Reunion Weekend Part 2, NY

I just got pics from Joanne (finally), and it's Monday and the procrastination bug is going around and I just downloaded my digital pics finally, so figured I'd post stuff about two weekends ago before it escapes me.

First thing, we swung by Emilia's and were able to chill and hang out with Emilia and Marguerite (sorry about the spelling). It was good to see them so soon after my last visit at Easter, just under two months. I think Griete (again sorry about the spelling) even remembered me. Right away she reached for me - doesn't that just melt the heart. So she gets a bunch of pictures posted. This first one will seem common enough. Baby, stuffed dog, shoes. But she just loved crawling around with her shoes on.... her feet. She was very dexterous with putting on the second shoe while her hands were occupied with the first shoe. Also note the dog, about the same size as her. She was very proficient at carring him around (his name is Josh, not Joe, I think) while crawling - she did this whole cage thing, trapping him between arms and legs and torso - wish I had a picture but no luck.

One of her favorite things right now is climbing onto the dining room table, where she isn't allowed, and knows it. At one point, she was up there, playing with the newspaper - it was such a good shot, but again, the cameras come out and the moment is lost. But I did get this funny shot. She seems to be in thougthful contemplation, rubbing the chin. When in reality, she is in the process of eating the newspaper for lunch.

Ok, enough pictures of Griete (for now) - she is stealing the show. But she is so cute and adorable... and strong and smart (I began teaching her some math - never can start too early - we'll see what she remembers next time).

Cece and I drove over to school. It was weird driving through town, eerily similar yet a little off (some new buildings and landscaping). Same thing with college. Met up with Joanne and Emily and Jill and little Rowan who was in need of a nap. Walked around the engineering buildings. Old Butterfield is completely remodeled (and not for the better in my opinion, but I don't like change) - it was quite sad. The saving grace was the third floor which was exactly as I left it. This classroom brought back tons of memories. I remember doing my first ever powerpoint presentation here (can't remember on what, but remember I was brilliant in pulling it together literally an hour before the class whereas classmates had spent all night - I was a really good and efficient procrastinator even back then). Studying with the guys on the weekends, even my last math class on logic was held here. It seems just like yesterday. Or I guess more like a parallel universe, where I could just step back in time.

Really, we just walked around campus checking out the new buildings and renovations, hanging out in Jackson Gardens (knitting). I really think the new architecture is on the cheap side, not great design or materials. The library was truely sad. Back in my day it was this hodgepodge of additions built over a century or so. There were all these great nooks and crannies with great architectural detailing you could find to study in. It was nice and old and full of character, you could imagine the generations of students before you, the men in suits back in the 18th and 19th centuries - very Ivy League like. Now it's this gaudy, mall-like gut overhall. Nothing good remains in the interior (that I could find). It's just a shame. But it was good to see alot hadn't changed. While waiting for the different events we hung out on the green in front of the library and poses were taken. Here's a series (I took the the last two shots).

Joanne and Emily in Jackson Garden

Exhuasted from the heat (at least I was)

My shot of Joanne and Jill, first with the grass, but Joanne made a face

... and than Jill did.

And to close out the face shots, two of Griete:

Who is aquiring the technique of flashing a very disarming slight smile.

And loves the baby's asprin just as much as I do - but, hey when you use your hands while crawling and your clothes don't have pockets, the mouth is your next best thing for transportation.

Some reason I didn't post this yesterday - must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Coming soon - my life and lettuce.

Reunion Weekend Part 1, MA

Fortunately I remembered my camera for this trip. Unfortunately I didn't really take any pictures. So figured I'd get started on recording the trip, but wait for some pics from Joanne and others to supplement the last part.

