Dad and Judy are back from Prague. I found it funny that they were able to walk around without coats while we're here freezing. When I think Prague, I think cold. hmm....could other things I assume be wrong? must think on this some more.

I have unusual company in my wanderlust club. I am usually living vicariously through Karin.

so excited for Project Runway tonight? Rami or Chris... i wonder

sort'a scary

I didn't realize how dangerous these are. I am not sure I even know how I to recycle one. havent' had to yet.

What to do when compact fluorescents crack
Boston Globe


Compact fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of toxic mercury that can vaporize when the bulbs break, creating a potential health risk for infants, young children, and pregnant women. If a lamp does break, follow these cleanup procedures:


-Keep people and pets away. Open windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before beginning the cleanup.
-Do not use a vacuum cleaner, even on a carpet. This will spread the mercury vapor and dust and potentially contaminate the vacuum.
-Wear rubber gloves.
-Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass jar with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar.
-Next, scoop up the smaller pieces and dust using two stiff pieces of paper such as index cards or playing cards.
-Pick up fine particles with duct tape, packing tape, or masking tape, and then use a wet wipe or damp paper towel.
-Put all waste into the glass container, including all material used in the cleanup. Remove the container from your home and call your local solid waste district or municipality for disposal instructions.
-Continue ventilating the room for several hours.
-Wash your hands and face.
-As a precaution, consider discarding throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred, particularly if the rug is in an area frequented by infants, small children or pregnant women. Otherwise, open windows during the next several times you vacuum the carpet to provide good ventilation.

SOURCES: Maine Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management; Mercury Policy Project

what to say

Max shaved for the first time.

this is happening too fast. :(

sometimes I forget how young G really is. After Max had his braces removed (woo hoo!!!) the boys were speaking of who would or wouldn't need braces. G said that he would definitely need braces, to keep his teeth in. What, we asked?? yes, he said, my teeth keep falling out. 

Max is in Boston. he is having a great time. strange for me though. For one thing, I miss him terribly.... an other, he is with my family.  i miss him... i miss my family. was thinking we should just move down and he could go to Boston Latin. not sure where we'd live or work or where the other boys would go to school. it would be nice to be near my family though. 

Had a big shoot on Saturday. thinking the results may be very good. we'll see. 

snow snow snow... all we need is snow

I am not complaining .. just going to mention that it is snowing. again. and more is expected. 

really, it's sort of funny. ha ha  ha ha.  ha

Obama was in Maine yesterday. Max and Aidan are not feeling well so we didnt' go up. We are so sad...we could have met him. we missed him when he was around the corner from our house.  talk about bad luck. today we vote. 

i forget who, but one of my boys had quite the realization about the state of the world. things have been going down hill. yes? well.. what is one universal change that may have caused this??

the lack of phone booths!!! where is superman supposed to change?!!?? jeesh.....

You most likely saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&3 already but I thought it was worth posting just in case you didnt'. 

Meg posted it yesterday and then I recieved from the Obama campain this morning. sort of funny that Meg posted before they did. hmmm.... 

sorry I couldn't link it. why can't I cut and paste a link with my mac? it adds it to he bottom of the page. I am SO confused. 

I am so proud. I did some bean shopping today and took home a 1 sleeping bag, 1 spring coat, 2 prs of gloves, a winter coat, 2 pairs of slippers, 2 long sleeve t's and two sweaters and one pair of pants. All in all I spent 28.00. how did I pull off this amazing stint? I shoplifted. finally after 40 years of traveling down that honest narrow path of life I realized that it was getting me nowhere. from this day on... it is a life of crime for me.

okay...that's not true. the true story is far more boring (actually... the entire story is boring... not sure why you are wasting your time reading it). I bought most of these at the employee store the rest was marked down. sigh... sorry. told you it was boring. 

no more boring stories. something fun. ummm... well... I helped a friend who is a casting director do callbacks the other day. that was fun. fun  meaning funny. ummm.... I am still reading about life in the 19th century. that's fun for me. I am still learning to navigate this Mac. that would be fun for other people to laugh at how stupid I am. Max spends a lot of time laughing at me. Max shadowed @ PHS the other day. he had fun. My kids are fun but that is not new. 

oh well....

If being cute was a crime

I believe you'd find this face on the most wanted list.

I always said that I could handle the boys growing out of babyhood without lamenting too much on what has past. I handled starting kindergarten, the end of toddler years and bedtime rituals without any problem. As I bravely moved forward I knew that there would be one thing that I would not handle so well. When my baby loses his front teeth.

Now we are here. The time I have been dreading. I am truly very, very, sad. I just hope that it takes months for his new teeth to grow in.

Thank goodness for Ethan, Sammy and Z.

Emitalia is back. She says that she will not be able to post a lot (school and not having Internet at the apt). Doesn't' it look lovely?

thought you may find this interesting.

The boys did their own shopping this year. We took the Little's out but Max and Aidan went by themselves. They had so much fun and it was really fun opening what they picked out.



Aidan as a Christmas light





here it is. The Wii (the clouds should have parted and ray of sun shown down upon you as you read that. You may have also heard the singing of angels but that depends on how good YOU are). If you cannot tell. They are playing baseball. Aidan is at bat and G is the pitcher. Since this photo we have had to rearrange the living room. Those tall bookcases are now far from any wii playing.

not sure why I added this photo's. I guess I thought they looked so handsome. Actually, I do not think that I have ever seen a better photo of them.

