The 65 minutes I spoke to my sister for 65 minutes last night. There's a joke in there somewhere but right now, I just can't find it.

Checking Up I am thinking the term "checking up" may be a totally NASCAR kind of term but I assure you, regardless of whether you know what to call it, it happens all the time. Let me illustrate. This morning, as I was tooling into work, as I am often wont to do, on Rt. 119 South through Greensburg, PA, I managed to get into the left hand lane. Managed, I guess, may be too strong of a term since pretty much, on a Friday morning in late July, there really isn't that much competition for it. As the Kings Restaurant loomed into view, I saw a panel truck driving ahead in the right lane with flashing lights on top. The car which was tooling behind it suddenly punched it and pulled in ahead of me....only to CHECK UP suddenly, almost causing me to make a crash landing in his egg mcmuffin and coffee in the front seat. What gives with that? Why pull out in front of someone in a move so spastic it makes Elaine's dancing on Seinfield seem catatonic when all you plan to do once you get there is to tap the brakes - checking up. The guy stayed in front of me as I rolled my eyes as emphatically as I could so he'd catch a glance in the mirror but eventually bowed to my engine's 2.2 litre supremacy and moved back over. Just ask Kasey Kahne - his controversial "check up" caused Tony Stewart to take him out. The guy in front of me was lucky I didn't have a Tony Stewart-style temper to go with my sudden swerve to avoid his back end. But hey, I guess, as they say, "that's racin'." Even if I really wasn't...this time.

Moonlighting I apologize for my lack of posting on this blog. My time seems to be taken up over at my other effort, JewView. Admittedly, it's not for everyone. Whereas SunDried has been more oriented to life in general, my rants at JewView tend toward the political and religiously political. Maybe you'd like to stop in? But if not... don't worry, I understand those who would prefer not...I will try to get some more content up here and in a more timely fashion! Don't give up on me yet!

Classic Beauty I was so glad to see this. Of all the women on "Sex and the City" I always felt that Kristin Davis was the most beautiful. To have her hawking for Maybelline is definitely a good thing along with their other beautiful spokeswoman, Queen Latifah.

Skyblast We happened to get to see the Pirates game on Friday night with my husband's twin brother and his family. Great game! I found a place at the stadium called "Bucaroos" which sells "kid style" fare for $1! I had pizza, nachos, a drink and bought some popcorn for Evan for $6! I'd pretty much walk entirely around PNC Park for those prices! Afterwards, they had "Skyblast" which was a little show chronicalling the history of the Pirates - complete with strobe lights, a huge disco ball AND fireworks. All I can say is if you have never experienced a Zambelli show, you simply MUST! I like fireworks as much as the next guy, but I don't obsessively HAVE to see them every single year. Yeah, I'm the one who gives ratings to the televised version of the 4th of July extravaganzas! Well, to be honest, during this show, my mouth hung open! Multi-colored shells that exploded like twinkle lights over the city. So many of those furry, gold, chrysanthemum shells at one time that the sky literally turned from black to gold! Shells that exploded into diamonds and circles and my (and the late George Zambelli's favorite) pink hearts! It was an awesome show. Now getting OUT wasn't as awesome as they wouldn't let anyone over the Sixth Street - Clemente Bridge and back into the city until 20 minutes after the fireworks. And then they only opened one sidewalk. But we made it home in about 75 minutes which isn't bad when you think about it, even with the traffic, although I still can't explain the Pittsburgh phenomenon of coming to a complete, grinding stop upon entering the Squirrel Hill tunnels. I'll keep you posted on that one.

Hebrew Class My Rabbi is offering a Hebrew class for the next six weeks. It's primarily to teach us to read Hebrew, learning to speak it and what actual words MEAN comes next - if we'd like to continue. For now though, this is preparation for the High Holidays. My husband decided to take it as well - he says it's so he can tutor our son who will be starting Hebrew classes in the fall. We're actually learning from the same book as he will so this will be pretty cool. Anyway, last night was our first class. I have taken a little "reading Hebrew" before (right after the mikveh) so I have a little advantage. We did discover, however, that Anthony needs his reading glasses in order to differentiate between dalet and resh. It was pretty funny after a while but he was such a good sport about it. And it doesn't hurt that the Rabbi LOVES him. Next lesson is tonight. We have this little competition thing going so during lunch I am reviewing so I can kick his butt later :)

You win some, You lose some It looks like I have finally come into my own with my mahj game. I won the first game on a throwdown by Marla and then lost four to her and one to Liz. Still, my winning-at-least-once-per-night streak continues unabated.