Wednesday I was good and still went into work for a half day, trying to wrap things up as best as possible. Said a final good-bye to Kevin, my boss, whose last week it was and ran home and did a warp speed packing and cleaning and headed to Cece's. We took her "cecebug" and headed to Northampton to see the Yarn Harlot talk at the Calvin Theater. I was bummed I didn't have a knitting project with me (that would soon change) so was pleasently suprised when we entered the theater to be handed a bag of goodies that mainly included a ball of yarn, needles and the mission to knit a 7" square to be part of an afghan for homeless people. It was somewhat surreal to enter into a huge theater full of people and hear the low hum of metal kneedles at work. Part of the schtick that the Yarn Harlot does is take a picture of the audience which you can see via the link above. But stole the picture that had me in it. You see the two flashes? Look at the one on the left near the aisle, the head just to the right of the flash (look closely), that's me!! (I think)

Anyways, Stephanie (aka YarnHarlot) is hilarous. I read her blog regularly and have read a book or two of hers. But to hear her read her stuff is just wonderful. She has a much deeper voice than I imagined, and wonderful delivery and stage presence - like a regular stand-up comedian, Canadian style. Which you would never guess from her blog as she is always so nervous about making an "arse" of herself. We saved a seat for Kate who is in the knitting world and Cece knows. After the event, we went out for dinner with several of Cece's buds from the knitting world which also included Marcie, who makes spinning seem so natural (and is also mentioned on the Yarnharlot's blog). We walked over to the infamous Webbs where the Yarnharlot was still signing books (hours after the event) with a line way back into the warehouse. And guess what, as we were leaving, Cece poked her head in at the front of the line and said goodbye to this famous person and Stephanie totally knew her! Knew her name and everything.

Well, after all that excitement, we headed to Bernie's, cece's father-in-laws. He has this wonderful house just north of Northampton (I think). I'm a bit confused where everything was because we had borrowed his GPS system and I could see how lazy you could be, just letting it direct you to where you needed to go. It was really neat and am thinking it would be perfect for the New England area (where one tends to get lost a bit more than usual).

Thursday I got to drive the bug - it had turbo which is fun - and I barely stalled it which is a frequent occurance apparently. We ended up spending the day in Northampton. After cece's yoga (it's one of those really, really hot kinds - the one that is like 110 degrees - crazy), we grabbed lunch - both had the same thing (realized we eat fairly similarly, more on that later) and than headed to Webs. The night before we had just popped in which doesn't give the store justice. Although I did find the ball of yarn I needed to finish the latest sweater I was working on. They only had 2 balls left, so I was lucky. We basically spent about 3 or 4 hours at the store. I did a very thorough search through all the yarn (they had tons of sales in addition to the warehouse prices). And in the end got some gorgous burnt orange wool/silk blend yarn to make this Assymetrical Cardigan. Cece thought I should do swatches first to get the right gauge. I sat and knit and knit and knit until I got the right size - checked and double checked. I was almost tempted to buy yarn for another sweater but decided to hold off. I splurged and treated myself to some beautiful yarn for this gorgeous scarf (which I can't get the pattern to work, but that's for later), and some sock yarn. And left satisified, with a project to work on, and not that dreaded feeling that maybe I spent a bit too much on wooly yarn.

I knit and knit and the sweater began to emerge. Beautiful yarn to work with and by the time we reached Lee, MA the next day, I was past the armholes, only to discover, while waiting for our wonderful sandwiches at the organic co-op that cece knew of (didn't I tell you she was a woman after my own heart when it comes to food when traveling - no fast-food junk), that the sweater was way too large - the swatch lied! It blatently misrepresented. I even checked gauge part way up and was still good. I don't know if it was because I was travelling and entered into another gauge zone, or the yarn drapes differently and doesn't hold gauge, but it wasn't right. So here is the sad picture cece took of me right before I ripped. The sad part was that I couldn't start right back up again since I no longer had the right size needles. I've started it again yesterday and am about half way, but need to measure again (I don't want to do it - I'm scared).

Anyways, last thing was in Lee, we went to the outlet mall and Cec found a pair of sunglasses, bras and capris that she was looking for. And me, I actually found some pants that I was looking for - plus some other pants and some more. In the end I walked away with 6 pairs of pants/capris/shorts which is perfect for summer and the trip since the weather report lied and instead of being cool and overcast, it was hot and sunny. And that's all for MASS. Next post - NY.

