and good things just keep coming.....

I have a running buddy who has a rule that whenever we are running and she (it's always her) finds money she gives it to me. At first I thought it was because half the time she had no pockets and I always have a pocket or two (gum, kleenex, chap stick). A while back she lets me in on her little secret. If she gives away the money she finds then it brings her good luck. Kinda like "see a penny pick it up and through the day you'll bear good luck" and I add "give it to a friend and your luck will never end". I was talking about pennies though and usually she finds dimes, nickels, pennies and the occasional quarter. Recently she won $50.00 on two separate occasions on the lottery. So yesterday as I am off to meet her for our run I find a toonie (that's $2.00 for my US friends). I think about it....I mean it's $2.00! Do I have to give it to her? Yup! That's the rule. So I do and she is totally floored cause it's $2.00! Anyway she agreed it was the rule. Of course she would! I just gave her $2.00! LOL! So I find out yesterday that my zio (uncle) is coming from Italy for a three month visit. OMG! I am SO excited. He is my favorite uncle. He is the one who when I was visiting in Italy and lucky me I was able to do that on several occasions would always do a little something extra to make my birthday special. He would take off on his vespa with a roaster tied to the back. Head to the local eatery and pick up a roast chicken and then off to the bakery for the most scrumptious cake with spumonis on top. Yum! When I was living in Italy and was there for Christmas he went out and bought a traditional sweet bread in the shape of a turkey! He knew that I would miss turkey dinner and that was probably as close as I would get. Little things like that. He never married and lived in Australia for ten years before returning to Italy to look after my grandma after my grandfather passed away. I mean he literally gave up his life for her and after she passed away several years ago he came for a visit and has been coming about every three to four years. I have been very fortunate that I got to know him as well as I do. He speaks fluent english and loves to practice when he comes. Such a wonderful surprise! Tip of the day! If you find money...give it away! You never know what could happen!

freak my freak!

omg! holy surprise packages batman! this morning started out with another brisk run and then a quick shower and off to the hospital to get mamma checked out. dizzy spells have been hampering her for awhile so she started her tests out today with an ENG and a MRI will follow in January. I keep telling her to stop drinking and that would probably help. KIDDING! so back to the freak my freak. I return home and retrieve the mail cause let's face it isn't that the best part of the day, really? unless it is bills and then not so much. okay so this package is bulging (sounds dirty!) and it is addressed to me and I as I open it I try not to disturb the customs tape they put on it when they opened it. hey! checking out my package? And look what was inside:



a lovely note and prezzie from my cyber amiga who is half of the dynamic duo (love batman talk!). she sent me a stamp that says "I AM ART" and insists that if I stamp this on my forehead jon bon jovi will totally notice me! Uh hello! and here is the freak my freak part! this morning I awoke from the bestest dream ever. you see I was at the bon jovi concert and jon DID notice me and I got to sit with him while he signed autographs. YES! and then after I dragged laurie away from the souvenir booth she started taking pictures of us! YES! he fell asleep on my shoulder cause he was so tuckered after his concert. all together now ....awwwwww! YES! I thanked him for letting me hang out with him and he said no problem cause he thought I was amazing and very sweet! YES! I walked with him back to his dressing room at which point we ran into his wife who thanked me for getting him back there. uh ya, whatever! and I said good bye. woke up with my heart absolutely pounding from excitement and the fear that Laurie forgot to put her card in her camera and that we have no pictures. like it was real or something? LOL! so that my friends is freak my freak. the dream of having jon notice me and the prezzie with tools to get him to notice me. I am totally meeting this man! totally!

hump day

-17 today, cold, friggin' cold! here is a recap of today's exciting events:

8:00 am - child is dropped on my doorstep, sick and asking for ginger ale, give him two pills and send him to bed

8:30 am - after spending fifteen minutes getting bundled up like a two year old I join some other maniacs and run 10 km whereby we spend the next hour or so whining about how friggin' cold it is!

11:00 am - return home with ginger ale, hot chocolate (non fat, with just a splash of whip) and check on the child

12:00 am - after soup and a sandwich plant myself on the couch and am joined by this:



and for the next hour - we slept - and we were warm - I love this dog!

is it Tuesday?



who dat? that's my girl! peeking from behind hundreds of fresh bottles of luscious, but cheap paint. every Tuesday we have "art Tuesday". paint is splattered, papers cut and pasted, sewing machine a buzz, singing as loud as we can, giggles, puppies pacing and all the while purely enjoying OUR time to just play. no rules, no deadlines (okay maybe some) and the occassional chocolate drop. love these days....SO MUCH!