Nature 2, Self 1

A mid-vacation post! I am partaking of my first internet cafe experience. Fortunately with the prevalence of wireless internet use it is now cheap cheap cheap. The place is actually owned by my friend and trail buddy N's parents (with whom we paddled the Mighty Mississippi).

Wilderness trip summary:
Self's trace left on nature: 2 Nalgenes, one headband
Nature's trace left on self: 5 blisters, countless scrapes, the worst sunburn I've ever had.
Summary: Nature 2, Self 1.

Friends K and F were excellent trail companions, v. compatible for wilderness travel. There's no other couple I'd like to be lost deep in the woods well down a trail that doesn't exist on the maps and miles from where we need to be .

There is nothing more indulgent than the slow pace of vacation. Breakfast is a luxurious affair, comprised of simple food arranged purposefully and eaten slowly. Running with no thought to the time is a invigorating and at the same time, relaxing. Evenings I've been working my way through a gorgeous bottle of white wine and a round of camembert.

Read so far: No Last River, an extremely dangerous trip down a river in Tibet, The way men act by Elinor Lipman (confirming that The Inn at Lake Devine is by far my favorite), Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs (a cute graphic novel about a couple in 1920-1970 England), Perseopolis (a really good graphic novel about a woman growing up in Iran c. 1980s). In process: On death and dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (should be required reading for life), Harry Potter, and The best American magazine stories 2004.

Relax! Now!

When I was getting treated for my headaches, I visited a psychologist who taught me biofeedback. The first day he hooked me up to a machine and made me count back from a thousand by sevens. After I was good and stressed, he stopped and wrote down the number. Then he told me to do whatever I could to bring it down. Have you ever tried this – to relax yourself under pressure? It’s interesting. The first time I did OK, but on the second visit he upped the ante: I had to watch my progress on a screen and listen to a high-pitched whine on headphones that got louder when I became more stressed. Over the course of six sessions I got very good at this – one of the best he’d seen, actually.

You can tell the biofeedback is working when your hands get really warm. Some people do this by visualizing hot things, but I was never able to get into the whole “you’re on a warm beach...” kind of thing.

This all made me feel like I was some loser who can’t handle stress, but my doctor said the science behind it is that migraine sufferers’ blood vessels don’t contract as readily after stress as other people.

I’ve always wanted a stupid human trick. I can’t wiggle my ears or dislocate my elbow or sneeze on command. But I guess I can make my hands really warm really fast. I’m sure David Letterman will be calling me up to see that one.

Salad days

I keep wanting to have a food blog like those that I admire, but this always deters me: Either Husband or I make some gorgeous dish, and I think, "I should get the camera!" But then I think about what I'd be doing: Taking a picture of my dinner and posting it on the Internet. That stops me every time.

I think recipes and anecdotes are still permissible, though. Here's a really good reliable vinaigrette recipe from Rue Tatin author Susan Loomis:
1 T balsamic vinegar; sea salt; 1 shallot, sliced paper thin; 1/4 cup olive oil; freshly ground black pepper. Whisk vinegar, large pinch of salt, and shallot in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Add pepper to taste. Toss slowly and thoroughly into mixed field greens. Let rest a few minutes before eating to tire the greens.

I'll let you imagine how gorgeous it looks.

The time I tied myself up with rope

Like boarding schools, I always wanted to go to camp. I finally went during high school, and while it had the camaraderie and inside jokes, we didn't actually spend much time at camp (we went on extended excursions). I made up for it all by being a counselor and then co-camp director during college. It was a small girls camp, so we had a lot of flexibility in programming. So if we wanted to make candles, we made candles. If we wanted to swim a lot, we swam a lot.

Sometimes we took this flexibility too far. My second year there we got a hold of this book in the camp library (which doubled as the staff lounge and nurse's office, if that tells you anything about the size) that described all sorts of fun jokes and ruses you could do. Inspired by the book, we attempted our first prank. The girls cooked all their meals over the fire, and they'd come to the program center before meals to pick up their food. One night we pretended that someone had stolen their food. Laying the blame on a certain counselor, we led the girls on a hunt around camp, complete with clues. The clues finally led them back to the program center, where a lasagna dinner awaited them. We figured they'd love a break from cooking dinner, but they were pissed. Apparently we were too convincing.

Unfortunately our first effort didn't deter us from trying another, more complex ruse. We chose a session with an older group of girls, thinking they'd enjoy the joke more. The prank consisted of pretending that a counselor (me, in this case) had been kidnapped. We did this activity after dinner, when the girls assembled for evening activities. I'd written a cheesy lipsticked note on a bathroom mirror (something like "help! back trai.....") and the other counselors pretended to find it and got the girls involved and they took off down the back trail, finding shreds of this ugly lost-and-found sweater vest I'd donned earlier along the way. Finally they arrived as a wooden platform where I'd tied myself up with rope. As the girls approached I quickly grasped that this prank had gone even more awry than the first. The girls were petrified. I shot a quick look at the other counselors and tried to let them gently know that is was a joke so that they didn't feel too embarrassed and to get them to laugh about the whole thing. They got there, but not after us swearing off pranks forever. But the laughs we had planning and recapping it were certainly worth any of the trauma the girls experienced.

Their cuteness obscures the evil that lurks within

Wrestling on the couch...


Preparing to walk on the keyboard and delete e-mail

The kittens are so naughty that Husband and I have dog-eared the section on discipline in Kittens for Dummies. The two biggest problems we have are fighting on us while we're asleep (surprisingly not charming) and putting their noses (and tongues, if we'd let them) in our food. Cadbury is particularly incessant about anything dairy, and also enjoys iced tea. Although Husband has a really good alpha dog voice, yelling, clapping, etc. generally has not be very effective, particularly at night if the other is somehow managing to sleep through the nightly WWF match. So we've been testing two other techniques: the reliable water spray bottle (which is somewhat effective), and hissing. I admit, I'm not a very good hisser. It doesn't feel very natural. But Husband made me jump nearly off the bed last night when his deep convincing "HISSSSSSSSSSS!" jarred me from semi-doze.
If you have any ideas, send them my way. Please.

Pie corruptions

Why do I want to turn all fruit into an alcoholic beverage? What happened to pie? After the success of the rhubarb slush, my first thought after picking a bowl of raspberries at Husband’s family cabin was to puree them, strain them, and mix them with something lemon- or lime-y and vodka. I think it’s all about the texture – the smoothness of a drink is nicer than the many-seeded berries or stringy rhubarb. And the heat of summer seems to justify an icy beverage.

Another pie corruption: the Dream Pie Blizzard. I reluctancy agreed to ordering one after Husband extolled the expected virtues of the pie crust bits in ice cream... and damn, he was right. It was amazing.

As our two-week vacation is less than two weeks away... my thoughts are consumed with vacation prep. Newspaper to cancel. Haircuts to get. Books to reserve. Provisions to lay in. I haven’t had a two-week vacation since... I can't remember... so this feels rather sinful.

I haven’t read anything good lately except listening to Tomorrow When the War Began, which besides a few nagging faults was really engaging. I really like Aussie voices... I should have made it a priority to date an Aussie man. But thinking about it, the Aussie guys I’ve met were more pasty milquetoast than Crocodile Hunter.

MR not puppies

The kittens must learn that it is not charming to use me as a prop in their half-hour-long fighting games at 3:30 a.m. “At least they’re not puppies,” Husband said. “At least they don’t fight on you,” I thought.*

We visited some friends last night who have a pool in their backyard. I have never wanted a pool until I saw this pool and thought I WANT A POOL IN MY BACKYARD. Refreshing evening dips to cool off, days off spent on loungers with stacks of magazines... mmm. But really, better than having a pool in your backyard is having a friend with a pool in their backyard. So I’m safe. Nevermind the fact that our backyard would hardly accommodate a hot tub. As a kid I had a fantasy with the neighbor kids that our families would install a pool that would span the length of all three of our lawns. I must have seen it so clearly that part of me actually thought it could happen. Around this same time my parents asked us “What would you like best: a pool, a cabin, or something-else-that-I-can’t-remember-because-it-didn't-make-the-cut.” “A pool! A pool!" We shouted excitedly. As my parents are generally people of their word, we began telling our friends that we were getting a pool. We got a cabin instead – which, to their credit, was a much, much better idea.

*In the spirit of truth, he did save me by taking them downstairs and playing with them.

MR puppies
MR not puppies
OSAR
CMPN?

Mais oui

Husband speaks French exclusively to the kittens. “Les petit chatons, qu’est que ce, ca,” he patters. I wonder if he’ll do the same with our kids. I once asked Husband to say "You are so sexy" in every accent that I could think of. My favorites were the Norwegian, which sounded jolly, and the German, which sounded gay because in his impressions all Germans are gay.

I’ve been reading lots of young adult nostalgic novels lately, including the incredibly violent Wolves of Willoughby Chase that my fourth grade teacher read us, so I’ll mention two books I read previously that I really enjoyed and could not help but tell others all about: Deep Survival: Who lives, who dies, and why by Laurence Gonzalez, which is a fascinating exploration of the assumptions and social rules we work under when threatened (particularly in the wilderness, but he also uses examples from 9/11, etc.) and why they help or hinder us. I also really enjoyed What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke. This book that has prompted me to share with others annoying facts such as that onions cannot technically caramelize and that adding salt to boiling water and a potato to salty soup doesn’t help.

Since my purse now contains nearly nothing (so far, the receipt from my license renewal, new insurance cards, and $20) I’ve taken to going around without it, and it is so freeing. I remember how loath I was to start carrying a purse in the first place – I resisted it until college ended. I do love with a passion not usually reserved for purses my black Kate Spade winter bag, so I’m sure I’ll be back in the swing of things by the time the temps drop to the 50s and the bag can come out of hiding.

Pet peeves du jour: The use of the word “frankly.” The phrase “and more” when detailing the attributes of something. Walking with someone who walks a step or two ahead of me (stupid, I know).

