This Is My Life And Welcome to It

Happy Wednesday!!

2011-02-16T13:18:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I did.

Did you know that Levar Burton, Ice-T, James Ingram, William Katt, John McEnroe, & Andy Taylor are all celebrating a birthday today? Happy Birthday, guys.

The first time I saw Levar Burton on TV was the mini-series "Roots." Instead of showing "The Wizard Of Oz" & "Gone With The Wind" every year(Ok, I know they are classic movies, but they are animated balls of bluff compared to "Roots.") In my opinion, "Roots" should be shown on TV every year. When I was in grammar school, we had to watch it on TV for two nights, and be prepared to discuss it in class the next day. What a great mini series it was. If you remember seeing it, you know what I mean. Up until then, there hadn't been anything else quite like it on TV. If you've never seen it, this is a MUST SEE.

Ice-T is an actor & singer who has been in the business since 1982. I am not a big fan of the rap music that's out there now;I remember when rap was good, i.e. The Sugarhill Gang, Salt & Pepa, etc. All of the rap singers now all sound the same. His real name is Tracy Marrow(I can see why he goes by Ice-T, Tracy Marrow doesn't sound very professional). I hope he stays out of trouble, because if you recall, he was arrested last summer for driving with a valid license.

James Ingram is such a talented singer. The first time I heard him was the radio via the Quincy Jones song "One Hundred Ways." He won a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal in 1981 for that song(and deservedly so.) He is one of my favorite singers.

Did you know that William Katt was in the Broadway show "Pippin" in 1981, after he was in "Carrie." He is best known for playing a clumsy superhero in "The Greatest American Hero." My favorite version of "Corner Of The Sky" is from Diana Ross' Live At Caesar's Palace. I don't like her per se, but I think she's a great singer.

John McEnroe is one of the best tennis players ever. I read Tatum O'Neal's autiobiography, and if what she said was true, he is not a very nice person. Hopefully, age has matured him. He was married to Tatum O'Neal from 1986-1994. Now, he is married to Patty Smyth, the leader singer of the rock band Scandal. Patty has a hell of a voice, and can clearly blow Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, or Beyonce out of the water. Scandal is one of my favorite groups.

And last, but not least, Andy Taylor. Andy is a former member of two of the best bands ever, in my opinion: Duran Duran & The Power Station. I remember back in the day of being a "Duranie". For those too young to remember what that is, a "Duranie" is a fan of Duran Duran. The group is together even though Andy left. Maybe he will come back to it. One can only hope.

Happy Thursday!!

2011-02-10T23:13:00.002-06:00

Hello all. Now that I have taken the big step in putting my website on the internet, I will definitely be blogging every day. I've had this blog for a long time now, and I felt it was time to share my thoughts, opinions, etc with the world wide web.

I purchased "A Book" by Desi Arnaz last week, and last week, it came in the mail. I have been reading it every chance I get, and I must say, it is very honest, straightforward, and entertaining. I haven't gotten to the meat and potatoes part, i. e. when he and Lucille Ball first met, but I am enjoying it nevertheless. When I finish it, I will let you know what I think of it.

I am a BIG fan of Tony Danza, and he and his son Marc wrote a cookbook in 2008 called "Don't Fill Up On The Antipasto: Tony Danza's Father-Son Cookbook." Me and my hubby looked thru it earlier this week, and it looks pretty good. I can't wait to try out the recipes in it.

That's it for now. Have a good evening.

Happy Weekend

2010-10-23T01:11:00.003-05:00

Fall is here, and although I am a forever Summer type of girl, I must admit, however, reluctantly(and my husband is going to love this), that I'm actually enjoying the cool temps and the brisk breezes. Some of the things that have captivated me so far this month include the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the sight of leaves falling off of trees, and the sight of the tree directly across the street from our house whose leaves have turned a very beautiful shade of yellow. My husband loves Fall and all of the things associated with them. He has told me at least a million times that he prefers Fall over Summer. I disagreed with him up until a few weeks ago.

