Happy New Goat*!!!

Here's to a 2008 filled with "yes" when you want it most and "no" when you need to use it

and in betweens that soar!!

I, myself, usually save my resolutions for September

(start of the new school year and all- filled with new notebooks and things-to-do lists!)

but this year I am looking for the patience to wait for the yes I want most from immigration and the ability to say no when I need to and honor myself the rest of the time!
And to take a walk every day because my Mom thinks I need to breathe more.....

In the meantime, drop your own personal ball and

should auld acquaintance be forget... keep your eye on that grand olde flag!

Wait, that's not it.

*last year, at 7PM, I received that phrase in a text from Jo as it was already 2007 in England!

A year later, neither of us have any clue why!

I had not seen this one...

...and once I did, I couldn't resist sharing!

Seriously, my nephew is so cute, it's ridiculous!

Merry Christmas Too All....

...and to all a good night!

Hoping you all had a brilliant day! After the British Invasion last night of Jo, Phoebe and Jo's Pal Lydia- a lovely day was had here by all! Between the 8 year old on UK time waking up at 3:30AM and naps all around at 7:30AM and then Radio City in the afternoon...

we are happy and full and EXHAUSTED!!

Home Again, Home Again...

Overheard in the deli in my 'hood...

Man: Why would anyone hire a bitch ho who's gonna turn around and fuckin' sue me?

Indeed. Toto, I don't think we are in England anymore.

Peek-A-Boo!

Cute, Cuter and Cutest!

Yesterday, Matt and I played Santa to his nephews- Gabriel and Optimus Blake!!

Personally, I think the gifts were all ours!

Did I mention that Blake has a new puppy?

My new Peeps!

As some of you may have heard, two trips to Matt ago- I bought 4 Cadbury Magical Elves in the Boots at Heathrow as I was waiting for my flight home. One for me- as I had never had one- and one for each of the kiddos of Nannyland! They are Cadbury Dairy Milk and Pop Rocks in the shape of a Christmas elf. The good news- they are DELICIOUS!!! The bad news- for the kiddos of Nannyland, that is- is that they never saw one! I ate all four on the flight and then was mad that I didn't buy more! They are the perfect Christmas treat! Sparkly and chocolaty and difficult to find! The latter I discovered on my last trip to Matt ago. I looked everywhere... because, of course, I told the kiddos of Nannyland how fantastic the treats I almost brought them were! I am not the kindest nanny sometimes. The Magical Elf was no where to be found!! I hunted high and low, in everywhere store laden with Christmas goodies and even those without. It was like craving a Peep in the summer back in the days when Peeps were just an Easter treat! The world was so bereft of Elves that last trip, that I began asking shopkeepers about them just to prove I hadn't dreamed them. And the people said, "Oh, yeah, Cadbury Elves- they are fantastic!" But no one had any.

Fast forward to yesterday... Matt and I have taken a road trip and decided to make it even more interesting by stopping in the adorable town of Taunton. Neither of us had ever been, we were headed to Butlins (bypassing Sheppy's Cider Farm because Matt does not understand the allure of the cheesy road side stop- YET!)... and Taunton drew us in! It was lovely. They had some home grown shops as well as the normal high street affairs and a Craft Fair in the works and the scent of fresh made Christmas Mince Pies in the air... at least around the local bakery/restaurant/store!! In we went as Matt declared that once I had a fresh mince pie, I would never go back! (And I will admit that with a cup of tea, it was quite tasty!)

With no hope, I looked over the sweets selection in the shop- drawn in by the yummy looking chocolate hedge hogs on display- and there... one box... of CADBURY MAGICAL ELVES!!! YAHOOO! I lit up like a mouthful of Pop Rocks and Matt was a tad embarrassed but swept up in my excitement, bought me 10 Elves!! (I wanted the remainder of the box... but Matt wasn't that swept up!) And so, with utter delight, we ate mince pies and drank tea in bed and then savoured the magic that is a Cadbury Magical Elf with all the glee and love of the holiday season! Fingers crossed, any of them make it home!

Ohhh, Baby YOU... You got what I need!

Biz Markie. My, my, my.

Back in Jolly Olde...

