The Belmonts

Deb and Eric's wedding was fun fun fun. Plus some very good pictures from Nancy's spiffy new camera. She (Nancy) took a number of pictures, some that must be shared with others, so we are sharing them here (and giving Deb and Eric the website at some point in the near future).

The wedding was beautiful and short and concise. The happy hour after the wedding brought us to the most wonderful of experiences, Deb and Eric's Egg Nogg. I wonderful treat that we thought we'd share with all of you here.


Well, maybe I'll share that later, since I first have to find it. But, here's a great picture of Eric and Deb on their first dance.










Here's Deb doing the father/daughter dance with her father, Angelo D'Aleo. It was a wonderful moment caught on film.

Deb's dad is one of the Belmonts, if you can believe it. Run around Sue, Teenager in Love, The Wanderer, and a bunch of others that many people would know if they had heard them. Wonderful treat and quite unexpected, since we did not know that Deb's dad was in the band until that night!


We think the wedding band (who were also great) loved playing with The Belmonts as much as everyone else at the wedding dinner loved listening to them play. It was a fanstastic experience!!

There was some other excitement at the wedding that involved chairs being lifted above the ground and such - with a little mishap that we won't get into here.


But we do have some other nice pictures:

The Questions Remain

Well, as some of you know, my department is supposedly being "dissolved." There's a clear question about whether or not another department will want to take me in, so it is up in the air as to what is going to happen in the next year. I've been assured that I will have a job, but that assurance falls on deaf ears until there is some finalized plan agreed to by all. I have scheduled a meeting in order to discuss this with the head honcho. Hopefully, something will be clarified in that meeting. Right now, however, I'm still at a loss as to what exactly is happening, and I'm a little concerned as to whether things will move smoothly (and I'm guessing not so much).

I guess to have had the meeting where we were all together and told of this plan is some progress, since I've basically been trying to get some official notification for 3 months. I can only assume that it will take an additional 3-6 months before I am "officially placed" elsewhere. My stress level is high and I just am not able to deal with this anymore, so I'm going to focus on some work things and forget about this at least until my meeting next week. Then, I'm hoping to be able to put it out of my mind for a good month for the holidays.

The kitties, they have gone...

The kitties they have gone,
The kitties they have gone,
Hi Ho the Dario, the kitties they have gone.

Twas the day after cats left and all through the house
Henry was exploring, definitely louder than a mouse.
He ran through the first floor without even a care,
But not to the spare room in case the cats were still there.

I'd go on, but it would take much more time and thought that I'm willing to give.

This week, I let all of my problems at work behind and worked frantically, and diligently, at designing materials for an online study that my co-investigators want to conduct NEXT WEEK. And, I was planning on designing materials for an entirely different study, which now will likely be conducted in two weeks (or maybe three), so next week will probably be devoted to that. So, all of that other stuff is on hold. Plus, I have no idea what's going on anyway.

I'm also working diligently on my niece's scrapbook(s). I'm almost done except for all of the poems/quotes/songs/etc that I will put in it. Then, as she puts in pictures and more stickers, I can help her do write some journal-type things to help tell the story of the pictures she chooses.

I'm also already packing up for Thanksgiving/Christmas, since it appears that I'll be going back to PA again much sooner after Thanksgiving than I realized.

I have a few final things to order for Christmas presents, but I'm pretty much done with those too. This never happens to me. At this time of the year, I am usually panicked about how I'm going to get everything done. I have a little panic about that just because of these two studies, but it is nothing in comparison.

The past week has been very comfortable, even with the crazy just in time coding.
What might explain that, do you think?

Thanks to NoL, I've been able to troubleshoot all of the problems - well, she troubleshooted the bigger ones...

The infamous conversation

1L had mentioned a post or two ago that I'd fill in the conversation that I had with S/karah before we left town on Sat, so here it goes. Keep in mind that, although I'm trying my best to be objective, I'm sure I'm not.

On Sat, after I woke up coughing and feeling like it was hard to breathe again, I told Sedwick I needed to get away. So, we made plans for 1L and I to let him know where we'd be, and he'd meet up with us after he went skydiving.

I figured someone should let Karah know what was going on, especially since we weren't taking Poledra and Henry. So, first I drafted an email to her, which I ran by 1L, and then, hearing she was up, went upstairs to talk to her.

I went up assuming, 1. she'd find another place for the cats at the end of the month, 2. she'd promised Sedwick she'd keep them up in her room until she could find a place for them, 3. surprised to have seen one of them wandering around the house, both the night before and that morning, 4. she'd told Sedwick that she'd move in to her parents' and figure out what to do with the cats in Jan, should the job situation still not be promising.

I let her know that, because of my allergies we were going to be gone that night, and perhaps the next, and asked if she could keep an eye on Poledra and Henry. I also said that, as I'd told her in July, I'd been worried that my allergies would be worse once we had to close the house up for the winter, and it looked like I was right. I told her I was sorry it'd come to her having to find a place for her cats, but I appreciated that she'd leave them up in her room whenever she could until the end of the month, by which time I understood that she'd find a place for them. I also mentioned that it'd help out a lot if she could keep them upstairs whenever possible. She told me that she couldn't keep them up in her room because, since they'd been up there the day before (1L and I had put them up there on Fri, once it became clear I couldn't work at the library (they don't allow battery charging, making it hard to work on a computer) - at about 2, until about 5), one of them had peed in her (the cat's bed). She then proceeded to tell me that she wasn't sure what to do, since her parents wouldn't take the cats, and threw in a "how's that for unconditional love" comment - which I'm pretty sure wouldn't go over too well with most parents. I said I wasn't sure what to do, and listed the allergy medications I'm currently on (Zyrtec, Veramyst, Singulair, eye drops, and a decongestant). I also mentioned that I had worked at Panera on Thurs, but I couldn't keep doing that. She pointed out that I didn't need to buy anything there, but could just hang out there. I didn't point out that I shouldn't have to leave where I live so I can breathe, and instead pointed out that I couldn't keep sitting in those chairs, as then my back would start to hurt as well.

I suggested that, until she could find a place for the cats, we could try them in the basement, and see how my allergies were with that. She said that that wouldn't work, as one of them would tear everything up, and she might as well move down there too. I suggested again keeping them in her room. She said that that wouldn't work, and there was no where for a litter box. I agree it wouldn't be nice to sleep in a room with a litter box, but she'd gotten a smaller third one that I'm pretty sure would fit in there - especially if she move things around, but I didn't point that out. I suggested that, if it came to it, had she looked in to no-kill shelters. She said there was no way she could give the cats up. (Which made me wonder how she'd move to her parents' in Jan, but I didn't bring that up). I said again that I was just trying to figure out a way to breathe. She said she'd been having allergy problems too, and was going to see an ear nose and throat person. I then suggested asking Ryan if he could take the cats, since he now has an apartment. She agreed to try that. (Which was a no-go).

So, after me getting quite very upset when 1L, Sedwick, and I were up in Maine and NH, I decided to go with what 1L said, and Sedwick endorsed, that I'm not letting the cats drive me out. I stayed up in my room Sun after bowling, which helped. And I got an air mask to wear while downstairs. 1L asked me if this was just to make a statement. After thinking about it for a while, I decided it was, in part, to make a statement (although I'm sure that the statement would be lost on Karah), but also because 1. I want to be able to occasionally go downstairs and 2. I want to prevent breathing problems, rather than constantly checking to see if I'm feeling light headed or coughing to breathe, and 3. I want to avoid stressing out my allergy response system even more, in hopes that, if the cats ever do go, I'll still be able to be around Henry and Poledra, as I've always been able to do up until now.

