Category Archives: Daily Life

I didn’t volunteer, I saw the rockettes, I missed my station, I ate Irish Soda bread, I am in love with my ski boots, I am thinking of craigslist as a viable option, andI am looking forward to bread again!

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating

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I am so exhausted today that I fell asleep in the train on the way home from work.  I missed my stop and woke up in another state.  I woke up in Stamford, CT, okay it is only 30/40 minutes from my home in NY, but still, at the end of a long day at work all I wanted to do was get home and not have to 40 minutes past my home, then have to wait 20 minutes for the next train back.

Luckily my co-worker had given me a loaf of Irish soda bread (which I am nuts for lately), so enjoyed my train ride back eating bread – I had to do something not to fall asleep again! Plus lately if I go more than 3 hours without eating I go nuts.  The bread he gave me looks exactly like the one in this picture.

I am a bit down that I was not called upon to volunteer on Saturday.  I had pretty much my heart set on volunteering every Saturday for the rest of my life.  I love the cleaning and gutting of the houses, I love manual labor.  I am not sure why I was not asked to go.  I had sent an e-mail and didn’t receive a reply.  Since the person in charge knows my intentions I felt weird contacting her again.  I hate being pushy about anything.  I know that not being a good worker is not reason they haven’t called, as a matter of fact, I was singled out as working too hard in a smelly storage shed.  Perhaps they thought I was a show off! 🙂 oh well, I am sending another email tomorrow asking about next Saturday. If I don’t hear anything I am looking for agencies to contact, or perhaps I am going to go out knocking on doors and offering help.

Sunday I went to The Radio City Christmas Show.  The man I met on E-harmony ( from this post http://atomic-temporary-33385295.wpcomstaging.com/2012/05/29/first-e-harmony-date/) came to his farm in upstate NY and stopped in NY City to take me out.  He knows we are just friends but I think that he is hoping that things will change.  I don’t see how.  I don’t see how can chemistry magically appear.  We do have a great time together, but I am not sure if continuing the friendship will only give him false hope.  And the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone.

The show was great, the Rockettes rocked!  I was seated in the same row as Jimmy Fallon.  Some people were going nuts because of him and asking for autographs, pictures, etc.  I am thinking: what is the big deal he is just a human being, it is not like he is Ben Afleck, in which case I would be going nuts!

My co-worker is on vacation so things are busier than usual for me. We are also having to deal with a lot of new regulations in our industry.  We under the wire, in danger of having our doors closed come 2013. Yep, a bit stressing!

But in all the stress, I am dreaming about a skiing vacation. To feel that I am close to going skiing I went ahead and bought myself skiing boots.  I am like a child, every now and then I open the box and look at them!

I was going to go somewhere close by in the Northeast, but I will have to rent a car, so it seems simpler to just jump on a plane.  Since I am going to Colorado in February, I am thinking either Utah or Canada in January, but there are so many choices. (suggestions on good (cheap) resorts for beginners are welcomed and appreciated 🙂 )

One of the problems with singlehood is when you see a great vacation deal and you are ready to buy and then you read the small print that says: double occupancy! I saw this great deal on this luxury hotel in Whistler, almost too good to be true,  I tried to book it and there it is, that double occupancy requirement to mess things up. 🙂

You know you are desperate when you consider putting an ad on craigslist for a travel companion. 😦

Got run, I want to get to bed earlier.  I don’t want a repeat of falling asleep on the train tomorrow… and the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I can get up and have Irish soda bread with coffee.  I am so blessed and happy!!

Is the point of a holiday dinner to bring employees close together?

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Food, Reviews

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We had our holiday dinner on Tuesday night.

It was a repeat of the previous years, which means great place, great food and drunken co-workers (and the boss) behaving badly.

We went to Pietro’s Restaurant in Manhattan, NY.  It is a first class Italian Restaurant.  Every single dish was amazing, and we pretty much had every single item on the menu. (our bill attests to that!!)

There were 14 of us, 12 male and 2 females.

Unfortunately, as it is always the case, the guys leave work at 3:30pm and head to a bar and start drinking.  By the time dinner time arrives they are already drunk.

It is sad that, after being in this male dominated industry for over 20 years, I have gotten used to this behavior.  I pretty much ignore it and leave the party/dinner when it gets too much or when management throw us out.

