Three Trains, Two Cars, & a Wedding

Today was Lindsey and Ed's wedding in Upper Saddle River. Gisele and Phil's was a bit closer in Newark. Valerie's got even closer to home - Port Washington. Robyn's so long ago and Bill drove - no idea what town that was. And my favorite wedding of work friends was Jen and Elie's in Huntington. How convenient (and fun!)

As you may know, I'm no longer comfortable driving by myself across the bridges or through the city streets; so I prefer to use public transportation. And there was a lot of that today.

I took the LIRR to Penn where I caught a NJ Transit train to Jen by her parent's in Little Silver, NJ and off we went for a 1.5 hr car ride. I left my house at 11:30am and it was non-stop movement, be it train or car and the last 300 feet fast little flip flop feet.

I really thought 4.5 hours was enough time to get us to the Church on time, {shout out to David Bowie} but when they closed the Church doors on me to prepare for the bride's walk, I was left looking for Jen & lil' Nate to come join me outside and listen to the wedding march. As always, Lucky Karen was rewarded with seeing the beautiful bride on her dad's arm as she stepped out of the bridal suite and walk right past me into the Church. Nobody got the photo that I did...and I love that view!

Jen and I were then ushered up to the balcony. Pretty neat looking down this small, old Church and seeing everything unobstructed. I kept my little cell video on and got different clips. As I looked around, I saw one of the bridesmaids across the balcony from me next to the organist. I realized she must be singing a song for them. It was only when Jen walked to the small room to my right when we realized all eyes were upon us...I mean...the singer. Jen went in her room and I ducked down so that it wouldn't be all about me. C'mon - late entrance, balcony seating...screams me, me, me!

After the final kiss, or is the first kiss?, Jen & I went downstairs to remove the stroller from the bridal suite. If you think about it, Lindsey probably never expected us to come to the Church, we were the last ones to arrive, I'm sure she didn't want to see my face as she tucked her arm in her father's, and now...a baby stroller is in her former sanctuary. Oh, well, as Dionne Warwick sings, "...that's what friends are for...keep smiling...for good times and bad times I'll be on your side forever more. That's what friends are for.."

The adventure continued as we used my GPS to find a local McDonald's to simply go to the bathroom. We were on winding roads and going in circles. We then had Jen's GPS ready to bring us back to the city. Soon, we didn't know what voice to listen to as we were told "make the next legal u-turn" a couple of times. think about it - two commands to make 'next legal u-turn' and your simply chasing your tail.

We finally stopped at an ice-cream store, did our business, and off to the Big Apple. We went on our separate ways and are both now resting comfortably thinking of our dear friend as she dances in her husband's arm and daydreams about their honeymoon in Greece. Now if I only could have added a plane ride to this entry's title...I might be that much more tempted to go to another colleague wedding. Hmmm! Kate or Emily...destination wedding calls! What am I saying...maybe my next wedding calls? You never know! And that one my friends, will be very close to my home.

Happy Long Loving Lives Together...Lindsey & Ed!

You've "weighted" A While Now

Yes. It's true. You've been waiting a while to hear about how the weight loss is going. Happy to say that "it's" finally going. Back in April, you may remember that I had the band adjusted after a year of no adjustments.

Remember, I wasn't hungry and I thought I had hit my "sweet spot," meaning found the perfect fit for my band and the amount of saline. Well, it's now four months and three days later. I am happy to say that I'm between 20-25lbs lighter since then. Can't give you an exact number because 2009 was the year of limbo, minimum tracking, and many mini successes.

Mini successes can also translate as many successes. My mom had recently asked me if I could do it over, would I? At that time, it had only been a month since I was adjusted. I shared at that moment the many mini successes that I had over the previous two years since surgery.

How many successes? Let's count...

1. Stop binging.
2. Wake up knowing that you didn't gain any weight since the morning before.
3. Thinner than I was the year before.
4. Even thinner that two years before.
5. Smaller clothes sizes.
6. Didn't gain any weight in a year.
7. Didn't gain weight in two years.
8. Maintained and still enjoyed a lil' bit of everything.
9. No pain or reactions to the band.

