Saturday Video Update

Labels: family, friends, reading, school, spiritual seeking

posted by Miss Rachel 5/10/2008 07:54:00 PM

. . .

It looks as if the Alaska trip is not going to happen. My brother told my mom that it wouldn't really be worth all the trouble of traveling to stay for only few days and then leave, but I don't want to take any more vacation time. (I want to save some days for next fall when I need extra time to do homework.) So my mom and I talked and I said maybe it would be best to hold off until next year when I could plan my vac time better (I think I've already taken 9.5 vac days so far this year). I feel relieved actually because now I have more time to play with this summer taking a Friday here and a Friday there the way I like to.

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Even though I made time for a nap yesterday, I ended up doing all sorts of chores such as vacuum cleaning, picking up dog poop, grocery shopping, mail sorting and purging, dish washing and laundry folding well into last evening so I don't feel that relaxed today. Recently, I've been a little down on myself for all the down time I seem to require every night. In the evening, I like to spend most of my time on the couch reading blogs on my MacBook (or reading something else). Now since I'm still feeling slightly frazzled from last night's blitz of activity, I'm thinking that instead of feeling bad about needing lots of down-time, I should just know that having it keeps me sane. It's just how I am, and nothing to be ashamed of, right?

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Guess what time of year it is in Connecticut? Well, yes it's spring, but it also happens to be Lilac Time! I'm so excited about it. I think lilacs must be my favorite flower and part of their mystique is the fact that they come out every year for only a few weeks in May and then they're gone. They smell heavenly and are such a pretty color. We have a type of lilac bush in our backyard, and I love it, but it's a different variety and it doesn't look or smell the same as the kind that are my favorite. Last year, Blue and I went to the park on a Lilac Sniffing Expedition so I could get my fix, and I think we may have to do the same thing again this year.

Labels: family, life at home, spring

posted by Miss Rachel 5/05/2008 08:23:00 AM

. . .

Crunch Time

Labels: anxiety, family, school

posted by Miss Rachel 4/25/2008 05:19:00 PM

. . .

This is an email I sent to my brother today:

Hi Danny. Thanks for the encouragement about school. I really appreciate it. I know I am doing the right thing, but it gets kind of tiring and nerve-wracking at times.

About visiting. I am definitely still thinking about it, and I asked Mom if she would want to go with me, and she said she might. Today Andrea emailed me that she and Mom went shopping for clothes she can wear in Alaska so I guess it's a go. When would be a good time? June? Any tips for cutting flight costs or anything? Mom is talking about that silly "not spending you kids' inheritance" stuff again. I told her we'd rather spend it when she's still here with us, but if you have some frequent flier miles to donate that would help.

So let me know what you think...

Andrea and I were just reminiscing about that time you had to finish your cold mashed potatoes. She left for CCD and you were at the table, and then she came back from CCD and you were still at the table.

Also I saw a (small) snake in the backyard last week and thought, "Well we have to move now." I bet there aren't any snakes in Alaska, huh?

W/B when you can. Take care. I love you. - Rae

Labels: family

posted by Miss Rachel 4/21/2008 09:33:00 PM

. . .

Video Update

Labels: family, fat, technology, watching, work

posted by Miss Rachel 3/21/2008 05:34:00 PM

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It's My Birthday!



Listening: Jacob Ter Veldhuis - Paradiso Oratorio

Labels: family, friends, listening

posted by Miss Rachel 2/24/2008 09:05:00 PM

. . .

Long Overdue Update

Labels: blogging, family, friends, school, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 1/22/2008 08:41:00 PM

. . .

You know, I just don't have enough in my sidebar so now I've gone and added voice comments. I would love if you would leave me one. You have to create an account on Snapvine, but it's pretty easy (I mean, I did it) and it's free. And if you don't, you may still hear my happy little greeting here on the page. Do I sound like you thought I would? When I hear my voice, I always think it sounds much more... I don't know... nasally (?) than it does if you're inside my head. It sounds much lower and smarter inside my head. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you.

Did everyone have a nice Christmas? I totally did. I went on this cleaning bonanza the weekend before, finishing it off the morning of the 24th. I also had to go and get another present for my mom that day too, but other than that there was no exceptional stress. I didn't bake or cook anything and I didn't send Christmas cards this year. I decided that doing those things would only add to the holiday by making me crazier instead of making me more joyous.