...where clearly, some Native Americans got a little lost....

Hells To The YEAH!

I gots cable, Peeps! More than 5 channels! It is madness in the new pad! I just keep flipping and flipping and flipping....
Now if only these kids would leave! Who are you little bastards?

They don't have dial-up in Nannyland!

So, how have you been?

It's been a while since last I posted... moving, lack of DSL, extreme chaos... all adding up to less posting (and still cold feet!) And to add to the excitement, I have a throat of fire!! Which has left my voice sounding more Marge Simpson than anything and me not wanting to be more than a foot from a kettle! OWWWW! I even called in sick to work and I almost never do that! (Call in shopping or going to the movies... well, sure but sick? Spread the love and the germies, that's what I always say!) AND my camera broke! My new camera that I bought in August... stopped working! Gonna get Sony to fix it, of course but in the meantime... what am I to do?? WWHD? (What Would My Boss Do?) Buy a new one!! And thus... a shot of the recently furnished front room of the BFG Apartment! The sofas came from Macys... purchased on Black Friday at 40% off, free shipping, half price extended warranty... and they are from the Bella line!! How could I resist?!

PS... after 35 minutes of trying to upload the %$#@! picture, I quit!! Stupid dial up.

Tile Floors = One Thing....

...cold feet!!

I am a naked foot person. I love to be barefoot. I don't like to be any other kind of naked on a daily basis but I do like to have naked feet! I take socks off of babies, I wear flip flops in the winter to run to the deli for coffee, and don't get me started on sleeping with my feet covered! Unfortunately, the BFG Apartment has these fab tile floors and they are not conducive to barefootin'! They are cold and hard and still a bit concrete dusty (which is apparently NEVER coming out!)...

And so, now I need to love slippers. And slipper socks. And regular socks. And covered feet.

And the hits just keep on coming!

I blog to you now from the comfort of my bed which is located in the BFG Apartment! Finally!! The last couple of days have been a real bitch. Moving just sucks. And then comes the unpacking and the final trips to the old place to gather everything (the stuff I left behind has totally been at it like rabbits... I swear I left two pairs of shoes and a mirror... after 2 extra runs with the Pearl, I STILL have stuff there! As Miki pointed out... it's like they are wet Gremlins!), and the relating to new neighbors. Mine walk their cat. I swear to GOD!! Her name is Princess Coconut. (The cat, not the neighbor. No clue what her name is) And although the neighbors have time to drag their cat down the street by a halter, they don't seem concerned with the overflowing rubbish bins! Now do I already play the dickwad neighbor who moves in and starts telling people what to do?? I don't want to be that new guy! I hate that new guy! But I hate what piles of trash bring with it. And I don't think Princess Coconut is the feline for the job!

(I will make every opportunity to capture the dragging of the cat on film!)

And now, in addition, I have (well, had) the opportunity to audition for the college circuit. That's right, I could go to SUNY Geneseo and be funny. It was an honor to be nominated and it would have been cool but you audition ON LINE!! That's right. 3mins of your best mp3 or pdf or whatever you kids call it. Yeah, turns out, I am just not capable of the technical aspect of this gig. I am typing right now on a laptop powered by dial up because although Verizon could transfer my phone licktey split, the DSL... that takes time. And short of asking the kids of Nannyland to take on this project (to be honest, I think even they would have a hard time converting VHS to mp3), I was fresh out of luck! Did I mention it has to be in by midnight tonight???

So, I get this brilliant idea, to play a video of me being funny on my TV which is small and run with rabbit ears! (still no cable here but it is coming, I swear!) and film the TV (with me on it) with my camera!! I know how to upload videos from my SONY Cybershot!! Then I would make some funny joke about technology being beyond me and hope that the actual funny is enough! Guess what?? I get it all set up, choose the 3 minutes of VHS goodness that I want to film which happened after I found and unpacked that tape, and went to film... My camera battery is DEAD!! Seriously people!! Un-friggin'-believable! At this point, there is no way to make it happen and so... goodbye, college circuit career! Hello Learning Annex Computers for Retards class!

Now, who wants to help me paint??

ARRRGGHHHH!

Packing Sucks.

