Curry Freeze

Before Cyclone Pitas became the place where everybody knew my name, another existed. It again, was mostly a lunch joint for me. A lunch that consisted of ice cream when the place was open from early March to Halloween. The time that the little ice cream shop, Curry Freeze, was closed every winter, did not hinder the workers remembering who I was. Pretty hard face to forget. Especially when you see it nearly every day.

Just like Cyclone Pitas, I had my favorite and never chose otherwise. So, with seeing my face and hearing my same exact order, the workers there, caught on to what I was going to get every time. It simply became known as "the usual."

Being as this Curry Freeze was pretty close to our home in Schenectady, one night, Jeff suggested we go there to pick up some ice cream. I, of course, was all for it. Little did Jeff know that I was already there for lunch that day! Jeff didn't realize how often I went there either. It was a deep, dark secret of mine in a way. 

As we arrived at the order window, the owner immediately saw my face and say, "Hi Alicia, you want the usual, right?" Boy, did this send a shock through Jeff's body. He could not believe they knew me by name and they new what my "usual" was. 

Jeff's response, "My God, how often do you come here?" 

Of course, with my poor lying abilities, I simply mumbled that this was my second time today. With that, he simply thanked the good Lord that I order yogurt. 

Missed Lunch

Today was my last day on the job. While I am super excited to start my teaching job and get back to school, I will miss the people that I worked with. I had some long goodbyes with a few of my favorites, but mostly walked away happy from my empty office space and to begin the next step.

Saying goodbye is always a tough thing. Even more so when you have found something you love. And I had just that dilemna today. No, not saying goodbye to my friendly coworkers, but to my favorite lunch stop. Ahh, Cyclone Pitas. The name naturally brings a smile to my face. I have only had one thing ever from there, simply because it is too good for me to try anything else. Today was no different. 

When the owner, Dave, asked me how things were going, I explained that everything was really good, except...I had gotten a new job on the other side of Cleveland. A bit too far to stop by for a quick and delicious lunch. Dave claimed to be happy about my new job, but I could tell he was sorry to lose his best customer. Me, I had the same type of feelings. How can I not be sad? When I walk in, I am always greeted with a, "Hi, Alicia. Are you getting your regular today?"

I can't argue with the words that Gary Portnoy sang at the introduction of every Cheers episode. Sometimes you really do want to go where everybody knows your name, and they are always glad you came. Cyclones Pitas was that for me since I moved here to Cleveland. Before that, I had another place...

Pile O Books

I like to write, but reading really isn't my forte. Well, not unless it is a children's book that I can, well, read with children. With that, I would like to show you a pile of books that I have accumulated.

That's right. All of those books, here with me. Why, you may ask. Because I got a new teaching job and need to study up a bit, for I start on Monday. I'm very excited to get back into the classroom. I have missed it way too much.

Out Cold

This morning was one I dreaded waking up more than ever. Not because I had to get up extra early, or because it seems to be darker each morning. I dreaded it because I knew how low the temperatures were going to dip during the night. I felt a loathing for having to bundle up to take Shea out for a nice little run.

However, since I am tough and dedicated to my boy, I did it. The snot in my nose froze up, my fingers froze through my two layers of gloves, and Shea had icicles hanging from his face, but we still went out. I did because, really, Shea doesn't understand that it is not nice out. He just wants to go out. And even with his bowels of steel, the boy needs to go to bathroom every once in a while! The whole time we were out there, I kept telling myself that it could be worse. It could be much worse. I could be in New York, where I got this photo text from a friend:

The -12 on the dashboard made me feel a little better about the +6 degrees I was running in. Since the temperature rose steadily, here (not in NY), throughout the day, our run this evening was not bad at all. We were certainly out there long enough to knock the Big Guy out cold now!

A Possible Debt Solution

Today, on my drive to Rochester to watch Jeff's game, I came with a solution to this nation's debt problem.  I just happened to be driving through the terrible state of Pennsylvania when this idea hit. It just came to me.

I say, we simply remove the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia. Relocate the bell somewhere significant, somewhere important like, say, South Euclid, Ohio or Rotterdam, New York. Once the Liberty Bell is moved, everything of importance will have been removed from the state of Pennsylvania and we can sell the land to a foreign nation. Maybe Canada would want it as a tropical summer destination. I don't know. But it certainly doesn't do the U.S. or it's citizen's any good. 

When I arrived in Rochester, thank goodness it's in New York, I ran my idea by some family members. My mother-in-law one-hundred percent agrees with my idea. In fact, her family refers to Pennsylvania as the Rectum of the United States. 

