It's Tuesday? Already?

Hey y'all!
Clearly, I didn't get a chance to write yesterday. Partly because I was busy and partly because I was too damn lazy. You see, if I don't write early in the morning (before the office is 'buzzing') I then have to wait until later in the afternoon when things slow down. The issue is, at that time of day, there are always people stopping by my desk to either chat or discuss work things.
That being the case, I can't exactly shoo them away and tell them I need some peace and quiet in order to write a blog entry.
It just don't work that way.

Let's see....the weekend was fun. Wet, but fun.

On Saturday, we attended a surprise 40th birthday party for my sister-in-law's husband. In spite of the POURING rain, we had a good time. Thankfully, my sister-in-law saw the forecast and rented a super large tent that we were all able to comfortably gather under. It worked out well and he was very surprised. Jim and I were in charge of hanging Christmas lights (the little white ones) in the tent, and I have to say - they looked pretty damn good. It wasn't easy, but it was certainly worth the aggravation.

That brings me to my first (and maybe my only) question. Is he considered my brother-in-law? I sometimes refer to him as such, but recently I called him that and I was corrected. I know that my brother-in-law is my husband's brother, but is my husband's sister's husband my brother-in-law as well? Or is he simply my sister-in-law's husband?
Think about it an let me know. I've heard both - but I don't know what is 'right'.
Not that's it's a huge deal, but it has come up a few times, believe it or not.

On Sunday, Jim and I did a marathon cleaning of the house, went to Best Buy to return the new monitor he bought (it had a few 'dead' pixels) and then went to lunch. It was quite fun, and nice to get stuff done. I love that 'accomplished' feeling.
After all that, I headed to rehearsal, which was also fun as well as productive. Following rehearsal, I met up with Jim at the grocery store (he was just finishing up) and then came home for dinner and TV.

While Jim was making dinner, I was watching 'The Lawrence Welk Show'.
I. Love. That. Show.
Not only does it totally remind me of my grandparents (I always watched it with them) but I find it completely hysterical. The costumes, the hair styles, the 'white-bread', wholesome image they convey...it's just awesome. At one point after dinner, Jim was literally dancing around the kitchen while I was clapping along to a rousing accordion number being played by Myron Floren. Scooter was chasing Jim around, having a blast and the two of us were in hysterics.
Clearly Jim and I were meant to be together. Clapping and dancing around the kitchen to The Lawrence Welk Show?!?!? That's true love, people.

Anyway, after that little 'escapade', we parked our asses on the couch to watch 'Animation Domination' on FOX. I was pleased with the results....'Family Guy' was by far my favorite, but the others weren't too bad either. Good job animators!

OK....I'm going to get some work done.

"Good night, sleep tight, and pleasant dreams to you....."

Wow...talk about busy!

See what happens when I have work to do?!?!
Damn job...interfering with my blogging.

Granted, I've taken time to visit my daily 'haunts', but I haven't a free minute to write.
Speaking of my daily haunts; one of the blogs that read daily (and love) gets very chatty about football as the weekend approaches. Specifically college football....in the South.
I think you know who you are. :-)

I only bring this up because it makes me totally aware of how CLUELESS I am when it comes to football. I have no problem following the game, but there are certain specific things I just don't get. For example, I'm not always sure why they choose to make some of the plays they make?!?! I'm following along just fine, then I expect them to do one thing and then out of nowhere, they do something completely different. Granted, I'm not always wrong - because the people watching the game with me start screaming about how bad the play was...but I'm never sure that I'm right until others start yelling about it. Weird.

My 'cluelessness' aside, I love the fact that there are so many gay men out there who follow football religiously and CLEARLY have a huge love for the game. Reading their posts and comments about the specific teams and rivalries tends to amaze me. Most times I seriously have no idea who the teams are that they're referring to! Because they're college teams, they use all sorts of abbreviations. In most cases I can figure it out, but then they start talking about referring to them only by their mascots and then I'm done for!!! Anyway...I think it's awesome.

I suppose it's no different than my discussions about theatre that tend to leave a lot of people scratching their heads as well.
I suppose we all have our passions.
As long as your passionate about something, you're OK.

So, it's past 3:30 on a Friday afternoon and I'm just now finishing up my blog entry for the day.
Apparently time DOES fly when you're having fun! (that's called sarcasm)

Have a good weekend...watch lots of football and I hope whatever team you're rooting for gets a basket!!! ;-)

There's a nip in the air...

It is COLD at my desk right now.
Whenever I’m sitting at my desk, freezing my ‘parts’ off I’m reminded of the day that I was ROBBED at work.
OK, well that’s a tad dramatic, but I did have my fleece stolen from the closet at work.
And I’m still pissed about it.

Way back when, on ‘Employee Appreciation Day’ here at work, we all received zip up fleeces with the company logo on the front. This was back in the day when we still had ‘stocked’ kitchenettes full of free things like coffee, hot chocolate, etc…
Now we don’t even get cups. Seriously.
Just like Old Mother Hubbard, our cupboards are bare.

