Jersey Trip / Hospital Visit

Getting the call that my mom was in the hospital, off to Jersey I went. A great sight is always there to greet me as I see The Lady welcoming me home. Let's not forget that she's in Jersey waters!

Newark's skyline. Always evokes such childhood memories. My first solo bus trip was to downtown Newark during my grammer school days to buy a pair of white "go-go" boots. Then the bus ride home only to discover when I opened the shoe box that I had two different sizes :(

So my sense of accomplishment was short lived.

Before I knew it, I was on Morris Av. driving by my mom's apartment complex. I didn't expect to see it on this trip, but the route to the hospital took me pass it. Five buildings surrounding a grassy courtyard.

This is a picture of my typical teenage driving experience....The Garden State Parkway. Speed limit "65"....in reality "20". I spent many, many hours on this road.

Finally I made it to the hospital, where they determined that my mom had a slight stroke. But nothing can stop her from watching her beloved Yankees.

For all of my Florida friends.....yes, my brother Jimmy does existI remember him wearing these 50 years ago! He's not making a fashion statement here....he just never stopped wearing Converse.

Me and Casey with the boys....Ryan, Jamie and Danny.

The effects of the stroke!?!?! No, just Donna's way of seeing which magnification my mom needed for her reading glasses. But we were having quite a laugh over it. I asked my mom to hold the paper upside down for the sake of the picture, but she didn't go for it. I think she realized that it would end up on the blog, and she wants everyone to know that she is quite with it.

Playing beautician.

~Mom and her girls~

Oops....a repeat (which is ironic because we had to repeat this picture numerous times as we were using the timer and we couldn't quite capture the correct image for a number of frames. We were on the verge of losing it in this picture as it was getting quite comical.)

The day before I left, my mom was sent to "The Manor", a rehab place, so that she can get her strength back. I was glad she was able to make the move before I had to leave. A farewell kiss.
And here's hoping that her therapists can put up with her! :)

An Extended Mother's Day!

On the actual Mother's Day, after spending a morning with Jessica over some homemade pancakes (minus the syrup :)

Christa and I took off and headed east. Just give us the ocean, some flowers, and dolphins and we have the ingredients for a photo shoot. I'll spare you all of our shutter madness, but here is just a sampling.

Taking a clue from Lost, I'm jumping back in time. Since Rachel and Ethan were in town, the girls decided to suprise me with a Mother's Day Brunch the day after Christa's graduation. Here we are in the gazebo at the hotel where we stayed and where we enjoyed our late checkout to enjoy their brunch :)
Notice the lake in the background....well, the night before we asked the front desk if we could borrow a flashlight. We wanted to go out and "alligator hunt" as I knew the hotel's website had advertised it being on Biven's Lake, which I knew to be chock-full of gators.
So they sent a great "gator-hunting" flashlight to our room via a man who was apparantly clueless as to the lake being visible from this gazebo so we sent him away with the flashlight. Then the next morning we woke to this great lake...and for us nature lovers, there was a gator not too far from shore giving us our dose of prehistoric lizard viewing.
Some shared laughter after a "goofy" pose picture which I decided not to publish for the benefit of some involved :)
A mom and 3/4's of her girls!
Yes!!! I cannot wait to become a competitive badminton player!

Now if I could jump to the future (again a Lost trick, which is starting to drive me crazy) I would include pictures of my Mother's Day with the Mallard family, as they will be joining us the end of May!!!....to be continued!

A Momentous Occasion

On May 3, 2009 Christa donned her cap and gown and strolled across the floor of the O'Connell Center. (Wasn't it just a blink of an eye ago when she was sitting in her homeschool desk agitating her sisters!?!)

Twenty plus years of schooling have come to an end, but seeing as it's called a "commencement" ceremony, a whole new life will be starting for Christa. And I really don't know who was feeling more proud...Christa or me, but she sure was beaming throughout!

A joyful look on her face turned to a frown when she realized that I didn't have my camera and she saw me taking a picture of her on my cellphone :) Moments later I received a text..."How do you not have your camera on the MOST important day of my life!" Notice that it really wasn't a question. ( And thanks, Peter, for having yours on hand...it saved me from hearing about it for the rest of my life!)

The beaming continues.....

We couldn't pass up a pose in "the swamp"!

A celebration afterwards with

family and friends was the icing on

the cake.