Macy's

Since when does Macy's not have toys?!  I thought all department stores had toy departments. My perfectly laid holiday plans are starting to unravel. Ugh!  I'll just keep repeating my mantra, "it's the thought that counts, it's the thought that counts..."

Reality TV

There's an element of reality TV that I like - the sociological study of cultures it can provide.  As a kid I remember being fascinated with the show Cops. It was the first glimpse of a whole other world completely outside my little circle and likely not one I would have ever come across.  Over the years, with the popularity of reality shows, it's a big hit or miss with a lot of "scripted" reality shows.  I feel like the reality shows have gone downhill and just when I thought it was fizzling out, I come across a new flavor.  Watching people watch TV. It doesn't sound that good and at first I was dubious but now I'm hooked!  

I came across the BBC Gogglebox this week.  It looks like it's in it's second season but I could only find two episodes on youtube.  But I'm hooked.  Some of the audience I didn't like at first but after a short period, even the drunk posh people started to grow on me.  

As I was looking for more episodes I stumbled upon The People's Couch, the American spinoff. As is usually the case, it's not as good, but after a few clips I warmed up to the show and am hooked on this one too.  It looks like everyone is just from LA, so not such a big cross section, but even still, they're funny. It's on HBO for those of you who have cable.

Of course, I can't help notice that all the shows the people are watching run the gambit from X-Factor to the Long Island Medium, but the BBC version at least had the people watching some stuff that was educational, like the news or some science shows.  It does seem to show that although both british and Americans watch a lot of TV, at least the british watch some stuff that is a little bit better.

Be forewarned, I watched one clip with the british watching the first episode of Downtown Abby, which I don't think has aired over here yet.  Not too much given away.  And then watched the Americans watching the season premiere of the Walking Dead, which I hadn't seen yet - doh.

Thanksgiving

As a way to try to keep the work/life balance I decided to take some days off around Thanksgiving.  Grand plans to work on all these projects and I think I got one done (plus helped out Cece with one of hers - organizing the craft/guest bedroom/soon to be kids play room).  Ended up just recharging and fending off the cold.  Had a nice Thanksgiving up in Vermont at dads.  Catherine and Barry came up without Tyler - so it was adults only.  I'm still getting used to driving up with Nick now.  I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the nice drive on my own - not that I don't like to catch up with Nick too.

Ended up bringing back four big boxes of legos.  I was so excited but now I realize I need to set up a place to dump them out and organize (aka play) with them that is not in the middle of the living room floor. 

I was gearing up for coming back into work today and just imagining what work had in store for me.  I'm critical but it's not like everything falls apart when I'm gone for a few days, or does it....

This is what greeted me on my commute into the office - an 8 alarm fire.  Luckily, not our building, and noone was harmed.  But it was a strange welcome back to work.

Work Travel

Just finished at work and checked in to my hotel. I was hopping I'd be in a room on the "pretty" side. And I was!  Check out my view. Just put the tv on and Goonies movie just started - all time favorite. 

Guess where I am this time!

LEGO!

Last weekend, I had a weekend with Cece and the kids.  I met up with Cece them at the public library and while she went off to drop off the groceries at home, the kids and I enjoyed a live reading of Toto the Hurricane Kitten.  And we got to meet him too.  It was amazing how well trained he was.  Almost like a dog - very strange.  In the afternoon, I took Cameron to the Lego store to pick out a birthday present.  Growing up Nick and I enjoyed endless hours playing with Lego.  Back then there weren’t as many different lines of Lego - we had a lot of the town Lego and just regular-let-your-imagination-build Lego.  I couldn’t believe they had a store just for Lego!  It had a really fun vibe and Cameron and I checked out all the sets and in the end he picked out a space set.  As we were driving to the store, I announced that I was going to buy some Lego for me too.  I wasn’t sure what I would like, but half way around to store, guess what I found - their Architecture line!  I splurged and bought myself the Empire State Building set.  I couldn’t wait to get home to build it.  I figured it's a good work toy to have on my desk next to my Vermont rock monster the kids made.

 

On our way out of the mall, we swung by American Girl and picked up a birthday present for Maggie.  Again, I remember pouring over the American Girl catalog when I was a little girl.  I loved reading about the back stories for the four girls they had.  Never actually got anything since it was all so expensive.  Of course, now they have tons more and they were super nice and helpful at the store.  I think this triggered a nostalgic weekend for me.  I started remembering what it was like being a kid, and then moved onto remembering when Cam and Maggie were younger and how fast they’re growing up!

And nothing like giving the birthday present to a (almost) four year old.  The feeding chair I picked up was just what Maggie wanted (granted her mom gave me a hint).  It was like I was giving her the moon!  She was so overjoyed with the gift and couldn’t wait to start playing with it.  We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon playing on the dining room table, making the Lego sets and playing dolls.  The kids were great at the Lego, Maggie really wanting to help and being good at mirroring stuff - I’d put in one side and she’d copy it for the other side.  Cameron was good at following the directions once he figured out the order of the pictures.  And then after dinner (and early Birthday cake) I enjoyed putting together my Lego set.  It was super fast compared to the Space and Ninja sets we were working on. 

After the kids went to bed, Cece and I stayed up watching Call of the Midwife and catching up.  Well, that was the plan except I was so dead tired I ended up falling asleep during the show and went to bed early.  Sunday, went to church with the kids and Cece and then around noon Aaron came home.  I left super happy, not just for spending a great weekend with great people, but as a bonus, Aaron fixed my car key fob.  Luckily, Cece had a similar issue earlier so they had all the stuff needed on hand.  It just made my day!

TGIF?

First, I have to say that I've been good about keeping work/life separate.  Most of my colleagues are on their email 24/7 including weekends and vacations.  I learned that I need that time to recharge and balance things out.  And I've been relatively good, up until now.  I have a massive project deadline that has myself and my group working long hours.  By 2 PM Friday afternoon I kept thinking TGIF and then laughing at myself  because there weren't enough hours between now and Monday morning client meeting.  

And I started realizing everything I had to cram into a finite weekend.  I had committed to spending a weekend with Cece and the kids and know she's shared with them the news.  Canceling on a friend is one thing but canceling on kids is a completely different thing.  For the project there is an inordinate amount of work we must get done, or else not a happy client - and it's all come up in the last couple of days. In the past I could complain about my boss over-promising or being unreasonable and now I find myself being that boss.  I'm the one with the client relationships who is held accountable.  It's a good thing but not when I haven't got the right resources.  Still working on that and fingers crossed I have something that might be falling into place next month to help. Very cryptic but don't want to jinx things.

