Am I activating my credit card or having phone sex?

I just had an interesting experience when trying to activate my new credit card. Being one to always follow directions (or at least I pretend to do that) I picked up my cell phone, the only phone I have, and dialed the number on the little sticker which said "call from your home phone number". I pressed the little buttons, 8 0 0 2 5 5 x x x x and was a bit surprised to hear this sexy female voice mention something about being horny, and to stay on the line. "I don't think this is Bank of America" flashed across my mind! Opps! Did I dial 800? Oh! It's 888. Ok, let's start over again.

Moral of the story.....pay attention.

WHAT is going on here?

Is this a familiar scene to anyone else this year? These are the phone books I put out in the recycle bin tonight. Prior to this I think I put out 4 or 5 or 6. I've lost track. At work today, after noticing the pile of 4 phone books in the corner on the back counter, I casually asked my co-workers if any of them had gotten way more phone books than needed. And they all replied, "Yes!" Someone said that they get paid by how many books they deliver. I wonder if that's why? And all I have is a cell phone...no land line in my apartment.

I think it's all a plot. And do you know who I think is behind it?

And the Oscar goes to . . .

What an amazing roll Jennifer Hudson has been on! Voted off the island . . . to all of these major awards. Talk about rags to riches! And talk about feeling overwhelmed!




Don't get me wrong. I am very excited and happy for her. But it brings to mind a similar excitement I felt many years ago (eeek! 46 years ago!) when two of my favorite new stars won the supporting role Oscars.








It was 1961....I had just seen West Side Story at the Hellman Theater on Washington Avenue. I was 12 years old, just about to enter my teens. The Jets and the Sharks! Forbidden love. (Several years later, 1968 to be exact, some upstart stole this whole plot idea and made a movie set in an earlier time....Romeo and Juliet....can you believe it!) I fell in love with West Side Story. I think that's when all this crazy movie line quoting began. But anyhoo, I digress. West Side Story carried over into my daily life. We LIVED West Side Story. Only it wasn't on the West Side and it wasn't much of a story. I really wanted to get one of those leather wrist bands the Sharks wore. I never got the wrist band but I did repaint my 24 inch Rollfast bike to reflect my alliance to the Jets. I painted the shark and the word "Sharks" on the chain guard. Can you imagine if I actually had ridden that on the West Side? Uh hum. And as an aside, it would actually be another 3 years before I even step foot on the isle of Manhattan! Smoke on your pipe and put THAT in!


Which brings me to my two favorite winners of the Best Supporting roles Oscars. Anita and Bernardo. Whew! Talk about passion! I think 'America' was my favorite number. And boy was I on the edge of my seat when Anita went into Doc's to give Tony's message to Riff! But I guess that set the whole tragic end into motion. I remember when the movie ended, there was a lot of sniffling going on in the theater. And I remember all of us in our group were saying, "I didn't know anyone dies in this!" What a shock to our young and impressionable systems!

So, as I congratulate Jennifer, my heart goes out to her, and I hope her future continues to be bright. Rita Moreno went on to do a lot of television and movies. I seem to remember her the most from Electric Company when my kids used to watch that. As for George Chakiris, he seemed to drop from the face of the earth, although he didn't, but went on to do television and movies too. But, alas....neither went on to greater roles in Hollywood. And, my Rollfast bike never got to ride down the West Side. It's probably on the bottom of some trash heap, or maybe some kid is still riding it and wonder what kind of chowder head likes fish enough to paint one on his bike. Kids sure were weird back in the Sixties!

How I Spent Presidents' Day

That old cliche goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, when life gives you snow and ice and freezing cold, make a cozy habitat. I didn't want to waste the day away huddled on the couch, so I decided to make the most of an arctic situation.

Here I am in the construction phase. I'm sure glad that the sun was shining.







After it was completed, I wanted to make it warm and inviting so I decided to light some of my Yankee Candles. I figure "Jack Frost" would be the perfect fragrance and provide the ultimate in ambiance.




But then I committed a faux pas. I went to heat up some milk for hot cocoa and left the candles burning unattended. And when I returned, to my horror, this was the scene that awaited me.

So the moral of the story is: "Never leave a burning candle unattended, even in an igloo." (I have to thank my one arm neighbor for that lesson.)

Coinkydink? I don't think so!

I think someone is cheating on Hiro! And I think some writers are having some fun with us!

In "Seven Minutes to Midnight", episode 8 of Heroes which aired on November 13, 2006, Hiro and Ando stop in a diner and Hiro meets Charlie. She has her own strange power. Charlie thinks Hiro is "sweet" and Hiro falls for her. True love! Jayma Mays is so lovable in that role.

Well, on Ugly Betty this past week, in episode 16, "Derailed" Betty meets Henry's girlfriend from back home. And guess what? Her name is Charlie! And who do you think plays Charlie? Yes! It's Jayma Mays! Coincidence? What do you think?


