Back to the grind...woe

So, I just took a two week vacation from work...my first two week vacation in almost four years, and my first two week vacation ever at my present job. It was wonderful. First, I went to Rochester for a few days. Then, my sister Monkey came back to NYC with me for a few days. We went to see Eddie Izzard at Radio City Music Hall, we spent a day at the Museum of Natural History, we spent a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we went shopping and had really good sushi at my favorite sushi restaurant Ko, we went to see Grease on Broadway, with Taylor Hicks as teen angel, and then we went to see the Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. Then, BF, Monkey and I drove back to Rochester for the fourth of July weekend. We just got back. It was a long journey, and tomorrow I have to go back to work. Sigh.

Here's some pics from the vacation. More to come as Monkey emails them to me.

Here's a slug from the garden up at the country house. They were everywhere. Ick.


This is the sunset the night before the first part of the big trip. Pretty, no?



Here's a bat that wedged itself into the window of the guest room at my mother's house. She squealed a little bit, and my sister squealed a whole bunch. I wanted to keep it as a pet.



Here's Monkey, me and my mother. We were happy because I didn't have to work, Monkey didn't have to go to school and my mother had us together under the same roof for the longest time in five years.



And here's the sunset on the way back to NYC tonight.

I wish vacations didn't have to end.

My Remarkable-Unremarkable Weekend - Part 6

So Sunday rolled around and I didn't really want to leave. The garden was looking mighty pretty and lush. I made rice krispie treats and we tried out this recipe I found online for making the Friday's Jack Daniel's Glaze. Boy, was that recipe spot on. Our steaks were yummy. Unfortunately it was still unGodly humid outside, so we had to eat in the comfort of the airconditioned kitchen, but it did start to thunder and rain. It got a wee bit cooler.


Our neighbor from down the street moved out about a month ago. The new owner hasn't moved in permanently yet, so I go over occasionally to check on the wildlife in the pond. This little frog just floated there, staring at me, not really giving a hoot how close I got to him with my camera.


Then I fed the koi and they were happy. They've gotten really big, and not one of them has died since last year.


Then, as the BF and I were on the way back to NYC, we looked out the window and saw a kick-ass sunset.


What a great weekend.