"I'd Like To Thank The Academy"

Isn't awards season over? I thought it ended with the Oscars.
Nevertheless, I am honored *and surprised," to receive another award, this time from the bright, witty (& fellow Jersey girl) Jaime. I really don't know what to make of this award; the least I can say about it is that it's the strangest named award I've ever received:



"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all..."

Far be it from me to risk incurring the wrath of the "Chicken", so I will name 5 other bloggers that I enjoy & believe are worthy of this honor. All five will probably be very surprised because none of them know who the hell I am. I visit their sites quite often, but have never left a comment. So, SURPRISE!! The fab five are:

1. ijerZgirl
2. Jan's Sushi Bar
3. Midlife Musings
4. The Jason Show
5. Unmitigated

Shopping For Tweens

We have 2 nieces turning 12 &13 respectively, so I went shopping yesterday. I find it hard to buy for girls this age. I'm not sure I know what's cool nowadays. I could always take the easy way out and get gift cards, and not that they'd even mind, but I want to give them each a PRESENT. My 7 year old niece has already announced that, from now on, she only wants gift cards. I find that sad. I have great birthday memories of multi-colored wrapped packages (no such thing as gift bags then), all different shapes & sizes, with bows & balloons. The fun was trying to guess what was in each and know that they were all for me!
Anyway, I went to a new store in the area, Swoozie's, which moved in to a empty storefront where one of my favorite stores, now bankrupt Blue Tulip, formally was. I can go crazy in a store like this. For the most part, a store full of things no one needs, but so much fun! But I controlled myself, reminding myself who I was there to buy for. I got them each one of these with their names embroidered on them. I got a bit nostalgic when I saw that peace and love were back in style. I love this. Ah! The Summer of Love!!

Foot In Mouth

I just had the most awkward moment at work. I ran into a fellow that I had noticed had been out the last couple of weeks. Being the friendly person that
I am, I asked him if he had been on vacation. He replied that he was out because his wife had a miscarriage at 6 months. I wanted to die! I gave him my condolences and got out of there. God, I feel horrible!

Spring Has Sprung

Well, with the weather going to be in the 80's this weekend, it's definitely time to stop hibernating in the Garden State. We're heading to Citifield tomorrow - perfect weather for a ballgame. Hope you all have fair weather this weekend, wherever you are! Get out and enjoy!




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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I've Done Before & Want To Do Again (Some possible, some not)

1. Return to Paris - As cliche as it is, it is truly tres romantique.
2. Return to Costa Rica - Been there 6 times, first time in 1990. It's changed a bit, but it's a beautiful place - beaches, rainforests, volcanoes. Take me back right now!!
3. Adopt another Briard. We currently live with a 13 year old Old English Sheepdog (my second OES). I love my shaggy dogs. We also had a beautiful Briard, Chloe, that I got from a shelter. She passed a few years ago, Would love to get another.
4. Fit into a size 6. (Alright, maybe an 8).
5. Own a Camaro. I've had 2, both were great, fun cars. Do they even make them anymore?
6. Marry the LSH again, just so I can wear a different dress. I liked it when I bought it, but now wish I had worn something else.
7. See Springsteen & The E-Street Band in concert (preferably next month at the Meadowlands).
8. See the Mets win a World Series.
9. Go horseback riding at Lake Tahoe. I can still see the views and the vistas from atop the hills around the lake.
10. Go parasailing. I've done it a few times and want to do it again!
11. Dance in a half-time show for the Giants.
12. See my ex-husband again so he can see how well I'm doing!
13. And lastly, something you hear alot from "experienced" people like myself - Be 21 again, but know what I know now!

