Are We There Yet??

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart"

2008-05-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

So - you're a teenager, your mom is going to California for a week, and you're going down to New Jersey to stay with your best friend - what do you do next?? Go to a concert! Better yet - go to two concerts!!

Actually, that's not exactly the truth. Amanda's plans for the concerts came into fruition long before my plans to go to California - which actually evolved around Amanda's plans to go to New Jersey. After all, bands tend to book concerts a lot further in advance than I would ever book a vacation and heaven forbid Amanda's favorite band, Mindless Self Indulgence, play a venue even close to somewhere nearby and she not be there!

This time around MSI was playing at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia followed by Bamboozle at the Meadowlands in New Jersey and Amanda and her friend Darci had been looking forward to both concerts the better part of forever (in teenage time). The last time Amanda had seen the band was at Projekt Revolution in August and in that time they'd put out a new album, If, and grown quite a bit in popularity.

Amanda had become even more of a fan than she was before, if that was at all possible, and she was a nervous wreck as to whether or not LynZ, MSI's bassist, might remember who she was from when she met her backstage in Hartford. She called me several times in California wondering what she should say.

Turns out that she didn't have to say anything as LynZ recognized and remembered her right away and all of that fretting was for naught as nervousness turned into exuberance and excitement and a myriad of teenage emotions that I have probably long forgotten over the years but am sure I would remember in a New York minute if the bassist from my favorite band remembered me by my first name! I've never had the opportunity to hang around with the members of my favorite band (hmm, do I even have a favorite band?) and talk to them like they were normal people but I would imagine that it was pretty darned exciting for Amanda - so darned exciting that she talked about it non-stop from just outside of Philadelphia to the other side of New York City on our way back to Connecticut on Tuesday night!

After MSI's set at Bamboozle, Amanda had the chance to talk to LynZ as well as get pictures taken with Kitty, the band's drummer, and also with Jimmy - lead singer and performer extraordinaire. Regular readers will remember Jimmy from my posts of last year's trip to Projekt Revolution as well as the excitement of JimJamz, the plushie doll Amanda made for Jimmy, making his own stage debut. Jimmy immediately remembered Amanda as "the plushie girl" and later referred to her as "sweetheart" and gave her a big kiss, something she was totally thrilled about. As for this picture, no - Amanda isn't wearing a scarf and Jimmy isn't constipated! It just looks that way on both counts! Regardless she sure looks happy, though, doesn't she? She might have looked happier had the security guard not been rushing them along and she could've gotten a better picture but for now, any picture with the flamboyant lead singer of your favorite band is better than NO picture with the flamboyant lead singer of your favorite band! Oh, and for the record, Jimmy still has JimJamz on the tour bus!

Of course, I can't leave out the other member of the band, Steve Righ' who is the guitarist and occasional back-up vocalist. Again, regular readers might remember the saga of the pantless plushie that Amanda had made in Steve's likeness and who eventually became fully clothed last November. She was finally able to proudly present the panted plushie personally and Steve was quite taken with the little guy (but not the pins she had used to hold his pants up with!).

All in all, Amanda and Darci had a fantastic time and they are now looking forward to July when MSI will be performing in nearby Hartford, a concert we will be attending along with Jason, Amy, Cate, and Amy's mom. I'm sure it's going to be a great time and I can guarantee you that there will be a post or two that comes out of it! At least!

Happy Mother's Day 2008!

2008-05-11T11:58:00.002-04:00

The bucket of flowers above is the Mother's Day gift I put together for my own Mom but I thought it was so pretty that I wanted to share it with the rest of the moms (and not-moms!) out there! Not to pat myself on the back too much and sprain my hand but I think I did a pretty good job with it!

I hope that all the mothers of the world have a glorious day today with lots of special times to create special memories! Now I'm outta here to go to a cook-out with Jason and Amy and Cate and Amanda and whoever else shows up! Behave yourselves while I'm gone!

Driving Traffic to Your Blog

2008-05-11T06:44:00.000-04:00

Correct me if I'm wrong but one of the reasons that we all blog is so that other people can read what we write, correct? We all take pride in our posts and the content of our blogs and if we were just writing for ourselves, we'd have a private online journal versus a public web log, right? Consequently we, as bloggers, are looking for traffic to our blogs but not just people who are clicking through from one blog to the next - we want repeat traffic from people who come to our blogs, read our posts, and even sometimes - gasp! - leave a comment or two.

One of the ways that we create traffic and keep people coming back is to write new content so that people have something to come back for but unless someone has subscribed to your blog in a reader or constantly check back on a regular basis, how do they know that a new post is up? What if there were an easier way to let people know that you've got new content? What if you could create a newsletter with a summary of what's new on your blog and then send it out on either a daily, weekly, or monthly basis directly to the email in-box of people you know are interested in reading your blog? And what if you could do all that for free?

Well, there is a way to do all that by simply registering with Zookoda, an email marketing application designed specifically for bloggers that sends quality email newsletters that help you promote and keep readers up-to-date with your blog directly to your reader's email boxes. Zookoda works with any existing blogs that are managed by Blogger, Yahoo! 360, MovableType, TypePad, WordPress, Bloglines or MSN Spaces and signing up is quick and easy. Once you register for an account, you identify which feed you wish to broadcast, select a template, schedule a broadcast, and then place a piece of code for a Zookoda subscription form on your blog. Your readers subscribe by entering their email address, Zookoda stores these details and adds them to your mailing list, and then you sit back and track the results. If you've got more than one blog, as many people do, you can manage, support and promote multiple blogs with just a single Zookoda account. The best part is - no hardware or software is needed to use Zookoda and you don't have to be an IT genius either!

