In Honor of My Dad's Birthday ...

Today is the 77th anniversary of my father's birth and in honor of that I'm posting this picture.  Now, I suppose you're wondering what on earth a picture of a can of Van Camp's Beenee Weenees has to do with what would have been my father's birthday, aren't you?

In January of 1966, my Dad - who was a career military man in the Air Force and a darned fine aircraft mechanic - was deployed overseas to do his mandatory tour of duty at Da Nang Air Base in the Republic of Vietnam.  I believe that Dad was part of the 61st Tactical Wing at that time and Da Nang was considered to be the world's busiest airport with 1,500 take-offs and landings recorded on peak days.  It was also the target of a lot of bombings and my mother received many a letter that was written in very shaky script as my Dad waited out the bombings in a shelter.

This was back in the days before there was any such thing as web cameras and email so contact was limited to letters that came back to the States via snail mail and maybe - if one was very lucky - a very rare phone call.  If families today think they worry about their military members who are deployed, that's nothing compared to what families went through during the Vietnam War and the wars that preceded it. I've got no doubt that my Mom was probably worried sick pretty much every single day that my Dad was away but being made of the stern Yankee stock combined with a very stiff British upper lip that she inherited from her mother, my Mom very rarely showed any of that fear and worry that she no doubt felt as she waited for each letter to arrive.

Meanwhile, my Dad was no doubt on the other side of the world also looking forward to Daily Mail Call when he'd receive word from home or if he was really lucky, a Care Package that my Mom had lovingly put together containing some of his favorite things from the States that he couldn't possibly get his hands on in Vietnam.  As packages went over via slow boat back in those days, Mom had to be choosy about what she would include so she'd bake some of his favorites that she knew would last the long trip and also include a few other non-perishables like cans of Vienna Sausages and another of Dad's favorites - Beenee Weenees.

I hadn't seen a can of Beenee Weenees in years but on a recent trip to the grocery store, while searching the shelves for something else, I found myself looking directly at the Van Camp's label on the can of one of my Dad's favorite things to receive when he was in Vietnam.  Needless to say I had to buy a can and maybe - just maybe - I'll pop it open and eat the contents today in honor of my Dad and his service to our country all those many years ago.

Happy Birthday, Dad; as you can see, you'll never be forgotten even if it's in ways you never thought twice about!

Happy Birthday to My Baby!

Hard to believe that it was 18 years ago today that I went into Backus Hospital to have a test run to see how things were progressing with my final pregnancy and ended up staying to have a C-section -Jamie was doing things her way right from the start!

Happy birthday to my youngest - who's no longer that young! She's off with a friend and not here to celebrate with us but she's in my heart and my thoughts and I hope she has a kick-ass birthday regardless of where she is, eh?

Happy 18th birthday, Jamie Jessica! I love you!

Happy Day-After-Your-Birthday to Frank!

He may not be a blogger but he's a good guy and I wanted to take the time to wish Frank a very happy birthday even though I'm a day late.  I'm sure this will suitably embarrass him but I'll make up for it with that apple pie at work later today! 

Just in case the apple pie doesn't work I thought maybe I should post a picture of his beautiful bride and wife of less than five months - Dawn. Now go ahead and try to tell me that man is not in love!

Happy day-after-your-birthday, Frank, and best wishes for many more years of happiness with the love of your life!

Happy 17th Birthday to My Baby!

Seventeen years ago today in a hospital less than three blocks from where I live now I gave birth to my youngest child - Jamie Jessica.  I think that for the very first time in those 17 years, Jamie isn't spending her birthday here in Connecticut but that's okay as we'll just wait to celebrate until she moves up sometime next month as long as things go according to plan.

Where the future will take her yet we don't know but she's already got her high school diploma in hand and I'm going to do my best to make sure that she has every opportunity at happiness and a career that she wants to do - not that she just has to do - as Amanda does.

In the meantime, I wish her a very happy birthday and hope that she knows that even though she's not here in person she is here in my heart and always will be.

Happy birthday, kiddo, and we'll get that ice cream cake you always love once you come back up to Connecticut - promise!

