10/16/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/16/2017

Bill thinks he looks a lot like Brad Pitt and thinks people confuse the two of them all the time.

I don't know how Tim and Toni are functioning today, they went a day without sleep this weekend and came home without many ducks.

It was a big day around here, we got a new coffee pot. Which is also sad because the white one was the original one the company started with.

"We have to get this hooker out of here because I'm going to Vegas tomorrow." Tim to Steve

Toni wants to know how someone can not know what "Rocky" is about.

For our second day in Venice we rushed off to the Doge's Palace to beat the crowds and thankfully it never felt over crowded inside. It was a very impressive palace designed for the ruling supreme authority of Venice, the building is mostly from the 14th and 15th century. The Chamber of the Great Council room is pretty incredible and every square inch of the ceilings and walls are painted or trimmed in gold, it is also one of the largest rooms in Europe. After the palace we ventured over to Murano to look at the glass shops and it was great because we left all of the people at St Marks Square.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/13/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/13/2017

Bill tried telling me that he was going hunting with Tim and Toni and that's why he was at the office so early this morning, don't worry I called his BS.

I apparently blew Bill's mind again. I swear this blew him away the last time I mentioned it, the younger guy on "The Good Guys" television show is Tom Hank's son.

Steve tried blaming me for throwing him under the bus but technically I didn't, I threw him under a high speed train to remind me of Italy.

The next  morning we took the train from Florence to Venice, the countryside was so picturesque between those cities but it did rain a little that day which wasn't a big deal since we didn't have much besides traveling planned for that day. We ended up visiting St. Marks Basilica (which didn't allow pictures inside, probably because the line for this is always forever long so I took my pictures in the hallway) and we visited another church that was outside of the St. Marks crowd thankfully. The crowds of people definitely took away some of the splendor of the city but we did find that St. Marks square was delightful in the evening time when everyone was gone and the classical music bands were playing in the square.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/12/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/12/2017

They were grinding the floor of the warehouse bathroom today and I thought the women's bathroom toilet was going to explode, the noise was so loud but after I got over the noise it was kind of weird to have the toilet seat massage me from the vibration. I guess I should be happy that I had a toilet seat, that's one thing all of the public bathrooms in Italy were missing.

Toni has a Mexican restaurant to recommend to anyone who wants to sit in the bathroom all day.

Forest thought it was too bad that Roger doesn't drink Whiskey. He also told me that he was sorry that I had to come back from vacation and deal with Roger. Finally a person who understands what I have to deal with.

Luke's baby girl obviously doesn't like me, the kid started screaming after Mary brought her in my office.

Tim asked Toni to bring a camouflaged propane heater tomorrow and a machete. This doesn't sound very work related and on top of it Tim's going to Vegas next week.

For our second day in Florence we were on a Michelangelo mission. We viewed his amazing David first thing in the morning at the gallery, we went to the Medici Chapel where Michelango made the tombs for the Medici family and then we found Michelangelo's tomb at the church of Santa de Jim Croce (that might not be the official name of the church but that's what we called it). We also walked to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge where I swear the whole city was standing. I honestly don't know how the jewelry vendors sell anything on that bridge because it was all tourists taking selfies.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/11/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/11/2017

I thought Tim was the hair and fashion police today, he started off by asking Ashley if her hair was naturally straight or curly. Apparently this whole questioning started because Typhinee showed up last week with curly hair, what Tim didn't realize is that her hair is naturally curly. The next thing to blow Tim's mind was that Bill's hair is naturally curly too and Bill pulled out one of his old drivers licenses with his afro picture.

Typhinee was going to frisk me today just to find her pink pen so this is your warning don't take her pen.

From Rome we took a high speed train to Florence and it's amazing how smooth those train rides are. We got to our hotel and it looked out on a town square and right across the square was a building and chapel that Michelangelo did work in. After an amazing lunch we visited the Santa Maria del Fiore which is the large church in town with the impressive dome. Since we had just come from Rome where all of the churches are decorated over the top inside my husband complained that the inside of this one was boring which I would agree with but the baptistery (separate building) was incredible though with tons of gold mosaic tiles everywhere. The highlight of the day was that we had reservations to walk up the staircase to the top of the dome. About half way up I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic and a little dizzy from going round and round on this small spiral staircase but my husband decided it was too much for him so he left me and I didn't realize it until quite a bit later. He missed out though because the views from the top were amazing.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/10/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/10/2017

Kellen asked me if we saw the Eiffel Tower on our Italy trip......

Bill's finally freaking out about having another kid so he has resorted to drinking wine at his desk.

First hurricanes threatened the Bacardi Rum factory and now wildfires in Napa and Sonoma are threatening all of my wine, I need a vacation.

On our last day in Rome I think we found half of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Michelangelo and Raphael). We went inside the Pantheon and that is where Raphael's tomb is and as for Michelangelo we saw one of his sculptures in a church and we also viewed Campidoglio which is a piazza that Michelangelo designed. This is also the day we went searching for Rick Steves' favorite gelateria only to find out that the place had closed but we did find an awesome one right next to the Pantheon so that made me very happy. We also viewed Trajan's market from the second century, a bunch of amazing churches and the Victor Emmanuel Building.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/09/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/09/2017

Toni told one of his friends today that he and Stew broke up last week. I've been gone and I didn't even get to meet Toni's boy toy Stew.

"That is the gayest thing you could have thrown at it." Bill to Toni about Toni throwing a pistachio at a crow that was tearing up his lawn

On our third day in Rome we took an excursion to the small town of Tivoli where we walked the massive grounds of the Roman Emperor Hadrian's vacation villa from the 2nd century. His property was at least 250 acres although there are parts that haven't been excavated yet. I was amazed at all of the buildings that had survived. Somehow my husband missed on our tour that Hadrian was married but then lost interest in his wife and took on a gay lover, Antinous, who ended up dying under mysterious circumstances just like all of Toni's lovers.

Then for the next area of Tivoli they took us to Villa d'Este which is a 16th century villa known for their Italian Renaissance gardens and waterfalls and both properties that we visited in Tivoli are Unesco World Heritage Sites.

*not to be construed as Gossip

10/06/2017

The Daily Chatter*

10/06/2017

Toni sure is a downer today. First thing he comes in and tells us that his friends dog died, I guess that's his way of saying "Happy Friday".

I'm pretty sure Toni thinks I was out back smoking and that my cold is really just a smokers cough.

Steve's on Ashley and my crap list. All I have to say is that if he gets thrown in jail this weekend I'm not bailing him out.

Mary was driving and was on the phone (legally I'm sure) telling her husband about the idiot who drove into their son's car and then a car hit the car in front of her. I'm going to go bubble wrap myself right now that's too much to take in.

As for our second day in Italy we went to the Vatican at the butt crack of dawn because we bought an early access ticket that got us into the Sistine Chapel before the general public. We were the first group in and it was quite a sight to see, then we got to explore the Vatican Museum a few minutes before all of the other tourists plowed us over. My gripe is the Vatican has so many amazing priceless works of art but once they open the door to the general public you can't see a thing because there are too many people. The other thing we noticed is they don't have any sort of humidity controls in any of these rooms, it is insane. In recent years I've heard about people breaking things and now I completely understand how that is possible, there is so much stuff everywhere and with the amount of people that go there on a daily basis I can't believe that it doesn't happen every day. After that mad house we went to the Mausoleum of Hadrian and seriously if my house were as large as his tomb I would be a very happy girl. Our last outing of the day was to the Borghese Gallery which is another beautifully insane place with incredible art.

*not to be construed as Gossip