Anyway…we each received a fleece and unlike most people I LOVE getting stuff like that. Now, I’m not going to parade around Boston proudly displaying my company-issued clothing, but generally, the stuff they give out is pretty good for lounging around the house or to wear for cleaning, yard work, etc…
So, I get my fleece and toss it into one of my desk drawers. One day, I thought to myself "Gee, I'm pretty chilly...oh wait...I have a fleece in my drawer that I can wear. No more being chilly at my desk. Huzzah!!!"
From that day forward, I kept my fleece in the closet at work, knowing that it would always be there whenever it was cold at my desk…which it often is.
In the winter as well as the summer. Excellent.

On one random (cold) morning in either February or March this year I went to get my fleece and it was gone. G-O-N-E. I was pissed. Not only was I cold, but I was totally annoyed that someone either took, or ‘disposed’ of my fleece for some unknown reason. My co-workers thought that it was most likely someone from the nightly cleaning crew that had seen it hanging in the closet for so long and they assumed it was ‘abandoned’ and threw it out. That may be true…but I find it irritating. It certainly wasn’t in anybody’s way or taking up any space, since it was the ONLY thing in the entire closet.
Some other co-workers thought that it was stolen. Which brings me to the question – ‘Who the hell would want to wear my ratty, old fleece?’ Not that is was gross or anything, but really…whoever took it probably didn’t know who it belonged to, and it clearly wasn’t brand new. I think that’s just gross.
Of course, if you’ve ever worked in an office building, I’m sure you have plenty of disgusting/unbelievable stories of your own to share.

Side Story: One of my co-workers who put a half-eaten sandwich in a bag (with her name on it) in the ‘community’ fridge one afternoon, only to find it gone the next afternoon when she went to have it for lunch. ‘Who finishes a total strangers lunch?!?!?’ Yuck.

That brings me to this morning.
I’m cold, my nose is cold, and my hands are about the fall off.
(Again, with the drama?!?!)

Thank God I’ve got my beard to keep me warm.

Gay Clay, The Red Sox and the Golden Gate...

A few random thoughts this Wednesday

Clay Aiken is gay. Now, I’m not at all surprised to hear that news, but I was kind of surprised that he came out via the cover of People magazine. I’m not sure if he ever denied the fact that he was gay or was one of those people who would never give a ‘straight’ (get it??) answer when the question of his sexuality came up. Honestly, I’ve never kept tabs on Clay Aiken. I do know that he just returned to Broadway in ‘Spamalot’….which is cool. And he can certainly sing well, which is also a good thing.
Either way, I’m glad he came out. Maybe some little, gay fan of his will now see that being gay is OK and he’ll follow in Clay’s footsteps.

Moving on…

Did I mention that I’m doing a show? I think I may have mentioned it briefly at one point before. It’s a little cheese-ball musical (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) called ‘The Butler Did It Singing’, It’s being performed as part of a fundraising evening for a local community college. I’ve done the show before – which is totally random – and since a friend is directing it, she asked if I’d be a part of it. Given that it’s only rehearsing 3 days a week for about 4 weeks and it’s only one weekend of performances (2 shows), I said I would do it. As it turns out, the cast is full of fantastically talented people that I’ve either done shows with before, or have ‘seen their work’ (that's pretentious theatre talk for ‘I’ve seen them in a show before.”) So it doesn’t really feel like rehearsal….it’s more like a spending time with friends, where the end result is a show. Oh – and it’s all about 10 minutes from my house, which is totes awesome. (That was for all you teens out there…just tryin’ to be ‘hip’)

The Red Sox are in the playoffs!!!! Not only do we get to watch more baseball, but we get to be even MORE stressed while doing it. Yay!!!
Yikes…I hope they do well. I’m sure they will…I have COMPLETE faith in them. Gooooo Sox!!!!

One last comment…Jim and I may be taking a little trip to San Francisco in November. Jim is going to be out there for a conference and depending on how much flights are, I may be joining him. This will be his fourth time there, and my first. I’ll keep you posted as to whether or not I’m going.
To all the people in San Francisco reading my blog: (Anybody? Nobody.)
If I come for a visit, I’ll expect a detailed list of things to do and exciting things to see.
Get on that. Thanks.

Have a great day!!!! :-)

Cockroach crossing

Walking along the subway platform this morning, I literally had to stop and let a giant cockroach cross in front of me. It was crazy!

I often see cockroaches running along the subway platforms and I'm usually unfazed by the whole thing. I'd certainly rather deal with a cockroach than a mouse or a rat. However, this MONSTER was quite the exception. This thing was HUGE. And fast. And gross.
This was me when I saw it.... :-)








By the way....where was it going?

Home? Work? Does it despise the subway performer as much as I do??



Anyway...I have a bunch of stuff that I need to do, so I should probably get busy.

It's a long one....

This post, that is.

Here I am again…on a gloomy, grey, Monday morning. I’m coming off of a pretty decent, whirlwind of a weekend.
First of all, JIM IS HOME!!! Yay.
I was very happy to see him on Friday night. He had a great trip and although he’ll most likely be going back over there soon, he’s home for now!

Surprisingly, he wasn’t all that tired when he got home, in spite of the fact that he was still on ‘German time’ and to his body it was after 3am. We chatted about his trip and then spent about a half hour on YouTube searching for some yodeling videos that he had seen in a gay bar over there. We eventually found them on line and I have to say, what they were doing was pretty impressive. Yodeling is CRAZY!!! I think I’ll take up yodeling in my spare time.
After watching a bunch of clips, I finally convinced him that it was probably a smart idea for us to go to bed since we had a lot going on the next day.

