Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Find Your Perfect Date: Specify Looks, Income, Race, Age & More!

OK, the title of this post is for real. I did not make that up. It's the tagline for Match.com's search result on Google. Seriously - doesn't that slay the idea that your true love can come from anywhere & you shouldn't have a narrow conception of what s/he is? But, I guess that tagline won't sell as many Match subscriptions. ;)

So let's talk a little about dating. I have not been on a date in three months (which has had the unfortunate side effect of making me celibate for three months). There are a few reasons why I "took the summer off" from dating (family, work, etc.), but here is the main one. Between April '05 and May '06, I had a very confusing & busy love life. The year included a long distance relationship that nearly became an engagement, plus a number of brief relationships with the following: an illegal Irish immigrant, a dorky architect, a long-haired PhD candidate who moved to Africa, a workaholic, and an ex-boyfriend from high school. Whew! I needed the time off.

However, I've decided that it's time to charge back into the fray. Of course, it's all well & good for me to have decided that, but now where do I find the men? I'm notoriously bad at small talk & somewhat shy around strangers, both of which combine to make me abysmal at chatting up cute guys. I tried the Internet dating thing two years ago - with mixed results. I've got some funny stories from that era, though. I'll post about them tomorrow.

In the meantime, though, what is a girl to do? Sarah, didn't you say something about being a good matchmaker . . . ? :)

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Final Moving Wrap-Up

Yes, the above is a picture of me taking a picture of a fish-shaped bottle. It's completely normal, I assure you. ;)

So, I finally finished moving yesterday. Sunday night - I got everything into the new place. Monday afternoon - I spent my lunch hour cleaning the old apartment. I loaded the car one last time & drove back to work. Next to me on the passenger seat was the above glass bottle. It was originally a wine bottle (from Rossignol Winery on PEI), but my parents converted it into a lamp by filling it with paraffin oil & adding a string. However, when someone stopped short in front of me, I converted it into a flying projectile that flung paraffin oil all over my car! That was fun.

The new apartment is great so far. Messy & filled with boxes of crap, but lovely. I promise some pictures once I restore order. In the meantime, here is a gratuitous picture of the old apartment. Goodbye, old apartment! I loved you for 15 months, but it's time for greener pastures!

Monday, August 28, 2006

Weekend Update - Delayed

See, I told you it was fall! I found this tree starting to turn on a mountain road in NH. Anyways, here is the delayed weekend post. I tried desperately to get this published yesterday, but Blogger & I ended up in an epic picture upload battle. Perhaps they're distracted by the launch of Blogger Beta?

Anyways, I took the dog on a hike, as promised. Clearly, he did not want to be there & was not at all interested in going on this hike. ;)

This is the trail, looking down from Inspiration Point, also known as Little Roundtop Mt.

This is Kobe, racing around Inspiration Point like a mad dog.

This is his "hunting dog" pose. He doesn't usually stand still this long, so I was lucky to catch it.
And this is the view from Inspiration Point, looking south. From the top, there's a beautiful panoramic view of the hills & mountains to the south, east, and north. So yay for hikes & spending the weekend enjoying the first tinges of autumn in New England!

Friday, August 25, 2006

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I hate to be the first one to say it, but baby, it's cold outside! Brrr- between the rain & the chilly temps this morning, it's starting to feel a lot like fall, kids.

I'm ok with that, though. Autumn (especially autumn in New England) brings its own pleasures. No more swimming in the lake - but I can still kayak. No more sunning on the deck - but I can watch the trees on the other side of the lake start to turn.

In fact, I'm looking forward to fall. I'm definitely a fan of warm sweaters, apple picking, beautifully colored leaves,
hot apple cider, and cool autumn sunshine. Plus, my birthday is in October!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Blug of the Day

That's the word I'm using today for "Blog Plug". Don't worry, it's not some hip, new blogging word that you missed. I just made it up.

Anyways, I've spent a lot of time recently engrossed in a new blog, called Waiter Rant. I found it courtesy of Kate, whose blog is also fun. The author of Waiter Rant is a 38-year old man who works as a waiter at a fine dining restaurant in NYC. His posts are witty & incisive & chronicle the broad spectrum of customers that walk through his doors.

