Manjoyment Monday: Fursplode or Die

It will never get old...or any less funny...

Dance Party Friday: It's Gone to the Dogs!

My best friend Casey has pretty much the world's greatest Christmas decorations on her front yard.

No, she doesn't have a singing Santa or one of those blow up snowglobes. She doesn't have a human-sized nut cracker or life-like reindeer.

What she has is far more exciting!

(Sorry about the poor quality, it's from my phone.)

Yes, that's right. She has these huge cardboard cut outs that her brother made at Kinkos years ago of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Linus. And every year they go out and find the most pathetic looking tree they can scrounge and put a giant disco ball and some random beads on it.

It is fabulous. I look forward to it every year and I love them to death for coming up with this.

Snoopy is really big in my family. My grandfather loved Snoopy and Woodstock and my Mom always gets us Snoopy-related birthday cards. Plus my grandma used to work for MetLife and so we had random Snoopy paraphernalia all over the place.

So in honor of my Snoopy heritage, and Casey's decorations I give you a very special Dance Party Friday:
You can just hum Linus and Lucy to yourself while you enjoy the Snoopy Dance.

Merry Christmas.
Happy (belated) Hanukkah.
Joyous Festivus.
Happy Kwanza.

Or as we say in Partial Credit:

Happy Chrstmahanukwanzakah!

One more Sleep till Christmas

Back when I was a sophomore in college I was going through a rough time. Everything just seemed to not be going well.

I had broken up with my first boyfriend, the second attempt at a relationship with another guy turned into an utter failure, as did a third, and a fourth, and plans to move off campus with some friends fell through. Not to mention my mother thought that it would be a great time to tell me Niederstein's had closed and they were tearing it down.

Niederstein's had been a huge part of my childhood. Every important event, an anniversary, a birthday, even a christening, we'd all go to Niederstein's. I'd sit there with my mom's father Poppy and he'd tell me all these wonderful stories about how Niederstein's used to be a stable house and how much he loved the history of places like that.

So when my mother off the cuff mentioned that it was gone, it added onto the turmoil I was already suffering through, I just broke down and cried myself to sleep. It was just one of those places that I could vividly remember Poppy in and now that he's gone there were certain things I was hanging onto and losing Niederstien's was like loosing him all over again.

I vaguely remember telling Jason all about this. At the time we were close friends but didn't spend much time hanging out (it was more of an online friendship), but I felt like I could tell him anything. He was on his way out - running off to class or something - but he sent me a file before he left.

It was a full length version of the Muppet Christmas Carol. I'm sure at some point over the months our friendship had blossomed I had mentioned to him how whenever I'm feeling horrible, watching the Muppet Christmas Carol always made me feel so much better. So he had gone out of his way to download it and send it to me so I could sit in bed, mope a little, watch the Muppets, and feel better about the world.

It worked. I got over everything and swore off men for the rest of the year. Nix on Dicks till 2006 became my own little mantra and I was so much happier about life. It was kind of like a turning point, in a bizarre way. When January rolled around and I lifted my ban on men, I realized how awesome Jason was and the rest is history.

So for all of you out there who are missing someone this Christmas, whether they be across the country or gone forever, I hope adding a little Muppet to your day can help you smile.

After all, there's only one more sleep till Christmas!

A Day in the Life of Charo

For those of you who don't know, Charo is the wonderful woman I have the privilege of working with 5-days a week. No, that's not her real name, but her utter annoyance, ridiculous appearance and moronic banter has reminded me of Charo so much, that everyone else around me now knows her as Charo and understands exactly what I'm talking about whenever I mention her in a story. In case you were wondering, Charo is a 45 year old divorcee single mom living with her Mother.

8:42am Calls my cell phone. Why on earth did I EVER give her that number? To tell me that she's "down the block" and that she "suffered a migraine yesterday and didn't get much sleep"...LIKE I NEED TO KNOW?! Insight: she's never on time to work, she supposedly works 8:30-5:30 but often doesn't get here until 9:00 or later. At least she's stopped calling me to let me know she's running late and to tell our manager that this came up or that slowed her down this morning. Because honestly, he doesn't give a damn when she's here.
8:45am Strolls quickly into the office.
8:47am Calls friend to tell her a story about her night.
8:55am Finally hangs up with friend, only to go to the restroom to fluff out her ridiculous hair.
9:00am Calls mother to make sure son got to school okay. Mother makes comment about how he was "warm enough for you" when she sent him off to school. I love with Mother makes a crack at Charo's parenting skills.
9:03am Forgot to set the DVR and tries to explain to Mother how to do it for her.
9:05am Pouts when Mother can't figure it out.
9:06am Realizes she's forgotten to send son to school with a snack, and "NO, the other kids won't share with him." Probably because he's an outcast since he has massive ADD.
9:08am Tells Mother to read the directions in the book to learn how to program the DVR because apparently she can't miss this program that is probably something stupid to begin with. Key phrase: "Look in the book, that's how I learned!"
9:10am Knocks hand impatiently against desk.
9:12am Continues to patronize Mother as she attempts to set DVR. "I knew I should have done this, I have too much on my mind." Read: You're a dumbass Mother, and I can't believe you can't figure this out yourself!
9:13am Cell phone rings while on office phone. For once it's on vibrate instead of some awful loud pop song. Charo actually doesn't answer.
9:14am From the sounds of it, Mother asks why doesn't she just come home and do it herself. "This really isn't that difficult, HIT RECORD! I have to work! This is exactly what I wanted to watch."
9:15am Mother finally figures it out. Charo demands address to someone's house barely thanking Mother.
9:16am Finally hangs up.

9:53am Charo walks into my cube, without announcing herself or knocking, and asks if we have mailing labels. She literally has her hand on the box of them while she's asking me where they are.
9:54am Asks me if I went away this weekend, even though we had this discussion twice last week that I wasn't going away because I have work and I have a lot of house-hold things to take care of.
9:55am Charo's one actual friend in the office comes into my cube...at least he knocks! But he isn't here to talk to me. We'll call him Doofus. Doofus goes on to tell Charo how he met someone who was asking about her and Doofus gave random guy her number.
9:56am My manager T, whose office is right next to my cube closes his door. I can't help but laugh at the fact that he doesn't want to hear their mindless drivel about Charo's pathetic personal life any more than I do. Doofus thinks I'm laughing about something he said in his story. I tell him I was laughing at the closed door behind him.
9:58am They finally leave my area. But continue their conversation in Charo's cube.
9:59am T's door opens and Denise pops out. I actually like Denise, we commiserate together often about the annoying people we have to deal with. It was actually her who closed T's office door and I tell her how I thought it was him because they were standing right there talking.
10:00am Denise can't believe they were standing in my cube having a conversation without even involving me...not that I wanted to be involved in said conversation.
10:01am I eat a cookie T has given me. It is delicious. He never gives Charo cookies. I am his favorite assistant.
10:07am Doofus finally leaves after T calls Charo on her phone (despite the fact she's 20ft away from his office and doesn't hear him calling her). In parting she says she's eating lunch in the cafeteria today and he should join her so they can continue what I'm sure was a very interesting an crutial conversation.