My mom and sister came down on the 24th, but they went directly to Andrea's friend's house (where they were having dinner) without stopping here first so Sweetie and I didn't see them until we got home from the dinner we had at his sister's house. At his sister's house, there was her and her husband and their two kids, his other sister and her husband and their two kids, plus Sweetie's parents and the two of us. One of his sister's kids is getting to be just the age I love - 7 years old. And she and I were exchanging glances and smiling at each other about some of the crazy things one of the little ones was saying. Cute.

I got to spend some quality time with my mom and Andrea later that night and we were together all day on Christmas. (By the way Mom and Andrea said, "Who cleaned the house? It's immaculate!") Our Christmas day dinner included me, Sweetie, my mom, my sister and Sweetie's parent at an Asian fusion restaurant. There were some issues with the food there - cold plates and some of the dishes not quite hot enough. Sweetie and I go to this restaurant a lot for take out, and it seems better at serving that than serving in house, especially for people like my mom and Sweetie's parents who like their food HOT. But it was still a good time because we always have fun talking and telling stories with Sweetie's parents.

After we got back from dinner, I called GG (my friend from work) to wish him a merry Christmas. He answered the phone "Upsot?!" a reference to Barbra Streisand's version of Jingle Bells that we joke about, when he saw it was me calling. Then we chatted a bit about what we had been doing. I was glad I made an effort to call him because he sounded really happy to hear from me. I'm glad we're friends.

Well, as you can see what I really like about holidays is time with loved ones. I hope everyone else in Blog Land had a nice time too.

Labels: blogging, family, friends, holidays

posted by Miss Rachel 12/30/2007 08:20:00 PM

. . .

I went out today to try to get some things done. The main thing was to take care of the graves (my dad's and my maternal grandparents') for my mom. She wanted me to get Christmas arrangements or cemetery logs for each of them. Then I also wanted to get this photo printed and framed as extra gift for my sister "from Woody." I wanted to do laundry as well. Unfortunately, doing laundry involves going out because our washing machine is broken. What an inconvenience. I wasn't planning to go to any laundromat, but to my in-laws' but still, what an inconvenience. I mean, I like putting in a load of wash and then going and doing stuff around the house. And that's hard when you're not at your house.

So anyway, I headed to Plainville with laundry in the trunk and the photograph on a CD in my bag. They only had one Christmas arrangement at Gnazzo's, the local market, so I decided to head over to this place where I've gotten plants in the past, called Sunflower Farm, only to find they're out of business -! Not just closed, but out of business. Oy, so I drove aimlessly through town and then pulled onto a side street and called my mom. She was actually I surprised that I was trying to do the graves (because of the snow she said), but I had promised her so there I was. I told her about my dilemma and she suggested since I was already in Plainville I might as well try to go ahead with it, and suggested I see if they had cemetery arrangements at Big Y.

So off I went, only to find a huge line of traffic backed way up, far from where the Big Y is. There's a whole shopping "area" there now (with lots of big box stores) so I guess that everybody and their brother (as Nana used to say) was out shopping there and causing a veritable traffic jam. I was already reaching my frustration threshold and knew that inching along for forever to get store that might not even have what I needed could put me over the edge.

So I pulled off onto a side street, headed to a "fancy" store in (fancy) Farmington and found cemetery logs for $19.99. Yikes. I called my mother again and she told me that was too expensive, thanks for trying and go home. I briefly looked into a cheap hair salon there to see if I could get my ends lopped, but there were 4 people already waiting so I bagged the idea and headed home listening to a A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. I did stop at Walgreen's to make the print of the photo, but it wasn't going to be ready right away so I went home (maybe Sweetie can do the laundry tomorrow).

Labels: busy life, family, holidays

posted by Miss Rachel 12/22/2007 08:26:00 PM

. . .

As you may have guessed, I've been working a lot my Skype tutorial which is due this Saturday. I even took off yesterday (Tuesday) to work on it, and I'm also taking off Friday. I've typed up a good chunk of it, Tonight with my teacher's help, I finally figured out the chat function. I think it will work out all right.

Then I have another project which is called a memo, but is really more of a proposal. We have to write a memo convincing (an imaginary) library to adopt some sort of technology. I didn't have a topic for that so I asked my teacher what he thought and he suggested offering Skype at the library. I'm not sure I'll be able to get five pages out of that, but I'll try. There is some controversy around Skype so I'm sure I can dig some of that up to make it interesting.

