Twittering a wedding

Okay, so I went to a wedding today, and I totally wanted to tweet it, but since I'm 47, not 22, I thought it might be rude.

So here's what I *would have tweeted if I had.

Friday 1 PM Crap, still haven't bought wedding gift for wedding tomorrow. Bride not registered, in her 40's. def not starting out. I don't know her that well. What to get?
Friday 1:30 PM Found great handmade pottery bowl by local artist in gift shop. Could be used for pasta or display..."Love, honor, cherish" painted on rim. Pleased with myself
Friday 9 PM Evening boating with a swim was nice...until 2 of us walked thru the screen door and one if us accidentally got ink on the white seat
Friday 9:30 PM Screen door and evening totally mangled. Who said boating was a relaxing family outing?
Saturday noon Final baseball game of the season. Weather is beautiful
Saturday 1:30 PM Our team is losing. :-(
Saturday 2:15 PM season is over, but DS got 2 good hits with runs batted in
Saturday 3 PM Ordered daughter's b-day cake for tomorrow'
Saturday 3:30 PM Showered and dressed (with my killer yellow shoes) :-)
Saturday 3:45 PM DH is still mad at me about boat debacle from last night. But I'm wearing a fab dress and love my shoes.
Saturday 3:55 PM Situation made more tense since chapel is on college campus with no sign pointing to building.
Saturday 4:00 PM Bride is beautiful, dress is gorgeous. Groom is marrying for 1st time, he's 45. Her kids are 23, 21 and 16. Wonder how old she is?
Saturday 4:30 PM Why do I get teary at weddings?
Saturday 4:45 PM I always wonder what people are thinking during the homily. This priest had a great vibe and a good message.
Saturday 5 PM why is it so hard to get out of a church after a wedding?
Saturday 5:30 Reception at a local museum and science center. cool!
Saturday 5:35 PM Bellinis yum
Saturday 5:40 PM Passed hors d'oeuvres and a martini station. even cooler.
Saturday 6:30 PM There's a senator here. He disappeared for a little while with a hot blonde. hmmmmm.
Saturday 8:00 PM kids have called at least 3 times. "How much longer will you be?"
Saturday 9 PM. 3 more calls in a row.... the message this time? "I need to password to your computer". Um, no.
Saturday 9:30 PM I live in Rochester, not Orange County, why are there so many silicon boobs and blonde hair here?
Saturday 9:45 PM Danced a little and my feet still feel good! Sort of truce with husband/ That's good, right?
Saturday 10 PM I need to find a bathroom. Bathrooms in museums are never near the stairs or escalator
Saturday 10:05 PM OK - this is officially like Night at the Museum. I just walked past a Native American diorama and I swear their eyes are following me.


Night all, my in-laws are coming tomorrow, I still have to clean the house, Emma's b-day party is tomorrow, and I'm a PROCRASTINATOR!

This is old, too. But still funny

Plus, since it's the start of summer vacation, welcome to my life.

I know this made the email rounds, but it always cracks me up.

"The Mom Song"

"The Mom" song, sung to the William Tell Overture, by Anita Renfroe.
What a mom says in 24 hours, condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds! Hilarious and talented!
Lyrics for "The Mom Song" is given below. (Thank you BelleFlower15!)

"The Mom Song"

Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepyhead
Here's your clothes and your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now! Get up and make your bed
Are you hot? Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hat
Don't forget! You gotta feed the cat
Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it's the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today
Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play
Don't shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside, don't play rough, will you just play fair?
Be polite, make a friend, don't forget to share
Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare
Get along! Don't make me come down there
Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away
Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay?
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone! Get off the phone!
Don't sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table
No more computer time tonight!
Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up
Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You'll appreciate my wisdom someday when you're older and you're grown
Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own
You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate
Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate
Use your fork, do not burp or I'll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an A, get the door, don't get smart with me
Get a grip, get in here, I'll count to three
Get a job, get a life, get a PHD
Get a dose of,
"I don't care who started it!
You're grounded until you're 36"
Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven's sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too?
If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before
That you're too old to act this way
It must be your father's DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straighter when you walk
A place for everything and everything must be in place
Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on
Get in bed, get up here, say a prayer with mom
Don't forget, I love you
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends
You don't need the reason why
Because, because, because, because
I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so
I'm the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!!
Ta da!!!

