Anonymity? Really?

This Quiz has been incredibly fun for me...partially because people are discovering things that I totally forgot about. For example, the first bonus question about my first name: I definitely remember dropping at least one major hint (and that is the one that Smoking Hot Roommate was referring to in the quiz) but now two people have uncovered other hints that I dropped a LONG time ago. And, as I re-read them, it was absolutely my intention when I wrote the posts originally, I just totally forgot that I had done it!

Anyway, I will leave the second set up through the weekend and post the answers and next set of questions on Monday. Anyone who can't get their answers in by then is just way too slow!!!

Interest reactions to yesterday's post. Some defense of Professor Gates, which is basically reasonable and I don't take any major issue with it...especially Laura's. Anonymous, why the need to hide your identity? I have never had a problem with people telling me I am full of shit...in fact, I sort of like it! Ask Aaron about our April 2007 gun debate, when he politely stopped just short of telling me I was a moron...I still never considered him anything short of a blog-friend. Anyway, you don't need to stay anonymous. I can take criticism.

That said, you are factually incorrect about a couple of things;-). And "you have to go further into debt to get out of it" is a truly ingenious piece of Financial Wizardry. Some clarification...Obama inherited a large national debt, but that is not what I am holding him accountable for. The absolutely monstrous deficits he is promising for the next ten years, however, are all his, and will cause the large debt that he inherited to explode into a truly astronomical pile of IOU. And it is for that plan that I wonder why young people (who will be on the hook for repaying it) still love him so much. I think you are confusing the debt and the deficit, which are two totally different things...

And you are only allowed to say that Michael Jackson is not a pedophile if you also believe wholeheartedly that OJ Simpson is not a murderer;-). He forked over huge amounts of money to settle cases out of court. He also acknowledged on a prime time interview that he shared his bed with young boys to whom he was not related...and if you believe that was just because they were both scared of the dark and had only one night light, well...

Friday again, which means back to the beach after work:-) See ya Monday!

Brain Dump

Getting a little slow on the second round of questions, folks...let's keep the answers coming;-)

I am feeling sort of serious today, so you can get some of my catch-up thoughts on important issues (and some not so important ones) of the last couple months. I may write more on these later, but these are the quick thoughts.

Health care reform...Congress continues to suck. They continually shovel cost from one payer to another without actually decreasing the overall cost of the process. That helps no one, since we all end up paying in the end. What's more, Americans have decided that they want immediate, unfettered access to top-quality care...that is going to be expensive, and we just have to deal with it.

George Bush can make a really good case as the "most fiscally irresponsible President ever." But Barack Obama seems determined to absolute shatter that standard and leave no doubt as to who really has the talent for saddling future generations with crippling, unmanageable responsibilities. My favorite part is that he is still widely adored by young people, despite his insistence on pushing all of our current problems off onto them. This is becoming a "he hits me because he loves me" relationship.

Most cities and States are not allowed to run deficits, and for very good reason. Allowing the Federal Government to borrow more just so that they can give it to those cities and towns is not really a solution. Municipal revenues have grown much faster than the economy for like 25 years now, yet a minor pull-back and suddenly every single expenditure is sacred and not a single redundancy or unnecessary service can be located. Government increasingly exists to serve Government employees...

Possibly the single most inane government idea ever..."Cash for Clunkers"? I would bet even money that my little sister's fourth grade class could put their heads together and come up with a more useful stimulus idea than that. And, no, I am not being facetious.

Henry Louis Gates. This has been a big deal around here, obviously. I won't totally disallow that the Police Officer overreacted, because he probably got wrapped up in the moment and escalated it beyond where he needed to. But you simply can not yell at police officers, period. And no, being on your own doorstep does not change that. Heck, being an off-duty police officer doesn't change that! Mostly, it sounds to me like too much testosterone got mixed with two people in really bad moods.

However, neither of them looked nearly as bad as my "Stupidly" himself...

Michael Jackson. Oh. My. God. Why is this still on the news? He made his last good song 20 years ago. And, need I remind you, HE WAS A FUCKING PEDOPHILE!!!

On that note, celebrity news is getting boring. Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush? Jon and Kate Gosselin? Kendra? Whatever happened to the A list? Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo? She was definitely A-List at one point, but she has been quiet for a while...plus, I always hated her. Also, who cares if she said "Indian Giver", it's a common expression. You don't see the Irish throwing a hissy every time someone refers to the Paddy Wagon. Seriously, this is why Lindsay Lohan needs to make a comeback...I need better gossip. Or even like a breakout from Sienna Miller...that would provide some entertainment, right?

