Christmas 2008

As I sit here typing this, two days after the main event, I'm happy to report that I've survived yet another Christmas. Every year, I don't know how I'm going to get everything done that I want to -- but I do. This year got a bit complicated as a belt broke on my car the week before foiling my shopping plans for that day and the locks froze on Bob's car earlier in the week which meant he had to use my car to get to work so, again, I was "carless." I ended up wrapping my last present on Christmas Eve at about noon. So it was then time for the festivities to begin.

Liz and Bryan arrived with our "First Christmas" baby Brady on Christmas Eve afternoon. Our plan was to decorate the tree in the family room and have an antipasto. I know my friend Eloise loves when I post pictures of the food so here is our Italian feast.

We've basically decorated the tree with pretty much the same ornaments for the past fifteen years but, this year, I went with a new silver and red theme. I love how it turned out. There's some pictures below that show it although I don't think any of these pictures I've posted do the decorating justice. That night, everyone gets to open one present and it's always the new pajamas I give them to wear to bed that night.

Everyone was up at 8AM on Christmas morning and the opening of the presents began. As you can see from the picture of the gifts under the tree, Michael's are in red and Liz' are in white which makes it very easy for them to decipher which are theirs. Of course, Liz always looks it over to make sure she sees more white than red. If she does, she's happy. lol Since we don't have a fireplace in the living room, we like to have the channel on the TV that shows the Yule Log. I have to admit that this is last year's picture as they were already in the room with the baby by the time I came down this year. But, you get the gist of it. The TV this year has been replaced with a flat screen that Michael bought after his win in London. It definitely looks a lot nicer.

Bob then makes breakfast for everyone (sorry no pictures of that) and then we get ready for the rest of the day which includes a big dinner (pork royale) and the arrival of my mother. Here's a picture of the Christmas table before we all descended upon it. Setting the table is one of my favorite things to do. Over the years, I've accumulated so many beautiful things and many different colored tablecloths. It takes me hours just to figure out which one I'm going to use. Once I pick out the tablecloth, everything else seems to fall into place as far as which dishes I'll use and which stemware set will grace the table. I went with a lot of silver and red/burgundy's this year so my dining room table follows suit.

Since Liz and Bryan were staying for the weekend, we had a few more great dinners. Here's some ravioli and meatballs served on our Snowman plates the day after Christmas. When I served the dinner, I was so happy with the presentation. It was right out of the Top Chef competition. Over the years, I've bought a few different holiday dinnerware sets. When Michael was younger, I used to change all of my dishes the day after Thanksgiving so we only ate on those that were holiday related. I always enjoyed the day I pulled out the dishes "of the season."

A special treat this year is the addition of Jenn (Michael's girlfriend) into our lives. We got to witness their gift giving as well and Jenn's gift was so thoughtful that it had Liz and I crying. She arrived with a huge basket which included about 10 numbered picture frames. Michael had to read through a list and find the coordinating picture. What it boiled down to was that it was a weekend in New York City and each picture included what they would be doing. For instance, #1 was a picture of the Hilton Hotel where they would be staying; #2 was a picture of Rockefeller Center where they would be ice skating; #3 was the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at sunset; #4 was the Sea Grill where they would be dining #5 was the NBC studio where they would be taking a tour #6 was the Chelsea Brewing Company where they would have lunch #7 (and Michael's favorite) was New York Rangers' tickets and #8 was Tavern on the Green where they would have brunch before returning home. They're in the City right now and enjoying this gift together.

I was shopping with Michael as he was buying some of Jenn's gifts and afterwards, I call Liz and all I could say was that I wish I was Michael Martin's girlfriend. He has such great taste and she absolutely loved every single thing he bought.

I wanted to post some of my "decorating" pictures so my out-of-town relatives can get to see them. And, since it was Brady's first Christmas, here's a few of him as well so that Bryan's relatives can take part in his first Christmas festivities. They're all avid readers of my blog so here's a shoutout to those of them in Colorado and Florida.

Here's one with my mother and Brady. He just loves when she sings those "old time" songs to him. Here she is singing about Josephine in her "flying machine" and raising Brady's arms every time the plane goes up in the air.

Here's Brady opening his first Christmas present from Santa. And also what we call the "Brady" sandwich. Liz and Bryan just can't seem to get enough of him.

