National Honor Society Induction

Tonight, Frankie, as a Senior member of the National Honor Society, helped to induct the new members -- the Juniors, next year's class.

I didn't really plan on going. We went last year. But I ended up going after all, because he seemed to want us there. Although he wouldn't come out and say so.

It was a lovely candlelight ceremony, honoring scholarship, service, leadership and character.

 

More of the procession

 

The Seniors sat on stage.

 

There were a lot of them.

And a lot of Juniors being inducted.

Lighting a candle

 

Frankie lit a candle for "Service" and then read a very, very short speech about service in the lives of the National Honor Students. Candles were also lit for scholarship, leadership and character.
After the candle ceremony, they inducted each of the Juniors into the NHS. Then, the new inductees recited the pledge of the National Honor Society, and were applauded by their family and friends.

After this, there was a roll call of seniors. Each senior NHS member had their name and the college they intend to attend announced. Frankie and one other were going to the school he's chosen. Most were going to Rutgers, or New York University. Two were going the furthest away -- Arizona. And one is going to Harvard. (Frankie's friends with him, they eat lunch together.)





After the recessional, everyone was milling around in the hall in front of the auditorium, a very small space, trying to find their people and take more pictures.



I didn't get any cookies.

:(





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I wish I had a pony.

Did you wish you had a pony when you were a kid?

The thing is, I knew it was POSSIBLE.

People did have ponies. No one I knew, but lots of people must have. My mother had a pony when she was a kid. Of course, she lived in the country. Living in the suburbs, with a tiny 50 X 100 lot, she very reasonably explained that there was no way I was getting a pony. No excuses, just a simple fact. I can't have a pony.

It was a huge wish, and eventually I gave up. I yearned and longed and pined for a pony, but I can't have one. Probably ever. But I still want one. And lately, I've been wishing again.

Eventually, while I was still a child, I changed my wish -- the wish on a star wish -- to "happiness." I think I wrote about this a while ago. Wishing for happiness is good. This is a sensible wish, an attainable wish. If I wish for happiness, no matter what else I have, I'll be fine with it. It's less materialistic, which is a good thing, right? Because if you need THINGS to make you happy, you'll never be happy. Happiness comes from the inside, it isn't external. And I've been very happy with my life, so I guess it's come true. It's great when a wish comes true.

But the pony -- there's more to the pony than just a THING. It's love. It's a longing. It's impractical. It's not going to happen. I can't have everything. No one can. I'm not sure I would even really want it if I had it... you know that whole saying about "be careful about what you wish for."

I still wish.












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My newest video effort...

... and I do mean effort. This took a lot of work, and it really didn't come out the way I wanted it to. But I finally got it done. So here it is... last night's campfire, so you can all hang out with us. It's really a slideshow, not a movie.


It was a lovely evening, even if it did rain a bit -- more of a mist, actually.

Then, trying to create this whole video, took me HOURS and HOURS. So if I don't have laundry done this week either, you know why. :D

Someday, I'll get good at this. This might not be that day, of course.

My Arbor

 

Thor (AKA my husband, who actually isn't named Thor, in case you don't know him) built me this arbor out of an old wooden ladder several years ago. It's finally really covered in plants... and now it's really falling apart. So he went out today and fixed it so it will hopefully last another year. I have some roses climbing on it. Not fancy roses; just what ever kind of simple roses happened to be there at the time. But they'll look beautiful this summer.

The arbor is right next to my Forsythia bush. I have such a tiny yard, I have no room to really let a Forsythia bloom like it should -- it should be big and wild and rangy. Mine gets trimmed back alot, making it rather mishapen. Plus, a Forsythia is not always a pretty plant -- I don't really love it in the summer. But this time of year, it makes up for it. It's a beautiful sunny spot in my back yard, even on a cloudy day, in early spring.

Spring has Sprung

 

The Forsythia are bursting out all over!

