Shhhhh I have a secret….

I missed the Daily Prompt yesterday, not really sure what happened there, so I told myself today that I MUST participate in today’s  one-word prompt so here goes

Daily Prompt: Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt SECRET.

Secret? Really? Damn, I should have done yesterday’s which was Leap. Ok, let’s think about this one.

Do I tell an actual secret? Should I share a story about a secret? Hmmmmmm…

Should I confess that I almost always read the end of a book before I am close to be done with it? I hate to be kept in suspense and it is just easier for me to enjoy what I am reading if I don’t have to worry about my favorite character being killed or hurt in anyway.

Just last night I was reading the book “Domestic Violets” and  I was about 3/4 of the way through when the main character, Tom, was having a bit of a life crisis. He had just been fired (he totally deserved it btw), his marriage was on the brink of disaster and I just KNEW something was going to happen to Curtis, his father who had just won the Pulitzer for fiction.

No way I could wait till the end to know Curtis’ fate. So instead I quickly skimmed the last couple pages of the book, got the information I needed and then went back and happily finished the book.  No harm no foul. (the book was great and I highly recommend it)

Sadly, this also holds true for tv shows. I usually read a recap (Entertainment Weekly is my favorite) for an episode (or series if I can’t decide if a show is binge-worthy) WAY in advance of watching the actual show.

For example, I have known for months the fate of Mary and the crew on Downton Abbey. I read the recap after the series finale aired in the UK (gasp!) .

Don’t worry, I promise not to share any spoilers (I never do!).  I just like knowing what is going to happen, especially since I am stuck on Season 4 and Anna is about to be raped – this poor girl can not catch a break!

This annoys my husband and mother to no end and they refuse to watch tv shows with me because I always sit there and remind them that I know the ending.

Phew, I feel so much better getting that off my chest. Thanks for letting me share.

Have a good day and thanks for reading!

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Pace Oddity

It’s Thursday afternoon which means we are pretty much knocking on the door of FRIDAY!!

I have been cheating with my blogging lately. Yes, I have been trying to do a lot of the Daily Prompts but I am not giving my blog much love.

I am not sure what my problem is. I have a ton of ideas and thoughts floating around my head just dying to be blogged about but they just won’t flow onto the page when I login to WordPress.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Ok enough rambling, now it is time to Daily Prompt

If you could slow down an action that usually zooms by, or speed up an event that normally drags on, which would you choose, and why?

I choose both.

The event I would like to slow down would be my kids getting older. I will be the first to admit that when I am DEEP in the trenches of parenting, there are times that I can not wait until the boys are “big” and not asking me to pour them a drink or settle a fight over the Lego sword that belongs to Matt but Lucas borrowed to use on his army battlefield.

However, when I find a picture of the twins when they were 18 months old and realize they will be TEN in June it makes me want to cry.

Where did those 10 years go????

Soon they won’t need their mom to help get something off the high shelf or watch tv with them or take them to the park. They won’t want to go to Target with me for no reason or cuddle in bed with and tell me about their day. Ugh, it breaks my heart.

I know they have to grow up and I need to be happy and excited for them and all that they will experience (I don’t know if I am envious of the middle school years) but it’s still sad.

It’s sad and what’s worse is that you don’t realize it’s happening until it’s over. How does the saying go “the days are long but the years are short”?

On a lighter note, the event that drags on (and on and on) that I would love to speed up would be my work day.

While I am thankful to have a job and work for a great company, there are MANY days that just s-l-o-w-l-y drag on. The days when you think the clock on the computer must not be working since it is clearly NOT moving.

Those are the days you are left sitting at your desk thinking about all the other fun things that you could be doing if you were anyplace other than work.

The mall. The beach. The couch watching tv. A tropical island sipping a pina colada. The list is endless really.

Well that’s all I got for you today. Enjoy your Thursday and thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

Daily Prompt: Pat on the Back

Happy Hump Day!!

