Blogging from home....say what!?!?!?

Hello from my home office!

Crazy, huh? Usually I'm as my desk at work when I'm blogging, but because I'm on vacation - I decided to take a little time out of my crazy ass, busy day to Blog for y'all!!
Instead of sitting in my cube in a pair of dress slacks (love that word) and a collared shirt, I'm at my desk in the home office, wearing nothing at all!

I'm kidding...I'm not naked!! But I am wearing a t-shirt, running pants, and sneakers!
Yay for comfy clothes!

We had a super fun, but busy weekend followed by a non-stop, yard-work filled Monday.

On Saturday, Jim and I met up with some college friends for our yearly trip to the Yankee Candle flagship store in South Deerfield, MA. It has been a yearly tradition for a number of years now and we LOVE it. For those of you who don't know, it's a H-U-G-E building full of all things Yankee Candle. They also have places to get snacks, food, AMAZING fudge, Department 56 village stuff, make your own candles, get your picture taken with Santa, etc..etc....it's a blast. We go every year, spend a ton of money, laugh and have a great time. That took up all of Saturday (day and night) so we pretty much got home and went to bed.

Sunday morning we got up, went grocery shopping and while Jim made meatballs, sausages and sauce, I lounged on the couch watching TV. Since we aren't going to seen any of Jim's family for Thanksgiving, we invited them all over for dinner that night. We ate a lot of food, picked names for both a 'stocking person' and a 'big gift person' and then they were on their way.
Since there are so many people involved (9 adults, 4 kids), we now pick names so you end up filling a stocking for one person and buying a 'big' gift for one person - as opposed to buying 13 big gifts. We still buy smaller, less expensive gifts for everyone else and buy the kids 'regular' gifts, but not having to buy 13 'big' gifts is a very nice thing.
Yesterday, Jim took Scooter to daycare and I did a ton of yard work. Jim is usually the one who does all the yard work, but since he was at work and it needed to be done, I did it. I'm glad that I did too. Jim was very happy that it was done.
I took all the pool furniture and everything from the back (screened in) porch and put it in the cellar, then I raked out the entire pool area and let me tell you, there were a LOT of leaves out there. It was really annoying. Once that was all raked, I swept the whole area, rearranged and vacuumed the porch and then did one last raking of the backyard. I really wanted to get it done not only before we leave for Florida, but because I knew it was going to POUR today and I wouldn't be able to do it when it was raining. As it turns out, it was a good thing because sure enough, it is torrential out there.
Yay me!

OK -I have GOT to get a move on....I'm going to clean the house today, meet Jim and Scooter for lunch - yes, it's 'bring your dog to work day' today at Jim's job, God help us....then I have to continue cleaning.

I'll try and write while I'm away, but if I'm not writing for a while, please don't forget about me...I'll miss you all terribly while I'm basking on a Florida beach. :-)

One day more....

Another day, another destiny....

Les Mis anyone?
I can't wait for the next revival in 2011. I'm kidding.
I'm planning on avoiding that musical for while. You can bet your bottom dollar (Annie anyone?) that once the rights become available for community theatres to start producing it, there are going to be more productions of Les Miserables going on at one time than there are Dunkin' Donuts on Route 18.
For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll explain:
When the time comes that community theatres are allowed to produce Les Mis, every theatre on the planet will be doing it.
I can't wait until I see a 42 year old, 350 pound Eponine singing 'On My Own', completely in her head voice. Come on...you know it will happen.
There's only one community theatre in the greater Boston area that should be allowed to produce it...and you know who you are. Only THEN will I see it, so get crackin'.

I apologize for that completely random, musical theatre blog-jacking....crazy.
And did you notice that there were TWO separate musical theatre references thrown in there? Les Mis AND Annie?
Clearly, I'm a man obsessed.

So - today is Friday and the last day of work before my vacation begins. I'm wicked excited.

Note: in this case, the use of wicked is a Boston area slang reference, not a musical theatre reference.

