Life in lessons....

Thank you SO very much to everyone that has made today such a wonderful day for me!

August 31
1852 - The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.
1903 - The first automobile trip from San Francisco to New York City was completed. A Packard made the trip in 52 days.
1939 - Frank Sinatra recorded All or Nothing at All with the Harry James Band. The tune failed to become a hit until four years later -- after Ol’ Blue Eyes had joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
1940 - Actor Lawrence Olivier and actress Vivian Leigh were married.
1941 - The Great Gildersleeve, a spin-off of Fibber McGee and Molly, started on NBC radio.
1946 - “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ... the caped crusader returned to radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Superman had been dropped from the program schedule earlier in the year, but the outrage of youngsters brought the show back to the airwaves. Wow! The amazing power of Kryptonite in the hands of kids! Bud Collyer, later of TV’s Beat the Clock, played Clark Kent aka Superman on the radio series. His identity had been well guarded for years. Most people didn’t have a clue as to the identity of Superman until a TIME magazine article about Collyer appeared in 1946.
1950 - Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit four home runs in a single game. He got homers off of Boston Braves pitchers Warren Spahn, Normie Roy, Bob Hall and Johnny Antonelli.
1955 - Nashua defeated Swaps in a match-up of the thoroughbred horses at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.
1958 - The U.S. Census Bureau reported that there were 902 women sailors in the U.S. Navy and 2,365 male launderers in the country.
1959 - Sandy Koufax set a National League record by striking out 18 hitters. Wally Moon connected for a three-run homer as the LA Dodgers downed the San Francisco Giants, 5-2.
1964 - California officially became the most populated of the United States.
1976 - A judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of copying from the song He’s So Fine (a 1963 Chiffons hit). The judge said that the chorus to Harrison’s My Sweet Lord was identical to He’s So Fine and it eventually (appeals went on for about five years) cost the former Beatle over half a million dollars.
1981 - Tickets went on sale for the highest-priced play in Broadway history. Nicholas Nickleby, performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Plymouth Theatre in New York, included a 45-minute dinner break -- all for $100 per person.
1981 - The 30-year contract between ‘Mr. Television’, Milton Berle, and NBC-TV expired. Uncle Miltie had received $6 million for NOT being on the air since his show, The Texaco Star Theatre, went off the air in the mid-1950s. NBC held Berle to the contract to keep him from appearing on competing networks.
1987 - This day saw the largest preorder of albums in the history of CBS Records. 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson’s Bad album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed in the tracks of the Jackson album, Thriller, the biggest Jackson-seller of all time (35 million copies sold). The Bad album was successful -- but sold only 13 million copies.
1990 - Ken Griffey & Ken Griffey Jr were the first father-and-son teammate combo to play on same baseball team: the Seattle Mariners. Both men hit singles in the first inning. And, that September 14 they hit back-to-back home runs in a game at the California Angels.
1997 - Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France. Also killed was her millionaire companion, Harrods department store heir, Dodi Fayed. The couple was being chased by aggressive paparazzie (photographers) on motorcycles at the time of the crash.
Birthdays:
1870 - Maria Montessori
1897 - Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel)
1903 - Arthur (Morton) Godfrey
1907 - William Shawn1908 - William Saroyan
1914 - Richard Basehart
1916 - Daniel Schorr
1918 - Alan Jay Lerner
1920 - G.D. Spradlin
1924 - Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker)
1928 - James Coburn1935 - Eldridge Cleaver
1935 - Frank Robinson
1937 - Warren Berlinger
1939 - Jerry Allison
1940 - Jack Thompson
1945 - Itzhak Perlman
1945 - Van Morrison1947 - Carl Garrett
1949 - Richard Gere
1952 - Rudolph Schenker
1954 - Claudell Washington
1955 - Anthony Thistlethwaite
1957 - Glenn Tilbrook
1958 - Edwin Moses
1958 - Von (Francis) Hayes
1959 - Tony DeFranco
1970 - Deborah (Ann) Gibson
1972 - Chris Tucker
1977 – Sandra Therese
(Thanks to 440.com for the info!)

