Thursday, November 29, 2007
I can't believe its been that long!
I can't believe its been over a month since I last blogged. Never fear friends.....I will be blogging more soon! Keep checking for an update....I will do it this weekend!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Haunted house?
So, the remodeling is STILL coming along.....slowly. But an interesting thing is happening to us. 4 different times over the past couple of weeks we've noticed that someone is either coming into our house at night with a key.....or.....our house is haunted. I'm pretty much thinking its the later, but you never can tell. Here's the facts: I'm at the house most afternoons doing stuff plus keeping an eye on the workers. At the end of the day, either Alex or I will shut off all the lights and lock ALL the doors. But, despite this, we have come back the following day and find that one of doors is unlocked or ajar and sometimes a light is on in the house. Most recently this happened on Wednesday morning. I was there all day on Tuesday, locked up and shut the lights off. On Wednesday morning I went to check on the house because it had rained very heavy the night before. When I went down to the basement, I opened the door and found that all the lights were on. I quick, backed out and then high-tailed it out of there. I checked the doors upstairs and found the front door unlocked. UGHHHHH! So who can it be you ask? So do we? We haven't changed the locks yet because we wanted to wait until after the house was finished, right before we move it. So, obviously its someone who still has a key......or its the lady that died in the house! I went to the local police dept to ask them if they could drive by at night and keep an eye on it and the cop I spoke to mentioned that THEY had a key! Then he went back to a HUGE panel box...........FULL of keys! It was like they had a key for every house in our town! How small town is that?! But, in the end he couldn't find it. Hmmmmm?!
So, I've told Alex that we need to get the locks re-keyed NOW! Thats my project for today.....after that we can really decide if its a person that is curious or a ghost that is curious......I hope its not the ghost!
So, I've told Alex that we need to get the locks re-keyed NOW! Thats my project for today.....after that we can really decide if its a person that is curious or a ghost that is curious......I hope its not the ghost!
Paying for stuff
Do you know what I hate? When you go out with people, have dinner, drinks, etc....then one of the people you are with decides that they will either not pay enough for what they ate or drank..........or they decide, despite the fact that I only had soup, that they will just divide the bill between 6 people and I end up spending $70 on soup and two drinks. Now, most of you know I'm not cheap, but I can't stand either of those situations. I can't get into specifics but I experienced these very situations recently. Whats up with people? I was a dinner recently where one of the diners decided that there was no way he had as many drinks as were on the bill. He wouldn't pay and the server wouldn't take it off the bill....rightly so......so other people ended up paying for his cheapness. (and believe me.....he drank all those drinks!) So, my question is.....what is wrong with people. If you can't pay for stuff....DON'T go out!
Clown hair
So, last week was my brother's rehersal dinner for his upcoming wedding. I have been wearing my hair pretty long for the last couple of months in anticipation of the wedding. I wanted to grow it out and have them put it up in a pretty up-do for the wedding. So, since I hate long hair, I've been keeping my frizzy, curly hair up in a ponytail since July. I look lame pretty much everyday. The alternative is a head full of super frizzy curly hair. But, faced with going to a restuarant for dinner, I had to actually style my hair. So, I let it dry curly. Now, I admit, my hair is pretty wild when its curly, but it still looks pretty cute. I looked in the mirror before I left my car, and was satisfied with the results.
I walked into the restaurant and greeted my family members and my future sister-in-laws family members. That's when the following occurred.....(it was one of MY family members that said this)......"whats wrong with your hair?" I was shocked and asked him what he meant......and he replied...."it looks funny.....like clown hair"! Can you imagine my pain and confusion. I mean, I LIKED my hair when I walked in. I mumbled something about wanting to grow out my hair, then quickly ran to the bathroom. I expected to see that my hair had taken a bad turn during the 40 feet from my car to the restaurant but I was stunned to see that in MY eyes, there was nothing wrong with my hair. I guess that's the problem.....maybe I'm in denial about my clown hair. But let me ask you this.......why is it that older people feel that they can say ANYTHING without reprisal? They just shoot out any words that come to their minds. I mean, I have lots to say about stuff, but common decency prevents me from saying it......but what happens when you fly past the age of 60? Is there some sort delay button in our brains that quits working and people just say exactly what they are thinking at the time?
I walked into the restaurant and greeted my family members and my future sister-in-laws family members. That's when the following occurred.....(it was one of MY family members that said this)......"whats wrong with your hair?" I was shocked and asked him what he meant......and he replied...."it looks funny.....like clown hair"! Can you imagine my pain and confusion. I mean, I LIKED my hair when I walked in. I mumbled something about wanting to grow out my hair, then quickly ran to the bathroom. I expected to see that my hair had taken a bad turn during the 40 feet from my car to the restaurant but I was stunned to see that in MY eyes, there was nothing wrong with my hair. I guess that's the problem.....maybe I'm in denial about my clown hair. But let me ask you this.......why is it that older people feel that they can say ANYTHING without reprisal? They just shoot out any words that come to their minds. I mean, I have lots to say about stuff, but common decency prevents me from saying it......but what happens when you fly past the age of 60? Is there some sort delay button in our brains that quits working and people just say exactly what they are thinking at the time?
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sauerkraut
Now, I'm not sure if I spelled that right, but you all know what it is right? If not, find a Polish friend to help you out. Sauerkraut is a wonderful veggie that is usually served with pork. Its got a very unique (sour) taste. But, I grew up on it and love it! The best part is.......its 0 points. In Weight Watchers world this is wonderful. I've lost 13 pounds to date with another weigh in tomorrow, so needless to say, I'm doing pretty well if I say so myself. But last week, I almost fell off my chair at dinner thanks to my father.
In the morning we go over the specifics for dinner that night. On that particular day he told me that he was make a pork roast with sauerkraut. I told him I would cook my own lean pork chops if he would save me some sauerkraut. He said sure! When I came home that afternoon, I sauted my porkchop then put it in a roastin pan with some sauerkraut. Now, I asked my dad how he prepared it because I could tell that it wasn't just right out of the can. He said "ALL I used Amy, is garlic, onion and caraway seeds, that's it.....nothing else". I confirmed with him that was ALL he put in it and he said yes. So, I took a bunch of sauerkraut, covered my porkchop, and roasted it.
At dinner, I was famished, and the sauerkraut was WONDERFUL. I couldn't get enough of it. I was soooo excited because here was a 0 point food that I loved and could eat lots of! About halfway through my second helping of this delicious food, I asked my dad........"how did you prepare this exactly, because its sooooo good"? He was very excited to report........."Well, first I started with some bacon fat!". Thats as far as he got............at that moment, I wanted just scream and shout. But, I was raised better than that. He went on for several minutes as I tried to formulate what to say but my mom could see something brewing in my eyes. She spoke up and said "whats wrong with bacon fat, there's nothing wrong with it". Now of course there's nothing wrong with bacon fat, it keeps the pig warm in the winter. But it also CREATES people fat! But my mom, who by the way eats whatever she wants and weighs only 95 pounds, can't understand what could possible be wrong with cooking sauerkraut with bacon fat and then not telling her dieting daughter while she eats 3 pounds of it!
The point here is.............if something tastes too good to be true, then it usually is.
In the morning we go over the specifics for dinner that night. On that particular day he told me that he was make a pork roast with sauerkraut. I told him I would cook my own lean pork chops if he would save me some sauerkraut. He said sure! When I came home that afternoon, I sauted my porkchop then put it in a roastin pan with some sauerkraut. Now, I asked my dad how he prepared it because I could tell that it wasn't just right out of the can. He said "ALL I used Amy, is garlic, onion and caraway seeds, that's it.....nothing else". I confirmed with him that was ALL he put in it and he said yes. So, I took a bunch of sauerkraut, covered my porkchop, and roasted it.
At dinner, I was famished, and the sauerkraut was WONDERFUL. I couldn't get enough of it. I was soooo excited because here was a 0 point food that I loved and could eat lots of! About halfway through my second helping of this delicious food, I asked my dad........"how did you prepare this exactly, because its sooooo good"? He was very excited to report........."Well, first I started with some bacon fat!". Thats as far as he got............at that moment, I wanted just scream and shout. But, I was raised better than that. He went on for several minutes as I tried to formulate what to say but my mom could see something brewing in my eyes. She spoke up and said "whats wrong with bacon fat, there's nothing wrong with it". Now of course there's nothing wrong with bacon fat, it keeps the pig warm in the winter. But it also CREATES people fat! But my mom, who by the way eats whatever she wants and weighs only 95 pounds, can't understand what could possible be wrong with cooking sauerkraut with bacon fat and then not telling her dieting daughter while she eats 3 pounds of it!
The point here is.............if something tastes too good to be true, then it usually is.
Mailbox
Now, I have a theory. The way I look at it, a person can only be either handy or booksmart. I'm not saying that handy people aren't book smart, and booksmart people aren't handy. But, in the grand scheme of things, handy people are just that............handy. We are not handy people. I would very much like to clarify that.........I am slightly handy..........Alex, not so much. But, he is brillant with numbers, book stuff, etc.....in a way that I will never be. And he can write a mighty check to pay handy people.
We learned this the hard way on Friday. Last friday Alex decided that we would end our war with the post office and put up a mailbox. We had all the right stuff, tools etc. He figured it would take us about an hour. I told him it would take us three hours............and he laughed at me. It ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Now, I really don't want to get into the specifics of what went wrong, but we ended up having to leave our mailbox and going to Lowes for more parts. In the end we were out at the curb until 9pm putting up this mailbox. Thats right, we were putting it up in the dark. We had the car on and the headlights blasting so we can see. The neighbors were all peering out the windows and probably saying something like this..."hey honey, how about those idiots from California putting up a mailbox at 9 pm at night".
We learned this the hard way on Friday. Last friday Alex decided that we would end our war with the post office and put up a mailbox. We had all the right stuff, tools etc. He figured it would take us about an hour. I told him it would take us three hours............and he laughed at me. It ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Now, I really don't want to get into the specifics of what went wrong, but we ended up having to leave our mailbox and going to Lowes for more parts. In the end we were out at the curb until 9pm putting up this mailbox. Thats right, we were putting it up in the dark. We had the car on and the headlights blasting so we can see. The neighbors were all peering out the windows and probably saying something like this..."hey honey, how about those idiots from California putting up a mailbox at 9 pm at night".
The house!
The house is STILL coming along. I guess I shouldn't complain. The longer the house takes, the longer I am out of work. But along the way I've become the foreman/contractor of the project. Making sure everyone does their work, cleaning up after they leave, reporting to the owner (Alex) what was done and not done. We are still hunting for a good painter. We've gotten estimates from $7,000-$11,000. I think the guy that gave us the $11,000 estimate might have been crazy because our house really isn't that big! After several estimates I told Alex he should just drive down to Home Depot and hire a couple of workers that are out on the street! Ha, Ha!
I was sitting at the "money pit" (alex's house) today and watching the painter across the street. Our very nice neighbor needed some painting done as well and hired the very cheapest painter he could fine.....and he was REALLY cheap. So, I tried several times last week to call this guy and get him to come out and give me an estimate. He never called back.....this is pretty typical....I guess alot of people around here really don't need to work. Any way.......I was watching him today at the house across the street and realized that I'm glad he didn't call back. First of all, his crew is made up of just himself! He is a crew of one! Now, I don't know alot about painting, but I would think that it takes MUCH longer to paint the outside of a house all by yourself.
