stop drop listen

 September has been too busy with the start of school and all its activities.

It's good to run outside and just play in the rain.

It's good to be a kid.

For a little dog....not so much!

A to Z list

This A to Z list has been popping up on several blogs I read.  I thought it looked fun and absolutely easy!  This month has been the busiest month that I can remember in a long long time.  Back to school, girl scouts, faith formation classes, travel, and the PTSA have been running me into the ground!  I haven't scrapped all month, so hopefully today is the day I make a comeback!


In the meantime, some blogger filler!


A. Age: 36, yikes!

B. Bed size: King


C. Chore that you hate: dishwasher

D. Dogs:  Pinky dog, just the best dog in the world!

E. Essential start to your day: getting girls on the bus.

F. Favorite color: green

G. Gold or Silver: white gold

I. Instruments you play: once upon a time, piano and flute.  Wished it were guitar!

J. Job title: mom

K. Kids: Two wonderful girls! :)

L. Live: Rochester, NY

M. Mother’s name: Sally

N. Nicknames: Annie

O. Overnight hospital stays:  four

P. Pet peeves:   rude people

Q. Quote from a movie:  "Bond, James Bond"

R. Right or left handed: right

S. Siblings: five brothers and one sister

U. Underwear: I still like to buy my underwear in packs of 5 or 6!  I do own nice underwear that I purchase piece by piece, but I still prefer cotton undies that come in bulk packages!  

V. Vegetable you hate: collards

W. What makes you run late: snooze button gets me all the time, even today as a matter of fact!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: kidneys & definitely teeth

Y. Yummy food that you make: pizza
Z. Zoo animal: bats

Remembering September 11th

10 years ago I was working in a bookstore in Newport, RI getting ready to open when my co worker came into work and told me about a commuter plane crashing into the World Trade Center.   News junkies that we were, we grabbed an old radio in the back office to listen to updates.   Disbelief and horror were the overriding emotions we felt listening to the morning unfold.

I got a call from Craig who was stationed at the naval base in Newport.   They were getting their information from the television like everyone else.

It was a surreal day. Tourists wandered in, not knowing what to do with themselves. We were all strangers united by grief and I cried with people I'll never see again. We kept our radio on all day to hear as much information as we could.

We closed early that day. I got the call from my district manager giving me permission to close around 3. There were two older women in the bookstore,  tourists,  I told them we were closing for the day and I'll never forget how annoyed they were with me.  They didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

The bridges leading to Newport were closed.  The naval base was on high alert.

I drove home, kissed my husband, called my family in Rochester, and called my friends who worked in Manhattan. We were all okay, but so many weren't. We met up with some Navy and Coast Guard friends at our favorite local dive bar and shared a couple pitchers of beer. There was no music blaring from the jukebox, no darts being thrown, and really no conversation. It was silent companionship and grief watching the world change on television.
Life changed that day. Military life changed  and American life would never be the same.

Irene...you can't keep us from having fun!

Guess who finally got a mini vacation in?!!?

We went to Cape Cod for the weekend and guess who else came?

Hurricane Irene!

Yes....that rotten, no good hurricane tried to spoil our fun.

I didn't let it, no way...no how!

Above is a photo of the Mass pike.

It's Friday, August 26, and everybody is leaving!

We went for our friend Seth's wedding.  It was super pretty and just a few raindrops, not enough to mar the festivities!

Nora enjoyed her first lobster.  Girl loves shellfish!

 The wedding was on Saturday and yes, we were under a tent.

No, we did not blow away.

It was very pretty!

Earlier that morning, we went down to the shore to check out the waves.

It's not an everyday occurrence, to hang out on the coast when a major hurricane is predicted!

It was gray, windy, and a little surreal.

The hurricane was battering the Carolinas, so our area was safe for the time being! 

 These horseshoe crabs were making toward the high grass off the shore.

They scared the pants off of Charlotte!  She walked up to them not realizing and started screaming!

We whisked her out of "harm's way", but she continued to whine whenever she caught eye of them!

Nora and I had to carry her across that part of the beach several times.

Turns out she's not a fan!

 Look how cute!

From the beach, we could see the preparation people were taking to protect their seafront homes.

Many boards across windows and a few homes had snazzy metal shades that pulled down.

It was something I've seen on television, but to see the preparation taking place is unreal.  

This is a photo taken from the car on our departure Sunday morning.

We left the cape about 7am to try and beat the hurricane.  

We made it off the cape and then halfway through driving through Massachusetts, the heavy rains came.

It rained so hard, it was ridiculous!

Thank goodness, Craig was driving.

I know I would've had to pull over and sit it out!

He drove like a champ, even through the Albany area.

Which was actually the worst of it!

When we got home, I saw on the news they closed the thruway after we went through.

All in all, it was a great time! 

We loved the little taste we got of Cape Cod!

The wedding was lovely and the girls were so excited to be there!

We were all so hungry for a little taste of vacation life after our stinky summer!

So it was a grand success and even Irene couldn't take it away from us!

And because I have to post a layout, here's my latest.

Hugs and Kisses to Lulu having her first week at Ithaca College right now!

We love you and are so proud of you!

xoxox