The ins and outs of a young library media specialist's life. Rock, rock on.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Yay or Nay?

In the wise words of Diddy:

Can't nobody take my pride
uh-uh, uh-uh
can't nobody hold me down... ohhh no
I got to keep on movin.

And move I will! By December 1st I will be all moved into a new place, in the same city- please, I can only handle so much change at a time. Last night we signed our lives away and basically have 24 hours to make a solid decision that this place is for us. And because both Chris and I seem to be incapable of making solid decisions lately, I am going to list out the pros and cons and let all you people do the hard part for me! (But please do it quickly, as I have to write out a check this afternoon):

PROS:
  • The place is huge, two bedrooms, enclosed porch, refinished hardwood floors, living room, dining room, brand new kitchen and bathroom.
  • We got a sweet deal with the price and I won't be paying more than I already do.
  • The street is non-permit, which is clutch since C & I both have out of state license plates. It's also very rare to find non-permit parking anywhere in the city.
  • It's right near both the highway (so I can get to work) and the route Chris takes to work.
  • There's a possibility I could have a little dog.
  • It's a quiet neighborhood.
  • We would get to live above the landlord, who is very interested in making the apartment awesome and also has a sweet Greek accent and might make us baklava if we ask nicely.

CONS:

  • The apartment is far from the T. Probably too far to walk in the bitter cold of winter. In fact, I don't even know if there is a bus stop that's nearby. I should check on that today. Basically, this means I would have to drive everywhere, which sucks bad in the city. This should count a double con, I think. One of the things I like best about the apartment now is walking everywhere.
  • The apartment is right above the landlord. Seriously, it would be just us and him. And while I enjoy the Greek accent, I don't know that I want a landlord that is able to "pop by" any old time he feels like a chat.
  • There's a possibility I won't be able to have a dog, little or otherwise.
  • We have to pay a rental agency fee to get this place. Like writing a huge ass check for two months rent up front while still paying for your current place isn't a big enough kick in the ass, I need to give a realty dude an extra $700 out of my pocket.

I think that's it. Those are the major factors that are swimming around in this crazy brain of mine. What say you?

Monday, October 30, 2006

Someday I'll Find Me a Sugar Daddy

...But until then, such is my life.

Cripes. There has been a little black storm cloud hanging over my head for the past 5 days and I forgot my umbrella.

It all started last week when my body decided to malfunction and I stayed in bed Thursday and Friday, wishing I was well enough to be in my lovely library. By Saturday I had mostly recovered from my sudden illness, just in time for a raging New England storm complete with driving rain and gale-force winds to strike the city. Oh, and did I mention that I had to go look for a new apartment out in the fair fall weather? Nothing like wading through a river of city trash that got stuck in the swollen storm drains and dripping your soggy umbrella all over someone else's apartment.

To top things off I woke up on Sunday morning to get ready to go to church (yes, you read that correctly), only to realize that I had woken up a wee bit earlier than intended- like a whole hour. Damn you, Daylight Savings! You get me every time. Anyway, back to the church bit: I am now the proud godmother of an angelic little boy and I have renounced Satan from my life in front of an entire Catholic congregation. There's nothing more uncomfortable to me than organized religion and there's nowhere I feel more out of place than in a church. As I was sitting directly in the front row, I worked very hard at holding my tongue and not cracking jokes, but a few slipped out. At one point the priest was holding the baby, who was placidly sucking on his finger, and Father Whatshisname declared: "99 out of 100 babies agree: Father Mc[insert Irish name here] tastes delicious!"

You can imagine the lengths I had to go to to cover up my snort of laughter. The entire chuch community probably thinks I'm apoplectic or something. It was all just so... boring. At least if they were preaching fire and brimstone it would be interesting; I just can't hack the listless, uninterested priests and parish members.

Moving on, I think we have found a suitable place to live. One slight problem: my salary is less than stellar at the mo'. Seriously, Massachusetts with it's 8% income tax and 11% retirement deduction and union dues? I might as well work at Starbucks. (Speaking of, if anyone knows of anyone looking for some after-school hours help, I would love to be a coffee brewer or some such nonsense a few days a week.) So once again, I find myself over a barrel with the cash flow, which is not a good situation to be in in any case, let alone two months before Christmas.

