Four Days Til Takeoff! Twice a year 10 of my scrapping friends and I go away for a long weekend and we scrapbook from morning til night....well, some of us scrap more than others. I've found that I've been scrapbooking less and drinking more....so that's about to change ...I'm going to be doing some power scrapbooking this go round.....I'm pretty prepared this time so we'll see. Anyways we stay at Watson Homestead in Painted Post, NY and stay in this huge house on the hill with 8 bedrooms and a pretty large living room where we set up our scrapbooking supplies and put on some music and sit around in our jammies and create.....lots and lots of creative juices flowing in that room I'll tell ya! And we share pics of our friends and family and we tell stories and laugh and cry and basically enjoy the heck out of each other. Oh, and the food and drinks are pretty fab too! Everyone is assigned food to bring and we each bring our own beverages (which we love to share too) and we share KP duty....it's a pretty fabulous time. We all look so forward to it that we get pretty psyched up about a month beforehand and start emailing and calling and texting and teasing each other about getting prepared. It's a fabulous group of fabulous women sharing our lives with each other. Something that I would never want to lose.....thank you girlie friends for being such a special part of my life. I hope you feel the same (I know it's getting sappy Colleen; I'll end now).

Best Vacation Ever - We had a blast on our cruise & mini vacation in Ft. Lauderdale. Only one hour of rain the entire time and that was after the cruise while we were in Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the Westin Beach Resort and it was really really special. They do something every night where they light up their staircase with candles and use this delicious white tea and aloe aromatherapy in their lobby and bar area....very unique....and their rooms have the most luxurious bedding. I felt like I was sinking into a marshmallow! The ONLY thing we didn't like about the room was that there was no privacy in the bathroom; it had a sliding louvered door and window that went between the bathroom and the main bedroom. It was supposed to be a spa like environment....but there are limits. So anyways, the cruise was fabulous; I got two facials (one for free because of the problems I had with the first one) and the 2nd one was in a room that had windows all around 2 sides overlooking the ocean. OMG! I died! I actually fell asleep because I was so relaxed. The esthetician said that was the biggest compliment she could receive. The weather was very tropical; 90 degrees every day. We took a tour in Key West called "A Taste of Key West" where we visited four different places and sampled the local cuisine including conch chowder, their pink shrimp, hot sauces and of course key lime everything (even key lime wine which was way too sweet for me) including my favorite key lime pie. Delicious. We'd go back to Key West tomorrow if we could! Cozumel....not so much. Although we got some great Christmas presents for the girls there we really got harassed by the locals which was a total turnoff and we even got sucked into a 90 minute sales presentation for a vacation club by El Cid for the promise of an afternoon at their pool, 10 free drinks and a free lunch, plus a free 3 night vacation for 2. We stuck to our guns and turned them down, at which time they got porky and we got angry so we had one drink and left and never looked back. Too bad because their facility was fabulous...their 3 bdrm/3bath condo was unbelievable....we just didn't go on this vacation with an extra $40,000 to drop on a 20 year commitment to a vacation club. Wish we were rich enough to do it.....oh well. We met some great people on the ship, had some decent food (I don't think cruises have the kind of food they used to 20 years ago), lots of tropical drinks and some great quiet time to reconnect with my hubby in our room with a balcony. We'll never take another cruise without a balcony room....it was fabulous! So here are some of my fav pics of the trip for your perusal! enjoy!

This is it! Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas here we come! 3 days and counting; leave Thursday am return the following Wed. night! Whooooo Hoooooo!

God is Great! If you use facebook you'll already know this, but my dad was taken ill last week in Watertown and we were told that he was probably going to die. By the grace of God he is now coming home on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, whether it was all of the prayers sent his way or not we'll never know but the doctor told my mom that he's never seen such a turnaround in anyone. So, if you've been one of our prayers thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

On another hand, we were blessed again with a grandson, Jack Thomas* Nataraj on August 25th. Sarah and Harish live in NYC so we went to meet the newest addition to our family the weekend of the 30th....he's absolutely gorgeous (not too proud am I?) and a great baby. We just wish they didn't live so far away ;-(

I'm attaching a few pics of Jack for your viewing pleasure ;-)

*Jack after Dan's father and Thomas after Sarah's other grandpa Tom Crookes.

Another new chapter in this book of life!

Meghan is now officially a resident of Buffalo, NY. Sounds really strange to say that....and I only broke down once; at a time that I would never have predicted. Letting go as a parent has turned out to be tougher than I could have imagined that is FOR SURE! Here are some pics of her new apt. still in the throws of unpacking, decorating and getting some help from the handyman.

A huge chapter closes....waiting for the next one to begin! Well our little boy is no more....I'm sure that happened a long time ago while I wasn't looking but it became official this past Saturday when he graduated from Livonia HS, Class of 2009. He just beamed as he accepted his diploma and smiled for the camera....all the while his mother and father were dabbing away the tears of joy and pride. I cannot tell you how difficult this journey has been for Danny and for us....but more for Danny. But the past is behind us and now he moves ahead....to MCC majoring in Business Administration to start, then we'll see where he goes from there. Way to go "Budders"; we love you!