Update on the Titanium Twins

Both the girls are doing great! They're both back to driving and pretty much, with the exception of having to use a cane, resuming normal activity.

My cousin Julie had the most incredible gifts made for them. Really nice zip jackets, black with a red lining.....



And the most AWESOME tag embroidered on to them....



BEST.
GIFT.
EVER!!!!!

We need to get a picture of them in their finery together.

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas

Well...we finally got some snow. Boy DID we!!! That storm thats been gripping the country got to our neck of the woods today.

I found this picture whilst perusing The Buffalo News. I thought it was pretty cool so I lifted it. Hey, don't judge, I gave full credit and admitted my plagarism. It was taken from the top of the Liberty Bank Building.



It took me 50 minutes to do my normal 10-15 minute commute home today, what with the white-outs and piling up snow and idiot drivers. I debated getting on the I-190 for about 2 seconds. Good choice on my part not to get on....it was a parking lot.

I finally made it to my street, when to my surprise, only half of it was plowed. And guess what, the unplowed part was my part. I had to park around the block and walk home because I couldnt get up the street. Brrrrr. Actually I was better off doing that anyway because, with the drifts in the driveway, I would have never made it into the garage.

This pic here shows the depth of the drifts. Thats The Spouse getting ready to plow them out of here.



I'm spending the evening getting a start on my Christmas cookie baking. I cant think of a better way to spend a snow night.

Doe, A Deer, A Female Deer....

at least I think it was a female deer that just WALKED INTO THE SIDE OF MY CAR!!!!

I was minding my own business driving down Borden Road when I spotted a couple of our white tailed friends crossing the road. Naturally I slowed way down because if there's one deer in the road chances are there's another. Who knew it would be a whole herd of them!!! I was going less than 20 mph. I had my eye on the one directly in front of my car (and by directly I mean 3 feet in front of me) when another just rammed into the side of my car by the front wheel. It's an awful sound....vehicle meeting furry animal. In my passenger side mirror I saw the thing on the ground on the side if the road. Shit. I thought about getting out of the car for about a nano second and continued home. While I was assessing the damage (which really isn't that bad) The Spouse pulled in the driveway. We hopped in his car to go back to the scene, (cuz we're morbid like that) and when we got to the spot the deer was gone. So, I'm not a Bambi killer...I just maim.

In my defense, those deer were NOT crossing at the DeerCrossing sign.

Happy Thanksgiving

I vow to not have a repeat of last year when, because my brother caused the hours long dinner delay by not having the turkey fryer in working order, never really ate anything all day and just consumed Cosmos and proceeded to get hammered..(run on sentence much Peg?) Going to work the next day was so not fun!!!

I shall limit my martini consumption to 2.

Before dinner.

Maybe one after.

Good thing....

.....it's been so unseasonably mild temperature wise. If it was cold, all this rain we're having today would be snow and we'd be neck deep in it right now !!!!!!

Extremes

Thursday we had snow showers.

Yesterday was sooooo damp and chilly you felt it in your bones.

Today and tomorrow????? Temps in the high 50's and low 60's.

Welcome to the B-lo. Don't like the weather? Wait a couple minutes.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition will be in town this weekend so I guess cooperation from Mother Nature will help dispel the old "all it ever does here is snow" myth.

The Titanuim Twins And The Case Of The Fractured Femurs

The words on the voice mail were the ones you never want to hear. "I'm at the hospital with mom. She fell. Pretty sure her leg is broken. Call me when you get this".

Tuesday, The Maternal Unit had been on a walking tour downtown with a group of retirees that she used to work with. She recounted that she was talking and walking and then the next thing she knew she was on the pavement. She didn't remember tripping or stumbling...just landing. Being the good daughter that I am, I questioned if she had been chewing gum at the same time. My brother came up with a few good zingers during our wait in the ER too. Good thing we know how to act in these kinds of situations. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.

There was lots of texting going on....sharing info with family members, especially with my cousin Julie in Atlanta, who happens to be the Offspring of The Maternal One's twin sister.

