In My Copious Free Time

Quiet whirlwind weekend

First of all, wow am I ever embarrassed by how I have neglected my blog!

The last few weeks have been pretty full and hectic but also full of lots of smiles. Can't complain at all.

Last weekend we drove over to Amherst for the day to spend time with Joe's grad school housemates Jon and Steve and their families. We had the nicest time - these are people we don't seen nearly often enough. It was pretty educational, too - Jon's younger daughter was born deaf (she's 2) and so we picked up a lot of ASL words. ASL is pretty cool - for instance, the sign for "chocolate" when made more vigorously means "sex."

This week I worked 4 10+ hour days (including one very late night in the office) and took Friday off as per our new 4-day work weak policy. I'm not sure, but I think I liked it. ;)

This weekend we drove down to NJ to see my friend Gretchen and her family. It is so nice when you find a friend who you love who also has a great family you enjoy and your family enjoys them, too. One of the first things I did was get Gretchen interested in Plurk, and by the end of the day she was good and hooked. :) The guys went and had drinks and got cigars while G and I chilled, catching up on what's new with each other and doing some tandem online window shopping ("hey, look at these shoes - do you like them more in purple?"). We ended up having a late dinner and stayed up late laughing and talking. I still went to bed earlier than I have all week, though. ;)

This morning we slept in a little, watched some Olympics basketball on the ginormous TV, then G and I went shopping where I proceeded to buy nothing. I have a feeling I'm going to need some new pants and such this fall as I weigh 10 pounds less than I did at the beginning of the year. (Basically through snacking less, I think, and maybe my metabolism finally recovered from quitting soda.) I got the new Lucky magazine this week and I can't wait to dig into it. G and I also made plans for what I've come to think of as Lollashoelooza - we're going to have a little trip into NYC one weekend in late fall to buy some very lovely, very sexy shoes. Spending time with G and her family reminds me of how great it is to have friends with whom you can just chill - no elaborate plans, just plain ol' fun and great company.

Now we're on the road home - about 30 miles from home. Laundry awaits and I have a whole mess of work emails that I guess I need to go to the office to send. Even though I was logged into the server through VPN when I sent them, they are still sitting in my outbox. Frustrating.

I leave for Trinidad on Wednesday and don't feel anywhere near ready to go. Should be a fun trip...not a lot of work travel booked for the rest of the year, but since client work is picking up steam again, I'm sure that will change.

Oh, I've also been writing a good bit lately, mostly poetry. Not half bad. (And if you know me and my impossible self-standards, you know I really mean not half good, either. ;))

Timetable for starting a good weekend

5:00am: time the car service picked me up at my house to go to NYC with the CEO and EVP for a VIM (very important meeting)
9:00am: meeting with potential client that tried every last nerve in my body
11:20am: meeting ends with potential client becoming actual client
12:00pm: said goodbye to CEO (heading back home in car) and EVP (heading to airport in taxi)
4:00pm: met girlfriend on corner of Broadway and 43rd, proceeded to Sephora
6:15pm: ate fantastic BBQ and awesome hush puppies at Virgil's
8:00pm: settled into nice orchestra seats and laughed until my cheeks hurt at Spamalot
12:00am: rolled into friend's house, went right to bed (discovered I'd left my glasses at home - oops)
8:30am: woke up after having dreams of falling asleep on the subway
9:30am: had a great breakfast
12:00pm: went for pedicures (which I badly needed), talked about all manner of important things
4:00pm: arrived at Newark Penn station
8:30pm: arrived home, hugged child who said, "Mommy, you're back! I'm not lonely anymore!"
8:31pm: removed knife from chest

Deja vu

Another good weekend to report...

Friday was ultra-stressful, with some difficult client negotiations and a proposal to finish that was giving me fits. But I managed to get it done, get us home, and get us to the train station in time for our 5:15 train to NYC. That would be the 5:15 train that left promptly at 5:51. -eyeroll-

Remind me to not take the following advice again, no matter how handsome or confident-sounding the bearer of said advice is:

"We don't need the stroller."
"We can just walk to the hotel from here."

Moving right along...my dad and uncle were in NYC to see the US Open, so we decided to go down for the weekend to spend time with them. We had a lot of fun doing some touristy stuff and just hanging out at the hotel, and we also managed to snag a couple of hours of hanging out with a couple of friends.