The weather today in the lovely Garden State is horrendous with heavy rains and just an overall blah feel. However, on a more positive note, my hair is not frizzing so maybe the day isn’t a total washout (all puns intended).

Anyway let’s Daily Prompt shall we?

Tell someone you’re proud of just how proud you are

Hmmmmm…..who am I proud of?

There are so many people, how can I just name 1?

My aunt for kicking cancer. My mom for being my “nanny” and always helping me with the kids. My friend Mrs. Jeter for publishing her first book (a real, honest to goodness book that is made of paper and not on an electronic device)???

Matt, my love-bug, for giving his little brother his “magic” stuffed animal when he was having a nightmare?

Jake ,my Buddha Baby, who has worked SO hard to overcome a lot of his struggles with ASD?

While those are all good choices, and I am truly proud of all of them, the person I am most proud of today is (drum roll)

ME!

Today my boss brought in a box of gigantic donuts – well there were only 3 donuts but they were in a box.

There was one donut that had chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles on top and I swear it was calling my name. At first I ignored its taunts, no way I was giving in to the temptation, especially since no one else in my group was eating one (peer pressure is alive and well even when you are 40-ish).

Nope, I stayed at my desk and ate a banana because a banana is just as good as a chocolate frosted donut (not).

A little while later my co-worker Bob stopped by when I told him about the donuts, he practically twisted my arm to go take a look.

Bob and I stood in awe at the beauty of the donuts and questioned whether we should eat one. After a full 5 or 10 seconds, we finally decided to split half of a half of the chocolate frosted one.

I walked back to my cube covered in a cloak of guilt, carrying my pathetic little quarter of a donut on a napkin. Slowly I lifted the donut up to my mouth and took and a bite and felt….totally disappointed.

The chocolate was not gooey and thick, instead it was dry and flaked right off WITH the sprinkles. What a rip off!

Disgusted, at myself and the donut, I threw the remainder of the donut in the trash.

And for that my blogger friends, I am 100% proud of myself (insert toothy grin)!

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

Marco……Polo

Happy Monday!

I took last week off from blogging but I am back!

Let’s Daily Prompt shall we.

Today’s Daily Prompt : When was the last time your walked away from a discussion, only to think of The Perfect Comeback hours later? Recreate the scene for us, and use your winning line.

My 7yo takes swim lessons on Saturday mornings at 9am – we were late signing up hence the “coveted” 9am slot.

The swim school uses hotel pools in surrounding towns to host the lessons. The lessons are private and last 30 minutes.

It’s not the fancy swim school most people I know use, however, it’s affordable and I have finally accepted that none of my children will be the next Michael Phelps so it’s good enough.

At this point, all I want is for the kids to all swim in the deep end of the pool and actually play and have fun rather than whine and tell me they are thirsty and want to go home and watch tv.

Anyway, this past Saturday me, Jake and 2 of his brothers headed off to the pool at 9am. Everyone was very excited to be out and about, sans iPads, so early on a Saturday that we were practically skipping our way into the lobby.

As we waited for Jane our swim instructor to open the door, I spotted a  family of 4 coming up behind us decked out in swim wear carrying tubes.

WTF, this is a joke right? I thought to myself. Why the hell would ANYONE  be at an indoor pool at 9am on a Saturday? 

We don’t live in a big city so it’s not like our hotels are overrun with tourists in February. This was just nuts.

I could almost accept it if it were kids excited to swim – keeping in mind my own kids would NOT be in the pool at 9am –  but this was a mother, father,  2 kids AND  an aunt all decked out in bathing suits!

Ok, I told myself. I am sure Jane will be able to conduct the lesson. Surely these people will realize what is going on and just stay on the other end of the pool. 

Never have I been so wrong.

The whole family jumped in the pool (the pool is small and only goes up to 5ft) and started splashing and playing around in the “deep” end while Jake and Jane stayed in the shallow end.

No sooner did  Jane start to working with Jake on his kicks when one of the kids, Jonah, comes by with his tube and starts splashing right next to Jake. They were almost touching Jonah was so close.