I think that's about the highlights. If anyone can think of anyone who's willing to temporarily care for Karah's two cats (since she seems willing to be separated from them temporarily), let us know!

Maybe, Quite Possibly (or Maybe, We'll See)

Well, after hanging out in Kittery and Portsmouth for the weekend, we drove to Lowell where we had some dinner and bowled. I bowled a 141!!! Sooooooo exciting. I'm guessing that will be my high for a while, but I had two games over 100 and two strikes (I rely heavily on spares since strikes seem to allude me). Then, rather than staying in a hotel for one more night, we came back home. NoL walked into the house and immediately started coughing. She went straight upstairs until I asked her to help me clear off a make-shift shelving system that I had put together. But, alas, her coughing was so bad that I told her I'd do it myself and that she should just go back upstairs. So upstairs she went.

Meanwhile, Sedwick and the other housemate were having a serious conversation in the kitchen. I was a tad put out that no one helped me with the shelves, but I could tell that the conversation was intense and serious, so I just finished with my work and went upstairs to watch GH with NoL. I'm waiting for her to rise from her sleep now, so that I can watch Friday's episode, which I think I'd like to see before I go off to Amherst.

NoL is coming to Amherst. I think we'll try to find the brew pub there tonight after my class and maybe also go to Michael's for some more scrapbooking fun. Making the scrapbook for my niece is really helping my sanity. I actually ordered her brother's Christmas present (or part of it) this weekend, and I'm pretty sure I have some decent ideas for the other kids, my parents, and my brother. So, now I just have to check those ideas with the kids' parents, and I can be done with that. I know it's early, but really, it's a fun thing to do.

The vent people will be here soon. I can't wait.

Finally, and the purpose of this post. It looks like the conversations that NoL and Sedwick had with the other roommate have worked. I had an email all ready to send out, but I didn't do it, happily, because at this point, if all goes according to plan, it's moot. But, maybe, quite possibly, maybe (well we'll see) cats and their owner will be out by the end of the weekend. She looked for, and found, an apartment that she'll take should the job she has in mind pan out. Glory Be. But, we'll see.

One cat just attacked Henry again. Henry apparently did not come out from behind the couch all weekend while we were gone. Last night, we put his food back there, and today, I gave him some water back there, so hopefully we'll be okay. I just saw him peek his head out from behind the couch, so hopefully he went to use the liter box. I haven't smelled anything that makes me worried that he's not been using it.

Hopefully, Nancy will be able to survive with just Henry. We'll have to see about that too. Sedwick and I talked last night, and if there the relief that maybe, quite possibly (or maybe, we'll see) will happen next weekend, we are going to get the carpets professionally cleaned again by Stanley Steemer. If that doesn't work, perhaps we'll tear up the carpets and either get area rugs or get some new carpet. If that doesn't work, I guess Henry might have to find another home, but hopefully it will not come to that. Especially since we are thinking of getting a puppy and a kitty of our own. But, one thing at a time.

Escape to Kittery

When NoL woke up yesterday morning at 6 or 4, or whatever time it was, not being able to breathe, she decided that she cannot stay in the house for the weekend, due to her allergies. Unlike me, her allergies are not seasonal (or at least not all of them), and it seems clear to us all that she has severe allergies to the cats (or at least to having three of them plus a dog in the house). I had already done my researching, searching out and finding someone who cleans heating vents, so whatever % of her allergy problems that have been exacerbated by the dust and so on kicked up through the venting system because of the heat will be addressed on Monday morning. Hopefully, that's a good 50%. But, we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully that's also some of mine, but like I said, mine are very much outdoor and seasonal allergies.

Regardless, we took the opportunity (if you want to call allergies an opportunity) to get out of the house, and we are all currently in Kittery, ME, after a day of Sedwick skydiving and a day of NoL and I just hanging out. Unfortunately, while I had EVERYONE else's stuff all packed up, including bowling balls for tonight, I forgot my own stuff, so I had to go out and buy clothes and PJs for the weekend. Can you imagine? That's going on my imaginary (or not so imaginary) spreadsheet of how much extra money I've had to spend due to cats. Today, we are planning on going to Portsmouth to hang around before leaving for bowling in Lowell. We decided last night to try to stay over in the house tonight since we'll have been gone for two days, but tomorrow, after the vent people come, we'll leave for my class (NoL will come along) and be out of the house while everything settles for the day/evening.

There is some happy news. I got some nice PJs and some nice clothes. I also got some candy for the Christmas basket at the place called "Yummies" in Kittery. We had a nice dinner of lobster bisque and crab melts, which was relatively cheap. I got all of my medications and I'm trying some new things for my eyes and nose (just over the counter salines and things). I bought some scrapbooking things at Michael's and I made some progress on my niece's scrapbook, which will be her Christmas present this year. It appears to be turning into two different scrapbooks, but that seems to be fine. I found a model (online, of course) 3D World Trade Center that I think my Rollie will love. And this morning, I woke up early (before 8) and didn't feel like I needed to sleep for hours more. I think that without sleeping pills and with all of the allergens in the house, I've just been feeling rather ill. So, hopefully, the cleaning of the ducts will take care of some of that.

It looks like NoL and I will be coming to NY on Thursday and staying through Sunday, or at least Saturday, so as to escape the allergy/cat situation. Yesterday was another very fun experience in a conversation between NoL and the other housemate. Basically, the other housemate has been told that the cats need to go by the end of Nov. NoL was trying to come up with ways to make her life better (e.g., putting the cats in the bedroom or the basement), but that was a no go. It's a long story, one best told by NoL, so I'll let it go at that. Suffice it to say we were chased away this weekend and we'll be chased away next weekend. Happily, for me, there is only one more weekend in November that I'll have to survive since I'll then be leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday. I can't wait to see my guys.

The gist is that apparently the cats will be gone by the end of the month. It's a long story, and it remains to be seen whether this is the case, especially given the violent reaction yesterday (which seemed odd since we thought this was settled). If the cats are not gone by the end of the month, I may not come back to MA until Eric and Deb's wedding weekend (on the 5th), and then I'll probably attend my courses on the 7th and 8th and leave to go back to PA. I'll pack a good number of my winter clothes and books I think I'll need for the winter months, and I'll wait patiently to see if there's any change.

Winter in the House

So, not to complain again when NoL tried so hard to make the last post a non-complaining one. But, really, I'm freezing. If you look at the background on this blog, that's what it feels like in the house. NoL has decided that having the window open helps her allergies a lot. So, we have frost in the house. Really. It's cold. And that's all I have to say for now.

some happier tiddings

After all the frustrated posts with updates about cat bodily functions, I thought it was time for a post about happier events. Not that such things don't need to be shared and vented a lot -- but sometimes it's good to have a break from cat pee.

On Sat, 1L, Sedwick, and I braved the public transportation system of Boston and went to a hockey game, where Boston College (or perhaps university?) played against UMass Lowell. The trip to and from the game was fun, since we got to see punk rockers and princesses and other such folk and, with some, got to play the always fun game of "costume or regular clothes?"

The game was fun too, with another costume contest -- won by Swine Flu (pig costume with mask, with H1N1 on the belly) and a little guy in a dinosaur outfit who blew kisses a the audience after he won.

