21 JulContent Coming Soon?

My mother wants to know.

So what happened? I wanted to do my own thing, have my own blog, blah, blah, blah, so where are the posts? Well here are a couple of excuses I came up with in the shower just now…

Its been too hot. I have a desktop computer (as opposed to a laptop) and therefore write posts in our home office. And that room has been hot, melt your brain hot. Even on evenings that have been comfortable outside, the heat has been trapped inside. Granted, we have a window air conditioner for the office. I’m looking at it right now. Sitting on the floor.

I didn’t know where to start. I kept a list of things I wanted to post about during the blog transition. But once the site was up and running I didn’t write about the old or the new and then felt like I got too far behind and ended up not writing at all.

To blog or not to blog. I took the transition as an opportunity to debate if I wanted to continue a blog or not. I do want to document in writing what happens in my life. Pre-blog it was a a shoe box full of ticket stubs, concert programs, photos and receipts but never a place for my words (and journals are so 1992). So when I started a blog the stories in my head had a place to go. And I have decided to continue putting them here. Of course the shoe box will still be around too.

Here’s hoping this entry will open the flood gates again.

OK, no more excuses. Let’s move on and start talking about, well, me.

I told Tom last night that if I was super motivated I would wake up Saturday morning and take the 8:30 a.m. spinning class followed by a sculpting class and if I was just motivated (not super motivated) I would just go to the sculpting class. At 8 a.m. I kissed Tom good-bye and told him I would see him around 11:00 (super motived). I was home by 9:00. When I got to the spin room the class was full and I decided not to hang around for an hour for the sculpting class. For some reason the thought of hopping on a cardio machine or walking the track didn’t seem that appealing to me when I was all geared up to spin.

But why waste a perfectly good workout outfit? So I woke Tom up and asked if he wanted to go for a bike ride. He recently bought a new bike and with a minor seat adjustment I am able to ride his old one. Knowing that he wouldn’t jump out of bed for this offer I brought reinforcement…french vanilla coffee and an onion bagel with butter. I knew that would at least get him out of bed and then I would guilt him into the bike ride. “But look how cute I am in a spandex t-back shirt.” (OK, so not that cute.)

So after a bit of mumbling and grumbling we somehow got both bikes down to the trail and had a lovely ride along the Hudson River. It took me a second to adjust from my spinning mentality to a real bike mentality. Like when I went to adjust something the bike wobbled, my feet weren’t strapped in, and on certain terrain I actually lost resistance. But I loved it. We left the bikes in the car so we could go again Sunday morning. Who needs a crowded spin room on a lovely Saturday morning anyway?

Ahh, blogging, it feels good to be back.

06 JulCurrent Dirt Take Two

Just a little side note: If you can see a blue bird at the top of this page then welcome to the new Current Dirt. If you still see the flowers with the brown background then the site hasn’t caught up with you yet, but it will.

Co-blogging with Sara for the past year was a great way to get my feet wet in the blogging world. Having another Dirt Girl to feel my way around the blogosphere was a wonderful experience and a lot of fun. But then I got the itch. The itch to evolve into something of my own. And without the original Current Dirt I wouldn’t be taking this next step. I am thankful for the past year and look forward to what lies ahead for both of us.

22 JunThe Night Shift

Tom is addicted to McDonald’s chocolate shakes. The other night he got a chocolate shake from an ice cream stand made with real ingrediants. I asked how it was and he just shrugged so I said, “It’s no McDonald’s shake huh?”

So last night we were in the drive thu line at McDonald’s to get Tom his fix. As we are waiting we hear the order being taken in front of us:

“I would like the two cheeseburger meal.”
“What?”
“The two cheeseburger meal.”
“Can you repeat that?”
Louder, “Two cheeseburger meal!”
“Can you speak a little louder?”
Even louder, “THE TWO CHEESEBURGER MEAL!”
“I still can’t hear you?”
“Forget it…I’ll have two cheeseburgers, a fry and a drink.”
“What size fry?”
“Medium”
“What size drink”
“Medium”

It struck me funny that the only way the woman working the drive thru could hear the order was when the person in the car broke it down by item which in fact was the two cheeseburger meal. I laughed so hard on the drive home I had tears in my eyes. I kept repeating, “Nevermind, I’ll have two cheeseburgers, a fry and a drink.” And Tom would say, “What size fry?” Tears people, tears.

