akjn westside

iSad

2011-10-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

RIP 1955-2011

Thanks for making AKJN's lives more wonderful than we ever could have imagined!

OLIVER KITTY

2011-09-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is our pretend pet, Oliver Kitty, in the garage on top of the car. (When you say Oliver's name, you have to sing it to the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby").

Oliver lives next door in a very busy household, so he visits us every few days to chill out. When he was a little bitty thing 4 years ago, he actually got stuck in our garage, and we think that has stayed with him. We always leave our garage door cracked open, and he just strolls right in. He is so friendly, likes to be held, and I got a kiss on the chin from him last night! He has his own water dish out back, and we are trying so hard not to give him any treats, although Axel totally does not follow that rule!!

Axel adores Oliver! Oliver finds Axel's computer stuff in the garage and upstairs office very fascinating. He likes our office and dining room chairs. He is totally comfy in our house, and loves to prance on the stairs. We are completely pet deprived, so Oliver is filling a big hole for us. We are actually at the point of possibly considering owning a cat, but we've got a good gig going with the our sweetie Oliver, so we're still a two human household....for now!

Have a great week, peeps!!

Relax in Your Slacks, Honey!

2011-09-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

This excellent advice was written in a note to me from Chrissy's mom, and I think it is my new motto!! I've used it out a few times, now, and have gotten great reactions from it! Always smiles, and ususally a chuckle, too. Thanks, Bootie, for being a great pen pal!

My fantasy draft took place last Sunday, and the NFL gloriously started on Thursday night! I just have to make a few tweaks here and there, and hopefully I'll have a great season. I am so excited to watch the Eagles this year, and am hoping against hope that they can go all they way.

Finally, I did something that I should have done a long time ago - I joined my local sorority alumni club. I went to a Meet and Greet on Wed. night at the home of a woman who actually went to Old Dominion, too! It is a great group of ladies, all ages, and they get together at least once a month, if not more. I felt very at home - I was so nervous driving there, like a teenager on a first date! I am looking forward to next Thursday, which is the first official meeting. After the ladies heard about some of the things I make and do, I was put in charge of making the nametags - 80 of them! I am totally excited, and can't wait to get my laminator fired up! Like I said, I should have done this a long time ago! Here is a pic of us - don't you just love my devil eyes???!!!

Ok - that's all for now. I need to shake the sinus + upper chest infection I got going on. I love Cali, but everything is in bloom ALL the time, so your allergies are always doing something to you.
Later, peeps!

AKJN, circa 1990 / IRENE

2011-08-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

OMG - this was 21 years ago!!!! The hippie look was definately not the best for me!! That necklace is hideous! Also notice that I am drinking a wine cooler.....that was probably the last Bartles & James I ever drank. Axel looks totally normal, and I think we actually have the shirt and the jeans, and they still fit him! What a cutie :) So this is about 5 years before we got together.

This was taken at a birthday party for our college friend Lucy, and it was at her boyfriend Buck's house in Virginia Beach. His house was so cool - the backyard was all tiki huts, dense palm foliage, lights in the trees - we always thought it was an old Magnum P.I. set. Those were the days - no cares, no worries!

Our friend Dean forwarded this picture to us over the weekend. In college, we used to see the band Rare Daze pretty much every weekend. We were all friends, and had a huge group that would all hang together. One of the gals, Robin, was smart enough to take pictures of everything back then, and has been posting them on Facebook. As we don't FB here, Dean keeps us posted on the college gang, and forwards pictures like this one to us. Neither Axel or I had ever seen this picture before, so it was so fun to look at it together, and (surprisingly) actually remember details of that night! We both remember eating chocolate chip cookies with pot in them that night, and how awful they were! It was like biting into grass clippings. Still ate them :)

Current events:

I had to continuously take Xanax over the weekend - I was so worried about Irene, and all of our peeps up and down the East Coast. Of course I was mostly concerned about my mom, and sort of raised her anxiety level, too, as I rattled off all the things she should be doing with each phone call. By Sunday morning, I was a real wreck. I was sneaking watching the Weather Channel and CNN - anythime Axel came in a room I was watching the storm coverage, he turned the channel and take the remote from me! On Sunday, I called mom at 9am (6am Cali time) immediately upon waking, prior to having coffee, and I still don't remember what I was saying to her.....Axel was telling me to put down the phone, while my mom was telling me to get my coffee. Within 5 minutes, Axel had me tucked in bed with my coffee, tissues and Opus doll, and held my hand while I blubbered for a little bit. He assured me everything would be okay, and that mom would be fine. Why is he so smart? Mom was completely fine - a tiny bit of water in the basement, but superstar Raymond went over and took care of it for her Monday. Thanks, Ray!

Latest movies:

Thor - we watched it last night. I loved it! The actor playing Thor is young, blonde and buff, and Natalie Portmen is really cute in the movie - total non-serious role. We gave it 2 thumbs up.

The Tillman Story - I read 2-3 books on Patrick Tillman last year, mainly because he was from this area. I was completely familiar with the story while watching, but Axel was blown away by the story. I totally recommend this movie, but it's not a "feel good" story.

Peace Out, peeps! So glad everyone got through Irene okay - you guys have been getting bitch slapped on the East Side lately!

Happy Birthday Chrissy / A Picture Tribute

2011-08-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day to start posting again, as it is Chrissy's birthday!

Happy birthday, doll!

As a special treat, I have unearthed pictures from our 1995 summer in Stone Harbor, and our Hummer Hut rental. This is for you, Chris :)

Enjoy and have a FABULOUS DAY!!!!!!

New Bullet-Point for Resume

2010-09-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Funny story - last week my girl Julie came by with her 3 year old, Scarlett, to pick me up and hit the art store for some supplies. However, by the time she drove to my house (3 minutes), Scarlett was fast asleep, so she brought her inside and hooked her all up on one of our couches.

The 3 adults hung out in the kitchen for a bit, and I said - "hey, let's just go while she's sleeping since we won't be long," and Julie agreed. We would run out while Ak stayed with the sleeper. Ak was standing there, looking at us like we had lost it. He of course objected at first, but we convinced him/gave him no choice :) He was worried that she would freak out when she woke up and we weren't there, or that she would sissy/doody while we were gone. I made sure he knew where the sippy cup was, and where to go in the On Demand menu to get to Yo Gabba Gabba and The Wonder Pets shows.

As Julie and I left, I was thinking - he thinks we're kidding, and that we're going to go back in and get Scarlett to take with us. At the same time, Ak was inside waiting for us to come back in and say "just kidding, we're taking her". No such thing happened, and I couldn't believe we took off!! I knew I'd probably be in a little bit of hot water after we got back, but I also knew he would be absolutely fine with Scarlett.

Julie and I did our shopping and got back in record time. As I walked back into the house, I heard one of the sweetest things....Ak and Scarlett were singing together along with the TV to a tooth-fairly song - Brush, brush, brush, get your teeth clean, etc. Honestly, it was adorable to find them sitting on the couch. Scarlett had her sippy cup, and was very happy. She had woken up about a half hour before we got back, asked for something to drink and to watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Ak was amazed that she didn't freak out, and basically could give a hoot where her mom was :)

I am very proud of Ak, and Julie, too! She said the reason she wasn't nervous about Ak watching Scarlett was because Ak was so nervous, and that meant that he cared about her. I thought that was a very cool statement.

I have been bragging to everyone about Ak's first babysitting job at 40 :) I m so proud of him, and I think he's pretty happy with himself, too. And I didn't encounter any hot water!

So, in short, we can now say we provide couple's babysitting service for the greater Los Gatos area, or in reality, just for Julie's kids!

Have a great day, peeps!

Scarlett awake - 8/27/10 :)

THE WHITE VAN

2010-09-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ak and I went up the mountain to Boulder Creek. A friend of ours who used to live out here was back for a visit before heading to Bangkok today. He will eventually end his travels in Laos where he is trying to purchase a house. He's been back in VA for a year, caring for his mother.

It was great to see him! Unfortunately, his mom is in pretty bad shape, but he has done everything possible to make her comfortable. He's just like we are - an only child born late to older parents. We traded war stories on care facilities and doctors, and I gave him big props for going back and taking care of his mom - we concluded that we do this because of the way we were raised back East :)

Anyway, as we were heading down the mountain home late last night, we ended up behind a van. It was totally white, and looked as if it had been an ambulance at one time because it still had the lights on top, and looked to have some medical stuff in the back windows. It just didn't have any markings on it at all. Then, the van pulled into a turn off to let us pass - all we saw was a big white arm out of the driver window motioning us to go around. At the same time, we both said "OMG - that's the Dexter van! He's out looking for meat!" So we laughed at first, but then Ak says that the van is right behind us! I told Ak to drive faster so he couldn't read our license plate...I figured our killer could do a little research and come and kill us in a few days. Finally, we got off the mountain road and onto 17...as we were merging on to the highway, Ak says that the van was behind us again on the on ramp! We then took off like a shot as Ak hit the pedal to put lots of distance between us, and we were giggling like school girls. We talked about him having stretchers in the back with vistims duct-taped to them. We finally got to our exit and were waiting at the light...we both turned our heads to the left to view the highway we just got off, and right then the white van cruised on by....hopefully Dexter had picked another car to chase for meat!

All this made us realize that 1. we have very active imaginations, fed by 2. too much TV, and 3. too many Stephen King books.

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND, PEEPS!

Fantasy Draft Tonite/DONE + Today's Apple Media Event

2010-09-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, peeps - cross your fingers that I get a FABULOUS team tonight!!!

I've spent the last 2 days buried in FF magazines, and constantly checking online for any last minute signings, etc..
Last season I was in 1st and 2nd place the whole season, and finally ended up in 3rd place when it was all said and done.
I am looking to win this year!!

I'll post later after the draft with my results :)
....and here they are!!!!!!

Draft Results (Round / Player picked):

1 Michael Turner / RB ATL
2 Rashad Mendenhall / RB Steelers
3 Marques Colston / WR Saints
4 Anquan Boldin / WR Ravens
5 Chad Ochocinco / WR Bengals
6 Knowshon Moreno / RB Broncos
7 Matt Ryan / QB ATL
8 Steve Breaston / WR ARI
9 Joe Flacco / QB Ravens
10 Owen Daniels / TE HOU
11 Saints DEF
12 Brandon Jacobs / RB NYG
13 Mark Sanchez / QB NYJ
14 Braylon Edwards / WR NYG
15 Rian Lindell / K Bills

Ok - not sure what to make of my team yet, and I have to fine tune Bye Weeks, etc.
Fun work! We do our draft through Yahoo, so it went really fast, and is very effective if you've done your homework and pre-ranked players. I just sat back and waited for my turn each time, hopping up for a smoke now and then. Total draft time: 1 1/2 hours.

Ak and I watched the live Apple Media Event today on his 4G, and it was really cool. Apple came out with a bunch of free upgrades across the board, and also they have redesigned the Shuffle, Nano, and iPod, which will all be available next week. The Christmas buzz is already starting! Cool new Apple TV unveiled - super cheap, and the slide show feature is amazing. You'll be able to shoot pics right from your iPhone directly to the TV, and have a show in like 5 seconds. The Media Event lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes, then Jobs introduces Chris Martin :) It was just him, not the band, and he sat at a piano and sang 3 songs ... it sounded fantastic, and even looked great for live streaming. Very cool, and a nice way to start the day!
Check out the new stuff at Apple:
http://store.apple.com/us?afid=p219%7CGOUS&cid=OAS-US-KWG-AppleBrand-US

...and read about the event today:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/apple-details-ios-4-1-revamps-tv-offering-rentals/2010-09-01

Happy September, peeps!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

2010-08-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Bobby & Pac Bell Park

We had the best visit at the end of July - Bobby! He was in town briefly for work, and we got to spend a day together :) On the special day, Ak and I headed up to SF, picked him up from his hotel, and then headed to Pac Bell Park to see the Giants/Marlins game.

The weather was fantastic - not a cloud in the sky, and a warm sun balanced by a cool breeze. Out tickets were fantastic - club level, and the view was spectacular from our seats.

View from our seats :)

We made friends with the regulars in front of us, and Bobby asked lots of park questions - his goal is to visit every baseball park in the US. Unfortunately, the Giants lost pretty badly, and the game was one of the shortest in history! No matter - we fought the crowds at the Giants store, and emerged with some excellent T-shirts. We then walked out along McCovey Point - the wind really was blowing, and we were no longer sheilded by the stadium. We snapped a few pictures, then headed to the car.

Ak & Bobby with McCovey statue, stadium behind them

Next stop, Crustaceans, for their famous dungeness crabs and homemade garlic noodles. We've taken Bobby here before and he loves it, and requested to eat here again. We got to the restaurant a bit early, so we walked around. We followed Bobby into a Rocky-esque gym to watch a boxer training with a bag, and asked some general questions about the gym. Apparently the boxer is a contender for something - I can't just remember :) Right next to the gym was a crazy smoke shop with a 6-7 foot "tobacco" pipe in the window. Meanwhile, the air had gotten progressively chillier, and I decided I needed a scarf, so I left the boys and headed into "Out of the Closet", the local thrift store. I purchased a scarf (then washed it 3 times whne I got home), declined the offer of a free HIV test, and joined the boys to go feast. It was a delicious meal from beginning to end. We finally rolled out of there, headed south on 101, and dropped Bobby off at SFO for his flight back to the East coast.
I think I 've known Bobby now for 15 or 16 years - WOW!! He is definately a good buddy :)

Drunken Crab and Garlic Noodles

Just a few funnies from our day:

-Bobby trying to get out of our backseat, scrabbling like an old man with the lock, hollering how he can't get out

-3 of us losing each other in the park; literally every 5 seconds

-Bobby trying to get a hotdog from the deaf vendor

-how we got our Giants cups

-our interacting with the "bib" guy...he puts a bib on anyone who orders crab. I think Bobby thought the due was going to rape him, or something

-making Bobby change his shirt at the airport b/c it had crab all over it

Editor's Note: I admit I have not been so swift on the Paris pictures - they are a work in progress. I forgot how MANY we took, and we are trying to weed it down to a decent sized slide show, but it is so hard to pick and choose the photos. Julie sat with us the first time we went through all of them - poor thing fell asleep on the sofa during the 3 1/2 hour slide show! Axel and I opffically turned into those "Look at our vacation pictures" people.

Back from Paris

2010-07-18T05:25:00.001-07:00

Bonjour!

What a trip...we've already decided to go back for Barbara's 80th birthday!

More pics and stories to come - we had quite an adventure :)

Paris, and France in general, we found to be filled with the friendliest people, the best metro system, the coolest stores - best place to shop anywhere!!!

Still working out the jet lag - this is the hardest time I've had getting back in the groove.

Keep your eyes open for posts this week!

Au revoir, peeps!

HAPPY 40TH, BABY!

2010-05-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

A LOVING SHOUT-OUT TO MY SWEETIE ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

Here's to a healthy and happy year, honey :)

We are headed to Half Moon Bay for the weekend - I will check in when we get back.

I should have some crazy pictures of the coast to post :)

GO FLYERS!!!!!

2010-05-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Westside is excited!!!!

Flyers logo in all windows and on our mailbox so there is NO QUESTION where this girl is from, and where her heart is!

HERE WE GO FLYERS, HERE WE GO!!!!!

Nous allons à Paris !

2010-05-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

Exciting news! Ak's mom is taking us to Paris for ak's 40th birthday!

Although his b-day is at the end of this month, we will be meeting her in Paris in early July to coincide with the end of her Europe trip.

I can barely get my head around this......

Saint begonias!

41 part duex

2010-05-11T06:43:00.001-07:00

Well, I had a fabulous birthday! On Friday, the weather was perfect, and I enjoyed a total lazy day reading and talking on the phone. I got all kinds of wonderful presents that I will always treasure. Axel told me to be ready at 7pm for a 7:30pm dinner reservation, so I got myself all prettied up and dressed up, and we went to The Plumed Horse in Saratoga ( http://www.plumedhorse.com/ ), where Julie and her husband Gabriel were waiting as a surprise :) It was awesome - we had our own private room off of the bar area called the "Champagne Room", and the service was out of this world! They have a crazy wine room/cellar with a glass floor so you can see the whole cellar - so cool! We sat behind the piano player, and he even played "Happy Birthday" and the "meow-meow Charlie Brown" song at our request :)

After a toasting glass of champagne, ak drank his usual vodka tonics, I continued with the bubbles, and Julie and Gabriel got a bottle of red. No one was feeling any pain as we walked back to our cars, but it was evident that Julie was a little more tipsy than the rest of us. We got back to our house, and had started to watch a movie when Julie disappeared into the bathroom. When Gabriel checked on her, it was evident that she was totally sick. He was totally freaked out, and asked me to help her......the poor thing had been sick everywhere - red wine. I jumped into action with the cold washcloth, water to rinse, pulled back her hair, etc., but she wouldn't stop puking, and it was really loud. At one point we thought she was done and headed out to the front patio for some fresh air. I left her for a second to rinse the washcloth, and by the time I got back out there she had power puked out there, too. I got her back in the bathroom right away! By this time, Gabriel had to leave to get home and pay the babysitter, and ak and I could tell how freaked out he was by the whole thing, and possible a bit repulsed. He kept telling her to get in the shower. Finally, it seemed like she was done, so we got her into the guestroom. Within 5 minutes, she was heaving again, so I sat in there with her for like an hour to make sure she didn't choke to death, and to hand her the trash can. Finally she passed out, and I felt comfortable going to bed. Ak checked on her few times during the night.
I woke early to get started on the cleaning.....washing down the front porch, washing out the 3 trash cans that got used, washing the bathroom rug and towels, wiping down the whole bathroom, cleaning toilet and mopped floor.
I can say that at the time I wasn't very happy, but I felt so badly for Julie that it didn't matter. I hope someone would take care of me the same way if I was in the same situation :) We were able to laugh about by Sunday. Julie and I hung out last night, and she is choosing to remember the wonderful dinner only!

Ak is in Fl for the week, so I am flying solo here. Not sleeping very well, but doing a lot of anal rententive organizing :) More soon.

Definately check out the Plumed Horse link - the place was AMAZING!!!

Later, Peeps!

It's official - I am IN my 40's!!!!

2010-05-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Wow - I am 41 today! Just talked to my mom, and I think she is more in shock at my age than I am!!! It is a beautiful day here, and I am ready to enjoy it :)

Here are some fun May and May 7th facts:

Who was born?
Johannes Brahms 5/7/1833
Robert Browning 5/7/1812
Peter Tchaikovsky 5/7/1840
Gary Cooper 5/7/1901
Eva Peron 5/7/1919
Johnny Unitas 5/7/1933
Willard Scott 5/7/1934

Top Box Office 5/7/1941 - Citizen Cane
Bestseller 5/7/1944 - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
#1 Song 5/7/1964 - Hello Dolly!

May's birthstone is the Emerald. Emeralds can guarantee true love and uncover false.

May's flower is the Lily of the Valley. In Victorian times, Lilies of the Valley signified the ruturn of happiness.

Taurus can be kind, loving and mad as a bull. Personally secretive, Taurus is tenacious and known for mental and physical strength.
So what do you think? Does this zodiac description fit me?

Have a good one, peeps!

Scrabble & Poetry - for Meadow

2010-05-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, ak and I headed up to Boulder Creek. Ak couldn't wait to show Rob his new iPad! I had my iPhone, book and a small craft with me, so I was prepared for the back and forth tech talk marathon.

Luckily, Meadow arrived, and we engaged in a great game of Scrabble. I told her I would post a picture of our board AND compose something out of all the words we had used.

Check it out ....

And now for the literary portion of the show, here are the 4 short poems I wrote.

I think I rose to my own challenge :)

(Note: red words have been added)

1.
Ode to Sunny April

Bella dia gives joy to zoo life,

And grime aroma.

2.
Tear the web quilt.

Lamps give?

3.
Ed voted yes, re: is in a queer fedora.

Hike to China, be a true yang twin!

4.
Tag sax dogs.

Atone for coy tics.

