...only in dreams...

So this is a new post, on a few dreams I have been having lately. Jeremy and I have been looking at houses...well we physically saw 11 houses together, I saw three other houses also. You know get an idea of whats in our price and where we are looking. Anyways so I have also thought my dreams mean something and if I have a particularly vivid one I will look up on-line (since the internet is the end all be-all...sarcasm really) about what some of my dreams mean and then I put them together. The other weird thing is that years ago when I was working for Americorps I had this boss Sandy who was big into interpreting dreams and stuff like that and I would ask her, and they seemed to always come true and be real. Plus I think I am a little psychic...maybe...who knows. Who knows anything anymore. Here is the dream:
I am shopping or something in a mall (the details of what I was doing previous to the important events are fuzzy) and I go out to my car, turn it on and start to drive away until I realize I forgot something or something causes me to Perpendicularly park my car get out and walk away from my car only to have this older woman go to my car and drive off in it (of course I left it running). So I go to the online internet and search what these things mean and here is what I came out with:

Car:Cars are symbols of the real life conscious world. They are symbols of how you are progressing towards your goals. So think about the practical ways in which you have been moving towards your goals. Is the dream making some point about how well or how badly you are progressing. Are you heading in the right direction. A car at a standstill could suggest that you are taking a pause or that you have come up against some delay.

STEALING : Stealing links to issues of self respect, prestige and recognition. It can also link to moments when you feel taken advantage of or when someone has not shown proper respect for your property. If you are robbed then it may link to a real feeling of resentment that you have missed out on some opportunity.

WOMAN : Unknown men in dreams are usually quite easy to deal with. Unknown women are less clear symbols. They are often quite difficult symbols to work out. Women tend to be more associated with our emotions. They may show you have been assessing your feelings on something. Women often link to behavior which women are more noted for. Women are better communicators and negotiators in life. They are also more contented and may link to your general happiness and contentment.

Well so here is where the weird part comes in and it comes back to the house hunting. So one of the houses we were looking at struck a chord with us and we were planning on looking at it a second time. Notice I wrote PLANNING. Well so I hear from my Realtor because we are going to see houses on Saturday with Jeremy's parents and he tells me the house I want to see again...IS IN ATTORNEY REVIEW!! I realize there is a chance it will fall through BUT STILL, I WANTED IT!

so I take it a couple ways...we have been talking a and expressing our feelings toward buying houses lately so, that could be one thing, but then again...I think it was just foreshadowing the fact the fact that someone is now in attorney review of this house...but then again maybe it wasn't meant to be. OR (and I like this one best) the attorney review falls through its back on the market and we get it! Oh well, he has some more houses for us to see...we'll see on saturday!

Lovely Lady Liberty with her book of recipes...

So here it is, my first visit to the place where lots of people have visited...and I haven't. Jeremy's uncle and cousin came down to the city for a visit from Western Mass. I love playing tour guide especially to places I haven't visited, kind of a good excuse to go to those places I normally wouldn't go by myself or with Jeremy. So we investigated online about going to see the Lovely Lady and found they only allow about 2000 visitors a day up the monument, so we reserved. the other thing is the actual statue is free, its getting there that is the price. So for 12 bucks we boarded the ferry to the statue and set sail...well not sail, but whatever. We boarded the ship around 12:30 after going through security checkpoints like we were going through the airport...step one. The ferry went through New York Harbor to the statue and we landed on Liberty Island, pretty cool, step 2. Next we went to find the next part of the journey which was going to the statue, step 3...more security. This time it took a little longer, and we got checked for explosives. While in line something occurred, and I must say it was kind of humorous. You know when you are in line waiting and there are signs that say you must have your tickets out blah blah blah. Well at the statue as I said they only allow a certain number of people up the statue and it usually fills up fast. So all these people are waiting to go up and the security guards are like "LOOK AT YOUR TICKET....IF IT SAYS...NO MONUMENT ACCESS...THAT MEANS...NO MONUMENT ACCESS, PLEASE LEAVE THE LINE." Then it happened a disgruntled Asian tourist said the famous words, "What do you mean??" and the conversation went something like this:
Guard: G
Asian Tourist: A
Other Tourist: O

