Little Known Facts About Me

Marisa tagged me. And I am procrastinating (as I watch D1), so here it goes:

Four things about me that you may or may not have known in no particular order. The directions are at the end.

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Teacher
2. Bank Teller
3. Audiology Assistant
4. Retail Sales Associate

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Pride And Prejudice
2. You've Got Mail
3. Roman Holiday
4. Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea


C) Four places I have lived:

1. My Hometown. One of the top 50 safest towns in the USA.
2. Brooklyn, NY
3. Wenham, MA
4. My own little world :)

D) Four shows that I watch:

1. Dancing With The Stars
2. Any show with Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel
3. How It's Made
4. Myth Busters

E) Four places I have been: (besides the places I have lived)

1. Alaska
2. Germany
3. Norway
4. Canada

F) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):

1. Rebecca
2. Jenny
3. Matt (hah! He used to!)
4. Travelzoo, union, MENC, The Knot, and a million stupid email things.


G) Four of my favorite foods:

1. Chocolate
2. Sushi
3. Mangoes
4. Freshly Baked Cookies

H) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Sleeping!
2. Someplace warm, like a tropical beach or the ocean.
3. The shore (even when it's chilly, it's wonderful)
4. On an adventure with Matt.

I) Four folks I think will respond (maybe):

1. probably not anyone... but here are some choices.
2. Jenny
3. Becky (although she's already been tagged)
4. Kate

J) Things I am looking forward to this year:

1. February Vacation... Disney World!! :)
2. Getting this wedding in order... FINALLY
3. Trying to get my life in order
4. Going to see Audra McDonald in concert!

DIRECTIONS: Copy the text, delete my answers and pop in your own. Tag, you're it!

Waxing Nostalgic

There are lots of great things about being a grown-up, but sometimes you wish you could go back in time for a while. There's a big part of me that would love to put on some silly costume and go trick-or-treating with friends on Wednesday afternoon, then put myself into a sugar coma with a pillowcase full of candy collected from the neighborhood. Fun stuff like that. I guess it's really just the fantasy, the fun, the utter silliness of it that I miss. The stuff that as adults we too often put aside because we don't have time, or feel to responsible, or are afraid of how we might look to the world around us. It seems strange that as we gain our independence and means to do the extraordinary, we lose our nerve to do the things we always dreamed of doing, as silly as they might have been. Perhaps we lack the courage to step outside of ourselves and get lost in "being" someone else for a little while.

At least I can still watch "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" tomorrow night. :) And I have to dress up at work... although it's not so interesting since we all are going to be the same thing. But I will be comfortable and I get to wear sneakers, so that's a plus. And heck, I'll eat some chocolate too. So there. :p

Long time, no post.

Hey there. I know I haven't posted in a long while, but I have a good excuse... at least I think it is.

I've spent most of this fall sick. It's been really frustrating and my athsma has gone completely out of whack. They tried a bunch of different drugs which didn't work, so the doc finally put me on prednizone. It's a pretty serious steroid, and they gave me a considerable amount of it. It worked, and I was starting to feel better - oh, joy! But here's the catch... it's a drug that you can't just stop taking. You have to taper it down over time in order to get off of it again. So, we started to taper down... and then all of the things started to happen. First, I virtually stopped sleeping. I'd be up at least 7-8 times a night. Every night. My back went into evil mode, aching from top to bottom and wrapping around to the front, affecting my stomach. Basically, as I started to taper off of the drug, my body didn't like it and went into withdrawal. The sad thing is that the doctors didn't have too much they could do about it... so I suffered my way through the week. I don't remember most of it, honestly... I didn't work on Monday, and the rest of the work-week is pretty fuzzy. I did what I needed to do and then came home, really. The one highlight of the week was that I got a massage at Mezzaluna on Friday.... ah, how wonderful! The masseuse was able to break up a lot of the tension, although it did make me sore! :) I am now completely off of the pred, thank goodness, and won't ever, EVER, E V E R take it again. I was worried about taking it at all due to the fact that I hallucinated when I took some at age 16. So between these two experiences, I will not put it in my body again. Nope. Shiver.

So yeah, that's what's been up with me. So nice and exciting, eh? Woo hoo... oh, the excitement!

tick....... tock......... tick......... tock...............

Frustrating. Very very frustrating. Take a look at the time of this post. It's not due to the fact that I've been up late to a crazy party or spent the evening on a movie marathon or anything good. It's the stupid fact that I iust CAN'T SLEEP! The past few nights have found me waking up three times each, and this is already number three for tonight... but this time I can't seem to get back to sleep. Blast and wretch! Why? I'm tired! I went to bed exhausted. I want to be sleeping. I love sleeping. But no. Instead I am awake, so I figured enough twitching in my bed - time to actually get up and at least make an attempt to beat insomnia.

The one good thing about it is that there is no work tomorrow, so that is a blessing in itself, but I don't want to be grumpy all day, either. Bah.

