Hold onto your hats...it's the 2007 recap!

As I did last year, I thought I would provide a recap of 2007 in straight and to the point month-by-month details! This will serve as a marker for all of those months that I didn't post anything. Not to mention, it will remind me of what I did over the year (at almost 31, my memory ain't what it used to be!) Okay, here we go (and before midnight on the 31st even!).

January 2007:
I turned 30! Sam, Shelly & Joe took me on an adventure in CT. Jen and James got married in Florida and Sam was the officiant. Stewart got older and so did B-Luv although we couldn't wish him a happy birthday because he was in Iraq (Brian, not Stewart!).



February 2007:
We had a pretty bad snow and ice storm that grounded me for a day or so. Still working hard to grow my program at work. Not much else happened in February unless I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah, Yoni turned 3 and Eran turned 29!!!

March 2007:
Sam turned 30! We spent a fun-filled weekend in Hershey, PA, eating as much chocolate as possible. Mom came to town and we went to Washington, D.C. for a bat mitzvah and lots of sightseeing in our nation's capitol.

April 2007:
We moved! We were officially told that we would not be renewed at our Park Slope place so we relocated to Bay Ridge. We couldn't be happier!

May 2007:
Met the family in New Orleans for a wedding. We were able to take the first-ever "Levine Family Photo". Jen and James moved to North Carolina. We will miss them terribly.




June 2007:
Went to Disney World with the entire Levine family. Note to selves: No more family vacations! Sam and I got to meet Mickey and we got to take a detour to Miami to see Jesse. Brenda turned 33! My grant program ended and I was made a full-time Palliative Care social worker. Josh, my co-worker leaves after I return from Disney to work on his memoir.




July 2007:
Jen and James came to visit. Amanda came to visit. We watched 4th of July fireworks from Stacey & Carlos' roof overlooking Manhattan.



August 2007:
Rhylan turns 1. Amanda turns 31. Brooklyn has it's first-ever tornado which touches down about 10 blocks from our apartment. My parents come to visit (Bob makes a 2nd attempt at visiting NYC). Mom and I check out the U.S. Open and get to see Roddick play (and win!). We drive to Philly for a Cheesesteak! We take our first-ever trip to Atlantic City and play on the boardwalk and more importantly - in the casinos.


September 2007:
Head off to North Carolina to visit Jen and James. I can't remember what else we did that month (I'm tellin ya about that old-age memory). Josh's memoir, The Unheard is published.

October 2007:
"Surprised" Shelly with a birthday cruise to the Bahamas. Our first cruise was a success! We got together with our "Vacation club" (Stacey, Carlos, Pax, Mary, Jason & Marissa) and went to the Poconos for a relaxing weekend of paintball, the Red Rocket breaking down and of course a relaxing 6-hour trip to Pep Boys to have 3 new alternators put in, all while Cheshire was waiting for us at JFK. Chris visited for a couple of days and we went to Babbo's for an 8-course chef's tasting menu (with wine!). Marie turned 60 and there was a surprise birthday held for her in Houston, which Sam flew down for.









November 2007:
Yael turned 1. My Gram died. We went home for a week and had Thanksgiving with the family. Brian returned from Iraq and was in Austin for 2 weeks. We had a Happy Hour and got to spend time with all of our friends. We took a first-ever Deike family photo. Got to see Patrick (A first in over 5 years), Shayna (after 5 years) and Amanda and family. Bob turned 65 and Mom turned, well, I won't say how old mom turned.









December 2007:
Holiday parties abound. "Vacation Club" dinner at Stacey & Carlos'. Maddison Rae born December 18th to Shayna and Mike. Marie & Stewart arrive for a week-long visit from Christmas till today. Highlights of their trip: Dinner on City Island, visit to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, cooking at home and relaxing tonight waiting for the ball to drop.



Hopes for the future:
Move back to Austin. Find a new job. Exercise. Get organized. Keep up with blog. Finish Harry Potter collection (I'm on book 3 of 7). Maintain contact with friends and family. Await the arrival of many new cousins.

Happy 2008 to all of you. Happy, healthy and prosperous new year. My love and thanks to you all for your love, kindness, understanding, friendship and love. You've all been exactly what I've needed.

I Suck at This!