Needless to say when we got to the speaker to order a shake our experience was very similar:

Loudly, “I’ll have a medium chocolate shake.”
“A what?”
Louder, “A medium chocolate shake.”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you.”
“Nevermind, I’ll have two cheeseburgers, a fry, and a drink.”

17 JunWeekend Blogger

Let’s face it. That’s what I am. There are a billion bloggers that post Monday through Friday and take the weekend off (possibly to write all of their posts and then use the savvy “Timestamp” feature) whereas I tend to wrap it all up Sunday night.

So here it goes…

When we last left off I was killing time before watching the series finale of The Sopranos. When the screen went to black I didn’t think the cable turned off but I was one of the people who thought we would get some answers after the credits. No such luck. So as you know we were all left to wonder if Tony lives happily ever after or got one in the temple. I don’t know the answer but in hind sight I like that we were left wondering. But I admit, at the time I was pretty annoyed.

Thursday I went to see an acupuncturist to treat my IBS. He did a combination of acupuncture and frequency specific microcurrent (something about accelerating healing at the cellular level…whatever…just make me feel better). After putting the acupuncture needles in my legs and arms he sat at a computer connected to little packs that were placed along my back and belly. Then I waited. I waited for over an hour for something to happen. Nothing happened because it was happening. All the turning of dials and clicking of buttons on his computer was making something happen while I waited for something to happen. When I go back this week I will know that the nothing that is happening is what’s happening. And hopefully after four visits something will happen.

Saturday, after a long day of volunteer work, Tom and I went to the Midtown Tap and Tea Room which is the new neighborhood bar at the top of our street. A lovely place, by the way. As we made our way to the front bar Tom was welcomed by the staff like he was a regular. He was greeted with hellos, handshakes, and “good to see you again.” What? Oh, that’s right, I remember now, while I am at the Y SPINNING MY ASS OFF Tom has been spending time at the local watering hole sipping Bourbon and noshing on Epinadas. And to round out the evening, as one of the bartenders clocked out she put her hand on Tom’s back and said see you next week. Funny, that’s what I say to my spin instructors.

This afternoon I took one more opportunity to relax before the work week starts and went to see the movie Waitress. It turned out to be a wonderfully perfect way to spend a humid Sunday afternoon.

And last but not least…Happy Father’s Day Dad!

10 JunKilling Time

With just over two hours left before the final episode of The Sopranos I find myself with some time to kill before finding out who they kill. Its windows of time like this that I wish I had a hobby or a wee bit more motivation.

An hour has gone by since I started this post. Tom came in the office and asked if I wanted to go to Target. He probably felt like getting a good dose of florescent light when in fact we needed new bedroom curtains since I shrunk the ones we had. We also picked up a new shower caddy. I put up a little resistance on this purchase but WOW does that caddy look good. And it holds EVERYTHING! With all the house goods excitement Tom forgot to buy a car charger for his new cell phone.

I promise you life has been a little more exciting than a Sunday night pre-Sopranos Target run. The lack of motivation mentioned above may have gotten in my way from keeping the site current. But here’s a quick update…

Tom and I took a trip to see my parents on Memorial Day weekend. I did a lot of shopping…I bought twenty new items to be exact. Happy, happy! We went to our favorite restaurant for dinner Saturday night and watched the Indy 500 the next day on my parents new TV. Go Danica!

The following weekend I planned a girls night out for a friend I used to work with. She wanted to go out dancing and asked if I could round up my work girlfriends for a night out. We had a fabulous time, just one thing, my friend I made the plans for couldn’t make it…but that didn’t stop us from going out…all night.

The next morning there was a neighborhood wide garage sale. Not something Tom and I would normally participate in but we offered our lawn to his mom and she brought over a TON of crap stuff. And walked away with $100.00. Tom and I put out a couple of things and made about $40.00. Whatever was remaining we put on the curb and it was all gone by morning. I didn’t spend much time outside that day (note: fabulous Friday night out leads to dreadful Saturday morning) but Tom kept me posted with a bunch of funny garage sale stories. Later that night we spent our earnings at the indoor arena football game, a friend’s son was in the halftime show. Then a quick trip the mall and a couple of drinks at the new neighborhood bar.

And finally last week was an employee appreciation week at my work. We could wear jeans, and capris and sandals oh my! Each day was a different theme including a sports theme when I got to wear my pink Jeter jersey. The appreciation week also included a party after work one night (aka…another girls night out – love it!).

