That’s how many months old she is!  How fast time flies!  And guess what??  We’re babysitting overnight. And she’s close to walking ~ and  can tell us what she wants by pointing ~ says “WOW” a lot ~ loves to pull the hair off Newman ~loves to share her food ~ adores her Owpa ~ [...]

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I keep having to remind myself how awesome it is and  and how blessed we are to live in the most incredibly wonderful Bay Area ~ where in the summer it’s still chilly in the morning ~ cloudy and cool till the sun dissipates all the clouds and the sky is all blue.  Once in [...]

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I spent the whole day at a Kelby Seminars LightRoom 3 class in San Francisco today and did not regret one single minute of it.  And to top it all, we even had a small 3.5 earthquake!  It really rocked! I learned a lot of things.  First and foremost, I realized that I already knew [...]

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“I am writing this post tonite (4/13) but I know it will take me time to get it ‘right’.  I know I’ll backspace a few times and even delete sentences.  I might not even publish this post. We’ll see.  For now, I’m hoping it sees the light of the blogosphere because someone needs to say [...]

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Many moons ago, I blogged on another platform.  It’s kind of fun reading back some of my journal entries.  At the time, I wrote privately with only family members and close friends reading. I found an apropos article today.  It just so happened that my niece was also posting some old family photos ~ thus [...]

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I met this family at the coffeeshop this morning and this little 6month old baby was so adorable.  I asked her mom if I could take a photograph and she obliged.  I couldn’t resist her bow! And then I drove over to have lunch at my sister’s with more of my family. These two little [...]

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Alyssa’s dad had to go in to work today ~which normally would be his day off.  I was happy to oblige them and spend the morning and afternoon with her.  Here’s what I discovered.  Right about now, she is 10 1/2 months old, almost walking and knows how to ask for stuff by pointing to [...]

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Fact: I have happy grandchildren.  In fact, they wake up happy.  The older babyGRAND is a goofball, and the little one will only have to follow.  I’ve photographed them recently and you can be he judge. You give a kid a water table on a hot day and you can just watch them with delight [...]

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I did a lot of looking UP a couple weeks ago.  Looking UP at the clouds in the sky, that is.   From my vantage point looking over the Long Island Sound every morning, the sky was blue and clear. We were blessed with awesome weather for the duration of our visit and the heat wave [...]

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I’ve been working on getting my photography to another level and next week, I’ve signed up for a whole day software training and hope to get two of my other friends to make it a fun day altogether.  In the meantime, I’ve been compelled to play with some images I took from the deck while [...]

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Hello world! We are back from one of our most restful and relaxing vacation with family out east.  Ten glorious days by the water, basking in the sun.  I learned how to drink beer (!!) ha!  Well ~ actually ~ I used to drink beer when I was much younger but I wasn’t much of [...]

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Wow! It’s been a forever crazy week and it has gone by so fast!  I just remember being with my parents for lunch on Tuesday and all my kids and the kiddie-lettes yesterday in between my check list which I’ve not finished yet. Today I spent my lunch hour with my sister who just returned [...]

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I’m really on a BREAK T minus 5 and counting.  But first, some pictures from a cozy Father’s Day afternoon.  The children are growing ever so fast. We had an afternoon celebration at my daughters with my parents and kids in attendance.  My sister is in Spain right now so it was just my family. [...]

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Happy Father’s day to all the dads in my life ~ there are many and everyone is loved and special to me.  We will be celebrating at my daughter’s home with all four generations again.  Being together, eating (fee fi fo food!!!) and being with the babies. Apparently, my 2yo babyGrand married his girlfriend last [...]

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Patrick graduated from High School.  I’ve known him when he was really really little.  And now he’s a very tall lean kid with red hair and the fairest Irish skin.  And soon to be in college.  Oh wow! But before all that, it was time for celebration, I guess.  And so while I napped this [...]

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I took some pictures yesterday of some plants and flowers in my home and neighborhood.  I posted them on my SmugMug accounts.  It was kind of cool to see some of the photos that I had taken in the early spring.  Some of those early blooms and blossoms are now full foliage.  As is typical [...]

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Just a friendly reminder, if you missed THIS. Whoa!  I live too close to a Nike store.  Way too close ~ and it’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s great because my kids are always there and occasionally I’ll get a surprise visit from them ~ out of the blue ~ with a [...]

