NYC & other updates

Wow - I can't believe the month of July is over (almost). It has flown by! As you all know, we went to New York City from the 19th through the 23rd. It was a great time and very HOT!! We went to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island (which I really don't recommend - kinda boring and not much to see - just ride the Staten Island Ferry for a free look at the statue). We also took a tour of the World Trade Center site given by a retired firefighter - that was really neat, especially the WTC Tribute Center where they have some artifacts that were recovered from the buildings. Very somber. We went to Coney Island which was new for us - we just walked around and went to the Aquarium, but it was a nice beach if we wanted to get in the ocean. We also enjoyed Nathan's Hot Dogs at the ORIGINAL Nathan's. We, of course, took in a Yankees game and they won 12-4 vs. the Minnesota Twins and a Broadway musical, "Passing Strange", which Spike Lee is making into a movie and happened to be there filming the night we were there, so that was kinda cool, although the musical was not one of our favorites! We also enjoyed a horse & buggy ride through part of Central Park which, was a little expensive for no more than you got to see, but I have always wanted to do that, so we did. We stayed at the Algonquin Hotel which is the oldest operating hotel in NYC (and it showed when the A/C didn't work in our first room and the bathroom drain didn't work in our 3rd room - yes, 3rd - another long story). The hotel was nice, overall, though, and had a lot of "charm" and history, including their house cat, "Matilda", who was always there to greet you when you came in.

We also had our first experience in China Town and what an experience it was!! It is a story better told in person, but the long and short of it is that Kelly got so nervous she got diarrhea and had to go to the bathroom at McDonald's. She left me on the sidewalk outside waiting for her for what seemed like FOREVER - but was actually probably 20 minutes. She had a little mishap following her "explosion" and dropped her cell phone in the toilet - her instincts took over and before it flushed down the drain, she grabbed it out - wet toilet paper and all!! UGH!!! Needless to say, it was so waterlogged it didn't work anyway, but they were able to save her Contact information, so it wasn't a total loss.

Anyway - after a long flight delay - and spending 7 hours at the airport, we had a safe flight home and spent the next few days recuperating.

The weekend was spent with Julie & Kim who took us to Carraba's for some Italian dinner (Kim just wanted to hear the cell phone story firsthand!) and on Sunday, a cookout for Kelly's aunt's 60th birthday. Her aunt was recently diagnosed with Liver Cancer and is scheduled for a long and complicated surgery on August 22nd, so all of your prayers for her recovery would be appreciated! They have certainly had their share of bad luck this year!

Well, I am going to go for now. Here are a few of the pics from NYC - Enjoy! Until next time...

Deb

Kel's Birthday Week

Well, July 6th was Kelly's birthday and what an eventful week! It all started July 2nd, which as indicated in my last blog, was Mallori's birthday. We all celebrated at the Geller Park Independence Day extravaganza with fireworks and family. It was a fun evening.

The next night, Kel stayed home after a long day's work, but I joined my family on Buckeye Lake for the BEST fireworks in Licking County. A mini version of Red, White and Boom! There is nothing quite like watching fireworks from a boat! I guess my brothers are good for something!!

The next day, July 4th, we, again, joined my family for a cookout at my Mom & Dad's house. I, know, lots of family time, huh??

July 5th - we celebrated Kel's birthday for the first time at Mongolian BBQ where Kim & Julie joined us. We caught up and had a good dinner.

July 6th - finally Kel's birthday had arrived - and we went to the Old Bag O' Nails Pub in Gahanna. The food was terrific (service not so much as we had 3 glasses of iced tea spilled on us at the start!) We took some photos out back on the balcony and Kel and I ventured down to the water where we saw a mother and her baby ducks swimming along! So cute!! Unfortunately, when I got home, I received the sad news that my Grandma Libby had passed away. She had been ill for quite some time and I am glad she is in a better place now!

Jump forward to this weekend where we started with the Jazz & Ribs Festival in Downtown Newark. The proceeds benefit the Licking County Humane Society, so this is an event we try not to miss each year. As usual, we enjoyed some good food and music and we left just in time before the rains came!!

Today, the final day of Kel's birthday week, her father treated us to The Spaghetti Warehouse - one of our favorite restaurants! It was sooooo good!

Now, I am catching up the blog and going to go to bed! Busy week coming up as we have quite a bit to do before leaving for NYC on Saturday. I can't believe it is finally time, but we only have a few days to go! I can't wait!!

