The Lone Star State

My recent trip was indeed fun though it was once again rainy (I think every time I've been to Texas it's rained. For a state in a drought, it's really bad timing or I have become some sort of reverse human divining rod.) If I had been needing a boost in self esteem, this trip would have perked me right up.

Starting with the bus driver on the airport route who found my solo presence and conversational ability so utterly delightful he passed by three stops, with passengers waiting, to get me to my destination. I hadn't realized he had other stops to make but he was not in the least bit concerned. It was very funny and he made sure to drop me off right at the crosswalk so I didn't have to walk too far. It was very sweet.

Then there was the homeless man who stopped in his tracks and declared me the "most beautiful woman" he had ever seen. I appreciated the novel approach to panhandling and was happy to take the compliment. It didn't get him a donation from me but it made me smile.

The icing on the cake was the TSA agent standing on the opposite side of the metal detector. I had already performed the Tetris game of putting all your stuff in as few bins as possible and was padding to the other side in my stocking feet, boarding pass in hand. As I got through the metal detector the agent gave me my boarding pass back, grabbed my hand in his latex gloved hand (which I will admit freaked me out just a smidge) and declared that when he "sees perfection" he must "reach out and touch it". I will admit it took me a second to figure out what the heck he was talking about before I got that he meant me! While it was oddly flattering, I was getting worried watching my stuff make it's way down the conveyor belt.

The parts of my trip that occurred between these three interesting men were also enjoyable. I got to catch up with a friend I don't see as often as I'd like and got to make acquaintance of some new friends. I ate great food, saw a wonderful photography exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art , walked around and very much enjoyed a few days away.

So Many Events, So Little Time

I was utterly swamped with trying to get things accomplished at work before my trip and social events, not that I am complaining about the social
events :)

Thursday night brought about the final in the Repartee series at the BSO. By a fluke, I ended up with tickets in the 2nd row. I have never been that close to the orchestra before and it was quite a different experience. Sitting further away, you really get a sense of the orchestra as a whole. In the 2nd row, you get a close up of a few individual musicians.

Before the concert begins you always hear the dissonance of each musician tuning their instruments and warming up. Far away this is background noise. Up close you really notice the moment when all the individuals become one. It was very impressive. Also impressive was seeing our conductor, who was filling in for the scheduled conductor. She was the 6th woman to conduct the BSO. Woman #5 had conducted two weeks before. On one hand I am happy for the progress. On the other, if you take into account how long the BSO has been around, having only 5 and 6 in April of 2009 is a bit depressing. But progress is progress no matter how slow.

Friday was an very impromptu dinner party with amazing food, a big group of people and a French film that prompted quit a bit of discussion. After standing in a big circle debating the pros and cons of the film, we all decided that further discussion over a beer would be beneficial. It was a nice night and we all sat outside and enjoyed the cool Spring night. It was also a night that just got away from me. One minute it was 8pm and the next it was well after midnight and definitely time to go home.

Watching Planes

It's been quite a week so I really was looking forward to this weekend. Friday brought last minute plans making full use of the gorgeous weather. I always love walking over the Mass Ave bridge at night, in spite of the incessant wind. Saturday was an impromptu dinner party and piano recital. Per usual with potlucks, there was no end of leftovers. But we were all well fed and enjoyed some passionate piano playing and lively discussion over dessert.

I was very happy for a relaxing Sunday and brunch. I met up with my Marathon running friend (she's running Boston tomorrow and I am in awe). We both ate quite well and I was happy to share a side of pancakes, though I am certainly not doing anything nearly as athletic as her tomorrow. The place we had brunch is a cute spot right at a regional airport. It was fun to chat, eat and watch the planes taking off. I've always loved watching planes and have fond memories of going to the regional airport near where I grew up with my grandfather to watch the planes.

April Fool's

Today brought me a letter in the mail that really should have been an April Fool's joke. Sadly, it was not. I have been working non-stop for the last four days on a project that went awry but was ultimately completed on time so it's been stressful to say the least. Add to that people not doing their jobs and well, it's not been a delightful time. But I got through it and was feeling a bit better about things today.

Then the letter. It from the Diocese of Manchester, NH. The Diocese? As a former Catholic seeing the word Diocese on the envelope was enough to make me break out in hives or want to sin immediately

My ex-husband is getting remarried finally. I am indeed happy for him and wish him happiness and wedded bliss. I also wish to not be remotely involved. He has always been a needy person and required more from me than me from him. It has not changed in our many years apart. We are friends but I really was not the one for him to ask advice about how to propose. My stepmother thinks he's being remarkably insensitive and it's a valid point. It's actually more he's a bit clueless.

Anyway, his fiancee comes from a very Catholic family (the kind that go to Church everyday). To appease her family they are to be wed in a Catholic church. This is where things get tricky. Seems the little matter of our non-denominational marriage is causing him an issue. He's not willing to annul it (neither am I) so he's been jumping through crazy hoops to ensure he can have his wedding there.

First came the request for a copy of my baptismal certificate. Mine. Seems since we were both baptized part of the hurdles for his wedding involve dragging my religious history into it.

So fine, baptism certificate. I found that horribly intrusive. I should have known better as I hadn't seen anything yet.

The letter today contained seven questions I need to write essay responses to and then mail back in two weeks. Oh, they mentioned I could use the handy SASE they provided. Damn church didn't even do that.

The questions range from the obvious (what is my full name, what religion was I baptized) to the inane (did we have permission from the church to marry outside the church, was the marriage ever blessed). I should mention here that my ex is an atheist so nothing remotely religious occurred in our wedding ceremony which was fine with both of us as I ceased being a Catholic in my teens.

The best question is "Was there a sacred rite performed by a priest?" My initial answer was to put "goat and virgin sacrifices" but I'm guess that's not what they are looking for.

I am again stunned by the invasion of privacy and am in the dangerous (for my ex) position of being all fired up from work, have the ability to write well, have a bit of free time and a grudge. As someone who has known me for a long time, you'd think he'd be worried and remember this is a combination akin to dynamite.

When I asked him about the essay questions today he played dumb "I thought they were just sending you something to confirm your address". Sure thing and I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. He also helpfully added "thanks for doing this". I did point out I hadn't done it yet. If he can live with the hypocrisy of pledging his love and faith in something he doesn't even believe in to make his fiancee happy that's his business. But to keep involving me is not right. Oh and the best part is that he said his priest said that most exes get pissed about this letter. Sounds just like the Catholic church to me. Is it puzzling? Does it make no sense and piss people off? Then let's keep doing it. If it were possible for me to be even less Catholic that I currently am, this letter would do it.

Find A Happy Place

So my happy Friday was followed by emotional Saturday. The week was overall challenging but Friday night was a bright spot. Apparently the universe was just taking a breather before continuing to make sure my week would not end on the happiest of notes. It all ended up turning out ok but I was certainly glad to see a new week. Ensuring that this would happen, I did make sure to visit my favorite cupcake place in NYC. Though I refrained from buying a full dozen (it was not easy) they did look so pretty in the box.

And if one more man in my life states that "men are simple" immediately following a display of confusing and complex behavior that makes astrophysics look simple, I do reserve the right to rip off his arm and beat him with it :-)

Happy Friday

It was indeed a very happy Friday both for being the end of a rather complicated week and a good day all on it's own. Too many late nights and being swamped at work made coming home tonight an evening I walked through the door utterly exhausted. Add to that an impromptu trip that I am heading out for early in the morning and it was a good night to stay in and get things accomplished. So what did I do? Of course I went salsa dancing!

