Hurriquake 2011

This past week started out with a earthquake and ended with a hurricane (that ended up being a huge let down.) Joe and I had planned that we'd spend the weekend together because next weekend I am going home for Labor Day and he will be having boys weekend with his friends. On Friday, after listening to the media hype up the hurricane all day, I decided maybe it was better to be prepared, then to not be prepared. So, at lunchtime, Allie and I headed out to Genardi's to get some food, water, batteries, snacks.. the essential stuff. When we arrived, water and batteries were sold out. We got some food.. and that was about it. You would have thought the end of the world as we know it .. people were bumping into each other with carts and furiously navigating their way through the aisles looking for the makings of their last supper. On my way home, I stopped and bought ice in case we lost power, and got gas in case I had to escape. By the time I got home it was late and I was mentally exhausted from fighting the crowds. Joe came over around 11pm after helping his mom secure her house and we were both pretty tired, so we headed to bed.

On Saturday, we woke up to dreary skies, but nothing significant. I made us a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, and home fries. Since it was a little rainy, we decided to stay in and watch 'Something Barrowed' because with the media frenzy, we didn't know if one second it'd be fine and the next would be awful.... The night dragged on with much of the same. By 6pm I was going crazy! In the middle of movie number two, the Emergency Response System interrupted and said that a tornado had touched down in Philadelphia slightly north of Manayunk. Que Joe's freak out. Shirtless, because he had been surveying the rain from the roof deck, he ran around with a head lamp on his head screaming to get away from the windows. Alarmist much? I walked outside, the trees weren't even moving...

Ok, so the EAS didn't stop for the next 40 minutes we sat in anticipation awaiting the tornado that was going to rip through the city. Nothing...

On Saturday night at 5am.. and realized we had slept through the 'worst' of it. The power was still on.. the basement was damp.. but nothing significant.

On Sunday.. it was still windy but we were dying to get out. We headed down to main St to watch the river flooding into the street and then we headed to the city to get some tapas for dinner.

All and all, all the media frenzy and preparations were for nothing. The hurricane fell about as flat as the earthquake.. nothing significant and definitely not the end of the world. All that bitch Irene did was RUIN MY WEEKEND! Here's to waiting another 5 days for a weekend that isn't plagued by weather.

Nana Knows Best

As I said in my last post, this past weekend, I was home in Rochester. Everytime I am home, most of my time is spent with my parents and grandparents, as I feel I do not get enough time with them these days. This weekend, my grandma wasnt feeling all that well so my time was spent just chit-chatting with her at her house. We talked about a lot of things, but one part of the conversation really stuck out. She asked me about how things were going with Joe. I told her that he was enjoying his new place, although I was really pressing for him to move in with me, as it made the most economical and logistical sense. I also may have mentioned that I really want a sparkling rock in the near future.

My grandma has met Joe maybe twice in her life, both times briefly. But the advice she gave me regarding the situation was like she had known him for years. She said, "so your asking him to do these things and he is pushing back on you?" I replied that that was exactly waht was happening... not so much because he doenst want to do them.. but more becuase I want him to... She said "you need to make him feel like its his idea, whether it is or not. The more you act like you dont care about those things, the more eager he will be to do them." She went on to say that no one likes feeling like they are doing what they are told by someone else. If he feels like you are not focusing on it and dont really care, he will probably come around about it a whole lot faster. So stop mentioning it.

I looked at her in amazement. This happens all the time with us. Him getting a new job was my idea... in the end he did it.. and pretended he came up with it. Him moving to his own place was also something I wanted.. he did it.. just six months after I asked him to.. on his own time frame. But how did she know this? She doenst know him! Maybe thats becuase its a phenomenon as old as she is... part of the male psyche since cave man times...men want to do what they want to do when they want to do it.. END OF STORY. A woman suggesting something a man should do makes them feel controlled.  Even if said man ends up doing exactly what said woman wanted... he will pretend he did it becuase it was his idea and what he wanted.

The bottom line is I think she's right. However hard it may be to shift my focus from engagement and moving in together, I need to do it. I need to give him space and time to make the decision to move forward and approach me. He knows where I stand and what I want, and harping on it will not make him feel like he is doing it because he wants to... but because I am forcing him to. My new plan is to just wait it out. We have talked about a timeline for all of the above before, he is aware of it. Whether he makes it happen or not is up to him and him alone. I truely believe that if something is meant to be, it will be. I am done forcing the issue. I am confident that if for some reason he doenst come around I will be ok. There is a plan for each of us, and by forcing a plan that may not be in the cards, I might miss out on my true calling. Nana has been around along time, and I trust that her advice will ring true. So, lets just wait and see.

Holler If Your Ready For Some Summer Nights~

AH! I have been so busy that my blogging has fallen off the face of the earth! The weekend after the 4th of July, my family went back to Rehoboth to visit my brothers beach house again.. this time Joe came and we had a great time and did much of the same things as we did during our last trip. A week or two after that, Joe and I went down to the shore to visit his family and gamble. We had a great time sitting on the beach and relaxing. We did loose money gambling, so that was a bummer but all and all was a great trip. So, that was July...

The first weekend in August Sara and Steve invited the Lehigh guys over (and me) for a housewarming party weekend at their new place. On Friday night a bunch of us went out to a few bars in their neighborhood in the city. The next day the boys did a sight seeing tour of Philly and Sara and I shopped and drank margaritas at El Vez, Steven Starr's mexican restaurant. On Saturday night we all went out to dinner together and then out to Plough & The Stars --my favorite old city bar! We had a great time checking out their new place and hanging out.

That brings me to last week. Last week I was in Mystic, CT again for work from Monday - Thursday. I usually dont like traveling for work, but I dont mind Mystic. It is so beautiful there, right on the CT sound. While I was there, I was able to fit in some good dinners, shopping, and a few dips in the hotel pool! Not a bad week at all. When I got back, I decided to make an impromptu trip to Rochester to go boating and visit my family. On Friday and Saturday we went boating, and although they were initially calling for rain, the weather held out for us. On Sunday, my mom and I went to the Canandaigua Reisling Festival and sampled many different Finger Lakes Wines and cheeses from around the country. We even got a sample of the Limited Edition Abbotts Reisling Custard! It was made with Reisling wine and was amazing! Yesterday I headed back to Philadelphia -- and resumed a normal routine. So thats that, 4 weeks packed into one blog. I hope to get back to normal now! Below is a picture of my marina in Sodus, NY at sunset, so pretty!