Belated Season's Greetings and an Early Happy New Year

Well, 2009 flew by just like any other year. It started off with a bout of flu (seasonal, not swine) and swiftly the routine of teaching and taking two graduate classes at night developed. In March, Mr. Peanut had to have surgery again. This time he had to have the scar tissue that developed from the previous surgery removed. It was another two weeks of recovery for him, which meant two weeks of him wearing one of those cone-thingies on his head and Brian and I attempting to inject liquid antibiotics into his mouth.




But soon the warmer weather came. In April, the Alferio, Rudnick, and Klepadlo families came together to celebrate Marion Rudnick's, our mother/grandmother/great-grandmother, 90th birthday. Everyone had a great time catching up and watching the little kids play. It was truly a blessing to gather as it was the last birthday she would celebrate. She passed away on November 1st, All Saint's Day.


May brought the annual Memorial Day Meat Party to our house. The Clarks traveled from Ohio to join in the fun. It poured all day and we were forced to sit on the front porch and dare each other to eat Rooster Sauce, a type of Korean hot sauce. Brian and I were also inducted into Alpha Epsilon Lambda, the graduate honor society at Marywood. We took a few trips to Washington, D.C. to visit Brian's sister, but the spring flew by even faster than the winter did.




I finished my last graduate class on July 10th! What a great feeling. However, I was soon faced with the daunting task of writing my thesis paper and doing my professional contribution. But I shoved all that aside for a few days a week when I got the chance to watch my nephew, Jacob. We spent our days playing, watching Curious George, going to the Steamtown Mall to throw coins in the water fountain, and swimming in the baby pool at Grandma Nonie's house.




Brian and I went to Columbus to celebrate the wedding of his sister and then it was back to school time. I continued teaching 7th grade English and started my research. But the biggest event of the year had to be September 20th. It was my 30th birthday! I celebrated with my family and my friends and their families. It was great and truly a day to remember, although I'm still not sure if I'm ready enough to be a mature 30 year-old adult.



School/work/studying routine continued (which made me feel even older because I had to be responsible working on my own to meet deadlines) and Brian and I took a trip to St. Marys, Ohio for Thanksgiving. We were glad to be driving in my wonderful Honda Civic (if you haven't already, you really need to buy a Honda), which I had been in an accident with a few weeks prior (that brought the grand total up to only two ER visits this year. Brian had one in February when he cut his hand open washing a wine glass).




The Alferio/Clark/Ferri families came together at my parents' house for Christmas Eve. It was fun watching Jacob, almost two, open all the presents. He calls me "Aunt Sissie" and enjoys telling me his favorite color is green and that his dog is bad. He bought me a "beautiful" Christmas vest with big red birds and flowers on it. Yesterday Brian and I traveled the the PA/OH border to exchange gifts with his parents and brother. The local forecasters assured us it would be a great travel day, but how they overlooked the huge storm spanning about 150 miles in the middle of the state, I will never know.


Now the year comes to a close and I have rambled on way to much (yes, Brian is rubbing off on me). The New Year brings with it the hope of graduating on Mother's Day and many other exciting things.


I send my wishes out to you and all those you know for a great, happy, healthy, safe, and financially sound 2010.

Love,


Jess

P.S. - The picture on the top is of Brian and me in Atlantic City in July celebrating our 2nd anniversary. The picture below is of Jill and me taken 10 years ago in London, England, celebrating the Millennium.

One's Love of Cheese Must Be in the Genes

The Alferio/Clark/Ferri families started the holidays with a celebration dinner on Dec. 23rd at the Elmhurst Country Club. It was here that Jacob discovered his love of Parmesan cheese and got a kick out of feeding it to me and then kissing me with it all over his face.

Christmas Letter

So, if you received the Christmas letter, then that is the reason for your visit. Unless you like to check my blog everyday, in which case I bet you were pretty disappointed in the last two months.

Anyway, check back on December 24th for an update on all the Christmas preparations going on, the results of Mr. Peanut's mouse hunt (Parts 1, 2, and 3) and the year in review.

I will update it this time - I promise.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

If you know me well, you know the following three things about me:
1.) I lack talent in the make-up/hair/primping department
2.) I hate direct confrontation
3.) I love Target more than anything else in the world.

I recently decided it was time to invest in a flat iron to help tame my hair. Two factors played a big part in this - the first was my sister who encouraged me to do so and the second was the fact that Monday is school picture day and I have to do something with my hair. Jill gave me the great advice about what type of flat iron to purchase, but I decided to purchase a more "economical" (shall we say) version of one before committing to a professional one. So off to Target I went.