10:20am Message from the email happy Charo: she has a dentist appointment tomorrow morning! Is it okay if she comes in early so she can leave for an hour during the day? THIS IS MY BUSINESS HOW?!?!

10:28am Call from friend (possibly ex-husband?) something having to do with son's hurt feelings. Apparently Charo loves new baby niece more than her own son?! Key phrase: "I get excited because she's a girl, but he is my pride and joy and I tell him that!"
10:30am Explains that she has to tell her son constantly, "I am the adult, I make the decisions." *laugh* "But that little girl's cheeks! I just want to eat her up!" I fear for this child.

11:34am Calls friend. Some guy friended her on Facebook and she needs confirmation from an outside source that she does in fact know him.
11:38am After a long-winded reply, her friend assures her, yes in fact Charo, you know this random guy! And she hangs up.

12:53pm I get back from lunch and Charo is just finishing another personal call...wonder if she was on the phone the entire time I was gone?

1:02pm Oh dear God! Her holiday ringtone is back! "Santa Claus, Santa Claus, must have been old Santa Claus..."

1:25pm Passes off work to me. Yeah, thanks for that. This is actually her responsibility to take care of, not mine.

1:34pm Finally realizes her phone had rang while she was away from her desk. Calls back to confirm dentist appointment tomorrow that I didn't need to know about in the first place.

2:09pm Enters my cube yet again unannounced and asks if I suffer from migraines. I'm sorry were we having a conversation? Did I miss the beginning of it?

3:20pm Phone buzzes on desk. Charo answers. It's a friend and she tells her all about the date she's going on tonight.
3:35pm Now that I know everything there is to know about this man since Charo really has no indoor voice, she hangs up.

3:40pm Doofus is back. Charo tells him all about how at lunch she was sitting in her car in the Sushi Express parking lot and a teenager hit her bumper.
3:41pm Doofus is aghast, how could a new teenage driver be so stupid and irresponsible!
3:42pm Charo explains how she's totally saving teenage driver's father like 5 grand a year just because she's not putting it through insurance and instead he's just going to pay for any repairs to her bumper.
3:45pm Urge to smack Charo...rising...
4:10pm Gathering my things to leave, Charo is still going on about the "accident". GET ME OUT OF HERE!


Sometimes I wish I was creative enough to make all of this up...but I'm really not. I'm so glad I don't have to see her face or hear the stupid quiet voice she puts on to sound attractive until next year!

Manjoyment Monday: Future Lady Killer

Well there are only three days of work this week, which is exciting because once I'm gone on Wednesday I don't have to be back to the office until January 4th!

But the holidays are a tender time to really spend with your friends and family. To honor that, today's man is a very special one.

Remember Xavier?

This little man is almost 8 months old now! And holy cow he's adorable. He will totally be a lady killer one day with his inherited (from his Daddy) dimple when he smiles real big. Uhh! I just want to eat him up he's so cute!

So here's hoping that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season and that you are truly grateful to have your family and friends. Enjoy your holiday and let's hope for snow!


I thought this one was so precious too. I love the way he's staring down Santa.

Wintery Microcosms

I live in a very small village on Long Island. Very small.

My graduating class was less than 75 students and although for some reason we have two LIRR stops we're only really one square mile. Itty bitty.

Everyone in our town pretty much knows each other, or someone closely related. We all have something or someone in common with everyone. Occasionally it's annoying that everyone knows your business and news spreads like wildfire, but mostly I think it's wonderful.

My block is a whole separate entity. I've lived in the same house my whole life, I've literally grown up with people in four houses on my block, and we watched the kids in the other five houses grow up behind us.

On the corner is Mrs. B. She lost her son last year and just this year lost her husband. Mrs. B. is like the block grandmother...when we were kids we'd go over to her house and decorate gingerbread houses, homemade gingerbread houses. She's always making jams and knitting things and bringing them over for us to enjoy.

Across the street is Pat. Her youngest kid is probably eight or so years older than I am so although she is a grandma she is not as elderly as Mrs. B. Pat also lost her husband this year so it seems to have been rough all around.

Down the block is a family that we've been good friends with. My brother was best friends with their son growing up. Right next door to them are the grandparents to a girl I went to school with. Then there's another family across the street who although they keep to themselves, have always been part of the scenery most my life.

Next door is a family that moved in when their oldest child was still a baby. I've watched the three kids grow up and Patty is the sweetest craziest little Italian lady I know. Charlie and I wave to each other each morning as we warm up our cars to leave for work. Now their oldest daughter is about to graduate college and it just makes me feel so utterly old.

On the other side is a family with two girls who've been great for Mrs. B. this year. We don't talk to Bob & Laurie much but they're very friendly and we've always gotten along with them.Sunday morning I woke up, had some pancakes with my dad and geared up to head outside. We had four cars to clear, a driveway to plow, two porches to shovel, walkways to unearth and at the end of the driveway where the plow had gone by we needed to take care of some serious drifts to get the cars out.

Down the block Bob had already cleared out Mrs. B's driveway and walkway and from the looks of it he and his buddy were getting ready to salt. While my dad attacked the driveway mound I hopped across the street to start clearing off Pat's car and shoveled her front stoop/walkway for her.

The neighbors that keep to themselves snow-blowed Pat's sidewalk and my dad finished off her driveway mound while I shoveled the snow out from under her tires. Up and down the block all of our neighbors were excitedly hurrying about clearing snow, shifting cars and lending a hand here and there. Claude walked over from his house a few blocks away to help his parents, I waved and asked how his daughter was. I think she's getting married this year (like so many of the girls I played volleyball with seem to be doing lately!)

I literally haven't seen half of my neighbors in years. We don't all keep the same schedules and we're in and out at different times of day but today I saw all of them and we chatted a little about how when we were younger this kind of snow would have been the stuffs dreams were made of.

Granted I did hop out into the yard when we were done shoveling and make a snow angel and dance around. Snow will always be wonderful, and our little microcosm will always take care of each other and lend a hand when necessary. It's a comforting feeling and it was nice to see everyone out and about and just helping each other without thinking about it.

Plus I love the snow!

Dance Party Friday: I Won't Grow Up

So this Dance Party Friday is brought to you by Grey's Anatomy. I always thought this was one of the funniest clips from Season 2. I enjoy Christina's way of "dancing it out" like okay guys, we've had a rough day, let's just dance!



Plus at some point we all have to grow up, don't we?

