OK, Rochester - here's 2 for you!

Danny will be playing in 2 gigs this weekend -

Friday - June 29 - Ghost Hand (check out the vid here, but warning, it's over 20 minutes long) - will be playing at Mickey Flynn's from 10-2.

Saturday - June 30 - Powhite Parkway - playing at Buffalo Bill's in Shortsville at 10.

Internet access - how nice!

No pics, sorry

I'm on a dial-up connection. No way this beast will let me upload pics tonight. Will after I get back, on Friday.

The first day in SF - wonderful meal at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf. Walked along the Wharf to Pier 39. Saw the Golden Gate from the distance, and Alcatraz, and some iconic SF buildings. Saw sea lions. Got very cold. Very tired now.

Perhaps more tomorrow, maybe just a quick one from my phone.

San Francisco

Hey - I'm headed to San Francisco for a day and a half (arriving 2ish tomorrow, leaving late Thursday night). Traveling with others for business, so I'm not sure what time I'll have, but any suggestions are welcome (thanks, Jenny for your list!).

I had some pics and a possible Danny music video that I'll post, along with the first stage of the trip, from the hotel tomorrow night.

Hey, Providence!

Sentimental Favorites is playing tonight at AS220 - 9pm with Corn Mo and Superchief Trio. Go - it'll be fun!

Other brother news -
- Sunday - 6/10 - Sonny will be doing a couple of songs in The Empire Revue at AS220
- July - Sonny'll be in a big Art Faire in Baltimore (dk details yet)

Dan is currently playing with:
Barnstormers - a cover band
Powhite Parkway - a blues/jazz type trio with guest singers
Nic & the Nice Guys - this is a big organization, Dan is playing various gigs with the different bands
He doesn't always tell his sister about gigs, so you'll just have to keep ears/eyes open.

Enjoy!

Catchup

Rather than keep trickling the books out, I figured I should just get caught up....

Book #10 - Nana by Emile Zola - in French. This one took a while and I may have missed some subtleties wading through Zola's French, but I think I get it. Zola really had a dislike for the "kept women" of Paris or as the US Amazon puts it "hypocrisy and fin-de-siecle moral corruption". I could tell from the footnotes that Zola was trying to denounce Nana and her set, but there are elements in the middle where I started to like her. When she first gets a country home and feels at peace playing house, before her city guests arrived. When she leaves the theatre set to "settle" with a man she believes she loves, though neither of them has much money. It seemed a bit brutal, what Zola put her through during the months she lived with this guy. At the end, there really wasn't a person left in Nana - she wanted more and more and more and hated it when she got it and crumbled into ruin. I'm still not quite sure what I think of her.

Book #11 - Flash Fiction Forward, edited by James Thomas and Robert Shapard. Very very short stories. A range. Some really compelling and moving - leaving you marveling at how they got that much into less than 3 pages. Others seemed very random and made little sense. Neat medium, though.

Book #12 - Manga Claus: The Blade of Kringle written by Nathaniel Marunas, illustrated by Erik Craddock. An amusing break/ distraction.

Book #13 - Lavondyss by Robert Holdstock. Most excellent. I think I did enjoy it more than Mythago Wood, the first in the series. Did it help that the main character was a chic? Probably. Rhyope Wood is a mystical place, larger inside than its perimeter would indicate, where time warps, and the land itself and the creatures within it emerge from myths buried in the collective unconscious of those who cross its threshold. Fascinating, and I loved Tallis' story. It got very circular at the end, though, and left me a little undecided on how I felt about its conclusion. Neater would have been easier - but would it be as likely to stick with me??

I love this time of year!

I actually love pretty much late April thru to early November - the time when things are growing and alive. Just got back from a very comprehensive search of the garden store - didn't find everything I wanted, but got some good substitutes, I think. Now, to plant it all!

Oh, and I love having some time off of work!

Book #9: The Incredible Hulk: Boiling Point by Bruce Jones. For me, who grew up with Bill Bixby and Lou Farigno, the graphic novels always take a bit of adjusting to. Why did they change Banner's name for TV?? But it's still the Hulk and he's still awesome.

Moments of childishness = happiness reborn

I fully believe that if I were to have superhero powers, I would be able to fly. My "theme song" - and one of the few "other" songs that I danced to at my wedding is the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes version of "I believe I can fly". It never ceases to cheer me up, shake me out of whatever stress I'm in, motivate me to get into kickbutt shape, etc.

For years, flying has permeated my dreams. Sometimes I zip and zoom, sometimes I soar, sometimes I have to start with swimming through the air, just skimming the treetops, before I pick up speed and get free. It helps me save people, escape bad guys, ghosts, evil houses. It's also a huge rush - the sensation of loosing the bonds of gravity and bathing in fresh air and nature's bounty (I'm never flying in smog or the like). Unlike Nathan on Heroes, who when he actually gets over his bugaboos and actually flies, seems to more about getting from A to B (or just away from A) as fast as possible - this is exhilarating.

A blog I recently found Ghost Stories, had an entry about flying dreams.

Flying dreams can be interpreted in a number of ways. In general they can be seen as representing your spirit rising high, free from limitations or boundaries. A dream in which you can fly suggests that your mind is reaching for new heights, searching for and exploring possibilities that lie beyond the reality of your everyday life. The flying dream often happens when there is an opportunity for advancement in your life and may indicate optimism about your future.

Hmmm - pretty cool.

So, while watching one of the final episodes of Heroes for the season, I found myself revisiting childhood as I went from first floor to attic to watch. I ran through the house, arms wide and tilting back and forth, playing an airplane, or a flying hero. Silly, yes, but can I tell you - it was such a rush!

Catching up on some books I haven't posted about lately:
Book #8: Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler. We were first intrigued by this because, like George Saunders, he's relatively local and the book got a lot of buzz when it first came out. I found some of this quite quite odd - and not from a surreal or supernatural point of view, but the characters seemed a bit too warped to believe. It was neat the way the stories connected - I would have loved to have learned more about the building that played such a role. And I got very mad at the chicks that put up with the psycho's nonsense and went back for more.

Being green

I'm trying to be more conscious than ever about the impact I'm making on the planet. It's so predominant nowadays that it's almost cliche, but I find it important. I chose my new car partially on MPG, I've started using paper bags for cleaning the litter and canvas totes cover most of our grocery haul. On short trips, I try to turn down bags whenever I remember. I turn off the shower while I shampoo, and leave a window open while showering for better ventilation (hoping that means less mildew cleaning).

bdp5
Originally uploaded by cw_roelle.

sonny's pic
Sonny recently posted on Flickr about spending some time around Earth Day picking up refundables in Providence.

I also found a couple of other suggestions that seem cool -

• Nike's sneaker recycling program makes basketball courts and sports fields out of old shoes. In our area, the dropoff is at the hazardous waste facility near Monroe Community Hospital.
• Ideal Bite is a fun "crunchy chic" blog.
• I'm exploring recycled glass or newspaper countertops (seen on This Old House) and thinking hemp for the new shower curtains in the bath.
  

Recentering

Spring is an awesome time of year, especially when I have the time to actually get into the garden. It's a very meditative practice for me. As annoying as the morning glories and squirrels can be, working with and nurturing the plants, seeing my vision come to life, and knowing that I'll have herbs and veggies to harvest - settles me.

Bell choir in May plays Memorial Day Sunday and our director has chosen a spiritual hymn. They've asked me to sing it a capella to lead in the bells, so I pulled out my flute to pick through the notes and get a feel for it. I haven't played my flute for anything more than picking out a bell rhythm in years and years. After playing with the hymn for a bit, I paged through my old music and played a bit of this and that. I felt recentered. I felt more me than I have in a while. I think I've been caught up in to-do's and projects and chores and piles and have been cheating myself a bit. Evenings when I needed to "come home" from work, I often just watched TV or napped. Now I see that this really didn't help. Got the mind off work a bit, but didn't renew at all. Getting out my flute and singing a bit really brought back a bit of me that had been buried by the vagaries of daily life.

Here's to a great spring of gardening, music, and creative endeavors that should leave us as renewed as nature is around us.

Tidbits

I'm in Huntington Beach now, but too tired to fully blog my first day here. Just a few small notes from the past few days:

• One thing about warmer climes that I do really love - the variety of trees. At home, we have variety, but many look generally the same. Here the trees are very varied - palms and the like, flowering trees, delicate ones, hefty ones. San Diego especially feels lush on the expressway towards downtown for this reason.
• My plane to LA smelled like a gym locker. Good thing the flight was only a 1/2 hour.
• Seen in Del Mar: A two-story plaza. Upstairs there's a Koi shop - selling the exotic garden fish. Downstairs - sushi. Just seems wrong.
• I wish I could capture the smell of the sea at the same time I'm taking pictures and videos and send it back to Mom, who I know loves watching the water as much as I.

