Is it a full moon?

Today has just been crazy. People are melting down, acting like jerks, and things are all around weird. I am hoping I can write it off as a full moon experience.

There are so many people on my nerves in the office today. People who think that they are "special" or maybe it is just better than me. What gives people the right? Today is just one of those days where I feel like telling them about themselves. How happy I would be if I could just say all the things I am thinking. That of course, would not work out so well in the end though. So, I sit here wishing I could go hide under the covers at home for a while. A nap would be so great.

As you can see- still nothing is new here. I am leading a boring life of work, gym, sleep.

I am going to go eat lunch- that MW made for me today. He gets brownie points for that! : )

Eskimos in NYC!

Last Friday evening as I walked as fast as my legs would go I was thinking I must look like an Eskimo. I had on boots, a big bulky down coat and a giant furry hood attached. I also had a hat on underneath that and mittens. So, I am walking, freezing, and thinking, there is an Eskimo in NYC. Then, I look up out of the peep hole I created for my eyes and see that I am not the only Eskimo, but instead my jacket was very popular. Big sleeping bag looking coats with furry hoods and people power walking everywhere! Hence the title of this post.
The weekend seemed to warm up. We had nice 30 something degree days. It is funny how fast your idea of nice changes once you have felt -10 below. Yesterday was even somewhat sunny- until evening- when the snow came. We did not get much, but the snow brought with it my new least favorite term, "arctic air."
This morning I bundled up once again in my Eskimo jacket and headed out to the bus stop. This morning was especially cold since the snow that was on the ground was blowing into my face as i stood waiting. Time Square I have determined is the coldest part of NYC. It is a wind tunnel that even on the calmest days has a breeze. I knew going into it today that it would not be pretty and I must walk fast. So many times I have thought about running to work, but the idea of the suit and bag always make me feel too foolish. I see people run from time to time and I always giggle. Power walking is much more stylish.
So, I made it to the office and am not eager, for once in my life, to go home. I am actually considering buying tights across the street before my walk home. The pants I am wearing today just do not cut it.

And a quick update about fitness- two things. One is Ii had a successful first week at the gym, four visits. Note two, not so good- took my measurements for tracking purposes last night and it really put things in perspective. Maybe I need to go to the gym five times a week...The reality of size really is a motivator. Wish me luck-

Everything else in our lives- sort of boring.

Have a great day everyone!

Frigid air

NY is facing "Arctic Air" as reported by the weather station. It is going to be "the coldest since January 2004." So, as you can imagine I am really looking forward to my evening walk home. We may get about an inch of snow, but nothing to get excited about. If it is going to be winter I would like to have some snow. I usually like one big storm maybe two. Nothing yet though. Not one shoveling experience this winter.

I really have nothing to say today other than it is cold. I do have a photo I can share though. Why not. This was another very cold day back in Massbach. Anyone who knew this house will appreciate the view. REWE is just over MW's right shoulder. I loved that store.

A Contest

So, shutterfly.com is running contests for best photo. Right now they have a few and I have decided to enter. I think it sounds fun. I missed the dog contest and I am pretty upset about it since I have some great pooch shots. Anyway, I entered the below photo for city scape's. If you want to vote for it go to: http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photocontest/vote?entry=175306 and be sure to give me 5 stars! It may not be my best photo, but I had it readily available.

I know some of you are quite the photographers yourself and thought you may want to compete. Check it out because there is a winter wonderland one and a valentine one. I plan to look at my Austria photos for a winter scape. I have some some good ones.

And by the way. My arms are extremely sore from the gym. I am determined to get back in shape. We went last night- saw a girl in a unitard. It was red and had long pants on it and a white section that was made to look like a sports bra but it was all connected. Interesting. My exact words," what the heck is that?"

Have a great day!

Jersey

Day 1 at the gym went very well. I am waiting for the pain to set in. As most of you know we live in Jersey- and for those of you who are fortunate enough to not know the stigma about Jersey boys and girls - consider yourself lucky and this a lesson. As a teenager and college student in MA Jersey boys you don't date, and girls- well they are different. So, we walk into the gym last night and there it was- JERSEY! Everywhere we looked there were girls with fake boobs, jewelry, make-up, nails done and exercising. It would be unfair to say it was the entire population, but it was an entertaining majority. Then, there were the guys! Most looked like they were on steroids and I can only hope they are not. Many short, but compensating with muscles- the only downfall was they can not pump up the size of their heads so some of them looked like beetle juice with all of their muscles in what was meant to be a smaller body. The other thing I noticed about all of these people, who to their defense were all working out very hard, is that many people were not drinking water. Instead, they had poland springs bottles with something that looked like iced tea in it. How is that for flushing out your system?

Not all of Jersey lives up to the stereotypes placed on it, but where I live...well that must have been where the stereotypes began...Did I mention that some guys lift in jeans and boots? Why?

