THINK OF ME

Well, I'm off to New York. Then on Thursday I'll be on the ship and for 10 days will be cruising the New England States and into Canada.



I hear Hurricane Bill is waiting for me. He is off the East Coast waiting to cause problems. Just like a man! LOL



Well, think of me while I'm gone and say a prayer that Bill gets out of our way soon. I'm hoping that by the time I'm there he will have blown away leaving us clear skies.


I don't mind some rocking and rolling of the ship. In fact, I enjoy it. Puts me to sleep at night. I just don't want to get flipped over while at sea.



No matter what happens, weather wise, I'm going to have a great time. I'll make the most of it.



I went on a cruise one time and got caught in a hurricane. We ended up missing all but two ports. One stop we couldn't really do anything because the island was so badly damaged and almost everything was closed.

The other stop was Key West and I fell in love with that place.



I'm really looking forward to this trip so I hope all goes well.

I'll be back in two weeks and I'm sure full of great tales. Could be stories of history, shopping, ghost hunting, witch trials and beauty or could be full of how everyone was sick on the ship and things got blown over as we were tossed about like a rag doll on the big seas.



So I guess what I'm saying is, come back in two weeks to read the end of the Vacation Mystery story.



Bye for now!

WHO WANTS TO BE A ROCK STAR?

Who wants to be a rock star? Well, Disney has discovered that apparently a lot of young people do.

In fact, so many young, want to be stars, are out there that Disney has opened a store in Downtown Disneyland to make that dream come true. At least for a day.


The store is called Disney Studio 365.

Come on, let's go inside and take a look around.


At first glance it looks like a normal cute store that sells Disney items.

But, the more you look around, the more you notice, it's not "just" a store.

The dressing rooms look like something a Rock Star Diva may have. Even a plush chase lounge covered in cheetah print is in there.

There are also lots of outfits worn by the real Disney Rock Stars. Like The Jonas Brothers.

Dresses worn by Hannah Montana.

All the great accessories, for any young Rock Star to be, can be found here. Things like sun glasses.

Hair extensions.

Stuff to make your lips nice and soft.

Jewelery that is perfect for a concert or even a day at Disneyland.

Of course, lots and lots of clothes.

So, has this made you want to be a Rock Star?

It sure did Trinity. So she signed her "contract" and was whisked off to become the Rock Star she has dreamed of being.

First it was off to get her done. Of course, every Rock Star is pampered. She wouldn't dream of doing her own hair.

Besides, she must have the most up to the minute style. After all, her fans expect that of her.

One thing that comes along with the Diva Rock Star hair styles is a lot of hair spray. So they provide you with a darling mask to hold up so it doesn't spray in your face.

Then the make up girl comes out and applies just the perfect amount of make up.

This is when the fun of being a Rock Star really starts to show up. Everyone primping you, showering you with attention and making you beautiful!

Colorful hair extensions are added, a ratted up pony tail in the back and fairy dust to make the whole head glitter.

This is Trinity getting her first look at her new look.

They keep your back to the mirror until the big revile.

After the hair and make up is finished, you get a lesson in how to walk like a Diva and strike a pose when your fans request to take a picture.

Now we all know that one of the things a Rock Star must do is give interviews and it's not long until your first interview takes place.

Over the speakers it is announced that "The latest and greatest Rock Star" is in the store. Then questions are asked and answered before the Rock Star is quickly whisked away.

You see, it's time for the Rock Star's photo shoot.

Sure it looks like she is just standing in front of a blue screen but by the time the photos are finished that blue screen turns into wonderful looking back drops.

Oh the magic of Hollywood! Or should I say...Disney.

The first over the shoulder pose is practiced. Oh how lovely!

I think this one is going to make the front page of Teen magazine.

One of the pictures gets put on your "back stage pass" and can be used for your ID.

Oh my, even before we were able to leave the store the fans were asking for autographs.

Finally, we made it out of there. Away from the wild fans and on down to Disneyland for the day.

Disneyland is used to having lots of celebrities so no extra fuss was made and we were all able to enjoy the rest of the day.

Oh, I almost forgot, you get to take home your very own make up kit and the brush and comb they used to do your hair.

If you know of anyone who dreams of being a Rock Star this is the perfect place to make their dreams come true. After all that is one of Disney's specialties.

I GOT ONE! I GOT ONE!

I'm so excited! I finally got an email saying I got one! I feel like I won the lottery.

What am I so excited about, you ask? What did I get?


I got my very own Big Apple Greeter. I had heard about this wonderful program where you can sign up to request a BAG.

What? You have never heard of them.

Well, it is a wonderful group of people who live in New York and volunteer to take visitors around to their favorite spots. They meet up with you and will spend up to 6hours showing you around all the places the locals know about.

They will take you anywhere you want to go. Show you how to take the subways, let you know the best places to eat and take you to places most tourist don't know about.

You have to request one months in advance and even then they don't guarantee you will have someone.

They do this all for free. No charge at all. You can't even tip your greeter. You can pay for their meal, if you have one. You can also donate to the Big Apple Greeter program. But, you don't have to if you don't want to.

