On My Way

Double Digits

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:17:50 GMT

We’re down to the double digits until the wedding! In the past couple of months I have found that time seems to be doing strange things. When I think, “99 days till the wedding!” it seems simultaneously like forever to wait to get married and an extraordinary short time until the wedding day.

Gilbert finds it very easy to keep track of how many days we have left because there are large digital signs around Lexington which are counting down the days until the beginning of the world equestrian games, which happens to start the day before our wedding. Very convenient.

This past week we had a consultant come out to talk to us. We took him out to the wedding field where we stood in the blazing hot sun talking about tent sizes until Mogie suggested we sit at the picnic table in the shade. It sounds like it’s all coming together. He’s supposed to be sending me some more information and layout plans soon.

We are also supposed to be meeting with our caterer sometime soon, probably next week. Now we need to investigate flowers and music. I’ve had some wonderful offers of help from various people that are going to make the wedding so much more special. Three cousins are playing the wedding march, multiple friends and relatives including my grandmother are making cookies, a cousin is making the little cake and cupcakes as my wedding present, my former FFA chapter is going to loan me an arbor, cousins are doing my hair and makeup and their mom is going to help with the sound system and music. If you think it sounds like a lot of cousins are helping out, let me remind you that I have 24 first cousins alone and live within five minutes of numerous second, third, and fourth cousins. I like it that way.

Spring is here!

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:28:58 GMT

It is a sunny spring morning and Mogie and I will be going on a walk in a little while. These days our walks often take us around the hayfield where the wedding ceremony and reception are going to be held. One day I told Mogie I was very excited at the thought of having so many of my friends and family together in the same place, both sides of my family, college friends, Mt. Eden friends, Peace Corps friends... Mogie thought about it for a moment and then said, “Yeah! When else does that happen besides your funeral?”

Gilbert is being a good sport about my long rambling tangents about mini-sandwiches and first dance song options. In fact he recently told me he never imagined planning his wedding would be so fun. As long as he feels that way I think the process is going quite well.

This afternoon we are going apartment hunting. The place we found online that we like the best is having a winter sale. We like it because it has a fireplace and a washer and dryer, not to mention a little lake and some green space. If we get our names on the waiting list before Wednesday we’ll still be in on the winter sale deal even if we don’t start moving in until September.

In non wedding related news I have a job grading tests at UK for the next month or so. That’s very exciting news because I’m taking another grad school class starting this Thursday. My last two classes went well. I hope we get our grades sometime soon.
Campbellsville’s satellite grad school program is a bit on the strange side. Classes run just about all year long. There is a trimester system and then there are summer classes offered as well. The whole idea is to get through grad school as quickly as possible which is nice but a bit intense.

It looks like it’s about time to go on our walk. I hope you all have a bit of sunshine to enjoy wherever you are today!

Quote of the Day:
“The brownies were made with butter so eat up!”- Mogie (after a lunchtime discussion about why butter is better for you than margarine)

Unexpectedly

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:35:19 GMT

I’m engaged!!!!!!!!! I should probably have led up to that in some sort of sneaky fashion. But when I am so excited I’m out of bed at 6:45 in the morning I care nothing for sneaky and want to get straight to the heart of the matter.

Here’s the story: Yesterday morning Gilbert wrote me and told me that he woke up groggy and wished he had some more of the chai that my parents gave him for Christmas. At lunch time he e-mailed again and said that the only place he could find that had chai was the Indian market next to the restaurant where we met for our first date. See it coming? I didn’t!

I go to Lexington every Tuesday so we can watch LOST together and we were excited because yesterday it was nice enough to go for a walk before we ate supper. After some debate we decided to have Italian and after we ate we went to Target to run errands. I had a headache so I was looking forward to getting back to Gilbert’s place where I could close my eyes for a little bit before LOST started. He asked if I felt well enough to go get some chai. I said I was (although I really just wanted to stay in the car.) I did perk up a little as we drove into the parking lot because it always makes me happy to remember the first time I saw Gilbert. I reminded him of it as we pulled into the shopping center, “See that’s where I first saw you, leaning against that window.”

We went into the little Indian market and got the chai. I was looking forward to being able to sit down and rest my eyes but as we walked out to the car he said, “This is where I first saw you!” He stopped in the middle of a parking space. I stopped too and gave him a hug and kiss and then kept walking toward the car.

