Birthday!

Guess who's birthday is today. Yup, you would never guess, nor would I if I didn't get the email this morning. It's Malcolm's birthday. Who is Malcolm you may ask. Why, he's the fellow who owned my car before me. I brought my car into the dealer last month to get something fixed due to a recall and they updated the information on file. Although it looks like they only changed the email on file.

Thinking about it as I write this I think I realized why. Malcolm and I have the same last name. How strange is that? Granted my last name is pretty common but still fun that the car stayed in the "family". They probably thought he was still in the picture.

Note - I wrote this on November 16 and the couldn't get it to post. Just saw the draft now.

Mini Fridge

I'm trying to find a gag gift - a miniature mini fridge. Like a small 2" magnet or something. But do you know how hard it is to search for a mini mini fridge? Impossible! I just keep getting the actual mini fridge. Not a scaled down copy. I think I'm stumped. Looks like the joke was on me in the end!

Knitting Emergency

I have taken a little break from knitting this last year. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I have a basket overflowing with “finished” knitting projects that are not quite finished and I made a pact with myself to not start anything until they were finished. Basically the knitting is done just need to sew up the pieces. I think I have four sweaters.

I moved my yarn from a very prominent bookcase display in my living room up to my loft. I love it! My living room feels so much bigger and more open and I was pleasantly surprised to find the 4 by 4 cube IKEA bookcase, when taken apart can be turned into a linear bookcase one cube high that runs along the wall up in my loft. A few weeks ago I organized all my yarn into the new arrangement.

A few days ago I pulled some yarn out to make a last minute Christmas gift. I find that when I’m stumped on what to get someone - why not knit them something. I pulled out a few balls of my purple Debbie Bliss Soho yarn and was about to cast on when I found the ball in my lap had more than two ends. It was like a dozen plus. I was flummoxed at first and then it dawned on me and I jumped up. I looked at the ball closer and saw their were little worms! In my horror I put it into a ziplock bag and put it out on my porch to deal with later. And then I started going through the other balls of yarn. No eating of the yarn but I did find a few more worms that I smushed.

My question to my knitter friends - what do I do?! It looks like the worms (moth?) were just on a few balls of yarn. But I moved my yarn so don’t know what yarn was next to what yarn and if they were on other balls of yarn too. I did a visual and couldn’t find them on any other yarn. But most of my stash is 100% wool. And the worms move - when I picked up one ball, it did a quick dive into the dark regions and there was one worm I saw but couldn’t find again. I have a good deal of yarn so there’s no way I’m throwing it all out. Luckily the yarn is farther away from my clothes, so hopefully no cross-contamination. Any thoughts?

Don't you hate it/love it?!

My app for blogging on my ipad is broken and I haven't had time to fix it.  Which means less blogging (yea - that's why!)  The first two bullet points were from the quick post I was going to post but then realized I couldn't.  The rest are just add-ons that have accumulated since then:

• Why do people email/text asking you to give them a call?  If you want to talk, why don't you just call me in the first place.  Very annoying.
• On the flip side, I love it when being a broken record pays off.  For years I harp about double sided printing (or lack of it).  On one of my committees it's a running joke.  I just found out that the government official on my committee has finally made it official: no acceptance of proposals/reports unless they are double sided.  Not just for my committee but across the board.  Major win! 
• It's been a month of old and new friends.  Last weekend I checked out a performance of Handel's Messiah with a new/old friend - Theresa.  Her sister and I were good friends and went to college together.  So Theresa and I have known each other for a long time and now we are "neighbors".  It was her, me and her 6 month old son, D.  The first time I ever saw a performance with bells in person.  Amazing and I had a ton of fun entertaining D throughout - we spent a lot of time exploring the church.  It's hard to sit still for 2 hours when you're 6 months old and not napping - so much to check out.
• Last week, I popped out of work for a few hours and went over to the Children's Museum to celebrate my god son's birthday.  This picture is very misrepresentative.  He was moving a mile a minute bouncing from one thing to the next.  Apparently there's a big shift going from 3 to 4 and a influx of energy!  It was very strange going back to work afterwards.
• The weekend before last I spent the afternoon with a new friend, Sara.  We sat next to each other on a plane and realized we had a ton in common.  She was just relocating to Boston.  She's in residency so doesn't get to see the light of day much, let alone make it out to the burbs and enjoy the country.  It was great catching up and hunting down the perfect Christmas tree for me.  I ended up buying a pre-packaged tree after trying to find one to chop down but striking out.  It was easy to transport when they're all bundled up and was happy to see it was perfectly shaped when I "unwrapped" it.  On our way back we were driving by Walden Pond, a place I've driven by tons but never have had time to check out yet.  We walked around the pond and I have to say it had nothing to do with my brother having gone last time he was in town with a friend!
• I should mention that I'm finally getting free flights from the air milage I'm accruing from my work travel.  All short, eastern seaboard flights, usually a few each month.  Often I'm just spending a day popping down for a meeting in DC or NYC.  Last week I was heading down to NYC mid-morning on the train - such a civilized, old-school way to travel.  I was in an internal meeting at work (a few blocks from the train station) and saw the time and realized I was late.  I hustled down to the train station, only to be reminded that you can show up 5 minutes before scheduled departure and you're fine.  In other words, I was finally early!  I hate waiting at the airport if I don't have to so I have learned how to time it such that I get in my car at home, drive, park, go through security to my gate and walk straight onto the plane.  I've been meeting a ton of folks on my travels and even running into other people I know at the airport.  I never ran into people I know at the airport, but I guess, now I've increased my odds, traveling more and knowing more people.
• I'm so behind on gifts this year.  Aaack.

