The hubs and I are picking up my parents from the airport tonight.
Niel is walking and feeding Ripley for a few days while his bro is in Atlanta.
Yesterday we thought the hubby's car broke down. However this afternoon the car started. I had a feeling it would be ok today though. He took it in anyway to have it checked out. Better safe than sorry.
I thought my plumming woes were over. I am tired of dealing with it and I am sure a lot of others are tired of hearing about it.
I thought it would be ok till I get my procedure done on the 13th, however Wednesday I started to feel wierd again. Today it is worse. I begged my way into an appt. for the 3rd. The office manager is such a bitch. I really hate to use that word a lot, although I have. She has no bedside manner. The doctor is nice though. I can't wait to get this ordeal behind me. I keep thinking I am being punished for something.
Work has been so harried lately.
I joined Friendster for the second time. The first time my coworker signed me up. I got bored with it and deleted the account. Now almost everyone the hubby and I know are members. So I joined again.
Tomorrow night we are having company over for dinner, my friend Jenn from Gap Kids days and her husband. We haven't seen them for so long. Been very busy. If the car holds up we might take a ride out to Roosevelt Field Mall for a baseball signing.
Sunday the hubby and I, Ted & Maria(friends from college days) are going to a Nordic Fair in New Jersey. I love stuff like that. Niel loves vikings and Nordic stuff. Thanks for inviting us Maria!!
Monday we are going to take my hub's mother to lunch or dinner to celebrate her birthday.
The stupid post office still has not found my package. I think it was a mistake to sign up for Snapfish. Neither of them found it. I don't understand where it could be. The address said snapfish and had a return address on it. I am so frustrated.
Made two more frames. They came out nicely. I think I have now 24 different design. I bought a disposable camer today to take pictures of them so I can put them up on a site. The mosaic pottery is not going well. I will keep on trying.

The Dean rally in Bryant Park was an interesting evening. Howard Dean did not show up till ten because he was at a different event in New York city first.
So we were entertained by some graffiti artists and a funk band.
Dean is a brilliant speaker and he had a lot of good ideas. I like the fact that he might not agree with people's choices but he wasn't going to stop people having a choice.
What annoyed me at the rally was the Dean supporters. They were booing at this guy who was obviously drunk and was challenging them. Who cares if he was! It is a free country and he has a right to express himself. I found these people to be hypocritcal because these are the same people cheering Dean when he said everyone had rights yet this man did not have any rights. Idiots.

Yesterday was a hellish day for me of catching up with work since I was out two days last week. Fun, fun, fun.
Niel and I had a nice yet tiring weekend. Saturday night we went to The Doors of the 21st Century concert held at the PNC Arts Center. It is a pretty concert hall. There were plenty of people our age and the band members age. The performance was really good and the other audience members were very entertaining. I think we got second hand pot high. We unfortunetly did not get home till 3 because of traffic.
Sunday we attended Niel's cousin's wedding. The Ceremony was in Bayshore, New York at St. Patrick's. A gorgeuse Roman Catholic Church. The architecture looked Spanish. The bride looked like a princess and her bridesmaid's gowns were gorgeuse. Before the ceremony we had lunch because we knew we wouldn't eat till 6:30 in the evening. I was not a fan of Friendly's until that day. Niel ordered a yummy cheese item and I had a Mexican salad, which is just salad, chicken and corn chips. After the ceremony we went to the bride's grandmother's (Niel's aunt)house. They had a cheese platter, cookie platter, coffe and cold beverages. Hee Hee I am able to eat again. It feels good to be able to use the bathroom!! We sat around talking to people. I was apparently an open bar for bugs that day also. I got bitten so badly my ankles were swollen. I am still itchy. The reception was a beatiful affair held at the Flower Field in St. James New York. The grounds were exquisite with ponds, gazeboes, bridges, ducks and geese. The room where the cocktail hour was held looked like a botanical garden. The food & drinks were incredible. They had seafood, hot pasta, cold pasta, breads, etc. I should have just ate seafood the entire time. Then we went into an even prettier room with twinkling lites. The area was small to walk around and the dance floor was even smaller. The band was pretty good and the main meal would have tasted better if I hadn't gorged myself on appetizers. It was a fun and tiring evening and we did not get home till after 1.
Tonight Niel and I are going to a Dean meeting at Bryant Park. I am excited about that. I also need to go to the post office and fill out a form for my lost pictures. I am so pissed off about that. They were pictures from our trip to NW NJ a few weeks back. They were the trampoline pics. Niel looked so cute bouncing around.

