Unexpected blessings

Today?  I had the most amazing beach day with the boys and my Mom.  Totally unexpected for a cold day in April ... in Rhode Island no less. 

The boys had the day off from school for Good Friday and we went down to Westerly to visit my Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Sheila.  They had a blast running the storage units again at the Cornerstone.  I took photos but they all disappeared, which has been known to happen with my current phone. 

After the visit we made our way to the beach.  I had prepped the boys since yesterday.  It will be cold, windy... not a water kind of day.  We can walk around for a few minutes and then we are back in the truck.  Heck I even made them wear heavy long sleeve shirts and their winter jackets. 

50 something degrees at home inland means 40 something at the beach - before the wind.

Stepping into the parking lot to unbuckle the boys, I felt it.  No wind.  At all.  I found myself telling them to leave their shoes and socks in the truck so they could feel the sand since it didn't seem as cold as I feared... but to keep those jackets zipped. 

We made our way out over the dune at Misquamicut and my Mom and I both took a breath, surprised at how clear blue the water appeared and how not cold it was.  Before I knew it, the boys were running in and out of the water.  And while trust me it was cold, I have been to the beach on much warmer summer days where the water feels colder than that. 

We rolled up the boys jeans and in and out they went.  They found shells and a lone crab leg for my Dad (don't ask) and even managed to make 'sand angels'.  When it was time to go the Doodle Bop got mad and the Bunny Bee threw himself down in the sand because they did not want to leave. 

I am so ready for summer.  And more than grateful for this beautiful and unexpected day.  I left feeling completely blessed.

Terranova Christmas

I posted before about how much I miss the way holidays used to be with my Mom's family. 

Another tradition I have missed is Terranova Christmas as we have come to call it. 

When I was small, we were all over the place at Christmas.  Christmas Eve day if I remember right, we would start at my Uncle Danny's house.  That night we would be at my Grandparents house in Warwick with my Dad's side of the family (which we still do and I love).  Christmas morning was at our house bright and early to open presents, then we were on the road to Westerly where we would have a big gathering at my Great Grama's house with my Mom's whole family. 

After that we would be back at the hotels to spend more time with my Grandparents who had come back from Florida and have yet another Christmas celebration with my Mom's siblings.  LOVED it!  What kid doesn't want to have like 5 celebrations in 2 days?! 

The funny part is though I have never actually lived in Westerly, it still always feels like coming home when we hit the stone bridge and take Exit 1.  Part of me would live there now if I could.

While I'm not sure just when it started, I know it was some time after my Great Grandmother passed away (just after I graduated high school), our Christmas traditions changed a little.  We would hold Terranova Christmas on a different day - a week or so before - at my Aunt Bonnie's house in Westerly.  For awhile it was every year, but now?  Not so much.  The last one might have been 2 years ago - or maybe 3.  I'm not sure.  This year we picked right back up again this past Sunday and I couldn't have been happier.

This is my Uncle Stanton (my Grama's brother) - who I love dearly and don't get to see nearly enough.

Growing up there was always a part of me that felt like I was stuck in between the generations a bit.  I was the first of the next generation - and though my sister, brother and I were close in age - there was a pretty big gap before my mom's cousins started having kids.  I'm sure there are others but this is one of the last photos I could find of all of us at my Great Grama's together.  Not even all of us, I think we are still missing one there.  Karly wasn't born yet.

Sunday I made a request.  We were not all there, but I wanted an updated photo of all of us that were.  I requested anyone under 34 ... to which my cousin Garrett asked if that meant I would be in the photo.  Smart ass that one is, isn't he.  Good thing I love him.  Here we are.





I wish it was all of us, but this photo still means so much to me.  Crazy to see how everyone has grown up.  And that most of us could sit around and have beer and wine together no less.  I loved that even if it was just for a little while, my boys got to be there too.

Here are the boys hamming it up with Auntie Lo (my Grama's sister).  Doodle Bop is doing his serious modeling pose as you can see.

