White After Christmas

No shock to anyone that read this blog, we're trapped inside. The blizzard that hit the middle of the country moved East. It was supposed to start at 7am yesterday and when I took the dogs for their 5am walk, it had begun. I thought to myself, "Great. We're not going anywhere today." This meant the trek to Joe's grandpa's house was going to be on hold. Then the alarm went off at 9am and Joe got up (shocker!) while I slept for another hour. Low and behold, there were no more snow flurries. The trek was back on!

At about noon time we made it to Grandpa Rizzo's house. Just as Joe's parents and his brother arrive, we see little spurts of white. Ok, Mr. Weatherman, you said we would be safe until 3pm... it's 12:30pm. What's going on? As we all stood around and tried to talk about anything but the weather, it soon be came clear that we were all going to have to dine and dash. And that's exactly what we did as we headed out onto the snowy Pennsylvania roads at 1:30pm.

Our journey is normally about an hour long. But, no, not on the day of the first real snow fall... 2 hours later and after we passed by 10 accidents, (most of which were single vehicles) we made it home. So, now we can take the time to fill everyone in on what goodies we got for Christmas!

Casey's List of Goodies:
- Canon Powershot Camera
- Tiffany & Co. "Crown of Hearts" Ring
- Diamond & Sapphire Necklace
- Cuisinart Food Processor
- "The Blind Side" DVD
- Coach Perfume Set
- Lenox Serving Dishes
- Miscellaneous Stuff (Slippers, gift cards, ornaments, Charlie Brown soup bowl, stuffed cow (not life size), garlic dip w/ pretzel chips and Breath Checker)

Joe's List of Goodies:
Keurig Coffee Maker - My personal favorite gift this year, great for making a cup of joe in the morning, and Casey also got me a package of Donut Shop coffees and a filter to use my own grounds.
- 4-1 Grill/Gridle - Great replacement for my George Foreman grill, this thing does everything, including making waffles.
- DVD/VCR Combo Player - In dire need of this one since my old player was acting crappy, got a Magnavox brand that is similar to my old one, except this one works great.
- Video Games (Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, God of War: Ghost of Sparta) - Already finished Force Unleashed II and God of War thanks to the insane amount of free time I have this week, and already Brotherhood is getting addictive.
- DVDs (Iron Man 2, UFC 108 and 116, Best of Chris Jericho) - UFC 108 was the event I got to see in Las Vegas this year, and 116 was my favorite event of 2010. Iron Man 2 was my favorite movie this year, and Ross got me the Jericho DVD (go figure).
- MMA brand clothing(TapOut, MMA Elite) - Got a couple of cool long-sleeve MMA Elite shirts, as well as a nice TapOut t-shirt and beanie (though it has the Mexican flag on it, even though my mom thought it was the Italian one haha)
- Miscellaneous Stuff (Ornaments, Star Wars calender, Sock Monkey (seriously), gift cards) - Got my usual "marshmallow man" ornament as well as an Eli Manning one (I know the Giants are sucking right now, but you gotta support the team). Got a neat Star Wars day-by-day calendar I'll have to find a spot for, and got a little sock monkey like the one I used have when I was little. We have gift cards from Best Buy, AMC Theaters, and Fratelli's (our favorite Italian restaurant).

Happy Turkey Day

... A day late.

I was so exhausted yesterday that I never managed to get on the computer. Ok, I was on long enough to harvest Farmville. That's it, I swear.

Thanksgiving was down sized this year as we headed up to the wilds of Pine Bush. This year it was just 6 of us having dinner. I have to admit that the smaller holidays get me down. I grew up with these huge, crazy family functions. Insanity is my sanity at the holidays!

Back to my point, it was still a wonderful time, but it was cut short when the freezing rain started in. Since it takes almost 90 minutes to get home on a good day.

Distance Era

I've been casually browsing the MLS again. Just to see what homes are out there, hoping the right one will pop off the computer screen and scream, "BUY ME". I found one that came really, really close. Until I realized that it was going to put Joe an hour away from work. Not a horrible commute, since it is about what he has now. But we agreed that the next house has to put us closer to where he works. So, that house was shot down. I think I'm a bit heartbroken. It was a fully refinished 1855 Victorian style home. It's not normally my taste, but it was so painstakingly renovated and it looked beautiful. I would've lived on ramen noodles again to get us in that house. Damn distance.

*Sigh* Let me know when we've perfected teleportation.

Snow's Frenemy

Snow, you little PITA, sending your friend, freezing rain to pummel me today. How could you after I profess my love for you over your friend. Now I must curl up on my couch and lay amongst my pile of blankets. My pets beside me to provide extra warmth.

It's too soon for this!

Ode to Snow

Snow.

Evil, little 4-letter word. You're possibly going to be landing on the mountains around me this weekend. I do protest! It's far too early for you to start nudging your way into my life. Each year, I spend at least 5 months with you here, cramping my style. Why must we start early this year?

I thank you for not making you're October visit, as you have for the past 2 years. However, anytime prior to Thanksgiving is too early.

Oh snow, before you think I hate you, let me say how much I love you compared to your friends bitter cold and ice. I loathe them. At least snow, you are fluffy, white and can make the world look so peaceful when you're freshly fallen.

But it does not change the fact that you're behaving like an unwanted holiday guest who decided to come up early just for the heck of it. Like unprepared relatives, I cringe at the notion of your early arrival.

Oh snow, what shall we do?

Bodies Everywhere

One Thursday, two weeks ago, (ignore that I'm getting to posting this a little late) Mandy and I went to NYC to see the Bodies Exhibition. I had not planned on seeing it, though I had learned about it several years ago on Discovery Health or TLC or one of those channels.

The only reason I was going is that it became a requirement for a course I'm currently taking. I knew Joe wouldn't go with me because it's something that would be far too disgusting to him. The next logical choice was my mother, but she too decline for the same reasons. Running out of people I needed to find a twisted mind to enjoy it. *light bulb* Mandy!