I don't ever want to grow up. Serious is only something you have to be until you can be Silly again!

uuuuuuuuuFursplosion!

Okay, okay. I'm ready to be mercilessly mocked. It's more than fine with me, do your worst.

But last night I FINALLY saw New Moon. Yes dear readers, the moment Ashley and I had been planning for since July...the movie date to end all movie dates...the movie date that got pushed back countless times because of work, because of holidays, because of work again...it FINALLY HAPPENED!

I took a train into the city and met Ashley at the Starbucks right next door to the Regal on 42nd Street. We grabbed some sammiches and something to drink and caught up since although we talk to each other almost every day online trading war stories I don't believe I've seen her since graduation in May of 2007...weird.

Then we bought our tickets and giggled incessantly "We're actually doing it!" "YAY!" "I'm SO excited!"

A million previews later (reminder to self, read Dear John and the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series because they look like movies I'd enjoy and I prefer to read the books first) it finally started.

Allow me to just point out that there were about a dozen people tops in the theater and most of them were 20 and 30-somethings...ALL OF US COULDN'T STOP GIGGLING. Either it was because we were ashamed we were there, or we were just so excited we couldn't contain ourselves...

I just can't even convey to you how incredible this movie was. Dare I say it was the most fantastic movie I have EVER seen!?! Because truly, I am prepared to go as far as saying that!

I must have cried through half of the movie, I just couldn't stop laughing. And there were so many knee jerk reactions I almost fell out of my chair dying.

Quite possibly the best part of the movie was the audience. Honestly. There was one woman who every so often had a perfectly timed wonderfully ghettofied, "Oh shit." (Which when I imagine her saying it now, she's making three snaps in a Z.)

Choice moments:

1. During the scene where they come up on each other and they're running through the woods like this:
   I couldn't help but think of the opening scene of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason when the music rises into a rendition of The Hills are Alive! With the Sound of Music....
   
2. Bella (to Alice): You're not leaving are you? Alice: I'll be back, once you put the dog out. Audience Member: Oh shit!
3. Everyone clapped when Jacob Fursploded!
4. The sketchy guy on the motorcycle reminded me of a pierced version of my brother Dan.
5. And the piece de la resistance...Bella (to Jacob): Hello biceps!
   

We couldn't stop giggling as we left the theater. It was pathetic.

This movie was WELL worth the wait! Well worth the $12.50 we paid to see it even! I might go see it again with Casey since she couldn't make it into the city last night to join us. IT WAS AMAZING!


So if you will indulge me:
Manjoyment Factor: *****
Holy Balls they all spent the entire movie topless! I don't care if Taylor Lautner is 17, I'm still in my early 20s, I can enjoy the eye candy without it being too wrong.
Cinematic Style: *****
It was definitely filmed better than Twilight. Our favorite part was when the camera when spinning at crazy angles to portray Bella spiraling out of control when Edward left.
Ridiculousness: *****
Ummm, hello? It's part of the Twilight Saga, of course it's ridiculous!
Consistency with Book: *****
I could appreciate the way they spun a few things to make the movie flow better. The only thing that threw me was when Bella hops on the random guy's motorcycle. However I TRULY appreciate the scene at the movies where both Mike Newton and Jacob have their hands palm up on the armrests, waiting for Bella to hold one of their hands. I loved that part in the book.

Thanks to LOLvamp(ire)s for the images.

BANE IN THE GUY!!!

This just in!

I totally forgot (probably because of my regretful morning kvetching over the loss of my peace sign) that today was the day!!!

*squee*

I'm so proud of my brother! Today the 787 Dreamliner took off. Not even an hour ago it happened. I watched it with my manager over the webcast and it was fantastic. I could even pick Dan out of the crowd of employees lining the runway.

I've never felt so proud of my brother and so happy for his accomplishments that I do right at this moment. I could cry!


This photo is a little old, it's actually from the roll out on July 8th, 2007 but man oh man does the Dreamliner look sweet! (And Dan doesn't look to shabby himself! Proud Papa.)

Seriously though, I can't begin to tell you how fantastically amazing this feels just to know that my brother worked on this plane and quite literally put his blood, sweat and tears into it. Last Christmas he wasn't home for the holidays and it doesn't look like he'll be home this Christmas either so we don't get to see him as often as we'd like, but really...I'm just speechless.

Ever since he was a baby Dan has wanted to work with planes. His first sentence, "Bane in the guy!" as he pointed up at a plane as it flew past was quite literally one of his most defining moments. And now here he is, part of the team that helped make the Dreamliner a reality.

LOVE YOU DANNY!

Give Peace a Chance

So this morning was rough. I didn't get out of the store last night until after midnight. Decided that against my better hair judgment I'd shower before passing out and woke up with the most amazing bedhead ever.

Got ready, after only four or so hours of sleep and meandered out to my car to head to work. It was then that I realized there was something different about Lulu.

Ages ago while we were in Bartonsville, PA for our annual family vacation we came upon this fantastic store called Dave's Tie Dye & Hippie Gifts. Being curious consumers we went inside and since then we've gone back every single summer just to peruse the hippie skirts and random paraphernalia Dave has around the store.

A few years back I purchased a camouflaged peace sign magnet to put on the Hunter. It made me content in my own little way, I liked that it was camo because it was almost as if I was supporting the troops while supporting peace.

Cue to this morning when I saw a peace sign-shaped dust pattern on Lulu's rear.

SOMEONE STOLE MY PEACE SIGN!

Who does that? Honestly?

What kind of a thought process does a person have whereupon they see a peace sign magnet and think, I'ma gonna steal that damn peace sign! I hate peace signs!

I am so upset. Not only that someone would remove a magnet from my car, but in all honesty I thought if I was ever going to lose one it wouldn't be my PEACE SIGN! If anything I thought someone would yoink my Save the Tatas magnet because it's far more interesting than a camouflaged peace sign!

Now I'm going to have to wait until next August to go to Dave's again and buy a new one. *sadface*

Manjoyment Monday: This Isn't Where I Parked My Car...

Okay maybe I'm still thinking about all those beautiful people in all their glory on my Dad's new BluRay through our Bravia but I have always harbored a certain love for this man:

Wouldn't mind getting into a cramped back seat with him!
(photo via imdb.com)

Karl Urban, need I say more?

Maybe I do. Even when he had long ridiculous hair in LOTR he was still drop dead sexy. And especially hot as the crazed Russian assassin hunting down Matt Damon in Bourne Supremacy?

*drool*

Okay, now I'm done.

My tree ate me

The holidays in our house are always borderline homocidal. Half of the attic and a good portion of the basement are home to anything/everything Christmas my mother has collected over the years.

