Grateful Friday

Me and my beautiful girls.

Memory Junkie

I will admit that I am a memory junkie although I HATE clutter. Danny and I have had more arguments about me throwing away stuff that he said was important. Like random scrap pieces of paper that he has written phone numbers on that I thought was trash. I have even on occasions thrown out mail that I thought was junk mail when in fact it was something important. But when it comes to memories I absolutely cannot part with it. I have boxes and boxes of stuff that I think is important.

Like this...

A teen magazine from 1978 when my world revolved around Shaun Cassidy...my diary from 4th grade talking about my crush on a cute boy in school named Timmy...and an old jewelry box full of notes from grade school friends.

And then there are my journals. I have more than what is even shown in the picture below. Most are from the 80's and 90's. I started writing in journals in 9th grade and still write in them today. I'm not great about writing in them daily though. Sometimes I'll go months without writing but it is so fun to look back over a years' time to see what was happening in my life. Oh, the drama!

Since I don't always write in my journals daily, I have these....

Pocket calendars. I pick them up at the Hallmark store or at CVS every December. I live by these. I usually track my weight, menstrual cycles, appointments, birthdays, etc. I can look back ten or twenty years ago and see what I was doing (or gaining or losing...)

Then there are the boxes of notes from my friends when we were in high school (which are just hysterical) and letters and cards from family, friends and old boyfriends from when I lived away at college. Every once in a great while I will pull out those boxes and just sit and laugh and sometimes even cry.

And of course there are the pictures, pictures and more pictures. Since I am quite the neat freak most are in photo albums, in order and by date.

Now that I have kids in preschool and kindergarten I have all the stuff they make and draw. I have a big plastic bin where I store all my favorite things they have made and worked on. I'm sure I'll be adding more bins as the years go on.

So I will own up to it..."My name is Dini and I'm a memory junkie".

Thought for the day

I drive by this church every day that has a billboard out front with different sayings. My favorite one recently was this "aspire to inspire before you expire". It made me laugh but it does make you think, doesn't it?

My Sister Kerry

I'm happy to say that my sister, Kerry, has started her own blog! (Big yippee on my end!) She is a creative soul and is looking for a place to express all her ideas. Her body hasn't been kind to her over the years. She had to give up what she loves most in this world...teaching and choreographing...but is still hopeful that she will be able to share her knowledge with others. Kerry has a great idea that she is working on (with my very talented brother) and will hopefully soon be able to start on this new endeavor. She gave me the dancing bug when I was a little girl and I'm hoping that bug will spread to my two little girls.

Feast Day

Happiness...being with extended family...cousins playing together...having so much fun even though years separate them...good food...funny stories...happy feast day.

My favorite love stories

I'm a sucker for romance. I was looking through a magazine the other day and they had listed the most romantic movies for each year for the past twenty years. Practically all of my favorite movies were listed. What I consider romantic is two people falling in love and knowing it's for a lifetime. And of course most of these movies have leading men who are beyond sexy and good looking.

So here's my top ten movie list for the most romantic love stories of all time.

Honorable Mention: My Best Friend's Wedding - Cameron Diaz and Julia Roberts are so adorable and funny in this movie and Dermot Mulroney is a cutie.

10) Dirty Dancing - OK so these two probably didn't end up together but it was a great movie. A guy who can dance masculine and is hot.
9) Untamed Heart - I rented this movie on a whim years ago and totally fell in love with it. Christian Slater is adorable in this movie.
8) The Holiday - Jude Law is to die for.
7) Fried Green Tomatoes - Unexpected love. No cute guys but I fell in love with Kathy Bates and Mary-Louise Parker.
6) Legends of the Fall - This movie has lots of love stories going on. And Brad Pitt with long hair...oh my goodness.
5) Knotting Hill - Waiting patiently for the one you love to realize they want it too.
4) Brokeback Mountain - I cried my eyes out over that darn shirt.
3) Titanic - Sweet and pationate young love.
2) Say Anything - That high school crush that ends up being the real deal. Everyone should fall in love with a Lloyd Dobler. I know I did...trenchcoat, hightops and all.
1) The Notebook - Nothing in my book beats this love story.

The Power Ranger, The Fairy, and the little girl who wouldn't put on a costume

Here are my cuties on Halloween. Gianna woke up in a foul mood after her nap and refused to put on her costume. It's funny how different they are from each other. Nicholas couldn't wait for Halloween. He loves everything about it. He goes trick or treating for hours while Julia on the other hand could care less about it. She went to about five houses and was done. She doesn't like chocolate or any candy for that matter. I guess that is a good thing, right? I guess only time will tell whether Gianna will like it or not.

Potty Mouth

Nicholas came home from kindergarten yesterday and told us he learned a new song. At least he gave us fair warning that it was going to be inappropriate but sang it anyway. It was a variation of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" with not too nice lyrics. I really, really tried not to overreact...really I did...and asked him who taught him that song. He told me a boy in his class did. This is kindergarten! How this infuriates me. I know I can't shelter my kids forever but can I at least make it through kindergarten? Because Nicholas is my oldest he isn't exposed as much to this stuff. I'm finding it harder and harder to keep the inappropriate words, actions, etc. away from him. He has many friends with older siblings. I'm just sad I guess. My baby is growing up and heading out into the real world...I guess where they learn things much, much earlier these days.

Just so you know I did write the teacher a note and she did speak to the boy. Let's hope no one else had to learn the new lyrics to Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Haunted House Part II

OK Brooke...this is for you! Just so you know, the house I'm talking about is the one in front of the old dance studio.

Just the other day, my sister Kerry mentioned that she was walking up the stairs on the outside of the house and went by one of the apartment windows. She saw someone inside and the window was ajar. She was going to say a quick "hi" when she noticed the person standing there wasn't who she thought it was and then it quickly vanished.

Recently my Mom was in her dining room and rather preoccupied when she heard a voice in her front hall say "hello". She automatically said "hello" back and started to go see who it was when she realized that there shouldn't be anyone in her apartment. And of course there was no one there.

Many years ago, my sister and brother were in the basement of the house. No one else was in the house that day. At one point they heard someone walking around in the kitchen above them, opening drawers, etc. My brother called out "Dad?" because at the time he used to work in that house. When no one answered he went up to the top of the stairs only to find the kitchen was completely dark and nobody around. Yikes!

Then there is the funny story about one of Kerry's dance students working on a solo in the house studio and she was doing some turns and couldn't stop. That story always cracks me up!

So yes, we all think that house is haunted. I know what I have experienced and to me they were all very, very real.