Unemployed Diva?

Well, the day has finally arrived. Pfizer has decided - in the spirit of transforming the company to lead the way into a new dawn - to restructure and resize the sales organization to "support Pfizers key products, meet customer needs, and become more agile." So it finally dawned on someone that we were too damn big to get anything done and "as a result of this restructuring, Pfizer will be reducing the size of their sales organization by 20 percent. In about 5 minutes, I have to be on a conference call with my Regional Manager to get more details, but the bottom line is I will know NLT December 8th whether I'm still "retained" with the company. Here is the question on everyone's lips - "Are you on Kindlers list?" (Jeff Kindler is the new CEO).

The severance package they are offering is generous. Won't have to sweat too much. What is interesting though...I'm not the least bit upset or worried. WHATEVER. What I am is tired - tired of the bulls--t, tired of all the changes every other day, just plain tired. It would almost be a relief if I did not get retained. I'm gonna have to get my act together, draw on some reserves and get re-motivated. Gotta go get on this conference call. Check in with the world later.

Black Friday Shopping & Tea at the Four Seasons

We ventured out yesterday on alledgedly the busiest shopping day of the year. My girlfiend Terri, daughter Erin, her friend Ashley (affectionately known as "The Ash"), and my niece Charlee jumped in the H3 and ventured into DC/Northern VA to the Pentagon City Mall. It wasn't nearly as crazy and packed with people as we expected and to add insult to injury, the post holiday "sales" were not even close. I think the day after Christmas is much better and I will definitly have to check back in with everyone then and let you know how I made out.

Now don't get me wrong, I did pick up just a few items. We did stop in Nordstroms at the St. John boutique and - well I'll be darned - there was two 50% off racks of St. Johns. Well, I just found this awesome Chocolate Knit skirt and matching top. I did draw the line at the $250 belt. I was only willing to go so far. So then Terri sides up to me and asks the question of the day - "Do you always spend that much on an item of clothing?" Well, that depends on what it is. If it is a St. John, in which I always fell like a million bucks - fits well, hangs right, no matter where you go you are appropriately dressed - HELL YEAH, BABY! Ring it up and put it in the bag.

The rest of the day we just walked around the mall trying to find some shopping deals and at 3pm we jumped back in the Hummer and were off to the Four Seasons in Georgetown for Tea.

I love shopping and then having tea. I would have preferred to go to tea at the Ritz Carlton attached to the mall but it was booked. I was able to get reservations at the Four Seasons so...of we went. Everything was just so at the Four Seasons, from the valet to the table setting and lets not forget the champagne. Yummy. The pictures speak for themselves.

Without Major Drama

Thanksgiving dinner went off without major drama this year. Everyone was pleasant (as pleasant as family could be)and we had a great time. Even Grandma Willie didn't say anything too irritating. We never did get to discuss her getting her eyes done though. She refuses to have her cateracs (sp) taken care of because alledgedly "nobody will be able to take care of her." I'm not sure what she means by that - of course there would be. My question back all the time is "who is going to take care of you when you can't drive anymore at all or can't see." I love my grandmother to death; however, I have a family too and won't be able to quit my job, move in with her, and wait on her hand and foot. This is something she did for her parents and I know that God has a special place in heaven for Grandma's like her. I just can make the same sacrifice at this time. I just wish she would reconsider, but I can only do so much. Thus I'm left to worry.
Laura is out of jail and we went to pick her up from the Cedar Motel Apartments so she could have dinner with us. She took all of the Tupperware and ziploc bags that I had to take back food with her to the Motel. Now that she has a fridge and microwave she "doesn't have to eat fast food all the time." Wow is all I can manage.
My mother's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year and the gift I got her, of course, did not arrive in time. Sometimes internet shopping doesn't work out quite right - epecially if you got IT from Ebay.
After all was said and done and everyone went home, the Triptophan kicked in and I passed out on the couch. After a short nap I was back at it putting all the Christmas decorations up. They MUST be up immediatly to maximize the Christmas Spirit. Another reason is we are having our big Army-Navy party and Open House next Saturday and I just had to get it done. Still have more to go.
I hope that everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Our friends, the Pollheins, came into town to visit us and Joe's family for the holiday's. Last night, we took them to our favorite restaurant - The Iron Bridge Wine Company. We had a fantastic time - great company, hilarious conversation, wonderful food and even better wine. We talked just about anything, so candid in fact that we almost ran the couple sitting next to us out of the restaurant due to shock and awe. Hilarious.

