Just a little kiss from a little brother.


Swoon


Times Square on a Saturday Afternoon..


Me.


I love this hiney


Sarcastic Mom is the wonderful hostess of the Weekly Winners meme. Please go stop by and check out all the awesome photos.

This past week I was invited into New York City to participate in a launch of an awareness campaign called Not In My House.  Not In My House goal is to educate parents, friends, family and anyone else that is willing to see that prescription drug abuse is a rising epidemic amongst tweens and teens.  They have partnered with Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Abott.

But before I get into the statistics and prevention methods I wanted to share with you one father's story about losing his 17 year old son named Harrison.  I got to sit down and speak with Gary Neal and his daughter Jordan.  Their story shook me to the core.

Gary Neal is a father.  He is a father that was and is active in his children's lives.  His family worshiped at his local church, they went on family vacations, and they spent time fishing and hunting; as a family. 

Harrison was a top honors student, he participated in school sports, he was popular, and was considered someone that was always looking for ways to make you laugh.

In 2006, the day before Thanksgiving, Harrison's mother found him dead on his bedroom floor from what later identified as an overdose of prescription drugs taken with over-the-counter medication.  Harrison had been battling a simple cold; he took some cold medicine with someone else's prescription drugs.  He fell asleep and never woke up.

The story itself is tragic.  The Neil family was active in Harrison's life.  They were not enablers, they did not turn the other cheek.  But what affected me the most was hearing Gary Neil try to describe the guilt he feels for not being able to protect his son from something he never considered a risk.

I am a mother of two young boys, so the conversations about drugs have not been initiated because they are too young to understand.  But I have tween and teen nephews and the thought of them being faced with this rising problem is enough to want to lock them up with my own kids to protect them.

We all know that is unrealalitsc.  Educated yourself.  Gather knowledge and tools to help you understand that:

     ***  1 in 5 teens have abused prescription drugs.
***  12 to 17 year olds abuse prescription drugs more than they abuse ecstasy, crack/cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined
***  60% of teens who have abused prescription painkillers did so before age 15
***  There are as many new abusers age 12 to 17 of prescription drugs as there are of marijuana

Why are teenagers turning to prescription drugs rather the route of the typical street drugs?

• They don't see a risk.  They think that taking a pill prescribed by a doctor has not danger.
• 69% of kids think that prescription drugs are safer than using street drugs.
  
  

What can you do as a parent?  Outside of making sure you have an open communication with your children is to follow the Not In My House 3 steps:

• Step 1: Monitor- Keep track of the prescription medications you have in your house.
• Step 2: Secure- Lock them up in a cabinet, even your over-the-counter medications.
• Step 3: Dispose- Throw away any prescription drugs that are expired or unused.  I know I have kept pain medication I never finished for the "what if" possibility I may need it.  Throw it out.  There is too much at stake.

I remember growing up learning from my mother the dangers of street drugs.  Fast forward 20 years and kids today have the option to concoct lethal cocktails of prescription medications mixed with alcohol or over-the-counter drugs.  And they see no risk in doing it.

I hope that some of you made it to the end of this post.  I really do, this campaign really hit home for me.  There are dangers everywhere in the world, but this is something we can help prevent.  Talk to your kids about the dangers of popping pills that are not meant for them, lock up the scripts you have at home.  Go to the Not In My House website to educate yourself about this epidemic.  Because the pain and loss I saw in Gary Neil's eyes is something I never would want any of my readers to face. 

Sharing another one of my favorite shots I took while in NYC a month ago. The artist is Jeff Koons and his exhibit was onto of the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a sculpture of a balloon dog and that is my buddy Mike to the right of me.

First, I should preface this is not a paid post and I get nothing for sharing this information with you. I am just a HUGE fan of New Balance sneakers (my favorite pair I own are the 768’s running shoes – it is like running on air) so when I heard they were doing a toddler line I was so excited that I wanted to share with you guys.

New Balance will be releasing and Infant, Pre School, and Grade School size line sometime in July. The collection will include three of the classic Sesame Street characters – Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. They modeled the line after the New Balance heritage running shoe – the 574.

Take a look at how adorable the sneakers will be:

 

I just want to eat the Cookie Monster pair, NOM NOM NOM.

Now if New Balance sees my post and wants my kids to test a pair out for free; I am not opposed to free stuff.  :)

Today was a glorious day! I woke up at six, showered and jumped on the 7:07 am train on the Long Island Rail Road headed to New York City. My husband was with me but he was going to work and I was going to a quick meeting in the city. After saying our goodbye's I headed uptown.

Today's Thursday Thirteen is about how glorious the day turned out!(clicking on the pics should bring up a larger version of the shot)


1. After kissing the hubby goodbye I decided to walk the 30 blocks instead of cabbing it. On my journey I saw the crew at CBS studios setting up the morning performance of David Cook (the new American Idol). I don't watch idol, so I did not really care. But figured I would mention it. :)


2. Walking along 5th Avenue I had to wipe my drool from my mouth because of excessive staring at all the store fronts of the stores I will never be able to afford to shop in.





3. After a quick meeting, I headed toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I met my work buddy Mike on the steps and we headed inside.









4. I have NEVER been to the Met. Yes, I know how sad that comment is to say because I lived on Long Island my whole life. But today I took inside of each gallery in awe. I took my time in each exhibit soaking in the art, the history, the beauty of the pieces of work.


5. My favorite gallery was the Impressionist period.











6. On the roof top of the Met the artist Jeff Koon had an exhibit of a balloon character, a heart and an abstract Piglet. Here are some of those best shots.








7. My favorite statue was of the Burghers of Calais. The statues are as dark as the story behind the statue.







8. After leaving the Met we jumped in a cab and headed into Soho.















9. But traffic in NYC was terrible, so we hopped out of the cab and jumped on the subway.








10. A quick stop in McSorley's Ale House- the oldest bar in NYC. They only serve Light or Dark Ale. I of course had to have a dark. Yum.














11. Lunch was at an amazing little Cajun style restaurant called Acme where I had a delish blackened chicken salad.









12. After lunch I passed the brownstone that Will Smith used as his house in I Am Legend.







13. I caught the 2:15 train back to Long Island. It got me home just in time to get my boys. I am excited that I am going back to the city this Sunday for a movie premier, except this time I am bringing my son. It is going to be a Mommy and Donnie day and he is over the moon about it.

**I did all this in less than five hours. It was an awesome break in the ho-hum of my workday.