I think I am ready to be published.

Later, peeps!

Happy Cinco de Mayo & stuff

2010-05-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

In tradition with today's holiday, ak and I enjoyed Mexican fare for dinner tonight. We have a great place with the yummiest tacos, and any meat, chicken or fish preparation you can think of.

It's been a busy week so far. We've had to run around alot, but the weather has been fantastic. It's been good to get out of our 2 block radius :) I've started doing the Farmer's Market again each Saturday morning, and am usually there between 9-10am. There was also an art festival happening at the same time, so there were alot of folks milling about. It was a bit too crowded for me, so I hustled through, but I did take the time to get this shot of the am's entertainment. A bluegrass dude is usually there, but this Saturday we had this .....

On Monday we did something we have never done....I was over at my friend Julie's by 7:30am on Monday am. She was running around geting ready for work, so I got the 2 girls going with shoes, school snack, dressing Scarlett, etc. At 8am, Hannah, Scarlett and me set off in Julie's car (car seats) to drop Hannah off for school. She's in first grade. The two of them sang the whole way - a song about the nice sunny day :) Traffic is crazy in the parking lot, which I had to drive through to get to the drop off area. She zipped out of the car before I could say bye, and all I saw was the back of her running to class - blond hair flying and pink Hello Kitty backpack bouncing up and down. I felt like such an imposter, and tried to manuever my way out of there as fast as possible without killing any children.

So Scarlett and I headed to our house. She's 3 1/2, tough as nails and comedian funny, so the day could go either way, easy or very hard. We ended up having a great day here, watching children's programming, singing inane songs, playing inside and outside with her race car and our toys, and putting stickers on paper. The 3 of us had lunch together, and she told us all kinds of stories - she is very expressive with lots of movement and jumping up and down, voice rises, too. We got the call at 2:30 that all parents were back home, so I packed up Scarlett and her huggy (blanket), fairy bear, race car, pull ups, and wipes and headed back to Julie's.

When I got back home, ak was lounging on the couch. I joined him, and by 5:30pm we were both passed out, and stayed there until 1am. We were totally wiped out!

Here is Scarlett hanging out on our back patio ....

Hope all of you had a wonderful Cinco de Mayo!!!!!

funny find

2010-04-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have been making myself clean up my computer favorites every day. Each time Ak updates my computer, he transfers all of my favorites and puts them in special folders. I now have 5 folders to go through!! Many are duplicate sites, alot are crap, but there are hidden gems everywhere :)

I clicked the link to Tedman's Flicker today - haven't checked it out in probably 3 years? Found this gold nugget picture from our 5 year high school reunion - November 1992. I think it's in Wayne's apartment that he used to have in Media, on the corner of State and Orange. We had a pre-party there (not sophisticated enough to call it a cocktail party yet).

So, here is a shot of Chris (aka Nummer) and me:

1. I loved that white Liz Claiborne suit! Wish I still had it.
2. Chris looks great! I have known him since 1st grade.
3. Nice blush!!! Back then we did NOT practice less is more.
3. OK - let's address the hair. My Lord! Snooki has nothing on my poof, or as we called it "high hair". My poor father had to snake our shower 1-2x a month...I still feel pretty bad about that! Also, it looks as though the plant and my hair are one.
I remember Kelly picked me up, and before we left my house, we actually both made our poofs taller.

Hope this makes you laugh :)

Pooh likes the Ipad

2010-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Pooh checking out the ipad ... this a rare occurance as it has been attached to ak since he took it out of the box Saturday!

The Ipad has landed....

2010-04-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

At exactly 12:47pm today, I met the UPS man at the door and signed for Ak's Ipad. He will be engrossed with his new toy for many, many hours....only surfacing to grill our lambchops for tomorrow's Easter dinner :)

I am looking forward to playing my current iphone games on the larger screen, and I can't wait to watch a movie on it. It's going to be awesome for travelling. In the last 13-14 years that we've been together, the amount of tech stuff (and all the stupid heavy power bricks) that have travelled with have diminished significantly. Hitting the road with this thing is going to be great :)

One of the new TV shows we do watch is Modern Family - we find it hilarious. Anyway, the episode this week was all about the Ipad, and the shennanigans the whole family went through to get one for the dad. Good stuff.

I am preparing for our Easter dinner tomorrow, however, I am sick with a sinus infection - bad this time. All tired and puffy eyed, falling asleep wherever I sit down. I've downed almost a case of Gatorade this week. In spite of it, we are festive, and have lots of Easter decorations going on, and daffodils everywhere. We are painting eggs today, too.

I am posting the pic of Scarlett Begonia, too, that I received from CNN today. What an Easter treat! She is definately a pollyanna girl :)

HAPPY EASTER!

Addiction-Project Runway

2010-03-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

You know how much I love Project Runway, and this week Axel installed the Project Runway game on my computer! It is so much fun - I am completely addicted. The challenges are just like on the show, and you have the ability to cut fabric, pick colors, etc.. My favorite part is the hair and make-up studio because it is so realistic as you apply blush, eyeliner, eye shadow and pick out crazy eyelashes. The challenges are exactly the same as each particular season. I am halfway through one season, and have won every time :) The only part I have trouble with is the runway walk beacuase you have to press the arrow keys in a specific order, but I am working on it.

In other news, I had to take a break from therapy on my doctors orders. Last weekend, my knee was killing me, and I was so scared that I had messed up the surgery as well as being on the Vicodin train again. As it turns out, I was doing too much and strained my quad muscles and IT band muscles, which was causing all the pain. I've been taking Celebrex (sounds like a club) and feeling much better. I return to therapy tomorrow, and hope I can continue.

I can't believe we'll be into April in a few short weeks! This year, Orthodox and American Easter fall on the same Sunday, which is nice. I made crazy candy wreaths this year - I'll post pictures of it later. There are 3-5 pounds of candy on each!

Xmas 2009

2010-03-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

Going backwards in time a bit....here are a few shots from the wonderful week I was home for Christmas!

The day after Christmas - Joanna and Nicky

Uncle John & I in Brickersville, PA

My first encounter with Scarlett Begonia - LOVE HER!

Scarlett laughing at one of Aunt Joanie's jokes

Cheesesteaks West Side - Amato's

2010-03-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hey kids! Ak and I went here for dinner and we were NOT disappointed!!

Nothing like hitting Amato's and getting an authentic cheesesteak and cheese fries to make being far from home a bit more tolerable. The place is decorated with all kinds of Philly memorabilia, sports jerseys, city pictures, etc. I can't wait to go back!

Also, the owner has this crazy truck all tricked out Eagles style. Here is the picture, as words cannot do this vehicle justice. Love it!

Later, Brian

2010-02-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Spent this am reading about the Eagles releasing Brian Westbrook - damn. I know he's had the injuries and concussions, but in my mind, Westbrook = Eagles and Philly.

I really hope he retires, as I couldn't bear him playing for another team. My heart hurts watching Brian Dawkins on the Broncos, and it would be the same with Westbrook. Maybe even worse!

Wow - I am still a bit dazed at this....need some coffee for clarity!

To all the East Coasters - good luck with this next storm. It's shaping up to be a ballbuster, so make sure you have all of your supplies, and hunker down.

Been Too Long...

2010-02-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

WOW - it's been a while since I posted!
Many things have happened - Christmas, New Year's Eve, the Superbowl...

Anyhoo, here were are, almost at the end of another month! I had my knee surgery the first week of the month, and I think things are going ok. I really had to slow it down, though. At the end of last week, I was back to cooking & laundry, putting up our Easter stuff, and other things I should not have been doing. Then this past Friday, I drove 1/4 mile to the grocery store & CVS for some stuff. I think I should have waited on that! I am just antsy, and I get really uncomfortable after sitting or lying down after a while, so I do things like rearranging my undies drawers (like I did yesterday) and standing for 45 minutes to an hour. I also just wanted to give my honey a break - he's been his usual amazing self while taking care of me. I get sick of asking him for every little thing, so I wanted to do things for myself. Of course this has backfired - my calf and foot keep swelling up on me, and all of my muscles are so sore everywhere from compensating for the right knee - aye papi! I am back to doing ice packs and taking pain pills again. It's not worth messing anything up, that's for sure!

So I am back to reading, writing letters and TV :) I can sit at my desk for 20 minutes at a time now for correspondence and computer time, which helps break it up. Right now I am waiting for Axel to come into the office at any minute to tell me to put my foot up :) He is like a policeman! He's a trooper, that's for sure!

I totally got into the Twilight vampire teen books during this surgery recovery. Let me backtrack - the week prior to the proceedure, I finally went to our local library, got a card and started checking out books. I've been keeping a list of books that I want to read forever, but I always buy them, so going back to the library after at least 20 years seems amazing and ridiculous for me! Let me tell you, I was blown away! I can put books on hold online, wait for the email that tells me they are ready, head out and go to the hold area at the library, go to the self check out with the books, and I am on my way home! Yesterday I had to renew some books, so I just did it through my online account. I love it! And you get receipts at the library when checking out or returning, so it's like shopping :)

So back to Twilight.....I am a big A. Rice fan, and all of her vampire books, so I thought I would give the series a chance. Plus, it's all you here about, and the teens go crazy for the books, movies, and especially the actors (I may have a crush on the Rob Pattinson dude, I admit). I LOVED the books - I was so surprised! The 4 book series reads like modernized Jane Austen - very cool. So of course we had to watch the first 2 movies. For teen dramas they certainly aren't the worst, and it's not over-sexed, but very romantic. Now I have the Twilight game app on my iphone, and honeyman got me my own set of the books for Valentine's Day! How sad is that??!!??

Okay, I am about up to my time limit for sitting in my desk chair, so I will sign off now.
Next, I will be posting pictures from my 2 recent trips back to Media - lots to share! Great trips!
Tata for now!
xoxoxo

Holidays again??!!??

2009-12-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

Editorial note: I forgot to write about what I am doing tomorrow...wait for it, wait for it...I am going to be a chaperone on a high school field trip tomorrow!! My girl Julie didn't get enough parents to help, so I am going with her and 30 of her art students up to Stanford to visit their art museum. I am not sure what I have gotten myself into, and hopefully you won't see me in the news tomorrow. Full report to come if I get home alive!!!

I can't believe that Christmas and 2010 is right around the corner! Why is it that when you are a child it takes FOREVER for Christmas to get here, but as adults it seems that one Xmas is on top of the other? Just another perk of getting older, I guess. Joy.

Well, I will be heading to Media to be with Felicia for the holiday, and Ak will be heading to FL to be with his mom. I am a little pissed that he will be in the warm sunshine, but I get to meet Scarlett Begonia for the first time, and see the Greek Meatball godson. Cold weather can't come close to dampening my excitement for those 2 things, and it never feels like Christmas out here.

So it's been a while since the last post. One of the reasons is that I actually have to have surgery AGAIN. This time on my right knee. Apparantly, all the walking that I had been doing for my back bit me in the ass, and I tore some cartilidge. The tear is causing joint fluid to leak, and I have a lovely cyst sticking out of my knee. Fortunately, the proceedure is the most minimal and least invasive, and I'll only be on crutches 3-4 days (compared to the 6 weeks back in college). I am really beginning to think that my destiny is to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the most surgeries in a lifetime - not something that I aspired to, I assure you.

So I've been in a bit of a funk as of late. I considered not telling Axel and the moms and to try and have the surgery done secretly - I've put them through the ringer the last 6 years with my problems, and really didn't think I could face telling them the latest thing that was wrong with me. Of course I told them, and Ak's mom's first response was - "I am 73 and am in better shape than you". Gee, thanks, Barb, just what I needed to hear! Anyway, I will probably be having the porceedure sometime in January or early February.

Enough of that crap, and on to the next subject!

My new favorite show is Dexter - LOVE IT!! I read the books years ago, and Showtime has done a brillant job of converting it to TV. Ak says that this show appeals to my Stephen King side - definately dark. Speaking of the master, I of course had his new book "Dome" on my doorstep the day it went on sale, and as always, King doesn't disappoint. Fantastic read!

Last night we caught Gone With The Wind on TCM. Wow - I forgot how powerful that movie was! Ak had never seen it, so it was fun watching with him. They just don't make them like that anymore. We watched the "Cloudy w/Meatballs" the other day, and it is adorable. I wish I were a cartoon! Both of us came up with the food we would want it to rain. Ak's are: filet, lobster, carpaccio, fresh bread with Danish butter and creme brulee. My tastes are more simple: Twizzlers, chicken fingers and pretzels :)

The Beebe-baby should be making an appearance any day now. In an email he said if the munchin is not out by tomorrow that they may induce labor on/around the 25th. If that isn't the best Christmas present, I don't know what is! Wishing Chuck and especially Meg a nice easy labor. The baby will definately have more hair that Chuck :)

Ok, that's all the news from here. Heading back into my Rita Room to work on more crafts. My new title is "Stay At Home Professional Craft Maker".

Happy Holidays - see some of you soon!

I was going through a ton of pics on Tuesday, and dug out this treat from our Las Vegas trip in May 2004. I love this picture!

SCARLETT SCHMIDT

2009-11-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

11-10-09

11-6-09

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, DOLL!
CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU!

Hannah & Scarlett Halloween

2009-11-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hanging by the couch, a dazed Hannah

The Bunny & Cinderella

Hannah's got Scarlett in the hug/strangle hold

Julie and Gabriel brought the girls by on Saturday night before they went out Trick-or-Treating. They were very excited!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

2009-10-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Scarlett Schmidt was born at 9:41 pm on Friday, October 23rd.

The baby is doing fine, and Chrissy and Eric are recovering from their HUGE day

becoming PARENTS!

We are just thrilled, and have already hounded mom and dad for

Scarlett's stats and pictures!

So proud of you, Chrissy!

We are still in a bit of shock that you are a MOMMY now!

Love you, sister!

!!!! BABY WATCH !!!!

2009-10-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of _______ _______ Schmidt, AKA the baby that will not leave the womb.

Axel is convinced that Chrissy and Eric are having a boy. His reasoning is that girls are always ready to go, and would fly out of their mommies if they could; where as boys are a little slower and lazier, content to drift in fluid forever.

Chrissy has been at Riddle since Wednesday, on drips and drops to get the birth going. Original due date was Monday the 19th, but he/she is not ready to make their debut yet.

Chrissy is hilarious - I've been able to talk to her everyday, making normal conversation, like she's not about to push out a human being or anything :) That's my girl!

She is fine and the baby is fine.

We just have to wait, and patience is not my forte.

Stay tuned for news......

For My Godmother

2009-10-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

All Is Well

Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always use
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household world that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.

My godmother, Athena, passed away on Friday, October 16th.
She had the best laugh that I think I've tried to duplicate my whole life!
My godparents were a constant presence in my life, and never forgot to send me $5 for Easter candles every year. I am blessed to have all of the memories.

May her memory be eternal, and may she rest in peace.
I love you Nouna, and will miss you terribly.

Shower Appearance!

2009-10-13T09:38:00.001-07:00

One thing I could not miss was Chrissy's baby shower. Timing was perfect to attend, and since I was already in NC, the trip up to Media was short and sweet. I also got to spend a week with my mom, and help her with her kitchen remodel, too.

Obviously, I kept this secret from Chrissy, and only told the shower hosts & my two Kellys. Everyone in NC could see how excited I was to get to this shower....I was literally giddy and giggly from the time I left NC until I walked up the Heddy's back door to announce my arrival. I entered the shower saying "I heard someone was pregnant here", and then I was hugging Chrissy and her adorable belly. Tears were flowing....I was hoping the surprise would make her have the baby right then and there!

Chrissy looks amazing! Also, depending on your angle, she actually doesn't look pregnant! There is definately a glow around her and Eric. It was wonderful to see Boots and Bill at the shower, and they are so proud of Chrissy. I also got to meet Eric's mom, a sister-in-law, and Heddy's parents, as well seeing all of my girls. There were times during the day when I just looked around and couldn't believe how fortunate I was to be around so many of my gals! Why the hell do I live in CA??!!?? Anyway, I was at the shower from 1pm to 7pm.....lots of fun, chit-chatting, laughing, eating and of course, drinking. I admit I was hammered on the way home.

Eric, Kelly & Chrissy

Kim, Kelly, Elan, Susan & Greta

Chris with the Jojo LAX blanket

Greta, Missy, Kelly, me, Kelly, Chrissy & Kim

Kudos to Heddy, Kate and Kimmy Cupcakes for throwing the world's best baby shower!

I rode the shower high all week while with mom. We really worked hard on the kitchen, and ran around every day running errands. The weather in PA was perfect...I felt bad as Axel & Barb were just soaking in NC the whole time.

The Thursday night before I left, Chrissy, both Kelly's, and Missy met up in Media at Stephen's for a few drinks before I left the next day. Media was hopping! We sat outside, listened to the band playing.....the next thing you know, we were singing with the band, dancing with homeless people, and shaking it in the middle of State St. I love my girlfriends!

Special thanks for their special appearances: Chuck & Cheryl....so good to see you both!!!

Missy, Kelly & Cheryl with unkown Media man

Chrissy & Chuck

Missy & the homeless guy

Jojo, Kelly & Chrissy

Missy, Media man & Cheryl

Sapphire, NC

2009-10-13T09:20:00.001-07:00

We travelled to see Barbara in Sapphire in mid-September to celebrate her birthday with her. The weather was fine when we got there, but then the rain started and didn't stop! It was the same rains that messed up Atlanta so badly. We were ok as Sapphire is up pretty high, but some of the NC towns at the bottom of the mountain did get flooding.

Despite the wet weather, we kicked it up and celebrated in grand style! Barbara has really good buddies there, and one of the couples had a dinner party on her special day. It was a blast!

Shopping in Highlands, NC.

View from the Country Club dining room.

Pete & yours truly.

Barbara & Dave

Bobbie, Ulla & AK

Fantasy Draft Results

2009-08-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last night our league did its draft online for our teams via Yahoo. I prepared all day, and thought that I had gone overboard, but at draft time I was glad for my anal rententiveness! I had a fantasy magazine to study strategy from "experts", as last year I ended in last place by picking my QB first.....and that sealed my fate, as we all know what happened to Tom Brady last year. My strategy this year was to draft 2 RB's and 2 WR's first, and left the QB pick for the 5th round. I am happy with my results, and felt confident each time it was my turn.
Yahoo randomly set the picking order, and I was 7th. Each time it was your turn to pick, a 2 minute clock started in the corner. I felt like I was on a game show! Due to my preparation, I was the fastest picker, and only scrambled the last 2 rounds as the player selections were slim. We finished in a little over one hour - amazing how we flew through it without the distractions of alcohol and chit chat! There was a box for instant messaging, so we harassed each other using that. I felt a tiny bit sorry for the guy who picked first. He didn't know how it worked, and ended up with someone he didn't want. He was already asking me for a trade before the first round was over!! Anyway, here is what I ended up with, and I am pleased.

QB Matt Ryan/ATL
WR Roddy White/ATL
WR Wes Welker/NE
WR DeSean Jackson /PHI*
RB Matt Forte/CHI
RB Steve Slaton /HOU
TE Dallas Clark/IND
K Mason Crosby/GB
DEF Indianapolis
B QB Ben Roethlisberger/PIT
B RB Willie Parker/PIT
B RB Sammy Morris/NE
B WR Laveranues Coles/CIN
B WR Deion Branch/SEA
B WR Ted Ginn Jr./MIA
*had to represent EastSide :)

In other news, another project that I worked on this week was organizing my books. A daunting task, but it had to be done. Books were all over - in boxes, under the bed...basically in every room of the house. I dove in, and just started piling things together by author or genre, and eventually had things spread over 3 rooms. I was unsure if I would be able to reign it all in, but everything fell into place. I ended up with 30 boxes (5 for my boy Stepehn King). I use Banker's boxes because they are easy to handle....if you pack books in larger boxes you cannot pick them up due to the weight. Each box is numbered, and a coordinating list tells me exactly what is in each, so it makes looking for a specific book so easy now! I am just glad it's done!
Hot here - been running the A/C that past 3 days. School has started again, so the days are peaceful once more. That's it, peeps! Thanks for tuning in!

