I'm now old.

This past Thursday was my birthday, my thirtieth birthday. The big 3-0. I don't feel any different (I've always felt old), but it was kind of surreal to think that I'm now thirty. My poor mother must hate that her youngest child is so old... that only makes her old, too! Actually, I think my mother looks better at age sixty-four than I do at age thirty. I need to learn her secrets if I'm ever going to be in her shape when I'm sixty-four. I think I could learn a lot from my mother, and I'm now old enough to understand that.

Anyway, work threatened to ruin my birthday (oh, how I loathe you, budget!), but Doug came through and saved the day, as only a great husband can. I got out of work somewhat early on Thursday and we went to Isabella's in Dedham Square. It was very, very good - and very busy for 9pm on a Thursday. Now we know where all the Dedham movers and shakers go to hang out. After dinner we went home and I was surprised by a Wiggles balloon, a birthday banner, and a very heavy birthday gift that I was in no way expecting but am very stoked about. Now all I have to do is figure out how to sync this up to the Wii and fitness here I come (right?)! And then, since it was my thirtieth birthday, I finished the night off being wild and crazy like only I know how to be wild and crazy. Wyatt joined me. We're two wild and crazy guys!

Friday was work (I had planned to take both the 26th and 27th off, and Doug and I were going to go on a long weekend somewhere, but worked happened), but I managed to get out somewhat early again. In honor of my birthday, I got to choose my activities for the night, so I decided that we'd spend the night in the Verizon store. I ended up getting a new cell phone, but not a Storm like I had originally thought. That touch screen is just too tricky for this old girl, so I got a Chocolate instead. It's more appropriate for me, and it actually is a good little phone. I'm pleased I'm still technologically challenged. Maybe when I'm thirty-five I'll get into the smartphone craze. After closing out the Verizon store, Doug and I went to dinner at this cool little place in Westwood called Vello's - what giant homemade meals they serve! Very tasty, and a new favorite. But, because I wasn't stuffed enough on my giant bean and cheese burrito, I went home to have a giant slice of birthday cake. How could I resist? It was an ice cream cake, and my name was written all over it, literally. Again, thank you, Doug! The cake is excellent (think I might have a slice for dinner next!).

Saturday, after doing some much needed chores, like cleaning the shower (I still don't get why our bathroom shower scum is pink. This is one pink thing that I don't think is very pretty), Doug and I embarked on a trip to Portsmouth, NH. This was my surprise overnight destination, a fun place that Doug and I like to go to every so often to walk around, be near the water, and soak in all the old homes. Before we left, though, we made sure to give the kitties their good-bye kissies; Meg, however, was reluctant to stay behind. It's actually her birthday, too. She's now 6. Her birthday is March 25, and Meggie's 6. What a beautiful, beautiful kitty. Unfortunately, the B&B where we stayed doesn't allow pets, so Miss Meg had to stay home and celebrate her birthday wrestling with Wyatt and Sasha and barfing in her kitty house.

Portsmouth was great fun - we spent the afternoon (while the weather was still sort of decent) walking around, poking into little shops like art galleries and antique stores, and also grabbing some food and beer for lunch. For dinner we ate at this steakhouse called The Library, and I had a melt-in-your-mouth filet mignon and a very yummy baked sweet potato. To play up the library theme, the check was brought to us in an old book, and ours was some sort of religious tome. We were amused. The place was neat, though, and the decor was very fitting, so definitely a good choice for dinner. We walked back through the mist and fog to get to our B&B, The Ale House Inn, a modern set of rooms in an old factory/loft space. The decor was very clean, very sleek, and Doug instantly took a liking to the television, so much so that he investigated the model number and is now trying to track one down.
The plan is to put the TV in our bedroom into the basement to make a Wii/exercise zone, and put the white TV in the bedroom. We do like TV around here, but that's really funny because we don't really watch a whole lot of it anymore.

Anyway, Sunday we went to a late brunch, poked around some more shops, explored New Hampshire a bit, and then headed home. The weather was really kind of nasty, so being in the car wasn't a bad thing. All in all, a great birthday weekend. And I'm very much looking forward to this Saturday - go Revs! I hope everyone's coming who can make it. I hear there will be tri-corner hats for anyone who's got the revolutionary spirit! I'll be sad to see next weekend pass, though - that will be the end of the birthday celebrations. Turning thirty-one probably won't be nearly as fun. Maybe the next big birthday blow-out will be for Doug's 35th. Maybe we'll do another weekend in Burlington, VT (and here's hoping he won't have pneumonia!).

