Weekend birthday celebration

Charlie and Gayle M.
Gayle is in a Dance/Exercise class with Mary (the birthday girl)
John & I (celebrating our birthdays early)
after an hour or so of music, food and drinks...the DJ & the birthday girl wanted people to start dancing!
So we did! Fun music...mostly 80's...but some new stuff too(Michael Jackson,Talking Heads,Pitbull, Lady Gaga...INXS...stuff like that)...remember... about half the women (and 1 or two guys) that were there are in a dance/exercise class together...they know how to have fun and they KNOW how to Dance! When one of "their" songs came on they'd all jump up and start doing their routine....I just kind of edged over to the side...1,2,3 1,2,3..haha
as for me...I had a glass or two of champagne... enough to make me NOT shy...as John put it haha and once I got started dancing...I didn't stop.
I danced with John, Charlie and some other friends...and I danced to songs I normally wouldn't even probably listen to...but once I get going...who cares...I'll dance to pretty much anything. If a really cheesy song came on...it was time to head to the bathroom! hah


a few of the partners tried in vain I might add to actually "dance"...but I am not good at following someone Else's lead...I just want to move .(Brenna and Megan can tell you about my 3 step moves..hahaha...no matter what song it is...you can always follow along with "Anne Kaminski's School of Dance-3 steps!") All that spinning was making me dizzy anyway...haha

Mary grew up in Indialantic a few streets over from my street. I babysat for the kids that lived across the street from her,,,we also went to the same church growing up. So...consequently many of the people at the party were friends of ours, friends of our siblings, etc...including one (younger than me) girl who as the conversation went on...I discovered that I had babysat for once or twice.
The birthday girl (in black) dancing with her husband...having fun!
The party was in the building overlooking the tennis courts at a local club...so there was a nice porch that wrapped around the whole room. Some people stayed out there the whole time...closer to the bar??? and enjoyed the cool fresh air outside.

Some Christmas decor

I may not have a mantle...but I have two shelves/cabinets I can decorate.
On one wall is a cabinet...with my doll and toy collection on top. I love to wrap a garland around the top and add a few ornaments.
On the opposite wall is my china cabinet. I have a garland on top of that too...with some bright colored bulbs to add some color. I love it!
and then there's Santa....handmade by Megan in 2nd grade. **On Tuesday Megan will have her Master's degree!