Number 2.............he is taking more breaks than I ever thought possible. He has a lawn chair and table set up in my neighbors driveway and comes back to it every hour or so.........then he procedes to sit there for 15-20 minutes at a time relaxing. Now, don't get me wrong, you need breaks............but this guy is ridiculous! I'm guessing this job might take him about 3 months at the rate he's going.
I was sitting at the "money pit" (alex's house) today and watching the painter across the street. Our very nice neighbor needed some painting done as well and hired the very cheapest painter he could fine.....and he was REALLY cheap. So, I tried several times last week to call this guy and get him to come out and give me an estimate. He never called back.....this is pretty typical....I guess alot of people around here really don't need to work. Any way.......I was watching him today at the house across the street and realized that I'm glad he didn't call back. First of all, his crew is made up of just himself! He is a crew of one! Now, I don't know alot about painting, but I would think that it takes MUCH longer to paint the outside of a house all by yourself.
Number 2.............he is taking more breaks than I ever thought possible. He has a lawn chair and table set up in my neighbors driveway and comes back to it every hour or so.........then he procedes to sit there for 15-20 minutes at a time relaxing. Now, don't get me wrong, you need breaks............but this guy is ridiculous! I'm guessing this job might take him about 3 months at the rate he's going.
Way to go Phillies
So, for you West Coasters.....the Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East Title yesterday and this city is going CRAZY! I don't normally follow baseball but how can you not when its all anyone is talking about. Yesterday was a quiet day out on the roads as everyone was watching their tv's waiting to see if it would happen. So, the excitement is building...can the Phillies make it to the World Series? Madison is bucking the trend and is rooting for San Diego. If San Diego wins tonights game, they will play Philly on Wednesday.....Madison is taking her life into her own hands and is rooting out loud for the Padres..........we'll see if she ends up in a closet!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Weight Watchers
Went to weight watchers yesterday and lost another 4 pounds. YEA!!!!! I'm on my way. I'll tell you what, I fell better than I have in recent months. I know I have about 80 more to go, but I fell lighter.
The leader yesterday asked everyone what brought them into Weight Watchers......I had lots of answers.....feeling bad, can't run with Madison without falling apart, my knees hurt. But the answer I gave her was this....... A couple of weeks ago I had to try on some clothes for an event coming up. Now, for months, even years, I have avoided full body mirrors. I LIKE the mirror in my bathroom. It only shows me from the neck up (all three of my necks!). This is a good look for me. I don't see all the other stuff. But then the 3 way mirror betrayed me. I tried not to look, but it was in this dressing room that I thought....."the problem with being fat, is that you look fat". Now, I know this is not rocket science.....but for someone that avoided mirrors, this was HUGE! For the last couple of months, years, I figured "hey, I'm not married, I'm not looking to be married, why should I care how heavy I get". But that kind of denial doesn't last forever. Eventually your body gives up on you and you get heart troubles, diabetes, etc.
Now, I know I will never be as skinny as my beautiful LA friends, Sharon, Andrea, Marianne, etc. These are all LA girls. Skinny there is a whole different type of skinny. But I'm striving for a healthy weight, and the ability to look in a three way mirror!
The leader yesterday asked everyone what brought them into Weight Watchers......I had lots of answers.....feeling bad, can't run with Madison without falling apart, my knees hurt. But the answer I gave her was this....... A couple of weeks ago I had to try on some clothes for an event coming up. Now, for months, even years, I have avoided full body mirrors. I LIKE the mirror in my bathroom. It only shows me from the neck up (all three of my necks!). This is a good look for me. I don't see all the other stuff. But then the 3 way mirror betrayed me. I tried not to look, but it was in this dressing room that I thought....."the problem with being fat, is that you look fat". Now, I know this is not rocket science.....but for someone that avoided mirrors, this was HUGE! For the last couple of months, years, I figured "hey, I'm not married, I'm not looking to be married, why should I care how heavy I get". But that kind of denial doesn't last forever. Eventually your body gives up on you and you get heart troubles, diabetes, etc.
Now, I know I will never be as skinny as my beautiful LA friends, Sharon, Andrea, Marianne, etc. These are all LA girls. Skinny there is a whole different type of skinny. But I'm striving for a healthy weight, and the ability to look in a three way mirror!
Phillies game
I was invited to go to a Phillies game last week. My cousin had four tickets and after scraping the bottom of the family barrel, asked me if I wanted to go. (actually I volunteered myself) I don't really follow baseball all that much, as many of you know, football is my game. But, I was eager to go. I remember fondly growing up and once a summer going to a Phillies game. My memories are of Vetern's Stadium. "The Vet", was a HUGE round stadium that was home field for baseball and football. My dad would buy tickets once a summer for our 4-some and we would also go to another game with all my cousins. We never had good seats. Always the 700 level seats....wayyyyyyyy up at the top of the stadium. We would dehydrate, get burnt, but always have a great time. We never were allowed to buy anything as the food was "too expensive". One year, my cousin worked at a local news stadium, and we actually got a tour of the locker room, dug-out, etc. The Vet was a terrible stadium, but I have many fond memories of summer's there.
Now, the new field is called Citizen's Park! Its a pretty new stadium, that is just for baseball....and boy is it beautiful! I went to the game with my dad, uncle, and cousin. My cousin was 2 hours late picking us up for the game so we missed the first pitch....in fact, we missed the whole first innning....but lucky for us, the first inning lasted 45 minutes. It was College night at the ballpark, otherwise known as "dollar dog night". Thats right folks....the hot dogs were $1. So, apparently, this is the night that all the local college kids come out to the ball park. It was a preey roudy crowd let me tell you.....rowdy for a baseball game that is. But we had tons of fun....and the money we saved on hotdogs went to beer and soda.
The thing I noticed about Phillies games vs Dodgers or Angels games is the difference in crowds. The folks all around us were so nice and talkative! That would never happen at a Dodger game. At a game in LA, you take your seat, nod politely to the people around you and never say a word to them. But, here in the city of "brotherly love", the people around you actually talk to you! Not only do they talk, by the end of the game, you know everything about them. It was amazing! Now, I'm not saying that in LA the people aren't as nice. I'm sure all of you have experiences where you went to a game and the same thing happened, but I'm telling you, this was different. By the time the guy next to me left, I knew all about his kids in college, where he lives, what he does for a living, his shoe size! This was definately something new and exciting.
By the way ladies....I never realized how cute some of the baseball players really are!
Now, the new field is called Citizen's Park! Its a pretty new stadium, that is just for baseball....and boy is it beautiful! I went to the game with my dad, uncle, and cousin. My cousin was 2 hours late picking us up for the game so we missed the first pitch....in fact, we missed the whole first innning....but lucky for us, the first inning lasted 45 minutes. It was College night at the ballpark, otherwise known as "dollar dog night". Thats right folks....the hot dogs were $1. So, apparently, this is the night that all the local college kids come out to the ball park. It was a preey roudy crowd let me tell you.....rowdy for a baseball game that is. But we had tons of fun....and the money we saved on hotdogs went to beer and soda.
The thing I noticed about Phillies games vs Dodgers or Angels games is the difference in crowds. The folks all around us were so nice and talkative! That would never happen at a Dodger game. At a game in LA, you take your seat, nod politely to the people around you and never say a word to them. But, here in the city of "brotherly love", the people around you actually talk to you! Not only do they talk, by the end of the game, you know everything about them. It was amazing! Now, I'm not saying that in LA the people aren't as nice. I'm sure all of you have experiences where you went to a game and the same thing happened, but I'm telling you, this was different. By the time the guy next to me left, I knew all about his kids in college, where he lives, what he does for a living, his shoe size! This was definately something new and exciting.
By the way ladies....I never realized how cute some of the baseball players really are!
Madison
Update on our princess:
She's doing great! She is really enjoying her new school, although it seems alot harder than Anza. I always had a feeling that Anza was too easy because she is really getting hard, hard, homework. Maybe its 4th grade.
She started to ride the bus this week. The first day went well. I introduced myself to the bus driver and explained we were new. I told Madison to keep an eye out, because she is the second stop in the afternoon. Do you think she remembered? Of course not. I was standing at the bus stop at 3:28 waiting for her. The big yellow bus pulled up, the other kids got off, the bus driver started to close the door, then she saw my terrified eyes. The bus driver started to yell, "where's the new girl?" She repeated this several times...........Now, I'm out on the street and can see Madison on the bus.....she was just sitting there talking to her friend ignoring the bus driver, AND ignoring me waving my hands like and idiot! The bus driver asked me her name....and only after she yelled her name....did Madison get off the bus. That could have gone worse I guess.
Soccer started on Saturday....after one practice she was a little rusty. The league she's in, isn't as agressive as what we are used to. I guess thats a good thing, but I'm not so sure yet. There doesn't seem to be alot of discipline on the team. So, we'll see.
Girl scouts starts soon; the wife of her soccer coach is the Girl Scout leader. I'm hoping the new troop isn't as crazy as the last one!
So, not much else....she's missing her Cali friends, but is loving life here as well.
She's doing great! She is really enjoying her new school, although it seems alot harder than Anza. I always had a feeling that Anza was too easy because she is really getting hard, hard, homework. Maybe its 4th grade.
She started to ride the bus this week. The first day went well. I introduced myself to the bus driver and explained we were new. I told Madison to keep an eye out, because she is the second stop in the afternoon. Do you think she remembered? Of course not. I was standing at the bus stop at 3:28 waiting for her. The big yellow bus pulled up, the other kids got off, the bus driver started to close the door, then she saw my terrified eyes. The bus driver started to yell, "where's the new girl?" She repeated this several times...........Now, I'm out on the street and can see Madison on the bus.....she was just sitting there talking to her friend ignoring the bus driver, AND ignoring me waving my hands like and idiot! The bus driver asked me her name....and only after she yelled her name....did Madison get off the bus. That could have gone worse I guess.
Soccer started on Saturday....after one practice she was a little rusty. The league she's in, isn't as agressive as what we are used to. I guess thats a good thing, but I'm not so sure yet. There doesn't seem to be alot of discipline on the team. So, we'll see.
Girl scouts starts soon; the wife of her soccer coach is the Girl Scout leader. I'm hoping the new troop isn't as crazy as the last one!
So, not much else....she's missing her Cali friends, but is loving life here as well.
It's been a really long time since I've updated this! The weather here has changed.....it really feels like fall now. It was 48 degrees this am! The pumpkins, mums,scarecrows, and hay are out in people's yards. The fall festivals are in full bloom. Its sweatshirt and jeans weather. Considering I'm still wearing the same three pairs of shorts, I had to got out and get some fall clothes. I HAVE fall clothes, but they are still in storage.
The house remodel is moving slowly. Things are happening, but not as fast as I would like them. The floors are pretty much down, the heating and air conditioning replaced. The landscaper has started to remove the forest of weeds around the house. Next week the windows go in....I think. Our only problem is finding a painter. The estimates we are getting are sky high. But we will make our final decision on that tomorrow. The only thing that won't be done when we move in is the kitchen. We are having difficulties finding cabinets to fit in our small kitchen. But, I think we have narrowed it down, but it will take 4 weeks for them to be here! UGH!!!! Alex says we can move in without the kitchen being done since I really don't cook anyway. We have a fridge in the basement and all we need is a little microwave and we can make do. We'll be eating pizza everynight!