If you're looking for a great way to keep people apprised of what's going on with your blog and keep them coming back for more, then check out Zookoda and see what they've got to offer - it's free, it's easy, and it drives that all important traffic that we bloggers so love right to the place we want it to be - on our page!

It Was the Best of Times!

2008-05-10T11:18:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that it was only one week ago tonight that I was on the West Coast and meeting two of my favorite bloggers at my favorite Mexican restaurant but that's exactly what it was. As cold and rainy as it is here in Connecticut tonight, I find myself wishing I was right back there not just for the warmer weather but for the fantastic company that I found myself amongst when I got to meet Sandee from Comedy Plus and Katherine of Wading Through My Stream of Consciousness.

I had posted a few pictures last week of our meeting but hoped to have more once our personal photographer/videographer (Sandee's husband Zane) had a chance to forward them to us. He has now done so and now I get to share a bit more of the night with you. Bear in mind while looking at these pictures that we got to the restaurant while the sun was shining but it was fully dark by the time we called it an evening. All told we spent almost four hours together but it hardly seemed like one!

In addition to the slideshow, I've got a video clip that I thought I would share with you that you might find amusing as - what do bloggers talk about when they get together? - blogging of course! Unfortunately I was sitting right next to Zane so my voice (which I hate!) is the loudest but I think you can hear everyone else, too.

I had an absolutely fantastic evening with Sandee and Zane, Katherine and The Teamster, and - of course my good friend and sidekick, Cyndi. The food was good, the margarita was great (and not tiny!), and the chance to meet two people in person that I've come to know through our adventures in blogging was the best part.

I have met so many wonderful people since I started this blog and my life has been enriched by all of you no matter whether I've met you in person or only virtually and I want to take this time to thank you all for being a part of my life - you're the best!

"What Are Your Boundaries?" - tagline from the movie Frontier(s)

2008-05-10T10:51:00.003-04:00

Back in the day - long, long ago - when I was a young woman not easily scared by adult things like mountains of bills, mountains of laundry, and the mountains of things that go along with raising teenagers (oh the horrors associated with that!), I used to love going to the movies to watch the occasional Horror Movie. Granted, I cowered in my seat and closed my eyes during the truly bad parts but I can remember going to see The Omen (I'm talking the original one, folks, and not the remake!), Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror, and the first Nightmare Before Elm Street (ah, Johnny Depp - adorable even back then!). Even though a good number of the horror movies that we went to scared the beejeebers out of us, we still enjoyed going because that was the whole idea!

These days I don't get to too many movies - horror or otherwise - and I'm pretty sure I'd be more apt to close my eyes in more places than I did back when I was young thereby defeating the whole purpose of paying a ridiculous amount of money to sit in a dark room with a lot of other people and watch a movie while eating overpriced snacks from the concession stand! But, if I were of such a mind, there's a new movie out called Frontier(s) that I might consider going to see if I wanted to truly terrorize myself. It's about a small group of thieves who attempt to pull of a heist in Paris but it goes bad so they attempt to hide in a small inn that turns out to be run by people infinitely worse than the police who were pursuing them. Reviews tout Frontier(s) as a true horror film - a veritable gore fest - so if you aren't in to being totally freaked out and shivering in whatever footwear you have on, then it probably isn't the film for you. Come to think of it, it's probably not the film for me either but I bet my youngest daughter Jamie would absolutely love it considering she found Hannibal Lector to be handsome and charming!

Happy Birthday to My Son!

2008-05-09T11:15:00.007-04:00

Isn't it funny how when you go on a vacation, once you get back from that vacation you feel like you now need a vacation to recover from the vacation that you were just on?

That's how I'm feeling at the moment but there's simply no time to just kick back and lounge around the house as there are things that need to be done such as grocery shopping (Amanda seems to think we actually need food in the house!), finding a Mother's Day present for my mom, putting together the last of the pictures from my vacation, and making potato salad for a cook-out I'm going to on Sunday at Jason & Amy's for a late celebration of Jason's birthday. I'm sure there's more in there, (stopping in for quick Lasik surgery would be nice but I can't afford it!) but that's enough of a list for now!

Speaking of birthdays, it was 27 years ago today Sgt Pepper taught the band to play ... uhm, no wait, I got sidetracked by random Beatles' lyrics! ... That wasn't what I wanted to say! ... It was 27 years ago today that I gave birth to my first child and only son - Michael.

Looks like he should be a bouncer on the Jerry Springer Show, doesn't he?? Actually he may look all tough and mean but he isn't really and in spite of the fact that he always said he was never going to get married and have kids, he's done a darned fine job with both his stepson Christopher and his own personal version of the Energizer Bunny - Mathew.

Mike and Laura, his wife, should be stopping by later on tonight to pick up his birthday present that I got in California (where he was born by the way!) on their way to see the new Speed Racer movie so perhaps I'll pick up a birthday cake while I'm out and about getting those groceries Amanda seems to think we need! After all, what's a birthday without cake - right, Miss Bee??

Help yourselves to a virtual slice - there's coffee around here somewhere, too - while I go take care of some errands. I'll be back later with more pictures from my evening at Cancun with Katherine and Sandee and other assorted stuff!

Three More Officers Fall in the Line of Duty in May

2008-05-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

The Orangeburg Country Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina lost one of their own on Saturday, May 3rd, when Deputy Sheriff William Howell Jr. was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance. As Deputy Howell arrived to assist a female victim with removing clothing from a residence, her husband opened fire with a rifle striking the Deputy in the neck. As the suspect attempted to flee the home, he was run over and killed by his wife but not before Deputy Howell died from his wounds.

A three year veteran of the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Howell served in law enforcement for a total of 16 years having previously served as a jailer at the Berkeley County Detention Center, with the Moncks Corner Police Department, the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, and as an officer with the Jamestown Police.