I can't believe I haven't even posted about Thanksgiving. Me who loves holidays! The meal was completely vegan and Sweetie did most of it:we got the Tofurky kit, but he roasted the Tofurky in the this yummy caramelized onion and sour cherry relish type stuff that he made. He also made Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish, which is getting to be his annual tradition. I cooked up some green beans (fresh) and mashed pumpkin (from a can), and I also made an apple crumble pie (completely from scratch of course). His mom brought a fruit salad and an orzo pilaf of sorts.

It was just Sweetie and I and his parents. After we ate, I brought out some old photographs I have from my mom's side of the family and everyone seemed to enjoy poring over those with me. The ones from my grandmother's wedding in 1926 are always quite the hit. She was beautiful. I also got to hear some stories about my mother-in-law's family that I had never heard before. Fascinating stuff. I love family history. I am really blessed to have such nice in-laws. My mother-in-law even called later Thanksgiving weekend to say what a nice time they had had.

Labels: family, food, holidays, school

posted by Miss Rachel 11/28/2007 09:36:00 PM

. . .

My mom came for a visit on Saturday. We: got take-out dinner from the Macaroni Grill Saturday night and ate it with Sweetie, watched Red Sox and Indians games, drove to Plainville to check on the graves and get some Eddie's babka, also drove to Southington looking for Eddie's Bakery, but didn't find it (we took a wrong turn and then just decided to get the bread at a market in Plainville), hung laundry on the line together, met with her cousin who had some old family pictures which he gave me (!!!) and then went out to lunch with him and heard more family stories, went to Macy's where I bought a pair of shoes and pair of boots (I almost got another lipstick too, but the Clinique counter was out of the color I wanted), and talked and hung out and stuff. It was good to see her.

Labels: family

posted by Miss Rachel 10/23/2007 07:57:00 PM

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Today I'm presenting my "word of the day" in tech class. My "word" or words, more accurately, are digital / analog. I know a lot of people already understand what they mean, but not me, so that's why I picked them. Let me tell you, I had a hard time getting my head around the definition, but I think I've got it now. I had researched using Wikipedia and this other site, "HowStuffWorks," but I think what helped the most was talking with Sweetie. He kept explaining it to me in different ways, and finally, it just clicked. He's such a good teacher.

Speaking of Sweetie... poor Sweetie. On Thursday someone from the station called asked if he could fill in on the Friday night / Saturday morning 12 - 3 AM show at WWUH, and he said he'd do it. No big deal. He slept for a couple hours last night, and then figured he'd come home after 3 and go back to bed. However, I woke up at 4:30 this morning and realized he still wasn't home. So I turned on the radio, and after a song finished playing, there was Sweetie's voice. I guess the person doing the 3 - 6 AM shift didn't show.

I figured he must feel kind of stranded so I decided to call him. I wasn't sure of the phone number and we only had a yellow pages upstairs so I crept downstairs to the look up the number in the white pages. We have like 50 million phone books that companies keep stupidly sending us and not being fully awake, it was difficult for me to find the right one - oy. But I found it, found the number, and then went back upstairs and called it. He answered sounding kind of tense, and I said, "Hi Sweetie." He told me he was so glad it was me and that he'd been hearing from "freaks, drunk people and maniacs" all night. Evidently, the 3-6 AM person didn't show, but what could he do? The show must go on.

After we talked, I put the radio on "sleep" and went back to bed. Sweetie was playing Gram Parsons' music from when he was in a group called the International Submarine Band and when he was in the Byrds. I didn't know he was in the Byrds. In fact, I didn't even know who Gram Parsons was until I got to know Sweetie and he read Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons. As I said, Sweetie is a good teacher.

He's upstairs sleeping now, and I'm drinking coffee and getting ready to face the day.

Labels: busy life, family, listening, school

posted by Miss Rachel 10/20/2007 09:04:00 AM

. . .

Blue and I went up to Rockport for the weekend. We headed up on Friday night, and came back on Sunday around noon. Just a short visit, but it was good to see my mom and Andrea and the cats. The weather was pretty chilly so going to the beach was out, and I suggested going shopping instead. I hate shopping alone, but I enjoy it with them. We headed to the mall and hit Macy's, J. Jill and the Gap among others. I also went to the Apple Store and played around with an iPhone and tried to send Sweetie and e-mail from it, but got his e-mail address wrong (duh).

At Macy's I bought a new Definicils mascara from Lancome and a Clinique lipstick. My mascara was running low so I needed to restock, but of course you know I didn't need a lipstick. But I found this really cool color - Silvery Plum - and bought it. I wore it today, and it's really pretty. I really needed some bras, and I was SO happy to have my mom with me for bra shopping. I like nice lingerie, but trying on bras gets old fast. She gave good moral support and helpful opinions about the fit. I ended up finding 4 good ones. I also bought a summery dress at J. Jill and a winter dress at the Gap.

