songbird's crazy world

This year it went by even faster than normal, we celebrated Drew's birthday and my birthday and Valentine's Day every weekend of the month! Still, the weather being what it was this winter, I'm not sorry to see this month come to an end.

When I was in my 20's, a newly minted lawyer still clinging to an idealistic world view, I started my very first full time job in lower Manhattan. And that's when I started to encounter the homeless. The street people. The woman pushing all of her worldly possessions in an old shopping cart. The man wearing six layers of torn clothing in the middle of summer. The woman who counted out 50 pennies to pay for a cup of coffee. The man carrying on a conversation with the demons in his head. The one sleeping on the subway who smelled so awful he had the entire end of the car to himself. And then there were the beggars. Very different group of people. Clean and neatly dressed but with a sob story. You'd find them sitting on a corner with a sign telling their life story. Or haranguing a crowd in a subway car. Or hanging out in Penn Station ... As soon as you bought yourself something to eat they'd be in your face, begging for money to buy food. I gave a dollar to a young ...

And there's still a pile of snow on my lawn! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

You know Mardi Gras is approaching when the King Cake arrives! We do a lot of business with firms in Louisiana, and some of those firms love to send King Cake to their clients all around the country.  For the enxt two weeks we will be inundated. The cakes arrive with lots of Mardi Gras goodies, like beads and coins crowns and etc.And each cake comes with a plastic baby doll buried inside....whoever finds the baby is supposed to provide the next cake or host the next party. It's not as good as actually being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but it it a fun tradition. Bring on the cake.

My new fragrance -- got body wash, lotion and spray from Avon....mmmmmmm

Both girls were home last weekend.  It was good to have them home, even though they spent a good deal of time screaming "I hate you" at each other --- just before deciding to go to see the Justin Bieber movie together in a "my sister is my BFF" kind of way. Jen and I made a little trip to the ER Sunday night. Nothing serious, as I mentioned earlier....but it gave us some time alone, away from the rest of our family, to chat...I told her all about how I gave new meaning to the words "business trip" one time, wound up in a soft cast on my foot for two weeks.   Strange how you can have a bonding moment while waiting for x-rays to come back.  Becca and I had some "alone time" on Saturday.  She'd gone to lunch with a friend, then found her way into Barnes & Noble, where she'd bought herself a new game -- she loves to play "Scene It" and was excited to find the new Disney version of the game.  She came home and asked me to pl...

I don't think I'm done with winter ... I'm certain of it. Can't wait for spring to arrive. That brief taste of warm weather last week has me starving for more. A trip to a warmer climate would really help so much right now. I am so sick of cold winds and snowy landscapes and ice crunching under my feet. I used to think that moving to Florida or Arizona or California was not for me, that I'd miss the change of seasons we have in New York. Now I'm not so sure.... But ask me again in a month or two and expect to hear a very different answer. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Nothing like a trip to the ER to complete a weekend. Nothing serious. Jen was at a friend's house. A couple of the kids decided to sit on a marble table. The table was not designed to hold the weight of two college students. When it collapsed the othe kid was able to get out of the way. But the marble table top landed on Jen's foot. It's just bruised - they sent her home with an ice pack, an ace bandage and crutches. Sigh.

A couple of spring like days have me spoiled ... Can't wait for the real deal ... Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Just booked our trip! So excited! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

It was always a tradition in our family ... You'd put candles on the birthday cake, dim the lights and sing Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, dear [celebrant's name], Happy Birthday to you! The celebrant would make a wish and blow out the candles. We'd turn on the lights, take the candles off the cake...and then do our own special thing.  Each person would be handed one of the candles from the cake, we'd light the candles again and dim the lights.  We'd sing our own special birthday song.  As we sang, each person in the room would blow out his or her own candle, so at the end of the song the only candle that would remain lit would be the one held by the celebrant.  He or she would blow out the remaining candle after the song ended. Our special song was sung to the tune of "The Merry Widow Waltz".  We never knew where the lyrics came from, I think we assumed someone in our family put words to the music. The words ...

Don't you just love a crisis at work, where you have to do a months' worth of stuff in a matter of days? I've been "in the zone" for the past two days...finally coming up for air.....

It must have been Jen's 11th birthday, or maybe her 12th....There was an entertainment company, their primary business was providing DJ services at bar/bat mitzvahs, but they'd turned some unused space in their offices/warehouse into a casual party room....For a small fee, you could do a kids' party, two hours of a DJ/MC entertaining the kids, plus pizza and soda and a helper to serve the food. Parents were expected to provide the birthday cake. When I made a party there (and I made several), I also provided chips, goodie bags and my sisters' home-baked cookies. Anyhow, for this particular party, I'd ordered a sheet cake from my favorite local bakery. The bakery was a good 20-30 minute ride from the party place. The cake was absolutely gorgeous, all pink and flowery and perfect. I carried it gingerly to my car, and drove as if I had raw eggs on the back seat and was afraid to break them. Handed the cake to the young lady who was to serve the food, and she pu...