Sara and I have picked out a new theme for the site. Our computer geek is working on it but the theme is not being 100% cooperative so it may take a little more time.

There are 15 minutes until The Sopranos begins. Just enough time to publish this post, change into comfy clothes, rotate the laundry and grab some dessert from the fridge (strawberries and whipped cream).

24 MayThe Dirt Girls are one

Not knowing what we were getting into a year ago I am pleased with where we are today. Current Dirt has mostly become a place to stay in touch with friends and family. There are some who check on us daily, some who catch up here and there and some who drop in once never to return. The feedback has been positive and it’s always exciting to get comments about the posts or to hear from someone that they’ve popped in recently.

More than anything I will have this blog to look back on year after year to remind myself of moments like my Zinger addiction (which I am proud to say is over), little tidbits about the trips Tom and I took, and the second bathroom that never was (at least not yet).

I plan to continue to update the blog with both little things and life changing events, like if I ever win the lottery. Well, that I may keep to myself. (Ha! Keep something to myself. That’s a good one.) Going forward I would like to post more photos, and right now Sara and I are looking at new designs for the blog. So be sure to check back for our new look.

To my husband Tom, an excerpt from a letter I wrote you a few months back, “You started my blog for me which I enjoy very much and with every post I thank you.” I heart my geek.

So thanks everyone for stopping by, come back soon and if you’ve had a good time be sure to tip your bartender.

22 MayI say furniture you say luggage

Every once in awhile people use the wrong word to describe something or can’t think of a word on the spot. Often the person you are talking to totally knows what you mean and ignores the misspeak, offers you a word or politely corrects you. No big deal. But tonight I misspoke so many times that Tom finally pointed the following out to me: I said furniture when I meant luggage, I couldn’t think of the word garment to save my life, I described a shirt as a blank tank top not a black tank top, I called the street we were walking down Academy when we were actually on Ramsey and I said ‘going out of sale’ instead of ‘going out of business’. Going out of sale? That doesn’t even make sense.

I asked Tom what my problem was and he suggested that maybe there is something on my mind. Maybe there is. So until my brain sorts itself out don’t ask me for directions to the furniture sale.

14 MayTurns out this post is about my birthday

This is at least my third time sitting at the computer and trying to write a post. Mostly the topic that comes to mind is how wonderful my birthday weekend was, but the further it gets away from my birthday the less relevant it becomes. Lesson being, post more often.

I do want to say that more than one person brought it to my attention that I did not post about Tom’s birthday. There are two reasons, a) he is not a dirt girl and 2) he posted about his birthday here. K? Feel better everybody? Now back to me.

He got whiskey for his birthday and I got these very fun rings from Swarovski Crystal.

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The rings are from Tom, the two new pair of Nine West shoes purchased just seconds later are from me. Meet my new friends Brena (in brown) and Alger (in black).

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was a night out with “the girls”. Instead of gifts our group does what the birthday girl wants (like it or not) and I chose the pizza place at the end of my street for dinner. We brought our own cocktails which for me was a bottle of Prosecco, and I mean my own bottle. We ate, drank and laughed (just a few of my favorite things). I wish I could tell you more, but you know what they say, what happens at the pizza place stays at the pizza place.

I also went to my nephew’s soccer game that weekend. When we got home my mother-in-law had a beautiful birthday brunch waiting for us. I made out with some cash from the in-laws and took it to the Clinique counter where I bought their three step face washing system. For some reason I thought, “I’m thirty three now, time for a new $60.00 face washing regimen.” What? My fellow dirt girl, her sister and mom gave me my mostest favorite perfume. A little birdie told them I was out. I smell better now. And I got the pink heart rate monitor from my parents that I wanted which has been very cute and useful now that I am spinning trying to go spinning three times a week.

Tom and I had tickets to a Yankee game for my actual birthday but I woke up that morning and mumbled, “I don’t want to go.” I know it wasn’t easy for Tom but we didn’t go. Instead we went to brunch at The Cheesecake Factory and then to see Spiderman III. Did I like the movie? Sure, the parts I was awake for.

I took Monday off just to round out a perfect weekend. I went to a 9:30 am spin class, met Tom for lunch and did a little shopping. I am sure I am forgetting some of the details of my wonderful birthday weekend, must have been the Prosecco, but the thing that stays with me the most is how truly loved I felt.

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At my office they ask you what kind of cake you want for your birthday
and no matter what you say they get the Seven Layer Chocolate Cake from Vanilla Bean.