It literally takes the entire month of December to prepare for the guests we have over for Christmas and New Years. Likewise it takes almost as long (if not longer) to get everything back away again. We consider it a feat if the house is de-Christmas-ed by Super Bowl Sunday! (The image below is one room of the madness when comepletely decked out in holiday cheer...don't worry, we've replaced that ugly old pink table cloth with a nice white one.)

Last week the Beaner and I moved her keyboard out of the way and dragged the tree table out of the basement. This accordion table has one purpose, and that is to sit in the basement for 11 months out of the year and then hold the Christmas tree for that last month. It's old, heavy, ugly and hard to maneuver but we managed to free it from the confines of the root cellar and clean it off within a few minutes. Then we set up the tree. Which required a lot of painful fluffing.

Because of allergies and my father's fear of house-fires we have a fake tree. In fact all my life we've never had a real tree. I wonder if a real tree would have been as angry. Literally, the tree ATE my hands this year. I have horrible cuts and scrapes all up and down my hands/wrists. It is painful and unsightly...all in the name of Christmas I guess.

I wanted to do all of this the weekend of Thanksgiving, in fact we were sitting around doing nothing that weekend and it could have been up and out of the way and we'd be on to the third wave of Christmas decoarting by now instead of just nearing the end of the first, but alas...it was too early for my mother to think about Christmas so we waited.

After the tree was up and I was bleeding, it took me until this weekend to go any further (I needed time to lick my wounds). But I feel very accomplished with what I have gotten done. The lights are on the tree, the garland/lights/my painting are up on the mantle, the lights are on the outside of the house, the wreath is on the front porch, and the front door is lit up!

I'm hoping that throughout the week I can get the garlands over the windows and the doors up, the nativity set/advent wreath/menorah set on the mantle (yes, amongst all the cacophony of Christmas this is one lonely small rubbermaid with a few dredels and a menorah in it for my Dad), and get all of those boxes back into the basement so next weekend I can commense in wave two.

Wave two is when I bring down all of the boxes of various ornaments and other decorative paraphenilia. If there is a bow undressed, the tree is NAKED! So we have to shove ornaments on every available limb unless we want to suffer the wrath of my mother!

There are also: massive amounts of linen that need to be found/cleaned/ironed before use, bathrooms to scrub, and after wave three there will be a massive tidying and post-decorating clean-up.

However wave three is always the craziest. You see, my mother has Spode Tree china. We pull it out every year for Christmas, use it for Christmas dinner and then stare at it for the rest of December.

Up until two years ago Spode was off limits to be touched by ANYONE but my mother. We were supposed to carefully bring down the rubbermaids full of placesettings and glassware and leave it in the dining room for my mother to unpackage. Then she would wrap up her year-round china and we were bring those boxes carefully back up into the attic while she cleaned and displayed the Spode.

I'm finally at the age where my mother trusts me to do this all myself. Perhaps it is because I finally have china of my own...you know, the type that sits in its boxes in the basement waiting for the day I have a home of my own to display/use it in. But either way come hell or high water, the Spode will be down from the attic by next week and we'll be finished decorating/cleaning before Christmas Eve.

Really, we're that ridiculous. It's not just me, it's my entire family.

The Lulu Saga: Fin?

FINALLY!

So like almost a month ago I faxed over the receipt from Hassett over to the body shop up in Albany so I could get a reimbursement for the $115 some-odd it cost me to get my windshield wipers rewired.

I FINALLY got the check. It took forever!

I truly and certainly really hope that this damn Saga is over now. Lulu's been a good girl lately and she was a real trooper through this whole ordeal, but I'm so done with these kinds of shenanigans!

Dance Party Friday: Scumbuster Approved

Remember when Tickle Me Elmo was the IT thing to get for Christmas?! And how people practically murdered each other to get one?


I wonder if instead they could have enjoyed this, they might not have flipped out as much? I find it more entertaining by far!

I also remember that year the Tickle Me Elmo for Mom's was the Black & Decker cordless Scumbuster.My mother was the happiest person on Earth when she opened up one from my Dad. She was so proud he "tracked one down" because she really really wanted one and they were sold out everywhere!...my parents are weird, what can I say.

Later, my Dad admitted that when he got to Home Depot there was an entire wall of them and it wasn't so hard to find at all.

Shoes and St. Judes

I mentioned last week that although I might not necessarily need them, I've been searching for a new pair of cute black leather boots to wear with pants and/or skirts. I wore my last pair to death and haven't replaced them for the past two years...but I refused to pay a ridiculous amount for them.

I was on my way to my second job at the beebeedubs the other night when I saw that Nine West Outlet was having a huge boot sale right next door. So I went in and did a lap and immediately realized that the boots on sale for $20 right in the front of the store were the exact same boots I bought two years ago in camel leather (which I still have/wear btw). These boots are comfy, classy enough to wear with pants and cute enough to wear with skirts (although I probably haven't done so yet).

Huzzah!

As I'm trying on the two sizes I usually run in Nine West, I overhear a disturbing exchange going on not five feet from me at the cash register. It goes something like this, the sweet nice girl sales associate is completing the woman customer's transaction and her manager is standing there as well.

Would you like to donate $1 to the St. Jude's Fund?
No! In fact, what I'd like is for St. Jude to give me a dollar! You know?! She turns to the manager.
Right, he laughs it off uncomfortably.

The woman leaves and then the sales associate and the manager discuss.
How do you not know what St. Jude is?
Yeah, I wanted to be like, Actually, St. Jude is a Children's Hospital and they research cancer. So the money you'd be donating will help save children's lives all over the country.

By this point I'm done figuring out which size is right for me and I'm up at the cash wrap.
I can't believe she didn't know what St. Jude was, I can't help but continue the conversation.
Seriously, I mean it's okay if you don't want to make a donation. People say no all the time, but to put down a charity that helps children and say they should be paying you?! That's just wrong.
I agree.
Would you like to donate $1.
Of course I would.
She adds $1 onto my transaction and when she hands me my recipt she scans a coupon and gives it to me. It's for 20% off any purchases I make the entire month of January. Sweet!
Now if she had just shut up and donated a dollar, St. Jude would have given her something in return!
Yes, yes they would have.
I certainly hope that her chidren never need to rely on St. Jude for anything in the future.
We tell each other to have a nice night and a happy holiday and we all go on our merry way.

Seriously?! Seriously?!

Sometimes I honestly can't understand people. Yeah, it can get a little aggrivating when every other vendor/store is asking if you'd like to make a donation to some charity every other time you purchase something...but to say something so horrible? To want to take money away from children's cancer research? That's just wrong.

I don't care if you're ill informed, I don't care if you for some reason hate children, you just don't EVER go that far. But how could you be so ill informed/ignorant? In grammar school we did Math-a-thons to support St. Jude, there are commercials with people like Robin Williams, Jennifer Aniston, and Antonio Benderas sitting with a child who is obviously a cancer patient all over TV!

