#7. Makes me laugh...The plastic owl that had everyone calling us about "the rare owl in your tree"

#8. Makes me happy....Sounds of sailboat mast chimes.

#9. Makes me happy....Bunnies in the garden.

#10. Makes me happy... Daisy playing in the yard, teasing Fitz.

#1. Makes me happy....daylillies to follow.

#2. Makes me happy... Swing in the spring.

#3. Makes me happy....Textures & colors.

#4. Makes me happy...Natural stone path.

#5. Makes me happy...Magical colored stones.

#6. Makes me happy...Found bricks washed up on the beach.

STOP?

Dog walks..I like different venues...trails, boardwalks, along the shoreline, farms and the road. Variety is good. So is routine.

Today this sign didn't deter me. After all, this is MY place, OUR place to walk. Daisy, Fitzy and me. I drove right through the half open gate.

That's when I noticed the "Animal Control" van....in my rearview mirror. I had 2 dogs in the car.

We all jumped out of the car for our walk. Animal Control Woman stopped me to inform me the gate was closed. But it was HALF open. She considered that for a minute....and let us go on our way. I guess she's a glass is half full kinda gal.

Scrub a Dub Dub

Finally...I had the energy for a shower. Happy to have a leisurely shower, I was less than thrilled to realize that the soap dish was almost BARE! So was I. Spare yourself the visual. It was a challenge with the soap slip sliding away (this is where you hum the Paul Simon song)......I made the best of it and sang "Tiny Bubbles"....and believe me, they were TINY bubbles.

Daisy Dreaming That I'll Get Up.....

Maybe Just Another Minute....

Soon. I Will Get Up. I Will Get Up.

Wait! The million dollar coffee machine isn't working. I won't get up.

Same Cold, Different Couch

Must get up. Must get up. Woke up Grace and T.J. Made lunches. Waved goodbye as they plodded onto the bus. Daisy and I...alone.....ooh my head is stuffy.....I'll just rest here a minute.

Must get up. Must get up. Must get OOPS! There's a kitten on my chest. One more being who needs lovin'. Maybe I'll get up in a minute.

Sleep. Lots of sleep. Just what I needed. Rude awakening. After rolling out from under the soft lumpy down comforters, making the bed, pulling on some lazy day clothes and walking down the stairs, I found my children awake...and also unwell. But they were managing to go about their morning routine just fine. With a mother unconscious in bed, some things went by the wayside. Just a few.....Consciousness became a necessity! 1. Take dogs,who were sitting with their legs crossed,waiting to go out. 2. Feed dogs 3. Feed cats, who were circling my ankles and singing my praises 4. Take out garbage 5. Kitty litter out to garbage 6. Prepare garbage cans for pickup 7. Call sweet, exhausted and sick children to empty dish washer 8. Clear breakfast cereal bowls from sink...into dishwasher. 9. Carry clean laundry upstairs 10. Carry dirty laundry downstairs. Well, that was worth the extra sleep! Another day in paradise....my paradise. Tomorrow Grace and T.J. go back to school. Maybe I can play catch-up in paradise. Or collapse....after I get the rest of the laundry out of the dryer.

Animal Farm

Odd. That Kitty on my back. It's not odd for our family. Jinx enjoys a throne. Don't we all?

It IS a bit questionable that I took the photo...upside down and backwards. Odd? Not so much.

I Can Dream

Only One Mom

It's only been a few days...close to a week. Biff has had business out of town. No need to review all of the things that have gone a little topsy turvy since he pulled out of the driveway. No need to mention that we were all sick. No need. It might make me cry. Instead, I think it's time to laugh.

Biff is always missed when he travels.... for one night or three. Some friends say "Now that the kids are older, it's much easier when your husband travels" Some women say, "Oh, I love when my husband travels...it gives me some time to myself" Easy for them to say...that's all I say.

I'm only one person!

