To Good Friends :)

"Future Dalai Lama"

What a great weekend! Traci made it to town late Thursday-poor thing, she came up to visit me in Delaware and spent more time OUTSIDE Delaware.

Friday we hit IKEA (the novelty of the store has yet to wash away and I insist on bringing all of my friends to this mega store). A yummy sandwhich at Pat's (complete with f-and b- bombs from the guys working the soda & fry line), followed by trying to find parking in the city. Luckily these two grads can read a map and we found the historic district without a problem. Since we're more into shopping than history, we only visited the Liberty Bell & part of the Betsy Ross house (pictures will be added soon). And what trip to Philly is complete without stopping at Reading Terminal Market???

The new "BEST DRINK EVER" goes to the Amish family selling the Strawberry-Lemonade.

We spent Saturday in Maryland, first in Annapolisis. Who knew there was such a cute picturesque town there? The navy boys (from the Academy) were spending the first weekend out of prison and Traci and I wanted nothing more than to take a picture with them (especially the one eating the ice cream cone).

For lunch, we found a sandwich place called The Big Cheese. Two words: YUMM-O. This is the store I would love to own if I knew a thing about making food. i don't remember what Traci or Ryan had, but I had an apple & brie sandwich on a small french loaf of bread. I even got to pick out which loaf I wanted them to use for my sandwich! The brownies we had were delicious, too. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it :)

After walking around Annapolis we headed to Baltimore. Timing wasn't quite right and the Water Museum was closing in an hour so just went straight to the Inner Harbour, which is kind of touristy, but nice nonetheless. except, it was so darn hot. I'm losing my Florida/Charleston adaptability to heat (especially after having three days worth of 60* weather here last week).

Sunday we had to take Traci to the airport :( So sad, but now I know flights are super cheap from Philly to south Florida that once our house ever sells (HA!) I'll be able to visit Traci more often. It's already known I will be visiting her and Versailles once Castro is dead... ;) Hmm...maybe we can go to the 'events' at the Orange Bowl, too...(I think Traci is the only person out there who will understand any of this).

MWAH to Traci for coming to visit :)

After leaving the airport, Ryan & I headed to IKEA where we still couldn't find any curtains (for the guest bedroom) and then we headed back to PASSYUNK & 9th for ANOTHER cheesesteak. Except this time we at Gino's.

hm. first off, the people in line are just stupid (yet we joined them). The line was so long that the people did NOT wrap around the restaurant (on the sidewalk, in the shade), but kept the line going straight out INTO THE STREET. Uh-huh.

Second, the people working behind the counter were nice. They actually said, "Can I help ya?" as opposed to, "NEXT!" (which is what the say at Pat's).

Third, the place was clean. we could have eaten the sandwich off the counter tops WITHOUT the paper liner.

and finally, forth, I heard no cursing. And the lady tried to give me cheese fries (what's up with that??). When I asked (for the second time that week) for REGULAR fries, she said, "Ok, just a minute." There was no, "Why the fuck did you mess up her order?" or "I don't know, if you were fucking helping me like you were supposed to, I wouldn't have fucked up her order bitch."

So...I think I liked Pat's better for the atmosphere. But if I'm bringing little people under the age of 12, it'll probably be Geno's.

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AND-Muchas gracias a mi amiga FRANCES for the lovely shoe pajamas :) Put a big smile on my face!

Excuse Me, but I believe you missed a button...

Anyone who knew me in high school knew that I was an odd one: little to no social life with a lot of free time on my hands led to a summer where I sewed buttons all over an old jansport. I'm not sure what ever happened to the backpack, but I recently came across the bag of left over buttons during our recent move.

So for those of you who knew me back then (cringe) and actually remember the backpack, you can probably imagine my excitement when I came across this picture in Sunday's NYTimes Magazine Fashion spread from 8/5:

A jacket festooned with buttons! Why didn't I think of that?? The scary thing? I probably have enough time on my hands to make this...

Word of the Day: EJECT

On the bottom right hand corner of the Scrabble board, there is quite the magical spot for our word of the day.

Check it out my friends.

The 'J' (worth 8 pts) is placed on the 'Double Letter' square and the 'T' sits perfectly on the 'Triple Word' square.

Total points= 66

heh

sweaters in august?!

It is currently 64* right now.

64 DEGREES OUTSIDE.

64 DEGREES OUTSIDE IN THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST.

Curlies on the Soap?!

EEEEEKKK!

It was our MODIFIED team name for trivia night last night. I couldn't even tell the man our team name.

Such a wuss I am.

Today is Middletown's Old(e?) Tyme Peach Festival-pictures to come, I'm sure.

Breakfast of Champions

food for the eyes and stomach

I'm far from a champion at anything, but I like to think that this breakfast really gets me started on a good note. Egg Beater Omelette (or is it omelet) with freshly grated Pecorino cheese (made it too salty though), strawberries and Melita (sp) Colombian coffee with a dash or two of milk. The only thing missing? Blueberries. Ryan must have finished them off this morning. grrr.

(two posts in one day, before 10:30. someone help me...I'm ready for school to start NOW.)

My Future Zip Code

I want to live HERE.

