Posts
Tuesday afternoon, Dan rode the city bus from camp and met me at work. Then we headed back to the apartment via the Mayo employee shuttle. We ended up fairly far back, and as we rode home I explained to him how people get off the bus here. Buses empty from the front to the back, and people don't even stand up until it's their turn. Very different from the east coast, where it's every man for himself. After that we chatted at how nice everyone seems here.
"That's so..." he trailed off.
"Civilized?" I asked.
"Yeah! It's nice"
By then we were almost to the front door, and Daniel pulled his keys out of his pocket. Unfortunately, the lanyard dragged out his cash. Dollar bills sailed into the street, and Daniel wailed. There was a car coming down the street, and the driver stopped right there and got out to help Dan collect the money in the street, while I got the bills on the sidewalk. Between the three of us, we managed to gather it all. We thanked the young man profusely, and as we checked our mail, I said, "See what I mean, they're really nice here."
It was overcast and breezy Tuesday evening, so it was perfect for a long "walkies" with Dumbledore. The three of us walked south along the river, crossing to the park. I showed Daniel a very nice looking public pool and we stopped for a little while so he could climb on the playground structures. In all, I think we were out for about 2 hours.
While we walked, we chatted. He told me about his day packing food to be sent to Africa to feed hungry people. He also told me things he had learned from a young lady he rode the bus downtown with (her mom also works at the clinic). She told him how to make a whistle with a blade of crabgrass, and that the library was a short walk from our place and he should check it out.
Daniel made a remark about how automobile tires sometimes seem to spin backwards on TV. We talked about revolutions per second and the refresh rates of video screens (or the frame rate of film), going at it from a few different angles. About 5 minutes into the discussion, Daniel suddenly went "Ohhh - I get it". It was fun watching the bulb light up over his head - he was so excited. (There's a word for the effect, but I couldn't remember what it's called. Anyone?)
Next up he made a comment about being confused by the numbered streets, given that several streets have the same or similar names. So then we talked about Broadway and Center Street and how the street (and avenue) numbers radiate out from there. I told him that if you could look at two consecutive street (or avenue) signs, you would know where you were and how to get where you are going. There was another "aha" moment. (It's so much fun when you witness one - and I got two in one day!)
After that he was comparing his experience in Rochester to being in Witness Protection (we watch In Plain Sight), a fresh start where "no one knows I'm not cool in Connecticut!" He exclaimed this triumphantly with his fists in the air. I'm really glad he's having a good time here.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Back and Forth
Last Thursday night, Dumbledore and I headed east for the July 4th weekend. The nice surprise for me was that Alex came down from Massachussetts, so I got to have lunch at Chili's with all my guys! The weekend was filled with visits with family and packing up Daniel for his fun-filled summer in Minnesota.
We started with a large pile of what Daniel thought was neccessary, and with judicious pruning and smart packing, we managed to get into two duffles (along with my things). Flying home was mostly problem free, but boos and hisses to American for posting the wrong gate number on the monitors for a while and not making any announcements at the "wrong" gate until the final boarding call. But the three of us got home safe and sound, and made a quick trip to the market for food for Daniel.
He had his first day of camp yesterday, and likes his "team leader" and the rest of his team. He enjoyed the activities but not the lunch, and had a good time. He had no problem catching a city bus and called me from his new cell phone when he got downtown (the good news is that every bus in Rochester ends up by the Clinic.) I met him in the plaza and brought him up to my office.
Today, he'll be making his way to my office by himself. He doesn't seem to have been nervous about the bus trip (he's hardly ever taken public transportation before - let alone by himself) and seems to have been fine with being dumped in a strange place with a bunch of people he's never met before. I'm so proud of the way he adapted!
We took a little walk with Dumble last night and I pointed out some things. I showed him where he should be able to get off the bus near our apartment if he doesn't want to meet me at work (and he's on a particular bus).
Of course, it's been great having him here. Dumble is enjoying having another playmate, and I'm just tickled to have his company. He's such a nice guy and I've missed him terribly.
We started with a large pile of what Daniel thought was neccessary, and with judicious pruning and smart packing, we managed to get into two duffles (along with my things). Flying home was mostly problem free, but boos and hisses to American for posting the wrong gate number on the monitors for a while and not making any announcements at the "wrong" gate until the final boarding call. But the three of us got home safe and sound, and made a quick trip to the market for food for Daniel.
He had his first day of camp yesterday, and likes his "team leader" and the rest of his team. He enjoyed the activities but not the lunch, and had a good time. He had no problem catching a city bus and called me from his new cell phone when he got downtown (the good news is that every bus in Rochester ends up by the Clinic.) I met him in the plaza and brought him up to my office.
Today, he'll be making his way to my office by himself. He doesn't seem to have been nervous about the bus trip (he's hardly ever taken public transportation before - let alone by himself) and seems to have been fine with being dumped in a strange place with a bunch of people he's never met before. I'm so proud of the way he adapted!
We took a little walk with Dumble last night and I pointed out some things. I showed him where he should be able to get off the bus near our apartment if he doesn't want to meet me at work (and he's on a particular bus).
