September 2, 2010 by kim.

We’ve had our first water-bug / palmetto bug / cockroach in this apartment! Not like it’s something I want to celebrate or anything, but I find it to be somewhat noteworthy. Luckily, Matilda was on the job, having done this sort of thing before back in ‘07.

We were sleeping when I heard kitty making scratching sounds on the carpet next to the bed. She was in a crouched stance, watching something on the floor. In the dark, I could only make out a black oval shape. I was hoping she was playing with her little toy mouse or maybe even a real one, but I had a feeling I knew what it was. A water-bug. A large cockroach, really. Yuuuuck. Water-bug sounds less disgusting, but it’s basically the same. They don’t move as fast as the smaller bugs, but they move fast enough.

Anyway, Matilda had pretty much beat it into submission when I decided to asses the situation by the light of my iPhone. Yep. That was it, all right. Time to wake up Chris to take care of it.

I did my part and got a cup to put over the offending creature until Chris could slip some cardstock under it to pick up the creepy crawly thing. Then, we made it to the toilet for a swift disposal. Done.

Let’s hope that’s the end of that.

Hope, hope, hope …

Posted in Insects | No Comments »

September 2, 2010 by kim.

Wouldn’t that make more sense? Doesn’t “word TO the wise” seem like you’re giving advice TO the wise person instead of taking advice FROM the wise person? Case in point:

Chris (being wise) told me (having a lapse in common sense) that I shouldn’t pack sharp objects in flimsy garbage bags (which I did), and thus sustained an injury that could have been avoided.

Sharp fork poking out of bag

The fork

Luckily, we had our First Aid kit handy (thanks to my brother who bought it for me when I broke my wrist 4 years ago because I’m such a clutz).

First Aid kit

Chris grabbed it when he saw the gash that was made on my knuckle and the blood started flowing. He tended to my wound and all was well.

The wound – aren’t knuckles gross up close?

Yipes!

The dressing

Better.

In the near future – pictures of the new apartment!

Posted in Observation | No Comments »

August 27, 2010 by kim.

Tomorrow is the day we say farewell to Jersey, and hello to New York!

Symbolically, we are opening the door to our new life in NYC, but this is actually the key to one of our interior doors. They wouldn’t have a key and lock like this to open our front door. We have a dead-bolt, like this:

That’s a lock!

Posted in Celebrate, Happy | No Comments »

August 26, 2010 by kim.

Well, that didn’t happen here …

Funny thing is, I frequent a nearby drugstore (which will remain nameless), and this is the SECOND time this has happened – with the same product! The first time, I took it back and exchanged it for one that was intact. No problem. Then, a couple of months later, I needed to buy vitamins (that’s what they were), went to the same drugstore, and it happened AGAIN!

In fact, it looked like the same puncture. Did the store actually put the same damaged product back on the shelf?? I returned it the next day and watched as the cashier tossed the vitamins into some unknown basket. Was that the basket of items to be re-shelved? I guess I’ll never know since I won’t be buying vitamins from there again.

Posted in Annoyance | No Comments »

August 24, 2010 by kim.

Matilda has taken to hanging out with the stuffed animals on the bed lately. Yes, we have stuffed animals. Shut up.

She has also held her own in a staring contest:

Go Matilda!

Posted in Animals | No Comments »

August 22, 2010 by kim.

I can’t believe that I’m telling you that I’m moving … AGAIN. How many times has it been now? Three times? Four? No. Let’s count EIGHT TIMES in the last FIVE YEARS. To begin with, we moved to New York City one week before 9/11 and stayed from 2001-2005 which was great! Then we went nuts:

1. New York to Chicago (2005) – 3 months – seriously?

2. Chicago to Las Vegas (2005-2006) – 6 months – not our style

3. Las Vegas to Chicago (2006-2007) – 10 months – better

4. Chicago to New York (2007) – 7 months – NYC is the place to be!

5. New York to Chicago (2007-2008) – 10 months – How many times do we need to be here?

6. Chicago to Chicago (different apartment 2008-2009) – 13 months – more than a year!

7. Chicago to New Jersey (2009-2010) – 11 months – getting closer to where we want to be

8. New Jersey to New York (2010-???) – September begins the third time living in NYC!!
(third time’s the charm, although we lived in Chicago three times before and it wasn’t …)

Now, the packing. Ugh. Here are the boxes waiting to be unpacked and used to pack all our stuff:

Here is a peek at the lobby of the place that we’re moving to, which is in a beautifully restored art deco building from 1939:

Sneak peek at portion of our apartment (dining room to living room):

And here is what I’ll look like when I move there and step back into time:

The picture above was actually taken back in 2004 for a photo shoot by Ann Brown, in the very building that we are moving to!

