I had a really good day today. I did a few enjoyable things and one of them is one of my most favoritist things [yes I said favoritist – it’s my blog, I can make stuff up if I want to, so there] to do. I know you’re in complete suspense, holding your breath, because the title of this entry gave nothing away!

I was going to meet a friend, CKM for dinner downtown at an Irish pub, Ri Ra [LOVE IRISH PUBS] and I figured I would do a few things I enjoy before meeting her. So, I got dressed in my running/walking attire and yes, I look adorable! Got in the beetle-bug and Annie[for those of you not in the know…Annie is my car] and I were off.

I got to the Farmer’s Market [the Dekalb Farmer’s Market, or “Your Farmer’s Market” as the sign says and for those of you familiar with Brooklyn, you don’t pronounce the L, it’s pronounced “decab”. I know, it took me a LONG time to get used to that one!], selected a cart and we were off to the races!

Why did I choose to go to the farmer’s market, and this one in particular,on a Sunday, you ask [especially for those in Atlanta who know it], not a clue! But I wanted to go and I was on my way and there I was. It gets crazy crowded, people don’t always know which way to go, sometimes don’t have farmers market etiquette and when you come to the end of a section, it’s like a 4-way stop, either you rush through it or you all just sit there and figure out who’s going to go next!

I wanted to go to the farmers market mostly because I’ve been going more vegan, yes, I know I’m a vegetarian, my dad laughed when I told him I wanted to eat more vegetables! So, I’ve been eating and experimenting with more vegetables, been getting into soups. One of the soups I want to try is borscht, I love beets, not as a child though, and when I watched my grandmother eat borscht as a child? GRODY! So, I want more! I picked up some cauliflower, leeks, basil, all sorts of goodies.

The things I love about the farmers market; there are so many people, all different shapes, sizes, creeds, colors, it’s like the United Nations under one roof. The fresh fruits and vegetables you can get are wonderful, the spices are fantastic and inexpensive, the cheeses, the meats [not for me, but I know it’s great for others]. The senses are overwhelmed sometimes. I feel good looking at everything, hearing the people, touching, smelling, sometimes tasting and getting so many wonderful ideas! I know I said some people have no etiquette, but there are also some great people, I asked someone about choosing avocados and someone else choosing sweet potatoes, everyone has an opinion and sometimes they want mine! Imagine that!

And when I’m there, I even feel healthier! Putting the fruits and vegetables in my cart, thinking about all the good I’m going to do for myself… Until I start snacking on the way out! Nah, I get good snacks, even the candies and snacks I get are on the healthier side [dried fruit, almonds] and some guilty pleasures! I got a jar of Ba-Tempt half sour pickles, OMG! [not supposed to eat them!] and a soft pretzel, which was my treat for today since I didn’t get to go to a Falcons’ game all season to get my pretzel and a drink [my friend JT always takes me to a game each year, somehow someone forgot this year, boo hoo hoo for me, ok I’m done!]

I also bought myself a treat, a glass teapot, I’ve wanted one for a long time and I bought some of those flowering tea-bulbs, want to be able to see it, don’t I?

So… a good day for me at the farmers market, I left with a smile on my face and went on to enjoy the rest of my day, the weather was beautiful!

Let me know if you want to go with me next time!

Those of you who know me, know I don’t have tv and now those of you who don’t know me personally, now you know, I don’t have tv. Not that I don’t have a tv, I don’t have cable, if that helps.

I may not have cable, but I do have Internet and that means Netflix! I’m lucky, my friend JT has a Netflix account and I have a Hulu account, so we swapped accounts and have both, yeah for us!

One of the shows I love watch is Grimm, comes on Friday nights and I can watch it a few days later on Hulu. For those of you who don’t know about Grimm, it’s about a police officer who finds out he’s a Grimm, they date back hundreds of years fighting the fairy tale villains of history, you know the ones in the …Grimm Fairy Tales…well, they’re real! I can’t remember what the supernaturals are called, wait, they’re vessen, I think, darn… But I keep calling them heffen-vessen.

The show is n hiatus until March, agggh! But…you can check it out on Hulu!

Ok, so, back to having Netflix or Hulu…I like to find a show and watch the whole show, it’s awesome because you can watch every episode they have and in the case of Netflix..no commercials!