Until next time - peace out!

--Deb

Happy Birthday Mallori!!

Today is my niece, Mallori's 13th birthday! Finally, an official teenager - she has been acting like one for years now! LOL!!! Here is a picture of her with her Dad taken on Memorial Day. Happy Birthday, Mal - We love you!!

Deb

Fly Away

I finally got a good picture of the baby bird - thank goodness because they flew away the very next day!! Here he is poking his head out of the birdhouse waiting for Momma to bring him some food! Isn't he sooo cute??

This morning, our neighbor called to tell us that we had a baby deer sleeping in our backyard at 8:00 a.m. Obviously, we weren't awake to see it, but from now on, we are going to keep an eye out for it! That would be so exciting since we have never had deer here before!

Not much else going on around here. Back to work tomorrow, but at least it is a short, holiday week! It will go fast, too, since we have fireworks to attend Wednesday (Heath) and Thursday (Buckeye Lake) night. I love fireworks, but Kel isn't a big fan. She does enjoy the ones at Buckeye Lake, though. My brothers take us out on their boats so we can watch from the water. They break right above you, at least it seems like it. I absolutely LOVE them!

Everyone have a safe holiday and take care! Until next time....

--Deb

Sunday, June 22nd

Hello all. I've got some sad news to report today. On Friday, June 20th, I lost my step-brother Greg Ryan. He was only 31 years old and he unfortunately ended his own life. Please keep his mother (my step-mother Lorrie) and his siblings Kristin and Joe in your prayers. Although we'll miss him greatly; I hope he is at peace. On a bit of a brighter note, I've included some new pictures of the pets and a few of the wildlife in our backyard. There's no toads but a couple sparrows at a feeder. We currently have some baby birds in a birdhouse and I've been trying to close enough for a photo. I'll try to zoom in and if you look real close at the bottom hole, you may be able to see one of the babies with it's mouth open. We'll talk again soon! Kelly

GRADUATION WEEKEND

Well, this weekend is Newark graduation and my nephew, Joe, is graduating! Hard to believe, really. Of course, it is an outside graduation ceremony and the weather is calling for 90-95 degrees! Should be steamy!! I would post some pics, but my new camera is being repaired. Yep, I had it for less than a month and the LCD screen went out! Couldn't exchange it because I had thrown the box away so they have to repair it. Hopefully, I will get it back soon. I didn't even have the chance to download my pics from our Memorial Day picnic. When I get it back, I will try to do that!

Not much else going on here. We got our flowers planted and now just need to lay some mulch down. Haven't seen the toad since Kelly relocated it to the school a couple of weeks ago. I am hoping it doesn't make its way back (nor do any of its friends & family!)

We are only a little over a month away from NYC! Trying to find a dog sitter since ours moved to PA. I am sure it will all work out.

Stay cool out there! I am off to play some Poppit on Pogo!!

--Deb

Summer Vacation, Finally Booked!!

Well - we finally made a decision and we have booked our summer vacation to NYC! We gave up on All Star tickets because we know, with our luck, we never would have won the raffle to be eligible to purchase them at regular prices and scalpers were selling them for $550+ each!! (Now that we have booked our trip - we will probably win the raffle, but oh well - the way the Yanks are playing so far, they probably won't have any players in the All Star Game anyway!!) In any event, we are going in July so it will be HOT!! We are staying at a hotel called "The Algonquin" which is in the theater district/Times Square, so it is pretty centrally located to everything we want to do and if anything is longer than walking distance - we'll just hop on the Subway!! I can't wait!!! We had to go to Stubhub.com to get our tickets because everything was sold out otherwise. Last year in the stadium is apparently, quite a big draw!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tix to Jersey Boys at the TKTS booth! That is the one show I really want to see!

Ok, what else. I got a new camera yesterday so pics will be coming soon! Reba & Kelly announced new tour dates and they are coming to Columbus in November, so my 10x zoom will be at work that night!! Another thing to look forward to!

Now, just for fun, here is a video of our loveable Baxter during the weekly test of the tornado sirens last Wednesday! This is what I get to see every week when I am home for lunch by 12:15 pm. Isn't he cute!! We won't need to worry about hearing the sirens if we ever actually have a tornado! I am sure he will alert us!!

Until next time!!

--Deb