slammin' sandy

One year ago, the famous October snowstorm put us personally without power for 8 days bringing me literally to tears a few times as I tried to juggle work, the kids being off school all week and just trying to cope with figuring out how to exist without power, all topped off with a delayed Halloween - my favorite holiday!!  Who could have thought that we would be in such a similar scenario one year later??    Obviously my husband Tom, who insisted we hire electricians to install a big fancy generator which at the time seemed like an expensive indulgence because deep down, I truly NEVER believed something of that magnitude would happen again and even more incredibly this soon!   HOW WRONG I WAS!!! (yup, you heard that right)  And I can almost say that the annoyingly loud humming noise it makes, which we hear throughout the neighborhood as though we are in a post-apolcalyptic world, is a comfort to me knowing that we can almost exist in a 'business as usual' fashion when this same scene last year had me rendered immobile with panic.  Even though our cable internet is not working, my little handy verizon mifi card is doing the job!  So I am not going to complain at all... even though 2 of our big trees fell, one on our neighbor's car, and one on the power lines - neither landing on our house which could easily have happened if the wind gusted "to" rather than "fro".... and even though I know that our house in LBI is underwater after new kitchen cabinets and carpets were installed one week ago... nope, you will not hear one complaint from me.  Halloween is once again postponed a few days - very spooky, pun intended.  But I am truly thankful that no one was hurt and that I live in a neighborhood where so many people with generators have offered their homes to others for showers and power and even with all the devastation locally, most everyone who was out walking around today seemed to be in good spirits.  It was wonderful to get so many messages from those not in this area, people from work, or relatives who are not local, to check up and make sure we were all ok.  I do feel very blessed and I want to share some photo highlights of the local effects that Hurricane Sandy had on us and some others in my neighborhood.

goodbye ceta

I have been thinking long and hard about how to put into words such a huge and deep feeling of sorrow.  I never intended for this blog to be depressing, but I also can't ignore when sad things happen as they are indeed part of my world.  Up until a year ago, a woman named Ceta Ennis was our family babysitter for 22 years!  She came to us when Tommy was 6 months old and made it possible for me to work full time knowing that my kids were in good hands while I was gone.  Thru the years, there were times when we thought she might move on, especially when we moved from Secaucus to Chatham, but we always managed to work it out and last year, when it was time for her to move on to another job.  It was sad because she had truly become a part of our family, but we continued to speak on the phone every month or so.  About a week ago, she had a massive stroke and passed away.   I can't even type this without crying.  When we told Jonathan, he immediately became hysterical and after crying inconsolably for awhile, he said he could not even play his video games because he was so so sad and he just went to bed in tears.  Her funeral service was just sad beyond words at her Pentecostal Church up in the Bronx complete with many of the songs she used to sing around the house, and a shouting preacher who gave a sermon with so much energy we thought he might burst as they celebrated her life.  Everyone who attended knew who we were and welcomed us like family.  Many times during the ceremony, we were referred to as her 'new jersey family' and we were pretty easy to pick out of the crowd.   We all had an opportunity to speak in front of her congregation and we were not expecting it.  Juli was just amazing with the way she was able to put it together like an adult off the cuff as we were all up there crying.  The past few days have just been continuous sadness and I keep hearing her voice echoing in my head saying "C'mon Hel, no more crying!" but I just can't help it.   I will never forget the woman who was so full of life and good energy and I just presumed she would be at all the special family events over the next several years... she was only 65.  We were blessed to have her with us and as much as I used to complain about certain things now and again, I have so many good memories of her:  the constant singing of church songs, her loud laugh when someone would do something funny in the house, her flowery perfumes that would infiltrate the car, house, etc to an annoying degree, the way she loved cooking those big fattening Jamaican meals, the way she would always bow her head in prayer before eating anything, the times when I would blast the music in the house and she would cheer me on in her funny way as I danced around the kitchen, the way her accent would get so heavy when she got worked up about something,  all the many cassette tapes she collected (I'm talking more than a hundred no joke)  that she would listen to of the shouting preachers so she could learn how to preach in her church, her obsession with the news and how she always found time to read the newspaper from cover to cover every day and she knew every last thing about politics, and only 2 weeks before she died, we talked on the phone and she was telling me how much she longed to see the kids and that she was gonna to take the train out here for a visit.  One strange thing that had begun over the past year - an automated recorded phone call from a 'pastor' who continues to call the house wishing us a beautiful day because we somehow ended up on a calling list andI have not been able to figure out how to unsubscribe from it.  I will now take comfort in hearing his voice every couple of weeks and consider it a little amusing reminder of the special lady who was such an important part of our lives.  

durbo recap

Another amazing night of ladies only Dance UR Butt Off ... thanks to all the girls with good energy who enter 'the club' and embrace the madness to make the night a success.  Some time ago I realized that if I want to dance, I'd better make it happen and bam, not just another random crazy idea - this was a good one - the birth of the DURBO party.  Fun to the tenth power.  See you at the next one!  ps... special thanks to Marie's Deli who provided the food and not only is Marie an amazing cook, she is adorable too (see below in the cute turquoise dress).

hyena

I have to admit that laughing is just one of the best things -  I am a person who LITERALLY laughs out loud, sometimes even when I am alone and think of something funny which may have happened a few days before and there are times when I get stuck and I can't stop laughing.  My kids have witnessed this and the more they think I'm nuts, the more I can't stop laughing which gets a little stupid but I can't help it.   I wonder at times if I think things are funnier when I'm tired, or I'm just looking for something to be funny so I have an excuse to laugh.  What's made this even better more recently is those one-liner funny text messages responses or email responses.  It's like I'm not really expecting a joke and then oops there it is and it's so great even more so because it is not a live conversation where you might sense a funny response coming...  get it?!!  It's a whole new level of random funniness and the possibilities of spontaneous laughter are multiplying in the techno era. I just re-read this and think I sound a little strange so maybe I shouldn't post it, but I'm posting it anyway.  hahahahaha...