The house remodel is moving slowly. Things are happening, but not as fast as I would like them. The floors are pretty much down, the heating and air conditioning replaced. The landscaper has started to remove the forest of weeds around the house. Next week the windows go in....I think. Our only problem is finding a painter. The estimates we are getting are sky high. But we will make our final decision on that tomorrow. The only thing that won't be done when we move in is the kitchen. We are having difficulties finding cabinets to fit in our small kitchen. But, I think we have narrowed it down, but it will take 4 weeks for them to be here! UGH!!!! Alex says we can move in without the kitchen being done since I really don't cook anyway. We have a fridge in the basement and all we need is a little microwave and we can make do. We'll be eating pizza everynight!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Another day another point
What a difference a day makes! I don't know if its because it was raining yesterday and I had been listening to Carrie Underwood or what, but today is a much better day. It's BEAUTIFUL out today. Its starting to feel like Fall. My dad and I have come to a truce. He will always be the guy that buys expired meat, and I will always be the crazy daughter who won't eat it.....but we now accept that an have learned to live with it. We hugged it out today!
So, Fall is approaching and with it are lots of community days, fall festivals, etc. Everywhere I go there are posters for weekend festivals. The fat Amy loves festivals! The new 6 pounds lighter Amy is wary! So, I am stocking away all my extra points during the week for the weekend funnel cake, etc. I am busy eating lots of carrots and one point granola bars right now. Its pretty amazing how bad I had become until last week. Everytime I would go into a Wawa or other fast food type store, I would buy something. Now, I carry around a granola bar, piece of fruit, and a small packet of 100 calorie M&M's in my purse at all times. Its pretty depressing. I wonder what will happen in a couple of weeks when I go to Vegas. I think I will have to starve the week before and the week after!
So, Fall is approaching and with it are lots of community days, fall festivals, etc. Everywhere I go there are posters for weekend festivals. The fat Amy loves festivals! The new 6 pounds lighter Amy is wary! So, I am stocking away all my extra points during the week for the weekend funnel cake, etc. I am busy eating lots of carrots and one point granola bars right now. Its pretty amazing how bad I had become until last week. Everytime I would go into a Wawa or other fast food type store, I would buy something. Now, I carry around a granola bar, piece of fruit, and a small packet of 100 calorie M&M's in my purse at all times. Its pretty depressing. I wonder what will happen in a couple of weeks when I go to Vegas. I think I will have to starve the week before and the week after!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Alex who?
For all of you who were wondering how Alex is making out.......he's busy right now with school. In fact VERY busy. Then on the weekends he is busy with house stuff AND school. We don't see him much because he is still staying in Delaware County with my brother. Things will be a little better for him this weekend as he is going to Atlantic City for a bachelor party!
A disclaimer
Thanks Lola and Christy for making me feel better today. Again, I just want to point out that I love my family! And crazy as it seems, I love being here in this fascinating state. I guess the rain made me a little crabby today!
Confessions of an overeater!
So, as I mentioned in a previous blog, I started weight watchers last week and so far so good. I got weighed in this am and lost 6 pounds, so I only have 80 more to go. I am feeling good about it. But as you all know, losing weight is a difficult thing. We all have to figure out what went wrong to begin with. For me, its just plain over eating. I will eat all day if you let me. Sometimes, I have a mouth full of food and don't know why. That's why weight watchers is good for me.
But, with any diet you have to make major lifestyle changes. My biggest challenge right now seems to be my dad trying to sabotage my efforts. Now, again...............I love my parents.
I don't know if any of you have tried weight watchers.....I have and love it. As some of you know I lost about 60 pounds a couple of years ago on it. The problem is....I've gained it back plus some. And its because someone like me NEEDS to be on it all the time. I am an over eater. So, you go to the meetings, weigh in, talk, etc. You don't have to by any food from weight watchers. That's the good thing about it. You just go home with your points calculator and figure out all your points values.
So, for me, the over eater, I need to have LOTS of low fat snacks handy for when I need them. So, I gather that I have probably spent close to $200 in the last week on tasty low fat items. And its working.....I've lost 6 pounds in my first week!!!! But, my dad looks at these low fat items with the same disgust I have for his expired foods. So, I bought the foods, loaded up the fridge, and put my dry snacks in the basement. But, every time my dad opens the fridge he grumbles about all my "shit" and "crap" in there. When I bring a new find home (which in weight watcher world is HUGE) he grumbles about it. I can' t always hear what he's saying but its not in a friendly tone let me tell you that.
My parents have a huge freezer in the basement that could easily hold 2 bodies in it. So, instead of being rude and clogging up their kitchen freezer with my stuff, I put it down in the basement in a bag off to the side so all my stuff would be in one place. Well, the day after I did that, I went down to get something, and when I opened the door, imagine my surprise that all my foods were out of the bag (bag actually gone) and scattered all over the freezer. Not only that, some of the boxes were bent and crushed. I don't know exactly what happened in that freezer but it looked bad.
Then, when he mentioned that my brother would be coming for dinner on Tuesday night with his fiance (who by the way is the daughter they never had) I asked if I could cook dinner. My only reason for this was so I could keep it low fat and healthy. I figured I could make a tasty Spaghetti Bolegnese for dinner using ground turkey. He was pretty thrown off by this turn of events and a little annoyed. I now know (thanks to my brother) that, he plans these dinners for Prince Nick, long in advance, and this is my dads time to shine, because as you know, no matter how bad the food may be, Prince and his Princess eat it without complaint (or as in my case, they don't push the food around on the plate). I didn't mean any harm by this, I was very kind and polite when I asked him.
He asked me "where are you going to get the meat?" I replied "at Giant". (a VERY good, reasonable supermarket here) Well, that's when he went into a little tirade......."I'll buy the meat at Aldi's....there's nothing wrong with the meat there". Now, you all know how I feel about Aldi's. A couple of weeks ago he served Turkey breast that was black in color from there. It wasn't burnt, just black! So, I just slinked off quietly.
As it turned out, I'm not able to cook after all. Madison has soccer so I won't be there. But, he showed me the $2 ground turkey. Now, again, I had two options, to keep quiet or mention the fact that it had 350 calories and 17 grams of fat per serving. Being a trouble-maker I did the latter. See, I can't eat that on a daily basis....I get 33 points a day.....a cup of pasta is 5 points. A serving of that turkey would be 7 points! For 7 points I might as well eat regular ground beef. But of course my parents don't know this, or really care. My mom is a twig, and my dad is a diabetic that puts Splenda in his coffee but eats 2 sandwiches for lunch. I calmly explained the above, and said "its ok, I'll just pick up some leaner meat from the market for next time". That's when my mom said, why don't you just eat less of the fat laden meat. Now that is a great idea if you not an overeater. With the leaner meat I can eat twice as much and not even lose that much taste when I'm done cooking it. In the end they both made me feel bad for wanting to eat healthy and not have a heart attack at age 36. The one thing I loved about moving home was that I could be fat and not have anyone look at me like I was the devil. But, ironically the minute I moved home, I wanted to lose weight.....go figure!
Its no wonder that I'm an over eater!
But, with any diet you have to make major lifestyle changes. My biggest challenge right now seems to be my dad trying to sabotage my efforts. Now, again...............I love my parents.
I don't know if any of you have tried weight watchers.....I have and love it. As some of you know I lost about 60 pounds a couple of years ago on it. The problem is....I've gained it back plus some. And its because someone like me NEEDS to be on it all the time. I am an over eater. So, you go to the meetings, weigh in, talk, etc. You don't have to by any food from weight watchers. That's the good thing about it. You just go home with your points calculator and figure out all your points values.
So, for me, the over eater, I need to have LOTS of low fat snacks handy for when I need them. So, I gather that I have probably spent close to $200 in the last week on tasty low fat items. And its working.....I've lost 6 pounds in my first week!!!! But, my dad looks at these low fat items with the same disgust I have for his expired foods. So, I bought the foods, loaded up the fridge, and put my dry snacks in the basement. But, every time my dad opens the fridge he grumbles about all my "shit" and "crap" in there. When I bring a new find home (which in weight watcher world is HUGE) he grumbles about it. I can' t always hear what he's saying but its not in a friendly tone let me tell you that.
My parents have a huge freezer in the basement that could easily hold 2 bodies in it. So, instead of being rude and clogging up their kitchen freezer with my stuff, I put it down in the basement in a bag off to the side so all my stuff would be in one place. Well, the day after I did that, I went down to get something, and when I opened the door, imagine my surprise that all my foods were out of the bag (bag actually gone) and scattered all over the freezer. Not only that, some of the boxes were bent and crushed. I don't know exactly what happened in that freezer but it looked bad.
Then, when he mentioned that my brother would be coming for dinner on Tuesday night with his fiance (who by the way is the daughter they never had) I asked if I could cook dinner. My only reason for this was so I could keep it low fat and healthy. I figured I could make a tasty Spaghetti Bolegnese for dinner using ground turkey. He was pretty thrown off by this turn of events and a little annoyed. I now know (thanks to my brother) that, he plans these dinners for Prince Nick, long in advance, and this is my dads time to shine, because as you know, no matter how bad the food may be, Prince and his Princess eat it without complaint (or as in my case, they don't push the food around on the plate). I didn't mean any harm by this, I was very kind and polite when I asked him.
He asked me "where are you going to get the meat?" I replied "at Giant". (a VERY good, reasonable supermarket here) Well, that's when he went into a little tirade......."I'll buy the meat at Aldi's....there's nothing wrong with the meat there". Now, you all know how I feel about Aldi's. A couple of weeks ago he served Turkey breast that was black in color from there. It wasn't burnt, just black! So, I just slinked off quietly.
As it turned out, I'm not able to cook after all. Madison has soccer so I won't be there. But, he showed me the $2 ground turkey. Now, again, I had two options, to keep quiet or mention the fact that it had 350 calories and 17 grams of fat per serving. Being a trouble-maker I did the latter. See, I can't eat that on a daily basis....I get 33 points a day.....a cup of pasta is 5 points. A serving of that turkey would be 7 points! For 7 points I might as well eat regular ground beef. But of course my parents don't know this, or really care. My mom is a twig, and my dad is a diabetic that puts Splenda in his coffee but eats 2 sandwiches for lunch. I calmly explained the above, and said "its ok, I'll just pick up some leaner meat from the market for next time". That's when my mom said, why don't you just eat less of the fat laden meat. Now that is a great idea if you not an overeater. With the leaner meat I can eat twice as much and not even lose that much taste when I'm done cooking it. In the end they both made me feel bad for wanting to eat healthy and not have a heart attack at age 36. The one thing I loved about moving home was that I could be fat and not have anyone look at me like I was the devil. But, ironically the minute I moved home, I wanted to lose weight.....go figure!
Its no wonder that I'm an over eater!
Alien in my homeland part 3
I now know why I stayed in LA for so long and lived there quite happily......my parents.....Now again, let me preface this by saying that I love my parents with all my heart. And I am VERY grateful for them taking me in while the house is being remodeled. I know that its difficult staying with your parents as an adult and despite what you may think, I am polite and nice to them at all times.
But, I get the feeling that I am an alien to them. Example: as I've mentioned before, my dad tends to shop in places where the price never goes over $3. He shops for his meat at an auction or a place called Amelia's that sells out of code (but frozen) meat. He shops for the rest of his stuff at Amelia's or a place called Aldi's. Now don't get me started on Aldi's. Its a no name brand place that sells everyday stuff for below market cost, except with their own labels. The food there is terrible. But, the meat is even worse. I don't know what happened to my dad....he was always a little cheap, but not as bad as in recent years. But, living in CA as most of you know, I was able to avoid the cheap, out of code foods. But, living in his house has brought me face to face with the out of code stuff. And to make matters worse, I've started weight watchers again and REALLY need fresh,yummy,low calorie stuff around.....but I'll get to that in another post.