This is the first time in a few days since I have been able to write or do much at all. I feel almost back to normal. Wednesday after work I went to my primary doctor for a physical therapy appointment for my neck and a meeting with him to see how I am progressing. I must have looked like I was in a lot of pain or I think the nurse that checks the weight and blood pressure must have told him I looked miserable. Anyway I was crying because of the pain in my abdomen. I hadn't pooped normally in weeks and when I do it hurts very badly. Usually I can go twice a day and in three weeks that is 42 times. I only went seven times. So he sends me to the hospital. A useless hospital. The nurses I had were nice. I felt bad for this one old man who was senile and alone and probably scared. He kept calling for people that were not there. My nice nurse went into his room a few times to reassure him he was ok and not to escape. I was examined, x-rayed and poked with needles. The doctor just sent me home and asked me to take this over the counter thing that would make me poop. I was hoping the would take it out themselves. HAH!! So I pooped a bit but not the entire thing. I begged my way into the gastreontologists office for an appt. yesterday. I missed two days of work by the way and I feel like an idiot. He examined me which was not fun. I came back today and got a colonscopy to find out I was impacted which I am sure he cleared stuff out because I feel better and told me I had inflamed hemorrhoids(inside and out) that will be removed on Sept. 13. I hope that helps. Sorry to gross anyone out. I usually get constipated once a year and I take some over the counter drug and I am good. But this time it took three weeks. I think there were many things that led to the impaction. I didn't cook for three weeks and we were eating crap out side the home and I couldn't poop because of the inflamed hemorrhoids and I kept getting impacted. My body was used to my food and this is why the Metamucil did not help. I take Metamucil twice a day. So now I hope to have a much calmer weekend (hopefully seeing the Doors and the hubby's cousin's wedding) with my sweet and patient husband who was as miserable as me. I learned from this minor experience not to take life and health for granted. Enjoy the small things like coming home and having a pile full of dishes and a dirty house and dinner to cook is wonderful.

The plumbing is still not working. I hope when I see my doctor tonight he can give me a better explanation then take a suppository which did not work. I hope he refers me to someone because I and Niel cannot take anymore of this.
Yesterday I had a soup and salad for lunch to give my tummy some light food. I had a seafood bisque. It was my first time trying it and it was a yummy experience. I think Tarragon was in the soup. It was soo tasty.
I saw an interesting article on the state of politics in modern society.
There is also a good book out about Central Park called 212 Views of Central Park . The pictures are amazing and it shows a totally different perspective of New York.
I really want Indian food right now but I don't want to eat since I can only do number 1. Oh lament.

Yesterday was a difficult night. I was having a lot of trouble & pain with the plumbing. Niel was very sweet about it. I felt terrible I couldn't function. I couldn't make dinner for him or watch wrestling together. I enjoy our rituals. I just fell asleep after making sure Elmo was ok. I check on her everyday while my parents and brother are in the West Coast. Luckily my brother is returning this Sunday. In the early morning I was able to go to the bathroom which made me quite happy. I still have to go a bit. I think I just have to eat very little when I eat and maybe even once a day. Food has become the enemy. This is hard because I love food.
My office desk looks like an earthquake. Papers shrewn all over the place. The education issue is moved till next week which gets us more time to get ads from our customers. It will give me more time to sell. Yesterday our phones were down so I could not do much selling. The black out has given everyone many problems. They can't get the server back on to do ads. Luckily I only have one ad in design since the others came in camera ready. . It has been stressful at work.
The Rosemary plant died. I don't know why the rest of the herbs are ok. I will get another one and try harder. My mother's Tarragon plant the only one she bought is growing wonderfully. Maybe cause her pot is bigger?
I am not that pink today. I look good with a tan. Niel today called me "Little Pink".

