Main Street at 0730 and a high of 9 degrees!

I am sure Northern New York is not as cold as some other places but I will tell you something, last winter was amazingly warm compared to this year!  The plows alone have been out more times in the past three weeks then they were last year.  Roads last year were as if it did not even snow.

Now this is the Northern New York I remember and I know, according to my mommy, that there have been worse.

My little gremlins like to lay on the registers and huddle by the small space heater which I have told them could have a negative effect on them.  They won’t be able to tolerate ANY cold which means no snowmobiling, no snowboarding, and no snow forts.

I guess “real winter” has not even hit yet so I am prepared to not stray far from home.  I hate driving in this stuff.

Above the clouds going to Libnan!

The flight to Lebanon was wonderful.  My husband let me have his Business Class seat while he was all alone with the boys.  It was such a nice change for me even though I did worry how he would do with our two energetic boys.  Turkish Airlines was very attentive, but I guess they are like that for the Business Class anyways.  I have flown on Turkish Airlines before and sat in economy and the treatment was just as good.

My boys want to fly First Class one day though that will take saving miles and money to accomplish.  Perhaps one day I told them.  When they are older and can behave a little bit better lol.

It’s nice to see Lebanon after a year of being away.  Not much has changed and I do miss it very much.

Now for a few days in Beirut and then off to the continent of Africa!

It is a bit overwhelming being back home since I was not prepared to stay.  Now, living with my parents, I have a winter to prepare for.  We only came with summer clothing and definitely had no clue how weird the weather had been in Northern New York.

My boys are looking forward to the SNOW!! They have never seen the snow, except for the television while they were watching a movie.  Excitement seems too small a word to describe how they feel about seeing their first snow.

Well, duty calls and I must venture off.  I look forward to picking back up my reading of the blogs I dearly miss.  Have a good day where ever you are in this great big world!! xoxo

The weather has been anything but ideal and it actually has felt like November here instead of July or August.  COLD COLD COLD is the only way to describe it here and since me and the kids are coming from Lebanon and Africa, it stands to reason we would be even more cold than the locals lol.

Well, I will try to post but no guaruntees and I just totally butchered that word.  Enjoy whats left of your summer vacations and I am sure the moms of the world are about to have big big smiles since it’s getting close for BACK TO SCHOOL!!

I know, I know, if I am such a big fan how could I let it get this bad? Well, life just happens know what I mean?

So, without delay, you need to head on over to TCHO and check out their wonderful sweeties. I am going to buy a t-shirt. Yes, they sell t-shirts now that say (well the shirt does not literally speak: for those of you that will attempt to ask me what the shirt said) one of four things: I am Chocolatey for sure and you will just have to click this link in order to see them Shirts that do not talk but have a lot to say can be found at TCHO!

And for those of you living in San Francisco and for those of you about to take a small trip to this wonderful city, you can enjoy their chocolatey treats and Blue Bottle Coffee at a small shop located on Pier 17!

Valentines day is coming to an end now but I hope they will keep their little heart shaped chocolates for a bit longer, or at least until I finish typing this up so I can snag a few and have them shipped. Yes, I still live in Lebanon but being the true chocolate fan that I am, I have it re-shipped to me and I really still believe that I am the only person, aside from my daughter (she used to hate dark chocolate and now will only eat dark chocolate from TCHO! )that has TCHO to enjoy.

I suppose I could share.

Please stop on over to their Beta Store and see what all the talk is about. I am very happy to have been a customer since the little brown package first made its appearance in my mailbox. Though the little brown package has been replaced by some very wonderful packaging, I assure you that TCHO still has the same luxurious taste!

Photo Credits: TCHO Love Quote Tin

Photo Credits: TCHO Beta Store

I have been going through a lot of things lately and one is my increasing age. Here I am on the doorstep, practically, of FORTY! Why do I still feel so young? Why am I not wearing those “Mom” type clothes and does that make me crazy because I am not dressed like that?

I don’t dress too young but I am not exactly in polyester suits with those “wicker” slip on sandals from the ’70′s and no, I am not even entertaining the idea of wearing those things ever.

I wonder also, “Am I too immature for my age? Should I be acting more serious like I see the other moms?” What is 39 suppose to look like?

I adorn my laptop with cute little stickers and think, “Have I just not grown up yet?”

Whatever the case may be, and perhaps all of these thoughts come flooding in because I am on the brink of the big FOUR ZERO, I have to honestly state that I am happy with who I am even if some think I don’t take things seriously enough.

Who is to really say what forty should look like?

I can’t be to serious, at least where serious is not warranted. My kids would be bored to tears and probably beat up on other kids if I was boring and ignored them.

I do those strange dances when I make things in the kitchen and all for the viewing pleasure of my children. My daughter, now seventeen, still begs me to do my ‘Chicken Dance’, something I did way back when to make her laugh after she got a bit of hot oil on her when I was cooking, you guessed it, fried chicken! ( I had warned her not to get to close.)

My oldest son broke out in the dance the other day and I couldn’t believe my eyes and also couldn’t believe it when he said, “How do you like my dance Mommy?” You just have to smile because you see the proof that they do watch you and do, at times, listen.

So I suppose I have really answered my own question, that no, I don’t think I should be any other way since that would not be who I truly am, inside or out.

So forty will have to see me continuing my ‘chicken dance’. Well, at least continuing it until I break a hip or some other body part. )

So what does FORTY look like for you?

My older son is already counting down the days until he turns 7 and I try like hell to turn back the clock. No success of course but I still wanted to try.

My younger son, fast asleep already gave me a scare when I walked in and saw his eyes wide open. He wasn’t moving and well…you can imagine the rest. He’s ok of course but I still wonder how much longer these eipisodes of fear I have regarding my kids will last. I be they will last my lifetime and never really go away completely.

I think about my husband who, instead of being all nice and toasty warm in freezing Beirut ringing in the New Year with us, he is off in Sierra Leone, sweating and battling Mallaria at the moment. He is still calling me everyday so I imagine it is a mild case. Either way, I don’t like that he is all the way over there and I am all the way over here.

I stress about Mallaria because it has lasting effects on those that get this illness but there is not really much I can do other than wish I could be there to tease him, I mean care for him. If he reads this he will maybe laugh *SMILE*.

I won’t make resolutions and my only hope will just be this, my hope to be a better person than I was the year before. That’s really all anyone can hope for right?

I hope everyone has a nice start at 2009 and an even better middle and end.