Deputy Howell, age 46, leaves behind his wife Michelle and three sons.

In a second Line of Duty death on the same day, Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, a 12-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, was gunned down following a bank robbery at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Sergeant Liczbinski encountered the suspects and stopped their car but as he exited his patrol car, a suspect opened fire with an SKS carbine striking him several times. Several citizens who witnessed the shooting rushed to assist the fallen officer who told them “I want you to tell my wife I’ll miss her” before he lost consciousness. Another officer and a citizen carried Sergeant Liczbinski to a patrol car and transported him to Temple University Hospital where he died from his wounds.

The third Philadelphia police officer to be shot and killed in the past two years, Sergeant Liczbinski was assigned to the 24th District and would have turned 40 on May 6th. He leaves behind his wife and three children.

A deadly week for Line of Duty deaths continued with the motor vehicle death of Special Agent Aaron Garcia of the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department on Wednesday, May 7th.

Special Agent Garcia, a 2-1/2 year veteran of his department, was killed in a single vehicle accident in Mecca, a small town south of Palm Springs, California while on patrol shortly before 12:30 a.m.

Agent Garcia, age 39, leaves behind his wife and children.

Please keep the families and Departments of these brave men in your thoughts and prayers as you have for the others who have gone before them.

I Just Flew In From California ...

2008-05-07T13:11:00.010-04:00

... and boy are my arms tired! Groan ... Sorry, couldn't help myself on that one, I've always wanted to do bad stand-up comedy and trust me - it would be really, really bad stand-up comedy!

Truth be told, it's the day after I flew in from California and then proceeded to drive another 230 miles from New Jersey back to Connecticut so ... yeah ... I'm a little tired but not too bad all things considered. I got to bed around 2:30 a.m. Right Coast time after getting up at 5:15 a.m. Left Coast time so that's kind of weird but it's all good and now I'm back home safe, sound, and shocked that it all seemed to happen so fast.

I have to be at work in about an hour so this post is just to let everyone know that I arrived home uneventfully and I will return to making all of my blog rounds and posting a few more California pictures hopefully tomorrow after work.

Oh, and lest you all think that Amanda missed me or was bored to tears while I was gone, there's also going to be a post about her adventures at Bamboozle where she got to meet up and hobnob with the members of her favorite band - Mindless Self Indulgence. Just as a preview of that post, here's a picture of her talking to LynZ, bassist of the band, that was taken by a guy that Amanda knows who goes by the name of Fith on the Mindless Self Indulgence Underground board.

Amanda, some bodyguard guy, and LynZ

It took Amanda from the time we left Darcy's house down near Philadelphia all the way to New York City to fill me in on how great the concert was and everything she talked to LynZ about (none of which was about natural acne treatment - go figure!) so there's plenty of stuff for a post there as soon as I can fully recover from my jet lag and get caught up!

In the meantime, thank you to everyone for putting up with my non-blog-visiting during the past week while I was out indulging in a Mexican food, friendship, and sunshine!

Now to get back to work ... sigh ...

And Just Like That, It's Time to Go!

2008-05-06T01:23:00.010-04:00

Monday was my last full day on the Left Coast and it was another beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley in the mid 80's. I can't believe that it's time to go already but tomorrow is my return to my real life and today was the last day to enjoy my vacation. Cyndi and I set out mid-morning in search of a few things for me to bring back with me and ended up out in the middle of Lodi grape country tasting a little more olive oil and even some mustard.

From there we went back to Stockton and, because it was Cinco de Mayo and you can't not have Mexican food on that day!, we stopped off at another favorite Mexican restaurant - Miguel's. This restaurant was actually the very first Mexican restaurant I ever dined at in Stockton way back in 1980 when I made my very first visit out here with my first husband.

This time I ordered a chicken taco and enchilada and a chili relleno - things I hadn't had yet while I was here and, of course, some guacamole to go along with it. I know it looks like a big brown mess on the plate but it sure was good (though not as good as the food at Cancun in my own humble opinion!).

After gorging ourselves, Cyndi and I then went to spend some time visiting with Grandma Edith before we did a little more exploring around Stockton. As Cyndi put it, she saw more of her own city while I was here than she has in ages but I think that's a good thing as Stockton has made a lot of positive changes and I don't view it with the same cynical view that she does. Of course, I'm not a native Stocktonian so that probably accounts for a lot of it!

I need to quit procrastinating and get things packed for an early departure tomorrow morning but when I get back to the Right Coast, I've got plenty more pictures to share from my much-needed and much-enjoyed vacation. I'd promise to post one of myself and Cyndi but, idiots that we are, we neglected to take one so I'm hoping Zane has one from our night out at Cancun that Sandee can forward to me! Well, it's either that or I'm going to have to come back again soon to get a picture!

California Cruising on a Sunday Afternoon

2008-05-05T00:50:00.021-04:00

With no particular agenda and nowhere special we wanted to go, Cyndi and I set out Sunday morning I pointed the car in a westerly direction to see where the road might take us ...

We crossed the first span of the Bay Bridge in Oakland

Then crossed the second half of the Bay Bridge into San Francisco.

This was our view of San Francisco from the Bay Bridge and the clouds were looking a little ominous!

Buildings in San Francisco can certainly make a person feel small!

We drove past Pier 29 near Fisherman's Wharf

Before stopping to take a picture of Alcatraz, aka "The Rock", in the middle of San Francisco Bay

And then taking in the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the marina.

This was my very first time ever driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.

After crossing through Marin County into Sonoma County, we stopped in to do some olive oil tasting.

The Olive Press had some very tasty olive oils!

Continuing on we drove past vineyards in the Napa Valley

And of course I stopped to take a closer picture of the grapevines!

Turning down Route 12 towards Rio Vista, we saw windmills outside of Fairfield

While the clouds and blue sky were lovely on our way back to Stockton.