The Mets game was great. They won. Between the game and paintball I got sunburnt pretty badly. Niel says I am "comically pink".
I have done many many frames. I find them all cute. I just worry they will not sell. This week I am going to take pictures of them, get them developed and make a site for them. I am nervous about it. I want people to hear about the site and like the frames and buy the frames.
I think I figured out why my plumming has not been working properly. We haven't been eating salad and cooking at home these past two weeks which must have been a shock to my body. I cooked last night and I got a salad for lunch today so I am hoping in a few days I will be back to my regular unpainful schedule.
Today has been crazy at work. First since we were off Friday due to the blackout all these calls started to come in. Then the phones and web died so we were all bored silly. Now it is crazy again. AHHHH!!!!

I haven't written in a few days. The first and most obvious because the lights went out in New York city for sixteen hours. From 4:11 in the afternoon till 9 the next morning. And it just did not go out in New York either. Most of the Eastern seaboard’s lights went out. There are a few areas now who do not have decent power still. Apparently we have modern technology in use however we use 30 to 40 year old grids.
I was sitting in my office when we all heard and saw the lights go out. We all thought it was just our office. Then we see the lights in the hallway out and the lights across the street in other buildings out. We all rush to use our cell phones and I reach Niel. I had no idea what was happening and was very worried. After September 11 anything could happen. It could have been a terrorist attack on our communications. Who knew. We all evacuate the building and walk down five flights of stairs. I wondered how the people in the higher floors did walked down in semi light. I wondered how the people in the World Trade Centers buildings also did the same.
I only waited a little while till Niel showed up and I was sure happy to see him. I wanted to be with him just in case. We decided to go to Grand Central Station to see if we could catch a bus back into Queens. Grand Central Station looked like a sea of people and the buses were packed and not picking up more people. We go back to plan A and walk over the 59th Street bridge. There were so many people on that bridge in cars and on foot. I kept thinking back to September 11 and how it was the same scene then. I was getting mighty tired. I didn't know how Niel kept his strength. We finally made it into Long Island City and caught a bus(who didn't stop at his regular stop) and arrived safely home at 7:45 PM. I had never felt so tired and dirty. That would soon change on Saturday. A shower felt really good and all I could do was sleep. Niel stayed up writing and reading. Luckily our part of the city wasn't that hot. My mother stayed overnight at her store and so did my brother. They finally left the next day by walking home. At 9AM the power came back on. We were so happy. Then we heard how Iraqi's haven't had power for four months and we felt silly for complaining so much. However I don't think the boredom played so much into the equation as did fear. Oh and the freezer kept the meat cold:)
Saturday Niel, me, his brother and two of his brother's friends went to the Southern end of New Jersey to play paintball. I had always wanted to try. I was a little afraid of being shot. It wasn't that bad being pelted. Niel smartly suggested I get a jump suit. We were running, crawling around, hiding, and shooting at each other with brightly colored balls. It is a strange game, people pretending to hunt one another. I knew I would not do very well in the army. It was a good time and we had dinner at a nice Italian place where the regulars were staring at us dirty dirty people. Luckily at one of the rest stops I found a neat New Jersey magnet I was looking for.
Today we will go to a Mets game and hopefully they will win. All for now.

There has been a lot of talk and reports about who will be the new Governor of California. Although I am a New Yorker I find the whole topic fascinating and funny. At first I was hesitant of any actor running for any political position. Ahem Reagan. Although Arnold does not have any political knowledge accept being married to a Kennedy. He was a self made millionaire before he became an actor so maybe he will know how to balance California's growing deficit. I don't know why the other "celebrities" entered the race was it to make fun of Arnold or they thought hey just because I am a celebrity doesn't mean I am not a human being with opinions and I could run too. We will soon see.
I was having a conversation yet again about celebrities and this particular discussion was about Christina Aguilara who I consider a very talented songtress and her recent image change sort of bothered me. However now I think about it who cares. Are women put on a higher pedestal because we are supposed to be better than men? Do we think as a society that men are lesser and to see Christina acting like a man is so terrible. Who am I to judge?

