No Place Like Home - 01/26/2007

Hello All,

I just got back from Chicago. I arrived this morning at my house at around 12:30 a.m. Late flight. I flew up Wednesday afternoon, and flew back Thursday evening. COLD!! Wednesday night, 6 of us went to dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant. The kind where the people are actually Italian. The food was GREAT.

Thursday was spent in a conference room, brain-storming. I had a really good time and met people I had known through work for years and years, but never met face to face. One hired consultant, our Vice President /Inventory/computer guru who I love to death, and four "Power Users" of our computer system. That would be moi. It is nice to be appreciated for your talents. Really, I am not kidding.

Just some airline observations:

Apparently, carry-on luggage dimensions are "optional" for some people.

PAY ATTENTION to what socks you are wearing, because you have to take off your shoes. Holey socks - not so nice. I am talking from experience here. Manicure your toenails, too ladies.

Yes, you have to take your jacket off.

Yes, you have to take your laptop and camcorder out of their cases.

Yes, it really is only 3 ounces of liquid/gel items that you can take on a plane. For the 10th time, No, you can't take that water bottle in. No, that monster-sized toothpaste is not considered 3 ounces just because you squeezed half of it out.

Those 3 ounces of saline/perfume/toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. etc......they all have to fit in one quart-sized zipper-type plastic bag. Not a gallon size, not two quart-sized bags. One per person.
Even though they are calling Group # 2 to board, half the people from Group # 6 are blocking your way in to the plane. Because just by standing near the gate door, the space/time continuum will speed up and they will get on.

All planes leaving from or going to Orlando will have kids on it. Crying kids, happy kids, whiny kids. Deal with it. It is ORLANDO.

I hate turbulence and those fluffy clouds that cause it.

I LOVE how, when we have just taxied to the gate, everyone rushes to stand up, get their items from the overhead bin and THEN.....they wait. And wait. And Wait. Why are they STANDING there? You are not going anywhere until they actually open the door. I call it the "Hurry Up and Wait" portion of the evening.

Thankfully, expense accounts take care of the $34 parking fee for one day and half.

Spin the Bottle - 01/22/2007

LADYS DRINK FREE 7-10 P.M.

That's right. LADYS. That's how it was spelled on the sign in front of a local bar. We saw this on the way to the mall yesterday & Jake pointed it out. Good thing *he* knows it's spelled wrong.

Another one in Longwood: The ResTUarant. Not the restaurant, the restuarant. In big, bold red letters, permanently affixed to the front of the building. We drive by it and say "Who wants to eat at the ResTOOOOO-a-rant?" By the way, you don't want to. It is beyond greasy spoon. I went in once, and that was enough. They can't spell AND they can't cook.

A sign on each pump at a Longwood gas station, asking people to prepay and apologizing for the "inconveanants". After staring for a while, trying to figure this little gem out, I took a pen and wrote the right spelling on the sign in front of me. I did not dare to change the other 7 mispelled signs, though. What am I, a freak or something?

Also, it's not a "Mute Point." Please, stop. Please. You're killing me. The point is not mute, nor is it Moo, Joey. (Although Joey's reasoning IS funny.) It's Moot. It's a Moot Point.


P.S. READ "The Lovely Bones." Don't be put off by my not liking one part of the entire book. A few people (5) have commented that they loved the book. It may just be me being weird about one part. READ. It's good stuff!

As You Were

Back to the book I was reading: The Lovely Bones. I did end up finishing it the next evening. It was a really good book, until one part near the end. Not a MacGuffin really, nor a Deus Ex Machina. More of an .."incongruous" moment. If you have read the book, you know what I am talking about. It's a beautiful book just slightly dinged by this one plot device that just does not fit. Read it and let me know what you think. Oh, by the way, they are filming this as a movie in 2007. Peter Jackson (if you live in a cave, he's the Lord of the Rings director) bought the rights to the movie and will be directing it. No cast list is available yet.

I also finished, in 3 hours, Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." If one of your resolutions this year was to read more, but you dread it, read this book. It's an easy read and quite enjoyable. It's not Pulitzer winning stuff, but it's a good read. Another book about Heaven.