We stayed at the Radisson on Lexington and 48th, which was supremely preferable to the hotel they'd originally been booked in -- a Comfort Inn in Flushing. The backstory is that they were given this trip as a gift, but the hotel didn't get booked until the last minute, and because of that, there wasn't much available within the vicinity of Winged Foot. So this is what they were given. We had planned on coming down and spending the weekend with them at whatever hotel they were in. Call me a hotel snob, but when I saw that, my reaction was a solid HELLS NO. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I really needed to step in and do something. I did a little digging, found that there was a free shuttle bus from the Mamaroneck train station to the course, and that the trains were running an expanded schedule from Grand Central during the tournament.  So I suggested that they stay somewhere midtown near Grand Central. Easier said than done. I must have looked at 50 hotels that were booked solid. Though, IIRC, the Waldorf Astoria was available for $500/nt. ;) I got tired of searching and set my travel agent loose on the issue. He came up with the Radisson at the superb average rate of $245/nt for their stay. Ours was even better since the weekend prices were lower than weekdays -- $189/nt.  I even arranged for a car service to pick them up at JFK.

Anyhow, back to the weekend. We had upgrade coupons, so after the first night (they were full that night), my dad and uncle were upgraded to a "suite." Because of our rate, our room was apparently not upgradable, but strangely enough, our room was bigger than their suite, and it wasn't just that we had a king and they had two doubles so ours seemed bigger, either. Our room didn't have the mini-fridge and microwave, but it did have two bathrooms. Radisson also has Sleep Number beds, and the first night, my Sleep Number was zero. I don't care what the Bionic Woman says, give me a Heavenly Bed any day.

Some things we did:
Empire State Building
lots of walking around
dinner at ESPNZone (my idea)
Toys R Us in Times Square (and a ride on their Ferris wheel)
WTC site
American Museum of Natural History

My uncle, the retired fire chief in our hometown, wanted to see the WTC site and I was jaded about it until I got there. It's something else -- the contrast of the bustle of the rest of Manhattan and relative stillness of that site is incredible.

We had a nice time at the AMNH, and Alex caught site of the new (I guess?) ground fountains outside the Hall of Planets or the Rose or whatever it's called. For some reason, I packed a change of clothes for him that day, something I almost never do. Lucky thing -- he had a great time playing in the fountains. I have to say, I enjoyed it myself. Not that I played in the fountains, but I did stand in near enough that my feet stayed wet, and therefore cool. And if I accidentally got splashed a time or two, I wasn't complaining.

We planned on leaving on the 5:45 train, but ended up staying to watch the final round of the Open with my dad and uncle. When we returned from AMNH to collect our bags from their room, we were surprised to find they'd just gotten there as well. They had called it a day and trained back to watch on TV -- Winged Foot is a tough course for golfers AND spectators, plus when you're there, the most you can really see is 1/18 of the action. I guess it sounds funny to think that we all had a great time sitting around talking and watching golf, but we did. After Ogilvy won it (how did Johnny Miller predict that one??), we went out for pizza and then Joe, Alex, and I left for the train station. And this time, we took a cab. Fool me once and all that business...

All in all, a very pleasant weekend. Alex was a trooper and we had a nice mix of family time, friends time, stuff we all enjoyed, and stuff that was all about him. He's now ridden the subway in four major cities in three countries. :)

Also, Phil Mickelson could use a Bro. Or a Manssiere.

What you can do when it doesn't rain

After a full 8 days of rain, it finally stopped by noon on Saturday. A couple of days ago I was talking with my good friend G and realized that NY Sheep & Wool was coming up. Despite what has been, for all practical purposes, a knitting hiatus, I thought it would be a fun way to spend the afternoon. So we agreed we'd each bring our kiddo and meet at noon. Good plan.

The drive down was just gorgeous -- blue sky started peeking out around 11am and the foliage is starting to look really nice. Next weekend should be the peak. Once the rain moved out, the day was haze-free and gorgeous. How anyone can not appreciate the absolute wonder of  In just under 3 hours, we fondled yarn, ate fair food (ummm, kettle corn), and watched while the kids "petted the sheeps."

