katestine | Entries tagged with suburbs

Apparently I'm repeating a post from 2 months ago.

Sore throat, again. I believe it's just bc I'm phlegmy from summer allergies, which I didn't even know existed until I had them. bah. I think I'm giving up on running a half marathon this year if I can't stay well enough to train up to a 6mi run. It's so funny to me that I could bang out an untrained 4mi on my old turf but can't manage 3mi in our current neighborhood.

Which is extra-relevant because we put in a bid on an apartment last night. We weren't in the market, given that we moved to this rental last November and like the landlord very much. Unfortunately, there aren't enough apartments in our neighborhood, so we felt like we should jump on this apartment. I'm not entirely certain I want to spend the rest of my life in this neighborhood - although this will be my third move in 2.5 years so it better be my last for at least a decade - but the layout is near-perfect and it's roughly everything I want, if I have to raise my son in NYC.

Anybody want to (dis)recommend their mortgage lender? The broker told me the seller has a mortgage with Wells Fargo, so we're checking with someone there, recommended by a friend who just bought. I get the impression that the individual you work with is a big part of your experience, on the front end. I also know at least one of y'all has had horrific experiences with their lender. I assume bricks & mortar lenders charge a slight premium but are more reliable. We don't anticipate any financial difficulties - who does really? - and we're putting down 20% because we're nervous nellies like that.

This week, I finally get to do all the rescheduled primping from two months ago. yaay NYC.

I forgive myself for being human and finite and

having a sore throat for 3 weeks (and consequently being unable to exercise, which helps me eat right);
PMSing;
being stressed when 2 interviews on separate days were added to my calendar;
being stressed when the nanny just announced that she would not be available when I go back to work;
having a hard time finding daycare for the toddler so he will learn to play nicely with others;
being upset when all the scheduling changes (and lack of daycare and living in fucking New York City) meant personal care got postponed for 6-8 weeks;
clinging to the illusion I can lose weight while all this is going on (even after binging on potato chips);
binging on potato chips;
running out of prepared food and not ordering food sooner;
not optimizing the a/c and getting hot and cranky every afternoon;
failing at meditating bc I was too angry; and
losing my temper with the baby when he ripped my books.

But this morning I made myself delicious (if unsightly) eggs and ham and tea. I delegated the daycare tasks that require responsiveness and will try, very hard, to get the job-hunting work done today. And hope to forgive myself for whatever doesn't get done today, as long as the baby is still clean, fed, and reasonably intact by the end of the day.

The second or third day of the cruise, I felt hungover. I was disappointed that 2 cocktails and 2 glasses of wine over a 6 hour period could do that, but drank less that day, and was still hungover. Then there was our day in Cozumel when I had 7 drinks (only some of which were rum based) and tasted tequila shots. I woke in the middle of the night and wondered if maybe I was pregnant. Being a cheapskate, I ordered pregnancy tests and had them sent to my Manhattan apt, where I picked them up the following Saturday.

I was late in arriving on the UWS, so I quickly peed on the stick before brunch with my parents. The second line was slightly visible, the way that some indicators show where they'll be. Even before she saw the stick, my mother said, "You're pregnant." My sister-in-law of the dramatic baby discoveries suggested I try a digital one: I didn't even know those exist. We went to the new apt, I peed on the stick, and although the instructions said it takes 3 minutes, before my hands were washed, it said PREGNANT.

I'm in my seventh week, so I'm due at the end of the year. For those who are counting, that means the very first time I ovulated after our wedding, Jon knocked me up. I spent about 24 hours poking him and saying, "You da man." Apparently my brother knocked up his wife the first opportunity too: I don't understand a mechanism for fecundity that works for both genders.

As an Orthodox Murphyist, I assume the baby will come on Christmas eve or New Year's eve. I haven't decided yet where to have the baby: long term readers know I think my gyno is too eager to treat and terrible at explaining why. My mother is advocating for the baby to be born at the beautiful hospital where my siblings and niece were born, which is an hour away, which is annoying for the once a month I have to go for appointments in the next 4 months -- and really annoying when I have to go more frequently in the final trimester. I also like the idea of committing to Brooklyn and finding a hospital here, even if it means sharing a room and less attentive staff.

I'm permanently queasy and bloated: my family has pretty much told me I'm much too early in the process to have that much tummy. I need 2 hours of sleep more than I used to: 7hrs of sleep makes me as groggy as 5hrs used to, etc. My sister claims my breasts have already grown, which I don't really believe: she's just not used to my being a D cup. I'm spilling out of some of my D cups though. This past Saturday, my mother, sister, and I went through my whole closet and put away all the shirts and sweaters that don't fit now, because that won't get better for close to a year (and the new space is functionally half the size of the old). I think my hair has been getting greasier, because I'm constantly itchy, although I might still be recovered from my sunburn during the cruise. ( nsfw and probably tmi symptoms )

I'm very excited that my child will be born a few months after zir cousin, bc I want them to be close, even with all the complications that ensue from our very different families. I wish though that I had other friends who had recently had children, because I'd love more advice. I guess that's the problem with having awesome friends who are footloose and doing awesome things. For my friends who have had children, are there are books or resources you'd recommend? This pregnancy thing seems awfully hard.

