FORE!

Nana and Papa bought Olivia her very FIRST set of golf clubs over the weekend! In a few weeks, Olivia will be taking 'junior golf' lessons every Friday morning. Kevin and I are so excited that she's going to learn to golf.

We think she's excited about this too -- she wants to keep her new purple golf clubs IN her bedroom. We told her 'no' and when she threw small fit we told her that Papa doesn't even keep HIS clubs in his bedroom.

And then today she asked if she could practice putting in the living room. I'm thinking that is NOT a good idea.

I have to admit ... I'm still a bit LOST

Seriously, if you haven't watched last night's series FINALE of LOST you should stop reading right now because I am going to spoil the end. Sorry, but it's my blog and I can do that. You have been warned .. so don't go reading this and then leave a comment that says "OMG you totally ruined it for me!"


Six years ago I started watching LOST.

For the first two seasons I was totally, absolutely hooked on this show.
Nothing could pull me away from the television.

Then it all started going crazy ... more and more people were added to the island, and the flashbacks got stranger and then the whole time travel thing started and well...I gave up on LOST.

This season, I decided to go back to the island and see if I could fall in love all over again.
And, I did.
Yes, the show was still crazy...but this season really seemed to focus on the 'core' group of people who pulled me in six years ago.

Once again, I cared about these people.
I wanted them to be rescued.
I wanted Jack and Kate to be together and for Sun and Jin to live happily ever after.

Little did I know that THEY WERE ALL FREAKIN' DEAD (or would at least end up DEAD by the end of the show...all of them...D.E.A.D).

OK....I admit. I kind of knew that they WERE dead. I suspected all along that they were dead and this whole 'island' thing was like a purgatory (What? you know you thought that too! That was only my THEORY - clearly it was wrong).

But I was NOT prepared for THE END last night. (Damn that dog Vincent....when he was laying next to the dying Jack that was IT for me. I was sobbing like a mad woman).

Last night's episode was brilliant and funny in places ("I believe in Duct tape") and so incredibly sad that I'm still hoping today they'll say "Wait! We have an alternate ending and they ALL LIVE!!!!"

I am a sucker for happy endings and that, my friends, was not a happy ending for me. A room full of dead people ready to 'move on' does not equal happy. That's just my take.

And today, I am still left scratching my head in total confusion ... about many, many things. (For the record, I did Tivo the finale and will be watching it again. And again. Looking for more answers.)

How about you?
Did you watch?
What is still confusing you?
Did you think this was how it would end?
Let's chat.

Freschetta Flatbread Pizza ... yummy!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Freschetta. All opinions are 100% mine.

I will be the first to admit that I (1) don't often buy frozen pizza and (2) am not a huge fan of most frozen pizzas. Most of my 'avoidance' of frozen pizzas is because, for the most part, they are seriously lacking in the 'topping department'. Whenever I do buy a frozen pizza, I end up adding more cheese (always!) and usually extra toppings too -- just because there is never enough of either.

However...I have to say...I have found a frozen pizza that doesn't need anything extra -- it's quite yummy "as is"...

And the 'winner' is...Freschetta FlatBread .

There are four flavors of the flatbread pizza (Cheese, Zesty Italian, Roasted Garlic and Spinach, and Pepperoni)...but since my store ONLY carried two of the four flavors, I decided to try the Roasted Garlic and Spinach.

It did not disappoint!

I really like the pizza for several reasons - the crust was really crispy, it cooked quickly (I think it only took about 9 minutes, maybe less -- my husband actually cooked it because I was running late at work!), and most importantly...I didn't have to add anything to it! It was a perfect amount of cheese and toppings.

I might need to stock up on the flatbread pizzas...they make a great, quick meal.
(You know, perfect for those nights when you really don't want to cook! If you're anything like me, that happens at LEAST once a week!).

If you want to try them for yourself, you can grab a $1 off coupon here.

Happy pizza night!

We came. We saw. We hunted ghosts!

The Ohio State Reformatory - Mansfield, Ohio

Last night was one of the most frightening nights of my life.
And I mean E.V.E.R.

Kevin and I participated in a ghost hunt at the old Mansfield Reformatory - one of THE most haunted places in the entire U.S. and the prison where they filmed 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

It was, in a word, amazing.
(And frightening).

As we drove toward Reformatory Road (yes, that IS the name of the road where the prison is located) and we saw the prison it was breathtaking.
It is a beautiful building, but you also sense the tragedy within its walls.

The ghost hunts are limited to 100 people per hunt (and yes, they are all sold out for 2010, except for a December 11th tour...and, it would be really COLD in December). We all had to sign in and at 8 p.m. we gathered for 'the rules' and a tour of the facility ... while the lights were still ON.

