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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.