TO ALL MY LOYAL READERS....

No, I haven't abandoned you, not at all. I promise to blog this weekend, time permitting, and to keep you all updated on my oh so boring life. Yes, I was told by someone - I WON'T MENTION HIS NAME, THE PERSON WHO I SHARE A MARRIAGE BED WITH (albeit sometimes one covered in black greyhound fur) THAT SOMETIMES, (YES, HE SAID THIS): THAT MY BLOGS OF LATE HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT BORING.

Folks, I don't pretend to be a rocket scientist here (I went to Steel High for gosh sakes, and took steno classes which isn't even a course any longer), anyway, my intent to you was to give you a little piece of Americana.... Yes, just a little slice of my world, a human interest story or two, an outlet for my creative juices.... but, I was met with oppression and resistance....

I've learned through the years, that withdraw works quite well in this type of situation. Therefore, I will take a one to two day hiatus from my blog, and make THAT PERSON WANT ME!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned my loyal readers... In a day or two, HE'S going to be begging me to express those creative juices from this temple I call my body, and he'll be begging for the next blog, for the next human interest story... for that little slice of what I like to call: Americana.

Good day.

Middletown vs. Trinity

We won today, but barely. It was a tough game. We were up by 2 in the 5th, then they went ahead by 2; top of the 7th, we came back and beat them! A good win, but a tough game. You'd think after all these years of sports with Pat, you get used to this - Note to self: NOT! At one point, I looked at Joe, wondering if we'd get through this, and then get through the ride home with Pat. He reminded me it was only a high school baseball game and he was right..... Anyway, we won, and everything's ok, for now.... the tough teams are coming up ... Oh well. It's only High school sports, right???? Pat's basketball coach resigned today; that was big news in Middletown. Stay tuned for updates on the new coach.... One can only imagine, huh?

Jens, forgive me for blogging about sports. I know you don't like that. But, you must know it's a big part of my life, always was, always will be..... Accept me: sports and all.... Accept me: husband/rock star/renaissance man ... never a dull moment around here, huh?

I'm getting geared up for my trip next week; I'm very very excited. Carol called and told me we'll be going to Sanibel Island, which I'm thrilled about! She also suggested a three-hour boat ride to Key West. I didn't know about that. It's three hours down, you spend some time there, then three hours back.... Not sure I'll like that, and neither was she. We may pass on that. I'm low maintenance - being pool side, reading, spending time with my friend, is vacation enough for me. I can't imagine upper 80's all day long.... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! But I do have a query and concern about my trip: What on earth is my family going to eat for seven days??? I'm very very worried..... Will you guys all call and support Joe, and help him with healthy choices, and remind him of the Dream Dinners in the freezer???? Thx for doing that.

Goodnight All!!!!

Salmon w/ Newburg Sauce....

We had this for dinner tonight.... A Dream Dinner, of course. It was very good. We had Jens over. He and Joe did some geeky things, and then we ate dinner. We had some interesting conversation, yes we did.... But you know, some things are better left unsaid. I don't HAVE to use this blog to exploit Jens and Joe, now do I??? Just a little tease though, we talked about Jen's dream girl. Don't know if she exists, in Stiltin anyway, nor does she frequent Tree's. Lisa Renna was on with Regis today (I tape it and watch while on the treadmill), and she said opposites attract. What do you think about that one??? Something to think about, huh?

Just a normal day around here, nothing special... Oh, other than Pat got 24/25 on his Spanish quiz, and I was very very happy about that! He told me, after he got his grade, he said to the teacher, "How do you like that Sen'ora?" He's the comic in the house now, eh?

We had a baseball game on Monday, and we beat the Cougars (not a difficult task), and play Trinity tomorrow. We are lucky this Spring, with nice weather. We weren't so lucky last year.

I'm off now, to read, Three Weeks With My Brother, a Sparks memoir. Very good so far; I like his writing very much, and will try and get more of his books.

