Merry Christmas

Hope yours is merry & bright.

And we're off to sunny Miami and even sunnier Costa Rica!

I'm working from home today. No way I was going to drag in my luggage to work and then attempt to catch a cab in midtown to Penn Station. I am SO done with this strike!

But I must admit, my ride in a cab home last night almost brought me to tears. We rode up Park Avenue and it was just stunningly beautiful. Beautiful Christmas trees lit up along the whole way. Magnificent buildings with elegant decorations. I love this city so much. Even with all the strikes and craziness. I really hope I never have to leave it. It would just break my heart.

On that note, we're off to Miami tonight! We will be there until Monday when we then proceed to Costa Rica! Our cousin Andy has the itinerary perfectly set up...

Dec. 25th - Matthew arrives in Costa Rica

Dec. 26th - Andy, David and Simone arrive in Costa Rica

Dec. 27th - Leave Santa Ana by contracted bus to Monteverde at 8:20am. We spend the day doing sky walk and canopy tour. Stay the night at http://www.monteverdecloudforestlodge.com. Can arrange Jungle Night Walk through the hotel.

Dec. 28th - Leave Monteverde at 1:25pm to return to Santa Ana. Free afternoon.

Dec. 29th - White-water rafting - River Pacuare. Leave at 5:50am from my home by bus, spend day rafting and return home by 7pm.

Dec. 30th - Drive to Arenal Volcano. Spend time exploring La Fortuna and the hot springs, etc. Stay the night at http://www.montanadefuego.com .

Dec. 31st - Continue to explore Arenal and then return home in the early afternoon. Rest to prepare to drink and party in Escazu!

Jan. 1st. - We can either drive to Jaco beach (very scenic two hours) or rest at home. Relax for the day.

Jan. 2nd. - David and Simone return to New York.

Jan. 4th - Matthew returns.

Merry Christmas to you all (or Happy Hannukah)
Talk to you next year!!

Strike One

So getting to work was pretty easy. As soon as I went outside, all bundled up and prepared to walk, I saw a cab across the street. Empty. So I ran over and jumped in. The taxi driver was nervous and clueless on what to do. He said he needed 4 passengers because in order to get me downtown we had to turn onto 96th street and then re-enter through all the cops checking to make sure everyone was abiding by the 4 passenger limit. So we started to move and I yelled out the window to pedestrians "WHO NEEDS TO GO DOWNTOWN?" Two ladies approached and both were on my way. So we began driving. After we dropped off #1 the driver starts saying "look at all the other cabs! None of them have their meters on. I have my meter on!". Apparently he wasn't aware that he could charge by zone and for each passenger individually. Whatever. Just get me to work buddy. We picked up another one. I was the last to get out. Everyone paid a percentage of the fare. Yet when I asked him how much he told me to pay the full fare. WTF? I was just so glad that I didn't have to walk in the freezing cold that I paid him, no tip.

Upon leaving work tonight I realized I did leave him a tip. A very generous one. It seems I have lost David's iPod and the only place it could be is in that cab. It must have fallen out of my coat pocket. It was my wedding gift to him. I've never lost anything. Can't believe I started with this.

Strrrrrrrrrrike! We're out!

It is 22 degrees and I am now leaving to walk 50 blocks and 6 Avenues to work. Damn, I'm a fool.

Update: As soon as I left my apartment I caught a cab! We had to find others to make it 4 people so he wouldn't get a ticket, but I made it. And that's what counts.

Manah Manah

3 days until we leave. Lots to do of course. Have I packed yet? Why of course not. Finished Christmas shopping? Nope. I like waiting until the last minute.

This looming strike has got me all worked up. What does it mean to me? Walking to work in freezing weather for one. AND I'll be the only person in my dept who has the balls, er, um, ovaries to do so. What a bunch of whimps! What really makes me nervous is the thought of how we are getting to the airport on Thursday. The Long Island Railroad will be running, but how do I get there w/ our luggage? Walk from 96th/West to 51/East and then to 34th/West? Hellz no.