So last night after marathon meetings internally working with my team and making sure we were all working through theis use for next weeks was realizing there was no way I could just get everything done staying late.  At about 9:30 I recognized I was loosing steam and called it quits for the night.  I have been stressed lately and part of it is that it's lonely as you move up, more is on your shoulders and less people to share your burdens with - it can weigh heavily.  But last night, even though this is the most I've ever faced I'm in better spirits than previous weeks/months because I'm not alone.  Working with my team and getting them focused they rallied and are behind me 100%+   They are having to scramble to squeeze in time this weekend too.

When we walked out the door around 10 last night I felt like it's these kind of things that bring the group closer.  Because of morning meeting I had my car and ended up giving folks a ride home. I didn't get home until after 11 and just woke up early to crank through as much as I can this morning before I meet up with Cece and the kids.  I'm going to have to cut my visit short tomorrow - would love to stay the entire afternoon but at least I'm not completely swallowed up by work.  And I'm trusting that the break will only energize me for round two of next week.

The good thing is that I can take the lessons learned from this experience on this project and change what we commit to on future projects so this is not repeated.  I'm happy that I am my own boss and not stuck with these situations on an endless basis.  I only wish there were a few extra days and tomorrow was Friday and not yesterday.  Hopefully this will be the only time and all future Fridays are TGIFs!

Work Trip

This morning was another wild dash to the airport to catch an early morning flight. You'd think I'd have this down with all the trips I've been doing. 

Just finished with our meeting and checked into the Hotel. And it's a nice one. The room is strange - a huge cut through between the room and bathroom. Strange. I guess so you can sit in the tub and enjoy the view.  A storm is brewing so I feel like I'm at the beginning of a movie. And I'm getting ready to go out for a night on the town with the head honchos. 

Check out my view!  Guess where I am!

Football Pool

One of my stories I love to share is about the first football pool I was in.  I was straight out of school, working at my first engineering firm, starting right when the football season started.  It was simple, you pay in $2 each week (or was it $5) and you pick the winner for each game and rank the games (10 being the game you were most sure of, 1 being that game that's going to be really close).  Each week, high score took all the winnings.  Ben ran the pool and come Tuesday morning, we'd divvy up the entries and run the numbers.  A pattern started to emerge, Ben and I would do well consistently each week, but not quite good enough to win and take home the weekly winnings.  Each week someone else in the office would take the cash and the only redeeming thing was that it was tradition for the winner to buy pastries and pocket the extra cash. By the end of the season, neither Ben or I had won a single game.

So come the next season, I suggested to Ben we change things slightly.  Instead of paying out 100% of the money each week, I proposed we hold back a little and include a season winner based on the cumulative score.  Guess who took home the big pay day the next two years?

The moral of the story is that if the rules don't work for you, change the rules!

Fast forward many many years to now.  I'm back working at another engineering firm and decided to join the football pool.  This year it's just a straight picked.  And I've been doing horrible.  Each week I'm decent or not so good.  Forget taking home the season end jack pot.  I'm not even coming close to winning a weekly game either.  I realized that back in the earlier years I had forgotten a critical component.  In addition to learning to change the rules, I also had learned to delegate.  I would call my brother back in high school and he would work with his friend Pat to make the picks.  Basically I just provided the cash for the entries and I never did give the guys a cut.  Well this year I was on my own.  And it wasn't working.  I tried to get my brother to help - no luck.  He's been out of the country for years and hadn't been following sports.  I even tried to talk him into hitting up Pat for help, even though it had been several years since he had touched base with him.  Nothing - I was stuck figuring it out on my own.

And I won this week!  I think.  Yesterday I got a call from a coworker and first thing she said was "really! Really,". We both had picked all the games correctly.  It was all down to Monday nights game last night.  And since Seattle was pretty sure to win it was all coming down to the final score which is the tiebreaker.  I was stunned yesterday that I had picked twelve games correctly with about four major upsets.  I had decided to take the risk and go against the grain.  Another coworker who takes sports seriously kept asking me how I did it.  Honestly, I picked the cities I've either lived in or had relatives live in.  I have a feeling this is a fluke but I'll take it!

Fall - for real

This morning I was running around getting ready for work and just before I left, I realized it's gotten pretty cold these days and that poor Winston would be cold, home all alone today.  So I quickly ran around and closed the last of the windows.  Fall is officially here.  No more warm days I think.  I have plans this weekend but think next weekend might be time to swap out the screen windows for the storm windows and maybe give them a good cleaning while I'm at it.  How do windows get so dirty?  I love the look of my windows with all the mullions but cleaning 12 small rectangles of glass on each window (two sides) gets pretty tedious.  Happy fall everyone!

Fall

It’s that time of year when I walk out the door without a jacket and am fine but coming home after work I wonder what I was thinking.  I think I’m finally back in the habit of grabbing something now on the way out, even if it’s not needed.  And our new tree that the city planted out front this year was a nice brilliant red.  I had to snap a picture on my way to work one morning.

 

My traveling has increased for work this year it seems but I still squeeze in some personal trips.  I made it up to Vermont to visit dad and Barbro.  It was strange driving the route I’ve driven so many times over the years by myself, with Nick now.  I finally made it to Scott’s farm’s annual apple tasting event.  They grow hundreds of varieties of heirloom apples and have a nice Sunday morning talk about some of the apples, passing plates with slices of apples amongst the audience for tasting.  It’s like a wine tasting but with apples. 

 

 

 

A coworker of mine, Wayne, is an apple enthusiast and goes annually so it was nice to be able to meet up with him finally.  Also, dad and Barbro had some friends visiting the same weekend so it was a packed weekend of seeing the sites and hiking through the woods.  Still managed to get in a few card games with dad.  I held my own with Jungle Board but lost out on Rummy 500, but not as badly as I usually do.

 

I rewrote a post from earlier this month three times and it still didn’t make it up.  I was doing it on my phone and every time I put my phone down and it locked up it cleared the draft.  Here’s the super abridged version:

Last week I was traveling down to NYC office.  The Acela train was having power issues so had to fly through LaGuardia.  I started to second guess the time I had allotted myself to make the flight and rushed out the door sans breakfast/make-up and randomly throwing stuff into the suitcase.  It all worked out, found one of the last parking spots, security was light and there was even a make-up mirror in the bathroom.  I was strongly aware that I was flying to NYC as I queued up for boarding.  It was me, about 50 dark suits and this one random guy in tourist get-up.  They even had a set-up for you to grab a breakfast bag (bagels, etc) and a paper (I chose NYTimes over Wall Street Journal).  I felt very corporate in my get up, in amongst the rest of the suits.

