songbird's crazy world

Becca has big news....she passed her road test today and is now officially a licensed driver. that means I am now the mother of TWO teenage drivers. GEICO, please be kind....

Joyce-Ann posted this one -- one word answers -- I'm not tagging anyone either, but feel free to do this one: 1. Where is your cell phone? bed 2. Your hair? blonde 3. Your mother? travelling 4. Your father? travelling 5. Your favorite food? chocolate 6. Your dream last night? Caribbean 7. Your favorite drink? Diet Pepsi 8. Your dream/goal? millionaire 9. What room are you in? bedroom 10. Your hobby? internet 11. Your fear? money 12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? independent 13. Where were you last night? meeting 14. Something that you aren't? tall 15. Muffins? blueberry 16. Wish list item? car 17. Where did you grow up? Long Island 18. Last thing you did? ballgame 19. What are you wearing? nightgown 20. Your TV? on (always!) 21. Your pets? cats 22. Friends? supportive 23. Your life?full 24. Your mood? wistful 25. Missing someone? daughter 26. Vehicle? Toyota 27. Something you're not wearing? jewelry 28. Your favorite store? Macy'

just bought two bags of Halloween candy. I have to make a presentation to my coworkers this afternoon. I plan to put the candyon the conference table this afternoon when I make my presentation. consider it a bribe to keep them all awake and alert.

Weigh-in day.  down  just .2 lbs, less than I thought.  but last week I lost more than I thought I would, so I guess it evens out... Wednesday lunch.  I ordered Chinese.  there was enough food on the plate for 2 meals.  thought I'd save half for tomorrow and wound up eatin gthe whole thing.... Friday night Mexican...Saturday Japanese...Sunday Italian...good thing our meeting is canceled for Tuesday.... as for the show --  hard for me to focus this week, I keep flipping over to Fox to see the Yankee game.  when the show begins, Tracey is in tears because the black team made it clear they thought she'd be voted off.  Cry me a river.... digging for keys for a mystery prize...something new tonight.  reward is a trip home.  nice.  and they can choose to go or to give the tickets to the black team.....so they sent the black team home. Abby's mom...what she said about Abby being full of life....so understated and bittersweet.  the other reunions are sweet, too. good

The girls took this photo at the Betsey Johnson outlet. Can you believe they are wearing the same dress? They both look great, of course, but the dress looks very different on Jen (in the blue) than it does on Becca (in red).

   

Ever since Drew and I got back together, we have been on a culinary "world tour" of sorts -- everything ethnic or pseudo-ethnic on Long Island. tonight we went to Benihana , the famed Japanese steakhouse. So ok, it's a chain....but I think they do "Japanese steakhouse" better than most of the smaller places around here. In most restaurants, the preparation of the food is done in the kitchen, what matters is the presentation. Last week we ate in a Chinese restaurant where the platters of food arrived adorned with flowers carved from vegetables. In a Japanese steakhouse, the hibachi chef cooks the food in front of you -- the preparation of the food is the center of attention, the evening's entertainment. At Benihana the chef prepares the food without a lot of cutesy tricks and corny jokes, so that the artistry of his cooking technique is the focus. I found myself really enjoying watching him. From the website: In Japan, the preparation of food is

Steve Martin at his best The guy sure looks like plant food to me: born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia: and with the banjo:

weigh-in day -- and despite my continued self-sabotage, I managed to lose 1.6 pounds! way to go!!!! of course, the fact that the escalator in the PATH station -- all 6 stories of it -- came to a complete stop when I was halfway up and I had to walk the rest of the way -- well, it didn't hurt that I got my exercise before weighing in. I've stayed close to the program during the week, but haven't really found an exercise groove. As for the show -- Missed the first few minutes of the show, turned on the TV just as Tracey won the golden ticket. Man, that girl could use a Dale Carnegie class or two, she managed to alienate EVERYONE when she chose the teams. LIz was so upset, and now she is just so determined...for revenge. And Dina...has a good friend in Rudy. The challenge, for videos from home....loved the Cleopatra imagery! and the "pull your own weight" comments. no surprise that the blue team won, but Liz is still out for Tracey's blood....