I swear my middle name should be "best intentions". I lack follow through. I have fantastic ideas and can usually get organized enough to follow through eventually, but never when I should. Unfortunately, this has followed me outside of the blogging realm as well. I buy birthday cards weeks ahead of time and don't remember to send them until after the birthday has passed. I buy scrapbook supplies and save things for scrapbooks, but as of now I still haven't even started the scrapbook for our wedding (we've been married 3 1/2 years!). Our office in the apartment is littered with pictures that need to be framed, my computer is saturated with e-mails that need to be responded to and the holidays are reminiscent of people that I want to get back in touch with.

I lack good time management. I lack the energy to follow-through with projects. I usually lack the stamps to send out the birthday cards with. And to make matters worse, my husband recently supplied me with the best procrastination material of all time - The complete Harry Potter collection that I can't seem to put down! I'm feeling a New Year's resolution coming on.

Before 2007 ends, my first goal is to blog an entire recap of 2007 so that I can fill my loyal reader(s) in with all of the changes and exciting things that have been happening to us over the last several months.

Time management - necessary as it is, the lack thereof does has some pros. I'm never bored. I have plenty to do if I ever find myself with extra time on my hands. It's exhilarating - I thrive on stress and have always been a last minute type of gal. Now the cons - I get in trouble at work for not maximizing my time, I disappoint friends and family, I've fallen out of touch with many people, whom I love and miss dearly.

So, a recap: I suck, I don't enjoy sucking, I want to suck less, 2008 will be a year of minimal suckiness!

Happy Holidays to all 2 or 3 of you - if I'm lucky enough not to have lost all of my readers, holiday love to you too. Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas! Tune in next week for the 2007 recap prior to 2008. Can she do it? In the words of Bob the Builder, "Yes we can!"

Bad Things Come in Threes...

My mom has always said that bad things come in threes. It has also been said that good things come in threes, but today was definitely more of the former. Actually, I'll have to backtrack to yesterday. In fact, I'll backtrack even further.

So, when I talked to my mom on Saturday she told me that my Oma was in the hospital. Sunday night I had a strange dream where a man told me that my grandmother had died. He didn't say "Oma", but I felt it was implied. I've had premonitions in the past, but nothing like this.

You think you know where this is going, don't you?

My Oma didn't die, but my dad's mother, Gram did. My dad called yesterday (I haven't heard from him since my birthday) to let me know that my Gram died in her sleep 11/12/07. He was very nonchalant, which was reminiscent of the dream. Weird huh?

So let's consider my Gram dying as bad thing #1.

Onto bad thing number 2. I was driving my car today and it started making a weird "thwapping" sound.

Any guesses as to what happened?

You guessed it - my tire was flat. In fact it looked as if my front driver's side tire had melted. As luck would have it, I was wearing my brand new stark-white sweater! It was rainy and I couldn't figure out the jack. Thankfully - I have a very loving husband who would do just about anything for me. A couple of hours later, Sam arrived from work, still clad in his shirt and tie to change my tire. (Note to readers: because the flat tire was not enough, the spare tire was also low on air - basically flat). As we drove to the nearby gas station to add some air to the spare, the car began smoking. I now bring you to bad thing number 3.

Smoking and a burning oil smell are not the things that you want spewing from a car. After going back and forth about what we wanted to do, we called triple-A (AAA to those of you not in the know). A tow truck was sent to us - really quickly. Originally, we thought we wanted the car to be taken to Pep Boys, but our driver, Milton convinced us otherwise. He worked for a AAA Shell service station and already felt like he knew what was wrong with the car (it had too much oil - who ever heard of such a thing?) He also told us that he could patch the tire and put it back on. We couldn't refuse.

So we arrived at the Shell station and were sent to the Outback Steakhouse next door to wait for the call telling us the status of the car. About 30 minutes later, I called Shell and they reported that the car was finished. We walked across the street only to find out that the car had been parked at the Outback Steakhouse for us. The tire had been patched and returned to it's spot on the front of my car and the oil was cleaned from around the engine, and the check engine light was turned off.

And the good things that come in threes you ask?

1. Cost of towing - free from AAA
2. Cost of having car repaired - nothing, zip, nada, zero, on the house
3. Realizing that there are still good people in the world. Thanks Milton and One Stop Shell owner!

So the Red Rocket lives on!!! I am so thankful that Sam was on hand for all of the manly jobs - and no one looks better changing a tire with a tie on, kneeling awkwardly on the sun visor. And thank goodness he was on hand when the car started smoking! My bad luck definitely could have been worse!!!