WTF? I was just in the bathroom and when I went in there was a woman standing at the sinks, drying her hands. For the record, I work at a community college and our building has two bathrooms. The one I frequent is used by my office and the other office at the end of the hall. This particular woman was a stranger. Anyway, I walk in and she gives me this look like, "What are YOU doing in here?" as I sidestep into my favorite stall, No. 1. Then she just stands there waiting. And waiting. Doing nothing but, I assume, oggling herself in the mirror until I start to make some noise. I am beginning to wonder if she'll EVER leave and why doesn't she???? What was she doing? Listening to me to see what my agenda was in there? It was weird.

Whassup? Well, what's UP is that this week looks to be another of those "weeks from hell" I do so very well! Mah Jongg Tonight I have mah jongg. As an update, I have become the mahj maven! Well, not quite but you can count on me to MAYBE win a game and come ridiculously close in all of the others we play through the course of an evening. I am up by $1.00 overall since the middle of June. YAY ME! My Sister My sister is STILL pregnant. While most women tend to calendarize their gestation by weeks, my braintrust sister recalcs that into months. She is 6 1/2 months now she says. I asked her how many weeks that was. She said 28. I think she should go on Jeopardy now! M Haven't heard much about M so let me fill you in. She has a new thing she does now which has pretty much shut ME down! She now denies anything she ever told you. How does this work? Example: In June, she says, "My roommates are getting new siding and windows." I ask, "oh, what color did they choose?" "Brown." Flash forward to July when the siding is being installed...and it's WHITE! "How do you like the siding and new windows?" she asks. Personally, I really don't care but I have to say it. "I thought the siding was supposed to be brown?" "Who told you that?" "You." "I never said any such thing. You're wacked. You're crazy." "I really resent the name-calling. You did too tell me it was supposed to be some kind of brown." "I never said that. You're a liar." "Whatever." Basically what this has done, since it happens with practically anything she tells me these days, has forced me to hum "The Stars and Stripes Forever" in my head whenever she is busy telling me about anything outside of the realm of whatever is immediate or happening RIGHT NOW. Weather? Fair game. Plans for the evening? I am listening. What they're doing at work this weekend? Count me completely out. The point is that most of what she tells me I couldn't care less about. Mostly because whatever it is, she changes the story a month later. And she says I'm wacked. In a way I guess it has worked to her advantage. We don't hang out much anymore and rarely see one another except for the occassional knitting lesson on the weekend and her MAYBE gracing us with her presence on Friday evening. Other than that...we don't even call during the day from work anymore and evenings are completely out. And why is that? Her roommates either won't let her use the phone or she's in the can. Either way, we don't talk. It's pretty sad. But at least we don't fight anymore. My Dad Has either turned into a raging anti-semite or else he's just getting alzheimers. Either way it's obnoxious. Yesterday I mentioned to him that I was making hamburgers on focaccia bread. "Oh, gotta make it kosher!" he said in a sing-song and rather nasty voice. "If it were so kosher, I wouldn't be making mozz sticks to go with it dude." I said. I wasn't amused. We're spending a week in his camper at the beach at the end of August. In order to get the keys I have to go a day early and spend the night. I imagine we'll be on the road WAY before the Sponge even gets up. Hopefully, we won't have to make a return trip until November or December. The Sponge Still there. Still drunk. Still skanky. She apparantly went off on my sister for leaving her kids with a babysitter. Since I know the inside scoop and my sister doesn't, I know this is a bold powerplay on my dad and her part to make my sister let them "have" the new baby. Even if it's only while they make my sister work in their sweatshop nightclub doing deposits in the morning for five hours. The Sponge proudly, and slurringly, told my sister how SHE never left HER kids with a sitter. SHE always found work to do at HOME (yes, hooking IS a lucrative profession for the single mom!) My sister should have just shut down her game right there by saying something like, "Are you saying my MOTHER was a bad mother because she worked side by side with my DAD to build the business which supports this house and pays for you to lay on your back all day and get drunk? Are you saying THAT?" I am sure the Sponge would have had no response. But Tami didn't think that clearly and instead defended herself which didn't quite come out right. In the end though, Tami working and leaving her kids with a babysitter is a win-win strategy. Tami's mental health has been stellar this year and even her shrink attributes it to her working part time. In addition, the kids get to stay with Kaye, who was my mom's best friend, and she feeds them, plays with them and works with Trever. It's great. So I say, screw off Sponge! My week from hell As I was saying, mahj tonight...Hebrew lessons start tomorrow. We go Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m. and Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m. I have a hair appointment beforehand but Tracey says she'll have me at Hebrew definitely on time. These Hebrew lessons will last through August. I HAD asked M to watch Evan but she hemmed and hawed about it and really didn't want to, more so, I think, from not wanting to do anything to further our involvement with Judaism than anything else. So I figured Evan could listen to a book or go to my aunt's. It works. Thursday I have a board meeting for my alumni club. I take Evan to that too. I kind of feel badly for him but it's only an hour and he thinks he's a big shot sitting in the university's alumni center. And finally Friday. Friday we're all (me, Anth, M, Evan and Evan's friend, Max) headed to Idlewild Park for the day. Anth's organization takes their kids and counselors there for the day - free tickets! I plan on frying up some chicken, making some potato salad and brownies and having a GREAT day! I asked M about it...since she loves fried chicken but she said she will watch us eat. She'd rather buy her food. This sounds obnoxiously like another comment she made after she snarfed up three servings of something I had made for Shabbat and then said that it really wasn't that it was GOOD, she was just hungry. My game plan then is to make SUCH delicious food that she truly regrets not eating it. I AM evil. After THAT, we're headed to the Pirate game. We're dropping Max at home and then headed into the city. We're meeting up with Anth's twin brother, his wife and their two girls. More on THAT later.