What a journey it has been!

Posted in Celebrate, Annoyance | No Comments »

August 17, 2010 by kim.

What is this??

A doughnut, yes, but how did it get to be so small? When I took it out of the bag, the first thing I said to Chris was, “that’s not a doughnut, that the appetizer to a doughnut.” Here’s another doughnut, and it is only slightly bigger:

I know I shouldn’t complain. After all, I shouldn’t really be eating such sugar bombs as these. I’m just disappointed that when I do opt for something so luscious, that I don’t get my money’s worth. Same price, smaller pastry. Chris had a cookie that was larger than the boston creme concoction:

If I wanted just a teeny tiny taste, I would have gotten a doughnut hole which really isn’t a hole, it is actually the opposite of a hole. It’s a ball. a doughnut ball generally about the size of a ping-pong ball, and that’s being generous. Still, a fried nugget of dough can be pretty tasty …

Posted in Food | No Comments »

August 13, 2010 by kim.

Greeting cards have been around for a long time. A loooong time. First greetings were sent to celebrate the New Year. Then, Valentine’s Day. Then Christmas. Now, the recession.

Really?

While browsing for a birthday card, I came upon a number of different types of “occasion cards”. It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? Here are a few that I saw (including the aforementioned card):

Those last four seem to share a common theme …

I’m surprised it has taken so long for new and interesting cards to be printed. I only wish I could have cashed in on it first. Maybe there’s still time. How about these ideas:

*Moving Again, AGAIN?
*Sorry About Your Insomnia
*Congratulations On Finally Joining a Social Network
*How ’bout Those Mets?

What do you think?

Posted in Observation | No Comments »

August 9, 2010 by kim.

The San Rocco Festival took place this weekend (and a couple of days before) in Fort Lee, NJ, (as it has for the last 82 years here), and in many different cities around the country. It’s a festival celebrating Saint Rocco, the patron saint of pestilence, where he was said to have prayed for and cured many of a disease that had struck Italy.

There’s your history lesson for the day.

The festival consisted of food, music, and games in a 3 block area of the town. Yesterday was the day of the procession of Saint Rocco.

A statue is carried around the town, and money is pinned to it to raise funds for the Italian American Mutual Aid Society. Here are a couple of videos of the procession:

Pretty cool, no?

Other than that, it was a pretty small affair. We didn’t go on any rides (too expensive) or play any games (you know how fair those games are), but we walked around and did get plenty to eat:

Italian Sausage with onions and peppers

Deep Fried Oreo

Corn

Cannoli (we shared this)

Dippin’ Dots (ice cream that tasted like Nerds candy – we tried a little, but didn’t eat much of it)

Popcorn (we shared this)

Sno-kone (blue-raspberry flavor – shared it)

Cotton Candy (blue-whatever flavor – again, we shared it)

Surprisingly, we weren’t sick after eating all that junk food. We really did like the deep-fried Oreos, although we initially weren’t too sure about it. Deep-fried? Oreo? It’s not something I’d eat every day, but it was tasty.

Next month – Feast of San Gennaro in NYC!

Posted in Fun, Entertainment, Celebrate, Food, Happy | No Comments »

August 8, 2010 by kim.

I love sitting in Central Park at a favorite pond of mine, just watching the birds and turtles. I see ducks, pigeons, sparrows, and more, but here are a few others that I’ve seen recently:

Great Egret

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Turtles

If I had a job where I could sit and watch wildlife like this all day, my life would be just about perfect.

Sigh …

Posted in Animals | No Comments »