New Job

I started my new (summer) job on Monday. I work for a local insurance company, as a mail-girl/assistant receptionist. It's a good job, but it will take some getting used to.
The mail-girl part isn't going to be so hard, as soon as I get the schedule down. There is a specific time of the day for everything - filing, going to the post office, sorting mail, picking up mail, inter-office mail, etc.... and I need to get the hang of the well-used inter-office mail system. For a small place they run it very efficiently - as long as I can remember the order that things go, that is!
The phones, however, may be the true challenge. I consider myself to be a well-educated person, but this takes a special skill. There are a million lines, or so it seems, and everyone has a specific extension - but some people are not supposed to get the calls (even if you ask to speak to them) and others go directly to voice mail, and others.... oh, I don't even know. The first person I spoke to got hung up on.... oops!
I'll get it all eventually.... I hope.

Wind in my hair, sand between my toes...

... oh, bliss. :)

Took a roadtrip yesterday to the shore. Yay!! It's fun to go on a day when they say there will be massive thunderstorms for several reasons: (1)Not as many people go, due to the threat of rain (2)The ocean gets really moody - which I love (3)It leaves all plans up in the air - you don't know what will happen next!

Well, the day started off far away from the ocean - at the DMV. (or the Motor Vehicle Commission, as it has been renamed.) Two stinking hours wait to renew my license! Oh, the joy! But at least it is done for another 4 years.

So, back to the beach.... drove down and did fun things, like eat taffy, drink slurpees, play skeeball (beginners luck made me fairly good!), walk on the sand, hang out. Fun times! Makes me want to ditch it all and blow everything on a shore house for the summer! :)

HB WJB,JR!

Happy Birthday, Dad! :)

Kind Deed Award!

Today was the last day for students in our school district, and both schools had awards ceremonies, which meant I sat through 2.5 hours of name-calling and clapping (and there was more, actually... but luckily I could skip out of that!) Anyway, at the elementary school they have Kind Deed Awards - the kids can nominate each other for acts of kindness, teachers can nominate students (or teachers), etc. It's really sweet, usually - you get things like, "This award goes to James for lending me snack money when I forgot mine, from Danny." Really cute. Well, imagine my surprise when they called my name today and I got an award for being "a great music teacher." from a cute second grade girl. Something like that is enough to make not just your day, but your whole week! :) grin (:

Retro fun!

Last night, Matt and I went to a drive-in theatre to see Shrek 2. I didn't know drive-ins were so much fun! The concept is obvious, of course - you bring your car and watch the movie. There were so many people there - tons of them, everywhere! The place we went to has 3 movies running simultaneously. Most people don't even stay in the cars - you bring chairs or blankets and sit outside, leaving your car doors (or back or whatever) open to hear the sound. It's like picnicing with a movie! Tres fun. And not at all the skanky make-out pit that some people want you to believe, although I'm sure you can make of it what you want, like most things. A fun, retro experience, and a cute movie to boot. :) If you live nearby, I say - go!

An added note: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! :)

Flag Day festivities

Well, now that june fourteenth has come and gone, I will hopefully get a few minutes to breathe. I have had something each evening for one week straight! Friday I was in the city, Saturday night out with Alisa (and the show in the daytime) Sunday a wedding and birthday dinner with the folks, Monday (the actual Flag Day) there was rehearsal, Tuesday night was the last show, last night was another birthday dinner (with Matt) and tonight is the end-of-the-year dinner for work. YAWN! But for the most part it has all been lovely. This year, I think, will be one of the best. :) Hey - it's all ready better than some other years, and I'm only four days into it!!

Unintentional Driving Adventure

This morning I went to the wedding of two people who met while doing a show with the G&S company I'm a part of... They met there, started seeing each other, and he supposedly proposed in the middle of a rehearsal. It was a very nice wedding, and in a beautiful location - directly across from the NYC skyline.

...But that's not the adventurous part. Driving home was. I missed the turn to get me back on the road I'd taken there and ended up on a scenic tour of towns along the Hudson... Starting in Weehawken (home of the Arron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel that I wrote about in 7th grade), then in West New York (NJ), Guttenberg, North Bergen, Fairfield (?), North Bergen again, and who knows where else... nerve-wracking? Yes. Confusing? Sure. Typical for me to be lost like that? Absolutely. But at least my inner compass told me that if I kept Manhattan on my right I would be going the right way. That worked, actually, and eventually I met up with the road I wanted, just much further along it than I had anticipated. sigh. At least I made it home again. :)

Note to M.L. - If you're reading this, then I guess you found me out. Well, we all have our secrets..... :)

