There's No Place Like Home...There's No Place Like Home...

Okay! It's done! Plane tickets home for Sheila's wedding (oh and to see all you people who live nearby) have been booked!

I will be arriving in San Antonio at 1pm on June 3rd and departing back to NYC on the 14th.

Clear your schedules and save your drinking money--I've been very Shiner Bock, Rathskeller brunch, mexican food, Texadelphia and Brewery fried pickles deprived!!

Book early--my schedule is filling up fast (yes, I'm that full of myself, thankyouverymuch!)

And for those of you wondering--and don't get me starting on WHY--but due to the increasing gas prices ($4/gallon here), my dreams for taking off a month and loading up Addy in a rental car and driving home have been shattered into flying. Severely cuts down on travel time to get home, but unfortunately because now Addy has to be boarded (unless someone wants to come to NYC and doggie sit for a couple of weeks), my time away has to be cut by 2/3. Damn oil prices...(and I think we all know who to thank for that!) But I'm not going to let it ruin my high--I still get to come home!!

:-P SHEZ

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I just got an email announcing that Christi and Tracy have booked their tickets and are coming to see me in August!!!

What a busy, busy summer this is shaping up to be--but I'll take busy and fun ANY DAY over work/school busy.

So the countdown is on to the end of semester and just in case you're wondering:


26 days or 643 hours or 38590 minutes or 2315429 seconds

(26 days, 19 hours, 10 minutes, and 29 seconds) to May 14th at 5:00pm...


but really....who's counting?!?!?!?

:-P SHEZ

Spring Time!

Finally! Spring has sprung in New York City...

Mornings are the ferry are GORGEOUS! it's hard to be grouchy (usually) about early shifts when this is what awaits you (yes, that's the Brooklyn Bridge waaaaaaay in the background)

Flowers are popping up everywhere!! it's sooo beautiful! Just the other day I was walking through Central Park noticing how beeeuutiful everything walk. It was fabulous! It was wonderful! I forgot I lived in a city of 8 million people...

crying baby, dogs barking, horns blaring, 4000 runners taking advantage of the beautiful afternoon...alright, moment's over! but it was nice while it lasted!

:-P SHEZ

Well, it's official...

I got my voter registration card, which lists my residence as Staten Island borough of New York City, Richmond County in the State of New York.

harumph! i still have my TEXAS license though...NOT giving that up...

:-P SHEZ

Chocoholic!

So I had stashed a Reese's Peanutbutter Egg for a chocolate emergency, which I decided was tonight. Since Miss Addy is following me and of course is very interested in what Momma has just pulled out the pantry, I gave her one of her favorite treats--an ice cube! Which she graciously accepted and then spat it out, looking exspectantly at my other hand.

Not wanting to forget the cube and step in water later, I dropped it in her water bowl. When she finally accepted that she would NOT be getting any chocolate, she went to the water bowl to fetch her beloved ice cube. Which took a few minutes and a couple of full head dunks in the bowl to figure out how to get the cube.

Alright, well, it was funny while it was happening....which proves three things: i'm easily amused , deliriously tired, and i need to get a f****ing LIFE!

Sigh...must go clean up the lake that now has taken over my kitchen...

:) SHEZ

Hard to Believe

It's already been a year....but

Happy Birthday Adelaide!!

Love, cuddles, and kisses,

Auntie Shezza-roo

The YAY team

The ONLY good thing about April nearing is that the END of semester of semester is in sight(YAY!) alright, I realize that I have a TON of work due between now and then, but hey! i can see the light! YAY!

On a side note: Hook 'em Horns! Who've now made it to the Elite Eight--YAY!

BIG NEWS: Sheila's getting married!! YAY!!
BIGGER NEWS: I'm performing the ceremony!! scary but true.

Yes, I'm ordained and no the sky did not open up and spit forth fire when it happened YAY!! It's at the beginning of June, so I'll be home then!!