It starts late enough that I could get home and get things done quickly. It was so much fun, as it always is. It's impossible not to smile when salsa dancing and there was plenty of that to see. As fun as it is to dance, it's nice to catch your breath and watch everyone on the dance floor. There were some amazing dancers and they are delightful to watch. The very cold night air felt good to walk out into. So while I was lucky enough to wake up with a smile, I am double lucky to be heading to bed with one!

What a Difference a Few Days Make

Last week was a very busy one with all kinds of stuff going on. Of course, we had a 50 degree day on Friday. It was really windy but such a touch of Spring. Then today, a foot of snow. Apparently Mother Nature needed to remind us it is still winter. And honestly I am happy for the snow so I can get some cross country skiing in this weekend.

It was nice to have a snow day today. It wasn't really a snow day but I did get to work from home. It took quite a while to shovel my car out. It may have been light and fluffy snow but dammit there was a lot of it! The photo is the view from my skylight, before it was completely obscured.

The Case of the $4 Donut

Tonight was a lovely dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Blue Ginger. This week was busy, crazy and non stop. It was nice to have a busy day at work, head home, change and head to dinner. He got there a bit before I did and made it without getting lost like he had feared.

It was wonderful to sit down, chat and have a drink. I love the ginger lime gimlet they make but boy do they go down far too easily. The appetizers were the tuna poke and mussels in lime leaf and green papaya. I had the butterfish (an aptly named fish if there ever was one). He had the scallops. All was wonderful. I was up for dessert and he was not. The warm, spiced, kabocha donuts caught my attention. He was not as impressed as I was but they were wonderful. He, being ever practical, noted that I was eating $4 donuts. As I pointed out to him, the pleasure of my company was worth feeding me the $4 donuts. He agreed :-) He also rightly guessed that I really was thinking about licking the plate. For the record I did not.

It was a fun dinner and so very good. I feel bad for people who eat out with me as I love food and make it very clear I am enjoying myself if I am eating something scrumptious. I can't help it. Food makes me happy :-)

Ready, Set, Date!

So this week's adventure was a speed dating event with the girls. I've done speed dating once before and figured why not. If anything, I can make conversation with just about anyone for 10 minutes. And I did. I also gained a new appreciation for just how very long 10 minutes can be. Most of the men were perfectly fine, no one I was really interested in, but there were a few that just were conversationally challenged. One man decided he had questions for me me. That was fine. What was not fine was that he asked me his questions all at once. I couldn't get a word in edgewise or answer any of them. So I just let him talk.

The highlight of the evening, beside spending time with the girls, were the nachos. They were so very good (I was also very hungry so that may have had something to do with it.) It turned into a very late evening for a Tuesday night. The rest of this week is equally busy with work and social butterfly activities.

Postal Confusion

So I moved a little over a year ago. The three family house I live in converted to a two family. It wasn't a huge move (other than having to move all of my belongings up one flight of stairs) and it involved a minor address change (essentially one letter to another). No problem.

Flash forward to today when I realize the post office has been returning my mail to sender. Why? Well my forwarding order has expired. Fair enough. The asinine part is that they slapped a yellow forwarding sticker with my new address on an envelope that had my address EXACTLY the same as the one on the yellow sticker. So the post office was trying to forward mail with my current address to my current address. Hmm. Well obviously that isn't going to work. And it does explain why I have yet to get my replacement corporate credit card. The post office keeps sending it back.

For explanation the woman at the post office I called today said that our local street listing had me still listed at my old address. I filed a change of address at the post office. Why would you then take a locally published guide as rule of where I live? She also suggested it would have been less confusing if I had just moved to a whole other address. Apparently.

So tomorrow I have to do battle at the PO and try to get them to stop returning my mail to sender. I am sure it will be just as delightful as I imagine it.

Staring at Venus

It was a lovely weekend full of lots of fun things. I did see that Venus was visible above the moon late last week but driving home from NH on Saturday night, it was well below the crescent moon and brightly shining. I love looking at the stars in a clear night sky.


The girls headed north for some cross country skiing. It was on the cold side but one thing you are guaranteed with this activity is getting really, really warm very quickly. It was fun and good to get out and play outside. I did feel a bit bad when I got tired as my friend had run a 5K prior to skiing. Then I remembered she is a superhero and I was ok. The funny thing was we ended up running into another friend completely at random. Neither of us knew the other would be there. And for us to meet up at just the right time and on the same trail was indeed a pretty amazing coincidence!

Today the highlight was not the Superbowl but puppy breath from the roly-poly, warm and very sleepy new puppy of my Aunt and Uncle. I was the lucky recipient of many little puppy kisses :-) and fell immediately in love with the little guy. There is nothing like puppy breath!

Ice Cream and Salsa

There is nothing I love more than dancing. Add ice cream at one my favorite places in Cambridge and I had quite a fun evening.

It was a very last minute invitation to head out to Friday night salsa in Central Square. It didn't start until later so we met up and had some ice cream first. Cardamom for him and burnt caramel for me. Both were so very good.

Then it was time to salsa and work it off. I always forget how sweaty dancing can make you. It's a fun workout on a very cold night. And the best part is how everyone there had big smiles on their faces from the sheer fun of dancing.

We danced for a bit then called it a night. It was actually good to head into the cold night air and cool down a bit. I knew I'd be working a bit over the weekend so it was nice to take a break and kick off the weekend with fun.

Yes, We Can

This has indeed been quite a day! I can't remember this positive feeling of community, coming together and history - certainly not around a recent presidential inauguration. I have had this smile on my face all day watching the events. And I can tell my friends are feeling the same way from the excited emails I've gotten all day. It's amazing to me that this country that was so divided, has pulled together and elected someone that, in our not so distant collective past, would have had to sit at the back of a bus or been banned from using the white only water fountain. The whole day was amazing and watching him take the oath of office made me tear up.

So hopefully, things will get better. This country is in bad shape with the recession, unemployment, and the uninsured. But for today the feeling of hope is too strong to wipe the smile off my face. And what else? Our new president is a fellow left handed person :-)

Snow Bunnies, Sex Kittens and Social Butterflies

It's absolutely freezing here with a lovely Arctic blast. It was funny to me to have been in Tahoe for work this week and enjoying relatively balmy temps in the 40's. I did laugh after all the hype about how great the skiing is out West as compared to New England. Sure, it's great if they actually get snow. With temps in the 40's and the sun shining it was very icy on the slopes. But I was fine as it felt like home to me. I did manage to get a few bruises from spilling while boarding but they are fading now.

I was traveling for the next round of trainings in our database relaunch at work. This was a fun group of salespeople and the training was a good one with lots of questions and comments. Given all the chaos leading up to me getting on the plane, it was an exhausting trip. Add to that the head cold that just keeps lingering and I was very happy to come home, in spite of the frigid temperatures. There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed. I did find myself feeling a bit unsettled when I got home. I had this nagging feeling that something was bothering me but I could not quite put my finger on it. I guess now it was just me being so very overtired that was putting me out of sorts. I am using this weekend to catch up on my sleep and find I am back to my usual self :-)

So with the training out of the way and the next ones yet to be scheduled, a few good meals and some sleep, I am able to get back to my social butterfly ways.

Happy New Year!

This New Year's Eve seemed to kind of sneak up on me with having to work and battling a nasty cold. The year ended with a crash (of a broken glass) and came in with a squeak. Yes, I lost my voice. It happens when I have a cold and I think working yesterday and chatting a bit last night just did me in. I have talked to a few people today and they all agreed that I sound awful. Which is funny because I feel ok. So for anyone I did not call to wish a Happy New Year to, be grateful that I spared you from the squeak! I will be vocal again tomorrow (hopefully) as I have plans to head to my favorite tapas restaurant for dinner. And it still beats the New Year's Day I woke up with Scarlet Fever.