Of my decorating. I've collected these carolers for over twenty years so my collection is quite extensive and I have them all over the house. The majority are housed in my breakfront but, as you'll see in the pictures below, they also appear in the dining room window and family room as well. I also started collecting the Department 56 villages when they first came out in the 1980's. I'm sure I have well over 150 houses and each year I pick out a few to display. My favorite is my "Christmas in the City" collection as it reminds me of growing up in New York. On one end, I have Times Square and that ball actually drops on New Year's Eve. On the other end, I have the Empire State Building and I can change the color of the dome at the top from white to red to green. In honor of the closing of Yankee Stadium this year, I've displayed the stadium right in front of the Empire State building. Mostly all of these have been gifts over the years from Bob and the kids and my brothers. This year, Bob bought me Woolworth's which was really special to me as my father always used to take me to the Woolworth's counter for lunch when he took me to work with him. Michael bought me one that's an old time 1950's diner. These will definitely be displayed when I do Christmas 2009.

So I hope you enjoyed The Martin's Christmas this year. We surely did.

Hallmark Movies

I defy anyone to watch a Hallmark movie and not cry. And, if that's not bad enough, you end up crying during the commercials as well when someone gives someone they love a Hallmark card. I know it's sappy but I just can't help myself. And tonight, they had back-to-back-to back Christmas movies.

First it was Our First Christmas about a blended family trying to work out their first Christmas together. I think I cried at least five separate times during that one. It was followed up with A Grandpa for Christmas about a girl being sent to live with her grandfather while her mother is recovering from an accident. Another movie sure to bring on tears. And after that, it's Silver Bells which is adapted from a Luanne Rice book of the same title about two people finding love in New York City during the Christmas season. I'm in Christmas movie heaven.

I remember, when I was growing up, watching every single Christmas movie that was on TV. I wasn't alone in this as everyone in my family did the same thing so we all sat around the TV all night watching.

But I feel I deserve all these good Christmas movies as I worked very hard all day decorating the house......pictures to follow tomorrow. Michael flew home from Vegas tonight so now the real Christmas celebrating can begin.

And the Decorating Begins

It actually began a few days ago but I had a problem when I tried to download pictures on my newly fixed computer. The Windows Wizard, that used to automatically appear when I plugged in my camera, did not appear. I tried everything to fix it and ended up calling Sony. After 45 minutes on the phone, we weren't even close to getting it fixed so I hung up. After doing some research on Google, I found someone who had the exact same problem and just followed his instructions and it was fixed.

This first picture is a "before" picture. I'm doing this one for my friend JoAnn who can't stand these carolers. I happen to love them and have been collecting them for at least twenty years. Here they are all displayed on my dining room table before I begin dispersing them around the house. I counted them and I have 57 of them.

I pack them away in their original boxes and I have written, on the outside of the box, who gave them to me and the year I got them. It brings back some good memories when I'm doing this especially those of Liz and Michael going to Feeney's (a Christmas store) with me and picking out their favorites each year.

These are made right here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania by a company called Byers. You can even tour their factory and see how they are made which I've yet to do. I will post the "after" pictures shortly.

Christmas Quiz!!

I thought this might be a nice way to jumpstart my Christmas blogging. I borrowed this from my friend JoAnn's blog.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? -- Definitely wrapping paper....and the really nice kind. I also do the kids' gifts in the same color so, when they're under the tree, they know which ones are theirs -- as in Michael's are always wrapped in red and Liz' are always wrapped in white and Keith's were always in green. Keith isn't usually here on Christmas morning anymore so Bryan has inherited that color. I just decided, the other day, that my new grandchild Brady would have his wrapped in silver.

2. Real tree or Artificial? -- There's absolutely no thought given on this answer....a real tree is a must. We actually have two trees -- one for the family room and one for the living room. We open our Christmas presents on Christmas morning in the living room so there must be a tree in that room.

3. When do you put up the tree? -- They were actually purchased this weekend and both of them are up but not yet decorated. I'll do the living room tree this week and we are all doing the family room tree together on Christmas Eve.

4. When do you take the tree down? -- Probably the second weekend in January.

5. Do you like eggnog? -- Love it but only buy one container which takes us through the entire season.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? -- This is going to sound crazy but I always loved finding the 64 box of Crayola Crayons under the tree. In line with that, my other favorite was the Venus Paradise coloring sets.

