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M is for Malls!

North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world with seven major shopping malls in a 25 sq. mile radius.

Yes, you read that right.  7 major malls in a 25 sq mile radius. 

I'm trying to figure out which ones they are.  I'm assuming they include Jersey Gardens, Willow Brook, Short Hills, Woodbridge, Bridgewater and Menlo Park...  I can't think of any others that in the area. 

The 6 I just listed are all very large malls.  Multiple levels and more stores then you could ever imagine shopping in.  They probably all have a Starbucks now too LOL.  Heck my little Ocean County Mall has one of those!  LOL

Someone tell me the 7th!

L is for Leverage

Leverage is the thing you have that you can hold over another persons head to get what you want. 

It could be the better snack at the lunch room table. It could be skills that you can offer to a prospective employer.  It could be sex.  Almost anything can be used for leverage if the other person wants it bad enough. 

It's something politicians use all the time.  

Now before I get into this, please understand I am not a very political person, but I am going to touch on the subject today because of something going on in my town. 

First let me tell you about our Governor Chris Christie.  Like him or hate him, you have to appreciate his straight-forward attitude.  Like it or not, you know where he stands.   Do you have that person in your life that before you even open your mouth to say something, you know they're going to respond, because they never change.  That's the way Chris Christie is.  I don't always like what he has to say or what he believes in.  But I know that he's going to speak his mind.  While he is a politician, he almost seems genuine.  That's a lot to say for a politician, especially one from NJ.

So why am I talking about Chris Christie?  Well he told the towns in NJ that they can not raise the property taxes more then 2% without approval from the residents.  

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the country.  I know people that have modest homes on modest to small pieces of property that pay over $10,000 a year in taxes.  That is NOT a typo. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! So let's say you're paying $12,000 a year in taxes for easier math purposes, on top of your mortgage payment, you're paying $1,000 a month for taxes. 

So now let's look at those that have paid off their mortgages and have lived in their homes for 30 years, they still have to come up with $1,000 a month.  I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to retire, seriously. 

So back to leverage.  There's a vote coming up asking the residents if it's OK to raise our taxes 12% instead of the of cap of 2%.  "They" say it's going to average out to about $30 a month more.  The leverage they're using is our garbage collection. 

"If it doesn't get passed, you're going to have to pay a private collector and there will be different garbage trucks driving up and down your road every day of the week."  Was one of the comments I've heard.  

I lived in Piscataway for a good portion of my life before moving here to Brick.  We had private garbage collection at least part of the time, and I don't remember seeing garbage trucks every day.  It was the same as it is down here.  They came by one day each week.  Actually now that I think about it, it was twice a week to pick up our garbage.  

But that is their main leverage. That and they're going to lay off 29 cops.  Well I learned recently at least 14 are retiring, so that number is bound to change.  

Side note - cops & firefighters deserve the best we can give them.  Do you have a job that you risk your life every day you go in?  I don't, but they do.  So I feel they deserve high pay and a great retirement package. 

Ok back to the topic.  I think what they're leverage is bullshit.  Plain and simple. 

People aren't working. NJ has one of the highest unemployment rates.  People aren't getting raises and businesses are closing down left and right.  Ocean Spray is considering moving their factory out of NJ because of the taxes. 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

My husband and I are making less then we've ever made since we got married.  I love my day job, but because of the economy, I have not had a raise in almost 5 years.  That's why I started my custom beach writing business.  Like I said, I love my day job and I get to work from home which has benefits that can't be beat, especially when there is bad weather or kids are sick.  My husband was out of full time work for almost 2 years because of the economy.  I don't even want to know what our credit scores are because we had to cut back on EVERYTHING and some people didn't get paid. 

We didn't demand that people pay us more for getting less.  Either we figured out another way to make money (my beach writing, husband does work with a company called WFG) or we stopped spending money on things we didn't really need. 

Is that such a rare concept?  

"Stop spending money on things we don't need."