Anyway, that is what I am thinking today;-)

Whirwind on the Way

I will give everyone a couple more days on the second set of questions...the first time around it took a few days for everyone to get a chance to answer that wanted to. Again, I am super impressed with the results so far!

It has recently dawned on me that I have a lot of stuff going on for the rest of the summer. Next Tuesday is our condo closing, which I am very excited about. Then Tinkerbelle is coming the next day (Wednesday) and staying through the following week. That coincides with my last day at work (which will be either next Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, not sure yet).

I haven't really written about that much, but I am finding it to be kind of emotional. This place has been kinda like home for me...it is the only "real" job that I have ever had, and the people have all been really wonderful to me. I will miss seeing them all and working with them all. I won't be totally gone, since I will still maybe help out on occasional things on an hourly basis, and will likely be back at Christmas and next summer and whatnot. But it is still going to be a change, and that always makes me a little thoughtful. More next week maybe.

So, I am headed back to the beach, this time for a full-on vacation with Tinkerbelle sometime late next week (maybe Thursday after work). She will be around for a little over a week, and then Munchkin and I are headed to France on the 21st, returning on the 28th. That leaves about another week of summer, then school for both of us right after Labor Day...and right into the wedding...and there is a Bachelorette party in there somewhere, too, but I still don't know exactly when! Anxiously awaiting the surprise...

In other words, a really busy couple of months forthcoming! But all good stuff:-)

Answers. And more Questions

Okie dokie...now we get to the fun part of SHR's quiz...answers! I will give you the first four, and pose the next four questions. Very good effort so far, as there are a bunch of people that have gotten all four right.

1) What is AM's favorite band? - This was an easy one...my obscene love of The Killers is pretty well documented around these parts. They are playing here next month:-)
2) She has one small scar. Where is it, and how did she get it? - I have a scar on my lip from an unfortunate run-in with a metal railing after slipping on a pool deck. BFFb caught me before I fell of a ledge in my unconscious state:-) I wrote about it in a post here after being tagged to write some random things.
3) There is a decal in the back window of AM's car. What is it? It is Tinkerbelle:-) And there is a link to a picture of it in this post, right after I got it for my birthday
4) My wonderful husband, The Rocket Scientist, had a different blog name in the beginning. What was it? - His original name was The Adorable Dork, because he is adorable and he is a dork:-). I changed it here, because The Rocket Scientist was a little more accurate, and because I really like the symmetry of the two sisters being married to The Brain Surgeon and The Rocket Scientist.

OK, that covers the first four questions, and now we can move on to the next four:

5) AM was promoted on her first day at her job. Why?
6) AM has two unique roles in her office. One is client-related and one is more of an internal role. What are they?
7) She once gave my Mom a nickname. What was it? [Clarification: I have actually called her a couple of things, one of which is Mama Bear. But there is another answer that SHR was looking for.]
8) What magazine issue did AM once announce was required reading for any of her listeners with daughters? [I think we are looking for a specific issue, and I like the substitution of "listeners" for readers...lol]

Keep the answers coming, and I will continue to use my magic spreadsheet to tally the results;-). In early returns, the foreigners are performing much more strongly overall than the Americans.

"It's not that you are fat, it's that you are not that skinny"

You guys are doing great on the quiz! I am amazed at the level of retention (and even more amazed that one of you figured out the second extra credit question, which I was certain no one would get...)

I guess maybe I will give another day on the first four questions, and then give you the answers and re-pose the next four...it seems to be easier for folks to tackle a few at a time. I also published some humorous answers from the weekend, too. No, The Warbling Norsemen are not my favorite band;-)

Weekend was awesome! We had a whole lot of fun, and I think Munchkin was really glad to see some of her friends that she hadn't seen in a while. I am fully anticipating a request that they all live together at the beach house next summer;-) That sounds a little too much like an MTV reality show to me, but we can worry about that later on.

Actually had sort of an interesting incident on Friday, one that falls definitively into the "Easier to be a sister" category. Her friends got there around noon, and I picked them up at the ferry and brought them back to the house. They wanted to hit the beach straight away (and some of Munchkin's summer friends were coming over later in the afternoon.) So they all went and put their bathing suits on.