At first, Kevin and I said "no" to the option of a tour -- we just wanted to get inside and start exploring. But after walking one level of the east cell block we caught up with a small tour group and joined in. I am so happy we did! Our volunteer guide showed us the "hot spots" in the prison (areas where people have seen, heard or felt paranormal things) and as an added bonus he took us up to the old guard tower (what an amazing sight!).

And then, around 9 p.m., it was 'lights out' and the entire prison was bathed in total darkness. Talk about creepy/spooky/oh-my-gosh-I-might-pee-my-pants-FEAR!

A few of our adventures:

- We decided to spend some time sitting in the shower room (also called 'the car wash'). We sat on a bench, turned off the flashlights and started talking to "anyone" (anything?) who might be there. Nothing paranormal happened. It was just dark.

- Then we walked around some of the cell blocks --- these are HUGE caged structures. As you're walking past the open cells it really does feel like you're being watched. Several times I jumped because I (1) thought I saw something or (2) thought I heard something. Once, I KNEW I heard a moan coming from inside an EMPTY cell. We spent a lot of time walking through the cell blocks, just looking in the cells and stopping every now and then to 'chat' with any spirits who might be hanging out. We found the cell that the Ghost Hunters marked with an 'x' (it was chock full of activity for THEM...not so much for us). Kevin went inside the cell, but he was alone.

- We spent some time sitting in the chapel area....again with no lights on. It was quiet and uneventful.

- Then, we decided to sit in the infirmary for a bit. We probably sat there for about 25 minutes, asking if anyone was with us, etc. The floors in most rooms are covered in paint chips that crunch when you walk on them. I mention this, because at one point as I sat in the infirmary, I heard footsteps next to me...crunching the paint chips. This happened several times. The biggest thing that happened to us in the infirmary was this - we saw something. It was a grayish misty thing (yeah, great description, I know) and it literally flew from one side of the room to the other, vanishing into the wall. At that point I was done! But as we walked toward the door I was suddenly overcome with (1) a serious case of the chills...I was absolutely freezing and the hairs on my arms were standing straight up, and (2) a sense of dread....I just wanted OUT RIGHT NOW!

- We visited the 'mansion' area and administrative areas a few times but each time as we walked through the halls I was very uncomfortable ... it's hard to explain, other than to say it felt as if I was being watched. There is one room in that area ('the chair room') that we were not able to get in ... every time we walked by the door was closed, presumably another group was in there trying to experience the crazy stuff that happens inside (flashing lights, moving chair, touching, etc). However, during one of our trips through the mansion we did hear footsteps in one of the bedrooms (which is 'normal' ... both a former warden and his wife died after incidents in the prison - the wife was accidentally shot when a gun discharged in the bedroom and the warden had a heart attack in the prison -- both spirits are known to appear frequently).

- We also visited both areas of solitary and didn't stay long in either area. First we visited the solitary cells and just walked through....without seeing or hearing from Frank, the guard who was murdered. Apparently he has a tendency to walk through solitary...but I think I was walking too fast for any ghost to catch up. (HA!). Then, we visited 'the hole' - a dirt floor area where they used to chain prisoners to the walls. We had been down there once during daylight and it was OK...but in the dark - NO FREAKING WAY. A few other 'hunters' were down there with us and they were all catching 'readings' on their 'geeky high tech' equipment. That was enough for me. I nearly bolted back upstairs.

- We spent about 30 minutes just sitting in the old library....and had a few things happen. We heard footsteps heading toward the spiral staircase that leads up to the guard tower (the same steps we took earlier in the night) and we also heard several loud thuds or bangs from that area (an area where NO one was at the time...it was just me and Kevin in the room). We also had a loud "whooshing' noise...as if something flew past us. And, my camera stopped working in the library for about a minute. It just would not take a picture. Paranormal? I don't know. Weird? Yes. (The draining of battery life was a popular topic at the hunt last night...it happened to many people).

- At one point we made it back to the infirmary...only to walk by and have the oddest thing happen. There was NO wind blowing outside and no windows that were 'open' inside the room (a few were broken...but not enough for what happened)...and as we stood in the doorway of the room a VERY strong breeze blew past us. I mean, strong as in it was as if we were standing next to a wall of open windows on a very windy day. It was very, very odd. (Dare I say, paranormal?)

- We investigated almost every area of the prison ... except for the TB Ward. I just couldn't bring myself to climb the stairs. It felt 'off' as I started to climb the steps...so I stopped and we continued on in another part of the prison.

By about 1:30 a.m. we were exhausted, a bit overwhelmed and our feet were so sore (the amount of walking and climbing of stairs is amazing!). We decided to call it a night and start the drive home....

