Cleaning Frenzy

It's a PURGE party at the office and the place is nuts I tell you! I have had to put a force field around my door so that people will not drop their unwanted crap in my office when I am in the bathroom. It is UGLY out there. You see, people have not purged stuff from this office in this century and now it's time. Being one of the three new kids on the block, I don't have a lot of emotional attachement to the stuff. That is not the case with many of the great folks who work here. It's a painful process and it's scarey but it is oh, so good for the soul. I know that everyone will come out much better on the other end of this. I just have to be strong so my office does not become the repository of all things unwanted and "just don't want to get rid of." I will be strong for those who can't.

Carry on.

Blog Hiccup and the state of the world....

I tried and tried to publish the previous blog a few days ago only to discover today that it never went........Technology is wonderful and great when it works, when it doesn't....it is frustrating. Oh well, now it's published.

I don't think I will ever think like a terrorist. It makes me sad that there are people in this world whose entire life's work is devoted to destroying innocent people. I don't understand it, I don't like it, sigh......

Waiting for Pictures.....Life is Good......

The first thing you should know is that there will be no pictures with this blog because I can't remember to put the batteries in the camera when I travel. So....a pictureless blog.

What's been happening in my little world? Well let's see if I can recreate the past month and a half....boy do I stink at keeping up!

It's Been HOT!
First, newsflash....it's been hot. Okay, I know it really hasn't been as hot here as it has been in other parts of the country so I won't go there. We had our fair share of heat and stuff but there was little humidity and it's gone for now. It may get hot again but at the moment it is a beautiful 80 degrees and sunny.

First Cousins Once Removed???? Second Cousins?????
My cousins kids came to visit my Aunt in LA. They made the trek to Orange County so they could go to Laguna Beach. So, one Sunday, we and about 20,000 of our closest friends went to Laguna Beach. (Note To Self.....DO NOT go to Laguna Beach on a weekend between 3 PM and 5 PM and expect to get seated for a late lunch in ANY restaurant!) The kids were great. It was nice to meet them for the first time and I don't think they were really toooooo bored with the whole thing. WAIT.....I DO have pictures of that!

The Cousins in Laguna Beach

The next couple of weeks were uneventful other than I received a new iPod Nano from my sister. It was an awesome birthday gift. I didn't even know I wanted one until I got it. Now, I can't believe how much music I have downloaded. As I go through each day I remember more and more music that I want to put on the iPod.....it's just a matter of remembering it when I am on iTunes. You've got to hand it to those folks at Apple, they have certainly created a whole i......culture. When I was flying back and forth across the country last week, I put the buds in my ears and didn't take them out until we were on our descent into NY. Very nice!

Speaking of flying across the country.......My mother had a birthday last week and we met up in NYC to celebrate. My niece and nephew (E & K) are in camp in the Adirondacks and it was parents weekend. My mother and I went with my sister and brother-in-law to surprise and visit the kids. WOW!!!!! What a Cool place. After flying all night long (see above paragraph...thank you iPod) I arrived at JFK, met my mothers flight and drove into Manhattan. After a couple of hours, we got into the big rental boat and headed north to Lake Placid (yes we went through Ausable...a lovely little town... a picture right about now would be nice wouldn't it?) After about 4 hours in the car, we arrived in lovely downtown Lake Placid. I must say, it was pretty cool seeing all the Olympic sites....the ski jumps, the ice rinks, etc. In honor of the Olympics, every time (yes, I mean every time) we went by the site of the Ice Skating/Speed Skating competition, we sang (hummed, whatever) the Olympic theme.....can you sing it with me now?

Da Da

Da Da Da Da

Da Da Da Da Da

Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da

DA DA

DA DA DA DA

Da DA DA DA DA

DA DA Da DA DA DA DA DA

Okay, you get the idea. After about the 10th or 20th time, I think my mother would have preferred to skip any activity that took us by those venue's. Back to the weekend.

Saturday morning we finally got to go to camp and surprise the kids and boy did we ever. Each one of them was very surprised and couldn't believe that my mother had traveled from Florida and I had traveled from California to spend the weekend with them.

Let me tell you, there is no way that I can adequately describe Camp Treetops. I know that if I could, I would sign up and go to Camp Treetops. It is an amazing place where kids can be kids and learn about all sorts of things creative, crafty, outdoors, camping, fun, community, camaraderie, responsibility....well, just anything that is very cool. The camp is on 200 acres of heaven on earth with so many options available to them that they would have a difficult time getting bored....although they are kids with that built in "bored" gene. Let me tell you, these campers have some amazing innate sense of time. They do not wear watches but all of a sudden, they are lining up for juice and crackers or lunch or council, right on time. It's the most amazing thing. If you want to take a look at the camp go here. Go to the photo gallery and take a look at the fun there is to be had at Camp Treetops. (While I had my camera with my, the batteries for the camera were in the charger in California.)My hats off to the counselors, managers, owners, campers, etc. It is an incredible place to have your kids spend 7 weeks of their life.

After the most amazing weekend with my niece and nephew we traveled back to NYC (and the heat!) As it happened, my brother and his three kids (my nieces and nephew, A, N & C) were in NY for A's basketball tournament. They were playing at Fordham University so off my mother and I went. We got to Fordham (a very lovely college campus smack dab in the middle of the Bronx) and found the gymnasium where they were playing. It was the hottest day of the year and the kids were playing in a gym that was not.....yes that is NOT air conditioned. Well, A's team ended up in the finals and had the privilege of playing in the big gym that still had no AC and was twice as hot! I can't believe the kids played a full game of B'ball in that heat. They were troopers and played as well as they possibly could but in the end, they weren't quite able to pull it out. There are some great players on A's team and they gave it their best.

We headed back to Manhattan and had a nice dinner at the Mermaid Inn and then it was off to bed. Mom and I headed back to the airport at o-dark thirty to return to Florida and California.

That was last week and I am just now recovering. I slept the entire weekend away and am finally feeling human again.

Knitting/crocheting has been a little slow lately. I have such a hard time figuring out what to make. I have decided to make the log cabin quilts from Mason-Dixon Knitting. There is something very satisfying about going around and around in squares watching something grow before you. I have decided to use some of the yarn my nephew E made for me at Camp last year. I have a bunch of yarn from the sheep at Camp Treetops and want to make the Camp Treetops Log Cabin Blanket. I am happy now.

Life is good. It was wonderful to see my family. Work is going well. I am still settling in and I am getting to do things I have never done before. I hope I don't wait another two months before I write again.