Relatives

Good Morning Monday! This past year I visited 3 special relatives. My Aunt Naomi played an important role in my life as a child. She is one of many sisters of my dad. We went on many trips with Aunt Naomi and one of my favorite memories is when she dressed up as Cat Woman for Halloween. She's now 85 and still vibrant with an incredible memory!

My Aunt Ruby-eldest sister of my mom lives in Christiansburg Virginia. I stop as often as my travels allow me. She was the aunt that never forgot a birthday when we were kids-and would put that magical dollar bill in our card! Aunt Ruby is as sweet as sugar!

And then there's George-my nephew-son of my brother Clay. Last fall I picked him up from where he was living in Charlotte and off we went to a week in Myrtle Beach. I asked him to go to Brookgreen Garden with me as it's one of my favorite places. We had a lot of fun just taking pictures and walking around the beautiful grounds.

Little bit of everything!

Last nights Make-A-Wish ball was a grand success! A full house with some very clever ideas for fun. You purchased "Wish" bucks-had photos of wish kids on each one-then took them to the casino table to gamble for more-or less :( Then back to the purchase table with any winnings to purchase raffle tickets to win a 3 minute shopping spree at Tops Food Markets. Nope we didn't win but it was fun. Also available were door keys to take a chance on a $5000 shopping spree at a Syracuse jewelers. We bought 3 but alas, nope, didn't win again! Still fun! And also you could buy raffle tickets and then place them in the bags by items that had been donated-our Shindig this past summer donated enough goodies for 5 gift baskets! And also available were items for silent auction. In the end we did win some nifty things! One I can't say yet - well actually 2 just in case Tim reads this-doubtful but you never know! The third item was a binocular and tripod set from HGTV that Tim really wanted. Said the binoculars reminded him of a pair that were used on my dad's search nearly 30 years ago. Some things we just never forget........ The next series of photos are a mixture of fun things we did last fall! Starting with our September 2011 trip to NYC with Bridgestone Tire. As always they never fail to WOW us! That trip took us to Ellis Island for a special tour and dinner. The next night we were treated to an amazing evening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And throw in there a dinner at Sardi's and an evening Broadway show of Memphis-incredible! And although the President was in NYC and traffic was beyond horrible- as well as security everywhere-we managed to navigate the crowds and have a totally spectacular trip. In fact my first morning there I went to Adolfo's Salon and had a new "do" And I loved it! To make it an even more incredible trip when I woke up Tim announced there was something under my pillow. Imagine my total surprise when I saw the most gorgeous ring ever made! A diamond center with sapphires on either side. All this for our 32nd anniversary! Yep-he's THAT guy-never stops surprising me!

Last years new "do"!

And the fun continued when Mary Rose and John drove into the city to meet us for dinner and a show! Oh how I love our get togethers-if only we lived a bit closer! We'll be driving down to see them the end of this month and I can't wait!!!!

And before I end this session of photos let me put in a few of Jason's farewell event at Piggy Pats. He made a courageous decision to leave his job with New Hartford Central Schools and pursue his dream of full-time employment with his own company, Polymath Technologies. They currently develop software for Process Servers-that line is called Process Master. Oh that will need an entire page to itself in the days to come. Let me just give you a hint about how I feel.......Beyond Proud! One year later he's doing fantastic and although he works every day from sun up to sun down he has never been happier. This has been his dream since he was 9!

And Jason's new license plate reads: THIWTLIG-can you figure it out? Hint-my dad loved that expression!

It's a big day for Make-A-Wish! Tonight is our annual Wish Ball in Syracuse. 600 people will crowd into the Oncenter for a night of auctions, dinner and dancing. This event is sponsored by the Sugarman Law Firm. What a generous act on their part! Tonight will be especially exciting for me as 2 of my Wish Kids have been put into the 2013 calendar. Considering we granted 85 wishes this past year and there are only 12 spots on the calendar I'm pretty excited that I have TWO in the calendar. And to bring the anticipation of tonight's event to an all time high they are using my video as part of tonight's presentation. Yikes! Hope that goes well! Here are a few shots from last year.

And here's Abby who was in the 2012 calendar-isn't she adorable?!!

Once again we're preparing for PINK month at all the stores. Last years event was a huge success. Our dear friend Melissa is our inspiration for helping to raise funds for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. She's a breast cancer survivor and a champion. Here's some shots from last years event:

Our PINK leader!

Drumroll please...........

Thank you Melissa! And the actual walk day with our friends Guy and Sandie joining in the fun!

So today was a great time with my little charges. We (or should I say Mimi) decided to give the Children's Museum in Utica a visit. It's been a very long time since I had been there and surprise of surprises it was opening at 9:15am. It's about time they realized that opening only in the afternoon-as was the case when my kids were little-gave no opportunity to visit as my guys - and gal-were sleeping at 2pm! So off we went with Molly complaining the entire time about how she didn't want to go there. I'm sure you can imagine how eagerly she wanted to leave once she experienced 3 floors of fun! And this is where having an IPhone comes in so very handy. Yes Molly we need to leave now-would you carry Mimi's phone for her? Yes that little piece of magic gets a youngster to do just about anything! And speaking of the magic of technology last year we were thrilled to be a part of something very special in our community. The Oneida County Historical Society announced they were inducting my dad, George Richmond Cogar, into the Society's Hall of Fame. It was a full house and we were thrilled to have all of our children in attendance. It's so hard to know what artifacts to keep in our home and as much as they mean to me there are times when holding them and looking through them makes my heart swell. And that can lead to a deep sense of loss. Losing a parent so young and so tragically at that can cause one to regress into a darkness at times. So what I decided after hearing of the invitation was to bring some of the mementos out of the attic and basement and display them at the dinner. Afterwards they were returned to me and put back in their place in my home. However this time I felt like I had shared many of those memories with people who genuinely were interested. And now I have decided that I actually carry my dad with me for his early inventions in the computer industry led us to where we are now. And carrying my IPhone is like carrying my dad with me. Each and every time I use it I think of him and how his genius had made this a better world for so many. Oh and of course how much fun his great-grandkids have playing with that tiny magic "box"