A very Wii Christmas

Wii. Just about everyone has played one or knows someone who has one. This Christmas my parents decided to get a Wii, but they ended up getting each other one. See, my dad staged a Wii coupe at the local Walmart, and he and his boss had someone go and buy like 6 of them... on black friday. So he wrapped it up with the Wiifit board (yes he wrapped it), and put it under the tree. Fast forward a couple weeks, Sunday newspaper ads, Target. My mom saw an ad that Target was getting Wiis in, so she said she was going to get one. My dad, not wanting his surprise to be ruined, called her bluff and said, "Fine go get one". So she did... So the Wonn's ended up with 2 Wiis, and the gig was up. It wasn't a surprise anymore, but they still ended up with a Wii.

So Christmas morning, Dad wasn't feeling well, and the two most technicalogically handicapped members of the family (sorry mom)had a few mimosas and hooked the Wii up. It was interesting to say the least. We all ended up playing Wii all day, found out that Grandma was quite the shark. She ended up giving everyone tips on bowling, and beating us all!

Stay tuned for more on Wiifit. I love it. I will be adding my hula hooping video soon. Cause No one hulahoops like Emily Wonn..lol

Elevator of Doom

We all couldn't decide on a place to eat today, so we just went downstairs to the basement of our building where there is everything from Sandwiches to Cuban food to sushi. We all convened back at the escalator and went upstairs. After laughing hysterically because we seemingly "accidentally" disabled the rotating door, we gathered into the elevator and ascending to the 9th floor.

Now just for a little back history about our elevator situation. Going up our side of the building, there are 5-6 elevators. Car #2, or the one we affectionately refer to as the "elevator of doom", has always caused problems. Numerous other employees have either gotten stuck or rerouted in the "elevator of doom". Sometimes it goes to the right floor, and sometimes it doesn't. Capt. Webb, in my office, got stuck one time in said elevator and was in there until someone came and got her out.

So we get in the elevator, and we are laughing, and we press 9 and we go up and its like we're on a rubber band. We fly up past our floor and then drop back down below our floor. And this happens like 3 times. So we're screaming and I am holding onto my diet coke in one hand, and the side of the elevator in the other. And I'm squeezing my eyes shut. Surely this is it. I am going to die as a DA civilian... in an elevator.

Then all of a sudden it is quiet, and I open my eyes. Everyone is getting out, and Sgt. just tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Erika stop it". We all had a good laugh. If I can't handle a little elevator scare, then how could I ever go to war for God's sake?

So basically we don't use that car. Car #2 is dead to us. But every time I am waiting to go up to the office, and the only elevator that is open is #2, I never go in. People look at me crazy, but I just say, "Um I'm gonna wait for the next one." They probably think they smell or something, but I don't care. I am NOT getting in that thing again...

Mouse rant

I have mice. eww. I know what you are probably saying. "You are a dirty person", "You need to stop eating in your house", "Better set traps" ya ya. I've heard it all. I am from Ohio, as you all know, and although there are fields there, and there are mice, MICE DO NOT LIVE IN PEOPLE'S HOMES. It's not normal. HERE, however, mice do co-habitate with people, and most don't think its a big deal. Eww again. When you are laying in bed, and you can hear "Critters" scuttling inside your walls, it is a big deal. We have called an exterminator, and notified our landlord, set traps, and got some of those "mouse pellet" things. (The mice eat them and die... but not these mice. For all I know they could be tasty.) These mice, however, are like some super-hybrid mouse species, who have evolved in order to outsmart the human race. They dodge traps, don't eat the pellets, have created a small subway system within our walls and open the refrigerator to get a snack. Okay that last one was I made up. Have you ever seen Joe's Apartment? The 1990's MTV film about the cockroaches with personalities? Kind of like that but with mice. They are crazy, kamikaze steroid mice that will not die. One time I went home for the weekend, and my roommate killed two. She drowned one, and threw another out. She's kind of like the "mouse hunter".
So I have devised the following plan to purge these tiny mutant beasts from our apartment.
I have been volunteering at the animal shelter, and when I was there last night, I was trying to think of how I could comindere a cat for a weekend. Do you think they let you borrow them? Kind of like a library book. I would check out the biggest, hungriest looking cat with one eye, and take him home, and let him go to town on those things. My mom says mice can smell other animals, so maybe we could just let him hang out for awhile, rub him on all the cabinets and walls, and the mice would get the hint. At first I was thinking I could just steal one, but I think they probably prosecute for that. And my roommate is allergic, so that's out. So another plan I had, if the cat thing doesn't work out is to buy a gun. You know just like a little one. I just qualified on the 9mm, and I think I could obtain a liscense, but my only fear is that I would end up turning my walls into swiss cheese, or hurting someone. So basically that's a bad idea. Actually maybe this could work out to my advantage. I could be famous. Everyone knows the lady with the cats. I could be the mouse lady. I could have them swing from little tiny trapezes and bounce on mini trampolines through shower curtain rings set on fire. Eww again. See? I'm going crazy. This has to stop...

