Sosuna-o-Lata

My cousin lives in the U.K. and really wants to visit us and the rest of our family soon. I’d love to take him to Martha’s Vineyard, which is one of my favorite places to vacation. It’s so relaxed and casual. I love the water, the atmosphere and the walking to everywhere you would need to go. I’ll start searching for some flights for him and his family, DialAFlight.com offers flights to nearly anywhere from the U.K. even a flight to Dubai, but I’ll be looking for flights to USA flying into Boston to try to get the best priced fares. He should also find a car hire (car rental) that he can also find at Dial A Flight so he can meet us on the island.

DiGiorno frozen pizza is the one of a few brands I buy and usually only buy it when I have a coupon. It’s great for that quick meal before or after the kids’ soccer practice.

Last week I thought I’d try something new, their Garlic Bread Pizza.  What a mistake!  It was awful, I don’t even know how to describe it.  It didn’t smell so good while it was cooking the garlic was extremely overpowering and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  Next time I’m sticking to what I know!

I love this show that’s on A&E called Intervention. They tell the story of an addict who depends on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behaviors like eating disorders and the family that loves them and wants them in a recovery program. The addict has agreed to shooting a documentary about addiction but they don’t know that at the end of the episode their loved ones are waiting in a room for them hoping that they will want to change and go to a drug rehab or similar treatment facility on that same day. Sometimes they stay clean, most of the time they’ll relapse a few times.

Don’t forget, today is free iced coffee day at Dunkin’ Donuts.  I plan to run out for one at lunch and stop for 2 more, at two different locations on the way home.  I bet the employees don’t look forward to the freebies as much as we all do.  I’d like to know what their total giveaway was after today. 

We tried the new mixed berries flavor and raspberry flavor this past weekend and we loved them!

I just cast my vote for my favorite Renuzit TriScents Home Makeover Semi-Finalist in the “Transform Your Home with Tanya Memme” contest at the Renuzit TriScents website. I had posted about the promotion a few weeks ago, the winner will receive a $20,000 Home Makeover. I wish I had had the guts to enter the contest and put my house out there for all to see. There are 10 Semi-Finalists in the running for the prize and voting is open until June 7, 2008 and you are allowed to vote once per day until voting is closed.

My favorite semi-finalist entry is the 3 year old little girl named Ashley reciting a poem about her house, parents and her three baby brothers. Yup, they have triplets in the house! The poem is about how her family needs a makeover. She’s so cute sitting in the laundry room saying how it is claustrophobic. Ashley got my vote, the video was just too cute to pass up and I couldn’t imagine trying to fix up a home with a 3 yr old and triplets under a year old. Check out all of the entries at the semi-finalist gallery and cast your vote for your favorite family and they could be winners of the big prize!

Apparently we have quite the population of Black Bears.  When the officers came to my house the other night, they told me that there was one spotted by the police station.  I came to work the next morning and of course I had to tell everyone, my boss says "you had one too?!?".  He lives the next town over from me.  Then there’s an article in the newspaper the day after our visit, you can read it here. I wonder if it’s the same bear or a family of them.  Whatever it may be, I’m a little more cautious bringing my dog out at night.  I keep the lights on in the back and make lots of noise.

We had quite the exciting night last night, my brother came in around 12:30 am and woke me up.

Bro:  "Stacey…Stacey?"

Me:  "What?"

Bro:  "There’s a bear in the backyard, there’s a bear in the backyard"

Me:  "What?"  (at this point, I’m not fully awake and I’m not comprehending"

Bro:  "THERE IS A BEAR IN THE YARD!!"

That’s when I jumped up and ran into the kitchen, my husband and my son both got up as well.  And there it was, this big black bear just wandering around our fenced in yard.  If I didn’t see it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.  I immediately run to wake up my daughter so she can see what I hope is the one and only occurrence.  After about a minute of staring in awe of this beast walking around in my little yard, I grab the camera only to have him walk into the shadows behind the swimming pool. 

We called the police and they informed us there is nothing they can do.  So then we stand there and think, now what?  An officer did show up, he came in and looked out the windows and our friend was gone.  Seconds later, two more cruisers show up, it was quite the commotion in my little neighborhood.  I bet the officers had nothing else going on and just wanted to see a bear, lol.

It’s very sad that they have to wander into residential neighborhoods to search for food.  In our little town we have so many houses on the market that aren’t selling, yet they’re leveling all wooded areas for new roads to build overpriced new homes, which I think is senseless.

It’s a shame I didn’t get any pictures of him but I did snap a picture this morning for my Wordless Wednesday post.  So come back tomorrow to check it out!

I finally watched one of the movies I’ve had sitting around here for awhile. I love movies but sometimes just have to be in movie-mode to watch them. Here’s what I thought of Gone Baby Gone.

Based on a Novel, directed by Ben Affleck and set and filmed in the Boston area known as Dorchester, Gone Baby Gone is about the investigation of the disappearance of a little girl named Amanda. The mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), is a hard-partying single mother who lives in an apartment in the same building as her Aunt and Uncle who essentially take care of her as her mother is busy drinking and drugging most of the time. When Amanda goes missing, her Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Lionel hire Missing Persons Private Investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to help find their niece.

The movie as a whole was pretty good with a surprising ending that I definitely did not see coming. There was a point halfway through the movie where it seemed to be over but it obviously wasn’t, their was a twist coming. I didn’t care for the coupling of Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan, to me there didn’t seem to be any chemistry, they appeared to not even try. In my opinion, giving Patrick (Casey) a partner was unnecessary. As always, Morgan Freeman as Captain Jack Doyle and Ed Harris as Detective Remy Bressant were great in their roles.

I’d recommend watching this one, the ending will really make you think. I, personally, don’t know which way I would’ve gone.

My Rating: 4/5 Tubs

We’ve been talking about our plans for the Summer. Where we are going to go and how we’re going to get there. We usually go way, way up into the woods of Maine to spend the week of the 4th of July with my mother-in-law and father-in-law and the rest of their giant brood. It’s such a long drive, I thought it might be a good idea to rent a car instead of putting all that extra mileage on my own car. Advantage rent a car has some special rates on a standard SUV Suzuki XL7 for as little as $34.99 per day; a car rental with rates starting at $19.99 a day; or rent a minivan, which is probably the roomiest choice. Visit advantage.com to see if they have a special to help you with your summer travels.