And the game itself was fun also. I have to say, though, other than following the main gist of hockey (get the puck in the other team's goal), there are some finer points I'm still not sure about. For instance, the players on the field (or rink, I think) and the players on the bench seem to switch places at random intervals. Also, the refs seem to blow on their whistles at random points in time and make up names for why they're putting a player in a box -- sometimes they say the player did something called sticking; other times,they say the player did something called icing. Also at different points in the game, the players ram into each other, shoving someone (I think usually from the other team) into the wall. Once the whole wall shook so much that I thought it might fall down. So, needless to say, there was plenty of entertainment during the game.

Since where we bowl is in Lowell, and since 1L is taking classes at a UMass campus, we both decided to root for UMass Lowell, who, happily for us (although Sedwick was rooting for the other side) won the game.

All in all, a fun time was had by all. Although I'm not sure the same can be said for a girl whose conversation I eavesdropped on on the T -- apparently her friends hate her boyfriend's friends, and he doesn't understand why. I'm not sure why either, since that wasn't mentioned, but it sounds like they're having a hard time negotiating when they get to see each other and whose friends they hang out with. In happier T news, someone was quite happy to learn from his friend (who may or may not have been wearing a costume (or may have taken "dressing up" for Halloween to mean getting dressed up, rather than getting dressed up in a costume)) that the hat he's always wanted to buy is on sale at H&M for $14.

On that note, I'll let you all go and rush to H&M :)

Henry's Horror

It seems like Henry (the cat) should be comfortable in his own home; it's been his home for some time. But, he is not. He cowers behind the couch, appearing only when Sedwick is home or when there are two other people on the couch since his safety zone is in the middle of the couch between those two people. The other cat perches his kingly self on top of the loveseat, effectively ruling the roost. This grates on my nerves. Meanwhile, the dog gets upset every time any of the cats walk anywhere near her. If she could, I think she would crawl right up in someone's lap - but that would be difficult for a 50 lb dog to do.

Someone (and I'm not saying who because I don't know) decided to use the loveseat or perhaps the blanket on top of the couch for a liter box. And by that, I do not mean the type of problems we've been having recently. No, I mean little pellets. Bigger than little, but not huge. This has not been a happy morning thus far, though happily it was not a big mess, and the loveseat has been sprayed and the blanket is in the wash.

NoL had a very bad day the other day; I thought she was going to take off and never come back. This is more my immediate reaction to things than hers, although she's also had the reaction before. But, I was concerned enough to stay and talk with her, and I therefore ended up missing my class. Happily, I am not taking said class for credit, so it wasn't that much of a tragedy.

The situation here is incredibly tense. At this point, there is no talking between two people in the house. I don't see how that's going to change, either, so I don't know for how long any of us will be able to stand it without someone blowing up (or someone leaving, really). As is typical, money is probably at the root of the problem, though there are many other possibilities. On Monday night, there were all kinds of discussions between various people, although many of those discussions were via IM. Happily, I was not here - and not part of the major problems, I think.

If you want to know more, email us!

Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat

Well, HE may not be smelly... but his PEE that he leaves all over the damn place is. So, today, I got up to get a few cookies for everyone. I got back, sat on the couch, moved around a little, and realized something was not right. Something seemed unusually warm. Something seemed unusually wet. I was not happy.

No idea what we are going to do about this problem.

Fantastically Frustrated

It is very difficult for 8 people to juggle their schedules such that we could schedule a meeting in advance. It should not be surprising, however, to the VP that the only time we can really come up with a decent time to meet is a Friday. Just saying.

Some other things are very frustrating. They also result in an anger that I cannot express for fear of losing it completely, but I will not share those here. Suffice it to say, however, that I have basically lost it.

New Plan

Well, I've thought of a new plan for my sabbatical. Granted, it is partially over (damn it). I wish I had learned of it before. There's an online program in measurement offered through the University of Illinois. Rather than auditing courses, I believe I might enroll in a course in this program next semester. If it goes well, I might continue to enroll in courses until I have taken all that I'm interested in. I don't believe I'll work towards the Master's Degree, because I don't believe I'd need another Master's Degree, and I'm not sure that I'd want to take all of the courses in the program - some of them I believe I already have the background for. Generally speaking, I'm hoping this will be good for me should I have to go home for a while next semester for whatever reason.

Getting Nervous

Ever get nervous because someone else is doing so much work? I feel like NoL is getting things done while I am just sitting around doing nothing. I can't get my act together. Yesterday, though, I found an online program in measurement through the University of Illinois that I might actually try to do (well, I won't do the M.A. degree, but I will take courses). This way, I will not have to drive to Amherst, though I will actually have to do all of the work and pay for the courses. I am not sure exactly how much I want to invest in taking courses, but for next semester, taking at least one course this way would be doable... especially since my parents are interested in my spending a month in PA so that they can visit my brother in Florida during that time. Plus, I'd like to go to Florida too... So, we'll see.

Stairway to Hell

So, I fell down a stair (one stair) and sprained my foot today. Not my ankle. My foot. It hurts. Hopefully it's better by Friday, b/c I do not want to go to an orthopedic surgeon. I did go to the hospital, because although I figured it was not broken, I was not sure. I'm tired and in pain.

Seeking Solutions

The cat pissed on the couch last night. The previous two nights, he pissed on our roommate's chair, which is now outside waiting to be taken away with the garbage (the big ass chair, Russia, as it was named by me). We are seeking solutions to this problem since at this point I'm worried he'll piss on my couch, and we are not sure that we can keep the other couch, depending on whether we can get the stench out. I just don't know if it will happen. We can't take the couch apart to clean it, so it's a 50-50 chance.

The obvious solutions are likely not going to work. It's not fair, we think, to get rid of the cat since he's been living in upheaval since the arrival of the other two cats. It would be hard to ask our roommate to get rid of her cat (only one is a problem), especially since it's not our house. The only other two things we can think of are (a) to get a new liter box and throw it and the cat into the basement at night and (b) to get plastic to cover the couches each night. Both of these options would incur a cost, and we are getting tired of putting money into a cat situation that hasn't been a problem before. Plus, these aren't our cats. The extensive air filtering system we now have - a bunch of little ones and an enormous one - are enough, we think. In fact, I'm going to have to buy more air sanitizer thingies soon.

The vacuuming and air sanitizers help a lot, but obviously do not address this problem of the cat pissing on the furniture. Anyone have any other ideas???

HOW did I MISS September

Ok. I don't get it. Why is time FLYING by right now? Is it going to fly by for this whole year? It's not right. I don't like it. How did I miss September? Why does it seem like I only saw five days during the month? Will the whole year seem like 60 days rather than 360?

I have to get to work. Yesterday, I made some progress, I think, on the javascript on my pages for my study. Today, I suppose I should work on the PHP. It seems like a waste, though, not knowing if I'll be able to even run the study this year.

I'm going to go ahead and send a manuscript in some time this week. Why? Because i can't think about it anymore. I don't have a lot of hope for it; it was a conference poster once upon a time and fine for that purpose. But, it is not the type of work I typically do, and as a result, I don't know how I feel about it really. But, getting it off of my two-do list (it's been there a few years) will be a happy thing.

The classes I'm taking take up more time than I expected, if only because I consider the drive there to be part of my "work." Two and a half hours is a long long time to be in a car for a course. I'm not sure how my grad school friends did this every week for three years! Some of them came from 3-4 hours away! Nutso.

I was thinking about brandied apple rings and apple pie jam today. I doubt I'll get to that, although really, that's what I'd rather be doing (hence, the reason the whole month of September passed me by I guess).

