Train Tuesday

Today was the day that I actually found out how much the fares for the Metro North RR went up.

First, I was lucky enough that I had an extra quarter this morning for the bus (this went up from $2.00 to $2.25). Not a terrible increase when gas prices here in New Rochelle range from $2.89-$2.97 for regular unleaded.

I got to the station and checked out the new prices and they only went up $1.00 each way, I shouldn't say only. Instead of $15.50 round trip, I will be forking over $17.00. So my commute is costing me close to $20.00 bucks (with the bus and the train together).

Thankfully, I only work on Train Tuesday in NYC.

I will be looking for another job soon if Donna doesn't get one. In this economy, I cannot afford to stay home anymore . Donna's job will be to watch her sister and go to Camp Cathy and I (say a prayer) will be looking for a full time job. Enough of this part time, 2 days a week crap!
Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I do not love being broke all the time!

Better late than never...

June 23rd, 2009 was my cousin Carolyn's 40th birthday!
Happy Birthday...again.
As I always do (thanks to the internet and Facebook) I wished my cuz a Happy Birthday to her, I actually sang it (if you know the tune, feel free to sing along).
I didn't get to her party because Brook had 3 activities the same day (one got canceled due to rain, but she did have 3 events). My other cousin Debbie (who I work with in NYC) comes to me two Tuesday's ago and asks me if I would like to come to Newport RI with her to celebrate Carolyn's 40th. No brainer there, hell yeah I wanna go!
So I didn't feel so bad about missing her party!
Not only did we have a great time this weekend, I got a good workout.
We went on the famous Cliffwalk and are my limbs rubbery!
This is a little of what I saw, since my favorite cousins both left me in their dust (I am a slow poke, but they are seasoned runners, very unlike myself).

I did 6 miles the first day there and 2 miles the 2nd day there.
I got some great shots of the flora, the walk and the beautiful mansions.
The second day there, Carolyn's 6 girlfriends came to spend the night and party with the birthday girl and I have to say, she is a very lucky gal to have so many great girls in her life!
All of them were a laugh a minute and we had some great food, great alcohol and great convo.

Thanks Deb for inviting me and Thanks to the birthday girl for having me along for the adventure!
Glad to have shared it with you all!

Photo Phriday: Newport Edition

On the cliff walk (that I survived) there was a tunnel that fascinated me and was a great photo op!

What did you see?

Good news and bad news.

Brook update:
We are back from the doctor and good news is, no strep throat! Just a red sore throat. The doctor said it may be viral or just a cold. Whew!

Bad news, she is still banned from school and all activities for 7 days. So basically, its the TV computer and crafts galore this week for us.

More good news, I no longer feel guilty about going away tomorrow. There is really nothing more I could do for Brook that Anthony and Donna cannot handle for 2 days, which makes me feel so much better.

So now I get the well deserved break from a hectic school year between Barnard and Jefferson, a busy Art Association and busy schedule in general!
This is what I call a "Great Escape" if only for the weekend!

This is the end...

The last day of school is tomorrow and I won't even be there, I will be in my cousins car on the way to Newport RhodeIsland!
But enough about that, that isn't what I am writing about. I have a problem, well, not a hard problem, just a problem. Brook says to me at 7:10am that she is hot and burning and her throat hurts. With this swine flu going around I just cannot take any chances.
I have work today, rather, I had work today, I won't be going in but instead I will be calling the pediatrician at 8 am when they open to see if we can get an appointment today. My problem, I have the end of the year teacher gifts, grapes and banana's for tomorrows class party (that I will not be attending, Newport), we have a graduation party for her class at McDonalds at 3 pm (which I have to cancel as well). The problem is I feel guilty for going away now.
I haven't been at the doctor yet, so I have no idea what she has. Anthony will be taking off work tomorrow and Saturday and I will be home Sunday.
So, gentle reader, should I go away or stay home with a sick child with the rest of the family?
I say, Anthony can handle it, but then I say, how could I go?
Help!
I am going in the shower and will update this later. Here's hoping it is nothing and I wont feel so guilty.

Photo Phriday: A week late

On June 12th my baby girl "stepped up" to first grade!
What a wonderful day it was.





What did you see?

Bejeweled Blitzed!

Since being on Facebook (thanks Vin) I have not only reconnected with so many of my friends and classmates, I have found a wonderful new addiction (other than Farm Town, which I will save for another post) called Bejeweled Blitz.




The objective is to score as many points as possible by swapping jewels of varying colors in order to make rows of the same color that consist of three or more. Doing so will remove them from the board as new ones fall to take their place, and should the newly relocated gems line up as three or more to a color, they will be removed as well. The more jewels you remove, the more points you get. You continue to do this until the game ends.

The player is granted one minute to score as many points as possible. That’s about it, but there is some hope as the game is dubbed “beta“ (though so many Facebook titles have that tagged on them it seems to have lost its meaning, because it almost never goes away) and the one minute game is classified as the “current tournament,” suggesting new game play options may come along. As for social features, the game doesn’t use anything particularly new. Scoring more points earns you a few badges to show off in your Facebook profile, and like most social game games, when you play, your score is compared to that of your friends. This is where the addiction comes to play. You are always trying to "one up" your BFF's! Some scores are so ridiculous that I cannot fathom how in Gods name they even got those high scores. I think my highest was 94,500 points and that was a blast to get! So exciting to see all the jewels cascade, fall and burst into nothingness except high scores.

