Cafe a la Chessie

Utah: what a blast!

2009-03-26T11:46:00.003-04:00

Dear Frozen in Florida

2009-02-06T13:33:00.004-05:00

Dear Frozen in Florida, Did you seriously just complain about one 25degree day?? Before you start feeling too sorry for yourself I'm gonna set the record straight! Are you listenin girl? Did you know that Ohio had only a handful of days above 30 degrees for the entire month of January?? Did you know that in my area we got around 40 inches of snow this January??? Did you know that we almost broke the record for the most snowfall during a January month since 1979??? Did you know that every time we get more than 3 inches of snow I get to spend 90 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes trying to drive to work?? My gas bill, just to keep my house at a lovely 65degrees chilly was just over $450 last month. And in case a left you with any doubt that I have it just a tad worse than you, I'm enclosing some pictures of my driveway taken about 10 minutes ago. The last 2 days have been "warm" you know, like upper 30's.

Photo number one is of my driveway after 2 days of thaw

Photo number 2. I was trying to show you in comparison

to the height of my garbage pale how much snow is piled on my lawn

here I was snapping a pic of my almost covered ADT sign.

also check out the height of snow in comparison with my bumper.

See how the snow is like 1/2 way to my kitchen window

So, Frozen in Florida could you kindly quit rubbing your lovely raccoon spotting weather in my face? and next time you feel like snapping a photo of "frozen" landscape, send me a pic of an orange tree instead. That way I can at least dream of spring!

Love always!

Chilly Chessie

That's One Big Dic........tionary

2009-02-03T13:31:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I posted any worthless pieces of information, but today I came upon a bit of info I just HAD to share... As anyone who reads my blog knows, I totally suck at spelling. Even with spellcheck I still can't get it together. I have a college degree, but that doesn't make me any better at spelling. I think I get this from my Dad. Every week while writing out the bills my dad would ask me how to spell the word ninety, or eighteen. There must me some missing links in the genetics chain. Anyways. Today, while responding to a blog, I couldn't remember how to spell the word rebuttal. Thank God! I looked it up, because I was way off. I always use dictionary.com to check my spelling cuz even if you are way off it usually guesses what your trying to spell. Today though.... Today... I found something I never found before... the mountain of awesome.... did you know they have audio pronunciations for EVERY word??? I know, I am way to excited about this, but really its fun. The words I plugged in today... Rebuttal, Fellatio. they have the "hear" button in 2 separate places. One is a mans voice. The other a woman's. so I've been alternating. wow this is stupid, but SO FUN! The last word I tried was Pecan cuz my husband and I are always arguing about the correct pronunciation of this. oh my god, must go back for more.

2009-02-03T13:26:00.002-05:00

Just did this and thought it was fun!

I am a Dash!!!!!!

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest.
You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly.

You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well.
You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well.

You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives.
(And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.)

You excel in: Anything to do with money

You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

2009-01-26T13:00:00.009-05:00

Yes.... We.... Can....

Yes....We....Did.....

I didn't vote in this election, only cuz I forgot to register on time. I actually filled out the papers, put stamps on the envelope and was waiting for hubby to get home and sign his... when hubby got home from work he informed me that the last day to register was yesterday. oops. So I didn't vote. but I was an Obama Mama all the way!! My mother in law, A total McCain Stain, hated Obama. and hated that I was an Obama Mama. So we kept sending each other text messages

me: "Obama!!"

her: "MC Cain"

I still have her ring tone set to a recording of myself saying "Obama!" guess I really need to change that huh? this went on for a little while until election totals were in and I got to rub it in her face! yay! Anyways, the point of all this is just to say.. I am Happy we got Obama. I am an Obama Mama!! He's the man, He's my guy, He's our President! Yay!!! now can we quit arguing about the particulars and mail my stimulus check??? And one more thing... the stimulus plan suggests that we spend 40 something million on stimulus for real peeps... and 500million for airport security equipment?? um, I only fly like twice a year, can I just get my portion included with my stimulus check?? umm... can we put a rush on all that cuz my furnace just took a shit last night.. so I'm down another 500 bucks.. atleast I'm warm at night... but really I'd be a lot warmer with a government check in my hand... hey, maybe I'll buy a Frenchie with it???