I could probably think of more, but would people really understand these victories? I think only somebody who struggles(ed) with this could appreciate the many mini "whew" moments that I experienced.

Ironically, shortly after this conversation, the weight started coming off. Ironic because I had ended that conversation with mom by saying that one day that one extra loss of a pound will be the push that would get me going. And adding to the irony, it occurred during that visit of mom and Rudi.

I had lost about 7 pounds that previous month, but who notice? I really didn't and that was with stepping on a scale. But all of a sudden, the loss amounted to 60 lbs during that visit. Wow. I was now closer to losing 100 lbs than I was 11 lbs ago.

Now fast forward to today. I'm down 75 lbs and actually thinking more about walking, stretching, and little exercises. Thinking is step one for me. Logan, who stops swimming for two months, is continuing to keep in shape with pull ups, sit ups, push ups, jump roping, and some light weights. I asked him to train me BUT to start slow. So far it's been only a couple lady push up here and a 4-step run at the jump rope. Unbeknownst to him, when he returns from his next cruise, I'll be all ready for that little drill sergeant. Yes - he's even referred to me as a Maggot. I am now the proud owner of a Gazelle (Still in its box as we wait for the missing handlebars...okay I just lied. They were missing and the replacement bars were delivered yesterday. We'll put it together on Monday when he's back with me.) I would like to include daily walks plus a little routine of push ups, sit ups, and jump roping while he's away.

Yes - you thin or active people would say, "don't wait - do it now." But I will weight...a little more psyching up is needed. But trust me when I say...all in good time...all in good time.

The Championships 2010

Summer swim season has ended. Logan's team the Piranhas did very well. They tied for third out of six. Logan's individual victories were more exciting. The summer season is a short one - six weeks. Out of the five meets, Logan missed two while on vacation but had a great record with the three he attended; he came in first for all his individual races - breast stroke and butterfly. Anybody who knows Logan, knows that when it comes to his breast stroke, he's got it. It's especially fun to watch him do his team medley races.

It's always the same order: back, breast, fly, and freestyle. No matter how good the backstroker may be, we could be in 5th (out of 6) place, everybody sits back and knows that Logan will pull the team to first in most cases. At the championship, he did just that. He swam by swimmer #5, #4, #3, and a fingernail behind #1. The team came in third but watching Logan and then young Justin (a-m-a-z-i-n-g butterflyer) was so exciting.

Now when it was time for his individual race of butterfly, it was almost like watching Michael Phelps..less than 6/10 of a second behind first place. He was awesome! Proud mama here!

Now the challenge is to encourage Logan to join the national team when school starts. Either way, he's already committed to the school team and Church team. This boy has gills and for that reason alone...he won't be out of the water for long.

"We're off to see the Wizards..."

"...the most wonderful wizards of all!"

That's right - we went to Hogwart's School of Wizardry for our summer vacation. To the Harry Potter fans, you'll enjoy this blog more than the muggles as you will understand what I'm actually saying at all points of this blog entry.

Since apparating and disapparating, are not allowed, I flew with Jet Blue to meet up with Logan for a day before leaving. Not have floo powder available, we thought of taking Ron's dad's car...but couldn't find it. I guess its still in the Forbidden Forest. Kris was kind enough to drive us across Florida to a small inn in Orlando.

As soon as we got to the inn, we traded our galleons for tickets to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Island of Adventure/Universal Studios. That evening much to Tina's dismay, we enjoyed dinner at Logan's favorite restaurant that was less than a half-mile from the inn. Buffalo Wild Wings for all! We went on to City Walk and enjoyed some ice cream in the sweltering heat of August...in Florida. (Need I say more!)

Early the next morning, Kris dropped us off at the shuttle bus and off we went. You should have seen my eyes light up when we walked into Hogsmeade Village. It was like walking into the favorite part of my literary mind. No longer did I have to steal visions from the movies or create them in my mind...I was walking, touching, breathing, seeing, smelling, and yes, tasting Harry Potter (literately not literally.)