Close up

 

Saturday Night

 

I'm looking forward to a GREAT Saturday night... This picture, of course, was from a previous Saturday night. But this is the first weekend in a long time that we didn't have anything much going on. Which includes nothing much going on Sunday, either. Which was the same thing we had going on when this picture was taken of Nick.

Maybe a campfire night tonight -- if you're in the area, and you smell the smoke, stop by! Depends on the weather. Maybe a night at the bar? Maybe just sitting in the dining room and drawing? Or maybe we'll play Guitar Hero, which is what we did last night -- I sang so much that my throat still hurts -- but I scored 100% (on easy, anyway.) The kids might be home, one or both of them, or they might be out, one or both of them. But it's starting to feel a lot like summer! (Well, at least spring!)

Depending on the activities this evening, it might be a great Sunday too -- of course, it might be a headachey kind of Sunday... or maybe a sleep all day Sunday... depending on the wine or Jack consumption... but either way, I'm having a great weekend! Hope you are too!

My big TV Debut was today!

 I was invited to be on a local public broadcasting television show, about kids with intestinal disorders... things like Crohn's. Dr. Rosh, who was also on the show, invited me. I had just been into his office with Frankie about the week before, so I guess I was fresh in his mind as a patient's mom who liked to talk alot. Thor just happened to take a vacation day today and tomorrow, which was great because he came with me. I was more nervous about getting there than I was about being on the show in the first place.

It was a very good discussion. The show will air in June sometime, and when it does, I can post a link because they also broadcast the whole thing on the internet. Won't that be exciting? (No yawning allowed!)

I don't think I said anything that would embarass Frankie too much. I really, really, really can't wait to see it, though. I think I looked terrible -- but that's OK, I think I looked Mama like, which was what I was supposed to look like. The TV adds 10 pounds, right? That's about 50 pounds overweight.

Behind the scenes, before the show

All of the guests arrived right on time. There were snacks and things available, but of course I was a bit too nervous to eat. I went in to make up, and the lady was very pleasant, and smeared TONS of goop on my under-eye circles. She said that they are hereditary (Which I already knew -- I have my father's eyes -- Thanks a lot, Dad!) and that I could pay a lot of money to have them taken care of surgically. (Never gonna happen. I'd get liposuction first.)

 

We all sat down on the set and waited for the Star, Steve Adubato, to arrive. He is a very handsome man with no need for makeup -- but he had some on too, I'm sure. While we waited for him, we chatted with one of the production assistants, whose job I'm sure was to make us comfortable in our little living room like area. We had a really nice conversation going, too, until it was interrupted by the tv show.

I think it all went pretty well. When it was all over, everyone said,"Oh, you did so well!" to me, as though no one expected that I would. I replied, "Hey, can we watch it now?" Which everyone laughed at. Hey. I was serious. What if I looked terrible? I think I should have the right of a do-over, don't you? I think that's why they wouldn't let me watch it.

So I left the studio with Thor. He had taken more photos -- some of me on the tv in the green room.

I should have insisted on a do-over...

This is the acceptable photo.

 

As long as I've got the photo retouch tool, I don't mind posting this too much. But this isn't how I really looked on TV. The real picture is below....

The wrap up photo

 

This isn't the picture... although I was glad to be standing behind the couch. The girl next to me was a representative of the hospital, who wasn't on the show. She was just there to be sure no one said anything bad about the hospital.

EEK!

 

What a week!

Lots to do this week, and it's almost like I have no room to breathe. It's almost like being double booked every night. Of course, I've got a lot of things I'm looking forward to.

Right now, I'm waiting for the show to go on. Our high school is doing the Senior Play, "Grease." We're going to watch it. Then, I have to go shopping; Nick needs golf pants. And maybe golf shoes. I love to shop! It's all fun, but still go go go!

So for now, this is the only post I've gotten to. I'll try to post again soon but you know when life gets busy the blog is the first thing to go! Well, I guess it is the first thing to go with normal people, but I'd rather blog than cook or whatever. So Hopefully, I'll be back with a real post later tonight, even if I am too busy to breathe.

