So, I've just completed my sophomore year of nursing school in 3 months. I'm on a small break till school begins again in September. Wondering if I should get reacquainted with LJ?

Saturday we danced to Lynette and Sue calling stuff at Blizzardgate. Linda, Ett & I called a bit as well. We spent the afternoon with a game of Dominion, and I taught Lindetta and David If Wishes Were Fishes. That night Scott and Dan joined us in a game of Sequence.

Ett made a white chili for lunch on Saturday and Janet made chicken topped with marinated portobello mushrooms a la Rachel Ray. I have to admit the mushrooms were extremely tasty though upon first seeing them in the fridge I had mixed feelings.

Once again I gave up Remington travel to stay in and play games.

On Sunday we did some of Takeuchi's prior Berkshires as well. He did a lot of 2x5 parallelogram shape changers giving you triple lines. Having Scott back was a good thing. Build your own chef salad for lunch.

We did Applebee's on the way home splitting a two for twenty sale which included two main courses plus an appetizer. The maple butter blondie is still heavenly.

Got home, reunited with the cats, and packed for Florida.

Today I packed for a practice session in MD.

I applied for my criminal background check for the nursing program. Thirty-five more dollars spent.

We picked up Scott from BWI on the way.

Last weekend I spent some time studying for my final and cleaning up the place a bit. Friday night I went food shopping and picked up jmy1tenor from the PATH. Made a Mexican dinner for him and Russell and Patrick and I. We then taught him Alhambra, St. Petersburg and Stone Age.

My new Dominion cards had arrived in the mail that morning - perfect timing! We really like the Black Market, but Envoy is not so hot unless you have extra actions to play. We played a nice long game (or 2).

Russell brought an organic red (which was brown) velvet cake from a local bakery. It was a great dessert during our game break. Games may have gone on till near 3AM. A rain storm ensued and John stayed over. We listened to some of the Songs From An Unmade Bed.

Patrick made waffles and bacon in the morning and we caught John up on the rest of the games. We played Settlers of Catan, If Wishes Were Fishes and of course more Dominion. We grilled burgers for an early dinner and ate on the back deck. I drove him to the PATH for a rehearsal, came home and got ready for the Big Apple Ranch. I taught Soakin Wet.

Russell bought a new game based on a friend's recommendation. It was one I had not played before so I was pretty excited. The game description didn't sound so hot, but I've learned that they are misleading.

You are building your own alhambra in Spain. You begin with a fountain. Various designers offer buildings at different prices. There are towers, gardens, chambers, seraglios, pavilions and arcades. There are 4 different designers and they each take different currency. The money is color coded so you don't have to worry about conversion factors. Some pieces come with a wall, and you score for longest outer wall along with having the most of any one type of building. You never receive change, so paying exact gets you a bonus move, and you have to be careful how you place your tiles.

The game can take 6 players and has become a favorite.

Russell also bought Stone Age after playing it and If Wishes Were Fishes since I mentioned that I liked that in the past.

Can't believe I've been doing this for three whole years already. Facebook has put a dent in it, along with school, but I'm still happy for the connections I've made here and hope to continue .

It'll just be for a few days during the week, but we'll be spending two nights in West Palm Beach and two in Fort Lauderdale. Anyone up for a day at Haulover?

Arriving the 18th - Leaving the 22nd.

We were in DC for the square dance convention over Easter. I decided to have family in two weeks later for dinner and a local show.

I prepared a fresh ham, with mashed potatoes and stuffing and a salad for Gene and spent most of that Saturday cooking. Chuck and Julio were also joining us, though tunnel traffic made them late. We walked to the Van Vorst area of Jersey City to see a production of Nunsense at the Barrow Mansion.

I had seen the show years ago (with Ricky) off-Broadway with Helen Baldassare in the cast. I remember it was raining afterward and we shared an umbrella as we walked her to the subway.

This was Ciara's first live performance and I tried to explain the importance of sitting calmly through it. Luckily, part of it is audience participation so the nuns could always slap her hand or something if needed. She received a set of rosary beads.

