Hanging On The Gaylord

We got out of work a little early - I have to admit I thought Washington DC was a lot closer than it actually is, then I remembered we moved. Dammit. It's almost 300 miles from here so we left at 4 and arrived at 9, but given the traffic not so tragic. The Gaylord Recreation and Convention center is HUGE,  you can wander around all day and never leave the place, they have thier own restaurants, shops, a pool, etc. The Bayada awards is a huge deal, 1200 employees were all the guests of Bayada!! - most of the time it was employees only, so spouses and families had to amuse themselves all day - but it's right next to DC  so that's not hard. David chose to just spend the day at the hotel, he said between the art festival, the harbor, the exhibits there was plenty to do. The second picture here I took from our balcony- that's actually INSIDE the hotel, during the day you can see Washington DC and the harbor.  I went to seminars all day and then they had the cocktail party - I got to meet the president of the company (I've actually met him before) and then they had the big dinner. After that the bar opened and everyone that had come along came down for drinks and dancing.  David and I danced until midnight - and a word here since everyone knows we never dance - the last party I went to I sat and watched and realized that 97% of the population can't dance well either - they just don't care. So we didn't care and had a great time. We didn't end up going to the zoo, David' s foot has been bothering him and it's a very long drive back, they had a breakfast buffet for everyone so David and I sat with one of the managers from Florida (at the dinner I sat with Ohio and Virginia) and walked the boardwalk along the harbor edge before heading back. Pearl will stay in prison until tomorrow and the cats were very happy to see us. I'm very tired, it was a fun but long weekend but I have work tomorrow. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Getting There. Not Really, But I Like To Stay Positive.

Well, yesterday I was sick ALL DAY. You read that right all stinkin' day. I woke up at 2:30 am with a headache. It was one of those bad ones where it feels like a red hot wire is wrapped around your head. So I squinted my way to the Powder Room and took a little more Tylenol than I should have. But I'm a professional so it's alright. I woke back up about 5 am - still pounding. This continued through the day and various doses of whatever I thought would help. It didn't. I just worked the day steady, but  my head continued to pound and my stomach was feeling not so hot, I thought from the various things I had taken and decided to eat dinner to settle it. It didn't. I then felt a wee bit like I Should Like To Die Now Please - and then a bout of diarrhea that left me glad I work out on an ellipse and therefore can dash very VERY quickly. I have no idea and neither do you. I was actually impressed with how bad it was - and how long it continued - I was surprised I didn't look like a super model in the morning it was so bad. Anyhoo, but the aforementioned morning it was over and done with - thank goodness, there is only so much of that I can take. We have everything set for our big adventure this weekend, Poor Pearl will be going to prison but she usually survives it. David and I are thinking of going to the movies next weekend - I would like to see Drag Me To Hell which looks STELLAR with an excellent cast and wonderful plot (dead things with big drippy teeth chase people around - and catch them) - David wants to see some dumb Clint Eastwood movie, eewww. Double eeewww.

Alone Again, Naturally

If Pearl could have someone here 24/7, just to stand next to - she would have a perfect life in her estimation. I on the other hand, need a little alone time. So after we get back from Washington, we will be shutting our doors, at least for one weekend as we need a little time to regroup. And swamp out the bathroom. It has been fun though seeing everyone after not really seeing anyone for the past 5 years or so. Work has been a bit so-so lately, not bad but not great either. I'm kind of trying to figure out if I'm cut out for management, or do I prefer to be an indian to the chief? The responsibility is a killer and I'm keeping up, but I feel like I have no time left. I know I know!! But maybe I don't want to live in the real world! We are busy getting ready for yet another weekend and I'm very much looking foward to it - we have just about everything planned. In the house dept not much to report, they are advertising our house and we might drop the price a little bit but I think we'll be here a little longer than originally planned. It's not a huge deal of course, but it's one more draggy thing to deal with. 

Good Morning!