Regardless, I need to not be homeless and as such I will find a way to persevere. Sally forth, dear readers. Onward and upward. Brave smiles.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Nice Day for a Crisis


We ran one of our mandatory crisis drills today and even though the teachers all cracked jokes about taking bullets for each other and gunmen hiding in the library stacks (thanks, guys, for the mental image), when I actually stopped to think about it it was quite scary. Both the lockdown procedure and the evacuation made me nervous- standing outside with 500 kids to be responsible for gave me a shivery feeling. The nurse had her emergency kits, the teachers had their crisis binders, everything was very "Code Red".

Plus, it was in the middle of my lunch. I'd think if some crazy dude had a thing for rich suburban kids they'd at least have the decency to take the school early in the morning or late in the afternoon, not during my lasagna time. Seriously.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Are you Jamaican? 'Cause Jamaican Me Crazy!


There are definitely some days when there is nothing better than working in a school. Days like today, when first and second period are taken up by a "Diversity Brunch" during which teachers (and librarians!) are invited down to the cafeteria to sample native cuisines from foreign countries. My breakfast consisted of some delicious Jamaican coffee, some fried plantains, a taquito, an almond cookie, a "Belgian" waffle (actually a half-frozen Eggo with whipped cream and strawberries), and some mango and pineapple salad. Umm, yum, anyone? Of course, it kind of ruined my 10:30 a.m. lunch of leftover lasagna, and I was forced to listen to Bob Marley at top volume, but hey, at least I got my diversification in for the morning.

Sometimes, when you're having a really bad day, just walking to the staff room and finding coffee and muffins waiting for you can make things seem a little brighter. I heart random snack days.

Monday, October 23, 2006

How Now, Halloween?


My will is strong. I survived the weekend. And bonus for you: I'm not even going to tell you anything about it because my Mama always said- if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

So anyway, I've been fairly blasé this year about Halloween. I've just been so busy running around like a fool all the time that I haven't had time to process that October is nearly over. Then this morning I was hit with a sudden bout of costume anxiety. I don't exactly have a party to attend (yet) but I'm sure the second I decide to skip Halloween altogether this year I will suddenly be flooded with invites to some crazy costume-only Monster Mash Bash and I will be stuck throwing something together like a white sheet ghost or a a black cape with plastic vampire fangs.

It could be fun to hop on the commuter rail over to Salem, MA, for my annual haunted house/Witch Museum visit. For anyone who has never been to Salem at Halloween, I have two things to say to you: 1. Do not drive there. You'll be sorry when you find that there is nowhere to park and the roads are overrun with witches, both real and costumed. 2. It's amazing, a Mardi Gras-style costume party, but the actual Witch Museum is amazingly bad. No one would know more than I, since I've been forced into sitting through that place a minimum of 15 times. Let's just say they use the term "museum" loosely up there on the North Shore.

I guess this week I'll swing by the Salvation Army, where I usually get my brilliant costume ideas (i.e. last year's UFO Flight Attendant costume) and see if anything strikes my fancy. Wouldn't it be hilarious if Chris and I dress as Steve Irwin and a stingray? Oh... too soon?

Friday, October 20, 2006

RIP Weekend


I'm sure there must be a finite number of posts I can dedicate to my complete disinterest in weddings before I start getting emails that say things like: "We get it, NPW- you're a wedding hater and it's obvious that you have a burning, bitter resentment towards people spending tens of thousands of dollars on a dinner party when you are worried about spending a few hundred bucks on getting a new apartment and still driving a crappy little Civic because you can't afford a car upgrade yet. Now quit your whining and entertain us, bizotch!"

But this weekend I am to attend yet another fine matrimonial event, this time out in the Syracuse area. I am trying hard not to be uber-bitchy about it, even in my own mind. Intellectually, I know people do not invite you to their wedding simply to inconvenience you by making your entire weekend revolve around them. And yet...

So anyway, that's my plan for the weekend. C and I will drive 5 hours out, attend the wedding, spend the night in a pretty lodge (oooh, I hope there's a fireplace!), and wake up on Sunday to drive the 5 hours back. Although I probably should refrain from dwelling on all the cool things I'm missing this weekend (don't want to become too severely embittered before the weekend even gets rolling), here's just a little taste: the Keene Pumpkin Festival, the Taste of Charlestown, the Life is Good PumpkinFest, a wine tasting, and my friend Ace's Zombie Birthday Bash.

