Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day! [NOT!!!]

The first 5 pictures are from my neighbor's house. The DPW said her house was the worst they saw in our town. The next three pictures are from my girlfriend MAR's house, from the flood two weeks ago. Keep in mind there is still water in her basement; it was as high as the first floor at one point! The photo showing her garage door... she sent me one of the inside of her garage, as well. Obviously the water was as high inside as outside, and her basement was filled to the ceiling. I feel so bad for her.

When I woke up this morning, DH asked me if I'd heard the rain and thunder and lightning last night. ?????!!!!!????? I didn't hear a thing! Which is good --- and bad. I guess I could sleep through, well, a flood... I'm almost afraid to go home; we had some water in our basement this morning, but had to leave for work. I wonder what will be there when we get home...

I have to run... it's time to go meet DH at school - I hope he can pick me up; it's still raining!

I have a goal - I must learn how to insert pictures into my blog. Oops, I think I've figured it out... I just saw an icon labeled "Add Image." Ya think?!??

I volunteer (through my employer) at a local elementary school once every other week. I am teamed up with another woman from "employer" and we take turns reading to the 1st grade class assigned to us. I LOVE doing this! I was very nervous about taking it on, but I'd love to continue to do this every year that I'm working here at "employer" and I think I really want to stay with the younger kids. I thought about the "special" classes but I really think (selfishly, I admit) that I thrive on the interest and the feedback I get from these kids who, for the most part, are paying attention to me! I'm not sure the "special kids" would be as involved in the story and that's what I love about this class...

Well, today, for the first time, I FORGOT TO GO. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!! I realized it at 9:37am, and I was due in at 9:00am. I called. I emailed. I beat myself with a wet noodle. And Ms. G. emailed me back and said she'd be happy to have me come in any other day this week that I'd like to, that the kids really enjoy it and it's okay that I forgot.

NO, IT'S NOT. I promised them. I made a commitment. And I forgot. I hate myself when I do dumb things like this.

I know from whence it came, to butcher that phrase... I was mad at DH today and since I was being incommunicative this morning, we didn't have our usual discussion about "what's on your plate for today?" Which would have sparked a memory. And I wouldn't have forgotten. So it's not really my fault at all, it's his. I feel better.

We passed... The Board approved the variances necessary to begin seriously working on the addition to our lakehouse. YAY! The Board members commented that we lived in a beautiful area of the lake, that it was definitely the right decision to add on rather than try to find something else, that adding on to our mini-ranch would upgrade the neighborhood and our house would then fit in to the neighborhood... Personally I think we fit in a bit better than one other house on our street but it's way less visible than ours so...

My couple days off were fun - I completed my card swap: 12 "love" cards, but I'm not sure I really like them. But at least if I can't finish another batch I have something done. I put together the rack I bought for my embellishments. It's big. Jack's first comment was where are we going to put that? It will find a home wherever there is space, and when I finally have my room done in the addition (Lord knows when that will be!), it will have a home there... Unless I choose another organizing method and I sell the rack...

We went to a party at Nanina's in the Park for little Lenny's confirmation. First of all, "little Lenny" (who will always be "little Lenny" to us!) is not so little - he's 16-1/2 and has his driver's permit, a girlfriend who wears really cute mini-skirts and is over 6' tall - bigger than his dad!!! Wow. Do I feel old today...

The party was wonderful - the food, as usual, was out of this world and included:
marinated artichoke hearts, grilled vegetables (roasted peppers, eggplant, zucchini, anise, asparagus, portobello mushrooms), marinated mushrooms, mozzarella and tomato salad, crackers, cheese, fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, honeydew, cantalope), scallops wrapped in bacon, rice balls with tomato sauce, mini Beef Wellingtons, sushi, shrimp and mushrooms on mini toasts, beef marsala, penne with vodka sauce, bowties with Alfredo sauce, sausage and spinach, eggplant rolatini, chicken balsamic with peppers, chicken Cordon-Bleu, a carving station with turkey and chateaubriand, an official confirmation cake, a chocolate fountain (you could dip Oreos, pretzels, hazelnut wafers, fruit), chocolate-covered strawberries, apples and bananas, assorted cookies and Italian pastries, carrot cake squares, brownie squares, zeppolis with honey or powdered sugar, cream puffs with and without chocolate, and even more!! That's just what I remember!!!

