Birth-Day Of Whine And Roses

Two weeks ago, I turned 50.
Celebrated with my family at my favorite italian restaurant.
I received some lovely cards and gifts.

My mom was sweet enough to bake me a gluten-free cake
(it was pretty good too)
But it was the first time since I have been eating gluten-free
that the scale went in the opposite direction.
Would you like some whine?

I have been dieting for 5 months now,
I still haven't incorporated any excercise as of yet,
and have lost a total of 30 lbs.
I'm really proud of myself,
if there is one trait I know I embody,
it's that I do things 100%.
I have been making good choices for the last 5 months =100% good.
But for the last 10 years I was making bad choices = 100% bad.
Enough whining, now for the roses:

I love tulips, but they are not in season
so Andy bought me some roses.
Hard to believe that he has now been celebrating almost 35 birthdays with me.
Here we are celebrating my 16th birthday, time certainly flies...
And look, he gave me roses then too, lol

I also had the pleasure of enjoying a birthday brunch with 3 girls I grew up with.
Three out of four of us have birthdays in a row (Sept. 12, 13 and 14)
and we all turned 50, isn't that crazy?
Barbara, is my oldest friend.
I met her when I moved from Brooklyn to the suburbs when I was 4 years old.
Here we are at that age:

And here we are at 50 (!)

Good God, I love photos, old and new!
I really enjoy this hobby of documenting life.
So much so that I scrapped a new page!
It's definitely in my wheelhouse of clean and simple.
But I am happy how it came out,
made with one of my favorite photos from our vacation.

Thanks for stopping by,
say "Hi!" in the comments,
I'd love to hear from you!
-Jody

Top 25 Photos-Vacation Edition

Well, I finally finished editing our Mexico vacation photos!
I think when I came home, there was close to 600 photos.
Everyday, I would whittle away at the bunch
and I finally ended up with about 250.
Here are my top 25 favorites, in no particular order:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

The last 3 photos were actually taken by the hotel photographer.
We have never had a photoshoot (more than a couple of photos) of our family
and I told Andy we were doing just that on vacation.
His response was, "Why should we pay someone to take our photos,
you have a great camera and take great pictures!"
My response was, "Because I would actually like to be in the photos for once!"
So we bought 15 of the best shots which were made into a photobook
and now Mama is happy :)
Thanks for stopping by!
-Jody

 

I Got This From You

I come from a very small family.
My mother had one brother, David and my father had one sister, Jill.
Uncle David lived on the other side of the country so we only saw him
sporadically over the years.
It was always so nice when he did visit, full of stories and life,
but it was too few and far between to get really close to him.
Sadly, he passed away a couple years ago and he is very much missed.
My Aunt Jill, on the other hand, always lived in close proximity to us growing up.
My sister Karin and I spent many hours at her house when we were young.
We were very close to her and her family.
About 4 years ago, my Aunt Jill was diagnosed with brain cancer.
She outlived her diagnosis by many years but sadly passed away a couple of days ago.
Her funeral is today.
I was asked to look for photos of her, but she was one of those people
who hated having their picture taken.
I can still see and hear her..."Don't you dare take my picture!"
And in the end, I found maybe 8 pictures of her.
Most of them with her hiding behind a baby.
And in the almost 50 years that I have been alive,
I have not one photo of us together.
And that makes me so sad.
So next time someone wants to take your photo,
just smile because someone you love wants to remember you when you're gone.

(Aunt Jill and my baby Ryann almost 19 years ago)

                                            

While attempting to write this blogpost,
I wrote this about my Aunt.
We were very similar in many ways,
I will miss just talking to her most of all.

I Got This From You

I love watching reality TV and reading gossip magazines  

I enjoy a good crossword puzzle and I love to play trivia games,

I think I got this from you.

 

I have a quick wit and a razor sharp tongue, I have no tolerance for idiots and can curse like a sailor

but I am loyal to the bone and honest to a fault,

I  may have gotten this from you.

 

I have big brown eyes and a streak of grey hair in the front of my head, in the past

my favorite hobbies were as follows: eating, smoking and laying in the sun,

I'm pretty sure I got this from you.