Summer rain in March

Last night, a thunderstorm rolled through. It was still pretty light out, as the rain poured down. I went out to get ice for my room and the air smelled of summer rain. In March. How delightful!

The open skies of Southern California make me feel as if I've emerged from beneath the gray wool blanket of winter in the Northeast.

I still don't think I'd move here. Too much expansion, explosion of buildings upon buildings. Limited seasons. I want to go wander in a dark green forest.

Today was a day of excellent meals. Breakfast was a perfect New York Style chocolate chip bagel. Lunch was at Spices Thai Cafe. I had Spicy Thai Noodles with chicken - on a scale of 1-10, I ordered #8. Quite, quite spicy. Maybe I would have eaten a little more or faster if I had ordered a 7 or 6, but I enjoyed the spice of the 8.

Dinner was at Hacienda de Vega, a Mexican restaurant. Had a Mango Mojito Margarita, 4 types of salsa (my favorite was the tomatillo - taste of fresh spring and a spicy surprise), and chicken mole enchiladas. Yummmmmm....


Book #7 - The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I first read this as a kid. It's definitely worth rereading as an adult. What I recall from my first reading was the way Anne and the others were forced to live in hiding, what they had to give up. What I found so striking as an adult was the self-discovery Anne went through. I'm sure living in such an environment contributes to such introspection, but I found her insightful, nonetheless, and a personality I could identify with. It was almost like reading letters from a close childhood friend.

On to LA tomorrow.

San Diego

I meant to post between trips. I guess I did once. Ah, well. Here we are again. Southern California is warm and pretty sunny, although dealing with some rain. It's good to meet with the team here and get some real sharing and conversations going. There are frustrations, as always, but not too bad.

Had dinner last night at epazote. The marvelous sunset shown here graced us as we waited for entrees. I had grilled swordfish with an orange-honey cumin glaze, some peppers and arugula,and brown rice. Very tasty. And a molten pb-chocolate cake for dessert. :)

I'm up to Book 7, but for now, just blogging Book #6 - The Borden Tragedy by Rick Geary. Geary used a manuscript only discovered in 1990 as a basis for this graphic novel of the murders. After reading the casebook, this brings more supporting evidence to light, but it's striking that after presenting all of this the authoress (who has yet to be firmly identified) still seems to believe Lizzie innocent and an "unknown intruder" guilty. Geary draws comparisons on the back cover to OJ....

More books

I'm taking a trip next week for work. 4 days in San Diego, then 5 in LA. I love traveling, getting out of the routine, going new places. I like staying in hotels every once in a while, provided they have good bath products and a good bed.

I hate leaving home. I know J will really miss me. I'll miss the cats. I feel an excessive need to plan for every potential wardrobe contingency, but don't want to have to carry any bags.
I'm making many lists in my head.

The other part of it is that I'm naturally quite bashful, but really enjoy good people. I know, for the 5 days in LA in particular, I'm going to have to break away from my instinctive hiding in a corner and participate, meet, interact - otherwise I don't get the full benefit of being there.
I almost feel like I need to make a list for that in my head, too. Maybe it'll just come naturally when I get there and I'll discover my tendency isn't towards bashfulness but just pre-show jitters. Doubtful.

I keep in mind - what would a true kick-butt chic do? hmmm ... wwtkbcd.....

back to books -
Book #4 - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - I heard of Gaiman when I sat next to a girl at work who had this kinda creepy, but pretty cool, fascination with the Death character from his Sandman comics. I really got interested when I read the first chapter of Neverwhere online and later when I got the book. His blog just makes some of the "magic" behind the work more apparent - so his stuff is that much cooler. Anyway - this was a fun book that read fast (being stuck in an airport helped carve out some time, too). I liked it a lot. I'm always very excited when a book (especially one I'm liking anyway) deals with the power of language and the power of stories (also song here)to mold, create, and shift realities. My one-day thesis if I ever were to do one. Most excellent.

Book #5 - Lizzie Borden -A Casebook of Family and Crime in the 1890s edited by Joyce G. Williams, J. Eric Smithburn, and M. Jeanne Peterson. A much slower read, of course. As a casebook, it deals almost entirely in first-hand accounts - newspaper articles, letters, legal documents, interviews. Some of it gets a bit dry, but I found it fascinating. I wanted to corral the Fall River police and send a modern-day CSI squad in to cement the evidence once and for all. Not only did a whole "village" come through the house immediately after the bodies were discovered, but all the police tried to take credit for finding evidence - making the chain of possession impossible to really figure out - and the family and various hangers-on remained in the house a few weeks between the murders and Lizzie's arrest. Hmm wonder why they never came up with the dress??? No sealed crime scene there. Many other nuances that made this as compelling as a good 48 Hours Mystery episode - the 1 1/2 hour soliloquy that masqueraded as the judge's instructions to the jury - riddled with bias. (Would any sane person really tell a friend she wanted to get rid of her stepmother and then actually do it 2 days later? Common sense says "no". - to paraphrase) The cheer that went up for Lizzie at the acquital and the closing of doors back in Fall River. Anyway - very interesting if you can stand the Victorian newspaper reporting. (Reading a graphic novel version now - we'll see how that goes)

Traveler returns - Book 3

2/15
After 2 days of trying to get home, I finally get here at 11pm.
I came back from 68-degrees and sunshine to a winter wonderland, in white-out conditions, roads still not really plowed, after 21 inches fell at the airport in 24 hours, and temperatures in the single digits at best. But I'm home.The grins and hugs that greeted me are worth so much more than being comfortable outdoors with just a single layer of clothing. ...
I'm home with my husband. I'm home with my boys (though this first night home they seem on edge by my return and spend their time scuffling with each other instead of visting me). I'm home.


Book #3 - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Really enjoyed this, but don't want to share too many details, as it's a potential for bookclub. I will say - it's not the best book to read while away from your spouse. I cried. And I think Nicolas Cage would be awesome as Henry in a movie version. That's who I pictured while reading it.

Traveler note - Valentine's Day

2/14
I'm sitting in Chicago O'Hare, waiting for a perpetually delayed flight to bring me home from sunny Southern California to upstate NY in the midst of a blizzard.

I moved from a seat near my gate to a spot on the floor near a power outlet for my laptop, with its miserably short battery life. The spot I chose happened to be exactly where someone spilled coffee earlier and my rear is now soaked. I don't look forward to getting up.

A couple passes in the busy corridor. I notice them because she appears to hang off his arm, while he pulls a rolling bag and awkwardly holds a ripped shopping bag. I wonder why she isn't helping him handle their stuff. Hardly have I noticed them, when she tugs his arm, moves in front of him, and knocks off his hat. Their words don't seem too heated. She speaks emotionally, but not loudly. He says little and tries to escape. He veers one way and then another. She pulls at the rollerbag handle, kicks it around, tries to stop him from escaping her hard words. He ducks and shuffles. I catch "incestuous" repeated a couple of times and wonder if I'm letting my imagination make their story more interesting, or if it's simply far beyond my definition of normal. He moves a small distance and sits against the billboard ads on the wall. She sits next to him. A few minutes later, he gets up and walks out of view. She stays. He returns, pacing back and forth, avoiding her, but not willing to lose her in the crowded, weather-delayed terminal. He moves across to a seat on my side of the corridor, she gets up and sits next to him. He then gets up, walks towards me, apparently checking some gate info, then walks out of sight. Time passes. She still sits alone. The shopping bag is no longer discarded on the floor, she must have retrieved it, but as she scoots down to lay across the row of seats, she seems resigned that he isn't coming back soon. When I finally get up to return to my gate (after checking my pants for coffee), she's still there.

Traveler notes - Book 2

Book #2 - Oracle Night by Paul Auster. I really like the idea of a story in a story in a story, but was a bit disappointed that it wasn't explored further. The power and influence of stories and words is another favorite theme of mine, but I felt this turned awry in Oracle Night when, fearing the power of words, things didn't get said at all. The absence of words was destructive and I felt like Auster didn't see what he had done with that. He put much of the backstory into long footnotes and that was a bit annoying. Still, I did enjoy it.

2/13

I am using a bit of time that I would have had before my original flight (now cancelled due to a blizzard) to have my first In-N-Out Burger experience. The regional chain is a mecca – friends of mine who have eaten there make it a destination whenever they’re near one and drool at the thought of travels to a town that might hold one. Mention it in the company of people from the area and their eyes light up. “You have to try. It’s great!” But it’s hard to tell how often they really partake.