We got up on Saturday and pretty much hung out and relaxed in the morning. Eventually, I took a shower and then took Scooter for a long walk. While I was gone, Jim made a bunch of food for the ‘pre-Farm Aid’ gathering that we were going to. He made a TON of really yummy food – these little cucumber sandwich thingies and THREE different calzones. He’s crazy…but everything looked and smelled delicious. We left home at about 1:30 and headed to his co-worker’s house. We hung out there with a couple of his co-workers and their friends for a while, had some drinks and food and then made our way to the concert. And yes, everything that Jim made was cramazing. (crazy/amazing)
We had VIP passes for the concert – which allowed us to park in the VIP parking lot and go to the designated ‘VIP Tent’….and we got fancy-pants wristbands as well.
Of course, I had no idea what any of this meant before hand, but when we got there and went inside I was pleased to find that it meant that we were treated to free food and OPEN BAR until 9:30pm. Keep in mind; it was about 5:30 when we arrived. :-)
I met a ton of Jim’s co-workers (who had evidently been there for a while, enjoying the open bar) and then we settled down under the VIP tent. As I mentioned the other day, I’m not a huge fan of concerts, so the fact that I wasn’t sitting down and watching each of the scheduled acts didn’t really bother me. The concert ‘line-up’ was posted and there were several TVs in the VIP area so we knew what was going on and who was on stage performing at any given moment. We continued to enjoy the open bar and made our way to our seats just as Dave Matthews went on. He was VERY good. Even though I was left alone for a bit while Jim and his co-workers returned to the VIP area, I enjoyed Dave’s set. He played for about an hour and after a short break John Mellencamp came on stage and played his set. (Jim and friends had returned by this point as well) By the way, he looks really good….and still sounds pretty amazing.
We went back to the VIP area just as John Mellencamp was finishing and discovered that one of the people that drove us to the concert wasn’t feeling well. It had nothing to do with drinking or anything like that…she just wasn’t feeling well. Long story short (too late!) we ended up leaving shortly after seeing John Mellencamp.
So, Tommy…no need to be jealous….I didn’t even get to see Willie Nelson. :-)

On Sunday, Jim was a whirlwind of activity and did all sorts of yard work while I dealt with the tidying up inside the house. Since it’s fall planting season – we went to Lowes and bought all sorts of fun things. Not only did we buy some mums (as we usually do in the fall), but we bought a ton of bulbs that will bloom like CRAZY in the Spring. We got irises, tulips, hyacinths….all sorts of pretty, little bloomin’ flowers.
It sucks that we have to wait until the Spring to see how they turn out. I think that’s annoying. I want results now!!!

OK – this has gone on long enough. I’m done. A couple more things to look forward to this week….
I’m doing a show. It’s a quick little thing that being thrown together as a benefit of sorts, but it’ll be fun and over before you know it! Two shows, October 24th and 25th and then I’m D-O-N-E!!!!
I’m growing a beard. I haven’t shaved since Friday the 12th, and it’s coming along nicely…we’ll see how that goes. Jim didn’t scream when he saw it, so I have high hopes.

Adios amigos…

Quick Post...

Thank Christ It's Friday!
Can I do that? Change God to Christ? Well, whatever...I did it.

What a WEEK! It actually went by very quickly given the fact that I was so busy at work...and I'm thrilled that it's time for another weekend. Jim is getting back tonight - which is very exciting. I can't wait to see him again...I don't like being alone. :-)

Tomorrow we're going to Farm Aid. Yes, that's right...Farm Aid. I've never been before, and I probably wouldn't be going at all, if it weren't for the fact that Jim's company is sending his entire office there as a way to celebrate the company's 'birthday'. It should be fun...I hope. We're getting the V.I.P. treatment from what I hear, so at least THAT should be fun. I've only met 2 people he works with, so meeting the rest should be very interesting. Let's just say, I've heard a lot about them and look forward to putting faces to all the stories I've heard.

Hey - I've been blogging now for over a month!!! Yay me!!!! It's been fun, and until it's stops being fun, I'm going to keep on writing.

Happy Friday...have a fun and safe weekend!!

Well...well...well

Mercy me! I just realized I hadn't written a thing today!!
See what happens when you come to work and actually do some work?!?!?

Needless to say, I'm quite busy here, which is a welcome change. It certainly makes the day fly by. YAY!

Speaking of being busy, I just returned from the barber shop. :-) I said I was busy, but that doesn't mean I can ignore my personal grooming needs!!! I love getting a hair cut...I feel so much better (Legally Blonde?) afterwards.

Meanwhile, my company's stock is plummeting....in case you were wondering.

I don't have much to say, but I didn't want to ignore my blog for the day.
I had a fabulous commute this morning...well, as fabulous as a train ride can be, but the train was on time and I had no annoying people to deal with...which makes it a fabulous commute.

Our pool was successfully closed yesterday :-( but - the weather is quickly becoming PERFECT for the hot tub.
Remember my 'pledge'?!?! I WILL use it more often. I will......

Jim is coming home tomorrow!! Which means I'll be 'tidying' up the house tonight. Not that it's a mess, but it can certainly use some 'tidying'. You know how it is.

Catch you on the rebound....

Three years ago today....

This happened...


Then this happened...




Then this happened...




Then this happened...