Mandy agreed and headed over to our place when she got out of class. The goal the next morning was to hop on the train, then the subway, then see the exhibit, then reverse the process back to home. The first exprience, the train, was a bit of a learning curve. Unlike by her house, the whole system in Port Jervis is automated, so I needed real money for the parking space. After digging out every last piece of change from my car and her wallet, we were still short. UGH!!! We had to leave the station to go find an ATM, then go to Burger King to break a $20 to put $2 in change in the parking space rental thingie. That whole process took 30 minutes!

2 hours later we've now landed in Penn Station after switching trains in Seacucus. It took us another 10 minutes to get google maps adjusted to our location so we could walk to the exhibit. Half way through the walk, we opted for a cab. (note: Mandy made me fear taking the subway. too many saftey rules to follow) I personally, was unsure that the driver understood what Mandy told him, but I knew he did when we arrived at South Street Seaport. Tried to pay him by credit card, but the machine was giving us problems and had been "on and offline all day". Thankfully, I had cash on me. I know, so abnormal for me!

Headed into the exhibit. Very faciniating, but very brief. That's my only complaint. I won't describe the exhibits because I did provide a link at the begining of this blog. I will just suggest that you don't visit the actual exhibition if you don't have a strong stomach. For Mandy & me it was great. I thought it was a great adjunct to going to the Mutter Mueseam last year. The preservation process for the bodies is very cool!

After viewing that, it was time for lunch. What could be better than Mexican food? So we ate and shopped for a little bit. I didn't buy anything (another shocker)! We finally hoofed it the 5 miles back to Penn Stations and reversed the process. There was a mild MI when we thought we got on the wrong train, but after asking found out we were just being blonde.

Stupid Computer

This has to be one of the funniest things in a long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a true story from the WordPerfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department...............

Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect organization for 'Termination without Cause..'

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee.
(Now I know why they record these conversations!):

Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?'

Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect .'
Operator: 'What sort of trouble??'

Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.'
Operator: 'Went away?'

Caller: 'They disappeared'
Operator: 'Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?'

Caller: 'Nothing.'
Operator: 'Nothing??'

Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.'
Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?'

Caller: 'How do I tell?'
Operator: 'Can you see the 'C: prompt' on the screen?'

Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?'
Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?'

Caller: 'There isn't any cursor; I told you, it won't accept anything I type..'
Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator??'

Caller: 'What's a monitor?'
Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?'
Caller: 'I don't know...'
Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where
the power cord goes into it.. Can you see that??'

Caller: 'Yes, I think so.'
Operator: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged in

Caller: 'Yes, it is.'
Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one? '

Caller: 'No....'
Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable.'

Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'
Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer..'

Caller: 'I can't reach.'
Operator: 'OK. Well, can you see if it is?'

Caller: 'No..'
Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?'

Caller: 'Well, it's not because I don't have the right angle it's because its dark.'
Operator: 'Dark?'

Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window.'
Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'

Caller: 'I can't.'
Operator: 'No? Why not?'

Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.'
Operator: 'A power ..... A power failure? Aha. Okay, we've got it. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff that your computer came in?'

Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet..'
Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from.'

Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?'
Operator: 'Yes, I'm afraid it is.'

Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?'
Operator: 'Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer!'

More Eating & Stinking

You guessed it, we went to another garlic festival! This particular one is the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. That's the festival that my parents have been making a yearly pilgrimage to, but this was our first taste. For a complete review of tastes, check out the end of this post for a list of Joe's culinary delights that day. All I will say is, chocolate covered garlic cloves....

....made everyone gag but me. Casey didn't seem to have a taste for garlic and chocolate, but there was plenty more to eat there. When first arriving, you're pretty much bombarded with stands that offer samples for whatever garlic-flavored food their selling and much more. Cheese, spreads, chocolate, sauces......most anything you can think of. Some standouts from these samples included some flavored honey and jam (not just garlic flavored either), a garlic-and-herb cheese spread that we purchased, and best of all a spicy sauce called "Bushwhackers" that was amazing to eat on the nachos they paired. It reminded me of the special sauce I used to get at the Texas Lunch in Port Jervis, NY........but so much better.

I will make special note of the dreaded "hot sauce" I tried there. Strangely named "Buried Alive" (guess there's a connection between the weird name and how hot the sauce is), I tried some on a nacho at the suggestion of my sister-in-law. And it damn near killed me! Honestly, as much as I burned my mouth and need an Italian ice to cool it off, the sauce was really good!

As for actual food to serve as my meal, I had a few different things. Casey and I had started with her standard garlic knots. Compared to the ones we had at the last Garlic Fest we went to, these were delicious. Perfectly cooked, right amount of spices and garlic, and nice and warm. I then had a garlic cheeseburger, and had the expectation that the meat would have garlic pieces cooked into it for the flavor. I was disappointed to find all it was was burger patties coated with garlic powder. I could've done that at home!

The star of the actual food I had was the garlic-flavored clams. Your standard steamed clams, but soaked in a garlic and herb sauce. Fantastic! I had several people who saw me eating them ask where to get them. Definitely the hit of the fest!

Autumn Take Over

It's that time of year again.

Football has taken over my Sunday afternoon TV, the crock-pot is emitting the wonderful smell of beef stew, and the husband is laying on the couch like a frog on a log. All the sights and sounds of Autumn are falling into place.

There, I just heard another acorn hit the roof and bounce to the ground.

Soon enough, the leaves will all be red and gold. Then Joe will be leaf blowing the driveway on his days off. I'll be shopping for pumpkins to decorate the front yard... all the while hoping the deer don't eat them before I get to take a pretty picture of our black cat with the aforementioned pumpkins. An extra blanket will make its way onto the bed as the heavier curtains go up on the windows. Short sleeve shirts will be replaced by long sleeve ones and even a hoodie on the more brisk days. If the trend of the past couple years continues there will be frost warning the first week of October and snow for the second.

Yep, it's that time of year again. *smiles*

Live - Overcome (with Ground Zero Footage)

This is in honor of 9/11/2001
May we never forget.