Dancing With The Stars Quote 2:

"... it was sharp and tangy like a pickle."

Len Goodman, in reference to Jenny Garth & Derek Hough's performance of the tango tonight.

Modern Mozart?

A Video-of-the-day... thanks to Matt! Enjoy!

Medication, Mango Sauce and Multiple Birthdays!

Sick again. Grr. More medication, more rest. Blah. I should be at Marisa's house tonight to celebrate her birthday. But I'm at home. But I did get some beautiful flowers, mango sauce and a happy movie from my sweetheart. Yay!

By the way....

This week finds two of my friends celebrating the anniversary of the day they were born! Marisa was on the 4th and Peter is today! Happy Birthday to you both! Enjoy the year!

A quote for the evening...

"... I could go skinny dipping in his eyes."



A quote in reference to Cameron Mathison on Dancing With The Stars. He is a cutie, I must admit! :)

knit-tastic!

I just (finally!) got around to looking at the fall issue of Knitty. (of course, all of this time should have been spent writing lesson plans, of course...)

I am in love with this:How amazingly cute is that? I want it. I want to make it.

...and I find it is designed by a woman in NYC who sells patterns for lots of cute little knitted friends... and there are even some that are free! (whee!) Go and see them on her website! Tres cute. I want to make them all. :)

so domestic

Things I've done today:
-wake up
-make breakfast (omlet, toast, coffee)
-read the paper a little
-put in laundry (the first of five loads)
-shower
-get dressed
-drive to church
-schmooze after church
-pick apples by Matt's new house
-check out some of the outbuildings on the property
-chat with Matt
-drive home
-continue with laundry (this takes a considerable amount of time)
-make roasted tomato soup from the tomatoes given to me at church
-make chunky applesauce with some of the apples
-check email
-eat some apples
-sign up with Facebook
-procrastinate some more
-eat some Mallomars (oh joy - they have returned!)
-blog
-organize lesson plans

(the last one will begin when I finish this post. I have been putting it off. not good. )

... but I have been quite domestic and productive, no?

A little bit of anarchy, but not the hurting kind...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I relate to the lyrics of song really well. Being a perfectionist and a people-pleaser I often feel like I am doing things for someone else and that I have to over-think it all through - including the possible scenarios that could follow - before I can begin. Is the overarching theme something to aspire to all of the time? No, and the song doesn't say that. But every once in a while, you need to stop and just let go, and that is so hard.... and so appealing... to someone like me.

Consequence Free - Great Big Sea

Wouldn’t it be great, if no one ever got offended
Wouldn’t it be great to say what’s really on your mind
I have always said ‘all the rules are made for bending’
And if I let my hair down, would that be such a crime?

Chorus
I wanna be consequence free
I wanna be where nothing needs to matter
I wanna be consequence free
just sing Na Na Na Na Na Ne Na Na Na

I could really use, to lose my Catholic conscience
Cuz I’m getting sick of feeling guilty all the time
I won’t abuse it, Yeah I’ve got the best intentions
For a little bit of anarchy but not the hurting kind

Chorus

I couldn’t sleep at all last night
cause I had so much on my mind
I’d like to leave it all behind,
but you know it’s not that easy

Chorus

Wouldn’t it be great, if the band just never ended
We could stay out late and we would never hear last call
We wouldn’t need to worry about approval or permission,
we could — slip off the edge and never worry about the fall

Chorus

(Note: this is post # 501!! I didn't realize that I'd made that many. I guess I started and just couldn't shut up!)

Blech.

1. I love air conditioning.
2. I hate humidity.
3. Working at a job with no air conditioning completely bites.


One bright spot in a soggy day:
I have had a lot of students noticing that I have a new haircut... but one girl today took the cake. She told me I looked like a rockstar.


... I desperately needed that today.

AHHHHHH

I am buried under mountains of to-do lists and my head is fuzzy from all of the faces and places and paperwork and whatnot - some of which I still have yet to experience! You might not hear from me for a while... so much to do and the remnants of a summer mindset to internally argue with. Ah, September rears her ugly head.

Don't get me wrong, my job is good once everything settles down. It's just the chaos until then that makes me a little batty!

Things that make you go hmmmmm??? (POTD!)

We saw this while at the shore last weekend... twice!

Look at what Mr. Shrimp has to say!

And one last strange sight... me playing a video game! Lego Star Wars!

More random pictures from August are found here.

Two "Matt" Announcements

Big lifestyle-changing things have been going on in Matt's world recently - it's all very exciting!

I've already told you about the new job. Hurray! I know he will be a great teacher. :)

The next thing? A new car!

A very shiny fancy Jaguar, to be exact!! He stumbled upon this by chance and was able to get a great deal. (Even though he bought it from a dealer, it was strange to find out that the previous owner lives a few blocks away from him! Small world! ) His good 'ol Hyundai had well over 100,000 miles and was starting to demand a lot of costly repairs, so it was time for something newer and more reliable. We tease him about his "Fancy Car," but it is really quite nice. :)

And not to be left out... he's moving!