On the flight back, I got to trump some of the suits and even though I was the last one to the gate for an earlier flight, I trumped the other 3 suits to grab the last stand-by seat.  I think it’s because of my sky mileage.    I still think it’s strange flying to NYC since the entire flight lasts only about 15-20 minutes.  You ascend and straightaway start to descend.  It was a good visit - NYC still hasn’t gotten old for me yet.  Such a unique city with the tall buildings and the busy busy energy in the streets.  Very different than the California visit.

 

I’m at that stage of transition with work.  I’ve managed staff before but am shifting to the next role up which means work has gotten even busier - taking on more responsibilities but not being able to properly delegate the more senior work.  I’ve been looking for new staff, but it’s hard to find the right person.  In the meantime, I’ve been working on developing the skills of my current crew.  Today I sat in on a conference call and instead of leading it had the engineer lead it all.  I sat there silently and bit my tongue.  It was challenging and I realize I do love to talk, but worth it since he did a good job and it builds the skill so I’m no longer needed to attend.  And then this afternoon I was proud that ??  I started writing this a few weeks ago and now can’t remember the rest of that sentence.  Another good reason to post more frequently.  I do feel like I’m getting over the hump of just focusing on the fact I have too much work and working on how to change it.  The secret being that it’s on me.  I’m senior enough that I don’t have a boss to go to and say I can’t take on x project, etc.  It’s my responsibility to figure it all out and work out a solution, not just for me, but for my staff and the company as a whole.  So when it gets hectic, I focus on my zen epiphanies and when that doesn’t work I think about my latest home project that has nothing to do with work worries.  I was talking with a coworker and she said that she runs to deal with work stress and couldn’t believe I didn’t have a stress reliever.  I couldn’t think of one then, but I think that’s what it is.  I’ve always been a nester.  I could stay at home for weeks on end and not have cabin fever.  I love having my little projects and working away on stuff, even if it’s just organizing the pantry.  BTW, did that other day and have a small pile of food that is near or past it’s date that I need to cook with soon.  Half of it is some form of baking chocolate (bittersweet, unsweetend, semi-sweet chips, cocoa powder).  I think I need to do some baking!

Oh, and on a final note, I ran errands this morning.  At CVS I found that the cheap mouth guard you buy over the counter is $40… on sale.  I’m waiting a little while to get acclimated to the price.  Also, my car was making noises from the Vermont trip so dropped it off this morning at the mechanic and found out it had something rusted out and so the brake pads were worn out as a result.  Big price tag to fix it.  And this just after I deposited a nice big check from work (all reimbursable expenses, so it was just getting my money back).  So I felt rich for a moment and now I’m back to feeling poor.  The ups and downs of life!

 

Berkeley Visit

My trip to California was jam packed, and no pictures!  After my day visiting in San Francisco I was at Berkeley for a special industry event.  I thought I might know one or two people but was surprised how many people I actually knew.  It was strange visiting Berkeley too.  I got off at the BART stop and couldn’t quite connect Shattuck Ave in my memory, but by the second day, it was all coming back.  Remembering the first bar I had gone too and had to use my passport since I was still waiting for my license.  The area was pretty much unchanged.  Walking on campus to the Faculty Club for dinner I was amazed at exactly how much had stayed exactly the same for a decade plus.  It was surreal. 

It was like my younger self and older self were converging.  I was staying at a hotel that was right across from the campus art gallery, and Friday when I was waiting for the van shuttle to take me to the airport (BART strike finally happened), I was flashed back to when I was parked across the street and had had to climb into the trunk through the back seat to get my spare umbrella - it was pouring down raining.  I can’t remember if it made a difference, having an umbrella.  I did have a half hour before dinner one night and stumbled upon a Half Price Bookstore in downtown Berkeley.  That brought back memories working there (although not the same store, the layout was fairly similar).  I was good and only walked away with 6 books, including one by an author of a book I had read when I was visiting in Paris and then gave away and forgot the author’s name.  And it was on clearance!

Wednesday night I was invited to break bread with some of the professors from Berkeley and got to sit next to a small legend in the industry.  Turns out we knew quite a few mutual acquaintances.  I’m just reminded how small the industry is and how putting in the years pays off.  My younger self would have probably stayed quiet and not mingled much.  By the end of Thursday I knew most people and had already had some bonding sessions with several other folks in similar roles as mine (it’s a challenging role - we should have a support group).

I’m glad I went, but it was ridiculous trying to juggle work emails and stay focused on the purpose of the visits.  At one point I was trying to juggle a meeting between London and Korea while on west coast time - nearly impossible.  Due to the time difference, I was often up early (4 am) and cranking on emails, then would be socializing until about 10 pm.  I was surprised I wasn’t crashing but went with the flow.  It was so nice to get home Friday night and collapse with no more work demands on my time until Monday.  Instead of trying to catch up on emails, I gave myself a proper rejuvenation weekend.  Saturday I spend sleeping in, napping, cooking and more napping.

Sunday was much more productive.  I finally made it back up to my loft project.  I had stripped out about 80% of the carpet this summer but still had a lot more work to do before I could even start the prep-work.  I realized I had put off the project some, since the space reminded me a lot of Walter, who passed away in August.  He would be the only one to come up and hang-out with me up there, trying to sneak into my lap anytime I took a break, or just hang out and keep me company.  Once I got into the swing of things I made great progress pulling up all the staples and carpet wood tacking strips.  Still not quite done with the demo work - turns out the railing was installed on top of the carpet, so not quite sure what to do there (don’t want to take the railing down).  I also pulled out any non-hard surface and send the pillows, fabric, etc downstairs to be bagged up. 

Last night I realized I need to make my place a sterile place.  Well, I’m using that term loosely.  I found that any place that accumulates dust, the little critters can survive.  So I’m bagging up all soft items and am slowly cleaning every single surface.  I’m tempted to box up some of the books in the bedroom since I seem to shed the most dander in the bedroom for some reason.  I keep looking on the bright side.  I’ve never been an uber-cleaner.  When I was in the mid-west I was amazed to find people vacuum daily.  I just clean when I have company coming over or the place gets dirty (and my standards are low).  This is a good reason to get me to do a big spring cleaning (in the fall) and really scrub everything down.  No cobwebs in the vaulted ceiling (I think I need to invest in another in-door ladder) and I may have to say farewell to my spider friends.  I keep thinking I’ve finally eradicated the bugs and then a month later I’ll see a moth fly by.  On the upside I’m good at catching them with my bare hands now, granted they are slow flyers.  One day I will have a moth-free house.  I just hope it’s in 2014 and not later!