“And one other thing,” he said from behind me. I turned around and there he was on one knee with the ring box opened. I was so shocked! I was expecting it to happen sometime in the next couple of weeks but I really was not expecting it right then and there. I’m really ridiculously happy.

Preemptive answers:

The ring is beautiful and is being sized right now but Gilbert is going to bring it to me this afternoon. There will be pictures!

We haven’t discussed dates or anything specific yet but I will be posting here to keep you all updated.

Other questions? Let me know!

LOST makes me happy

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:43:02 GMT

Other things that make me happy:

Cooking a Hawaiian themed meal at Gilbert's apartment and then watching LOST with him.
Getting an "awesome" on my mid-term. (Yes, there was a number grade as well, but "awesome" is always the best way to be graded.)
Going to a counseling seminar for two days with a bunch of friends from school.
Having a job interview for a job I would actually enjoy.
Having Boo home for the weekend.
Listening to books on CD in the car.
The fact that Eloise is still running. I think this may have been the longest she has ever gone without having to go to the garage. *knock on wood*
DId I mention Gilbert? Ok, just checking.:)

Little notes

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:26:13 GMT

I’m listening to the London Philharmonic play “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” I accidently bought it from iTunes while trying to purchase the original Queen recording but now I have to admit that I really like this version as well. It’s a cloudy January day but it is not supposed to rain and happily it is going to be a very warm day, almost 60! I know we’ve still got over a month of winter left but I have to say I am already looking forward to spring. I think I may celebrate by going for a walk.

I have various things to report including my enjoyment of both of my classes. How fun to be learning things that I know I will be finding ways to use for the rest of my life. I’ll be giving two presentations one on crisis care with a few other students and another on ethnicity and the family all by myself. I think I need movie clips!

Yesterday Mogie and I went to Lexington for our weekly tutoring session with the Nepalis. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement. They get to learn a little English, Mogie practices her Nepali and we all get amusing cross cultural experiences. Sometimes one man will be so overwhelmed by the absurdity of trying to say, “What is your name?” that he will start to laugh first a chuckle and then a breathless chortle. The rest of us rock with laughter as well as he wheezes for breath trying to ask the question again.

Today through a random chain of links I found out that the US ice skating duo of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto have preformed a routine based on Moldovan folk dance. It makes me so happy whenever I run into a mention of Moldova even if they call it “Moldavia.” I want to cheer and say, “Hurrah! A few more people found out Moldova exists today!”

Looking for the unexpected

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:57:49 GMT

I wouldn’t blame you at all if you had given up on this little blog. In fact I have given serious consideration to the idea that my blogging days may have run their course. But I have realized with serious shock and dismay that in this time that I have not been writing I have also not been creative in any other aspect of my life.

Sure, I’ve cooked a bit. (There’s a whole story about failed fudge making attempts that should comfort anyone else facing what has always been their own personal cooking Waterloo.)

I’ve renewed and refreshed long and valuable friendships. Lamai came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we spent three days talking almost non-stop while housebound by a whole 2 inches of snow.

Grad school has begun. My first class was Monday night. I enjoyed the whole four hours and am looking forward to tonight’s class which is an introduction to Family Studies. I am thrilled to be pursing my dream and more than a little anxious to get a job so that I can pay for it.

Most importantly I’ve spent time with Gilbert, with his family and with my family, on weekends and on weekdays. We’ve played countless games, watched ridiculous movies, and read each other’s book recommendations. We’ve gone to church together and to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Rupp Arena which was spectacular in every sense of the word. Big events and little moments, we share them and that makes me incredibly happy.

But, I am a creative person and all of these activities and people and stresses and joys have added up to me ignoring that side of myself. Fortunately I am a devoted reader of some very creative people’s blogs. Kyle Cassidy is a photographer who is always in search of creative things to do and creative people to collaborate with. He took advantage of the fact that he had no heat in his house during the snow storm in Philly to have his wife (a stage actress) pose for some pictures. That’s what I mean, some people think, “My house is freezing! I must snuggle up to the heater and not move until it get warmer!” Then there are those who think, “My house is freezing! Let’s go outside and take pictures in the snow!” Kyle often ends his posts with an entreaty that his readers, “Go be awesome!”

I’m not sure I’m up to claiming that I am pursuing awesomeness but I am definitely going to make putting the creative and extraordinary into my life a much higher priority in the coming months.

Let’s see what happens!

Thanksgiving 09- Segment One

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:28:52 GMT

(We're doing this in segments to keep me posting.)

