tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15820487834362264002024-02-19T00:49:29.763-05:00Becoming Norma ArnoldMiss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-78699155455172154462013-09-12T04:33:00.001-04:002013-09-12T04:33:46.250-04:00Awakenings<span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Poor Vin.</span><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> He has a horrible time falling and staying asleep every night (as do a lot of children on the Autism Spectrum). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If I am being honest, this really has been every night since he was about six months old actually. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Today he woke up coughing ( from the hand foot and mouth disaster going around his school) at 3:30 am. Having had very little sleep myself I was a little (a lot) less than understanding. After I got over myself the little guy says "I don't want to sleep, I'm afraid of my dreams." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">This is devastating to me because I have been suffering from terrible dreams my entire life and also because we have to give him melatonin to help him fall asleep and the side effect is shitty dreams. I don't want to medicate him right now because he gets too violent on the age appropriate meds for ADHD. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">I need another me to take him out running or climbing to help him work out some of the stuff that keeps his body going at full speed 24 hours a day. Obviously that isn't going to happen, so I've got to figure this out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> Of course it is now 4:30 in the morning and I can't even figure out how to get through the day without falling asleep standing up...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqZJublP_nnxbX5XfSiT1KQZKhyY01JPKFKRNKAPxLUZIV1ZU__whuacHdBi4dWWXw43FCnQ58leiybieq7WFBY_jkQz7t0UR5RLNatXjuAzOS4Fz85wk2zjtDoxs0ovCkJ6nSpJfcLw/s640/blogger-image-1589072998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqZJublP_nnxbX5XfSiT1KQZKhyY01JPKFKRNKAPxLUZIV1ZU__whuacHdBi4dWWXw43FCnQ58leiybieq7WFBY_jkQz7t0UR5RLNatXjuAzOS4Fz85wk2zjtDoxs0ovCkJ6nSpJfcLw/s640/blogger-image-1589072998.jpg"></a></div> Capt'n Wide Awake</span></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-65377915259136957792013-07-25T05:17:00.001-04:002013-07-25T05:17:31.204-04:00Its not unusual<div><br></div>I can't sleep. Yesterday, as I was cleaning the nonsense off of my entry porch in an attempt to be able to walk out the door I discovered this:<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbulKKcoUNRYwtwywWdZz-eWkmTcdKZkQOO-sMI7UKtkCCrnZehmO0a1_tcGM3tbj2b99gCFVpvAH0kC1lfnbSNN-Ze7wBYrJ913EiOIVD1slboba_8sxRc1g-plJr41Pj0Mb_0cI3Cs/s640/blogger-image-875844453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbulKKcoUNRYwtwywWdZz-eWkmTcdKZkQOO-sMI7UKtkCCrnZehmO0a1_tcGM3tbj2b99gCFVpvAH0kC1lfnbSNN-Ze7wBYrJ913EiOIVD1slboba_8sxRc1g-plJr41Pj0Mb_0cI3Cs/s640/blogger-image-875844453.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>Okay, so truthfully, I yanked a section of the nasty indoor outdoor carpeting up (in a state of complete disgust at the previous owners of the house for putting carpeting in a three season porch) in hopes of finding a useable subfloor and instead found dreamy tiles. </div><div><br></div><div>Our house has been a nightmare of beautiful flooring hidden under super glued indoor/outdoor carpeting. When we moved in there was nary an inch of flooring (bathroom and kitchen included) not covered in the crap. </div><div><br></div><div>The porch carpeting is so nasty that in some spots it looks like just mud. It makes me instantly angry every time I open the door actually, so you can believe me when I say I did the Carlton and cursed old Ruth and Cederic (the carpet lovers of yore) with the foulest words I could think of.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://youtu.be/5XhDg6zcJYI">http://youtu.be/5XhDg6zcJYI</a></div><div><br></div><div>So now I can't sleep. I am thinking of how lovely it will be to step onto a porch free of a congealed grime rug. I want to paint the walls (which are dark brown splintery wood paneling) and the door and make it a spot we can actually use instead of just a hot stinky mess. </div><div><br></div><div>This is the stuff dreams-or rather, early morning blog posts, are made of.</div><div><br></div><div> </div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-75136850440488270862013-03-30T15:16:00.000-04:002013-03-30T15:16:28.660-04:00Up And At Them!I have neglected my dream of becoming Norma Arnold for far too long, and I am now back on the hoss. I promise! A lot of new things have come into my life in the past year and I am really thrilled to be able to blog about most of them!<br />
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I learned how to crochet last May, which has been such an amazing thing for me. I hate making anything time consuming so I've been doing a lot of smaller projects like hats, some bags, and this amazing space themed mobile! I followed a pattern for it because whenever I try to wing these things they end up in the Goodwill bag... ("Let Arby's deal with it!") <br />
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Let's see, what else... We are adopting a Cows Milk Free-Gluten Free diet in our home. It started as a way to see what effect it would have on the boys behavior, and has turned into just a goal for the entire family. So far we are dairy free totally, and working the gluten out as we speak. We've also been juicing (vegetables mostly, not the 'roids, I'm onlyl 1/2 Italian) and so I hope to post some boastful stuff about that coming up! </div>
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What else? Oh, I've started COUPONING! Yep, in an attempt to be completely middle aged I've just begun to dabble in the math laden world of coupons. I don't plan on having a big stockpile, I really just want to save money on the crap that we *have* to buy. </div>
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So for now that is what is going on. I've got to rescue the toddler from atop the kitchen table now.</div>
<br />Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-70596878865111316782012-09-30T09:50:00.001-04:002012-09-30T09:51:32.338-04:00Repost... Meeting Mickey RooneyMeeting Mickey Rooney<br />
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**This meeting took place in October 2003, and was written in January of 2004- several months after meeting that old bastard Mickey Rooney*<br />
So back in October I met Mickey Rooney… well, sorta…<br />
There is a place called Spooky World in Foxboro MA. It sits behind the Patriots stadium in the woods… well, sorta… Anyway it’s open for Halloween season and they have rides and crappy spook houses that aren’t scary just pathetic… They also have a cool Halloween museum with vintage costumes, props etc… it’s really cool. They also have weekly guests… ususally B-grade movie stars, singers, etc… for example a few years ago my husband saw Tiny Tim there riding around on a motorized cart…<br />
So this year I was perusing the Spooky World ads and noticed that old Mickey Rooney was on the schedule. I was floored. MICKEY ROONEY for cryin out loud… Mick of Mick and Joots (the names he and Judy Garland called eachother), Andy Hardy for goodness sake!!! I was out of my mind. So Jay and I gathered the $$ and time to spend the night in Foxboro with our friends John & Candis at the Holiday Inn Express, and I got a new winter jacket to wear… and I wore a cute white sweater with black flowers on it similar to the shirt Judy wore in one of her last movies w/ Mickey Rooney… and so we bundle up, pay $30 EACH to get “VIP” Tickets and enter the lack luster park. My main interest was Mr. Rooney, I really was not up for the rides or spook houses. So we get to the Museum and look at the cool stuff and I see the room where Mickey is signing autographs….<br />
Now at this point, my stomach is doing kartwheels and I am only focused on meeting one the few remaning original MGM stars… I couldn’t stand myself, I was that anxious… so Jay told John & Candis that we were going to head to the autograph area and we’d meet them in a few minutes… So I’m 1 in line and shaking like a crack-deprived hoochie…<br />
I can see Mr. Rooney and his wife at the table and I smile… no response… Then the guy from Spooky World turns on this mix tape of songs that Rooney sang in movies… Rooney is like, “HEY TURN THAT DOWN…” and makes a terrible face… I should have known something was up but I was star struck… I felt like Betty Thompson (the former Rockette who was the secretary at my elementary school in Candia, New Hampshire) in 1939 when she saw Judy & Mickey in NYC… ANYWAY they opened the gate and ushered Jay and I to the merch table where you HAD TO PURCHASE SOMETHING FOR HIM TO SIGN… I picked out my FAVORITE black and white glossy of Mickey playing a little cello and Judy singing… it’s adorable… especially Judy… what an actress… ANYWAY… I get to the table, look into Rooney’s eyes and say…<br />
“I can not believe I finally get to meet you… I am sooo nervous….”<br />
NO RESPONSE FROM ROONEY… HE STUFFS A HANDFUL OF POPCORN TAKEN OUT OF A MCBOO BUCKET INTO HIS MOUTH, BARELY WIPES HIS HANDS ON HIS SHIRT, SCRIBBLES HIS NAME OVER HIS PICTURE AND<br />
F-L-I-N-G-S<br />
THE PICTURE ACROSS THE TABLE…<br />
I was taken back about 1000000000 years… what just happened???<br />
So I just look up in time to see Jay holding out his hand to Rooney and saying, “Nice to meet you…”<br />
Rooney can barely hold his hand out to shake because he is a horrible man.<br />
So we leave the area and I am CRUSHED. Where is the friendly and scheming Andy Hardy? The jovial light house keeper from Pete’s Dragon???<br />
Pissed is not the word for how I felt… I still can’t get over how disappointed I was… and still am.<br />
That’s my story of Mickey Rooney…<br />
Godamn MICKEY ROONEY…. He is a miserable LITTLE old man who is just mad that after 1945 NOONE WANTED ANDY HARDY ANYMORE AND SO OL MICK WAS STUCK DOING HORRIBLE ROLES… WELL F- YOU MICKEY ROONEY THAT IS NO REASON TO BE NASTY TO PROBABLY THE ONLY PERSON IN MASSACHUSSETTS WHO ACTUALLY KNEW WHO YOU WERE!!!<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSWO376viQCdRtheFHYZeT85wMcYIVn4MbqqedkccJPtmpR4xuOI2_ibiZ8-bRMq9VR4VnB6O_pNpfgc2keIIfpjvWrvVEHL2GPuQEVgT1kq31WBZJFnazeESWC61n51qBrlTAiJsQzs/s640/blogger-image-959865286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSWO376viQCdRtheFHYZeT85wMcYIVn4MbqqedkccJPtmpR4xuOI2_ibiZ8-bRMq9VR4VnB6O_pNpfgc2keIIfpjvWrvVEHL2GPuQEVgT1kq31WBZJFnazeESWC61n51qBrlTAiJsQzs/s640/blogger-image-959865286.jpg" /></a></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-60486763662522846402012-01-05T20:35:00.001-05:002012-01-05T21:19:37.712-05:00Continental Chicken Soup<div><p>Perhaps calling this soup Continental is a bit over zealous as I pretty much came up with it whilst   trying to clear some quality produce (read: vegetables that are about to turn) from the fridgie the other day. I am certain however that if this recipe were in the  Slenderella cookbook  circa 1956, it would have a similar moniker as everything in that weight loss bible is luxuriously named.</p>