Five on Friday - The HapCongratBirthUlations Day Version!

As a rule, June 18th is always a rather important date in my household as it marks not only the occasion of Amanda's birth in 1992 but also my mother's birthday a good number of years earlier!  This year it's made even more special as later this afternoon Amanda will be walking across the football field at Norwich Free Academy to climb the steps to the podium and receive her high school diploma - shake with your right, receive with your left.  Personally I think it's pretty cool to be turning 18 and graduating on the same day though it makes for a rather discombobulated title to this post!

For this week's Five on Friday meme I decided to go with five songs from 1992 and one additional song that Amanda asked that I include that is currently one of her favorites by a group named Ludo. The song inspired one of her more recent art projects:

Amanda tells me that there's a story to the song but I'm not quite sure what it is and I can't ask her as she's out to breakfast with her father right now - a guy she hasn't seen in four-and-a-half years but to his credit gave her one heck of a bear hug when he came by to pick her up a few minutes ago.  It almost brought tears to my eyes, sentimental sap that I am, as even though he and I have had our differences and I am none too thrilled with the fact that he hasn't had anything to do with her since October 2005, he's still her father and I hope that he'll appreciate the person that she's become rather than dwell on the things that he may not "approve of". I'm pretty sure he lost the right to be disapproving long ago but anyhow, enough of that ... today is a very happy day and I'm not going to abide by any negativity! 

I hope you enjoy the rather mixed-bag of music and I also hope that everyone has as nice of a Friday, June the 18th, as I intend to have!

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I'm posting rather late today as it took me quite awhile to stir my stumps out of bed as I felt rather like I was coming down with something all day yesterday. As soon as I got home last night from what seemed like an exceptionally long day at work I popped some Advil Cold & Sinus and went to bed.  Finally around 10:30 or so this morning I felt well enough to get up and finally get going.

I wrapped my new scarf that I got from Sheila around my neck and headed down towards the Groton - New London area as I was in need of a few more pictures for a future post that I've been working on and that I realized I was missing a couple crucial photos for.  Oops!  While I was down there I took advantage of the many clouds in the sky to snap a couple of pictures for Tisha's Looking at the Sky on Friday meme - clouds that were vastly different depending on whether I was facing the Groton side of the Thames River ...


 ... or the New London side of the the Thames River ...


Believe it or not, all I did was take a picture in one direction and then turn around and take a picture in the other direction. Big difference, eh? If you look closely at the second picture you can still make out a little bit of the brilliant blue sky that was hiding behind all of those dark clouds on the New London side of the river. They usually say if you don't like the weather in New England to wait a minute and this is probably a prime example of that!

Speaking of prime, today is the birthday of one of the dearest people I know and whether he thinks it or not, I daresay that he is entering the prime of his life. If you get a moment, please swing by It's a Blog Eat Blog World and wish my friend Morgen a very happy birthday or if you'd rather pop in on his wicked cool birthday party, click on over to The Work of the Poet where Mary the Teach is throwing one heck of a blindig (that's blog + shindig) complete with cake, games, and party favors! It's up to you whether you want to keep your own underwear on or not!

Happy birthday, Mo, and may you have many, many more that just get better and better!

Holiday Pies and A Birthday Cake Remembered

For those of you wondering how the pie-a-thon went yesterday, I managed to not only bake four pies but also a batch of brownies for Amanda being that the pies are off limits!  I baked one pumpkin pie, two traditional apple pies with crumb crusts (I can't make a top crust for love or money I'm afraid!) and, using a recipe that Lois sent me, I made my very first cranberry-apple pie.  Here be the finished products  -

The cranberry-apple will be going to work with me later today, the smaller apple pie will be going to work with me for my 16-hour Thanksgiving Day shift, and then the other two will be going to my Mom's house on Friday when Amanda and I will be getting together with my brothers and their wives as well as my son, his wife, and my grandson for a big Day-After-Thanksgiving dinner.  Who needs to be jostling around at a store with crazed shoppers on Black Friday when you can be eating a nice dinner and enjoying some family time?!?  Not me!