SF visit

Just wrapping up my first day in San Francisco. It's been 12 years since I was last here and just packed into the day a series of visits. I'm now sitting at the old subway stop I used to take home. And it hasn't been remodeled since I left. It's been a very surreal day to say the least. 

I just finished having drinks with my old boss from the first engineering job I had out of school. I was the only female engineer at first and I think the second or third one the firm had had.   It was nice catching up with Dick and he was the same old Dick. Now divorced and feeling odd man out at the company.   We shared stories on dating, the new regime, and gossip about old coworkers and I felt like part of the old gang. So strange considering I was the bottom of the totem pole back then. And now we were swapping stories about business development. How far I've come. 

Can I say that I don't remember people queuing up for boarding the subway. I just got in the subway and there were lines! That's new.  

 

That's what is strange. The old office was remodeled and there are different stores but in general the part of SF I was in today is pretty much the same. No new buildings. It's just like I left it. But it's all hazy and I can barely remember it all. And yet rushing down Market Street I had a flash back of running the same sidewalk, rushing to catch my ferry home. I was so young then. 

I loved chatting with Dick over bears at this old bar we'd go to. Back then they had a good happy hour of free food and motorcycles hanging from the ceiling. Which I always wondered about as a structural engineer in earthquake land. 

Now I'm on the subway where one of the trips home after the happy hour I had a horrible case of food poisoning and ended up locked in a public bathroom at the El Cerrito stop for a good hour before I was able to call my roommate to come get me. 

Mid-afternoon I caught up with Nicole who I worked with at my last job. We ended up talking a lot of shop about work stuff and at the very end realized how we could help each other out professionally. 

Lunch was with Ben and Rose. They are such wonderful good people. We had a great time catching up and sharing lessons learned about how to climb the ladder. 

And everyone was so sweet and treated me. I haven't paid for a thing!  Well except for the very expensive public transportation. 

Dentist

This morning I had all these grand plans to go into work early and then realized I had a dental cleaning. I just got done and I have to say that I'm glad I finally found a good dentist office. Although the cleaning was unpleasant (not my favorite thing) everyone is so nice and competent. I feel like I'm in good hands. And not just the dentist but also the dental hygienist and the front of the office. Which over the years I've found out that they all have to be good. 

It looks like I might be a grinder. Some of my fillings are starting to crack but the great news is that they are still under warranty so no extra cost. Which is a good thing since I was going through the books to see if I'm on target so far this year and found I'm behind on the savings. Two big ticket categories this year was the vet and the dentist which put a dent in the wallet. 

So I finish up this morning, scheduling the next appointment and joking with the ladies up front, head out the door to the bus stop just outside and a minute later the fast bus shows up and I'm on my way to work and still have a bunch of the morning left. Such a nice well oiled machine. And it's a gorgeous day out today too. Nice crisp fall morning and I think it's going to get into the 70s. I hope so since I didn't bring a jacket. 

Weekends

I feel like I've fallen behind in my postings. Mainly because when I go to post I don't have the pics with me. So here goes and I'll just add pictures later. 

Last weekend (like a week ago) was my weekend of college friends. Saturday I spent the day rooting on Cece as she swam across the Boston bay. They shut the bay down so no boats and apparently the waves in the middle were so high you lost sight of the shore. Forget how cold the water is and the distance too. Maggie and cece's mom and I were there in support. While we were waiting at the finish lane for the race to start, Maggie and I went exploring and had a fun time checking out all the big yachts docked. I felt like I could get away with more having a three year and so were more daring with where we explored - great cover. Cece ended up placing second in her age and we had celebratory lunch at the Daily Catch right next door. I hadn't been in years and then just had lunch the day before. So clam chowder two days in a row - my fav!

Then Sunday was a day of errands and then meeting up with Joanne. I finally bought some curtain rods - took me four years to make a decision and then get home and find they gave me one in the wrong finish - ugh. And I finally bought some house plants. I got six. Lets see how long they last. I think one is heading south already - a pretty red fern, that honestly was an impulse buy. Time will tell. 

Joanne was traveling with her daughter who I had seen before when she was a baby (I think she's two now) and was able to finally meet her son who is about six months old. We were able to catch up some and by the end of the night her daughter and I were best buddies. 

I've also been making some travel plans for work. I thought I was done with travel for awhile but you know how these things keep popping up. Heading down to NYC for a short trip and got invited to a private event at UC Berkeley. I was torn on wether to go since the trip is long but in the end decided it was a great opportunity. After I made the travel arrangements I've been setting up meetings. I'm able to meet with some people I've been working on a new venture with and have a little time left to squeeze in a visit with my old company. It's been almost 15 years since I've been back. Strange thinking about it all but exciting to catch up. 

Food

I made my way to the new Whole Foods last night after work. It was a mad house. The parking lot was packed which I have never seen before. The store is different than my other WFs. First it's smaller I think. It must be since I was underwhelmed by the produce section - still best in town but compared with the other stores its half the size. Considering produce is over half the stuff I buy at WFs I'm hoping they've edited it down to my specific palette.

I meandered around the store, getting a lay of the land. This store has a lot more of the yuppie specialty stuff. There was a whole aisle of alternative herbal medical stuff. There was a bank of bulk stuff that turned out to be just for making protein shakes or something like that I think.

The butcher counter is strange since all the meat is pre packaged but the fish section was custom order. I think there was only two aisles of food staples but I couldn't find anything missing. Thankfully the cheese counter was half size - that's always my Achilles heel - good cheese. And next to the cheese is a cured meat/fresh pasta counter. I had never seen this before. It's separate from the deli counter. There's still a robust section of prepared foods and salad bar and even a burrito counter. Usually the stuff I skip.

It was a little eerie walking the aisles. Although there has been a major face lift the store is still similar to Johnnies that was there before. Except different lighting and very crowded. I started missing the old quiet place where I didn't have to jostle to get a jar of tomato sauce. I'm hoping it will quiet down and be a good addition to the neighborhood. Overall happy although half the store I could do without. The non-grocery store part.

And on to the beginning of a tradition I hope. Making better meals during the week and posting the details so I can keep track of keepers.

I picked up some Gruyere cheese and made this chicken dish that I found on Pinterest. It's a take on French onion soup (which I love) and seemed to fit in with the new fall weather.

http://www.thekitchn.com/dinner-recipe-french-onion-chi-144744

Can't seem to do a hyperlink so this will have to do.