Not a good story

I was robbed last night. It was 8 p.m. and I was sitting outside the neighborhood coffee shop with friend T (who should be renamed the Ms. kick-ass-don’t-mess-with-me-fucker). It was a nice summer evening, the sidewalks were a slow parade of couples getting coffee and walking dogs... and three 17-19 year-old guys ran up and grabbed T’s purse. She took off after them while the other two tried to wrestle mine away... as I screamed one kid poked my hand with something black and plastic-y and the other punched me in the neck and they got it and ran away. A guy from the coffee shop chased after T and the guys, aided by a random guy driving down the street who helped chase them with his car. I called the police (along with about every third house down the streets they ran down) and within a minute police cars were entering the neighborhood and after what felt like forever (maybe fifteen minutes?) T came back and the police came and told us they arrested the guys (two adults, one juvenile). T and I filed a report with a very nice police officer and after another fifteen minutes/half hour, the police and searchers found all of T’s stuff (purse, wallet, cell phone, even cash, all separate and tossed into various bushes) and my purse (minus the wallet and cell phone). Husband, T, and I searched for my stuff by climbing over one of those freeway solid fences and combing in the vast overgrown bushy area that separates the highway from the fence/neighborhood. We recovered the cell phone, but not my wallet.

What I learned:
1. While running after the guys is not necessarily the safest option, I think it’s definitely what allowed us to recover as much of our stuff as we did, so I’m very grateful to T.
2. While being robbed in my own neighborhood isn’t very comforting, the dozens of people who witnessed what happened and came forward with descriptions and stories, the grocery store owner who took a picture of them earlier because they looked suspicious, the people who saw them running and called the police, and the bystanders who gave chase all speak to the goodness and communal concern of my neighborhood.

Trading in the kiddie cocktails for G&Ts

The best weather we’ve ever had at the cabin, good friends we hadn’t seen in awhile, and a cooler full of beer each came together for a wonderful holiday weekend. My family has vacationed with the family that always comes up for the Fourth since I was two and crying because I couldn’t walk out with the big kids in Lake Winnipeg. Between trips to Disney World, summers at a resort, and weekend trips around the state, we have quite a few memories together. And we did our best to make a few new ones... thanks in part to the sneaky dehydrating effects of the sun and the illusion of sobriety promoted by laying around on the dock.

On the drive up my brother got a ticket – on the rez! I comforted him with the fact that it at least it made a good story, with the rez police and all of the in-poor-taste Indian jokes about paying for the fine in trade, etc.

As of mid-morning today, the Brothers K had their manhood taken away from them. Poor dears.
I bought some dill to plant on a whim and have ignored it since, so now it looks like a mini-forest rather than herbs. I cut some down last night and wasn’t very enthused about cooking with it, but I quartered some baby Yukon gold potatoes and stirred in sea salt, ground pepper, a spoonful of sour cream, and all of the dill bits from one of my trees. My god, it was amazing. It was fresh and full, and redolently resplendent with pickle-ness.

For example, the time I went in the ditch driving home after Christmas...

I'm writing from the cabin, and feeling very smug about my connectivity. I just logged in and answered some e-mail that my slacker self had not gotten to when I slinked out of the office at 3:15 yesterday. I came up early with my bro and had some quality time; once my I-want-to-die nauseating headache ceased, we cooked up some burgers and I kicked his butt with my gin-and-tonic power gin rummy skills. We had a good chat - nothing heavy, just a lot of "Oh, here's another story I never told mom and dad...." and the like.
The itinerary for this patriotic holiday weekend is much like last year... so this early morning quiet before the storm is nice.
Well, I'm off to figure out the espresso maker (it's coffee Friday, for heaven's sake) and use my mad towel animal making skills that I learned in Mexico to adore the beds of the arriving guests.

Abate, abate, damn cheese!

WHY I DON’T WRITE ABOUT POLITICS
In high school I was on the debate team and spent precious weekend hours dickering back and forth at a million words a minute against pairs of pimply arrogant boys in navy suits. Nuke war and NAFTA and ERISA and FGM and economic growth and Middle East instability and juvenile crime and over and over and over until at my very last debate the very last word popped out and I was done –I had used up my lifetime allotment of rhetoric. This hasn’t prevented me from enjoying thoughtful political discussions on my friends’ blogs, it just explains my lack of participation.

UNPROFESSIONALISM
I am the person in the office who doesn’t yield to casual Fridays. Not to make others look bad, but because I want to be taken seriously and in casual clothes I look/feel too much like my co-workers’ kids/nieces. Anyway, I had a true Gen X/Y moment earlier this week: I showed up to an important one-on-one meeting with Doritos hands. The orange dust refused to abate despite frantic sucking and wiping. At least I didn’t crack open a diet Mountain Dew.

A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY DIED...
and my aunt got a new pancreas. My mom’s youngest sister, who has had diabetes since she was three, had a pancreas transplant a few weeks ago. This woman, who has tested her blood sugar several times a day as long as she can remember, is no longer diabetic. Her doctor told her she has no dietary restrictions. She had her first Orange Julius. Her diabetes had consumed all aspects of her life – getting sick and recovering and having transplants (she’s had two kidney transplants as well) had become what she does and who she is. Now, if the transplants continue to do well... who knows what her life will hold? I’m sure there are more than just Orange Juliuses that she’s been wanting to try.

Arts and crafts

For a work exercise we had to create plates with images and words that represent us. I am surprisingly self-conscious and psychoanalytical about my silly little plate (you can't tell from the photo but our "canvas" was one of those cheap paper plates). To readers of this I certainly don't need to explain any of these images... which are surprisingly basic but I suppose, in contrast to others, revealing. My plate looked nothing like anyone else's. The woman in the center is my unifying theme... to the left of her face are a list of reminders (doctor's appointment, 3 p.m., and the like). I really resonated with that image.

Stilton & Cadbury

Finally, a picture of the cats. Right now they are crawling all over my keyboard and mouse. A mischevious pair, they are.

Curiosity and cats

CURIOSITY
I've always been curious about people. I think that's why I like to read so much - I like to learn about other people's lives and what makes them who they are. Part of me always wants to dispense with the niceties and small talk and get to the real stuff... like when a friend and I took a new co-worker to lunch. After all the chitchat I finally asked her, "What are you passionate about?" We laughed because it was kind of strange, but it broke the tension. Wouldn't things be better if we all shared more? Talked about real stuff? I'm aghast at the topics that close friends and relatives feel they can't talk about with each other. For example, for my brother, who's drifting, "What are you doing with you life?" For others, "Are you happy in your relationship? Why are you with him/her?" This sounds confrontational, and it's not supposed to be. I don't want to tell people how they should be living their lives, but rather find out why they live their life that way.

CATPILE
I've become one of those annoying pet people. I actually passed around a picture of the kittens today while distributing handouts at a meeting. All I can think about is going home and playing with them. I am jealous of Husband because he gets to spend more time with them and I worry that they like him better. I am in love with the kittens. If this is what kittens are like... then we are never having children.

Reading: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, A Changed Man by Francine Prose, and from the young adult shelves, Looking for Alaska, to indulge my love of boarding schools. I always wanted to go as a kid.

Never again: baby barrettes

STAGES I HAVE GONE THROUGH
Compulsive kisser - preschool. I can't explain this one. Ended by: Kindergarten.

Goody-goody - Kindergarten-2nd grade. I used to write little love notes to my teachers. Ended by: enjoyment of mischief, disdain for other goody-goodies.

Popular kid - 4th-6th grade. I once suggested forming a club to exclude others (I think I read too many books). Ended by: Being tired of witnessing preteen cruelty, favoring nice friends.

Ardent (but not radical) feminist - tenth grade. I wrote an essay for English arguing that feminism simply meant the idea that women should be equal to men and wasn't anything to be scared of. Read Gloria Steinem. Ended by: getting over myself.

Grungy treehugger - ninth grade-junior year. Accessories: ET necklace, long hair, baby barrettes, mug of tea, hiking boots. Ended by: discovery of J.Crew, desire for lighter footwear.

Beat poet/Zen/Japanese obsession - senior year-sophomore year of college. Found great inspiration in The Dharma Bums. Doodled kanji in the margin of notebooks. Ended by: Realization that Kerouac was a misogynist, a real understanding of Japanese culture.


Last night I:
1. Had a manicure
2. Layed mulch
3. Baked cookies

Product placement: This entry is brought to you by Smartwool socks, which provided me my first blister-free hiking experience ever last weekend.

Shears of death

I nearly broke my record of always being able to start a fire, no matter what the conditions. Six weeks of fires with no ready kindling? Done. Five days of rain in Jasper National Park? No sweat. But I was almost brought down by car camping at a state park. Here’s what was available: a good stack of split hardwood, one state park map (coated), one generous handful of toilet paper, and six or so tiny rain-soaked twigs. The map wouldn’t burn, the toilet paper didn’t burn hot enough to light a match. Glaring resentfully at the roaring blazes at the RV campsites next to us, and praying that one of them wouldn’t offer to help, I gathered a few more twigs, brazenly set fire to the rest of the toilet paper, and proceeded to build the tiniest of fires, patiently getting one matchstick-thin twig alight, then laying a slightly thicker one on top, slowly... slowly... until finally, I had a dependable little blaze. “Now we’re cooking with gas!” I announced jubilantly to Husband, who had supported me through the challenge to my Femme du Nord-ness by fetching toilet paper and shredding bits of bark.

I purchased my first pair of hedge trimmers this week, and by god they’re fun. Taxing on ye old arm muscles (my arm shook every time I lifted my post-gardening drink, making me look like an arthritic boozer), yet unbearably fun to SNIP SNIP SNIP an unruly shrub into a neat sphere. After consulting with musician and surprise landscaper friend S (where do people get these multitude of talents?), I was delighted to learn than non-flowering bushes can be trimmed anytime, which means I have three unruly bastards out there to subjugate with my shears of death.

