Bragging!

Yep, I am bragging today! It's only 1pm and what a great day it has been already!

First of all, when I got to the boy's game... mind you, only 15 minutes late... Dane had already hit an in the park HOMERUN! Then, in the 4th inning, his coach put him in to PITCH! He didn't allow any runs and he even struck out 2 batters! They ended up winning 13 to 1! Woohoo!

Then I came home and started on my homework. I heard the mail truck pull up so I went to grab the mail... I got a letter that I was awarded a $600 scholarship from Auburn Dollars for Scholars! WOOHOO! I am VERY excited to receive my first scholarship! I know it's not a ton but it's money I don't have to pay back and I am just tickled pink! :)

I have done all my homework except for the Typography project! The thing is just driving me nuts and I have a total mental block. I am forcing myself to close this post, open Illustrator and get to work! :) Have a great day!

Some random food thoughts

I was talking with one of my professors this week about my disdain for cooking or in any way preparing food and as I retold the story to Scott I realized that in good part I hate cooking because my grandmother taught me to be a fast eater. I know that sounds crazy but hear me through. My grandmother used to tell me she ate quickly because she worked in a shoe factory and when the 12 o'clock whistle blew (which is still does in Derry each day) she had 30 mins to walk home, eat lunch and walk back. I would always keep pace with her as we ate and she told me stories about what it was like to grow up with 8 siblings and how it was to raise my Mom. So now, it is clear that I dont like to cook because I hate taking longer to MAKE food than to eat it!

So, this does leave me with a few unanswered questions... was there no lunch room at the shoe factory? Why waste all that time walking? Furthermore, was it up hill both ways? And was it snowing (even in the summer)?

That, folks, is what's on my mind today!

Clothes make the man!

I have been so busy blogging about real life lately I have forgotten how to post about nothing and everything all at once. So, today, I bring you a Random Quote For Today! The catch is, you never know what day they will appear so dont mark this event on your calendar or anything!

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. Mark Twain

I am also happy to report that Scott went to work yesterday and DID NOT GET FIRED! Woohoo! I had been really stressing about that since he got fired the day after Memorial Day TWO YEARS IN A ROW! Maybe we have finally broken the run of bad luck we have been having! :)

Dane's band concert was tonight and he did a great job! It's kind of hard to hide when you play the trumpet.

I am considering heading to Boston for this In Design CS3 training course. Anyone up for a road trip?

Catchin' Up

I had an absolute BLAST Saturday night! ;) Jen, Tammy, Dave & I went to the Yee in Manchester for some drinks [Ketel One for me], karaoke [Chumba Wumba, baby!] and dancing [Yes, I danced... scary, isn't it?]! I haven't laughed like that in a long time! Scott even met up with us after work which was great!

Of course, I did pay for my good time on Sunday morning but thankfully Scott was understanding and picked up the kids and hardly complained that we got a late start heading up north. We spent Sunday & Monday opening up his parent's camp. It was weird to be there without them. :( Tina and Brian were up, though, so it was great to get to see them!



That's all for now! I am heading up to bed! Have a great night!

Take Flight

Don't miss out on the May kit from SongbirdAvenue.com! This month's kit goes to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation which is of course close to my heart as my best friend Lesley undergoes treatment for breast cancer! So grab a great kit and support a worthy cause... just a few days left!
Here are a couple layouts I have done using the kit:




Having a lazy Saturday here and I love it! We did a little cleaning this morning and I have been catching up on laundry! I have run into a random child-free Saturday night so I am gonna hang with my girl, Jen, and get silly! ;)

Have a great night!

Scored the Prevacid and other positive things

I am SO thankful for doctor's offices who give samples of prescription medications. Without insurance, Prevacid is $10 per pill. That is simply out of my budget. I could have KISSED the nurse that was able to get samples for me! :)

I survived week 1 of 14 of summer classes! I have quite a bit of reading to do (which I hate because apparently I am more of a hands on learner) and a few assignments to do this weekend. I am definitely happy about 3 of 4 classes but oral communications is a little slow going so far.

I am super excited about Memorial Day weekend! The weather is supposed to be nice and Scott will be off on Sunday and Monday! I am excited to spend some time with him and the kids.

The kids only have a month left to school and the well deserved summer break starts for them! We are all looking forward to that as well! They have lots of projects we are working to wrap up right now! Dylan did an awesome solar system project that followed the same format as my GRPH110 Final was created in. I think he will be looking at an A!