As I was baking all of those pies yesterday, I couldn't help but think about the main thing my mother used to always bake at this time of the year and that was an angel food cake with mocha frosting - my Dad's very favorite cake for his birthday which would have been today.  Were Dad still with us he would have been turning 75 today.

I know I've posted these pictures in the past but - honestly - they're two of my very favorite pictures of my father taken when he was stationed overseas and I was really, really young (if I was even around at all!).  My father joined the Air Force when he was only 17 years old and made a career out of it retiring in 1972 at the not-exactly-ripe-old-age of 37 with a pretty distinguished record to boot.

Dad fought in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War and he received both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal while he was stationed at DaNang Air Force Base where he was an aircraft mechanic on F-4 Phantom fighter planes. The F-4's were a long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber that served as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force in Vietnam and my Dad could fix them like most guys can fix lawn mowers.

Dad was really, really good at what he did and was even asked once to fly with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's air demonstration squadron,  as one of their mechanics but he turned the offer down saying that he didn't want to live out of a suitcase or leave my mother alone with us four kids while he flew all over the countryside and the world to Air Shows and the like for three or four years.  I'm pretty sure, though, that he was honored to be asked and it was pretty good bragging rights to have your Dad asked to fly with the Thunderbirds - especially amongst other "Air Force Brats"!

Even though it was ultimately the exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam that gave my father the cancer that caused his death almost 7 years ago, I honestly don't think that he would have done anything different with his career choice.  It was a career that gave him the chance to see a bit of the world and also to provide for his family even though he sometimes had to leave that family behind while he was deployed overseas.

When Dad was stationed overseas, he obviously missed out on those birthday cakes my Mom would bake for him but whenever he returned that was always one of the first things he'd get - along with a big bowl of rice pudding and meatloaf (he thought my Mom's meatloaf was pretty much better than anything else in the whole world).

Anyhow, I hope there's angel food cake with mocha frosting where my Dad's stationed now and I also hope that he knows that even though he's gone, he hasn't been forgotten.  Happy Birthday, Dad; we miss you.

Two Moments in History

Exactly 146 years ago today President Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  On the afternoon of Thursday, November 19th, 1863, during the American Civil War, just four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln gave what would become his most memorable speech ever -

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate ... we can not consecrate ... we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Is it any wonder that Abraham Lincoln is my very favorite President? I think not!

Speaking of moments in history, today is also the anniversary of the historic birth of Tisha, the blogosphere's favorite CrAzY Working Mom!  Granted, it wasn't exactly 164 years ago or anywhere even close to that but it certainly was historic!  If you've got a moment, pop by and wish her a happy day and terrific year! 

Happy Birthday to Lois!

I'm back to work early this morning so no time for a full post but I couldn't let the day go by without taking the time to wish happy birthday to one of the most fun and nicest ladies I've had the chance to meet in a long time - Lois Grebowski!

Lois and her fantastically funny hubby Hank are back on the road again in their trella and heading home to Nashville for a little while before heading back out again in to Michigan before too long. That woman sure is one travelin' fool but she does it so well while she gets to spread her own brand of sunshine to so many people in so many places. Honestly, our government would do well to make her an official ambassador!

So, Lois - wherever you are and whoever's day you're brightening - may you have a wonderful birthday and a fantastic year. Oh, and I put a little something for you in the mail as you can see from the following video -

Thank You So Much!

I wanted to take a quick moment or two before I went into work this morning to tell everyone who made my birthday yesterday such a wonderful one thank you! Thank you for the wishes via cell text, telephone, Facebook, this blog, radio, email, and in person. Thank you for the lovely cards, the beautiful flowers, and the hugs. Thank you for the homemade apple pie, the cheesecake platter, and the coffee brought to me in dispatch. Thank you for the lunch on Saturday, lunch on Tuesday, and the upcoming one tomorrow. Thank you for caring and for making me feel special - it means a lot! You are all the best and I am so thankful to have you all as a part of my life.

Beautiful Birthday Flowers.