7. Hardest person to buy for? -- Definitely my mother. I usually end up taking most of the gifts back.

8. Easiest person to buy for? -- Liz -- She loves everything!! (as long as it's a name brand)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? -- Yes. I made one in ceramics years ago and it looks like a Lenox set with the gold trim. It's beautiful but I stopped putting it out as so many of the pieces have broken.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? -- Definitely mail. I do not like emailed Christmas cards so, if you're one of my friends and you're reading this, do not email me my card. Put a stamp on it.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? -- There's a tie here. My first worst was a Chia Pet from my brother Michael. He thought it was funny...I cried. The second worst was a necklace with a black pearl on it that Bob got me a few years ago. I had gone to a local jewelry store and picked out a pearl necklace that I really, really, really wanted. Liz told Bob about it and he went to buy it. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong store and bought the only pearl necklace they had. I cried again.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? -- It has to be the original 1951 Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim. I remember watching this with my brothers every Christmas Eve. Next to that it would have to be Love Actually.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? -- Liz and I usually go the day after Thanksgiving but that's more of a search mission. The actual shopping probably starts online and from catalogs and then the live shopping happens the next week. For instance, this week I'm going to Willow Grove Mall with Linda on Monday, Short Hills Mall with Pat on Thursday and Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island with Liz on Friday -- to have Brady's picture taken with Santa!!! So a lot of my shopping will be done this week.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? -- Definitely not but I wish I'd saved that Chia Pet to send back to my brother Michael.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? -- After we open our presents on Christmas morning, Bob makes us all a special Christmas breakfast. That's my favorite thing to eat that day. The only year I didn't eat it was the year I got the black pearl....I was crying too much. lol

16. Lights on the tree? -- All white and there can never be too many lights on the tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? -- Two favorites -- Hey Santa by Wilson Phillips (which I can't even download on my Ipod because Itunes doesn't sell it) and All I Want for Christmas is You from Love Actually and also on the Mariah Carey Christmas album.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? -- Definitely stay home. We always used to go to New York City on Christmas Eve and everyone (except me) skated at Rockefeller Center. We stopped doing this a few years ago when my mother moved to PA and there was no need to go to New York to visit her on Christmas Eve. I miss it.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? -- Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? -- For a few years, I had a big bow with streamers coming down. Now I have stars for both trees.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? -- We open gifts from relatives on Christmas Eve and I let the kids open one gift each (of my choosing). It's always pajamas as I've always bought them new pajamas to wear to bed on Christmas Eve.

22. Favorite Christmas Tradition? -- It's probably all the dated ornaments we put on the tree that I have bought from Hallmark over the years. It's just fun reminiscing as each ornament comes out of the box. When the kids were little, I had so many more traditions that I've now stopped. For instance, the day after Thanksgiving, I would put all of my regular dishes away and replace them with my Christmas dishes. Then there were the annual visits to Feeney's with Michael, the taking of the Christmas picture and so many more.

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? -- The color theme on the family room tree is red and many of the ornaments are dated. The theme on the living room tree is more of a formal one with a lot of gold and cream colored ornaments.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner? -- I don't have a favorite Christmas dinner as I make something different every year. What we do love, however, is have an antipasto on Christmas Eve after we decorate the tree.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? -- I really can't think of anything I want other than a new cell phone. I was supposed to get one for my birthday but that never happened so perhaps it will come from Santa.

Please feel free to add your comments and answer some of these questions yourself if you like. I would love to see them.

A Belated Thanksgiving Entry

This is so late that I almost decided not to blog about it. But then I remembered how cute Brady looked in his Thanksgiving outfit (given to him by my cousin Colleen) and felt the need to post some pictures. Here he is with Bryan and Liz, who never take their hands off him. Most of the time, they actually bump heads when they go in to kiss him at the exact same time.

I always cook on Thanksgiving except for one year when we decided to drive into Queens to visit my mother. After spending over three hours in the car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, we finally arrived, picked her up and headed off to the restaurant where we had reservations. After eating turkey that tasted like cardboard, we vowed never to eat out again on Thanksgiving. Now that my mother is living in Pennsylvania, it makes it a lot easier.

I think I spend as much time figuring out what tablecloth, dishes, napkins and glasses to use as I do cooking the actual meal. Over the years, I've bought so many different entertaining items and I just love setting up the table for each holiday. Here's a picture of my 2008 Thanksgiving table.