Of course, it's been great having him here. Dumble is enjoying having another playmate, and I'm just tickled to have his company. He's such a nice guy and I've missed him terribly.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Clear Album
Last weekend I camped out at the Rochester Scrapbooking Company from Friday after work until Sunday afternoon. I did a little work on my sister's wedding album, but I'm not going to post pix of that until after I give it to her. :-)
This is hybrid project, combining digital and traditional scrapbooking. I'd wanted to do a theme album of songs that have meaning to me for a long time, and when I saw a funky, grungy, collage-y clear album in Somerset Memories magazine, I knew what my project had to be.
I combined 4x6 digital collages with a Clear Scraps 8x8 tabbed acrylic album, supplemented with cut down sheets of Hambly clear acrylic, a cut down piece of Prima embossed chipboard, and the contents of a Bo Bunny Clearly Mixed Up acrylic album. It's decorated with ribbon from May Arts, Maya Road and American Crafts; Stazon ink in various colors; Hambly transparencies; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Tim Holtz alcohol ink; a Krylon silver leafing pen; chipboard shapes from Tattered Angels and Rusty Pickle; crystals from Prima, Glitz and Basic Grey; flowers from Heidi Swapp, Prima and Creative Impressions; felt, die cut black plastic and journalling spots from Maya Road; and lace paper from KI.
The lyrics for the songs were found on the internet (just google what you can remember of the lyrics, title and or artist and the word "lyrics" and you can find any song.)
The front cover digital collage contains a Be Mine paper from Retrodiva Designs, overlaid twice with a musical notes overlay from (I think) Scrap Girls called Holiday Lights, and the font is Bleeding Cowboys - one of my favorites.
The first layout shows a photo of Alex's room after he moved out. The song is "Ready, Set, Don't Go" by Billy Ray Cyrus. It was originally written completely from the point of view of the parent (as opposed to the duet version performed with his daughter Miley) and that's the version of the lyrics that I used here.
The journalling says "This song became popular as Alex prepared to move out. It always made me want to cry." You can see that I spritzed the back of the cover collage with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. The two photos show the layout with the intervening Bo Bunny page flipped in either direction. The Bo Bunny albums holes didn't line up with the Clear Scraps album, so I used my Cropodile to punch new holes. The original holes have ribbon tied in them, to make them look like they are there on purpose. I painted behind the title to make it pop, and I used a Crafters Workshop template with an American Crafts Slick Writer pen to make the dragonfly's trail.
The next song is "Home" by Daughtry. If you look carefully, you can see the shiny underside of the previous page's dragonfly. The lacy border is from Prima. The collage shows Dumbledore, his new carrier, the logos for the airline and Minneapolis airport, some NY clip art from Tim Holtz and a photo of the highway outside LaGuardia airport in NY. Most of the song titles are printed on transparency paper, so I edged this one in brown Stazon to make it stand out.
The journalling says "Every time I thought about my upcoming trip home, I was reminded of this song. It kept me company through the days, then hours, then minutes until I saw my guys again."
Next up is "Just Might (Make Me Believe)" by Sugarland. There's another Bo Bunny page in here, and I used the silver leafing pen with a Crafters Workshop template for the doodling. The flower is three Heidi Swapps (in red, pink and white), layered with a Creative Impressions flower, a Prima flower, a large We R Memory Keepers silver eyelet and (I'm not sure who made it) a glittered brad. I decorated the flower with Stickles. The chipboard heart was painted, stamped on and covered with Glossy Accents. The ribbon covers where I smushed the glue before it dried.
The journalling says "When I had to close the store, I felt lost and afraid. I felt like a failure. But your love and support give me hope for the future. You believe in me - so I believe in myself." The photo is our engagement photo; after all these years, it's still my favorite one of us.
"It Won't Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker is another one that makes me misty. I used baby and recent photos of my boys. Notice the back side of the KI paper from the previous page and the ribbon at the top that wrapped around the font and back of the page. I'm not sure who made the bird paper, but the bird is a good symbol for my babies' leaving the nest as they grow. I backed the title with a ribbon.
"From the Moment You Were Mine" is a song by Beth Nielsen Chapman. I discovered her years ago when a song of hers was used on ER (Sand and Water). This one has always spoken to me:
I used to dream somebody's arms were around me,
Wake up all alone and feel so empty,
No, I never knew dreamed how real love could be,
'Til the moment you were mine
The photo of the three of us is printed on a transparency, the title is a Basic Grey sticker set, and I brushed paint on the embossed chipboard to bring out the details. The lyric were printed on a transparency and adhered with brads. (I loooove the Cropodile).
"Then" by Brad Paisley is a fairly recent song. I heard it on the way to the scrapbook store last weekend and realized it had to be in my album. It's all about how love grows over time. This wedding photo of Blair getting birdseed out of my hair after the wedding is one of my favorites. The swirly frame behind our picture is printed on a transparency. And the debossing on the back of the Prima cardstock is emphasized with pink and white paint. You can see the back of the jewels from the next page on the right hand side.
Martina McBride's "I Just Call You Mine" speaks to how lucky I feel to have Blair in my life. I used the May Arts vine ribbon as a place for a Daddy bird and Baby bird to hang out together. Maggie took this photo of them doing a crossword together at the store.
Using Photoshop I eliminated the background from this photo and gave it an artsy painted effect. You can still see the vine from the previous page, but I added more birds, because the heads were cut off of the ones on the other side. "Longer" by Dan Folgelberg is another long-time favorite that speaks to me about love - especially my love for Blair.