Lucky, lucky me. :-)

About that commute...

Well, today certainly wasn’t any better than yesterday. Annoying.
Everything started out fine, but quickly went downhill.
I dropped Scooter off at day care…
Quick story: Since he was so sick last week, we didn’t send him to day care at all. Which meant that today was his first day there in over a week. He was OUT OF HIS MIND when we pulled up and totally lost it when I walked him inside. When the owner saw him, she too was going crazy. She yelled out ‘Scooter’s here!!’ and there was a collective cheer from the staff out in the back of the building. Either that or it was them screaming in terror. Who can say? :-)
Anyhoo…I dropped Scooter off, and since it was so much later than normal, I was sure that it would be faster for me to drive to the subway, as opposed to waiting for the next commuter rail train. Well, I was TOTALLY wrong. What should have been a half hour ride, turned into an hour and a half. At one point, I literally screamed out loud in my car. C-R-A-Z-Y. I ended up arriving at work about an hour later than I planned. Whatever. As it turns out, I didn’t miss a thing.

Now I’m here and waiting for some ‘stuff’ to happen before I continue my testing.

In other (excellent) news, I had my teeth cleaned yesterday and the hygienist was totally complimenting me on how great my teeth looked. AND I had no cavities.
That made me very excited.

I have to lower the water level in the pool tonight, since they’re coming to close it tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that I do it right. The pool is totally Jim’s domain, but since he’s on the other side of the world I have to prepare it for the closing. Our friend Katie is coming over for a visit, so at least I won’t be alone when I ruin the pool forever. See how much confidence I have in myself?!?! I’m kidding. I’m sure it’ll be fine….no worries.

In other pool (or at least water-related) news…I’m making a pledge to use the hot tub more this year. I know, I know…it’s a great thing to have and most people think I’m nuts for not using it more often – but that’s why I’m changing my tune! I will use it more…really, I will.

Have a great day!

Better late than never....

Good GOD...if the rest of this week is anything like today, I'm SCREWED. :-)
As I mentioned before, Jim is in Germany until Friday, so I have to readjust my schedule in order to take care of Scooter in the morning. All of that went fine - but my commute, etc. after leaving the house was a mess! There were two trains cancelled, so I ended up leaving Bridgewater at 7:30 this morning. I didn't get into work until 9....then I had a 9:30 meeting, followed by a 10:30 meeting. I'm JUST getting a moment to 'myself' right now, and it's 11. Sweet Jesus, who do these people think I am?!!? Not to mention the fact that while I was standing on the train platform I dropped my travel mug. It's large and metal, so the sound it made as it slammed the pavement was extremely loud causing everyone to stop and turn. Keep in mind, we're talking 3 trains worth of people. Yikes....I definitely blushed my face off. My iced coffee went everywhere, including a few drops (literally...about 4 drops) that hit the woman standing a few feet in front of me. Thankfully, she wasn't standing closer, or she would have been soaked. I apologized profusely, but she was acting as if I had tapped her on the shoulder and dumped the contents of my mug over her head. She was all sighing, rolling her eyes and repeatedly checking her feet/flip-flops for coffee. TOTAL bitch. I've had the exact same thing happen to me except it was SCALDING hot coffee that someone dropped right next to me. It scared me, and my pants were covered in hot coffee, but I certainly wasn't pissed at the person for dropping it. Clearly is was an accident.
I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was in a bad mood because of the train situation, but if I see her tomorrow and she's rude to me, it's not going to be pretty.

So that was my morning. How are ya'll doin'?!?!?

Jim and I had a great weekend...we went to a super-fun BBQ on Saturday with my softball teammates and then spent yesterday lounging around the house before he took off for Germany. Speaking of, I'm a little sad. I hate when he's away.
I know the time will fly by and he'll be back before I know it....but I get lonely. :-( Meanwhile...Scooter has not left my side for one minute. Even when I'm in the bathroom, he's outside the door crying and pissed off because I won't let him in. He loves me and is a total attention whore. Excellent.

Anyway...that's all for now....Happy Monday.

PS....I have a dentist appointment this afternoon. Wish me luck.

Success!

I have a new pan.
It was relatively painless. I say relatively because when I went into the store, I was helped by a woman that I find completely irritating.
Quick story: Williams-Sonoma was one of the stores that Jim and I registered at before our wedding. One day during my lunch break, I was wandering through the store (the same one I just went to, in the mall downstairs) and I noticed something that caught my eye. Since there were plenty of shopping days left until our wedding, I decided to add it to the registry. A saleswoman came over to help me and when I told her that I wanted to add something to my registry, she completely tried to talk me out of it. She kept saying that it didn't cost that much and I could just buy it myself. What?!?! Bitch, mind your own damn business, and help me!!! Anyway, she FINALLY shut the hell up and helped me add it to my registry. Yeesh...what a loon.
Needless to say, she was the one that cornered me this morning.
I explained the issue to her and she went off on a tirade about how to cook with non-stick cookware. She was saying that it shouldn't be used over extremely high heat, it shouldn't be used in the oven, I should only use only wooden utensils on it, and that I should always use oil in the pan, even though it's non-stick.