calling all seinfeld fans

If you've seen every episode of Seinfeld as many times as I have, check out Jerry's latest web series - Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.  I will say after watching several episodes, it's not as crazy funny as the show we have all grown to know and love, but it certainly is funny in a more 'real' and seemingly off-the-cuff manner.  In this rather refreshing version of an on-the-road-talk-show, Seinfeld picks up each guest in his own car and takes them for a ride to get coffee.  Every web-isode features a different car, and if I'm correct, I believe these might be from his own car collection, but don't quote me on that one.   The interesting thing is that these short programs are clearly 'produced', meaning that there are several cameras covering the scenes from different angles, inside and out of the car, but the interactions he has with his guests are not 'interviews' but rather a conversation over a cup of coffee.  They might  be rehearsed, as is mentioned on occasion by the guest, but the content is definitely NOT scripted and though it is not side-splitting funny, there are amusing moments that are like a window into these comedians personalities showing what they are like when they are not fully acting.  But the best part of all is that most comedians have that wonderful ability to turn on the funny when the cameras are rolling and sometimes the unplanned is funnier than anything that might have been written and rehearsed.  Check it out:  http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com

another naked body?

It seems to be a recurring theme for me.... on a nice fall beach day, my eyes did not deceive me as I watched a rather large older woman undress right in front of anyone who cared to watch!   She was with a group of people (friends or family?) and had a white flowy long shirt on, but the wind was blowing fiercely so it was up over her waist as she pulled off her granny panties and I swear to god that anyone reading might think I'm inventing stories about naked people, but there she was, changing into a 2-piece bathing suit with her full moon at high noon and then she dared to bend over to step into her bottoms and omg her wahoo was on display too!  I was trying not to stare, but it was a major distraction as I was trying to have a conversation with 2 friends who were not facing in her direction so they missed the action.  It was one of those moments where I didn't want to be seen watching the scene, but it was a train wreck (like a naked dead man only she was very much alive and jiggling) and I thought 'you go girl' because she didn't give a hoot who watched her!  Funniest part was that her posse didn't pay any attention as she struggled into her suit and after all the drama to get into the bikini, the whole group left the beach about 10 minutes later.  So bizarre.

days in dallas

When one of my clients first suggested I start a blog, she said I should call it 'helen's crazy world' but I thought that was a bit much, I mean I'm not really that crazy.  But I realize now that she wasn't trying to say I was wild and crazy, but she was probably talking more about the crazy sh*t that happens to me sometimes.  Well I'm not gonna change the name of the blog, but let me recap the events of the past 2 days which I spent in Dallas at the International Toy Fair and I'll skip the boring work details.  Last night, I met my friend Valerie for dinner.  She had recently moved to Dallas right after we had just met back in NJ.   We ate at the hotel where I was staying which was so incredible - The Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek - out on the patio which was sooooo beautiful with gorgeous lanterns and outdoor fireplaces and it was a perfect evening weather-wise.  We had excellent girl talk about family, work, life and just good stuff, so great to get to know her even better...and the meal was delicious.  This morning, I woke up feeling very congested so I almost passed up on my run but I had read about the Katy Trail for joggers which was converted from the old train line so I thought I would check it out since it was such a beautiful sunny day.  As usual, I was snapping photos with my phone, pictures I thought I would post here.  The trail was lined with bamboo, which made it so nice and shady for the runners in that hot city, and there were some very quaint homes with backyards that faced the trail.  I stopped to take some photos of the ducks in the creek... and as I was walking by a policeman who was walking the beat, I was just about to ask him 'where the heck are the turtles of turtle creek?' when I noticed that I was literally pointing my camera at a NAKED DEAD MAN'S BODY IN THE CREEK!!!!!!!!!  I really wish I was kidding right now, but I'm not.  The policeman must have thought I was some kind of FREAK that I was taking pictures of it, the whole thing all happened so fast because he asked me if I was the one who made the call to 911 and I said omg no, I was taking pictures of the ducks and looking for turtles!  I didn't even see the body!   Can you believe this?  Honestly, it was surreal. There was no one else around, well a few joggers passed by here and there, but no one even noticed except crazy me, the tourist with an iphone.  Oddly, the scene reminded me of something you might see in an artsy photography book because of the way the body was positioned in the creek almost in a fetal position.  I'm sorry if this sounds gruesome and I'm the type of person who normally faints at the sight of blood, so it is strange to recount how it was not really as gruesome as it would seem (though there was some blood but I won't elaborate.)  ANYWAY, after chatting with the cop for a few minutes I figured I should move on since I had a flight to catch.  Ok, so now I will cut to the chase, as if that is not enough, I got to the airport and after going thru security, I noticed my iPhone was missing.... yup, gone, can't find it.  Went back thru security again, had everybody in the zone helping me during my breakdown, borrowed a stranger's phone to call my phone, no luck, completely aggravated since I just had the phone replaced a few days ago... then, mid-crisis, I ran into clients on the plane and had to make small talk while I was sweating from the whole frantic drama, and now I'm sitting on the plane sans phone and it just occurred that whoever has my phone also has the pictures of the DEAD BODY because I never deleted them!!!!!!   yikes... and therefore I have no pictures to add to this post because those are gone as well, but that is probably a good thing.