I just got hit in the head with a Christmas piece of shit that clearly was in my closet before I moved in . There are now shards of ornament EVERYWHERE.

I have no idea if I have to work today.

My throat hurts and I am sniffly.

Stupid moving.

Did I mention...

...that during the "renovations", I also had other fam in town (my Uncle Steve, Aunt Nancy and cousins- Val & Tori)?? That's right... the Parade, the Statue, Top of The Rock, Union Square... It was a weekend, people!

But I clearly made a new friend! :)

The new, improved Big Fat Greek Apartment!

A lot of hard work this weekend from the 'rents!! Ridiculously thankful!!

But the bathroom is totally different and the new blinds have made a world of difference

and the chandelier is GONE!! YAHOOO!! The patio looks fantastic with new locks on the gates!

The shelves are shiny and clean and the floors are getting there...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Be Thankful that you don't have to catch your own Turkey!

Keepin' the Hot side Hot!

On this, the eve of Thanksgiving- I would like to remind everyone of my favorite McDonalds treat (barring hash browns, of course). It is from a bygone era. One in which no one gave a shit about the environment (as opposed to now when say, 10-14 do). One in which we liked our cool side cool. One in which I could eat a McDLT and not have it head straight to my ass. It's a shame McDonalds never came up with a Thanksgiving treat! A McTurkey burger or something... They had Lent and St. Patricks Day covered. Something to think about, Ronald!

As long as we are pointing things out...

Kerry sent me a link with this delightful treat on sale now in Britain! It is a sausage surrounded by chips and then deep fried! No fork necessary! I hope every Brit I know is having one for Thanksgiving despite their lack o' celebrating that particular holiday!

We Wish To Welcome You To...

...MUNCHKINLAND!!

People- today the Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz got a collective star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame! (Does Toto have one yet?) I wonder if their star is smaller??

PS... Thanks, RobbleighD for drawing my attention to this matter and recognizing that it is no tiny feat!

Hee hee hee!

Among My Favorite Commercials...

...no longer shown on daytime TV! Wonder why??

Stop Screwin' with Santa!

On the news tonight, they had a story about how perhaps Santa is a bad influence on children. Because he is FAT! He is JOLLY, people! And he lives in the North Pole.... you don't see skinny polar bears!? Sometimes, specially when we are at war- the news spins off in the most ridiculous directions! And it wasn't even Fox!!

When Doug E. ain't fixin' what ails you...

Always pick Jake! Jake kept me laughing all day (and the grown-ups weren't bad either!) But nothing can beat that smile of Jake's... even when it's blurry or covered in food!

Stick A Fork in Me....

..cuz I am DONE!! Today (and most of yesterday, for the record) has been ridiculously bad. Someday, I might laugh. Today is not that day. Yesterday sucked for any number of reasons- 98 of them Nannyland. And today... well, today started with a text at 4AM and me not being able to fall back to sleep, middled with my 900 year old landlord screaming at me "I'm not fucking looking at you" and ended freezing on my front stoop at 1AM waiting for Kerry who thankfully had a spare set of my house keys. Where were my keys?? Oh, they had fallen into Elizabeth's birthday gift and so were vacationing in Brooklyn. Did I mention that with the exception of the company, Slate sucked ass tonight and will forever be the place NOT to return to to celebrate a birthday. And that at the 11th hour, Nannyland wanted the van back despite saying I could have it for the week and that it was filled with boxes to go to my new pad and stuff to go to Tamara's tomorrow for brunch? I am in hate with just about everything right now. And although, LL perked me up a bit earlier and Run DMC stopped my tears... not even Doug E. Fresh could save this day. DONE! Sit and spin, World. I will see you tomorrow.

Off da' hook!

A long time ago, LL Cool J helped me get some points on my SAT. They wanted a synonym for "pinnacle" and although my first thought was "golf ball"... I hear LL in my head telling me- "I am the pinnacle, that means I reign supreme" and then he promptly used his notoriety to crush me like a jellybean. He's bad. This morning AND again this afternoon... it was old school not a DJ who saved my life! A little Illin' in the morning when I needed a pick me up. God Bless Run DMC. And this afternoon, I got me some Cali! I love Sirius 43.... Backspin.