In haste to grab 8 seats together I climbed over a row of folding chairs and received a laceration on my shin. It is still scabbed.

I know my mother and sister really enjoyed the show, which is what I was hoping for. They knew about the jar of poppers. I really liked it as well. The 5 women did a nice job. Act II began with 3 of the sisters doing bits of Beyonce's Single Ladies video dance. The Rocky Horror joke was replaced by something to do with Lake Superior. There was also a Kelly Clarkson reference.

Sunday's dinner was semi-traditional. We did a pink ham, kielbasi, boiled eggs, made potato salad, served horseradish, baked bread, etc. It was never a favorite meal for me as Grandma served everything cold, but the women liked it. We brought up Aunt Agnes's name and I said I needed to contact her as we were heading her way in a few weeks.

I played Guess Who with Ciara and Kim. Ciara had received it from grandma along with an Easter basket. We took a walk to Sears to get an alarm tag removed from a pre-purchased bathing suit. We drove them home to Queens and Patrick let the ham bone sit in the crock pot for pea soup.

Now that this semester is over, and before I become crazed from the accelerated nursing program, I thought I'd try and spend a little time posting - maybe 3 weeks behind now. We'll see what happens.

M – Work on study guide 2 since I didn’t get much school work done during the dance. jmy1tenor came over for dinner and games. I made the popover pizza casserole. Both Russell and Neil joined us for games, and since we moved into 5 player territory, our games had to change. We played Ticket to Ride, Tongiaki and Carcassonne (Hunters & Gatherers edition). John and I stayed up late enjoying a long chat.

T – Slept late, played a couple games of online Dominion and walked John to the PATH. We ate at Great Kahn’s. Got some more studying done. Watched AI and picked up my new meds at A&P. Guillermo got a promotion at work.

W – Final studying and met Tracey in the Library to go over last minute stuff.

H – Drove up to Dad’s, who was working. Jessica and the children were there. I ate Sonia’s leftover Easter dinner while she played short order waitress to all the grandchildren. I drove my sister and Ciara home to Queens, playing Geo’s taxi service yet again. The trunk and back seat were completely packed again including a new bicycle for Ciara, and hand me down clothing from Alyssa. The C2 class was cancelled so Russell came over and we again played Ticket To Ride, Tongiaki, Dominion’s (Big Money) and St. Petersburg.

F – Began to study the neuron. Our lab dealt with the knee reflex. We learned the fastest response is the natural reflex arc that the spinal chord produces. Visual stimulation was next with auditory bringing up the rear. There are more synapses involved in hearing than seeing. Russell came over for dinner and games. He brought food and fixed it for dinner. We had what I called the 5C’s: Coconut Curry Chicken with CousCous.

Sat – Patrick got to meet Ira when he used his Xmas massage certificate. I repaired the lattice on the deck that winter winds had destroyed. We finished the reading of Cross Country, a story dealing with gang violence in Africa. I taught Turnaround Cha Cha at the Ranch. We made a quick stop at Barracuda, just in time to wish prior LJ user RussRoss a happy birthday. He was leaving with another prior LJ user-abstrusedude, who we finally got to meet in person. We then watched The Eye – a mystery drama dealing with cell memory.

Sun – Explored Walmart, and Patrick made spaghetti sauce.

We began the convention meeting up with Mark Buckner for dinner. He met us in the hotel lobby. We quickly checked in and went to Open City where we had tasty pizzas outdoors.

The trail in dance was multi-level. We danced a couple of the advanced tips, but mostly took the time to hug and greet all our friends that live in other states. Non-dancing wufpup showed up with otterpop58 and we arranged to grab a meal together tomorrow night. After the dancing, I grabbed a beer, and then we set up an advanced workshop for Caleb and seven other interested dancers.

Friday morning was scheduled for the Grand March, something that we usually plan to miss. I went to the gym instead, but found that my head was hurting, and it hurt more when I lifted, so I figured I needed to skip this. We had another outdoor meal, this time with deege at the Woodley Café. Service was extremely slow. We danced the afternoon and had dinner with Nick and Steven at Jandara, followed by ice cream at Baskin Robbins. We went out dancing at Remingtons that night and hit the sauna to relax a bit before bed.

