Have black dress, will travel

On Sunday night, my uncle passed away suddenly. He was 59 years old and leaves behind a heartbroken wife of 37 years and three devastated daughters, my cousins who I grew up with. I spent a good chunk of this week in Tampa attending the services. Not an easy week for anyone. It's been said until it's become a cliche, but hold tight to your loved ones. Nothing, not even your next breath, is guaranteed.

I get around, baby

Found this cool app where you can mark off the states you've been to on a map. I've been to 19 states, mostly on business, but still. Check it out.


visited 19 states (38%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or vertaling nederlands duits?

A post from the sea -- on a cruise and back tomorrow

The great home improvement (or not) poll

So as I've mentioned, I won a nice chunk of change on a scratch ticket. We reapplianced our kitchen, but we still have a few grand left. And we are torn on what to do with it. We're leaning toward putting the rest of it into the house. But we're stuck. That's where you come in, blogosphere.

So what should we spend the money on? Here's what we're considering:

1) A new, permanent above-ground pool to replace the Easy-Set.

2) New Corian countertops and a Corian sink in the kitchen.

3) A high-efficiency washer and dryer.

4) Tickets to Italy this year.

Vote in the comments section, and make sure you tell me why you voted the way you did. Thanks, guys!

Ever get lost?

Your luggage, that is. I have, and it's a royal pain in the A. This article talks about the problem and what to do about it. Good read.

I could get used to a two-day workweek

I went back to work Thursday after my cruise -- to 350-plus emails and a bunch o' meetings. I am ready for the weekend, let me tell you. Besides, it is difficult to adjust to not being fed every 10 minutes and having to make your own bed every night. Now, the absence of rocking and rolling when I walk around -- THAT is just money.

Cranking away on NaNoWriMo. I'm contributing to the NaNoWriMo Blog started by bloggy buddy Jody. Check it out from my sidebar.

And this weekend, looks like it's planting and yard cleanup. The tree remover dude SUPPOSEDLY is going to take down the birch today -- it's so dead that chunks of it are coming down a bit at a time, and it will never survive the winter. I was really afraid we'd come home to find it across the driveway, what with the weather nuttiness I heard y'all got Saturday.

Whatcha up to?

Bermuda: The pictures

Behold the Bermuda white limestone roof. Bermudians collect rain from their roofs for drinking water, and the lime sweetens it. The white roof and pastel colors are hallmarks of Bermuda architecture -- and look amazing from the water.

And here's the ride we came in on, taken from Kings Wharf, Bermuda. Thirteen decks, with a capacity of 2,100 passengers and 850 crew, the Jewel of the Seas. What a great boat.

The weather was great going down, but it was crappy coming back. My coworker, a sailor, told me the seas were 26 feet high in the area we passed through Monday as opposed to the usual 5 feet. Here's a view of one of the swells from our stateroom.

Gone so long, but I'm back again

This morning, at 7:30 a.m., M and I returned from a five-day cruise from Boston to Bermuda. It was truly amazing. I had never been on a cruise before, but I know lots of people who swear it's the only way to travel (including my bro and his wife and my parents). The food? Amazing. The service? Outstanding. The ship? Thirteen decks, which held 2,100 passengers and 850 crew members. Entertainment? Wow. We saw this guy, who knocked our socks off, and a singer/comedian named Judy Kolba who was a laugh riot and truly amazing. And I won $50 in the casino!

Great vacation. I'm all relaxed. Pictures? Coming soon.

Abandon ship!

So M and I are going on a cruise this week. And I'm swamped trying to get ready to go. So for a few days, Overthink will be going dark. I'll be back in November, kids, I promise. Happy Halloween and all that.

Ok, I'm not going to apologize. I need to set goals I can attain, such as posting once a week. Don't expect daily stuff.

We went to Italy. It was gorgeous. I got REALLY tired of saying to M, "What are they saying?" I felt like that guy in the hearing aid commercial, "What did he say? What did he say?" It's frustrating to only be able to get your basic needs met, and not get to know someone and have any sort of conversation. In Italian, I know how to say:

• "Hello" and "Goodbye" (Ciao for both, of course)
  
• "Where is the bathroom?"
  
• "Please"
  
• "Thank you"
  
• "Do you like it?"
  
• "I want"
  
• "I'm sorry"
  
• "Enough" (an important thing to know how to say at dinnertime when the food is being served in an Italian house; that's true over here at my grandma's)
  
• "Husband"
  
• "Wife"
  
• "First time in Italy"
  
• "How much?"
  

Basically tourist Italian. My pronunciation is hideous, too. Thank goodness M is proficient.

We're still trying to have a baby. It's been almost a year so we are going to get checked out next month. I'm not too worried about it yet, but I am frustrated.

Work is humming along. Coming on my three-year anniversary with the company, and my second anniversary of being married. So much stability! Even six years ago, I never could have pictured myself in such a stable relationship, owning a home, staying at a job this long. Guess I'm growing up. I just don't want to become boring in my old age. I'm trying to convince M to mini golf with me, and to go see "Shrek 2." We aren't much for going out, and I want to do more fun stuff before we are tied down with bambinos.

An assortment of stupid facts:

• BOOK CURRENTLY READING: "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers
  
• PERSON I THINK WILL WIN AMERICAN IDOL: Fantasia.
  
• MILES ON MY CAR: 75,200
  
• POUNDS TO LOSE: 20
  
• COST OF LAST REPAIR TO THE CAR: $904.70.
  

I'll post more later. Just don't hold your breath waiting for it. ;)

I'm baack from all my business travel. And again, I feel like shit. Why do I do this to myself? All I do on the road is shake hands and stand close to people. No wonder I always get sick. My job is one big schmooze sometimes.

Less than a week until we go to Italy. I can't wait to just be with M. And sit in the sunshine and do nothing but eat. Of course, I'm so fat now, I can't stand myself. (Ok, I'm only 20 pounds overweight. But M has said a few things. And when someone sees you nekkid on a regular basis, you can't hide what you look like.) I gotta brush up on my Italiano. M speaks fluently, but I'm going to need to fend for myself. I can't wait to shop and look at the beautiful scenery. I hope the food and water doesn't make me sick. Sometimes that happens to me. My stomach is sensitive, like the rest of me.

I feel a thousand times better about the ex factor. Fuck him.

Just got back from a week in California on business, and as usual, I'm sick as a dog. I always seem to get sick when I'm on the road. And now I have a doozy of a cold. California is an interesting place — they are digging on the governator Ahnold out there. I'm a liberal from Massachusetts, and I forget how other people live. I had dinner with an arch conservative, who, when I told him about Bushie boy's plan for the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, said "Good." Orange County (or "The OC", as Fox viewers refer to it as) is known as the Bible Belt of California. Whatever.

I don't want to see "The Passion of the Christ." I read that several people on the set, including the actor who played Jesus, were hit by lightning. As a Roman Catholic, I take that to mean that God is none too happy. Plus, I'm sensitive, and the scenes of violence against Christ are supposed to be incredibly difficult to take.