I agree that sometimes people can be pushy when it comes to donations, but they just don't know any better. Guilting people into a donation is not the way to do it, you should simply ask and then inform if they don't recognize the cause.

I certainly hope you consider donating to a cause you feel is worthy this holiday season. Even if it's donating a coat you no longer use, or mismatched socks to the homeless. Every little bit helps.

Manjoyment Monday: Once More With Feeling

Weird. You know how once in awhile multiple people you know who have no affiliation with each other start talking to you about the same thing and you wonder if the cosmos are trying to send you a message?

Well one of my friends was telling me how she recently started watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Series on DVD and how she had never seen it before.

I was aghast.

I literally grew up on that...or rather...I spent my entire high school career watching it. And it was something we watched as a family, believe it or not.

So my sister is studying for finals and while she was compiling her notes and writing her flash cards this past week, she too had been watching the series as background noise.

AND THEN, yesterday I woke up and low and behold, my father is watching Once More With Feeling, the amazingly well done Buffy Musical episode.

What does all this mean to Manjoyment Monday? Simply that James Marsters is pretty damn hot! And obviously the universe wanted me to share that with you...

I have to admit I was a little sad when I found out he's not actually British. That accent was dead sexy. But apparently Anthony Stewart Head taught him everything he knows about it...and probably how to brew the perfect cup of Taster's Choice too.

Grr. Arg.

"Brilliant, beguilling, the smiling brigade..."

"...Princes on Parade!"


Yeah the Swan Princess Soundtrack is still in Lulu's CD player...

...DON'T JUDGE!

Dance Party Friday: 365

I barely made it through this week alive. I mean, I haven't hacked up a lung yet, but I've come pretty close. So it's time for a real celebration.

Dance Party Friday: Stormtrooper Style!


Ashley posted a link to an amazingly wonderfully fantastic Flickr set called Stormtrooper 365.

It.is.incredible.

I'm in awe of people's creativity. Don't you need a little Stormtrooper in your day?

Sometimes I hate NY

The New York Senate voted down more Gay Rights. This makes me angry.

However, this flow chart from ScienceBlogs.com makes me giggle.


Click to enlarge the idiocy of some people.
That is all.

101 and counting

So today actually marks 101 days on my quest to do 101 things in 1001 days. Plus we're closing in on the end of the year and I guess that just makes me think even more of what I've actually accomplished this year....even outside of that list.

Somehow, despite the fact that for three months this summer I was furloughed down to 4 day work-weeks, I managed to double the amount in one of my savings accounts. (We won't dwell on the fact my other savings account isn't as happy.) I've also managed to pay off 1/6 of my car loan, woohoo!

I've been trying desperately this year to curb my spending. There are a lot of big important things I'll have to pay for in the not-so-distant future...weddings...homes...not to mention I still have student loans and the rest of my car loan to pay off. So saving has become almost like a game to me. Every time I look at something I want to buy I really ask myself if I need it, or if I simply want it. In fact I did need a new winter coat so I bought one. I do want new black boots but I'll have to find a really good deal on a pair to feel as though I should actually spend to buy them, even though I've been with out black boots for the past three winters *sadness*.

I've made lemonade when life handed me lemons, and I think I've grown in that department. I can easily step back now and look at a situation with a level head and not get overly angry, upset, or disappointed when it's unnecessary.

Pretty much my greatest accomplishment this year was maintaining. I've struggled for a few years now to get control of my weight. Right now I'm a good 20lbs heavier than I was the summer of my junior/senior year of college. That means the past three years I've gained a whole lot and I'm not happy about that.

Since January I've been attempting to eat healthier and move more but I kept hitting walls. Over the summer I tried the Couch to 5k and wound up hurting my foot and having to do things that were lower impact. For the past five years or so I've had a pain in my back that no MRIs or x-rays could attribute to anything and that hindered my exercising as well.

But now (although my foot is still a bit bothersome) my back finally got the kink worked out of it and I'm feeling leaner and meaner already. I quite literally started last year at the weight I am currently at so at the very least that means I maintained my weight this year. Now to build some more muscle and loose a little jiggle. If I continue on the path I've set myself on (weight training, really watching my caloric intake, tracking weight fluctuations, hydrating correctly, doing low impact cardio) I'm fairly certain I will begin to see the results within the next few months.

The holidays will be tough, but I managed to get through Thanksgiving without any extra fluff and I'm determined to see changes in the scale slowly but surely throughout the month and into the new year.

Basically although I've made a few leaps and a few bounds in certain areas of my life, and maintained in others, I'm ready to make a few more changes and tweak my life in small ways that I think will add up throughout the next year.

Hooray determination! Hooray for an uneventful year!

Humbug

Ugh, I am terribly terribly sick. I came back from my adventures in Troy with a cold and I haven't been able to shake it.

So if anyone knows the cure for a cough and leaking from your nose, eyes and ears, please let me know what it is. I'd like to be rid of this!

I'd also like to be in bed...for the rest of the week...could we do that? Please?

Manjoyment Monday: Yeah Tiberius

This weekend my sister and I got got home to find my father in the driveway unloading his car. What had he bought himself?

A Bluray player.

What two movies did he come home with on Bluray?

The Mummy Trilogy and the new Star Trek, which I have never seen. So in honor of that, please enjoy some Chris Pine:


From sweetheart prince wannabe to Captain James Tiberius Kirk, he's just so beautiful.

No one believed me that Winona Ryder played Spok's mom but I was vindicated during the credits. And I must say although a creeper as Sylar in Heroes, Zachary Quinto does a fantastic job as Spok, honestly.

Now can someone explain to me how they managed to completely re-write Star Trek from the beginning with one movie? Did anybody get it? How do we get to there from here?!

Dance Party Friday: Happy Black Friday!

There is a possibility I might have to work today. I haven't worked retail on a Black Friday in two years. Hopefully it isn't as bad as I imagine it might be.

But please enjoy this clip of Monica from Friends dancing with a turkey on her head:



Happy Friday! And Happy Long Weekend!

Turkey Pardoning

In the words of my brother Dan, "The air smells of tasty smelling smells!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Now I'm going to go watch the parade!

Please enjoy this clip from The West Wing, and consider to skip the turkey like I do every year.

"I'll marry you Puckman!"

Ever since my first hockey game at RPI, I've been hooked.

I seriously just can't get enough of Puckman. I realize this is probably one of my most ridiculous loves, but he's just such an adorable mascot in a ridiculous way. He's a puck, with the RPI bullet as a body, and an engineer's hat as a head. That's it. Plain and simple.

But I LOVE him!

I also love the Zamboni. It's probably one of my favorite parts of the hockey game. For a long time my dream was to ride the Zamboni in the Puckman costume. Quite a lofty dream if you ask me.