I liked the dish but the chicken stock I used must have been salty which diminished the dish. It took a long time, about two hours, so won't be in the regular rotation. I had fresh thyme but not the rosemary so left it out and don't think it mattered. The cheese seemed to get lost in the dish so if budget conscious just leave it off.

I had it with a baked yam, cooked in olive oil and fresh thyme. As well as a side salad with avocado and feta. Followed with a bowl of raspberries for dessert. A very colorful dinner!

I think I'll get about three meals out of the dish since I halved the recipe. Next time use less mustard, maybe half of what is called for so the caramelized onions can shine through more.

And that was my night.

Autumn

This morning I was a sad mess. My tooth with a new filling hurt when I ate, I have a head cold with a wicked sore throat and a red and runny nose and last night I tore my contact and left half of it in my eye - it migrated to the back and I still couldn't get it out!

But things are looking up. I popped into my dentist and they verified everything was good just give it time. Much better than having to have more work done. Then tonight at work I was rubbing my eye and was able to shift the contact and got it out. I drank twice as much liquids - water and tea galore so hopefully I'm flushing the system of the cold.

I did miss my bus tonight so had to wait for an extra half hour. I miss having the bike but its gotten cold and dark. On the upside I did have a good mystery, a Peter Robinson one that I picked up in Greenwich England at an Oxfam - this is now becoming tradition. And I just found out that Whole Foods is opening tomorrow! I'm so excited to have one so close by. Which is crazy lazy since I already have 2 Whole Foods and 2 Trader Joes within 2 miles. Now it will be 3!

DC travel

I got back from London last week and was able to pop into the office Friday for a few hours between meetings only to find out I had to be down in DC today for a meeting.

Last minute booking got me on the last JetBlue flight Monday morning. It got me in just in time and I'd have to go directly from the airport to the clients office. No stopping at our Alexandria office first.

It was a strange flight. First, about twenty minutes in they made an announcement asking for anyone with medical experience to buzz the flight attendant. I thought we might have an emergency landing in NYC or somewhere short of Regan airport. But all was quiet on the flight so I guess everyone was ok. A little while later I noticed on the news info about the Navy Shipping Yard.

As you know if you've flown JetBlue the seats are equipped with individual TVs that stream cable channels. It's like sitting at home flipping through TV. I was watching something else when my neighbor nudges me and points to his tv screen showing Regan airport is closed.

So that got us all talking speculating our flight will get rerouted to Dulles airport. Finally the pilot gets on and announces that there has been no change in plans that we were still scheduled to land at Regan. He then jokes that we all probably know more than he does with our TV sets.

In the end it all worked out and we arrived at our meeting five minutes early. I did get a little nervous that I had just flown down to DC for nothing since by the time we arrived from any other airport to our meeting we would have been so late we missed it and would have had to reschedule.

But it all worked out. Got to pop into the office after the meeting to say hi to some of the new hires. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home and bought a ton of fruit and green juice to try to fight off the cold I caught. And now I'm home hunkering down debating if I have a little more energy or if I should just call it a day and go to sleep! I'm very happy to be safely home.

London II

I'm off again to London, just sitting in my little pod on Virgin and was just offered a set of pajamas for the flight.  I was a bit surprised and passed on them for now but it's strange seeing everyone around me getting ready for bed.  Frankly it's been a hectic week.  I got a little breather earlier last month but didn't notice that things had let up a bit until everything ramped up again.  Today was just a mad dash getting everything in order at home and at work before I left.  I've been running around non-stop not having a chance to even figure out my London trip.  

I finally booked a hotel two days ago and splurged on a day trip I bought today.  I ended up staying in Greenwich (of the meridian fame). I was contemplating seeing some other part of England since the hotels were much pricier this time round (which is strange September is more expensive than June). I think I got a good little fine for a hotel and Sunday I'm taking a trip that is a bike tour of some bucolic area outside of London, visiting castles and everything.  Now that I'm boarded and leaving work and home behind I'm finally settling in and relaxing ready to enjoy my little mini vacation.

Nothing like traveling business class.  I love the preferential treatment - no waiting in security lines, special lounges and awesome food to snack on.  Very advantageous since I worked through lunch today and was famished.  I just got interrupted by the steward who gave me the run down.  The tv screen is touch screen, .... Must log off, we're leaving!  See you on the other side of the ocean!!

Airport lounges

All this times was flying the wrong airline. Check out this spread! Cheese plate, NE clam chowder and a sandwich made to order not to mention all the great salad sides and dessert I had to pass up since I have to save room for the actual dinner on the plane. Virgin Atlantic btw.

Humid, you think?

Having just spent time last week in Miami and the first part of this week in Atlanta I've been experiencing a lot of humidity. Still, I was surprised to see this coming out of work tonight in Boston.

Friday Night Round-up

- This week I've been limping along. I've been under the weather and super tired. But maxed out my vacation/sick days so am waiting to accrue more time.
- I'm very happy it is Friday and was going to make it home early today.
- Last minute job popped up which had me working late tonight so I didn't have to bring anything home this weekend.
- I'm heading home right now and am catching the second wave of subway crowd. I love the people watching at this time of night.
- I rode my bike to the subway which means another mad dash home in the dark. I need to install my bike lamp. Plus my contacts dry out from the wind when I'm not wearing my sunglasses or I'm tired. Hmmm, this will be interesting.
- I'm carrying my bike helmet in my hands since my bag is too small and if I'm not paying attention I start to put it on. I caught myself three times when I was walking to south station. Habit I guess.
- I'm traveling next week and had to bring some stuff home tonight. It should be an interesting bike ride with all my papers and wearing my heels - they don't fit in my bag anymore.
- I'm heading to Miami next week - just a quick trip so won't see much. And I hear this time of year isn't pleasant. I've just been watching Burn Notice so should be interesting. Gotta figure out what to pack.
- All week I've been sneaking peaks at my loft. It looks so different with the carpet gone. Well most of it is gone. I'm really hoping I have time this weekend to work on it some more. It's going to look awesome even if it's only half as good as I have it in my head!
- And my phone battery is down to 4% so that's me for now. Wish me luck on my night ride home.

Bumper Sticker Sighting

Just saw this one on my way to meet up with friends for lunch in the sun today.

Wag more. Bark less.