If my family’s Thanksgiving reunion will not inspire you to open up your laptop and start writing then I am not sure what will.

Every other year over 30 of us meet up at my family’s church camp for a few days of ridiculous games, lots of food, laughter, and a murder mystery. I arrived at camp on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving with a car full of bedding and food. I kinda enjoyed having the camp by myself for a little while. I spent so much time there as a child and teenager that I have a nice comfortable familiar feeling when I sit in the dining hall. Although, I have noticed that the dining hall has shrunk considerably since I was seven years old. The walk from one of the back tables to the kitchen used to be a long one. That’s not so true anymore.

I spent a while hanging out and unloading Eloise and then the Fosters arrived to keep me company. Uncle Jeff and I hunkered down by the radio and listened to the UK game, alternately cheering and glaring at the radio. It went into overtime but then we won so Uncle Jeff and I felt that we contributed something to the team’s success.

I was awakened about 2:00 in the morning by the Waggoner’s arrival and Tesha swooping in to hug me and then I was out again.

The next morning was full of catching up with various relatives. I brought a bunch of pictures of Caleb and he was duly admired and praised. (As he should be!) There were stories of trips to Ecuador, school plays, grad school interviews, art projects, college classes, strange counseling experiences and much more.

Many Things are Happening

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:55:18 GMT

My December calendar is filling up at an alarming rate. I have three job interviews in the next three weeks. Somewhere in there I will also have my grad school interview. I’ve been playing phone tag with various people at Campbellsville for the past week or so. In fact I’ve been calling and writing so much that Thursday when I spoke to someone she said, “Oh Rachel!” Like she knew who I was and had been expecting me to call. At least they know I’m very interested.

In addition to interviews I am going to Gilbert’s work Christmas party this Friday and have find some shoes between now and then. Of course there are family Christmas events as well and the fact that I have yet to buy a single present. Not good. Last year I knew what I was getting everyone and had ordered everything by the beginning of December. Not so this year. But, I’m not stressing. I enjoy giving presents and I’d rather wait until I find the perfect thing.

I am getting ready to work on the great Thanksgiving update. Hopefully it will be up today or tomorrow.

Introducing...

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:35:18 GMT

Alright folks... I’m back and with a little encouragement from kpinyork and Ashley I am ready to blog again. In fact I think I am going to try to blog at least every other day this month. I really need to be working my creative writing muscles which have been very underused recently. There is much to talk about, including murder mysteries and teaching English as a second langauge. But first I think I should introduce you to my primary distraction of the past couple of months. He will henceforth be known as... Gilbert! (Yes, that is a not so veiled homage to Anne Shirley’s “Gilbert.”)

Gilbert and I met on eHarmony in the middle of September. We had our first lunch together on a Saturday in the middle of October and have been virtually inseparable since. I say virtually because he has a job and lives in Lexington. Considering those slight inconveniences we manage to see a lot of each other. He proved his bravery by joining us at the Family Thanksgiving Reunion this past week. I would like to say that I have been able to prove my own courage in some comparable manner but I can’t think of anything I have done that comes close to that level of dedication.

I have a feeling that Gilbert will be around as a character in this blog for a long time to come and I have to say that makes me very happy.

First of November

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:15:13 GMT

This time change has me all messed up. I woke up at 7:15 and couldn't get back to sleep. Of course some of that could have to do with fact that there are 29 calves being weened in the pond lot right now. My window faces the pond and the calves keep up a fairly constant barrage of bawling. This will be their second full day in there so hopefully things will improve.

J and E came down for the weekend which was super! We had a birthday supper for Grandmother on Saturday night and sat around for ages afterwards while telling stories. E, Mogie, and I worked on a puzzle while watching The Princess Bride and The Emperor's New Groove, two of my all time favorite movies.

I am busy with grad school stuff and the job hunt. No really great job leads yet.

Earlier This Month...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:42:52 GMT

Ahh! I can’t believe it’s been this long since I’ve written. I haven’t forgotten this blog. I’ve just been... distracted... with things... Like going on dates. I KNOW! I didn’t know I dated either.;) I still don’t really have anything to report in the romance department. I’ve just been eating out rather more frequently and seeing lots of plays. But I won’t go into those details.