YAY...HOME!!! Family, friends, shiner bock...not necessarily in that order. YAY shiner!

alright...I'm sure there's some major life changing information that I should be divulging, but right now, my bed is calling. YAY! bed...

see, see how tired I am?????????

:) SHEZ

PS--Xavier (who spent a not-so-brief stint in the hospital with a ruptured appendix) is finally at home and getting better--and THAT's the biggest YAY of them all!!! in fact, it deserves several YAYs--YAY YAY YAY YAY!!

Busy, Busy Bee

I'm not quite sure where the hell this year is going! I can't believe that it's already March...bleh...

School has been crazy (I think I may have mentioned that in a previous blog...well, it's still crazy so I feel like I should keep mentioning it!)

Today was glorious because I didn't leave the house, except to do laundry. Yes, my life is so insanely crazy that I'm pathetically excited that I don't have to leave the house! Who'd have ever thought I'd be happy about mopping? Well, I'm not so delirious that I cleaned out the fridge, so not to worry--no need to send help!

Really, I don't have much to report--work is fine. school is time-consuming and the poor pupcicle is being mildly neglected (don't tell PPS--puppy protective services--she's getting fed and watered and gets walked...a bit...not as much as I'd like, but at some point sleep becomes an issue.)

Speaking of, must get to bed....4am comes all too early in the morning...

:-P SHEZ

Are You Fucking Kidding Me???

It's nearly time for glasses, as well it's getting hard to see through the scratches and everytime I bend over to pick something up, they slide down my nose and fall off....

So, biting the bullet--I stop in at a what-is-advertised to be a less expensive option for glasses. I ask--because of course my last eye exam was 2 years ago and I need a new prescription--how much for an exam. Okay $40, well that's a heck of a lot cheaper than what I was paying in Fredericksburg, so I'm happy with that. Make an appointment and return at said appointment time. Appointment goes well, not toooo painful, and EUREKA! my prescription has not changed a bit. Of course....so I go out to select my new frames. The UBER cool sales lady was all to eager to help and--unlike most salespeople who just like to agree with you--would actually tell me when a pair looked bad (girl, take those off now--I don't care if you love them, they are NOT for you!)...UBER cool sales lady also mentions that right now they're having a sale (YAY!), buy 1 pair get frames on a 2nd pair free (so you're just paying for lenses)...I cave and select 2 fabulous pairs of frames....sigh...now lets talk price.

Any guesses on what ONE pair of frames, TWO sets of lenses (with anti-glare, anti-scratch, and one set with transition lenses)?

$1,000.

No, don't adjust your screen, clean your glasses, or spit out your coffee/tea/beer. You read that correctly 1000 bucks. HA HA HA HA HA HA I laugh, because at that point what could you do? I told her that a) I was a poor Columbia grad student and just wrote an INSANELY large tuition check and b) CANNOT spend what is equivalent to my RENT on TWO pairs of glasses....sorry, ONE pair of glasses and an additional set of lenses! She graciously offered to drop it down to $800. I graciously declined, asked for my prescription, and left.

ahhh...the joys of living in NYC...

:-P SHEZ

Checking in...

Yes, I am alive. I am well (for the most part!). To the best of my knowledge I'm not in a ditch or floating in the Hudson....so thank you for those of you who've emailed me over the past couple of weeks complaining about no communication, especially with blog posts.

I've had the flu, work's been crazy, and school is kicking my ass! That's me in a nutshell...for now. I have more to report, but it's already late and I have to be up in 5 hours (ahhh...the joys of my life!)

:) SHEZ

At Last....

I think Addy's finally accepted that I'm not going to abandon her. Of late, she's taken to putting herself to bed when she wants or when I'm ignoring her because I'm watching tv or playing on the computer. For those of you who haven't met my sweet, precious baby, she--until recently--was happiest/calmest when laying on me...or in lieu of getting to be a lap dog, laying on my feet. However, I must admit that albeit it is nice not ALWAYS tripping over the pupcicle, it's a bit weird not tripping over her all the time....

but progress, methinks....