G: If your ticket says no monument access, you can't go up.
A: What do you mean?
O: If we can't go up then why sell the tickets?
A: What do you mean?
G: There are only 2000 people allowed up to the statue a day.
A: So I can't go up?
G: Does your ticket say "no monument access?"
A: Why don't you tell people this?
O: Why don't they tell people this when they buy the tickets?
G: Go to the website and reserve your tickets next time.
A: I came from around the world for this
G: Go online and come back another day

Eventually people looked at their tickets, and the rejected "no monument access" ticket holders got out of line holding their heads in shame. It just reminded me of that old Phone commercial...You should have called first. Oh well, we got in. So we waited in the line until we got into the tent...more waiting. We waited in line like the good citizens of America, apparently though there is an express line so people like Charlie Crist, his family and his gun toting security guard could jump line and go in front of everyone, I am sure they had to get tickets JUST like everyone else...RIIIGHT. So we went through the cattle pen until finally we went into the next room. Oh whats this? More security, like the security coming onto the boat wasn't enough. This time we went through those machines that detect explosives, they blow puffs of air all over your body...kinda weird, and I am SURE the metal detectors would have done there jobs the first time and detected...okay enough security, we got to the statue. It was neat,

there were lots of cool things, like a scale model of her face and foot made of copper in the same fashion as she was, then this picture was one of the torches, maybe the one right before the current one? I forget. So we climbed the stairs to the bottom of the actual statue. You can't go the statue anymore, which would have been neat but oh well, maybe soon, I heard they want to reopen the upper part.
So we left the lovely lady and returned to waiting in line for the next ferry. I have been getting a kick out of lines, and people who don't understand that when someone says keep walking forward...big steps, go faster, you're holding the line up, etc...that's what it means. There was a guy standing in front of me getting on the ferry and everyone around me and myself were following the instructions that I previously said, but this one guy? NO he needed to turn around and talk to the person a few people behind me...and the guy with the bullhorn? He did not like this and was shouting at him, I started pushing him, and he didn't like that, but I think it got the point across, although I did hear someone say "he didn't understand you," I think pushing and shoving is pretty universal.



Top of the Rock


I believe I had posted about our trip to the Empire State Building. So we went to the Top of the Rock, again at night. I must say night time is a good time to go. No lines, and I love lines...har har. SO night time, top of the rock, awesome views, it was great. The coolest thing about the top of the rock was this room that was



this interactive room. The cameras watched you and mapped your movements, pretty trippy. The lights moved it was cool. Worth the ten dollar firefighter admission Jeremy's Uncle paid for us. THANKS UNCLE MATT! It was a fun time overall. Lots of NYC, lots of touristy stuff!

A vacation to Florida...cliche or not it was nice weather...bad airports

So I am not one to bad mouth things...well maybe a little, but I DO NOT do it that often. I just want to start by saying if there is a large city that has a large international airport that is a major hub for a major airline, you would think they would update their airport to the increase in air traffic, or you think they would figure out a way to get out of the 66% on-time rate. As of right now, Newark Liberty International Airport and Continental Airlines are BOTH on my poop-list. The last three times I have flown anywhere around NYC (most getting back into NYC) my flight has been delayed or I have spent too much time (more then I would want to) on the tarmac. I must say this. Some of the smaller airlines are nicer then the older bigger ones. I have flew Airtran a few times now, and I have had nothing but good to say. Continental on the other hand has gotten my goat more then once. I realize airlines can not control the weather or air traffic, but let people know!!!!

Alright better note, went on vacation to Florida and I must say, I had fun. I know I recently went to Florida (see last blog entry) but this time I went for fun and not business. I got to go to the beach and see Gators, and other wildlife. So I will recap for you.


We arrived in Fort Lauderdale to almost 80 degree weather (its Feb and night time...impressed) and hopped in the car to drive to our destination of Miami Beach, we drove around looking for parking...there is none BTW in Miami Beach...finally finding parking in a garage...but the wrong one and they charged us $ 20 to park for about 15 min...REALLY?!?! We immediately changed into shorts and sandals and walked around the beach and what not. Ate a bite and then went to bed, in the tiniest hotel room I have seen, maybe about the size of my apartment bedroom, which if you know...is small. Next day we went walk around, and ended up going on a Duck Tour, very fun and we go to learn more about Miami Beach, went in Biscayne Bay, and it was fun, then we went to the beach. Now if we had stayed in the are just a few more days we would have got to stay for Food Networks Food and Wine Festival, that would have been fun...so I will fast forward a bit.