I feel so blessed and honored to know that some stranger is willing to take time out of his day to show me around and make me feel welcomed.

I already called my greeter. His name is Martin and he is so nice. We will be meeting up at 10:30am this coming Monday. He told me to be ready to walk a lot.

Of course, that thrilled me. It fits right in with my plans to walk a lot and lose weight on this trip.

I can't wait! In just a few days I'll be in NEW YORK!

NO WE DON'T HAVE GOPHERS!

Our front yard is a mess right now. It has two big piles of dirt and two deep holes.

No, we don't have gophers. We have a broken pipe!

Yesterday we called the plumber out because the drains inside were draining slow. We didn't know why. We figured they would just clean out the pipes and be on their way.

Well that didn't happen. They did try to clean out the drains but the blade on the snake they were using broke off. So the camera came out.

They were able to go through the whole area of pipes out to the street. Turns out the pipes are old and had several cracks.

We agreed that they would flush out the pipes and then soon we would have the pipes replaced.

As they flushed out the pipes, or I should say tried to flush out the pipes one of the guys noticed the water wasn't going though them as it should.

So out came the camera again. This time they noticed one of the pipes that had a crack came completely apart and sunk down in the ground and now there was no connection.

We had no choice but to go ahead with the replacement of the pipes right away.

They did a temporary fix last night. Poor guys were here working in the dark until almost 9:00pm just so we would have use of the pipes for the night.

They came back bright and early this morning and have been here all day.

We are hoping they get it all fixed today. But even when it is fixed the yard will still be a mess.

This is not only a mess to deal with but it's very costly too. This turned out to be several thousands of dollars to get done. YIKES!

Well, on the bright side... our pipes will not give us any trouble for a long time now.

Yesterday we picked out the wood for our floors. They should be starting on those while I'm gone on my trip. At least taking up the old floor here. I don't think they will be laying down the wood until I get back.

I can't wait to get on that plane and leave all this work behind!

AN UN-BIRTHDAY PARTY

My sister, Patty, is having a birthday this week. However, she decided she didn't want any more birthdays. She made me promise not to invite all her friends and have a surprise party for her.

But, she didn't say anything about family! Or an Un-Birthday party!


So, we all got together and decided to give her a surprise Un-Birthday Party.

With the help of Donna at Party Wishes , we were able to turn the yard into Alice's Wonderland.


Here is the birthday girl as she first opened the gate and saw the Wonderland waiting for her.

Everyone yelled out "Happy Un-Birthday!" She was really surprised.

The table was set with darling pink chargers that held black and white polka dot plates. Sweet flowers wrapped the napkins. A cute Cheshire cat mug was at each place setting. As well as a little cookie jar with a sign that said "Eat Me".

Big brightly colored cups and saucers as well the Cheshire Cat himself sat at one end of the table.

The Mad Hatter had stopped by and left a hat on everyone's chair to wear at the party.

Heavenly paper lanterns and floating butterflies adorned the EZ Up tent that shaded us from the afternoon sun.

Here is a close up of the place settings. Doesn't Donna do a great job! She provides everything you need for your party and then some.

There were even rose petals in the shape of hearts scattered on the table.

Just about every color of the rainbow could be found on this table. It was so bright and cheerful!

There was even a croquet game set up with larger then life size figures from Alice and Wonderland.

The pink flamingos were waiting to come out of the box to be used as mallets for the game.

They couldn't wait to hit the balls made out of hedgehogs.

Trinity is showing us all how to play.

I was pleased to see everyone wore their hats without putting up any fuss.

Even my nephew, John and his girlfriend, Rosie, got into it and wore the hats.

Sadly, my other nephew, Jason got called in to work. He had to cover for someone who called in sick. So he missed the fun.

When we first sat down we ate horderves. Lots of cheese, veggies with dip, chips and fruit.

Then it was time for lunch. We had cheese lasagna, anti pasta salad and garlic bread.

Yes, I did count the points and wrote down what I ate. Just because it's a party does not mean I can't stay on my diet. Of course, Maureen did also.

But then it came time for dessert...

We had a variety of cupcakes. There was white, chocolate, marble and red velvet cupcakes. All topped with cream cheese icing.

No, I didn't make them. Normally I would have made a cake. A Topsy turvy cake would have been perfect. However, since we were keeping this party a secrete I couldn't very well be baking a cake without Patty asking me who it was for.

So I ordered the cupcakes from Wonderland Bakery. I did add the cute pink flamingo picks though. Does that count?
LOL

Then it was time for Patty to open her presents. She had asked for a Wii game so I got her one. She also got Wii fit. I can't wait to give that a try! Plus, other wonderful gifts and cards.

Trinity sat down to play a game of Chess with the rabbit but then he started saying "I'm late! I'm late for a very important date" and ran off, forgetting his pocket watch.

But then, grandpa stepped in and finished playing the game.

By now, everyone was full and our bellies ached from laughing so much. It was time to call it a day.

We all had a great time at our first Un-Birthday Party. Plus, no one turned a year older. How great is that.

I must say once again, thank you Donna for letting us use all your fun items.

Last, but not least, I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTY!!! I love you!