A. I'm not the cook.
B. I think she's full of shit.

As she was talking, one of the managers (a very nice man I've chatted with before) came over, took one look at the pan, and said "Is this an exchange? That's fine, we should have plenty out back." She then shut her trap and went out back in search of a new pan.
She returned with the pan and proceeded to go about her business.
I quickly finished up the transaction with the manager and that was that.
Now I just have to get the damn thing home on the train.

Busy Little Beaver

Gross....I said beaver.

Anyway - I'm TOTALLY busy this morning and have a ton of work to do, but I wanted to at least write something to start off my morning. It makes me feel better.

I have to go to Williams-Sonoma later on this morning to return a piece of cookware that has gone to the dogs. Specifically, it's a Calphalon One Nonstick Saute Pan. Now, this is an AMAZING pan. However, the non-stick surface is no longer sticking to the pan. :-) Small problem.
Since Calphalon has a lifetime guarantee for all their cookware, I'm bringing that shit back and gettin' myself a new pan! Actually, it's not really for 'me' since I'm not the cook in the house, that would be Jim. But it was a wedding present, so it's still mine. Not that I've ever used it....but I could if I wanted to. Really, I could.
Anyway...I work right above a mall, and there's a Williams-Sonoma in said mall, so it's super easy for me to stop in and make the exchange. Although, I will admit it was a 'tad' inconvenient this morning trying to navigate through the subway carrying this big old pan, but the end result will be worth it. I'll be sure and let you know how that goes....hopefully it won't be too traumatic and can return it without incident.

In other news, the monitor for my PC at home is dead. WHAT?!?! How irritating. The thing that annoys the tar out of me is that I can't access any kind of 'fun' sites here at work (Facebook, YouTube, etc..) so I usually visit them at some point in the evening when I get home. Now I can't even do that?!!? Ridiculous. Thankfully, Jim is going to try and bring his monitor home from work, so that will at least be a short-term solution. It actually works out well because he won't need it at all next week, since he's going to be in Germany.

Yes, that's right. Germany.

Jim is going to Ger-ma-ny. He's leaving on Sunday and won't be back until Friday night. I'm a little jealous and already I'm completely overwhelmed at the thought of being a single parent for the week. I'm sure it'll be fine and at the very least make for some very entertaining blogging. OK, at least it'll be entertaining to me.
However, if he's going to be gone for a week and I'm monitor-less - I'm totally screwed.
Well, that's not entirely true....he's not taking his personal laptop with him, so I can use that...but I like MY computer....(insert whining baby noise).

Ta-ta for now (who's gay?) .
I'll write in a little while to keep you abreast (first beaver, now breast? What the hell?) of the Williams-Sonoma situation.

Don't forget, party at my house next week - Sunday through Friday.
;-)

I'm Still Here...

I went to see 'Follies' last night. It was VERY good. 'Follies' is one of those shows that people can talk about for hours. Maybe it's because it had such a rocky development? Maybe because it's so rarely done? Maybe it's because it's a Sondheim musical and people can talk for hours about any Sondheim musical? Who knows? Either way - I think, in spite of the show's 'problems', it's a good one; and the production currently playing at The Lyric Stage Company in Boston is great. (plug, plug, plug). I'd never had the opportunity to see a fully staged production, but I have seen it in concert, so I had an idea of what to expect. Being the musical theatre fan that I am, I've heard a number of the songs performed outside the context of the show as well as seen a video clip or two from time to time. I think the music is great, but there are a few problems I have with the 'book'. In addition to the book problems, I have some other issues with the show that aren't really worth mentioning....especially in public....in writing. :-)

If you're looking for something to do, and you're in the Boston area from now until October 11th, go and see the show. It's pretty rare to see this show being produced, and this is an excellent production.

Before going to the show, I had a totally dramatic afternoon. Whenever I have something to do in the Boston area after work, I generally drive to a train station (subway) closer to the city, as opposed to taking the commuter rail which is 5 minutes from my house. That way, I can leave work, hop on the subway, and then drive back into the city. It's much easier to get out of a show (for example) and drive home right away; rather than get out of a show and then wait for 3 different trains to get me home. Get it?

Anyway, after getting off the subway and into my car, I noticed that my phone was flashing a message ('Insert Smartcard') and wouldn't respond at all to my frantic button-pushing. Annoying. After a quick visit with my sister and her family, I headed over to the AT&T store to get some help. Thankfully, I had time and knew where the closest one was. I ended up having to buy a new 'Smartcard' - and the man working there was able to save all the phone numbers in my phone book!! YAHOO for the AT&T man!! That would have been a pain in the ass.

With my new phone in hand I headed into Boston. As I was driving along, about to get onto the highway, this IDIOT woman in front of me SLAMMED on her brakes and just stopped. I had plenty of time to stop, but it scared the hell out of me. So there she is, stopped in the middle of the road, trying to decide if she wants to get on the ramp or not. Really? Really. After lots of beeping from the folks behind me, and me yelling out loud to myself in the car "Move it! What the hell are you doing?!?!?" She decided that she did not want to get on the highway and she slowly rolled down the exit ramp to go and torture some other motorists on some suburban side street somewhere. I won't go into any details, but let's just say she was about 4 feet tall, and we were in North Quincy. Enough said.