Now, as I have written before, and as I am sure any of you who were ever teenage girls is aware, there are some clothing issues that arise as they learn how to dress their rapidly developing new bodies. One of Munchkin's friends came down in a bathing suit that was WAY too small. It doesn't take girls long to realize that wearing clothes a little small is a good way to attract attention from boys. What they don't know, is that there is a limit to that phenomenon...

Munchkin's friend is not a super skinny girl. She is really cute, and I would never call her even remotely fat, or even "heavy", but she definitely has a thicker frame than some other girls. So, the bathing suit (that I am guessing was from last year when she was smaller, and I am also guessing she knew was too small but thought was on the cute side of too small) was just terribly unflattering. To be totally honest, there were boobs and ass hanging all out of it;-)

This would be awfully difficult for a Mom...teenage girls do not react well to their mothers telling them or their friends what to wear. And it would be totally and completely unmanageable for a Dad (you can not tell a 14 year old that is not your daughter that her boobs are hanging out without worrying about facing some kind of charges). But, as the super cool older sister, it is actually not that tough;-). Especially with some of my friends around to help.

There is the minor concern of making sure that the message she gets is not "You are too fat for that," because I think the girl actually has a super healthy body image, and I would never want her to lose that. But, a little fashion consulting from the older girls is totally acceptable, and we managed to find her a more modest suit that looked way better, and still allowed her to attract the desired attention from the boys:-) (Here is where I should tell you that she had packed like five bathing suits for a three day trip...but that is another issue with teenagers for another day:-)).

With that issue solved, the rest of the weekend was really nice! I didn't see a whole lot of Munchkin, as she and her friends were busy flapping their social butterfly wings the whole time, but that is OK. Unfortunately, my little working vacation is over, Papa Bear has taken over the satellite office and it's requisite babysitting responsibilities...and I am back in the office today. At least for two more weeks until my non-working vacation starts!

In super exciting news, Tinkerbelle is coming to visit in about a week and a half:-D

David Hasselhoff Has Nothing on Me

A warning to the rest of the world...Germans love me! I got two different responses to the quiz from German readers yesterday, and both really did well...they are gonna be tough to beat! I will hold off on telling you their scores yet, but the bar has most definitely been raised!

I have also decided to make it maybe a little less overwhelming and a little more manageable for the people who don't have the time to go through the whole thing at once. So here is my new plan...for the next week or so, I will re-post 3-4 questions per day, and you can answer just when you know an answer or want to guess or whatever.

Obviously it doesn't make it any easier, but it will help you sort it out and take it on in manageable chunks. And again, I will make a spreadsheet to track everyone's answers...and post answers the day after I ask them. Make more sense? I hope so.

Therefore, today we will take on the first three questions, which are definitely some of the easier ones!

1. What is AM's favorite band?
2. She has one small scar. Where is it, and how did she get it?
3. There is a decal in the back window of AM's car. What is it?
4. My wonderful husband, The Rocket Scientist, had a different blog name in the beginning. What was it?

Again, answer via comment, email or gchat...one at a time or all at once, whatever you want. I will worry about tracking all of the answers. And you can still send me answers to all 20 if you would like.

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In other news, we had a mother of a rainstorm last night! It was a really nice day, and at about 2:00 I knocked off to sit on the beach for a bit. An hour or so later, the clouds rolled in, and then at about 6:00 the rain started and it absolutely poured all night. It is just kind of letting up now, and is supposed to be pretty nice for the rest of the weekend. That did, however, allow me to stay in and catch my favorite Munchkin-look-alike pop star make her TV debut on CSI:-) And immediately get shivved with a pair of scissors...

Our friends all got here easily, and Munchkin's friends should be here at about noon. The Boy should probably get here sometime after dinner, too, along with Big Sis, The Rocket Scientist and The Brain Surgeon. I love my girl time, but I really do miss The Boy if I don't see him for five days:-) Very full house!

Should be a fun weekend! And then, back home for me for my last two (or so) weeks of work...

More on SHR's Quiz

Judging from the answers I have received so far, I think my intuition about the quiz from yesterday was right: it is super hard!!! Smoking Hot Roommate really outdid herself on this one...I actually had to check a few things to make sure that I actually did write them at some point.