Plans for the weekend (thus far)
Friday:
-Eventually leave work and go home and feed The Kitten
-Get in touch with Beck
-Go over to Dave’s and make the spinach and artichoke dip for Patrick’s Birthday
-Go to Denny’s with Beck (don’t ask – I have this thing with their buffalo chicken strips and their smothered and covered Hash Browns, and she kindly goes with me to get them every once in awhile.)
-Then it is off to North of the city where we will kill ourselves with donuts and coffee (it is also a good time for us to catch up on the gossip)

Saturday:
-Wake up semi-early (hey these days, that is getting harder and harder for me to do!)
-Go to work and get some things done
-got to the store and get a present for the first party
-Go home and get ready for the Engagement Party and then drive passed Dulles to go to the party
-Leave the engagement party and go over to Dave’s for that party

Sunday:
-Making Jams, jellies and butters with Abs
-Go into work for a bit
-Get ready for the following week…
It is going to be a VERY long weekend to say the least!

I ended up leaving early on Monday, as my Father called me to tell me that Monday was the only day that he could meet me for dinner, so when would I be home. I really needed to stay at work, but considering that I don’t get to see him that often and needed to talk to my father about my Grandfather estate and when the money will be unlocked I said that I would leave and come back later. I told him that my apartment was a mess and that he would have to forgive me for that. He was fine with that. I left work, dropped some stuff off at Phil’s place, arranged out morning meeting time (7:00 am) and went to the store. While there, my Father called me to tell me that he had invited a co-worker of his to dinner. Grrr! Now I really had to go home and clean quickly!
So I run about the store, and then rushed home to make dinner and do a fast cleaning of the apartment. I got the cleaning done, and was wrapping up the vacuum cleaner cord as they called from the front door, talk about cutting it close.
Over all, the dinner went well. Beverly (the co-worker) was very please with the dinner and was happy to see all of the fresh veggies that went into making the dinner. For dessert, we had more of the blackberry cobbler that I had made on Sunday.
Over all, a successful last minute dinner party!

See! My typing and spelling are totally off! I need a vacation!

Sorry abou the lack of posts as of late. The weekends have been very busy and work has been even worse! I'll catch up soon!

So I am back in the lab after yesterday’s battle of the sinus infection. I have been feeling poorly for about two or three weeks – overly tired and waking up with “gooky” eyes. At first I thought that it was my contacts and a possible scratched cornea,
(thanks yimg.com)
which I treated as I should. After a week, my eyes got much better and then the gook started coming out again. So yesterday as I lay in bed convinced that I had a migraine I realized that had to blow my nose. As I was blowing, my eye started to “bubble” air out. (Actually it was air being blown out of my tear duct, but you get the idea). The only time that this happens is when I have a sinus infection. Not to mention the stuff coming out of my head was very “sinus infection” like…yummy – I know! Now, I cannot belive that I have been walking around for this long with an infection that I did not see it! But then again it has been a long time since I have had a sinus infection, and I should be really grateful. So, I went to the medicine cabinate and pulled out the biaxin…the cure all for sinus infections in me. (thanks Medsabings.biz)
So I am now dealing with the side effects of the medicine – the one that really gets me is that it makes my mouth taste like I am chewing nickels! Really! It is odd. It usually last until a few days after I am finished the medicine, but I’ll deal with it for the next 10 day or so.

Otherwise, not much is going on with me. I got my first birthday card yesterday and my first “birthday phone call” from my friend Amy. She thought that my birthday was yesterday and when she called me at work and they told her I was off; she figured that I had just taken the day off to celebrate my birthday! So she called my cell and left a message singing me happy birthday. She is so cute!
Tonight when I get home, I am going out with Abs to see http://www.filmfestnih.org/"> Seabiscuit after work today. We are going to get dinner there (wee! I don’t have to worry about cooking tonight) as the movie is free, but the food stands are run by different charities to raise money. It should be a fun time as long as it does not rain…

// posted by s @ 16:09

Shots for everyone @ Sandi's Place!!!

