Entries categorized as ‘Uncategorized’
My sister was all proud of herself, thinking she’d be able to show some authority and independence to my mother by informing her that “No, Mom, me and my family are going away in the Spring and will not be here for Easter.” My sister is sick of me casually avoiding holidays and family events: “oh, I’ll be in South America for Christmas; ” ”Oh no! Too bad I’m in Australia during Grandma’s funeral!!”, all the while she feels like she can offer no shock value, no controversy, no “muahahahahah, I’m getting out of this one!”
So it was with equal part glee and malevolence with which she said, “Guess what, Hol? I get to tell Mommy that we’re not going to be here for Easter.” Not my sister Joy! Not the bearer of my Mom’s only Grandchildren!! But oh yes, the beach house had been booked, and Easter would go on sans kids, sans Joy, both literally and figuratively.
A foreshadowing of a miserable Easter passed before my eyes. What to do without my sister to laugh with! What to do without my sister elbowing me while trying to get to an egg before me in the Easter egg hunt! Who would help take any passive aggressive blows from my mother?!! I quickly identified with how she felt every time I proudly announced that sorry, I can’t make it. I’M the one who is supposed to miss holidays, but oh so how I’ve taken my older sister, my best friend, for granted!
My only solace was in the impending giddiness when my mom would hear that Easter would be Minus my sister’s family of 4. I even asked if I could be conferenced in when Joy delivered the news! Finally, it would not be me who is the disappointing child!
And then… the phone call. Joy was barely audible;l something was wrong. I hurriedly asked, “well, how did she take it?!!!” How would my mother respond to her prize child-bearing daughter skipping— GASP– A HOLIDAY??
"Oh don't worry... we'll have Easter the next week," my Mom calmly said, without skipping a beat
Before laughing for a minute straight, I congratulated my sister on being able to postpone the celebration of the rising of our Lord and Saviour. Easter Sunday, Easter Schmunday.
Jesus can wait a week.
And so Fake Easter is born.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: easter
I’ve been out of commission on a business trip that required 16 hour days. I’m back, and went to grab some money from the change jar to buy myself a cup of coffee this morning since I’m back to being office-level addicted to the stuff. Why buy coffee? Did the Home Office decide to throw the budget out the window because there is a steady paycheck? Hell no, it’s just that someone broke the coffee pot*
The change jar is always magically full of quarters. However, on this morning…
WTF, nothin but copper!
Looks like someone has been dipping into petty cash while I’ve been away. Investigation is pending.
* When I heard the coffee pot drop, my thought wasn’t “Oh no, the coffee pot!” or “I hope no one got hurt in there”, but rather “Thank god it wasn’t me.” Also, now we are faced with buying a new pot even though we are going to register for a new coffee machine. If anyone wants to step up and get us a preemtive new coffee maker, stainless steel with a decanter that keeps it warm, give a shout out hehe
Categories: Uncategorized
FACT: Hollie ’s is 5′7″, with red hair and fair skin. She also drove our tiny rental car around the small towns in Mexico*.
FACT: The average height of a Mexican woman is 5′1″ . During our journey we didn’t witness one other woman driving.
For much of our time exploring Mayan Mexico, locals (mostly children) stared at us. They were particularly awestruck by Hollie. I nicknamed her La Roja Diabla.
the legend grows of the 7 foot tall Ginger who drove Senor William across the Yucatan!
*The car was manual and while I can try to drive stick shift on empty roads, I was not about to test my luck on one lane highways. I actually enjoyed being chauffered around for a change. We were curious as to what the hotel staff thought everytime they pulled the car around and gave me the keys – which I promptly handed to Hollie. “Senor William has a personal female driver – who is this guy?????”
Categories: Uncategorized
I figure we’ll do a recap of the Mexico trip in drips and drabs. It was pretty great, and a good blend of “real” Mexico and swim up bars.
One of the reoccurring vacation arguments pertained to our individual choices in beach reading:
Normal beach reading: People magazine
How about some Blackwater for your beach reading? Relaxing and uplifting!
Yes, Will read Blackwater while in Mexico. Look at him, does he look relaxed? He kept trying to give me updates, too. “Do you know that the parents of the soldiers dragged through the streets in Fallujah had to sue Blackwater to get information…” I was like, can we please stick to more vacation level conversation, like how the Duggar baby is doing?
So for every horrific mercenary story I gave him a gossip magazine story. He eventually stopped. He better hope what Heidi Montag’s mother thinks about her plastic surgery doesn’t come up in dinner party conversation, he’ll be woefully unprepared.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: beach reading, blackwater, mexico
I start a new job tomorrow. Kinda. In that I’ve worked there before.
