It's true....no coffee=homicidal tendencies

Off to Work (or...Why am I on this Train when it's still Dark outside?!?)

First off, I love my new job.  People are great, work is interesting but not headache-inducing, and overall it's been a very positive experience so far.  There is only one real drawback - the commute.  I want to preface this by saying that I have commuted before, and actually prefer sitting on my butt on a train while someone else worries about driving!

That said, come join me on a mock-up of my morning...oh, wait...for those of you that may not know me, let me make one thing abundantly clear:  I am NOT a morning person.  I prefer my day to start after 9.  Or at least after the sun comes up:

First, my alarm shrills at 5:17AM.  Yes, :17.  I'm just like that, OK??  The view so far:

After a shower and blow-drying my hair (!!), I make sure HWK is awake, since he was crazy nice enough to offer to drive me to the train.  He drops me off here:

And, for the record, it's still dark.  I had to find this picture on the 'Net, because I see this station in the morning and in the evening - both times in the dark!!

I take the *gasp* 6:29 AM Express Train to the Secaucus Junction Station:

Again, a stock photo - no light yet!!

It's grayly dawn-like over Manhattan, which I can see in the distance (or could if my eyes were open) when we arrive here, at Secaucus Junction, at about 7:06ish:

I go upstairs, where there is a neon sculpture of cattails that actually makes me smile every day, since my Grampy Orrin loved cattails, and they remind me of him each morning:

I take a second train from here to Newark Penn Station (I've discovered the hard way that there at least 3 Penn Stations -- NJ, NY and PA):

At about 7:18, my day starts to improve.  First of all, there's a lovely walkway between Penn Station and my building.  It's heated, clean and glass walled, so there are cool views on both sides:

The second, and most important reason my day begins to improve:  I'm mere minutes away from an endless supply of coffee.  Freshly brewed.  By the cup.  *big sigh of wonder and relief*

The building where I work is kinda cool, I think: 

There are two more things that make me perk up when I get to work: 

My friend Rocky, who (whom?) I love, because really, how can you be grumpy when he's looking at you in that sock monkey "cheerful/creepy/I-may-need-medication" kinda way??  He keeps me from taking myself (or anyone else for that matter) too seriously!

The other reason I perk up is that I have big, huge windows that face Manhattan.  And we're really high up, so I can see fer-ever!!

It's hard to be too cranky when I'm having hot, fresh coffee with Rocky, watching Manhattan come awake in the distance.

The ride home is longer, with no an express available, so that adds about 40 minutes to my commute.  :(  All in all, though, the trains are clean, heated, and everyone else (at least in the morning) is as zombie-ized as I am.  

More importantly, since I took a later train to work last Wednesday, I got an opportunity to see all the cute little towns the train stops in throughout Northern New Jersey.  I am excited for it to warm up, because I think it will be fun to go exploring all their little shops and such, and since I have a commuter pass, I can hop on and off at will.

Anyway, that's my commute, folks -- reading lots of library books and working off snacks by climbing lots and lots of stairs in train stations!  I hope the journey to begin your day ends as pleasantly as mine does.  And if it doesn't, I highly recommend a sock monkey!!

Boo on Winter

I miss summer.

There, I said it.  I try to be the kind of person who enjoys each changing season, but come the end of January, I'm ready for some sun.  HWK said yesterday that Spring would be here soon.  This did not improve my mood, since Spring=MUD.

The Teenager asked Santa specifically for just a little snow, just for Christmas, then for it to be summer again.  A completely reasonable request.  No dice.  And the weatherman says the biggest storm yet is coming in two days.  The Teenager already has to miss 2 vacation days to make up for snow days, so he is not pleased....Dear Santa, The Teenager is starting to question your existence...just sayin'!

I think this is what he is wishing for:

Not this: 

The Kidlet is the same, the glasses are the same...the grey mood of doom is not.

So I beg of you...

Come back, Summer....we miss you!!!!

Portillo's!!!

Our friend Michelle, who visited this past summer:

...sent us an awesome present today:

Yup, that's right...a Portillo's care package.  Portillo's roast beef is LEGENDARY in Chicago, and is the place HWK and The Teenager moan about missing on a very regular basis.  There was roast beef, and yummy rolls, and gravy, and peppers, and gardinia, and, and.....oh, it was lovely....and all packed in dry ice!!  We even got a Portillo's cook's hat, which HWK modeled while pretending he was a woeful dishwasher at the real Portillo's:

Even The Teenager, who all but runs from my camera now, was proud to model the Portillo's hat:

It was like Christmas all over again when The Teenager started unpacking: 

Michelle is very, very popular in our house right now.  Gotta go...nom nom nom!