HOLY!!!

The train was about 3 stops from home and I was chugging along on my crossword puzzle when all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I FORGOT TO UNPLUG THE IRON AT THE OFFICE!!!!!!!!!! I'm still freaking out. I have visions of sparks and fire and people dying. One of the new girls at the office fortunately lives about 15-20 minutes from the office and I called her up and begged her to go to the office to check, because it would take me an hour to get back there. GOD. I hope there's no fire. I hope the cleaning lady might have noticed and unplugged it already. GOD GOD GOD. I'm going to make this up to Mallary...

I'm just going to say it again. I can't wait to move back to Erica's.

I don't know why my roomies here in Astoria seem to think it's alright to eat my food, give it out, leave a huge mess in the apartment. Is there something about me that goes, "Yes! Take advantage of me!" I'm cleaning out the refrigerator again. There's goop from rotting food that a certain roommate left to rot again. Did I mention that the other day, the certain roommate left pasta out to rot and I got to clean it up again? I asked her if we could just take a night off of whatever else we're doing this week and just really really clean the common areas. I don't have too much confidence in her remembering.

Mostly I'm just annoyed right now that I come home and not only did someone drink all my Gatorade and eat all my pudding cups, they left the Gatorade bottle sitting in the sink for me to clean. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

The End of the Summer

The company summer party was last Thursday. This year, the idea was to go to a Met's game. I was most skeptical at first because I, and most of the office, am not interested at all in the sport. However, when we heard that we would have our own private suite, I decided that should be just fine. We took a $20 boat ride over to Citifield, and it dropped us off just 5 streets away from the stadium. The suite itself was pretty standard - open bar, buffet, indoor and outdoor seating. Out of the entire company, I was the only one that got carded. The guy wouldn't accept my ID because it was expired, so I spent the firs thalf of the evening drinkng pepsi the CFO caught wind of it and had a talk with the bartenders. Then I finally got ot have my beer. Phew! Everyone kept saying it's so nice to get carded, but really, it's only fun if you never do. I get carded constantly, so it's more annoying than anything. I'll appreciate it later, when I have any sort of white in my hair.

Of course, company party didn't exactly mean that I have the weekend off. I worked 22 hours this weekend in order to try to meet deadline this coming Friday. I don't think it's going to happen. Considering our team leader and the other intern pretty much decided it wasn't necessary for them to show up, it was just me and Mr. Newbie, who takes half an hour to answer a yes or no question, and generally doesn't answer it at all after rambling on forever. I will be working until 9pm every night this week I suspect. So tired...

In other news, summer hours will be over in a couple of weeks. That means that I get to sleep an hour more and leave the office an hour earlier from now on. Thank god. I don't care about working Friday as long as I don't feel exhausted by the end. Everyone I talked to at the summer party is incredibly excited about going back to a humane schedule. Hopefully, the CFO will also come to realize that it was a stupid idea to work 11 hour days and not reinstitute it next summer.

teehee

Last night, Axel and I had a long conversation about abortion doctors. Apparently, there's only one left in the entirety of the United States who will do late term abortions. It lead me to have a nightmare last night, where I was 3 months too late in realizing I was preggers and had no way to get rid of the baby. What an awful, vivid, awful nightmare...
So I told Axel earlier, and he replied, "Yikes. Good thing we weren't talking about flesh-eating diseases." To which I replied, "Flesh eating diseases can be cured with extensive surgery. There is no cure for a baby."

Love Child?

Not much has been going on. Axel came back from Germany and we just slipped back into the usual routine of seeing each other. I like what we have actually. It's easy to get lost in a relationship and just disappear from all your other social circles, but Axel's very easy going about things when I say, "I want to go to dance class," or, "I'm going to go see my friend/family." It's like we're a couple, but we maintain a good balance of independence.

We hung out with his best friend, Yuri, and his wife, Melanie. Apparently, Yuri had gotten a love child on some woman 16 years ago. For the most part, this kid's been living in various places all over Germany and the United States. He and Yuri have only seen each other a couple times in his existence, but this year he was extra bored so he called up his biological dad and Yuri said, "Sure, come on over." I think he's one of the few people that doesn't get any odd funny "should I act like his dad?" feelings. He just shows little Yuri around like he's any other kid that might happen to be visiting.

