My niece moved back to Buffalo after 8 years in NYC over the weekend. She's living in a beautiful apartment over on Linwood (near Utica) with 2 of her friends. (I told her she should check out this site.) As a coming home/house-warming gift to her, I took her shopping yesterday to get some essentials and some basic things that she wanted. We went to Home Depot to pick up a few things and while we were there, a guy who worked there actually tried to pick her up. Now, I will be the first one to say my niece is beautiful with a very interesting look. She designs a lot of her own clothing and has a very unique, funky style. She is stunning. So, this brings me back to the HD guy. I've gotta give the guy credit for having big enough ones to actually make the advance, even if it was a little weird since it probably looked like she was there with her mother and little sister (me & my teen daughter), but she is, nonetheless, way out of his league. She, however, was kind and politely tried to tell him that she wasn't interested and had just ended a long-term relationship that didn't go well, at which point she then walked away. Lo, and behold, before we could exit the store he again came up to her, while we were in the check-out, and did the: "hey, I would really like to see you, and here's my number" thing. Now I'm not sure, but besides just being inappropriate, I think he was actually a little closer to my age than hers - which made it even more wierd for her. After we left, she was a little creeped out and I don't think she'll be going into Home Depot again anytime soon - at least not without a male companion. Weird! We did get some nice paint though.

From New Rules by Bill Maher
http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/

"New Rule: Stop calling what's happening to the financial markets "an adjustment." An adjustment is something you do in your sweatpants when your penis falls out of your underwear. This is a cluster-f*ck."

I love Bill Maher...

This has been a really bad week. I feel like Eeyore when I’m generally much more like Winnie-the-Pooh (in a happy-go-lucky way - though not quite so, shall we say, dumb). Work has been terrible and, on top of that, I had to put in 8 hrs. of overtime today working on some stupid state report that shouldn’t actually even be my responsibility. Also, we’ve been understaffed since April and I’m already working really hard at fighting the burnout. (whining - sorry)

In addition, took my darling teenage daughter to a friend’s for a 2-night sleepover b-day party last night and realized (when I got home from my glorious day of OT and the phone was almost dead) that MY phone charger was gone and was most likely with her (we have the same type of phone). She, of course, left HER plug at a friend’s house in S. Buffalo last weekend. So, I call her from the house phone - because mine is now completely dead - and yell at her for a while as she tries giving me some crap like “well, I don’t know if I have it; maybe it’s in my bag, I have to check but we’re out and the bag’s back at the house” - blah, blah, blah. Teenagers are so incredibly full of crap sometimes. Of course, she was supposed to call me back and hasn’t, and, she now has her phone set so that it goes right to voice mail. Like that’s somehow going to make things better - duh - can you say ostrich? Well, I have now left her several messages, each a little escalated in its nastiness. When I pick her up tomorrow I’m going to try really hard not to be a screaming maniac and will simply take a deep breath, take back my plug, and take her phone, which, if she manages not to act like a butt, she might get back in a couple of weeks - or not. Arrrrrgggghhhh! (yelling - sorry)

Anyway - some days just suck - that's all.

"No Give and Take. No Exchange of Thought. It gets you nowhere, particularly if the other person's tail is only just in sight for the second half of the conversation."
Eeyore - The House at Pooh Corner

...at the Zoo. I do believe it; I do believe it's true...

OK - so I went to the Buffalo Zoo Sunday with some friends and family. Of course, it was raining (drizzle) - because it always rains when I try to plan an outdoor activity - but it didn’t even matter. Despite the rain, we all had a great time! The new Rain Forest Exhibit was so cool (well, warm really), I will definitely go back to see it again. The only real drawback for the day was, we didn’t arrive until 2:00 and they were starting to close down around 5:00. We didn’t have time to see the giraffes (which I love), so I guess that gives me the perfect excuse to go back soon.

Following is just a little peek at some stuff we saw, but the pix don’t really do it justice. (note: the really blue pic is a bat cave with a bat)

My escape, my haven, my garden...