Ginger Cookie Fun

Yesterday at Storytime we had some ginger(bread) fun. I got inspired and decided to make some cookies for the kids to decorate. I made some Light Ginger Cookie dough and rolled it out and then just made some basic house shapes. I told the kids it was their job to Fix Up these houses!
But first we read a few books...including my favorite new holiday book this year. I love this story and I decided to buy a copy. Initially I bought it intending to donate it to the library...and still might...but I'm kind of liking it.....not sure I want to part with it. I had more boys than girls yesterday...and I don't mean to make generalizations...but it was perfect for a bunch of little boys, (Moms all liked it too). I just love the illustrations and "Captain Cookie" and his crew are great. Check this one out!
"The Gingerbread Pirates" by Kristin Kladstrop illustrated by Matt Tavares.
Also read "Santa Mouse and the Ratdeer" by Thatcher Hurd. It's a cute story about Santa having a bad night...nothing is going well and the reindeer are grouchy too. When the sleigh malfunctions the wind up at Rosie's house...she gives them all cookies and hot chocolate and pretty soon everyone is feeling much better. Very cute...everyone liked this one.
And the illustrations in Nancy Tafuri's "Counting to Christmas" are just beautiful as usual.
And the little girl mixing up her gingerbread went perfectly with the "craft" for the day...decorating the ginger cookie houses.
I gathered up some "building/decorating" supplies.
Here's what our ginger cookie houses looked like...mine was a little crispy...just how I like them!
add a little frosting "paint" then go to town...haha
Pretzel doors, Chex Mix windows and Cheerios and M&M's all around.Don't forget to add the little gingerbread people to go with the house. We all had fun!
**OOps, I almost forgot to include the recipe....
Preheat oven to 400
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 cup softened butter(or margarine), and 1 TBSP vinegar
together in mixing bowl.
Stir in 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 - 2 tsp ground ginger, 3/4 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix well....if dough is too dry add milk or cream 1 tsp at a time. Roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured cloth. (I actually dust wax paper with powdered sugar when I roll out cookie dough ). Use cookie cutters to cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, bake until light brown approx 6-8 minutes. Cool slightly, carefully remove from cookie sheet.
Decorate with frosting.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We had record low temperatures this morning. They tied a record set in 1937! It was beautiful day...blue blue sky, some wind, but not bad...actually a perfect day for a bike ride before work.
We don't have that much cold weather here except last year so I don't have the best selection of cold weather workout/exercise/bike gear. Usually try to get by with a long sleeved t-shirt and shorts...but today required some long (ankle) pants and an extra shirt layered over the long sleeved tee. Basically the "orphan on the loose" look. Combine that with my visor and my hair that is badly in need of a haircut (one more day!)...I sure I was quite a sight!
I brought my camera along because a rocket was set to launch at around 10:42am...and just as I came to the end of the bike path that runs between two neighborhoods...there it was. Now there is a gate at that point for cars entering/exiting the neighborhood...and they don't expect to see any bikes at that time in the morning with the exception of kids skipping school so I always STOP. If the gate is opening or closing...I wait. Naturally today when I was hoping NOT to see anyone, a car load of people was coming out while I was taking pictures of the rocket. They looked at me a little curiously...probably thinking something like..."Who is this goofy person on the bike?" (ankle pants, layered shirts..wild hair...etc)
Once I pointed out the rocket, possible future of our space program...they relaxed a little...haha (click on it...to get a better look)
Look at the sky! Launch went off without a hitch and I enjoyed a little fresh air before work..so all was well...goofy outfit and all!

Identity Crisis????

Okay...so this morning while walking my dog Kiena I met a neighbor and her two dogs and in spite of my emphasis on the K...she was convinced the dog's name was Tina.Maybe I don't enunciate properly because this has happened before.....John's dad always called her Tina...but then again if you have a treat...she'll answer to anything.
well....I have lots of brothers and sisters and many times people would greet me "Hi Martha! blahblah blah...How's Anne?" to which I would respond "She's fine"
I knew they knew me...so what if they got my sister and me mixed up...
I have a friend, who I actually carpooled with back in the day (haha) she has short dark hair, about the same height and weight (I wish...I'm sure I've got at least 20 pounds on her), a son the same age as my daughter Brenna, a daughter the same age as my daughter Megan....and as I said we carpooled...so her children may have been seen exiting from my car. I run into people from time to time who greet me warmly...ask how Colby and Sammy are doing....my answer "They're fine Thanks!" (why explain....it'll just confuse them...) Incidentally...people think she's me too....it's a small town. We did end up in Publix one time wearing almost the exact same color blue shirt, black skort(me)shorts (her) and black flip flops....first, she ran into an old friend of mine who wondered if I remembered her....Keile said "Anne might remember you" and identified herself. My friend Ellen laughed and then two aisles later Keile ran into me in my matching outfit and we decided to find Ellen in the store and really confuse her by walking up to her together....we all laughed. So...people think I'm her, call me by my sister's name
ask me how my dog Tina is doing and ask about my daughter "Brenda"..."No...that's BRENNA..... I try to set them straight to no avail.....so I'm going to be in trouble if I ever start start???? losing my memory...I won't know who I am , who my children are or who my dog is....God help me! haha I was thinking about writing this earlier today after the dog incident...haha...decided it was meant to be when I got a sweet note from my nephew tonight thanking us for a birthday gift we sent him......just one little error...hahahaha it said Dear Aunt Ellen(another sister)Uncle John, Brenna and Megan,..............
Please keep this in mind when I'm old and confused...it's not my fault!
But don't worry..if you ask..."Everyone's fine"

