Gotta love vacations!

My sister has a place at Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island this week with her family - she was nice enough to invite me and my family to stay with her for a few nights. We went down on Sunday and the kids and I slept over 2 nights. We had an absolute blast! Our friend Missy and her husband and 2 adorable little girls stayed there Saturday night. When we got there Sunday, the weather was crappy - thunder and lightning off and on, rainy, etc. But we made the best of it, and we actually had a blast! This is going to be a mostly photo-blog! I had the LONGEST day at work today and I'm just beat, but I had to share these with you all!!! I am just lovin' my new camera!!!


This is my handsome nephew Eric, he's 17 1/2. The next one is Cassidy and Josh being silly - trying to entertain themselves. Then last is Josh and Trevor, being goofy. I'm sure they didn't expect their first day at the beach to be raining and thundering!



My friend Missy is very competitive. So is my daughter, Cassidy. They decided to do a word-find book, and mother-of-god you would have thought they were playing at the high stakes table or something! LOL That's Calli in the middle, Missy's older daughter, she's 7 and an absolute angel. The bottom picture is my goober daughter arguing with Missy over word-find. I'm telling you, we almost had to make them wear protective gear. The funniest part was that Michelle sat down and whooped all their butts'. hee hee Nice job, sis.



Watch out, Molli! Molli is Missy's younger daughter, she's 4 and completely precocious, I just love her to pieces. She almost got knocked off her feet by a wave, but she caught herself just in time. The bottom picture is Eric holding a dead jellyfish - ewwwwww!


This was the sky at the beach - yeah, we just let our kids go swimming in thunderstorms. I made them put down the lightning rod while I took pictures, though. Seriously - we stood there going "wow, it's so dark - wow - look at the sky... oh shit, is that coming this way? KIDS - COME ON, RUN!!!" and we boogied our butts back the 3 blocks to the cottage. Good times, man, good times.



Back at the cottage, Molli and Calli posing with Cassidy - Trevor teaching Molli to throw gang signs.... OK I have to say this, Trevor cannot stand children. Molli, however, is not like most children. Molli will serve it to you on a silver platter with a side of whoop-ass, and I think Trevor likes that about her. She's cute, but do NOT piss this child off. Trevor respects that.


Eric and Josh are a riot - they both let the little girls paint their nails. They were so good-natured and we were all cracking up.



Showing off the finished product, and Trev hiding his face and shaking his head at all the femininity going on around him (did I just make up a new word?) - pay no attention to Cassidy in the picture with the piece of tape hanging out of her mouth... I haven't learned how to crop yet:


Let me tell you, the funniest part was when they asked for nail polish remover - no one had any!!! ha ha ha ha ha


We had much nicer weather the next day, as you can see:


The kids went crabbing, here is Trevor right in there with them, he's so freaking brave:



Look what he found - a green crab!



and a hermit crab:

Here's me and Cassidy - being goofy and then a good one:

So we had an absolute blast and the kids were so good and I am so glad we went. It was really the only "vacation" we are getting this Summer - at least the only one where we actually sleep somewhere else! LOL I am so appreciative to my sis and her family for sharing their vacation with us.

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Just stuff

I had the weirdest dreams last night. I tend to have weird dreams when I'm upset, stressed, or have my mind on lots of things. I have been a little stressed at work, and Trevor has been driving me crazy this past week. He's turning 15 on Wednesday and seems to have turned into Mr. Joe Cool overnight! Well, OK, not overnight- over the past couple of months actually. I don't think I like teenagers, I think I'd like them to go back to being the cute little 2- and 4-year olds they once were. Can I exchange them back for these little angels?

No? I didn't think so, but it was worth a shot. Nah, I'm just kidding - my kids are actually really good kids. I think it would probably be weird if they NEVER gave me a hard time, right? I mean, isn't it a teenager's job to drive their parents crazy? I'll tell you what, though - perspective is a wonderful thing. It seems like when I'm just about at my wits' end, something happens to make me realize that I really am pretty lucky. This morning I was sitting here moping and my sister called to tell me about a man whose 12-year-old son died of a weird virus last week - something that went to his brain and there was nothing they could do - so he was perfect healthy one day, and died a week later. THEN - a few days later - this same man's god-daughter, 2 years old, died in her family swimming pool. I mean, talk about making me feel like an ass for sitting around feeling sorry for myself. Perspective, I tell you.

