How fast they grow up...

Last week, 2 of my nephews had graduations. One from high school, and one from jr. high. The older one I just gave money. What else does an 18 year old want? The other, the 14 year old, is very into theater. He only wanted to see RENT on Broadway. So, being the very cool aunt that I am, I surprised him with 2 tickets to the show. I thought "how cool to spend the entire day, just the 2 of us, in NY...lunch, show, dinner, shopping...whatever he wants." So, this weekend, that's just what we did.

...with one exception. Scott thought it would be much cooler to spend the day in NY...lunch, show, dinner, shopping, whatever he wants...

With his friend, Jake...

and hey, even cooler that I would tag along to drive and pay for everything.

So that's what we did. And quite honestly, it was a pleasure. After the show (at $120 a pop may I add, because I wasn't taking any chances on not getting good tix) the boys informed me that the show was OK, but they liked the movie better. Could have saved myself a few buck there, but hey, dinner will be great.

So, we went to a really nice place and the only criteria I had for choosing this particular place is that they have crab legs, because they are Scott's favorite, and I wanted him to be able to order them. Try taking two 14 year old boys to a place where the decor consists stuff like this...

After the hysteria that followed...they ordered their crab legs. Then they ordered another order of crab legs each, like this was an "all you can eat" buffet. But at least the conversation with my precious nephew was flowing over dinner...

...when he wasn't texting his friends about the x-rated decor in the restaurant that his incredibly cool aunt took him to.

So, off to Dylan's Candy Bar for $15 sundaes and all the candy they could buy.

All kidding aside, we had a great day...Scott and Jake had a blast, and so did I. But next time, its movies and Red Lobster...and I spend the rest at Bloomingdales.

Before you know it...

Before you know it, Sanja will look like this from all of this exercise!!!!........

This is the week I start.......

So this was the week I designated as the week I start to work out....Day one I do "THE FIRM" fabulous workout. Day two I run and walk and do some interval training. All is good. Day three I continue with another "Firm" tape and doing well. Day four some more running and walking and my muscles seem to be in ok shape....I can still walk up and down steps. Day FIVE I decide I am going to work out with a friend; who by the way is an aerobics instructor/trainer. So we do core training for 1 1/2 hrs, ok I am tired my muscles are a little weak....but I am feeling like I could handle anything so we go for a run/walk for another 1 1/2 hours.....WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND does that? You guessed it...little ole me. I am only hoping that tomorrow I wake up and I can still walk down the steps in the morning....because TOMORROW I REST!

Stress Reliever...

click on this...it's actually fun for some reason...

<http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf>

40 and Fabulous...or at least WE think so...

My friend Elise turned 40 today, so we took the kids to the beach to hang out with her family, and a bunch of our other friends. There were probably about 6 or 7 families together, and it was a great day for a birthday celebration.

But don't you hate it when you show up to a party in something totally fab, and someone has on the same outfit as you???





How embarrassing.


At first they tried to ignore each other, and hoped that no one would notice...



But then they realized that they were just two divas with impeccable fashion sense, and if anyone didn't like it, they could f*@% off.



Once we got past that awkward moment, all of us 40ish and almost 40ish hot mamas decided to leave the husbands and kids on the beach so that we could go to the Greenhouse for a celebratory drink or 3.




Yes, that's me on the left with my arm flab strategically positioned behind my friend's hat.


And my friend in the hat is drinking a drink called "The Pain in the Ass." Really, that's what it says on the menu. And this is not a misnomer (see previous post about misnomers.)




The Greenhouse is a happening hangout for the mid-20's crowd at night, the same crowd that hangs on this beach during the day. People who don't refer to places as "happening hangouts." People like this guy...




Lots of waxed chests and bare asses in thongs on this beach. We reminisced about when we used to hang out on this beach. It seems that every decade we move down a block. We now sit 2 blocks away from this, the Washington Ave. beach.

As we were leaving, a bit tipsy and giggling, we started chatting with this group next to us.





They asked if we had kids. My friend replied, "yes, I have four," to which the usual (and true) response is "wow, you look awesome...way too young to have kids, let alone four of them!" However, this young man responded very poorly by saying "wow, four kids...are any of them our age?"



It was a bit of a buzz kill, but we laughed. And we laughed some more as we walked back to the beach, past the block of 20 somethings with the bare chests and exposed asses, and past the block of 30 somethings, with the infants crying and tiny tots screaming about the sand and the heat, to our perfect block of 40 somethings. Our kids are old enough to be enjoying the beach and the ocean, and our husbands are almost responsible enough not to let this happen while we were gone...


Ah, yes...our 40's will be fabulous...

I see an amazing decade ahead.

Managing Expectations, or Whats in a name?

What a beautiful Friday night to do some fun stuff with the kids. First, I let them pick their favorite restaurant for dinner. Big mistake.

What would you expect from Friendly's? A nice, welcoming staff; friendly, smiling faces. People happy to see kids eating ice cream...

Ironic because everyone there was quite UN-friendly. Nasty waitress, and when I complained about how vile the ladies room was, the manager was quite Un-friendly as well. You can see by the rust dripping off the front of the building just what a fine dining establishment this is. My worst nightmare. Lets just leave it at that.

Then we decided to go play mini golf, so we went to this place...

Again, quite the misnomer, as it was neither pleasant nor in a valley. It's on a very busy highway as a matter of fact. First we were in front of this group of teenagers who, although they seemed very cute, insisted on spewing obscenities whenever they hit a bad shot, which was quite frequent.

