Goodbye NJ101.5

Since I work from home (I'm an online trainer during the day) I started listening to talk radio.  NJ1015 is a New Jersey station and kind of funny so I would listen to Dennis & Judi from 10 to 2 and then I think it was Carton & Rossi from 2 to whenever the kids came home. It got better when it became Casey & Rossi a few years later.  Then they ruined it by getting rid of Casey :(

I wasn't a huge fan of Judi, thought she was very closed minded & self centered, but she & Dennis had a good schtick going and it worked well.

One day Judi left and Michele Pilenza took over and it became a fantastic show. The only thing that might have been better than Dennis & Michele was when Dena Blizzard filled in one summer.  (www.onefunnymother.com) Both Dena & Michele were like breaths of fresh air.  They both made Dennis less of a hard ass and the show was just a joy to listen to. 

In the time it was Dennis & Michele, I started my business and they were so kind to allow me to talk about it and promote it.  I even did a beach writing birth announcement for Michele when she had her 2nd son.

As a thank you to both of them, I did this stick figure drawing and was going to give it to them on their next diner tour.

That same week they announced Michele was leaving and Judi was coming back.

I was not happy, but hoped that maybe the years and the difficulties she endured while not working would have humbled her and she would be maybe a little more open and easier to listen to.

So I went back to the beach and redid the stick figure drawing. (can't find the original, will post it if I find it) 

As a part of the diner tour that Spring, they were in Toms River so I scooted down there and presented them with their photo & had them sign a 2nd for me.

I framed it and would display it at craft shows occasionally but stopped because Judi had not changed.

She was still the self centered spoiled bitch and Dennis was even becoming more negative.  

I even tried to be nice and made her  a sea glass necklace with her name. Boy do I regret that now.

Their tirade yesterday about the compassionate people who came to the Brick court house to support Sammy 

Sammy is the abused Cocker Spaniel that was brought in by his owner in a garbage bag, severely abused, neglected and near death! The owner claimed he found the dog on the roadside! Sweet 13-year-old Sammy's remarkable recovery has captured our hearts.

showed their true colors and I refuse to be associated with a company that allows for that kind of hatred to be aired.

Compassion is something that comes from your heart and if you don't want to see the scumbags that did this to Sammy and other abused animals face stiffer penalties, and then to make fun of others who do...

Than I have no use for you.

That kind of negativity has no place in this world. 

Good thing I have a Netflix subscription because the radio is off. 

I'm on CNN.com!!!!

About 2 weeks ago I was contacted by CNN.com to ask permission to use a beach writing I did for Jersey Shore Hurricane News for them to featured for Excellence on the Web.

Yeah like I'm going to say No to that.  But I had to keep it a secret, so I just laid low.

JSHN was actually created a year before Superstorm Sandy for Hurricane Irene. But it has evolved into so much more.  What started out as a facebook page to talk about Irene, turned into a life saver for so many during & since Sandy.

It was the first and best place to get any and all news regarding the destruction from Sandy.

It was where people went to find loved ones or where to find shelter.  It's been a central location to find owners of random items that has washed ashore.

JSHN has become an amazing community page that people still visit to get ideas of where to donate items or where to volunteer. (and get traffic updates too!)

And now that the Jersey Shore IS open, it's becoming a place to talk about what is open.

I'm glad I joined it way back when Irene was baring down on us and I'm thrilled to still be a part of it, when it has grown to 200,000 followers!

I was honored the day Justin put my beach writing as the cover page and now I'm even more honored to be a part of his recognition of JSHN!!!

Click here to read the story!

Keep on keeping on!

If you've been reading my blog, you might remember a post a did in August of 2011 about the wicker chairs I saved from the garbage dump (ok my neighbors curb) and made them all pretty again.

http://thejerseyshoremom.blogspot.com/2011/08/reduce-reuse-recyle-wicker-chairs.html

Well I've been at it again.

We FINALLY caught up with technology and bought a flat panel television and hung it on the wall.

The table we had the old tv on was quickly becoming a clutter spot.  You know what a clutter spot is.  It's that spot that everyone dumps everything.  Obviously we needed a piece of furniture that was smaller but still had room for the Fios box & the Wii, etc.

I saw on Craigslist that there was a house near me that was giving things away for free.  I wandered over there and as soon as I walked in the door, I found it.

That is a stock photo.  While is looks just like the one I found, mine was beat to hell!  Scratches & drawn on.  Also it stunk from stale cigarette smoke.  

So I left it outside

then I cleaned it

and sanded it

then cleaned it again.

Took the drawers out and the tract for the drawers. I didn't want drawers, I wanted shelves.  Thankfully it already had a piece of wood under each drawer so that made things easier.

I left it outside for another day or two and then the painting started.

I am in LOVE with Kona Brown.  It's a spray paint from Painters Touch.  I coated the outside and once that was dry, I gave it a 2nd coat.

Now for the inside. I knew I wanted it to be a color that went with the room, but not the exact same color as the room.  Well I had a sample left over from picking colors for the room, so I used that.

And this is the finished project.

Once the room is finished I'll do better pictures.  

But I really like the way this came out. 

The Jersey Shore is Coming Back!