But today it hit an all time low. I went into the fridge to grab some mustard for a sandwhich when I noticed that the mustard had an expiration date of 10/06. Thats right people.....a WHOLE year ago. So, I stood in the kitchen for several minutes and try to decide what to do.....should I just put it back and not say anything, or tell my parents about it. The problem with ignoring it is that if I do that, and I go out to get fresh mustard, I will hear about it anyway. So, I took the "stirring up the pot" route and VERY nicely mentioned to them that the mustard was a year expired. Well, if you could have seen the look on their faces! It was if I had just landed here and slapped them in the face. It was a look that said "what are you to good for the expired mustard". In fact thats pretty much what they actually said. It was pointed out to me that the expiration date was only a sell by date and did not reflect how good the mustard actually is. According to both of them, there is "nothing wrong with the mustard as long as you leave it in the fridge". And even better, "well, Nick (my brother) eats it and doesn't have a problem with it". There my friends is the problem with my parents (among other things)......my brother with eat expired foods and suspiciously cheap foods without complaint. He DOESN'T complain. Amy complains! I am most definately an alien to them. Someone that went off to California and whom they have nothing in common. Someone who is toooo good for their expired foods.
The thing is.......its true. I did go to California and change. But, they have to remember that I left PA when I was 20 years old. And I left because I never felt like I fit in here. So, now my question is......do I belong here now? I am thinking yes.....because for the most part I am loving it here.........I think it will be better once I get into the new house. I hope!
But, I get the feeling that I am an alien to them. Example: as I've mentioned before, my dad tends to shop in places where the price never goes over $3. He shops for his meat at an auction or a place called Amelia's that sells out of code (but frozen) meat. He shops for the rest of his stuff at Amelia's or a place called Aldi's. Now don't get me started on Aldi's. Its a no name brand place that sells everyday stuff for below market cost, except with their own labels. The food there is terrible. But, the meat is even worse. I don't know what happened to my dad....he was always a little cheap, but not as bad as in recent years. But, living in CA as most of you know, I was able to avoid the cheap, out of code foods. But, living in his house has brought me face to face with the out of code stuff. And to make matters worse, I've started weight watchers again and REALLY need fresh,yummy,low calorie stuff around.....but I'll get to that in another post.
But today it hit an all time low. I went into the fridge to grab some mustard for a sandwhich when I noticed that the mustard had an expiration date of 10/06. Thats right people.....a WHOLE year ago. So, I stood in the kitchen for several minutes and try to decide what to do.....should I just put it back and not say anything, or tell my parents about it. The problem with ignoring it is that if I do that, and I go out to get fresh mustard, I will hear about it anyway. So, I took the "stirring up the pot" route and VERY nicely mentioned to them that the mustard was a year expired. Well, if you could have seen the look on their faces! It was if I had just landed here and slapped them in the face. It was a look that said "what are you to good for the expired mustard". In fact thats pretty much what they actually said. It was pointed out to me that the expiration date was only a sell by date and did not reflect how good the mustard actually is. According to both of them, there is "nothing wrong with the mustard as long as you leave it in the fridge". And even better, "well, Nick (my brother) eats it and doesn't have a problem with it". There my friends is the problem with my parents (among other things)......my brother with eat expired foods and suspiciously cheap foods without complaint. He DOESN'T complain. Amy complains! I am most definately an alien to them. Someone that went off to California and whom they have nothing in common. Someone who is toooo good for their expired foods.
The thing is.......its true. I did go to California and change. But, they have to remember that I left PA when I was 20 years old. And I left because I never felt like I fit in here. So, now my question is......do I belong here now? I am thinking yes.....because for the most part I am loving it here.........I think it will be better once I get into the new house. I hope!
Soccer
For all you Madison fans out there....Madison starts soccer today. She originally didn't want to play but once school started and she met a whole bunch of new friends, she warmed up to the idea. Her first practice is today, and first game on Saturday. I don't know if she'll play on Saturday since she hasn't been practicing much. She's excited though, and I'll keep you informed. She's made lots of new friends at school and loves it there. The schools here are a little advanced compared to Torrance's schools but she's catching up.
Oh....since my computer meltdown last week, I'm unable to download pics at the moment.....so, be patient with me.
Oh....since my computer meltdown last week, I'm unable to download pics at the moment.....so, be patient with me.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Bridal shower stuff
My brother is getting married in couple of weeks, so this past weekend was the bridal shower for his fiance. Madison and I have the pleasure of being in the wedding, and so far it has been pretty calm. No bridezilla stuff. In fact, I love my new sister-in-law to death. She picked out flattering dresses of a pretty color. She is really laid back and worrying more if everyone else is going to be happy. She's not your typical bride.
So, after weeks of planning, the bridesmaids were able to pull off a surprise shower.......despite the fact that I was filling out the bridal shower invites while she was on the couch next to me.
It was a beautiful shower, lots of good food and nice guests. She got LOTS of new stuff. I was appropriately jealous.....a little mix of envy (for the new stuff) but happy for the new bride. As many of you know....I am in no mood to be married again. And since I was married already, nobody turns to me and asks...."when's your turn". So, I avoid the pity looks from the old people.
But, as is my life, the day could not go without some sort of drama. I have to start by telling your that all my clothes continue to be in storage. I have 3 pairs of shorts, a jean skirt and a couple of shirts that I wash and recycle. So, last week I went out and bought a new outfit and shoes. I bought a black skirt, black and cream top, and some black strappy heels. I pre-viewed the outfit for Madison last week and she told me that the top was an "old lady top". I replied that when you are as fat as I am, there isn't much of a selection. So, after that I previewed the outfit for my mom. So......she knew exactly what I was going to wear to the shower.
So, imagine my surprise on Saturday morning, when she came downstairs wearing an outfit so similar that you had to squint to notice the difference. She was wearing black PANTS, a black and cream top with a very similar design, and black strappy shoes. I was shell-shocked! Now, I'm no fashionista, but I know enough, that if you are arriving together from the same house, that different outfits are in order. Plus, my mother has more clothes than Queen Elizabeth in her closet. Also, my mom is 5'10 and about 109 pounds. She isn't the heavy set, 36 year old woman in old lady clothes. She actually looked really nice. Even my brother, who wouldn't normally notice such things, noticed it right away.
So, this being MY mom, I didn't say anything, and just pouted all the way to the shower. Then over the course of the 4 hours, whenever I would stand near her, people would comment, "don't you two look cute, you're matching". I wanted to shout "this isn't a Laura Ashley catalog and I'm not 7 years old!". But, of course, simple decorum and manners prevented me from actually saying that. After about 3 hours of the comments though, I finally spoke up and said "well, I did show her my outfit last week, so she knew what I was wearing". I thought this would get a good laugh. But, my mom looked horrified, and all her friends were aghast. One of them said...."you both look cute". So, I slinked off into the corner. When another person mentioned it again later, my mom said "DON'T GET HER STARTED" and stomped off. I'll tell you what....if I hadn't started back on weight watchers last week, I would have had a few very stiff drinks.
So, after weeks of planning, the bridesmaids were able to pull off a surprise shower.......despite the fact that I was filling out the bridal shower invites while she was on the couch next to me.
It was a beautiful shower, lots of good food and nice guests. She got LOTS of new stuff. I was appropriately jealous.....a little mix of envy (for the new stuff) but happy for the new bride. As many of you know....I am in no mood to be married again. And since I was married already, nobody turns to me and asks...."when's your turn". So, I avoid the pity looks from the old people.
But, as is my life, the day could not go without some sort of drama. I have to start by telling your that all my clothes continue to be in storage. I have 3 pairs of shorts, a jean skirt and a couple of shirts that I wash and recycle. So, last week I went out and bought a new outfit and shoes. I bought a black skirt, black and cream top, and some black strappy heels. I pre-viewed the outfit for Madison last week and she told me that the top was an "old lady top". I replied that when you are as fat as I am, there isn't much of a selection. So, after that I previewed the outfit for my mom. So......she knew exactly what I was going to wear to the shower.
So, imagine my surprise on Saturday morning, when she came downstairs wearing an outfit so similar that you had to squint to notice the difference. She was wearing black PANTS, a black and cream top with a very similar design, and black strappy shoes. I was shell-shocked! Now, I'm no fashionista, but I know enough, that if you are arriving together from the same house, that different outfits are in order. Plus, my mother has more clothes than Queen Elizabeth in her closet. Also, my mom is 5'10 and about 109 pounds. She isn't the heavy set, 36 year old woman in old lady clothes. She actually looked really nice. Even my brother, who wouldn't normally notice such things, noticed it right away.
So, this being MY mom, I didn't say anything, and just pouted all the way to the shower. Then over the course of the 4 hours, whenever I would stand near her, people would comment, "don't you two look cute, you're matching". I wanted to shout "this isn't a Laura Ashley catalog and I'm not 7 years old!". But, of course, simple decorum and manners prevented me from actually saying that. After about 3 hours of the comments though, I finally spoke up and said "well, I did show her my outfit last week, so she knew what I was wearing". I thought this would get a good laugh. But, my mom looked horrified, and all her friends were aghast. One of them said...."you both look cute". So, I slinked off into the corner. When another person mentioned it again later, my mom said "DON'T GET HER STARTED" and stomped off. I'll tell you what....if I hadn't started back on weight watchers last week, I would have had a few very stiff drinks.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Stranger in my homeland....part 2
I just wanted to clarify for all you lovely people back in CA......I am not living in Philly. We moved to a community 45 minutes outside the city....maybe an hour if the traffic is really bad. So, all these stories involve people that have no idea about anything outside their very small lives. Now, I'm not saying I live in a hole.....but its not even as big as Torrance was. Not even half as big! So, as Lola has pointed out.........there are many more like minded people in the city....just not out here in the sticks. I guess it would be like if I had moved to Riverside.....except without the heroin.
A stranger in my homeland
Moving back here has been relatively easy. I've settled in quite nicely. I am no longer the largest person in the room, the one with the least amount of makeup, or the one with Target purse. Everyone has welcomed me back with open arms and kindness. I feel at home here.
Then why to I feel like an alien sometimes? Maybe its the looks I get from my parents when I question why they buy their meat at a meat auction?! Or the look of confusion when I don't want to eat expired foods that they bought at a local discount store.
Perhaps its the look I receive when I ask people what they love about their Vera Bradley purses. Or maybe its the look of shock when I ask someone about a new movie.....apparently people don't really go to the movies here like back in LA. They wait months for the DVD or pay-per-view. They are much more interested in the Phillies or Eagles.
My cousin Carl asked me the other day what I missed about LA. And for the life of me I couldn't really think of anything except for my friends. But then, after thinking about it longer I realized I missed better dining opportunities. When I said this, he kind of looked at me strange. The thing is, if you want pasta or sandwiches............this is the land for it. But if you want Chinese, Mexican, Thai, or just healthy.....this is not the place for it.
I also miss my single friends. Now, I'm sure there are lots of single women around here my age, but so far I haven't come across any. Ladies.....if you were feeling bad about being single in LA don't. This is not the place to be single. People are married here....for better or worse (although I think most for the worse and are just hiding that fact). So, everywhere you go, people are couple up. I get sort of a pass because of my divorced with child status. But still, I see their pity, and I feel lonely when they are sitting in couples.
I'm also not as conservative as the rest of my family. My dad for instance knows that I don't particularly agree with the views of the current White House, yet he has Fox News channel on everyday. Of course its his house, so I don't say anything, I don't even try to have a dialogue about it.....but he tries to bait me.......tries to throw out the craziest ideas about current events and its hard for me to keep quiet. So, when we have a dialogue, he looks at me like I am a complete stranger. So, does the rest of my family if you must know. I mentioned that Hillary Clinton might not be such a bad president and was almost hung up to dry by several members of my family.