I think I'm going to make a trip to NY to see my nephews and niece the weekend after this coming one. They are all going on vacation, so I think I'm going to meet them. My nephew with the very broken arm will be there, and I need to see the little guy to put my mind at ease. He's my little buddy, my sunshine. Well, they all are. But, he's the one I'm worried about now. I heard, though, that he got a 100% on a math test and on a spelling test, so it appears he's doing okay PLUS learning how to write with his left hand, which seems like it might serve him well in the future.

Then, it's off to Portland to meet one of NoL's friends for a day (and hopefully find the tie-dye pjs I've been wanting ever since I saw them years ago). At some point, I suspect we'll have to make a trip back to NY - NoL's computer is ready - and I need software installed on mine - and I think there will be a meeting we have to attend at some point. But, when that will be, I cannot say.

I haven't heard from my friends lately. The blog reports have been sparse, which must mean that they are very busy with classes and exhausted. I hope all is well.

Mismanaged Motivation

I can't seem to get motivated to do those things that would most help me professionally. I need to get my act together and get a study developed (the materials), get some writing done (two articles which should go out this semester but at this rate will not), and get some reading done for another study. Additionally, I need to read several new texts that I bought. But, the only thing I am really able to accomplish is canning. It is not good. Yet, I still have plans to go apple picking on Saturday morning. I plan to make brandied apple rings. I plan to finally make my apple pie jam. I don't know what else I might end up making, but those are at least two possibilities.

While I've gone to the gym twice this week, and I think I'll make it again tomorrow, my shoulder muscles are causing me such pain (probably from over lifting Monday) that I will be unlikely to lift any weights again tomorrow. The range of motion in my neck is very limited, and I spent two hours this morning in bed with a heating pad on my neck. But, next week, I shall lift again, I think, and hopefully I will be able to determine which of the machines caused this problem (I have my suspicions) and limit the weights I do with said machine.

With the type of baking and cooking going on here, I think we are eating healthier. I hope that we can find a way to continue this next year and beyond, although I'm sure the canning will be somewhat limited next year (nothing could probably ever compare to this year). I love doing it, though, and it's really nice to use my own tomato sauces and pizza sauces and so on when cooking. In fact, I may do double that next year, depending on how quickly we use up things this year. Rather than making some of the more obscure things I made this year, I will likely just find various spaghetti and tomato sauces and pizza sauces and double up on those.

I doubt, too, that I will make quite as much fruit jam. This year, I was simply obsessed with trying various combinations because I had never really combined things before. There are several holiday recipes I still plan to make, but I refuse to buy any more jars, so I can only make things as we empty enough jars to have for any one recipe. So, anyone who I gave jam to who has no need for the jars can return them. However, if you are going to use them, feel free to keep them. Having fewer will limit what I make! Although "fewer" is a strong word...

Ok. Really. I am off to read the new instructional design theories and models text. If I get really motivated, I'll work on the study materials tonight while watching the red sox and other things.

Preserving the Harvest... Or Other Things

It's always interesting to see that NoL has updated the blog when I go to post something new. Since she's done so, there is no reason to write about the apple picking event, though I'm pretty sure we are going to need to go back. I managed to make the apples in cinnamon red-hot sauce today, with NoL's help (she peeled the apples). I don't know whether the jars are going to seal or not (I haven't heard anything but that doesn't mean that haven't made that satisfying "pop" sound. Now, I'm making the Thai Dipping Sauce I have been planning on making for a while, but I kind of didn't read the directions correctly, so it might end up being stronger than it is supposed to be. Oh well. As long as it seals, we can try to use it.

I might try to do some candy apple jelly, which I have not yet done, but have planned on doing, soon. Then, I want to do apple pie jam, brandied apple rings, and perhaps even caramel apple jam. Cause apples are fun.

Once done with those, I will have exhausted my apple stuff, although applesauce is always a possibility.

There are multiple other things to be made yet, but happily, none require things I must pick. So, just through the winter I'll be making more things.

The curious similarities between MA and Quebec

1L and I headed to Peabody today (pronounced Peebuddy around here, but Pea-Body by McTommy and other GPS units and non-MA people) to go apple picking. We picked a peck of apples (I've been trying to think of a P word for apples, but can't thing of one, so the alliteration has to stop at the peck). We got Cortland, since they're good for baking (or so sayeth the sign when we picked up our bag to hold a peck) and 1L has plans for them - she's making a cinnamon-red hot sauce for them, which apparently is tastey with roast pork. The apple picking was quite fun, although it kept looking like the apples that were just out of our reach were the ripest. But we managed to get a decent peck of them - enough that I think 1L is now wishing she had an apple peeler/corer.

The picking place was pretty packed. But, between the Macintoshes, Galas, and Cortlands, there was room for people to spread out. After picking, we headed to the store that was related to the picking place. Judging from the kid in the car next to us, happily munching on a donutey looking thing, they had apple donuts and other apple creations there. However, there was a line of people to get in to the store. We decided that it's not just Quebecians who like their apple donuts and apple pies and such, and also decided to come back during the week, when it might be a bit less crowded.

What to do in Canada on Labo(u)r Day Weekend

This past weekend, Michele, Sedwick, and I headed up to Canada. Now that Sedwick knows where the dropzone is :), he wanted to visit it again. Plus, there was a CRW gathering. And we had some left over Canadian currency, so it was off to Canada we went.

On Fri, we headed for Gatineau, which is just outside of Ottawa. There was a hot air balloon festival there, and there were reputed to be lots of artisans. Michele was hoping a wood carver guy we'd seen in Quebec would be there. However, while we did get to see about 25 hot air balloons take off (which was very cool to see), for some reason a red flag was put up, which meant (we learned from the announcer person) that the weather wasn't right for ballooning. We were a little puzzled about that, since the weather seemed to be perfect (and the announcer had even said it was perfect weather during his initial announcements). And, there was no wood carver from Quebec. There were, oddly, stripper poles for sale, but very few artisans. So the festival was both fun and a little bit of a disappointment all at the same time.

That night, we found a hotel (Motel Joliette) that was straight out of the 50s, complete with a 50s car out front. But it was clean and reasonably priced, and had wifi from the neighbor, and just a 10 minute ride to the dirt road that lead to the dropzone, so we were set.

Sat, Michele and I had originally planned to go to Ottawa, but Fri had shown us that that's a decent drive away, and we were a little sick of driving. Instead, we did what apparently every other person in the area does on the Sat of Labour Day, and headed to apple orchards. We got apple cider, apple donuts, apple cookies, and apple ice wine (we haven't tried that last yet, but the others were pretty good).

Sun, we headed for small towns in the Laurentines. We tried to see about 6, but found about 3. When McTommy (Michele's GPS) told us we'd arrived at a few, there didn't seem to be much there. In particular, one town (Esterial) seems to be comprised of an intersection, a golf course, a hotel, and a city hall. Oh - and a fun curvy road that, when is driven quite quickly (as Michele did the first two times we were on it (the third time we were behind a slow car), feels like a roller coaster. We managed to find two promising towns - one where we had quite tastey cappuccinos (with chocolate shavings on top) and discovered that the salesperson has the same taste as Michele (she owns the same sweater and purse that Michele bought), and I got some cute tiny purses. We also found another promising town that, sadly, was closing once we found it (because of the detour to the town that didn't exist). But that gives us something to do the next time we go up to our neighbors to the north. All in all, it was quite a fun weekend.