Smuggling Lunch

As most of you know, I have such a crazy schedule between working overnights and school during the day, that I sleep very little and sometimes not at all for days a time. Well, I guess it caught up to me because after a nice 14 hour nap, it was time to get up at the crack of noon today.

Of course, I wake up panic stricken because I feel like I've lost half a day, which I have. I immediately hop out of bed and start feeding and watering all the pets, plug in the flat iron for my hair, and pick out my clothes to head out to what is supposed to be our anniversary lunch at Smuggler's Cove in Tannersville, PA. Where was Joe during all this fun.... well sleeping, of course.

Eventually, he did wake up after about a half hour and we headed out for a now late lunch. Our 3 year wedding anniversary was on September 8th, but since we couldn't go out in the middle of the week, we went today. Smuggler's Cove holds a special place in our hearts since it's where we had our rehersal dinner. The food was as good as ever and Joe's going to let you know all about it at the end of this post.

After lunch we headed to that dreaded outlet mall so that I could go to buy some more scrubs for work (boring!)and going into a cooking store to get my anniversary presents (fun!). I found a whisk with a little piggie on the end and squeeled with delight. It's called the "piggie wiggie whisk" and the first warning it had on it was that it wasn't a toy. Joe broke out laughing and tried taking it away from me. Now, that's just not cool. So, I'll let him finish up this blog, while I go play with my piggie wiggie and make a cake in my bew bundt pan... or as I call it, the butt pan.

FYI, I was not sleeping that half hour while Casey was getting ready to go out for the day. I layed in bed for that half hour, but did not at any point fall asleep. Anyways, our meal at Smuggler's Cove was great. Casey started with her usual mozzerella sticks, and I had coconut shrimp with 3 kinds of sauces. Then for our main meals she had a veggie burger while I had a New England lobster roll. Our lunches were delicious of course.

After the forced stop at the Crossings for Casey, I got to drag her to Best Buy. Casey was nice enough to buy me a couple of video games as my anniversary gifts. We then headed to Wal-Mart to grocery shop before finally returning home to relax for the rest of the day. It's been a great day to just celebrate our anniversary and spend some time together.

Young Pickler Rascal

This past weekend I heard that Rascal Flatts would be playing up at Bethel Woods (the original Woodstock site). I called my mom to see if she wanted to go, but then when I was talking to Sean, I realized that I would have to work that night. Bummer!!!!

But, I had a message the next day asking me if I wanted to call in sick and go anyway. I wrestled with the idea of calling in sick, I honestly did. I have only done it one time and it was because the nit-wit forgot to take me off the schedule after securing the day off for me. Truthfully, calling in sick this time would have been along the same lines. I had been told my request to work Mondays and Tuesdays after Sept 1 was authorized. But the nit-wit did schedual me for Thursday, Sept 2. Last I checked, 2 comes after 1. Anyway, if I worked I would have been up for 48 hours when my Thursday and Friday classes were factored in. I assessed that if I called in sick and went to the concert, at least I would be able to get some form of sleep that night and not be a raving, exhausted lunatic like I had been for most of the week. So, yeah, that Taco Bell really kicked my butt. =o)

After my class on Thursday, I headed right up to Pine Bush. Still drained from my earlier activities of the week, I tried to get some studying done until all appropriate family members were home and ready to go again. At about 5:30, we headed out to Bethel Woods. For those of you that are not aware, that's the original site of Woodstock.

Since the tickets were a last minute thing, we got lawn seats. I really can't complain about the view though, since it was great. The drunken fools next to me, however, I could complain about. I wish Joe could have been there because he would've shut them up, especially after 1 guy told my little sister to "shove it" after she asked him to sit down so she could see the concert.

Anyway, back on track... Chris Young was the opening act. He's new to the country music scene and I do believe, he will go very far. You might recognize his songs Gettin' You Home and The Man I Wanna Be. I got quite a few very good pictures of him. He was followed up by Kelly Pickler. I have to admit that I'm not her biggest fan and her voice doesn't project well, but her songs are cute and make you sing along. I got some pictures of her as well, but she wasn't wearing her red high heels that night.

Rascal Flatts wrapped up the show, as they should since it was their tour. Pure awesomeness is all I can say. I've waited so long to see them and they didn't disappoint! I would've taken lots of pictures of them, but the camera batteries chose that night at that time to die. Oh well, I've got this blog and the memories of that night. Hearing my favorite song, Fast Cars and Freedom live was thrilling. I blast that song over and over and over when I'm alone in my car and sing it at the top of my lungs.

Now I've got to figure out how to get into a Reba concert....

Eat, Drink, & Stink

You can tell where we went based on that title. It was time for the annual pilgrimage to the Pocono Garlic Festival!

The plan for Labor Day weekend was supposed to be a nice BBQ to wrap up the summer. Plans changed when no one was going to be able to make it. This left me wondering what we could do around here. I had thought about the garlic fest, but it was small and expensive last year. So when I saw a chance to win free tickets, I hopped on it. That was Monday. Thursday I got a call saying I had won. For all I know I was the only person that entered to win them, but who cares.

This year the festival was bigger. There was a lot more food and a lot more vendors. I, of course, hit up the Dippin' Lady and the Strawberry Guys. Oh yeah, there was a petting zoo too, but Joe wouldn't let me in that alone. I can't figure out why. Anyway, back to the basics of the festival, this year the ticket prices also dropped by $5, which was a nice thing to see and I think it had an impact because there were a lot more people around this year.

We ate the normal garlic infused foods, such as garlic knots. However, I wasn't as open to trying some of the more bizarre garlic inspired foods, but Joe was. So here's his report on some his favorites...

After browsing for a short while, I started my experimentation with the foods at the festival. I started out with something non-garlic: a beef brisket sandwich with spicy BBQ sauce. One of the best sandwiches I have ever had! The meat was nice and juicy, and the sauce had just the right kick to it. Moving on, I kept it simple with garlic flavored shaved ice. It actually wasn't bad, until it started melting and all you basically had was a water-down garlic sauce.