OK - so this post may be truthful and humorous, but I do have a little guilt for talking about all of these people, but not too much to delete it! I know many of you will get a smile out of this.

I will pray for forgiveness later...

"Rights" are back

I am not complaining, but what the heck is going on? I can now post again in the office! I will enjoy it while I have the "rights."

I am very tired today- Mondays are always tough and it is very gray outside today. Not that I can really see anything other than the gray brick building across the street from us.
I am happy to report that the morning is going by quickly and I am eager to head out of the office. We plan to head to the gym tonight! Day 1. It should be a painful one, but long overdue. I currently have extremely sore abs as I am not in the shape I was once in. Oh well, you have to start somewhere.

I'm Back

So, I am still locked out in the office- just another reason to find a new job : ) , but I will make an effort to update at home. The only thing is, I don't have anything new going on.

Thursday we went out for dinner for my birthday. We went to Houstons and I ate too many grilled artichokes and ended up sort of green. Friday we laid low after work and relaxed. Yesterday was much of the same. We did check out a lot of the local gyms in the area. I am dying to get back in shape. I went to this one gym that advertises a pool. I was thinking that would be perfect since i love to swim laps. When we got there the pool was no bigger than my kitchen. It was an absolute joke. I couldn't believe it. We went to two others and i think i am going to have to settle for a gym without a pool. They are hard to come by around here.
Today we had brunch with my sister at her place and then i took a long afternoon nap. I know- we are really exciting people. Now we are watching the patriots game and i am sitting here dreading Monday morning.

It is still freezing cold here. Maybe some snow tomorrow, but no real accumulation. Ready for spring and we have only had about a week of cold.

PROBLEM!

So today, I went to type a quick update and my rights were taken away! My office has censored composing blogs or writing comments on others! Now what am I supposed to do? It is part of my routine to write daily while in the office. I will have to figure something out. I had a problem a while ago writing comments on other people's blogs, but it seemed to go away. Maybe this problem will go away too. I hope. Today was freezing!!!! It is a quick change and very cold. My walk today was close to a jog in the brisk 13 degree air. Tomorrow is not supposed to be much better. Take care everyone.

Stranded Y'all

So, our three day trip has been extended. The weather across the Eastern US is not allowing us to go home tonight. I had planned a late afternoon flight home and the flight was canceled. So, we leave early tomorrow morning and will run to work- a hectic day is upon us.

We had a great trip. Wonderful weather would be an understatement. 70 and sunny was the norm this weekend. We went to the Sarah Evans concert which was great the night we arrived. Saturday we went to the Childress Vineyard!! Childress' I don't know if there is any relation, but you must go visit- it is really a great place and seeing you name everywhere would be pretty cool. I was impressed. Here are a few shots from our lunch and wine tasting

Yesterday we enjoyed the beautiful weather. No photos since we spent the day out doors looking at new homes in the development and relaxing. It was a truly peaceful day. We have had much needed "quiet" here.

Today we intended on leaving. We went to the Y this morning and I swam laps. I have not done this since college and I forgot how much I love it, and now remember how I got this big back! My shoulders and back are already sore. I swam just over a mile today. I have been saying for some time how much I want to swim again, but today really made me determined to join a club. It did not feel like exercise swimming. I find it so relaxing. No foot pain etc. We came back packed our bags and realized that our flight was cancelled. Our only option was to fly to Michigan and then Newark, but the weather forecast in Michigan was snow. So, I figured we would get stuck and have nowhere to go. So, we are on a direct flight tomorrow am. We went out for Thai lunch and went shopping and now are back here relaxing- well sort of. Wanish style relaxing which means there is a project going on. Pictures are being hung on the wall and there is Schelling Chaos. I have separated myself to update the blog and am going to go watch the golden globes and go to bed. Wish us luck with no delays tomorrow.

We are looking forward to our travels this weekend. I am leaving the office very soon, but wanted to drop a quick note. The week has been so busy it flew by. MW did receive an offer this week, but has another pending and is waiting on that to come through. It is a huge decision to relocate without the assistance of the military. We would need to negotiate the relocation thing a little more etc.
I just barely remembered to grab my camera for this weekend, but fortunately it made it. The only downfall is the battery charger did not- so we will see how far we get. It is never too much of a worry since all Wanish's own multiple cameras.
Meanwhile, back in our reality of the daily work grind things are going smoothly (for us at least). MW's company "rightsized" yesterday- as opposed to downsized- this is the politically correct term from an HR perspective, but he is still sitting comfortably and employed. I have been picking up extra projects lately and there is talk of relieving me of my miserable existence that has become my current role.
The puppies are good- they are going to be cared for this weekend by Auntie Tina. She treats them very well- too many treats at times, but they lover her so much. Her little man Romeo will probably come over and play too. So, I can rest easy knowing that my kids are taken care of.