 

I adore my parents, I love my husband and I cherish my 3 children with an intensity like no other,

I believe I got this from you.

 

When I leave this world, I hope to leave it knowing full well that I loved and was loved back

and I will know, with certainty, I got this from you.

 

Love,
Jody

Marking Time

Today is the first day of school for my children.

Erin is going into 7th grade and Megan is entering 10th grade.

Every year, this day comes with so many diferent emotions,

I can't wait for them to go back to school,

so I can get back into a routine,

but once they're gone I miss them terribly.

A local columnist from my hometown paper

wrote this lovely piece about the first day of school,

and I looked forward to reading it every year they would print it.

Sadly, he passed away a few years ago,

and they stopped reprinting it.

A friend of mine posted it on Facebook

and now I have posted it here for you to read.

It makes me weep every single time I read it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have :*)

 

The 1st Day of School- by Mike Levine

 

Quick, before they leave this morning. Take a good look. Touch their faces, run your hands through their hair.

We got antsy with them last month, but now we want time to stand still. Like falling leaves and chilly mornings, some great force signals us today. We are aware of life passing.

 

See the kindergartner with a brave, bewildered smile watching her mother cry as the school bus pulls away. The high-school freshman with a lump in his throat hears his father whisper everything will be OK. Brothers and sisters who fought all summer now hold hands.

Today is proud, today is helpless, today is tomorrow. This is a special morning, wrenching and sacred.

As a young reporter, I'd wonder why. What's the big deal about the first day of school? I would write down quotes in my notebook and comprehend nothing.

Then I became a parent. I found out. We mark time by today.

 

On this morning, we remember our own parents and our own childhood. We are filled with the smell of old raincoats, the sticky bond of classroom glue, the childhood knot of worried excitement. We were so small and lost. (Secret: A part of us is still lost. We tell no one.)

Now we have children of our own. On this morning, we remember the holy moment of their birth.

We see this is all just a matter of time. Once, we thought our children were ours alone. Each September, on this day, we learn better. Nothing is ours to keep.

 

Time passes through our eyes this morning. We see our children as newborns, we picture them as grown-ups. We see them walking their own children to school.

 

Time passes in the beat of a heart. I have seen my first kindergarten boy walk into his dorm on his first day of college. A few days ago, my younger son left for college. I stood there, at once empty and full, as frightened and proud as the morning his first school bus pulled away.

Come on, it's getting late. The bus is coming up the road. I'll keep this short.

Make sure they have everything they need. Double check. Write their name on the book bag. Sweetheart, did you remember your lunch money? Dad, don't call me mushy stuff in front of the other kids.

 

They are right. Like the summer birds leaving us, our children know what to do. Like September leaves waving in the trees, we, too, give way to the leaves of change.

 

 

Wishing all the kids (and Moms!) a great first day of school!

-Jody

"Someone Told Me It's All Happening At The Zoo...

...I do believe it, I do believe it's true."
I love that song by Simon & Garfunkel, but I love the zoo even more.
We recently took Erin and her bff to the Bronx Zoo
for a fun-filled day of animal watching.
I have to admit, I got some great shots.
So if you're an animal lover...scroll and enjoy!

First off was the butterfly garden.

                        


Someone needs braces (and a whitening!)


                        



Is there anything cuter than little turtles?

                                
                         

 

                               

Ok, maybe huge tortoises?

                               

Maybe giraffes are more to your liking?

 

                           

Oh no? Do you like birds then?

Then no worries, here is a warthog for you. Hakuna Matata!

 

 

Did you know that porcupines have more than 30,000 quills on their body?
Well now you know. ;)

                            

Maybe you like lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a plethora of animals (monkeys, marsupials, etc...)
that I can't remember what they are,
let's just call them cute and call it a day!

 The gorillas put on a show for people taking pictures, it was crazy!

                            

                       

But if I had to pick, my favorites are alway the sea lions/seals.
I could watch their shenanigans all the day long!

 

 

 I hope you liked seeing our zoo adventure, we had a great time!

Thanks for stopping by!
-Jody