Chris

Today would have been Chris' 52nd birthday. I think of him often and ponder what life would be like with him in it and getting to know my kids. His humor has carried into the next generation, which is a comfort in some ways. Granted, he was unique with his perspective on life. He left for Puerto Rico in the 80's to open the Chart House and join a band called Chronic Inflammation. He left his mark on Annapolis with antics only Chris could get away with-challenging a military officer to a foot race, where he showed up hung over with a beer in barefeet, as his competition warmed up with push ups. Think he won. He was notorious for party habits at the Chateau Relaxo, where he once fell into our Christmas tree, where my mother found him hugging. He took life lightly. it was all about fun and sharp humor. He had a great ability to quote, verbetim, Waltons Family Christmas. And most of Saturday night Live. Alan and I went to visit him a year after we began dating and what a phenomenal visit. When the house needed cleaning, we stepped outside and Chris hosed the house out with water (all stone and terra cotta). We swam in the rain forest, drank alot of rum, and ate phenomenal seafood. Puerto Rico will never be the same to me.

He weathered trials in his love life, which was part of the reason for his demise. I prefer to think of his warmth, his humor, and his great ability to write. he was just launching a restaurant column in a local publication in Puerto Rico.

I raise a glass to my brother.

zelda

We are in the height of winter, so they say. Where temperatures remain the most constant-cold. I'd say I have probably seen the sun once this week. long enough to take note before it disappeared. If only it would at least generate some snow- and enough to leave us at home, as opposed to dark days travelling to work.
I have the added pleasure of using my sports car to get around during this bad weather. How joyous it is to come out to leave to for work and not only have to scrape my cart on the outside, but in the inside as well. Heat? maybe in about 30 minutes. I find myself driving with my head over on the passengers side to see around the frost covering the inside windshield. So much for the new roof. Then I must make a pit stop in freezing rain to fill the passenger tire up with air because of a slow leak.
These are times where I think about selling it and getting a normal mode of transportation. One where I can carry more than one person if you are under 200 pounds. Alan can't fit. Andrew can't fit. I grow weary having extra burden for the cutest car in the world.

Then spring arrives. I drop the hood. I zip down the highway. I am rarely a DD. I feel the wind in my hair. And then I reconsider. After all, I have dealt with worse growing up. The great 57 pontiac with no floor. The aging station wagons that leaked smoke in the car when driving. The VW bug that ran great until it bit the dust. And there was a large chevy that lost its power steering and had to be steered manually. All the time. But there was one bright moment-when we were asked to mind a triumph spitfire for a couple of weeks. And that when i decided I would own a sports car.

So, 3 more months. And back to topless days with Zelda.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family!

I am a bit late with this new form of communication, as my sending of Christmas cards have fallen off the list of what to do during the holidays. Can't say I miss it, but appreciate getting them from friends and family.

I also had to think back as to what has transpired over the year and have gotten to the point where I need to start keeping notes so i can refresh the memory.

2014 began rather badly with the loss of Moses, our cat of 19 years. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing, as we all know what kind of reputation Moses had. Despite his white beauty of pure good, he was an evil son of a bitch.

Cranky and cantankerous. Except to Alan. He was always sweet to Alan. What does this mean?

Andrew continues to keep school on his radar screen and hopes to get back to the task at hand this spring. He is so close to finishing at this point. He has had a few set backs this year, which he is overcoming. And he never loses his sense of humor.

Maddie has applied to 9 universities for admission in the fall of 2015. 4 have come back so far, with acceptances to all of them. And 3 offered her money. is it enough money to make it affordable? Ah, no. We will all have some decisions to make about this in the coming weeks.

Alan continues his long commute to work, despite his status of being able to retire. That's what happens when you have one more to send to college.

I have also met that milestone-can now officially retire. I can dream about it, but not put it into reality. I do love my job, but I could easily walk away from the drunk patron who taped a horse tail in his motorcycle helmet and the guy who arrives in the building in a bathing suit and raincoat with plastic bags on his shoes. I won't miss that.