Funny thing is that Yuri and Melanie have a tendency to do the hug, kiss, kiss, kiss European greeting and farewell. Little Yuri seems to have wholly embraced the practice. Yuri and Melanie, I think, can sense I'm not a big hugger, so they do the "bodies far apart" hug with me, but Little Yuri had no such restraint, and actually pulled me into quite a bear hug. I think we all know what he was enjoying. *sigh

Dramarama

I'm fairly sure Michael got dumped by his boyfriend last night. Gah... Kind of saw it coming though, what with the mood swings and all the crying. It's a lot to handle as a roommate, harder to handle as a partner and one that's only known him for a couple months at that. It's sad, Chris is a nice guy, and I think he was really good for Michael.

In any case, Michael came out of his room last night while I was attempting to do a post-shower dehumidify in front of my lovely A.C. unit. He had tears in his eyes and told me he was going to the hospital and won't be around for a couple days. I assume this means that he feels suicidal and has committed himself. I'm glad, because he does really need some professional help - even before the breakup. His current psychiatrist is a quack who just gives him all the drugs he wants, but he needs someone who understands the full implications of Michael's brain, hopefully someone who's tough enough and smart enough to give Michael the help he needs.

I asked him once why he didn't get a therapist. He says he has a hard time finding one because he finds them generally to be far less intelligent than him and he can't get anything meaningful from that. Hm.

Shameless

So I got a message from Michael at the end of the workday saying that he would really like to sit down and have a talk with me. Shit. I get home and I just go into my room because I didn't want to deal with it. I was ready to just plop down on the couch and go, "All right, yell at me. I can tell you've been saving up for it." Marlen came home and said that she talked to Michael about it a little. He yet again had no idea why I was mad, and she told him that the email he wrote me was bitchy and bitter and called me a horrible nag and made me sound like I was less than a human being. We discussed it all a bit which made me feel better and helped me compose my thoughts.
Then Marlen went to go shower and I went to start dinner. While that was going on, Michael floats out of his room like a teary-eyed little ghost and stands there snuffling and goes, "I'm so sorry. I never should have yelled at you. That was a horrible thing for me to do. I shouldn't have done it. I will never do it again. I want us to be okay. Will we be okay? Are you okay with me? What can I do to make us okay again?" I just noticed all the "I"s and "me"s in the conversation. I gave him a very composed answer and stated that he basically needs to leave me alone because I'm really hurt. Not mad, but hurt. And I don't think he believes me, but it's nevertheless how I feel. And I told him straight out that I think he was flipping out on me because I was pulling away from him due to my hurt feelings. I doubt much of it sank in. He went snuffling away back into his room.
So Marlen comes out and we're talking and laughing and organizing our dinner and then Michael comes out after sobbing loudly and asks us with tears streaming down his face if he can have some of our food.

Shameless.

But what the heck are you supposed to say to that? But quite truly, I had only planned to cook for Marlen and me, so there really was only enough for Marlen and me and I said that if there was anything left he could have some. And he snuffled and went back into his room. And some time later, he came out and said he was going to Chris's, took his sweet time getting ready, asking us which outfit of his looked better, and then was on his way. Boy did we feel better after that. It was a really yummy dinner. I look forward to making "pizotto" again.

I can't really yell at Michael, mostly because he doesn't seem to understand what we say, and is more interested in deflecting blame and being on the defensive than actually taking any sort of constructive criticism. And so, my only conclusion is that I have to remove myself from his life and just wait out the rest of the lease.

I also managed to tell Marlen straight out that I didn't think this apartment was working. I don't want to live with Michael, and the whole living arrangement with Marlen isn't working. And then Marlen is possibly going off to grad school. With all of these, I think that I should just move back in to Erica's. And I think Marlen was a little sad, but she agreed and said that she wouldn't want me to sign on to something with her only to have her leave a few months after.

Things are going better.

The Break Up

I'm going to have to dump someone. No, not Axel. I'm breaking up with Michael.

Since the little cellphone incident, I've been avoiding him and keeping the conversations short. I still smile and say hello, but I just don't feel like giving him much more than that.