Happy New Year! Here's wishing everyone a fabulous 2009.

Feed A Cold

I am a firm believer in the above so that is what I did today. When sick, you need soup. So I made some chicken soup with the sinus clearing properties of a very hot jalapeno and some chipotles. It's lip tingling good and just what I needed for a long day of work. And it has been a nice change from the endless cups of tea and honey my sore throat has demanded.

I was not thrilled to be working during a holiday weekend but it needed to be done. The three girls needed today (of which I am one) were all up and in contact early this morning waiting on the other person to do his part. Of course, some confusion (his not ours) occurred and we started the process 3 hours later than planned. It was a bit annoying and add to that a VPN problem and it looked like I would be working all afternoon and night. Thankfully with my iPod firmly attached, everything got done and I got to gorge myself on some new music I got this week. The first was a gift from a friend and the second was a gift to myself from Amazon. I have enjoyed exploring both.

Work is done for today but I have to get up very early tomorrow to complete some database processes. I am hoping that I can take a bit of a breather Tuesday and finally decide on my New Year's Eve plans.

So This is Christmas

I am still having a bit of a hard time believing that today is Christmas. This year has certainly flown by. This week at work was so busy I didn't have time to wrap the presents until late last night. As a very organized person, this drove me a bit nuts to be so delayed. But it was unavoidable due to the project that will be occupying my Sunday. With a full belly and warm heart from spending a great Christmas Eve and Christmas with people I love, I am not thinking about work tonight.

For my family like many others, Christmas is all about the food (well actually, any holiday is all about the food for us.) This year, my brother did a killer job on the best pork roast with fig sauce. The pork was so juicy and tender. It makes me want to drool thinking about it. And the potatoes. Mmmm. Cheesy and so very good. Add to that baked manicotti, roasted vegetable soup and antipasto. I have basically been eating non-stop since 2pm yesterday when I participated in about three of the seven fishes of the Christmas Eve feast of my downstairs neighbors. The food was great, along with the champagne. I was the lucky recipient of plenty of leftovers from our dinner now taking up space in my fridge. Of course, just when I think I am not hungry I am eating something else.

Of course the other part of this holiday is the gift giving. Everyone seemed very happy with their presents and I am with mine. It was fun watching my very hung over brother trying to wrestle with the complexities of tape and wrapping paper. I am so in love with my new Sorel boots I will admit to having worn them around the house for about 30 minutes. It's important to make sure they fit :-)

So with that, the butter cookies are calling my name. Merry Christmas!

Holiday Spirit

So if the events of the last few days have not gotten me in the holiday spirit, nothing will at this point. I was lucky enough to finally see the Aimee Mann Holiday Variety show with my friend. Yes, I know Aimee Mann is not necessarily the first person you think of for an cheery, upbeat Christmas song but it was a fun show. And she played some of her non-Christmas songs so it was all good. What was not good was the torrential downpours that were occurring. It was crazy to drive home through these giant puddles.

I did realize that my town got some ice but did not realize how bad it was just a few miles north of me. People are still without power today from all the ice and damage. When I left for NY on Saturday morning, I saw a line of utility and power trucks heading into MA from CT and there had to be about 20 of them all coming to help restore power.


I arrived into Grand Central, and much like last year was besieged by Santas. If getting dressed up as Santa, slutty Santa, or a pimp Snowman, singing bawdy Christmas Carols, and drinking at 10 am are your idea of fun then SantaCon is for you! Think of a Santa Pub crawl and you've got the idea. All fun, except when you get stuck on the 6 train with about 20 of them pretty well sauced up and singing at the top of their lungs.

It was freezing in the city but this time I did remember to bring my hat with me. It was so great to be back and I had a lot I wanted to do. I was unable to catch up with most of my friends but was actually happy to have a weekend in the city with no set plans.

The tree was lovely and had the usual crowd around it. Fortunately the things I had to do were in much less congested parts of the city. I am still puzzled though by how people can stop dead in the center of a crosswalk like a deer in headlights. I know there are a lot of people, cars and shiny objects but gawk from the sidewalk, not in the road!! I did give out a bunch of directions, which I don't mind. I like helping people along.

The food was good and I did manage to get my cupcake on Sunday. Full of sugar, I decided to head back home a bit earlier than normal. The next few weeks are going to be extremely busy at work and I preferred to drive back in the daylight.

Cinnamon and Evergreen

With the first snowfall this weekend (only a little but there were flakes so it counted) it was the perfect day to get my tree decorated. I always forget that I manage to get covered in sap whenever I deal with a Christmas tree. A little peanut butter on my hands and a wash got me unstuck. It's a cute tree and it makes my house smell like Christmas. The cinnamon came via a great Yankee candle. All in all my home has been chock full of holiday scent today.

It was also a good day to bid adieu to a delusion man. We were on entirely different levels (I am in reality, he was in the 80's, 50's, or an elevator in '91) and with the incident of calling me the wrong name I was happy to set him straight and on his way :-)

This week is going to be a very busy one with work and my impending NYC trip next weekend so it was nice to have a day to relax and get some decorating done.

Banged up and Bruised

Well it's been quite the week and weekend. I managed to sneak out of work a bit early Friday and spend some time with the ladies of my family prior to my Uncle's birthday party. It was fun, spontaneous and silly. All things I needed after a busy and stressful work week. And spending time with the ladies provided a nice dose of feminine energy after a bit of a testosterone soaked week.

The rest of my weekend was pretty good. Other members of my family have not quite fared as well. My grandmother had to go to the emergency room due to a sore hip. My Dad tripped over the pool robot (it was wintering in the garage). My uncle got hurt by a ladder at a fire (he's a firefighter and he's ok). My brother threw his back out and can only stand. My mother, well, she takes the cake.

While getting out of the car at the grocery store and looking very cute, by her telling, she got her heel caught in her purse and took a dive into the parking lot (fashion can sometimes be painful). She ended up with a chunk missing out of her chin, covered in blood and with two very bruised knees. She did not break her glasses, which was good. She's going to be really sore tomorrow.

Add to that my aunt completely wiping out my Mom's air freshener (the kind with the sticks and oil) and creating a lavender scented oil slick in the front hallway and it was quite the weekend.

Weekend Update

So this weekend started with a nice dinner on Friday night. You can never go wrong with a steak wrapped in bacon and crusted with blue cheese. Mmmmm, blue cheese. The rest of the evening was interesting but left me feeling a bit out of sorts and like a cat that's been petted the wrong way. Saturday early morning yoga and a venting phone call with my girl in Portland helped me put things in perspective, which I sorely needed. The evening was catching up with the girls helped along with wine and pizza from Upper Crust at a charity wine tasting. It was held in Crate and Barrel, which was really fun. The wines were great, expect for the one Argentinian red that made us all sad and unhappy.

Also making me unhappy was the man who did not understand the difference between being polite and being interested. I was being polite as he was a friend of a friend. I figured he'd take the hint when I just turned and headed to the bar to get some more wine. Nope, he waited about 2 minutes and followed me. Then proving to be a master of the painfully obvious uttered "I followed you". No kidding.

Today was spent sitting at the kitchen table vistin with my Grandmother and being fed by my Mom. A good day all around!

I Voted!

Today was finally the day to vote. At least for me, as I know friends in other states got their ballots by mail already. I personally love going to the elementary school gymnasium where I cast my ballot. The sweet old ladies who check my address and the dapper elderly gent who hands me my ballot are the same people I see every time I go.