This weekend PC's theme was Celebrity Jeopardy. Instead of Sean Connery and the inevitable "Penis mightier" joke the Celebrities were Puckman, Shirley J, and a Girl. When Nick told me this I almost wet myself with excitement...James HAD the Puckman costume on loan from the Athletics Department. From that moment on it became my mission to get inside it and take photos and videos of myself doing my best Puckman impression.

After sound check we were wandering around backstage (because you know as PC alums we're allowed to do whatever we want if we bring snacks), and there he was, face down on a desk in the warm-up room.

Giddy as a school girl I ran over to one of the n00bs and merely said as I threw my camera at her, "It is my dream to be inside that thing!" And ran over to pull the costume over my head. She snapped away some photos and even took a video of me doing Puckman's signature move, the crowd cheer competition.

Dreams really do come true!!!

Afterward I legitimately introduced myself to the n00bs, all of whom didn't think it was odd of me at all to run in and attack the Puckman costume. The n00bs are great and I'm so excited to see the group thrive on its own!

Truly...
My Life = COMPLETE

Now all I have to do is ride a Zamboni!

(1st photo borrowed from smelikian's flickr)

The Lulu Saga: NEVER ENDS!

After an utterly amazing weekend enjoying the PC Show, and the PC Kid's company, as well as making new friends with some WPI guys from Simple Harmonic Motion...I woke up this morning dreading going to work just because I was still exhausted from the after party Saturday night. (Yeah, we started drinking at 4pm on Saturday, and yeah, I'm not in college anymore so I need a full day to recover apparently.)

I get into Lulu and turn the key...*click click click click click* and the dash board does it's own rendition of a light switch rave.

Battery = Dead.

My Dad's away on business so he suggests calling our local mechanic to come around the corner and jump the car and check the battery connections. Gene saves the day and I load Lulu's trunk with some jumper cables (just in case) and drive off to work.

But seriously? They righted Lulu's windshield wipers but didn't connect the battery correctly?! WILL THIS EVER END?!?!

So now I have to make another phone call to the dealership and I'll probably have to drop the car off again and I just want to scream at this point.

(P.S.-Although I'm old and can't party like I used to, James MADE MY LIFE this weekend. Photos and explanation to follow...)

Manjoyment Monday

Back in my college days one of my roommates Belinda posted a new b&w picture of a super sexy guy every Sunday night on our apartment door.

Even though we were upperclassmen we lived in an apartment that shot off from a freshman residence hall, so please understand that the first floor (where we lived) was entirely populated by freshmen boys, and some of them didn't realize women lived on their floor. Needless to say, they were always confused as to why so many images of hot sexy men kept on popping up on a door that they thought freshman dudes lived behind.

So every Monday morning on my way out the door I got a glimpse of a new hottie.

To continue that tradition, I will institute Manjoyment Monday. And without further ado...

Uh...yeah I'm Team Jacob. Don't judge!

No, I didn't go to see a midnight showing. And no, I'm not a crazed fan. But seriously, these men are hot!

Dance Party Friday

I'm not sure how many of you work full time jobs but for those of you who have the dreaded 9-5s (or in my case 7:30-4:00), the week definitely drags on.

So when Friday comes, it's time to celebrate!!!

My friend Ashley (of trashy novel swapping fame) usually posts a ridiculous dance party every week. I have to admit, I look forward to Dance Party Friday. It gives me a good little giggle to start the day off with.

Here's one in celebration of New Moon's release:

ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINOS!!!

In other news, I'm headed back up to Albany/Troy this weekend. If you're in the area, you should totally come to the PC Show Saturday night! Be there or be L7!

I realize, I'm ridiculous

For a few days this week my good friend Matty was in the city on business. Since I had work at the beebeedubbs Monday night we decided to do dinner last night instead.

So Matty, the Beaner and I hopped into the newly (and finally) fixed Lulu and grabbed some dinner. But oh look, the Swan Princess soundtrack was still in Lulu's player...so Julibean and I serenaded Matt. Yeah, that's right, we sang to him until he could almost figure out the words himself and sing along too!

But *gasp* Matty had never seen the Swan Princess! So after our early bird dinner (yeah, we're old ladies now) we went back to our house and sat him down and put in the most fabulous movie ever.

I'm serious people, long before he was ever transformed into a frog in Shrek, John Cleese was a French frog in the Swan Princess named Jean-Bob. And he is hilarious! Plus I'm thinking Jean-Bob might be an excellent name for a dog, but I digress.

As the plot unraveled Matt had a few choice comments. When the evil Lord Rothbart appears Matty exclaimed, "There's nothing scarier than a handle bar moustache!"

Later, when Derek and Odette are finally reunited under the pale moonlight and have their first kiss in a long time: "That's kissing with partially open lips...are we sure the children should be watching this?"

I love you Matty, especially since you sit through 2-D animations I love without even a second thought!

If you don't go out and rent the Swan Princess and watch it, "I'll have you whipped, flogged, put on the rack and have your back legs fried in butter!!"

I suck at life

I am literally the worst blogger in existence right now. I swear, I'll be better...in fact I'm working on some back-posts right now which include:

1. An actual wedding recap.
2. A washed out Halloween
3. The Lulu Saga
4. My first casino experience
5. The inevitable continuation of the Lulu Saga
6. An engagement party (complete with sing-alongs)
7. A dinner/movie date with the gbf

So that's a whole lot I need to start catching up on...and then some.

The Lulu Saga...still utterly ridiculous

When last we left, Lulu's windshield wipers were wired backwards. (Wow, try saying that five times fast.)

I dropped my car off at my local dealership. First off let me just toss out here Hassett Subaru is awesome. If you are in the market for a new Subaru, check them out, their customer service is excellent and we've (my Dad, my Mom, myself and my cousin) bought/leased new Subes from them this year and we couldn't be happier.

Anyway, I drop my car off Monday morning explaining that another body shop completely dropped the ball and made this ridiculously hilarious mistake that only would happen to me! The service guy chuckles a little (I mean wouldn't you?) and tells me it should only be an hour's worth of labor.

"Great", I tell him, "the other body shop is paying for it."

I call Tom, the manager of the body shop at Mr. G's and he tells me he'll call and give Hassett billing information so I don't have to worry about charging things...because we all know how that turned out...

Get to Hassett after work (the upside to all this is I get to carpool with my Dad and conversation is always well above par in addition to the fact I get to drive my Dad's Legacy Turbo which is incredible) and low and behold...of course the original body shop fails me again.

Seriously guys?

Had to charge the hour of labor on my own credit card and fax the receipt over to Tom the next day. (Reminder to self: double check he got the fax and has sent reimbursement check.)

First thing I do when I get into Lulu is check to make sure all the fluids are coming out the right place (wow that sounded wrong), and hooray! She's back to new!