We have had a very nice weekend, thank you very much. The Hostess is in her glory - a guest that specifically like Vizslas - and she just happens to be one! So Pearl has been happily parking herself on the guest at every available opportunity when she's not busy scoping out the Local Bunny Population which is, growing quite prolifically I might add. Nancy arrived Friday afternoon and let herself it, Pearl being the Watch Dog sat and watched her of course. We spent the evening catching up and headed out for the outlets in the morning. We had breakfast in that restaurant that serves everything in little pans - the food is very good and fairly inexpensive. We got to the outlets a little early and walked around just talking - we shopped most of the morning and Nancy did very well.  Part way through the morning we needed to do a drop at the car as the bags were getting a bit cumbersome - hmm. The parking lot was now filled and we hadn't been paying close attention as to where we had parked. And we had taken Nancy's rental car as mine was short a gas cap. Again. Yes, it's the fourth one I've lost and you all need to be quiet as that could happen to anyone. We did  eventually locate the car and left around 2 or so, by that time the place was hopping so it was a good idea to leave. We had dinner at the Chinese buffet and then home again. Nancy flies back to London tomorrow so Pearl had better get hostessing!

Rainy Friday

It is raining AGAIN - thank goodness David mowed the lawn the other day or we'd be knee deep in grass. Nancy is scheduled to make a Special Guest Star Appearance today and of course The Hostess will be here to greet her in a warm and psychotic way. David finished and passed his weapon's training last night with a 92 so he's all set to roll, he will no longer be the only unarmed guard in the truck. I've been working up in the Stroudsburg office for the past couple of days and I have to admit it's easier to work with no one around to distract me. That is not the real world. We had someone come back to look at the house but have not heard anything - we've stopped looking for a house in Stroudsburg as with the economy the way it is there is no sense in buying a house if I can't sell this one. The economy is a scary thing these days, isn't it? And it's affecting all sorts of things - we toured a senior housing yesterday and even their census is down, a lot can't afford to live there when they can't sell their home here. Scary days ahead. And things here have gotten so expensive, gas is back up to almost $2.50 a gallon and we are getting a handle on our grocery bill, but still with just two people and a few pets it should be cheaper, shouldn't it?  Around here one of the things that's really holding us back from renting this house and buying another is the taxes, we hadn't realized in Stroudsburg they rival Long Island in that arena! 

The Week Rolls On.

Ray left yesterday morning, after a busy weekend - we shopped, sightseeing and the movies. On Monday he and David went out to dinner without me, I can only eat out so much and then that is it - my body goes into full rebellion. I guess as I get older my innards get a little less tolerant of high fat and salt.  We did end up at the movies, we saw Wolverine which was very good - Jackson and Adam had seen it before and were against what happened to Deadpool - but its a movie and they need to get over it. After the movies I dragged them to the Christmas Tree store which has a few christmas items but is actually the cha chi capital of the universe. You can buy ceramic frogs in bathing suits, little bird houses that look like beach shacks, and dog toys which is what I was after. The day back to work sucked, you always wish you could have one (ten) extra days off and then the day stretches forever since you have to make up for lost time. Nancy is coming on Friday so I have to get the guest room ready for that, we will be shopping if anyone needs us!

Bushkill Falls

Yesterday the weather decided to cooperate and we decided to proceed with the field trip to Bushkill Falls. David and Ray had gone out to breakfast early so when they got back I rousted them into the car - its a hike from here to there and since it's a holiday weekend I wanted to get there at  reasonable time. It took about an hour of travel and we passed it on the first  go around - except for the sign it doesn't look like much from the road.  It was beautiful and the pictures don't do it justice.  It's  a series of trails with hundreds of stairs going up and down - that part I had not thought about but, well, duh. We took the Popular Trail which only hits a couple of the falls and good thing we did - Ray is in good shape but the way back - and straight up - were a bit hard on him and we had to stop and rest several times. The way back is actually a series of giant staircases that are quite steep which go back to the top of the main falls - there's a set of benches located there where all us old folk go to die, I turned to Ray and said "thank goodness we didn't do this in August!" and he had to agree. One of the reasons I decided to do it yesterday despite the holiday traffic was the weather was slightly cool, I cannot imagine hiking that place in 90 degree temperatures!! I was glad we had gotten there around 11 as when we left the line to get in wound around the parking lot - and there's not a whole lot of room on those walkways.  I had wanted to go to AC Moores and we started to head down 209 - David turned around about after 20 feet of THAT - he didn't care if I had a 50% off coupon or not, we would have been in traffic for hours on that road. The GPS took us back the way we had come, down all back roads and we stopped a few times to take pictures. On the way back the rain clouds that had been holding off all day moved in and the rain started so the whole thing was perfectly timed. For once.   We went to the little Italian restaurant again for dinner, no one was in the mood to travel again.