Rating the new year..........Is it going to be a 10?

It's Christmas morning 2009........not a creature is stirring.......

Pelham two week-ends ago with the Kayes and Mays was great. Now the London Kayes are back home for a visit and the CA Mays are on the other side of the country along with Jenn and Jass, and we are in snow covered NJ.

Our romantic get-away at the Pocono Palace in East Stroudsburg was fun, too. Nothing like a heart-shaped jacuzzi, cozy fireplace, personal pool, and round bed to set the mood. The resort's game room and delicious dining experience were the icing, as it were.

We were home in time to "welcome" the big NE snowstorm of pre-winter season 09-10....24 inches of snow! (Even I was out shoveling!!!)

It's vacation time!

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, we are back in NJ just in time for freezing!!! (Literally, 32 degrees today)
I went over with my DKG sisters to Innova and sang with the patients there. It was fun, but there were some new restrictions that limited us in gift giving and picture taking.

We loved hooking up with Dana and Sue, our online friends, for dinner at Prospectors last night, and then the Josh Turner concert (short, but awesome...his set, not stature! LOL) and a coupla hours dancing fun.

To recap the FL trip...it was fun with Wilma and Harry, the talk, dancing at Cowboys, Universal, visiting with Linda, pool and sun, pool and sun, lots of fun! The delayed flight home wasn't too too bad. All in all, it was a fine vacation trip!

Tomorrow I want to finalize all my HR Block requirements and be totally fluid in handling Emerald Advances. My first day of work-work is Monday at 10 in Burlington City. :-)

Sunday we are driving to Pelham for a big family get together. Film at 11.....

Sunny Florida

Today was a rainy day in sunny FL; we played pinochle and ate in with Wilma and Harry. Last night we ate and ate and ate at Boston Lobster Feast. It was awesome!!!
We had a lot of fun in the sun at the pool and jacuzzis, steam room, sauna, et al.
They had to head back to Sebastian today; we'll miss them!

I hear talk of snow back home. I'm glad we're here and not there (but I hope it melts fast off our driveway and sidewalks while we aren't there to deal with it!)

They have a "Cowboys" near us to keep the country dancing itch satisfied; yay.

Future plans include Universal and finding Linda among other things.

Sleigh bells ring.....

In 45 minutes it will be December. Wow. You know, they have a nickname for next year already. They are going to call it "ten". Cute.

Tom and I got a lot accomplished today, the highlight of which was actually sending off our passport renewal applications (complete with photos...thank you , Triple A!)

My sister in law(well, outlaw) is concerned that I reveal way too much info online, so i won't say what we're doing at the crack of dawn Wednesday morning, but I will hint that we will be very happy to see Wilma and Harry later that day near their home.

I'm psyched for tax season with H&R Block this year. My January schedule at the Sears Burlington is all blocked out (no pun intended?lol) and I am ready to get started!

We will be hooking up with a goodly portion of my side of the family in mid-December as the Mays descend upon NYC and we meet up with them at Jeff's for a Cody birthday party. We are hoping to get there to see the boys in "Oliver" at their school too the same week.

We bought tickets for the Jamboree in the Hills today. So far the list of groups performing over the four days is: Brooks and Dunn.
(I'll keep you posted.....)

Extending the week-end...

Tom and I will be staying in Atlantic City off and on all week, just for fun. :-)

We ended up going to Prospectors Friday after all when we heard Ganine was going to be there. It was great to see her after all this time and maybe we can do it again Thursday!

I went to the annual Women's Expo at Hartford School Saturday morning. The place was packed and parking was at a premium.
There were a lot of exhibitors including local authors Patricia Perry and Bea Joyner,

awesome caterers with delicious samples- from chocolate covered strawberries and mouth-watering appetizers to hot and spicy quesidillas to Jamaican cuisine. (The caterers pictured...just to give them a well-deserved plug!)....are Culinary Express, Sensational Host, and Scotch Bonnets Catering ,Jamaican Cuisine).

A really nice surprise was running into my dancing friend, Esther, who, it turns out, is a massage therapist at Rizzieri. (Now I love her even more than ever! :-)

The weather outside is frightful...........

It's Friday night and normally we would be heading for Prospectors, but it is cold, wet, windy and dreadful out. Plus there are other extenuating circumstances so it looks like a cozy warm night in.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a dancing kinda night...and we can hook up with Ganine and Jim for the first time in a long time.