Happy Birthday, DOLL!

2009-08-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Wishing our girl Chrissy a Fabulous Fortieth Birthday!
What an amazing year you have in store!
We love you!
Always, AKJN

Vick is a Bird

2009-08-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just read that the Eagles have agreed to terms with quarterback/wide receiver/football player Michael Vick on a two-year contract - didn't see that coming at all.

I am unsure of how I feel about this, but I am not surprised. Philly likes the thugs. Hopefully, he's as great an athelete as he was before all the dog shit.

Can you smell it?

2009-08-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

..... the 2009 NFL season is almost here!!!!!

My fantasy draft is set for 8/22, but trying to coordinate everyone is a hassle. One of the dudes is flying up from LA this year because he's done so poorly the last 2 years trying to make his picks over the phone. I am ready to go whenever ...I need to come back strong from a poor finish last year.
I purchased my Complete Guide to Fantasy Football 2009 late last week, and perused it over the weekend. I have no idea who some of these rookies are. I am coming up with my draft strategy, too. I got lucky the first year, sucked last year, so I am putting some effort into it this year. Also, Axel will be attending the draft for the first time, so the team will be represented.

I was very sad to hear the news about the passing of Jim Johnson, Eagles Defensive Coordinator. What a bummer. First we lose Harry Kalas, and now this. Definately a tough blow for the Birds. I hope they can rise above it and be inspired to kick some ass and get the the Superbowl this year, damn it!

It was exciting to watch the Hall of Fame pre-season game on Sunday night, but was again heartbroken as Al Micheals announced that John Madden had retired. Did I miss something? However, I am down with his replacement, Cris Collinsworth. I have always liked him, but am aware that most people don't. So all things are coming together for what should be an interesting season, and I can't wait!

Well, akjn is finally street legal again, after riding under the radar for 3 months with expired everything. That entailed spending an entire day at the DMV, which is the world's largest freak festival, with a little Ellis Island thrown in (immigrants coming in from the other side, though). Today's teens are scary, too....dirty looking and lazy. But we were patient, and thankfully had our phones, so I played Trivial Pursuit, Yahtzee and Solitaire in between reviewing our study guides. I texted CNN and chatted with her for a bit, too. We had to take written tests that we actually studied really hard for. We took 8 pratice tests each the night before :) Ak got a 100%, and I got 1 wrong - just glad that we passed! I am totally jealous of his license picture, though, as he looks totally awesome in it with a great smile, all handsome, while I am all crooked and smirking, sunglasses stuck in my nest. I am seriously tilted to one side, and you can't see my teeth. I have to carry around this shitty picture until 2014. Oh well, it's good to be legal again.

That's pretty much all from here. We are in our 3rd heat wave of the summer, with temps from 95-100. It's like being in a pizza oven. They last about a week, so we are halfway through this one. We ran errands earlier, and literally had to carry each other in the house when we got back. Our plants need watering twice a day, as opposed to every 3-4 days.

Heading downstairs...much cooler because of the tile floors.
Later, peeps :)

Thursday -Girl's Day Out!

2009-07-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

This past Thursday, my friend Julie took me out for a lovely lunch at our fave crepe place, Sweet Peas in Los Gatos. She was sans kids, so it was especailly nice to have a long lunch with lots of yummy coffee. Julie had the afternoon free, so we made a detour on our way home, and stopped at the SAVANNAH-CHANELLE Winery in Saratoga. The best thing is that it is only 5 minutes from our house! The views are spectacular, and it was so wonderfully quiet. The city of Saratoga will not give them zoning to allow weddings or any parties due to their entrance driveway ... it's only one lane going straight up, so there is a large potential for wino accidents. No matter - you can bring a picnic there, buy some wine and their homemade mustard, and set yourself up in several beautiful locations for a panoramic afternoon.

Here are some pictures from Thursday:

Savannah Chanelle Winery

Zinny Vines - you are allowed to walk through the rows

Chardy Vines

Silicon Valley is tucked right in the middle of this shot

Gorgeous view

Pretty flowers

Fountain

Julie in line with the Adirondacks

Tasting Room and Shop

Rest In Peace

2009-07-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

To our dear friend Jeff & his family ...

Our hearts are filled with sympathy for the passing of your mom.

She was a strong woman to raise the Peyton boys, and you brought her joy with your accomplishments & your son, Brandon.

Your mom is in a better place, healthy & happy. Now she can watch over her large Peyton flock as a guardian angel.

She will be missed just as she was loved.

We are so sorry for your loss.

Movie & TV Reviews; B-Day Shout Out

2009-06-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

My sinus infection has lingered into it's 2nd week. I hate summer colds!
At least today I ceased blowing day-glow yellow snot out of my nose.

It has given me the opportunity to catch up on movies and TV, though.
Our TIVO, DVR and computers are full of visual entertainment, so it was good to watch some new stuff, as I have been stuck in a Transformers/Speed Racer rut. Not that I don't love those 2 movies, but I literally watch them every day.
Ok, back to the recent homefront viewing.

First up is Grand Torino, starring our local boy, Clint Eastwood. It's a hard movie, dealing with growing older, racism, crappy kids, and of course, the car. It reminded me a great deal of my dad, the original Archie Bunker. Clint's character had a garage full of tools, was a retired mechanic/Ford line-man, and could fix anything in the house. At times it was difficult to watch, but it was worth a little pain. Everyone should watch this movie, if just to get perspective on how out of control the race issue still is in our country- it is shameful. Clint always delivers, and does not disappoint here. Again, like my father, his character just needed someone to introduce him to different things and people.

Second movie up is The Wrester. This isn't a feel-good movie either, but it was mesmerizing, and now both ak and I have a level of respect for the "fake" wrestling that was not present before. Mickey Rourke is hard to look at, but is amazing in his role. It is a down and dirty movie, the kind that makes you feel like showering after watching. We were speechless as the credits were rolling - we were that affected by what we had just seen. We will definately be watching it again, but need to wait a few months.

The next movies aren't new in the past 12 months, but are in my top 10 favorites.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Black and white flick, shot in 1962, starring Gregory Peck. This is my all time favorite novel, and the movie is extremely well done and loyal to the book. This is another movie that deals with racism, but during the depression. They don't make them like this anymore!

The Virgin Suicides - this was Sofia Coppola's directorial debut, and is based on the book written by Jeffrey Eugenides, a fellow Greek. The book was stellar, and Sofia translated it beautifully to film. It is a strange tale, not very uplifting, but the kind of movie that you watch over and over, hoping that the ending will change.

Pride and Prejudice - 2005 with Keira Knightley, based on the Jane Austen novel. It is set In Georgian England, around the 1800's. It's definately a chick flick, but a good one. I am totally into the dude that plays Mr. Darcy, Matthew Macfadyen. I don't know what it is about him in this flick - the hair, clothes, or the way he talks, but it works for me. I have seen this countless times, but I still get goosebumps and teary-eyed at certain parts. I watched earlier today, and wasn't disappointed.

Sin City - Visually, this movie is a classic. The first conversion of a Frank Miller graphic novel to a movie, and WOW! It assaults you visually, is very very sexy, a film noir set in a comic environment. Not for the faint of heart - there are some extreme violent scenes. Clive Owen is a total hunk in this, and Mickey Rouke is actually in it, too. After you watch it, you want to kick some ass.

Moving on to TV....

Rescue Me - Love this show and love Denis Leary - he could be from Media and the Middletown Firehouse, sort of, but not really. This show is off the wall, and is in your face with how crazy firefighters really are. I spent the latter years of high school hanging with firehouse dudes, and my cousin's husband had been fighting fires in the Delco area since I was 12, so I have an affection for these kind of guys. The characters are nuts, and it's the kind of show where I can't wait for the week to pass for the next episode.

Family Guy - For years, Ak and I refused to watch this for some reason. We would watch 5 minutes of an episode, and be like "this sucks". Well, something changed in the last 6 months, and now we can't get enough of it. It is so wonderfully raw and just wrong - really wrong. The baby, Stewie, is my favorite, and he is the dirtiest one on the show. It is our kind of humor, too, the kind that takes it one step too far, and makes you imagine the grossest things possible. It's like being back in college, and I am pissed we didn't think of it first!! Ak and I giggle like schoolgirls when we watch.

Ok, these last two shows are my guily pleasure, and so bad. Really bad, but I am completely addicited to both.

Bridezillas - I have no idea how the women on this show have men that want to marry them. They are insane! I want to call them after each show and just yell at them for being so spoiled & rotten, and tell them how lucky they are that they actually have someone, and families that love them. Just watch 1 episode, if you can get through it. The behavior is atrocious, and explains why all children and teenagers act the way they do, having these women as examples. But it is like a car wreck - you can't turn away! Just seeing the wardrobe choices for the entire bridal parties is worth it for a laugh.

Dog the Bounty Hunter - Ok, this may be the worst of the worst. Along with Bridezillas, these are the 2 shows Ak absolutely refuses to watch. I have no idea why I like this show so much, as I despise the reality cop-type shows, but this one has captured my fancy. There is a lot of hair going on - they all need major conditioner, and I think about sending them a case of PM Awapuhi every week. Beth's boobs, outfits and nails are a sight to see, and she could be from South Philly or Jersey. Dog's wrinkly tan leather bag skin hanging out of his open shirts should make me vomit, but it doesn't. Again, the reason I watch this escapes me, but I am all fired up for next Wednesday night on A&E for part 3 of an ongoing chase.

Well, this is just a slice of the huge amount of visual stimulation I get from the magic box on a daily basis, and wanted to share with you. I hope you have enjoyed it!

Finally, a BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to Dean!

Happy Birthday,sweet thing, from your Big Ole Donkey Girl Scout,

in Danish: Tillykke med fodselsdagen!

German: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

and Greek: Chronia Pola!

Love You!

Armand & Katie's Wedding, Part I

2009-06-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Rehearsal & Dinner

We all converged on the tiny town of Savannah, from parts North, South, East and West, to celebrate the wedding of Armand & Katie. With it's lush greenery and blooming flowers in all colors, weeping willows and magnolias, it was the perfect place to have their wedding - it was very romantic, and of course, so Southern.

Akjn arrived on Thursday night, and the festivities began Friday with the wedding rehearsal in Madison Square, followed by the dinner at The Olde Pink House - again, both picturesque, and you had the feeling you were just stepping into or out of a novel.

Seeing old friends was fabulous, and making new ones just as grand. I finally met Armand's parents, after 20 years of friendship. I am loving Mr. Lange and his brother, as they were born and raised in Upper Darby, where yours truly began her existence, too. We had some good Eagles/Phillies/cheesesteaks chit-chat :) Armand's mama (aka Dr. Ruth) is FAB, and Katie's family was welcoming and interested in how we all fit together. Also, Mark and Ashley get an A+, too! It was nice to finally meet after hearing these names for so many years. Katie's sisters were precious, and they gave the nicest toast to Armand at dinner, welcoming him into their family and making their sister so happy. I also finally met Helga, Armand's sister, who I wish was my sister, if I had one :)

Madison Square.-us in background

Katie & MaryAnn, Donnie & Mel's daughter; Katie carrying the traditional bow bouquet from her shower gifts

The Old Pink House, gorgeous old mansion, fabulous food

3 generations , Katie w/her mom and gramma

Dudes - Mark, Armand & Ak

...and the wedding weekend has begun!!!!!

Armand & Katie's Wedding, Part II

2009-06-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Wedding!

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us, and Madison Square was flooded. The decision was made to have the ceremony at Vic's on the River, where the reception was already going to be. It turned out to be a beautiful setting - A & K's wedding planner, Melissa, was amazing, and made everything happen smoothly. Vic's was fantastic!

Ak & Sarah - my honey is so handsome!
Sarah was hilarious, and is Katie's BFF.

Waiting for his bride
(Pastor Bob, Armand, Mr. Lange, Mark, Axel & Donny)

Katie & her dad

Exchange of rings

Proud parents :)

Congratulating the groom -Katie looks like she is going to knock me out for hugging her man!!!

College pals 4ever -me & honeyman, Jeffe, Donny & Mel

The brides cake - gorgeous! The groom's cake was decadent triple chocolate :)

View from a balcony; me in the corner smoking :)

Pastor Bob conducted one of the most meaningful wedding ceremonies I have ever been witness to. He personalized it, as Armand has attended his church for many years, which made it very emotional. My tears started as soon as Katie came up the stairs, because she was already crying, and continued throughout the service. There were also times when we were all laughing, like when Katie said "I will" before Pastor Bob asked her, and when she was so focused on putting Armand's ring on that she forgot her line and said "what?" really loud :) It was great! I feel so honored to have been there. The thing that hit me the most was P.Bob talking about how all of us were there for them in love and support of their union. Tears and hilarity are the best combination at a wedding, and we had plenty of both!

The food was so delicious, from the appetizers to our entrees - YUMMY! My favorites were the pulled-pork egg rolls, and fried green tomatoes ... too good to be true. The music they choose was perfect, and every song had meaning. The toasts from Katie's dad, Armand's dad & sister Helga were tear jerkers. We had a private toast with Katie, and I welcomed her into our crazy ODU clan as a full fledged member. As happenes at every wedding, the time flew, and before we knew it, Donna Summer was singing "Last Dance", and we were on our way out the door and on to Hang Fire for the after-party.

Armand & Katie's Wedding, Part III

2009-06-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

As we left the wedding reception, we were all given plastic cups that had Armand & Katie's name on them, the wedding date, and the quote "To have and to hold.....your beer". The after-party was at a bar called Hang Fire, and all you had to do was present your cup to any bartender for beer from the wedding keg. Too cool!

Donnie & the ladies @ Hang
Fire

Overview of the crowd

Katie & I outside The Paris Market

JUST MARRIED! Leaving for home on Monday

Axel and I stayed in Savannah until Monday, and so did the newlyweds. We had dinner together Sunday night @ a hole in the wall shrimp place in the bayou that was awesome, and then we had breakfast together Monday am, and then walked around town a bit. Of course Katie and I found time to shop bit! She took me to a fabulous place called The Paris Market.
Ak and I were so happy to have the extra time with them. Weddings are over in a blur of activity, and most of the time you regret not having more time. This was truly special.

2009-05-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations,

Lynn & Jerry!

Married today, at 5 o'clock, St. Pete's Beach, Florida.

Two human loves make one divine.

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

**** Link to wedding photos :

http://timboylesphotography.wordpress.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

2009-05-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION.

HAPPY JOURNEY & HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETHEART!

Yard Sale Hilarity & Success, Shout Outs

2009-05-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ready to go! The walker didn't sell, believe it or not!

Yesterday was our community yard sale. There are about 300 total attached townhomes and separate structure single houses, and approximately 60 homes in our "grouping". I'd say 6 out of 60 participated. They had advertised in the local and penny papers for the past 2 weeks, and there was a big banner on the outside wall all of last week.

I got up at 5:30 (normal now - still on eastside time) with ak, as I have him tuned into my crazy schedule. I went down to the garage to start getting things organized, and have my all important cup of joe. I started moving boxes, and arranging empty totes as tables. I had borrowed a card table from our neighbors, plus a coffee pot to sell for them. I got a cool $2.00 for it :)

ak came downstairs and was like "what the hell? it sounds like you are bringing the house down"! Our office is directly above the garage, so it I guess it may have been loud??? Anyway, I got him to help carry some merchandise downstairs, and he thought we had to load up the car. He thought I was going somewhere else to sell the stuff. I was like, dude, you are too funny.

So I was all set to go at 7am, and again, ak says "you can't open the garage at 7am" and imagine his surprise at my first customer at 7:04. He pretty much stayed away from the selling floor, and when I text messaged for coffee or a bathroom breaks, he would stand all the way at the back of the garage, basically with one foot in the door to the house :) We had lots of laughs, and he was imitating me haggling and chit chatting - the office windows were of course open, and my voice has a tendency to travel.

I had lots of traffic early, then it tapered off until a rush from 9:15 - 10am, then it started getting REALLY hot outside - it's been in the high 90's for 2 days. Alot of folks didn't even have their places "open" until 10am, which was just dumb. The most asked for items were: musical instruments, laptops, cell phones and bikes. None of which I had, but I was still largely successful in getting rid of many things, and my target shoppers were women. I closed down by noon packed up what didn't sell and took it directly to the Good Will drop-off. There were only 2 bags to drop off, so I was pleased. Also, I had continuously cleaned the garage during the entire sale, so it was swept, organized, and I even hung more pictures! I want to hang out there now.

Jojo's numbers:

1 set of potholders
1 Cuisinart sandwich maker
1 clock radio
2 baseball hats
4 belts
3 pairs of shoes
3 pocketbooks
5 articles of clothing
1 travel steamer
4 fashion scarves
11 books
2 sets of silverware
1 curling iron
1 pen & pencil set
1 set of shower rings
1 coffee pot (neighbors)

Total Items Sold = 42
Total Cash Collected = $40.75 NOT TOO SHABBY!!!!

Here are a few funny incidents:

*I was wearing a Metallica shirt, ripped up jeans, hat, flops & glasses. These teenage guys came up, and one was amazed I was wearing a heavy metal band tee, and we ended talking about some music and bands like Godsmack. He's the one who bought the coffee pot, and I think he was about 13.

*I had my change operation happening on the back end of the card table, and at one point put my iphone down on top of a tag that had $1.50 on it. This little plump Mexican boy asked me for the phone and had $1.50 in his hand, and we all cracked up. I told him that unfortunately the iphone was not for sale. Then this older nerd dude was like, "I'll give you $300 for it right now", which I thought was kind of weird. I politely declined his offer, and still managed to sell him a belt.

*I carried the bills in my jeans pockets, and close to noon ak came to check on me and I proudly pulled out my wad of ones, a 5, and a 20. It looked like stripper cash, and that I was tallying up with my pimp after business.

*At one point, I was yakking with about 4-5 older ladies, and ak had come down to ask me something, stuck his head out the door, saw the action and shut it so fast the air sucked out of the garage. He later explained that he had been scared. It was my hard sales technique - it's frightening.

So, all in all it was a great day, and we had a few extra buck in our pockets. The best is the bunch of crap that is gone!

We had a great night, getting together with 2 other couples for a belated birthday celebration. We went to a great Greek place for dinner, and had a blast. No one has been out much lately, so everyone let loose a bit. ak and I had 3 Bellinis a piece and were feeling no pain :) We did dessert back here at the house, and another couple was able to join us, too, so it was a real party. I got some cool things, the most exciting being a set of watercolors, paper, brushes and paint tray from my friend Julie. Combined with mom's art set, I am really feeling the need to create!!

SHOUT OUTS:

*A special thanks to Rikke, our niece, who managed to send me the most beautiful bouqet of Peruvian Lillies while in the midst of Africa. You spoil me, and I love it ....just take it easy on the old auntie Jojo stuff!!! Here is a shot of your fabulous flowers!

Birthday Flowers

*Also, I am so happy that the pregancy was annouced over at simone. I have been literally bursting to acknowledge the news on the blog, because ak and I are so very excited for Chrissy & Eric! Also, their new home is absolutely amazing, and that bun in the oven is in for a wonderful life with wonderful parents :) Congratulations, baby-makers!

later, peeps

beauty from the backyard

Out there & loving it - 40 & in the future!

2009-05-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

I am HOME!! It was so wonderful getting off that plane last week in San Jose. I can't describe how it feels when this air hits you as you exit the plane. San Jose airport actually wheels stairs up to each of the planes, so you get on and off the plane on the tarmac. My bags were the first ones on the carousel, and ak was right outside and ready to go, with dinner on the back seat - we were off to the homestead!

It was a grand homecoming. I walked around the place a few times, and checked out the plants, just trying to get my bearings. The best was ak just being right there. I take for granted the amount of time we spend together, and when I was unable to reach out to touch him whenever I wanted, it sucked. I had an ache in me that has finally disappeared over the days I've been back with him.

