Short N Sweet

I was owed some comp time at work, so I decided to take 3 Fridays off. Last Friday, 2/24 was my first one. I decided to take a trip with David to Chester Springs, PA to visit my sister-in-law Tracey, my niece Ally and my Godson Tyler. We were on the road by 9 am with a stop for gas(while I was at the gas station, I noticed that someone had left me a voicemail on my cell. It was my cousin Laura-Ann telling me that my cousin, Kelly was at the hospital in LABOR!) and the car wash. David fell asleep shortly after we left. I sang along with my Sirius satellite radio to Hair Nation and Totally '80s and I was there before I knew it. Tyler and Tracey were awaiting our arrival. It was great to see them, we had not seen them in almost 1 month! Tracey and I got caught up while the kids played in the basement. Tracey's girlfriend Maria was coming over with her 2 kids and picking Ally up early from school on her way. When they arrived we all had lunch. Tracey made the kids chicken nuggets and she made us the best chicken salad I ever had. After lunch we talked and laughed and the kids ran around like crazy kids. Unfortunately, the afternoon was over quicker than it began and it was time to leave. David slept like a baby the whole way home and I sang. On my way home, I talked to my cousins Mike and Laura-Ann and they reported that Kelly had her baby girl! She was 6 lbs 14 oz and beautiful. It was really a great day. I wish I could get more of them.

What's your chalkboard sentence?

I would have to write:

I will not drink milk through my nose.

How about you?

Thanks for the idea Laney!

A clean slate

Aside from a bad night's sleep (David has growing pains), I feel refreshed. Yesterday Steve and I started cleaning out our basement. And it needed a good cleaning out. While we were cleaning, Steve was also building. We had finished our basement in the summer of 2002, but after a few floods (our fault) and 3+ years of throwing stuff we do not use in the basement (instead of the garbage) it was a disaster. So, Steve put in 2 new doors, took down a few walls, put up a wall and fixed some ceiling tiles. It is actually starting to look like a place I can make a playroom for David. Some of the big stuff we threw out, we put on our street and it was gone by morning. I am glad someone could use it. Most of the other items are from when David was a baby and I plan on donating them to a place my cousin Laura-Ann's mom volunteers at. It won't be long now until I can put David & his toys in the basement for playtime. Then I want to build myself a nice office. The work never ends!

A family that races together, stays together

Today I walked in the Mid Winter Beach Run in Manasquan with 15 or so of my other family members. Most of my family has been doing these races together for a few years. After walking in Oct. with my Mom for Alzheimer's and enjoying myself, I decided to do another one. This one benefited the Manasquan First Aid Squad. If you live in NJ, you know that today was the coldest day yet of 2006 and you'd know that Manasquan is down the shore. So, it was at least 5 degrees colder down there and much more windy - oh and did I mention that is was flurrying? I bundled up and power walked. The race was 2 miles long, with the last 1/4 mi ON the beach. That's right - walking in the sand. Now that is a task without shoes and in the summer, so forget about it when you are wearing sneakers and it's winter. I really gave my hind quarter a workout! I walked with my Aunt Judy and her brother Mike (who are also my cousins - that story at another time). We finished in 28 + minutes. I could not wait to get a drink of water and while I was drinking it, I ate a snowflake. It felt good, because it was so cold. After the race, we all went to Legget's bar for some food and drinks. I had a margarita and Steve fed me ziti, meatballs, pierogies and bread because David fell asleep on my shoulder. When he woke up, I took him to the beach to replace his seashell that he dropped and broke. We were freezing but had fun looking for the shells. I could not wait to get home and take a nap. It was a great afternoon and I can not wait to do the next race.

Sorry Laurie!

Last night went well. The girls and I scrapped and Steve and David went out. However, they did not go to Chuck E Cheese. Instead, they went to Steve's cousin Walter's house. Steve called Walter's dear wife Laurie and invited himself and David over. Even after Walter called to tell Steve that their little guy Tom was sleeping, they still went. I felt bad, but was not going to tell him he couldn't go to his cousins house. So, here is my public apology to Laurie - SORRY! I was really hoping that when Steve and David got to their house, that she would pack up her scrapbooking stuff and come over, but she just wanted to relax and I can't blame her. I do want to thank them, Steve and David had a great time and I was able to host my workshop without interruption. Next month we should do the same, but this time, Laurie can plan ahead so she can have a girls night scrapping with us.

