Streaker

I just remembered a hilarious scene from last night!!! OK, I mentioned it's cold here. It was yesterday, too. With very cold wind. So, we come out of the pub last night around 10:15, all bundled up with scarves over faces, etc., and are walking towards the subway with our friends. We'd left someone behind, so I turn around to see if she has actually come outside with us, when I see this man running down the street towards us. It's New York, it's not late, so the sidewalk actually has people on it despite the cold (smokers cursing the smoke ban in the City!). But, he's hard to miss, because he is not wearing a shirt. He has NOTHING on the top of his body! He looks a little deranged, and is running in the male-prone position (you know, shielding the goods). After he passes, it turns out that he also is not wearing any underwear, as his ass is practically falling out of his jeans. I'm talking a half moon, people! Normally I would think nothing of this, as you always see weird things on the street here. But the extreme temperature had everyone turning and taking notice of his nudity. When he crossed the street, still running, some guy actually took off his top layer, a sweatshirt I think, and gave it to the poor guy! This all happened in a period of about 1 minute, and all I could do was gawk at the scene. All of us standing on the corner just kind of looked at each other and busted out laughing. It was so funny! It was sad, too, but sometimes you just have to laugh at the strange things you see on the street that you can't explain. I'm pretty certain he was homeless, thus the lack of clothes, but why was he running? Did someone steal his clothes and he was running away? And if he wasn't homeless, that's even weirder! Did his girlfriend kick him out? Is that why he wasn't wearing underwear? If I'd stuck around on the corner, would a man run by in a few minutes wearing a shirt and nothing on his bottom half? Did the streaker dude steal pants from some poor person so he wouldn't be completely nude? At this point, it doesn't really matter, but it makes for a good story to tell you non-New Yorkers who don't get to see this kind of thing on a regular basis. Feel free to chime in with your version of the rest of the story.

Can I Borrow A Sick Day?

OK, I am having a hard time making it this morning. My body is rebelling. It is WAY too cold outside to come to work today. It's 6 degrees. Wind chill -6. If you don't keep your body parts covered up, they could freeze. Does this sound like fun to anyone?

On top of that, I have a slight hangover this morning. Not a late night, just happy hour, with almost no food, and all of it junk, and a few beers. Wasn't drunk when I got home, neither was Joel, but we both woke up at 4am this morning REALLY hot, extremely thirsty, needing some water, and rumbly tummies. We had the same amount of food and beer. I blame the food. And the stupidity on my part for not drinking a gallon of water before I went to sleep. Oh well. Only 7.5 more hours to go until I can lay my head down again! I am going to need more coffee....

I should have called in sick. It's too damn cold to do anything but snuggle up under and blanket and watch mindless re-runs of Friends today while drinking coffee. Oh, and water. Lots of water.

SNOW!!!!

It's snowing! I mean, it's snowing BUCKETS! When you look out the window, it looks like rain. Except that it's snow. We are very excited. It's the blizzard of 2005! The grocery store was a madhouse, according to Joel, and there's a surprising amount of people out and about. I don't expect this to be the case much longer, as it is accumulating fast, and they aren't really plowing the side streets. We're expected to get 14-20 inches! For us Texans, that's a lot! Everyone is really kind of freaked out about it. I'm rather surprised. But we love it!

Unfortunately, I have my concert tonight at Carnegie Hall. Brahm's Requiem. I mean, I'm excited about the concert, but I wish it was last night instead of tonight so I could stay home and enjoy being snow-bound. Oh well. I guess I shouldn't complain about singing in Carnegie Hall. The snow must go on!

In other news, this weekend is the one year anniversary of our move to New York! Tonight, exactly one year ago, we were arriving into the City on the coldest day of the year! So, the snow storm is in honor of our move to the Great North. And, we are still loving it!

BlogExplosion Addiction

Well, I wouldn't call it an addiction, but it's definitely something I find myself doing a lot more of lately. Especially with my new BlogExplosion account! Ginny got me hooked. You become a member (for free), surf other people's blogs that are members, and earn credits to get your blog in the loop! Confused? Yes, it can be rather confusing at first. But once you get the hang of it, you get a thrill at earning points. And, you get to find some really cool blogs out there. If anything, you get ideas on how to make your blog more interesting and look really cool! Try it and see! Just click on the link I have on the side over there (scroll down, it's the one that's blinking) and sign up. Did I mention it's free? I get referral credits, and you get more people reading your blog! Fun stuff.

