Life lesson 5

Here's another life lesson.
Never, ever wear a silk suit in the rain without a slicker or an umbrella.
Why I have to learn these things the hard way is beyond me. But to be fair, I didn't think it was going to rain that hard until I got off the subway.
I did know it was going to rain, so I brought my trenchcoat. I mean what's the weather channel for if you don't watch it for the important things like baseball, travel and interview weather?
But, honestly, no one on the weather channel said it was going to rain hard enough to soak through my coat and down to the skin.
There ought to be a special interview weather report. Maybe a special channel. Not only will they tell you the weather, but break it down into hours. And even give advice on what to wear for the weather. Like at 10 it's going to pour so don't wear silk. Or if you have to wear those high heeled boots remember there's ice on the sidewalks. That's helpful stuff.
So you don't look like an idiot during the first hour of your interview wearing a half soaked silk suit.
I wonder if I can hold the weather channel responsible if I don't get this job?

Garden

One of the things I was so excited about with the house was the fact I could have a vegetable garden. Well, now I do.

I planted eggplants, tomatos, and peppers. Now I am reaping what I sowed. If you look carefully you can see the budding eggplants. I am looking forward to when they will be large enough and ripe enough.

Recently, I picked my very first tomato. It was a proud moment. I include photographs. And it tasted it as good as it looks.

New Bedrooms

So you saw what the bedrooms looked like before Al got to work. Old fashioned is probably the most polite way to put it. Ugly as a landfill is another.

Now feast your eyes. I've got a hugely expanded master bedroom with a walk-in closet. And then a study. It can be a guest room too, but I need a bed for that. So now I have a two bedroom house. The back bedroom with the acid green shag and pine panels took one for the team. If you want to know where it went, it's now the bathroom and my closet.

Bedrooms

Well, here are my bedrooms for the house. These are the before photos. Keep in mind I bought a house with three bedrooms. The previous owners had panelling issues. The only rooms without faux panelling were the kitchen, as we have seen, and the bathrooms.

But here are the bedrooms with their panels. These were what the front bedroom. looked like. Floor to ceiling panels painted blue. A little too much blue, even for me. The other one wasn't so bad. I just didn't understand those mirrored closets. A much later addition to the house.

And last, but always memorable, was the back bedroom. Very retro. I think pine panels with that shag carpet went out in the 1970's. Let's just say all the bedrooms were eye-popping.

More house!

I know it's been a while. Damn New blogger. Screwed everything up. Anyway I thought I'd show you what the newly renovated inside of my house looks like. You saw the outside before and after. So here's some inside.

Let's start with the kitchen. I'll leave you to guess which is the renovated version. :D

My place

Well, it's official. I'm an adult now. Although I suppose some might disagree.

I have entered the ranks of the "in debt because of this mortgage" While it's daunting, to say the least, it's cool too.
The first photo is what the house looks like now. The other is what it looked like on the day I signed the papers. And if you think that is a change you should see inside!
And you will. I will post construction photos from the first week to now.
Stay tuned.

Life lesson #4 aka What not to wear

This is another warning. This time it's more like what not to wear. And I swear this happened. I could not make this up.I was checking my e-mail from my newly repaired computer in my new house. And out of the corner of my eye I notice someone across the street.I noticed her because she was walking in high heeled boots and didn't seem too used to them yet. Sort of a wobbly walk.The next thing I noticed were the color of the boots. White. And I am not claiming any great knowledge of fashion, but even I know you don't wear white leather high heeled boots in the winter. And especially not tucked into black jeans. That was the horrifying part. I couldn't believe it. She looked like a go-go dancer or something.So please don't wear white shoes in winter and if you have dress boots wear them under your jeans and not tucked into them. But if you do know that the rest of the world has the right to laugh and point as you walk by.