Recycling is good for the environment, right?

So, here you go, recycled from February of 2008, when I was new to blogging and on MYSPace.

Plus, it reflects the mood I've been in this week. Maybe it was because I was missing my Dad on Father's Day, or maybe because the cardinals are singing more now than ever and boldly coming on my back deck.

Winter to Spring
Current mood: grateful

Ground Hog Day is tomorrow. Right now there's the pitter-patter of sleet and freezing rain outside my (dark) window. Is Spring really not so far off? It's hard to believe sometimes.

I saw a cardinal the other day. Unremarkable, I know. But there's a story. I'm much more aware of cardinals these days.

After my mother died, I started seeing a cardinal in my backyard. While that might not seem unusual, I've been feeding the backyard birds here for 14 years and the cardinals did not come to my yard. My neighbor's yards, yes, just not mine.

Anyway, I took comfort in the sight of those cardinals and thought often of how my mother was with me in spirit, although I missed her physical presence. Why a cardinal? Well, my mother loved cardinals and I just associated this cardinal with her. Hey, it's not something I need to analyze deeply, I'll take comfort wherever I can get it.

When my father died last year and I started being visited by a pair of cardinals - a male and female and they often perched in a backyard tree and sang to me while I was on the deck and I was at peace. Suddenly, I saw cardinals in places I never did. Cardinals showed up in the brush by the parking lot when I got to work, they flitted past me when I went for a hike. I found a cardinal garden flag among the supplies in my Dad's garage. I took it. It hangs by my front door. My mother-in-law gave me a cardinal Christmas ornament.

Cardinals were everywhere, and usually turn up on just those days that I'm feeling sorry for myself. God is good! All the time!

Is it the spirit or presence of my parents? I don't now, but does it matter? They make me smile.

Time to wake the children.

Currently listening : December, Piano Solos: 20th Anniversary Edition By George Winston

My babies are getting too big!

So, Number One Son turned 14 yesterday. I'm not sure either of us will survive the next 4 years. I love him dearly, but his rudeness, belligerence and defiance are reprehensible. I want to smack him, (NO! not really, it's a figure of speech, lighten up!) but I know that will only teach him more bad habits. I swear my high blood pressure is a result of not wanting to beat the living s^&% out of him sometimes.

I know that sounds bad. Really bad.

More as a reflection on me as a parent than on him as a surly teen, but hey, it is what it is and I'm not perfect. We'll get through this, I know we will, and don't EVER forget that I love him fiercely and always will.

I just don't like his behavior towards me and his father and I want to see him do well in his academic and personal pursuits.

So, anyway, his birthday was yesterday. He celebrated with a few school friends by going to LaserQuest and sleeping on the boat with DH. They had a good time, but DH almost blew a gasket. I'm not sure how , but the curtain by the sliding glass door got partially pulled down. :-( And his behavior was less than polite when I arrived with donuts and milk this morning. Two of the boys are polite and well-mannered. One, I've known since kindergarten, but DH thinks he's of questionable moral character. It's hard to tell. Sometimes their behavior in a group and around another parent is designed to push buttons and test limits.

But anyway, enough about that.

There's a ton of stuff I haven't blogged about recently.

• XRIJF The Xerox Rochester Jazz festival. I was lucky enough to volunteer at church to sell water. Our church is the venue for the Nordic Jazz Now series - awesome!
  
• And DH and I were invited to see Michael McDonald at the Eastman on Thursday - great show, with dinner at Max's before hand.
  
• DD is done with 5th grade!
  
• DS went to the 8th grade Luau, but missed the Seabreeze trip due an incident. :-(
  
• After a Spanish test in Monday, he's done with 8th grade. I hope he takes 9th grade more seriously next year.
  
