Picking up Donna

Since I have been so busy lately, I have been neglecting my blog...sorry bloggers.
I have been a bad blogger.

Last Thursday I was thrilled to get in my car and drive however many miles to Oneonta, NY to pick up my eldest from college.
This is a photo journal of what I saw along the way and back home again.

The road to Oneonta begins over the Tappan Zee Bridge...



Along the way, I kept the camera on the passenger seat because of all the great photo opps along the way like this farm I passed...



Donna wanted to stop at a place called "Pie in the Sky" a renovated barn/ice cream shop/country store/all around cool place! Good thing we were there on a Thursday!



















What fun, the ice cream was dee-licious!

We got back on the road and saw these great tractors...




These reminded me of the Disney movie "Cars" when they went tractor tipping, too funny. If you have not see "Cars" I suggest you do (shameless plug for Disney).

We arrived home at 9:30pm and the very next day left for LBI (on Memorial Day week-end), yeah, into Memorial Day traffic. It too me longer to get to LBI than it did getting to Oneonta!
I put approx. 600 miles on my car in one weekend and did ALL the driving myself, no wonder why my butt still hurts!

Photo Phriday: Last Friday

We made it to LBI (Long Beach Island, NJ) on Friday night. Donna, Brook Alex and myself walked over to the beach to take a quick peek and this is what I saw...




A Ghost!

What did you see?

Train Tuesday

There will be no Train Tuesday this week due to illness.

Train Tuesday

Oh what a beautiful Morning, Oh what a beautiful Day!
I drop off Brook at school (on time).
I get to the bus (on time).
Run for the early 8:37am train (just pulling up to the station 2 minutes late, but I am on time).
Procure an aisle seat, pull out my book and begin to read.
Lovely.
Smooth sailing (uh, railing).

On my way home however, not so smooth sailing (uh, railing).
Again, I run for the 5:59pm train. A track change later, I make it to a three seater aisle and off we go.
This particular train makes only 3 stops (kind of a waste if you ask me), Mt. Vernon, Pelham and New Rochelle. New Rochelle being the final stop then off to the yard for that train.
I pull out my book and continue reading (I am almost finished with it, so I was oblivious as to why the train was going so slow).
I noticed (finally) that we were going awfully slow around the Fordham Road area (not too far from Mt. Vernon). The conductor comes on and says, "Sorry for the delay folks, we have a signal light on red up ahead. Seems to be a bit congested."
Congested?
Is this not a train? A scheduled train no less?
I relish the extra reading time and continue on. Farid dies, then Dustfinger dies, Farid comes back to life...oh wait, that's my book's story not mine.
The train resumes its course.
Mt. Vernon station...passengers exit.
Pelham Station...more passengers exit.
We wait.
We wait some more...
The conductor comes on again announcing that the train before us has broken down and we will be receiving those passengers from said broken down train here at Pelham and for the New Rochelle people to make room for them.
We are off on the next stop, of course we will make room for them! They will have the whole train to themselves considering that New Rochelle was to be the last stop.
The conductor come on once again and lets us all know that the next stop will be "Stamford"
so on and so forth (wherever that other train was heading that broke down before us)...
I look around and see the New Rochelle people start to panic and the conductor comes back with..."After New Rochelle, of course..."
Of course.
It better!
I call Anthony and tell him we are running late, and so was he!
I actually made it to the station before he did. I tell ya.
Tuesdays can be so unpredictable.
So much for a smooth sailing, (uh, railing)!

I am inspired!

I thought I would never sit down yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised with myself for not losing it!

Saturday
9:35 AM -

Get in the car and drive to T-Ball

10 AM -

T-Ball, in the rain, but then no rain and just fog that rolled in onto the field like a sheet on an outdoor clothes line flapping in the wind. The game was actually entertaining, but not a good photo opp due to the inclement weather.

11:20 AM -

Game over but now we have about an hour to kill before soccer, which is held in the back field at the middle school just 2 minutes down the street from the T-Ball field we just finished playing at.
See friends from school and parents who I actually like and thought, why not watch their game a bit and have our lunch and change for soccer (not in that order, but all could get done in a lot less than an hour). And that is just what we did.

12:20 PM -

With lunch in our tummy's and all dressed and ready for soccer, we get to the field and are ready to play.
Great clinic (the kids call it practice, the adults call it the soccer clinic because it is 1/2 hour of teaching time by pro soccer players and coaches).
Great game! One of the best I have seen, they are starting to get the hang of "finding space" which is a hard thing to do with Kindergarten age girls.

1:40 PM -

Soccer is over and we are in the car. I call mom to see if she is ready for me to pick her up for an Open Studio day at the Arts Center of Westchester. I have a friend who has a studio there and I really wanted to see her work and to bring mom along to get inspired!

