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1. While I miss Texas, I really do love the fall temperatures in Northern New Jersey. Today's high: 75. Outside right now: 63.

2. Emmy informed some of her classmates that she is "getting" two baby sisters from her mom & dad. Unless she's talking about American Girl Bitty Babies, I am afraid she is in for the letdown of a lifetime.

3. I thought I'd be able to get my act together after the kids were in school. Ha!

4. Joe & I had a fabulous dinner date last Saturday. Flemings in Edgewater gets two thumbs WAY UP from both of us!

5. Fall TV starts NEXT WEEK!! Woo-hoo! Can't wait to see Modern Family & The Good Wife. I went to ABC's website & got a sneak preview of Modern Family & was LOL-ing all the way through it!!!

6. Rex, the escape artist, is at it again. We got home last night & there was a note on the garage door from our neighbors. Apparently, he escaped & headed next door. Not sure how long he was there, but very thankful for nice neighbors who took him in for us!

7. Why were we gone last night? It is meet season!!! Chloe had her first one last night. She did great- a sign of things to come, I'm sure!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Last year, the first day of school was... challenging. The kids had pasted-on smiles, more for my benefit than theirs. One member of the trio wore her disdain squarely on her sweet little face.

This year, everybody had on a genuine smile.

Even the littlest Widner was happy to be starting Kindergarten.

It helps that she doesn't think of herself as a Kindergartener.

In fact, she comes home every day telling me she's the "assistant".

Which is fine, if it produces the desired result: a smiley, happy, 5 year old.

And so far, so good. I'll take it!!

It's EMMY Time...

...and I am not talking about my 5 year old. The Emmy Awards are this Sunday night, Aug. 31st, on NBC! Due to the fact that the outside temperature in Northern New Jersey did not get above 49 degrees from November until April, I enjoyed some good TV watching last year. In my opinion, network television has been in a drought the last few years, being challenged by HBO and Showtime and many of the cable networks that carry smart, well-written shows. All that changed last year, thanks to GLEE (FOX), Modern Family (ABC), and The Good Wife (CBS). I think this could be the year of the "network show comeback." I love making predictions, and do the same thing at Oscar and Golden Globe time. TV is harder, though, because people are attached to shows and characters. They aren't voting based on one performance. So, below you will find my "vote getters" from last year.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Glee

Modern Family

Nurse Jackie

The Office

30 Rock

I am torn in this category. GLEE is an amazing show - the writing is great, the production numbers are great, and the ensemble cast is great. BUT - I think it paints with too narrow a brush to win in this category. Keep reading, though, because I think they will win in a couple categories below. MODERN FAMILY is that magical show with great writing, near-perfect casting, great execution each week, and the all-important relatable story lines. I have not talked to a single person who can't identify with one of the characters in this show. There have been numerous times during conversations that someone will repeat -VERBATIM - a line from an episode. You know you have a hit on your hands when my dad AND my husband will sit down and watch your show. Modern Family, I can't wait for you to be back.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

Glee - Lea Michele as Rachel Berry

The New Adventures Of Old Christine - Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell

Nurse Jackie - Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton

Parks And Recreation - Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope

30 Rock - Tina Fey as Liz Lemon

United States Of Tara - Toni Collette as Tara Gregson

What does every smart, well-written show need? An actress like Edie Falco to deliver the lines. And she does, every week. Lea Michelle would be a shoo-in if she acted as well as she sings. She is great, but not in a best-actress way.

Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Glee - Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester

Modern Family - Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy

Modern Family - Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett

Saturday Night Live - Kristen Wiig as Various Characters

30 Rock - Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney

Two And A Half Men - Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper

Do I really need to say anything else? She is amazing. AMAZING. And, I hope they play MADONNA music when she walks up to the stage to accept her well-deserved award. You go, Sue Sylvester! And, for the record, I think Julie Bowen ROCKS as Claire Dunphy.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

The Big Bang Theory - Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Larry David as Himself

Glee - Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester

Monk - Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk

The Office - Steve Carell as Michael Scott

30 Rock - Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy

This is a hard category for me. Larry David is great, but he's tired. Tony Shaloub has won this category several times, and Emmy voters like to "share the love." Matthew Morrison is just riding the GLEE wave. Steve Carell is a combo of Larry David and Tony Shaloub. I don't know a thing about Jim Parsons. So, I am picking Alec Baldwin to walk away with a statue this year.