I will tell you about the play that we went to see in Indianapolis though. J and E are now in Indiana and we all (with the exception of Boo who is at school) met up with our Indiana relatives. Uncle Jeff got us tickets to, “The Heavens are Hung in Black.” The play centers on Abraham Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War and his struggle to keep the Union together while dealing with the loss of one of his sons. We all enjoyed the play and since it was opening night we got to walk up on stage and look at the props and examine the mechanics of the stage. Pretty cool stuff. I've always thought that I would enjoy working behind the scenes of a movie or play production. There is just so much that goes on to make a production work.

We went out to eat together after the play where one of our main topics of conversation was this book, http://www.thecandybombers.com It's an incredibly touching and inspiring story. Daddy heard the author speak while at a conference where he was honored as the “Kentucky Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year.” He got a paperweight. We are very proud (of him).

Mogie, Daddy, and I drove up to see J and E the day after the play. We helped them unpack in their new little house and admired their enourmous garage. We ate Mexican for lunch and drove around Muncy in an attempt to find the Ball State campus. Eventually we did find the main drag and even drove by the archetecture building where J will be taking many of his classes. It looks like a nice school and J and E are feeling very welcomed by their neighbors. Hopefully they will be down for a visit before too long.

Last week I got an e-mail from Campbellsville informing me that I don't have to take the GRE because my undergrad GPA was over 3.0. That is thrilling news. I also learned that the major I am interested in is offered at their Louisville campus which means I will only have a 50 minute commute! I’m really happy about that.

I have much more to tell and will tell it soon!

Quote of the Day:

"I am proud to say my phone only makes calls!"- Gilbert (rebelling against the ridiculous amount of things you can now do on a cell phone.)

What's a year or two?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:49:44 GMT

I got on my computer determined to write an update for LJ when Vanya called me on Skype. He went to Chisinau last weekend and bought a new computer. This means that for the first time in two years we were able to talk online without the majority of our conversations being spent yelling, “Hello??!!?” and “What!?!?” at our computer screens.

This week will mark the two years since I left Moldova. Lamai called this morning and she was talking about how we measure stuff as “Before PC” and “After PC.” I have to say that these past two years have not gone precisely the way I imagined that they would but they’ve been good years all in all. They have definitely been the fastest two years of my life. Is the rest of my life going to go by at such a crazy pace? Yikes.

The Side Hallway by the Sisters of Perpetual Remodeling (sounds like a rock band, yeah?) is just about done. The walls are painted a lovely banana cream and may be the reason I’ve been wanting to make banana pudding this past week. Mogie claims that if you want to stay in a bad mood you should run through the hallway because if you linger your spirits are bound to be lifted by such cheerful suroundings. Yes, we do tend to wax a bit poetic about our remodeling efforts. I will take pictures soon.

A week ago Mogie and I went to Lexington and took Grandma to a meeting at the Kentucky Refugee Ministries office. We are going to start volunteering with them. Mogie was looking for some sort of volunteer opportunity which would give Grandma a chance to mix with people and we are really excited about it. We are probably going to get to work with a Bhutanese refugee family. They are ethnically Nepali, which means that Mogie’s Nepali skills will be of great use to us. On the way to Indiana this weekend Mogie practiced teaching me Nepali to refresh her own memory. I’m afraid I’ve already forgotten how to say, “This is my book.”

Right-o. There is more to be said but it will have to wait till a bit later in the week.

Quotes of this Past Weekend:

Is he talking your leg off?-Emily

The cheesecake is in the little doodad!- Mogie

That was very planful of you!-Daddy

Drama follows me

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:16:16 GMT

Well, the internets (meaning the people who’s blogs I follow) seem to have come to life again and that makes me feel like I should be posting too. So, here’s a general life update.

I have been staying in close contact with Sally and my other New York friends. I've talked to Sally, I've talked to Trisha, I've talked to Patrick. They've all given me dramatic and sometimes contradictory reports of life at Windy Willow Farm. Two nannies have quit since I left and this past Thursday Sally called asking if I would think about flying up to help her out until the newest nanny arrives. I did give it some serious consideration. I want to stay a part of their lives, especially Caleb’s life. But I am only now feeling acclimated to life in the real world. Going back to the Catskills for two weeks isn’t exactly going to help me get on with everything that needs to be done like finding a job and getting into grad school. I think I made the right decision and yet it is hard not to rush to Sally’s aid.

Friday night I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with a friend. I really enjoy going to the theater. I love movies, I really do, but seeing a story acted out in front of you by people who you could touch if you just got close enough makes the experience something completely different.