When she went up to surgery to have the rod and screws inserted into the femur *you just cringed reading that didn't you* I made a phone call to my Aunt Twin, who coincidentally fractured her femur 3 years previous. Of course she told me to tell mom to "quit copying her" and other good natured barbs. You can see where us cousins get our sense of humor now, don't you? Anyway, when the surgeon came down to talk to my brother and I after the surgery, he stated that the sharpness of the break indicated a stress fracture and that the bone probably broke and then she went down. "we've been seeing this a lot in patients who have been taking Fosimax for more than 5 years"

WHAT???? You mean this drug that's supposed to prevent osteoporosis actually does the opposite??? how does that happen?

Fast forward to Friday morning..... I get this text from the aforementione cousin Julie...

Not a joke|
My mother just broke her leg (the right femur this time) can u fucking believe that?? Patti just called they r on the way to the hosp in ambulance

WHAT??????

UnFREAKing believable!!!!!! The Aunt Twin falls on the kitchen floor and breaks her OTHER femur. And guess what her surgeon says. "she looks like the pictures in the medical journals of Fosimax issues and the bone probably broke and then she fell.

So now they are both laid up in rehab facilities. And Julie and I are calling the two of them The Titanium Twins.

Crazy week

On This Date In History.....

1985......Offspring #2 was born. Almost had her in the van under a bridge on the way to the hospital. Happy birthday Michelle.

And happy birthday to your spouse on tuesday too!

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on another note, I've got quite a story to tell about my Maternal Unit and her Twin (who, from now on will be referred to as The Titanium Twins) Upcoming as soon as I have the time to compose.

Another Installment of......On This Date In History

26 years ago, Offspring #1 made her debut into the world. Man...she's getting up there! Happy Birthday Melissa.

3 years ago today, The TreeStorm started. We went to bed knowing that there would probably be a snow day on the 13th. It was snowing pretty hard. Little did we know there would be a week of snow days.

And when we woke up....this is what we saw.....



We didn't think this tree would survive...



But here she is two days later....I love the color of those leaves.


And here she stands today, 3 years later. Stronger than ever I think. A little weird that her leaves are just starting to change color now, isnt it?

Pointless Stuff

Have you seen the new show Modern Family yet?

No?

Well, you're missing out on some funny stuff.

I suggest you watch.

It's probably the best new show of the new tv season.

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A couple of weeks ago I got a blast from the past. A girl I used to work with when The Spouse and I lived in New Orleans called. They had just retired, bought a motor home *and by motor home I mean a house disguised as a bus* and would be up in our neck of the woods. So we met up with them Tuesday night for a couple beers and food. Blew me away when I heard that deep southern accent on the phone.

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The leaves are changing and there's a bit of a nip in the air. And there's Christmas stuff in stores already. It's not even Halloween yet!!!

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that's all for now

Oinktoberfest

Offspring #3 and I were out and about yesterday. We'd planned on going to a big barn sale out in West Falls and when that turned out to be a dud of a sale we headed over to Clarence...thinking that the Flea Market would be in full swing....it being a decent day and all. Turns out that there was no flea market. Apparently its only on Sunday. BUT! The Great Pumpkin Farm was open and it was Oinktoberfest! Big BBQ cookoff, a band playing some really good tunes, pie eating contests, rides, petting zoos, all kinds of stuff going on, so we decided to roam around there for a while. And with all the fantastic scents coming from the competition tents we decided we were hungry. Got some ribs, some pulled pork, some mac and cheese and THE best jalapeno cheddar cornbread ever.

Offspring #3 in front of the tent for the bbq competitor with the best name.... "Bobby Q and The Butt Rubbers. "
They even had a Zoltar Machine!!!! Just like in the movie "Big"! No sign of Tom Hanks tho.
Ok, then, at one point I had to relieve myself and just my luck...Porta-Potties. Yeah...we all love using them, right? So I open the door and whats in there? The newspaper. Someone made themselves at home.

Ok, Now We're In Business!

My computer has been really stupid lately and I haven't been using it too much. And it's in the house and I spend all my time out here in The Snug cuz I love it out here. I've been doing just about every thing on my phone except blogging and I hadn't been doing that cuz I couldn't get anything of a textual nature to appear on a blog post. I could only get text to appear in the title. And I didn't like that so I did a little homework and got my phone linked up to my blog. Those folks at Blogger.com are up on all the techno stuff. I do like that.

So you'll be hearing alot more from me more often now.

Now I just have to figure out how to post pictures from the phone.