Boys night out/Girls night in

Tonight I am holding my monthly Creative Memories workshop at my home from 7 pm until midnight. This gives my customers time to work on their albums without interruption and to see the new products. I really enjoy having the girls over, it gives me that girl time and let's the creativity flow. I have been having these for a few months now and Steve has always taken care of entertaining David while we scrap and giggle in the kitchen. They have the whole rest of the house to play in, but last month, the only place David wanted to be, was IN THE KITCHEN. So, I decided this month to make workshop night, boys night out as well. I checked the web and Chuck E Cheese is open until 10 pm - PERFECT. Not that I expect them to stay there until 10 pm, but they can hang out until 8/8:30 and hopefully David will fall asleep on the ride home - exhausted from all the playing. Wish me luck!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you all spent your special day with the ones you love. Steve and I took David to Bennegin's for dinner. Aside from some 2 1/2 year old boy antics, we had a nice time. I am not sure the couple sitting behind us can say the same, but that is why we chose a family restaurant and not a fancy one. After stopping off at Aunt Carol and Uncle Tom's, we headed home. David had his night cap (strawberry milk) and he was off to dream land. He is the best Valentine's Day present ever.

Winter Wonderland!

I guess I spoke too soon. Last week I mentioned that this was a mild winter. All in all, I was right - I mean this was only the second time it snowed all season. It just happened to be a BLIZZARD! I am just glad that it did not ruin our plans for Saturday night. My Dad babysat so Steve and I could meet Matt & Kerry for dinner at Mad City Grill in North Brunswick. We had a great dinner. I had Hell's Kitchen (sesame calamari, veggies, noodles in a Thai peanut sauce), Steve had South Street Seaport (seafood and noodles), Matt had the special (seafood and pasta) and Kerry had chicken and pasta (I forgot the cute name for it). I really enjoyed my dinner - it was HUGE and delicious. The restaurant is bring your own and we did. We talked and laughed a lot. We decided it was too early to call it a night, so we drove in the storm to Cramer's Corner. It is a small bar in New Brunswick that I used to work at when it was called Shea's Place. My girlfriend Michelle still works there and we were hoping she was there, but she wasn't. In fact, we did not know anyone there, BUT we had an awesome time. We all drank WAY too much but had SO MUCH FUN. When we finally decided to leave, the snow was pretty bad. To my surprise, we made it home safe. When we got home David and my Dad were sitting on the couch waiting for us. David was very cranky because he had been sleeping so I took him up to bed. I could not WAIT to hit the pillow. When we woke up there was SO much snow and it was STILL snowing! David was SO excited and I had the worst hang over. Steve was in worse shape than me and he got called into WORK! I made everyone breakfast and we headed outside to dig my car out so Steve could leave. After he left, David and I dug a little more and then we went inside for Hot Chocolate. The rest of the day we spent with my Dad in the den, playing. I did some laundry and tried to straighten up. I had dinner ready for when Steve got home - he was starving. We ate, I cleaned up and now I am ready for bed. It was a great snow day and it still looks beautiful outside. Let's see how easy it is for me to get into work tomorrow!

High-Tech House

If you do not know what I do as my full time job, I am an Analyst. That means I work with computers all day. I do not 'fix' them like a computer tech would, instead I implement computer programs and tailor them to our customers needs. Having said all that, you'd think I would have the latest technology at home. Yes, I have cable internet service, I was not that bad off, but I was lacking wireless connectivity. I was, until last night. I installed (with the help of a co-worker over the phone) a wireless router! Now, I can use my laptop anywhere in the house & probably on the deck, even while Steve and/or David is on our desktop. This will really benefit me when I am working from home or when I am running my Creative Memories business. I will get a lot more done and be more organized. I also bought a print server so I can print wirelessly and a new all-in-one printer. I will be hooking those up this weekend. We will no longer be living in the stone ages when it comes to technology in our house!

As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

She was not kidding! I arrived back in Jersey at 10:30 pm last night and was never so happy to be in NEWARK! Like I posted while I was gone, Kansas was good. The training was great, I met some nice people and the state is very pretty (in a plain way) but it's nothin' like JERSEY. After grabbing my bags from baggage claim, I walked out to find Steve and David waiting in the car. Steve gave me a big kiss, helped me with my bags and told me how glad he was that I was home. David was SLEEPING! I was so upset, but he looked SO cute. Steve picked me up Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate and a Mommy donut, but I was not ready to eat it, so we just walked about my trip and how his week went without me. David woke up when we arrived home. When I got him out of the car, he clung to me for life and I was SO happy! We went in the house and shared my Mommy donut and I drank my hot chocolate as he told me about his week. I could tell he REALLY missed me. After, I gave him his presents: boxing gloves, candy hearts, play-do, water color books and a Kansas State sweatshirt. I gave Steve his gifts: Kansas State long sleeve T-shirt & hat, steak rub & BBQ sauce. Then we were all so tired, we went up to bed. It felt so good to crawl into my own bed and I slept like a log (after giving my men a kiss good-night). Not that I had any doubts, but being away really made me realize how much I love my family and New Jersey.