After all this time, you'd think I'd be getting used to having not only a partner, but a family, but no. Fri evening, a friend texted that he'd be unexpectedly be in town, would I like to have dinner. I had nothing on my calendar, so of course, except we had to figure out whether the child was coming to dinner, which involved negotiating with his mother, who is under the weather. It was fine and StMac is worth any amount of bother and I'm =really= glad we got to catch up, but I need to be better at remembering how many people I affect with my flitting.

Dinner was at Buschenschank, aka that German place nearby. The restaurant's website makes claims about being German-Italian fusion, given that it's in an old Italian neighborhood. My boyfriend laughed when I described the restaurant's claims, muttering about how the Piedmontese would have something to say about German-Italian fusion. The Times calls it Alto Adige food, but really, it's 'wurst and pizza. The speck dumplings were delicious, even if I'd call them meatballs. We ordered the 'wurst platter so I could try all four they have, but 2 I didn't like and 2 were fine, and I couldn't be arsed to figure out which was which. I like Hallo Berlin's sauerkraut and cabbage better, although the potato salad was delish. The main reason to go back is for the pizza, which was Italian style, with speck and other meat and Italian-style red peppers (instead of jalapenos); I liked the wheat beer quite a lot and should order a medium next time.

I spent Saturday finishing up my photobook on our Barcelona-Venice trip; making that book took nearly as long as the vacation, I'm not kidding. And then while describing it to Julian after I sent it to press, I realized how I could have crammed more text in. Augh. Making books is hard.

Saturday night, Julian and I ate homemade ziti and meatballs and watched Goodfellas. I laughed at him when he insisted we had to have the proper culinary accoutrements for the movie, but it was awfully tasty and I'm kinda sad I didn't steal leftovers when he wasn't looking, bc it was his best batch yet. I liked the movie and I really liked watching it with him.

Prosciutto and parmiggiano was supposed to be a snack before sledding on Sunday morning, but we accidentally ate too much and had too much fun, so after dressing for sledding, we went straight to brunch. Both the crab crepes and the French toast turned out to be brilliant. The sauce on the former managed to perfectly complement and de-emphasize the seafood-y nature of the dish.

A nice thing about being a mountaineer is having all the right clothes for outdoor activities: I had the perfect layers for sliding down a hill. Julian's sleds were much better than the plastic bag I used on Rainier, but alas the hill was shorter and slushier. Ah well.

I didn't have quite enough time to make my train back to the city, then started reading and missed my next train. oops. But Lucky greeted me with a whoop and we had a delicious, if French, meal and watched two Charlie Brown Christmas specials before bed.

Lest anyone think it's easy to date me, let me tell you about our weekend. I may've spent 8 hours (not an exaggeration) between Weds-Fri primping, but Jon was so nervous, he was tense the whole week and much of Saturday.

Fri night, I turned up late at his apt with a suitcase and a tote bag, and proceeded to prep for a benefit auction for his son's school. I've never been surrounded by so many breeders before! We barely talked to anyone there and I think I scared away one of the women who was trying to be friendly. oops. But there was wine and Missus and I are getting closer to normalizing our relationship. I'm also excited bc I bid on and won a photo review with a Newsweek photo editor, which should be fascinating.

Sat morning, Jon let the world's greatest French toast get cold while I finished up my game of Kingdom Rush. They added a "hard" version and two new bonus missions, so yeah. I don't remember doing anything else that day. oops.

Well, except that Jon started throwing out little hints about what we were doing for our anniversary. He mentioned at some point that he had an accomplice, but wouldn't tell me much more. By the time we left for dinner, all I knew was he'd gotten me an iron, that we were dining below 14th street at 7pm, and that he had an accomplice I knew (although he wouldn't tell me if I knew zir biblically). We were walking from the 14th St station when we passed a restaurant called "The Place" and I asked, "Is this the place?" He said yes, then walked in. ( what we ate )

Earlier in the day, Jon had said, "We're not going to Marie's Crisis," the piano bar we usually go to. ( lede in here ) My fiance is amazing.

Wow. That's the first time I've ever typed that word. Squee!

The best part of the evening though was that we walked to the subway together - and went home together.

I slept terribly that night, probably bc I'd had 5 drinks, including wine and three different cocktails/shots, most of which came from the delighted staff. oops. When Jon woke up, we went to Seersucker for fried chicken and breakfast tacos, which were good, but not worth an hour's wait. We had a great conversation about family and what we value. My mum and sister both called and we had a hilarious exchange with a relentless gal from work. Eventually I realized we had to have dinner with my family so we went to the apt LBro is borrowing. The whole family came over and I got lobster rolls and bbq, although I couldn't taste much of the former bc I was playing with my niece. I'm bemused at their new reactions to Jon, but that's another post. They did, however, make him sing again. My sister's brand new suitor brought us wine and we headed back to Jon's. YAAY!