READING/READ
On the Rue Tatin by Susan Loomis, about an American cooking in France, A Brief Lunacy, about a couple held hostage by their crazy daughter’s crazy boyfriend in their Maine home, and Unformed Landscape by Peter Stamm, a bleak little novel about a lonely woman in Norway.

An asset to the communist party

I had my first migraine at age nine. I was in fourth grade, sitting outside Mr. Carberry’s class working on a project. It was classic migraine – a blinding headache that one can distract oneself from for short periods of time. Since it was near the end of the day, I didn’t go to the nurse. When I got home, I told my mother about it and went upstairs to grab a pillow so I could lie on the couch. While upstairs, I got sick. My mom told me that my grandma had headaches like this – “headaches so bad they make you sick,” but it wasn’t until after college that I first sought treatment and received something stronger than Advil.

Part of the diagnosis process was a careful monitoring of triggers, where I developed the sadly long list that now dictates my behavior. It contains things as demanding as alterations in sleep schedule and regular meals, as insidious as sitting in a position that requires me to turn my head (like sitting perpendicular to a speaker), and as stupid as having my hair pulled back in a ponytail for too long.

Despite my feeble head, I’m proud to say I’m a poster child for health.* I never get colds bad enough to skip work, I’ve never had the flu, I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve had the stomach flu/food poisoning since elementary school, I can eat the spiciest curries or half a pound of chocolate with no ill affects, I’ve never broken a bone, I have excellent eyesight, and I’ve never been in the hospital or to the emergency room or even urgent care.

[Rereading this list makes me feel as if I'm trying to convince you to that I am of good mating stock (maybe it's all that working with a cat breeder) or convince you that I'd be a good little worker for the Communist party.]

*In case you were wondering, I never was one of those obnoxious children with perfect attendance. Although I didn’t need to stay home, I certainly did when nursing an impressive-sounding cough.

Making it worth your while

BUT DAD ALWAYS LETS US
Husband already has the indulgent father thing going. He went to the grocery store to procure car snacks and rations for our camping trip, and he came home with all of the good vacation junk food: licorice, good chocolate, cheese Ritz bits sandwiches, Dare cookies, Triscuits, and roasted red pepper and lemon hummus.

O CANADA
Dare cookies are just one of the many blessed things that come from the maple leaf state. There is a reason I’ve been to seven of the thirteen provinces yet haven’t been to Europe. From my first trip as a three-year-old to Winnipeg to my months of exploring the wild rivers of Manitoba and Alberta, to my first real adult-type travel to Ontario and the Rockies, I am a committed Canadaphile.

KITTEN UPDATE
Cat dishes have been procured in various sizes to accommodate current diminutiveness and future growth. A week and a half left to kitty-proof the house and come to a resolution on names.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT
A few helpful recommendations to reward you for slogging through the tidbits:
1. Life-altering moisturizer: Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer.
2. It truly is magic, and gets out everything (including ink-transfer stain on wood table): Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
3. If I could only have one appliance it'd be my: Williams Sonoma Fuzzy Logic Rice Maker
4. Like to read? Excellent recommendations by category: Book Lust and More Book Lust.
5. Simple, yummy, gorgeous, and elegant recipes: Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates.

RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE WEEK
To wile away last few hours of the workweek, try this. You might want to shut your office door lest the sharp bursts of laughter alarm your colleagues. Also enjoying: numerous food blogs (and harboring aspirations of having one myself, yet fearful of the time commitment). Try this one for starters (ha! punny!).

Another year older

THE BIG 2-6
I neglected to mention that I celebrated my birthday last week. It was lovely, from the coffee date with Husband to the lunch with my parents and brother at perfect-little-restaurant-in-the-park’s patio (curried cauliflower soup, tomato salad, and strawberry-amaretto sundae with locally-made vanilla bean ice cream...mmm), to the picnic dinner with Husband and gathering of friends afterward. I felt truly loved.

TWINNY
Whenever birthday-time rolls around I’ll always amazed by how many of my friends are Geminis. It makes remembering their birthdays easy, as one always remembers birthdays when one’s is on the horizon, but it also seems uncanny. Are we drawn to each other’s curiosity, intelligence, good humor, restlessness, and moodiness? I must disagree with the assessment that Geminis are always the life of the party. None of my Gemini friends can claim this honor.

TRAVEL
Up next: weekend trips to cabin and Duluth mini-break.
Pending in August: Canoeing trip in BWCA and Ely cabin time.

In January: Two-and-a-half weeks in York, England. (Requiring me to miss college-buddy JC’s wedding in California. Very sad about this).

SEEN AND HEARD
Watching: the BBC Pride and Prejudice. Colin Firth is charming with his smoldering eyes, yet not nearly as handsome as in recent films. I love Jane Austen. Watching: Just started Six Feet Under. Am interested, yet am not a committed fan yet. Listening: A Year in Provence for the third time. If you have a car trip in your future RENT IT. It fills me with mirth. Also Dress Your Children in Corduroy and Denim. Read: Dear Zoe, very sad but very well-written book, Mrs. Mike, Anne of Green Gables-like tail of frontier life that appeals to my affection for the north woods and even takes place on the Peace River, and Growing Perennials in Cold Climates.

Kittens-to-be

We picked out the kittens. We won't get to take them home for a few weeks - they're too young yet. Both yet unnamed, the one on the left is a blue Siamese with an apple head, and the other is a chocolate Siamese with a wedge head. They are adorable but very young. We can't decide on names... candidates are Truman and Roosevelt or Stilton and Cadbury. Any opinions?

Friends and the Married Girl

Being a smug married among singletons, while much easier than the reverse, is still odd. It doesn't really cause fights, but sometimes is a bit sad. I know we both wish at times that it were different - that I was single with them or they married with me. I was just going to type that maybe it'll be easier when they do get married... but then I realized that'll be a bit sad too. Selfishly, I enjoy their time now and don't want us all to drift off into houses with locked doors, babies, and home entertainment systems. And coffee spoons. Are Husband and I less fun post-nuptial? Probably. We certainly have fewer stories, the currency of social cred. Actually, to be fair, our stories are just different. Once our friends get married we'll have lots of stories to share with them. Suddenly our knowledge about when-your-relationship-gets-to-year-five and happily-ever-after:the-marriage-bed will be quite sought after.
Until then, my bar-hopping, free love friends.

No Mike Tyson

Things have been too stressful to write this week. Too stressful in the way you cannot write about on your blog. Stressful in the way that everything makes sense rationally but is scary emotionally and sickening physically. My mind handles stress like a champ, my emotions are a reliable tag team partner, but my body is TKO from the first punch. I'm used to certain things failing me - my muscles transforming into knots, my head pounding, my heart racing - but this week even got to two areas that are as dependable as the daily paper - my sleep and my appetite.
Today I leave it all behind for the north woods, family and friends, grilled food, and some good books.

A People's Full Catastrophe Travel Nanny

"Work is hard," I say in my mechanical Barbie voice. But weekends - weekends - are glorious, particularly if they include Bonus Monday, which last weekend did because of some overtime on Saturday. Yes, I joined the ranks of the anti-nine-to-fivers and grocery shopped at non-peak hours. Oh the joy. Everything seems indulgent on a weekday to one's self.

Reading: Four books at once! This is a record! Does this make me a bookwhore? Trudging through the interesting-yet-demanding A People's History of the United States, taking breaks for the doctor-recommended Full Catastrophe Living, plugging along at Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene, and devouring the gossipy but not very well-written White House Nannies.

In order to destress from my day I'm picking up a theraputic iced latte on the way home and doing some pilates upon arrival. On May 21 my internal calendar turned to summer, and it's the summer purse, iced beverages, and salads from here on out.

No green thumb

There are many household skills that I never learned as a kid. Painting, for example. Laundry, for another. And also: gardening. The only weeds I'd pulled were for fun. So when we moved into our house, with its generous gardens for our small city lot, I felt overwhelmed. We managed to grow some veggies, but we also grew a lot of weeds. One year's experience has taught me many important things, such as:
1. Weeds need to be dug out, not "pulled" as implied.
2. You cannot trim bushes willy-nilly. They will die if you prune them at the wrong time.
3. Perennials, for all of their steady reliance, need maintenance after awhile.
4. What a hosta is. (I still don't know most of the things that grow, beyond tulips, hydrangea, irises, lilies, rhubarb, lilies of the valley, roses, and my newest acquaintance, phlox.)
So like all things I'm not very good at, I have a love/hate relationship with my garden. Love the work when it’s done, hate when I kill things (RIP burning bush). I took some "before" pictures so if it ever stops raining and we plant, I have something to compare our success with.

Rut broken

Friday: Mischief accomplished. There was so much mischief that it is sort of a blur with lots of parts that I don’t understand or even remember (not in that scary-drunken-memory-lapse way, but in that too much happening at once after consuming a few drinks kind of way). It was a wonderful break from the sequential and slow-placed A, B, C, D kind of interactions that characterize most social gatherings. On cold rainy Saturday we nested and made a stew that bubbled on the stove all afternoon while we took the longest nap ever, and then took a drive, yes, like parents do, and ended up at a Middle Eastern grocery and coming home to finish another disc of CSI.

Read: The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald, reading Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Banzai

Our college buddy Zigmaster Flash is in town (he's the one we visited in D.C. last August) this weekend, and I'm ready for some good ol' urusai gaijin* merriment. Zig and I studied in Japan together during college, and our little crew of three women and three men spent many a weekend having adventures, whether going in search of Osaka's best porn shop, perfecting our karaoke rendition of George Michael's Faith, or going to crazy festivals. I'll have to dig out my adventure hat and cook up some mischief tonight. Or at least cook up some okonomiyaki.