So yesterday was like a billion degrees out, and I had to work at Freshman Orientation (I work at a college). It wasn't bad, though, we got to do our thing in the only air-conditioned building, so that was good. I was home by a little after 2:00, and I took the kids to my parent's to go swimming. My 33-year-old brother and his 7-year-old son live with my parents. Without going into too many depressing details, let's just say my brother has not really grown up yet. So anyway, my nephew's name is Christopher and he's a cute kid. But he's spoiled rotten and him and Trevor just do not get along. I'm sure a lot of it is the age difference, they are 8 years apart after all. It makes it difficult to be there when he's there, though, because one of them is always annoying the other.

But here's how I see it: my kids love their grandparents. My parents work full-time, so we don't get to see them on a regular basis or anything. Christopher lives there, so he does get to see them every single day. I understand that Chris loves his cousins and gets excited when they come over, but sometimes we just want to visit nana and papa and sometimes my kids just want them all to themselves. My kids want to feel like they are special when they visit their grandparents - and they sometimes want to be able to visit without Christopher being there. I understand this and I don't blame them - Christopher, after all, gets them all to himself the majority of the time, but I don't think anyone else thinks of that. They expect my kids to "understand the situation" - now my kids are older, but they are still kids, you know? They are not adults, and they do not understand the situation. They know Christopher and Jimmy live there, but they still don't really understand why that means we can NEVER visit without them being there.

Trevor, especially, has a hard time when Chris is there. You also have to know that Trevor adores and idolizes his papa, and he wants to be able to sleep over papa's house once in a while. He will ask my parents "When is Christopher not going to be here, so I can sleep over?" My mother actually gets mad at this, and here's where my frustration lies. WHY SHOULD MY KIDS NEVER GET TO HAVE THEIR GRANDPARENTS TO THEMSELVES? Why should Trevor be made to feel like shit because he wants to sleep over his grandparents house ONCE (this does not happen on any kind of a regular basis - I'm talking like once or twice per YEAR) and he doesn't want to have to share his grandparents with his cousin who gets them EVERY DAY? Do you see what I'm saying here? Am I just being a bitch? I really don't think so. Some days I can handle it better than others. Most of you reading this know that I HATE confrontation and I usually will swallow my anger, tears, etc. simply for the sake of not fighting/arguing. I hate it. But I won't lie - it's not easy and it absolutely SUCKS feeling so heartbroken and angry. And it really sucks because it has even made ME feel differently about Chris. I have 3 nephews - Eric and Josh are my sister's kids and I love them like they are my own. I don't feel the same way about Christopher. Don't get me wrong, I love him very much - but I look forward to when he is NOT going to be there. I resent him - I resent that my kids can't enjoy a visit to nana and papa and get to have them all to themselves. I resent that Trevor is made out to be a brat just because he wants to have a sleep-over with his favorite papa without Christopher being there. I resent that when we do show up and Christopher is either not home or has plans - they CALL HIM HOME OR CHANGE THE PLANS SO HE CAN STAY! Now you wouldn't mind - but every stinkin' time, they end up mad at my kids! It's absolutely ridiculous and infuriating and I don't know how much longer I can bite my tongue. It's certainly not like it's just my kids being mean to Christopher - all they have to do is LOOK at him and he's whining that they did something to bother him. He's learned that he can do that and they can get in trouble - so he takes full advantage. Then he'll say "auntie Jenn, can I come over your house?" and I can't help but burst out laughing. I mean, are you serious? There is no way I'd want him at my house - he can't even stand my kids! This kid is used to getting his own way all the time. So if he doesn't get to play what he wants to play, eat what he wants to eat (McDonald's), whatever, then he whines and makes a fist and just acts like a complete spoiled brat. I have no tolerance for that crap, and it truly hurts me to feel like my mother doesn't even make an effort to understand why my kids are jealous. I'm just really irritated today and I needed to vent, so you're all the lucky recipients of my whining. HA!

PHEW - OK - so here are some new pictures of the teenage monsters and us, enjoying our Summer!

Jeremy - ready to kill me and break my new camera! hee hee

Me and the girl

Papa with Trevor and Josh - all of 'em being silly and having fun.

