Sorry for taking so long between posts. There have been so many things I've wanted to post about, but I just haven't had the time. How 'bout this, I saw an article in the paper about a fundraising walk ('tis the season!) to raise funds for people with food allergies! Really?! Have we solved all the other problems and this is all that's left? Doug was affectionately calling it "Parents Against Peanuts", which of course, amused us for quite a while. I know I'm going to tick someone off with this, but if your kid is going to drop over because there's a peanut within 50 feet then that is Darwinism, plain & simple.
The house is moving along. We got a new designer and I LOVE her!! Her name is Susan Rosenthal. You might have seen some of her work in NJ Monthly. If you're ever in the market, she is a dynamo and she has taken the reins and just kicked everyone's butt and finally some decisions are being made.
Along those lines, my friend Sherry & I went up to the Wolf/Sub Zero distributor up in traffic country in northern NJ yesterday. Sherry is the friend we all have who would be a professional chef if she had the chance. If you don't have a friend like that, I highly recommend getting one. They LOVE to cook and will keep you well fed.
Anyway, since I'm picking my appliances to Sherry's specifications (after all, she's going to be the one using them most of the time), I thought it best if she had the chance to check them out before I bought. If you're ever considering buying a Wolf or Sub Zero product, go to their website, put in your zip code and check out the classes being offered at the nearest dealer location. This was a cooking class and it was really helpful. They showed all the different types of appliances they make and cooked all sorts of foods to show the possibilites. So not only was it really informative, but the food was delicious.
Of course since nothing I do goes without a hitch, I accidentally got off the Parkway at the wrong exit and wound up on Rt. 35 south up in Holmdel (instead of in Shrewsbury). If you get the Asbury Park Press, you know there was a horrific accident on 35 in the southbound lanes by the Evil Clown. So Middletown's finest had 35 closed in both directions and forced us on to a side street with no further instructions.
Someone decided to go in to the Kohl's mall and of course all the subsequent cars followed him. This led to an endless conga line of lost drivers wending their way through the insanity to the far end of the mall, down the side (in the hopes of there being a side road on which to exit and get back on 35 south), and around the back of the mall which brought all of us back to the entrance where we could get back in line to do it again.
Our only other choice was to get back on 35 north and go all the way back to the Parkway to backtrack. Sherry had her GPS which we followed for a short distance before we realized that Bitchin' Betty (her nickname for her GPS) refused to acknowledge that 35 south was closed and proceeded to direct us in an endless circle around the Dunkin' Donuts in the island.
We eventually made it home via Chapel Hill Rd., but we probably could have walked faster. Sherry very poetically compared it to a Hope & Crosby musical - without the music.
On a sad note, our cat, Sophie, is in the hospital. We came back from a party Saturday night & she didn't meet us at the door as is her habit. When she didn't surface at all, we went looking for her and couldn't find her anywhere. Doug was on call & had to get some sleep, and I wound up literally all night searching everywhere for her. I still can't figure out where she was.
When Doug got up at 5am & turned the shower on, she somehow managed to stumble in to the bathroom for their morning ritual. We knew something was wrong with her, so I picked her up & put her on our bed & went to get her some water. While I was gone Doug heard a thud and found her on the floor. She had fallen off the bed and couldn't get up.
By the time we got her to the vet that morning, she was down to 4 lbs. 13 oz (she's normally between 5 lbs. 10 oz and 6 lbs.), couldn't stand, had high blood pressure and her kidneys had all but shut down.
The wonderful people at Oakhurst Veterinary Hospital have been taking incredible care of her & she's doing a little better, but she's far from being out of the woods. We don't know if she's ever going to come home again, but we've been blessed with her for 16 years. She's never been sick before, so if this is it, she's lived a pretty good life and we hope she's gotten as much love and enjoyment from us as we've gotten from her. So Doug & I have been taking shifts at the hospital sitting with her in the ICU. I don't know if it makes her feel any better, but it's therapeutic for us.
Here are some pictures of her in her "room".
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