When we got home, I went to the bathroom, changed my clothes, and Jack and I went for a walk - maybe 1-1/2 miles or so - around our neighborhood. We were a couple of streets over, on Amsterdam, and some little guy on a bicycle said, "Do you know the W's?" (names concealed to protect the innocent!) They're our next-door neighbors, we replied. "I thought so, I recognized you." And off he went, with legs pumping and head helmet-protected.

When we got back, we stopped next door and told the story. They figured out it must have been Y's friend, who's been over to the house several times.

Either we're very memorable, or it's easy to remember 2 of the very few Catholics in the neighborhood...

Today I have LOADS of phone calls to make, so I'm off to put a second coat of nail polish on my toes (yes, I'm at work!), pick up my breakfast, then start my day...

More soon!

It's going to be quiet for a few days...

I'm taking a 1/2 day from work today, and I'm off tomorrow and Friday. We'll be opening up the lake house for the season. I don't have computer access up there, so I won't be writing or checking emails until Monday, when I return to work.

I'm taking Mom to get her nails done before I leave, and tonight we have our Variance Meeting with the Zoning Board - please keep your fingers and toes crossed! I hope no one has any objections to any of our plans - we won't be blocking anyone's view, we'll be adding to the value of the other homes on the street, and besides, we're nice people! And we need more space in order to retire to this home...

I'll update you next week...

WARNING: Bodily functions will be discussed below. Proceed at your own risk.

Who knew I could blow my nose so darn much?!? And who knew that it would be productive blowing each and every time?!? Each and every five minutes... I'm soooooooooooooo tired of blowing my nose. I should have stock in Boroleum Ointment. It's the only thing keeping the skin from peeling off my nose.

Had a lovely Easter weekend, despite the cold. On Friday, I spent the day cleaning my house, making homemade mashed potatoes and homemade cole slaw. Yum! Two of my specialties, I must admit. Then on Saturday I went for breakfast with Jack, then to the bridal shower. It was fine. Although there's a big difference between young 23/24-year-olds and people of my generation. She was so naive that she didn't know to announce who the gift was from, what it was, or hold it up for people to see it. We were all wondering who gave what to her. She wasn't a very gracious bride-to-be, and I sincerely don't mean that in a malicious way. She just didn't know what to do.

A woman who thinks she used to date my husband was there. This is the 2nd time I've met her. She also attended a funeral that I went to; she's Patty's sister-in-law's best friend, or one of them, anyway.

Check's in the mail, Patty! I overheard my sister-in-law telling this woman (who claims she dated my husband, but he only remembers taking her out once or twice with Patty's sister-in-law, sort of baby-sitting them both, and avoiding her the rest of the time... Patty says she used to come to the house and stalk him and he'd just walk right past her, ignoring her...) - anyway, Patty was telling her that I was so wonderful, so sweet, the best for Jack, so loving, that they all love me... I told her, sure, on a good day, but obviously you haven't seen me on a bad day!!!

Apparently she's a sharer - we all know much more than we really want to about her - I know she's dating a cop from Bensalem, PA, and that she met him on singles.net, or some such website. I know that she's skeeved by replies to her own post that include pictures of guys with their shirts off or their tongues sticking out in an ostensibly sexy pose... And Carrie knows a lot about her personal life, details she didn't ask for but that Vicky shared with her. (I did not ask for examples!) Why would you tell someone you've met once in your life the private details of your love life (or sex life, as the case may be)?

Now, I realize I'm posting all this out in cyberspace for anyone to read and respond to, but I'm not going to be putting that kind of really private information out there. My life is pretty much an open book, but what goes on in the privacy of my own love life is going to stay there, with the exception, perhaps of a comment or two when my husband absolutely drives me up the proverbial wall!!! But that's not private, between-the-two-of-us-stuff...

Anyway, after the shower, I drove home and Jack took me out to dinner and to the movies. He must have been absolutely insane for the entire day; it was too cold to do anything outside and the house was cleaned up for the holiday so there was nothing for him to do, a fate worse than death for my workaholic, Energizer Bunny of a husband! We went and saw The Last Mimzy and I really liked it! The opening and closing sequence didn't particularly add anything to the movie, but in general, it's a good one!

Well, it's 8:56 and I have to skedaddle - I'm already a 1/2 hour into my work day without a bit of work-related productivity to show for it... More another time...

Sucker... Yes, that's what I am. (It would sound better if I could set it to music...)

Had meeting with an insurance salesman on Tuesday night. DH doesn't have to pay any premiums anymore, so what do we do? Instead of saying thank you to the nice man and giving him the bum's rush to the door, we sign me up for a whole life insurance package that we have to pay into for the next 11 years. Could we use the estimated $1200 elsewhere?