• I love, love, LOVE my new mustard yellow peep toe platform wedges! I wore them on Thursday with white Ann Taylor trousers and a flowery, flowy blouse. I wore them on Sunday to church with an awesome geometric print pencil skirt (navy, black, gold print) and a crisp white shirt. And I'll wear them next Saturday with a great Lord and Taylor dress to a wedding.
  
• DD has planned (herself) her b-day party for next Sunday. Did the invitations herself. My in-laws are coming that same day. The day after the wedding we're going to. I expect mayhem and chaos and hiding household clutter in a big box in my car.
• Emma (DD)'s mouse, Buddyscotch, was found dead in his cage this morning. We are very sad here. :-( His companion, Mr. Whiskers, has not been cleared yet, although he is currently not a person of interest.

Emma, my turning-11-on-Tuesday daughter, spent the afternoon simultaneously web surfing, google chatting and talking on the phone. The computer use is a rare treat for her, and her posture with the keyboard and phone reminded me of the phone scene in the old movie "Bye, Bye Birdie". (see bottom left corner above)

Oy, twittering is easier.

Ciao!

Not what I thought I'd start out with...

So, there are more than a month's worth of stuff I thought I'd catch you up on, but the longer I stay away, the harder it is to start.

So, I begin with this:

I ordered some shoes a whole lot of stuff one night on the internet (2 shoes, 3 dresses, 6 bras, one pair of pants, etc) and the shoes arrived yesterday.

Hey, I fully expected to return 5 bras, 2 dresses and maybe one pair of shoes. Really.

I knew immediately that the black ones were sooooo not me,
(hey, I was inspired by Barb's sexy shoe photos)

but I am taken with the yellow ones. They're a lot taller and cuter and sexier than I usually wear, but I don't want to give them up.

What can I possibly wear them with?

To put them in perspective, this is what I'm more likely to be spotted wearing.

I also ordered a ridiculously expensive Spanxx camisole that I expected to hate and return to save the money.

The problem?

It looks incredible. It smooths my muffin top and back fat and really makes my chest look great.
(no, that's not me)
How can I justify the expense?

How can I return it when it fits so well?

Other random things I meant to blog but haven't:

• Memorial Day boating (yay! the season has begun)
• not speaking to my husband (hard to do when you're connected by kids, etc) *
  
• RHoNJ
• Deadliest Catch (why is that so popular?)
• Royal Pains
• Harpers Island (whoa, a lot of gore and suspense - anyone watching?)
• My NCIS obsession
  
• gardening (did I really spend $35 planting my own deck planter with my garden club when I saw perfectly good ones at Wegman's for $24?)
• weddings! how fun is it to get dressed up in summer dresses and sandals and ooh and ahh over a pretty bride?
• end of year chorus and orchestra concerts
• the cardinals - they've been everywhere in my yard and outside my windows! :-)
  
• Wizard of Oz - fun girls night out - yay!
• My son went on his 8th grade class trip to DC - he's in high school next year! yikes!
• pedicures - a summer staple or wasteful luxury? delicious pampering or gross?
• summer festivals and canal days - woohoo!
• a very, very wet trip to the Greek festival
• spilling 32 oz of unsweetened McDs iced tea on the floor in front of my office door. geesh.
  
• I went to a fashion show, nothing big, just a charity event, but fun
• I've kicked my Bejeweled Blitz addiction. I've been BB free for 4 whole days.
  

Now, you're all breathing a collective sigh of relief that I didn't bore you with all those details, right?

If you're on Twitter, I've tweeted most of that stuff...it seems to be more my speed these days.

PS - yes, of *course I'm talking to my husband again. for now. ;-)

Don't give up on me yet.

I know it's been two weeks... I'm in a bit of a dry spell.

Not for lack of blogable moments...more like an attention problem.

I am remaining a faithful reader, though, and I promise to be back soon.


(I think.)

