Merry Christmas

24 Days Til Christmas

And we are off to get our Christmas tree. Every year, the tradition has been to go on the Friday after Thanksgiving to Holiday Farm and cut our own tree. However, Casey had to work both Friday and Saturday so we were left with Sunday to get the tree. We woke up to light snow and then sleet, but we decided to go anyways. Casey2 was home visiting and over early that morning. She ended up going with us. Erin pointed us to a faraway field that had a great selection of trees so off we went. For some reason they all started running.




We only got about one third of the way to our destination when we spotted the perfect tree. It was put on the cart and brought back down to the farm. It is now proudly standing in our family room beautifully decorated.

Today, Casey and I visited Neshaminy Manor nursing home with Wrapping Presence. It was a wonderful experience as always and I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful organization. My shoppers (Evelyn, Jean, Pat, and Denise) were wonderful and I was pleased to help them "shop" for their loved ones.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well this year we are not holding to our tradition of getting the Christmas tree on Friday after Thanksgiving. We couldn't go because Casey had to work that day. She is working at a jewelry store in New Hope and had to work both Friday and Saturday. So the plan is now to get our tree tomorrow (Sunday). We did however get out the decorations and I decorated the dining room, the family room mantel, and the front hall.

I love this hall table decor. The tree decorations are all my Mom's. She loved decorating her tree in all Christmas plaid. She gave me these decorations and every year, the hall table is decorated in all plaid. I have her bears that are dressed in plaid clothing and all of the decorations are plaid. This tree makes me smile every time I walk past it. As you can see, Kitty loves it too (she's sitting on the landing in the background).

Richie Havens Concert

Last night we went to see Richie Havens at the Sellersville Theatre. What an awesome night it was. That was my first ever Richie Havens concert and I was blown away. The opening act was pretty good and the guy played a 21 string guitar. Once Richie took the stage, the crowd went wild. I had no idea what to expect as I had only seen pictures of him and listened to one or two songs of his. He was incredible. I had a number of favorites and will be downloading some of them to my ipod in the next few days (after checking what Casey and Greg have on theirs).

Afterwards, because it is a very small venue, Richie would be signing autographs after the show. Larry had brought 2 record albums for him to sign so we got in line. We only had to wait about 20 minutes before the 4 of us got to meet Richie. He was a wonderful person. He took time to speak with all of us, told us a story about the album cover for Stonehenge and how they had to sneak up to it in tall grass to take the picture, and shook all of our hands a number of times. We thanked him and before we left he gave Greg a big hug. It was a night I will never forget and I have the ticket that Richie signed "To Joan, friends forever, Richie Havens". It was actually pretty funny because Larry had the albums signed (one for Greg and one for Casey), then Richie looked at me and asked if I had anything. I said no and he said "how about your ticket". I fished it out of my pocket and he signed it. Casey had him sign her ticket for Larry.

High School Junior

He's Growing Up So Fast

He's 16, 6' tall, and looking at colleges and careers. Where did my little boy go?
Last Sunday was his last baseball game. He started playing at 5 years old and has now aged out of Flemington baseball. He will probably play for fun in college, but since he plays tennis in the spring, he never plays on the school team. His team this past year was coached by Mark again and what an awesome coach. The team lost their first game by 10 runs and didn't lose another game all season. All but 2 of their wins were by 10 runs or more. Talk about a great team.

At the end of the last game Greg was given the game ball and lots of praises by his coach. His coach also asked Greg to be his assistant coach next year. What a way to finish his baseball career.



It was a lot of fun going to his fall baseball games and I was happy that Casey was able to attend a few of them. She was very happy to pose for a few pictures.

Love These Two

Casey's 20th Birthday


Greg, all almost 6' of him

Wow Where Has the Time Gone?

Yes, I have been a very bad blogger. Work, school and definitely family keeps me quite busy. It's a good busy though and I am not complaining.