Jonah’s aunt motioned to him to move away but his hairy, shirtless, dad, who was in the middle of the pool jumping up and down like spastic 8yo, just shrugged before starting a game of Toss-Jonah’s- Tube- Back- and- Forth- Across- the- Pool.

If the tube happened to land where Jane or Jake was, no problem, Super Jonah would just jump in between them to retrieve it.

I was seething in my chair calling them names, in my head, while wishing each one of them  a leg cramp.

I was DYING to confront them and ask them WTF they were doing and why they couldn’t just swim at the other end of the pool.

But no….Nic is afraid of confrontation so  instead I shot them looks to kill.

Take that you ignorant ass! I glared from 5 feet away.

The final straw came when the family started playing Marco fn Polo. All 5 of them were spread out and hairy dad was under water “hiding” .

Over the screaming of MARCO!  POLO! I finally decided enough was enough and told Jane we needed to reschedule the lesson.

We are going to stop our lesson, are you happy weird family?????

Yup, I showed them right?

Hey, you interrupt our swim lesson with your rude behavior and we will just leave and let you play some more!

Afterwards on the way to Dunkin’ Donuts, I kept thinking about how I should have confronted the family.  I envisioned myself grabbing the dad’s hairy arm and hurling him out of the pool with my super duper mom strength.

Or  I could have taken the mature approach and politely explained that a private swim lesson was taking place and could they kindly swim at the other end of the pool until our lesson was over.

Nope I did nothing and I’m VERY disappointed in myself.

But hey, if I ever see Marco Polo family again they better watch out because I will be better prepared!

Thanks for reading. Here’s to a great week 🙂

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Quirk of Habit?

It’s almost Friday!!!!

Yay!!!!

It’s going to be in the single digit temperatures in New Jersey this weekend.

Boo!!!!

Here we go with today’s Daily Prompt:

Which quirky habit annoys you the most, and what quirky habit do you love — in yourself, or others.

Hate:

1. Nose blowing at the table
2. People who love the sound of their own voice and hijack ANY conversation
3. People who won’t hold the door, especially when they see you walking toward the door with your arms full (that may not be a habit but I hate it just the same)

Love (habits and quirks):

1. Hugs before bed
2. Saying “I love you” before leaving the house for school/work
3. The way my youngest son pretends he’s talking like one of his stuffed animals (usually Mama Puppy)
4. How my boys ALWAYS have to be covered in a blanket on the couch even if it’s 90 degrees outside

Personally, I have a few bad habits (nail biting and hand twisting) but hey, we all can’t be perfect right??

Thanks for reading 🙂

Go Me!

Today’s post, which was the Daily Prompt,  was my 200th post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go me!!

Thanks for listening, you may go back to your regularly scheduled activity 🙂

 

 

 

Hail, Hail go AWAY!

I am not loving the Daily Prompts the past couple days, however, I told myself I would do them so here goes.

Daily Prompt: You’re at the beach with some friends and/or family, enjoying the sun, nibbling on some watermelon. All of a sudden, within seconds, the weather shifts and hail starts descending from the sky. Write a post about what happens next.

I foresee 2 very different endings for me.

#1 Beach WITH kids: 

It’s hot and it feels like we have been at the beach for hours (it’s only been 2 hours). The kids are fighting over a broken shovel

Mommmmmmmm Jake took the shovel! It’s MY shovel give it back! MOM Jake hit me with the shovel.

and the husband is passed out in his beach chair. God it’s hot, did I mention it’s hot? Now Lucas needs to use the bathroom.

The twins want a snack but are whining, as they stand on my clean towel,  because the chips taste like sand since their hands are caked in wet sand.

Jake get back over here, you need more sunblock, I yell while digging through the 40 bags we lugged to the beach. Ugh, where did I put the sunblock?

The sky gets dark and in seconds the umbrella is flying down the beach. I am just about to “run” after it when suddenly giant pieces of hail start falling from the sky.