To give you something to shoot at, I will tell you that, as of now, no one has gotten even close to half of them right (and there are a couple that have more than one acceptable answer, as it turns out). And again, if you feel like sending me answers one at a time, you can do that and I will track them all...we all know how much I love Excel (that should have been a question!)

I am not real sure how or when to divulge the answers. I am actually thinking that I may kind of break it up, ask a couple of questions per day and then give a few answers per day over a few weeks to make it a little more manageable. And, unfortunately, there are some questions that I will only answer by email or gchat...and a few that I will confirm, but won't tell you the answer if you don't guess it on your own:-P!

The good news? The winner gets a gift card:-) Let's figure on maybe $50, but that could change based on how well the winner does ($5 for every question right, maybe?). And yes, since this whole mess was her idea, Smoking Hot Roommate has been designated as the provider of said gift card, so congratulations on that;-)

In other news, I had a wonderfully low-key birthday with SHR and Munchkin. Walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner, then to Munchkin's ice cream store for some celebratory ice cream cake. I got lots and lots of birthday phone calls, and just generally had a very nice day for myself:-)

The sun is back out today after a few days in hiding, just in time for the weekend invasion! Four of our friends are coming down tonight to stay through the weekend, and some more of SHR's Mom's family is coming as well. Munchkin's two best friends are coming tomorrow morning, so I will have to go and pick them up at the ferry...in other words, it will be a pretty busy couple of days around here!

I guess that is all for now...keep those answers coming!

20 Questions from Smoking Hot Roommate

Wow...no love at all for Miley Cyrus. I am a little surprised at that.

But anyway, the following is a quiz that Smoking Hot Roommate put together, and I am amazingly entertained by it! She did an totally outstanding job and rifled through the archives to come up with a really tough set of questions! There is no way on earth that anyone will get all 20, I don't think, but some of you must know some of them.

My fear is that maybe it is a little too long and difficult, so you can feel free to just send me one answer at a time if you want to. I will keep them all straight so that you don't feel like you have o devote several solid hours to answering questions about a blogger you have never met;-)

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For those of you that haven't picked up on her hints this week, today is Accidentally Me's 27th birthday. [Picture balloons, streamers, noisemakers, confetti and lots of cake in order to get yourself into the right kind of festive mindset.] In honor of the birthday girl, I would like to play a little game of 20 Questions with all of her blog readers.

I spent some time yesterday (WAY too much!) putting together this quiz, which will test your knowledge of AM and of the people that she writes about regularly. Some of the questions are pretty easy, and some of them are quite tricky. Because not all of the answers are explicitly stated, your powers of deduction will be valuable here as well. Finally, I have tried to make it so that you can't get the answers simply by using the search function.

Alright, then. Here we go!!!

1. What is AM's favorite band?


2. She has one small scar. Where is it, and how did she get it?


3. There is a decal in the back window of AM's car. What is it?


4. My wonderful husband, The Rocket Scientist, had a different blog name in the beginning. What was it?


5. AM was promoted on her first day at her job. Why?


6. AM has two unique roles in her office. One is client-related and one is more of an internal role. What are they?


7. She once gave my Mom a nickname. What was it?


8. What magazine issue did AM once announce was required reading for any of her listeners with daughters?


9. Where did we go to college?


10. From what country is Munchkin's favorite soccer player?


11. What kind of car does AM have?


12. Munchkin once did a wine tasting. Where was it?


13. During her years in London, who did Big Sis work for?


14. Where, specifically, did The Boy propose?


15. AM wears a pair of diamond earrings on most days. Where did they come from?


16. With what friend does AM share the distinction of having a last name that belongs to no one else that she is related to?


17. Where is the beach house that AM is so fond of?


18. What kind of dog does Papa Bear have?


19. Munchkin has a winter hat that AM has referenced several times. What does the hat say?


20. What term of affection have Munchkin and Tinkerbelle coined to describe their relationship (they share a half-sister, but are not actually related)?

And finally, extra credit:

• Many of you know her real identity through chat or email. But can you find the post in which she all but told everyone what her first name is?


• And super extra credit...what's my last name? Because she has hinted at that, too!

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Me again:-) Many thanks to SHR for this, which I find to be really fun!

If you wish to play, submit your answers via email or comment (although I won't publish the comments, so don't worry about what you write:-)). I am going to have to make some scoring adjustments, since I have told some of your the answers...but I will work that out after I get your responses.