I don't think so.  It's common sense. There are plenty of things in town that can be cut out, or the prices can be raised.  Perfect example, a senior citizen in town doesn't need to have a part of his taxes go toward the day camps our town offers.  So the raise the price of registering your kids for that.  If you can't afford it, don't send your kids or I don't know, cut back somewhere else.  Give up your nail appointment each week or eat at home more often. 

Everyone has to tighten their belts.  This means towns as well. No more can we Jerseyians afford astronomical property taxes.  

So I can tell you right now that I'm voting No on this ballot.  Figure out another way to make the budget work.  We people have to do it and so does our government. 


I've told my husband several times that I'd move to Delaware in a heartbeat. I'd rent a small house and buy an RV so we can come back to visit relatives during the holidays but have our own place to stay LOL.  But then I'd have to change my business name to NamesontheDelawareShore and I don't think it has the same ring as NamesontheJerseyShore.

Too bad Procrastination doesn't start wtih K

I have been procrastinating all day about blogging about something that starts with the letter K.  Then when I did finally come up with something, I got too busy to write.  So here it is, around 10pm and I'm finally sitting down to write it out.

So what starts with the letter K?  Why Karaoke!!!!  

In Japanese, Karaoke means "empty orchestra"  or so says Wikipedia.  Strange translation.  It  should mean, "drunk people singing somewhat badly."  LOL

Actually doing Karaoke can be fun not only for the person or group singing, but for the audience as well.  It all depends on what you sing, not how well you sing. 

Seriously.  It's not just about singing, but showmanship and appealing to your audience.
 

Pick the right song for the crowd & play it up.  That is really all it takes.  Oh and probably picking a song that is in your range helps as well. LOL Like when you hear someone try to sing the National Anthem and they start out too high and then can't hit the high notes later in the song.  

I know someone who had a decent singing voice, but she would pick obscure songs and that just made it boring.  Pick a song people can sing along to.  In NJ, anything by Bon Jovi or Bruce or even Billy Joel, usually appeals to a good portion of the crowd and will get everyone singing along.  Find a song that people are going to know the words to. Just because the random "B" side song (yes I just dated myself, shut up, at least I didn't have an 8-track player in my car) is your favorite doesn't mean it's going to wow them at Karaoke because you can belt it out better then the artist that records it.

You can really take this advice to starting a business as well.  Appeal to your audience.

Don't try to sell an air conditioner to an Eskimo.

I'm actually having to do this with my business.  I do custom beach writings.  I mostly sell in my online shop, but I'm branching out to craft shows.  I've done 3 so far.  One in Colonia one in Hammonton and another in Brick.  My best show was the one in Colonia.  Why was that?  Could it be because I was further away from the shore?  Maybe.  This weekend I'm doing a show in Manville (so the blog on Saturday will be posted later in the day).  If I find that my beach writings and the items I make from my beach writings 

sell well at the Manville show, then maybe, just maybe my stuff does sell better away from the shore.  Or could it be that the Colonia show was in early December and my stuff makes awesome Christmas gifts.

It's all a crap shoot, really.  

J is for Jersey Girls

Ain't nothing in the world like a Jersey Girl.

Bruce even wrote a whole song about us.

Urbandictionary.com says this about Jersey Girls

"The Jersey girl..a love of an unpretentious good time, and a certain sense of style. Jersey girls are about attitude. They're about eating pizza, drinking beer, having great hair - and enjoying it all..She's got a mouth on her. She says what she means. And she's got a nice, cheerful laugh..Bottom line, all of them are sexy as hell."

Now I want you to understand that the females portrayed on Jersey Shore are NOT Jersey Girls, they're not even FROM Jersey.  

The real Jersey Girls are the ones laughing at the antics of the cast of the Jersey Shore.  Why, because we may do or have done the same things those kids have done, we just were not stupid enough to broadcast it to the world.