I figured I could pick up a flat iron by Conair or Revlon or some other manufacturer and was willing to pay no more than $40.00 for said flat iron. Jill showed me how to use her Chi, which runs around $120.00, but I wasn't quite sure I was committed to spend that much money. Because let's face it - I'm not getting a bailout from the government and I already have a drawer full of beauty items used once and never thought of again. So imagine my surprise when I walk in and see a Chi Turbo flat iron on sale for $69.99 (original price 139.99). Woo-hoo!!!

So I called Jill to make sure this was a good deal and to see if she was familiar with the product and she assured me it was and I decided to splurge and buy it. I put it in my cart, continued with my shopping, and proceeded to the check out.

First I purchased $29.68 worth of merchandise which included a Halloween gift for my nephew and tissues and hand sanitizer for my classroom (because they're not provided to the students by the school, but that's a whole other post). Then the cashier rang up the Chi Turbo. Imagine my surprise when the total came to a little over $148.00. So I tell the girl that it was marked on clearance for $69.99 and she tells me that Chis are never on sale and looks perturbed as she flips through the circular for the week. Meanwhile a line is forming. She informs me it is not on sale. I told her there was a sign there.

So in comes the supervisor of the cashiers. I tell her the story. I want the Chi Turbo. There's a sign over the original price of $139.99 advertising it for $69.99. She says she can't sell it to me for half price. I said, tough, that's what the sign says. So she gets on her walkie-talkie thingy and calls a stock person. Meanwhile my cashier has suspended my transaction and has begun ringing up other customers, forcing me and my cart and my previous purchases away from the cash register and into the aisle. The stock boy confirms that there is a sign over the Chi Turbos for $69.99, but the sign is for Conair flat irons. The supervisor tells me this in a not-so-nice tone. I said, that's fine, but it's still mislabeled and you still need to give it to me for $69.99 (this is something I learned from working in retail and at a grocery store - if an item's mislabeled, the store is supposed to sell you the item for the mislabeled price and then haul ass and fix the label). She tells me again, while she's starting another conversation with another co-worker, that she can't sell it to me for that price, she'll have to get the manager.

So the manager comes and the supervisor tells her the whole story and then continues her other conversation because, let's face it, the customer service has ended. The manager goes down to the aisle and I follow her. Surprise, the sign is gone. She now basically accuses me of lying. I tell her that I'm short. The Chi Turbos were on the top rack and the sign was above them. The sign was at least six feet up in the air. I couldn't even reach the flat irons to begin with, Brian had to help me. I couldn't have changed the sign. The stock boy was just down here 60 seconds ago. He took the sign off and took it with him. She tells me the price is $139.99 and that's it.

Now, I'm a pretty understanding person. But she's here telling me that there is no sign and only Conairs would be $69.99 and Chis are never on sale. Meanwhile I see the stock boy sneaking by the aisle. All she keeps repeating is she's sorry, but that's the price.

Well I'm sorry too!!! But whoever stocked the items and placed the sign screwed up! I see it in stores everywhere, all the time. And those stores are nice enough to either sell the item to you for the wrong price or give you a discount of some sort. Ok - she couldn't sell me the item for half off, but she didn't even offer to give it to me for $20.00 off. She made it out to be my fault, the supervisor was done listening to me when she started her conversation about what she was doing this weekend, and the cashier was done with me when I made her look up the price. There was no customer service.

So I walked away. Then I returned the $29.68 worth of merchandise that I charged on my Target credit card. And another thing - Target has recently installed new credit card reader machines. Your signature is no longer required for any credit/debit card purchase under $50.00 (the same applies at CVS drugstores). In this age of identity theft, is it really a good idea to let people charge things without looking at the card or asking for a signature? I think not.

Effective 6:15 P.M. EST, I have decided to boycott Target. Because, if this happened at Wal-Mart, you know I would have walked out of there with that Chi Turbo for $69.99.

On Turning 30

My first birthday celebrated around September 20th, 1980.

What a year. In those days between 1979 and 1980, Solid Gold debuted on TV. John Lennon was still alive. Paul McCartney was arrested in Tokyo. "My Sharona" was a number one song on the charts as well as "Heart of Glass" by Blondie and "Rock with You" by Michael Jackson. Pink Floyd had just released The Wall, a rock opera/concept album dealing with self isolation. Ozzy released The Blizzard of Ozz and claimed his new title as the Prince of Darkness. Rod Stewart put out his first greatest hits album while ABBA put out their second.