<p>Digressing, this is a fabulous non dairy soup that features coconut milk and a hint of ginger (the spice, not Ron Weasley). It can be a crockpot soup or you can make it on the stove top. I'm sharing the crock pot version because I have an inappropriate crush on my crocker (and Ron Weasley, but lets keep that on the dl)!</p>
<p>Ingredients:<br>
Frozen or fresh Chicken- I used six frozen chicken drumsticks, skin on, however feel free to use whatever chicken you have on hand. Adjust the amount to suit the number of people you' re feeding. </p>
<p>1 cup frozen corn<br>
1 spanish onion diced into 1/4" cubes<br>
2 carrots diced into 1/4" cubes<br>
2 celery stalks (use the center ones with the leaves for amazing flavor) diced into 1/4" cubes<br>
5 cloves of garlic minced finely or pushed through the garlic press<br>
salt<br>
pepper<br>
1/2 tsp ginger (I used dried from a jar, but feel free to use freshly grated)<br>
1 can unsweetened coconut milk<br>
1 cup chicken stock or broth<br>
1 tablespoon olive oil</p>
<p>*Pre heat crocker on low setting. <br>
*Dice all vegetables  into approximately 1/4 inch cubes and toss into the crocker.<br>
*Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the veg and stir with a wooden spoon.<br>
* Season and place chicken (it can be frozen) into the crocker.<br>
*Shake and pour the can of coconut milk into the crockpot.<br>
*Stir in the chicken stock<br>
*Add the ginger and frozen corn and stir the entire thing a few times.<br>
*Cover and slow cook on low for at least four hours. <br>
**If you used chicken legs, remove the cooked chicken from the crocker and remove the meat from the bones. I broke the chicken up into about 1/2"  pieces. Return the chicken meat to the crockpot.<br>
*Serve hot!</p>
<p>The flavor from the coconut milk,ginger and garlic set this soup over the edge, its creamy and to this not so continental gal, very foreign tasting! This soup is also amazing with fresh shrimp.</p>
<br/><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfW93Xo6D-QtRtJsV9NM798Bygx0yNDXpHNCWPavbhm8bOASgojUZpx1Yj4IhOylJtqpTkNgN4fzIldNe1hkmCQEoMU4UQnA9OD6lh5UZzwR1eebHPR_79L5zLLHtscdrFZtW0HOEoNY/' /></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-65718382748663743322012-01-03T05:43:00.001-05:002012-01-03T05:43:41.039-05:00Happy New Year<div><p>Heres to the end of a trying, life changing and amazing 2011! The past year brought two Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnoses and one beautiful baby girl, Lena Emily. I wonder what the next year will bring us, and hope for only the best although I know that is nearly impossible. My goals this year are to try my hardest to create the most positive environment for my family, to work all unnecessary processed foods out of our diets, and to update this blog much, MUCH more often than last year. </p>
<p>Wishing everyone the best in the coming year!</p>
<br/><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicP5Cb9-mx5dydi6edtjopsy7KCIRD9Ll41iUnz5iRUN7M4UeKsWqMpZbG3njjQETMr-vNgACnT9Ck3MjvR-CV4nu_4pJar0x1-mba8dE7_m7kiq5_gd6BK0zCBZps7QKCnElsQJwxCEc/' /></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-44265945497935692162011-06-15T16:24:00.000-04:002011-06-15T16:24:10.403-04:00Who Gives A Hang About The NeighborhoodI am writing this post on the lovely Lenovo laptop, from the comfort of my side porch steps. I say comfort but really mean cramped mismatched black outdoor carpeting covered side porch steps, but anyway...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I have just completed phase one of my plan to perennial-ize my yard. I am a very lazy gardener who loves a well manicured yet not boring garden, and so I figure if I can plant all at once and then just have to do basic weeding I should be okay. Digressing (not really, but stick with me I do have a point here) I have a small area of my side yard that houses a lovely tree that blooms pink in spring and drops nasty cherry like fruit all over the side lawn and driveway in the early fall. That side lawn borders our semi-retired neighbor who I not so lovingly call Terry Francona based on looks alone. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQJxPuwNuaTN1USCpwW3E9FzipexWzYbiPDvhwy8gUYdK6bFPaj-hZPUxhQ_d5veamLVzSSdqx8EX0kfiaY8DwgCwNA3x3vJW7Of1yWznw4NsFB22X8U134KA-3tJRQNoPLPUFGwxh_cU/s320/Terry-Francona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQJxPuwNuaTN1USCpwW3E9FzipexWzYbiPDvhwy8gUYdK6bFPaj-hZPUxhQ_d5veamLVzSSdqx8EX0kfiaY8DwgCwNA3x3vJW7Of1yWznw4NsFB22X8U134KA-3tJRQNoPLPUFGwxh_cU/s320/Terry-Francona.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This neighbor is a lawn mowing nazi. He is out there cutting his grass three times a week, and I swear to you that I have seen him picking single leaves off it on more than one occasion. Just the other day he cut back some bushes that were overhanging from our BACK YARD onto the invisible property line we share, and instead of bagging the tree waste up and tossing it, since he was soooo concerned about it, he dumped the pile of branches onto our yard and took off. I wanted to leave them there for the world to see what a lunatic we live next door to, but Jay, being the good person that he is bagged them up for disposal. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That act of neighborly kindness got me thinking about in my day to day life, I care very little for what others think about me, but in my semi-suburbanite edge of the city home dwelling life, I have been caring WAY TOO MUCH about what the neighbors think of my house (which is under minor construction by the way). When we bought the house I had grand schemes of fabulous lawn burros, pink flamingos and tacky pink and purple flowers everywhere, but with having the twins and now being pregnant again my plans keep getting put on the back burner. I also was concerned with "what with the neighbors think" thoughts. I have moved on though, and will be slowly but surely commencing my grand dreams of the green and brown cape with pink and purple tacky flowers and crap all over the place. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHaZd0SUxE43WOYDT9e7pYMsuiBOGwtaTKWMK7isAJ19T8I4IT0-_KMQ1XuMhSMFkqNLPcZH9jRjAABZYx3RWuDleJ_nx8UfmIF_dw82HSAhuaE9q_EOY8xbd_BE_TMFnRcx_DqrAcDY/s400/peewee+exterior+house.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHaZd0SUxE43WOYDT9e7pYMsuiBOGwtaTKWMK7isAJ19T8I4IT0-_KMQ1XuMhSMFkqNLPcZH9jRjAABZYx3RWuDleJ_nx8UfmIF_dw82HSAhuaE9q_EOY8xbd_BE_TMFnRcx_DqrAcDY/s320/peewee+exterior+house.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My dream house (inside and out truth be told)!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have two tomato plants growing in my little side yard garden, as well as a pot that I have planted a bunch of flat leaf Italian parsley in. Next to that I just today (about forty five minutes ago actually) planted three rows of fabulous pink and purple perennials that include: poppies, forget me nots, and some other things. I bordered my little garden with vintage bricks that the previous owners had lined the yard with in the 50s. It looks cute already and will be darling once the flowers spring up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here are some photos of whats going on in the yard so far: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRreYFAu4XdwnjKra67-o63mHe7sqPdD9KmoHTSp3CE4rKF6NDT2IY3n3K9qPC4xPjNeDfJzLo_hkRLtV7dUpe4i9KCe-NWF2TS46UDq_LSsGKfr8CV-sT0dnCIdoIy4T1oUPqeKE1H6A/s1600/flowerbed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRreYFAu4XdwnjKra67-o63mHe7sqPdD9KmoHTSp3CE4rKF6NDT2IY3n3K9qPC4xPjNeDfJzLo_hkRLtV7dUpe4i9KCe-NWF2TS46UDq_LSsGKfr8CV-sT0dnCIdoIy4T1oUPqeKE1H6A/s320/flowerbed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My new flowerbed/tomato garden!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMDecPYS7HKBXNIMP9-wi6gsoV0pnXbYocxqJOa3bg9xPw_d-15M3vtXdtbR0CIfZ3DIYHVWXlvSfUVc_aOztENnITu4gtLsCQgebR5MOY_7ifPGFckfs9xGfXAu2G5V3g-Z3_nbjbpo/s1600/Hibird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMDecPYS7HKBXNIMP9-wi6gsoV0pnXbYocxqJOa3bg9xPw_d-15M3vtXdtbR0CIfZ3DIYHVWXlvSfUVc_aOztENnITu4gtLsCQgebR5MOY_7ifPGFckfs9xGfXAu2G5V3g-Z3_nbjbpo/s320/Hibird.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My needing weeding road/driveway side flower bed with fabulous bird that you may recognize from the movie Pecker!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAlLWRkFO72Jl5w-enaqoWQZbJN2s5h-q5ueySAN0OATq9Vsae_ypVoQyU3aIWr3fnfCIGThlDMaJmFo04otLfI4MkFpq8WeAzQI0CWwrwxdBRnH9fn2hdtUY0QShu9ov9upmtcXT7iA/s1600/roses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAlLWRkFO72Jl5w-enaqoWQZbJN2s5h-q5ueySAN0OATq9Vsae_ypVoQyU3aIWr3fnfCIGThlDMaJmFo04otLfI4MkFpq8WeAzQI0CWwrwxdBRnH9fn2hdtUY0QShu9ov9upmtcXT7iA/s320/roses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The lovely roses that I rescued from under 5 feet of debris about 3 years ago!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I also have alongside the other side of my house where the other neighbor who shall remain nameless occupies the adjoining plot a fabulous little garden of Hosta in purple and white, huge white Peonys, and hopefully some hydrangea (which someone who shall remain nameless covered with construction bricks, so we'll see if they come back to me). I am off to a good start, if only I could have these little moments of productivity a little more often!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway, the moral of my long and winding story is that neighbors are like opinions, and you all know what opinions are like! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-85399801648908652952011-06-10T18:16:00.000-04:002011-06-10T18:16:03.922-04:00Wiers (the) Beach?Due to the lovely (yet still unnamed) Termini bambina on the way, any plans for a short vacation this year have been put on hold. The plan prior to the surprise baby was that we would take the boys to Maine for a few days, see the <a href="http://www.yorkzoo.com/">Yorks Wild Animal Kingdom</a>, hit the beach and perhaps finally bring the little nuts to Portland to meet some old friends. We were also going to try to celebrate *NEXT YEARS* 10 year wedding anniversary early by returning to Las Vegas (where we honeymooned in August 2002) for a weekend. Almost as quickly as they were made the plans were changed, no big deal really, instead of The Fabulous Las Vegas, our eight year old Pt Cruiser was replaced with this hot rod:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBwu0Mh_lLGqjn_xP-dmQrXKkda1U1LwSqo7ZYhfhG4ht-GNlyww&t=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBwu0Mh_lLGqjn_xP-dmQrXKkda1U1LwSqo7ZYhfhG4ht-GNlyww&t=1" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our week in Maine has been replaced with day trips on the Thursday's that Jay has off. Our first day trip of the "summer" was to <a href="http://www.weirsbeach.com/index.html">Weirs Beach</a>, located on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/large/Weirs_Beach_Laconia_Motorcy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/large/Weirs_Beach_Laconia_Motorcy.