we are family: part deux

later that night my sister and her crew all showed up. they had to come late because monkey #1 had a track meet and he totally got a medal -- granted i think when the track meet is a bunch of 4-5 year olds everyone gets a medal -- but that's because they are all winners. they were very tired as evidenced by daisy's yawn:



i'm with ya' puppy -- i feel like that every night around 9:30. (btw -- this is, like, the perfect dog -- totally quiet and calm, acts like a hoover around the table but doesn't really beg, and is super cute.)

the next morning we got up and went to the river to look for ducks and monkey #2 was excited for the chance to tote his big boy backpack:



this boy has serious love for that backpack -- he didn't go so far as to bathe with it but he did have the backpack next to the bathtub -- his love runs deep.

once we got to the river monkey #1 set about teaching monkey #2 all about feeding ducks:



dadgo summoned us to the bridge and we fed the little floaters from there:





but once that got old the monkeys wanted to experience nature -- mainly monkey #1. we decided that monkey #1 is going to have his own nature show on the discovery channel called "the naked naturalist" -- which i guess is like saying automatic teller machine machine because aren't naturalists nudists? but that's not the kind of naturalist i mean -- i mean the two things he loves the most seem to be being naked and being in nature.

let's play my new favorite game a la where's waldo. . .i call it "spot the monkey":







after relaxing by the river and a quick hike we came home for lunch and an even quicker nap and then headed back out for some fishing! see you think i'm all new york city girl but i'm totes a country girl. i mean look at me:



i'm a fisherwoman! here's dadgo putting a worm on the hook for my sister:



and here's me watching him (warning: not my best picture):



see? totally country.

we all fished:



but only momgo actually caught a trout. go, momgo, go!



here's our fishy:



which was then gutted and cleaned by the lovely woman who owns and runs the trout pond:







the next morning momgo cooked fishy up:





i de-boned it in one fell swoop (see? country!):



and then, much to monkey #1's horror, we ate it:



with eggs and toast. because that is how you eat a trout and oh my goodness it was so so good.

after our hearty breakfast we went for hike numero dos to what was once a waterfall but is now a dribble down a rock thanks to the extreme drought that part of the country is going through:



that rock face use to be covered in rushing water and now it's so dry little daisy can run up like it ain't no thang.

monkey #1 continued to commune with nature:



while rogray and i posed in all of our adorableness (finally! one good picture):



and then we headed back. my sis and her crew headed home leaving momgo, dadgo, rogray and me to eat leftovers and watch a movie. the next day we headed back to nyc feeling refreshed, loved, and full.

oh, and yes, that is a reflective vest rogray is wearing in that last picture -- we didn't want him to be confused for a bear and get shot. if that's not family acceptance i don't know what is.

we are family: part one

a few weekends ago my family gathered for our annual family weekend which serves as a get out of spending the holidays with us weekend. unfortunately my brother is off saving lives being all doctor-y so he and his wife couldn't come -- whatever -- his priorities are so out of whack.

rogray and i flew down to georgia where the droughts seem eternal and were quickly whisked away to mountains stopping here along the way:



oh, yes. that there sign is on the pig hill of fame. i'm not sure what you do to get your pig on that there hill of fame or why signs like these make the cut



but there you have it. and let me tell you something -- if the hill isn't enough to prove this joint's love of the pig maybe these photos will:





you can say what you want about their politics but there is only one thing to say about their bbq -- it's amazing. seriously.



you place your order with a nice southern lady before you even walk in and she writes it down for you and you give it to the nice people inside and pay for it before you sit down. they give you your cups and you get yourself some sweet tea:



which is super sweet and super tasty. (side note: i think one of the things my family loves most about having rogray come down to georgia is indoctrinating him into the southern food culture -- since new jersey isn't exactly known for any culinary specialties.) then you wait patiently with your paper towel holder decoration for your food to arrive:



and then it does. and then you eat this succulent, moist pork snadwich with, i swear to god, the best baked beans i have ever had.