After we are done with Miami Beach we head down RT 1 for our next leg in Vaca Key which is in the city of Marathon...mid-Keys. We ALMOST saw the sun set but some trees got in the way. Doesn't matter we saw it the next night. BEFORE we got to the keys we thought we would stop over in the Everglades, I must say it's a must see. 10 bucks and you get to see SO much wildlife, and 30+ miles of NOTHING...SWAMP really, but its neat. The alligators looked fake because they are lazy and smelly.
As I re-read this I do realize I sound like I am writing one of those "what I did on my summer vacation" posts, but as I will always say, not many people read this, and the few who do...don't care...or if they do they don't say anything, this isn't junior year english or Writing Lab...so POO ON YOU! Also I know my grammar and such is bad but you know what I am not up for any awards, hence the name of the blog. BACK ON TRACK NOW!

SO saw the gators, pelicans, vultars, beautiful people, some fish and lots of Egrets and Herons. The things I DID NOT see, was Mantees, armadillos, or Pathers. Jeremy equated it with people going to Maine expecting to always see a Moose...Anyways.

We got tostand at the southernmost point in the continental US. It was neat, but not as neat as the Sunset we saw. That was one of the highlights of the trip, a really sunset, the first one I think I have ever seen go over the horizon over water...very pretty and well worth the drive. Next year we are going to drive down...cheaper and more reliable then the planes...gah.

Co-op Farm, disney, meeting co-workers, and running

Co-op:
While I wait for pictures to upload to my computer I thought I would blog about the last few weeks since you know there is a lot that happened and I have been saying "I need to blog about this," and never do. I procrastinate a little bit I suppose so the first I would say would be to talk about the co-op farm we became a part of. It's called Norwood Farm and I am so glad we joined, in Maine we were a part of the Willowpond farm and always got lots of great veggies. SO I decided to take some pictures of the veggies and whatnot that we got so here are the pictures:



They make me want to cook now, we even got a little thing of milk, 2 lbs of beef, and 2 dozen eggs. The funny looking root thing is celery root...delicious roasted with sweet potatoes!


Disney:
So my life long dream...go to Disney World, and well I went since I was in the area for work, took and extra day to see family, and of course a day in Disney! I realize it takes longer to see disney in one day, but whatever I went and decided to go to Epcot...kinda wish I went to Magic Kingdom...but whatever. I did everything I wanted to at Epcot I went on some rides, I met mickey, and I got to eat a giant turkey leg...really giant...

Meeting Co-workers...

Here is a fun time, actually it was I must say I was kind of looking forward to it since I like to meet new people I thought it was cool. I have met a few of them and have met some of them on the phone but putting a real person with a name and such was great. These people are some of the most intelligent, hard working, nicest, and knowledgeable people. They love what they do and they do it good, with well very little complaints, yes every job has complaints but I think it is more with things that are out of our control unless we change it. I think mostly it was insurance companies which are always hard to handle, medicare and medicaid....grrr. OH well, I got to stay in Orlando for free, during a very nice week (I believe it was at least 70 degrees each day.) I got to FINALLY run outside after a few weeks. It was NICE! So I ran two days, drank some bad wine, ate tons of great food, met some great people and learned way too much. I love my job since I love learning confidential info...not gonna tell you what I learned. Well I guess this goes into the next part of my post...

RUNNING!

So here is the maps of my run...it was a little over 6 miles, fun times here is the map, I went around my old neighborhood and then there was the track...I found and outdoor track...a real outdoor track...glorious outdoor track, now I can actually go somewhere and go around in an ellipse when I run, sometimes...It's nice. I can go on the weekends, and if I want take the train to the end of the line, walk a little bit and bam...TRACK! very nice! SO I started running again since I have this half marathon coming up. Most likely...11:30 pace group, should be fine.

The GPS is somtimes wrong...but most of the time it's right.