These are not happy drunks talking and singing too loud.  No, no, no, these are obnoxious, rude, crude, totally unaware of their surroundings kind of drunk.

There were complaints from some of the other tables, but the waiters never said anything to us.  My boss goes there all the time.  His bills are normally very high and he tips generously, so they were probably more patient than usual.

A very drunken co-worker got up before dinner was over and announced that he was going home, but not before he loudly told 2 co-workers that they didn’t know how to broker (that is our profession),  told another 3 that he didn’t like them and told a last one that he will eventually kick his behind (well, he said “ass” but since I am a lady I couldn’t repeat that).   The next morning he conveniently didn’t remember any of it!

I was happy to see him go and things calmed down a bit after that, but we were still too loud.

The sober ones left right after dessert while the drunken ones went bar hopping.  That is, after 2 of them got into a physical altercation outside the restaurant and had to be restrained by the others, not once but 3 times as they walked one block.  I was happy I was not there to witness that.  Fights scare me, and in this case I would have been terribly angry too.

I am happy to report that things at work have been peaceful.

I think next year I am putting my foot down: I will not attend dinner if they start drinking ahead of dinner time.

One bright note: I have a huge piece of chocolate cake and tiramisu in my fridge that I brought home from the restaurant.  Sugar always brightens my day and my mood!

I hate to sound judgmental but why do grown men, and women for that matter, have to drink until they are no longer in control of their actions?  I guess that is the control freak in me asking.  Is their lives so bad that they have to escape it?

That is one of the reasons I never got drunk and never smoked anything in my life, I am terrified of losing control!  Plus I am already high on life, and if you throw some dancing music in there then that is the icing on the cake! well throw in some cake and the room really starts to turn!!

So if the point of a holiday dinner is to bring employees close together my company is totally missing the point! Yelling, name calling, fighting should not be a part of it!  Why can we just be like other companies with some good old fashioned terrible dancing and/or making out with someone you shouldn’t?

 

Miss Mosaic Maker Wannabe!

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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I love mosaics! They make me happy! they make me smile!

The most wonderful case scenario would be to spend some time in Italy and learn the craft with an artisan. Until that happens I have been looking for mosaic classes.  As I have mentioned before I came up empty on my search.  NY has everything except Mosaic classes (at least I wasn’t able to find any,  and I am good at finding anything).

So I figure I will learn as I go along.  My first project was the house number at ex’s house.  It was done 2 years ago and it came out great.

So after more than 2 years I decided to try again.  So here I present to you my second attempt at mosaic work.

Mosaic frame

Let’s just say that the cracks on the grout were done by design and to give an aged appearance.

Mosaic frame landscape

As you can see I have a lot to learn, but it feels great to finish something I started.  I have a tendency to start a lot things at the same time and not see them to the end (the 4 books on my nightstand attest to that).

Do I think the frame came out great? no, not really, but I am very proud of it!  We have to start somewhere, and it will be nice to track my progress in my blog as I learn more.

My next project will be made of sea shells that I collected years ago in Florida.  So stay tuned! 🙂

Missing everything about you …

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, EX Files, Finding Me

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I wrote this months ago when, clearly,  I missed everything about Ex.

I don’t miss you, I miss the idea of you

I don’t miss your house, I miss playing house

I don’t miss our dinners together, I miss a table for two

I don’t miss the the tennis court, I miss a partner

I don’t miss your bed, I miss a warm body next to me at night

I don’t miss our time together, I miss the daily routine

I don’t miss your kisses, I miss a mouth touching mine

I don’t miss your voice, I miss being told the truth

I don’t miss your touch, I miss being touched

I don’t miss the vacations together, I miss escaping the day to day

I don’t miss you, I miss the fairy-tale, the infinite, the forever

I don’t miss anything about you, yet there is a hole so big and deep that sometimes threatens to swallow me

But in reflecting about this I realize there is one thing I miss. The one thing about you that is pure and honest:  I miss your dog! I miss those big black eyes begging me for a treat!

and this last image is just because it made me laugh:

Exhausted, but happy!

02 Sunday Dec 2012

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Today I went to Breezy Point, Queens, NY with a group of volunteers. We cleaned out a basement and gutted and demolished 2 houses.

house, Breezy Point

It was eerie getting into Breezy Point.  All I saw was policemen, firemen, and other organizations.  The house and other properties seemed abandoned.

There were no kids playing, teenagers running around, people walking/jogging, nothing of the usual images that makes up what we think a small shore town should look like.

