Mommies Minute Getaway Weekend

About a year ago, I joined a message board. It is all mom's from all over the country and beyond. The core group started six years ago when they were all pregnant. Last year, before I was a member, they all met up in Chicago. When I joined, they had just gotten back and started planning the meet up for this year in New Jersey, New York City and New Hope, Pennsylvania. I wasn't sure that I was willing to go. . . a little weird, right? Well, I was among the first to book my flight. My motivation was NYC, right? Who would pass up an opportunity to go to New York City? We all arrived in New Jersey, we stayed at one of the mom's homes on Thursday night. On Friday morning, we went for manicures and pedicures, had lunch and went into New Hope, PA. It was a quaint little town with lots of window shopping. On Saturday morning, we went into NYC and on Sunday, we packed, cleaned and headed off to the airport. I can not even put into words what a wonderful time we had. One would think with eleven women, with different personalities, beliefs, lives that things could go bad quickly. I have made 10 friends for a lifetime. Here are some things I learned on my trip:

You can't say, "Do you have a plunger ... and some rags?" with a straight face.

You can never be too silly.

You can't laugh too much, too long, or too loud.

It's a lot of fun to watch your friends have fun.

It takes 48 hours to really loosen up.

It's OK to let someone help you, if they want to.

Dreams do come true, with a little help from your friends.

An almost 50 year old woman can outrun a much younger woman, particularly when a friend is in trouble.

No 2 pictures of the Statue of Liberty are the same even when 50 pictures are taken.

Even rain can't ruin a good time when you are with your friends.

You can function on 3 hours of sleep each night over a long weekend, when you are having a good time with your friends.

A lot can happen in an M&M store.

Many people can look at the same thing, and see things differently.

9 sober women on a train can be very scary and really loud!

Everything tastes better when someone else cooks.

People are different in person than they seem on line.

Seven women and luggage will fit in a minivan.

Sometimes it is better to do it yourself.

No matter how old your passengers are, someone will say, "Are we there yet?"

We all need to take a moment to be sad before we move on.

The best place to have a crisis is anywhere your friends are.

Hot Chocolate is only worth drinking if you have mini marshmellows.

Don't stop at a public restroom if you are trying to catch a boat.

Not all Southern Belles go to charm school.

When we allow the unknown to happen, it can turn out better than we could have ever imagined.

Eleven women, in one house, with two bathrooms can be on time. . . most of the time with only seconds to spare.

We should take the time to find the positive when bad things happen.

Not all NYC firefighters are hot!

Eye injuries must occur in NYC while raining.

Sweetened Condensed Milk is loved by many.

Our perception of others is sometimes correct and totally wrong often.

Here a few of thousands of pictures taken on our trip!

Getting a Pedicure:

Pedicured Toes Lady Liberty

Time Square at night:

I am No Bakerella

So while "blogstalking" I found Bakerella. Coy's upcoming birthday party inspired me to try my hand! Almost laughable, but it was fun!

Thirteen

I can not believe that Coy turned 13 yesterday. Thirteen years he has brought smiles to our faces with his smiling face. He is such a sweet boy, a teenager now. He is having his birthday party next weekend, a skating party! I fixed him pancakes yesterday morning, they are his favorite. We asked what he wanted to do this day. He said skateboarding, just him and dad. He wanted steak and mashed potatoes for dinner. We begged to go out to celebrate 13 years, but insisted on steak and *mashed* potatoes! It seemed fitting to share a few pictures of him through the years:

Bread Machine

A great friend in LaGrange found out a couple of months ago that I was in the market for a bread machine. He and his wife had one in storage, new in the box, with no time or intention of using it. What a blessing to recieve! I have been working on finding a great sandwich bread to no avail as of today, but I am still working on it . I have made monkey bread (yum), pretzels, banana bread, various loaves of bread and these! My prized bread machine token. . .Organic Wheat Bagels! I made strawberry cream cheese to boot with organic strawberries, of course!

This and That

Ok, so not much has been going on with us. Chase is doing great at school and seems to be enjoying college. He still hasn't found a job, but I think he is working hard at it and actually had an interview this morning. (yay)

I have been very busy with various projects. I have decided this year all gifts with the exception of a very few for the kids will be handmade. I am very proud of the gifts I have completed. I refuse this year to buy into the commercialization of Christmas and with the economy on the brink, we just don't have the extra funds to be so wasteful! Stay tuned, I'll post pictures after Christmas!

I made new quilts for the boy's bedroom out of recycled jeans. Thought I'd share them with you. Through this project, I realized I am not a quilter and really just don't like sewing that much! The quilts are great and I love that I made something new from something old! I also recovered their booths which I had the fabric for well over a year!