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