Way Back Who?

This isn't a new blog feature, this is an actual question. Does anyone on the Garrity side (and I'm looking at you, Dad) know who this chick is?
I ask because Hannah and Lizzie both looked at it separately and asked: "Mom, is this a picture of you from the olden days?"

And I have to admit, she does look like me. Like, a lot. And not just because of this woman's extraordinary fashion sense. Oh, the only thing I know about this picture is that it's a tintype and those were popular from the 1860s through the early 1900s.

For some reason I think it's Aunt Tillie, but then I'm not really sure if I even have an Aunt Tillie or if that is just family folklore because we had a painting that we called Aunt Tillie.

Anyway, here's the photo:

So does anyone know who my doppleganger is?

Easter

I need to catch up on a few things ... the first is Easter!
We had a great weekend, even though I succumbed to a cold that eventually turned into a touch of the bronchitis. I'm never one to allow a little illness to get in the way of a holiday celebrated with chocolate, so I rallied and was able to have a great day with family and friends.

Things got started on Saturday when the Garritys showed up. I have to say that Hannah and Lizzie always have a fun holiday when their partners in crime arrive from New York. Here are the four of them getting reading for an Easter Egg hunt:

And they're off:

The adults must have hidden about 5,000 eggs and we're pretty sure the kids found all of them except one, which we found the next day. Although last year we found an egg about a month later, so it's possible there are still some out there in the front yard.

The eggs were filled with candy, toys, and little notes that said things like "You can stay up an extra 30 minutes." Those notes were put in the eggs by Aunt Ann, but found by MY CHILDREN, so now I am honor bound to let them stay up 30 minutes later one night. Luckily the note did not specify a year...

Here they are with the loot (and Uncle TA):

And some of the toys I put in the eggs. In fact I put at least a dozen cute little duck/bunnies in the eggs which made Brenna very happy:

 And Tommy, not so much...:

It was soon after they left for the evening that I started to feel really badly, so for some reason I did not take a photo after the Easter Bunny left the premises. Suffice it to say that he left behind MUCH candy and a couple of stuffed animals. And more candy.

The next morning Rob and the girls went to church and then out to breakfast. I stayed home and blew my nose.

Mid-afternoon (after a loooong nap and lots of advil) we went to Aunt Terry's house for the Easter dinner. It was delicious and that's not the advil talking! The girls had fun with their cousins again, and Aunt Ann and learned how to make flowers out of paper napkins, so it was a wonderful afternoon. Aunt Beanie came to eat, too, so that was a super bonus. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took that afternoon, so there is no photographic evidence of the delicious meal or the person who prepared it (sorry, Terry -- maybe next Easter!)

After this picture was taken we came home and I went to bed and woke up two weeks later all better....

Talent

As you may have read, I coordinated the talent show at the girls' elementary school this year. I found out about my ascension to the throne about a month before the show was supposed to happen. It seems that when you say you'll be a member of the committee and no one else volunteers to be on the committee, you actually get to be the coordinator.

In previous years the previews had to held at a time when a school administrator was available to vet the acts and make sure no one was wearing spaghetti straps or singing songs about alcohol, but when I talked to the principal about open dates, she told me that she TRUSTED ME to handle it by myself. Oh. My. Gravy.

 So, that's how it happened. I did eventually get some help from PTA members and my girl scout troop and my husband (who had no choice) and I have to say that while it was a lot of work and somewhat nerve-wracking (one of the kids decided to do his own little comedy act on stage when he was supposed to be singing....) it ended well and that is all that matters.

Lizzie stopped piano lessons (insert huge sob here) in September and she couldn't get a song together in a month to be in the show and she didn't want to participate anyway. Well, the joke was on her because since I was the coordinator and the only person at the try-outs, and Rob was unavailable to stay home, she ended up going to every single try-out and every single rehearsal. And then I made her put names on the performers' chairs on the night of the show.

Hannah, on the other hand, had a cold but previewed one of this year's pageant songs. I went back and forth on this choice for the pageant, but she loves it, so I let her sing it. Here's a youtube video from the show of Hannah singing "On My Own" from Les Miserables. She actually sang the second verse first and then again the second time. I was worried it would throw her off, but she said she didn't even really notice she'd done that. I had technical difficulties so a friend of mine videoed this on her phone and posted it to youtube for me.



I also asked my Girl Scout Troop to do the decorations so they colored in the letters for the school, and then I bought a huge pack of stars, stuck some stickers on them and strung them in twos and threes. On the night of the show I had some help, so I didn't have to climb the ladder to hang the stuff up. So no ambulance was needed.

Here's a picture of my best helper though. Rob was very busy that week, but he came through in the clutch and was my stage manager. YAY!!!

And here's a closeup of Hannah in her outfit. Unfortunately soon after this picture was taken I decided to dye this green and ended up ruining the dress (which did not take the dye at all, but did get all wrinkly and ripped) so we ended up getting her a peasant girl outfit that she'll wear in the pageant.

 I have already been asked to coordinate again next year and I said absolutely not, no way no how okay. But the good news is that I know about it already so it won't be as hectic. Really. I'm sure of it. I think. I hope.