Then I followed that up with what I would consider the stupidest thing I've ever eaten. I happened upon a stand that had various hot sauces. Last year I had tried what was called Armageddon sauce, and that burned pretty good. At this stand I saw a sauce called Zombie Apocalypse. It was the hottest sauce they had. Obviously with Casey's encouragement, I had no problem putting probably 5 drops of it on a nacho. I payed for it. My tongue was on fire, I had sweat on my nose within seconds, and I started sucking down what was left of my shaved ice to try and stop it. Wow.........and even stupider was I considered actually buying a bottle of it.

After recovering, I tried what was probably the weirdest garlic-flavored food there: chocolate chip cookies. It wasn't bad, but then again I was so infused with garlic that I might not have noticed the garlic beyond the flavor of the cookie. So we waited for my palette to clear before moving on. So I tried what I thought would be the best choice for a meal there. One restaurant had a stand where they served the following dish: a vegetable chili burrito with a "vampire slayer" sour cream sauce. I'll tell you what, that was pretty damn good. And very filling, as I finally hit my wall, and could go no further. Which was OK since there wasn't much else I was interested in trying (the garlic-flavored crab cakes were too expensive, and they had a stand with just different flavored pickles that I was interested in), but there's always next year to give it another go. I'll definitely be revisiting that beef brisket sandwich, and who knows what else I'll find.

Also of note was a stand that sold jewelry made of two different things: fossils and old coins. The dealer was a miner and excavator who found most of what he was selling. What interested me were the carcheradon megaladon shark teeth, and the old Roman coin charms. Would've been cool to have either, so there's a good suggestion for a gift for myself down the road.........hint, hint.

Give Me Liberty

After working an overnight shift from Thursday into Friday, I left work and headed up to the backwoods of Ulster County to meet up with my mom. We were going to spend the day going on an adventure to Liberty State Park, Liberty Science Center, Ellis Island, and of course, the Statue of Liberty. This was all going to be followed up by a slight detour to Ikea on the way back home so that I could get a down comforter for cheap.

It was a great trip, with beautiful weather the whole day. We went to Ellis Island first, where I spotted a "Barbies of the World" display. I have to admit that my inner kid kicked in before anything else. The architecture of the old building was beautiful. There were so many thing to see, including the old dormitories for the immigrants, photos, and all sorts of American propaganda.

Then we took the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty. Ok, I admit it, we didn't walk to the base of the statue. I was too physically exhausted and I think my mom probably would have had a heart attack. That being said, we didn't walk to her crown either, which was closed. We just toured the grounds and took a bunch of pictures like typical tourists.

The Liberty Science Center was very neat. I want to go back there with Joe. Since he like to touch things and play with things, I think he would have a blast. There's a whole section for skyscrapers, which had 2 beams from the World Trade Center. Not to get all melodramatic, but you really could feel the pain in those beams. One beam had what looked like a face and an outline of a body. It was the eeriest thing I think I have ever seen. I did try to get a picture of it, but it did not translate well.

Ikea was nice, I got my comforter and a spice rack for right over the stove. Then my mom noticed a sign for Christmas Tree Shoppes, which cost us another hour of our lives and some of my sanity. Tired and cranky, we went to KFC for dinner. Biscuts and mashy 'tatos rock!

Season What?

Each morning that I drive home I see more of the trees getting their Autumn hues. Not to mention deer with Fall coats and full antlers. It's a bit disconcerting considering it's still August! Although, I think for the deer it might be good because they'll be antler-less for hunting season and therefore less likely to be hunted.

This got me to thinking about an article I recently read by a local naturalist. The gist of the article is that for the past 10 years or so the seasons have been changing about 3 weeks early. That's not a shock to those of us that experienced the "Great Snows of October 09". The past 12 months have exemplified what the naturalist was writing about. To put it in a short term perspective, May had the nice weather normally associated with June. July had the typical August heat and August has already been hinting as Septembers trademarks.

But don't fret about global warming or end of the world crap, according to the naturalist this is all part of a greater cycle that happens every so many decades. Comforting thought as I dig out my snow shoes... just in case.

From the Little Red Truck That Could to the Silver Bullet

I guess I understand now how you can go to a car dealership, and end up getting a new vehicle......even when you don't plan it. Although I'll admit I did foresee this outcome. After getting some good years out of my '01 Toyota Tacoma, the little red truck was on its last legs. Lots of things needed to be fixed on her, she had racked up almost 180,000 miles, and unfortuanely I didn't have much need for a truck anymore. So, after finding out about the recall on my truck for some frame issues and scheduling an appointment to bring it in, I sort of knew it was time for a change.

Arriving at the dealership, I had known about 2 vehicles I was interested in. The Corolla and the Rav-4. I test drove the Corolla first, and was automatically impressed. Smooth riding, great gas mileage, and a lot of little touches I needed. Then I checked out the Rav-4. Not bad either, 4-wheel drive for the winters, a little more "umph" than my truck. So in the end, it came down to the numbers. The clear choice was the Corolla.

The salesman we dealt with at the dealership was a real help. He and the finance guy there got as much as we could get out of my old Tacoma as a trade-in, and got the number for the monthly payments down to something we could manage. In the end, I left with a silver '09 Corolla with less than 18,000 miles on it. This girl I've dubbed the "Silver Bullet" (no relation to Coors Light) should last me for a long while.

I admit I miss the Tacoma though. Garbage and recycling runs will be more often, I can't help my friends haul anything they need help with, and the winters will be a little rougher on me. But I'll live. I'm happy with the new vehicle, it was definitely needed.

It's Raining Mansions

This summer I've been on a quest to find local activities for us to do. Joe's school and work schedule has not allowed for us to take a vacation this summer. Oh and the fact that we're broke might have something to do with it as well.

At the start of the summer, I was asking him if he would be interested in going to Grey Towers. It took about 2 months before we actually got there, though. The skies were overcast and it was slated to rain that day, but we went for it. We walked around the grounds a little bit before we began a tour of the mansion. Of course, once inside the grand facade, the skies opened up and the rest of the outdoor tour was scrapped. We got to view the upper 2 levels of the mansion though, which were very pretty. We do plan on going back since we lost that day there. There is a halloween tour of the old cemetarty that we've already managed to get a few friends to agree to do with us. In September is the ice cream social, which Mom and Sean will probably go to with us. I wish I could report more about it, but I can't. Check back for the next trip there.