I'm currently reading 'And The Band Played On' by Randy Shilts. It's all about 'Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic'. It's one of those books that I've always wanted to read, but the 605 pages always intimidated me. :-) I'm only at the beginning, and they're just discussing the very beginnings of what will soon become the AIDS epidemic. Here's a bit of the Wikipedia definition: "It chronicles the discovery and spread of HIV and AIDS with a special emphasis on government indifference and political infighting to what was initially perceived as a gay disease, that has impacted the United States and the world for decades after." I realize that it's told from a completely biased point of view, but I'm finding it fascinating so far. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Lastly...just a quick mention about the fact that today is September 11th. Yikes. I can't believe it was 7 years ago today. Crazy. It's something that I never thought I'd have to experience, but certainly something I'll never, ever forget.

Lipstick On A Pig

Oh my word....I was in hysterics watching the news this morning.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll keep it brief.
In a speech yesterday, Barack Obama made the following comment:

"You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

Of course the McCain/Palin camp is losing its mind over the whole thing, while I find it a hoot and half. To say that it wasn't intentional is silly. Of COURSE it was. Whoever reviewed/wrote Obama's speech knew that it would create a stir, and it certainly did. I think it's funny. I mean all he did was use a well known turn of phrase, right? Of course right. (Fiddler on the Roof, anyone?)
I'm sure this will be ALL OVER the news for the next day or two and then it will fade away.
It'll be interesting to see how many reports mention the fact that at one point, McCain used the exact same turn of phrase to describe Hillary's healthcare plan.....

I've got lots to do today at work, and then I'm joining some friends to see 'Follies' tonight at The Lyric Stage Company. Very exciting. I've never seen a fully staged production of it and I'm sure it will be fab.

Oh, and Scooter is just about back to normal! He's allowed to eat again, which he was VERY excited about, and he's finally keeping food inside him. :-)

A big happy birthday to my friend Scott in CA and a happy 20th wedding anniversary to my sister Donna and her husband Billy!!!!!

Scooter update...

I just talked to Jim and he assured me that Scooter is going to be OK.
The vet checked him out from tip to tail, and said that it looks like he has some sort of bacterial infection, most likely caused by something he ate. Since Scooter is always trying to eat stuff he finds (especially cat/wild animal poop from the back yard) I'm not entirely surprised. The vet gave him some fluids and put him on two different meds. One antibiotic and something to help settle his upset stomach. :-(
I'm happy to hear that there was no obstruction or anything like that. Not only is that extremely uncomfortable, but the surgery would be VERY expensive. Not that we wouldn't spend it to save the baby....I'm just happy we don't have to. :-)

That's all for now...I'm sure I'll write more if there's something to report.

Sick As A Dog....

Well, I'm worried SICK today. Poor little Scooter still isn't back to normal so Jim is working from home and taking him to the vet at noon. Poor little thing. He hasn't been 'right' since Friday and in addition to the diarrhea, he's thrown up a couple of times so we called the vet and we're bringing him in. He's not 'acting' sick...in that he's still running around, has energy and he seems very interested in eating. We made him some plain, white rice and he wants no part of it (not that I blame him....BO-RING). He keeps going over the his bowl and checking it out. I think he's expecting it to magically turn into something more appetizing. :-)

Keep your eyes peeled for a late-afternoon, post-vet update today.

Jim and I had a BUSY weekend. Friday night we skipped our usual trip to Ye Olde Standish Grill in order to go see my niece Victoria cheer at her first football game. She's just started her freshman year of high school and made the squad. She goes to an all-girls school, so they cheer for a local all-boys high school. Jim and I went to the game, but only stayed for the first half. We were able to see her cheer a number of times and since we were being endlessly attacked by mosquitoes - we got the hell out of there. Her team ended up losing, but apparently it was a very good game. She did a great job. I was very proud and look forward to seeing her again. YAY Victoria!!!

Saturday was the Jimmy Buffet concert. Now, don't get me wrong...I had a great time, but honestly, I wouldn't do it again. It was a super-expensive day for very little payoff.

There were 13 of us that went, and we pitched in to rent an RV for the day (great idea, by the way). We got to the parking area, set up, and started the party fairly early. Because Tropical Storm Hannah was heading our way - they moved the concert time up from 8pm to 3pm...which I think was an excellent idea.

Once we were set up, we drank, ate, ate, and then drank some more up until about 2:30 when we packed up most of the stuff and headed to the concert. Jim and I were sitting separately from everyone else, and had 'OK' seats. They weren't under cover, so as soon as it started pouring....we were wet. And it rained a lot. Then it rained again. At one point we just said 'screw it' and took off our shirts. So there we were, shirtless and enjoying Jimmy Buffet. I think the rain was the best part. :-) Now, I'm not the 'walk around shirtless' type, (unless I'm at my pool or the beach) but to be honest, it was so much more comfortable to be shirtless than to deal with a wet shirt hanging off my back. Of course at one point I turn around and sitting about 10 rows behind us were two people that Jim and I know! Crazy. As it turns out, they've been going to Jimmy Buffet concerts for the past 7 years or so. How weird that we're sitting right in front of them!?!?!? It's just further proof that I can't go anywhere without seeing people I know. :-)

When the concert was over, we made our way back to the RV, for some more grilling and beer. When the crowds cleared out a bit,we made our way home with a quick pit-stop at my sister's house for 'one more drink'. I had water...and more water.

Again, we had a really good time, but for the amount of money we spent in one day - we could have gone away for an entire weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for some pictures...I'm sure I'll post them eventually.