Girl Scouts

(See the post below this one for a Way Back post!)

One of the things that has kept me busy (for the last four years!) has been leading Hannah and Lizzie's girl scout troop. I started with about 20 girls in Brownies, but we've settled into 14 girls, which is much more manageable! I'm also the program director for our local service unit (all the troops in the OJR school district) so I get to try and come up with interesting things for my troop to do, but also coordinate the activities of the service unit.
So here are a couple of things we've been doing -- which mostly involves being silly:

We also sold a bunch of girl scout cookies, so we are celebrating (well, they are!) by going to Bounce U and staying overnight. Luckily (and I mean that from the bottom of my heart!) parent don't have to pay for the sleepover/bounce experience so I've got several moms going, too.

We also participated in a dance a thon to raise money and donated item for a local little girl who is very ill. Here's Hannah at the dance a thon:

And here are Lizzie and her bestie Keira at the dance. This is the look Lizzie gave me when she saw me out on the dance floor with my walker. Priceless!!

We also participated in a service project making Quillows for Kyle's Quillows, which donates them to children with cancer or other diseases that require hospitalizations. Much to my surprise both Hannah and Lizzie were able to pin and sew the quillows. At home I still worry about them when they've got scissors!

Here's Hannah pinning one of the patterns:

 And Lizzie working one of the sergers. My mother would be very impressed since my one and only childhood sewing project consisted of a skirt that took about 4 months and 47 yards of material to complete.

This service project was part of a sister troop's Bronze Award and I think by the time they were all done nearly 50 quillows were made!

Way Back!

A terrible thing happened ... my scanner stopped working. Which makes blogging much more difficult. Lots of other things have been going on, too, so in the next day or two (promise, Aunt Brenda!) I'll have a couple of posts up.

But first, since I managed to fix my scanner (techie that I am!) I thought I'd end my blog break with a Way Back post with TWO photos.

My Great Aunt Marion was my grandmother's (Garrity) sister. She was a very nice lady, although I didn't know her well. She came to visit a few times and I remember her as being a little chubby, a little funny and really quite nice. She had a high-pitched laugh and a twinkle in her eye.

But what I remember most about Aunt Marion is that one day she sat me down and told me how much I reminded her of herself. "You and your sister (Aunt Anonymous) remind me of your grandmother and me," she said.

I was horrified because I had no intention to grow old and chubby no matter how nice and friendly and funny she was. I was all of 12 at the time and not at all ready to be compared to a senior citizen, although I totally agreed Aunt Anonymous would one day grow old like grandma.

So here's the first picture ... I believe that it captures their personalities quite well. Grandma is on the left, Aunt Marion is on the right. As you can see, Grandma is quite regal and ladylike. Aunt Marion, is well, kind of a goofy hippie (although don't we all seriously covet that outfit she's wearing?) However, I wasn't willing to go so far as to say that Aunt A and I were their doubles...

...Until I came across THIS family picture of the Garrity clan as children. AND, as you can see, Aunt Anonymous is a very regal and ladylike 9-year-old and I am, well, a kind of goofy hippie 8-year-old. So there you have it...
(PS: The others in the picture are my sisters Terry, in front, and Beanie, the baby on the right, and my brother T.A.)

Catching Up!

Well hello everyone! Did you miss me and the rest of the Raz Report Crew? I took a little blog break because 1) I kept forgetting to blog; 2) My Internet connection has been very wonky and I keep getting tossed off; 3) I use my iPad most of the time now and there aren't any photos on it worth posting; 4) I kept forgetting to blog ;)

So here's what we've been up to for the last several weeks.

I am happy to report that I have avoided sickness. Rob and the girls, though, kept me busy with their sniffles and belly-aching. Rob had the worst of it and was in bed for several days. Lizzie complained for several days, but only missed one day of school. Hannah was just sick on a Saturday for about 15 minutes. We don't get flu shots and I think only Rob actually had the flu, which means he needs to get one next year. I got one last year since I started volunteering for hospice and felt sick for about three days after the shot, which I was told was normal as your immune system builds up. However, the previous 52 years I was sick for ZERO days with flu like symptoms, so I decided to skip the shot this year.

I also cut the girls' hair. Hannah wanted something dramatic that everyone would notice, so I chopped off a good six inches. Lizzie wanted only a tiny bit cut so that she could complain when NO ONE noticed her hair cut.

Here's Hannah before...

And after...

We've also been busy with girl scouts. It's cookie time and we've been trying to reach our goal. Last year the four of us (Rob sells them at work) sold more than 200 boxes. This year we hope to sell 150 with the increase in price. My troop decided they want to take a little trip with the money they earn (actually they want to either go on a cruise OR to Great Wolf Lodge, but we'd have to sell about a million boxes...) and we are thinking about doing an ovenight at the Philadelphia Zoo.
Here are Hannah and Liz selling cookies at a local convenience store. It was about 30 degrees outside, which is not that cold for the first hour. For the second hour 30 degrees is VERY cold. Luckily some people took pity on the girls and bought lots of cookies. One guy bought 12 boxes and another guy bought a couple boxes and then went into the store and came out with a hot chocolate for each girl. Oh, and we collected nearly $20 in direct donations, too!

