Mostly I get emotional at night when I'm driving and i see all the bugs who meet their death on my car. It's so sad. Was it really their destiny to die by way of a blue Honda Civic?
Of course -- out of all the condos, apartments and houses in our gigantic development, we own the only unit that received damage from the storm. Dolly... thanks a lot! *sarcasm* Hopefully 'we' are not responsible for funding this fix!
Here's the video taken during our 'discovery'
Enjoy the photos! (click to see larger) .
Different view.
Pic of a tree outside our unit that broke and flew 15-20 feet.
Seriously -- our Loft is just -- not lucky --
Remember the window issues?! Here's the before and after of the Loft window (and bed, I s'pose)
That window cost us a pretty penny. Damned white thingy just 'fell' down. It was in the middle of 2 parts of glass, so they couldn't repair it. (I think the window was 3.5 years old or so)... We had to get it fully replaced. AHHHH
P.S. : I know I have fallen behind on reading blogs -- and I have been tagged and yet to complete that... I'll get there I swear, someday. *sigh*
We got the storm -- it hit. See that area called Belle Mead right in the middle, that's where we be. I guess some hurricane touched down in Mexico and the remnants are going all the way up the East Coast, I think they call it Dolly --
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 710 PM EDT WED JUL 23 2008
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTH CENTRAL MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY... SOUTHEASTERN MORRIS COUNTY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY... NORTHEASTERN SOMERSET COUNTY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...
* UNTIL 745 PM EDT
* AT 708 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR NEW BRUNSWICK...AND MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.
* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... MILLINGTON BY 725 PM... BASKING RIDGE BY 730 PM... MADISON BY 735 PM... MORRISTOWN AND EAST HANOVER BY 740 PM...
IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND AND NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.
This is a pic of me, Alicia & Gavin... (getting the picture was worth the 'effort' LOL)
The first time I ever saw him perform was by chance at a Bare Naked Ladies concert. I have to say, he totally out performed the main act... HA! I like that all his songs tell a story. He has a particular sound about him, he sings with so much feeling. You never see him in the tabloids, that's because he is just a normal guy. Loves and appreciates music.
Written and performed by Gavin DeGraw -- a musician I have always admired. He writes from the heart.
Listen here (no video out yet) - and lyrics below:
Let It Go
I can't live without you Set me goals around you Takes a little extra time But it all works out
You're a shining ember I'll be shining armor Just look up into my eyes I won't let you down
And I'll always be here Yes, I'll always be here
Let it go, settle into me Let it go, let it all go Except for me, I'm the one you found Just hold on, hold on to me now
Why don't we play hooky? We could both get lucky Better to get lucky Than to go to work today
We don't have to shower You won't wait in traffic Take our daily panic And we'll put it all away
And we'll always be near We should always be near
Let it go, settle into me Let it go, let it all go Except for me, I'm the one you found Just hold on, hold on to me now
Just let it go, settle into me Let it go, let it all go Except for me, I'm the one you found Just hold on in, hold on to me now
Don't you know you're the one for me? After all anyone can see Let it go, let it all go now Let it go
Two nights ago we had tofu marinated in teriyaki sauce over brown rice with scallions. Yummy
Last night and tonight we had some black bean soup with sauteed shallots, over brown rice, with fat free shredded cheddar. Wish we had some sour cream --- but otherwise, it was freakin' delicious!
P.S. : I still have yet to find the perfect substitute for meat. Nothing satisfies me like chicken did!! Fat tastes so F'n good -- I just wish it wasn't from animals!!!
Holy shiznit. Good movie (suspenseful and action packed) -- not what I had expected, really...but I think I had anticipated the ending. Which always sucks -- still entertaining.
The beginning was pretty intense, as most of her books are. This one, however, was moreso b/c it was a bit gruesome for me. (if you haven't read it and plan to, do not read this entry or I may spoil it for you)...
After the first 70 pages or so, it was just rough... It was rough to read until about page 450.
It's not that reading it was hard, it was just a topic I didn't really want to deal with. Most of the book was based around a prisoner, in jail...on death row. He was on death row for molesting and murdering a 7 year old girl and her father (a cop).