:) SHEZ

...But It Feels Like -2F!

Okay....it's ccccold, especially in the wind. By far the coldest day of April's visit--ironic espcially given the plan was to spend it walking around Central Park and doing some last minute gift shopping. We decided to forego the Park and have a bit of a sleep in before bundling up and heading to Canal Street so April could grab a few last minute gifts.

After that, we head down to the train so I could "take" April back to JFK so that she could leave us....waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

The house now seems so empty and even Addy spent a few minutes looking around for April...guess it's back to the real world. sigh. Of course, as is typical for JFK, April just texted me to let me know that her plane's been delayed...I decided not to mention that I'm sitting here having a slice of that fabulous cheesecake (well, I couldn't let it go bad!!)

I hope you had fun April because I LOVED having you here! Come back soon!!

:)SHEZ

Les Miserables!

When she woke up April declared the following: "I AM NOT RUNNING TO CATCH ANY FERRY, BUS, OR SUBWAY." alright, alright...since it's her last full day, I'll be accomodating...

SURPRISE! April--the wonderful, fabulous, generous, special, great, wonderful (oh wait, I already said that) decided that for my birthday (okay, it's a ways off) and Christmas, she bought me a ticket for Les Miserables! When we finally realized that it was the show we wanted to see, tickets were a bit outrageous because Sunday is the last show. So--unbeknownst to me, as I was working--she went back to the theatre and got us tickets.

IT WAS FABULOUS!! I'd never seen the play before. I had read the story and seen part of the movie, but what an EXTRAORDINARY introduction to Broadway. There are truly NO words to describe the experience!

Following that, we (via subway to get out of the insanely COLD wind!) went to Grand Central Station. After looking around, found our way to Junior's whose cheesecakes looked toooooo tempting to pass up on. Bought the most chocolately ooey gooey cheesecake we saw (chocolate devils food cheesecake) and went home to order Chinese food in (which April was excited about doing because it can be DELIVERED!). The food was good, but the cheesecake DIVINE! of course, to honor the occassion I brewed some of the Kona straight up to enjoy with the cheesecake....OMG. I needed a moment.

So here's a description of the cheesecake: thick chocolate icing with chocolate chips sprinkled on top then a layer of devils food cake , another layer of icing, then a FAT layer of cheesecake, a thick layer of chocolate icing and finally another layer of DFC. It it about 12 inches tall....and full of yummy deliciousness!!!

WHAT A FABULOUSLY PERFECT DAY (weather excluded!)--THANKS APRIL!!

:)SHEZ

Happy New Year!

Since I didn't have to be at work until 10am, we got to sleep in and April accompanied me to the subway stop at work...then went on to the Natural History Museum, where she spent most of the rest of the day. After I got off work, we headed 2 blocks over to the Empire State Building. I'm very glad to have gone to the top (AAAANNNNDDDD, we walked up the last 6 flights!)---although quite honestly I'm not quite sure that it was worth $19.00 (and that's without any bells, whistles, headphones, maps, or photographs). Here's why I question the $19: first of all, EVERY level/floor where they stopped you was yet another place to get you to try and "upgrade" your experience. For an additional $5, you get this, for an extra $10 you get that. Let's wind you through lines, lines, and more lines...now let's take a souvenir picture, it's only $25....it was crazy. Aside from the wind--and all the annoying tourists...ha!--the top was great. It was dark by the time we got there and there were some breathtaking views of the city. I tried pointing out a few bridges to April, but "they all looked alike" when I would reference them later.

We finally make our way down, checked out our photo--nope, not worth $25, sorry--and back down to ground level. By then (we also walked down the same 6 flights of stairs) our tummies were rumbling and so we headed down to Little Italy.