I enter the small fast-food place. It looks slightly retro and the kitchen is very open to view. The menu is simple. Burgers with and without cheese, in various numbers of layers, with fries and drinks. I have been informed of “secret” items not listed on the menu, but they seemed more in the realm of a classic Rochester Garbage Plate to me, and weren’t of interest. Everything is customizable, which is good since I don’t normally care for all the stuff piled onto burgers. I order and I’m given a number.

Numbers are called when the order is up. With each order, the counter person calls out “Number [x], please”. Please!

Everything at In-N-Out is made fresh to order. Buns are toasted. Burgers are half wrapped in a napkin and paper wrapper, which makes them easy to eat neatly. Fries are chopped from the potatoes at that moment.

Overall, I found In-N-Out very cool. I wish others would follow the fresh/ polite/ adaptable model. This restaurant was very busy at 3 on a Tuesday – I have to figure they do good business.

Traveler notes

2/12

Southern California. Sun. Mountains tumble into the sea. Deep blue seas curdle white where they pound the beaches. Palm trees line the highways, adorn the towns. Scrub brushes and stunted trees crowd with pale pink rock on the hillsides. The air exudes extravagance. The fast lane. The pampered life, even though that’s not universally true. Spending. Opulence. New. Fancy. But not too obnoxious in the areas I visited. Californians are creatures bound to their vehicles, but the vast majority of drivers are very polite. Signaling lane changes. Leaving plenty of room. Letting you in when you need to get into or cross their lane. The highways are laid out clearly and function well, when accidents or other obstacles don’t cause traffic jams.

I don’t get to spend a lot of time absorbing the area. No time to visit the nearby parks or even the beach. Just a taste and then back to the blizzard back home. More importantly, my husband awaits me there. No place can win me over if he is not there. Not matter how much sun it holds in February.

Radio show

Check out this post from Neil Gaiman that links to a radio show from Penn Jillette. Hear it's funny, I'll listen to it later.

New Year - new focus, kind of

So, I've started the New Year not with resolutions, but a bit of new focus. Well, I had written down some key focal points. Now I seem to have lost them.
Health
Family/ Home
Financial stability
or something like.

I opened the year with a new workout - Shape's bikini body by May workout and that felt so good and productive. I was getting into full swing and....
... caught a chest cold that left me breathless walking to the restroom, let alone doing 30 minutes of cardio 4 days a week.

I'm eagerly awaiting its departure so I can start again.

In the meantime, J bought me a kick-butt chic manual - The Action Heroine's Handbook by Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht. It has step by step instructions on key kick-butt chic maneuvers, like drinking someone under the table, taking a punch, and surviving rooftop chases. Most excellent!

50 books, year 3

For the third time I'll try to get to 50 books read. Since I read a lot of magazines, newspaper articles, and blogs, in addition to picking some pretty meaty books, this has proven hard.

Book #1 for this year: King Lear by William Shakespeare - a reread. It was interesting - I had a feeling for how things would end - it being a Shakespearean tragedy and all, but did get hooked. In the fashion of the books I love, the story lingered in my head as I did other things and I wanted to read just a bit more, just a bit more to find out what happened next. Still not my favorite Shakespeare (and I do need to read several and re-read others) - so far Othello is at the top of my list.

I'm a bad bad blogger

Well, there's been a lot going on! I've resolved to get back into it, though. For my first post of this new year, a bit of reflection...

2006

• Started with a ring! Much of the year was consumed with wedding plans. Though I didn't want to be an obnoxious or psycho bride, we wanted a lot of elements customized for us, our tastes, our theme, so that was a lot of work.
• Besides the joy of getting married - 3 months in this is still an incredibly powerful and emotional thought for us - we got to flex our creativity and personalities in all of those elements. And we got to spend time with friends and family we don't see nearly often enough. That's a huge piece of all of this.
  

• Our first full year with our new kittens - an adventure. Man those cats can eat! They're now on diets and have totally won us over.

• 22 books read. I was planning a wedding you know.

• New jobs for J and myself. The whirlwind that brings.

• The Roelle trip to Maine, unfortunately J couldn't go, but the rest of us had an awesome time!

• Sonny was on TV! Proving that it truly takes talent to master his craft...

• The Tim and Dan show started and is working on finding a singer.

Those are the key highlights that I can think of right now anyway and now I have to run.

Stay tuned in the next day or so for:
- New year - Book 1
- New year - new workout - ouch
- Holiday tidbits and (hopefully) a classic pic!
- *Finally* Honeymoon tidbits
- Other miscellany and trying to strong-arm the brothers into posting more, too....

A bit of catchup

Since we may get some visitors because of the link from Jenny's blog today, I wanted to catch up a bit. Here's some of the latest

Aprille: One month wed and extremely happy. Still need to post about the honeymoon. Up to Book #19 - (17 was South Sea Tales by Jack London,18 was Beauty Tips from Moosejaw by Will Ferguson, 19 was Obernewtyn and the Farseekers by Isobelle Carmody) - will post more on those later.

Sonny: The Craft Lab episode aired yesterday! But for those of you who didn't have a chance to Tivo it, don't worry - it will air again December 8th. Check back to theCraft Lab site for details.
There's a show in Baltimore at Dougherty's Pub in December. Maybe he can post more on that.
Exploring potential business ventures, gigging with The Sentimental Favorites, living the Sonny life. Maybe he can post more on that, too.

Danny: Continues efforts on The Tim and Dan show (looking for a bass player in the Rochester area). Also gigging with Barnstormers, a cover band.
Home renovation is ongoing.

More shortly

Notice

The pro pics of the wedding are up on Jacqui's site! :)

We had a wedding!!!

October was a whirlwind. Luckily, I had a hard-copy journal around when I couldn't get to the blog. Here are a few tidbits about the wedding itself....

The exicitement grew exponentially from the one month mark to the very day. I was all abuzz with nerves, but not nervous. I just couldn't stop grinning.

I don't know if I had mentioned here before how cool it is when vendors tell you they're talking to others about your wedding. At the rehearsal, the President of the museum we used, there for a special opening, asked our coordinator if I was the "bride for the mastodon wedding" - we loved it!
The rehearsal provided a taste of what was to come. So many good people, good minds, and good hearts - in one room - in support of us! We were tickled that so many were absorbed in good conversations. Connections in life are so important and it's extra touching when the people you love connect with each other.

I slept very little in the days before. The night before the girls and I had a sleepover at Mom's - we crashed in the living room so we could doze off while watching a movie. I hope I didn't keep the girlz awake with all my tossing and turning. So much going on!

The day itself was incredible. I grin just thinking of it. The weather was incredible - absolutely perfect. Everything just combined to make it such a stellar experience. Joel and I had trouble when we had to stop holding hands or looking at each other - we were there together above all else. We would blink and whisper "I love you"s and whatnot. Dad had a bit of an outburst that cracked everyone up - but I think he's allowed. Every single element just so summed up the amazing feelings coursing through me. Afterwards, many commented on how unique, interesting, even awesome the ceremony was. How perfectly planned for the two of us. It was incredible.

The reception was a blast! There was little dancing to the playlist so carefully composed over 10 months, but it was OK. People were talking - forging those connections again.
And playing. The museum was perfect! Mom kept remarking on how adults were running around talking about how they tried out this and you had to try that. I didn't get around a ton of the museum - I climbed the rock wall - in my dress! - rode the pulley ride and the sub simulator. I love that snapshots and video come back showing people having fun. Not once did anyone clink a glass for us to kiss - they weren't bored enough! It seemed so short because of it was soo much fun.
Fireworks exploded in the windows above the main reception area - how perfect, just for us! ;)
The museum staff were excellent - they placed our ceremony elements around the cake - so perfect! The chef complimented the music selection - so much better than "typical". The cake was incredible. The food was really good - and it was so cool to see some people trying new foods, too!
I had a grin the size of Montana and all I wanted to do was share it with others....

I had such a marvellous time! It was less a blur than it was surreal. I felt like I was at a marvellous party, that was a ton of fun, in a great dress, with everyone I love. It didn't really, still hasn't fully, processed that it was OUR wedding! It is truly awesome to spend such a hunk of time with nearly everyone I/we/you love. And to feel that coming back to you. And really incredible too when they enjoy each other. We're surround by such wonderful people in our life, supported by so much awesome good will - who wouldn't be beaming?? This is what is so important, so wonderful, about life. People connecting.
To top that with it being the day you blend your life with that of your one true love - I couldn't be happier.