So..final thoughts....
Was I scared?
Damn straight.
There were several moments where I just felt this overwhelming sense of fear. It's very hard to explain....but it was very real.

Would I do it again?
In a heartbeat.
This ghost hunt was an amazing experience...one I would definitely do again.
And again.
And again.

(If you are a friend on Facebook, I have posted some pictures of the prison...if you want to check them out!)

Who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!

My #ConfessFriday - I believe in ghosts.

No, really. I do.
I believe in ghosts.
I've seen ghosts.
And, I think my house is haunted. (As does my sister...she claims she gets a 'creepy' feeling whenever she's here alone!)

I've always had a fascination with the paranormal.

Tomorrow, I have the chance to experience the paranormal....

Kevin and I are going on an overnight ghost hunt at the Ohio State Reformatory.
You know....the prison where 'The Shawshank Redemption' was filmed.
One of THE most haunted places in the United States.

Yep, that's where we are spending the night tomorrow.
From 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. we will be roaming the haunted hallways and investigating the creepy cells....looking for ghosts, spirits and the like.

I cannot wait.

We have flashlights ready. And a digital video camera and our digital camera. Oh, and an "old school" point-and-shoot with film (because, according to the prison's Web site, sometimes the digital cameras don't pick up the paranormal). We also have a compass ... because apparently compasses often 'go wonky' when something paranormal is happening.

I am really hoping that we see something. Or hear something. Or get touched by something. Oh my gosh...can you imagine?!?!??!?

As excited as I am, I have to admit...I'm also a bit scared. I told Kevin if he lets go of my hand ONCE during the entire "hunt" I will never speak to him again. And I'll leave him locked in solitary. Forever. (haha)

Unfortunately (for me at least), cell phones are not permitted inside the prison during the ghost hunt...so my hopes of Tweeting as I hunt for ghosts have been dashed. However, I will tweet when we get there. And we are allowed to take breaks in our cars -- we just can't leave the actual prison property or our 'hunt' will be over. So, if we head back to the car at any point during the night, I'll tweet some of our adventures.

And....you know I'll blog all about it.

Supermom I am not

I managed to make beef jerky tonight.
It wasn't on purpose.
And it wasn't made out of beef.

Here's the back story....

This morning I put spare ribs in the crock pot.
I seasoned them.
I added a little H20 just so they didn't dry out.
And I turned on the crock pot and left for work.

Eight hours later as I'm driving home, I think to myself "Holeeee CRAP! I think it's possible that I turned the crock pot on "high" instead of "low!" Then I started to panic. Ohmygosh! What if the crock pot really was on HIGH and it caught fire and my kitchen was smoldering as I drove home?

I walked in the door and the smell hit me.
Overcooked pork ribs.
For the record, they smell a lot like burned tuna.
It is most unpleasant.

I took the lid off the crock pot and was met with a cloud of smoke.
And then I saw them...those poor, sad, overcooked ribs.
They were nearly petrified.
It was like beef jerky from 10,000 B.C.

I called Kevin and told him it was necessary to stop at Little Caesar's and pick up a few 'hot and now' pizzas.

When he came home, he looked at the "meat" and said "Hmm. They look a little crisp."

Crisp.
Yeah. And then some.

And so there it is....how I managed to make petrified beef jerky out of pork spare ribs.

Moral of the story?
When in doubt, grab a hot and now pizza and call it a night.

Dance recitals are strange, strange things

So, by now I'm sure many of you have seen this video - it's been ALL OVER the news in the past few days...and everyone is talking about the young girls (ages 8 and 9) and the dance moves they're performing while dressed like the elementary school version of the Pussycat Dolls.

The parents of the girls claim the "costumes" are just that - dance costumes that were completely appropriate for a dance competition.

Personally, I would not want my daughters to dress that way - I don't care if it's "appropriate" for the dance routine. Little girls should not look like that.

I just don't understand why parents are so insistent on forcing their little girls to grow up so quickly. Why can't little girls just be little girls?

Which brings me to the dance recital I just sat through.

One routine in particular left me scratching my head and wondering "what the heck just happened?"

The dancers in the group were tweens (probably ages 10- 12) and I can't tell you what song they started dancing to, but the routine ended with Ke$ha's "Tik Tok". These girls were singing along to the song as they danced (I don't know why) and yes, they sang the line "I brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack."

Yeah, I'm serious.
Tween girls sang a line about brushing their teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

I cannot imagine for the life of me (1) what the hell the dance instructor was thinking when she picked Ke$ha's song (which for all intents and purposes is about going out and partying until the "police shut them down" .... not exactly what tween girls should be doing on a Friday night), and (2) what the hell were the parent's thinking when they said "yeah, that's a good idea".