Goodnight All!

p.s. I hear Joe working on a Johnny Cash song now, Folsom Prison. Ohhhh, it's very good, and will be featured during his next set, at where else??? Tree's in Steelton, Pennsylvania... See ya there!

HOW IS THIS HUMANLY POSSIBLE?

I saved these baby shoes of Pat's and they hang on a shelf, in my office, next to my treadmill. Everyday when I'm on the treadmill, I look at these small shoes and it never, and I mean, NEVER, ceases to amaze me that Pat wore those, actually - not that long ago (in my eyes anyway)....

So, I ask again... How is this humanly possible?

(My baby's fast approaching 16 next month, and one might think I'm having a little difficulty dealing with this concept.)

Joe: Live at Trees!

Well, Joe's debut at Tree's was a complete success!!! The place was filled and lots of our family and friends came to see Joe. It was great! Thx to all of you who came and supported Joe! He played for about 1 1/2 hours and our nephews, Alex and Shawn, even joined him for a couple numbers. They were all EXCELLENT!

We partied down for a long time afterwards, and had a good time. Jens enjoyed meeting lots of our friends, and family.... and Stiltin folks. But, at one point, he asked Joe if we were speaking a different language because he didn't understand. Joe reassured him it was English, with a Stiltin dialect. Joe only recently began speaking it, and still has trouble with certain parts of it. Ha!!! Uncle Bob and Tony's advise on women put our poor Jens over the edge and about did him in. We talked on the way home, and I think Jens will be ok. It was culture shock afterall! East Germany/Stiltin...hmmmmmmmmmmm........................................

Anyway, it was great and I wished it could have gone on and on. Joe gave us a encore and that was appreciated! I knew Tree truly enjoyed it and was sincere about it when she said, "Terry, if he doesn't come back, I'm going to pull his hair out!" Now it just doesn't get more sincere than than! Uncle Bob suggested that Joe come back a Saturday night 'cause it's rather dead in there on Saturday's, and we can turn out the place! What do you all think about a return Tree's concert?

Again, thx to all of you who came, and we hope you had a great time! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Bring your lighters and/or blow torches next time - whatever you prefer.

Steel High Went Down!

We scrimmaged Steel High today and we won! It was our second scrimmage of the season. Pat played a lot, and had a nice inning on the mound. But.... WAS IT EVER COLD!!!!! Wow, that was something else.... Our season opens next week, and I hope it warms up... That was not fun. We were all there, bundled up. Anyway, it was fun to play SH (we don't play them in the regular season) and we saw a few boys that we know.

I hope everyone's ready for Tree's; I know we all are! We are going to be ready to party down! I asked Joe if he thought a bunch of us should dance on the bar; he didn't think that was a good idea. I hope to get a few nice pictures, and I'll post some on here.

I'm going to soak now in A HOT tub and try and thaw out from the baseball game. I started a new book today, The Wedding, a Spark's follow-up to The Notebook, which I LOVED. I started it at lunch today, and believe it or not, I was crying by the fourth page ... I was hoping no one walked in my cube at that moment... I also read a Patterson this week, Honeymoon - a good murder/suspense/thriller.

Jens, thx for all your support to Joe this week - that meant a lot to him, and all the fun you had with him. It helped him a lot. He's a little nervous, but I keep telling him it's all for fun, and we will be surrounded by all of our loving family and friends - what more could we ask for?

Love you all....

ps. I hear Joe practicing now, and he's singing, "Mexico" a Forbert song.... I think you all will enjoy the set very, very much.

The Countdown Continues....

The Countdown to Tree's continues.... We have a couple days left, and all are very, very excited. My rough count of folks coming is about 25, if you can believe that. So, Mike Kovach's comment to me the other day, isn't funny afterall. I guess I'll save you a table Mike, since you were kind enough to ask me.