Obviously, as in all Jodi's books that I've read thusfar, there was a bit of a twist at the end....
I think just KNOWING there was a twist got me unnerved, b/c I just wanted to get to that part...but the book was SOOOO long.
Another focus in the book was religion. Christianty, Gnosticism... I had not known anything about The Gospel of Thomas until I read this book. D'oh.
That's all I can say -- yup -- D'oh!
I don't know what else to write about the book without writing a super long review of everything that was good and bad about the book. The storyline, the characters etc...
So I'll just move on.
The Tenth Circle -- I think that was the 2nd Jodi Picoult book I ever read. The first was 19 Minutes... I was SHOCKED that 2 books by the same author had such an impact on me. Usually, (in my experience at least) -- I read 1 good book by someone and the next by the same author just doesn't live up to it. Disappointing.
Having read The Tenth Circle -- I was SO EXCITED to see that it was being made into a Lifetime Original Movie. It came out on TV this past Saturday.
ARGH!!! Obviously, not everything was true to the book, but some parts of the movie were totally on point as to what I had 'envisioned' when I had read it. I don't like the changes that were in it though. Like, the ending was different. There wasn't as much about 'Alaska' as there was in the book. So Eck..
The thing I like the MOST about her books is that I'm always learning something...Something I never would've learned on my own. It's just amazing to read her stuff.
Anyway -- I'm taking a break for her books for now, and attempting to read 'The Prime of Miss Brodie' and 'The Pure Land'.
The first is very short...the 2nd -- looks good. Cultural books are always good.
Sue is reading an interesting book called Atlas Shrugged. Just looking at a book with 1192 pages makes me not want to read it. I have weak arms. However, I might pick it up on AudioBook for my long commutes to/from work. Sounds intriguing.
Just bought this shoe - i don't know why. Saw it on clearance rack at Lord & Taylor's and I bought it. Love it! I never bought Anne Klein shoes before, but they are affordable.
I never bought a shoe on impulse so this is weird. Especially considering my shoe collection consists of: - 1 pair hideous blue crocs - 1 pair black mary jane crocs - 1 pair sneakers (walmart) - 1 pair white sketchers sneakers (rarely wear) - 1 pair silver ballet flats - 1 pair black ballet flats - 1 pair black high heels.
That is all my friends. That is all!!! I have bought other shoes, however, they never fit right or they were just plain hideous so I couldn't be seen in public wearing them. (the crocs have that right to be ugly and be seen -- the others? NO!)
There's a lot of shiznit I've got to do, and a lot of shiznit I've already done.
I've been doing things I've always wanted to do, but now, I'm at a point in my life when I'm emotionally, physically and monetarily stable enough to do things.
I'm getting married in October, I'm excited, but also can't wait for it to just be done with already. I think the best part about getting married is the preparation and anticipation. But what happens when the 5-6hr party is over...that's it. Now what, you're married .... AND THEN?! ooooOooOh -- THE HONEYMOON! DUH -- i foogotz (Tahiti here we come!)
Mike and I have it pretty good. We've been living together for a few years now and are 'used to' each other. We know each other's habits and I am relying on past experiences we've had together to determine the fact that we can live together for the rest of our lives...
We both have decent paying and stable jobs. YAY.
We have a place to call 'home'. We no longer live with our parents which is spectacular...so the whole mess of buying a place to live after getting married -- is one thing we don't have to worry about. However, we've been wanting to sell our current place for the longest time. Each time it's fully presentable -- we mess it up... The problem with our place is not the size, but moreso, the layout. We have 4 floors all jumbled in the weirdest way. There is no 'flow'. It's bizarre. I can't say it's "bad" it's just not a place to start a family b/c of all the stairs...At this point, I'm hoping we sell by the end of the year, not so sure about that, since that's what we said last year. LOL.
Tomorrow I'm getting my hair and makeup trial done at Depasquale's. It's a day-spa near where I work -- which is closer to the wedding/reception than where I live at least.
The price of all these things (just the trials) is enough to freak some people out. I can't believe it, but I guess it's just an understanding that for a wedding, you just pay more. Argh. I don't even have my head piece yet. My mom got a veil from someone she works with who already got married. I think I will use it...(Don't really wanna shell out $200 for a piece of sheer fabric). I just need the headband to attach it to since I want to have my hair down.
