Back to work

My work schedule is a little weird. Since I work with kids, mostly I have to see them after school. A lot of times my "work" day starts at 4 pm, which means that I am at work until 8 or 9 most nights and I get super excited on the nights I can actually leave by 7:00. In the summer, I don't run groups and some of my kids can come earlier in the day, as long as they are not in summer school. So when I came back to work on Monday, I decided I was going to do five 8-hour days, with the goal of taking advantage of the extra daylight hours and good weather. My first day back, I had this conversation with my supervisor.

Me: I was determined to leave work by 6:00 every day this week.
Mary: That's a great idea! You should do that.
Me: Well.... it's quarter to eight.
Mary: (Disappointed) ...Oh....

Vacation wrap-up part 3

I've saved the best for last. One week at the shore!

We had great weather all week, which was a miracle considering it rained the entire month of June.

This is the sunset in Cape May. My nephew said he wanted to see "the sun crashing into the ocean." Although that would have been cool, this is almost as nice.











Here are the kiddos showing off their new bathing suits.










When they showed up on Saturday, my nephew looked normal. Then this happened.
















After falling asleep in the sand something must have happened because he woke up with his eye all swollen. Then he lost a tooth. We started calling him the prize fighter!



So of course, he had to show off his considerable muscles.




Mo in a hole



















The Jersey Girls!!

Interruption

I'm interrupting my vacation report to report on THIS!!

Mad Men returns next month! How awesome is this poster?! Season two is on DVD if you wanna catch up.

Vacation wrap up, part 2

The second week of my vacation was a little more low-key. Most summers I have to use up some vacation time, so I usually take a few days to spend here in the city and I usually have a long list of things I want to do. Sometimes there is an exhibit I want to see or some shopping I need to do. Sometimes I get together with friends I haven't seen for a while with my crazy late-night work schedule. Sometimes I want to paint my apartment or do other projects. This year, I wasn't looking forward to the time here. I didn't make a list and I didn't do anything very exciting. I did laundry, cleaned my apartment, got stuff ready for Cape May and caught up with shows on my DVR. I also went to four movies.

Towards the end of the week, my mom arrived and we did do one fun thing. There has been talk about making something out of the old rail road tracks that run along the west side of Manhattan since I moved to NY (10 years ago this month!). It is finally open. It's called The Highline and it is awesome! (I recommend reading about the history, if you are interested.) My mom and I met up with LT, took a stroll and ate a pretzel croissant from the Birdbath vendor.

Here's a picture of LT and me with a view of beautiful NJ behind us.

view of Chelsea market

and some of the plants

After that, we stopped at Billy's Bakery, then walked over to the Shake Shack and waited in their ridiculously long line. (This picture was NOT taken by me! I've never seen it that short.) As soon as we got to the front of the line, it started raining. We had invested so much time, however, we deluded ourselves into thinking it was just a passing shower. As soon as we placed our order, the skies literally opened up and my mom, LT and I all gathered under my one umbrella. The fact that I even had an umbrella was a fluke since I generally don't like them. Although we got drenched (my backside, mom's right side, LT a little all over), we had a nice lunch. When it stopped raining we sat in that new area in front of the Flatiron with tables and chairs and dried out. A fun NYC day!

Vacation wrap-up part 1

I decided that I would go visit my parents this summer because, for the first time since they moved out west, fares to Grand Junction, CO (the closest airport) were less than going to Europe. (But still more than they should cost.) It seemed like a good time to go because I've only visited them in the winter before, which I hate. Despite what you may think, Moab is freezing in December. Once I got there and endured one super hot day, I realized that I hadn't thought that part out very well. But luckily, they, like we New Yorkers, are having a pretty mild summer. There was only one day when I was miserable. You can say, "But it's a dry heat" all you want. I disagree. Hot is hot.

So, mostly we talked about quilts and cars (the two things my mom and dad, respectively, care more about than most other things). I drove my dad's '68 Mustang, which was pretty cool, and shopped at the Moab quilt shop, which was also pretty cool.

Several years ago, I talked Esther into going to The Grand Canyon with me. As a native Arizonian, she had never been. When I told my dad what we were doing, he said, "Why are you going there? You've been to Dead Horse Point. It's basically the same thing." So when I visited my parents a few years ago, I told my sisters that I was going to suggest going to Bryce Canyon and bet them that he'd say something similar. To my surprise, he said, "Okay." I guess he's not as predictable as I thought.

We didn't end up going that time, but we did go this time, and here are some pictures.

Michael Jackson tribute

Michael Jackson

I know people are sad that The King of Pop died. I am not sad because I didn't know him (obviously) and because I can still enjoy his music. His music was the main benefit of him being alive in the first place. His life has been more about weird press than about his music for several years. However, the weird press lives on, and once again, Jon Stewart got it right.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Rippy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Obitutainment
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
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