Sailor Soldier of Love and Justice

The house is quiet. The house has not been this quiet for about a year.

My bird just would not stop screaming. No matter what I did, She would not stop. I even consulted a bird expert. They suggested my bird had decided I was her mate and that she was screaming all day because I would not return her affections.

So over the weekend, I drove up to NY to bring my bird to live with my parents. They have several other birds, so I'm hoping she will make friends and talk to them rather than scream at me all day long.I feel a little guilty abandoning her, but I just didn't know what else to do.

During the trip, I also did fun stuff.

On Saturday I went to the Bronx zoo with my family and a few friends. Aside from the ridiculous everything-costs-extra pricing, I had a good time. I got the all you can eat ticket so I didn't have to worry about pulling out my wallet at every turn. They had an animatronic dinosaur safari that was both cheesy and awesome. There were baby dinosaurs!

I also saw a super cute baby sea lion afterwards. It was so tiny! And a baby rhino that was surprisingly bouncy for something so big.

I was a little disappointed by the penguin feeding which did not have enough viewing room for everyone to see. Also, why did the whole building smell like cat urine?

But I did get to ride on a bug carousel, so that was neat.

Overall it was a good day. I was totally exhausted when it was over.

On Sunday, I met up with friends for board games and dinner. The board games were fun except for a stupid card game we played where I lost every single round. Dinner was good even though a lot of it was food I had never tried before. My dish was tasty though. I had cauliflower and it had spices in it to give it a very slight flowery taste. And then the baklava was a perfect way to end the dinner.

I also met my friend's dog harley who was super adorable and kissy and I wanted to take him home. I kept hugging and squeezing him and singing him the puppy pants song.

Monday I drove him and then crashed to sleep. I slept most of tuesday too. I unpacked wednesday and then today I started classes again!

I had two classes this morning, both in computer science and by the same teacher. So far it looks like basic easy stuff so I'm not too worried.

I have one more class tonight. A calculus class. Shouldn't be too terribly hard assuming the teacher speaks understandable english.

I think I might take a short nap before that so I'll be fresh for the late night class. Pretty inconvenient that they didn't have any good daytime ones.

Last week I made a trip to NY. Ben was out of town and my mother had been bugging me for a visit for a while. I got to see my friends a good couple of times, so it all went very well.

The drive down on Thursday was pretty smooth. I didn't hot real traffic until I got to NY, and even then I got to my parents' house before they did. While we waited, Maggie got to see her first train. (My parents live next to the train tracks.) She waited the rest of the time from the safety of the car.

On Friday, I went with my mother to Williamsburg Brooklyn (hipster capitol of the world) to visit my great aunt. When I was a kid, the neighborhood was entirely polish families. It's so different now!

We got there a little early and my great aunt was still getting her hair done, so we made an adventure to find stroopwafels. The first shop (which, bizarrely, was right next to where my great grandma's old candy shop used to be) was all out, but they suggested a cheese shop a block or so down that usually carries them.They did indeed have them, and I nearly died buying them. The place smelled horrific. Too much cheese! And the woman working the register was telling a couple where to find every single pizza shop in the area. The wait was awful.

But I got my stroopwafels! And they were quite tasty! Not so tasty that I'd make a trip just for them, but it was worth it since I was in the neighborhood.

After that, we ate lunch with my great aunt at one of the remaining polish restaurants in the area. She happily told my mother all the gossip in the neighborhood and then we went back to her apartment where she gave us random cans of food to take home.

The drive back to my parents' house was terrible. It was raining so the traffic took 2.5 hours. With my mother. Alone in a car. Not fun.

But the evening went better. I met up with all my friends at a local pirate restaurant. We had a ton of fun even if the pirate theming was a little weak. And then we went back to amanda's house and played board games and ate stroopwafels until it got late. I am a terrible, smug winner.

Saturday we had a bbq at the house and all my friends were invited. Everyone who could make it did and good times were had by all. I even went into the pool. Then got out because I was FREEZING! But I did manage to go in up to my shoulders, so it counts!

On Sunday, my parents and I took Maggie out on the boat. She did not enjoy it as much as I hoped, but I think she was just scared of the newness. By the end, she was fairly calm. She even hammed it up a bit for the camera.


My mom caught the first non-sea robin fish. My dad caught the biggest non-sea robin fish. Both had to be thrown back because they were too small. I didn't fish at all. Instead I just enjoyed being out on the water. I hate beaches but love boats.

I pretty much passed out when I got back to the house. It was crazy. I was pretty much dead for 3 hours. My parents finally woke me for dinner and then after I went to tara's for more fun board games.

Monday was a good day to leave. I was exhausted physically and I hadn't yet exhausted my welcome. Or at least I thought it was a good day until the verrazano bridge shut down. A man tried to jump from the bridge so the entire upper deck was closed down to talk him out of it. All well and good for him but for me, traffic was backed up for MILES. Everyone had to take the lower deck, which scares me because if something happens, the bridge might crush me. (The stupid things I worry about.) But once I got around that, it was smooth all the way down to VA. It took 2 hours to get from my parents house to NJ. But compare that to the drive back from brooklyn on friday and it was nothing!

My dogs were very happy to be back home. They ran around in the yard and sniffed all their favorite things. Then cuddled in my bed. I guess they are not road trip dogs.

Got dragged to that party upstate. It was just as bad as expected.

It was full of screaming children. At least 30 of them. They spent the early parts of the party running around hitting each other (and everyone nearby) with balloons. After about an hour, the room took on the distinct stench of soiled diapers. Try eating dinner that that wafting into your mouth at every bite.

The dj was absolutely terrible. Everything I hate about djs. He played the music too loud so I couldn't hear what anyone said. He set up stupid lights and disco balls. He talked and talked incessantly, but about what I don't know because his mouth was too close to the mike and his voice was all distorted. He was practically licking the thing. He didn't even do a good job at getting people up to dance, which is the main reason people give me for hiring a dj in the first place.

But really, those two things were not the worst of it. The worst was that EVERYONE kept asking me when I was going to start having kids. Why don't they just ask me when I'm going to give up on my silly dreams and ambitions?

At the start of the evening I was civil about the question, but by the end of the party I was getting pretty mean. I wish I could think up a witty answer to that question. I started targeting the ways each individual's life was negatively influenced by having kids. (Giving up school, putting on weight, having to work extra jobs, never getting to travel, etc.) It's too bad my parents threw away my brother's old punching bag. I could really use it right now to vent some frustration.

I am homesick already. I miss ben.

Do not forget, NY people!

I will be in town this weekend!

I'm not sure exactly when I'll be free, and I won't have a car, but we should still get together and do something. Maybe go out for food?

Other ideas and ride offers welcome.

I get in Saturday evening and leave Tuesday morning. I'll be taking the bus!!! (We all know how much I love public transportation.)

Known Appointments:
- Sunday, 10:30 am - Angel Bridals. Trying on dresses.
- Monday, 11:00am - Cradle of Aviation Museum. (If the guy ever returns my call or email confirming the visit.)

Vague Appointments
- Cloud 9 Yachts (Mom's friend)
- Mom's friend that does invitations
- Galaxie (Mom's relative)