Curious Goldie's Suburban Adventures

It's That Time Of Month.

2009-03-10T16:14:00.002-04:00

To update this blog, that is.

My bloggy friends, BTW, are clearing out like it's the Titanic, and they don't want to be around when Leo DeCaprio is the only one left with a blog. A few of them turned up on Facebook, so yay.

I wanted to say something witty and profound, but it's all been done. Even the big-name bloggers that I've been following, have started repeating themselves. You know it's gotten really bad when V regurgitates her posts of old.

Internet Monk is about the only one that still updates with original material, and has cool discussions going on in his comments. I should read him more. He's a good source, whether I agree with him or not. Speaking of spiritual journeys, this man seems to be what I've been looking for lately, so I'm going to read more of his work and see if it answers any of the questions I've had for the last couple of years.

New South Park starts tomorrow. Don't forget to leave your TV on after it ends, to see Important Things With Demetri Martin. This guy seriously rocks. All right, what else?

We went on vacation:

We went to another dogpark, and this time our visit was hump-free:

I haz motivational posters!

CB and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar live. You need to write down this name, boys and girls. James Delisco. This guy is amazing! Ted N_e_e_l_e_y, on the other hand, was a bit of a letdown. Maybe he needs to retire?

The funny spelling of the name Ted N_e_e_l_e_y, by the way, is due to the fact that famous dudes have a habit of googling their name, finding this blog, and emailing me about it. This has already happened a few times, so I'm not taking anymore chances with Mr. N_e_e_l_e_y.

We got a letter from LP's school, thanking us for his good grades. The letter was customized with LP's name but not gender, like this: "Your son/daughter Bill has received straight As two quarters in a row". Needless to say "son/daughter" is now LP's nickname. Seriously though, I'm so proud of him! He is a good son/daughter!!

These are all the updates I have. See ya!

Unwelcome Advances, Hostile Environment

2009-02-05T12:19:00.009-05:00

Last weekend, CB and I took our dog to a local off-leash park. Because it was freezing cold, only two other dogs were there. One, a black lab, took a liking to our Sparky. First he licked him all over.

Then the usual routine started.

I wasn't surprised. Sparky gets humped a lot by other dogs. He's a quiet, shy, submissive guy. Normally he'd slide out from under the dog and walk away smiling. He tried that, but the lab kept following him and starting over. This bothered me because the lab was twice Sparky's weight. It also bothered the lab's owner, possibly because he was there with his six-year-old daughter.

We tried everything. We took turns pulling the lab off Sparky. The owner talked to the lab. I talked to the lab. Nothing worked. The lab was hellbent on world domination, starting with my dog. Today, Sparky, tomorrow, the universe!

I was mid-sentence, explaining to the lab's owner that I really, honestly did not mind, when it happened.

Our harmless little Spoopy turned to the lab, bared his fangs, and barked at him in a most vicious way. The lab backed up, but Sparky kept barking.

He looked scary. Normally he looks like a stuffed toy.

Not like this.

I moved to stop Sparky, but the lab owner dude told me it was okay, and "actually a good thing". Maybe their whole family was getting tired of Sir Hump-A-Lot, and thought it was time somebody taught him a lesson. Don't know what the deal is, because the guy, the kid and the lab left soon after that.

Apparently Sparky also chased the lab around the park. I didn't see it happen, as I was busy watching my dog, ready to break up the fight if needed. (How I intended to break up a dog fight, I don't really know.) CB told me about it later. Next thing I saw, both dogs were standing peacefully side by side. Then Sparky saw a Maltese and ran off to play with her.

CB beamed proudly.

"You stood for yourself, Sparky! To a large dog! Our Sparky became a man today," he said.

For fifteen minutes or so, I beamed quite happily myself. Then the usual reaction set in.

Can you guess?

I feel guilty because my dog yelled at another one. Never mind that the other dog started it, or that he was twice as big. I spent most of this week feeling terrible because of the supposedly offended lab owner, then kicking myself in the head for it, then feeling terrible again.

I am very strange. I'd seriously let a random canine hump my dog to avoid conflict.

This explains a lot of my past. For example, this.

Musical Hump Day

2009-02-04T07:00:00.002-05:00

I chose a sad song today, because I'm feeling kind of sad and stressed out. Good news, though? Vacation in ten days!

Also, CB's middle school won a "cool school" prize or something from FOX, so tonight, each student gets a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and each student's family gets a 15% discount. If this blog isn't updated anymore, that means I died from Chick-Fil-A poisoning. I've never tried that stuff. I checked their nutrition info and grilled chicken sandwich looks decent, so I'll give it a shot.

