Yearly Archives: 2025

………………..On February 3, 2000…..Jac and I were married……Today is our TWENTY FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY…………It was all a whirl wind…..We were having dinner with our dear friends Jean Pierre Dupre, and Andrea Pfister in NYC. They were here in NY for a stop over on their way to Las Vegas for an International Shoe Show. Andrea was a brilliant shoe designer and Jean Pierre was his business partner as well as his life partner. Andrea worked with me on the Anne Klein Couture Shoe collection for many many years……I used to go to his villa twice a year to work with him….It was located on the Amalfi Coast…..During my summer visit Jac would often come and stay…..It was a dream…….The villa is now a luxury rental, and you can see it if you google….”VILLA LILY, PRAIANO, ITALY”…..it is a spectacular villa, and it is the next village over from the famous Positano…..At this dinner Andrea said….out of nowhere…..”why don’t you two come to Vegas with us and get married?!!!”…….Getting married was something Jac and I wanted to do for a long time, but couldn’t decide when and where and how….and with our incredibly busy schedules we kept putting it off……We looked at each other and immediately said YES. This was the perfect solution….We would elope and marry in Vegas!…..Air tickets were bought and reservations at the Bellagio Hotel, where the boys were staying, were made…..When we arrived I went to the concierge and asked him how does one get married in Vegas…..He actually gave me a print out!!! of what needed to be done and a list of Chapels…..The next day we went to City Hall for our license which took ten minutes….then I called the LITTLE WHITE CHAPEL to see if they had an opening…they did!…..They were getting ready for the VALENTINE’S DAY rush…….Jac had wanted to get married by an ELVIS impersonator, but I said NO…..I told her I would never feel like we were really married by someone pretending to be Elvis….Getting married in Vegas was a stretch enough!…..The ceremony at the famous “Little White Chapel” was actually very beautiful with Jean Pierre and Andrea as our witnesses….The list of famous people who got married at this Chapel is endless!…..Afterward we had dinner in the “Needle Restaurant”……which is a well know revolving restaurant with a roller coaster on the roof!….A real touristy place, but the best view in Vegas!…..Jac, Andrea and Jean Pierre are all gone now, but I know they are together in heaven reminiscing about this happy day we shared together…..It’s hard to believe today Jac and I would have been married TWENTY FIVE YEARS……………..HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY SWEETHEART……I will love you for all ETERNITY!

……………….There is a group of 5 deer that frequently appear on my property……sometimes all together sometimes one, or two, three or four…Today there were three of them foraging for food of which there is little…..I do feel badly, but I know come spring when they start to eat my new plantings and my shrubs I will not be so happy….I have tried many different products to keep them from eating my plants, but the few that do work, only work for a short time……I have discovered that in the spring the females like to give birth on the side of my garage which is far from the house and secluded from the road…..so I expect the deer population to grow this spring! I do try to keep them out of my back yard with barriers that Franco has put up, but they can jump very high, and they can still get over my gates that I can’t do anything about……Maybe if I left out food like apples they would leave my plants alone, but unfortunately you can’t bargain with a wild animal, and I’m afraid it would only encourage more to visit!

…………………..If you take a true HARD look at yourself….can you say you are proud of who you have become…….and/or are there still things you can work on?……..For me TOLERANCE and PATIENCE are two things I can definitely work on.

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…………….I remember when I was a child….It seemed EVERY winter we used to get a huge blizzard, and snow falls in between…..That’s my Dad with his new snow blower clearing my Aunt Mary’s driveway. who lived next door….in the 60s….That’s her in the background…He loved his snow blower…like a kid with a new toy, and the best thing was we hardly had to shovel anymore!!!!…I also remember trudging to school wearing many layers….sweaters, hats, scarves, gloves, and snow boots….The weather and the seasons used to be much more predictable……Those days are long gone. I can’t remember the last time we had 12 inches and more of snow?! let alone a BLIZZARD……Of course now they are getting snow in places they never had snow, or rarely got snow before….Charleston…..Louisiana…..and FLORIDA!!!………..and people STILL SAY there’s no such thing as GLOBAL WARMING!…….Global warming creates unusual weather patterns….more severe hurricanes, more droughts, stronger and longer El Nino due to warmer oceans, and even more unusual rain falls and snow falls where it is unheard of to have these conditions…where some get no rain and the temperatures soar, other get a deluge of rain and freezing cold……..plus the fact that it has been proven the Earth’s temperatures are getting hotter and hotter every year! Here in Ct., where I live, the winters have gotten milder and milder, and my perennials are coming up earlier and earlier…. but in southern Cal. they hadn’t had rain in over 200 days!…..They are saying this is the coldest winter we have had in years where I live…..It will probably be the hottest summer too!…..It’s just getting worse and worse, and our government is doing NOTHING to turn this problem around!….Actually, they are doing the opposite!…..It’s ironic that countries like Saudi Arabia, who produce enormous amounts of oil….are doing the most to curb global warming with all kinds of new systems they are developing to harness the power of the sun…Of course it is the desert, and they have unlimited amounts of money!!!…With new deregulations our country is making it worse!!….ALL FOR THE MIGHTY DOLLAR!!!.. God help us all! I feel badly for the younger generation and the newborns who are going to have to deal with the future consequences of our lack of action!