One picture I don't have is of the California Highway Patrol Officer who pulled me over in San Francisco for making an illegal left turn even though she was very nice and didn't give me a ticket. She said that it was marked for "no left turn" but neither Cyndi or I saw that posted and after the unexpected traffic stop, we backtracked to the intersection and still didn't see a sign anywhere! Oh well, guess it's all part of the California experience though I have to say that's most definitely a first for me!

Chasing the Echoes of My Past

2008-05-04T01:02:00.011-04:00

Palm Trees near the Stockton Channel

The past few days in Stockton have been a time of meeting new friends and reconnecting with parts of my past that, to be perfectly honest, I never thought I'd see again. It's been an opportunity to see how much has changed in this city I used to call home and how much has also stayed the same over the years. As I told Cyndi when we were driving around on Friday, she probably can't see the changes as much as I can as she's lived here all of her life and sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.

In the past few days I've seen a Stockton that has grown way beyond the northern boundaries that I used to dispatch to and a downtown that has been attempting a revitalization that is quite impressive compared to what it used to be. It boggles my mind a bit to know that I used to know pretty much every street in this city as I'm sure I'd be totally lost behind a dispatch console here now. Still - as I drove around both Friday and Saturday, I saw so much that was still so familiar to me and I found myself actually missing being a part of this community whether Forbes has ranked it as the second most miserable city in the country or not.

My former home on Lincoln Street

One of the places I made a point of going by was the house I used to rent from April of 1984 to late 1985. As I sat across the street in my rental car and looked at it, I was flooded with so many memories of my time there but I have to say that they were almost all entirely good. My parents came out from Connecticut to visit me when I lived in that house, I had the best roommate ever named Scott when I lived in that house, I had many a conversation over a cup of coffee with Cyndi in that house, my son Michael started kindergarten at the school across the street from that house ... It was a good house in a good neighborhood and Michael and I had been happy there. Too bad my landlord sold it and I had to move elsewhere!

After reminiscing on Lincoln Street for a little while I then drove over to visit Grandma Edith, who had no idea that I was in California. I wanted to surprise her and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I did! At 85 years old the poor dear has pretty lousy eyesight so she had no clue it was me at the front door that her little dog Precious was barking so furiously at. When she asked if she could help me I said, "Well I certainly didn't come 3,000 miles to be barked at!" "Linda??" she asked incredulously before she opened the door and gave me a big grandmotherly hug. We spent a lovely afternoon together and she made sure to take me around to all of her neighbors and introduce me as her granddaughter even though technically I hadn't been that for a very long time ever since her grandson and I had ended our marriage while he went out to chase single women. Grandma Edith is as good as they get, though, and I will always consider her to be my grandmother no matter what. When I left I promised her that I'd be back on Monday and would bring Cyndi with me as she's met Cyndi before and really likes her.

Grandma Edith and Precious

Before coming back to my hotel, I decided to drive around Stockton a little more and take some pictures. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 70's - low 80's and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Considering that it was raining and in the 50's back home in Connecticut I was planning on taking full advantage of the beautiful weather! I've put together a slideshow and placed it at the end of this post if you'd like to see a little bit of Stockton.

Once I finished traipsing around town it was time to head back to the Courtyard Marriott and consider doing some laundry. Yep, I'm in California on a Saturday night and I'm in my hotel doing laundry - what is wrong with me?!? Prior to that, though, I needed to consider what to get for dinner as I'd rather neglected to eat all day. Hmm, what to get that I couldn't get back home that wasn't Mexican? Carl's Jr? In n' Out Burger? Manny's California Fresh? No ... wait ... I knew just the place - Jack in the Box for an ultimate cheeseburger and seasoned curly fries!

A burger you can't get in Connecticut!

I brought my cousin Amy's favorite California cuisine back to the hotel with me and as I took it out and - of course - took a picture for you, my readers, I decided that I wasn't even going to think about the calorie and fat count of such a delicacy as that would certainly suck all of the treat out of eating it. After all, they don't call it an ultimate cheeseburger for nothing and the fries aren't half bad either!

I'm not quite positive yet where our adventures will take us today (I'm pretty sure it won't be to the poker tables in Tahoe or Jackson!) but Cyndi and I will be back on the road and exploring somewhere in California. No matter where it is, though, rest assured that there will be a post with plenty of pictures! In the meantime, I hope enjoy these -

Yes, Cyndi. There Really Are Bloggers!

2008-05-03T14:11:00.014-04:00

I doubt the Cancun Restaurant in downtown Stockton will ever be the same after last night when myself, Sandee, and Katherine descended upon the establishment to finally meet after having known each other virtually for quite some time now. Rumor has it that they've posted a sign on the front door stating that they reserve the right to refuse service to bloggers or people with cameras but I haven't been able to verify that yet!

Sandee brought along her handsome husband Zane who took pictures and videos all night long in order to document our historic meeting, Katherine arrived on the back of a beautiful black Harley Davidson with her hunky Teamster, and I brought along my bestest friend Cyndi who, like Virginia with her Santa Claus, was skeptical that bloggers really existed. Ah but yes Cyndi, they really do exist and they are even more wonderful in real life than they are on the web page!

Big hugs were exchanged all the way around in the foyer of the restaurant (and it didn't even occur to me that I'm not necessarily the hugging type) before we took over a table smack in the middle of the restaurant and ordered drinks and dinner. When my margarita arrived I immediately thought of Mags and our first meeting when the margaritas we ordered turned out to be tiny little things hardly worthy of the name! Much to Cyndi's bemusement I immediately whipped out my camera to photograph my drink but I think she was finally getting somewhat used to the idea that bloggers take pictures of absolutely everything and anything!

