Zoo

My niece Camille

Camille's tongue after eating Dipping Dots.

Elephants taking a drink.

The rhino finally came out of hiding.

Penguins

Lion

My favorite animal, the giraffe.

I like how the bear is spitting out water.

Elephant and her baby

Zuri , the baby elephant

I have not been to the zoo in years and this summer I went not only once but twice. Once with my cousin JJ and her family and then again a week later with my mom and Camille. Both times I had a great time. Mainly for the family time but also because the zoo has had a lot of babies recently. They have two baby elephants, a baby tiger cub, a baby orangutan, and a baby penguin. The baby elephants were so cute. They were so young, they were learning how to eat and take a drink of water. The eating was comical because she just couldn't seem to get the food from her trunk to her mouth. Then when it was time to go inside, she had trouble getting up an embankment. She tried with all of her might. Then her mom came over and took her trunk and gave her the little nudge she needed. It was oh so cute.

Pictures from Vermont

Lake Champlain at Sunset

Lake Champlain

Pictures from Mexico

A town we met Sergio for the day.

Chandeliar at the basilica

I love this picture. Here is my mother-in-law Ana all calm and there is Sergio Jr. climbing the fountain.
The Town we met Sergio for the day

Sebastian

Ana, Sergio and Jaime

Sergio Jr.

The Beggar Man

'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink'...Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?...'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Matthew 25:35, 37, 40

I have been meaning to write this particular blog since coming home from Mexico. In Mexico, there are many that beg on the street. Everytime I encounter a beggar, I always think of this passage from Matthew. I wrestle with giving money or not. I think that they may use it for alcohol, drugs, etc. I think will they really use it for food. Then I think, turning my back on the beggar is like turning my back on God. Sometimes I give and but most times I don't and when I don't I always whisper "Sorry God", hoping the next person is more compassionate than I am. Well, one evening we were in Acapulco enjoying our ice cream watching the street performer. A beggar man walks up to us. It was as if the whole world stopped and was motionless as this man asked if we could spare some change so he could eat today. In that moment, we could look into his eyes and see the desperation. There was no sparkle, no light, no happiness in this man. Ana, my mother-in-law, almost always gives. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a peso. I was so moved by this man I pulled out money. My husband and my father-in-law who are jaded urban people never give went into their pockets and pulled out money. The man voice no stronger than a whisper said thank you. Then he said "Can you help me write a sign?" My heart broke. Mexico has a very high literacy rate, about 90-95% of the people can read and write. So we wrote a sign for him, taking a great deal of care about how it should be written. It had a tremendous impact on me. I have always tried to treat people with dignity. You might not want to give to the beggar on the street but they deserve to be treated nicely. Even if I don't give I try to make eye contact and give them a smile to let them someone thinks of they are part of this world and not invisible. If you don't give or if you do please say a prayer for them.

Summer Continued

Okay - more hecticness. Sorry I haven't been able to blog as much lately. Summer has been mighty busy. So anyway where was I. Oh yeah. We go back from my sister's and had a few days before something else took me away. My Great Uncle Herbie passed away. He had been in a nursing home for along time. He wish was that he just be buried no eulogy no viewing. He was an intensely private man who didn't want attention coming his way. I suppose even in his death but just before he pasted he decided it would be alright if the hospice minister would say a few words. It was the most moving eulogy. The minister seemed to capture exactly who he was. For a man, who didn't want fanfare, he received a beautiful eulogy. Now the hard part for my grandma because she visited him nearly everyday since he went to the nursing home. She needs something to occupy herself. It has been especially hard month for her. Losing her son and then her brother in only a matter of weeks of each other. As much as I would love to live to be 100, I think it would be hard to keep losing loved ones and outliving friends. Luckily in a few days, we are going to celebrate her 95th birthday. The Forringer family is getting together on the 9th for picnic and games. I can't wait to see my cousins. It should be a good time. After the funeral I spent a few days with my parents. My mom and I went shopping and got pedicures &manicures. It was so much fun. We always have fun shopping together. The last day, I went with her to lunch with her friends from the old neighborhood(really my neighborhood). Almost everyone has moved away, either downsizing or moving in with their daughter. It was great to see them because they are all like second moms to me. The next week, brought more sadness. One of my dear friends, Lois, her husband passed away. He had cancer. She retire early when she found out she had cancer. They had one year together. Luckily they were able to do a little traveling. She loves to take cruises. Her daughter is expecting her first baby. So Lois has that to look forward to. She was a librarian/gifted ed. teacher like me. She and I had a good time together. After meetings we would call each other and say " Can you believe that?" or call each other about things were going on and ask each other advice. I really missed having that last year but we went out for lunch a couple of times. So other than that I have golfed a couple of times, went to flea markets with Jimmy (I was able to get about 100 books for the library.), weeded my garden, read a few books, and most of all tried to relax. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo with my cousin JJ and her family. Can't wait. Hopefully I can get to the movies on of these days.
Got to run again. Have to clean the kitchen and the bathroom.

