Really….Snow?

April arrives tomorrow and it is snowing.  Again.  Like a crazy April Fools Day Joke.  Spring arrived over a week ago but you would never know it.

I am still waiting for the weather to turn. Everyone is.  I always say that living in this part of the country has its advantages because we get to experience all of the seasons but I am getting pretty tired of winter. Moving to a warmer climate is getting more and more appealing with each cold, snowy day.

I for one will not be complaining about the heat once summer arrives!

It Takes a Village…

This afternoon I attended a monthly meeting for the education association I belong to. I happened to be sitting with three teachers from another elementary school in our district.  They were DJ’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade teachers. (He was lucky enough to have one of them twice.)

All of them had seen on Facebook that he had been accepted into college and were so happy for him. One of them told me it made her feel old.  I said, “tell me about it!!!”

I began to think about all of the teachers he has had in his “school career.” I am fortunate that I have been able to work with many of them and get to know them beyond just their “teacher role” and I know that DJ has been very lucky to have had all of them.  From Mrs. Lerner in Kindergarten to Mr. Camp at his high-school.  Each one of them is responsible for shaping him into the person that he is today and I am grateful to all of them.

Off To Great Places

I want to go back to college!

Not as an adult, but as a teenager again!

After spending time with DJ this weekend, listening to all that is offered and the different opportunities there are, I am actually a bit envious of all that he has to look forward to.  There are so many possibilities that weren’t available when I was in school. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time in college, got a fantastic education and met some wonderful people there.  I am still friends with many of them but I was so amazed seeing all that is out there for him!

Maybe, it is just because I am older and have a different perspective on life than I did when I was eighteen.  I wonder what I would have done differently. I wonder what I would have kept the same.  I am excited for him. With the internet and the technology today, there are so many more options out there than there were when I was in school.  I wonder if my parent’s generation felt that way when we all went off to school. Technology has changed the world so much.  The opportunities are endless.

I know he is thrilled about making his choice and Dave and I are so proud of him and the decision he has made.  He is beyond excited and we are so excited for him.

Class of 2019

  

It is official. After spending the day at Lasell College today, DJ decided that there is no doubt in his mind that this is where he wants to go to school. We were able to sit in on a seminar with several of the Communications Department faculty members and I could feel his excitement growing. At lunch, we were seated by course of study and he sat next to the head of the communications department. There were two other professors there too and although DJ knew already that this was it…they sold me on it too!

A funny thing happened after DJ signed his paperwork. Although neither of us told each other until after DJ made his decision, after he signed and we were walking out of the athletic center, he mentioned that the head of the department reminded him of grandma, (my mom.) She looked nothing like her but the funny thing about it is that I had the exact same impression while she was speaking to our group. Neither of us are sure what the connection was but it was so odd that we both felt it. The biggest “give away” for the mom/grandma connection was when she took her napkin from the table while we were eating, and hooked it into her shirt like a bib. This was my mom’s signature. She ALWAYS wore her “bib” – otherwise she wore her food.

Maybe it was her sign letting DJ know he is making the right choice. DJ still hasn’t heard from a few schools and I told him if he wanted to wait to make his decision he could, but knowing that he has his scholarship and that money is much less of an issue because of it, he knew this was the right choice.

I haven’t seen him so happy! He said he feels like a load is lifted off his shoulders and I am so happy for him!

Road Trip

In less than two hours DJ and I will heading to Boston. Dave and Drew aren’t joining us so it will be just the two of us.  Four hours in a car with him alone.  Wonder what we will talk about? He’s never been a sullen teenager and has always been a pretty good conversationalist.

We are off to Lasell College, one of his top choices.  He has already been accepted there. On Saturday, they  are offering an “Accepted Students Day,” where students can see the school in action.  Today we plan to spend the day in Boston once we arrive.  We live only about five hours from there, yet somehow, I don’t think I have ever been there, (perhaps when I was really little, but I don’t remember it.)

I am looking forward to it.  I know DJ is too.  The weather is pretty crummy here in New Jersey today and from what I can see on the weather reports, it looks to be that way all throughout the North East.  We might even have snow.  It might not be the ideal day to walk around Boston but if he makes the decision to go there, we will have plenty of more options to get there in the future!

Sign of Spring!