But I digress.

Thought Of The Day

2009-02-03T13:04:00.001-05:00

This is my history, and it's repeating itself one minute at a time.

Why? Because I don't learn.

Cute dawggy post coming up in the next few days, stay tuned.

You Forgot "Hep Cat"

2009-01-31T21:38:00.005-05:00

So, I'm getting this magazine called "Your Teen: for Parents". Not sure how it ends up in my mailbox, but since it's free, I'll take it. The last issue had this helpful article:

"Have you ever found yourself staring at your teenagers in complete wonder - hearing words come from their mouth but having no idea what they are saying? We break down the jargon to help you better understand your teenagers.

Makin' game: Flirting with a girl..."

Makin' what? I called CB over and handed him the mag.

"See this list, CB?" I said. "Can you look it over and tell me which words on this list are really teenage slang and which are not."

CB grabbed a pen and went to work.

Five minutes later, 18 words out of 20 were crossed out.

"What does crossed out mean, CB?"

"These are either old or I've never heard of them," CB told me.

Here are the only two CB approved:

Emo
apparently emos are alive and well, happily cutting themselves, so the term is still widely used.

I'd tap that
"Though usually we just say 'I'd fuck her'", my helpful kid explained.

Here are the eighteen that did not make CB's list. Being the anal mother that I am, I looked each one up on Urban Dictionary.

Makin' game
CB never heard of it. Neither did UD.

That's clutch
Again, not in UD. Supposed to mean "that's cool". NOT.

What's crackin'?
supposed to be the new "how're they hangin'?"
UD has one entry on this, but in CB's defense, it's four years old.

Mackin' on
CB has never heard of it or used it, yet it is listed in UD as "Attempt at securing further sexual relations with a female". Wow, I've been macked on so many times and didn't know it. Or mackered on. Whatever.

I'm throwin' down
"I'm having a party" is how Your Teen magazine defines it. According to UD, though, it means "The act of expelling waste similar in color and consistency to vomit, though expelled through the rectum rather than the mouth. It may be accompanied by sounds similar to those made while vomiting as well. See ass vomit." Wow, that's some party.

Looking fly/fresh
2009 teen slang? You've got to be kidding me, Will Smith!

Peace out
CB laffed at it, but look at this:
Term used to encourage military members to become conscienous objectors "peace" and get "out" of the military. Started during the Viet Nam War by "Peaceniks" and hippies. Turned into a term for saying goodbye, used primarily within ethnic groups. Has been receiving renew popularity because of the U.S.s involvement in yet another unpopular war.
Hey... sounds cool! (Fresh?)

Are you going to roll up?
No, Your Teen, this does not mean "are you going somewhere?" Look it up, sheesh. Anyhoo, if you are going to roll up, pass it around, dude.

The rest of the list is pretty much the same - tired, 90s slang:

Player
Skank
Blazed
Kicks
Keep it on the down low
Hooked up
Friends with benefits
I'm down
She's a dime piece
Sketchy

This is all the teen slang CB and I have for you tonight. Peace out.

How To Kill Your Blog In Five Minutes

2009-01-31T21:30:00.002-05:00

In a moment of vanity, I outed this blog to my coworkers.

But that's okay, because my RL friends already had the URL anyway.

I honestly don't know what to write here anymore. Whenever I can think of something clean, I'll be sure to post it. I have a few ideas right now. I will definitely continue the Musical Hump Days. I'll probably update Graphomania eventually. I'm still taking the class, and stuff is happening.

I'm going to leave the site up no matter who knows about it, because IMO the Aspie Digest is too valuable to take down. I've used it a few times as a reference myself. I don't add to it anymore, because LP is no longer the flaming Aspie he used to be. He's making friends and getting good grades. He also cooks, does home repairs, mows the lawn in summer and shovels the driveway in winter. No, you can't have him.

Blogs as a whole are already over with, so who cares?

I will talk to you whenever.

Snowy Musical Hump Day

2009-01-28T07:52:00.002-05:00

It's snowing here. Again. Schools are closed; Mr. Goldie's work has a two hour delay. I'm the only one that has to leave now. LP shoveled our driveway an hour ago, but you cannot tell that already. Wish me luck.

Here with a true observation on life, one of my all-time favorites. Tell me, is it wrong to have a crush on a guy that's been dead for 40 years?

