Pumpkin Pie in the Sky

This morning I awoke to the sound of the babe making a pie in the kitchen. Yes, my babe was making a pumpkin pie first thing in the morning.

Last night Kelly and I were doing the usual. This typically involves watching wheel-of-fortune and finding or making food to eat for dinner. During this usual time the most unusual thing was spoken by Kelly, "My group is having a pot luck lunch tomorrow." As I finished preparing a quiche, which was the food that we were making during this usual night, and was about to put it in the oven, I looked at my babe. Perplexed.

"Q", a contestant on wheel of fortune shouted out. "What would you like to bring," I asked my babe. Although the babe had no idea she suggested bring in a quiche. I thought that might be a weird thing to bring to a lunch pot luck and suggested brownies instead, knowing that there would likely be extras that I could munch on tonight.

"Z", the same contestant yelled, interestingly, as there was no Q in the puzzle but the next two contestants spun a lose-a-turn and bankrupt respectively, consecutively. Kelly didn't feel like making brownies tonight to my dismay.

Needless to say there was no Z in the puzzle either. I started to question the ability of some of these players and how difficult it really must be to get to be a contestant on our show when I noticed the pumpkin that I had picked out from a field full of pumpkins a few weeks ago. Kelly also noticed the pumpkin at the moment and at precisely the same time the pumpkin had feelings, or at least would have had feelings if a pumpkin could have had feelings, of not wanting to be turned into a pie.

A simple Google search revealed a recipe entitled, "How to make pumpkin pie taste like chicken," said Kelly. Actually only the first half of that sentence was read by Kelly, the other half was read by a contestant, who we don't know, though, not surprisingly, it was not our Q-Z friend, solving the puzzle on TV. "How to make pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin," is what Kelly had actually read.

As it turned out, the facts were these: one teaspoon allspice, one of cinnamon, and one-half of a teaspoon of ginger were no where to be found in our apartment. There is no way to make a pumpkin pie without these spices so we knew that this pie would not be made tonight. The pumpkin was relieved. We opened the browser to explore the website of our favorite online grocery store and, in doing so, explore the possibility of ordering the spices and having them delivered by the potluck- or at least 45-60 minutes before the potluck as this was the time required by the pie to bake and be ready for the potluck.

The tide had turned as we surfed our way to the checkout page and had placed an order for exactly 2 cans of dehydrated milk, 1 package of 2 frozen pie crusts, and the spices which had been listed earlier. The earliest delivery time was between 6:30 and 8:00am the next day.

At precisely 7 hours, 53 minutes and 24 seconds past midnight the next day, a Kelly feeling quite tired had awoken to the sound of a delivery man knocking on our door while I, feeling quite relaxed, was soundly a sleep. We had already mashed our poor little pumpkin, so it was feeling nothing. With the remaining ingredients in hand, Kelly had gone to work measuring the required quantities and mixing them, along with our pumpkin remains, together.

This morning I awoke to the sound of the babe making a pie in the kitchen. The pie, at this point, was being placed in the oven. Unfortunately, both of us bustled off to work as we were already late to meetings. At precisely 9 hours, 27 minutes, and 53 seconds after midnight the buzzer on the stove beeped 3 times, letting anyone who was around know that the timer that was set had reached zero. Kelly had entered the apartment 2 minutes and 4 seconds earlier so she was that anyone in this case.

The pie that was made was finished and the pot luck was still 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 7 seconds away. Kelly returned to her office, pie in hand, and so began a successful pot-luck lunch.

It started with a BINGO

We just played a game of scrabble and Daniel beat me by 80 points! On his first turn, he used all of his letters to spell Migrated and got a BINGO! Even though it was tough, I was determined to overcome this and try to win. I thought I had him when I put Quiz on the board for a double word score but alas... he used bicep and clover to get himself 66 points! From there there was no turning back.

It was a very good game for both of us though.. we are starting to get into mid-high 300 point range which qualifies us as very good players!