Voting in my town means connecting two brackets with a Sharpie marker drawn line. It’s not so much civic duty as art and crafts time! If I manage to walk out of the booth with no black marker all over my hands it’s a victory. This is no easy task for a lefty who smudges ball point pen when writing.

This time it really seemed important to get out and vote. Even though I am not in a swing state, I feel that after these last 8 years of having my personal rights stamped on by an administration that forgot all about the people of this country while engaged in their own selfish self-interests, I needed my vote counted.

So tonight, I am trying to avoid the pundits and their ceaseless conjecture about who is winning before the results are in. I am gorging myself on the visually beautiful Mad Men as I work through the pile from Netflix on my coffee table. And when I am done, I hope we have a new president!

Ninety Nine

It has been quite a year for grief in my life see here and here.

Sadly I am now also mourning the matriarch of my Mom's side of the family. My great Aunt was a truly amazing lady and didn't seem to be 99 years old. She was spared the other ailments of growing old and managed to a fiercely independent life. She was a teacher and when she retired she became a volunteer for the Elder Service Corps. She did this until she was 90. It cracks me up to think she was volunteering for the elderly - when she was in her 80s!

My mother's parents passed away when I was very young, so I did not really know them. My great Aunt was my link to that side of the family. While I occasionally scratch my head at how I fit in with my Dad's side of the family, spending time with my Aunt made crystal clear where my love of books, cream of wheat, intellectual conversation and shoes came from. We also shared a good bit of moxie and a disdain for the willfully ignorant. She once said of a cousin's boyfriend that he was "really nice to look at but didn't have a lot going on upstairs." She was right.

I will miss the wonderful notes that would find their way to my mailbox wishing me well and getting me thinking of our next Sunday tea. My Mom and I would go and spend a few hours having great conversation, laughs, tea and lunch. My Mom, who doesn't really have a sweet tooth, did like my Aunt's oatmeal cookies even if she didn't get the hang of dunking them in her tea! I was not really fond of the orange jello mold (my issues with jello go way back) but ate it so as not to offend.

So my dear Auntie, thank you for everything. We certainly have a void in our lives but are all the better for having you in ours.

Portland

While my travels to the Midwest were fun, the highlight of my August on airplanes was heading to Portland, OR to see my very dear friend. It's where she landed after leaving Cambridge this spring and I've missed her dearly. So I was nearly beside myself to get out there. Of course, the entire northeast corridor airspace was really busy the Friday night I left so I got in two hours late. My seat mates were a lovely hippie Mom and her little blond two year old. Normally I would not be thrilled to sit next to a toddler for a cross country flight, but she was a doll and fell asleep soon into the flight. As we were getting into Portland I could hear this little voice calling my name. She was up and wanted to tell me about her book. I could not wait to get off the plane and see my friend. The suspense was just killing me and it seemed to take a billion years to get my luggage.

Portland was a blast! It was slightly odd because while her place is totally different than her Cambridge place, it felt really familiar seeing all her stuff. We had the best time laughing, chatting, giggling, losing wallets, drinking coffee, drinking beer, buying earrings and hiking. I had one of the best meals in Portland. The rabbit was out of this world. It also was the evening of the most lame attempt at a pick up. The man at the table diagonal to us smoothly came over as we got our cauliflower appetizer to tell it was really good. Not two seconds later he blows it by saying "what is that" and pointing at the appetizer he just told us was really good. Smooth.

All About the Cheese

Yes, I could not resist on my two trips to lovely Madison, WI bringing home cheese.
While I did enjoy some good cheese I am still puzzled by the cheese curds. I heard people in Madison speak almost reverently about their love of the curds. They were ok but not anything I'd want to eat again. So while in the airport waiting for my flight back to Chicago I went to get some water. I looked and there was this cow of cheese that I had to get and bring home to my brother. He enjoyed the gift! Surprisingly it is orange cheddar not white as the wax cow coating would have you believe.

Full Moon, Gold Medals and a Man Behaving Badly

Well it has been quite the weekend. The moon last night was so bright I didn't need a flashlight outside when I went to check on my Dad's pool. If it weren't for the copious amount of mosquitoes, I would have been very happy to sit outside after a very long afternoon. I was left in a really angry mood after the man in the above title proved to be far more ignorant and selfish than I had imagined. If there is one thing all the dating I have done has given me it is the gift to cut people loose. I am a very happy person and do not need a man to make me happy. But I don't need one to make me unhappy either and that was what was happening. When it gets to the point where you can't remember what you even liked about a person, it's time to go. So I went.

I was in a much better mood watching the Olympics. And helped because I do feel like a weight has been lifted (a large, annoying weight) and look forward to this week of traveling for work and pleasure. And I am also very happy with my new coffee table my Mom scored for me at an estate sale. Thanks Mom :-)

Strenuous

So after a busy week of work, travel and way too much time in front of the computer or my blackberry, it was time for some fresh air. Luckily I had a friend who suggested going for a hike on Saturday. I was more than game. Post hike I found a trail description with the first word to describe the hike as strenuous. It sure was!

We headed for the White Mountains and a few ominous black clouds did not deter us. We headed up the docile sounding Blueberry (Ledge) Trail. I caught the blueberry part but clearly missed the ledge part while looking at the map. The blueberries were delicious and the ledges were a challenge. It was certainly kicking my butt towards the top but my friend was wonderful in her attempts to spur me on. Besides, once we got to the top, it was lunchtime! The sun ended up coming out and we had a great lunch, though the sandwich place really screwed up our sandwiches.

The hike down was different, due to a slightly different trail. It was pretty as we walked along a raging brook from all the rain. The rain also gave the woods a very Alice in Wonderland feel with all the giant mushrooms. Not needing to be bigger or smaller, we left them alone.

Laughing Through the Tears

I am no stranger to grief or loss. The joke is that my Irish heritage makes this unavoidable in a way. True, I am intimately familiar with the workings of wakes and funerals but I think of it as more of a symptom of having a very large family than anything else.

It was recently that my family suffered the untimely loss of my uncle. This was my stepfather's younger brother. He went to sleep and never woke up. My stepfather has been in my life from my earliest memories. He was a friend of my parents during the years they were married. At first I wasn't quite sure about this hunting and fishing family. But I have come to love and treasure it. These hunters and fishermen taught me the value of the outdoors. To sit in a treestand with a bow waiting for a deer requires patience of the sort I can barely attain with yoga. I learned the utmost respect for nature and the creatures that inhabit it. If a deer or a fish was going to give up it's life, the very least we could do is to respect it and give thanks.

There was a private funeral service which brought forth the laughter through tears of the title. As we sat and shared memories, it was utterly heartbreaking and so very sad to see my grandparents mourn the loss of their son.

Best Plate Ever

I am not ashamed of my love for cupcakes. As far as I am concerned,they are a prefect food. All in one snack goodness. I have been baking a few types of cupcakes for parties and it's been fun. So for my recent birthday, my dear friend gave me a big bag of presents! It was unexpected but the most unexpected of all was the cupcake plate. My friend said the minute she saw it, she had to get it for me! I can't wait to put cupcakes on it.

Nothing To Watch

Sometimes, there is just nothing worth watching on tv. Poor Hobbes has been suffering since my ever present work laptop has taken his place on my lap. So he finally gave up trying and feel asleep next to me on the couch. It's a welcome change as he usually lays on top of the remote and envelops it amoeba like with his orange girth. That's when the channels start changing as if by magic. Last week he turned on the dvr and started recording a show!