After that it was a brief lunch at the Tom Quick Inn. The food was great and the service was prompt. The biggest pitfall was the 200 person poker tournament going on over near the bar. That was incredibly loud and annoying becuase the restraunt portion was too close to the bar. Joe made the suggestion that if we go back there, it will have to be on a weekday. I agree.

New Cat, New Confusion

Last week the little long haired orange kitty was poking through the yard while I was out feeding the momma deer with triplets. The deer must have felt threatened by the cat that was all the way on the other side of the yard, on the boulders. Just as she charged to stomp him, I diverted her by spraying the hose near her.

Little kitty was so happy and was tentatively coming to me as I called her "Blondie". Once the kitty was close enough, Blondie became "Dagwood". Fully emaciated & touting an eye wound after a fight with something, he has been by my side. He is outside until I can get him some medical care for his eye, but I do believe he's gained a pound or so in a week. Oh yes, I will fatten him up.

I have posted "found" fliers, just in case. Though doubtful I will find his original owners, I am positive that I will find him a new home once he is cleaned up. Amazingly loving and friendly, he will make someone very happy.

Joe has agreed to be foster parents to Dagwood. I know I make him want to implode at times, but I love that he allows me the time to rescue (and find homes for) as many kitties as I have. Not to mention the small doggy rescue of 2008. I know Joe sees a farm in our future because of me, with rescue animals of all kinds. Joe loves our zoo and he loves me. What more could I ask for?

Sent from my BlackBerry

Thirty Thirty

Ok. I turned the big 3-0 this month. I'm having a hard time with it. Yes, I know you read that every year, but it's true. I'm a woman that can't handle the aging process.

I'm not fully where I thought I would be at this age and sometimes that thought really gets me depressed. I could probably have more money, a nicer house or nicer cars if I worked harder. But as I told a friend, more successful people often have more sacrifices and at the end of the day. I would rather sacrifice time at work than time with friends and family. I would rather have less money and more memories because money can be gone in the blink of an eye (or the fall of a stock market), but memories are something you can take with you.

Wow, occasionally something really meaningful does pop of my head.

Daytona Days

We arrived at Turtle Inn Beach Club at around 4:30pm on our first day. Not much got accomplished. Showers to wash off 2 days of "traveling in the car skeeve", followed by the need to fulfill my mom's desire to eat at a Golden Corral that was in the opposite direction from the condo. Then it was back to the condo to plop into bed for the night.

My wonderful slumber was destroyed by the senile old bat on Day 2, as she poked me to wake up so we could have a morning stroll on the beach. 90 minutes later my leg muscles were still twitching and I was wondering if I put Shady Pines on speed dial before I left. A giant bowl of Captin Crunch passified me for the remainder of the morning. With food in my tummy it was time to go to DeBary Hall. It's an old citrus plantation that I kept sending texts of to Joe with the caption, "buy for me now, please". It was so pretty, but I was not allowed to take photos inside the house.

Day 3 was a trip to Ponce Inlet Light House, which I didn't climb to the top of. I'm waiting to come with Joe next year so that he can carry me. That was followed up by a late lunch that mom spent watching the races at North Turn Grill.

Day 4 kicked off my lounging around the pool and working on my tan. Such a difficult life! Then we took a trip to the Marine Science Center. There I was able to watch a rescued juvenile sea turtle recive life saving medication and other treatments. There was also a nice tour of the facility that showed off the aquatic life of Florida as well as rescued birds from the area. After that we went on a Manatee Scenic Tour. That was excititng, even though we didnt see any manatee. Go figure! According to the guide the winter had been so cold, that the manatee were taking longer than usual to come back to the area. But we did see several small pods of dolphins, including a set of parents with a baby. That was too cute. The tour took us along the inlet where we also got to look at some multi-million dollar homes. I guess there is no accounting for taste... The tour was followed up by dinner at Boondocks. I think Joe will love it there. It's picnic table dining on a dock! I think I would expect that in the deep South. Florida doesn't count as deep South, it's New York South.

Day 5 I had to call in sick to work. I guess they forgot that I requested the day off. I had called to verify that I was off, but surprise, my favorite scheduler screwed up again. It will look great that I called in sick and come back with a tan, huh? Today was the adventure highlight of the trip. We took a drive north to St. Augustine. What a beautiful old city! It reminded me of Charleston, and not just because of the old fort. At the suggestion of friends, we took a trolly ride around the city after touring the fort. We walked around the plaza, stopped for lunch and some amazing ice cream. The neatest thing we saw has to have been the small handful of homes that were original to the city. People back then were my size, because I fit in everything! Must go back next year with Joe.

Day 6, our last day. I sat chilling by the pool with my Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade and tanning, which I occasionally interrupted with a dip into the pool. Around dinner time we packed it up and started the long journey home. Trapped in a car with mom for another 20 something hours. HELP

Sent from my BlackBerry

Staff Support

When you come into a job with a long established group of employees, life can be tough. It can be tougher still when the average turn over of new staff is 90-120 days. No matter how much or how little experience you have in that job or field, you will be viewed as a threat to someone. I think it's very sad, really. It can make for a very tough place to work, which often leads to an even higher turn over rate.

I bring this up for several reasons. In October 2009 I interviewed with a very upscale dermatology office. It was, what I thought, my dream job. I did 2 successful interviews before the leading physician told me I was "far to intelligent and ambitious to work here." I was devastated. Now, I just smile because every 90 days he has an advertisement in the paper for the same position that I was too smart for. I now know that this is not the place I would want to work for, just by how often that ad come up. It speaks volume to what they must be like to work for and work with.