The wait is over... Hell has frozen over

2009-01-17T14:05:00.005-05:00

Do anyone of you Florida people remember what negative temperatures feel like?? I am a reasonable person. I can tolerate cold weather, 20 degrees, 10degrees, cold, but okay... this week it actually got into NEGATIVE numbers.. I woke up the the tune of negative 11 without the wind chill factor. I mean, is that really necessary for it to be this cold?? negative numbers?? and I have to go to work in that? FUN! All the kids got to stay home from school. no snow on the ground. Just frigid. I mean, walking from my car to the door at work I had to breath through my mouth cuz it was burning out my nostrils, and my forehead? that was numb about 5 steps into my journey. Needless to say, It was a very long day at work for me and my coworkers who had to put up with me nicotine free (for 12 hours) cuz it was too cold to risk a walk outside for a smoke. poor coworkers.

Oh yeah, one more update I wanted to throw in on this post....

No... I've not yet seen the Sasquatch, but tracks were found in my back yard measuring 3feet x 4feet with an opposing thumb.... Video Cameras have been set up to capture footage of the animal creeping through my yard.... Also, we left a large pile of bananas out to attract this ape like creature. So now we have to wait...

I got my way.. AGAIN.

2009-01-17T11:25:00.013-05:00

So after much complaining and lots of wtf's. I was assigned 2 letters. not one, but 2! I think I'll pick my favorite letter??? We'll Start with my first letter awarded to me by the froggy bloggy. So here goes 10 things I love that start with the letter T.

1. Tabasco sauce. I love them all, but the green one is the very best one.

2. Twins. I am obsessed with anything concerning twins or multiples. I am hooked on Jon and Kate plus 8 for this reason. I love my dad too, and he's a Twin. Did you know that some twins develop their own languages that no one else understands? And I think my dad has some crazy telepathy thing with his twin, cuz whenever she calls, he seems to know its her before he answers the phone. I would love to have Twins someday. Triplets would be fine too. Whatever the lord gives me will be fine. 3. Trans Siberian Orchestra. Did I mention I just saw them in concert on December 30th?? Did you know that they did their very first live performance here in Cleveland Ohio?? This year was their 10th anniversary show. It rocked. you know like "Cleveland Rocks"!!! Yep, Every year when they come to Cleveland they end the show with the Cleveland Rocks song. Just a treat for us Clevelanders that no one else gets. 4. Tobacco. Not the wacky kind. Not the chewing kind, but the Marlboro kind. Even though its gonna kill me someday. a puff of the old Tobacco sure does make ya feel better.

5.Television. I'm totally a T.V. junky! My favorite shows in order are Greys Anatomy, Dexter, Lost, House, Friday Night Lights, Battle Star Galactica, Private Practice, Big Love, Weeds, Jon and Kate plus 8, Little People Big World, Terminator, and Family Guy. 6. Taco Bell. There is not one item on the menu that I don't like. Pintos and Cheese Call to me always. If I had it my way I would eat Taco Bell for every meal and judging by hips I actually did that for a while. 7. Texting. Wow is this a fun thing. I only have a few people who text message me, but it's totally awesome. Every time I hear the chime on my cell phone that I got a text I am overwhelmed with glee.

8. Taunting or Twitting. I love being sarcastic. My dad is my number one target for this. I often tell him "your right" in my taunting manor and he goes ballistic every time.

Your right, Dad. Whatever you say!

9. Target. I LOVE walking around target. There is always something new to look at. I usually start this adventure off with a latte from the Starbucks kiosk. My favorite section is over by the picture frames, and wall art where they have all that FABULOUS miscellaneous home decor. Also, They have the best clearance price for t-shirts. I once got a shirt there for $1.50. I have spent many a days walking around target by myself for hours only to come out with a pack of gum. The only thing bad about Target is they are ball busters about returns.

10. Tossing the Puppy. What is this?? this is a game in which I pick up my cat and launch her in the air across the room to land on my couch or bed. My Cat totally loves this and after bouncing off the furniture, she runs right back to your feet for another launch. Why do I call it Toss the Puppy? Well my husband refers to my cat as "the dog" because her behavior is more like a dog than a cat. She will also respond the the name dog.

Well... That's all Folks. Whew! that was a lot harder than I expected!! Thanks Justine!!

I think I'm gonna have to take a pass on the Letter G sent to me by Jill. Sorry, but this was harder than imagined!!!

Love ya!

W...T...F...

2009-01-14T21:25:00.007-05:00

Well I'm a little jealous that I didn't get a letter from the froggy bloggy. so I decided to pick my own letters. WTF!! and really WTF cuzin??? So I'm gonna try a thing of my own called WTF and I invite you all to follow suit.