My favorite place in the world. KMSR.

 

Here is a picture of the cabin across the lake where the boys stayed this weekend. I was in the other cabin with the girls.
It was beautiful and peaceful... I love this place!

Camping Nature Pictures

 

I got a lot of nice pictures this weekend, at least I like them... they aren't your usual scenery shots -- although I got some of those as well. The next pictures are strange...

Tree Art

 
This looks curly or something to me. I just liked it, so there you go...

A Moss Medallion

 

Or is it Lichen? I don't know anything about these kind of plants...

Lots of kinds of mosses?

 

I never really thought about how many kinds of mosses there are, but here are three different kinds. At least I assume they are all mosses. They are pretty, bright, and green, and make a nice picture for early spring!

Home today.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, although I'm not sure who noticed :D
But if you were looking for me, I wasn't here.

We had a great camping trip, I'll post pictures later. My photos are very mossy -- there were few plants really growing green, only the pine trees and so many different varieties of moss and lichens that I never usually notice. I took tons of photos of them. Plus photos of the camp itself -- my favorite place in the world -- and photos of the kids doing their activities. But that's later.

I'm home sick today, and so is Frankie. Frankie has a head cold, and I needed a mental health day before I stress out. He had a bad weekend. He called me up at camp, and you always know it's a problem when your 18 year old calls you at 11:00 and his first words are, "Mom, the first thing is that NO ONE IS HURT." Of course, it could be worse -- one time, someone WAS hurt, and he was practically babbling... your stomache really drops then. But when you get a call at all, it's usually not good, and when you hear the words, "No one is hurt," THAT means that SOMETHING bad happened, and he's trying to put a good spin on it.

So, he banged up his car a bit, and his friend's car as well, and now we'll have to see what the bills come to. I can't complain too much -- he's gone this long driving without an accident, and after all, spin or not, no one got hurt. Such is life.

Anyway, that's what blew my idea of posting yesterday completely out of the water. So posting today is on my list of things to do. And taking care of Frankie is on my list of things to do. (Taking care of his car is also on my list -- but he'll be doing most of that.)

Starting my diet again is also on my list of things to do.

The three day on/four day off diet thing seemed to work out reasonably well. Especially with camping this weekend, and all that wandering around/hiking I did. The people who cooked for our camping event had BEAUTIFUL meals, I ate plenty, and it was nice heavy-duty fattening food -- bacon and eggs and macaroni and cheese and barbecued meatball subs and lasagna and chicken and tons of sweets... lots of hungry boys to feed... and had some interesting side dishes as well, like miso soup at breakfast and chinese style vegetables at dinner. So after losing 3 pounds on the dieting part of the week, I only ended up putting back 1 pound. So I had a 2 pound loss for the week which isn't bad I guess. I will try again this week and maybe I can chisel away some of this fat before the summer. Keep your fingers crossed.

Also on my list of things to do -- I've gotta get my hair done. I'm going to be on a local cable tv show this week, and I want to look decent. So I've made an appointment, and I'm going all out with a cut and a color.

What else? I gotta plant those peas -- it's after St. Patrick's day! They should have been planted already.

And food shopping, maybe later.

And laundry -- always laundry.

And finish re-financing the mortgage.

And pay the bills.

(Lovely day I have planned, isn't it?)

Just a quick note...

I'm taking Nick camping again :D So check back on Sunday for more pictures (Unless you find that boring... in which case, don't bother checking back on Sunday!)

I finished that diet for this week. Yes, I survived (barely.) It's three days on, four days off. The count so far is that I lost three pounds -- which is great, I guess (I was hoping for at least 10.) (Not Really.)

The real question will be -- how much will I gain BACK in the four days OFF?

I'll let you know, and then decide if it's worth doing again next week.

Anyway, I'll be writing again on Sunday, so I'll talk to ya then!!!