As always, September and October are difficult months for me as I remember losing both my mother and father. It's been 5 years but still seems like just yesterday. I keep planning to do more with the family history, but it just doesn't seem like it gets done. I know that I need to make it a priority and I will.

More pictures to come soon and a continuation of our trip to London and Paris. I have to get that done before I leave for Thailand in December.

Another Long Interval

I have the best intentions of updating my blog, but time just slips away from me. I still have a few more days of Paris travel journeys to cover, but today I thought I would include pictures from my recent visit to the US Open.

This was Greg's birthday present this year - a trip to the US Open and it was quite a lot of fun for both of us. The weather was hot, but not overly hot. Just full sun with a bit of a cool breeze all day long. We met the chartered bus at our tennis club and enjoyed a non-eventful ride to NYC. We got to the tournament before 10:30 am which was awesome because we got to go see some of the players practicing before the start of the matches.

We saw Venus Williams warming up on the practice courts, French players Mahut and Batteau, Iva Karlovic (all 6' 10" of him serving a record 42 aces in his match), Anna Groenfield, Daniel Nestor, Warwinko, Guy Montfils, and more. We hated leaving at 7:30 because we were very interested in the Daniel Nestor and his partners' doubles match (they are seeded No. 1).

During the Mahut and Batteau doubles match with Frognini and Lapenti, I was sitting in front of Lapenti's parents throughout the entire match. When I sat down at one of the outer courts to watch Anna Groenfield, I ended up sitting next to her father. Then I went to another match and sat next to another player parent as well. This is the neat thing about having a grounds pass. You can wander in and out of matches all day long and see some very good tennis.

Paris - Day 2

Late in the morning we headed to Versailles for a tour. This was our first glimpse of the labor woes in France. Apparently, whenever the workers decide they want a break, they go on strike. They happen to do this often during tourist season. Lucky for us (not), we were there over the spring break holiday and of course, the workers decided to go on strike. For a country that has fewer working hours than us, this was hard to fathom.

We ended up walking around the grounds of Versailles while our tour guide wrangled her way to get us into the buildings when they reopened. The lines were SOOOOOOOO long and she didn't want us to have to wait in line. The grounds were quite beautiful but it was bitterly cold and windy so we didn't stay out too long.

We finally got to go into Versailles and it was unbelievable how opulent everything was. In the Red Room, Mozart played at age 8. The Hall of Mirrors has been shown in various movies. Learning that the royalty weren't very clean and only bathed once or twice a year, disgusted me. It was very crowded but definitely worth the trip. It was amazing to look out from the various rooms and see the beautiful gardens.

My "bucket list"

I haven't seen the movie "The Bucket List", but I did decide to put together a list of 50 things that I would like to accomplish by the time I am 50. Unfortunately, this list changes a little bit every once in awhile and I guess by posting it on my blog, I am committing it "to paper" so that I don't change it. So here goes the list:

1. Lose 50 pounds
2. Get involved in my community (i.e. church, animal shelter, environment, local harvest)
3. Buy a colorful summer bag and use it to add more color to my life.
4. Write a business plan for a virtual assistant business or some other home-based business (i.e. web design)
5. Put together cookbooks for Casey and Greg with family favorites and stories.
6. Ride in a convertible
7. Get something published - scrapbook page or recipe
8. Finish another quilt
9. Learn to knit and make a pair of socks
10. Start digital scrapbooking
11. Finish Casey and Greg's school scrapbooks
12. Make sure that Grandma has a headstone/grave marker
13. Visit someplace in the United States that I have never been to - done 7/1/08 Dearborn Michigan
14. Take a photography course
15. Learn ASP.net
16. Declutter house by using Freecycle (stop hanging on to things for sentimental reasons only)
17. Learn to meditate
18. Splurge on something decadent
19. Get back in touch with Nancy, Kathy, and Chris
20. Make bagels from scratch - 1st attempt July 2008
21. Paint something bright red
22. Screen porch cleanup - new cushions and table settings
23. Utilize screen porch more often
24. Read all of Genesis in the Bible
25. Read Rebecca
26. Read at least 10 "classics"
27. Organize all family history papers
28. Start a family history blog and keep it up-to-date
29. Create a "Shutterfly" book with family history notes and pictures
30. Get some type of Microsoft certification (Word, XP, or something else)
31. Try a food I haven't had before
32. Write a letter to Casey
33. Write a letter to Greg
34. Make a new cushion for kitchen window seat
35. Organize all money saving ways into a blog, website, or booklet form.
36. Document more of the everyday
37. Become proficient at Photoshop (check out all of the free tutorials on-line)
38. Do all BPS classes that I have signed up for - all projects!!
39. Give my bedroom a facelift
40. Go through all of Mom and Dad's recipe books and try recipes - add to family cookbooks
41. Take Greg to the US Open
42. Get back into tennis - join a league or lessons
43. Go to a Broadway show - NY or Philadelphia
44. Get up to Maine again
45. Trip out to Lancaster to visit quilt shops - inspiration trip
46. Put together Christmas book of recipes and traditions
47. Do something positive for the environment; make a difference.
48. Create a bigger garden and eat more food that is produced locally.
49. Visit another country - done March 2008 France and England
50. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING NEW - STEP OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Day 2 in Paris

Day 2 in Paris began with a hearty breakfast in our hotel. I have to say that the hotel we stayed in was very nice. It was clean, modern, and seemed to cater to a higher income traveler. Larry found out later that rooms at that hotel ran around $400 a night. Our first stop was at the Eiffel Tower. We had gone to the top of the tower the day before and this time we stopped along the backside of it and looked at a monument that was near the base.


Off we went on the bus to our next stop which was the Invalides. The Invalides was begun in 1671 and is most famous for being the burial place of Napolean. His body was returned to Paris 19 years after his death and is buried in a crypt below the golden dome.

Our next stop was the Assemblee Nationale where we viewed statues in front of it. It was interesting that the statues in front of the building are all surrounded by little spikes to keep people from defacing the statues.

Next up was Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame was very beautiful. Especially beautiful were the 3 Rose windows. The South Rose window (pictured) is dedicated to the New Testament and was a gift from King Saint Louis. "It has eighty-four panes divided into four circles. The first one has twelve medallions and the second has twenty-four. A third circle is made up of quadrilobes, and the fourth circle has twenty-four trilobes medallions. This window features the symbolic number four, along with its multiples, twelve and twenty-four." Being in the cathedral was such a beautiful experience. The only thing that marred the visit was all of the warnings we received prior to visiting it about the abundance of pickpockets there. Luckily we didn't encounter this.


We spent about 2 hours exploring Notre Dame and then boarded the bus to head to Versailles. This last picture is the back of the Louvre which we would be visiting another day. We also went by the square where Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

Up next, our visit to Versailles and how irritated we all were because the French workers decided to go on strike that day. Apparently it happens all the time during the tourist season.

Day 1 in Paris

Up at the horrible time of 4:00 am this morning to catch the ferry to Calais. There was some confusion with the tour operator about the time and there were many sleepy people in the lobby waiting around. The bus didn't leave the hotel until 6:30 am for the drive to Dover and the ferry. It was pretty to see the White Cliffs of Dover (and yes they were white).

Thanks to our bus driver, we were able to skirt around the immigration check, however, it irritated us that we didn't get our passports stamped. So, we have been to France, but our passports don't indicate this. Anyways, the ferry was huge and we were able to have a very nice breakfast on board (Casey wasn't feeling all that great so she didn't enjoy it - probably being up so early didn't help). All in all it was only about a 90 minute ferry ride to Calais. Upon arrival, we boarded another bus and headed to Paris. This was a lot longer of a ride (3 hours), but we saw some beautiful countryside and had a chance to catch up on some sleep.

Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. We took the elevator to the second level and realized that it was FREEZING up there. The views were incredible from every side of the tower, but boy was it COLD. After much walking around the 2nd level (way near the top) we headed down. Not on the elevator, but rather walking down the flights of steps. Did I mention it was cold? Not only was it cold, but it was sleeting on us as we walked and walked and walked and walked. I really didn't mind the walk because we just sat on a bus for 3 hours and the walking felt good.

The next stop was our hotel (Novatel - the red building in the picture). It was near the Eiffel Tower and very clean. The rooms were fairly small, but we could see the Seine River from our window.

After a short rest, we decided to walk around Paris. We walked across the Seine and viewed the Eiffel Tower from the other bank. We walked up Kleber Avenue and saw the Arc de Triumphe at night. There was traffic everywhere and lots of scooters and smart cars. We strolled down the Champs de Elysse and had a light dinner at a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. The food was very good and the atmosphere quite enjoyable. Finally we headed to the hotel walking past the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. We were exhausted from a long, long day and lots of walking. But it felt good and we all slept soundly that night.

It's Been Awhile

Can't believe that I haven't updated since May. Casey has been home and is now back to school for the summer term. Greg finished his school year and turned 16 on Friday. We are into the summer laid back feeling. Unfortunately, I still have to drag myself out of bed to work everyday - no summer relaxation for me. I am heading out to Ohio next week for a nice family visit.

Found a couple of money saving sites that I have been doing regularly and making some money. The first one is wellness360. I started doing this last weekend and already have $19 in my account. The premise is that it is a website where you can track your health. There is a place to keep a food journal, schedule exercise, and track your progress. There are also articles with information to read. Basically you earn points for doing these things on the website. These points translate into money. If interested go to the website and enroll. I get points for you signing up and so do you when you sign someone up. Click here for going to the signup page.

Another very successful site for me is MyPoints. I have already received many gift cards just for reading emails and doing short surveys. The best thing is that the points accumulate pretty quickly when reading the emails. There are also other ways to earn points - shopping through the site, using the MyPoints Visa, using the MyPoints search bar. You can just visit the site to sign up or leave a comment with your email address and I will send you an email invite. I have been doing this for about 8 months now and have earned the following $25 Staples gift card, $25 Target gift card, $5 Starbucks (2), $5 Regal Cinema (2), and $50 Staples gift card.

I have a bunch of other little sites that I sometimes frequent that are earning me money and will keep you posted as to the success of those.

Up next-more of my travel diary.

Dressing Up Again for Greg

Last Thursday as Greg and I were headed to the High School Awards Ceremony, Greg commented that this was the 3rd time in 3 weeks he had to get all dressed up for a school function. First was the tennis awards dinner, then National Honor Society induction, and now the awards night. We made him dress up and I have to say that I wish more parents would have done the same. About half of the award recipients were dressed in jeans or shorts and sandals. I don't get it. Your child is being honored for something and they look like they just rolled out of bed. Honestly I don't think Greg was too upset about getting cleaned up.


Last year, he got the President's Award for being on honor roll and not having any disciplinary infractions. He didn't received any other awards even though he had the top grades in most of his classes. This year he received the President's Award and the Spanish award for the top male 10th grade Spanish student. He was happy about that.


The basement waterproofing project is complete, but now we have the mess to clean up in the basement. It is a slow job but definitely worth it to have a dry clean basement. I'm still having coughing problems due to a cold and the inhalation of concrete dust.


Got to love this picture of Crosby watching the French Open. She got right up to the tv and was watching the news ticker on MSNBC. When we switched the channels she started watching the tennis ball. Today was Sydney and Crosby's vet visit to have their stitches removed. Yea!!

Casey is home next weekend. Can't wait to see her even if it is only for a short visit before she goes back to school.

National Honor Society Inductee

Last night was the National Honor Society induction. They only took 10 students out of 81 eligible. Greg looked so nice all dressed up. Hey, no baseball hat either.


We were able to convince Greg, Ivan and Collin to pose for a picture with Mrs. Gougas and Ms. Weirbowski.