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Glee - Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel

How I Met Your Mother - Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stins

Modern Family - Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell

Modern Family - Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker

Modern Family - Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy

Two And A Half Men - Jon Cryer as Alan Harper

Eric Stonestreet makes me laugh. Out loud. Every week. I cannot get the picture of him in a clown suit out of my head. I smile when I think of him dancing at mommy & me class with Lilly. The Ave Maria scene at the end of the season had me in hysterical fits of laughter. I realize the success of Modern Family is the impeccable casting of the ensemble, but Eric Stonestreet is my favorite. And if loving him is wrong, I don't want to be right! :)

Outstanding Drama Series

Breaking Bad

Dexter

The Good Wife

LOST

Mad Men

True Blood

The Good Wife is CBS' trophy this year. The writing is smart, the drama believable, the characters relatable. The casting is impeccable. It has been a long time since I've said anything good about a network drama, but this year, it's all good. THE GOOD WIFE.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

Breaking Bad - Bryan Cranston as Walter White

Dexter - Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan

Friday Night Lights - Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor

House - Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House

Lost - Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard

Mad Men - Jon Hamm as Don Draper

He's a great actor and has all the buzz coming into the awards show...he won the Golden Globe and battled cancer last year. And that is why he will win. Oh, and his show? PHENOMENAL.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

The Closer - Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson

Damages - Glenn Close as Patty Hewes

Friday Night Lights - Connie Britton as Tami Taylor

The Good Wife - Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson

Mad Men - January Jones as Betty Draper

Julianna knows how to pick good material!!! Carol Hathaway, and now Alicia Florrick...she is amazing in this role. Every week she evolves her character to a new level. She is relatable and believable. People can empathize with her. She wins, no contest.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

Breaking Bad - Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman

Damages - Martin Short as Leonard Winstone

Lost - Terry O'Quinn as John Locke

Lost - Michael Emerson as Ben Linus

Mad Men - John Slattery as Roger Sterling

Men Of A Certain Age - Andre Braugher as Owen

I never watched LOST. My husband downloaded it to my iPOD one year for me to watch on a plane ride across the Atlantic Ocean. About 30 minutes in,I was OUT. But, I know a ton of people upset it's over. So, for y'all, I vote for Terry O'Quinn.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

Burn Notice - Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen

Damages - Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons

The Good Wife - Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma

The Good Wife - Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart

Mad Men - Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris

Mad Men - Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson

I can't figure Diane Lockhart out. I love that she is interested in a man who is in every way her counterpoint. I love that she is struggling to save the law firm. I love that I don't know how she REALLY feels about Alicia Florrick. She had a not-so-great part to play (in my opinion), but has paralyed it into something I tune in to see. I watch The Good WIfe for Julianna, but I keep coming back because of people like Christine.

A couple other "notables"

BETTY WHITE totally wins for her guest hosting on SNL. I just love her.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS wins for his guest role on GLEE. He is the male BETTY WHITE this year.

Enjoy the show, everyone!

PICTURE PANDEMONIUM

The new Mac has now stored, "face-identified," and categorized over 12,000 pictures. Amazing technology, if you ask me. I wanted to see how easy it is to post pictures from there to here, so I've decided to post a few of my favorites. Except, I don't have a FEW favorites... I have about 300. In an effort to not bore y'all to tears, I had my girls narrow it down for me to 9. Maybe today will be the day I learn how to move the pictures after I upload them to the blog!! Or,maybe I will just be satisfied with having gotten them from place to place with no major technical difficulties. We will see.

Here is a favorite of Ross when he was 5. We went to Disneyworld for the first time, and he was fascinated by Buzz Lightyear and all things Toy Story! I am pretty sure we did the Buzz Lightyear ride 1,000 times that week!!

A shot of my two very favorite men!!!

In an effort to prove that Chloe DID, in fact, have a belly at one time,

and that she also did, in fact, love fruit, I had to post this one.

And, this is what happened when she started gymnastics.

No more belly, and no more love of fruit. It's all about the carbs now!!!

