Watched at least 10 times....

I don't even know what to say about this video... I was laughing so hard I was crying.  Hysterical.... seriously, hysterical .

Lovely Fall Day

Noodles loves leaves.... she always has.  When she was a tiny puppy and saw a leaf, so charged after it and ate it.  Now, when we walk, she does the same thing for EACH LEAF WE COME ACROSS.  This makes for an interesting walk during autumn when a whole lot of leaves have fallen.

The first picture above is of her watching the leaves float around her, causing her hunting skills to come to life.  The second one is when I told her I had a "treat" and she finally paid attention to me.

I am a bit miffed that it is already November.  Where did summer go?  I do enjoy fall, but it seems like it is going to be pretty short, and we are going to move right into winter, which I am not a fan of.  It is also getting more and more difficult to take Noodles out on her evening walks.  It is DARK OUT by the time I get home and get her leash on and get outside.  She doesn't seem to mind, but out walk to Central Park is getting less and less safe as each day goes by.  We are going to have to come up with another route.

Bamboo!

A couple of weekends ago I went to the Met and saw the Big Bamboo exhibit by Doug and Mike Starn.  This is a picture I took while standing under it.  It is pretty amazing and if you find yourself in New York, I highly recommend checking it out.  It is up on the Roof Garden of the Met, and the day I went it was seriously windy and was a bit unsettling being underneath all of this bamboo!

The Husband and I have recently discussed the idea that we don't do enough "touristy" stuff, I mean "cultural" stuff in the city.  We have so much at our finger tips and somehow we don't partake in any of it.  We are trying to make a greater effort to do so. 

Anyway, speaking of touristy things in the city... can someone answer a question for me?  Why do tourist get confused by revolving doors?  They have them elsewhere, right?  On any given day here in NYC, I see multiple tourist jump into the same slot of the revolving door and then quickly shuffle their feet so as not to get it caught in the door behind them because they have crammed themselves into the door with their loved ones.  Why do they do this?  No judgement here... in fact everytime my lovely sister comes to NY she engages in this behavior as well... oh well.

A Hot Dog? Maybe a Spider? Or a Centipede?

  (picture taken of a brownstone near our apartment in Manhattan)

I am not really a fan of Halloween.  This "holiday" was really a big deal in my home town when I was growing up.  They would close off the street in downtown and have a bit of a parade... but I always felt like Halloween was just an excuse for drunk college students to put on masks and have permission to act like idiots.  It always seems scary to me (I guess that is kinda the point...) but a holiday that allowed people to hide behind a mask and exercise their desire to act like a dip sh*t did not go over well with me growing up. 

Now as an adult, I don't really mind Halloween as much.  I have even dressed up a few times, but I still don't enjoy the idea of going "out on the town" here in NYC where people can act like royal dip sh*t's.  It is fun though, to watch the kids.  Although trick - or - treating is VERY different here in New York.  In Manhattan, kids don't really walk from house to house, since, well, there are no real houses.  If a child happens to live in a really nice high rise building, they can sometimes walk from apartment to apartment asking for candy, and some buildings even host parties.  But for the kids who do not live in those lovely buildings, kids seem to walk from business to business and ask for candy.... and I gotta tell you, it is odd to witness. 

When we lived in Brooklyn, it resembled a bit more like my childhood trick or treating, but it still was a bit odd to me.

Anyway... the husband has told me that Noodles is not allowed to have a costume for Halloween, but then it just occurred to me that HE WILL BE OUT OF TOWN on Halloween, so he can suck it!  hahahahah! So, what should Noodles BE on Halloween?

One Year Ago....

Click here to view these pictures larger

Summer

I am going to miss Summer.  We are clearly smack in the middle of Fall, which is fine, but it also means that Winter is right around the corner, and that's a corner I'd rather not turn. 



I will miss Summer for many reasons, but one of the main ones is sitting outside.  I know, I know, it seems silly, but I really love to sit in Central Park or Riverside Park with the husband and Noodles.  We go on long walks, read our books on park benches, or hit up one of many outdoor cafes in Riverside park. 

This is a picture of Noodles being a very good girl with her chew chew and bed underneath our table while we drank beer and ate some fries.... good times, good times.

Chomp

Noodles likes paper products and she doesn't understand the difference between a tissue, notepad, receipt, phone bill, or money.  Luckily when she gets a piece of paper, she runs away to chew it up and gets really quiet, which is always our clue that she is up to no good... don't trust a quiet dog in our house.

Edward? Is that you?

I consider myself pretty hip.  Wait, no I don't... I just lied.  I would like to be hip, but I am not.  So, when a friend invited me to go see Vampire Weekend, I was sure it had something to do with the Twilight books!  I felt so hip, I had even read the WHOLE SERIES, I mean I knew who the Cullens were, come on.  After a quick Google search, I was still clueless.  A band? That started on the UWS? Wait, I LIVE on the UWS... shouldn't I know these guys?  Well I didn't.  But I do now.