Summer

Whoa! Summer is flying by. I have been busy from start to finish. We started with two weeks in Mexico. I had not been there for four years. I really missed it. It was a whirlwind of visiting family, seeing friends, quick trip to Acapulco, and eating all the things I love from Mexico, namely chicken in Acapulco, coconut ice cream, drink Yoli, and eat Girabaldi sweet rolls(the bakeries in Mexico are thanks in part from when France occcupied Mexico for a few years. The one benefit was they learned to make pastries. The Girabaldi is a cupcake looking thing with a lemony glaze over top and then covered with those little non-pareil white dot things - delicious.) In the evening, mainly because it is not safe to go out after dark, we played with the small pool table we took down. We had so much fun. Everyone was amazed at how well Ana was at it. Now Ana and Jaime have nightly competitions. During the visit, I learned that my Uncle John passed away. I was very saddened by the news because he was a wonderful person. I had hoped to make at least the burial ceremony in Clarion. The funeral was in New York and then he was buried in Clarion. Unfornately, United decided that otherwise when we didn't arrive home until 5:00 in the morning when we should have been home at 11:00 the night before. Delay upon delay- oh the joys of flight travel. Needless to say at that point I was almost incoherent. I heard words coming out of my mouth but they didn't make any sense to what I thought I was going to say. So we went straight to bed and didn't wake up until sometime in the afternoon. We had a nice fourth of July or should I say fifth because that is when we celebrated with my parents, grandma, and Uncle Paul. Four days later we were off again for our trip to Montreal, Vermont, and New Jersey/New York City. We spent a three days in each place. We had a grand time with Luis and Claudia. We went to a museum, Old Montreal and sat around drink coffee and chatting up a storm. Then from there we went to Vermont. Jimmy and I both love Vermont. The people are so friendly. It seems as if no one is any rush and even if they are working they don't think twice about having a ten to fifteen minute conversation with a perfect stranger. You leave feeling like you just made a friend. Unlike here where they won't be able to pick you out of a line up five minutes later. Anyway, we picked up all kinds of pamplets and brochures deciding what to do. I saw a Tea place and was intrigued. So Saturday we hopped in the car and drove the back ways to Waterbury. We found the place. The man that owned the store couldn't have been nicer. We chatted about Pittsburgh( he had been there on business before he opened the Tea store) He knew Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Homestead. He had grown up in Gary, IN and told us the horror of when the steel mills had shut down there. We asked him if there was anything he would could recommend seeing. So he mapped out a beautiful drive that had covered bridges, waterfalls, streams, stops for walking in the woods, Wildfloor gardens, and had we timed it a little better we could have gone to American Flatbread's original location. Everyone we talked to recommended American Flatbread. Sunday, we took another drive, not quite as impressive but very lovely. We capped off the day with dinner at a French bistro. It was wonderful and I can proudly say I have eated snails. After Vermont, we went to New Jersey to visit my sister and her family. The other reason was to celebrate my sister and I's fifth anniversary of the transplant. The transplant is one of those things that you can never show enough gratitude for such a selfless gift. I am happy to be doing so well but also try to eat well to take care of this priceless gift I was given. We went into New York City to the MOMA(incredible -loved seeing so many famous paintings and tasting the vanilla gelato that my niece got -highly recommend it.) We had dinner at a Belgian restaurant as our celebration. Mussels is the special dish. Although I like mussels I wasn't interested in the all you can eat so I got Hangar steak instead. It was delicious. I have more to say about my summer but I think that you will have to wait for the next installment because I have go do some errands.

Mexico

School is out for the summer (not really - half day tomorrow and curriculum writing on Monday). The kids are all gone and the teachers of Northway had their annual luncheon. Lots of good eats. Anyway, next week we are going to Mexico. I am finally going after 4 years of not going. So I am very excited. I can't wait. I love the busyness of the Mexico City. Everyone is very friendly and I love to watch the people selling things. It is so totally different from the U.S. They try to get your attention, taste their food or look at their things and get you to buy. I think it is funny when they yell to me "Hey Blondie". There is not a blonde hair on my head. Maybe lots of gray ones but not blonde. I hope we go to Acapulco. So, I can sit on the beach and have people bring me Yoli all day. At night we can go to our favorite restaurant and eat our most favorite chicken. You can take me to the fanciest restaurants around the world and I would still say this is the best place in the World to eat. Then we got see the Cliff Divers and eat Coconut ice cream. Life is good.