I just received there beautiful blooms at work sent from my dear friend Claire from across the pond. It's hard to tell here in this picture but they are actually a lovely purple color - my very favorite. Thank you, Claire for thinking of me - you are a fantastic friend in spite of being a cheeky Brit!

Happy 16th Birthday, Jamie!

There's nothing like having your youngest child turn 16 to make you feel old ... well, maybe having them turn 30 but I've got a few years to go on that one!

Needless to say I'm feeling pretty old today while Jamie's probably feeling pretty good about having attained that age where you're not quite a kid but not quite an adult. I'd ask her how she's feeling but unfortunately I'm at work for 16 hours so she's spending her birthday at home enjoying the last of her ice cream cake, admiring her new over-the-knee striped socks, drawing in her new sketch book, and probably spending way too much time on the computer! In other words, probably acting very much like a 16-year old!

In an attempt to at least do something semi-special for Jamie's birthday, the girls and I took a road-trip with my friend Amy to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York this past Friday where we got to see some very cool gravestones and take lots and lots of pictures. Matter of fact, we took so many pictures that it's taking me forever to edit them so you'll have to wait a bit longer for a post on our trip!

I did, however, have time to edit some pictures of Jamie to share with you today on this most auspicious occasion of her 16th year of birth. As you can see, she doesn't possess my problem of not being able to not look like a goof as soon as someone points a camera in my direction!

As an example, allow me to present Exhibit A ... Jamie looks good while I look like I'm half asleep or something!

Jamie, on the other hand, manages to look good in spite of the occasional distraction ...

In addition to our trip to Sleepy Hollow, dinner with her grandmother on Saturday, and a few other assorted goodies, Jamie also got a new camera for her birthday; a Casio Exilim S10 that has some very nice features for a small digital camera. These days no teenager is complete without a digital camera that also takes video (just in case he or she happens upon the perfect YouTube moment) and I figured it was about time Jamie got an upgrade from the handed-down-twice-not-working-so-well camera that she possessed. Plus it's red which is one of her favorite colors!

I gave Jamie the camera last week before we went to Massachusetts so she could have it to take pictures while she was visiting with her cousins so she'd had a bit of a chance to practice with it prior to yesterday's trip. Like mother like daughter she took A LOT of pictures at Sleepy Hollow and then on the way home we made a brief stop at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven where she took some more pictures. I wanted to share a couple of them as I think they're rather good - of course, I am also horribly biased what with being her mom and all!

She took this first one using the 'sunset' setting on her camera. I think the pink hues add a nice touch to the evening sky ...

This next one was shot using the regular setting but she also did a great job of capturing the sun reflecting on the water and the clouds above ...

Lastly, this picture was also shot with the camera set to 'sunset' and for once I really don't mind a picture of myself as I'm nicely hidden by shadows!

What do you think? Does this mean I'll be having both Amanda and Jamie fighting over who gets the Nikon once they pry it from my cold, dead fingers?? Oh noes!!

Happy birthday, Jamie; may your 16th year be one of your best ever!

Amanda's Birthday Wrap-Up

If I were Amanda, I'd have to say that I had a pretty darned good 17th birthday even though it took 2 days to do it! After all, she got a Tardis cake (even if it looked like it had accordioned upon crash landing!), a Doctor Who t-shirt complete with David Tennant as the doctor, the DVD series of Doctor Who Seasons 1-4 (though they are coming via slow boat from China and haven't gotten here yet), a Tardis cookie jar which is on pre-order, and a party complete with a whole lot of balloons!

The balloons were a gift from our friend Amy (she of Amy & Jason fame) who really knows how to make a kid happy on her birthday - even though Amanda looks more scared of the balloon than happy in this picture!

As I had failed miserably in the celebration of her 16th birthday last year, I decided that this year I'd do better and invited folks over to the new humble abode for sandwiches, chips, watermelon, and the famed Tardis cake. Guests included my favorite Aunt Eleanor and cousin Amy, my mother and youngest brother John, Amy minus Jason who had a nasty sinus headache, and my son Mike along with his wife Laura and the two grandsons - Christopher and Mathew.

