The weekend of July 9th-11th I accepted the amazing invitation from Joe's parents to come up to New Jersey and celebrate Joe's grandmother's birthday with "da Fam'ly". It was absolutely wonderful! Joe's family is so incredible and it felt great to be particularly included by Joe's parents. I only hope that this was the first of many opportunites to get to know Joe's family better... they are truly amazing. Oh yeah, and I now know the secret to the wine cork trick! :)
The weekend after my trip to New Jersey, I went to New York. That was such a crazy weekend for a few reasons. First, it took me 7 hours to get to NY because the traffic was worse than it's ever been before. Next, my sleep schedule was all off because I'd been working a week of the night shift at that point. So at 3am Saturday morning, Joe and I went to a 24 hour diner because I was starving for "dinner". I love Joe, he's so accommodating, even when he totally doesn't have to be! :) Then, we went to a carnival Saturday evening. But it started pouring down rain after we had already left to get there but before we actually arrived, and we decided to go in the rain anyway. So we're running around in the rain, looking for funnel cake and playing the "ring over the bottle" game. We didn't win anything though. And they didn't have funnel cake but they did have fried dough with powdered sugar on top, so it tasted exactly the same. By the time we were ready to leave, it stopped raining. ;) *shrug* Go figure. Finally, that night we went down to the Marist dock on the Hudson River to watch the fireworks. And we were making up our own music to go along with the fireworks... of course it didn't match perfectly, but that's ok. ;) There was this little kid that was running around and got really scared of the restless monster living under the dock... don't ask. :)
Last weekend was Sean's 18th birthday! It was so hard to believe he's actually a legal adult. My mom, brother, and his girlfriend Kim went shopping Friday during the day while I was at work. I invited Joe for the festivities so he came into town early and we had lunch together at the office. After work, we all went out to dinner @ the Fireside Inn and after dinner, we went over to the Annapolis Mall. While we were out Joe picked up 2 puzzles at a 50% marked off store (that's 50% off the 75% marked up prices). ;) Anyways, one of the puzzles became a pivotal project during the weekend, and needless to say, because of its complexity the puzzle is still sitting on my dining room table. But it was really awesome because my mom, Joe, and I got to spend some real quality time together in the midst of working on the puzzle. Then in the evening my friend Paul came over and hung out with us. We ended up going over to Anne's for milkshakes and ice cream and then Joe and Paul went for a ride in Paul's very nice car. I think Joe has added a possible dream car to his list. ;) The weekend was also really good because I was able to see Karen again and her good friend Rebecca (whom I had met back in April at the wedding in Boston). I also met Rebecca's husband Chris, and their absolutely adorable daughter Madeline. She'll be 2 in September and she's sooooo cute! So yeah, it was a great weekend of celebrations.
Wow, I think I'm actually caught up! Hopefully now I'll be making weekly updates from here on out. The operative word is "hopefully". Thanks for all your patience. :)
Ciao!
Craziness, it's the first day of June. I have no idea where the last 5 months have gone, but they've flown by. Didn't I want to redecorate my room? Yeah, that still hasn't gotten done. ;) I still have 3 more weeks left of substitute teaching... if I don't shoot myself before then. But I'm really excited because tomorrow and Thurs. I get to sub for a high school history teacher. That's the closest I'm going to get for the next few years to doing what I really want to do. Anyways, I've been busy supporting Sean with all of his "end of high school" activities. I love my brother to death and they've been fun, but I'll be glad when it's over. I've been cleaning house this weekend, I'm cleaning house today, and I'm cleaning house until Thursday when G-Mom shows up. I'm soooo sick of cleaning house. And as usual, I'm the one cleaning... so as of today, I think I'm going to start delegating responsibilities, whether the mom and brother like it or not. Because I just don't have the time or the energy to keep on like I am. Saturday is graduation! We're still not completely sure if Sean's even graduating. We'll know for sure today. *cross fingers* I've been looking online for different secretary/receptionist type jobs because I need to find something to do this summer and preferably something to keep doing for the next year. Subbing is a paycheck, but there has to be a better way. I also really really want to visit some family in North Carolina, Ohio, take a trip with Barbara and Megan, and spend some quality time with Joe. So I think it's time to sit down with the calendar(s) and figure out a plan that'll work. Suggestion to anyone still in school... if you don't have to leave it yet, don't!! The real world is so much more complicated, and I've heard it doesn't get any better, you just learn better how to deal with it. But I must admit that my patience level towards the whole waiting thing is getting better. For anyone who had to deal with me last week, I sincerely apologize. I think I just wanted to crawl under a rock and live there forever. Do you ever just have one of those weeks where you feel like the whole world is against you? And you can't seem to find any way out? Yeah, that was me. And the ironic part is that nothing's really changed, but instead my perception has allowed me to be more positive. I hope it stays that way. Well until next time (probably after Saturday)...
Ciao!!