Memorial Weekend

I figured I would jot down some of this weekend before I hunker down at work (yes I am working today, but it's all good, as I am taking off most of the week to head off to my reunion and since I'm almost out of vacation days, I switched my holiday - so only one more day of work this week after today!) Anyways, last week was a bit crazy. Work, of course, has been getting heavier and heavier, and had some blow down fights (in the most professional way of course). But, in the end, Friday ended off on an up note. I had had a conference call on a project I'm working on, with the architect and civil engineer. I've not been giving the project enough attention, but on the call spent time talking through things and really working as a facilitator instead of an expert, I think we might have shifted the path of the project a bit. What I'm trying to say is that most of the time it seems you are managing projects, but not actually accomplishing any great feats, which is typical of the industry (side note, as an engineer I spent about 20% of my time doing engineering design, the rest of the time was paperwork, managing, etc. Switched to architecture, only to discover that it was exactly the same, except that 20% was now spent designing the building, the rest was the nitty gritty redundant stuff still.) Anyways, it was a rewarding way to cap the week and got positive feed back from the engineer.

Saturday morning picked up my step-sister, Karin, from the airport and we headed up to Vermont for the weekend. Except, and for the life of me I don't know how, we missed the sign for I-95 off the turnpike. Anyways, we took a little "detour" through some quaint New England towns. It was fun hanging out with the blended family. I think it might have been the first time it was just the four of us (and not my brother, as usually we get together around the holidays). Karin and I decided to treat ourselves to a pedicure Saturday. However, it must be pointed out that people in southern Vermont do not seem to garner a high demand for mani's and pedi's. We spent the afternoon hunting around to find a place - once place had gone out of business, several salons offered them but at twice the rate they should be, and we even hopped over to NH but they only did mani's. There was only one place in town on Main street and they were booked for 2 hours. We tried killing time and window shopping, but in the end cut our losses and headed home. The funny part was how we were greated by dad and Barbro. They were both ohhing and ahhing over our pretty "new" toes - so I guess the standard is different in Vermont.

It was a good distraction though as dad and I had plotted to make coconut cupcakes for Karin and Barbro's birthday's (they were both last week). So while we were all out of the house, dad baked the cupcakes and aired the house after so there was no telling smell upon our return. And then while bbq'ing for dinner, I quickly iced and prepped the cupcakes. It was a fun little suprise as neither had figured out what we were doing - it was kind of like shooting the moon. We spent the weekend just hanging out around the house (other than the fruitless pedi run), and ended up playing cards most of the time - Hearts. Last time I played (and when I say played, I mean for hours and hours), was in college on my term abroad in Wales. Joanne, Cece and I were addicted to it and we would always seem to have a floater we could talk into playing with us for awhile. But that was the only group I've played with. Anyways, it took awhile, as we had to teach Barbro how to play and I had to figure out how everyone played. It was fun and we were all able to shoot the moon (except Barbro, but she learnt the game so it's understandable). I have to say, I had forgotten the adrenline rush you get when you are trying to shoot the moon, and it's down to the last two pivotal hands. The funny thing was, I was doing awful at first because I was playing as if I was playing with Cec and Joanne who play completly different. So part way through I shifted strategy. And I'm giving away my secret perhaps (or perhaps I'm throwing out a red herring to dad), but my strategy shifted from trying to shoot the moon to the opposite - just trying to prevent other people from shooting the moon, and simultaneously dumping the queen (high points) on whoever had the lowest score. It worked out pretty well for awhile, even got the scores to be within a few points of each other. The funny thing was, at one point, I didn't have a choice BUT to shoot the moon because of how the first few rounds of the game played out. It was kind of funny that it went against my strategy but I was forced to go for it. Anyways, this is all probably boring for those of you non-card players. But we had a lot of laughs and Karin and I got sucked into the strange world of dad and Barbro - funny humor. It was nice to share with someone, as I usually am just laughing on my own when visiting. Also, had a great time talking with my brother Nick who had called since we were all there. Just learnt that a friend of his Shweda (sp?) that we had met while visiting, ended up getting money and is going to be comign to law school at Harvard!

So after a relaxing two days, headed back home and was able to meet up with Joanne and Kevin, her boyfriend (of over a year, hmmm). They were staying at the Weston in town and so I ended up picking them up and it was me who knew of a place to just go and hang out (that never happens). We had a great time and they are such a cute couple together. We had a lot of laughs, but I think the beer and the shear exhaustion they were experiencing (they hadn't slept the night before due to the heat) helped. I have to remember that I should call him Bubba (after the horse he rode in Hawaii), so need to jot it down here. It's a great nickname (if you can forget about some of the political conotations). Speaking of which, I just found a picture of the horse, and them. It was great seeing Joanne and falling into our old friendship. It was short, but will see her in just a few days! It was a great weekend, full of fun, happy, enjoying good, nice people.