My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as I was on my lunch break. First besides Times Square being a fly trap for tourists, it is now also a bargain basement . Well more like bargain tables. There are rows and rows of tables on both sides of Broadway with merchants selling pictures, playing cards and hand bags. It is getting more and more difficult to walk through the crowds.
Everyday there is something new in New York City. Some area band was giving a concert of big band music near the post office. That was nice to see, the cultural part of the city. The sad part was seeing a homeless man sleeping on the street with all his possessions being in a large postal bin on wheels.
I went out on my lunch break to give 60 cents to a plant shop owner who didn’t know me from a whole in the wall let me purchase a plant for less the cost. I promised to return the next day and pay him. It was nice he trusted a complete stranger for the money.
Dinner was nice yesterday with the couple who keep Kosher. We ate, had food and had fun.
I discovered a really neat women's clothing store J.Jill. Their clothes are fashionable and elegant. I love to find timeless pieces to mix and match. So if anyone is kind enough to read this I would love to get a gift certificate as a gift. They are so grown up looking.
Niel said something funny on the train this morning. Well he always has funny things to say. He said I have the stomach of a little person but an appetite of a lumberjack. I found this hysterically true. I do love to eat and I do pay for it later. My stomach and eyes are at constant odds with one another.

Just call me Aniv or tire in Armenian. I realized that if I put Ani with V(the first initial of my new last name it is Aniv). Heh Heh.
Anyway plumbing is still giving me problems. The hubby thinks it is I eat too fast and psychosomatic. I am just miserable.
Tonight we are having people over for dinner. I got Kosher take out since they are a young observant Jewish couple.
The last time we had dinner at their place and played a game we brought along. It was fun.
Niel and I hung out with his friend Mike from VA and his wife Rachel on Saturday. They were up in NYC, he is originally from here. They live in a nice part of the country.
We managed to pick up a new rod and curtains from Wal-Mart. Woo hoo. I even got new frame bases to make new frames. Made a Fall theme and a Halloween theme. I really have to get my act together and order more mosaic pottery supplies so I can start this business already. God help me.
Sunday we had dinner at my parents. That was ok.
The sales staff got yelled at this morning since sales are down.
Tomorrow we have dinner at the in-laws since it is Niel's younger bro's bday.
I must say that Dead Like Me is the best show out there. It is so well written and touching.

Sitting here thinking that this time last week were still on our weekend getaway. Instead I am here trying to get ads in for the Education issue while eating my lunch of leftovers and thinking I need to get to the post office. If I could have it I would go away once a month or at least every two months on short trips. Someday. Oh lordy another phone call.

Ahh the plumbing is back to almost normal. Woo hoo!
Here is a pic from the Dean meeting

Haven't written in a few days. Tuesday I was sick and stayed home. The plumbing was not working very well and I lay in bed most of the day miserable. Milk of Magnesia did a number on my stomach. I didn't get to have the in-laws for dinner on Tuesday, I rescheduled for tonight. It is still a little clogged up but coming out in bits. I saw the doctor yesterday for my neck and asked him about the stomach problem and he suggested an over the counter drug. I will look after work. As for the neck I finally started therapy and he gave me a prescription for muscle relaxants. After being in the doctor's office for three and a half hours I didn't get to go to Kmart to look for curtain rod like I thought I could. However, my husband and I did go to another Dean rally in Long Island at a different Starbucks. They kicked us out. I will boycott that Starbucks from now on. One of the people in the group which grew to 40 people this month invited us complete strangers to his parents house. His neighborhood was so pretty and private. Niel and I both liked it. I am glad we both liked the area. People talked about why they supported Howard Dean for president and what could be done to increase his popularity. It was great to be involved in the political process, very empowering. Instead of sitting around and complaining how the current powers are asses I was am doing something about it.
Anyway I am very grumpy because I haven't gotten to be creative. I am going through tile and frame withdrawal. Hope to get supplies soon so I can do more things and get the page up already. I thought I could pick stuff up yesterday but it took too long.
Anyway got to get back to work.

Well back at work. Blech. The morning went by pretty quickly which is good. Unfortunately I am constipated again. Once a year I get very badly constipated. It hasn't been as bad this year. I manage to get a bit out but I don't feel fully cleaned out. Sorry to be gross.
The hubby and I went food shopping yesterday afternoon and got our week's worth of groceries. Got locked out after we came back home. I thought the landlord went in without telling us to take a look at the repaired toilet. Not the case because the top lock has been locking the bottom one automatically. Niel is going to fix it tonight. He did something very McGiverish to get us in, he jimmied the lock with an ID card. I found this very sexy! We had to get in somehow and he found a way. Very clever man. Girls marry a boy scout!
My mom in law is coming to dinner on Tuesday, I think with the brother in law. They came back from a trip to P.R. My husband's family has two houses there. Childhood homes. I think either we are going to my parents this weekend or they are coming over. We are seeing them before their trip to California to visit family.