Bonus song about snow. Now, this is the white stuff that should be illegal.

Fun With Ethnicities

2009-01-25T23:13:00.003-05:00

Because I know someone will click over from PAN, after my comments there tonight, let me tell you a story.

One time at day camp, a kid told my son ChinchillaBoy (then 11-year-old): "All Russians are stupid".

CB inquired, "Do you want to insult my heritage after camp?" hinting at the fact that, in camp, no fighting was allowed.

CB packs a mean punch, so the kid backed off.

This was two years ago. CB is much stronger now. Don't make me call him over. Okay?

Also, do unto others as you would them do unto you. This means, don't say things to other people that would piss you off if applied to your precious self.

This is my sermon for today. I'm out.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

2009-01-25T20:11:00.002-05:00

It's 20 degrees outside, and has been for the last month. Except for that one week when temperatures were in the single digits.

Sidewalks are covered with snow, and the road with salt. Yesterday CB tried taking the dog for a walk down the street and back. They had to walk in the middle of the road. The dog came back all covered in salt and sleet, from his long Sheltie hair sweeping the ground.

I feel trapped in my own house. At least it's a nice house, with cool and awesome people living in it. Still, I'm bored. Where's spring when you need it?

Pro-lifish.

2009-01-24T15:55:00.005-05:00

I have been reading a lot of Internet Monk lately. Open-minded, thought-provoking, and highly recommended reading, regardless of what your views are.

This post and the comments, however, gave me pause, specifically in this part:

"This Catholic apologist felt that Protestants are mistaken to say they can prove their pro-life position solely from reading the Bible.
...
Catholic doctrine and ethical teaching comes out of the Catholic view of authority: scripture, tradition and magisterium. All work together to arrive at the conclusion."

And later in the comments:

"I know of no denomination that is pro-abortion for example. Whether by scripture or tradition, we agree on life."

"there isn’t an open and shut case against abortion derived solely from the pages of Scripture. However, when you consider that Christian tradition has always been firmly against it, the case becomes stronger."

etc etc.

Which, to me, says that the pro-life movement has no scientific proof that life begins at conception. This belief appears to be based on faith and faith alone. This actually came as a surprise to me. Having interacted with the pro-life movement since the late 80s, from their sheer confidence I was sure they had volumes of medical evidence to back their claims. Turns out, they do not?

Which leads me to the question, if this is a matter of personal faith, then what the hell are they doing trying to make it a criminal offense, punishable by law?

How is this different from turning any other staple of any other religion into a criminal offense?

How'd you like to go to jail for not praying towards Mecca five times a day? to be fined for eating pork? Sheesh. Keep your faith to yourself.

I turned away from the pro-life movement in the early 2000's, right after I realized that it has an action plan. And that, on that action plan, outlawing birth control comes right after overturning Roe v. Wade. I cannot handle more than two kids, so I was like, oh fuck no. I'm outta here. I'm too partial to my IUD.

The post and comments on IM are a huge step towards validating my decision in my eyes. I hadn't realized how right I was.

Church and state, these two don't mix.

PS: This was the news story that made me drop the pro-life movement like it was going out of style. Thanks, Neil Noesen, you were a huge help.

PPS: Why am I even writing about this? Normally I wouldn't touch this subject with a ten-meter pole. Guess I had to post the link because I was impressed by the pro-life folks themselves basically admitting they don't have a case. Wow.

Professional Musical Hump Day

2009-01-21T08:18:00.000-05:00

Dang, I've got to rent this movie.

Dog Blog

2009-01-19T09:39:00.007-05:00

Since you cannot make me go outside in this weather, I've been using my dog lately to find out what it's like outside. Here's how it works. You let your dog out for a few minutes and then observe him closely when he comes back in.

Dog is wet - it's raining

Dog is covered in snow - it's snowing

You cannot let dog out, because door won't open - over 20 inches of snow

You let dog out and he doesn't come back - minus 30 degrees or lower. Dog froze to the ground.

Dog smells bad - the snow has melted away completely

Dog yelps when you let him out - hail

Dog disappears - tornado

*** *** ***

For the last two weekends, we've been trying to take the dog to a new dog park. So far no luck. It has become a personal challenge for me, so I'll keep trying. I will keep you updated. Here's our progress so far.

Week 1 - 10 inches of snow, trip canceled.

