Still learning all about my blog

Each year this time I seem to try and get back to my blog more often. Today was a great day. My new rugs finally came in. It was crazy living with no furniture and plywood for 4 weeks. I will post pictures on Sunday. My youngest son took the camera to camp. Yes camping in December in Pa on this weekend is nuts. Both my boys are scouts and this weekend the youngest is competing in an Iron Chef cook off. (my oldest stayed home to finish up college apps.) Anyway, what started in August as "lets just fix this crack in the drywall" took on a life of it's own. Then we had to paint, which led to moving all the furniture out of the room. Which led to us seeing the furniture in a new light and deciding to replace the furniture. Of course once the furniture was out, we saw the condition of the rugs and decided to replace them. Thank god I am a saver! But my husband took up the old rugs so he could give the woodwork a fresh coat of paint. (of course I helped) So we now have new wall paint, new woodwork paint, new rugs and on Monday one of the new couches will be here. What a wild ride. God I love that drywall crack that started it all. So this weekend is decorating, cause we usually have around 50 people for Christmas dinner. Have a great weekend and look for the pictures on Sunday.

Wow what a weekend.

This has been one of the best Thanksgiving weekends for as long as I can remember. We started out on Wednesday night. We met my friend Rosalie at the Four Dogs Tavern to see a band we like called Hake and Jarema. Before the band went on, they had a Turkey gobble contest. Then one of the farmers brought in a live turkey. It was so much fun. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister in law's and got to see some of our family home from college. We saw New Moon this weekend, it was okay. Then today we had a wedding at the mansion at Ridley State Park. My nephew (godchild) got married and the wedding was beautiful. We also are one step closer to getting the family room finished. All in all a great weekend.

Raffle tickets,

Okay about two months ago, my friend talked me into selling raffle tickets for our children's Sr. After Prom. Didn't sound that bad. So we signed up or should I say she signed me up. Of course she put my name first as Chairman of the committee. Well it was then that we found out we need to raise 20,000 dollars. Crap. Well it is coming to the end and it has been hard. I am really worried. Tonight I get to start calling other Sr. parents to beg. Yeah! Wish me luck.

Wow how time flys

It has been all summer since I updated this blog. We have been so busy. We went out west for 16 days. Saw Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyou north rim. Then we came back for a couple of weeks then went down south. We spent a week in Myrtle Beach and then a few days in Charlestown. Love Charlestown. We are now in the process of college searching. Spent Sunday at NYU. Thursday will be MICA. Hope he finds one that will make him happy. Well going in to read, will post pictures of summer Friday. Night all.

Love gardens, hate mulch

Hello from the lost world of Blogs. I haven't updated in months because after tax season, school picked up pace pretty quickly. But now it is summer and life is mine again. We planted our garden in May and it is really coming along nicely. Carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, 4 kinds of bean, zucchini and tomatoes. We have corn but I am not hoping for too much. Last year we purchase two rehabbed olive barrels that are now used to collect rain water. We travel during the summer and we need a way to water the garden. These work great. I set up a drip line from the barrels and away we go and then come home to a lush garden. Today is the day I dread most. Mulch day! It is such a necessary evil. I hate weeds. We also have a number of frogs and toad, chipmunks and other wildlife around here. Three years ago we had toads that kept escaping to our driveway. We kept putting them back in the mulch. Only by them finally giving up did we realize that they were being killed by the dye in the mulch. So this year it is undyed bark mulch for us. Well off to mulch.

I hate taxes but love to exercise

Where have I been you ask? Doing taxes, both mine and friends. I am almost done my last one and I can't wait. It is very freeing to get them done and out of the way. This year I helped some of my friends that: first didn't know where to start and second could not afford to hire someone. So we are nearly all done and can look forward to vacation.

As a side note: I love the aerobics classes. I am having so much fun and feel great when the class is over. I still can't look at my friend K (because we giggle too much). We now have two other friends that have joined us. We should all be in good shape come summer. I really need to be in shape. We rented a cabin on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Hiking galore. (what was I thinking?)

Hope I know what I am getting myself into!

Okay tonight I went to my first aerobic class in years. First off I was the heaviest one there. My friend K went with me. I couldn't look at her though because we would just break out in laughter. We held our ground pretty good for first timers. We got no warning, the music started and off we went. We were doing grapevines and traveling up then back. We followed okay but nearly bumped into one another once or twice. The class went really quickly and I loved it. I felt so good afterwards. I came home, took a shower, got a cup of tea and sat down. Now I just need to get my eating habits in line. Wondering why this sudden fitness interest. Well Hubby , two sons and I have rented a cabin right on the North rim of the Grand Canyon. I mean right on the rim. You walk out about 25 feet and there is the rim. Won't be drinking my wine on that trip. Well wish me luck with the aerobics class. I will let you know how I feel about it when reality sets in tomorrow morning. Better go find that Aleve.

St. Pat's day

Saint Pat's Day is always fun and a great time to be around family and friends. Today was my Aunt Jane's funeral and if it is possible to say, the day was beautiful. We are Irish and family and friends are very important. I got to see all my siblings ( I am 1 of 5, the youngest). I saw my Aunts and Uncles, some doing wonderful, some battling illness themselves. I saw cousins that happen to be some of my greatest friends. I also had the opportunity to meet some of my cousin's children. The mass was beautiful and the music selections were moving. My cousins requested that I do one of the readings for the mass and I felt so honored. My Aunt was always very kind and genuinely happy to see me each time we got together. Her children have picked up the best traits of her and their Dad and are always great to be around. The wake was a traditional Irish wake. We ate and drank and were honored with a song from one of the attendees. There were photos taken of her daughters and nieces drinking Manhattans (my Aunt's drink of choice). All and all a very special day. So here is to you our dear Aunt Jane, with much love and thanks we send you off to the stars. We will miss you. Love Denise

Lincoln tea room in West Chester PA

Just back from another wonderful time in downtime West Chester PA. A friend of mine organize a girls night out. We went for Fondue Friday at the Lincoln Tea Room. It was a bring your own bottle and I took a Merlot called Night Harvest. What a great wine. There were 18 of us and it was wonderful to see everyone. We laughed and ate and drank. Good times.