My thoughts are with Terri in Tampa.....

We have to pick a week-end for our romantic getaway I won at the NJEA Communication Tools Workshop. Whoohoo! How fun!!!

My aunt in CA has written a children's book about her life with her sisters in days of old (one of her sisters was my mother), and in reading it, I learned a number of details that were new to me. It was like finding treasure at an archeological dig site. :-)

Busy busy busy

Right now a very patient Verizonwireless representative is trying to help us get Tom's laptop functioning with the new replacement aircard I traded in for today. Why can't things ever be easy???
We are missing Tracy Byrd at Prospectors but are looking forward to reconnecting with Ganine and Jim there next week. Dancing last night was fun and we met some great newcomers.
I am in sleep deprivation recovery...Wednesday I got up early and headed out to take my HRB certification test and stayed up right into overnight at Contact, then headed for the train to AC and the NJEA Convention, had fun there, trained back and headed to my late-running class in Willingboro and then came home around 11. (Did I mention I fell asleep while the District Manager was talking to our class?? How embarrassing!) Friday was Eastampton Seniors, a Contact In-Service with John from Social Security, and dancing. Today was hair and getting the new device (who knew what a nightmare installing it would be??), and meeting up with Mirella for some HRB study grouping.
We are missing Jeff and fam on their way to DC to see Hannah next week-end because of a vacation and meeting conflict :-(
Tomorrow Tom has a bowling tournament and it's Sugarfooting Sunday too. :-)

November already????

Yes, we have changed the clocks back and it is cold and darker earlier....The Phillies are in the World Series and Halloween has come and gone.

The days are just flying by. I don't know how I would ever get everything done if I had to work still! :-)

Today we ran over to Taylors in Cherry Hill to see Blake Shelton "singing for beer". He was really good. What a nice treat!









This week coming up I have election stuff- calls on Monday, working the polls Tuesday, certification test Wednesday, NJEA Convention Thursday, and an in-service with Contact on Friday. I am keeping busy, that's for sure!

I need a vacation! I know! We can go to Atlantic City....and maybe Orlando....? :-)

Fun Brunch in Lambertville

Wow, I don't write very often these days, do I? (Come to Facebook!)
It was another Sugarfooting Sunday. Unfortunately I was REALLY late to get there this time...like 6:48 and guess what? They closed early- at 7! Oy! But I got a few dances in! (and compliments and thanks for my on-the-floor teaching, so that was flattering....)

Earlier in the day, I headed out to Lambertville with Mike and Jill and the birthday girl for our October Brunch group get together. It was delicious and fun and Marian joined us, which was great. Brunch pictures site

Tom is feeling better and making delicious food for us to lose weight and get healthy on. Yum yum.

Tomorrow is class, show Roxanne how to powerpoint, another class.

This is the week with the big BCREA 50th celebration luncheon!! :-)

My latest goals are: get tickets to Wicked, get together with Jeff and fam, get more sleep, be a really really good tax preparer, exercise at the gym, read the book club book(s), visit DIS and take pix for the website, post more oldtime school pix on the "Everything I Know I Learned in Fifth Grade" Facebook group.

Good night and God bless. :-)

Fun Week-end!

I am getting ready to head out to Prospectors for Sugarfootin' Sunday. Yesterday at Margie's was big, big fun! It was great to see everyone that could make it to the annual bash!

Catching Up

Hmm....well, Keith Anderson was great with his show at Prospectors last week. We loved him.

This week I had H&R Block classes every day at least once. The ones in Lumberton hven't been very full, but the Rents and Royalties class was packed! I guess a lot of tax preparers have rental properties....or so it would seem.

We danced Wed and Thursday and are looking forward to Margie's party today. Tom had 14 strikes in a row in bowling the other night...too bad they weren't all in the same game!

I worked with Kathy to get the Sigma article in for the DKG state newsletter, picked up photos at the BCEA Office to upload on the website, and updated the website.

Friday I made a new friend while I was working at Contact. She may come to dance on Sunday for Sugarfootin'. I'm going to try working an overnight there soon...should be interesting....

I need instructions in Tweeter 101. How do people follow hundreds of people's tweets? And why? I don't get it. Now Facebook....that I like! :-)

I my become more of a TV watcher. We saw the premier of "Flash Forward" and found it intriguing. We watched the first two new "Fringe"s. Love the show, but it is getting a little weirder. (Isn't that an oxymoron?LOL) I have no idea when "24" is coming back, but we are loking forward to that as well.