Created Equal

My friend Ginny, who is a teacher in Texas, wrote a post today about the No Child Left Behind policy the Bush administration is enforcing. (Read it before you read this post, it will make more sense.) I swear, the more I learn about public school education, the more I never want my kids in it! But, I'm totally a public school girl! What is wrong with this country! I am in total agreement with Ginny, by the way, and wish there was some way to get across to people that WE ARE NOT ALL CREATED EQUAL! On Civil Rights, yes. On our ability to choose to accept these Civil Rights, yes. On basic human principals, yes. As Americans, yes. But on an intellect level, NO! It is a fact that there are just some people smarter than you. And, inevitably not as smart as you. Yes, every child should be afforded the opportunity to do the best that they can to achieve the highest level they can reach. But lumping all children into one category, regardless of IQ level and performance on aptitude tests, is just doing an injustice to all of the kids concerned. Well, at least to the kids on the extreme ends....I'm sure those in the middle end up doing a little better than they would have otherwise. So, not only are my kids (who will be smart, of course! ;o) not going to get grades, not play on teams where there is a 'winner' and a 'loser,' and not be punished in school if they screw up, they will more than likely get less-than-stellar attention from their teachers, because said teachers are too busy trying to get the 70 IQ-ers to grasp basic concepts, while being unable to reward them if they DO happen to grasp said concepts. And, this isn't even the teacher's fault! Great. I'm SO looking forward to having kids and dealing with stupid school boards and administrators who haven't got a CLUE about how to teach my kid! The government needs to re-evaluate their policies on education before we all end up sending our kids to private school.

Under Duress

I'm at work today. I'm not happy about it. It's a Federal Holiday, and I swear that Joel and I are the only 'professionals' (white collar) whose companies are open today. The lawyers aren't even working today! Not fair! There was NO ONE on the subway today. I mean, we sat down for the whole ride on both the express and local trains! That only happens on Saturday morning, early! It was then that I realized I should have called in sick. But, one of the advantages of a sick day is getting to sleep in, and clearly that was already shot. It snowed last night too, and is some this morning, so I would have been all snuggly inside today, maybe venturing out to the park to watch the kiddies sled. But no, here I am, slaving away. My clients aren't even at work today! If it's a 'Federal Holiday,' why isn't it a holiday for everyone?! Why is this an 'optional' holiday? If kids don't have to go to school, and the Stock Market is closed, why do I have to work? Boo. Booooooo!!!!! I'm working under duress today.

Commercials

I have a confession. I love commercials. I'm not exactly sure why, but they fascinate me! For instance, I will be half-watching something on the tv while, say, blogging, and when the commercials come on, I pay attention! It's a condition; I'm taking medication. It drives Joel crazy. I love Target commercials. I just saw a new one watching the Golden Globes. Award shows and the Super Bowl are GREAT commercial watching venues! Granted, there are some really bad ones out there, like McDonald's commercials. And there are those that are WAY too over-played. But, I'll keep watching, and make my runs to the fridge during the program!

Completely Freaked

I started looking at the material I'm going to use to prepare for the PE exam in April. Yes, in APRIL, exactly 3 months away from today. For those of you who don't know any engineers, train or otherwise, PE is the Professional Engineers exam, a test that all engineers who want to practice engineering in the US must take in order to do so. Similar to the Bar exam for lawyers, except that it's a national test, not state-specific, and it's only one day, instead of 3. But, if I pass, I don't ever have to take it again! Joel and I are both taking it, so at least I have a study partner. I am taking the Civil Engineering exam, and Joel is taking the Structural exam. What I have discovered upon further examination (no pun intended), is that I have 5 times as many topics to study as Joel! My review book is 3 times as thick as his, and I have to be knowledgeable in 5 topics, instead of his 1. I am NOT ready for this! 3 months may seem like a lot of time, but I am already feeling the crunch, and wondering if I can actually do this. On top of everything else, I'm living and studying with a man who is a genius. He only made 3 B's in 6 years of school, including his masters classes! I'm overwhelmed, and I haven't even started yet. This is going to be the worst 3 months of my life....

