A couple of things

The other day, during lunch hour, we spied a long, ship-like yacht cruising along the Hudson River. On board were a helicopter just getting ready for takeoff, two boats, and tons of people who looked like they were having fun. We squinted and saw it was called The Highlander. The writing on the helicopter was too small to see. But if we had been able to read it, it would most probably have said "Forbes". The Highlander has a crew of fourteen and is capable of worldwide sailing. Besides the two boats and the chopper, it has two BMW motorcycles on board, too, just in case its high-profile guests fancy a spin. Eighteen 14-oz tins of Beluga caviar are served every season on the Highlander. So, yeah. Just another playground for the rich and famous.

My new favorite beer is Negra Modelo, It's a dark Mexican beer that is actually a Vienna lager. It's best to drink it super cold with a soft chicken taco on the side.

Last week-end I helped to babysit not one but two! kids - a toddler and an infant. At first I was a little worried because I know zip about children, but by the end of the week-end I not only changed diapers for the first time ever, I also changed enough to be able to do it with my eyes closed. On Sunday morning at 6 am when I woke up because the toddler started screaming and got into bed with us, I lost what little maternal instinct I have. But when I was pretending to fall asleep in the faint hope that he would, he drew the blinds open and declared, "It's a beautiful day!" and that made it so.

Before

Before P: Cheerios? For breakfast? Just Cheerios?

Now: I have eight boxes of cereal on top of my fridge, including but not limited to Froot Loops, Banana Nut Crunch and Raisin Bran. When they go on sale at the Rite Aid, I get excited. 2 for $4!

Before P: Breakfast - $3.50 + Lunch and coffee - $10 = broke by end of the week

Now: We brownbag PB+J sandwiches or turkey+provolone wraps and tapioca pudding. None the richer but at least I'm trying.

Before P: Whatever's on TV for entertainment including America's Next Top Model

Now:

Conclusion: Now is better.

What your time's worth

I took the rest of the summer off from school and two weeks off from work so since last week I've been waking up mostly after noon (gasp!). I had no big plans this year. I opted out of a glamorous fabulous week-end with my peeps to save money, so I've been splitting my time between Crooklyn and Jersey.

Last week I hung out with P and family. We went to the movies (Hancock) and visited various stores (Raymour and Flanigan, Costco, Shop Rite, Target, etc), some several times, and played poker and rummy with the kids. At night we went for walks on the boardwalk and had kiddie scoops on sugar cones (mint chocolate chip, vanilla peanut butter, coffee, banana). Pretty much epitomized the words "relax" and "chill," which I don't think I've ever used as much I have been.

Took a day in between for a doctor's visit, during which I was simultaneously cleared of breast cancer, told I might have adenomyosis, and strongly encouraged to have a baby. My doctor is a short Filipino woman ("ang Pilipino magaling sa kapa!") who has pictures of children tacked all over her walls next to numerous certificates, plaques and awards. When I told her I was single and didn't plan to get married soon, she said, "Just have a baby! I don't care if you're not married!"

Speaking of weddings, my college roommate got married last week underneath a tree up a hill in a park. She had ordered a dress online but there was some kind of shipping problem, so two days before her wedding she bought what will go down in the books as the cheapest wedding dress of all time. She looked radiant.

The rest of the week flew by. Went to the beach a couple of times, even went in the water in the midst of riptide currents. One sunny day we checked out Allaire State Park. We rode the steam train as everything else was closed and saw some deer grazing on the open field. Early one morning (by this I mean before ten) I took a walk to Ocean Grove, where the famous Nagles is, by myself and checked out the shops. Ocean Grove is a dry town, meaning no alcohol is served there, and was a popular Methodist camp meeting town for years.

All in all, a pretty good vacation, if I may say so myself. Bonded with the kids via Family Guy. P and I snuck away for a late walk one night and saw fireworks in the distance, just close enough to see and far enough so it seemed like we were the only ones watching them.

Dramachine

Every summer these past few years, on a holiday week-end, somebody in my family gets married. This year, I am missing the wedding of the season because I have Economics finals. The teacher drones on for two hours on Mondays and Thursdays and then gets the computer to pick 50 random questions for the midterms and finals. Right before the midterms he said that if we encounter a question that we didn't discuss we should just go ahead and ignore it because "the computer does all this stuff." At least he said he'd add four or five points to the score. He is by far the laziest teacher I've ever had. He doesn't even have to grade the tests; they're both multiple choice shade-the-right-dot tests. I have two more chapters to read. I have a doctor's appointment this morning and afterwards I am getting my eyebrows done, by hook or by crook. Then and only then will I hole myself up in the library or a Starbucks somewhere. Gudlak na lang to me.

On other news, I think I'm meeting the kids this week-end.