Pretty

 

Almost wordless Wednesday, posting p's, and pictures of crocuses.

Pollen

 

purple

 

petal

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'm a little bit Irish, but everyone around here is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. So I'm posting one of my favorite Irish bands on here (I have a few favorites) with a song that I like.

I know there are a lot of politics involved with Ireland, and this song may have some political meanings behind it -- but I have no political agenda, I just like the song.

I'm hungry.

I don't diet.

Because I've never been able to convince myself to stick to a diet.

It's like I have two voices in my head. (Did I ever mention this before? I do repeat myself alot. Maybe it's because I have two voices in my head.)

One voice says, "It's really time to start a diet."

The other voice says, "You can't tell ME what to do."

The first voice usually talks the most about dieting right AFTER I've had something yummy. At that point, the second voice is willing to agree.

But at the first hint of hunger, the second voice says, "EAT." And the first voice doesn't say anything at all. So I eat. And then, AFTER I've eaten, the first voice starts talking again. It says, "It's really time to start a diet."

It doesn't work really well.

Anyway, the girl who sits behind me in work is very good at dieting. She's always on one diet or another, and she walks every day at break and often on lunch as well. She brought in a three day diet plan for me to try.

I made it to the top of the mountain this weekend, right? So I've decided that for three days, I'm going to FORCE myself to exercise some self control. (Plus, I did walk again yesterday, since I had started walking again on that hike.)

My goal is NOT to lose weight. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to do that. My goal is to prove to myself that for three days, I can exhibit self control.

But I'm not happy about it. I'm hungry. This is where most of my diets go bad.

So far I've stuck to it, but I'm not happy. I'm thinking about making my dinner right now and then going straight to bed, so I don't have to think about food. I certainly won't be watching TV with Thor tonight -- well, nothing except the Big Bang Theory. He loves to watch cooking shows, and they make me even hungrier.

I'm not walking today either, because I'm feeling faint.
(No, not really. I'm being overly dramatic. But I'm HUNGRY!)

Next Week's Camping Trip...

... is ON! I wasn't sure, but it's a go. The Venturing crew is learning about pistols. I'm excited, mainly because I love this campground, and because I don't think I'll have too much work to do up there... the boys that are going are a bit old to chase around; I'll be able to read, take pix, just basically relax. Lovely!

 

This Weekend's Camping Trip

I have alot I would like to post, but I'm constrained by two things.
1. I don't like to post identifiable photos of anyone under 18 unless their parents agree first, so that is why I don't post pictures of the Scouts. I've got a few nice photos I can post. But not some of the best ones.
2. We were informed by the campmaster, in no uncertain terms, that they DID NOT want publicity. The reason it came up was because apparently the camp had heard that a few scouts planned to film a remake and post it on You Tube. Actually, it would have been a great idea. It wasn't our plan, but it would have been fun. But the camp doesn't want tourists pulling in looking at their camp. So I don't want to write too much that would be too identifiable.

But anyway, what did I do this weekend? I took the scouts camping to a place where a "certain" scary movie from the '80's was originally filmed. Which movie? My hint for you is that we camped on a certain date which was the name of the film... enough of a clue? The movie was recently remade, but this is where the original one was filmed.

We reserved the actual cabin used in the movie, in front of the actual lake. It was the right day of the year. We brought plenty of electronics so we could watch scary movies -- not the one filmed there, because it was R rated and we had a few young kids -- but things like "The Blob." Although they didn't get that one. Someone else took care of getting the movies.

It was a fun trip; not too scary but still fun!

The scary parts were NOT the possibility of a slasher attacking us in the cabin. No worries at all about that. The scary parts were mainly
1. The out house
2. The hike

I'm posting pictures of the hike. The out house, I'll leave you to imagine.

Cabin

 

This is the cabin that we stayed in... it was actually a little bit scary. We had a mouse, which we named Jason, trying to get to our food. And if you saw how far away the outhouse was, and how gross it was, you would be VERY scared.