I loved watching my cousins get right in and play with my little guys.  And tease and joke around with them just the way I remember being teased by my Uncle Doug and some of my mom's cousins when I was not much older than them.

I also really liked the moments like this... everyone just sitting around talking.  I hope there are more in the future.

 Big thanks to my Auntie Bonnie for hosting Terranova Christmas.  Love you all!!!

It's a major award!

OK, here it is.  I'm just going to say it.  I have been, on occasion, known to get sucked into things.  Not like a hey can I sell you the Brooklyn Bridge kind of thing.  I don't just fall for Anything you know!

I do however tend to go a little nuts with contest entries from time to time.  Like a bad habit.  I may stop for a few months, but I always.go.back.  And I don't usually win.  (Although we did recently get really lucky with Grinch and Phineas and Ferb tickets.)  There was one time long before Al and I were married that I was yelling for joy on the phone after being told I won ... something... what it is now escapes me.  Turned out they wanted me to send them money to 'claim' it.  Al got on the phone and told them where they could go.

So yeah.

Cut to the infamous beauty expo - also known as Colour Me Gorgeous.  Ana and I entered just about every contest we came across that Sunday.  A day or two later?  My phone was ringing off the hook.  (And still is.)  Hey you entered the giveaway to redo your basement on us ... but 1st we need you to talk to us for a half hour or we can't actually enter you.  Um, no.

Hey you won a spa package!  A $300 coupon off of a service.  Um, what?  Coupon?!  Don't call me again.  And so on.

There was one number that I refused to pick up for over a week, which called me two to three times a day on my cell and at home (Never leave both numbers folks)!  When I finally did pick it up I was ready to chew them out.  Oh, I won something?  Surrreeee I did!  Ship it to me or lose my number. 

But the more the woman talked the more I listened.  I 'won' 4 free airline tickets ANYWHERE that would be good for 2 years, AND a weekend hotel getaway... 3 days 2 nights at most major hotels (Hiltons included, where we occasionally stay) anywhere from South Carolina to Maine.  THAT'S the one that got me.  The airline tickets I thought would be awesome.  We could go see my Grama in Florida and just pay for 1 ticket.  Um, nope wait - you can only use 2 at a time.  Still, 3 tickets for 5 of us?  OK!  And the weekend hotel stay?  Every year we go away for our anniversary somewhere not too far from here, somewhere we drive.  We could use that in March!!!  Free anniversary trip!

The catch.  All you have to do is come to the Ocean Club Resort in Westerly and sit through a one and a half hour time share presentation.  You don't have to buy anything, you can bring your kids, and hey we'll even give you the tickets and hotel voucher BEFORE the presentation!  It's a big developer who has bought the properties and all they ask is that you tell your friends.  Word of mouth sort of thing.

OK!  I do remember a long long time ago sitting through one of those things with my parents - in Florida - for something we were never going to buy.  And in return we ended up with free tickets to Disney or Epcot or something.  This was worth an hour and a half of my time.  Plus while I was in Westerly we could hit the beach with the kids for a walk and leave some flowers on my Grampa's grave.  I like to leave poinsettias at Christmas.  I was all in.  Al took a lot of convincing, but I asked him to do this just for me... that our anniversary trip would end up being free.

So off this morning - just before 9am on a Sunday (his only morning off all week) we went.  We got there 10 minutes before the presentation like they told us to... where I was then made to sign a form that said if my children get out of control and we have to leave early we do not get the tickets and hotel stay.  (But kids are welcome.  Uh huh.)  Bad feeling?  Started right there. 

Guess what they didn't hand over.  The stuff before the presentation.  Surprise surprise.  We met a really nice older man who spoke with us all about their timeshares.  Really it was an excellent deal.  But there was no way we were buying (like I told the people on the phone when I made the appointment).  We met his boss who was all smiles and compliments.  We took a tour (which the kids loved), and then we sat through TWO short videos.  The whole time I'm not really looking at Al, I'm just thinking free hotel stay free hotel stay free hotel stay.