Oh. The water people came by to make the meter capable of being read by radio waves or something....and my electric bill for the last month was over $500. I was horrified and called them. Someone is going to come and check the accuracy of my meter sometime, but meanwhile, that may be how much our usage actually costs. :-(

Better Late Than Never Department...

Here's a collection of photos from our July/August vacation in Myrtle Beach. Doreen and George came to hang out in Week Two.
Myrtle Beach 09 Photos

Lucky Day!

Whoo hoo! After class last night I met up with Tom at Prospectors for some dancing fun and guess who won tickets to the Keith Anderson concert at the club Saturday night? Tom! It was awesome. They just called the ticket number and Tom said, "That's me!" :-)

Things are still going strong with the old fifth grader contacts on Facebook. I even played matchmaker in hooking up two old buddies who haven't been in touch since 7th grade. (I found Keita for Shawn from Keita and his bride's Crate and Barrel guest registry! LOL)

I want to go to Vicki's art show tonight in Millville. Tomorrow I have two community/fun days! I'm heading for Delran's at ten, but have to be back to work Eastampton's by noon. I hope the weather cooperates for both!

I am now the owner of a "World's Best Tax Pro" cup. I am hoping to fulfill that claim!

Everything I Know I Learned in Fifth Grade

I started a Facebook group last year to try and get in contact and communication with all my former students, but it didn't get very far. Now, suddenly, with the posting of some old-time photos scanned from my album collection of yesteryear, the comments and interaction between former fith grade Delran classmates is flourishing. I am really happy to see how they all turned out!

We mailed Nathan's "left luggage" from their visit here and we can't wait to see the NY, formerly London, Kayes again soon.

I am happily not back for the 2009-10 school year, but hoping to continue touching base with those who are. Between the http://www.delran.myfamily.com site and the BCEA website I maintain, I am managing to keep abreast of current issues and activities.

We are looking forward to Mike and Margie's party on the 26th along with other happening September events!

I am taking a gazillion advanced tax courses and looking forward to working at H & R Block again this year.

Tom is back to bowling and working out at the gym and we are trying to be healthier eaters, too!
(Wish us luck!)

Jeff!

Jeff, Jackson, and Nathan are driving to Seaside for the day tomorrow and then coming to our house. How exciting and how wonderful to have them living in America now. The plan is for us to go with them back to Seaside on Wednesday. (This will be good practice for next Tuesday's Annual First Day of School Trip to Seaside!)

I have to get up early to go to Part Two of the Tax Issues class in Lawrenceville.

It's September and I guess my body must have known the season because my summer tan is starting to "fall" off. (Get it?)

I saw a lot of teachers commenting on Facebook about how sad they are that school is starting tomorrow and why do they have to go back so early.....I feel for them..........really...........

I'm thinking the boardwalk and all the stands are still open. I hope so, because the Londoners are really looking forward to it....

Lunch at Otts

I invited everyone on my DIS private staff website to lunch at Ott's today, then mentioned it on Facebook, then wrote some individual letters to people from the Middle School and High School, and asked Sue Perotta to post a notice at DIS for people to see.

I was glad to hear back from people, even though most of them aren't available....keeping in touch is the main thing! I only know of four for sure(!) but we'll see who turns up!

Meanwhile the first day of school trip to Seaside is on the horizon....maybe we'll go next week too...the weather looks good.

My advanced H & R Block classes are starting up. I am so excited to be back in a learning environment!

We've seen some new movies. I like District 9, and was surprised I did! I am glad I got to see how the movie business handed Time Travelers Wife (but, as expected, the book was way better!)

Kim Hummell and Kris were at Prospectors Friday while we were there! How fun to see them!

I'm thinking of the Kayes in Pelham and hoping all is going well with the settling in and that we get to see them soon!

Big Comcast is Watching You!

Wow! I had the second blog comment in my history of blogging here and it was a very nice note from Melissa of Comcast, concerned about my connectivity troubles with the internet. (See comment on previous entry).

I was actually going to report our success in getting back on line here anyway. Tom went in person to the Comcast office and got the modem traded in for a new one, and then came home and hooked it up and ..voila!...back in business. Yay.
Meanwhile, how did Melissa find my note? Isn't that amazing?

I am heading out to a meeting. Looking forward to Prospectors and dancing tonight!