Nicely Distracted

So I know this is not the most exciting for some of you out there (more boy talk), but wanted to capture the last couple of days for myself and since this is the closest thing to a journal, here goes (plus I took yesterday off and am much more rested and coherent).

As mentioned previously, I had dragged myself out of my house last Saturday to make an appearance at Colleen and Mark's bbq Birthday celebration. It was a dreary day and I had been catching up on sleep, rejuvinating the body. It was a nice quiet crowd and I got to hang out on the back porch catching up with some girlfriends of Colleen's that I had met before. The evening progressed, Colleen made us all watch their wedding video which had just arrived that week. It was actually fun to watch with a room full of people who had attended. We all got to laugh and joke about ourselves as painfully captured on video. As the night progressed, people peeled off and headed home until it was really just a few of us left.

Colleen had been the wonderful hostess and spent much of the day making sure everyone was all set, and only able to grab a drink or two (or three or four), but not much else. Needless to say, on an empty stomache, she didn't make it to the end and had to retire early which just left four of us at the end, Mark (her husband - front and center in the picture), Adam (his best friend, first row on the left), and Matt (who had come to visit for the weekend, middle row on the left).

We hung out, with Mark stepping out periodically to check on Colleen's progress (she finally made it up onto the bed) and he had us make a straw run at one point. In the end we settled into a nice game of Taboo. I was partnered with Mark which was great as I felt we made a good team. It was fun, because both Adam and Matt are flirts so got to spend the night innocently flirting with both, although in the end, mainly with Matt.

Now, it should be noted, this was only possible because I had basically slept in until noon and had thrown my whole clock off. It was just fun sitting back sharing stories and shooting the breeze with the guys. I realize I used to do that much more back in my youth, but now mainly have girlfriends or individual guy friends (not in groups). They all went to college together and are a nice solid group of really nice guys (that's them doing the chicken dance at Mark's wedding). At one point Adam was talking about his trip to NYC this week to meet with a photographer. They were sweet and trying to talk me into joining the roadtrip (I've been itching to see my friend John on broadway so was tempted). But was good and declined. In the end, I headed off at 3 am (the time flew) but with the promise of keeping in touch with Matt with the plan of seeing if things could work out by being more than just friends (I have to say this is hard writing about knowing the parents might be reading - trying to keep this pc).

Sunday was low key and than Monday hit and running a full day workshop just wore me out. This is about when I was starting to think it doesn't always pay to be good. By Tuesday I had made up my mind to see if I could skip town and play hookie for a day or two. You see, Wednesday is the perfect day to try to see the musical as there are two shows, and the tickets don't sell as quickly as on the weekends when I would most likely visit. It would be much more likely that I get a standby ticket at the affordable price (i.e. not $170 full price). I knew it was probably too late but emailed Adam to see if I could catch a ride and texted Matt to see if a last minute visit was possible. Long story short, it was too late and I wasn't able to skip town like planned but did still play hookie Wednesday and enjoyed the nice weather. The nice part of the whole story was that both guys were super sweet. I had a nice chat with Matt (hopefully just the beginning of many) and with Adam who swore he goes to NYC alot. In the end it just left me with the warm fuzzies which I definately needed. I love it when I meet some new cool people that just enrich your life. Now the tricky part is tossing them into the juggling act of my life. But I'm working on that.

Catch up

I realize almost a month has passed without a post, and yet tons have happened, so here goes.

1. Works been busy.

2. This weekend, spent Saturday sleeping and just recuperating from a rough week. Dragged myself out the door to do the obligatory apperance at a friend's bbq b-day party (if you recall, it was a dreary, rainy day), only to have a wonderful time and ended up staying until after 2 am (only feasible since I hadn't gotten out of bed until noon so had already thrown the internal clock off).