Arrival of Winter

I believe I can say it's official. Winter has arrived. It's a whopping 30 degrees outside. I believe it's supposed to go to 34 today. I must say I'm rather relieved. I thought we were going to be stuck in the 40s forever! And 40 degrees and raining is NOT fun, believe me. I like the cold weather. At least, it doesn't bother me. Makes the arrival of Spring that much more enjoyable! It is not supposed to snow over the weekend, which would REALLY be great, but it might next week! Not having a car makes you enjoy snow so much more! You don't have to drive in it, so you can welcome the coming storm with open arms! The only downer is you can no longer use the excuse "I was snowed in and couldn't get to work." Because everyone knows you take the subway, which is how they all got to work, too! Oh well. Hello winter! I'm glad you could make it! Better late than never, I always say!

Another gross morning

*********WARNING!!! DISGUSTING CONTENT!************

For about a week now I have had this congestion. It's driving me nuts!!! I wake up every morning with my head full of snot, and spend the next hour coughing and hacking and spitting and driving my husband crazy. He thinks I'm the only person that spits when she gets sick. I'm sorry, but swallowing snot is not up my alley. So, this post is for him, to see who else out there believes in blowing your nose and spitting out anything you cough up? Instead of swallowing it like a 'normal person.'

NYC-Texas Weather

This is the weirdest week, weather-wise. It is a well-known fact that in Texas, if you don't like the weather, wait a few days (or hours) and it will change. I have known this to be true many times. Anyone who has spent time in Texas during the spring, fall, and winter (what we call winter, anyway) has at some point run both the heater and the air conditioner on the same day. At least in their cars. Here in New York, this is typically not the case, especially because most people don't have cars! However, this week is different. Monday it was clear in the low 40s. Yesterday the temperature dropped to the low 30s with rain/sleet/snow, depending on your location around the City. Today it's going to be in the upper 40s with rain clearing out. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 60! Friday it's supposed to drop to the 30s again, and Saturday it's not supposed to be above freezing. My body is not liking the temperature changes! Sinuses are going crazy! I never thought I'd say this, but I wish it would snow! We have yet to get a sizable amount of snow, just a dusting here and there that is gone the next day. Boo. Yes, come March I will be wishing I was in Austin sitting on a patio and drinking a margarita in the sun, because it will still be snowing and cold here. But for now, I wish Mother Nature would look our way with some of the white stuff! How is it that I can move to the 'Cold North,' and Texas has seen more snow this year than New York City!? It's a conspiracy.

The Real World

For my friend Ginny, who has to put up with 'self-esteem' problems at her school. I got this in an email from a friend, and just had to post it here for all of you to comment on.

Incidentally, Ginny teaches 4th grade and is not allowed to give grades or discipline her students. Can you believe that? What is the public school system coming to? Since when is it ok for kids not to get GRADES!? Or be punished when they screw up severly?

To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Beltran Blues

Well, Carlos Beltran did not sign with Houston yesterday. He is going to sign with the Mets. This has really irritated my poor husband, the ultimate Astros fan (see his blog about this). He is already a Mets-hater, thanks to the '86 NL championship, so this is salt in an open wound. (Girls, aren't you amazed at the sports stuff I know and keep up with?!) Everyone seems to go for the cash these days. Oh well, just enforces my opinion of sports....it's about money. At least this time it's actually professional sports!

If baseball doesn't do something soon, we're not going to have two leagues of competitive teams, we're going to have the same handful of teams that make it to the playoffs every year. These would be teams in the major markets; New York, Boston, Chicago, and LA. Maybe San Fran. Anyway, if a team has a good player one year, they will more than likely be gobbled up by the team that can pay them the most, which is more than likely one of the above mentioned teams. It's a travesty, I tell you!

