MY FRIEND OSCAR

I have know Oscar for a very long time. My father ran a movie theatre when I was growing up. It was a big deal to manage one in those days. We were there allot. The Academy Awards were always a big night in our house. It was important if you were showing a movie and it won. It wasn't like today when you go and have 20 movies to pick from, they only showed one.
So we would gather around the television, watch the awards and eat pizza. Honestly I didn't have a clue what was going on when I was young. It wasn't until I was older that I actually knew what it was all about. But one thing for sure it that it was tradition. Going to the movies has always been important in my life.

We have continued this tradition with our children. Of course they are all grown up now but things haven't changed. We all gather around the big screen TV eating our pizza and love every moment of it. Everyone will have a ballot to fill out and a winner will get some cold hard cash! There have been years when I have bought little Oscar awards to give out but we all appreciate cash these days. If you want a ballot to print out you can get one here.

There has been one change over the years for me. When it came around to award night I was totally prepared. I had seen each movie and every actor that was up except for something like a foreign film that I couldn't find anywhere. See my husband and I use to go to movies at least once a week but many weeks we would go twice! Since he has had an office job for over 3 years now we only go about once a month if we are lucky. (I could go and see them myself but it's so easy to stay home) Movies come out so quickly now that we do still see allot of movie each month. But when it comes to Oscar night I have only seen maybe a few of the movies. The first year was the hardest but now I'm okay with it.

It is still so much fun and hopefully some day we can pass this tradition on to our grandchildren. I love watching movies and that will never change.

Enjoy the Academy Awards tonight!

THE STILETTO AWARD

Look what I got from Jane. Isn't it pretty? You can visit with Jane over at Adoption of Jane. Head on over and say Hello to my new friend Jane.

What is a Stiletto Award???

There are thousands of blogs, and there are hundreds of awards. The Stiletto Award is a little different than most!

First, to understand, let us understand the Stiletto… some words that describe it… Classy – Strong -Exotic – Demure – Extreme – Ultra – Sexy - Bold – Funky

“Walking in extremely high heels is not something that the average woman (or man) will need to do in their everyday life. However, there are times when this skill may be required.”

AND… what is a “blogger”? According to Dictionary.com the official definition is: Blogger: One who writes entries in, adds material to, or maintains a weblog

However, I think there is a LOT more to it than that. My definition of a blogger… Blogger: A strong, confident woman who has a full life. Because of the nature of her existence, she seeks connection and companionship with others who understand and wish to support her. She gains strength and courage from the experiences of these woman and shares her story in return. Through the “blog world” she develops relationships with women she would otherwise never meet and builds a community of cherished friends with whom she shares her life, experiences, challenges, failures, triumphs, goals, family and so much more! She IS Classy, Strong, Exotic, Demure, Extreme, Ultra, Sexy, Bold and Funky!

“To walk gracefully in high heels, take short steps, as opposed to long strides, and come down in a heel-toe, heel-toe motion.”

Hence, the Stiletto Award…For Excellence in Blogging!

I want to salute the women who balance life, family & relationships with style & class! Those women who share their experiences with us…who encourage us, inspire us, teach us, make us laugh and basically keep us going! You know who they are! While you read this blog, your family is looking at you wondering what the heck you are laughing about so hard…or why the tissue is necessary for Internet browsing. It’s the one that the kids are excited about cuz a new post means a new craft project or family outing. The one that inspires you to be a better mom, friend, person in general. The one that reminds you that we are all “in this life together” and you’re not the only one going through the hard stuff. The one that you secretly wish your blog was like…

“It is good to get into the habit of doing the warm-up and cool-down exercises every time you wear them.”

If you’ve received this award, someone out there thinks you deserve it! Be proud! Display the badge with honor! You earned it…after all it means that you brought something special to at least one other person, and really, isn’t that what life’s all about????

“Under no circumstances drive a car with your heels on. Not only do you have less control over the car, but it will damage your shoes – and they aren’t cheap at this height. Keep spare shoes in the car for driving, or have someone drive you.”

