Happy New Year

2005 was a year to remember as a year of thankfulness...

1) My son graduated and got excepted to the high school he really wanted to go to. (He is doing excellent there and I'm so proud of him.)

2) My little ones got to spend the entire summer with their grandparents, dad and family. (Which is a blessing since their grandfather passed away just a few weeks after they returned so his last months were spent with his grandchildren that he loved and he died in his country as he wished.)

3) I got two months of peace and quiet, first time in about 15 years. (Although many of my close friends will tell you I whined about missing them almost the whole time ;).)

4) My mom had her last surgery and she is doing excellent. (I love my mommy.)

5) My friend Lindsay came to visit from Canada and we had so much fun together. (Even though I ended up in the hospital the last night she was here.)

6) Monette and Chris getting engaged. (WooHoo, I'm going to a wedding!)

7) Rae finally getting diagnosed and taking action to correct the problem. (You're one brave chica ;) )

8) Jenn and Les moving forward with their loving relationship. (I couldn't be happier for two more wonderful people.)

9) Shan...for toughing it out and going for her dream. (You can take my temp anytime sexy ;) )

10) Jamie S. for getting a new job and changing his whole life for a better future. (I'm proud of you hon.)

11) Jess for getting BOTH her passports and patiently waiting out the storms. (You are one fantastic woman hon.)

12) Amanda for taking the road blocks that you encounter in life with stride and being the cutest lil peach I know :).

13) Jamie C. for doing excellent in school. (I always knew that brain could be used for good and not evil ;).)

and last but not least...

14) John for always loving me despite wanting to strangle me on numerous occasions ;). You and I have gone through many ups and downs and even side to side but in the end we always seem to make it work.


I am blessed year after year with such a wonderful family and amazing friends and I'd like to say thank you all for being there for me through the trials and the celebrations. I love you very much.

A Lesson in Life

Coward : one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity,
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger

Synonyms: chicken, craven, dastard, poltroon, recreant, sissy
Related Words: defeatist, quitter; pushover, weakling, wimp; snake, sneak

Liar : one that tells lies

Synonyms: fabricator, fibber, prevaricator, storyteller
Related Words: defamer, libeler (or libeller), slanderer; perjurer; distorter, falsifier; equivocator, palterer; gossip, gossiper, talebearer; charlatan, cheat, cheater, confidence man, counterfeiter, cozener, deceiver, defrauder, dissembler, dissimulator, double-dealer, fraud, hustler, mountebank, pretender

Look to the Stars

Name: Anna June 15 1972
Time Zone is CDT Chicago, IL

Rising Sign is in 15 Degrees Virgo. You tend to be very shy and not very self-assertive. You are supercritical about how you appear to others. Even though you may think you are uninteresting and dull, you are actually quite soft- spoken, orderly, neat and very likable. You are a perfectionist with high standards, and at times you can be quite tactless in pointing out the faults of others. Very practical, efficient and purposeful, your appearance and bearing reflect your need to appear graceful, sensible and reserved. You have a crisp, no-nonsense approach to dealing with others. Never lazy or self-indulgent, you tend to be dedicated to the work ethic.

Sun is in 24 Degrees Gemini. You have a quick, bright and agile mind, but an extremely short attention span. You love the external, kaleidoscopic aspects of life, but you tend to avoid (and even fear) deep, close emotional involvements. As such, you seem to enjoy travel and sightseeing and generally being "on-the-go." You get quite listless when things around you become static and dull, but your excitement returns whenever you are stimulated by a new idea. Chatty, inquisitive and quite playful, you enjoy practical jokes and games in general. Your moods change quickly and often -- you are very restless and constantly in motion. You are known for your versatility and adaptability. Your vivaciousness enlivens any social gathering.

Moon is in 20 Degrees Leo. You always want to be proud of yourself and will never do anything that will make yourself look bad. You need the respect and admiration of others and enjoy attracting attention to yourself. Everything you do tends to be self-emphasized and self-exaggerated. Very stubborn, willful and independent yourself, be sure to allow others who are close to you the similar right to "be themselves." Your need for love, affection and reassurance, and your tendency toward vanity, allow you to have your head easily turned by flattery. The more insecure you are, the more you tend to be a showoff. You love games and sports as a matter of fact, you would usually rather play than work. Be careful of a tendency to be snobbish and uppity -- it does not become you.

Mercury is in 07 Degrees Cancer. Your emotions tend to rule your thought processes. You have difficulty seeing life objectively. You have an excellent memory, especially about things to which you have formed an emotional bond. You prefer ideas and thoughts that are known and familiar, and therefore tend to dislike fads or radical ideas. The beliefs and traditions of your family and culture are very important to you. Your thinking becomes quite unclear when you are emotionally shaken -- try not to make major decisions when you are upset. Let things calm down first.