I should have taken another picture after everyone was sitting down but forgot. So please picture my mother and Michael on the left side of the table, Bob at the other head and Liz and Bryan on the right....Brady is on the far right in his infant seat.

Everyone said it was one of the best meals I've cooked yet even though I made the same thing I make every year. Sometimes, though, it just turns out better. There's no rhyme or reason for it. I think as women, we usually follow the same menu our own mother's made on this holiday. Mine consists of mashed potatoes (I definitely make the best), sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, mushrooms (another speciality of mine) and, of course, the turkey and gravy (Bob's speciality). We usually have to wait about two hours after the meal to have the dessert which is usually an assortment of pies.

The day after Thanksgiving, Liz and I usually brave the crowds and go Christmas shopping. We went to Short Hills Mall in New Jersey this year. It's an upscale mall and, while it was crowded, it wasn't unbearable.

So all in all, it was another successful Thanksgiving in the Martin house.

To Repair or Not To Repair.....That was the question!!

Just a little update. My laptop is in for repair. I had to ship it to San Diego to be fixed and have no idea how long that's going to take. I'm lost without it. Everything I do is on that laptop. I had to backup everything so it wouldn't get lost in the transition or the translation. This Sony Vaio is only two years old but everytime I touch it or move it, it shuts down. It became impossible to use. I know I could just go out and get a new one but I really like this one so I'll have to wait for the repair to be completed. And you too, my loyal blog readers, will have to wait for more frequent posts as a result.

Michael left for Prague today to play in the European Poker Tour event there. I've never been but I've heard it's beautiful. He's staying at the Prague Hilton which looks fabulous from the pictures I've seen. I hope I'll be able to report some good news from that tournament. This map shows all of the different stops on the tour for the 2008/2009 season. So far, he's been to Barcelona, Warsaw and London (where he took first place). The next one after this is Deauville in France which was won by one of his best friends, Brandon Schaefer, a few years ago. The weather in this picture looks very mild although I bet it's freezing there.

I have some great pictures of Thanksgiving to post but that will have to be in another entry as they're on my other computer. I've asked my FSIL Bryan to send them to me in an email so I don't have to wait for my computer to come back especially since it might not come back until after Christmas.

Right about now, I'm getting ready to decorate for Christmas and was hoping to be able to post some of those pictures as well. Perhaps I can figure out how to do it from my PC. Until then, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Happy Birthday Aunt Margie!!!

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish one of my favorite aunts a very Happy Birthday. My Aunt Margie is my mother's youngest sister and was the youngest of the four Flay sisters.....three of which are still alive.

For as long as I've known her, she was always the Aunt who didn't live in Brooklyn, moving to Long Island (Hicksville) and then Rockland County (New City) before any of the other sisters ventured out of the borough. She was married to my Uncle Bob who was in the insurance industry and wore a suit to work every day which was a big deal back then.

Some of my summer vacations were spent visiting my Aunt Margie for a week at her house in the country which was such a treat for me. She was always so unbelievably nice and the thing I remembered most about her was that she never got mad and she never yelled at anyone. I absolutely loved going to her house. This picture shows many of us at her home for some special occasion. Aunt Margie is the second from the left on the sofa and I'm on the very right on the floor in this photo.

Aunt Margie is an avid reader of my blog (as is her daughter Holly) so I thought it was only fitting to give her a very special birthday treat by making a blog post all about her. I'd also like to add that she was my father's favorite and while I'm sure my mother didn't appreciate having to take her younger sister on dates with my father, my father didn't mind at all because he had such a special relationship with my Aunt Margie. I have many pictures of all of them together somewhere in my house and, when I get a free minute, I'm going to add them to this entry so come back to view this for a second time.

So Happy Birthday Aunt Margie......I love you a lot!!!!

Before you all think that I've discontinued blogging, I'm here to say that is not so. First of all, my laptop is not working properly so whenever I move it in a certain way, it just shuts down. This is fairly annoying especially when you've just typed many paragraphs of something and then it's all lost. So now I'm using one of Michael's old laptops until I can get mine fixed. Unfortunately, all of the pictures I need to update my blog are on my laptop so until I have the time to email them to myself and save them on this computer, I'm "pictureless". I'm sure this isn't a word and I'm sure I'll hear from my brother Bobby on this.

Speaking of my brother Bobby, I recently got this email from him so this proves that I'm not kidding when I say he critiques my spelling and grammar......