Sunday morning I woke up slightly hung-over and a lot tired. While Jim cleaned the backyard and pool (we had a TON of leaves, branches, etc. all over the place, thanks to Hannah) I cleaned the house in preparation for the in-laws coming over at 5pm to celebrate my mother in-law's birthday. We cleaned, we went shopping for a present and then went grocery shopping. It was fun.

Side note: I love grocery shopping...especially at Stop and Shop. I won't bore you with the specifics, but I love it there...oh - and there was some CRAZY-ASS mother there shopping with her three kids. She was screaming her head off at them the entire time, all the while she's pushing around two carriages. And when I say she was screaming, I'm not exaggerating...she was out of her mind. Granted, her kids seemed like they were a bit 'restless' but holy cow...everything that came out of her mouth was screamed. I was hysterical. My favorite part was when her oldest son knocked over about 5 glass jars of peanuts and she screamed "Help me pick those up!!!! We're getting the HELL out of here!!!" Awesome parenting.

Anywhoo - After shopping we headed home. I wrapped presents while Jim put away the groceries, everyone arrived, they swam, I grilled, we ate, we drank (no beer for me, thanks), we opened presents, we had cake and ice cream, we made s'mores. They all left, we cleaned, I made lunches, we collapsed onto the couch, watched 'Family Guy' and went to bed.

A good time was had by all .

Now I'm here....avoiding work and worrying about my puppy. I'll be in touch.....

Fridays Rule!

Well peeps, it's Friday.

Once again I'm here at my desk, wearing my jeans and looking forward to 4pm. :-)

Poor little Scooter has a touch of diarrhea. Wait, is that too gross to talk about? Oh well, get over it...I'm not going to go into any details...don't worry. Anyway...at 4:45 this morning, I woke up out of a sound sleep because I heard the little baby crying from inside his crate. Now, he NEVER makes a peep unless something is going on, so I knew he was trying to tell me something.

I got out of bed, threw on my glasses (I'm B-L-I-N-D without them) and saw that he was doing his 'Let me out of here, and be quick about it!' dance in his crate. I quickly put on a t-shirt, grabbed his collar, opened the crate, put on his collar and let him out the door. Well, he FLEW down the stairs. While I was putting on a pair of shorts and finding my flip-flops (side note: remember back in the 70's when we used to call them 'thongs'? That was before those other thongs took over the definition of the word) he kept running up to me to check on my progress look at me like "Bitch, hurry it up!!". I got his leash on, we headed out the door, and he RAN to the back of the yard. Phew! He made it.

When all was said and done, he seemed totally fine. We went back into the house where he patiently waited for me to get undressed and bring him upstairs. I opened the bedroom door and he ran right into his crate. I took off his collar and he was curled up in a ball before I even got back into bed. Good boy. :-)

At this point, it was 4:55 and my alarm was set to go off at 5:15. Shit. I hate that. I decided that 20 minutes is 20 minutes and I made the best of it. I fell asleep and with a quiet groan, woke up when my alarm went off.

Jim is working from home today so he'll take care of him if need be. Not that it's anything serious, but you never know. Scooter tends to eat anything and everything he comes across and Jim mentioned that he got into some unpleasant 'stuff' (again - no need for details) in the backyard yesterday, so I'm sure that's the cause. That dog is a lot of work, and we have to keep constant tabs on him...but he's awesome and I love him to death.

Jim and I are going to the Jimmy Buffet concert tomorrow. Now, we're not official 'Parrotheads' (which apparently are what the die-hard fans call themselves) but this summer Jim and I were down the Cape with my sister's family and their friends they told us they had some extra tickets and asked us if we were interested in going to the concert. They eventually talked us into it, with the promise of fun, fun, fun - so we're going. Of course, that was long before Tropical Storm Hannah reared her ugly, wet, and windy head. Because of her, the concert time was moved from 8pm to 3pm...which I think is SOOO much better (Act One Finale of Legally Blonde anybody? Nobody.). Hopefully the change in time will get us out of there before she hits. Not that we're expecting anything more than rain and some possibly strong winds, but it'll be nice to not have to deal with being soaked at the concert.

We're not exactly sure what to expect, but we're hoping we have fun. Look for a full report on Monday.

In other random news, I just read that Christy Carlson Romano is joining the Broadway cast of 'Avenue Q'. Now, being the COMPLETE musical theatre freak that I am, I know her from her career as a 'Broadway Kid' in such shows as 'The Will Rogers Follies', 'The Sound of Music' and 'Parade'....she also eventually went on to be one of several Broadway Belles in 'Beauty and the Beast'. The general public (especially those with children) would know her as the voice of Kim Possible on the Disney animated series Kim Possible. I didn't know that she's also a published author, but apparently she is. Very cool.

The thing I love is that by casting her in this show, they CLEARLY they aren't casting her for her Disney fan base. In case you aren't aware, 'Avenue Q' is a very adult musical. Christy will be simulating full-on puppet sex, while operating a totally nude, female, monster puppet. Go Disney! :-)

I'm sure all the loons over at All That Chat (on Talkinbroadway.com) will still be screaming about stunt casting. Maybe they'll surprise me...but I highly doubt it.

That's all for now...have a wild and crazy (but safe!) weekend.