I am very much looking forward to going to Starbucks and purchasing a Pumpkin Spice Latte this weekend. Last year, I went into my local Starbucks after getting off the train and decided to try one. I love the taste of hot cider & hot chocolate, but this was the first time I tried a hot drink with pumpkin in it, and let me tell you, it is a taste treat. Ever since last year, I have anxiously awaited the arrival of Fall, because I know that soon after, Starbucks will be selling this delicious hot drink in their stores. Am I a yuppie of a WASP for liking Starbucks? No, because I liked Starbucks way before they I bought their Pumpkin Space Latte drink. Yes, their beverage are expensive, but hey, I like to chalk it up as a guilty pleasure. Do yourself a favor and go buy one before they stop selling them. Have a good weekend!

It's A Wednedsay Kind Of Day

2010-10-06T11:55:00.004-05:00

I apologize for the delay in blogging. Monday, I had a doctor's appointment, and I had to go all the way out north to see him since he moved from downtown. It took two trains and a bus (I parked the car at the train station and hopped on a train going downtown)to get to the office, but it's definitely worth the trip. He's been one of my primary doctors since 1998, and I will keep seeing him till he retires!

I arrived downtown at 1:00PM and took a taxi over to the second train station to catch my next train. After I got inside, I went upstairs to purchase a ticket, as my train was departing at 1:30PM. Then, I went downstairs to grab a footlong Seafood Delight sandwich at Subway. Call it habitual stubborness on my part, but I am forever partial to this particular sandwich, and I refuse to eat any of the other sandwiches there. The workers behind the counter were slow as molasses, and I worried that I might not catch the train, but I was wrong. I grabbed my sandwich after paying the cashier, checked the time, and decided that I had time to make a pit stop before boarding the train. I only use the bathrooms on the train if I have to, because they're cramped, nasty, and they smell. After that, I took the escalator back upstairs, and, with five minutes to share, got on my second train.

After the train pulled off, I took my footlong sandwich out of the bag, unwrapped it, and proceeded to chow down. I was only going to be on the train for approximately 20 minutes, 15 minutes at best, so I ate it with zest and relish. It wasn't as good as it should have been, but it didn't make me sick, so I suppose it was suitable for human consuption. Before I knew it, it was time to get off. While walking down the stairs, I had the bad fortune of being behind an old lady who reminded me of a turtle, but hey, it was all good, and I made the bus I needed to get on to go to the doctor's office. After about a 20 minute ride(I was having fun sightseeing), I arrived at my doctor's office.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice the neighborhood was. I've lived where I live now almost my whole life, but this is one area of the city that I've never been in before. I have an old friend who doesn't drive and who is an expert on neighborhoods, so I asked him what the neighborhood was like. He told me it was very nice there, and he was right. Very bright, and very busy, bustling with activity.

After I arrived, I stopped by the cafeteria and picked up a bottle of pop(traveling makes you thirsty). I eyed a big slice of yellow cake that clearly had my name on it, but decided against it.

I called my husband to let him know I arrived safely. Then, after yet another pit stop, I went upstairs to my doctor's office. The waiting room was filled with other people waiting to see their doctors. I signed the check in sheet, picked out a couple of magazines to read, and sat down.

Soon after, I was summoned by on of the front desk staff members to fill out some paperwork since it was my first time coming to the new office. It was like four or five pages, and some of the questions were quite personal in nature, but it was relevant. I fibbed on one particular question, however. I handed it back to her and sat back down.

Then I saw a young couple come in with a newborn, and my heart, like it always does, and plus, me being a female, and a softie at heart, melted like butter in a skillet. We struck up a conversation, and I found out that the baby was 7 weeks old. I mean, this baby was as new as can be. I shared some of my advice, me being an experienced mother. Boy, I did not envy them. Going thru that again: the sleepless nights, the sleep dep, etc. Whew! Our daughter is a little older, and sleeps thru the night with the exception of her getting up for a bottle, but at least she doesn't sleep all day and she's up all night like she was when she was a newborn. Also, if she's sick, or teething, she gets up in the middle too, but for the most part, she knows that daytime is for playing, and nighttime is for sleeping! Thank God!

After the doctor visit, I called my husband to let him know I was on the way home. Then, I hopped the bus and came home.

Tuesday, because our daughter was up due to her teething, I didn't get that much sleep, and as a result, I woke up with a killer headache. At 6:00AM, no less. After a diaper change and some children's ibuprofen, we both went back to sleep. I woke up around 10:00AM, still feeling like crap because of the headache, so I took some aspirin, and I woke her up at 11:00AM. The headache went away for a while, but later on, it returned. I didn't feel like doing much of anything, so that's why I didn't blog yesterday.