I found this show called Lost Girl, it’s ok, not the best, but it fills a heffen-vessen void at the moment. The main character, Bo, just finds out she’s a sucubus and there’s a whole world of Fae, a light and a dark side, she doesn’t know anything about being Fae and won’t take sides, so she’s in her own, with “her human”, Kinsey, who helped her out of a jam, now they’re friends and run a detective agency, of sorts.

So…the acting is ok, the stories are interesting and there are a few seasons to watch, so yay for me! Ooh, there’s a basilisk in this episode I’m watching (nod to Harry Potter fans).

In conclusion, if you like watching mythical creatures, mysteries and can suspend your belief for a minute, go for it! Hope your “find it” ok…sorry, couldn’t resist!

I sit here tonight not sure what to write about and share with you, my friends.

I’ve had several thoughts today…my mom, I wore a jacket of here and was thinking of her a lot, but I’m not ready to blog about her…modern/pop art…I went to The High Museum of Art today, there is an exhibit that will be leaving on Sunday and I really wanted to see it…my new Chuck Taylor XX-Hi sneakers, I got a lot of compliments on them or…Hotel Transylvania, I saw it tonight.

Let’s talk about Hotel Transylvania, I really liked it. I went by myself, which I actually enjoy doing. It was at the $2 theater, what could beat that? The tickets are cheap, the concessions are inexpensive and they show movies that might still be in the theater.

First…do you remember the other day when I blogged about personal space, well…when I walked into the theater, I was the only one in there, I found a seat about 5 rows from the screen in the middle, a few minutes later, about 4 people came in, sat in the back of the theater. So far, there are 5 people n the theater, comfortable distance.

As I’m sitting there a girl crosses in front of me (same row) and looks down says, “I like your sneakers!” “This I reply”. What does she do? She SITS DOWN RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Really? Don’t you think that’s a little odd, a teenager sitting down next to..not a teenager. Then her friend joined her and then mom. Then someone sat right behind me, really? I could feel her eyes on me when I laughed, yeah, that was fun, lol.

Back to the movie…I liked it, it was charming. A father-daughter tale just with vampires and monsters. For those of you who don’t know… Count Dracula has a daughter (mom died, nope, not. Disney movie!) that he wants to protect from the bad humans. He builds Hotel Transylvania so that all monsters can come and be safe from the big bad humans and they are all at the hotel for the daughter’s birthday.

The hotel was built so that humans couldn’t see it and what happens? A human gets in and hilarity ensues. There was a lot of silliness, but it was a movie about affection, parental love and understanding, letting go and love or the sing.

I laughed, I cried, it was almost better than cats. I recommend it, it will be going in my collection when it comes out on DVD.

Ok, I am ticked off! The middle of my day just sucked [and that was not a nod to my vacuum post yesterday, which I totally forgot to add a sucked reference, ha ha]. It started off fine, work, work, work, vacuum a little and then I got in the car to head to dinner with my dear friend SDL and her wonder tot [my “niece”] Miss A, that always makes me feel good!

Now, let me give you a wee bit of background on me…for anyone who knows me, you know I have a bit of a lead foot, let’s just say… I don’t drink, smoke, do drugs, I like to drive fast and it has been a problem. I received enough speeding tickets in college that my parents had to legally change my address to my dorm room or my insurance would have been…ouch! [sorry daddy] And as I got older, I got better, still getting a ticket here and there, but the past 2 years have been bad for me, enough that I seemed to terrorize my niece EJ while we were driving somewhere on the highway and I got pulled over, a new experience for her, lucky me! but it led to a good lesson that her mother could teach her about police and what to do if you get lost, so… there was a silver lining, except for her telling me I couldn’t drive us to the airport the next day. Lucky for me, she forgot all about it!

I even got one ticket on the way to take SDL and her sister to the airport to pick up Miss A, that was SO worth it! My last ticket was a few months ago and honestly people, I have been trying SO hard to be good and it’s been working. I stay 5 miles above the speed limit, sometimes 10, but that is only to keep up with traffic and I have even started using the cruise control on the car to help me keep the speed even. And for those of you from Atlanta or have ever driven in Atlanta, you know that the speed limit really is just a suggestion, but I refuse to get another ticket. And… with the number of points on my license [I’m NOT telling] my insurance is once again…OUCH! I have 2 [or 3] year[s] and the points will drop off, and I’m at at least 6 months right now, so, I’m on my way and I’m doing everything within my power to make it work.