We are still working out the prizes, and part of it depends on how sincerely you play! More effort will generate more effort on our part to find you a prize:-). If you would like, I can direct you to a link of a picture of Smoking Hot Roommate's boobs:-D

THAT is a good prize!!!

Juliet vs. Hannah

In honor of tomorrow's special day, Smoking Hot Roommate has devoted herself to putting together a little "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Home" quiz. She plans on quizzing you on things that have either appeared here, or could have been deduced somewhere in the 725 posts I have written since October of 2006. She is one of the few people who has likely read every single one of them, but I think there are others, and tomorrow we are going to test your retention.

Not sure what kind of prize will be available to the winner. Or winners, since we have no rules yet. It will fall somewhere between a "Job Well Done" email and an all-expense paid four month vacation at a spa in Bali. Probably closer to the email;-)

Anyway, I hope you are as excited as me about this...I am dying to see what she comes up with!

In the meantime, let's talk Girly Pop. Let's settle a raging question that threatens to tear apart America at its seams: Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus? I understand that they are BFF's, even though they both dated (the same? different) Jonas Brothers, but for today's purposes, we are making them into rivals.

I love both Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana, and I will not apologize for either. I find it amazing that Billy Ray Cyrus spawned something that good looking, and have spent way more of my life watching her show than I care to admit. On the downside, she keeps dating 22 year olds, and that is really creepy.

I also take issue with her mixing metaphors in her new song. What is it Hannah, are we moving mountains or are we climbing them? They mean very different things, you know... You can't have the best of both worlds when mountain-related metaphors are involved, Miley!!!

On to Taylor Swift...and my adoration for her is pretty well documented. And not just because she and Munchkin bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. She makes some of the most listenable bubblegum music I have ever heard...and I love that she sings a song where the guy f's up, and when he asks for a second chance, she tells him to go screw...that is a good message for young girls!!!

I have some issues with her, too. For one, she sings about having really grown-up relationships for a girl who is basically like a sophomore in High School. Second, she tends to also cover marriage a lot, and that is just not cool when you are 16...or 18...or 14 or whatever. Finally, like half of her songs are about the dorky shy girl that can't get the cool boy's attention. Fine, but are you not aware that you are Taylor Swift? Somehow I don't see small-town-football-star-boy not noticing the leggy, gorgeous, pop star in the back of his math class...maybe she wears glasses, that usually throws the boys off;-)

Final analysis, I love them both, and I am comfortable enough to admit it! I dare you to not turn up the radio when Love Song comes on...weird, underage overtones aside...

So, in today's important topic...thoughts?

Swapping out Vacation buddies

You know what makes for a good weekend? When you can't even muster the time to walk upstairs and check email for two whole days;-)

We finally had a hot, humid, actually-summer-feeling weekend. And about f'ing time!!! It's only July 20th, after all. Combined with a pretty big crowd at the house, it made for a great couple of days. OK...Saturday morning was cloudy until about 1:00 in the afternoon, but other than that, it was gorgeous.

The Boy, unfortunately, has gone back home, so I will be without him all week. We actually had a great vacation...really relaxing and lots of time just for the two of us. It's a real treat to be able to eat three meals a day together, roll out of bed whenever we wake up, and just basically hang around with a lot of free time. It usually takes him at least a day or two to get "wound down" when he is on vacation, so having the whole week is nice:-)

Special treat, though, Smoking Hot Roommate is gonna be here pretty much all week:-) And a couple of our friends are coming down later in the week and staying through the weekend. Most importantly, let's all remember why Wednesday is THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THE YEAR!!!

Finally, Tinkerbelle's Mom and I are finalizing plans for her to come out here to visit:-) Looks like one of the first two weeks in August (so, um...SHR and Big Sis, if there is anything I need to be wary of, schedule-wise, you may want to let me know:-P). Obviously, I am looking forward to that:-)

No sign of the Obamas...just in case you were wondering

I got some sad news from another blogger yesterday...nothing life-threatening or earth-shattering, but sad nonetheless. I assume she will write about it when she is ready, but for now...I will send e-hugs:-)

Munchkin and I had an awesome date yesterday afternoon:-) For those of you unfamiliar with the geography around here, there are two islands off the southern coast of Cape Cod. The Smoking Hot Roommate Family Beach Residence holds a spot on the North Shore of one of the Islands (which is why there is a ferry involved in getting there;-)). Yesterday, Munchkin and I hitched a boat ride to the other one to bum around for the afternoon, do some shopping and have dinner.