Meanhow, back at the ranchwhile

I've been in MA for several days now, but unfortunately, I have not yet emptied my car. I know that my friends will not be surprised at this, since this is a going joke among them - that it takes me so long to clean out my car. But, this time, I just don't feel that great. My throat is sore - has been for several days. I don't know if it's a cold or allergies. Nothing has increased in terms of regular cold-like systems, and I'm not tired like I usually am with a cold. Just sinus, swollen nasal passage, and a sore throat with all that comes with that.

But, I have made some more jam... raspberry chambord, razzleberry, raspberry peach. I also made some chocolate raspberry sunday spread, some salsa, some tomato sauce, and some pizza sauce.

At some time this week, I need to go to Amherst to look at the books for the courses I will be auditing - and to be sure I want to audit all of them. I also need to contact a prof teaching one of the classes. So, that's something I should do today - then take the drive sometime soon.

Two down; None left

The second party has come and gone. The cake, though leaning, stood through the actual singing, and the guy representing Philippe also stayed on the wood skewer represented the wire. So, that was good. My nephew really liked getting Man on Wire, which he's already watched. He also watched The Man who Walked between the Towers. He has looked at the book Man on Wire. He also got some more lego bricks and a bungee jumper as well as a new book about Andy Warhol, so he's good for this birthday. It's a happy day for him.

Tomorrow is a long day for me. I think I'll be getting up with the boys, so that I can say goodbye before my nephew goes off to his second day of second grade. Day 1 apparently went pretty well. I then go to MA. I hope the drive is uneventful.

Because I'm insane (and apparently have OCD), I bought a box of tomatoes today, so I'm going to need to make my salsa tomorrow - or early Saturday. I also want to make some roasted red pepper spread this weekend. Then, sometime next week, I need to find a place to pick raspberries to do my final (sort of) fruit spreads for the time being (there are still two apple things I want to try, but I think I can do those in October).

Hopefully all goes well with the breads No-L is making. And hopefully she keeps up the good work!

sabbatical, canning, and baking

I've noticed a interesting trend in both 1L's fun summer activities and mine. She has started canning like there's no tomorrow, experimenting with canning soups, sauces, and other kinds of jams. I seem to have started to feel the need to bake.

I've always kind of liked baking, although been too lazy to do it. Maybe now when my options are get cracking on work or bake, baking has started to seem especially appealing. But, in the past several weeks, I've made:
-banana bread (which, sadly turned into soup - either through a bad recipe or through failed experimentation with the convection setting on the oven)
-banana bread (different recipe, and regular oven setting)
-chocolate chip walnut cookies
-chocolate chip cashew cookies
-lemon squares
-white bread
-French bread

The bread is turning out to be fun to make, and actually conducive to work, since lots of what it needs to do it doesn't need me standing over it hovering to do. (I think bread may rise best when it's unwatched - much like water boiling best when no one's there to see it.) And, since I believe 1L is coming to Boston with cans of jams and soups and sauces, and planning on making more, it seems like bread baking isn't a bad thing for me to do. After all, what goes better with jam than bread?

I wonder if we can include these in our "what I did on my sabbatical" reports?

Is it already Tuesday?

Ok. I might have bitten off more than I can chew. But, I will continue on and try to get everything done in the next few days. I guess I'll start packing up my car today. I need to see what's lying around that belongs to me as well. There's a lot of stuff in this house that is mine, and it all needs to go with me to MA. Meanwhile, I need to can some tomato sauce and possibly some peaches if I'm going to use up the stuff that I have. Rather than canning the blueberries, I think I'll just freeze them. That will save a lot of time. It will mean I won't have any to take with me, but I can prepare them in bags so that there is the right amount for pies in the future.

Tomatoes everywhere

Today, I bought a peck of tomatoes from a local Amish person, and I've put half of them to good use, making tomato sauce. I can't decide whether I should make more sauce or just some salsa with the remaining tomatoes. I assume I should weigh them first to see how much I have. I bought a food mill the other day, which really came in handy with this recipe.

As soon as the water starts boiling for the canning to take place, I'll be making the meatloaf that I'm going to freeze for my mother, in the event that she will need chemo. I'm trying to get some things in the freezer or canned for her to make life easier. Unfortunately, the pressure canner that Sedwick bought me for my birthday is in MA, and so most of what I make will have to be frozen. That limits how much I can contribute, since my parents have two refrigerators, but only the freezers that go with those. Nonetheless, I made pesto and put that in the freezer the other day. I also made a pecan pesto as a sauce for on fish and chicken, and that is also in the freezer. I am planning on finding a couple more sauces that they can just throw over chicken, fish, and pork. I will make veggie-beef soup tomorrow. I think I'll be making something (not sure what yet) wednesday, and I've planned with my sister to make up a major load of meatballs on Thursday.

In the meantime, I need to make a video of my nephews to send to their grandmother in Poland, set up my nephew's computer, do some more scrapbooking with my niece, pack my car, have two dentist appointments, plan a birthday party, pick blueberries with a friend, etc. It's getting slightly overwhelming. I'm looking forward to getting settled in MA in a week.

One Down, One to Go

Well, birthday party #1 is now over! Yesterday, I went out searching for all of the various things I would need for birthday party #1 and #2, made the train cake (I have a train cake pan), decorated it with icing and candies (I can't imagine the kind of patience cake makers/decorators must have to have), put it on a Thomas the Train track covered with cling wrap, made the cupcakes with my nephew's name on them, etc. Took a while, but he was so proud to have the cake all for him and the cupcakes with his name on them (he's four, and this was his big day). Next week, it's trying to make a Philippe Petit cake (two cake towers with someone walking between them on some sort of rope). We'll have to see how all of this works out.

Unfortunately, I have given my camera to my brother and his wife to take on vacation with them. They came back with NO battery, which means I couldn't get digital pictures. I did get some video with my flip camera, but when I tried to get the video from my camera to my computer I had some problems, so I need to do it on a different computer. Hopefully, though, I'll be able to post some pictures, or at least a video, of the cake sometime in the future.

Today, I'm finally back to working on the revised manuscript. Well, I will be once the kids leave for the afternoon. I should be able to make a good amount of progress on it today, I hope. Then, tomorrow more on the paper and possibly preparing some various herb vinegars for canning (that is for sealing and longer term storage) so that I can use them with pastas and veggies and salads in the future. I might go out and buy some tomatoes for tomato sauce, but I'm not sure I'm up to do any of that this weekend. I bought peaches yeterday to make pie filling, but unfortantely, do not have any clear jel, so I ordered some on line and now must wait for that to arrive before getting much done. I'd like to do some blueberry pie filling too. If I can split both with my mom, she'll be able to make pies relatively easily for desserts while I'm gone - I can always help her prepare things when I get back.

One idea I have, and of course I have great plans now but I have no idea how they will work in time, is to make soups and chilis for canning during the fall, and then when I come home at Thanksgiving, I can give 1/2 of the stuff to my parents so that they can use them for dinners. This is especially important if my mother does, in fact, have a recurrence of cancer or a new cancer. Having to take care of four children at night for dinner (even if there are two more adults here) is tiring for her now. I can't imagine what it would be like if she were ill. So, perhaps getting helping as much as I can would be a good idea. Sauces are another thing I could can, and maybe I could cook up a storm within the next week and freeze a bunch of things for her to use later. Actually, I can ask her if that would help her out. I'll have to do some searching on the best way to freeze things.

