I didn't have my camera on me, but hopefully this post will explain just how awesome lunch was today.

Cafe Gelato, in Newark, has delicious food and a decent enough atmosphere now that they have renovated, but their service and prices sometimes bring their ranks down and keep them off the radar for regular lunch visits.

Today, however, the lunch experience for me was wonderful. I explained to our waiter, Jason, that I was craving their red potatoes with the balsamic dressing. Carrie of course then had to tell him to note the pregnant belly, as if an explanation for my weirdness was needed.

Carrie and I ordered their Caprese Panini with pesto which comes with a side of these YUM potatoes. Chris and Katy ordered their own things and then we waited. The wait was long, it normally is and it is frustrating. I wondered how my potatoes were coming along. I wondered if I'd even get them.

**cut back to a couple weeks ago**

When Katy, Jim and I went to Gelato and they ended up giving me white, creamy scalloped potatoes and claimed they were out of the red kind. Me = Not Happy!

**

When our lunches finally came out I was famished and excited. Jason had brought a whole extra plate of the deelish roasted red potatoes! I cannot even tell you how thrilled I was to see all those potatoes. I ate all but one!

My Caprese Panini was also amazing. How can you go wrong with fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes and pesto on fresh baked homemade focaccia? You can't. It was awesome.

And so said to Jason, "You're awesome!"

"No, you're awesome," was his response.

He also made sure to refill my water. As did another waiter AND the owner of the place while we were there.

To make the entire experience even better, when we received the check at the end I was not charged for the extra potatoes.

When we left the other ladies sampled or bought gelato to go, but I didn't need it. I was filled and happy!

Thank you to Jason at Cafe Gelato and to your lovely chefs!

Labels: carrie, work

I think it's important that everyone know the oddities of my office life.

Since I was booted out of my own private office and into an office space with three other women, we all knew we'd need to make adjustments. But I'm the only full-time member of this communications/design team and therefore I'm here by myself adjusting most of the time.

And so I relay the things which happen while the other gals are away.

And this week we have had a possessed water cooler.

When it was first delivered Carrie was here and we were so excited. I believe she cheered or maybe even danced. She even called Danielle and drank water on the phone and gulped extra loudly so Danielle could hear.

The rest of the afternoon the water cooler kept gurgling and bubbling and really being rather loud. But we didn't care, we had our own water cooler and that was awesome.

The next morning I came into work, just me, no one else was there for the day. The water cooler was still bubbling. But this time I noticed it was also filled with moisture or steam up at the top of the bottle. Upon further inspection I realized the water was boiling.

BOILING!

So I called Jim, he's one of our IT guys, but he's also a good friend of mine. He came down and he agreed the water was boiling and the water cooler was too hot too touch. He unplugged it and we called the vendor.

The next day they brought a new water cooler. But they put the old bottle of water back on. And floating in it were black particles. So we removed that bottle and put a brand new bottle on it. Still...black particles.

So we called the vendor.

They told us black particles are magnesium. It wouldn't hurt us. But that they'd bring us new water bottles and another new water cooler.

So this morning a new water cooler and two new bottles were delivered. The water cooler gurgled and bubbled for several hours. But now, just now, 40 minutes before I am to leave the office before the weekend the water cooler is at peace with itself.

And my friends, I am drinking a nice glass of cold, clean water.

Next in office stories I think I'll tell you about our photography database which restarts itself 30 times a day and blinks Windows icons at me.

And maybe it's really not important that you know about these oddities, but it's still kind of interesting, right?

Labels: carrie, chicken, work

You may or may not remember the Journey concert my family had planned for last night. Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick were at the "Tweeter" center in Camden, NJ.

...

Carrie came down to Newark to have lunch with me yesterday. She had a craving for sweet potato fries and seeing as how I have never turned such a fry down, we decided to go to Iron Hill Brewery on Main Street and share the appetizer of said fries. Delicious!

The concert began at 7 p.m. so we left the house accordingly. With Brian's skills we made excellent time and then hit the crazy backed up concert traffic. There they were, hundreds of vehicles blaring Journey music while inching forward every so often just to get to the parking area.

I don't do well in moving objects. And the inching forward and stopping was the worst. Brian pulled up onto the scary sidewalk and out came the fries. Chunky sweet potato disaster!

After the under cover cops assaulted the main selling t-shirts two cars ahead of us my stomach did even more flip flops and Brian turned around to get me to a rest area. When we got back out on the highway a car accident completely stopped traffic on whatever highway we were on. We proceeded to follow the cars on their mass exodus in reverse down the ON ramp. Yes, that's right. Riding backwards down hill does wonders for the belly.