Why do all the old people think that NURSE is my first name? do I not tell you my name at the start of each day? Do I not write it on the dry erase board 2 feet from your bed??? WTF??
Why does EVERY visitor come to the desk at work and say "Hi, I'm looking for my mothers nurse" and who the PUck is your mother???? and why do they always have to say " I don't mean to bother you," well then don't!!! WTF??
Is it my fault the economy is doing bad? I mean I showed up to work all year like I was supposed to; well, excluding the 4 times I called in sick when I wasn't sick at all. I didn't curse anyone out at work even when I wanted to. I wore my ugly white uniform everyday even though it totally washes out my skin. so why am I not gonna get a raise this year??? WTF??
Why does it only snow on the days I am supposed to drive 35 miles to work? WTF??
How come my husband can lose 8 pounds in 1 week and I only lose 4 pounds?? I mean, I didn't eat one slice of cheese all damn week. not even a nibble. WTF??
Why do certain people read my blog, but never leave a comment?? WTF??
Why did I have to fall in love with a French Bulldog priced at 1500 bucks? I don't have 1500 bucks, but I want a frenchie! I want it now! don't care how, I want it now... WTF??
Why did the good lord give me two thumbs that look like toes? WTF??

Did my dad really just call me at 9:50pm Wednesday night in nothin less than a full panic to warn me about something called the Ohio Grass Man?? To tell me about a real Sasquatch sited in the woods near Akron, Ohio??? Yep.. that takes the cake for today's list of ...WTF???? Love ya!

I'd Like To Stay ... And Taste My First Champagne!!!!!

2009-01-05T11:46:00.005-05:00

Christmas came and Christmas went, and now its time to say goodbye to all my friends: the one's who comfort me when no one else can. So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen goodbye. I hate to go. and Ruin this pretty sight. Adieu, Adieu, to you and you and you.... Good Bye Pintos and cheese (extra sauce, extra cheese). Good Bye chips. Good Bye dip. Good bye hips (I hope). Good Bye cheese its. Good Bye Better Cheddars. Good Bye Provolone. Good Bye Oreo's. Good Bye Christmas cookies... well I think I'll finish those. I Wish this was my weight!!! Oh lord! Today was the first weigh in of our family competition. Yep. We're doing biggest loser family style from all parts of the country. 25bucks a head. winner take all. I think I should just write the check out now to my sister in law. She always wins anyway. So the weigh in...I don't like the number I saw, maybe I should wait until after my morning "evacuation" and try again? Should I pee first? Should I get naked, I mean these clothes weigh at least 5 pounds. maybe I should leave one leg off the scale?? 1**.5 pounds???? That CAN'T be right. do you think If I keep doing it over and over the number will change?? well... it didn't. so after the 4th time I gave up... Well, at least its better than my husbands number.. then again he is like 2 feet taller than me, so I guess that makes me fatter. *cries* I have a blueberry for a body. Can somebody roll me back to the couch??? The funny part is.. while typing this post I have eaten 3 huge Christmas cookies (lets make it 4). But really, it would be a sin to throw out Christmas cookies, right???

So I hope everyone will wish me luck. Oh yeah, I almost forgot... I was hoping for some food suggestions???

love ya!

chubbie chessie

My Christmas Loot!!

2009-01-04T13:46:00.007-05:00

Here it is. All my awesome Christmas Gifts.

A cute serving bowl and fuzzy fun socks

from my mother in law.

This is from my brother and his family.

It's my favorite game! and he got me the

one with the rotating board. IT ROCKS!!

I totally suck at this game, but its awesome! A great variation

on the old mario games. you get to shake the controller like mad

to get the coins from bag. the harder you shake. the more coins.

Totally assanine, but fun!

I can't wait to watch this. I can't remember any of the story line. Some new books. I love the series by Stephen Woodworth about a bunch of "psychics" with violet eyes. easy & good reading. And I always like a good Stephen King book Some new CD's. All of them are great.

AWWWW!! Isn't this cute? I really am in love with Anything Frenchie related. Gonna use this as a key chain to remind me always of Frenchies

These are awesome! Drinking Glasses (heavy duty, nice quality) with

The Frenchie outline engraved. isn't the paw print on the bottom

Just to die for cute????

Yep, My baby went to Jared!!! I got a really nice adjustable white gold chain!