We then went back to the house, started the fire place, opened another bottle of wine and hung out. Right up until Cara did the projetile vomit thing again. It was absolutely horrifying - AGAIN. Once we got that cleaned up, it was back to the bottle (of wine) again. We spent the next few hours drinking and talking about life. It was a great evening.

This morning, I got Terri out of bed (well, she was already up and sneaked up on me making a cup of coffee) and we went to my gym and did the Gobble Ride (Spin Class). It was supposed to be a 90 minute class, but when I saw Terri saying her Rosary and cursing me out about the class, I decided to cut it short and get her off the bike. She said her bum was on fire. Terri managed to take a picture of me on the bike. Notice there is no picture of her. She is still cursing me hours later.

Well, I gotta get to cooking and getting me drunk on. Family is coming over and I need to be at steady state before anybody gets her just so I can be sane and not say anything crazy. More later.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Start of the Holiday Parties

As President of the DC/Baltimore Chapter of the National Sales Network, I hosted the chapters final event of the year - Fall Networking Social event. Looks like the season of parties has now officially started with a whirlwind of events. I think I have a party or something to go to every weekend up until the 1st of year. Only thing I don't have anything planned yet is on New Years Eve. We will probably stay home again this year. We used to have a New Years Day dinner with Ron's family every year for the last 4-5 years or so at Shirley's house (Ron's mom) but she has moved in with her future husband and they are not volunteering this year. Ron is not up to hosting it. Not sure why and I'm don't really want to ask because that would mean I'd be working on planning & organizing. We will see.

The NSN Party was a hit and we had a wonderful time. In the picture to the left my daughter Erin (Chair, Membership Committee), my husband Ron, myself and the founder of NSN, David Richardson.

A Diva Makeup Outing

Today I indulged myself in a rather expensive yet totally luxurious afternoon with a private session at Nordstrom with Trish McEvoy and her legions of makeup artists. We started with a workshop with Trish (while munching on cheese, fruit, veggies, etc.) learning so many neat makeup tips and beauty secrets. I felt like the Diva that I know I am. If you can't be thin - you certainly can look absolutely smashing everywhere else. After the workshop we were wisked away by one of her makeup artists that (with absolutely no pressure) asked you about your goals for the day, what you wanted to work on or learn and then spent the next 2 hours working with you on your face. My biggest takeaway...I don't need to wear my foundation so heavy and a eye cream is a secret miracle. I walked away with almost everything and a new Trish Planner to store it all. You should have seen me struttin' my stuff as I walked out of there with my bags (one bag was filled with Trish gifts to include the book pictured to the left). Princess moment. I wish all of my girlfriends a princess/diva moment at least once a year!

Another great adventure.

TASTE OF COOKING - CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING

At my recent company's quarterly planning meeting we did a little team building event called a Taste of Cooking. After a full day (actually we had already been at the meeting for 3 days) of sitting in a meeting room and frying your brain on corporate knowledge, we went to cook our own damn dinner. We thought we were going to a cooking school or some really nice place and we ended up at some crazy cooking ladies house that was straight out of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. The table was like a kids table with folding chairs, silverware you could bend like in the Matrix, paper napkins and mix match china.

And to add insult to injury...we were not allowed to drink the wine while we were slaving over the stove for this instructor.
I got in trouble several times and was eventually put in time out on the living room couch for forgetting to put the mayo in the crab cakes. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD... how will the crab cakes stay together without it. Well, the did and they were wonderful. Others got reprimanded for not cutting an onion correctly - who knew? and for forgetting the potatoes...We will drink the wine for our carbs thank you very much. Despite all of the drama, the company was good and we had a great time with each other. To see all of the pictures from the CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING set your browser to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nsndcbalt/TasteOfCooking?authkey=DDIOAwbPJCVBtZ8RneZKeEE2itA

The Future of Army Cheerleading

Take a look at the future of Army Cheerleading. Cara went to school on Halloween in her Army Cheerleading outfit yesterday. She attends a private Christian Academy and we got in a little trouble when we went to pick her up for dressing her in a costume. "We don't celebrate Halloween, you know." Well, LA DE DA. We don't either, but I didn't think it any harm to have her dress up as the DIVA she is in training for. SO THERE!

Since today is picture day, I ran right over to Target yesterday and bought her the cutest outfit (red sparkle pants with a matching holiday sweater and new kicks that have sparkles on them too) HA! Got comments now?

Anyway, Cara will be ready for the Army-Navy Football game. We are trying to teach her the Army Cheer. GO ARMY-BEAT NAVY

Hudson, New York - More Details

Well, we are back from our trip from the country and we were spared the projectile vomit from Cara on the way back. Everything was uneventful on the ride home except the fact that we knew we had to return to work. SUCKS.