Having worked (briefly) as a catering waitress & not so briefly (10 years) in various coffee shops, bakeries, Italian restaurants and bagel joints, I can empathize a little with his hilarious stories of the annoying, entitled behavior of wealthy Yuppies. Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Managing Two Apartments

is not as glamorous as it sounds. ;) I don't know where anything is anymore! Anyways, last night, I did the only part of my move that required a big truck. My father borrowed a box truck like the one above from our friends, the Custances. They have a custom woodworking company in NH & a general construction company in MA - you should check them out! (Nice plug, huh?) It took my father & I around 3 hours to load & unload almost all of my furniture. My biceps are a little sore today, but things went pretty well overall.

The old apartment has been stripped down to the bare essentials at this point. I'm working with a mattress on the floor, a skinny plastic dresser, a night table, and a trunk. Since I refused to put my mattress on the floor without thoroughly cleaning it, I went to bed last night actually feeling like my apartment was clean & tidy.

Cut to 3:39 a.m. I swam awake & realized that I'd committed my usual sleepytime faux pas. That is, left my contacts in & the TV & light on. I blinked my eyes groggily - and they came to rest on a silverfish crawling on the ceiling!!! Gross!

Now, bugs & I are generally on decent terms. I trap moths in my hands & release them outdoors, I'm not sure I've ever killed a fly, and
I have no problem with letting spiders cruise around my walls (a throwback to Charlotte's Web, perhaps?). Mosquitos & bees aren't high on my list, because they like to bite/sting, but I don't hate them passionately. Silverfish, however . . . blech. I get the shivers just talking about them.

So I lay there for a few minutes, processing the fact that this nasty insect was crawling around on my ceiling like he owned it. I realized that I no longer had any chairs in my apartment, therefore there was nothing to stand on to get close enough to kill him.

Undaunted (but still a little confused), I grabbed a handful of kleenex from the bathroom & one of my flip-flops from the floor. I grabbed a broom & began to formulate a plan. Flip-flop in one hand, broom in the other, I swept him off the ceiling onto the floor. He scurried underneath the French door. Flip-flop at the ready, I opened the door & nailed him as he tried to run away. Success! I may or may not have danced a little around the apartment & exclaimed, "Haha! Stacey - 1, silverfish - 0!" I may have done that. But I'm not telling. ;)

P.S. It turns out that in addition to being nasty-looking & shiver-inducing, the little buggers eat book bindings. Now it's personal! I'm really glad I killed the little intruder last night.

P.P.S. To read about another Boston blogger who is sharing her moving stories, check out Sarah. She's much funnier than I am. ;)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Old Friends

As promised, here are the pictures from the bridal shower I went to on Saturday. I love that the bride is not at all girly (like me!), so the theme is more "autumn harvest" than "pink & fluffy". I also got to pick up my bridesmaid dress, which is gorgeous! This is it, but in topaz (not pink).

Besides seeing E. (the bride) at the shower, this was quite the weekend for seeing old friends. My friend B. flew in from Colorado on Thursday. I had a few beers with him & his brother C. on Friday night at RedBones. I haven't really talked to B. for about 3 years, so we sat & chatted for about two hours straight. The other guests at his "welcome home" party were pissed. ;)

Then, completely unexpectedly, my friend E. called me on Sunday afternoon. He lives in Brooklyn now, but his parents still live in the Boston area. He was having dinner with them at the Burren, so he called me. He walked over to my apartment after dinner & then helped me move some things over to the new apartment. He'll be around for most of this week, so I'll hopefully see him again.

THEN, as if all of that wasn't enough of a walk down memory lane, I ran into some friends from college last night! It was completely random: I was driving home from bringing things over to the new apartment in Hometown. I was cruising home to The Square when I passed two guys unloading groceries from a Volvo. I sort of recognized one of them as I drove by, but wasn't quite sure. So I pulled a uey at the next light & cruised by again, looking more closely from the opposite side of the street. It was, in fact, my college buddies C. & M.! I pulled another uey & pulled up behind them. I definitely sketched them out, getting out of my car & coming towards them with a smile. Then, they realized who I was & it was all good. Nice to know they're so close by!

