Joke

What do you call a blonde with a map, compass, and set of directions?

Lost.

Good night

Another weekend done. The kids fell asleep on the couch again. When they were little we would hold them or hug up until they fell asleep. Now the kids are over 50 pounds and it is a load to carry them off to bed. Good night, just counting the days until vacation and waking up to a hot day at the beach!

Martini's & Glassware

copyright by Marge http://www.recipezaar.com/member/1535

It's official, March Martini Madness has begun. There are some new martini recipes at http://www.recipezaar.com/sitenews/post?pid=769 but by my personal account nothing beats a dirty, grey goose, vodka martini. Just add olives and smile.

All those boring basketball games and life in general seems smoother with a Martini glass in your hand. Fill it with your favorite flavor and sip away the day. On school days, I will occasionally fill my glass with Pellegrino carbonated water just so I can feel special and not fall over on top of my kids. There are days when the Vodka gets poured and I await Kentucky Fried Shitken or some other nasty bag of greasy take out.

I seem to be a collector of glass beverage ware. I have seasonal glasses with a Christmas snowman, a snowflake, Halloween witch, St. Patrick's day clovers, hearts, fat beach bikini gal, etc. Most of my glasses are clear or have etchings of the season or patterns on them. My favorite martini glasses have red swirls up the stem.

Thanks to my best friend Laura, I have these fabulous polka dot etched pattern glasses from Mikasa. She got me a set of eight highball type glasses for my 40th birthday. I loved them so much I bought myself the matching tall beverage glasses and another set of the short ones to make service for 12. They were expensive by my standards at I think $10 a glass! Did I need more glasses? Nope- but they somehow make me feel empowered when I drink out of them and I often think of her when I use them.

I used to be one to only use the "good stuff" at the holidays, now I use it all the time. My wedding crystal is the Artic Light Pattern. Mysterious as the northern night skies, and every bit as beautiful. A statement of elegance, this hand-cut lead crystal reaches upwards with reflected light. This crystal pattern coordinates perfectly with formal dinnerware and flatware. Cost--double if not more. I must admit I only bring these out when I think my guests may stay for one or two drinks and not an all out drinking fest since they are fragile and getting harder to replace.

Luckily, I can count the number of glasses that have gotten broken on two hands so what this means is that I have continued to buy new styles of glassware but never got rid of the old. No kidding I think I could have 100 people over for a drink and everyone of them could drink out of a glass not some plastic throw away cup. Ah but would I give everyone a glass? NO. I may have two dishwashers but I am not going to run them endlessly to wash glasses. I do by the way put all my stemware and beverage ware in the dishwasher and usually on the normal setting with no scratches or pings occurring. Special props to Maytag and Electrasol detergent.

It is about 1 o'clock. Too late for a nooner and too early for an afternoon martini. Mmmmm, maybe a Pepsi? In a very cool glass, undoubtedly.

Spring!

Today is the first full day of Spring. The season officially changed at 8:07 pm under a crescent new moon while we were watching American Idol with the kids.

Having spent two weeks in Florida last month to return to unbelievably more crappy, snowy, wet weather makes it hard to get motivated to do much of anything except laundry and there are baskets of dirty clothes awaiting my attention.

We had our parent teacher conference yesterday and much to my delight, Emily is not completely failing and will be making it to second grade thanks to a devoted teacher who will be tutoring her after school. When we got home it was sunny and the girls wanted to play outside and Nicole who always fights taking off her uniform and school shoes found the first blooming flower of the year!

We all got down to smell it and while it, itself had no smell, the fragrance of the earth, soil and mulch was sweet. So precious are my children to already appreciate the gift of a flower. They helped drop 500 crocus bulbs all over the place but seem to have forgotten the effort it took. One of our old neighbors planted crocus in her yard so that every spring before the fist grass cutting it came alive with various types of crocus in a multitude of colors. Ironically, the man who lives there is blind and can not see the beauty.

As we attempted to plant grass last year, we planted crocus in the beds and yard hoping to recreate a colorful rainbow of joy. We have already stomped on some while tending to dog and rabbit poo but most are popping up, buds bursting and reaching for the warmth of the sun.

There are tulips, hyacinths and Purple Sensation Allium which should grow up to 4 feet high in addition to the massive flowering landscape plants which were planted in specific locations to maximize bloom times. It is the daffodils that were the most work though. Near the lake I got this great idea to plant 1000 bulbs so that is would be a mass of yellow for Easter. This morning the damned deer were eating there precious little buds and I yelled "get away" and the 6 of them ran back into the woods. The girls just roared with laughter since most times we grab the binoculars to observe them.

Not today, leave my deer resistant daffodils alone!

Today's weather

Icy, pretty much sums it up.

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love! You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

Hope everyone had a great day. We went to a birthday party and then we went ice skating on green ice while drinking Irish whiskey and beer....now just have to recover a bit from over imbibing on corned beef and spirits.

Must be Spring

OMG, yesterday our lake was still frozen. Mind you it wasn't solid enough for skating but definitely a nice sheen of ice. It rained all night and is about 35 degrees today and with flurries but there is not one hint of ice.

The mallard ducks didn't waste anytime coming back and are swimming about as are the damned geese. They've been quacking and shitting up a storm for about two weeks now and I wish they would head somewhere else too. We had a nest last year and it was great for the girls to watch the animals protect each other and the eggs but in reality it just meant 8 more geese shitting everywhere.