As I mentioned yesterday, I feel like I have been a little lacking in Munchkin-time lately. She is super busy, and when I am down there on weekends, there are always a whole lot of people around and a lot of stuff going on, so I feel like I don't see her a ton. Yesterday was a good chance for us to spend some alone time and catch up on things.

Most of what we talked about was pretty goofy...heavily boy-related. I have to admit that I am pretty impressed at the romantic skills of a lot of these boys. Like the one friend that she met for ice cream one day that brought her a stuffed seal because she had mentioned that she thought seals were cute. Or the other one that picked a couple of lilies out of someone's garden because she said they were pretty...I don't even think she realizes how much she gets hit on;-). For now, she is either spurning or discouraging any romantic intentions of any of her summer friends.

But we also had a chance to check in on some more important issues (although some of those were boy-related, too). I was a little surprised at some of what she had to say, especially around the French boy...nothing bad, just that she has put more thought into some things than I was aware of. She is super excited to go and visit (honestly, I kinda am, too), but again, she seems to have a very good grasp on the realities of the situation.

Based on the way this summer is going, I am guessing that this will be her permanent summer home for the foreseeable future. Obviously, I knew that was a strong possibility from the beginning...if she has a job (at least two) and friends down there, then it is a really good place to spend the summer. She does miss her Boston friends, but a couple of them are coming to visit next weekend, and as they get older that will get easier (like when they can drive themselves). Supervision becomes an issue, but I am hopeful that I can work something out in future years like we did this year. [Also, she wants a Vespa...and I am happy to learn that you need a Driver's License to ride one in Massachusetts...phew!!!]

So we did some shopping (we bought a grand total of one T-shirt) and then had dinner. We ate grilled chicken sandwiches and onion rings and watched a gorgeous sunset from a harbor-side restaurant. And then, Munchkin paid:-)

It was surprisingly emotional for me...

Functional Families

Good morning all...how's things? I never got around to blogging yesterday, but I also never got around to putting on anything more than board shorts over my bathing suit, so there:-P

I have actually been really productive this week. I am surprised at how much I have gotten done during my standard 9-3 workdays (with breaks for...um...stuff...) I would make the argument that I should work from the beach all the time, but since I only have a couple of weeks of work left anyway, that may not be the best idea.

The house was quite a bit busier yesterday, and will be through the weekend as some of Smoking Hot Roommate's Mother's family has come down for a long weekend. I think this is my favorite part of this house, and much of the reason that it is my favorite place on earth (OK, the extensive oceanfront acreage is a big part, too). It is very much a "family" house where a whole wave of cousins and Aunts and Uncles come and go pretty much at will all summer long. Because of that, it is just a really warm place where everyone always seems to be having a good time.

To me, that is how families should work at their best, and just reminds me again at how dysfunctional my own can be. Obviously it is not practical for every family to have their own massive beachfront compound...but that is really not what makes it so special. Mostly it is just the enjoyment that comes from being around the people you love as much as you can. It is a place where everyone is always welcome without feeling like they are imposing, and where they can come to enjoy the sun, sand and ocean, but also to enjoy each other's company.

I think that they are all blessed to have each other, and I am blessed that they have invited me into their family like they have (and I mean the whole crew...not just the nuclear Papa Bear clan). Several will be here this weekend, a couple more next week, and then a very large influx of them all in early August, which is traditionally one of my favorite times of the year. I look forward to every minute of it:-)

I am actually taking a little trip this afternoon with, in the strict sense, my only actual family member for some long-overdue girl time. She is babysitting for a couple hours this morning but she has the afternoon off, so we are going to hitch a ride over to the other island on the boat of the family of a friend of hers. Nothing much planned...just a little shopping, some wandering around, dinner and then back home.

Mostly it is just a chance to catch up...I feel like I haven't had my share of Munchkin time lately! Besides, there are about 40 different boys chasing her and I need to get caught up on all of them...

"Moving"

I promised you some news, and I will get to that in a minute.

First, though, a brief recap of yesterday (which will look a lot like today). Spent the morning and early afternoon working, except for one break because I was feeling mischievous, and another for lunch. Then sat on the beach for an hour or so reading before Munchkin came home. Cocktails on the deck, The Boy made dinner on the grill and we ate while we watched the sun go down:-)

Munchkin was pretty beat, so she turned in early and The Boy and I sat on the deck outside our bedroom and watched the ocean and the moon for a while. And maybe got a little more mischievous...hee hee. In other words, a pretty darn nice day!!! Hopefully more of the same today:-)

Anyway...news...