Monday, August 21, 2006

I'm Not Usually a Morning Person

But for some reason, I was on Sunday. Here's how it all went down. ;)

I went to a bridal shower on Saturday (pictures to come tomorrow), then drove up to NH to spend time with the family. I arrived at 8:00 p.m. & had BBQ left-overs while we watched the Pats game. After a full day of moving things to the new apartment in the morning, helping out at the bridal shower in the afternoon & driving 2
½ hours north after the shower, my head hit the pillow before 11:00 p.m.

Any summer weekend at the lake house finds me sleeping on the screen porch (above). With the weather this weekend, I felt like I was sleeping on the high seas. Rain pattered down around the porch, wind swooshed through the trees, the lake splashed against the shore. I slept really well despite the myriad noises. I woke up at 6:15, went to the restroom & lay back down, intending to go back to sleep.

However, the birds were now awake & eating breakfast from the feeders next to the porch. The rain was still pattering, the wind was still swooshing, the lake was still splashing. And for some reason, I began to formulate my personal statement for my grad school application in my head. OK, actually it was out loud. Yes, there I was, lecturing to myself about history at 6:30 in the morning - and I realized I wasn't going to be getting back to sleep.

I got up, let the dog out, started the coffee, grabbed pen & paper, and began taking notes. I'll give you the brief synopsis, as you probably don't care much about the details. There are four fields of history in which I am really interested. Like, "Oh my gosh, that's so cool! I love it - I want to know more & more & more" interested. They are: Scottish history, New England history, Canadian Maritimes history &
nautical history. They may seem somewhat disparate fields, but there are actually a myriad of connections there that I would love to explore.

I do realize that they are somewhat obscure fields, but I think that may work to my advantage. As in, the graduate dept. of history at State U. may say, "Hey, neat. We've never had anyone do
that before!" Besides, if I can't get myself into grad school by talking about the fields of history that really intrigue me, then I just can't get myself into grad school. Wish me luck!

Friday, August 18, 2006

And In Other News . . .

I do have a real life back here in the States. ;) And in that real life, I am moving to a new apartment!!! Pictured above is the old apartment. It was/is a lovely place & I was very happy there for 15 months. However, it was expensive & the parking was horrendous (being near The Square and all).

The new place is in Hometown, where my sister, bro-in-law, nephew & grandparents live. It's a gorgeous studio in a 150-year old historic home. It has four huge windows, 12-foot ceilings, hardwood floors, and all the charm of, well, a historic home.

I've rented the new apartment from August 15th on & I have the old apartment until the 31st, so I can move at a leisurely pace. I got the keys to the new place this week & went over last night with two suitcases, a laundry basket of clothes, and my book collection, A-R. There was also one lonely "S" (
Catcher in the Rye slipped in somehow), but he will be joined by the rest of the collection sometime this weekend.

I'll post pics of the new place once I get things more organized!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I Lied About Being Done

OK, so I lied. I am almost done with the vacation photos, but I just wanted to wrap things up neatly. Here is how Thursday-Monday went down:

Thursday night - Murray, his ex-girlfriend/current girlfriend Angela (she went from one to the other almost daily), Brad & I headed down to the beach for a bonfire. I try to squeeze one of these into every vacation. It just doesn't seem like PEI unless I spend at least two hours sitting on an upturned fish tub, gripping a Schooner, and staring into a fire made of driftwood & lobster traps. :)

The next day, my parents & I spent lots of money shopping in Charlottetown. I will post pictures of some of the cute things I bought another time. Then, we headed back east to Orwell for my cousin's 50th birthday party. It was a great party. There was fiddle music (above),

dancing (my mother & cousin above), drinking, and much merriment with my MacPherson cousins. They are a big, tight-knit, and party-loving clan. My parents & I caroused with them for four hours, then crept home around 1:30 a.m.

On Saturday, we were up not-so-bright-and-early to do some more shopping in Murray River. Then, we dug up some blueberry buckets & headed for our family's land in Culloden. My grandparents bought my grandfather's aunt's farm there many years ago & they used to spend their summers there before the house was moved. We still own the land & visit every year to pick blueberries & reminisce about our family's history there.

