A childhood fantasy come true!

I know, I have lots to post about and I've been very lax in actually getting it out there into the great beyond. But I have to share what I did today, as I was exceptionally excited.

I went to Annie's house!


Matt took me to Monmouth University, to see the building used for both interiors and exteriors of Oliver Warbuck's house. Woodrow Wilson Hall, as it is known, has just begun a restoration process, but it is just as I expected it to be! I walked into the great hall and was about five again, believing that I was Annie. (Which had been much to the frustration of my parents... I refused to be called anything other than Annie, if you please!) It was such fun to see it for real!

We wandered all over and took pictures and poked in and out of rooms. While there, I texted my dear friend Marisa, who actually went to school there, and she clued me in to a few key locations... which we snuck into. :)

We also poked around the library, which is apparently haunted! It was exceptionally hot today, but this was such a fun surprise adventure. Yay!
(Pictures are to follow, I promise. I took a lot.)

Thoughts in my brain...

Tiredness, frustration, disgust, fear, anxiety, self loathing.

There is always time for shoes...

...even when you're supposed to be doing schoolwork. ;)

These are my new sandals... they are Birki's Tahiti Paisley Rose. My first pair of Birkenstocks ever. They came home with me from the Windmill in upstate New York. Yay.

Still here.

Hey. Still here. Just taking a graduate class every day for two weeks. It's good and I am enjoying it - Music and Storytelling in the morning and Theatre/Playwriting in the afternoon. Intense sessions and then journaling and fear of the end when all work gets sent away for grading.

I'm around. You can call me or email me and whatever. I am still (somewhat) social. But I'm busy.

There's been a lot to post about and I had wanted to start a project, but it isn't the right time for that... although the overachiever in me wants it all to somehow fit in.

So things like this will have to wait until there's time.

Talk to you soon...

BBQ Family Fun!

On June 1st, we went to a family barbecue at my sister's house. We hadn't seen anyone in a while, so it was good to see everyone and catch up. I had a chance to take a few pictures, especially of the youngest ones. It's not comprehensive, by any means, but several pics in the album were taken by my niece, Kaela. Enjoy!

BBQ at the Donovan's

POTD

Mmmmmm.... Garbage is tasty. Yum Yum Yum.

PS: I know I have a lot to post about, but there is so much going on with the end-of-the-year stuff. I will post a lot of stuff (a lot of pictures!) soon. Stay tuned!

Meh

I am feeling very.... Meh. And I should really go to bed. This weekend will be a busy one, and HOT and HUMID too. I'm not a fan of that. Maybe sleep will improve my mood.

Meh.

Potato-tastic!

I just learned tonight that 2008 is the International Year of the Potato. I suppose I am more in awe of this unusual food item. I read about it first on WikiHow, then I looked briefly at their own website.
It's making me want some Pommes Frites. Mmmmm.....

Yum Yum Yum....

My friend Chris gave me this recipe. She's made it several times for different barbecues and the like, and I finally got to try the recipe myself. I'll be bringing it to my sister's house for a family get-together tomorrow.
It's a Weight Watchers recipe, but everyone will like it - it doesn't taste low-fat. :)


COLD SESAME NOODLES

6 ounces chow mein noodles or spaghetti (I used lo mein noodles)
1/3 cup reduced fat smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons of ketchup
2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Asian (dark) sesame oil
2 scallions, chopped


1. Cook the noodles/spaghetti according to the package instructions; drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the peanut butter, water, ketchup, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and oil. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until well mixed. Remove from heat and cool about 10 minues.

3. Toss noodles with the sauce, sprinkle with scallions and serve. (I would refrigerate it first to let it cool and meld, but that's me... it's also excellent the next day.)

Makes 8 Servings (For midgets, as Chris says!)
Points value of 4 for a 1/3 cup serving.

A trainwreck.... er, boatwreck.

My mom showed me this gem. Enjoy.

Previous Post....

Can you see the picture in the post below? Please let me know if you can or can't by leaving a comment. Thanks!

POTD

I saw this the other day at the supermarket. It made me smile. (Sent via Sprint Phone)

Prom Queen?

We enjoyed the prom on Friday. It was loud and crazy with kids dancing up a storm. We were going to do the traditional prom thing and head to the shore, but it didn't quite work out, which ended up being fine. If you're interested in pictures they are in my online album along with the few pictures I took on our anniversary when we went to the opening night of the NJ Shakespeare Theatre's production of Comedy of Errors. (It was excellent, and a great surprise from my sweetheart!)

A Blast From My Past... two POTDs!

In my enthusiasm for the upcoming prom, I was looking through old pictures of mine and came across the pictures from the two dances I attended in high school. Let me tell you, it was good for a laugh! The first, with me in the "eggplant" colored dress, is the Holiday Ball my senior year - December 1996. I went with my friend Dante, and we had a fun time.

The second, with me in a "Cinderella blue" dress, was my Senior Prom - June 13, 1997. Friday the 13th. There was a lot of drama of many varieties and pouring rain, but it was still fun and I celebrated my 18th birthday as the prom ended. I attended with my friend Raab, shown here with a cane.... as a prop. But it was funny when we entered the crowded hallway at the hotel - he didn't go to our school, so people didn't know if the cane was real or not. People all cleared out of the way! HA!

