This Day in Music...

I admit that I stole this from Darren - I am a total music nut, and this site kept me occupied for quite awhile.

Like Ally McBeal, I firmly believe that you have different "theme songs" at different points in your life. These were the #1 hits at some pretty important milestones in my life:

The day I was born (March 30, 1977) - Rich Girl (Daryl Hall & John Oates)
First birthday - Night Fever (The Bee Gees)
16th birthday - Informer (Snow)
18th birthday - Take a Bow (Madonna)
21st birthday - All My Life (K-Ci & Jojo)
May 29, 1995 (the day Ari and I started dating) - Livin La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin
December 27, 2003 (our wedding day) - Hey Ya - Outcast
28th birthday (most recent) - Candy Shop - 50 Cent

Now that was fun. (And, just in case you were wondering, on April 2, 2005 - the most recent date that this little tool recognizes - the #1 song was still Candy Shop).

*Doing the Happy Dance*

It's Friday.

It's a three-day weekend.

I get to leave work in 28 minutes.

My hellish newsletter is completed and was just sent to all employees (keep your fingers crossed that I made no mistakes!).

Aaaaahhhh.... the weight of this week has been lifted off my shoulders.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone! And a Happy Anniversary wish to my friends Marie and Dan!

I Don't Want My Reality TV

Thank God that American Idol is finally over! Now I can go back to living my normal life.

See, I have always hated reality television. Ever since the first season of Survivor, when that jackass Richard Hatch beat Rudy to win the million bucks, I have been completely turned off by the sleaziness surrounding all of these shows. And I used to be so darn smug, bragging to everyone about how I don't get involved in watching those shows.

Until this year, when I finally decided to check out American Idol, "just to see what it was like," and promptly got hooked. On a side note, I do blame hubby for that, as I never would have watched it if I didn't happen to walk into the family room one day and catch him glued to the television set. Of course, it started off innocently enough... we are only going to watch it for the bad performances... we are only going to watch until so-and-so gets booted - but AI is a drug, and we were addicted.

Soon enough, I found myself tuning in to all sorts of mindless reality drivel - Nanny 911, Newlyweds (I really have a soft spot for Nick and Jessica) - I even contemplated watching Rob and Amber's wedding, even though I never saw them on Survivor or The Amazing Race.

Now that summer is here, I can finally go cold turkey - tear myself away from the TV and find some productive things to do with my time. Well, after I catch up on Tivo, that is - next on the list is Britney and Kevin's "Chaotic"...

The End of an Era.

Sorry that I have been so flaky with updating the blog - things have just been crazy around here. First things first - my FDU graduation was held last week... I am officially a graduate, a proud owner of a Master's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications!

The ceremony was okay, but very long - I think that I liked it better when they had it in the school gym, versus the Continental Airlines Arena (even though the number of guests that you could have was limited). It's just too much with two campuses, people were getting antsy (the girls in the row behind me did not SHUT UP the entire time) and the commencement speaker was... interesting (long story, check out hubby's blog for all of the details).

Although I am happy to be done, my days do seem somewhat empty without the constant worrying about school work and all that jazz.I started the program in the summer of 2001 and presented my thesis in December 2004. It seems like it was over in the blink of an eye, but so many things have happened since then:

* I got engaged... and married (note to self: never decide to take two evening classes - especially the killer research methods course - the semester of your wedding)

* I moved to a new house, in a new town

* I was promoted from an internal communications coordinator, to internal communications manager, to senior manager of communications for C21, and then switched divisions within Cendant to accept the position of senior manager of communications for NRT, where I have been for almost a year (I was fortunate that my company paid for almost all of my schooling - at $2000+ a class, that's not pocket change... in retrospect, I should have written "Thanks Cendant" on my mortarboard)

* We got Stanley, the gigantic English Springer Spaniel with a big tongue and drooling mouth

* My brother hit his lowest point with an often-misunderstood illness, but worked through it to graduate from college, get a good job, break up with his psychotic girlfriend and buy a home

* We have been to like 10 million weddings, but only one funeral

* Hubby got laid off, but bounced back, finding something bigger and better in a company that he loves

* I bought a new car (which is almost paid off)

* I have managed to stay in touch with my best friends, and make many new ones

* I faced my fears and started downhill skiing again, in addition to joining a gym (and actually going!)

Sometimes, I feel sad - in my current job, I feel like I am never going to move anywhere, to do anything bigger than what I am doing now, that all of this hard work was in vain. But I just have to believe that there is much more in store for me, I have accomplished so much in only 28 years, and my talents will not go unnoticed.

And I need to be thankful for all of the other wonderful things in my life - the best hubby in the world, two pooches who are the apple(s) of my eye, a mother, father, brother and grandparents who are a constant source of love and support, friends that are so great, it is almost unreal, and a bright, sometimes exciting, sometimes scary, future ahead.

Too tired...

Here it is, almost 11 pm... way past my bedtime.

Had to work late, went to Pilates and had an awesome time - probably my best class ever, watched the last two seconds of American Idol, ate dinner at 10 pm, and hubby just came home from basketball.