Vanished

I feel like I have disappeared. Has anyone missed me and my posting? Coming soon - a longer than your arm post about all of the vacationing that we have done over the last month and a half! Also - book reviews, people reviews, nonsense and other happenings. I think of blogging often and then just can't get my thoughts together. So I've been writing (typing) fragmented thoughts that I will attempt to string together to make a coherent sentence or two or sixty.

I shall return with more bloggy goodness. Hope no one's been holding their breath waiting for me to blog. If you so, you're probably blue and passed out by now.

Toto - I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Auntie Em, Auntie Em, it was a twister, it was a twister!! Well folks, Wednesday morning Brooklyn and more specifically, our neighborhood of Bay Ridge, was hit with it's first ever tornado. Many have called and e-mailed to see if we are okay and the answer is - Yes! We were not even bothered by the storm except for being rudely awakened by the thunder and lightning through our skylight. I got up around 6am to move my computer out from directly under the skylight (in case there was any leaking!) and was amazed by the quick bursts of light through the windows. We weren't aware that only 4 blocks down the road, a 100+ mph twister was ravaging parts of Bay Ridge.

My car was left unharmed, which is more than I can say for approximately 40 other cars who were crushed by falling trees. I had no trouble getting to work (Damn my office for only being 10 blocks away!), but some of my co-workers had a 4 hour commute due to flooding.

I had no clue as to the damage until I drove home. I wasn't able to turn down 5th Avenue like I do every day, because the Nissan dealership on the corner had its roof blown off and the traffic light had been knocked down. I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic down 4th Avenue because of all of the firetrucks. I noticed that awnings had been blown off of buildings down 4th Avenue, but didn't get the true extent of the damage until I saw the 4th Avenue Presbyterian Church, which was now missing it's stained glass windows. I looked down Bay Ridge Avenue and saw trees covering the streets and tons of firemen working to remove the debris.

It's so scary to me that this could happen in Brooklyn but am so thankful that we were narrowly missed. Most of the damage caused by the tornado was only 4-8 blocks from our apartment. Our skylight could have been shattered, my car could have been crushed...but it wasn't.

Here are a few pictures of the damage, which I'm sure most everyone has seen since it has been in the news.

I thought this was particularly interesting because that tree is sitting on an exact replica of my old car.




Here's a before picture of the 4th Avenue church...




...and this is after the storm.




Sam and I will try to get out and survey the damage to the 'hood. Thank you everyone for the concern...

Fluffernutters

By popular demand...well, not popular, but Brenda's demand, here's the breakdown of a fluffernutter.




Ingredients:
Bread
Peanut Butter
Fluff

First you take two slices of bread - any bread will do but my favorite will always be Wonderbread white. Although we recently bought Pepperidge Farm and it was really yummy.

On one slice, spread peanut butter (chunky or smooth - your choice).

On the other slice, spread Marshmallow Fluff. You can buy this in the jar anywhere. Interestingly enough, fluff also comes in strawberry and raspberry flavors - weird!



Put the slices together and enjoy. It can get a little messy, but always good comfort food.

I've also seen this with bananas, which can make an interesting treat.

Results

The post from yesterday really got me thinking. I may have left myself a little vulnerable. As Sam put it, "you're really brave for putting yourself out there like that". I don't feel brave, I just feel that it had to happen. I needed to get some things off of my ample chest. I needed to feel that there was a place to vent, that did not include a bitchy conversation with my mom or Sam. So I took advantage of the open forum that I like to refer as my own little piece of cyberspace, my blog.

Brenda really put her finger on it when she said it was cathartic. It definitely was but I didn't realize it at the time. What I realized was that I was so spacey following the post that I actually CUT myself with a butter knife. Not on purpose, of course - I think I'd choose a better method for self-mutilation (not that I'm a self-mutilator). After I finished making a fluffernutter (ah comfort food), I washed the fluff off of the knife and managed to cut my thumb while doing so. I was pretty embarrassed. Sam had a good laugh over that one, even trying to recreate how the butter knife could be so sharp. Turns out it's not, I'm just real lucky, or dumb - depends on how you look at it.

But the best part of writing (typing?) out strong feelings? Once again my body knows me better than I know me. I haven't been able to fall asleep prior to 2 or 3am for the last two weeks. Last night I fell asleep soon after my head hit the pillow at midnight. Coincidence? I think not.

So maybe in the future, I need to let the emotions flow here instead of keeping it all inside. Self-care has never been my strong suit, but I'll try. Thank you everyone for the positive, uplifting comments. Anonymous, thank you especially, whomever you are - that comment brought an even bigger smile to my face.

