Saturday, October 24, 2009

September happenings

Since we are pushing close to November here I figured I better do a quick version of what we did in September so that I can remember it all for my scrapbooking when the time comes! Part of the reason I am trying to keep this ‘online journal’ if you will, current is so that when I am ready to put these memories to paper I can have something to go back and read.

The first day of school for Alex was September 9th and this year he is in the 7th grade which just boggles my mind that he has grown up so fast, sometimes I wish that I could slow life down and make some of these special moments last just a bit longer. Every year I like to take a first day of school photo and now that Alex is a big middle school kid he didn’t want me to take his picture but I told him he had 2 choices, I take his picture inside or I take his picture outside. He opted for the inside version. :)

02 He looks so grown up this year.

Of course when he went out to wait for the bus I couldn’t resist sneaking a couple more shots when he wasn’t looking…hey…you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes, right? It’s all about the scrapbooking and preserving these memories for the future, I’m sure he will forgive me when he gets older and sees his scrapbooks and shares them with his children and possibly his grandchildren.

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I still can’t believe he’s 12 and in the 7th grade….sigh. I know he is going to have a great year and do really well, his education means a lot to him and thankfully he has a great group of teachers.

On the 14th of September one of my favorite authors was doing a book signing at a book store not far from here and I had to go and pick up his new novel and get it signed and listen to his talk about the book. I was supposed to go with a friend who couldn’t make it at the last minute because she wasn’t feeling well but I wasn’t going to let that stop me because I feel that if there is something I want to do I am going to do it no matter what because I don’t want to leave this world with any regrets. Having both of my parents leave this earth too young taught me a valuable lesson about life and how to take each day and live it to your fullest.

Nicholas Sparks spoke about his book and some other future projects for about 1/2 an hour or so and then went upstairs to sign books. I browsed throughout the store as I waited for my turn and then went upstairs when they called my group and got in line. The book store, “The Book Revue” is really nice and I enjoyed looking around while I waited. They were asking everyone to open their book to the title page and I told the girl that I wanted my cover signed and she said he is signing the title page but you can ask him when you get to the table. There was another store employee at the table willing to take your camera and take photos for you and I was really happy about that since I was alone and didn’t have anyone to take my picture (I did ask the people behind me and they were willing to do it but as it turned out I didn’t need their help). The table for the book signing was set up so that when it was your turn you sat down in a chair next to Nicholas and they took your picture and you got your book signed so when I got to the table I asked him if he would sign the cover for me and he said, “Of course I will sign the cover, absolutely, let me switch pens…” and he took care of that and then he put his arm around me and moved his cheek up to mine to take the photo and before I stood up to leave he rubbed my back and said, “Thank you so much for coming out.” Nicholas Sparks is such an amazing author and a wonderful, kind and down to earth person, this was my 2nd time meeting him in person and I hope to get an opportunity to do it again when his next novel comes out. I haven’t had a chance to read “The Last Song” all the way through yet, I have about 5 chapters read but I put it down to read a book that was for a book discussion at work and then got distracted with some other books but I will get back to it. The film for the novel comes out in January of 2010 so I really hope to have it done by then.

01 My picture with Nicholas Sparks. If you haven’t read any of his novels I recommend “The Notebook” and “The Wedding” to start…wonderful stories to read and cherish for my years to come. I can still hear mom’s voice on the other end of the phone when she finished reading The Wedding a few years back and she called me to tell me she had finished it, “Oh my GOD….awesome….WOW….” Yep, I told her she would love it.

On the 26th we went to a surprise 40th birthday party for a friend of ours and it was held at the bowling alley down the street from where we live. Alex, Jim, Robert and myself all had a really good time. I didn’t bowl because I was worried about my back so I just watched the action and took some photos to remember the evening by.

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September 28th was a day off from school for Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday, so I decided to take Alex and a friend of his to the Fire Island Lighthouse this time, we had visited the Montauk Lighthouse earlier in the summer and when Alex saw a model of the Fire Island lighthouse in the airport he wanted to go and I was happy to make the trip. The day was warm but very windy so I was disappointed that we couldn’t really enjoy the beach too much because the sand was blowing around so much it was literally hurting my eyes but it didn’t stop Alex from trying to go swimming even though the water was pretty chilly by then, nothing compared to the bath water we swam in back in August on the beach.

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The lighthouse is a bit of a walk from the parking lot but it is along a beautiful boardwalk and I enjoyed the stroll and the sun as we made our way over. The walk up to the top of the lighthouse was quite a work out, not only was I out of breath but so were the young boys so I didn’t feel bad!!

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Well that about covers our fun for September, I will blog more really soon and get caught up on the October stuff…yes we have been out and about, of course!!

1 comment:

Scrappy Gal said...

Great shots & update! I've read all of his books, but this most recent one. I'm trying to get through the Twilight series and this is next on deck, but time is shorter now a days.

I'd love to meet him, he's a hunk :)