Doing My Thing

In celebration of my brother's birthday I headed to New Jersey Saturday. I was supposed to work until 5pm, but because my manager was leaving early for a wedding he said I could leave early too. I was out by 2:30pm. It was a quiet evening with everyone outside on their newly built deck. My brother built it earlier in the week. It came out nice, shaped like a hexagon. A few drinks were had along with some grilled food. They had Bubba Burgers. I've always had regular Bubba Burgers, but they had Onion Bubba Burgers and my mouth was watering for them. I wound up eating 3 that night. But besides the burgers they had hot dogs, chicken and sausage. One of my sister-in-laws friends was there and she got a tad wasted, which turned into our entertainment for the night as she pranced around, tried to light a lighter as a cigarette, drank everyone's floating beers, attempted to play a few games and then passed out on the couch, but not before stripping off her pants.
The guys played a game they invented themselves out of posts hammered into the ground and beer bottles on top. They then threw a frisbee at the bottle to try and knock it off. They literally played it all night long. I sat with my sister-in-law, the drunkie, and a girlfriend of my brother's friend. As the sun went down we migrated over to the fire pit and sat by the warmth of the fire. Eventually we all trickled inside to head in for the night.
It was a good birthday party. Now I'm off for the week. Chancho was supposed to have the week off as well. In fact that was the reason behind me taking the week off was because he took it off. However, because he's a workaholic he'll be working every day this week. Today he's working a paid detail and then the rest of the week he's working at the deli covering for the owner. Which means, no vacation for us. In the beginning when he first told me this I was upset. Very upset. In fact, I think I still am, but s l o w l y letting it go. When he first told me he had to work I thought to myself alright, only a few hours here and there to fill in for someone. That's okay. We won't be able to go away, but we would still be able to go to the beach more days out of the week than normal. But now, he's working every day and until 3pm. Which means no beach, or anything else. So I'm putting on my big girl pants and making plans for myself. Today I'm off to go mattress shopping. I'm determined to put up my bed that's been sitting in the living room for 5 months now. It will get done this week. Hopefully, by me doing my own thing and keeping myself active while he's at work will let me let go of this frustration.

Quote of the Day: "There are three solutions to every problem: accept it, change it or leave it."
Listening to: "Misery" by Maroon 5

Gearing Up

Tons of excitement coming my way tomorrow. Chancho turns 26! I've bought Yankee tickets for him, of course. His Sgt. made sure that he had his birthday off; he wasn't going to take it off. I have work until 9am so after I get out I'm heading over to have breakfast with him, then we'll head to the Bronx for the game. Once we get out of the game we're going back to his place for a family dinner, then finally out to the bars with friends. He's going out tonight with coworkers, they said they wanted to treat him to a few before he headed home. I'm on call for a pick up for whenever he needs to get home. I'm not sure how well that's going to work out when I need to be up at 4am, but it's his birthday so I can sacrifice a few hours of sleep for him.
Chancho had  an unusual night last night in that he was actually out on patrol. Instead of sitting behind a desk watching TV working on reports and complaints, he was told to suit up and head out into the projects with the housing group. It was a quiet night, thankfully, and he enjoyed himself. I think he misses being out on the streets with not knowing what's going to happen next. I could hear it in his voice that he had a good time. I don't miss those nights though. I enjoy him sitting behind his desk.

I got news that my old roommate and very close friend has plans to come visit in August. She's starting to plan her trip. I am crossing my fingers that all works out. She says that it might be hard to get the days off because a coworker is out on maternity leave, but we'll see.

Other news, my childhood best friend's sister gave birth to a little girl last friday. She is unbelievably cute and I'm not saying that because I'm biased, I really do believe she's cute. Last Sunday, my cousin got married. She's a year younger than me and had a little house on the prarie wedding. They married in a field of grass overlooking a valley. It looked very beautiful from pictures. She wore a blue patterned dress, very simple, which fit her well. She isn't a very dramatic person so it suited her well. However, now everyone is asking me when I'll be getting married. I'm wondering where they're thoughts of "Take your time, there's no rush" went.

This upcoming holiday weekend I'll be visiting my sister and BIL in Jersey again for a fight night. First we're going to eat at Harold's again. I'm not sure we can go visit and not go to Harold's anymore. Chancho has fallen in love with it and demands that we stop there now. Then Sunday, the 4th, after working all day (boooo) the family is visiting my parents. It'll be great to see everyone finally.