I'm excited not only because I seriously need a break from work, but because I get to see my dad, step-mother and one of my best friends while I'm away. I haven't seen my friend in SO long, and I've never been down to visit him in the time that he's lived in Florida...the same goes for my parents place. They've had it for years now, and I've never been down to see it. I see them often (when they're home for the summers) but I've never visited them in Florida.
It's all VERY exciting.

OK ya'll....I'm signing off for now, but you'll certainly hear from me before we take off on Wednesday night.

Have a great weekend!!!

This just in...

The oil man is coming to fill up the tank and get the furnace going!

In other news....our computer at home is possibly dead to the world.

That would really suck....but at least we have heat. :-)

Lucky, lucky me

Remember that time I woke up and there was no heat or hot water in my house?
That was nice.

Yes folks....I woke up this morning to no heat and no hot water.
This calls for a celebration!!!!

Seriously though....it was C-O-L-D in our house this morning. It was around 58-60 degrees but it felt a lot colder. I gently woke Jim up to let him know, and then went downstairs to get ready for work....as best I could. I'm pretty sure it's just that we're out of oil...apparently it was a tad lower than we though. Ooops. Jim will call them when he gets up and hopefully they'll be able to come by today, fill us up, and re-start the furnace. I'll keep you posted.

I decided that taking an ice cold shower was NOT an option, so I did my best to 'wash up' in the sink...all the while trying not to scream because the water was SO incredibly cold. My biggest concern was that poor Scooter was going to be stuck in a freezing cold house all day. However, Jim reminded me (in his dreamlike state) that today is a daycare day - so thankfully Scooter will be all toasty and warm. Of course, we could have just thrown a sweater on him and called it a day, but knowing him, he would have eaten half of it by the time we got home from work.

Can I just say that I'm in LOVE with facebook? Sure, it's totally overwhelming at times - and I know....you run the risk of getting 'friend requests' from people that you want nothing to do with, but I love that it allows you to reconnect with people from your past. I think it's a great way to get a quick update from people you haven't seen in a long time without having to commit to anything 'long term'. :-) As a fun example, I just reconnected with someone from high school who I haven't heard from in years and as it turns out, she lives about 10 minutes away from me and we've been taking the same train as one another for about a year. I saw her this morning and we had a brief chat...she looks great and is doing well. Yay facebook!!

OK....time to get busy. I only have to get through today and tomorrow, and then the fun begins!!!!

A little perspective?

First thing - A BIG congrats to Dustin Pedroia for being named the American League MVP. He's an amazing player and had an outstanding season...and I have to say it - I think he's a cutie.

Beginning this week, the daily parking rates increased by $2 at all MBTA affiliated parking lots. In my case, I went from paying $2 a day, to paying $4 a day. In some places, it now costs $7 a day to park your car. I'm already paying $223 a month for my commuter rail pass, and now I'm being asked to pay $4 a day to leave my car in an unattended lot while I toil away at work? Excellent.

Clearly I'm going to pay it, because I really have no other options. Parking in Boston is WAY too expensive (not to mention paying for gas) and I'm not about to walk 45 minutes (if not longer) to the train station each morning.

So, my question is this. What's it like in other cities? Am I paying very little in comparison to other places? Keep in mind I live 45 minutes outside of Boston, and my current commute is just about 1 1/2 hours, door to door...so I'm wondering what a similar commute would cost in other cities. It would be nice to know that we're not alone in this situation and who knows? Maybe we have it good. That would make me feel better.

Again...I'm not totally complaining, I'm just curious. At least I have a job to commute to! :-)

Last night was fun...Jim and I had dinner and then pretty much didn't do a damn thing but watch TV (one load of laundry doesn't really count). After watching some Family Guy re-runs I watched House and Fringe. House is a long-time favorite of mine and it was a pretty good episode last night. Fringe is growing on me (don't I WISH!!) but I'm still not totally in love with it. It certainly has it's moments, but it also has it's flaws...don't we all. :-) Jim spent HOURS upstairs scanning old photos, so I'm sure his facebook profile with be chock full of memories within the next few days. I have to do that as well. I've got a lot of great pictures that I'm sure all my friends would LOVE to see, and my facebook profile is seriously lacking in the photo department.

