted nothing to do with snacks, drinks or anything else.  When I walked her out of the chapel (the very same chapel hubbie and I were married in) she climbed the stairs, walked along the creaky hallways of the old administration building, etc. and by the time we got back to the chapel I noticed at the very top of the aisle the priest was giving out Communion and only had about 5 people left or so.  The aisle is very long…as in it takes about a year and a day to get to the end of it so I started a quick trot, then realized that probably was not a good idea as it was probably disrespectful and perhaps appear as though I was desperate for Communion!  So I walked, and as the priest gave the last woman Communion, he didn’t lift his head, he just turned back to the alter and didn’t see me walking quickly carrying a 26 pound lead weight in my arms.  Oh well, I tried! 

“Got my kid back…love! 09:16 AM June 01, 2008 from txt”

The minute she saw me she was a mommy-clingon!!!  That is, until she saw daddy…and then she wanted nothing to do with me.  My heart melted but I understood and I’ll get over it…someday…like maybe when she goes off to college and asks for money and I get to tell her no because she was more interested in daddy than me when we picked her up from our weekend away from her!!! 

“Feeling residual nostalgia! 02:59 PM June 01, 2008 from txt”

I’m still feeling the lasting effects of nostalgia!  I relived my entire college years this past weekend and recalled many memories, mostly good, but my share of bad as well…to which we don’t speak of my sophomore year (which I spent in a triple dorm room with two girls I can’t even think about anymore and fighting for my rights after a guy (the basketball teams star player) sexually harassed me on campus) or first semester freshman year (which I spent with a total stranger for a roommate and cowering in my dorm room closet on the phone with my then boyfriend)!!! 

“And this concludes the 2008 college of mt st vincent reunion! 03:00 PM June 01, 2008 from txt”

Brunch was yummy, and the weekend was fun, but it was so good to be on our way home!!! 

“Is reflecting! 03:16 PM June 01, 2008 from txt”

 Nostalgia!  Reflecting!  4 years worth of memories in this brain that is now 10 years older…just wow, at the thing you remember!!!  Here is a list of just a handful of the things that rushed back…

Ordering Chinese food at all hours…we literally would call the Chinese place down on 242nd Street and if Simon (the delivery guy) wasn’t working that night, we would tell them forget it and not order.

Climbing the many hills on campus…over and over!

Remembering that I HATED Sr. Anne Denise in my writing class, freshman year at 8:30 a.m. and then since I was an English major I had her many other times and by junior year I LOVED her, couldn’t even imagine why I hated her to begin with…and to this day I still keep in contact with her and send her our Christmas cards. (Speaking of which, I really should start brainstorming the Christmas card for this year.)

The food…oh, the food!!!

The pool!

Some staff members who were terrible (who come to find out were fired just a few months ago…thank the good Lord! It’s about time!)

The creaky floors!

The suite DreaBea and I shared senior year.

All the dishes we let collect under the sink in our bathroom.  Okay, I let collect under our sink in the bathroom.  I’ve hated doing dishes all my life, it’s just something that will never change.  Either you accept me for it or disown me…thankfully DreaBea accepted me for it!

The ridiculous library hours on campus!  And the librarians (read: meanies) who enforced them!

The studying or lack thereof and procrastinating…oh how I was the procrastinator.  I would wait for everyone to go to bed before I started working on a report that was due in final form the next day!  I just hated the thought of others having fun and socializing and not being a part of it, so I’d wait until everyone went to bed before I actually did work.  And imagine that…I actually graduated!!!

How beautiful the campus is this time of year, and any time of year actually!  It really is the most beautiful place considering it’s in the Bronx.  Okay barely in the Bronx, but still!

1. Lighthouse @ Peggy’s Cove (20071021-093824-PJG), 2. Reeses peanut butter cup cookies, 3. Why I’m Going to Work for Zooomr, 4. When Waves Collide, 5. failure to launch, 6. Mojito Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Crackle, 7. Too many Rabbits……in China, 8. Cupcake Cake Bites, 9. I need a masseus!, 10. Frosty sunrise, 11. easter bunny, 12. Li’l Foot and Li’l Foot’s Mommy

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

So without further ado I bring you the 1st “Those were the days”.

This picture is of me and my siblings. I am the baby front and center, my oldest sister Ladybug on the left and my second oldest sister Southernsis. And that’s my brother in the back. Aren’t I cute? Look at those chubby legs…now you know where Li’l Foot gets hers from!!! (Poor kid!)