I face the dilemma at my current job that I'm highly over qualified and over educated for my position. Some lesser trained people with bigger titles see me as a threat. Others still, just wonder what I'm doing working here. It huts me that no one asks me things or says things to me directly. Instead, college educated, middle aged women hop on facebook (while on duty) and gossip about me like a bunch of teenagers. I'm the type confront people with my issues or concerns. It's the mature thing to do. Yet they deny it. I have not befriended any of these people on facebook, but I do have a mole that prints up their comments for me. Even confronted with their own printed words they deny.

How are employees like these taken seriously?

Warm House

Well, this afternoon we had the housewarming party. It was small, only 10 people (excluding us) came by. It was nice to have such a small gathering. I know we're aiming for something much bigger on Memorial Day.

I guess I should tell people about the house. It resembles a contemporary chalet ranch thingy that has 1008 square feet. There are 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. We also have a garage, but it's not usable right now. Well, for cars anyway because a coal bin resides in the middle of it. I will move that thing... Ok, JOE will move that thing. =o) The kitchen is much smaller than the Pine Ridge house, providing me a challenge when it comes to making larger meals. There are very vaulted ceilings, so we're heating a lot of air when we actually have the heat on. There is a lovely coal/wood burning stove in place of a traditional fireplace. I can't wait for it to be cleaned so we can use that next winter to offset the ever increasing energy bills. There is a small screened in porch off of the dining room. It's probably going to be a summer playroom for the "kids".

Keys To Nowhere

Today was an interesting day. I left to go take a quick test at work this morning, once there I realized I didn't have my house key. Not a big deal, because Joe would be home until I got done. That's what happens when only 1 person has the debit card.

After the test I took a brief trip to Wally World and drove home. Upon pulling into the driveway, I see Joe sitting on the front porch steps with the dogs. I thought it was cute that he would be waiting outside for me to get home. Then I saw the half smile on his face when I got out of the car.

Me: "Don't tell me you got locked out because I don't have my house key either."
Joe: "What do you mean you don't have your keys?"
Me: "I didn't realize I didn't have them until I got to work because I left without my coat since it was so nice out this morning. I didn't think it was a big deal because you were home."
Joe: "Yeah, well I didn't realize the door was locked after you left. I guess I'm going to have to smash the garage window."

That's just what he did. Though to keep us safe he did board up the broken window. We'll be getting replacement glass here shortly. He did buy a new door lock set. The one that was on the house the internal knob turned fully whether the door was locked or unlocked. It was annoying because this is the second time this has happened, but the first resulting in smashed glass. The first time Joe locked himself out, he was taking the dogs out for the last walk of the night,. He finished up and realized the door was locked. He pounded on the door for 5 minutes before I woke up and heard him. Talk about peeved! I actually tried to find him to check on the pounding on the door before I noticed he wasn't in the house and neither were the dogs.

The new lock system was overdue after that night.

Gettin' Down

We took a trip to donate a few pieces of rather large furniture to the Salvation Army today. Already there is a good amount of space that has been opened in the living room. I can walk from the front door to the dining room without bumping into boxes. Yay

I'm cleaning out what little clothing I have left in my closest for donation & encouraged Joe to do the same. He managed to donate 4 overly stuffed bags of clothing. Wouldn't you know it, that little fashion whore still has more clothes than I do. Not fair, damnit!

Speaking of clothes, I got to use the washer & dryer for the first time today. Washer worked well, though it is a lot smaller than the one that I had in the Pine Ridge house. As for the dryer, if you close the door to that room you don't hear the horrible squeal it makes. In defense of the appliances, they are probably original to the house (1970 something) & have held out for a long time. So what if it takes 2 hours to dry a load of laundry...

Tomorrow we will be doing a few more cleaning tasks. If I can find my paint brushes and painting trays I might even get around to painting the full bathroom.

We're In!!!

Yippee!!! We're finally in the new house.

Ok, in reality we were in on Monday. I just get around to this whole blogging thing a little late. I'm happy to be out of the house in Pine Ridge, though it's bitter sweet. We put so much work into that house & didn't get to enjoy it for too long before it sold. I'm not complaining though, we are in a much nicer, much safer area. Even though we only moved 5 minutes away, it feels like 50 miles away.

Our new house is 1 of 2 on a cul-de-sac about a mile inside of our community. From what we can tell, our neighbours only come up on the weekends. We reached that conculsion because someone was in the house when we moved in over the weekend, but since Monday we haven't see anyone or tire tracks in the snow. I enjoy the privacy! The "kids" have all adjusted well. As soon as we get some stuff out of the garage & other stuff off to the Salvation Army, we will be able to really start getting settled in.

New Home, New Hope

House on Eagle Court

There has been so much drama with selling our Pine Ridge house. It's been enough to drive us crazy!

First we tried to find another house to buy. Unfortunately everything was in disrepair, over-priced, or a moldy mess. Then we decided to rent. Joe looked at a house in White Haven, PA. It's about a half hour outside of Scranton, PA. We were thrilled to be getting out of Bushkill! Then the White Haven land lords started acting bizzaro and it made us very concerned about thier ability to be landlords. This weekend we looked at a house in Pocono Mountain Lake Estates (see the picture). Yes, it's in Bushkill. Yes, it's 5 minutes up the road. We're still trapped, but there is a silver lining...we don't own it! We don't have to worry about selling it in a couple years!

Right now, Joe is returning to college in Scranton. I'm still working in Newton. Staying in Bushkill keeps us centrally located. I know some people are thrilled about seeing our misery. What makes no sense to me is how those people can be happy to see us in the same area because they can visit us, yet they have made no attempts to visit in the last 2 years. Seems selfish, if you ask me.

Time Well Wasted

I work an erratic night shift schedule, which leaves me time to think as I stare at the clock.

Since moving to Pennsylvania and my subsequent lay-off last August, my attempts to find a full time and/or local job have yielded little results. Being under paid and highly over trained for the part time work I have found has left me disgruntled. I know everyone thinks health care was safe from the recession, but you are mistaken. There are a lot of nursing jobs, yes, but not many places are ready to hire until mistakes start reaching dangerous levels. Like any other business, health care is all about the bottom line.