Sometimes I go back through old LJ entries and wonder why such-and-such event isn't mentioned. Turns out the problem is, I'm too busy experiencing/processing, I don't get around to writing about things until they are stale. The fortnight before Christmas was an incredibly productive? time for me, in which I figured out what I want, from a personal, short-term professional, and long-term professional perspective. I wish I could adequately thank all the clever and wonderful people who let me talk things through, who pointed out things I missed, who helped me clarify what's bothering me and what my best options are.

Last Tues, I took Pongo and Lucky to see Peter and the Starcatchers for Pongo's birthday. After Thanksgiving, it became important to me that celebrations include Lucky, so that he never feels like his father is choosing me over him. I knew many references in Starcatchers would go over his head, but I didn't realize quite how wordy it was: both Pongo and I strained to catch everything going past. Still, it's a cute panto-style telling of a Peter Pan origin tale. I'm not surprised it didn't catch on and is closing next month, but I'm glad we saw it.

Weds night, Jon and I had a quiet night in after the evening's phone interview. We started watching The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, which had been on my Netflix queue forever. Eventually I realized it was on my queue from that time in hs when I read a Vivien Leigh biography and we agreed it was too creepy, so we watched Roman Holiday instead. I think the cinematography was better in the former, but discussing Gregory Peck led us to re-watch that flash animation book report of To Kill a Mockingbird so.

Thurs night, Jon and I went to see Lincoln. I enjoyed it so much, I might see it again in the theater with Julian, bc it's so much of what we three like: wordy, clever, strategy, politics. It brought to life many of the points in Jay Winik's April 1865, although I felt like it was more about the Emancipation Proclamation or more about Thaddeus Stevens than Lincoln. I think they could've easily cut the last few scenes of the movies without losing any of the story, much as The King's Speech ended without telling us how World War 2 ended.

Fri was my all-too traditional pre-Christmas panic of presents and wrapping: I was 2 hours late getting to Ct, so I missed my chance to have Melting Pot with my mum. Oops. Instead Jon and I had a leisurely trip up to Vermont on Saturday morning, stopping by the Ben & Jerry's factory for ( all the ice cream )

We spent Sunday and half of Monday skiing at Mt. Snow. Somehow, there were few people on the mountain, even though it was a holiday week and snowing constantly, so I skied 16 runs the first day and 7 the second. I was a little frustrated last year in Canada that we only skied green circles, but Jon is getting better at skiing and enjoyed a mogul-y blue so much, we repeated it as our final run.

I'm used to coming to Vermont with my family, but Jon is not, so he planned all sorts of nice touches. ( what we ate )

Even though we used to road trip to Vermont when I was a kid, we'd never stopped at the Cabot Annex or Lake Champlain Chocolates. Somehow I sold Jon on both. ( mmm... dairy )

Christmas itself was better than expected, if lengthier. We were told to get to my aunt's by 7, but they hadn't started eating when we got there at 8. Bc we hadn't spent 2 hours snacking, we had more appetite for the Fairway-catered meal and Jon got to meet the last of my close relatives. Eventually we napped before getting called to the present opening. ( AAR )

Jon and I slept in on Tuesday, after getting back to my parents' house late and being locked out of our room. AISOT, we had lobster salad for snack on our way to my grandparents' for steak, on our way to the theater to see the first showing of Les Mis. ( grown-up theater muffin ) The best part though was holding Jon's hand, knowing I'd gotten everything my twenty years ago self could've asked for.

I forget how awesome it is to spend time with TRQ and

visage. Weds night, we met at the theater for Seminar. The pre-show conversation was at least as good as the show, like when TRQ commented, "That's so racist to say that all M-towns look the same." I'm not sure which was funnier -

visage's face when TRQ was describing her recent adventures in programming or his face when we were discussing how lawyers work. I laughed as TRQ explained that there are lawyer firms, which are lawyers all the way down, and in-house lawyers, which is like being embedded. (And Pongo laughed as I commented it must be like hearing Lucky and his BFF discuss, well, anything.) ( The play, with spoilers ) I should see more plays.

TRQ and

visage also get mad props for keeping me on task Thurs morning and for being so patient with my attempt to wade through the Macy's Parade crowd. Despite everything, Pongo, my cousin, and I all managed to turn up in the right place and my grandfather took us to my parents house. The family parts of the weekend all went well, with two particularly hilarious moments. While Pongo was buttonholed by my father, I was helping my mother and aunt in the kitchen and my aunt said, "When Dad told me he was picking you and a friend up, I thought you were bringing home a girlfriend." *facepalm!* Sat afternoon, my other aunt and uncle were disappointed to have missed Pongo but told me they were checking my hands for jewelry, bc why else would I bring someone home. My family is so confused. And it's not all my fault.