Taking Inventory

I'm in a rut. I'm not happy and I can't figure out why. Something just doesn't seem right. It's not one thing, I assume it's some sort of combination of things, but I need to get to the bottom of this. I can't sleep at night, I want to sleep during the day - what the hell is going on? It's only right that I try to breakdown my life to decipher the parts that aren't going well and try to figure out how to fix things.

Work:

I seem to have lost the passion. It's not that I don't love being a social worker, it's that I don't enjoy being a social worker for my agency. I'm not appreciated, I'm taken for granted, and I'm underpaid. My project has ended and I have reverted to being a plain ol' social worker, just like everyone else. That could be part of it - I'm not special anymore. I have a ridiculously large caseload. The national average is 25-30 and I have close to 50. I don't have time to see all of my patients, especially when I get a call from the research department asking me to complete a report on the project that they cancelled. You'd think they'd be able to do it themselves given that they never cared enough about me or respected me enough to give the actual title or pay to be a project director like they promised for over a year.

I feel like I don't know how to relate to my patients anymore. I feel like I have too many patients and can't devote the time to each that they deserve. I'm bogged down with food stamp and Access-A-Ride applications. My partner in the Palliative Care Program, an awesome social worker that was brought in to replace me in December so I could devote my time to the project, is getting exceedingly frustrated because he has over 50 patients with no letting up. He and I are basically splitting the entire program which has 118 patients on it currently.

I had my annual review in April (5 months late) and I assume I'm getting a raise, but it hasn't kicked in yet. That's another frustration - they give us our raises in July and pay us retroactively back to January. Why can't they just do reviews in December and pay us raises in January. Seems logical, right?

So obviously my job sucks and try as I might, I can't find anything better that will pay me more money. So I'm stuck for now but I'm unsure as to how to "make the best of it". Any suggestions?


New York:

Here's the thing I can't figure out. In April we got the most kick-ass apartment that I could have ever imagined for the price. We have furnished it with nice stuff and even care enough about the apartment to actually put things on the wall. Yet we still feel that it's temporary. We're always talking about the things that we're gonna do "when we get home", but I think it's time to realize that we may not be going home anytime soon and that this may be home. Maybe we should make the best of it. The first couple of years were still exciting. We lived in NYC! We could do all of the touristy shit in Manhattan (which we did), we could go to fun bars, concerts, etc. There was always so much to do. Then we moved to Brooklyn and it opened up a whole new world to us. It was so different and fun and didn't feel like a congested city. We loved our neighborhood and then the crazy bitch upstairs ruined everything. In recent months I have felt as if my love affair with New York had ended, but I'm not sure that moving back to Austin would necessarily solve anything. We need to explore more of New England this fall. We need to take more trips and really take advantage of living here. If not, we'll regret it when we leave.

Marriage:

My marriage is wonderful. We are getting so much better at communicating and not getting upset at little stupid things. We cook together every night, which has contributed to our closeness. I still think that he is the sexiest man alive and think that I am so lucky to have found him. Every once in a while I catch myself looking at him and thinking how beautiful he is. I often wonder if I deserve someone so awesome, which I do. I thoroughly respect him and how he challenges me. I don't think this is a source of my rut at all. We're so lucky, it's amazing how many of our friends have divorced in the last year. I don't ever think we'll get to that point. He and I just need to do more fun stuff outside of the house.

Friends:

Don't have any. Well, don't really have any here at least. We have two couples that we see once a month, but there isn't a real closeness there. I don't feel like I could call up either of the girls and go hang out 1-on-1 or go shopping or something. It's best when we are in a group of 6, which is really weird. I had one gal pal that I could go shopping with but I had to cut her loose (or just stop responding to her calls - I'm a real coward) when we couldn't get through 5 minutes without her yearning for her ex-boyfriend that broke up with her 2 years ago!!! And then there were Jen & James. Unfortunately, we didn't know how good we had it when they were here. I could call Jen for anything. We could hang out and never run out of things to talk about. Thank goodness she and James came to visit last weekend, I just really wish that we had someone closer. Sam always talks about the fact that all of our friends are still in Austin, but to be fair, only a few of our friends are still in Austin, most everyone else is all over the country. Brian is in Iraq, Omar & Bethany are in L.A., Jesse is in Miami, Mike and Alice are on their way to Memphis, Amanda & Chris are in Bryan, Jen & James are in North Carolina. Maybe we need to figure out a way to make more friends here, but I'm at a loss as far as how to. I have always made friends at school and at work and I'm done with making work friends...

