Better days..weekend begins.

Friday was interesting. My neighbor and I had made very relaxed plans for the day, and once I had dropped of my little man, I simply waited patiently for her to contact me about some trip some where. We had discussed a few ideas; The Erie Canal Museum has Gingerbread houses on display, there is always the zoo, and I was at a loss for much of anything else. Her three yr old twins are not yet old enough to enjoy some of the areas museums or indoor locations, so our to go was limited. She called and thought Rochester's Strong Museum would be fun, and I totally agree; infact I had thought that would be a great idea, but it was already nearing 10:30 and its an hour and 1/2 drive to Rochester. Not exactly a trip I am prepared to take, knowing it will take her at least another hour to get herself and the girls prepared, and get myself back before 4pm to get Gavin off the bus. Sorry....maybe next time. SO we PONDER...finally we decided upon Beaver Lake although we never made it, but instead she treated me to Lunch at Zebbs.

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I love Zebs, and I haven't been in forever. I had the soup and salad, which was bottomless, and Jenny got us some chedder fries as well. Nothing says healthy lunch with a side of cheese FRIES. The salad was good, and the French onion soup was too.

The girls had some fun foods and enjoyed coloring.

I left fully satisfied and enjoyed every little bite I filled up on..it was YUMMY!

I will admit, I do not miss having a meal out with little children, its a lot of work, and taking pictures with little kids is even more difficult when your holding their little hands. We never made it to Beaver Lake, we stopped at a Thrifty Store in Mattydale, NY (one neither of us had been to, and it was all over). I was prepared in that I only had a little bit of cash on me, but Jenny went wild. I entertained her daughters while she shopped, and we had the best time...I think we touched just about every nick knack in the store, played will all the toys, did some shopping cart racing and lost Jenny several times. I picked up a few items for my family and got the girls some decent looking Barbies as we waited for their mom to hurry up and get done. Plan was to go to the indoor Micky D's playplace before we headed home as Beaver lake was on the opposite side of town, but it was nearly 4pm already. Can you say...waste to much time in the Thrifty Store? Come on Jenny....We made one last stop at Olies I waited and waited and waited in the car with the girls and then it was time to go home.

The girls fell asleep even as I sang my best Frosty the Snowman, and twinkle twinkle little star. It was a fun day full of adventure, even if we never got to our destination. Strong Museum is in our future, as is Micky D's Playplace. The evening was planned to attend a night out being socially aware of homelessness, however Gavin backed out on the documentary scheduled called @Home. Instead Mark went out, which never happens and Gavin and I spent the evening working on a puzzle. Carol and her son stopped by to wish me a happy birthday and she gave me a wine glass. It was very nice of her. Kelly called to wish me a Happy Birthday too, and Gavin and I ended the evening watching the season finale of An American Horror Story. He was a little disappointed the season ended the way that it did. I was satisfied, but I was not happy with the direction the baby goes...I will not say anymore. Overall it was a great day. Now I am about to head out the door with my girlfriends to attend church.

Difficult week...no trip, just summarizing

It has been a difficult week. There have been two deaths, and several struggles that friends have been dealing with and my own woes. A dear old friend of mine past away last Thursday, his loss was incredibly unexpected and a tragic realization that pain can run so deep there does not seem to be any way out. A reality that life is precious and to enjoy the things I have to be grateful for. He will be sadly missed. I had known George since I was a kid. Cousin to my neighbor Pat, and we all grew up together. He was always there to lend a shoulder offer a supportive ear, never reported a complaint to anyone, and always had a smile on his face. His death and the cause filled me with overwhelming sadness tainted with anger. Why rushed over me, and I guess it will be a question I will never know the answer to. His services were held Tuesday evening, and it was well attended, it was clear he was loved dearly by many. I did get to see a few friends that I usually do not see. Unfortunately death seems to be the things that gets us all together, live events go forward unaware of what we are each doing. We all spoke preventing missed opportunities in the future, vow to spend time or happier occasions. I know how that goes, we've said it before, and find ourselves again making those same vows at yet another passing. Of our close group of friends that all grew up together we have loss three lives at tender young ages. There have been more positives of course; weddings, births of babies, families developed, birthdays, holidays but as the years have gone by, I know we will be seeing one another more often at saddened events. It had been 8 months since I had last seen George, possibly as sad as it is, more recent then most, but 8 months still seems like a lifetime in relevance. Would the loss have been any less had I spent time with him days before? I don't have that answer either, but I do know that when a friend leaves this earth, it makes me clearly aware that we only are granted this moment in time and that I need to take advantage of those moments. I am hopeful that we will all get together again soon on a festive moment, where we are laughing and enjoying each others company. I did also get to see an old friend who I have not seen in perhaps 9-10 years. My middle school friend, who also lived with me a few times growing up, Lisa. She and I had some crazy history and some great adventures. She has been struggling with Lukemia, and is currently in the Syracuse area to have a transplant. Her battle with this disease and the attitude she has about beating this battle is amazing. Never have I seen someone so pro-active and positive about dealing with all that comes with a diagnosis of cancer. She boldly attended the services with her hat removed for the world to see the remnants of chemo, and smiled a wide smile when meeting with people she has not seen in years. Her ability to not allow discouragement to get in her way has been amazing. I am hopeful for her, and was grateful to have the time to spend with her. I called another dear friend,Jeanine who had sent me a Birthday card and a phone number.I had not spoken with in over a year; as her number was disconnected and I had no way of contacting her, so her card was a double joy for me. Speaking with her was wonderful, but she did suffer a tragic loss herself since our last discussion. She had loss her mother. At my age, I guess I should realize that our parents are getting older, including my own. Although I never met Jeanine's mother, I know that her loss was great and painful. Her reports of her loss and dealing with family business is a true reality to what most of us must face with our own aging parents. It is a sad thing to lose loved ones. On an upside I was glad to speak with her and know that despite such a loss she herself is well and managing. Like many of us, she is dealing with finances, work stress, and like myself..still trying to figure it all out. Plans to visit her soon, perhaps this spring, she is currently on the cape and we would all love to see her. Gavin insisted on speaking with "Aunt" Jeanine and making a visit soon. So far this blog entry has been not so fun, but the difficulties continue. My neighbor has been struggling with her own inner demons, I have been trying to be supportive, but find it difficult to offer support. Her concerns are bigger then a friend can be. I can only offer support and kindness. It has none the less, been an added burden to my already crazy week, but perhaps the most directed related stressor was on my birthday of all days I am informed that the IRS has not agreed to work with us, and they will be taking my wages. We did get that all straighten out, but it was an increase in the stress level. Anyways, it has been a difficult week. My birthday being in the middle of it didn't help much, but...happy birthday to me!!! The week has looked up, and I am hopeful for better days, looks like we shall be re-evaluating things here at home, I know I will be counting my blessings and looking at things differently. Thank you dear followers although I have none, for allowing me to publish.