And oooh baby does it sparkle!

Well Thats all folks.. but it really was a good year. And to finish it all off My husband got us Tickets for Trans Siberian Orchestra for 12/30. And he made reservations to a 4star restraunt! yeah baby! Dinner was awesome, and the show was un-fu**ing-believable!!

2008-12-29T11:41:00.037-05:00

Better Late Then Never

After reading the lovely introduction given to me by Tiney, I realized I really hadn't introduced myself to any of you bloggers out there. So here it goes.

I am a 26 year old female who grew up all over the map. My life started off in Long Island, New York where I was always surrounded by lots of love and Italians. My mother is not Italian, but as a teenager she left most of her family behind and I was raised mostly among my Dads Italian family. My Italian Grandma taught my mother how to cook because if she was going to marry my dad she was going to learn how to cook for my dad. It was here I also picked up a New York accent that will creep up on me at unexpected times for the rest of my life in words like pecan (like pee + can not pee + con). At the age of 9 or 10 my parents moved me and my older brother to Utah. Now that was a change. Utah was beautiful. Stepping off the plane in Salt Lake City was like walking into a post card. The air smelled fresh and dry. The sidewalks were so clean. The mountains were breathtaking. We had never seen anything like those mountains before. It was like sitting in the the bottom of a cereal bowl and in every direction you're surrounded by Mountains. The word Utah actually comes from the Ute word for "land of mountains". Even in July some snow remains on the peaks. We arrived in Utah on a very big holiday. Pioneer Day. Upon our arrival to SLC the airline even passed out silly hats in celebration of Pioneer Day. Of course my family and I sat there wondering what the hell was Pioneer Day????
Well I'm sure you're wondering too.. Pioneer Day commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, where the Latter-day Saints (nicknamed LDS or Mormons)settled after being forced from Nauvoo, Illinois. Prior to there arrival in Utah, the Mormons were faced with a lot of tragedy. Due to the common practice of polygamy and their strict religious beliefs they were seen as outsiders in many communities and faced a lot of discrimination, even having there homes burned to the ground in Illinois. After that they set out to find unclaimed land... and in Utah, they found it. Rejected many times by the nation due to its popular religious practices, only after polygamy was outlawed in the lands was Utah able to become part of the United States. Pioneer Day is celebrated much like 4th of July. Fireworks, carnivals, cookouts and so forth. Really its a lot of fun, and who wouldn't want to participate in all of that twice in one month!!

Here's a few more cool facts about Utah. Utah has the highest birthrate of any state in the nation. As a family of 4 we were a real rarity in Utah. They also have the youngest population of any state in the nation. In 2008 Utah was the fastest growing state. 95% of the population is Caucasian. The Mormon religion accounts for 60-75% of the population, depending on which poll you read. 16% of the state is non religious and only 10% are Catholic. Now, with some of that info can you imagine why I was just lost as a child??? The point is that moving from Long Island to Utah was a VERY big adjustment for our entire family. It was really like moving to another planet. Not only was the population made up of very different people, my mom couldn't find the right brand of tomatoes for sauce, fresh mozzarella couldn't be found (yup, our beloved Polly-O was MIA), No Wise potato chips, no Cheese Doodles(my moms favorite food), and frozen artichokes were an impossibility. We couldn't find a descent pizza place, Chinese restaurant, or Jewish deli, (less than 1% of the population is Jewish in Utah), and at McDonald's they served some crazy concoction called "fry sauce". At 10 years old I had the wrong accent, I came from New York (which many of the kids thought was another country), I was the wrong religion (they thought I worshiped Satan because I wore a cross on my necklace), and I even got sent to the principals office for uttering my favorite phrase "oh my god!" in class.