But for all the stares of confusion that I get, I am still glad I'm here. I love it here.......if only to stir up the pot a little bit.
Then why to I feel like an alien sometimes? Maybe its the looks I get from my parents when I question why they buy their meat at a meat auction?! Or the look of confusion when I don't want to eat expired foods that they bought at a local discount store.
Perhaps its the look I receive when I ask people what they love about their Vera Bradley purses. Or maybe its the look of shock when I ask someone about a new movie.....apparently people don't really go to the movies here like back in LA. They wait months for the DVD or pay-per-view. They are much more interested in the Phillies or Eagles.
My cousin Carl asked me the other day what I missed about LA. And for the life of me I couldn't really think of anything except for my friends. But then, after thinking about it longer I realized I missed better dining opportunities. When I said this, he kind of looked at me strange. The thing is, if you want pasta or sandwiches............this is the land for it. But if you want Chinese, Mexican, Thai, or just healthy.....this is not the place for it.
I also miss my single friends. Now, I'm sure there are lots of single women around here my age, but so far I haven't come across any. Ladies.....if you were feeling bad about being single in LA don't. This is not the place to be single. People are married here....for better or worse (although I think most for the worse and are just hiding that fact). So, everywhere you go, people are couple up. I get sort of a pass because of my divorced with child status. But still, I see their pity, and I feel lonely when they are sitting in couples.
I'm also not as conservative as the rest of my family. My dad for instance knows that I don't particularly agree with the views of the current White House, yet he has Fox News channel on everyday. Of course its his house, so I don't say anything, I don't even try to have a dialogue about it.....but he tries to bait me.......tries to throw out the craziest ideas about current events and its hard for me to keep quiet. So, when we have a dialogue, he looks at me like I am a complete stranger. So, does the rest of my family if you must know. I mentioned that Hillary Clinton might not be such a bad president and was almost hung up to dry by several members of my family.
But for all the stares of confusion that I get, I am still glad I'm here. I love it here.......if only to stir up the pot a little bit.
Attack of the shower curtain
My parents shower keeps attacking me. The shower in their house is small and cluttered. My mom, god love her, has every shower caddy known to man in that shower. Plus, she has some sort of cleaning device that sits on the shower head. This makes it so the water can only be sprayed in one direction.........the very back of the shower. Meanwhile the shower caddies are bumping you on the left. But the true torture is the shower curtain. While living in CA, I complained about shower doors all the time. In LA, shower doors are the norm. There really aren't any shower curtains. I would complain about the doors because they were hard to keep clean. I would go on and on about shower curtains and how lovely they were. Now I'm home and I almost died the other day because of a shower curtain. You see, my mom's shower curtain blows into the shower while you are in there. So, as you are soaping up the shower curtain keeps blowing in and sticking to you. Then you try to turn around and bump into on of the may shower caddies. Then, because you can only reach the water supply in the back of the shower, you get stuck to that part of the curtain as well. Meanwhile, the shower curtain blocks out light. So, you are essentially shaving in the dark. The other day I was trying to shave my legs, when I cut myself (because I couldn't see what I was doing), then stepped back in pain and got wrapped up in the shower curtain on three sides. Then I slipped on some soap and almost fell out of the tub. After that I gave up. I left the shower with one bloody leg, one hairy leg, and a hair full of shampoo. Later, after I calmed down, I asked my mom why the shower curtain blows full force into the shower.....she answered "because its cheap". Now you may ask why you would continue to put up with a shower curtain that was so cheap that it blows into the shower and sticks to your soapy body.....but if I were to ask that, she would probably mumble something about to me about how it must be nice to have so much money. When she said "because its cheap" , she said it with a straigh face, but also gave me a look that I interpreted to say "who is this daughter of mine that would have the nerve to complain about a shower curtain, she must be made of money". So, now I just take a shower everyday and mumble and curse in there. My legs are stubbly, my hair dull, and body caked with old soap. But I march on.
Showers
I was thinking yesterday......when did bridal and baby showers get so out of control? I've been invited to and attended several showers in the last couple of years and they seem to get bigger and bigger. Now, lets just say for the record that I love each of these new mommies and brides and wish them every happiness. But what I'm saying is that they are out of control. Some examples follow, names and likenesses are changed to protect the innocence.
One of the brides I know had 4 bridal showers. Now who needs four showers? She had a standard bridal shower, a lingerie shower, a tool shower for her husband, and a kitchen shower. Then she had a baby a couple of years later and had several baby showers. One at home, one at work, and one at the gym. Another women I know had 4 kids......she had a shower for at least three of them. The last baby shower was held at restaurant for her "close friends". She and her husband showed up, opened presents and were treated to a fine lunch. I never saw any of those presents again. One of her friends bought the whole crib layette, but the couple never put the crib together. I never did see the $300 stroller we bought her.....I think she returned it. But, what I couldn't understand was why she had to have a shower to begin with....she already had 2 kids under 6 years old. One of my other friends had a baby shower for 65 people at a very nice restuarant. I was very civilzed and controlled. She received EVERYTHING on her registry. She spent 3 1/2 hours opening presents while I felt like my head was going to explode. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we were required to bring a onsie for the baby that we decorated ourselves. If you have ever bought onsies you know that they only come in packages of 3 or more. She actually had a basket on the table for the extras incase you wanted bring them. (she mentioned something about donating them to charity....) I thought that was a bit much considering the $6,000 worth of merchandise sitting in front of her. But who am I to judge?
Now I am going to sound like an old person here....but when I was growing up, bridal showers were for kitchen stuff and baby showers for little onsies and blankets. You sat around eating sandwiches and having iced tea in someones house on a Saturday. But, today, these things are big events, often at a hall or restaurant. The bride or new mommie goes to several stores to pick out things that we are expected to buy her. No longer is it enough to buy her a blender or blanket.......noooooooo......if you bring a gift under $50 your lucky to get a thank you card. I ask you.....I ask you, when did it become our responsibility to buy everything for these lucky ladies? What happened to going out and buying it yourself? Baby showers bring $300 strollers, 600 count cotton sheets, designer baby bags. Bridal showers bring $200 coffee pots, waffle makers, bread makers, and deviled egg plates.
Then there are the extras. At bridal showers we have a wishing well (for whatever the bride wants us to put in there), Christmas ornament trees, recipe books,lingerie corner, etc. These of course are all on top of the expensive Williams and Sonoma pasta maker you just bought her. As if she will use the pasta maker. I have yet to know a bride who uses her "makers" on a regular basis, or ever eats on her fine china.
At baby showers there is a diaper tree, bottle box, binky bag, book well, wishing well (for trinkets and stuff). This, like the bridal shower is on top of the $75 Baby Bijorn you just bought her. The one you see Brad Pitt using but rarely see your friends using. The one good thing about baby showers is that you at least know that the baby will probably be using the $5000 worth of merchandise spent on it a the shower. Although, I don't know if a diaper wipe warmer is actually something that is needed. But of course this is all my opinion.
Then, when the day actually arrives for the shower the bride or mommie shows up and pretends like she didn't know this day was coming. Like she hadn't planned it out in her head for months. But, now a days, most of the lucky ladies plan their own showers right along side of the the person actually paying for the shower. Everything is coordinated right down to the menu and colors. Then there are the games............I won't even get into that today.
The thing is......you are probably saying I'm jealous....damn right I am. I didn't get a bridal shower......in all fairness there wasn't really a wedding. And my baby shower was very small...back in the day when people didn't expect all their friends and families to outfit the whole baby. When my M was born 9 years ago, you were happy with what you received. One of the best presents I received was a blanket made by my late Aunt. Then whatever I didn't get I bought myself or borrowed. But then again.....who am I to judge right?
The bottom line is.....I know your all with me on this one. As much as you can't admit it out loud......you're with me.
One of the brides I know had 4 bridal showers. Now who needs four showers? She had a standard bridal shower, a lingerie shower, a tool shower for her husband, and a kitchen shower. Then she had a baby a couple of years later and had several baby showers. One at home, one at work, and one at the gym. Another women I know had 4 kids......she had a shower for at least three of them. The last baby shower was held at restaurant for her "close friends". She and her husband showed up, opened presents and were treated to a fine lunch. I never saw any of those presents again. One of her friends bought the whole crib layette, but the couple never put the crib together. I never did see the $300 stroller we bought her.....I think she returned it. But, what I couldn't understand was why she had to have a shower to begin with....she already had 2 kids under 6 years old. One of my other friends had a baby shower for 65 people at a very nice restuarant. I was very civilzed and controlled. She received EVERYTHING on her registry. She spent 3 1/2 hours opening presents while I felt like my head was going to explode. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we were required to bring a onsie for the baby that we decorated ourselves. If you have ever bought onsies you know that they only come in packages of 3 or more. She actually had a basket on the table for the extras incase you wanted bring them. (she mentioned something about donating them to charity....) I thought that was a bit much considering the $6,000 worth of merchandise sitting in front of her. But who am I to judge?
Now I am going to sound like an old person here....but when I was growing up, bridal showers were for kitchen stuff and baby showers for little onsies and blankets. You sat around eating sandwiches and having iced tea in someones house on a Saturday. But, today, these things are big events, often at a hall or restaurant. The bride or new mommie goes to several stores to pick out things that we are expected to buy her. No longer is it enough to buy her a blender or blanket.......noooooooo......if you bring a gift under $50 your lucky to get a thank you card. I ask you.....I ask you, when did it become our responsibility to buy everything for these lucky ladies? What happened to going out and buying it yourself? Baby showers bring $300 strollers, 600 count cotton sheets, designer baby bags. Bridal showers bring $200 coffee pots, waffle makers, bread makers, and deviled egg plates.
Then there are the extras. At bridal showers we have a wishing well (for whatever the bride wants us to put in there), Christmas ornament trees, recipe books,lingerie corner, etc. These of course are all on top of the expensive Williams and Sonoma pasta maker you just bought her. As if she will use the pasta maker. I have yet to know a bride who uses her "makers" on a regular basis, or ever eats on her fine china.
At baby showers there is a diaper tree, bottle box, binky bag, book well, wishing well (for trinkets and stuff). This, like the bridal shower is on top of the $75 Baby Bijorn you just bought her. The one you see Brad Pitt using but rarely see your friends using. The one good thing about baby showers is that you at least know that the baby will probably be using the $5000 worth of merchandise spent on it a the shower. Although, I don't know if a diaper wipe warmer is actually something that is needed. But of course this is all my opinion.
Then, when the day actually arrives for the shower the bride or mommie shows up and pretends like she didn't know this day was coming. Like she hadn't planned it out in her head for months. But, now a days, most of the lucky ladies plan their own showers right along side of the the person actually paying for the shower. Everything is coordinated right down to the menu and colors. Then there are the games............I won't even get into that today.
The thing is......you are probably saying I'm jealous....damn right I am. I didn't get a bridal shower......in all fairness there wasn't really a wedding. And my baby shower was very small...back in the day when people didn't expect all their friends and families to outfit the whole baby. When my M was born 9 years ago, you were happy with what you received. One of the best presents I received was a blanket made by my late Aunt. Then whatever I didn't get I bought myself or borrowed. But then again.....who am I to judge right?
The bottom line is.....I know your all with me on this one. As much as you can't admit it out loud......you're with me.
