Are there apartments in here?

It wasn't one of your normal lunch gatherings. We started our adventure with a walk along the canal to try out a new restaurant. It was a warm beautiful November day. In fact it was November 2, 2007. My friends and I enjoyed lunch at the Black Fin restaurant. The food was good and the service was very enjoyable. It is your typical pub atmosphere with an obvious attempt of being more upscale. While we were finishing our lunch we couldn't help but notice all the commotion going on in the hallway just outside the restaurant. There was a jewelry sale going on and I was interested in taking a peek. We exited into the hallway and I detoured to the jewelry while my friends took a right down the hall. The jewelry was over priced so I caught up with my friends down the hall. They were standing near this information desk, which appeared to be about 5 feet tall - 2 feet too tall for the employee sitting behind the desk which gave the illusion that the desk was 10 feet tall. That is when the afternoon detoured into absurdity. While I was scanning the jewelry my friends had asked the lady if there were apartments in this building. Then I joined them at the desk and asked the lady the same question. She told us that there were offices in the building. So my friend asked her again if there were condos in the building. After she replied again my friend continued to ask her if there were condos/apartments in the building, trying to get a yes/no response to his question. She just continued to tell us there were offices in the building. By this time we could tell that she was not the least bit amused and was losing her patience with us. She pointed to the door and told us that the condos were located outside the doors to the right. We thought we would go for gold and asked her if she was referring to her right or our right. We quickly left the building. Outside they have a really nice brick plaza for the employees of the offices and the residents of the condos to enjoy. We noticed a vacant building that look interesting so we took a peek inside. It was this wide open industrial looking space that was no longer in use. We thought it would be cool if someone would make it into a club. It was just then that one of my friends said, “Oh look, an otter”. I turned around thinking it was a picture of one but I was wrong. This is when the story gets funny. The rest of the story will be posted soon. Look for 'Is it an otter, muskrat or groundhog?'

iPhone anyone?

I don't know where to begin to tell you how much this product has become my lifeline. I am a gadget geek and I love them all. But, the iPhone trumps everything before! I usually am the first person to run out and buy the newest and best gadget on the market. But being that I just built a new house I really couldn't afford to do that. My husband bought me my new gadget after I dropped my cell phone in a toilet at a fund raiser this past summer (find out more about that in Kids say/do the funniest things). I went for 3 weeks without a cell phone. I guess I didn't realize how much I depended on it even if I didn't use it all that much. It's like the saying goes, you don't know what you got until it's gone or dropped into a toilet. Well I played with the iPhone the entire 4 hour trip to the beach. I had so much fun getting everything entered. It was so easy. My husband hates all these gadgets but he was interested in what all the stink was about with this iPhone. We stopped for a bite to eat and he took that time to check it out. He was so impressed! That speaks for itself. My husband has never been all that impressed with technology. He played with it as much as I would let him during our week at the beach. I depend on it so much that it is a bit scary. It is so user friendly. Any no tech savvy person can basically pick it up and run with it (not literally). It is so easy to navigate through all the features. If anyone is looking for a new phone and they currently have AT&T wireless service, I highly recommend this product! I will be discussing more on the features that the iPhone offers and ways that you can use it to make your life easier. I give the iPhone 5 thumbs up!

Maggiano's Little Italy

Absolutely the best Gnocchi I have had in a long time. The 45 minute wait was well worth it! My two best friends and I enjoy a Christmas lunch every year. We try to pick some place we have never been before. They didn't want the usual spaghetti and meat/meatballs so I recommended for them to try something new. Neither one of them have ever tried Gnocchi before. I told them I have tried it different ways but never the way Maggiano's served. It is listed under their Baked Specialties. Gnocchi, Tomato Vodka Sauce: Ricotta pasta simmered in a delicately balanced sauce prepared with their classic pomodoro cream and finished with vodka and roasted garlic. It was so good! I wanted to go there again the next day. The prices were reasonable for what they served you. It comes with warm bread and olive oil/herb dipping sauce. We ordered the family style caesar salad that was also delicious. The waiter was probably the best one I have had in a while. The place was packed, but you wouldn't have know by the attention he provided me and my friends.

I give this restaurant 5 thumbs up for both product and service. I hope he enjoys spending the nice big tip we left him. Thanks Devin for making our Christmas lunch memorable :)

Funny moments

Daugher's Blonde Moment

One time my daughter was trying to call me on my cell phone that I left at home. She heard my cell phone ring but didn’t put two and two together. She set the house phone down and answered my cell phone but no one was on the other end so she hung up. She called my cell phone again and answered it again. Finally she realized she was answering her own phone call when she heard her voice coming out of the house phone. Let’s just chaulk that up as another “blonde moment”.

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"Laughing Gas" anyone?
Just this past Monday my daughter had to get 3 fillings due to 3 cavities. She wanted the laughing gas because she heard from her friends that was the way to go. I told her that she would have to wait to see what the dentist recommends. Well, it so happens that the dentist suggested the "laughing gas". An hour after patiently waiting with my son ( 11 years old) and my niece (9 years old) my daughter (13 years old) comes out and has the funny smile (you know the one... it makes you look really disformed from novacaine). My son asks his sister if they gave her the laughing gas and she responded "Yes". The rest of the conversation went as follows:

Son -> "I don't think it's working!"
Daughter -> "why?"
Son -> "Because you are not laughing!"

I thought I was going to wet myself from laughing so hard.

When a loved one becomes terminally ill…

How do you cope when a family member is diagnosed with an illness that could be terminal? It is so hard to stay focus on anything in life. With the holidays coming up it makes it so much harder. Not as if anytime getting the news is easy - it just seems so hard to get into the holiday spirit. I usually decorate by now and singing those holiday season songs - but not much happiness these days. So - any suggestions on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

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N'Sync

It was the cutest thing. One year for Christmas my son bought his father a gift from the holiday shoppe at his school. He was so excited, couldn’t wait to give his gift to his dad. Well Christmas morning came and he gave his daddy his gift. When my husband opened that gift I thought I would have wet myself from laughing so hard. His facial expression was worth every $2 my son spent on it. It was a framed picture of N’Sync. My husband doesn’t even know who they were. He tried his hardest to put a genuine smile on his face. He gave our son a big hug and looked at me with an expression I will never forget. In fact, I’m sitting here laughing all over again while I’m typing this. What are some of your funniest Christmas memories?

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RichBrau, Richmond VA

I joined some friends today at RichBrau thinking it was going to be a delicious meal. NOT! I ordered a turkey sandwich lightly toasted with fries. I didn’t realize that lightly toasted meant to toast the bread and then wait until it cools down before serving. That also meant the fries that came with it. The fries were cold and the sandwich had literally 1 slice of turkey on it. It was the saddest turkey sandwich I have ever had. My children could have made a better one for me at home for 1/2 the price. Did I mention that they charge a whopping $7.95 for this delightful meal? I am not one to stay quiet so when the waitress came by to ask how our meal was I had to inform her about my dissatisfaction. I told her that I didn’t realize that the fries were suppose to be cold and that I would have expected more than 1 slice of turkey on such a high priced sandwich. She did apologize and brought me some more fries and this time they were hot. However, I was still waiting for my second and third slices of turkey for my sandwich. They never arrived. I give this restaurant 3 thumbs down on product, 4 thumbs down on prices for what they offer/deliver and 3 thumbs up for the waitress for her efforts and endless apologies.