Most girls I know, are all about the wedding. All about the planning. It becomes their life. It has become mine now too, but I'm more stressed about it than anything. I'm so excited about marrying Mike, it's just the whole cost of it all and I'm not really that fond of wearing white...but for traditions sake -- I will. LOL. If I could wear a black cocktail dress, I'm sure I'd feel so much more comfortable. Also, I'm not really one for having all eyes on her. Yikers...that is a little weird. And the whole "It's Your Day" thing -- I get it, but it makes me feel selfish.
I'm a bit of a control freak, so I think that's the biggest issue. If things don't go the way we plan, I will freak... So I've been slowly planning things and trying my best to depend on the people we are paying to do their jobs and do them right. That is soooo hard. I'm one to just do something myself, if I want it done the right way (or at least 'my way')...
2 weekends ago, some friends from work and from the meetup.com vegetarian group went with Mike and me to Pennsylvania to do some Whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River. It was a friggen blast! I had no idea what to expect...and was happy at the outcome. We had 2 rafts with 6 people in each. I had thought there would be a guide who knew the river, in each raft, but there wasn't. Just us beginners...trying to stear a huge @$$ raft through rapids. Some people paddled, some didn't, some people fell out, some didn't... Sometimes our raft would just take us downstream while the rest of the group stayed back. That was a little freaky...and it was impossible to try and paddle back up stream... At one point, we all just got out of the raft and tried walking it back up to a place where all the 'other' rafters stopped to eat lunch. Don't worry, out of the 100+ people who were there and saw us... NO ONE HELPED!
At least I know I could survive in the semi-harsh-wild with my crew. HA!
After rafting, I, the vegetarians and Mike went to Jim Thorpe, PA. What a friggen cute/quaint town. It had the most AWESOME restaurant that catered to Vegetarians...and the food was prob the best I had since I became vegetarian in September. (Cafe Origins)
Last weekend some friends and I went horse back riding. We took a night-trail ride that lasted about 1.5 hours, through the woods near a stable in Newfoundland, NJ. (Echo Lake Stables). After the trail ride, we took a hayride into the middle of the woods where a DJ (yup...a music DJ) and a grill and bonfire awaited us (a group of abt 30). They grilled up some Hamburgers and hotdogs (I had a cheese sandwich), and we roasted marshmallows over the fire while the DJ cranked out some country music. (-- there were PLUGS in the TREES!)
After about an hour and a half of all that, we took the hayride back through the dark spooky woods and were dropped off by our cars. GOOD TIMES!
For $60, what a friggen bargain!
We are planning to get a bigger group together in August for a possible Day ride (no bonfire/hayride/food).
Oh, the horse I rode was named Maestro -- he rocked. He was in Spiderman 3 & Enchanted. He had a bit of an attitude and bit a horse and kicked another in the face. I was scared...
Mike rode a horse named Burrito... Burrito was hillarious b/c he would randomly just stop and stand in one spot and even after Mike kicked and pulled him, he wouldn't move. Mike wound up in the back of the pack holding everyone up, but it wasn't his fault, it was Burritos. It was just the funniest thing.
With abt 30 of us riding through the woods on horseback -- if one horse had to pee, they would all pee...at the same time. It literally takes about 2 minutes for them to 'complete'. Some horses walked so close the horse in front of them, that when the horse had to poop -- it came right out on the other horses face. YUM!!!
Tomorrow morning Mike and I are driving up to my mom's to drop off Peeps. Seeing 'Get Smart' at the movie theater at 11:50am. Then I have my trial at 2:30ish, and it all ends around 5pm. Then we go to dinner for my mom's bday at 7:30...then we pick up Peeps and head back home.
My mom's house is a bit dog-crazy right now. She's got the 4 (Louie, Kiko, Chip & Yoshii) and now she has 2 more she is dog-sitting for about a month ... so there are 6. With Peeps there tomorrow, that will make 7. Holy CRAP.
This is the first year, I think, that I didn't see fireworks :-( So Sad... I was lazy today.