In the meantime, come follow me on Twitter.

I've been Tweeting up a storm over there. 140 characters seems to be about all I can handle these days.

That, and my teen-age son has been monopolizing my laptop and by the time I get it back at night, I'm too tired to be coherent.

Or funny.

And definitely not both.

RaNdOm SuNdAy ThOuGhTs

So I finally went to the Lilac Festival this afternoon with my daughter. The sun was shining and it was a bit cool, but better than the thunderstorms that rolled through yesterday. My daughter's a good sport and always up for an adventure, so off we went.
Plus, out of everyone, she's a cheap date.

We got there and I realized I FORGOT MY CAMERA! Oh, NOOOOOOO. *Everyone takes photos of the Lilacs and the various oddities (people) that walk around.

Oh, well, we knew what we wanted to taste and see, so here's our (photo-less) report:

• Top of the list: fresh-squeezed lemonade, corn dog and funnel cake (hey, I never said I was going for healthy and balanced)
  
• I was buying some clever tees that I thought my kids would appreciate,

Bruises are cool.

• and since they were buy 2, get one free; I was deliberating over the design of the third (for me). As I was debating whether to go with one that was too large vs one that was, shall we say, more form-fitted; my daughter pipes up to help me with my decision by saying; "If you want it to last longer (to grow into) you should go with the bigger one." :-X The proprietor and I looked each other and cracked up. Umm, no, I don't think that's what I'm shooting for.
• A select few of you will get why we HAD to have this tee, "I canoe. Canoe canoe?"

• The kettle corn line was about a 1/4 of a mile long. No lie. What is the appeal?
• There was an older man wearing dirty yellow crocs. Why?
  
• There were 2 women who we kept crossing paths with who were dressed like the Wicked Witch of the West with striped stockings and thick black shoes. Yes, 2 of them.
• As I waited in line for a turkey leg (Yay! I don't have to cook dinner!) we were surrounded by a group of gang-bangers (or pierced, bandanna'd, droopy-drawered wannabees) with potty mouths who peppered their speech with so many f%^&s that a girl in front of us told them to knock it off. Aaahhhh, diversity.
  
• I had to mortgage my house to buy 2 turkey legs.
• They were big enough to feed a golf foursome.
• Even my 14 year old gave up and said he couldn't finish it.
• Artichokes French were a HUGE disappointment.
  

Here's a photo I got off google of the Lilac Festival.



They really are beautiful and fragrant.

oDDs aNd EnDs

A lot of ends, not so much odd.

Wow, I don't think I've EVER gone 13 days without blogging.

I'm not sure what's happening, but I can't seem to get past the 140 characters of Twitter. That seems to be just about right now.

So... here's the Twitter version of things I've thought about blogging in the last 2 weeks:

• I *finally got my black v-neck tee. I'm now a part of the club. (see previous post)

• We TOTALLY surprised my kids with Disney World. They thought they were going to the dentist and I had their bags packed when I picked them up from school. That was the best part and I wish I had a hidden camera to record their reactions.

• It was hotter than the Amazon jungle in Florida last week. I sweat so much it looked like I wet my pants. TMI, huh? Sorry.

• We met our Chicago cousins there and went to Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Cirque de Soleil. All was totally awesome. Well, except for the heat part.

• Everything was great last weekend until we got home. It's amazing how an argument between one stubborn husband and one obnoxious teen can ruin an ENTIRE day, even if it occurs at 6 PM.

• I got new funky glasses that I thought I really liked, but they either photograph really poorly or don't look all that great on me.

• I got my haircut today and had to face the great debate of whether I should A) continue to grow out the bangs and layers, B) go short again, or C) keep growing long and go for bangs.

• I haven't been to the Lilac Festival yet and this is the last weekend. I LOVE the Lilac Festival. Random note: a few years ago I took my kids and a few neighborhood friends and went to see the local teen hearthrob Teddy Geiger (whatever happened to him?) It was cold but totally fun.