On film people found themselves divided over Star Wars and Star Trek. Jim Henson put out the first muppet movie. Peter Sellers, Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne, and Zeppo Marx died. Meanwhile Zooey Deschanel (Tin Man, 500 Days of Summer), Christina Ricci (Casper, The Addams Family, Sleepy Hollow), Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You, The Dark Knight), and Mena Suvari (American Beauty) draw their first breaths of life.

Jimmy Carter was president, yet he was later defeated by Reagan. Mount St. Helens erupted. Pac Man was released into arcades and CNN began its first broadcast. Patty Hearst was released from prison. Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister of England while Carter is recovering from an attack by a swamp rabbit while hunting. Saddam Hussein takes office and the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Mc Donald's introduces the Happy Meal.

Today John Lennon is dead. George Harrison too. Syd Barret and Richard Wright from Pink Floyd are also gone. Michael Jackson will moonwalk no more. "My Sharona" is considered a staple song of Gen X, Ozzy has/had/has his own reality show on MTV, and the works of ABBA have been turned into a hit musical and movie. We've seen the remake of Star Trek and the prequels to Star Wars. Jim Henson is also long gone, but his muppets live on. Heath Ledger died before The Dark Knight was released, and somewhere today an Oscar winner is being born.

Barack Obama is president. The Wii is the new rage and you can play it with kids in China. There are now ten billion cable news channels. Saddam Hussein is gone, but the problems in Afghanistan are still there. The Happy Meal is still around, however it is the Super Value Meal that will kill you.

Has the world really changed in 30 years? Sure we have more technology, money, pollution, drugs, crime, and stupid people now, but have things changed? Small pox was supposedly eradicated in 1980, but is now making a comeback because people refuse to be vaccinated. We still don't have a cure for the common cold, but we do have a serum that will make your eyelashes grow faster and thicker.

In 30 years I've survived chicken pox, numerous kidney stones, an appendix about to rupture, pneumonia, falls, bumps, and bruises. No broken bones (thank God) but a few broken hearts (mine and those I've broken). In elementary school I wanted to marry Michael J. Fox; middle school - Luke Perry; high school - Keanu Reeves. I've babysat my sister, neighbors, friend's children, and my nephew. I've reached my full height just shy of 4'11'', which landed me a very prestigious job in Disney World. I've worked in offices, cleaned bathrooms, bagged groceries, and taught 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. I've gone to Ocean City, New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Marys, London, Prague, Hungry, Nairobi. I've hiked down and up a volcanic crater. I swam with dolphins. My sister and I laughed so hard so many times that one of us surely peed our pants in the last 30 years (well, 26 years). I've totalled a car, gone to college a few times, learned to cook, never got that sewing machine I was promised in 8th grade, got Nick Mason's autograph (thanks Dad!), ran into Richard Simmons in the Orlando International Airport, failed to pee in a bush in the African Savannah, sneezed so hard my gum flew out of my mouth, survived the 80s and the 90s (ahhhh the hair...ahhhh the clothes), read some good books, saw some good movies, listened to some good music, and ate some good food. I've gone to Disney World so many times I've lost count but still look forward to going soon. I've finally nailed down the difference between a dependent and independent clause (good thing too). Still haven't gotten the concepts of math and why people wear bathing suits as clothes.

So it's been a good 30 years. Here's hoping for another good 30. And here's also hoping that the wood paneling so popular in 1979 never comes back. Never. Or that gold color the furniture was. Really. Also, shag carpeting. What were you people thinking then? Or floppy disks. I mean yay for the technology boom, but I'm so glad that as I grew the size of the computer shrank. But really - was it really necessary to have wood paneling in every room? And where are the flying cars everyone in the 80s thought we would have by now? Maybe by 2040. That is if the automakers are still around, but that's a whole nother subject.

The Heat is On (Literally)

So today is June 3rd. When I think of June I think of the end of school, the beginning of summer, and the heat.

From the sun that is.

However, this June so far has been cold and wet.

Therefore...

...the heat's been on in my house for the last three days. What's up with that? It's freezing inside as well as outside. I'm frigid. The cat has begun to put his winter fat back on. The high today was 12 degrees below normal. Is this the sign of a long, cold, wet summer? Or has global warming stalled out?

Where have you gone Crystal soda?

One of my favorite memories of being a kid is when my dad used to make his big Italian hoagies for lunch on Saturdays. No hoagie was complete until there was a glass of Crystal Cream Soda next to it.