Saturday night, my parents, my friends & I drove out to Oyster Bed Bridge to see the stock car races. My parents are friends with one of the drivers (who vacations in New Hampshire), so we went into the pits to say hello to him. Towards the end of the races, Brad, Murray & I took our leave & headed into town to do some carousing at the bars.

We got to our motel room, dressed ourselves up (more me than the boys) & headed out to Peake's Quay. This is a huge bar/club right on the water in Charlottetown, with a big deck & a big crowd of drunken 20- and 30-somethings. It was weird for me, as it was the first time I was in that kind of situation since chopping off my hair. The haircut makes me feel boyish, so I wasn't sure how I would feel surrounded by cute guys. In the end, no one declared their love, but no one ran away screaming either, so I'd say it was a successful night. ;)

For details of the rest of our Saturday night & Sunday, read this. I hope you guys enjoyed my vacation recap. If you didn't, well, phooey on you.



Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Vacation Pictures - Part Done

OK, kinda feeling like I have to move on with my life now. Considering I returned from vacation 2 weeks ago, it's a valid feeling. These pictures are like crack, though. Allow me this last picture post & one more with the Canadian beer in my fridge and that'll be it. I promise.

These pictures span the week of July 23rd-31st. I spent most of Monday sleeping late & reading, as I was tired & sunburnt from the wedding weekend. Although, I did venture across the road to M's at night to drink beers & play cards with the boys.

Tuesday, I got my act together. Walked to the beach in the a.m. with my parents. After lunch, headed back down with friends to go bar clamming. Between five of us, we came up with nearly 100 pounds of clams. That's nuts. FYI, the tall guy with dark hair & camo trunks is my ex-boyfriend, Tyson. The short girl in the purple bikini is his new girlfriend. Yeah . . . that made things all kinds of fun. (grrrrr)

Anyways, on Tuesday night, we steamed the clams & grilled some potatoes for dinner. Then, played Asshole for close to four hours. After Tyson, Brad & Natalie went home, I have blurry memories of being drunk & painfully sunburnt, crying to Murray about the situation & shivering in the ocean breeze. The dear boy listened to me, then slung a jacket over my shoulders & walked me home.

I woke up Wednesday morning nauseous & dizzy. I stood in the bathroom at 8 a.m., wailing to my mother, "I swear it's the sunburn - not the alcohol!" Classy, I know. I consequently spent most of Wednesday in bed reading, with a short foray out to lunch with the rents & Murray.

Thursday - painted the garage with my parents, being careful to stay on the shady sides whenever possible (my legs were literally purple with sunburn). Then, the folks & I headed out to BBQ with some relatives who were camping nearby & then watch the local Fisheries Festival parade with them.

Side note: It's enlightening to hang out with my 14-year old cousin. I don't think of myself as much older, but I so clearly am. Jenny spent most of the time talking about bands she likes & rock shows she wants to see. I spent most of the time nodding, smiling, and feeling ancient. ;)

Ok - this is getting way too long. I'll leave off at Thursday & finish up Friday, Saturday & Sunday tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Vacation Pictures - Part III

Yes, I am going to spin these pictures out as long as I possibly can. ;) It helps me re-live my vacation & besides, PEI & Cape Breton are two stunning places. You don't really mind, do you?

After the busy wedding day (which included a beach visit in the "wee smalls"), everyone wanted to chill a bit on Sunday. My cousins have a summer cottage on Lake Ainslie (above), so I wheedled & whined & convinced Brad to drive me up there to check it out. After another hearty breakfast at the Manitou, we were off. It took much longer than I expected. For all that Cape Breton is a small place, it took nearly 3 hours round trip. However, we found the cottage & got some great photos, which my cousins loved. And Lake Ainslie itself is lovely - reminded me of the lochs in the Highlands.

Once back in Judique, we landed at the bride's parents' place. We spent an hour or two just relaxing - talking, drinking beer & playing horseshoes. Once the grandparents arrived, we crowded into the house to watch Chad & Adina open their presents. It took awhile, as things like that always do (ever been to a baby shower?), but it was neat to be able to
see their reaction to my gift. They liked it. :)

After a good feed on wedding dinner leftovers, the PEI caravan (made up of my friends & Chad's family) was off to catch the ferry. Half of us made the 6:00 boat & sailed off to PEI. I was tired, sunburnt & hungover - but I couldn't be happier. I was headed home.