I wrote this while flying to Vancouver - "I'm dirty, my hair is full of old spray, I'm exhausted. My eyes are tired, my throat is dry, my feet hurt. But it's not really there. The warmth in my heart overwhelms it all."

Exactly!!!

We got our proofs for the pro photos last night. Going through them brought that back, just like watching the video had. It was soooooo incredible and I am so supremely happy.

ny times

ok, it really is in there today (oct. 1st)!

I win!

(from Danny)
I am a winner of the preliminary round of Drum Off
2006 at the Guitar center in Henrietta. I was the last
of 10 drummers to play a 3min solo.

Yes yes. I crushed thoses ninnys like eggs.

Round two will consist of 6 total contestants on
october tenth.

rock on.

I knew i won when the guy said "and let me get this
name right....."
dead giveaway.

(A says)
Cool! Of course, seems pretty obvious to us that you could do it...

salt water fishing

Today I went on a boat and I fished but all I caught was (and this is at one time, one reel-in) two spider crabs and a clam.

ny times

hey everybody, if you have an extra $5 this sunday, maybe pick up the new york times and look in the magazine at the humor page. just sayin..

Origami envelopes

OK, here are the steps to make an origami envelope.
I used an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet to get an envelope that keeps the same postage rate as normal. You may want to use a heavier stock.

1 - Fold paper in half so that short end meets short end. Crease and unfold.

2 - Take opposite corners and fold them at 45-degrees, so that the inside edges lie along the center crease.


3 - Fold 2 leaves "open" slices at upper right and lower left (rectangle shaped). Fold these in so that the outer edge meets inner edge (you can see the creases from this fold in the picture above (I went too far and had to go back)

4 - Take one of the flat corners created by fold 3 (lower left/ upper right) and again fold at 45-degrees to lay along center line. Repeat for opposite side.


5 - Tuck the corners you just folded in under the lip they're now on top of.


I sealed the diagonal with a sticker seal - but it may not even be needed if your folds are tight and you use a good stock. These mail very well, with no issues from USPS.

Book#16 - The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon. A quick glance at the Amazon reviews makes me think I missed something in the book. It's a fast and compelling read in some ways. You want to know what happens with the story. But it had a bad aftertaste for me. I was left unsatisfied. Disappointed that what had such rich possibilities ended up being really superficial. The narrator puts such emphasis on appearances, primarily describing characters and their moods by their clothes. When he tells the background of his friends, you get a sense that there's the potential for something deep. You're dangling in anticipation and end up with what's basically a belch in the face. A let down. It leads nowhere. Despite the potential, the narrator doesn't care, leaves it and moves on. I need to find a book that I feel really accurately portrays college life in a way I care about and feel is well written because this left me hungry.

Invitations

Now that we're closing in on the actual date, I can share more about details. I'm very excited because several people have commented on the invitations, which we did entirely ourselves (with Jenny's help for the design, of course).

Early on, I found an origami envelope design. This is a bit different, but no extra cost to mail...


Inside, we had our invitation card, an RSVP, and a couple of smaller inserts with maps and hotel info. One plus was that the museum had a map of the campus on their website with pics of the buildings, so people should be able to find the ceremony and reception locations.


I loved the way it all came together, maple leaves, fall colored papers, Jenny's design.


The night of the final assembly, I bent my thumb backwards working out. It's fun to fold things into origami shapes sans 1 thumb! ;)


Book #15 (read in Maine): The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. I didn't enjoy this reread as much as the others and maybe that's why, back in the day, this was the last book (of the original ordering) that I bought. The kids from our world weren't as likeable. Eustace has some ties to the Pevensy children (cousin), but even with his improved attitude following Dawn Treader he's still tiring. And the other chic, Jill, is way too ditzy and squeamish.

Lucky

As Sonny quickly synopsized, Maine was wonderful. Labor Day weekend Mom and I camped Sunday night (mostly dry) and Dad and J joined us Monday for more belated birthday festivities. J got me an awesome “Learn Italian” kit – we’ll start learning together and maybe one day we can get to Sicily to see where my great-grandparents came from! Many other awesome and beautiful things. I’m so lucky.

BTW, Sonny makes some killer cupcakes.

Yesterday marked ONE MONTH until the wedding! Busy busy taking care of lots of little details. Made a massively bulk purchase at a crafts store for favors. Responses are trickling in. It’s getting more and more real!!! This is going to be incredible.

Read several books on vacation, but will just trickle them here, as I’m not in danger of finishing else real soon.
Book #14 – Cirque du Freak – The Vampire Prince by Darren Shan. Really more of a YA book, but cute. A good distraction that lasted just long enough for the flights to Portland. Not a ton of character definition, though. Was going to say that’s the tradeoff, but just because something is a quick read doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice depth.

maine

we had a great time up in maine. we went fishing on a boat with a bunch of other people and saw some porpoises and caught some makerel and saw a jelly fish floating around. had a birthday dinner at route 66 restaurant went to jodan pond for popovers and brie and a very quick 3 mile hike. walked across a sand bar at low tide to an island and saw some deer and dad found a starfish leg and pam took some family portraits. went to the top of a mountain and saw a storm on one side and the sunset on the other (dan and tara went for sunrise, and everybody went to thunder (gurgle) hole and sandy beach in the morning whilepam and i made dinner) had a birthday dinner for aprille and played miniture golf at pirates cove. on the drive back pam and mom and dad and i had lunch in york maine near the ocean.then friday night we all (except for aprille who was trying to get home via jfk airport) went to see pam play a show in foster. so it was a pretty busy couple a days. thanks everybody. pictures to come.

My boys

A quick post before leaving for Maine

The Roelles are off to Maine to celebrate Sonny's 30! This should be a lot of fun and, because of that, I'm finding it extremely hard to concentrate on work annoyances this morning.

Book #13 - Baudolino, by Umberto Eco. I love Eco, though this didn't sweep me away quite as much as some of his other pieces. I love the premise, though, that stories when shared can build power and change history. The power of myth, when believed, driving an epic journey. The lies are hard to see after so much time and dedication pursuing them.
Interesting also, how this ties to perspectives on religion. And in Pnadpetzim (sp?), the city guarding the gates to the kingdom of Prester John, it is not the amazing physical differences that distinguish the different races, it is the specifics of their beliefs. I find that fascinating and may need to mull it for a bit.

Expect more books after vacation! I'm flying alone and have a bit of a layover in JFK on the way back, so I'll be reading a lot, methinks.

Wedding-wise - invitations are mailed! Expect a post detailing what I did for them next weekend. Practised my updo - I love stumping stylists with the vast quantities of my hair. :) It came out marvellous and I will truly feel like a princess when all the elements come together on the big day! Went for a dress fitting and it only needed a hem and bustle (TG!). Mapped out the ceremony with our officiant. We're doing several non-traditional elements. I love it, though. It seems very us and very important and both J and I believe very strongly in what will be shared and said.

I plan to try a mobile post from Maine. If that fails, maybe we find a hotspot to blog from jointly.

PS

Kat' made it back safe and sound from Zimbabwe! Now I get to see pics!

A visit to the Devil's Bathtub

J's parents came up in mid-July. The visit started with the customary evening at the Old Toad - a favorite with J's family. The next morning we went early to the Public Market. I love the mix of cultures, lifestyles, and personalities that you always see there. We had Mexican pastries, breakfast tacos, Java's coffee, and Italian cheese before we even really started shopping.



That afternoon, we went to Mendon Ponds. It was a hot day (nothing like the last few, but pretty hot) and it was nice and cool in the woods. Heavy rains that morning and earlier in the week meant that the Bathtub was creeping onto the path in spots. Neat to see how the little minnows, fishies, or whatever they were treated those shallows like they were always there.

Book #12 - Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph and Frances Gies. Interesting. J and I read and really enjoyed Life in the Year 1000, but this seemed a bit more scattered - too many facts to spew to make it feel, well, like you were getting close to the lifestyle and all. Maybe if they hadn't tried to cover every castle. They started out with a focus on Chepstow Castle, but drifted away from it a bit too often. Interesting all the same.

Latest and then backwards

I'm going to start with now/ this past weekend. Then later today, as I get a chance, I'll catch up on the rest of busy July.