As I was making my menu for our annual Memorial Day Meat Party, I added cans of Crystal soda to my list. This being Scranton and all, I figured I would go to my local Gerrity's and pick up some cans, usually five for $1.00. Imagine my surprise when I learned Gerrity's no longer carries Crystal soda.

It was at one of the local beer distributors that I learned that Crystal was no longer being sold. A quick Google search came up with no website for Crystal soda, but the address of the headquarters, still located in Scranton.

So the question is - Where have you gone Crystal soda? No more parties with 50/50, Birchola, Draft Root Beer, Cherokee Red, or most importantly - RED CREAM SODA!!!!!!

You will be missed.

Tips for Dressing for Summer Weather

Here are a few tips for dressing this summer. They're not fashionable, but rather for the sake of your modesty and my not having to gag when I see you.

Shorts -

• should not be too short - meaning - I don't want to see your underwear ladies, the bottoms of your underwear. I also don't want to see the tops of your thongs.
• are like pants, only shorter - meaning, they should be worn around the hips or waist so guys, I don't want to see your underwear either.
• If you're going to be brave and wear white shorts - you must wear white or nude underwear. This also goes for light colored shorts.

Tops -

• a bikini top is not a bra, even if Cosmo says so.
• guys, if you plan on going into any public establishment, you need to wear a shirt. A wife-beater with the neck pulled down to your navel does not count.
• ladies, you need to wear a bra under white tee-shirts. That is your only option. You cannot not wear one, PLEASE. And remember, a bikini top is not a bra.
• if the strapless tank top doesn't stay up on its own - don't wear it. Remember what the lady who sold you your prom/wedding/formal dress told you - if you can't stay in it while you dance, you shouldn't buy it.
• guys - a vest is not a shirt, no matter how ripped you are or how many tatts you have.
• a bikini top is not a bra.

Other -

• Axe/perfume/cologne is no substitute for deodorant and a shower.
• orange is a great color - for the fruit. If you're going to pay that much to look that orange, you might have better luck going to Lowe's and using the color match paint center to find your perfect hue and buying a can of Dutch Boy. And if you're orange - don't use your winter cover-up.
• water bottles are the perfect accessory for walking around the park - not beer bottles.

And finally, I know it's warm outside and we all like to drive with our windows down. Having said that, you can smile and wink at me all you like while we're stopped at a light, but I don't thinkg it's necessary to gun your engine until all the black smoke comes out and then cut in front of me with your metal balls dangling in the wind from your tailgate. It just proves to me that whatever reason your last girlfriend had for dumping you was justified. Nine fold.

Stay classy.

And really, a bikini top? C'mon. Target has nice bras for sale as low as $7.99. You can get five for the price of one at Victoria's Secret or for the price of two at Boscov's.

If It's May, It Must Be Meat

Brian and I celebrated the first Thursday of May by visiting Schiff's annual meat sale. We stocked the freezer and are ready to grill out all summer long.

Yes, that's 10 lbs of ground beef I'm holding.

Cooking with Mr. Peanut

Mr. Peanut loves to help in the kitchen. His favorite food to make is pasta primavera. He loves the smell of red peppers and asparagus. He also give much needed advice as to how to prepare dinner.

Brian and I were inducted into Marywood's chapter of AEL, for excellence in our graduate work.

Now, I have at least two graded portfolios (in 3 in. binders) and a Wikispace for all of the classes I've been in. Brian just has to write a paper or something. Who's doing more excellent work?

Fun at Wendy's

Things I witnessed at Wendy's on April 29th:

• A woman coughing all over the napkins (swine flu?)
• A man in a pin-stripped suit asking the lady behind the counter for more napkins and she refuses - they're for drive through customers only
• Two kids having a contest - who can make the biggest hickey on their own arm?
• Hickey contest turns into who can make their skin more red by scratching quickly in a thirty second time period
• A nine-year-old eating ten chicken nuggets, two orders of fries, a potato, and Coke
• Same kid belching loudly and being congratulated by his dad
• Sister of kid (who I am guesstimating is around fourteen) is talking very loudly about her best friend's birth control method of choice and why it was ineffective
• Lady now coughing all over the tables

Stay classy, Pennsylvania.

It's hard to have a good picture of yourself on a blog when you're the one taking the pictures all the time. However, this is a good self portrait with my cell phone camera.

Beginnings

And today I begin my life as a blogger. Enjoy my random thoughts on ridiculousness and pictures (too many of them of the cat). Have a laugh and realize that this is all too true.