Inside the BFG Apartment!!

Well, as many of you may know (or not) I have found a FABULOUS apartment!! My official move-in date is Dec. 1 but as the apartment is currently empty, I will be painting and shelving and tidying and pottering about!! My Ma & Pa are coming for Thanksgiving and and will promptly be put to work assisting in all those -ings!! But tonight, Kerry and I had to break in. Don't ask. It involved a ladder, several fences and climbing in a window! The point is, we got in and thus... here, for the first time... pictures of the inside of the Big, Fat, Greek Apartment! Starring: Me and Kerry as "The Catburglers!", furniture that is yet to be removed as "Furniture I want Out!" and the Last Supper Painting as "You have got to be shittin' me!"

Packing is Finding Some Old Favorites!

Among my favorite pics of me and Kerry... and there are a lot to choose from!

Run. Don't Walk. YUM!

I bought this last week and finally had the chance to taste it today. LOVE!!

Coffee-mate Peppermint Mocha! It's enough to make me want to brew coffee at home! (Or go to Dunkin and get it black and then come home and add the good stuff!)

Packing is Finding the Yellowest of Yellows!

And then their are things that I am only moderately happy to have pictures of and exceedingly happy to no longer own. (Although much like I had my Newhouse sweatshirt under my bed, I imagine that my Mom has those yellow, "I want to be able to spot you", Disney t-shirts somewhere!) If only I could find the pic of all of us with our coats still on which is how it was for most of the day so blinded were we by the yellow! But Goofy was so impressed by us and our team yellows that he broke his vow of silence to ask my Mom where she purchased the one with his pic on it! It took awhile to get that across as we assumed he just wanted to autograph Jeff's shirt... Well, you know what they say- when you assume, you make an ass of u and Goofy!

Packing is Finding Twofers!

Not only did I find this fine photo of Chris and I and the lucky Hippo Pizza delivery man who brought us pizza that day to our flat in London but I found my beloved Newhouse sweatshirt!! It is threadbare and burned and ink stained and ripped and stretched out- I love everything about it!!

Happiness is... a comfy, old security sweatshirt!

A lesson learned...

...is a Penny earned!! I am a card carrying customer of Commerce Bank. I love it there. On Valentines Day, they gave customers roses and Hershey kisses. They are open all the time. Their banks are shiny and they always have free pens. They have dog biscuits for well... dogs. And they have Penny Arcade. Penny is a coin counter. You dump your coins, you hazard a guess as to how much you have (and if you come within $1.99, you get a prize!), and then it prints out a receipt for you. I love it!!

That being said... today, I took in a bunch of coins (over $113 worth... my guess was $53. No prize for me)! I figured counting was better than packing- plus I gots that new TV, new couch, new bedroom set fund building for the big, fat, Greek apartment! Here's the thing... I had a bunch of half dollar coins and them there Sacajaweas in a separate baggie. So, I dumped them in last. It counted like a third of them!! I pointed it out to the teller... not as much because I was worried about my $3 (which turned out to be $10, BTW) but because I didn't like feeling that my beloved shiny, chocolate doling bank was trying to swindle me! Well, the teller promptly got a manager who opened Penny up and found my missing coins! (Apparently, Penny wasn't so sure what a 50 cent piece was...)

So, although nobody wants to count their coins before bringing their coins to a coin counter but it is good to be a better guesser than me. That or keep your big bucks, no whammies coins in a separate baggie! The more you know....

The NEW Big, Fat Greek Apartment Building!

Here is the exterior of the building at which I will be residing starting December 1!! Stay tuned for interior shots... Wait until you see the column in the kitchen and Greek Orthodox flooring!

Packing is Finding Much More!

A Girl Can Dream...

...of creating her very own Gnome World at her new Big Fat Greek Apartment!!

Packing is Finding Yet Again!

I bought the previous card with Jo in Exeter. Here we are in NYC in 1996.

In an odd turn of events, my Mother just found that red coat in the closet of my childhood bedroom. She brought it to a consignment shop. They will try and sell it. They declined to try and sell the boom box that was also in the closet that I had bought in 1986. However, the Keith Sweat cassette in the tape deck: PRICELESS!!

make it last forever....