Bless his heart Brian was doing everything he could to safely get us to a place where I could release all the grossness building up in my body.

We ended up at Cooper University Hospital and I used their urine coated public restroom. An hour later...I realized there was no way in the world we were going to be able to battle the traffic back to the concert.

So while apologizing profusely and crying on the way home Brian assured me it was okay and there was nothing I could do. Eventually Braeden piped in and told me to stop apologizing because I didn't mean to get sick. How blessed am I to have such wonderful guys in my life!?

Needless to say, we missed the concert. And yes I feel wretchedly guilty about it, but there will be other shows in our future and I need to just suck it up.

There you have it and now I am on the mend from the crazy Camden and backwards driving!

Labels: blessings, brae, brian, carrie, concerts, drama, driving, health

It's not that I haven't been woken up at 3 a.m. in the morning before, I mean it happens all the time. Maybe I can blame the fog on the fact that the Olympics had me up late and 3 a.m. was really only a few hours into my slumber. Whatever the reason, I now have a contusion on my forehead. Between trying to get Braeden to stop crying and also trying to get him a tissue (which ended up being toilet paper since we didn't have tissues in the bathroom) I somehow pivoted in such a way that I ran straight into the corner of the wall. The goose egg knot formed almost immediately, but it has gone down since. I just have a pounding headache and the start of an odd line-shaped bruise near my hairline on my forehead. Oh the joys of motherhood and clumsiness.

I started playing the John Deere computer game last night. I enjoy the time management/strategic games you can get from sites like Playfirst.com and BigFish.com and this is one of their newer games. It is frustrating me. Much like Sim City, I am finding I do not know how to start something from scratch and profit without having all the helpers quit on me. I also am not good with keeping an eye on the calendar and many times my entire field of corn dies because I try to plant it in February.

Yesterday, I left work early because Braeden is sick again. He has an ear infection, only the 308th infection of his little life. I feel bad for him. If only he could stay healthy for longer periods of time. I think it may have begun as allergy symptoms, he did after all claim he is now allergic to carpet, but then those symptoms became more severe and the runny nose turned into a stopped up mess of gunk which in turn became an infection. Poor kid.

My boss stopped working for the College of Ag and moved to another area on campus. Right now I'm not 100% sure who my boss is, but it's okay because I work with good people. It's just really hard not to have Chris here, she was undoubtedly the best boss I have ever had.

Carrie went out on maternity leave last week as well. She'll be back in January. The baby is due this weekend and already weighs approximately 8 lbs. 11 oz. I have been sewing and getting things together for Baby Finnie and can't wait to meet her!

Brian starts class again soon. I believe this course is in Life Span Development, after which he will need to take Biology before he starts towards his P.A. degree.

My brother is concerned about aliens talking on his cell phone and the fact that Mom doesn't know anything about Darfur. These are the things he discusses with me when he calls. It might have something to do with Jada having been in Israel for the last two weeks. Fortunately she returns home tonight and hopefully he'll unwind a bit. Lol.

And so that's the update from the personal realm of this lovely blog. I'll be getting back to work now, forehead throbbing and all. Tata.

Labels: brae, brian, carrie, Gregory, life, work

Though I am no longer in school it still seems that Summer goes by way too fast. Of course I don't need to worry or fret over who will be in my homeroom class or which math teacher I'll get stuck with, but I still wish I could hold onto Summer a little bit longer.

Don't get me wrong, I do love the Fall, in fact, Fall is my favorite season. However, now that school is no longer a concern of mine I do still think about all that is coming up. When Summer ends it means I have the chain of crazy birthdays and holidays knocking at my door.

Braeden will be 5 in October, my first wedding anniversary will be in November and Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are no longer just pin points on the horizon. They are actual silhouettes, sounds and saving plans.

My best friend, Carrie, is due in two weeks and she will not be coming back to work until January. So if I am dreading anything it is four months of work without her here. Even though I am absolutely thrilled and happy for her and I can't wait to meet Baby Finnie. Baby Finnie will be the second little girl for Carrie and her husband Jonathan.

But before Summer is complete there are still things to be excited for in addition to Baby Finnie. Brian and I will be taking Braeden with us to see Journey in concert on August 26th. Along with Journey there will be two other greats sharing the stage, Cheap Trick and Heart. Braeden will be wearing his "Don't Stop Believin'" t-shirt. He has already been to several concerts and he loves them!

The weekend before the 26th Brian and I will be seeing Rascal Flatts. He is taking me to see them as an early anniversary present.