(x) Drank so much you threw up
(  ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
(  ) Seen someone die
(x) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Florida
(  ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Swam in the ocean

(x) Felt like dying
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers 
(x ) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang karaoke

(x) Paid for a meal with only coins
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t do
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Laughed until you peed your pants  
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the raw
(x) Watched the sunrise/sunset with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Made a bon fire on the beach
(x) Crashed a party
(x) Gone roller skating
(x) Ice skating

1. Any nicknames?   Lil Foot’s Mommy, Woobie (when I was a kid – Poops, Petunia, Mucky Ducky, angelface) 

2. Mother’s name? Carol

3. What is your favorite alcoholic drink?  4. Been to Asia ?   no

5. Body piercing?  ears

6. How much do you love your job? not so much   

7. Birthplace?  Yonkers, NY

8. Favorite vacation spot?     Hawaii

9. Ever been to Africa ? no

10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? yes     

11. Ever been on TV? yes

12. Ever steal any traffic signs? no

13. Ever been in a car accident?  no

14. Was it your fault? 

 15. 4 Door Vehicle?  yes 
16. Salad dressing? blue cheese

17. Favorite Pie? pecan pie

18. Favorite number? 7

19. Favorite Movie? Finding Nemo

 20. How many people are you in love with?   however many friends and family I have   

21. Favorite drink? water     

22. Favorite Food?  mac & cheese

23. Favorite Day of week?   sunday 

Don’t know what happened to #24
25. Favorite TV show? friday night lights 

26. Favorite toothpaste? colgate

27. What do you do to relax? cuddle up on the couch 

28. Do you have a message to your friends reading this?   nope..  

29. How do you see yourself in 10 years? who knows…i don’t know what i’m doing tomorrow, nevermind 10 years from now

30. What do you do when you are bored? never bored these days…try having a 10 month old, you won’t get bored 

31. Furthest place you will send this message? not sure…which blogger lives the firthest

32. Who will respond the fastest? pick a blogger…who knows

Remember when I was a senior in high school and about to graduate?

Remember I found a boy to go to the prom with me about a week beforehand?

Remember I told you we were going to go camping after the prom at Stephen Campbell’s house?

Remember that I told you I would only be sleeping in a tent with H.A.B.?

I lied!

We hung out around the camp fire for the longest time and then when it was time to turn in M.D. and I went in our tent and H.A.B. and Stephen went in the other tent!

But I can assure you nothing happened.

I am thankful for my red headed “jellybean”.

I am thankful for the company we kept each other being forced to sit through church.

I am thankful when we got a little older we sat together in the pews behind our parents instead of right next to them.

I am thankful when we were even older we sat together in the balcony at shurch even further from our parents.

I am thankful for all the sleep overs we invited ourselves to at each others houses.

I am thankful for the sleepovers we had at her house and setting up our area in the basment by stripping the couches of their cushions, placing them on the floor as our bed, curling up and watching movies All. Night. Long. until inevitably one and then both of us would pass. the. hell. out. finally.

I am thankful she didn’t judge me and my family when I’d invite her to my house for sleepovers (she was the only one I would ever invite to stay the night…ever!)

I am thankful for the nights we had sleepovers at my house and slept in the pull out beds and talked and scribbled every which way “I love so-and-so” on the inside panel of the pull out beds.

I am thakful for the times we went to the town pool together.

I am thankful for going on vacation to Nova Scotia with Moonshine and her parents.

I am thankful for Rainbow Hill!  (I just smiled remembering that time…hee)

I am thankful for having a pseudo little sister who was forced to only have brothers!

I am thankful our bike rides…everywhere and back again!

I am thankful for going to see The Phantom of the Opera, for knowing all the lyrics before even going to see it and then singing it incessantly afterward for…months!

I am thankful for the time I tried to convince Moonshine that my middle name was Patricia instead of Patrice so that she would think we had more in common and like me better than her other friend.  Haha…we wee so young!

I am thankful for the time she came over to my house just before Christmas one year and the gifts from my grandmother had arrived already from Florida and we crawled under the tree to get it, carefully opened it without ripping the paper, seeing what was inside and not getting caught.

I am thankful for the times she has stayed at our house to take care of the animals so we could go on vacation.

I am thankful for how she’s been my friend through everything in my life, she’s listened and been there for me.  I love that I can talk to her about anything, no matter what it is.

There are so many memories of our friendship and to try to recap them all in this one post would take forever!  Loving you Moonshine!