Christmas Eve

David and Fabiane were visiting from Arizona. They were stuck in Portland an extra day due to a storm and spent the day making us this very cool garland.


Papa loved his gift. I was still add the fringe as he walked in. Sometimes I think I am crazy... I know one stitch and decide to knit a blanket.

Karin and Michael were both very sleepy. or we were really boring.

Henry sure is glad Michael is back... this is all he wants someone to hug

Aidan looking a bit cartoonish

this morning I was alone in the house for the first time in weeks. An odd but nice feeling. we had a really nice vacation. I know that my being so lenient with the wii playing helped. a lot!

project runway was pretty great last night. Loved hearing Spartacus aka Kevin say he wanted to knock Christian out (of the show.. those were not his exact words). that boy annoys me to no end. someone gave him an extra dose of self confidence and not enough empathy. I loved what Rami did and was pleasantly surprised with Chris's dress.

Got an e-mail from Emmy! She starts classes on Monday. Her apt sounds great, over looks a courtyard and is 10 min away from school. She said it's chilly but not cold and she has plenty of room for visitors! Florence anyone?

oh... on new years Deb, Lisa and I got together (did I post this already?) before the family party. was so much fun. expect,Lisa's house was so peaceful and mine was alike a 3 ring circus.

Happy New Years

I suppose i should write a bit about our Christmas. (I will eventually post some images too)

we had a nice, peaceful day. Chris and I woke before the boys (okay.. really Chris did and was kind enough to wake me and make us tea) so we were ready for the race to the living room. While Santa did not bring many presents the boys declared that this was the best Christmas ever (I know.. they say this every year). The biggest surprise was the that Santa was able to supply them with the object of their desire.. a Wii!! Not sure if it was a fluke or miracle but it's here and my boys are in heaven (I am leaning towards the material miracle).

Now we are waiting for Deb, Courtney, Clyde and Mickey so we can ring in the new year with our oldest, dearest friends. As a special bonus for me, I am going to get together with Deb and Lisa!!

Happy New Year!! I hope 2008 is the best year yet!

Noi amiamo Emitalia!!

Emmy and Eddie leave for Italy tomorrow.

Good luck! have fun! we love you!

Merry Christmas!!!

My favorite time of the Holiday season is around 4pm Christmas Eve. All the shopping has been done... food has been made (or ordered)... Chris is home... all we have left to do is enjoy the holiday.

Today Michael, Karin, Dad and Judy were here. was so much fun! now the boys are getting ready for bed (by watching the Chargers game) and I am tired with wine and blissful after being with family.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

2007

I know it's not over but I have been thinking about the last year. We've has some big changes, some surprises (which I still cannot write about) and some sadness (Cancer sucks).

For the most part I think it was a pretty good year. Max started high school (loves the school though strongly dislikes his peers.. ), Aidan loves middle school, Ari and G are happy as can be. I took a bit of a different route career wise and did more gallery/museum work than commercial (is that what you'd call it?) while Chris stayed on his same path.

Not sure where I am getting at with this... just rambling I suppose. Thinking back....dreaming of the future? maybe. what would i want? I really would love to go back to Italy. Emmy and Eddie will be there for some time (so exciting!!!). Venice seems to have made a big impression on me. i really hated it at first, now I find it is always on my mind. The other day we watch the YA movie, The Thief Lord which takes place in Venice and that didn't help. How can a place I've only visited once now seem so familiar. oh cripes.. I am pining away for a city. Deb is having similar reaction to Namibia... I think she will get back there before I return to Italy.

I would be greatly relieved if this high school drama was cleared up. There are few options but which is right for him? He has friends at both places who are putting a lot of pressure on him to join them. Actually, I went to a school event the other night and was told by one of his freinds that he was changing schools this january and going to join him at his school. that was sort of funny, sort of not. Is it even the right choice to remove him from where he is? All these questions!!

I'd like to learn Italian tehn get a job that takes me there often. with my family of course. notice that I didn't mention what kind of job. I really dont' care. maybe that's what I want for Christmas, a good italian program.

Karin, Dad and Judy are coming on Monday!

I really do not like to post photo's of me but here are a few.

Yesterday went well. The show really looked great and it was highly attended.

Saturday night Karin had a surprise for Emmy... Me! We went to a holiday party @ Jane's fabulous Union Square condo and stayed out until 2am. Haven't' done that in a while. I have to say, after a bit of limoncello I felt quite at ease. Didn't do much to squash my desire to move though.

Yesterday, the boys, Janice and I met Deb and Mickey before the show. Her Africa photo's are amazing. AMAZING. truly unbelievable Amazing.

After I posted my whining session I felt so much better! really...whining is good. try it!

Can't wait to see the show on Sunday!

Holiday Whine part 1

- I do not like winter. why do i live here
- It is too cold. I Hate it.
- Someone parked in my spot last night. I wanted to call them a bad name.
- oil is so expensive and my house is drafty. my fingers are cold
- some people overact at the thought of not getting their fleece when they wanted it. They're stupid
- gloves are easy to lose.



okay... I think that's it for now. thanks for listening.