Here are the pictures from day two. You can look forward to real PEI pictures tomorrow!

Monday, August 14, 2006

Vacation Pictures - Part II

*Before I plunge into vacation photos, here is the grandmother update. Grammy's surgery went well & she is resting at the hospital. I saw her yesterday & she looks and sounds much better. Thanks to those of you who emailed or called with warm wishes!*

Here is the next set of vacation photos. I attended the wedding of an old PEI friend named Chad on July 22nd. His new wife, Adina, is from Cape Breton & the wedding was held in her little hometown of Judique. The weather was beautiful - sunny, warm, no rain whatsoever (a blessing, considering they had torrential rain the night before the ceremony).

It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend for me. I drove overnight with my parents to make it on time. After the 12-hour drive, I arrived at the inn at 7:45 a.m., disheveled & tired. However, seeing the boys & getting some hot coffee into me helped. After breakfast out at Manitou Restaurant in Port Hood, we were off to the races.

Back at the inn, I showered & dressed, then spent twenty minutes poking & prodding the guys into showering & getting their tuxes on. Because I was one of only three women staying at the inn & I was ready early, I found myself tying ties, fixing collars, attaching cuff links, smoothing tux jackets, adjusting pocket squares, etc. I even did the groom's hair - to the extent that smooshing my own hair gel into his very short hair constitutes "doing" his hair. ;)

Off to the church around 1:00, where my ex's new girlfriend & I (that's a whole other story!) spent a few minutes in the back room of the church with the boys - pinning on rose boutonnieres & checking them for loose ends one last time. Then, a lovely ceremony which (thank God!) was NOT a full Catholic mass.

After the ceremony & the requisite "standing around in front of the church", we all headed off to take the pictures. The bride's family owns land on a river, so that's where we went. It was really refreshing, actually. Instead of standing around the reception hall bored & hot, I spent the three "
picture-taking" hours barefoot, roaming around a meadow, taking pictures & nursing a (few) beer(s). The pictures came out wonderfully - see an example above. Most of my pictures were from the side or back, since my subjects were looking at the official photographer. I think I like my shots better. :)

Anyways, a good time was had by all. Here are the wedding pictures from day one. You'll get day two tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Vacation Pictures - Part I

Guess what, guess what, guess what??? My parents are home from Canada & therefore, so is my memory stick. I've spent the last day uploading pictures, re-naming them, sorting them, etc. I figured I'd post a few a day & take you visually through my vacation. If you're bored, bear with me. It's also my way of reliving it. ;)

Let's begin with two weeks ago today (July 19th), when I attended a soccer match at Gillette Stadium. Glasgow Celtic came into town to play the New England Revolution. It was an exciting match, with the Revs tying the game, 1-1, in the last few seconds with a well-placed goal. Since I was sitting in "The Fort", I found out quickly how rabid Revs fans are (the guys in the video were about six rows down from my seat). Here's my photo of the match:

After the match & a 40-minute wait to get out of Gillette's parking lot, Best Friend & I drove southeast to the Cape. We were headed for the house that her family rents every summer. Since I arrived around 12:30 a.m., my bed was the first thing I cared about:
Awakening the next morning, the sky was grey & dull, but the view from my window was as pretty as ever.
The picture below shows a better view of the salt marsh & the roof of the screen porch. Every summer, I climb out the window & sit for awhile on the roof of the porch. It's a quiet & peaceful way to take in the view.
Since the weather wasn't ideal, we didn't get in any beach time, but we did get in a lot of good reading time. I worked my way through Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals, which seemed a fitting way to ease into a predominantly seaside vacation.

We got out of the house Thursday afternoon - lunch at Arnold's, shopping in P-town, and dinner at Terra Luna. I left Friday morning in a drizzly rain, headed for Boston, New Hampshire & thence to the next seaside destination - Cape Breton!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

NYC Wrap-Up

So NYC was lots of fun. Above is a picture of my mani/pedi from Saturday. It's still doing pretty well, despite lots of walking, typing, and being drunk since then. ;)

Speaking of walking, I had quite the workout on the day I came home. I bought a ticket on the noon Fung Wah & hopped on the subway around 11:15 a.m. However, I wasn't thinking about the fact that the Canal St./Varick St. subway station is a good 16 blocks from the Fung Wah office. I surfaced at 11:50, with ten minutes to go until my bus left. As you can imagine, I hauled ass through Chinatown, practially knocking over pedestrians with my 30-pound pack. Plus, it was sunny & about 80 degrees. When I got there, I was on time, but I was not a pretty sight.