3. Work has gotten ridiculous. Long hours, high stress, no end in sight (but, honestly, I do love what I'm doing).

4. Weekend before had a great time hanging out with Cece and Aaron - worked on the yarn room - love the organizing although I got to do the relaxing detangling of yarn. They were wonderful and treated me to a lobster dinner! I've been saying it was so nice as they are such warm and good vibe people, it helped reinvigorator my poor little soul.

5. Work has worn me out so much that I can't think of what else exciting has happened.



So that is pretty much my life in a nut shell. More to report on later perhaps (in the boy department).

Quantifing Large Numbers

I left out one part from the last post - still somewhat related to food, at least to drinks about this exhibition called Running the Numbers. I'm not sure who the artist is, but it really quantifies the components of our consumption. Check out the website for more series. This one is of the amount of plastic bottles consumed each hour in the US - 2.5 million! And to think how many go unrecycled.

Partial zoom

Full zoom

Summer Food

As the afternoon munchies approach, I took a break and surfed the website of my new produce distributor, The Food Project. I had wanted to participate last year, but since my funding for extreneous items was fairly limited, it didn't happen. But luckily, this year I was able to buy a share of a local suburban farm. Basically, instead of going to a farmer's market and buying what you want from a variety of farmers, you are committing to purchase a set amount of produce a year (season). You pick up a box of goodies every week and you are benefiting from the super fresh produce, as well as supporting local, urban farming (i.e. the environment). I just found out the farm is part of the Audubon Society land and is only a few miles away, near Walden pond. I get the warm fuzzies just thinking of the idea that I'm buying something substantial local. I always try to, but it's so piecemiel and really so minimal - really, if you think about it, everything you buy is from the other side of the country or even the world, and not down the road.

I was reading the produce list and realized I should start thumbing through some cookbooks. I really don't think I get enough produce - not part of my regular shopping habits like in past cities. Plus I'm not always inspired to buy as broad a range as I should. Check out what I'll be getting - I'll be up to my ears in produce too as the box feeds 2-3 people

June:Lettuce, Salad Mix, Spinach, Radish, Strawberries, Garlic Scapes, TurnipsJuly:Lettuce, Salad Mix, Radish, Beets, Bell Peppers, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Parsley, Scallions, Summer Squash, TomatoesAugust:Lettuce, Salad Mix, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Basil, Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Dill, Hot Peppers, Parsley, Summer Squash, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Swiss Chard, Fennel, DaikonSeptember:Lettuce, Salad Mix, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumber, Eggplant, Basil, Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Dill, Hot Peppers, Parsley, Summer Squash, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Swiss Chard, Potatoes, Turnips, Onions, Daikon.October:Lettuce, Salad Mix, Spinach, Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Celeriac, Garlic, Kale, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Rutabagas, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Winter Squash

Some of the stuff I don't even know what it is, like Daikon and Garlic Scrapes, but I'm sure they are wonderful. And what do you do with rutabagas and cabbage, not things I normally cook with. I can't wait! My mouth is watering too. I did something similar while in California and that was some of the best produce I've ever eaten in my life (granted it was California, different growing conditions) - local makes such a difference and you don't always get that at grocery stores and even farmers markets. Dude, the food is from down the street, how awesome is that?!

Second note for food - I know I mentioned loving Odwalla, specifically the Tango Mango. While at Wild Oats the other day, I picked up a selection of Naked's that were on sale. These drinks are really good, just like Odwalla, but have a great packaging detail - telling you exactly how many mangos and bananas and apples, etc went into this particular drink. And did you know, Costco sells Naked's Mighty Mango. Historically, I don't drink soda, and stopped drinking fruit spritzers when I realized the carbonation depleated calcium, and now am moving on from juices which are mainly corn syrup flavored water, to the real thing - 100% fruit juices. Unfortunately, as I write this, I just found out Naked is now owned by Pepsi so in essence I'm still supporting the soda company. At least its not Coca-Cola.

And finally, I don't think I ever posted pictures of my wonderful soufle. Unfortunately, there are no beautious before pictures - it was above the rim, but quickly deflated after I chopped into it. Not so gorogeous anymore, but somewhat delicious.

And I think that's all in the food world. In duck world, the count is up to 71 (still a few more to find), and a bunch (all?) are being used as part of a kid's event at Barbro's work, so they have a happy second life!