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The fun started around 10am when we arrived at the beach. The good time at the beach itself lasted only about an hour, as the boys were a bit overwhelmed with wanting to run around and not really understanding that the water was not only pretty cold, but went from shallow to deep rather quickly. We had a good time anyway, and then spent the afternoon playing poolside at home. Jay and I ended the evening with big salads and The Aviator on IFC. All in all, way less expensive than a real vacation with the comfort of being in our own bed by 10 pm!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74YvEAhFjaSFZgCZd9E4eb3KBG1KeA8ToG5C0cjD8gIR8TDBFFzrY3mLG4zLnTz_V8LCM3ixo7VQh98RW_BfbKy-NzNsPFiyZurJHxOdiubkIfiKUE3XG6YEOQdXOWPxya4ef-fzIcZU/s1600/FxCam_1307628507436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74YvEAhFjaSFZgCZd9E4eb3KBG1KeA8ToG5C0cjD8gIR8TDBFFzrY3mLG4zLnTz_V8LCM3ixo7VQh98RW_BfbKy-NzNsPFiyZurJHxOdiubkIfiKUE3XG6YEOQdXOWPxya4ef-fzIcZU/s320/FxCam_1307628507436.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74YvEAhFjaSFZgCZd9E4eb3KBG1KeA8ToG5C0cjD8gIR8TDBFFzrY3mLG4zLnTz_V8LCM3ixo7VQh98RW_BfbKy-NzNsPFiyZurJHxOdiubkIfiKUE3XG6YEOQdXOWPxya4ef-fzIcZU/s1600/FxCam_1307628507436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74YvEAhFjaSFZgCZd9E4eb3KBG1KeA8ToG5C0cjD8gIR8TDBFFzrY3mLG4zLnTz_V8LCM3ixo7VQh98RW_BfbKy-NzNsPFiyZurJHxOdiubkIfiKUE3XG6YEOQdXOWPxya4ef-fzIcZU/s320/FxCam_1307628507436.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And poolside!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5gYJZuT8xkbQrhypxrc9zgpAK8hr3Pj57CvwKijULEzw7KoWkyX9hzPfZg3R6eTsXzL7TtAL0nCBzWx4iExEJ2Vse9b3B0PKQc81lJQtzwKAWhrgtooMahYEJHkZmpHiMbR3Wnk6-to/s1600/FxCam_1307466751323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5gYJZuT8xkbQrhypxrc9zgpAK8hr3Pj57CvwKijULEzw7KoWkyX9hzPfZg3R6eTsXzL7TtAL0nCBzWx4iExEJ2Vse9b3B0PKQc81lJQtzwKAWhrgtooMahYEJHkZmpHiMbR3Wnk6-to/s320/FxCam_1307466751323.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-10130035280325318952011-06-06T14:25:00.000-04:002011-06-06T14:25:13.080-04:00Petrified. A little something about me.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ol id="rso" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">pet·ri·fy</em></span><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="60%"><div style="font-size: small;"><em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">verb</em> /ˈpetrəˌfī/ <span class="speaker-icon-listen-off" id="dictionary_speaker_icon_1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://ssl.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/images/icons/0/buttons.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: transparent; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: transparent; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px 2px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; display: inline-block; float: none; height: 18px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 18px;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #767676;">petrified, past participle; </span><span style="color: #767676;">petrified, past tense; </span><span style="color: #767676;">petrifies, 3rd person singular present; </span><span style="color: #767676;">petrifying, present participle</span></div><div class="std" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; padding-left: 40px;"><ol style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div>
<li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 1.2; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Make (someone) so frightened that they are unable to move or think<div class="std" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; padding-left: 20px;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #767676; line-height: 1.2; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">- his icy controlled quietness <em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">petrified</em> her</li>
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When I was a wee lass of about 2 I believe, I had a scare with a hot dog. Not the kind you eat (unless you're some kind of nut) but the kind you have as a pet, a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">dachshund if you will. I do not remember the incident, but from what my mother tells me since that day I have been petrified of dogs. It apparently barked and jumped at me. When you are two, that is frightening as all get out.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Growing up, anywhere my family or I in singular went had to be cleared in advance of any canine species. I am sure this was a nightmare for my parents who were not only hauling a frightened Marcella around, but also four other children all under the age of 6. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Birthday parties were the worst. My mom and the party givers mom would assure me that any dogs would be out of sight during the party (as they should be anyway), but it NEVER failed that about half an hour into the "festivities" someone would say, "Let's play with Satan" and out would come the dog. That'd be my cue to hide in the bathroom or to sit on a chair as far away from the group and hug my legs so that my feet wouldn't be dangling should said hound of hell decide to bite me. In addition to be petrified of dogs, I was also painfully quiet as a child, and would rarely talk or speak up if I were uncomfortable in someone else's home. I would silently sit calming my nerves and hoping that my mom would know I was in imminent danger and come get me. The worst part of this fear though, was that most people had no concept of the reality of my actual fear. They thought it was funny or that I was just overreacting. Believe you me, I wish I had been, because if you have this type of fear, rational or irrational, it is not fun or funny.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> At one scary birthday party, the dogs and kids all went inside, and since I was too scared to go in with them, I just stood around outside until the party girl's mother happened to see me standing like a dope in her backyard about half an hour later. She made light of it with a joke about their being dogs next door that were outside. Lovely woman, she was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mydaughter.co.uk/mmlib/includes/sendimage.php?path=799.32eed639.jpg.cropped.jpg&mode=fitandcrop&height=210&width=280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mydaughter.co.uk/mmlib/includes/sendimage.php?path=799.32eed639.jpg.cropped.jpg&mode=fitandcrop&height=210&width=280" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As I got older my fear of dogs subsided a bit. We had a German Shepard (who later developed epilepsy and attacked my mom, almost ripping her hand off) named Rambo when I was in fifth and sixth grade, so that helped me become a little braver around the smaller variety of dogs, but anything bigger than my shins was still something of a nightmare. In fact, it still is. I rarely take my kids for walks around our neighborhood for fear of some rogue pit bull or whatever kind of dog someone in this city might have decided was "just friendly" and allowed to run free (in our city with a "strict leash law"). Just today I took the first walk of this entire YEAR with my kids, and I was white knuckled the entire time. Each house passed by was carefully inspected for any sign of the enemy. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> When I was working weddings, I went on a bridal hair trial at the bride's home. It was one of my early jobs, and I didn't have any real "rules" set in place at this point, so when I arrived at the front door (my loving husband dropped me off and proceeded to go do something probably awesome whilst I was working) I hear what sounds like a pack of wolves howling and barking. "It's probably just a few chihuahuas" is what I thought to myself. Then the door opened and I was face to face with some type of pit bull mix that looked like it wanted to take my face off. I'm sorry people, I know you love your pit bulls, and more power to you, but I don't. I have the right to not love them just as much as you have the right to name them Tyson, Dyson, Baby, Killer or whatever. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So anyway... Immediately upon entering the house I excused myself to the bathroom and locked the door. I was shaking like mad and felt like 6 year old Marcella at the birthday party again. Throughout the entire hair trial said dog would snarl and bark at me, as if I were killing its owner. Finally I couldn't handle anymore and asked if the dog could go into another room. The owner/bride was a little put off, but I was starting to fear for my life. It was at that moment that I realized I needed to make a No Dogs Allowed clause in my hair trial and wedding contracts. After the trial the bride and groom took me to din-din at my favorite Chinese restaurant as a thank you for working with them. It was so nice to get out of the path of the dog for a while. Dinner was lovely and I was finally starting to calm down. I'd hoped that Jay (my husband who left me at the pits of fear of dog hell that day) would be waiting for me when we got back to the house. So the meal was finished, and as we are walking out the panic started to return to my body. And then as if by some grace of jeebus, who do I spy walking into the restaurant but my sister and brother in law! They were picking up some take out for my mom. DING DING DING went the bell in my head!! "Guys, why don't you follow us to their house and I'll go back to Mom's house with you and call Jay from there." It was totally awkward but I was too frightened to explain or even set foot into the house again. When I explained the situation to my sister on the ride to my mom's she was hysterical with laughter, but knowing my history fully understanding of the situation! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So what is my point...I don't know, perhaps I am just feeling a little silly for being a thirty two year old dame with an irrational fear of dogs, but I guess my point is that no fear should go punished or frowned upon. Irrational or not, if you're afraid of balloons popping near electric lights and causing the entire house to catch on fire, dogs, or wind rustling the leaves on the trees after you've had far too much caffeine, I'm not going to judge you, its not your fault. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</span>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-11319873564547908302011-06-01T14:35:00.000-04:002011-06-01T14:35:06.224-04:00Getting resultsI am pretty sure there was no episode of "The Wonder Years" in which Norma and Jack were faced with the challenge of finding out why Wayne behaved the way he did. If I did miss that episode, please let me know where I can find it.<br />