Just yesterday I received an invitation to the wedding of one of my oldest friends; today I opened my email to find a long, apologetic note about how she hadn't included "and Guest" on my invitation, but that she was had already invited 225 people to a wedding that would hold 190 and if there were open seats she'd try to fit Chris in but that she couldn't even sleep at night thinking there wouldn't be enough seats for everyone. I spent most of the morning composing an email to reassure her that I was not in the least offended and that she was not the worst Bridezilla I had ever encountered. Exhausting! Now don't get me wrong- I'm not opposed to marriage. I enjoy the idea of monogamy and commitment and there are certainly some legal benefits as well. (Oh, and have I mentioned I love diamonds?) It's just that 99% of weddings are so formulaic and dull, I don't see how they even remain in fashion. They just seem so... archaic. And unnecessary. Especially if you're not even religious.

It's funny, I had never attended a wedding in my life until I was a sophomore in college. Since then, I've attended more than I can even remember and been in three. I long for the days before people became obsessed with things like petticoats and seat covers and place settings.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Mysterious Disappearance of C

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting



One drizzly autumn day Chris was taking a leisurely stroll down the Arlington bike path, very much enjoying the sight of the brightly colored trees contrasted against the gray New England sky. Suddenly, he heard a distinct rustling to his right and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a disembodied hand scramble into a pile of dead, dry leaves. But when he whipped his head to get a better view there was nothing there.

"That's odd," Chris muttered, but continued walking.

As he traveled he was sure he heard scratching, dragging noises behind him. They sounded very close, but each time he looked back the bike path was empty. Empty. Well that was strange- the bike path was usually clogged up with joggers, cyclists, and pregnant Cambridge ladies pushing strollers of triplets.

Chris shrugged to himself, pretending not to notice, but quickened his pace. Despite the chill in the air and the impending darkness, a thin sheen of sweat had broken out, goosebumps rising up on his neck. The scratching sounds were definitely getting closer and he was certain he had just heard a moan. The path also looked strangely unfamiliar, as if he had never seen this section before, yet he knew he could not be far from home.

That was it. Chris had had enough. Without looking back, he broke into a sprint towards home. After running till he had a cramp in his side big enough to stun an elephant he slowed and finally stopped. He leaned over, hands on his knees, panting. It was then that he felt it.

A half-rotted hand, christened with numerous corroded silver rings and pentacle tattoos, seized Chris's ankle and pulled with the strength of a man who had just drank 12 Starbucks coffees. Horrified, Chris yelled for help and wrenched his leg this way and that, hoping to break free. It was no use; the hand dragged him closer and closer to the edge of the path, towards the giant pile of leaves that had followed behind him. Suddenly a surly voice sounded next to his ear: "You city kids think there's nothing better than big chain coffee places, do you?"

Despite his terror, Chris couldn't help but utter a confused, "Huh?".

"That's right. Think I don't remember you? You were the guy that wouldn't sign our petition. Closed down the Someday Cafe, you did. Perfectly good local-owned coffee shop- so what if the couches had mold and the homeless slept in the corner and it smelled like pee? Make more room for a Dunkin' Donuts, I suppose! You'd LIKE that, wouldn't you?!"

Still struggling, Chris squeezed out the words. "That wasn't me! That was my girlfriend! She just... she just really likes Dunkin' Donuts!"

"Well then lucky us... we'll just take the both of you!" With a roar of soul-crushing anguish and rage, the hand (and voice) made one final tug and Chris was sucked down into a leafy grave.

So goes the tale of the Mysterious Disappearance of C.





Gotcha! Chris wasn't taken by leafy Someday Cafe zombies at all; he's off at training in Arizona this week, and semi-incommunicado, at that. Had you going, though, didn't I?



*Thanks to this dude for his art work- it at least made me crack a grin today.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Anyone Got Some Animal Crackers?

I could lie to you and tell you that we had yet another Monday holiday yesterday, thus relieving me of my posts. But I think you deserve better than that, dear readers. The truth is I was just too damn busy to get anything out. That's not to say that you didn't deserve a post! But it's been a struggle to get things done around here as it is, so you'll have to overlook my absence just this once. And anyway, you're probably used to my Mondays off by now.