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

I had to have my picture taken today at work for new security ids. It is a rare day when I see a picture of myself that I like. I did have one on an id card once that I carried around for 10 years, until people remarked that it really didn't look like me anymore
The photographer said that everyone says they hate to have their picture taken. But is that really true? Do photogenic people hate to have their picture taken? I doubt it.
There are some people who are very good-looking, but don't look it in photos. People always say that the picture "doesn't do him/her justice." I like to think I fall into that category, but I think I'm deluding myself. Then there are others who aren't all that attractive in person, but take a great photo (and I'm not talking about airbrushed or photoshopped pix), although that's rarer than the other scenario.
You know how many times I made the LSH take a pic of me, for instance, at the ballpark, and I think maybe I'll post it here. Then I see it and hit the delete button immediately. Thank God for technology!
I had a friend in grade school who loved to have her picture taken. If there was a camera, you'd find Carrie right there. She had done some modeling as a baby and I guess that made her think she was still cute as a button. I wonder what happened to her? I always assumed, with all that confidence, that she would get by just fine.
When I was in high school, I had a huge crush on the star of the basketball team, you know, the BMOC. I thought he was GORGEOUS, but he never gave me the time of day. About 5 years later, I ran into him at a local club. AND he asked ME to dance!
He still looked GORGEOUS, but he was the biggest bore (and not the sharpest tool in the shed). Just another of life's lessons learned. Looks can be deceiving.
Now, if you can get the WHOLE package.............

Jumping The Shark

I have to admit that I never heard this expression until my bro-in-law mentioned it on Easter. Here's how the Urban Dictionary defines it:
"when your favorite show starts to flag and go downhill, as when Fonzie jumped the shark on waterskis. We all knew that Happy Days was on its way down then."
An example:
When Rudy (Cosby show) hit puberty, and they added that new little girl that was Denise's step-daughter, that show DEFINITELY jumped the shark.
I never thought about this before, but I've seen it time and again and it is normally when the show is desperate for ratings. I kind of thought Grey's Anatomy "jumped the shark" with the Izzie seeing/talking/screwing her dead boyfriend for week's on end, but when they announced she had an inoperable brain tumor, it made sense (at least in a prime time drama kind of way). I'm sure you can think of your own examples. Check out this website http://www.tvguide.com/jumptheshark for some prime examples.
And, for what it's worth, here's Fonzie jumping the shark (could they have dragged it out any longer)?

I'm Not Worthy

The Wise Wizard of Otin, in all his wise wizardry, has elected to bestow upon me the Friendship Award. Seriously, I truly appreciate it. I had no idea, when I started blogging, how many nice, interesting people I would meet. Thanks, Otin, for considering me your friend.

The Friendship Award is given to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to those bloggers who must choose at least 5 more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

I pass this award on to:

Purple Flowers - She of the green thumb and warm heart,
Heads Carolina, Tails California - A gutsy lady who lives a very unique life and one whom I admire greatly.
Bilbo's Random Thoughts - The very cerebral, always thought-provoking Bilbo, who is even more amazing because he writes his blogs at 5AM!
Pop Art Diva - Speaking for Boomers everywhere!
Preppy In The City - The only reason the lovely PITC is mentioned last is that she recently went private and so you're just going to have to trust me when I say she's a bright, interesting young lady living an extraordinary life in NYC and generously sharing it with the likes of me.

Woe Is Me

I haven't done much blogging this week; I've been out of sorts all week and I was waiting until I felt better, but, to hell with it, if I can't bitch on my own blog, what's the sense?
To give you an idea how bad it's been, the other night I went to bed after only the 4th inning of the Mets game. And it wasn't because of how the Mets were playing; I'm a long-time member of the Church of Tug McGraw and believe "Ya gotta believe!" I just couldn't get into it.
I'm feeling down and am not looking forward to anything. I was scrubbing the grout in the shower this morning and all I could think was "I don't want to do this anymore." Can you blame me?
Believe me, whenever I feel sorry for myself, I'm the first one to say that a lot of others have it much worse. But, hell, that STILL doesn't make me feel any better.
I'm tired of going to work and I'm tired of following up that statement with "but I should be grateful that I still have my job." It still doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of it.
The things we're becoming grateful for are getting absurd. Your company can announce that you won't be getting a raise this year and, on top of that, they will be cutting salaries 10 percent across the board, and how do we react? We're GRATEFUL. Thank you. Mr.Employer, for increasing my job responsibilities and allowing me to work for you for less money, while all the necessities of life are costing more. It's a slippery slope we're treading. It reminds me of how we've reacted to the ups and downs of gas prices. The oil companies kept raising & raising prices, so that when the prices came down to around $2.00 a gallon, we thought we're getting a bargain. Meanwhile, the oil companies continue with their record-breaking profits quarter after quarter.
Well, thanks for coming to my pity party. I owe you.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Join me in a pitcher of margaritas.