...how long did this all take?!

Good morning Baltimore!

In case I hadn't mentioned it, my sister Julianne and her boyfriend Chris got engaged! Currently Chris is living outside of Baltimore while Julibean finishes out her first year of law school. She's looking to transfer to another DC/MD area school next year.

This past weekend was their engagement party down in the MD. Julibean and I packed into the newly fixed but still not perfect Lulu, and drove down. It was painful. I'm sorry New Jersey, but learn how to drive!

We finally made it into Maryland and to celebrate Julibean swapped a bunch of ridiculous cds into Lulu's 6-cd changer and I was shocked, but not all together surprised that she had chosen the Swan Princess soundtrack. Yes friends, I love the Swan Princess and a lot of other non-Disney animated movies! *gasp*

Our favorite tracks include the opening number: This is My Idea and Far Longer than Forever performed in all it's 90s glory by Jeffrey Osbourn and Regina Belle. I'm always the man in that duet. If you haven't heard this magical song, the best I can do for you is this video of the credits.

Anyway, when we finally got to Chris' apartment we enjoyed some good pizza, some good beer, and some good company as our friends began to pour in. It was a good night of frivolity, as you can see by the happy faces of Rich and Morgan as we played Uno Explode or whatever the Uno game is called where it spits cards at you.

The engagement party was also a great time. A bunch more of Julibean's friends showed up who happen to live in the Baltimore area or who were visiting family there that weekend. And since we had about 8 former PC Kids we even sang a few songs a cappella for Chris' grandparents.

The whole gang (minus Cynthia *sadface*)

All in all a great weekend, plus I got to see Jason since Baltimore is half way between Virginia and LI and that was simply wonderful!


I had to tack this last photo on at the end because Chris is the least photogenic person EVER and he actually looks pretty good in this shot!

The Lulu Saga...reunited

After a weekend without her. I finally heard back from the body shop on Monday. Lulu was all fixed and painted and they just needed to put her back together again. She would be ready for pick up on Tuesday.

Huzzah!

I quickly made plans to leave early from work Tuesday afternoon, jump on a train from my office into Penn and grab an Amtrak to Albany. Once there, Laura would pick me up, we'd retrieve Lulu, have dinner at Smokey Bones and I'd drive back home.

The best laid plans...

Since the body shop closes at 6pm on weekdays I asked the kind gentlemen to bring my paper work and keys up to the cashier on the sales floor because my train would be getting in at 5:45 and I didn't want to cut it too close. I seriously must have called the body shop six different times in a two hour period during the day to fax things over and make sure Chrissy's insurance company paid and all that jazz and at least two out of those six times I confirmed that my keys and paper work would be waiting for me on the sales floor.

Guess what wasn't there when I got to Mr. G's dealership at 6:10?

So we're explaining to the receptionist/cashier that I have to go back home to LI so I can get to work in the morning and that I was told everything would be set for me by the guys in the body shop. She makes a few calls and finds that even though it's only 10 minutes after quitting time the entire body shop is empty.

Well shit.

Finally she calls her manager and asks if there's anything he can do and to please come out and speak with me. Out strolls Mister G himself, the owner of all the dealerships along the strip. We explain the situation, he whips out his iPhone and starts calling the body shop manager and a few other guys to see if any of them can come back to the shop and get my poor little Lulu.

Eventually, after failing to reach anyone, Mr. G rolls up his monogrammed cuffs and breaks into his own body shop to retrieve my paper work and keys. Laura and I sit down and I help myself to some coffee, assuming it's going to be a really really long night.

In walks Mr. G carrying what looks to be my paper work! He shuffles through the pages and tells me that the insurance company hasn't paid yet. Well fuck. What in the hell am I supposed to do? He tells me to put the almost $3k on my credit card and he will hold onto the paper work personally and credit my account once they get the insurance check.

I have no choice but to charge it.

Eons later, I pull Lulu around next to Laura's pretty little Black Bitch (yeah that's right, we named her Sunfire the Black Bitch because she's oh so saucy), and we inspect the repairs in the dim-lit parking lot.

Other than the fact Lulu wreaks of nail polish, everything appears to be fine. We drive off in search of sustenance and after dinner I get back on the road to get home.

Around the Tappan Zee Bridge, I go to clean my windshield. No fluid comes out. Those fuckers, I think, they didn't refill my wiper fluid after they replaced the tank! Oh but no dear readers, NO! Those fuckers did indeed refill my tank, but what they didn't do was check the connections.

Yes, yes my friends...that's right. As I pushed the button to spray my windshield, the wipers did a happy little dry dance, and the fluid came out the back reservoir. Baffled I turned the knob to wash the back windshield and away the wipers went but the fluid sprayed on my front windshield.

WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!

Honestly.

Honestly, who else would this happen to but me? I seriously wish this were the end of the story...

Atlantic City or Bust

Months and months ago (sometime in May methinks) while we were at Chris' beach house we somehow came up with a large colossal idea. Our friend Jim is probably one of our best and closest friends from college (and when I say our I mean collectively my sister and I). He's an audiophile, brilliant, has a good job with a renown company, has a fantastic voice, an insane memory for roads and transportation systems, a sharp sense of humor and can imitate an irritated old lady perfectly. (If any of these qualities appeal to you, please inquire about dating Jim, he'd make an excellent boyfriend if you like nerdy guys.)

Playing mini golf on the strip...
this was when we decided AC would be a nice change from the OC

Problem is, now that we've all graduated we live so far apart and only get to see everyone together once in a blue moon. So we thought it would be a good idea to plan ahead and decide what we'd do for Jim's birthday in November. Somehow in our celebratory drunken wisdom we decided renting a suite in Atlantic City and dressing up and acting like high rollers would be the perfect way to go.

We put out some feelers to see who of our friends could join...this was back in June...and sometime in October we realized we're poor and can't afford a suite. So our plans switched gears and we wound up crashing at Jim's place in Philly and driving the hour to AC for the day.

Friday night found us in a pub a few blocks from Jim's apartment and we had a delectable dinner with a sprinkling of local beer. Might I interject here with a raving review for PBC's Joe, it is fantastic and if you are a fan of dark beers and/or coffee...TRY IT. We headed back after dinner, more friends arrived and then we took a nice stroll to a bar approximately 2 miles away from Jim's apartment. Hey, it was his birthday, I was going wherever he damn well wanted to go and SEPTA was on strike...again...so like responsible motorists we walked instead of flipping a coin to see who would DD.

Enjoyed another nice stroll approximately 2 miles back to Jim's apartment at around 3am. To which in the morning we all admitted "We're getting to old for this shit."