Christmas Project #1

I keep hearing from people that they have all their Christmas decorations up and I think YIKES!...but then I remind myself that it's only December 2nd...no need to panic...there's plenty of time! I am semi-organized...there's a small pile of already wrapped (and more importantly marked)gifts ready to go. I'm working my way through my relatively short list.
Yesterday I had the day off...and I was productive!
I made a trip to the Hallmark Store ( which is sometimes dangerous! haha)and exited said store with two gifts marked off my list and my Christmas cards. Now in the past few years as long as I can remember I have always bought cards during the after Christmas sales...the selection may not be as good...but the discounts are always a plus. For reasons I can't remember...I did not buy any last year...or if I did I put them away and can't locate them. something I never do..hahah So...I had to make a trip.... and I found what I needed (and more!).
I usually start off with a bang...get the address book out, and stamps, etc then I get going. I always do the quick ones first...no note needed...that way I feel like I'm making progress. One batch goes out into the mailbox and I start on the next one.
Next come the ones that I feel need a little note...nothing too in depthAnd then the ones that get a nice long note/letter and maybe a photo...one by one I get them done...if you're reading this and you get one of them...you know what I mean...haha and you probably get your card later in the month.
Adding to this year's challenge is my choice of postage stamps. Last time I went to the PO I bought 100 stamps. I never get the plain , boring roll of stamps...I want something more interesting. I opted for the Hawaiian Rain Forest stamps. As soon as I really looked at them...I knew John was NEVER going to use them...they are kind of like a puzzle.(see above)..beautiful...but a little hard to find on the sheet. I used up one sheet and put the stamps on all the envelopes on his desk...then went back to the PO and bought him a roll of stamps and kept the other 90 for my own personal use...haha. They aren't Christmas stamps...but I think they're nice...and as long as I have my glasses on while I'm working on the cards...they'll do just fine! (the glasses will probably also improve the quality of my handwriting...haha)
So...I have one wreath up...one Santa decoration out and one garland up...and a stack of addressed envelopes ready to go!.....but again...it's only December 2nd.
I think I'm doing fine.

Time for bed

I just re-read what I wrote last night and realized I left out a sentence or two...which I guess is one way of telling myself...writing blogs at bedtime might not be the wisest thing...haha
I really should be going to bed right now...but instead here I am on the computer...reading and writing blogs...and I really do have to get up tomorrow for work...so I have to make this short. I was just thinking about how we all have our own ways of getting along in life. We all need something to plan for, look forward to...or feel like we have a reason to keep doing what we're doing. Work isn't so bad...if you have a reward in store(other than the obvious reason for working...to make a living)... I always laugh when John plans a "trip" because for John...it's having a trip , or two or more planned for sometime in the near future that keeps him focused. We have literally been driving/flying home from a trip in the past and he would be making plans for the next one. Me...I just wanted to get home and unpack...then think about where I was going next. John works hard...and he wants to feel like he is making the most of the time he has when he has no obligations... his motto work hard and reward yourself. Give yourself something to work towards. He's always been like that. Even when he claims he is not going to plan anything...it's not long before he starts thinking about something...and before you know it...a trip is in the works.


But I really can't laugh at him because for me...I like to have a party to plan.....like today I was walking along...enjoying the day and decided that we needed to have a party soon...and Voila!...I came up with a reason. Megan graduates from George Mason in mid December, Megan and Brenna are going to be home for the holidays...Elizabeth and her friend Jon and Ryan will be here for a few days and we (John and I) have birthdays coming up...so as far as I'm concerned that all adds up to a P+A+R+T+Y. And just like that I will be all focused on that for now...I don't care if the "event" is month(s) away...I will plan away until the date arrives. So there's this months activities and then of course there is our anniversary in February...I've been thinking along the lines of "29 Years and 28 Bad Wedding outfits" - making people wear bad bridesmaid dresses and T-shirt Tuxes and bad pants/shoes/whatever for the guys. I said I wasn't going to make people dress up again this year...but like John and his trips...I just can't seem to help myself! So really we aren't so different...just our ideas. So we all make our plans...some are simple...so more involved,,,but when we look ahead.... it's nice to have things we are looking forward to doing!