*We called ourselves the urusai gaijin, or annoying/loud foreigners, because that's how people viewed us on the train, even if we were talking quietly. But often, I admit, we were not talking quietly, because there is only so much quiet one can achieve while being 20 in Japan.

If you have to ask...

A friend, when I met her last fall, asked me if people always know that The One is The One before getting married, or whether it’s different for different people. She shared that she'd been with her guy for five years (with several breaks) and while she couldn't swear he was The One, they'd been together a long time and were happy.
I never know what to say; just because I made good in one marriage doesn't mean I'm somehow gifted in all things relationship. As loathe as I was to make any generalities, I couldn't help thinking that if you've been in a relationship five years and are worried that you don't know he/she is The One... that it’s probably a good indicator that he/she is not The One. At some point, you do just know - that whatever comes up you can work out, that you will be able to live with their charming/maddening idiosyncrasies, that he/she is not going to change beyond recognition. But you can never tell people that; that's not what she wanted to hear.
Anyway, after five years they broke up yesterday. As hard as it must be to leave someone you do enjoy and are happy with, it seems that there comes a time when you need more than that.

Judicious use of the furry middle finger

I don't really like cats that are too friendly. I know this is awful, an affront to cat-lovers world wide, but it's true. I like a bit of discernment in my cat, a bit of choosiness, not a mushball that sits on any human that happens to be immobile. It seems an indicator of intelligence - in survival of the fittest, the fittest could hardly be a lap-loving ball of fur.
Since as a choosy cat-owner I choose Siamese, I'm not really worried about our future cats, who will undoubtedly have judicious use of the furry middle finger.
Husband was showered with kitty stuff for his birthday, including Kittens for Dummies and the Kitten Mitten, so all we're waiting for is for them to grow up enough to adopt.
I've done really well since Rocky's departure... but on Saturday I was sitting in our local neighborhood coffee shop reading American Fuji and drinking the beloved crunchy chai latte, and Husband alerted my attention to a eight-or-so month old Siamese being held by a man in the window. My eyes immediately filled with tears. I am learning that I tend to think that I'm not sad about something then cry spontaneously at small things.

Birthday eve

Somebody's turning 26 tomorrow... and it isn't me. He has an evil eyebrow, laser-sharp wit, and no butt... yes, it's Husband, about to become the birthday boy. Husband is probably in the 5% of people in the world who do not care about their birthdays. It's a little odd, actually, trying to make a day special for someone who doesn't care in the first place. But tomorrow it's party in da house. Actually, it's a small gathering of friends with fancy pizza and drinks. I keep wanting to buy crepe paper and hats, but then remember... no. Just, no. Oh well...I'm off to buy the secret b-day gift that I'm not used to buy.

Caution: Contents Hot!

Says my latte container. Having just read an article on Paris Hilton, the phrase made me think twice about my beverage.

Snippet updates: Shopping success on Saturday! Underwear and purse purchased! Hurrah. Also blazers ordered. Watching: CSI and loving it. Reading: Milk, just waded through the overly descriptive language of The Hatbox Letters just to enjoy the nice New Brunswick setting. It really made me want to garden, and in particular, garden in the country, where I could compost or burn clippings instead of forcing them into Hefty bags.

Secret indulgences/things about self that clash with image:
1. I regularly watch The Gilmore Girls (hey, everyone has to have a show).
2. I very much like processed nacho cheese dips, although I am picky about which one.
3. I can become [temporarily] enthralled with mundane computer games*.
4. I occasionally enjoy very mindless fiction, such as not-so-good young adult novels or murder mystery novels a la Mary Higgins Clark.

* In the The final frontiersman: Heimo Korth and his family, alone in Alaska's arctic wilderness by James Campbell, even veteran Alaskan bush trapper Heimo became addicted to computer card games during the one month that his family lived in a village to lay in supplies for the coming winter. Free cell = crack.

5-year plan

I am a fan of 5-year plans. I have one for work - which I just completed 3 years ahead of schedule. I also have one for kids - in 5 years we'd like to start having children. And because I have never changed a diaper and really enjoy my independence, I've started preparing for that overwhelming life change now. Thus, stage 1: become acclimated to the world of pregnancy/babies. So far I've read Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year and Andrea J. Buchanan's Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of it. I also read several mommy blogs. Someday I'm going to tackle the infamous What to Expect When Your Expecting because shouldn't you know what to expect before you're expecting? I also hope to learn from a distant friend who has the same cloth diaper/homemade baby food aspirations I do, who is pioneering the way for the rest of us with her newborn.
I'm made it clear to husband that in addition to setting aside money for baby, a condition of me blowing up like a balloon is setting aside funds for a post-partum membership at the renowned posh for-serious-fitness-people-only gym in our neighborhood.
I'm already worried about day care, breastfeeding, $$$, and the fact that I can't imagine myself having a kid. I can't believe people my age have kids. I still feel very much like a kid myself.

Near misses

Moments of infinite stupidity in my life:
1. Quitting all youth sports.
2. Trying out for the flag corps in high school (I shudder just typing it).
3. Thinking that it wasn't a big deal when I started dating Husband on the close heels of another relationship.
4. Thinking that I'd be happy teaching.

Moments of infinite wisdom:
1. Drifting from the popular crowd in 6th grade when they began being cruel to other girls.
2. Recognizing that I cannot wear coral, don't look good in bangs, and shouldn't wear square-necked shirts.
3. Choosing self-respect over winning and selling out in high school debate.
4. Recognizing almost immediately that Husband was the One.

Nerdy

BREAKING NEWS: I may be going to England next January! More later.

PROTEIN-DEFICIENT NEWS: I checked out the new USDA food pyramid to see what they are all about and to create my own personalized little pyramid. Because I am a lover of charts and graphs (see anal retentiveness a.k.a. nerd, previous entry), I entered in what I ate for the day. I achieved only 3 out of my 5.5 servings of meat/protein (through bean soup, almonds, and tofu), but my nutrition chart (which they also include) said that I got more than the daily recommended allowance of protein. Should I be eating less protein-rich protein? It's so confusing.

BOOKNERD NEWS: Read a series of delightful essay and snippet-like books this weekend: The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal, and The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell.

NEWS FOR EVA FANS: Why nerds make good husbands

Five-star or five-person tent

I sometimes like to pretend I am the hip spontaneous type... the type B kind of person who cannot do math and who feels things instead of listening to their brain. But I am not. I am the nine-year-old who asked for a hanging file system for my desk drawer so I could organize things. And now, I am the person who created an H Family Vacation Preference Indicator survey to assess where we should go on vacation next year. Yes, I am my dad. But to my credit, the indicator was useful - we are very close to booking a place, and we've only been at this for a month! You'll recall we are months ahead of the debacle that was last year's decision process.

Left to my own devices, Husband and I are frugal, thrifty travelers... seeking out clean nice facilities, although of the B&B, tent, or cabin sort. But I can fit in as well in tent living and buying meals from the grocery store as I can in five star hotels and gourmet meals. Give me a giant ocean front room and I will nod coolly to the concierge and say, "This looks fine." I melt for good service, though, and cannot resist cooing over all of the little extras... such as people coming around with Evian spritzers, bowls of strawberries or sorbet, offering to clean my sunglasses or fetch a CD player. Uno mas!

But I really can't stand anything in between. It has to be all the way nice or just basic. There's nothing worse than a Best Western Potomac View.

Husband and I had a Small Fight this week. We don't often have fights of any size. This is an event! You should have had ringside seats! But we have reconciled and can now enjoy the equally infrequent act of making up.

Morning after pickle

Snapshots from my weekend:
Wrangling vines from our lilac bushes in the rain, getting all soaked and dirty akin to camping and then throwing the clothes in the washer, cleaning up, and going out for Thai food with the satisfaction of having put in a hard morning’s work.

Attempting to rehydrate Sunday morning and assessing whether I had a gossip hangover (where I’ve revealed/inquired too much). Proclaimed myself free and clear, and while munching on a pickle (gotta replace that sodium), shared an detail from the night before with Husband, who reminded me that I’d shared the same detail last night when I’d stumbled in and collapsed in a chair moaning “drunk....druuuuuunk,” and shaking my head repentantly (but not too fast).

Posts I wrote today but deleted: a random series of thoughts that ending up coming full circle in a clever yet banal way; an essay on love death sex money a la the San Diego list, but I lost steam after death.

Coming soon... more sex!

I recently learned that people like to read about love, death, sex, or money. I do not talk much about love (beyond my affection for Kozy Shack), death (beyond my kitty dying!), sex (I know it’d be a lot more interesting if I wrote about my sex life like other bloggers, but that stays in our house/yard/car/random public venue), and I’m pretty sure my talk about money is not the kind that the speaker intended. Maybe I can get around the sex thing by writing about other people’s sex – Theystolemybike, now with weekly sex updates from my friends!

Ok, Ok, here’s one vaguely sex-related story. I was playing racquetball as I do over lunch with my friend and she mentioned that she saw this guy she recognized as she was buying pansies, and she realized she knew him from the local porn shop. I raised my eyebrow and she clarified that it’s a porn/video store. As my eyebrow was still raised she further clarified that she’s never seen porn before and chatted on a bit about that. Then there was this silence where I didn’t say anything, because while I am no purveyor of porn I can’t really say that I’ve never seen one, and it would take a lot of work to explain all that. So I turned and served.

Magic swirling ship

Four writers that I love enough to have read everything they’ve published: Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami, Junichiro Tanizaki, Jane Austen.

I am taking a new approach to reading. Rather than my voracious read-anything-I-feel-like-binge method, which allows for some Junk to slip in with the Good Reads, I’m going to go for a more thoughtful, Zen-type approach where I am choosier about what I read and try to get more out of them, as if I had to discuss them in class.

Am reading Kafka on the Shore by Murakami and loving it! Only Murakami can pull off stuff like this. I feel lost on a wonderful scary magic swirling ship, and like a kid can’t wait to read this night’s segment.

