One day at a time...

My Little Secret

I read about this cool giveaway today from Darlene at  Darlene Schacht dot com. She   and Art Book Bindery are hosting this cool giveaway for a signed copy of this awesome  book, One Little Secret by Allison  Bottke  and an IPOD shuffle!  But, one of the provisos for me to enter was that I had to share one of my little secrets, so here goes:

I hide my "special treats" in a brown Tupperware bowl marked "Flour" in the pantry knowing that my kids would never in a million years touch it. Since my husband reads my blog :: Hi, Honey!!::: he  now knows where it is, but I'd share with him. But, the kids are not allowed to touch my secret supply of Smarties. Yes,i am addicted to Smarties.

So there.  :)

Crazy Sexy Cancer

"One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering"

I thought I had to choose between finally seeing  TLC's Crazy Sexy Cancer  which has been on my calendar since I first saw the commercial a month ago, and going to the beach and letting my kids play tonight at the special family festival and fireworks. I compromised: we went to the beach, and came home by 8 to shower so I could be planted on the sofa at 9:00- no organic popcorn for me- cheez doodles and wine reigned supreme. (Check out Kri's site, too: Kris' Crazy Sexy Cancer.)

Oh, I felt my spirit move- others GOT it.  Really GOT it. Like how less than a week after having surgery, I threw a Christmas Caroling Party for 40 kids- and went Christmas Caroling!  (it  was our tradition, and by God, I was GOING!!) Or, 2 days after surgery, went to church- because I NEEDED to be there, and needed to see my kids sing in praise of Him.  I wasn't going this let this little cancer crap kick my butt- I wasn't going to bow down to it, I was going to live my life, and if it included a wee bit of cancer, so be it.  I had God, my family, and myself- oh, and a few doctors, too.

Kris tells it like it - as do all the women in that story. My heart broke when Melissa was going to the hospital (Same hospital as mine!) I, too, wept as I left my children, too, refused to think anything but that I was going to be OK.

Now, I am going to crawl into bed with the kids who are going to sleep with me tonight- SLUMBER PARTY- and we'll get up early tomorrow and do something fun and I will go on living every single day as fully as I can. Every single day.

9 More days.....

Until school starts. I will finish this post once I remove Ally from the front of Aedan, where she is torturing him, and his finger out of her ear, where he has shoved it.

They re bored with summer, with me, with each other.

OK, I'm back.  They are at that point in the summer where they are ready for the structure of  school- knowing every single day where they are going and what they are doing. I am getting pretty tired of being treated like Julie McCoy on the Loveboat (oh, maybe that's what I need- a cruise!). I have told them that I am NOT their personal activities director, and every day need not be a play date.   Is it is just that things are so much different when  I was a kid (Oh, did I REALLY say that!!) but we were just sent outside to play- all day, without supervision- just coming in when the streetlights came on.  They don't have that luxury- and I am sorry for them.  I remember Red Rover and Hide & Seek and Flashlight Tag and tree forts and all that stuff- and they get that, as we Moms watch over them.  Maybe they're just tired of being watched over?   Oh, i have no idea-I'm just as out of sorts are they are.  Any ideas?

A Box in the Attic

• In cleaning out her attic, I found her. I thought I was finished learning about my Mom as she died over 3 years ago. Her final lessons were about Dying Well, having faith, and letting go. Those were some of the millions of lessons she taught me. The usual mother/daughter lesson- how to cook the perfect pork chops, how to get out stains, fold fitted sheets, (I still can’t do it right) how to be a good person. To remember to always offer to help, to be a good friend.  To stand up for what you believe in.

What I didn’t know of her haunts me now, questions I can never ask., I wanted to ask what happened to the beautiful young lady in the photos in that old box in the attic - the hope in her eyes, the smiles. I wanted to know how she kept being the person she was in the face of all the adversity she bravely handled- teen pregnancy, poverty, the loss of an infant son, divorce, illness, impending death. What helped her through?

I found a book, one of those books I gave to her to fill in when I stated having kids- “Grandmothers Memories”. I hope she’d fill it out, but expected she wouldn’t. She wasn’t much of a writer. I had thought it was lost, but I found it just a few days ago, in that box of her things.

To my surprise, there were a few entries in it:

Being a good friend means: Always being there, always being able to listen and to help. Remember a friend is always with you.

The Lord your God is with you wherever you go: Joshua 1:9

What my Mother Taught ME about God: to believe and have Faith

I think faith is: being trusting

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness –

Proverbs 31:26

I miss my mother. I miss her in a way that unless you’ve lost your own, you can’t understand. I still pick up the phone to call her, to chat. I still smell her, hear her, and see her in my mind. But, I see her as she was to me, my Mom, not the young lady in the photos.  I wish I knew about her, that lady.

Another lesson learned.  I am slowly writing lessons for my kids, answers to some of the questions they’ll have one day, looking at old photos, wondering who that skinny girl with the long pigtails is, why that teenager has that shy smile, what that young woman was thinking with that wacky blond hairdo.

Another lesson learned.

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you- Philippians 1:3

Burgers, Shakes, and Fries, oh MY!!!!

I really should write tonight about LAST night at Rye Playland and the Naked Brother's Band... but I have to talk (Yell, get your attention!!) about this new little tiny restaurant that we ate at tonight.

Now, I am FAR from a restaurant critic, but I know what I like, I know what my kids eat, and where to get a reasonably quick, inexpensive meal  with the family. Tonight we were headed to Route 22 in Stamford, (Port Chester, -someone PLEASE wake up and open a restaurant other than Italian or Hispanic food.. and NOT the diner or- but a family friendly place.. oh..I digress...) and as we were driving to the highway, Dave mentions.. oh, a new place.. BSF. I'm 1./2 listening, and then I realize what he said, -- and I flip around.

