Hi all.

First things first. I would like to announce that the Holey Donuts Jumbo Reduced Fat Cinnamon Buns are gone. Eaten up.

Can you blame us?

Guest Post
Hop on over to MelonCauliflower to see my guest post about Channeling Your Inner Bethenny! I describe a few situations where I tried to incorporate Bethenny’s ten rules into my eating thoughts.

Henry’s
On Saturday, the family celebrated my Aunt Dale’s 60th birthday party at Henry’s. I was very excited for a number of reasons:

 - I would see my adorable 2- and 4-year old cousins
 - We got my aunt a really nice present that I was excited to give to her
 - My grandma came in for the party (surprise to my Aunt)
 - My little brother Matt Matt (aka the original Henry) came in for the party! (surprise to my Aunt) 
 - The restaurant was called Henry’s! As I’ve mentioned, my brother’s middle name is Henry and I often call him a variation of the name (Hen, Henries, Henny, Hens, etc). I’ve also established Henry Day, a holiday that occurs sometimes as well as National Henry Day (rare) and International Henry Day(rarer — and coming up soon!). This is the day that all the Henries of the world unite. On Rosh Hashanah we celebrated, for the second year in a row, the Year of the Henry.  

Here I am in front of Henry’s.

Me and my own little Henry, my brother Matt:

He is the cutest little boy ever! I want to smush his face all day.

The restaurant provided warm mini muffins before the meal. They had a cornbread-like consistency, which I loved. The banana flavor was especially great. They didn’t have any Mango Mimosas, but they had an extensive drink menu so I was happy with my cocktail choices anyway. Have you heard of Sweet Tea flavored Vodka?! I had a drink with that, lemonade and a splash of 7-up. So good! And I got  the Warm Crepes. They had a wonderful thin ricotta cheese filling. I ate it all.

Henry had a message for us:

OK ! And I collected some Henry paraphernalia!

The birthday turned out really well!

Later that night the boy and I went over to my mom’s to spend more time with my brother and we pulled out the 2nd grade notebooks. It turns out I was wrong by saying eksusize. My brother actually wrote eksusis. I will make this change going forward.

Dry Cleaner Love Story
There is a dry cleaners conveniently located 2 doors down from my apartment. I used to go there all the time and during that time they changed ownership. I eventually established a rapport with the new man that worked there, Juan. He was always very friendly with me and very nice.

Until he became creepy. I would go there and before I would leave he would take my hands and hold them for a very long time. Sometimes he would come out from behind the counter to give me a hug. It made me very uncomfortable but he had a heavy accent and sometimes we couldn’t understand each other and I am not always comfortable saying anything. One day I worked from home and went over to the cleaner’s in the afternoon. He told me he was wondering where I was since I didn’t walk past the store in the morning. Sometimes he would ask if he could call me. I’d brush it off and at other times mention my “boyfriend”. At one point I brought my friend (I hadn’t yet met the boy) and introduced him to Juan as my boyfriend.

I thought that would end Juan’s creepiness. It didn’t. He was still just as touchy.

So I stopped going there. Not only did I stop going there, I stopped walking PAST there, even though it was on my way home! I would go the long way around the block to avoid going past, or I would try to cover my face up and sprint past. When he saw me, he would come out after me to say hi. I didn’t let him see me after that.

I thought the problems were over until he started emailing me. It is my fault he had my email. He asked for it and I felt bad and figured it was harmless.

Email #1
Subject: hi dori

I want be a best friend have good night

 - He wants to be my best friend? Or just someone’s best friend?

Email #2
Subject: HI DORI

I hope you are well a lot time did’t see you
I ll’see you soon have great time. DORI
FROM JUAN.

 - He didn’t see me because I stopped going there. Have a great time doing what? I do kinda like the random DORI at the end.

Email #3
Subject: HAPPY HOLidays

HI DORI,
IT Was a blessing of god known you take care
I miss you and your smiler
you are a good person that never forget.

 - I get lots of compliments on my smiler. But sometimes I forget things. I do have a good memory though. Thank you for noticing. And how did he know how to make those flowers!

I ignored these emails. And as I had mentioned, I stopped going to that dry cleaner. Then one day I was on my way home from work, a few blocks from my apartment, and I RAN INTO JUAN! I was shocked to see him out of his element, the store. He told me that he didn’t work there anymore (!) and he worked at two different dry cleaning locations.

Relief! I was freeeeee! I could go back to the convenience of having my dry cleaner next door again. And that was that.

Or so I thought.

My cell phone rang today and it was an unfamiliar number. I decided to answer it. Guess who it was? He called me today — months AFTER he stopped working at that dry cleaner. That means he took my phone number from the store’s database and saved it.

He said he wanted to say hi. I told him I was at work and couldn’t talk. I just saved the number he called from as Do Not Answer.

I know I didn’t handle the situation that well. At least it’s more manageable now!

No Gym Month Workout
I went to Core Fusion Open last night and enjoyed it. I always feel so great after these classes. I finally made the long agonized over decision to join for this month only. When I went to do so, however, I found out that there is a 60 day minimum on ALL monthly memberships. Uhh. How is that monthly then? I did not join.

I thought maybe I’d do Physique 57 for the month. But when I called them they told me that I wouldn’t be able to even get into any classes the first few weeks since they’re all filled up. When I pointed out the irony of joining for a monthbut not getting to use the full month, they responded, “That’s everyone’s predicament here.”

Well… if that is everyone’s predicament — paying for a service that they don’t get to use — then Physique 57 should seriously consider expanding to a larger studio with accommodations for many more people to take classes. This seems ridiculous to me.

So I decided I will wait for my 10 Core Fusion class pass to arrive and just use that and reevaluate my knee situation when I go back to the doctor in a few weeks.

Book Update: I am 570 pages into I Know This Much Is True – and loving it!

Note to people swiping your MetroCard: I have said this before and I will say it again. When you swipe your card and it says INSUFFICIENT FUNDS, do not keep swiping it. Insufficient Funds means there is not enough money on your card to pay for your trip. It means you need to put more money on the card. Swiping over and over will not result is anything aside from holding up the entire line. Believe me!