A New Addition To The Den

[This is Denitra's Hubby filling in for this post]

Denitra has had another cub, born on Thursday in the wee hours of the morning. Here are some pictures she wanted to share with friends and family.

Denitra announces she's in labor on Facebook at around 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon.

Many hours go by while Denitra does not care about posting anything to Facebook.

Denitra poses with new cub Clara in the Operating Room after a C-Section.

Clara isn't sure about all that light, the extra room and breathing the cool air and is overheard crying, "Put me back! Put me BACK!"

At birth, she weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 oz at a length of 21 inches.

Later on that day, she practices sleeping. It turns out she's good at it. Who'd a thought.

Darla visits her new little sister.

Micah is now officially a big brother (the good kind, not the evil dystopian government kind).

Mommom gets to meet grandchild number 6.

Clara missed having the same birthday as Poppop by only a few days.

Being a little jaundiced means she gets to sleep in the Bilibed. She's our little glow worm.

Daddy feels he doesn't have enough pictures yet so he sets out to photograph her waking up before being fed.

A big yawn leads to...

... a bigger scream.

Then daddy finally gets her settled down.

So Mommy's recovering pretty well from the C-Section so far. Clara's biliruben levels are stable (but still need to drop some) so all in all,

we've decided to keep her.

[This is Denitra, and I approve this message.]

The Triumph of Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

Since the end of June I have had to restrict my caffeine intake dramatically. I know, I know I'm not supposed to have any during pregnancy at all, but that is more difficult than you can imagine.

One of the first questions on my mind at my first ob visit was, "How much caffeine can I have a day?" Pathetic, I know. It isn't like I drink a pot of regular coffee everyday. In fact, I might only have one cup in the morning (and hubby makes half-calf anyway) and if I need a pick me up sometime during the day I might stop by Starbucks for my favorite, "grande, non-fat latte please!"

The midwives told me that I could have 1 cup of regular coffee a day if I desired. Whohoo! So for most of the pregnancy I either had a cup of hubby's half-calf in the morning followed by a decaf Starbucks later in the day or splurged with a tall latte as my one treat for the day. This seemed to keep my desire for coffee satisfied and I apparently forgot to consider the caffeine I was ingesting in the form of iced tea and the occasional chocolate treat.

At the end of June I headed to the gym to work out one day. When I arrived I felt my heart just racing and I hadn't even worked out yet! It was running at about 130 beats per minute. They immediately sent me home and told me to call the doctor. After several weeks of visits to the midwife, primary and even a cardiologist for a monitor and echo cardiogram - I was diagnosed with pregnancy tachycardia. All it means is that my heart likes to race occasionally and add a few beats just to make things interesting!

What it meant for me was that I needed to stop exercising for the remainder of the pregnancy, rest when my heart raced and, you guessed it, stay away from caffeine even more. Naturally, that last one was the hardest! It's pretty difficult to give up coffee, iced tea and chocolate when you're headed to Virginia Beach for vacation. Nevertheless, I managed.

Eventually, after several chiropractic visits, my heart rate decided to calm down. (Apparently my twisted rib cage was aggravating the symptoms and the chiropractor was able to help reduce them with a few simple adjustments!) As a result, I have found that I do not have to rest as much these days since my heart does not usually go up beyond 120 bpm anymore. Also, the doctors said that I could have some decaf and small bits of chocolate too...how wonderful!

So in an effort to satisfy my cravings for coffee and chocolate I have been on the hunt for some chocolate chip ice cream to go along with my "grande, decaf, non-fat, light ice latte, please!" To my dismay, however, it seemed that good old chocolate chip ice cream has become obsolete in the shadows of such superstars as Moose Tracks, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies and Cream, and it's more preferred cousin, Mint Chocolate Chip.

I was beginning to become convinced of the demise of Chocolate Chip ice cream after checking out what seemed to be every frozen food isle and ice cream parlor from here to the Jersey Shore. In fact, I had just given in to mourning that old comfort food, when I spotted a sale on Breyer's ice cream today at the grocery store. There it was in all it's simplistic glory: Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

What a yummy triumph!

My Mid-Life Motherhood

Check out my new blog over at My Mid-Life Motherhood. I'm just getting started over there and hope to have the opportunity to share with other moms the adventure of having another baby at 40!