The funny thing is… I got a letter from my insurance company telling me they lowered my motorcycle insurance because I’m such a good driver! LOL I’ll take it!

So… now back to SERIOUSLY??? I was driving on my way to dinner and I was a little under the speed limit of 55, it’s not a major highway, I was heading towards the highway and I know where it changes to 45, just before the school. I passed the cop sitting there, no lights on..grrr.. and I checked my speed and thought, I’m doing well. All of a sudden, he pulls out behind me, WHAT??? Scared the begesus out of me, but I stayed calm, stopped texting, [I’M KIDDING] and just kept looking ahead. He pulled over into the left lane, whew, then he pulled in behind me again and there go the blue lights! WHAT?

When I pulled over, he came to the left side, I rolled down the window and asked what was wrong, he asked me if I knew HOW DARK THE TINT ON MY WINDOWS was..WHAT? HUH? I don’t know, I bought the car this way… He asked when, I said Memorial Day and did he want to see the papers, no, but he took my license and went back to his car. Then the water works started, I am such a girl and so glad the windows were tinted so no one could see me sobbing like an idiot…then, after what felt like an hour, and was probably only about 5-10 minutes, he comes back with a black box looking device, asks me to roll the window up about 4 inches, puts this thing over the window and MEASURES the tint! I am at 17% when 32% or more is legal.

So… I now have a ticket and a court date, I have to get the windows stripped and possibly re-tinted [which I probably will since it helps with the upholstery and keeps the car cool in the summer] AND pay a fine…Even if I get them fixed? He told me if I go to court [instead of just mailing in a payment], the judge will probably lower the fine, but c’mon, really? I BOUGHT THE CAR THIS WAY, didn’t they realize that when they sold it to me?

In conclusion…SERIOUSLY??? GRRRR… Good thing Miss A gives good hugs… I need another…

I’m in love with my new toy! Who knew you could love something that small! Hey! Cut that out, this is a family blog, my dad just started reading it [hi daddy!].

I’m talking about my new vacuum! I LOVE it! It’s a Bissell Power Groom Compact [check it out http://www.bissell.com/powergroom-compact/] If I could get paid for every product I endorse…well, I’d have a lot more money!

Ok, so back to the vacuum, it’s great! About four years ago, I bought a Eureka that specialized in picking up pet hair and I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that’s saying something. It was compared to a Dyson on the box! oooh…I thought it was awesome, and it was; picked up dirt, pet hair, all sorts of stuff, left the carpet looking marvelous! And that’s saying something considering I have crap builder carpet that was laid down right before I bought the house. It’s also bag-less, that was a new concept, but I loved it; watch the dirt cyclone in the see-through canister, then dump it, no more bags, what a treat!

Well, four years later and 2 different cats later [I have 3, but one’s been around for 9 years] [and no comments on the 3 cats, 4 or more and you become the crazy cat lady!] the Eureka kind of bit the dust, well, actually, it keeps spitting the dust back out, what it actually manages to pick up.

I’ve been contemplating buying a new vacuum, but I am also planning on replacing the carpets with hardwood and didn’t I want to spend the money on a new vacuum, well, the hardwoods are not coming in the immediate future and I needed a vacuum, so off to Walmart I went on my way home. I looked at all the options, there were about 20, from $39 all the way to $200. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to find something I liked that wouldn’t be too expensive and as you know, Walmart will take just about anything back [someone told me they saw a person returning a dozen red roses…AFTER Valentine’s day!], so I thought, what the heck and I bought this baby.

I opened the box, pulled out the parts and realized it’s so light! Wahoo! I can carry it up and down the stairs without much effort and I was really looking forward to vacuuming the stairs!  Alright now, I do have a full life, but you have to enjoy all the moments and having clean floors makes me happy! I can make another cat with the amount of fur I pick up between the vacuum cleaner and the steam cleaner! [That’s another love!]

I started vacuuming the dining room and wow! It picked up almost all [I almost had a heart attack! I hit something and the page disappeared! whew] the cayenne and chili pepper, the canister looked like I’d vacuumed up the red desert!

Ok, here is where I digress yet again…Yes, I said cayenne an chili pepper. Let’s just say, it was some advice from friends on how to keep a cat from doing it’s business in the dining room. And in answer to your question… didn’t work, but thanks for asking.

Once I finished, I turned towards the stairs, which, I am embarrassed to say, have suffered great neglect recently because its a real P.I.T.A. [for those not in the know… that would be Pain In The A…] to clean the stairs with the Eureka. Well, no more my friends, this was a dream! It was easy to carry up the stairs and stand on each step AND! it has THE BEST attachment for the stairs, Oh My GAWD! LOVE IT! And now, on to the upstairs!  I used to think about having a vacuum upstairs and one downstairs, never did it, now I don’t have to!

So dear friends… I have a friend, LD that I used to work with and I remember one year, she asked for a vacuum cleaner for her birthday and I didn’t understand it at the time and well, actually I still don’t, but I get how you could want something so wonderful!

I’m happy…I have clean floors, an easy to clean vacuum [yes, I said easy to clean vacuum] and I didn’t have to spend a lot of money, all in a ll a good day.

Happy Hump Day!

Tonight I did something I haven’t done since college and it made me nostalgic.

I ushered for a dress rehearsal at a local theater. When I was in college I was very involved in the theater department, I majored in Communications and minored in theater. I didn’t have enough confidence in myself to think I could have majored in theater, who knows, I might have been able to, but I was involved in two very creative degrees and it worked out well, I believe. One advantage of having me in both was I was asked to produce a lot of videos for other students in the theater department, felt good to be recognized for having a talent. But I digress…

When I wasn’t participating in a show either dancing, props master, makeup, carpentry or even times when I was, I would user for different groups in the Arts Department. I ushered for one particular theater, whether it was ballet, opera, orchestra, jazz, even major acts that would come to the campus I was lucky enough to usher.

There are some great benefits to volunteering to usher at a theater. You get to see a show, sometimes the entire show, sometimes you have other things to do so you might miss part of the show. Another benefit.. free admission. What could be better, you see a show and if it’s great, you got to see a great show for free, if it’s bad, then what did you lose? A few hours of your time, but you were still helping others.

And besides getting to see a show, you get to meet people, the people who work at the theater, other ushers and performers. So… try something new, find a local theater and volunteer, you never know what doors might open for you, or should I say what curtains you might raise.

I don’t know if surreal is really the right word for it, but yesterday, I attended the bar mitzvah of the son of one of my closest and “oldest” friends from high school.

JS was great, to watch him on the bima was so impressive, I know how proud his parents and family were. I know how hard he studied Hebrew, the prayers, his haftorah portion, the speech he wrote. It’s not easy to get up there in front of not only family and members of the congregation, but your friends and at 13, that can be really tough. He was a rock star.

The surreal part was the fact that I’ve known JS since before he was born, his mom was pregnant with him at my wedding! I met him in person a few weeks after he was born, can you believe it? And here I am 13 years later watching this young man take responsibility and become a man.

So many emotions; love, pride, old, when did that happen? I know I’m grown up, sort of, I realized that I’ve known his mom for almost 30 years! What!

Surreal…what else can I say?

It’s been a long and eventful day, a kind of surreal experience and I want to tell you all about it, but we just flew in (and boy are my arms tired!) Lol and have to get up early.

And since I don’t want to break my quasi perfect record or disappoint you, my faithful readers, this is my post for the day, I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

Apparently people have forgotten what personal space is. Do you remember Dirty Dancing? Patrick Swayze “this is your dance space, this is mine”. Give me a minute…

So…I’m at the airport checking a (free) bag in the sky medallion lane (membership has its privileges) 🙂 and standing at the counter when all of a sudden two men walk up to the counter at my right elbow and just stand there. The proximity of these two was a bit unnerving and when I leaned in to say something to the agent about it, she said “they’re not with you?” Nope, this might give you an idea of how close they were.

She said that someone would be with them in just a few minutes and they said no problem, but their IDs on the counter and continued to stand there, almost on top of me until I was finished. I gave them a bit of a look and almost said something, but of course, I’d be the rude bad guy, what’s the point?

There are some places that being in that close proximity is fine, other situations its not. Standing in line at the movies, waiting for a ride at an amusement park,waiting to get on to the plane, basically, you’re in close proximity with everyone, doesn’t bother me. At the ticket counter getting tickets for the movie, ticket counter at the airport, ATM, this bothers me, not cool.

So, in conclusion, please think about these things, but I know my friends and those who read my blog would never do that, but if you did or you’re near someone who is, just remind them…

This is my dance space, that is yours.