They are pretty cool... I love the music.  I have not yet purchased an album, but they now pop up on my Pandora station, so I am slowing getting to know them better and better.  So, heres to getting a bit hipper!

Don't believe the hype!

I remember driving through Brooklyn shortly after we moved there for, as it turned out, a one year experiment, when we saw this sign. hahahaha...

We believed the hype and then we got sad and moved back to Manhattan.



P.S. I don't mean to disparage the lovely people of Brooklyn, we just didn't get it.  But for all of you living with more space and great apartments and cars, good for you.

Spooky

We live in New York City... so we live with a few creatures.  Some are acceptable, some are not.  In fact, the acceptability of a creature is all about location, location, location, much like everything else here in the city.  I actually don't mind seeing rats in the subway - it entertains me while I wait for the train.  I think about where they sleep, what they are thinking, how far away do they travel on any given day, have they ever taken a ride IN the subway... etc. (Cue my husband "you are insane" comment)

I also don't mind pigeons.  I try to think of them as less fortunate doves that are just trying to get by in the world.  Noodles loves these 'doves' and wants to introduce herself by leaping at them any chance she gets. 

I have never really lived with the pigeons or rats for that matter... that is until we moved into our apartment on the upper west side (after our one year Brooklyn experiment).  No, we don't have rats!  We have a ledge outside our apartment that runs just about the entire length of the long building.  So, almost all of our windows look out on this ledge. It is very exciting to have a ledge where I can put plants out there to watch them die, slowly... (In my dreams I have a green thumb, in reality, my plants hate me).

Anyway, back to the creatures.  So this ledge, it is home to about 20 or so pigeons.  I have named some of them, but darn it if they all don't look alike! They sun themselves out there, they bathe in puddles that pool on the ledge, the preen and prune (or whatever it is that they do) and they mate... and they have babies that make A LOT OF NOISE. 

And sometimes they just perch, really close to the window and scare the sh*t out of me.

Long Two Weeks...

It has been a long two weeks!  We all survived the Triathlon, camping, multiple trips in the car, fishing and lots of rain! 

I will post more later, but wanted to update you on the fact that Noodles is a great camper!  She did so great with all of the changes over the past few weeks.  She really enjoys the car and sleeps most of the ride. 

This picture is of Noodles perched on top of the couch at the Lake house.  This was at the end of our two weeks of travel and she was a bit tired! 

Will post more later!

We are all in training

So the husband is in training for the Timberman 70.3 Triathlon... he has done at least 4 Olympic distance Tri's and this will be his third 1/2 Iron Man Triathlon, so let's just say he runs, bikes and swims a lot. 

During his training he has to do something called a brick.  I have no idea why it is named that, but it means that he has to bike and then run as if he were doing the tri.  Living in New York and having access to Central Park is amazing, so that is where he does most of his training... so on the days that he does a brick, I sit in the park and wait for him to finish biking, then I take his bike back to the apartment while he goes on his run.

Noodles likes to be helpful, so I thought I would bring her to the brick... which also seemed like a good way to get her ready for the actual triathlon where she will be a spectator with me.  I have no idea how she will do sitting on the side lines watching swimmers, bikers and then runners whoosh past, so this would serve as a good training session for her and the husband!

So, I brought a little blanket, he favorite chew chew, a Gatorade for the husband, some goo for him, and his running shoes of course.  And we sat.

Noodles did great! 

So once the husband dropped off his bike and went for his run I realized that walking back to the apartment with a bag filled with bike shoes, blanket and various other items, while walking a bike and walking Noodles on her leash might have been more than I had bargained for... 

She did pretty good, until we got to the door of our building where I had to juggle keys, hold bike and guide her inside.  Her leash got caught on the door handle, she went running inside until it caught and she fell, so I lurch forward and almost dropped the bike, the helmet crashed to the ground, Noodles starts running in circles realizing that she is caught, and the door almost slams into the bike which is half way through.  I reach out, untangle the leash from the outside of the door, pick up the helmet, steady the bike and finally get inside.

So once we were untangled and get through the door, I realize we have to get up stairs.  Noodles is a dachshund and I have been STRONGLY advised by everyone I meet NOT to let her climb stairs.  So after much debate in my head, I leave the bike down stairs, carry her up to the apartment, put her behind her baby gate which she isn't interested in, so she starts barking.  I run back downstairs and CARRY the bike up...

So, I think I am ready for the triathlon and a stiff drink.

Prop 8 - Yeah Judge Walker!

Today, in a bold move, Chief US District Judge Walker of California deemed Proposition 8 as unconstitutional.  In my opinion he made it very clear that you can not legislate based on religious "morals".  In his 136 page decision today, Walker states that prop 8 "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license"

Generally when I hear any argument against gay marriage, it centers around a religious view and people start quoting the bible. So today, there is a lot of chatter on the interweb-thingy in support of both sides of the argument. 

