Birthday Blog (almost)

As I walked towards my office door today I saw that it was closed and had the lovely addition of a big yellow bow. I opened my door to find a cheerful office covered in yellow and pink ribbon and streamers. There were sunflowers, gerbera daisies and cupcakes! It was great. The cupcakes were delicious. My girls are wonderful. I have a personal policy that no one should have to work on their birthday. My boss understands my policy and so I will be spending tomorrow poolside. It was an amazing pre-birthday celebration. Thanks ladies.

Goodbye Girls

Gilmore Girls was the origination of so many things for me. Watching TV over the phone with my sister, strangers mistaking my name "oh yes, like the show," and most and notably and importantly, Slutty Thursdays. I could go on forever about how I love the witty banter and pop culture references. Unfortunately the show could not do the same. As we were walking through the zoo, Sterling asked me how we are going to related every moment of our lives now that all our shows have been cancelled. First it was Friends, then Gilmore Girls, now we are left with nothing. It's like we will have to live our own lives. Who wants to do that? My latest theory is that nothing in life is truly real. Everything is something we saw on TV or just a figment of our imagination.

Walk Left, Stand Right

To increase my cardio, I have been trying to make the effort to walk up the escalator when riding the metro. During the morning commute this is rarely a problem. Everyone is just pushing along, trying to get to work. This morning I could see that I had a clear path up the escalator, when and old man cut me off as I was getting on and decided to stand on the left side. That's right. The left side. As I have witnessed from the masses of tourists, not everyone knows the Walk Left Stand Right rule. I don't really understand why people don't get this. It's not like there aren't escalators all over the country. I can feel the commuters behind me encroaching. I politely say "excuse me." No response. I say again "excuse me sir." The man turns around, looks at me and then turn back. I turn around to the people who are buzzing behind me and they are all giving me looks like "what is this guy's deal?!!?!" I can feel the pressure. I decide that I'm going for it. I again say "excuse me sir." The old man turns around and looks at me not saying anything. I then say "sir, you have to stand on the right." With that he moved and I could hear everyone behind me simultaneously sigh in relief. When I reached the top I felt kind of bad. It wasn't like I yelled at this man, but still. I'm sure karma is going to bite me big on this one.

Top 5: Boston

The girls and I headed up to the home of the Red Sox to cheer on our favorite bride to be and get a taste of the town (ie Dunkin' Donuts). We had an amazing time. I could definitely see myself living in Boston. Keeping with my traveling tradition, I will now list my Boston Top 5.

1. Everything about the Gay/DeLuca Wedding, including my very special duties.
2. Touring the town with my dear friend, Steven Tyler.
3. Flower boxes, small doors and purple door knobs on Beacon Hill.
4. Dinner with Paul and Stef in the North End.
5. Vanilla pancakes at the Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro.

Check out the pics of the wedding and my tour of Boston.

A Sad Sad Day

As many of you may know, there was a horrific shooting this morning at my alma mater. 22 are dead as well as the shooter(the AP is reporting that the death count is 31). My phone has been ringing off the hook with people making sure that I have heard the news. I know a hand full of kids who are there and am trying to make sure that they are all alright.

I can't imagine being a freshman at Tech this year. The first day of school was cancelled because a shooter was on the loose. This was extremely troubling to me because he shot a cop on the trail that one of my best friends walks her dog on. Now, this. I am interested to see what the transfer rate is at the end of this semester. This is a very sad day. My thoughts are with the families of those affected by this travesty.

The Back Breakdown

Without detailing all that happened today, I would just like to thank all my girls that put up with my breakdown when I was having major back trouble and a minor breakdown today. They helped me out and even put up with my stubborn streak when I refused to go home. After taking a nap at Miriam's place, I feel much better and headed to bed soon. I may even make a doctor's appointment tomorrow. At the end of the day things turned out fine. Lis found the "stolen" shower gift, Meaghan enjoyed her shower and I am able to get out of my chair. Again, thanks ladies and goodnight.

Getting in to Trouble While Mom is Away

...formerly known as: This is Your Brain on Easter.

The Pam was out of town for a "girls weekend" over Easter. We really only have one tradition for Easter, dying the dog's tail pink after we are done with the eggs.

As we sat down to dye eggs on a snowy Saturday in April my dad asked "why don't people dye raw eggs?" We sat there and thought a bit. The Pam wasn't home to make deviled eggs so we would really just be wasting the eggs if we hard boiled them. The Star Wars dye kit that we had picked up for my dad had those egg wraps that you have to submerge in hot water. We decided the older eggs would be used for those and we would then throw them out. The new eggs would be placed in cool water with the colored dye so we could use them for cooking later. My dad had one more egg to shrink wrap and found that his water had cooled off too much. He decided to place the egg with the wrap in the mug with water and put it in the microwave. As we sat there dying eggs, I heard a funny noise and told my dad to go and check on his egg. As soon as he got up we heard an explosion in the microwave. Oh yes, the wrap had constricted and crushed the egg shell. Since the egg was raw, is splattered all over the inside of the microwave. The Pam would not have been pleased.

After we cleaned up the mess and finished dying the eggs it was time to move on to our Easter tradition of dying the dog. Dying the dog originated from everyone thinking that my sisters beagle, Jade, was a boy. She is a girl. So on Easter we make it very clear by dying her tail pink. This year we got a bit carried away and dyed her paws purple as well.

Now don't get all PETA crazy on me. The dye is perfectly safe and she really doesn't have a problem with it. We feed her treats while we are holding her tail (or paws) in the dye. One lesson we have learned though is that it is not an indoor activity. The Pam would not have been pleased.

After we cleaned up our mess, we decided to make our gourmet pizza. It was going to be great. Whole wheat crust, orange peppers, pesto, ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and onions. It turned out well except for the crust. My dad had a bit of trouble spreading it out so the crust ended up being thicker than a biscuit. The Pam would not have been pleased.

Finally, Sterling and I stayed up late watching TV on my computer. It was very late and we decided to go to bed. Sterling's comforter was in the dryer and she went to get it out so she wouldn't wake up a frozen popsicle of her former self. As she was pulling it out of the dryer her hand slipped and she ended up punching herself in the mouth and giving herself a nice fat lip. The Pam would not have been pleased.

All in all it was a good Easter. The Pam came home Sunday afternoon and we had Easter dinner waiting for her...she was pleased.
The end.