1:55 PM -

I have to pee. 24 ounces of DD will do that to ya. Mom is sitting on the steps and the house is all locked up...oh well, I can hold it till I get home. She opens the back door of the car to kiss Brook hello as I yell at her to get in the car or I am gonna go in my pants...she got in quick.
Does she offer to open the house? No, but that's okay, I have to go into my house anyway to bring Brook upstairs so I can take mom to the Arts Center and try to get home at a decent hour to order pizza.

2:20 PM -

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Off to White Plains

2:50 PM -

We have made it to the Center and look at the newest exhibition entitled : RUBBISH! Art and the Ecosystem and then up to the Open Studio's of other Westchester Artists, Photographers and Printers! Oh my.
I met an artist that I particularly liked and was so inspired by her work and told her that I have always wanted to do that myself, I just was never to sure as to how to begin and now I do!
It is drawing, watercolor, paper and Cutting scraps and everything I love all in one!
I was so inspired, by my friend's work and her kind words to me after telling her of all of my doubts as an artist and what my roll at the Association is and how much I have inside of me that wants to just get out after being dormant for so many years.
Mind you, I have always stayed in touch with things Art and what is out there (somewhat), I have also kept up with the crafts for school all throughout the Donna years and now the Brook years, uh, the present. But now I am feeling so much more, and hopefully sooner than later, my precious few readers, I will show you what I mean, through my art!
Here's to inspiration! And it came to me all before 5:40 PM!

Saturday Savant Spot

I have finished Inkspell and am ready for Inkdeath the last installment of the Inkheart series of books by Cornelia Funke.
Published by Scholastic, truly a masterpiece in the making.
A brilliant world that every Savant dreams about entering just once in their lifetime. To actually be in your favorite story? Live your life with the lives you have only read about in a book?
A book lovers read.



Fantasy, action, adventure, family, death. Just my kind of read.

In this installment, Dustfinger gets his wish, he is read back into his story, into his life and we see what he has been missing for over 10 years!
His family, his wife, daughter (he had 2 daughters but one died before he gets back into his story, the original Inkheart). We meet his friends and other "strolling players", The "Barn Owl" the Inkworlds doctor/Sawbones, the fairies, we walk through the Wayless Woods, meet the Black Prince and his bear. Cosimo the Fair comes back from the dead and Her Uglyness looses her awful birth mark on her face to be known just as Violante.

Just when Meggie, gets her mother back from the Inkworld and back to their story is when she gets sucked into the Inkworld herself with Farid, the boy who was pulled out of his story by Mo AKA Silvertongue and Meggie's father. She realizes she has her fathers gift of reading things (and people) in and out of stories, bringing the pages of ink to life.

Meggie and Farid's search for Dustfinger and Fenoglio, (the author of Inkheart) to get her back to her story and Farid back with Dustfinger, was no easy task, but they reunited and then the fun begins!
Elinore is held captive in her own home with Darius, Mo and Resa (Meggie's mother) get read back into Inkheart, and you have no idea what I am talking about, but you want to!

Fabulous read! I am so thrilled to start Inkdeath, and in the immortal words of Farid, "This story shall have a happy ending, I swear."


Happy reading!

Photo Phriday

Don't even think about taking my nuts!
What did you see?

Goodbye Micki...

Goodbye my beloved friend.
You were so loved and beautiful.
We are so sad to see you go.
I am hoping you had a wonderful life with us.
You will be forever in our hearts.

Micki
8/1/1989-5/13/2009
RIP

Train Tuesday

There are pros and cons to commuting
Pros: Cons:
P:Someone else is driving C: You are not driving
P:You can sleep, eat, read, drink C: If you sleep, you might miss your stop
P:The down time is nice C: Scheduling sucks
P:Don't have to drive in bad weather C:Have to walk and carry more items
in bad weather

Any way you slice it, it has its good and bad attributes.
This week was yucky, not for the riding but the weather.
It was a wet, rainy, misty day and it made for a miserable commute.

First, waiting for the bus, always a pleasure...NOT.
I drop off Brook at school, park my car to catch the bus, what, back the train up, you have a car yet take the bus to the train? The reason for this is sheer mathematics, it costs $8.00 less to take the bus to the train than for me to take my car and park it in a lot for 10 hours.

It is misting out, really need the umbrella for the frizz factor, but for nothing else.
I have a "regular" bus rider tell me to "put down my umbrella, its not raining", uh, who are you and why are you talking to me? Do I need to explain the frizz factor to you?