We are going to the concert tonight and are now hoping to embark on a trip to Ft. Bragg for a quick, but long overdue visit with friends. We miss everyone so much and don't want to miss an opportunity to catch up with friends.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Hello fellow bloggers. I have been neglecting this world. The new year has been super busy and we are trying to keep everything "in order." Tomorrow we are heading to NC to visit family for the weekend. We are also going to a Sara Evans concert. The funny part is that I don't know a single song she sings! So that should be interesting.

We have run around all week- last night our "date night" was a dual trip to the eye doctor. We have vision coverage with the new year and both got our sight checked. The outcome- my eyes are not as young as they were last year! : ) It is recommended to wear glasses while driving and for distance related things at my discretion. OK? Insurance covers this, so I will be sporting some new lenses sometime soon.

In other news- my job is once again evolving. For those of you who follow my days at this mysterious firm I have held many roles in the past 14 months and it looks as though I may be gearing up for yet another one. One that meshes my two worlds: HR and Global Equities. More to come on that development.

Generation Y (hmmm)

I found this article very interesting. I pasted the below article in to make it even easier than opening a link. Rather than me talking about it for a while, see for yourself:

GENNEXT'S GOALS, PROBLEMS
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

The views of young people today on politics, social attitudes and even life goals are far different from those of their baby boomer parents, suggests a new national survey of 18- to 25-year-olds.
More than two-thirds (67%) believe immigrants strengthen American society; a quarter favor increasing legal immigration.
Just 47% of those ages 41-60 say immigrants strengthen society; among those 26 and older, only 16% say immigration should increase.
While young people are split over gay marriage (47% in favor, 46% opposed), those over 25 are not: 64% oppose same-sex marriage; 30% favor it.
"This is a more tolerant generation than its predecessors," says Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 579 young adults and 922 adults age 26 and older.
The poll also finds that this generation's top life goals are to be rich (81%) and famous. (51%)
"It's their perception," Keeter says. "It's what they're getting from the culture about themselves."
By contrast, a study of college freshmen in 1967 found that 85.8% thought it was essential to "develop a meaningful philosophy of life" while just 41.9% thought it essential to "be very well off financially."
The Pew telephone survey of young people (alternately dubbed Generation Y, "millennials" or echo boomers) asked more than 75 questions on issues from world events to national politics to tattoos and binge drinking. Keeter says the study, which called 130 young people on cellphones because they don't have a landline, is among the most extensive of this age group.
Keeter says he doesn't expect their attitudes on such social issues to become more conservative with time. One can imagine the complexion of these issues changing pretty significantly when this generation is in positions of power and authority," he says.
Among other findings:
32% attend church at least once a week; 20% have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic.
48% identify more with Democrats; 35% with Republicans.
91% are satisfied with their relationships with their parents; 64% say parents have helped them with errands, housework and home repairs and 73% say they parents helped them financially in the past year.
85% are unmarried. Of those singles, 57% say they definitely want to marry and 28% probably do; 12% say they don't. Just over a quarter (27%) already have children. Among the childless, 52% definitely want children and another 34% probably do.
39% say they keep up with the news "a lot," 64% check in "from time to time." Only 34% do watch or listen to news regularly.
81% exercise at least weekly. One in five say they are in excellent physical condition and another 56% say they are in good condition.
But their habits are not all positive. In the seven days prior to being surveyed, 41% say they consumed alcohol; 31% smoked cigarettes and 9% took illegal drugs. Thirty percent believe it is OK to drink a lot of alcohol; 41% believe it's OK to smoke marijuana.
36% got a tattoo and 30% a body piercing in a place other than an ear lobe; 25% have dyed their hair a non-traditional color.
46% said sharing music or video files without paying was OK.
Overall, these young adults are content with their lives and extremely optimistic about the future: 84% say their life is excellent or good; 14% say fair or poor.
Of those who are employed, 70% don't think they make enough money to lead the kind of life they want, but 65% expect to earn enough in the future; 5% expect not to. make enough money.
The poll was conducted Sept. 6- Oct. 2 as part of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions' Generation Next project. USA TODAY is a reporting partner in the project but did not participate in funding the research. Margin of error for the subset of young respondents is plus or minus 5 percentage points; for the overall poll it is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Posted 1/9/2007 2:46 PM ET

Monday Monday

It is a stinky Monday here in the city. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/08/nyc.odor/index.html

Changing out the text of a link only works for me some of the time, but if anyone is interested they can read about the mysterious smell.

We did some shopping over the weekend. I used a couple of gift cards from christmas and had a great time. After shopping we used a gift card to Ruth Chris steakhouse. It was great food and the night did not cost us much! Here are a few photos of my purchases:

Store 1: The pottery barn. I liked my table the way it was decorated before, but now I love it! One of my complaints about how the house ended up (decorating wise) was that I made it too modern. So, this helps put the traditional look back into the house. I also bought pillows that match the runner. That will help tie the two rooms together since they are open to each other. The wood bowl I love!