While at the Pollhein Retreat, Terri and I visited the Sheep and Wool Show. Fascinating for a city girl. First time I saw an Alpaca in real life beside on one of those commercials where it would be great to have an Alpaca farm. Yeah right.
Cara is having a ball pushing her stuffed Llama (is that even spelled right) around and getting on the nerves of every New Yorker in site.


I saw so many types of yarn and wool, it would make your head spin. I'm crafty but this was over the top for me.

I'm going to stick to the antique shops - although some of these places thought that junk was worth a small fortune. I just couldn't see how an old RR sign that was mounted on a stand was worth over $700. I was just perplexed the entire day about how in the world that woman stayed in business. Really cute stuff but way over priced.

Hudson, New York Trip to Visit Friends

This weekend we embarked on a trip to the country in Upstate NY (Hudson, NY) to visit our best friends, Joe & Terri Pollhein. Joe is Ron and my classmate from West Point. USMA Class of 1987. We are about to go out to lunch at the local diner and I took a beautiful picture from the front porch. It is really beautiful here.

More later.

Visit my friends at their blog...

http://homeatlastfarm.blogspot.com

Moorea - Day 9

Friends and Family,

Moorea is said to be the second most popular destination in French Polynesia and we definitly could see why. Another spectacular day in paradise. As Valerie keeps saying..."It is what it is". Moorea means "yello lizards" and it is thought that this was the name of one of the ruling families of the island. Today it is the pineapple growing centre of French Polynesia with Tourism the island's other major business.


We all spent the day on a Motu (an small island/atoll), hanging on the beach, swimming with sting rays and just enjoying the scenery.
You could definitly do some dream building here, just imagining what life would be like if... We all decided that our dreams were too big for the motu and that more travel had to be done.


We have had just a wonderful time and it has been the best 40th Birthday Celebration I could ever imagine.

Tomorrow we arrive back in Papeete for our journey back home and to reality. I'm still working on staying in the moment and always in the back of my mind will be...

"My Dreams are Too Big for the Motu...-Whatever that Motu happens to be."

See ya back home.

Bora Bora - Day 7 & 8

Family & Friends,

Bora Bora is considered by some to be the most beautiful island in the world. Also known as the "Pearl of the Pacific", it is a small volcanic island almost completely surrounded by a barrier reef, formed from a collapsed volcano. What definitly makes Bora Bora so beautiful is the combinaiton of motus sitting along the outer reef, the numerous colors of turqoise in the lagoon, and the tombstone shaped peak known as Mount Otemanu towering over it all. Bora Bora was used during WWII by the US Navy as a waystation. Bora Bora never saw combat during WWII, but it was a major refuellin base on the American to Austrailia supply line.


I would have to agree that the island and water is absolutely beautiful, but so hasn't every island we have been to so far. Our two days in Bora Bora were spent diving in one form or another. The first day in port, Manny and I went on a 1 tank dive and then on a "Aqua Safari" with Ron and Valerie. The dive was spectacular as we were able to swim with the reef sharks.

We saw a giant eels, sharks...another Finding Nemo moment. Manny and I came back to pick up the kids and took them to Snuba (snorkling/scuba) with these big helmets on.
Ron and Valerie thought it was a hoot and both decided that with that experience that had no more need to see any fish close up. That was close enough. I found it very difficult to move in the damn thing - the current was very strong - and will return to scuba as soon as possible.




That night, Manny and I went on a Night Dive and that was the most nerve racking dive I had ever been on. The dive outfit was SOOOO unorganized and it was a total cluster f--k underwater. We had no idea where the dive master was half the time and just swam around until he mysteriously showed up to check your air. My light was low on batteries and just got dimmer and dimmer until it practically went out before the dive master showed up to give me a new light. Talk about having a hissy fit. It is dark as hell down there without a light...and Manny's mantra of "Just Stand Up"...when all else fails wasn't working. To add insult to injury, we hardly saw any good creatures during the dive either. Guess they decided to not come out that night. I was never so glad to get out of the water and back on the ship.

The next day, Manny and I did a two tank dive and it was AWESOME! We swam with Lemon Sharks and I felt like I was right in the middle of a Jaws movie. I hope the picutres of those monsters comes out and should have them tomorrow. They were so big and I guess it was lunch time, cause one of them just gobbled down this huge fish right in mid-swim. He didn't even see it coming. The food chain at work. Just glad we didn't look appetizing.
After the dive, Ron and Valerie met us as dock where we went to the famouse Bloody Mary's and had lunch. We were not famous enough to get our names burned onto the wall. I just didn't get their hesitation. Don't they know who we are?