Tribute to Grandmom

Back in May I traveled by overnight train to Florida to attend my Grandmother's funeral. Before the baby arrives (in a matter of days!), I wanted to be sure to post the tribute I wrote to baby on the way to the funeral.

During the family memories part of the ceremony my Dad read my journal entry, my Mom read a poem she had written for Grandmom years earlier, and I read a poem about Great Grandma's teddy bears that my daughter had written six years earlier at Grandmom's 90th. I broke down at the end, so it's a good thing my Dad read the journal entry - I wouldn't have been able to do it at all (even writing this post brings me to tears again.)

So before time passes by any further here is what I had chosen to pass on to my unborn baby about the Great Grandmother she missed meeting.

Wednesday, April 27, 2009

Dear Little One,

Right now you and I are headed down to Florida via the train. I haven't felt you kicking too much, so I think all this motion is rocking you to sleep.

At 24 weeks you weigh about a pound and a half and measure roughly 8 1/2 inches from "crown to rump." Basically the size of a small baby doll...and that you are - a doll baby!!

The reason we are headed to Florida is to attend my Grandmom's funeral. It is sad that you will never have the opportunity to meet Great Grandmom McNulty, but I'm sure her legacy will live on so that you will come to know who she was.

Mabel Emily Seifert McNulty went to be with the Lord on Monday, April 27, 2009 around 2 p.m. She had just turned 96 years old the previous Sunday, April 19th!

Here's a few things about her:

Marvelous Mother
Amazingly Artistic
Beautiful Bears
Entertaining Storyteller
Loved the Lord

Another way to read MABEL is: Mother's Always Bring Extra Love!

Grandmom always made me feel so loved - even though she lived so far away and I only got to see her every few years. She was very caring and motherly to me. I learned most of my crafting ability from her. She was truly an artist with her sewing and crocheting skills. Our Christmas tree is full of ornaments that Grandmom made over the years. Her most favorite craft was making teddy bears. I used to get one almost every year! I think I have a doll or bear to mark every milestone in my life!! Before Grandmom died she set aside one of her bears especially for you. So you already have your very first teddy bear from Great Grandmom!

Grandmom was always eager to tell a good story from our family tree. I enjoyed immensely the fascinating tales of our ancestors and stories of Grandmom's childhood. Your name - Clara - is in honor of Grandmom's family tree. Somewhere, somehow she was - and so are you - related to Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross. Naming you Clara is our way of honoring Grandmom and her enthusiasm for passing on all she learned of our family tree.

Lastly, Grandmom loved the Lord! From my earliest recollections I can recall Grandmom talking to me about Jesus. The stories of her life and the way she lived were a testament to her faith in Christ. I can only hope to have been such a testimony to others as she was to me and those around her.

From Grandmom, as well as those before her, to my father's generation to mine and now to you, Darla and Micah - a living legacy of faith has been passed.

May you too come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and join us in Grandmom's legacy!!

Love,
Mom

Ode to a Nut

A year ago this week we lost our favorite nut: Peanut, our cat. He was the best cat EVER and I still miss him dearly. I figured it was high time to write a proper tribute about my favorite pumpkin sized feline, recording some of the antics and highlights of his years with our family.

Prior to bringing Peanut into our home, we had already had two kitties. A brother-sister duo named, ironically, Peanut and Parfait (in honor of the peanut buster parfait at DQ!) While I was very pregnant with my son, Peanut got sick and died suddenly. Naturally, I didn't handle that well. Cried for days. Original Peanut was an adorable fluffy peanut colored kitty. He was very smart and could even speak and fetch with his favorite toy: a rolled up napkin ball!

Nearly a year after Peanut passed away, friends of ours were looking for a home for their kitty, named - you guessed it - Peanut! My immediate response was to fill that Peanut shaped hole in my heart, so we took in the little nut. He adjusted fairly well, considering the strange environment with another feline in the house. He and Parfait pretty much kept their distance from each other and he attempted to escape on a daily basis. I have never seen a cat so intent on getting outside. If you put your foot in the doorway to stop him, he'd just wrestle it down, flip over and make a run for it. Despite living on a very busy street, I finally gave up and let him become an indoor/outdoor cat. He was extremely well suited to the task and seemed to really enjoy the freedom.