Everyone seemed to have a good time visiting and Amanda even managed to smile quite a bit. I actually left the camera on the dresser and didn't take any pictures (which my mother thought was rather amazing!) but I figured I'd forgo the role of photographer and just enjoy the evening. After all, I've posted more than enough pictures of the famed Tardis cake which - once we peeled off the blue fondant - was quite tasty!

Amanda got some very nice gifts for her birthday including every teen's favorite - cash! - and a very special present which came from Jason & Amy ...


Meet Demise - the newest member of the household! Amanda had been talking about wanting to get a hamster as she didn't seem to have much luck with reptiles (she insists that Evra is my lizard being that I feed him and talk to him) so Amy (who loves all pets!) had asked me if it was okay to get her a hamster and all the trimmings for her birthday. Being the easy-touch that I apparently am, I acquiesced knowing that at least I wasn't going to have to feed a hamster frozen baby mice if Amanda happened to go somewhere.

Earlier in the afternoon before the party, Jason & Amy stopped by loaded down with a cage with accessories, food, bedding, exercise ball, and a fancy bear hamster that had Amanda grinning from ear-to-ear even before she took her out of her box.

The idea originally was to put the cage in Amanda's room where Tardis' habitat used to be but considering she spends more time in the dining room on the computer than in her room it was decided to put it on the shelf next to the computer so Amanda would be able to watch her more often.

Various names were tried out and discarded before I suggested "Demise" based on one of Amanda's favorite Creature Feature songs. She ran it past her friends online who all agreed it was a great name and so it became that Miss Delirium met her Demise! Of course, I'm beginning to think she should have named her "Sheezsokewt" as I think Amanda must have said that a good 30 times shortly after Demise arrived!

Like I said, were I Amanda I'd have to say I had a pretty darned good 17th birthday and I'm thinking that maybe I've managed to redeem myself from last year's epic fail!

Happy Birthday, Miss Delirium!

As hard as it is for me to believe, it was 17 years ago today somewhere around 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time in Long Beach, California that I gave birth to my first daughter -Amanda Elizabeth. Her middle name is in tribute to my mother who also claims today as her birthday - albeit quite a few years earlier than Amanda! Happy birthday, Mom!

Those of you who have been regular readers of my blog are probably quite familiar with the variations in the color of Amanda's hair but when she first came home from the hospital she had a beautiful head of soft brown hair that even back then refused to be tamed! I guess I should have taken it as a sign of things to come but alas, who knew that in my arms I was holding a future wanna-be zombie?!?

In looking back over the pictures in the collage below (which you can click to make bigger), it's easy to see how much Amanda has changed over the years - from a blonde-haired little girl to a multi-color-haired teenager as well as a few stops in between.


No doubt Amanda will do some more changing between now and her 18th birthday next year - which also happens to fall on the scheduled day for graduation of the Norwich Free Academy Class of 2010 and the day when she will walk across the stage, receive her diploma, and step into the confusing world of life after high school. She thinks that graduating on her 18th birthday is going to stink though I think it's pretty cool ... but then again, what do I know? I actually liked high school!

For today, though, we're going to celebrate her 17th birthday with preparations for a small party tomorrow evening with family, friends, and a Tardis-shaped birthday cake. For those of you who aren't exactly sure what that is, come on back tomorrow when I hope to have a post on the creation of this epic cake ... or epic fail depending on how well I do! The things we do for our kids on their birthdays ... !

Until then, if you'd like to pop by Amanda's blog (where she doesn't post anywhere near as often as I think she should!) and leave her a birthday wish or two on the post I broke into her blog and left then click on over to Artcetera and feel free to tell her that I said she needs to update her blog! Nothing says happy birthday quite like nagging from blog friends!

Happy birthday, Amanda, and I hope one of your wishes is that I don't screw up your cake!

Here's Looking at You, Kids ...

Sixty-five years ago today there were several significant events taking place in Southern California ...