At some point I sheepishly (rimshot) mentioned that we weren't that far from Woodbury Common Outlets and, while it would be on the way home for G, I wouldn't mind tacking on the 30 extra miles to hit the outlets. I managed to keep myself out of the really high end stores for a change. (It's much less painful that way.) Banana Republic was a pigsty as usual (how other stores manage to keep themselves neat and BR looks as if wild monkeys have run through it is beyond me). Such a nice outlet center in general.

After shopping we went for dinner at TGI Friday's, did a quick stop in Wal-Mart (no cds in the car an no fresh mp3 batteries on a 2-hour, late night drive home is a bad combination), and we went our separate ways. Such a nice day.

(At Sheep and Wool I bought two 500-yard skeins of Brooks Farm Harmony, 1 in shades of green and one in shades of blue, and one 200-yard skein of a mixed novelty that is very purple-lashy and has more colors threaded through than I can even describe. I'd put in pictures, but the camera is currently hiking around Thatcher State Park with the men of the household. At Woodbury, I got 2 suits at Ann Taylor  -- 1 houndstooth and one brownish that almost looks like tweed, but isn't. They had all their suits on sale for $119 each. I was just thinking I needed new suits for some upcoming work stuff, so I'm set. )

I refuse to disclose how much kettle corn I've eaten while I've been typing this entry.

Weekend highlights

If I were Congress, I'd pass legislation to make Independence Day Independence Week instead. And if I were the President, I'd sign it. I'm neither, but that didn't stop me from having a lovely 3-day weekend.

I need to post about Live 8. Sooo good, so looking forward to the DVD release. I won't go into the sorry-ass coverage by MTV/VH1.

We went to Valley Cats games on Sunday and Monday, arriving about an hour into the game in each case. Call me a beeyatch, but I take great pleasure in informing seat claimjumpers that they are in our 2nd row behind the dugout seats and they'll need to move.

Anyhow, as I suspected, Alex is a little bit freaked by fireworks. He loves them and really wants to watch, but the noise bothers him. With some reassurance, he warmed up, but it was a bit iffy at first. If it weren't for the fact that he so clearly wanted to watch them, I would have just taken him right home. Of course, after it was over he was telling us all the different sounds fireworks make and talking excitedly about getting home to draw fireworks on his "Magma" Doodle. Hopefully the fireworks re-indoctrination will pay off when we go to Disney. (He loved them there, but was unable to say "fireworks", referring to them as "fuck." Any doubt whose kid he is?)

On the way home from the game on Monday night, we were listening to Trout Fishing in America -- Alex likes them more than the Black Eyed Peas, if you can imagine that. A sweet song called "Count on Me" -- wanna listen? -- came on and Alex was softly singing along. When he got to the chorus, instead of saying "you can count on me" he said, "I can count on Mommy."  <sniff, sniff>

And a photo from the game...this is such a serious look, but get a load of those gorgeous eyes:

Awesome weekend

(I'm moving some entries from one journal to another here. I'm not quite sure why yet. But go with it for now.)

21 March 2005
We had a terrific time with some great friends this weekend. Wonderful food, wonderful company. On Saturday the guys hung out with the kids while the women drove into the city. We visited The Yarn Co. -- nice stuff, but very disappointing in terms of size and overall selection. We did have an excellent lunch at Rosa Mexicano...sooooo yummy. I was impressed with the guacamole-made-tableside (though I don't eat the stuff), I had a delicious tortialla soup and chicken enchiladas...and mooched a bit of pomegranate margarita.

That evening the guys went out to play pool (They came back early as the pool place was "too dirty" -- oh, how we laughed at them. Shamed, they retired to the deck to drink scotch and smoke cigars.) and we sat around and knit. L tortured us, er, I mean taught us how to knit socks. Why I am knitting something on needles the size of toothpicks that I could go to Target and buy for $3 is beyond me. But I'm doing it.