Okay, enough mush, let's get to the good stuff!! As you know, I turned 40 last Thursday, and I must say it felt pretty damn good!! We have been in lockdown mode since my return Wednesday, so I was quite relaxed. I took several calls throughout the day. Two honorable mentions go out to my godson Nicky and his singing skills, as well as a call from the Shady Maple himself, with Maple Junior making his first gaga - googoos across the phone lines. Very Cool.

I had been banned from the office since I got back. I wasn't allowed to look at emails, or look in certain parts of the house. At first I was bummed, but I was busy unpacking and starting to get tasks in line dealing with mom, and hitting the laundry pile :) So I was excited about my bday, but also very distracted by the past 4 1/2 weeks with mom.

As Thursday dawned, I was having a cup of delicious coffee (I really missed my coffee maker), cigg and reading out on the back patio. We had washed down all of our patio furniture the day before, and rearranged the plants in the front and back, so we were ready for the outdoor season. I checked in with my mom, and we had a nice chat. I had a nice little walk, and started in on the stack of People magazines that had come while I was gone.

After a few more phone calls, ak and I had a lovely brunch with VC mimosas. My new juice favorite is Simply Juice/Orange with Mango - fantastic for the mimosa. Then it was time to open cards and presents. I first checked emails and blogs, and was so pleased to discover that I had a birthday blog posted by my girl Chrissy, and several ecards.

I got great cards - most mentioning 40, but a couple from aunts & uncles who still send the kiddie-style cards. I got one with kittens playing on the front. Seriously.
And now the presents ....

I got a gorgeous watch - it has 2 faces, so one is set for west coast, and one for east coast. I have wanted one like this for a long time :)
Also some stationary, a summer wallet, a carry-on bag, a pastel & watercolor set, 2 gorgeous beaded bags from my mom - a white one she carried at her wedding, and a black one she used with her travelling suit (leaving from reception to honeymoon). I love when my mom busts out stuff like this - she still has some secrets!

....and, drumroll, please ... ak got me the Amazon Kindle!!!!!

I was so surprised -- I really have been distracted, so it was fantastic for both of us. I was jumping around clapping my hands, and ak had this huge smile on his face. I also received a book light, and Kindle cover to go with it. I plugged it in to start immediate charging, and did some pre-browsing in Amazon to see what books I wanted. My boy Stephen King wrote a novella titled UR that is ONLY available on the Kindle - how cool is that?? That was first on my list of downloads. Once charged, I put the Kindle through a 2 hour downloading marathon. It was like Neo getting hooked up to the Matrix the first time, learning judo, karate, and so forth. There is a ridiculous amount of free books available - classics, Obama's speech, cookbooks, you name it. The books then go from $0.01 to $9.99 - that is the highest price for any book. I have 40 books on my new gadget, and it is so exciting! I spent $13.00 for all of that. I finished the Stephen King, and am reading 2 books currently. One about Barbie and her creator, and the second called Revolutionary Road, the story the movie that Kate Winslett one the Oscar last year.

I admit, when this thing first came out, I was against it. I saw myself as a martyr for the paper page, the traditional book. We started reading articles about it, and feedback from actual users, and I started to change my opinion. Christin had one on the cruise, & that's the moment I was sold on it. I will always have my library, and will continue to read the written word, but this gadget makes it easier and simply portable.

I love love love it! Even ak is completely impressed with it - he says it is completely different than he thought it would be. When it is sleeping, screensavers of every author imaginable come up, and the screen is phenomenal! It uses technology ink, so it doesn't look like a computer screen, and is so clear and actually easier on the eyes. I can read the blogs on it, and we are trying to publish to it next. Whew!! I am glued to it. We are looking into services taht will convert my book library to Kindle text.

All righty, peeps. It Monday, and I have a To Do list that is out of hand. I can report that my mom has herself a driver she can call at any time for rides. She already used it once, and said it was going to work out well. Also, she hired one of the kids down the street (last name Nolan :) )to do her laundry once a week. She had a "test" run yesterday, and all went really well. I am very relieved, especailly concerning the laundry, as now mom doens't have to go down the treacherous staircase. My next to do item is to order her the First Alert in the wrist watch form.

Thanks for all of the shout outs, and more blogs to come.Me, Uncle Xen(one of mom's bros), and Mom

during that gorgeous weekend at the end of April.

Heading West

2009-05-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

AK is out of undies, so I am heading home on Tuesday :)

It's been a long 4 weeks, but mom & I have really gotten a ton of stuff done.

She's had at least 2-3 doctor appointments per day, plus trips to Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Trader Joe's, Boscovs, Sears, Joanne Fabrics, Riddle Thrift Shop, CVS, Walgreens, hairdresser, Elwyn Pharmacy (daily), Wachovia, Brookhaven Nails, Home Depot, Kinkos, Kohl's, and the ghetto Pathmark in Brookhaven. We went to Langhorne for Easter, St. Luke's church during holy week, visited various neighbors, and gone back to Riddle Village for her to visit friends she's made, too.
And my 9th grade cousin went to the junior and senior proms this and last Friday - more on that in a later post!

Phew - Jojo is exhausted.

I have only seen Chrissy once, and have only been able to talk with Kelly on the phone :(
I haven't been to the Plumber, or stopped by Granger's ... HIGHLY unusual for me!
It's been a different kind of trip, and despite my mom & I having our usual disagreements, she's told me some family things I never knew, gave me a letter written to me for my 1st birthday (in Greek) from my grandmother/yiayia. She was the only one I had, as the others had all passed long before I came along. My mom's mom died before I was a year old, and I don't remember her at all. The letter was wonderful to have, and I've already framed it for my bedside.

Of course I am sad to leave mom, but I hope to return within 2 months to continue working on the house with mom.
At this point, I miss ak too much. I feel like one of my limbs is missing - this is the longest we've been apart!
I leave Tuesday, and we won't be taking any calls until Thursday ;)

Peace Out, players!

Guardian Angel

2009-04-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to Dolores Gamble.
She was mom's roommate @ Riddle Village for 6 weeks, and they became good buddies. Once I got here, I fell in love with her, too.

Dolores had agressive cancer that had racked her poor body, and then travelled to her brain. Three days after she got here, she lost her ability to speak. Mom became her voice, her advocate and her friend. I called them " my girls ", and ran all over the place to get them whatever they wanted.

Unfortunately, we lost Dolores yesterday afternoon. The poor thing was in so much pain the past 3 days, and went downhill rapidly. On Tuesday night, I stayed until 2am to hold her hand and wipe her forehead ... Mom and I talked to her the whole time, and one of the aides, Tory, came in and sang hymns to her.

We have another angel looking out for us now :)
She was a financial aid counselor at Widener, and had 6 kids, all who we have become close to in this short period of time. They love my mom, and are/were so thankful that they were roommates. The grandkids really like mom, and she has a ton of drawings on her bulletin board from them.
Most people would not have been able to handle this situation, but my mom is such a care-giver that Dolores became her responsibility. All of the staff here has commented on mom's unbelievable compassion & caring, and that she was the only one who could understand Dolores.

We will miss you, Dolores! You were really someone special, and mom & I will carry you in our hearts forever.
Rest in peace, and a long time from now, we'll drink Pink Squirrels together, sitting on the clouds.

Heading East

2009-04-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

So I am heading to Media this Thursday to see my momma, and assess her situation with my own eyes.

She has been away from home since February 28th!! She is doing really well at the Riddle Village rehab, and is like the queen of the manor there. They have a gourmet chef, beauty salon, cooking classes....she's having a ball, and has also found a few church ladies that are there, too, so she is socializing full force. I don't think she realized how closed off she's been for the past 2 years in the house by herself. She enjoys being around people, so she actually is thriving in her current environment.

I will be home until the 30th, unless ak comes and gets me after 2 weeks. He's been threatening to on a regualr basis. I could be there to celebrate my 40th, who knows? Mom and I have a lot to talk about, and plans to make for the future.

Along with hanging with my main girl, I am looking forward to seeing all the good buddies :)

Ok...I am getting myself together here, and making sure ak doesn't starve while I am gone or run out of undies.

See you soon, peeps!

Pooh's Great Escape

2009-03-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, I remembered one final cruise tale, and it concerns our travelling companion, Pooh.

Pooh always holds down the fort in whatever cabin, room, suite or guest house we stay in when not at home base. On a few occassions, some of the maids/porters "get it", and pose Pooh in different ways when the rooms are cleaned each day. We've found him holding chocolates, flowers, a washcloth folded into a fortune cookie, and he's also been tucked in, peeking out from the pillows, or holding the newspaper at the end of the bed.

We are completely aware that many think we are nuts, and others who see Pooh as replacement for a child the we
should(?) have. Wrong, whatever - we love him, and I originally received him from my godparents when I was 4 or 5 years old. We take extraordinarily good care of him, and he has a few stiches here and there.

Anyway, this incident happened about mid-way through the cruise. We were back in the room after another boozy evening and getting ready for bed, stumbling around in the funny-silly-drunk way. Finally, we get under the covers. Ak starts watching TV,and I am reading. Just like any other night, I started rooting around for Pooh with my right hand, not taking my eyes from my book because he is always there. Well, this time he wasn't, and within 5 minutes I had checked the entire cabin, was starting to freak out, and had totally lost my buzz. Ak, always the mind of reason, tried to get me to calm down while he looked, so I sat and had a smoke and watched him do what I just did, telling him how to do it. Pooh wasn't anywhere. I grabbed the phone and called the concierge, and realize that it's 3am. I tried to be calm when explaining the problem, but I got pretty hysterical and ak had to take over. When he was done, he relayed that he was told this happens a lot, and that stuffed toys always get cought up in the bedding. They would be contacting the laundry room immediately to be on the lookout. I am sure that most of the owners of these stuffed toys are not on the cusp of 40 years of age. I was just so sad at the thought of losing something so precious and meaningful, something you cannot put a price on.

Finally, the two of us get back into bed, and try to settle down to get some sleep. We wondered out loud where he was, and I was so scared that he was in the trash, or worse, over the side. I totally cried.

The next morning, I was out of bed at 7, and in the hall looking for Michael, our porter. I saw his cart at the end of the hall, so I started down. As I approached, I thought I saw two little stuffed golden legs sticking out of the second shelf of the cart. Michael came out of the room he was cleaning just as I got to the cart, and it was Pooh! He handed him to me, and I saw that the laundry staff had made a little bed for him because he had been "running around" down there all night, and was very tired. It was too cute - they had shaped a pillow, mattress and comforter out of washcloths and pillowcases. I hugged and kissed Michael on the cheek - he totally thinks I am a crazy American broad. He got a great tip at the end :)

Needless to say, Pooh got a hero's welcome upon returning to the cabin, then got scolded for disappearing. From that day on, we made sure Pooh was out of the bed and on the couch before we left the room in the mornings.

High drama on the high seas, people :) I am thinking about making this a little story book for our godson - Pooh's Cruise Adventure. Like ak pointed out, he was in places and parts of the ship we would never see, so we could come up with something. Who knows.

Happy Weekend!

Above Photo: Pooh enjoying the beautiful orchid in the cabin this past January.

...10th grade via FaceBook

2009-03-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

Chrissy sent me an email yesterday with this picture attached.

Apparently, this is on a classmates' FaceBook site. We were all cheerleaders.

Obviously it's Halloween, and I think it is 10th grade, JT is the sheik and we are the harem.

I also spy Debbie, Laurie, Katie and Candy.

No wonder I was buying booze at 14 - I look like I'm 40 back then!

I like that I have my face out & not covering my mug.

I don't think I even own now as much make-up that was on my face then. These were definately my hot-roller days, too.

Bad bloomers on all. I remember having 1 drawer for my cheerleading supplies: uniform, bloomers, socks, Barbie tights (for winter and night games), and colored inserts for my Nikes.

I think I see my waist, too. Wow.

Something is going on with my earrings...did we have a fan at the photo shoot?

I thought this would provide y'all with some laughs.

T.G.I.F.

...set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance..cruise part II

2009-03-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'm jumping right back into it, as I've had many calls about the enjoyment of the previous post.

Crazy Neck Brace lady
The first stop we made on the trip was Princess Cay island in the Bahamas. Princess Cruises actually owns the island, and it's a big beautiful beach with tons of lounge chairs, umbrellas, hammocks and picnic tables. All the cruise lines stop here and pay Princess some kind of fee. You can rent scuba stuff, or those huge tricycle things with the big tires that you ride on the water, and little sailboats. They come around taking drink orders, and there is a huge BBQ for everyone. It's pretty much the best it gets-laying in a hammock on a beach with a pina colada and some BBQ chicken - just heaven.
One of Regents other ships, the Seven Seas Voyager, was also there for the day. They were on their way back to Ft. Lauderdale after their 45 day Panama Canal cruise. Ak, myself, Pinky & John were walking to get some food, and ran into friends of theirs from the other ship. At first I thought it was the sun or my eyes, but I knew something was up with their hair. Both were like 5 foot tall, frosted blondes, late 50's, loud, possibly dykes, and both had a single huge streak of color on the right sides of their heads-dark green and dark blue. Not pretty or cool - just really weird. Well the one chick has a neck brace on, so of course Pinky tells her that I just had surgery, so we end up in a conversation, or rather, she just talked at me. She was like a New Yorker-all fast, and I couldn't get a word in at all. Apparantly, she got a bad rep on their ship for pulling out the neck brace for the best seats on the bus tours, boat rides, and so forth. She took her sweaty brace off and shoved it in my face, saying "people don't understand how how and nasty these things get". At this point, ak took off in the opposite direction. I didn't see him for the next 30 minutes. Next, this is what she tells me, "At least you've got your big scar to prove you've got something wrong. Everyone thinks I'm faking it." I really had no response, so I tuned her out, and then we finally reached the buffet line. She gives me her card, and tells me to email her with my doctor's name. I put it in my bag and forgot about it. Well, I just pulled the card out, and as it turns out, she is a certified crystal analyzer and some kind of iguana specialist. Too much.
Oh, so I forgot to tell you about my outfit that day. I had on my black bathing suit, black capris, a long sleeved white blouse buttoned to the neck, and a huge brown straw hat on, and I stayed in the shade. ak said I looked like a vato - a latino immigrant farmer from one of the artichoke farms around here.

high seas
As we were boarding the ship, I did think about it being hurricane season, but immeditely put it out of my mind. We had fantastic weather at sea and at each of the ports. It did rain one time during the cruise - a sun shower for 20 minutes in Grand Turk, but several nights we experienced very high and rough seas, 8-20 feet. You move back and forth in bed, and it does cause for some calamity as you are walking anywhere on the ship. Since everyone completely boozes it up, cronies are tripping and lurching left and right. The ones with canes and walkers are all set, but the others are always like - "oh, I don't have my sea legs yet", or "wow, we're really moving". It doesn't work at 10am and smooth seas, though. There are times you just have to admit you're bombed and you can't walk worth a shit, ship or no ship.
There were 4 people with Scamp scooters aboard, and they were just rude. It was like they had their own biker's club, the "Fossil Riders" or something. They should have had matching windbreakers. I found myself having to jump back in the hallways a few times as not to get clipped by a Rider. The only time us walkers had vengence was watching the Riders trying to get in and out to play in the smallish casino. We witnessed 30 to 80 point turns going on. We actually had a new odds game going at the bar, taking bets on who could get to the Black Jack or Craps tables first, and so on. Everywhere we went, we saw them, too, both on and off the boat. All of a sudden you would be in a cab at a light somewhere, and you'd look out the window, and there would be the Riders cruising by. All we could think about was another Seinfeld episode, where George has a scooter and gets chased by the old folks on their scooters. We were trying to figure out how to get them to re-enact that scene on the pool deck.
You know I'll be in a scooter one day just for writng the above.

NYE
The big night was great - black tie, delicious dinner, champagne flowing like water, and hanging out on the pool deck. It was all decorated, band playing, people dancing everywhere, and the pool was filled with balloons. Each of the balloons had a wish in it - we all got a piece of paper that they collected and put into the balloons. They let them go at the stroke of midnight, and it was gorgeous to watch them float up into the sky. It was pitch black out, all the stars were out, and the boat was lit up like a chandelier. Off in the distance, you could see 3 other cruise ships, totally lit up like we were.
Our group was on the dance floor, then doing a huge conga line, just hooting and hollering. At one point, ak and I were getting our boogie on - he was looking super-fine in his tux. I must say I looked foxy myself. He also resembled our captain a bit. Our captain was this Italian named Fabrizzio, and he had Axel's same type of body frame, only a bit taller, with darker hair and eyes. They both had the same longish hair going, and rough beards. We are used to the Viking-looking captains, with names like Erik, Klaus or Helmut. Picture the guy in the Titanic movie-big belly and white hair, Santa-like. Anyway, this crew chick (cute & young) totally busts in on our dance, grabs ak by the hands and kisses him on both cheeks, and says "Happy New Year, Capitan" in this sexy accent, shakes her ass a bit, then walks away. She was lucky she walked because I was about to cut her. ak was all up on himself, feeling all good...we are still having some good laughs about that. The funniest thing was that the real captain was on the balcony right above us watching the whole party. We were wondering when she figured out it wasn't him. Maybe she never did. She was one of the nail girls, so maybe being engulfed in acetone all day has affected her eyesight and brain size.
The entertainment on the ship as a whole went up and down, mostly down. The cruise is geared towards the elder age group, so most nights we skipped the show, hit the casino, then met up later at one of the bars. NYE was no exception. The live band at times was good, but more often than not they were like a bad SNL skit, like that married couple that sings together at the school dances. Finally, their set ended, and we headed up to the Navigator Lounge for further drinking and merriment. Upon our arrival, ak and I decide that tequila shots are in order. We head to the bar and check out what they have, and pick our poison. Next thing you know, here come a couple of the old guys from our group, and they want to do shots with us, too. We tried to warn against this, but they were undeterred. 8 shots were lined up. Within 10 minutes of downing the shots, three of them were gone - back to their cabin. One was on the dance floor gyrating like a man possesed. His wife is usually the one who dances every dance, but she had this crazy dress on that night - it was all sequins patterned like flames, and went from yellow to orange to red to black. Very Vegas showgirl, but no exposed flesh. Well, she busted out the lower back of her dress earlier in the evening, so she walked with her back against the walls all night, or with us in front of her and behind her. She was tanked, and at one point, ak and I had to help her to the ladies room. He got a flash of her panties in the back during a lurch, and burned his eyes. He just kept repeated " Why did I just see her big 'ole nude granny panties?" We headed right back to the bar for some additional shots so ak could push that image to the far regions of his mind. Thinking back, I wish we had a video recording of this stuff that night, or maybe not.
They had all kinds of snacks going, so I was all drunk-starving and grabbed some goodies. There was a DJ and decent music going, so ak and I hit the floor to some Madonna. All of a sudden he's like "Damn!" and starts looking around at the other dancers. "Someone smells like fish. Bad!" Well, it was me - I had eaten this tiny tuna fish croissant, and my breath reeked. When I told him it was me, I had to hold my hand over my mouth, and then we were just hysterical, still on the dance floor. I couldn't find an Altoid, piece of gum, or anything from anyone, so I did another shot. Booze kills the germs, right?

the gigilos
On these cruises, they usually have 2 "gentlemen" travellers who are hired to "entertain" the single ladies at the dances, chat with them at cocktails, etc., and their cruise is paid for. We all know that men die first, it's just a fact of life, so these dudes were in high demand every night. My favorite gigilo was Heinz - German, accent going, about 6'5", and like 76, little round glasses and a great set of blazing white dentures. He was an amazing dancer, and on NYE I was all buzzed up doing the Paso Doble with him, whipping my head around, then waltzing, feeling no pain. (I was TOTALLY hurting the next day, but it was worth it). The other gigilo was Mikal, this Russian guy who was short and stocky, and looked like a stone-cold killer. He scared me! The first morning when I walked around the ship, I turned the corner and he was sitting there at a table totally looking at me. I'm all thinking that he's some kind of Cold War leftover and I interupted him doing some spy mission, so he's going to push me overboard. I admit I watch way too much James Bond, and have an overactive imagination.
We really tried to get Barbara together with Heinz, or rather, I did. ak feaks out thinking about his mom "taking up" with someone. I thought they were a perfect match, but she said he had bad breath and that "old man" smell. Oh well.

rocky ride
When we finally did get to St. Barth's, we had a great time. 15 of us went to Nikki Beach and just ate and drank white wine by the edge of the sea for most of the day. Truly paradise. We then went back into town and did some shopping before getting on one of the tenders back to the ship. The sea was really choppy that day, so the ride back to the ship was very up and down and rough. There are not enough windows, so it is hot as balls sitting with about 20 others, and ak and I happened to sit by one of the deisel exhausts. It seemed to be taking forever to get back, and ak looked green from the fumes. Finally, we're back at the ship, and the tender driver just sucked at getting us lined up to rope us up and get us back aboard. He hit the side of the ship twice, and ak yells "dude, I could do better when I was 10 years old". After several attempts due to the waves, they tied the ropes, and we started to get off. Because of the waves, they had to provide assitance for every senior. ak managed to get out before me, but I heard him tell the driver how "lousy he was at controling the boat" as he got off. I finally get up there, and the two guys on the ship were holding my arms while I am still on the tender, and they almost dropped me when a wave came by, so my boy went off Philly-style, telling them "he'd kill each and every one of them if they hurt me". These guys kind of snapped to it and tightened their grips on me. Well, I got off safely, we went back to the room, cranked the A/C and took restorative naps. My poor honey has seen me through so much this year, and he is totally protective of me. I love my body guard :)

new local friends
Another cool couple that we met were actually from San francisco - Ken & Susan. Or should I say they have a house in San Fran, one in West Palm, FL, an apartment in Paris, and they rent a house in St. Barth's every winter. Someone else in our group had first met them, and brought them to dinner one night- it was a good call. Susan is one of the most beautiful older women I have ever met. Total white hair, cute bob, classy boutique-style clothing, and different eyglasses for every outfit, & perfect make-up. Ken is adorable, and another one that could fit right into the pocketbook. Also a great dresser, total Ralph Lauren style with George Hamilton tan, bright pink ties, orange ties. Here's the thing - he was like 4 1/2 feet tall. They worked out in the morning, too, and one AM we were stretching together she told me that Ken has lost 6 inches of height in his ankles due to a degerative bone disease, and that he is in pain constantly. You wouldn't know it to meet him, and he was interesting, and the kind of guy that kissed your hand. If any of you are at all familiar with the animated series King of the Hill, you may know Hank's father Cotton lost his shins in the Korean War,and is really short. We renamed Ken "Cotton Hill" of course, but out of respect, not foolery. We hope to get together with them in a few months. They are very familiar with our town, and want to meet us for dinner at the awesome Greek place downtown Los Gatos.