Week 2 - light snow and 10 degree temperature. CB and I dress in layers and head out. GPS doesn't recognize dog park address as valid location, but agrees to take us to a nearby street. GPS takes us to the wrong exit and down random side streets. We magically end up in front of a bar where I met with friends three weeks ago. Walk dog around the parking lot. Realize it's freezing cold. Head back. Dog inexplicably happy.

Maybe the park doesn't exist. We'll keep trying. We will find it eventually, and it better not suck.
In other news, the Goldie household was without water for 18 hours this weekend because a pipe burst. I hadn't realize how much I love water. One of the rare weekends when I actually looked forward to coming back to work. Ugh. Happy Monday!

Here's a random picture for your enjoyment. House FTW.

Uplifting Musical Hump Day

2009-01-06T21:41:00.002-05:00

Are you having a crappy week? I am.

Have you tried drinking? I have. It didn't work.

Well, we've gotta do something! 'Cuz when we worry, our faces'll frown, and that'll bring everybody down... Am I right??

So... here we go. If this doesn't put us in a good mood... nothing will.

"But Goldie, it isn't hump day yet!" you say. "It is still Tuesday!" Let me tell you this, smartass. Do you trust me to remember to post a song tomorrow? Do you?? Good, neither do I.

It's Not A Real New Year's Celebration Unless Someone Gets Stitches

2009-01-01T14:36:00.004-05:00

Also, a tetanus shot. I also apparently have a permanent loss of sensation in the tip of my index finger. My knife slipped when I was doing some last-minute cooking last night.

This is actually a family tradition. Many years ago, when I was still dating Mr.Goldie, he came down to visit me one January with a scar that went all around his wrist, that he had got on New Year's Eve.

We still went to the party and had a great time, because that's how we roll.

HNY!

2008's Last Musical Hump Day

2008-12-31T07:40:00.001-05:00

ABBA, natch.

May 2009 treat you better than 2008 treated the Goldie family. Best wishes to you all!

I'll Buy If They're Purebred

2008-12-29T21:56:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of our local Russian store. Name and address edited out, so I can still shop there after I post this.

What are "puppy seeds" anyway? We're thinking dog sperm. Yum?

Brain

2008-12-29T11:57:00.006-05:00

I spent three summers at math camp as a teen; I got my degree from one of the strongest schools in the home country; I've been working in IT all my life. So it shouldn't come as a surprise when I say I've been surrounded by people of above-average intelligence for, well, as long as I remember. I never gave it much thought until last year or so. Last year, through a social networking site, I found many people I went to math camp/college with. Seeing what my classmates did with their lives so far was a tad of a wake-up call.

Take my math camp. Everyone I've talked to has been doing well for themselves. Nice careers, research work, teaching at universities etc. Two guys from our camp made it big. One manages power plants across Russia. The other one is a successful play director at an up & coming theater in Moscow. I barely remember the scrawny, dorky kid from my '83 camp. Now he's a celebrity. That shook me up pretty bad. When I tell people about it, they think I'm upset because these two have the fame and money, and I don't. It's not that. When I look at my classmates, the question I ask myself is, We all started out as, for lack of a better word, gifted kids. They made their gifts work, so now they're happy and satisfied, because their talents did not go to waste. What about me? It's like that parable of the talents. "Where's the talent I gave you, Goldie?" - "Oh shit, what'd I do with it? Wait a sec, lemme look, I'm sure I had it here somewhere. Nope, can't find it. The dog must've dragged it off. Shit, sorry."

That's what my writing class is all about, finally pulling my head out of my ass and putting my abilities to work. We'll see how it works out, or what else I can come up with. At any rate, a large part of my life has already been flushed down the drain.

Then I remember that, back at math camp, I wasn't considered that good, average in fact, and that the first two years of college were an uphill struggle. This makes me feel better. Maybe I didn't have that much, after all. Maybe the loss is not that big.

If you're reading this and you do have a brain, I urge you - use it. Don't let it lay around and gather dust. If you do, you will regret it when you're my age. This goes especially for you, LP, and you, CB. You heard me. Now go do your homework.

Professional Conduct

2008-12-28T10:57:00.002-05:00

After almost twenty years in the workplace, I think of myself as having one. But I just googled it, and turns out I don't know what it really means. The Intraweb has different definitions for different professions. So now I'm curious, what does it mean for you? In my position, I see it as not letting your personal likes or dislikes interfere with your work. You may hate your coworker's guts, or you may want to make out with them ten different ways - none of this should be relevant when you're working on something together. You have to act completely indifferent, treat them like you would any other person, and concentrate on the work at hand. Otherwise, nothing gets done. That's my definition. Ya think it's accurate? complete? Is it missing anything?