I got a strawberry slushie / smoothie type thing and then we headed home. On the way, we stopped and picked up a pizza at Papa Gino's. We ate while watching the Yankees game (Mom and Andrea are Yankees fans). Afterward, we watched some of the Red Sox game (and then I watched the Suze Orman show, which I love). I'm a Red Sox fan and it was great to see Big Papi hit a grand slam! I get all caught up on sports when I visit. My sister had taught me all sorts of things about baseball and knows way more about the Red Sox than I do even though she's a Yankees fan.

The visit was brief, but it was good to get some time with my peeps, and it was also good for Mom to get some dog time. She really loves dogs and Blue is quite love-y and entertaining. One of the cats, Woody, and he get along very well. Woody can be really nasty and my mom is always saying how bad she is, but she is an amazingly cute kitty. She's practically irresistable, although she might scratch you if she's in a bad mood. Here is a shot of Her Mighty Cuteness. Now is that cat cute or is that cat cute?



Speaking of cats, today is Trinka's 15th (!) birthday. Happy birthday Trinka!

Labels: Blue, cats, family, make-up

posted by Miss Rachel 8/20/2007 08:15:00 PM

. . .

The weekend was really busy so I didn't get a lot of the down time I so badly crave. Our plumber came to fix the bathtub drain on Saturday morning. (It was seriously clogged.) And then Sweetie and I had a number of errands to do during the day. I also baked cookies to bring to the party that night.

Then there was the party which was fun, but tiring. Also, we didn't know that many people so some of the time we were just standing or sitting around observing and listening. Our friends have a little dog that they adopted recently, but he is certainly NOT like Blue about visitors. There were tons of people there and he was darting all over the place and wagging his tail.

Sunday was the day we had scheduled to install the clothesline I bought. Our brother-in-law (Sweetie's sister's husband) agreed to help us do it in exchange for pizza and beer. I ended up not really helping, except for bringing our brother-in-law a beer, and just hung with my sister-in-law and her kids (one baby and one 4 (?) year old). Blue barked a lot had to spend most of the time in the crate because he has a tendency to nip at visitors' heels if they walk around. (He is getting better with my friend Writer who has been here a number of times though.) I had fun playing with my little niece. Oddly enough, when she and I were running around the house making growling sounds at each other, Blue didn't bark at all.

After the clothesline was installed, we all went out for pizza. I had a nice time and was also really glad to have the clothesline in. I used it that afternoon, and the laundry dried really fast and had that nice, crisp texture and fresh smell that you can only get from drying things outdoors in the sunshine.

Labels: dogs, family, friends, life at home

posted by Miss Rachel 8/14/2007 08:33:00 PM

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This weekend Sweetie, Blue and I headed up to Rockport. We left here on Friday morning and got there about noon. That afternoon we went to Old Garden Beach with my mom. It was a nice, warm day and although the water is always cold on Cape Ann, it wasn't exactly icy so we were able to go in and even swim around a bit. Often times I dive in and have to come right back out. The only bad part about the water was that there were a lot of rocks on the floor which made getting into and out of it difficult.

Afterward, we were able to get a free WiFi signal at the condo, so I checked my e-mail on Sweetie's Mac Book.



That evening Sweetie and I went for a long walk on seaside roads. It was a pretty good workout (we walked for almost an hour) and Sweetie wasn't prepared for such a long trek, but he adjusted pretty well and didn't complain. After we got back, we stepped out again to get some ice cream. Well, I got ice cream (chocolate chip with chocolate sprinkles) and Sweetie got a blue vanilla slush.

On Saturday we did something completely different- we sailed on the Appledore III! I credit Sweetie with getting us to do this. My mom said she always wanted to go on it, and Sweetie said why don't we, so we did. It was another sunny day, but after we got out of the harbor we heard the rumble of thunder. Sweetie and I started jokingly singing the Gilligan's Island theme ("a three hour tour, a three hour tour"). The water was pretty calm, and the sight seeing was beautiful, but the thunder started getting more frequent, and the sky to the west started getting darker blue. After a while, the captain got a message from the Coast Guard that there was a strong storm coming and that we should head back. He said if we didn't, he could lose his license. I said, "The Coast Guard? What do they know?" Kidding. Too bad though because our tour was cut short by about half an hour.

