What's New?

Not much really. Just happy to get back to the routine of school, candy-making and the little sweeties who come every day. Glad it's the week-end tomorrow and we can all get some good sleep. My dreams have been so strange this week. Haven't been getting great sleep, but with the help of a little Tylenol PM last night I slept like a log...dreaming I was fixing up my kitchen like they do on those home shows, where they fix up a place so they can sell it for more....as I was fixing I hear a CRASH that wakes me up...sounds like something fell in the kitchen! I get up to check and a big, I mean BIG needlepoint picture that I made that's hanging in my kitchen had fallen down off the wall and was laying face down on the counter. Good grief! Thank God the glass didn't break. The frame is kind of coming apart and the wire that goes across the frame and hangs on the nail had come off. Oh boy, that's interesting.......snooze.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID! Hope you and Dietrich are celebrating your 50th in style!

My son's 14 birthday is on May 12th. Making preparations for his party which is the 20th. He likes to have his buddies over and attend the International Food Festival on 9th Ave. where they buy a lot of stuff like fart spray, silly string, smoke bombs...all the things that make a mom so happy to have a teen-age male child, "not to be mean or anything"!

I'm off to dream land. Hope you all have a great week-end.

Good Stuff

I didn't get to totally focus on the show last night because the kids came home late from the game (he won!) and Chinese food with their Dad...They had baths to take and stuff to organize for the next day before the show came on, but....

David Foster was so abrasive. Didn't his wife come out and divorce him this year...she was sitting in the audience in the row Kevin Nealon was sitting in.

Paula's definately enjoying a cocktail before/during the show. She was like a skit on Saturday Night Live last night!

Pickler's gotta go.

Katherine's dress was so bad. "She's too young to have back fat", my girlfriend said when she called me during commercial. She's a beautiful girl, but I was focusing on the panty line/thigh bulge problem.

I'm feeling a lot better today. I have two of my favorite little guys here today. The sun is shining. I have two blossoms on my walking iris. And a frig full of food and drink....who could ask for anything more!

Back to School

The kids went back to school yesterday with all of their teachers and counselors alerted to what they did/saw on their spring vacation. My son attended a session on Friday with experts that the building brought in. He came home with some stuff for me to read on how to help your teenager deal with tragedy. Both kids met with their school counselors.

I haven't been sleeping well. So today it's hitting me. The sadness of what happened. I'm sure not sleeping is contributing to that. My son has a basketball playoff game after school and my ex is picking up little girl and taking her to the game. I can use some quiet time.

I was gonna make some candy for some of you...you know who you are...but I'm not promising I'll get to it this week. I'm gonna try and lay low, take care of some paperwork, and try and recharge my battery.

American Idol is tonight and you know I always like that! Love songs are the theme. Can't wait to hear what Deana has to post after tonight's show. I love your take on the show, girl.

Thanks for checkin' in on me.

Blast from the Past

My girlfriend from Oregon called from the airport today and was on the way into the Big Apple!
What a surprise! She's a sorority sister (Pi Phi..U. of O...) and I see her about every 4 years, if even that, when she breezes into town. Breezes is a good word for her, 'cuz let me tell you, this lady is so full of energy and life and beauty. So I called and checked to see if I could cancel my work plans for the evening and spent a few hours shopping with my daughter. We had a bit of fun shopping at Lord & Taylor...got her 4 outfits, skorts and t-shirty type things and then went to try on some clothes in my department. I never get things for myself so she sweetly insisted that we get me something. I took in 4 or 5 things, outfits, colorful summer skirts and tops and looked absolutely ridiculous. What did I end up with? A nice skirt and top. Black. Oh, I'm such a New Yorker. It was a good way to spend a sunny day on spring break after all we've been through this week. My friend and I went for a nice dinner and I'm fixin' to hit the hay. Busy day tomorrow with my favorite three kidlettes. What about you?

