Question of the Week....

Thursday, February 25, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question: If you are a parent, do you get upset by people who give you advice on child rearing if they don't have any?

I don't have children. I try not to give parenting advice, but occasionally slip because I think some things are common sense or have seen things other friends do that I like. However, I have a sister who LOATHES when people give her advice on her child.

I was telling a close friend about a situation involving another friend with children and posed my take on a situation as "Maybe I don't understand because I don't have children, but is my take on the situation out of whack".

My friend was a bit taken aback that I would put a disclaimer on my statement and told me what's the difference if you do or don't have kids? I explained how my sister hated people giving her advice and she told me, common sense is common sense.


So, I'm curious - do parents care if they receive advice from childless adults?

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, February 24, 2010....


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: I saw Kathy Griffin last week and she was great! Her bit on Hoarders and Steven Segal's show had me hysterically laughing. Anyone who watches Hoarders would completely understand that even the opening credits has you want to jump off your couch and CLEAN.

Rant: Monday the 15th, I get a phone message from local police department starting off with something like this: "This is a message about Homeland Security. We're looking for 2 suspects in your neighborhood who robbed a home and are on foot." Okay, what does have to do with Homeland Security? Are they planting bombs? Wanting to know more, I call the cops and am told not to worry. I am told they are not far from being caught. According to the news report that evening, they don't know their names and no arrests have been made. So. How is this close to them being caught?

Rant: Friday the 19th, the police are pounding on my door. I find out that while I was in NYC and hubby away for the evening, my new neighbors were robbed (the house is empty and undergoing renovations). I thought an arrest was imminent? Guess not. [Note: robberies are rare in my neighborhood. I was the last house robbed in 2001, but it was an inside job by a cleaning crew I hired for a furnace puff back cleanup].

Rave: My hubby completely knew he was in the doghouse last night and made the effort to really pitch in and do things. He now knows that when I say I don't want to cook tonight, it's take-out or dinner out.

Rave: Coffee with a friend last week whom I haven't seen in about a month. It was great to catch up and see her really happy.

Rave: Friend came over last night to catch up and watch a movie. I was happy that we were able to do this. She's practically a single mom with 2 kids so time out for her is rare.

Rant: My friend who came over last night out found out last Thursday that her landlord sold the house she's renting. She has till 3/15 to find a place,pack up everything and move. I told I'd help her, but she's horrible at accepting any help. I hope she takes me up on the offer.

Rave: Restaurant week starts up on the 28th in a neighboring town. It's the first time the town is doing it and it will be nice to try a new place for a person on a very limited budget.


That's it for me. I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please, please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Definition of Clueless.....

Tuesday, February 23, 2010.....

The definition of clueless is the recent conversation I had with my husband which went as follows:

Me: I don't feel like cooking tonight.
Hubby: I know, why don't we have hamburgers like we had the other night. They were tasty.

Ummm....I basically ended the conversation because I DIDN'T WANT TO COOK AND WILL BE MAKING SOMETHING NOW. How does he think the hamburgers and sauteed onions will happen?

Never mind the cooking...hello? Clean-up? Not in the mood.

Officially cranky.

p.s. When I've said this before, a similar thing happened which I quickly told him that when I say I don't want to cook it means we're doing take-out or going out.

Getting from Point A to Point B

Friday 19, 2010.....

Whenever I travel, I meet or encounter very interesting people. Last night was no different.

I boarded the train to head into NYC and overheard the following conversation from the couple across the aisle:

Woman: "Before I marked the envelope return to sender, I opened the card, read it, put the card back in the envelope and taped the envelope shut,"

Man: "Why did you do that?"

Woman: "I needed to know what she wrote in my birthday card before I dismissed her gesture."

Man: "I wish you'd come with me to Dr. X so he'd have a better understanding of why I'm the way I am."

Do you know how hard it was for me NOT to laugh?

After getting off the train I made my way to the taxi stand in front of Grand Central (I wish I had a sense of direction because I would have walked to MSG, but no such luck) and was wedged in between 2 unusual characters.

The older lady in front of me was going on and on about the existence of the cabs. Why weren't they there, did they work evenings, how much longer do you think it would be. Question after question and as I politely answered each one at least 12 different times, I thought if I knew these answers I'd play lotto.

The man behind was blind. He had a cane, seeing eye dog and a woman with him who wasn't blind YET waited till I got on my phone to talk to me. Why? You can hear me talk, does being blind give the right to have no manners? I called my sister 2 times and each time he'd interrupt.

