J.J. turns seven..........

Happy Birthday J.J.

This year J.J.'s birthday party was at Andretti Thrill Park.
All of the kids, young & old, had a great time. Here are a few
photo's of the festivities.


Yummmm....give up some of the pizza J.J.


This is great....give me chocolate cake......


Oh boy , oh boy, just what I never wanted.......


HELLOOOOO.....Mom, I can read!!!


OMG!!! Lance & Frank needed to come up for air!!!

I'm to sexy for my cart...........

Dad, you DO have your eyes open, right??

Eric & Kyra got into the action!!

Audie & Heather got a dud!!!

(see the guy trying to jump them?)

This was hysterical. Every time Lance would

shake his hair out of his eyes, he would either

cut someone off or crash.

Here is an example of a crash rescue.

Then all of the 7 year olds went for a train ride.

Meehans' loss.............

March 14, 1992..............

That was the day I had the pleasure of meeting Diana.

I had been in Florida for 5 weeks & had decided that I would stay indefinitely which meant that it was time to look for a job.

I went to Job-Link & looked into several jobs, all of which told me I was over-qualified. One morning I walked in & the lady at the counter called me over & told me about a job at Meehans' Stationery which had not been listed yet.
I was in shorts, a t-shirt & sneakers so I figured that I would run in, grab an application, go home to fill it out & get cleaned up to bring it back to them.
Well, when I asked for the application I was immediately shuffled into the building next door to fill it out. I was praying that I could just fill it out & leave it but my prayers were not answered. When I handed it to the lady at the desk she asked me to wait.
Two minutes later in walked Diana. I was so nervous. I remember thinking that she reminded me of my Aunt that lived in Boston ( which made me more nervous because she was a tough lady).

She greeted me warmly, almost motherly, and (I believe) hit it off immediately. We did not discuss the job, nor my attire, we just talked about where we were from, family ties and what brought me to Florida.

I left the "interview" thinking well, it will be a neat store to shop in. Six hours later she called me & asked me when I could start.

The reason that I am telling you all this is because Diana not only gave me a job that day, she gave me a husband, daughter & a baby boy.

I also met Terri whom became a friend that means more to me than she knows.


We met a few friends at Chili's to honor her retirement.
I gave her a Thank You note.

A new place to love........

Terri, Eric, Frank & I planned our day so that we would be
able to go to Moonstruck, a new wine bar downtown, before
going to a retirement party later that evening.



It is usually very quiet with the exception of a
piano player in his tux.
We usually order what they call "a flight". You get a
sampling of 3 different wines in your favorite category.
It gives you the chance to try 3 wines, that you may
not have tried otherwise, without having 3 big glasses.



As you can see "a flight" can make you happy.....

Why Me??????

O.K.
It is Saturday afternoon. I have been grocery shopping, mowed the yard, cleaned both bird cages, swept, mopped and vacuumed the floors, cleaned the glass & finished 2 loads of laundry and now I am heading for the shower very pleased with all I have accomplished. Lance is in the family room watching a movie and I advise him of my shower plans and head back to the bedroom.

Now you need to know that every time I close the bedroom door an alarm sounds in Lance's brain that tells him that he needs me immediately, without fail, at that very moment.

So, I start the shower and get undressed. The very second that I open the shower door to get in there is a knock on the door followed by a loud "Mommyyyyyy". I pulled open the door, stuck my head out, looked Lance dead in the eye and yelled "Why is it that every time I close this door and get naked you feel the need to knock??"
His reply was very simple. He looked at me blank faced for a moment and then looked down at the phone in his hand, raised the phone to me and smiled.
I took the phone and asked him who it was. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
I figured whom ever it was would be having a good laugh at my expense and I would explain that he knocks all of time & that should take care of it.
I put the phone to my ear & said "Hello?" The person on the other end then proceeded to tell me they were calling from my Carnival credit card company and had a very important offer. I almost dropped the phone! I was soooooo embarrassed!!! I very politely and very quickly got rid of her and called Lance back to my door.
When I told him who was on the phone he cracked up and said that he couldn't wait to tell. (I'm just beating him to the punch)

Safety Patrol.........

Lance is one of 10 students chosen to be in the Safety Patrol.

I knew he was excited but I had no idea what a big deal this really is.

I checked on-line & this is what I found out.

AAA has been dedicated to developing, implementing and supporting driver and traffic safety programs for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and children since its founding in 1902. For more than 85 years, AAA has supported the AAA School Safety Patrol Program, which instills students with a sense of responsibility and leadership.Parents place their trust and care into the hands of the patrollers every school day. These dedicated individuals begin and end each school day at their "posts" assisting their classmates in getting safely to and from school.The AAA School Safety Patrol Program is the largest safety program in the world with more than 500,000 children participating at 50,000 schools throughout the country. To continue the program's success, AAA makes available to participating schools the tools required to train their patrols, keep them safe, and recognize their achievements.


This is his membership card. It has their "pledge" on it.


I bet he's not as tough as he looks!!

New Habits...........

With the cruise 12 weeks away, it is time to get serious!!!

I love ALL kinds of food but my favorite is football food
which, with weight loss consuming my being, I MUST
avoid!!!


Cheese sticks & wings & onion rings, OH MY!!!
1200 - 2000 calories

This is what I have been having every night for dinner
for the last 10 days.

Lettuce, celery, broccoli, carrots, boneless chicken,
shredded cheese & chow mein noodles.
500-600 calories!!! Much better & tastes just as good!!!

The will power is there as long as I stay away from the wine.

I guess I will have to make up for it on the cruise! Look out!!!!

Florida Sunset.......

Beautiful..........




...enough said.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

I hope all of you have a Healthy & Happy New Year!!!

We took it easy this NYE & just spent a little time
across the street at Louis & Susan's home.

We had a lot of fun!!

Tim was our entertainment for the evening.

Lance & Susan