And! Do you know where I think she's going to turn up next? My guess is that she will be Hurley's girlfriend Charlie in a flashback.

Before the After

OK. Since my post about my new exercise program (see Sweatin' wi da homeys ) I have been inundated with requests for me to post a 'Before' photo so that a base line can be established. I know that readers out there (my blog hits are closing in on totals normal on Paris Hilton dedicated sites) will so want to know how I succeed or fail or "whatever dude".

So . . . here I am in all my slob-iness. Notice I cleaned up the drool?

Well, now I guess I'd better get to work. As soon as I finish this Danish and, er, frog.

Day 2: A city under, er, um, under some white stuff

This picture was taken in Cobleskill, NY at 12:45pm. See that lump in the center? That car was parked there at 8:00am that morning. Cobleskill is about 45 minutes from me and got a little over 32" of snow yesterday. We lucked out with only about 17" or thereabouts. The following pics were taken this morning when I went out to assess the damage from the wind during the night. Actually, I made out pretty well.

I didn't have much to shovel before work this morning. And speaking of work...it was freezing in the branch office today! Our hands and toes were frozen! Plus, the computer system went down for a few hours in the afternoon, and our phones were down too. They probably were suffering from hypothermia.

When I got home from work, I wasn't quite sure where to park my Jeep. My next door neighbor told me yesterday that we need to move out cars to the opposite side of the street at 8:00pm tonight. Most of the cars were still parked on this side of the street. Just to be certain, I rang his doorbell to make sure I was moving the jeep to where it should be. He said, that this happens every year and eventually all the others will get the idea. Apparently, the plows are supposed to go thru tonight and clear this side of the street. So, I moved my car to the opposite side. Shortly after I did, I heard a horn beeping. I looked out the window and saw that a car couldn't get past my car because someone had left a snowblower running in the street near my car. I hope my Jeep survives this winter! Ah, the joys of street parking.

It was only a matter of time . . .

I guess we can only have winter so long without some snow. I've lived in my apartment for almost two years and this is the first significant snowfall! People would ask me, how is it there in the winter with street parking? I couldn't really answer because I never had to use a snow shovel until today!

Besides being bitter cold, it has been windy too. I figure I should begin to dig out my Jeep. Why? I'm not sure. I didn't have anyplace to go, nor was there any other place to move it to.

While I was out there, one of my neighbors across the street was digging out her car and clearing her driveway a little. She was making small talk about the 'blizzard', trying to get out, etc. She said she was out of milk and didn't like being out of milk. She needed some to do some cooking. She was out there about an hour, cleaning around her car and warming it up. I was busy digging around my Jeep so that I could get it out at some point. And . . . I noticed that I was parked in a spot that, as she backed out of her driveway and attempted to turn, she could potentially plow right into my car!

I suggested that maybe she could back almost straight across the street and into the driveway on the opposite side and then just head forward up the street. That would hopefully spare my car from becoming "disfigured." Well, in the course of backing up, she spun wheels, slid, cut across a snow bank, spun some more, but eventually made it out. She rolled down her passenger window and thanked me for the help. She said she wasn't sure how she was going to make it back, but she was heading to Stewart's to get some milk. Then it hit me. Stewart's is two blocks away! She spent an hour digging that car out, spinning around and heaven knows what else she happened to do on the way there and back. She probable could have walked there and back in about 15 minutes! Oh well.

Now, I'm just hoping my Jeep stays unscathed until I get it out of there to go to work tomorrow morning . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got a new puppy for Valentine's Day! A very good friend gave him to me! I think I'm going to call him Spotty. For Valentine's Day I got Spotty a gift . . . a tool box! It's for all the little odd jobs he does around the house.

STOP!

When I hear of tragedy in senseless deaths, my mind puts the 'family' connection to it. Upon hearing of the shootings at the Salt Lake City shopping mall, my heart goes out to the victims and their families.

I think of the parents, siblings, children, of the victims who went to the mall . . . so common . . . only to not return alive.

I fear for my own family. Two women shot dead were 28 (my son's age), one man was 24 (my oldest daughter's and my daughter-in-law's age), and the 15 year old girl (my youngest daughter is 16). My heart goes out to their parents.

And, it's not limited to the USA. Every time a marketplace is bombed in Baghdad, families lose loved ones.

I'll add my plea to the chorus . . . PLEASE STOP!

Finally! Back to the gym!

Well I finally did it this past week. After an almost four month lapse...I'm back to the gym! I know . . . there are always excuses. It's too cold to go back out. I don't want to drive alllllll the way over there. I'm exhausted. It was crazy at work. I'll just eat less (HA! Like that would happen!)