OK....enough blabbering. I'm getting some coffee and getting back to work.

Have a lovely day!!!

Oh my nerves....

Work is making me lose my mind this morning. I'm generally a VERY patient person, but today this place is driving me out of my mind.

Maybe it's because I'm hangry* and therefore extra-sensitive.

*hungry + angry....thank you Hunter Bell, book writer for Broadway's [title of show] for coming up with this ever-so-fitting and useful word. :-)

Or maybe it's because I haven't enough coffee?
Or maybe it's because I work with a lot of irritating people.
Yes, that's it.

Incidentally...if you're reading this blog and I work with you...you can pretty much bet that I'm not talking about you.

Anyway...I'm not going to let them bring me down.

It looks like it's a BEAUTIFUL day outside. Yes, it was wicked cold out this morning but it looks so nice out. The sky is blue, it's sunny out, and it's about 500 degrees at my desk. Good thing I wore that sweater! Sweet Jesus...I'm losing weight as I type. Apparently I'm going to have to shed a layer or two...

I think I'm going to sneak out and run to the bank...yes...since I started writing this entry I've been going back and forth between typing and testing, and I've found yet another problem.
While they fix it (or try to) I'm going to take advantage of this free moment and run an errand.

Sorry to leave you all hanging...but I have to strike while the iron is hot!

And speaking of hot....

Let the countdown begin!

Five more days (including today) and I'm on vacation for two weeks!!!
BRILLIANT!
I can't tell you how excited I am.


That being said, I had a delightful, relaxing weekend.

After having dinner and running into just about all of my in-laws at the Grille on Friday night, Jim and I went home and played cards for a while, (not real cards, but Skip-Bo and UNO) had some more drinks :-) and then went to bed.


Saturday morning we slept in, had breakfast and finished up cleaning the cellar.
It looks GREAT. It's so nice to have it organized and clean...and no more spiders!
For now at least. The next step is to get all the patio furniture/summer stuff down there and make an attempt to keep it clean and neat. It will be a challenge, but I think we can do it.
Once the cellar was cleaned, we lounged around for a bit and then I got ready for the benefit, which was SO much fun.
Not only did I get to sit with and play catch-up with a group of my hometown friends, but one of the girls at the table was someone who was in my Kindergarten class. CRAZY. I don't think I've talked to her since then. Awesome. The food was yummy, the cake they had was awesome (I was kind of obsessed with the frosting) and to top it all off, I won a fleece as a door prize. Seriously.
The best part about winning it was that I quickly realized that a group of people at my table are clearly faithful blog readers. As soon as they saw what I won, they were JUST as excited as I was, knowing the serious TRAUMA I went though when I had my fleece stolen from the work coat closet earlier this year.
YAY for blog readers with excellent blog entry recall!!! And yay for me not having to freeze at my desk this winter!!
I do have pictures from the benefit, but I have to either send them to myself at work and post them on here - or write an entry from home and post them at that time. You think it's easy to be me? Well, it ain't.


I got home fairly early on Saturday night and Jim was still awake, so we watched Saturday Night Live together. I still laugh at the show, even though it's really inconsistent. I laugh hysterically at some things, but others just make me cringe. Here are a few things that I'm going to share with ya'll. I love Beyonce...she's so talented and really fun to watch. Kristin Wiig makes me laugh, even when she's stuck in a not-so-funny skit (which happens quite often). Justin Timberlake is totally gay. I (obviously) don't think it's a bad thing at all....I think he's super cute and talented and funny and g-a-y.


Sunday morning Jim and I got up and went grocery shopping early which was nice (not to mention necessary - the cupboards were BARE) and then had some time to relax on the couch, watch TV, and play with the pooch. Jim made chicken salad for lunch (yum!) while I took Scooter for a walk. After lunch we took showers, met up with a few softball friends (K, J, and Dr. S) at Fritz (yay Fritz!) and headed up to go visit Kevin (our second baseman), who just had ACL surgery (just like pretty-boy Patriot, Tom Brady). He's staying at his mom's house and is pretty much house-bound, so we all got together to visit him. We drank beer, watched football and ate pizza. It was very fun.
The description of his surgery was totally cringe-inducing, but it didn't look bad at all. He's getting around ok on one crutch, but he still can't drive which is making him crazy...but he's healing well...and looks fabulous. We all wish him a speedy recovery!
Hopefully he'll be back to his old self soon and on the field with us in fine form next season....if not slightly better (we can only hope).
KIDDING!!! He's a great player, and so much fun...and he likes to drink with me. :-)


Well, it's Monday - and I'm going to keep myself busy in an attempt to make this week FLY by!!!


HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY to M's little girl Ava!!!
One of the cutest - and possibly the most photographed :-) little girls I know.


Here's a team picture from this past season for your enjoyment...one of our 'fun' shots.

Book 'em Dan-O!

Jim and I have booked our hotel! Very exciting.

Like I said, this is the first 'real' vacation we've taken since our honeymoon (three years ago!) so we're extremely excited and very deserving of a vacation.

This is where we're staying (the building in the middle):

And here's a view from one of the balconies:

I've seen some other pictures as well, and it looks quite nice. I'm not all that picky when it comes to hotel rooms, so I'm sure I'll be THRILLED!

It's Friday, and although it's a bit 'drizzly' out it's not cold at all, and I'm in a very good mood. :-)

Here I sit, in my flannel shirt and jeans ready to start the day. I started reading a really good book on the train this morning. It's called 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time' written by Mark Haddon. One of my co-workers suggested it to me a while ago, and after MANY failed attempts at locating it in the liberry (don't you love that?), it was finally in when I went over there yesterday. One of the times I looked for it before, I came across another book by the same author called 'A Spot of Bother' which I just finished last night. It was pretty good. I like his writing style a lot and it was a fun and funny novel. As I was reading it, I kept thinking that it would make a very funny movie. Something along the lines of 'Meet the Parents' or 'Sixteen Candles'. You know the type...a 'crazy' family trying to plan a wedding and all sorts of wacky things happen to everyone....fun.

Anywhoo....the book I'm reading now is a 'murder mystery' but the murder victim is a poodle, and the entire story is being told from the point of view of a 15 year old autistic boy who had decided to solve the crime. He's the one who discovered the dead dog, and at the suggestion of one of his teachers, is writing a novel about the whole experience. So far (I'm only on page 78) it's VERY good. I'll keep you posted.

My cold is getting better (although I'm a tad headache-y this morning) so I'm hoping that the worst of my cold is over with. It seems that a lot of people at work are going through the same thing. At certain times of the day you'd think that I was sitting in the TB ward...coughing and hacking as far as the ear can hear. Lovely.

Well peeps (I love Peeps) it's time for me to grab a cup of coffee and get to work...I have a fairly laid-back weekend coming up. Jim and I are going to finish up the cellar cleaning tomorrow (we got half of it done last night, and it looks wicked pissa so fah) and then tomorrow night I'm heading to a benefit dinner/dancing/silent auction event that a friend of mine is organizing for her nephew. THAT should be fun...and I'll be sure to bring my camera!!! I have no idea what we're doing on Sunday - but I'm sure it'll be fun and exciting. :-)

Have a GREAT weekend and don't do anything I wouldn't do...such as:

Or this:

Rain irritates me...

It's raining out and I'm annoyed. It would be one thing if I were cuddled up on the couch watching TV, or lounging in front of the fireplace, but come on people!!!

I have things to do, and I don't need to be wet when I do them.

Thankfully, I can get from work to the train without getting wet (thanks to that nifty underground tunnel that runs under the road) and then I can still stay dry when I switch trains (both times) but there is no way for me to get from the train to my car without getting wet, and that annoys me. I suppose I'll just have to get over it, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm at all happy about it.

It could be worse. I could be going to the Patriots game tonight. THAT would be a nightmare.

Sitting in the stadium in the wet and cold? No thank you. I'd much rather sit on the couch and watch the game in the comfort of my living room.

Have I mentioned that horrible, HORRIBLE performer on the train platform lately? I don't think I have. Well, he's still there just about every morning and he's still absolutely horrendous.