Me:

Positives: This is gonna be kinda gross, but here goes. I'm so excited that I have had three periods in a row. Why is that exciting? The last period I had was December of 2005. For the last year, any periods I've had have been medication induced. For some reason, May was a good month for me and my body decided to work on it's own. I wonder if it correlates at all with moving to the new apartment?

I'm eating better, beginning to take care of myself and feeling better physically. I eat healthy foods (except for the scallops seared in butter the other night) and have cut out regular sodas and have dropped a size in my clothing. I'm no longer in a depressive haze, which is a nice change. I don't dread getting up in the morning.

Negatives: I'm still incredibly unhappy about my weight and am considering getting a LAP-Band. I want us to be able to have kids and I know that my weight is keeping that from happening. I look at myself in the mirror and think - ugh, gross! I want to change that. I think that every negative thing that happens is somehow related to my weight. I still feel it's what kept us from getting two apartments that we wanted. I feel that I tend to be overlooked at work and that things are expected of me. Maybe I'm not as professional as I could be. I have this horrible pain in my leg caused by pain in my back that causes numbness, tingling and a feeling of it falling asleep and then waking up - this is what keeps me up at night!

So to recap, my life isn't all that bad. I have someone willing to pay me to hang out with lots of different people. I have a great apartment, a fantastic husband, and a great family. I have great long-distance friends, but could use a few more closer by. We have little debt and can basically do anything we want to (within reason) and have money in savings. People like me and respect me. I'm not hiding under the covers refusing to face the world. So maybe I just need to get over myself and start living life just a bit better than I currently am. You know, when you put it all down in writing, it just doesn't seem so bad. I wonder if this works for everything...


This is me back when nothing mattered except playing in the dirt and getting love from mommy...

Healthy Eating

We are officially on a roll. We have cooked at home the last 15 out of 16 days. We haven't had the same thing twice and we're trying new food. And the best part - we're eating healthy and we feel really good.

Our inspiration lately has come in the form of cleaning the living room. In that we started to go through all of our magazines and pick recipes that we would actually want to make. We took ideas from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Family Circle, Vegetarian Times and Gourmet.

Most everything that we have eaten lately has been vegetarian, sometimes even vegan. Some days we feel carnivorous and throw some shrimp or something into the mix.

We have found new foods that we like including quinoa, Israeli couscous, curry, saffron and lots and lost of veggies.

Tonight we had mushrooms stuffed with prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, bread crumbs and mushroom stems. Last night we had shrimp marinated in chipotle mayo and dredged in panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) on top of a corn, scallion, chipotle gratin.

Now I just need to organize all of my recipes into one handy book. Anyone interested in doing some data entry???

We'll keep you posted as to what new foods we try in the next week or so. Maybe we'll even provide menus and recipes.

Happy eating!!

Family Vacations

I never know how I get to this point. I have such good intentions, I plan to blog on a regular basis and the next thing you know, a month has gone by and I haven't done anything. So, here goes yet another recap-a-thon. Everyone ready? Okay, here goes!

Over the last month we have had the opportunity to have two, count them, two family vacations. Now granted, these may be the last two family vacations that we ever have, but we made it happen.

First vacation - New Orleans for Memorial Day. We actually went for a wedding, but it seemed that the wedding just got in the way. Sam and I arrived in New Orleans on Saturday morning expecting to be picked up from his parents. No go on that one. They were still in Baton Rouge, or close to it and wouldn't be getting us anytime soon. A quick call to Myra and we were picked up within 10 minutes. We toured the French Quarter, gambled at Harrah's, ate really good food and headed back to NYC. Who is "we" you may ask? Well, "we" consisted of Marie, Stewart, Brenda, Eran, Yoni, Yael, and of course - Sam and I. We were able to take lots of great pictures and take a first ever family photo - first with the Levine family since the early 1990's.



Next stop on the family train - Disney World. We arrived in Orlando once again expecting to be picked up by the family. Upon arriving, we were told that the family was at least 2 hours away! Lucky for us the Orlando airport had a bunch of shops and a bar. When the caravan arrived, it took at least another 30 minutes to figure out where we were gonna sit. It's really hard to travel with 11 people! That's right, eleven! We were joined on this trip by Aunt Carol, her son Brian and his friend Kelby.





So, just a recap - 11 people with 11 different opinions and plans for the time that we had in Orlando. We went to several of the theme parks, went deep sea fishing and even took a day to just relax at the condo. We experienced daily family meltdowns, lots of fighting, lots of rain, but it was all worth it. We got to see Mickey and were able to relax a little. We even got away for 24 hours in Miami with Jesse.