Then we went out for a late lunch / early dinner at this good Chinese restaurant. Afterward, I got ice cream again. This time it was Crunch-a-saurus which is a blue vanilla (what is it with this blue vanilla?) with chocolate covered rice krispies. Then we came home and I fell asleep on the couch for a while, and then Sweetie and I headed out to see The Simpsons Movie. It was playing at the Gloucester Cinema which looks like a real dump from the outside, and turned out to be a real dump on the inside too - dirty, messy, unkempt. Fortunately, I didn't need to use the restroom, which would have been a scary prospect. The were a gazillion teeny boppers in the theater with us, but everyone was pretty well-behaved which was a relief. I enjoyed the movie, but it didn't really seem that great to me. It was just a slightly longer and bigger TV episode.

It was a good weekend, but it's nice to be home too.

Watching: The Simpsons Movie (2007) starring Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith.
The West Wing, Season Three.
All in the Family, Season One.

Labels: family, summer, watching

posted by Miss Rachel 7/29/2007 08:41:00 PM

. . .

We are in the midst of another heat wave. Technically, it's over today, though, because it's not supposed to go up to 90 degrees, but it's still very humid and uncomfortable. And we still don't have an air conditioner. I imagine you are thinking, Miss Rachel and Sweetie don't seem to have many financial worries, why don't they just buy an air conditioner already? Well, we bought two last year, but they turned out to be more trouble than they were worth requiring all this assembly and drilling holes in the windows and such that we just returned them and used the old loud clunker that we found in the basement when we moved here. We can't do that anymore though because last fall when Sweetie was taking it out of the window, it fell outside and crashed to the ground. Fortunately, it didn't hit anything (or anyone!), but it was officially broken and now we're getting by with a fan.

I do want to get an air conditioner again though, and this time I will specifically check what kind of assembly it requires. I want one that you can take out of the box, put in the window and turn it on. And then wait for Trinka to appear and place herself on the bed to cool off. It was so cute how she used to do that. She'd hear me turn on the air conditioner and come running. Poor kitty, stuck upstairs all the time. I wish she'd come downstairs, and she could, especially when Blue is crated, but she won't. Oh well, I've mentioned this before, and we all know, you can't change a cat's mind.

In other news, I made up with my sister. To be honest, I was sick of holding a grudge and being mad at her. As much as what she said was hurtful and upsetting, I was over it and ready to move on. I still felt guilty about being rude to her when she called at work about my mom's illness so before I went up to Rockport last week, when I was on the phone with my mom, I asked to speak to my sister. I said I was sorry that I was mean to her on the phone when she called about my mom's illness, but that I had still been mad at her about what she said about the Self Challenge. And her response was acceptable and that was that. It's good to have that over with.

Labels: family, summer, Trinka

posted by Miss Rachel 7/11/2007 09:12:00 AM

. . .

Summer School - Argh!

Last Saturday I went to the first class meeting of the summer session. Everything went all right on the way up. I got there in just barely enough time and was able to find the classroom with a minimum of trouble. The campus was pretty much deserted, and it looked so different from the previous times I was there. Still beautiful though.

Some of my classmates from previous semesters were there, but I decided to make a fresh start and sit next to someone new. The woman who I referred to as "the Complainer" from the tech workshop the previous Saturday was sitting by an empty seat so I sat next to her. I was determined not to prejudge her too much, and even though she seemed really negative at the workshop, she seemed friendlier this time and returned my smile.

The teacher told us to speak with another classmate and then introduce each other, and I asked this woman if she would like us to introduce each other, and she said yes. We had to ask each other a few "getting to know you" type of questions including what we are doing for employment now. When I told this woman what I did for a living ("I'm an insurance underwriter"), her response, was "Oh that sounds awful!" Now I'm the first person to admit that my job is boring and uninspiring, but man, I thought that was a really insulting and inappropriate thing to say. I was so offended all I could say was "gee, thanks" sarcastically, and I guess she could tell I was offended because she started trying to back pedal saying how she never understood her insurance statements and all. And I said I dealt with a different kind of insurance and got to learn about a lot of different nonprofit organizations, even various library associations. It was just weird to feel as if I had to defend what I do. I don't feel it's anyone else's place to insult me about how I make my living, especially within the first few minutes of meeting me.

At lunch I ended up tagging along with people that I knew from previous semesters. One of them asked me what I had done with my break, and I said it didn't seem like much of a break having to work full time. I guess that wasn't a very good answer; it was kind of a conversation ender. I mean, in one sense it was an understandable answer, but in another, it is a different thing to not to have to worry about schoolwork when you come home from work. A number of classmates seem a lot closer to one another because they have taken several classes together, and some even see each other outside of school. I don't feel part of the crowd.