I'm sorry I've been neglecting my blog.  I just haven't been motivated much to write.  I'm going to try to change that!

Starting today!

I just celebrated 3 years since opening my Etsy Shop.  I would have loved to gone back to Brick Beach 1 on my anniversary but it was still closed thanks to that bitch Sandy.

But that all changed today!

I was in the shower, listening to 94.3 The Point when they said Brick Beaches 1 & 3 were open as of today!

I felt the same way I felt last year when the power came back on 8 days after Sandy knocked it out.

Hopeful.  Things CAN go back to the way it was, or maybe even a little better?

There is still a LOT to do down here.  Lots of homes that need to be rebuilt, but it's getting there.

Make sure you come visit the Jersey Shore this summer. Or why wait, I heard part of the Seaside Heights boardwalk is opening this weekend!

Anyway, back to Brick Beaches. I went to BB1 and here are some pictures.

The Entrance

The radio & the township's Facebook page said 

it was open, so I ignored the red flag & no trespassing sign.

I'm such a bad ass LOL 

 I'll explain the circled area a little further down.

I get annoyed when people who haven't stepped foot on the beach spread rumors that the beaches are filthy.

Looking North

Looking South

Ok so I saw a folding chair in the surf. But other then right after Sandy, this is the first real big piece I've seen washed up on the beach. 

And of course I did this <3 p="">

First piece of sea glass

 Then I found a piece of aqua sea glass. 

Seriously, the beaches are BEAUTIFUL!

Except....

For

All the freaking balloon crap!

I found & removed more than 10 pieces of or whole balloons.

TEN.

That yellow circle on the 2nd picture up there.  That was 2 more balloons I noticed on my way off the beach.  

I have NEVER seen so much balloon garbage on the beach like I did today.

Obviously accidents happen, but seriously people, why not just pop the balloon and throw it on the ground. It's littering and balloon release events are just MASS LITTERING events.

Learn more about how balloons are 

NOT biodegradable from

Balloons Blow

Video Proof

That the Jersey Shore IS Open!

This is from Bay Head, NJ this morning April 6, 2013!

I hadn't been to watch the sun rise since before Sandy came to town.  It was time I got back there.  The video is a little shaky, I took it with my phone and it was chilly this morning (37 degrees)

Hope you enjoy it!

The Jersey Shore is OPEN!

Recently I heard that Gov. Christie wants to have an ad campaign that lets everyone know the shore is open.

I NEED TO BE A PART OF THAT!

Tweet him!

Tell him how awesome I am! 

Tell him I'm a cousin of his (ok like 5th and it's through marriage)

https://twitter.com/GovChristie 

Check out the quick video I made this morning in Point Pleasant

Times are A-Changing

For the first time in 8 years our Spring will not be spent at the baseball fields.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

A good part of me is happy. I love my kids & love watching them play sports, but as with any group, there were crappy cliques and political crap that I could not deal with.

Because TheJerseyShoreDad & I were no good at playing political games, nor knew who the "right people" were to be friends with, our kids suffered.

Mostly our older son.  The year he moved from the Minor League to the Major League, the whole leadership at the fields changed. (can't find the link, but there were shennanigans going on with the old regime) and a new group took over our league.

Anyway, my older son, who was a good player, went from winning games with his pitching skills to riding the  bench  and playing the minimum required 2 innings.  It psychologically destroyed him.  TJSD approached the coach who said that he would play our older son more if he listened to him more. He tried to tell TJSD that our older son just didn't listen to what he told him to do.

Umm, yeah, bullshit.  Our older son is a teachers pet type child. Not the annoying one that is always up the teachers ass.. I mean he is able to converse with adults like an adult.  He's always been that way.  I'm convinced he was born with an old soul.  When we asked our son about not listening to the coach, we could tell that the coach was lying.  My children are no angels, I'd be honest if I thought he was lying... this was not one of those times.

What made it worse was when he (and at least 2 other good players) would show up for every practice, always on time for games, etc, they'd ride the bench while the favorited kids who would rarely show up for practices, played every inning.  I watched an entire season of a kid playing 2nd base who missed basically every single ball that came his way.

But because he was one of the coaches sons, he played.

Now before you think I'm biased... well I am, he's my son.  But understand that had our younger son already decided to not play anymore, I would have approached him about not playing in the majors because he just doesn't have the drive needed to play up there.

After 2 years with this same coach (against my wishes) he moved up to the 13 yo league where the favoritism was even worse.  The coaches own son would blow off practice and yet he played every inning. And by now he was labeled as a kid who rode the bench and there went his deadly accurate fast ball and his desire to play.

Why give your team your all when you get shit back?

But besides all that crap, being a part of baseball was fun too. I did make friends. The kids got to meet other kids outside of the ones they went to school with and it was fun.  Especially the younger years.  I didn't even mind doing our snack stand duty either, we always managed to have fun doing that.

The kids learned sportsmanship, both good and bad.

But it has all ended and I won't be freezing at early spring games & sweating at the end of the season.

Now the older son wants to play hockey and the younger son wants to bowl.

I guess I can take the beach chair out of my car...  (used it at games because the bleachers were uncomfortable).

Take me out to the ball game......