This, That and the Other

Many things to talk about:

2006 Primary - Go out tomorrow and VOTE!!! For those of you who live in MI, I've attached a link to check out who is on the ballot. Be informed and make yourself heard. Candidate information here. Remember - if you don't vote, then you don't have the right to bitch!!

Madonna - Although I really like her early music (80's - early 90's), I am getting really sick of her attempts for attention. Her latest, tasteless and obscene stunt in Rome is vulgar and offensive. Read about it here. Get over it, lady, you're old and you have 2 kids. Focus on raising them rather than raising eyebrows.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?! - Last night's Hall of Fame game between the Raiders and Eagles was the unofficial kickoff for the 2006 - 2007 season. I fell asleep during the 3rd quarter, but I read that the Raiders won. The Lions' season begins on September 10 against the Seahawks. View their schedule.

How 'bout them Tigers? - I've been catching the Tigers on and off this summer. I have to admit, I'm not as big a baseball fan as I am a football fan. However, this weekend's sweep of the Indians was phenomenal (sorry Heather P)!! Woo hoo! Makes me almost wish we were going to Minne to watch the Twins go head-to-head with Detroit. Oh well.

New music - OMG - I just heard SexyBack (Justin Timberlake) on the radio and I CAN NOT WAIT until the album comes out. Watch the video. I feel very DD-like when I listen to that song ;) FutureSex/LoveSounds will be released on September 12.

Talladega Nights - I totally am not a NASCAR fan, but I am a huge Will Ferrell fan. The movie did not disappoint. There were some HILARIOUS moments. I give it a thumbs up.

If you can't take the heat....I've found a "summer" show to get me through until Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy debuts (September 21). Hell's Kitchen is an entertaining reality-type show that puts wannabe culinary gurus through, well, hell. I like the show because of the English chef (Chef Ramsey). He is the most forward, blunt, in-your-face person and I *love* his accent. Ahhhhhh.....I know, I'm pathetic.

I'm glad to be out of my no-preggers-yet, two-funerals-in-10-days, dog-days-of-summer funk. I'm hoping to get a couple of friends to visit before the summer is over.....*cough* ERIKA *cough* HEAD *cough* The invitation is extended to anyone else who is interested in visiting, too!!

THE BEST WEEK EVER

This week is the most coveted, for TV-viewing that is, each year!! IT'S SHARK WEEK ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL!!!! Wooooo Hooooo

I found this re-enactment of JAWS - it is hilarious!!

I love Shark Week :)

Sad Times/Funny Ending

I've been MIA for a while and with good reason. The past two to three weeks have been crazy.

To start off, we had two family members pass away within 4 days of each other. One has been sick and basically bed-bound for almost 7 years. The other came as a surprise. It seems like we've been attending wakes and funerals for the past week and a half. Needless to say, I haven't really felt like posting anything, e-mailing or calling anyone. I'm just blah. When I get blah, I like to shop for house stuff. I plan on hitting IKEA that just opened up in Canton. Maybe I'll wait until Jason leaves :) See explanation below...

Jason is going up north tomorrow to golf. Poor guy - he needs it too. He just defended his Masters last Friday. That is a huge stress reliever (for the both of us)! He'll be back on Saturday, just in time for another funeral. We're going to miss the Mio softball tournament this year. Oh well, it gives us time to do something to cheer us up. He then leaves for China (next Saturday) for 8 days. At least I have a wedding to go to on the 5th. That will be fun. Plus it'll be the first wedding I go to solo since Kentala's wedding. Wow - and that's how long ago???

On a happier note, I've been thinking about ditching my membership at the gym for one at the YMCA. The Y is $40/month more expensive but it has TWO pools (one for adults and one for children - thank you Jesus), more classes and it opens an hour earlier. I plan on using my free pass this weekend to check it out. YIPPPEEE

This always cheers me up:

Best Places To Live

Obviously Detroit didn't make the list, but one place that I've been interested in did! Check it out!

Does your area rank?? The closest I got is Ann Arbor, MI. At least I can say I went to school there, right?!

On a different note, I'm not feeling very well today.....A combination of anxiety and nausea. Blah. According to Jones' post, it sounds like there may be something going around. It's either that or the fact that I didn't sleep very well last night. I went to bed with a pounding headache and a cat that wouldn't stop following me around. I was like, "what the hell got into you?". I fell asleep with Caicos on my right side, petting him. What a spoiled feline! It's actually kind of cute in a demented sort of way.