Super slow Comcast-The Online Nightmare

Recent news: Myrtle Beach was awesome, I got lost two times one day en route and home from a meeting in Lawrenceville (thank goodness I live in a small state!), I'm trying to get my DIS school friends to lunch next Monday for a preschool starting get together, Doreen is home after successful surgery, Jeff's boys are back home (in NY!)from a week in CA having fun with Jenn and Jass and Sue and all, I'm working on the BCEA website, getting it ready for fall, my H&R Block classes start up tomorrow, we're still looking to get to the beach a couple of times before summer's end, and I'm still loving Facebook, but the big story on action news is....our internet suddenly got really slow to no trans and I called Comcast and they will send someone on ........WEDNESDAY! (sometime between 1 and 5). Don't they know we live on the computer and this is torture?!!! :-(

Myrtle Beach Fun Time

We have been in Myrtle Beach since Saturday at 5:30 a.m. and have enjoyed good weather, sun on the beach, lazy river and pool fun, and water aerobics every morning!
Tom just set up some golf tee times ( I am really good now that I had some practice with Tom, Bill, and Frank back in NJ...haha!) and George and Doreen are coming Friday. Whoo hoo! We had so much fun with them at Jamboree in the Hills and now we get to see them more! Yay!

Jeff and the rest of the London Kayes are in NYC now and we can't wait to see them when we get home.

Jamboree in the Hills 11

I am on my way to the pool party here at our hotel, but meanwhile, things are going well here at JITH 2009. Here are the photos from Day 1:

Party in the Park

Kim had a party for McKenzie's ninth birthday. It was big big fun and a good time was had by all!
See the pictures!



On another front, Jessica is in NY for the week and we are hoping we'll have a chance to hook up with her before she has to go home.

We're getting excited about the annual Jamboree in the Hills. George, Doreen, and four days of country music! Whoo hoo!

Wednesday is July...oh my...!

After we got home from the CMA Fest and Nashville vacation, I went up to Trenton for a Lobby Day with NJEA, caught up with Contact time, danced up a storm, attended the DEA Retirement Brunch, put off the Annual Day After the Last Day of School Trip to Seaside for a better day, attended a google tools workshop at the County library, went to Manayunk with the Brunch group for the Arts Festival, took the online course of defensive driving, updated the BCEA website, and went to lunch with Sandy and Conni, among other things.

I am glad folks had good weather for the Kenny Chesney concert. We saw the show in Nashville and it was awesome!
Jeff and family are moving to NY the end of July (last we'd heard it was the end of August) so we'll be in Myrtle Beach when they arrive, but hope to see them ASAP after our return.

CMA Fest 2009 Photos

Here's the pictorial of the event from our viewpoint:

Home again, home again....jiggedy jig

We left early from Nashville to drive in better weather than what we saw coming and it worked out fine. Fifteen hours later.......at like 8 a.m. ....we pulled into the Eastampton driveway and crashed.

We are still recuperating, but it was a great time and we are looking forward to next year's CMA Fest already!

I have some photos up on facebook and will be organizing and getting some more out on my usual cyber spots soon.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Lobby Day in Trenton (hold that education budget line!!!). I haven't heard back from BCREA yet confirming my participation, so I think I'll call them now to double check.

Wednesday is the last day of school for Delran kids and my fifth grade class that's graduating this year must be soooo excited! Good luck to you all!!!!

I am going to the Retirement Brunch on Thursday and the Senior Expo right after, and then Friday will be the annual Day After the Last Day of School Trip to Seaside, if the weather ever clears up.

We're home now until the Jamboree in the Hills in July.

The really good news is I found Jason Bechtold on Facebook today (thanks, Becky!)

Also, happy birthday to Beej and Pat.

See you next year!

On the last day of CMA FEST 2009 we bumped into Prospector folks (!!)
and bought tickets for next year's Music Festival.
The last show was star-studded and awesome! We saw Jack Ingram, Heidi Newfield, Montgomery Gentry, Miranda Lambert, John Rich, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, and Kenny Chesney.
We met some up and comers at Convention Hall in the day, saw Taylor Swift from a distance, and enjoyed John Michael Montgomery at the Riverfront, and our friends,
Bomshell, at the Sommet Center.