Our first song was to "I See Your Smile" by Gloria Estefan. It became "our song" after we heard it several times one Saturday when we were dating. The Bo Bunny page is stamped with a Close To My Heart stamps set using Stazon ink. I slipped a piece of white cardstcok behind it so you can see the detail.
I used a "notecard" effect on this photo after editing out a distracting background
The last time I was home, the three of us sang along when "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's came on the radio. The photo wasn't the right proportions to crop to 4x6 so I stretched one edge. I grunged it with a digital overlay to hide the stretch. I applies "lumos" action to the photo of my guys on a tandem bike to give it a grungy, vintage look. That's the back of a Fancy Pants glittered transparency on the next page that you can see through the page.
Last up is "Proud of the House We Built" by Brooks and Dunn. The house photo was taken after our remodeling was complete, and the photos on the Bo Bunny page show Daniel helping his Dad put furniture together.
For the back cover I Glimmer Misted the back of the previous page's collage, and decorated it with a digital corner flourish printed on a transparency. The backs of the previous pages jewels add to the design. I distressed the edges of all the transparent pages in the book with black Stazon to give the pages definition.
This is hybrid project, combining digital and traditional scrapbooking. I'd wanted to do a theme album of songs that have meaning to me for a long time, and when I saw a funky, grungy, collage-y clear album in Somerset Memories magazine, I knew what my project had to be.
I combined 4x6 digital collages with a Clear Scraps 8x8 tabbed acrylic album, supplemented with cut down sheets of Hambly clear acrylic, a cut down piece of Prima embossed chipboard, and the contents of a Bo Bunny Clearly Mixed Up acrylic album. It's decorated with ribbon from May Arts, Maya Road and American Crafts; Stazon ink in various colors; Hambly transparencies; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; Tim Holtz alcohol ink; a Krylon silver leafing pen; chipboard shapes from Tattered Angels and Rusty Pickle; crystals from Prima, Glitz and Basic Grey; flowers from Heidi Swapp, Prima and Creative Impressions; felt, die cut black plastic and journalling spots from Maya Road; and lace paper from KI.
The lyrics for the songs were found on the internet (just google what you can remember of the lyrics, title and or artist and the word "lyrics" and you can find any song.)
The front cover digital collage contains a Be Mine paper from Retrodiva Designs, overlaid twice with a musical notes overlay from (I think) Scrap Girls called Holiday Lights, and the font is Bleeding Cowboys - one of my favorites.
The first layout shows a photo of Alex's room after he moved out. The song is "Ready, Set, Don't Go" by Billy Ray Cyrus. It was originally written completely from the point of view of the parent (as opposed to the duet version performed with his daughter Miley) and that's the version of the lyrics that I used here.
The journalling says "This song became popular as Alex prepared to move out. It always made me want to cry." You can see that I spritzed the back of the cover collage with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. The two photos show the layout with the intervening Bo Bunny page flipped in either direction. The Bo Bunny albums holes didn't line up with the Clear Scraps album, so I used my Cropodile to punch new holes. The original holes have ribbon tied in them, to make them look like they are there on purpose. I painted behind the title to make it pop, and I used a Crafters Workshop template with an American Crafts Slick Writer pen to make the dragonfly's trail.
The next song is "Home" by Daughtry. If you look carefully, you can see the shiny underside of the previous page's dragonfly. The lacy border is from Prima. The collage shows Dumbledore, his new carrier, the logos for the airline and Minneapolis airport, some NY clip art from Tim Holtz and a photo of the highway outside LaGuardia airport in NY. Most of the song titles are printed on transparency paper, so I edged this one in brown Stazon to make it stand out.
The journalling says "Every time I thought about my upcoming trip home, I was reminded of this song. It kept me company through the days, then hours, then minutes until I saw my guys again."
Next up is "Just Might (Make Me Believe)" by Sugarland. There's another Bo Bunny page in here, and I used the silver leafing pen with a Crafters Workshop template for the doodling. The flower is three Heidi Swapps (in red, pink and white), layered with a Creative Impressions flower, a Prima flower, a large We R Memory Keepers silver eyelet and (I'm not sure who made it) a glittered brad. I decorated the flower with Stickles. The chipboard heart was painted, stamped on and covered with Glossy Accents. The ribbon covers where I smushed the glue before it dried.
The journalling says "When I had to close the store, I felt lost and afraid. I felt like a failure. But your love and support give me hope for the future. You believe in me - so I believe in myself." The photo is our engagement photo; after all these years, it's still my favorite one of us.
"It Won't Be Like This For Long" by Darius Rucker is another one that makes me misty. I used baby and recent photos of my boys. Notice the back side of the KI paper from the previous page and the ribbon at the top that wrapped around the font and back of the page. I'm not sure who made the bird paper, but the bird is a good symbol for my babies' leaving the nest as they grow. I backed the title with a ribbon.
"From the Moment You Were Mine" is a song by Beth Nielsen Chapman. I discovered her years ago when a song of hers was used on ER (Sand and Water). This one has always spoken to me:
I used to dream somebody's arms were around me,
Wake up all alone and feel so empty,
No, I never knew dreamed how real love could be,
'Til the moment you were mine
The photo of the three of us is printed on a transparency, the title is a Basic Grey sticker set, and I brushed paint on the embossed chipboard to bring out the details. The lyric were printed on a transparency and adhered with brads. (I loooove the Cropodile).