after that we got to the cabin and went for a little stroll and posed for the camera (after a round of margaritas):



i feel i should tell you that this is one of two almost identical pictures of momgo, dadgo and myself and when deciding between which one to post i realized it didn't matter as dadgo is talking in both of them.

after a delicious dinner (momgo really hit it out of the park this weekend) we played some progressive rummy while we waited for my sister and her crew to arrive:



after winning the first hand i proceeded to lose operatically which resulted in my favorite picture of rogray and me i have ever taken:



next -- the nephews arrive and chaos ensues. . .

UPDATE: on the bagel buffet

my grandma wrote to tell me to clarify one thing in response to my blog post.

**selma is 83 -- not 85 like i had stated in the previous post. selma, my apologies.**

she also emailed me this morning that she is going back to film another scene for the same movie and it is, obviously, a bar mitzvah scene. my fave quote: "don't know if I will be doing anything special. . .will let you know how that goes."

um, my grandmother is totally becoming a little starlet.

craft services! get this lady some mondel bread!

on the bagel buffet

this is my grandma:



she's 94 but i think of her as a youthful 75. we call her gg -- that works on a number of levels. both her first and last names begin with g and she is a grandmother and a great-grandmother. that's a lot of g's.

gg is one of the most extraordinary people i know. she has had a challenging life -- her husband passed away and she was left with 4 children all under the age of 18. when you ask her how she coped with that she just sort of shrugs and says in her old jewish lady who lives in florida accent "whaaaat? you just keep goink (not a typo her g's always sound like k's). you can't fall apart when there are 4 children who need you."

i have never met someone with the resilience and grace that she has. i stub my toe and act as if the world is crumbling down around me. the love of her life passes away and she pulls herself together so she can be a good mom. we could all learn a thing or two from this lady.

until this year she was a world traveler -- antarctica two years ago, to china, russia, alaska, and pretty much anywhere else you can imagine -- she's been there. this past year she came to jamaica with us and went to russia. due to some fainting spells her doctor said that she couldn't see the world anymore which pissed her off royally. thankfully she can still come see her multitudes of family. it's hard for a 94 year-old woman who had to give up driving at 93. . .i'm telling you -- she's hardcore.

all of that is to say that gg is not only the matriarch of our family but it's bright, shining star so when she sends out an email (oh yeah -- this broad emails!) that tells you the following story it is very exciting. i'll let her tell it and you can imagine that she looks something like this as you read it and don't forget to read those g's as k's:



***selma signed me up for this call for seniors age 70 and up to be extras in a movie. we had to be at the pickup site at 6:30 am. as it was being held at the former bagel bar. there must have been about 50 or more of us. shortly after we arrived the director came over to where I was sitting and asked me how tall i was. when I told him he asked if I MINDED doing some personal acting. of course I said yes. so they put me int o several shots, it was fun watching them work and being a little bit special. It's called "Bart got a room" it is about a high schoolboy growing up in Hollywood, Fla. Just before we finished up I heard that it will probably take a year or two before it hits the theatres as it is being produced by a small group. so, I don't know if we will ever see it. but it was a fun day.***

ok -- there are many things about this story that make me happy.

1st: i love that her bff is a woman named selma who gg refers to as young because she's like 85 or something.

2nd: i love that it's at the former bagel bar. was that the pick-up spot for the hot single septuagenarian scene?

3rd: she was hand-picked by the director to be a more present background performer. OBVIOUSLY she was!!! look at her! she's stunning. and if you want some lovely elderly ladies to be chillin' at the bagel bar you want them to all look like her.

my family is obsessed with this story -- to quote "it's a hoot!" and if she isn't invited to the premiere (travesty) then i will fly down to florida and unroll my own red carpet for her from her apartment to the car to the ticket window to the concession stand all the way to our seats. because if there is one thing i know, she deserves it.