On Saturday, I sat on the carpet in the living room and there were some chip crumbs. So I emailed Michael and asked him to vacuum the carpet because there were chip crumbs which I assumed were from his party. I asked him to email because the day of the party, I briefly stopped by the apartment and I saw two bags of chips on the coffee table. I don't buy chips, and Marlen hadn't been around to buy chips, so I naturally assumed the offending chip was his. In any case, he'd vacuumed the carpet before and had all the vacuum know-how. O, and he constantly tells me, "I want to help, but I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

So he replies by email, sure! I see him Sunday and I'm in my usual mood so things are good. Monday I work from 8am to 7pm, followed by my quilting group which went till 9. I get home and I'm tired so I'm not in my most chipper mood, and was, in fact, quite depressed because I'd been thinking about how horrible my mother is. He hops around and seems to want to converse. I'm tired and all I want to do is be on my laptop in peace - in the living room because my room is hotter.

The next day - yesterday - I got a really long, angry email that I was such a bitch for asking him to vacuum, that the chips weren't his and that we all had contributed equally to the mess on the carpet. And then he says that he doesn't understand why I'm always angry and yelling at him and that it seemed like no matter what he did, I was always angry at him. I fumed about it for a few hours before I realized that 1) I hadn't been yelling at him at all. In fact, lately, he's the only one that's been doing any yelling. 2) He's yelling at me again because I wasn't my usual perky self on Monday night which he interpreted as, "I'm still mad at you, Michael." Because it's always about Michael. Not like working a 13 hour day might be any excuse for not wanting to talk much. All in all, he's been depending on me for constant attention and validation and when I don't give him either, he lashes out.

He's my clingy drama queen girlfriend and I have to break up with him now.

Un-Special

Okay, I'm just going to say it. I'm sure this will piss off "forward thinking" people.

Being gay doesn't make you special.

There, I said it.

Yes, you're oppressed because you can't legally get married in any state. Yes, people hate and fear what you are. Yes I know gays are jailed and executed in some countries. I am aware that the very fact that the government not recognizing same-sex couples promotes the rampant promiscuity that really isn't all that unusual in the hetero-sexual world either, but is made so much more dramatic for gays because of things like AIDs and whatnot.
If you expect to get the same treatment, that also implies that you have to give up your status as "special." That means that you can't grab girls breasts because, o, you're not attracted to them so it's alright. It means that you can't say, "O you wouldn't understand. It's not the same at all. You could never possibly be in my position." What? You mean demonized for what you are? What you are born as? Misunderstood? Really? You don't say. So, being a racial minority means absolutely nothing. Or the child of immigrants who disapprove of nearly every decision you make because it's not "traditional." Being disowned for marrying someone that isn't of one's own racial background? Or for getting a tattoo? A black guy who people automatically avoid because they think they might get mugged, is that not just as wrong?

"Being gay is a big part of my life. You wouldn't get it." Well, being Chinese-American is a big part of my life. You cry when you watch Brokeback Mountain. I cry when I watch Joy Luck Club.

I really don't get it. People are so PC about it all, tiptoe-ing around some mindlessly angry people who want to rile things. GLAAD criticizing Perez for calling a guy a faggot. Yes, the guy was an ass, and happened to be gay. If a woman is awful, we call her a bitch because she's an ass and happens to be a woman. Is it not the same? Is it not just as offensive? We still live in a world of sexism, too, but why do we take more offense towards things regarding homosexuality?

O and I can't stand people who think they're special because they have a gay friend. Congratulations! Do you feel special for having a black friend too?

Snail's Pace

I went out to dinner last night with Axel and his buddies. One's a filmmaker, another is a...uh...photographer, and another is a stylist for a new t.v. show that's coming out on Bravo. They were telling all their stories - "Man, we got a flat tire in the middle of the Arizona desert while we were on a gravel road!" or "They told me to put on a bikini and hop into the pool to fix the model's clothing while she was in the water!"

"So, Angela, what's up with you lately?"

"Same old, same old. Looking at stairs these days," to which Axel quips, "Oo, you've been promoted from doorknobs, I see." How boring is that? I won't have anything fantastic that's job related until one of the buildings that I'm working on is finally completed. I figure nothing until the end of next year. Architecture seems so boring sometimes...

Witness Roommate Suck

I'm pissed. I'm so pissed I can't sleep and I have to wake up in 5 hours.

I was just cleaning the apartment. I killed 2 flies that Michael let in. Then I scrubbed the shower clean, including the mildewed curtain which is mildewed because Michael always scrunches it up. Then I washed all the dishes that Michael left in the sink. Then I scrubbed the stove, above and below and the top of the oven. I did the last two while talking on the phone with Axel who happened to call and wanted to rant about his awful day.