The kids were being amazing.  Until an hour and a half later when we are STILL there with no sign of finishing and the big boss comes back over to sell us on it.  Turns out these are all foreclosed properties.  Well then.  Heck of a deal yes yes but money is still money.  We said so many times we were not interested.  The kids started getting a little teary.  It had been too long. 

Then the man's whole attitude changed.  'So what you came for was the free airline tickets and the free hotel stay, huh?'  Um, yeah.  He looks at Al and says 'Why did you come'.  I say 'Beacuse I made him.  Because I wanted to see what you had to offer.  It sounded interesting.  AND for the free tickets and hotel.  The timeshare sounds great but we are not able to do it now, maybe in the future'.

This ass had the nerve to say to us if we couldn't afford their monthly time share payments we sure as heck weren't going to be able to ever afford to take a trip somewhere with their airline tickets - because we'd have to use their travel agency to stay at their hotels... and it would be more than we could afford if we couldn't afford his payment plan.  In a really irritated voice.

That was it.  I was done.  And hella pissed off.  Al again told him we would not be buying anything but maybe in the future and he cuts him off with 'Well this is only good for today'.  He said he found 50 people to buy these once (before they had money troubles) and he will find 50 people to buy them again.

Only good TODAY huh.  Of course. 

He then hands us the paperwork to take to the front desk after a TWO HOUR presentation and I get handed some stamped paperwork I still haven't really read through about the airline tickets and hotel stay (that coincidently enough does not appear to be good from South Carolina to Maine and there happens to be a lot of Florida locations thrown in there ... but it's all 'driving distance' allright).

We got in the truck and 2 out of the 3 kids burst into tears.  I felt so terrible.  Morning totally wasted.

Remember kids, the next time someone tells you you've won a major award... it's probably gonna look like this.

No more toll roads!

Today I am bumping another post I had written due to something I saw on the news last night that sort of ticked me off.  The proposed toll near the RI/CT border.  That's right, I said near.  The RI DOT wants to put tolls between exits 1 and 2 on both RT95 North and RT95 South.

Actually I am more than ticked off.  I am infuriated.  While I understand the need to bring more money into the state during this tough economic economy, I am also feeling like lately we have all been taxed enough.  Many people around this state have not been able to find jobs for years.  Now the state wants us to pay to use the highway we have always used at no cost?

Car taxes are up, home taxes are up - while our home values only continue to plummet.  Gas is so expensive right now.  This summer, like every summer, the boys and I bought a beach pass.  If gas was not so expensive to pump into my beloved Ford Explorer I would have been at the beach 3 and 4 times a week... due to gas prices I only made it there about once weekly (occasionally twice). 

Speaking of that pass... $30 for state residents.  Always been OK with that.  This year though they changed it, it was $30 prior to a certain date, $60 after that - for in state!  (Which by the way doesn't even include all of the beaches in the state but that's another story.)  The buzz is that next year ALL passes will cost $60.  Quite a hike if you ask me.

While the boys are in love with Scarborough, my favorite beach is Misquamicut.  It is where grew up.  My mom's family lives in Westerly and I have always considered it my second home, even if I never technically lived there.  If this toll proposal passes, any time I drive to Westerly, I will be taxed on the way in.  And then taxed again on the way out. 

Seriously?

The Newport Bridge was bad enough at $4 each way.  It would cost $8 on top of the gas for travel just to visit Al for lunch with the kids when he was working on the Navy base.  While it didn't stop me from going, I hated that toll.  Our state is small enough as it is.  Why on earth do we need another toll road?!

Honestly, like it or not I could get behind a toll on the RI/CT border to go in between the states.  They could still benefit from all the casino traffic.  RI won't look at that though, maybe because they would have to share the profits with CT.  Who knows.  All I know right now is that I am not happy about the prospect of having to pay more money any time I want to go visit family in Westerly, or hit Misquamicut beach for the day. 

I would imagine that anyone living in Westerly (the last town in the state before CT) is not happy about the prospect of paying a toll go anywhere in their own state, outside of their town.