Spring A Magical Time

It still amazes me to see the beauty of spring.   It seems like the winters are getting longer and longer and spring would never be here.

 But, today I was looking at some new buds on a totally dead looking branch on one of my hydrangea's.

  I thought they had to be cut back to be able to bud again so I was so surprised this morning when I noticed all the new buds forming.

I'm still waiting for my daffodils to open up I have tons of them in the yard and only one opened up in the back yard.  maybe tomorrow I will have a surprise when I go out and they will be open.

Every morning this week a new surprise awaited yesterday there was some crocus open and the tulips are getting ready to open soon.

The lawn turned green like magic it was just a dead dried out looking mess just a week ago.

I think I will never get over the feeling that spring is just a magical time of year.

I'm so glad it's finally here!    

Happy Easter New tradtions

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

  I know we did.  Instead of a big Italian dinner this year I decided to try a brunch.  It was great we started at 10:30.

Most of the menu was able to be made last night so it was an easy meal to prepare.  Of course I thought it was really easy because I didn't have to do anything.  My wonderful saint of a hubby shopped and prepared the whole meal.  He even thought it would be a a good idea to let me sleep in this morning.  Imagine waking up at 9:30 and have company coming at 10:30!!  I was a little upset (well, more like a LOT upset when I saw the time, but, it all worked out great so I guess it was OK.

Everyone really enjoyed the meal and the Easter egg hunt that followed so we decided that it will become our new tradition.

It left the rest of the day for everyone to be able to go and see the other half of their families.

Tea Party

Today I was invited to attend a very special tea party. My niece Miss J is in a great Pre K program and today was Grandparent/special person tea.

I felt very special to be invited.   The students put on a special show to show what they learned this year.  It was amazing to see  little 4 year olds singing their special songs and preforming a story in sign language.  Their teacher thought it would be fun to teach them sign language.  The stories included all the colors and lots of animal sing.  It was precious to see them preforming the full house. 

Their were very proud parents and grandparents and special guests.

The tables were decorated with china tea cups filled with Easter grass and jelly beans.  After the songs and very loud applause  lots of snacks and tea were served. 

It is great to be able to see joy on all their faces.

Saying Good bye to A favorite show

I'm just watching the 2ND to last episode of ER. It's so sad when a great show ends. I have enjoyed watching ER  since the beginning of the series and will miss it.

Sometimes it was a little stressful to watch it, but now that it's going off  I know I will miss watching it.

The cast of characters has changed many times over the years but, they were all great.

Tonight's episode was one of the best!  

Looking forward to next week the finale!

I'm thankful for my dogs

I have 2 small dogs StellaMary a 4 year old Pekingese and Charlie a 2yr old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  

It's hard to explain how I turned into such a dog person.

 Growing up we always had a family dog.

Some I remember better than others. Tom was my favorite, he was a real dog the neighborhood mutt.  Never went to the vet, ate canned dog food or leftovers or what ever he could find in the neighbors garbage.

When my own kids were growing we had dogs. It seems like they were just there to annoy me and make more work for me. Extra cleaning, chasing them down the neighborhood when they escaped from the yard, and cleaning poo from the yard.

They were pets and I didn't really have lots of patience for them.

But, when I got StellaMary my whole world changed, she came at a time in my life that I was abel to devote lots of time to her.  She was so tiny weighing less that a pound when she came into my life as a surprise.

My kids were grown so I could actually enjoy her.  She was a little sick when we first got her so had to spend a night at the animal hospital on Iv's. But having just lost a puppy a few months before her  Tia Mary Francis Apricot Muffin a tea cup poodle who died at the same animal hospital we decide to take her home and take our chances on saving her on our own. My husband and I both do Reiki so we just gave her reiki treatments every day and had to feed her eye droppers of water, and special food that came in a tube every hour.  I took her to work with me in a dog carrier and everyone held her to keep her warm. we also had a heating pad to help her stay warm.

She did great and recovered within a week or two.

Thats when it happened I turned into a crazy dog lady. Like the kind of people we always made fun of.

I started dressing her in cute little outfits complete with a pearl necklace with crystal heart hanging from it.   I had to take her bag that had her bowls and food and bottled water and her blankie.  She wore hats and entertained everyone with her cuteness.

Luckily, I worked on a college campus in the campus ministry house and had a great boss. (my daughter) that allowed her to come to work with me.  The kids on campus all loved her and took her for walks and played with her everyday.   

She even came to Rosary and mass with us.

I took her everywhere with me.  Her wardrobe grew quite large and everyone looked forward to seeing what she was wearing.

She grew into a great dog and brought much joy into my life. 

Well, I guess my hub thought that life was too good for us so why not shake it up so when Stella was 2 he decide to bring home Charlie.

Charlie was 7 months old when he came to us from hubs friend who bought him as a companion for her dog. Well, her doggie was having none of that and decided to terrorize Charlie on a daily basis.  Charlie is a sweet innocent needy little guy.

but, Stella and I were not ready for an addition to our family esp. since we now have twin grandsons added to our family to keep us really busy.

But, it was hard not to fall in love with this adorable little guy.

Charlie was not potty trained when we got him and was kept in a cage for most of his 7 months. So he required lots of attention.

He also had Giardia which was a parasite that had to be treated and our whole house had to be scrubbed and disinfected and we had to replace all our bedding.  Not to mention the vet bill and medication.  Luckily, none of us caught it.  

Oh, and the little dry patch on his ear turned out to be ring worm which one of the twins caught.