Where The Ocean Meets The Sky

Charleston is beautiful. Where else can you lounge on the Atlantic coast, peruse an open air market and stroll downtown through historic neighborhoods that are quaint and colorful, all within 15 miles??? A city that is more than 300 years old has a plethora of stories to tell. The captial was moved from Charleston to Columbia in 1790. SC was the first state to secede from the union during the civil war and the 1989 category 4 hurricane Hugo that destroyed 80% of the barrier island homes; losses that estimate ~ $2.8 billion. One last cool fact is the state motto: DUM SPIRO SPERO, meaning "WHILE I BREATHE I HOPE".

Onto my stories:

The drive down sucked. We left at 8pm on Friday (June 30) and it took us 14 hours to get there. We figured driving through WV (and the mountains) at night tacked on an additional hour. Since we arrived before check-in on Saturday, we weren't able to pick up the keys to our house. So we did the next best thing - changed our clothes at Jeff (Jason's brother) and Cheri's apartment and headed to the beach. It was the closest thing to heaven that I could think of. Around 4pm, we headed to the real estate place to pick up the keys to our digs for the week.


The ocean was a 3 minute walk from the house. I awoke early on Sunday (~7am) and decided to chill on the beach before the crowds took over. It was breathtaking.



To make a long story short, we baked in the sun, drank and toured around the city (including a tour of Middleton Place, a rice plantation. That was pretty cool because Middleton was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Some of my favorite places we drank at were Henry's - because the live music was awesome, Poe's Tavern - named after Edgar Allan Poe - because of the deco, and Red's - which was on the water - because I drank too many Captain and Cokes, supposedly saw a dolphin and talked about how Jeff was going to be rich or broke by 30.

Since we rented a beach house, we didn't eat out too often. But out of the places we did eat out at, The Mustard Seed was my absolute favorite. The food, wine and even coffee were phenomenal. I definitely recommend it!!

A few things that we didn't do, which I wish we would have, were parasailing (800 feet in the air as opposed to 300 feet in Key West), renting wave runners and traveling to Savannah. I was super bummed about not driving the 2 hours to Savannah, but I didn't want to go alone. Oh well - maybe some other time. All in all, the week went by too quickly. The gorgeous weather, beautiful beaches and breath taking downtown made it very difficult to leave. I can see why Jeff chose to make Charleston his home.

Balls, Buns and Beer

The Home Run Derby 2006 has officially begun! I'm going to take a stab in the dark and predict that Ryan Howard is going to be crowned King of the Long Ball. We shall see.

The All-Star Game will be played tomorrow night at PNC Park (Pittsburgh). Go AL (specifically Pudge)!

Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Talk about crazy weather.....



I knew that it was supposed to rain, but seriously. Thinking nothing of it, I went to the gym. After my workout, I wondered why there was a huge crowd in the vestibule. I quickly discovered why. It was POURING outside with thunder and lightning included. I ran out to my car and by the time I closed the door, I looked like I had stepped out of the shower. Carefully exiting the parking lot (since some spots were flooded), I had the bright idea of making a pit stop to tan. Hey, I'm going to Charleston in a week, I need a base!! Anyway, when I got to the tanning salon, a note was posted on the door that read, "Temporarily closed due to severe weather". What I didn't know at this point was that a tornado warning was in effect. Ooops. As I enter into my subdivision I knew it was going to be a challenge. Since 5 inches of rain had fallen within a hour, most of the streets were flooded. There are three ways into my subdivision. I tried the first and there were three stalled cars that blocked my way. So I tried #2. I got half way into the subdivision and I was blocked by huge branches. I'm running out of options, right?! I get out of my car and start pulling the branches to the side of the street so that I can get through. A kid (yeah listen to me, I'm calling an 18- or 19-year old a kid) came out to help me. Once we got the branches cleared, he said that it wasn't worth going through because there was at least 12" to 18" of standing water at the corner. CRAP. And I say crap because that is the same corner that I'd have to get through for entrance #3. So, I asked the kid if I could park my car in front of his house, I grabbed my keys and started running home (about 1/2 mile). All I kept thinking about was getting struck by lightning. I know, I'm a freak....But I was sort of scared, though. I get home safely and soaking wet. Crazy.

Severe weather like this reminds me of when I was growing up. My grandmother (Romanian) used to say, "Say a prayer when it's thundering and lightning; God is sad because we're not doing His will". We would also light a candle in remembrance of our dead relatives. I felt compelled to follow her advice and did just that - in her name. Rest in peace, Mama. I love you.