Good News/Bad News

So this week has been a roller coaster for me! Friday was my bosses last day, so we'll see how the regime change goes. I'm certainly praying for smooth sailing... Also on Friday I came home to find our apartment burgled. They got three laptops (mine and both roommates) an I-pod, and - here's the weird part - the one expensive ring that was in a tray of my roommates' jewelry. There were dozens of rings in this tray, and they found the one expensive piece. Pro? Inside job?

They came in through the front door. Most of the five cops that came through my apartment between 2pm when I got home and 7 pm when they finally dusted for fingerprints thought they used a key, although I distinctly remember that the keyhole was at a strange angle - horizontal instead of vertical - when I arrived home. Other than that, there were no signs of forced entry. We thought someone picked the lock, but the cops said that didn't occur much outside of Hollywood. In the course of these discussions I found out that one roommate has let in subletters when she's vacationed and more people have had keys to my apartment than waited in line for the new Harry Potter!

Anyway, as of yet the crime remains unsolved. It's just "things" (and weeks of unbacked up freelance work for me) and we're lucky no one was hurt, but the violation and invasion of privacy certainly resonates in me deeply. The lock has been changed, which is somewhat reassuring.

The good news is we celebrated Andrew's birthday yesterday and it was awesome. We started out around 4 with some bruschetta, chips, fruit kabobs and cookies and everyone lounged and munched on the snacks. Then, as more people arrived, we began a crazy game of wiffle ball with no team assignments and only a loosely organized batting order and point system. I think hitting some hipsters brooding nearby with a foul ball scored a higher number of points than any other event during the whole game. Then we played flag football for about half an hour.

It was fun, but interrupted by some massive NYPD activity. A couple of cops jumped the fence in our area of sheep meadow and arrested a guy who was clearly out of place - everyone else was wearing shorts, t-shirts, polos - this guy was wearing a black button up and long sleeves. We decided he was either a Colombian drug dealer or a pervert who exposed himself to people out on the field. The police force used to apprehend the guy certainly suggested the former - two regular police cars, two undercover cars, a couple of bike cops, and a parking scooter all rushed to the scene. Totally exciting!

The flag football just seemed anti-climactic after that, so we bailed and folded up our picnic. We walked a few blocks to an awesome bar called Dive 75 which had delicious beers and a myriad of board games. We played a little Connect Four and then some Taboo. For some inconceivable reason a patron or employee had removed the batteries from the beepers, so we relied on the honor system, although some players were better than others at adhering to the rules (note to family - watch Andrew like a hawk at Bates). After we bored of Taboo we headed a few blocks to Brother Jimmy's for some delicious North Carolina-style BBQ, hush puppies and a couple of ridiculous beverages that came in a fishbowl with a half dozen straws and a plastic alligator.

So, sorry for the novel! That's this weekend's events so far - more good than bad I have to say. I will post pictures of the party when I get them back , and if you see my laptop in a pawn shop please let me know!