Trick or Treat!

Enjoy your weekend!

Don't Call Me

I don't call people anymore. I can't tell you the last time I had a conversation on the phone that lasted more than 5 minutes. My old co-worker and I used to get on the phone during our 20 minute drives home to gossip and bitch about our day...those were the my last and longest conversations.

It's all about email for me, which is perfect for people who spend as much time by their computer as I do. But what if you don't?

Texting, baby, it's the new email. Short, sweet and to the point...and instant! "We're at the movies" POW! "We're 2 mins away, get me popcorn" POW! Everything you need to know, in about 10 words.

It's near impossible to imagine how we all survived when there were no cell phones, and you're waiting at the movies, the mall or the freakin' RollerMagic skating rink for your friends....and all you can do is wait. Maybe you find a payphone, drop your dime and call their house, "Hi Mrs. Ford, did Vanessa leave yet? She did? Okay. Bye." ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Of course if you're not into texting, emailing and you realize I'm not answering my phone then please feel free to write on my Facebook Wall...or comment here. God forbid there's human interaction or *gasp* actual talking...

NO, NO AAAHHH!!! *blood squirt*

Watching the Family Feud, a Halloween version. This was one of the questions (after they surveyed 100 people):

Name Six Slasher Movies that have become classics (roll mouse over below for answers):

1. Halloween

2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

3. Nightmare on Elm Street

4. Psycho

5. Friday the 13th

6. Scary Movie

If you know your slasher flicks (coughSeancough) you shouldn't have a problem with 5 of these, but the 6th one will stump you...

What's wrong with this paragraph:

"The focal point of the interior is the striking indoor pool with sky lights and a range of night time lighting choices. Adjacent to the living and dining areas, the solar heated pool will invite you for a swim night or day"

A solar-heated INDOOR pool? I'm thinking....no. This pool is in a villa that's up for rent on St. John. Here's a couple of pictures of the most random pool placement ever:

Bizarre, right? In the picture below you can see sunlight on the ceiling - it's coming through 3 small skylight windows...which, even if sun could make it through modern windows those woudn't be big enough to heat a pool that size:

I only have one other inside-pool related complaint of sorts - what's with all the nice furniture standing in a possible splash zone? In the below pic you can see what looks to be a really nice wood desk and fabric-covered chair about an inch away from the water, as well as a throw rug under the coffee table...and in the other pics above more nice chairs and a lamp. That would make me nervous, how about you?

In case you're wondering this villa doesn't allow children ages 8mos - 8 years, which is pretty smart...because in case you haven't noticed there's a POOL IN THE LIVING ROOM. :)

I will say the villa looks gorgeous, albeit a little overly decorated for a rental. We rent ours out and while it's nice to look at we're aware that people don't treat a rental the way they treat their home. So we decorated accordingly.

That's pretty much all I have for today...GO PATRIOTS!

Halloween is coming...

...and this means two things:

1) Kids are ready to dress up and knock on doors for candy

2) One of my favorite movie franchises is unveiling the next installment

Does this look familiar to you?

If it does then you know what movie I'm talking about. If not, here's another clue:

Hello Jigsaw...and hello Saw 5, WOO! It opens tonight and the Man and I are going for our dose of gore. Oh boy am I 'xcited!! Granted, the storyline got a little foggy for me in Saw 4, but - much like guys don't read Playboy for the articles - I don't see Saw for the plot...if ya know what I'm sayin'. I watch it for the twisted torture that these people dream up...and it's twisted, baby.

Enjoy your weekend my lovely readers!

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Update: Oh BOY did this movie suck. Not to shock any of you. It made me wish I could see the first and possibly second one all fresh and new again without any knowledge of what was going to happen. The first one was just so good....the fifth? Not so much. Time to kill it. Please. God. No more.

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Cold makes my teeth hurt

I'm skipping the dentist this year...the first year ever. I've always been good about the dentist, and I only have one cavity, but the cleaning stresses me out too much and I just figured, 'Hey, I'm an adult and I'm NOT GOING!' *foot stomps down*

That's all I have to say about that.

Dear C.S.I,

No, you didn't ask for it, but as I sit here after another lackluster "Do I really give a crap?" episode of CSI Miami I think it's time I let the world (aka, my three readers) know exactly how I feel about your primetime-hogging inflated campaign to rule the world in forensic TV drama.

Boy it's hot...which must mean I'm in Miami. Hello CSI-by-the-sea. Oh look, David Caruso is either removing or donning his sunglasses while spouting something short and smart with his quiet, sturdy I'm-in-charge voice. How yesterday. Actually, how every-episode of him. This series used to have flash, now it's dull like my mother's mother's knife set. I think you ended last season with a cliff-hanger, and I think you wrapped it up when you premiered last month...but to be honest I neither A) remember nor B) care to figure it out. Is it the actors? Maybe. I'm too bored to bottom-line it for you; I can tell you we're about to gain an hour of space when we delete you from our DVR. *sunglasses off*

Let's travel North, to NY, and visit your forensic-siblings in that city. CSI NY is on our DVR, yes, but has always never risen above filler status. Filler Time (like Miller Time but totally different) is that time when nothing is on that we want to watch, so we toss on a 'filler show' to play in the background while we tap away on our laptops. It's like crappy Coors Lite - I don't go out of my way to buy it, but if it's in the fridge I'll drink it. I can't really pinpoint a reason for my lack-of-love for you - I like the lead guy, and the rest of the cast, but I've never been a fan of the female lead with the curly hair...whats-her-name. You were the last CSI to enter our living room, and it's possible we were just CSI-ed out. The good news? You'll be taking over Miami's slot, though I should be honest, I haven't seen one episode of NY yet this season.