A Fitting Farewell

When my dog Nik died, my ex and I agreed to get his ashes returned so we could scatter them. He was a dog that loved being outside and would not have wanted to be in an urn stuck on a mantle. So with the weather finally cooperating, we set off to hike a mountain. We choose Mount Watatic as Nik's final resting place. Like many other mountains in New England it was a small ski area in the past. Unlike the one down the street from where I grew up, it was not turned into housing but left as an open space.

It was not a difficult hike and such a gorgeous, sunny day out. He would have loved it. We spent so much time out doors and hiking with him that it was weird to be together without the dog. We left him on the summit overlooking his favorite lake. We said our goodbyes, thanked him for everything and shed more than a few tears. We laughed about the day we got him (he was the puppy that ran over to me and untied my shoe.) I was in love with him from that moment on.

First Day of Summer

Today was the first day of summer. Appropriately enough Solstice is the longest day of the year. And let me tell you, was it ever. It's been a long week with work going into the wee hours of the morning. I could barely get out of be this morning after only a few hours of sleep. The highs and low of database testing have run me ragged. I was so happy to get home. And take a nap :-)

Man Purse and Tater Tots at the MFA

Ok, so there were no Tater Tots at the First Friday "Meat Market under the guise of art" event at the MFA last night. But there was indeed a seventy-ish year old man with a man purse. I thought at first he may be holding it for his wife but no, it was his. How do I know? Of course he decided to come over and talk to me. In addition to his man purse he was clearly lacking in any concept of personal space. He kept getting closer and closer to me as he talked and I kept backing up. Unfortunately I could only go so far as there was a sign behind me. Fortunately one of my friends saw what was happening and saved me.

There was the usual display of fashion challenged people which provided no end of amusement. It is a fun event to people watch at but the whole pick-up scene is just a bit much sometimes. There's nothing like the naked desperation when the end of the event comes. With odd, openly lecherous men hanging out by the door waiting to snare any women who wander by on their way to the coat room and hoping for one last gasp of hooking up. It's not very pleasant and was really irking one of my friends.

After the MFA we headed to Cambridge for a beer and a burger. Mine was a cheeseburger with jalapeños and avocado. It was really good but the tater tots made it better! It may have seemed like I was channeling elementary school but they were hot, salty and full of processed potato goodness. It went perfectly with the beer!

Girl on the Go

Well my normal busy life got ever busier. I spent a lovely week in the Carolinas (South and then North) for work. The bonus, beside going to Charleston and Charlotte, was spending the weekend with my Grandparents. We had the best time. I loved sitting at the kitchen table with my Grandmother having coffee and watching the birds in her backyard. The fleeting glimpse of the bluebird in her yard was amazing. The mockingbirds apparently do not like the bluebird and chase it out.

The weather was so nice. It was like instant summer. I did actually get to enjoy a day outside as part of team building at the US National Whitewater Center. The ropes course (actually wires not ropes) 35 feet in the air was great fun and very challenging. It was instant bonding and I did end up with two sweaty hand prints on my shoulders. (Nothing like adrenaline to give you sweaty palms.) The rafting was fun but just a bit monotonous given that it's man made. The rapids were fun, but there were only two loops to go in. And the weirdest part was the conveyor belt (think like the grocery checkout line but instead of apples the entire raft and all its contents paddle up and get on.)

This was no vacation. My boss apparently didn't realize I was actually working while I was away and presenting. She kept sending me emails with deadlines that were so unrealistic given the fact that I was actually traveling, on a raft or on a plane.


I will admit that as much as I do love traveling,it was so very nice to come home. There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed :-)

Busy Girl

Well this has been quite the week. I was out and about and being a social butterfly in addition to lots of work. I was very happy to have time to myself this afternoon and evening. I do feel like I need another weekend just to recover from this one!

I did have the good luck to have a wonderful time on Friday night and to laugh so hard I cried on Saturday. I just love getting silly and cracking up. I'm not sure the other people in the bar got quite what we found so amusing but it didn't matter.

So as I get ready for bed I am getting organized for two dinner parties this weekend with spectacular menus, if I do say so myself! I have some travel coming up for work that I need to get pinned down as well.

Spring!

Well spring has definitely arrived. Actually it was more like summer today in the 80's. It's been so nice to see all the magnolia trees, tulips and daffodils finally in bloom. And robins. I saw about 15 of them on my walk this evening. After working like crazy this week, it was nice to be able to get outside to play.

Less nice was the giant hornet on my bathroom skylight when I got home. It was huge and not very happy. I tried to coax it into a plastic container for release outside but it was not having it. So not wanting to get stung, or worse the cats getting stung, I determined to get the bug spray. Well, turns out I don't have any bug spray. I had Lysol. So I figured enough of that would do the hornet in.

Now I can't find where the hornet went. It's either dead and somewhere on the floor or really, really angry and smelling outdoor fresh waiting for my bare foot.

Nice To Meet You

I am not the most huggy person by nature. I grew up in a family that didn't really hug and kiss too much. This all changed when my Dad got remarried the second time and I found myself in a supremely "hug and kiss" family. It took awhile to get used to.

I really need to feel a connection with someone in order to want to hug them. So the people I do hug should feel honored :-)

It is never my first reaction with meeting a new person to haul off and hug. I am a hand shaker. It presented itself this weekend when I met up with a new friend. He went in for a hug and I stuck my hand out for a handshake. It was slightly awkward for a few seconds but did not put a damper on a lovely walk on a very warm spring day.

Women Helping Women

raison d’être

I've always loved that phrase and when I saw a beer with that name, I had to pick it up for the party last night. It was a busy day with getting ready, but we had a great time. It was good for a lot of laughs, and fortunately no tears, as we said good bye and good luck to my friend who is departing for the other coast this week.

The fact that she is leaving finally sank in today as I left her place for the last time, with her plants who are coming to live at my house.

This has been a crazy month. Tremendous highs and lows with everything else in between. It started with tears and is ending that way as well though the tears this time are not so much about grief but bittersweet ones. I am so happy that my friend is taking this great step in her life but sad it's going to be on the West Coast.

I am beyond tired right now. I got home from the party way too late and oddly wide awake for the hour it was. I am mentally and physically worn out from so much, including the nasty after hours email I got from my new boss. I'm still working that one out.

So I welcome April. I am happy to be having a moment to catch my breath, get a much needed haircut, do my taxes and put the finishing touches on my new apartment.

Get Out Your Easter Bonnet

Ok, so there was no bonnet involved on my end but I did witness quite a few during my weekend in New York. It was quite the onslaught of pastel colors on 5th Avenue this morning and many hats with small, stuffed animal bunnies mounted to the front. It looked like an odd cartoon taxidermist advertisement. I continued my color assault on my poor eyes by spending the bulk of the day at the MOMA.

Of course I was not in town just for the parade. I was catching up with the girls for lunch and my new NY friend for dinner. The girls had some issues and could not head into town so I was left with an afternoon all to myself. It was really nice and I got back to the hotel to relax, read and take a quick nap since I was still recovering from my nasty cold during the week.

Dinner was another fantastic time. The company was incredible as was the food. It was great and I am still giggling about our waiter's unbridled enthusiasm about mustard seed zabaglione. And the cheese course with an almost toasted marshmallow runny cheese and a make-you-swoon double creme cheese. Oh and additional swooning for the wine. Holy cow. I apparently have been a very good girl to get to enjoy a meal like that!

So while I did not spend Easter with my MA family, I stopped in on my "adoptive" White Plains Italian family to say hello. It was a great visit and one that I walked away from with my heart feeling really good.

It was such a tremendously good weekend, I didn't mind the traffic on the way home.