• I opted for option A and now still feel like I have a total mom-cut. What should I do?

• My period lasted four weeks last month. WTF? Sorry, again for TMI.

• I have about 300 pics from Disney and about 120 are of tourists wearing fanny packs. You could say I was obsessed.

• Hopefully I'll be back soon with pics and more "interesting" and less "random" (does that count as a submission for the blog of unneccessary quotation marks? If so, sorry.

• I don't want to go to BlogHer, but I totally want to meet up with other bloggers. Just not ones that are too serious, kwim?

• In an attempt to avoid other chores, I cleared out a two ft tall stack of cookbooks. That was helpful, wasn't it?

• I now have backfat. Oh, joy.

Hopefully, we'll return to your regularly scheduled programming later this week (end)

I know I owe you more...

crap, the whole post disappeared. I'll try again.

I was saying that I hope this will tide you over - snarky commentary on the elementary school science fair I went to on Friday.

This woman can't even be that old! She's got a kid in elementary school!


I like this woman - she's nice, attractive, trim, dresses stylishly...but tonight = fail.
She had on ultra low-rise jeans which gave her a muffin top that she probably didn't even HAVE.

(Disclaimer: I know I was sporting back fat, an exposed bra strap and a nice beer belly/ice cream gut, but at least I had on cute sandals and a nice pedicure, dammit.)
And below you can see 5 of the 17+ women who were wearing black v-neck tees with jeans. I'm obviously hanging out with the wrong crowd because they didn't send ME the memo.

CopyCat

Yes, I'm copying Deb over at Debland.

I'm trying to install Linkwithin, but unless it only works on new posts, I've already failed.

So this is a test.
Bear with me.

Thanks.

You'll want to get in on this

A give away.

No, not mine.

This one is Lorrie's . Isn't she the greatest?

And it comes from the wonderful Etsy shop of Simag.
Trust me, her stuff is super cute.
See? Told ya so.

But I'm a little bit lazy busy at work Twittering right now so I'm just going to tell you to go on over to Lorrie's blog and read the details of the giveaway.

But don't forget to visit Simag's Etsy shop to check out her cool jewelry.
Even if you don't win, it's worth checking out and placing an order.

It's been a hard days' night, and I've been working like a dog...

No, not really.

I've been roadtripping. Vacationing. Driving. A lot.
Playing tourist.

I'm baaacccckkkkkk.

Today I'm just slacking. It's 11:30 and I'm just about to head in to the shower.

Hey, I've been busy. I think I deserve it. Besides, I'm the mom and I can slack if I wanna.

So, let's recap the week. (skip it if you're bored already)

Friday - drive to Cornell and pick up freshman nephew, continue to Wilton, CT to bring him home. Check into hotel room 5 minutes away at midnight.

Saturday - off to the new Yankees Stadium. Wait in line for an HOUR to see Monument Park. Plaques of dead Yankee players. Big whoop. I'm sorry, I just don't get it. But I did like the ballpark. And the beer. And the garlic fries.
See neighbor from Fairport. Random. Meet friends there in nosebleed seats over home plate looking at the first base line. Good view, though.
...To see the WORST inning in baseball history. 14 runs scored in the second inning. Yankees lose 22 - 4. NO, that's not a typo. It was history. At least it was a beautiful day.

DH and Number One Son go to midnight Easter services at the Greek orthodox Church. I stay with sleepy Darling Daughter. (yay, me!) They return somewhere around 3 AM. Christos Anesti!

Sunday - Greek Easter with the fam. Lots of lamb and other good food. We leave at 5:30 PM to drive to Washington, DC. We arrive at midnight. Again.

We check in to the beautiful Westin in Old Town Alexandria.

Monday - Awake to POURING rain. Buckets and more.
Decide to drive, instead of take the metro. Spend an hour looking for a parking spot that doesn't involve needing a rescue buoy or rowboat.
Car develops a weird shudder and service engine light comes on. Tour the National Air and Space Museum.
So is everyone else. See family from the church where I work. More random.
Drive 45 minutes out near the airport to see the other Air and Space Museum. The one with the shuttle.
Hey it was raining, what else would we do? Saw cool stuff. On the way out, saw Tuskagee Airmen. For reals. They were there for some ceremony.