Novocain

As a recent grad I was hit with the realization - if I floss I will save money. Many years have gone by and I have to say, well, I’m not saving money. I still have not been able to get flossing into my daily schedule - the floss on the wand apparently doesn’t count. I finally found a new dentist this year - this one being the fourth one since I’ve been in Boston. Looks like it’s working out, except, I have a bunch of catch up in the dental world. This morning, I just got done having some fillings and made one last appointment. Apparently my teeth are good and all my cavities are between the teeth - where I’m not flossing. I can tell you that I will floss tonight, and again tomorrow, but then Thursday might get skipped and the rest is downhill. My dentist suggested I try a water pick. Has anyone had any experience?


In the meantime, I sit here writing this at lunch. Very very hungry. The novocain hasn’t worn off yet which means I’m a mess. I keep absent mindedly taking a sip of water at my desk while I’m working. Except it doesn’t all quite make its way into my mouth. And then I tried nibbling at some food and I’m very conscious that it’s not just my teeth and tongue that work to get the food processed while keeping everything contained. Granted, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what dental work without pain relief would be like. I’m off to research water picks.

Good News Friday

I had a colleague share with me recently a little work secret - he likes to share good news on Fridays. It's a good way to start off the weekend. Hey, who could argue with that approach?!

Well, today, I was wrapping up some work after the office got quiet with everyone heading out for the weekend. I was responding to emails including several that had just come in, including some from my boss. Next thing, I'm getting a call from my boss. We chat and then he asks if I could pop up to his floor for a quick chat.

Well, clearly I've given away the end, it was good news. But on that elevator ride up I scroll through everything it could be, from the good to the bad. The unknown can be quite fearful. My boss was in the presidents office so I pop my head in and am asked to have a seat. What could it be?

Turns out they wanted to recognize my good work and give me a little something in recognition. I shouldn't go into the particulars in public. Just a simple, you've been doing great and we want to give you something for all your hard work. I love that I didn't have to ask for anything - it was a complete surprise. I'm really loving this job.

Of course I wasn't as eloquent in my acceptance of praise as I would have liked. And of course I did a little happy dance once I was in the elevator. And of course, when I go to call folks to share the good news with, no one answers. So instead, I will share the good news with my blogland friends.

And I should add that the colleague who shared his little Friday secret - that was my boss. I gotta say, I'm appreciating his approach!

Farewell Blackberry

My blackberry for work finally petered out and today was replaced by a new iphone. I was excited and nostalgic simultaneously. I still like the blackberry over the iphone for some things. I remember when I switched jobs and went from iphone back to blackberry some friends thought I was crazy - that I could go back to being iphoneless. But it’s much easier to use the blackberry with one hand while walking and with gloves on. I do sometimes miss the extra features smartphones have though too. So am happy with the upgrade.


I wasn’t expecting the turn around to happen so quickly. That I’d have the blackberry for another week so I wasn’t ready yet to say farewell. I remembered to pull off the random photos and videos. Now the camera on the blackberry is not great so I didn’t take too many pictures. But there were a few that brought back smile.

First was this fellow who I met one night after a late night working, waiting for my bus home. The Red Sox game had just gotten out and they were on their way home. He was very amiable and friendly. The Sox must have won. I had to take a picture of him because he was all blinged out. Of course the camera didn’t capture the important part. The big glowing light is the reflection off of his California license plates. I forget what the letters were but he had gotten two vanity plates that were coded for the years the Red Sox won the World Championships when he lived in California. Gotta love the Bostonians!

This next picture was from a year or so ago when I had a play date with my man Cam.  We had gone to the Science Museum just the two of us and had a blast.  I love going to children’s museums and seeing the learning and awe through their eyes.  Nothing beats it!