CMA FEST

Our first day at Fan Fair was long, but fun!
The weather predicted a bad thunderstorm, and sure enough a big one hit just as we got to the LP Parking field. We waited it out and the rest of the daytime was sunny and warm.
We picked up our materials, did a quick tour of the Convention Center, hustled down to Riverfront Park to watch a parade of stars (Phil Vassar, Heidi, Diamond Rio, and more). We sat by some new friends from Australia- Darren, Joan, and Brett. They do a lot of traveling! (Brett's a golf pro at a club near Syndney.)
We tried to find Heartland, but they were moved from the Hard Rock Stage to Chevy and we never found them.
En route we bumped into Lee Roy (from the Roys) whom we'd met in Myrtle Beach at the Beachwagon. They are playing here today and Saturday too.
We walked across the bridge to the LP Stadium, ate and relaxed in the car (all the venues had an hour wait to eat!) and then went in.
Our seats were good and Brooks and Dunn put on a great show...including soldiers during their "Only in America" finale. Reba had a cameo with them in "Cowgirls Don't Cry".
Reba was next and doing a great show when the emcee came out after song three and said dangerous weather was coming and they'd let us know when to come back in, but we had to leave our seats. Two hours later (who even thought it would happen?) they let us back in (a lot of folks left before the heavy rains came...following an hour of lightning).
Darius Rucker was awesome, Dierks Bently, too, and Brad Paisley was ready to sing all night!
We got home around 2:40 a.m. (Central zone time!) and now we're heading out for Day 2.

The Trek to Nashville Saga

We left at about 3 a.m. and it's now 4:36 and we have just passed Knoxville, so we have about two hours more to go. Tom did ALL the driving, so we pretty much stopped at every rest area when he got tired.

It just stopped pouring now. (It was sunny and warm all the way til right at the Tennessee line.) Traffic hasn't been too too bad.

The really fun part, though, was deciding to take a side trip to see the Natural Bridge when we saw the sign in Virginia for it.

Nashville, here we come!

We'll be leaving soon for the arduous drive to Nashville. We are very excited about attending our very first "Fan Fair", after hearing about it all these years. (Too bad xtu decided to have the 25th anniversary show the same week!)

It looks like there is so much going on all the time...I guess the hard part will be planning where to be and when for maximum entertainment and star contact/sightings.

This is going to be so much fun!!!

Countdown to Nashville

Tomorrow is June 1st. (Wow, time so flies now!) In just little over a week we will be heading down to Nashville for our first Fan Fair (CMA Fest). We are so excited!

Meanwhile, Tom has been golfing like every day and doing really well! Some nice weather day I plan on joining him to practice my skills on the links! :-)

I'm still fascinated by Facebook and finding more and more people there all the time!

It's interesting to think that with Jeff in Doreen's neck of the woods (Pelhm, White Plains-ish) he will seem close, when all this time, she has seemed far. You know what I mean? Hmm.....

Happy Memorial Day!

Summertime and the living is easy........! Okay, well, it's not summertime yet but it's been feeling like it this weekend for sure. And all my still in school friends are counting down the days.

At least one of my few blog followers has made it known that I've been remiss in logging in here. Sorry! The thing is, I've gotten really into facebook and it is so much fun (but rather time consuming!)I am Roberta Sallee on it, if you want to join and "friend me".

Seriously, these glimpses into the lives of people I know from now and yesteryear are just fascinating! One friend has oldtime photos of the Willingboro of her childhood on it. Made me think of the Hummells for sure!

We've been home since Las Vegas the end of April and keeping busy here. Tom has been doing a lot of golfing and less bowling now that the winter league season is over. We still do dancing (I learned zydeco and went to a zydeco dance!) and I am catching up with the CONTACT work I missed from all the vacationing. (Small commericial here... the next training session for helpline volunteers is starting up in July)

Hope your Memorial Day week-end has been/is/continues to be great!

You talking to ME?

Kathy Schrock shared a website called vocaroo.com This sound bite is an experiment:


It did! That's pretty cool!
Okay, so what's been going on lately is not that much. Tom is getting better from his recent illness. I went to Sugarfootin' Sunday at Prospectors and had big big fun. I am trying to coordinate the Brunch group for dinner Sat. night. I thought taking them all with me to the DiPilla's Bridgeplayers presentation of "Much Ado About Nothing" in Burlington would be fun. Ann says yes, no word from others yet........
It's been pretty rainy, but Tom managed to get out and cut the lawn yesterday (it was a jungle out there!)
Tomorrow is Teacher Appreciation Day and I hope to get to Carlucci's to take photos of the BCEA crowd there.....