 The Turtles Featuring flo and Eddie, Felix Cavelieri's Rascals and Tommy James and the Shondells.  three groups whose popularity peaked when I was in elementary school. 40 years later, they're still going strong. concert was at Westbury Music Fair. small venue, not a bad seat in the house.  10 rows from the stage and we had a perfect view. it's theater in the round, the stage in in the center of the room and it rotates 360 degrees.  makes for an interesting performance. but I thught it was really rude for the audience to leave before the show was over -- 1/3 of them walked out while tommy was singing Mony Mony and missed his encor of Sweet Cherry Wine .  I know parking is a pain at the Muisc Fair, and there's only one exit, but still...please stay until the show is actually over. enjoy the music:

four months until my cruise and I am already in vacation mode:

it's my blogger-versary today. one full year of being a member of the blogosphere.

we are right in the midst of a nor'easter. or rather, two nor'easters. wind and rain yesterday, wind and rain today, wind and rain tomorrow and wind and rain on Sunday. coastal flooding watch in effect. there is a real possibility I will NOT be at Jones Beach on sunday for the breast cancer walk.

Weigh-in day -- I was up a pound. Considering how many ways I found to sabotage myself over previous 2 weeks, a one-pound gain was not a bad thing. found weight Watchers breakfast sandwiches in the frozen foods ailse at the supermarket Thursday and just had to have them. 4 points per sandwich, not bad at all. but the fat-free fig newtons -- blech. they taste awful! did you know that the calorie count for one fat free cookie is exactly the same as the calorie count for a regular cookie? and the regular cookies have more fiber than the fat free version. so why bother with the fat free version? The show: No exercise for Tracey. Oh, boo hoo (all sarcasm duly intended). No use of the kitchen, menus only -- and I think the restaurant deliberately screwed up the orders. Loved the trip to the Mexican restaurant. The immunity challenge....wow. I don't think I could have done it, I hate heights. I used to jump off the high diving board when I was a kid, but now ....no wa

2005 was my nightmare year. the words that dominated my year: cancer....surgery...radiation...chemotherapy. the words I focused on: hope. cure. uterine cancer at age 45. and a song that played on the radio as I drove to Good Samaritan for my treatments: It's been years since they told her about it The darkness her body possessed And the scars are still there in the mirror Everyday that she gets herself dressed Though the pain is miles and miles behind her And the fear is now a docile beast If you ask her why she is still running She'll tell you it makes her complete [Chorus:] I run for hope I run to feel I run for the truth For all that is real I run for your mother your sister your wife I run for you and me my friend I run for life It's a blur since they told me about it How the darkness had taken its toll And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body But they will never get a piece of my soul And now I'm still learning the lesson

well, not really...but I am typing this from my room at the Embassy Suites in Washington, DC. Becca and I flew down this AM -- LGA to DCA. took the Metro from National to the hotel. Becca successfully navigated the streets from the DuPont Metro station to the hotel....but tomorrow we're taking a cab back to the airport. we got lucky this morning, we got here just before 11 and our room was ready. I do like this hotel. The lobby serves as an atrium, with each floor arranged as a balcony looking down to the lobby. We have a lovely 2-room suite. there's a living room with a couch, an armchair chair, a table with 3 chairs, a bar sink, a and a TV. there's a closet that hides a small refrigerator and a microwave. the bedroom has two queen-sized beds, and a second TV. the bathroom is kind of small, but there's a second sink in the bedroom. After we got settled in, we took the 5-block walk to George Washington University. Ate lunch at the TGI Friday&#

songbird's birthday cruise blog All about our upcoming Caribbean cruise.

Aruba, Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go Jamaica off the Florida Keys There's a place called Kokomo That's where you wanna go to get away from it all Bodies in the sand Tropical drink melting in your hand We'll be falling in love To the rhythm of a steel drum band Down in Kokomo Aruba, Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo We'll get there fast And then we'll take it slow That's where we wanna go Way down to Kokomo To Martinique, that Monserrat mystique We'll put out to sea And we'll perfect our chemistry By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity Afternoon delight cocktails and moonlit nights That dreamy look in your eye Give me a tropical contact high Way down in Kokomo Aruba, Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego bab

I had a training class on Tuesday, so no WW meeting ....and no weigh-in. Just as well. It would not have been pretty. Sigh. Here's that little bit of "bling" I mentioned last week. Looking at the clothing catalogues -- the plus-sized clothing catalogues -- and I have become determined to someday be able to shop in a store that does not carry plus sizes. As for the show... the week's theme is "choices". First choice: weigh-in advantage....or training with Bob and Jillian...interesting choice. Tracey is nuts! Coach Mo does not look happy. Uh, oh...stress fracture...poor Abby. Second choice: the temptation -- control your diet or control the game. the power to dictate who goes below the yellow line. Control the weigh-in. Wow! Cupcakes....nothing but cupcakes....Antoine and Tracey...and Tracy wins...and everyone thinks she's crazy, a wild card... And I am not liking how Jillian is berating her. It's deserved, but come on... Third choice: the ch

Anne Frank