About a year after we adopted Peanut we moved to a more country suburban home with a big yard backing up to some woods. This was heaven for Peanut! He roamed the neighborhood, hung out in the woods, kept many wild animals away from our house and everytime I would look out the window when the kids were on the playground - there he would be standing guard. Anytime we headed out back to play we could just call his name and he would come bounding out of the bushes to greet us. Considering he had grown immensely over the years, to a whopping 22 pounds at one point, his "bounding" was quite humorous! Peanut was the quintessential fat cat. He was basically Garfield in real life. When I saw those movies I couldn't help but laugh extra loudly at the fat cat maneuvers and falls which was art imitating the life of my cat!

Peanut became a household name in our neighborhood - everybody knew and loved him. For awhile there he would come home in the summers smelling like perfume! We never did figure out with whom he was having a regular rendezvous. One time I opened the front door to let him out, I heard laughter coming from our neighbor's yard and then "Hey Peanut, come on over!" Yup, our cat had just been invited to the party!

The neighbors on our other side loved Peanut like their own cat. They had a little bed for him in their garage and sometimes he'd have sleepovers at their house. They would even let him inside their house to hang out. When Peanut passed away they came over to the grave to pay their respects and we all shared our favorite stories about our shared pet!Some of Peanut's favorite things were:

FOOD

BEGGING FOR FOODLOUNGING NEAR HIS FOODPAPER BAGS

BOXES

LOUNGING IN GENERAL

Over a year later and I still pull into the driveway missing how the big nut would run to greet me as I got out of the car. I miss his addiction to feet - he had quite a foot fetish and loved to rub his face all over anyone's feet if they'd let him. If you didn't allow him to do so, you risked getting nipped in the ankle! In general we all greatly miss the cool cat whom we lovingly remember as being a "really good dog!"

Check Your Heart

The other day I heard a little blurb on our local Christian radio station encouraging listeners to take a look in their checkbooks to see what is important to them. You know, where your treasure is, so is your heart. As I am the one who carries the checkbook, I thought this sounded like a great way to check my heart and see where it lies. OK, deep breath, here goes!

Gift for baby shower
Chiropractic appointment
School Tuition
Cash for lunches
School T-Shirt
Piano registration
Doctor's office for supplements
Cash for groceries
Compassion child
Cleaning help
Hospital bill
Musical DVD from school
Taxes
Taxes
Taxes
Dentist
Cleaning help
Church lunch
Church tithe
Macy's maternity clothes
Motherhood maternity clothes
Giant groceries
PT gym use
Cash for groceries
Church tithe

So to sum it up, since the beginning of April, the checks were written for:

friend
me
kids
family
me
kids
me
family
charity
me
me
family
government
government
government
kids
me
church
church
me
me
family
me
family
church

Yup, pretty much me! 3 checks for the gov't, 5 checks for church, charity or others, 8 for our kids or family and 9 for, well, me. Hmmm, my heart sure seems to be focused on me, me, me! I think I need to do this more often to check my self spending.

Well, that was a bit of an eye opener and hopefully, it will help me curb my spending where needed. I know hubby, and our checkbook, will appreciate that:)

Pondering Easter

My daughter has been doing an online devotional with some of her friends. They take turns creating a weekly email devotion and I thought that I would pass on to you some of her insights on Christ's death and resurrection. A great reminder to us all as we celebrate Easter.

Christ's death and crucifixion. Luke 23:26-49

In this passage it talks about Christ's death and the pain he went through for us. If you can imagine all he went through for his sinful people that he was faithful to for so many years, well it's unbelievable!! Jesus was God (and He still was on earth) and He came down to this sinful wicked world to walk and talk with His people. He loved the people so much he died on a cross for their sins. He was sinless and yet he took on all of our sins on that cross so we can live forever with him in heaven. Imagine having everything and coming to sacrifice yourself for these people who rejected you and some who hate you. Even God the Father rejected His son when he was on the cross because he contained all the sins of His people. He sacrificed so much for us!