Then I turn around and Michael glares at me and snaps, "It's rude to talk on the phone in the common area, you know," and stomps off like I just called his mom a whore or something. Offended, I go into my room and plop down on my bed feeling like I'D been grounded. I open up my email and what does it say? "I would have happily done the dishes not to have to listen to a conversation while I have to iron and then feel banished from the common area." GOD FUCKING DAMMIT, WAS I NOT JUST CLEANING UP HIS GODDAMN INFESTATION?!! IS IT NOT A FUCKING COMMON ROOM WHERE ONE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS? FINE GOODDAMMIT, NEXT TIME I WON'T BOTHER MULTI-TASKING AND LET IT ALL GO TO ROT BECAUSE WHILE YOU SAY YOU'LL DO THE FUCKING DISHES, YOU NEVER DO! MY HANDS ARE SPLIT AND BLEEDING AND I'M STILL FUCKING DOING THE DISHES BECAUSE I DON'T WANT ANYMORE VERMIN COMING IN AND FINDING IT A NICE PLACE TO LIVE.

I want to move out. So bad.

I Need a Vacation

Since summer hours started at my office, I feel like I've been working non-stop, and doing stuff on weekends, non-stop. The theory is that we work 11 hour days Monday through Thursday, and then we get three day weekends every weekend. The reality is I work those days, stay a half hour late most of the time, and then I come in to work on the quilt project on Fridays, which, by the way, seems to have turned into my quilt project as everyone else seems to have forgotten they've committed themselves to an act of community service and are off frolicking while I'm cutting out patches and swimming through dusty fabric. I also happen to currently have that delightful psoriasis on my hands that make them itchy and then so bone dry they crack if I grip anything too hard.

Anyhoo...this past weekend was spend on a huge road trip with the family. Daddy had to back out, unfortunately, because he threw out his back. This left me, mom and May. We didn't trust Mom to drive at all since she and my aunt would just gabble away and Mom would lose track of where she was, and I don't drive, so that left May. Poor May had to drive allllll the way to Boston, up to Maine, back to Boston and then back to Connecticut. Poor her. She was passed out by 10pm on the second night. It was fun though. We went with my aunt, Nini, Nini's boyfriend, and Lily. We saw an artist colony in Boston, an art museum outside of Boston, went outlet shopping in Maine, walked around Porstmouth, NH and had lobster rolls in Maine. Overall a fun trip. I think Mom was annoyed at how Lily would sleep in so late every morning, though.

When we got back to Connecticut, we had a big barbecue. Dad, hobbling around, grilled a whole bunch of New York Strip steaks. His big brother and big brother's wife came, my mom's cousin with the whole family came, and everyone just chatted and ate until it was time for me and May to go to bed...since we're the only ones working...Days like that, I'm glad I come from a big family.

Last night, Axel and I went and watched a movie and then went out for Cuban food. After that, we went back to his place where he at one point grabbed/pinched my tummy which is more than a little bigger than usual and asked if that was my lobster roll. I have now nicknamed my pudge "Lobster Roll." Must lose Lobster Roll. Must work out more...

I'm being kidnapped by my family this weekend. We're going all around Massachusetts and Maine to look at antiques, eat lobsters and go outlet shopping. Sadly, I don't care for the first two, but the last is reason enough. I love clothes. I want to have more pretty dresses. Axel accused my family of luring me away from him with promises of seafood and called me a food slut. Nicely, of course.

In other news, it's my work anniversary. I've officially been employed at H3 Hardy Collaboration for a full year. Yay!

Okay, I'm going to say it now. My roomie and her boyfriend piss me off. Their hoity-toity, we're better than you attitude pisses me off. When she criticizes Michael for not doing enough around the apartment IN FRONT OF HIS BOYFRIEND DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE'S BEEN DOING WAY MORE THAN SHE HAS THIS PAST MONTH AND FRANKLY ALL ALONG, it pisses me off. When she opens my door without knocking, it pisses me off. When she criticizes the state of my bedroom, it pisses me off. When she and her boyfriend go, "Waaaait, we have a few more things to do before you turn off the light and we no longer get to use your room as a right of way" and further delay my sleep time even when I have to get up for work an hour earlier than they do, it pisses me off.