So that's a start, right? A little bit of what we've been doing since the last post. I promise (not an empty promise, I think) that I will try to be better in the future. Maybe I'll begin chronicling what we're eating every day. Won't that be fun?!

It's Lonely in Bay Ridge Without...

...Jen & James! So, it just hit me. As Sam and I were driving home tonight and were traveling down 4th avenue, we stopped at a light at 4th Ave and 92nd St and I glanced over to their old building. It was a really sad feeling. A very empty feeling.

I have come to realize that 1) I suck at making friends and 2) I suck at keeping friends. Since college, I haven't been able to find someone I could totally relate to (aside from Sam). I've been missing a best friend and kindred spirit in female form. About a year ago, Jen came into my life. We worked together and shared so many of the same interests. Our husbands got along really well, almost too well.



We took short vacations together, we bonded many nights over drinks and good food. Jen and James are two of the only people in the world that we would fly to New Orleans and drive to Florida for. Not to mention that we will always have a special tie to them because Sam officiated their wedding.

When Jen told me they were moving to North Carolina, I was in denial. Up until two days ago, I was in denial. When they came to stay with us last week for one night after making the big move, it didn't hit me. It was just like a fun slumber party. But tomorrow, we'll be enjoying a street festival and we can't call them to come along. They're really gone...



Bottom line - I miss them terribly. This is one friendship that I will do my damndest (!) to maintain. We'll definitely head down to Hickory, NC to visit and I am counting down the days until Jen returns in July for a day or so for a work thang. I know that this is the best place for them to be, but I definitely won't be able to replace the friendship.

Thank G-d for e-mail, cell phones and text messaging. I am vowing to maintain this friendship! I am painfully aware of how much of our weekends was spent with them. I really miss my friend, my partner in crime, my comrade in a shitty workplace and my kindred spirit.



Jen and James, I know NYC sucked for you guys, but it made it a whole lot easier to get through it together...

Movin' On Up...er, Down?

Recently Sam and I packed our life in 16 boxes (plus furniture of course) and sadly left the Slope for Sunny Bay Ridge. We decided it was time to get more for our dollar and move from our 500 square foot, one-bedroom, 3rd floor walk-up. We traveled 80 blocks south and lo and behold, moved into a 1,000+ square foot duplex. We're still on the 3rd floor, actually the 3rd and 4th, but we have an elevator this time. This new pad would no longer allow Sam to walk home from work, but it's still just a 25-minute commute on the train. And my commute? I'm 10 blocks from work and it takes me 6 minutes by car.

This fantabulous move did not come without it's share of hardships. Originally, we moved into a 700 square foot 1-bedroom apartment with the hope that at the end of August we'd be able to move within the building to a duplex. One week into the move we were told that the duplex would be available May 1st. So we lived in what we refer to as our "staging area", never unpacked boxes or suitcases, just waiting for the day that we could move. We took our sweet time moving from our old apartment in the slope, which was completed on April 20th. So, it was only 2 weeks of living among the boxes.

Last weekend, with the help of James, Sam moved all of the furniture and boxes upstairs and we're slowly unpacking boxes and settling in. We absolutely love the new neighborhood, filled with great restaurants, tons of bars, lots of bakeries, and an Eckerd's downstairs!

We now have more space than we know what to do with, but just leave it to me to do lots of shopping and enjoy the decorating process. In fact, Jen and I vacationed in Long Island today at Ikea and Linens N' Things. Only a few more furniture pieces to buy before the transformation is complete.

The cats are slowly getting used to the place and are enjoying racing up and down the stairs to the second floor. Blue absolutely loves all of the counter space in the kitchen (as do I!) and they like sunning under the upstairs skylight!

While Sam is enjoying Madison, Wisconsin this weekend with Mike, I'll enjoy unpacking boxes and settling in!

So, next time you're in Brooklyn, venture down to Bay Ridge, nestled under the Verrazano Bridge and come see us. Our place sleeps 6 now!!

Enjoy pictures of our last apartment compared to this one and there shouldn't be any doubt in your mind as to why we moved.


Old Kitchen vs. New Kitchen



Old Bedroom vs. New Bedroom

Good Thing it Wasn't a Real Emergency!