Need to go to bed...goodnight...

What a weekend!

Now, I am never happy to go to work, especially on a Monday, but I felt like I needed it to relax and regroup after a crazy weekend.

After a wonderfully relaxing day on Friday, Ari and I got up at the crack of dawn to drive three hours up to NY for a pre-Mother's Day celebration with my family. We made it up to NY around 10 a.m. and Ari went to help my dad fix up my brother's apartment building while Mom and I did some hardcore shopping. After going to see Nana, we headed down to Crossgates Mall - the shopping mecca of the Northeast. We dropped a ton of money at Ann Taylor (as usual), had a fantastic lunch at Bugaboo Creek and picked up some baby gifts at Talbots Kids (seems like everyone is pregnant, but that's a subject for another time). The whole family (mom, dad, Ari, Bryan and I) then headed out for an early dinner at Red Robin, which was fantastic as usual. We even had one of their awesome mud pie desserts before going back to the house, picking up the pooches, and driving back to NJ. We got home around 11 p.m. and practically fell into bed.

Sunday rolled around all too soon. After a quick workout, Ari and I drove over to his mom's to take her out to breakfast. Now let me preface this by saying that I always dreamed of having a mother-in-law who is like a mother to me, since my mom lives so far away. But I really don't think that my mother-in-law likes me, like she thinks that I am not good enough for her son. During our tumultuous wedding planning period, nothing that we ever did was appropriate - everything we did was tacky in her eyes, and she even went so far as to say that our marriage would never last. Add that to the fact that I am not Jewish, and I truly think that she would be happier if he had married someone - anyone - besides me.

Now, ask anyone I know, and they will say that I am one of the most polite, diplomatic people out there. And I would never, ever be rude to his mother, but I just have a hard time putting on my happy face 24/7 after all of the mean things that she has said about me in the past. However, I do what I must, because I love my husband so much and I want things to be easy for him. After breakfast was done, and we were back at home, it becomes evident the stress that the morning (and the events leading up to it) really affects our relationship. We never fight, but I could feel myself getting snippy with him. I know that her opinion of me shouldn't matter, but deep down, it really hurts my feelings. And I don't know how to deal with it.

But I guess that the answer is simple - I just deal with it any way that I can.

TGIF!

Friday's here! Hooray! I took the day off from work, so it's even better. I already made it to the bank (finally changed my name on all of our accounts, now that Ari and I have been married for almost a year and a half!), the post office and the gym, and it's only 11:30. I love feeling productive - if I were a stay-at-home wife, I feel like I would accomplish so much (in between watching Days of Our Lives). Next on the agenda is some retail therapy, a visit to the chiro, and picking up drycleaning before Ari gets home from work.

This weekend will be hectic. Tomorrow morning, we are loading the pooches into the car at the crack of dawn and heading up to NY to spend the day with my family. Kind of an early Mother's Day celebration. Lots of shopping and lots of eating - two of my favorite things. After dinner, we will make the three hour journey back home, because...

On Sunday, we will be taking Ari's mom out to breakfast. Fun.

Then Ari is taking me to get a mat for my Pilates class (a Mother's Day gift from my canine children)... looking forward to that.

So, have a happy weekend, and I sent my most heartfelt wishes to all of the moms out there.

Keeping Current

With graduate school a distant memory, I finally have more time to spend at home with Ari... watching TV. Yes, between TiVo and DirecTV, we have become addicted to shows that we normally wouldn't watch.

A typical weekly rundown includes: Arrested Development and Cold Case (Sunday); Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men (Monday); American Idol (or Gilmore Girls) and House (or One Tree Hill) (Tuesday); Idol results and CSI: NY (Wednesday); Survivor (Ari's the only one who likes it) and Without a Trace (Thursday); Joan of Arcadia and Monk (Friday) - Saturday is our day of television rest.

However, we hate to admit that there is one other show that we watch way too much (despite our inner voices begging us to turn it off) - A Current Affair.

Back when I was in elementary school (yikes), I used to watch the original A Current Affair with my boy Maury Povich (who I still have a crush on), and I was so thrilled to catch the new episodes when it came to Fox earlier this year. However, the problems with this new generation of A Current Affair are summed up in two words - Tim Green.

Oh, Tim Green, the charisma-deprived host of A Current Affair. He reminds me of Doug, a football player from college who communicated through a brilliant combination of one-word sentences and grunts. Surprisingly enough, Tim Green was also a football player, a "former NFL star defensive end," according to his bio on www.acurrentaffair.com.

However, according to the site, Tim Green is so much more. He is also a Fox Sports commentator, best-selling author, columnist, and (God help us) a practicing lawyer. I would also like to mention that he was the host of "Battlebots" - a sparkling addition to his accomplishments.

Are you freaking kidding me? It is bad enough listening to him comment on The Ex-Wives Club, the fiance of a serial killer, and Bigfoot (yesterday's show). I just pray that he is a better writer and lawyer than a television "news show" host.

By the way, Tim Green lives with his wife and children in upstate NY (where Ari and I hope to live someday). Knowing our luck, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up neighbors...