Then:

1. Toddler voices talking non-stop, not a grown up conversation to be had without interruption

2. Toddlers tossing cookies with no maintenence man to help me through the gagging.

3. Toddlers tantrums with no one to acknowledge that I hadn't beat my children, it was just a lollipop.

4. The only adult in the house with me was "Mr.Rogers"

5. Bath, Book, Bed Cozy time and tucking the little ones in bed.

Now:

1. Teenage voices talking and telling me why "it's not fair that  ___________"

2. Teenagers, with flu-like symptoms practically ringing a bell to have popsicles, water delivered to them

3. Teenagers randomly stomping off because of something I've said...leaving me confused.

4.  The only adult in the house with me is via computer or cell phone.

5. Time for bed and gathering/prying away computers, cell phones, i-Pods  and all forms of technology.

Strange...some things never change. Biff and I always laugh because people say things like, "Oh....poor Biff...how does he do it? Travel is so exhausting." Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha. 

Back To Bed

After listening to the rough and random coughing throughout the night (mine included).... I decided to make the call to school health office. That's still the grown up call I don't like to make. Not so much because our kids are sick and must stay home........but because I still feel like a kid trying to fake it for the school nurse.

Now that I've been awake. for 2 hours....waiting to make the call....listening to my internal alarm clock....hearing the busses go by that are my morning time markers...1st bus...2nd bus....kids still sleeping.........it's time to collapse back into my cozy covers and get back to bed.

I Snooze. I Lose. I Snooze.

10 Reasons I Got Out of Bed/Off The Couch Today:

1. To see the condition of my other family members with germs.
2. To let Jinx the cat out.
3. To take the dogs outside
4. To make soup(Progresso) for family.
5. To plug cell phone into car charger
6. To feed dogs breakfast
7. To feed dogs dinner
8. To let Jinx out the door.
9. To let Jinx in the door
10. To turn off the lights to go to bed.

Good night.

ZZZZzzzzzzzz

Sleeping. Waking up. Who's waiting for me? Daisy and Fitzy! Always loyal. Always eager. I'm sure they're wondering why they haven't been to the beach or the woods or the farm or .....down the driveway.

Daisy and Fitzy are patient....kind of. Golden Retrievers are meant to frolic and run....not happening with me today.

Cough. Sneeze. Sleep. Headache. Sleep some more. Maybe tomorrow will be a day to frolic with the dogs....or at least walk.

SNOOTY

Dog snoots...in my face. That's what I get for falling asleep on the couch .

Like Clock Work

Daisy on either side of the door always has a message. She has specific barks for every occasion.

Inside waiting to go out:

*She sees something she must check out.
*She sees/hears the mail truck.....and has a Pavlovian reaction since the mailman gives her a gazillion treats.
*She has to pee.
*She's getting the Kitty

Outside waiting to come in:

*Has the Kitty waiting to come in

Her face perks up the minute we make eye contact. I think my face perks up too!

Like Clock Work

Daisy on either side of the door always has a message. She has specific barks for every occasion.

Inside waiting to go out:

*She sees something she must check out.
*She sees/hears the mail truck.....and has a Pavlovian reaction since the mailman gives her a gazillion treats.
*She has to pee.
*She's getting the Kitty

Outside waiting to come in:

*Has the Kitty waiting to come in

Her face perks up the minute we make eye contact. I think my face perks up too!

Fitz By My Side

When everyone is out or Biff has business travel, I can always count on Daisy to be there by my side. Daisy has made it her place in the family to look after us all. That's quite a job...for someone who doesn't speak English as a first language.

It's Saturday. Grace is still wiped out from her fever, cough and headache. Since yesterday, T.J. and I have been feeling low with headache and cough. We're all feeling tired and rundown.

By my side....Fitz. She couldn't be closer unless she jumped up on my lap.And now you think...oh Fitz is a protector too. Nope. She's here because she's needy, apparently not getting enough attention while we're all a little under the weather.