Family (Part II)   My husband read my blog yesterday and took some offense at how I described his family.  Let me just say, for the record, my own family is hardly better.  My father calls Evan "your son" although I do have to give my sister credit, she does talk to Evan and let him hug all over her.  Even her worthless husband, Joe, goes outside and plays with him.   Anyway, last night my husband took Ev to a family birthday party.  I declined and stayed home to cook for Shabbat instead.  He reported that everyone was nice to Evan.  Evan had a great time and they finally got home at about 10:00.   I still stand by my original assessment.  After I asked him about it, about the only thing that had changed was that his twin brother had tossed a football with Evan.    Understandably I was shocked.   The rest were nice but only because they ignored him.   At least, for all practical purposes, with his sister returning to Virginia on Wednesday, summer is over.

Family For better or for worse, I am a part of a very large Italian family...one which I married into. Last night we all gathered at my mother in law's to sing happy birthday to her and to have some cake. It was just a small, family gathering - mom, my husband, me and our son, his twin brother, his twin brother's wife and their two girls, my sister in law and her son, and my mother in law's two cousins and one of their sons. My husband's aunt and uncle who are temporarily staying with my mother in law were supposed to be there but never showed up from the furniture-buying extravaganza they were on. Since we wanted Aunt Ro and Uncle Joe to be there, we waited and waited and waited. The thing with this family, though, is how it seems half of them hate the other half. My sister in law #1 won't speak to me, her son ignores me. I get along okay with sister in law #3 but sister in law #2 doesn't even associate with any of us anymore. Confused? Imagine BEING there! So, we lit the candles, they ate the cake (I abstained) and then we went home. I am sure my mother in law appreciated our being there but I can't say that for any of the other ones. SIL #3 gets an exemption because her mother just died. The rest? Whatever. The thing that cheeses me off to the max is that they ignore my son. I just don't get it. It's like whatever he HAS, their kids may get...or worse yet, they may get it. I am sure in their more private moments words like "retard" come up in their conversations about him. They won't touch him, hug him, kiss him or interact with him and consequently, he doesn't have much to do with THEM either. Now me? I am a great aunt to their kids (well, except for Nephew #1 who ignores me) - I play with them, take them places, talk to them, get them great gifts...but my kid? Nothing. And sometimes I think it's my fault for never discussing Evan's disability with them. But given their reaction NOW, I hardly think it would have been different then. They know we have a problem but the way they treat us is like we brought it on ourselves and that it's something to be ashamed of. Every family gathering consists of a litany of what their particular "gifted" child is up to, how many "A"'s were on the report card, how many extracurricular activities they participate in. When I used to chime in about Evan bringing a "C" to a "B" my revelation was met with filthy looks - how could I possibly think my "special" child was in the same league as their geniuses??? While they seem to expect ME to take an interest in the ballet recitals and karate belts that theirs kids get, Evan's recitals and swim meets and karate demonstrations were ignored. My worst fear now is that something will happen to me and that Evan will be left high and dry with one of them. Or worse yet, my sister. We're having Evan evaluated in September by a neuropsychologist to get a diagnosis - finally. We have hesitated to do this simply because we didn't want to pigeonhole him with any particular disability and it seems like we did the right thing. But now he's 11 and the schools are having problems teaching him. But since the insurance won't pay if it's for educational reasons...we have to come up with something better. And I am really not sure what that is. Any ideas? So anyway, we are our own family and we're surrounded by friends who truly love Evan and who treat him like a favorite son. And that's a good thing. As for my 'laws? I can only say...it's THEIR loss. And someday they may realize that not everyone is not as perfect or as gifted as they may seem and that others who truly are, may never be noticed until it's too late.