I am reproducing the letter below from a tumblr blog, Sparkling Pants...  This "letter" has made the rounds on the Internet since 2000.  I believe it was a letter written to Dr. Laura after she called homosexuals a "mistake of nature" while discussing Vermont's law to allow gay marriage, although I can't confirm those origins.  Each time this debate comes up, I find the religious argument infuriating.  This "letter" puts it into perspective in a great way!  If you believe two loving men or two loving woman should be denied the rights that heterosexual couples have and you base that argument on the bible, then this letter might address other questions you might have!

“Dear Dr. Laura,

When someone defends discrimination based on the Bible (like those who cite Leviticus 18:22), I realize how little I understand the Word of God. Specifically, I need help regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.


 a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

 b) If my sister sells her daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

 c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

 d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

 j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

 If God’s word is unchanging and eternal, I am not quite sure how to resolve the above.”

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.

Letter to My 20 Year Old Self

_________________________________

June 22, 2010

Dear 20 year old self,

You just passed your 39th Birthday yesterday, and yes, it is old. But it is so much better than you imagined. I know getting old scares you since Mom only passed away a year ago at age 49, and you aren’t sure you will live to see 40, but you are almost there and life is good!

I know life seems impossible right now, and sadly, that feeling is going to last quite a bit longer, but I promise things will start to look better very soon! Finding the theatre department in college was a great decision and even though you aren’t sure you can make it as a professional actor, don’t worry, it doesn’t really matter. You will learn as life goes on that what you do for a living does not define you, but just gives you something interesting to talk about at parties. And really, nobody cares what you do; they aren’t really listening at parties anyway! Getting the degree in English as something to “fall back on” was a bit silly, but your reasoning was sound at the time and it made your Dad proud that you have two bachelors. But more on your career in a minute.

So many great things are about to happen to you… but a lot of bad things are too. You will feel lonely, you will be dumped by multiple boyfriends and you will be shocked at how terrible people can be. But you will also see such kindness and love, and quite frankly, all of these things will shape who you are going to become, and that person is pretty happy, so try not to sweat the small stuff and move on.

Going to Grad School for Theatre was a good decision. There will be times in your 30’s where you will question this as you look at your debt and wonder how it got that big. But the Grad School thing is good… not because you learn anything, although you do, and not because it will help you get a job, because it won’t. It will prove to be a good decision because you meet a boy who will help get you to New York City. And no, this boy is NOT the one, but you will already know that deep down. But going to New York will teach you so much about yourself and how strong you are! You will meet amazing people and you will grow so much! You will also have heart ache and loneliness as well, but that is just a part of life! New York will change you in the best ways, trust me!

Now, as for some things you will think are mistakes, but I am here to tell you they weren’t:

1) Painting your walls yellow late at night and then crying for days after your 6 year relationship ended was a fine decision. Yellow is a good happy color and that act help separate you from him and claim your tiny studio apartment as your own. Don’t worry, landlords always paint over it!

2) Moving to NY with nothing but your luggage helped you find your husband. No it didn’t happen right away, in fact it took 7 years in the city before stumbling upon him, but it is so worth it.

3) Changing jobs often, temping in offices and waitressing is awesome. You meet a lot of people and you learn about yourself. Yes, you will be told time and time again that it doesn’t look good on your resume, but don’t listen to those people, you can do whatever you set your mind to!!!

4) Giving Petunia back to the shelter was your only option. You really did try everything, but she was a troubled cat and although you loved her, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to rip your eyes out. You will feel a lot of guilt about this and others will judge as well, but you will know the truth.

This is important… It is never wrong to share and open up. They teach you to share in Kindergarten, but somewhere along the way, you feel like it isn’t safe to share. It really is ok… share your feelings, share your make up, share your clothes, and share your heart! If you feel like you’ve said too much, quit worrying about it, there is no harm in being vulnerable, in fact it makes you strong. You learn this lesson on stage, and in fact teach it to your students, so try to incorporate that in your life more. Go ahead and share and be damned those that judge you!

Oh, and stop being so concerned about your chest. Yes, it is large… and you will really love that later in life when you finally just come to terms with your body. Walk tall, no need to hunch over! Oh, and start running earlier… you don’t start until your late 30’s and you love it! Nope, you are wrong; you CAN run with a big chest!

I know your 20’s are hard, and unfortunately your 30’s don’t get easy per say, but you will learn to be ok with that. You are an incredibly strong person and you have a very loving family who is very supportive and proud of you. Don’t rush finding the right husband, he is out there and when you meet him, amazingly you will know very quickly that he is the one, and he is wonderful. When he holds you and looks into your eyes, things will feel still and quiet and that is a good thing.

Relax, take more long deep breaths and just know that life is a fun journey and try harder to live in the now. Your past is important and helps define you, and yes, looking toward the future and planning can help organize your thoughts that sometimes feel out of control, but I challenge you to stop and just be in the present from time to time… a very wise husband will teach you how to do this, but you can start trying anytime!

Love,

39 year old Jill

Inspired to write by Cassie Boorn