Don't mention the war

My dad helps companies to become more profitable, and sometimes I type up surveys he does of the employees. While the surveys are generally tedious (We need better communication... I don't get paid enough... same same same) there are always a few standouts. They fall into two categories: 1. the swearing/offensive kind, i.e. "My boss is a jackass and can eat shit" and 2. the revealing of abhorrent business practices, i.e. "If we don't have enough money the boss will pretend that we never received certain invoices and put them off until they threaten to sue us." Through typing thousands of surveys I have discovered that the favorite cliché of the disgruntled worker is: "Too many chiefs, not enough Indians."
I told husband about this last night.
Husband: That's really really, amazingly offensive.
Me: Yeah. [pause]. Well not really, I mean Indians had chiefs... so...
Husband: Are you kidding?
Husband: Too many Jews, not enough Indians???
Me: [horrified] Are you kidding? I said too many chiefs, not enough Indians!

So remember my friend who is Jewish and my alarm in almost saying "verboten" in front of her? Now I'm so self-conscious about it that inadvertently my stream-of-conscious is firing up all sorts of Holocaust-type commentary when talking with her. Today she mentioned how it my jacket was spring-like, and I almost started humming Springtime for Hitler. Nein!

Kale or culottes, cats or concrete

Give the girl a hefty tax return and a salary increase and she turns into a glutton for consumerism.
Now that we don't have to watch every dollar, suddenly I feel free! Free to go out to lunch without factoring it into my weekly spending! Free to buy a random chai latte* from the local cafe on a Tuesday night without forgoing Friday's coffee morning! Free to develop my digital pictures for a user-friendly place and not use the Best Buy photo rebate card I got with my camera that is impossible to use because you must use it in the store yet can only order photo processing online.
But with this freedom comes many agonizing decisions. The money is not endless, so I am faced with dilemmas like: a summer's supply of organic veggies or much-needed new clothes? (I have a rapidly increasing number of pairs of underwear** with holes. Enough said). Two new cats and a summer trip or fixing our garage wall? Paying more down on the car payments or the mortgage?

*The secret to the cafe's chai latte, is, surprisingly, their use of a powdered chai mix. I know this flies into the face of common sense and the most holy Oregon Chai, but I have always had a fondness for crunchy bits in my beverages - i.e. partially dissolved cocoa, Kool-aid, etc.
**When checking the thesaurus for synonyms for underwear, I found this: smallclothes. Hee hee. I will adopt it as my own.

I heart San Diego

Reasons why I am content:
1. The breadbasket at the restaurant kicked ass.
2. I can still feel the wine I had nearly two hours ago.
3. Typing on a laptop from a hotel room makes me feel like a Very Important Businessperson.
4. When bills come I get to whip out my newly acquired company Visa card, (see VIB, above).
5. Tomorrow I get to go for a long run along the bay.
6. The hot tub is just twenty meters from my door.
7. My new bestfriend Sheraton Hotels gave me a long list of options to compensate for the AC troubles last night, from which I choose the cheapest but most valuable late checkout, so I don't have to store my luggage behind the desk and roam but can bask in the AC and king bed luxury a little longer.
8. After a marathon day of sessions and lectures, tomorrow's tasks are easy-peasy.

Chilling in my nuddypants

I'm in San Diego for a conference and my surprisingly nice room has been surprisingly hot despite my best efforts to use the thermostat. When I got back from dinner (Persian, yum!) I decided to camp out in my PJ tank and underwear for awhile, giving the room one more chance to churn out the cool air. Finally, exacerbated with the system, I got into my PJ pants and picked up the phone to call the front desk. Yes, it felt wrong to talk to the concierge in my undies, as if help would immediately arrive and I'd be caught in the nuddy-pants.
[For the record, I had no trouble e-mailing sans pantalon. But yes, I'm still wearing the PJ pants so don't get excited.]
UPDATE: The front desk told me how to override the system, but it still didn't work. So the Maintenance Man is coming out, and for the Man, I put on a T-shirt over the tank because I don't want him getting any ideas.

Uno más

Mexico was wonderful - the family got along great, amazing food, gorgeous sun... altogether very relaxing. I didn't really how much I needed it (how irrational and tense I'd become) until I got home. And despite my prejudice about the banality of going to beach town Mexico (during spring break, of all times) I was delighted with the culture and wanted to learn more.

Many an hour spent here graciously accepting drinks from the attentive poolboys.

Husband and I also got endless fun from our do not disturb sign, which read something like "no molestation por favor."

Retraction: Please disregard the end of the previous post about the beating up of ex girlfriends -- it was written in haste and with deceptive information.

With great sadness...

we note the passing of Rocky, who has cheered my life since age 11. Discriminating, handsome, clever, and distinguished, his loss leaves a great hole in our household.

Wishing I had an Uncle Vinny

Funnies:
1. Husband received an e-mail from Alma Mater that began, "Hell, Mr. Husband Husband. You will want to get registered soon for the next..."
2. I was going to tell you about a funny work e-mail and then I remembered... no writing about work on your blog. So, I'll just leave you with this, the signature I added:
"I'd hoped that we could come here and reason together. And as a reasonable man I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to find a peaceful solution to this problem." Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).

Not so funny
1. Want to beat up in a don't-mess-with-my-brother/family-who-was-going-to-take-you-on-an-awesome-vacation-to-Mexico my brother's ex (as of yesterday) girlfriend. Am worried about my big bro.

Talking 'bout a revolution

Over lunch I was reading Local Daily Tribune online and saw the word "co-ed" in a story. Co-ed? What decade are we in? And although I do not make a habit of pestering people, I couldn't resist the little innocent Author's Name link at the bottom. So I emailed him, saying I was curious why he used the word. He replied, saying he's not sure, but the word does get used at Local Daily Tribune (apparently despite it's relatively good reputation) and he'd mention it to his editor. He then replied just minutes later saying that the story has already been changed; behold the power of the internet. Wow! How's that for a quick and respectful response!

Reason #37 that Husband is awesome: He realizes that having spent twenty-four hours on a bus doesn't preclude him from the dinner rule, i.e., s/he who arrived home first is in charge of dinner.

Small things that I very much dislike and which can ruin parts of my day if I'm not careful #3: returning things. I was very chagrined to realize that when I used my new Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizing Lotion this morning that it was not the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer that I wanted. I'm dreading asking for a return, especially since it came with a free body wash sample I've already used. Courage, son... courage.

Do you know, coincidentally, that "Talking 'bout a revolution" is my wake-up song? I put it in years ago and never changed it. But I usually don't hear it - I'm masterful at waking up minutes before, or hearing the CD start to spin.

Work? Zzzzzzzzzzz

It's just little old me at my house. Husband is off gallivanting in D.C. with his Kennedy Center and his pool parties and his twenty-four-hour bus rides... leaving me to wallow in frequent get-togethers with friends, and plentiful movie watching and naps. At first I felt somewhat lost, and buried myself under a comforter with Gemma Bovary, but an hour and a half later, when the book was done, I roused myself and things have been fine.

Next week is las vacaciones. After all this time, I'm not sure I'm ready. Yes, I'm duly stressed (the headache frequency... let's just say it's easier to list the times I haven't had a headache...), yes, I'm not too far from being ready to pack and tie up ends around the house... I'm just not sure I'm really ready. Incredibly excited? Can hardly sleep? Ready to weather the unexpected annoyances that happen when one travels, especially with family? I think it's just that I'm knee-deep in work, and unsure about leaving it. However, once I am on the beach with drink in hand, I'm sure it will be like, "Work? Zzzzzzzzzzz."

Tea is my mood ring

Black: tired
Green: repentant, i.e. ate too pieces of chocolate and want to feel cleansed
Chamomile: stressed (even though I don't really like chamomile, the stereotype is soothing)
Wild sweet orange: hungry
Peppermint: peaceful, just ate garlic
Ginger and lemon: normal

My tea stash includes:
Green: hoji-cha(loose), genmai-cha (loose), Yamamotoyama green tea, Tazo Lotus, Tazo China Green Tips, Tazo Zen.
Black: Mix of apricot, snow monkey plum, and pineapple (loose), Tazo Awake, Tazo Chai, Earl Grey (loose).
Herbal: ginger and lemon (loose), Tazo Calm, Tazo Passion, Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Blackberry (Choice), Licorice Peppermint (Choice), Stomach Ease (Yogi), Pandaberry (Republic of Tea).
Ginseng (Good Earth).

Disclaimer: I don't really favor Tazo teas, I just bought a sampler at a post-Christmas sale.

Ethnic jokes are verboten!

It's Friday night and I'm wrapped in my robe (it's cold in the office) and nursing a beer while I surf the internet. Today wasn't particularly stressful but it made me fretful and anxious, and I couldn't get my heart rate to go down. I don't want to get an ulcer at age thirty. So I made some nachos for dinner and had Kozy Shack for dessert and vegged out with the cat.
Husband, whose twenty-pound Shelby Foote The Civil War: A Narrative is blocking the keyboard, should be home in mere minutes and then I will cast off my robe and reincarnate as hip urban socialite.
So what have sites have I been visiting, you ask? I won't list the new blog I found as that is sort of verboten in the blogging community (I said "verboten" in front of a Jewish friend today and felt immediately ashamed. Is that strange?) I can tell you that I was looking for The Perfect Eye Shades. And of course, now that I have the Platonic ideal of eye shades in my head, I'm reticent to actually purchase a pair, knowing that a more perfect pair must exist out there and I'll regret my purchase. Do I want glam (silver shimmer) or always-posh black? I definitely want soft and luxurious, comes-with-its-own-case-and-earplugs, and no rhinestones or feathers or embroidered "Princess" or "Wink wink." How often I've longed for these... for the quick lunch hour nap, for the road trip, the plane, and de-stressing while riding shotgun in rush hour traffic.