8 Minutes It looks mean AND nasty outside...thunderstorms in the imminent future I think. Anyway, I just finished printing out a ream of information I have to read for my trip to Harrisburg next week. It's actually working out well since I am taking the fam this time. As much as I hate going alone, this will be a LOT of fun. I am leaving first thing Tuesday so we can get there, get checked in and go to Chocolate World!!! I have meetings ALL day Wednesday at Labor and Industry so the boys are planning a day at the Science Center. They can see two movies (NASCAR and Bugs!) plus get the admission for the science center ALL for $27.50 - that includes BOTH of them. Can't beat it. They're SO there! Then I can drive the three hours home while they sleep it off. Life's a beach aint it?

Holiday Weekends It's another holiday weekend and just yesterday I found out I had...drumroll please!...4 1/2 days carried over from my PTO last year! This is like a MAJOR windfall for me. We get 20 days every year for whatever. You can go to Cancun or lay around your house sick. Whatever. You don't even have to give an excuse. Just call in and say "I am taking a PTO!" and you're SO there. Well, in MY little world, those 20 days are akin to stock in a bag of diamonds. They represent my coveted, annual trip to the beach, my days off for the High Holidays and those little extra days here and there that make life worth living. On July 1 EVERY year you can bet you'll find me sprawled out somewhere with an 18-month calendar scoping out the dates I'll use. I could pretty much tell you on that day what I'll be doing for the next year to be honest. As a matter of fact, the hubster and I went over the tally on Wednesday night since we are taking our beach vacation starting August 20 through August 30. I always do it that way since who REALLY wants to be headed over the Bay Bridge on a Friday evening in rush hour...anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? See my point? So we leave on Thursday and my game plan is to drive straight down to the shore right then and there. (And just in case you can't figure out why this would bother me...it's about an 8-9 hour trip when you factor in a dinner stop and bathroom exits.) Well, this year, as luck would have it, my dad purchased a spanking new camper for the lot at Frontiertown. And while I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth, well, now he wants us to come down Thursday which is my first day of vakay and spend the night to get the keys, leaving Friday afternoon after the Sponge gets up at noon to say goodbye. So this is making for some sticky maneuvering on our part to a) avoid that Friday night thing I was complaining about a few paragraphs ago and b) get the keys. So we looked at the vacation coffer and honestly, I didn't know about those 4 1/2 gems of vacation days that evening so we decided we couldn't afford to leave Wednesday...and so now we're planning a quickie weekend trip on August 7 to get the keys. But now, oh the riches! I have 4 1/2 days I didn't plan on and they are truly burning a hole in my flowered, denim capris. At this point, though, I am golden. I had enough for everything I wanted to do ANYWAY, PLUS I had 5 1/2 days left over. So now I have TEN days leftover which pretty much equates to another week at the beach next June or July in addition to the week in August. I am so happy!!!