Tuesday - GORGEOUS DAY.

Car still shuddering.
Tour Arlington Ceremony.
What's wrong with this picture?
Did you see it?

Lincoln, FDR memorials and Korean, Vietnam, and WW II War memorials.
Interrupted tourist agenda to sit through 2 our timeshare presentation (UGH!) It was the reason we went to DC for $99 for 3 nights in the Westin. It was totally worth the pain and suffering. Except the presentation sucked and the sales office was shabby. We are loyal to Marriott, thankyouverymuch.

After a late lunch we resume our tourist activities.
Daughter RUNS the whole length of the reflecting pool for fun and isn't even winded. Yes, I'm a bit envious. Starts to sprinkle, we run to car. Sky is threatening. We go to the Jefferson memorial and DH stays in the car because there is no parking.
Thunder and lightening begin, sky opens up with a biblical deluge. There are white caps on the water. Emma sees boy from her class at school. More random.
Yes, kids left their raincoats in the car and I left my phone there. We sprint to the car and arrive looking like we took a shower and forgot our towels.

Of COURSE this is fun.

We got to a little Greek restaurant near the capitol and have an amazing Greek meal. After we circled for 35 minutes looking for a parking spot.

OPA!

Wednesday - DH leaves at 4 AM for Dallas. We wake up at 7 AM and find a clogged toilet. Lovely. Because I am stubborn and want to see goofy tourists on Segways, we detour into DC to find and photograph them before heading to Philly.
This little excursion costs and hour due to traffic, construction and breakfast. Yay. Car stops shuddering, but service engine light is still on. I call dealer to make appointment for Thursday.

Arrive at Philly by 12:30 to meet my little bro for lunch and a little touring.

We go to seafood restaurant where Number One Son and bro gorge themselves on stinky fresh seafood while Darling Daughter and I eat kids meals - hot dog and chicken tenders.
Across the street, we go to the Mummers museum - built in 1976.
My Dad was the project manager for it for the city of Philadelphia as a part of his work on the bicentennial. It's a little tired looking but it was cool.

Yes, I still don't know how to rotate my pics on blogger. Sorry.

If you don't know what a Mummer is, google it and go to a New Year's parade in Philly sometime - very cool.

We played tourist in my home town and see old churches,

Carpenter's Hall, statues,

and the Liberty bell.
Just like my father, my brother knows someone everywhere we go and takes great delight in showing off Philly landmarks.

Despite all the impressive historical landmarks, my kids really want to get to my brother's house to see his dog and chickens.

Yes, chickens. And Aunt Sue, of course. ;-)

We have a delightful 2 hour visit and then are on the road again at 6:30 to head for home.

Fast forward to 5 hours, 1 nap, and 300 miles later, and I get stopped for speeding in a work zone, less than 40 miles from my house. I was going 63 miles per hour and it was 1 AM. I couldn't believe it. Grrrrr. He gave me a bogus ticket for using a cell phone and acted like he was doing me a favor since it has no points and is a lesser fine.

Thursday - Got to work after 5 hours of sleep.

And now I'm tired. With mounds of vacation laundry to do. Why is there always more laundry to do then what we normally wear in a week?

Yes, I know it's super long, but I had a whole week to catch up on.

Here's a list of bloggers/twitterers that I came close to, but didn't get to see:

TooofEach/PearlsofSomethin (PA)
Lorrie (NYC)
Kelcey (NYC)
Marinka (NYC)
JeffKay (Scranton)
Debland (PA)
Flamingo (Syracuse)
Junkdrawer (Lehigh Valley, PA)
Tiffany (Baltimore)
JudyZ (CT)
Amy (CT)

Waaahhhhh. I did wave from the highway, though. Didya see me?