We've also had playdates. I really like the girls' friends and never mind it when they visit. Here's Hannah and Phoebe and in the background you can see Sami and Lizzie (who is on the ground --I'm not sure why...) They made silly putty and perfume and ate lots of snacks. Oh, and they also watched a couple of episodes of "House of Anubis" a favorite show of 4th graders.

Let's see what else? I've been getting my new business off the ground. It's called Happy Medium Intuitive Life Coaching and I try to book sessions every week. This week I had zero, but next week I've got three, so I hope it all evens out. I've also been forced asked to be the Talent Show Coordinator for the elementary school talent show. Hannah's going to debut "On My Own" from Les Miz and Lizzie decided she doesn't like people looking at her, so she's not going to do anything.

Oh, and this past weekend has been all about Valentine's Day. The girls had to make a box for their Valentine's at school, as well as sign or make one for each kid in the class. Lizzie made hers and Hannah used store bought cards.

Rob's been busy, too, as his mom has been dealing with some medical issues (prayers for Connie are always appreciated!). We are ALL looking forward to warm weather, too, so we don't have to spend so much time in the house yelling and fighting with each other. :)

I've got a couple of Way Back's ready to go, so keep an eye out for them.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For January 17, 2013

Outside my window... The sun, the sun, the sun!! Finally after a drippy, drizzly, soggy, can understand why everyone in Seattle is depressed few weeks here, the SUN finally came out. It's cold -- about 34 when I was running errands -- but the sun was out today. YAY!

I am thinking... how lucky I am to have blog readers who check in about my health and well-being when I haven't blogged in a while. Trust me, if there was anything wrong I'd TOTALLY blog about it!

I am thankful ... for my children who keep me laughing even when they are driving me crazy. After a particularly stressful day Lizzie (who spent much of the afternoon in her room writing essays about why you should not call your sister mean names) told me that she was no longer going to refer to her life as her life. She was going to forevermore refer to her existence as "my sorrow." Luckily she snapped out of her bad behavior the next morning, although there are always things to complain about in the Lizzie world.

From the kitchen... Chicken rigatoni and pesto sauce (store bought) for dinner. I made some cranberry bread yesterday and it's still sitting there (well half of it is -- girls took it to school today for snack). I know it's out of season, but the store had the whole berry cranberry sauce on sale and I bought a ton of it.

I am wearing... pink shirt, black leggings, ripped up shoes, fake suede big shirt.

I am creating... a story about Miranda Lambert for the Eagle and a brochure for my new business.

I am going ... to begin the new business (Happy Medium Life Coaching) in earnest in the coming weeks. I've already got sessions scheduled and now that Dear Abby has died I'm sure that there will be more people wanting advice! ;)

I am reading... The River Witch...I started it this weekend and am intrigued, but haven't found time to finish it yet.

I am hoping... for a great outcome for my mother-in-law's surgery on Tuesday. Can you keep her in your prayers please? Thanks!

I am hearing... Lizzie is coloring loudly (in fact she just apologized for coloring so loudly -- lots of paper shaking and banging) and Hannah is laughing occasionally at the movie she's watching on computer. She's got earphones on so I have no idea what the joke is but I expect it involves some bodily function. Hannah likes very broad comedy.

Around the house... we said goodbye to Christmas a week or so ago and the house is in pretty decent shape thanks to a cleanup and the fact that Hannah wanted me to type a paper for her and I traded the typing for her vacuuming the living room.

One of my favorite things... My Ninja blender system. It was a gift to myself from some of the Christmas money I got (I was going to buy a ring, but this is much more useful and I am LOVING it!) I can make the girls smoothies after school everyday and it does all sorts of other things (smoothies for me, too, blended in the cup you drink it from). It's fast and clean up is a breeze. I swear it's the really the most useful 99 bucks I've spent in a while.

A few plans for the week ahead... busy busy busy... I've got book club tomorrow and the girls have a birthday party on Sunday. Then there's dance and CCD and I've been forced into  asked to coordinate the elementary school talent show this year so I'll be working on that, too. The show's not until Feb. 22, but there are auditions and previews and planning sessions. Oh my. Oh, and we're planning a semi-formal for the girl scouts in May so I need to get started on that (I'm the program director for our local service unit). And, girl scout cookie time has started, so you can expect to get a call from two Junior scouts trying to convince you to part with some of your hard-earned cash!

Pictures I am sharing... I haven't been taking many pictures lately ... once in a while I like to put the camera down and watch the world with my actual eyes, but I did manage to snap a couple when the girls tried sushi for the first time. Although it doesn't look like it, Hannah LOVED sushi. This picture was taken after she ate the (cooked) shrimp, but she loved the raw salmon and tuna. She even loved the seaweed wrap and took that off to eat separately. She did not care for the wasabi. Lizzie on the other hand looks sort of like she liked the sushi, but she did NOT. She ate the rice and that was about all. However, I did not even eat the rice. I don't "get" the idea of eating something raw that tastes marginal even when cooked: So you will never see a picture of me eating sushi for the first time.