Week end wrap up

It is getting chilly out and it is the perfect weather for a nice big pot of home made chicken soup. I have been reading my new issue of The SUN magazine while my soup is boiling on the stove top. A whole chicken, diced tomatoes, celery, onion, carrots and oregano. And I have my water just starting to boil for the orzo.

I love to get a new issue of the The SUN magazine and love when it comes on a weekend when I have the time to sit and devour it. I first go to the correspondence, then flip past the articles deciding which one I will go back to first, and then straight to the Readers Write pages. Every issue there is a topic that readers are asked to write in on and they are always very moving and powerful. My intent on getting the magazine was to try to write in on a topic, but so far have not been disciplined enough to do so. This month the topic is Airports, and not being a traveler I didn't really have a story in me about them. Next month is Patriotism...hmmmm...maybe I will shoot for January's topic, Now or Never. I like that one the best.

Yesterday we went to see, Into the Wild at the movies. Sean Penn directed a brilliantly artistic movie with a compelling story. It is the from the book, Into the Wild, about Christopher Mccandless, a college graduate who gave up his money, family, and ties to society to live in the wild to find happiness and a deeper meaning of life. The movie was long, it sort of needed to be to tell the story. It wasn't the type of movie I had in mind for a rainy depressing kind of day that yesterday turned out to be, but it sure made me think and sparked much discussion in the house. I spent some time googling him today to find out more information, and read more articles about his journey. I mostly came away with how sorry I felt for his parents that they had no idea where he was for two years. In that respect what he did was so selfish, but who knows what was really going on in his mind.

It is Sunday and that means family day at my parents' house. My mother made her usual tomato sauce and pasta, but it was sweeter than ever today. She also made her famous chicken cutlets and salad. Both my sisters were there with their families and my aunt and it was a typical family Sunday dinner, and I so longed for it today.

Musings on a Tuesday

The Red Sox are going to the World Series. I am not a baseball fan, but I am so happy for my Dad and my son who follow them faithfully. My dad is 86 years old and it is something that gives him much pleasure. I am hoping that they take the series again, as it was so exciting last time.

I am not feeling very grounded this week, as we are putting on a big production at work on Friday and things are not falling into place as I had hoped they would. I am trying not to focus on perfection, but it has been one disappointment after another today.

We all want these events to go off without a hitch, but in the end I realize I don't have control over everything.

So if you are reading this, please send me some positive energy for Friday, I will need it!

Thanks!

The weekend goes by so quickly. It has been busy. My son stopped in with a friend from college on their way to NJ for a concert. My husband's sister and brother are here from out of state for a 60Th wedding anniversary celebration for my in-laws. They aren't staying with us, but we will all meet up later today at church, and then off to a brunch. Yesterday, my husband went off with his family for a day at the beach. I decided to stay back. I had so many errands to run and then needed to spend a couple of hours at the office.

Both his siblings are divorced, I would have been the only in-law tag-a-long. I thought it would be nice for them to off together. He said it was a good day for them, and something that they never have the opportunity to do.

Husband is off now picking up a cake for 100 people to bring to church. We are going to attempt to sneak it in without having the in-laws see us.

My parents celebrated their 60th a couple of years ago. A big milestone for both sides of the family. How lucky for them... and in so many ways... it has a lot to do with luck, doesn't it?

Stitch and Bitch

My girlfriends and I have been meeting regularly once a month for a few years now. We take turns at each other's homes and have refreshments. We call these evenings stitch and bitch although no sewing ever gets done. We started them up because we realized we weren't seeing each other as often as we liked with working and raising families, so we made a commitment to one another to get together once a month minimum. I can't even remember how many years we have been doing this, but it started when our kids were little.

Most of the evenings we talk about our kids and what they are up to, especially now that they are all grown up and some already married with children of their own. But pretty much we have supported one another though all of life's ups and downs. Divorce, cancer, moving, new jobs, etc. How quickly the years go by.... a cliche... but it rings true on a regular basis.

Take time for your girlfriends...take time for yourself.... that is the most important advice I could give someone.

Celebrity Detox

I have never pre-orderd a book before, but I did reserve a copy of Rosie's new Celebrity Detox book. It arrived the other evening and I sat and read it in one night. Since so much of it was leaked before it came out and since I keep up with her blog, there wasn't too much new information in it that I hadn't known about. In that respect it was a wee bit of a let down, but yet I do find inspiration from Rosie in many ways. The most important being that she is not afraid to speak her mind, no matter what the back lash is. This I stand in awe of. This is something that I still struggle with a great deal. I learned to silence myself a long, long time ago and it is the hardest thing to undo without struggling with a great deal of anxiety.

It is always interesting to me to read about a celebrity's life and have an inside peak of what it is like to have that kind of fame, money, and connections. I know that there is a big trade off, as sometimes it seems to me that it may not be worth it to lose all of your privacy. But I guess celebs that stay grounded learn to be able to deal with it.