Here are some questions you can answer in an e-mail and in your journal:

• Can you think of anything you would die for like Jesus died for us?
• When you think of the pain Christ went through for you how do you feel?
• Do you feel free to give Christ all your burdens of sin to hang on that cross?
• Christ died for you, are you willing to die for him?

Luke 24:1-12.

One word describes this passage perfectly!!!! AMAZING!!!!! He is risen guys!!!! The Lord Jesus Christ was under the curse of death for only a few days before He was alive again!!! This story is so amazing. I just read the passage and do you know what I just realized? Before Christ died He told His disciples He would die and then raise from the dead. But those disciples didn't believe Him!!!!! After He was raised from the dead the woman told them what the angel said but Christ's best friends didn't believe it!!! They didn't remember what their teacher said!!! They forgot about how He mentioned rising from the dead!!!! But Jesus still loved them. Even if His chosen ones give up on Him, there is no way He'll give up on us. We might doubt Him, but every word of the Bible is the truth!!!! No matter what we do, if we're a Christian we'll never be taken out of His hands! His love is so amazing!!!

Happy Easter

Knowing

If you're up for an edge-of-your-seat thought provoking thrill ride then this latest Nicolas Cage blockbuster is for you. Knowing is an intriguing suspense thriller that had me hiding under my coat for much of the movie. In fact, had not an old friend of mine been one of the writers, I highly doubt I would have dared to set foot in the theater after viewing the trailer. To be honest, I was a bit concerned about what I had gotten myself into after several previews for slasher/horror flicks that preceded the movie, but I braved my fears for the sake of helping contribute to the movie's eventual #1 box office slot for opening weekend. I must say, that despite jumping out of my seat with a yelp to the amusement of movie goers around me, I was quite impressed with the film.

Instead of just another spooky doomsday flick, this one wrestles with philosophical questions of the meaning of life while providing an action packed adrenaline rush. Nicolas Cage's character is a professor of astrophysics who, in an odd turn of events, finds himself deciphering a 50 year old list of numbers to determine when and where great catastrophes will occur. He begins his journey believing that everything is random and by then end of the film is realizing that everything had been determined beforehand. The philosophical aspect of the movie falls short there, without giving meaning or purpose to such determinism - something we can find in reality if we hold to a biblical world view. But hey, it was much more thought provoking then I ever imagined a suspense thriller to be! Many will note the obvious eschatological and apocalyptic themes throughout the movie. I, however, saw more of a modern day Noahic parable with recurring themes of destruction/judgment, pre-destination, election, redemption and salvation.

In my estimation, Knowing, was like The Sixth Sense meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with action sequences reminiscent of Independence Day. All great films, to which I think Knowing aspires. The destruction scenes in the movie were disturbingly intense, with amazing special effects. In the words of my screenwriter friend, Stuart Hazeldine, "I wouldn't have your grandma see it. It's pretty dark and scary in places, especially the disaster sequences." I would also recommend keeping the kids home too, otherwise you may be in for a few weeks of nightmares. I still peer out in the woods at night half expecting to see creepy men lurking on the edge...yikes! You know a suspense thriller has done it's job when it gets into your psyche for just a bit.

Well done, Stu! I give it:

Parent's Day Faux Pas

This morning was Parent's Day at my son's school, Grace Christian. I arrived around 10:30 and we had a lot of fun together - even took him out for a treat during lunch! I would be remiss, however, if I did not share my story and provide you with a good laugh for the day. The thought still brings me to tears...

To start the special day, the whole school gathered in the sanctuary for worship songs. After that several of us parents were "volunteered" by our children to participate in some skits focused on serving others. Lil' Buddy and I eagerly joined in on the skit (because, if you don't already know, I secretly long to be an actress:) I must admit that I threw myself into the character of a-stressed-out-pregnant-mom-who-breaks-down-crying-over-the-messy-house...yeah, I know, it wasn't much of a stretch for me! Apparently, my on cue crying impressed, laughter ensued and I felt that we had achieved our goal: get the most laughs while getting the lesson across!

