What do Suzie Orman and a 28 year old Breast Cancer Survivor have in common

What do Suzie Orman and a 28 year old breast cancer survivor have in common, a cause.....This past weekend we walked, for two days, 39 plus miles for one common goal. To raise money for mammograms for those who need it, treatment for those who can't afford it, money for women to network once they are diagnosed, and to fund the research to find a cure for breast cancer.

Why do woman such as Suzie Orman and Reese Witherspoon participate in the walk, and why would a 28 year old go up in front of 10,000 people and publicly announce that she was diagnosed with breast cancer at such young age. It's not because they enjoy the peanut butter and jelly graham crackers or the two free t-shirts and stuff from the sponsors or massages and free chiropractic services. It is because they need to continually reinforce to us that breast cancer doesn't discriminate. It effects men and women alike. All shapes, colors and ages. Every 3 minutes someone is given the news "You have breast cancer" and hundreds of others lose their lives each day. Everyone I know has been effected by this disease, whether it is your mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother or best friend.

If you have been involved in any of these multiple day walks you know that you have never been the same. You spend the weekend with goosebumps, tears, smiles and hear many amazing stories. You met people just like yourself, and others so different. But they everyone is there for similar reasons. Many walk for themselves, or their loved ones, and others walk for future generations, their daughters and their daughter's daughters.

We all live in a self centered world. It is nice to be with those that want to walk toward, not only a solution, but to help those that may now live cancer free thanks to money we all have raised.

So next year maybe some of you out there will join a walk. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to meet Suzie Orman or Reese Witherspoon or simply a 28 year old that has survived breast cancer. Take a chance get some goosebumps, sleep in a tent, you'll feel lucky and happy to be alive.

25 Reasons why Debby and I walk.....

1. We love the peanut butter and jelly graham crackers
2. Our dad sets up our tent and brings us hot chocolate
3. 48 hours or being with your sister without husbands, kids or cell phones
4. Massages
5. Free Chiropractic (although I have that at home)
6. Free advil/tylenol
7. Free foot massage chairs
8. Free yoga classes
9. Free t-shirts
10. Sleeping in a tent
11. Port a potties
12. Meatballs and hot oatmeal
13. Strangers with wonderful stories
14. Other families that have been affected by breast cancer
15. Because our mother would love to participate in this event
16. We have our own crew: Annette and Dad
17. We get to see New York City from a very different perspective.
18. We love to eat and eat and eat
19. We love to burn calories by walking and walking and talking and talking
20. Unlimited Candy from rebok
21. We love the color pink
22. We love any excuse to shop for a cause.
23. We love to get together with our famiies.
24. We love H&H bagels.
25. Because we love our mother and we'd do anything to make her proud of us.

Have a great meal for great price

We all love to eat. Admit it. We love to go out bring a bottle of wine to a restaurant and enjoy a gourmet meal. We found out last night how to do it for $18.00 person. The best known secret is the culinary school. It is impossible and naive to think that all Chefs are taught their trade in France. So therefore they must learn to cook somewhere. Last night we dined At the Atlantic County Community College Culinary Arts Restaurant in Mays Landing. The name of the Restaurant is Carmine and it is located right in the middle of the classrooms on this very nice college campus.

The restaurant doesn't open until 6 pm so you can come a little early and peak into the various classrooms and see the future chefs of New Jersey learning about food preparation, formulating Menu 101 etc. So it is kind of cool waiting in the hall way looking at all the pictures of previous classes, in their Chef uniforms being photographed with their winning food presentations.

Once inside the restaurant there are students buzzing around being assigned to each table. We had two waiters (first and second year students) who doted on us like we were the king, queen, and page. Can I get you a drink (poured with a plate as a splash guard so cute), here are the specials (hey they asked for rolls should we get them)…….

You can hear the teacher in the kitchen bellowing instructions to the third and fourth year students, to plate this and get that making it reminiscent of the TV reality show Hell's kitchen.