LIFE GOES ON

Thanks for caring. We are doing pretty well considering. The building is bringing in someone to talk to the four teens who were on the court and anyone else who wants to talk. My son will be going to talk on Friday at 11AM. I'd like to go but he would rather I don't go (typical teen, right?, frankly I don't blame him) plus I'm working with my three favorite clients so I really can't attend.

He got his braces on yesterday and is in so much pain that it is distracting him. It's beautiful weather in New York City and the neighborhood children are out on the playground, processing, pointing, shaking their heads, inspecting the bent pole...even leaving tributes.

Thanks for caring all you new girlfriends in cyberspace. Annie

Not Good--not good at all

Okay, this post is not good. If you came here to read about chocolate and happiness, click that little X in the corner and be gone. Yes, the purpose of MISS ANNIE'S CANDY was to talk about the sweet things. Things I make and sell and give away. My dream to turn my profit-making hobby into a real business...The sweet things like starting a new life for me and the children after so many years of heartache...the sweetness of friendships and community and the bounty of life.

But today something so horrible happened that I will write about it and see if that makes it better. Better? Can't imagine better right now, but here goes.

We live in an apartment complex that consists of two 46 story towers with a beautiful plaza on the second floor. This beautiful plaza is one of the reasons that living here is so wonderful. It has a lovely playground, basketball court, and for people who pay, a tennis club and courts, a lovely health club and pool and sundeck (also for people who pay). It has a wall-climbing place, beautiful trees and flowers, a security staff that's always available and a youth staff that keeps all of our kids busy and content...oh yeah, and also dolphin statues that spout water to play around in the summer.

Today, at 4:30pm a man on the 28th floor took a running leap off his balcony and hit the basketball thing...Oh I don't even know how to explain it...He hit the poles on the backside of the hoop. My son was playing basketball but on the other end of the court. When he and his friend heard the noise they wisely chose to leave and go to his friend's apartment in the other building. He called on his cell and said something really awful happened on the playground...he didn't know exactly what, he was frantic saying he knew someone was hurt but didn't know how/what....I pick up the answering machine phone and ran to my window..I live on the 6th floor overlooking the playground... and I saw a sight that will haunt me for a long time. I knew immediately that someone had jumped. I won't begin to tell you what I saw...It was awful. I'll wrap this up to say that the police, investigators, medical examiners, etc. finally took the body at 8PM, the maintenance crew did their job and except for the long angled pole that the guy hit, which shows the result of this terrible day everything looks back to normal.

I just said good-night to my son. He is so disturbed, and rightfully so. I put on an old cassette tape that was made for him when he was a baby, called the "I Love You" tape. A tape that was played everytime he went to sleep when he was a baby...I use the tape now when I put the babies I care for to sleep...

I don't want to say anything bad about this poor tortured soul who chose to take his life today in our backyard, but OH DEAR GOD, WHY DID HE CHOOSE TO DO IT WHEN THERE WAS A PLAYGROUND FULL OF MOTHERS AND CHILDREN AND BABIES AND TEEN-AGERS ENJOYING THEIR SPRING BREAK FROM SCHOOL? Thank-you God that he didn't fall on someone. Help us to get through this night, and tomorrow and all the difficult days ahead. And may he rest in peace. Amen.

Easter & Taxes

It's been a hell of a week. I'm usually Miss Positivity, but this week has been one for the books. Yes, there was a full moon. And yes, I'm a moon child (Sun sign is Cancer...I turn 50 on July 16th), and yes, most of this week was quite lovely, but at the risk of turning my candy blog into a ranting and raving, bitching and moaning diatribe-like thingy madingy, I better just shut up and get through Monday. It's 4 AM in the morning. The bunny has been here and I hope the kiddos will be pleased with her visit. Boy child/man (Longhorn) no longer eats candy so I see that his basket contains lots of those 99 cent travel-size goodies from the drug-store and free coupons for smoothies...he gets his braces on Tuesday, ouch! My little girl should be happy that Ms. Easter bunny brought that pretty feathery pen that she has begged for everytime we walk through the drug store and many more things that would excite ME if I was six years old.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL MY FRIENDS. Thanks to my beloved girlfriend Chris for doing my taxes. And doing Longhorn's taxes. Thank-you to my employer Warner Brothers for our residual checks for "Mickey Blue Eyes". Yes, we can be seen in the opening scene. Takes place in an auction house, Hugh Grant is the auctioneer, and I'm bidding on a painting of a naked butted woman. My boy was 5 years old when this movie was made and he was/is sooooooo cute. Night, night, sweet dreams.