Saturday morning opened with the LJ tip, less attended than in the past. Photo to come! Back to the slow, but convenient Woodley Café for lunch, which we shared with Bill & Jim. A quick nap before cocktail hour (which again should be longer! (cocktail hour, not my nap)), then the banquet. The leather tip followed where justetthon showed off her new body attired in black. The country-western dance followed, including a performance by the DC Cowboys. Five costume changes in one day!

We got up early to do some C4, went back to nap, got up for brunch, packed, danced more and sadly made our goodbyes and got on the road. We ended up having dinner at Phillips seafood at the Maryland House

My youngest sister Jacqueline got engaged. Andy proposed to her outside Cinderella’s castle in Disneyworld while they were on vacation. The fireworks went off shortly after.

The first weekend of April we got to dance. We picked up Robert and drove to MD. Linda actually got to join us and a much thinner justetthon prepared some of the meals again. Scott didn't make this one, but David and gqsbrosen flew in from Florida. Linda and Ett called a bit on Saturday and I called a C-Gull dance on Sunday. It took us awhile to dance smoothly but by the end of the weekend we had improved.

Knowing we were back down the following weekend for convention, we didn't go out dancing at Remington's. I brought a couple of games instead. Taught Dominion to David, did a group play of Tongiaki and Linda had a new game that I was eager to try.

Stone Age is not about the Flintstones, but you are supposed to be pretty primitive. I found facets of Settlers and St. Petersburg involved. You take turns putting down people which then perform actions. You can grow food, make tools, have a baby, hunt, gather wood, brick, ore or gold. You buy huts, specialty cards and then you have to feed your family.

Janet showed me how to use her sphygmomanometer and lent it to me to practice with. We stopped at Outback on the way home and went to bed early.

On April Fool's Day, I completed my training enabling me to possibly save a life one day. The class held seven people including one EMT retake. There was a hot cop, a young girl, and a large hospital worker who complained about all the kneeling.

We watched various videos, and then performed the actions along with the video. We had bottomless torsos. Breathing into their mouths through plastic funnels would actually inflate their chest, provided the head was tilted back far enough to allow passage. Clasping your hands and performing compressions isn't a very comfortable act, and I wonder how much harder it will be on a human.

We got to yell the word "Clear!" just like on TV, though we didn't actually shock the mannequins.

The baby they gave me to work on had it's color mismatched. A plastic face with a frontal cut allowed for a black baby to have a white face (think The Six Million Dollar Man's Maskitron).

There are a few different rules to know, and the order matters depending on the circumstance. Unfortunately, this seems to be another activity, that unless you do it often, or review the material, can easily escape your mind. I will need to make an effort to keep it fresh.

I aced my test, though at the last minute I changed an answer to the correct one. The young girl appeared to have failed, but the instructor just made her change some answers until she got it right. Hmmm.

Back at school, the night's lecture was on renal failure, diuresis and urine concentration.

Saturday March 29th we visited Janet and family in Scarsdale. It was a spur of the moment visit that happened to work out. We baked brownies to bring. The boys were playing outside originally. We played a game of Carcassonne with Larry & Janet. Robert and Brian eventually came in. Robert is not so social, but Brian is a chatterbox. Janet whipped something up for dinner. The whole family then played Tongiaki and some trivia game. I did some origami and once many of them went to bed, Janet stayed up and chatted with us some more. She also pulled out some old photo albums from New Paltz (original college days).

I spoke with Dad. He's going to be getting the pool filled in.
Sunday was lots of reading: School lab book, CPR manual and Settlers rules.

Monday I tried out the cleaning eraser on the kitchen cabinets. Picked up jmy1tenor and went to BJ's and A&P. Rubbed some ribs for dinner. I think Russell came over and the four of us played Thurn & Taxis and Dominion. John & I stayed up late and tried out Carcassonne - Hunters & Gatherers - which Russell had brought over. It's a bit different from the main game. There are bonus tiles, and more details to some others. I think I would've liked it better if it was an expansion of the original.