I think Jens is the official camera man. I'm the hair and makeup person (dahhhh, of course, the beauty-school dropout that I am) ... I think I'll ask Carol to be the lighting expert (she's a lawyer, she should be able to figure that out), and Alex will be the sound-check guy. I think I have it all covered. Jens and I will be doing the CD's in the back, at a table, if there is one available. I think Joe opted for: "Joe, Live at Tree's" for the name of the CD. Jens is on board with that, I think... I want Joe to go with a black shirt and jeans (easier for me to fantasize about Joaquin Phoenix), but he looked at me really odd when I said that, and he pointed to what he was wearing, and said, "Can't I just wear this?" The whole house is a-buzz about the upcoming event; the phone never stops ringing (honest to God, it's ringing right now! ha!).

I called Uncle Bob tonight and told him to tell Tree herself to make sure there's enough wings available. He said, "I'll tell her to have an extra bucket ready!" How yummy does that sound? An extra bucket of wings??? Who could ask for anything more.... ha!!!!

Anyway, stay tuned to the blog for updates as they become available.

p.s. We had a Dream Dinner tonight - Sesame Garlic Chicken. You'll be happy to know, no toothpicks are stuck in Joe's throat - he's ready for Tree's!

Middletown Basketball Banquet

We attended the basketball banquet tonight. Tell you the truth, we really didn't look forward to this dinner. So much adversity during this past season...injuries, academic problems, attitudes, players just up and quitting the team, so many discipline problems, it goes on and on.... I had no idea what Coach was going to say tonight. Well, I cried, and could hardly keep back my tears. I learned a lot about character tonight. The coach had so much to deal with this past year, but the boys that stayed, and persevered, and tried their hardest no matter what obstacles they had, are all winners. They never gave up, and coach never gave up on them. Coach talked about this perseverance, and this committment. While our boys only won 6 games, maybe, just maybe, you learn more about yourself and about life by losing, than you do winning. By sticking it out, by perseverance, determination, hard work, committment, never ever giving up. Maybe that's what our Raiders learned tonight. Bittersweet it was...

Coach still managed to stay positive, and to say something nice about each and every boy on the team. He talked about every game, the highlights and even lows, of each game. I think our young Raiders learned something tonight; I know I did.

Go Raiders; You're All Winners!!!!!

Tree's, Next Friday AT EIGHT O'CLOCK!!!!!

I apologize for the misprint folks, but Joe tells me the debut is 8, not 8:30... Who plays at 8:00???? I think this is too early, but what do I know???? Maybe I'll talk him into starting fashionably late so that we all can have a cocktail or two, and then get into some music. He practiced with his "peeps" all day today, and his "peeps" were good with it. He even cut himself a CD! How do you like that??? I'll be burning them this week, and then selling them at Tree's at a small table in the back, in case anyone is interested. Does anyone have any ideas on what we should call the CD? If you do, let me know, and I'll do some jackets this week. Ha!!!!! Can you tell I'm having WAY too much fun with this???? (Mike Kovach asked me to hold a table for him Friday night. That one put me over the edge!!!!)

I did lots of shopping this weekend, and wouldn't mind if I didn't see the inside of a store for a year or two. On Saturday, I did the Coldwater Creek thing, and got a few nice things for FL. They do have very nice things, and I liked what they had, as they have different and unique things. Joe wanted a teapot, so I got him a fifty million dollar tea pot at Williams Sonoma. Today, I met my friend Mary Anne, and her baby Olivia, at Park City, and had a nice shopping trip. It's always great to see Mar, my best best friend from high school... Oh geez, I forgot to ask her if we had plays in high school!!! Anyway, Mar and Olivia were great fun and I enjoyed spending time with them. I bought three new books; two Nicholas Sparks' books, and a James Patterson. I hope they are good. Isn't it kinda sad when you finish a good book? That's how I felt after Da Vinci, but will start another one tonight maybe.

We have Pat's basketball banquet tomorrow night. A bittersweet menu there, don't you think??? He's moved onto playing baseball and is having a good time, even in this cold weather. They scrimmage Steel High this week; how much fun will that be????

Have a great week, and remember something, LIFE'S TOO SHORT (per my sister Colleen -she told me today that's her new mantra and I just felt like saying it!! Ha!!!!!)

