Pond Hopper

Well, our trip home for Christmas is all set and paid for. The best part is that I paid for the entire trip with MY money that I earned with my new business!! Our 2 week trip that was costing a small fortune, is now a 3 week trip that ended up cheaper than it was before (it's still cost several thousand but every bit saved is a bonus)! Because it's cheaper to fly on dates that aren't so close to the holidays, I've saved quite a bit of money. I used Priceline.com to pay for the hotel again. It's such a great service that I use when ever I can. Although, there are some downsides to it. This is how it works - you choose the area and the rating of the hotel you want to stay in and then make a bid of how much you want to pay. They search for hotels that are willing to accept your offer and either accept or deny it. I always start dirt cheap and work my way up slowly until I reach my max budget. The good news is that I got a 3-star hotel suite (complete with kit...

I just finished watching Gray’s Anatomy (we’re on the second season here – no spoilers please!) and once again, I sat on the edge of my seat watching it. What a great show. It’s strange how many storylines on the show, shadow similar things that have happened to me (although I’m not, nor will I ever be a doctor or work in a hospital) – some of the family issues, the close friend that confesses his undying love (although I lost the friend and didn’t end up in bed with him), the dreamy ex with the wife that has the look of love in his eyes every time he’s near – that look that makes me want to yell at the screen: Stop looking at her like that! You lost the right to look at her like that! While another part of me is hoping he’ll just kiss her and get it over with so that she’ll get the guy. If she marries a man she’s not in love with, rebounds to an abusive alcoholic and then finds love and a happy ending with a European man – I’ll start to worry. I guess that’s what makes the sho...

It’s funny what inspires – for me, more than anything, its music. I’ve had nothing to say for weeks (probably because I’ve had so much on my mind, it’s difficult to find the words to say what it is I’m going through), but I hear a song and suddenly I’m compelled to write… I can see clearly now by Jonny Nash was just played on my NY radio station (they sure do play some cheesy music). From the first line of the song, I was struck by a memory that I had long forgotten. When I was 17, I met my first love (it feels like a lifetime ago and yet some things I can still remember like it was yesterday). We met in early summer and I was immediately swept off my feet by this larger than life, blue eyed boy that made you smile just being near him. Looking back, I think it’s what drew me to him. It wasn’t his charm (sure it helped), it wasn’t his looks (although he was easy on the eyes) – it was his presence. He had a way about him that just made you smile. He was always smiling and it was...

I'm booking the flight home for Christmas today. It's costing over

Considering that nothing went as planned

I have a business function in London on Friday. I

I have a business function in London on Friday. I

Tonight is Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Night). Bonfire Night is a holiday (that's a bit sick and twisted) celebrated in England. It is a celebration of the capture of Guy Fawkes and stopping his plot (known today as the Gunpowder plot) to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it, was caught, tortured, hung and quartered. The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires began that very same year (400 years ago). Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, lit bonfires in celebration. As years progressed, the ritual became more elaborate. Soon, people began placing dummies of Guy Fawkes and sometimes those of the Pope onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the...