But last night was the best. I opened the back patio door to let the dog in and heard crickets! The lake in summer is so awesome with critter sounds and belching frogs and it puts me right to sleep.

I have crocus ready to bloom. My hyacinths are popping up. The dog shit in the yard is no longer frozen from winter. The red robins are back. The deer prints are everywhere in the mud and yard. A stupid raccoon got stuck in our window well in the middle of the day and tore our screen all up. The bunny and its cage is back outside.

We changed clocks already so it is staying light until 7 pm but then, sunrise isn't til 7 either. It makes it hard to go to bed early and hard to get up. I suppose no matter what the clock says, the girls never want to go to bed and then they never have an easy time of waking either.

I booked another trip to Florida for Spring Break with the kids and grandma. With the change to daylight savings so early this year it means more daylight hours on the beach. The sunset was about 6 when we were there in Feb so by 4:30 it was beginning to cool down and we'd have to pack up for the day.

I guess spring is finally, really teasing me for the adventures of summer.

The Stardust bites the Dust

Today's blog post appears on my rarely read and rarely posted blog, Look Who I Met Today. Access it at http://lookwhoimettoday.blogspot.com/ for today's feature blog on the Stardust Hotel and gambling industry.

It got posted there by mistake but is worth a read...

Mid life crisis

I want to go back to Florida for Easter break and I can't get the idea out of my head. We all just got back from two weeks there in mid-Feb and then we went camping and then hubby took me away for a 26 hour casino, drinking binge which were all fabulous. But....I am a sun worshipper and want to go back to the land of bathing suits and flip flops. Hubby absolutely does not want to go. My mom is thinking it over. What is there to think over, I might ask? Ummmm pool, sun, fun and time w/ your grand kids.

My mother is not one to rise with the sun. No one would call her an early bird but it is a free trip, time to get to know us more and enjoy some R&R on the beach and pool. True we are not big on going out for dinners but it is only because of long waits, bad service, and the decision as to whether it is worth it with two fidgety kids. So I cook, not bad I might add, and the condo has a full kitchen for beverages, snacks, and meals.

The condo also has a washer and dryers so packing should be light. Yeah, right. On our last trip we could have stayed the whole month and not worn the same outfits. This time I think we are all going to only pack our backpacks and suck it up! Flip flops, a bathing suits, a towel, a pair of shorts and t-shirt......buy it if we need it and be durable!

Hubby, Mom or not, kids and I are ready for more sand in our asses to complain about!

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You're often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

What Time Of Day Are You?

The clock has changed

http://www.standardtime.com/ idiots.

I love that the clocks have changed almost two weeks early! Who cares if I lost an hour of sleep? It means that the day is longer and the sunshine will fill my world just a little bit more. In the midst of winter it was dark by almost 5 o'clock, tricking my body into thinking that it was time to get to bed which in fact is why I kept waking up at 5 am. Maybe, just maybe, I will get to sleep until 6. And the girls will have a few extra moments to get outside and play in the daylight after dinner instead of getting ready for bed.

Last week the sun rose at about 6:45 am and we were blessed with clear skies to start our day. We'll see what tomorrow brings but at least the daylight hours won't end so early.

And to think all of this is because it is an effort to save fuel resources in not having to turn our light on so early. Maybe there is a way scientists could figure out how to turn the axis of the earth just right so that everyone is happy. In the meantime, I am. Where is Superman, because I am as idyllic as Lois Lane.

Almost 30 days

Copyright, but not by me.

It has been nearly a month since my last post. That is a lot of martini's. Some were consumed while the children were sick and barfing. Some were drank at the pool and the beaches of Fort Myers. I drank them on our camping trip last weekend and I intend to drink them this weekend as we get away for a night to celebrate our 11th year wedding anniversary.

Never a gin martini. Absolute Vodka is just about perfect and great with just a few cubes. There really is no better place than Florida to consume the martini tho. Idyllic in a mental way, Florida reflects pretty much who I am. Laid back like the ocean breeze most days but then something comes along to turn me into a hurricane and get get the f out a my way and make a run for some other border. Our two week trip overall was grand although both kids were sick before we left and Nicole got sick on the airplane and the hotel on our arrival thus negating our thoughts of going to Bush Garden's and riding roller coasters.

All the family stayed together including my 3 sister-in-laws, the in laws plus the 4 of us so there was never a dull moment in our condo on the beach of Ft, Myers. There were a lot of kids on vacation so the girls were entertained thus giving us time to read trashy novels and sip martini's and beers by the beach.

We all have distinct tan lines that are already beginning to fade. I am ready to back for Easter break and I am trying to talk husband into it but he seems to have no interest in going back. He wants to be home for Easter. I on the other hand do not want to be home when Florida and warm weather is a flight away, and am considering going with just the girls. Maybe my mom would like to come along.

Mmm, should I go with out him or stay home and reheat another ham and bake cookies and fill their Easter Baskets with crap they don't need to eat? ( Barring the Reese's peanut butter cups) ??????

The last vacation with my mom was to Atlantic City when I had just found out I was preggars w Emily and it was in fact the first place I ever felt her move. No wonder she is so much of a jackpot.

Everyone keeps telling me of the rage that is my space so I figured I'd give it a try so if anyone is interested head to http://www.myspace.com/martinijodi . It has only been a day and four requests to be my friends are from strange perverts so I am not sure how long this is going to last.

Anyone else do the my space thing?