Going to Paris is like getting an appendectomy

Hospitals are a lot like airports, I discovered today. For instance:
1. You log a lot of time in uncomfortable chairs next to strange people.
2. You want to check in and see how things are going with the desk, but know they don't want to be bothered.
3. You have an irrational anxiety to stay close to the unit/gate, even though you know that the results/flights won't be ready for over an hour.
4. You pay too much for parking and food.
5. There are endless mazes of corridors and terminals, and suspicious unmarked doors.
6. The time of day doesn't mean anytime beyond its relation to how long you've been waiting.
7. There's a pervasive smell of coffee, cleaning agents, and recycled air.

Pore me

This just in from my dermatologist: There is no way - do you here me? - no way to effectively shrink the pores in my nose.

But she did give me a goodie bag full of Retin-A in case I wanted to try. She also hooked me up with twelve samples of high quality face lotion and eight samples of sunscreen. Beats any birthday party I've been to in awhile (although I did receive a tiny fez-wearing monkey at the last fete, which is nothing to complain about).

Sleep is where I'm asleep

At this moment, there is nothing more inviting then the twin-bed-sized patch of carpet next to my computer. It calls to me, beckoning me to give my door a gentle tap, sending it shut, and avail myself of its industrial-quality glory.* Nevermind that it is undoubtedly strewn with bits of loose tea and graham cracker crumbs.
The only thing that at the moment that would rival that would be a hot fudge malt from the diner nearby. But alas, even slurping sounds too difficult (they do make 'em thick).

*The carpet was put in a year ago, and selected from a series of office carpets unified by a Chicago theme. This one was called "lakeshore," I believe. One option in the series was "deep dish pizza," a revolting orange with green and brown flecks. Pizza carpet? I admire the creativity, but eww.

Squirrelly

Cabin fever is setting in... send help! Husband and I escaped the city with a trip down to our alma mater to reminisce and eat at old hang-outs and smell the library and see college theatre featuring a previously-mentioned boy that I think is cute (although not as cute with the play-necessitated haircut). This weekend, thank god, I will be escaping to the wilds of the north, where there is hopefully enough snow for recreational activities. Am contemplating more cabin trips in March but am not sure whether that is a Wise Idea.

I celebrated Valentine's Day by getting up at 5 a.m. OK, I woke up early because I'd gone to sleep at 9 with a cold, but I did enjoy standing outside in the eerie silent dark of morning, amidst snow-frosted and laden trees, shoveling the wet snow in my lime green pajamas and coat.

Chew on this

As I was getting very close and personal with the mirror last night, working the floss carefully between each tooth as instructed by my dental hygienist, I wondered why Americans are so obsessed about teeth. Now I'm all for dental hygiene, but why exactly are dentists separate from doctors? Why do we have dental insurance and health insurance? What we get from all our obsessiveness is freakishly up-to-date information. Every time I go something has changed... they've realized that polishing is actually not very good for your teeth, and they have that annoying little tool for measuring the number of millimeters between your gums and teeth. "What I really want," I thought, as the mirror revealed just how large the pores on my nose are, "is someone to pay this much attention to dermatology." Why are we still getting zits in our mid-twenties? Why can no one give me a straight answer about moles? Help, medical industry! Why do you throw us to the mercy of the evil skin care industry that is Biore, with their empty promises and overpriced products?

You know you're lame...

when you own husband doesn't even read your blog! Yes, he cooked me a fabulous dinner last night, and snuggled with me while watching West Wing, and admired my abs when his hand rested on my stomach while snuggling, and encouraged me to get a chocolate malt (!) at the coffeeshop, and listen to me blab on and on at the coffeeshop because my book wasn't very good....
But he does not read my blog! So hee hee... it's like a guilt trip in advance... when he finally gets around to reading, he'll just find this and feel bad! Heh heh heh.

When BYOB goes horribly wrong

Our Super Bowl party host instructed his twenty-or-so guests to bring something to the party - namely BYOB.
Eighteen people brought food: four bowls of guacamole, two huge vegetable trays, four extra large pizzas, a platter of tacos, two pans of bars and a chocolate-chocolate cake, several giant bags of chips, a baked artichoke dip, french onion dip and potato chips, several bags of Skittles and Rolos, a cheese and salami platter, and feta-spinach tartlets.
And yes, that left two people who brought beverages: two six-packs of beer and one two-liter of Coke.
Hee hee.

If I'd only had one of those whistles...

Last weekend I got to do something that I've always wanted to do: direct traffic with one of those orange flags. I'm not talking about those blistered and miserable-looking people who have to hold a caution sign for hours. Rather, I stood in gorgeous 40-degree weather warning people not to drive down a road because it was closed at the end. Why was I doing this? Because I care about the local urban cross-country ski race (for which the 40-degree day was not so much a blessing). The best part was that if people blew off my warning and screamed past me, they were stuck having to turn around and slink back to my intersection, where I'd coolly glance over and give them the Look. [It might be helpful for readers to know that I was a Patrol Captain in 4th grade. Not only did my bright orange sash have a metal police-like badge pinned to it, but I got to leave class before lunch to escort the afternoon kindergarteners. In the winter we were allowed to help ourselves to cocoa from the staff lounge, where we discovered the golden ratio that is 4 parts cocoa powder to 1 part water].
This is why I volunteer - where else do you get to do fabulous things like watch famous athletes pee and wear reflective orange vests?
In other not-so-glamorous volunteering, I also worked two hours at our church's nursery. Wise of them, putting six teeny-tinys (I'd give you the ages, but I have no idea) in the care of a person who has never changed a diaper and who left a co-worker's very small child unattended in a wooden-armed office chair.

Where I emulate a hibernating bear

My weekend went something like this:
Eat
Watch West Wing
Sleep
Shop
Have lunch with friend
Shovel
Wax
Discuss Live Bait (not a very good book club book)
Eat
Watch West Wing
Sleep
Attend church (worship would be a little strong... I mostly sat)
Meet friends for lunch
Go to coffeeshop and read
Watch Little House on the Prairie (the blizzard episode - one of my favorites!)
Nap
Watch Little House (the one where Carrie falls down the mine shaft!)
Build fire
Bake carrot cake
Eat
Watch West Wing

Notice the trend?

Anna and the wiley toothpaste cap

I lost another toothpaste cap to the sink drain. There is that moment of "nooooooooooo" when the cap slips from my fingers and spirals around the sink, disappearing swiftly into the dark abyss of the drain. I'm reading Anna Karenina, and when Anna arrives in Moscow on the train a man kills himself by throwing himself on the tracks, and she thinks, "BAD OMEN." I had the same thought as I swapped in a red cap from a trial-sized toothpaste - BAD OMEN... what will my day hold. Since I know how the books ends, having read it before, will I befall a similar fate to the paste cap and get sucked down the drain? Nooooooooooooooo!

Things that change when you get married, Vol. 1

You're no longer taking birth control, but practicing family planning.

You have to have gynecological exam only once every other year, because they finally believe you're monogamous.

Swish kick glide

I was soaring down snow-slick hills and waddling up inclines on Saturday, mind fully freed by the exertion, when the whomp-whomp of a helicopter registered in my brain in the way that passing thoughts do while you exercise. "Maybe they're filming people out enjoying the snow for the nightly news...," I mused, "And if they are... I hope that they don't catch me because boy am I skiing sloppily," ha ha ha... swish kick glide, swish kick glide.
Mom writes yesterday that she saw me on the news.

Chipotle is not Satan's spawn

I'm starting to realize that I'm a little outspoken and holier-then-thou at times. I occasionally find myself unable to contain my wrath for Chipotle and my disdain for the weekly devotion to many reality TV shows. I shudder at daily Lean Cuisine consumption, and turn my nose up at overly trendy or ugly clothing.
I realize that the number I friends I make with this attitude are far fewer than the number of friends I lose with this attitude.

Pink triangles

So I went to the pharmacy this morning at 10 because someone forgot to refill her prescription sooner than the day she absolutely needs its (actually, the she in question apparently threw away a month's worth of pills on a cleaning spree, forcing her to pay full price for a replacement. That will teach her not to clean). Later, I delved into the white paper sack for my headache pills, which I'd also picked up, only to find the name "Megan S****" written on top and one of the nine pills missing. Annoyed, having been to the pharmacy three times in the last two days, I called them to let them know what happened. "Sorry about that," the pharmistress said. "She can't afford to buy them all at once so we keep them for her." With shame, I remembered that the pills, a designer drug, are extremely expensive without insurance. How sad, and how fortunate I am.

Products I adore

1. Vitamin E salve
2. Origins ginger scrub
3. Body Shop nut body butter
4. Tom's of Maine toothpaste, gingermint or fennel (try their pastes once and you'll never go back)

Writing this list makes me realize that I have a surprisingly few products that I am devoted to. For instance, I have no life-altering shampoo, no must-have foundation, no the-perfect deodorant. I am ambivalent about my hair products!
Got a favorite? Let me know - share this gem with world.

Corporate lingo and trendy words that should be made obsolete

1. Touch base
2. Utilize (means to find a practical or profitable use for, not a ten-point synonym for use)
3. Robust (not technically wrong, just makes me feel icky)
4. Process (as in, who will process the mailing? An important-sounding word for the banal task of folding, stuffing, and labeling envelopes)
5. Sexy (still belongs in the bedroom or in reference to Hugh Grant in About a Boy or Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, not to the new ad campaign)
6. Google (particularly used by those who just learned of Google or read about its use as a verb in a business magazine, except if they happen to be related to me - then it's charming)
7. Current (nearly always superfluous)
8. State-of-the-art or cutting-edge (whatever that means)
9. not Lingo or Trendy but any words such as Director and Company that are Capitalized Unnecessarily
10. "key" and "impact" (Thanks Professor Larson, for teaching me how vague words such as these deter us from our goal for precision).

P.S. I might, on certain occasions or in certain instances, use the following, but only with a slightly sarcastic edge: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. Just so no one calls me a hypocrite.