Joe's Debut!!!!

Hey folks, look like Joe's Debut is scheduled for next Friday night, around 8:30 ish, Tree's Tavern, Steelton, Pennsylvania. Please pass it on to your friends, relatives, anyone who you think would enjoy some good acoustic guitar, wings, and beer. I think it will be great, and Joe's both nervous and excited. It's all good; just a little fun, with lots of friends and family, at good ole' Tree's.

Joe's practicing, Pat's at the movies, and me....well, I'm going to cuddle on the sofa, and watch, North Country. I've never seen it and it's one that I jotted down from the Academy Award show. I finished Da Vinci Code yesterday, and could talk about it for days and days.... Give me a call if you wanna talk about it. I liked it very much, however, I kept in mind while reading - it's a novel.... don't get so darn serious about it like so many others did, all the uproar and people all up in arms about it... OMG.... it's fiction... get over yourselves! It entertained me for a week, and for that, I appreciated it.

I'm on my second merlot, and that's bad....... I doubt I'll see the end of North Country.

Have a great weekend everyone!

ps. I discovered Coldwater Creek last night while out with my friends. We met at Macaroni Grill, and I stopped there before we met... OMG....I loved it, and loved the clothes. I want to spend more time, and will go tomorrow. I also went to Williams Sonoma.... another OMG.... Have I been living under a rock for the past 20 years or so????? I spent $58 on cake mixes and pancake batter......... hmmmmmmm

Dream Dinners

Lots of you know that I do the Dream Dinner thing. If you don't know what that is, go to www.dreamdinners.com. It's a place where you go to put together dinners. It's very cool. They have all the ingredients, the recipes, the containers... everything's ready for you! The meals are a little more special than your everyday comfort foods. Put it this way, I would never make any of them; too complicated, too many ingredients, too fancy, plus, I'm a horrible cook. However, they make everything pretty easy for you. You sign up and pick a date to go to your session. I was very, very impressed with the cleanliness of the place and the organization. It's just very, very convenient. It's all good...

Anyway, tonight we had the Apricot Glazed Pork Chops. Easy to prepare and a very flavorful meal. Again, nothing I would ever make. Pat scraped off the apricot sauce from the top of his pork chops.

About a month ago, I had signed up for a session but something came up and I couldn't go. The gals at the shop were nice enough to prepare my meals for me, and I went a day later, and they were all ready for me... Nice huh? Well, shortly after that, Joe prepared a Strada (again, nothing I would ever make, but it was good). He complained after we ate it that night, that something was stuck in his throat. I told him to eat a piece of toast, it will go down.... Again, later that night with the complaining!!!! OMG Joe, go eat a piece of toast with peanut butter or something.... The next day, same thing, again with the "Honey, it's still stuck in my throat." Ok, Joe, either go to the ER or eat another piece of toast. We went to a basketball game that night. Before the game, we went out to eat, we had a nice dinner, everything was just fine...We had ribs I think.... I didn't hear anything about the throat, the ribs and the fries went down aok, and I didn't give it another thought. Then, we're at the game, and I happen to look over at Joe.... Well, he's sitting there coughing and coughing, I'm like, "Honey, why don't you go get a drink or something, you're bothering people." He chokes and chokes, and up comes a piece of.... OMG, it's about a inch long wooden TOOTHPICK! A piece of a wooden toothpick was stuck in my husband's throat for 24 hours care of Dream Dinners! Can you believe that?

I called our gals at Dream Dinners and told them the story. They use toothpicks for various things, and explained that somehow, mistakenly, one must have fell into my Strada. They have since barred toothpicks from the food stations.

So, all you people out there who use Dream Dinners, you can all thank Joe for single-handedly instituting the new no-toothpicks-at-the-station policy, hence, preventing any toothpick catastrophies like this in the future.

You would think perhaps this might make me stop using Dream Dinners.... I don't think so.... Hey, he's fine!!!!! He can take it!!!! He's a big strong man with strong, strong throat muscles!!! I need my Dream Dinners, and my girls tow the line now! Thanks to Joe and the toothpick incident of '06.