Ok, that's all I can do for now.
Peace out peeps :)

... about the cruise ... part I

2009-02-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit I have been lame on posting our cruise pictures. I haven't even gone through the pics from the wedding we went to in October! Due to this laziness, I pulled out my 2 page "journal" from the cruise, so I can at least give you a few highlights to nibble on!

* Famous Author Alert:
On our previous cruises, we brought a chef along for cooking demos, special lunches, recipes, and the like. After 6 years, the group was ready for a change, so we had a best-selling author join us for this one, with him giving lectures on how he started, publishing secrets, and his personal experience in today's crazy literary market. He is 43, so he and his lovely wife were more on our age level. He spoke of how scary it was when he told his family that he wanted to quit his stable job and write full time. I was totally in awe of him - a real live author!! I was like a giddy school girl, and ak was my dad telling me to calm down before I peed my pants.
John Hart is the son of a wonderful woman we have known through Ak's mom, and have done the other cruises with. She is quite a gal - she has macular degeneration (wet) in both of her eyes, and can barely see. Recently, her doctors were able to operate on one of the eyes, and her sight improvement is extraordinary; unfortunately, that same surgery would do nothing for the other eye. John prints extra EXTRA large print manuscripts & books for her - what a good boy! If you met her, you would have no idea of her sight problems. She is completely adept at recognizing voices, and she is confident when walking, and doesn't let it slow her down. She also is a smoker, so Ak & I always spend extra time with her.
Anyhoo, I am attaching a link for John. He has already written 2 novels that were on the NY Times Best Seller list, he has his third coming out in early May, and is working on his fourth book. I highly recommend the first two - fast paced murder mysteries set in Salisbury, MD, where they are all originally from.
http://www.johnhartfiction.com/

*Our new good buddy:
Finally, after being the only youngsters by several years within this group for 6 years, our favorite couple, Jerry and Carol, had their daughter come with them on the cruise. Christin lives in Boston, and is the Irish-Catholic version of me. For example: she reads several books at one time, dotes on her parents (watching her and her mom together is like a Seinfeld episode, and very similar to Jojo and Felicia), fantastic dresser, has a strong command of cursing, and knows how to have a good time!
We had so many good laughs together, and it was nice to actually meet a new friend that you want to keep in touch with, and develop a realtionship with. Christin's ultimate goal on the cruise was to find a man that was old, rich, and terminal, so it was a veritable DisneyLand for her. Ak and I were tasked with scoping out any prospects.
Christin and I were constantly trying to scheme a way to get John's 4th book from his step-father, Bill. Bill is a true Southern gentleman, but the attention of 2 Yankee dolls could not part him from his advanced book copy. Bill could possibly be as old as Moses, but he is one of those precious "elders" that you want to take home in your purse. Although I sometimes had alterior motives, I genuinely enjoyed talking with him. He celebrated his 86th birthday while on board. Christin flew directly to the cruise, but came back with our group on the bus. We dropped her off in Jupiter, FL, to visit with her dad. As we watched her getting her luggage, we commented how funny it was that we had the same luggage - haha! We got back on the road, and 15 minutes hadn't passed before Carol made her way back to our seats to say that Christin ended up with one of our suitcases - haha - and that we'd have to meet her and pull a switch the next day. All of the adults were all like "oh, you have to drive 1 1/2 hours to meet tomorrow, how awful," and "what a shame", when I was pretty excited to see her again! Everything worked out perfectly at our luggage exchange the next day, and it was great to see her! She headed back to Boston the next day where lots of snow fell, and she hasn't been heard from since. jk.

*CODE BLUE
One evening after dinner, Axel, myself and Christin were at the casino bar (another designated smoking pit), and suddenly an alarm sounded, followed by the announcement of a "Code Blue". We were quite enthralled, and kept at our Australian bartender Ricky until he admitted that a "guest" was down, and possibly dead! I felt like I was in a surreal episode of ER where all doctors and nurses were in formal dress. As it turns out, a poor passenger was very sick and was in a diebetic coma, probably from the desserts. We actually changed direction to get him to the closest hospital, and it completely changed the itinerary for the rest of the cruise! We had been heading to St. Barth's, where we were going to be there from 9am to 11pm, giving us the only opportunity to have dinner off of the ship. Also, St. Barth's is akjn's favorite Caribbean destination, so we were so happy to have so much time there. Well, we ended up going a few days later, and only had from 9-5pm.......there was some mumbling and grumbling from everyone about that.
Barbara was on the same ship this summer for 40 days, doing Dubai, the Arab Emirates, and those other scary places over there, and 3 people, all dudes, croaked on the cruise. One got off with the wife and flew home, the others were kept on ice in the galley until the end of the cruise. That is surely the only downer to these cruises - the chances of one of the fossils taking the next step is extremely high.

* Hulking Out:
I was on my usual cocktail of regular meds, plus the ones for the neck surgery, then add some tropical alcohol on top. Ak has mentioned in the past that I tend to get pissed-off faster on Vicodin, as though it blocks out my patience meter. I think we were in St. Marteen, and ak, Barb & I were shopping and looking for a good lunch place. It was REALLY hot, too. We found a cafe, and had a delightful lunch with lots of lovely wine to top off the pill cocktail. Then we were brought complimentary homemade banana liquer with the bill, and we were trying to decide whether to pay in Euros or Visa. Ak is brilliant with accounting and currency exchange, so we always rely on him to figure things out. For some reason, my math-challeged skills tried to match his, and failed miserably when I came up with my solution. Well, I didn't take my failure too well in my vicodin-ed out, hot, wino-d + banana-liquored mood, and I totally Hulked Out on the two of them. Told them I'd meet them back at the ship and cruised out of the restaurant. Tried to get a cab back to the ship, but the cabs were set out for groups of people, not individual riders. Basically, my trip back would be $25, compared to $5 if I had 2 more people with me. With my tail between my legs, all bitter, I walked back towards the restaurant until I ran into my peeps, and informed them that the only reason I came back was economic - the single taxi ride was a rip off, and I needed them to lower the rate. Well, we all fell out at that point, laughing and grabbing our bellies at the sheer stupidity of it all! Now I was back to normal and properly focused, I was able to shop in the gorgeous Murano glass store, which restored me to my regular self.

*The Houston Ladies:
Again, as smokers who get corraled into room corners, the back part of the pool deck, bars, etc., we got to meet so many wonderful characters. Two absolute sweethearts that we met were Allison & Shirley from Houston. They are best friends, and both divorced well, so they live together in a huge mansion. They had the biggest cabin on the ship, and invited us to a cocktail party one night in their cabin. The cruise supplies all the appetizers, bar and bartender. We had a blast! Axel fell immediately into deep conversation with Bill, a retired NYC detective who worked on John Lennon's murder case. Allison actually lived in the Dakota from 1966-69. Ak and I love stuff like that!
These ladies were the tops, and we will defiantely be keeping in touch with them.

*The (Older) Newlyweds:
Another smoking couple we met had actually gotten married 3 days prior to the cruise. She looks like a Barbie doll that has aged VERY well, and the husband was a silver fox, and very tall. He worried me, though, because a good gust of wind could take him right over the side. We met them the first day at the pool bar, and she asked about the scar on my neck, and said she had some cream from her last "plastic" that would make the scar disappear - I was all ears!
Early the next morning, I was having my celebratory cigarette after my 7 mile walk, when she came out to join me. She looked fine - flowy bathing suit robe thing, hat, and huge black sunglasses, just the outfit I wear to the pool. We exchanged morning pleasantries, and then she pushed up her sunglasses, and HOLY SHIT!! Black eye, cut across nose, and whole forehead bruised!
Apparantly, after closing down one of the bars the previous night, they cut through the pool deck to get back to their room, and he started to fall over a deck chair, so she jumped in front of him to cushion his fall (he would have broken like match-sticks), and ended up with a concussion and broken nose. Happy Fricking Honeymoon! You really couldn't tell when she had her glassees on. Of course I ask her what the ship's doctor gave her, and Doc only gave her 3 Tylenol with Codeine (all I could picture was that dude Doc from the LoveBoat who had no skills). I told her to buzz me if she needed anything. About 3 days later, ak and I were waiting for one of the elevators, when the doors opened in front of us, The elevator was full, but I saw a flash of blonde amid the gray, so I said "hey _____" (I feel so bad as we completely forget their names), and right away she yelled out "Joanna, I need you. Room _____". I immediately returned to our cabin, prepared her a goodie bag from my pharmacy, but then realized I was drunk and forgot their cabin #. I felt really bad. By the time I woke up the next day, I remembered, and headed up to the deck with the second largest cabins aboard. I rang their doorbell, and the maid answered, and was totally giving me the eye and the room block. I called out "It's Joanna with a care package" and I heard my girl say to the maid "That's my sister, please get what she has, please". Two days later, her and her husband were at dinner, and stopped by our table. Ak and I were amazed-she looked fantastic, and mostly all of the bruising had subsided. She thanked me over and over - I told her she didn't ever have to thank me, that I understood pain management, and that I was so happy to have been able to help.
I still can't believe we can't remember their names!

OK - this is long, and I have a few more notes, so we will break it into part one and two.
Stay tuned for PART II, sometime soon......

One more very recent funny from ak's mom.....She and her best friend from Germany spent this past weekend in South Beach. They had dinner Sunday night the the new restaurant in Versace's mansion.
http://florida-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_of_the_versace_mansion
Ak's mom asked to speak to the manager to inform him of the following: although the food was spectacular, the service was not up to par. They didn't get butter knives, and Gudren needed a finger bowl, napkin or something for her hands after eating stone crabs. The manager starts giving excuses, to which she replies "that is not my problem. my friend and I are writers from a German magazine, and we are going to write about the private dinner we had here tonight". She also told him how displeased she was that most of the mansion was closed due to a private party, and that wasn't dislosed to her when making the reservation. Needless to say, all their booze was comped + dessert, and the manager gave them a private tour of the entire mansion! She called us after they got back to the hotel, all buzzed up and excited, as she knew how proud I would be of her for her manipulation skills, and my motto of believing something makes it true. She has requested a set of business cards for all of us, fake last names and fake German magazine. I am on it!!!

... xoxo Jojo ...

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!

2009-02-14T12:26:00.001-08:00

HAVE A LOVE-FILLED 24 HOURS!

XOXO AKJN

Florida Today, January 11, 2009

2009-02-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

* it's tiny, but check out who is mentioned in the last paragraph :)

* apparently we also made the Space Coast magazine with our picture included, too.

* too funny ... once a year for 3 weeks we hit the social scene with ak's mama in FL, and we end up in the paper and a local magazine.

* no wonder we need to recuperate and don't come out of the bat cave very often the rest of the 49 weeks.

later :)

Hair Raising Wii Action

2009-01-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I cut my hair!

Here's how it all started ......

There was a dancer, Susanna, on the cruise with this cut in blonde, same curls and texture as my hair.
I checked her out the whole cruise, and took pictures of her hair. I think she believed that I was some lesbian hair stalker by the end of the trip.

I then got AK's & Barb's opinions, and the next thing you know, our whole group of 20 put in their 2 cents, so it was decided right then that I would be cutting my locks.
I realized I was ready for a change, and had a hair appt. already scheduled for 2 days after we got back to Cali.

Well, here I am with my new hair-do (if you look closely at my neck on the left, you can see my surgery scar). It is taking some getting used to, but I am liking it more and more as each day passes. I am finding it hard to use less products ... I have had the long locks since college, and am so used to using a ton of shampoo, conditioner, mousse, etc., and old habits are hard to break! I am posting the one picture now, and will put up more as I get better at styling my mop. I straightened it today, and I kind of resemble the Beatles in the 60's.

Thanks for all the support and hand holding - I got the super thumbs up from the 2 moms plus Chrissy & Kelly, so that was enough for me to know I had done a good thing. My hairdresser actually had a bottle of wine for me if I needed it during the appointment, and when AK picked me up, he wasn't sure if I would need a stretcher, pills, or booze to get me home.

He actually got me a late Christmas present while I was getting chopped - a Wii with the Wii Fit package. I love it!!!! It is so cute, and actually very motivating. I can add my walking to my daily activities, along with any other activity that is not within the actual Fit disc. AK & I created our avatars (precious), and both have Activity Logs that show our progress, and show us how far or close we are from reaching goals we set within our profiles. Too cool, and it was wonderful that he thought of it to distract me from every mirror in the house!!

Still working on cruise pictures and commentary - it's been crazy since we got home!

Happy Monday, and a good week to all .... later peeps!

P.S. Happy 79th Birthday, Mom! You're the best, & we can only hope to age as beautifully and gracefully as you have!

Love you!

Back on Land / Annie Leibovitz

2009-01-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

ALL THE BEST TO EACH OF YOU IN 2009!

We have returned from the cruise, and are enjoying a week in Melbourne Beach with Axel's mom prior to returning to Cali. I will be posting about the cruise later - there is almost too much to tell, and so many funny incidents that have to be written about. I kept a small journal for each days adventures, and sometimes misadventures, so I wouldn't forget a thing! But for now, here's something yummy.....

We got back on January 9th, and almost immediately upon arriving at Barbara's house, we had to gussie-up again for the opening of the Annie Leibovitz : Women http://www.nytimes.com/library/photos/leibovitz/interview.html show at the Brevard Art Musuem. Barbara is a Trustee of the musuem, and actually was an original founder of the museum in 1978 with a few other women. They bought the old Melbourne Police station, and literally cleaned, scrubbed, painted the building, and started to commission paintings. Post Secret http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ had an exhibit here not to long ago, so they have come along way!

From the Musem website:
Today, almost 30 years later, the Brevard Art Museum has tripled the exhibition area and provides modern technical conservation methods and storage areas as our collection increases in size. Significant loan collections can be brought to the Museum. In addition, children and adults now enjoy the opportunity to study and create art in the Museum School at the Renee Foosaner Education Center which housed a portion of the original Museum.
Check out more at http://www.brevardartmuseum.org/

The exhibition was amazing, and since it was the opening, only museum members & their guests were invited. Annie's pictures were inspiring, shocking and thought provoking, & led to some lively discussion. We were no longer dragging and complaining how tired we were!

That's all for now....we are currently cooking our traditional Christmas goose dinner, since we were not together for the actual holiday.
Bon Appetite, I say!

Merry, Merry Christmas 2008!

2008-12-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

Thinking of you this holiday season!

xoxo akjn westside

Scarred Diva

2008-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

OK - All surgery is complete for 2008!
This neck surgery and recovery definately takes the cake this year. Thank goodness we go on the cruise in a couple of weeks - I totally deserve some pampering!

I know I sent emails saying that it was a success and I was doing well, blah blah, but it was actually the opposite. The surgery WAS a success, but the "doing well" was far from the truth.

I have a pretty large scar on the front of my neck, top to bottom. This was quite a shock as we were told the incision would be in the wrinkle - the fold where your neck meets the body. I've been wearing a scarf as it has been freaking everyone out, including the UPS man last Friday, poor man. I know it will fade and be fine, but it really seems to bother anyone who looks at me.

The muscle relaxer that they gave me induced major migraines, which imitated my symptoms prior to surgery, which lead me to think that something went wrong, and that would require another proceedure, making me quite anxious.

My surgeon might be brilliant, but he has no "warm & fuzzy" side. I need the warm/fuzzy from any doctor, especially one cutting my neck open. There have been some bad phone calls to his office and I have possibly yelled at each member of his staff - I'll have to check my notes. Needless to say, they respect the Jojo now, and I get call backs immediately.

You can imagine that these things don't promote a good recovery environment. I have been so tense that my entire upper back feels like I've been beaten with a baseball bat.

Yesterday everything came to a head, and I finally was able to get my point across to my surgeon, and he immediatley switched my meds, assured me that some of the freaky symptoms are normal, and I actually got a tiny bit of warm/fuzzy from him. I think he realized that he dropped the ball a bit on info regarding my recovery - I totally called him out on it.

Meanwhile, my poor ak has stood by and watched this, supporting me, taking care of me, and trying to get me calm so I can heal. God Bless him, he has had his hands full, and I am a handful when I am healthy and happy! We are so glad we have turned the corner, and I am so happy to say that I am feeling good, and have been able to walk a few times, and I am letting the Chritmas spirit back in :) Thanks honey - I do love you so!

As always, emails, texts and calls from friends make all the difference to both ak and I. My mom has been amazing, and one of the only ones able to "talk me down" when I really get going. She is my girl! Thanks, mama! The best has been getting back in regular contact with our college buddy Dean, living in NYC. He is one of the funniest people we know, and also one of the kindest. The mischief we made in college is legendary, and cannot be repeated without subpoena; however, I might be persuaded to let you in on some of our receipes that we are still all cooking to this day. Thanks, Dean, from your big 'ole donkey Girl Scout!