Book #11 - FINALLY! Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Man oh Man. It's amazing that a story, which has all the elements of something really compelling - young kid, family drowns, on a lifeboat for 7 months with a tiger, survives - can succeed at inciting no interest. I never really cared. And I'm a super-sap that often gets emotionally wrapped up in books. Maybe that's it. There's little to no emotion. He spends more time talking about how the solar stills work to distill seawater into drinking water than talking about how he feels. It's supposed to be a religious book, but he talks about how he turned to God in his despair in one measely (sp?) sentence. I actually enjoyed the Japanese shipping guys more than most of the book. Disappointing.

To wrap up the weekend -
Mom's bday! We celebrated at Dan and Tara's - they insisted on cooking so Mom could actually relax and I think they did an awesome job. Fun with family, as always...

Invitation home stretch - I THINK the invitations are set and just need to be printed and cut. J wants one more review tonight. Then RSVPs and putting it all together. Still some more maps and hotel slips to cut up, some more envelopes to fold - but I think it's coming together - very fun and expect pics once people have a chance to get them in the mail.

Serious gown crunch time - I don't want to look just OK - I want to be super kick-butt! So, I'm going into 2 weeks of intense slimming down on food (mostly slimmer lunches or slimmer dinners if lunch is bigger - and only healthy snacking) and workouts. After that, I can probably return eating to almost normal and workouts to maintenance mode. Here's hoping anyway. The first alteration appointment is 8/17 - it's supposed to be just the hem. Here's hoping.

And, in the midst of all the wedding and summer craziness - musical chairs has returned. Where will I be when the music stops on 8/29?

More soon.

Safe travels

The FILs should have just about arrived for a weekend visit. Their first time up since the new house, since the new kittens. Will be nice to spend a bit of time. Sunday, MoH, Mom, FMiL, and I are heading to the Finger Lakes Wine Fest in Watkins Glen.

Tomorrow, Kat leaves for Zimbabwe. Hard to tell, but if the label is right, this picture is about where she's headed - Mutare. Best wishes - do good work, have a great time!! Send back many pics!

Forgetful

I wanted to note this story on the shower post - the same day we had our shower for our Fall Harvest meets the Mastodon wedding with the mammoth-cum-mastodon cake - road crews found a mastodon in (get this) Rochester Hills, Michigan! Coincidence? or Fate?
:)

BTW - the boys don't call me any more, so who knows what they're doing - but I'll have good tales from Maine in August.

And another thing ...

I just realized that I really haven't thanked a big player in this whole wedding thing really properly. Of course there's still time, but wanted to get it out there today.

MOM!

:)

Mom has been a wonderful co-conspirator, source of ideas and "can you believe someone did that?" exchanges. A de-stressor and mediator when tux people try to tell me my color scheme is stupid or family members get unreasonable expectations. She was a vocal proponent of broken ribbons at the shower. All in all a most awesome MOTB to date! :)

Good friends make me smile

Sunday was the shower!
Some of you may be coming from Jenny's site - I'm hurriedly trying to get something in here to catch up with her. She has some pics on her site and I will post more, I'm just not quite there yet....

Anyway - J and I had a blast!!! Paula was the master orchestrate-tress - Aunt Faye did invites, Aunt Judy did centerpieces, Kat did games - all went very well. Paula's girls - Abby (4 that day) and Lil - and Christy's daughter Kate were great helpers and kept me on my toes getting stuff unwrapped. One total surprise was the mastodon (well, mammoth in disguise) cake - what an excellent and cool way to fit it all in with our theme (once again, that's "Fall Harvest Meets the Mastodon")! The mastodons now hold a place of honor on our mantle, near the Peep, the lucky rope dragon, and the 3D puzzle dino.

It was awesome to have J there. The whole shebang has just as much to do with him - it's us from here on out! And he'll be by my side for a real long time! I like that. A LOT. He was a source of many smiles on my part that day.

Aunt Judy gave us a basket of candles with a poem about when to light which ones and we got pretty sappy for a mo'. And Mom's gift of Booty Food had J very intrigued! :) Many marvellous gifts - the pics will show more because J's sister Susie took plenty of gift wrapping for us.

Best of all, my great friends. J finally got to meet Kat in person! I really enjoy being with these people. I know they're all there for us and will stand up should we need them. What else can you need? When you smile at the thought of a bit of time spent with someone, then think of a room full of those someones - you know you are truly blessed.

I got into reading GettingHitched this spring. In her posts about the big day(s), she frequently mentions the intoxication and awesome power of being surrounded for this joyous occasion by those you love. I can so relate! And think - if the shower made me smile THIS much, how giddy will I be come October??! 

My hands are tied

The shower is approaching. I'm very excited. Very very. I think it'll be great fun!

I'm realizing that this whole wedding thing is truly helping me to understand myself that much more. There are the "typical" things, like really getting a sense for what J means to me, what I want our wedding and the start to our marriage to be like - getting a sense of my style by clearly defining what activities, decorations, music, etc I will and will not have on the day.

For the shower, what's hitting home is that I'm not really great about letting people do stuff for me.
(Funny that. I'm thinking I'm writing about a huge personal revelation and when I actually get it typed I realize it's one of my key problems at work!)
I'm itching to DO SOMETHING for the shower. I want to help. I want to make food. I want to get there early and decorate. To help with directions and transport.

Instead, it's been taken away. My hands have been tied and left idle. I don't even know where it is- - so I can't help people get there.
Well, we'll see. I may sneak something in.
Having a house to clean for shower visitors and FILs visiting next week does help to distract - a bit....

100 days!

100 days until the wedding!

Wow.

Well a bunch of things are moving:
- bought our bands
- received first shower gift (taking to shower to open, although it'll be fun trying to keep Murphy from getting into the not so greatly sealed box!)
- shower RSVPs coming in, travel arrangements being made
- bit of nailbiting over budgets - we'll be revisiting this weekend
- intensifying the workout(OK, I fell off, but I'm getting back to it)

With the shower and J's parents coming the next weekend, we are trying to step up the perpetual house cleaning efforts. Hopefully we'll get real progress made this weekend.

Another big and upcoming project - stationary. Shower thank yous and invites need to be designed and go out nearly in sync.
Then the programs and timing can follow a bit later.
In between will be favors, discussing Sonny's contribution (can't talk to him until after July 15), and tidbits for guests.

AND - Congrats to Sonny on the Arts Council grant!!!
:)

Expect more soon - will definitely share shower details!

Slacker, skulker, funny guy

So blogging about the wedding hasn't been going too well. I keep saying "maybe by next week" I can get up to date. We'll see. Have to work until roughly 9:30pm next Tues, so maybe I'll get a bit of down time next day to recoup....

Last night, we took Murphy and Molasses outside for the first time (one at a time). As with Molson, they will be harness cats, allowed outdoors for supervised jaunts in the backyard only -or maybe the deck at Grandma's.
Murphy was first and as much as he likes open windows he was pretty nervous and confused. He skulked - belly low to the ground - sniffing carefully in a small little bit at the back corner of the house. J called him from further into the yard and Murphy, instead of turning to see, did this backwards skulk so that he could face J without putting his back to something he hadn't sniffed yet.
Molasses was a bit less nervous, though he still didn't venture far.
Of course, Molson had a few years on the balcony at our first place and time on the back "deck" of our second place before I ever took him to the yard.
We'll try again tonight and I'll give J a camera, jic.

I don't watch Last Comic Standing regularly, but last week we caught Josh Blue and he was awesome. While many comics, with jibes at serious and painful issues like rape and abuse, made us wince - Josh had us falling off of the futon, almost in tears. Highly suggest you check him out and watch for him as Last Comic Standing moves into the house.

And, I've started in on my summer indulgence - Hell's Kitchen. After the finale last season, I find it fascinating, even when he's pretty much a jerk. Last season, the nice tattoo'ed guy made it to the final 2 and had to run a kitchen. He started by being very polite, asking nicely, not shouting - and in return people were slower, less motivated, and screwed up a bit. He saw at least a partial justification to Ramsey's coarseness - started yelling and pushing and ended doing an awesome job and winning....
Not quite sure what I think yet of this year's crew.

Holiday weekend reading

Book #8 - Night by Elie Wiesel. Wow. Powerful stuff. So much of it stays at the back of my head, too. One particular quote that stuck with me a bit more, possibly because I deal with proportions so often - as they arrive at Buchenwald: "A hundred of us had got into the wagon. A dozen of us got out - among them, my father and I." While I had read elsewhere about the Holocaust, I had not previously seen the perspective at the beginning - how the Jews of Sighet dismissed the warnings, not thinking it could ever be so bad for them... As I type, I'm reminded a bit about Outwitting the Gestapo by Lucie Aubrac - it's been a while since I read that. May need to again.
Thoughts also on perspective on religion, to be saved for a later date, when 2 more books are finished.

