Laughing On The Inside.

I’m coming home
I’ve been away for far too long
I’m coming home
To the place where I belong…

I’ll be home on Sunday!

Here’s a favorite photo from my last trip home in 2007.

Fresh haircut
Fresh shave (love the tailback)
Freshly showered…

This bear is coming out of hibernation.

14 days until Disney and 49 days until spring!

I thought this week was busy

let’s recap…
Buffalo
Branchburg NJ
Atlantic City
Edison NJ
Utica NY
Watertown NY
Schenectady
Utica

wow…. that’s like 1500 miles in a week…
next week is even worse (or better)

Utica
Syracuse
Knoxville Tennessee
Utica
Buffalo
Utica

all in 5 days – I must be a fucking idiot! Are we having fun yet?

All of this explains why I have not had an LJ post (or sex) in 5 days.

I have been coming to Buffalo since 2003 and finally today I experienced MIGHTY TACO….

Apparently the quality has gone down since everyone used to rave about it. It was enjoyable… better than Taco Bell, but not as good as Jim’s Steak Out.

Did anyone see my most recent status update on Facebook?
No? Hmmmmm!
What’s that you said? My account has been deactivated? Hmmmmm!

Well in case you missed it, my last update said, “Earl is over it!” and I am.

I’m enjoying blogging/LJ again.

I’m enjoying taking photos again.

I’m enjoying the various and assorted “other” chat programs I use to network with friends old and new, or old and young (over 18 thank you).

But when it comes to Facebook… I am over it!

It three weeks on facebook:

I have updated my status over 30 times.

I have added 24 friends (which is 20 more than I’ve had in my entire life)

I have sent 4 birthday cards

I have sent 5 buttons

I have joined 3 groups

I have chatted with an old friend of my sisters.

I have chatted with someone who swears she knew me in high school but I have NO recollection of.

I have spent entire evenings (until 2 am) doing name searches of people I both liked and hated 25 years ago.

and finally, I am over it.

Account deactivated!
Have a nice day!

What else can I say?

To all my friends in The Magic Kingdom…. “See you soon!”

I just got home a little a while ago from my company’s annual Christmas cocktail party.

(I know it’s January 21, let’s not get hung up on the small stuff. Do you REALLY believe that Christ was actually born on December 25?)

The affair was very nice and I must compliment myself on an overall well planned event.

The “small plate buffet” which I designed was splendid. (Pork Tenderloin on fresh baked rolls with horseradish sauce was excellent. The tenderloin was like butter.) The chicken skewers and other dishes were tasty. The alcohol was top shelf and free flowing.

The guests were fun, but not “over the top.”

Overall it was a nice social event for the team… a little bit of stress relief.

There is only one thing at the end of the night that put a slight damper on the festivities for me…. SOMEONE STOLE MY GOD DAM LEATHER JACKET from the coat room.

When we first arrived and walked over to the coat room JP asked, “Are you sure it’s okay to leaves these here?” Talk about KARMA!

And this is no ordinary leather jacket either. It is a European motorcycle cruising jacket, black with brown and tan race stripes. I’ve been looking for this jacket for THREE YEARS, and finally found it on Dec 21 while Christmas shopping. It was the last 3XL on the rack and I got a bargain at 60% off so it cost me only $189.00.

And now it is gone.

I wore it TWICE and tomorrow I will be on the phone with the hotel GM asking him to review security tapes (or maybe someone made a mistake and will return it).

If someone actually did steal it, I only hope it was because he really needed a jacket to protect him from the elements… not because he was an asshole who wanted to steal something nice because he could.

And while I am really disappointed, surprisingly I am not really mad about it. It kind of makes me realize how blessed I am, because the reality is that I can easily afford to go to the store tomorrow and buy a replacement. But I need to think about that for a while, because maybe it wasn’t meant to be… maybe I need to just stick to my Carrhart.

While the rest of the free world was watching CNN and celebrating a new day, I was apparently the only person I know who was working in my own little world.
Please don’t pity me, for I also celebrated the “new day” in my own special way…. I kept on keeping on.
Now I know my comments here are not going to be popular with some of my friends and family, but hey… I have my own truth and reality and I will share a little here.

1. I am STILL proud to be an American. Not proud again, or finally proud, but STILL proud. Always have been, always will be.

2. I cry whenever the National Anthem is sung, no matter what my personal views are of the current administration (or former) because I will always love my homeland. (I also cry whenever I hear my high school alma mater, same type of pride).

3. I believe the $100 million spent on the inauguration is money WELL SPENT. The economy is in dire straits so what do we do? We spend money to get money into the hands of consumers. The $100 million spent went into the pockets of families of cops, sanitation workers, construction crews for the bleachers, electricians and technicians, crowd control staff, food service workers, custodians, hotel housekeepers, and more. I think it was a great economic stimulus for the working people of Washington DC. (And most of the money comes from private donations from RICH PEOPLE and CORPORATIONS who don’t need it.

4. I believe… but I have always believed! I believe in America and the American people. I believe in our Constitution and in our constitution. I also believe that Obama will be a great leader.

5. I am looking forward to the future because I believe it is bright. I believe.

You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don’t know why you say goodbye
I say hello

It is Sunday morning at 9:40, and although the day has just begun I am already anxiously and sadly anticipating it’s end.

At 6:44PM there will be yet another sad good-bye at the train station. But for some reason I think this time it will be different. Because this time I will not have that fear that “good-bye” means “good-bye forever.”

NO, no, no…
you say good-bye, and I’ll say hello.

Today would have been my mother’s 72nd birthday. We lost her such a long time ago. Sometimes I wonder what she would have looked like as an “old lady” on the outside. I know what she would have been like on the inside… warm, loving, kind, exciting, funny, nurturing.

After all of these years I still miss her.

Happy Birthday Mommy.