Free love on the freelove freeway

ok, so i've been out of town in georgia with the fam (posts to follow) which means i missed two days of work which means that the amazingly wonderful (insert sarcasm)guy i have been temping for welcomed me back by saying "oh. hi. i've been mad at you the past two days since you weren't here and cursing you this whole time." totally awesome. . .i appreciate his candor? but not really.

anyway -- if that wasn't my david brent/michael scott moment then this is:

there's the guy who my boss wanted to meet with. . .let's call him mohammed. and when he came into my boss' office my boss had his back to the door so he asked “who’s there?” and mohammed said “It’s mohammed” and my boss said – “oh my god all of these bizarre, weird names!”

i'll just let those words speak for themselves.

The Sound of Business

i don't know if you've ever noticed but i totes get bored at work -- sometimes this leads to hours of mindless web-surfing which then leads to the ammassing of useless knowledge like that bai ling is a woman who may have been in a movie once and who definitely makes questionable wardrobe decisions.

sometimes this boredom leads to creativity and my last temp job helped me to discover a new talent: drawing.

not drawing on paper with a pen -- i'm actually quite horrible at that. i mean drawing using the paint program still oddly available on all pcs.

here is one in a series of two. it's called from me to you.



can you guess what it is? ok -- i'll tell you. it's me sending rogray an email. see how that email is being electronically sent through the air? i'm amazing.

the other in this series of two is called hostage.



i won't go into why it's called hostage but i'm sure some of you have felt this way about your computer at some point. isn't the gun impressive? i did that with a computer mouse people! and the apple laptop -- oh god! i'm soaking up your silent applause before i even post this.

perhaps i will continue down this newly discovered creative path and build a whole ouevre. . .

autumn sweater

so summer has officially faded from both the calendar and the new york weather which means that the flip-flops are being put in the back of the closet and the hunt for the perfect sweater has begun. fall in new york is my favorite part of living here -- suddenly everything becomes nostalgic and awesome -- apple cider, brisk walks, and the sinus infections like the one i've had for the past week that has made me sound like an 80 year-old smoker. awesome.

and since i've been hiding from this wee little blog i have a back-log of pictures to post and things to talk about and amazing observations that illustrate my deep knowledge on a variety of subjects but first i'll post some pictures of my last visit to coney island from this summer. . .because our beloved beach side amusement park may never be the same again:

we bought some tickets:



to go on this:



there were two choices of cars: stationary or ones that swing. koogs hates anything that moves in a way other than her two feet on pavement so why she agreed to this is beyond me



but there we are.



her nerves are hidden by that big smile which quickly faded when we saw this:



let me tell you people something -- the last thing you need to see while you are in a metal cage that is swinging surprisingly violently hundred of feet in the air is a dude with a wrench working on the damn thing. . .

after we survived the wonder wheel the birthday girl decided she wanted to go on this:



maybe it looks innocent enough to you. you had to go two at a time so i was originally going to sit it out with koogs who wanted nothing to do with it but at the last minute this 7 year-old wanted to go on and her parents wouldn't go with her. i was suckered into being her chaperone and was treated to this:



and this:



ok, a few comments. first off i am not squeamish when it comes to rides like these -- in fact -- i love them. my favorite ride at coney island is called the break dance and it is so violent in it's spinning and reverse spinning that people who have just eaten should avoid it at all costs -- also if you think you like roller coasters you probably won't like the break dance.

now, the zipper may not be as "zippy" but it is more upsetting because there are moments where you actually think and feel like you are going to plummet to the earth quickly and die in a horrifying manner as you flip forward and around and upside down -- don't get me wrong, it was fun and the 7 year-old girl i was crushing loved it -- but still -- i was done after that ride.

and that was the last ride i went on at coney island this year. and i think it's safe to say that was the end of my fun in the sun summer. . .happy autumn. i'm off to buy a new sweater. . .