I started toying with the idea of a complete career change a few months back. It's an idea that has been gaining strength with my current job. Upon being hired I was supposed to take a geriatric course to ensure I could work for this company. 12 people were hired with me under the same premise. As it turns out, that class is not being offered and we can only work for 120 days before being let go. After a week we are asked to reapply for another 120 days. And so on the process would go until such time as the course can be given at my current location. Wonderful business practices, huh? Just imagine how your family members are being cared for with a turn over rate like that!

Back to where I was going with all of this. I genuinely loved working in health care, but I think I'm starting to feel burned out. Nursing no longer makes me happy and I really don't have a desire to do it anymore. It has become less about patient care and more about paperwork and corporate images. It's not what I set out to do. I never got into this for the money, but for love of what I was doing.

I don't know what else I could or would do. Maybe go into computers and make oodles of money. Maybe sell a bunch of crap on ebay and become filthy stinking rich. There's always the lucrative sex tape idea, but since no one knows me or Joe that probably won't work either.

Sent from my BlackBerry

Cat's Out

Well, some people knew sooner than others...

Last Monday we received an offer on our house. We are thrilled. I will not talk about offer amounts, profits, etc. It's tacky to discuss that and rude for others to ask. What is most important is that we will be out of Pine Ridge! The home inspection was Saturday, appraisal should be following shortly. We have a tentative closing date of February 26. I begin to house hunt on Tuesday.

Our plan was to sell this house and move to South Carolina. It appears that might be on hold for another year or two as Joe's job has given him a raise and work has picked up quite a bit for him. So, I have to wait. I really could take that time to do my Master's Degree. There has been debate about if we should rent or purchase another home for such a brief time. I understand everyone has thier concerns, but with 6 pets, renting doesn't appear to be much of an option unless we lie about how many "kids" we have. Plus, should we become stuck here for 5 years instead of 2, I would rather own a home than have wasted tens of thousands of dollars on rent. Joe holds the same opinion that I do. The other debate that comes into play is townhouse, condo, or real house. It depends on what we can find, my friends.

We don't know much about the family purchasing the house. The husband is former military, the wife believes this is here dream home & the son that is possible autistic will get the former "man cave" as his bedroom.

UPDATE: Home inspection went well. Apparently there are 3 small issues, 2 the buyer can fix himself & the 3rd we might not even be asked to fix since it is so small. We have no idea what it is, but Joe assures me I shouldn't worry because when they say "small" they mean "stupid little thing". I just got a phone call from our realtors office that the appraiser would be thrilled (my words, not her's) to come by at 8:30 tomorrow morning. The hope is that the appraiser has a brain and can appraise a finished house, since they are so used to doing forclosures. Then at 11am I will be off to do my house hunt.

Las Vegas, Nevada.......Good Times, Good Times

What do ya know, Joe gets a turn on the blog! But hey, I've got something pretty cool to write about. But lets give you a little background first: Back in October, my cousin Ross received as a birthday gift a paid-for trip out to Las Vegas. He was ecstatic, and I was there when he found out. As I sat there, I realized that I had a week's paid vacation I had no plan for, and just threw out there that I'd go too if I could afford it. I guess it was planned that Ross would go with his mom, but they figured it would be better to have someone else with each of them to make the trip more enjoyable. And even though according to the Vegas odds that I was an underdog to go on the trip, my aunt had asked my mom to go with her, and as an early birthday gift to bring me along. The news got back to me in November, and the events were set in motion: I was going to Las Vegas for 4 days of who knows what I would do out there.

We flew out of Newark, New Jersey way early on Saturday, January 2nd. Some things had been planned for the trip, other parts were still in the air, but I'll go through all of that here day by day.

Day 1
We arrived at McCarran International Airport, and had a bus take us to the resort we were staying at: the MGM Grand. We checked in but had to wait until after 1pm to actually get into our rooms. Ross and I explored the resort, got lunch at the Rainforest Cafe
(literally a cafe in the middle of a jungle) and walked around to see the 4 resorts in our area: the MGM Grand, the Tropicana, New York New York (not a typo), and the Excalibur. The Grand had enough for us to do, and you'll hear about it all later. We hit the Tropicana, and left pretty quickly since it looked pretty crappy. New York New York was a really cool looking place, and would be another place we'd hit again. The Excalibur was cool too, though we didn't really venture there afterwards. After finally getting into our room and settled in, it was time to go to what I knew would be the highlight of my trip: UFC 108- Evans vs. Silva.

I won't recap the entire fight card, but I'll recap the experience. The Grand Garden Arena in the Grand was awesome, and everybody there was into the fights the whole time. It was unlike any other sporting event I had ever been to before. We got a great night of a fights, a few beers in us, and got to leave happy. Afterwards, we hung out by the arena to catch the fighters leaving. I didn't get any autographs or pictures, but got to see some cool people: referee Mario Yamasaki, ring announcer Bruce Buffer (who had two floozies with him), fighters Junior Dos Santos, Mark Munoz, Gilbert Yvel, Ryan Jensen, Paul Daley, and Jim Miller. Miller I actually got to talk with because he actually lives in Sparta, New Jersey, and I grew up a half hour away in Montague. Afterwards, it was time to get some good drinks, so we hit the one bar in the Grand that wasn't packed. Centrifuge became the stable for my hard liqour for the rest of the trip (blue lights, Jack Daniels, and having the waitresses and bartenders dance on the bar from time to time is good enough for me). We turned it in around 12:30 that night.

Day 2
After grabbing breakfast at the buffett in the Grand that morning, it was time to gamble a little. Ross went to play Texas Hold 'Em, and at first I just hung out figuring he'd bust out soon. After 45 minutes, I got bored from watching the football games at Centrifuge (keep in mind it was after noon time, so I was OK to have beer) and decided to put $40 on the line in some Hold 'Em too. After no real action, the dealers switched and I got hammered. I lost it all after some beat hands, and caught up with Ross who had gotten cleaned out a little before I did.