Changed my pic

I changed my picture. You're welcome mom. I was thinking it said "Hey girl hey!" or "I have great clavicle bones when I crane my neck like this", but I think my mom was thinking it said "I'm a drunk, and my face looks weird". Which for the record it doesn't, and I'm not. So I love you mom, and I'm sorry for the pic. This one with Brutus should say to both of us "I'm fun, from Ohio, and go bucks!" Which I think it does... Love you! xoxo

why I hate airports...

On Friday I was getting ready to leave the office for the weekend, going back to Columbus for drill and my bday! I asked my boss if I could leave a little early so I could catch an earlier train to Islip, and have plenty of time to catch my plane (and browse their bookstore because they always have the best "used" book section). So I'm trying to finish this approval letter with this guy in Thailand, and he sends me the information I need so I can leave. He's in the mountains and can't get to a computer all of the time, so I don't need to get the letter back to him until Monday. So I'm rushing, and I get it done, and its perfect, and I need to leave... 10 minutes ago, and I ask to leave, and there's this awkward pause. "Hey, I'm gonna get out of here so I can catch my train. Okay?" No answer. Then my boss goes and stands in the doorway of Sgt. Yancey's office. All I am thinking is "HELLO! I'm gonna miss my train. I need to leave." Magically everyone else in the office appears, and so do a box of my FAVORITE cupcakes. Buttercup. Yum! And I'm looking at my co-workers singing me happy birthday, and the box of delicious frosted cupcakes, and my watch. I am totally going to miss my train. And I did. So I ate a cupcake. How nice is that though. I totally didn't expect it, and they made me feel really special on my b-day in a city where I know no one! So nice.
(On a side note: About not having friends yet... My roommates and I went out on Wednesday for my birthday, and the "party" consisted of them (they have to be my friends because they live with me) and Tommmy, the guy who owns the pizza shop below our apartment. Yes, I am up-and-coming. I may not have as many friends as I did in Ohio.)
Okay so back to Friday. So Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me... cupcake eating... running to the train... missing the train... Okay we are caught up. I run into the LIRR office, and ask the lady what time the 3:07 train is going to get to Islip. She tells me its an hour and twenty minute ride. Which means I would get there at 4:27, and my flight is at 4:40. That is obviously not going to work. So she pretty much reroutes my whole train trip on another train, and gets me there a little bit earlier, but not by much, and I'm going to have to take a taxi. (Many thanks to the LIRR lady)
When I get the station, I see only one cab. I wave it down, and they pick me up even though there is already someone else in it. We drop off this lady, and by the time we get the airport, I am RUNNING to the security check point. I look like a mad woman, ditching a family of four and a very upset woman with a red hat and matching Christmas sweater (She ended up going in front of me). They let me through,and I frantically put all my stuff in a bin pulling off my coat, scarf, hat etc. etc. I'm dancing in place waiting for Christmas sweater lady who is taking her time doing whatever the heck she was doing. All of a sudden I hear "tink...tink...tink". I look down, and my seed-bead necklace is unraveling right before my eyes. Its like slow motion. The security lady is frantically trying to catch and gather all of these beads falling all over her metal counter. Not knowing how to react, and just wanting to cry/get on this damn plane, I rip off the rest of the necklace and hand it to her. "O honey let me put in a bag for you," she says. I tell her no, just throw it away, and run through the metal detector.
Then it happen. I lost my mind. "Please report to gate A4, your plane is boarded and ready for departure". O crap. The lady on the other side of the metal detector said, "ma'am you've been selected for a random bag search." At this point I had two choices. Do I a) freak out on this lady and tell her I'm going to miss my plane. End up getting arrested for disorderly security checkpoint behavior, and miss my flight. or b) let this lady search my bag, go through all my stuff just to find nothing, and miss my flight? I went with b. So while she's doing so I am literally about to break down because I am about to miss the last flight of the day, when she finally finishes, and I am on my way. And I'm RUNNING again. Shaking, I hand my ticket to the attendant, and I am finally on the plane, where I treat myself to a glass of wine and a nap. I hate New York... Okay maybe just flying out of New York.