A Little Cheer

Well, it's been a tough week, but I've appreciated all those who have been of help and understanding. I came home from work this week and got a great cheer up. Who can be sad when they get a bunny cupcake?!?

Goodbye My Special Guy

It is a sad day today as I find myself writing this difficult post. My handsome, special guy, Nikita died yesterday. He was the best dog and I am so heartbroken. I could not bear posting his picture here so I borrowed my friend's special condolence email he sent to me last night. It's the new dog in his family and it actually made me smile on a day with so many tears.

So with that, I have a few words about my amazing dog ^..^

I will miss that big, white head with ears down and sleepy eyes greeting me at the top of the stairs when I get home from work. His tail wagging a mile a minute and stepping on cats, he would tell me all about his day.

I will miss walking him around my neighborhood, feeling so very proud of all the "he's so handsome" and "he's so beautiful" comments I would get.

I will miss feeling so safe and protected knowing that as long as he was around, nothing would harm me. I will miss him putting himself in front of me and issuing a bwoof warning any strangers to keep their distance from his mom.

I will miss his spirit, intelligence, persistence and sense of humor which was often evidenced by that gleam in his eye as he would toss his slobbery, squeaky soccer ball at one of the sleeping cats.

I will miss his determination and stubbornness that didn't wane even as his body was getting old.

I will miss him pitching his toys at me to play with him.

I will miss watching him belly flop into my dad's pool or hanging out in his kiddie pool, happy to be cooled off on a hot day.

I will miss telling him "I'm going to get you" and watching him take off for me to chase him.

I will miss watching him unwrap presents during the holidays. Both his presents and anyone else who isn't paying attention.

I will miss his ability to hear an ice cream sandwich wrapper being unwrapped from a mile away. And his ability to get to the source of that noise in 2 seconds flat.

I will miss him sleeping next to me at night, hogging the bed and kicking me when he had his puppy dreams of chasing squirrels or whatever else.

I will miss him waking me up in the morning by putting his head on my pillow and kissing my face.

I will miss him standing guard on the bath mat every time I take a shower.

I will miss teasing him about his nemesis, squirrels, with every word that begins with a "sq" sound.

I will miss him licking my face when I cry and then bringing me one of his toys to try to cheer me up.

I will miss telling him "get the kitties" and watching his face light up. The cats will probably not miss that.

I will miss watching him being so gentle nuzzling Jack out of the way to make room for himself on his bed.

I miss being able to think about my dog without tears running down my face. I am so very sad it seems a million years away that I will not.

Goodbye my handsome boy. Thank you for everything.

Lesbian School of Dance

It's been so busy with work and life that I haven't had a second to relax. Friday night brought a very happy, informal house warming party that was a blast. It was such a great night for pizza and beer and hilarious conversation. And 25 pairs of giant cat eyes from the creepiest wallpaper I have ever seen.

This winter has been fantastic and I have certainly gotten my fill of snow. It snowed out on Friday late and it was just beautiful to drive home in. It was still snowing the next morning but it was those giant, wet flakes.

The weekend was good and I got a lot accomplished. My kitchen is finally fully unpacked and organized the way I want. Sunday night brought sad news. It's always so difficult when my pets get sick. They can't tell you what's wrong and it's so sad.

The Planets Align

Well, actually it was a lunar eclipse so only the sun and moon aligned with the earth in the middle. It was an amazing sight to see through the skylight as it's a chilly night out there.

It did seem an aligning day as I got an email from someone I had been hoping to hear from. Work is also going smoothly and I sat in on a training today to get to learn some of our products. I think the effects of my finally getting my butt back to yoga are carrying me through the week. I'm feeling much more calm, focused and relaxed than I have been.

Happy Valentine's Day

Yes it's that time of year again. Valentine's Day.
Or what it was to me - Thursday.

My friend sent me the best e-card (well two cards actually) that summed up my thoughts of this day totally. I am not one for forced affection. I'd rather know I'm loved on a random day that one the day that the greeting card companies say.

For the Soul

I am not one of those people who will wait in line for hours for a ticket to a sporting event or a concert. On Friday I became one of those people. The Museum of Fine Arts was offering free tickets if you got online and through at 10 am. So at 9:58 I clicked and started to wait. Obviously the server was swamped and it took an agonizing 24 minutes until SUCCESS. What got me all giddy was that the MFA was showing the documentary The Gates about the creation of the amazing exhibit in Central Park in 2005. Not only were we seeing the movie but the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude were there and we were 3 rows away from them!

It was wonderful and made me relive the amazement of the exhibit all over again. It was seredipidious and last minute trip to NY for an exhibit at the Met and lo and behold there was this amazing exhibit in park. The luminous orange gates snaking their way through the park against the monochromatic February landscape was amazing. I am so very glad I was able to witness it then and again on Friday with my friend.

Super Tuesday

Well here we are at the end of Super Tuesday. As I've mentioned before, I have a love of voting. It reminds me of my grandmother when I used to go with my Mom and visit her working at the polls. I like to think she'd be thrilled to see a woman on the ballot. I headed to my polling place after work and was happy to see how many people were there.

I have been thinking a lot about who to vote for. I weighed a lot of factors and was undecided for a lot longer than I usually am. I mean, I am a registered Democrat so it wasn't like I was suddenly going to go Republican or anything. I made my decision and I am glad I finally had an election I was truly excited about.

I will say that a part of what influenced my decision was what I will call the Oprah affect. I think Oprah's a great person with her giving away cars and opening schools in Africa. But I don't think she should be telling the country who to vote for. And it got quite annoying with her and John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Enough. I'll make up my own mind thank you.

Beautiful Day

Since Mother Nature has been so kind as to actually give us a winter this year, it only seemed right to get out on Saturday and play in the snow. So that's what we did. The ladies went Cross-Country skiing. It was cold on Saturday but we certainly were moving enough to work up a good sweat. We had a break in a heated yurt and got going after we started to chill down. The return to the lodge was blissfully mostly downhill!

We stopped at a great brewpub on the way home where an inexpensive oatmeal stout and piping bowl of chili warmed us back up for the ride home. It was a great day! I can't wait to do it again.

Moving Sucks. And So Do Clowns.

Ok so the big move was this weekend and I can't find a blessed thing. It took me an hour and a half to find Saran Wrap this weekend. Anyway, with all that going on plus it being my second week of the new job, my brain is fried. Hopefully this weekend with provide me with some much needed relaxation.

In my wanderings on the internet I came across this Don't Send in the Clowns. Turns out kids don't like clowns. As a person who was afraid of clowns long before It scared the bejeezus out of me, I could have told you that. The best quote from the article, "We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them quite frightening and unknowable." Hmm, a big brightly colored made up person running around like a maniac making balloon animals. How could that be scary to a child? Heck, as far as I am concerned clowns are universally disliked. Yet my own mother had clown knickknacks when I was a kid. And I once did date a man who was a clown. He showed up at my door in full makeup. He's very lucky I don't own a gun.

Verizon FIOS Customer Service Sucks

Ok, so I start my new job this week and it's been so busy. I finally get a second on Friday during lunch to call Verizon to schedule my FIOS service to be moved to my new apartment. No problem. They had a service appointment available for the 13th and they were shutting off my existing service on the 14th, just in case. I should have been concerned but once again I assumed people were competent and doing their jobs. Wrong.

I get home Friday night and instead of packing, I spend an hour troubleshooting why I can't access the internet. It finally dawns on me that Verizon shut off my service already.