Hopefully, with the length of today's blog, I made up for it, and I am happy to report that due to my husband's help, and some more aspirin with dinner like last, I am headache free. Last night, when I heard our daughter gritting her teeth, I gave her a tsp of children's ibuprofen before bed. That and a bottle, and we both slept like babies!

Talk soon!

Bits and Pieces

2010-09-28T23:42:00.002-05:00

Jimmy Carter, our 39th president of these United States, was hospitalized today. He was on his way to a book signing when he got sick on the plane he was flying on. As of this writing, he is resting comfortably in a Cleveland hopsital, and I'm glad to hear that. He, in my opinion, was one of our best presidents. He will be released from the hospital later on today and guess what? He's off to another book signing! Good for him-he's not letting a silly upset stomach slow his roll. Awesome.

I remember liking him a lot when I was a kid. Nixon, not so much, because I remember being really pissed off when the Watergate hearings were on and that meant whatever shows I wanted to watch, they weren't coming on at that time. And along with that, as I got older, and found out just what a swingin' Commander in Chief he was, it was thumbs down all the way. Ford, I liked him because he seemed like a very laid back kind of president. Reagan seemed too waspy, the first president Bush and the second president Bush(terrible, and don't even get me started on Bush Jr.). I am very glad that we have an African American president. I didn't there that would ever be one in my lifetime, and when our sons and daughters who are babies and toddlers now attend grammar and high schools, they will be reading about him in their history books. President Obama has done a lot since he's been in office, he has a lot more work to do before he leaves the White House(and if he runs for re-election, I'll be first in line to vote for him again), but he is a very good president. Not as uptight and anal as some of the other presidents of the past.

Last night, we watched "Easy Rider" on DVD. Then, we had a delicious spaghetti dinner with meatballs & breadsticks. It was delicious! My husband is such a good cook. I will be making beef stew this week, and the appetizers will be stuffed mushrooms with smoked turkey bacon. I have made beef stew before, but these particular appetizers will be a culinarfy test indeed. They sound quite exotic, don't they? I'll let you know how everything turned out! Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Happy Monday

2010-09-27T00:29:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the delay in writing this blog. I promised to blog daily, but I got busy.

Last night, while enjoying a delicious steak and all of the fixins dinner, my husband and I watching "Mr. Saturday Night" from 1992. This is one of Billy Crystal's best movies, and one of the best movies of the 1990's, in my opinion. They don't make movies like that anymore. It's the story of a comic, played by Billy Crystal, and the ups and downs he experiences being in show business. He has a wonderful marriage to his wife, played beautifully by Julie Warner, strained relationships with his brother, and his daughter, played excellently by David Paymer, & Mary Mara, respectively, and a very rocky business relationship(that improves over the course of the movie) with his agent, played wonderfully by Helen Hunt. If you've ever seen the movie, you'll admit that this movie is pure cinema magic. If you haven't seen this movie, believe me, you owe it to yourself to see it. I've seen this movie well over twenty times, and before I die, I'll probably see it another hundred :) I won't give the ending away, but it is definitely warm, wonderful, and touching.

It's late, so I'm going to wrap this up. Have a great Monday!!

I'm Back!

2010-09-25T20:14:00.003-05:00

Hi, everyone. I'm sorry for the extended abscence in writing this blog. I guess you can call it a summer hiatus. I had a very good summer, and a lot of things happened, some good, and some bad. I won't share the bad things. I will, however, focus on a few good things that happened this summer: my husband and I celebrated another birthday on Aug 4th. We celebrated four years of blissful togetherness Aug14th. And it just keeps getting better and better.

Now that fall is upon us, I am looking forward to the upcoming holidays: Halloween(I may buy some candy to nibble on-just don't tell my husband), Thanksgiving, and Xmas. As I type this, I am already going over my Xmas shopping list in my mind. I love shopping, and besides my husband, shopping is also a weakness of mine.

That's all for now. I promise to blog every day from now on-or else :)

Happy Wednesday

2010-06-16T21:35:00.003-05:00

I am pleased to announce that the rest of our items that we ordered on Amazon over the weekend have finally arrived. The first thing to arrive was Season 2 of "Mad About You," with Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt. Then, a Les Paul & Mary Ford CD that I bought back in the day(and, much to my dismay, is currently out of print). Then, Season 1 of the above TV show. And now, one of the best books ever written, "Moe Howard & The Three Stooges" by Moe Howard and one of the funniest movies ever made, "Where's Poppa," with George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Trish Van Devere.