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If you know me on Facebook, you may recall that I posted a vague status update a few weeks ago about not being able to spend as much time doing silly facebooking and not caring about fitting in with the scenesters. I realize that for some it was a little confusing. I'm sure some thought there were troubles in the Termini marriage (there are not, actually heading into our 9th year of marriage, things couldn't be better) or that I couldn't handle being pregnant and taking care of my two year old twin boys at the same time. Whatever the talk was, I want to clear up any misconceptions.<br />
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Over the past four months my twins have been receiving in home early intervention services for speech and behavior. Around Christmas I started getting worried about the very few words that the boys were using, and at the urging of my sister went forward with having the boys tested for developmental delays and speech delay. They were tested and qualified for the services based on the test results. Needless to say we were a little disheartened to learn that our boys needed some help, but really, when you suspect something is off about your kids, you should immediately find out what you can do to make things better. To me, that is your only duty once you have kids-MAKE SURE THEY ARE OKAY ALL THE TIME. <br />
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Some of the things that made me think there was an issue other than just, "Geeze, Marcella's kids are out of control!" were both boys aversion to loud noises, the inability or lack of asking for what they needed, and their attachment to certain toys over people or situations. Also specifically with one of the twins; head hitting when angry, constantly screaming, and a lot of anxiety over new situations.<br />
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After just a few weeks of therapy, both boys had increased their language by 75% and their behavior had improved tremendously. We were not out of the woods however. At age3, the early intervention services end, and to qualify for further services through our city the boys needed to be tested for Autism. This test happened about two weeks ago.<br />
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Much to our sadness, both boys were diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. Each boy has totally different diagnoses. We were told that they fall on the extreme high functioning end of the spectrum, and that in the past, they'd have not been diagnosed as such. I'm not holding onto titles, or wallowing in the diagnosis however. Jay and I have entirely devoted ourselves to getting them the help that is needed to hopefully move past the diagnosis in the future and really help the boys to thrive and live completely productive lives.<br />
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The first step is to get more in home services for the boys before they turn three. At age three the school district is required to step in. This should be happening within the next week or so. We couldn't be happier about it, the boys love their one hour of "school" on Tuesdays, so a few more hours a week is just going to be fabulous.<br />
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The next step is getting them into an Autism specific preschool environment. Tomorrow we meet with our local school district to have the boys evaluated to see where they will be going in the fall. This is exciting and frightening at the same time. I can not imagine that my little chickens are ready to board a little bus and go to the "big kids school", but I also can not imagine what would happen if they were not going to get the specific help that they need. I often run into parents who are in complete denial that there is something wrong with their kids, and it pains me to think of being that way with my own kids. I may be vain when it comes to being embarrassed about not wearing make up to the grocery store or having shoes that don't match my purse, but when it comes to my children, I have no embarrassment about getting them all of the help that they need.<br />
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I hope that I've shed some light on things for anyone who I was not able to personally talk to about this. I look forward to hearing from anyone with REAL experience in this area, or if you know of certain groups that would be ideal to join or talk with. <br />
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Some recommended reading: <a href="http://www.autismspeaks.org/">Autism Speaks</a>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-49466765322062115322011-05-17T14:47:00.000-04:002011-05-17T14:47:04.661-04:00Its the best costume for the day.It is May, otherwise known as the month of rain, here in New England. I have no grand illusions that it will stop raining-at least not until mid June, when we will finally have warm weather. No big deal, we will all just have terrible hair and bad attitudes. Well, today I do not have bad hair-that's a lie, I probably do, but I had a Little Edie Beale moment whilst getting ready today, so despite torrential downpours and damp cold humidity (how does that happen?) I feel good about how I look today. It has been a while since I've actually liked how I look-I blame the pregnancy hormones and heartburn. Anyway, a rainy day head shot of me in front of the lovely stairs blocked with a baby gate covered with the grey cover to a storage tote:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9UidxXXrdnKJ7UBUJDgEuim65f61Ug1sJM5eQ__-iyeG8Kn2BZKCw33nP9JfegVrll-6O9wb9MC2bEeNaqCdUZbJJQB4SiIqHuINHDvurizKUnPkENx6N4259kG5eGX1b0x2XLhY5BA/s1600/FxCam_1305635953255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9UidxXXrdnKJ7UBUJDgEuim65f61Ug1sJM5eQ__-iyeG8Kn2BZKCw33nP9JfegVrll-6O9wb9MC2bEeNaqCdUZbJJQB4SiIqHuINHDvurizKUnPkENx6N4259kG5eGX1b0x2XLhY5BA/s320/FxCam_1305635953255.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have recently cut my bangs into a nice semi-circle shape, which is great because they are versatile enough to wear slightly to the side or in the middle like vintage bangs. Also at the ripe old age of 32 I have FINALLY found a good powder to fill my white eyebrows in with. Its some cheap LA Looks pallet of browns, and one of the browns has enough auburn in it to actually make my brows look nice and not drag queenie!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway, since its raining out, here's some lovely photos of the real Edie Beale since she is the inspiration for my head-scarffed coif!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2009-06-16-Little_Edie_Beale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2009-06-16-Little_Edie_Beale.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUuwJpbbydE/Ta8WT56kOFI/AAAAAAAAF48/lIDOq7QQqD8/s1600/edith-bouvier-beale-and-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUuwJpbbydE/Ta8WT56kOFI/AAAAAAAAF48/lIDOq7QQqD8/s320/edith-bouvier-beale-and-big.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDG2neW2PZ1tY-vfBc9gpNxPpjgIiRhMrsAaAgChheIrlgB5HeNp5X2CuGh_IKcTFdHqrcafEG2XuM9KeijdJ92vxZ9pEJifF79OGzyYPe2qyra7_Dlp7QkRD-yORbjNKKvEqVZpcMJdU/s400/grey_gardens_young_lil_edie_via_la_dolce_vita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDG2neW2PZ1tY-vfBc9gpNxPpjgIiRhMrsAaAgChheIrlgB5HeNp5X2CuGh_IKcTFdHqrcafEG2XuM9KeijdJ92vxZ9pEJifF79OGzyYPe2qyra7_Dlp7QkRD-yORbjNKKvEqVZpcMJdU/s320/grey_gardens_young_lil_edie_via_la_dolce_vita.jpg" width="287" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic/EdithBealeBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic/EdithBealeBook.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/07/31/1249055037-littleedie-758584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/07/31/1249055037-littleedie-758584.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2059430225_56c50e26c0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2059430225_56c50e26c0.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>And the lovely Drew Barrymore as Little Edie with Jessica Lange as Big Edie:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gothamjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/img/2009/04/46062301-500x335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://www.gothamjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/img/2009/04/46062301-500x335.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-77362686249952906192011-03-21T10:43:00.000-04:002011-03-21T10:43:05.382-04:00I am a clothes horse.Spending many a day at home, a lot of the time in terribly mismatched pajamas, has made me crazy for wanting to wear cute sun dresses. I am aware that we are only one day into spring, and that here in lovely New England, summer rears its head sometime near the fourth of July, but this is not stopping me from amassing and trying on as many amazing frocks as I can get my hands on!<br />
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When I was pregnant with the twins in the summer 2008 I made sure I had a vast collection of retro-like dresses to get me through. That's not to say that I didn't have a pile of uglies that I wore on the days where I couldn't bear to get off of the couch, but in general I think I donned some winners! This one below was from Kohls and was not a maternity dress, but fit so well! It reminds me of the dress Appollonia Vitelli wore when she took the walk with Michael Corleone (and the entire town) on the Godfather; which of course I can not find a photograph of on the entire web-tube, so you will have to take my word for it! This dress even has the white yolk feature on the back shoulders- it is incredible! Luckily it is in great condition still, so in a month or two I should be able to wear it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFMr3XXDX9RkwXQvyPOuYKdlpfTjeq5NyDsLOnxYVr95GztBEfFaiNyhzRcqop2P7vwhHzyOBJQeuDzVrUWNT2ohF-xJuf6VGHEyGNM3dEuTQbSGd91h5kIFkFSaD-d2LvGqeRV7T2cU/s1600/SANY0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiFMr3XXDX9RkwXQvyPOuYKdlpfTjeq5NyDsLOnxYVr95GztBEfFaiNyhzRcqop2P7vwhHzyOBJQeuDzVrUWNT2ohF-xJuf6VGHEyGNM3dEuTQbSGd91h5kIFkFSaD-d2LvGqeRV7T2cU/s320/SANY0301.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 28, 2008 7 months pregnant with twins<br />