Today Mogie and I went to Lexington to help Grandma celebrate her 85th birthday. We at lunch at Applebee's with Aunt Mera, Uncle Martin, my cousin Joel, Grandma’s would-be-boyfriend Al, and a family friend named Jason. We made a pretty lively bunch and although Grandma will forget it quickly it’s nice to know that for a little bit she was reminded of how much we love her. Grandma’s memory is really very poor now. She was certain Mogie was Aunt Mera.

Mogie: Do you know who I am?

Grandma: Of course! You’re my baby!

Mogie: Noooo... who do you think I am?

Grandma: You’re Mera... you can’t be Cathy.

Mogie: SURPRISE! I am Cathy!

*laughter all around*

A Weekend's Distraction

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:02:54 GMT

A couple of weekends ago I went up to Indiana with the Grandparents and Uncle Lennie and Aunt Doris. We spent two days at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa’s making sorghum. It was so much fun. I have heard stories of various misadventures connected to the annual sorghum making but this year everything seemed to go smoothly.

We got there by just after 10 o’clock Friday morning and started stripping the leaves off the cane that was standing in its own little patch. When the cane had its leaves it reminded me of overgrown corn but when we stripped it the stalks began to look like a small bamboo forest. After we got the leaves off Uncle Jeff and Granddaddy chopped the stalks down and we loaded them onto a wagon where Aunt Doris cut off the seedheads.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we ate lunch outside under the trees. After lunch everybody took a little time off and I laid down in the hammock. When Sophie came home from school I went with her into the house. I came back outside to find that Grandmother and Aunt Doris had usurped my place in the hammock. I joined them and we were all sitting and talking when all of a sudden we found ourselves sprawled on our backs. The hammock had flipped backwards and dumped us unceremoniously onto the ground. We lay there and laughed. I wish we had a picture.

We started running the cane through the press that afternoon. The press squishes the cane up so that the juice runs out. It is turned by a hard-to-describe set up involving a sassafras tree with one end weighted on top of the press and the other tied to a rope which is tied to a lawn mower which travels in a circle around the press.

We pressed most of the cane that evening and then went in to eat supper. Sophie, Abby and I all share a love of Harry Potter so we were happy with our bedtime story which consisted of Emily telling us in detail all about her trip to the Harry Potter exhibit in Chicago. We were also very excited to hear that a Hogsmeade theme park is being built in Orlando.

Em-o and I are very much alike in our desire to get every bit of good out of a story. We have been telling and retelling some of the same stories since we were less than 10 years old. There’s the saga of the Pirate Boy with whom we fell in love at the ages of 5 and 7 respectively, the story of how we were mistaken for piano playing proteges at a hotel in Florida, and now there are more recent stories of lost luggage and strange food in Barcelona. But, we are working on topping them all by becoming co-script writers of a romantic comedy. We have the plot pretty well worked out. If I can get some of the script together I may post some of it here just for kicks.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and after breakfast we got to work cooking the sorghum syrup. The juice looks like thin pea soup when it starts to cook and gradually gains a brown color and syrup like consistency.

The main things to do while the juice is cooking down is to keep the fire hot and skim off the green gunk that floats to the top of the juice. It was mid afternoon by the time the syrup was hot enough and thick enough to come off the fire. While we were waiting some of us went and gathered buckeyes. Did you know that buckeyes explode with a noise like a firecracker when placed in hot coals? Well, they do.

I don’t know how much syrup we ended up with but I do know that it was yummy. Everyone enjoyed helping clean up and sneak little tastes from the pan. All in all it was a lovely weekend. Thanks go to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa for keeping the sorghum making tradition going and for letting us all share in it. Hmm... just writing about this is making me hungry. Biscuits and sorghum sound really good right now.

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:03:36 GMT

A slight delay but here are the rest of the first day demo pictures. We now have a professional on the job. I don't think I'll take any pictures of him but maybe of the work in progress.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:59:35 GMT

Here I am in my room, on my macbook, feeling pretty happy and content but without anything of real interest to write about. So I have decided to document the demolition and subsequent remodeling of our side hallway. We have been living in this 120 year old house for 13 years. Every couple of years we remodel a different room. The last and most notable work was done on the kitchen. Thirteen years ago we had only one bathroom and the floor of said bathroom slanted in so many directions walking in felt like stepping onto a storm tossed ship. This year's project is the "side hallway." The "side hallway" faces the driveway and gets a lot of traffic. Mogie has grown tired of the water stains and ancient wallpaper and decided it was time for a change. So we rented a dumpster and went to work....