THE RULES!
This blog is meant to be shared, to be given out, to be bestowed upon any and ALL women who exemplify what the stiletto represents. If you’ve received this award, here’s what you do:

1. Display your Stiletto Badge of Honor on your sidebar! Wear it with pride…
“Heels this high are not meant for clubbing or walking long distances in. They are mainly used for getting from the living room to the bedroom, from the car to the restaurant, or for a short stroll along the catwalk.”
2. BRAG ABOUT IT! -write a post about your award.
3. SAY THANKS! - include a link to the friend who nominated you for the award.
4. SHARE THE LOVE! -nominate 5-10 blogs that you feel deserve the award. Include links to them in your post -and- leave them a comment to let them know they are nominated.

5. DO WHAT YOU DO! -keep at it. Keep inspiring and encouraging and sharing your life! We love it and we thank you!!!

I am going to pass this award on to my newest followers. (this is the best way for me to handle awards)

Please know that all of my friends deserve this award and I won't pick just 5-10 of you out ! I love you all equally.

1. Jenn at Seizing My Day
2. Monica (who I have no link to)
3. Traci at Ordinary Inspirations
4. Sarah at Writing
5. Loco YaYa at Loco YaYa's Snafu'd World (this is who passed it on to Jane)
6. The Strawberry Mallard

Ladies, just so you know I never get upset if you don't pass it on.

Hope your having a wonderful Saturday.

MAKING ROOM IN THE NEST

Well I'm not going to argue with what God has placed before me. My first reaction was horrible. (I am sorry) See I am a person with great patience but CHANGE is a whole other story! I am set in my ways and you don't mess with my ways.

When we were young and had our children you hear all the stories about how awful it is when the nest it empty. It's an adjustment but I personally handled it pretty well. As long as my children were happy I was happy. Even when it meant being far away. I have always told my children that they could live anywhere they want until I have grandchildren, then they have to live near me. (go ahead, call me selfish) I guess I was selfish with that statement because there are not grandchildren coming anytime soon. I am almost 59 and I wanted to be a cool hip grandmother. That's not happening but I was the cool hip great aunt for my sister's grandchildren.

So back to the situation at hand, the one that has had me stressed and a little blue. Our daughter and son-in-law are moving in with us in a few weeks. (Believe me if you could have been a fly on the wall when my daughter and I had a four hour argument, OMG) One thing I know about me is that I need time. We knew there was a chance of this happening and I was already making plans in my head on what we would do to accommodate them. Then when it actually became a reality I crossed over and turned into somebody I did't like.

Take a deep breath Debby and relax. This is your daughter and her husband after all. Parents help their children when they need help. So take some time, think this out because it's going to happen. As you know I don't leave my house much. I am in my PJ's until well into the afternoon. I blog all day and watch movies. Why does my life have to change.

It will be different for all of us. They don't want to come here to live but we have always told them that we are here if they need us. Now nothing awful has happened. Actually we have been telling our SIL to leave the company he is working for. Obviously that really isn't a possibility at this time with the huge numbers in unemployment. His employers are not nice people and he needs to get away from them. On the other hand he makes very good money. So the plan is to live here, get their cars paid off and hopefully get himself a new career. The store our daughter has worked out for six years is closing in a few weeks so she will find a job closer to our home.

I was really upset because this makes big changes for Skye & me. Now this time I am being selfish again. (that's what happens when you were the baby in the family and always had your way) See Skye loves our daughter. I am the bottom of the totem pool when she is around. Skye is the joy in my day and I'm going to miss her hanging with me. I have spent allot of time crying about this. We will also have Charlie living here so rather then having him over once in while and the two of them chasing all over the house, this will be happening every day!

Well anyway it happening and I will look to the bright side. As much as I dislike the fact that we must pack up our two guest rooms so they can have a bedroom & den, it will be okay. These two rooms are at the front of the house so we will all have our privacy. My husband and I still have our offices to retreat to. We will actually only be sharing the kitchen and laundry room. I will also now have my daughter (who comes & cleans house for me now) as a live in maid and I won't have to pay her! I won't be able to have company come out to stay with us :( but that's okay because we had plenty last year. This is a temperary situation and heck I might even grow to love it. Maybe I will be more motivated to go out to the show or shopping with her being here. So say a prayer and cross your fingers. It's going to get a little harder before it gets better. I will keep you posted. (silver lining: they won't be late for family dinners anymore!)

