Thursday? Already?

Thirteen Things about NPW's "Vacation" 1. After 28 years of life here in New England I've come to learn that you have to take what the weatherpeople say with a grain of salt. So when they predicted rain for the entirety of my vacation week I admit I scoffed a little- it certainly can't rain the whole time, I thought. Want to know how wrong I was? I haven't seen so much as a hint of the sun in the last 6 days. It's either been pouring, sleeting, or drizzling at any given moment. Yeah, it's been pretty sweet. 2. So yesterday I thought, screw this rain, I'm going shopping down in Harvard Square. I had some prizes for certain winners that I wanted to pick up, and I also figured I could do some Jasmine Sola shopping and partake of some delicious bubble tea while I was there. I drove down to Harvard (the first mistake of many) thinking no one would be out in these miserable conditions and I'd have no problem finding parking. After 45 minutes circling around trying to hawk a spot, I pulled into one about 10 minutes away from the Square. I got out to put money in the meter and realized I only had one quarter. Well, that bought me 30 minutes- I had better get moving. I started walking and a giant truck breezed by me, launching a solid three foot wall of water onto my torso. Too late to turn back now, I was in this for the long haul. I kept walking, my umbrella turning inside out in the blustery wind and my glasses coated in a spray of drizzly mist. Soaked from the waist down, I made it to the Tannery to look at some shoes when I suddenly felt those tell-tale cramps that signify "I am woman, hear me whimper". In case you don't know, there are only two bathroom options in Harvard: the nasty underground hole in the basement of the Garage, or the infinitely preferable Harvard Coop. The Coop was closed for inventory. You get two guesses where I ended up next. By the time I exited, my 30 minutes were up on my parking meter and I still had a ten minute walk back to my car in the freezing (and now pouring) rain. So. That was a fun adventure. I spent the rest of the day huddled in blanket watching movies and shivering. 3. Today I decided that to make up for the Harvard debacle I would serve a little mall time. I gathered up my cousin and Aidan and dragged them to store after store. To their credit, they both handled my aggressive shopping with composure. Especially for a ten month old and a new mom. Thankfully, this trip was indoors and far more successful. 4. But... do you think I have a problem? And those are just the flats that I have unpacked! 5. I have mostly put together the winning packages from last Friday's contest. I have a couple more things I want to pick up but they're shaping up. I like them enough to want to keep one for myself, but I won't. They'll be on their way very soon. 6. Monday at the gym I caught the winning runners of the Boston marathon and let me tell you, there is nothing more inspiring while running on a boring-ass treadmill than watching those runners hit Kenmore after 25 miles and then bust out in a sprint. For about 2o minutes I thought how great it would be to have such a big goal and meet it. Then I got bored of the songs on my ipod and bored of the treadmill and switched over to the elliptical. And then I realized: my ADD is far too advanced at this point to do anything for a solid two and a half hours. 7. Seriously, this child does nothing but smile. If I knew I'd have such a happy baby I think I could handle the idea of having one of my own. 8. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but I think there will be some very good news at the end of this week. Very good news. I will keep you all informed. 9. I've been spending some of my many, many indoors hours looking for summer employment. This has been both frustrating and amusing; it seems every job that entails summer hours pays $8 an hour and/or requires no prior telemarketing skills. Anybody need a summer librarian? I catalog real good. 10. I'm also looking to trade up cars. I've had mine for three years now, and that's been about two years and eleven months too many. A few weeks ago I test drove the Nissan Murano. One word: awesome. Can't you just see me hauling ass on 93 every morning? I would get so many speeding tickets in that thing. 11. Speaking of cars, I was having a discussion yesterday with my mother about vanity license plates. It's a well-known fact that New Hampshire has the highest number of vanity plates per capita of any state in the country- about one in 4 cars. It really adds up. Sometimes these plates are infuriating (BIGBRAT, NHRULZ, HOWUDOIN), sometimes stupid (ALRITY, T42&24T, DRNKUP), and sometimes just incomprehensible (PRYNCS, ZOBS, PGDIGR). On my quick trip up there today I saw DODIRT and SMAHHT. My mother saw a Corvette with the plates: STRPR. Way to advertise your bidness, hos. I'd post pictures, but I get the feeling that might be illegal in some way. 12. Must go see Hot Fuzz this weekend. And Grindhouse. Yeah, must see both. Movies! 13. How many more weeks till summer vacation? Too many. Must. Get. Warm. Soon.