No, don't even bother asking me about the Moe Howard book or about "Where's Poppa". I'm not a spoiler, but one thing I will say is this: you will not be disappointed in the least if you decide to purchase one or both of these items. We love Amazon(they've been very, very good to us), and we intend to give the senders who sent us the stuff a very high rating. We will be ordering more stuff soon-yay!!

Tonight, my hubby's making dinner. I told him I'd make him anything he wanted on Father's Day(I only have 20 million recipe books-lol). I want to try something I've never cooked before...I'll keep you posted. I think I have time to decide :)

Happy Saturday

2010-06-12T17:59:00.003-05:00

As I blog, I am listening to one of my favorite rock and roll duos on Myspace.com: Les Paul and Mary Ford. I am listening to one of my favorite CD's-"Les Paul and Mary Ford's 16 Most Requested Songs."

My love affair with their music began years ago, when I lived on the West Coast in the early 90's. I heard one of their songs on one of the moldy oldies radio stations, and I was like "Who is that???"A few years later, I purchased this particular CD and fell in love with it. I have heard only a handful of their songs, but before I die, I want to hear all of them. This CD comes with the Jules stamp of approval-if you like oldies like I do, you owe it to yourself to buy it. It's out of print, but a little birdie told me you can pick it up on Amazon.com.

Ok, so I went to a couple of garage sales yesterday. Yes, as hot as it was, I tortured myself, walking a total of 12 blocks, six going there and six coming back, sweating like a pig. To make matters worse, I got caught in the rain too. That, my friends, was definitely the thrill of my whole day, besides racking up the bargains. At one point, it was raining so hard, I couldn't see.

I picked up some recipe books(as if I don't have enough already-lol), a really cute big, black purse that was originally priced at $8.00(I haggled the cost down to $4.00-I was really happy about that!), some books for our daughter, a cassette tape of "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison(my husband insisted I purchase it for him, and at .50 cents, that was quite an offer that I couldn't refuse), "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo on paperback(that was $1.00, and my husband wanted that too), and some other miscellaneous items. I love garage sales!

Tonight, my husband is making dinner and he's also off work tomorrow-a double pleasure. We're just having a quiet, peaceful day at home....which is what we both like :)

Just Another Tuesday At The Mansion

2010-06-08T18:10:00.002-05:00

I tried to go on this site to update my blog, but Sunday night, blogger.com was down for maintenance. That totally sucked, because with a 26 month old who takes up 99% of my time, I don't have that much time to myself. I relish all of my downtime.

Last night was a really good family night. I made dinner for us(Alysse is on her Gerber Graduates, so she did not get to enjoy the culinary delight I prepared for us), we watched a little TV, and then my husband went to bed because he gets up very early to go to work. After a while, I gave Alysse a bottle of milk and lo and behold, by 2:00AM, she was sound asleep. Ah, the wonders of warm milk. I watched an episode of Cheaters(I am addicted to trash TV, and because of the adult theme, I can't watch it during the day when Alysse is up, although it is shown twice during the day-Sprout is the only channel she watches).

I am re-reading this very good book called "Call Her Miss Ross" by J. Randy Taraborelli. Way back in the day, when I lived on the West Coast, I went to the library and checked it out. Talk about a book you can't put down. Very, very entertaining to say the least. This is the unauthorized biography that tells the story of Diana Ross. I'm not going to be a spoiler and tell you a lot about it, but it is quite the book. Look for it at the library, or at a used bookstore($5.08 is what I paid for mine, and it was in ok condition when I bought it). I am friends with Mr. Taraborelli on one of the social networking sites, too.

That's all for now. Talk soon :)

Happy weekend

2010-06-05T21:12:00.002-05:00

I didn't get a chance to write anything last night because I had a headache that just would not go away. Don't you hate those? Thank God my dear husband went to the local 7-11 and purchased some Advil. That stuff works!

Today, I had a peaceful day at home. At 3:30PM, our daughter fell asleep, so, smart mother that I am, I napped too. I set the clock for 4:00PM. I didn't want to get out of bed, so I set it for 5:00PM. That way, we'd only nap for an hour or or so, and she'd still go to sleep at a decent hour tonight. The nap was great!