So I am back at work today (after being here yesterday) and just trying to catch up on all that needs to be done. In addition to all of this it seems like every Jewish female in my family has called me as of late, asking to talk to my Father. Now I have not lived with my Father since I was about 2 or 3. Yet, they all call me to complain that he is not answering his phone or returning their messages.
Shoot me now, please.
Now, my Father should know better by this time (he is 50 after all!). One of the first rules for being in a Jewish family: do not piss the women folk off. You want kavetching? They’ll give it to you! For god’s sake, they are on me as it is (Not being married, and not having children as of yet). Granted, my Father has now joined in the complaining on this topic. I don’t think that I have had a conversation with him in the past three months where he has not brought up to me the fact that he would like me to get married and have children. That he would like me to be “taken care of” and that he “would like you (me) to know the joy that children can bring to a person’s life”. I have TRIED to convince him that yes, I would like to get married (someday) and that I would love to have children (eventually, if I can) but that I need to get my own life in order before taking on someone else life too. The Kitten is enough for me right now, thank you very much. He has been harping on me about how the doctors “Those VERY EXPENSIVE specialist that we have been sending you since you were 14!” have been saying for years that I need to concentrate on getting/staying pregnant ASAP! Thanks, Dad. That is just want I need to be reminded of – constantly. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I really do not need them complaining to me about how my Father does not call them back. IT IS NOT ME! My brother should thank his lucky stars that he is only 10 months old and cannot receive these phone calls from them. (Right now, I am finding it hard to believe that he will ever really understand all of the trails that I have blazed for him). I am really sorry if my Father is being a jerk about calling people back – but take it up with him. In fact, why don’t you leave him a message telling him that? Don’t call me just to ask me to call him so that I can tell him to call you. I think that I have passed on so many of these messages as of late that he has started to screen my phone calls! Damn it! I answer the phone when the “parental ring” goes off almost every single time! He and my Mother almost never have to leave a message…I have just moved on to day three straight days of women folk calling me for this reason…granted, in the end they have wanted to talk to me (usually to complain that I don’t call or visit them enough or am not reproductive enough for them…). If this keeps up, I am actually going to use my caller ID for more than just getting the shots of vodka lined up due to the predictable nature of the phone call that I am about to answer. I’ll stop answering the phone when they call…but then again on second thought – they’ll end up calling my Mother and then everyone will get worked up…no, it is not worth it – I’ll just answer the phone and keep on taking my shots like a good girl…I wonder if D.C. liquor stores give bulk discounts on Vodka…I’ll have to check that one out…

VODKA! VODKA! VODKA!

So it has been awhile since I last wrote, probably because I was still living down the mortification of last week’s events…and also because I knew that there was another embarrassing event that I would be sharing with you all.
So, Sunday night Phil, Bill, Wonder Boy and I went out for our last night on the town before Wonder Boy’s trip to Medical School in Granada. It was a fun night. Dinner was wonderful! Afterwards we decided to hit a few more bars before going dancing…yeah…needless to say, we were not feeling much pain by the time the night ended. Phil dropped me off at my place, and as usual I HAD to get a shower before going to bed. So I am in the shower – doing my thing…washing my hair when I get water in my ear. So what do I do? I decide to shake my head to clear it. In the middle of a shake my head SMACKED the soap holder that is just at (my) head level. Now, the sad part about this is that I do this about once a month, no mater what my sobriety level is, which is usually sober. You would think that I would have learned by this point. But no!
Now, my shower has two soap holders in it, one right above the other. One, right at “lifting your leg up to walk, just so that your knee hits it” level and the other one “at my forehead” level. If I owned this place, those soap holders would be history! So of course, my eyes are shut, a few words that cannot be re-uttered were used (loudly) and a curse upon soap holders was issued. Thankfully, I did not crack my head open, as that would have been a lot of explaining and I am sure that Abs would not have liked that phone call at 3:00 am. All I could think about was the worse part of this would be trying to explain to the ER doctors, that “No, this was not an alcohol related injury, it is one that I do all of the time – it was just really bad this time and I was drinking!” Yea, that would have really gone down well with my mother when I told her to expect a new scar on my face.
I think that the shower is now laughing at me as last night as I was in the shower I noticed that there was way more water around my feet than I am use to. Now, we are not talking about just a smidge. Or a “light foot covering” of water, we are talking about a good 6 to 7 inches. Yea…and then I noticed that there were “things” floating in my shower…organic looking things…
I left a note for my building manager; hopefully they have been able to snake the drain today while I have been at work, other wise – I am off to Abs’ place tonight for my shower…