Bear obsession

Doug and I are obsessed with Wyatt, and he's obsessed with us. I blame the haircut. Wyatt won't leave us alone... he follows us around (more than usual), burrows into our bodies when we're on the couch or in the bed (more than usual), and nestles himself snugly in between our shoulders at night (partly under the covers)(more than usual). Doug and I can't stop holding him, either. On a normal night, when I come home from work and Wyatt is yelling at me to top off his food bowl, or to give him a pet, I ignore him until I've peed, put on my pajamas, washed my face and brushed my teeth. There is no ignoring Wyatt these days, though. I can't help myself. He follows me around looking like a little lost lamb, so as soon as I set foot into the house I immediately tend to my little naked friend. This will soon pass, once he gets used to being half of himself, but for now it's something that we are enjoying.

Here are a couple more photos of the hairless wonder. These aren't the best photos, but he doesn't stay still long enough to get a good one. I think he knows that his image is being plastered on the Internet for all to see, and he's none too pleased. That last one is a new favorite of mine. You can hardly tell that his hair is as short as it is, or that his tail looks like a poodle's tail. What a poor, pathetic little kitty.

Speaking of poor, pathetic little kitties, here are some more photos of work. I figure that work is where I spend my life these days, so let's show a little of it off. Plus, the scenery has changed slightly now that I have an office. I'll say this about my home away from home - it doesn't lack for natural light, and for this I really am grateful.

In two days I turn thirty. Doug's planning a weekend away (he spilled the beans, more out of necessity than anything else. He had to know that I'd be able to get away from work for the weekend, and even though I can't really spare two days away from the budget, one only turns thirty once so I'll have to make a sacrifice), so I'm sure I'll have another blog by weekend's end. Let's hope it's not filled with photos of cats and corporations!

The lion cut

Before:

After:

More to come!

Role models

I don't have a role model. I never have. Some women these days love Oprah and aspire to be like her. I don't. She's not bad, and she certainly gives a lot of herself and her money to the world, but I just can't look up to someone who puts herself on the cover of each of her magazines. That just really irks me. I had a therapist who liked to give me little tasks to do each week (her effort at trying to institute a little behavioral therapy, but these exercises quickly subsided when she realized that I was a bad student and didn't like to do what I was told to do), and one of her tasks was research strong, healthy women who could perhaps be good role models for me. I did a little reading on Eleanor Roosevelt and for a while wanted my next cat to be named Eleanor, but never really latched on to her as a personal role model. Maybe it's because she had such a difficult time being a mother (her kids seem to have had a pretty cold childhood by way of motherly love), and one of the things that I'd like to be is a warm, giving, and caring person, someone emotionally sound and secure. If I were a mother I'd want to be a good one. So while I admire Eleanor and feel that she could be a very strong role model for women, she's not for me.

After my trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with my mom and sister last weekend, I've been doing some reading on the Gardner Museum theft, and a little reading up on Mrs. Gardner herself, and I wonder if she could be my role model. I don't really know enough about her, but from what I've learned so far it seems that she was a very strong, smart, classy lady who wanted to make available to the world the beauty and culture of art. This I can admire, and this I can aspire to. She didn't go around giving alms to the poor, or adopting needy children, or campaigning on the political circuit like some suffragette women, but she did throw herself fully into what she believed in. She had passion. She had determination. She had a mind of her own and she used it. These are qualities that I think I want for myself. Yes, I am aware that she was able to throw herself into her art and music and culture and society because she had the money and birth to do so, but that doesn't mean that I can't throw myself into those things that I enjoy, too. I just have to channel my self-confidence in order to give my life over to my passions (or at least my pleasures). Sometimes I feel chained inside myself... I don't drink, don't smoke, don't have any dangerous habits, don't drive fast, don't run red lights, don't live recklessly, don't do drugs, don't drink tea, don't drink coffee, don't speak my mind, don't make a burden of myself, don't leave the house dirty or unshowered, don't have strong opinions, don't cut people in lines... just about the only thing I do do that maybe I shouldn't do is eat a lot of sugary foods, like chocolate and cookies and jellybeans and ice cream. This is why I am looking for a vice. I need a release. Isabella Stewart Gardner's release was art and I like that about her. She could express herself through this passion for collecting and this passion for beauty and creativity and could also give something of herself to the world via her museum. Can I do all of that just by starting to drink iced coffee?