My library experience yesterday was a bit of a bummer. I went to go pick up Mr. Albom's book that I had held for me. While I was there, I decided to have them update my address. They told me that they could not, and I could not check books out, as I no longer live in Seminole County! They do not have reciprocity with Volusia county. They do with Orange county (which is why I can get books out of the library downtown) and with Lake county, but not Volusia! They were nice enough to let me bring home Mr. Ablom's book, but now I don't know if my account has been flagged or what. I did the address change attempt at the information desk, not at the front desk, which is where I picked up & checked out the book. I need to return this book and see what happens next. I work about 5-7 miles away from it. It's convenient for me to go there during my lunch breaks. And I love this library. I know where everything is. I have been going to it for 9 years - I still have the OLD library card. I have only been to the branch here in my city twice, both times with Isabel. Technically, I have not explored this library, as I chased her around the children's section (which is almost as nice as my old library) the entire time. So.....do I lie and pretend I still live in Seminole county? Isn't that wrong? Gahhhhh!

Dead Man's Party - 01/12/2007

Anyone see the movie "Donnie Darko?" It is a.... psychological? .... Sci-Fi.....what is it? movie about a disturbed young man. He's schizophrenic and sees a 6 foot tall frightening bunny....most definitely not "Harvey," but Frank, whose voice he hears during the day and who gives him a verbal portent of doom to come in like 26 days. This movie is existential, it's not rational. HE is not rational, yet things click into place in the end in an eerie culmination that keeps you thinking long after it is over. Jake Gyllenhal plays a convincing sad, confused oftentimes disturbed Donnie with the apropos last name. He lives and sees things in a level of reality that others can't see and his "visions" that others think are the babbling of an insane person reveal themselves to be true, but only to the audience. The ending took me a second to understand; the portal, the engine, the book the lady wrote, the second reality. It was dark, I was sad, and it was good. If you want a movie that will make you think, rent Donnie Darko.

On the literary front, I checked out "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. This was a recommendation from my pal Wendy. It was one of her book club books. Side note: I would LOVE to join a book club. She's in Minnesota, so no joining hers. I can't though, with David and my work situation.

Back to Ms. Sebold's book. I got it Thursday during my lunch break. I came home at 5:30-ish and started dinner. I bathed Isabel, and did other things, as I started to read bits and pieces throughout the night. At 11:30 p.m., when I stopped reading, I had gone through 261 pages.
The story is told by a 14 year old girl who has just been murdered. She is in heaven looking down on her parents, siblings, her friends, her town, her murderer. She is watching life unfold after she is gone. It is heart-wrenching. My heart actually ached while reading this; my eyes teared up at some points. It's the struggle of this girl; the struggle of this poor family, dealing with their loss individually, rather than as a whole. It's the breaking of some relationships, and the strengthening of others. I was extremely melancholy when I went to bed. Wendy told me to take heart; the ending is great. I have less than 100 pages to go, but I want to wait until Isabel is in bed before I give this book my full attention.

Smile Time - 01/06/2007

The year: late 1995/early 1996.

Jake is either 2 or almost 2. I was feeling HORRIBLE. I had the flu. It was "winter," (Florida winter is SO not winter.) and I was ill.

Jake's dad helped me up the stairs of the two-story condo we were renting and started a bubble bath for me. He then sat Jake on the toilet seat (lid down), to keep me company. There are bubbles everywhere and Jake is jabbering away. As bubbles move away from covering certain strategic places, Jacob points and HAPPILY SHRIEKS, "A puppy!! A puppy!!" Jake's dad runs up the stairs in a panic, as he heard me sputtering and, what he thinks, is painful spasm-yelling. What he finds is me, in pain, but laughing HYSTERICALLY. It hurt to laugh (I had a very raw, sore throat), but I could not help it, and I sputtered away as I tried to explain what Jacob had just said.

The year: 1996 or so.

The place - my 1994 Honda Civic two-door car. I am driving, Jake is in the back seat directly behind me, in his car seat. "Here Mommy." He wants to hand me something, but he is directly behind me. I say "Hold on, baby," and continue driving. "Here mommy. Here mommy. Mommy, here. Mommy. MOMMY HERE!" I contort my right hand around the back of my chair and put my hand somewhere near him, palm up. He gives me whatever it is he is yelling about. I pull my hand back up front....to find a booger firmly squashed in my palm.

The year: 1998. The Place: Winn Dixie grocery store.

(Publix is another grocery store chain here too). Jake, around 4, and I are grocery shopping. He decides he is going to sass me in front of other patrons. I pull him aside and sternly say "Don't you dare talk back to me in public!!" His eyes well up, he starts to cry and he says "But we're not IN Publix, we're in Winn Dixie!"

Happy Friday!