Kid Adventures

Another crazy week!  Right now, it’s dreary and rainy and cold and I just want to crawl into bed and finish my book and sleep.  I had taken Monday and Tuesday off (the last of my vacation days - I need to start accruing!)  and took my two god-children, Cameron and Maggie.  It’s amazing what kids remember.  Every time Cam goes to my car he asks about the kazoo.  My mom had sent me two and the kids had first used them when they were in my car.  For everyone’s sanity I kept them in the car (and not brought into the house).  Except one time, Maggie brought hers in.  Months and even years go by and Monday, when we are loading up the car seats, first thing Cam asks for is the kazoo.  I only have one, so the adventure starts in our search for a kazoo.  In the end, we spent time running errands, but no kazoos.  We checked out the new movie, Turbo.  

We got to the movie theater a bit early, so stopped by the neighboring grocery store and picked up some food - bananas, rabbits (a take on the classic gold fish) and lemonade.  And we had a little picnic on the side of the store.  It turned into a great time of photo shoots.  The kids wanted to be captured in super hero mode as they were running by.

After the movie, we swung by their mom’s place and had a nice visit.  It was really strange since her work has been going through some changes so the office was very quiet.  Perfect timing for a visit with two little kids.  We wrapped up the day with a play date at a nearby playground with a good friend of Cece’s who has three little girls about the same age.  The playground was empty - all ours and we got to play and catch up.  At the end of the day I felt like a proper suburban mum.

Tuesday was the grand adventure into the city to visit the Museum of Science a la public transportation (one bus and two subway trains).  Another funny thing was that we parked my car at my place and I explained how my neighbor, Cathy, looked in on my cats while I was away.  They were excited on seeing the cats, but really wanted to meet my neighbor - they were enthralled.  Of course, she was working so not this time.

Of course, it took longer getting to and from the museum than the time we spent in the museum, but the kids loved the adventure of the traveling and thankfully the waits weren’t too long.  By mid-morning, both kids were tired already.  I attribute it to all the excitement of having me visit. We’d start the morning with them coming into my bedroom (I stayed over) and hanging out before getting ready for the day.  And then we’d pick out outfits (first day, Maggie and I had matching shirts on, second day, Cam and I - pure accident that I packed clothes they had - good old polos) 

and I’d try to talk them into eating breakfast - they’re aren’t big on eating in the morning.  So at the museum, they would oscillate back and forth between super happy and then cranky, pouty, close to throwing a tantrum.  Good old power of distraction would do the trick and snuggles (at least with Maggie - she was exhausted) to keep them going.

I did kick myself that we all chose blue shirts.  It turned out that the museum was popular for school groups and they all seemed to have blue shirts on.  So keeping an eye on two kids running around in blue shirts was challenging!  

After the museum we made our way to Dad’s work this time and got to check out his work and all the cool toys the IT guys had on their desks.  And then I was off to my dentist appointment were I think I was close to falling asleep a few times as they worked on my fillings.  I was exhausted!

It turns out that I was coming down with something - Wednesday I tried to make it into work and my body was just done.  I was dressed, make-up on but couldn’t get out the door.  I ended up crashing and sleeping most of the day (I had done this on Saturday so must have just delayed the inevitable).  It wasn’t until the next day I woke up with a sore throat I realized I had a cold.  Very strange feeling and even more of a reason why I just want to crawl into bed today.  Instead, I have to finish ripping up the carpet in my loft since Nick is coming over early tomorrow morning and we’re loading up the pick-up to dump it all before we have to return the truck to dad.  I can’t wait to get it out of the house.  I have high hopes of the transformation of the loft.  I did realize last night I forgot to take the before pictures. But the after pictures will be awesome!  I just need to do all the work first….

 

Summer Mini-Vacation

This week has been busy!  I had my mother come visit for part of the week.  Both Nick and I were able to take time off from work and got to spend time putzing around.  After a delayed flight Tuesday night, mom finally made it, about 4 hours later.  On Wednesday we ended up running errands - I was able to return the extra bikinis I had ordered, and we finally checked out the fish market in east Cambridge.  I’ve been trying to make it to this fish market for years.  You’d think living in Boston, fresh fish wouldn’t be a problem.  But I don’t have any good local fish places.  Actually there is a place two blocks from me, but they aren’t that friendly and seem awfully expensive.  We went to New Deal Fish Market which is this cute little shop that has a nice selection of fish, friendly service and even had some extra groceries we could stock up on - fresh fruit and veggies.  We ended up getting this delicious salmon and blue fish and cooked up some very healthy meals.

Thursday we explored the Harvard Square area.  I finally made it to Longfellow’s house and we enjoyed a nice tour and history lesson.  A great national treasure.  We were planning on exploring the Harvard Square shops but after some time in the Harvard Square bookstore, we had to lay low in a café waiting for the rain to subside.  None of us thought of bringing an umbrella.  We finally made our way over to the law school and were able to check out Nick’s work.  He has a nice new office that I’m envious of.  

I sometimes wish I had a door, although it definitely benefits me to be in an open office plan for most of the work I do.  The new law school building is quite opulent.  Strange seeing the inside finally since I got to see the evolution of it being built from my bus on my commute to work.  And the best part - in one of Nick's colleagues offices, there was this picture that the guy had painted himself!

Mom and I made our way to Dallas on Friday.  We were successful in surprising my Aunt Sue - she had no idea we were coming.  Well rather, myself and my other Aunt Mary.  My Uncle Rob was also able to pop out for the weekend festivities celebrating Sue and Fred’s anniversary and Sue’s birthday.  It was so strange visiting.  I just saw all the relatives just last fall.  It was seeing Sue and Fred’s place again.  I think we figured out the last time I visited it was 1985 or somewhere around there.  It’s all very much the same, except it isn’t since I’ve grown and am looking at it from a different angle.  Also, they used to be out in the country and since then there’s been a lot of development, including this crazy ridiculous house with a dozen turrets - a strange McMansion/Hogwarts Castle type house.  We kept staring at it every time we would drive by.

We had ridiculously nice weather - for Fort Worth, at least.  It was a fairly dry 90s - not bad for July.  It was so nice hanging out with everyone again and finally got to have a ride in my Aunt Sue’s baby - her Lexus convertible.  I also got to meet Lucy and Tramp - Sue and Fred’s two dogs.  You can guess which one this is, right?

Saturday night we had a fabulous dinner at a local steak house.  Fred got Sue a beautiful ruby necklace, which prompted a nice little sharing session between me and Sue the next morning - checking out all the wonderful jewelry Sue has gotten over the years.  I realize that I really only have two “nice” pieces, my grandmother’s wedding/engagement rings I inherited and a drop pearl necklace I got at dad and Barbro’s wedding.  The clasp just broke so need to find out how to fix that.  I never was into nice jewelry too much, but think I might keep an eye out for a nice little treat down the road.  Maybe for the big 4-0 birthday.