Hannukah was great. Best of all was a gift from Matthew-The Muppets Season 1 DVDs!!! Oh to hear the opening song again. Oh to hear them play the music! Light the lights!

Got lots of nice gifts. Target gift card. Sweater from Banana. Gift card from Banana. And a crystal Snoopy ornament. Good stuff indeed. And I still have one holiday to go! I love this. I need to celebrate Kwanzaah as well. Wait, do I get gifts for Kwanzaa?

Happy Hannukah!

Well, kind of.

Since me, David, Matthew AND Shaina will all be away for Hannukah this year, we decided to have it a week early at our place.

Being that our place is small and we only have enough plates & utensils for David and I, the Rotsteins came out to our apartment fully loaded with plates, utensils, latkes and rice. Gramma also made her delicious pound cake.

We had a great time talking, eating, opening gifts and playing dreidel. I won the whole pot. Woohoo! It was so nice having everyone here finally to see our new place. And amazingly everyone fit!

We made rosemary chicken and once again, it didn't come out as good as when we've made it in the past. One was fine, the other was undercooked. I don't get it? We use a thermometer to tell us when the inside is cooked right. Maybe it was because we cooked 2 birds at the same time? Who knows. But everything else was good and the first chicken was really, really juicy.

CHRI$TMA$

Ah Christmas. So damn expensive. Why is it we always wait until the last minute to buy gifts? It occured to me last night as I was about to go to sleep that we have about one week left until we leave to Miami and then Costa Rica. Yikes!

This weekend is all booked up with family stuff (sorry Rachel!) so no shopping time. I still have quite a few on my list to get stuff for. Half I know what to get, half I don't. Double yikes! And on top of this I need to squeeze King Kong into the mix. And maybe a dash of Narnia.

Tomorrow is Dave's holiday party so I will use that time to sit and wait at the Apple Store. Then hopefully I can meet up with Eugene for dinner. But I have a feeling I will be at the Apple Store until midnight. Better bring a good book to read.

Then there's that damn transit strike. I, the idiot, volunteered to be the one person who will come into the office. On foot of course. 50 blocks and 7 avenues. But now I hear it is supposed to snow/sleet/rain. I am not walking for an hour in this. Damn greedy bastards.

Unhappy Pod

Pray you never get this on you iPod screen. Well, I got it. Yesterday. What does it mean? It probably means that it is broken, I have to get it fixed, and I will lose everything on it. That's right, about 36 gigs worth of music and photos. Photos that I don't have backup for. Why? Because I'm an idiot.

So this week I will go to the Apple Store and wait 8 hours for the Genius Bar. And hope that they can save my stuff. If not they will have to fix it. Luckily I am still under the 1 year warranty for another week.

Bastards.

Scoobies & Spam

Saturday we had our first real party. I invited all my old work friends (AKA-The Scooby Gang) to come over for the day to wish a fellow Scooby farewell as she moves to DC. We were actually able to fit all 11 of us in the apartment! What a miracle! Dave and I made lasagna. Hot cocoa with Peppermint Schnapps and various snacks. Everyone brought food. It was so much fun to have everyone over. Of course the highlight of the day was seeing my Goddaughter Lola again. Such a cutie.

Afterwards we met up with Eric & girlfriend Kim to see Spam-A-Lot. We had awesome seats, 5th row orchestra. The show was so entertaining. Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and David Hyde Pierce are masters at their craft. I can't imagine the show being as successful without the amazing cast. It was a great show to sit up close to. Great fun. Afterwards we went for drinks at Mercury Bar. I got a white chocoloate martini. But the bartender screwed up and gave me dark chocolate instead. But later the waitress came over and apologized and gave me the white chocolate one on the house. Nice!