Tuesday April 1st I drove upstate to visit Nina. Janet is a college friend, Nina is from high school. Her mother in law Maureen arrived at about the same time that I did. This was planned to give Nina and me time alone. Nina has a new baby Corrin. Catherine must've been at school, and Carly eventually arrived. I remember her when she was five and now she's eleven. The other girls are new to me.

Nina took me out to lunch at the Heights. I had a lamb shepherd's pie topped with macaroni & cheese. Our conversation was easy, once again as if no time had passed. I got a tour of her house, and if I wasn't semi-dressed up, I would've tried out the trampoline in the yard. We played a game of scrabble.

Wed, Mar 24th I learned about pneumothorax and atelectasis.

Thur, Mar 25th I took care of some stuff for school: ordering uniforms, working on my lab book, and setting up a CPR training session.

I bought the card game of Set on sale at Toys R Us.

Gave more blood for them to test.

Made beef and broccoli.

Russell came over and we played Dominion, Settlers and St. Pete.

Fri, Mar 26th we worked on a lab computer simulation on the kidney. We worked on Arterial Blood Gas figuring out acidosis vs. alkalosis situations. They tested my urine. Mine was the darkest between Tracey and Andrijs.

Met Kim for lunch. We discussed board games and I showed her Dominion online using one of the library's laptops.

Tuesday, March 24th jmy1tenor was able to get us some discounted tickets to see his performance as Prince Aeneus in La Didone in DUMBO.

He looked hot in his silver bulging costume and while I don't really know much about opera, I'm pretty sure he did a great job. I felt bad that my full attention couldn't be on him during the piece as I had to read above him to translate the Italian into English.

While the opera is being performed another performance piece "Planet of the Vampires" is also going on. This is superimposed on top of the opera. The film is being shown in the background with actors acting out the parts in the front, similar to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movie is an old, cheesy, bad-acted sci-fi, and I'm reading subtitles to that as well. There's live video going on and they use other modern special technology to give you sensory overload.

John's in a sex scene behind a scrim, and there's a wild pig hunt where one actor runs around with a dildo flopping between his legs. The production was definitely a strange experience, but I'm glad I got to see my friend sing live.

We finished Twilight that night. Two vampires for the price of one!

I'm sure many of you are looking for convention details, but since I'm like three weeks behind, it may not hit here for a bit. As for my reading of your journals, unfortunately that has taken a fall back as well. Hopefully, I'll get back there at some point. I have a second midterm exam on Wednesday, and dancing didn't help that.

Monday, 3/23 - I did some reading and straightening up. jmy1tenor came over for dinner. Made meatloaf with mac & cheese (and the cheez-it topping is a keeper). Russell joined us after dinner and we played Dominion.

He also brought along a card game called Slide 5. Its theme is skiing but you sort of build up in numbers without topping off a pile. If you do, it's an avalanche and you get stuck with bad points.

I stayed up late that night getting John set up with online Dominion. We even ran into callyperry.

Saturday, March 21 I got a work out in.

Read about the lungs.

Cut Patrick's and my hair.

Went to the Big Apple Ranch for their Spring Break dance. Danced in a red bathing suit. Prairie dogs performed.

Watched Men In Black II. Effects are cool, but I think I liked the first one better.

Thursday, March 19 - Did a bit of C2 choreo. A square of 8 turned into 11. Robert went home early. Many hadn't danced for a while.

Thurday, April 2 - Had 10.

Either we can't get a square, or everyone's available.

*Carol's evite quote.

1. I was an acolyte (altar boy) in the Lutheran church.

2. I didn’t have any allergies until college.

3. I’m anal retentive. I’ll sort certain things and randomize others. I like order and fairness.

4. The name I call myself came from Billy Joel.

5. I have always had cats as pets: Sugar, Onyx, Lena, Kibbles, Taboo, Cali, Phoebe, Jekyll & Hyde, Henry & Echo.

6. I prefer butterscotch over chocolate, Pepsi over Coke, and almost anything is better with cheese. I stayed away from mayonnaise till adulthood. Even now I will still do sandwiches plain (w/cheese).