"I have, in the past, noticed slight grammatical errors in your blog that I've ignored, because they were so insignificant. However, I did notice one you might think about. Shouldn't the "girls' only vacation" be girls-only vacation? "

Now you know what I'm up against. But I'm just wondering, Bobby, why you chose to put a comma before the word "because" in the email you sent me. You and I both know it doesn't belong there.

Dan's death (Michael's friend) has had such an effect on me and has caused me not to want to be happy......I guess this is what you call being depressed. I'm still struggling with the whole thing and the thought that I'll never get to go to his wedding or see him grow into a man causes me much pain.

But, the life of the living must go on so these are some blogs you can all look forward to once I get my pictures transferred to this computer.

.....my high school reunion

.....my mother meeting Brady for the very first time

.....babysitting for Brady while Liz and Bryan went to the World Series

.....Michael back in Europe and playing in the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam

.....Belle, who has an obvious fear of full moons

.....an update on my godson Jarek and his Pittsburgh Pirate journey

.....and me still trying to cash in my first live poker tournament

And I'm sure there's some TV shows or books that I need to blog about. So stay tuned and don't give up on me yet!!!!

My Other Son.....Gone

Michael has had the same best friend through high school and then as a roommate at Penn State. His friend Dan has been the most loyal friend a guy could have. I always considered him another son and made sure he accompanied us on all of our family vacations. When I think of how Dan always addressed me, the only way I could remember is by him calling me Mom. He always said it laughingly but I know he considered me his second Mom.

These pictures were taken when we went to the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas. Both boys were under 21 at the time but definitely enjoyed all the fun they could have in the Bahamas where drinking and gambling were legal as long as you were over 18. This was one of my favorite vacations and one I won't forget.

Dan passed away yesterday in Florida at the age of 24. We're all devastated. I'm not going to get into the circumstances surrounding his death because it's unimportant. What's important is that I'll never see his face again or ever hear his voice. Another life cut short by this dreaded five letter word....death.

When I was growing up, I don't remember having to deal with the death of any friends yet, in Michael's short life, he seems to have faced so many. This, by far, is the worst though. The services will be held on Sunday morning and Michael will be a pallbearer carrying his friend one last time.

This picture was taken of Michael and Dan outside the Bellagio Hotel where we were all celebrating Michael's 21st birthday.....another most memorable vacation.

Dan, you can't imagine how much I'm going to miss your smiling face.

Love,

Your other Mom

Sunday's Walk

This isn't something I did (although I'd like to) but it's something Liz and Bryan did on Sunday in support of breast cancer research and in honor of those survivors and those who have died from this horrible disease before a cure could be found. Bryan's mother Darlene is one of these survivors and we all hope that she survives a very long time now that all of her treatment is finished.

She was recently visiting Liz and Bryan in early October and got to meet her new grandson Brady for the first time. Here's a picture of Liz, Darlene and Brady when they went to a pumpkin farm. She was here during the most beautiful time of the year in the Northeast which meant that they got to go on many great day trips to petting zoos, pumpkin farms and a lot of overall shopping. Brady slept through this trip but everyone else was awake to enjoy it.

Now getting back to the breast cancer walk. I feel compelled to write about it in honor of Darlene (who is an avid reader of this blog....along with all of her relatives) but even more compelled once I saw the picture of Brady all bundled up getting ready for the walk. When we were in London, Michael and Jenn had bought him his first pair of Ugg boots and he has these on with all of the rest of his paraphenalia. A discerning eye will also notice that Bryan (FSIL) put the right boot on the left foot and the left boot on the right foot....but who's noticing. And to think he makes fun of Belle!!!!

When I saw this picture and this outfit, I thought it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I know he's my grandchild but come on.......is he cute or what???? And to give the same coverage to two of my other favorite people, here's a picture of all three of them bundled up like they're about to enter the Iditarod.

So they ended up walking five miles along the boardwalk at Jones Beach. It got warmer as they started walking so the layers of clothing got to come off little by little. Of course, when they arrived home they were all exhausted but no one more exhausted than the king himself. Here he is after a hard day's walk in the cold. Since the walk took a few hours, he felt entitled to a few hours sleep without interruption. I don't have the pictures of Liz and Bryan sleeping after the walk although I'm sure this might have been the case. My hat's off to all three of you for doing this.

October 20, 2005

I always seem to be writing about the sad days in my life lately, so today I'm going to write about one of the happiest days. But, before you get too excited, this happy post will start with a bit of sadness.

