Are you enjoying April? I think it’s a perfect time to meet new people and try new things. Our Megan is certainly excited about meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the Passover dinner. I guess she’s going the extra mile for this guy…

Two of the people who always go the extra mile for the ones they love are my big sis Liz and her husband David. They’ve been married for over ten years and their love never seems to fade. They have a very smart and beautiful daughter, my niece Rachel. Whenever I go over to their place for dinner, I really feel like I’m back home. I get that warm fuzzy family feeling and I tell ya, there’s nothing like it.

Sometimes David comes home with little surprises like chocolates and wine or gourmet cheese for Liz. They try to go out of town at least once a month–he sure knows how to keep a Southern California gal happy. Liz takes off work early when she can and cooks David’s favorite dish–lasagna. She’s planning a big surprise for David on the 19th–Husband Appreciation Day. Ever since she found out that such a day exists, on the 123Greetings calendar, she’s been crazy about it.

She’s getting him the big tool kit he always wanted. “But sis, this isn’t about getting gifts for your husband,” I told her. “I know that, Bob. I don’t need to get gifts for David to tell him I appreciate him, but he wanted to do some DIY projects around the house, and I think I should be supportive of that. I mean, this place needs a bit of fixing up,” Liz said with a bright smile. “So you want to put the man to work!” I joked, to which she started laughing. I’m sure David would be more than happy puttering around the house working on his “honey do” list.

Hump days are really boring for me at times. I think anyone who works in an office doesn’t really like Wednesdays, except for the times when they get paid on Thursdays–now, that’s fun. Last year on Admin Professionals Day, I thought I was having some sort of a nightmare. I was barely awake and I rushed to order coffee. It wasn’t from the usual deli that I went to–I had to go to Starbucks–which was a bad idea. When your office is located around in Times Square, the lines are really long in the mornings. I was already irritable because each person in front of me seemed to be ordering for their whole office. I mean, all I wanted was a cup of joe, ya know!

I FINALLY got my coffee, not the usual Cafe Latte Grande with 2%, but anything with caffeine would do at that point. I walked into the elevator and no one was there. I was really glad that I was going to have a monopoly on the elevator. The doors were closing and I was holding my breath. All of a sudden, a huge pink furry foot stopped the doors of the elevator. Then a big pink furry hand squeezed the doors open, and in came a big pink furry gorilla head! I seriously thought that I was still asleep dreaming. I took a sip of coffee to wake myself up. The humongous gorilla came in and knocked the coffee on me. “WHAT THA…” I yelled. “I’m sorry man,” a muffled voice came out, all I could tell was that the gorilla was a man. A little ballerina skirt completed the whole get up. He didn’t press any buttons, which surprised me. I wanted to know what was going on. I didn’t want any more surprises.

Sure enough, he was getting off on my floor. He had to go out first, of course–no way was I going to squeeze myself out! When I got out of the elevator, he walked straight to where I was going to go! Then he looked at me as if I was stalking him. Like I had nothing better to do! “You’re on my turf, pal!” I was screaming inside my head. He went straight into my office, and when I entered, the pink gorilla started singing and dancing, wishing Donna’s assistant well on Admin Professionals Day. It was my “Doh!” moment.

Between my slumber and me hurrying to the office I totally forgot about it. “Wow, a pink gorilla!” said the assistant. “I’d prefer the Naked Cowboy, but a pink gorilla will do,” she said smiling. Everyone had fun except me, who was covered in coffee. I had to ask Donna to get me one of the 123Greetings t-shirts we give out as gifts. She said there were some left, so I changed into that. The assistant thanked Donna for the surprise pink invasion. We catered for lunch which was fun and I managed not to spill anything else on me.

Remember I was telling you about the unlikely duo, Fred and Irina? They’re totally diametrically opposed to each other. They argue all the time about Clinton and Obama. Whenever they see each other it seems like that’s all they talk about. When the whole group hangs out, we usually leave them alone. Sometimes it’s interesting to just watch them talk because Irina is a 20 something model who only recently got interested in politics. She’s a child of refugees that fled Chechnya. She grew up with refugee kids who fled places like Kosovo, China, and Sierra Leone.

Then, there’s Fred, an old wise black man almost like Morpheus from The Matrix. He’s in his 60s, he’s someone who lived through the Civil Rights Movement, and all those moments that shook the world, he’s been through it all. They’ve both seen a lot of things in their lives, they’re concerned about almost the same issues concerning the nation and the world but their take on things are totally different. Recently Rick started debating with them. He’s a hard core supporter of McCain. He thinks we should “stay the course” in the war.

The other day they were talking about that big speech Obama gave about Rev. Wright Jr. and racism at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center then Irina said, “I’m going down to Philly for the Pennsylvania Primary.” “Is that right? I’m going down there, too. I have a brother, there,” said Fred, then he asked, “Have you arranged for a ride?” Rick overheard the conversation and cuts in, “I’ll drive you guys down. Since you guys are so active, I’m going to volunteer and help out the Republicans, too.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until they come back, three totally different people going to the same event for three totally different reasons. I mean they don’t even agree on minor points, let alone support a common candidate. I’m glad I won’t be riding along with them–can you imagine them figuring out whose turn it is to pay for gas? It’s really ironic if you asked me. But hey, isn’t that what democracy is all about? I’ll tell you all about it when, and if, they all return.

Donna and her kids, Ethan and Emily, are going crazy organizing for an Earth Day event. Emily already had her face painted at the Grand Central Earth Fair. Over the weekend, they’re planning to go with Mrs. Bradley to plant flowers and trees at a small park on the Lower East Side. It’s the perfect time of the year to be out in the sun planting trees. Rachel said that she wanted to go, too.

I asked Donna about how she can be active for so many causes. She said, “I got involved with Earth Day in 1970, when it began–I was in elementary school. I slowly got involved with other stuff after that.” I told her, “But Donna, sometimes saving the world isn’t in the mind of a regular Joe. I mean, people are busy, they’re more worried about making ends meet now.” She nodded and said, “Sometimes you can save the world and save yourself at the same time. Did you know that if you take public transportation to work on a regular basis you can save about 400 gallons of gas a year? With gas prices the way they are now, it’s the best solution for both your family AND the planet.” She sure has a way of getting her point across, folks! “There are other little things you can do around the house too, like using different light bulbs that are friendly to the environment–they also cut your power usage, so that’ll bring your electric bill down,” she continued. I admire her energy to find solutions to all our problems.

We’re having a candle lit dinner among friends at Donna’s place. She’s going to be serving everything organic. She invited some writers, poets and artists there so I’m really looking forward to meeting them. That’s all I have time for this week, folks. I’ll leave you with the Zen quote from Eddie Albert, who helped start Earth Day (April 22 also happens to be his birthday). He said, “What’s the most important thing in the world? It’s love, and I look at that as an energy, not a sentiment.” I look it as the love for life, the love for the world we live in and the love for people around you. Until next week!