Quote of the Day: "Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress." ~ Alfred A. Montapert
Listening to: "King of Anything" by Sara Bareilles

Harold's NY Deli

January 2nd is my father's birthday. We usually don't do much for it because it is right after Christmas and no one ever has enough money to spend on anything extravagant, but this year we all saved a little extra so we would be able to go to Harold's New York Deli. It's a restaurant, but the portions are ginormous! And I mean ginormous. They are made to serve 2-3 or 5-6 people. It was so funny watching everyone's face when the food arrived at the table. Even the drinks were giant sized. You never want to order anything large because it will come 3x the size you want it to be. They also have a pickle bar. I never new there were so many different pickles that you could make a bar out of them all, but there are! They also have extra bread so when you order a sandwich you can make smaller sandwiches. We ordered an eclair. A simple eclair and out comes this 18" eclair. It was bigger than my cat. It probably weighs more than my cat too. We got plenty of leftovers, which will probably feed us until Tuesday.
The entire family was able to go, including my dad's sister and her husband. Chancho wasn't able to make it because he signed up for overtime. Here are the pictures of our meals.

 This was my dad's meal that he shared with his brother-in-law. So this is only half.

French fries for the table.

This was my meal that I shared with my mom. (Roast beef with cheddar cheese and bacon)

My sister and her husband's meal. (Bacon hamburger)

My brother-in-law ordered chili fries

My brother and his wife ordered a meatball sub

And here it is! The eclair!!

Listening to: "You Can Count On Me" by Default
Quote of the Day: “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” - Hal Borland

Birthday Weekend

Sunday was my birthday celebration, Monday being my actual birthday, but since it was a weekend evening it was planned for Sunday. Chancho sent out an invitation and got everyone together for it. He even was able to sneak in a few people that I didn't know were going to show up. It was located at a local bar. He gets "happy hour" specials. This is a deal where you can get $2 drinks for 2 hours. This way those who don't have that much money can still come out and have a few and even buy me some drinks and not empty their wallets out completely. It's a win-win situation. The surprise guests were my parents, my father's cousin, and my godparents/aunt and uncle. It was a great surprise. They were able to stay for the majority of the night too. It started early enough that people were able to stay and hang out without missing out on any sleep for work the next day. I however had the next day off so I was able to stay out with Chancho and a coworker for a bit longer. We took a trip to a gay club that opened that night and stumbled upon a waiter that we always get when we go out to eat at our regular restaurant. It was quite the night.

Monday, birthday day, was very relaxing. My parents took me out to lunch at a new Asian restaurant. Then Chancho and I spent the day in watching tv and resting up from the previous night. We then traveled to a friends house for cake. I think this was a better birthday than last years just because I was home with family and friends. Last year I had to travel back to school on my birthday, an 8 hour ride on a bus. It was not the ideal trip for a birthday. So here's to another year and making it the best that I can!

Quote of the Day: "Surround yourself with people you love being yourself with."

Last Night

Chancho's last night in the conditions team is tonight. He'll be out celebrating with the guys. His partner is really sad to see him go, but understands this is something he had to do. In fact a lot of the guys in the precinct are upset that he got the job. He doesn't have a lot of time, but he was the most qualified and that is why he got the job. Everyone will just have to suck it up and get used to it. He will be starting this Tuesday. He can get his first schedule pick on Thursday. The first couple of days he has to to follow his new partners schedule, but after that he can do whatever he wants. I'm really excited for him. I can't wait to see where this takes him.

Sunday will be my birthday party. Chancho set up a little get together out at our usual bar for dinner and then drinks. He sent out invitations with a few cute sayings about me. It really is for him as well. This is a big step for him to get this position and everyone should celebrate it. So that is what we will do. Monday, my actual birthday, my mother is planning on taking me out to lunch, but other than that, it will be a low key day. I don't want anything big, just a day to relax.

Quote of the Day: "Take chances, take a lot of them. Because honestly, no matter where you end up and with whom, it always ends up just the way it should be. Your mistakes make you who you are. You learn and grow with each choice you make. Everything is worth it. Say how you feel always. Be you, and be okay with it."