Phone call #1 - So I wade through the god awful prompts and finally get an agent. Oops, they shut my service 10 days early. Hey, we're really sorry about that but we need to place another order to get your service back. I speak to a very helpful (heavy sarcasm) agent named Lynne who tells me that she will personally walk this order through and my service will be restored in an hour. Ok. You guessed it, no service.

Phone call #2 - Another rep. Another set of apologies. Apparently my order is "held up" somewhere and this rep offers to once again walk this order through. I mention the name of the rep I spoke with last night and am told "She's a very good agent". Well I'm sure she is, except for the fact that she lied to me! So now I am told that my service will be back in 4-6 hours. Once again, no dice.

Phone call #3 - So now, a full 24 hours after the original promise of my service being restored I am still without. And the worst part is that they completely inactivated my email account when they shut off my service. So no email since Friday at noon. Great. This agent, who gets bristly when I have the apparent nerve to be angry, says his supervisor told him to expedite this order and my service should be back within 24 hours. I am not feeling warm and fuzzy about this but I keep trying throughout today.

Phone call #4 - If this is how they treat an expedited problem I hate to think how long it takes them to handle a typical order. I am still on hold and I've noticed that during my many minutes on hold that their hold music annoyingly skips. While waiting on hold, I used my time productively and filled out a complaint with the BBB.

So my educated guess is that the rep made a typo and cancelled my service on the 4th instead of the 14th and as a result, I have been fighting with Verizon all weekend. Not really my idea of a productive use of my time. Thanks a lot Verizon. It's called Customer Service. You might want to look into getting some.

We Are Not a Cab

So here were are in the first full day of 2008. It was a quiet day after a late night and the snow seemed to have kept everyone in. It was funny to see that all of us decided to walk our dogs at the same later hour this morning! I guess we all slept in today.

It was a great holiday season for me. This year wrapped up with dinner and going out with friends. It was sad to say goodbye to two who moved out of town today. So it was fun but a bit sad. We went to a very interesting club that was unclear on it's own theme for the night. Aliens or Aerialists what's the difference? We stopped at out favorite watering hole for a last drink but sadly they were closed for a private party. While we drove home (huge thanks to the friend who drove) people kept trying to hail us. It was hysterical! I did feel bad for people as it's impossible to get a cab in Boston on a normal night. If my friend wants to consider a second career as a gypsy cab driver she'd clean up!

I'm not generally a New Year's resolution person. While I stood outside with the dog in the wee hours of the morning, I pondered a few. With so much change happening for me in the next two weeks, I have my plate full.

Resignation

It was such a relief to finally get a new job! I have been ready to leave my job from hell for months and I finally can. Once I had the offer in hand, I gave my notice the next day. It was better than I could have expected! I have been dreaming for months about being able to walk into work and say "I quit" and that moment was finally here. It felt so good! I have not been able to wipe the smile off my face. One of my co-workers told me I was absolutely beaming! I am indeed. It's such a relief that I feel 1000 times better to be leaving the stress and dysfunction of my group.

In preparing to quit, I realized that in I haven't done it in awhile. I was laid off from my last two jobs which made resigning rather redundant. I have been transitioning and purging all this week. It's amazing what you accumulate over four years in the same job. The hardest part is definitely leaving the people I have come to know. I sent out my "Farewell" email with my contact information and the responses I have gotten back are so kind and sweet and touching I am trying not to cry when I read them. I wish that my company could have gotten it's act together and I could have transferred to something else. But they treated me so badly that I am glad to be having a clean break. I can't wait to start my new job!

Snow Day

Today was a great day. Actually this has been a great week for a few reasons I'm not ready to post here yet. I went into work for the morning but as the snow totals kept creeping up, I headed home. It was a very fast storm as it took about ten minutes from the first flake to fall for the roads to start to get covered. It was snowing so hard at points that the poor dog was completely snow covered standing in the yard.

We just got back in from brushing off the car and taking a walk around the block. I love everything about snow, but that quiet hush that falls over everything is really something. People were just starting to dig out and pull their kids on their sleds in the road.

Chock Full of Holiday Spirit

It was off to NYC this past weekend to see the sights and wrap up the birthday celebration of my friend. We left on Saturday morning and arrived in Grand Central just in time to see a stream of Santas. One after another they flowed into the station. No one had any idea why. After we got home we found out it was a Santa Bar crawl. I think I am not alone in amazing at how many people have Santa outfits!
Out hotel was conveniently located so we dropped the bags and headed out for lunch.
Barbecue of course! We hit the MOMA and wandered into an exhibit of Latin American art that was nothing like either of us had expected. She's an artist and I love going to museums with arty people. They have such a different perspective on things it's fun to watch.

Heading back to the hotel, we took 5th Avenue to try to get out first glimpse of the tree. The throng of people was impenetrable so we took a shortcut via Banana Republic and viola, there it was. It's a pretty tree this year.

Dinner was in SoHo and we had a great meal. Post dinner was a fun trip to a good smelling store and walk through the village. We hit Rockefeller Center late and the crowd had thinned a bit. Seeing all the lights, the tree, the people, the Saks window and snowflake display put me right in the heart-swelling holiday spirit good will towards men kind of mood. Until my toes were run over by another baby stroller.

We were two tired girls as we sank into bed that night and were up bright and early to hunt down a breakfast place. We wandered around SoHo again and I showed off my favorite store and solved a vexing camisole mystery. It was such a fun trip!

When Life Hands You a Five Pack

That was my life Friday night when I stopped at Trader Joe's to get some pre-party supplies. I got to the register and the clerk and I both realized at the same time my 6-pack of beer was a bottle short. I have no clue where it went, but got a 6-pack with all 6-instead. I was worried this might be a harbinger of how the party was going to go. I did not need to worry.

My Mom arrived and offered up some tremendously needed help, along with a wreath for my door. She and I both foodied out at the new grocery store in my town. It was so bitterly cold on Saturday it was a perfect night to light up the fire place. When my friends arrived, they greatly appreciated the heat!

After cooking and cleaning all day, it was nice to catch up with everyone. It was a great chance for everyone to come together and get to know each other. Plus, I think the birthday girl had fun. The food was great, if I do say so myself. The spiced nuts with sugared bacon were a hit (thanks NY Times Food Section). The baked brie was so good I will make that all the time now. My favorite red lentil dip went over well. For the main course it was lemon and herb risotto with chicken piccata. And the peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting hit the spot. It was such a fun evening I can't wait to do it again. Once I get rid of these dishpan hands that is!

Pickle Trays and Green Bean Casserole

It's been a busy week but I was glad that Thanksgiving was on the horizon. It meant a lot of yummy food. The dog and I headed to my Mom's house a bit early on Thanksgiving to help out. She had already done the pickle tray, which I love. I have a particular love of anything pickled so a whole pickle tray is a treat! I pitched in with the cheese and cracker tray. The dog enjoyed the scraps! It smelled so good in her house. There is nothing like the smell of turkey. I went a different route for my pumpkin contribution this year. I love pumpkin, except in pie. It's the texture I am not a fan off. As one friends says, it's too much like mousse in a crust. So I made a pumpkin upside down cake with cranberries and pecans. It was very good, though I will make some tweaks to the recipie the next time I make it.

My mother was in her entertaining element on Thursday. And to top it all off, she had three other Green Bean Casserole fans at dinner. I am not a fan at all. In fact I dislike all Campbell's Soup based casseroles, which is weird since we never had them as a kid. My mother was good that way. I love green beans but add that can of fried onions and cream of mushroom soup and yuck. No thank you.