That concludes my train performer update for the week.

Jim and I are planning on cleaning the cellar tonight. If I may be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Mostly because it's messy (hence the reason it needs cleaning), and who the heck wants to clean the cellar??

Just like everything else I dread, I'm sure it'll be fine and not nearly as torturous as I'm building it up to be. I tend to do that....it's the drama queen in me.

What else???

Work is work....people are all worried about layoffs, and the latest rumor is that December 3rd is the date that the axe will swing. I'll be romping about on a Florida beach on December 3rd, so hopefully I'm not getting laid off. However, if I am being let go, apparently I'll be in for a very RUDE awakening upon my return. What can you do? No sense in worrying about it.

Of course, if I do get laid off, that means a LOT more reading for you folks - and a lot more bitching from me. :-)

I'm kidding...I'll keep thinking positive thoughts and hopefully it will all work out in my favor.

Is it me or do a lot of people walk really slowly? I think of this every morning as I try to get to work. I'm constantly stuck behind the slowest walkers in the city. This makes me think that maybe I'm a faster walker than most people. Although I don't notice it when I'm out for a leisurely walk with friends. It's not like I'm walking 20 feet in front of everyone else screaming behind me for them to 'catch up', but when I'm trying to walk to catch a train (for example) it's as if I'm being held back by a wall of people who are DETERMINED not to let me pass. It's as if they're all in cahoots with one another; creating some sort of human wall who's main goal is to annoy me. And it works very well. Add that to the talentless man 'singing' on the platform and you've got one hell of a commute. No WONDER I'm so cranky some mornings!!!

Did y'all hear about that poor, crazy-assed fan of Paula Abdul's that killed herself out in front of Paula's house? That is just nuts. Clearly she wasn't well. I mean, first of all, she's all ga-ga over Paula Abdul which is odd in and of itself, but then to commit suicide in front of Paula's house? Talk about the icing on the fruitcake. When stuff like that happens, I feel so badly for the poor girl's family. CLEARLY there was a lot going on with her and she wasn't getting the help she needed.

I'll have to check out the news tonight and see if there's anymore important info. I'm missing...but it's just sad, sad, sad.

Well, that's all for now....I have to take off soon and make an attempt to stay dry.

Tomorrow is Friday and I'm just as pleased as punch!!!

Suggestions welcome

OK, I admit it....I left work a little early yesterday. I ran into an issue, and since everyone who could help me was out of the office, there was really no point in me sticking around doing nothing.
I only left an hour early, so it's not like I took a half day or anything, so back off and stop judging!!!

I got home yesterday and Jim had done a TON of yard work. There was not a leaf to be seen in the front or side yard. It looked SO great. As it turns out, he spent about 6 hours doing it.
Thanks dear!!!

Not only that, but he then proceeded to make a chicken, spinach and butternut squash risotto for dinner that was 'simply delicioso' (Food Network anyone?). Lucky, lucky me.
After dinner, I cleaned up (it was the least I could do) and Jim went online to try and find us a hotel to stay in down in Florida.

Oh....did I not mention that we're going on VACATION?!?!?!?








Yes, it's true....we're actually going on a vacation.

The last time I went on an actual vacation (you know, where you fly somewhere and stay in a hotel) was our honeymoon over 3 years ago.
Needless to say, it's LONG overdue.

We're going to spend Thanksgiving with my dad and step-mother in Fort Myers (that's in Florida - just in case Miss Teen South Carolina is reading this) then after a couple of days we're driving down to Miami Beach to visit one of my best friends for a few days (we've been friends since before kindergarten) and then returning to Fort Myers to hang with the folks for a few more days. We're very excited.


This is where you - my faithful readers (assuming there are people actually reading) - come into play.

If any of you have any suggestions as to where we should stay in South Beach (or reasonably close to it) please let me know. Feel free to ask your friends and get back to us....but make it quick - we're trying to make our reservations as soon as possible. :-)

We're also interested if you know of any places that should be avoided as well...that's just as important. And yes, we're asking my friend's opinion as well, since he lives there and all, but I wanted to put it out there for all of you to think about. I'm sure some of you have either been there, or know people who have - so get crackin'!!!!