Wisdom from the mouths of stars

"I just need one cup of coffee a day. I like to shower, but that became less important after I had a baby. It didn't fit into the schedule. But Matthew and I think about coffee when we're lying in bed. The night before, we're like, 'When we wake up we're going to have coffee, it's going to be great. I'm going to use the yellow cup, it'll be great.'"
Sarah Jessica Parker (quoted in Time)

Krissy and Michael and Lisi and Libby

I had a high school friend whose parents had chosen her and her sister's names because they couldn't be shortened (Vanessa and Heather). I thought that was a bit controlling at the time, but now that I'm adult and all the Krissys and Mikes of the world are reverting to being Kristines and Michaels... I'm finding myself much in favor of the not-traditionally-shortened name. I'm all for those people with nicknames who don't actually ever introduce themselves by their nickname (like a Kelly who is occasionally called Kel but would never adopt it as her own) but I think I'm going to take the controlling route. Besides, I would always fear that the child I named Elizabeth (which I do like) would choose a terrible nickname for herself like "Libby," and then where would I be. (The only acceptable derivations are Lisi and Lizbeth.)
Husband and I are not actually ready for children or particularly fond of them, but we do enjoy discussing names. Unfortunately his last name, with its back-of-the-throat velar sound and just one syllable, doesn't sound good with everything. As far as I can see, naming the child seems the best part, and the only interesting thing to amuse yourself with as you wait those nine (ten) months with your body held hostage.

Eats, shoots, and reads

Am on the annual super cleansing diet, which has required me to devote much more time to cooking, although I have tried out some very tasty recipes this week: Sweet Potato and Red Bean Curry, Eggplant Kibbeh (a Lebanese baked thing with a bulgur/chickpea crust), and Celery Root Coquettes (tasty little cakes made with millet), all courtesy of our favorite cookbook, Vegan Planet. I have rediscovered the vital connection between sugary fatty foods (especially of the dairy persuasion) and mood, however. I quickly plunge into crabby must-eat-now-but-cooking-this-dish-takes-two-hours tantrums when I arrive home at 5. But it is euphoric to be freed from the decision of whether or not to partake from the latest large gift basket of Ghirardelli goods from a print vendor at work.

Reading: Monkeewrench, a fun local mystery thriller that reminds me how much I like these type of novels; Can you keep a secret? a good book with a bad title by Sophie Kinsella that closely rivals Bridget Jones in hilarity without being an shoddy imitation, Found, that fun picture book of various stuff (mostly notes and letters) people have found and mailed into the author, and Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line, a book about the marketing and running of colleges.

Hamm's the beer refreshing

My resolution about not being so selfish is already working. I let someone cut in while driving yesterday just to be nice. I also plan to make a resolution not to talk about money. Talking about money is crass and I've been doing it too often lately.

Had a lovely white wonderland time at the cabin. There were loads of fluffy snow just waiting for the tips of my skis to slice through them or to be smashed down by my snowshoes. On a different, smoky, dirty, and Ben-Gay-filled note, I went to a casino for the first time with the purpose of gambling - one of those huge Indian-owned casinos with parking lots that are always full. I lost money with surprisingly rapidity on fishing- and Price is Right-themed slot machines. I did find one old-school machine that actually allows to you pull down the handle, so that was exciting.

More interesting posts not centered on my banal thoughts to follow in the new year!

Selfish and blue

Well, Christmas spirit has got to me... namely reminding me that I haven't done anything really nice for anyone in awhile. No treats at the office, no quarters in someone's expired meter, no Sunday evenings at the shelter serving dinner. I haven't been a Scrooge necessary, but I haven't sought out any opportunities either. I see a New Year's resolution developing. I do, actually, (well, not that anyone who knows me is surprised) keep a yearly list of eight to ten resolutions that I check up on throughout the year. The day of reckoning is coming soon. It's much more fun to create next year's resolutions than it is to face last year's.

Snow report: About an inch, although I think it was enough to raise people's spirits.

I had an attack of the holiday blues this morning. I was driving to work at 6:58 (don't ask) and rockin' to my Mini mix, and suddenly had a thought of my grandpa who passed away a few years ago and was abruptly weeping. Those car rides are dangerous.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is two feet of snow and the cancellation of all work and school so that no one has to drive in it and I can spend the day skiing.
I've been quite good this year.
Fondly,
B

Was the recipient of some good news yesterday. Celebrated with what else? A nice tub of chocolate Kozy Shack. I ate spoonful after blessed spoonful in my jim-jams watching Sex and the City (episode: The perfect present) with the husband.

Holiday traditions, naughty and nice

5 holiday traditions that should be returned for store credit:
1. White elephant, Yankee, whatever the kind, gift-swaps make me bah-humbug
2. Figgy pudding (figs = good, pudding = fantastic, but together?)
3. Caroling by random people (door-to-door salespeople are awkward enough)
4. Gift receipts that are useless
5. The song Santa, Baby

5 holiday traditions that jingle my bells:
1. Mistletoe. Who doesn’t like a little mischievous adventure lurking under innocent doorways?
2. Spiced nuts. Mmm, but too easy to eat them all.
3. Christmas ornaments with stories and dried macaroni (mmm, syllepsis)
4. Figurines that move and dance and play music – brilliant.
5. Kitschy lawn ornaments. Our genius neighbors have a lit snowman who tips his hat. Every time I see him, I tip my imaginary hat back. Good day to you too, Frosty.

Re: Jell-O brand pudding and 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: don’t bother, both are artificial. The fifteen minutes the Cafe Brenda Cookbook pudding takes is worth it.

Voyageurs and their Kozy Shack

Why in the land of plenty, where there are hundreds of cereals to choose from, is one limited to just Jell-O-brand pudding? Sure there are thirteen flavors and various combinations of flavors with instant, cook and serve, sugar-free instant, and sugar-free cook and serve, but isn't there a higher quality pudding mix out there? Perhaps I must learn to make it from scratch. I'm currently having a love affair with Kozy Shack chocolate pudding, which I love if only for the wonderful warm feeling the words Kozy Shack give me (I prefer to say it in my mind instead of read it and be affronted with the terrible spelling).

I just got a huge stack of books from the library (stacks of books from the library are a regular thing at our house, where we always have a 25-40 item long list of things on reserve), but this is an especially large and varied stack. I had a recent surge of I-want-to-go-on-a-wilderness-adventure, so I reserved many books about canoe routes and Canada. I just picked up Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada, Then and Now and realized with a strange sense of alienation that I must have checked out this book (and read parts of it) at least three times. Also in my stack are a few short story collections, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004 and several travel anthologies that focus on women. I also checked out another one of those family-takes-a-year-off-to-travel-the-world books (I've already read One Year Off and Monkey Dancing; this one is 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time.)
Well, off to make some cook-and-serve, play cat-in-the-bag with Rocky, and read!

The peanut butter girls

I spent an hour or so in the coffee shop tonight reading Bloomability for the teen book club I lead and couldn't help but eavesdrop a bit on the two women speaking in overly cultured tones next to me. I could see a flash of camel and sky-blue coats and tall pointy black boots (what is the point, really, if everyone is wearing tall pointy black boots? Why bother?) But it was their discussion that was truly banal. They spent the twenty minutes going over what one would wear on her upcoming trip to meet her boyfriend's family in Connecticut. The Gucci camel sweater there, the H&M pinstriped blazer here, the oversize Prada purse for the plane. Perhaps if one cares this much about clothing this kind of commitment to planning is required. As they left I was surprised to see that they looked surprisingly normal - one a bit chunky, the other a bit plain. What kind of employment did they have that possibly supported their spending habits? Unusual, but they didn't seem that they were putting on airs and bragging about their couture, what to wear seemed like a conversation that they had every day. By carefully mapping out the perfect outfit for each day and activity of the trip, she assuages her nervousness and feelings of inadequacy.

Free money

Top 10 things I'd buy if I had a free $200 (because I don't really need them):
1. New sheets and a nice white woven blanket
2. Black socks
3. Caldrea cleaning products
4. New suit
5. New makeup
6. Underwear
7. Upgraded pressies for friends and family
8. Smart outdoor winter gear
9. Cat warmer
10. Lots of lovely wine

No Tofurky for me, thanks

Mmm Thanksgiving. Being a vegetarian at Thanksgiving is swell, actually. No need to eat the boring old turkey, and you can take as much stuffing as you want without getting odd looks. Even as a kid, I viewed the holiday meat as obligatory. I do admit that I miss the gravy, though. Maybe I'll whip up a packet of veggie gravy and bring it along. This year I am trying to contribute meaningfully to the meal, so I'm tackling the rolls. This side of the family always buys them so I'm going for the from-scratch route. My test runs this weekend went OK, one failed, resulting in rolls my friend mistook for cookies, the other was a success, so that's the one I'm duplicating tonight. Wish me luck.

So it should be a nice weekend: movie and dinner with the in-laws tonight, family fun at my parent's tomorrow, shopping and pedicures on Friday, soap making with a friend, (she has a soap-making business) on Saturday, and many lovely parties Saturday night. Hurrah!

Favorite holiday pleasures: seasonal beverages at Starbucks and Caribou (gingerbread, peppermint cocoa) and their cute little holiday cups, Christmas carols (top three are Carol of the Bells, Sleigh Ride, and O Holy Night), all the sneaky shopping talking-in-code business, mulled cider and gingerbread scented candles, and of course, Christmas cookies (love the peanut brittle). Oooooh... now I'm all excited! I can't wait!