And another one's gone...

Well, the title of the blog might be a bit dramatic, but I'm very sad that one of my friends is leaving our workplace for greener (at least I hope) pastures. It also makes me concerned that others are secretly looking to leave. I like having a group of friends who will come to our odd parties. I need to have ENOUGH friends who will come; otherwise, the parties might not be so weird.

Got a filling today. Happily, it was no big deal. I have one more to go. Ordered all of the gifts for the kid's birthdays from both me and my brother, as well as one from my sister. That takes me through the end of October for getting gifts for kids. It will not be until December that I'll have to do any more figuring out what the hell to get people.

What else is going on? Not much of anything, really. I have to work on the revisions (this is like the worse thing ever). I have to write up a research proposal for PSU and LIU's IRBs. I have to pack. I have to throw two birthday parties and make a twin towers cake with Philippe Petit walking across it (yeah, I know, odd). I have to clean. I'm going to (don't have to) make some salsa jam, some pizza sauce, and some salsa.

Today, I think the salsa jam and maybe the pizza sauce. Also, cleaning my room and doing some packing. I will probably build the house for my nephew's birthday (he's getting a wooden house with furniture). I might go out and buy him some farm animals as well. And, I need to do the analyses necessary for the revisions. That's a lot of goals for one day, but I think I can do it. We'll have to see. There will be fewer kids around today and we are having dinner out, so that will help.

I am also cleaning up one of my computers for my nephew to use. So, busy day, but no busier than many others; it's just that today I'm not playing with kids. Tomorrow is a trip to State College to go to the farmer's market and look for books for a birthday present, look at a party store, and see if I can find some reasonable software for a child. Additionally, I have to work on the paper. I'm not sure what is happening over the weekend, but next week school starts for my nephew and niece. What a short summer!

A Week in the Life...

Today is Friday. I've been in PA for just five days now, and happily I have about two more weeks before having to go anywhere. But, the revisions to the manuscript are incredibly slow and frustrating, and I don't seem to have spss on my computer, so things are complicated. That's the problem with having two places to live; you just don't know what you might need when you leave one place to go to another, and when you need something that is at the other place, it's too difficult to get. Especially when it's a computer with spss. Not to complain, but you'd think the university would help out by providing the software necessary to doing the research that you need to do in order to do your job. But, I just needed to throw that in there.

Since coming home, I've worked a little on the manuscript, picked blueberries, made my blueberry jam, and gone to get some peaches for my peach jam. I found a little Amish stand not that far away, and they seem to have good peaches and a bunch of plum tomatoes, which I'll probably go back for sometime next week. I could probably be driving my parents absolutely bonkers, but for some reason, canning appeals to me this year, and I really would like to try some new things. I should be receiving a book today on canning, and if it doesn't have the recipes I need, I'll be ordering a new book.

Today, I have to do something with those peaches. There are a lot of them, so first, I think I need to go find some candied ginger to add to the jam. Then, cooking up peaches is what I'm going to be doing as the morning progresses.

Yesterday, I had dinner with four graduate school friends. Good company, good food, good wine. And, believe it or not, football. What is football doing on this early? It's insane.

I have to figure out what I want to do with the boys this weekend. I'm babysitting them for three days, and I am pretty sure we need something to do. I found a recipe for pb&j muffins that would be one thing we can do. But, that's not going to take that long, so I'm going to have to figure out some other things to do. If you have any ideas, let me know.

fixing toilets and setting off alarms

This morning, I woke up (ok, it was late late morning, but still morning), and went into the bathroom, and saw the top of the toilet resting against the side of a toilet. This is never a good sign. The toilet was also running. Sedwick had headed off to work, and Kara was still asleep, but, I smartly deduced that part of the problem was the chain under the rubber thingy. After fixing that, something still didn't seem right. I looked further, and saw that the handle part of the toilet flush thing wasn't actually connected anymore to the chain part. Toilet knowledgeable person that I am, I knew that was not good.

So, I im'd Sedwick, and found out that he'd taken the lid off, but then had to get to work. So, after a trip to UPS to mail 1L a power cord and forgotten pair of glasses, I headed to Home Depot.

After wandering around for a while (past smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, which made me wonder if the batteries had ever been replaced in Sedwick's, after they made that "we have no more power" noise last year, and picking up a spiffy talking combo smoke alarm/carbon monoxide alarm), I stumbled upon the toilet section, found the handles, and immediately faced a dilemma. I could get one that would fit a Kohler, a Standard (I think the brand, rather than a standard toilet), or some specific model number. Of course, I had no idea what kind of toilet I needed a handle for. So, I went with the Standard one (on the off chance that it also meant a standard toilet and not just a Standard toilet).

Wrench in hand, I got off the old handle, and got on the new one -- but the chain was too long, and, try as I might, I couldn't get it to flush. I then stumbled on the idea of connecting the chain higher up. That did the trick, and the toilet is now flushing, with its cover on.

Then, I set off to tackle the smoke alarm. I actually found two carbon monoxide alarms, still in their packages, in the basement. I opened one, put the batteries in, and promptly scared off Henry and Poledra as I tested it. While they calmed down, I opened the package of the combo smoke/carbon monoxide alarm I'd gotten. Just as I got the batteries into that, they had settled down enough to return to the living room... only to have the tester for *that* alarm go off. They seem to have recovered, and I think we now have a working toilet and two working alarms.

Between that and the hospital sending off to home a patient, it's been a very good day :)

jammin', jammin', Jammin' till the jam is through (or all day long)

Well, the train ride to PA was unsuccessful, although I suppose you could argue that it was successful if by successful you mean that it arrived. It did arrive. It just arrived two hours late, making me miss not one, not two, but three trains to Lansdale on SEPTA. So, where I was supposed to arrive in Lansdale by 3:00 so that we could go pick blackberries, I didn’t get there until 5:00, making it impossible to do the picking. While I was sad, I was also exhausted from the very long day (8:20-5:00 on trains), and the idea of picking blackberries did not appeal anyway.

Friday night, then, was spent relaxing and hanging out with an old college friend where I was spending the weekend. Her two children, C and K, were friendlier than I would have expected a 5- and 3-year old to be, given that it has been at least a year since I was last here. I would not have expected them to remember me well or to be comfortable around me. Apparently, however, I have the “let’s climb all over her” persona, because I was immediately mistaken for a jungle gym.

Saturday, we had to rise earlier than the rosters (well, ok, 8:00am) to be sure we had time for the berry picking. C went with us to pick, and he did very well. By the time we had spent nigh but an hour at the farm, we had 12 pounds of blackberries. This is many more than we would have expected. We bought some peaches, and the dregs of the blueberries, which they (unfortunately) were no longer doing PYO because of the scarcity of their crops (on a side note, as a result, I’m a little concerned about the possibility of picking blueberries at home – which I’ve been counting on for my blueberry jam).

After the berry picking outing, we all piled into the van and went of to the Goshenhoppen Folk Festival, which was a celebration of all things Pennsylvania Dutch; the primary purpose of the festival seemed to be to demonstrate the early days in PA, including sawing wood, wood art, corn husk doll making (and other doll making), needlework, blacksmithing, etc. The kids seemed to enjoy it a lot.

After, we went shopping for jam supplies (i.e., sugar, pectin, jars). After dinner, we made two batches of blackberry jam, all of which successfully sealed .

