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Growing up with Elvis

Posted on August 16, 2010 4:48 pm by TheAngelForever

I was just eight months old when Elvis Presley passed away, yet I grew up with him. My father is a HUGE fan of the King. From an early age my brother and I learned to rock out to Rock-A-Hula, Blue Suede Shoes, Don’t Be Cruel and other Elvis Presley classics. Each year, on my parent’s anniversary, they would dance together to their wedding song, Can’t Help Falling In Love (the classic is still so much better than the remake by UB40). Over the years, Dad’s record collection has been replaced with CDs to keep the tradition going. Now, Papa is proud that his grandchildren learned to hula with the King!

Since today marks 33 years since Elvis Presley passed away, I thought I would share my father’s growing collection of unique Elvis items.

So on this sad day for Elvis Presley fans, I ask you what is your favorite song from the King?

Categories:
family interesting looking back me moments Music

Greetings from BlogHer 2010

Posted on August 8, 2010 12:19 am by TheAngelForever

Just wanted to say hello to everyone from NYC. TechyDad and I have been here for BlogHer ’10 since Thursday. It has been a whirlwind of learning, networking, seeing/meeting friends, having fun and barely sleeping. There will be a lot to share in the coming weeks. For now, here is a photo of the two of us heading to the parties Saturday night.

See you on the flip side after we venture home in our shiny red Chevy Tahoe Hybrid (amazing SUV) thanks to the Chevrolet Sponsored Carpool. Thank you again to Lisa G and the rest of the amazing people that made the adventure downstate possible.

P.S. A special thank you to my parents for making this amazing weekend possible. If they had not helped out with the boys this experience would not have been possible. THANK YOU to an amazing Nana and Papa who are so very loved by the boys and us.

Categories:
Blogging Conference BlogHer jl me moments photos TechyDad

NY State license plates

Posted on August 6, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, one of the things that I liked about road trips was seeing license plates from different places. Driving from upstate NY to North Carolina and other parts of the south along the Atlantic Coast allowed us to see many items. Of course, I still remember the gorgeous license plates from our trip to Hawaii in 1988.

I think I took license plates for granted until recently. I knew they changed in New York from time to time, but never thought much more of it. Enter being an adult and realizing that the change in plates being an increase in registration fees and everything else that the state slaps on. Hello instant revenue in one easy step. For those of us in New York, we are experiencing this right now. Our very generous governor (on his way out – might I add) decided to alter the plates. Nobody knows why since they were not an improved look, we all speculate it was a nice money maker for New York which is in a lot of trouble.

So why am I complaining? It is not just because of the cost. It’s because of the look of the plates. The new plates are U-G-L-Y! Not being a fan of orange to begin with, they are bold, hard to read from a distance when driving, and have nothing to do with our state. If you are not familiar with the New York State license plates, here is a view of them from my life:

My feeling is that this should have been canned and redone to make it better. This was rushed and uncalled for at this point in time. Luckily, mine will not be switched out for quite some time.

My question to you this week:

What state are you from and do you like you license plates? Also curious if yours have changed a lot during your lifetime or stayed mostly the same.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #111

Categories:
Aloha Friday looking back me moments road trip

A childhood best friend

Posted on August 5, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It’s only fitting that today, while heading to BlogHer, I write about long time friends. Later today, while at BlogHer, I will finally be able to meet many people that I have known in the blogosphere for three or more years. I am so excited about this. The list of people that I hope to meet and some see again (from DisneySMMoms) would be too long to list here, plus I no doubt would leave out someone important without meaning to hurt feelings.

Last Friday, I had a reunion of a different kind. I have to admit, I was really giddy about this. I actually called my parents to see if I could have a friend come over to "play" at their house. When my parents heard that it was my lifelong friend and former neighbor Julespearl, they immediately agreed. Heck, they were excited at the prospect of seeing her. They had probably not seen her since my wedding, nine years ago.

Growing up, Julespearl and I were inseperable. The two of us would knit together on the porch in the summer, watch Little House in the Prarie first thing each morning, and share our dreams of teaching. She was actually one of the few people that knew I secretly wanted to teach when I started off at pharmacy school.

Julespearl and I have tried to get together in the past, but things just didn’t work out. This time we both knew it was a must. So the other night I sent her a message. I asked if she could come over to play – seriously! For old times, TechyDad even made WhirlyPop popcorn that I brought and we had ice tea as we chatted while the boys played. The sad thing, Julespearl had never actually met my boys in person while we both lived in the same city all these years.

It was like time had stopped and we had never grown up. We talked and talked and talked. Each of us catching up on things that have or are happening in our lives. We both commented on how special our neighborhood was growing up. All of the kids played together, summers did not need camp because we all went on adventures to the park and beyond together. It really was a different time period. As much as I love our neighbord here, our busy schedules means that we do not see each other often and it is sad especially based on my childhood.

As dinner time approached, Julespearl had to head home. She and her hubby were heading out to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Just another reminder that we had indeed grown up.

So today, as I make new friends and see others once again, I also look forward to making more memories when I get back home from BlogHer with my good buddy. I can not wait to sit down and knit together with citronella candles lit listening to Beetles in the background.

Categories:
Blogging Conference bloggy friends BlogHer friends jsl knitting looking back me moments nhl photos

Time to stop and think

Posted on August 2, 2010 4:38 pm by TheAngelForever

It has been a rough week around here. Feeling angry and hurt, like the system failed my family, would be understatement of the century. Right now, I am just not ready to explain more than that. I am still trying to figure items out and see if we have any legal recourse to help with part of the situation. The good news is nobody is hurt, things will get better and answers are finally coming our way.

Yesterday, I woke up with a migraine. It was just a sign of the way the day was going. I had not slept too well the night before after reading a bit too much about bedbugs and reports of them all over NYC, including the hotel that will host BlogHer this coming week. Like the thought of lice, bedbugs make me itch and creep me out.

I finally got dressed in the afternoon and decided to take JSL with me. I figured we would walk (read me push him in the stroller) over to Nana and Papa’s house to get out. Plus, it was a chance to have some of their caffeine rich Keurig coffee. We walked there in about 18 minutes (.89 miles) and stayed for a little while. Poor JSL fell running to get a toy and bit his lip and got a bump on his chin. He was super snuggly from that point on.

When it was time to leave, it looked like rain. TechyDad and NHL came to pick us up with the carseat for JSL. Of course, JSL insisted that we walk back with his stroller and not ride. NHL immediately wanted to go. So there I was walking back with both of the boys. It was a nice walk. NHL ran ahead of us and JSL was singing his Wiggles and Winne the Pooh Songs. I had to stop and take a photo

Here were two of my boys, happy and carefree. For just a few minutes, even my worries were gone and everything was good in our little world. Although it did not last long, I enjoyed it and only wished that TechyDad had been with us. Instead, he stayed behind waiting to leave in case the sky decided to dump rain on us.

Thank you JL. Thank you for always being there for all of us and not being upset when something silly like everyone wanting to walk happens. Next time, let’s make it a family adventure together.