You bet your a-s, we could!

But no, we sign me up. Okay, call me a sucker...

Yesterday was my friend's b'day. She turned 29. I turned 29, too.

17 years ago.

In 1989.

Wow.

Today is the WASCP lunch at Houlihan's. I'm leaving somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00; think I should get some work done? Me either. Think I'll blog some more...

I have a cold. An annoying cold. A cold that makes me hear things as if they're under water or behind a foot-and-a-half of thick glass. And today I have a little cough. Now, I don't know if it's the cold coughing, or the Promethazine w/ DM that I took this morning, working. Either way, I have a cold. And I'm miserable. And I have to clean and cook tomorrow, and attend a bridal shower on Saturday. And entertain on Sunday. Yuk. I can do it. I am woman. Hear me roar (cough).

I am also congested at the same time. One half of my nose is breathe-through-able (I like to make up words. But you all know what I meant, right?!?!). The other half feels as if it's been filled with concrete. I blow and blow and nothing comes out. (Oops - I should have made the title of this entry "Warning: Bodily functions will be discussed below. Proceed at your own risk.") It makes me tired and cranky (not enough oxygen to my brain, I'm sure).

Maria called yesterday and asked if my company would like to donate some books to Bingo Night at her school, for door prizes, I presume. So I ordered a sports assortment, a puzzle assortment, a kids' assortment, and a cookbook assortment. Perhaps I'll tie them up with some pretty ribbon or something... We have a thing that helps you tie bows. Maybe I'll use it and make nice bows, instead of pathetic bows.

[I really do tend to jump from topic to topic - I'll have to work on that...]

We were in a little car accident two days ago, on the way home. There I was, riding shotgun, reading the local newsrag to DH when - BOOM! We were rear-ended. Good thing DH was not moving, and had his foot firmly on the brake. And it's also a good thing we were far enough away from the car in front of us that we weren't pushed into it. We put the four-ways on, got out of the Subaru (well, DH did - I thought getting out on the passenger side in the middle of Route 3, near the Meadowlands, might not be the smartest thing to do...), and proceeded to talk to the other drive. She thought it prudent to tell us we had no damage to our car and we should just go our merry ways.

Yeah, right.

We pulled off onto the shoulder and exchanged names/addresses/telephone numbers. DH didn't want her insurance information. (Duh - even if I didn't want to use it, I would have taken it) Then Bad Driver decided she wanted to take a picture of the non-damage on the back end of my Forester with her cute little pink phone.

Great idea! So I went into the car, intending to take out my not-as-cute little navy blue phone, when I remembered: I have my digital camera with me! So I take it, and begin shooting close-ups, wide-angles, auto photos... of her car, my car, her, her with her car, the scenery (for placement on Route 3, should a court hearing ever come to pass...).

Then, I commented to her, "Good thing your child wasn't in the car." She had a child's carseat in the back set of her mondo-SUV (some Ford derivative, I believe). She looked at it, looked at me, and said, "Yea."

That's the end of that. Glad she's not my mother!

Except that there were no sore muscles, no whiplash, no bleeding into the brain - we're all just fine. Thank goodness.

If my head weren't attached...

Tomorrow is my friend Eva's b'day - have I purchased a gift for her yet? No.
Have I known her b'day was fast approaching for, well, a year? Yes.
Will I have time to buy her a present tonight? I sure damn hope so!

We're taking her out to lunch today, me, her boss, and her cubicle neighbor. Should be fun.

The K0fC guy is coming tonight to tell us we've overpaid on one insurance policy and to probably try to sell us another. Hope we can stand strong...

I also have to go bridal-shower-gift-shopping this week. I'm just too darn busy - take a look at my next few days...
04/03/07 - lunch w/ Eva, KofC meeting, SR for more ice cream for WASCP party
04/04/07 - WASCP party
04/05/07 - retirement mtg at work, WASCP instructor lunch at Houlihan's, dentist appt (cancelled and rescheduled)
04/06/07 - prepare all food for Easter dinner, clean house for company for Easter dinner
04/07/07 - drop food to be blessed at kids' house, en route to bridal shower, pick up blessed food from kids' house en route home (it's anybody's guess if I remember to do this!)
04/08/08 - Easter dinner
04/11/07 - variance meeting for addition to lakehouse
04/12/07 - J's b'day - no gifts yet, so somewhere prior to today I have to get him something
04/14/07 - Memories expo (no I didn't miss the 13th - I really have nothing planned for that day - YAY!)

Lunchtime...