This is an email I sent to my fellow consultants the other day telling of my trials and fights that I have with my Garmin GPS...I love the thing and MOST of the time it takes me in the right direction...but sometimes...MAN IS IT WRONG! The ending is a work related thing since we get 55 cents a mile...I believe if my calculations were right that is 3114 miles time .55 equals...$1712.70 that would have been a nice chunk of change...LOL and I can't seem to get the screen shot right...bah

"For all you who use a GPS here is my most recent story of trying to avoid the tolls of New Jersey/New York…of which there are many, esp in my parts:
I decided to set the feature on my GPS to “no tolls” while coming back into NYC from New Jersey, just to see where it would take me and see if I could avoid paying an 8 dollar toll to cross a bridge. If any of you have been across the Hudson River from NJ to NY there is NO way of avoiding paying a toll, all bridges and tunnels have a toll. So I was driving and usually these thing will put you just over a bridge with a toll…not this time, this time the GPS took me past the George Washington Bridge…and told me to keep going. Curious as to where the GPS was taking me I pulled into the Parkway gas station that came up and clicked through the directions to see the “toll free, fastest route” and here is the approximation of the rt…give or take:

Palisades Parkway north (until you hit 84)
Take i-84 to Scranton, PA follow until I-76 to I-70, this will take me to Columbus, OH, which eventually will take me to Indianapolis, IN
The you follow I-65 up to I-80 which takes me to Des Moines
I get onto I-35 to Minneapolis, MN and then to Duluth, MN
After this I follow the road along Lake Superior (I forget what this rd was called) and eventually end up going through customs in Canada (I didn’t even have my passport) Go along to Ottawa, Montreal, and eventually come to I-91 in VT where I head south through VT, Mass, and CT end up on the Merritt/Hutchinson Parkway between CT and NY, and I am home…honestly I guess it was better I paid the 8 dollar toll then to waste gas and get the mileage for that, I could only image the reaction for the Mileage report on my expense sheet…"

A funny thing happend on the way to Atlantic City...not really

Hey all readers. Jeremy and I decided we were going to be spontaneous, I have really wanted to go to Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, or Atlantic City. So we decided...at the last minute I might add...we decided to take a cold trip to Atlantic City. I mean the beach in the Northeast in January is not the best place to take a mini-vacation. Well the good thing about it is that it is not crowded and the prices are cheap! So we leave and are faced with the usual Friday night Cross-Bronx traffic and take a different stupid way by going through Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, but I had never been over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge...so it was nice...and expensive...damn tolls. So we stayed at the Days Inn, on the Boardwalk. Not so bad, clean, cheap, and between two casinos, PERFECT! Time to Gamble. We head over to the Tropicana and try our luck at some slots. We aren't big gamblers so slots are perfect. We went over and the Tropicana isn't so bad. Its not the nicest but it's nice for me. We went over to the Hilton too, but yah that one was not so great...imagine your grandma's casino...blah NO THANKS. So back to the Tropicana for some slots and Hooters Wings...that's right we went to Hooters...and their wings suck...The next day, we did a little more gambling, walked around the beach, found some shells, walked down the beach, saw some hobos (is that PC?? probably not), and went to the pier mall, you know a nice mall with lots of stores I would not shop at or I have not heard of,
but hey there was a store with my name...accent and all. SO now I guess I can't make a store named after me for very wealthy females...darn...oh well there was a dancing water show, those are always fun! The greatest part was the sign that said it was experiencing technical difficulties...looked fine to me. The best part of Atlantic City I would say are the little signs every block going down the Boardwalk that looked like Monopoly Deed Properties. After a while I started wonder and then I figured out not all of the are from the game! oh well here are a few
They actually had fun little factoids on them too. So we took a walk down "Boardwalk" passed "Park Place" and ended up at the Taj Mahal...that one doesn't work. We rounded out our tour of Atlantic City with some more gambling at the various Video Poker Machines and walking around the outlet shopping. We also had one of the DELICIOUS...yah...Buffets...yah...I can see why some of the are free...yah and the signs that say what is in the buffet...man talk about FALSE advertising, I am glad I a limited in what I can eat now. Oh well over all a pretty neat weekend, I am glad we went so when I go in May for a convention I will know where to and where not to gamble.