Three years ago, on September 20th, we had to put our beloved border collie Sarah to sleep. Her legs had gotten so bad that she just couldn't move any longer. At this point, we had probably kept her alive three months longer than we should have but we just couldn't come to grips with letting her go. That morning, I tried to lift her to get her outside and she just looked at me and barked. She had never done this before and I knew at that moment she was telling me she just couldn't do it anymore. I immediately called the vet who said to bring her in right away and, in the next hour she was gone.


I remember telling my family that I didn't want another dog and not to surprise me with one either because there could be no dog in the world who could be as wonderful as Sarah. This lasted all of a week. I was so lonely without her and couldn't stand looking around my house and not seeing her there. By the end of that week, I made a visit to our local pound thinking I might find a dog who needed me. It was an unsuccessful visit. That same evening, I was on the Internet, and typed these words into Google....Border Collie Adoption.....and this is what came up.

Belle's Web Page

Hello I am Belle,a three year old Border Collie. I am spayed female. I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people. My old family had too many dogs to spend much time with me. I am looking for a family and a big yard. Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck? Belle has a thick, full coat and will require frequent at-home grooming to keep her looking and feeling her best. She is an escape artist and will require a home with a secure fence OVER 4 feet in height. Belle is being fostered in Lebanon, PA. She has several applications in process already. Other applications will be considered if those do not work out. Please check out some of the other wonderful dogs at Castaway Critters!

This is what it should have said....

I am good with other dogs, however I am a little shy. It takes me a little time to warm up to people because I am used to them beating me. My old family hated me so they brought me to the pound so I could be put to sleep.

As soon as I saw this picture, I just knew I had to have her. And then reading the line that said, "Can you help a girl out who is down on her luck?".....of course I could. But little did I know that my wanting her and my getting her was not as easy as my just saying "yes". There were already a number of applications in for this dog. Mine would be just one of many. And each application included references. I found out later that one of my references told them that "if they believed in reincarnation, in their next life they wanted to come back as my dog." That comment certainly helped but wasn't enough to seal the deal.

I then decided to make a trip to Lebanon, PA to meet Belle. Just to make sure I covered all my bases, I brought two friends with me thinking that if the foster mother didn't like me, she would certainly like one of my friends. At one point, my girlfriend Pat told the lady to just give it up, put the dog in my car and let us leave because they couldn't live with me any longer if I didn't get this dog. Of course, she wouldn't do that so we drove home without Belle.

I have to admit to having some misgivings after this meeting. She was definitely socially inept and afraid of her own shadow. She had been so badly abused and it was going to take a lot to get her out of her shell. Also, her tail was broken so she would never be able to wag it. Someone had swung her around as a puppy and broke it......and then had the nerve to brag about it. I decided then and there that if it was meant to be, it would happen and I wouldn't pursue it any further just in case I ended up with a dog that couldn't fill Sarah's paws.

A week later, I received a phone call from someone who wanted to come to my home to see if it was suitable for the dog. This was something they did with all of the applicants. The woman sat at my kitchen table and filled out the form while I was sitting there. One of the questions was.....will the dog be happy there? She wrote out her response and read it to me after writing it. She said, "Not only would the dog be happy here, I also would like to move in." I think that was what sealed the deal. A week later they called me to tell me Belle was mine and the next day I drove to pick her up.

I'm not going to say the first few weeks or even months were easy because they weren't. This was a dog who was afraid of her own shadow. It was so sad. She wouldn't bark, wouldn't walk on the wood floor, wouldn't take food out of our hands......basically, she wouldn't do anything a normal dog would do. Apparently she had never been a pet. She had just been another dog on a farm that people didn't want. I called the pound she had come from after I got her and asked them if she had a name when she was dropped off. This was a pound in West Virginia. They said, "Yeah, she had a name. It was Dog." That told me all I needed to know. I also found out, during that call, that she was one day away from being euthanized when she was rescued.

Well, now it's three years later and Belle is still here. She now barks, still doesn't like to walk on wood floors, will definitely take anything we offer her from our hands and is basically the most lovable dog and clearly one of the most beautiful border collies I have every seen. She still has so many emotional scars from her former life and sometimes I look at her and just wonder what it had been like for her.