Venus is in 27 Degrees Gemini. You are friendly, warm, open and tolerant toward others. You love variety in relationships, indeed you may even prefer to maintain more than one relationship at a time! Very witty and humorous, you have the ability to amuse and please others. This makes you quite popular. You love to play the field and thus find it difficult to settle down and make any deep emotional commitments. Your innate charm and vivacity makes you welcome most everywhere you go.

Mars is in 21 Degrees Cancer. Your moods are very important to your overall well-being. You are confident and self-assertive when you are feeling upbeat, and you are retiring, irritable and grumpy when you get depressed about anything. Very sensitive, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You are easily angered whenever you think someone has slighted you. It is best for you to show your anger immediately and let it all out, rather than to try to hold it in or to hold grudges for a long time. You're extremely loyal and defensive of your family, neighborhood, community and culture.

Jupiter is in 04 Degrees Capricorn. You tend to feel that the only results that are worthwhile are the results that are concrete and demonstrable. You distrust abstract solutions and appreciate measurable achievements. An excellent organizer and planner, you are optimistic as well as practical and realistic about what can and what cannot happen. Very responsible, you consider it a personal weakness to be wrong about anything. This makes you appropriately cautious. You are very efficient but you tend to be cool and detached.

Saturn is in 11 Degrees Gemini. You are such a clear thinker and speaker, with a logical orderly mind, that you are repulsed by abstract, intangible or unorganized thoughts or ideas. But you tend to get uptight about speaking in public because you are afraid to be wrong. Remember that the best way to learn is by making mistakes. Also, you will be so carefully prepared that you probably will not make many mistakes anyway. To be interesting to you, ideas have to be practical and useful.

Uranus is in 14 Degrees Libra. You, as well as your entire peer group, have a very free, unstable and unconventional approach to relationships and emotional commitments. You will be attracted to experiments in marriage and shared lifestyles. Personal freedom is more important to you than entangling emotional bonds. In the realm of art and aesthetics, you are attracted to the bizarre, shocking and unusual.

Neptune is in 03 Degrees Sagittarius. You, and your entire generation, are heavily involved in investigating and idealizing foreign and exotic intellectual systems and religious philosophies. The most extreme ideals will be pursued with gusto. You will be at the forefront of humanitarian attempts to improve the lot of those who are in need of assistance. You will be comfortable with the concept of the "global village."

Pluto is in 29 Degrees Virgo. For your entire generation, this will be a time when profound changes in society's attitude toward work, duty and responsibility will be initiated. Radical changes in attitudes toward personal health and general nutrition will be promulgated and gain wide acceptance and practice.

N. Node is in 26 Degrees Capricorn. You rarely get involved closely with anyone unless he or she has something specific and practical to offer you. You tend to be "all business" when it comes to dealing with others. You're usually so intently focused on a particular goal that you rarely have time for social niceties or casual fellowship. But you can definitely be counted on by others to get things done. When you say that you'll do something, you do it. As such, you're a valuable member of any team situation and will probably rise to a position of leadership within the group. Your trustworthiness and sense of responsibility are unquestioned. But do try to avoid the temptation to "use" others to reach your goals -- they might come to resent you.

Horoscope

Quickie: Some people are always working an angle. Don't trust anyone who has an agenda.
Overview: Still worried about a comment someone made to you a few days back? Or worried that they may not have told you the truth? Well, you can stop that now. Trust your judgment above all else.

I'm not really into this kind of stuff but I found this pretty interesting today.

Seal

Fearless people, Careless needle.
Harsh words spoken(or unspoken), And lives are broken.
Forceful ageing, Help me I'm fading.
Heaven's waiting, It's time to move on.
We can walk across the water.
Please don't cry, It's just a prayer for the dying.
I just don't know what's got into me.
Been crossin that bridge, With lessons I've learned.
Playing with fire, And not getting burned.
I may not know what you're going through.
But time is the space, Between me and you.
There is a light through that window.
Hold on say yes, while people say no
Life carries on... it goes on.
Just say die, And that would be pessimistic.
In your mind

How a Kiwi helps in bed

So I'm online chatting with friends and catching up after the few days everyone is gone for the holidays. I am still feeling frustrated from all the stuff going on and I need to work off some steam ;). I mention to the few friends that I'm talking to that I'm tired but that I'm waiting up for John in hopes of getting some :P. He was downstairs trying to figure out why he couldn't get Quake 4 to run on his computer and you all know how techies are when faced with a problem...they must solve it at any cost, no matter how long it takes.

