A Stubborn Gas Pump

I'm headed to Boston today. Me and Vito in a rental car, needing gas. Stop at the Mobile station, pump gas, request receipt. Nothing.

So I walk back inside.

"Pump #8 wouldn't give me a receipt."
"Did you yell at it?"
"Well, I gave it a stern look."
"You've got to yell at it."

Next time pump #8. Next time....

Wikipedia - damn you!

Is anyone else constantly sidetracked by having to look up facts and information because you just have to know? Know right then and there? I am. Constantly.

All Words Followed by "Of the Day"

Site: The view of NYC from the Whitestone bridge. Perfect! Wonderful!

Smell: Halifax airport. Coming off into customs they have a lovely waterfall and I think they're pumping in sea air or something because it smelled like a cool beach evening when I came off the plane. Very nice.

Word: Craptacular. Listening to NPR on my wait to LaGuardia I heard this word used about the economy. Spectacularly Crappy = Craptacular. This is a great word!

Bummer: The three hour wait in Boston for my connecting flight.

Phrase: "Inspired by the depths of human ignorance." This was in reference to the development of a scientific theory.

Sorrow: Kissing Vito goodbye for four days.

View: Flying over New York and Boston and seeing scores of boats; sail, speed, and barges going in every direction, or standing still as little white dots on the water. It seemed like little comets or shooting stars with their tails blowing out behind them. Beautiful!

Story: Last night Vito and I woke up about 4:00 and were talking about whatever people talk about at 4:00 in the morning.

"Me and Pasqualli were talking the other day about the world and he told me, 'Vito, I know how to get world peace. Where everyone loved everyone else and they all work together and there is no war.' Amy, do you know what his idea was?"

I had no idea. What would it be that brings us all together. What could Pasqualli have thought of?

"This is what he said Amy."

Pause

"If little green aliens came down to earth and started eating humans for food you can bet we'd stop fighting amongst ourselves. AND, if the aliens declared that God had put people on the earth as food for them, then that would be something."

That's some idea. How do we test it?

Ted Kennedy

Today was such a surprise when I logged onto facebook and saw several LDS friends saying mean, vicious, hateful things about Ted Kennedy. A man died. A prominent man who probably created laws or policy that have benefited you. A father and a husband. I saw only one post from one of my liberal friends that said Rest in Peace.

Tonight's broadcast of All Things Considered had a great live interview with Orin Hatch, the republican senator from Utah who said that 30 years ago he came to Washington to fight Ted Kennedy and who, when Mr. Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer, composed a song for him it the hope of his return to the Senate floor. Do my LDS friends know how close these two men were? Or is he evil too?

Why does it seem that most hateful, vicious things are being said by Christians? I'll never understand this.

Really??

I stopped at my favorite bagel place in Chester this morning for my usual. The girl behind the counter has one of those smiles that lights up her whole face. It's a bit distracting really and I analyze it each time I'm there. I have a feeling that her smile opens a lot of doors for her. So, while I'm analyzing this cute young thing, another distraction pops up behind me. A woman with some type of Brooklyn, perhaps Staten Island, accent on her cell phone getting the order. "Yeah, bagel with...blah blah blah." To the girl behind the counter I hear "regular coffee with half and half and sugar." and this is where I stop analyzing the cute young thing and turn to analyze the nicely put together, but no to bright, middle aged thing next to me.

Waitress - "You get the coffee over there from the coffee bar."
Woman - "I don't know how to make coffee."

All of my attention is now on her.

I glance over my shoulder at the coffee bar; Regular, decaf, hazelnut, vanilla, cups, sugar, stir sticks, milk. Yep. All the fixin's for a cup of coffee.

I look at the woman standing next to me and say, with a smile, "You just have to pour it."

Turning back to the cute young thing for my bagel I get a smile AND a knowing look. Have fun honey!

Yer Sterotypical New York Moment (written with a New York attitude)

I actually don't see a lot of these in Orange county but was treated to one on Sunday afternoon. Vito and I were walking out of Shoprite back to the car. Very busy shopping day as we're the only supermarket serving 3 or 4 surrounding towns. Parking is pretty adequate but the closer spots are always a premium for those poor souls that can't drag their fat asses to the door. As we walked up our row there was a bit of a jam as one car backed out and another had their blinker on to slide in. And then... as the car pulls away an SUV comes past us, hesitates just a bit and then guns it into the empty spot leaving the waiting car sitting there with their blinker still on. This is where the fun really begins.