Utah was a beautiful place and my parents and brother still live there. In the year 2000 at 17 years old I graduated high school in Utah. Oh yeah! Class of the Millennium Baby! Yep I was a little Millennium crazed, I drank many beers in its honor, too many I think. I have a little proof left on my old leather jacket. lol. I then got 2 jobs working as a nursing assistant, mostly night shift. I worked like crazy for a year and a half saving money while waiting for my braces to come off. Then when I finally had a release date for my braces, I dropped a bomb on my parents. I had been "dating" someone on the internet for 2 years. I had met him twice. Twice, I had picked him up from the airport and spent the week with him. Twice, I had ditched school for the entire week and pretended to be working every day... and come July I would be driving myself to Michigan to move in with him. After many fights, my dad calling me a whore many times and my mom crying many tears I began shipping my stuff in boxes to Michigan. The Day before Pioneer Day 2001 my boyfriend, Michael, flew into Utah and met my parents for the first time. The next day I packed up whatever I could fit into my car and we drove off into the sunset as they say. I'll never forget that feeling of fear and excitement in my stomach, the tears simmering in my eyes and the looks on my parents faces as I looked back through the rear view mirror. We spent the next 4 days driving from Utah to Michigan listening to my kitty cat cry the entire way. I just wanted to take a second here to thank the vet who charged me 50 bucks for the kitty tranquilizers that did not one damn thing to my kitty. All in all I remember that drive across country being total bliss. I couldn't believe what I was doing, I couldn't believe Michael was sitting next to me in the car. It was like getting my wings. It was like a dream. we stopped off here on our way across. Can anyone name all 4 of these guys? I realized while scanning it I can only name 2...
my dad insisted Michael and I stop here for dinner and for some reason I have like 10 photos of the sign.

In Michigan I started going to college. Just doing all my general studies courses with a plan to go into nursing school. After a quick 11 months in Michigan we moved to Ohio. After many struggles, curse words, and tears I finished nursing school. Took my boards (The single most nerve wracking thing I have EVER done), Spent the next day at the bar, and ran up the largest bar tab I've ever had (350 bucks, tip not included), later that evening I found out I was officially a Registered Nurse. I couldn't believe it and I must have checked the website 50 times in the next 2 days to be sure it was real. A year later, in 2006, I got married to Michael (yep, the guy I ran away with). And since I don't do anything the normal way; We had our Wedding in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. It was amazing, and we can't wait to go back. Shortly after we bought a house outside of Akron, Ohio.

Now its 2008 almost 2009. Michael and I are happily married with 2 kitties. We have one mutt kitty Miko and my princess Buffy, a Siamese ( she is the one who cried for 4days in the car). I love my kitties dearly. Buffy spends her days following me around the house howling stories at me. Miko, my husbands baby, spends her days sleeping on our sectional couch or on the lap of anyone who will let her stay. Despite 9 years of rooming together they are mortal enemies. lol. somethings just never change. I work 3 days a week, 12 hour shifts, at the hospital. I work on a telemetry floor. We get lots of Respiratory and Cardiac patients. My job is always stressful and I'm always busy. I'm lucky if I get to pee and eat lunch in the same day, but I do love my job. Someday I would love to be an ICU nurse, but right now I love my coworkers and there are no openings in ICU. My husband Fixes steam generators, which entails a lot of hands on mechanic work, but he is also the boss. I spend My days off looking at French bulldog websites. FBRN (The French Bulldog Rescue Network) is my favorite site. Right now I don't have the 2 grand for a Frenchie. That is a big reason I check the FBRN site daily. Someday I know they'll have one in my area who needs rescued and is a good fit for me. The other reason I don't have a Frenchie yet is because my kitty Buffy is the apple of my eye and I don't know if she would be willing to share me. That's pretty much all there is about me. Unless I get knocked up or a Frenchie comes barkin up my doorstep. Lookin' forward to bloggin..

Love ya!