We traveled to FLorida in the August to visit Nick and Cindy. Yes, it was beastly hot. I can hear all of you saying-they went to Florida in AUGUST??? Are they nuts? yes we are.

Maddie and I took a short trip top New Orleans to see the Ravens play in November. Love that town and all it stands for-drinking, great food, and music. And a cast of quirky characters.

I following up with a short trip to Vegas with the mother. Never been, so new experience for both of us. My mother can keep up with the best of us, especially if you sit her at a bar and throw in some new people to chat with. She will talk to anyone. Bartenders, maids( and they don't even need to speak English), bellhops, cowboys, gamblers, and 65 year old cocktail waitresses in mini skirts. Probably her kind of town.

I got a Fitbit for my birthday, which measures how many steps you are waling in a day, as well to show you are sleeping at night(I apparently wake up a lot during the night-maybe due to Alan's snoring). This can be a good thing and a bad thing. it can serve as an incentive to keep moving and getting your daily 10,000 steps in. I found myself circling my brothers house on thanksgiving a few hundred times just to reach my quota. And it can serve as your biggest guilt trip. Just look how lazy you really are. I prefer the positive.

Wishing all of you a safe and joyful new year and good health and prosperity!

The Adams family

and speaking of Vegas..

As I have returned from my journeys, I share with you the musings of our own vegas like clientele...

Today, shortly after 11:00am, a man (Robert) walked in and came to the desk to tell Alex and I that his housing complex was bombing for bugs so he would be in the library until about 6pm tonight. He continued to talk about various topics for the next 50 minutes. I sense that there may be something mentally wrong with him.

A few of the stranger things that he said:

1.) He told us that he used to be the reindeers at the store across Ritchie. He said that I probably visited him when I was a child and asked how old I was. I told him, and he said he was sure I would have visited him when I was a child. He wants to be Santa this year.

2.) He told me that he only had $6 to buy food with because he gives all his money away. He said on Veteran's day he had spent $30 on food for 2 homeless veterans. When I told him that I thought that was nice of him he very seriously told me that he is not a nice person. Not a nice person at all.

3.) He said several times (jokingly?) that he was going to steal our magazines. He put some in his bag and said he was going to steal them, and walked through the security gate. He turned around in the lobby and came back and said, “See, I told you I was going to steal them.” I told him that if he had kept walking I would definitely have to call the police on him.

4.) He also told Alex and I that we were beautiful and that men must throw themselves at Alex in particular. He said he liked her sparkly lanyard and when she told him it was a gift he said something along the lines that men like to give gifts to pretty women. I told him that I was the one who gave Alex her lanyard and that stopped his talking for a few moments.

I emailed Brian and Jesse a few times to save us. He walked away when Brian came out front, but came back when Brian went back into the staff room. I was off the desk at 12, and all was quiet for a short period of time.

Around 12:20 Denise came into the backroom to tell me that the man was trying to give Alex a gift. I walked out and saw that he handed her his mother’s World War II dog tag (which he had shown me earlier. He also told me that he had given away his father's tag which he really regretted). She told him she couldn’t accept it, and I told him that she really couldn’t. I tried to hand it back to him but he said he wouldn’t take it, I could throw it away if I wanted to and it was hers and walked away from the desk. We put it in the lost and found. 5 minutes later he came back to the desk to tell me that he was leaving to go to the mall, and that I should tell the other lady (Alex) to wear the tag in memory of his mother. I stated again that she really couldn’t accept it, that we can’t take gifts from customers, and asked him to please take it with him. He said no and left the building.


The library comes in handy sometimes...


On Tuesday evening, an AA County Police detective approached the information desk and asked for assistance. He said that he had a man under arrest for a robbery that took place on Monday evening, Nov. 24. He was arrested based on a photo line-up "identification" by the person who was robbed. The arrested person stated that he was here in the library at the time of the robbery working at a computer. Michelle and I took the detective back to the video camera and quickly brought up images from the time period on Monday night when the robbery took place. It was quickly apparent that the man who had been arrested was in the library during the robbery. Michelle created a disc with two pictures: one at 5:30 p.m. and one a 6 p.m. covering the time when the robbery occurred. The detective took the disc to help clear the accused man. Note--on November 25th the Capital printed an article about the arrest of the man for the robbery and printed his name. On November 26th WBALTV printed an article on their website that stated the individual was released due to "additional case enhancement", and that the police department reached out to the State's Attorney's Office to drop charges against him.