When she uses my rice cooker and doesn't do anything with the rice and leaves the cooker plugged in, it pisses me off. When she uses my food or utensils, and neither puts anything away or cleans anything up, it pisses me off. When she leaves all of her bath products all over the tub area while Michael and I considerately keep our bathroom real estate to a minimum, it pisses me off. When I'm trying to go to sleep and she's talking on her cellphone, it pisses me off. When I am talking on my cellphone and she asks me to be quiet because I'm inconveniencing her, it pisses me off. When she alerts me to something and it's obviously a thinly veiled criticism towards something about me or Michael, it pisses me off. When she borrows my DVDs and somehow thinks that leaving it faceup on my dresser or the coffee table is equivalent to returning it to the DVD case, it pisses me off. When she cooks food and leaves it sitting out when she knows she's going to be gone for days on end, it pisses me off.

When she criticizes me for any slight form of a PDA that I might display with Axel while she and her boyfriend pretty much suck face and drown the room in their sappy disgusting love goo all the time, it pisses me off. When she changes the way she thinks just for her boyfriend, and only when he's around, it pisses me off.

And I'm just saying, don't you ever judge me. A person who thinks they're better than anyone based on what they DON'T do in life should take a good hard look at themselves. They're all just frogs living at the bottom of the well.

I want to move out.

Sauna

Last night Axel and I went to the Russian Turkish Bath House. It's this dingy old place in the lower east side that is reputed to be the oldest bath house in the city. I went there once with Rachel (old roomie) after Axel suggested it. It was nice, though I think because it was a Saturday, there was more girl-watching on the mens' part, and I sort of...um...got molested by one of the masseuses.
Much better this time. Being a Tuesday night, it was mostly regulars who come for saunas, not for staring purposes. It's nice when it's like that, and people are willing to talk to each other so it's not intimidating like those swooshy spa places.
The basic routine was 1)go into the sauna (we both preferred the russian radiant heat room), 2) quick rinse in shower, 3) go into ICE COLD pool. Repeat 4 times, with a break for carrot/apple/ginger juice (yum!) and stuffed grape leaves. The pool was ridiculously cold, like dipping your toes into ice water. Axel would hop right in and tell me to come join, but I refused every time, so he'd always swim over, grab me and pull me in. I would cling to him in a sad attempt of not freezing to death and then realize he could easily dunk me so I'd swim away fast. I must admit though, after the extreme temperatures, one feels really nice and relaxed.
Afterwards, Axel took me to dinner at a Bavarian place nearby. The owner and some friends were part of a documentary that Axel was working on about punk polka. They were going to apply for a Grammy, but sadly, it was announced not too long ago that the polka category is no longer. When Axel saw one of the guys in the documentary, he went off to go commiserate and I took the opportunity to grab the check and pay. Mwahahah. Bavarian pork roast, even the watered down American version, is most tasty.

Coney Island

Marlen's brother, Pablo came over for a visit this weekend. I realized as a person living in New York, I don't know much about touring. I hate having to figure out what to show people when they visit. I don't do much here beyond work, eat and shop, and go to dance classes. If none of those are interesting, and shows aren't interesting then I'm really at a loss. Marlen's brother had us all at a loss. No idea what he likes to do, so Marlen just took him to all the places she liked. I took the gang out to Flushing on Sunday morning for dimsum, which I think Pablo and Mark LOVED. Marlen was in the midst of food coma so I took them to Gramma's empty apartment where they just relaxed a bit while I waited for Axel to pick me up.

Axel and I took a little detour into Greenpoint for some coffee and cake, and then we made our way to Coney Island. There was a crowd of guys with zippy looking motorcycles riding around. Axel zoomed right by. They were more interested in revving their engines which I have learned is not a good thing to do to your bike. I did also notice that the girls on the backs of the other bikes were in horribly uncomfortable positions. Mostly because they were all the types of bikes where you have to lean over. Axel's is, to a degree, but I can sit up straight whereas those girls can't.

The beach was still too cold for swimming, but perfect for lying on a towel. We basically just lay in the sun and chatted for a few hours and then we got up and walked around. I tried one of the famous Nathan's hot dogs and then we went on the Cyclone (roller coaster!). Then dinner at an Uygur Restaurant in Brighton Beach. I think Uygur is the northwestern-most provice of China which borders Russia. The decor looked Tibetan, the people looked Turkish, and the food...tasted like Mom's cooking. Axel really enjoyed it and I told him if he liked it that much, he'd like mom's food. The experience was a little odd, mostly because I never expected a Turkish-looking person to cook Chinese food.