Family Matters

This week was a week for family. Monday night Doug got a call from his mother regarding his grandfather - Grandpa went to the hospital that day with kidney failure. Grandpa is 90, has diabetes, major heart problems, and now his kidneys are failing him. Not good. He was admitted to ICU that night and Doug's mom decided to have him get his last rights - I guess it was that touch and go. Doug and I left early Tuesday morning to visit him - if the situation was that dire, it would be wise for us to see him one last time. We spent the afternoon at Bridgeport Hospital (not the nicest hospital experience, but then I only have a few others to go by) spending time with sedated Grandpa. It was good to see him, but he probably didn't know we were there. But at least it made us feel better, and Doug's mom and dad, that we were able to say a few words to him in case anything gets worse. Turns out that things have gotten better - he came off of the drugs and has been breathing on his own, and was talking and coherent the day after we visited him. So things are looking up. Will Grandpa ever be able to return to his house and live on his own again? I don't know if it's likely, and if he does I'm not so sure he should, but at least he is no longer in ICU. We are glad about that.

While in CT, we had an early dinner at a diner in Bridgeport, the Galaxy Diner. Doug's family are diner fiends, and I'm not talking about places like O'Rourke's or Watertown's Deluxe Town Diner. Doug's family goes to real diners, the kind that are conveniently located right off the highway and open twenty-four hours a day. They know every diner in their area, and there are a lot in their area of Connecticut. I think a diner is a diner is a diner, but they don't agree - some are definitely better than others for them. They thought the food was very good here, and they rate the food not necessarily by the quality but by the quantity (the food quantity was certainly plentiful, but for me, again, the food was diner quality - mediocre). They were not happy with the prices, though. $9.75 for a triple-decker roast beef sandwich! They'd better not come to Boston for diner food, then! Anyway, while we waited to go in the diner, Doug took a photo of Main Street in Bridgeport. Isn't it lovely? What is it about Bridgeport that doesn't appeal to me? I guess I'm just not used to it. Hartford is equally depressing, quite honestly, but Hartford holds a bit of nostalgic charm for me. It's the city of my youth, my childhood, and my heritage. I wasn't sad to leave Bridgeport.

Hartford then came to us this weekend, when my sister, mother, and brother all came to visit. My sister's spring break is this week, so to celebrate my sister came up without her husband and kids and we had a girls weekend (my brother and Doug did their own things). Saturday we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It was our first time there, and it was really great. It's just the right size for a museum - you can do the whole thing in about 2 hours or so (which is just about the most I can take in a museum at once before falling into a museum coma). I love the courtyard, too - it's a garden, with different plants and flowers in bloom each season. No photos are allowed anywhere in the museum, otherwise I'd have a few to post.

Today my mother and sister and I did the whole shopping thing. I got myself a cool pair of rain boots: and a smaller bag than the one I carry with me daily now (it is beginning to hurt my shoulder, so if I have a smaller one I'll be forced to carry less and it will be lighter). In other material acquisition news, my sister and family got me a great (early) birthday present - a grow box: I'm going to use this box to grow us some beans - hopefully I will have good luck at vegetable growing inside this contained box. Anyway, after shopping we all had pizza and then said our good-byes. Here's a photo of all of us together (minus Doug, who was behind the camera): What a handsome clan.

It was good to see my mom and sister this weekend, but it took me until this afternoon to feel "myself" again, whatever that means. I've discovered that when I'm not at work now I don't know what to do with myself, and I almost have work withdrawal. I have a hard time focusing on anything, and I get very, very tired. It's bad. But the weekend was good, and I hope to see my sister again soon. She is a hard worker, too, with school and clinical and being a full-time mom, so it's good for my sister and I to have some time away from it all. So, definitely a good weekend. Now I am going to go sit on the couch for a couple of hours before going to bed to start another crazy week at work. I'll leave you with this bit of sweetness until next weekend, when hopefully I will blog some more...