After strolling down Mulberry toward Canal and passing pizza and pasta places left and right, we decided on Giovanna's. It was quaint and cozy--the food was good, not too insanely overpriced. I had a great carafe of house wine that was only $13 and quite yummy, especially given the price! We got to indulge in the tiramisu, as the waiter forgot April's asparagus and didn't ask if I wanted pasta with my meal (YES!) and brought me potatoes instead. We pretty much rolled out of there completely stuffed (at least I did!). We got a chance to work it off while RUNNING to catch the ferry (what? we had 3 minutes before the ferry left and if we missed it we'd have to wait an hour for the next one!).

It was a good way to start the new year.

:) SHEZ

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...

YAY!!!!!!!!!! A day o' rest! A day o' rest! I attempted to tell Addy that we could sleep in this morning...and she did--at least until 5:30am...I argued with her until about 6:15 and finally gave up and kicked her outside. Oh well, I did get a few more hours of sleep!

After pancakes and opening of gifts, I perused the telly for some great b&w Christmas movies. NONE. what the????

So I watched a bit of A Christmas Story (I watched it twice last night!), then flipped over to ESPN. WHAT? NO FOOTBALL EITHER???? double what the??

So let's recap: NO snow, NO black and white classic Christmas movies, and NO football...sigh...so, I did what anyone would do in my situation: took a nap!!

Woke up, splurged on lunch and made Dorito Gook (a mexican casserole family favorite for those of you who've never had the pleasure!). Did a bit of playing around on the computer--sent out a few text messages, talk to several of you on the phone...and then did what anyone in my situation would do: took another nap. Had I thought for 1/2 a second that I could have actually slept until I needed to get up, I would have attempted it. But for fear of being wide awake at midnight, made myself get up and took Addy for a walk. Talked to a few more people on the phone, sent a few more text messages, and after I submit a couple of entries on my blogs, I'm calling it a day and going to bed!

Probably not the most exciting Christmas ever, but it allowed me a day of rest, which is EXACTLY what I asked Santa for this year! I guess that means that I made The Good List!

So what did Santa bring you? Anything fun and exciting? I hope so. Here's wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!
:) SHEZ

Rockefeller Plaza

Since it is Christmas Eve and since I have no real Christmas plans and since I now LIVE in New York City, I can go see the ROCKEFELLER tree!! So after work, I ventured up to Rockefeller Plaza, fought my way through the masses waiting to see the Rockettes and those attempting to venture to the famous tree. I rounded the corner (walking AROUND a family whose children kept stopping to look in various store windows) and there it was....ahhh, there in it's beautiful masiveness....although very different than what I was expecting. For some reason, I thought it'd be decorated with more than just lights. But it was still magnificent to say the very least!

I walked around to the other side of the plaza to the ice skating rink. It was rather intoxicatingly holidayish to watch the skaters with the fountain and tree in the back ground with the red and green decorations all around....beautiful and I'm sooo happy to have gone to see it on Christmas Eve!

On the way home, while waiting for the bus--who did I see? Santa!! Who--with his present sack in tow--was waiting for a bus or a ride of some sort, apparently, to pick up his sleigh which was being serviced right here in Staten Island!! The best part was all of the traffic who would stop and greet him as they were driving by....it was great!!

The only hitch in the whole day is the lack of snow....phooey! I just knew I was going to get a white Christmas! Sigh...I guess there's always next year!!

Happy Holidays!

:) SHEZ

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Today is Sunday...my one and only complete day off of work and school. Having closed last night [leaving at 11:15pm, catching the 12:30am ferry, and getting home just after 1am], am hoping for a bit of a sleep in....of course Addy had other plans. She did let me sleep "in" until 7am. Annoyed with only about 5 hours of sleep, I get up to kick her outside when what do my eyes see??? BIG WHITE FLUFFY flakes falling from the sky. IT'S SNOWING IT'S SNOWING IT'S SNOWING! okay, so the urge to go back to sleep is gone, I start the coffee and sit and watch the snow falling for a few hours...and it turns out Addy LOVES snow! She was running around, frolicking, rolling around it in--for about 10 minutes and then wanted in...[of course!]