Florida, here we come!

Work Schmerk.....

OK, this work thing is really getting old. Could I BE busier?!?! I don't think so.

Not to mention the fact that it's CLEARLY affecting my Blogging schedule! :-)

Of course, I'm kidding. I'm totally grateful that I have a job....especially given the current economic conditions. I may be busy as all get out, but I'm no fool. I'd rather be busy at work than busy trying to find a job.

There are constant rumors here at work about layoffs, but I'm keeping everything crossed that I remain unaffected. Here's hoping!

Anyway...I owe you all a 'weekend update' so here it is.

It was a fairly uneventful weekend, and it went by WAY too fast, but we got a lot accomplished.

Friday night Jim and I met his parents for dinner at (say it with me....) Ye Olde Standish Grille, followed by a rousing game of YAHTZEE!! at his sister's house. That game is FUN. Thank God I enjoy spending time with my in-laws, or it could be hell on earth.

I'm still battling this hideous cold, so I was not up for a late night. We only played one game and then promptly headed home and went to bed.

Saturday we spent the day cleaning the house, doing laundry and then Jim did a little 'rearranging' of the guest room upstairs. It looks great and feels much bigger. I love that.

At around 3:30, Jim and I headed up to Billerica to visit a couple of friends from my softball team. YAY! We met at their house, hung around there for a bit and then headed to the Burlington Mall for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Knowing that it would be a crazy wait, we checked in and then had PLENTY of time to wander around the mall.

Speaking of the mall....do I really need to see SANTA on November 8th? Really?

Whatever...he was there in all his glory and there were people in line with their kids getting their pictures taken with him, so clearly there's a need.

After wandering around and doing some window shopping, we returned to the waiting area at the restaurant and waited to be 'buzzed'. We ended up getting a booth, which was nice, and as usual the food (and cheesecake) were quite good.

Normally I would NEVER wait that long for a table, especially at a place like The Cheesecake Factory, but it was more about the company than anything else. The food isn't all that spectacular, and the atmosphere is crazy, crowded and loud, but it allowed us to spend time with our friends and enjoy a nice night away from home. It was very fun.

After dinner we went back to their house and played a couple of games. Pictionary (which I haven't played in a LONG time - KNAPSACK!!! KNAPSACK!!!!) and Taboo. Apparently all the time we spend playing games with the Sullivans really paid off, as Jim and I won both games (quite easily, I may add) :-) Since we had a while to drive, we didn't stay too late and returned home to a sleepy puppy who, as always, was very happy to see us.

Sunday morning I had to get up early and go to a meeting for softball, so I did that and then returned home to find Jim knee deep (literally) in leaves. I changed into my 'yard work clothing' to begin raking and hauling leaves. Thankfully, because of where we live, we can just rake them to the back of the yard and into the woods (Sondheim anyone?) behind our house. The amount of leaves in our backyard is really quite amazing. If I had to bag them, I'd probably lose my mind. It took us a while, but it's DONE.

No more shuffling through the leaves to take Scooter out back, and I think he's happy to not have to wade through the leaves to go out and do his 'business'.

After raking, we headed to the grocery store, did our weekly shopping (which included a brief rendezvous with a local musical theatre diva who met us in aisle 7 to pick up a copy of a cd I had made for an upcoming audition she has...fun) and we returned home where Jim proceeded to make his very own version of schnitzel with noodles (Rodgers and Hammerstein anyone?) for dinner. It was SOOOO good, and made an excellent dinner again last night.....and if there was any left, I'd have it again tonight. Seriously...it was that good.

Today is Veteran's Day and while it's not a holiday for me - there are lots of people it IS a holiday for. Jim is home and all my school teacher type friends are home as well.

I'm a little jealous....but I know I'll get a lot done today without all those pesky interruptions. :-)

If you see a vet today...thank them...I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

Just make sure it's the kind that went to war and not the kind that can diagnose kennel cough...that would be a little awkward.

In the spirit of my post...here are some pictures from last year's leaf raking extravaganza.