Sort-of All Better Now

Well, the snot is still present, albeit a lot less, but I am feeling much better! My voice is still bad, but I'm going to choir rehearsal tonight and will hopefully be able to sing better than I can talk. For some reason, this has never been a problem for me. It's easier for me to sing than to talk. Anyway, I am very happy to not be Pitiful-Katie (as my husband was calling me yesterday) anymore!

Grocery Shopping

My friend Ginny blogged about her trip to the grocery store tonight. I went to the store tonight, too, and this got me to thinking? When is the best time to grocery shop?

Delivery Issues

One of the things I love about living in New York is the fact that you can have pretty much anything you want delivered right to your front door. Food, groceries, shopping packages, liquor, dry-cleaning, you name it. It's not that we are lazy, it's just that it's readily available everywhere! Tonight, didn't feel much like cooking, and Joel didn't want to either, so we ordered Chinese delivery. Which, by the way, is better than any Chinese food I have ever had in my life. Anyway, the only question then, is what to tip the delivery guy. If the weather is bad, you always tip more than you would otherwise. But then, how much is normal? I actually had a guy huff at me for giving him a $21 on an $18 bill! I mean, it's more than 10%, and you delivered it a whopping block and a half on your bicycle, what do you want? I don't make a mint here, buddy. My ficus tree does not have twenties sprouting out of it just to give to nice delivery boys. It was irritating, but I felt slightly guilty at the same time. I typically tip 15-20% at restaurants and when taking a cab. I mean, I get actual service in a restaurant (hopefully), and cabbies make next to nothing, so I give them a little extra as a thank you for giving me a ride and dropping me at the door. Riding in a car is a novelty for me these days, as I don't take cabs very often and have no car of my own. So it's kind of like a joy-ride, and I tip the driver accordingly! I like to think of myself as a generous person, within reason. Do other people tip? How much? Are you an over-tipper? Have you ever stiffed the waiter/delivery guy/cabbie? What do you people think?

Is Anybody Out There?

OK people. What is the deal? Why is no one posting on my blog? Am I not writing interesting things? Am I boring? Do I need better things to write about? If so, please feel free to express your ideas. But at least comment on SOMETHING so I know you are reading! I feel very un-loved.

End of an Era

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have called it quits. When they said on the news last night that they had an announcement, I thought it was to say they were pregnant. I totally did not expect this! I'm very sad, as they were our ultimate 'swing' couple. If we were swingers, that is, of course we'd want to go straight to the top! Anyway, I'm sad about this. Doesn't love matter anymore? What happened? Did they get lost in that huge house? Forget to talk to each other? Is movie-making that stressful? Did other 'Friends' get in the way? What happened?

Kleenex Anyone?

It's official. I have a cold. It's 9:15 on Saturday morning, and I got up half an hour ago, because I was blowing my nose too much and disturbing my sleeping husband, who has a cold too and gave it to me. I will spare you the graphic details, as they are pretty gross, but let's just say that if I don't get rid of most of this mucus soon, I may end up sick all freakin' week. Last time this happened, I ended up with a sinus infection, which is the grossest thing you can possibly have. And, you just have to ride it out until you blow out all the snot. Or cough it up, which is even worse.

Needless to say, I am less than thrilled at the idea of spending my weekend like this. But, at least it's raining here, so I don't feel guilty about spending all my time inside. So, there may be many more blogs to read today. If not, it's because I'm blowing my nose too frequently to type! Speaking of which, I've now run out of kleenex and have to go to the store to buy some more. Augh!

No More Seizure News

Nothing new to report, except that Molly made it home 2 days ago. Safe and sound, no problems. Now they just have to figure out what the hell is wrong with her! Easier said than done.

More Seizure News

Just talked to Mama, she and Colin are on the way to Austin. Molly had just called her, they released her from the hospital and she went home with Uncle B. She had a CAT scan and did some congnitive questioning. So, we'll see what happens now.

