Nope, didn't fall off the face of the earth or even the island of Manhattan. Its been abit quiet lately ... tho I did watch the NYC Marathon on November 3rd. The race goes right through my neighborhood in Brooklyn and its fun cheering on the runners. It was abit cold and windy that day ... these people are running with barely shorts and t-shirts on. Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've been taking some classes within my company [E&Y - free] to improve my skills as a valuable employee. Its interesting, fun, informative and gets me out of the office for a few hours. A nice way to relief some boredom. Boredom you say? YES! August and September were such busy months here ... then it was mostly quiet and dull during October and now November is picking up. Amen!

Oh happy day! Pearl Jam is in NYC! Their taping at the David Lettermen show tomorrow at Ed Sullivan Theater. Most likely doing songs from their new album called RIOT ACT, which is soooo good. If anyone is interested ... check out "Late Night with Lettermen" on November 14th & 15th starting at 11:35pm on CBS. Yeah!

This past weekend I went down to DC/VA to visit my friend Nancie. She lives in a nice community not far from Fairfax, VA. Children are at college and hubby was down in Florida for a long weekend visit. I think he was at a function dealing with guitars. Anyhow ... took friday off from work as a vacation day. Left NYC on Amtrak at 9:35am and arrived into DCs Union Station at 1pm. Weather was very nice that day ... sunny and warm. Headed to her house so that I could unpack, drink some tea, relax and catch up on gossip. At 5pm we went to get one-hour massages by physical therapist that Nancie knows. What a wonderful experience! I highly recommend it to everyone. Stick with licensed professionals and not those cheap ass, sleazy joints. Afterwards we went out to dinner and had sushi. Yummers! Before heading back to her house we did some grocery shopping at a huge store called GIANTS. Back at her house we put on our swimsuits and utilized the jaccuzzi/hottub next to the house back porch. Soooooooo relaxing! The next day we headed out just after 10am for abit of scenic sightseeing. Drove west thru Virginia to such towns as Warrenton, Manassas [checked out the civil war battlefield & museum], Sperryville, Luray and finally Shenandoah National Park. Along the way we checked out a cemetery, road food stands, church bake/craft sale, emporium and lots of pretty scenery. Finished off the evening with dinner out [Nancie's son Sam joined us] at a good Afghan restaurant. My first time trying that type of food and I loved it. I stuck with vegetarian dishes. Delicious! And the waiters were soooooo cute! Afterwards we dropped Sam off and then went shopping at a local Mall. Back at Nancies house we again put on swimsuits and jumped into the jaccuzzi/hottub. Wonderful! On sunday my sinus/allergies are really bothering me big time, but the medicine I took helped out abit. Most annoying! On Sunday, before heading back to NYC on Amtrak, we went to a craft sale at a local Jewish temple and then toured a plantation [ie: Sully]. I really enjoyed that latter one. Followed that with lunch out at a place called BOB EVANS. And then more shopping at another Mall before Nancie dropped me off at Union Station in DC. Got home after 9pm sunday evening and my allergies cleared right up. Very strange! Next year I'd love to check out and tour more civil war battlefields and plantations. Totally fascinating!

Well, thats all for now. Later.....................