"Then" by Brad Paisley is a fairly recent song. I heard it on the way to the scrapbook store last weekend and realized it had to be in my album. It's all about how love grows over time. This wedding photo of Blair getting birdseed out of my hair after the wedding is one of my favorites. The swirly frame behind our picture is printed on a transparency. And the debossing on the back of the Prima cardstock is emphasized with pink and white paint. You can see the back of the jewels from the next page on the right hand side.
Martina McBride's "I Just Call You Mine" speaks to how lucky I feel to have Blair in my life. I used the May Arts vine ribbon as a place for a Daddy bird and Baby bird to hang out together. Maggie took this photo of them doing a crossword together at the store.
Using Photoshop I eliminated the background from this photo and gave it an artsy painted effect. You can still see the vine from the previous page, but I added more birds, because the heads were cut off of the ones on the other side. "Longer" by Dan Folgelberg is another long-time favorite that speaks to me about love - especially my love for Blair.
Our first song was to "I See Your Smile" by Gloria Estefan. It became "our song" after we heard it several times one Saturday when we were dating. The Bo Bunny page is stamped with a Close To My Heart stamps set using Stazon ink. I slipped a piece of white cardstcok behind it so you can see the detail.
I used a "notecard" effect on this photo after editing out a distracting background
The last time I was home, the three of us sang along when "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's came on the radio. The photo wasn't the right proportions to crop to 4x6 so I stretched one edge. I grunged it with a digital overlay to hide the stretch. I applies "lumos" action to the photo of my guys on a tandem bike to give it a grungy, vintage look. That's the back of a Fancy Pants glittered transparency on the next page that you can see through the page.
Last up is "Proud of the House We Built" by Brooks and Dunn. The house photo was taken after our remodeling was complete, and the photos on the Bo Bunny page show Daniel helping his Dad put furniture together.
For the back cover I Glimmer Misted the back of the previous page's collage, and decorated it with a digital corner flourish printed on a transparency. The backs of the previous pages jewels add to the design. I distressed the edges of all the transparent pages in the book with black Stazon to give the pages definition.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Terminator Movie
I went to see the new Terminator movie last Friday, and it was fantastic. Another non-stop nail biter that also manages to address the question of what makes us human.
(minor spoilage ahead for Terminator Salvation, the New Star Trek movie, and somewhat more for the finale of TV’s Sarah Connor Chronicle)
But, as I say to Daniel whenever we get into questions of cause and effect in sci-fi movies and shows, “I hate friggin’ time travel.”
It makes use of the same alternate/branching realities idea as the Trek movie, in that in this version of the Terminator multiverse, the events of the various movies seem to have happened (although only events in the first movie are directly referenced), but events from the TV show have not (as evidenced by the fact that his father is younger than he is, in the conclusion of SCC, he was in the future, a teenager, and no one knew who he was.) But it would have been hard to tell this particular story (he’s looking for his father so he can send him to the past) with a teenaged Connor, even ignoring the fact that they met at the end of the series.
I’ve never been a fan of the infinite alternate realities version of time travel, because if every possibility exists, there is no point to traveling to the past to “set right what once went wrong.” But it bothered me less than the similar plot point in the Trek movie, I suppose because the Sarah Connor series already had gotten me used to rewriting the Terminator timeline when it basically wiped out the plot of the third movie in the first episode, and the fact that the date of Judgment Day changed as people from the future kept going back in time. In Star Trek, though, any time they traveled to the past in the television shows, it turned out that whatever they did in the past had already happened in the existing timeline (like the ep where they accidentally traveled back to the 60’s and had to put the pilot back because a descendant of his would be among the first to go to Mars.) Previously in the Trek universe whenever an evildoer tried to alter the past to his advantage, it turned out that, like Oedipus’ father, he was the engineer of his own demise, rather than preventing it (although you can make that point with the first Terminator movie – if the machines hadn’t tried to kill Sarah, her son would never have been born.)
I hate friggin’ time travel. ;-)
(minor spoilage ahead for Terminator Salvation, the New Star Trek movie, and somewhat more for the finale of TV’s Sarah Connor Chronicle)
But, as I say to Daniel whenever we get into questions of cause and effect in sci-fi movies and shows, “I hate friggin’ time travel.”
It makes use of the same alternate/branching realities idea as the Trek movie, in that in this version of the Terminator multiverse, the events of the various movies seem to have happened (although only events in the first movie are directly referenced), but events from the TV show have not (as evidenced by the fact that his father is younger than he is, in the conclusion of SCC, he was in the future, a teenager, and no one knew who he was.) But it would have been hard to tell this particular story (he’s looking for his father so he can send him to the past) with a teenaged Connor, even ignoring the fact that they met at the end of the series.
