Nice Quiet Day (Day 59)

I worked out on the deck today while Rachel enjoyed having Dennis and Amanda visit. Here they're playing Nintendo DS together. Rachel and Dennis swam for a bit, but the water was kind of cold. Dennis' dog Sammy swam, too, but I didn't get a picture of that. Maybe tomorrow.

We barbecued for dinner. Dennis made some Old Bay shrimp and Fred made his Freddie burgers. It was a beautiful relaxing day.

Fun Friday (Day 58)

Rachel had her well visit at the doctor today. Girlfriend is in the 97th percentile for height on the US charts. I can't imagine how far off the Asian chart she is. She's 4' 11 1/2". Another inch or so and she be as tall as I am. She got her second Hep A vaccine today, and the doctor gave us a script for an anti-malarial for our trip and a script for an antibiotic for our trip, just in case.

In the afternoon I had a 3 hour job in Reading, PA, and then had to drive home in Friday rush-hour traffic. It was stop and go almost the entire length of the Schuylkill Expressway. Once I got through the city and onto the bridge it wasn't too bad.

Fred's brother and his fiance came down to visit us for the weekend. Rachel went to a sleepover Friday night, so Dennis, Amanda, Fred and I went to Atlantic City to meet up with some of Dennis' friends. We had dinner at PF Chang's at the Tropicana. Oh my goodness was it good! I've been wanting to try it for several years, but there's always a long wait to get in. This time we got seated right away. We had lettuce wraps as appetizers. Yummy.

We met up with his friends in the casino. The men gambled while the women sat in one of the lounges and talked. It was a lot of fun, but it'll be a long time before I stay out until 2:30 a.m. again!

Carnage (Day 57)

Ferris occasionally relieves stress by beating up his toys. This is what I came home to today after work. He ripped the guts out of his Easter bunny and left them lying on my bedroom floor.
It kind of reminded me of this:

My Old Apartment Bldg. (Day 56)

This was the view from where I had a job today.

About a year after I started court reporting, Fred and I moved into an apartment in Center City Philadelphia. It was at 1500 Locust Street. It was a high rise building, and our apartment was on the 40th floor. We had a great view of South Philadelphia, including the Drake Tower, which is on Spruce Street. The Drake always fascinated me. At the very top was a round glass enclosed area, and I always wondered what was in there.

At that time the agency I was working for had their office at the Warwick Hotel, two blocks from our apartment. I passed a big church every day going to and from the office, and there was always an old homeless man hanging out on one corner of the church. He had something wrong with one of his hands. I gave him change or a dollar almost every time I saw him. I didn't see a homeless man; I saw a grandfatherly gentleman with a kind face.

Bonwit Teller was a department store that I used to enjoy going to. In fact, I bought the earrings I wore at my wedding there. Now there's a store called Daffy's there. I've never stopped in.

The Bellevue Hotel is on Broad Street, and in July 1976 it was where the American Legion held its convention where so many member got sick with a type of pneumonia which was later known as Legionnaires Disease. If I remember right, the Bellevue was still closed down when I moved to Philly in 1986. It has since reopened, and there's a great food court in the lower level, as well as a Williams-Sonoma (which I love) and some other cool shops.

My Goal (Day 55)

I just realized I haven't taken a single picture all day. So I took one of our change jar. It's a gallon wine bottle that we've used for the last 20 years to collect change. When it's full to the top, we've gotten as much as $400 in change. So my goal, between now and the last week of June (basically before we leave for China), is to fill it. Once we get to the neck of the bottle it'll go much quicker. Until then, it fills slowly.

Memorial Day (Day 54)

For love of country they accepted death... ~James A. Garfield

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SERVICE MEN & WOMEN, PAST & PRESENT

Including this one, even if he is pointing a Super Soaker at my camera. :-) See what I have to put up with from these neighbors of mine?

Just kidding. I love all my neighbors. We have too much fun together. Sometimes way too much fun. *** New Year's Eve a few years ago ***

The kids had a lot of fun today, too. This was the second round of swimming. Rachel had two other friends over earlier in the day. Two of our friends here are camera shy. And one is wearing clothes instead of a bathing suit because she came right from a water balloon fight in her back yard and jumped in the pool. She was already wet, so why bother with a bathing suit!

Violet had a good day, too. Fred was making bacon-wrapped bbq shrimp kabobs and she could smell the shrimp. The kabobs were laying on a piece of foil, and she kept reaching up. I thought for sure she was going to pull it all down.

Cat in a Bag (Day 53)

I went grocery shopping today. Will I ever learn that weekends are the worst time to go grocery shopping? Probably not.
After I brought all $157 ($190 before coupons and sale prices!) worth of groceries in, I ran upstairs for something midway through unpacking. When I came back down, this is what I found. Beavis with an Acme bag stuck on his head. The handle was around his neck. The bag had been on the table when I went upstairs. So obviously Beavis was on the table. Stupid cats! Stay off the freaking table!
Like my Publix reuseable bag in the background? I miss Publix. One of the few things I miss about Florida. That and my family. And Arigato. Oh my gosh do I miss Arigato! And my family. But Arigato has yummy yummy and goody goody sauce. Arigato is hands-down the best Japanese steakhouse anywhere. There are several near us in NJ, and they're good, but not Arigato good. So if you're ever in Clearwater, FL, do your taste buds a favor and go to Arigato.