David was acting a little loose and I suspected the martini's were hitting him harder than he thought. Sure enough once we got home he was all tired and wobbly and even knocked over and broke a glass. Put him to bed and now it's 1:30 and he's still sleeping! Poor thing :(

Winter Wonderland

I awoke on Friday to find the most beautiful snowfall out my window. And Rachel on TV!

My friend Maria from Miami stayed with us Thursday night. In the afternoon we walked through the park. Threw snowballs. Went to the Met and had lunch. Wandered through Zabar's for cheese. Starbucks to warm up. Then Barnes & Noble to browse. I saw Frank McCourt's new book was out. I have told Maria in the past that she needs to read Angela's Ashes. So we went looking for it when I hear over the loudspeaker "Mr. Frank McCourt will now be signing new copies of his latest book. Please come by and meet him!" WHAT? How perfect is that. So Maria went to grab Angela's Ashes, I Teacher Man and we had him sign copies. I got all shy and hid. Maria then proceeded to tell him that I wanted to meet him but was too shy. "I'm not the Pope!" he responded. I told him how much I've enjoyed his books and if he plans to continue writing. "There's nothing else left to do!" he responded. He signed our books, we wished him well and went on our way.

DM

Just got home from busy night. First, company holiday party. Good fun on the dancefloor watching everyone get down and boogie. Hearing 'GO WHITE GIRL' across the dancefloor as I showed my moves and shimmied down the soul train.

Then off to see Depeche Mode at MSG. Omigod Dave (not my husband) is so freakin' hot on stage. Squiggling and wigglin' all over the place. Everytime Martin came on we were like GET OFF THE STAGE! Damn he's sexy. Especially when he takes of his vest and sings I FEEEEEEEEEL YOU. Other highlights were Just Can't Get Enough, Enjoy the Silence and Behind the Wheel. Slow start but overall it was great fun. Nice to venture into the olden days of my young n' fun times. Oh the good ol' days.

Skank?

Yesterday when I went to the gym during lunch I noticed something in my bag when I went to change. (see pic)

Now, where the hell did this come from? My mind started to race. Do I have enemies? Did someone stick this in my bag on the train recently? Did I offend someone and didn't realize it? Very, very bizarre. I showed my friends at work and they think maybe someone at the new workplace slipped it in there.

I got home and told David about it. He started laughing. "I put that in there!". WHAT? "It's a new book we're promoting about how NOT to dress your child like a skank!" LOL. Thanks Dave. You could've told me!

Couch

Our couch arrived today. Finally. After waiting 4 long months. I worked from home today to await the delivery. But to my surprise the deliverymen came at 7:45AM. I was really worried about whether or not it will fit up the stairwell. They did have a lot of trouble getting it up. Within the first few minutes I heard from below "Uh, Miss, this isn't going to fit". But I told them we've had bigger couches before and with some effort it WILL make it. And sure enough it did.

It's nice. I was really worried about how it would look. But we're happy. It does smell funny because of the fabric protector we requested, but that'll wear off soon.

I hope nobody missed A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight! It always makes me weep with happiness. But what was that fake Peanuts crap they showed afterwards? Good grief.

Best line ever:
"Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest"

What a wonderous sight

Is there anything more beautiful than waking up to see fresh fallen snow on the ground?

Last night I dreamt we moved back to Miami for some reason. I was so unhappy. Missing my Big Apple. I hope I never have to leave this beautiful city.

Happy December

Today was my first 'work from home day'. Courtesy of my boss. It's a good thing though, as I'm sick. I thought I could escape it this year but I have a cold. Hopefully it won't be a cold that turns into bronchitis like it usually is.

We did go outside for a bit to buy a Christmas Tree! Only $25 at the deli on the corner (up from $20 last year). What a bargain. We got beautiful 8 footer. Perfectly shaped. Nice and fresh-arrived this morning from Canada!

I put up the new lights I got from Target and some beautiful red cardinal ornaments. I'll do the rest later this weekend.

Christmas trees make me oh so happy. Just what I needed when I'm feeling oh so crappy.