I’ve never been a fan of the infinite alternate realities version of time travel, because if every possibility exists, there is no point to traveling to the past to “set right what once went wrong.” But it bothered me less than the similar plot point in the Trek movie, I suppose because the Sarah Connor series already had gotten me used to rewriting the Terminator timeline when it basically wiped out the plot of the third movie in the first episode, and the fact that the date of Judgment Day changed as people from the future kept going back in time. In Star Trek, though, any time they traveled to the past in the television shows, it turned out that whatever they did in the past had already happened in the existing timeline (like the ep where they accidentally traveled back to the 60’s and had to put the pilot back because a descendant of his would be among the first to go to Mars.) Previously in the Trek universe whenever an evildoer tried to alter the past to his advantage, it turned out that, like Oedipus’ father, he was the engineer of his own demise, rather than preventing it (although you can make that point with the first Terminator movie – if the machines hadn’t tried to kill Sarah, her son would never have been born.)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Last Weekend
It was a hard trip. Blair misses me more than he had previously let on. The three of us had a little cry together yesterday as we waited for our food in Chili's.
The rest of the trip was nice. A family party at my Mom's Saturday evening. A party at my sister's on Sunday. Hot dogs, burgers, Mom's baked beans and Texas BBQ sauce (closer to chili), and a huge yummy sheet cake from Costco with mousse filling, chocolate icing and huge chocolate frosting roses. It's hard going back to healthy eating today (I'm starving!). Lots of TV with my guys yesterday, just lounging on the couch enjoying being together.
The rest of the trip was nice. A family party at my Mom's Saturday evening. A party at my sister's on Sunday. Hot dogs, burgers, Mom's baked beans and Texas BBQ sauce (closer to chili), and a huge yummy sheet cake from Costco with mousse filling, chocolate icing and huge chocolate frosting roses. It's hard going back to healthy eating today (I'm starving!). Lots of TV with my guys yesterday, just lounging on the couch enjoying being together.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Last Minute Weekend Plans!
Whoo hoo! I'm flying east on Friday for the long weekend. I got a pretty good price to fly from Rochester (saving me the $200 for the airport van, not to mention the time), and adding Dumbledore to an American flight is cheaper than Northwest. The best part - we're not going to tell Daniel. Blair's going to tell him they're picking up my brother instead.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
My New Haircut
I had a very exciting day today. I had my hair colored, highlighted (caramel and blonde)and cut (not too much off the length, but new layers, and the bangs were thinned). I'm very pleased with the results. After she finished with the cut, she asked if I was interested in having my brows waxed. Since I'd just been thinking about doing it, it was serendipitous. So I walked out of the salon feeling very glamorous and ready for spring.
After lunch, I went clothes shopping at Kohl's' and J. Jill (my favorite store). At J. Jill everything that was on sale had an additional markdown, so I got some very good deals and I'm very excited about my new look for spring and summer.
Tomorrow, I'll putter around the apartment and work some more on my scrapbooking project. (Last weekend, I spent both days at the local scrapbook store working on an acrylic album combining song lyrics I like with little digital collages.)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Trek Review
(first some spoiler free comments) I just got back from seeing the new Star Trek movie, and it was a fantastic movie. Exciting, funny, lots of wanton destruction (always one of my favorite things). The actors (especially Zachary Quinto as Spock) did a good job of channeling the original characters without doing impressions. It even felt like Trek.
(spoilers ahead)
But
the time travel/interference with the past that starts the plot in motions has the effect of erasing the last 40+ years of established "history". Towards the end I was waiting for someone to go forward in time to set everything right, and then slowly realized they weren't going to. And while I really enjoyed the movie, I wish they'd found a way to make it without mucking about with the previously established timeline.
(spoilers ahead)
But
the time travel/interference with the past that starts the plot in motions has the effect of erasing the last 40+ years of established "history". Towards the end I was waiting for someone to go forward in time to set everything right, and then slowly realized they weren't going to. And while I really enjoyed the movie, I wish they'd found a way to make it without mucking about with the previously established timeline.
Planning for Summer
I recently firmed up Daniel's plans for the summer. He's not big into the whole summer camp thing anymore, but Blair and I don't like the idea of him home alone every day playing video games, so I hit on the idea of finding him activities in here in Minnesota. We cobbled together some different programs we're all excited about and the best part is that my boy will be spending 5 weeks out here with me!
He's doing something calls Summer of Service which combines community service type stuff with regular camp stuff, at 200 bucks for two weeks including lunch, it's a steal. He's also doing a one week sports camp, a one week course at the University of MN on game programming, and a one week class in sports statistics (two of his favorite things in one class!). Each of these activities is near a bus stop, and all the buses in town eventually end up right by the clinic, so when he's done before I've finished work, he can get to me.
I'll probably go home to CT for some doctor's appointments the weekend before and take him back with me. Then I'm hoping Blair can take a little vacation time to come out here at the end and do touristy things with Daniel while I work, and they can go home together.
Tonight I'm going to see the new Star Trek movie (I'm hopeful and afraid). And I'm planning to scrapbook this weekend. I have this idea for a scrapbook/art project doing digital collages with lyrics from some of my favorite songs. It will be an ongoing project and I'm pretty sure I want to use an acrylic album as a start.
He's doing something calls Summer of Service which combines community service type stuff with regular camp stuff, at 200 bucks for two weeks including lunch, it's a steal. He's also doing a one week sports camp, a one week course at the University of MN on game programming, and a one week class in sports statistics (two of his favorite things in one class!). Each of these activities is near a bus stop, and all the buses in town eventually end up right by the clinic, so when he's done before I've finished work, he can get to me.