When you think that you are at the top of your game, the gods just smack you back down…
This morning while trying to banish the blues that go along with thoughts of 90+ weather and lots of humidity, I decided that I would wear a pretty dress to work today. As I looked though my closet, I found my black Irish lace dress. It is cool and airy - and, of course the most important thing, looks nice on me. Now this dress has a black sheath as the lace would show too much otherwise and usually I’ll wear a slip with it. Today, due to the hot weather, I decided to forgo the slip. I thought that I had pulled the sheath down, but found out from a nice lady walking behind Lara and I (along with a bunch of men) that I had not and my pretty teal underwear was being show off for all to see. It is funny, because as soon as I pulled the sheath down, all of the men seemed to rush onto the metro. Yea, I am just glad that I opted for the “boy short” cut underwear today as opposed to a thong…but then again, maybe the thong would have been better as it may not have been obvious to me – as I would have probably noticed that my rear was getting a nice breeze much sooner….
The second thing that happened was a total accident and Lara is still probably laughing about it…she informed me that she would be e-mailing others and letting them know about the following event.
As I was walking on the DuPont South mezzanine, I was swinging my arms and I turned around to talk to Lara. My hand landed on a “soft object” and as reflexes happen, my hand made a bit of a fist, I then realized, that this object was attached to a person and quickly let go. The person in question was a very attractive man about my own age. I told him that I was very sorry for hitting/grabbing him and replied, “No really, it was okay!” and he had a big smile on his face. It was then relized that I had grabbed his “personal area”…no wonder it was so okay with him…I am so embarrassed…

"Oh sure, go ahead and be a racist! I'll eat all of the Chinese and Martian's myself then!"
Phil this morning when he found the collection of green and yellow skittles that I refused to eat on his desk this morning.

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late, but I have been dealing with a very sick Kitten. He had a urinary blockage, which can kill any kitten in a very short amount of time. Toxins build up in their blood stream very quickly, when they are not passed out of circulation. Thankfully, Kitten is now on the mend, after a very expensive vet bill (contributions are gladly being accepted for his recovery fund!) and a weekend of TLC (“pets” are also being accepted by the Master. Please contact his scheduling secretary, me, for dates and times that are available right now.
So on to other news…I really need to stop watching the news before going to bed at night. I had a really nasty dream last night about bombings in the Metro under the World bank and the IMF area. Of course this is what is all over the news right now, as D.C. seems to be starting to lock down the city. I am thinking that in the back of my mind I cannot stop thinking that This Friday will be “Friday the 13th”…I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that everything will be okay.
I guess one of my problems with the state of the world right now is that I just don’t understand it. I cannot under how people can be so cruel to one another and then be proud of themselves when they destroy everything. I really do not think that it is helping them get what they want in the end, but obviously, they have their own ideas and I have mine.
Oh a lighter note, after getting a bit down, I found this on
Craig’s List. I swear, I did not write it, but I did laugh really hard when I read it…