"Casablanca", starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, won the Oscar for "Best Picture" at the 16th Annual Academy Awards. The movie also took home the prize for Best Director (Michael Curtiz) and Best Screenplay. Even though Humphrey Bogart was nominated as Best Actor for his portrayal of Rick - a cynical but good-hearted American who runs a café in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II, the award went to Paul Lukas for his role in "Watch on the Rhine" (a movie I've got to say I've never heard of!). Bogart eventually went on to win an Oscar for his role "The African Queen" playing opposite the legendary Katherine Hepburn but it took until the 20th of March 1952 for that to happen.

By that time, the other significant event to happen in Southern California on March 2nd, 1944 had already turned eight years old and was probably soaking up knowledge, good books, and imaginative radio shows like a proverbial sponge - all things that would eventually lead to her 40-year career as a writer/editor. With a self-proclaimed "insatiable curiosity combined with a love of travel, a voracious appetite for books, and a compulsion to pursue historical trivia", she's also the writer of one of the best blogs (in my own humble opinion) out there!

Please join me in wishing a very happy birthday or - as the Scottish say it - Co`latha breith sona dhuibh! to Jamie of Duward Discussion as she celebrates the 65th anniversary of her date of birth.

Jamie, may your Haggis plate always be empty and your whiskey glass always be full! You're truly a classic and will only get better with time!


Speaking of classics, in Texas there are another couple of ladies celebrating their birthdays today, too. Mighty Mom of My Wonderful Life and her darling daughter, Sugars, are 34 and 2 respectively sharing their March 2nd birthday. Rumor has it the girls like pink so in their honor I present to them a pink birthday cake and many happy returns of the day!

Happy birthday to Jamie, Sarah, and Sugars - may you all have a year filled with blessings and happiness!

Birthday Pie For My Favorite Guy!

It's pretty much been shouted from every blooftop (that's blog + roof for those not familiar with blog speak) that today is the birthday of one of the Blogosphere's nicest guys but considering that I have had the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time in real life with the gentleman in question and I consider him to be one of my dearest friends, I would be horribly remiss not to join in wishing Morgen (aka Not the Mama) a very happy 42nd birthday!

There are just not the words to explain to you what a truly phenomenal guy Mo is because if you think he's virtually fantastic, you really need to meet him in the flesh. He's funny, he's warm, he's intelligent, he's caring, .... there just aren't enough adjectives to describe what type of person he is but I can tell you that I am beyond proud and honored to be called his friend.

Now, Mo is more of a pie guy than he is cake and even though pecan pie is his very favorite, I thought I'd serve up a nice apple custard pie. Unfortunately, I'm out of vanilla ice cream so you're just going to have to settle for it plain but I think you'll find it quite tasty nonetheless. So grab a slice, tune up your vocal chords, and then go over to It's a Blog Eat Blog World and sing a chorus of Happy Birthday to my good friend, Mo.

Mo - I wish you nothing but happiness on this birthday and the many more to come. I know that life has been pretty confusing and messed up lately, especially when you're trying to make some very hard decisions but if 42 is truly the answer to the Ultimate Question then you have nowhere to go but up and I have no doubt that the universe is going to start lining itself up properly for you very soon. If it doesn't, I'm just going to have to start taking names and kicking some cosmic behind.

Happy Birthday, my friend - I love you!

Happy Birthday to Princess Patti!

Oh my gosh ... I can't believe that I almost missed posting about the birthday of a member of Connecticut's Blogging Royalty! My bad ... my very, very bad!

Today is the birthday of not only Princess Patricia of Ansonia in the Valley (so dubbed by Mimi, Queen of Memes with a little extra thrown in there by myself for good measure!) but also her daughter, the beautiful Lady Allegra! Two royal birthdays for the price of one which means double cake for everyone! And that should make Empress Bee of the High Sea happy!

I first had the extreme pleasure of meeting Patti last March when we humble bloggers here in Connecticut were invited to dine with then visiting royalty from North Carolina. Queen Mimi, Princess Patti, and myself descended upon Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Glastonbury and I doubt that the place will ever be the same again! We had quite A Royal Time of It as you can read in my post of the event. There was much giggling, hiding behind shubbery, and shenanigans during the course of the evening and if given the chance, I would love to do it again. Though I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let us back into Bertucci's in spite of the fact that "it's okay, we're bloggers!"