So, there happened to be a toothpick in Joe's meal????? Just think about it, makes him that much more appreciative of my fine culinery skills.

Should I buy the Stupid Service Contract or Not???

Pat's IRiver Mp3 hasn't worked for months now; we thought it was the battery, so I finally took it back to Best Buy on Saturday. I avoid 22 like the plague on Saturdays, but I had to do it. Well, as soon as I walked in, they promptly directed me to the "Geek Squad" (hence my post yesterday...). Anyway, I waited and waited, and finally a nice young geek asked what the problem was. Well, I explained to him that the Mp3 player hasn't worked for sometime, and that maybe it's the battery. He said, "Mam, do you have the service contract?" Yes, in fact young geek, I do believe that someone talked me into buying the stupid contract when I bought the IRiver. I never ever buy those things, but it made sense when they told me that the price of the battery replacement is as much as the service contract, and this contract would cover the batteries. Ok, sold.... So, he goes over to the computer, and he just keeps saying, "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, this isn't good, this isn't good at all." WHAT WHAT??? What on earth could be the problem geek???? Finally, he says to me, "Mam, they don't make this model anymore, and we can't even get a battery for you, I'm so so sorry, I'm going to have to take you over to the manager of the Mp3 department (there's actually a manager of the Mp3 department; who would have thought it???), and she'll help you Mam." Ok.... he actually walks me over to this manager, he says a few things to her, and she says, "Oh Mam, we're so sorry, you're going to have to choose a new Mp3 player, I can help you with that." OMG.... is this for real???? This is a one year old, top of the line (Dec. 04) Mp3 player and they don't make it anymore? She explains, ad nauseum, all the new and improved Mp3 players, and what they do, etc.... I said, "Mam, you know what I want, I want the equivalent of what I paid for this IRiver that they don't make anymore, that I just bought one year ago." She said, "Oh, then Mam, you want this here Ipod, this is this top of the line Ipod, with video, with everything Mam, this here is the one you want." I said, "Mam, wrap it up!" Pat thought it was Christmas all over again!

Moral of the story: Buy the stupid Service Contract.... this new disposable world that we live in, you may end up with a new top of the line Ipod!

ps. Pat's listening to his Spanish tutoring tapes, right?????

Joe's Friend "Jens"

Joe has a buddy who he works with, Jens (pronounced: Yens). Jens is an interesting fellow. I guess I should disclose that Jens is from Germany, yes he's German... Yes, Jens is GERMAN!!! I'll tell you a little about Jens. Jens is a software computer geek extraordinaire. I can't help it, but every time I'm at Best Buy, and I see the "Geek Squad" ... forgive me, but the first thing I think of is Jens. Jens, however, is much more dimensional than just being a geek, he also loves cars and has an obsession with serial killers. That's right, that was no typo folks, Jens kinda likes himself a good serial killer. If any of you happen to have a question, or a concern about serial killers of any kind, let us know and we'll forward to Jens.

Joe and I rarely agree about movies we rent. I usually get my pick because I'm the one who manages the Netflix account. Anyway, Joe came home from work one night and said, "Jens gave us a movie to watch tonight." Ok.... I was excited, ready for a good movie, perhaps a nice juicy romance or a good drama. I get all cuddled up on the sofa, my usual... ready to watch the movie. The movie begins, and it's strange, I mean really really strange...What the... this movie is about the worst serial killer in Russian history.

Anyway, Jens told Joe he would like to meet a nice young lady here in the United States. Joe said, "Ok Jens, I'll ask Terry if she knows any single girlfriends, and we'll set you up." Jens says, "Oh but Joe, Terry's so old, won't her friends be old also?" Joe sheepishly replied that he wasn't sure but he would ask.