The latest on my trip

I started class yesterday and it went well. The building they are in is fantastic. The people are very friendly. I met some nice people in class. 2 of the people in my class are staying at my hotel and sit next to me in class. They asked me if I was interested in going with them to The Plaza after class yesterday and I went. It took about 20 minutes to get there. The Plaza is an upscale outdoor shopping area with great restaurants. We ate at a pub type restaurant that reminded me of Tumulty's and Bennegins from home. I had a Peanut Butter Chicken Salad - it was delicious. After dinner we walked around and checked out some shops. Then we headed home. I was on the computer most of the night and watched some TV. I did not sleep well for the 2nd night in a row, so this morning I was very tired. But, I got myself up and ready so I could get to the company for a tour of the building. This place was incredible - I'll tell you more about it when I get home. Class went well again, I knew most of everything they went over. After class, I came back to my room to unwind and make some phone calls. Then I headed over to a near by Target. I bought David some surprises and got some things for myself. I ordered a burrito from a near by Mexican restaurant and brought it back to my room. It was pretty good, but I have had better. Now I am just watching TV and reading some magazines. I really can't wait to get home, I miss David and Steve like crazy. Oh, I almost forgot...
DAVID IS GOING ON THE POTTY!
He still wears a diaper at night, but otherwise, he is doing GREAT! I am just so upset that I missed it. I can't believe he is so grown up already! I hope my Mom is taking pictures...

Toto too!

I have arrived in Kansas! The flight I took was on a small plane and it was 3 hours long. I then drove 40 minutes from the airport to my hotel. The hotel is great so far and I got myself a delicious dinner from a local brew pub. I watched the SAG awards and surfed the web. I am going to hit the hay so I can be ready for my class tomorrow. I'll post again soon.

P.S. Thanks to Laney and Mommyblogr for getting my and Mike's pix on our profiles!

I promised...

I was paid surprise visit last night by Laney. I was so happy to see her! We only got to spend a few minutes together because I had a kitchen full of scrappers but it was a great few minutes. She is a beautiful person and I am going to miss her when she moves. I am just glad that I will get to catch up with her through her blogs. So, my promise to her was to update my blog. I like to keep promises, so here I am.

My new job is going very well. I love the product that I am supporting and my new boss is wonderful. I will be leaving for Kansas on Sunday for training and I am nervous, but I am looking forward to learning more about ImageNow. I will fill you in next week while I am sitting in my hotel room missing my Men.

My parents are coming home tomorrow from their month long trip to FL. I know that had a lot of fun, but I think they are looking forward to coming home to see David. While they were gone, they stayed with my sister mostly, but did take trips to South Beach, St. Augustine and Orlando. When they were in St. Augustine, they had dinner with my in-laws and had a great time. I really missed them and so did David. I won't really get to catch up with them until I return from KS, but it will be nice for them to have David all to themselves while I am gone.

On January 17, 2006, the mother of my cousin Mar's husband Frank passed away. It was a horrible shock and my heart aches for the entire family. She was a wonderful woman that loved her family dearly and received that love right back. My sister was close to her and was very upset that she was unable to be here for the services. She is coming home Monday to lend her support for a few days. May God Bless them.

Hug and kiss your loved ones and let them know how you feel. The only person who knows how long we are here on Earth is God, so if you live everyday as it is your last, you will never had any regrets.

Now, I need to start following my own advise!

Jen, David and Mark 

Thanks Aunt Kathy! 

David, Mike & Laura-Ann 

Should we stay or should we go?

I have been debating in my head for a while now, whether or not we should add on to our house or look for something bigger. I finally decided to open up the flood gates and talk to Steve about it. Believe it or not, we were on the same page. We agree that we need more room but neither of us are sure how to get it. We really love our home and we have put A LOT of hard work into it, but at the same time, if we could purchase something larger with a few of the things (fireplace, garage) that we are lacking and not raise our mortgage payment a whole bunch we'd really think about moving. We also agree that we'd want to move to a town that has everything ours has including great schools and nice people. So we've chosen Freehold and the surrounding areas as possibilities. As of today, no decisions have been made. We want to speak to someone that knows a lot more than we do about real estate and mull it over some more. I am also going to talk to our contractor and see what the damage would be to do the things that I have in mind here at our house. If you have any suggestions, please leave us a comment. Otherwise, stay tuned!

Playing video games in his new chair 

Fingerpainting