Peace - Jenn

If I were a rich girl....

la la la la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I'd have all the money in the word, if I were a wealthy girllllll....

Gwen Stefani can sing about it all she wants, but I doubt girlfriend quite has the same money woes as us common folk. Ya hear me? *sigh*

So I finally got my much-anticipated "economic stimulus refund check" and gosh darn it, I did just what that dumb-ass George W. wanted me to do - I spent it! Oh it's easy to say "Nope, I won't do it - I'll put into my 401K and pretend I never got it...." YEAH, RIGHT! That thing went so fast, my debit card is still smoking. But damn it, I had an awesome time pretending I was a rich girl for one night!

OK, OK, I'll admit it - I spent the majority of it on oil and bills. But I made myself take a little bit for each of us and bought us something FUN! It's surprisingly hard to do that, I realized! I felt especially guilty buying MYSELF something just for pleasure, and then I realized how absolutely STOOOOPID that is! I work hard, I pay my bills, I live my life for my family and others. I deserve to be able to spend money on myself without feeling like I'm about to lose my lunch! Sooooo.... I did some research online and found the digital camera that I wanted. I checked out ratings and stuff and decided on the Canon PowerShot A590IS:


I took the kids to Walmart and Target and realized that it would cost me at least $30-$50 more if I bought it at a store versus online. So I came home and ordered it on amazon.com, got free shipping and everything. Cassidy was funny, she kept saying "Don't you want it NOW??" and she couldn't believe I was going to walk out of Target without it. I told her I do want it now, but saving $50 is worth waiting a few days to me! My camera should arrive on Monday, and I'll hopefully be posting lots of cool pictures.

So thanks, George Dub-Yah! I'm happy to help you "make sure that there is certainty during uncertain times in our economy." (George W. Bush, June 2, 2008) *sigh* Are the EIGHT YEARS almost up yet? ;o)

Happy Independence Day!

OMG - it's been over a week since I posted anything here!!! It's not that I've had nothing to say (ha! AS IF!) - it's just that I had to go back to work on Monday. :o( Yes, I know, feel bad for me. Poor Jenn has to WORK for a living. *sigh* Anyway, you can imagine how much catching up I had to do after taking two weeks off. Luckily, I do enjoy my job - so that makes it a little easier to get up and come here every day, for sure!

So anyway - happy 4th of July, y'all! Any big plans for this weekend? I love Independence day. I am wearing white pants with a red shirt and I painted my toenails blue - Jeremy made fun of me for 1/2 hour this morning, but damn it, I look cute! LOL We are going to our friends' house today as soon as I get out of work, we're hoping they let us out a little early today (and let me tell you, it is NOT easy to type with crossed fingers!) - so as soon as I can leave, we're heading there. The town that they live in is having a fireworks display tonight, so we're going to stay for that, should be fun! Tomorrow we are planning on going to my mom's for the day. Cassidy will be going to Rhode Island with a friend, so it'll just be me and Jeremy and Trevor. My sister and her family are going to the beach, so it'll be a quiet day. I hate when she does stuff like that - I hate it for purely selfish reasons. I want my sister there with me. We have so much fun together - you'd think we'd get sick of each other, we work together all week, etc. - but nope, I still hate when she can't come to family stuff, I miss her! hee hee So anyway, then on Saturday we're going to another friend's house for a cookout/birthday party. So we have a busy weekend! This is why I love Summer, though - I am like a hermit all winter, and I finally enjoy going out and having a good time in the Summer. I'm not a drinker, either, but you can bet I'll be enjoying a few cocktails this weekend!



Hopefully, I'll have some new pictures to share after my fun-filled weekend! Hope you all have a lovely weekend, drive safely, watch out for lunatics and drunk drivers, and wear sunblock! Mom has spoken! Peace!

Why I love Summer!

I was born and raised in New England, where we are "lucky" enough to experience four seasons. I love Fall because I love the way the trees turn colors, you get a beautiful view just driving to work every day for a few weeks! I love burning leaves and wood, I love the kids starting a whole new year of school, I love the crispness in the air. I love Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie, Halloween - there is really nothing like Fall in New England.