Then, after a 4-hour bus ride to Boston's South Station & a 40-minute train ride to the right train station, I accidentally took the wrong bus to my sister's house (where my car was)! Consequently, I had to hike another mile uphill, (still) carrying the pack. When I got into my very own car at the end, I was so childishly happy!

I'm so over public transportation right this moment. In the last week (7/31 to 8/7), I've been on a Northumberland Ferries Ltd. ferry, an Air Canada plane, a Logan Airport shuttle bus, a Silver Line bus, the Fung Wah bus, 3 NYC taxis, the NYC subway 1 train, a local MBTA bus, and the Red Line train multiple times!!! I'm glad I'm helping the planet & saving gas, but I'm tired of waiting for trains/buses, hailing cabs, getting sweaty running to make buses, and being raved at by crazy people. God bless my little Jeep!

Sunday, August 06, 2006

New York, New York

No way! It's a rare weekend post from me. Are you so excited you can hardly stand it? I know, I know - I'm the only one who's excited.

Anyways, I've (mostly) recovered from my Saturday night & I wanted to share a few thoughts. I've been in New York visiting my best friend R. for not quite 48 hours & it's been quite a ride. Here are some of the things I've done here which I can quite honestly say have never happened in Boston. (I really hope my parents don't read this . . . )
  1. Got a mani/pedi at a nail shop in Spanish Harlem. Very cute, very cheap. My first pedicure ever, actually. (I know - I'm pretty much an incurable tomboy)
  2. Gave $2 to a crackhead. I'm an idiot & he had a good story. Something about being diabetic & needing food, I don't know. I know better now.
  3. Had a two-hour brunch at an outdoor French cafe, including a carafe of white wine, pain du chocolat, French toast w/ fresh fruit, sourdough bread & butter, and an iced cappuccino.
  4. Stayed after hours at a biker bar in Chelsea. I think it was the one on which Coyote Ugly was based. Either that, or the female bartenders just really liked to two-step on the bar.
  5. Rode a Heritage Softtail bike around the block with a 36-year old biker from Queens.
I need to go home to Boston to recover!

Friday, August 04, 2006

Home

The stars have aligned! It's cooler out & the photo upload doo-hicky is working. So, on to the promised PEI post!

As I mentioned weeks ago, I've been spending "my summer vacation" at my family's cottage on Prince Edward Island for most of my life. I first summered there when I was nine months old. Well, technically, since the summer of 1981, when I was seven months old in my mother's belly, but you get the point. The point is that our cottage, the Island, and Islanders have been a very important part of my life. Here are some photos from when I was just a wee thing:

This is my older sister & I, chillin' on the porch. It's probably 1983, which makes me two years old & her five years old.

This is maybe 1985, when I was four years old. As you can see, this calf & I are tight.

This picture was taken this summer. I look wicked goofy, between the hands in shorts pockets & the rubber boots. But whatever. We were blueberry picking at the land my family owns & I was having fun!

On my last night, I was at my friend Murray's house, swinging lightly on the swing & nursing a beer. He lives on a hill across the road from me, overlooking the beach road, creek, beach, lighthouse, and harbour. The sun was about thirty minutes from setting & it cast this gorgeous golden light over everything - green grass, red clay road, blue sea. I soaked in the view, I watched the dogs play in the yard, I sipped my cold Schooner, I listened to the seagulls. And I thought, "I wonder if they'll grant me a work visa . . . "

Thursday, August 03, 2006

More Whinging about the Heat

Today's post was meant to be the cute one about PEI that was promised yesterday. However, Blogger's photo upload feature is being bitchy & I'm having no luck. I've got it written, though, so you'll get that post later today if I can bend Blogger's will to my own. In the meantime, you'll get a little bitching about the heat. I'm only human, people!