The hospital experience was one of the worst, and it is depressing that I have so many other experiences to compare it to. This was brutal, though. Here is just 1 example:
The TV was broken in my room. No big deal as I had my book and Iphone, but they would send in Maintenance occasionally to try and fix. Hospital tvs all work through this huge remote that is on your bed. This remote also has the call button for the nurse. Long story short, my remote got disconnected, I had to go to the bathroom, no response to my repeated buzzing (I had no clue it wasn't working), and no response to my scratchy/sore throat calling out from the room. I needed the IV disconnected to get to the bathroom, and was specifally told to call for assistance out of bed as well. Well, it got to the point where I was going to piss the bed. Therefore I had no choice but to get up, stretch the IV as far as it would go, hook my foot on to the trash can, drag it over to finally pee in it. You can be sure that everyone on that floor heard me cussing out the entire nurses station, once I found out I could unplug my IV from the wall - information that would have been useful prior to the incident. The Philly got out of the cage in a BIG way. Just delightful.

ENOUGH!!!

Out of the ashes, the phoenix rises........akjn is moving on happily towards the holiday, cruise, and hanging in Florida for a few weeks! Boxes have been arriving in the mail, and we have been getting great Christmas cards, too! The weather just turned chillier the past day or so, so although it is far from snow it at least feels as Chrstmas outside as it's going to get.

This is our biggest birthday month, too!

Birthday shout outs to: Georgie, Uncle John, Aunt Irene, Nicky & Evan, Andrew, Mark, Chuck, Kelly, Cindy, Tom, Bill and Ericka!

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY, PEEPS!

'Tis the Season

2008-12-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

Wow - December is here! It truly amazes me how time flies, as I can recall as a child Christmas taking FOREVER to arrive.

The household has been buzzing a bit, as we are in preparation for my surgery Tuesday, Christmas, and then our cruise at the end of the month.

All packages have been sent.*
All labels, stickers and cards are in assembly formation for completion during recovery.
We have an outline of our Christmas dinner, and are currently browsing cookie recipes.
We have started putting items in the guest room for the cruise.

* Schmidts - your presents will be at Judith Lane for pick-up with Felicia :)

So, we are in good shape. I am also getting my side oft he bed ready for recovery with books, magazines, and the like. Wish me luck, peeps!

We were pumped by the Eagles game this morning. Just fabulous! We are so happy to be seeing this late season turn around.

More later - just got a call that my buddy Julie is stopping by :)

Mid-November

2008-11-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

So, I've noticed a decrease in the blog postings from our posse, and have had one site officially close!!??!! It's disappointing, but I guess bound to happen. I've been told to check out facebook repeatedly, so I'll check that out in a few weeks. I enjoy this forum and style so much.

Anyway, time for a little update: I will be having the neck surgery to repair the 3 herniated discs on December 9. It has to be done, and I'd rather do it now than in the New Year. I am looking forward to starting 2009 ready to go, and putting a tough 2008 behind me. The neurosurgeon has assured us that I will be recovered & able to fly to Ft. Lauderdale on 12/29 for the cruise with Axel's mom, which had to be able to happen. I didn't want the surgery to be hanging over the trip.

akjn will be spending the holidays here @ home - nice and quiet. I am so excited that the Eagles are playing on Thanksgiving. ak found a BBQ joint over in the East Bay that fries whole turkeys, so we have an order in for our holiday meal - total score!

f. footbal is killing me! I have been in last place since Week 2. Pathetic, I know. Whatever - we love watching and are just trying to ride this crazy roller-coaster of a season through to February 1st.

Big Congrats to Chrissy & Eric on their house settlement - finally! How sweet it is!! We can't wait to see it!

Ok, now a little picture show:
Neighbor's cat Oliver. A little visit to our yard.

Clematis vine flower/plant from front patio.

Walking pic - Los Gatos Creek Trail, reservoir view

Walking pic - view of creek from bridge, end of our road

Walking pic - jr. high track up the road, early morning

Me and Nicky before hitting Linvilla Pumpkinland 10/22/08

Later! I hope someone comments/posts :)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

No Tricks, Just a HUGE Treat!

2008-10-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

Way to go, Phillies!

PHINALLY ... PHANTASTIC ...

PHUN ... PHILADELPHIA!

Wish I was there for today's parade, but I am so glad I was home for the first 3 games!

Any Given Sunday / Monster Park / Gang Fight (almost)

2008-10-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

E - A - G - L - E - S

EAGLES!!!!!!

Ak and I got a special treat Sunday.....tickets to the Eagles/Niners game!
The tix were from my Fantasy Commissioner's father-in-law, and they were sweet, 5 rows in from the field. We sat with the brother-in-law and his friend Javier. A good time was had by all, of course, and we made some new friends along the way.

Part I
We were happily surprised to see the number of Philly fans in attendance. Lots of McNabb and Westbrook jerseys, and I even saw 2 Cunningham jerseys, and 1 T.O. Eagles jersey, and finally 1 Phillies shirt and 2-3 Phillies ball caps. Nice.

I rolled up in my Eagles jacket - old school green, carrying a 2' x 1' sign with the Eagles logo & stuff on the front, and then I customized the back in case of any TV exposure. It said: Go Eagles / Hi Mom / Hey Plumstead Inn/ Media - Everybody's Home Town, and was generously and tastefully sprinkled with cute football stickers. I waved it around the whole time, but not aggressively or obnoxiously. Everyone around us commented on my cool customization, and asked about Media, the Plummy, etc..

The peeps that we sat around were very cool - 2 Eagles fans behind us in full attire, and the guys next to us on both sides have had their seats passed down en familia since the dawn of time. In front of us was a dude from Jersey who knew all about the Delco area...apparently he has an ex from Conestoga. The dude right next to Ak, Matt, was a dead ringer for Drew Granger, except a CA style Drew - he and I sang the Eagles Victory song a capella together. Akjn fell in with the crowd, and within no time we were doing tag team beer runs of 12-14 cups at a time. We were invited to a tailgate afterwords, too.

The hussies danced on the riser in front of us after a Niner TD. There are 7 or 8 of them in a row - you can imagine the comments that are flying around :)

The game was AWESOME....of course there were the ever present ups and downs, and heart stopping moments that our Birds always provide for the faithfull, but they triumphed, so it was even sweeter representing for the boyz on the road.

Part II
Needless to say, we imbibed heavily on delicious $12 Hefeweizens, and were pretty shitty by the end of the game. Ak actually ate stadium nachos - I haven't seen him eat that crap since college. We also gnawed on a 1 foot hot dog the whole game, knowing that we had stepped on it the 10 times we dropped it on the ground. Delicious! Floor spice is always nice!! We had fun shouting out with all of the Eagles fans we passed on the way back to the car. We decided against the tail gate and more drinking, opting to get home and into our pj's to watch the next game.

We make it to the car, and slowly begin the long process of extracting ourselves safely from the stadium. Monster Park (aka: Candlestick Park, 3 Comm Park, or Paradise Park -- pick whichever name you like) is in a bad neighborhood, and you must weave throught it to get back on the interstate. So there are four lanes s l o w l y making our way down this sketchy street, when all of a sudden the car in front of us stops, even though there is space to keep moving forward. Then we notice the car in front of them stopping, and then all of the people in the cars got out. They were predominately Latino, dressed Cholo-style - even the 2 girls. Ak taps on the horn, rolls down the window and asks them to move their car, but they ignored him. At this moment, our beer buzzes and Philly attitudes activated, like superhero powers. Ak leans on the horn and stretches his head out the window and says louder - how about you guys move your cars and fight later, and we got multiple middle fingers back on that one.

The next thing you know, I've got my window down, telling the chicas that they need to get their men under control and back in their cars because I need to get home to my 3 kids (?????), and one of the guys said F-you, I got kids too, and then everything kind of got aggressive and obnoxious. Ak and I were both arm waving and finger-pointing out of our windows and yelling all kinds of trash talk, and then both Cholo cars kind of forgot they were fighting each other, and all focused on us. THANK GOODNESS a guy in the lane next to us beeped, and I yelled "go baby", and we were able to shoot into the right lane and take off with a green light. I looked back right as we were merging and one of the chicas had her hands on the back passenger window, running all screaming and cursing. We were totally fired up, and by the time we got to the on-ramp we were cracking up, and then when we got home, we realized that we were pretty lucky that the light had been green. Had it not, they would have definately caught up with us, and I would have had to fend them off with my inhaler.

Everynow and then, a stranger gets the pleasure of dealing with akjn doing our bad cop/bad cop routine. This behavior is usually only reserved for airline employees & strangers, but Sunday was special, we had huge beer balls, AND the victory, so we went for it.

Good times, good times.

Anyway, I was thinking about all of you guys, and knew that we were all watching the game together :)

I hope the Birds can keep it up.

Niners mascot "Sourdough Sam", or as our new friends call him " Sexual Harrassment Sam". He is definately wierd - I gave them a hard time about it, saying that he can't hold a candle to the Majestic,

Patriotic Eagle :)

How 'bout the Phillies, too? SUPER! I might need an emergency Phillies hat sent - we lost a box of caps in the move, and my Phillies is missing.

Take it light, and get blogging, people! Summer vacation has been over for a while!

No More Work!

2008-09-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

I officially resigned from my job yesterday. My co-workers were surprised and upset, but at the same time, they all knew that I need this time to get back 100% physically and mentally. I was told that I always have a home there, and that they would have me back in a heartbeat. That means a lot.

Unfortunately, a side effect from the back surgery has come to light - I have a few herniated discs in my neck that are causing circulation problems in both my arms and hands, aggravated by my laying on my back for the past 4 months. I see a nuerosurgeon next week to determine therapy or surgery.......please say a little prayer for me that this situation can be resolved with therapy. I don't think akjn can go through another surgery!

Other than that, all is well. The weather is great, and we are preparing for a trip East next month. We have a wedding in Kill Devil Hills, NC the weekend of 10/18, then I will be heading up to Media to visit mama and the good buddies. I can't wait to see my mom!!! It's been almost a year.

OK, heading out to turn in my keys!
Have a great day, peeps!

MNF :(

2008-09-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

Damn....we we so close tonight!
I hope this is not the beginning of another disappointing season....

Steelers next week - another nail biter.

Just back from the eye doctor - I was experiencing blurriness when reading up close.
Results: I am heading for bifocal glasses & contacts country within the next year. For now, he recommended the $10 reading glasses that you get from a pharmacy. I went to Walgreens, and unfortunately the selection of glasses for the strength I needed was very poor, so I ended up with some large black 1950's frames. Looking good!

Later, peeps!

I'm Tired

2008-08-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

The title of this post needs is to be sung in place of I'm lonely in the INXS song 'What You Need'.

As of today, I have completed five 4 hour days back at work.
It sucks!

My manager quit and the replacement starts mid-September. She is already micro-managing me via email.
The girl who took my old job has been out 2 of my 5 days with her sick kids.
There are 2 new empoyees working for me and I can't remember their names.
6 residents have gotten together and filed a class action lawsuit against the property and the company for "causing the inhabitability of their home due to the construction".
1500 of the residents are maintaining a bitch blog/google group. We have been advised not to join as it may interfere with the lawsuit.
On Monday, a resident threatened to go back to his apartment, get his gun, and come back down to shoot us all. Lovely, isn't it?

I have regressed in physical therapy and have to take the vicodin again. I have actually gone backwards, and am back in the pool for less intense exercizing and stretching. I am very upset over this, as I was progressing with flying colors and getting a lot of mobility back. My therapist thinks that this regression is due to a combination of: my scar tissue hardening from all 3 surgeries (it is affecting the way I walk, can't get comfy laying down anymore), tweaking a muscle, and stress from the job. She can't believe how suddenly I deteriorated. I was so scared about the pain that I asked the surgeon to do an mri to ensure I didn't break anything back there. He assured me that short of a bus hitting me, my screws and disc would stay in place.

My first day back was last Wednesday.

When I got home, ak said that I have that look again.

What look, I asked?

He answered, the work look, where you seem pissed-off, constipated and about to cry all at the same time.

I asked him to slap it right off of me.

This surgery may be a blessing in disguise, as it has allowed me to step back and really take a look at myself. I don't like what I see, and hate the way work completely takes over me and changes my personality. I realize now that my priorities have gotten completely out of order, and how the office negativity eventually creeps into my personal life no matter how hard I try to shake it off....I am sitting here pissed-off right now!

Ok, enough!!
Everybody have a great Labor Day weekend! :)
Peace out.......

Anyway, at least it is only 4 hours a day right now :)

Happy Birthday, Newlywed!

2008-08-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

...and the good times keep rolling for Chrissy this month!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOLL!

...oh, I just wanted to add that I start back at work this Wednesday. I am on 1/2 days for 2 weeks, and then will be re-evaluated for full days. Not too happy about leaving the cave, but it must be done.

In physical therapy news, I have graduated from the pool to "land". I have been doing a lot of work with Pilates machines - I like them very much! I've been continuing with my walking every day, and have been adding exercises to my home repertoire.

Finally, I went to my Fantasy Football draft yesterday, and feel very confident in my team. akjn is also just looking forward to the beginning of football season. ak put a sweet program on my iphone called Draft Central 2008 for .99, and I that is all I walked into the draft with. All players are listed by rank and also name, and as you and your league are picking, you just mark(tap) that person going to your team, or someone else's, and then the pick shows up as drafted on all of the main lists. It also lists your team exclusively. For less than a dollar, this little application was worth it.

ok, that was it :)

Peace Out!

Chrissy & Eric ... Happily Ever After

2008-08-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

...so after texting back and forth Saturday, and then playing phone tag on Sunday, Chrissy & I finally connected Sunday evening, and this is how the first part of our conversation went:

jmn: Hey! What's up? How's Block Island?

cns: Good, good....guess what we did?

jmn: (increased pitch & volume) OMG -are you engaged? Are you married? Are you guys having a baby?

cns: (giggling) The second one.

jmn: (hollering & crying) So happy, tell me everything! etc. etc. ....

..we then proceeded to have what I consider one of the best telephone conversations ever!

I also gave my congratulations to the groom, whose smile I could feel through the phone & across the miles :)

CONGRATULATIONS,

Mr. & Mrs. Eric Schmidt!

Recovery Reads (so far...just keep scrolling down)

2008-08-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sin In The Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, And The Battle For America's Soul
Karen Abbott

Edgar Allan Poe, Selected Poems & Tales *
Edgar Allan Poe; Gaiman, Neil; Summers, Mark

Sparkles
Louise Bagshawe

Colorstrology: What Your Birthday Color Says About You
Michele Bernhardt

Boom!: Voices Of The Sixties Personal Reflections On The '60s And Today
Tom Brokaw

Possible Side Effects & Running With Scissors
Augusten Burroughs

Black Girl/White Girl
Joyce Carol Oates

Life With My Sister Madonna
Christopher Ciccone; Wendy Leigh

Be Nice (Or Else!): And What's In It For You
Winn Claybaugh

Candy Girl: A Year In The Life Of An Unlikely Stripper & JUNO: The Shooting Script (2)
Diablo Cody

109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer And The Secret City Of Los Alamos
Jennet Conant

The Front
Patricia Cornwell

The Collected Poems Of Emily Dickinson *
Emily Dickinson; Wetzsteon, Rachel

Dominick Dunne: Three Complete Novels (The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, People Like Us, & An Inconvenient Woman) & The Way We Lived Then (4)
Dominick Dunne

A Hopeless Romantic
Harriet Evans

Paint It Black: A Novel
Janet Fitch

Bright Shiny Morning & A Million Little Pieces * (2)
James Frey

Love In The Time Of Cholera
Gabriel García Márquez

The Little Black Book Of Style
Nina Garcia

Something Blue & Something Borrowed (2)
Emily Giffin

The Beach House & Swapping Lives (2)
Jane Green

Down River
John Hart

The Drowning Season, The Ice Queen: A Novel, Property Of, Seventh Heaven, & The Third Angel: A Novel (5)
Alice Hoffman

Dead Sleep, Sleep No More, & Blood Memory * (3)
GREG ILES

Gods In Alabama
Joshilyn Jackson

San Francisco Stories: Great Writers On The City
John Miller

Anybody Out There?: A Novel
Marian Keyes

Candy Everybody Wants (P.S.)
Josh Kilmer-Purcell

If I Am Missing Or Dead: A Sister's Story Of Love, Murder, And Liberation
Janine Latus

Lady Chatterley's Lover *
D. H. Lawrence

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Tucker Max

Behaving Like Adults: A Novel, Getting Over It, & A Tale Of Two Sisters (3)
Anna Maxted

Confessions Of A Nervous Shiksa
Tracy McArdle

The Time Traveler's Wife *
Audrey Niffenegger

Harvesting The Heart: A Novel, Perfect Match: A Novel, Picture Perfect, & Songs Of The Humpback Whale: A Novel In Five Voices (4)
Jodi Picoult

CSI: Nevada Rose
Jerome Preisler

Cost: A Novel
Roxana Robinson

Olivia And Jai
Rebecca Ryman

The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star
Nikki Sixx; Gittins, Ian

Names On The Land: A Historical Account Of Place-Naming In The United States
George R. Stewart

Lost Boy, Lost Girl
Peter Straub

Teach Yourself Visually Knitting
Sharon Turner

The Art Of War *
Sun Tzu

Certain Girls: A Novel
Jennifer Weiner

Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel
Lauren Weisberger

The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide To The Worlds Of Stephen King
Stanley Wiater; Christopher Golden; Hank Wagner

The Writing Class
Jincy Willett

The Handbook Of Style: Expert Fashion And Beauty Advice Every Woman Should Know
Sarah Woodruff

* = reread ( ) = multiple books by same author

The total is somewhere around 70 books. I did not include any of the puzzle books or magazines, either. I am waiting on an amazon order as I am writing this!!

I wish I could link you guys right into my personal library with Collectorz-it is so cool! They offer a zillion ways to organize your books, dvds, games, music, and comics. All information about a book is available, and I am able to sort the library by author, cover art, # pages, date purchased, etc.

I am having a ball with the scanner playing store, and am trying to figure out the best way to tackle the 20+ boxes of books sitting in the Rita Room right now. If I can do a box a day, it would be good.

Recovery note: I have been walking every day since July 31. ak got me a cool pedometer, and I am averaging 5284 steps per day/approximately 2.6 miles. My goal is 5 miles by September 22, so I think I am on track. I actually did 7170 steps yesterday, so it's not that far off :)

I hope everyone has a FAB weekend!

Not Worth It + Sweet Redemption

2008-07-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Just in case you are all rushing out to get the "tell all" Madonna book written by her brother Chris - DON'T!
I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book, pre-ordered on amazon with expediated shipping. I have been horribly let down. It is another biography of Madge's life ... been there, done that. There was no earthshattering or groundbreaking information revealed.
What a completely disappointing waste of paper! This book is taking the trip to the resale book store next week, believe it or not. You know I am not one to reject books, and am continuously adding to my library, but this is not fit to grace my shelves.

However, a book that has made up for that travesty completely is one about another of my obsessions, Stephen King. The book is titled The Complete Stephen King Universe, A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King, and it is remarkable! 98% of King's stories/novels/screenplays/collaborations, etc., can all be connected together to form one huge story. The book examines each peice of King literature, and shows the links, some obvious that I have been aware of, and some that were so subtle and hidden that it was like getting hit in the head, once revealed. Basically, all of his writing directly revolves around the Gunslinger novels, the 7 book quest series.
Ak calls the book my Stephen King Stalker Guide :)

Have a FAB Sunday, y'all!

5 Weeks

2008-07-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that I am feeling super, thanks for asking! I still have some soreness, numbness and minor pain in areas, but they are only minor annoyances. All of my scab & yucky adhesive suture stuff has fallen off, and the incisions don't look too bad. AND I am down to 1/2 the pain meds.

I have been to therapy 3 times now, and I love it! The pool is so cute, and I really like my therapist. The hour workout does tire me out, though, and I come home & take a nice shower then a nap afterwards. I feel like a kid again, smelling like chlorine in the summer, with my suit & towel hanging to dry in the backyard :)

below is a picture of the therapy pool...isn't it precious?

I managed to get ak out of the house last Monday night ... Rob & Dave called Monday morning to see if ak was intersted in seeing Sting and Elvis Costello at a venue close to our house that evening. At first he wasn't too enthused, but they swung by early evening and just took him. He had a great time, & I was happy for him to get out for a few hours, enjoy some music, & hang out outside with his buddies. He brought home a cool poster.
Elvis Costello was one of my first concerts in high school. We saw him at the Tower, & hung out at one of Bri Kelly's brother's houses before the concert, drinking and smoking. Elvis played an amazing show, and had a big huge wheel with the name of each of his songs on it, & he would ask someone from the audience to come up after each song to spin the wheel to decide what song he would play next. It was awesome.