leg 2 Las Vegas baby

There is no way to accurately describe Las Vegas. It is big, over the top, ostentatious, and vulgar, yet makes no excuses for itself. That is what it is. It is hotels outdoing each other. Where else can you go on a gondola ride at the Venetian and ride a roller coaster at New York, where you need to walk under the Brooklyn Bridge to get into the building. it is filled with high rollers and high end socialites who shop exclusively at barney'd and Jimmy Choo's, and your homeless who spend their days in the lobbies in the gargantuan hotels. it is very easy to get lost in Vegas, simply due to building size. The Aria has 4000 rooms, 568 of them are suites. Casinos can be a 1/4 mile long. It is visually overwhelming, which can make it so fun. Fortunately, we had no incidents of chickens in the room or tigers in the bathroom after a night of drinking.

We made a short trip to the north end of the strip, where you can find older casinos and downtown Vegas. it is somewhat seedier-years of neglect and in bad need of fresh paint or perhaps a bulldozer. Circus Circus is one of these hotels. We made an attempt to stay at the hotel to see a circus act (foot juggling), but it was too depressing. Especially when the 65 year old cocktail waitress approached us in the casino and asked if we wanted a cocktail-dressed in a mini skirt and a tube top. She looked weary, like I should have gotten her a cocktail.

It's worth a visit. And i would be open to returning with my peers. Just to see if the cocktail waitress was still running drinks in the casino of Circus Circus. Perhaps a second career for me.

new orleans musings

Saturday night

I have just returned from a trip to the Big Easy, where every time I go, I come away with a different perspective. We traveled with a group who organizes Ravens road trips. I was a bit leery at first, as communication was sparse, but it all came together. It was a group of 214, so pretty impressive to move that many bodies without a hitch.
Saturday began with a reception with an open bar. Which can be dangerous in this city. Fortunately it was a 21 and over event and Maddie wasn't able to attend so I curbed my drinking to be fairly reasonable. It is a city that simply promotes, encourages, and celebrates alcohol. You can carry alcohol everywhere, into establishments, out of establishments, up to drive through margaritas, driving with margaritas, it is everywhere. What may set that off is the incredible cuisine and the music scene. We had a lunch to remember at the Gumbo shop, where they prepare jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and crawfish chowder.
Breakfast was the Ruby Slipper, where they offer 11 different kinds of eggs benedict. And great bloody marys. Dinner was at the haunted Muriel's on Jackson Square, where I sipped on Turtle soup, and had pecan crusted drum. We popped upstairs to the seance room to visit the ghost and off to see the drunks of NOLA.
Ravens game was icing on the cake, as we came away with a win. Scary stadium though...very high with a steep pitch and high steps to the top. Fans couldn't have been nicer, even drunk. As most people are. All the time. As I heard from someone-there are no rules when it comes to alcohol-they do as they wish.

So, just as I recover from one sin city, I am off to another on the other coast-Las Vegas. I might need to check into a recovery center.

comings and goings

Now that I have recovered from the mid year elections, I am back looking forward to better activities. Let me just say I am appalled by the election of Michael Peroutka as a county council member (and embarrassed). he is from the constitutional party and believes all laws should be part of God's will and the bible. Holy hell...

I attended a Maryland Terps game on Saturday with the ladies-couple of Michigan fans and a couple of Maryland fans.We arrived sort of late-about 2 hours before the game started to tailgate with the fans. However, they all have been drinking and partying since 9 AM and were quite trashed. And the whold parking area was trashed as well. Maddie and Courtney got the full picture of football games at big schools.

We leave Saturday for football in NOLA. And some debauchery. Well, a little. Lots of music and great eats.

That is followed by Thanksgiving..another major eating event. Oh boy.

Crowned by Vegas with mom. I shouldn't need a bail bondmen number should I?

Thinking of Julie on this one year anniversary today.