Of course, T.J. believes we are a dysfunctional family because of Fitzy. Shhhh. He hasn't realized that we're just a plain old fashioned dysfunctional family...with or without animals. Isn't that the new normal. Isn't every family dysfunctional in one way or another? We all are! True dysfunction would be if we tried to pretend we weren't dysfunctional. It makes more fun when our kind of crazy can be tagged with a name! It's kind of comforting.

Couch Potato Au Gratin

Is that what we call it when the whole bunch of us are feeling low and couch-bound?

Love is Everywhere

We just have to open our eyes...and remember to open our hearts. I thought about that early this morning on my woods walk with Daisy and Fitz.

Even when we seem to be alone we're surrounded by love and loving people. We just need to remember.

Late Night on a Full Moon

Wearin of the Green

TJ would be horrified to know I snapped this photo. It was so cute to see our boy walking up the driveway in his J.Crew kelly green chino pants on
St, Patrick's Day.
 Cool as this kid is, he still thought to take the green balloon off of the mailbox and attach to his head by using the clip to attach the balloon string to his hair. Why? Because it was there. Boys are boys forever! I love the way they think. Not that I understand it...I just love them.

Guess Who

I'll just give you a hint. Fitzy's breath is minty fresh. I say no more.

Driving Miss Daisy

Off on our own. Quality time for Daisy and I. One errand and we'd be off to the beach. No leash hassles as we have with Fitz.
I imagined Daisy was as thrilled as I was .......
That's when my cell phone rang. Guess who? One guess.

Fitz For A Day

A friend was loving Daisy and Fitz. The dogs were out and about with me. We bumped into a friend. She said she wished she could take one home. She's in love with our dogs. They love her. My friend was missing her big old black lab. Kidding, I asked if she wanted to take Fitz for the day. Rental pup?

Yes! And Fitz was in the car, sniffing and licking up crumbs from Starbucks.

Ann said she would put her convertible top down for Fitz.
NO. She'll probably jump out.

Why are you tying her leash to the headrest?
You'll see.

Oh. She can sit in the front.
Not a good idea. She will want to sit on your lap.

I asked Ann how well her little dog would feel about Fitz.
Great she said.

I waved goodbye. I was sad to see Fitz so eager to go off with someone else. Sweet puppy had already lives with 3 families in her first year. We tease that we could give her to an unsuspecting person...who falls in love with her Teddy bear face and big brown eyes. Kind of like the bait and switch we experienced.

I skipped alongside Daisy back to the car!

Road Trip Fitz

Lucky Charms

Lucky? Charm? Go figure.

Fitz ate these too. Yes....I left these in the car too. To hide them until breakfast.... for St.Patrick's Day. Junk food cereal. You bet. Just for today..for fun. Fitz apparently didn't know the date!

Dum.Dums.

Fitz? Me? Daisy?

Fitz ate the whole bag of Dum Dum Lollipops.
I left the lollipops in the car.
I bought them for St. Patrick's Day...to put green lollipops in the kids' lunches.
I left Fitz in the back of the car.
Mistake.
Daisy missed out because of her good manners.

Top o' The Mornin' to Ye!

St. Patrick's Day and Murphy's Law!

Not Kidding. 

Biff is not home today. He had to go out of town for the night. He won't be home 'til much later.Whenever Biff is out of town, one of our kitties brings home a present to let me know he is the hunter, gatherer and great protector. I'm not making this up. It's been happening for years.Our kitties and doggies are very protective. The fish, not so much. 

Today, the kitty found a mouse. Usually, it's at the back door. This is enough to send me screaming out the front door. It's not only the mouse, mole or whatever.....it's the fact that once I take the dogs out, they will want to retrieve. Which creates a stream of events and shrieking throughout the day! 

This morning...before 6:30a.m., I heard T.J. He said, "Mom...the cat has a mouse." Oh, again. He always does this when Dad's out. Where is it?

"That's the problem," he said in a rather calm voice. Huh? SHRIEK! The kitty had it in his mouth...IN the house!!!!!!