The food was better this year, despite the developing tradition of oven mishaps. There was no dish I didn't like and I noticed that if available, I will eat an awful lot of vegetables. It was also my grandmother's birthday, so we had a St. Honore cake, as well as the traditional Thanksgiving flan.

Fri afternoon, Pongo and I went for a walk in the Audubon Society. I haven't been there since I was a small child, so it was cool seeing where I used to go to camp. We got lost, went off-trail, and ended up with very muddy sneakers. Thank goodness Pongo always carries his compass and a flashlight. We talked about Roman life, as one does on hikes. That night, my sister's fiance came over and we all watched an episode of The Avengers and Source Code. I liked the latter a lot, mostly bc of how it all fit together in a neat little package. Sat morning we took Pongo to the best French brunch place in town. Then we went to a consignment shop and DSW, where I somehow picked up a pair of rain boots, booties, and a very fetching pair of flats. We had a quick bowl of soup at Meli Melo before hopping on a train home.

I had a bit of a meltdown over the next 36 hours. I was rested (or caffeinated), I had small discrete tasks to complete to help me get away from the awful badness, and yet I couldn't get myself to do any of it. I watched 2 episodes of Breaking Bad and played a lot of Sims Medieval and Zombieville 2. *sighs* However, I read 80 pages of my Lightroom book, got a facial, and bought vegetables, so that's something. The woman in the banh mi shop didn't understand me when I tried to ask for a Vietnamese cold cut sandwich, bringing the weekend full circle.

I think the self-discovery process started in the middle of the trip, on Mt. Baker, as I realized that while anything's possible, I don't have the right build for mountaineering. I could still do it, but I'd have to train constantly for it -- and I just don't want it enough. I like brunch and museums and books and I refuse to spend all my free time training. so yeah. (This, btw, is the best argument for not moving to Seattle: surrounded by outdoors culture, I'm afraid I'd lose myself.) I have scaled back my mountaineering ambitions. For me, there's no freedom of the hills. I'd never planned to lead anywhere other than the Gunks - I like to make it to my objectives when I go on expedition and I can afford to pay pros for this sort of thing - but I'm realizing even with that constraint I have to pick my mountains carefully, to ones with support and/or short approaches. ( my new list ) Everyone I've asked about the poll who's been to the Alps or Austria has put it on their list, but it's awfully expensive to learn there. The former chair of my climbing club went there for his honeymoon and recommended Steve Monks for rock cragging in the Alps, but I'm jumping ahead of myself.

Sat I went climbing for the first time since the trip. I'd emailed GMac from the middle of the trip, bc I knew he usually goes to the club picnic and since he finds it hard to get out... At one point during the day he asked if I plan to get married and have kids over the next few years. When I said I did, he said bitterly, "Your climbing will go to shit." Yes, I expect it will.

I was nervous before we went climbing, bc I was afraid I'd oversold my skillz. Over the course of the day, I realized he's not all that strong a climber, but he's a terrific instructor. ( what we did ) That was 7 pitches in one day, including a lead by a n00b - I do 8 or 9 with guides who live in the area - so it's not surprising we got to the picnic late. Unfortunately, there was no food left, so I had lasagna and cake, which fucked up my system :( I was also exhausted - probably sleepy as well as physically drained - so I wasn't nearly as social as I should've been, considering the weather's getting cold and I need to get ice climbing buddies. I found a ride who'd've gotten me back to NYC that night so I could sleep in my own bed, but as I negotiated that, I realized it'd be a slap in the face to my ride who got me there (who is also the current club chair) and to GMac, so I stayed and had bourbon and scotch with them at the Mt Brauhaus.

Sun we woke just after dawn; MLev was having female issues and was generally slow, but we still got to the base of the cliffs by 8. ( I called it the club picnic afterparty ) Afterward we repaired to the Gardiner deli, which is almost as awesome as the Mazama country store and their cupcakes are teh yum. I felt bad that I slept most of the ride home - and then I was useless all afternoon from exhaustion.

I'm glad the return to climbing went well. I think the instruction on my trip was great, but it really did a number on my confidence. I knew the next step was more supervised leads on the rocks I intend to climb (and lead), but before this past weekend, I wasn't sure if I should book them for this fall and was feeling pretty hopeless about climbing in general. I suspect the truth of my skill lies somewhere between what my guide and GMac said.

And then NRod (my new "lj" name for my climbing buddy, the White Russian) and I had lunch the day after to discuss our trips: she's climbed Rainier and Grand Teton since I've seen her. We bonded over the difficulties of roped travel, personality conflicts on expedition, and the terrors of rockfalls. I think her trips made her appreciate me more ;) and we had negotiations about how we get grumpy and why she's willing to put up with my slowness (short version: I'm consistent and she knows I'm trying and she likes me). And then she sent me mail about climbing in WV over Hallowe'en, so.. climbing. fuck yeah!