This time last year I was on a boat, sailing the Caribbean....no palm trees for me this year....

So Drew and I went out for Valentine's Day last night.  He took me out for lobster.  And some time between the salad and the lobster he handed me a card. It read: I'm not interested in a nice, normal relationship.  I like ours better. Well, of course I laughed. But not just because the card was funny. My card for Drew was sitting in the back seat of my car. It was the exact same card.

Finally got a chance to use a gift card to a local day spa... Facial and aromatherapy body treatment ... aaaahhhhh - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

lately I've been TOO BUSY to blog!

Drew's birthday was Monday.  We're going out witha  group of friends on Sunday to celebrate this occasion. I ordered a cake from Reinwald's Bakery  - the best German bakery on Long Island.  Yellow cake, two fillings -- vanilla custard and strawberries -- and whipped cream frosting.  Yum! I cannot wait until Sunday!!!

FAFSA season!!!! Every parent of college students knows what FAFSA season means....filling out endless government forms in hopes of obtaining financial aid to help defray the cost of school. It means I have to gather my tax forms together and enter the morass of the government's website.  List my income and assets, Jen's (non-exisitent) income and assets, where she goes to school.... And then I have to do it all over again for Becca. And even better, Becca's school requires a supplemental form available only a the College Board website.  for a fee, of course. You can see the joy with which I approach this time of year.

So the reason we were in the city, the reason we ate at Lansky's Saturday ...tickets to Mary Poppins. We ate first, then took the subway down to the Theater District.  We spent a few minutes in the new Disney Store in times Square - lots of stuffed animals and dolls, but unless you're 6 years old you won't find any clothing in this version of the store.  Walked by the Marriott marquis and saw this fellow: He's there fairly frequently, he's promoting something about a sculptor named Matthias Alfen. Also got to see the Naked Cowboy. funny how all these years he's been running around I've never seen him ... except once from a moving car. As for the show.... Well, Mary Poppins was the very first movie I ever saw in a movie theater, so it has a psecial place in my heart.  I supposed I would have liked the show better if I hadn't loved the movie so much. Not that it was bad...in fact, it was excellent.  but oh so different from the movie.

so we're watching Outrageous Food, and they do a segment on Lansky's . Neither of us had ever been there, but it looked good. tried it out Saturday.  Drew had a tongue sandwich.  I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup with kreplach and half of a pastrami sandwich.  Didn't care for the pastrami, but everything else was good.  Nothing spectacular, though, I've eaten in many other Jewish delis. still, if you're on the Upper West Side...

So one day last week I see an article in Newsday that a local restaurant is going to be featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives."    Well, that's one of Drew's favorite shows, so I call him up ...to find out that he eats at this place frequently, he stops there on his way home from work.  The daughter of one of his friends used to work there. So I watch Guy Fieri enjoy himself at The Pit Stop .  And of course I want to go!  The place looks like an old fashioned fast food stop.  You order your food at the counter and try to find a table. But the food.... Well, any comparison of this place to McDonald's or burger King should be outlawed. Drew and I each had the steak and cheese panini, combo with fries and a drink.  Drew's friend had the "hot dog all the way", with so many toppings I lost count. the table we found was right under this picture:  definitely a place worth visiting! .

So awhile back, Drew decided to take me to this great Italian restaurant, Ciao Baby .  Nice place, it has a sort of a "rat-pack" vibe, as if Frank and Dino and Sammy are going to drop in at any second.  Oversized portions of great food, the idea is that somone's little old Italian grandma is in the kitchen cooking for her family.  If you don't see it on the menu, just ask, and they'll make it special for you. We were watching TV a few weeks ago and an episode of "Man vs. Food" came on.  And much to our surprise, one of the restaurants they visited was Ciao Baby. So last weekend we went back.  The meal began with hunks of Italian bread and olive oil for dipping.  We split an order of baked clams oreganata  -- twelve little neck clams, each adorned with bread crumbs and a tangy sauce. Drew ordered veal marsala (not on the menu) and I ordered a pasta dish from the menu -- gemelli pasta in a creamy tomato sauce with sausage and broccoli rabe -- I ha...

Or rather, my cause.  Literally. I am wearing red today. A pretty red sweater. Why? It's National Wear Red Day . Make it your mission to fight heart disease in women!.

Icicles from roof to deck! I love the way the light reflects. Maybe I should call this "fire and ice "! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

Funny how something that happened before you were born can capture your attention. On this day on 1959 Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens died on a plane crash. I grew up hearing their music on the radio. Wish I could have seen Holly perform. Must have been something. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

Please, please, let's make sure you don't see your shadow today. I really, really, really need an early spring. I am so beat down by this winter weather! Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

New month, clean slate, right? January was a PITA. Nothing tragic, but a lot of little nusance issues -- the weather, the commute,losing my ID card, car troubles, stuff like that. Hopefully this month will be better.