Chaos and squealing occurred. T.J. was more shocked by me than the mouse in the house issue. We both paused a moment to laugh at....well, me. Then we were off. To chase the cat. Who had the mouse. In the house. Daisy was on the go with us. We had all kinds of trapping devices......

All before taking T.J. out the door to school! WAKE UP!

Always, we take the good with the bad. Sadly, Grace has a fever today. A bad cough. She is in a deep, deep sleep. Thankfully. To get better, I think sleep is good.  Today, I'm sorry she is not feeling well. Today, I was delighted to have her tucked away in bed. I think it may have been just a bit more chaotic. Perhaps, more shrieking. I hink she may have threatened to move.

Rain,Rain

Don't go away! I can use a day or two like this. It's a beautiful day to get work done at home. Not the kitchen floor...I've finally caught on after years with lots of paws with animals in the house.

Even if I wash the kitchen floor on a sunny day....dogs find puddles!

Lazy Days. Cozy Days.

All Together Now

Here we are. One big happy family. In the smallest room in the house, The bathroom. I kid you not.

Biff has just gone off to work and the kids are at school. Quiet. Peace. You think. My family thinks. "What do you do all day?" they ask me.

Me? Alone? I'm in the bathroom. Daisy, Fitz and Boo have joined me. No one believes me when I tell them that I have no privacy....even when I'm home alone. Yes, this my life.

Even Boo!

Some Irish Jokes that tickled me.

 Kathy O', Joe O' and Agnes O'...
Hope you'll share them with friends or family on St. Patrick's Day!
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Finnegan: My wife has a terrible habit of staying up 'til two o'clock in the morning. I can't break her of it. Keenan: What on earth is she doin' at that time? Finnegan: Waitin' for me to come home

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 Slaney phoned the maternity ward at the hospital. "Quick!" He said. "Send an ambulance, my wife is goin' to have a baby!" "Tell me, is this her first baby?" the intern asked. "No, this is her husband, Kevin, speakin'."


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Three little boys were concerned because they couldn't get anyone to play with them....they decided it was because they had not been baptized and didn't go to Sunday School.
So they went to the nearest church. Only the custodian was there. One said, "We need to be baptized because no one will come out and play with us. Will you baptize us?"
So he took them into the bathroom and dunked their heads in the toilet bowl one at a time. He said, "Now go out and play."
When they got outside, dripping wet, the oldest one asked, "What religion do you think we are? We're not Katlick, because they pour the water." " We're not Babdist because they dunk all of you." "We're not Methdiss because they just sprinkle you." The littlest one said, "Can't you tell by the smell of that baptismal water what we are?.......Why, we're Pisscopalians."

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"Tell me, Patrick, how did you manage to get so very drunk last night?" asked the parish priest.
"Well you see, Father, it was like this. I got into very bad company after winning a bottle of whiskey at a raffle."
"But you were with Mick Mulligan, Sean O'Toole, and Peter Ryan and they don't drink."
"Dat's what I mean, Father..."

After The Grocery Store,...this made me laugh

Grace's Final Project for International Foods Class

I may not be the teacher, but I'll give Grace an A+++! 

Awesome! Delicious! Pretty! Rich!

Chocolate Box w/ Berries & Cream

6 1 2 4 1-1/2 1/3 2 1 2 2

1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate tbsp. shortening 3 oz. packages cream cheese, softened tbsp. butter (1/2 stick), softened (do not use margarine) c. powdered sugar c. unsweetened cocoa tbsp. milk tsp. vanilla c. heavy or whipping cream pints strawberries (or any other fresh berries) Mint Leaves for garnish (optional)