So its a good thing he's so cute, Oh yeah, he can't ever be alone and needs constant attention and wants to be on a lap all day.

 I almost forgot he pukes every day.  So now I have to make homemade dog food.  They actually eat better than we do.

Organic veggies and ground chicken and pasta. Once a week they get scrambled eggs and cheese.   

I just learned how to make dehydrated chicken for their snacks.

I never thought that it would happen to me turning into one those dog people.

Going to see The Martha Stewart Show

Tomorrow, I'm off to see The Martha Stewart Show.  I got tickets online to be in the audience.

I always call my sister Martha she started reading about Martha when no one even heard of her(well, I never knew who she was).   Her meals look like something out of Martha's magazine.

Not just holiday dinners this is the every night dinner and it started before Martha was a household name.

Every meal is complete with linen tablecloth and napkins and long stem glasses.  Fresh flowers and all.

I won't even tell you about the food or desserts.

 So how can I not try and get tickets the her show for her as a surprise.

When I first recd the response I was so excited.

It was fun reading the email......directions to get there, where to park.  What time to be there. Not later than 12:30 (if after 12:45 no entry) don't forget a picture ID.   

Then the DRESS CODE leave it to Martha to have a dress code to get into her audience.

Of course mini Martha has a great wardrobe that would meet Martha's standards. (she is a manager at a country club) and all the shoes and accessories to match.  

But, my clothes are the stay at home grandma style.  Yes , flat shoes and all.

I'm totally about comfort!

Sleepover with the Sisterhood

I just returned from a sleepover with my Sisterhood.  

The Sisterhood of Shopping was started about 15 years ago by my sisters friends aunt.

Aunt Barb as she is know to all of us started going to Vermont about 15 years ago with a few of her family pals.  They rented a condo at a ski resort in October and stayed for the weekend. It was a great time of bonding and eating and SHOPPING. 

The condo hasn't changed in all these years same deer head same 70's decor. But, the group has changed what started out as 2 or 3 pals has now turned in to a wonderful group of 12

The Sisterhood usually gets together every October and goes to Vermont.

They stay at the same condo its great there are 3 bedrooms a big loft and living room with fireplace dining area and kitchen. Luckily, there are 2 bathrooms.

Its right in a big ski area.  

So from Friday to Sunday its all about eating, and bonding and of course major SHOPPING!!

the weekend has really evolved over the years and now there is a theme for the weekend.

I have only been going for 3 years. I was asked to go for years but, always resisted Vermont was always a special place for my hubby and me.  We went there on our honeymoon many, many years ago and visited often over the years since then. I finally realized the reason I always declined was I didn't want to go there with anyone but him.   We did break down a few times and took our best friends once and our kids once, but for the rest of our visits it was just the two of us.

We stopped going about 5 years ago so I thought it might be OK to go with the Sisters.

What a great decision that turned out to be.

Every female should belong to some kind of sisterhood.  The special bond women share can not be explained.

I was quickly taken in by this great group of women.  From the fun of shopping, to sharing meals, to the late night chats.  It was great having other women to share it with.

I have been going with the sisterhood of shopping for 3 years now. 

On our last trip 2 of the sisters daughters were inducted into into the elite group.  They are both college students and have been hearing about the fun for most of their lives.

We had so much  fun planning a special induction ceremony. 

As soon as we all had our Jammie's on the girls came down dressed as old lady's in vintage flannel gowns with fake rotten teeth.  A good laugh was had by all.

After the induction ceremony the girls were presented with their SISTERHOOD OF SHOPPING shirts (oh yes we all have matching shirts brown with white letters on the back)

the letters SOS are on the front and The Sisterhood of Shopping on the back.

When we are all out shopping on Saturday we wear our shirts they get lots of attention and many shoppers ask how to get one. Of course they are not for sale and are only for our elite members.   We are now pictured on the wall of the Vermont Country Store.  They look forward to our yearly visit and we are greeted by the manager and staff with announcements over their PA system to announce our arrival.

 We also have silver antique pins with tiny SOS letters hanging on it, and this year we got mugs with our logo on them.

The girls were given a baby diaper pin with the same letters.

They were good spots and went along with all the craziness.  I think they actually enjoyed it.

Saturday is a marathon shopping day at the outlets.

The girls took a break from shopping and talked some of the older sisters into going to the alpine slides.   

Saturday is usually movie night you would think at least one of us could have gotten the VCR to work but, not.  Well, the popcorn was great and lots of sharing was had.

It was amazing to see the multi generational group all having a great time.

Well, back to our latest sleepover Aunt Bard recently purchased a large home that she only gets to spend the weekends at and invited the Sisterhood to spend the night.

We had a great time of pigging out and bonding.  We were supposed to watch a movie since we missed it in October.   Finally, after have lots of cheese fondue with veggies and chocolate fondue with fruit we started to look for a movie nothing was appealing so we finally settled on a real oldie   Roman Holiday a 50's classic.   It was kinda nice no violence and tragic romance.

Most of the sisters were asleep before the end.

Sunday morning we woke up to a leisurely breakfast of muffins, fruit, eggs, bacon, and bagels etc.

Some of us thought hey this would be great why not just have our annual getaway here.  sounded good to some of us.   Until husbands, boyfriends, and kids started showing up and cell phones kept ringing.

That's when we realized why The Sisterhood was formed you need to be out of state and have bad cell phone service to really get away from IT all.

So goodbye beautiful house and short drive and hello old condo in the mountain and peace and quiet for all.