The menu had several choices (escargot on mashed potatoes, Manhattan clam chowder, crab meat gratin examples of appetizers). There is always a special last night was Wow fish and linguine and marinara sauce. The deal I discussed before is their pre-fix menu of an appetizer, main course and desert for $18.00....which is weird as the steak was $24. And you can have it as the main course so it is ridiculous not to go with the prefix.

Anyway, my favorite was desert. We shared 3 large crème Brules, which they prepared at the table by pouring rum on them, and then lighting them fire, and chocolate mousse with strawberry garnish.

Their menu changes every 14 days as dictated by the head teacher. They are open for lunch for a buffet of everything on the menu and for dinner Monday – Friday (no classes on weekends so no restaurant). They are also available for private parties.

All in all, a pleasant, inexpensive evening. (Ours was free as my Dad gave us a gift certificate for our anniversary which is why we ordered three appetizers and four deserts).

I guess the point is that you should try it you might like it.

There is a community college in everyone’s neighborhood, and most have a Culinary course of even school. Below I have listed just a few in New Jersey. Take a look, take a chance and enjoy a gourmet meal cheap but delicious.

Morris County Vocational School Denville Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Middlesex County College Edison Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Hudson County Community College Jersey City Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Brookdale Community College Lincroft AAS Culinary Arts, Pastry Certificate
Monmouth County Vocational School District Culinary Arts & Related Services
Atlantic County Vocational Technical School Mays Landing Culinary Arts/Chef
Atlantic County Vocational Technical School Mays Landing Baker/Pastry Chef
Atlantic Cape Community College Mays Landing Culinary Arts/Chef Training
College of Saint Elizabeth Morristown Foods & Nutrition Studies
Rutgers University-New Brunswick Food Sciences and Tech.
Bergen Community College Paramus Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Burlington County College Pemberton Hospitality & Recreation Mrktng
County College of Morris Randolph Hospitality Services Management
Union County Vocational Technical School Scotch Plains Baker/Pastry Chef
Union County Vocational Technical School Scotch Plains Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Camden County Vocational and Technical Schools Sicklerville Culinary Arts/Chef Training
Raritan Valley Community College SomervileHospitality Services Management
Fairleigh Dickinson University-All Campuses Teaneck Hospitality Services
Ocean County Vocational Post Secondary Division Toms RiverCulinary Arts/Chef Training
Mercer County Community College Trenton Baker/Pastry Chef
Mercer County Community College Trenton Kitchen Personnel/Cook Training

All packed with no where to go......

What to pack in....what to bring....what's the weather....all under 30 lbs. I guess this has been a problem for the traveler forever. However the difference is we aren't flying or driving anywhere, we are walking 39+ miles over two days. So not only do we have to make sure we are trained and hydrated, we have to be prepared for two days of intense walking (with a stress fractured foot), sleeping in a pup tent overnight in NYC and unpredictable weather. For the past two days the internet says its going to rain 40%. Last year there was no chance of rain so we left out our rain gear. It poured heavily all night Saturday into early hours Sunday. We started the walk with garbage bags over our heads provided by Stanley (Antonoff) McGiver, which was a g d sent. So we are not going to let that happen again.

So we have rain gear, sleep gear, walking gear, cold gear, warm gear, pain relief gear, blister gear, anti-blister gear and money for croissants and hot chocolate along the route. After all Debby and I were girl scouts so our mom told us to always be prepared and so we are.

Tomorrow I will share with you the inventory in our fanny packs, which we have to pack as a miniture version of whats in our 30lb duffles. Only joking.....

va⋅ca⋅tion /veɪˈkeɪʃən, və-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [vey-key-shuhn, vuh-]

Vacation: A period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel.

If this is the true definition of vacation than why am I not resting, recreating or traveling on my vacation. I did start out my vacation driving 4 hours to and 4 hours from Providence, RI to see my daugther Becky (I guess that constitutes travel). I do admit I had a great time there, but now on day 4, I am doing a lot of other things such as getting a much needed hair cut, returning unwanted clothing, hemming pants, paying bills, making projects (recreation) and selling things on ebay. But so far (and I'm only four days into my 10 day vacation), I haven't done any true recreating. But tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for lunch to help create center pieces for her daughter's bat mitzvah, Wednesday Dan and I are going to the Culinary Institute in A.C. to use a gift certificate we got over a year ago and haven't had a minute free to use and then I finish my vacation Saturday and Sunday walking 39+ miles, and sleeping in a tent to help find a cure for breast cancer.