If ever you have an emergency, do not go to an emergency room. I repeat, do NOT go to an emergency room. Even though the name alone would tell you different, it's a complete oxymoron. Emergency rooms are not for emergencies. They are poorly ventilated, crowded waiting rooms for you and your 20 closest friends, all coughing, moaning, shaking, and crying or some combination thereof, to sit for hours reading day-old newspapers and watching soap operas.



Why am I talking about emergency rooms? Well my friends, I spent the day (along with Sam) at the NYMH ER. I'll start this off with this: everything is fine. We are both healthy.

Background: I have a history of back problems, usually causing spasms and pain that require morphine and bedrest for 1 to 2 weeks. About 2 weeks ago I began having a strange burning pain in my left thigh. I ignored it thinking that it was just side effects of the back pain.

Today: I started thinking of what else could possibly be causing this burning pain in my leg. I spoke with a couple of nurses that I work with and the symptoms that I described elicited concerns of a possible blood clot. Blood clots can cause major damage, some even resulting in death. Needless to say, it scared the hell out of me. After researching a little bit on the interweb, I figured it might be the case. I called my doc and told him about the symptoms. He suggested that I head to the ER to rule out a clot.

I called Sam and asked him to meet me there. I asked my boss if it was okay to leave to head to the ER. Interesting sidenote: Social Workers are notorious for taking really shitty care of themselves. Great care of everyone else, but really crappy self-care. My boss threatened to choke me for going two weeks without getting the mystery pain checked out. She even offered to drive me to the ER, but I wanted to drive myself.

So, short story even longer, I checked into the triage department of the ER at 11:15 am. Sam arrived at 11:30 am. I was called to triage at 12:15 pm. My blood pressure and temp were checked (both normal) and my problem was assessed. Then I was sent to registration (a new waiting room). At 1:00 pm, I was called to registration to provide them with my address, phone number, emergency contact and insurance information. Five minutes later, I was told to wait for the doctor.



I assumed that the possibility of a blood clot was pretty serious and that I would be pushed to the head of the line. Unfortunately, NYMH works on a first-come, first-serve mentality. At 4:00 pm, I was called back to a room, that I thought would be the end of the line. I told the PA my concern and he said that it most likely wasn't a blood clot, but he would have the test done to make sure. Then we were sent into another room to wait to be taken up to the vascular center. At 4:30 pm, after sitting in yet another waiting room, I was called in for a doppler (ultrasound) that produced negative results. I did not have a blood clot in either leg. Once the doppler was complete, I was asked to wait for someone to take us back to ER.

At 5:00 pm, we were taken down to the ER, not knowing why. I figured the test was negative, I could go home now. I was wrong.

At 5:15 pm, we spoke with the PA again who confirmed that the doppler was negative for clots and diagnosed me with sciatica. The pain in my leg was caused by muscle spasms putting pressure on the nerves. I was given muscle relaxers and mega-strength ibuprofen and sent home.

We left the ER at 6:00 pm. What an awful experience. It's unfortunate that you can't call ahead and make reservations.

So that was my Friday. I am thankful that Sam was able to experience the boredom and frustration with me. I'm thankful that I won't die from a blood clot (this time!) and I'm thankful that the muscle relaxer is kicking in. Gonna submit to the sleepiness.

Good night, G-d bless. Happy emergency-free weekends to all of you...

You have 30 seconds to Recap the last 4 Months....Go!

I refuse to apologize for sucking! I have been out of pocket, too overwhelmed with life to post, so there. However, I will now recap the last 4 months. Is everyone ready? This is going to fly by. Think of it as my life flashing in front of your eyes!

January:

I turned 30, but you guys already know that. Sam and I flew to New Orleans to visit family and ultimately drive to Destin, Florida for Sam to perform his first-ever wedding ceremony for our dear friends, Jennifer and James.



[Beignet's in New Orleans]



[Carlye at the Destin Beach]



[James and Jen]

February:

You know, February was pretty boring. Nothing really to write about. Sam and I celebrated a romantic Valentine's Day where I was presented with a gorgeous frame.



On that same day, we had a horrible winter storm bringing along ice and snow. This would be the first opportunity to have to dig out the Red Rocket. Yoni turned 3 years old! And at the end of the month, Sam quit smoking!



[Yoni & Yael]

March:

Sam turned 30. We spent a chocolate-filled weekend in Hershey, Pennsylvania.





Then mom came to visit and we drove to Washington, D.C. for Sarabeth's Bat Mitzvah. This was mom's first trip to D.C., so we did a ton of sightseeing. Unfortunately, while we were celebrating with family in D.C., across the country in L.A., Cousin Leon was dying from a years-long illness. We will miss him terribly.