I was thinking about going sometime to see the new Deniro/Pacino movie, Righteous Kill? Has anyone seen it, and, if yes, how was it/would you recommend it? Thanks.

My daughter went on a slip-n-slide at school today with her phone in her pocket. While it didn't get completely soaked, it is now not working correctly. It does seem to work, however, if she uses my battery. Her friends (no doubt of superior intelligence, as all teenagers are) recommended she put the battery in a bowl of rice (obviously to try to draw the water out). Aside from buying her a new battery, does anyone else have any ideas - just in case the baby-geniuses' idea doesn't work out?

Had dinner with a friend tonight - engaged in some political discussion while chatting. She relayed a story about a recent conversation she had with one of her sisters-in-law where the SIL asked her what she thought of Sara Palin. My friend replied, "I think she's trailer-trash."

PERFECT!!

My sister and I were out running some errands today and we stopped at a market on Hertel (between Delaware & Colvin) that just opened this past Thursday. Its name, I believe, is Hertel Farmers Market. They had lots of nice produce at good prices. They also have fresh bread and good sales at their deli counter (where the wait was a little long). It's not a very big place but they were reasonably priced on most stuff, and had really good prices on some things; they also had some items I haven't seen elsewhere. They told us it's a family business and they get a lot of stuff from local growers. I'm not sure what their hours are but I know they're open on Sundays. I'm always happy when I can support local business instead of huge conglomerations. Anyway, can't wait to make stuffed hot peppers with the long yellow banana and long green hot peppers, and the gorgonzola & parm cheeses I bought - guess I better take my Prilosec that day. Happy shopping!

Hate this day (9/11) - it gives me such a melancholy feeling. Wanted to go give blood today but they called my number last night for Jury Duty so I had to spend the day at 25 Delaware Ave. Actually got as far as the box but they only needed 3 jurors from our group and, therefore most of us weren’t selected. I have officially now fulfilled my civic duty for the next how ever many years… blah, blah, blah. I almost wish I had been picked. The case seemed sort of interesting. It was a criminal case that involved an alleged arson, conspiracy, some theoretically shady characters, and police, firefighters, ATF, and other folks (not sure which ones they were considering as the shady characters). I kind of would have liked the break from work for a week or so too (feeling a little burned out on work right now). It was a little weird for me when the judge was first interviewing all of us. He asked us all to state where we lived (town, part of city, etc), our marital status, how many kids, and where we worked. It was the first time in a long time that I actually said out loud that I was a widow. My husband passed 5 years ago but it still feels like such a strange thing to say. I think that, also, is adding to my melancholy feeling - this time of year is always a little weird for me with the anniversary of his death in early Aug. and his upcoming birthday (Oct. 3) - he would have turned 47 this year. Cancer sucks! I miss him. OK - enough of that.

Anyway, tonight is meet the teachers night at my daughter’s high school. We have to run through a “mini” schedule of their day, which means from 6:00 - 7:30 I’ll get a torturous aerobic workout every 7 minutes running up and down stairs and around her school building trying to find her classes. She thought I should do it carrying her backpack and laptop with me so I could “see what it’s really like,” but I think using my imagination is perfectly fine.

MrMike, if you're reading, I hope you enjoy your Milwaukee trip. My old job required me to travel. Sometimes you get some good ones, sometimes they kind of suck. My favorite ever work trip was to New Orleans but it was way too short and I didn’t have near enough time to do and see all that I wanted to. Loved the French Quarter. It was amazing how the city seemed to have a life of it’s own. Someday I'll go back. Sorry...I digressed! At least the Harley Davidson thing sounds cool. How’s the Rain Forest exhibit? Are you getting a ton of people? I really want to see it. I still haven’t seen the elephants since they came back. Guess I’m overdue for a trip to the zoo.

Well that’s all my rambling for now (I know, thank god, right?). I better get going to meet the teachers.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!!!