Fri night, I missed the happy hour my new cubemate organized, so I came home in the mood for a drink. Last time I was looking around in my cellar, I broke the seal on a bottle of Pedro Ximenez I brought back from Spain, so I opened it. wow. It really is raisiny and thick, so when Julian reminded me that people eat it over ice cream, I tried it and it was delicious. It also inspired some creative writing, for which I decided to look something up, which made me realize there must be another box of books somewhere in the apt, bc I couldn't find any books on what is sometimes referred to euphemistically in this household as macrame. In the hobbies closet, I found an entire shelf of pr0n - and a box of books which is now waiting to be sorted. It's a pity it's too late to donate to LPN, bc surely I can get rid of some of those books.

My biggest accomplishment on Sat was sleeping until 10:30. I was mentally ready to tidy, but instead I made some lunch, played on my computer, and went running. ( whining, in which Kate concludes to just do it )

My father and his bff's third annual birthday extravaganza was ok. For some reason, we did dinner at the Boathouse rather than brunch and the meal just dragged. ( Ain't family grand? )

Leading lessons with JBeau weren't as much fun as with SR: I think the problem is JBeau seems to be discouraging, rather than enabling. I also found him to be far less systematic in the way he teaches things. Unfortunately, switching instructors (by geographic necessity) also feels like we spent half a day going over stuff I already knew, bc JBeau doesn't seem to get that I'm the anti-hotdog. *sighs* ( Read more... ) As an instructor though, I'm sticking with him anyhow: he tries hard, he doesn't nickle-and-dime the end of the day, he occasionally has great ideas, and I think a consistent instructor saves time.

Edit: while looking for the links for this post, it dawned on me I should've done the "like having a baby hard" workout this morning behind my house, instead of thinking about going to the gym near work for a Russ workout, which never happens in the morning, which is why I'm weak and doomed to remain foreverso. *whine*

Edit2: Continued here bc italics are allegedly hard to read.

Fri I took my minion for his goodbye lunch before he went back to India. He seemed to love the food in NYC, which is gratifying bc I know he worked 28 of the 30 days he was here. He commented that Cuban rice and black beans is a lot like Indian food; I feel awful about having fed ropa viejo to the Hindi though. Bad Kate.

I spent the night sending emails, including responding to my career coach. It's been months since we've corresponded, so I was surprised when she sent me a plaintive, "I'm surprised you quit after only one session." I told her in no uncertain terms that I was unhappy that she was charging *mumbles* for me to fill out worksheets and she couldn't articulate a plan for what we might do in the next session. Good riddance.

I woke at 7 the next morning so I could do laundry and prep the house for the cleaning lady, but still had to cab it to Grand Central to make the last possible train. My mother and LBro were unable to fly to Venice to meet their cruise, which is a complete waste bc the point of the trip was for Lbro to get some relaxation. Instead, we had late lunch at the local creperie. Bbro noticed my belly button piercing. There was a not really awkward moment when, discussing Thursday's party, my brother noticed my dating criteria do not include male and specifically asked about that. I laughingly agreed that if it a woman wanted to keep me in the style to which I'd like to be accustomed, I'd be fine with that. My mother was very quiet during the entire exchange. That bag was so full of cat.

I drove to Avon, where my uncle was roasting pork for Vietnamese summer rolls. OMG it was so yummy, healthy, and simple. Then he went to bed and my aunt and I watched Love Happens, which is so not a feel-good movie.

I feel awful about Sunday. I've been helping with this class for four years, and yet somehow I couldn't do anything right. My group had to reset the climb they built under my direction; I failed to make them tie in with all the appropriate anchors and one of the guys I was supervising completely flubbed the anchor; and then I couldn't get over the roof from two years ago. There's apparently a slight edge for the left foot halfway on the roof, although I'm thinking I might just make sure I can do a muscle up by next April. If I get invited back and want to do it again, bc right now, I think it's a waste of everybody's time. *sighs*

It didn't help that I was a little cold all day. I also had low blood sugar, even though I was eating all day - can you get low blood sugar from lack of protein?? ( I'm blaming it for the other crankiness ) I had a long drive home, but I was also worried about driving with low blood sugar. Had a burger at Chili's. AISOT, it was my first time driving east of the Mississippi in 3 years and I think there were only a few places where I messed up, but by the end, I was happy to get rid of the car. Got back to my apt after 10, but didn't sleep until nearly 1 bc of my horrible mood. Many thanks again to he who talked me through things yesterday.