Store 2: Macy's Macy's was tricky- there are so many departments and choices, but I made my mind up before going in that i would go to the home section. I picked out some dishes- really some I had been eyeing for some tome. It is hard to justify new dishes when you already have plates, so a gift card made it easy. Here is one of the place settings. I chose white because it seems timeless.

I also took photos of the den and spare bedroom yesterday. I just need to shrink them to upload.

More photos later...

Book Review

So, I finished "Everyone worth knowing" over Christmas and I really enjoyed it. I recommend the light read. I have picked up and read some of "Living the Seven Habits." It is not exactly a page turner, but I am still going to continue to give it a look. My sister gave me Bergdorf Blondes a while ago and told me I have to read it. So, that is probably next. It is supposed to be funny. A perfect bus read. I do want to pick up Mayada, Daughter of Iraq again. I had read a quarter or so of it and it was very good, but then we moved and I put it down for too long. The author (Jean Sasson) visited Wurzburg and Rebecca Sinclair initially told me about her. She visited around the time 1ID came home from Iraq the first time and there were the rounds of seminars for commanders and spouses. If you were part of the "coffee club" you may recall this conversation. In this book she tells a true story of a woman living in Iraq in the early 90's. She has many others as well. Very interesting.

Update

It turns out MW's ribs are not out of place at all and that he just had a freak tear or strain in a muscle. It is rather bazaar. The good thing is that he is starting to feel better. He has muscle relaxers that really help and the rest will take time.

I am so relieved it is Friday. I had another short week this week, but lately it feels like any time in the office is too much. Things were looking slightly up (from the deep abyss in the ground that I am lying in) around the office, but not up enough. I think my days are nearing an end here. I am hesitant to write this in a public domain, but I have had enough of this firm. MW is interviewing as we speak and once he decides his next move I will follow suit with a move of my own. It is important to have one person with stability at the very least, so I am sitting tight- Thinking long and hard - what next? A move is probably on our horizon, but we are movers so it is not a huge worry. I am not eager to leave my home. I LOVE my home. It takes so long to get comfortable in a new place. All of you Army wives know what I am talking about. If we move before May it will be our 6th move in five years. But, mark my words- I will not move again for a very long time! So this time we will make sure we have a yard and a little more space.

I hope everyone is well. Stay in touch- drop me a call, a message, or a reply on the blog. Take care.

Well wishes for MW

The new year has not started off with the best of circumstances. Yesterday, while on a run, he managed to hurt his back. I say it in that way because it is sort of a mystery. For those of you who have known him since way back when you may recall back in OK his ribs dislocating on a run. It appears this has happened again, only this time the doctors "have heard of it, but never seen it before." He had x-rays and a cat scan yesterday. They could not see anything on the x-rays and we are waiting on the cat scan results. He has a visible bump or bumps on his back where it is hurt that when you rub your hand over feels like two ribs. Anyway, that is the assumption of what has happened, with no real explanation as to why. We are hoping for some answers today. Aside from the worry of extreme pain MW is also having trouble breathing. So, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and I will post his diagnosis / cure as soon as I hear.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

It is hard to believe it is 2007! Crazy.

We ended up forgoing our plans to travel to NH this past weekend and opted to stay home. We were so tired from friends and family visiting that we really needed a minute to rest. Our New Years consisted of sitting on the couch and we could not have been happier about it! Next year we will do something exciting, but this year we were just happy to be awake at midnight.

I decided to dust off my sewing machine this weekend and pulled out some old material I bought for a quilt over two years ago. I tried something new - an inspiration from "the mama" and made a rag quilt. How to make a rag quilt(I did not make this "blossom" pattern quilt, but this is the idea). It was a lot more work than how I am used to quilting. I probably spent five hours cutting. In the end i am happy with the outcome, but am certain to go crazy pulling on the "ragged" edges. I am hesitant to post the quilt: Note: It is a baby quilt, but there is no baby! This will be the forth baby quilt I have made. So please do not jump to conclusions when you see it! Thanks. I have tried making quilts to give away, but in the end there is so much work that goes into them that I end up keeping them. So, I learned my lesson this time and know that this quilt will go in the pile of baby quilts for sisters or my own someday. There are all kinds of pressures from family members so I feel the need to stress this. Sorry to everyone else for the overkill on the topic.

On a different note, we have made two resolutions this year. One is to take better care of our bodies - be it nutrition, exercise, or mental health. The other is to save money. We got swept up in the new home and have not been saving like we should. So, we are now of frugal mind.

I will post photos soon of the newly completed den that we are spending ALL of our time in and the now infamous quilt.

Congratulations to JM on her engagement!