OK, WITH ALL OF THAT SAID ABOUT OUR GOOD FRIEND JENS, I ASK MY GIRLFRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, ALL YOU MASS MURDERERS OUT THERE IN CYBERSPACE, ALL YOU SERIAL-KILLER-LOVING-FOOLS IN CYBERSPACE, SHOOT ME AN EMAIL AND YOU CAN GO OUT WITH JOE'S FRIEND, JENS...

p.s. You should also know that our Jens is one of the sweetest guys you ever wanted to know....

Go McNamara!

Would you ever think in a million years I would be into March Madness? Well, living in a house with Pat, I have to be.... I'll be walking by his bedroom, and he'll yell, "Mom, you gotta see this game; check this out." Well, I started getting into Gerry McNamara a while ago - but has nothing at all to do with basketball. When Pat's friend Jack would come over here, he would call our greyhound Mack, "McNamara." But, it's the way Jack says it...cracks me up every time. I never knew who McNamara was and Jack told me.... Now, all I ever hear is McNamara this, McNamara that.... I've been following him a little, and came to one conclusion: This kid is all heart. I could watch him play b-ball all day long. And, he and his team surprised everyone by winning their conference.

So, my prediction for March Madness, is Syracuse all the way!!! Long shot, I know....but I'm going for the hometown Scranton boy, with heart.... Pat's going with Villanova and that's fine, but I say, "McNamara" all the way, the way Jack says his name, so funny..... cracks me up every single time.... Go Orange!!!!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Pat and I went to see Amber's brother, Ashton, in CD East's school play tonight.... It was awesome! So many kids, and the play, and the singing.... just terrific!!!! Ashton's a natural... When he's on broadway someday, I'll get all my friends tickets!!!!! He's something else! He's a freshman, and had a pretty good role tonight. He can do it all: he sings, dances, and can act. This kid came to our house once, sat at our piano, and played songs all night. He never once had a formal piano lesson in his life. It made my jaw drop. Ashton and I sang together, while he played the piano, "Oh where oh where can my baby be, the Lord took her away from me....she's gone to heaven so I got to be good, so I can see my baby when I leave this world...." I didn't want him to leave that night....

You know something, I cannot remember a single play that Steel High did while I was in high school. I hope I'm just having an Alzheimer's moment, and I truly hope we had school plays. Why in the world didn't we have any memorable school plays? My nephews HS, Wilson, had terrific plays too that we went to through the years: Fiddler on the Roof, Le Miserables .... but Steel High, I can't remember one single play! Someone tell me I'm wrong....please.

Oh well.... I think tonight, I'll dream that we had school plays, and that I was in them. I would never have wanted a leading role, oh nooooooo..... but I wouldn't have minded being in a play or two.... the drama queen I am..... (that's a joke!!!!)

Pat has his first baseball scrimmage tomorrow morning. He made Varsity this year, and he's pretty happy about that.... I'm happy for him; good kid. Now, if only he could say Varsity Baseball in fluent Spanish... Now that would reeeaaaalllllyyyyyyyy make me happy.

I'm 1/2 way through Da Vinci..... it's good..... I like it...... Good night.

The Da Vinci Code....

I started reading The Da Vinci Code the other night....Heavy reading for me as I usually stick with lite reads, a steamy romance, or a good Oprah-recommended book....but I had nothing else and was desperate. I'm into it now, and following it just fine. Joe gave me a 45 dissertation about the history of the Catholic church since about 1500 (I think that's the date he gave me, I was fading by that time) ... Anyway, I'm invested now, and will finish it.

After the above dissertation, he asked me if I wanted to learn about quantum physics, free radicals, and/or the new discovery of strings (he's reading Steven Hawkings again....). I passed on that ....

We watched Cinderella Man last night.... Good movie; I enjoyed it. Another netflix I rented. That's working out for us (www.netflix.com) as I watch lots of movies when Joe's away. I wrote a list of those I want to rent while watching the Academy Awards. About the Academy Awards, I watched Crash the last time J was away....very very disturbing movie; I didn't like it. I couldn't fall asleep that night. I heard that the majority of the voting members of the academy live in LA, and this movie was very very powerful there (a movie about post 9-11 LA), and that they could relate to it. Well, us folks here in Po Dunk, PA, can't relate to that, and maybe that's why I didn't like it.... It was just heavy, and not entertaining at all... If you did see if, pls. leave me a comment about it, with your opinion of it; I'd like to hear.