7. I once climbed a barbed-wire chain-linked fence in roller skates to get out of a cemetery.

8. I had a free scholarship to a jazz dance studio. This ended when the husband of the owner/instructor shot and killed her and himself because she was sleeping with one of the students. It wasn’t me.

9. The first time I got drunk it was due to Peppermint Schnapps. It later became the vehicle in which I obtained my first kiss.

10. I have never worn glasses, though lately I’ve been having trouble focusing on tiny print.

11. I had three grandmothers growing up (one step) and gained two more (steps) in later years.

12. On my first visit to Los Angeles, I made sure to step on every star along Hollywood Boulevard. I also learned that I had the same size hands as Tom Cruise from his impressions at the Chinese Theatre.

13. I was director, choreographer, set designer, and multiple actor (Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, Ralph Devine, Sheldon) in a community production of Mame.

14. I have music playing constantly: Over 1,000 45’s, 4 crates of LPs (including 12” Disco), Suitcases of cassettes, over 1,500 CD’s and about 25,000 songs currently in iTunes. Though I have a smaller collection of VHS & DVDs, I am pretty much anti-television.

15. Though I am a native New Yorker, I never visited the top of the World Trade Center. I have danced on the light-up floor featured in Saturday Night Fever though.

16. I inherited my father’s nose. I don’t know if it’s due to the size, but I’ve always had nose bleeds. When I was young, I used to draw pictures on paper plates by the drip method.

17. The same day that I received my driver’s license was the same day that I learned how to swallow a pill (it was always chewable baby aspirin before that) and the same day I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was twenty years old.

18. I like reading aloud during car trips (as the passenger). I try and use different accents or voices if applicable and occasionally cry during monologues.

19. I ran around in my underwear during the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Midway theatre in Forest Hills.

20. At age five I knew I liked boys better, yet I never disliked sex with girls.

21. For more than half my life, I would step into the shower before turning the water on.

22. I have never smoked a cigarette or drank coffee, though all the rest of my immediate family has/does.

23. I was labeled a square in elementary school. Now I’m sort of a celebrity in the world of high challenge square dancing, an activity that has altered my life for the better; expanding my travel and giving me a batch of fascinating and intellectual friends.

24. I can tie a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue, but do not have the tongue-curling gene.

25. I wanted to be a dancer on Solid Gold.

Robert and David came by for dinner on Tuesday night since C4 was again cancelled. Patrick went with the Irish flag colors and we had orange salmon, white potatoes and green beans.

Russell came by with his friend Neil on Monday night and they introduced us to Settlers. What began as a lot of confusing info turned into a pretty good game. We used an expansion kit to have a larger board and it's not unusual for someone to exclaim "I have wood for sheep".

Much of this week was spent playing with Turbo Tax.

Did Mom's.

Did Mine.

Went over Patrick's.

E-Filed Federal.

Went 'Married Filing Jointly' for NJ.

On Sunday we were invited to a get together with a few of the neighbors on the block. When our paving project was completed we gave a party. Jim & Lorraine probably would have attended but they were out of town. They hosted this one along with Cindy.

Cindy brought salad. We brought brownies. Nellie brought hot appetizers (fried turkey rolls) and Lorraine made corned beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage, carrots and parsnips. We also got to meet Pascal and Pascalita (another set of neighbors that I've never seen - and we've lived here for over six years now).

Got a tour of their place as well. It was a nice little gathering to celebrate the end of winter and supposedly not speak of the economy.

Russell dropped by later that evening for a game of St. Petersburg which he won.

This weekend after the square dance, we hit the Ranch. Another large crowd!

We got home and watched Sex & The City (the Movie). I didn't watch the series that much at all, but the few episodes that I saw I thought were well written.

I love Kim Catrall and her dresses were fabulous! Just found out she played Lassie in Porky's.

Carrie looks very good sometimes, and sometimes she looks horrid.

Wedding drama - bleh!

Dante the neighbor - Mmm!

Miranda needs a haircut.

Jennifer Hudson was a nice touch.