Sunday morning brought rain. I was happy we had picked the berries the day before, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have blackberry jam this year (and it’s been a very long time since I had blackberry jam). In addition to rain, it brought A LOT of jam making. Two batches of black and blue (blackberry/blueberry) and two batches of blackberry-peach jam later, and I am jammed out for the weekend.

After being crawled upon for two hours while watching Handy Manny (don’t ask) to keep the kids out of the hair of their parents for a while, I am once again tired. They are still running around with pretty much the same amount of energy they had when they woke up (not surprising, I know, for kids, but tiring, I also know, for me). I am looking forward to bed time (unfortunately, they chose to forego their baths tonight in order to have them tomorrow morning with their grandmother). So, it looks like there is still at least another half hour until bedtime. But, given that I am currently not being climbed on and used as “their bed,” they are not bothering me at all right now. Pretty sure, however, that as soon as their parents see the mess they are making right now, the kids will be unhappy. But, hey, what can I do about that?

Tonight I hope to type some recipes from my friend’s cookie cookbook, specifically those that call for jam (at this point, recipes that use jam are probably going to be very very useful over the next year). I’ll be searching for cookie and cake recipes.

Annoyingly enough, I cannot figure out how to get my computer on their wireless network here. I wanted to try to communicate with my friend who is, unfortunately, spending way too much time in a hospital room, but without being online, I can obviously not use Skype. I think I’ll be able to post this note later today, but of that I’m not even sure, as I’ve been typing it into my own computer and unless I can find a thumb drive to borrow, I will be unable to get it to my friend’s computer. This living without wireless access is more difficult than I would have expected. I’m not used to this.

Tomorrow, I’ll be getting a train from Lansdale to Philly and then from Philly to my parents home in central PA (well, not quite to their home, but close by). What I have learned from this experience is that it is HELL to take a train from Boston to my parent’s house. Thus, in the winter, when I will travel again without my car because I don’t feel it necessary to drive the car that far when it could be snowing anywhere from here to there, I will be flying. In comparison to 10 hours on the train with only 20 minutes leeway between the two trains, the two flights are but 5-6 hours of total travel time, including the layover in Philly. At their cheapest (that I can see today), there is about $100 difference between the two (with the flight being more expensive), but in addition to the 10 hours of travel time on the train, I’d also have to be in the car for a total of 2 hours (maybe longer) rather than the about 40 minutes I need to be in the car on the other trip. Granted, I have to arrive at the airport early, and I would like have to also have a cab take me to the airport, but all in all, it’s just so much easier this way. Plus, after being 2 hours late on the last train the 20 minute leeway between trains is way too worrisome.

I need to look for a gel mat for in front of the counter when cooking. There are some other things that I may want to look for as well after this weekend; one of those things is this really digital cool cooking thermometer that my friends here have. That’s probably it for the time being, but they both are very interesting as possibilities.

I know that this is a very long update, but hopefully it provides at least some humor, and some level of interest, to my friend – whom I’ve been thinking about a lot – who has spent way to much time in the hospital this past week. I hope the trip home comes soon.

As 1L so astutely pointed out...

we apparently reached our peak of bloggingness out west. However, I still stand by it being a good way to keep in touch. And anyone who hasn't yet created one should (hint, hint).

I'm still enjoying being in one place for more than a week. I thought I was all geared up to do some work yesterday, but then I got distracted with the saga of air purifiers - and it was quite a saga. With the 1:1 people:pets ratio here (well, more like 3:4 until 1L gets back), we started looking for air purifiers. Apparently there are things to figure out like what room size it should be for, how much it filters, how many air recycles per hour there are, filter cost, and so on. In any case, I think we finally settled on a Blueair (so if any of you have heard awful things about it, or if you got a hold of your dad and he checked it in Consumer Reports, 1L, I'm not sure I want to know, cause I got quite a headache yesterday!). It should get here next week. Cat dander, your days are numbered (well, hopefully).

Home again home again jiggity jig

Well, I'm off to Philadelphia today and then back to my parents on Monday. Then, three weeks with the kids... and at least one (perhaps two) kid birthdays, and then I'll be back here. Then, I have to get busy busy busy. SHould have been busy busy busy before this, but I've been lazy lazy lazy.

Not so Good at this

Well, I guess we aren't so good at the whole writing of blogs thing, although it worked very well the last time we were on a vacation. This time, though, I guess it was just too much after long days of walking around Montreal and Quebec.

I LOVED Quebec - liked Montreal too but I really really liked Quebec, although walking up and down all of the hills was tiring after a while.

What did we do? Primarily, we walked. We did see the botanical gardens in Montreal (they were beautiful, and I could have easily spent more time there). We got smoked meat at Schwartz's and bagels at a really nice bagel place. We went to two brew pubs. We walked around old town. No-l and her mother walked up 99 stairs to see a bunch of crutches and a heart in a church (some of the rest of us stayed in the church's gardens during that time due to arthritis in the knees). We took a ferry to an Island across from Montreal where the world's fair had taken place. And... we walked. In Quebec, we saw some of the monuments, particularly those to Montcalm and Wolfe. We went into a very beautiful church (Notre-Dame if I'm not mistaken) because it was pouring out. We went to the Plains of Abraham. We had crepes and gelato. And we walked. We found a beautiful wood sculpture store which I will regret not buying anything at until I get back to Quebec OR until the sculptor emails me back. We walked around old town, both the upper and lower parts. We went on a Ghost Walk (fun) and we went to the market. I took the Funicular, because I wanted to have taken one in more than one city.

We wasted half a day because our dear friend Sedwick didn't have the right town for his drop zone, so we had to drive 2.5 hours out of our way to drop him off. And drop him off we did, since we didn't pick him up until the next day!

And, we went to Montmorency Falls and the Ile d'Orleans.

Need more time to see more of the province of Quebec. It appears that there is a CRW event (read: some silly type of skydiving thing) over Labor Day, so we may drive up there, leave Sedwick off for the jumping, and go back to Quebec, go to Ottawa, and perhaps go to Montreal again (especially for those yummy bagels).

And because I have much work to do today, I'm only going to paste the slideshow here, rather than playing around with making a movie or something. Lots of pictures of flowers here - little of most other things...

keeping up with Ken

Since Ken has given in to peer pressure and started a blog, I felt compelled to work on keeping up with Ken and 1L and write an entry to this one, since 1L has been the contributor for most of the recent posts for this one.

Even though, judging from Ken's blog, the key to having lots of comments is having short posts, there are lots of new and exciting developments here:
-Sedwick's house is now all painted! There's a bit of a theme of blue in it, but it's quite a nice color - and each blue is a little different. In addition to the suffocated smurf and tender twilight upstairs (and the unnamed bathroom color), there is now velvet sky in the living room. Leaving the blue theme, there's burnt almond in the dining room, cucumber in the kitchen, pensive sky in the hall, and white in George.
-There's one less resident in the Lovett Place abode :)
-I discovered that Stop and Shop sells the intriguingly good orange mint lifesavers - if you've never tried these, look for them and give them a try. They're oddly addicting.
-I'm in a period of frustration with Priceline. Apparently, it's only possible to bid on big city or airport locations, which doesn't seem right. Of course, I could always just not be seeing a link somewhere on the page that would let me bid on another location.

Another Day in the Life...

