Joys In My Life

We had a great time.  We went to the beach (New Jersey shore), the zoo, the boardwalk, did amusement park rides, hung out at the house during nap time in the wading pool, drank some wine and ate some good food.  One night we had a girls' night and went to a local martini bar.  It was nice and relaxing.  Ready to get back to reality with work tomorrow.   I'm sure I'll have lots of emails to clean out and lots of catching up to do on projects.  It was so nice not to think about work for a whole week.  Before I get back to reality, here's some great pics from the vacation. The boys really liked playing in the sand.  Their favorite word was "rock".  They loved finding rocks and putting them in their pockets or the sand buckets. Phoebe loves playing with her boogie board in the surf.  She could stay there all day and do this.  It's a shame the boys can't keep up with her.  They were still not big fans of the water, but they lov...

First off, I'm on vacation at the shore in New Jersey.  We got here on Saturday and it's been great. Last week was a mess trying to get ready for vacation, Tommy having a fever, getting Phoebe new bathing suits and flip flops, as she wore them all out, making lists of things to bring, and finishing all the work I could before I left.  Internet access here is sporadic, and totally crazy busy.  I've been trying to post this for for the past 1/2 day now.  The boys kept losing interest in whatever they were doing the instant I sat down at the computer.  Instead of playing catch up, I'll just do todays and look to catch up later.   Day 18 – How do you feel about astrology? What’s your sign, baby, and do you think it matches your personality? Glad I didn't miss this one.  I love astrology.  I am Pisces, my husband is a Leo, Phoebe is a Libra, the boys are Gemini twins.  I'm a Pisces that is very emotional, empathetic and creative.  I tea...

I always seem to be a day behind, but now I'm caught up if I do a quick post on today's Summer Camp post. Day 11 – How are you different from your parents? How are you the same? Do your parents and/or family know that you write on-line? I'm the same as my dad, in that I'm really logical and I like to stick to the facts.  I'm also like both my parents in that I like to be goofy and have fun.  I'm like my mom in that I like things just so around my house.  I feel the best when things are organized and in the place they belong. Yes, my mom and my maternal grandmother know where my blog is and used to read it regularly.  It was one of the reasons I used to post, so that they could see updated pics of the kids and hear how crazy my life is.  I know my mom is busy with her new job, so I don't think she gets a chance to read it that much lately.  My dad knows I blog, but he doesn't have a computer, so sometimes he sees the posts I do at my mom's (the...

Day 10 – Share your favorite recipe (or two) (see! You CAN be a food blogger!) I've posted this recipe before, but this time it's with pictures!  And this is my current favorite recipe that I make (not DH). 1 1/2 cup quinoa uncooked 12 dried figs, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 2 carrots, diced 2 celery stalks, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 cup chick peas 4 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley juice from 1 fresh orange 3 Tbs olive oil few dashes of rice wine vinegar salt and pepper to taste Cook the quinoa as directed. While the quinoa is cooking, chop the figs, walnuts, carrots and celery and put in a bowl. Add the chick peas. In a separate bowl, mix the orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as your dressing. When the quinoa is cooked, mix the quinoa with the fig, walnut, veggie mixture and dressing. Serve warm or cold. This does taste great the next day, so you can make this ahead of time if you wish.

Day 9 – What is the most important lesson you learned from your own mother (or other primary caretaker)? What do you imagine the name of your Grandmother’s blog would be and what would she write about? I like this post, as I've always felt a kinship to the women that came before me in my family.  I feel like I'm a culmination of all they worked and prayed for and that those who have passed watch over me.  Anytime I ever get in a tough spot, I'll say to myself, "What would Nana Royal do?"  or something of the like.  I might also say a quick prayer to them to ask for help in what I'm going through.  I'm sure they were not perfect, but they were tough cookies and they always got things done.  I don't think there's a weak one of us in the lot.   The most important lesson I learned from my mother is that learning is a lifelong achievement, you can begin something new at any time, and education is the most important thing in being able to support you...

Day 9 – What is the most important lesson you learned from your own mother (or other primary caretaker)? What do you imagine the name of your Grandmother’s blog would be and what would she write about? I like this post, as I've always felt a kinship to the women that came before me in my family.  I feel like I'm a culmination of all they worked and prayed for and that those who have passed watch over me.  Anytime I ever get in a tough spot, I'll say to myself, "What would Nana Royal do?"  or something of the like.  I might also say a quick prayer to them to ask for help in what I'm going through.  I'm sure they were not perfect, but they were tough cookies and they always got things done.  I don't think there's a weak one of us in the lot.   The most important lesson I learned from my mother is that learning is a lifelong achievement, you can begin something new at any time, and education is the most important thing in being able to support you...

Day 9 – What is the most important lesson you learned from your own mother (or other primary caretaker)? What do you imagine the name of your Grandmother’s blog would be and what would she write about? I like this post, as I've always felt a kinship to the women that came before me in my family.  I feel like I'm a culmination of all they worked and prayed for and that those who have passed watch over me.  Anytime I ever get in a tough spot, I'll say to myself, "What would Nana Royal do?"  or something of the like.  I might also say a quick prayer to them to ask for help in what I'm going through.  I'm sure they were not perfect, but they were tough cookies and they always got things done.  I don't think there's a weak one of us in the lot.   The most important lesson I learned from my mother is that learning is a lifelong achievement, you can begin something new at any time, and education is the most important thing in being able to support y...