Line 8-inch square pan with foil; press out wrinkles so chocolate box will come off foil smoothly. In heavy 1-quart saucepan over low heat, heat semisweet chocolate and shortening, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Pour melted chocolate mixture into foil-lined pan and swirl around sides and bottom, keeping edges as even as possible. Refrigerate 1 minute, then swirl chocolate mixture around inside of pan a second time, to reinforce sides of chocolate box. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare filling. In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.
In a small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat 1-1/2 cups of heavy or whipping cream until stiff peaks form. With rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.
Carefully remove foil-lined chocolate box from pan, then gently peel foil from sides and bottom. Place chocolate box on platter. Spread cream cheese filling evenly in chocolate box. Refrigerate until filling is well chilled and firm, about 2 hours.
In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat remaining 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Spoon into decorating bag with large rosette tip. Pipe cream in a 1-inch wide border on filling around edge of chocolate box. Cut larger strawberries in half and arrange over entire top of cream cheese filling. (Garnish with mint leaves optional).
Yield: 8 servings

Today, I had the pleasure of stopping by my favorite farm, Ashlawn Farm in Old Lyme, Ct. As I drove away with a fresh Farm Blend Coffee and.....a danish.....I really do my best to steer clear of those goodies but, today the danish seemed to call my name! Woohoo!  There was achorus calling to me because today Susan offered me a choice of scones, biscotti, danish or even cookies.

As I balanced my coffee cup on the railing of the deck, I stood a moment and found myself daydreamingof Ireland. I remembered being in Clare the morning after we arrived. My family and I.....the summer I turned 14. The colors and softness of the greens, the blues in the sky, even the light clouds with the sun working hard to push through.

It's St. Patrick's Day this week. I get those warm fuzzy family feelings at St. Patrick's Day. We have lots of St. Patrick's Day memories together. I had a few minutes with my hot coffee outside in the haze...and random sweet thoughts.

Growing up Irish.
Family Traditions.
Family Lore.
Family Stories.
Family Connections.
Family Memories.
Silly Irish Sayings
Singing Around The Piano
Silly Irish Superstitions

Random thoughts filled my head just because of this charming place. It's a special place. I stop in for coffee. I have no expectations except a fresh, hot cup of coffee and a friendly hello. I'm surprised time and again as I leave with my coffee..... consistently at the farm I find warm welcomes, kind words, interesting folks with fresh conversation or current events.. I never know who'll be there when I open the door after passing by the horses and goats. It's a like walking into another world where everyone just stops....for awhile. What a delightful way to stop and look at the world with a different perspective.

Finale!

"The Bachelor".....Finally Monday nights can go back to normal. Brad chose Emily. Tears and sobs for Chantal...she fell in love with Brad, he didn't feel the love. I was shocked at his choice. I was sure it was Chantal. There. always seems to be a twist...kind of like real life.

This show has been crazy to watch. Ups, downs, whackos, sincere sweethearts and real people on a "reality TV show." Still, I've watched!.Some friends have watched along with me. We laugh

Jason & Molly
Ryan & Trista
Roberto & Allie
Brad & Emily????

Still in question... Brad & Emily. Isn't it funny that so many doubts and adjustments since the show ended months before airing tonight.

Isn't this the reality? Dealing with life in the real "real" world working things out, working toward compromise, dealing with personalities, logistics, work, bad hair days and all.

How can it be considered "reality" when their love blossoms on exotic islands, jungle habitat, fine foods and housekeepers, evening gowns and sparkling jewels?

I knew I loved Biff on one of our first dates.  He changed a tire for a couple when we realized they were totally inept. Love bursts in on the scene or taps us gently on the shoulder in the wildest ways....seeing and feeling the little things about someone. Not necessarily while all is flowing smoothly. That's the easy part.

Its the big and little challenges, the knowledge and security that my Biff will tell me when I have tomato sauce on my chin or lipstick on my teeth. That's reality and true love for me!

Yes!

Spring. Little hints appear. Sunshine or not, 44 degrees at 4 in the afternoon? I'll take it! Longer daylight hours? I'll take it! Kids outside playing spring season sports? I'll take it!

Yes! I'll take it all! Once again, I ham reminded that change is good. To everything turn, turn, turn...there is a time and a purpose untouched heaven! Amen! Woohoo! Hallelujah! Hooray! Yay! Yes!