Naturally I had to take a picture of my dinner when it arrived, too as I had been talking up the great Mexican food at Cancun for way too long NOT to post a picture of it so that people could see what I was talking about. Cyndi again shook her head thinking I had totally lost it while Katherine and Sandee knew exactly what I was doing and why! Sometimes I think being a blogger is somewhat similar to being a member of a society or group as there seems to be some sort of unwritten Blogger Code starting with "Thou shalt have thy digital camera with thee at all times and photograph non-stop"!

Sometimes we even make people repeat things as I did when Sandee and Zane toasted each other and then kissed when their glasses of wine arrived. Apparently it's a tradition for them and, being the overly romantic type that I am, I thought it was just the sweetest thing ever and I definitely needed a picture! They were more than happy to oblige and do a repeat for a photo op and I got the distinct feeling that it was a ritual that they participate in quite frequently - and I don't blame them in the least! Ah, love!

It's funny how when you meet a blogger in person, you don't feel like you're meeting someone for the first time as you know so much about them and their lives beforehand. I felt like I was spending an evening with old friends as we laughed and joked and shared stories and I think that Cyndi felt just as comfortable as she added her own brand of "snarkasm" to the conversations. I'm sure it was easy for Sandee and Katherine to see why I would break my oath of "I'll never go to California" again to visit the friend who knows me better than I know myself.

The time just flew by and before we knew it it was 10:00 and, with The Teamster having to get up at 4:30 to go to work, it was time to go. As we walked outside, the sky over Stockton lit up with fireworks - just for me! Well ... okay ... maybe not just for me but for The Ports, Stockton's minor league baseball team who had apparently just wrapped up their game but the timing couldn't have been better. I think that fireworks should be set off whenever blogging friends are able to get together and meet!

We posed for a few more pictures and then exchanged hugs again before Katherine and her beau saddled up and got ready to make the trek south. As Sandee and Zane and Cyndi and I walked to the parking lot we talked about how wonderful it was to have finally met and how much fun it would be to someday have a Blogger's Convention where we would have the chance to meet so many more of the dear friends that we've made through this pastime of ours. It really is so special when you finally get to meet people that you have come to think of as friends and I was so happy to have met two of those very special people last night at one of my favorite restaurants with my favorite friend along for the journey.

This trip has really been wonderful so far and I'm so glad that I overcame my hesitations at coming West as meeting Sandee and Katherine along with Zane and The Teamster was truly an honor and one of the highlights of my life. It appears that I've got two very good reasons to come out to California again!

My Journey West

2008-05-02T12:18:00.012-04:00

After a lot of anticipation and more nerves than were probably necessary, Amanda and I finally started out for New Jersey Wednesday afternoon around 3:45 when we began our trek down the Connecticut Turnpike from Norwich to Marlton and the home of her friend Darcy. Traffic was typical for I95 in Connecticut (way too much of it!) but it flowed along quite nicely until just about the New York border when the word "delay" first came into play for the trip. As we crawled along in traffic outside of Stamford, Amanda decided to take a couple of cell phone pictures - one of which is this one. And no, I wasn't driving sideways!

We finally arrived at Darcy's house almost 230 miles later and with only one wrong turn along the way. Not bad I'd say! I got to meet Darcy's family who had graciously offered to let me stay there and drive me to the airport in Philadelphia the next morning rather than having to pay parking fees. Darcy lives with her mother, father, grandmother, and her 9-year old brother Dylan who is a special needs child who is confined to a wheelchair and has his father's beautiful curly hair. After a late dinner of pizza, salad, and strawberry shortcake I crawled into bed with the alarm set for the un-Godly hour of 5:30 in order to get to the airport on time.

Darcy's mom got me to the Philadelphia airport in plenty of time and despite what I had heard, going through security really wasn't too bad. I chatted with another lady in line who was going to Los Angeles for 11 days and it turned out that she sat across the aisle from me on the very same flight I was going on! Unfortunately I got seated on the aisle for the first leg of my flight and not only that but it was the row in front of the emergency exits so the seats didn't recline. Argh! On the good side, though, there was no one in the middle seat so the guy by the window and I lucked out there as the plane was pretty packed.

We pushed back from the gate at exactly 8:00 when our flight was due to leave and then sat in line for almost 45 minutes while 14 other planes took off ahead of us. This would be the second time the word "delay" came into use. As I sat there listening to my iPod and trying not to think about windsheer and the risk of too many planes taking off one right after the other I wasn't too nervous as I figured from here on in it was up to the skills of the flight crew and God to get us to Denver safely. As a matter of fact, I nodded off I was so relaxed!

Take-off, which is the part of flying I hate the most, turned out to be so smooth I barely knew that we were in the air (especially not being in the window seat) and the remainder of the flight was quite smooth with the exception of some bumpy air over what I think might have been Kansas. As we approached Denver with almost all of our time spent waiting to take off made up, the Captain announced that it was snowing there. Huh? Snow? In May? (I guess people in Denver have no use for pool toys yet!) I hadn't listened to any weather reports so that was quite the surprise to me. We landed with no problems at all and I unboarded the plane into the airport only to find out that the plane for the rest of my trip was the one I had just gotten off of! I had enough time to stretch my legs, send a couple of text messages, and take a few pictures before getting back on board.

Again, we pushed back from the gate right on time and that's when the word "delay" came into play for the third time when we had to wait to be de-iced before take-off. The Captain explained the whole procedure and told us that it was going to be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before we would even get to the de-icing pads. This time I was lucky enough to be in a window seat in row #1 right behind the bulkhead and again there was no one seated between myself and the guy on the aisle (who was a little strange, I might add). My camera was in the bag in the overhead compartments so I couldn't get to it but I used my cell phone to take the picture of the planes next to us being de-iced. It isn't the best quality but I still thought it was definitely a "blogging moment". After an hour and 15 minutes we finally taxied out to the runway for our turn to take off but I really didn't mind the delay as I figured better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to being in an airplane!