This afternoon I had a meeting with my team and my Principal. At one point, my Principal turned to me to ask my opinion on something and at exactly that moment I realized that my cuticle was bleeding. Bad. How did it happen? Well, I'm fairly certain it has something to do with the mysterious atmosphere in this school- both morbidly humid and searingly dry in turns. Point being: my skin was dry and I probably snagged it on a piece of paper or something, causing me to bleed out, directly in front of the head honcho.

Mortifying? Well, it would have been, had I clued anyone in to my pain and loss of blood. Instead, I wrapped my other hand around it and blathered on about adolescent literacy or some such nonsense until I could make my escape to the little girl's room and quietly pump blood into the sink drain. I finally staunched the flow with paper towels and retired to my office, woozy and in need of juice and crackers. My one consolation: it wasn't a nosebleed on my Principal. Oh, and I didn't drip onto my khakis. Huzzah.

Don't worry about me though, I'll be ok. Really.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Out For The Count


This week has kicked my ass. For real. This has been the longest 4-day week I've ever experienced. I haven't gotten home before 5 p.m. once this week- and bear in mind that I drag my weary self out of bed at 5:30 every morning, so it's been 12 hour days. And people wonder why teachers need so much vacation time? Anyway, being up past midnight last night certainly didn't help make me the most wide awake person today, but it did help me get rocked out by a bunch of crazy musicians.

For those of you who have never graced the wonder that is Central Square, the upstairs at the Middle East Club is roughly the size of my bedroom. And my bedroom is not particularly large. So when I tell you that Estradasphere had at least a dozen instruments on that tiny little stage, you can imagine how loud their sound was. No joke! They had an upright bass, some kind of Asian mandolin thing, an accordion, a violin, two keyboards, a trumpet, a banjo, drums, and two guitar players. And goddamn, they were serious about playing. It basically boiled down to awesomeness being slammed into my eardrums for two hours. Oh, and they had PBR tall boys! Suh-weet.

So what's up this weekend for everyone? I, myself, will be enjoying a pleasant nap directly after work today (as long as the pansy little kid next door doesn't slam his Razor scooter into a fire hydrant like he did yesterday afternoon- the wuss screamed and cried so much I thought he was being murdered out on the street by gangs of mutant squirrels), and then hopefully gliding right into a relaxing weekend. Chris takes off for training in Arizona on Sunday night and I am crazy jealous- I love Phoenix almost as much as I love Boston. Then I am on my own for a week! Whatever will I do with all the free time?

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT! Or... going to bed at 9 p.m. Which ever I get to first. Good day to you.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Oh, The Places You've Been

I feel like I've done a lot of traveling in my lifetime. I mean, why wouldn't I when I used to work for an airline and all? But looking at this map of places I've been, it seems so... small. And sad. Time to get to work on that!



And the rest of the world...



Where the hell have you been?

Look real close and you'll see I've actually been to a bunch of islands. Those tiny red dots? They're not Microsoft Paint mistakes, they're actual countries. Ones that I've been to. So hush.

Oh, and just a fair warning: I might be a bit sleepy and/or cranky tomorrow a.m.; I'm going to get rocked out by Estradasphere at the Middle East Club tonight. The show doesn't even start until 9, which is already pushing my bed time, so we'll see how I cope. 'Till then, rock stars.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

For Reasons Unknown


Dudes. I totally blew my big chance to toot my own horn. As of October 5th, I have officially been writing this drivel for an entire year. Hooray, me! I just gave myself an actual pat on the back and a kid saw me through my office window. God, I love being the kooky librarian.

Anyway, to celebrate my awesomeness I am not even going to bother coming up with my own wit and snark to amuse you. No, instead I am simply going to cut and paste a very poor survey from someone else's site and run with it. Give me a break here- it's Hump Day and I'm tired.