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</tbody></table> I was smart to put all of my "maternity" dresses away after having the twins (in a box I coincidentally labeled "Maternity Clothes-If Not Used by 2011 DONATE") and am happy that I have them to wear this summer. I do however need quite a few more! I just purchased a fabulous faux "shelf bust" style dress from my new favorite maternity website <a href="http://bumptobump.shoprw.com/home.php">Bump To Bump</a>. I will do an outfit of the day post when I get it! <div><br />
</div><div>Another new item I've bought for this pregnancy is from everybody's favorite, Target. I generally do not wear pants as a rule, but on the days where I am chasing the boys everywhere, I opt for super dark jeans, generally cuffed and super high water. I have no idea why I feel the need to roll them so high, it's just a habit! I love to wear knee length shift type dresses over cropped jeans. I have this black dress from Old Navy circa 2009, which has a bit of stretch to it, that I usually wear over jeans so hopefully I can get a few more wears out of it. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL3Ytiu_TRAEXuBRUGNIyfmNnM9bo2T23w53OsdI1v0YStogix_xqOPjmktXq51zzVylrjBLfcMb4JZgCHctls63n9JXfjWg78AfVPNM9Xf0MxDtFafdXfV2l5-nvOM395GxUXbvOQEI/s1600/SANY1029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL3Ytiu_TRAEXuBRUGNIyfmNnM9bo2T23w53OsdI1v0YStogix_xqOPjmktXq51zzVylrjBLfcMb4JZgCHctls63n9JXfjWg78AfVPNM9Xf0MxDtFafdXfV2l5-nvOM395GxUXbvOQEI/s320/SANY1029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">February 2009 Vincent (6 months) and I</td></tr>
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</div><div>So what I really need are shirts. I hate to wear t-shirts and smock type shirts. This is a problem because 99% of maternity wear are this style. I am open to website suggestions for cute wrap style shirts and striped sailor type tops. I am loving this one from Old Navy: <a href="http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=26246&vid=1&pid=798412&scid=798412022">Maternity Striped Boat-Neck Tees</a>. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Viva la Shopping-or Viva la compra!</div><div><br />
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</div></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-4512620869249433072011-03-15T08:03:00.000-04:002011-03-15T08:03:22.463-04:00Well, whaddaya know?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2csMqv4OTB03Ug6o7Ee-_Z-9ZFpCeX_1uR62W6PTzAWpxk6lCzfl4mIHa1W6w0ktAlMoVs2CsA4i4esaR8okous-9b8ytGTRd94ojst4WU5BLLDiiOeveJooRdutEXgsjkQHkk_koSs/s1600/maternitypattern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2csMqv4OTB03Ug6o7Ee-_Z-9ZFpCeX_1uR62W6PTzAWpxk6lCzfl4mIHa1W6w0ktAlMoVs2CsA4i4esaR8okous-9b8ytGTRd94ojst4WU5BLLDiiOeveJooRdutEXgsjkQHkk_koSs/s320/maternitypattern.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Who knew that after being diagnosed with unspecified infertility one could randomly get pregnant? Well, apparently everyone but Jason and I, but who cares... We're having a baby!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Its been an amazing two and a half years with the twins, and we are so excited to announce that I am officially ten weeks pregnant!! I had suspected something was up whilst trying to stick to the new Weight Watchers Points Plus program and just kept eating everything in sight about a month ago. I am very excited that I don't have to do that program for another year!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So excited, hoping that this one could possibly be the "Karen" in our little pretend Wonder Years family-but really, as long as we get a healthy baby, it could be a "Paul Pfeiffer"!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-76349039957029160492010-12-01T09:50:00.000-05:002010-12-01T09:50:44.639-05:00The Christmas Lunatic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWz54bY1EVQKZI-JQlkFSde3Hr30tmrpiEFQ6DZACbt0ETmLk82sXm13yK0MP9hXLfMDZCFUyrHcPaa5IATjTm__7L-YDNBXOnt4khV6oNIO9ZLSKM2AEZaFS96yAdpBr2kvuzPpCs0Pw/s1600/elfchristmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWz54bY1EVQKZI-JQlkFSde3Hr30tmrpiEFQ6DZACbt0ETmLk82sXm13yK0MP9hXLfMDZCFUyrHcPaa5IATjTm__7L-YDNBXOnt4khV6oNIO9ZLSKM2AEZaFS96yAdpBr2kvuzPpCs0Pw/s320/elfchristmas.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Let it be known that the Christmas season is my most favorite time of year. I am a bona-fide Christmas NUT. I start getting that tingly feeling shortly after Halloween is over, and lose it approximately twelve hours after December 25th. This year we have three trees. One five footer that is silver, a four footer that is pink and a small tree that is silver. I have always been this way, as a two year old, I broke into the furnace room where my parents hid the Christmas presents and dragged out the goods. As an eleven year old, with the help of my brothers and sisters I broke into the red van parked on the lawn near the driveway where my parents had hid our Christmas gifts, on a night when they went out to do more shopping. As a thirty one year old I braved the cold basement and scary unopened basement closet to sneak a peek in the Target bag that my beloved, Jason so painstakingly hid... I have yet to resort to gift hunting, but the season has really just begun-it's only December 1st for crying out loud!! As I type this I have Bing and "the Girls" blasting on the fabulous little green ipod that I found in the Target bag in the basement last year...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCysEpT8uILlYvzLrep1fj5Cq4XZ6IsdW7cJvi_C1eNjQZlNpAGeMAp628WWwX7c2NJgsqNyjnlMSBERUt0I6_XpNqNIUhRxwtL5VszQ1zrNIILRgwaEV-bt-Ne3wlr5kWmtD-ehnWM0s/s1600/clarkgablechristmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCysEpT8uILlYvzLrep1fj5Cq4XZ6IsdW7cJvi_C1eNjQZlNpAGeMAp628WWwX7c2NJgsqNyjnlMSBERUt0I6_XpNqNIUhRxwtL5VszQ1zrNIILRgwaEV-bt-Ne3wlr5kWmtD-ehnWM0s/s320/clarkgablechristmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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This morning I introduced the children to the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas special. As I figured, it took three times of watching it to get them hooked, but I'd suffice it to say that it is now a favorite. <br />
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I am just about finished my Christmas shopping as well. I managed to do a fabulous mix of buying vintage, handmade and only a few mass produced items. Next year I hope to do all vintage or handmade. Handmade by others of course, NOBODY wants anything that I have handmade! My favorite purchase this year is a giant lot of vintage wooden letter blocks... I have been looking at the ones in the stores for about six months now, and they just don't do it for me. The ones from the 70s and 80s had so much more character. Luckily some one on ebay had two lots of them, so now all I need to do is give them a once over with disinfectant (just in case, you know, I have two year olds who love to put things in their mouths still...) and package them up in a sweet case.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvGLNCLvDNHbz8CjDV6De39B_krE_hiEdxTDvMGlXUKrM8zhQdc5xIoHyMevVBaS57t3cZ_HtHujpShZAjisuNwD86y06NFvxt7ZjMS5ruiluXCuchZsJGkC_2M0eg-gXCs3bg1uSUXI/s1600/vintagetreetopper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvGLNCLvDNHbz8CjDV6De39B_krE_hiEdxTDvMGlXUKrM8zhQdc5xIoHyMevVBaS57t3cZ_HtHujpShZAjisuNwD86y06NFvxt7ZjMS5ruiluXCuchZsJGkC_2M0eg-gXCs3bg1uSUXI/s320/vintagetreetopper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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I also discovered <a href="http://www.sandboxthreads.com/">Sandbox Threads</a>. They have amazing shirts for really pennies when you think about it. I purchased about six this year. Visit them and buy something- you will not regret it!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjssLXuDfAt9XJ7_eMCybHd52-9b3viPdr0RmXH0orJBr-J2c6TYqNMecJ19JBf6QEeEkwedA-i4bl2A6UqC7Byybn87s0Hx540V-Qu5fyDhoEB6x3-QWdxxQ_zwlf8Xo3apYTqaw_9ynY/s1600/francischristmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjssLXuDfAt9XJ7_eMCybHd52-9b3viPdr0RmXH0orJBr-J2c6TYqNMecJ19JBf6QEeEkwedA-i4bl2A6UqC7Byybn87s0Hx540V-Qu5fyDhoEB6x3-QWdxxQ_zwlf8Xo3apYTqaw_9ynY/s320/francischristmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-27142350565634278992010-09-14T14:39:00.000-04:002010-09-14T14:39:46.013-04:00I've crossed the line...Wow, I've really done it this time! I have finally crossed that line that turns a regular ol' Joe into a true "stay at home mom slob"... <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIKwKoYAJpO7qHJEv5qQsgQghKG0UJD54ZVucc7n3F0vWuuHbXVdKh38cqUAvAsQ3lol8UFGuLkxWkRBKFsLZsIYugqmDaiUuP_EVBXXGGs8wE84I9smqfN7wdexY8scgkyu3Iqs66zQ/s1600/0_IMAGE_295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIKwKoYAJpO7qHJEv5qQsgQghKG0UJD54ZVucc7n3F0vWuuHbXVdKh38cqUAvAsQ3lol8UFGuLkxWkRBKFsLZsIYugqmDaiUuP_EVBXXGGs8wE84I9smqfN7wdexY8scgkyu3Iqs66zQ/s320/0_IMAGE_295.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That's right, I've started wearing pink fuzzy slippers. All I need now is a poly moo-moo and a perm and I'll be set for life! Seriously, these things are like wearing clouds on my feet, I may never take them off. Really though, if I wear these outside of the house, someone should harpoon me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In other news, Mrs. Roper over here rejoined Fat Watchers. It's been a month and I am down 8.2 pounds. I have .8 to go before I hit the 5% goal, and I am hoping to hit that this week. It has been easy to stick to the program this time, and I have high hopes of not blowing it around the holiday season as I usually do. I have been walking at the local track a few days a week with the boys in their sweet new stroller. I do about a mile at a fast paced walk. I have no interest in becoming a super walker or runner, I just want to get in shape, so this workout is perfect. Of course when it gets too cold I will have to figure out a new plan, but so far so good!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More news, non fat related... I am getting my small tooth fixed! Again, not a huge thing in the general scheme of the world, but for about 5 years I have been quite self conscious about it. Here's what it look like, in case you never noticed:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWb038MlgttShUkOsVbZQEmQBCcC9gnbJhgFgu2AHJ9X3pUARfHTiUu5W_cyg1Sg73y-IXws7IJc58TJMrHl3oYoCjeYBRzlSRUCpsmTAFx45TPHOZ6bwavVYkj6agbCHmem6nwahcwSU/s1600/mickey-rooney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWb038MlgttShUkOsVbZQEmQBCcC9gnbJhgFgu2AHJ9X3pUARfHTiUu5W_cyg1Sg73y-IXws7IJc58TJMrHl3oYoCjeYBRzlSRUCpsmTAFx45TPHOZ6bwavVYkj6agbCHmem6nwahcwSU/s320/mickey-rooney.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh, just kidding, that is that asshat, Mickey Rooney!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's the real thing:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRK1I3G0f5VvjU82I3a_Bu9C1Gq4Vz_8blBDFPWmZYJV9CzFFMk9wdUViChbFl6lzMlEgZ81XjyP_edOQ9lPKb6joRS7jsOSyE6TElNJIjmQ-oxoTVB6nztOQIzUpLfeM_9v1jkI2wNTk/s1600/SANY1738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRK1I3G0f5VvjU82I3a_Bu9C1Gq4Vz_8blBDFPWmZYJV9CzFFMk9wdUViChbFl6lzMlEgZ81XjyP_edOQ9lPKb6joRS7jsOSyE6TElNJIjmQ-oxoTVB6nztOQIzUpLfeM_9v1jkI2wNTk/s320/SANY1738.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's the third tooth from the left. It doesn't look super small in this photo, but it really is.</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-36188672950770467952010-06-21T17:58:00.000-04:002010-06-21T17:58:49.315-04:00I'll be judging you...After countless years of silently judging-well just about everyone, I have been asked to be a guest judge at the <a href="http://livefreeordietattoo.com/">Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo 2010</a> <a href="http://www.livefreeordietattoo.com/pageant.htm">Pin Up </a>Pageant! The expo is taking place from July 23rd through the 25th, with the Pin Up Pageant on Saturday the 24th beginning at 9:30pm, here in the good ole <a href="http://www.manchesternh.gov/website/Home/tabid/72/Default.aspx">Queen City</a>. It's a sweet deal, you pay five bucks to enter the military themed pin up contest and you can win a photo shoot (with hair styling provided by the Norma Arnold wannabe) and other cool things... five bucks-you can't buy a pack of Luckies for that price!!!<br />