More pictures tomorrow!

Quote of the Day:
Always take the first opportunity to have ice cream!- Mogie on our trip home from NY

My life- I love it

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:13:43 GMT

You know those moments when you feel not only lucky to be alive but lucky to be living your life? Well, I was just having one of those and thought I'd share.

Footloose and Fancy Free

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:13:52 GMT

YEEEEHAAAAW! I am so happy to be back home in beautiful Kentucky, where the hills are rolling, the weather is humid, and everyone at the bank knows your name.

Mogie arrived in the Catskills last Tuesday, we spent the night at Sally’s and hit the road Wednesday morning. Yes, it was sad to say goodbye to Caleb and I know that in a couple of weeks I may have a bit of a freak out about it. But right now I am focusing on how nice it is to be back with my family and friends.

We had a great trip home. It was a good transition time for me. We spent one night at a bed and breakfast in Lancaster County, PA and ate supper with an Amish family. The next morning we were passing by Gettysburg and decided we should take advantage of being so close and visit the battlefield. After much driving around with me grousing under my breath about the “auto tour” signs which seemed to be leading us on a tour of the parking lot we finally found what we were looking for. To say the battlefield is a giant field or even to say it is a whole valley just doesn’t convey the size or the place. From the giant Roman styled monument to the sons of Pennsylvania it is hard to make out the the statue of Lee on Traveler dedicated to the sons of Virginia on the opposite ridge. The view of miles of valley that was once strewn with over 7,500 bodies is sobering but I was not depressed by the visit. I am proud of what the US has become in the 150 years since the War Between the States.

After Gettysburg we headed through Maryland to West Virginia. We took kind of a back way through Maryland which was really pretty. It reminded me that I know next to nothing about Maryland but I liked what I saw. Mogie had looked up various places to eat on roadfood.com. We decided to try Julio’s in Clarksburg, West Virginia. When we got off the interstate we were unsure which direction to head in. So we stopped at a Panera and asked a couple for directions. They were so nice and helpful and told me that it looked strange but had great food. Off we went through town and into an increasingly run down area. We made our final right by the railroad tracks and pulled up in front of a tall brick building with blacked out front windows. Eloise was the only car parked in front of the building. We got out with a little trepidation and opened the restaurant door. We were greeted by a view of a long shiny wooden bar on one side of the room and a row of plush red leather booths along the other. To say the inside of Julio’s is in direct contrast to the outside would be putting it lightly. A smiling waitress came up and asked us if we’d like to eat in the bar or in the dining room. We opted for the dining room just to see what it was like. It was very nice with a large screen painted with a Venice scene on one wall and a fireplace. We were the only patrons all night long but we enjoyed our food (lamb for me, pasta trio for Mogie) and chatted with our waitress. We managed the whole trip without once eating fast food, mostly stopping at little diners. Julio’s was definitely the most upscale of our dining experiences but they were all enjoyable.

For the most part our drive went smoothly. The only real problem we had was in Charleston where we got on 64 East instead of 64 West. There is a rather long explanation for why this was an easy thing to do but the best part of the story is that Mogie was reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to me and we weren’t paying as strict attention to the road signs as we might have been otherwise.

We arrived home Friday evening and got up bright and early Saturday morning to get ready for our family reunion. That story will have to wait for another time as it is late and I am ready to get some sleep.

Quote of the Day:

Gee but it's great to be back home
Home is where I want to be
I've been on the road so long my friend
And if you came along
I know you couldn't disagree
It's the same old story, yeah
Everywhere I go
I get slandered, libeled
I hear words I never heard in the Bible
And I'm one step ahead of the shoe shine
Two steps away from the county line
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied
Satisfied

-Keep the Customer Satisfied- P. Simon

I'd Like to Hang Out in this Garage All Day

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:37:49 GMT

I can’t even explain how busy I am. I’m not sure why I am taking the time to explain how busy I am but I think it has something to do with blogging withdrawal. I’m at the garage right now listening to Scott aka The Most Awesome Mechanic Ever explain tire problems to a woman and her daughter. Sally met Scot years ago when her old station wagon broke down on the way up from the city. Since then she has been driving her cars 45 minutes just to get him to take care of them. Once, in my excitement over having The Most Awesome Mechanic Ever, I told Mogie that everyone should have a Scot but she thought I was referring to people of Scottish origin and the whole conversation got very confusing.