I know that Sue and Mary read my blog, but didn’t realize they read it fairly regularly - good lunch break reading, if I post of course.  So figure I’d give them a shout out in classic style.  I was trying to find embarrassing pictures to post like what I did for previous friends.  Instead, I’ll just provide a few action shots…

The joys of digital cameras - you get to see right away if the photos turned out.

And a group shot - it only took three tries to finally get it right!  First we had this:

Then we finally got the full family photo:

Summer Viewing

Last night I realized that I had a “perfect storm” of sorts with my guilty summer viewing. Someone commented about the British shows I watch and the implied culture (or higher quality) that goes with all things British. I want to set the record straight that although I like the quality stuff, I also sometimes feel like being a complete vegetable and enjoying something light. Yesterday, I found three things hit all at the same time:


1. Big Brother 15. The latest episode aired Sunday so was in my queue for watching online on Monday. I love the social gaming aspect of this show - strategically figuring out the human chess moves. My brother can’t stand the show which means I should like it even more, right?

2. Whodunnit. This is on Sunday’s too and so was in my queue on Hulu on Monday. This show is just really bad it’s good, if you know what I mean. It’s loaded with over acting and the plot is pretty thin, but it’s still fun watching the social games and seeing the players sleuth their way around the mysteries. My bet is on Cris or Melinna

3. Best Song Ever Video. I don’t know how this happened, but I am hooked on watching the 1D boys - they’re so funny and lighthearted. If I need a break from stuff, I check out interviews of them and have a chuckle. Their latest music video was released yesterday and was a hoot! It was fun trying to figure out who was who in their acting roles.

So there you have it - full disclosure about my summer time fun.

Summer Swimming

This weekend the weather finally broke and it’s like a certain type of freedom was given back. Like a weight was lifted. Saturday, I found myself running some errands so when I had down time, I just kept a low profile. At one point I was just sitting, working on my ipad and felt a drip on my leg. I couldn’t figure out where it came from, looking all around me, and then I realized it came from me, my knee to be exact. It was so hot and humid, the inside of my knee was dripping sweat! I also started realizing that I should rethink one of my ways to stay cool. It’s a great strategy, so simple but I was starting to realize dangerous. I cool down by ingesting something cool, specifically ice cream. I had a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and a pint of Italian gelato. A nice way to cool down, but I realized that it probably was contributing the belly pooch. Next heat wave I think I’ll switch over to sorbet. That’s less fattening, right?


Sunday I had a great time hanging by Lake Boon with Cece and the kids. I was worried it was too cool to really enjoy the beach and swimming. But really, it was a perfect summer day. It was just warm enough you weren’t cold when you got out of the water, and the water was all nice and warm from the summer heat. The kids and I had a blast swimming around and playing. It was so nice to just to hang out play in the water like a kid. There were noodles and kick boards and other floaty devices that made it entertaining. I even jumped off the dock, which wasn’t that much fun since I completely forgot how to jump into water. I really haven’t been swimming much these years. I jump in and totally get water up my nose and a contact slipped (but didn’t fall out). I need to practice that again but was pleasantly surprised that I remembered all my swimming strokes. I swam on my side and my back (I suddenly blanked on what those two strokes are called). And seemed to be pretty good in the water. Treading water after awhile got tiring but once I got my handles on a noodle, I was good.

At one point later in the day, we were all floating around in the deep section and I was figuring out a way to float on my back with a noodle under my legs. I was facing away from the beach and the gang, towards this one side of the lake were part of the land juts out. It was a picturesque, tree lined shore with the dock between myself and the shore - like something out of a movie. Except the sky was a little dark, ominous dark, like I was not in a fun summer time, relationship, coming of age movie, but the beginning of some Stephen King, horror film. And to make things worse, when I turned around, I found the gang had floated over to the other side of the swimming area. It was a perfect set up to those horror movies I love. Needless to say I swam quickly back to them before my imagination got the better of me. And the sun came out from behind the clouds and all was forgotten.

After, the kids and I were swimming around and Cece was still floating in the deep part. I suggested we sneak up to her and scare her - quietly swim over. The kids loved the idea, but just when we agreed on it, she shifted her peaceful floating and saw us scheming. She asked Cam what he was doing, knowing he was up to something because he was smiling so much. His response, “I was smiling mom, because your hair is so beautiful.” What a cover! And quick thinking too. Of course mom didn’t buy it for a minute and we had scrap our plan. It seemed like Maggie’s favorite thing to do was pull me around. I’d get a kick board or noodle under me and be able to float. I’d grab her swimming shirt and she would just trudge along the shallow part of the lake, pulling me behind her. It was a win-win, since I loved the free ride and she loved giving it.

All in all a great day, although Cece and I didn’t get much time to sit on the beach and catch up. Unfortunately, my water-proof sunscreen didn’t work so well. It might have something to do with me being too excited to wait 15 minutes after putting it on before hitting the water. I ended up getting burned on my shoulders and arms. Funny since I was wearing a bikini that my legs, belly, lower back and everything else didn’t get burned. But makes perfect sense since those parts were underwater most of the time. Nothing like the reflection of the water to amplify the sun’s rays. I put a nice layer of aloe lotion on last night and had to carry my bag into work by its handle (instead of on my shoulder).

The kids and I are hanging out again in two weeks and if weather permits I have a feeling we’ll be back down at the beach again. I’ll be sure to apply sunscreen properly. And I was thinking later in the day we should have played marco-polo. I was thinking of digging up some of the sleeping masks that I’ve been collecting from my flights. They’d make a good way to cut down on the peaking. Any other fun water games?

Lessons Learned - Bike Riding

I’ve been riding my bike to the subway station and cutting out the bus part of my commute.  It’s a really nice, safe, quiet commute along an old converted rail track that is now a tree lined bike path.  Here are my main lessons learned:

1.     1. Riding the bike is faster than taking the bus.  This morning I was running late for a meeting and was torn.  It takes a chunk of time to unlock and relock the bike at each end of the trip.  I ended up riding the bike and was surprised that booking it turned a 20 minute (if you’re lucky) bus ride into a 5 minute trip along the lush green wildlife.

2.    2.  Speaking of wildlife, don’t be disarmed by the quieter pace, there still can be road kill.  Luckily I haven’t witnessed any yet, but yesterday there was a squirrel that seemed to have a death wish.  I was watching it as it was sniffing around in the lane going the other direction.  As I was coming up to it, so was another bike coming the other way.  Instead of darting to the side of the path nearest, it decided to dart across the whole path, right in front of my on-coming bike.  I actually had to slam on the brakes.  I couldn’t believe it.  In the end all was good and I was just left with my heart racing.

