• birthdays,  personal

    timmy’s 11th birthday vegetable

    Cannot believe this little guy is now 11. Eleven!? His birthday party this year was at the Nets game with a bunch of his friends after pizza at the house.

    Edward, Liam, Chris, Timmy & James. The crew. (Not pictured Jack N. He met them there later.)

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  • personal,  photography

    lunar eclipse

    yeah, so this happened quite a while ago, but i’m only just now getting around to editing the pictures. sad, but true. i can’t find my noiseware plug in/action (and since they’re just personal pix, I wasn’t so motivated to search)so please try to ignore the noisy pictures that were shot at like a zillion ISO. (especially the red ones). still kinda cool regardless.

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  • children & families,  personal,  school

    first day of junior (!?!?!) year

    Only a week late on my post, but heres a picture of the boys (jack on the left, patrick on the right) first day of junior year at Regis. They’ve since made the Varsity Baseball team, changed debate forums and started the year off really well (and busy!). This is going to be one interesting year. For all of us.

    And yes, I got up at like 6am to grab this shot before they got on the train (those of you who know me, know this is a big deal), and they are both waaaay taller than me now.

  • personal

    reading list spring/early summer 2015

    Its time for an updated reading list. Been plowing thru lots of books again lately, especially on the beach/at the pool and waiting to watch the boys pitch at baseball. So here’s the newest batch:

     

    Darkness on the Edge of Town- just started and finished this one today. So, so, sooooooo creepy. Loved it. Stephen King recommended it, reminded me a bit of his story The Mist and The Dome. Definitely recommend, especially if you’re into the possibility of a coming apocalypse. It’ll help you get ready!

    The Killer Next Door- same author as The Wicked Girls (from last time’s reading list). About a bunch of borders in a rooming house in London, all with some big secrets. Really well written and kept me very interested. Loved the characters, even the ones I hated. The Church of Marvels- if you liked Water for Elephants, anything Carnival related and some really interwoven lives with big secrets, you’ll like this one. Set in NY in 1895, in Coney Island, mental institutions, the docks, NYC. And when things come to a head, my mouth was definitely hanging open a bit for a while.
    Follow you Home- written by the same author of Magpies and Because She Loves Me in last time’s reading list) I really enjoyed it, but again I kept checking to see if the author was a guy or a girl with a guy’s name. He writes men’s thoughts/dialog a bit more like a woman would want a man to think in my opinion, but still a good read. Not sure how it comes together is entirely believable, but still good. Twisted- and it was. About a psychiatrist treating a patient who is really, really sick and going to be convicted of some horrible crimes. The doctor thinks he knows him, and weird shit starts happening and the doctor is the one who’s actually losing his shit. I figured out the twist before I read it, but still a good read and I liked the way it wrapped up. Into the Darkest Corner- a bit of sleeping with the enemy, a woman develops horrible OCD/PTSD from a relationship with an abusive ex who is now possibly stalking her again after maybe getting out of prison. I liked the way the story is told from both ends and kinda all crashes together at once. Grey- meh. Its one of those “had to read it, but coulda definitely skipped it”. Same old story, told from his POV. The dialog is repeated and its still poorly written. Nothing new to see here, keep moving on. Finders Keepers- the follow up to Mr Mercedes. Loved it. Awesome SK characters that you love, loved the starting point was the same tie in. I just miss me some classic Stephen King scares though. Nothing supernatural at all here, a thriller/crime novel, but still great. He can’t write anything I don’t love.The Daughter- another missing girl story, with a very interesting ending. I had to read the ending at least twice to figure out what the fuck just happened. I did enjoy it though. The Three Day Affair- college buddies who get together every year to go on a trip. This year, one of them kidnaps a girl. How they all deal with it, what happens and why. Really great read. A Pleasure and a Calling- creepy ass real estate agent keeps the keys to every house he sells and lets himself into and out of the houses to watch the people that live there. His backstory on how he came to be this sneaky stalker was pretty interesting too. Just when you think he’s gone too far, he keeps on going. Ice Shear- not a favorite, but well written. Good crime novel. It just didn’t grip me and I didn’t love the characters.Descent- and still another abducted girl story but really good. Just when I thought it was going to be the same old, things quickly escalated and changed the whole thing around. The Cry- Australian mom accused of killing her baby (yes, i know, i said “dingo ate my baby” too!!) and all the twistedness that comes with that. How nothing really is as it seems, but sometimes its even worse. The Girl on The Train-Hitchcockian and Gone Girlish, where the characters are all so fucked up you’re not sure you really like them, or how to root for them. So well written I wanted to reach in the book and smack the shit out of them all. Really great, you must read if you haven’t yet. SOA Bratva- ok, i had to. I bingewatched the shit out of the whole Sons of Anarchy series this winter and missed it so much I had to find something. This was an okay book, but it was really nice to visit with everyone from Charming again. Especially Opie. The plot was good, kept me reading. But of course it would’ve been better on the screen. Still, a nice trip back. 

     

    I just discovered I have 198 books on my Kindle- that’s a lot. I just keep buying them- it’s definitely an addiction!! More reading lists to come at the end of the summer before busy season hits and I go on reading hiatus until Christmas.

  • personal,  prom,  school

    semi-formal

    The boys had their semi-formal on Saturday night and they actually let me take some photos (a rare occurrence these days) so I brought the big camera along to capture a few shots. They had a great time, they even danced. With their beautiful & sweet dates, how could they not?

    Jack & his date Taylor.

    Patrick & his date Gianna, plus his friends Lyra and Teddy.