Walk the plank!

Ahoy, mateys!! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Kavelling

A hearty high-five to housemate Aaron Jerome, who is experiencing some fabulous and much-deserved professional success. I think I speak for the entire household when I say that our collective excitement is manageable only because it's tempered by our collective state of feeling slightly under the weather.

Cher-iffic

One of my housemates is obsessed with Cher. I won't name names, but I WILL remind you that my three housemates are (1) a married kitty mommy/cancer survivor; (2) a married kitty daddy/Englishman in New York; and (3) a gay flashdancing aesthetician.

My Cher-loving friend, along with our good friend Jason, can often be heard singing pop songs of yesterday and today in the style of Cher. "Girl, you know it's true -- woo!" "Hey, Jude, don't make it bad -- woo!" "Oops, I did it again -- woo!" Extra points (not that they're keeping score) for fitting Cher's name into the song, as in "Bye, bye, Miss A-Cher-ican Pie -- woo!" I laugh despite myself.

Over the weekend, my Cher-loving roomie developed a brand new Cher concept. Apparently, you could put a long black wig on a parakeet and call it ... a Cher-akeet.

Such are the epiphanies that emerge from our house. In Jersey.

Why am I telling you this? Because I figure that any readers from outside our house (in Jersey) might need some background to understand the significance of what I'm about to disclose to my groovy housemates. Which is this: Today at work, while learning the background of an annual fundraising event, I discovered that last year's event featured ... [drumroll] ... a Cher impersonator.

as Bette Midler once sang "You gotta have friends..."

I said it once on a very special day. The wedding day of the effervescent Dessena-Watson-ians. It is amazing to have such wonderful friends in my life. As we grow older in this crazy little world it seems so easy to get swept away by the loneliness and realities of life. "It brings warm feeling to my heart" (thanks Yoda) to know that I live not only with some of my best friends but that I am also living with family. It is invaluable to know there is always a shoulder to cry on, a hug to keep you going , and a laugh to make it better! Thank you guys for for just being you!!