Prayer request

I have a request for prayer. It's for me, actually. I went for a six-mile walk yesterday with my "new walking buddy" and today my whole body really hurt and my head was pounding, so if you could lift a sister up--I'd be grateful!!!










BAAAAHAHHAHAHAH!!! Seriously though. I'm in pain! But I'm going again tomorrow.

It was AMAZING!

Hey Jennah, I have a surprise for ya!
I'm taking you to a celebrity party.

I thought you'd enjoy coffee with Rachel Ray. Well, I like coffee anyway.


I know how you love American Idol so I set you and Annabel up to sit on the judge's stand with Simon. Pretty KOOL, huh?



Jennifer Garner just adored you, Jennah. I can understand why.



And then BOOYAY!!! Miley!!! She's as sweet in person as you'd expext. Gotta love her.


I made a few friends myself... I'm so at ease with the rich and famous. Suzie and I were gossiping about some of the other attendees and how horridly they were dressed.



Some suhweet entertainment made everythin' alright!



Oh. I also made friends with Whoopie. She's great. A little distant but cordial.



One of the more interesting individuals Jennah and Annabel became acquainted with... Albert. Wow is he ever CRAZY!!!! So complex. I didn't understand him at all.



And Jessica was a real fun gal!



Oh and Steven Spielburg??? How cool was that?! It's cool to me anyway.



Annabel, you seemed to really connect with Rachel.



And I had to get this shot of Bon Jovi for Melanie. You're right Mel. He is a fine looking man.




In honor of Mitch... it's LUCY!



And this shot was for Just Mom. They are as young looking as they've ever been.


We had a blast at our party at the wax museum.

We also saw one of the best shows going right now!!! An Off-broadway (I think) called In the Heights. It is fantastic!!!! We Loved it. Sadly, I didn't try to take pictures this time. I behaved myself. But even so... we still got yelled at by this old batty usher hag. She was telling us that this "wasn't our living room" and we needed to "get our shoes off the chairs!!" Meanwhile, we never had our shoes on the chairs. What is wrong with people these daze? She needed to try using her handy dandy flashlight before she trusted her vision in the dark! Her demon eyes have obviously become faulty with old-hag age.

Anyway... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNAH! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT BECAUSE IT COST A SMALL FORTUNE.

Comfort in Community

There's just nothing that quite beats community for me. I love having a nice email-banter back and forth between friends when we can't actually get together around the table. I also enjoy the good times that take place after a productive business meeting, when we can let loose with laughter and storytelling, as the kids swim in the pool, leaving us well enough alone. I especially love when those good times are completely spontaneous and go well into the night.... a bottle of wine (or two) is cracked open.... we continue to laugh and roar... and the remainder of the homemade "brhltr coffee cake" is finished off. Ain't nothin' like it in the world.

I've also enjoyed a new community at the beach this summer. I miss my mom's company... always expecting a beach day out of me, MAKING ME GO!!! But I can look forward to her and Pops visit again next summer.

But what happens when your beloved community gets rocked? Has that ever happened to you? It's happened to me like a gazillion times. It's not always been under stressful or negative pretenses. I can remember actually WANTING to move to a new location going into my junior year of high school. Imagine that! But I knew that the community of friends I had at the time were only having a negative influence on my teenage life. Somehow, God got through to my sophomoric mindset and I realized that a new community could bring a better future. And I believe that it did.

There are other times in my life, however, where my community was rocked and it wasn't pretty. There were some really hard times along the way, but I guess those times are useful in building character. After all those hard experiences, I don't know how much character I can claim at this point in my life. I feel like I could use a good swift kick in the pants, but I really don't wish for it to happen by having my community be rocked again. I'm quite happy and comfortable right where I am... I think. Then again, we don't always know what we want.

I can't tell you how many times I've talked myself out of going for a bike ride or swimming laps or going for a walk or heading to the beach... to do what? NOTHING!!! It's so stupid. My life is full. My life is busy. And yet my life is BORING! Sometimes I'm even depressed. What is my purpose? What have I been created for? What great, life-changing, earth-shattering thing am I suppose to be doing? Am I leaving a mark? Am I making a difference in anyone's life? Oh--here's a mark I made on my daughter... I left Elizabeth at the Hampton Classic today until 7:30 pm when the exectutive director ended up bringing her home--MOTHER OF THE YEAR right here people!!!!--it's a long story and I wasn't completely neglectful. It was more of a miscommunication... and an opportunity for her to learn how to step out of her bashfulness and ask someone if she can borrow their cell phone before hours and hours have slipped away and no one is left to ask.