Manhattan Adventure

Last night there was an adventure to be had in Manhattan. Matt and I went in to see an advance screening of The Terminal(go and see it... I highly reccomend it!) and then took an urban hike, wandering around in big circles, everywhere from Times Square to the Empire State Building to Bryant Park to right off of Resturaunt Row, where there is a fantastic bakery - Amy's Bread. (Their cookies are enormous and yummy... and the breads look incredible as well.) It was a nice night to be wandering the city and riding on the ferry, and a lovely evening altogether. I've not often gone on night-time pedestrian adventures in cities (usually the idea is not a good or safe one - this was a first for me in NYC) but this one was tres fun.

Randomness of a Friday

Wish you were here? I do! But I will be somewhere around here later on this evening... and that works in the meantime! :)

It Did Not Rain!!

...well, it did, a little drizzle. But we pushed ahead anyway, and went through the concert like we were on speed... 45 minutes and everything was done! Whoosh!
I don't think I have ever been so neurotic about the weather before... Weather.com said rain from noon on (which it didn't do) and Accuweather.com said partial cloud/sun between 7 and 8pm, and the radio station I listened to in the car told me 40% chance of rain. My principal was constantly looking at updated Dopplar radar graphs and other colorful map/chart/whatevers... and the stress was on. But I said we should try it anyway, and we did, and it is OVER!

...the rejoicing and merriment can now begin....

It Can't Rain Tomorrow!

...well, it can. Just not when I am supposed to have this stinking concert. I spent two and a half hours outside this morning in preparation (not to mention the rest of the week as well) and afterwards found myself all hot and bothered... literally!! I don't care if it pours tonight. I don't care if it pours tomorrow morning. I don't care if it pours after 8ish tomorrow. Just not when we need to do this stupid concert. Grr.

And why are half of my sidebar things all the way at the bottom of the page? Everything looks ok in the template... did I mess up the html somehow? (especially since I don't know what I'm doing, really?)

Potter, Patience, Chaos, Craziness and Thunderstorms?!

'ello. Weekend update:
Went to see Harry Potter at the IMAX on Friday! Very Good movie, and a fun night all around. :)
Saturday brought the Woods on a little road trip. We went to Ikea and puttered around before I had to get ready for the show. Pics are available for viewing via World Wide Photography for both events. After the show, Becky, Peter, Matt and I all hung out a little bit, which was very good. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show, and it was nice to have people there to see me! :)
Sunday - another show, more people to visit with. Mom and Dad came to the matinee, as did other friends Christie and Bud and also Laura, the accompanist extrodinaire. What a busy weekend!!

Chaos and Craziness abound this week at work as we prepare for the Spring Concert - the Woodstock of Elementary school. Pray that there are no Thunderstorms (or rain or anything like it) Thursday night - the concert needs to be outside and if it rains it will have to be on June Fourteenth... which we all know is this girl's favorite holiday!!! It should be a law that no concerts are to be on that day!! A make-up concert on Monday will make Miss President one VERY unhappy person. :c/ Oh, Stress!!!

Mourning

As I was pulling into my spot today as I came home from work, I noticed a big bird sitting on the grass right next to my car. A BIG bird... not a sparrow or songbird, but a big one - maybe a hawk or a falcon?? Since we don't get too many of those here in surburbia, I was intrigued. It was brave - did not flinch as I shut the windows of my car, turned it off, and opened the car door. When I started to get out of the car, it moved... and I saw the sadness. A very dead bunny in its claws. I think it is our bunny, the little friend who lives in the brush by the cars and nibbles on the grass. So then I got mad at the bird and said something articulate like...
"You stupid bird! You killed my bunny!"
...as it dragged its lunch away. I think my neighbor heard me.

Dear Bunny, you will be missed. How sad. Stupid bird.

Strange Bits of News...

Strange things are always happening... but these two just have bizarreness written all over them.

1. This one is more than a little strange. A woman named Alberta Martin died on Monday at age 97. But that's not the weird part. She married a Confederate Veteran in 1927 when she was 21... and he was 81. And then they had a child. And he died 4 years later. Then she married his grandson. (it all reads like a soap opera!)Read about it here.

2. What about this one? There's a woman that just gave birth to her 15th child. Fifteenth. Does she want a family or a team? Michelle Duggar of Arkansas is 37 years old and now has 15 children... 13 births, since there are 2 sets of twins. And they say she might want more?!?! Is she crazy? I think children are a good idea, but not fifteen! Uy! (and Ouch!) Don't believe me?