This makes for some exceedingly simple game play and a fun way to pass a few minutes (that lead into hours). The higher this score the better prizes you are eligible to win.

I have yet to hear of anyone winning anything yet, but I am hopeful it is myself or one of my friends so I can brag about it.

Today though, as I was getting ready to play a few minutes, I got this message when I went to sign in:

SO MANY GEMS, SO FEW SERVERS!

WITH YOUR HELP, BEJEWELED BLITZ HAS GROWN SO POPULAR THAT OUR SERVERS ARE BEGINNING TO BUCKLE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MILLIONS OF FALLING GEMS.

THE SITE WILL BE OFFLINE FOR A WHILE TODAY WHILE WE UPGRADE OUR SERVERS TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ENJOY BEJEWELED BLITZ FOR MANY MORE HOURS, ONE MINUTE AT A TIME. WHILE WE'RE DOWN, WE'RE ALSO GOING TO SNEAK IN A FEW UPGRADES WE THINK YOU'LL ENJOY!

PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER TODAY FOR YOUR DAILY DOSE OF BEJEWELED BLITZ.

-THE BEJEWELED BLITZ TEAM

What to do, what to do?
The last time I checked back "later" it was at 11pm.
I guess I am not Blitzing tonight! I wonder if everyone got this message?
I certainly hope so!

Train Tuesday: The Annoying Issue

Nothing is worse than waiting out in the pouring rain for a bus to take you to the train (because it is cheaper than taking your car and parking it for $12 bucks!) except...having to sit next to a nervous foreigner shaking his legs while listening to his mp3 player's blasting music into his head and the surrounding other commuters heads whether they wanted to hear it or not.
There was no where else to sit, and to stand, dripping wet, I foreshadowed myself slipping and falling on my butt in that bus, and this just wasn't an option for me. I put up with it (the shiking, and loud music) and figured the easiest way to avoid that nervous leg shake was to move my dripping umbrella to the inside of the seat and he got wet and stopped to move out of the way. I was so glad to get off that damn bus today!
Annoying!
I missed the 8:45 express by one minute (rain delay undoubtely) and now had an extra 20 minutes to read (Still reading Inkheart and it is extremely intoxicating, but the only time I have to read lately is on Train Tuesday's) But reading in the rain is not good for a book.
Annoying!
It did however, stop raining and I found a dry seat sat down, pulled out the book and read.
Not so Annoying.
The 9:05 arrives on time and off we go to NYC. This is a local train and makes several stops before the final destination and there is a chance you take when taking a 3 seater window. Pro:The left side "step" is a good footrest and book rest (it is a heavy hardcover so the knee hight is a plus) and
Con: 1-2 poeple may be sitting next to you. Hoping that whoever does take that empty seat isn't coughing, sneezing, achey , or amoanie gronie persontalking on the cell that you dread...
Or the computer toting business man, reading his email and clicking away on the keyboard, while texting someone on his blackberry and has the bluetooth in the ear(just in case he didn't get the email). Mine was contestant # 2
Annoying Suit!
I escaped in my book and all else seemed to disappear...good book.
Not Annoyed.
The commute home was uneventful, got more reading* time in before I got off the train and went directly to a school function of Brook's with the whole Crew (the Crew being Anthony, Donna, myself and Brook).
It was a long day and a wet commute. Atleast it stopped raining on the way home, briefly.
The sky did open up again around 3 am. I am feeling like I am living in Seatle or England...jolly good.
*What will happen next week, on Train Tuesday? The fares will be going up, thats what!
We had a notice on the seat notifying us of the fare increase that goes into effect June 17th! Uh, tomorrow!
Annoying!
And not even an exact amount, a percentage! WTH? For more info go to www.mta.org. Not only are the increasing the fares, but they are making us research for the exact amount of increase! I asked the lovely conductor, what if we bought a ticket before June 17th, would they honor it? Or would they charge an on board increase?
She had no answers, she saw the notice when we did and that she is referring everyone to the website.
Annoying.

Seven years and counting

Today, Anthony and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary.
A very uneventful one at that.
We both had to work, it is Monday and we went to the Red Lobster for dinner with our children.
$100.00 later it was the ladies room for me!
I noticed that I just cannot eat that way anymore. Salad, Appetizers, Entree, Coffee and Desert...Lava Cookie no less. Someday I will learn that just because it is a "special day", it doesn't mean to splurge and feel like I am gonna toss my cookies at any moment! Not a good feeling.
I did enjoy myself and the company was nice, it just wasn't romantic. Next year, no offense, but no kids. I would like a bit more alone time with my husband. Call me selfish, but one day a year I think we deserve to be alone together.
It kind of gets you out of the mood, so to speak and that's all I have to say about that!
Happy Anniversary Anth...here's to another 7, and counting.

Did ya miss me?

I know, I know, you missed me.
Things have been ultra crazy around here with RIF coming to an end, The Art show at the Library (May 3oth -June 18th), T-Ball, Soccer, Missing teeth, End of the school year...need I say more?
Okay, I will say more, with pictures...
Enjoy the slideshow!

"Train Tuesday" will be back starting June 16th! If y'all were missing it.