Kids and sports.

I was never an athlete. I don't come from a family that really is sportive, though we would bike and take woodsy walks and that kind of recreational athletic activity. I was never on a sports team and I absolutely hated gym class, mostly because I considered myself slower, clumsier, and less athletic than everyone else in the class. Because of this assumption I guess I never really tried to excel at sports, or even tried to do them at all. I did, however, play on my high school badminton team, and I have to say that I wasn't that bad at it, but that never made me want to get more involved in athletics. Maybe all of this is why I am so reluctant to get out there and run - running is what athletes do, and exercise videos in the comfort of my own home are what non-athletes like me do. Anyway, what I am trying to say here is that I am very impressed and proud of my nieces and nephew for actively enjoying sports, and I hope this enjoyment continues. Doug and I went down to see my niece Maddy's last basketball game of the season; after hearing how great of a basketball player Mads is I had to see for myself. And she is very good. She's athletically built and has boundless energy, all of which help her to excel. She is also very eager to get involved and doesn't hold back because of nerves or anxiety, something her dear auntie never mastered. The basketball game was at a local school in her town, and I had never been to an event like this before. There were so many kids and so many parents and grandparents - I was very pleased to see the involvement in the lives of these kids. Plus, it was just fun to see the kids play.

Maddy played on the Huskies this year, and for this game the Huskies were playing the Panthers. The kids warmed up for about a half hour before the game started; they would practice dribbling, practice passing, practice making shots, etc. Once the practice was over, each team was divided into two, and they played two simultaneous games of basketball. Maddy was on a team with her friend and neighbor Jason, and Maddy was really great. Running back and forth, putting up her arms for defense, trying to block the shots of these two burly kids on the Panthers who were rather aggressive and have the potential for becoming ball hogs later in their careers. Maddy made one shot, but tried for many others. I loved that no one yelled or got upset when one of the kids didn't make their shot. You hear all the time about crazy parents who beat their kids on the sidelines if they don't perform well, or don't show their ability to be the next Michael Jordan. Everyone here was very calm, very encouraging, and very welcoming. I liked that. Made me wish I had done sports as a kid! Wonder what that would have done to enhance my life.

I do have photos of Maddy the basketball star. The first few are of her in action; one of her dribbling the ball like a pro, another of her waiting to be passed the ball (note her cool Chuck Taylors; she picked them out herself just for basketball season), and the other of her standing at the basket during the game trying to make a basket. I can't get over the respect on the court - no one's pushing her or getting in her way. She has ample room to try and take her shot. These kids are way too nice.


These other two photos are of the post-game ceremonies. As it was the last game of the season, trophies were handed out. The first shot is of Maddy going up to get her trophy from her coach, and the second is Maddy showing off her bling. With her is her friend and neighbor Jason, who also got a trophy. All the kids did, no matter their ability or contribution to the team. Isn't this great? I like this sense of community.

Back at my sister's house, my niece Maria showed me a picture that she drew for me in sidewalk chalk. I'm on the right and she's on the left. She's wearing a dress, but I seem to have no clothes. And in every picture that little kids draw, the sun is always out. Did you ever notice that? I love the thoughts of little kids.

So good times in Connecticut yesterday! Today we're having good times, too. Doug is eating some fruit: and I'm preparing to do a few hours of work (blogging helps me prepare for weekend work). But before I go, I want to display some photos of the rugs in our bedroom. Last weekend when Chris and Chris were here we went to IKEA. Doug and I have been looking for a different rug for our bedroom for a while now; the old one just washed out the room and seemed to make the space small and confined. I found these small, round rugs in this nice rich purple color at IKEA that day and bought four of them, two for either side of the bed. Doug wasn't convinced that the color would work, or that they would look good, but I knew they would be great. I was right, and Doug agrees - they're much better than our old rug. These circles add color and they lighten up the room a bit. A definite improvement. The rug that was in our bedroom before is now in the guest room, and I think that this is a VAST improvement in the guest room. This new-old rug brightens up the guest room and lessens the severity of the orange in there. You be the judge. Here are some photos of the new and improved guest room - all ready for your visit!

Okay, time to work...