Keep safe and keep learning

Janet Napolitano is speaking on C-Span. Secretary of Education Duncan is on too. "School is not over yet. We are going to end strong!" His idea of having teachers getting long term lesson plans ready, in case schools are closed and students are forced to learn at home is an interesting one. (And if they are told to stay home from school, they should stay there and not like hang at the mall, Janet says).

So we are home now and will be for awhile. Las Vegas was big big fun.

Heading home

Tom and I are at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas awaiting the plane that will fly us home. A funny thing happened on the way to the gate. Just after we finished reassembling our material possessions and started walking to Gate C25, there was a call to halt and everyone ...baggage handlers, passengers and all...had to stop. It was surreal...like a scene from Sleeping Beauty at the part where they all fell asleep as is. We never found out what the problem was, but apparently, whatever it was it was solved, and we all moved on with our lives about five minutes later.

Ok they are boarding us now, but we are in Southwest part B so we can remain seated for awhile. With the new line up system, Tom and I had to sit separately on the way out because we were late in the numerical order. I hope we have better luck on the return trip. Other than that, Southwest was great and I recommend that airline to all!

Highlights later...gotta pack up.

A bit of irony

We are still having fun in Las Vegas...more about that later, but meanwhile, check out this bit of ironic photographic comparison.........

Make a Smilebox greeting

Viva Las Vegas!

We were so sad to leave Hawaii. It was a great vacation, we made a lot of new friends, had a wonderful time, and got to hang with old friends....Teri and Dan and Oregon Marc....always a pleasure.


After a brief stint at home ...that included some happy times at Prospectors ...including a propitious encounter with old time dance friends, Larry and Rose (who told us some good places to go in Las Vegas!), we boarded an early morning flight and here we are...

It is warm and sunny and we are looking forward to more good times.
And good luck and good bowling to Tom and his teammates in the tourney!

Aloha from Kauai

We are on week two in Kauai and still having a wonderful time!
Marc arrived Wednesday and we have been enjoying showing him around! Yesterday we did Wailua Falls and Waimea Canyon and we found a great place to watch surfers called Pakala Beach. We parked on the side of the road and followed the trail through the woods to the beach. I felt like Joan Wilder. We had to walk through some water to get to the other side, but it was worth it.










Teri would love this beach! On the right it was calm for paddling out, but the waves on the left were perfect to grab and get a long ride in.

Aloha!

It's Sunday morning and we are going to hook up with Teri later for some touring and possible surfing for Tom.

We are so lucky to have such a good friend here in Honolulu.

We've been dancing twice at her fave place to dance ...on the Pearl Harbor base, and we had dinner at their great new house last night. Dan is a very handy man to have around!

Hawaii is as beautiful as ever and we are so happy to be here.

And they're off!

Hawaii tripping 2009 is underway!
We had a 3:30 a.m. pick-up for our 6 a.m. flight and are currently in Chicago Airport.




Tom is sleeping and I am sipping coffee and on the internet. Pictures are going up on my google picasa site.
I loved the airport dinosaur!

Happy birthday to me!

I had a great birthday this year!
Friday lunch with Sandy and Joanne at Robin's Nest, dinner and dancing and cake with Tom and Ganine and Jim at Prospectors (where three other people who share my birthdate were celebrating too!), the receipt of an AWESOME photo/poem poster all about me created, prepared, and express mailed to me from Sue, Jeff, and Jennifer, so many good wish greetings from my facebookand other online friends, and the annual birthday dinner with the brunch group Saturday night. Plus, we are continuing the celebration with a trip to Hawaii coming up! Whoo hoo!

Tax time

Tax season is always an unsettling time for most people, I guess...I know it is for me. This year is no exception, but I do have somewhat of a different perspective now that I am actually working at H&R Block. Would it be prejudicial to say they are the very best company to count on for helping taxpayers in this trying time? Maybe. But I would mean it.

So besides learning all there is to know about tax preparation (see me in 35 years!) I am keeping busy with Contact and dancing and vacation planning and stock market watching (that comes complete with lots of hand wringing...)

The big story is my brother Jeff, who, after living in London for 19 years (and establishing dual citizenship and a lovely family of four) is moving back to America...New York, to be exact, in August! How wonderful! What a change for the family way of life. I haven't heard all the repercussions in person yet, but I am looking forward to all the details!

Caitlin is back from Hawaii and Cody is a great golfer....that's from Sue....no word from the J branch of the family lately....