This cottage belongs to the church we have been attending. He'll be renting the house and will adopt the title of groundskeeper. He hasn't moved in yet, but we have been measuring and will paint before he does. Once we can scare up a few sticks of furniture (even Ikea is looking pricy!) there will be a housewarming party! It's very charming, but also quite old - even older than the church (1880!). It is small, but I think with time and creativity it will be quite cozy. My mind is whirring with lots of ideas as to how to make it warm and inviting while stretching every dollar as far as it can go!

Big things! Now if we can just get married, life will completely go on its head! ;)

Great Big Sea at LL Bean!

Two weekends ago, we took a crazy two-day road trip to Maine. Four of us loaded into my dear 'ol Jeep and took the long, long drive up to Freeport. Why, you might ask? Unlimited shopping at LL Bean and the outlets? Well, that's a good reason and one we did take advantage of, but no. We went on the quest for music - Great Big Sea!

The concert was great - it was a part of the LL Bean summer concert series (free!) - supposedly they had over 4500 people in the park that night! It was especially fun because there were so many Canadians there, and they know how to party!

We had wanted to stay in Freeport, but everything was booked solid, from the swankiest B&B to all the sites at the campgrounds, so we stayed in Portland - what a great choice! It is such a charming city and I wish we could have sent more time there. I will go back there to explore the interesting little shops and experience it properly! Our hotel was fantastic, too - Holiday Inn By The Bay. The room was comfortable, they gave us a bag of goodies, and we had a bay view!

Of course, we did some shopping while we were there as well, both at Bean and in other stores in that shopping mecca. There was a fantastic little British shop where we all stocked up on chocolates and other goodies, great little cafes for food (lobster roll, yum!), and surprisingly I came home with an extra suitcase!

I had wanted to take part in one of the Walk-On adventures, but we didn't have time... so I will return for that, too. This is as close to kayaking that I got, but I will get to try it some day!

Sadly, a very important thing that I wanted to do in Freeport didn't happen.... my dear friend Kate lives there, and I was excited to get to see her. But she went away! Oh, the sadness! Ah well.... just another reason to go back! Pictures are here... and there might be more soon if I get the "ok" from our friends!

Weird NJ Baseball Game

I've got some catching up to do....

On July 27th, Matt and I went to a Newark Bears baseball game. I know that it is not something most would expect us to do, but I'd gotten an email from Weird NJ and they were sponsoring this game. If you brought/wore some kind of WNJ paraphernalia, you got in for free! So, we headed out with some issues of the magazine and went to the ballgame.

Mark and Mark (the writers/founders) were there and doing a signing... so not only did we get our magazines signed, but we also got two signed copies of the first Weird NJ book! They gave out the second volume later - too bad we couldn't get one of each! There were some WNJ "characters" there as well, and even fireworks after the game! The Bears won, too - it was a very exciting ending with most of the action happening in the bottom of the ninth!

A really fun evening was had for a very small amount of money... a few tolls, $5 parking in Newark, free admission to the game, free books, free fireworks! Pictures are here.

Diez

Forty sticks of butter.
Eight medium cantelopes.
Ten bags of sugar or flour.
Roughly the weight of your head.

When you think about the fact that ten pounds is the equivalent of one of those, it makes you feel pretty good when you've gotten rid of it. **smile**

Freshly Sharpened Pencils...

I have a lot of stuff that I should be posting about, but I'm too lazy and sleepy at the moment to upload pictures and whatnot. I'll just make a comment on something that just came to me.

I guess I must be feeling nostalgic or something, but after watching a commercial today on television, I realized that I miss going to school. Not teaching, considering the fact that I am in the midst of getting ready to do it all once again, but rather being a student. I miss carefully packing up all of my stuff and cramming it all into Bing* for the drive up. I miss my friends, who were just a short walk away (or in the next room!) instead of hours or plane rides away. I miss strange things, like the mailboxes. I really miss college choir and my lessons. I miss the struggle of balancing work and play, something that I never quite accomplished, tending to work a lot and being so painfully frugal that I didn't go as many places as I should have. I miss studying and feeling that it was hard, good work, but not impossible. I miss the controlled freedom and how liberating it felt - the ability to be "independent," out of sight of parent's eyes, yet still protected. I miss the "me" that I was becoming there.

School starts next Wednesday. I wonder if my ID card still works.


*my old, dear Red 1991 Toyota Tercel DX, who was named "Bing" by a group of college friends.
The picture above, of course, is not mine - but check out the Edmund's website on the car! If I still had it, I could get a better price for it than I thought! And look at the rating, too - it was a great little car!

More Procrastination

I blogged about my Tetris addiction and my newfound StateTris. Now I discover that there is not just the USA version, but Europe, Africa and France. I put them all in the sidebar. Check them out!


I will soon kick butt at world geography, thanks to the wonderful world of computers and the internet. :)