Monday, September 3, 2007
New school
Madison started school last week and is loving it. Unlike our last school district, she actually has art, music, computer, and Spanish classes. They are also required to learn an instrument and play in the orchestra. That last part should be interesting. But, overall she loved it and made lots of new friends. We still haven't tried taking the bus yet, so she'll try it this week. Its a little nervewracking for her but all the kids take the bus! So, we'll see what happens.
more things I've noticed
Ambulances......In LA if an ambulance is driving by at high speed with its lights flashing and horns blaring, people STOP or pull over. People here don't do that? I almost got hit the other day when I pulled aside for an ambulance. Apparently the driver behind me had never seen this type of behavior before and actually gave me the finger when he passed by me, cutting off the ambulance. I was in shock. Its a weird thing......they don't have paid fireman here, so its all volunteers. Now, don't get me wrong....I think anyone that is willing to run into a burning building and not get paid for it must be either a saint (or somewhat demented:)) But, the thing is.....these are guys that are at their normal jobs and when the call comes in, they have to take off.....so am assuming that the response time to your burning house must be slow. They have to run out of work, get to the firehouse, get changed, on the truck, then too your house. THEN.....if you were unlucky enough to sustain some sort of injury, you might not make it to the hospital because the idiots on the road won't pull over for you!
I'm doomed!
I'm doomed!
Sorry....
Sorry for the delay in posts but my computer has suffered a meltdown and is still trying to recover. I think I have the problem solved but only time will tell!!!!!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Things I've noticed!
Things I've noticed since living in PA........
One-ply toilet paper. No one here seems to know that two-ply toilet paper exists. Its as if Charmin is some sort of fancy, 2 ply toilet paper that your bum doesn't deserve..........
Yield signs=Stop signs.....here in this state, if a driver comes to a yield sign and even has a lane to ease into, they come to a DEAD stop and just wait. This happens on ordinary roads and freeways. Imagine will you trying to to get on the 405.....you come up the ramp and merge into traffic. Not here.......people stop! To make matters worse, the people driving on the freeway know this and if you obey the yield sign and truly merge into traffic.....the drivers on the road look at you like you ran a red light!
Politeness.....I think East coasters get a bad rap. When I am going to Wawa for my soda and paper in the morning, people WAIT to hold the door for each other. This doesn't just happen at Wawa, it seems to be everywhere. The cashiers also tell you to "have a good one". Meaning....have a great day. Now, nothing against California, but I can't remember the last time someone there tripped over themselves trying to open the door for you. Also in this category.....Every person we have told that we are new in the area has fallen all over themselves to give us area info. Take for example the lady we bought our car insurance from....she gave me her card and told me to call her for ANY local info, restaurant reviews, etc. Now, I can't say for certain that people seem to be more friendly, but an informal poll reveals that so far.
People here think if you go into the "city" you will get mugged or killed.......now let me say this.....I am currently living about 35 minutes outside of the 6th largest city in the country. When we were in Torrance it was the same distance except it was the 2 nd largest city in the country. I was never scared going up to Hollywood, to downtown LA, etc. So, going into Philly for a day of sightseeing or "culture" does not scare me.....but it scares everyone else. I hear comments like "your going to get killed" or "don't take your purse or someone else will". I don't know what the fuss is all about because I love going into center city Philly. I just hope that I don't grow scared like everyone else.
Grass....I'm talking about the kind you grow, not the kind you smoke. In Cali, your grass is a source of pride. You spend lots of money installing water sprinklers, you have someone cut it every week, you take care of it. Now, people take care of their grass here, but they don't fuss over it like in Cali. AND people cut their own grass. Now, I know some of you out there are in Cali are thinking (we cut our own grass) and good for you. But you know that the majority of people have a lawn cutting service to cut their patch of grass....and a patch of grass it truly is. At our old house, the lawn guys were done cutting,trimming and blowing in less than 30 minutes. Not a day went by in Torrance when I didn't hear the familiar drone of the leaf blower at 7:30 in the morning. Here, its different. People cut their own grass......and their grass is twice or three times as big. You never hear those lawn guys slamming their truck door at 7:30 am. Every night after dinner, or on the weekends you heard lots of lawn mowers but the homeowners are (gasp!) doing it themselves. (or their sons are) At our new house Alex hired someone to cut his grass because he grew up in Cali......he can't do it (actually he is really busy with school)! When I told people we wouldn't be cutting our own grass, they look at us like we are lazy. Its a weird feeling, I almost feel ashamed. One family member said to me "it must be nice to have money to throw around". Now its not expensive.....actually the same price or even cheaper than LA for three times the amount of land. But, I am being shamed into feeling bad about not cutting my own grass!
One-ply toilet paper. No one here seems to know that two-ply toilet paper exists. Its as if Charmin is some sort of fancy, 2 ply toilet paper that your bum doesn't deserve..........
Yield signs=Stop signs.....here in this state, if a driver comes to a yield sign and even has a lane to ease into, they come to a DEAD stop and just wait. This happens on ordinary roads and freeways. Imagine will you trying to to get on the 405.....you come up the ramp and merge into traffic. Not here.......people stop! To make matters worse, the people driving on the freeway know this and if you obey the yield sign and truly merge into traffic.....the drivers on the road look at you like you ran a red light!
Politeness.....I think East coasters get a bad rap. When I am going to Wawa for my soda and paper in the morning, people WAIT to hold the door for each other. This doesn't just happen at Wawa, it seems to be everywhere. The cashiers also tell you to "have a good one". Meaning....have a great day. Now, nothing against California, but I can't remember the last time someone there tripped over themselves trying to open the door for you. Also in this category.....Every person we have told that we are new in the area has fallen all over themselves to give us area info. Take for example the lady we bought our car insurance from....she gave me her card and told me to call her for ANY local info, restaurant reviews, etc. Now, I can't say for certain that people seem to be more friendly, but an informal poll reveals that so far.
People here think if you go into the "city" you will get mugged or killed.......now let me say this.....I am currently living about 35 minutes outside of the 6th largest city in the country. When we were in Torrance it was the same distance except it was the 2 nd largest city in the country. I was never scared going up to Hollywood, to downtown LA, etc. So, going into Philly for a day of sightseeing or "culture" does not scare me.....but it scares everyone else. I hear comments like "your going to get killed" or "don't take your purse or someone else will". I don't know what the fuss is all about because I love going into center city Philly. I just hope that I don't grow scared like everyone else.
Grass....I'm talking about the kind you grow, not the kind you smoke. In Cali, your grass is a source of pride. You spend lots of money installing water sprinklers, you have someone cut it every week, you take care of it. Now, people take care of their grass here, but they don't fuss over it like in Cali. AND people cut their own grass. Now, I know some of you out there are in Cali are thinking (we cut our own grass) and good for you. But you know that the majority of people have a lawn cutting service to cut their patch of grass....and a patch of grass it truly is. At our old house, the lawn guys were done cutting,trimming and blowing in less than 30 minutes. Not a day went by in Torrance when I didn't hear the familiar drone of the leaf blower at 7:30 in the morning. Here, its different. People cut their own grass......and their grass is twice or three times as big. You never hear those lawn guys slamming their truck door at 7:30 am. Every night after dinner, or on the weekends you heard lots of lawn mowers but the homeowners are (gasp!) doing it themselves. (or their sons are) At our new house Alex hired someone to cut his grass because he grew up in Cali......he can't do it (actually he is really busy with school)! When I told people we wouldn't be cutting our own grass, they look at us like we are lazy. Its a weird feeling, I almost feel ashamed. One family member said to me "it must be nice to have money to throw around". Now its not expensive.....actually the same price or even cheaper than LA for three times the amount of land. But, I am being shamed into feeling bad about not cutting my own grass!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Vera Bradley purses!
Ok, so I mentioned these purses before, but they are starting to get on my nerves. Everywhere you look, ladies have these purses slung over their shoulders. They're NOT PURSES, THEY'RE QUILTS! Now, I'm not exactly the most fashion conscious person in the world, but these purses bug me. They are made out of quilt material.....that's right ladies.....if your purse gets dirty you can actually put it in the washer and wash it! Can you believe that? The only thing I would ever buy one for is to stuff it with cotton balls and use it for a pillow. Maybe you can use the bigger ones for a blanket....I don't know. Let me tell you that if you pass a shop with Vera Bradley purses in it, the place is a mob scene. All kinds of women are running around paying over $100 for a blanket purse. Maybe I'm just jealous that I didn't think of it first. What next, purses made from toilet paper? I mean really. A good purse doesn't belong in a washer! I'm including an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer posted yesterday about this strange phenomenon. It appears that there are YOUNG women that are buying them also. Maybe its just me.....although Christy agrees with me too. I just can't believe it will ever end up in NY or LA.....but you never know. Let me know if you ladies see them cruising down on the shoulders of "ladies who lunch" in Beverly Hills. Although, all it takes is one nuttbag like Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears to carry one, then watch out!
Viva Las Vegas!
Attention all my Vegas loving friends.....remember how much fun we had in May....well I'm looking to repeat that fun. I'm coming out in November with my cousin, her husband and my aunt. So if you want to come out and meet me there.....I'll be checking in on November 4th and out on the 7th!
Post office problems
This is what I get for moving to a slow moving state.....slow moving mail. We had noticed that we were not getting any mail at the new house, despite having many new accounts and such opened with that address. So, I scurried down to the Collegeville post office to find out what was going on. I don't really know WHAT I expected. You see, the post office is a mystery. They have their own rules that no one can figure out and they really don't want you to. Nobody can complain because if you complain about your mailman etc, then you don't get your mail. All of a sudden your People Magazines disappear, and your bills come weeks late. So, if you have a problem with your mailman or post office, you just have to suck it up.
So, I went into the post office and asked where our mail was. They explained to me that since the mailman didn't know our name, he wasn't about to deliver our mail, despite the fact that it had a valid Collegeville post office. You see, in this little community, apparently the mailman recognizes the name first, address second. I asked what happened to all the mail already sent to the house, ie......homeowners insurance stuff, Temple Law school stuff, Madison's school registration stuff.......the answer was "we sent it back". Now, I understand that maybe in the old days the mailman would look at the mail and say....."this is a name I don't recognize for this house", but in this day and age the mailman just delivers the mail to the address on the label. Plus, you would THINK that the mailman would notice that there was a For Sale sign on the lawn, then a Sold sign, then the sign was magically gone. The powers of deduction would have one figure that PERHAPS there are new occupants in that house. But, not our mailman. He was strictly by the book.
So, I asked the friendly post office employee (he really wasn't friendly, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he was trying) what my options were. He explained that I would have to put in a change of address card and once the mailman saw that he would deliver the mail. Then he threw in alot of nonsense about having to getting an 80% volume of mail before he would even deliver it.....but I didn't understand that and I don't think he really did either.
I told him that we couldn't put a change of address card in because we had already done that and the mail was going to my parents. He said we could put another one in for my parents address but admitted it would likely confuse the Norristown mailman. Sooooooo, our only other option would be to put a hold on our mail until we were able to have a change of address sorted out in LA. The mailman WOULD NOT deliver our mail without seeing that card! Let me tell you that it took all my patience not to reach over that counter and strangle that man and his boss. I told him that this was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of and they told me that this is how the post office is SUPPOSED to do things. They don't know how they are doing in things in a "big city" like Los Angeles, but they follow the letter of the law in Collegeville.....population 8,oo9! So, I put a hold on my mail and crawled out.......
That afternoon we surveyed other local post offices and the consensus was that, the Collegeville post office was out of their minds.