The hubby and I returned last night from our two day getaway in North Western New Jersey. It is a lovely part of the country and it did NOT feel like we were in New Jersey at all. The New Jersey I know of is Newark and Elizabeth and is just as crowded as New York city. I think we were in Warren County.
We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast The Berry Preserve run by Steve and Diann Berry, a lovely couple in their golden years. It was our first time in a Bed and Breakfast and we were a bit apprehensive. That portion of the trip was fabulous. They turned part of their house into a B & B and decorated it with their ventures from the globe. However the B & B was not our first stop. Our first stop was the Phillipsburg River Outpost in Exit 3 of the Garden State Parkway. To attempt to canoe. I thought it would be fun to experience something with the husband, since he goes canoeing a lot. Well it did NOT happen because I was too much of a scaredy cat. My husband was so very understanding and I feel guilty we did not do it. Hopefully we will try again. We decided to explore the town. Well we walked across the bridge into Easton, Pennsylvania. We thought we were still in Phillipsburg, NJ. Easton is home to the Crayola Museum as well as the Pez Museum. They town had a lot of brightly colored metal horses. The Crayola Museum of course had a lot of children running around. It also housed a museum that explained how sails were made. That was a lot of fun. Easton was just becoming a booming little town. Phillipsburg was even more desolate. We then had a yummy lunch at a Sports Diner named after a good baseball player whose career was marred by his tragic death. They served one of theeee best French Onion soups I have ever tasted. After lunch we decided to head to our B & B and check in . The house was nestled in the woods and occasionally had a fox or a bear running around the yard. We saw the fox and but only pictures of the bear. The inside of the house was lovely. It had many skylights and tall ceilings with the original beams showing through. Our bedroom was the tree top room and had the most softest bed in the world. Niel and I decided to look into getting one for ourselves. They also prepared a snack for us and told us what was available in the area. We decided to scour the area the next day because we had a 6PM Balloon launching on the grounds of a fair. This too did not happen because a storm was headed our way. We still had a good time walking around the fair. We even tried trampolining. Something I always wanted to try. I think once we have our own home one day, we will definitely invest in a trampoline. It was a heck of a lot of fun. Hopefully those pics will be up on snapfish.com soon! That part of New Jersey also had fields and fields of corn.
We decided to find something to eat and stumbled onto Perkins a lovely Americana restaurant. They served really yummy food and make the best Hashbrown casserole. After dinner we went back to the B & B and fell fast asleep on the world's most comfortable bed. I know I mentioned it before but I feel the need to emphasize the comfort of this bed.
The next day they made a nice breakfast for us of muffins, toast, a cheese soufflé and sausages. They only had the B & B for a year. Her husband had built the house after their first house burnt down. He did a great job. They are both originally from Illinois. Steve was an engineer and Diann a teacher who helped co found the Crayola Museum. These were very interesting people.
After our breakfast and getting a bit tipsy on the wine, we tried we drove to Mackey's Orchard. Not much their but a store with overpriced fruits and jams. We decided to head to Clinton where they were having a Civil War reenactment. Clinton is a lovely town on Exit 15 on the Garden State Parkway. It has Victorian Homes, a quaint main Street and a river. The reenactment was very interesting. Afterwards we ate at Cracker Barrel and found some curtains and a frame at Wal-Mart for our apartment. Then we drove to Jersey Gardens and walked around a bit and finally came home, where we found out we were locked out. Luckily the landlord just happened to stop by and let us in. The bathroom floor was redone and looked nice however our toilet is not working properly. We are waiting for the building handyman to stop by. I can't wait till we get our own home. The Berry's B & B gave me a lot of ideas. I also ran out of frame bases and need to get some more and finally order some more tiling supplies. But right now I need to go grocery shopping for the week's dinner.