Picture Recap

A couple of weekends we went up to see Casey and took a little day trip to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Burlington VT. Considering it was a weekend and the factory was working, we still got to see the plant and have a little sample of ice cream. The thing that amazed me the most is that every day each employee goes home with 3 containers of ice cream. Pretty cool. The tour guide said that they use the ice cream to barter for services from other businesses (i.e. the plumber). Nice picture of Casey and Kevin.


Last weekend Tom and Alicia were up from North Carolina. We stopped by to say hello and Tom asked if we were interested in their desk unit. It's a nice one so we said yes. It ended up in Casey's room and looks really nice. So Casey, don't worry, we didn't go through any of your stuff. We just moved a few things around, did some serious vacuuming and dusting and left you a big box of things to go through.

The kittens loved the open side window. Casey, your computer was on because after I set up your computer on your new desk I wanted to make sure it was running. Everything's cool.


Finally, today we started our basement waterproofing. The basement is carefully wrapped in plastic to prevent the concrete dust from getting all over everything. Unfortunately, we probably should have wrapped the entire house as there is concrete dust on the first floor as well. After this is complete on Friday I will spend the entire weekend dusting and vacuuming. Hopefully we will end up with a very dry basement.


Behind the plastic curtain is all of the furniture and stuff from our basement. Hopefully this will spur us into getting rid of some of the excess.

Animusic

It's called Animusic. Both the music and the animations are created digitally. Here's a Wikipedia link that explains the process.

Day 4 - Last day in London

Our last day in London and we decided to explore. Larry was up and out early and we met up in the lobby only to find out that he had purchased front row seats for Wicked that evening. Wicked was at a theatre just around the corner from our hotel so we were passing the marquee everyday. We were thrilled.

We headed to Victoria Station and took the train to Piccadilly Circus. There we split up and Casey and I wandered through a bunch of used bookstores and an outdoor market. We made our way to Covent Garden which was a very busy area of London. Larry and Greg headed another direction looking for sporting goods stores.

We decided to meet up at Harrods for an afternoon of shopping (expensive shopping I might add). Everything at Harrods was so expensive. In the bedding department, a small throw pillow was $100. Sheets ran about $500. We went to the famous pet department which was closed (wasn't too impressed with what we saw through the windows either). They are supposed to have exotic animals but we didn't see them. I was going to buy Kitty a new collar but $40 was way too expensive.

After browsing through a lot of departments, we headed across the street to a Lebanese restaurant. We all decided to have something different. Casey had Falafal and lamb and okra, Greg had spicy chicken wings and lamb kabobs, Larry had a mixed greens salad and chicken and mushroom in mustard sauce, and I had hummus and chicken curry with almonds and coconut. Overall the food was very good but Greg didn't care for lamb.


After lunch we walked to Hyde Park where we split up once again. Casey and I walked down to the Prince Albert statue and then went to the Princess Diana memorial fountain. The fountain didn't look like much from afar but up close it was striking. The circular fountain took twists and slight turns and the water rushed and was calm. It was very lovely.
Next we met back together at Harrods and had sweets at the Chocolate Bar that we had discovered earlier.

Casey has a chocolate beverage that was basically an expresso size cup of melted chocolate. Greg had the Venezuela hot chocolate. Larry had pistachio ice cream and I had a white chocolate strawberry milkshake. It was all very yummy.
After indulging in such rich sweets we decided that instead of taking the train back to the hotel, we would walk off all of the calories. It was a very long walk and it took us by many of the foreign embassies.
Back at the hotel we packed our suitcases as we had an early wake up the next morning to catch the ferry to Calais. Then we were off to see Wicked.
The show was fantastic and such a treat. I highly recommend that you go see it if you haven't. After the theatre let out, Casey and I walked across the street to Victoria Station to stock up on Cadbury bars before leaving London. Casey also got a Cadbury Egg McFlurry at the McDonalds in the train station. It was actually pretty good.