Dec 31st
I can't believe it's New Year's Eve already but most of all, I can't believe that this will be my LAST entry in this blog. It was a day in the life of me, for 365 days and I am proud to say that I have COMPLETED that challenge! It was really tough at times coming up with something to take a picture of or journal about (remember I changed the rules for me. It was supposed to be a photo for each day but I changed it to be a photo or journaling to help me along). I was going to give up by the 3rd week but with my dear friend Judy routing for me on, every step of the way... I couldn't disappoint her so I managed to get it done and actually enjoyed doing it! Now I wonder what I will do with my days!!!
I have created a new blog that will replace this one but won't have DAILY entries. http://mamazuke.blogspot.com/
This picture reminds me of the closing of this blog. Alyssa took it at Wantagh Park. See you all on the next blog!!! Happy New year to all!

Dec 30th
I got my haircut today... FINALLY! I don't know what i was waiting for! I told Vicki how my hair is ever changing and she agreed. She said that every time I come in, my hair wants to do something else, other than what it's supposed to do. She said my hair "has a mind of it's own"! She asked if I use a straight iron and I said I wouldn't even know how to use one. She showed me and instead of the usual styling, she used that to complete the look. My hair was so smooth, not a frizz in sight and for some reason, it made the color of my hair actually very nice... kind of like a toasty warm lgt brown. The family liked the new look. I told them to soak it all in because it will never look like this again!

Dec 29th
I was checking out other peoples blogs this morning and came across this picture.

I thought they were adorable. They reminded me very much of the elf ornament that my Grandparents had on their little Christmas tree since I was a kid. I used to hate that ugly elf but as I got older, I appreciated that it has become a memory of lots of good times when we would visit Nanny and Pops at Christmas time. All of the aunts, uncles, cousins etc were always there. I wonder if Pops still has that ugly old elf?

Dec 28th
Scott, Alyssa and I went to visit Pops today. I wish we had time to walk down City Island Ave and take in the sights. Another time. Whenever I see the sign for the Lobster House, I know we've arrived! When I was little, I would always look at that sign and know we were going to have a fun day!
When we got to Pop's house, we were pleasantly surprised that our cousins were there... Jeannie, Dottie and 2nd cousins Lauren, Chris, Patrick and Ann Marie. And of course we can't forget Aunt Winnie and Uncle Ronnie were there as well.

We had a very nice day catching up with each other.

Dec 27th
What an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day it is today! I has to be in the upper 40's to low 50's! All of the 14" of snow from the other day was GONE when we woke up this morning. It rained a lot last night so I guess it just washed away. PJ and I decided to go for a little spin in the MGB with the roof down. We only had sweatshirts on and we were quite comfy! It amazes me that we can drive with the roof down at the end of Dec in NY!!
I love this pic of an ad from the 70's for MG's.

Dec 26th
Today was a day to just relax and do nothing. I got caught up on some of my cooking shows, PJ completed his Defensive Driving Course online and that's about it!
Dec 25th

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We had a very simple, easy going Christmas this year. Brooke and Chris weren't able to come home and we didn't invite a crowd.
Christmas morning had lots of laughs. Scott got Alyssa a 'cellphone flask' from the clearance bin at Things Remembered. It was engraved thanking some guy for being his Best Man at his wedding. I guess that didn't happen! It was soo funny!
Scott didn't have any name labels but he did have some enveloped that he got from the Dowling Library!
My decorative jar filled with fruit for the kitchen...
Scott got that stupid Hair Away that was a joke!
Alyssa all snug...
Huckelberry enjoying his stocking stuffers...
Scott and Alyssa got these dopey mustaches from a vending machine at Pathmark and put them in mine and PJ's stockings!

Scott finding 'sleezy girls' using his GPS
Everyone's favorite.... BINGO lottery tickets!
Dumb and Dumber! And what the heck happened to my hair?? I dyed it last week and I DON'T have those roots that the picture shows! And it's not that dark either!
Still playing and easily entertained!
All tuckered out!
Dave joined us in the afternoon and PJ surprised them all with BINGO DOUBLER cards!!!
We had a nice relaxing day. We played games, watched Arrested Development and ate a fairly cold dinner that was in the oven for 1 1/2 HOURS! I just love when appliances break on a holiday!

Dec 24th
It's Christmas Eve.... time for traditions to start. We used to go out to dinner every year on Christmas Eve but then it got difficult to find a restaurant that was open. We decided a few years ago to make a nice meal. It was always Filet Mignon but this year Alyssa asked if she could make Eggplant Rollatine.
Notice the apron!
Before sitting down to eat, we had to get our annual EAB Plaza picture by the tree.

Since a new compant took over the building, the decor has really gone downhill. What they had looked nice but they hardly had anything!

This whole area used to have a waterfall, lots of tropical plants and Poinsettias all over. We saw many wedding parties getting their pictures taken in this area. Not anymore!
We came home and had a nice meal of the Eggplant Rollatine and Ravioli. After dinner, we had to go out in the yard for our traditional campfire complete with Smores! Scott shoveled a path to get to the firepit and around it so we didn't have our chairs and feet in the snow.
The snow on the picnic table was slidding off, but frozen in this position!


Alyssa made a drink of 'Gabriel'. That's the name Scott and Alyssa gave our tree. Every year Alyssa makes a cup of tea using a few pieces of the tree, needles and all! YUCK!

Dec 23rd
Today was spent getting last minute stocking stuffers and cooking. Huck found a way to entertain himself! Alyssa put some cat treats in his stocking. I guess they smell because he just HAD to get one out... which he succeded!
Don't look at PJ's work shoes!!!

Dec 22nd
I decided to take some pictures of some of my favorite ornaments. After we lost a lot of our ornaments two years ago (the tree fell on Alyssa while she was asleep on the couch!), I wanted to make sure that I have pics of them in case it happens again!
This was given to Scott when he was about 2 years old. He was such a HUGE Mickey fan!
This one is Scott's also
I always like this one. It's from Dept 56.
This brings tears to my eyes when I read it... not sad tears but from laughing so hard! Maybe to fully understand it, to get the full effect, you need to have experienced the people in New orleans. The ones on the bayou really speak like that!
http://www.creativeyouthideas.com/blog/humor/cajun_night_before_christmas_1.html

D & F gave this to Chris when Chris was probably about 6 years old. It's Don Mattingly.
PJ and I received a pair of these at my Bridal Shower! They were made by one of my aunts. I don't remember which one though!
My parents gave this one to Brooke for her first Christmas. There's a dollar bill inside that she has never taken out!
This is in memory of our trip to Times Square to see the ball drop in 2000. It's a Christopher Radko.
Scott bought this before leaving New Orleans after graduation.
Brooke gave this to us.... you can tell we love Disney!

Dec 21st
My Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter cactus is really giving us quite a show lately. I've made a lot of cuttings in the last year or so and they're now all flowering all over the house! This one in particular is a cutting from the 'mother' plant that we have that was PJ's Grandmother's plant. It's over 50 years old!

Dec 20th
The snow really picked up last night!
These 2 lumps are 2 of our cars!

We thought Alyssa's roof caved in because it looked so low. It's a convertible roof. It didn't though!
Holly
Between the cars
shed
Hydrangea
Leyland Cyprus

picnic table
This is the fire pit but looks like a butt to me!