In addition to the interruptions, he felt the need to crowd my personal space. Why? I'm not quite sure. He'd hit me with his cane and take a step closer to me. This happened several times. Maybe I smelled great or he wanted to smell my breath, but moving closer to me was not going to make a cab come quicker.

After abruptly ending each conversation with my sister, I put my full attention on him and his useless seeing eyed companion (seriously, if I were his companion, I would have pulled him back to give a person some breathing room) and discovered he was a very nice man visiting from D.C..

Finally, after 30 minutes in the taxi line, I got into my cab. This is where I had the most interesting conversation. Did you know in NYC, all electronic devices are banned? This includes a GPS. Hello? I would like my cabbie to know where he's going.

He was a nice man and quite animated. I think I said about 10 words and the rest of the time was listening to this man and feeling his pain over a stupid law.

Once out of the cab, I met my sister, grabbed a quick bite and then off to the show.

No interesting conversations overheard on the ride home because I fell asleep on the train.

God, I hope I didn't snore.

Question of the Week....

Thursday, February 18, 2010....



I've decided to make Thursdays my "Question of the Week" day because I always have questions and am always interested in people's answers.


This Week's Question: What should my sister, YogaGirl give up for Lent?

For non-Catholics, Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter in which Catholics are supposed to sacrifice by not eating meat on Ash Wednesdays and Fridays (some may even not eat meat for all 40 days) and either give up something they love OR take up something that will improve them (usually by doing charity work, or reading the bible).

Before you ask, I'm giving up nothing and I had chicken yesterday. Yes. You guessed it, I'm a non-practicing Catholic, but can remind my sister when a religious holiday is fast approaching.

This past Sunday, I asked what she was giving up this year for Lent and because she hadn't realized it was this week, she hadn't decided. I was excited that I could add some input to her decision because the year she gave up Starbucks was the year her sacrifice was painful to me. If I wanted to be in pain, I'd participate in the ritual of Lent. I'd sacrifice diet cola, but instead I'd rather let it be known that I shouldn't suffer because of her sacrifice. I don't think that's what the Catholic church had in mind when they decided upon this tradition.

So. What do you think she should give up? Actually, what should she give up that has the least impact on me? Remember this is MY blog....

I also have a question to the people who do participate in Lent....are you able to have what you gave up on Sundays? My mom brought us up to have whatever we gave up on Sundays (usually, it was ice cream because she gave it up) and she'd allow us ice cream on Sundays. Does anyone else do this or do you think it was my mom's way of sneaking in ice cream?

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Wednesday, February 17, 2010....


Any readers following me on a regular basis know if it's Wednesday, it's time to Rant and Rave about the past week. Without further adieu, here are my Rants and Raves from the past week:

Rave: I'm meeting YogaGirl in NYC tomorrow night for dinner and to see Kathy Griffin in concert and YogaGirl is TREATING me to the night. How awesome!

Rant: I live in a neighborhood where the back roads have no lines in the middle of the road...I've noticed that while driving these back roads, people forget they are to respect the rules of the road and not drive as though they are in England.


That's it for me. Yup. Totally drawing a blank, which means I would love to read any Rants and Raves you want to share? Just click on the linky thing for anyone that wants to participate in Rant and Rave Wednesday -- or leave them in the comments section here. Please, please be respectful and do not use the linky thing if you are just promoting your blog (yes, this is another Rant of mine).

Out of Tune Tuesday Competition - FINALE

Tuesday, February 16, 2010....




Can you believe it? I've made it to THE FINALS of the Out-of-Tune Tuesday competition and YOU get to vote for me at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday.

The finale required Beaker to sing a song from a list of songs the judges provided. After much debate, I realized "She Blinded Me with Science", Thomas Dolby was really the best choice for Beaker's "talents".

After some feedback from several bloggers, I really went to extremes to be OUT OF TUNE. I'm thinking there isn't a snowball's chance in hell ANYONE would think I was in tune.

Monkey and I had a great time doing this video. More dancing, new hair colors for the monkey and some electric light gizmo only added to the beauty of this presentation.




Please go and vote at Jules the originator of Out-of-Tune-Tuesday. I love the comments on my blog, but you have to go to JULES blog for the vote to count. Again, if not for me, DEFINITELY vote for the monkey. He is an excellent patron, loves the feedback and really took time out of his busy schedule to choreograph his FANTASTIC dance moves.