Burgers, Shakes, and Fries.

What a cute place!  BRIGHT orange walls, clean wood, and a smell of simply YUM.

After a friendly hello,  and quizzing the kids. we order.. burgers for Dave, Ally & Myself,  Hot dog for Aedan, and fries to share. No, not the healthiest food ever, but sometimes you just gotta.. anyway, a few minute later, our food is handed to us, and YUM.   From the kids.. TOTAL SILENCE. Their mouths were full. Any parent knows that a place where the  kids aren't talking because they're eating is a GREAT place! Oh, yeah.. we'll be back.

The burgers were AWESOME!  A bit too big, believe it or not.. i couldn't finish mine, the fries perfect, the chili good (I like mine hotter), and Aedan gobbled 1/2 his hot dog (that was huge, too!)  Ally said her burger was perfect.. "none of that black stuff"- She hates char-broiled burgers- She even loved that it came on grilled bread, rather than a bun. David loved it, too.

So, how can you possibly eat at a place called Burgers, SHAKES and Fries,and not get a shake?

We tried Vanila, Chocolate, & Coffee, and Kory gave us a sample of the Strawberry. They were good- really good. Like the ones mom used to make with Hershey's syrup and whipped up in the blender.  Really GOOD!

This place is COMFORT FOOD, quick, yummy, and affordable. I recommend the next time you're in Greenwich to stop by- you'll be glad you did!   I suspect soon that everyone will know about it soon, and you'll be forced to wait  on a long line!

A million things...

I have a million things to write about, but I threw my back out, and can just now sit comfortably.

Most inprotant:

15 years ago today, my darling husband, who was not my husband at the time, kissed me for the first time on  a park bench at Rye Playland.

Sigh.

I love that man!

Crazy , Sexy Cancer??

Huh???

Crazy, Sexy Cancer??

Well, that one threw me for a loop. I saw this blog linked somewhere else, But, yes, in a way, i suppose it it. It shows you in a heartbeat what is important,and what isn't. What is worth fighting for, and what isn't.  And, it can be scary and heartbreaking and life altering., but it can also be riotous fun, too.  I am looking forward to following her blog closely!

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Lifted up

Do you know those "signatures"  that you can have at the end of your e-mail. This is what mine says:

The will of God will never take you
where the Grace of God will not protect you.

I've had this particular one for a while now. I believe in what it says, and it brings me comfort. I've leaned deeply on what it says the past week, when my kids were having one of those, OK, vacation is over, I'm bored with my brother/sister and don't really want to be home and since it's 98 degrees outside and Mom blocked all the good channels on the TV so, let's torture my sibling, therefore my Mom" kinds of weeks.   Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, I got this really neat e-mail today from Janet Jordan. She is an attorney  I met while I was campaigning while running for trustee.  I met her at the first fund raiser that was held after I found out that I wouldn't be allowed to run.  more info on DOJ suit here  I was feeling sorry for myself,and truthfully, a bit pissed off becasue I KNEW I'd be elected, and I KNEW I'd be an amazing Trustee.  She was very nice, and she is running for Family Court Judge in Westchester County. We talked some about campaigning, and I shared some campaigning sites and other things I had with her via e-mail.

I got this e-mail from her today.

Wendy, how are you.

I want to thank you for the message:

The will of God will never take you
where the Grace of God will not protect you

This message was contained in an e-mail you sent to me some months back about Campaign School.

Wendy, this message has kept me as I journey through this Democratic Primary by my Republican opponent.

Again, thanks.

Janet.

I was able to see in some many little ways how my quiet belief and love of God have helped me help others.

:)

I

.

WHAT TIME IS IT ?-HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

WHAT TIME IS IT ?-HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2
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What Time is it?

Time for High School Musical 2    insanity to start!   I have a 9 year old daughter, and she, like most 9 year olds in the country, are in LOVE with with Troy Bolton. roy is the very cute (yes, even I say so) boy from East HIgh in the Disney Original Movie High School Musical.  I know that Ally and her pals LOVED, LOVED , LOVED that movie, and secretly, I loved it too.  A wonderful message, clean kids, great dancing. Grease for their generation, as I've heard it told.

So, back to HSM2.  Ally just has a birthday. Guess what the big party is?  A High School Musical 2 Premiere Sleepover Birthday party!   14 of her best friends, ready to sit and sing and swoon over the cute guys on the screen (Corbin Bleu is way cute, too!) Popcorn, karaoke, cake, secrets, best friends,, what else do you need?  Plus, a slumber party to boot!  Who-hoo!  I wish like heck I could get my hands on one of those cardboard cutouts of Zac Efron. Wouldn't that be cool? Talk about photo ops!

Because we have Optimum Cable with Disney on Demand, we got a sneak peek of HSM2. Ally has watched it 3 times before 11:00am. 

What time is it??   Time to get ready for the next infusion of Teeny Bop per love.. :)

PTA Mode

I'm in PTA mode, as I just printed  the envelopes to 71 invitations to our PTA's Incoming  Kindergarten Ice Cream Social.   

As co=president of our PTA, I know the fund-raising that goes on in our schools. I'm getting a bit tired of the wrapping paper business.. really- how much wrapping paper can one have??  Our new Wellness Policy  should prohibit selling of unhealthy snacks in school. In fact, I just read  this article about it. 

So, those of you not from Port Chester here; if you have kids in school..what do you do?? What do like- or hate?  I'm always looking for something new!