After all the skits each grade returned to their respective classrooms. I followed my son upstairs to his 5th grade room where we settled down to play hangman before moving on to the next event. Bud was up and after a few guesses I thought I had the answer, so in true Horshack form from Welcome Back Kotter, I raised my hand and piped up, "Ooooh!Oooooh! Ooooh!" When I went to answer, I realized that I must be wrong because I thought the answer was "storm troopers", but he had written so_ _ _ t_oop_ _ _. Oops, he had written it wrong, so my guess was right and it was my turn to come up with the next word.

I was completely at a loss for anything fun to write and felt that I just couldn't live up to the Star Wars terms that had come before. So I wrote my blanks on the board and declared that it wasn't much of a fun word before I took their guesses. I had chosen the word "CLASSROOM".

One of the first guesses was the letter "S", so I eagerly filled in the appropriate blanks. A few more letters called resulting in the formation of the poor dangling stick figure. Next was called, "A!", so I naturally wrote that on the board. Immediately, I chuckled and turned bright red since, to my astonishment, I had just written a bad word on the board of my son's 5th grade class! Quickly I turned to the giggling kids and smiling parents and begged them to hurry up and pick some more letters. It took several tries, but finally my son yelled out "R!" Whew! After a few more letters I filled in the blanks and we were on our way to the cafeteria chuckling the whole time. One of the other moms just looked at me, laughing and commented, "Nice one!"

Next time I'll be much more careful with the words I choose or else my _ _ _ might be grass - oh, look, another word I should never choose for hangman!

I don't believe I'll be living this one down for quite awhile.

The Feeling of Goldfish

Well, it's sure been a long time since the last post announcing my pregnancy. Things are going very well! I am nearing the end of 16 weeks, have completely replaced my wardrobe and have said good-bye to the queasiness and fatigue that plagued me during the first tri-mester.

I was never one for morning sickness, so it was quite different for me to be even queasy every day. Although, the benefit of feeling so off meant nearly no weight gain in the first tri-mester! Compared to my previous children where I gained 40 & 38 pounds respectively, I am off to a great start with only 2-3 pounds gained thus far! Starting overweight this time 'round is limiting the weight gain to 10-15 pounds and absolutely no more than 20...yikes. With my previous record, I'm a little concerned, but I do feel I'm getting a better start with this one!

I thought I started feeling the baby a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't sure. Now that there is a consistent feeling of goldfish wriggling around in my belly it is sure confirmation to me that there is life within. Having had two previous miscarriages, I can't tell you how reassuring that little goldfish sensation is - it will get me through til I can hear the heart beat again next week.

Keep on the look out in April when I hope to reveal the gender - as long as baby cooperates with the "cameras" at this months ultrasound! Naturally, Darlin' is hoping for a baby sister and Lil' Buddy is hoping for a baby brother. In addition to a healthy baby, I'm hoping for a redhead!

Hopefully, I'll be able to check in again soon to recap on the many birthday extravaganzas that we've had the past few months. This week is Buddy's birthday and I hope to create a dice cake mounted on a game board for his birthday party. I'll let you know how that turns out!

Mommy Math

Following is a mini math quiz to see how many of my friends and family check in at Denitra's Den, even when I do so quite sporadically! If you do, I promise a sneak peak at the bottom of this post, but you have to do your math first!


Solve the following word problem:


After 16 1/2 years of marriage, Mom has had 5 pregnancies. Sadly there have been 2 miscarriages. Happily she has 1 daughter who is 13 and 1 son who will be 11. How does that add up?


You do the math!

See answer key below:)

Back to the Bible

The new year is here which means a time for new resolutions and goals, or perhaps reviving a few of the old ones from last year!

Both of my lil' cubs declared to me the other day that their new year's resolution was to have devotions more often, maybe even reading through the Bible in the year. So we discussed how they might accomplish such a task.

I told them that I too had resolved to be more diligent with my daily devotions, already beginning to work through a one year book given to me for my birthday. They were surprised, and responded, "But you already do devotions with Daddy every night." I reminded them that it is still important to read the Bible and pray on my own as well and that was something I felt I needed to get back to doing more regularly.

The whole conversation was a really good reminder to me about how much our little cubs notice without us telling them - like our daily evening devotions. And that through church, school and our guiding they have a personal desire to read the Scriptures on their own. What a delight to our ears!