As of August 4, I will officially be a homeowner:-) That is the day that we will officially write a gigantic check to Smoking Hot Roommate, have the Bank write her a way more gigantic check, and have her hand over the keys (figuratively, of course...I already have the keys:-P)

I am incredibly excited about this! As I have written here before, I absolutely love our condo, and have considered it to be "home" for a long time now. I know that people a little older than me tend to start fleeing for the suburbs, but I have no intention of doing that, and The Boy is on the same page. I have never lived in the 'burbs and don't want to try, and he has lived there and doesn't want to go back...convenient, eh? Could we change our mind in 5 years? Sure...but for now, we plan to live here for a very, very long time.

I am also kinda proud of myself:-). I have saved a lot of money over the last four years for this purpose, and that feels good. I would be lying if I said that my income (which will be pretty minimal for the next two years;-)) was going to cover half of the cost of the mortgage every month, but I am pretty comfortable with how much I have saved to contribute to the down payment. And let's be honest...The Boy just makes way more money than me...nothing I can do about that right now:-)

So there you have it...in a couple of weeks, I am moving into my very own place. And I don't have to pack a single box!!!

Sharing an office with The Boy

Greetings from the beach, everyone:-) If it makes you feel any better, it is slightly chilly this morning, requiring me to wear a sweatshirt and sit under a light blanket (next to an open door that looks out over the ocean...hee hee...) Not gonna lie, this definitely beats the office...

The Boy and I are sharing an office today:-) How cute are we? I think I plan to work more than he does this week, but he has some stuff he has to do today, so we are both taking up residence in the room that is most fit to be an office. If he plans on working the whole day in sweatpants and no shirt, then I can not be held accountable for any of the time that he loses because I am distracting him from his tasks...:-D

I am really looking forward to the time with Munchkin, too:-). I miss her! I knew that our summer arrangement would be different, and would take some adjusting...but I am surprised at how much it feels like I have come to visit her in her summer house.

And it's not just me...Papa Bear said something on Saturday about how he wasn't sure whether or not one of his sisters-in-law was coming down this week because he hadn't heard from her yet. Munchkin piped in "She is coming Wednesday with the kids...she called me yesterday." So yes...all visitors are now generally clearing their stay through the new Czarina of the household;-)

Munchkin, by the way, is completely on top of the world right now...enjoying her summer at the beach exactly as much as you would expect that she might. She really likes the family that she babysits for, and it has worked out really well...they pay her well, and she can fit it around her schedule at the ice cream store very easily. Since she is never really "babysitting" by herself, she doesn't have to worry about minor schedule problems...the Mom is always happy to have her around to watch her older kids. For now, she seems uninterested in working for any other families, despite several asking her.

And she really loves the ice cream store, too. She makes a lot less money (and has to pay taxes on that, too:-)) and it is probably harder work, but she loves the social aspect being around kids her age and a little older. She is still at the age when it is cool for friends to come in and visit you at work...actually, why does that ever stop? Work would be way cooler!!! She has made a ton of new friends and still has a ton of old ones, and is just basically loving life.

OK...back to work for a bit:-) I will try and check in this week regularly.

Actually, I have big news tomorrow, I think...hopefully!

Baby needs a nap!

Totally a wreck today...and completely self-inflicted! I went out with Smoking Hot Roommate and a couple other girls last night, drank too much and stayed out too late. Trouble was caused and mischief abounded;-) The Boy was out of town, as was SHR's Rocket Scientist, so I slept at her place, which just meant that we stayed up way too late eating late night pizza and whatnot.

I actually don't feel terribly hungover in the sick-to-my-stomach/headache sense, since I made sure to drink plenty of water and took a couple Advil before bed. But I am completely exhausted, and have very little voice left. You know what would solve this? Vacation!!!

Hells yeah it will! Leaving tonight, picking up some chicken fingers to-go as a surprise for Munchkin and heading to the beach for two weeks. And I am as excited about that as you could possibly imagine...I am technically not on vacation, as I will be working the whole time, but it will obviously be a whole lot less time and effort than being the in office involves. I will be wearing a bikini as much as possible;-) Board shorts if I need to dress up...