Walk the Line - now that's a movie I can relate to... A good lookin' guy playing the guitar and singing.... That's a must buy for me, and I'll watch that one next time J's out of town, with a couple glasses of wine, and I'll sing along..... The soundtrack is on my Ipod and I sing along with Joaquin and Reese almost daily..... Lord knows I'm a sucker for a good lookin', guitar playing, singing fool....

Goodnight all, time to read.......

Our Greyhound Dawn...

We have this greyhound, Dawn, who's Mack's sister, that I located via the internet and many phone calls, in North Carolina. She was on a farm with about 200 other retired greys, waiting to be processed. These greyhounds will either get placed into rescue groups, or they'll have a fate that you don't want to know about... Anyway, just so happens Dawn is the sweetest, kindest, nicest, most loving dog you ever want to know... She's been such a great addition to our home; we are all in love with her...

About Dawn, the poor thing has so many names it's amazing she answers to any of them: Dawnydoos, Dutes, Duties, Dawnydoodledoodledoooo, Doodlebug (Pat's favorite), and Joe's latest name for her: Butter. I didn't quite understand how he came up with Butter; it doesn't sound anything like Dawn, so I asked him. His response, "There's nothing in the world I like better than butter, and I love Dawn so much, she's like butter to me." Ok then... Now I completely understand the link he made with the new name.

Query: Should I be upset that he professes to like butter more than anything in the world (including me), or should I just be happy that he doesn't affectionately refer to me as Butter, or look at me and think of Butter???

The Disclaimer....

When I began this blog, my husband became concerned that he might be the subject of many of my blogs. Via this blog entry, I hereby vow that this blog will not disparage my family in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, I vow not to disclose on this blog, certain information that would any way put Joe in any uncomfortable situation. For example, I would never discuss the fact that he thinks Sam's Club is both an eatery and a clothier - that he can't walk out of that place without a hotdog and a pair of pants. Nor would I mention the peculiar way that he eats corn on the cob; the familiar sound of the microwave in our house in the middle of the night; or his uncanny parallel characteristics to Doug Heffernin... Nothing, and I mean NOTHING like that will ever appear on this blog. Thank you very much.

Every Girl Should Have A Sting Ray Bike....

While organizing my pictures last week, I came across this picture and had to send it to my friend, Kathy Mueller. "Kate" and I were very, very best friends for a long, long time. We spent almost every waking moment with eachother for years and years. Her family owned, "Mueller's Tavern" and needless to say, I was fortunate enough to eat many meals at that restaurant, care of Mr. Mueller himself. Mr. Mueller was one of the most kindest, generous persons I've ever known, and I forever will be grateful to him and Mrs. Mueller too; they treated me like a daughter. Thursday's was Spaghetti day, and that was our favorite....with a nice warm loaf of a Pogacha.... Mmmmmm, it's soooo good.

Anyway, when I sent this picture to Kate last night, she asked how in the world her sister let her out of the house with that outfit on, and that I, being her best friend, should have told her about herself, and her fashion sense or lack thereof. Well, I think the turtle neck, the knee hi socks and the short short shorts, make quite a statement! Any girl in Steelton would have loved to be standing with us, in front of my garage, holding up their brand new sting ray bikes, in the alley of the Lower End.

Does it get any better than that????

Baby Sounds....

I'm converting the 8 mm tapes to DVD's, and when watching one today - Pat as an infant, reminded me of a story I thought I'd share. As some of you know, my precious baby used to make some strange sounds; some would describe them as "demonic" in nature. What may sound demonic to you, is precious cooing to me... Anyway, after a while, my sister Vic suggested I take him to the doctor's to see what was wrong. So I did...when the doctor came in, he said, "What's the problem?" I said, "Well doctor, my sister said that I should bring my baby in to see you as she thinks he makes really strange demonic sounds." He looked puzzled at me, examined Pat, looked me in the eye, and said, "He's fine; you tell your sister that babies make noises, sometimes they're strange noises." Ok, I was happy with that, left the office, went home and reported to Vic exactly what the doctor said. She said, "Ok, time to go see the priest."