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I am excited to be part of the event, and super excited as I will also be promoting the return of the Hollywood Ultra Vintage & Pin Up Styling Classes. It is a tough job being a stay at home mom, and by reinstating the classes, I feel that even though they're a lot of work, they will be the break that I need to be super mum-mum to the bambini! More on the classes as I get the deets worked out though.<br />
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So that's that! <br />
Oh, wait, that's not that... I have successfully changed my hair color from red to blonde (again), thus the profile picture change!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETBL8U7Bd8RJORJkHMFl9LaDjEANaLqRAhEXJ8_j3Lzq_fuzqbeoIFlcvicLaP2rIMIPmN_iCpQMiQCRa_GTFqzhz7FOjjKcd9UI1nSMeJ2Vg2RLaI0W-CJe8Wdanl2WRAqh385mCrcs/s1600/DSCN0261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETBL8U7Bd8RJORJkHMFl9LaDjEANaLqRAhEXJ8_j3Lzq_fuzqbeoIFlcvicLaP2rIMIPmN_iCpQMiQCRa_GTFqzhz7FOjjKcd9UI1nSMeJ2Vg2RLaI0W-CJe8Wdanl2WRAqh385mCrcs/s320/DSCN0261.JPG" /></a></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-47011218947350730192010-05-30T12:16:00.000-04:002010-05-30T12:16:47.974-04:00Memorial DayHere's hoping you have a safe Memorial Day Weekend. Please remember what the day is for...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IeCDd9V357usRKZCc2ms1vAEjNbBgMxQyJn8du50YKQ2D-OvQUEWmTlLuEiKWjSk9eQzPPpewu_gMwXhLOOCZmB9g5q2tO83URn6HpBYGdRDc1w78S-KN9OPxx9VeL0-az2EQGyBQSU/s1600/VictoryFlagPostcard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IeCDd9V357usRKZCc2ms1vAEjNbBgMxQyJn8du50YKQ2D-OvQUEWmTlLuEiKWjSk9eQzPPpewu_gMwXhLOOCZmB9g5q2tO83URn6HpBYGdRDc1w78S-KN9OPxx9VeL0-az2EQGyBQSU/s640/VictoryFlagPostcard.JPG" width="395" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-36914513551102709252010-05-11T11:52:00.001-04:002010-05-11T11:53:55.211-04:00Going to the Brimfields<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
This coming Friday, I am *finally* going to the <a href="http://www.brimfieldshow.com/">Brimfield Antiques Show</a>. Of course, the weather forecast calls for showers that day. The last time I attempted to go, it was pouring out and the trip was cancelled. My mother in law and I are going rain or shine however, and I am determined to return with fabulous things. I need to make a shopping list, and so pictured below are the things I'd like to find...<br />
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I own these lamps, so I am looking for the shades or a close proximity...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIZQwG0paPQPefTSDyX66bWVpRR8iRQfBupChlbQntojv59ZwIy6XJLjkwnnbLdaeSHf2SUX4JnGU0A_WTxRqnZIcGZf6BPHxs09nN0RwRc4M4p7xhoSakgbkQ9sF4pD_THxIc_lMsR8/s1600/pinklamps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIZQwG0paPQPefTSDyX66bWVpRR8iRQfBupChlbQntojv59ZwIy6XJLjkwnnbLdaeSHf2SUX4JnGU0A_WTxRqnZIcGZf6BPHxs09nN0RwRc4M4p7xhoSakgbkQ9sF4pD_THxIc_lMsR8/s320/pinklamps.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(These lamps are available at: <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thevintagepeddler.com/t/Lighting/january27website001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thevintagepeddler.com/retro_lighting.html&usg=__N9nTX6-A55-wjRc-cT3cbJE2WGw=&h=77&w=100&sz=5&hl=en&start=96&sig2=hsOhXJHoMcFBY79mjHQchA&itbs=1&tbnid=WZ3anXT1xd4zKM:&tbnh=63&tbnw=82&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dvintage%2Bfiberglass%2Bshades%26start%3D80%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=M3XpS9SEGsL6lweMydnjCg">The Vintage Peddler</a> for $650.00)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I also am looking for only the man with a two tier shade of this pair, also in pink/black/gold. I already have the lady with a sweet two tier shade.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVmBDWaM8HlNLEJ4Cqx_bb0KK3AdAcfNfr-cTbqGNBvZoIIkbDyejmGAhDI3NQ2e-1SDhvOwAPgLRf3Rgo1H2u2rDp90pdJZJYsvISmquUyObsKwRjsH_J7_JT7ubF0os88y9mNNjmHY/s1600/genielampsred.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinVmBDWaM8HlNLEJ4Cqx_bb0KK3AdAcfNfr-cTbqGNBvZoIIkbDyejmGAhDI3NQ2e-1SDhvOwAPgLRf3Rgo1H2u2rDp90pdJZJYsvISmquUyObsKwRjsH_J7_JT7ubF0os88y9mNNjmHY/s320/genielampsred.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So that's it for my "big ticket" wants, and I'm sure to a lot of people these are not even close to big ticket items, but anyways, I'm also on the look out for the following things, you know to clutter up the joint...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bullet Planters galore...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_7acDYNF-TwP2jUsXSV3dy-s731YSYJeMQbDiV1Q1eEL7feQumAj-u3uxX6LCBWTdo72V9sJ6FCX7BoeNcJ5mWSeej3cKT4Ntxsb_J7BV7lxrpPPF0439l6GvpcOdQu_HV7STmj_ako/s1600/bulletplanter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_7acDYNF-TwP2jUsXSV3dy-s731YSYJeMQbDiV1Q1eEL7feQumAj-u3uxX6LCBWTdo72V9sJ6FCX7BoeNcJ5mWSeej3cKT4Ntxsb_J7BV7lxrpPPF0439l6GvpcOdQu_HV7STmj_ako/s200/bulletplanter.jpg" width="178" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdqGNbeLHg5VSWPWr-yHkxDcpNnNX6uiilC5TqewnAkmd46g6C-M7h1-F5e17oDMMV2rew79tTlizqupSYpyhRxZJYIy33OOebyLDefkuSVRWRHA5fAv-gFsS9A4VaF9O7SYd6DsildY/s1600/greenlustroware.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdqGNbeLHg5VSWPWr-yHkxDcpNnNX6uiilC5TqewnAkmd46g6C-M7h1-F5e17oDMMV2rew79tTlizqupSYpyhRxZJYIy33OOebyLDefkuSVRWRHA5fAv-gFsS9A4VaF9O7SYd6DsildY/s320/greenlustroware.jpg" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Green cannisters to replace the chrome ones I've grown tired of...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJWVGTsERObq8o7iKWLUpu1Dwf7W__1HLdnsjkr6UhXajE3vrkMC35SFIuQA1YyU08KCdLqScEAAyC1JtbIhDIBT_436fm8vmdGgKqrFlKQwjpVsPLKihejQ19h5GHyJ1JCfHYdw_m_s/s1600/plasticcups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJWVGTsERObq8o7iKWLUpu1Dwf7W__1HLdnsjkr6UhXajE3vrkMC35SFIuQA1YyU08KCdLqScEAAyC1JtbIhDIBT_436fm8vmdGgKqrFlKQwjpVsPLKihejQ19h5GHyJ1JCfHYdw_m_s/s320/plasticcups.jpg" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cups!</div>Mostly housewares and hopefully some cute sundresses... who knows, it's probably going to rain like a mofo, and be a washout... I will try to think like Norma about it-it's not the end of the world if it rains.Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-62569834206236607852010-05-06T09:31:00.000-04:002010-05-06T09:31:23.330-04:00I'll tell you what you can do with your "points"!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Sticking with this weight loss plan has been for me, what Mexico was for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/media/rm660379904/nm0000195">Bunny</a> in "Ed Wood"-a nightmare. I have been following the Weight Watchers plan for so long that I always know how to tailor it to suit my needs. That means that I know exactly how much to eat to feel full and ultimately maintain what is my current weight. Call it self-sabotage, no willpower, whatever, all I can say is that the past few months have been trying for me. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">One of my inlaws recently started doing the "<a href="http://www.prevention.com/health/weight-loss/flat-belly-diet">Flat Belly Diet</a>", which intrigued me, so about two weeks I got the book, read it and tried to do the plan, which started off with a four day anti-bloat cleanse type deal. I enlisted Jay (my husband) because the plan requires you to not drink coffee or tea for the four day start, and I couldn't bear to not have any caffeine in my system and watch him guzzling the ol Irish Breakfast tea morning, noon and night! Well, we made it ten hours, had headaches that would stop a herd of elephants, and decided that it wasn't for us. This was not a bad thing however- here's why:</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The plan talks about eating foods that flow easily through your *-ahem-* intestines-raisins instead of grapes, and other foods high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids (seeds, olives, olive oils, avocado...) which reduce stomach (belly) fat. The concept wasn't new to me, but after reading the book I felt like I had a better understanding of how these fatty acids really work. This is something that WW does not touch-I feel like with WW they are leaving it up to you, in that yes, you can use your points on these fabulous minimally processed belly fat burning fatty acids foods, or you can load up and use your points on a super processed Smart Ones and oh my gosh-PIZZA!!.... </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Anyway, the moral of the story is that I have eliminated approximately 95% of the processed foods from my diet, cut out coffee approximately 99% (I am a recovering coffee addict, my name is Marcella, and yes, I will have to force myself to sit on the sofa and count to ten to avoid getting up and having a steaming cup of java ONLY because I just saw Nurse Jackie drinking one on her way to work) and switched to tea. The switch of coffee to tea also means that I've cut out cream, and replaced it with lactose free <a href="http://store.bluediamond.com/Almond-Breezereg-Vanilla_p_12.html">Almond Milk</a>. Oh- I am also a recovering diet sodie addict. I could down a gallon of <a href="http://www.pepsiproductfacts.com/infobyproduct.php?brand_fam_id=1051&brand_id=1000&product=Diet%20Pepsi&prod_type=1026">Diet Peps</a> a day and not blink, and now I am happy to say that I am two weeks diet sodie free! I had three 8 oz regular crappy high fructose corn syrup cokes with Jamaican rum last week, but I'm not counting that, we're talking diet sodie right now!! I feel like just by eliminating the coffee and diet chemical drinks alone I am doing so well. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Here's what I'm drinking instead of the diet sodie, it's from the Flat Belly Diet plan (they call it "sassy water", I call it floatie water and have to drink it kinda fast to avoid gagging sometimes):</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1 pitcher of ice cold water (put ice in if you like)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1 medium organic lemon sliced thin with the seeds taken out</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1/2 peeled sliced organic cucumber</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">1 inch chunk of ginger root peeled and grated</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">12 sprigs of organic mint (rinsed)</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahlYJynWC4R-TFXw2A73RFe9DcmWI8DnNyMvBEyf8tFO5s-bFy9yJPNNmRkge0XpGrfRQso5AQZHjJoeNIeEGs8cb6DMxYQBV9FeF7MHAqVyPOrGr5ep3rYWnEbJ7vDO30L4WzpkQtmc/s1600/0_IMAGE_088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahlYJynWC4R-TFXw2A73RFe9DcmWI8DnNyMvBEyf8tFO5s-bFy9yJPNNmRkge0XpGrfRQso5AQZHjJoeNIeEGs8cb6DMxYQBV9FeF7MHAqVyPOrGr5ep3rYWnEbJ7vDO30L4WzpkQtmc/s320/0_IMAGE_088.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Mix this up, chill it, and enjoy. It's actually really really good and helps ward off that bloated feeling we all get from our daily eating, stress, and whatnot.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">What is my point? Did I have one? Oh yes-- let's talk numbers... It has been approximately two weeks since my big epiphany, which honestly feels like someone has handed me a winning lottery ticket-I feel amazing, and my summer clothes from 2007 (the summer before I got pregnant and had the twins) are fitting loosely. Last spring/summer they were tighty McTighties. Numbers... yes, I keep forgetting...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Pre epiphany:</b></span> something something four (that is two pounds heavier than my original starting weight on my first blog entry btw)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>2 Weeks Post epiphany</b></span>: down to the next set of numbers: something something seven (that would be down a total of seven pounds)</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">So onwards to my goal: Forty pounds minus seven pounds equals: thirty three pounds to my ultimate goal weight! </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">How I plan to keep going is the topic for another day... Have a fabulous weekend! </span></span><br />
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</span></span>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-35321304082394601822010-05-04T12:15:00.003-04:002010-05-04T12:24:54.571-04:00Worst blogger ever...I am officially the worst blogger ever. I have not stuck with this at all. I don't know if the time table is messing with me, or if my overload of daily toddler antics, husband working a ton, and lack of sleep have just rendered me lazy, but it's not good!<br />
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So, I do not have a Wonder Years recap for you, but what I do have is some grandstanding-yay, rejoice! A few months back, after watching <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food Inc.</a>, and having it seal the deal on how terrible the food we've been eating is, I decided to make a change. In the past I've poo-pooed the idea of organic foods, thinking that they were things only hippies and rich people ate/purchased, but it's so worth the extra money and risk of turning into an unshaven, sandal wearing trust-funder! Here in the great state of New Hampshire (damn-where is that sarcastic font when I need it!) there are a number of farms, and lucky for me (and my family), my brother in law works with a family farmer who just this past month sold us half of a "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefalo">beefalo</a>"-or a side of beef, also known around these parts as "The Cash Cow". We've got enough amazing meat for the rest of the year, which is going to save on groceries and food-born illness meat from the grocery store. I also limited the poultry to organic or all natural, anti-biotic free chicken. I have been trying to limit fruit and vegetables to only in season organic varieties. In the next month I am joining our <a href="http://www.nhcsa.com/index.html">local CSA</a>, which is going to be fabulous! I've found a few stores that carry Organic canned and boxed goods (<a href="http://www.oceanstatejoblot.com/home/default.aspx">Ocean State Job Lots</a>, which just opened near us carries a ton of USDA Organic pasta, broth, etc) and I've stocked up on them for later use. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgk1PdeoSrm7vqcC6Sm9JkuU7_SBZbqKO4bN-Y01JE34z93UhB6wwGjQATxUl_XgRIOc8_uRnogi8H7Bp68U1Vg-xX6gDyui7FaeFFl6OleB4fyzokSKJ4EigjXvBpinw1zC5rOiCHZI/s1600/hippies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgk1PdeoSrm7vqcC6Sm9JkuU7_SBZbqKO4bN-Y01JE34z93UhB6wwGjQATxUl_XgRIOc8_uRnogi8H7Bp68U1Vg-xX6gDyui7FaeFFl6OleB4fyzokSKJ4EigjXvBpinw1zC5rOiCHZI/s320/hippies.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> *I Will Not Become A Hippie!* </div><br />
Anyway, it's exciting to know that I'm not going to be poisoning myself and my family with foods loaded with pesticides and crap (actual crap)-however, I want to make one point... (WARNING, THIS IS MY OPINION, BASED ON WHAT I'VE SEEN, NOT ANYTHING I'VE RESEARCHED OR STUDIED, JUST OBSERVATIONS)<br />
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We all think we're sooooooo smart, buying locally grown veg, and butchered meats and planting our own gardens, don't we? This is the way of the future, we think. Why haven't we been doing this ALL ALONG? Why did we not know about it? WHY? I'll tell you why-because for the past forty or fifty years everyone has had this attitude that "The past was so lame. Why do we want to do anything our parents/grandparents did?". Well, obviously they all had the right idea, we were all just too busy being "BRAND NAME" to notice. Why would I want to buy carrots from the <a href="http://www.nhcsa.com/index.html">local CSA</a> when I can get a bag of El Monte's for way less? Anyway, I think that it's wonderful that people are starting to realize that the way things are are not the way they should be, but I also think we need to stop, and remember how things have gotten so out of control to begin with.<br />
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Whew-enough ranting for this girl...FYI: weight loss status updates will coming on Thursday!Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-39235576513301555222010-04-15T22:22:00.000-04:002010-04-15T22:22:27.708-04:00Busy, busy, busy.Apparently following a schedule when it comes to writing and doing things that I set out to do for <i>ME</i> is just too much for me to handle (notice the gap between this entry and the last) so I am giving myself a little leeway. <div><br />
</div><div>My diet so far, has been an adventure in maintaining the same amount of weight for three months. I get on a roll, being the #1 Fat Watchers points follower, and then have a reoccurring bout of toast with butter and jelly for breakfast and lunch. I've been lax with exercising as well, but to make up for it, I have been doing yard work (raking, raking and more raking) and a lot of heavy lifting in the house. I am moving all two of our bedrooms from the main floor to the two finished upstairs rooms. The idea is to have an actual office, and then a room for crafties and Jay's guitar things. Luckily I've got a million boxes of crap piled in the two upstairs rooms that need to come down, so I will be moving things and myself much more in the next week. After that I need a plan because seriously, this girl ain't getting slim *watching* Kirstie Alley sweat all over her at home Curves set up! Ah-gug-gug-gug!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Please bear with me though, I'll be posting review of Episodes three and four this week, and will be back with you shortly!</div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-47960787549841594492010-03-16T21:13:00.001-04:002010-03-16T21:20:45.346-04:00Green with envy-just in time for St. Patrick's Day...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgqxcYiNg1Hu41VntlxYnx2RRWRnizq7c-FAqowVCndNE_AtCgVRD8T-XpRdrYE_hhOFbfWuQbFCKwOAhend1fGbjFgzliFk09lkSM5Ho7UCb9l_U_rgI4bT_Ah1mlENwwt3yhF3tPR4/s1600-h/SANY4242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgqxcYiNg1Hu41VntlxYnx2RRWRnizq7c-FAqowVCndNE_AtCgVRD8T-XpRdrYE_hhOFbfWuQbFCKwOAhend1fGbjFgzliFk09lkSM5Ho7UCb9l_U_rgI4bT_Ah1mlENwwt3yhF3tPR4/s320/SANY4242.JPG" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">This is me, at my current weight, at the Celtics/Lakers game. </div><div><br />
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</div>My quest to lose forty pounds in this journey I've roped myself into has been a tad trying. I've maintained my starting weight (not blabbing the numbers just yet) by sticking to the fat watchers eating program, which is okay since I have not gained, but the point is not to maintain. I need exercise and I need it now! This is easier said than done when you're the queen of excuses. I can come up with any reason to not move it, move it! Last week I blamed the boys for running me ragged, and until today I was trapped in this fantasy world where I was imagining that my face was not as puffy as it is getting, and so I didn't need to work out.<br />
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</div><div>Everything changed this morning though... I was half way through my fourth coffee (yeah, that probably isn't good) and had just tuned into the Dr.Oz show on Fox. I usually don't watch this program, but he showing a woman who had given birth to a child three years ago and was still carrying around her post-baby weight of 196 pounds (I am not that weight, FYI) and was quite unhappy about it. In the recap, they showed her post pregnancy stomach, and I could totally relate. (I've posted the segment below should you be so inclined...) Seriously, for something that a lot of women do (have children, I mean) there is very little talk about the extra (gag) skin you carry around after giving birth. Maybe it's just me and the nut on Dr. Oz, I don't know, but I'm sure there's more of you out there who are having issues with this... ANYWAY... as usual, I digress... </div><div><br />
