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The end but yet the Beginning

August and Summer are coming to a close. So busy during August, it just flew by. It was so hot that we couldn't go outside until finally, just this week the heat finally broke for a few glorious days.The end of summer and the beginning of fall. Fall brings my birthday and the start of Pre-school for Samantha, cooler weather for sure, a friend's daughter's wedding, an operation for Pop, Halloween, Thanksgiving, a five day trip for Samantha, Emilie, Matt and I to Disneyworld in Florida and then my absolute favorite holiday, Christmas. In between all of these events I will try to keep up with my scrapbooking, reading, favorite tv shows (lose some weight), start to cook more and yes, maybe even exercise. Emilie and I are going to take a photography class in New York in October so I expect my photography skills will also improve.
Goodbye to the end and Hello to the Beginning! Welcome Fall.

Samantha's tea party

Can I tell you that preparing for a birthday party is a labor of love. Hours are spent thinking about, planning for and preparing for the party. It in the long run prepares you for the bigger task of wedding planner.
Samantha had a third Birthday Tea Party. Her Momma searched the internet for paper plates and decorations to fit the theme. She had this vision in her head of what she wanted the cake to be like. She wanted the kids chairs to be covered (like at a wedding) in white with ribbons and bows tied to them. Some of the adult guests brought devilled eggs, pasta salad, number three and tea pot cookies. A tent was set up to keep the sun and the heat away (after all it was July).
The guest of honor was seated and so were her four guests. Emilie served the "ladies" cubes of cheese and small, dainty cream cheese sandwiches. The table was adorned with colorful pinwheels and chocolate teapot lollipops. Miss Samantha Noel Tomaro poured the tea for her guests. It was one of the highlights of the party.
Did I mention that the Guest of Honor and her guests wore their own beautiful party dresses adorned with party items like the colorful boas, fairy necklace,and beaded necklaces. A good time was had by one and all! (This gala event lasted about 30 minutes which was 25 minutes longer than expected!)
Pictures of the event will soon be available and posted here.

Laser Surgery

The laser surgery took less than five minutes. There was no pain, no strapping my head down,no fuss. I have to go back for a re-check next Tuesday. The laser repaired a tear in my retina caused by the gel inside your eye shrinking (due to age) and tearing the retina as the gel pulled away. Tears left unrepaired can lead to a detached retina which can cause blindness. The debris from the incident is left inside my eye, the blood ,the long furry, black floaters. I am assured that they will indeed sink eventually and that my brain will stop focusing on them for the most part.

Eye YI YI !

In Atlantic city, in the Tropicana, in Hooters I saw large black, swirly things in my right eye. I closed my eye for a while and they didn't go away. I gambled for about 45 minutes. Lost 20 dollars, lost another 20 dollars,and then with another 20 won $84. Went to see Craig Ferguson, the comedian, laughed and then drove 3 hours home with Emilie, DB and Matt. Got home, called Emergency Room, then my eye Dr. (2am). Got Doc on call, said he would see me 8:45am Saturday morn. Long, careful exam....blood, cloudiness and long, hairy floaters in eye, But he couldn't see a tear in my retina. So off to Retinal Specialist on Monday morning.

The Staten Island Zoo

Doug and I took our two, under three, granddaughters to the zoo on Friday. We were all very excited about it. We travelled about 40 minutes to get there,with Samantha, Grandma and Kamryn singing to Madison's cd the whole time. We walked around for about an hour, with Samantha getting very upset and afraid of the snakes and the loud noises. We headed for the picnic tables around 11:30 and found one in the shade. 11:30 was a little early for lunch, but it seemed that we needed a familiar activity to calm us down. Kamryn was thrilled with everything. I think she would have liked to stay longer watching the animals. She's not at the afraid of everything stage yet. Both girls were such good listeners and were very aware of their surroundings. If they moved away from us, they kept us in sight and listened for us to call them.The weather was just right :warm but no humidity and the zoo had lots of shade. I was a little dissapointed that they didn't have larger animals but Kamryn and Sam seemed to find the farm animals just as satisfying. In fact we found large colored rectangles painted on a patch of walkway - and that might have been the highlight of the zoo trip, following the path and stepping on the colors.

Garage Sale - Mallomars and Used Book Store

Up at 4:45 am, hauled sorted and arranged until 7:30am when first early-bird arrived (sale 8am-3pm)!

Out for their second Garage sale, the gnomes were looking good:

Cloudy and overcast, we were lucky because that kept the heat away. Steady business until around 11:30am. Couldn't have run this sale without Caroline and Diego! They worked their little butts right off!

Look how much stuff we had. Other than scrapbooking stuff and one or two boxes (yes-gnomes), we threw everything that didn't sell out. We made $550 which I split with Caroline.

OH! did you want to know why I mentioned Mallomars?  Pop really enjoys them. so we set out on a mission to buy him some. Not a one to be found! Do you know why? BECAUSE IT IS NOT MALLOMAR SEASON ! Who knew cookies had seasons! They will be available sometime in late September when it becomes cool enough to ship them. Who Knew?

Used Book Store

Sunday, today Caro and I embarked on a trip to the Montgomery used book store with the books that did not sell at the garage sale. We brought in over 40 books and recieved a $60 credit (they no longer give cash for the books  which would have only been $30). SO..........we walked out of there with 8 books for which we paid with our credit and another $8...........BUT we did get rid of over 40 books.

So, as you can see this weekend was very productive and profitable. I am now one step closer to getting my house and my life back in order.

CHANGE IS GOOD!