All this was to preface the fact that it was high time I revived our Monday Morning Memory Verse! Since reading the Bible and committing God's word to memory is a vital tool in our spiritual belt then we best get back to it. To see what the Proverbs 31 wife has been up to check out some of the previous posts here.

The next verse is:

Proverbs 31:20 - She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

This one is pretty self explanatory, but a good reminder nonetheless. What we have seen with the Proverbs 31 wife is that she is pretty selfless, isn't she? Everything she does seems to have a distinct purpose of serving others whether it be her husband, her family, her household and now those residing outside the realm of her home.

Up to this point we have seen what she has done and the tasks to which she has striven in order to provide for her household. Now we see her outward focus toward the poor and needy. With "open arms" she embraces her calling to serve others. The phrase "extending her hands" continues to give us a picture of a woman who is welcoming, caring and loving toward those in need. The implication to me seems to be that she is down at the proverbial soup kitchen getting her hands dirty. What'd ya think?

This brings to mind several women in our church who can always be found in our church kitchen. No matter what the event, from our monthly Food From The Heart lunches (which feed the poor and needy of our local community) to the banquets or church functions (which serve the members of our congregation) these women are always on hand to do the job. Serving others through the culinary arts is a particular talent, gift and calling to which they readily respond. It is a good example to me of some real Proverbs 31 women that serve their families, their church family and open their arms and extend their hands to the poor and needy in our community.

100th Post

Here it is, my 100th post! I figured that would be the most apropro time to come up with my list of 100 things about myself. So here goes...