2. Put a little silliness in your day!

3. Happiness is a Mets win.

4. Exhausted and confused.

5. I'm waiting for the day I can retire.

6. Chocolate is hard to resist.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a Mets win, tomorrow my plans include shopping and Sunday, I want to find time to read.

Opening Day

Although the baseball season officially started a week ago, tonight is the night all Mets fans consider the real Opening Day. Wish I could be there, but whatev. I'm twittering away with some of the lucky people who are there. Technology is pretty cool. Gotta go and devote all my attention to the guys. LETS GO METS!

Happy Easter!!!

"Beisball Has Been Very, Very Good To Me"

The above was said by Chico Escuela, former baseball player with the New York Mets (or so it was told) portrayed by Garrett Morris on the original Saturday Night Live. Chico was famous for saying "Beisbol been berry, berry good to me". The Mets actually featured him at their 1979 Old Timers Day game for a giggle.
First off, if you've been visiting my blog for awhile, you've noticed I've changed the colors. Some may think it's too bright or gaudy, but I will be keeping these colors until sometime in November, after the Mets celebrate their World Series win with the parade down the part of lower Broadway known as the Canyon of Heroes.
Baseball has been a part of my life ever since I can remember (growing up as the only girl with 2 older brothers and a dad who was a big baseball fan). However, my baseball world grew enormously with the introduction of the internet. As there are with just about any subject you can think of, there are tons of websites for baseball fans, both generic and team-oriented. On many of these sites, there are message boards where fans can "talk" and comment. I participate in a few (surprise, surprise). Occasionally, for one reason or another, one poster will contact another privately, usually with a specific question, which has happened to me on a few occasions. Sometimes, once the initial discussion is over, you'll continue interacting with the person, which normally starts with the person telling a little about themselves. For a reason totally unknown to me, every time this has happened to me, the person on the other end has been a young lady in her 20's. As soon as I've learned that information, I've let them know that I'm old enough to be their mother. And, thankfully, they all wanted to continue our correspondence. From there, some of the girls started corresponding with each other and, before you knew it, we had our own little girlie group of Mets fans. Eventually, I was dubbed the "Mets Mama," which I love. I've personally met 6 of them, a few at Shea, one at Dodgertown in Vero Beach and a couple of us met for a night in the city. I'm not really sure what they get out of it, but it's been great for me. I love today's generation of 20-something females. They seem to just know themselves so much better than I did when I was their age and are much more self-assured. I have to admit, I cannot imagine, when I was their age, being friends with someone old enough to be my mom. Of course, times have changed and so many mothers and daughters are truly friends, which wasn't the case for my generation. But I'm glad times have changed. So you see, if it weren't for "beisball" and the internet, I would be missing a large, fun, important part of my life. As Chico said so eloquently "Beisball HAS been very, very good to me."

Share Some Faith

I'm not a deeply religious person. I was raised in the Catholic Church, went to Catholic schools for 9 years. I don't go to church, but I do believe in the power of prayer. If it just makes me feel better about something, then it's working, as far as I'm concerned. That's why I want to share this video about a dog named Faith. You may have already seen or read about her. I love her story and I hope you will too.