I have lots more like this, you have no idea...

It's Friday!

I'm home today, with lots to do around the house. I have the 8 mm tape project that I really want to finish up, and tons of work in my office to do; I really wanted a day to myself without any interruptions (although when Joe heard I was home today, he said he'd be home early)>>>> Homey don't think so!!! Anyway, I'll get started right after this.

I'm still fine tuning this blog and trying to get other things on it....but that's going to take time - I may or may not get to that today. I hope through this blog, I could perhaps recommend a good book to you, tell you about a movie I saw and enjoyed, or a restaurant I visited.

Netty and I went to Texas Roadhouse last night. We had a nice time (and yummy drinks there I might add!). We had a long wait for our food but they made it right after we said something. It was a good 45 mins until we got our food (glad I had good company to fill the time). The food is very good there, and the little rolls.... yum! Thx Carol for telling me about those little treasures!

I made my flight reservations for FL for 4-4 to 4-11 to go and see Carol and Larry (Marion, thx for the sites you gave me for the flight information. My ticket was $200, not bad huh? I used Farechase.com.) I can't wait to spend time with them, and to relax for several days. I hope to read a lot and spend time in her pool. We'll go out to eat and shop - but I hope lots of my time will be spent relaxing.... I'll miss three of Pat's baseball games which makes me sad, but this was the only period of time I can get away, with Joe's up-coming travel plans. I'll have lots and lots of baseball games this summer as Pat's playing Legion ball and we'll see how that all goes down.... stay tuned.

I better get to it or else I'll never get anything done today! I could write all day long......

Have a great weekend all and do at least one thing that's FUN! Love you all.

Where do I begin?

As you guys know, I love to read blogs, and just so happens, I clicked on a blog ad on someone's blog where you can create your own blog believe it or not ... Here I am to prove that any dummy can blog! Ha!

I'll try and keep my blogs short and sweet (they are the one's that I like the best, and thought you would too). My life is kinda boring, as all my friends know, but maybe I'll have something interesting and clever to say once in a while, just to keep you on your toes.

This is to my friend Heather: You'll have to stick with Christine's blog for your excitement I hate to tell you.... as this one will be soooooo boring for you! I doubt that I'll come up with schemes and extravagent weekends that are so juicy, they are worthy of a mid-day call to tell me about! ha!!!! We love our Christine, don't we?

Anyway, here goes nothing!

I can't wait to soak in the tub tonight and nearly finish my book Carol M. gave me, The Glass Castle. Wow, Carol, like we said today, there are folks out there who actually grew up poorer than you and I???? Go figure..... Just kiddin' everyone..... don't go emailing me about being poor... You all know I love and treasure my childhood and good ole' Steelton, or Stiltin as we say! My latest thing to say to people is: "Don't make me go Stiltin on you" and all you folks from Stiltin know exactly what I mean....

Well, time to tub.... Joe's in the basement having a concert, practicing his set for Tree's and Pat's studying (I think....). BTW, we ran into Tree herself last night, and she made Joe promise again about performing there. I expect to see all Joe's loyal fans, including groupies (you know I don't mind sharing my man!) to support Joe. I'll let you all know, of course, re: his debut. You know, I hope our friend Mike joins Joe some night at Tree's. Mike has to wear his hair down if he performs on Tree's stage. Girls, you've never seen a hotter guy than this, trust me..... You gotta see Mike with his hair down, that's all I have to say, I won't say another word about it..... it's dreamy you know.... you gotta come and see this yourself. I'll let you know if and when Mike joins the group. Great, that's all I need, more dreaming material...... Mike/Andy Pettitte/ Mark McGuire.... It never ends!!!!!!!

Goodnight all, and remember: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing!