Category: Family N Friends


When I checked my e-mail, I saw a lot of e-mails from WordPress. It surprised me, I get a few comments now and then, but this was highly unusual. As I read through the comments they seemed to have a theme, “Don’t quit.” One comment by Rex: “Well, Bella, if you don’t get a lot of comments today, I don’t know what else would work.” Then I read this comment by Debbi is 24atHeart and the last sentence was: “(BTW – congrats on being recognized today by The Daily Post!)

My response to that was “What?” I played with my iPhone until I figured out how to show the sidebar, clicked on the link to The Daily Post to find a blog post titled: Help a friend not quit Post a Day. In case you don’t want to click on the link I’ll summerize, in this post Scott mentions that someone, who may or may not be named Bella Foxx was thinking of quiting Post A Day.

Can you help her out by stopping by her blog today, A Commuter’s journal, and giving her some Daily Post love on her post? In Likes and Comments? Or just drop a comment here with a short word of encouragement? Thanks.

People came, I got 474 hits on my blog that day. That is the most ever, today I have 115 so far. And comments were left. Every time I checked my e-mail there were more comments. 31 on one post (Topic #107: What percentage of Americans believe in the devil?), 9 on Baseball season and a few others scattered around to other posts. Some people even left multiple comments. I was, in a word, overwhelmed.

The comments ranged from “Don’t quit” and “Maybe you could try Post A Week” to “You might need to take a short break from blogging”. Some made a comment about the post and then said very briefly, “Don’t quit”. Some were quite complementary, like this one: jerzygirl45: “At least your stuff is incredibly coherent and readable.”; and Chuck: “Well, if an excellent writer is thinking about giving up her blog, then a hack such as myself, should bury his or her head under piles of crumpled virtual paper. Don’t stop!” I’m going to have to buy a bigger hat.

Seriously though, I have gotten some good ideas and some encouragement and a whole lot of, “People are reading my blog! Squeeee!” Most of all, if you can feel love coming from a website, I have felt the love and it has given me the energy to keep going, to muddle through this dry spell and keep writing.

My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.

And that is all, says she.

Em had a nail appointment so we went to the city even though it was raining. The rain was supposed to stop at noon, it didn’t. It stopped eventually, but a long time after noon. I wore my gray coat and figured that would be enough, I wouldn’t need my rain poncho. I was wrong. As for the common sense factor of going to the city to walk around in the pouring rain, we went to NYC when a hurricane was coming. Yeah, common sense doesn’t come into play when we plan to go the city. Two things you will notice about me when it’s raining in the city. One is I never carry an umbrella. The other is that instead of waiting for the light at the curb, I stand back by the buildings. There is a little bit of protection there, it the wind is strong I can usually get out of it by going around the corner. Also, there is less chance of being splashed by cars.

When we first got to Manhattan I wanted to get food, Em had this store she wanted to go to that she didn’t want to take me to. We were going to meet up at this coffee place that I had a Groupon for that I won’t name, you’ll see why in a minute. The store she wanted to go to wasn’t open, so she went to the Apple store to get an iPod Shuffle, (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition iPod, a portion of the purchase price to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. She wants it for music when she goes to the gym, currently she has an iPod touch, but she is planning to get an iPhone in June or July and she doesn’t want to take that to the gym. So she was very happy to find it at the Apple store. Then she came to join me at the coffee place.

She was starving, but they only had pastries and sandwiches, we ended up just getting drinks. The cappuccino looked just like the picture in the Groupon I got. The service was terrible. First I was told they provided table service. So we sat down, no one came to our table so I went up to the bar and ordered our drinks. The waitress brought them, after drinking them, Em had to leave for her appointment. I waited for the check. And waited and waited. Finally she brought it, then took the Groupon to refigure the bill. Then she never came back for the money. I waited almost 20 minutes before I took it up to the bar, she acted surprised when she saw me. The place is in the lobby of a hotel, so they have hotel guests charging things to their room, but it is also open to the public, so come on! I left her less then 10% for a tip.

After meeting up with Em at the nail salon we decided to try another place for the items she was looking for in the store she wouldn’t let me come with her to. Then we used one of her Groupon’s for lunch. This place had much better service even though the waitress appeared to be less experienced. Not saying she was, just that was the impression I got, but our order was right and she was prompt, it was more of a bar then a restaurant but the food was good.

Then to Ashley’s so Em could get another hole poked in her ear, then to Harney’s for tea, then home where we watched the end of the baseball game.

Once again I have a Wednesday off where I didn’t get to do what I wanted to do. Well, I managed to get a work-out in, and for that my legs are now killing me, which tells me I need to do this more often.

So lets run through my day, first I got up earlier then I wanted to drive Tigger to school. Then I stopped at Panera to get breakfast and do some blogging with my iPod. My mistake here was checking into Facebook, which let Tigger know where I was, which led him to send me a message asking for him to bring him food from Panera. Which I did, but it took longer then I wanted because there was an accident on Route 9 that had two lanes shut down. Then I came home, got my stuff together and went to Allsport, had a nice workout and shower. Felt good!

My plan was then to go to the library and go online. But the library I went to doesn’t have wifi. The reason I wanted to go online at the library was I knew I wouldn’t be interrupted at the library. Which happened when I came home. I feel like I am an evil person if I send Gwen away even though she says she doesn’t mind. But she is so BORED!! So I put Sims in the computer, but before we could play any Tigger sends me a text message that he needs to be picked up.

After I got home I once again sat down to come online and once again was interrupted, this time to go to the grocery store for Em. And now that I am here, all I can remember of what I was going to say is …. nothing.

And that’s all, says she.

And there I was in the city with a few hours to kill before my nail appointment. Since I really didn’t want to be walking around in it, and the Starbucks in GCT is not conducive to sitting and waiting, at least not for long periods of time, I went to one of my favorite places in NYC, the library. On my way I stopped to take pictures of the flowers in front of the library only to discover I had forgotten to take my SD card out of my computer and put it back in my camera. So I stopped in a store to buy one before I went to get my nails done.

Flowers don’t mind the rain, in fact I think they quite like it. I don’t mind it, at least if it’s not cold and windy. For most of my time in the city on Saturday it was like that, sort of raining but not really windy. I found a lot of umbrellas to take pictures of, check out Better off soaked to see what I am talking about. I went to SoHo for tea then NoHo to see Ashley and bring her coffee, I almost got another hole in my ear, I had my blue diamond stud with me.

When I left NoHo and started for Grand Central, it had started getting windy and cold so I went to catch the subway at Broadway and Houston St. While I was waiting I was looking at the tracks. People throw all kinds of junk down there, even though being told not to. I don’t know why I always look down there, the tracks kind of fascinate me for some reason, I keep thinking I might see body parts …. On this particular day I saw movement, I looked closer, it was a rat. It was the same color as the floor and the tracks so it was hard to see, I wouldn’t have seen it if it hadn’t moved. I watched it run under the tracks and under the platform, then it came back. I was so intent on watching it I didn’t notice the D train pull in behind me, until it was leaving. That was the train I was waiting for. So I had to wait for the next train, with only the rat to entertain me, oh and my iPod of course.

So the rest of day was uneventful, the Yankees won, I participated in some retail therapy and then came home.

And that is all, says she.

It’s raining men!

No not really.

I sent that to set the date on the blog. I’m sneaky that way.

The walk from my office to the subway is usually uneventful. Walk down the sidewalk, wait for the light cross six lanes of traffic, try not to get run over. Today as I was approaching the intersection, an unmarked police car made a u-turn and pulled a car over, the police car pulled up very close to the other car, almost touching its bumper. I didn’t think anything of it, nothing unusual, right?

As I crossed the street I suddenly thought, “Unmarked police cars aren’t supposed to make routine traffic stops. Are they?” I glanced over at the cars, the pulled over car’s trunk was open and the police officers were looking in it. I was torn between wondering if I could sneak close enough to see if there was a body in the trunk, and just running to the subway. I didn’t run, but I kept walking to the subway.

Then on the train my phone rang. I didn’t answer it because I didn’t recognize the number. It was my dad. World’s Worst Daughter.

That’s all, says she.

The other day on Facebook, I got a friend request. I didn’t recognize the name or the face, but we had friends in common. After I approved the friend request, she started commenting on my pictures. “All those familiar faces!” (picture of my family) “You look amazing!” so I started to really wonder, perhaps worry a little.

So I started to investigate, I started with her profile pics. It didn’t take long to get to a wedding picture, with a bride surrounded by 9 bridesmaids (each in a different color dress), a flower girl and maid of honor. Then I remembered her. I was the maid of honor at her wedding. If I hadn’t seen that picture, I would have never remembered her.

While some may think that it absolutely horrible of me, despite the fact that I was the maid of honor, we weren’t really that close, and after she got married we really didn’t do anything with each other anymore. I am so surprised that she recognized me. Although someone else from that time period posted on the picture of my family that everyone looks the same after 20 years. It appears they are right.

And that is all, says she.

Back to work

My life, work, Manhattan on weekends and baseball. Whenever possible. Maybe I can’t come up with anything new and fresh to say because my obsession has surfaced with the beginning of April and all I can think of is, “Are the Yankees going to make to the post-season?”

Does it make me a hypocrite to tell people, “Calm down, it’s only April.” While in the back of my head I am thinking, “If these guys don’t start winning more games …. ” Deep breath, deep breath.

On another topic, last night Gwen was looking at apartments (for me) on-line. Every time she steps in my room her eyes light up with the thoughts of what she is going to do when it is her room. And she talks constantly about it. She is driving me crazy.

Sometimes, I hate everybody in this house.

This is my new favorite E*Trade commercial. If I had money to invest, I would probably do it with E*Trade.

Just a man and his thoughts, and his smart phone.

Good day all around

This Saturday started with me fulfilling an obligation first thing in the morning. Then it was off to the city. Em and I had appointments for a massage at the Russian spa I really like. It was the first time for Em and the second time for me. We skipped the sauna because Em didn’t want her makeup all over her face. There are three things I have learned about this spa:

  1. The robes are not one size fits all,
  2. The lockers are not designed for 5 ft tall people.
  3. The twisty things that the locker keys are on do not make good ponytail holders.

Other than those three things, I loved the massage. So did Em, well she says she always loves getting a massage and here is not the best massage she has had. I have also decided that a shot of vodka at 4:00 pm after just having a handful of Cheerios and a doughnut all day is not a good idea.

Then it was time for Em to get her nails done, and I was going to go to Starbucks to have a snack and go online, but Em wanted to see if The Yankee store had and Russell Martin shirts. I knew they wouldn’t, but I went there anyway. This time I didn’t buy anything, no one seemed to mind that I was walking around taking pictures in the store.

For dinner we went back to BonChon chicken. This time we got just pot stickers and salad. But since it was dinnertime, there were a lot more pot stickers per order. So we had some to bring home for Stitch. Good times.

Oh, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox.

It is supposed to be getting warmer. Yesterday at the baseball game, I wore my gray down coat. It is April and I was freezing! Of course part of the reason was I was sitting still, getting up and moving around helps. We had fun though.

Tomorrow is a NYC day so another city post with pictures. I like taking pictures, I need to do it more often. Em gets a little annoyed with me constantly stopping and taking pictures, I let it bother me enough to stop doing it. No more, I am taking pictures if I want to. If it seems like I am just going on and on about nothing, that is pretty much the story. I am still having problems thinking of things to say. Maybe it is because Twitter is 140 characters a tweet. Then I sit down here with this huge open space and the brain panics.

That is all, says she.

Yes I was worried about Gwen coming to the city on her own. I even raced to Grand Central Terminal after leaving the office 20 minutes later then I planned in a panic to catch the train to get to Yankee Stadium before her. She was fine, she was better then fine. And stayed for the whole game.

She seemed to be having a good time, talked to the players, cheered, ate junk food. After we went into Manhattan to have dinner. I was thinking we would go back to a place she had really liked, but neither of us could remember the name or where it was. We stopped at McDonald’s so she could use the bathroom and I tried to find the place on my phone, then it died. But McDonald’s has free wifi, so we started searching on our iPod touches. That is where she found Tony’s Di Napoli on 43rd St. It is a Family Style Restaurant, which means their dinners are to share so we did, and still couldn’t finish it. Have you ever been so stuffed you couldn’t eat another bite? That is how we felt when we left there, like we didn’t even have room for air.

So it was a good day. And now time to sleep.