To get a little rush to make us feel better, we went on the Manhattan Express Rollercoaster over at New York New York. Having not been on a rollercoaster since I was a teenager, it was fun. We then made our way to the Mandalay Bay resort nearby by way of tram. That was the coolest resort I had seen so far, and where I want to stay if I make it back out there with some friends. We then headed make to meet up with the moms to take a night tour of the city. Before the tour, we had some time to check out the Coca-Cola store and M&M's Factory, which are a couple of the kid-friendly attractions left in the city.

The tour took us to several high-up resorts in the city. We started at the Venetian, which is where I want to take Casey if we can go out there. The Venetian was a representation on Venice, Italy, and was really cool to see. It had the Madame Tussauds' Wax Museum, which served as a place for the wackiest pictures we took out there (we took advantage of being able to freely get close to each wax model), and was across from the Mirage where we saw the "volcano" erupt out front. Next stop was the Rio, and we were first brought up to the Voodoo Lounge, located on the 54th floor with an outdoor bar that gave a view of the entire city. Back down in the casino they had a little musical show similar to what you might see at Mardis Gras. From there we went to the Bellagio, and huge resort with some interesting architectual showings (ceramic tile floors from Italy, glass flower-shaped ceiling, and a chocolate waterfall). Outside was the well-known fountain show that was pretty cool. The tour ended with a stop to Freemont Street, the place where Vegas really began (FYI, we passed by the pawn shop from the show "Pawn Stars" and the drive-thru wedding chapel along the way). Freemont has the famous TV ceiling, which gave us a show with a KISS theme while we were there. Not much to see other than an outdoor bar were we had a shot of Petron to loosen us up.

Returning to the Grand, Ross went back to the poker tables (he lost again) while I hit Centrifuge again for some more drinks, and stopped at another bar to catch the NFL scores before getting back to the room at around 2am (this was the most hammered I got out in Vegas.......Petron, two beers, and 4 Jack Daniels on the rocks.......I was happy)

Day 3
There were a few quick highlights for this day. All for of us took a day-tour of Red Rock Canyon (it was at 1pm, so I was sobered up fine). I thought of Casey the whole time, knowing she would love to see this place. One road goes around the whole park area, and we made a few stops at some of the mountain areas and interesting spots, where I got to climb some rocks and explore a little. The tour wore us out a little, but still had enough left in us to check out the parts of Mandalay Bay we didn't see, as well as the Luxor resort. Just to spend time with my mom, we went to an Asian restaurant at the Grand where I got to have some good sushi, and educate my mom on it since she'd never had it before.

We had time to kill before a show Ross and I went to that night, so I hit the poker table one last time, which Ross joined in later. I did far better with the $50 I had, and had some really good hands. I had a killer full house against a woman with a weaker full house, and that gained me back a lot of what I had lost during the first few hands that day. I also had a good 2 pair hand a against a guy playing with just one pair. I wanted to keep playing, but it was time to go to the show, so I cashed out with $14 less than what I started with. Oh well, that's as much as I allowed myself to lose, and I still did better than my cousin did.

We then went to see stand-up comedian Frank Calliendo, known for his various impressions of celebrities. A band played some music before the start of the show, and a guy named George Sutter opened with some decent comedy. Frank's show was hilarious, and we got an unexpected bonus with a meet-and-greet right after. I bought his DVD for him to autograph, and got our picture with him too. The night was supposed to end after hitting a different bar, but Ross was out of it and went to bed. Following the structure I had set up from the previous 2 days, I went to (guess where! I'll give you a moment........................) Centrifuge. Got a couple of drinks just to help me sleep since the next day we were leaving, so I wanted my sleep. Hit the bed around 12:30.

Day 4
The end was here, and there wasn't much happening for the day. We hit a couple of stores to get any last-minute souveneirs, and made our way to the airport. Let's see if I can remember all the souveneirs I got while I was out there: a deck of casino cards from the MGM Grand, a UFC hat, a long-sleeved cool Las Vegas shirt, a joke shirts with a guy looking at a stripper with the words "I love my wife.....I love my wife.....I love my wife....." written around it, a sweet Silver Star shirt made for UFC fighter Georges St. Pierre, and a Las Vegas shot glass that came with dice and a poker chip. I did make sure to bring something back for Casey (besides the shampoo and soap from the room). My mom had gotten her a set of polar bear coasters and a stuffed penguin from the Coca-Cola store, and I got her a flower-shaped container of M&Ms and a stuffed lion cub.

Alas, I miss Vegas and had wanted to do so much more while I was out there. The Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, a burlesque show (those all belong in the "educational" group, don't they?).......but there wasn't enough time. Considering that it's economically feasable to travel out there, I do plan on going again at least 2 more times. I definitely want to plan a guy's trip out there for a UFC event, and go crazy with some booze and gambling; and I also want to bring Casey out there to see the nature-type stuff and enjoy the more intimate sceneray out there. But this vacation has been one of my favorites, and I went to a place that I had heard about and seen on the many repeats of "CSI", which none of what I'd seen on the show happened out there. Ah Vegas, you are so misunderstood...........

Welcoming In The New Year

I realize I haven't posted anything for the new year. Now that I'm plopped in front of the TV watching CMT while the wind is constantly knocking out the power, this seems as good a time as any. Joe has left for a 4 day trip to Las Vegas. I'm sure he will write all about it once he returns.

The media has begun its typical "resolution overload". It's annoying to have everyone talk about making resolutions and in the same breath talk about how you're going to fail at most of them. Thanks for the encouragement, people. I stopped making resolutions. The new year is a chance for a new start, but a person shouldn't us that as an excuse. All those people who claim they will quit smoking, start eating better, or whatever on January 1st really aren't ready to make the change. You don't need a special day to kick it off, just the motivation. For example, this fall I realized I no longer find joy in my career the way I once did. That's when I began to put a plan into action to begin to seek out a new career. I am fortunate to have the support of a wonderful husband in whatever I decide I want to do.

Alas, it is 2010. I'm not immune to wishing for this to be a better year. So, here we go...