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I can tell when school is out.  I used to look forward to the last school days of my children.  We had a ritual.  I would pick them up and go to our favorite old fashioned soda fountain slash ice creamery.  All the servers were sweet little old ladies and they had a menu filled [...]

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Wooohooo!  We have a Game 7 !! That’s all I wanted.  I’m rooting for the Lakers but more than that, I just wanted a nice ginormous blowout like tonite.  And then I’ll let Los Angeles fans be really loud on Thursday!  Omigosh, it will be fun and then on Friday morning, we’re getting up early [...]

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Today, we souped up my new 1TB computer, gave it more RAM and installed a discreet graphics card.  Nvidia to boot  (ha!)  Don’t worry, I didn’t give ‘em all mio dinero.  But I did get me a spiffy neato wireless keyboard with a hyper fast scrolling mouse.   I also added another desk area in the [...]

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My 18 year old nephew is a sailor.  He teaches sailing and is quite adept at commanding a seacraft.  When we went to Maine a few years ago, he was about  15  at the time, he showed all of us his skill by taking us on a sailboat ride and controlling the boat.  Quite impressive, [...]

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I have a brand new custom built computer!  It has got a 1 terabyte hard drive and a quad core processor and  I don’t know what else.  My son built it for me (overnight). I have no idea what I ate to deserve a son like him.  Must have been something good.  Or maybe it [...]

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While the laundry fairy is visiting my house (and might be here for about three months), I thought I’d share with you some updates on the GRANDS.  Last night, we had a surprise visit from Alyssa and her parents which I always love. Our 9 month old is a very curious and active child, always [...]

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I had a blast watching the finale of Glee last night.  My one big frustration is being in a stage production. I love to pretend I’m in a play. Kind of like Christine in “Phantom of the Opera” which I’ve seen in various locations about six times.  When I was in High School, I was [...]

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Please read THIS before continuing. Thanks!  And now, on to my post. Oh chivalry!  You’re alive and well!  At least in my family.  We teach our children very early.   A lot of that has to do with our matriarch, the Great Grand who has passed on many learn day lessons down generations and it becomes [...]

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It has come to my attention that there MAY be someone out there on the internet and perhaps in blog communities impersonating me and asking for donations (or who knows what).  I’ve been advised that my previous avatar was copied and used.  Therefore, here is an official statement: I have not left any negative comment [...]

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Alyssa was baptized yesterday and her family and friends celebrated all day.  And she was a trooper.  Not once did she complain.  Actually, she had a party and an after-party.  I can only imagine what her wedding will be like.  Her family is HUGE especially on her daddy’s side.  Very.very.big. I love big families. Welcome [...]

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She’s nine months old.  Can you believe that?  I just had her with us last week and yesterday, for my birthday ~ she and her parents joined my mom, dad and husband and me for lunch.  And she looked bigger! Golly little miss!  Please slow down some! It was a couple days of celebrating for [...]

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Love reading other mom blogs!  I love the insight it gives me into people’s lives.  Case in point and the inspiration for my topic is MckMama‘s  post today We’re all so different and yet have some interests in common.  However, sometimes, we need to draw a line in the sand.  I’m not writing this for [...]

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Apparently, my once puppy is now a manly pupmeister and has mastered the art of peeing like a man (standing up!).  Or change that –> to an adult dog.  He’s almost two, so that would be about 14 years old in human-ness.  And at this point in his life,  he’s done with the squat-to- pee [...]

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We had the pleasure of having BOTH BABYgrands this weekend (Friday).  Our first time every to watch the two littles at the same time.  We had a 9mo and a 2yo and guess what!  We survived!  With flying colors! It took a good tandem team of me and my most patient hubby but both were [...]

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Last night, way past my bedtime,  I was processing some photographs that I had taken of my niece’s graduation, and working on putting a video together ~ and then my house SHOOK!  It was LOUD, kind of like a train ran over the rooftop.  I knew it was an earthquake and it’s scared me enough [...]

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I can’t describe how much fun it was having a very well behaved little man spend the weekend with us.  He just left about an hour ago and our house is quiet and missing him. I picked him up on Saturday as I had promised him on Mother’s Day.  “I’ll come and pick you up [...]

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To over love these little ones, impossible.  Unheard of.  But I do, and I like it. If this is a preview of heaven, then I’m cool. I know he’s happy.  This is his heaven. Soon we will be indulging everyone, in celebration.  In the meantime, the girlies are getting ready for the festivities.  My daughter [...]

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