SPRING BREAK BEGINS!

Don't know why I'm excited about it 'cuz it's not like I'm going anywhere exciting. But it is SPRING and I do enjoy the extra 2 hours of sleep in the morning. I will be working with my usual clients and also filling some special candy orders for Easter. Just delivered an order to the lucky winner of the 43rd St. Kids Preschool auction and have been making extra batches this week to give to my friends and all who help make my life easier. Thanks...you know who you are. I'm still loving my new blackberry filling...made with 90 proof liquor called 99Berries. Ever heard of it?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIETRICH

Such a wonderful day that began with a call to Los Angeles to wish my dear Dietrich a happy day. He and David are my children's Godfather's and I cherish their love and friendship so much. I met David at The University of Oregon in 1975. He actually came up to me at a fraternity party and said, "I want to be your friend" or "We are going to be friends" or something so close to that, so bold, so certain, so unlike any start of any friendship that I have ever had that it still astounds me. Life is sweet, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Well, maybe just a little bit more.

All's Well

It's been great to get back to my life. The children are at their father's for the day and tonight and even though the weather was icky I managed to go to Victoria Secret's and get fitted and also purchase a couple of unmentionables...I was gonna say "over the shoulder boulder holders", but......It's been a long time since "the twins" have had such a nice comfortable home.

Haven't put any effort or money into myself or "style" for so long. This past year I went back to getting my high-lights and a great cut from my talented and wonderful hairdresser, and friend, Adele. The next thing on my list is to work on my wardrobe. My little girl and I like to watch "What Not To Wear" and it's time for me to tackle the sometimes unpleasant task of getting myself some style. Unfortunately Stacy & Clinton (the hosts of the aforementioned show) did not stop by and give me a VISA card with my own name on it for $5,000, but that will not stop me.

Spring Break starts on Thursday and lasts until April 23rd. I'll be working like crazy but that's okay. I think the weather will be better and there's nothing I love more that all the kidlettes that come thru Annie's Kiddie Camp and Day Spa... and that's the truth. What have you been up to Deana, Sherri, Barbara,....keep me posted.

Snowing?

Yes, it's snowing big juicy white flakes here in New York City. I've been home with my daughter who is enduring another bout with strep throat. Nothing to talk about except
WHAT HAS KENNY ROGERS DONE TO HIS FACE? It'll be interesting to see who goes home from American Idol tonight.

Go visit her

Okay. Go visit Betsy in Portland, Oregon at http://www.mywhimislaw.com. Hope you enjoy her.

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

I want to be Betsy in Portland. She has a great blog called MY WHIM IS LAW! I don't know how to do links so I can't send you to her....I know, I'm pathetic.

This week was weird. Hearing those tapes from 9/11 that were released brings it all back. Can't help but feel heavy in the heart again. But I had my own tape to listen to when one of my kid clients called...her baby was vomiting blood, the ambulance was on it's way and she needed me to come take her 2 year old son while they went to the hospital. Panic, sheer panic! It all turned out okay, but I love that little sweetie sooooooooooo much. Love her brother. Love the parents. I am a lucky lady. All of the people that I work for are dear to me.

Made a special order of creme de menthe for one of John Curtis-Michael's events. Delivered them. More orders on the horizon.

Longhorn is off doing community service today. Helping a friend with his project...helping at an adopt-a-pet event. Little girl and I were going to go to Herald Square and shop, but it's 11AM already and we're still in our p.j's....maybe tomorrow. A day with nothing planned to do really seems like a blessing right now. Happy daylight savings time!