Have a safe & happy Memorial Day weekend! :)

Up with acid reflux

My Prevacid prescription ran out and I haven't had time to beg off samples from the doctor's office, so the acid traveling from my stomach to my throat woke me this morning at 3am. I watched an infomercial and then Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC and then I decided I should just get up. It's 4:30am now. *sigh*

The top news story this morning was Barack Obama telling the GOP to "Lay off my wife" on Good Morning America yesterday. Is he kidding?? As soon as she made a political speech her comments became fair game! And I will state for the record, I have been proud to be an American my entire life!

Headed back to school yesterday for my first 2 classes and both seem like they will keep me quite interested for the semester... the first is on HTML coding and using Dreamweaver CS3 and the other is Typography. Both professors seem extremely knowledgeable and I look forward to picking their brains! :) I have my other two classes today- Digital Imaging with Adobe (Photoshop and Illustrator) and Oral Communications!

Have I mentioned that I already started Christmas shopping? I actually started back in January while I was at Modell's! I made a great find last week on a big ticket item for the kids so I scooped it up and have it well hidden away! It's crazy to be starting this early but with food and gas prices soaring, I need to make sure we have some things under the tree in December and no better way than to plan way ahead! :)

I am so glad to see that the blog freebie template (see previous post) is being so well received! As of 4:53am, there have been 662 downloads! WOW!

Happy Tuesday! :)

A blog freebie!

It's been so long since I have had a freebie so I decided this rainy afternoon was the perfect time to create and share! :) If you use the template, please post a link for me in the comments! I would love to see how you use it! :)

The link will only be up for a week so grab it fast!
Link to download: http://www.4shared.com/file/48082314/60160aa3/rgiallongo-blogfreebie.html

ETA: Here is my take on the sketch:


Nicole's prom went off without a hitch... she had a great time and looked FABULOUS! Here is the first of what I am sure will be many layouts showcasing this special night for her!


The boys won their game against Candia Saturday and were rewarded with ice cream for a job well done (as well as an in-the-park-homerun from the previous game). Dylan got 2 hits and Dane got one so it was a good day overall!

From there, we headed to Sherri's to celebrate Brady's second birthday! We were nearly 3 hours late because of the game, but luckily Sherri didn't mind us hanging out after everyone left. It was great for the boys to get some energy out playing whiffle ball and for Sherri & I to gab.

I received my grades yesterday... I am proud to say I received 4 A's and am on the President's List for the Spring semester! Summer classes start tomorrow & I can hardly wait!

That's all the news fit to print for today! Happy scrapping! :)

Winner right here!

I forgot to mention that on Sunday at Canobie, each Mom got a ticket for a bunch of door prizes. From the second we walked in I was adamant that we needed to find the entry box. As I filled out the ticket, I folded the corner for luck. On Monday as Scott & I were driving to pick up Steve, I mentioned the contest and said I hoped I didn't miss the winning call. Well, low and behold, when we got back I checked the caller ID and Canobie Lake Park had called! While I was hoping for a Simon Mall gift card, I was pretty happy to find out that I won 2 free rounds of golf and 2 comedy passes to the Amherst Country Club! Scott Steve are going to golf sometime this summer and I think it will be great for Scott to have a break from real life- you know... work, house stuff, parenting, husbanding, LOL....

Megan has LAX practice today and then we are heading over to Kohl's. They are having a great summer sale, plus I have a coupon for an extra 30% off. She is in desperate need of shorts. I can't believe how much the kids have grown this year! Last weekend we did the big routine of dragging all of their clothing downstairs to go through it all. I made them try on each and ever item if they hadn't worn it in the last week! Other than the fact Megan was hormonal and yelled at me for hours on end, it was our typical humorous event! At one point, Dane looked at the enormous pile of socks with holes and exclaimed "I wish there was a machine that could turn all of these into a sweater!"! My laughter turned into an enormous coughing/wheezing fit because I have been SO sick for almost 2 weeks now (thanks, Scott!).

We are gearing up for another busy weekend! Nicole's senior prom is tomorrow night, so we will be following her around taking hundreds of pictures until she yells STOP! Saturday the boys have another baseball game and its also Brady's 2nd birthday! Where does the time go? And why does it seem like I am always asking that?