We got up and ate dinner, since there was no use in feeding her lunch.

I didn't get a chance to go to the garage sales in my area, but I'm gonna try my best to go tomorrow. My husband says by then, all of the good stuff will be gone. We'll see. Remember, I am an eternal optimist :)

Looking Forward To Friday

2010-06-03T19:38:00.002-05:00

I've had a wonderful, peaceful day today. My dear husband let me sleep late, so when I woke up, our daughter had already been fed breakfast, and he was vacuuming the living room. He even made me a nice hot pot of coffee. Well, actually, it was half caff, which is not as potent as coffee, but that's ok. I have to have coffee every day.

I watched some TV, ate lunch, did some work on the computer, and then I went out to take care of business. What a beautiful day it was outside. I stopped off at the local convenience store to pick up a few things and to play the lottery. My husband thinks we'll never win, but me, I'm an eternal optimist(with a little wishful thinking tossed in for good measure). They were out of the almond crossiants that my husband and I both adore, but there was a big cheese danish that had my name on it. After careful consideration, however, I decided to pass it up, and I purchased a bag of Sun Chips instead.

I came home, gave our daughter a bottle, and read the paper. There are two garage sales in the area tomorrow(I am a big fan of them), and I can't wait to go to them tomorrow. I've picked up quite a few nice things there.

My husband hung out with his friend, so it was just me and our daughter for a little while. She took a nap, so for almost two hours, I was able to enjoy the peace and quiet, which, for parents, is always a treat.

Now, my husband is making dinner for us, and the air conditioner is humming merrily along. I am grateful for all that I have with my family. Other folks aren't so fortunate :) I'll fill you in tomorrow and let you know what bargains I found at the garage sales.

Happy June!

2010-06-02T20:28:00.002-05:00

June is here! I'm so happy. We had a cold winter, and although it's still Spring, it's been very hot. I'm a Summer type of girl myself. I have never liked cold weather. I don't like the ice, the sleet, the slush, none of that. Give me sunshine, warm weather, and the ice cream.

Speaking of which, twice within in the past month, I have seen the ice cream man while I was out and about in my travels. Boy, the price of popsicles have gone up since the 1970's and the 1980's. Gone are the days of .50 and $1.00 ice cream treats. Now, it's $2.00 ice cream treats and $3.00 shakes. Talk about sticker shock! I broke down and bought a strawberry shake....for $3.00. Yes, you read correctly. Back in my day, that would have paid for my ice cream and about four or five of my closest playmates. Ah, the good old days.

By the way, the strawberry shake was sweet, maybe a little too sweet for my taste, but it was good :)

Hello all

2010-03-23T15:18:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I have not updated this in so long. Happy Spring to all of my friends. This year has definitely been one of highs, lows and all of that stuff in between. I like the highs better, of course.

Our daughter will be 2 years old next month. Now, I feel really old. She is walking and getting into everything. That's par for the course.

My wedding anniversary is next month-two years married to one of the most wonderful, beautiful, and sexiest men in the world. What God put together, let no man break up.

Good things are happening to me this week-don't want to say anything here, I might jinx it, but I will definitely keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here are two sites that I am a member of. You can make extra money filling out surveys, etc. Please check them out, please.

Cashcrate

http://www.cashcrate.com/461094

The second one is opinionow.com. I just checked it out and found out I have one new referral-cool!

Opinionnow.com

http://www.myopinionnow.com/joinus.aspx?ref=2102134A333AA

I will add more sites every day.

Gotta jet,
JA

Since I posted on this blog last....

2009-09-21T20:49:00.002-05:00

Patrick Swayze has passed away. I was hoping he would beat his illness, but a good way to look at it is this: God missed him, and wanted him home so he wouldn't be in any more pain. I remember when my husband and I saw him on "The Barbara Walters Special" with his lovely wife, Lisa. My heart goes out to her. One of the hardest things anyone can go through is the death of your spouse. Another hard thing to go through is a divorce. Been thru the divorce thing already(which truly sucks big time, if you get my drift). If I lost my husband, I would be absolutely beside myself, and that, my friends, is an understatement. Rest in Peace, Patrick.