I'll probably go home to CT for some doctor's appointments the weekend before and take him back with me. Then I'm hoping Blair can take a little vacation time to come out here at the end and do touristy things with Daniel while I work, and they can go home together.
Tonight I'm going to see the new Star Trek movie (I'm hopeful and afraid). And I'm planning to scrapbook this weekend. I have this idea for a scrapbook/art project doing digital collages with lyrics from some of my favorite songs. It will be an ongoing project and I'm pretty sure I want to use an acrylic album as a start.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Tulips are Blooming
There are tulips blooming in the Annenburg Plaza and they are lovely.
Once again, I have given up on Low Carb. It was way to easy to justify slipping off for a special occasions, which came more and more often. At least I wasn't gaining, but I wasn't losing either. I heard a blurb for Seattle Sutton on NPR one morning. I liked the idea of complete meals being delivered, that I'd get variety without having to buy a lot of groceries, that it would be controlled portions (and calories), and that it would cost about what I'd already been spending in the employee cafeteria and in restaurants, so I decided to give it a shot.
I'm lucky that there's a local distributor here in Rochester, so the meals aren't being shipped from goodness knows where, and the price here is decent (apparently the different franchisees charge different prices). Out of 10 days of meals so far there was only one "loser" - a baked pasta with turkey and (a teeny bit of) mozzarella - the taste was OK but the pasta was far from al dente, so the texture wasn't great, and yesterday's kiwi was nowhere near ripe. There was a muffin that had a very "packaged" taste, like something you'd get in a convenience store, but other than that, things have been pretty tasty, and very fresh. I'm definitely eating more fruits and veggies than I'm used to, and eating things I usually don't. I'm no fan of Caesar salad, but the dressing wasn't terribly pungent, and so was palatable to me. I actually ate Brussels Sprouts and found them surpisingly unobjectionable, with a taste like slightly bitter spinach.
There was something like swedish meatballs that was delicious, and some pineapple this morning that was luscious. Breakfast has been especially tasty, but if it were up to me I'd skew it towards a bit more protein and fewer carbs to fight off the mid-morning hungrys.
I was very hungry, so I've added 200 calories a day in snacks (for a total of 1400 calories per day), and while I still get hungry between meals and in the late evening, I figure - no pain, no loss, right? I'm liking the enforced discipline of only eating what I'm given, so I can't rationalize my way into overeating.
The weather has been warmer - it's definitely Spring. Trees are starting to bud and the lawns are green. Dumble and I have really been enjoying our walks, going further than before. On Saturday, we walked for over an hour (with a break to sit on a bench and read my book for a bit.) We saw a group of teenaged couple in their Prom finery, accompanied by a scrum of paparazzi parents. They were adorable as they posed by the river in various combinations and permutations. Then Dumble and I saw a pair of bunny rabbits (complete with cotton-tails), who gazed disapprovingly at us as we walked by. Then there was a birthday party with a pinata in the park behind the Civic Center. It was a lovely day to be out. Dumble alternates between trotting along proudly, and stops to sniff along arcane paths before leaving return messages for the various dogs who've left their own.
Once again, I have given up on Low Carb. It was way to easy to justify slipping off for a special occasions, which came more and more often. At least I wasn't gaining, but I wasn't losing either. I heard a blurb for Seattle Sutton on NPR one morning. I liked the idea of complete meals being delivered, that I'd get variety without having to buy a lot of groceries, that it would be controlled portions (and calories), and that it would cost about what I'd already been spending in the employee cafeteria and in restaurants, so I decided to give it a shot.
I'm lucky that there's a local distributor here in Rochester, so the meals aren't being shipped from goodness knows where, and the price here is decent (apparently the different franchisees charge different prices). Out of 10 days of meals so far there was only one "loser" - a baked pasta with turkey and (a teeny bit of) mozzarella - the taste was OK but the pasta was far from al dente, so the texture wasn't great, and yesterday's kiwi was nowhere near ripe. There was a muffin that had a very "packaged" taste, like something you'd get in a convenience store, but other than that, things have been pretty tasty, and very fresh. I'm definitely eating more fruits and veggies than I'm used to, and eating things I usually don't. I'm no fan of Caesar salad, but the dressing wasn't terribly pungent, and so was palatable to me. I actually ate Brussels Sprouts and found them surpisingly unobjectionable, with a taste like slightly bitter spinach.
There was something like swedish meatballs that was delicious, and some pineapple this morning that was luscious. Breakfast has been especially tasty, but if it were up to me I'd skew it towards a bit more protein and fewer carbs to fight off the mid-morning hungrys.
I was very hungry, so I've added 200 calories a day in snacks (for a total of 1400 calories per day), and while I still get hungry between meals and in the late evening, I figure - no pain, no loss, right? I'm liking the enforced discipline of only eating what I'm given, so I can't rationalize my way into overeating.