Again, I'm going to tackle two days of Calliope's Summer Camp again.   Day 7 – What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you read food blogs or would you ever consider writing one? I do love food and some of my blogs are like food blogs and I do read them avidly.  They give me great ideas.  Breakfast has some great foods:  coffee, chocolate croissants, blueberry pancakes, scrapple.  These are a few of my favorite things.  My DH also recently learned to make excellent crepes and he'll make them for breakfast for us with home made whipped cream, bananas, strawberries and Nutella.  Good stuff! Lunch I love salads and sushi since it's summertime.  In the winter I'm a big fan of soups.  With salads I love Newman's Own salad dressings!  Sometimes I'll have leftovers from dinner the night before.  I try to pack my lunch for work to save money and ensure I'm eating healthy. Dinner I love when DH cooks! ...

I was really brave with the boys last night.  I took them out to Friendly's for ice cream by myself.  Phoebe slept over her best friend's house last night, DH is out of town for work and I took Niki to her dance lesson.  Her lesson is only 40 minutes, so instead of turning around and going back home, I decided to take the boys out for ice cream and then to the grocery store.  Let me just tell you it was total cuteness!  They kept saying over again as we were going inside the restaurant, "Ice Keem!  Ice Keem!"  and their pleases and thank yous all over the place.  After we placed the order, peanut butter cup ice cream for me with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream hot fudge sundaes for the boys.  I let each of the boys have their own kids size ice cream sundae and I'm glad I did, because they each finished it themselves and asked for more!   I let them eat themselves and helped just a little bit.  They are getting to be such big boys. ...

I have another update in that I went and had what should be an annual physical with the doctor.  I haven't had one in about 6 to 8 years.  I'm always so busy keeping up with my annual GYN appointments, mammograms and before the boys, the reproductive doctor, so I haven't had time to make one.  I also do a good job going to the dentist every six months and the eye doctor once a year.  But I'm proud of myself for making the appointment and keeping it. I had a count of the four things I needed to make sure I talked to the doctor about.  I was afraid I might forget one of them.  They were as follows:  1.  toenail fungus,  2.  mole on back and overall skin cancer screening, 3.  seasonal allergies,  4.  anxiety.  I'm so glad I brought these all up.  The toenail issues are going to be resolved by a daily pill for the next three months.  The mole on my back is actually scar tissue from a granuloma she removed from...

Well again, I'm behind a day again, but at least it's not three days behind. So let's catch up now shall we? Day 4 – What has most surprised you about being an adult? What have you learned about yourself through blogging? Hmmmmm - I get to make up my own rules, but I knew that would happen. I guess it would be that just when you think you are as busy as you possibly can be, you figure out you can handle even more and you wonder what you were complaining about being busy before. I remember before we had children, I thought I was so busy with work and our apartment. Then you get a house, have kids, get a bigger house (that needs cleaning and maintenance) and you can juggle it all. It may not be perfection, but then again, we all need to be cured of that disease anyway. And what have I learned from blogging? Mostly that I'm not alone. Through whatever I've been working out - infertility, newborn twins, trying to live healthy - there are other people out t...

Well again, I'm behind a day again, but at least it's not three days behind. So let's catch up now shall we? Day 4 – What has most surprised you about being an adult? What have you learned about yourself through blogging? Hmmmmm - I get to make up my own rules, but I knew that would happen. I guess it would be that just when you think you are as busy as you possibly can be, you figure out you can handle even more and you wonder what you were complaining about being busy before. I remember before we had children, I thought I was so busy with work and our apartment. Then you get a house, have kids, get a bigger house (that needs cleaning and maintenance) and you can juggle it all. It may not be perfection, but then again, we all need to be cured of that disease anyway. And what have I learned from blogging? Mostly that I'm not alone. Through whatever I've been working out - infertility, newborn twins, trying to live healthy - there are other people out t...

Love the question for yesterday for Calliope's Summer Camp. It's guilty pleasures ! My guilty pleasures are as follows: dark chocolate truffles from La Maison du Chocolat whipped cream on coffee (instead of milk or cream) drinking said cup of coffee before getting the kids up TrueBlood (HBO show) Watching Bridget Jones movies over and over Bridget Jones Fan Fiction Sudoku games I'm going to go run and read everyone else's guilty pleasures!

Calliope at Creating Motherhood is doing a Summer Blog Camp for the month of July and I love that idea so I jumped on board. I missed yesterday but I'll hit on that one as as well as today. Day 1 – Provide a photo or sketch or dramatic rendering of the space where you normally blog I actually can be blogging anywhere. I can blog from home in our upstairs sitting room, in the kitchen, at my desk downstairs or even at work. Whenever I find a few stolen moments and the energy is there, I love to blog. Day 2 -What were you like in high school? What extracurricular activities, if any, did you take part in during high school? Did you consider yourself a writer? I was a geeky, punk, new-wave girl in high-school. I was very tall for where I lived (I'm about 5'8" and grew up in a very Italian neighborhood). I couldn't get a date with kids in my class to save my life. I don't know if it was my height or that I was so smart. I dated a few guys that were a...