Book #9 - The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I started this in January as a sort of tag along for the 40 Days of Purpose activities at the church where I play bells - it took me a bit longer to read. I will not begrudge those that found this powerful their experience, but for me - well, it gave me an opportunity to flesh out what I do NOT believe. To clarify what bothers me about many approaches to faith in the Christian world today. I don't want to rant to strongly on religion here - and in large part because a good deal of what I believe is that one's belief system should not be imposed on others - so I'll leave it at that and we'll revisit this (briefly), along with Night when I get those other 2 books done.

Book #10 - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. Still rereading the series and reliving things I enjoyed deeply when much younger. Was grateful not to have Susan nagging in this one, and enjoyed the many adventures they had, though each adventure could have been fleshed out more....

More wedding stuff tomorrow, hopefully. Have a whole list to catch up on!

When advice pays off

I went equipped with several dress ideas from magazines and the web - all dresses I knew David's had. We started with the top 2.

Talk about layers!

Talk about marshmallow! I felt like I was prepping to become Mrs StayPuff - ever so similar to the ooey-gooey-ness of her hubby!
What could I have been thinking!

Here's the pic of the worst offender. I had liked it because of the lacy jacket that gave my twiddly fingers something to play with besides flowers and ring and might keep my Italian roots from emerging (during vows)in the hand gestures that so often accompany my conversations...

The attendant, though massively swamped with prom and wedding shoppers for the sale o' the month, suggested something totally different. A different cut, a different color - than most on my list. I fell in love! Mom cried, Paula cried (I think), I cried. So perfect!

I can't wait until J sees me in it as I come up the aisle!!!

Fall Harvest meets the Mastodon

That's our theme! Since we're having the reception at our local science museum - drinks underneath the life-sized mastodon this seemed perfect and is allowing us to have some great fun - not many will have pictures with Manny Murray for their wedding day!:)

Our goal is to have this day be incredible - for us, especially, but also for our guests. One of the last things we wanted was for them to be bored or to think back years from now and not be able to remember if that was our wedding or Cousin Rhonda's. I am sticking to very few "conventions" and it's a blast!

Could it have been less traditional? Yes. I've seen those Flickr photos of people carrying fake tommyguns or in zombie makeup. I do have SOME girly girl in me! But I think it will leave a positive mark. J has had to rein me in at times, at least music-wise, that I might not be setting the proper tone for the moment, but we've worked it out...

People can wander off and play with museum toys if they get bored. Stationary, music, and ceremony should all be pretty unique. I'm excited!

Oh, and I REFUSE to be stressed! No way will I get down about OUR day. When potential stressors come up, I make the decision to take an alternate, no stress route. Here's to actually having a blast... Slante!

Wasn't there a wedding or something?

I haven't been posting the wedding story and I now think I'm missing an opportunity to get down a lot of what I've been thinking, dealing with, and the creative breakthroughs I'm pretty proud of...

I had this weird hesitation that I would be spoiling something by letting people know before hand. But now that I think about it - I'm telling everyone almost everything anyway.
There are some things I'll keep as a surprise, but I can talk about the rest.

I may have blogged about some of this stuff before, so if it's a repeat for you I appologize, but now it'll be in the forefront and an ongoing thing, with "other stuff" sprinkled in. Like, oh, if one of the boys decides to post - iotw - if miracles happen!

To start - basic updates - 5 months to go and we are in a pretty good place:
Save the Dates mostly sent
Ceremony, reception - caterer too, meal type but not menu
Transportation
Cake, photographer, florist
Dress
Most of the party - MoH has dress
Most of the music and a plan to get it played
Officiant and ceremony thoughts a-brewing
Registry
Favor and stationary ideas/ in process
Lots of thoughts!

Stay tuned - next up -- Theme and tone

In passing...

A small block house on a nice but busy street. Close to the expressway ramp and an apartment complex, but in a fairly affluent suburban neighborhood. Up for sale by the big local realty, the sign out front says at the top "Surprise Inside".

I should have snapped a picture but thought of it too late and the street is one way right now due to construction.

I can see why they might say that.
It made ME think of the house as a Cracker Jack box. "Surprise Toy Inside!"

*************************************************

Imagine a party .....
An upper class affair. Maybe it follows an evening at the opera, a la
Match Point. A party from the society page of the New York Times. Held in a room built just for the occasion - complete with crown molding, fireplace, wainscotting, etc. And the main attraction? The key refreshment? That very room!
Imagine the upper crust of society lapping away at the very walls that surround them. A bit surreal. An excellent literary metaphor. A very weird evening, to be sure.

I'm drooling at the thought, though.

Here's the actual site - I think the dress in the upper right looks like chocolate too - now that would get a bit strange...

Bunny!

 
Living in the city, we don't really expect to see much "wildlife". J has encountered bunnies living on a slope of tangled brush near the University power plant. One day a turkey was walking down the middle of the busy street we used to live on. That's partly why we got so excited to see a bunny in the backyard.

It was a little scruffy.

But so long as it sticks to overgrown grass or the weeds in our lawn, I welcome it. 

Book catchup

I'm reading so many pieces of different books, as always, but I'm shamed to say I waited so long to blog on the last 2 I finished that I almost forgot what they were!

Book #7 - The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. For book club in March. I like the premise and I enjoy a good archeological/ historical mystery. BUT. For me it was a little too focused on the events of 3 days. Too much on the minute details of life at Princeton - like it was trying to be 2 very different things. I wanted to see more about what happened as they acted on their discovery of the ancient text's true meaning. There were a few good quotes. Not too bad overall, but I don't think I'd really seriously compare it to Eco.

Book #8 - Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. A bit hokey of a premise that annoyed me at first. So many things seemed tired. But the story was compelling enough to draw me in, to keep me wondering about what might happen next, even after I'd set it aside. One of those guilty pleasures, I guess. And some of the "our world" things so out of place in the "strange world" became endearing.

Happy Birthday Daniel-san!

Happy birthday to Danny - our silent partner...

Here's the new do. I think I like it. It's different actually fussing with the hair in the am, but I think I like the change and I'm looking forward to playing with wedding do's!

2 movies - finished 2 books but will blog on them in the next post...
Ultraviolet - Pretty darn cool. Milla kicks butt - I love the color changing hair and the boots are very kick-butt chick cool. May have to find me some.... For when I get back into shape, you know.
V for Vendetta - really liked this and most of its points, although Jenny, Aaron, J and I all pretty much agreed that the blowing up of symbols was a bit rough. What it symbolized was currently bad, but what about what it stood for in the past? It just kinda' hit too close to home, though it really was supposed to.

Lessons learned?

I remember one night when the family was gathered to watch my favorite TV show - The Incredible Hulk -awesome!:). My stomach started acting strangely and I had a panicked realization that I was about to be sick. But I couldn't miss the show! I told Mom that I needed some ginger ale NOW! She came back with it pretty quick and I rushed to swallow it down. Of course it didn't work, just made things worse probably. I got sick in the middle of the living room.

I've often thought that maybe I just really didn't understand the signals my body was trying to send yet. That I didn't believe I was going to be sick, just that I was just a little out of it and thought the ginger ale would help. In reality, I didn't want to miss Lou's sweet green guy.

Flash forward a whole bunch of years to present day. Twangles of a migraine with a tinge of nausea. I'm much better at reading my body's signals. I'm not in front of Lou or even deep in a session online. I start with some ginger ale to "calm my stomach" and find myself almost reaching for a huge cinammon bun. "Maybe if I eat I'll feel better", I'm saying. What, really, has changed?

-----

J was going through some of my college pics and commented on how much he liked my hair with some curl.
Now, I haven't done anything to my hair but lop off dead ends since oh, 1995.
I had a bit of layering at my last trim, about a year ago.
I just really lean towards natural - it's easier and more me.

But he likes the waves, and if I want to experiement it'd best be now, well before the big day in October.
I go on Saturday.
I'm fascinated by how nervous I am. It's just a hairdo. The person doing it is trusted and has taste. And yet, I see myself with a bag over my head next Monday.

Check back for before and afters.

------
Finally - Sonny has yet to pony up any pics of his new place!!!

Peep!

J got me this super-soft "giant" (relatively) stuffed Peep - I love it! It makes me smile every time I see it!

Ran across someone the other day who had only recently had a fresh Peep - previously he had only had stale ones and figured that's what they were like. Oh, what he was missing!

Went to Jenny's Oscars party Sunday. It was a good, relaxing get together - with good food. I finally made the clay pot loaves I'd been meaning to make - the Constant Gardener's Garden Herb Bread pictured in her post. Personally, I didn't try the Turkish Delight because I was nervous about strings being attached....