My friend Jess (from New Zealand) feels for me since she herself has not had any in awhile and thinks I've waited long enough. She messages John and tries to convince him to get upstairs and do me. She then calls him on the phone and *talks* to him for a bit, if you know Jess you know that sexy Kiwi accent has a positive effect on men. As soon as she hangs up with him she calls me and we start giggling about the things she's said to him. He messages me online and say "Oh my, I don't remember the last time I've eaten a Kiwi" and I break out in a hysterical fit...yes I have a dirty mind ;). Not two minutes later he's up here in bed with this huge smile on his face. I lie next to him and as I'm still talking to Jess he starts fondling..I go quiet and she says "I can't believe it took two long distance phone calls to get you guys together" I giggle and go quiet again cause by this time he's got me half way undressed. She says "ok, I'm gonna let you go now before you start moaning and I get sexually frustrated".

Thanks Jess, you're my hero :p

Who said it was Merry?

As you all know it's not my holiday of choice but this year I did try much harder to get into the spirit. I put my tree up early and it looked pretty good too. I went shopping with a smile and actually looked forward to dinner being in my house this year. We celebrate on Christmas Eve so friday was really the last day for us to prepare. I baked cupcakes for Rosie's school holiday party and woke up early to get things done before I had to deal with all her little classmates. After school we got to take the class pets (guinea pigs) home for winter break.

On the drive home I get a call from a tenant at the building, she says there is no hot water. I figure maybe the hot water tank pilot light went out or something and didn't worry too much about it, then when I got home there was a message on the machine from another tenant about water coming into the bedroom. I tell John what's going on (he's at home cause he can't walk, his gout is acting up and couldn't go to work). He calls his friend Herman to meet me at the building to diagnose the problem. I walk up to the first floor door and hear it...at that point I knew it was real bad even before I opened the door. When we walked into the apartment there was water spurting and gushing out of the bathroom, the ceiling had almost completely collapsed (this is John's mom's unit) I walk up to the second floor and hear the same thing as I reach the door (thankfully this unit is empty). I open the door and this one is also gushing water. Herman and I rush down to the basement and he shuts off the main. Now no one in the building has water now.

Herman (a long time friend and a real estate broker) is on the cell phone telling John what's going on and says he has to go but will make a few phone calls and be back later if he can get a plumber to come out. I sit in my car and call my uncle (who is a contractor and is at another job in a suburb an hour away breaking down a chimney) He is trying very hard to calm me down as I'm explaining the situation throug tears, I swear I was having a nervous breakdown, he tells me that he'll call his plumber but he probably won't be able to come out til the morning. Just as I hang up the third floor tenant calls for an update, I tell her the water in the building is off and I'm gonna try to get it fixed ASAP. I feel horrible because the next day is Christmas Eve and I don't want these people without water. I call my best friend Ralph (who is a licensed heating/cooling specialist and who pretty much knows how to fix almost anything) and he says he'll come take a look at it. I call my mom and tell her what's going on and that I'm dropping everything off at her place cause now she'll have to cook since I have no idea how long this situation is going to last. I go home, get everything (including the kids) and drop it all off. Back to the building I go.

When Ralph gets there I show him where I saw the water spurting out from in the bathrrom on the second floor...he goes around the other side and says we have to cut through the drywall here in the dining room so we don't mess up the tile in the bathroom. He does that and boom he finds a bust, we go to Home Depot buy the necessary fix it stuff, come back and he fixes it. He turns the water back on and water starts shooting out from another place, we get soaked and off goes the water again. Two more busts...back to Home Depot we go. He cuts through a closet wall and has to fix those and then tries the water again. All looks good, well no more gushing water and my tenants holiday is saved. I was cold , wet and hungry when I finally got home at 1am. I was sick by morning :(.

My mom made a wonderful dinner and the kids had a great Christmas but as for mine...I had all of one hours sleep, I was feeling overwhelmed and unappreciated and had a fight with John right after dinner and ended up leaving my mom's house and went home. My brother came to get me and I eventually calmed down and went back to watch the kids open gifts. The remainder of the evening wasn't bad (I got chocolate cake and cookies and fudge). I sure am glad it's over though.

Hope everyone's Christmas was a whole lot merrier than mine was ;).

Vinegar and bras

The kids went to a dog show today. John's cousin's dog was in the show. His name is Benedict but Rosie forgets his name and calls him Vinegar (it's so cute).