Last night was also the last formal night and there was a big party in the dining room with a parade of Baked Alaska by the staff. Delicious. We have set sail for our last port...Moorea.



The party is almost over, but we are trying to stay in the moment.

Raiatea - Day 6

Family & Friends -

Welcome to Raiatea, considered the most sacred of all the Society Islands. Legend has it that Oro, the god of war and fertility was born atop Mount Temahani on the northern end of Raiatea. Raiatea is the second largest island in French Polynesia. Across the lagoon is the island of Tahaa. Several small pearl farms dot the warm, clear waters of Tahaa.

Today, Manny and I started the day off with a morning dive. You'll see later that it looks like Manny and I just rolled right out of bed and onto shore for this dive. The photo staff took pictures of us getting off the ship and DAMN - mornings are just not my thing - even on vacation. The ride out to the dive site was beautiful. We anchored and as we started to put on our equipment, about 6 reef sharks came calling to see if we were going to be breakfast. Not to worry, they turned ot to be just curious and we ended up diving among about 10 reef sharks that came so close you could practically touch them. I really hope the pictures come out. It was awesome. We saw huge moray eels, trumpet fish, angle fish and more. There were times that I felt like I was actually in the movie Finding Nemo. Just incredible. Manny and I have two more dives coming up in Bora Bora.

After the dive, Manny and I made it back to the ship to pick up the sleepy heads for our Pearl Farm Tour and Motu Beach Excursion. At the pearl farm, we had a lecutre on how black pearls are created. Bottom line - it is a long, expensive process - a lot of damn work - for a 8 mm pearl. This one family had 23 pearl farms and are now down to only 3. The owner told us that if you want to be a pearl farmer, you need to be rich. Here are some highlights:
- You need approx. 200,000 black lipped oysters just to start a pearl farm. Mountainous islands have to buy their baby oysters at about $2 each. Cash Only.
- You will lose approx. 20-30% of your baby oysters during transport
- It takes 8 months to nurse your oysters to maturity, with certified divers coming 3x/week to clean the oysters so that parasites don't kill them.
- Once mature, you have to hire a technician (usually from Japan) that will surgically implant the necre (shell irritant) into the oyster. The technician can do about 350 oysters a day at $5/oyster
- Then the oysters go in a mesh bag and back in the water for 2 years - if they make it. There is a 30% rejection rate (the oyster spits out the nucleous). Then you get something called a cachet (sp). Not a pearl but pretty to make other jewelry. It occurs when the oyster rejects the nucleous and the graft folds over on itself and makes a flat pearly like substance. Pretty but not a pearl.

It was very interesting and now I know why pearls are so expensive. Final tip - if you want to know if you significant other is trying to pass off fake pearls or real ones on ya...take your pearls and run them across you front teeth. If it feels smooth - FAKE. If it grates - REAL. A real pearl is never absolutely smooth and is still a living organism - like coral. DON'T put them in jewelry cleaner. Water (clean) your pearls in distilled or salt water at least 4x/year or after about 10 years of wear, acid from your skin and drying - your pearls will crack and leave you with nothing but the shell - worth nothing.

After the Pearl Farm, we were transported to a Motu (atoll) for some beach time. Another paradise.
Back at the ship it was Island Night and we all had our island attire on. There was a show with the children of Raiate, champagne fountain, the conga line dance and just a fun party night. We had a wonderful day.

This morning we have pulled out for our 2 hour journey to Bora Bora.

Tahiti-2nd Day at Sea - Day 5

Friends and Family,

Another day at sea on our way to Raiatea from Rarotonga and it was anything but boring. They keep you pretty busy on the ship. We started the day with breakfast on deck and then went to the Culinary Demonstration and Galley Tour. The galley is amazing and even has an escalator in it to get the waiters and stewards where they need to be quickly. During the tour, they had a bunch of vegetable and fruit carvings. My favorite was Mr. Pinapple Head.



Later, I played some Jackpot Bingo, had a spa treatment and went back to the Art Auction. Manny and Valerie were deciding on another Alexandra Nechita.





Later that evening, dinner was Italian night and we toasted the end of dinner with Lemonchello - a lemon flavored drink and headed to the All Crew Show. The show was absolutely hilarious. A lot of the crew couldn't really sing and dance at all, but it was very brave and hilarious. The cruise director came out for the show's finale- "If We Not at Sea, a ________ is what I'd Be" - in a pink tutu since if he were not at sea, a Ballerina he would be. Anyway, you had to be there. It was a scream.