My son the artist

I thought I would take a moment to brag. As some of you know, my 16 year old son wants to be an artist. We think he is very talented. He drew this when he was 15 years old. It is a pastel of the band Beirut. I wish you could see it in person. It is 22 inches wide by 39 inches long. He drew it from a music video. He is now a junior in high school and we are preparing for college. Take a look at the pastel and let me know your thoughts. Thanks

Where have I been - at the Oscars!

Well okay not the real Oscars but close enough. Each year two of my friends in my neighborhood host a wonderful Oscars party. They make up invites and ballots for each of us to vote for our favorites. There is a red carpet and lots of snacks and drinks. We each come in our PJs. (this year some of our friends forgot that point. Not mentioning and names here.)

We talk about the gowns and who is with who and just have a great time. (As long as you don't talk during the speeches!) Over the years we have shared a lot of things: babies being born, loss of parents, health scares and loss of friends. I am so very grateful for each of these ladies. The are the most caring and giving people and I am glad to call them my friends. Love them all.

Website that amaze me!

I stumbled on this website the other night and found it hard to tear myself away. The photos are fantastic. I am so grateful for the Internet. Think about it. We have so much information right at our fingertips. Some of the photos are so incredible. I am glad I got the opportunity to see these things. Enjoy!!

Starting new things

I decided this year to learn at least 3 new things. So today I learned to knit. My friend who owns The Revue Boutique has set up a knit night at her shop. So off I went to Michaels craft shop and bought myself a set of knitting needles and a spool of yarn.
Some of the people could not make it to the class which made it all the better for me. I had the teacher all to myself. I started many times.

Each time getting better but I am a little stressed according to my teacher. The yarn was so tightly knitted it was hard to get my needle in. But I prevailed in the end. I got 4, count them, 4 rows done in 2 hours. My friend J who knits all the time, just laughs. Well it can only get better, right?

Spicing things up

Over the Christmas break, I decided to get organized. I purchased this cool spice rack.

The trays pull out and you can put the spices in the groves.

And it fits nicely in my cabinet. I now know all the spices in my cabinet. Now I just need to take cooking classes to learn what to use them in!

P.J. day at work

As some of you know, I am a secretary in an elementary school. I work with people I just love. "Why?", you ask. This is why. We are always doing something crazy for the kids or a local charity. Right before the Winter Break we have a P.J. Day. Each student, of which there are just shy of 600, and each staff member (around 60) pay a dollar to wear their jammies to school. The money is then donated to the Leukemia foundation.

These photo's are of some of my friends in their jammies. Some of them asked me not to show their faces. It is not because they don't want to be seen on the Internet, it's because the jammies are often less then flattering.


This photo is of my P.J.s. I loved the sock monkeys and Christmas trees. I took a photo of them because the day got so busy, I forgot to take a picture of myself wearing them.

Nearly everyone gets involved. I especially loved the sponge bob p.j.s our gym teacher wore.

And of course no outfit is complete with out the slippers.




I did get a photo of myself and my girlfriends bunny slippers!

Wait till you see what we do next!!

New Year, back to basics

During the Holidays, we host a lot. We had two major parties,(55 or more) and at least 3 parties of at least ten. It starts in November and goes right up till the new year. The one thing that nearly everyone comments on is my Menu black board. I got it at Pottery Barn about 5 or 6 years ago. It also is magnetic. Each week I sit down with my family and find out who is going where and try to plan meals. This is quite tricky with two teenagers and a husband who is a musician on the side. So out of self preservation, I bought this chalk board. It is really big. 47 inches tall by 37 inches wide.

I plan all my meals for the week and write them on the board. I have the board right when you come into the mudroom from the garage. People laugh and always tell me what night they are coming for dinner, based on what I am having. I started this to see if I could take some of the chaos out of my life. I just wanted to have a plan so that dinner didn't take up all my nights.

When I plan the meals, I usually plan to cook at least one meal to have for two nights. Then I will cook the item ahead of time (only if it taste good heated a second time. Sometimes it taste better.) Like these meatloaves that will be eaten on Friday and perhaps Sunday. I cook at least 4 at a time and freeze them all. On Friday morning I will take a meatloaf out. Friday night we will slice it up and heat it in a frying pan and serve it on bread. I live in a house full of men. They love meatloaf sandwiches. They get to eat something good before heading out the door to have fun on Friday night. Sometimes my teenager's friends have joined us and then the meatloaves are gone in a flash.

So all this prep really takes very little time (less than a hour to make 4 1.5 lb meatloaves) but buys us so much time during the week. I am all about getting more time for fun things. So laugh if you want at my silly menu board, but remember me, lets say, Tuesday evening when you are trying to figure out what to make for dinner and I am probably already eating!

Felt friends

I started loving some of the felt things I have been seeing in stores and books. A friend of mine owns a shop here in West Chester called the Revue Boutique Gallery and gave me my first felt item. It was a little felt man called Mr Wiskers and I have him on my desk at work. The kids love him and he makes me smile. She made a few other items for our kindergarten teacher and you can't help but smile when you look at them. Here are her weather people. Each one is hand made and have great details.









I found this book in Barnes and Noble by Betz White

and I am going to try to make a bag for myself. Catherine is now setting up a knitting night at her shop and I am going to learn how to knit. I will let you know how each adventure turns out.