Anywoo... what would you do if you loved your community and it worked well for you, and maybe it worked well for others in your family, but not for every single one? Would you think of how you could send the one or two it's not working for somewhere else to find a better situation, thus seperating the family unit (not to mention costing thousands and thousands of dollars that you don't have) or would you consider taking the whole gang into a new experience which would probably also cost thousands and thousands of dollars, but at least the family could remain in tact? Would you give up the comfort of your community and white picket fence for the sake of an experiment, or would you just stay put and refuse to leave or to send anyone away and simply say, "BUCK UP KIDS!!! This is your lot in life. Like it or lump it!"

Rockin Out with the POLICE!!!

OK. I forgot to tell you about the Police Concert back on August 5th! I guess I was too busy to blog during those few weeks. But let me tell you... they were amazing!!! after all these years. Sting totally rocks the house anyway... and then Stewart Copeland!!!! HOW DOES HE DRUM LIKE THAT??? OMG!!!! Even after they were finishing up their 3rd encore, he still was able to jump up from his drum set and bounce all around stage like a kid??? Is he on drugs??? Holy smokes. (I didn't know he was so tall either--and he still wears shorts).

Now about Andy Summers... I'm a little disappointed he was only lip sync-ing. He must not have a voice anymore. These things do happen with age.

Heather and Ale went up with us. Ale was the reason I even got tickets those 5 or 6 months before hand. It was a spontaneous move and I'm so glad I went ahead and got them. YAY! (We finally made it there Ale--woohoo).

I planned on giving the tickets to Terry for his birthday on July 5th, but totally forgot that whole b-day idea. The tickets ended up being basically for a fun night out! For no special reason at all. Just that we wanted to.
At the last minute Nicki and Tommy were able to find tickets through stub hub. Theirs were a bit more pricey, but they got the orchestra section and VIP! YAH!!! WHAT--EVER, NICKI!!!!
There they go. Off to their effin VIP tent where they spent lots of money on booze and good food, while we saved ours because no booze were allowed in the theater and the tee shirt lines were too long!Finally, I will say that I didn't have the best time. That's right. DID NOT! Elvis Costello really sucked. He did. but that's wasn't a big deal. It was too bad the B-52s weren't opening the night we went. But our seats weren't that great. When I sat comfortably in my seat the rail of the balcony was right in my view. So when the Police came out I happily stood up as did every other person... in section below mine, and we were all rocking the house; just me--in my SECTION--and everyone below my section and all along the floor. And halfway into the second song the freaking lady behind me tapped my shoulder. At first I though it was Terry, but then I discovered it was from behind. She asked me if I would sit down because I was blocking her view!!!!
Yah! I looked at her with my jaw dropped to the floor for a good 20 seconds. And then I freaking sat down because none of the other losers in the whole balcony were standing.

I should have gone down to the section below where some of the seats were empty. I would have had a blast. Oh well. Next time I'm going to live a little!!!
Do you notice which pictures are missing??? I was bummed even before Elvis Costello. When we were entering the NIKON theater at Jones Beach (NIKON mind you) they wouldn't allow me to bring MY NIKON in because it has a removable lens. What did they think, there could be a bomb in it or something. I was very sad. But it was kind of cool walking through the parking lot--back to my car to leave my camera behind--seeing all the different groups sitting around their cars with beach chairs and listening to various Police songs. That was fun to experience.

I wish I were truly KOOL. Maybe I would have known to hang in the parking lot for a while with our own packed cooler filled with refreshments... and I would have known how to smuggle my camera in for some great pictures... and I would have had the where with all to b**** slap the lady sitting behind me who was asking me to sit down, and then I would have happily made my way to the floor so I could dance with the others for the whole concert... the way Nicki and Tommy did. Ok the way Nicki did and they way Ale and Heather did( because they moved before the first song was even over).

Oh well.

Sleep-over birthday parties... agh!

Anika turned 14 yesterday! She's so excited for herself! hahaha.