Ann Bancroft is my hero

Yesterday I ended up pseudo-teaching a class... and since I suck at teaching (at least when I’m jumping in mid-semester), I was quite relieved to see that Ann Bancroft was coming to talk. And Ann was awesome... so comfortable talking to us about all parts of her trips, and in particular, her journals, which was the topic of the class that day. Can you imagine having one book to read on a hundred-day trip? (The one she took, on a friend’s recommendation, was Man’s Search for Meaning. She had to rip the cover off and was told to use it as toilet paper or burn it each day, but she didn’t, instead she and the five guys she was with ripped chapters out and passed them around.) On her last trip, she and Liv decided to bring poetry since you can mull over a poem longer, and her mom suggested that she ask her friends and family to submit one poem for her to talk. She talked about reading a poem and thinking about it all day long, as they pulled their 250-pound sleds over the ice. She also said how she asked her nieces and nephews to paint her skis to keep her motivated as she toils day after day... I got a bit choked up thinking about that. On one trip that was especially regimented in terms of what they could bring, the leader finally relented and allowed them to bring 100 oz. of their favorite candy. What would I possibly choose? I read her book Four to the Pole (aimed at middle school children I think) this morning... it was inspiring to read about how hard it was and how tired and depressed the team got at times, and how they had to keep going. The talk really left me waiting to take another long trip again... to see what I can accomplish and what I’m inspired to do out in the wilderness.

One thing I’ve noticed as I have met famous people (Michelle Kwan and Ann Bancroft), is that they are really aware that a lot of people don’t really care about what they do. Michelle said of the kids begging her for autographs that most will find it under the beds in a couple weeks and ask, “Who’s that?” And Ann sort of apologized for work, saying that it’s just what she likes to do and she knows it’s not a lot of people’s idea of fun.

I’m really stupid around famous people. All flustered and subservient and dumb.

Will Iowa be a nice pilsner?

Last night I drank the beers I vowed that I would on election night - one for every Midwestern state that Kerry took. Minnesota was a nice winter ale, Wisconsin, a bass that I enjoyed while singing On Wisconsin! between sips, and Michigan, a Vienna malt whose last few inches (or the U.P., as I was referring to them) where hard to get down.

I only other thing I'll say in reference to the election is to share what I saw when driving home through my neighborhood's downtown on Wednesday evening: an older man surrounded by Kerry signs and a boat he'd painted yellow with the slogan "Bush's swiftboat assault" or something similar in black. The sight of him holding vigil and feeling strongly enough about it to deface his boat comforted me.

Tomorrow I'm helping a good friend move out of her house and into an apartment because she's separating from her husband. I feel so very sad for her. It is times like these, though - such as when I'm at parties where most of the guests bring along their kids - that I realize I am not a kid myself anymore. I feel caught sometimes between my go-out-and-do-crazy-things side and my church-going-hanging-out-with-people-with-kids side. I usually feel like an impostor with the older people... as if I'm playing adult.

I voted!

I get a nice satisfying rush from having voted. Admittedly, it was a little sad at the polls, because there weren't too many boxes to fill in and I had that election day why-didn't-I-research-all-these-obsecure-offices-so-I-could-vote-knowledgably-like-the-responsible-citizen-I-consider-myself-to-be anxiety. Also the voting machine broke right in front of me, so it was a little disconcerting not to see my ballot zip confidently into the machine, but instead slip uneasily into a slot to be counted later.

I have this glorious fantasy of the results being announced at 2 a.m. and running outside to the dark wet street to be joined by my neighbors, cheering and cavorting, imbibe ourselves silly as we rejoice together the return to normalcy. I have that optimism that you get on election day when you can't image the converse coming true.

Leo for President

I saw Leonardo DiCaprio today. He was giving a stump speech for Kerry on behalf on environmental groups. He wasn't bad - seemed like a normal nice guy, and covered well when he reminded us that we could still register absentee until Oct. 26. I'm quite ready to vote and be done with this (is anyone still making up their mind? Are they really swayed by those people holding signs on highway overpasses and causing accidents?) although I do fear the results. After getting burned in the last gubernatorial election, I have lost my naivety and blind faith. My grandma won't tell anyone how she votes - not even my mom - saying that it's a secret ballot and she doesn't have to share. I can see her point - I feel strongly about politics, but I don't enjoy going back and forth debating topics very much. Maybe because I did enough debate back in high school. Yet I don't want to be one of those lazy people who don't care enough to do something to better our nation. What a quandary.

So I have yet to find a productive way to fill my evenings now that grad school is done. I could volunteer, but I decided to take a break from the Girl Scouts (apart from the teen book club I lead, I'll still do that), and no other group really excites me at the moment. I considered taking a part time job, but I don't want to be tied to a schedule. I completed some home improvement projects, enough that more time isn't going to help me do more. And I've learned that unstructured time doesn't necessarily mean I'll do anything productive - like work on doing some freelance work. I used to be gung ho about starting a book club, but they seem so fraught with danger. I don't know if any of my friends really have weekday nights to devote to me either. As husband is starting more evening rehearsals, I need to think of something to do.

Reading: Calm Energy, Interpreter of Maladies
Eating: A lot of squash. Will I turn orange like with carrots?
Watching: a lot, since we joined one of those video store clubs. Just finished Mean Girls.

All-you-can-drink-buffet

Abruptly after declaring everything wouldn't work and we were back at square one, my dad called to say it was decided - Playacar for us. For those keeping score, this was the place with the free premium drinks (it's an all-inclusive, so all food is included too). But all the Bacardi you can drink was not the deciding factor. The direct flight, nice beaches, things to do nearby, ease, and the fact that it's someplace we've never been were the deciding factors. It also has daily afternoon tea, with those tasty little cakes, and a whole slew of those wonderful little classes like yoga on the beach and cooking lessons which I plan to attend upon arrival but miss once the beach-yes-I'd-like-another-Mojito-mmm-this-is-the-life lethargy sets in.

Something warm sounds nice as it is brr brr-ity cold here. Last night I clung with the tenacity of a leech to A, availing myself of his warmth. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about turning the heat on. Or purchasing a hot water bottle.

I have the wonder of wonder, miracles of miracle next week - two days off, during the week, when no one else has them off. I'll be able to live the leisure life of the rich urban socialites, running errands in the expanse of daytime hours, sipping coffee while writing letters, basking in the glow of real daylight that seems only an illusion from my office window. These days were given to me and my coworkers as a precious gift in return for the countless extra hours we have worked lately, including many weekend hours.

Looking to the Beach Boys for inspiration

How hard can it be to pick a vacation destination? My family is working to find out the answer to that question. So far we have seriously considered and almost booked the following:
Costa Rica
Bora Bora
Tahiti
Cabos St. Lucas, Mexico
British Virgin Islands (3 resorts on private islands)
Playacar, Mexico
Aruba (several resorts)
After having to give up Costa Rica because there is, according to our travel agent, nothing to do there and no shopping, I have been careful not to become really attached to any of the places.
We've looked at private islands more attuned to the likes of celebrities, we've looked at big chain resorts, all-inclusives (AI, to the vulgar), and small getaways. Our standards for the room and restaurants are so high, and we want both a quiet, peaceful island and enough things to do. Culture but not too much culture. Direct flights are a plus, less-than-spectacular beaches get you cut from the list. We've considered places that have come with everything from private butlers to huts over the water to free unlimited premium drinks to our own private plunge pool.
Where oh where we will end up? Is there something in paradise to meet our every whim and fancy? Or will we be disappointed because we've seen the best that's out there and couldn't have everything?
It seems sort of ominous - will we, like Gatsby, fall victim to our vanity? Or will we have the vacation of the lifetime, followed quickly by some unfortunate event that will change everything? Why am I so fearful? I think I read too much. Good things always go bad in novels.

I burunti your Fendi bag

I just finished reading The Sex Life of Cannibals, which was oddly not very much about sex lives and cannibals. What it was about was the author's two years on a remote atoll in Kiribati in the south Pacific with his girlfriend. I've always fantasized about visiting those end-of-the-earth places, the tiny dots on maps that look impossible to get to. (My desire is also enhanced due to our failed Bora Bora trip.) But Kiribati is no Hawaii. Picture Hawaii with no greenery, elevation, or island breezes. His diet consisted of fish and beweeviled rice, with a few expired cans of chicken curry. I won't ruin all the surprises, in case you read it, but one of my favorite parts is when he describes this custom called burunti (OK, I don't have my book with me, so that's probably misspelled). But the custom is that anyone can request something of someone else and they have to give it to them. (I.e. I burunti your fishing pole). Anyway, it was a fascinating read, and again made me ponder whether we will ever give it all up and live really simply somewhere, or continue along our consumer-driven path. The odd thing is like the couple in the book, I think we'll float back and forth between the two worlds. The couple moved back to D.C. and spent some crazy years flinging money around, then moved to Fiji and returned to the simple life (although not quite as terribly simple as their life on Kiribati was).

Meeting Michelle Kwan and the perfect cabin weekend

So what I joked about for weeks did come true. I did meet Michelle Kwan and I did, yes, weird as it sounds, see her pee. When we signed up for this doping thing I didn't really know what we were getting into.. and it was really strange that we, two people not connected with the skating world, were doing this. But we got to see some amazing skating from our well-stocked suite, then pop down to lower levels to see all the skaters up close warming up. It was a bit awkward watching the testing, mainly because we felt self-conscious that we had signed up for this, and who were these pervs who volunteered to watch skaters pee, but really it wasn't a big deal. Michelle was nice, albeit tired and a bit jaded, I think. She's been doing this a long time so I understand. Damn are those figure skaters fit, though, especially the women. It's hard to look past the sequins and netting and lame of the guys' costumes.

We left for the cabin at 11:45 p.m. - Husband drove the whole way, while I succumbed to sleep for awhile but then awoke to assist in watching for deer... which there were many.
The rest of the weekend was wonderful - long walks and hikes in the beautiful fall foliage, tasty squash soup and homemade blue cheese dressing, good times with friends EC and P, who brought up a fun craft project and two seasons of Coupling. Really, a perfect weekend. Too bad that as I write this I realized that we left the heat on! Damn! I think my parents are going up next weekend though.

Leaves glorious leaves.


Mmm... there's nothing like a fall cabin trip.