Once we climbed to our cruising altitude of 36,000 feet the clouds were merely fluffy puffs of cotton below us and even though I was bit disappointed that I wasn't going to be able to see the Rocky Mountains, I still loved the view from my window as I surveyed the clouds below us and the blue sky above us. Even though I'm not real keen on the take-off part of flying, once we're in the sky I absolutely love it as there is nothing like looking at your world from a high altitude and marveling at the beauty of it.

Having criss-crossed the country numerous times over the course of my life I've got a pretty decent grasp on the geography and had a pretty good idea of what we were flying over based on what I could see below me such as the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. I was delighted when we flew past Lake Tahoe, one of my most favorite places in the country. It might be kind of hard to tell from that altitude but it really is gorgeous!

We finally landed at Sacramento Airport a good hour plus behind schedule but the sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 70's, and it was beautiful. After waiting for my bag to appear (apparently it was the first on in Philly and the last off in Sacramento!), I made my way over to the Hertz counter where I found a pretty metallic blue Mazda 3 5-door waiting for me. Considering I drive a Mazda at home - though a sportier version - I should have no trouble driving this car at all.

My hour drive from Sacramento to Stockton was uneventful, which was good as it was now a full 12-hours after I had started out in the morning and I was starting to feel just a little bit tired around the edges. Upon arriving at my hotel the guy at the front desk was extremely friendly and curious as to what on earth would bring me to Stockton for a vacation? Good question I suppose as I'm guessing a lot of people don't vacation in Stockton! I told him that I was here for friends and Mexican food and he said that sounded like reason enough and wished me a great stay after giving me a cookie and the key to an absolutely fantastic room.

The Courtyard Marriott is just as nice as I remember it from my March 2002 stay and I couldn't be happier with my room which, with a posted rate of $199 a night on the door, is a real steal at only $50 a night! It's roomy, comfortable, has a glorious king-size bed with six pillows, free internet access, and the shower alone was more than worth the 3,000 mile journey! Ah, now this is a vacation!!

Cyndi is on her way over shortly and once she gets here we plan on going by the Stockton Cemetery to pay our respects at our friend Timmy's grave (Timmy is one of the police officers I used to work with who was killed in the Line of Duty in February of 1990) and I always try to get by his grave when I am out here. After that, it's lunch somewhere with food I can't get in Connecticut and then tonight I'm going to be meeting up with Sandee of Comedy Plus and her hubby Zane and Katherine of Wading Through My Stream of Consciousness and her significant other at my beloved Cancun Mexican Restaurant. The place may never be the same! I'll keep you posted and I promise pictures! Now - on to the fun!

Honoring Three Fallen Heros

2008-05-02T11:12:00.006-04:00

I crossed my fingers that I was going to get through April with only one law enforcement line of duty death but sadly, such was not the case with the death of two more men over the past several weeks.

Corrections Officer Kenneth Duncan, a 17-year veteran of the New York City Department of Corrections, was shot in the face and killed on April 22 while off-duty and in his own driveway. Officer Duncan and a friend were working on his motorcycles when they were approached by two males who drew a firearm and attempted to steal the motorcycles. Officer Duncan drew his off-duty weapon and identified himself as a corrections officer. The suspect opened fire hitting Officer Duncan once in the face who was able to return fire, but was not able to hit the suspects. The wounded officer was transported to Brookdale Hospital in New York City where he died.

Officer Duncan, age 40, was a former Marine and is survived by two children.

Trooper James Scott Burns of the Texas Highway Patrol was shot and killed on April 29th during the course of a traffic stop in Kellyville, Texas, about 135 miles east of Dallas. Trooper Burns had attempted to pull over the suspect's vehicle when the suspect vehicle took off and led the Trooper on a short high-speed pursuit. Suddenly the suspect stopped the vehicle and then, according to a spokesperson for Texas Department of Public Safety, "The suspect quickly exited the vehicle before our trooper could even do anything, He proceeded to fire rounds into the patrol vehicle, striking and killing our officer."

The suspect, a former law enforcement officer who had been previously arrested on drug charges, fled the scene and committed suicide two days later.

Trooper Burns had served with the Texas Department of Public Safety for 5 years and is survived by his wife, Michaela, and 5-month-old daughter Micah.

In addition to the April losses, May 1st saw the death of yet another law enforcement officer when a traffic accident claimed the life of Deputy Sheriff Robert Griffin of the Decatur County Sheriff's Office in Georgia. Deputy Griffin was responding to the report of a juvenile threatening suicide when his vehicle left the highway and struck a tree on the driver's side of the vehicle killing him at the scene.

Deputy Griffin was a U.S. Navy veteran and had served with the Decatur County Sheriff's Office for 3 years where he was a member of the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team, SWAT. He is survived by his wife, three children, and his mother.

Please take a moment to say a prayer for the family, friends, and colleagues of this brave men.

Eureka! I've Arrived!

2008-05-01T23:37:00.009-04:00

Quick post tonight because I am what one might call totally worn out after my jaunt across the country with Stretch over there to the left that started with the drive from Connecticut to New Jersey after work yesterday afternoon and ended with my landing in Sacramento this afternoon. I at least wanted to post tonight and say that I am safely in California and ensconced in a really great hotel room with a bed that has a mattress that I'm sure I'm going to absolutely love in just about ten minutes or so just as soon as I hit the publish key on this and call it a night!

I've got lots of pictures and stories to tell already so am going to try to get a post put up tomorrow morning while waiting for Cyndi to take care of a few things before we get together to get caught up on the last six years (or as much of it as we haven't kept ourselves informed of via telephone that is!).