Ok..off to the chiropracter....(Straight is great!)

Snow???

It's March 1st (in like a lion) and they are calling for a major snowfall tonight and into tomorrow.
When I got home from the DHS production of "Joseph and the Amazing....Dreamcoat"(which was WONDERFUL!) Tom gave me that weather news and I panicked because I was supposed to do some volunteer work tomorrow and I do NOT drive in snow. But it worked out and I can stay home and do cookies or whatever one does on a snowbound day. (Good luck and happy snow day, my old colleagues!!!)

Facebook is working out really nicely for getting in touch with/staying in touch with friends and relatives near and far, old and new. The most recent best example was me making the comment on Saturday that I was up too early and I got an almost instant response from a casual friend in Texas we met in Hawaii two years ago (that I haven't talked to for just about that long ) saying he was up early too, keeping his lawn up to his neighbors' expectations. Cool or what?

Our blue tooth player went on the fritz and we sent it back to the company to get fixed (Tom actually had tears in his eyes.........just kidding!) and now he is struggling with re-wiring the system for just regular old DVR's he got from Blockbuster when he turned in the blue tooth ones we couldn't watch....

Yay, 24 is back!!!!

One of these days I'll sort and post the best of the FL/Cruise photos....really.

Time MARCHes on

Hard to believe it will be March this week-end already. Wow.
We are recuperated from the Florida fun and are getting back into the swing of NJ (but oh...we miss the warm!!!)

This was me....never far from a computer....using my time wisely before we had to leave for the airport to fly home.......
Tom's back to bowling and even golf if the temp goes above a certain level, and I am back to HR Block and Contact and dancing and computer-ing.

The big story is the seemingly doomed economy and its ramifications on all of us. Our President has a lot of hard work ahead of him, that's for sure. I wish I had a functioning crystal ball (I wish I'd had one two years ago!)

What a difference ten days makes!

I see that last time I wrote was over a week ago. We've been home for 10 days already. Hard to believe.
Hey, it's cold here! What's up with that???
I've been trying to get back in the swing of things with HR Block. The people that work there are so nice and I've met some great clients too! It's tiring, though! I remember work now...! Yep, this is what is what it was like!
Scary news....robberies in Mt. Laurel....as in...the Prospectors parking lot car break-ins. :-(
And of course the stock market which took one look at the President signing the stimulus plan and took a nose dive. This is the worst it's been. Anyone see light at the end of this tunnel?
I bumped into some Panama cruising friends of Margie's today in Sears. What's up with that kitchen, Margie? Making you crazy or what???
I have so many pictures and so many options of places to put them....But some available soon, I promise!

Cruise News

Today is our last full day on the cruise. We'll be docking in Nassau in about an hour. I just came back to the stateroom from the debarkation talk ("Don't pack any illegal substances in your luggage or you'll be calling your friends back home and saying you're extending your trip to 20 years because you had such a good time...")
We met tons of really nice people and had a wonderful time on the cruise. Yesterday when Mike from Nashville and I won the ship on stick prize for the big screen trivia I was so proud!!
My second favorite thing of yesterday (an "at sea" day) was the Saturday Night Fever dance lesson onstage. How fun! (no pics, though, because Tom didn't join me for that one :-(
Best dinner: lobster
Best story: Cathy and Steve of Calgary (fell in love at 17, were broken up by parents, married others, had families separately, remarried this past September and will live happily ever after...awww....)
Most romantic time: frolicking in the water in Antigua
Most energetic: core workout at the spa
Most beautiful spot: Megan's Bay, St. Thomas
Best husband on the ship: Tom!

Ft. Lauderdale Beach brings back memories....

Yesterday Tom, Diane and Benny, and I headed over to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. We had a lovely lunch (Rock Burger at the outdoor cafe and a giant virgin pina colada...to get into the cruise mode, I guess!) and then walked across the street to enjoy the sand and surf (the noun, not a verb!)
Today is our last full day here at Bonaventure....the week went sooo fast.
A mini cold front came in...at like 2 o clock on the dot....so we sadly left poolside and bingo, bought a couple of books and returned for some indoor activities.
Tomorrow.........embarkation!

Mid Vacation Report

We are on day five of our vacation in Florida. The weather is beautiful (warm and sunny) and we are relaxed and happy.
The Bonaventure Vacation Village is beautiful and we have been busy eating and golfing, dancing and swimming and sunning and jacuzzi-ing and barbecuing and meeting new people from all over.
Dancing at the Round Up has been fun....even though they do sooo many line dances we don't know.
Today we are aiming to get to the beach.

