New Eyes

I've spent the weekend in The Big Apple visiting a good friend of mine from film school at RIT and his wife. Took in a spooky puppet show and had a massive walking tour of Manhattan today. We were going to do the Circle Line but it was too damned windy. The bus ride down was 5 hours and easy as pie - no excuse not to come on down at least once a year.

This weekend has given me a much-needed break from the rut I've been in lately. I had an epiphany yesterday when I pulled a major arcana card from my friend's tarot deck and got the World in reversed position. In essence, what I need to do is let go of my obsession with the Korea job (will it happen or not?) because I've been put everything else in a holding pattern without realizing it. Plus, the issues with my computer seem to be on the verge of resolution (I am getting a MacBook Pro as a replacement for the MacBook piece of garbage, at an addition cost of only $200). I have been without a computer, or a fully functioning computer, for almost a month, now, and it has really depressed me.

SO - here's the plan: get on a schedule those two days a week I'm not at I.C. and get my other latent projects up and running. Especially my need for a second job come Jan. 2007: tutoring and writing to earn some extra casssssshhhhh.

I miss Bizarro somethin' fierce. I love traveling but I don't enjoy myself as much as when I'm with him. Next time he's coming with me to NY or Boston (whichever comes first).

And now, a much-needed shower.

Myserious and Spooky

Happy Friday the 13th! Tonight I want to see Ghost Whisperer because it promises to be spookier than usual, but my huzzbinnd of course wants to watch Monarch of the Glen. So far I've missed most of GW this season, acquiescing to the Scottish soap opera. Don't get me wrong, I like MotG, but I want to see some scary sh*t tonight.

Speaking of scary sh*t, The Grudge 2 comes out this weekend. Yes! Maybe I'll go see it next Friday at a matinee, since we have the day off for Fall Break.

Today's task is to get out the winter clothes and do some laundry. Other than that, I'm still feeling under-the-weather and won't be exerting much effort.

Still waiting to hear about the job going to Korea...

I think I'm going to bug out of here early. No one is coming by on a Friday afternoon.

Here's some scary sh*t to look at .

Exhaustified

When I got up this morning, I had no idea I'd end the day with a new china cabinet in the dining room. After doing my office hour today, I went out to just price china cabinets, both used and new. I drove all the way out to the used furniture place we've bought from before, only to find the building closed up tight as a drum and not a stick of furniture in the entire place. Bummed, I drove back down 96 and decided to check out the antique mall that I've driven past so many times. I walked in and within 5 minutes I found the perfect china cabinet - and it was only $125. The owner knocked off 10% since the delivery fee was $50. So all totalled with tax, I bought a c. 1930s mahogany china cabinet for $170. I feel like an adult, now.

The china set that Bizarro's parents gave us for our wedding present is finally out of the box. Unfortunately, 3 of the dinner plates were broken. Not too bad considering the box has been sitting around for 30-some years waiting for him to get married. Still, that was a disappointment.

My brother had also given me the family silver coffee/tea service (finally, I've been coveting that for years). It was dark brown with tarnish, but I polished it up and it now resides proudly in the china cabinet.

So now I'm totally exhaustified, from shifting around the furniture to make space and all the cleaning that goes with it. Whipped up a delicious baked chicken and vegetables and some risotto. Mmmmmmm. Ready for bed soon, though.

Here's to another day in the life. Damn, I wish I had my computer back.

3 Days

This concludes my three days in Rockland, Mass. It's been a whirlwind tour, and I'm exhausted, physically and emotionally. Doing this on the tail end of a nasty cold was a challenge, but I'm really glad I decided to buck up and drive out here.

Between seeing my beautiful grand nephew and reconnecting with my childhood friend, it has been an emotional trip. A new relationship and a renewed one. Then this evening we had dinner with a different childhood friend of mine and his family who have known me since I was a wee bairn. We also stopped by the house I grew up in and my brother, who already had most of a 12-pack in him, invited ourselves in. They haven't changed single thing on the inside or the outside of the house, so it was very strange to see flashbacks of my childhood. Actually I think the flooring in the kitchen/dining room and the basement are the only things different. Even the venetian blinds and the bedroom shades are the same. Yup.

So tomorrow I hit the road for NY around 10 a.m. Gonna try to do some grading in the morning. Blarg. Bizarro is still sick, poor thing. I can't wait to snuggle in front of the fire tomorrow night. It'll be good to sleep in my own bed, again.

Greetings from Rockland, MA

I'm spending the weekend in the land I was born, hangin' with my family and friends. In a little while, I am going to meet up with a childhood friend with whom I had a falling out about 6 years ago. I decided I wanted to reach out, even though I was totally unsure of how she would respond. I saw her car in her mom's driveway yesterday afternoon, and then when we got back to the house I gave her a call there. She sounded pleased to hear from me and voila. I am excited and nervous. I hope things go well. I think they will.

The rest of the trip has been very nice. I left Ithaca at 5:30 a.m. and got in here just at the strike of twelve noon. Easy traffic but my god, the Evil Dead fog in NYS lingered until well after the sun was up. I was still driving in and out of cloud banks at around 8:30. Today is sunny and should be in the 70s, and I'm looking forward to going over my nephew and niece's house for Sunday sgetti dinner - and to see the baby!

P.S. I'm typing this on my brother's G4 Power Book and I really REALLY wish I'd bought one of these instead of the MacBook which i've had to send back to Apple to have the keyboard replaced. This thing runs faster than the MacBook and the Macbook was advertised as running faster than the G4. Really steams my buns. >:|