The weather has been warmer - it's definitely Spring. Trees are starting to bud and the lawns are green. Dumble and I have really been enjoying our walks, going further than before. On Saturday, we walked for over an hour (with a break to sit on a bench and read my book for a bit.) We saw a group of teenaged couple in their Prom finery, accompanied by a scrum of paparazzi parents. They were adorable as they posed by the river in various combinations and permutations. Then Dumble and I saw a pair of bunny rabbits (complete with cotton-tails), who gazed disapprovingly at us as we walked by. Then there was a birthday party with a pinata in the park behind the Civic Center. It was a lovely day to be out. Dumble alternates between trotting along proudly, and stops to sniff along arcane paths before leaving return messages for the various dogs who've left their own.
Monday, April 20, 2009
My Weekend
Wednesday, April 15
After work, I was running laundry so I wouldn't be short on clean clothes when I got back. But when I put my clothes in the dryer, I forgot to take my keys. 45 minutes of conversation with very nice neighbors I'd never met before, my clothes were dry and folded and I was finally back in my place. I need to find a better way to make sure that I always take my keys with me. :-)
I packed (barely - there are clothes and toiletries at home, I needed underwear, dog food and something to read on the plane.)
Thursday, April 16
A friend of my brother's from CT was transferred from CT to one of the hospitals here at the clinic, and I visited her during my lunch break. Easy peasy, there was a bus from the complex I work in to her hospital. Quick stop for lunch on the way back and I was all set.
I'd worked late all week so I could leave a little early, so I left at 3:30. Took Dumble for a walk, gathered up my stuff and the van picked me up for the drive to the airport in Minneapolis. Dumble settled down pretty quickly in his new carrier.
We got there in plenty of time to get checked in, go through security, pick up some dinner in the terminal and get to the gate. Dumble wasn't entirely happy when zipped in the carrier, either on my back or on the ground. He whined and whimpered and I was nervous for the flight. But once I put the bag on its back and slid it under the seat, he curled up in a ball and was calm and quiet the whole ride.
He was good in the limo on the way home, too. And around 1AM, we were in Bridgeport and Blair and Daniel were waiting for us to take us home.
Friday, April 17
Dumbledore's groomer came early and he looks gorgeous again! He's so soft and silky when he's clean, the hair on his head is baby fine. It's such a pleasure to bury my nose in his hair!
My guys came with me to my appointment and we got that out of the way early. Next up, we went to Target to look at some jeans for me - I'd forgotten to change out of my work pants before the van came for me, so I had nothing to knock around in.
A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to approximate how much allowance we hadn't paid Daniel in the last couple of years. He's been so understanding and just plain cool about money issues that I thought he deserved a treat, and Blair agreed. After rejecting the jeans I tried on, we nonchalantly walked over to the electronics department. Dan went to play with demo systems and Blair and I checked out the Nintendo DSis. After being reassured that the regular Nintendo DS games worked in the new systems, we called Daniel over and asked him what color he wanted. He was surprised and thrilled. Later he told us that he was smiling so much his "smile bones" were hurting. Note of caution to others interested in the DSi - the carrying cases and other items manufactured by other companies to fit the DS and DS Lite don't work with the DSi (ask us how we know that.) He was the happiest boy, thanking us repeatedly and smiling constantly.
Lunch was at MacDonald's. Then a trip to the mall to J Jill for jeans (I've always been happy with the way their jeans fit me). Then home to watch some Tivo'd shows (what a concept, watching TV in the same state with the rest of the family - hey, the same room and couch!)
Next up, we visited Blair's work. He was so cute showing me and Dan off to his coworkers and the residents.
Then dinner at Olive Garden. We're used to the line on a weekend night being so long that we usually eat in the bar, but there was only a 10 minute wait, no one waiting outside, and hardly anyone waiting inside. Dan and I both took home leftovers and the three of us split a dessert.
Saturday, April 18
After lunch, Blair, Daniel, Dumbledore and I went walking (I hesitate to call it hiking) on the trail in the Pequonnock River Valley (a former railbed turned trail). It was a perfect day for a nature walk. Cool and a little breezy. Dumble was thrilled to be outside walking and greet all the people and dogs on the trail. We went down a side trail to the river and Dumble got his feet wet. Afterwards, we dropped the dog back at the house and went for ice cream. Then we went to Best Buy to return the accessories for Dan's new toy ("It's not a toy, Mom.") that didn't fit.
Alex had gotten a ride to CT with some friends, so we made arrangements for him to come by so we could all go out to dinner. Talk about achy smile bones. I was so happy to be sitting at a table with all my guys. Blair used to call Alex the James Dean of Gibson Ave because he's usually so quiet, but after a beer or two he was almost expansive. He was telling us about his job (he works as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant in Springfield, Mass., and it sounds like he works really hard and they like and trust him. I was really proud. Dan showed off some of his magic tricks for Alex, and it was just a lovely, perfect evening.
I packed two suitcases with warm weather clothes and later that night Blair, Dan and I played a round of Wii Bowling. Sheesh, I get worse every time I play that thing, but we had fun.
Sunday, April 19
We went over to my Mom's for breakfast (she made her apricot almond loaf because she knows how much I love it.) There was also bagels, homemade coffee cake and orange cinnamon rolls. Then it was lunchtime! There were homemade potato pancakes, turkey crocquettes, spinach souffle and chicken pot pie. My brother was there with his 2 girls, my sister and her husband, her son Leigh (who used to work in the store) and his friend, my auntie and my in-laws. It was so good to see the family and the food was sooo good!