3.     3. Be careful about how late you stay out. Last night,  I had met up with friends for drinks on the steps of the ICA museum, looking out at the harbor and enjoying the live music.  It was so nice and cool by the water so by the time we headed home dusk was approaching.  By the time my subway stop arrived and I emerged from the underground, dusk had moved to full on night.  It was pretty freaky riding along the pitch black bike path - the shady trees creating a tunnel that is so gorgeous during the day make the night ominous and block out any light from the sky.  I ended up just going along the bike path a little and then taking the streets all the way home.  At least at that time in the night the busy streets weren’t that busy.  Next time pack a headlamp or leave earlier.

4.    4. This morning was the first time I didn’t wear a dress to work.  And man does that make a difference biking in this weather.  Pants are the opposite of nice and airy, letting your body breath with the humidity.  Don’t wear pants!  I knew this, but it was long enough since the last time I rode with pants I forgot how bad it was.  I need some more dresses.

5.    5.  I’ve been strapping my bag to the back of my bike (on my new bike rack).  I really need to make a bag basket.  It takes just as long to get ready to go/or leave than the actual ride.  Locking the bike up or strapping on the bag so it won’t fall off.  It would be so much easier to just have a basket to through my bag and lock into. 

6.   6. I’m surprised at how many people leave their helmet with their bike.  In some cases it isn’t even locked up.  I still bring mine with me, since they’re not cheap.  I am thinking of putting my headlamp onto my bike.  I was worried someone could easily steal it, but I’m not using it so might as well try it out.

The heat wave is miserable - never ending.  The heat index is supposed to be up to 110 today.  I didn’t realize this when I left (would have worn a dress for sure).  And am a little worried about my furry friends at home.  I left one fan on at home but don’t think that will make a difference.  I’ve been finding each of them taking turns sleeping in the tub - coolest spot in the house.  I made arrangements to go swimming with my god-children this weekend to beat the heat.  Unfortunately it worked out to be Sunday which looks like it will be in the 70s - so still fun at the beach but not as much cooling off.

Mom’s coming to visit next week (yay!) and the good news (fingers crossed) it looks like the heat will stay away her whole visit and stay in the 70s.  Which is good news.  I’ve gone from trying to think of good AC places to visit back to just regular stuff to visit.  Stay cool!

Weekend Recap

This weekend I had absolutely nothing scheduled.  The plan was to tackle some house projects (chores and renovations), run some errands and even maybe see the new Sondheim show in the area.  By the end of Saturday I had recharged the battery but that was about it.  I was berating myself that I should take advantage of Saturday being cool and dry and accomplish more.  Sunday was going to be hot and humid and completely sap my energy.  But I eventually gave up and took an afternoon nap and hunkered down Saturday.  I should know better now that Saturday is my day off and Sunday is my day to accomplish things.  That’s just the way my internal schedule works. 

Well Sunday ended up turning into one hot and muggy day.  I had gotten up early and had started cleaning.  Cleaning the bathroom, and the kitchen and the kitty litter area. Cleaning up the bedroom, doing laundry and cleaning out the back room (that is my wool holding room - before things get deep freeze - the pile is getting smaller).  By lunch I had pulled out the steam cleaner and was vacuuming and steam cleaning the living room rug.  It took some time and I only got half way done before Nick came over.  He was moving into his new place on the 15^th (Monday) but he was trying to see if he could get in early the day before.

We spent an hour or so moving furniture around.  I finally got rid of the spare bookcase awkwardly waiting by the front door. I was getting itchy about it looming in the small space but didn’t really have anywhere else for it to live temporarily.  And of course the shelves got quickly filled with projects.  I ended up just dumping that stuff in the guest bedroom so my clean place started to go downhill.  I also moved the family dresser from my sitting room down and moved the new credenza I picked up last month into its new home.  Also a good shift, since I had piled it into my bedroom which was getting crowded with furniture.  I only have a before picture at the moment.

And here's a picture of the credenza I replaced it with.

We opted to just load the car at first, and not the pick-up, since there was a chance of afternoon/evening summer showers.  It took awhile to get the keys to the new place and by the time we had unloaded the carload of stuff and picked up his stuff from his current place we were both tired and hungry.  Ended up breaking for dinner and decided to press on and finish the last trip.  It was getting close to 8 pm but luckily we had the long summer days on our side.  The truck got loaded up pretty quickly, but it did take some time to unload everything.  By the end it was dark out and we were both exhausted.  If it wasn’t so humid we both agreed we would have been fine.  I got home, showered the layers of sweat off and fell into bed exhausted.

This morning I woke up with the nice ache of sore muscles, a less crowded place (moving the furniture out made a difference) and a bit of a sunburn.  I didn’t even think of putting sunscreen on and I’m religious about applying the stuff.  I think I would have been fine if we hadn’t waited around for almost an hour outside getting the key situation worked out. 

It was fun this morning putting everything away into the new credenza.  I love putting everything away into its new home.  And the nice thing was that although the piece is narrower than the dresser, everything still fit with some space to spare so no editing was needed. And the room seems a bit bigger.

So in the end, I got a bunch of the chores done, no house projects but did help Nick on his big house move, and I found a new infestation of moths! They were in the back stairway closet with all the cleaning supplies living off of my feather duster.  I was thinking of repainting the interior of the closet and this moves the project up to the top of the list.  I taped the door close yesterday when I discovered the issue since I didn’t have time to properly clean it out.  These things just never go away!  I also found a wool blanket I had picked up in England years ago attacked by the buggers.  Early on I had moved it downstairs to the basement in the hopes of keeping it away from the main areas of issue, not realizing that it didn’t matter.  I had forgotten about it so when I stumbled upon it, it had a bunch of holes.  I put it through the wash (and everything else) and it’s in line for the freezer.  Slowly but surely I’ll have everything moth-proofed.  Oh, I also found they live off of the pet dander/fur that was in the corner, under the couch that I don’t clean too often.  I’m feeling like I’m getting closer to the end.  I just hope I can quarantine all the susceptible pieces long enough and extensively enough before winter comes and I start needing to pull things out of their bags.  It’s been good for me to go through and do some thorough cleaning and reviewing everything I own, tucked away in corners.  Plus it gets me to repaint everything sooner rather than later.

They say there is another heat wave descending on us for a week.  I think I’m going to give up on the loft project - it’s too hot up there.  And instead, I’ll just start painting closets and getting to the bottom of the moths.  It’s me versus them!  And I’m bigger!

P.S. I found this when cleaning out my pictures folder, had to post it!