Birthday Dinner

I worked during the day at Vera House on Monday, but my parents treated me and two of my boys to a Birthday dinner at TGI Fridays. I was so yummy. I enjoyed the pecan crusted salad and they actually sang Happy Birthday to me.

 The waitress was so great and the meal was one of my favorites at Fridays.

A little "Psyched" or NOT!

Sunday, I met up with the girls and we went to a Psychic Fair. I haven't been to one of those in years and we have been talking about having a psychic party for some time. I had no plans on getting my cards read or anything, but I anticipated that some of the other girls would. It was a let down to find out that no one but Renee was willing to fork over the $50- price tag for a 15 minute reading. I might have, just for fun paid $30- for 15 minutes, but that $50- price tag had most of us done before we even started.

 

 

 Lets not to mention the admission price to this tiny display of everything supernatural was $7-. Maybe I am just not as into this kind of stuff as I once was, but it all was terribly disappointing. Even the psychic's that lined the back walls with their little booths were OPEN and ready for customers, the entire time we were there. Any past experience with these "fairs" have had wait times and long lines. Even the items for sale seemed highly priced. I noted a really pretty necklace and after viewing the $700- price tag I was shocked.

 Here is Renee with Deb her psychic. She reportedly gained some insight and was happy to have her spirts read . She even tear'd up a bit when referencing her deceased Grandmother as being present with her. Glad she enjoyed herself. We did get some free bags from gotangel.com. and you all know how much I love FREE, there was also some neat displays and I thought these rocks were really cool. (but I refuse to pay for rocks...sorry).

 

 We finally all decided that we had seen enough and even with some begging from me, the other girls refused to get a reading. I spoke with a few of the clearly BOARD psychics about my own tarot reading history, and my frusteration with my friends for not obtaining readings themselves. Both Cathy and Doreen admitted they were a little scared, and Molly like me who has had these done in the past, refused to pay the piper. After we had circled and re-circled and circled at least five more times the small space allotted for this event, we agreed we had seen enough and made our way to brunch at Denny's.

I love Denny's and I have not ben in years. I had my traditional burger and fries and even added ranch dressing. Molly has been doing weight watchers and has lost nearly 40 pounds, Way to go girl, Of course I felt like a royal pig as she calculated her points for her lunch. I'll get there soon. We had a nice time together and despite discussion around planning, it appears that it is unlikely that we will all get together again like this until after the Holidays. These busy times can make you crazy. After the lunch I tried to listen to Renee's session that was recorded with difficulty from the background noise, so instead I let her verbalize what she remembered. Once home I took a quick nap and was off to work at the Willows inpatient. I was there till 12:30am.....I'd prefer not to do that crazy shift again.

 

Mani/Pedi, Bowling, and Pizza

The weekend went by so fast, as it usually does. Friday, my daughter offered to take me for a mani/pedi for my birthday. It was so special just the two of us spending time together getting our nails done. It was even more special, because I know I would not have spent the money on myself. She knew it too, so this was her way of having me do something for myself. I have to say I totally enjoyed the pedicure, and boy did my feet need it.