A good visit was had by all

We just kissed Doreen and George good-bye and sent them on the homeward trail after a fine brunch at Prospectors. They were in for the week-end and we did a whirlwind Friday night at Prospectors (and Jim and Ganine were there too!!), Saturday movie ("Gran Torino") that we all enjoyed immensely, Bucca de beppo dinner (another hit!), and a very crowded (Prospectors was closed with a private party) 38 West. Carol from the Jamboree in the Hills joined us for dinner and dancing Saturday and we all had a great time!

Backing up a bit, we did a reunion dinner at Prospectors with mega folk sprice and ab (Sue and Dana from Michigan) on Wednesday. Dana was in town on business and Sue helped us organize the get-together (just sorry Melissa couldn't join us). It was great except for poor Sue's drive to us from Phila which took and hour and a half longer than it should have. (She fired her GPS, I heard).

I'm thinking of Margie and Mike and their crowd on this week's cruise to Panama and hoping they are having a warm and wonderful time.

I've been working at Block and Contact (the book club meeting was postponed for weather) and all is well on both fronts.

It's movie time.....

The "Why me?" Dept.

One minute you have your wallet and all is well. The next minute you don't and you spend the next four and a half hours making police reports, canceling credit cards and bank accounts, and getting a duplicate license, all the while mourning the loss. Poor Tom.

On a happier note, Ganine returns to Prospectors to dance and we are soooo glad to see her and have her back!

Work was never like this

Just a quick note to say that things at both Contact and H&R Block are going well so far. It is very different from being in front of a classroom full of kids, but I like it.
It was fun learning all the new information and practices and putting it all into action is very rewarding now. :-)

Meanwhile the weather has gotten really cold :-( and we stayed in instead of dancing and watched a silly yet heart-warming "chick flick" that's been on my list- The House Bunny. I liked it a lot!!!

We danced yesterday though and met a whole raft-ful of new folks, including 21t birthday boy, Mike, and friends Megan and Lauren. We are hoping to see them again soon.

Doreen and George are only one week away now!!! Can't wait!

Save those receipts

It is the very beginning of the new year and a perfect time to get organized and start saving all the receipts that will help you with your taxes next year.

That advice is coming to you from the newest H & R Block tax preparer on the scene.
I am very excited and can't wait to get started!!!

We had a lovely dinner with the brunch crowd Saturday night at Bacio's in Cinnaminson and are looking forward to dancing with George and Doreen when they come to town soon.

I still love my chiropractor and am assiduously reading my book for the next Book Club.

We are pretty much all set for the FL/cruise trip except for a car for the last two days....

Now Tom wants to throw Maui into the mix for the HI time (Omg! Caitlin is going to Hawaii for two months! She is so lucky!). We'll see how that works out........(the Maui for us, not the HI for Cait).

2009, and so far it's fine!

Well, it's next year already. I am used to 2009, it's 2010 that seems future-like, not to mention my 10 year passport will be expiring....but I digress....

We opted not to do the big New Year's Eve thing this year. Chinese food, movies, and staying in seemed to be the order of the evening. New Year's Day included heading to the gym for a work-out in addition to all the football games (for Tom) on an assorted array of TV screens.

In paying assorted(sordid?)bills, I realized that I have been paid by H & R Block twice already (direct deposit to a less frequently used account). I am looking forward to doing tax returns! I am also looking forward to leaving the cold weather behind and heading to FL and the warm Caribbean water!)

My kickbox class instructor moved to FL, on a related note, geographically speaking, and we miss him terribly! I almost went there Monday to work out and pretend he was leading it, but...nah....

I started going to Dr. Bidwell in Moorestown for chiropractic purposes. I LOVE her!!! (Ironically, my "we are one" bff , Doreen, started the same treatment the same time I did...independently of each other!) (The really good news on that front is she and George are coming to town in mid Jan. We are so excited!!!)

I have a feeling with the holidays on Wed into Thurs this year, a lot of people who have the week off are experiencing my usual disorientation with days of the week. I was just thinking, though, how happy i will be on the real Monday when I don't have to go back to work, just continue along in relatively carefree day recognition-not.

Perhaps I should get more sleep though. (New Year's Resolution?.......maybe......)