</div><div> After they showed the highlights from the original show, this girl came out on the show "today" with her new body and confidence. Now, this girl is not someone I'd love to go and have lattes with, but I liked the way she went about losing the weight, and when she said that she would drag the stationary bike out for half an hour, I was ashamed of myself. I dragged my stationary bike (okay, I'm lying, Jay dragged it) up from the basement 5 months ago, and tried to use it once and failed miserably. That shame paired with the terrible envy I was feeling about this girl losing forty one pounds in twelve weeks got me moving (jealous, moving, into that mode where I turn into a horrible green eyed monster-whatevs)! I dragged that dust covered state of the art, 1986 era exercise bike out of my bedroom, down the hall and parked it in front of the television. I put on "The Wonder Years" and killed two blog birds with one stone. After twenty minutes I was about done (as was episode 3),and it was <i>THRILLING </i>to think that I had accomplished a task I'd been dreading for two weeks. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Seeing that I was ten minutes shy of the thirty minutes I had wanted to spend working out, I, along with my mother, I packed the twins into their jogging stroller later in the afternoon and did a fifteen minute walk around the neighborhood! Take that "I can't exercise excuses"!! As the weather gets nicer out, I would like to alternate in house biking with fast walking with the stroller at the track on the other side of town... I realize too, that if I don't do it, and make excuses, I will have nothing to write about, and will forever be wishing away this weight, so that's a plus!! </div><div><br />
</div><div>Here's to envy generated motivation!</div><div><br />
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</div></div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-79873107957701183482010-03-10T07:26:00.002-05:002010-03-10T07:35:07.962-05:00Death and Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To AskPilot<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The pilot episode of The Wonder Years (henceforth TWY) is an introduction to the Arnold family, Kevin's friends and that little lemon-tart Winnie Cooper. As far as a pilot episode goes, this one jumps right in, introducing the characters as though you may have met them before but need to be reminded about who's who.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In Norma's first scene she's in casual light blue short pants and matching blue flowered shirt, and she is advising her kids to "try not to make your father crazy when he gets home". I think this is hysterical because when Jay (my husband) leaves for work he tells our boys to "not drive your mother crazy today". Despite the fact that Karen shows up all dippy-hippied out, Norma's cool is kept and her husband's vodka tonic is mixed. That cool-calm is something that I struggle with; I get worked up over the small things, which tends to make tense situations a bit worse. I also have probably poured two "you've had a hard day" drinks for my husband in the eight years we've been married.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Norma's next big scene is in the principal's office, where she is wearing a fabulous pink shirtwaist dress and white beaded necklace. She's there with Jack, to find out why Kevin hurled an apple across the cafeteria. It's pretty basic mom stuff, she's upset that "the good son" has fouled up on his first day of junior high, and it comes across that she is genuinely concerned-although I'm not sure if she's covering up for the fact that her brooding husband is not saying a word. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The last scene featuring Norma is the one where Karen and Wayne inform Kevin, Jack and Norma of the death of Winnie Cooper's brother Brian. Norma immediately rushes to the house to make calls to see what she can do. It seems to me like she maybe could have tried to comfort her family first-that's what I'd do, but it's the pilot episode and who knows, maybe she doesn't dole out affection in that manner. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><object height="405" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Efa62maiEeg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Efa62maiEeg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">*Norma's first appearance/voice is at minute 3:51*</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Episode 2: Swingers </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The second episode begins with Brian Cooper's funeral. Norma is wearing proper mid sixties black and grey wool skirt suit with a pillbox hat. I've been dying to don a sweet pillbox for ages, but my hair is so thick I end up looking like a space cadet and not cute whatsoever! In the next scene, Norma is fretting over her lime Jell-o salad not being set on time for the function after the funeral. She puts ice cubes in it in hopes that it will work-they don't show if it works or not, and now I am intrigued. I will make a Jell-o mold this coming Friday to see if it works. The narrator talks about how mothers deal with grief through food, and I think that this is something that has transcended the past five decades, but will start to dwindle in the coming years as more and more people (namely; women-there I said it-I'm not afraid of *you*) act like food is the devil and say that they are not hungry at events where food is prevalent and it's obvious they are starving. Digressing, Norma plays the helpful neighbor, and does exactly what I would do in this situation.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Days go by and Kevin and Paul Pfeiffer, who have been introduced to the female reproductive system via their first sex education class, swipe a copy of "Everything You've Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask". Wayne gets his hands on it and a bedroom brawl ensues. The book lands on the floor and as the boys are beating each other senselessly, in walks Norma, clad in pink cotton pants and a pink mohair cardigan (the colors go swimmingly with her blonde bob and make me want to hit the bleach bottle like it's nobody's business). The look on Norma's face is that of anger and irritation at the fighting siblings and then instantly changes to what I call the, "Jesus Christ-how do I deal with this" face when she spots "the book". She thinks it's the copy she's stashed in her dresser drawers and expresses her disappointment in Kevin for going through her things. Looks like Kev isn't the only one with questions! This mistake, on Norma's part is legendary. In the next scene the narrator talks about how the sex book issue is dropped on all fronts when Kevin is sure his mother realized that the book was not indeed the one she and Jack were hiding. That kind of embarrassment would have me fleeing to my room for a day or two... </div>Miss Marcella Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15703277199791332567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1582048783436226400.post-53510138907072625022010-03-08T20:56:00.002-05:002010-03-08T21:17:25.638-05:00Becoming Norma Arnold<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">I call my blog “Becoming Norma” because over the course of the next year, it is my goal to work towards becoming more like Mrs. Norma Arnold from ABC’s late 80s early 90s television series, “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094582/">The Wonder Years</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Growing up, I couldn’t get enough of the Arnold family-mainly the shows main character, Kevin (Fred Savage). I would watch on Wednesday nights as that little brown hair-brown eyed boy chased after that lemon sucking faced Winnie Cooper, and wish it were me he was after. Now that boy has children and directs one of my favorite adult television shows-I digress, this is not a blog about my Fred Savage stalking…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Norma Arnold was the television mom to beat all television moms. She had fabulous style, a well kept home, a husband with all of the charm of a grizzly bear, and three children who thought she was around merely to tend to their needs and otherwise stay out of their lives. Unlike her television counterparts, Norma wasn’t loud-mouthed like Roseanne Connor, a power secretary like Harriet Winslow or even non-existent like Pam Tanner. Norma was by definition a housewife. She cooked, cleaned and raised her family-okay, so once she took Paul Pfeiffer on a date and then broke his heart, but really, he was asking for it. Paul Pfeiffer aside, Norma’s sense of self is the inspiration for this blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">In August of 2008 I became a mother of twin boys as well as a housewife. I also started to slowly lose a sense of my former, always in a dress and always made up self. Having children also made a ten year struggle of losing weight that much harder-it’s very easy to justify eating an entire sleeve of Club crackers in one sitting when you can use, “I was chasing babies all day” as an excuse, but the real issue is that I’ve lost the “baby weight” and am back where I was prior to getting pregnant. That would be FORTY pounds overweight. Frustrations with those two issues have turned what could be called a semi-misanthropic attitude into a deep need to change things in my life, a need to be more like Norma.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i><b>THE PLAN</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the time that it will take me to view the entire “The Wonder Years” series, I plan to achieve the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">*After viewing two episodes per week, I will compare, contrast and evaluate my own personal character against one Norma Arnold. My goal is to see where changes can, should or should not be made. This is not going to be at attempt by to make myself into a Norma clone or character, but a way for me to improve my own character. Don’t worry, this will all be documented!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">*Lose the forty pounds that for ten years have been taking up residence on my body. To attain this goal, I will be following my version of <a href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/index.aspx">Weight Watchers</a> (henceforth known as FAT WATCHERS), which is basically the Weight Watchers diet without paying for the meetings (more on that later…). Combining the diet with three days of aerobic exercise (to start) will lay the foundation for this endeavor. I will blog weekly about my progress and efforts, including photos, recipes and work out reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">*Return to my “Pre-Mama” personal style. This will be a daily/weekly/monthly effort to ditch the easy-way-out fashions, hairstyles and lack thereof make up routine I have fallen into. A weekly post will reveal my progress, an will include photos.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: 'Californian FB', serif; font-size: 14pt;">So there it is, I hope you enjoy my journey! </span><br />
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