When Will It Stop?

Ok, this rain, wind, crappy day thing is getting ridiculous. I think I saw Dorothy and Toto fly by my window last night. I know April showers bring May Flowers, but how many flowers do we really need? My backyard is a complete lake at the moment and our inground jacuzzi is now above ground. Anyone ready for a dip?

Our weekend away was great. What a car ride though. I went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (sounds more classy than UMASS, right?) so I am used to the Mass Pike and its boring, straight, nothing to look it atmosphere, but we had another hour to go after the Palmer exit 8 ramp. We arrived around 9:30pm to slushy rain showers and 34 degree temps. Our room was great. The most comfortable king sized bed I ever had the pleasure of sleeping in held some chilled champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Being the true romantics that we are, we enjoyed these while watching the Red Sox clobber the Los Angeles Angels. It was right out of a Harlequin romance novel!

Next day, up at 10am and off to a delicious breakfast. I had the omelette du jour which had sauteed spinach and smoked Gouda cheese and some amazing coffee cake. Then we digested for a bit and hit the gym for an hour of cardio while watching E entertainment television. The time passed quickly thank goodness. Then we hung out at the indoor pool and I tried to read but I kept wanting to take a nap so I did. It is great to have the freedom to do this and not feel guilty about it. At 5pm, I had my massage and I chose the deep tissue b/c this girl had bricks in her back. It was followed by a nice pedicure. They needed real acid to get the callouses off my feet! Then a romantic candlelit dinner. It was a great treat to be away.

We left early on Sunday and drove through white out snow conditions for the first 45 minutes of the trip. Then a steady rain followed us home. Madigan had a birthday party to go to for her friend Molly at 2pm. It was fun, but poor Molly. She was supposed to have a pony but the pony couldn't make it due to the weather. Instead, there was a pony pinata. The kids beat the heck out of the thing. I think we are all stir crazy. Maybe there is hope for a sunny weekend?

Ok, breaking news: Just found out I was tagged by Tres Poshe Preppy I will work on that this afternoon!

Whisked Away

A very generous patient of the Doc's gave us a romantic weekend away all for just delivering her new baby. Isn't that amazing? We had to travel between November of 2006 and April 30, 2007. You guessed it, we have waited until the last minute to go (can you say workaholics?). So this is the big weekend away. This is where we are going. I plan to spend my time relaxing like this lady here

I also need to go to the Library to pick up something to read. I heard they have exercise equipment there, but I am not yet sold on that idea. They do have a pretty nice pool, so I will check that out although I may have left all my bathing suits in Aruba. My plan was to leave them there and buy new ones for here. It has not really been over 40 degrees so swim suits have not really been on the brain lately.

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0----That sentence is my cat Tigger throwing in his opinion. Tigger and Bailey love to sit on my lap while I am on the computer, so it makes for some challenging typing. I digress, back to the weekend away.

We have a two hour drive according to the website. I need to be the driver because my husband learned to drive on the mean streets of Cairo and is something like a step 38 driver. I, on the other hand, am a step 9. I would like to arrive there in one piece. It will be nice to just do whatever we want on our own schedule. It is going to be 48 hours of bliss. Then, we need to put it into high gear on Sunday to make it back for a birthday party complete with a pony at 2pm and a fundraiser that night at 7pm. By that time, my massage will be a distant memory!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We'll catch up on Monday!

Who Are You?

I thought today we could all participate in a "homework assignment". I want you to email five people who really know you and ask them to describe you in one word. I saw this done a month or so ago on some blogs, but fellow bloggers were answering the question. Now, I realize some of you out there might be the same person you are online as offline. But, there may be some who have their secret, alter cyberspace personalities too. It is much easier to muster up your bravado while typing than in person! So, go to it and come back to report your findings!

Ok, so I got back my five (and generated quite a bit of curiosity as to why I asked!).

I am:

Intelligent

Composed

Generous

Loyal

Convivial/Gregarious

It is nice to hear these things about myself! Thank you to those of you who answered!

Overindulged?

I am still full from all the Easter Goodies consumed on Sunday. It is amazing how much food there was. The best part was that I did not have to make any of it! Honestly, I love to entertain, but there is nothing like being a good old fashioned guest. I got to sit back and chat with the relatives, watch golf (how exciting!) and just leave when the night was over! How nice for me!

It was freezing here in New England, so the Lilly dress definitely looked out of place, but adorable nonetheless. I did not really get any good shots of Madigan because the wind was pretty strong and we had such a busy day running from home, to the hospital so the Doc could round on patients, then to pick up Big Brother Ben and his French exchange student Mathilde who we could only speak English too (thank goodness, mon francais est tres mal!) then to Milford, Mass for the first part of the eating fest. After two hours, we were off to Blackstone, Mass for party #2. Those of you in the know probably don't know where Blackstone is. When I don't know where I town is, I always assume it is out near Worcester. This little slice of heaven is actually located off of Rte. 495 and yes, I spotted several cows. We wrapped things up there at 9 pm and had to an hour the completely opposite way home to bring Ben back to his Mom's house. We got home around 10:3opm, so it was a long day.