Seizure News

Molly had another seizure this afternoon. She was getting on the plane in Austin, literally on the gang-plank waiting to get on the plane, when she went down. I don't know much more, as it happened about 30 minutes ago and I just got off the phone with Papa, but they are taking her to the hospital there in Austin. My uncle is there, and we have some good friends in Austin to help see what's going on and visit her and take care of things, but I think my folks are pretty freaked out. In fact, I know they are. Just an update, Molly was diagnosed with epilepsy last May. She's currently undergoing a medical board review to be released from the Navy, and will probably be discharged in a couple of months. This is a major setback, however, so we'll see what happens from here. She turned 25 last Thursday, and was in Austin celebrating that and the New Year with some friends.

Say a prayer that she will be ok.

Crazy Chicago Dude

Check out this guy's blog, which I stumbled upon while looking for someone else. It's pretty good, and entertaining. Not as entertaining as Ginny's or Wes', but worth a look at if you are wanting to procrastinate at work.

What's in a New Year?

After reading my friend Wes' blog, I realized I had not yet expounded on the arrival of 2005 and the passing of 2004. I'm not even sure what to say regarding either. Maybe a list (I promise not to eat it) would help....

2004 Happenings

• Moved north of the Mason-Dixon line for the first time in my life. New York is definitely a crazy and wonderful place to live, but I'd not recommend it to the faint of heart.
• Quit one job and started another. (That's what happens when you move.)
• Discovered exactly what I could live with and what I could not. Actually, this is a work in progress, as there is not a whole lot of room in our small apartment and I'm discovering everyday that I don't really 'need' some things I thought I did. Although a bigger closet would be lovely!
• Joined the Juilliard Choral Union and got to sing in Carnegie Hall for the first time! Very cool, BTW.
• Cooked Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners at my house! I'm a big girl now!
• Lost a few friends (if you are reading this, you are in the clear!)
• Made several new friends, that will probably end up lifers. You tend to stick together in the big city, makes it more inhabitable, somehow. That, and you are practically living on top of one another, so getting together with friends is much easier!
• Learned that it's not where you live, it's who you are with and what you do along the way.

I'm sure there is much more, but there is no need for me to go on and on and bore you. Most of you know all of the above anyway. As far as 2005, I know of a few things that will most likely happen, like obtaining my Professional Engineers License. God willing I pass the stupid test, of course. Speaking of, I have to actually STUDY again! Yuck. Not looking forward to it. And, I know I'll sing in Carnegie Hall again. In 3 weeks, actually, which is very cool. I have a few more goals, call them resolutions if you like. Here goes....

2005 'Goals'

• Pass that damn test so I only have to study for it once!
• Travel to Europe again. Actually, travel more. Period.
• Curse less. This is actually difficult to do in NYC, as explicatives just tend to fly out the minute someone irritates you. Thus the 'goal.'
• Actually having an exercise program I follow on a regular basis. This would require me to commit to going to the gym consistently for more than 2 weeks, as I've been told this is the time it takes to establish a routine. We'll see. As of right now I consider the walk up the stupid hill to the subway, then from the subway to work my daily workout. I doubt Denise Austin would agree that I was shrinking my female fats zones with this regime. But she can just #$*^*@#! (Again, working on 'goal' number 3.)
• Finish the cross stitch I'm working on. I'm bored with it now, so we'll see.
• Print and organize the loads of digital prints we have on our computer and display some in our apartment!
• Give more to charity. I have plenty. They need more.
• Work on my patience level. It tends to be very low. Short, if you will. Luckily, I married a man who reminds me of this every day.
• Attend my 10 year high school reunion. Well, we'll see, as I definitely live too far to just make this a last minute decision! But I'm thinking about it, if only to brag about my wonderfully cosmopolitan life in the big city! I actually can't believe I will have been out of high school for 10 years in May. Am I old?
• Enjoy my time in New York City to the fullest. It's such a cool place to live, and who knows how long we'll get to live here? So, I vow to not roll my eyes every time Joel mentions going to a museum! And I will explore new neighborhoods and go to new and different restaurants, which is easy to do in NYC, as there are TONS.

I have a few hopes for the year, but I'm certainly not going to put them out there for all you people to read! They are private, so back off with the questions!

What about all of you? Anything you want to share? Be sure that 'Travel to NYC to visit Joel and Katie' is on that list, damnit! We love to have visitors!

Happy New Year to you all!