This is only a test

Testing one two three. Chhhhhh chhhhhh chachacha. (can you tell I've been to a couple sound checks before?

Posting this from the phone. I think I figured out how to do it.

Here goes. *Hitting publish*

Some Random Wedding Stuff....

You can view a short slideshow of the few pictures I had time to take here .

A couple of things....

Lots and LOTS of beer mixed with 20-ish testosterone is not a good combination. The after party almost got out of control. I spent a good hour trying to get a jump on the clean up....3 big bags of garbage and a couple bags of beer cans. I went upstairs about 10:30, just to get 10 minutes of quiet time because I was starting to get annoyed with the young bucks. Woke up at 4:30 am. My 10 minutes turned into 6 hours. The Spouse and The Offspring cleaned up the rest of the mess.

Nineteen 30 pack of beer were consumed at the house. UnFREAKIN'believable.

I want to thank the following people......

• Judge Tim Walker. Anyone who quotes Dr. Seuss and Green Eggs and Ham during an exchanage of vows is alright in my book.
• Annette Szcymanski at Shelly's Flowers. The floral arrangements were stunningly perfect.
• Jim Weldy of "The Boys of Summer" for the perfect music
• Donna Ilecki for the culinary masterpiece that was The Cake
• Dave Wozniak, our brilliant photographer and friend.
• Joseph's Country Manor for their wonderful venue.
• Lee Nowicki who made the bride's dress and then delivered it as a wedding present.
• And last but certainly not least....Mother Nature herself for probably the nicest day of the year.

The Wedding

Here's just a few shots from the wedding. And, I might add...it was the best wedding EVER!!! And its not just me, mother of the bride, saying that. It was so relaxed and unstructured. Fantastic time was had by all.....at least thats what I heard all day.

I love this candid shot of Michelle and the sisters, Melissa, Emily and Kerry...and the flower girl, Maggie

My dryer broke this morning!!!!!!! The wedding is on Saturday. Timing is everything

Sunday In The Park

The past couple weeks at work have been brutal. Events every night after lunch is over and back to backs on the weekends. 21 days straight. No breaks. But we're just that good and we can pull it off.

We got to blow off a little steam this weekend at The South Park Italian Festival. Good Times Good Times.

It was held on the greenspace in front of The Botanical Gardens this year. Way nicer than where it's been held on Redding Street previously.

It was HOT and the sun was glaring but all the vendor tents were set up under a stand of trees, which made it quite nice. This is the one event that we bring our own beverages to. This year, the bev of choice was Three Olives Cherry Vodka and Lemondade or Limeade. Yum Yum .... perfect drink for the day. Needless to say, we killed the bottle. We also ran out of food!!!! We had lines all day long for our Grilled Chicken w/ Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich and the Italian Sausage Patty w/ peppers and onions and cheese sandwich, and the Stuffed Hot Peppers Sandwich. We rock! Pretty sure the other vendors were jealous at our brisk business. We ended up donating the proceeds of $500.00 to Cradle Beach Camp. We're awesome.

Justin won a prize in the Chinese Auction. The umbrella he models for us here, along with a two seater chair. I probably dont have to say that this picture was taken after the bottle of vodka was gone

Here, Justin tests out the umbrella, Mary Poppins Style by jumping off the back of the truck.

We really wanted to take this little guy for a ride. The BPD probably would have had a problem with that since its was theirs.

Here's the Master of Ceremonies for the event...Assemblyman Mark Schroeder. Those yellow shirts the DiTondo's people were wearing had a picture of him when he was a little kid. We do a different one every year. He loves it *evil grin*

At one point I found myself having a conversation with Mark and Mayor Brown. Later on, I mentioned to Offspring #4 that she should have taken a picture with me and Byron and after that, #4 and Justin started and all on "Who Can We Get A Picture With" challenge. #4 got a couple of the Buffalo Jills for Justin, they got me with the mayor and a state senator.

C'mon Out

We'll (and by we, I mean the gang from DiTondo's) be over at the South Park Italian Festival today. Come on over. It'll be loads of fun!

Random

We're finally having a summer!!!! Hot, Hazy and Humid. It hasn't rained in like a week.

Trying to get a couple of Beatles songs. There is not ONE Beatles song on iTunes, just cover band stuff. Why the hell is that?