I am totally excited that Project Runway started this past week. It could be my all time favorite show! This season promises to be very spicy - a bunch of freaks & fruits all together with sewing needles and scissors - it's going to be good.

Anyway, the reading of the books is out of control.

And I have completed all the crossword puzzle books, too.

I stole the neighbors Sunday paper just to read the comics and do the puzzle page.

I have been ordering every 3rd day from Amazon, and pace the mailbox between 2-3:30pm every day for arrivals. Sooooooo, I stepped outside of my library realm, and ordered a knitting kit. Ak's mom has been knitting for 2 years and has been trying to get me to start. I really don't think I have the patience for it, but in a moment of shopping weakness, I purchased yarn & needles to make a scarf. I have read the instructions about 100 times, but I still haven't picked up the needles. I'll let you know how this goes, OR someone will be receiving the kit as a gift sometime in the future.

Other news - ak stood in line for the new 3g iphones last week and is loving it. That means that yours truly has a new phone (the old iphone) and new digits. I am very excited with the iphone, and have been working with it every day to get to know it, as we hardly know each other. Texting is very different as there is not a button keyboard, & you tap the screen with the ball of your fingertips, not the nails. It's a bit to get used to. The solitaire & mahjong games are FAB, & there is a program to make your grocery lists, & a funny one that make the phone look like a cold glass of beer, & when you tip the phone, the beer looks like it is pouring out. I will let you guys know as soon as the Treo get turned off & the new digits- prolly at the end of the month.

That's all for now, peeps! Peace out :)

**p.s. I am accepting any books for the recovery fund - please! Media mail is cheap :):)

Recovery Update

2008-07-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

So I am 4 weeks out from surgery, and doing quite well, thank you!

I had my physical therapy evaluation yesterday, and will start pool therapy on Monday. I am looking forward to it, as I can tell my muscles are a mess-either totally tightend up, or completely weak and shaky. I got some simple streching excersises to start with yesterday, so I am doing those frequently. I had to order a bathing suit for this....all my other suits are definately cruisewear, and say on the labels "no chlorine", so I have a sweet black speedo coming to me.

I am walking aroung better, and my gait is definately straighter and faster. Hopefully I can get rid of the bathroom apparatus within a few days, but I am not going to push it. I have ventured out of the house 3 times now, and those short trips have been great! We have just gone to our few food hotspots, and I got to go to the bookstore yesterday, so that was super sweet.

My routine is very regular. I get up between 5-6am, go downstairs and have my fist cup of java, and sit out on the back patio to drink it with a crossword puzzle. Then I do the dishes, and move to the "greeting" station...I have taken over our bistro table with my card supplies. I check to see if any correspondence needs to go out, prepare and sticker the correspondence, then take it out front to the mail slot. I then hang on the front patio and call mom and chit chat with her for a bit, then make any other calls needed. I'll go back to my puzzles, or pick up my book, and hang downstairs on the couch for a bit, then at around 11:30, I have some lunch, then head back upstairs for a nap. After the nap, ak and I hang in the office, or head out for lunch or an errand, then cook dinner anywhere from 7-9pm. I am usually am in bed reading by 11pm, and totally out by midnight. It's not too bad, and ak and I are really enjoying being together all day again, like in the West Chester treehouse...good times :)

Anyway, I continue to order online like a fiend, and I am going through a book a day, depending on it's size. It's pretty out of control, so I am glad amazon drops something off here daily. After my 6 weeks, I will post the list of books I read during the time - it should be interesting. We absolutely need a bigger bookshelf!

Thanks for all of the comments, texts and shout outs from you guys, checking in on me - it means alot! It's been very wonderful to be checking the blogs again on a daily basis, and being able to post more frequently - I feel better in touch with the pulse.

Also, here is a Belated Birthday shout out to Sophie...Happy 10th, girl!

Peace out, players.

New Look

2008-07-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to make some changes here at the home office. The new color scheme is due to the discovery of my personal "color" ...see the new Colorstrology link. I am enjoying this new look already!

Next recovery update soon...I can only sit for 15 minutes at a time right now :)

CONGRATULATIONS!

2008-07-05T11:15:00.003-07:00

akjn received a call from Armand yesterday - he and his girlfriend Katie got engaged in Washington, D.C.on July 3rd!
YIPPEE!

Recovering

2008-06-27T13:03:00.004-07:00

Today marks exactly 1 week and 1 day from my back surgery. I am doing ok. This recovery process is definately different from the other 2 back surgeries, and as always, has been an adventure so far.

.....Rewind to last Wednesday:
7am-12noon: Frantically & unsuccessfully trying to wrap up loose ends at work. Due to my new job starting and the my old position not being filled yet, it was a huge challenge for me to leave for 6 weeks and feel as though I had done everything. Finally, I had to just leave some things as is, and say oh well.

1:30pm: Pick up Axel's mom from the airport, finally begin to relax at home. We have a wonderful home cooked meal, then I did some last minute Amazon book purchases, ending the evening with a call from the anesthesiologist working on me the next day. He was friendly, reassured me that the surgery would be fine, and kind of put me in a zen-like calm state.

4:00am: Zen-like calm state has flown out the window, and I am convinced that I am going to die during surgery, or that I will be paralyzed as a result of the surgery. I shed some tears, smoked my last Camel for a few days, and got my ass in gear. Put on the brave front for Ak nad his mom, both big hospital haters/strong dislikers of.

Thursday
6:30am: Arrive at hospital check-in. I am freaked out again. They begin "processing" me for surgery by giving me a Valium to start ( bless them ), getting me into my garb, height-weight-temp-blood pressure tests, then finally they start my IV after 3 bad attempts (old nurses- please retire!). Ak has been with me throughout, and I can feel his torture at seeing me go through this, so I try and stay as positive as possible, even with the death/paralysis thoughts filling my brain again.

8:20am: Kiss to Ak, then wheeled up to surgery. Meet the anesthesiologist, Dr. Chow, and he just starts with the nice talk and the good gas, and that is all she wrote until I woke up in my room about 4pm. The surgery took 5 hours and 45 minutes, and was a success!

Thursday-Friday: Loving the morphine drip!! I always forget how good it is. My mighty-morphine machine does have a bell on it, so it dongs everytime it hit the button for more juice. Well, at some point, I had a melody going due to my speed pushing. I got all paranoid for 10 seconds, then started making music again. I found out from the nurse later that it gave me a dose every 10 minutes, whether I pressed the button or not, so I definately felt a bit better.
My surgeon came by and said GREAT! The occupational and physical therapists came by and said GREAT, so the next thing you know, I am on my way home and back in my own bed by 6pm Friday night.
I was sent home with amazing parting gifts: a walker, a commode chair, a picker upper (long and short varieties for reaching things), and sock putter-onner, and underwear and pants puller-upper, and a shoe putter-onner. DELIGHTFUL!

There is nothing like being home, and I was really feeling good :)

Saturday arrived, and I was able to take a shower. It was awesome, until I caught a glimpse of my three incisions -HOLY MOTHER! I am so Frankenstein-yikes.

1:00pm: My girlfriend Julie and her 2 girls plus our friend Rob come over for a visit. I am feeling so good and so high on Vicodin that I am walking all over the place (very stiffly, mind you), chit chatting, laughing and smoking, until Julie's oldest girl smacked me across the back. I don't think she believed I was hurt, and was trying to see if I was lying or not. Well, the visit was over as you can well imagine. The three of us had another lovely dinner, and then I was off to bed*.

*Getting in and out of bed: Occurs 10-15 times a day = most painful parts of my day. It requires sitting, kind of free falling from sitting to laying on the bed on my side, aligning my spine still on my side, then rolling on my back with a pillow between my legs, then rolling from side to side to get positioned, then elevating my legs (requires ak's help), at this point, I am hopefully comfortable and can catch 1-3 hours of sleep until next pain med dose or tinkle -time. Repeat in reverse to get out of bed.)

Sunday: Took another shower - feeling super.....until at 4pm, I notice that my right knee, calf, ankle and foot are starting to resemble sausage. Immediately go to bed, feet up, getting up only to use the bathroom.

Monday am: Right leg is worse. Contact surgeon, who immediately directs me to go to the ER to ensure I don't have a life threatening blod clot...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Within 10 minutes, we are back at the hospital, where it takes 3 1/2 hours to get a sonogram and determine that I don't have clot, but I have to stop trying to act like I didn't just have back surgery and rest all the time. 6 weeks for recovery means 6 weeks.

So...here we are at the end of my first recovery week, and I can say thay my attitude has improved towards my limitations, and I am not allowing myself to feel anything but good things. For example, it still hurts to get in and out of bed, but not as much as yesterday.

Ak has been amazing. He has HUGE amounts of patience with me, and also is able to calm me down when I get upset or completely panicked. For example, a few times that I have woken up, I have forgotten about the surgery, and when I can't get out of bed, I start panicking and freaking, because it feels like I am a turtle stuck on it's back. Also bad are the RARE occassionas that I oversleep my medication time, and wake up pretty much crying and yelling.
My boy deserves a medal for hanging in there with me.

So there you have it. All is pretty good, and each day gets better than the next! I am alive and not paralyzed, and with the help of modern medical technology, I now have the ability to set off airport alarms :)

39: A Study

2008-05-06T18:52:00.002-07:00

Thirty-nine is:
· In the title of the John Buchan novel and subsequent films (one by Alfred Hitchcock), The Thirty-Nine Steps

· The code for international direct-dialed phone calls to Italy

· I-39 is the designation for a US interstate highway from Normal, Illinois to Wausau, Wisconsin. I-39 is the 39th shortest of the primary "two digit" Interstates.

· The eternal age of comedian Jack Benny, and many other people as they grow older

· The traditional number of times citizens of Ancient Rome hit their slaves when beating them, referred to as "Forty save one"

· Japanese Internet chat slang for "thank you" when written with numbers

· "'39" is a track on Queen's album A Night At the Opera. If the tracks on Queen's original studio albums are numbered in sequential order starting with their first, "'39" does in fact fall in the thirty-ninth position

· "39" is a song by The Cure on their album "Bloodflowers"

· The duration, in nanoseconds, of the nuclear reaction in the largest nuclear explosion ever performed (Tsar bomb)

· The number of Scud missiles which Iraq fired at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991

· World War II broke out in Europe on September 1, 1939

· Pier 39 in San Francisco

· The retired jersey number of former baseball great Roy Campanella

· Uniform of former Pittsburgh Pirate Dave Parker

· Uniform of football's Larry Csonka of Miami Dolphins; Hugh McElhenny of the San Francisco 49ers; and Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams

· Super Bowl XXXIX, a Super Bowl in the 2004-2005 National Football League season between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles in Jacksonville, Florida.

At age 39:
· Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to set foot on the moon
· Charles Goodyear led the way to the effective use of rubber
· Jimmy Connors reached the U.S. Open semifinals
· Joseph Smith Jr., Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated

Vegas Pics

2008-05-01T21:36:00.004-07:00

The Palazzo

ak in the massage chair in our room

ak & Jeffe by the canal

Tao Beach club, aka MTV Spring Break

drunk (bald) Elvis and akjn

showtime!

one last look ... until next time!

Super fun, super cool ... we had a blast! The LOVE show was worth the whole trip!

VEGAS, BABY!!

2008-04-22T17:59:00.003-07:00

Yes - we are heading to Sin City this weekend. We are celebrating our birthdays a little bit early. Our friend Jeffe will be there for a convention, so we decided to go for it.

Poker Pro - will you be there? The WSOP is going on this weekend. it would be very cool if you were there!

We are staying at the newest place, The Palazzo, the new part of the Venetian. AKk booked us a phat room that is bigger than our townhouse. He's made best friends with the concierge, and got us a Saturday cabana by the Tao beach pool, tix to the Love/Beatles Cirque du Soleil show on Saturday night, and complimentary entrance to Jay-Z's 40/40 club at The Palazzo. It promises to be a fabulous time.

I know it sounds like a lot of activity for akjn, but we are resting up and getting ready to hit it hard! Spray tan Thursday night, ak haircut tonight - we are not messing around.

Other than that, things are going well. I finally got a surgery date - June 19th. I was expecting to be out of work for about 2 weeks, but to my surprise, this surgery requires 5-6 weeks off. I am just looking forward to getting it done and over with. The vicodin and I are a bit too friendly, recently. I am like Pavlov's dog - I start salivating every 6 hours & I know it's time for a pill!

Work is interesting. We moved to our temporary office last Tuesday, while the main office is gutted and remodeled. We are in 2 apartments with the wall knocked down - it is totally cool! It was also pretty amazing to do the whole move process with a business, between tranferring 12 phone lines, internet connections, and about 1200 files. Our IT department re-wired the apartments for business use, and they had us up and running only 1 hour after the movers started. Our new space is completely different, and there's been a lot of "have you seen..." and "where is", but we're finally settled in. Construction at the real office should take about 4 months, which actually means 6. One of the master bedrooms is actually my office, so it is huge, and I can totally rock out on the ipod now. And I have my own bathroom - loving it!

Spring has sprung - our plants are jungle like and gorgeous. The sun has been shinning and so warm the past 3 weeks, but the temps are still in the low 60's, and we still have the heat on at night. You definately need a coat/fleec in the am and pm if you are out. However, it's nice to have a slow start to the summer, rather than being hot immediately.

Happy Easter to any Orthodox readers out there!

Enough blabber - miss you guys!

Proust, Anyone?

2008-03-10T19:05:00.005-07:00

In the back of each month's Vanity Fair, they ask a celebrity to answer the following questionnaire. I have always though of completing it, and today I did.

Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
No sickness-anywhere, anyone, anytime.

What is your greatest fear?
Loss.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Fierce friendships.

Which living person do you most despise?
Despise is a strong word; I dislike many.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Books.

What is your current state of mind?
Uncertain but optimistic.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Charity.

On what occasion do you lie?
To spare feelings.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My legs.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Great sense of humor & patience.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Great sense of humor.

Which words or phrases do you overuse?
Motherf*cker.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Axel!

When and where were you happiest?
Penncrest and ODU –carefree living with no responsibilities, and finding out who I was.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
More patience.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to sing.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My relationships.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
No coming back - I think once will be enough.

Where would you like to live?
Arhus, Denmark, or Munich, Germany.

What is your most treasured possession?
My books and my honey.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not being able to express myself.

What is your favorite occupation?
Reading.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Boo Radley.

What are your favorite names?
Thomas, Zeno and Hilmar. And of course, Axel :)

What is it that you most dislike?
Authority.

How would you like to die?
With dignity, my feet up, and the remote in my right hand.

What is your motto?
If it’s free, it’s for me.

Here is some additonal info on Proust and the questionnaire, if you are interested:
http://www.chick.net/proust/question.html

I am intersted in how you guys would answer some of the questions :)

Down Low

2008-02-26T17:26:00.002-08:00

In usual akjn fashion, a bunch of crap hit the fan at once the past week.

1. Our APC unit in the office had a power surge, which in turn took down ak's half of the office. Only my 'puter is working. Serious shizzit-6 drives bit the dust.

2. We lost a beloved family member, and a dear neighbor, on the eastside. My mom is freaked. I actually ran out of sympathy cards.

3. Finally saw the spine dude.
Here is my future: http://www.lajollaspine.com/stmi_lumb_xlif.shtml
I am freaked. Supposedly not that bad, and the 3rd time's the charm, right?

Hence the down low mental and physical state. A lot to process and take in. Weather is great :)

VD 2008

2008-02-14T19:15:00.002-08:00

Have a Happy Heart Day!

Coming Up for Air

2008-01-29T23:15:00.000-08:00

I have just surfaced after a reading marathon that began Friday night when ak purchased the new Stephen King novel, Duma Key, for moi. Yummy, delicious ... 611 pages.

Whew - it was amazing, and I am already re-reading it. Yes it's scary, but smart scary. Also, it is set in the Florida Keys, rather than Maine, which is a big change for him. We were in the Keys in early December, so I was feeling that connection.

I almost couldn't go to work the past 2 days due to the draw of the book :) But I tore myself away, and raced home the past 2 nights to have ak literally handing me the book as I came into the house.

Anyway, one of the best parts about the book was the last page. Not the conclusion of the book page, but the "acknowledgement" page directly following, where Mr. King lastly thanks :
'And you, my old friend Constant Reader; always you.'
I love this - being thanked for reading.

Excited about the weekend's game, but sad for the end of another football season. Stone Crabs and fixins' have been ordered from Joe's in Miami and will be delivered Saturday - akjn is ready!

Agador Spartacus - thanks for everything :)
Your visit was the best, hilarity abounded despite the dampness in The Cats.

... I am tellin' you ... no no NO NO WAY!

CONGRATS ON THE NEW J O B!

ok ... on to brownie baking for a work meeting tomorrow. Bye!

Reunion

2008-01-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's taken a while to work up to this post ... it was something.

The evening started off with cocktails at Missy and Ob's house. The house was full of friends, fireplaces going and drinks flowing. We were having such fun that the time slipped away from us a bit, so we hurried into the huge white Hummer limo, complete with fireplace. I think there were 13 of us in it. Of course we brought our roadies. A big thanks to Jerry and Lynnie for coordinating the sweet ride - it was not only cool, but smart thinking.

We arrived at the reunion about an hour late. I know this because Kelly immediately hassled me for the one hour of quality time that we had already missed together. Anyway, the first of several trips to the bar began, and Ak was a trooper. He had a good edge on other spouses, since he resided in our fair town for a bit, so he did feel pretty comfortable. He was also approached about possibly "swinging" with another couple...ak DID look good that night! Due to the drinks, the evening is quite hazy, but according to the pictures, we all look like we've each won a million bucks.

It was bizzare to see some of my classmates, but I was proud to say I worked the room and tried to speak to as many people as I could. Ak even picked out a name tag and cruised the reunion as Andy Eunson-he pulled it off pretty well. The dynamics of the evening were fascinating. The core group would mingle then re-group over fresh drinks. I remember yick-yaking in the ladies room holding Kimbo's martini and telling her her drink tasted like dinner. I remember freezing my butt off smoking outside. I recall asking Penny Burkham if she remembered her mom kicking me out of Girl Scouts. I recall doing a drunken tango with Mike Oether - yikes. I remember being in the front of the group shot posing like Rita Hayworth. Was there a professional photographer there?

It was like a wedding - over too fast, too many beverages + lousy food.

Confusion ensued after the formal affair was over. We went back to Missy and Ob's in the limo, but ended up in Media again at Picasso's....it was the worst!! The music was soooooo loud, and there was a strobe light on. I was hoping for subtle lighting and good background music so we could possibly chat with each other. Instead I felt like I was in Berlin at a rave. We exited quickly, and made a last attempt for drunken normalcy at the Plummy....mistake. I love the Plummy, but this was something else. Missy and I were like conjoined twins-we couldn't move an inch. We finally got out of there and back to the O'Briens.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a pink paradise - literaly. Ak and I slept in one of their daughter's rooms in which every single thing in the room, everything, is a shade of pink. It was startling and soothing at the same time. We dragged our sorry bodies back to Judith Lane. I hit the couch, ak my old bedroom, and my mom hydrated us back to health. It did feel like I had just been at a high school party.

Erick & Chrissy

getting it together in the limo

Susan, Chrissy & Missy (Kelly hidden)

last pic of the evening....

Pat L. and yours truly...I don't remember this at all, but I look like I am having the time of my life, so I guess that's ok :)

Thanksgiving 2007

2008-01-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

The day before Thanksgiving, Georganne brought the Greek Meatball and his brothers over to mama's house for a visit. The boys had a grand time tearing it up in the yard.

Georganne & Mom

Nicky, Alexander & Evan

Nicky & me

I love this little guy so much, and miss not being able to jump in the car and go see him!