But I hate winter - there, I said it. I'm a bad New Englander. But I'll never leave, ask my husband. He tries to convince me to move away every now and then. He romances me with talk of warmer climates year-round, no need for snow tires or winter coats. But I am a huge baby and I could never leave my family - I gots roots, damn it! And they are staying put. But I hate winter - did I say that already? Oh sure, you got Christmas and New Year's Eve - the only FUN parts about this wretched season! And OK, the first snowfall is gorgeous, blanketing everything in a shimmering layer of glittery white powder. But it's a tease, I tell you. Within 2 days, that lovely white powder turns into blackish/brownish ICKINESS - and it covers the streets, the sidewalks, the freaking TREES!!! Then there's driving in it - you got 2 types of New England winter drivers: the ones who think they are invincible and just because they have lived in New England their whole lives, snow and ice don't affect them. They act as if there is no snow or ice on the ground. Scary. The others are the ones who act as if they have NEVER driven on snow or ice in their lives! Also scary and very irritating - especially when the roads are dry and the first flakes are falling and you're driving to work at 7:30 a.m. and the moron in front of you is going 15 mph and keeps slamming on their brakes!

PHEW - I got myself all worked up there for a minute, having winter flashbacks! OK - so as you can see, I am NOT a fan of winter. I mean, LOOK at it, look at those ugly bare branches sticking accusatorily towards the sky!?! YUCK!

Spring - ah, Spring. The green buds start poking through on the trees and get us all excited. See the green buds on the trees behind my crazy daughter? Then we have torrential down-pours that wash away all that blackish/brownish ICKINESS that winter left behind, so THAT'S ok! Then the buds come out some more, and the days start getting longer again and we don't want to go to bed at 7:00 anymore (because it got dark out at 3:30 for Christ's sake and our biological clocks were all messed up!). Then my sinuses start to swell and my face throbs and YES - Spring is here, baby! I get through it, and you know why? Because it means that SUMMER is right around the corner!


SUMMER - MY FAVORITE!!!! I absolutely, whole-heartedly adore Summer. First, you gots your SUN and warm weather, like, 90% of the time. Everything is fully green and filled in, you can smell fresh-cut grass on any given day, and everyone is in a better mood. It's true, you know! Sunshine helps produce serotonin in our bodies - serotonin is a "feel-good" chemical - so when you have reduced amounts of serotonin being produced, you can feel depressed or just plain old down. There is actually a disorder called SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder - that some people get mainly during the winter months, when their bodies are creating less serotonin! They feel depressed, lethargic, they gain weight, and have no energy. So once Summer comes and that serotonin starts pumping back up again - you can't HELP but feel good!!! Here are some more reasons why Summer is my favorite season:

the Beach

Sunglasses



Pool fun!

I love cookouts and parties that take place mainly outside (as long as there is an INDOOR bathroom that I can use - I have a "thing" about port-o-potties, OK?), I love putting away all of the winter clothes, and never having to wear socks. I love thunderstorms, I love the way the sun shines all day and then the cool night air makes it so nice for sleeping with your windows open. Now - let me say this before I get knocked upside the head (probably by my friend Linda) - I am definitely NOT a fan of the heat waves and/or high humidity that we get at least once or twice each Summer. But to me, it's a small price to pay for having Summer! Well, I mean that figuratively - because it's really quite a large price to pay when you have to run air conditioners 24/7 just to be able to breathe... but I don't care, I love Summer and you can't make me change my mind!

Did I mention that my birthday also happens to be in the Summer? August 6, baby, mark the date! I love my birthday. Is that weird? So many people seem to hate their birthdays - I never understood that. But do most people get "birthday weeks"? hee hee My sister's birthday is August 9 - we are one year and 3 days apart (she's older - right, Shell? hee hee - OK well she's always ACTED older!). She's also my best friend. So you can imagine, right? We have "birthday week". We drive our families crazy for the entire week because we answer every request, every question, every statement, everything that comes out of their mouths - we answer it with "but it's my birthday week." ROFL Shell hates having her picture taken, so I don't have a lot of pics of her and I. This one is me and Shell and our friend Missy at the casino a few weeks ago. Michelle is basically average height, but Missy and I are midgets, so Shelly looks tall in this pic. LOL I love this picture, and it's the only good recent one I have of us, so here you go:

So that's why I love Summer. What's your favorite season?