Happy Pancake Day!!!

The Forgotten English calendar J got me for Christmas says there's an old British tradition of pancakes on the day before Lent.

Not quite Mardi Gras, but I do enjoy pancakes... I'm thinking dinner.

The nature of illness

Been meaning to write this for a while, just kept getting pulled off course.

For most of my adult life the vast majority of illnesses that I have encountered have either been based in a headache/ migraine, or accompanied by one. I guess it just made sense to me that sick=groggy or otherwise not with it.
I expected to come out of the anesthesia groggy and disoriented, but I was probably more alert and coherent than I normally am in the morning (even after I get to work). I slept a lot, but since I was clearheaded I didn't think that anything else was up.
Until I stopped sleeping and started trying to get around. My head kept telling me "duh, you had surgery", but my subconscious was sending another message. It took me a couple of days to figure out what the boundaries were and then I still didn't get it totally right. Now, almost 2 weeks later (at 2 weeks I can work out again and will really start on the road to wedding dress killer toning), almost halfway through what I'm terming the healing period, I understand a bit more what happened.
Interesting the filter a recurring issue can put on things, and at such a visceral level.

In other news, I plan to post some pics soon...Loving the creativity of the wedding thing, but right now, I don't really have pics or solid solutions to share. As I do, they'll show up here.

Good luck to Sonny on the move.
Later.

Thanks to loved ones

I have an awesome fiance who is taking excellent care of me as I get over this - and is feeding me prime Valentine's gifts - "Indestructable Love" Hulk chocolates, Hot Pepper Raspberry preserves, Strawberry Rhubarb preserves, a single rose for the bedroom and a dozen for the living room! :) Best of all is just his being there and being so supportive.

Also extremely grateful the 'rents are nearby - it really helped to have them around during all this and Mom fed me very well!

Want to go to sleep, but I'm in the office for some weird reason.

Recouping

At home recovering from minor surgery yesterday. Not too big a deal, I guess, but still a freaky experience. Walking into the operating room, unable to see very clearly because glasses were left behind,climbing onto the table, looking at the monster lights and faces watching me as others tied me down (so I would slide off) and started the leads for the equipment. The team was excellent and I had no negative effects from the anesthesia. Now, I'm just a bit sore. Standing and sitting upright can only be done in little bits. But it's done. We'll see at the follow-up the official results, but hopefully the whole business can be put out of mind for 6 months or so.
So I can get back to wedding stuff! And reading.

Book #6 - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Very enjoyable and heartwarming, even though at times a tale of hardship and society's wrongs. The women are strong and wonderful and the breaking down of color barriers a very good thing. Plus, I love honey. I want Mom to read this because it's good, but also because she spent some time in NC back then, at a similar age...

Need to go lay down now.

Just beyond my reach

Last night I had a wedding planning dream. In it, I came up with the perfect idea. "That's it!" I cried, "Eureka!" A little while later, I stirred back to reality to pet a cat or something and settled back into the same dream, but the idea was gone. I don't even remember for certain what it was for. Bummer.

Tissue issue

Molasses is a carrier. Toys that he enjoys are picked up and toted around and ultimately in end up in one of his "special places", various caches around the house (I know of 3 right now). That's all well and good and pretty smart and cute. But now he has discovered toilet paper.

This was waiting for us in the kitchen when we got home from Kenn and Jenn's Super Bowl party. Not only had he found a random roll to shred, one of these was actually on the holder - we found that disassembled in the living and dining rooms.

Poses a bit of a dilemna - here's a product you really need close at hand, but which you have to keep hidden or else it gets stolen and shredded.

Happy news, in our thoughts, and general restlessness

Welcome to Lauren Rose, Tina's new baby girl - born Sunday 1/29 at 2.2lbs!
Continued best wishes and thoughts for Tina and Lauren - hopefully both will be home soon,in loving arms!

Thoughts also for Sherry (hope I spelled it right)- Sonny's bandmate Geoff's wife - as they work through an illness, too.

Otherwise, I have so many ideas for the wedding, I'm busting at the seems. Meeting with the facility today only brought up more possibilites. And the weather is gorgeous. Revising papers and powerpoints? How could anyone focus?

Ah, well, only 1 hour to go....

Looking forward to ditching at least one "ancient" tool

We've finally given up on dial-up and will be getting DSL next week! This is huge, especially when it comes to being able to do wedding planning - registry, guest list management, honeymoon planning, website development - from home! I'm excited.
Maybe one day we'll get cable, but I don't really care about that.
What I might get before the honeymoon is a cell phone so I can get some pics to Flickr before coming home....

One step at a time, though.

Bad Decline and Other Boston stuff

Ahhh, just finished listening to "our" song - :) - BBVD "Still in Love with You"

Book #5 (finishing the catchup on my recent reading binge...it'll slow greatly after this) - Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders. Initially, I was curious about this, as Saunders is from the Rochester area and it got strong reviews. Then Sonny said he really liked it. I'm afraid it's just not me. I can do dark. But consistently, story after story? Every story was set in some extremely depressed future version of the US, many take place in run-down amusement park recreations of nature or history, gang violence has crumbled society - it's just all so ... down. At least in the novella, Bounty, it's not all absolutely miserable, though you might expect it to be.



Boston was a good trip. Dinner and hanging with Sonny and Pam was the highlight - as the work brought extreme stress for a good 10 hours and much exhaustion thereafter. Still, good work got done despite the mess. Sonny, Pam, and I went out for Mexican food and then did some CD shopping. I think that prevented from utterly losing my sanity. Thanks!

Falling leaves and more books

J got me a scrapbook punch of a maple leaf a while ago. I thought fall colored leaves would be nice as a part of table decorations and maybe accents to other wedding things, so I've begun to punch. I started in Boston - it's easier while away because I have a ton of other things that I tend to fiddle with at home.

Book #3 - Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis - Dan and I are both reading the Narnia books, but in different orders - I am re-reading my old copies and Dan has the new hardbound compilation. The new edition re-orders the books according to the timeline within them, but I refuse to concede and will continue reading them in the order they were written. Makes more sense to me. Man, was Susan a wet blanket (to put it nicely) in this one!

Book #4 - A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K Hamilton. There were things I really liked about this book and things that made me wonder why I was reading it. It's pretty much a pulpy detective/sex novel - and sometimes it even tried to hard to be that - the opening is so blatantly that of a pulp detective novel that I cringed - if she were making fun of it that'd be one thing, but that really seemed the tone she serously wanted. What kept me reading and lured me in was the faerie twist. I loved that the romance and intrigue were amplified by magic and unusual appearances. Nice variety there! Still not enough, I gave it a shot, but won't buy the next.

Book #2

Book #2 - I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti. A gripping account of desperation and deception. Told by an adult from his 9-year old perspective, I found it very hard to set the book aside. The characters are strong, often conflicted, and very real. It carries you right through to the end. (SPOILER NOTE: If you follow the link above, the editorial review gives practically everything away - I hate that!) An excellent read!

Sunday J and I went for a long walk in our neighborhood and a nearby park, then came back for tea, snacks, and movies. A most excellent Sunday! :)

Catching up (1)

Seems like I'm always catching up...
Wedding things are starting to fall into place - I now have a date, a time, a place, a dress on order, a photographer, Mom's dress, a MoH and her dress - pretty decent progress and getting closer to teh fun, creative stuff, that I'm hoping I can get Jenny's help on!

Read a lot this past week - finished a few I was close on and read a bunch while in Boston last week for work. Here's a start:

Book #1 2006 - Bellows Falls by Archer Mayor. I'm not all that fond of crime/mystery novels in general. This was in my pile because it has many strong depictions of life in VT, J's home state. What bothered me about the style was that one moment he tried to use a ton of police jargon (BOL for "be on lookout" was a favorite), but the next he has cops doing things they never would, like using verbose, complex sentences on the radio during a chase.

Another post later today with more books and little things. Then Boston pics, dinner with Sonny and Pam, weird wedding pressures, etc. later this week....

Well....

Have been a bit distracted the past week. Had a lot of people to call and email, a lot of fact finding to do. You see,

J and I are engaged!!!!!

This is very huge and very exciting and I'm still quite giggly about it while talking/ writing the tale...
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

I'm so happy, we're so happy. This is going to be the start of an incredible new chapter.
So, how'd it happen? We were out to eat at a nice restaurant, courtesy of gift certificates from J's Aunt Lisa. After the meal, we were chatting and trying to figure out if we should have dessert (my vote=yes, I like to end on a sweet note, J's vote=no, don't want to be too full), when he took my hand, stood me up, came to my side and went down on one knee. Total shock. I get shivers even writing about it. This was followed by applause and a lady at the next table hugging us repeatedly.