Original is the way I like my KFC chicken, and definitely the way I order up my CSI. Hello Vegas! The first CSI to enter the playing field, and the only one that should be standing. Here's how much I love CSI Vegas; we watched this season's premiere online when we realized our DVR had not taped it. Huddling with your spouse over a laptop to catch a show? Well, that's commitment, baby. I love every actor in this show, I love the stories...and the plot that spanned many shows about the Miniature Killer? That was gold, and you grabbed us by the balls and reeled us in for good with that one. You hold a place in my heart, but more importantly you hold a top-rated place on my DVR.

I'm glad we got that sorted out.

Yours,

Nicci

Hurricane Omar was a Big 'Ol Dud

The Man and I stayed up past 1AM last night (or early this morning...however you want to look at it). The power/internet/TV stayed on in most areas of St. Thomas and we were all over Facebook getting updates and chatting with islanders as they updated us on the weather conditions. For those without power we would text them the changes per radar...like when Omar kicked into a Category 3 a few hours before reaching the VI's.

Fortunately Omar also turned right, and while St. Croix got a good whack St. Thomas and St. John were pretty well spared save for some winds and a whole lot of rain. The news out of the islands today is pretty good, and life should be back to normal by tomorrow as everyone puts away the shutters and opens up their doors and windows again.

Let's hope that's the last big storm to whip up this season.

Omar is making me nervous.

St. Thoms (and the VI) are in a Hurricane Warning, meaning the weather is looking to get nasty sometime tonight. Omar is a category 1 right now but they're saying it could direct-hit us as a Cat 2. Fuck.


The Man and I are still in MA, we were supposed to be in St. T this week but delayed our trip for another reason. We have friends who will bunker down in our place and hopefully everyone will stay safe.

Cross your fingers.

I

am going to the Red Sox game tonight.


And we had better fucking win.

Say Goodbye to Lucy

As you know the Man and I are bird-people...we're parents to three cool parrots. Well, up until a couple of weeks ago.

Miss Lucy, our 6 yr old Eclectus, has flown the coop...all the way to CT. Woo!

Our other two birds, Dice and Rodney, are still with us, and I hope to have them remain with us forever. So why Lucy? There's a couple of factors.

A) Airlines and the bird flu. At the moment we're down to two airlines that will let us take the birds into the cabin when we fly to St. Thomas. Cargo is an option for domestic flights - but 1) most airlines consider St. T international (even though it's a US territory) and 2) I'm not putting my birds in cargo. Period. So we figured we need to start thinking about life without birds - just in case the remaining airlines put the kibosh on in-cabin bird travel - and we decided to reduce our flock by one.

B) Rodney, our Grey, is completely devoted to the Man, and Dice, our Caique, is completely devoted to me. Lucy was completely devoted to....neither of us. I believe the most we were to her were people who got her out of the cage, brought her food and attempted to play with her. She didn't seem bonded with either one of us, and that decision led us to believe she would be the easiest to re-home. So we did.

C) Lucy is LOUD. And yes, all birds are loud, but Lucy has her own level of noise, and to be honest, when the Man (who works out of the house) was trying to take/make phone calls we'd have to banish Lucy to another room to keep the noise away. As you can imagine most birds do not like to be banished and would prefer to stay 'with the flock'.

I found a nice lady in CT who both breeds birds and keeps pet birds at her home. I emailed her with a picture of my girl and asked if she would consider taking her in, and she jumped at the chance. We drove Lucy down two weeks ago to a wonderful home where she was greeted by her new mom and two human sisters, 7 and 10yrs old. We saw her new room which holds 2 macaws, a cockatoo, a cockatiel, an amazon and a lovebird. Perfect! Lots of birds for Lucy to chatter (loudly) with and watch. I put a few of her favorite things in her new cage, gave her new mom a written list detailing all of Lucy's loves and hates and the Man pushed me out of the door just as my eyes filled up with tears.

We drove back to MA while I dried my eyes and we both agreed that she would be much happier there, with more birds to hang with and scream with.

I've definitely had my share of tears from giving her away, and the guilt? Oy, the guilt. I pictured her sitting in her new cage, thinking 'WTF? Where's my family?'. I pictured her feeling depressed, upset, unhappy...you name it. I told myself I was a horrible bird-mom for giving away my 'child'. I wondered what the other two were thinking when we left with Lucy and returned without her.