Photos - Nate and Camille

Nate and Camille after the race. Of the girls from Maplewood, Camille came in first!
Here they are running together.

The End is Near!

You thought I was talking about the adoption didn't you. Fooled you. Actually it is the school year that is almost over. Next week at this time it will all be over. Of course I have to work Monday the 16th for curriculum writing (not one of my favorite things to do). Okay time for little bemoaning. I hate this time of year. It all has to do with getting books back to the library. There is invariably a few students that forget and forget and forget their library books. I ask them every day where they are. We call home. We talk to the principal. Nothing seems to work. So for about two weeks, I feel like Cruella de Villa. So next Thursday when the students have left. I will breath a sigh of relief that I can give up my mean nasty persona and go back to being good old lovable me. I can't wait.

May 24, 1993

It will be 15 years ago on May 24th that I met my husband. It is one of things that I will never forget. My friend Celie and I went to Cancun for a vacation. I had just finished my Master's. The first night we went out to eat and then we went to a nightclub to dance. We were standing there. I was drinking my Diet Coke and a man came up to us and started talking to us. He asked us about our vacation and what places we planned to visit. Then he said to me "My friend wants to meet you." He turns and points out Jimmy. I couldn't believe it. I turned to look at the handsomest man I every saw. I thought for sure he was thinking of the wrong girl because he was so handsome and things like this never happened to me. The rest of the night pasted in a blur as we danced and talked the night away. I know it is crazy that I took a chance on a romance on vacation but I am glad I did. I couldn't have found a person more suited for me. He is my calm when I feel overwhelmed by life. He is my support when I need it. He has brought spontaneity, creativity and music (I can actually attempt to guess an artist of a song now... before I would look at him and tell him you have got to be kidding if you think I should know this.) into my life. At the end of the day, I can't wait to come home and tell him all about my day and I can't wait to hear about his.

Jimmy's Grades

Yeah!!!! Another 4.0!!!!! Jimmy got his grades yesterday and he received two A's and a satisfactory for his field experience. For his field experience he assisted one of the Spanish professors with Language in Motion. Language in Motion is where Westminster students who spent time abroad go to schools and speak about different aspects of the country they visited i.e. traditions, foods, history. Also, Wilmington High School comes to Westminster for the day and they do a variety of activities centered around a theme. This year was heroes. Jimmy spoke at a high school on Chitzen Itza and the phenomenom (I think I spelled that wrong) that happens at the spring and fall equinox. He also spoke to a Catholic school about the Lady of Guadalupe who brought Christianity to Mexico. He also had to do a Capstone which is a senior thesis. He did an incredible job and I am impressed by how he can write a twenty-five page paper in English. I know that I couldn't do it. Now, in between all the Praxis tests he has to take, he can relax a little bit.

Color Purple

This summer the Color Purple is coming to the CLO in Pittsburgh. I am very excited because my mom and I are going to go together. It should be a lot of fun especially with my mom. I like doing things with her. I can talk to her about just about anything. She has really helped me with the adoption thing. I can cry my eyes out to her and now that she will say all the right things. Last weekend we went shopping together. We had a blast. In the mom department, I really lucked out. I hope I can be like that for Sofia.

Scrabble Tournament

Yesterday was a great day! I organized a Scrabble Tournament for 3rd/4th Gr. students from around my school district. We had a 48 students participating. A great time was had by all. The kids were excited and they did a great job! I was impressed with their play. Students were making 5 and 6 letter words. We even had one person get a BINGO (that's when you use all seven letters. You get 50 bonus points.) !!!! We played 4 rounds. The people who win the first round continue in the competition and the rest have free play (if they are the winner for their table they still win a prize - YEAH for Target's Dollar Spot and Double Yeah when it is 50% or 75% off). I was really proud of the students that I brought. 4 of my 6 went on to the second round competion. In the end one of mine went to the final. He came in second place. I was really proud of him. I was thrilled at how well it went.

Tears of joy and sorrow

Yesterday, I had good news and bad news come to me. Luckily or unluckily the good news came first. Good news - a good friend of mine from college, Jules, got engaged. I am so happy for her. I met her fiance in the fall. He is a really great guy. They are a good match. Then, I looked through the mail and got a letter from the adoption agency. We have to do the home study update and file immigration papers again. I was just so upset. It seems as if it is never going to happen. I feel as if I am not meant to be a mother. Why is it taking so long? Is this some kind of sick joke? I can't take much more. Sorry such a downer of a blog today.