On friday I went shopping with my mom and the kids, Rosie saw bras in her size, can you believe they make bras for little girls...anyway, she really wanted them, she begged so I gave in and bought her a white, pink and a blue one. She wanted to put it on as soon as she got home so I let her. John gave me a look and said "what are you trying to do, make her grow up faster?". My reply was..."Am I the one who made them in size 8-10?" She was so happy with the bra she walked around the house all night in it and at one point took off her shirt and walked around in just the bra. I explained to her that it was made to go underneath her blouse. That didn't make much of a difference cause the blouse came back off about 20 minutes later. I'll just wait til the novelty wears off. She did ask to wear it to school on Monday *shakes head* I can just imagine the note I'm gonna get from her teacher "Dear Ms. Aiello, your daughter was prancing around the room in her pretty pink bra today......."

Have a good weekend all.

Never sit in Santa's chair...

or you're likely to be swallowed up.

This cartoon reminds me of my dad...not because he has a big ass *laughs* but he has a recliner that is "his chair" which sits in a corner away from the sofa and love seat that no one is allowed to sit on. He makes few exceptions to the rule. People who visit from out of town, probably cause they are not likely to sit on his chair ever again or at least not for a really long time and me *big cheesy smile* because I'm Anna.

Nahhh....

The real reason why I'm an exception is because when I was 7 months pregnant for Rosie I couldn't sleep laying flat. I had to sleep sitting up which meant I got to sleep in his chair. After I delivered her I just kept sitting on it because I had a c-section and it was more comfortable. After that I used the excuse that it was closer to the tv and easier for me to see, he'd give me a look every once in awhile and walk away but now he knows that when I'm there I sit in his chair. I'll admit it, I'm a brat ;)

Here comes Santa Clause

Christmas shopping went well, the stores were not crowded at all and I found the voice changing Darth Vador helmet Jonathan asked Santa for and got some really cute Poly Pocket stuff for Rosie (the closet and a winter wonderland set). One more day of shopping should do it. YAY!!

I wasn't able to find a tree topper that I liked though so I went browsing through ebay today and I found an absolutely gorgeous one that I must have http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Faberge-crystal-gold-tree-topper-Christmas-600_W0QQitemZ6587093150QQcategoryZ33848QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem. I've never bought anything from ebay before but Josh says I should wait til the last day to bid. Anyway, if I'm lucky I'll get it. I suppose...I should make an account first ;).

It's been cold as heck here the last week. Ya know it's too cold when your nipples can cut through glass :p. I love snow but when you get brain freeze without a slushy you start to seriously think about moving to Florida for at least 6 months out of the year.

...or I'll beat you with the baby Jesus

I absolutely love the foamy christmas toon. http://www.illwillpress.com/xmas.html I play it at least once a day, oddly enough it gets me into the spirit :P. Whatever works eh?

I am going to brave the stores today....wish me luck. Anyone that knows me knows how much I loathe shopping, especially in crowded stores. I've walked out of a store leaving behind a full cart before because the lines were too long (this after shopping for an hour or more trying to find everything I wanted and waiting in a line for about half hour). I'm hoping that because it's a weekday it won't be that bad.

My friend Ross told me about this music site http://www.pandora.com/. You put in a song or an artist that you like and it selects others that are similar. Check it out, it's pretty cool.

Ta Daa

The tree's up...it looks pretty good. I need to buy a new star for the top and a few more ornaments, my mom bought some garland for it so we'll add to this.

I made the cookies, they turned out awful so I ended up making a cake which turned out yummy. I know..I know, how can I mess up Duncan Hines ;) I get so frustrated with baking, I'm an awesome cook *smiles* and modest too, I just don't understand why nothing ever turns out like the pictures. So for christmas when I try to make those Nanaimo bars I don't care what they end up looking like I'm gonna eat em' :p.

I haven't started christmas shopping yet *glares at Deli* (yeah, that's right I didn't forget you were done!) Gotta love movie passes and restaurant gift certificates, they save me every year ;). All I really have to worry about is getting the kids gifts from Santa and everything else I'll worry about later....much later *snickers*.

Oh Chit...it's December

I'm gonna be one tired girl today. We have lots to do and I haven't even slept yet...what time is it you ask, 6am and I'm on skype with Rae (she loves the way I tap these keys ;) )

I am so not looking forward to this but...we are going to put the tree up tonight. I'm gonna make cookies (I bought those new chocolate/caramel nestle morsels) and make cocoa. I'm hoping the chocolate is enough to make me smile while the kids listen to christmas songs as they decorate.


I made some awesome eggrolls friday night....can you tell I'm hungry?

I'll post some more later...promise :P