I also received a gift certificate from Amazon.com and I cashed it in online. One of the DVDs I got was an exercise one . . . 10 Minute Solution, Fat Blasting Dance Mix with Jennifer Galardi. Yeah, it's no Richard Simmons, but hey, ya gotta move on. I figure on those days when I don't want to leave my apartment, I can sweat to dance in the comfort of my living room. Hopefully I won't trip on the carpet and crack open my head on the coffee table.

I thought I would also try a new approach to exercise...so that it won't seem so boring. So in addition to running to tunes on my iPod, I take on a different persona each session. One of my favorites is Darth Vadar. "Sweatin' on Tatooine" has taken on new meaning. And when I'm dressed as an Ewok, I really work up a sweat!

Here's a picture with some of my gym buddies. I'm the one on the left. Do you think I look bloated?

On days when I'm totally exhausted, I still work out, only I take it to a lower level. As Yoda, instead of strenuous movement...I think a lot. What a difference that makes!












Do you think maybe I should abandon this persona? It is a bit tacky, I think? (I'm the one in the middle.)

Ugly Betty

Betty is just so cute! Did you see when she went to the spa with Daniel's mom Claire? And just when things look like they are ending with Walter and you think she'll find true love with Henry, along comes the spoiler. Oh well!

Oh, and beware of plants with hidden cameras.

Heroes

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! It keeps getting better and better! I just finished watching last night's episode ("Distractions") online. Here it is, the eve of the return of my number one favorite show, LOST. I watched a recap online tonight and I'm ready!

While LOST was on hiatus, I got myself hooked on Heroes, and Ugly Betty. I think three shows are all I can take right now. I like all of the characters on Heroes, and it seems that as the story evolves, the inter connectivity of the characters is brought more into light. There is still so much more to learn! I hope Charlie from the cafe in Texas shows up again. She was so cute! And especially Hiro's infatuation with her.

I'm finding that I love LOST for the layer upon layer that slowly gets revealed. As I learn more about each character, I feel more and more for them and who they are. There are many episodes that leave me exhausted at the end....and just sitting there in awe, and sometimes crying. I attempted to get into 24, but that was WAY too intense for me. My nerves were frazzled when I watched season 1 on DVD. Although I find Heroes intense, it's to a much lesser degree, plus I love the story lines. And Ugly Betty is just fun! Now if only they would bring back Arrested Development!

Top 10 Things My Dad Taught Me

In the office in my apartment I have a birthday card from several years ago that my oldest daughter made for me entitled . . . Top Ten Things My Dad Taught Me. She comes up with some cute ideas, so I thought I would share this card today....It makes me smile every time I look at it!

Top Ten Things My Dad Taught Me:

10) How to make weird faces

9) That dance from his grade school play ( "Bang! Bang!" )

8) Make sure to double check if the label says "paprika" or "nutmeg"

7) Cleaning up is more fun with some Jumpy-Jazzy music

6) How to have hours of laughter with just an exacto knife, glue, and a Land-O- Lakes box

5) Ice cream tases better straight from the carton with a mopine (dishtowel) on your lap

4) How to Jitterbug like a pro

3) That is what the French call a "be-day"

2) To laugh at life because, man, it's too short

And the #1 thing my Dad taught me is:

1) If a dog eats your bird, beat him with a welcome mat. (true story)

Sunday Morning Read

Last night I was out with some friends (maybe another post someday) and in one of the conversations, birth dates came up and day of the week that that fell on when you were born. There is a theory that a biorhythm cycle of fourteen days (this is from my memory which is a bit sketchy) plays a part in which day of the week can be the 'low' day for you. For me, that marks Saturday and maybe spilling over into Sunday.

Sunday has been a difficult day for me for much of my life. I tell myself that is because growing up it meant the end of the weekend, and back to school the next day. It meant leaving home again to go back to college (but after time, that was welcomed!) And even later, it meant back to work the next day. If only it were longer! If only we had a three day weekend!

While reading the Sunday comics this morning, I found myself doing something I do on many occasions, and in light of last nights conversation, it brought my action to my conscious thought. I was reading Get Fuzzy, finished it, chuckled and then read it again. I've done this a lot over the years. OK. Why?

I think maybe I wanted to stretch out the escape, enjoyment and relaxation of reading the comics. One could probably read the entire comic section in about a minute. But I wanted to make it last. And when I was thru, it meant that part of the fun of the weekend was over.

Maybe reading comics is part of childhood that I want to hold on to. It's a time when problems were little. (Although they did seem big at the time)!

So, I finished reading the comics and moved on to breakfast. I don't want the sun to set. Hang on Sunday!

Wear Red Day

In honor of National Wear Red Day I thought I would display various images of RED in our lives. National Wear Red Day is a day when Americans nationwide wear red to show their support for women's heart disease awareness.

So, here are some things RED. And next week it will be red with lots of chocolate and candy hearts!

And, my ensemble for Wear Red Day...