Our Maine vacation

What a way to end my birthday week!! Todd and I took the kids to his mom's house up in Maine where Zack, Sarah and I went snowmobiling AND tubing for the very first time. It was a GREAT weekend! We even went out on a date!! Twin lobsters...not to mention the lobster shell that went flying across the room and the DirectTV tech eating there along with the very visible gun he had on his side! Go figure! I can't wait for another opportunity to go up there! I'm sure you can tell how great of a weekend it was from the pictures...

My bday

Finally some pictures...

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. There are some from Thanksgiving at my parent's house, others from my Chanukah party and finally some random ones of Terry and the kids having fun with Todd and Ashley.

So glad it's over...

The holidays, that is. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster not being able to participate in Christmas stuff, being that Christmas was my favorite holiday! (Do me a favor and don't tell my mom that her very Jewish little girl's favorite holiday was XMAS! Too bad for her! :) I know what I missed most was the notion of tradition and family. What made it better was being able to spend time with Todd and his family since Keith had the kids. On XMAS day I went at 6:15am to Keith's house to watch the kids open their presents from Santa. They were too cute! Every gift Sarah opened was followed by a squeal and a "How'd Santa KNOW I wanted this???" Or a "Santa's the BEST!!" Zack's mission, on the other hand, was the tear through as much wrapping paper as he could in the shortest amount of time! I don't think he actually looked at anything until later in the day! Santa definitely spoiled them rotten, but that's ok! It all stays at daddy's house! :) That afternoon I went with Todd and Ashley to Todd's mother's house for a little while. It was a great time and even better food! Too bad I had to leave early...Hanukkah this year was a blur. It's apparent to me as the kids get older how much I enjoy traditions. Something to look forward to year after year...something predictable and exciting. There certainly wasn't much of that this year. Plus dealing with disappointed 5 year olds who didn't get THE BEST presents every night or get to open all of them in just one night. I know it's impatience but frustrating for mom. Last night, after postponing it due to a snowstorm, I had my Hanukkah party here. It was great having my parents, Todd and Ashley, Terry, Cousins Aaron and Kristin, Jessica, Nathan Jake and Aliyah! The only one missing was Opa. (who is fantastic, by the way...will be 99yrs old in March!) Both my parents are fighting colds and didn't want to expose him to any germs. Despite Sarah's 2hr tantrum for g-d only knows what, the party was great!! It's so nice to have everyone all together! I wish I could do it more often. I'm still on vacation for another week and dealing with work crap, but that will have to wait until another post. I'm thankful that the holiday hoop-la is over and hopefully things will now quiet down. Here's to a fantastic 2009, full of happiness, health and fun!!

Officially Going Crazy

But I am so much in love!! AHHhhhh...I had to say it and where better than here?!?! Few know how serious our relationship is primarily because I don't want to hear about how short of a time we've been dating, yada, yada, yada. I maybe in the clouds but I am also very much grounded and know exactly what I'm getting myself into. Every day that goes by I am blown away more and more by my feelings for Todd! I don't remember smiling so much, wanting to talk to someone, be with someone the way I do with him! We both say that even though we've only known each other since August, we feel like it's been years! There is very little that we DON'T talk about and the conversations flow so smoothly! There have been times were I've freaked out a little bit and I'm very honest with him...sometimes to the point where I wonder if I'm too honest. But he's always so understanding and makes me feel so good about myself! We definitely have an equitable relationship but both go out of our ways to make the other happy. When I call him he answers with a "Hi Beautiful!" Ugh...I honestly can't get enough of this guy. I went to counseling a few weeks ago and she said what stuck out to her was my talking not too long ago about feeling that my standards in a man were way too high. I would tell her that I was ok that my standards were so high. It meant to me that I would never settle, that I know what I deserved and what I want in a partner and if it never happened, so be it. Well, Todd not only meets all the standards I have but actually exceeds them in ways I never took into consideration! We have the same philosophies regarding family, both want more children, both relatively traditional and very active parents. He is very familiar with the Jewish religion and respects it for me and the kids and wants to be a part of that with us. He is great with my kids but not overboard...definitely lets them go at their own pace. They LOVE him!! I find myself sometimes wondering when the rug is going to be pulled out from under me because can things really be this good?? Did I feel this way when Keith and I started dating? But I was 18 years old and life was very different then. My priorities were different. Keith was different. And that brings me to my other fear...that he is great and normal now but what will happen in a year, in 5 years?! I can't predict the future, obviously, but I'm realizing more and more lately that he is worth the risk. Who knows what will happen as time goes on with this relationship but I do know that I can't imagine my life without him now. I also know that if things don't work out, I will be fine. I'm strong and I've proven to myself that I am just fine on my own. I can support my kids, my house, enjoy my job and have good friends. Todd just makes that all so much more. Ok, I said it before...I am completely and utterly in love with this man...and officially going crazy! Guess i just wanted you all to know it.

Installing a Husband

INSTALLING A HUSBAND


Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many
other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then
installed undesirable programs such as: NHL 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate



Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a
very bad program that will download the Passing Gas and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 - program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck
Tech Support

There's A First Time For Everything

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Jason Golub was my date for my senior prom, but the first prom I went to was with Jon Cohen.

2. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
Hmmm...I can't remember, but it was something peach I had in England with Richard and all of his friends...maybe he'd remember.

3. What was your FIRST job?
Besides babysitting? Had to be Kelly's Kone Konnection.

4. What was your FIRST car?
Mom's Mazda 626...I was hot shit!!

5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
Ugh...Keith.

6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
Either Zack or Todd...I knew Zack wasn't feeling well when he went to bed last night and Todd...well, he's Todd! ;)

7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Can you believe I don't remember? Maybe my mom will....

8. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
Had to be to Florida to visit my Omi and Opa.

9. Who was your FIRST best friend, and are you still friends with him / her?
Has to be Marci and we'll be friends forever!

10. Who was your FIRST kiss?
Josh Chizzick...behind the mess hall dumpster at Laurelwood.

11. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
Ugh again, Keith.

12. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Yell at my kids?! Does that count?

13. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
I think it was a dirty dancing concert...or maybe it was New Kids On The Block. Not sure.

14. What was your FIRST tattoo or piercing?
Tattoos??? Are you kidding?? I got my ears pierced around age 8. Never anything else pierced...it'll never happen!

15. What was the FIRST foreign country you went to?
England at 10 years old

16. What was the FIRST movie you saw in the theater?
ET...maybe?!

17. When was your FIRST detention?
Freshman year in high school...right before I got suspended.

18. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
Connecticut

19. Who was the FIRST person to really break your heart?
Hmmm....I'd have to say Gisella. If this means love life, than Liam.

20. With whom was your FIRST date?
Jason Dumeer

21. What was your FIRST pet?
Pippen

22. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Dana Sigall

23. Who was your FIRST love?
Josh Chizzick...as innocent as it was in 6th grade!

24. What was your FIRST screen name?
twinmommy2003

25. When did you have your FIRST baby?
This should read babies...August 14, 2003