Fri night was so typical Manhattan: primping after work, visit with Bruce Wayne, and then dancing + karaoke for Evil English's birfday. While overall I enjoyed hanging out with Bruce Wayne, we also had a pre-relationship discussion in which he was argumentative just like my last bf. *sighs*

It's been so long since I've been out to a dance club in NYC, my first thought was, "But my knits will get smoky." Ha. I wasn't as dressed up as the other gals, but good enough for that club (and more comfortable in my flats). It wasn't a very good club - it was in NYU country, no cover before midnight, sausage factory, and no skinny bitches - but the dj played a few Top 40 and 80s songs and I got to dance and I want to do that again. We then went to Japas 38 for karaoke and I sang for a bit, destroyed my diet, and went home around four. Despite getting laid and drinking and all that, the highlight of my night was getting picked up and driven home by a dashing officer.

My alarm went off ~~the next~~ that morning and I managed to wake up enough to drag myself to the kitchen to check voicemail - only to find out my brunch plans had cancelled. I can never fall back asleep once I'm up, so my day was pretty much shot. It took me all day to respond to emails and prepare 4 snail mails *sighs* but I'm caught up on all but one email since Thanksgiving. This is something I suppose.

Sun morning trap was better than expected, but after watching the advanced student who shared my class, I don't think I like trap nearly as much as silks. ( Read more... )

If my phone's text message box wasn't full, I'd've gotten the text that my brunch&furniture date had canceled, but as it was, I was halfway to the subway by then :( I sent texts to both Bbro and my sister and merrily argued the awesomeness of static vs. flying trap most of the way to Bbro. Unfortunately, he then got stuck on an hour's phone call consoling a friend (I didn't know guys did that) and somehow I got pulled into brunch with his ex-(college)roommate, who'd failed to make a reservation at Norma's, so we didn't get out of there until 4 :( ( cheap shots at Hahvahd kids ) It was just annoying that instead of quality time with my former fave sibling, I spent it with random (intelligent!) people.

I was not far from Express, so I stopped there to see what they had. Why do they sell so much cotton? Cotton kills! Fortunately I remembered I already have too many button downs, but I also tried on a half dozen tops and a half dozen dresses. Out of all that, I found one dress that fit - but somehow it perfectly fit my waist and hips. My sister tells me that even in the crappy cell phone pic sent to her Blackberry, she can see belly and the dress' design emphasizes it, and thus I shouldn't own it or wear it tmw's party, but I think I might keep it as a challenge.

Went home and drank a quarter bottle of rioja to console myself while watching fifth season ST:TNG. I thought TNG was supposed to be the best acted of the five series?? It was kinda dorky, with trite plot elements: on the other hand, Patrick Stewart declaiming to the alien being in an effort to save his ship is pretty awesome. I think though for my next Netflix (I only get two a month), I'll get the TNG cast in more realistically written adventures.

I'm getting physically ill listening to the girls at work tell another girl to never ever ask a guy out, even if he asked before and was shot down.

The problem with short story collections is they get repetitive. I picked up John Joseph Adams' apocalypse and zombie collections after hearing about them on the Baen boards. Wastelands was interesting - many different takes on how TEOTWAWKI would come about and Adams recognizes the fundamental appeal is believing one has the skills to make it in a primal world. Stephen King's story was... different. I was surprised to like Cory Doctorow and Octavia Butler's stories; I didn't like OSC's; and I completely didn't get Gene Wolfe's story. Lots of very odd stories, worth picking up if this sort of things appeals to you, terrible bedtime reading.

Adams' The Living Dead however was far too repetitive and I'm just not that into zombies. I read a third of it before I started just reading the ones by people I'd heard of or with interesting titles. I've never seen any zombie movies - they tend to scare me - so are there aliens in one of the defining movies of zombiedom? Anyhow, ( comments about individual stories ) My favorite was "The Third Dead Body" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman; if you ever do come across this book be sure to read that one and "The Skull-Faced Boy" by David Barr Kirtley; the others are more for zombie enthusiasts.

Has anyone read his vampire or "Federations" anthologies? While we're on the topic, has anyone read Fast Ships, Black Sails, which has a Naomi Novik pirate story? Webscriptions doesn't have the former and the library isn't buying the latter :(

I was so excited when I came across Murder by Magic, edited by Rosemary Edghill bc I love the Tudor fairy stories she co-wrote with Mercedes Lackey. Unfortunately, she didn't contribute a short story(!); the Mercedes Lackey story is about the chick with the parrot, which I bet is now part of the book about the chick with the parrot from the Elemental Masters series; and Roberta Gellis' story is more about prejudice than anything else. It's a mixed batch - I like the supernatural Emma Peel story and the fantasy version of Nick & Nora. Most interesting is that Susan R. Matthews contributed a story and it's not set in her Inquisitor universe - she's an entertaining writer even when she's not writing about sadistic genius-doctors.

But poor choices are not limited to fiction. I picked up The Secret Currency of Love bc Karen Karbo's V-day story for the NY Times struck a nerve. Unfortunately, for the anthology it looks like she asked a bunch of her friends to write a story about their relationship with love and money, the unfortunate part being that her contributors are all middle class women who became writers and despite their feminist roots, never dreamed they'd have to make a living. The last few romance novels I read were more realistic.