Chloe with Santa. Magical.

You think maybe we should have known we were in for it

after snapping this picture of Emmy?

Here's one of her being sweet. I love her in yellow!!!

The seesters.

Here is a "grandkid shot" from our family vacation to Hilton Head.

It isn't easy to get everyone to cooperate,

so Ginger & I were lucky to have 2 cameras

and at least 60% cooperation in most photos!!

DATE NIGHT!

When we lived in Dallas, Joe & I had a pretty big social network. Our weekends were busy with our kids and their million activities, dinners and cookouts and swimming with friends and family, church and all the fabulous offerings (non-monetary, I might add) there, and an occasional night for just Joe and me. When we moved, the social network was gone. So were the babysitters. In fact, Joe & I spent our 15th wedding anniversary at an Outback Steakhouse with the children where I sat and sobbed the entire meal. We had moved just 4 days earlier, and I was coming to the realization that life had changed permanently - well, at least for the foreseeable future.

And then. And then - I decided this time in new Jersey might just be a gift that I was deciding not to unwrap. I read in a book about a man arriving in Heaven and passing beautifully wrapped boxes. When he asked Jesus about them, He said, "These were all for you. You just never unwrapped them." WOW. So, I decided to unwrap my gift.

From July until December, Joe & I went out on 2 dates. One was a work-related function for Joe. The other was the Saturday after my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and a sweet friend knew I needed some time to emote (which I did, over lettuce wraps at PF Changs. Therapeutic, I tell you). The rest of the time, it was primarily our family of five, going out and having different experiences together, or staying in. We ate at a Japanese Steakhouse one night. We went skiing. We drove to Philadelphia. We went to Central Park. We stayed home, huddled around the fireplace, making s'mores, playing games and cards and watching TV. We rented movies. We WENT to movies. We saw the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Mary Poppins, Wicked, and the Natural History Museum. I must say, unwrapping the gift of family time was incredible. I learned so much about my children and the things they enjoy. I learned who is a homebody and who is a go-getter. I know who plays by the rules and who wins at ANY cost. I know what makes them laugh, cry, get angry, walk away, and pout. And I love that. But, do you know what else I love?

My husband.

And that is why, tonight, I am reintroducing the DATE NIGHT. It has been too long since we've had dinner at a place without a play yard. It has been too long since we went to a non-kid movie. Marriage isn't easy - you have to be intentional about carving out "couple time." Otherwise, as Tom Nelson says, you become a butler and a maid sharing a house and waiting on the minions. So, I decided to carve. Tonight, we are having a date.

I can't wait.

TECHNOLOGY LEARNING CURVE

I am officially old. Change is very difficult for me - always has been - but technology changes just send me right over the edge. Case in point: we just got an iMac. After rave reviews from my sister, who converted about a year ago (and practically everyone else I know who owns one), Joe & I were convinced to make the switch. So, a couple weeks ago, we dumped our old PC like a bad habit and upgraded. When I say upgraded, think gigantic screen. At 27", it is larger than my first television!!! But, I must admit, the photo booth feature makes the gigantic screen tons of fun.

This is where things got rocky. The data conversion on the computer left me hanging in cyberspace for several days. At the same time, I also upgraded the software in my cell phone to the newer, better, faster 4.0.1. This little switch led to an iPhone meltdown, in which I lost the ability to email, text, surf the web, use the navigation system, and listen to iTunes. Basically the only thing I could do on my CELL PHONE was make PHONE CALLS. The irony, I know.

We are finally 100% recovered and converted. I feel good. But I miss my PC like a bad boyfriend. I'd gotten very comfortable with it, and even though it was a bit unpredictable (like when it decided not to work at all), I knew what to expect and learned not to count on it. I am having trouble trusting this new, shiny, RELIABLE Mac. I hope he doesn't let me down.

So, this is my first attempt at importing pictures from my iPhone to my blog on the Mac. Let's see how it goes. I am hopeful there will be no weeping or gnashing of teeth. Below, you will (hopefully) find my favorite pictures of the summer, so far.

Well, folks, here she is, all dressed up and ready to go! Where, you ask? STOP & SHOP.

And, that is why we love her. She dresses up for mundane errands!!

