9!

Excuse me? NINE Cavities! Are you KIDDING me? I've only had 3 in my entire life!

And you want to do a SKIN GRAFT because one gum, around one tooth, has slightly receded???

And you can't do it all in one visit- I'll have to come back for 4 visits??? Never mind that I am only here for one more month and only have one day off between now and then. Oh, and the specialist for the skin graft.

And you say you can't forward my records to my parents' dentist because each dentist will set their own treatment plan?

I think I'll get a second opinion. And a new toothbrush.

Smitty's Wedding

Of course I have to blog this! What a lovely weekend. It was so good to see the Elmstreet Gang, and all their spouses.

What was even better was watching the continuous crazy smile that was on Smitty's face all night after the ceremony. You could not set a wedding in a more beautiful place. The garden they had picked had a gazebo with water behind it, lanterns hanging from the trees that mirrored the full yellow moon on the horizon, and a spacious indoor reception area. I won't post too many personal pictures-- that's Smitty's and The Former Lepidopterist's jobs. But I'll share a few for the friends that weren't there, that don't read their blogs, but have heard me talk about the happy couple.

The first picture is of the original Elmstreet gang. There are a few missing members, but this definitely reflects the core group that met in the dorm hall freshman year for hours at a time.



The happy couple, still fresh from the ceremony and probably wondering, "did we just get MARRIED????".



The get away car. How I landed up with this assignment, I'll never know, but I only supplied the equipment. The two 4 year olds did all the work. Yep, that's my story, and the story of everyone else that absolutely in no way help.

Zen

Went back to "my" beach in Rockport, MA two weekends ago. The first is the low tide, revealing the rough rocks I didn't get to see last visit. The second is me sitting up on top of the pebble dune wondering if the little spiders running through the rocks bit, but not concerning myself to move.

Here's your moment of Zen:

NYC, NY- Spring Awakenings

It's been a busy few weeks-- I'll actually post two updates tonight if I find the energy!

The weekend before my birthday I received a call from a Baltimore friend (Lisa) inviting me to NYC to go see Spring Awakenings with her and Emily. The only catch? They were going the following weekend. No problem.

We booked a hotel at Days Inn Manhattan, which was over priced by clean and in a great location. Well within walking distance of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, Broadway, and all sorts of good places! Two blocks off the diamond district, which I had never explored before. Oohhhhh, pretty diamonds.

Saturday I arrived and explored while Lisa and Emily went to the Yankees game (baseball is okay, but I'd rather be exploring...)

Only having a little time, I wandered up 5th Ave, through the diamond district, to the Apple store. I do love my mac.



I also stopped in to Trump tower, climbed to the top (ha- took escalators to the top!), and enjoyed the pretty shiny place.



We met up, had dinner, then called my old graduate school friend Cheria. After meeting up with her and adopting a bar for a night, we proceeded to bump-bump to the loud music and drink lots of Redbull and vodkas. 5:30 am came very fast, and it was a drag to have to give up on the night and head to bed. 9 am came even faster, and we hit the next day on less than 4 hours of sleep. It was worth it, and none of us landed up as bad as this poor soul--



-but we did things we weren't supposed to do and generally caused good clean fun/trouble. No standing, girls!!!



Now to the review:

Spring Awakenings was amazing. The basic storyline is a coming of age with complications sprouting from the inability of parents to be open and honest with their children. So it's a coming of age in ignorance. The staging was fabulous- lighting set each scene by illuminating a specific target on the wall that defined the room- a picture frame of a grandfather for one scene, a butterfly for another. The singers were amazing-- the main male lead sprayed while he sang, but since I wasn't in the front row, I didn't care! The female lead had a sweet voice, but one of the supporting girls blew her away. The climax of the show is a sex scene- a very realistic sex scene- so I wouldn't recommend this for smaller children (under the age of 15). The choreography was crazy good. I haven't seen such an edgy musical since Rent, and I remember loving Rent, but I think this may be my new favorite.




New York City. Gotta love the big Apple.

Happy April Fools Birthday

My little brother, true to form, has outdone himself this year with his birthday present to me. This is the same little brother that gifted me a used CD on the tip of his finger, and the DVD Princess Bride which he first watched with a girl he was trying to impress.

This year he invited his office to assist with the birthday present. Box contents (no wrapping paper, of course):



a safety pin
2 travel size kleenex
Thank you card found in bosses desk
Luck of the Irish frozen mug
2 Ferguson hats- one camoflauged with orange lettering, the other light brown with white lettering
a notepad from a rep
3 pens
one package of nestle quick cocoa mix
one package of lower sugar oatmeal
two screwdrivers- flathead
one pipe cleaner
one name tag holder
one package of air conditioner and fridge drain pan treatments
one bottle of Acetyl L Carnitine "memory booster" found in his desk 3 years ago
one XL teeshirt with Lenox printed on it
6 bead necklaces- one with a Bacardi medal
2 paper cups
one small roll of class 1 duct tape
one "brush" tee for golf
4 finish samples for lighting fixtures
3 creamers- no refridgeration necessary

My personal favorite: one "1 year corporate emblem lapel" for a girl who got fired a week before it arrived in the mail




First runner up for favorite: one half used bottle of greek seasonings




And one mystery object with instructions on "photo control":



I love my little brother. :-)