“JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Guests at an Israeli wedding hall can now insert a credit card into a machine at its entrance, tap in a sum and leave a gift for the bride and groom.

“It’s new in Israel and the world,” Aya Alon Kaufman of the Gan Oranim hall in Tel Aviv said on Israel’s Channel 10 television. “It’s very convenient … guests can give a gift even if they forget their chequebooks.”

She said couples pay 500 shekels ($155) to rent the device, which resembles an automated teller machine, and the recorded funds are transferred into their bank account the next day.”

I understand that for a significant portion of this world, it is common to give cash gifts to newlyweds. It is however a gift, meaning there is no pressure and it is given of someone’s free will. I think people take gifts for granted and I have been horrified at more than one gift registry for weddings that I have been invited to attend.  (Suggestion to the engaged couple: Place a variety of items with a wide range of prices on your registry. If I have met you twice socially and your fiance has worked with me for 8 months, I am not spending $200 on a gift for you.) I just think it is the height of tackiness to rent a credit card machine for those who forgot their checkbooks.  I think good manners says you could wait the few days to receive a check from those who may have forgotten their check.  The only obligation for an attending guest is to show up on time.  Their gift is their presence on your special day. If they have a gift, it should be received with a smile and a prompt thank you after the wedding. If I ever see one of these at a wedding stateside, you better believe I will comment to the lovely couple.

You know that commercial with the little girl who keeps saying she doesn’t like chicken or broccoli. Well I don’t like taking hormones. We started the fertility process a bit sooner than I was planning and at this point, I am starting to understand the flood of American women who are going to India to hire surrogates. I have to watch everything and record everything. My diet, my medications, my temperature, and my moods. I just feel like at the moment I am perpetual bitch mode. I just want to sit in the dark and not talk to a living soul. I feel so sorry for my husband. He did not marry this crazed lunatic. I also feel a little out of place because while having a child would be a blessing, I just seem lazy compared to other women going through this process. I have been getting tons of advice through the support groups and fertility networks, but I don’t think having a child will define me as much as being an amazing addition to our great family. I am not going to be depressed for the rest of my life if this does not happen. I am 100% committed to the process but do I have to become obsessive about this?

How much money and time was spent trying to prosecute R. Kelly over the years? It only took the jury 6 hours to find him innocent. They didn’t even have to call out for lunch. I can remember listening to his song “You Remind Me of Something” over and over and over. It cracked me up that he won a Grammy for his gospel song, “I Believe I Can Fly”. It is a good song.

I saw FitFlops in Macy’s and I have seen them highlighted in magazines and television. I am thinking about buying a pair. Is there anyone out there who has tried them?

I also have to say that my fellow air travelers are not operating their life rafts with both oars in the water. If you are traveling cover up! Ladies, no one should be able to tell your waxing technique. I swear I saw a woman whose skirt covered nothing when she sat down. As you go up in altitude, it will get colder. Shorts, tank tops, and flip flops will not keep you warm. So many people dressed this way on my flight that they turned on the heat to accommodate them. I say let their butts freeze! I am amazed at the number of people who still recline their seats. Anyone who thinks it is cool to recline your seat deserves to have knees shoved into the back of their seat as they rest and the occasional drink dropped on their head. I was imagining the fun you could have writing on their foreheads with a sharpie.

I do say kudos to the mom who came on board with her three kids. She had mp3 players, video games, books, snacks, drinks, and was very firm about her expectations for their behavior. I have never sat next to such well behaved kids on a flight before!

The second phase of my vacation starts tomorrow. I am flying back to Austin, Texas to spend a week with friends and to enjoy all the old haunts! I can’t wait for barbecue and Mexican-Martinis!