1. 5 ' 2"
2. eyes of blue
3. to my hubby I am the little curly redheaded girl
4. married June 13, 1992 to a guy named Phil
5. I am exactly one foot shorter than him
6. until I left for college I had lived on the same street all my life and yet had moved once...across the street
7. in our first 8 years of marriage we moved 8 times
8. have lived in our current home since 2000
9. graduated from Springfield High School in 1986
10. was active in our church youth group and community Young Life – even worked at Saranac Lake one summer
11. graduated from Grove City College in 1990 with a triple degree in Christian Ministries, Sociology and Religion
12. graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1994 with a Masters of Religion with a concentration in Biblical Studies
13. prefer Hebrew over Greek any day
14. absolutely loved archaeology with Dr. Pratico
15. have only lived in Commonwealths
16. born and raised in Pennsylvania
17. lived 4 years in Massachusetts on the North Shore
18. lived 15 months in Charlottesville, Virginia
19. returned to Pennsylvania when I was 9 months pregnant
20. we were plowed out of the Blizzard of '96 so we could get to the hospital 13 days after the baby was due
21. my daughter, Darla, was born on Jan. 13, 1996 - weighing in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. after 14 1/2 hours of labor.
22. I will officially be a parent of a teenage daughter very soon. . .yikes!
23. my son, Micah, was born March 3, 1998 exactly 81 years after my Grandmom Busza
24. he was my 10 pounder, weighing in at 9 lbs. 16 oz. - delivered in 1 hour 20 minutes . . . ouch!
25. I expect that either my son or daughter will pass me in height within the next year or two
26. I was born on Dec. 22, 1968 – Yup, I'm officially 40
27. weighing in at only 5 lbs. 4 oz. yet I came home on Christmas Eve. . . quite a Christmas present, eh?
28. I said my first word, "light" the next Christmas
29. I love having my birthday at Christmastime - everything is all decorated:)
30. snowmen are my favorite wintertime decoration
31. winter has always been my favorite season
32. nickname - "the ice princess" because I freeze people out of my car with the AC
33. I am usually very hot and prefer cool weather
34. Fall is beginning to be one of my favorite seasons because of its beauty
35. Rockport, MA was my favorite place to live
36. New England winters are AMAZING - I love a good Nor' Easter
37. taught 3rd & 4th grade at Covenant School in Beverly, MA
38. created and taught the Bible curriculum for my master's thesis
39. worked at Christian Book Distributors in Peabody, MA in customer service where it was proven that missionaries are indeed the most patient and kind people to ever register a complaint.
40. was a hostess at Schooner's in Gloucester, MA
41. also painted and cleaned houses while in school - but you certainly can't tell by the current state of my home that I ever did that professionally!
42. McD's was my favorite summer job down the shore
43. spent my summers in North Wildwood, NJ
44. waitressed a summer at the Triangle - best garlic bread ever, but concluded that waitressing was not for me and have never turned back...
45. enjoyed 2 summers on staff at Baptist Camp Lebanon in NJ
46. love campfires, mostly because of the s'mores
47. unfortunately hate being outside in the summer since I seem to be a prime bug feast
48. love kitty cats
49. have owned 6 cats: Topaz, Peanut and Parfait, Peanut, Swiffer and Shadow
50. had a dog growing up named Buffy
51. love movies
52. Elf is probably my favorite Christmas movie
53. Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, James Bond, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Batman, and Spiderman are some favorite movie series
54. actually own a life size cardboard cutout of Data
55. prefer to watch a movie before reading the book, so as not to ruin my movie going experience
56. also love reading the Harry Potter series or listening to the book on tape
57. have watched all six Star Wars movies one after the other
58. invented glow ball
59. the previous two items are results of years of working with teenagers at our church
60. volunteered with the youth 7 years and was Director of Senior High Youth Ministries for another 3 years
61. enjoyed flamingoing teens' homes when the had great accomplishments
62. between 3 different churches I have invested 13 years in youth ministry
63. had to quit youth work when I came down with chronic vertigo and officially became a dizzy dame
64. have suffered with fibromyalgia for more than 11 years
65. have been able to get off of all my medicines for fibro with healthy eating and vitamin C therapy
66. have lost 12.2 pounds with Weight Watchers since March 2008
67. am extremely nearsighted with astigmatism, so I actually prefer to wear lightweight glasses with my contacts
68. consider myself a procrastinating perfectionist
69. have made a special decorated cake for each one of my kid's birthdays
70. used to have a craft business, Denise's Delights, with homemade candies and decorations
71. always forget what I came to buy whenever I walk into a craft store
72. Cinderella is my favorite princess
73. been to Disney 3 times with our kids and maybe half a dozen times before and would go every year if I could!
74. our family may have been the first to be kicked out of Disney World the year it opened when we were escorted to the gate because my brother was diagnosed with chicken pox
75. I got the chicken pox soon afterward at the age of 4 – even under my eyelids. . .yuck!
76. have made teddy bears out of old quilts - a lesson learned from my Grandmom McNulty
77. finished a quilt hanging for each of my Grandmothers and have many quilt squares still waiting to be put together after 14 years
78. enjoy the idea of scrap booking:)
79. was co-editor in chief of both my high school and college yearbooks
80. twirled rifle in marching band for 7 years
81. sold Discovery Toys and was able to get loads of great stuff for the kids
82. love to play games with our family
83. enjoy having a pool in the back yard, because I am not a pool person and dread the idea of dragging the kids to the local pool day in and day out for hours and hours in the scorching sun - this way I can lifeguard from the comfort of my air conditioned home or wonderfully shady deck:)
84. I don't have freckles, I've got teeny tiny tans!
85. was excited about sun block 75 spf hitting the market this past summer
86. chocolate peanut butter cup may have surpassed mocha chip ice cream as my favorite flavor
87. venti non-fat decaf iced latte - light on the ice please
88. chocolate is my favorite food group
89. prefer gold jewelry
90. 1/2 Polish, 1/4 Irish, 1/8 English and 1/8 German
91. Clara Barton may just be a great, great, great, great Aunt of mine
92. always wanted to be an actress. . .still secretly do. . . shhhhh!
93. the frizzy red hair must have played a role in my being type cast as the evil stepsister or wicked stepmother in children’s theater
94. when joining Netflix they assessed my movie interests as War Movies or Musicals. . . they nailed it on the head
95. love a good war movie at the shore with my Dad, especially We Were Soldiers about his college buddy Jack Geoghegan
96. at the end of the day enjoy a good episode of Psych with hubby or perhaps 24, The Unit, NCIS, The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars if hubby's working late
97. absolutely hate country music
98. however, must admit to childhood crush on Glen Cambell, c'mon after all he is the Rhinestone Cowboy!
99. favorite music is Contemporary Christian Rock: Relient K, Jars of Clay and Switchfoot top my list
100. As a Christian I am indeed a Princess, daughter of the King of Kings!