Call me crazy, but maybe...just maybe...there should be an "age appropriate" thought process in things like this. I'm quite certain there was a better song out there ... and one that didn't require little girls to sing about boozing it up with Jack.

Yes, I'm still here

I have not moved to some remote village in the South Pacific where there is NO Internet access, thereby preventing me from blogging on a regular basis.

Life has just been THAT crazy.

Toss in some minor technical issues (like the fact that it just took me FIVE attempts to sign in to Blogger...WTH?) and it's been really difficult to blog.

I can't say that I have nothing to blog about...because I do - I have all these thing floating around in my brain that I NEED to blog about.

I just haven't found the time.

And this bothers me.

A lot.

So, dear reader....bear with me.
As the Terminator said: I'll be back.

A week in review

Hey...what do you know...I'm still here.

It's been one crazy busy week.

We arrived home last Sunday from our Disney vacation, then I spent all day Monday prepping myself to start a new job and then the next chapter of my life started on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

All in all, I think I'm going to like this new gig.

Of course, the first couple of days were stressful and full of new things, and it left me exhausted. And then on my second day my boss and I met with a client who requested a press release for an event that is happening NEXT WEEK! So...I had to research, write and submit my very first release all by Thursday (because right now I'm only working 3 days a week). Yeah....I did it all in about 6 hours. Whew.

But...my boss said (and I quote)...'excellent article! great job!'

[I should note that for the first two days I was thinking "What the hell am I doing here? Why did they think I could do this job? I have no freaking clue...about any of this!" But as soon as I started writing I remembered "holy crap! I do know how to do this!" and all felt right with the world again.]

The other big adjustment for the family - other than mommy not being home every day - was this: the girls had to go back to daycare. This did not go well with Emma.

On Tuesday, she screamed and cried and was miserable when Kevin dropped her off at daycare. On Wednesday she screamed and cried the entire ride there. And when he left she was still crying.
On Thursday she had a 'death grip' on Kevin as he tried to leave.

This breaks my heart.
I feel horrible.
It's not as if Emma has never been at daycare.
It's just that for the last 10 months she has only been at home with me.

Olivia is doing great - she's in school all morning and then is at daycare in the 'school age' room with many of her friends from her previous 'stint' at daycare.
She's happy and adjusted.
It's going to take a while for Emma to adjust, I think.

I know daycare is not all bad - it helps with socialization and in another year it will actually be Emma's preschool. But when I hear how sad Emma is ... the 'mommy guilt' I feel is terrible.

But, all in all, it was a good week.
It's going to be a big adjustment for the next few weeks (months?) but it's all going to be OK.

A new adventure

Tomorrow is THE day.

I am starting the new job tomorrow.

ACK!!!!

I am feeling rather anxious about tomorrow.
Anxious as in really freaking nervous.

I feel silly admitting that.

But it's very true.

I. Am. Nervous.

But I'm also excited about the prospect of a new adventure.
New people.
New experiences.
New challenges.

I am starting out as part time ... but eventually the job will be full time.
I think this is going to be a good thing -- it will make the transition easier for me and the kids.

(As a side note, I haven't worked full time since 2003. This is going to be a big transition for me!)

Wish me luck!

I'll have more to report tomorrow.

Home...and very exhausted

We're home!

(OK. That exclamation point was added for your benefit, not mine. Quite frankly, I'd rather be at Disney World. But as it is, we are home.)

The trip was amazing.
It was magical.
It was just what we needed.

The girls had so much fun.
Olivia is at the PERFECT age to really grasp the magic of Disney. And she was so brave - riding the roller coasters with no fear!
Emma was in awe of the characters....she ran to them every chance she had.

Me? Well, I was in my happy place.
Which means I cried a lot of happy 'mousetears'.
I cried when we first made it to the gates of Walt Disney World.
I cried when we walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom and saw the castle.
I cried when Cinderella showed up at our princess lunch in Norway.
And of course, I cried during Spectromagic and Wishes. (That is always a given!)

When we left Saturday morning, I cried sad tears. Especially when Emma said, in her sweet little sleepy voice, "Bye-bye Disney World." (Cue the waterworks).

And Olivia is a true Neurotic Disney Kid....she looked for hidden Mickeys everywhere (and usually found them!). And, as a true Disney fan, she called the Monorail trains by their "proper" names (the color of their stripe). I didn't have anything to do with that....she just started doing it all on her own: "Look mommy! It's Monorail Yellow!" So proud of her.....

OK...that's all for now. I have days of blogging to work on .... the trip report will be posted over at the 'Disney blog' (Travels with Kids).

And for those of you who followed by adventure via my tweets...thanks for following and sharing in the magic! :)