Loving British Airways

This is more of a plug than advice.You've read the first class lounge story. Still one of my fondest travel memories. But here's another. Last year I decided I was tired of watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve on TV. So I decided to go somewhere and have fun. The destination ended up being London. I love London. It's one of my favorite cities. So I booked my ticket. British Airways had the best price for my dates at the time. I chose the e-ticket option. We all remember what happened with the paper ticket. Not that it was a totally bad thing. But I didn't want to be on a first name basis with their customer service reps AGAIN. They even let you print your boarding pass at home the day before. Easy right? Yeah, wait for it. Well, I tell you I was damn grateful I did the e-ticket route. The shuttle pulled into JFK about 70 minutes before my flight was scheduled to board. I still had to check my luggage and find the gate in the horrifically overcrowded airport. I hear from my traveling buddy in Chicago(we were meeting in London) she's fine and boarding her flight to Gatwick. Lucky her. Now they call my flight. I wait for my seating rows to be called and they scan the barcode on my pass. I was in row 36 or something close to it. I upgraded to Coach plus for the wider seat and free newspapers. Hey, with nothing to for 6 hours I wanted something to read. So I bop down the jetway(narrowly avoiding being searched by the non-hunky security) and all the way to my seat. I have my coat off and am sitting down when....the jetway attendent comes up to me and tells me there has been a mistake. So they take me off the plane back to the gate. I will confess to being a little nervous. What kind of mistake? And can they fix it in under half an hour? It wasn't too nerve racking. The computer had a fit. It wasn't used to scanning the e-ticket boarding pass barcode. They gave my seat to someone else. But that was okay. Since it was their screw-up they upgraded me. Business class baby! Which reformed my thinking about just paying for the first class lounge. The extra money for leg room and food is worth it. They hung up my coat, got me a drink, gave me a menu for dinner. It was great! For the first time on an overseas flight I actually got some sleep. Everytime I fly British Airways something good always happens. I mean other than going to London.

If you can't be a good example v.2

Okay jump to mid December. Remember these are real life experiences that I hope you learn from so you aren't the horrible warning.For the last ten or so years the women in my family have gone to lunch and theater in New York City with the children.Most of the time we go to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas show. But we've seen The Lion King and Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast too.My mother has bought the tickets for the kids. This year it was all 5 of my nieces and nephews. And she pays for the train ride, and usually lunch.So, you know, it adds up. Especially for the Disney shows.But most of the time she was glad to do it. Except for this year.First of all, my aunt and cousin get lost and blame Mom. They didn't pay attention to where they were going. In one of the biggest, busiest cities on the planet they let their attention wander. With 5 kids. Smart.Second, they don't understand that when theatre starts at 2, theater starts at 2. So hurrying is a good thing. You don't stop to put on hats or look at store windows or gawk at celebrities. It doesn't start at 2:30 or whenever you decide to get there.Third, please don't stand in the middle of the sidewalk on Broadway and dither about what you want to do next. I mean it's a pretty busy place. Same goes for Times Square. Unless you are taking photos with the Naked Cowboy. ;D But that's different.Okay, fourth and most important. When someone treats you to theatre and lunch and a train ride to NYC thank them. Offer them candy, or to pay for their lunch or buy them a souvenir. SOMETHING for crying out loud. Just to show them that you aren't totally selfish and self-absorbed.And fifth. It's standard etiquette to leave with the person you came with. Check Emily Post, Miss Manners, The Fabulous Girl's Guide to Etiquette, How to be a Lady, ect. So yes, that means sitting with them on the train, unless the train doesn't have enough seats when you get on. That's different.So here endeth the lesson. But stay tuned for lesson 3.

If you can't be a good example...

I read in a Jennifer Crusie novel a great quote. "If you can't be a good example you just have to be a horrible warning."This seems to be very apt for this past Christmas. At least in my family. We had drama this year. Drama that started in mid December and is still going on. The hell with the extra holiday pounds. With us we have extra psychological scars.Now I know why some people work in soup kitchens and hospices instead of going home to family. It's gotta be cheerier than what we went through.Now to be fair, the holidays are stressful. And sometimes little things get blown out of proportion to where they take on a life of their own.But that's not the whole story.The first inkling of trouble came in early December. My cousin Lori wanted to know why my brother and I were depressed(him) and mad at her(me).We had no idea what she was talking about. We assured her that nothing was wrong and forgot about it. But she didn't. She went on to inform her mother that my brother was still pining over his crazy ex girlfriend(HA!) and I was pissed at her for something. I still don't know what. Most likely because I haven't congratulated her on having another kid. So her mom called mine to talk it over and let her know that she was neglecting her kids. Just because she doesn't talk to us three times a day doesn't mean she neglects us or doesn't know what's going on in our lives there people.So this was just act I. Not that we realized it then. But more is coming.