Shout out...

I found this blog a couple of weeks ago... I can not stop laughing.  Here is one of my favorites.
The Meanest Mom Blog

Noodles in the cabana... she loved Vacay!

pant pant pant pant...

Vacation

The Husband and I never really take vacations... We travel some, but we really haven't had the opportunity to take real vacations.  Our very first vacation was our honeymoon, and our second was last weekend.  When we do travel, although we enjoy ourselves, it always revolves around something or someone else.  We travel to California a lot, but that always involves my family, which is wonderful, but I don't consider those true vacations... We also go to Pennsylvania a lot, but again, usually involves the in-laws.  We also do a bit of travel when the husband does his triathlons... but we are both in 'work' mode during those, so although they are enjoyable, they aren't vacation. 

So, here we are in the Hamptons, a first for both of us and we are on vacay!  We are in a HUGE home that my wonderfully generous boss rented for the entire summer.  He wasn't going to use it this weekend, so offered it to us.  Here is a run down of how we have decided to use our time:

Sleep
Lay by the pool
Read in the cabana
Run in the grass with Noodles
Lay by the pool again
Nap in the cabana
Eat steamers that were grilled on awesome stainless steel grill
Drink wine
Eat delish dinner of steak grilled on that grill
Late night swim
Sleep

Now THAT is a vacation.

Painful death....

Noodles is a very good dog.  Seriously, I am amazed at what a good dog she is.  She has never chewed on our shoes, or anything else that we don't want her to quite frankly... So when I came home from work the other day to find that there was a death in the family, an orange long dog, I was in shock!  I simply couldn't believe that our sweet little dog disemboweled her friend. 

My lovely husband thought maybe we could re stuff him and sew him up, but sadly I can't really sew and didn't really want a Frankenstein toy - and clearly Noodles had made a decision about his future, so in the garbage he went.

Magic Umbrella Man

There are many things I love about New York and living in Manhattan.  One amazing phenomenon is the magical umbrella men that appear out of nowhere.  I remember the first time I experienced this wonderful gift... I had just moved to the city in September 1998 and was checking out different neighborhoods when I stumbled upon the Flat Iron building.  I was standing across the street admiring the architecture I had seen on TV when the sky opened up and it began to rain.  In California, this didn't really happen, when it was going to rain at home, we knew a good day or two before hand.  But here in NY, it seemed to happen at random with no warning.  Well, I didn't happen to have an umbrella on me, so I looked for cover!  By the time I made it under an awning, umbrellas had popped up everywhere!  It seemed that as quickly as it started to rain, there were men with giant black bags full of umbrellas.  I asked how much and the $5.00 seemed like a steal to me, so I bought one and was on my way.  Each time this happened, it never ceased to amaze me that as quickly as it would start to rain, these men would come out of nowhere with their umbrellas.

So last week, when I left for work, the sky looked sunny, but generally I don't worry, because I always carry my purse umbrella.  I always have one... I am nothing if not prepared folks!  But I had just purchased a new purse the night before and was giving it a go, and had not yet transferred everything over.  So when I left in the morning and the sky looked clear, I figured I was good to go and there was no need to run upstairs and grab the umbrella that would normally already be in my purse.

So, when I get out of the subway station a mear 15 minutes later, there are hoards and hoards of people perched on the stairs leading out of the tunnel.  I can't figure out what is going on, so I wait with them.  Then I hear the rain and muscle my way up the stairs.  Sadly it is coming down seriously hard, so there is no way that me and my white shirt are heading out from under a roof.  THEN, I see the magical umbrella man standing there and wala, $5 umbrella purchased and I am on my way. 

Love New York...

Don't Go!

Noodles fell in love with her Aunt J last month when she came to visit for an extended weekend.  When she decided to pack up her suitcase, Noodles parked herself on top and insisted she stay.  There are only a few people that cause Noodles to turn into a piglet and snort and squeal and tinkle.  Her Aunt E, the blond lady in Central Park and Aunt J.  She goes nuts and can't contain her excitement. 

Noodles really is such a sweet dog.  Except when she sees a particular group of kids in the park.  These kids  bark at her and chase her and she is not a fan.  This last Friday, one particularly annoying girl chased Noodles as we were leaving the park.  I turned to the girl and told her it wasn't nice to chase puppies, but the girl continued to reach for her, so Noodles turned into Aunt J's Maddie and growled, showed her teeth and lunged toward said girl.  I couldn't help but laugh. 

Noodles hopes Aunt J comes to visit again soon.