Oh....speaking of Scooter (really, when am I NOT speaking of Scooter?)....he's been wearing his new sweater on his walks the past few days.

It's been pretty darn cold around these parts, and I think he loves wearing it.

Really...he does.

Zzzzzzzz....

The good news is that Jim made it home safely. The bad news is, he got home at about 2am.

Being the AMAZING husband that I am :-) I waited up for him....or does that just make me an idiot?
Either way, he's home and I'm happy about it.

Work has been nuts-o, which is why I didn't write yesterday.
As of this moment, I'm doing some processing, which allows me to blog whilst I wait.
Lucky, lucky you!

I just finished reading Faggots, a novel written by Larry Kramer. I'd never heard of it until I was reading And The Band Played On, and they mentioned it several times. It was written in 1978 and when it was published, it apparently caused a ruckus in the gay community. Lots of people thought that Mr. Kramer depicted the gays in a 'not so positive light' and they accused him of being a self-loathing homo who did more harm than good for the gays.
After reading it, I can see why they got a little upset, but honestly - I don't think he said anything that wasn't true. At least from what I've heard about gay life 'back then'. When it was written I was most definitely a homo in training, but at 6 years old, I was certainly not out on Fire Island celebrating the upcoming summer months. :-)
I enjoyed the book and if you're looking a little something to read, I suggest it.

OK - I'm going back to work....my stuff is almost done processing.

Have a great weekend!!!

Mixed Emotions...

YAY OBAMA!!!!

I'm very excited that history was made last night and I'm happy to say that I was a part of it.

I'm also happy that the votes all went 'my way' as far as Questions 1, 2, and 3 are concerned.

Unfortunately, I'm not so thrilled with some of the results across the country.

Anti-gay laws were passed in Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida. Gross.

In addition, although it hasn't been confirmed by the press as of right now, it looks like the big one, Proposition 8 in California (the prop. to ban gay marriage) is going to pass as well.

Yuck.

It makes me very sad and yes, I cant help but take it personally.

I get VERY angry when I talk about it, so I'm not going to get into it.

I'm going to try and remain focused on the positive things going on around me and not allow those hate-filled people to get me down.

To those of you living in the affected states - keep fighting and stay positive!!!

Or move to Massachusetts. :-)

In other news, I'm going to see a show tonight!! YAY for live theatre!

I'm seeing the David Mamet play 'November' - which, as you could guess, is a political comedy.

My good friend Will is in it, and I'm SURE it'll be great.

Happy Wednesday...and keep smiling.

Did you miss me??

So much to say.

I didn’t get a chance to Blog yesterday because I got to work late and it was non-stop excitement from the time I walked in the door. (That’s sarcasm, people)
Jim is once again traveling for work and will gone until Thursday.
This time he’s in San Francisco attending a conference…and I’m home, tending to the pooch and the other things that need tending.

Hmmmm, let’s see.
The weekend.

Friday was Halloween and we only had abut 14 kids come to the house lookin’ for treats. Included in that number was a group of four kids and three adults….the adults were in costumes and trick or treating as well. Really? At first, I wasn’t sure if they were adults or just really big teens, but as it turns out they were definitely trick or treating adults. Two witches and a Jason (of ‘Friday the 13th’ fame). Whatever….at least they were in costume and not just looking for handouts.
Around 8:30 or so, Jim and I ‘packed it in’ and headed to the Grille for dinner. At the Grille we ran into Jim’s sister, her husband and their oldest daughter who were there eating as well. I love that place. Have I mentioned it before? I‘m pretty sure I have, but it bears repeating. Love it.