So, she had a few friends over and I took them into town for dinner. We walked around Sag Harbor afterwards. They discovered a small coffee bean fire outside of Java Nation (one of the coffee shops). I think that they roast their coffee beans on site (which actually smells horrible) but possibly something went wrong this time. The workers placed this smoking vacuum-like machine that happened to have beans in it right outside the door of their store. It was smoking like crazy. The girls were worried! I told them not to... because the fire department was directly across the street and the fire fighters were all there, outside their garage selling hot dogs. Everything would be ok.

We came home and Anika opened her present just like a little kid. She's so funny. She's on this Jonas Brothers kick with a couple of her friends. It all happened around the same time that The Ross School (A hoity toity private school here in the Hamptons) had the JBs in for a benefit concert and sold tickets for $1500 dollars. YAH! That's for ONE ticket. When "some" of our kids couldn't afford those prices they started looking online for other concert locations. Suddenly $200 tickets seemed very reasonable (BUT NOT TO ME!). My ticket to see the POLICE wasn't even that much--and my seat sucked too (more on that later).

We all made banana splits which totally hyped up at least ONE of th girls. I was SHOCKED!!! She must have an allergy. Sheesh!! Seriously. It was out of control. I didn't know that girls did that. I thought it was just preteen boys and toddlers. HAHAH.

Anyway, Anika tortured half of the attendees by making everyone watch her new Camp Rock DVD extended edition. Next time I say "yes" to a sleep-over party just shoot me then and there.

We finally sent them outside to the tent (which is not far from our bedroom window). YIKES!

I think they did a little skinny dipping around midnight... and then a whole lot of screaming as they thought one of the boys was coming to spy on them. Here's a hint girls: If you are skinny dipping and you think someone is coming, stay IN THE WATER and keep low. Don't jump OUT of the POOL and run around the pool 12 times looking for your towel in the dark.

Truth of the matter is, my boys couldn't care less about what all those stupid girls were doing. They're just too mature for that (blah blah blah). And Luke has the worst case of poison ivy creeping up his legs so he is miserable. But don't tell that to the girls and burst their bubble.
Noah stayed on watch all night outside the tent. He's pretty stressed out!
OK. I didn't take one single picture of the event. Shameful, I know.

Jennah's birthday is next week. It won't be a sleepover. It may be a trip to the city. Woohoo.

I'm BaaaaAAACKKKK!

Hey there good peeps...

My summer has been full of activity, so I was forced to take a break. It was family time!
OK that picture was from the late 70s.

And this is my mom--who's close to 70--kayaking with Jamie who's in her mid-20s.
There they are! Ma and Pop... 50 years ago.

The beauty all begins somewhere. My niece, Amanda, always shines... as does Caleigh.
Here's is one of the sweetest toddler boys--Dylan. Check out his shoes. Check out his lobster. Check out who's feet are going to be pinched by the lobster.
Here's my Pops. He and my mom headed back home after visiting for most of the summer. I'm missing them already.
My nephew Max tried his hand at surfing while he and his family were visiting back in July.
The younger cousins had such a great time together.
Before my parents pulled up anchor, we all went out to eat in Montauk (the East Pole) where the ships passed by as we ate.
Caleigh's teeth are growing in. HAHAHA! I hope they straighten out. Sheesh.
Because BRACES ARE FREAKING EXPENSIVE!!!!
I love this picture of Jennah and her grandma!
I'll post about our Showcase Performance next... but for now this is all I've got. Probably quite boring for most of you.

DRAMA CAMP WITH MITCH

It's been... well... fun?

We're not as good as Mitch, and he lets us know it!

He says its going... well!

The kids have learned not to take him all that seriously! This pisses him off!!!A few of them have even been just a bit... fresh!

The adult class has been... thrilling!

(Just in case you don't "get me" or know Mitch--I'm only playing around! We have been having a fantastic and exhausting but exilerating time. Our performances will take place this coming Friday. What a day that will be!!!).

Send Me Away

Ha ha. I'll take a ride on one of these sucker speed bumps! Oh wait. I think I already have. Yeah, that's right. I'm having some personal issues... So what's new? Life is GREAT! And it totally SUCKS!! all at the same time. I'm reading Shack right now, which helps me to remember that my light and momentary troubles really aren't all that earth shattering.

Anyway, drama camp starts tomorrow and I am totally looking forward to that. Stay tuned for tid bits and photos of our aspiring thespians, young and old. It's going to be a blast.