Two of my personal faves, my mama and ak

Thanksgiving was very quiet - it was just the three of us, and traditional greek fare for vittles. We hung around watching football, eating and making calls to friends and family. It was delightful not to have to drive anywhere or host anyone - we all stayed in our pj's. I also knew I had to conserve my strength for the next evening's much anticipated reunion!

Rock Band

2007-12-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

While we were in Media for Thanksgiving and reunion fesivities, we started off our visit by forming a band Wednesday night. The band officially formed in Swarthmore, I think our name is Class of '87, and we are from Paris.

Shown below are rare photos from our first jam session. Although we are now split on each coast, the energy of that first night will never be forgotten. Cnn and Eric have scored a tour bus, and are very close to obtaining a jet - then we can play together once again.

Class of '87

cnn - vocal /lead guitar

eric - drummer

ak - lead guitar

jn - vocal / photog

Ripkin - mascot

We had a fantastic Christmas, and wish you all did, too!
2008 is right around the corner, and akjn hopes that each of you makes it out west to see us within the next 12 months!

Is it really 12/20/07?

2007-12-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the absence...we've been pretty much away since Thanksgiving, and since we've returned home from the cruise late last week, things have been a bit crazy, to say the least!

BAD:
1. YES, I will need a third back surgery.
2. Crazy eye infection over the weekend, thought I would never read again.
3. I want to quit my job.

GOOD:
1. Ak's mom arrived today!
2. I just got someting from CNN in the mail!
3. It's the holidays!
4. Andre comes on 12/31 for 2 weeks!
5. Eye all better, hoping for the best with my back!
6. I have great health insurance!

As aways (Thank God), the good outweighs the bad!

Hope everyone has a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year.....pictures and fun posts to come in 2008.

Missing ALL of you....

Countdown to Thanksgiving

2007-11-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

Once again, the holidays approach like a freight train. How does time pass so fast? AKJN arrives in the Media area on Tuesday night on 2 VERY overpriced plane tickets, so y'all better make it worth our while!!

As you are aware, 75% of our quaint blog community will be attending our 20th high school reunion the day after mass turkey consumption. This boggles my mind, because in my mind I am still only 17 years of age! AK has agreed to attend, God bless him. The gals are all a-twitter over what to wear, of course. I am definately vetoing the Sr. prom dress idea....padded shoulders, sequins, PURPLE, and the fact that I would look like I couldn't find my way back to the Dynasty set. I think my regular uniform of black pants and white shirt will be quite sufficient, thank you.

Bad news - I think I screwed up my back again. As I write, I am bound in a back brace with a bag of frozed peas shoved in....LOVELY. Unfortunately, I stumbled off an uneven curb while conducting a property walk on Tuesday, and tried to fool myself that I had just pulled muscles in my left leg. But Friday morning, I got out of bed and fell right down, and had to crawl on my hands and knees until the pain meds kicked in....JOY. Becuase it happened at work, I completed the necessary workman's comp. paperwork and spent 4 hours in a clinic. Xrays show severe inflammation, so it is not known yet if I re-herniated the L4-L5 disc for the THIRD TIME in less than 6 years. I go back for more xrays Monday. AKJN is in disbelief over the possibility of a THIRD BACK SURGERY. My script diet is delightful: steroids for the inflammation, Valium for my nerves, Vicodin for the pain, and something for the tummy so it doesn't fall out from the other stuff...YUMMY! All denominations of prayers accepted at this time.

Anyway, some good news is that I've been consistently in second place in the fantasy league, and my win last week secured me a playoff spot. Here's my profile picture that displays in our league:

Pretty silly, huh? But very distracting to the boys in the league...they comment on my avatar hotness weekly, so it's working in my favor :)

Good luck to Mini Pinf in her quest for Hannah Montana tickets - don't forget to vote for her!

Hope to see most of you next week...maybe we can do a blogger coffee meeting at 7 stones. Chuck's bench looks good for my back.

Later peeps!

... the earth was shaking ...

2007-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

this just in....we just had a 5.6 earthquake, orgin in San Jose, at 8:05pm, approximately 13 minutes ago!

the only thing that fell over was a stack of cds, but we were definately swaying. I was downstairs and I thought ak fell over in his chair playing one of his games/fell alseep, and ran up the stairs to make sure he was okay, and it felt like a fun house hitting the steps and rounding the 2 corners.

akjn all ok....just another day in CA.

p.s. holding strong in 2nd place in fantasy land :)

caja fuerte del fuego*

2007-10-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

translation: we are safe from the fire

AKJN had an unprecedented number of phone calls and emails this week questioning our proximity to the current wildfires blazing in Southern Cali.
From Denmark, New York, Palm Beach Gardens (gracias, Pinfers), Media, etc., friends and family touched base to make sure we were ok.

We are absoulutely fine :) We are approximately 341 miles away, but that number doesn't seem like alot, does it? We are hoping the Santa Ana winds die down, and that the weather cooperates next week for all of thoes involved down there.

Thank you so much for the concern....it means the world to akjn :)

Called Out

2007-10-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

I got called out today for not blogging in a timely manner. I didn't realize how long it had been.

AKJN UPDATE

Work:
Work has been nutty! We are currently renovating 10 units a month with new appliances, cabinetry, flooring and carpeting, and I am the liason between the property and the construction crew. I have my own hardhat in white, as they really don't make them in pink. Maybe a new business venture for me? Anyway, I am learning a great deal and enjoy working with these dudes. They give me respect because they know my dad was a shop teacher....they think that is cool.
The new general manager is working out well. He is a sales genius, I am the operations genius, so we are a pretty formidable force. He claims that I am the best manager he's ever worked with...not bad for having a 4 year hiatus.

Personal Appearance:
Late in September, I went in for my fall hair make-over. I am back to the dark brownish/red hair (aka Cinammon Bisque) and got 4 inches cut off. It was quite dramatic the first few days, but ak and I are used to it know, and I feel pretty!

Sorority:
There is a huge Pi Beta Phi alumni group out here - I get an evite weekly for events. I have not attended any yet - CA Pi Phis kind of scare me with all the blonde & bubbles, but there is one woman who contacted me personally. She also graduated from Old Dominion, only in 1966. We had a great chat about the sorority house (still the same) and all of the changes that have taken place on campus since we both graduated. For the record, I graduated in 1992. I am looking forward to meeting her in a more private setting, as we had a great conversation, and she is also an east coaster.

Visitors:
Our buddy Jason (aka Bird) from ODU, his wife and adorable son Zach visited San Francisco in mid-September. They had a wedding up in the city, so we met them for a day of fun. We met them at Crissy Field, the park that has a panorama view of the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, and a stunning view of the city. As it turns out, Bird bought a kite to fly with Zach, and we got to Crissy Field only to discover a whole kite contest going on - it was so cool! Kids making kites, kites in the sky as big as our townhouse, beautiful kites that looked like works of art...there was an announcer talking about each of the kites and interviewing the flyers. Needless to say, Zach had a ball, and we did, too! I can't tell you the last time I flew a kite, but I look forward to doing it again soon! We had a great time with them - you guys might remember them from the engagement BBQ. Bird fell in love with the city and CA in general...he's got the bug.

Also, last weekend, Jeffe and his wife Kristin came out for a balls-to-the-wall weekend visit. They arrived Thursday, hit the city, then came down and had dinner with akjn and Mark, then came back to our shack. Friday they went to Napa all day, then Saturday we all went up to Boulder Creek to pick up Rob, then headed to Big Basin Redwoods Park, walked among the trees, then drove a bit and hiked to Chicken Scratch Rock.....it was a glorious day, and we relaxed and sunned ourselves, looking out over the redwoods, Santa Cruz and the Pacific. We then travelled down to Santa Cruz to Steamers Lane to watch the surfers and catch the sunset. There had been a surf contest during the day, so there was a good deal of activity. Then we went to the pier to see the seals - it is still a wonder to me how big they are. And loud! The view of the lights at the boardwalk and rides was spectacular. Afer an amazing dinner, we heading back over the hill home. Then all of a sudden it was Sunday and they had to leave.....it was so much fun, but too short. They promised that the next trip out would be for a longer period.

Homefront:
We finally got our act together a bit, and got 80% of our stuff stashed away in the proper places, and the place looking pretty tight. We've been avoiding it like the plague, but with guests coming we knew we had to put on our big pants and dive in. All that 's left to do is to hang the art, and it will feel like akjn again.
We've had some rain the past couple of days. It never lasts for more than 30 minutes. The plants are thriving! I think we are finally settling into the house thing: the absent/weird landlord, the neighbors, and the neighborhood. Sundays are spent watching the games, which we are enjoying tremendously - what a great season so far! I am doing well in the fantasy league, and am currently in third place.

Real time 8:18pm 10/18/07: ak is on the phone with Pinf, walking him through an ipod restore ... historic moment

Okay - that's all I've got. I feel I stepped up to the plate sufficiently :) Thinking about all of you!
Oh, before I forget, a quick true or false test:

1. Does cnn now own a dog?
2. Does MofC have a girlfriend?
3. Does PPro need a colonoscopy to remove the 20 ouncer?

OUT OF SORTS ... sort of?

2007-09-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, many things have happened since the last post, some good, some not so good.

Unfortunately, I am currently suffering with a sinus infection, and on my second Z-pac trying to knock it out of my system. I believe that one reason I got sick in the first place is that I have been working a great deal, more than any of you (including myself) ever thought I was capable of. My bookkeeper visited her native Nicaragua for the month of August, as she does every year. This wasn't too bad except my General Manager had announced in late July that he would be leaving the company for another opportunity. This was a huge disappointment for me, as I got along with this guy famously, and the rest of the staff was muy content with their management package. It was a pleasure working with him. It has been a long time that I have had this much respect for a co-worker. I still talk with him on a weekly basis - Fantasy Football, and all. Anyway, he departed around the 4th, and then there was one.

While this is happening in the foreground, in the background, my good buddy Tom, one of the Maintenance Supervisors, and a big reason I came back to this specific property, decides to take a position in Gig Harbor, WA, at another one of the company's properties, and take his wife, Terry, with him. Terry works part time in my office as my admin. assistant.....so, I am literaly losing people left and right. These are good people, people that we actually left the house to do things with, and their goodbye was painful.

Okay, time for a bright spot in the gloom....one of the activities we did with Tom and Terry and a select gang was go to the horse races up at Bay Meadows in San Mateo. It's an old racetrack, but clean, with good drinks and food. Of course it is slated to be torn down and turned into high rise condos for the SF airport view in the distance. I had NO idea what was going on with the betting, and the simultaneous broadcasts from Delmar and Saratoga, but by the 4th race I was on it. I was not to be stopped: in one race I individually picked each horse to win, and in another I let T&T's 4 year old grandaughter just scribble in my bet book and I went with her interpretations. I was consistant in picking any horse/jockey combo with pink in it to win, and I always bet a trifecta. Akjn was up $160 at one point, but came home with 2 vouchers-one for .20, and one for .50. Good fun, though, and akjn looks forward to doing that again.

Another fun thing.....I joined a Fantasy Football league with the GM guy and his buddies. They were surprised to discover I was a "chick" at the party, but due to some serious help from PokerPro and Paul, I proved to be a contender. I was the scribe, and I am the treasurer! It's been fun so far, and I realize how much more invovled you get with the games...I was glued to the pre-season games, and enjoyed some good ball over the weekend, and watching the 'niners game as I write this. Ak is right there with me, trying to get all these fantasy programs on my phone for me. He called Comcast last week to ensure his girl had all appropriate channels for the season.

So.....I was in bed from Thursday afternoon to last night. I had talked to CNN Wednesday, and thought I would blog over the weekend, but I just didn't feel like it, and then was worried that I might not feel like it ever again!

Well, now it's Monday, I had to go back to the grind, 2 people called out sick (including the bookkeeper), my email was over quota and my auto archive doesn't work so it took 2 hours to sort and manually archive my emails before I could even send one today, had to do the dog and pony show with our insurance carrier rep, and the fax broke. I knew that tonight I would blog.

Take it light...

Oh...I almost forgot! I have received 2 books so far from the chain letters! The first is John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, that was received from __?__ Creek, GA (sorry, threw out the envelope), and the second, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, I received today from Scotts Valley, CA. I LOVED the Steinbeck....written in 1962 but so fresh, and I just started the Time Traveler. Got an invite in the mail to join the Friends of Los Gatos Public Library in the mail today, too! Karma :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CNN!

2007-08-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

XOXOXO akjn :)

July in Pictures, Part I

2007-08-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the month found us in town a bit, trying to get familiar with our surroundings and their offerings. Early in the month, we had a surprise visit from and old friend, which was awesome!

July 1 - Girls Day at the Los Gatos farmer's market

Julie & Hannah perusing the veggies

at Campo di Bocce for lunch / Hannah in front of our bocce court

July 4th

downtown high-rise condos from the 60's

lexi on the main drag

Mark and ak

July 9 - Bobby's visit

Bobby is my mbna (now bank of america) buddy who came out to company headquarters in Concord, CA. We were able to get together twice while he was west side :)

AT&T park for the Home Run Derby, having some drinks and catching up

Bobby and Robert Wuhl, our famous sighting for July, outside the park checking out the Willie Mayes statue

Bobby and a rare shot of ak, w/east and west coast battle gear on

Bobby and Jojo

... July in Pictures, Part II, coming soon ...

Jojo's

2007-07-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

I just got these amazing pictures from Pinf, as he and Sophie travelled to the Keys this past week. I am trying to incorporate into the blog, of course!! THANK YOU, PINFERS!

What's new here?

I just made sure that the new Harry Potter book is set to be delivered to our doorstep on July 21st....very important! AKJN is super-pysched for the movie at the end of the month, too!

Ak just purchased the iPhone this past Thursday, and I have to tell you, it is the most futuristic device I have ever seen! The purchase was made so that AK and I can be in constant comunication when he goes to Germany and Denmark later this month. It is way cool, and I am already asking if I can have it when he returns :) He did wait in line for it, but was able to secure his line number throught the Apple store via email. They guy behind him showed up with a briefcase with 10K, but was told he could only purchase 2 phones at a time. This guy then went through the line and gave people $500 a piece for getting him additional phones! This whole thing has been nuts, and we are down the street from the Apple complex....very interesting social experiment.

I realize that the weekend I am planning to travel back to Media is the same as the Saratoga, NY horserace weekend, so I may not see CNN and Poker Pro.....very bummed. I can see myself sitting in the Plummy with Chuck and Norman....maybe my mom will come out, too! I am still very excited to see my mom, and the Greek Meatball godson.

Well, we are heading out to the weekly farmer's market in town for some yummy crepes and fresh produce. I will post more pics soon.....I just realized that ak disconnected my card reader for feng shui purposes as he is arranging the ultimate office. I'll get some shots up soon.

Finally....Pinf - Thank God you are okay, and are on the path for continued wellness and health. None of us would be any good with out you, buddy! Call Flash for immediate yoga infusion!

Holla.....

WHY AREN'T YOU HERE? an ode to my blog buddies

2007-06-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Chrissy - it's been 75 and breezy since we got here, and perfect weather for bike riding. Why aren't you here?

MofC - it's been 75 and breezy since we got here, and perfect conditions for you to tan your hiney. Why aren't you here?

Tim - it's been 75 and breezy since we got here, and the Bay 101 building shimmers like a magic palace off of 101. Why aren't you here?

Teddy - it's been 75 and breezy since we got here, and we live in front of the Santa Cruz Mts. foothills which are perfect for 4 wheeling in your new truck. Why aren't you here?

Pinf - it's been 75 and breezy since we got here, and we live down the street from Highways 1 and 9, which motorcycles dream about when they sleep. Why aren't you here?

Well, you could say I miss you guys, it's true. I just wish y'all lived in our neighborhood, and were enjoying what we are here in the golden state.

I can't believe we are heading into July of 2007!

I am now settled into the work routine, and I must say I am enjoying it. I love telling others what to do, and having minions to do my bidding, including getting me smokes and picking up my dry cleaning. I missed the power. I admit it. I love it.

I am approaching the job-thing differently this time. I am no longer "bringing my work home", also known as previously drowning axel in every detail of my day. It's all about akjn when I get home now. I am laughing alot more during the day, and pretty much causing the laughter to begin in the first place. I am taking it light...when employees are spewing TMI, I start the brain ipod and practice my Madonna moves in my head. I drop the F-bomb around the office about every third sentence - you can take the girl out of Philly, but not the Philly out of the girl. It's an excellent contrast to the pearls, pumps, bun and suit. No hose - this is CA for goodness sake! I pretty much don't care. Don't get me wrong, though. I bust it out in the office and take immense pride in my work, but now manage to do it with out all of the personal BS that used to drag me down. Amazingly, the staff is happy that I am back.

Well, off to BBQ in the backyard with the honeyman.
Feeling good about getting a post up...Beeb's buns snapped me out of my dryspell.

CA images

2007-06-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

Hannah and Scarlett

Ak's birthday bubbles

...on the way to Boulder Creek

akjn laying on the horn while al uses the port-a-potty on the side of the road

Check out the new link, one up from the top, called GABREALISM. It's Hannah and Scarlett's poppa who is the artist.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AK!

2007-05-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

A big birthday shout-out for my Honeyman on his day!

The day will be spent with our West Coast posse; and will include barbequeing, sipping tasty Spaten, a bubbly VC toast for the man of the day, and some THC testing.

Ak's main bday present was the purchase of our new BBQ - The Big Green Egg. Ak did tons of research prior to purchase, and determined that this was the grill for us. It is very unique...check out the link!

http://www.biggreenegg.com/home.shtml

Here are some akjn home views:

back patio

front gate / courtyard

courtyard / kitchen & front door

Lexy's new house

The Big Green Egg

Hot Stuff!

The "Leaving the East Coast Last Supper"

2007-05-22T19:43:00.001-07:00

CNN & Timmy's dessert

On Sunday, April 29th, Chrissy and Jen hosted a wonderful party for akjn and Felicia, complete with traditional Easter fixings. Our flight to CA was Monday am, so this was IT. It was a wonderful time, the food yummy, and the beverages were flowing.

I wanted to thank Tim, Ted, and Dave for being there. Big H U G E thanks to Jenny from the Block, and of course to my girl Chrissy-you are the best good buddy :) You started the day a bit weak (jojo walking down 202 at 9:00am), but ended super strong, just like Wonder Woman.

It was so nice to have everyone together, as akjn was not looking forward to a long drawn out day/evening alone with my mama saying goodbye - too too sad. So this was perfect for us, and for her, too. She didn't want to be alone either.

You are Wonder Woman, sister!

I can still crack up at my mom listening to Nelly's "hot in herre"...classic moment! and the Abba!

Well, the end of the evening came, and the tears just busted out...I can say that saying goodbye to you guys was so hard, and saying Adieu to my mom broke my heart. Very tough...ak had as hard a time as I did. He was pretty settled in WC, too, and the cross-coast move was R O U G H. We won't be doing that again any time soon. We are slowly getting adjusted. It didn't help that I started my job on my bday, May 7th. The mover's arrived Saturday the 5th....it was chaotic and manic. It's gotten much better, and we are looking forward to our first guest, Armand, arriving June 1st :)

CNN & Dave (aka Yanni-lover)
Jen - thanks for hanging with Felicia and answering her medical questions :)

Thanks for all of the birthday emails and blog shout outs - they meant alot!

Pinf-thanks for the call...that was really nice, and we hope that you are serious about your cycle trip.

Well, the weather is F A B, between 75 and 80 daily, and 65 every night. No humidity...jojo's hair has been looking super-fly out here!

Mom and JFTB...mom looks a little "deer in the headlights"

Peace out, peeps! I am a little rusty....bear with me.

Oh...I almost forgot...

Ak wants to write a book about the move. Here is the first sentence:
"It all started when the movers pulled up to the treehouse. I watched the driver take out the lampost, which at first distracted me from the graffitti all over the truck."

Miss you Chrissy....get out here ASAP!!!