I really need to clean my house. And by clean, I mean a move the furniture and scrub and polish everything clean.

I need a day off.

The new front door came in. Doug will install as soon as I'm done staining it. The Spouse says he might do it. That would be nice.

When We Last Left Our Story....

...construction on The Project was just being completed. Its been most enjoyable. I'm spending every free minute being out there. That pretty much explains why I havent posted in a while. Well, that and the fact that we're working wicked crazy hours.

Focus is now turned to The Wedding Details. Offspring #2 and the Fiancee take the big walk in 6 weeks. Invites are out and returns are coming back in. I'm not one to get all nervous and jerky about stuff, but I'm getting a little hinky here because everything is going way too smoothly. The way this summer, and I use the term 'summer' with full sarcasm, is going, odds are, its going to rain.....and considering that the affair is a PICNIC, in the OUTDOORS...perhaps that will be our crisis. I keep telling myself that the weather is the one thing I can't control, so I'm not going to stress about it. I also keep telling myself that Mother Nature will be a dear and bless us with a nice day....She's just getting the wet stuff out of the way for that weekend. Yeah...thats it.

My Friend Lynn Sent Me This

This video was made in the Antwerp , Belgium

Central (Train) Station on March 23, 2009, with

no warning to the passengers passing through

\the station.

At 8:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing

'Do, Re, Mi' begins to play on the public address

system.

As the bemused passengers watch in

\amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear

from the crowd and station entrances.They

created this amazing stunt with just two

rehearsals!

Enjoy!

And Then There Was Light

Well....sort of. I mean there's light, and it looks incredible in person, but I couldnt capture it like I wanted to on the camera.

Photos just dont do it justice

By Jove, I Think We've Done It!

The Irish Snug

What is a Snug? The history of the "snug" began in Ireland in the late 19th century. It was typically a small, very private room that had a frosted glass window, set above head height, accessing the bar. You paid a higher price for your beer in the Snug, but nobody could see you. It was not only the well off visitors who would use these rooms. The snug was for patrons who preferred not to be seen in the public bar. Ladies would often enjoy a private drink in the snug in a time when it was frowned upon for ladies to be in a pub. The local police officer would nip in for a quiet pint, the parish priest for his evening whiskey, and lovers would use the snug for their clandestine visits.

Well....I just got done putting a couple of coats of poly on the bar. And let me tell you, it's friggin awesome looking.

Here's a couple of shots......

I'm loving this bar. I believe we'll call it The Snug.

All we need the electric hooked up and Kevin is coming over early next week to do that. Oh, and I need to dress up the place with all the little chachki and stuff I've been collecting. Jewelry, if you will.

You'd Think....

...that since I've been off all week....(we're closed...one week every year at 4th of July) that I'd have tons of time to post. But no....I've been off doing stuff. Mostly wedding stuff. I believe I have everything checked off my list, so now I'm good with that.

Every morning, I've been waking up a little later. Except for Monday of course, when The Spouse woke me up at the usual time, forgetting that I didnt have to get up. This morning, I rolled over and it was 9:45. I cant remember the last time I slept that late. AND, its rained pretty much every day this week. Yeah.

And, I havent had a Pepsi since Friday. Its just too easy having that fountain gun so close to me at work. My name is Peggy and I am a Pepsi-holic. Nothing beats an ice cold one in a can. Yes, it must be in a can...none of that 2 litre or plastic bottle stuff for me. And it was the absolute bestest when it came in glass bottles. Remember those? What I wouldn't give.... Now that I'm rambling about it, I'm probably gonna have to buy some when I head to the grocery this afternoon.

But I can't leave now....Doug is here installing the bar on the porch. Film at 11.

The Green Green Grass Of Home

We have green-ness! I guess all that rain over the last week was good for something. The seed is beginning to sprout.

Stucco guy finished up on Friday and I spent all of Sunday painting. Looks really really nice. The Spouse is just loving it also. He was a bit concerned about the whole stucco thing, but he absolutely loves it now. Dude...always trust my vision, ok?

I dragged up some of the old crusty chairs and a couple of tables from the basement and we've been sitting out there. A LOT! The Offspring and I were out last night for hours. I'm very pleased.