I'm the only one who is allowed to drop the F-bomb in front of my kids. It's a perk of being a parent.

Here's Mike. With the amount of time my husband spends on the golf course, I would expect a little more prowess around the windmills and dancing chinamen in the mini golf arena...

I was less than impressed with his skills in this area.

But then Emily hit a hole in one!!

...and Jenna hit a hole in one!!!

So, ok...that part was pleasant. More than pleasant. We had a great time. But then we saw this critter...

Not sure what it was, but certainly not pleasant...a small rodent of some sort, does it really matter what it was?? And now the teenagers behind us thought I was a total freak for taking it's picture.
All in all, we had an unfriendly but ultimately very pleasant evening, on a highway.

Picture This

It is the one day of the year...OK one of the days of the year I just do not look forward to.....THE VET VISIT! The dog hides in a corner knowing his annual outing has come and he shivers and shakes but allows the collar and leash to go around his neck...the dog is just happy for the attention. NOW it's time to find the cat...why is it that cats just seem to know what is coming? The cat carrier is not even in the house yet and the cat seems to just somehow know what is coming...how do they do that? So I chase the cat from one room to another and another and another, only to finally figure out she is not sweating I AM! So I put MY tail between my legs and call my AMAZING neighbor to come and help. She doesn't believe me that my cat is NUTS! So now the two of us are prompting her with treats, she is in and out of rooms again and the dog is sitting there wondering what the heck are we doing. After several minutes of prompting and playing nice we corner the cat....we have her in a tight spot and the carrier is now visible...after a few more minutes we are pushing her in the carrier and she will not go; just a little more elbow grease and she is IN....SUCCESS! But my poor neighbor did not walk away unscathed, for her good deed she has scratches all over...and the cat did not seem to feel bad at all! We are finally on our way to the vet and the cat is making noises, the dog is panting and the radio is so loud you would have thought I was doing a jig in my car. The cat, the dog and I did survived our annual vet outing and only 364 more days until I have to do it again....think my neighbor is in again to catch the cat? I wish I had pictures....next time I am inviting our house photographer Emily over with her camera.....

Meet Emily...

Emily is my 4 year old. Apparently, she has just taken up photography. Please enjoy these samples of her work which I discovered when I found my expensive camera laying around on my deck, under a chair.

My Adorable Mom...(not a bad shot for a novice 4 year old photographer) And (you may ask yourself why my mom failed to inform me that Emily was doing head shots of her...but that's for another day...)
.



My Adorable Mom's Not-So-Adorable Shoes...


Still life of hose box and my adorable mom's elbow...




Still life of frisbee...




Artsy shot of me as seen through a chair....



And my absolute favorite...the artist's self portrait....







Camera, Shamera...
How can I ever be mad at that face???



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Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am...

Ma'am. Seems so innocent. Harmless. Four little letters (and an apostrophe) that can totally ruin a girl's day. I like to think of my friends and I as a group of red hot mamas. Late 30-somethings, to almost 40 something moms that rock. We're cute, stylish, funny, partying ladies who can crush a 20-something in more ways than one. So why is it that when someone says the words "Thank you, Ma'am," we are ready to pounce...and curl up in a fetal position and cry? One of my friends recently found her neighbors dog roaming the streets. She brought the dog home, only to be greeted by the cute 20-something son in the driveway who had the gall to say "Thank you, Ma'am." Now, my friend looked cute. Dressed, make-up, hair done, and this jerk had the audacity to continue to refer to her as Ma'am several more times during the conversation. Can't someone please tell these people to stop using that word? It's not even a word. We live in the northeast, not in the deep south. Use the right terminology for cripes sake. "Bitch" would have been better. At least its empowering. "Ma'am" is like saying, "hey, thanks you old bag who I don't find sexually enticing in any way, so why don't you go home and knit a sweater or something." Or "thanks lady, who reminds me of my mother so go take a stool softener because I know people your age start to get irregular." I mean who does this kid think he is??? The nerve!! Once we were at a pool party and my friend's 5 year old told me that her "Bubbie" has the same bathing suit as me. That stung. But at least she was only 5. And her bubbie probably did have the same suit. That was just a simple observation by a 5 year old. But I have something to say to the 20-something "boys" who choose to call us "Ma'am." We may be older, but we are not only wiser, but hotter, more experienced in MANY ways, and just altogether more fabulous than ever. As one of my other friends said...we're "Bad Ma'amma Jammas!"

The Field Trip

Well it's that time of year....we are all getting on school buses and heading to our favorite destinations.....no sarcasm here! I went to the Franklin Institute and walked and walked and walked some more....while I did have a great time keeping up with six 8 year old girls I found it was quite a challenge. I found myself counting 1,2,3,-6 every 10-15 seconds just making sure the headcount was accurate and I did not lose anyone along the way. We ran from this exhibit to that exhibit and I realized they did not care what the story behind anything was they just wanted to get to everything and run around....it's that one day free pass thing...I remember it in school...the field trip was something you looked forward to all year long. I also realized that I did get my exercise in...has anyone seen the steps at the Franklin Institute? Up and down up and down we went....it was actually nice to get back on that bus and SIT! Well I survived another field trip, the singing on the bus, the snacks, the goofing around....I remember it well....at the end of the day I may have been tired and counting only to 6 may have gotten to me during the day...BUT I was very happy to have spent the day with my daughter and the other 5 girls in the class...I realized how lucky I was to have been able to make THE FIELD TRIP!

Well back to the normal day grind today....but I will reflect and smile when I think of my field trip!