Us vs. The Lawn

The battle has begun again. Each Spring we begin the battle to grow grass here in an area known as Sandy Acres. Each year we seed, water, weed, kill grubs and each year the lawn turns brown and dies off anyway. Scott seeded last week and we saw the first few sprouts of green grass yesterday so he requested that I water the lawn today. I wasn't thrilled to say yes, but hey- I live here, too, right? I just finished and I have to say I hated it even more than I expected. Standing out there with the sun beating down on me, all I could think of was my Dad and all the hard work he put into the yard each year. He was very skilled when it came to landscaping. He never made any changes without long and serious thought. He studied lawns at all times as he drove to and from work each day. He carefully researched different shrubs, plants and flowers on the internet before making an selections at the nursery. As I stood out there, I realized I had yet one more reason to miss him.

On top of that, I could also hear the tank clunky in the basement as the water came in from the well. I know something must be wrong and I imagine its such a costly item that I can't bring myself to think about it. The plumbing pump (otherwise known as the POOP SHOOT in our household) in the basement has also been sounding it's alarm this week so it looks like we will need to call a plumber to have it checked. That certainly can't be good news either. :(

I can't believe it's already Wednesday of my break! I can't say I have at all been productive or even that I have enjoyed my break! Hopefully I can change that in the next few days! Hope your day is great! :)

Childhood Crush

This week on the Sweet Shoppe blog, they asked about childhood celebrity crushes. I didn't even need to see the picture they shared of Kirk Cameron to know he would be the guy I would post here! I remember thinking he was cute but when I ever read in Tiger Beat that his birthday was the same as mine, I knew we were a match made in heaven! LOL

We had a great time at Canobie on Mother's Day! It was a perfect day to get outside and get some fresh air!

I am on break this week so I have been doing a little scrapping! Check out my gallery to see what we have been up to! :)

Happy Mother's Day

The girls and I had a rare opportunity to hang out together last night. We went and had pedicures and then grabbed some pizza and came back and watched 13. I can't imagine a more perfect Mother's Day Eve than spending it with the girls, especially with Nicole so close to graduation.

Today we are headed out to Canobie Lake Park which is a tradition we have enjoyed for several years. Sadly, Scott is working but the kids and I will have fun anyway, I am sure!

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends! xo

Updates

Just a quick update... Scott's Dad pulled through surgery and is recovering now. Please continue praying for him as I know he will need the support to heal.

Also, I have to brag on my boys a little bit. They had a game in Deerfield and Dylan was the first to get a RBI. Then.... out of nowhere, a pop fly.... Dane catches it for out #1, runs it to third and tags the base for out #2 and then tags the runner for out #3! He made a TRIPLE PLAY single-handedly! Woohoo! Lovin' those boys! Too bad they lost the game..... oh well, maybe next time! :)

Just one more final until the semester is done! I turned both projects in yesterday so I am in great shape! I also picked up my schedule and got my books for the summer semester.... it's gonna rock!!

Say a little prayer...

Please say a prayer for my father-in-law. He was admitted to the hospital with chest pain over the weekend. Yesterday he was moved to ICU and then to a different hospital with a better cardiac center. He will be undergoing a quadruple bypass today! Of course I am concerned for Scott & his Mom, but I am very concerned for the kids. Having just lost their grandfather (my father) to a heart attack in January, this is really hitting too close to home for them.

If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!

Today I grew the courage and went back to the financial aid office and asked for a "higher up". I knew something didn't make sense and I was determined to decrease the deficit of what I owed. I met with a wonderful woman who was able to look closer at my unique situation and with several adjustments and corrections, we were able to close the gap to $40! I AM SO RELIEVED! I truly couldn't thank her enough for helping me work through this. So, once again I am on track as a full time college student! :)

Today I got a call from the orthodontist's office and was told that Victoria's dental insurance is now covering more than expected so instead of payments ending in August, we are done THIS MONTH! I felt like I was playing Monopoly and there was a bank error in my favor, LOL :)

Megan's LAX game was cancelled today... for the 4th time. :( Yesterday I took her down for a game and the other team didn't even show up! I hope they get some play time in soon! She also received a nomination for National Junior Honor Society. She didn't make it last year and may not this year either, but you know what they say- it was an honor just to be nominated! :)

Gotta scoot...... I still have more homework to do! Have a great night!