The Spoiled and Under-30 Crowd

My cousin sent this to me in an email. I found it absolutely hilarious. So I thought I would add it into my blog. Enjoy!


THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!! If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!! When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school ever y morn ing ... uphill BOTH ways yada, yada, yada ... And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good& nbsp; you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet . If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter .with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there! Ther e were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It co uld be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! An d ther e were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE! When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed! Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You cou ld only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats! And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire .. imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot. That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980! Regards, The over 30 Crowd

Giants Win the Super Bowl!

Last night was undoubtly one of the best Super Bowl's I have watched. Okay aside from when the Steelers are in the Super Bowl and win (those are always great). When my team isn't in the Super Bowl, I don't really take sides. I sometimes hope that a great coach wins like Tony Dungy last year. Or I hope that a team that has never won a Super Bowl wins. If they don't, oh well. Last night, I really wanted the New York Giants to win. The Super Bowl was a nail biter to say the least. Usually, about half time I have had enough because there is already a clear winner. I never got up from my seat because the game was intense and I wanted to see the game and the commercials. I think the Giants played a great game. The defense of the Giants was incredible. I can't believe how they stopped Tom Brady and offense. The Giants offense did well and stepped up when they really needed. I was happy to see the Patriots dethroned. I think that they were overconfident in their winning the Super Bowl. They thought it was a forgone conclusion that they would win as if they were entitled to the win over other teams. Yeah to the Giants!!! Yeah to Eli Manning!!!

Exercise

On this Wear Red Day for Heart Disease Awareness, I just want to have my say about exercise. It is so important to take care of your health. One of the easiest is to exercise. I am living proof that exercise helps you even when your health is not in the best shape. I was in kidney failure and I made it a point to exercise. It kept me from going on dialysis. I did step aerobics. When I was too tired to do that. Jimmy would take me to the mall to walk. With exercise, I sweated out the toxins that my kidneys couldn't. If I hadn't done that I believe without a doubt that I would have been on dialysis much sooner. It doesn't have to be too strenous. My good friend Anne came to me at the beginning of the January and said she wanted to start walking early in the morning at school and would I do it with her. I was happy to oblige because hey any extra exercise can't hurt. So we walk for half an hour each morning and get to talk(side benefit with doing it with a friend). A couple of other friends and I started an aerobics club after school two nights a week. We bring our videos and we do aerobics, weights, and abs. I do it at home by myself a couple nights a week. So find something you like and do it for yourself, your family and your friends. There is nothing more important than keeping healthy.

Casino Night

Sutchmo with his Bling

Gail

More Pictures from Casino Night

Vince and Kristen playing Blackjack

Julie and Hav's Mom
Carol, Casino Guy and Jill
Carol, Jen and Julie
Beth, Sandy, Elaine, Hav's Sister and Hav

Casino Night!!!

Hav's dad playing Texas Hold 'Em

Jill and Beth
Dana and Sandy
Jen pinching the butt of Patriot's player

On Saturday, the staff was invited to the principal's house for Casino Night. It was so much fun. We were given $30,000 in fake money. Then we could play Texas Hold 'Em, Blackjack, or Craps. So for two hours, we played. I started with Texas Hold 'Em. Right away, I realized I was in the big leagues and got out with only a four thousand dollar loss. I stayed away from Craps. The guy at the Craps table gave lessons. I was still confused so I just stayed away. I played blackjack for the rest of the time. I stayed pretty close to $30,000 for the rest of the night. I was up and then I was down. Then, the last couple of hands, the dealer let us make big bets of $10,000. So I put in 10,000. First I drew a 2 and then I drew a 9. So I could double down. I put another $10,000 down. I got a Jack and won $20,000. Yeah! The most exciting part was for every $10,000 you had left, you got a raffle ticket. The raffle was 3rd prize -$50, 2nd prize - $75 and 1st prize - $100. Her family members won 2nd and 3rd prize. My friend Elaine won 1st prize. She was so excited.

Ian

I thought I would share a cute picture of my nephew and godson, Ian. He turned 3 in July. I finally got to meet him last June when Mike and his family came back for Amy's family reunion. He is really cute! I enjoyed that time with him and my other nephews and my niece Maggie.

Chihuly at Phipp's Conservatory

On New Year's Day, we went to Phipp's to see the Chihuly exhibit. It was amazing to see all the different glass creations.

Statue of Liberty Pictures

Laurie and Chuong in front of Statue of Liberty

Laurie, Dad, Nate, Camille, Me and Mom in front of Statue of Liberty

Rear View of Statue of Liberty

View From Ferry

View From Ferry

Fun Edit of Statue of Liberty Picture