We are off to Raiatea. Talk to you later.

At Sea & Rarotonga, Cook Islands -Day 3&4

Monday (March 13th) was our first "At Sea" Day. You might think that you would be bored just hanging out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; however, there was plenty to do - like absolutely nothing. Like I said before - I want to become a proficient connoisseur of the Art of Doing Nothing. Valerie and I had a private pass to the spa deck, so we spent the morning laying around there with our mugs of "the purple coolaid". Val brought a bottle of Grey Goose with her on board making it an absolute necessity that we create our own cocktails. Even in the South Pacific at 10 in the morning, we sincerely believed it was happy hour somewhere in the world. A little GG and OJ or Cranberry Juice is the breakfast of champions.

Ron and I both had the Hot Stone Massage and Ron was a sucker for the up sell. He came back with a bag of relaxation/muscle tension stuff. I told the woman that I could share Ron's stuff. No need to try and get me to buy the $300 Detox program. I have my girl Celeste from Celeste's House of Pain (my personal torturer - I mean trainer) to ensure that I am sufficiently detoxed and cleaned out. I've been there and done that (and will ABSOLUTELY need to do again after this cruise) with Celeste - and she will undoubtedly do it for a whole lot less and with glee! The Hot Stone Massage has got to be one of the all time best massages I have every had. Got turned out on it at the Green Valley Spa and was still looking for Moreen (yeah, that's how she spelled her name) and her stones later that night. Private Cabin treatment?

After the Massage, I went to meet Ron at the Champagne Art Auction (Ron's treatment was completed before mine) and it was truly world class. You can get some of the worlds top artists and collectible pieces that you would traditionally find at auction houses at Sotheby's, Christies and fine art galleries. You are able to buy the art on the ship at anywhere between 50-75% off the retail/gallery price because they can only sell the art while at sea, thus not competing with galleries on land. The Art Dealers/Auctioneers on board often go directly to the artists and contract with them for specific pieces. The reason the artists are motivated to sell their pieces this way is because they get considerable more exposure and viewings at cruise galleries vs. a land based gallery. For example, a land based gallery will typically have 75 to 100 people view a piece in a week, whereas on a cruise gallery can have as many as 75,000 people view their work in a week across all the cruise lines. They auctioned off works by Erte, Salvadore Dali, Picasso, Alexandra Nechitia (the petite Picasso), Bill Mack and much more. The even have sports memorabilia. Manny bid on (and he got it at the opening bid since nobody else bid on it) and won an Alexandra Necitia and Ron and I won bids on two of the Bill Macks.



If you ever though of buying/collecting appreciable art as an asset, the Princess Line of Cruise ships has an awesome collection at way below market prices.

The first at sea day was also the first formal night. We took some beautiful portraits which I'll have to show later. In all of the excitement we didn't take any pictures on my own camera. After dinner, we went dancing to the orchestra and watched a performance of a wonderful soprano. Dancing in a full length gown on a moving ship takes SKILL. A girl has to have skills.

Yesterday (Tuesday, March 14th) we arrived in the Cook Islands at Rarotonga - the Kingdom of Tonga and the Samoas to the west and French Polynesia to the east. The Cook Islands lie virtually in the center of the polynesian triangle. Rarotonga is the capital of the Cook Islands and is a protectorate of New Zealand. Thus far we have been to France (French Polynesia - the Islands of Tahiti and Huahine) and New Zealand (Rarotonga). Fast damn ship. Rarotonga or "Raro" as it is called by the locals is a roundish, mountainous island covered in jungle. The island is surrounded by a protective coral reef and the water is an absolutely gorgeous turquoise. We didn't have anything special scheduled today so we caught the tender to the island and walked into town. Town was so small that you could walk from one end to the other is less than 5 minuets. We then caught the shuttle bus to Muri Beach.

Muri Beach was exactly like I imagined the South Pacific to look like. The water was turquoise blue and warm as bath water. At this beach you could actually walk all the way across the lagoon to the 3 other atolls (or Motu's) off the beach. It was breath taking. You can see the three motu's on the picture of the island above. Manny and I tried to walk/swim all the way to the smallest but most lush atoll and got about 30 yards out before we came across a barrier of rocks that without shoes, we just could get past. I started having a small hissy fit about how the rocks were hurting, etc, etc. Unfortunately, Manny did not buy into the hysteria and told me to "Just Stand Up" - the new mantra whenever hysteria started to cast its shadow on an event. Despite the long walk that didn't get us anywhere, we had a blast.

We are "At Sea" again tomorrow (Wednesday - March 15th). Talk to you later.