Thursday Thirteen

I must give credit where credit is due. I got today's idea from fellow blogger Otin who stole it from "Just Jen" who stole it from....well, you get the idea.
13 Things I Will Never Do Again (in no particular order)

I will never:
1. Get married again. Now, this isn't a bad thing. I love the LSH dearly and plan on being with him until I am no more. And if, God forbid, it happens the other way, I can't imagine being able to replace him.
2. Attend a Charles Aznavour concert (don't ask).
3. Ride Medusa. I love amusement park rides, the faster, wilder, the better. EXCEPT for this one. It's the most physically painful ride I've ever ridden. Your head gets banged side to side, your body thrown all over. I swear, a smart chiropractor should stand just outside the exit and hand out business cards. He could take an early retirement.
4. Work for an airline. A lot of people check their brains and their civility when they check their bags. Even good church-going folk forget their upbringing and turn into insane, foul-mouthed animals at the airport, screaming and cursing at poorly paid and overworked employees because they can't get a window seat or they're not allowed to carry on a bag that wouldn't fit under the Golden Gate Bridge, let alone in an overhead storage compartment.
5. Eat sushi. Hey, I'll try anything once. They served chocolate-covered sushi (honest injun) on our cruise. I believe it was the one and only time I said no to chocolate.
6. Wear a bikini. I guess the last time I wore one was about 12 years ago; I just felt the time (and the hips) had come to leave it to the younger ladies. But, there are always a few who, I have to believe, don't own a mirror or who graduated magna cum laude from Self-Esteem University.
7. Dance in the Half-Time Show at Giants Stadium. Yes, my fifteen minutes of fame. Abridged story. Took aerobic dance classes for years. One night at class, an announcement was read that auditions were being held for non-professional dancers for a dance team. A group of us went for a giggle and, surprise, surprise, I made it. They took about 20-25 girls from various counties. I was part of the Monmouth County contingent. We performed at various venues in our county groups, but our big appearance was performing the Half-Time Show at Giants Stadium with all the NJ dancers. We actually performed at 2 Half Time shows each season for 2 years. I just found an article about the Union County group. I have some great memories from that time in my life.
8. Get drunk. How many times have you told yourself "No more" while you were suffering the nausea, headaches and cold sweats of recovering from a hangover? The last time I made this pledge was about 10 years ago and I've managed to keep it. Don't get me wrong. I'm far from a teetotaler. Margarita season is almost upon us. But I refuse to put myself through that suffering ever again.
9. Shop in a Walmart. I have only been in a Walmart once in my entire life and that was about 2 years ago. Probably the worst retail experience in my life (and I've done a LOT of shopping over the years). Filthy store, rude salespeople, rude cashiers, rude customers. Just horrible. I wrote a scathing email to their corporate headquarters detailing my experience and amazingly, I received a call back the next day, apologizing for my experience, but didn't offer me any incentive to go back. And I haven't.
10. Bowl a 257. Yes, in one game. When I was 12 years old. Looks like I peaked early.
11. Drive a moped in Bermuda. You can't rent a car in Bermuda. Mopeds are the only form of motorized transportation you can rent. We rented 2 from our resort; the resort employee gave us a quick lesson on how to accelerate and brake. I put on my helmet, feeling really cool and all ("ooh, look at me. I'm soooo cool, take my picture), started the bike up and immediately forgot everything the instructor had shown me and crashed headlong into a brick wall. I wasn't hurt (except for my bruised ego), but the front of the bike was destroyed.
12. Assume a woman is pregnant just because she's fat, and ask her when her baby is due. I have done this. Twice. Neither of them were pregnant.
13. Say Never Again!!

A Good Wife Supports Her Husband (And Her Team)

Because my wonderful husband cannot tell a lie, we're going to the Mets-Nats game on the 25th!
We were invited to something on the 25th. It was related to an organization the LSH belongs to. He really didn't want to go (I didn't either, but would have if he wanted). He didn't want to come right out and tell them we didn't want to come, but he didn't want to lie either. So he said to me "Aren't the Mets playing?" Well, you don't have to ask me twice. I immediately went onlne and, lo and behold, the Mets are home. So, although I said I was going to try and hold off buying tickets early on, I couldn't let the LSH lie. What kind of wife would I be?
Also, the Mets' ticket office is trying to wear me down. They keep sending me emails with special offers. It's nice to be wanted.