I think I need to alter the definition for vacation for myself to:

"A period or suspension in time where I do things other than standing on my feet running all over my place at work for 8 hours a day, night and weekend in order to stay home and do the stuff that life is really about like taking a walk with my husband and having a pralines and cream ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles. Hope the rest of the week which culminates in the walk (in memory of my mom) is quiet, restful and ends with the Sun shining and millions of dollars raised towards finding the cure.......

Where does the idea come from that things happen in 3s

October 3, 2006

We are coming to that time of the year linked to superstitions. Next week we have Friday the 13th - with Halloween not far behind.

Some people theorize that Things Happen in Three's. This can be both positive and negative in connotation. The concept of 3's - goes to 3D or physical reality. We are often told that things repeated 3 times will help them manifest.

Reiki symbols are said three times to empower them.

"Good things come in three's."

To win money once is to win it three times.

On the flip side we find ... "Bad things come in three's." This often refers to hearing about one death as two more follow in a short period of time.(1)

This weekend among all the bonding I did with my daughter, Becky we heard two difficult/sad stories about people that we know. I said to her in passing you know that things happen in threes. She laughed.

This morning we learned of the death of a wonderful person......One can't help but have an eery feeling when you learn of the third event....Then we say to each other. Now good will come, as that three negatives are always counteracted by three positives.

Therefore, I look forward to winning the lottery, losing 5 lbs. and waking up tomorrow 21 years old again......

(1)found this info...surfing the net...

Providence Rocks

Rain or shine Providence Rhode Island Rocks. Prov is the quisessential college town with Johnson and Wales, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams, PC and Brown. Although JWU doesn't have a real campus downtown it does have one at harborside where the cullinary Institute is housed. However, JWU is so close to Brown that it is worth the walk over the river and up the steep hills to see the cute boutiques. Once on the main street you can have a cup of chi-der tea at a local "coffee bar" or you can shop for blank or 7 for mankind jeans and ugg boots and moccassins at Burks.I'm up here chilling with my daughter Becky and wishing that I were in college again.

Last night we had the longest meal in history at a hibachi restaurant on Thayer street. The food was good but the blonde waitress thought a table of 10 mom's and daughters were probably not going to tip her so well, so she decided not to wait on us at all. So after we got the manager involved we ended up with free drinks and sushi. But the company was good and we had a couple of good laughs. It was nice to meet Becky's friends and some of their mom's.

Becky lives on the other side of town from Brown. She lives in an up and coming neighborhood called Federal Hill. The only problem is that since its just up and coming and hasn't "arrived" yet it isn't exactly safe to walk around alone. So at Becky's recommendation I treadmilled it today, which turned out to be the right choice as it was really raining hard....

Anyway, Becky's apartment, at the Rising Sun Mills, is in between two boulevards Atwell and Broadway. Atwell is okay to walk down, but stay away from Broadway, it's the bad side. Anyway, the complex where she lives is 6 buildings that were converted into loft apartments from a very old Jewelry factory. The apartments are mostly brick with hardwood floors. You can see where the old equipment was taken out and replaced with new wood. The rent is cheap and has a lot of ammenities.

So right now Becky is playing the guitar, we are waiting for pizza to arrive and roommate Steph and friend Monica are out getting a dvd from red box. Pizza and peace out......

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. We are doing our 40 mile walk for Avon next weekend. I have a great video to share with y'all....http://www.funnyordie.com/titfortat/videos I am having trouble getting it on here so try the link above or check it out on my facebook page.

In the meanwhile, I am my daughter Becky we are chilling, shopping and going .....Sharks for dinner with friends, moms, great aunts and gmas........so stay tuned