All thats left to be done is the ceiling and the new front door. Oh, and the bar. Doug's off on another job right now and we've been demoted to 'rainy day' work status. Which, I guess, is ok. Not really, but what are you gonna do? He promised that all would be done by the end of the month.

I'm very well pleased with the whole project. Thinking about posting it on "Rate My Space" on HGTV.com. Wouldn't it be cool if we were an inspiration room for someone and then got on the show????

Ok...I've Got Some Catching Up To Do

We've been swamped with parties at work, and we're putting in 12 hour days, and doing weekends and I've just not have time to update anything, so here goes......

Last week I noticed that the Yucca in the front yard had started sprouting. Not just one or two stalks...but SIX!

The started to open up today....

Gorgeous little flowers....too bad they don't last real long.

Now...on to The Project.

The whole house is sided. Love the color. The Spouse and His Buddy With The Bobcat spread 25 yards of dirt (Thats a LOT of friggin dirt) to level the terrain around the patio and slope it out to the back. He also got the grass seed spread and miracles of all miracles...its been raining ever since. Weather so far this spring/summer has been kinda crappy. One or two nice teaser days then not so much.

AND!!! The stucco guy game today and started the side walls. Doug will finish off the ceiling when stucco guy is done and then Kevin will come and install the lights and outlets and the fan and we'll be DONE!!! Well...we'll be done when Doug installs the bar.

When The Walls Come Tumbling Down

The Aud is almost gone. Here's another good place to reminisce about the old girl. And this will lead you to a video of the tumbling from Saturday

The last of the roof came down on Saturday morning

I drove by yesterday....This was taken from under the I-190
And this wall is all that's left standing.
There were a good number of people roaming around and checking it out.

Everyday Brings Something New

Bricklayer Todd pretty much finished up today. We thought we were going to have to wait a few weeks for the capstone but he found some and slapped it up there today

Check out this brutally phenomenal detail work above the door.
All thats left to do on the structure is the stucco on the two interior walls, and the covering for the ceiling.

In the mean time, Doug has begun the task of re-siding the rest of the house....he's got the one side done. After that we can add the landscaping and its party time.

Nice View

We went to Harry's Harbour Place Grille for my birthday dinner last night. Good view, good food and excellent company!!!

In other news.....the brick work is coming along nicely! Half the inside wall is done....I'm thinking he'll finish up tomorrow....
And all the brick on the outside walls is done. That will be getting capped off with a white stone ledge. As you can see...some of the old siding is off and being prepped for the new stuff. Coastal Sage is the new color. We are so over that 20year old blue!!!

I just got done staining the door and the window. 6 more hours to go before I can do the second coat. I may cheat and do it a little earlier. We'll see. If the 1st coat is dry I may be a rebel and do it. I live dangerously!

Doors and Windows and Bricks, Oh My!

New door *which I have to stain on the inside* New window *which I have to stain, on the inside*
And the best part..the brick work. Gonna look wicked awesome once the new siding goes up. *did I mention that we decided to reside the whole house? Budget buster right there.*

Grime Doesn't Pay

Got the computer back today. My guy Ray ran what he needed to run, said if there was any kind of virus that it was gone and he didnt think there was a virus, but the big reason for my problems was dust. I guess shooting the thing with the air in the can stuff just isn't enough to keep the puppy clean. Computers are like TVs in that they are giant electromagnets that attract the dusties.

Speaking of dust, I've got a thin layer of construction dust all over the house. I just got done delousing the kitchen because the new sliding door went in today. There's grime everywhere. One thing I despise is grime!!! makes me nuts! And the window went in on The Project too. The brick guy was here dropping off the goods and Kevin came by and did some preliminary wiring. He and The Spouse are now up at Nickel Creek having a pop. And by pop I dont mean pop if you get my drift. I'll have some pictures up soon. There were too many people roaming around to get any shots this afternoon.

Not Much New Progress To Report

We have trim....

And we have soffits



I believe we're waiting for the electrician to work his magic and the brick guy to come and do the brick work along the lower section *across the whole lower back of the house, where the Tyvec is...wont that look cool?* of the house, then the siding can go up. Brick guy is also doing the brick and stucco on the interior.

I want it to be done!!!! "Daddy..I want an Oompa Loompa and I want it NOW!!!!"