[Yes, I am STILL Soliciting Comments for Charity: Okay, so I'm BLOGGING OUT HUNGER and totally willing to beg for someone else's food, this week - I know I'm no Dooce, but won't you consider helping reach my goal of 300 comments, for charity, even for a Dork, like me?] New Years Eve 1966 I love this picture of my mother -- taken on the front porch of the house we shared with my grandmother -- the gown, the gloves, the jewelery and the way my mother did her own hair (she hated going to beauty parlors, still does) my... Read more →

[Soliciting Comments for Charity: Okay, so I'm BLOGGING OUT HUNGER and totally willing to beg for someone else's food, this week - I know I'm no Dooce, but won't you consider helping reach my goal of 300 comments, for charity, even for a Dork, like me?] Greeting cards have all been sent, The Christmas rush is through. But I still have one wish to make, A special one for Thing Two... [clears throat] Happy Birthday, Baby Though 3 days after Christmas, it's still true You're 13 now and in my dreams I always wished for a girl, like you. Growing... Read more →

[Soliciting Comments for Charity: Okay, so I'm BLOGGING OUT HUNGER and totally willing to beg for someone else's food, this week - I know I'm no Dooce, but won't you consider helping reach my goal of 300 comments, for charity, even for a Dork, like me?] Christmas 1986 This is the time of year when I miss my Nagy Mama the most and there's really nothing more to say about about this week's Wordless Wednesday, except...yes, I am a graduate of the Pat Benatar school of hair, makeup and badly placed sequins...oh, and yeah...do not attempt to adjust your computer... Read more →

CLOSING OUT AT: 209 COMMENTS = $209.00 RAISED AS OF 2/28/09!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING!!! Stop & Shop will donate $1 for each comment (up to $300) to the Community Food bank of New Jersey!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last week, over 100 of my blogging friends and I got together and blogged about the This Bank Can't Fail campaign (spearheaded by my blogging friend and fellow Jersey Girl Deborah Smith of JerseyBites.com) to Blogging Out Hunger on behalf of The Community Food Bank of New Jersey and families in need across the garden state. Growing up ours was no stranger... Read more →

Asbury Park, NJ 1957 In 1911, Nagy Mama was born in Revfalu (pronounced: Rave-fuh-loo) a very small village in Hungary and (as most children at that time) was primarily raised by her mother and maternal grandmother, who passed along the "twin gene" to my mother (my great-grandmother gave birth to 3 sets) and I also inherited a lot of traits from my maternal grandmother. Though, she was much, much braver than me. Central Park, NY 1957 My mother (15) my aunt (5) and Nagy Mama. Romantic, a bit stubborn and fiercely independent, even at a young age, Nagy Mama preferred... Read more →

(Pre-op) Yes, she is nearly thirteen. (Post-op) Aaand, yes, she still calls me "Mommy." Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, Tweets and emails. They worked! Thing Two is doing fine and is expected to make a full recovery in about 4 weeks -- she still plans on having about a bazillion friends sleepover for her birthday on the 28th -- I think I'm going to go lie down, now!!! © 2008 This Full House - All Rights Reserved. Read more →

It was 1946 and Hungary, as nearly all of Europe, was devastated by World War II, including the small hamlet where my mother attended kindergarten. My mother's earliest childhood memories -- one of a very few that she will even speak of, I mean -- is the day the Americans shipped a case of peanut butter to her school. Each child was asked to line up and receive his, or her ration of peanut butter and then it was my mother's turn. "Eva, where is your bread?" My mother shyly whispered into her ear that she didn't have any --... Read more →