Friend 1 and her husband took Friend 2 to the airport for her flight since they were heading that way to go home anyway, and Host Friend and I went shopping. We had planned on heading home around 4pm, but our gracious hosts invited us to stay for dinner, so we happily accepted. :)

INTJ

That's my Myers Briggs Type Indicator result. Introvert-Intuitive-Thinking-Judging. Fascinating shit. We have no end of self-scoring MBTI tests at work, and I think I've taken it 3 times in the 5 years I've been with the firm. Once I must have been in the worst mood, ever, because on the thinking vs. feeling category, I scored not a single point in the feeling column. Heartless wench? /me raises hand

People tend to be surprised that I'm an I, though. And in all fairness to those around me, I do test closer to borderline, usually only a 1 or 2-point difference in my introversion vs. extroversion scores. But while this little bit of public journaling might say otherwise, I am an introvert. Solidly. I don't care what that test says. It's not that I don't like people. I just generally don't want them talking to me. ;)

Why am I saying this? Because today we had a block party. While I admit the whole idea is quaint and I am pleased at having chosen such a civil, friendly place to live, the thought of having to spend hours talking to my neighbors brings out my introversion in it's purest, capital-I form. I can't say that I really know any of my neighbors well -- I work a lot, and when I'm not working, I'm playing with Alex, or running the myriad errands necessary to keep our household functioning, or doing something for myself (which doesn't involve socializing with the neighbors I don't know), or sleeping. Doesn't leave a lot of time for standing on the sidewalk and shooting the breeze.

I will say one thing about our block parties -- at least they aren't at 6pm on Friday nights any more. Those were tough on me as they required me to race home from work and prepare a meat dish and side dish (this is what everyone is asked to bring). I'm going good to get home by 6pm as it is. And while today was very cool (chilly, even), they did have a firebox set up at the end of our dead-end street where people congregate for these events.

How bad is it that more than once I wondered if I could take my knitting to the party? Search as I might, I couldn't come up with a way to rationalize such an act and instead faced the small clutch of neighbors without the protection of my bamboo circulars. As it was, I spent most of my time corralling the kiddo, lest he roll around in one particularly large puddle or wander into any number of nearby houses. I even managed to smother a small, giddy laugh when, out of the blue, he laid in the street saying "I tired." Never has a mother swooped in so quickly to cradle her child in her arms and carry him home -- to those walls that carve out a little personal space in the midst of all those people we live along side of.

I would like to report that he went right to sleep and I worked diligently on my Klaralund. The truth is that we snuggled on the couch under a quilt until both of us fell asleep, and by the time the phone woke me up, the block party had more or less ended. The husband, an ESFP, reports that everyone raved over the sesame seed chicken.

Otherwise, it was a quiet weekend. Bought groceries and any number of other small but fun and unnecessary items, like "Ghostbusters" on DVD. I went to both Michael's and AC Moore and didn't buy any yarn at all. Tonight I procrastinated an important work task, instead chosing to continue reading A Girl Named Zippy. Haven Kimmel is a terrific writer. And, well, anyone whose first word was "magazine" is A-OK in my book. ;)

Weekend Update

Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon: the two most beautiful words in the English language.
-Henry James

Were he to consider one more word, he would have probably settled on "three day weekend."

The summer has already been so busy, and will get busier still, so we decided to lay low this weekend. No cook-outs, no traveling. Unfortunately, Joe had to work. Which left Alex and me to just hang loose. There was much procrastinating of chores and yarn shopping. :-)

Actually, the weekend started off with a call from L as I was leaving work, telling me about the luscious new yarns Knit Happens had just received. She mentioned Kollage and Himalaya recycled silk. I definitely want a lot of Kollage, but didn't think I needed the recycled silk. Until I saw it at Saratoga Needle Arts. I got 2 skeins. Plus a bunch of Berroco Softwist in black for a tank. Plus some Manos cotton stria in tangerine and Amsterdam by Lana Gatto in Fire something-or-other (really cool fuzzy stuff). Plus assorted needles and notions. I suppose I should throw in some links for all the yarns. Maybe later. ;)

Saturday night I finished a felted version of the Hip Knit Purse from Sweaterbabe. Oh, the lessons I learned about felting. First of all, I altered the pattern to account for shrinkage, but it shrunk much more top-to-bottom than side-to-side. So it's a good bit wider than I anticipated. And I started a new ball of Manos for the strap, and the color difference is pretty noticeable. Ah well. It's cute. It isn't perfect. I learned a lot. C'est la vie.

For the 4th we really did nothing -- Alex and I went to Barnes & Noble, Joe worked more. I worked on and off on my booga bag. We watched fireworks on TV.

Today Joe worked even more and I stayed in to do laundry and such. Made some yummy salsa chicken stuff in the crockpot. Remind me to never, ever, ever do crockpot cooking when I am home all day. Torture, pure torture.
Then tonight I started this blog.