P.S. Trevor (my almost-15-year-old son) just saw me blogging and saw this picture and said to make sure I mention that "no good can come of those 3 girls being together - who knows what they are up to?" ROFL I just had to share that - he's so funny. Sometimes he's like a little old man in a teenager's body!

Tag - you're it!

I have been tagged! My wonderful friend Linda over at Behind My Red Door has tagged me. I am having fun doing these things, so I hope you are enjoying reading it all!

1. Name 5 things that I do for myself:
a. Stamp!!! I love to stamp, my favorite thing to do is make cards.
b. Read - usually Stephen King books, but I also love magazines and newspapers and other novels. I just love to read, I always have.
c. Go out with my friends every once in a while. I cannot imagine life without having fun with friends every now and then!
d. Lunch at my favorite middle eastern place at least once each week during the work week - Michelle and I cannot survive without El Basha's fatoush salad with grilled chicken, and mine must have feta.... yummmm... oh man, I'm on vacation and haven't had a fatoush salad in over a week! I'm having withdrawals just thinking about it!
e. Splurge every once in a while. I bought myself a nice new cell phone a few months ago and it actually made my stomach flip-flop to spend that much money on something for ME. LOL But it felt GOOD, let me tell you.

2. Name 5 kind things I do for friends, my children or partner:
a. My kids are teenagers - I pretty much do everything for them. LOL
b. Laundry - tons and tons of laundry.
c. I try to acknowledge everyone's birthday - I have a good memory for dates, and I remember the most random people's birthdays. I almost always bring a cake to everyone in my family on their b-day, because I just think everyone should feel special that day. When they complain about being another year older, I say "Well, what's the alternative?" LOL
d. Send cards - I like to make people cards when they need it, whether it's for a happy or sad reason, I like to let people know I'm thinking of them.
e. Rub backs - my husband has a bad back and my daughter just loves backrubs, and I often indulge them both. At least Jeremy just appreciates it - Cassidy gives orders: "Softer. You've been in that same spot for too long. Use your fingertips. Go all the way up to my shoulder. Now my arms." You get the idea. LOL

3. Name 5 kind things I've done for a strangers:
a. Sent cards and gifts when they are sick through ChemoAngels and Audrey's Umbrella
b. Quite a few years ago, I volunteered with another organization online and I ran a Christmas program one year that provided Christmas gifts to over 50 children. It was awesome and wonderful and exhausting! LOL
c. Let someone get in front of me in line at the store or bank
d. Let people pull out in traffic quite often, I believe in karma and all that
e. Talked/made funny faces at/to crying babies/toddlers in stores, etc., to try to make them stop crying while the mom checked out, whatever. You know you can TOTALLY picture me doing that, huh? hee hee

4. Name 5 hobbies I enjoy:
a. Card making/rubber stamping
b. photography
c. scrapbooking
d. Blogging and reading other blogs
e. Reading

Now I get to tag others. I never thought of this, but Linda mentioned it and I figured I should, too - I never want anyone to feel annoyed at this stuff or pressured to participate. I think it's fun - if you don't, just ignore it, no biggie! I guess you're supposed to pick 5 people, but I could only come up with four right now, so here they are!

Shelly aka Jaspere - Jaspere's Little Corner
Dirty Shanks - Dirty Shanks - warning - do not click here if you are a prude or do not wish to be subjected to crude humor. I happen to think it's hysterical.
Stephanie - Stephanie's Stampin Spot
Jennifer - Glitter in my Hair

Have fun!

Randoms

I love rubber duckies, did you know that? They are just so adorable and they make me smile.
See? You know you smiled. What is cuter than a rubber ducky wearing shades? How about this guy? ROFL My daughter Cassidy is nuts - but besides that, she's like "cat girl" - all of our cats (we have 3) are hers. They follow her around and come when she calls them! This is her favorite - his name is Cubby and he's like our perpetual kitten. He's about 3 years old now but still acts like a baby. He lets Cassidy pick him up and hold him and dress him up, etc. This is him wearing sunglasses - isn't he cute? And this one on the left is him trying to use Cassidy's phone to send a text message. I swear he's part human, to tell you the truth. He doesn't make a sound unless you talk to him. Ask him a question and he'll answer you, I swear! But I'll bet you can guess why Cassidy is their favorite - see?