I finally saw it!  A sign of Spring! These flowers have bloomed in a neighbor’s yard and it finally gave me that glimpse I have been hoping for! Never-mind that less than two feet away from them, is a mound of snow that hasn’t melted yet, or that more snow is predicted for Saturday!

Flowers!!! That’s what I needed to see.

 

Wait….it is only Wednesday?

All day long today I thought it was Thursday.  I am a day ahead of myself.  Do you ever have those days? There isn’t only one day until the weekend, but two. Some weeks seem to be much longer than others!!

I guess it is sort of like a Thursday for me.  Friday, DJ and I are headed to Boston for Lasell Day so I took a day off from work. There is a full day of activities planned at the college on Saturday and since I have never been to Boston before, we decided to spend Friday touring the city.

So, one more work day this week and now, as I write this, it actually almost is Thursday!!

Fortune Cookies

Last week we ate dinner at my grandmother’s house.  We ordered Chinese food. We always eat it family style and have a little bit of everything.  At the end of each meal, there are always fortune cookies.  Personally, I don’t like the taste of them, but I still take one each week so that I can get my fortune.  I love when they actually mean something to me.  My grandma can’t read them herself so we always read her the fortune.

The cookie she chose this time had a fortune that made us laugh, “Read a novel and learn more about life.” Her 100 year old eyes cannot see well enough to read anymore but also, at her age, I think she’s learned a lot more about life than any of us and more than many of us could even find in a book.

We love her stories, we love spending time with her and hearing her stories.  Sometimes they are even better than a novel!

National Puppy Day

I had no idea until I read about it on Facebook, but today is “National Puppy Day.” A day created to raise awareness for adopting a dog from a shelter rather than from a breeder.  I have nothing against breeders.  Growing up, all of our dogs were purebreds and bought from breeders around the country.  Fortunately, from what I remember, these were not dogs that lived in cages but in homes and on farms.  Dogs that came from reputable breeders.

Ever since we adopted Emmy Lou, a shih tzu, from a shelter two years ago, I have seen pet adoption very differently. Emmy Lou was rescued from a puppy mill, she lived in a cage her entire life doing nothing but breeding puppies. THAT is not what a breeder is.  That, is a factory and that needs to stop.

There are thousands of puppy mills in our country. Pet stores that sell puppies are the number one reason that so many puppy mills exist today.  Puppy mills treat their dogs like commodities.  They live in small, crowded cages. We were told that Emmy Lou had never left her cage. She lived there her entire life and since there are no proper records for her, they don’t know how long that was, although they estimated her to be about nine years old when we got her.  No one expected her to walk on a leash or socialize with others.

They were wrong. She has adapted so well to our family.  Within days of getting her, she was walking on a leash and fitting right in with our family.

She wasn’t a puppy, but her story has made me so much more aware of pet adoption and how many pets need homes.  Not just puppies but older dogs too.  You still need to do your research, but if you are looking for a dog, consider rescuing.

We have a welcome mat at our front door that reads, “A shelter dog rescued this family.”  We never even thought we would have a dog and now, I could not imagine our lives without her in it.

We Celebrate it All

St. Patrick’s Day came a few days late this year.  We waited for my aunt and uncle to return from their months long retreat to St. Martin so that we could all celebrate together like always.  My mom’s favorite holiday meal has been passed down to me. It is not a hard meal to prepare, it just takes a long time to make.  My house is too small for twenty-five guests so I cooked it all at my dad’s today and all of us met there this evening to eat.

Twenty pounds of corned beef, ten pounds of potatoes and three huge heads of cabbage.  It took three huge pots and two crock pots to get it all done but it was a success.  Irish Soda and rye breads on the side as well made it perfect.

My brother brought the Italian pastries, in honor of St. Joseph’s Day and our cousin Jason brought a cake that read, “Happy Secretaries Day.”  It has become his tradition to come with a cake celebrating “the wrong holiday” to our holiday celebrations.  Now we all look forward to seeing which one we will celebrate at each meal.  Our next big feast is in two weeks when we celebrate Easter. I wonder what that one will say!  Since it falls during Passover, I assume it will have to be an ice cream cake.  No grains for the Jewish side of the family.

Like I said….”We celebrate it all” in this family.  That’s what makes it so much fun.