Unfortunately, the "big ride" was not big enough for me. Yet. We were fortunate to walk to the front of the line and walk through the Hogwart's castle. It was too short for my excitement, but it was so darn neat. We went on to enjoy some Pumpkin Juice as we waited to buy a wand at Olivander's Wand Shop. Two young siblings were chosen out of the group of 30 or so to find their ideal wands. The first was too strong, the other too unpredictable, but the third -- ahhh ahhhhh -- perfect. ("William - stand straight!") We went on to purchase Logan's birth wand made of holly, but alas, there were no more.

We moved on quickly through the Owlry which was under a wooden canopy...barn would have been so more inviting. And then it was off for lunch (10:30am) at the Three Broomsticks. Here is where we had our first official Hogsmeade Butterbeer. Personally, my own recipe at home is better but only on a cold day. The chilled and frozen versions that we imbibed were quite yummy.

After walking through Honeyduke's Sweet Shop and Zonko's Magic Shop, we left Hogsmeade to enjoy the rest of the park. Quickly deciding that Island of Adventure was not our thing, we went to the other park, Universal, and spent the day on line, drinking cold beverages, eating snacks, and going on rides. Logan's favorite was Disaster where the crowd was part of the four-part movie process. To enjoy and see his excitement at the development of picking actors, assigning parts, doing stunts, and putting it all together...makes me think that perhaps acting could be part of his future.

It was time for me to put on my ruby slippers and click my heels together. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's....hooray, Kris waiting for us down by buses." And home to mom it was!

Summer Daze

Summer days have come and gone...and only a few weeks left!

The highlights of the past seven weeks included special memories, summer fun, and a reminder of how quick time flies.

Official vacation for Logan began on June 24 with nearly a week of 1.5 hrs classes prior to the start.

Within in a few days,the summer swim team met every morning for a good hour and a half of serious swimming, occasional water polo matches, and I'm sure lots of dunking as Logan enjoys his teammates Kevin (from school), PJ & Tim (last year's teammates & friends.)

We went on to enjoy Tobay Beach in the evening with our friends and another great evening when Mom came in for a week. There were also a handful of Robert Moses beach days for Logan and pals.

As movie buffs, we enjoyed Eclipse, Grown Ups, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Other Guys, plus Logan did some random movies with his dad.

Mom came to enjoy a great, HOT, week with us. This has been an insanely hot summer with absolutely no lush lawns and many wilting flowers. While I worked my 3 days in and 2 half-days home for the summer, Mom kept Logan busy and hydrated (beach 2x, pool 1x.) It was so, so lovely to just be able to sit and relax. After working such long days, I've become one of those "happy-to-just-be-sitting-at-home" people.

Girls, girls, girls - so happy was I to share my Mom and my 'girlz' for a night at Michele's home. The word home...is truly defined by this cozy, warm haven that Michele has created for her family.) We had a night of food, fun, wine, and women...what can be nicer. The guests were Kelly, Tina, Kerry, Lenora, Anna, Michele + mom and me.

And then...the biggest highlight...Logan's 13th birthday! Now where did the time go?!? He spent the night before with his dad and then joined me, mom, and my dad back at the house for presents, pizza, and ice cream cake. His fun gift (always need a fun one!) was the iPod Karaoke stand that he got. At first, he was a bit shy, but by dinner time - it was dinner and a show for all.

The next day, Logan was off to Florida for 15 days with mom and Rudi with Kris sprinkled in. Stay tuned for the next installment of SUMMER DAZE.

A Night in the West Village

Working in the city for over 17 years and rarely hanging out after hours...may be a thing of the past. I met up with Lynda at her apartment in the village and had the best time. We began with a short walk from her place off Christopher Street to the Village for a fantastic dinner at Alta.