I have only seen three of Patrick's movies: "The Outsiders"(5 stars), "Roadhouse"(5 stars), and "Dirty Dancing"(5 stars). Which one did I like the best? The answer is easy: "Roadhouse". Why? The answer is easy to that as well: Sam Elliott and Patrick Swayze looked TOO HOT. Macho Tough Guys Meet Mean Guys, and The Macho Tough Guys Win. :) Just ask my husband, I love happy endings.

Mary Travers Of Peter, Paul & Mary passed away last week, as well as Henry Gibson, who was a very fine actor. Mary's death was a shock, and my favorite song is "If I Had A Hammer". Now, mind you, at the risk of sounding like a nerd, Trini Lopez's version was good too, but PP&M's version rules.

Henry Gibson played a Nazi in "The Blues Brothers", which is another movie favorite of mine. I had to remind my husband that he was on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" too, so Henry had been in the acting business for a very long time. Rest in peace, Henry and Mary.

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall. Am I happy about it? Not really. I hate Fall and Winter. I'm a Summer type of chick. I'll probably feel more welcoming to the weather change when the leaves start changing from green to all of those pretty colors. And I must admit, I do like the way things look when there is new snow on the ground. It looks very pretty.

That's all for now. Have a great night. JA

Happy Thursday

2009-09-10T22:22:00.002-05:00

Is it just me, or is this week flying by? Well, it was Labor Day on Monday, and I guess that would make a difference. Tomorrow is Friday already!

What is this I hear about Ellen DeGeneres replacing Paula Abdul on "AI"? I don't watch the show, as a matter of fact, I have only seen maybe an episode or two since its conception. I used to be a big fan of Paula's, but as of late, not anymore. I am definitely not a fan of Ellen's for various reasons, but the main reason I don't like her is this: she's not funny. Not even a little funny. As a matter of fact, my little finger on my right hand is funnier than she is. She has zero experience in the music field. I am hopping mad at this. No one is going to watch that show now. Mark my words, the ratings are going to plummet. She is such a no talent.

I haven't made dinner this week like I have wanted to. I wanted to make Noodles With Bleu Cheese yesterday, but Adam was sick, and when he gets sick, he wants to eat chicken noodle soup. That's his comfort food. After a brief discussion, a phone call was made, and within a half an hour, I was dining on Julienne Salad and Tomato Rosamarina Soup, he was dining on Chicken With Rice Soup and a BLT with fries. And it was very good indeed.

Today, I got up with our daughter at 9:30AM. My husband was already at work. I went about the day taking care of her, checking emails, etc. In the back of my mind, I was thinking "Tonight is the night. I am making Noodles With Bleu Cheese tonight". Guess what happens? You guessed it, take out again. This time, it was lasagna from one of the local pizza places the next town or so over. And that was good too! I couldn't finish all of my dinner, and neither could Adam.

I wasn't feeling well earlier, so Adam, being the good husband that he is, let me take a nap while he watched baby girl. He even put one of the seasons of "The Golden Girls"(which I ADORE) in the DVD player for me to watch until I fell asleep. It took a while for me to fall asleep, but I did. I slept for about two hours, and when I woke up, I felt 100% better. I walked into the living room, and Adam and baby girl were both knocked out on the couch asleep. I went to bed at around 4 or 5 PM. Now it's 6:15PM. Our daughter will be up for awhile, and so will I. I am ready to do the night shift. :)

Everyone have a good night. JA

The Labor Day Blog

2009-09-07T21:46:00.002-05:00

Hi. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. I was awakened by my husband at 9:00AM this morning. He reminded me that I had to pick out a recipe from one of my recipe books to make for dinner one day this week(no, I haven't counted them yet, but there are quite a lot of them), so, sleepily, I dragged myself out of my nice, warm bed into the kitchen and opened up the kitchen cabinet. I went thru two cookbooks until I settled on a recipe for Noodles with Bleu Cheese from The Frugal Gourmet cookbook by Jeff Smith. I gave him the list of ingredients I needed to prepare this culinary delight(he was going grocery shopping today), and without any further ado, I went back to sleep. Our daughter was still sleeping, so I figured I'd try to catch some more zzz's myself.