The horn starts, the waiting car pulls up a bit and a feisty Latina woman starts YELLING. I love a Latin accent :-) The woman in the SUV appears to be Italian (with her two little kids) is about 100lbs with the perfect hair and nails and the SUV that's to big for her needs, yells back. I state what I perceive to be their nationalities because these are the feistiest type of women I know. I couldn’t see two white women pulling this off.

Our feisty Latina will be named Yesenia because I hear Yesenisa’s voice when I read this back to myself and it makes me laugh. Our petite Italian will be named Antonia

Yesenia: "Hey! That was my spot. I was waiting for that spot!"
Antonia: "Sorry." (with an "oh well" tone) and starts to GET OUT!! Foolish, foolish woman.
Yesenia: Jumps out of her car and really pours on the attitude. Pointing, hips swinging and volume up up up! "That was my space! I had my blinker on! You knew I was waiting for that space!"
Antonia: "I didn't see you!"
Yesenia: "You didn't see me?? That truck pulling out was blocking your view but you saw me when they pulled away. You looked right at me. That's MY SPACE!"
Stupid White Girl (just to make things more fun): "She was waiting for that space. We saw her." That really adds fuel to the fire.
Antonia: "She can find another spot. I was on line for that spot too."
Yesenia: "NO YOU WEREN'T!"

There's a small lull as Antonia refuses to back down. However, she also refuses to get out of her car. Clearly she's waiting for Yesenia to move along, go about her own business, find another spot. Foolish, foolish woman!

Yesenia: "YOU ARE A BITCH! A TOTAL BITCH!" as she throws her finger at Antonia like a magician throws a wand.

Yesenia, twice the fighter of Antonia gets back into her car and, with tires screeching, pulls up behind the Italian's car.

Yesenia: "You can go shopping but I'M GOING TO STAY RIGHT HERE. YOU'LL BE IN THIS FUCKING PARKING LOT ALL FUCKING DAY LADY! I'M GOING TO CALL THE COPS!"

At this point I'm starting to think Yesenia isn't really thinking this through because it's looking like Antonia might have more of a claim of harassment than for a stolen parking space. But the blood is racing in both of these creatures. There's another pause and just like on National Geographic, the weaker opponent backs down. Antonia says she'll move.

Yesenia: "THANK YOU! That's what you should have done in the first place."

I love it that she said thank you. All is well :-) Now, keep in mind that Vito and I were parked just two spots away and would gladly have given it to Yesenia but.... that's not winning and she is a winner!

So we drive out of the lot. I notice in my review mirror that Antonia has decided rather than run into this woman in the store, she'll just leave altogether.

It was a GREAT New York cat fight!

Lessons Heard at a Funeral

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a friend, Michele Cooper and it was one of the nicest funerals I'd ever attended. She touched many more lives than I'd ever realized. As her husband and children eulogized her, I came away with a couple of lessons.

1. You only get to complain once.
Alan, her husband, talk about how Michele always said you only get to complain once. Complain a second time and you have two choices; fix it or resolve yourself to it. Complain a third time an now you're just whining and Michele didn't like a whiner.

2. Ovarian cancer is a silent killer. By the time you're diagnosed it's likely to late to cure. Michele had no idea she was sick. Had no symptoms of the fist sized tumor that was attached to her ovary and navel. Her daughter Nicole admonished all of us to make ourselves familiar with the subtle signs and symptoms and then get screened. You can find a list of those here at www.ovarian.org/

3. She found more joy in giving than in receiving. Many of the gifts that had been given to her over the years were found in the attic unused. She enjoyed thinking of the perfect gift for another person or filling a need of service. She was child advocate and took great pride in helping children in need.

There were lots of stories about her sense of humor which I certainly always enjoyed. She had a dry and quick wit and always gave an honest opinion and advice. She'll be missed.

The Various Stages of Spring

It's amazing what 60 miles in a particular direction can make in a New York spring season. Last week we had a bit of heat wave and all of the trees and bushes at my house burst open in flowers and leaves. I planted my 1 tomato plant (sweet 100s) in a bucket, 3 strawberry plants in an old copper tub (small one) and several pansy, snapdragon and petunia plants. My peonies, after three years in the ground, are finally going to flower this year as I see the little pink buds on the ends of the branches. All of my phlox is in full bloom and my two little delphinium plants came back after I thought I'd killed them last year. My little piece of earth is over crowded with plants but I don't have the heart to pull anything up yet.