 We had a great time just hanging out too. I continue to be amazed at what a wonderful young women she is becoming. I wont get into all that stuff on this post, as I am doubly cursed with my new nails and my computer still acting strange. ( Everytime I upload a picture the program shuts down, and there are pop-ups that interject randomly freezing my screen, I have no spell check either if you have not yet noticed)

I spent the evening working on my scrapping stuff and dug into my older stash. Nov. 30th I am attending an all day scrapbook session and want to get myself prepared for a new record on most pages completed. Saturday we decided to do something a little different, so I called my friend Tammy and our families met at Flamingo Bowl, for some bowling.

Flamingo Bowl is right in our neighborhood in Liverpool, NY which made it a perfect place to meet for some family fun. Tammy's family; Rich, Alan, Adler and Allie all played a few games against our family; My hubby, Ben and Gavin. We really didn't make it a competition, but if we had....my family would have some serious bragging rights.

Some fun pictures of the games, Tammy scores, Ben takes a perfect shot, Mark gets a strike, and Rich shows Allie how to throw.

 

 We all had so much silly fun.

After the games, we decided to do dinner. There was some discussion around where, but we finally decided on Avicoli's also in Liverpool, NY. We had a difficult time getting seats in the resturant, but scored big in the pizza parlor. I really have to say the meal was impressive. We all had pizza, Mark and the kids had wing too, and I broke down and had some fried mushrooms.

 

The kids sat at one table, while the adults at another. Allie took a picture of us adults, but I'm not to fond of how I look...but here it is anyways.

Hoping it is the angle. Probally not I've got a big fat ass. I have told myself that My birthday is the big day for all things bad things to cease. That is tomorrow....we will see how that goes.

We had a fun filled Saturday. Sunday was almost as exciting, although I did end up working all night. That was a bummer, but I will post again for Sundays fun filled trip making.

 

 

A Surpise in Watertown, NY

Hoping that my computer will let me type and post. Please bare with me. I'm not sure if I noted that most of earlier this week I worked Monday and Tuesday. It was, shall we say, uneventful. I did however find that this Seasons American Horror Story is on demand and watched the second and third episode, but didn't catch up yet, so I might spend some time today watching. Yesterday I was scheduled to attend a FREE OASAS training in Watertown NY at Credo Substance abuse treatment center. I found last week that Mary (one of my co-workers) was attending as well so we coordinated a car pool. She drove and I made plans to take her to lunch. The training was okay, I learned a few things, but not a whole lot, and honestly I don't work with many Military people. It was a FREE six hour class so I got my hours was respectful through the presenters and anticipated a day with Mary. The training was short and we skipped through lunch to get done early. Then Mary and I were off to find lunch. I suggested something they do not have in our local area. We found this place called the Tilted Kilt.

We thought it was similar to one of those restaurant chains like Chili's or Tully's. Little did we know when we walked in we would be greeted by young girls in very little clothing. I even asked if we could eat there and if the clothing stayed on. I hope I didn't embarrass the girl, but what did I know. I thought Tilted had to do with the pub part.

Here is Mary posing with two of the waitress. We had a great meal and a good laugh. The girls were so fun and they played along with us too. I caught a few signs in the women's bathroom. Wish this one was on the bathroom wall at Rosie's when I was about these girls ages.

Or how about this one right next to the toilet.

I just loved spending time with Mary. She and I have many similar histories with our families and our work. She is also working as a per diem employee and we discussed how this method of working has benefitted our sanity. She was tons of fun, and I learned so much about her. The luncheon was quite funny too. The meal was actually pretty yummy, and the décor about the place was fun too. I just wish I could have seen my own face when we walked in and saw these girls in these outfits, I can imagine my jaw dropped to the floor. Maybe if I caught this stained glass door on the way in, it might have prepared me, oh well, we had a great meal and tons of fun.

We didn't see much more of Watertown, and besides the Military base there really is not much else up there in the cold North. I did do a visitor search before we left and no tourist traps. I apparently missed The Tilted Kilt on the website. There are some great little towns with things to do surrounding the area. The Thousand Islands are close, and there is Saketts Harbor, home of the owners of a prized triple crown winning horse. His name escapes me...Funnycide perhaps. Mary has a cottage in the area. I joked about taking her husband to the Tilted Kilt in the future. Anyway. Not much to do in the cold winter and Mary and I actually saw two accidents I am guessing due to snow on our return home. I used to come to some classes in the area at JCC for my Masters. I never stopped in the city or did much in the area then either. Definitely want to put down A-bay for next summer.

The day in summary. I even got a VIP card.

Sorry...

My computer has been giving me problems and I have not been successful at adding posts. I'm currently writing in the HTML. Not sure what has gone wrong or why I am having such a difficult time. I will quickly report that I spent most of Sunday scrapbooking, and have completed several layout from my trip to Maine. Monday I spent working. I went in to do some scanning. Can you believe it...scanning. Thinking it would take all of about an hour maybe two at most, I ended up staying for four hours and I have to go back to finish today. What a painful process. But hey, they are paying me and I like that. Wednesday I have a training in Watertown NY. It's been years since I have been in the North country. I dont expect that I will be doing any site seeing, but I might be able to do some scouting. Past trips to Watertown were for school only. I never bothered to look at possible trips up that way. We shall see. I am so sorry that my last post missed the mark and it has been awhile since I have posted, hopefully I will be able to figure out whats up soon. TTFN