If selling Pennsylvania isn't an option, which would be unfortunate, I have some recommended improvements for the state. First would be to put a little bit of effort into paving the roads. It is no longer the 1800's, dirt and gravel roads, especially as major highways, are frowned upon unless you are camping. Picking up all of the garbage that floats around would be another step in the right direction. One should be able to be outside in the state of PA and not be hit in the face with flying rubbish. And lastly, especially on a sunny, non-snowing day like today, get some plows on the roads to clear off the snow that fell days ago. 

Major highways on a clear day should not seem like you are driving in the arctic during a blizzard. The only problem I really see with selling PA, is that America would have an odd number of states. I like things nice and even. 

A Case of Bad Luck

My brother feels as though he is unlucky. The epitome of his unfortunate bad luck came just a few days ago on his 30th birthday. Mind you, this was days after getting five stitches removed from his forehead. Out to a nice dinner, he ordered the veal marsala. A solid choice, if you are going to eat baby cow. But poor Nick was brought out the veal parmigiana. When he told the waitress, she apologized but did not offer to get him the correct order or to compensate him for the mistake. Just his luck.

Then, I realized, that while Nick complains about bad luck and I don't, I may actually have a dose of it right now. Having woken up super early on this Saturday, I needed to take Shea out for a nice run and romp. I did this in blistering six degree weather, simply because I love that dammed dog. It was certainly bad luck that on this Saturday that I was required to get up early, that it would be, by far, the coldest day. 

The earliness came into play because a friend asked me to watch her little girl in the morning while she had a doctor's appointment. Of course, that wasn't a problem and I was happy to do it. Little Leah and Shea were getting along just peachy. So well, that one would almost think I was having good luck.

After playing with Shea and becoming best buddies, Leah had a little snack. Some yummy strawberry yogurt. A few moments later Leah began to cry for no apparent reason. I quickly went over to her to see what was wrong and picked her up. As soon as her feet left the ground, she vomited all over myself and the floor beneath her. With a pinkish color, there was an eerie smell of rotten strawberry yogurt filling the room. Shea, asleep on the couch at the time, did what I wished I could have, and ran upstairs. After a short bought of throwing up, Leah wanted some more strawberry yogurt. Must have been that appetizing smell. She was fine, wanting to eat and play just moments after. I, on the other hand, am sick with a bad case of bad luck! 

College Learning

Today I came across an article that basically did the research to confirm what I have said all along. Basically, the article went on to detail how very little college students actually learn in college. The ironic thing, a university researched and released this information. NYU to be exact, (one of the ranked teams Jeff's team beat this past weekend).

College Students Learn Very Little

I have longed supported this NYU study, while my thoughts were just theory. A theory largely based on my own collegiate experience. With that, I'd like to give you a run through of a typical day for me during college. I'd wake up at 10 a.m. and head to the cafeteria. Here I would have the choice between a plethora of breakfast foods, including a hot and cold buffet, all prepared by other who served me. Very realistic. Then, I'd head to class in my comfy sweats. I would drown out whatever blah-blah-blah the professor was saying with doodles in my notebook and eventually text messages to various people. 

After 30-45 minutes of doodling, I would head to the gym. Good thing I already had my sweats on. Here I would meet some of my friends. We would bulls%*$ with my basketball coach for a while and then go in and shoot around until we got hungry and decided to go get lunch. Another meal with lots of options being nicely prepared and served for me. Seems very much like my life now. Once reenergized, we would head back to the gym to play more basketball and watch any pick-up games going on. Then, I would usually have another class in the early afternoon to doodle through. 

At some point in the evening I would have practice, whether it was basketball season or water polo season. For practice I would be there and ready at least 30 minutes in advance to warm up for a two to three hour practice. After working hard and sweating, I would hop into my designated shower stall and sing show tunes to my showering teammates (who were in different stalls just to clarify!). Then I'd go with my best buddies to have dinner, again at the same place, prepared to order and served hot. My go to was grilled cheese. 

Majority of nights we stayed here until the cafeteria officially closed and they asked us to leave. We just enjoyed sitting there, talking nonsense, and quite honestly, by that time of the day, we were usually tired enough to not want to move. 

Back at my dorm room, Jeff would come over to visit and we would hang out, watch tv, and whatever else until we were too tired to keep our eyes open anymore. I knew when my alarm went off that next morning at 10 a.m., that I had a great day of mostly gym time ahead of me.  And I knew I would always have a good meal right at my finger tips.      

Beyond this, I knew there was a library on campus, but never really visited. I had school work sometimes, and squeezed in between dinner and my time with Jeff. I usually studied for any test, which were strictly memorization, at breakfast on my way to class. Surprisingly, I did quite well in college. I did learn a lot, but not what the real world was like. College was a fantasy land. Maybe that is why, it is considered by most, the best years of your life! Money, certainly, well spent.