As of late...

1. Went back to New Jersey for a few days to throw Peckle a surpriiiiiiiiiise bridal shower. I worked like a psycho leading up to the redeye to Newark, resulting in the first (and last, I'm sure) almost-pleasant overnight flight I've ever taken. Fell asleep just after takeoff, woke up when we touched down in Atlanta, where I changed planes and promptly conked out until arriving in Newark.

2. Spend some time in New York City. It was a tossup on whether I wanted to walk the 12 blocks from Penn to my meeting or take the train for old time's sake. Luckily, I was wearing some good Reefs, so I walked, along with 8 million other people, ten thousand cabs, a bunch of hot dog carts, a lot of mystery spots, and I loved/missed every second of it. Summer here in suburbia is great, if for no other reason than the pool is less than a thousand feet away, but hot town, summer in the city? Awesome, every urine-scented inch of it.

3. In the same vein, I got to spend several days living it up in New Jersey, The Greatest State In The Union And Don't You Forget It, Sucka. Even better, lots of quality time with Dr. Lu and dbg, which always = good times, especially when Jello shots are involved. Which also leads to...

4. I made Jello shots for the first time in my 28 years. And even bigger testiment to just how big a dork I am, I brought the box o' Jello to the liquor store to ensure the correct amount of booze was purchased. And by correct amount, I mean the right number of little bottles of the hard stuff to go along with the two jugs of sangria required for the weekend. And we ran out. And had to get more. From my GRAMMA. Because that's how we roll.

5. The morning of my return to the Wrong Coast, Dr. Lu and I purchased approximately ten thousand (or so) bagels to stash in my luggage for those long cold nights. Yes, I checked a bag containing nothing by bagels. And I'd do it again.

6. While slicing and packing said bag, I sliced my left middle finger open. Instead of spending the afternoon knocking back some Dunkin' Donuts, Dr. Lu sped me to the emergency room, where I waited on line behind a kid with a sore throat and a woman with a sprained ankle, lifeblood literally, figuratively, and actually draining out of me. The nurse was not impressed, by either my bleeding or my need to get on a plane in 3 hours.

7. It took my finger over four hours to clot, and that was with me, three nurses and two doctors standing on top of it, willing my insidey parts to go back from whence they came. Apparently I have a knack for hitting blood vessels with pointy things. Go hard or go home, I always say. I was still bleeding when I was discharged at 5:30, just in time to make it home for dinner AND to wave goodbye to my flight that left at 5:18. On the upside, it got me out of setting the table.

8. For the first time ever, Delta Airlines actually made up for their eXXXtreme degree of suckitude last February and sent me back to California for free. Sure, I had to take an extra flight, EWR-DCA-ATL-ONT, and spend almost 4 hours in the Atlanta airport, but I've had worse flights and didn't even get stuck in the 7th circle of hell, aka A Middle Seat. I even got home early enough to lay on the couch for awhile and spend some time with my old friend, Tivo, as it should be.

9. Did I mention it's 100 degrees here now, all day, every day? I need to get one of those oh so hip sun shades for the Mazda Jansport because hot sun + black leather interior = burnt hands. Ouch.

10. I made cupcakes tonight. Nothing says July like turning on the oven.