I recently bumped into Raab at "free cone night" at Ben & Jerry's, of all places. We haden't seen each other in years! Small world, no?

Enjoy a laugh at my expense. I did!

A Vacation Walk

Whilst here at the shore, enjoying some alone-time, I decided to take a walk to the water yesterday. It's not far, and was nice to get out and enjoy some nice weather. Here are some photos from my journey.....

The album is here if you're interested in seeing the captions.

POTD

It's been a while since there's been a POTD. This one was taken with my phone (my newest camera!) at Ikea a few weeks ago. I will leave off any comments about it at the moment. :) Enjoy!

Photography Update

I've been very lax in uploading pictures lately... partially because my new camera's card doesn't fit into the reader on my laptop! But that's no excuse, really. :)

Here are a few updates from recent events:

Easter: We were at my sister's house and enjoyed a great meal and family time. Matt brought these cool balloon-pinwheel things and we played with them outside with my niece and nephew. There was also some fierce Wii playing in the basement after dinner... but all in good fun!

Watkins Glen trip: Here are the long-ago promised pics of the trip, including the visit to the Krispy Kreme store!

Lastly, this past weekend we went to the Grover Cleveland Birthplace - a part of the NJ Parks Passport to Adventure Program. It was a nice visit, complete with an extremely extensive tour/lecture from the volunteer on duty. She was an interesting lady, who had been a high school history teacher, college professor/administrator, involved in town politics (we guess Mayor from the sticker on her car) and now volunteer historian. The house isn't large, but we actually stood in the room that Grover Cleveland was born in. He is the only president that has been born in NJ, although he lived most of his life in NY and elsewhere. It was a lovely spring day and we enjoyed ourselves, not only visiting the house, but wandering in the area, going to a book sale, and getting some lunch as well. A nice little local adventure! Pictures are here!

Like, OMG!

On Friday, May 16th, I'm heading to my second prom. I only went to one in high school (my senior prom) but not because I didn't want to... because I had no one to go with. I went to one other formal in HS... the Holiday Ball (again senior year), but that was it. We didn't do casual/semiformal dances. Then in college it was worse!! I wanted to go to the formals (each year at Christmastime, known as "Turner Hill" for the location or "The dance formally known as Turner Hill" when the venue changed) but again.... I was cursed with no date - which was the theme of college for me! How sad I sound!

But now I get to go with a really good date... my high-school (teaching) sweetheart! We'd talked about it before, but the other day when I came to visit him at school, Matt asked me to the prom. I shrugged and said, "Whatever" in true high-schooler form. :)

I'm really excited to go! It's going to be so much better than my prom, which was cursed with sadness, rain, drama... all on a Friday the 13th. I don't have to worry about all of the stupid stuff or what other girls are wearing or how my hair looks. I can go and have a good time observing the silliness of high schoolers in a tradition that spans the test of time.

He, he! I'm going to the prom, I'm going to the prom!

Free, free, wheeeeeeee!

If you know me at all, you know I love a bargain... and something free is even better.

Tomorrow, April 15th, is tax day. And Dunkin' Donuts has something for each of us.... a free donut! I already have plans to get a coffee. Maybe I'll get a chocolate glazed and eat just half. :)

Coming soon.... Free Scoop Night on 4/29 and 31-Cent Scoop Night on the 30th! (I'll have to do a lot of Zumba to burn that off!)

tired

Feeling very tired, and it makes me a bit blue. (hence the color choice.) I often feel tired... it is something I just have to accept about my life. I don't sleep enough. I run like a crazy person a lot for work. I worry a lot, which is tiring. I take pills that help keep me healthy, but also make me tired. But sometimes the tiredness just catches up with you and you wish you could just disappear somewhere quiet, warm, and cozy and just sleep and sleep and sleep until all of that tiredness disappears. But the kicker is that often too much sleep will... shock of shocks... make you tired. So it seems to be a vicious cycle.

Time apparently flying also is something that adds to tiredness. This past week simply flew. That's both good and awful. This whole year has flown by... it feels like it was Christmas yesterday (practically) and spring break is almost upon me. As soon as spring break is over, school will be a race to get a million things done in what will seem like a week's time. And I will worry and stress and flip out more which will lead to... more tiredness. Oy.

They always tell you as a kid to enjoy the fact that life goes slow in childhood because it speeds up as you get older. That is so amazingly true... but I never expected it to go this fast. I feel so left behind in it - I can't keep up with the speed of things around me, which is why I struggle to get anything and everything accomplished. I can only manage the "must-do" things and everything else seems to be left on the sidelines, piling up. This is hard to deal with and I then stress and worry about that, too. And you already know where that can lead...

So now in my bone-tired and blue state, I will attempt to prepare my stuff for this week's work-week, clean my bathroom and hopefully make myself lunch for tomorrow and sort through some files and clutter on my floor... things being listed in the order that they might be accomplished. I'll be surprised if I get through the first two, even though I want to do them all.

Yawn.