I had another chance to meet up with Princess Patti again in August when she and her entourage traveled from Ansonia in the Valley to Waterford by the uh ... Water! This time Princess Patti was accompanied by her beloved Prince Ralph, another member of Connecticut's Blogging Royalty, and their lovely daughter, the beautiful Lady A, as we met at a local Olive Garden. Hmm, what is it with us and Italian restaurants?!?

Again a fine time was had by all while Dining With Royalty though we had to break out the "it's okay, we're bloggers!" excuse once again! Gee, I wonder if that had anything to do with them putting us in the corner? Nah ... couldn't be!

Hopefully Princess Patti, Prince Ralph, and myself (the Duchess of Norwich Upon the Thames!) shall have the chance to get together again soon as I have thoroughly enjoyed becoming friends with Patti and Ralph both. They don't live too far away from me but with my crazy schedule and theirs ... well ... life seems to keep getting in the way somehow! We'll have to do something to amend that soon and then perhaps we can share some real birthday cake (belated or not it's still cake!).

In the meantime, I guess this virtual one will have to do!

Happy Birthday to Patti and Allegra! May you both have many more years of health, happiness, and hi-jinks!

A Birthday Wish and An Apology

This being Claire's birthday, in an effort to provide her with one of her very favorite things on this grand occasion of her birth, rather than post a cyber-cake for Claire I have posted a cyber-Guinness as I know for a fact it's definitely one of her favorite things! As a matter of fact, were she on this side of the pond I'm sure we'd be lifting a few of these in her honor over at The Harp & Dragon! Alas, though, she returned to England a few weeks back and has since then been swamped with school work, life in general, and another bad turn for her Mum who is in and out of hospital constantly. Right now, she's back in hospital and Claire is spending a good part of her birthday visiting her there.

If you have a chance, pop on over to A Little Piece of Me and wish Claire a happy birthday and while you're at it go ahead and yell at her that I have an absolutely great picture of her that I would have loved to share with you but because she has a horrible aversion to having her picture taken and posted I made her a promise not to post it. Which is too bad because it really is a lovely picture!

While I'm at it, I also wanted to issue forth an apology for not having been able to visit your blogs in the past few days and let you know that I probably won't be able to get around to them until tomorrow evening - if I'm lucky! Since coming back from Salem, my work schedule has been horrendous and I'm only home right now until I take Darci down to the train station and then it's back to work for me until 11:00 tonight followed by an early morning back in dispatch tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. I don't get a day off again until Thursday but will do my best to fit some blog reading in tomorrow and Tuesday evening in between trying to sort through those pictures from Salem! I really wish our IT guy would let us read blogs at work but alas ... no such luck.

Just know I haven't forgotten all of you!

A Fantastic Evening with Fantastic Friends

First off, I want to thank everyone who stopped by yesterday and left me birthday wishes - I appreciate and love every single one of them. What more could a blogger want for her birthday then to have lots of lovely comments left wishing me a happy day? And for those of you who also wrote posts, another big thank you - you guys are all the best.

Speaking of the best I had the absolute best time ever last night at the Harp & Dragon where I had the chance to celebrate the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday with two of my bestest blogging buddies and some of the wonderful people I've met at work.

Now even though you've all been hoping for one, unfortunately the only picture you're going to see of Claire in this post is the one of her arm in the background of this picture of my first drink which was a Dragon's Bite (a Smithwick's and Cider which is actually quite tasty!). Claire is no big fan of cameras being pointed in her direction and even though I know you're all anxious to see pictures of her, I have to respect her wishes and you're all just going to have to learn to be disappointed.

I, on the hand, apparently seem to have no such compunction when it comes to being photographed as you can see by this picture of myself and Andrew, one of my friends who came out to help celebrate the evening with myself, Claire, and Mags who came bearing cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting - yummy! I think it's probably pretty obvious that I think the world of Andrew who has been one of my best friends at American since I started working there over five years ago. A nicer guy you will never find - truly!