The houses we worked on were right on the water, the view and location was amazing, but it is hard to reconcile the beauty of the view with the destruction that I am witnessing.

I ask myself: Would I want to live this close to the water?  the answer is no!  I love and I am grateful for nature and the ocean, for the beauty of it and for all it affords us, but since the tsunami in 2004 my respect for nature is becoming a fear. 😦

Breezy Point

Unfortunately besides all the garbage and debris removed from the houses, at one of them we located the owner’s dead cat that we found behind the insulation.  I guess it tried desperately to escape the rising water and failed.

It has been a real long time since I have felt this physically exhausted.  Every muscle in my body hurts.  But it is good pain.

I enjoy manual labor, I enjoy cleaning.  I wish I could do it more often.

Besides the joy of the manual labor and the joy of helping families that desperately need help, I had the joy of bringing home this old wooden tennis racket (only a tennis lover could appreciate it!).   We had saved some of the contents of the houses that we were clearing out for the owners to confirm it was garbage.  The owner decided that she no longer wanted to keep her mother’s old tennis racket, so I happily brought it home!:)

I am looking forward to Pilates tomorrow because of the stretching that I get at the end of it.  I am also looking forward to volunteer again next Saturday!

Angels everywhere and they will appear when you need most!

25 Sunday Nov 2012

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Yesterday I was on I-95 on the way to see a friend that I have not seen in almost 3 years, when this guy in the car next to mine starts honking his horn and waving his hand.  For a second I thought he found me so extremely attractive and wanted my number, but no, no such luck, he was signaling that I had a flat tire.

I got off at the next exit and found a gas station.  I asked the attendant to help me use the air machine (yeah, anything in regards to cars scare me even the air pump machine) .  He tries and no air comes out.  He says that the air machine is off and can only be turned on from inside the garage and of course the garage is locked and he doesn’t have the key.

So I proceed to another gas station 5 blocks away.  I park near the air pump and get out of the car.  This station doesn’t have an attendant and this air pump takes coins, so I am fumbling with my bag searching for quarters while calling my friend for advice .

At this moment a guy in a mechanic’s overall had just parked his car and walks over to me looking at the flat tire.  He asks me if I need help changing the tire – more beautiful words were never spoken before!! I hung up on my friend and tell him that I have no idea what I am doing and that I need all the help I can get.

He tells me that he had just finished rescuing somebody and that is actually what he does for a living.  He changes the tire.  I ask him how much I can pay him.  He says it would be nice if you can give me 10 or 20 dollars.  I give him 30 dollars and he tries to return 10 dollars, but I am so grateful that to me he is worth much more, so I tell him to keep it.

He gives me his phone number so that if I am ever with car trouble I can always call him.

I feel so blessed, and this is just an example of it! I am truly blessed and this is another example.  Well, I believe that we are all blessed but I am happy that I am able to realize it and be grateful for it.

Everything is the way it should be.  There is no need to despair when you know that God is always on your side.

There was a reason why the first air pump didn’t work, otherwise I would have just put air and went on my way and would get flat again.  By going to the second station I got the tire changed and was quickly and safely on the road again.

There are angels everywhere, this one was clear, but there are many instances throughout the day where we are assisted by angels and we don’t even realize!

AN ALPHABET OF GRATITUDE!!

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Finding Me

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I know I left out a lot things I am grateful for.  I am sure I will remember a few more every time I look at this post. (like life, breath, water, freedom of choice, etc 🙂

A-ANDREA and ANIMALS – I am grateful for my identical twin sister. I am grateful for having a partner in crime right in the womb! She rocks!  The world is a better place because ANIMALS are in it!

B-BREAD and BED – So grateful for not having to worry about having food to eat and a bed to sleep. I am blessed! I feel so safe in my bed and I really enjoy my food!


C- CAR, CHOCOLATE and CLOUDS – I am grateful for having transport.  After 1 year without chocolate I am grateful for the flavor of chocolate.  Every time I look up and see clouds they make me realize the wonder of it all! and sometimes I see a bunny!

D-DANCING and DOORS – I am grateful for the love of dancing. I am grateful for the opening of new doors and opportunities every day.

E-EX and EXPERIENCES – I am grateful for my EX and all other exes before, Ex-boyfriend, Ex-boss, ex-friend, etc, all of them provides EXPERIENCES that enabled me to grow and be where I am today.