First post of the New Year

Well here is it another year has come and gone and what happened in 2008, too much to blog about, what with the economy in the toilet, some of the highest gas prices EVER, and lots of other stuff. I just really don't care to blog about things that everyone else is blogging about. I am sure you can go around to Google and search and read tons of blogs about the sagging economy, the crappy music on the radio, the price of oil (first its too high, now its getting too low), the election, Obama's picks for his cabinet, and any other number of news related items, but you know what I am not going to blog about anything like that. My blog is different and I have said that. It is about ME ME ME, like the title says, my life in general. SO I will go through quickly 2008 in my life and see what happened. Let's see, not so much excitement happened in 2008 to me, except what i have been blogging about already, quick recap lets see how long this list can be, and they are in no particular order:
1. Had a crappy commute at a job I didn't really like for about 10 months.
2. Quit said job I didn't like for a better job, no commute.
3. Earned a MSEd from Simmons College (now I am more in Debt!)
4. Got a job in my field of study (how many people can say THAT this past year)
5. Went Gay camping (that was an experience to say the least)
6. Started a Blog
7. Had a computer crash on me, only to get it fixed bigger and badder (in a good way)
8. Ran 7 miles in one day.
9. Playing in the Gay/Lesbian Band for a few rehearsals...but I will go back...eventually
10. Passed a drug test with flying colors.
11. Stopped eating Gluten.
12. Found room in our tiny apartment for an office.
13. Paid off Credit cards.
14. Boosted my credit score.
15. Saved over $4000 then spent it (see #13)
16. Celebrated and learned about new Holidays.
17. Met lots of new and interesting people.
18. Visited a state I have never been to before, twice, within two months.
19. Visited a new country I have never been to before.
20. Added a new country to my list of "Countries where I have peed outside"
21. Had a High School reunion...and enjoyed it.
22. Got stuck at an airport for 6 hours...without even leaving the airport.
23. Got an LL Bean CC HA FREE SHIPPING!
24. Caught up with long lost friends after 10 years
25. Became an Uncle...again.
26. Got closer with some friends and family.
27. Adopted 2 awesome (sometimes) kitties.
28. Learned the nuances of driving in NJ.
29. Learned I like lots of different types of beers, becoming ALMOST a Beer snob then lost it all (see #11)
30. Learned I like Scotch...again, bad idea.
31. Rented my first car.
32. Got a company credit card
33. Got business cards (see #2)
34. Read two books about food...well I guess three books about food, two about mundane food items...interesting too I must say
35. Decided I liked Paula Deen...but slowly her recipes are getting more and more ridiculous.
36. Decided I didn't care too much to Rachel Ray...her recipes are just crazy.
37. Got a tooth pulled (finally)
38. Drove to the end of Long Island and sat and drank a Sparks.
39. Potentially was struck by lightning at an outdoor rock concert.
40. Found out Bourbon + Pickle Juice = DELIGHTFUL!
41. Saw REM in concert (see #39...and past blog)
42. Went to one of my favorite places in the world (Smalls Falls, ME)
43. Lived in NYC for a year...and counting!
44. Had a weekly evening dinner and scrabble with my cousin...for a few months anyways
45. Went on the train pretty much across Germany.
46. Drank German beer in Austria, throw up and went on a train...and threw up again.
47. Walked my last sister to get married down the aisle.
48. Went on the Sound of Music tour, danced in the garden where Julie Andrews danced, touched the Gazebo from the movie, walked down the aisle of the church in the Sound of Music, and maybe climbed one of the trees...maybe not.
49. Voted for the first African American president in history.
50. Played in a Tuba Christmas!
51. Went to the top of the Empire State Building at Midnight
52. Saw the Macy's Day parade...live
53. Ran a 5k without training.
54. Went to 3 out of the 5 Ikeas in the tri-state area
55. Played tour guide for my Mom on the HOTTEST day of the year.



Okay so it came out to 50 things, and I was grabbing at straws the last few. I must say that 2008 was pretty much a cool year, having not been THAT affected by the economy...job-loss, house-loss, etc...I am pretty fortunate to have great friends, supportive family and such a great time doing everything, just looking on the bright side of things and trying to keep my chin up....man I am starting to want to kick my own ass...and just being the best person I can be. Life is pretty good and I am trying to make the best of it until something rough happens (which you never know) and then I will say "Life...stop, I was good to you, be good to me." Well I suppose that is my first blog post of the new year...in a nut shell.