I am thankful for all.

32nd Street Blog Parade

Head on over and join in the fun!

1. What's your favorite time of the day, and why?
I like the evening. Watch a little TV, have a glass of wine and relax.

2. If health wasn't an issue, what food could you live off of?
Cheesecake and pizza. (Chicago pizza)

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?
I guess I should say World Peace but I am going to say new lungs.

4. What's one thing that you get teased about a lot?
I have a bad habit (lately) of making mistakes on our pizza orders.

5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?
Anyplace where I am the Queen!

6. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be?
I think playing an instrument but I'm not sure what it would be!

7.If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?
I'm not sure, there are allot of things I would love to see in our world. Right now I would love to be in a private villa on a beach with a maid, cook, etc. (remember I want to be Queen)

8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?
I think I would sing Christian music. It just makes you feel so good

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?
I am thinking Pottery Barn, I really like their stuff.

10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?
I've never given this much thought but it would be nice to go back to when my children were born and I was raising them. I would love to love them again giving them ALL my time.

11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?
I think I would say green, like a celery or mossy green.

12. If you were one of the seven dwarf's, which one would you be?
Grumpy for sure! (it's menopause time)

13. What's the last album you listened to?
Soundtrack from Garden State

14. What's something we'd be surprised to know about you?
I totally related with Princess Diana and all that she was going through. She was my hero.

RANDOM DOZEN

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1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?
I think I prefer even numbers. Even is calming to me.

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?
If you could see me now I am looking like a 1. Honestly I'm about a 4.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered
Talkative works pretty good for me.

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?
Well I have won allot of giveaways since I have been blogging. I consider my life to be blessed and I take that as lucky.

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you've written?
It's about being thankful for all, in all situations. Check it out!

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.
It's pretty awesome in Southern California.

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)
I use to be very gullible, not anymore!!!

8. How "green" are you, environmentally speaking?
I think I am pretty green. I recycle and try to use green products in my home and on my body.

9. What is your favorite song this week?
Black Eyed Peas "Tonight's gonna be a good night"

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?
Pennies are good with me. Each time I say to myself "In God We Trust" and that is why I pick them up!

11. Complete the sentence: "Every time I look outside my window ...."
I see the beauty of the earth that God created. (or I might see Skye taking a poop!)

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.
"Because of You" by Tony Bennett

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY

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STRESS AND OLD AGE = A MESS

I made such a mess of things. I posted a blog on 2-18-10. When I was making this post I had to write it several times and when I went to publish it I couldn't find it. So I typed it again and after publishing I couldn't find it!

Finally it went through the next day when I retyped it again. It was my post on the Pay It Forward Contest. OMG you are not going to believe this. So I picked my winners on the 25th of February and left each of them a comment on their blog about winning. I will be sending them both gifts. They in turn are supposed to do a post, link to me and send out two gifts to their winners. Simple right? Wrong!

The other day I was working on a post for my Blogiversary in April. Mainly because I don't want to forget the day and have it pass me by. So I went back to link to my very first post. Under that post I found the posts that I lost. They were dated with '09, obviously my mistake. So I just thought I would delete them so I deleted one, went back to delete the other and ended up deleting the actual post from the 18th. Then I went and deleted the other wrong one but then I realized that I should have kept that one but now they are all gone. No post, no comments like it never happened.

So when the winners have to link back to me there is no post to link to. I am not posting it again because I actually did that post 4 times! I just kind of feel like it wasn't meant to be. Well anywho these are the two winners:

Katherine at Another Day, Another Moment and Countrynmore so if you ladies could send me your full name & address I will get your gifts in the mail to you. dpucci9972@gmail.com

At this point and time it is up to you if you want to do a post or not!