Baby Shower Weekend

What a weekend! Jammed packed with excitement. Here's a few pictures that captured the essence; but it's just a few. Still to come - the 3D sonogram that was attended by the whole gang(almost!)


The night before the shower, the whole family celebrated at a special dinner. It was really terrific to have everyone together.














Just a nice shot of the mom and dad to be.





















Great Grandma Annie, G-ma and Uncle Joey to be.











G-ma with Grandpa Herbie to be.

















Mom, Dad, Great Grandpa Sal and Great Grandma Rose to be.




















Oh how sweet, Justin's blanket, when he was born........














Daddy says she's going to be a Jets fan; but Grandpa Herbie is pushing the Baltimore Ravens already!!












Aunt Jani and Uncle Kenny come through with the Hello Kitty crib set!!



















Pass the hat around, starting with Uncle Joey.



















Don't worry Prada, Grandma still loves you!













Me and my boys.











This is the special poem I wrote and read for the occasion:

I hope you're ready
for the laughter and the tears
the hopes and the fears
the days, the months, the years
of commitment

I hope you're ready
for the nights you'll get no sleep
and the times you'll want to weep
and the memories that you'll keep
forever

I hope you're ready
for the 2 a.m. feedings
and the nursery rhyme readings
and the feeling of succeeding
which I know you'll achieve

I hope you're ready
for her hand around your finger
bedtime stories that will linger
becoming the world's best singer
all for her

I hope you're ready
for the scraping of her knees
and a playhouse in the trees
her begging please please please
can I have it?

I hope you're ready
for what is an additional
and yet a bit traditional
love that's unconditional
it's true

I hope you're ready
to have the drive and maturity
to teach goodness and purity
to be her strength and security
always

I hope you're ready
to give from your heart
right from the start
and promise never to part
ever

I hope you're ready
for the bliss and the pleasure
and that you will adore and treasure
this love you cannot measure
at all

I hope you're ready
for the pride which will bestow
for the joy you'll come to know
for your endless euphoric plateau
completely

I hope you're ready...
for the love of your life.

Follow up to "All Gone"

Two weeks ago I wrote about how the magnets on my car were stolen. Well, I suppose that most people simply would have gone to the dollar store and purchased new ones. I'm not most people. Oh, I went to the store, alright, but it wasn't the dollar store. As a matter of fact, I bought a new car:




At first, I wasn't all that crazy about it. Well, not that I wasn't crazy about it, just that I didn't really want to buy a new car. I loved my 9 year old car just as much as I did the day I bought it. It was the very first brand new car I ever bought completely on my own. It was a five speed. Although I knew how to drive it when I first bought it, I really mastered the technique afterwards. It was the car that I helped my son, Joey, move to college in. It was the car that I "attempted" to teach my son, Justin, how to drive a stick in. It was the car that if you breathe really deeply, you can still smell the garlic from the pizzas that Joey used to deliver in, it was the car that brought me back and forth to Pennsylvania. It was the car that gave birth to the license plates "HEYLAW." And, last but not least, it was the car that I PAID OFF 4 YEARS AGO!!!

But alas, it needed some work and it didn't seem right to sink money into a 9 year old car with nearly 84,000 miles. So, "HEYLAW II" has arrived. The only reason I gave in and purchased an automatic, is because I really wanted a remote start.



















I have learned my lesson from the theft of the magnets; however. I have palm tree pouches inside the door and little sticks with palm trees in the vents (click the pictures to enlarge).





































I have a flip flop hanging from the rear view mirror.





















And the only outside decorations are the fantastic palm tree license plate frames. So, if anyone wants my stuff, they will have to use a screwdriver to remove it.



















I have to admit that the radio (complete with XM and an IPOD hook up) is much better than my old car radio. I kind of even like the fact that there are no coffee stains on the seats. Although I really wanted the dark gray color again, the silver is growing on me. This week they put the spoiler on. Yea - it's growing on me!!

The Grandma Glow

It's official. I have the grandma glow. Someone stopped me in the hallway at work the other day and started asking questions about my son and daughter in law and how she is feeling and how is the baby, etc. I answered all the questions and as I was walking back to my office I realized that I was grinning from ear to ear. Couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Not only am I excited about becoming a grandma, but I'm excited that the kids are becoming parents, my older son will be an uncle, my husband will be a step grandpa (LOL), my mom will be a great grandma, well, I think I've made my point. Then, today, in my email were these treasures.....







It has been decided that she has Vanessa's round cheeks, Justin's chin, and the jury is still out on the eyes!!














She definitely has an over dramatic personality (thus the hand on the head) which I believe comes from both mom and dad!!












Look closely, she is sticking out her little tongue!!!

Forget the Joba rules - Jeter rules now

It took 72 years. That's how long Lou Gehrig held the Yankee record for the most career hits. Tonight Derek Jeter tied his record, and probably by this time Friday will break it. Yankee fan or not, you have to admire this guy's talent. Not to mention the fact that he's a good, clean, talented player. Refreshing. A real mensch. His parents must be so very proud. I feel honored to have cheered him on for the past 13 years. I guess my pictures of him will increase in value now! Question for you sports memorabilia folks - does this mean my pictures of Lou Gehrig decrease in value?????

Bide A Wee goes to Main Street

Back in March when we attended the volunteer training orientation at Bide A Wee, it was mentioned that the volunteers sometimes get to bring the dogs to Main Street in Westhampton Beach donned with an "Adopt me" vest and parade them up and down the street. That was what sealed the deal for me. I knew this was something I wanted to do and finally, last Thursday I got my chance.

Unfortunately, I did not bring a camera. Actually, fortunately I did not bring a camera - as the dog I had was definitely a handful (both hands to be exact!). Phoenix is her name. She is a 6 month old pit bull mix. She is absolutely beautiful - all gray and white, with the face of an angel - really. Most people become quite squeamish when they hear "pit bull." For this reason, we told all our inquirers (and there were many) that she was a terrier mix. We fooled the naive, but not those in the know!

I'm embarrassed to admit that although I've lived on Long Island since I'm 7 years old, I am not all that familiar with Westhampton Beach. What a treat it was. Main Street is just filled with quaint little shops and restaurants, most of which have seating outside. Most dining patrons were eager to see us walking with Phoenix and they stopped eating to pet her and talk with us. Most of the proprietors have water dishes outside their shops for the dogs to stop and get a quick drink. Some entrepreneurs actually invited us into their shops (with Phoenix)!

It was an amazing experience. I loved talking with people and hearing their stories. Phoenix, on the other hand, was much more interested in all the plant life that decorates both sides of the street. It took all the strength I had to keep her attention on walking. I also discovered that she does not like other dogs very much. People - no problem, dogs, not so much. Still it was awesome. I hope that we find a home for her from all the contact information we gathered for the main office.

Random thoughts from people 25-35 years old

This was in my email and originally had 53 lines to it. I've edited out many of them, but these, in my humble opinion, were pretty funny (especially #'s 3, 10, 11, 13, 15, and 33)


2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my
own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong. (Note: I thought I was wrong once, but I was wrong!)

7. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

9. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix
the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to
fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just
figured it out. ( (Note: I remember when MY kids did this, not when I did it!!)

10. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.

11. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.


13. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

14. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. - (Note: LOL - Justin and Vanessa!!!!!!)

15. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.

19. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and
hunger.

20. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.

22. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

26. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.

33. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive
for the rest of the day. (Note: Sometimes it's a few short moments after I arrive!)

35. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

36. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did
not make any changes to.

37. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

45. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.

53. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone
at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then
estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a
large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like
being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.