Earning me the new Home Office nickname "Grover Cleveland" in reference to his nonconsecutive reigns of presidency
It’s a bit of a different role so I’m not completely reliving the past. And I’ll be already established socially, so I hear there is already a Happy Hour planned on my behalf for my first day to help me ease myself back into the day to day.
Will and I were laughing anticipating IT telling me I’ll have to change my email address to say something like ‘2′ at the end because my original email address was deactivated in the system. “I’m sorry, there could only be one email address for each particular name, and yours is deactivated. What, would you like us to change our whole IT system to accommodate you leaving the company then coming back?”
This should be somethin!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: grover cleveland, new job
Thanks to the snowstorm, the staff of the Home Office is stuck in Mexico! We’re glad we had the foresight to change our flight yesterday, as per the flight tracker we would have been at the Charlotte, NC Sheraton instead of the Westin Cancun.
- It’s actually a bit stormy here too, but I was warned not to complain at all given what we’re missing at home and since I spent the day on an island drinking beer and eating seafood caught that morning under a palapa hut. In fact, i’m working on a blog post of Most Obnoxious Facebook Status Updates I could have Posted During Vacation if I had Access to Internet While being the Only Guest at a Remote Mexican Hacienda
I miss my dogs! kinda.
Categories: Uncategorized
Hello. You’ve reached Live From the Home Office. We can’t take your call right now because we are redeeming Starwood points.
A la piscina at the hacienda. I will wax poetic about the Starwood Preferred Guest program another time.
In a classic white trashy move, at first hint of us having a regular income we are hightailing it to Mexico or a last chance time out. Will asked if I was going to cash the first paycheck and buy a pinball machine. So los perros estan con nuestra familia and we are outie 5.
We are interested in testing out the Espanol– we have continued to take lessons with our teacher from Argentina via web cam. In a great obnoxious side note, we therefore speak our limited spanish with an Argentine accent. So no one will really understand what the F we’re saying. The first half will be spent in a hacienda in a remote area. We are counterbalancing that with a few days in Cancun, where Will is hoping to watch the Superbowl at Senor Frogs or in the comfort of our swim up bar of the good ol Westin.
I also have to do a fair amount of driving, since SOME PEOPLE never bothered to learn how to drive stick.
OK, better go before the health insurance runs out.
Leave a message at the beep.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: hacienda, mexico, spg, starwood
I love how tech savy CNN has become. They want to be so hip with their Twitter pie charts and their Facebook polls. They are so in your face about how “with it” they are – it’s uncomfortable.
hey Glenn Beck: interviewing people via satellite is so 2006
During the post State of the Union coverage, there were blackberries, multiple laptops, giant touch screens and a sensory overload of flashing images and graphics. I am sure in 2 weeks, Larry King will be casually thumbing through his interview notes on an iPad.
Amongst this three ring circus of dynamic technology, there stood the ringleader – Wolf Blitzer -kicking it old school, trusty white legal pad in hand.
screw the netbook, i got me a new Trapper Keeper and some looseleaf paper
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: cnn, state of the union, wolf blitzer
There is a Live From the Home Office #1 Fan who has a new job at a media company. I don’t know if it’s because he’s the new guy, but his desk is immediately behind the chairs where they record the daily podcasts. Meaning the whole world can see his computer screen. It’s pretty funny, and we check it out to see what he’s up to, always hoping to catch him on ESPN.com.
So, for example, his screen is here. But closer. And bigger. How about a LiveFromTheHomeOffice.com shout out?
This is an official lobby for it. You’ll get the title of VP, Marketing, LiveFromTheHomeOffice.com.
We told him that his desk placement gives him perfect opportunity to become a cult Internet hero. How about dressing in a different color cape every day? Wacky hat? Just sitting there, doing your job as usual, but wearing a funny message on your back during the podcast taping. The Buzz would propel those podcasts further than any New Media discusssion ever would! If I had a choice between watching people debate the iPad from a site with just two guys on a set, or two guys on a set with the wacky Internet Marketer in the background, I’m choosing the latter.
Cmon!
Categories: Uncategorized
Just because this is dated a few weeks now does not change the fact that I share the same sequined vest as one of the American Idol rejects from the first episode
Me in my sequined vest on new year's eve...
…And Noberto Guerrero in his sequined vest during his American Idol audition
I shouted “THAT GUY IS WEARING MY VEST!!” Sadly enough, that vest was the only article of clothing I bought myself in the past year, to everyone’s dismay. It now shines brightly in my closet and makes me smile when I see it.
I was excited to find my sequined vest for $8 2 hours before the party on 5th Avenue in South Slope. If you ever need to look like a Russian House DJ (thanks “The League” for the reference), 5th Ave Brooklyn is your place.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: norberto guerrero, sequined vest
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