our annual contribution

to the RMHS Band & Colorguard Indoor Yard Sale ....Bake Sale Division. Oh yes, they went fast at 2 for $1.00. I helped set up this huge indoor yard sale and then went home and we dipped 60 strawberries at 11 pm.

"All for the kids" I kept muttering, "it's all for the kids..."

Madame Alexander doll? Anyone? Anyone?

I'd have to say the funniest thing I unpacked was, well 2 things,
1. a worn out bra 2. a set of Easter bunny dish towels with the tags on them ... from Bradlees. Now how long you figure Bradlees has been closed?10? 15 years?

they did do a lot of work, so I've gotta give them credit

making piles of 100 games and puzzles is not easy; seriously

Target should have been buying from us!

But back to the pretty strawberries in their cellophane bags. Happy to report they were sold out by 11 a.m. Easy peasy. Give some away this Valentine's Day for pennies on the dollar.

Dr. Jane and the Scouts

sometimes right in your little corner of the world, in a dining room full of 8 year old boys, amazing things happen. It was Wednesday, time for Ronan's scout meeting. We had been told beforehand that we would have a guest speaker, someone who had written about chimps.

What we got a grandmother of one of the 8 year-old-scouts who edited Dr. Jane Goodall's definitive book about studying chimps in Gombe, Tanzania.

It was the most amazing tale of how Vivian worked for Harvard Press and was hired to work with Dr. Jane on her book. She was in her 50's at the time and set off on a 3 week journey that involved snowstorms in Sweden, missed flights and boat rides. She told us about those days living in very rustic conditions and how Jane would be gone all day with her notebook. I don't know if the boys appreciated it all at the time. I kept telling them to think of the most famous person you know and Dr. Jane Goodall would be right up there with them.


It was a thrill for the parents, that's for sure. Such an elegant lady, such a treasured memory for her. So I said to her "what did you do with the kids when you were gone?" "Oh, they were teenagers then" she said, "they were fine." Oh, sorry, just picking myself up off the floor. Maybe her teenagers. Vivian with her now-grown daughter, Katie, above.

Stemming from Dr. Jane’s work is an organization called “Saving the Chimps,” which is providing an island home in Florida for 262 chimps in this country who have been abused or cast aside.

other random thoughts

Who told Taylor Swift to sing along with every single song when she was standing next to the goddess Stevie at the Grammys? Banging away at that guitar with her loud voice leaving Stevie Nicks to be her backup singer? Not letting the viewer hear Stevie sing "Rhiannon" because Taylor's voice drowned her out? Totally cringeworthy.

The most annoying show I have watched for 10 minutes is "Shear Genius." Who can figure it out? Who cares about hair styles? How does the viewer even know what is a good job or not using hair extensions dyed different colors to cover up the model's breasts? It's the craziest, least entertaining thing I've seen in a long, long time. Camilla Alves, the baby mama of Surfer Dude's babies is really bad at hosting. Bleck.

17 year olds. Bleck. Well, yours might be nice, but mine is not.

Not bleck, this Ab Fab lamp I bought yesterday. I said to Rich "this says everything about me."
And it does. A little bit romantic with a little Texas swing and a little bling thrown in. It makes me very happy. It takes away my blues. There was only one left but I may have to search every Light 'n Leisure for it's mate. Ab Fab, darling.

way to go, sister

The first time I had my cholesterol checked I was 28 years old and it was 250. I weighed 135 and thought it was because I had a Cinnabon for lunch. I was so sure it was the Cinnabon, I never thought about it again. Over the years I had gained a TON of weight and now I try to overcome the damage done by finding refuge in boxes of Funny Bones when the kids were driving me mad.

2 years ago I felt like crap. Alarm bells all over. By this time my cholesterol was 340 and my doctor said I was a "ticking time bomb." Soothing words, indeed. So I straighted up took my Lipitor and started to fly right. And I'm so excited, so excited, so excited to say that last week after my yearly check up, my cholesterol is down to 196, and all of the "good" and "bad" numbers along with them are not even borderline, but in the "very good" places.

Yeah me. And pots of oatmeal. So I guess it does work.

baby, it's cold outside

so stay warm on this c-o-l-d-e-s-t of January nights; put on the fuzzy pajamas...

and take some goofy photos. You'll be amazed how it will amuse you.

an afternoon in the life

You may have seen that Chronicle on WCVB was asking for photos of everything the viewers did on Monday, January 25th. You can submit your photos and they may use them in a future show. So here are some of the things we did yesterday afternoon and evening. Pretty boring, but real life, no? 2:40 pm - Just back from school pick-up here's Mr. Brady who has forgotten how to smile at his mother, unhappy to be posing in the rain. What?

2:50 pm - Carter eating his pb&j and drinking his lemonade in the car on the way to below....

3:10 pm - ah, the follow up dermatologist appointment. "They don't wash enough" I said. "Some boys don't care about acne" she said.

4:30 pm - In the pouring down rain, Rich tries to get the dog out.

8:30 pm Lots of Dunkin' Donuts cups and candy at our Band Parents Organization meeting. Wonder why I can never get to sleep before midnight, hmmm?

8:50 pm - Meanwhile, in the room next door, Brady (far left) is at Winter Percussion Practice.
9:00 Home.
Martha ate 6 Vienna Finger cookies and had some tea.
Brady scarfed roast beef and then a whole box of Mac & Cheese.
But you could say we ate together ; )

Ronan has found Harry

Reading didn't come easy to him. Or maybe he didn't like it. Frankly I was worried. The whole world opens up if you are a good reader. We weren't sure how the relationship between the written word and the kid would work out, but by 3rd grade the commitment to nightly reading has paid off!! He jumped from easy readers to Mr. Potter and has not put the series down in months.

It is a joy to see this dog eared copy making it's way through another boy in this house.