F-FAMILY, FRIEND and FORGIVENESS – So grateful for having my family and friends, a support group that I can always count on. FORGIVENESS is at the heart of any progress and moving forward in my life. Forgiveness is what makes relationships work.


G-GOD and GRATITUDE and GOALS – I am grateful for believing in a GOD that loves me and wants only the best for me! I am grateful for a grateful heart!

H-HARMONY and HEROS –  I am grateful for a harmonious life. I am great for daily heros, for people that I encounter and have encountered in my life that have provided with inspiration.

I-INSPIRATION and INTUITION – I am grateful for moments of intuition and inspiration – those challenge me and make progress in the right direction.

J-JOB and JOY – I am grateful for a job that allows me not to worry about food and shelter.  I am grateful for all the joys in my life, big and small.

K- KISS – I am grateful for the joys and beauty of a kiss. There is nothing better in life!

L- LOVE – I am grateful for believing in love and having love in my heart!

M-MUSIC and MISSION –  I am grateful for being able to have amazing beautiful soundtrack for my life! I am grateful for believing I have a mission in life and for not giving up in its search.


N- NEVER – I am grateful for not believing in the word NEVER and always believeing that there is a chance!

O- OPTIMISM– I am grateful for my eternal optimism.

P – PEACE AND PAIN – I believe and strive for peace. I believe PAIN is the catalyst for major progress in life.

Q-QUOTES and QUESTIONS – I love quotes, my Facebook will attest to that! QUESTIONS keeps my mind open and challenge me to not accept things as is.


R- RAIN – I am grateful for everything about rain. The benefits, the sound, the appearance.

S-SOLITUDE and SKIING – I am grateful for enjoying moments of SOLITUDE. I am happy and grateful for having skiing as one of the new challenges in my life.

T- TOLERANCE and TENNIS –  I am grateful for having a tolerant heart and grateful for everything about the game of TENNIS – playing and watching and the fun outfits.


U- UNIVERSE and UNICORN –  I am so grateful for believing that the UNIVERSE is always on my side. I am grateful for believing in unicorns.

V – VACATIONS – I am grateful for having vacations – a change to renew and recharge.

W – WOMAN and WONDER and WRITING – I am grateful for being a woman, full of wonder. I am full of hormones and feelings and WONDER about the world.


X – XMAS and XYLOTOL– hey X is a hard word! Even though I am a little ambivalent about Xmas, who doesn’t enjoy the blinking lights. Sugar free gum is king.

Y- YOUTH, YOUTH OF HEART AND MIND – I am grateful for youth – for what the next generation will bring. I am grateful for my youthful self, for feeling like I am 25 years old most of the time.

Z-ZUMBA – I am grateful for burning calories while doing something I love.

Just a Ray LaMontagne kind of night

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Food

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Tonight was certainly a different Tuesday.  Instead of Zumba and Yoga, there was Lemon Drop Martini and Ray LaMontagne.

I almost had a whole glass of Lemon Drop Martini! I am one of those people that takes 2 hours to have 1 drink and since the show was set to start at 8 and it was already 7:30 when we ordered I knew there would be some left.  But it was sweet and refreshing and the perfect amount!

The show was at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY.   The theater was beautifully renovated, the sound was amazing!

We got there and of course the show had already started so we missed the first song, and it was probably the one that I like most:

The show was great! It was only him and a bass player.  His passion and love for music is contagious.  A great experience to watch his show live in an this beautiful venue.

And if you don’t know who Ray LaMontagne is, I think that you have at least heard one of his songs:

After a fun night it is now time for bed. Tons of things to do tomorrow.

Never hate …willing to try love again and again

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Daily Life, Dating, EX Files, Finding Me

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Trying again and again, falling down, getting up and trying again and again, that to me is life, a continuous cycle of trials, specially my life.

Going for what you want and never giving up, be it a job or love or anything else you aim at, takes determination! It also takes forgetting, forgiving and believing! oh yeah, and one must not forget their sense of humor!

Everyone says “letting go of the past” is essential to moving on. I am beginning to believe that completely “letting go of the past” may never happen for me, so instead I am focusing on making peace with the past.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds, it just makes them less vivid!  The wounds are still there, like battle scars.  The type of scar that still bleeds and hurts when touched.