It’s my last day off and I woke up at 5:30 and could not go back to sleep. So about 6:00 I got up and continued my packing extravaganza. I had to move out of my room this morning so Trisha could re-paint the floor. So it’s goodbye to my lovely room and its beautiful view. I’m moving down the guest room which may not have a view but at least it will be cooler for sleeping.

I don’t think I wrote at all about Caleb’s birthday. We had a little party with some of Sally’s friends. Sally made sure that we wore color coordinated clothes and we took lots of pictures. Much to our delight Caleb actually ate his birthday cake. He eats everything, pasta, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots... but he doesn’t like bread or things that have a bread-like consistency, even zucchini bread or grilled cheese. Anyway, I will have pictures when I get home for those of you who will be at the family reunion.

In other news, the job hunt is on hold while I rush around like a maniac getting ready to go. I have a pretty good possibility lined up. If something comes of it I will let you all know.

Last week Caleb knocked my TV off its stand and onto my foot. My first reaction was, “Is Caleb OK!?” second, “Is the TV OK?!” and then, “OUCH!” Both Caleb and the TV were fine and my foot was making a good recovery when I left for the city... and preceded to walk all over lower Manhattan. Not a particularly brilliant idea. I’ve been limping off and on since then and periodically treating my foot with an ice pack which I balance on top of a suitcase while sitting on the floor sorting through clothes and various scraps of paper.

Seeing Mary and Matt in the city was a lot of fun. It’s nice when two of your friends get married, you get two for the price of one when you see them. We went to Sally’s former bakery. It is TINY. Let me tell you! I mean, I knew it was a bakery not a restaurant or even a cafe. But there’s barely room for one tiny table with two chairs. We got cupcakes (which Sally is famous for) and they were tasty but the icing was perfectly delectable. Then we walked through the Village to SOHO and down to Little Italy and Chinatown which are scrunched together in a way that I find delightful. Any place where you can find lobsters swimming in murky green tanks of water next to exotic Asian spices on one corner and tables with red-checkered table clothes presided over by Italian men in crisp white shirts on the other is alright by me. It drizzled off and on all day. I read in Julie/Julia the other day that in Chinatown it is always raining. Is that true? All I can say is the only other time I have been in Chinatown (as an 18 year old) it was pouring and my long baggy jeans syphoned the water off the streets until they were soaked up to the knees.

My favorite part of our day was visiting Ellis Island. We’d all been to the Statue of Liberty before so we skipped that part of the ferry tour and just stayed on the boat until it took us to Ellis Island. I have to say though, the Statue of Liberty is really very beautiful. I remember climbing up the crown as a senior in high school and being kind of underwhelmed. It’s small and crowded in there. But that’s not really how the statue is mean to be appreciated. Seen from the shore line or better yet, seen from a boat in the harbor she is simple, beautiful, and inspiring.

But, I digress. Ellis Island was great. I’d always kind of thought of it as a quick pit stop for immigrants bound for NYC. Instead I find that it was a major operation. There were hospitals and dormitories, a cafeteria. There were medical tests and mental ability tests. Single women who were traveling alone were not allowed to leave the island until they were married so lots of marriages were preformed there. So many people came through who had to be diagnosed, translators found for them, they had to be housed and fed. It was really quite impressive undertaking.

I will write soon, probably from the road.

Too Busy to Smell the Roses

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:04:49 GMT

Sally has some beautiful roses blooming in her garden. I went to take pictures this afternoon and my camera was out of bateries. My room looks like a tornado hit it, in part because it was not terribly tidy to begin with, part because I'm trying to pack a little. But mostly because Caleb is like a Tazmainian Devil... or a Whirling Dirvish... or something...

Anyway, I just dropped by to say if I don't post much (or at all) in the next two weeks, DON'T GIVE UP ON ME! I think I lost some of my readership during my radio silence after Moldova. I will be back! There will be more adventures. It's just that I have friends to meet in the city, Eloise needs new tires, I'm trying to do job applications.... so on and so forth.

Please stay tuned.