J! E! T! S! Suck, Suck, Suck!

Today, Kelly and I went to the Jets-Bills game. The game was probably the least exciting sporting event that I've ever attended. I think there were 4 first-downs the entire game.. both teams combined! Punt after punt, the game almost made me dizzy.

In the 1st and 2nd the Bills and Jets got one field goal, respectively. In the 4th, the Bills got a field goal with 8 minutes left then a monster throw lead to a touch down in the last 5 minutes. Kelly was very excited when the Bills got their touch down to seal Buffalo's victory. She was jumping and screaming as the player ran the ball in to the end zone.

We also came up with a marathon strategy for me on the bus ride home. Since I haven't run at all in the last two months, running the entire marathon is out of the question. I could probably finish if I walked most of the course, but I'd rather not risk hurting myself. What I really love about the NYC marathon is the starting line and running over the Verrazano bridge with all 40,000 co-racers.

I think I'll run the first 8 miles of the marathon, which will take me to the Atlantic-Pacific subway location in Brooklyn. This station is only 1 subway stop from where we live in Manhattan. Kelly will be cheering me on at this location and she'll have my sweats for me there. We'll come home, I'll shower up, and then we'll head to the finish line to cheer on James, my friend who's running also.

I like this idea for three reasons. Firstly, this will allow me to enjoy the spirit and excitement of the race without killing myself trying to finish. Secondly, it'll allow me to enjoy my entire race. And finally, since that runner died running the Chicago marathon because he was under prepared, running an "8-mile marathon" will make Kelly happy. :)

I also enjoy crossing the finish line, but I'll have to wait until I'm in better shape to enjoy that feeling again.

Just One & Scabble's done!

I beat Kelly in Scrabble, 305-291. Woohoo, I'm a genius.

I'm actually bummed because I was supposed to have a meeting with a coworker from Hong Kong this morning and 8am. Hong Kong is a 12 hour difference from here so he was supposed to dial in at 8pm. I wasn't planning on waking up until 9 to 10, but because of this meeting I had to wake up early. Sure enough, when I got to work he wasn't on our conference line. As a result, I'm really tired. :( I need to get up early again tomorrow because it's my day to cover support.

Back in NYC

We successfully made it back home and have the rest of today to just relax. It'll be nice to unwind before another week of work.

I really should start running again considering the marathon is two week from today. I'm definitely going to do it, I just need to figure out my strategy. Should I walk the first 13 or 18 miles? :(

Wedding Stuff!

Today was the best! My mom and I went shopping for the wedding. We went to a shoe store where they dye your shoes and bags to match your dress. She was looking for a pair of shoes to go with her dress she bought for the wedding which is a beautiful bright blue. While we were there we happened to find the most adorable flower girl basket for Anna. It is made with ivory fabric and decorated with a flower trim and just so happens to match the fabric my mom picked out for the ring bearer pillow perfectly. When I came home to show Daniel, he was beyond thrilled!

Then we stopped by a place called the Wedding Agent, which had so much for us to look at. We checked out the aisle runners, favor bags & boxes, napkins, yarmulkes, veils, and invitations! We found a perfect invitation. After looking around a bit more, I think we may come back at Thanksgiving and order them. Yay! :-)

20,000 reasons

Do you know how, when something cost a lot of money like $20,000, people say, "I can give you 20,000 reasons not to buy that?" Well, I do. And I think think they are lying.

I don't think that this phrase makes much sense. What are the reasons? One reason is probably, "I'd rather a candy bar from a vending machine," since that costs 1 dollar. But, what, are you saying that you'd buy 20,000 candy bars if you didn't buy this $20,000 item? No, you aren't. Even if you were, that would be pretty lame. It's like "I can give you 20,000 reasons not to buy that car! Reason one: I'd rather a candy bar from a vending machine. Reason two: I'd rather another candy bar from a vending machine. Reason three: etc..."