There's not a whole lot I can tell you about Jersey Girls, because it's more of a feeling or attitude. You will definitely know when you are in the presence of one.  But here is one thing you should know... If you ask one "what exit"  don't be surprised if she shows you our state bird for the answer! 

I is for Island Beach State Park

While I could pick a different town in NJ for each letter of the alphabet and easily get through this A to Z challenge, I didn't think that would be fun. 

Today I'm making an exception to tell you about 

Island Beach State Park

You could click on the link and learn all about the history of IBSP, but that's no fun.  Read my story! LOL 

Located at the very south end of the same barrier island as Seaside Heights, IBSP has about 10 miles of secluded beach.  Even though it's close to the boardwalk in Seaside, it's like being in another world.  On one of our trips in the fall I got this picture. 

I never knew there were fox on the island, but there are!  Lots of wildlife really.  Osprey, deer, etc.  

ISBP has been a big part of my family's history.  

It was where my dad liked to take my mom when they were dating.  Here she is in the summer of 1962

And it's also where my dad liked to go when we kids were little. 


It always makes me laugh when I think about going to ISBP instead of the beaches in Seaside.   You see, my maternal grandparents lived down near Seaside and they were friends with everyone, we always had free passes to get on the beach in Seaside. 

But that was not what my dad wanted to do, he wanted to go to IBSP!  Now to be fair, it's not like my dad was with us every time we went down to my grandparents house.  It was usually me, my mom and my brothers - usually we went to the beaches in Seaside.  And we packed food (a TON of food) so it wasn't cost that stopped us from going to IBSP, it was just a little bit further away. 

So if my dad was with us, and we made it out of the house in time, we'd go to IBSP. What do I mean by "made it out of the house in time"?  Well, once a certain number of cars pass through the gates, they close.  I don't know what the number is and they don't have it on their website either... hmmm.  But there is a sign on the Parkway when you're heading down this way & a sign when you get on the barrier island letting you know if the park is still open for visitors.  

While all the beaches in NJ charge you to get on the beach, IBSP charges by the carload.  This is good if everyone in the car is over 12 years old!!!

IBSP also holds a special place in my heart for a completely different reason.  

It's where my dad scattered my mom's ashes when she died in 1994 at the young age of 51 (btw, we found out later that this is illegal, human ashes are considered hazardous waste, don't do it)

Most people get to visit their relatives that have passed on by going to a cemetery.  I get to visit with my mom every time I go to the beach.  I figure the tide & the wind scattered her all over the Jersey Shore, so no matter where I go, there she is!

"Say hi to gramma Gail" I tell the kids. LOL

So next time you're down in Seaside, or looking for a great place to take some wildlife pictures, head down to Island Beach State Park and enjoy a part of NJ that remains basically untouched since the Lenape Indians summered at the Jersey Shore.

Make sure you say Hi to my mom too!

H is for Happiness

What makes you happy?

A lot of things make me happy.

My children for one. They are the light of my life, they are my heart. I would risk my life for them without a second thought.

My husband. He works so hard to provide for us.

My dogs. They make our lives richer.

Starting the day watching the sunrise over the ocean. Yeah, that ranks up there pretty high on the list of things that make me happy.

Buying smaller jeans, AND getting them for less then $5 (random table of jeans at Old Navy!)

There are a lot of things about NJ that make me happy too. I've written enough about the food so suffice to say, there is a lot of good food in NJ.

Things to do. Ski in the winter, surf in the summer. Go shopping in New Hope, or one of the tons of malls. There is a wolf preserve up in northern NJ I want to go to some day. Atlantic City is always fun, even if you don't gamble. Down in Cape May there is a HUGE zoo, that is FREE (they accept donations, DONATE when you go there). NJ actually has a bunch of museums as well, but they're mostly scattered around near colleges. Want to see the Jersey Devil? Go to Warton State Forest :D NYC and Philly aren't too far away if you're looking for that type of excitement.

We really do have it all in NJ, and that makes me happy.