YES!! It’s a sign from the heavens.

Kids, wake up dad and let’s pack it up! We are going for ice cream!

#2 Beach WITHOUT kids

I’m settled in my lounge chair under the umbrella with a pina colada in hand. The sun is shifting and I contemplate moving my chair to absorb some of the rays – I know the sun is bad but a girl needs some vitamin d.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I sigh, this is THE life.

No kids AND no husband. Just me on the beach with my drink and my bestie.  Mrs. Jeter is with me napping in the other chair, an ear bud dangling by her neck.

I am so glad we were able to sneak away and pull this little beach adventure off. The nanny thinks I am at work at an “off-site meeting” and Jeter told her husband she had a conference.

We met up at a secret rendezvous spot (i.e. Panera Bread) and changed into our “resort wear” in the bathroom.

It’s not an all-day adventure, we only have a few hours (3.5 to be exact) but we plan on making the most of every last second.

On the way down the Parkway, we relived the beach days of our youth – summer shares and nights on the boardwalk – as we listened to the beach play list Jeter made.

Life is good.

Hey, why is it so windy? Wait a second, where did the sun go? Jeter, wake up, what is going on?!

OMG everyone is packing up and running off the beach…is that hail falling??? 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not today, this is my day!!!

Jeter and I look up at the sky and then at each other.

Simultaneously, we each pull up the hoods on our cover-ups, move our chairs under the umbrella and grab the umbrella’s base.

NO WAY we are leaving. We’re Jersey girls, a little hail can’t scare us off the beach!

Thanks for reading and Happy Hump Day!

Daily Prompt: The Stat Connection

Ugh WordPress what are you doing to me today?? We were on a roll with the Daily Prompts and then today you throw this one at me:

Daily Prompt: Go to your Stats page and check your top 3-5 posts. Why do you think they’ve been successful? Find the connection between them, and write about it.

Here it goes, my top 3 posts:

1. Happy Endings
2. Say My Name
3. Throw Back Post….circa 2013 

I have had my blog since 2012 (yikes!). The first 2 years I was blogging almost everyday, then I got writer’s block and I just stopped.

Sure, every once in a while I would post a random blog but they were never like they used to be.

Back in 2012, the ideas used to just pop in my head and the words would just flow. There wasn’t any stress or thought, the words were just there as my fingers typed away and before I knew it, the blog was done.

Once the writer’s block kicked in, I began to think too much about what I was going to blog about and worried about what people would think.

I wasn’t writing for me anyone, I was trying to attract an audience and make people want to read me. I wanted to be Freshly Pressed damn it!

Never a good idea.

My blog has never received a lot of traffic or won any blogging awards. No, it was just me and my musings and my little group of loyal followers.

Every now and then people will ask me why I don’t blog anymore and I have no good answer for them except that I miss it.

I really miss it. When I was blogging it made me happy and it was a release for me.

Well here I am VERY slowing putting my toe in the blogging waters to test them out and see if I am ready to jump in.

It’s a little scary but so far so good.

Thanks for reading 🙂

 

 

 

Daily Prompt: Say Your Name

Today’s Daily Prompt Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

My name is Nicole  which means “victor for the people.”

Exciting right?

My entire family has called me Nikki for as long as I can remember. Here’s a fun fact, I didn’t even know my real name was Nicole until I started pre-school and the teacher called “Nicole”.

There was also a period when I was Little Nikki since I have an uncle named Nick but I’ll save that for another blog.

I was never thrilled with my name. Growing up in the 70s and 80s (damn, did I give my age away?), there were very few Nicoles.

Miss Nancy NEVER said my name on “Romper Room” in her damn Magic Mirror. And you would be hard-pressed to find “nicole” on a comb or mirror in the local 5&10 store.

Nope, all the Jennifers and Marys monopolized that market. 

Once, I begged my mom to change my name to Karen after a Mousketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club but she said no.