After it had stopped snowing, I dug out the snow shovel and went to work on the front sidewalk for all the people trying to get to the bus stop....Addy, excited by the prospect of fresh--i.e. not played in--snow in the front yard was happy to hang out for about 30 minutes, while I cleared a path for the pedestrians, having to be called into the house when I was done--with snow stuck to her nose and top of her head [damn not having the camera handy--it was pretty darn cute, even if I do say so myself!]

After a brief trek to the grocery store, decided it was too treacherous to drag all my laundry up the hill and instead opted for spending the rest of the day curled up on the couch, drinking hot chocolate, snuggling with Addy, trying to catch up on a bit of homework, and watching some football. What a great day off!!

:) SHEZ

That's Ms. Barista to you!

Yay!! I got the job, I got the job!!

So I've spent the last week training [rather hurriedly because they're trying to get everyone's training completed by Black Friday]. I had 2 days of Borders training, a couple of days on the registers, and then yesterday started barista training--the best part, getting to taste all of the coffees and baked goodies....yum-o! If you're anywhere near a Seattle's Best coffee shop and they have cinnamon scones, you MUST get one!! Fantabulous!! Tomorrow we start with the espresso drinks [and of course more tasting]...a "trial" run on Wednesday, a break on Thursday [gobble-gobble], and then the insanity hits!

Of course, all my managers assure me it's not as crazy as let's say Macy's, but still...we're a block away--there's got to be some overflow!!

So here's hoping you have a festive and happy Thanksgiving. Me, I'll be lounging on the couch with the pupcicle, watching the parade, a bit of footy, catching up on homework and perhaps digging out the Christmas decorations!

Let the holidays begin!
:ISHEZ

Are You Ready for the Big Parade?

What a fabulous question!! It was asked by the granddaughter of the people I have been working for [my temp job that was supposed to end in October, but they looooved me so much they asked me to stay on--and it provides me a bit of extra spending cash, you know, for frivolous things such as groceries and dog food]. Anyway, their grandchildren are visiting and are sooooo excited because the city workers are starting to set up benches for the Big Parade, according to Miss Lauren, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the rest of us! Their apartment overlooks Central Park--so they get to enjoy the parade from the coziness of their apartment. Nice: I think it's my favorite part of the city. It's a bit quieter than the Upper East side and a whole lot less crazy than SoHo, Chelsea, Greenwich, etc...

So back to the discussion at hand--Thanksgiving. In reality, I'll probably be working at Borders [not complaining--it's short day and we get time and half], but I'm also not opposed to lounging on the couch with the pupcicle, watching the parade and then footy--sounds like heaven to me!! :) [of course, truth be told, I'll probably be sitting on the couch working on one of my 4 papers due within the next few weeks...] That won't stop me from having a bit o' turkey and sides--though, on a much smaller scale. Any big plans for you this Turkey Day?

gobble-gobble!
:ISHEZ

Fingers Crossed!

Well this past week, I had job interviews [3 total] at Borders and they seemed fairly interested in me, they're checking my references over the next couple of days [so if you get a call--lie and be nice and tell them how fabulous I am!] and in theory will let me know something soon...

Of course, it'll just be enough hours to pay the basics, so I'm still accepting donations to the Sherry & Addy Go To NYC and Become Poor Grad Student & Devoted Doggie Fund [which I've noticed is embarrassingly low--not suggesting anything, just merely commenting *cheeky grin*] I'm still trying to decide if this is the route to go [more hours, more stable, less hard work] or go back to waitressing [more late hours, but better $$/hour] decisions, decisions. It would be so much better if I could find a job with the work load of Borders and the hourly pay of waitressing at an upscale joint. But I guess I should just shut it, as that's what most of us want!

On a bleh note, I'm sick, not bad, just a cold with really bad sinus pain and pressure and I've lost my voice--well, it's really scratchy and hurts when I talk. It's a chilly [mid 40'sF] and overcast/rainy weekend, so staying in bed [okay wrapped in blankies on the couch], snuggling with the pupcicle isn't such a bad thing...

:ISHEZ