Now, I am off to the office for three straight days of a Webex training session for our new computer systems, lucky me! Have a great day everyone!

Easter Bunny is the new Santa?

On this the Eve of Easter 2007, I have come to realize that Easter is the Spring version of Christmas. People are out buying all sorts of crazy stuff for their children's Easter baskets. Correct me if I am wrong, but circa the 1970's, we were lucky to get a few jellybeans and M&M's thrown under all that Easter grass and maybe some bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Nowadays, kids are getting bikes, American Girl dolls, and everything else but the kitchen sink. Even my own 4 year old asked when she could make her Easter Bunny list. List? How about you be grateful for the few trinkets I have actually had time to pick up already? So now, in addition to being one of the thousands of mother's trying to find the perfect white pair of shoes and tights with hours left until Easter, I have to fulfill a wish list? Don't even get me started on the religious importance of the holiday.

In the morning, I hope we don't have a spoiled child on our hands. I am really hoping the Reese's cups will bail me out. We have a very busy day tomorrow. My husband's family is from Egypt. They are Coptic Orthodox which is very similiar to Greek Orthodox. Usually, their Easter falls after the traditional American Easter. This year, it is the same day. We have to go to two different celebrations for his family. Why can't one Aunt just have everyone over? Each has to do their own thing which is a hastle for me. I really don't want to be forced to eat at two different houses either. These Egyptian women will notice if you haven't eaten your share too. The guilt they can place on you rivals that of Jewish Mothers! Madigan is sure to have a tough day too. She is by far the youngest child in the family, so they will all be very excited to see her which is fine. But, when there are 50 people squeezing your face and speaking to you in Arabic, it gets a bit scary. She also always falls asleep in the car on the way to the promised land, so she will be shy for the first hour. The first one to offer her a Lindt Truffle and their high-heeled shoes will be the winner.

Make sure you all post pictures of your children in their Easter finest. It is too bad the weather is not likely to cooperate her in New England. 40 degrees does not make a perfect day for a Lilly dress! Enjoy your families, friends, and food!

Book Club

So last week I had book club. The chosen novel for the month was Strangled, by Brian McGrory. For those of you who are local to Boston, you may be familiar with Brian McGrory who is a columnist for the Boston Globe. He also covered the White House during the Clinton Administration. This was his fourth work of fiction published. I loved it. It reopens the case of the Boston Strangler and Albert DeSalvo who many law enforcement officials do not believe was the actual killer. The book has a lead character, Jack Flynn who has a sarcastic sense of humor throughout the tale.

The best part about book club was that our hostess works with the illustrious Mr. McGrory at the Boston Globe and she somehow convinced him to be our guest speaker. I have to give the guy credit. It can't be easy to show up to a house full of women drinking wine/beer and hear complete novices rip apart your book. He seemed a bit nervous and no one wanted to sit next to him! Once the Q&A started though, I thought it went well. We had some great questions for him and he was a good sport. The odd thing was his cell phone went off about every five minutes (to his credit, it was on vibrate). We all think he told someone to call him so he could escape just as you would for your best friend who is on a blind date. He stayed for a good hour, then ran out with some excuse that he was late for something. He did not want to have coffee and desserts with us? Isn't that weird??

I would recommend this book to any of you readers out there who like mysteries with a slight comic twist to them. Also, I enjoyed all the Boston references in the book. Give the guy a chance and purchase his book. He is trying to save for a vacation house in Maine!

How do you do it?

I am truly amazed at you Bloggers who can come up with great content each and every day. I want to have a great blog, but I don't want it to be boring. You all must have been born with a creativity gene or something!

Around here it is snowing, Yes, that is right snowing. I left work and it was coming down pretty fast but turning into slush upon impact. Thankfully, our beloved Red Sox are not in town. That would make for an awful Fenway experience. Tonight's game will be great to watch to see if Josh Beckett has improved at all since last year. I know he had a great Spring Training, but the proof is in the pudding as they say. Tomorrow is the long awaited debut of the most expensive recent aquisition to the squad: Dice-K Unfortunately, most of us won't even be able to see it since the game is on at 2:10pm. Who, for the love of all that is good and holy, is that a good time for? A two year old just waking up from a nap? I could TiVo it, but I won't because by the time I can watch it, the details will be all over the news. Can you believe I have such problems? I guess I just have to be satisfied with the American Idol Results Show tonight. There is no telling what could happen!