We're planning on early October, so I'm scrambling to secure a place, which means pricing a lot of options. I'd like simple yet elegant, but unique at the same time. I think we can get there. This weekend we start visiting sites and I hope to have it nailed in the next week.
I've created a website for the wedding, but that's mostly for guests, so I'll just be sure to get the cool stuff, milestones, creative moments that make me especially proud in here.
:) :)

Finally - the latest books

Well, I won't get to 50, but I might get to 40! Here are the latest:
Book #36 - The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander - To be added to the pile of books I'd like to read with my kids -another fun adventure!
Book #37 - Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. Mom lent this to me to read years ago. The format was kind of interesting, all the various interactions and documents rather than just a narration. The whole issue of rules that exist only for rules' sake and the bureaucracy that keeps her from really getting a chance to TEACH came up over the holiday, too, but I can't remember how. I didn't quite see what finally made up her mind, I thought that was what she'd do, but didn't really see the why from the story. I do plan to lend this to a friend who teaches - she'll probably identify with it even more closely.
Book #38 - Shopgirl by Steve Martin. While I liked his story and his characters, I found the writing style way to simple and pretty distracting. I had the existence of the movie in mind as I read it and that meshed, because the book seemed to read more like a script to me. The "backstory" and character development was very disjointed from the action - much like asides or setup paragraphs before a scene. That said, the movie might be cute - I'll add it to my very long queue.
Book #39 - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - another re-read spurred by a film, but I actually got to this 2 days before seeing the flick. I really enjoyed these books as a kid. As with Coraline, this is high on my list for books for my kids and it too has more depth than The Black Cauldron. I found the movie an excellent interpretation, which kept much of the same tone of the original. One thing the movie didn't do that the book did, and I'm grateful to the movie for this, was the trumped up "court" speech of the 4 right before they find their way back to the Wardrobe. That was annoying. Plan to reread Prince Caspian soon.

In the midst of chaos, peace

We had a marvellous holiday, that's not over quite yet for J and I - we do our Christmas celebration late because we separate to our respective families on the actual holiday. Some memorable moments:
Tipsy Turkey -deep fried turkey, yummy corn casserole, and all sorts of other goodies plus excellent company, as always at a Jenny event
At least a day and a half baking in the kitchen - trying new things along with carrying out long-standing traditions (since 3rd grade I've made white bread every Christmas eve) - and enjoying the happy faces of those eating the results!
Time with family, both at Mom's and at our house - I hosted my first Christmas day and I think it went really well! :)
Delaying the Christmas card until I could get a decent shot of Murphy and Molasses getting along!
Eagerly awaiting a night of baked brie, caviar, and other treats, in front of the fire, opening and giving gifts with J and the kittens....

:)This time of year always makes me smile!

It's about time!

I feel like it's been forever since I've written and have a ton to tell - I'll likely break it into several small posts throughout the day....

First, an update on the kittens! The tension has eased immensely. They still fight and it can get a bit vicious -we often find Molasses with Murphy fur in his claws or teeth - but not so bad that the attitude/ lifestyle of either is cramped in any way. Most of the craziness happens as I get ready for work and right before bed. They're good guys and I think my family really took to them on Christmas (that's the next post). I'll post pics later, too....

Murphy is very intrepid. As I was putting lights on the Christmas tree about eye level, the tree shook a bit and suddenly there was a ball of orange fuzz at that very spot! He's not scared by much... Molasses is a super sweetie who's determined not to let his little brother out kitten him....

It's interesting, we're learning quite a bit from them - things that get us thinking about how we might parent. I also see strong echoes of childhood past - where siblings, despite more than a dozen "favorite" toys laying about, have to play with the exact same one at the same time, for example.

Detente

We brought Molasses home last night. The extremely mellow, quiet guy J had met showed his true "I'm still a kitten" stripes - we had a pony romping around the house and meowing constantly for attention. Sweet, crazy little Murphy kitten was not his usual self - very cautious, on guard - even though it looked like he had the spunk to take Molasses down, despite size.

Mom had said they'd fight.
Given our mushy hearts, though, we stressed. That we might have lost the Murphy we had just gotten to know. That Molasses wouldn't bond with us. That the two would never get along and we'd be stuck monitoring 2 nervous wrecks with claws from here on out.

I slept on the loveseat to keep Molasses company downstairs. J got the bed and Murphy upstairs.

True, this morning the chase was more playful, less evil and they spent more time setting, only slightly on edge, in the same room. I keep telling myself to give it a bit of time before stressing, but I also see it breaking J's heart.

Here's hoping we can draw up a treaty tonight.

Who did I get mad?

The evening was going well. It was a long insane day, but I felt good as I picked up a few things at the grocery store. Then it all changed.
I rang up my basket - $30. I had $15 in cash, but couldn't find my credit card. Thinking it might have gotten loose in my work bag, I headed back to the car.
There, I went through my bag several times, no card. It had been left out at home after trying to buy something online.
So, I head back into the store to cut my order back within what I could pay in cash. That settled, I can finally get home for the evening.
At my car, my keys are safely locked inside, as is my cell.
I trudge back to the store (oh, yeah, it's about 20 degrees out) and suddenly have to throw out my hands against the hood of a minivan that's intending to pull through ME to park.
She apologizes. I ask if she has a cell, but no. I contiue on.
She finds me in the store trying to figure out how to find the number for AAA and offers me a ride home to get the spare key. Round trip made, car breached, home for the night, everything's finally OK.

This morning, I head downstairs for breakfast while J showers. My slippers slide and I fall down a good portion of the main stair on my butt/back. Good morning!
J dallies, but is always 2 minutes from the shower, so I can't get in until way late. Shower and then can't find the clothes I'd planned to wear. Every combo I can find looks horrible and I end up leaving 5 minutes before my first meeting of the day still not pleased with my outfit. I have two other wardrobe "incidents" before I even get to my desk.

So, the question is, who did I tick off and how can I fix it?

Update

Molasses arrives home tomorrow - Thursday. First pictures Friday!

A Roelle Kids outing, a successful opening, and INTRODUCING....

Murphy Tahoe Byam!

Isn't he a cutie! After giving him little food for several days, someone drove up near Cathy's family's place and dumped him - in freezing cold weather. Her cousins' kids found him in the wheel-well of their parents Chevy Tahoe, hence the middle name. Luckily he was dumped where he was, because he was brought in and fussed and fawned over. Everyone fell in love and Cathy realized he'd be perfect for us - even though we weren't sure we were ready yet.
He's a Stealth Bomber - loves to hide when you're coming - and a love, when he wants attention, he'll keep walking over your feet.
He's so small - at 3 months he's probably just a couple of pounds - though he loves to eat, so we'll see how big he gets.
His purr sounds like crickets.

And he's getting a brother. When shopping for food for Murphy, J met and fell in love with Molasses. He's black, 7 months, and another big guy. He arrives later this week and I'll post more on him then.

Last week, Sonny had an opening in Baltimore that resulted in 11 sales, 4 commissions, and 2 new gallery bookings! Way cool - check out his Flickr site for some of the latest - pretty incredible. And I hear a rumor that he has a show in LA in Jan - most excellent!

Saturday, the 3 of us went to see Serenity. Pretty good movie and always fun to hang with the bros. Sonny and Murphy bonded a bit, too.

Book #34 - Hard Times by Charles Dickens - I enjoyed this quite a bit. It's been a long time since I've read Dickens and I feared the dry, over-bearing Victorian norm. Not only did this read a whole lot better, but I thought the tale and the endictment excellent. Sissy Jupe's responses to the hard Facts drilling questions in school and her despair over her "stupidity" kinda' remind me of my interactions with some folk who insist that I'm not following the conversation when I take different perspectives. I would have liked to see Loo more satisfied in love - but this is Dickens, after all. Still, very enjoyable.

Book #35 - Censored:2001 - An interesting read, but with way too much of a "corporations are evil and will kill all sorts of people in their greed and the government and its agencies just go along" conspiracy thing for me. I did find it interesting that some stories from the top 10 Censored stories of 1976 and 1977 are still censored, non-publicized stories in 2001. I know they're still publishing, but I wonder how the rise of CGM and the blogosphere and satellite radio has impacted things. I think it's much easier to get "non-corporate media" news nowadays and that indy news sources can have a ton of impact - look at the impact big bloggers have had in the past 2 years.