A couple of days later I went to collect my mail at the post office and the guy says...."by the way, the mailman won't deliver your mail in the mailbox you have now.......you need to replace it with a standup mailbox at the end of your driveway". You see, the mailbox we have now is on the wall outside the front door. It looks like its been there for 800 years, and it has the name of the previous owners on it......The Pancoasts. There are about 10 houses on our street, 7 of them have mailboxes at the end of the driveway and the other three (including ours) has them on the house. So, the mailman drives up and down the street delivering the mail, if its at the end of the driveway he doesn't have to get his behind out the of the car. (NOTE: I would have liked to used a stronger word there, but I know that kids sometimes read this!) But, when he gets to our house and our 2 other neighbors houses, he......gasp!......has to get out of the car and walk to the house. So, apparently this is way too much exercise for him.....so he won't deliver the mail until we put one at the end of the driveway. Now, of course this isn't what they told me.....they gave me some crap story about how the regulations have changed....bla, bla, bla......but I told him that there were other houses on that street that didn't have mailboxes at the end of the driveway......and he didn't believe me. In fact, not only did he not believe me........he said that I must be mistaken or seeing things.
Now, all the employees at the Collegeville Post Office know me. I'm sure there is a picture of me on the wall in the back.....and I'm sure my US magazine will never show up anymore. I'll be doomed to reading the Norristown Times Herald for all my news.....and let me tell you.....it doesn't get worse than that!
So, I went into the post office and asked where our mail was. They explained to me that since the mailman didn't know our name, he wasn't about to deliver our mail, despite the fact that it had a valid Collegeville post office. You see, in this little community, apparently the mailman recognizes the name first, address second. I asked what happened to all the mail already sent to the house, ie......homeowners insurance stuff, Temple Law school stuff, Madison's school registration stuff.......the answer was "we sent it back". Now, I understand that maybe in the old days the mailman would look at the mail and say....."this is a name I don't recognize for this house", but in this day and age the mailman just delivers the mail to the address on the label. Plus, you would THINK that the mailman would notice that there was a For Sale sign on the lawn, then a Sold sign, then the sign was magically gone. The powers of deduction would have one figure that PERHAPS there are new occupants in that house. But, not our mailman. He was strictly by the book.
So, I asked the friendly post office employee (he really wasn't friendly, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he was trying) what my options were. He explained that I would have to put in a change of address card and once the mailman saw that he would deliver the mail. Then he threw in alot of nonsense about having to getting an 80% volume of mail before he would even deliver it.....but I didn't understand that and I don't think he really did either.
I told him that we couldn't put a change of address card in because we had already done that and the mail was going to my parents. He said we could put another one in for my parents address but admitted it would likely confuse the Norristown mailman. Sooooooo, our only other option would be to put a hold on our mail until we were able to have a change of address sorted out in LA. The mailman WOULD NOT deliver our mail without seeing that card! Let me tell you that it took all my patience not to reach over that counter and strangle that man and his boss. I told him that this was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of and they told me that this is how the post office is SUPPOSED to do things. They don't know how they are doing in things in a "big city" like Los Angeles, but they follow the letter of the law in Collegeville.....population 8,oo9! So, I put a hold on my mail and crawled out.......
That afternoon we surveyed other local post offices and the consensus was that, the Collegeville post office was out of their minds.
A couple of days later I went to collect my mail at the post office and the guy says...."by the way, the mailman won't deliver your mail in the mailbox you have now.......you need to replace it with a standup mailbox at the end of your driveway". You see, the mailbox we have now is on the wall outside the front door. It looks like its been there for 800 years, and it has the name of the previous owners on it......The Pancoasts. There are about 10 houses on our street, 7 of them have mailboxes at the end of the driveway and the other three (including ours) has them on the house. So, the mailman drives up and down the street delivering the mail, if its at the end of the driveway he doesn't have to get his behind out the of the car. (NOTE: I would have liked to used a stronger word there, but I know that kids sometimes read this!) But, when he gets to our house and our 2 other neighbors houses, he......gasp!......has to get out of the car and walk to the house. So, apparently this is way too much exercise for him.....so he won't deliver the mail until we put one at the end of the driveway. Now, of course this isn't what they told me.....they gave me some crap story about how the regulations have changed....bla, bla, bla......but I told him that there were other houses on that street that didn't have mailboxes at the end of the driveway......and he didn't believe me. In fact, not only did he not believe me........he said that I must be mistaken or seeing things.
Now, all the employees at the Collegeville Post Office know me. I'm sure there is a picture of me on the wall in the back.....and I'm sure my US magazine will never show up anymore. I'll be doomed to reading the Norristown Times Herald for all my news.....and let me tell you.....it doesn't get worse than that!
New house
So, last Friday, Alex settled on his house. Boy what a production that was! I have found that nothing in this state is easy, and making settlement on a house is torture. In PA you actually have to sit down with the sellers and exchange pleasantries while everyone is signing the paperwork. But in our case there was a snag with the bank and the pleasantries stopped and the other side had a fit and walked out. Alex still got the house of course, but not without a lot of suffering. It was and ALL day affair. But, I guess it was worth it. This weekend starts all the construction on the inside. The house is VERY old inside. The electrician was surprised it didn't burn down. There were sooooo many frayed wires!
Oh did I tell you that our electrician was named Ben Franklin....actually Ben Franklin III. I wondered if he was related to the original BF, but I was afraid to ask. He wasn't bald and in wire rimmed glasses. Actually, I got the feeling that if I did ask he probably would have found a way to electrocute me. I would imagine that he probably got teased ALOT in school.
I had a million other questions like, "did you HAVE to be an electrican"? Would your parents have been mad if you chose another career, in plumbing perhaps? "Or did you have to choose a Ben Franlking approved career, such as newspaper delivery man, mailman, inventor, kite flyer? I didn't ask him any of these questions, but a million of them were floating around in my mind.
Alex's new car!
Its been awhile since I posted, mostly because I'm getting lazy. I just wanted to start out by saying that, the ugly jeep in the last picture is not Alex's new car. He didn't get a Jeep after all. He bought an Acura MDX. Its really nice and comfy. And as Madison says.....fancy!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Alex's new car!
After much deliberation I THINK Alex got a car. He made a deal last night at the dealership but he couldn't actually buy it because this is Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania everything works very slowly. In LA if you want a car and have the money, you can take the car home. In LA the dealers are open late and open everyday of the week. Did I mention to you that you can't buy a car here on Sundays or Saturdays after 4pm? So, he found a car, made the deal, but apparently it was too late for them to finish the deal and will have to go back tomorrow to get it. UGH!!! But I was able to take a picture for all of you to see.
Zern's
So, I think I mentioned last week about a place we went to visit called Zern's. I really didn't get a chance to take many pictures there because I was to busy laughing. You really have to see it to appreciate it. You can buy Scott Baio posters there, hunting clothes, candy, meat, cars, pets, used magazines an more. I bought a bag of used books for $10. All of this while observing the locals without teeth and perhaps missing a few fingers. On Friday nights they have a car auction. The great part about Zern's is the fact that every once and awhile, the Asian ladies from New York come down and sell fake purses right out in the open! No hiding in a back corner like in downtown LA. But then the sheriff catches on and kicks them out. After that you have to wait six months again until a persistant suburbanite spots the purses again and the word gets out. Right now the hot thing here in purses are these cloth purses made by Vera Bradley? Have any of you heard of her, because I have not. They're not really hot with young, stable women. Just married, older, childbearing women. I'm not saying they have to be old to have them......just not single! Anyhoos......I digress. Zern's is best viewed on a Friday night when all the locals come out for shopping and dinner. I stress to you that this is the ONLY thing to do in this one shope town. Ok....I lied......there is a Super Walmart. There is an actual stand that will fry veggies. ANY kind of veggie. By the time Zern's is done with you cauliflower, you will have a coronary on the floor right there. I was too busy laughing while there the last time so I didn't have any time to take pictures. But thanks to another blogger I found this link.....enjoy. Oh.....Madison was supposed to go to the meat auction today with my dad to spy for us and find out exactly what goes on there.....but she wasn't able to. So, I think next month I will go with my camera to see it for myself.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
pies
So, Madison and I found this really cool orchard near my brothers house that makes over 20 kinds of pies a day. So, we stopped in last weekend and bought a raspberry pie. I never knew that there was such a thing.....AND I'm not usually fond of raspberries but we tried it anyway....boy was it great. But, even better is the fact that they have all kinds of festivals and pick your own days. We were supposed to go to the peach festival yesterday but were too lazy. But we definitely won't miss the tomato festival in two weeks. Fresh tomatoes are JUST starting to fill up the vines in gardens all over the place. If you are a tomato lover this is the place to be! Check the link to get a glance at our new found favorite place for fruits and veggies! www.linvilla.com
Speaking of the Amish....
Did any of you know that out in the Amish country.....Lancaster, PA......they have a weird sense of humor. These are the people that don't have electricity and drive in horse and buggies. All the stores and restaurants are closed on Sundays. Yet.......they have towns named.....Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Virginville. Hmmmmmm...........
Amish kids
We were traveling along in New Jersey this week looking for a car, when we spotted the oddest thing. There on the side of the road was a broken down bus filled with Amish kids. When they let the Amish kids out, they were covered head to toe with long sleeved clothing AND sweaters and bonnets. You have to realize that it was pretty much the hottest day of the year, with the temp soaring up into the 90's and humidity making it feel like you were suffocating. We had to go around the block and ended up getting a second look. When we came back around they were lined up with the teacher in the front, singing and dancing. It was the oddest thing to see. Here were these kids, dressed like they just came from Little House on the Prairie auditions, singing and dancing outside on the hottest day of the year......AS IF they didn't have a care in the world. It was unbelievable.
Almost electrocuted
Did I tell you guys that Clifford and Alex were almost electrocuted recently? It was a couple of weeks ago. There was a really bad storm going on outside but Clifford had to go out to do his business. So the rain had let up and Alex took him out. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning came down and struck something very close to us. For any of you out there that knows what it sounds like, you will sympathize. It sounds like a bomb going off in your house and it shakes the ground. All I know is that I looked over and saw Alex and the dog with the brightest light I had ever seen surrounding them. The two of them ran inside shaking. Now, whenever there is loud thunder.....Clifford comes running for cover!
Sorry the posts have been pretty sporadic lately....but we have been very busy trying to get settled. Alex makes settlement on the house this Friday. Its weird how they do things here. You actually have to have a face to face meeting with the seller and sign all the paperwork together. So, unless something else comes up last minute, the house will be his on Friday. Then the fun begins. He has BIG plans for the house so it will take a couple of weeks before we can move in. He starts school on the Monday after settlement so that should be interesting. He lucked out and only has school Monday-Thursday.
Madison is now registered for school. She starts on August 28th. Her school is in the Perkiomen Valley school district which is supposed to be very good....there is a dairy farm across the street from her school and corn fields surrounding the school. Her school is called PV South. She takes a reading test next week then they will show her around. She's VERY nervous and misses her friends.
As for me....nothing new. Alex goes into the city this week to get his books, look for his classes, etc. We are all going to take the train together and split off. He and Madison will go to Temple Univ and I will do some exploring in the city. Then we will all meet up for dinner later. It should be fun.
Madison is now registered for school. She starts on August 28th. Her school is in the Perkiomen Valley school district which is supposed to be very good....there is a dairy farm across the street from her school and corn fields surrounding the school. Her school is called PV South. She takes a reading test next week then they will show her around. She's VERY nervous and misses her friends.