Sat, I went to the second half of the climbing club's wilderness first aid class. It was about the same as last week, although this week was more useful stuff like altitude and other environmental issues. We also learned splinting, which is retrospectively entertaining bc as I sit here trying to remember what I did this weekend, I keep remembering people taking their belts off to tie me up, er, tie up my arm or leg, er you know what I mean :)

Y'know how every class has that annoying person who knows more than the instructor? ( AustenVillainess seems to be pursuing me )

I've written about Sunday's scheduling, although somehow I never got around to buying pants or soap. I punted the race bc I thought the snow would get worse by the time I got there, and of course it didn't. Ah well. Had a delightful brunch with a friend and talked about Greek myths (he knew two version of the Athena and Hephaestus stories I hadn't heard before) and how they relate to comic books. I *heart* my smaht original friends.

On my way home, I came across the Spanish wine store. The proprietress was knowledgeable and charming and let me burble about Andalucia. I asked her to recommend a complex Spanish wine and despite having 40 bottles of wine at home and only just making space for all (but 2, hush), brought home two. Can't wait to try them.

I had a glorious run at dusk. Just 4mi but it felt so very good to be in the fresh air and exercising my legs and I ran it at a good clip too, just 40mins. I miss my hour-long runs.

I almost finished the BNE study unit I'd been working on last weekend :-/ Since that's still <2, I'm punting next weekend's Mt. Washington trip: I think a part of me didn't want to go, bc my brain has switched to spring mode. ( Red Rocks is so cheap, it's ridiculous ) Oh well, if I don't get at least another bne study unit finished, this is all moot anyhow.

I switched my aerial workout this week to accomodate a friend, so of course he snow-cancelled. Bah. Trying to remember why I can't do two nights of aerial this week, esp. since I have that cunning plan to implement.

I've started watching tv shows primarily so I can read the TWOP recaps. eep!
There are days when being female seems over-rated. Today is so one of them - I'm depressed AND doubled-over in pain AND my body thought I needed to wake up early so I could experience more of that. How is this evolutionarily sound?
Also, my sleep cycle is all messed up again. Why can't I fall asleep unless I'm exhausted??
I've decided that not all sentences that start with "If you loved me, you'd ..." are bad. for example, if you replace that ... with "call", I think that'd be alright.
I need to find something that is not too engaging (bc I still have BNE studying), not too expensive (bc there's a recession on), but involves one-on-one instruction. Yes, =I'm= looking for a new hobby.
Speaking of recessions, this one is no longer funny. *mutters rude things about the media and regulators and lack of economic education and common sense*
I've only read the first third and the last 2.5 chapters of Swallowing Darkness (I think the title alone says how far that shark's been jumped), but LKH says that it's not the last Merry Gentry book, but how in heck is the resolution of all the heroine's issues not the end. Also, Trilogy Creep much?
The highlight of my week so far was noticing my work desktop background, which is that picture of me sitting on a princess-horse in front of the hacienda. It's, like, as cool as Disney.
The lowpoint was realizing I may have to choose between the Disneyland Triathlon + seeing my couple or my trip to China this summer.
Even the thought of wearing the prettiest dress evuh, the one that makes me look leggy, tonight is not making me happy.
I've decided to reframe it that after three weekends of productivity, I'm rewarding myself with a day of ice climbing, rather than punting ice climbing this weekend bc two weeks in a row is too expensive.
Part of me still thinks if I could just go running, everything would be better, but even after a week of no exercise, spin class made my knee unhappy yesterday.
Also, my friends should all stop being sick. Right. Now. kthxbye.

Current Music: No Doubt - "Underneath It All" (Radio 1 Live Acoustic version)

You know things have gotten out of control when you find reading your email stressful. *le sighs*

I really really wish I had the creativity to put together a steampunk aviator costume for Decom. Also, my hobbies are colliding.

I saw a 300 costume online and thought that would be the awesomest costume evuh. Fuck New Year's resolutions and beach bodies - I want a Halloween costume body. Too bad my boyfriend has forbidden me to do the things necessary to fit that costume.

I'm feeling irredeemably depressed this morning. Noting how much I drank last night, some might think it was a hangover, but they are totally wrong. I haven't known OperaBoss that long - I can count on my fingers how often we've hung out - but she picked an amazing place to treat me to birthday drinks. I think I have a new upscale bar and if I ever need to impress a date, that's where we're going. I wish I knew why I came home so deflated and slept so badly.

I'm taking some time off from running to see if that gets my hip to start behaving. This is getting old. I'm not too sure about crossfit workouts while I'm "resting" either.