Fortunately, when it comes to music our whole little family can get along. ;o)

Labels: brae, brian, carrie, concerts

Gonna write up a quick little tribute to my husband.

I just have to tell you..Brian really got some brownie points with me this weekend when he made a special effort to accommodate my best friend when she came over for dinner.

Carrie is a vegetarian and he went to a local produce stand to purchase veggies and fruits that were fresh and grown nearby which makes them even more awesome. He looked up recipes and made her a cucumber salad, plus grilled green pepper and asparagus to perfection.

Carrie's daughter Charlotte took some "shark bites" out of a burger. And Braeden did as well. Brian is fantastic at the grill and we were all appreciate and impressed with the vast array of food he put out before us.

Then we had ice cream.

Yesterday he worked outside for a few hours and put in the retaining wall for our soon-to-be patio. He also worked on getting the ground ready for a garden in one area. Very productive few hours if I might say so for him. It is very exciting to see the backyard turning into something usable. =o)

Thank you, Brian!

And here are my very late Week 278 mutterings.

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Referral :: Job


2. Indiana :: Duh, Jones


3. Foil :: Tin


4. Horizon :: Vertical


5. Event :: Calendar


6. Sailing :: Peppermint patty


7. Footage :: Patio


8. Sunday :: Mornings


9. Breathtaking :: View


10. Dude! :: Far out!

Labels: brian, carrie, grillin, unconscious mutterings, yard

Last night was the third night of Brian's stay in Texas. I was able to talk to him a little bit on the phone and again on the computer. He's doing well and has even been told he will be trained for an elevated position beyond pharmacy tech. to medical tech. which is awesome and makes me even more proud of him.

We had a series of storms in our area yesterday. It seemed like the rain cloud hovered over me though because my parents didn't get the down pours and they are literally 8 minutes away. We need the rain, but it came down so hard I don't know if enough of it was able to absorb into the ground before going into the rain gutters.

Braeden and I met one of our neighbors last night and her daughter. Samantha was born a month after Braeden so they are very close in age and the two hit it off almost immediately. They were running around and laughing, it was wonderful! We walked down to meet them when Braeden saw they were decorating for Halloween. Apparently our house being decorated had been an inspiration for them. =o)

It's Wednesday, we're half way through the work week. This is actually my Thursday though because I have off on Friday. Follow my logic?

Finn Finn and Charlotte won't be able to come to Brae's party on Saturday which stinks. But in all honestly they have a perfect reason so I can't be mad. Jonathan's parents are coming in from Scotland for a week long visit and Saturday is the first day they'll be in town.

I'm trying to eat more healthy these days. The wedding is a month away, exactly, from today. So, I had some cereal for breakfast. I brought my Thai food for lunch which is actually pretty low in fat and calories. Plus, I have an apple for a snack. I would like to lose weight, but right now I just need to maintain since the dress fits me very well.

With Braeden waking up through the night and all, I haven't been able to watch any TV. So I am very much enjoying the shows online. Thank God CBS and NBC do shows online now because it's the only way I can view them. I don't at all mind the commercial breaks in between snippets, it would be the same on air anyway!

Hmmm...I think that is enough randomness for the moment. Have a great Wednesday!

Labels: bnc, brae, brian, carrie, tv, wedding

Carrie: Those clouds look like boobs.

Me: What!?

Carrie: Look, there is no mistaking them!

Me: Ohhh yeah, I do see it!

(Truly there were two round white clouds side by side in a cleavage sort of way and in the center of those two white clouds were two smaller dark gray clouds. It was bizarre!)

And now off to my "girlie" doctor appointment oh joy!

Carrie: Enjoy being violated.

Um, Carrie, do you feel the glare? Do you feel it!?

Haha.

**DISCLOSURE STATEMENT**

Carrie is NOT, I repeat, NOT a perv.

Labels: carrie, health

We work at the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources.

Carrie wanted to have a picnic for lunch.

Christy: dials Carrie's number

Carrie: Carrie Finnie.

Christy: You're going to need to vacate the premises.

Carrie: Where are you?

Christy: At a red light outside the field house.

Carrie: To the shit pile? (she claims she didn't say the "s" word)

Christy: laughing Yes.

Carrie: I'll see you there.

The picnic table is under a tree. To our right is a parking lot. To our left is a man whi HUGE hair driving a fertilizer machine, shooting little green pellets out of the back. Carrie exclaims "He better not pellet me."

Behind us are trees. In front of us is the manure pile at the dairy farm.

Perfect place to picnic!

Labels: carrie, work