In addition to Andrew, I was surrounded by several other handsome men and and I can think of no better way to usher in my 50th year of birth than with a bunch of really good looking guys who had me smiling and laughing all evening long as well as two wonderful blogging buddies who have become real life friends for life.

Joining us was Erik who used to be one of my dispatch partners at American before he moved up to Quinebaug Valley Dispatch which is closer to his home and a lot less stressful - most of the time! I still get to talk to Erik in a professional capacity from time to time when he calls looking for a paramedic intercept but it was great to see him in person again. Erik even has a blog of his own called The Fire Insider so feel free to head over and tell him 'hello'!

Along with Andrew was the extremely adorable JM whom you've all had the pleasure of seeing here before in other posts looking just as drool-worthy as ever (and yes, I said "drool-worthy"!) Next to him is Dennis, another friend you've seen here on my blog from time to time who is a fantastic paramedic, a talented photographer, and a cutie, too.

Last but not least is my favorite picture of the night of myself and the beautiful Ms. Maggie Moo who I still think has the best smile in the entirety of New England! What an honor and treat to have her come all the way down from Boston to help celebrate my birthday! This is the second year in a row that she's been part of my birthday as last year she brought a delicious Red Velvet cake to me at work but she was living a lot closer in the same State at the time. To come all the way from Boston definitely makes me feel special and I can't thank her enough for being there last night. She's the best!

In addition to the fantastic people above, Seth, Kyle, Stephanie, and Sarah also came round to join in the evening but unfortunately I don't have pictures of them. Despite the fact that I don't drink 'nearly enough' according to Claire (two is my max) it was a fun evening and truly THE best birthday I've had in a very, very, very long time! If all birthdays were as good as this one was then I'm pretty sure people wouldn't mind having them at all! I know I sure wouldn't!

Turning the Big Five-Ut-Oh!

My Mom once told me that when I was a baby she used to dress me up in cute little dresses and such and people used to think I looked just like a little China doll I was so cute; then continued on to say she wondered what happened! I guess that explains where I got my sense of humor, doesn't it?

Looking back - way back - I'd have to say that I was a cute little kid though I really could've used a little extra hair to go with that ruffly little dress with the big bow in the back. I'm not sure what color it was but I'm going to guess it was pink and I bet I had cute little shoes to match. Not too sound too immodest, I'd have to say that at that time of my life I was a real babe!

Flash forward 49 years later and there have been some obvious major changes - I now have a full head of hair, I no longer wear ruffly dresses with big bows and matching shoes, and I'm not even close to being a babe. But ... that said ... it's been a pretty good journey from the time of that first picture to the time of this second one.

Perhaps my life hasn't taken the path I would have liked it to; I mean, come on, who says they want to have two divorces behind them by the time they turn 50, be a single parent, and barely scrape by financially?? Overall , though, I'd have to say that it hasn't been a bad life.

Would I make any changes? You betcha! Would I change my life for that of someone else? Hell no! It hasn't been a perfect life but it's been mine and during the course of the last 50 years I've met some fantastic people and made some fantastic memories. Unfortunately, I can't remember all of those fantastic memories as I have seem to have early onset Alzheimer's setting in (or so it seems) but I know the good has definitely outweighed the bad,

So - the question begs to be asked ... what are my next 50 years going to be like? Good? Bad? Mediocre? As I march boldly into the future with my AARP card clutched tightly in my hand, I honestly have to say I don't know!

What I do know, though, is that for today it's gonna be good as it's lunch with my good friend Rhonda and blogging pal Claire who has popped over from across the pond to spend this most auspicious occasion with me (and who is even more smashing in person than on her blog!); then later in the evening Claire and I are off to the Harp & Dragon, the closest thing we have to a pub here in Norwich, for a pint or two and to meet up with the marvelous Mags from Boston and some more friends to help make the day even better! Sounds like a good way to start off the half-century mark to me!

In the meantime, though, what's a birthday without cake?? Help yourself to a big ole' cyber piece and mingle amongst yourselves while I go out and seize the day - with both hands!

Thank you for stopping by and helping make my 50th birthday a special one!

Oh, and just for the record ... no ... we aren't "there yet!"