The above quote is completely right: Letting go isn’t a thing that you do and you are done with. You have to keep doing it over and over again.

I thought that I would magically wake up one day and realize that I no longer had any thoughts of Ex and anything related to him, but that is not the case. Some mornings I wake up and the pain is as fresh as if it all happened yesterday.

I am happy embracing my future, but I find myself making frequent trips to the past. Some days out of the blue the past come flooding back as a torrent that takes me by surprise and breaks me down. I am left in a puddle of tears.

I have been putting so much pressure on myself to let go of the past that it seems to be back-firing.  It is draining me and having the opposite effect.  I decided to try a different approach , and an easier attitude. If I visit the past every now and then, so be it!  It is not the end of the world!

I don’t want Ex anymore, but somehow there is a certain level of comfort in holding on to memories of him, good and bad. The good memories, makes me feel I was loved and that the 3 years were not in vain. The bad memories helps me to move forward, helps me to remember that I need to value myself and put myself in first place.

This has been a year of major realizations.  Ex helped me realize that I am incapable of having mean thoughts and feelings about anyone, including and specially him.  He wrote me an email 2 days ago thanking me for loving him so much and thanking my family for having welcomed him with open arms and treating him like family – Hurricane Sandy made him realize a few things. I cried! Even if it is all bs and chances are great that it is, it touched me and made me realize that I don’t want to hate him, I want to see him happy!  Not with me, but happy!

I really loved him and it is really true what they say about wanting to see the person you love happy.  I am looking past what he did that hurt me.  Our relationship was the entire 3 years and not just the last few months. So he messed up in the last months. He is only human. I am willing to accept that. I think one day he will realize all he has done. But he is not there yet.

I do wish he would examine his actions so he would learn from them, but I am no longer willing to be his instructor.  I am just enjoying having a heart that doesn’t know how to hate. I thank him for the great time, forgive him for the pain he caused and wish him happiness. I find comfort in not hating him.  Actually I should thank him for the pain also, without pain there is no growth!   I have been growing by leaps and bounds because of him!

I replied to the e-mail like I would to an old friend, but didn’t engage in additional exchanges. I am not his friend, but I am not his enemy either. He is a person I knew and cared for! Period! Perhaps I should have not replied, but I am happy I did. It makes me feel more in control this way.  Trying to ignore him made me feel like I was actually giving him power over me.

I navigate life alone beautifully, and I am not faking it, I really enjoy my freedom! I love doing what I want when I want and not having to explain anything to anybody! But, yes there is a but, I really want to find someone with my same values, humor and energy to go through life together.  I want to find someone that thinks that life is both a blessing and a big adventure!

In the meantime I am working on myself, enjoying life and always in search of people and things that will add to my life not detract from it.

I am also looking at how I present myself and how I treat others.  Forgetting about me, me, me and focusing on a greater good sounds like a good recipe for a better future!  Can I behave today better than I did yesterday?  How many people can I make smile tomorrow?

I choose to be happy!!! 🙂

Day 18: Biggest Loser Ranch, Skiing Vacation or Sunny Island?

09 Friday Nov 2012

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I just saw this Groupon offer for one week at the Biggest Loser Ranch and I came very close to booking it! They have 3 locations – Niagara Falls, Utah and Malibu, but the offer was only for 2 – Niagara Falls and Malibu.

For awhile I was already picturing myself hiking, eating meals prepared by health conscious chefs and getting massages.  I think that one week at the ranch would probably help me lose the pounds that I think I need to lose.

Since money is short these days I think that perhaps it is better to spend that money on some other vacation and lose the pounds on my own.

I think that if I really wanted I could lose those extra stubborn pounds by tweaking my eating habits a bit.

Could I really? If so, why haven’t I done that yet? Perhaps I don’t want it bad enough!!

Would I be better off spending the $1,700 (that was the offer price, which normally goes for $2,400) on some other vacation?

Would it be better to go to a skiing location and continue to improve my shaky beginning skiing skills? (which is by the way the plan this winter – improve my skiing).   Or perhaps I should relax body and mind and refresh my tan with a stay at a Caribbean island?

Perhaps if they were offering this promotion at the Utah location I would be more tempted. I have gone to Niagara Falls and to Malibu, but never to Utah.  And I could go skiing there also!

One thing is for sure: If that is what I have pondering over today, I certainly have no problems and nothing to complain about!

Life is amazing and I am blessed! and I know it!