What A Joke

As much as I loved Citifield, I have one major gripe. The so-called "security checkpoints" fans are subjected to before they can enter the stadium.
As we approached the stadium, we heard a recorded announcement (over & over again) - The following are not permitted in the stadium: coolers, liquids, WEAPONS (damn, ma, don't tell me you left your .45 in yer pockerbook!) We had a Mets tote bag with us (a give-away from a game last year). My wallet was at the bottom, covered by a folded windbreaker. On top, there were 2 books (for the train rides), a camera, a small cosmetic bag. There were 2 lines-one for bag people and one for people who travel light. When we got to the "security" woman, we placed our bag on the table. She spent all of 5 seconds (literally) looking in, not touching one article. We could have had anything at the bottom of that bag; as it was, because of her laziness, we were able to smuggle in 2 bottles of Mug root beer.
Next, we approached the guys who do the "pat-down." There were no security women assigned to the pat-down, so all we females had to do was to raise our arms up and turn around once. I'm assuming these guys are descendants of Superman and have inherited his x-ray vision. There was no way in hell that they could tell anything. It's amazing, we are now so politically correct that we'll compromise on security so we won't offend anyone. I hate to give up some of my rights to privacy to the government, but, when it comes to security, I won't complain. But for this joke, it's a waste of time.
Of course, I'm concerned for my safety, but, more so, for the players. As we've sadly seen recently, there are people out there who are determined to act out on their hatred, no matter what the consequences. All you need is one demented fan who has it in for a player, for some real or imagined act, and I hate to think what could happen.
I realize the x-ray machines at the airport are prohibitively expensive. But there must be something better than the poor excuse they call "security" now.
PS - For years at Shea, as well as many other venues, the vendors would keep the caps of the water bottles to prevent someone from using the full, closed bottle as a weapon. Not anymore, at least at Citifield. I bought 2 bottles of water from 2 different vendors and neither time were the caps removed. Not that I'm complaining. Just wondering why the change of mind.

5 Star Stadium

i LOVE CITIFIELD!! I know there are fans out there complaining you can't buy beer in plastic bottles anymore or that they hate that the security people are wearing red jackets (yes, these are real complaints posted on the Mets.com message board)! From the increased legroom to all the dining options to the large concourses to the.....well, I could go on and on. But the one thing no one could control was the weather. It was SOOOO COLD! Gusts of 50 miles an hour of cold wind. We thought we were dressed for the cold (except I forgot gloves, but I now own a pair of black gloves with an orange Mets logo on the wrist; tres chic).
We left after the 6th inning, something I would NEVER do during a regular season game, but the cold and the fact that the Mets were losing 7-1 (final score 9-3), made the decision easier.
While walking to the train, we were stopped and interviewed about our reactions to Citifield by NY1 (the "CNN" of NYC and the 5 boroughs). As we live in Jersey, we don't have tv access to it, but I found the news clip on line. My comments were left on the cutting room floor, while they used the LSH's comments (with me standing next to him, wearing the weirdest expression; I have no idea what that was about).
The bad thing about loving Citifield so much is that it's going to make it harder to resist buying tickets to future games. I can see me giving in in the near future and buying some tix. When it comes to baseball and chocolate, I have NO willpower.

Thursday Thirteen

Well, since I find it difficult to be creative every week, I've enjoyed sharing other people's creativity, quoting their quotes, so to speak. This week's quotes are from the strange mind of Stephen Wright.

1. Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country.
2. Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.
3. Don't you hate when your hand falls asleep and you know it will be up all night.
4. Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.
5. I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
6. I had some eyeglasses. I was walking down the street when suddenly the prescription ran out.
7. Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.
8. There was a power outage at a department store yesterday. Twenty people were trapped on the escalators.
9. Why don't they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff.
10. If one synchronised swimmer drowns, do all the rest have to drown too?
11. I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.
12. I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, 'Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours.' He said, 'Yes, but not in a row.'
13. If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?