So, today I am going to the gym with my mother, then to the grocery store, then making dinner for the family, then doing two manuscript reviews, then getting my sister's kids for 48 hours of babysitting. Sometimes, I wonder what the hell I've been thinking. If I can get those two manuscript reviews done today, though, I can work on the reviews of my own manuscript this weekend and also and IRB proposal. Maybe, just maybe, see if I have anything I might want to propose for the AERA conference. Happily, I've done two proposals already, but neither of which am I first author on. But still, they are proposals and will hopefully both become manuscripts sometime in the near future.

The joys of academic life

So, I learned from experience. Rather than make a big deal about the two proposals that need to be written by Wednesday as well as the other work I need to do on manuscript writing and preparing for class, I should have just kept my mouth closed! Happiness is getting a manuscript accepted with minor revisions. However, minor revisions ALWAYS means more than minor - and four weeks' time is not a lot! Anyhow, it is great news, so I'm very happy since I had decided on Friday that the manuscript was not going to be accepted. And I wonder, where is the cat? I haven't had that for a long time!

What in the world was I thinking?

I need to get some damn work done. I have sooooooooooooo much to do, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a rejection tomorrow, since I sent an email to the journal asking about my reviews and the email I received back seemed to indicate that the rejection was forthcoming. But, we'll see. Meanwhile, I have two conference proposals to work on, and if I don't get cracking on some other writing, the summer is going to pass me by big time. I have to get some things accomplished for this sabbatical, and I'd like to have a few things under review by this time next year (at least 3 more, really, since NoL and I have three things to write up. It's crazy how quickly time can pass by.

Also, I've decided to work out at my parents' gym while I'm visiting this summer. My arms are a little sore (not much) after two days of working out. The biggest problem is that there is no air flow in the place that I can tell, and it is just so hot trying to do the cardio. But, that's life. Gotta do it.

My new plan is to keep an eye out on the sales at the grocery stores come fall. My dad says he almost never buys anything at the cost sold at the grocery store (gets sales prices), but of course, he then ends up going to several stores. But, that's fine, as long as it doesn't end up taking too much time.

Saving money is the new plan. I'm just going to see what I can save over the next year, although I know it will be hard with the sabbatical. But, we'll see.

Comments Shomments

I have no idea why I can't get the damn comments feature to work. I went in, viewed the comments settings, and it doesn't look like there should be any problems at all. Quite annoying. Please someone test again and let me know whether it worked.

Picked 6 lbs of black raspberries today. Getting the red ones was very very tough, so I just gave up on that.

No jam though. It's very sad. Maybe next week.

Iceland!

I got back from Iceland last night, and am ready to overwhelm everyone with pictures. Here's a link to the single post blog I made about it: http://redsox-consonants.blogspot.com/

Looks like it's over

So, happily, the family reunion is now over. Talked to several of my cousins while I was there, but didn't spend much time with any one of them. Mostly, I watched Rollie, Dominic, Jack, and Bridget play.

Got a sore throat. I hope that I am not getting what Nancy had. I might need a nap soon.

McTommy, Fred, and Diminutive Diablo (DD)

I have no idea whether anyone is reading this blog. I don't even know whether the owners of Bearable Bear and Not Tigger Tiger have looked at it. But, no matter. Today, my new Garmin (dubbed McTommy in memory of Mick Mick, my hand-me-done, stolen Tom Tom) arrived. I really think I'm gonna like McTommy a lot, but unfortunately, I haven't gone anywhere and my car is blocked in the driveway by a car I cannot move. It's sad, since I do need to pick up pictures at the CVS that commemorate the National Park Tour of 2009.

I just downloaded several books to Fred (my Kindle), but unfortunately, I cannot read them until Fred is charged. I would turn the TV on, but the one suffering from bronchitis is asleep, so that will not work all that well. So, here I am, updating the blog and wondering whether anyone is actually reading it.

Diminutive Diablo (DD) also arrived today. DD is my spiffy new flip camera that I have been thinking about purchasing for nearly a year. I strongly believe that DD is going to be a fun toy to have around this summer for the kidlings.

And that's all. I've got nothing more to say, so I'm stopping here.

Clean Walls

How much does having the place painted matter? A lot, I think, since the walls look clean!

Kara has it in her head that she wants to organize the kitchen (systems thinking, I think). I told her I wasn't sure how well such a system would end up working, but she thinks it would make her feel better to try. So, I told her if she really wants to organize things she can help me with my room.

I'm going to go through my picture frames sometime today, because I think we can figure out what pictures from our trip we might want to get in 8x10 and put up in the hallway (or kitchen, even). I'm thinking that putting pictures on the walls will be fun. We have some, but they need to be rethought, I think.

Cats are smelly

Ok, I'm not sure whether it's the multiple cats or the specific type of cat litter being used, but cats are smelly. Quite very smelly. In addition, Henry and Not Henry don't seem to like each other much. On a good note, however, Poledra is doing better, and it looks like we'll be able to get her shampoo tomorrow while the painters are here.

It turns out that Nancy has viral bronchitis in addition to some allergy problems. I'm assuming that with the medication she's on, she's gonna be sleeping like a baby for the next few days. By that, I mean all of the time.

I'm not entirely sure when I'm headed back to PA, but at some point, I will be going; probably after I can get my things put away in my room and after we can get the house back in some order after the painters are done. I'm looking forward to that day.

a blogovert

Although I was initially not so sure about this blog thing (sometimes I feel not so creative and witty), I've become a bit of a convert - a blogovert, if you will. Anke's blog is a great way to keep up with how she's doing, and I think everyone should get a blog, so we can all get a peek into each other's lives and what's going on. (1L mentioned that she already said this, but I second it)

So here's my two minute update: I'm heading to Iceland in a week. I probably won't have a blog while there, since I'm not sure how much computer access I'll have. But, I'm going to bring my spiffy camera, so will take a ton of pictures - so be prepared for a mega blog post when I get back. Now's the time for you all to let me know if you have any tips/requests of places for me to go or things to take pictures of (hint, hint, 2L).

I also, sadly, have a bit of a cold plus allergies going on. 1L and Sedwick convinced me to go to a walk-in place today, so I can see if I can get any helpful make me stop coughing drugs before I fly again. But, at least I'm doing better than Sarah's cat Misha, who keeps thinking he wants to have a necklace of blinds. He's now stuck in the blinds, with one leg through, and looking both like he planned it all along and like he has no idea of what to do next. 1L just came to his rescue, and helpfully pulled up the blinds for him.

A Day in the Life

Well. It seemed to me that one way in which we could keep in touch is this whole idea of a blog, which seems to have worked well for our trip and which seems to be working well for other friends. Now, I'm not sure we will have much to say while not on vacation, so probably the best thing for everyone to do is to do an RSS feed to this blog so that you know it's changed (should you want to keep up with us). I also think that other friends should create blogs, and rather than communicating via email, we can just go in and read and comment on each other's blogs. Even updating them once a week would be nice. Since we will be on sabbatical and not around much, perhaps we'll try to keep up with the Joneses this way.

So, to begin. The painters are coming for the second time today. Yesterday, they painted the hall, but not to Sedwick's satisfaction (he might be a little picky). But, he is correct, they did get drops of paint on his banister, and that definitely seems to be a problem. Today, they wanted us to move things, but we didn't know which room they would paint, so we haven't yet moved anything. We'll have to see.

We were gonna take the doggie to get a shampoo today, but I think we'll have to change that, since she was bringing up white foamy stuff this morning. We'll have to see how she is this morning in case we decide we need to contact the vet. Although, we might do that regardless, since it was a strange experience and I'm definitely worried. The vet seems to think that we should just make sure she fasts until tonight, so that's what we'll do, I suppose.