NYC Sports

So I have definitely found a perk to my job. I have always loved sports, but in Columbus there are not a lot of options. Except my buckeyes!!!! Okay so here in the city, there are all kinds of sports options. And at work, we collaborate with all the teams to help with their military appreciation games, so the Army is well represented. So far we have had the Islanders, Jets, Giants and Knicks.

The Islanders game was exciting because Gen. Colin Powell attended, and it's not everyday you get a chance to meet him. The Gen. I was with though had other obligations,and we were unable to go to the game. Boo. My roommates and I went to the game when they played the Cbus Bluejackets, and the BJs put up quite a fight in the end. We ended up being threatened by a group of 12 yr old Islanders fans, and getting free beer...yeah! Wait, but not because of the 12 yr olds!

Here I decided that NY fans are crazy! At least hockey fans. First of all they are a big name team playing in an arena that was built before the 1970s. AND I believe a lot of college teams probably play in nicer arenas.

THE JETS. Holy crap Marie.... That was a fun time. Not only are they the most cooperative, easy to work with and appreciative team, they are truly the BEST team to work with. We went to their practice, and after EVERY player stayed and signed autographs for the Soldiers and other service members. Even Brett Favre. So I got to meet the OSU players that are now Jets. Gholston, Mangold and Nuuuuuuuuugent. They were great. Gholston gave me a hug and we took a picture. He said "You get special treatment because you're a buckeye." aww.
Former BUCKEYE Vernon Ghoulston... Nicest EVER!!!
NUUUUUUUgent!!

THE GIANTS were fun to work with because usually they don't give us the time of day. the Mil game isn't a big concern for them. This year though, we did an Army flyover, which was awesome, DVIDs feed of Soldiers in Iraq/Afghan. and a group of soldiers got to be on the sidelines for the whole game. AND they made sure to wave at me and make fun of me for having to sit WAY up in the stands...haha
The Soldiers and me on the field before the game.

My jobs not so bad...

Screw Public Transportation

There are many good things about public transportation. One of them is cost. Another in NYC is availabilty and proximity to just about anything. One thing that Public transportation in NYC is not is RELIABLE.

So I was going home for my ORE training and I decided that I would fly Southwest (mistake #1). Turns out that Southwest only flies out of ISLip which is in Long Island, and the only reasonable way to get there is by train. Not subway train but train train, like on an actual track... outside. So to get to the Airport it takes an hour and a half. Yuck!

Coming home this past time, I was on the train,and it kept saying there is no service between "This station" and "This station". I didn't recognize the names, so I just ignored the warning. this couldn't possibly effect me! Well, my friend, turns out it very much did effect me. All of a sudden the doors opened and they said everyone out. I got out, and they said there had been an accident,and there was an ongoing police investigation. They didn't know when the train would run again. They were sending buses. Buses! Great! Send them, get us out of here. So I sat there waiting with 300 of my closest mass transit friends until two school buses pulled up to take us to the next station... Wait. Two buses. For 300+ people. Ya. This is not going to work... So then the cabs started coming. I found a buddy, and she asked if I wanted to split a cab. Then another guy asked if he could come with us. He was a like "business guy" with the blackberry, cell, laptop, beeper combination. I mean this guy was wired. So we got into our cab, and we all decided to go to the Jamaica station, since that was closest. First he said the cab was going to be 80... each. We complained. Cab driver got on the horn with his dispatcher, and Let's Make a Deal ensued. Then he backed it down to 80 for "business guy", and 80 for the other two, since we said we were together. Cab driver got on the horn again and started arguing on speaker phone with the dispatcher, who was clearly watching Sunday football. "Business guy" said "Let us out here, we're getting another cab". Umm we were definately in the middle of the expressway. I was praying cab driver would wise up and do what he wanted. I was NOT hailing a cab on the expressway. They finally decided on $100 for all three. MAN this guy is good! from $240 to $100. Amazing! O I forgot the best part. Talking to the lady, it turns out she was from Columbus and did her Masters at Ohio State. A Buckeye! In my cab! Amazing again!

So we go to get out of the cab, and we are about to pay. After all of our bonding and bargaining and ganging up on dumb-dumb driver, "business guy" says, "Hey just give me $10 each because I was going to have to pay the $80 anyway. My company will expense it." Are you kidding me! What a stroke of luck! Take that dumb-dumb cab driver! Tell your dispatcher, "Let's Make a Deal" guy, to shove it! So it all turned out all right... AND I met a Buckeye!