Ding FA DA Dong, Ding FA DA Dong

2008-12-02T14:20:00.004-05:00

For me Christmas was a time of: laughter, idiocy, compulsive behaviors, and lots and lots of food. My memories of Christmas are filled with chainsaws, awful plane rides across the country, and lost luggage. Often times my day would end with me sleeping in someone else's bed or couch depending on the year (and always with new pajamas). The best of these memories for me includes: cooking marathons where endless pans of lasagna would be made, hours of fighting with the cookie gun for the perfect press cookie, exhaustion moving in with each roll of egg bow cookies, and lets not forget figuring out how to wrap those darn action figure packages all the while swearing about how someone should create a package easier to wrap... and I guess they did, in the form of x-box games. Each year, when Christmas Eve and Christmas day finally came, I would be flooded with the aroma of shrimp scampi, crab legs, artichoke dip, fresh ham, eggplant parmesan, lasagna,meatballs, butter cookies, fudge, peppermint cake, christmas cut-ups, and honey cookies. And all the while the sound of Bing Crosby's Christmas album playing in my head. It's with all this in mind that I put up my first blog. A Christmas blog dedicated to my own memory of Christmas. These first few photos are of my favorite time of year: COOKIE MAKING! After my Grandmother passed away and most of my family moved to Florida cookie making became a big tradition and a way to really keep the memory of her alive. Every year for Christmas my dad would fly our family of 4 from Utah to Florida and if we were lucky we would get there early enough to help make the cookies. This first one is blurry, but you can see my cousin Jill (from Jillsbelieveitornot) the baby must be Alexa (who is 7 now), my Aunt Ginny(her mother), My cousin Jeff (Jills brother) and his youngest son Justin. In this one we're making butter cookies (known to some as spritz cookies). The recipe belonged to my Grandma. These cookies require the cookie gun thingy and the hardest part is always to get the gun to work right followed by precise decorating as you can see. This next one has my Aunt Ginny again, with Jeffs son Jonathan (who gives the best hugs or used to but he's a teenager now, so who knows), and the poor boy with a double cowlick is Justin again. As you can see Jonny took his hat off in this one because rolling out the dough for these cookies is no joke! The dough for egg bows or honey cookies is like 10pounds of flower and 2 eggs (sorry, but it's my Grandmas secret recipe)After you figure out how to mix it all you have to roll the dough nearly paper thin, then cut the dough in strips, shape the strips, fry em, and coat em with honey and sprinkles. These cookies really require a group effort (thats why we try to con the little ones into rolling out the dough. HAHA) I love this photo. This is my mom and me holding my little cousins Alexa and Madison. Don't the babies look soo cute? This was the year that Jill spent like 2 hours curling all of my hair, but I don't think you can really tell in this pic. This is my dad in his usual stance. See my dad like most italians, thinks he knows EVERYTHING! and he thinks he should share his almighty opinion with everyone ... and really its useless to argue unless of course your me, and you also know everything. lol. in which his usual reply would be "yaw craaaaazy". Next to him sitting down is my Uncle Jeff (Jill and Justines Dad). The best thing about my Uncle Jeff is that he is one of few people who can offer my dad any real competition in an arguement. Above is me trying on a scarf my mother made me. The same scarf my father later told me (after too much red wine) looked like pubic hair. Lets just say that 3 years later I still have not found the confidence to wear it out of the house. See, I even have proof about the wine. Does anyone have a camera I can borrow???? In this one from near to far its Uncle Jeff, his son Jeff, My dad, and Justines hubby Jimmy. Awww what a cute snuffy dog. As many of you who follow my cousins blog (Jillsbelieveitornot) may know, Disney was a big part of tradition in my family and the holiday season for me usually ended with a silly day after Christmas family tradition we called "theme park day". Every year we picked a different theme park to go to. Disney, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Sea World, we did them all. Looking back at some of the photos and listening to my husband recall his one time attending this event I wonder was it really a good idea or just plain catastrophe? While we all had good intentions with theme park day its really just an awful idea for a tradition. First off: any florida resident can tell you that the day after Christmas is like THE worst day to go to a theme park because there are huge crowds. Second: Who the HELL has a dime to spend the day after Christmas? Third: Why the HELL weren't we at the mall taking advantage of those after holiday deals if we had so many dimes to spare?? Fourth: how the HELL can you make it through a theme park with 20 italians? I mean, who is going to be the leader? All 20 italians think that their plan is the best plan. and All 20 italians will argue about that until they die because they all know everything, right? Fifth: Since no 20 italians can agree when its a good time to get a hot dog or a soda it takes 2 hours just to get to the line for the ride, which will also have a 3 hour wait. so if you add that up it takes about 5 hours per ride so you might get to go on 2 rides, maybe 3 if one group of italians accidentally gets lost while going to the bathroom and you run to the next ride instead of waiting for them. lol. All in all I think we had good intentions, but I'll let you be the judge. I only have 3 pictures of theme park day, but I think you'll get the idea pretty quick. This is probably one of our million bathroom, drink, or smoke breaks that the day seemed to revolve around. Notice there is no smiling face to be found? Yet another break which I am apparantly thrilled about. I think this is the only group photo ever taken after theme park day and its hard to imagine after 12hours of treking through a theme park together that everyone appears to be smiling. Sorry some of the photos are weird, but most of my momento type stuff is still back at my parents house in utah, which is a hell of a long walk from ohio. lol. so these will have to do. The last picture is of My Christmas tree this year. I tried to do red and gold theme. I even bought solid red lights and white lights. The only problem is now you can't see what color any of the ornaments are cuz your blinded by red lights. lol. oh well. Live and Learn, right?