PS - Kitchen Nightmares had it's season premiere last night. It was awesome...and yes, I cried. More than once....which I'm totally fine with.

I'm back....

I'm back!! Ok, it was only one day - but still....I'd been writing every day, so to suddenly disappear must have been JARRING to all my readers. Or is that reader? Anyway....I had nothing to write about yesterday, and I was fairly busy at work so there you have it. No blog entry.

Well, it's Thursday (yay!), Jim got his camera back, and I took a moment to send myself the [title of show] pictures to my work address, so I could publish them here and share them with the world.

Again - Loved the show....loved the people.....go. see. it. NOW!!!

This is Jeff and I....he plays 'Jeff' in the show....and he also wrote all the music and lyrics.....AMAZING!!!!

This is Jim and I with Jeff....Jim is my husband. :-) PS - In this picture, I think Heidi looks like a news reporter, rushing to catch up with someone before they take off....I don't know why that's the first thing to come to my mind when I see it, but it is.

This is Jim, Heidi, Hunter, and I. Heidi plays 'Heidi'. She's got a killer voice, she's GORGEOUS and absolutely perfect in the show. Hunter plays 'Hunter'. He's also the book writer of the show, which means that he's the brains behind 90% of the hysterical stuff going on up there....again, so funny, excellent voice, and totally adorable. I love the red-heads, what can I say???

This is Jim and I with Susan. She plays 'Susan'. She is a riot, she's a super-excellent actress, and she's responsible for writing the lyrics/overall idea behind one of my favorite songs in the show 'Die, Vampire, Die!!!'. She's super hip and cool.

We didn't get our picture taken with Larry, the crazy-good musical director/on-stage pianist/entire band. However, just like the rest of the cast - he was incredibly talented and nicer than nice when we met him. It was a great, great day.

It's almost the weekend.....start getting ready....now.

PS - I heard a clip or two from that horrid woman's speech last night (Sarah Palin) and I think she's revolting. Just the little bit I heard got me so angry, I'm glad I didn't sit through the entire thing. Gross.

It's Tuesday....It's Tuesday....

These long weekends TOTALLY screw me up. Of course, I'm not complaining about it, but I'm completely thrown off. Even last night I was expecting to sit down to my usual Sunday night 'shows' - but because it was Monday night, they weren't on. :-)

Anyway - I had a GREAT weekend. Friday night, Jim and I went to our usual hang-out 'Ye Olde Standish Grille' for dinner and a few (dozen) drinks. We sat at the bar and after eating, we hung out for a while and watched the Red Sox game. Of course, that's our downfall. Any time we're there for dinner and the Red Sox game is on, we inevitably end up staying longer and drinking more than we should so we can watch the game. It's a fun place and the waitstaff/bartenders like us, so we keep coming back for more. After we left there, we went home and continued to drink out on the back porch while playing Skip-Bo.
It was totally one of those moments where Jim and I sit back and look at how lucky we are. There we were, sitting on our screened in porch, in our house, with our dog running around, looking over at our pool on one side and our hot tub on the other. It was awesome. If someone had told me 5 years ago that I'd be a married homeowner in 2008 I'd have never thought it possible. Lucky, lucky me. :-)

Saturday morning Jim and I got up early and headed for NH to meet up with Guy and Kerry and their two kids. We met up with them (at their house in Merrimack) and then made the trip over to our friend Leah's parents house. They have an AMAZING house, pool, yard, etc...and we were spending the day there. It was so much fun. First of all the house and yard are beautiful. It's like spending the day at a resort. And they have the 2 cutest dogs in the world. We ate like pigs and had a great time. Since Scooter was home alone for most of the day, we left fairly early - but still, we had so much fun.

Sunday morning we got up early (again), packed up all of Scooter's things (as well as ours)
and headed to the Cape for the day. We arrived at Jim's parent's house around 10am and again, had a great day. Scooter was with us so we didn't have to worry about getting home in a rush. We went to the beach for a while, went back to the cottage for snacks and drinks, went out on the boat and went tubing for a while. While tubing was VERY fun - I'm now sore because of it. OLD MAN!!! Anyway - After spending some time on the boat, we returned to the cottage for more relaxation and a yummy dinner. After dinner we played a quick game of Trivial Pursuit then Jim and I headed home. Since we were exhausted and had a LONG day...we went right to bed. Being elderly is fun.

Monday was another beautiful day spent mostly running errands and preparing for the week. We went grocery shopping early in the day, had lunch and then while I read by the pool (in the shade, since I got a LOT of sun on Sunday) Jim swam with Scooter. They both love to swim, and Scooter is getting VERY good at it. It's so cute to watch the two of them swimming together. After swimming, Jim and I ran to Lowe's and Target. We didn't buy anything, other than a new belt for me (yay!) and peanut butter (which we forgot to get while grocery shopping). I'm sure the cashier thought we were crazy seeing us come through the line with a black, dress belt and a jar of reduced fat, extra-chunky peanut butter. :-) We decided to end our long weekend with a bang - and ordered Chinese food. I know, I know...SOOOOO bad for us, but it's been a while since we've had it, and we're back to eating healthy this morning.

Speaking of....I have GOT to stop writing and get to work.
Right after I have my breakfast. :-)

PS - I'll post some pictures from the weekend...and from the [title of show] trip, as soon as Jim downloads them from the camera for me.