Blair and Dan drove Dumble and me to the airport and Dumble was as cool on the return trip as he'd been on the way there. I lost track of how many times I kissed my guys before I let them go. It was wonderful to spend time with all three of my men - everythign I do is because of them.
After work, I was running laundry so I wouldn't be short on clean clothes when I got back. But when I put my clothes in the dryer, I forgot to take my keys. 45 minutes of conversation with very nice neighbors I'd never met before, my clothes were dry and folded and I was finally back in my place. I need to find a better way to make sure that I always take my keys with me. :-)
I packed (barely - there are clothes and toiletries at home, I needed underwear, dog food and something to read on the plane.)
Thursday, April 16
A friend of my brother's from CT was transferred from CT to one of the hospitals here at the clinic, and I visited her during my lunch break. Easy peasy, there was a bus from the complex I work in to her hospital. Quick stop for lunch on the way back and I was all set.
I'd worked late all week so I could leave a little early, so I left at 3:30. Took Dumble for a walk, gathered up my stuff and the van picked me up for the drive to the airport in Minneapolis. Dumble settled down pretty quickly in his new carrier.
We got there in plenty of time to get checked in, go through security, pick up some dinner in the terminal and get to the gate. Dumble wasn't entirely happy when zipped in the carrier, either on my back or on the ground. He whined and whimpered and I was nervous for the flight. But once I put the bag on its back and slid it under the seat, he curled up in a ball and was calm and quiet the whole ride.
He was good in the limo on the way home, too. And around 1AM, we were in Bridgeport and Blair and Daniel were waiting for us to take us home.
Friday, April 17
Dumbledore's groomer came early and he looks gorgeous again! He's so soft and silky when he's clean, the hair on his head is baby fine. It's such a pleasure to bury my nose in his hair!
My guys came with me to my appointment and we got that out of the way early. Next up, we went to Target to look at some jeans for me - I'd forgotten to change out of my work pants before the van came for me, so I had nothing to knock around in.
A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to approximate how much allowance we hadn't paid Daniel in the last couple of years. He's been so understanding and just plain cool about money issues that I thought he deserved a treat, and Blair agreed. After rejecting the jeans I tried on, we nonchalantly walked over to the electronics department. Dan went to play with demo systems and Blair and I checked out the Nintendo DSis. After being reassured that the regular Nintendo DS games worked in the new systems, we called Daniel over and asked him what color he wanted. He was surprised and thrilled. Later he told us that he was smiling so much his "smile bones" were hurting. Note of caution to others interested in the DSi - the carrying cases and other items manufactured by other companies to fit the DS and DS Lite don't work with the DSi (ask us how we know that.) He was the happiest boy, thanking us repeatedly and smiling constantly.
Lunch was at MacDonald's. Then a trip to the mall to J Jill for jeans (I've always been happy with the way their jeans fit me). Then home to watch some Tivo'd shows (what a concept, watching TV in the same state with the rest of the family - hey, the same room and couch!)
Next up, we visited Blair's work. He was so cute showing me and Dan off to his coworkers and the residents.
Then dinner at Olive Garden. We're used to the line on a weekend night being so long that we usually eat in the bar, but there was only a 10 minute wait, no one waiting outside, and hardly anyone waiting inside. Dan and I both took home leftovers and the three of us split a dessert.
Saturday, April 18
After lunch, Blair, Daniel, Dumbledore and I went walking (I hesitate to call it hiking) on the trail in the Pequonnock River Valley (a former railbed turned trail). It was a perfect day for a nature walk. Cool and a little breezy. Dumble was thrilled to be outside walking and greet all the people and dogs on the trail. We went down a side trail to the river and Dumble got his feet wet. Afterwards, we dropped the dog back at the house and went for ice cream. Then we went to Best Buy to return the accessories for Dan's new toy ("It's not a toy, Mom.") that didn't fit.
Alex had gotten a ride to CT with some friends, so we made arrangements for him to come by so we could all go out to dinner. Talk about achy smile bones. I was so happy to be sitting at a table with all my guys. Blair used to call Alex the James Dean of Gibson Ave because he's usually so quiet, but after a beer or two he was almost expansive. He was telling us about his job (he works as a dishwasher at an Italian restaurant in Springfield, Mass., and it sounds like he works really hard and they like and trust him. I was really proud. Dan showed off some of his magic tricks for Alex, and it was just a lovely, perfect evening.
I packed two suitcases with warm weather clothes and later that night Blair, Dan and I played a round of Wii Bowling. Sheesh, I get worse every time I play that thing, but we had fun.
Sunday, April 19
We went over to my Mom's for breakfast (she made her apricot almond loaf because she knows how much I love it.) There was also bagels, homemade coffee cake and orange cinnamon rolls. Then it was lunchtime! There were homemade potato pancakes, turkey crocquettes, spinach souffle and chicken pot pie. My brother was there with his 2 girls, my sister and her husband, her son Leigh (who used to work in the store) and his friend, my auntie and my in-laws. It was so good to see the family and the food was sooo good!
Blair and Dan drove Dumble and me to the airport and Dumble was as cool on the return trip as he'd been on the way there. I lost track of how many times I kissed my guys before I let them go. It was wonderful to spend time with all three of my men - everythign I do is because of them.
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