But now she lives in the lap of dog luxury and is loved by everyone in this family. Sarah had always been "my" dog. Belle is all of ours. We're so in tune to what she must have gone through that we all treat her with kid gloves and are very cognizant of her needs. The only one who likes to tease her is FSIL Bryan but he loves her just as much as we all do.

So on this, her three year anniversary with us, I'd like to thank Castaway Critters in Mechanicsburg, PA for rescuing Belle from the West Virginia pound. As the owner of this place told me afterwards, he was there to pick up two other dogs for rescue. He passed her cage and he said her eyes just looked at him and said, "please help me" and he did. I often wonder how a beautiful animal like this could ever have been put to sleep and I'm so thankful she was saved.

This is one of the many endearing things that Belle does. She crosses her paws when she is lying down. She's such a lady.

I look at every day with this dog as a miracle. She is beyond special to us. She is our Belle and, in the upcoming holiday months, will be referred to as "Jingle" Belle.

A Year Ago Today

It was a year ago today, October 17,2007, that we lost one of the most special people in my family......my cousin Madelyn. She passed away after a five year long battle with cancer and I would be remiss in not writing about her today.

Madelyn was the oldest of the girl cousins in my family, even though she was only 62 when she died. There were seven of us all born to the "Flay" girls....Viola, Dorothy, Madelyn and Margie. Madelyn was Viola's daughter and, as the oldest of us cousins, was really the matriarch of our family. It was Madelyn who organized everything and it was Madelyn who got everyone together. A year before she passed away, I had invited all of my cousins (male and female) to the shore for a fall weekend. This was the last time we would all be together. As I look back on that weekend, it was probably one of the most special times I've ever shared with the people I love. I'm so glad we got that opportunity for "one last good time." From those of us sitting in this picture, Madelyn is the fifth from the left.

I remember Madelyn being very tired that weekend but she always rallied and was right there with all of us cooking and playing games. The weather that weekend (November) was so beautiful and we even got to sit on the beach for a few hours. If there was one thing Madelyn loved, it was the beach. A few months before her passing, her four beautiful daughters, along with Madelyn's sister Debbie, took her on a vacation to the Bahamas. It was a girls' only vacation and all of the pictures show Madelyn looking in the best of health. It would be only a few months after that when she started to lose her battle.

She was, by far, one of the nicest and warmest people I have ever known. She was the female equivalent of my father.....always happy, always caring, always Madelyn. When I was at her funeral, her daughters wrote something about her in the Church booklet they handed out. I'd like to rewrite that here because I couldn't have said it better myself.

"Mere words could never justly describe the absolute wonder of being her daughters. Even the most seasoned writer could not detail the magical experience of walking through her front door, at any age, to be enveloped in the warmth of her ever-present smile and her loving arms. To us, home has always been where Mommy is.

Imagine, if you will, being raised by a woman who never raises her voice, who is never unhappy, who never lets her worries show... a woman who always encourages and never criticizes, who always puts you first and herself a distant last...a woman who will stay up all night to perfect a costume, to type a paper or to hold a hand and who, the very next morning, will still be your sunshine. Imagine the feeling of being raised by this woman, then multiply it by a hundred. Still, you are not even close.

Suffice it to say that we are the luckiest of all, for we are blessed with the honor of calling this woman our Mom."

And, suffice it to say that I felt lucky as well to be related to someone as wonderful as Madelyn. Perhaps she's now St. Madelyn in heaven because she certainly was a saint to all of us here on earth. We miss you so much!!!!

I'd like to share two other pictures with you. Since Madelyn's four girls were very young, each year she would include their picture on the front of her Christmas card. Once they were all married and had children of their own, she would take a picture of her and Mike with all their grandchildren. These were the last two I received. This is something I'll miss the most.

When I think of all the things I feel are unfair in this world, this is at the top of my list....that all of these beautiful grandchildren won't get to spend time with their wonderful grandmother.

Finally......"The Win"

I know you're all waiting for a report and it's going to take me another day to be able to blog fully about the experience but, here it is in a nutshell, and this is the headline that can be found on every poker site on the Internet.

EPT London Final Table: Michael Martin Captures Title

When we found out late on Saturday that he was going to make the final table, I hopped on a plane, along with his girlfriend Jenn and my friend Pat, and made it there two hours before it began on Sunday. Unfortunately Bob wasn't able to go but watched the entire thing on the Internet. First prize was 1,000,000 pounds which equates to a lot of "American dollars". Much more to follow.