Movies Are Meant to be Shared

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:41:39 GMT

Mogie bought her ticket for the 25th of August. I have to say I’m really excited about going home. Sally’s friends have often asked me if I’ve been homesick and I’ve always been able to answer truthfully in the negative. I know what homesick is and this is not it. Really I’ve felt so close to everyone because I’ve been able to call them whenever I want. Still, it’s not the same as actually being home. I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by myself on Monday night. I’ve never gone to a Harry Potter by myself. Paige and I started going to see them together when I was 17 and she was 11 and we’ve only missed The Chamber of Secrets while I was in Moldova. This brings us to:

My thoughts on HP and the HBP. It was the cliff notes version of the book. I don’t know how I would have done it better. It’s just that you can’t take a book of that length and complexity and turn it into one movie, even one that is over two hours long. It was a lot of fun though. I was glad they gave Ginny a more prominent role and I liked watching the unfolding of Ron and Hermione’s awkward teen romance.

I have generally approved of the casting in the HP movies and none more so than Alan Rickman as Snape. Even in this movie which is named after him Snape still doesn’t have a lot of screen time. But, Alan Rickman has this sort of gravitational field around him that turns everyone else into side characters whenever he appears.

It was after Dumbledore’s death scene (let me tell you, hearing the “killing curse" gave me goose bumps) that I realized the story has gone a bit beyond the PG level in terms of violence. They don’t show the “sectumsempra” curse to full effect because it would be too gruesome and I really don’t know what they will do about the death, destruction and mayhem of The Deathly Hallows.

One of my favorite parts of this particular movie going experience was that the median age of the audience was around 35. It was fun to share in the excitement, fun, and sorrow of Harry Potter’s world with an audience of adults.

Favorite quote in many months-

edenlass to small boy with Batman t-shirt- “I like your shirt!”

small boy giving her a hug- “You’re beautiful and I love you!”

Two links

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:16:01 GMT

As I was just telling Pip, in a quick Facebook note, I tend to do the less important chores before the important ones. I consider posting to LJ fairly important so it waits till the end of my morning on the internet. This is fortunate today because in the process of checking e-mails and LJ I found (or was sent) two great links of no relation to each other.

The first is serious and IMHO (in my humble opinion) great news from Moldova. See more here: www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/world/europe/31moldova.html

The second is not serious and made my day in a LOST fan girl sort of way. See more here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=014itDIxqH8#

Barn Sales, Garden Tours, and Baby Steps

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:18:17 GMT

We finally had our barn sale last Saturday. We have been talking about the barn sale since last August. There is a whole collection of vintage kitchen ware, white kitchen table chairs, a chandelier, various knickknacks and baby clothes. It also appears to contain anything and everything we might possibly need. Usually our conversations go something like this:

edenlass: I wish I had some stationary.

Sally: I think there’s some in the barn sale!

Sally: I wish I had another baking dish...

edenlass: Maybe there is one in the barn sale!

It got to the point that I wondered if we’d actually have anything left by the time we had the sale. We ended up combining the barn sale with the garden tour that Sally gave for the local “Slow Food” organization. Both were a great success. Sally says that the flower garden will be in full bloom by next week and then I will take pictures. It is already beautiful and every morning she goes outside and returns to report on which flowers have new blooms. Sometimes I take Caleb out for a ride in his wagon before anyone else is up. We take a tour across the dew soaked yard, around the flower garden and then down to the vegetable garden where two white rose bushes bloom in wild profusion against the picket fence.

Caleb is seeming less and less like a baby and more and more like a little boy with each passing day. I was home alone when he took his first steps and I was so shocked and excited I yelled and the dogs came running to see what was the matter. He is now walking about half the time and is very proud of himself.

Speaking of Caleb, we think we’ve found him a new nanny! It’s a great relief for Sally to have found someone and I am happy because I think we would get along really well. She’s very into fantasy and movies and loves cats. It’s nice to know that Caleb will be with someone who shares my love of fantasy and imagination.

This morning I’ve spent a while running around the internet in circles trying to decide what it is I want to be doing next and how I plan to do whatever that is. It’s too bad nothing I really want to do offers a ~~any~~ decent salary.

Real Life Keeps Knocking

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:16:18 GMT

I am on line trying to fill out a resume and I keep on getting caught up in conversations with various different people. First Angie-my high school best friend who now lives in Philly, then Efe- who was on her lunch break and now Vanya-who only just got up and is upset because the internet doesn’t work at his job. I’ve started writing a couple of things for this blog but they will have to wait until next time because they obviously aren’t getting done today.

Quote of the Day:
The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest.- E.B. White

Four Years and Counting

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:04:22 GMT

I was thinking about this blog this morning and realized it has been over four years since my first inspiring entry. This has been so much fun and I hope it continues for many years to come.