(photo by: RSEanes)

I got some good advice from my friend today. She said, “If you are unsure about something, don’t act until you are sure.” (I just paraphrased that.)   This was good advice for my situation and it was contrary to what I usually do. I typically rush in to save the day.  It is kinda like when you are in school and the teacher asks a question that you know the answer too but she asks your clueless friend sitting next to you. You want to mutter the answer under your breath to help out your friend but are you really helping them?  Maybe the embarrassment of not knowing the answer will prompt your friend to study and be better prepared. Giving them the answer gives them a fish for one meal versus teaching them how to fish so that they never go hungry.  That moment of feeling like you helped your friend actually contributed to their inability to handle future situations.  It really hit me that I wasn’t making situations better by making a small problem go away because the larger problem is still there festering.  Failure is not the end of the world and if often the impetus for great ideas and future success.  I want to help people learn to fish, even though I make an amazing seared salmon dish!

I don’t know who she is and the person who found her camera has not discovered her identity either. They found her camera while on vacation in Italy. The person did post this photo and a few others on a site called www.ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com which helps to reunite people with cameras or memory sticks they have lost. To date the site has helped 8 people find lost cameras or memory sticks!  Take a look at the site to see if your lost pictures have been found or if you recognize anyone you know.

I love the website Perpetual Kid. They always have unique and funny gifts and their site claims to entertain the inner child in us all. One of their new products is the To-Do Tattoo for your palm. 12 tattoos cost $5.99 plus shipping. I always forget my shopping list. I leave it on the counter at home. I then think I can recall everything on the list, which I don’t. The point of having a list is so that I don’t buy a lot of junk we don’t need. If I don’t have the list, I roam and throw things in the cart. I then get home with half of the ingredients needed for any recipe, which means another trip to the store. This afternoon I forgot my list. The only items on the list were bread and butter pickles and milk. I forgot the milk. I could not recall which kind of pickles I needed so I bought sweet gherkins, bread and butter pickles, and relish. I still spent $72.00. I have half the ingredients for fruit salad, turkey burgers, and chicken casserole. The cheese counter was calling out to me today as well. I think I will email my list to myself in the future, so that I can use my nifty new phone to pull it up!

(photo by: The American Hotel)

Pete and I had contemplated staying at The American Hotel in Sharon Springs, New York during our recent trip to Cooperstown, NY. Sharon Springs is a small village about 15 miles north of Cooperstown. While researching a trip to the area, The American Hotel was mentioned numerous times as a delightful place to stay and a wonderful place to dine.  Unfortunately their restaurant was not going to be operating the days we were in the area. We decided that since the restaurant was closed and most of our activities were in Cooperstown, that it made better since to stay at a Bed & Breakfast within walking distance of everything.  We arrived in Cooperstown on Monday around 4pm. We decided there was enough daylight to drive around Lake Otsego and to check out Sharon Springs for a possible future stay. The drive from Cooperstown to Sharon Springs provides amazing views of Lake Otsego and the surrounding valleys. Sharon Springs has a long way to go with regards to reviving the village and encouraging tourism.  I love history. So I tend to overlook the poor condition of the buildings and get caught up trying to imagine the village in its prime!  As you drive through the village, you catch glimpses of temples built to shelter mineral springs and crumbling resorts that use to be the place to vacation. From the mid 19th century until the start of the 20th, Sharon Springs was internationally known as a resort area with healing waters.  Here are some of the photos we snapped:

After three years of devotion and loyal service my Nokia cell phone was laid to rest this weekend. I loved my Nokia. It vibrated. It had flashing lights. It had an awesome techno beat that could be heard from the bottom of any purse known to womankind. Over the past few weeks, she didn’t quite vibrate as much as she buzzed and I could hear others but they could not hear me. I haven’t determined the best environmental way to bury her, so for the moment she is laid out for viewing on my desk. Please bow your head for a moment of silence.
After hours of torture and unending research, I decided my new cell phone would be this:

This is the LG enV(2) in black. I have only had it for a few hours, so I will let you all know what I think in a later post. I am not ashamed to say I bought it so I could email and blog while on vacation.

New Kids on the Block were on the Today show this morning. They entertained the crowd with a montage of their hits. I will admit that my room use to be covered in pictures of these guys when I was 13. I was in love with Joey and Jordan. I even bought the Christmas album. I am not a big fan musical reunions. Unless it is The Monkees singing Daydream Believer. I had such a crush on Mikey Dolenz and Davy Jones during their reunion in the mid 80’s. Although technically they were old enough to be my grandfather. There is just nothing better than The Monkees pretending to play instruments and lip singing!