So, if you're not saying that you'd buy 20,000 of the same items that cost $1, what are you saying? Do you have a list of 20,000 different $1 items that you'd rather buy? Maybe you do, but it's very unlikely. If you did most of those items would probably be erasers because I'd imagine that the list would constantly be changing.

Of course we haven't yet considered the possibility that you may want 10,000 items that cost $0.50 and 10,000 items that cost $1.50. But that's why this blog isn't finished - we are about to consider this possibility:

Let's consider the possibility that you may want 10,000 items that cost $0.50 and 10,000 items that cost $1.50. Ok, consider it considered. If I may, it's a pretty stupid consideration and I almost wish that it wasn't even a consideration.

I think that if someone is going to buy something for $20,000 you, at most, have 30 reasons (costing about $667 each) not to buy it. Maybe.

In conclusion, I think that conversations involving a lot of money should go as follows:

You: Hey bub, I'm going out to buy an item for
$20,000

Me: I have at most 30 reasons why you shouldn't buy
it.

You: Oh, I won't buy it then.

See how I got my message across to you with at least 19,970 less reasons than the other approach and I didn't even have to lie? Yes you did. Mission accomplished.

Life Changes in a Moment

Unfortuniately, one of Kelly's parents best friends passed away suddenly last weekend. She was only in her mid-50s. Kelly and her family were very close this friend and her family. We'd like to be there to support everyone so this weekend Kelly and I are heading back to Buffalo. We're flying there on Thursday night and returning Sunday morning.

Weekend Getaway

This weekend Kelly and I spent time at my parent's house. On Saturday, I accidentally broke my mothers computer causing me to spend a few hours working on restoring it to working order.

Today, Randy, Brian and I went to the corn maze on LI. We had a lot of fun finding all of the hidden items in the maze. Afterwards, we met up with my father, who also happened to be at the maze with his employees and we went to the Walt Whitman mall. We walked into the Apple store and found a new computer with a built-in camera. Here are the results: (Click for more.)



:)

Shave and a haircut.

Have you every been 25 and forced to get a haircut by your mom? Well I have.

Kelly and I are at my parent's house this weekend and my mother is trying make me cut my hair. She even tried to bribe me with $40 and M&Ms. I wouldn't go for it. I like my head and will be bald soon enough. I'm taking advantage of my hair while I've got it!

Me in 5 years.

Jury Duty & A Lunch

Today I went to Jury Duty and met my father and grandparents for lunch.

Opportunities abroad

Kelly and I are extremely excited at the possibility of working abroad. I can't get into the details now, but next year we may be living the Hong Kong or Tokyo!

Not only would this be a great opportunity to take on more responsibility, but it would be a great place to spend some time and visit places on the other side of this earth. :) !


Downtown Hong Kong

Babe's Day Off

Today babe had a day off because it's Columbus day and the US bond markets are closed. She didn't skip a beat and used this opportunity to do some research into her future in nursing.
When I came home from work, I had to take a call from a coworker in Tokyo for a project that we're working on. I called at 7pm my time, for him it was 8am. The weird thing is that tomorrow morning we have another meeting. Then, it will be 7am for us and 8pm for him! It's really weird that while I'm sleeping he's working and visa versa.

Scrabble & Oro

This morning Kelly and I played Scrabble. I got really lucky and finished with a score of 248, beating Kelly by almost 50 points. We then went to Brooklyn to check out this new condo that was being built called Oro , on Gold St. There were some apartments which were considered buying after looking at their website, but quickly realized when we got there that none of them had a good view of Manhattan, or anything for that matter. We also learned that the apartments went on the market last January, which means that the builders couldn't sell the apartments that are left in the last ten months. Not a good sign. We were disappointed because we thought it would be cool to buy something, but we're actually not in a rush to move. We have another year left on our current lease, so we really didn't think this though to begin with.

Relationplane

I wouldn't call what Kelly and I have together a relationship. We have more like a relationplane.