There's a happy ending. I waited a week before emailing Lucy's new mom to see how she was doing, and you know what? She's having a blast. Sure, she spent the first couple of days sitting quietly and observing, but since then she's immersed herself into her new home. Lucy has a huge amount of positive qualities - she's very calm and tame, she will go to anyone and allow you to pet and hold her. She's inquisitive, smart and content. Her new mom said she's a great bird, and they love her. Fantastic!

Here's a picture of my girl in her new home -

Her transition was pretty smooth....with her favorite toys in her cage, and instructions of how to play with her I think she just figured 'Well, I guess I'm with these people now. Let's play with my wiffle ball!'

As for our reduced flock, it turns out we're a two bird family...who knew?

As my mom said, just be glad I don't have real kids.

Shoo, fly!

Anyone know the lifespan on a regular old fly? This little buzzer snuck into the house and has been flying around the first floor for a couple of days now. I'm sure he'd like to get out, but despite my attempts to direct him outside the front door he still remains.

Poor little dude.

Here's the thing.

I know that the lightbulb is burnt out on the basement stairs, yet each time I open the door to go down it plays out like this in my head:

*click*

Why didn't the light go on?

*click click*

Oh right, we need a new lightbulb. I keep forgetting.

Eventually the Man will say 'Honey, do we have any lightbulbs??' enough times that one of us will do something about it, but until that happens I've decided to make peace with it.

Happy Hump Day!

My cold? Still present, but I had some chicken noodle soup and mini marshmallows - so I feel like I can now tackle the world (once I stop blowing my nose).

Thoughts for the day: the Man went to NY on a business trip today, I'll be picking him up around 6:30 - but I have enjoyed having the house to myself. It's a rarity.

I'm not sure what we'll be having for dinner tonight. He has some meat defrosted in the fridge, and part of me wanted to whip up something awesome, but it's going to be an hour-ish roundtrip to/fro the train station...so that's not happening. Plus, you know, I'm a walking germ factory.

I brought my laptop up to the bird's room and I'm watching them watch me watch them back. I have the little one frustrated as I put him on the hanging gym and he's unable to get to the floor where I be. Ha :)

I bought some all-natural, made with a gajillion juice-extracts juice today and had a glassful. It's SO good, but it's giving me stomach cramps as pure veggie/juice will do. All in the name of health.

My throat

is sore. I suppose this is a fall cold as the Man is also feeling it. Ugh.

Someone call the nurse.

This just in

I'm addicted to Frank's RedHot Original hot sauce.

Only on chicken though...preferably baked in our own oven with our own awesome blend of seasonings. We have a big 'ol tray of wings in the oven right now...crisping up and waiting for me to bury them in Frank's. Mouth? Watering.

By the time the Red Sox toss their first pitch tonight I should be comfortably full on Frank's & chicken and sucking down an Amaretto sour. Hellooooo good times.

It's Saturday

I'm realizing that we have been up until the wee hours of the morning for the past 3 nights.

-Wednesday we went to the Cape to celebrate my Dad's birthday and watched the Red Sox beat the Angels - game ended after 1AM.
-Thursday we all watched the debate together then stayed up having our own debate about the ecomony and upcoming election...we ran our mouths until almost 2AM.
-Friday we went to a wedding with family and friends, got home a little after 11 and watched the rest of the very exciting Red Sox game until - you guessed it- 1:30.

Dude. I'm 34, these late nights are killing me. We have one more left - a surprise 40th birthday party being held tonight at a restaurant. There will be a DJ - which means drinks and dancing. My feet are already sore from last night which means I'll have to wear smaller heels if I expect to make it through the night :)

We left the Cape around 1pm today, stopped on the road for lunch, and got home around 3:30. The Man is taking a nap, I greeted and fed the birds and hopped on the computer...and now I'm headed to the shower to pretty myself up.

Tomorrow the Man and I have a date with our 5yr old nephew - taking him out to lunch and to the Chihuahua movie...then back home to his folks. We will both then be spending the rest of the day/night on the couch as the Patriots play at 4:15, and the Red Sox are on at 7.

I'll never complain about being busy though, don't get me wrong :)

A Birthday Wish

To the guy that gave me my italian spirit, my green eyes, my cleft chin, my love of Star Wars, my driving lessons, my piano-talent, a coach for my soccer team, the best childhood memories, my over-analyzation, some wacky card tricks, permission to burp at the dinner table even when mom gave him 'that look', my night-owledness, my need for glasses, my impatience, my love for potato chips, my first real job at the bank where he also worked, rides to school in the winter, directions on how to build the perfect 'jump' on the sledding hill that would simultaneously shoot us into the air yet keep us from huge injury, pennies to put on the train tracks to see how flat they got when the train ran over them behind our vacation cottage in Cape Cod, lessons on boys and why they act so stupid, constant reminders to 'wear your seatbelt please!', tips on my 401K, knowledge of how to check my oil, countless conversations on how to construct my resume and interview properly, a ride when I got drunk for the very first time and told him I was 'sick' and needed to come home, reminders that I was pretty and strong and capable, some of the best sandcastles you've ever seen,

To the guy that gave me away on my wedding day -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

69 years young :)

See you tonight, and yes, I'm bringing pastries!