Saturday morning we got up and I took my car to get an oil change while Jim stayed home and packed for his trip. When I got home, we threw together an overnight bag for the two of us (as well as one for Scooter), loaded up the car, dropped Scooter off at doggie daycare and started the trek to Connecticut.
If I hadn’t mentioned it before, Jim and I went to his cousin’s wedding in Connecticut Saturday night.
It was about a 2 1/2 hour ride and once we got there (around noon), we were pleased to find that we were able to check into the hotel right away, as opposed to waiting for the 3pm check in time. Happy days!
I loved the room we ended up with. We had a delightful sitting area, a refrigerator, a microwave and a big-ass bed…very comfy. Within a half hour of our arrival, the rest of Jim’s family arrived. We packed ourselves into a couple of cars and went in search of lunch. After a few unsuccessful stops (dive after dive), we found ourselves at the local mall, which was home to a Red Robin. I was especially excited, because I’ve never been to one and only know them from their commercials (Red Robinnnn!)
Aside from the fact that we had the DUMBEST waitress alive, it was a very pleasant experience…and the food was really good.
Don’t get me wrong, our waitress was very nice, but dumber than a box of hair...to the point that I was feeling bad for her. Anyway, we managed to survive the dim waitress and returned to the hotel (after stopping to grab some beers for the hotel room) to play a few games of ‘Left, Right, Center’ as well as ‘He Said, She Said’.
I’m not going to get into the Sullivan family and their game playing…that’s a blog for another day. Suffice it to say, that anywhere the Sullivans are, games will be played.
Once the games were finished, we split up and got ready for the wedding.

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL.
Not only was it a super-quick ceremony, (which I LOVED) but it was held in a quaint, little chapel on the grounds of the reception site which was beautiful.
Immediately following the ceremony, we walked over to the ballroom, ‘checked in’ and found our table. Jim and I were seated with his entire family (9 people all together) so it worked out great. Not that I don’t like sitting with ‘strangers’ at a wedding, but it’s always nice to sit with an entire table of people you already know. :-)
It was open bar all night (excellent) and there was more food than I’ve ever seen a wedding in my life. They had a TON of hot and cold appetizers, (passed, as well as three stations on the dance floor) and once they were done with that, the meal was served. We had a little bit of everything (there were three entrees to choose from) at the table, and by all accounts the food was delicious across the board. Good work, Mister Chef!!!
After eating more than any human being should, they came around asking if we wanted seconds, or if we wanted to wrap anything up and take it to-go.

Say WHAT?!?!? NEVER before have I seen this. Oh well…there’s a first time for everything.

After a group “We’re all set.” they proceeded to set up the MOST INCREDIBLE dessert tables I’ve ever seen in my life.
And by tables, I mean TABLES, this thing was about 5 buffet tables long. It was truly insane.
I’ll try and list off all the amazing things that they put out: there were tiny pastries of every kind imaginable, several varieties of cheesecakes, wedding cake, canollis (being filled right before your eyes), Belgian waffles, 3 different kinds of ice cream to have on the waffles (or as a sundae) hot fudge sauce, caramel sauce, chocolate mousse, chocolate dipped fruits, coffee royale, chocolate cups filled with whatever liqueurs you wanted, strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas…and I think that’s it. :-)
Yes, it was a little bit of heaven spread across the front of the room. About that cholesterol????

I was actually very good and kept myself under control. I only had a couple of chocolate covered strawberries, and a caramel sundae….and I tasted some of Jim’s chocolate mousse...and I tried the wedding cake. But that's IT!
Again…it was all sooooo yummy.
We danced for a while, drank for a while, took the shuttle back to the hotel and went to bed.

Jim and I got up fairly early on Sunday and headed back home. We made excellent time, so we were able to go and pick up Scooter together (who was very happy to see us) and then spend some time at home before the car service came to whisk Jim away to San Francisco.
Once Jim was gone, I caught up on all the laundry that needed doing and spent some quality time (on the couch) with Scooter.

As I said earlier, things were crazy at work yesterday, which has made for a very calm Tuesday….ELECTION DAY!!!
Go out and vote…every vote counts!!!

Oh – and I FINALLY heard back about ‘Jerry Springer: The Opera’. Unfortunately, I wasn’t cast. Cest la vie!
The director informed me that they were really looking for a more legit/operatic sound (as the title implies) which totally isn’t me, so they decided against casting me.
Whether or not I agree (or believe them) is irrelevant, but I do know that I’ll have PLENTY of free time this April and May. :-)

VOTE – VOTE – VOTE!!!!