Drive 60 miles in the other direction to Esther's house on Long Island and the blooms on the trees have come and gone. We had to trim the bushes back last week and the lawn has been mowed several times. Her perennials (hyacinth) are large and smell so sweet. All different shades of pink. For some reason, green onions are a weed in New York and Ester doesn't fertilize her yard so every time you mow, it smells like onions. It's such an odd thing to me! But I find them popping up in my garden too.

Travel 60 miles west to Roscoe and.... what a difference! The leaves have just started coming out on many trees but there are some with no leaves whatsoever yet! The hearty daffodils have taken over the yard so I guess they'll catch up to Chester in a week or two. I had big plans for this half acre lot this year but Annette's pesky neighbor had his land surveyed last week and all the areas I had plans for (the borders) fell into his land and he won't be appreciative of my efforts. Good thing I hadn't purchased the plants yet! So, I'll have to rethink the space and do something else. Annette is a total dear for letting me play with her yard!

So, here I am in Roscoe. Last weekend I was wearing a tank top and this weekend I'm wearing a sweater.

Bonjour Mes Amies! Je suis rentré de Paris!

Our trip to Paris was wonderful! We had exceptionally warm and sunny weather for April and spent most of our vacation outside. Below are some pictures. Additional pictures can be found here.

DAY 1

We arrived on Easter morning and made it to Notre Dame Cathedral just in time to observe mass being said.


We were all EXHAUSTED and after mass we grabbed a sandwich and headed to the park where Vito promptly fell asleep on my shoulder.



DAY 2
I almost can't remember what we did.... Oh yeah, the Eiffel Tower! We navigated our way to the other side of town and found ourselves in a mass of tourists!!! Huh?? What's going on? So, the line was hours long so we opted to walk around the bottom of the tower and bask in it's magnificence. The fact that Cecilia has a tremendous fear of heights also helped us make the decision :-) Parked outside the tower is the "Paris On Tour" bus. One of those double decker, "I want to sit on top", buses that I would NEVER dane to be on because.. come on. Those are for tourists. However, I'm easily talked into almost anything so 15 mintues later I found myself riding ON THE TOP of the Paris On Tour bus being driven around Paris rather than walking which turned out to be great!


DAY 3
We hung out on the bus again (2 day pass) and eventually found my friends Donna and Kierra Jordan who were also vacationing in Paris for the week! The boys tried duck for the first time (Yum!) and we saw a man sleeping in garbage which is an image that Vito can't get out of his head. Desperation exists in all countries; even one as beautiful as France.



DAY 4
This was our only visit to a museum since it had our outdoor theme; The Rodin. And it was the day for our excursion to the Palace of Versailles where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were dragged kicking and screaming from their beds by an angry French mob. But before that happened, they built a truly magnificent castle with phenomenal park with gorgeous trees and a pool that stretches for the entire length of the estate and which you take take out a row boat on (I wish we'd done that). We spent the afternoon walking in the park. Again, there were crowds and crowds of tourists so we didn't go into the estate this time (I've seen it. It's okay.)






Miscellaneous
How many books do I have in my house that I haven't started or finished? A few. Usually one of these comes with my on a trip and I thought, in honor of Paris and France, I chose "The Three Musketeers" that my brother had recommended to me some time ago. At 700 pages, it's a good travel paperback because I certainly won't finish it on the trip (that's the worst. What will I read now??) and it was having trouble getting into it. Perfect.



At the end of the trip... I'm 350 pages into the book and loving it. Excellent!

Gifts
Yours isn't coming. Sorry!

Overheard at the Shoprite

A woman was picking a bag of Granny Smith apples. The man next to her said "When do those turn red?" Wow.

An excerpt from a Capt. Sullenberger Article

I really enjoyed this article and especially this excerpt:

[...] we followed our training. [...] We never gave up. Having a plan enabled us to keep our hope alive. Perhaps in a similar fashion, people who are in their own personal crises - a pink slip, a foreclosure - can be reminded that no matter how dire the circumstance, or how little time you have to deal with it, further action is always possible. There's always a way out of even the tightest spot. You can survive.