I found it to be an interesting read and it sure took guts to be so raw with so much personal stuff. But it is in telling her story that she is able to connect to her fans/bloggers and that is what appeals to so many of us, even though we may not always agree with everything she does.

I can easily see how fame can be like a drug and how it can skew your sense of self and your expectations about life, and how it can be so hard to trust those around you. No matter how famous one becomes, it is still necessary to be human and struggle along like the rest of us.

All proceeds of Rosie's book go to the new school of performing arts that she is building in NYC, so buying the book is a way to help out kids as well.

The View

This is the view from my son's dorm room in Vermont. It over looks the main street. I love to stand in front of this window and look out.

Saturday Night Entry

A Saturday with nothing planned, but hanging around and cleaning and organizing. I love to have a weekend with no obligations. We made a dent in our "to do list", and that feels good.

My husband cooked supper tonight. He is the best at sort of throwing things together and it comes out yummy. He made a chicken stir-fry with dried cranberries, onions, tomatoes, ginger root, peaches, & carrots. He mixed it all together with spinach pasta. It was better than going out to dinner.

I haven't felt much like blogging all week. So much emotional stuff going on with me that I was feeling so drained that my blog didn't interest me. That was a first. But I am starting to feel better even though I still have many issues things to work through.

I was remembering a slogan that my mentor used to tell me, "Trouble is the reward for growth." So I must have grown a lot this week...

Week End in Vermont

We had a great time up in Vermont this weekend. We spent time at my sister's place in Chester and then took a ride up to Poultney to see my son at college. The foliage is nice, but not peak colors just yet. People are saying that the lack of rain has delayed the leaves from turning colors.

We stopped at a Marble Quarry and it was filled with folks swimming ....in October. It was so hot on Saturday, guess record temperatures all across the North East. Global warming....

My husband took tons of photos, but I picked my favorite four for the blog.

We went to tag sales, Vermont Country store, Basketville, the apple orchards, and enjoyed lots of time at the college with my son.

Back to the grind tomorrow.

TGIF

We are heading up to Vermont this weekend to visit my sister and hopefully drive over to see my son at college. It is a rather warm weekend, does not feel like fall by a long shot,but I am still looking forward to the drive and the time to relax!

Another work week down, and for the most part it went by O.K. Time is starting to fly by with our big event just a couple of weeks away. I can't wait until it is all over. Now I have to work on the press to come and cover it so corporate will deem it a success.

Well, a happy 3 day weekend to all those who might stop by... been pretty quiet here today.

The Office

Pam and Jim are together, finally. It sort of took us by surprise in last week's episode, and had it been last year, I think I would have been more excited about it. I think I missed the build up of their relationship, but leave it to The Office to be a little bit sneaky about getting Jim and Pam together.

I do like this show a lot. I actually take the phone off of the hook during The Office, just like I did for Seinfeld. I don't think it does as well in a one hour format though, a half hour works better.

Wonder if Jim and Pam can keep up the sparks now that they are together. Sometimes when 2 characters who have had a lot of sexual tension finally get together the story sort of fizzles out. We will see I guess. It is just T.V. and a good escape for a Thursday evening.

Jenny McCarthy

Jenny has been making the rounds on many talk shows promoting her new book, Louder Than Words which deals with her son Evan and his diagnosis and recovery from Autism. I enjoy her presentations and I believe she has a very important message to get out to all the families on the planet with children who have autism, and she is becoming a spokesperson for all the parents out there who have children with similar success stories.

I am also wondering why Jenny took down her Moms of Indigo Children website? My guess is that she is aware that the mainstream is not ready to hear about Indigo Children just yet. Why they are still reeling from her position on autism.

It is too bad that people can't be flexible and open minded. She clearly states that the interventions may not work for all children, but parents who are willing to try more alternative treatments should be able to access the information easily! That is all she is trying to do.

Funky Winkerbean

I don't usually read the newspaper on a regular basis, so I am not up on all the serial comic strips. But the past couple of days my husband has been showing me the Funky Winkerbean strip. It is the saddest ever. Lisa is dying of cancer. It is a comic strip that is not funny, but incredibly real and so sad that it makes me sob.

Lisa is dealing with a recurrence of breast cancer and is losing her battle.

Check it out

http://funkywinkerbean.com/

Go to Lisa's Legacy Fund and check out the blog, a very heart felt view about using the comics to support cancer patients and to help fund research.

Well done.

Riding to work on Wednesday morning I was noticing how beautiful the leaves looked. The peak of the season is upon us and it is a glorious sight. I then remembered the Winkerbean comic from yesterday and that in the strip Lisa had gone blind and was asking if the leaves were changing colors. I started to cry. It reminded me that we can never ever take today or any day for granted. I know that. I have learned that lesson many, many, times over the years. So once again I remember and take the time to appreciate the things that seem little, but in reality are very big when they are taken away from us.