But whhhyyyyyy?????? I would whine to her. WHY did you name me Nicole???? I hate my name! (insert pouting face).

Mom never really gave me a really good reason why my name was Nicole, just that her and my dad liked it.

In college, I switched things up a bit and went by Nikki. My reasoning was new life chapter – new name.

My college and high school friends call me Nikki. My husband and his family call me Nicole (don’t ask) and co-workers call me Nicole. However, on occasion I will answer to Danielle as I have been told that I “look like a Danielle.”

Nowadays (this is a word, I Googled it), I mostly answer to Mom or Mommy – the BEST name ever unless it is 3am or it is said on a repeat loop (lol).

Not that long ago, one of my sons told me he hated his name and wanted to change it.

WHAT?! WHY? Do you know how many months Daddy and I agonized over what to name you?? I LOVE your name and you can’t change it!

Payback sucks huh? 😉

Thanks for reading have a good week!

ps – the Urban Dictionary defines “nicole” as  an awesome person that is often imitated but never duplicated. Take that all you Jennifers!

Throw Back Post…2013

Wow the things that you find in your blog “drafts”. Since I am ever-so-slowly working my way back into blogging, I thought it would be fun to peruse the 74 “drafts” I had sitting in my draft folder.

Holy Crap – 74???!!

Some of the drafts were just titles, back when I was a regular blogger, I would always start a post with the title. Once I had the title, the rest just fell into place. Now, 4 years later, I am lucky to even come up with a thought, let alone a title.

At the bottom of my drafts there were some posts with no titles and that is where I found this. I can remember this day like it was yesterday and the emotions are all still fresh. I can’t believe I never posted it.

Well better late than never. Ladies and gentlemen I bring you Nic’s TB post circa 2013….

Sometimes being a mom isn’t so bad

My son Jake was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder about 21/2 years ago. Since is diagnosis in January 2011, the  has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and “stuff” .

Jake has really good days, really bad days and everything in between. However, through it all, he has put on a brave face and is almost always smiling (unless he is angry). When he is truly happy there is nothing more beautiful than his big, blue eyes looking back at you.

The last couple weeks I have been in an “ASD SUCKS” kinda mood. I know… it can be so much worse; I should be thankful Jake is doing so well;  there are so many others that are worse off yada yada yada. Still, when it is your kid and you have to watch him/her struggle daily it doesn’t matter  – it just sucks.

This past weekend, however, was A-Mazing with J. It started last Friday when J’s school hosted a talent show. J attends a school for kids with special needs so I was really not expecting much from a talent show.

Jake’s teacher, the beloved Miss Heidi, had mentioned that she had worked with the class for weeks on a routine but kept it a secret. All we were told was that the kids should wear black pants and a white shirt.

The morning of the show, I asked J what he was performing in school. He gave me a shy smile and did some hand motions that made no sense to me at all. Ok, whatever I thought as I got him ready for the bus.

I arrived at his school to a packed parking lot and I panicked a little that I was late.  Quickly, I was able to grab 2 seats, my husband was meeting me there, and anxiously waited for the show to start.

The principal handed out programs and under Jake’s class it said  ”My Girl”. Now it all made sense!! Jake is in a class with 5 boys and 1 girl. OMG this is going to be awesome….but will J do it or freak out????

J was act #6 and it felt like FOREVER until his class got on “stage.” Finally I heard the music and in walked Jake and his class.  The boys were wearing top hats and bow ties and the little girl sat in the middle on a bench covered in pink tulle.

This kids took their places and did the entire routine to perfection! I could not believe my baby was doing this in front of a room packed with people – students, teachers and parents!  Never would that happened 2 years ago. To me it was simply a miracle.

After the song was over, the kids took their bow and the room erupted in applause as the teachers shot confetti into the air. They did it – Jake did it!

I don’t think I will ever be able to describe the feelings I had when Jake walked off the stage. It was a combination of so many emotions and feelings all mixed together. I just remember thinking “everything will be ok…. Jake will be alright” as tears ran down my face.