Addictive Site

Combining my love of words and altruism is the ridiculously addictive game located at Free Rice. The premise is simple. They give you a word and four possible meanings. You choose the right one and viola you win grains of rice. You get enough right and the grains add up. Added bonus is if you get a word wrong, they will give you the right answer without penalizing you. Plus you get to add new words to your vocabulary! Play now and play often.

House Guest

After a week of miscommunication and cultural differences, my house guest arrived this weekend. It was nice to see him though it's always a bit nerve wracking having someone to your home for the first time. I cleaned so thoroughly that I can't seem to find anything!

We had a great weekend with sunny but cold weather. We went to the beach and saw some great waves, to a great breakfast place/maple barn and of course to the main event - The Police concert. What a great show. They were amazing. They played so well and we had great seats. Sting looked so hot that I am ready to take far more yoga classes! And it's not often that you get to stand next to someone playing air guitar. The man next to me found his sad attempt at rhythm. His date seemed properly horrified. He was playing so forcefully he kept bumping into me. So I had to keep moving closer to my date thereby almost pushing him into the aisle!

The time flew by. It was a good trip as we really got to talk. While email, IM and texting are handy sometimes you really need a good face to face conversation even if it does go into the wee hours of the morning.

Family Time

After enjoying a quiet, rainy day at home on Saturday today I spent time with my family. I met my Mom to head over to my 98 year old Great Aunt's house for tea. Mom and I stopped and picked up my other Aunt along the way. My Aunt, my Mom's older sister, has been stricken with MS. Her legs do no work anymore. Looking at my Aunt you would never know anything is wrong with her. This once very active woman is now trapped in a body that doesn't cooperate. It's beyond tragic. She is pretty much confined to a wheelchair in a non-wheelchair friendly world. It's very difficult getting her from point A to point B. As tired as I was, I can't even imagine how she gets around. I would be so depressed. But she has the strongest spirit that is just amazing. My Great Aunt is amazing too. She is healthy, lucid, active and lives alone. Not many other 98 year olds can say that. She's a tough cookie that you don't want to make angry. I think part of her longevity can be attributed to this!

My Dad and Stepmom had a football party today too. I stopped by after tea with my Aunties. All in all, given I am still trying to recover from my cold, I had enough. I was exhausted and though I love them, had my fill of family today.

Happy Halloween!

Well once again it's that time of year for costumes, pumpkins and candy. If you look back to the pagan roots of this holiday, it's approriate that it's a time of ending in terms of harvest as it's usually coincides with our killing frost. It's also believed that it's the time of year that the boundaries between the living and the dead are thin. Halloween is the modern name for Samhain, an ancient Celtic holy day which many Neopagans — especially Wiccans, Druids and Celtic Reconstructionists — celebrate as a spiritual beginning of a new year.

So with that, enjoy your Reese's Peanut Butter cups and beware of the spirits!

It's All in the Telling

As I sit here on my couch with a nasty cold and a raging case of laryngitis, I do appreciate the slight irony of the subject of this entry. As I sip my umpteenth cup of tea with honey, I was reflecting on some interesting events of the last few weeks.

I am a person who will tell you anything you want to know about me. Occasionally this has gotten me into trouble, but the positive effects of it far outweigh the negative. For some reason, some people in my life are taking different paths lately and it makes me wonder why.

I have a man in my life who tells me about his life in great detail, but then balks when I try to share similar details with him. There is the friend who just completely pulled away in a puzzling silence that has yet to be broken. Another friend has taken to not keeping me in the loop, but then tells me events with a look that makes it clear to me that he thinks he already has told me.

From my experience, if a friend isn't being upfront and honest with me it means there is something to hide. I consider myself a good friend who is always around to listen but it's hard to listen when people won't talk. Given my current condition, I should be talking again by midweek!

Hello Again Big Apple!

After trying to get together for most of the summer, I finally headed back to NYC to see the girls and catch up. I also was meeting a new friend courtesy of my Mother's intervention.

It was a gorgeous weekend, just oddly warm for October. I dropped my bag off at the hotel and headed off to meet the girls. Walking towards our lunch spot, there were an odd amount of puddles. I tried to avoid one and managed to splash right into it. I got water into my shoe and let out a rather loud "Dammit". As I looked up, I saw the two priests and a nun waiting for the light staring at me. It was like the start of a bad joke!

The girls are well and we had quite a few laughs. I found out my dinner date was earlier that I thought so I had to go back to hotel to check in and get ready. I was a little nervous since I don't have a great blind date track record, but he called me about an hour before dinner and we got to talk. He had a good voice so I figured I'd be ok.

Dinner. Oh. My. God. He took me to Nobu. As my friends know, this was the best place to impress me the foodie. He was funny, charming, smart and eats the way I eat. We started with Fig Martinis that were so very good and got a few dishes to share and then our entrees. It's rare for me to want to lick the plate but with the Kobe beef I was prepared to. Words can't even describe how good this beef was. Or the oysters. Or the yellowtail with jalapenos. Or the salad with lobster and shrimp. Or my black miso cod. Butter fish indeed! It was a great date of amazing food and wonderful conversation.

Spice of Life

Like most people, I can procrastinate like the best of them. So when faced with studying I should be doing, often I can find about twenty other pressing things that need to be done. Take my spice cabinet for instance. While I should have been doing something else, I got the brilliant idea to organize my spices. They are nice and neat now. I will admit to a love of Penzeys and spices that seems a bit excessive, I do indeed use them all. I also am a fan of what I term procrastibaking. It's when, once again I should be studying I decide I want something sweet. So I bake cookies, brownies or a cake from scratch. I will say that it could have been worse. At least I didn't arrange them alphabetically or by region!

To the Top

In spite of the rather summery weather of last week, it is autumn here in New England. Given that, my friend and I decided to go for a hike and see the foliage. We got up early on Saturday and with coffee in hands, headed north to the White Mountains. It was a pretty drive but we weren't sure if the foliage would be peak or past. Well after a fun, yet really vertical hike, we got our answer. Perfect peak and a tremendous view to eat our lunch by. It was gorgeous. And the weather could not have been better. Though showers were called for, they did not appear until we headed back down. After such physical exertion, of course we headed for a brewery and the coast.

Shunning the 45 minute wait outside in the rain, we plunked down at another grill and had the most perfect Pumpkin Ale and burgers. It was such a good day but once I got home and showered, I was beat. I slept like a log.

More Work Dysfunction

So while it's known that I do have the boss from hell, one of my friends actually has me beat. It's sad but true. As evil as our bosses are, they do have something in common. Apparently they went to the same management school since they are inept at communicating anything or giving direction. And when you somehow can't figure out what exactly they want you to do with a project and you give it your best shot, all hell breaks loose. With my charming boss, she runs to HR and spreads lies behind my back. This is bad, but my friend has a better story.

After yelling at her team about a job he feelt they did poor (mind you while receiving no direction) he, as a creative professional, decided to draw how angry he was. That would be the hysterical drawing you see here. It's him being the leader and dragging the rest of the team behind him to bring them up to his standard. You can be sure that any time any us has an emotional response from now on, we are going to draw it!

Urban Chick

Well I survived my week away with the chickens. It was fun but I don't really think I'm going to give up my city life for the farm life anytime soon!

It was such a crazy week last week that I am still trying to get caught up. But it's very nice to be home. I started watching the PBS series The War. I am not normally a fan of Ken Burns documentaries but for some reason I got hooked. It's always odd to me to watch historical films. The suspense should be gone since we all know how WWII turned out by now. But watching all the archival footage and stories it has been enthralling. The stories these men, mostly boys really, have to tell are incredible. The horror they had to deal with day in and day out is just unimaginable. It makes me think what the troops in Iraq are going through.