We went out to dinner tonight with some friends. During our conversation the website ManBabies.com was mentioned. People submit photos of fathers with their sons. The twist is that they switch their heads using Photoshop. I found some of the photos very funny and others to be more than a little disturbing. I think it is worth a minute or two of your time!

My niece Hanniah (age 4) gave me a huge compliment this weekend. She told me on Sunday that she wanted to be a wonderful Aunt like me when she grows up. This was after she told me that the Smurfs were lame in comparison to the 3D-CGI produced Backyardigans of her generation. This was after she initiated me into an ongoing game of fart tag that my sister’s family has been playing for months. This was after her sister Mackensie (age 3) told me that applesauce is to be served warm not chilled and that real band-aids have characters printed on them. This was after she blew her nose on my boobs after Hanniah accidentally knocked her down and I was trying to stop the tears. This was after thanking me for buying her a matching big girl car seat just like her sister’s seat in our vehicle. No more baby car seat for this 3 year old! This was after they managed to get more Play-Doh on my carpet than into their creations. This was after we sang along to toddler songs and Hanniah dropped the “Jesus Christ” into the conversation which caused Uncle Pete to go into convulsions. I told her Uncle Pete was Episcopal or “Catholic Lite” and that she should be glad that her Pentecostal Great-Grandmother wasn’t around. This was after a trip to the playground, a walk through the woods, and dinner at Bertucci’s. They loved the bathroom so much at Bertucci’s that I got to see it twice. This was after yelling at their Uncle Pete to give them control of their automatic windows while driving around town and racing him up and down the stairs. This was after we called everyone we knew using speaker phone cause nothing says I love you like two little girls screaming it at you at the top of their lungs. This was after Mackensie spotted her third Dunkin Donuts and mentioned that we had passed without stopping. This was after telling me that I needed to join their “Broccoli-loving faction” and that my “Green Pepper-loving faction” was disgusting. This was after informing me that they make popcorn that you can cook in the microwave versus the air popper. This was after Hanniah woke me up at 5:30am. Yes, I said am. Apparently sunrises are amazing and the shades of pink and orange in the sky are so brilliant they make little girls wake up their sleep deprived aunts to share in the experience. I now understand why parents need coffee. This was after Mackensie told me that I was funny and that she loved me. This was after an amazing weekend with two little girls that make my world a much better place.

I was reading the news and came across the announcement that the Duggar family is expecting another child. This is their 18th child! There is part of me that says she should have as many kids as she wants. They support their family and do not receive any government assistance.  Then there is the part of me that thinks those kids must crave attention and privacy. Not to mention that I cross my legs and cringe thinking about 18 kids popping out of me!  My grandmother was one of eight kids and my great-grandmother was one of 18 kids but that was because my great-great grandfather had two wives. His first wife had 10 children and then passed away. He married again and his second wife (my great-great grandmother) gave birth to 8 children. They lived in rural North Carolina on a farm. Apparently it was common to have large families in those days and they were blessed that their children survived a wide range of childhood illnesses that typically took the lives of many children.  I just don’t think I could handle 18 children. Could you handle 18 kids?

Pete has finally scheduled some time off from work. In a few weeks we will toss aside his Crackberry and my cell phone and see the sites! We decided to start our little vacation by heading up to Cooperstown, NY. Pete has always wanted to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame and I am excited that this will make one of his baseball dreams come true! I won’t exactly be short changed. We have booked a room at the Landmark Inn. I have heard good things about small inns and B&Bs of New York. I love historic homes and I can’t wait to see Cooperstown, which apparently is full of charm! I am going to visit the Fenimore Art Museum, which is known for their collection of American art. We will then take a leisure drive down to Cape May, NJ and then a short ferry ride over to Rehoboth Beach, DE for a few days with family and friends. Baseball, history, beaches, rum punch and seafood…this is our kind of vacation!

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