One of the highlights of tomorrow is also going to be dinner with Sandee and Katherine and I'm really looking forward to that and meeting two more bloggers in person! I get the feeling Cyndi is in for a quite a shock ... as is Sandee's husband and Katherine's Teamster! I'll let you know but for now, that bed is calling and it's been a long couple of days!

An Attack of Nerves

2008-04-29T21:53:00.007-04:00

I am a bit of a nervous wreck right at the moment.

I'm not sure if it's because I haven't flown in close to six years and I have to get on a plane Thursday morning or if it's because I have to drive down to Philadelphia the night before I do it and there's all that New York traffic to deal with or if it's because it's time to go to bed and I have to work tomorrow before we leave and I'm still not done packing! Maybe it's a combination of all that? Maybe it's really that I'm not nervous so much as that I'm anxious? Maybe I'm just suffering from major league disorganization and disbelief that I'm actually flying back out to California? Hmm, I bet that's probably what it is!

The last time I left California in September of 2002 it was via Amtrak rather than a plane and, as the train pulled out of the station in Sacramento, I decided that I would most likely never return. I'd had my heart broken way too many times in the San Joaquin Valley (starting with the announcement by my first husband in 1981 that there were "too many single women available" for him to be a husband and father) and as much as I love Cyndi and Grandma Edith, it seemed like it was just too painful for me to ever be in Stockton again. Of course, as they say, time heals all wounds (or is that wounds all heels? I wonder how my first ex is doing?) and I've had close to six years to fall back, regroup, and rethink that decision.

Despite the memories of love gone wrong in Stockton, I lived there for quite some time and have many other happier memories that shouldn't be shut away behind a closed door that could never be opened again. Besides, I have the best friend in the world who has put up with my nonsense for over twenty years living there and a grandmother who loves me and still calls me her granddaughter long after the marriage to her grandson ended. If those aren't reasons enough to put the past behind me and get on a plane, then I don't know what are.

Add on the fact that this trip gives me the chance to meet some new friends that I have made through blogging and there is no reason at all for me to be nervous about getting on that plane Thursday morning no matter the fact that there are butterflies doing figure-eights in my stomach right now!

Of course, maybe the biggest problem here is that I haven't had a vacation in years and I've forgotten how to take one? I can tell you that I've sure forgotten how to pack for one (I'm afraid that either Amanda or I will forget our ipods or worse!) so I guess I'd best go finish that now and quit with the procrastinating. Talk to you later - from the West Coast!

Getting Trivial With Travis

2008-04-27T11:40:00.007-04:00

Recently in an effort to stay out of the dungeon at Bloggingham Castle while thinking about the old Trivial Pursuit game that I'm sure so many of us have played, Travis @ Trav's Thoughts created a new meme that I just had to have a go at called -

Travis' rules are pretty simple:

Choose a category from one of these: Television, Stage & Screen, Nightly News, Publishing, Lives & Times, Music
Find 8 bits of trivia about your selected category
Be sure to let me know when...ok, if...you decide to play along so I can see what you come up with. (You can do that just by clicking here!)
You may tag, or simply offer the meme for borrowing or stealing as you like.

Travis did his first-ever-made-all-by-himself-and-really-cool-meme on the 8 Films In Which John Wayne's Character Dies so I thought maybe I'd select the movie category myself and do my meme on 8 things about one of my favorite movies, For Love of the Game which was released in 1999 and is one that I can watch over and over again and do!

The movie is based on the book, For Love of the Game, written by Michael Shaara and published posthumously in 1991 following his death from a heart attack in 1988. Shaara won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for his novel The Killer Angels which was about the Battle of Gettysburg and the source for the screenplay for the 1993 movie Gettysburg, another of my very favorites.
The story is about Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner), a 40-year old pitcher, who is forced to re-examine his priorities in life when he is confronted with unexpected circumstances—not only is he being traded after 20 years as the heart and soul of the Detroit Tigers, but Jane Aubrey (Kelly Preston), the love of his life, is leaving him for a job in London. During the course of the movie, Billy flashes back on his last four years with Jane and his baseball career as he pitches a possible perfect game against the formidable New York Yankees in "The House That Ruth Built".
The movie was shot in both New York and Los Angeles with a short stop in Aspen, Colorado for some off-season scenes. Most of the East Coast scenes were shot on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn along with five weeks at Yankee Stadium during one of the warmest Novembers in New York ever.
The production used between 800 and 2000 extras for filming at the stadium along with cardboard characters and computer graphics to fill out empty seats in the stands to make it look like a typical packed-house game at Yankee Stadium.
The shots of Billy Chapel's parents at the beginning of the movie are Kevin Costner's actual parents.
Both the Tigers and Yankees management insisted that anyone who wore their uniforms had to be either a former or current member of their organization or an actor. Ultimately, every player cast was either a professional or an actor with at least some organized baseball experience. Even actual major league umpires Rick Reed, Jerry Crawford and Richie Garcia were cast in their real-life profession.
The soundtrack features 15 songs and some of the best music from a movie ever featuring artists such as Lyle Lovett, Roy Orbison, Vince Gill, Steely Dan, and others. I suspect I've just about worn it down!
My very favorite song from the movie does not appear on the soundtrack album - "It Don't Matter to the Sun" by Chris Gaines, a fictional alternative rock singer created as an alter ego for Garth Brooks. The song can be found on the CD Garth Brooks: In the Life of Chris Gaines or you can listen to it here!

So, there you have it, eight rather long trivial facts about one of my favorite movies. I know it's been out almost ten years now but if you like a good baseball movie and a good love story and haven't seen it may I suggest you rent a copy at some point and indulge yourself? Just to get you more interested, here's the trailer:

Thanks, Travis, for this great new meme! It was really a lot of fun and I hope you get lots of people playing along with it. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular but come on people, you know you want to do this!

