Happy New Year...

Out with the Old....

In with the New...

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas

And I wish you a Healthy, Happy New Year too!!

See you in 2009 with much improved picture quality thanks to Santa!!!

100 List

I saw this list on one of the new contributing writers at MotherswithCancer; Stephanie and I thought it would be interesting to see what I have accomplished.

Last night we also watched The Bucket List... after watching the movie these 100 things are not necessarily what I would have on my bucket list but this list is interesting none the less so here goes...

The things I have done are in BOLD!

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain ( I am assuming that climbing one in a car does not count?)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (should I even count this one?)
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person ( can you believe we visited on a Holy Day of obligation and it was closed!!!)
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (my story is in someone else’s book?)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (does fish count?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

59 out of 100!!

I guess now I just have to work on my Bucket List and my Goals for 2009!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and Happy Holiday...

From our white Christmas town to yours....

Love,

MB

Two Years of Growth...

I posted on two years of hairgrowth on Mothers with Cancer today...

Please stop by and vote for our blog while you are there..

Relieving that pre-Christmas excitement...

I am not sure about your house, but the pre-Christmas anticipation at our house is at a all time high and we still have 9 days to go. The boys relieve their energy with a little wrestling...

We got these Mexican wrestling masks at the Rose Bowl Flea Market this summer. I think it is a match-up between Mil Mascaras vs. Rey Misterio, but I may have my wrestlers mixed up!!!

Mario even got into the action... see left sidebar!!

Santa's got a brand new ride...

The first December that we were in California my daughter came home from school and informed me that Santa had arrived at her school and passed out candy canes. I gave a cursory "that's nice" and went about my business. She then continued to tell me how he arrived and I was a bit dumbfounded. Every year since I make sure that I go to the school to watch Santa arrive to greet the kids. All of the kids sit relatively patiently on the playground and wait for his arrival. Here he and his Mrs. are arriving at my son's school...










Because of the school district's new "healthy" policy Santa can no longer give out candy canes, but he gave out pencils instead... the better to write those wish lists with....

They walked over to the day care next to school and greeted the younguns and then got back into their ride to visit the other schools in town. Santa keeps a pretty tight schedule.

Up, Up and Away....

Tag - I'm it...

When I checked my email - a comment was left regarding my last post and it said "Tag. Your it." That one stumped me. Tag. I'm it? It got me thinking - what was she trying to tell me? Does she like my Peppermint bark ice cream idea? So I hopped on over to her blog... Tag. I'm it - kind of like a chain letter for the blogosphere... great... I do not do chain letters... mind you it took me a long time to believe that something bad would not happen if I broke the chain. But since I am relatively new to this whole blog thing I will play this time - who knows it may even be fun????

So Imstell - I can't complain more than usual tagged me and here are the rules...



1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people (if possible) at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.



random and weird facts about mb:



1. My favorite doll was Drowsy.

2. I used to have a pet snail.

3. I saw Andy Warhol on the street when I lived in NYC.

4. I was a dancer(mostly ballet), but I was very clumsy unless I was dancing - go figure???

5. When I go to a nice restaurant, I like to know what the desserts are so I can plan ahead.

6. I am a planner - see number 5.

7. I love sarcastic humor (which may I add is a bit hard on the west coast as many people out here do not get sarcasm????)

Now who to tag??? Please forgive me...

Jen @ Jenster's Musings
Nicole @Throws like a girl
mod*mom
kellyrae @ kellyraeroberts
jenny @ jennydoh
katherine @ just a girl

Pam @ Pamela Garrison One Woman and Her Crafting Tales

Holiday Smoosh-In

One of our favorite Ice Cream shoppes back East, Sweet Jenny's, use to offer different items smooshed into your ice cream....and this was before Cold Stone and the many other chain shops that are currently popular. A few years ago we tried our own combinations and came up with this one that we really enjoy.

We love Peppermint Bark, our fav is William Sonoma's, but we just bought some from Trader Joe's and it is thicker and almost 1/3 of the cost!! (a good recession buster)...

Start with a small piece of this luscious holiday treat...

Chop the bark into bite size pieces....

Vanilla ice cream of choice...

Mound a few scoops of the creamy, cold stuff over the peppermint bark...

Then you smoosh it all around....

And that's what it is all about...

We now stock up on Peppermint Bark at this time of year and stretch it out as long as we can.

Enjoy... from our house to yours...

Our new favorite getaway...

Since we moved to California and we are away from family the Holidays are now different than what we grew up with. Some years we go to visit family for Thanksgiving, some years we have family visit us. This year it was going to be just the 4 of us. One year we went to Palm Desert and absolutely loved the desert. I am convinced that I was a reptile in a former life because I love the heat (although it is not usually that hot in November), but I digress...


We were going to go back to our favorite desert spot, but then we decided to go to Catalina Island. We have been in California for 5 years and have never been there. We have heard many speak well of the island and Avalon. So 'L' made the arrangements and off we went on the Catalina Flyer.



One hour and fifteen minutes later we descended on Catalina Island and the town of Avalon.

It was the most wonderful, relaxing 4 days that we have spent in a long while. There are only a small number of cars allowed on the island and 1 golf cart per address. You can walk to so much in town and bike ride and hike. There is something for everyone. On our next trip we are going to take more tours, we want to take a tour inland to see the bison that were brought onto the island to film a movie and were left after filming.

We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal...

After dinner we went to see Bolt at the Casino...

The Casino was built in 1929 and was restored a few years ago. It is absolutely magnificent. We sat in old style theater seats without cup holders...with very little leg room... and no 3D movie screen...

The kids got to see a bit of the past...

I got them all to hike up to the old Wrigley Mansion one day...

We took a golf cart tour...

We walked and ate and walked and ate...

We walked on the pier...

and fed the fish....

This time of year is considered the "off season" - it was pretty quiet, we definitely want to go back and see what it is like during the summer...

We boarded the Catalina Flyer and sailed off into the sunset...

back to reality and the countdown to Christmas....