Lynda being a tiny little thing and me eating like a tiny little thing - couldn't have found a better place. This Spanish-Mediterranean style restaurant served the best tapas-small plates of yummy delights. After enjoying a refreshing glass of fresh sangria and filled-tummies of all different tastes, we went on to a "typical" bar for the West Village community and then on to an even better bar with piano playing, crowd singing, alcohol drinking folks, and Lynda - an amazing woman in her own rite.

The convenience of the subway right there and direct ride to Penn made it an evening that I will probably do more often. It was so nice to be out and not talk about work, being a mom, being a suburbanite, and just enjoying the people watching and remembering how to just unwind.

Now the flip side to a "night in the west village" will be tonight's " night at the beach." So I'm going from city partying to family celebrating with healthy summer fun. Tonight Logan and I will meet up with the local group of friends for splashing in the water (kids) and parents watching on (adults) relaxing in our chairs by water's edge. It's been so hot that it will be nice to feel a breeze and ocean freshness.

I guess that means...city...islander...it's all good as long as I'm enjoying myself!

And the Rockets Red Glare...

...fireworks bursting in air. Gave proof that Tina's party was indeed here!

Yes, the annual 4th of July party at Tina's took place this year at her home instead of our other venue - her cousin Kim's house. It was as always so much fun - food, friends, and fabulous fireworks.

This was my year "with Logan" and something we look forward to each summer. To be fair to Bill, he has never kept Logan from attending. This makes it much nicer for me as I think the pool, the kids, and the familiarity is great for Logan to count on. Not too mention that I know Chris' family since I'm little and it's like seeing my own childhood in reverse as I see our many offspring interacting. Susie's boys with Logan, Tommy's older boy (15) interacting, the many girls giggling away and thinking that the boys are stupid - it warms my heart.

This year's fireworks were bigger and better than ever before as well as having three nearby neighbors also setting theirs off. Truly awesome. Chairs all over front lawn, blankets strewn all over, and me dousing myself in bug spray. All the senses alive - sight, scent, sound (fireworks)...and even touch (ashes from above) and taste (bug spray and dare I say gun powder.)

An added touch to this year, was we celebrated Lindsay's Graduation, though she and her friends kept their distance from the rest of us. As we loaded up our many bags and did a quick did-I-leave-anything-behind look around, Kelly and I stole some glances at the big kids as they hung out on the side of the house and swam about. Chris had bought a breathalyzer to make sure that nobody (under age) drove under the influence as we can't turn a blind eye to a young group of 18 year olds. He also collected keys - nobody gets keys without breathing into the machine. Kelly and I scored 0.0 which did not surprise us but I think impressed the young girls who saw us enjoy a Sangria at the beginning of the party (4pm - mind you!) All in all, a good viewing for Logan to understand what it means to hang with friends with adult supervision (again talking about the bigger kids.)

So we're home safe and sound. Always happy to arrive home with all limbs, eyes undamaged, and car not blown up driving home. The animals are still a bit bothered by the noise surrounding us. Hoping that they can relax a bit before I have to wake up to let Shadow out. He wouldn't go out at 7:30pm when I brought food home to dad or when we came home at 10pm.

A great day with a few fleeting thoughts that this day many years ago was my wedding day in Jamaica. I think the bigger surprise is that it's been seven years since Bill moved out (next Saturday is that anniversary), two years before that of arguing and indifference, and only seven years of what I thought was an okay marriage. The time away from Bill is almost greater than the time with him. Not sure how to dissect that and if there is any need to even do that. Maybe it's time to realize that life A.B. (After Bill) is what it's all about. It's almost impossible to remember life with him. I think I'll reclassify it and call it L.W.L. (Life with Logan) and smile at those memories. I'll leave you with this one that warmed my heart today...

Sitting in Church this morning, Logan wrapped his arms around my left arm and rested his head on my left shoulder. I rested my head against the top of his and closed my eyes. Sure, Logan was probably bored and tired...but it was precious to have him draw comfort from my presence. And that is how I will remember my 16th Wedding Anniversary. My souvenir to a so-so marriage...priceless and all mine!