Read it and weep:

1. Do you still talk to the person you had your first kiss with? Nope. What a horrible question to start a survey off.
2. What would you do with 1,000 plastic spoons? Create lawn art. And then buy a house so I had a lawn for the art.
3. What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school? New Kids on the Block. Actually, the boy I had my first kiss with was in one of their videos. Rock, rock on.
4. What is the best thing about your job? How to choose? Honestly, my job is the best.
5. Do you wish cell phone etiquette was required in class? I wish cell phones were banned from class.
8. Where are you going on your next vacation? That's right, we like to skip numbers here. 6? 7? Screw 'em. We think outside the box. Wait, what was the question again? Oh, right, vacation... probably Orlando or Denver.
9. Quote a song lyric? How is this a question?
10. Are most of the friends in your life new or old? It's all relative, man.
11. Do you own any furniture from Ikea? My apartment is pretty much sponsored by Ikea. They really should be paying me to live inside an advertisement.
13. If you could be an animal what would you be? A kitten. I'd love to be featured on kitten wars. It's like Project Runway for cats.
14. What state/country are you from? New Hampshire, represent.
15. Tell us about the last conversation/s you had. It involved old people and books. That's all you need to know.
16. Where do you see yourself in one month? Living on the streets, destitute and alone. Hey, a lot can happen in a month.
17. What is your favorite smell? Fall leaves on the ground
18. What is your favorite sight? My angel cat, Vinny, looking at me with his adorable green eyes. My baby doll Aidan. My Christopher. Fall trees and fairs.
19. Do you consider yourself bi-polar? Can one consider oneself bipolar? Wouldn't you need a doctor's diagnosis for this? This question makes me nervous.
21. Have you ever done anything vindictive to your coworkers? No. It'd be awfully embarassing to be fired from your job as a school librarian for being "vindictive". Hey, and where'd 20 go?
22. Have you ever gone to therapy? Nope. Waste of money. I do my own therapizing: librarian, heal thyself.
23. Have you ever played Spin the bottle? Hell yes, what would middle school have been without Spin the Bottle and 7 Minutes in Heaven? Nowadays they just have Rainbow Parties, but it's so not the same.
24. Have you ever toilet-papered someone’s house? No, but I read about it once. Sounds dreamy.
25. Have you ever liked someone but never told them? Sure
26. Have you ever gone camping? Many moons ago, when I was a different person.
27. Have you ever had a crush on your sister’s friend? No, my sister's friends tend not to be my type.
28. Have you ever been to a nude beach? A topless beach in Martinique- does that count?
29. Have you ever had sex on the beach? What is that- peach and champagne? Or sand in crevices? Either way, gross.
30. Have you ever had a stalker? Kinda.
32. have you ever laughed so hard you cried? Lord, yes.
33. Have you ever gone to a party where you were the only sober one? Yes. I was pretty much always the DD until I discovered red wine.
34. Have you ever been cheated on? Unfortunately, yes.
35. Have you ever felt betrayed by your best friend? BO-RING
36. Have you ever lied to your parents? Who hasn't?
37. Have you ever been out of the US? Yep.
38. Have you ever thrown up from working out? No, but I did throw up in my own lap in 6th grade math class. The first and only time I ever ate school hot lunch.
39. Have you ever gotten a haircut so bad that you wore a hat for a month straight? I don't know of any girl that would ever wear a hat for a month straight, I don't care how bad the haircut is.
40. Have you ever eaten 3 meals from 3 different fast food places in 1 day? No. I was blessed with the "I hate food that tastes like crap" gene.
41. Have you ever gotten so wasted you cant remember the nite before? I plead the 5th on this. Let's just say gin + Tang should never, never be consumed together.
42. Have you ever spied on someone you had a crush on? Yep... used to get calls from my friends like, "Just saw Ben in the library!" and then I'd run up there in my pajamas just to watch him read ancient Russian texts.
43. Have you ever slept with one of your coworkers? Also going to plead the 5th- but I will mention that I've worked with more than one of my boyfriends.
44. Kissed more than one person at a time? I don't think I get it.
45. I'm skipping this question. Point of personal privelege.

The week's more than half over, people. Woot.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Wha Huh?

Oh, sorry. I didn't even notice you there. I was too busy thinking about how it's Tuesday and I'm back at school. When's the next vacation again? November? Damn, that's far away. Anyway, congrats on surviving two whole Mondays in a row without yours truly. It's really a testament to the strength of your boredom that you made it back here. Oh, and condolences to those of you that had to work this Christopher Columbus Day. It was a fine day to be alive and free from the shackles of slavery. I mean, work.