I get to the station with 4 minutes to spare, that is truly a lifetime when waiting for a train in the rain. Bought my ticket and was all ready to rock and roll. Of course, its late.
My hair is frizzing by the second now and looking like I didn't even blow dry it at all.
Oh well, its raining. Everyone looks like a drowned rat.
Train finally pulls in and we are on our way.
Smooth sailing, rather, smooth railing, and out we all go, like cattle heading out to pasture for a day then back into the big rolling cars that take us to designated stops at designated times.
I am done with another fun day at work and when I say FUN I mean FUN. I work with my cousin so it really is fun. and off I run for the 5:59pm, which I miss by 3 minutes...3.
I make my way (out of breath) to the 6:18pm train which is on the upper level, and little ol me just ran to the lower level and now needs to make her way right back up there again!
I get on the train and find an available 1 seater (score) because I know this train is gonna get packed and was I right!
This train was standing room only! (score again, nee nee neener neener) ya snooze, ya loose.
Happily I read while railing home and had happy thoughts of another smooth trip.

It was only drippy rainy by this time of night when I departed the train, rather, derailed, walked up to find my darling husband and beautiful little girl waiting for me along with 20 cabs vieing for just the right spot to pick up the weary commuter and that was that.

Not too eventful

May 10th, 2009

It's Mother's Day, so I am wishing all my fellow moms a real good one! Rest, Relax and just relish the fact that you are a Mom and can do or say whatever the hell you want and won't get in trouble for saying it like it is because its Mother's Day!

Photo Phriday: The Outdoor Version

The sun is out, finally!
After a long week of rain rain and more rain, I took advantage of it and drove to Glen Island with my XL DD coffee, 3 Splenda and half and half (in case you ever wanted to surprise me with some, it is always welcome in my house) and sat for a few, this is what I saw.

What did you see?

Train Tuesday

This was the first time, EVER, that I got on a rush hour morning train and a rush hour evening train and the cars I chose to sit in were so quiet you could hear a pin drop!
The only noise came from the conductor announcing where were were stopping next and the stops afterwords.

Both were packed, not a seat was empty and people were even standing.

I realized this when I was reading (Inkspell, by Cordelia Funke, fabulous book #2 of the Inkheart series of books, just fabulous) that it was ever so quiet and I felt as if I had joined in the pages of my book and I was in the Wayless Woods trying to save my parents with my written and spoken words...

This has NEVER happened, at least not on the same day.
I have been lucky to get on a morning train and it is quiet except for the rustling of newspapers and magazines, maybe the crumpling of a bagel wrapper or paper bag.
But the evenings ride was chaos, what child wasn't screaming or what meeting had to be rescheduled, or the loud ass bimbo on her cell phone making sure the entire car of people heard what an idiot her boyfriend was and that she was not missing "Idol" again because of him.
I was quite fortunate this week!

June 12th, Are You Ready?

Now I have just about had it with the "Switch to Digital TV" and "Are you ready?" commercials.

What is the big hairy deal?

If you don't have Cable, ViOS, Direct TV, Satellite TV or whatever service is offered in your neck of the woods, then where do you live? Under a ROCK!

I am sure we are ALL ready, except a few of the blue hairs that are still living at home with their caregivers who, by the way, have been telling them that "TV is really going to stick around a little longer," and that their radio tube has been on the fritz and that is why all the static.

Those converter boxes are such a ploy to the aged, it just isn't right. Charging these poor people so much for not upgrading their old tube tv's or their rusted old antenna up on the roof. The bunny ears on the tops of those sets have been collecting dust bunnies of their own for goodness sakes!

So, I implore you, if your mom or dad is a blue hair and refuses to get Cable, ViOS or DTV...just get it for them and tell them nothing! Show them how to use the remote and make a clean getaway!

They will never notice the change has been made! You have till June 12th! Hurry it up now!

Not your Typical Saturday

My usual Saturday consists of T-Ball then Soccer right after, today though, soccer was cancelled due to rain so we just had T-Ball.
Today also happened to be Team Picture Day.
Now, mind you, I could have taken all these myself and not fall for the hype and pay for them, but it is Brook's first year and the package I got was for the Team Shot, Magazine Cover and 2 Magnets (The package cost me $26.00, what a racket) It is her first time for goodness sakes, besides I want to compare them with mine.
I took my own pictures (of course) and want your opinion good reader.
Could I do this for a living or what?



The Single




The Sportsmen 2009

Aren't they cute?

Here are some candid shots of the players and my Brook...







This is the best, what faces!
This is what it really is...youth sports, what fun, and the best photo ops EVER!

Photo Phriday: A Room with a View

And oh what a view!
This is what I see from my job in NYC.
What did you see?