Here she is, waiting patiently at the doctor's office before her 5 year old checkup. This was after I told her no shots at this appointment!

Chloe got the highest grades in the whole third grade this year! She saved $100 of her own money, and wanted to spend it on an iPod Touch. We went to the Apple store, and they were so impressed with Chloe's accomplishments that they GAVE HER THE CASE SHE WANTED!!!

We went to this great little restaurant in Hilton Head. They had live music, and Emmy could not WAIT to get on the dance floor and cut a rug with my dad!

Aaaahhhh.... is there anything else on Earth like a Texas sunset?

Things I Am Thankful For

I've been in quite a funk lately. Maybe it is because in a month I will turn 40. Maybe it is because every time I think winter is ending, we head into an onslaught of 40 degree temperatures. Maybe it's because I really miss Texas, especially all the wildflowers and "almost summer" activities that start this time of year. Or, maybe it's because of all of the above. I'm not sure. All I know is, this girl doesn't have time for a funk. So... today, I am writing a thankful post. Here we go:

1. I am thankful for JOE WIDNER. He is a hard worker, he loves Jesus, he loves his kiddos and me with all his heart, and he takes such good care of us. Joe is more than I could have thought about needing in a husband when I was just 24 years old, but God knew exactly the partner I would need. He challenges me, wants the best for me, and is supportive in ways that are unexpected and encouraging. So, he gets the number one spot on my thankful list. And in my heart.

2. I am thankful for my sister, GINGER LUCAS. There is only one person in the whole world who knows exactly what growing up in my house was like, and I am fortunate that Ginger is that person. We have shared joys, heartaches, sorrows, secrets (which will NOT be revealed here!), clothing, beds, strep throat and the stomach flu, hysterical laughter, inside jokes and tons and tons of memories. I hit the jackpot with a sister like Ginger, and I want to be just like her when I grow up.

3. I am thankful for friends. MELANIE HARMON, LESLIE MIDA & JEANETTE HOY - these gals have prayed me through and pulled me through this year. When we left Texas, I couldn't have imagined the obstacles we would face in New Jersey. Some had to do with our new location, others were personal, family crises, and they have stood by me through it all. They called, listened, sent me texts and emails, put messages all over my facebook wall, and most of all, when I felt invisible up here, they SAW me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am a better mom, sister, wife, and daughter because of you three.

4. I am thankful for my mom and dad, JOHN & ANN COONEY. I don't think I was a bad kid growing up, but I know my parents & I had our struggles. Now, I look at my own three kids and think about what I want my relationship with them to look like when they are adults. I think it would look a lot like the one I have with my parents. The kind of thing where at any time I can pick up the phone and ask a random cooking question, like, "can corn meal be substituted for corn starch?" (NO). Or, if something more serious is going on, I can count on them to be "fair and balanced" when we talk. I love that my dad sets up basketball brackets every year during March Madness. I love that my mom likes to teach my kids to cook and knit. I love that my parents, my sister's family, and we can vacation together and come back with GREAT stories. And, that when we come back, we're planning the next vacation. How many families can say that they really enjoy each other? Well, mine can. And, I am thankful for that.

5. I am thankful for ROSS, CHLOE, and EMMY. I have stories upon stories about how the three of them make me think, feel, and learn. Ross is wise beyond his 13 years. He is such a neat kid, has such a kind heart, and tries to always do the right thing. Chloe is my peacemaker. She gives up things that make her happy in order to restore order to our clan (even if she is winning a DSi game!). She is a hard worker and applies that principle to everything she does - academics, sports, friendship. You never get less than 100% from her. And Emmy... she is the sweetest little stinker you'd ever want to meet. High on the drama, high on the affection, high on the disdain...everything for her comes on just that one setting. It makes her a little bit of a wild card, but loveable just the same.

Here are a few more things I'm thankful for, without the commentary.

* oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
* Sonic.
* TIVO.
* seat warmers.
* hot glue guns.
* Tyler candles, particularly the Homecoming scent.
* Halloween in Houston.
* Kenny Chesney.
* self tanning lotion.
* mains & pedis with my girls.
* my blog friends.

I feel much better now that I've written this post. I am thankful for that, too!