CB just walked in and shared a definition of his own: "Professional conduct means you have no fun or social life at your work". I pity CB when he enters the work world.

What's yours? Share!

Musical Christmas Day

2008-12-25T21:47:00.003-05:00

First of all, allow me to thank Jimmy Wales for the email he sent me today. I shit you not, kids!

Anyway. I had a week off work, and now it's over. Strangely enough, I feel I've had enough vacation and am in fact looking forward to coming back to work. The weather was nasty, we couldn't go outside, and there's only so much crap you can do around the house. Like for instance, every little thing in the house, short of knives and furniture, has been run through the washing machine this week. We hosted a party, we went to a party, I did my writing homework, I made the obligatory latkes, now I'm bored and ready to go back!

I went to visit my old job on Friday. You know, the BigPaper Corp. Caught up with my old friends. One of them said a profound thing to me: she was talking about their offshore partners - she said that, to make it work, you have to establish a relationship and build trust with the offshore programmers. This actually is true of work in general. The more critical your work is, the closer to truth these words. I found when I worked at BigPaper that, whatever you do, you interact with people. It could be your teammates, it could be your users. It could be a blue-collar worker who called the helpdesk that paged you. It could be a plant manager trying to find why your program does not work the way she expects. Either way, if you and that person fail to show complete, 100% respect and support for one another, it's not going to work. You're not going to solve your problem and you're not going to fix your support issue. Or, if you do, it will take three times longer. I've always thought this Dire Straits song says it best:

Jimmy Wales; Random Books

2008-12-24T12:28:00.004-05:00

This is Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. (Thank you Jimmy!)

What does this picture tell me? It tells me that Jimmy used to be major-league hot.

Then, one day, he went camping. When he was asleep, a small forest animal crawled on top of his head and died.

Jimmy's asking for donations, but I fear he'll spend all my money on toupees, so I didn't give any.

*** *** ***

I just finished reading the book my Mom gave me, I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. It is about a freshman girl's experiences living on the Dupont campus. I don't recommend it; I found it two-dimensional, and a huge letdown after The Bonfire Of The Vanities. Therefore, spoilers abound ahead.

I read the book cover to cover, because it brought back memories. I found many parallels with my own college life (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.) Like Charlotte, I came expecting to see some amazing union of new generation's brilliant minds, and was stunned to encounter a small-town atmosphere instead. Like her, I had an older mentor who tried to enlighten me while making me fall in love with him at the same time. It didn't work, because my mentor was five feet tall. He had a scrawny body, slimy hands, and a bad habit of flicking his tongue in and out of his mouth when he was nervous, much like a lizard. On top of it, the guy had hangups about Jews. Didn't work at all. I learned a lot from him, though. Like Charlotte, I came to my university as a straight-A student and a small-town prodigy, only to see myself struggle and fail subject after subject for the first two years. Unlike Charlotte, I failed my exams because I tried to juggle college and a full-time job - not because of being date-raped by a frat boy or anything.

Those were good years. The campus was boring as hell, but I continued to reach out and look for new friends and experiences, and in the end had a good time. I did not hook up with a campus celeb, but I did emerge in the end with a degree, a decent transcript, and a husband. I will never be able to send my kids to a school of that level. My education was free. Let's take a break while I shed a tear.

Anyway, the biggest turnoff with the book, for me, was the way the author writes about young women. Unfortunately I just finished Lolita, so reading about all these clefts and declivities, boobies and asses, bouncy lovelies, and sweat pouring down young, tight buttocks as their owners run on treadmills, made me wonder if Humbert Humbert hadn't come to life and written this book for Tom Wolfe. Maybe if he had chosen a different narrator, it wouldn't have come off sounding so sick. If the story had been told entirely by Charlotte, the juicy detail would've made me wonder if the main character is maybe a lil bicurious - nothing wrong with that. If these observations were coming from a frat guy - totally understandable. As it is written, though, it's clear that the observer is the author himself - an elderly, gray-haired man whose picture's on the front page - which makes his descriptions sound, well, repulsive - musings of an old dude drooling over eighteen-year-olds. Don't get me wrong; I briefly dated a 60-year-old once when I was 20. It was okay. I just didn't want to relive it in that much detail.

I found it most intriguing that my Mom read this book and loved it. Possibly best thing I can say about the book. Maybe I should grill Mom about her college years.