As for me....nothing new. Alex goes into the city this week to get his books, look for his classes, etc. We are all going to take the train together and split off. He and Madison will go to Temple Univ and I will do some exploring in the city. Then we will all meet up for dinner later. It should be fun.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Nothing new
Hey there! There really isn't much to report on this week. Alex had the inspection and several things were wrong. But, he made them an offer and they counter offered with something he couldn't refuse. Sooooooo, on August 17th its his. It will need some work, so we won't be moving in right away, but it will still be his! As for me and Madison, we are enjoying our summer but work is something I have to start right away. There is a lack of traveling jobs here so I am going to do registry for awhile. Maddy and I have been busy with swimming and sightseeing. We went into Lancaster last week then back to the city for a day at the art museum. Had a great time again. Keep in touch!
Monday, July 30, 2007
New stuff
Hey everybody! Well, the house stuff is going well. Alex has the inspection today and if all goes well, escrow will close on August 17th! We've had a busy week. Last week we went to Zern's.....talk about hickville. They sell everything from camoflauge to fake purses. Its the place to be seen in Gilbertsville and if you are overweight and missing teeth you won't stand out. Alex was especially interested in the car auction.....the whole thing was priceless.
Less you think we were only doing hick stuff.....Madison and I spent the day in the city. We took the train in and had lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. Its like the farmers market in LA but bigger and inside. LOTS of great food. Madison and I found the best pizza and cannoli's in the world. The lady at Termini Bros (the cannoli store) was by the book Italian with a thick accent....her name was even Carmela! There was an ice cream festival a the market and Madison participated in all the craft making. The Reading Terminal Market has been there since 1893 and the ice cream stand Bassetts just as long. Apparently they are the oldest ice cream maker in the USA. We had lots of fun checking out all the food stands and other stores. They had a cookbook store that had the coolest books. There was even a cookbook on how to cook exotic animals such as Armadillo's or insects.
After that we took a trolley all over the city. We had a great time but it was SOOOOOOO hot that day. I think we drank 8 bottles of water EACH. At one point Madison took her shoes and socks off and paddled in Logan Circle fountain. Its a HUGE fountain and all the kids were in it.
After our venture into the city, we came home and went to the Polish Festival at my parents church......more food and HEAT. We filled ourselves on pirogi, kielbasa, and funnel cake.
On Sunday, just another relaxing day at my Uncle Carl's pool. We had a great grilled dinner and volleyball after. Overall.....we are loving life right now. It will probably be different after we go back to school and work.
Less you think we were only doing hick stuff.....Madison and I spent the day in the city. We took the train in and had lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. Its like the farmers market in LA but bigger and inside. LOTS of great food. Madison and I found the best pizza and cannoli's in the world. The lady at Termini Bros (the cannoli store) was by the book Italian with a thick accent....her name was even Carmela! There was an ice cream festival a the market and Madison participated in all the craft making. The Reading Terminal Market has been there since 1893 and the ice cream stand Bassetts just as long. Apparently they are the oldest ice cream maker in the USA. We had lots of fun checking out all the food stands and other stores. They had a cookbook store that had the coolest books. There was even a cookbook on how to cook exotic animals such as Armadillo's or insects.
After that we took a trolley all over the city. We had a great time but it was SOOOOOOO hot that day. I think we drank 8 bottles of water EACH. At one point Madison took her shoes and socks off and paddled in Logan Circle fountain. Its a HUGE fountain and all the kids were in it.
After our venture into the city, we came home and went to the Polish Festival at my parents church......more food and HEAT. We filled ourselves on pirogi, kielbasa, and funnel cake.
On Sunday, just another relaxing day at my Uncle Carl's pool. We had a great grilled dinner and volleyball after. Overall.....we are loving life right now. It will probably be different after we go back to school and work.
Monday, July 23, 2007
New house 2
So, Alex found a house, made and offer, and they accepted. We will move into the house at the end of August. Its an old house in a GREAT neighborhood. I think its about 1700 sq feet on almost 1/2 acre of property. Its on a dead-end street with lots of trees. Alot of the houses in the neighborhood are older colonials. It has 4 bedrooms and lots of charm. The last owners were pretty old so it needs some updating, but it has so much potential. It feels like an old, cozy home. I can't wait for winter nights so we can make a fire in the fireplace. The house reminds us both of Alex's grandparents house in England. While it doesn't look the same, it has the same spirit inside! It has a beautiful view from the dining room with a bay window over looking the gardens. We can't wait for all of you to come (at different times of course) and to see it. Its in a town called Collegeville and very close to my parents and all of my cousins. We are very fortunate!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Tsunami
So, on the way to the shore, my cousin's wife, Monica took a wrong turn and we ended up about 20 minutes off coarse. So, we backtracked and took the scenic route through all the little shore towns. Its a quaint ride, going over little drawbridges, looking at the million dollar houses. I was pointed out all kinds of stuff to Madison. I then made a fatal error in judgement. While going over one of the drawbridges I pointed out the ocean on the right and the bay on the left. I explained to her that if there was a Tsunami all of the little towns would be washed away because its so flat. Why did I do this you say? I have no good answer for that. She has asked alot of questions in the past about tsunami's so I guess it just popped out of my stupid mouth. Well.......at 12:30 am that night, the adults were sitting out on the deck, having some beers, laughing and telling stories. All of a sudden the door to Pat and Rick's house opens and I see Madison and her 14 year old cousin Alexis scurring across the walkway and into the house. Madison apparently woke up frightened and couldn't go back to sleep. So, took her back and put her to bed with her cousin, but she was still scared. So I offered to sleep in the other bed in the room with her. BIG MISTAKE.....it was a twin bed. But she was scared and what was I supposed to do. I had the worst night sleep and my back was severly twisted the next day. When we were walking to the beach I asked her what made her so scared the night before......she said that she woke up and was scared that a tsunami was going to come and drown all of us in our sleep! See what I get! ...................................that afternoon as I hobbled home from the beach in pain, I heard her and her cousin Kohler describing how cool it would be if a tsunami DID come to NJ (when they weren't there) so that the beach was in Philly. That way it would only be a 30 minute ride to the beach. I told Madison if she woke up that night she was on her own!
Atlantic City
One night while at the shore, the adults headed to Atlantic City for some gambling. The kids stayed with my cousin Nancy's in-laws Pat and Rick. We drove 20 minutes and ended up at Ceasars. The last time I was there it was pretty seedy. I guess things have changed a LITTLE bit. Gone were the old people with their O2 masks on, the people gambling away their SSI checks. They remodeled a little and it was actually nice. They have non-smoking sections in the casinos now so you can totally breathe. Although....they still have penny slots and that section was FULL of broken down old people with their cancer sticks. But all and all it was a good time. I wandered around, checked out the boardwalk, the new mall (it actully had upscale stores such as Chanel, Coach, etc). Then I went back inside and put $20 into the slots and won $200. I cashed out then tried my luck at the penny and nickle slots. Overall I won $260. Not bad really.
The Shore
On Sunday, we took off for the shore. By we, I mean, me and Madison. Alex gave us a long lecture on the proper usage of suntan lotion, including how many times a day to put it on, and to stay away from sand holes. He saw this thing on tv about how 2 people a year die in sand holes because they collapse on them.....so he gave strict warnings to Madison to dig only ankle deep(he's really fun; you can see why we left him at home!) So, after the safety portion of our trip, we hopped into my cousin's car and drove 90 minutes to Sea Isle City. Its a small island off the coast of Jersey that is probably only 5 blocks wide. We stayed until Tuesday night. Boy did we have fun. We spent 3 days on the beach boogy boarding, body surfing (not me), jumping waves, digging, walking, sunning, and just relaxing. Madison loves the Atlantic ocean now, and proclaimed it better than the Pacific......UNTIL....the jelly fish arrived. On Tuesday jelly fish arrived on the beach and she freaked a little, until someone told her only the pink ones sting. Despite seeing ONE pink one, she had a good time. She really takes after me.....when I was a kid, bees and jellyfish were my number one fear. (and pirranahas; GO FIGURE!) But despite the jelly's she loved it. The sand was soft, the ice cream sweet, and the company fun. There were 19 of us walking the 4 blocks to the beach everyday and sharing meals at night. Next summer I am going to rent a place down there so I'll keep you all posted so maybe you can come visit!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Fall
When I say fall....I don't mean the season. As many of you know I am a bit clumsy. I tend to fall alot. Well thursday was no exception. The day started off well. But as I was doing some online work for American Mobile, I took a sip of water and choked on it. I spent 10 minutes in the bathroom choking (all the while, Madison was asking for a tastycake), and then threw up. (TMI) After I survived that near death experience I decided to take a walk with Clifford and Madison. I was going well UNTILLLL.........I tripped on the sidewalk. In very slowmotion I fell to the ground and skined my OTHER knee. I actually laid there on the sidewalk for a couple of seconds feeling really goofy and just waiting for Tom Cruise to ride by and rescue me.....he does that alot I read. But instead, Clifford started to lick my face, Madison was screaming, and the people inside the house were laughing. I got up, brushed myself off, and limped home. I gave up after that and took a nap.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Update
Hey there....still looking for a house. The last couple of days had HORRIBLE humidity therefore the airconditioned car and house were our only reprieve. But it rained like crazy last night and today its beautiful. Madison and I spent the day yesterday by the pool at my Uncle Carl's house. It was cloudy but relaxing. He lives on 2 acres kinda out in the country....but getting overdeveloped daily. So, it was just me, my cousin's kids, and the dog Thunder. Thunder ate one of my shoes so I had to drive home in the rain with only one shoe. Serves me right....I'm not supposed to be wearing flip flops anyway!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Mosquito Bites!
I now know what its like to be eaten alive! I have at least 30 mosquito bites on my legs, with new ones appearing daily. My brothers' backyard is a haven of sorts for these pesty suckers. I even spray myself with that 'Bug Off" but it doesn't seem to work. I think they know I am new blood. I'm sure I will have West Nile Virus by the end of the month.
I now know what its like to be eaten alive! I have at least 30 mosquito bites on my legs, with new ones appearing daily. My brothers' backyard is a haven of sorts for these pesty suckers. I even spray myself with that 'Bug Off" but it doesn't seem to work. I think they know I am new blood. I'm sure I will have West Nile Virus by the end of the month.
4th of July was tons of fun. We spent the day in the Skippack township parade. My Uncle Carl has a John Deere tractor and we hitched it to a wagon and off we went sitting on straw. We threw candy to all the kids and had a great time. Lots of laughs. It was the very definition of small town America and I loved every minute of it. So far, no regrets on moving here. I am loving every minute of it. Oh, and by the way.....I AM wearing a Janicki t-shirt that says....Janicki Family, Collegeville Road, since 1945! I am officially a hick!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
So, Alex is still househunting. He has seen over a dozen homes with no luck. Madison and I took a chance yesterday and went with him. We saw a few nice houses but in yucky locations. At the one location, the house was really nice but as soon as you got out of the car all you smelled was cow manure (poop for you city folks). It was overwhelming. Apparently the house backed up to a farm. You couldn't open the windows of the house without smelling it. So the hunt continues.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Help! There's no Starbucks here!
Can you believe it? I live 20 minutes outside of the 6th largest city in the country but can't find a Starbucks. When I ask someone if they know where the nearest on is, they flash their toothy grin (or lack of teeth grin) and reply "wadda ya kiddn me?"/ "jus go ta Wawa". For all you non natives....this means.....get your coffee at Wawa. More on Wawa later.
I don't know what I'm doing!
Hey Everybody!
I started my blog! I really don't know what I'm doing so bear with me as I figure it out. The trip was fun and living here will definately take some getting used to. I will post pictures soon.
I started my blog! I really don't know what I'm doing so bear with me as I figure it out. The trip was fun and living here will definately take some getting used to. I will post pictures soon.
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