The next thing I knew, it was 1PM. Again, I was awakened by my husband. What the hell? I had been asleep off & on over ten hours! Our daughter was still sleeping too. Time to definitely get up. I had missed my morning coffee, "Maury", & "Family Court With Judge Penny". You know I was beyond pissed, but my husband, bless his heart, had decided to let me sleep. I stayed up last night till about midnight or one o'clock.

We had some homemade Boboli pizza for lunch(delicious), we spent time playing with our daughter, and then he took a nap. I thought she wasn't going to nap since she had gotten up so late. Was I wrong! She took an hour nap after playing with her toys. I talked to my mother about some things going on tomorrow, and after I got off the phone, she got up.

Tomorrow, we're off to the dentist, and then, I have the rest of the day to myself. It's good to get out sometimes, especially if you are the parent of a toddler. It recharges your batteries, so to speak. My husband is off work tomorrow and Wednesday, so he will be doing toddler duty. He's a great father.

Have a great evening. JA

Pre-Labor Day Blog

2009-09-06T21:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I went over to my brother's house for a cookout. It was great seeing my brother, my sister in law, and my Mom. The food was delicious, the house was packed, and it was wonderful seeing relatives I hadn't seen in years. Our daughter stole the show, of course, as quite a few people were saying how pretty and how well behaved she was. Little did they know that she'd just awakened from an hour nap brought on by 0.8 ml of baby Tylenol. I do believe those two things combined would make any toddler appear well behaved. She's cutting her top and bottom sides of her teeth, and now, I never leave home without it.

After a somewhat busy day, I will be giving baby girl a warm bath followed by dinner. She slept late this morning because of broken sleep during the early morning hours, so hopefully she will be in the land of slumber no later than 1:00AM, perhaps earlier.

Hubby might not have to work tomorrow. I hope not. I am cooking him dinner, and tonight before we go to bed, I will look thru the countless recipe books I have acquired since being married to my husband and figure out what culinary delight I can whip up in my kitchen. I will count them ASAP and let you know how many I have in the house. My first guesstimate is over 10.

Gotta jet. I hope everyone will have a great Labor Day tomorrow. Let's be careful out there! JA

The Holidays Are Just Around The Corner

2008-10-15T16:24:00.002-05:00

Happy Wednesday to all. I'm making dinner tonight-rotini. This is a recipe involving mozzarella cheese, hamburger, spaghetti sauce, etc. that my hubby taught me. Last night I made perogis(some with ground beef, some with cabbage). We ate and ate and ate until we could not eat anymore. That's one of the best feelings in the world-being pleasantly stuffed after dinner.

My hubby is taking a nap, and baby girl is as well. Today has been a good day so far. She had her 6 month immunization shots two days ago, which resulted in a fever that ranged from 100.3 to 100.7. She's doing better now.

Later on, me and hubby will have some "us" time..which is always nice.

JA

Hello to all!

2008-10-12T20:57:00.002-05:00

I am so sorry this is late-and, actually, this is going to be a quick one, because hubby is making dinner and while we are eating, we'll be watching "Jagged Edge" from my hubby's extensive VHS movie collection. We were having an "us" day today-where we were just chilling around the house with our little one watching movies. We watched "Fatal Attraction", which is one of my favorite movies. Then we played Monopoly, and he whipped my ass at that. I love married life-it agrees me and I am very happily married.

What's for dinner? Chicken, stuffing, and green beans, I think. Oh, and the chicken has mushrooms on the side! Yummy!

Gotta eat, hope everyone had a good Sunday and I'll talk to you Monday!

JA

Sorry it's been a while!

2008-10-10T17:23:00.002-05:00

While I have a free moment(and while the roasting pan is soaking in the sink after last night's dinner), I figured I would post a quick blog.

I am puzzled by this week's weather-it's fall, but this weather has been funny lately. I thought it was going to be chilly from now on(that's why I bought my nice fall jacket), but now, I haven't had a chance to wear it because of the weather. I would look pretty stupid wearing a fall jacket in warm weather-somebody might think I'm homeless or something, (which I'm not).

Our daughter turned 6 months this week, and is steadily saying "ma ma ma ma" all the time now. She laughed, cooed, sneezed, burped, etc very well before she hit 6 months...now she's off and running. She'll be driving the car next!

JA

Happy Sunday To All

2008-10-05T19:49:00.002-05:00

Hubby has been sick, so I've spent the last couple of days taking care of him. Before that, I was on a mission-to find the perfect fall coat. The gray hooded sweatshirt hubby wears is nice, but when it's in the 50's, you need to wear something else a little heavier.