One Word Survey Meme

2008-04-26T21:31:00.005-04:00

Even though I personally wasn't tagged for this One Word Survey meme by Mimi, Queen of Memes, I've seen it popping up around the Blogosphere so when I saw it earlier tonight at Jamie's Duward Discussion, I decided to snitch it as even I'm really tired and ought to just go to bed I figured I could knock this one out fairly quickly. HA! Me write anything fairly quickly? Surely you jest! Thankfully, there's only one rule...you only get one word but it's harder than it looks!

Yourself: Prolific
Your Partner: Nonexistent
Your Hair: Frustrating
Your Mother: Widowed
Your Father: Ashes
Your Favorite Item: Slippers
Your Dream Last Night: Interrupted
Your Favorite Drink: Midori
Your Dream Car: Mustang
Your Dream Home: Tahoe
The Room You Are In: Living
Your Fear: Loneliness
Where Do You Want To Be In 10 Years: Loved
Who You Hung Out With Last: Coworker
What You're Not: Solvent
Muffins: Corn
One of Your Wish List Items: Lottery
Time: Flying
Last Thing You Did: Planted
What Are You Wearing: Hoodie
Your Favorite Weather: Autumn
Your Favorite Book: Mushy
Last Thing You Ate: Frozen
Your Mood: Blah
Your Best Friends: Missed
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Sleeping
Your Car: Mazda
Your Summer: Working
What's on your TV: Dust
What is Your Weather Like: Menopausal
When Is the Last Time You Laughed: Earlier
Your Relationship Status: Vacancy

I'm not going to tag anyone as I'm feeling too darned tired and lazy but if you're looking for something quick and easy to do (sort of!) then feel free to grab it!

Catching Up With Colin (Sort Of!)

2008-04-25T21:57:00.004-04:00

Just for a little background noise, I had the TV on earlier when the trailer came on for The Daily Show on Comedy Central saying that Jon Stewart was going to have Colin Firth on as a guest. Now, as I've stated previously several times in this blog, I do adore Colin Firth so naturally my curiosity was piqued and I just had to watch.

Apparently he's making the rounds for his upcoming movie "Then She Found Me" which also stars Helen Hunt who, as a matter of fact, directed the film, too. With the movie coming out on May 1st, it naturally needs a bit of hyping so Mr. Firth gets to go on various and assorted talk shows to talk the movie up but most of the interview on The Daily Show seemed to center on a tourist taking a picture of Colin Firth's penis in a men's room while he was attending a show in New York City. Alright then ... that's not exactly what I was expecting but what the hey!

What I did find out about the movie though, as Colin put it, is that "You need to see it. Helen Hunt is fantastic, Matthew Broderick is fantastic, and it doesn't have Hugh Grant in it." The movie also has Bette Midler in it and, even though you won't see his penis in the movie, Colin Firth is most definitely in it! Oh my ... there goes my blog rating right on down the tubes!

Speaking of tubes, here's the trailer from YouTube - check it out!

Calling Small Business Owners!

2008-04-25T21:00:00.001-04:00

If you've ever thought about starting your own small business but weren't sure where you would get the products you need, then your best bet would be to find a supplier of wholesale products where you can buy in bulk at wholesale prices. One of the best places to find what you need to start or maintain your own business is DollarDays.com where they offer over 25,000 high quality products that you can then resell for a profit. Not only do they offer everyday bulk sale prices that are hard to beat but they also have the Closeout Corner where you can save even more and pass the savings on to your own customers. At DollarDays you can find chocolates, automotive products, school supplies, candles, bath supplies, health products, and so much more that you'll never have to look elsewhere! It's just what the small business entrepreneur needs!

My Version of Sky Watch Friday!

2008-04-25T20:17:00.007-04:00

I got a new cellphone awhile back and it's got a much better camera on it than my previous one so when there were some rather cool clouds floating over Norwich a few days back I thought I'd try taking a picture or two of them. This would be from the window at dispatch so it's by no means perfect but I thought it was kind of cool ... sort of ... maybe ... okay, so maybe not but really, they were cool clouds - honest!

Getting the Right Fortune

2008-04-24T21:16:00.008-04:00

Every other Thursday is the day that we all look forward to at work the most - payday! The money may not stay in my checking account long before it makes its way into someone else's coffers but for at least one day every other week, I have a little money which means I can splurge a bit and maybe order lunch out rather than eat whatever unappealing food stuffs I might have brought from home (and that's the end of my financial reporting).

I wasn't the only one in that mindset today as out of the six of us in the room, four decided that Chinese food sounded pretty good for lunch. Renee had leftover barbecued ribs that she brought in from home that smelled divine so I can fully understand why she choose to pass on the Chinese; had I brought something more appetizing than a leftover piece of chicken and a stale pita pocket, I might have opted out also but the lure of the MSG was calling so I figured why not?

Along with our entrees, the take-out place had of course tossed in a handful of fortune cookies as what's Chinese food without a fortune cookie? The little pile of cookies sat between Wayne and myself on the counter at the dispatch console so when I finished my very tasty Moo Goo Gai Pan, I grabbed a fortune cookie out of the pile, cracked it open, and got a fortune that said this -

Well, how do you like that? It's true! I guess I grabbed the right cookie! This time next week I'll be out in California and probably groaning because I ate one too many chile rellenos but that's okay because I won't have to go to work in the morning like I do tomorrow and not having to go to work is definitely a vacation no matter how you look at it!

Of course, that's not until next week so for now, I'm going to bed a bit early as my day off tomorrow is not my day off tomorrow and it's back to work for me for a little extra overtime ... sigh ... I'll catch up to everyone a little later on - I promise!