Maple Syrup.... mmmmmmmm

The sap is running fast and furious in New York and maple syrup is running through the streets of Delhi. Today was a open house at Catskill Mountain Maple where they serve all you can eat pancakes with fresh, from the tap, still warm maple syrup. The owner, Tom, is Joe's (Vito's brother) boss at the college and gave us the grand tour of the facility. It's quite an operation. Tom has a forest of 1500 trees that are all connected to each other with tubing from tap to tap to tap and ends up in the sap collection room. A 1200 gallon tank can fill with sap from these trees in about 3 hours! from there it's pumped into a reverse osmosis machine that takes out about 65% of the water and then it flows into the boiler which looks like a train engine with maple steam flowing out the top. Driving up to the building you can smell the boiling sap and inside it's a warm and gooey smell.

The kitchen to the side is where they bottle the finished syrup and grade it into three categories; Light, Medium and Dark Amber. They never know what category the syrup will come out as it is all dependent on the weather. Last night for example was quite cold and the sap was running a little slower and came out cloudy. It's likely that today's batch will turn out to be dark amber, perhaps medium but certainly not light, the best type for syrup. The dark is typically used for baking or candy/sugar making.

The kitchen was also used to make all the maple cream and candies. Dozens of candy forms in the shapes of maple leaves, buttons, stars will filled with the cooked maple syrup. Cook it some more and you'll get pure maple sugar.

It was quite an experience and very interesting to watch. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so the free sample was plenty for me but we can always use a jug of fresh, made that day, maple syrup from New York!

Acting on the impulse to scold

Even though the east coast routinely is accosted by winter storms, we still seem to panic a bit and race to the grocery store. Of course, I don't do that. I just happened to need to go to the store on the Sunday before out latest winter weather hit on Monday. True to form, Shoprite was packed and I said to Vito, "in and out in less than 15 minutes if possible."

So, we're winding our way to a specific aisle when two pre-teens come tearing around a corner with an empty cart chasing each other. They see nothing around them and nearly miss clocking us. I'm irritated. Where is their parent? Don't know. Shake my head. Move on.

We're in the next aisle and I can hear the two boys yelling at each other. Laughing. They're having a great time but unfortunately, they chose to cross my path again and the kid without the cart comes running down my aisle and I don't care. "Hey!" Of course he doesn't see or hear me. So I stepped in front of him and said again "Hey!" Finally, eye contact. "You kids need to stop running around the store now." It's not me it's him.... "It's both of you. I can hear you from hear. Knock it off. (stern voice, no bullshit)." We both walk away from each other and one last shout out from me "Go stand next to your parent."

At this point I have to say that these kids probably were okay kids just running amuck because I got no lip what so ever. Today's kids seem to give it right back to you and top it all off with cursing etc. Not from this one and as I made my way through the store, I saw him again, with his brother, standing next to his parent.

My Little Friend

I have a little friend I talk to when I'm in the bathroom. My friend can be your friend. His name is Fred and he's a fly. When I bought my house in 2005 I did a lot of work on the place and that included painting every square inch of wall space with at least two coats of paint. The little bathroom downstairs got some special treatment as I experimented with different finishes. The little bathroom is small, dark and cool and Fred came in and found a brief respite. Until it became his prison, his hell and eventually, his burial plot.

R.I.P. Fred. R.I.P

What a Great Dream!

Last night I was on stage with four other girls waiting for Simon Cowell to choose who was going to move forward in American Idol (yes, I watch it but not religiously). Next to me was standing my roommate, Katherine Heigl, and we're all certain that he's going to pick her. He slowly walks in front of us saying nothing, just looking. Then he's standing in front of me and I'm waiting for the words "It's the end of the line for you." but instead, he tweaks my boob and says, "You're going to Hollywood!" The crowd yells! I cover my face like a newly crowned Miss America and step forward to claim my glory. It's unbelievable! I look back at Katherine thinking "I'm sorry! It should have been you!" but she'll hear none of it. She's really upset. I'm thinking "How could I win wearing THIS? Old jeans and a Kohl's crappy sweater. I'm over the age limit. I look like a dumpy mother. Damn! I must be really good."

At home I find my father in the garage (he's died in '94) and I tell him about it. He points to the television (he never speaks in my dreams) showing me that he has the show on and there I am on the group day singing Amazing Grace. Yep, I'm good. It sounds great.

Very fun dream!