New Digs

FINALLY-I'm posting some pictures of the townhouse. It's still not finished though (even though I'm constantly saying, "we're practically done"). We still have lots of pictures to hang (no, I'm NOT in the practice of leaving pictures on chairs) and we still have more painting to do (we still need to paint inside the picture molding downstairs). No pictures of the bathrooms (boring), or the office and master bedroom because those walls are still white (EEK!). Last night, Ryan came home and said, "Let's go look at some different colors for the entry way downstairs"

The downstairs was the first thing we painted when we moved in, before any of the furniture was delivered. Question...I think the green should be on the two side walls (not just the wall with the door, ie. the entire entry way)...what do you think?

And another questions. there is a picture of our eating area (third picture below. You can kind of see hat the table is centered with the light. Do you see the gold mirror learning on the wall behind the table? Here's the dilemma: If we center the mirror on the wall (as shown, leaning), it is not centered with the table and light. Should we center the mirror with the light/table, or center it according to wall? I say we center it with the light and then put a series of Turkish bowls/dishes or pictures towards the right of the picture so that it appears centered/balanced on the wall. I probably just lost everyone. Maybe I should take that 'critical reading and writing' course...

Peanuts & Crackerjacks

I did the unthinkable today.

I wore red to a baseball game and cheered on the Boston Red Sox.

Well, sort of. I didn't so much as cheer for them, as I just clapped and hollered for no good reason at all.

Seriously, I am going straight to Yankee Hell.

Lucky & Michelle had two extra tickets to the Baltimore-Boston game so we drove on down to Balt, had a few beers, and watched the entire 9 inning game (something I haven't done in many many years).

Must say, twas fun.

First inning, second batter. Oh, and his name is pronounced U-kul-is. Not You Kill Us.

"Hey batta batta batta..."

The bottom of the 9th, the honest to goodness, longest inning EVER. The game went from 6-0 Boston, to 6-2 (Boston) in no time. The Yankees never play like that.

Why?

Why do shoes always decide to fall apart in public? Or is this something that only happens to me?

First let's get one thing straight: I'm a pat rack. Can't throw anything away. Including shoes. Yes, I still have shoes from high school. Why? because they'll come back in style...and I'm sure that my future granddaughter will want to see the 3 inch wooden Candie clogs I used to wear in middle and high school.

Last winter, a pair of Born flat, black Mary Janes broke...the strap just detached from the rest of the sole (nothing that can't be fixed by a shoe repair man, so yes, I still have the shoes). Naturally, the strap of the shoe decided to tear away from the shoe in the parking garage at work in the MORNING. before the day even started. so, like a bum, I was forced to scotch tape the strap to my shoe.

Fast forward to the summer, miserably hot day, with a high of 98. After getting through with a doctor appointment on base, I was standing in line for the pharmacy...10 minutes later, I get close enough to read the sign that says, "Please have your Mil. ID & yellow card ready." damn-I'm always leaving the card in the cup holder of my car. No worries...I just get out of line (umph!) and walk out towards the parking lot. And that's the precise moment when the LEFT strap of flat semi-gladiator style sandal from high school decides to separate from the sole.

I re-attach...walk to car...get ID...begin walking back to building when, as I'm walking up the steps to get into the building, RIGHT sandal strap separates from sole of shoe.

"Are you freakin kidding me?!" The lady trying to get her four kids out of the mini van is having an easier time getting into the building. As I walk BACK to my car, the LEFT sandal strap pulls out from the sole (again), so I'm walking like a bum who can only afford to buy broken sandals from Salvi's or Goodwill.

I ended up driving to the BX and buying a pair of 99 cent shower sandals before returning to the pharmacy, but here's what I want to know:

1. Why didn't the sandals break apart in the numerous trips I had going up and down the stairs this morning?
2. Why didn't the sandals break apart when I was walking out the door this morning?
3. Why didn't the sandals break apart when I had to run back in the house this morning after I realized I forgot something?

The sandals had THREE prime opportunities to tell me, "This is it! It's the big one! I'm not going to make it" before croaking.

Moral of story: Shoes are like cars. No oil, but they need to be replaced, every 100 miles. :)

Not Just Full of Hot Air

Saturday night I got to help set up the balloon again! Nearly lost my shirt from the fans and received a near tan on the legs with the propane/burners this time.

Since I helped 'work' two different sections of the balloon (Friday night I was near the top of the balloon, Saturday night I was at the mouth of the balloon, hence being nearly topless with tan legs), I thought helping inflate the balloon two days in a row was pretty damn cool..but it wasn't nearly as cool as hearing:

"Rachel, Paul, get in the basket-we're going up"

HUH? Is there another Rachel you're talking to?

Can I just say it was the coolest thing I've done in Delaware so far (waaaay better than riding a penny farthing). Here are some very random pictures from last night...

CHECK!

Ryan & I can now check off "help inflate a hot-air balloon" in the ever growing list of things to do before we die.

Our first DE friends, Kenny & Hannah, were hot-air balloon pilots for the town of Milton's 200th anniversary. Last night (seen here) was a glow-no flying.

And yes, hot air balloons really DO have baskets :)

Education 101

Prom date anyone?

R&R Adventures: A Hate Blog?

Ryan said I "write angry" on the blog and that I should write some more "happy stuff."

Happy stuff...happy stuff...maybe I should write about this.

Any one care to add reason 238? Where's Dr. Kinsey when you need him???

;)