When I was a kid, I think at least once a month I would spend the weekend at Mrs. D’s house. She’d pick me up on Friday evening, we’d go out to dinner and then head to her place. Saturday we’d usually spend shopping at the mall. On numerous occasions Mrs. D would buy me a whole new wardrobe. Saturday night she’d make sure I got to church so as to fulfill my parent’s wishes and so we wouldn’t have to get up early on Sunday to go. And then Sunday she’d take me back home. We’ve always been very close and on more than one occasion I was so thankful she would let me stay over for a weekend to break loose of life at home with my dad.

But the staying over was just the tip of the iceberg…there is so much more…here are the most special moments:

Decorating her Christmas tree every year! At first it was really pretty glass ornaments and we’d hit this store and that store and she had some family ornaments from way back when her family would go visit other friends and they’d swap ornaments (therefor some of those ornaments would have little writing on the bottom saying what year they were swapped and which family it came from) and then the day after Christmas we’d hit the major stores early and get more ornaments at 50 percent off or more. And then Christopher Radko surfaced and Oh. My. God. She had to start a Christopher Radko collection…until eventually some odd years later she had phased out all non-Christopher Radko ornaments and the entire…no really the E . N . T . I . R . E . Tree was decorated with Christopher Radko… From the tree topper right down to the little train garland at the bottom. It was always so beautiful.

Teaching me table etiquette and manners! Forks on the left, knife and spoon on the right and when faced with multiple utensils at a fancy shmancy meal…always take the utensil on the most outer edge. Butter little broken off pieces of your bread don’t just slather a glob of butter all over the full piece of bread. (those are just a few – contact me directly for further detailed instructions if you need them at any given moment). It is always fun now when we are at family gatherings and busting Mrs. D’s chops by playing the “see food” game! I’ve been caught on more than one occasion.

Mrs. D has spent Christmas with us every single year that I can remember and stays over from Christmas Eve until the day after Christmas. We’d make eggnog on Christmas Eve just before going to midnight Mass…very special home made eggnog…eggnog like you’ve never encountered before…and dear God since I couldn’t really enjoy it last year because I was pregnant…I’m making up for it this year!!! I’ll also never forget the year I started to buy Christmas presents for my family. Mrs. D made the suggestion it might be time and then helped me accomplish it (meaning she pretty much paid for the whole thing). We had several ideas, from page-a-day calendars that were personally applicable to the family member to mugs that were also personally applicable to each family member. We finally decided we would do key chains (you guessed it…personally applicable)…so for instance my mom’s key chain said “Damn I’m Good” (because she is!)! I don’t remember others at the moment, but I’m relatively sure when “southernsis ” or “ladybug” get on here they’ll recall and let us all know Hi seeestors!!! Well, Christmas morning came that year and everyone opened their gifts from me and for a younger siblings I guess I did alright. Then I opened Mrs. D’s gift to me. It was was? Any guesses? If you said a key chain you would be correct. It was the same brass style as the ones I had bought for my family, but mine said “Spoiled Rotten”! And I totally admit, Mrs. D spoiled me and she loved every minute of it. Thank God she never had kids of her own…teehee!!! At first sight I was stunned. I thought to myself…”hmmm…where’s the rest? Mrs. D always gives such elaborate thought out gifts and this year I get a key chain? Odd!” And then my brother who was sitting on the floor next to me noticed something and pointed my attention towards the big ring part of the key chain, which when I observed closer had a beautiful gold ring with a sapphire in the middle and three little topaz stones going down one side dangling from it. It was my first piece of real jewelry from Jewelry Designs and I was hysterical with excitement. I’ll have to take a picture of the ring and post it for you to see. I still love it, and since then it was brought back to the store to have a single diamond put on the other side of the sapphire. I love it.

Then there was the time Mrs. D made a deal with me. She would attempt to lose X amount of weight and if she lost X amount of weight she would take me on a cruise to Bermuda. She did lose X amount of weight and we did go to Bermuda in the summer of 1989. That was a really good time, remind me to post some pictures from that trip…eeek. I was 13 and had my period and got a crash course from my oldest sister before leaving on how to use a tampon because I had gotten my period and was devastated that I would have it while I was on vacation…waaaaaaahhhhhh!!! All I had to do in return for being taken on this trip was to mind my manners and use the table etiquette she had taught me.

Mrs. D is a pretty special lady in my book. Oh wait, one more quick story, did I mention the time she was at our house for Christmas and when she was leaving she fell in our driveway and we had to rush her to the emergency room with a broken foot? No?

Anyway, everyone should have a Mrs. D. She’s awesome!!! Our family would definitely be missing something without Mrs. D. even though she’s not a blood relative…she’s still a relative, a truly family member in our book. She means the world to me and I love her so much. So today I am thankful I have Mrs. D.