So, with this in mind, I went to one of the local stores to find a fall coat that was in my budget. After about 30 minutes, I left with my tail betwen my legs. But then I remembered there was another store I passed by on the way to the first store. Without any further ado, I went a few blocks up, and before I could say "Howdo", there I was. After some relentless searching, I finally found the pefect coat-a nice green coat that was nice and lined for warmth on the inside. Can you say "Thank God"? I did, and after paying for the coat, I realized that power shopping make you hungry. I spotted a popular fast food restaurant that hubby and I frequent on ocassion.

I ordered some things off of the value menu, and the food was excellent.

I came home and both my hubby and mom in law were pleased with the coat.

Tonight, I'm making ribs, with babycakes(little potato pancakes), and peas. I've never had babycakes, so this should be quite the experience.

JA

Slippin' Into Another Tuesday...

2008-09-30T10:55:00.002-05:00

I am so sorry I have not blogged in a few days....I have been really busy.

Me and hubby saw "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today-and there was a really good episode on with the actress Christina Applegate. As you may have heard, this year she came out and told everyone she had breast cancer and had decided to have a double mascetomy, & I applaud her for doing so. If I were in the same situation, I would have done the same thing. Usually, I don't watch the show, but today I'm glad I did. Did you know you can still get breast cancer even if there is no family history in your family for the disease? Incredible. Please, please, please, get a mammogram AND an MRI to be sure you don't have it. And do you know what the cool thing is? Even if you do have it, and you do what you have to do to get better, there is a chance that you will still be alive within 10 years...I think the percentage is 81%. That's a damn good percentage!

Our daughter will be 6 months old on the 7th of this month-hooray-and this weekend, we will be going out to eat and then we'll go bowling. It's been years since I've been bowling. I can't wait!

That's all for now! Talk to you soon-

JA

The Day's Almost Over

2008-09-26T17:03:00.002-05:00

I actually woke up early this morning, before hubby(boy, that's a switch, huh?)and with baby girl in my arms, went on the computer to fart around and to do some early morning email checking. Hubby slept in this morning because he was tired.

I made breakfast and coffee, and watched "Maury"(love that drama, gotta have it every day!)

My mom in law was supposed to come over to see baby girl, but then the plans were changed and now she's coming over on Sunday afternoon. She loves baby girl! :) And why shouldn't she? She's only the cutest baby in the world.

"The Steve Wilkos Show" was good today-today, a young boy got the chance to confront his jerk Dad-if you missed it, you missed a damn good show!

We had lunch, and now hubby's napping. Baby girl is teething, and she cried quite a lot today, but now she's napping as well.

Later on, when hubby gets up, we'll play Monopoly-and whoever loses....:)

JA

Happy Thursday To All

2008-09-25T15:34:00.002-05:00

Well, I woke up with a mission today-call my rep's supervisor and try to get a hold of someone at the office today. When I called this morning, you guessed it-voice mail again. I left a message and said that at this point, this was no joke, and I was coming down there today, so someone had better be there to take care of this situation.

After breakfast with hubby and baby girl, I watched "Maury" and a little bit of "Family Court With Judge Penny". I wanted to curl my hair today after my shower, but, alas, there was no time to do so. I slicked my hair back and put a banana clip in it, and I was out the door.

It takes about an hour to get to this place, and when I got there, I was pleased that I was serviced within 10 mins. That's a switch, because usually around the time I arrived, all of the reps are at lunch.

Guess what? The rep I had almost a year ago took care of me, after informing me that the rep I had been dealing with was no longer there. Wow, I thought. Probably because he kept messing up his cases, and was inept and inefficient. Surprise, surprise.

This woman, the first time I spoke to her, was a dufus as well, but we'll see what happens. I hope she's not reassigned back to me-I don't like her. So now, since my old rep is gone, all of his cases will be assigned to new reps. Oh, joy. I have to call this lady back next week and follow up with what's going on with my case.

I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some pop, and at the counter, the cashier was suggestive selling Sun Chips. If you've never had these chips, get them, they are delicious. I didn't get any-just pop-boo!

And then I came home to hubby and baby. We had lunch and watched the rest of "The Steve Wilkos Show". We're playing Monopoly later. For real money :)

JA