So it was hot (again) last night. (How hot was it?!) It was so hot that it was 90 degrees in my apartment around 11:00 p.m. It was so hot that the thought of making something for dinner made me feel woozy. It was so hot that my subsequent dinner consisted of: a can of sliced peaches, a can of sliced pears, a fruit shake, a candy bar, and half a carton of "Karamel Sutra" B&J ice cream (which melted faster than I could eat it). Hmmm - maybe this heat thing has its merits . .

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Sweet Liquid Relief

Boss bought cold icy drinks for the whole office (including this scrumptious mocha frappuccino w/ whipped cream for yours truly)! :)

Mmmm - I wish I could live in the sweet
frostiness of my drink . . .

(By the way, I got
86 results when I googled for that picture of a mocha frappucino. Nuts!)

Crazy Hot - and Ouchie!

So I had a really cute post planned for today - complete with family stories from my childhood on Prince Edward Island & accompanying photos. However, the insane heat melted my brain & I just don't think I can summon the energy. Instead you get a picture of (much-cooler) Beach Point & maybe the cute post tomorrow.

Seriously, though. We live in Boston, people - city of blizzards & snow drifts & wicked cold nights. Where did this crazy-ass heat come from? Last night, at 10:30 p.m. (P.M., as in the sun had been down for hours!), it was 89 degrees in my apartment. IN my apartment!

I managed not to die by drinking lots of water, stripping down, sitting in my Adirondack chair (the only seat not covered in fabric of some kind), and directing the fan straight at me. However, things went awry when I tried to eat dinner. I balanced the plate of hot rice & chicken with lemon sauce on the arm of the chair. Then, I don't know what I did, but the entire plate of food came crashing down on my hip. The hot rice burned my left hip & my dinner was scattered all over the chair & the floor.
Ouch.

Remind me when it's supposed to get cooler? Someone, anyone?

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Boo to Real Life

Well, I'm home from vacation. While it's nice to catch up with friends & emails, I'm definitely grouchy about being back. Real life never lives up to vacation life, does it? To illustrate, look at the schedule of my last day of vacation compared to my first day back in Boston:

Sunday, July 30th (vacation):
  1. 3:30 a.m. - In car traveling home from the bar in Charlottetown, pulled over by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Sadly, not on horses).
  2. 4:00 a.m. - My friend Murray was taken to the police station for breathalyser test. My friend Brad & I were taken to Murray's house by the RCMP (who kindly allowed us to bring along the 4 cases of beer we had bought earlier that night).
  3. 6:00 a.m. - Murray got dropped off by the RCMP, having passed the breathalyser & avoided any marks on his record.
  4. 11:30 a.m. - Woke up at Murray's house to a windy, sunny day. Walked across the road to my cottage to check in the folks & have some lunch.
  5. 1:30 p.m. - Back to Murray's to load the coolers & hitch the boat up to Brad's truck.
  6. 2:00 p.m. - Registered for the Poker Run & headed out on the water. Spent most of the day zooming around Murray Harbour & River, drinking beers in the boat & visiting with the fishing boats on the Poker Run.
  7. 8:00 p.m. - Back to Murray's to unhitch the boat trailer & continue drinking beers.
  8. 9:30 p.m. - Across the road to the cottage to check in with the folks & have some dinner.
  9. 11:00 p.m. - Back at Murray's to play caps for awhile, then walked down to the lighthouse with Murray, Brad & Angela.
  10. 2:00 a.m. - Home, after spending an hour or two standing around a bonfire & chatting with the Newfoundlanders who were at the lighthouse.
Tuesday, August 1st (real life):
  1. 7:30 a.m. - Got up, showered & got ready for work.
  2. 9:00 a.m. - At work. Slogged through the 135 work emails & 72 personal emails that awaited me.
  3. 5:30 p.m. - Off work & heading home. Must call my landlord, doctor's office, grandparents, one of my students, and the 4 or 5 friends who left messages while I was on vacation.
  4. 9:00 p.m. - Sex & the City (one of the good things about being back in the land of cable TV - we have just two stations at the summer cottage).
  5. Midnight - Bed (lame!)
Don't worry, I'll get over this peevishness soon. Once I get all of my pics uploaded, I'll mentally extend my vacation by sharing them with you all!