In addition, Sam and I received a letter that our lease would not be renewed at the apartment thanks to the crazy anti-smoking lady upstairs. Now we had to find a new place to live.

April:

We moved to our new apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. We found a great apartment with all of the modern conveniences that we could need. Our little family is spending the month moving out of the old apartment and into the new. Following two weeks of living in the new place, we heard from the landlord that another, larger, 2 story apartment would be available upstairs at the beginning of May, so we will be moving yet again.

With new beginnings also comes sadness. Jennifer got a dream job in North Carolina and she and James are leaving New York at the end of May. We moved to their neighborhood and now they're leaving us. I guess that means we'll have to vacation in North Carolina!

So, I know this isn't much, but it gives you an idea of what's been going on in our life. My project at work is really taking off. My nurse quit in February so I've been flying solo for 2 months now. My caseload has more than doubled since the beginning of the year and I'm exhausted from being a rock star. Hopefully life will get much better when our final move is complete.

Love to you all. Will try to do better in the future!

Happy Birthday to the Love of my Life!

Lately I've been accused of not blogging enough or not showing "some people" enough love (sorry Jay!), so I will dedicate this to the greatest man that I know. Today my darling husband enters the new world of old folks. He is turning the big 3-0! Finally, I'm no longer a cradle robber. Tonight we're heading out to Peter Luger's for steaks! Last weekend I whisked Sammo off to Hershey, Pennsylvania for a romantic, relaxing weekend (more on that later). This morning I made pancakes, so Sam is definitely getting the royal treatment for his birthday.



Sam - you are the light of my life. You are the reason I wake up every morning and you make me want to be a better woman. I love to fall asleep next to you at night, even though most nights you steal ALL of the covers. You are the sweetest, most romantic (that's a new one!), most loving, understanding man I have ever met. I don't know what I'd do without you.




So, welcome to the thirties. You're finally a grown man! Happy, happy birthday!!!



Love and kisses to you!

Turning the big 3-0, Part Deux

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up feeling the effects of the drinking the night before and the weight of the cake in the bottom of my belly. As I got out of bed, everything bone in my body creaked and cracked, alerting me to the intensity that comes with turning 30, I was really old (or at least I felt that way). My birthday hosts (aka, Sam, Shelly & Joe) told me about my birthday plans. They were whisking me away to New Haven, Connecticut to visit Yale and stay in a bed & breakfast and then we were heading to the casinos. We were taking a train because Joe had never been on a train before.


Shelly & Joe on the train

We arrived in New Haven and took a cab to the B&B, which basically boiled down to the first floor of a historic house, which included a kitchen, etc. We headed out in the rain to a great seafood place for appetizers and a quick drink, then a cab ride to the Yale bookstore (for a magnet) and an awesome Italian dinner (after boozing it up at a couple of bars in New Haven). We were so stuffed from the dinner that we couldn't even enjoy drinking back at the B&B. We did enjoy playing dominos, especially since we had just purchased them at Walgreen prior to heading back to the B&B. We had breakfast the next morning and instead of taking a bus from the train station to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, I had the brilliant idea to rent a car to make it more fun!


A Woodchuck before dinner


Dominos and Alka Seltzer

We arrived at Mohegan Sun, gambled a little and stuffed our bellies at the buffet. Can anyone tell me why buffets are ever a good idea? We eventually headed to Foxwoods and to the Two Trees hotel to check in. We gambled and drank and gambled and drank and then headed back to the hotel to sleep. On a sidenote, we did not do well in the gambling. Let me rephrase, I did not do well at the gambling - Shelly & Joe did great and even left with money.

The next morning, we decided yet again that keeping the rental car would be more fun than taking the train back to NYC. Driving was such a good idea, I just wish we thought of it prior to taking the train. We could've taken the Red Rocket and saved me about $300 in car rental fees. This is what happens when I'm not in charge! (Just kidding, this was a wonderful trip!) We had to head back to New Haven to re-rent the car before driving to NYC, but at least it gave us a chance to see Yale in the light.


This is us "Not Standing" off campus

We arrived back in NYC just in time for Shelly & Joe to repack and take the rental car to JFK to catch their plane home. I had such a wonderful time in Connecticut with my bestest friends and my super duper husband.

Thank you Sammy for a wonderful birthday trip and a total surprise. You know I love to gamble, so you totally picked a supreme place to take me. Maybe 30 won't be so bad.


The 4 of us overlooking Long Island Sound...