Central Park

Some things in New York are not as they seem in the movies. Actually a lot is not how it seems. For one, the first week I was here, I was positive that if I went outside after dark, I was going to be mugged. Now, I did have to go out a few times after dark to take out the trash, get my laundry and walk across the street to the grocery store. I did not get mugged. I was also sure, at this time, that if I used the subway, I would be mugged. No seriously... You walk down the subway stairs, swipe your metro card and someone will be waiting to hold you up and take all your money. turns out this isn't true either. There was however the unfortunate time that first week here where I sought out the nearest Target store, in BROOKLYN by the way, and I had to take the SUBWAY at NIGHT. Ya, as far as I was concerned, I might as well have handed my purse to the nearest and scariest person and just walked away. My friends in Ohio were also concerned with my safety. I remember telling a girl at work that I was moving to New York, and she was like, "O my god, you're going to get shot." Well so far, I have not been shot, and no one has tried to beat me up or anything. Believe it or not, there are not "hoodlums" walking around Midtown with brass knuckles beating up old women, at least as far as I can see. Okay, so I was wrong. I may overreacted a tad. So things in NYC are not as scary as they look on the movies.


One place, however, is exactly how it seems in the movies. Yesterday I went rollerblading in Central Park. Which by the way is about 6 mi. Yeah me! I saw everything from ponds with boats and fountains to statues of all kinds of people. My favorite was the Alice in Wonderland statue. Central Park, to a Midwesterner, is magical. As I skated around, dodging bike carriages and small children, I was in awe of how such a beautiful, lush, green oasis can exist in the concrete jungle that is Manhattan. The ponds and fountains are brimming with beauty, and you can't help but get the feeling that you are in a movie. In fact, if you go far enough inside Central Park, you can't even hear the horn honking, pedestrian dodging madness of Manhattan traffic. I have to admit I did get lost, but because it was the middle of the afternoon, it seemed more like an adventure than cause for concern. There is an underlying worry in Central Park though. Because in the movies, Central Park at night seems very scary. Like in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, sorry for the strange reference, a fight scene occurs there where one of the green heroes is gravely injured. Similar scenes can be found in a handful of Hollywood productions including Men in Black and just about every other NYPD Blue and Law and Order. I'm not saying for sure if it is truly as scary at night as they make it seem, but don't worry Dad, I'm not going to find out. Officially though, Central Park is my favorite. It kind of reminds me of home. Not that Ohio is magical by any means, but it's green. In Central Park, I get the same familiar safe feeling of happiness. I love exploring, and in Central Park, there are plenty of places to help quench my curiosity.

My first blog

So I was thinking about why I have never journaled before this, and I can only think of one reason... I haven't had anything to write about. growing up in Columbus, Ohio is just as it sounds... boring. Okay well maybe not just as it sounds, because whenever I tell people that's where I'm from, they immediately think two things. 1) my father is a farmer, and 2) I have a cow/chicken/horse etc. Neither of these are true. My mother is a cop and my dad is a car salesman. Which is fine. I couldn't ask for better.



So obviously NYC is a little different than Ohio. For one, there are a gazillion more people here. If they could stack people up to fit them through the sidewalks, I think they would. I could walk around my block 10 times and never see the same person twice. It's like no one ever stops moving here, and no one takes the same path twice. I would definitely not call it laid back...



I remember the first day I went to Bed Bath and Beyond with my roommate. Reeeediculous. It was like they took a BB and B from Ohio and put it on it's side. Everything was stacked to the ceiling. A whole wall was dedicated to toiletries, but I had no idea how I was going to reach the Dial soap 20 feet above me. My brain almost exploded from BB and B overload. The colors, music, 150 other patrons shopping in the same space... I needed a nap after that trip.



When my parents dropped me off we went to the grocery store across the street to pick up a couple things. It was like BB and B junior. While looking for a toothbrush, I forgot mine at the hotel, I was amazed to find them in the cereal aisle hanging over my head above the Frosted Flakes... Amazing. AND to top it all off, a box of those flakes cost over $6. Reeediculous.



We went to lunch at the place across the street from my house, it's called Turtle Bay. Such a good place at night by the way. They have these little mini burgers that my mom and I both agreed qualified as adorable... Anyway, we struck it up with the waitress, and she told about some places I needed to visit, and the book that saved my life. It's called Not For Tourists (NFT), and it's a little black book that tells you all about NYC, it's burrows, where to shop, eat, hang out, do laundry ( don't get me started). And most of all it tells you how to use the subway. Very helpful. It even has little map you can unfold out of the back showing all the trains in the subway and where/ when they go. My roommate, who is a local, was even jealous because it has this section of quirky facts about the city, and there were things in there that she didn't know.

My roomies and I at Turtle Bay... We are there all the time. Especially for $1 beers on Wednesday!