*** *** ***

Speaking of books, I'd like to warn GRRM. If Dance With The Dragons does not come out in 2009, again, I'm going to write my own ending and post it, and I'm going to really mess up the characters. Heck, I'll start by making Sansa gain three hundred pounds, and go from there.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Have fun!!! We will.

I Cannot Do Things ASAP. I'm Slow

2008-12-21T22:33:00.003-05:00

1) All right, I can understand a family that decides not to expose their children to the school system and school them at home instead - we've all heard about the mean, bullying, pot-smokin', sex-havin' public school kids and I can see where it's not for everyone. But how does the same family decide it's okay to let a TV crew into their house and their lives 24x7? and become a reality show on national television?

What am I missing here?

2) Emailing me with a "can I please link to your blog" is cute and flattering. Following up with "send me your blog's description ASAP", however, is neither. As some of my former coworkers have learned, asking me to do random unimportant shit "ASAP" will only make me avoid them and stall on their requests. Save that stuff for 911 calls.

3) Thanks to all who have responded to my Sunday School plea. I think I have the problem narrowed down to one kid who cannot sit still. Like, physically incapable. Picture yourself on half a gallon of coffee. Yeah, that restless. Any ideas on how to deal with this? He's a nice kid.

Sunday School

2008-12-16T13:32:00.004-05:00

"Hey CB," I said to my son last Sunday, "Has any of your Sunday school teachers ever told you: you guys are driving me freaking nuts?"

"Noooo," said the surprised CB.

"Oh great. Then I'm first," I lamented.

Seriously, I need advice from my teacher friends. What do you do when most of your class is interested in what you have to say, and actively contributing, but then two or three kids won't sit still, yell, run, and ruin it for the whole class?

I cannot give them a failing grade, there are none.

I cannot give them detention, there are none.

I cannot call their parents - their parents are on my buddy-buddy list.

I cannot hurt their feelings, because then Heaven forbid, they're not going to want to come back, and I'll get in trouble.

To be clear, I'm talking about fourth grade. I admit this is divine retribution in action. Both of my kids turned into ultimate smartasses as soon as they started fourth grade. I used to get calls from their teachers daily. Now I know how the poor teachers felt. But at least, they had leverage against my kids. I have nothing.

I had a kindergarten class last year. There was a boy that wouldn't sit still because he was bored. So I printed out mazes and puzzles off the Internet and brought them in for him to solve. That worked. Fourth grade is completely different. If I give a restless kid a piece of paper, he will rip it to shreds. Or make a paper airplane and hurl it across the room. (True story.)

This is starting to get on my nerves. Thankfully I have an experienced partner. But I'd like to teach some of the classes myself, as I have a lot to offer. It's hard, however, to offer anything serious when you have to talk loud enough to be heard over a hyper 10-year-old, and when you have to interrupt yourself every two minutes telling him to "sit down and shut up!" (c) Mrs. Crabtree of the South Park fame.

I know I've got a few teachers reading this. Advice?

Really? A Dodge CARAVAN?

2008-12-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

For you, Jesus! *scratches head*

Makeup Work For Musical Hump Days

2008-12-06T03:33:00.002-05:00

I know I've missed a few, 'cuz I had been busy getting ready for that party.

Well... I did it!!!

I really pulled it off.

And it went well.

Mr. Goldie helped!

So did my parents.

I'll have a lot more free time now. So let's celebrate with a completely random song by an old, old group Boney M.

Neighb0rz; Michele

2008-12-01T15:04:00.004-05:00

Yet another question for you guys, again related to my party that I am having this week. Most of the RSVPs have rolled in by now, and I am looking at 40 to 55 guests this Friday. That's 20-25-ish cars that will be parked on our street.

Here's my question. Should I talk to my closest neighbors in advance and apologize for the upcoming inconvenience, or shouldn't I?

Question number two - should I bring a small gift to each of the neighbors (Trader Joe's cake, potted plant, other - what?) to reward their suffering?

My neighbors to the right and across the street, I've known for a long time (I actually met the ones on my right several years before we bought our house). Very nice people. The neighbors on my left, is another story - they are brand new. Just moved in, I don't even know what they look like. I am told they have a baby and a toddler. I really don't want to surprise them with my fifty guests, but is it even appropriate to go talk to them in advance? Remember I've never seen them, and they've never seen me.

Your thoughts?

Oh, how I wish I could ask this question via Michele. But she has just closed shop. Best of luck to her in her new endeavors! Her blog will certainly be missed.