Then it was back to Astoria. A whole 45 minutes by motorcycle. A whole 45 minutes of fear sweat. No, it wasn't that bad, but I did whimper a few times when we went over a bad pothole and my butt momentarily lost contact with the seat. And it was gusty, very gusty. Axel tells me that it's an hour motorcycle ride to get to Fire Island, which we're planning on doing this summer. I told him he'd have to pull over every half hour so I could stretch a little. He assured me it wouldn't be nearly as tiring once we hit open road that wasn't pothole-ridden and start-stoppy. We'll see...there was a really nice moment on the way to Coney Island where the roads were smooth and the traffic was negligible. The sun was shining and there was water on one side and happy looking houses and grass and trees on the other.

Blergh

Recently, I keep bumping into people I haven't seen in a while and they all ask me waht's going on with my life and I go, "Work. Busy. Lots of work." Is that really all that's happening? I guess there's more. Dance. Lots of dance. I took my last Thursday night hip hop class for the summer, since the summer hours won't permit me to get to Eddie's class anymore.

Otherwise, what's been going on? Hmm...Went home for Memorial Day weekend. We had a barbecue, hung out with my cousins Jonathan and Ling. They grow up so fast. Jonathan's already going to college. It seems like not too long ago he was just starting high school, and before that, he was just an annoying little toddler. We played Settlers of Catan, which I discovered is only winnable when Eric and Sylvia aren't there. They're just too good.

Axel introduced me to a bunch of his friends at a big barbecue on Memorial Day. We had white wine, prosecco, and grilled prawns. I got a little sick so I left early, but I heard they partied till 2am or so. It seems that now I've met all the friends, the floodgates are open and it's not, "Let's go out to dinner" anymore so much as "Let's go out to dinner with my buddies." So far so good.

Axel was pissed last night because there's a gay man at the network he works for that runs equipment who has a crush on him and makes his life extra difficult because he refuses to be anything but heterosexual. Yuri doesn't help because he tells said gay man that the two of them get it on together all the time. I remain amused.

I will teach my children never to apologize until they really understand what they are apologizing for.

I will teach my children never to take anything for granted or for face value.

I will teach my children to view a dilemma from all sides and accept and understand, rather than judge.

Fat

I like how just now, I was sitting all slumped on the couch and mom comes over and says the Chinese equivalent of, "Gee, Angela. Fat much?"

Thanks, Mom.

Random

Today was pleasantly empty on the train. Marlen and I made conversation as usual even though she looked ready to pass out and Michael stared blankly into the distance. Methinks he wasn't awake yet and was meditating his way into work. This is what I hope anyway.

Last night, Marlen's fun friend Kelly (maybe I will call her "fun friend" from now on) came over. We all had pizza and merlot, and I made mango sticky rice for dessert. Super easy to make. We sang to musicals and danced to Lady Gaga in the kitchen and then read tarot cards. Marlen gave me a really accurate reading, I think. It's nice when I don't even ask the question out loud and still she knew exactly what I was thinking. Maybe it's magic. Maybe she just knows me really really well. I could go with either explanation.

O yes, last Saturday Marlen, Michael and I threw a little dinner party. I think it could be considered our housewarming. Mark, Axel and Andy (friend of Michael) came and we had a mango themed dinner. Prosciutto, brie and mango for appetizers, duck and mango sauce for dinner and thai mango sticky rice for dessert. It was overall a success. Axel had to leave early because of another business trip, sadly. The evening was overall a success. Axel, of course, said the mango sticky rice was the best part. I'm not sure if I believe him, since this what guys say to the girls they're dating.

This weekend is Mother's Day. I'm going to go buy Mom a cheesecake from Vinieros since it's the most light and delicious one I've ever tasted in my entire life. Hopefully I'll be able to take it to the train and not destroy it in the process. No pressure! We have reservations for a nice gourmet French restaurant called Ondine on Sunday. Mom will be using the $100 gift card that she got from my office for some translation services she provided. I think this is the fanciest Mother's Day we have every had. Hope it goes well.