Posts this replaces bc I'm worn out this morning: Fri book review of Harry Dresden, ~~"there's something about hemlines"~~, Crazy exercise ideas of the week. I didn't turn on my (home) computer for 36 hours and I'm going to CT tonight for enforced R&R. ah well.

What's that drug your body releases when you hug babies? I'm gonna get me some of that, although I hear she's learned to form complex sentences about inferences involving unseen locations. GAH!

I have no idea what to pack for this weekend: riding clothes (and helmet!), reading material for eleventy-seven hours in transit, rock climbing harness? swimsuit? gym clothes? golf?

Why doesn't iTunes let you sort by bpm so I can find a dance remix of "The Mummer's Dance"? Surely someone recorded one...

Edit: There's something to be said for hot water + LUSH therapy.

Current Music: Persephone's Bees - "We've Just Begun"

My mother had an excellent bbq for her baby brother's visit home. Yaay meat cooked outdoors! My cousin is at that adorable stage when you can watch linguistics at work and she occasionally responds to reason. I ate scary quantities of meat and napped under a tree for two hours. There was something so Jazz Age about the whole weekend: I woke to saxophone music drifting over from a neighbor's yard and small planes flying overhead. We walked down the street to the dead end, which I apparently haven't done in at least 10 years, bc there are new houses and some of the owners put up hilariously pompous fences. Which would be perfect for vaulting, if I thought the owners had a sense of humor. Oh, and then there was taiko drumming coming from a neighbors' yard. Weird.

Two years ago, I went for a little hike with my parents. I picked the route from a guide to local hikes my mum bought at the Audubon and made her pack water and food and rain gear and warm clothes and all that other stuff into the pack. Then we drove through NY state to the trailhead and we did the whole thing in about 2 hours, which wasn't nearly enough time to get hungry. oops. On the plus side, the trailed smelled fantastic, as it ran through an old growth forest, and ever since, I've been on the lookout for such.

Bc of that hike, I've been interested in doing the Mianus River Gorge hike, which I've been seeing in guidebooks since I started training for Kili. It's an old growth forest, about a half hour from my parents' house, driving through Stamford. Since the PT god said I could only do "50%" of my usual, it seemed like a good day to try. When we left their house, my dad mumbled something about how he'd done it before and so had I, but of course I didn't realize what he meant. *hand-slap-forehead* Yeah, it was the same one.

Unfortunately, bc I wasn't allowed to carry weight, we had no food and I got hungry - y'all know how well I deal with hunger. And my father had a much rougher time and didn't make it to the end of the out-and-back. He actually spent the rest of the afternoon complaining that he would never ever do that again :( There were fewer insects, but it didn't smell primeval this time :( On the other hand, I raced up and down the few uphill sections and got my hr up to 177 at one point; average was 118 :S

Then TRQ paid a visit to my parents' house and brought me food!!! Good company and home cooked spare ribs FTW!!!

Last night's date's eyes got big when he heard I do trapeze - he commented, "Who knew you were such a wild and crazy gal?" *chuckles*

I didn't tell him about the marathon or Rainier though. And while I was discussing the probability of him calling me back with my female relatives, he did. Hurrah for not playing games!

Current Mood: excited

I know sometimes my journal is a little heavy on the detail that's not interesting to y'all, but on the other hand, it's the sheer volume of info I can look up when I have a question ("how far WAS that hike in VA last year?) that keeps me from deleting it, like when I have the thought, "If I deleted this journal, I'd never have contact with that idiot ever again." Bc really, life is too short to spend any cycles on that idiot. And there are a lot of them on the Intarwebs.

Seder last night was fun - marriage and children seem to have relaxed the hostess, so now she's charmingly snarky instead of bitterly snarky. And her twins are omg so cute, my sister and I discussed kidnapping the girl. We're going to have so many great conversations about Disney princesses next year :)

For those who care, my plans today changed - we're skipping the cemetary and thanks to the Pope, seder was probably relocated back to my parents' house. I suspect my mum wants to avoid the cemetary bc my dad's been morbid ever since he was in the hospital last winter and she'd rather not visit his parents and brother. She's got BIG plans for his milestone birthday - two weekends of festivities - which is why I might bail on some of the stuff I signed up for in June.

[Poll #1164008]

Remember, vote for what you think is most true, not what you wish were true ;)

Current Mood: silly

Else what's a heaven for?

Mortgage bleg and an explanation

Being human and finite

I wasn't seasick, sunburned, or hungover

Italianish food

Digital Steam Heat

From Lincoln to Les Mis

"How do you say 'beard' in Vietnamese?"

Coming back to climbing

It felt like a boring, quiet weekend

In which Kate's soft shell is truly initiated

The Weekend Everyone Cancelled on Me

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We get the picture already

WFA, wine, and related socialness

A few random thoughts

Passing thoughts

What Backcountry Used to Mean to Me

Oh honey, you have no idea...

Too many idiots, too little time for adventures

[Poll of the Week] April Fool's!

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February 2025

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