I will also be blogging, so you shouldn't all miss me too much;-)

Now, if only I could shake the cobwebs out of my head...hee hee

A Slow Wednesday

I was once again a derelict blogger yesterday, and I apologize sincerely. I was out of the office again, and didn't have the foresight to post on Monday night or the energy to post last night. Which is too bad, because I felt like I had three or four awesome blog topics, and now I can't remember any of them. I should start writing these things down during the day...

The good news is that we had absolutely outstanding sex before we got out of bed this morning, so I am kind of in a good mood. I am not really sure which one of us was awake at 5:45 (probably him:-)), but we were definitely both awake shortly after that. Completely awesome way to start the day!

My problem now is that I am having a terrible time getting motivated. I kinda just want to spend the day shopping online, chatting with friends and reading celebrity news on the Internet. To be honest, save for a couple small meetings, that could very well be my itinerary for the day...

Speaking of shopping, I got a Victoria's Secret catalog yesterday celebrating their Fall collection. Seriously?!?!? It is barely July 4th and they are pimping sweaters already??!?! Not to mention some hideously ill-fitted, high-wasted pants that I hope are NOT fashionable this year. Like a next-generation MC Hammer pant...not good.

This may begin to sound like a broken record, but I am on vacation for the next two weeks:-) This is technically not "vacation", since I will be working much of the time, but I will be conveniently located at our satellite office. Actually, between Big Sis, Papa Bear and me, that office has been pretty well staffed this summer! The Boy will be with me for a week, and then a week will be just me and Munchkin (and whatever other assorted cousins and aunts and uncles from the pretend family that are around). Very excited!

Now, if only the sun would come out...

So THIS is Summer...

I am sure that you all noticed with great sadness that I was not around to blog on Thursday. Hopefully you didn't lose too much of your long weekend worrying about me...I was out of the office pretty much all day, and then forgot to take a couple of minutes to blog before I took off for the weekend.

Absolutely fantastic weekend! Tons of sun, tons of friends and quasi-family around, lots of good food and drink and just an all-around great time. Friday was a little fogged in, but it burned off late in the day and stayed sunny from there on out.

Munchkin seems to have assembled an entirely new band of additional friends in the last week, as the public schools are now out and all of those families are officially on summer vacation (for the month of June it was basically just other kids in private schools that end early and college kids). She had a whole mess of them around with her on the beach on Saturday and yesterday.

That actually led to a pair of interesting interactions. The first was with the mother of a girl that is about her age who seemed very confused by Munchkin's living situation ("So, um, she really does kinda live here by herself?" "These friends of yours take care of her, too?" Not sure that girl is gonna be allowed to stay over...)

The second is, no surprise, boy-related. Having a whole bunch of new beach friends means having a whole bunch of new boys that have fallen instantly in love with her. According to Papa Bear, their efforts to impress her were a little more overt earlier in the week, and had calmed down a bit by the weekend. But several of them are very clearly smitten. And that led to one wide-eyed lad asking me, in a quiet moment, "What's up with this French kid? Is he like a real boyfriend?" I deferred...she can deal with that on her own:-D

Let's see...the water was cold, but we made very good use of the jet skis. Played golf yesterday morning. Had a fire on the beach both Friday and Saturday. Ate a ton. Didn't really drink that much. And just basically enjoyed what finally felt like summer! And now next weekend is only a couple days away!

Est-ce que je suis un mère indulgent? Oui!

As I explained to a couple of you via gChat yesterday (yes, that is a hint to the rest of you to say Hi...I have a slow day ahead of me today!), I did what is probably the most absurd thing that I have ever done, and very well could be the most absurd thing I will ever do:

I booked plane tickets to take my little sister to visit her boyfriend in France.

She still talks to him every Saturday, exchanges constant emails and still wants to fork over some of her hard-earned money to go and see him...and since I did promise I would take her (and will happily make use of the free place to stay in France for a week:-)), here we go. The Boy is still not sure whether he will be able to take a week off, so we will have to figure out his status later on.

I am fully aware that this is just one more example of her being spoiled rotten, but she really wants to go and is going to pay quite a bit to do so...and basically she is just such a good kid that I feel like she deserves to do silly things like this. And again, who am I to turn down a week split between their (probably stunning) Paris flat and their (probably similarly stunning) summer beach home?

So, if you are wondering where I am from August 21-28 (Friday-Friday)...well, now you know...