Saturday was the day! We decided to start off the day like true champs and have some Jim's. If you've never been to Philly, or have never had the pleasure of consuming a true Philly Cheesesteak in all it's glory, Jim's is truly the place to go. Don't be afraid if the line is down the block...it's worth the wait!

No it isn't cannibalism for Jim to eat a Jim's Steak.
But he likes his with extra wizz and onions if you're wondering ladies.

Morgan and Andrew chow'n down.

Then it was off to Atlantic City! I've actually never been there before, in fact it's on my 101 in 1001 list so I was super excited. We started over at the Trump Plaza and I was determined to lose no more than $40 for my first casino experience. Which limited me to the slot machines, err electronic gaming machines, the penny slots specifically.

I sat down at a fun looking machine and put in my first $20 and wailed away on the button! Too quickly for my friend Andrew to stop me since I had played the max bet on like 20 lines. *sadness* I had lost $5 on my first spin! Frustrated I printed out my ticket and moved on. How dare they not explain the rules of the game clearly before I play?!

Wandered on and watched Andrew play craps for a good half hour. The nice high school math teacher next to him at the table explained the rules to me and what the bets meant. As Andrew put it later he got me a $140 education. He wasn't so lucky.

Afterward I cashed out my $11.95 and we met up with everyone else who had gone over to Caesar's. Julibean and Chris (and one of Jim's friend whose name I cannot recall) were over by the penny slots and having a grand old time playing the fishy themed one.

I decided to try my luck at put $5 into the random machine next to my sister's. Now I was down to $2.45 on this ticket. We were about to give up, I was rather content with my ~$9 loss for my first experience...hey, it could be worse, I could have lost $140 at the craps table...and we soldiered on to find everyone else.

Except once we got to the aisle Julibean sat down at another machine, determined to either win big or just lose all her $40 she came to play with. Bored, I sat down at a cute little Hindu Goddess themed machine and decided to just throw my $2.45 ticket in and piss away the last of that $5.

This machine actually made sense and the pictures were really pretty and after two spins I found myself in a bonus round giving me 10 free spins. Woohoo! Exciting! I sat there watching the game literally play itself...woohoo! Another 5 free spins! The game continued and continued and I just sat and watched...$30.95....$49.45...$60.75!!!

At this point I had gotten my sister and Chris' attention and they came to see what all the fuss was about and were in awe as the game continued to play all by itself and rack up more and more money for me. By the end I was looking at $79.75 and immediately hit the cash out button and skipped over to the ATM/cash out contraption to grab my prize!

Seriously...it was awesome. I was the only one who walked away from AC with extra money, Jim broke even, and everyone else lost anywhere from $10-140. We drove back to Philly and had some dinner at Nodding Head which again had some excellent house beer (and one of the largest collections of bobble heads I've ever seen). I especially liked the Grog, delightfully dark, and the dessert we got Jim by surprise was one of the most delicious things he had never eaten.

Meandered after dinner to another pub with some live music (couldn't tell if the two front men were twins or just looked really really similar), and then eventually scampered back to Jim's apt.

These are the weekends dreams are made of...literally, it was that amazing a time.

The Lulu Saga...beginnings

If you haven't noticed by now, I give names to everything. Inanimate objects are my favorite things to name. The most popular things to name on my list are computers and cars...mostly because there are so many of both in my household.

My first car, The Tank was an '85 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon, complete with faux wood paneling. You're jealous, don't lie. The Tank is still around, it has literally become the garage meaning we drove it in and started piling things inside The Tank inside the garage. I have lofty plans of restoring The Tank come next year when it's technically a classic, but for now he waits, a sleeping giant.

My next car was the Hunter (seen in all his deliciousness right). Hunter is a 2000 Subaru Forester in, you guessed it, hunter green plus he has after-market wood detailing. I named him such after we found a rifle shell casing in the trunk that the detail guys missed. Hunter himself has been all penguined out and is still kicking around Virginia with Jason.

This year I bought a new car. A shiny black Subaru Outback Sport, when we first met I got inside, started the ignition and drove her off the lot. She said, "Hi, I'm Lulu!" To which I replied, "Hi Lulu, we're going to be good friends."

Lulu has been wonderful. She loves the snow and rain, has just enough trunk space for a long weekend getaway for two, and most importantly she's mine...all mine. I am very protective of Lulu, she is a lady after all and needs some taking care of. The Tank and Hunter were big gruff men and needed no tending to.

That being said, Lulu got her face knocked in, and I couldn't even be mad about it.

Let's jump back here a second. When I go up to Albany to visit my friends who are still living in the area after college, I typically spend most of my time with Laura and my now good friend Chrissy. Usually we park our cars at Chrissy's house and one of us volunteers to drive around town for the day. So I parked Lulu across the street from Chrissy's house in a little cut out near the dead end. This is where I always park when I'm at Chrissy's.

We have a fantastic evening and returned to Chrissy's house Sunday morning to go out together for breakfast. This is when a ridiculous series of events occurred within seconds of each other:

• We pile in Chrissy's car JeepJeep (yes she names her cars too)
• We're super excited and super hungry for breakfast
• Chrissy reverses out of her drive way
• Chrissy checks behind her to make sure the dog and little children haven't snuck out of the house
• JeepJeep comes to a screeching halt
• There is a violent shudder
• We all exchange glances thinking: wtf did we hit?!
• We all exchange glances realizing: shit, my car is back there!!!
• We all pile out of JeepJeep, Chrissy takes one look at Lulu and takes a minute by herself to tear her hair out
  

That being said, Lulu got her face knocked in, and I couldn't even be mad about it.

Chrissy is a ray of sunshine ALWAYS. I've seen the girl sad once in my life and within 10 minutes she's a ball of energy again. I love her dearly. Because of all of this and because of how horrible Chrissy felt, I couldn't be mad at her. In fact, all I could do was laugh.

There we stood, staring at Lulu with her headlight, bumper, and fender all mashed in...and all I could do was laugh!

After about a million phone calls (the least of which I wanted to make was the one to my father telling him my friend had hit my car in broad daylight accidentally), and with the help of Chrissy's Dad, we got Lulu's fender popped back out and zip-tied in place so I could drive the car over to the dealership and leave it to get taken care of. And then we had breakfast....well...lunch at this point.

Chrissy had to run off to work so Laura was kind enough to drop me off at the Poughkeepsie station so I could catch a cheap[er than Amtrak] train. So I finally get home after an hour in the car and a few hours on the Metro North train and another 40 minutes on the LIRR and my Dad meets me across the street from the station in the White Castle parking lot.

To put the icing on the cake, not only could I not be angry about my car being smashed and having to leave it in Albany for the week, but the backpack I borrowed from Laura to take on the trip home with me allowed my klean kanteen to slip out of the water bottle pouch on it. So that pissed me off a whole lot because I love my klean kanteen!

Tune in next time for another installment of the Lulu Saga!