New York at Christmas Time

So the college boy turns 21 in February. Like many folks do, they celebrate this milestone occasion in Las Vegas or a place where the kid can order a drink legally.

Well, Brandon will be in Idaho playing baseball on his 21st Birthday as the season will have begun. So he received an early birthday present... a trip to New York with his girlfriend Kalli to visit Aunt Jennifer.

Wow did these two kids have a wonderful time and we were so happy for them.

Something about New York in the winter and around the Holidays. So festive & sparkly and cozy. Aunt Jennifer and beau Kevin of course showered them with food & fun and they tooled around the city exploring and mastering the subways.

Pictured above is Brandon with Kalli and pictured to the right is Brandon with Aunt Jennifer.

They ate slices of pizza, visited the Statue of Liberty, checked out ice skating at Rockefeller Square, and absorbed the holiday spirit that is so prevalent in the city that never sleeps.

Jen and Kevin were wonderful hosts and the big kids had a great time ushering in the New Year with them.

There's a 12 year age difference between Jennifer and I. When she was born both my sister Michele and I treated her like a doll and an extension of our toy collection. We took her everywhere and she was part of our clique as the cute little baby.

It's wonderful to flash forward all these years and watch her relationship with my boy's. They are close enough in age that while they are not in the same stage of life, they certainly can relate to one another. Makes for a special bond.

What a splendid way to ring in 2012!

Day 243: Celebrating Our Victories

Tonight I attended the Annual NWPC Holiday Party! As I have written about many times before on my Blog, the National Women's Political Caucus is an organization near and dear to my heart & my politics. I have served on the Board for a dozen years and continue to participate. Tonight was our signature Holiday event where members have an opportunity to mingle with other like-minded, politically savvy people as well as elected officials.

I was happy to have big sis Michele, niece Zoe and little bro Josh Ritter join me at tonight's festivities. This year was a very successful one for NWPCs endorsed candidates. We sent many women to the State Assembly including my very own State assembly woman Holly J. Mitchell. It feels good to continue working toward our goal of 50/50 by 2020, (50% representation by women in all branchs of government) however, there is still much work to be accomplished.

That's why I continue to recruit, encourage and support women to consider running and serving in public office. This week I was proud to help announce the candidacy of dear gal pal Marisa Perez, who is running for City Council in the city of Lakewood. The Election is in March and this is her first political run. I will be profiling Marisa on my Blog over the months leading up to Election Day and I hope you will consider supporting her. To learn more about Marisa, please visit her website at http://www.MarisaForLakewoodCouncil.com/

And to learn more about the wonderful work performed by NWPC LA Westside, please visit our site at www.LAWestsideNWPC.org

Day 48: The To Do List

I was with two of my sisters today -- the big sis Michele & the kid sister Jennifer who is in town from New York -- and we all started laughing at how we share a quirky habit: With so many "to do" items we sometimes write the items down -- which we have already completed -- only to be able to cross them off on the forever "to do" list! It makes us feel like we've accomplished so much when we can visually see a list with lots of lines through the endless errands!

Sounds quirky, doesn't it!?! But really it makes sense. We all (or should) keep lists upon lists --a market list, a reminder list, a to do list, a honey do list, and when we check the items off after completion, we really feel a sense of accomplishment!

What is it with us women and all our have to get done items in one day... I've rarely met a woman who doesn't always have something to get done that day --- rarely does a friend say I'm just going to lounge today! There's a household to run, a business to manage and family & friends to host, it's endless and without a "to do" list I'm not sure how one would keep track of all that needs to be finished.

Yesterday I posted a message about how overwhelmed I am these days. Whether it's the end-of-school year pressure to finish, or the ramping up for new business adventures, or what I don't know, but it's all too much these days! The endless to do list. Why does it never feel completed? Why is there always so many people & matters to tend to... if I had the answer I'd be a very wealthy woman I'm sure!

Even with countless attempts to be organized, to say no to every request, I still find myself upside down on my to do versus down time. A perfect balance would be to have equal amounts of relax time versus running time. This should be a goal, but then it would have to be added to the to do list and would just create one more thing for me to address!

Day 43: Health Updates

Thank you to all the readers who have asked how my big sis Michele is doing! You followers are really the best. Here's the update.

Michele is much better, thank goodness and after her last MRI she received a clean bill of health for her neck. This being said though, the mystery continues as none of the doctors on her medical team have been able to figure out what caused the initial injury to her neck or the large mass. With heavy antibiotics the mass has evaporated and she has total mobility of her neck, all good signs of healing. But we are still questioning how the mass got there in the first place, and has it truly been healed? The mystery continues and I will keep you posted.

Next up, thank you for your concerns about my health as well. If you are a regular reader of my Blog, then you undoubtedly know that on Sunday Brian and I ran a 10k race (that's 6.2 miles). Not too shabby for a girl with severe nerve pain and a hole in her stomach caused by an ulcer!

I feel much better now that I am on some medication, but am not really 100 percent. I have a nagging, constant soreness in my stomach... I'm hoping that the hole will close with continued medication. But for those of you who know me, I am not a medicine taker. Never have been.

But as you can see from the fun photo to the right, none of our ailments keep Michele or I from partying with the girls, or from running in races, or going to work, or caring for children, or cooking, cleaning, flossing, shopping, or blogging ... we are like ox, nothing keeps us down!

Strong women, that's the only way to be!