Friday night I had a visit from my lovely friend Megan and her husband. Since they hadn't been back to this neck of the woods for two years, I felt pretty lucky to snag any time with them at all, but still it was too little time to see them. We had some delicious Tex-Mex fare at the Border Café and then headed for some low-key fun at the old Davis standby, the Burren. Unfortunately, the cover band they had playing was so loud (and so terrible), we opted to just hang out at my place and have a few brews. And then they were off, back to Denver. Stupid Denver.

Saturday was so nice that Chris and I ended up walking about 8 miles. Somehow I had gotten the idea that the Harvard Square Octoberfest was Saturday, but upon walking down there and searching in vain for something festival-y, I spotted a sign informing us it was actually Sunday. Oops. So we hopped on the T to grab some fine Asian cuisine and do some Asian grocery browsing at the Super 88. Yumster. We also caught up on the season's episodes of The Office and My Name is Earl.

When Sunday came we were ready to do some fall leaf peeping (doesn't leaf peeping sound vaguely gross? whatevs, I didn't make it up), so we decided to roll up to NH and do a little nature hike to see some egrets nesting. The trail was less than stellar; it looked like someone had once raked up some leaves in the general direction of a path and tied orange construction ribbon to trees. I did get a bit of an adrenaline rush when I almost stepped on the largest garden snake I've ever seen. Chris thought it would be fun to catch it and bring it back to the city, I thought it would be fun to run away from it and never look back. Later my madre made us dinner and we drove back to the city full of roast chicken, Chris still scratching at what he imagined were deer ticks burrowing into his skin.

Although I got up pretty early on Monday morning, I still grinned to myself all day because 1. it was gorgeous out, warm and breezy and colorful, and 2. it was light out when I got up. Yesss. I also got to saunter leisurely down to the gym and fully enjoy the sauna and hot tub, then wander down to Harvard with a friend for some mid-afternoon shopping.

And that, my friends, is the proverbial that. I've gotta run, got some library ass kickin' to do. Have a good one, and enjoy this Tuesday-not-Monday.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Super Special Long Weekend #2


Is it wrong that every time a kid takes out one of these books I have to suppress a giggle? I mean, his name is Bone and he has no pants. And what is that he's juggling? Sperm? How is this a kid's book?

Anyway, things here in NPWLand are going just swimmingly. Of course, being me, I do have one tiny complaint that I am going to voice here: it seems to be taking me much longer this year to get to work in the mornings than it ever did last year. The commute seems interminable. Even with my iPod chock full of music and podcasts, the 25 minutes I spend in the car are a little bit torturous. It's even worse in the afternoons when I just want to get out of the traffic and walk home. I look forward to weekends when I can park my car for three days and not think about it again until it's time to go back to work. And though my Civic does it's duty in transporting me places (actually, it probably does more than it's fair share considering how poorly I treat it), I still harbor a desire to be able to just hop on the T in the mornings. Recently the mere thought of a long car drive makes me squirmy.


Yes, it's probably some psychological block, rebelling against all those long drives out to Rochester (which thankfully have been put on hold for a while- no offense, Roch). But now every time I encounter the slightest bit of traffic I start to get irritated. That is a major problem in a city like Boston; there's no option but traffic here. The only way I can think to avoid becoming a raving Massachusetts lunatic is to find myself some Zen podcasts and completely zone myself out. Hey, it can't be more dangerous than me spending the entire half hour chatting on the phone while merging onto 4 lanes of rush hour traffic, right?


On to my next topic of ridiculousness: one of the teacher's aides asked me today if he could check out his own books. Check out his own books! I didn't pay thirty G's for my Master's degree to let you fool around with my computer system, buddy. Go get a degree from Library School and maybe I'll think about letting you take out your own books. Seriously- what is this, a library or a hippie commune? Next we'll be smoking peyote in a corner behind the stacks and making macramé plant hangers in the AV room.


Next up: another long weekend. Yeah, me! Once again, the old day planner has tons of stuff pencilled in but I have one word for you: Octoberfest. Of course, only time will tell how much we'll actually be able to get to- I always seem to have big big plans and then I have to pare them down a bit once I realize I've let my ambition get the best of me. But being too busy is better than not being busy enough- being bored is for suckas. I'll have a full report for you upon my return.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Arbitrary Thursday


I'm totally going to make this little dude out of felt this weekend. How cute?

So anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know today that my status as Domestic Goddess is almost entirely complete. I made a pasta sauce the other night from scratch that was as delicious as any Italian mother could churn out. In fact, I was so pleased with myself and my cookery that I ran up and down the stairs of my place to inform my roommates that I am a kitchen wizard. They may have rolled their eyes at first, but once they tasted my tomato-y goodness they were quickly singing my praises. Bonus: tons of leftover sauce means I'll be making lasagna this weekend! I'm a regular Martha Stewart up in this piece.

In other news, it's colder than a witch's nip out here. Sometimes tricksy New England likes to pull this in October- 80 degrees one day, 50 the next. It's how we roll.

Umm, also? Quick poll about last night's season premiere of LOST. Stay tuned tomorrow for my vote and review.


















Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Vive la France!


Zut alors! Eet ees time for ma classe de francais already?

Seriously, didn't I just go to French? Like, yesterday? I feel as though I was supposed to be doing something all week to prepare for class, but I pretty much got as far as playing with this site for a half hour before I gave up. Oh, and I read some articles in Le Monde and did a few searches on the French Yahoo!. Cut me some slack, will you? Really, I shouldn't be so cynical about this class- I do love the language and it's a good opportunity for me to get in some practice.

You may be wondering how the Francophile in me developed? Well you'd do well to wonder; for those of you who know me, you've very likely heard horror tales from my time spent abroad. For those of you who have never had the good fortune to hear me wax poetic about the French, we'll suffice it to say that my 3 weeks in Clermont-Ferrand as a glorified babysitter were not the exciting trip to Europe I had always dreamed of. Picture me, a timid young high schooler, away from her home in Small Town, New Hampshire for the first time, ready to have all my brochure promises fulfilled: a new best friend and French "sister", skiing trips to the Alps, sunning myself on a yacht in Cannes. Then try to imagine me stepping off the plane in what amounts to Small Town, France, smack in the middle of nowhere, to a French "family" that had apparently forgotten I was coming to visit.

Upon discovering that I was to be stuck in a house all day with a 3 year old child, while the adults who worked overnight developing pornography websites (!) slept the days away and a "sister" that ditched me to make out with old men in the neighboring field, I promptly decided to skip the whole France thing and hopped on the next plane out. I spent the rest of my vacation with relatives in England. Yes, most of them were in their 70's. Beggars can't be choosers.

Nevertheless, I did get the chance to spend some time in Paris and at Giverny, and the culture and art alone were enough to inspire me to continue studying French throughout high school and college. What can I say? Language acquisition is one of my fortes. Some people can do cool things like play an instrument or sing. Me? I learn languages. Quickly.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Rain, Rain, Go Away


Oh my. It's October! And it's a Tuesday! Where does the time go? I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed your respective weekends. The gray skies and the drizzly rain made it very clear that we are stepping up our Fall game here in New England. It also decided to give me a kick in the ass by throwing in a few downpours on the very day I attempted my annual trip to the Deerfield Fair.

You read that correctly, nerds. I didn't make it to the fair.

It was kind of a blow, the first year in the past 15 that I was unable to get it together. But the thought of walking through mudslides of pig poop and getting stuck in the steamy poultry barn with a hundred shrieking children, all in the torrential cold rain? I would go to almost any length to make it to my favorite event of the season, but even I am not that big a glutton for punishment. And I didn't want Chris's first fair impression to be horrendous, after all. But there are a few options: we could attempt an appearance at the inferior Topsfield Fair next weekend. Or we could simply accept that we will have to wait another whole year for the 4-H equestrian show. Only 364 days left!

Fortunately, the travesty of my Deerfield absenteeism was somewhat tempered by the sheer awesomeness of the rest of the weekend. Saturday we went up to scenic NH to do some apple picking- and by apple picking, I mean wandering around the orchards performing a taste test on the different varieties of apples and gawking at the giant pumpkin patch while Chris scared me silly by telling me snakes live in pumpkin patches. And having yesterday off was no small deal, either. Sleeping in till 8:30 is a treat in itself, but then having the whole day to wander around the city... well, I think we could all use a few more long weekends in our lives.

 
hit counter