The class itself went pretty well. It did seem a bit rushed and disorganized - remember we were originally supposed to start on June 23, but the teacher had to go to a conference and the start date got postponed to the 30th. The teacher is a good speaker. However, the class content (research types and methods and studies and the publishing of the results) was all very new to me, and somewhat intimidating. We had to pair up in discussion groups at one point, the other people in my group seemed so much more knowledgeable and confident than me.

Anyway, I got through the first class. It was a long freakin' day - from 8:30 to 4:30. There was no "it's summer let's finish up early" mentality at all. Not that I expected it. In fact, nothing I have mentioned about the class or my fellow students was unexpected, but some time during the day on Monday, I started to panic. My mom was having her second cancer surgery on Tuesday, and I had volunteered to go up and keep her company this time. (My sister had been with her for the first one.)

I planned to read while in the waiting room and study at night, but there was so much more to the class than just that. There are actually three written assignments and an oral presentation. And since the class is about research, the assignments involve reading and analyzing research. I started to feel that I was locked into a prison of my own making. I was worried about my mom and worried about schoolwork, and I started to feel overwhelmed, that I was in over my head. It suddenly occurred to me that I could try to drop the class. At first it sounded like a crazy idea, and then it started to sound like a great idea.

I decided to call the registrar's office and find out if I could drop the class and still get at least some of my money back. I made a deal with myself that if I could get at least 75% back, I'd go through with the drop. There were numerous calls to the registrar's office and the financial services offices and it was determined that if I dropped the class that day (Monday), I could 70% of my tuition back. The relief I felt on hearing this was immense and I decided that 70% was enough for me. Really. I mean it is $800 worth of relief. A few more phone calls and one fax later, and I was assured the drop would go through on time. And I want to say that the people I talked to were all unfailingly polite and kind.

That night I went home, still feeling immensely relieved, packed up my car, took Blue and headed up to Rockport. I made the trip in 2 hours and 11 minutes, a new record. When I arrived I went inside the condo and said, "I just have to do something" and I laid down on the floor and said, "I dropped my class" and both mom and Andrea exclaimed, "Good!!!"

Labels: family, school

posted by Miss Rachel 7/06/2007 07:23:00 PM

. . .

What's Going On

We had friends over (!) for dinner last night. I made Cauliflower Curry from the Vegetarian Epicure cookbook. I served it with whole grain pita wedges and basmati and wild rice with chick peas in it. For dessert, I made vegan brownies which I served with vanilla Soy Dream and vegan chocolate chips. I also put out some Connecticut grown strawberries. Our friends brought a bottle of wine which we all drank. We had a nice time.

This morning I got up and watched the French Open. Kind of "blah" finals this year. It was pretty clear during each match that both Henin and Nadal had it in the bag. I watched another Poirot video. I'm now onto Disc 10.

Then Sweetie and I went to the cemeteries to check on the flowers. The impatiens at my dad's grave are doing great (the alyssum isn't but there isn't much of that anyway). I gave them some water and also checked out the footstone (not just a "marker") with his name, dates and the fact that he was a Corporal in the US Army during the Korean War. The footstone looks really nice. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera. We also went and found my great grandparents' grave.

Then we went to the Catholic cemetery to check out Nana's grave. The flowers there look all right so far. I gave them a lot of water and then pointed out another grave to Sweetie because it is planted really nicely AND because I was struck by the fact that two children predeceased the parents by quite a few years.

On the way back from the cemeteries Sweetie's car broke down. I called for help on my cell and then these two women came over and said they would help us push the car out of the road. They were so quick, and I was so blown away that I didn't help them at first (Sweetie was steering), but then I recovered my senses and ran over and joined the pushing. I think I said "thank you; that was so nice" about five times to them.

I had a really bad stomach ache all day, but it finally went away while we waited for the tow truck. Since we were in the parking lot of a Blockbuster, Sweetie went and got some trail mix and a lemonade. There was copy of the New Yorker in the car so I read part of an article about Manny Ramirez and part of an article on a Chinese political prisoner, Zha Jianguo.

We rode in the tow truck to the service station. Sweetie had already scheduled an appointment for an oil change there tomorrow anyway. Then the driver gave us a ride most of the way home, which was nice. We're only about 2 miles from the service station, but still he didn't have to go that way.

Now I'm going to go sit outside and drink a Reed's Extra Ginger Brew and read the rest of the article about the Zha Jianguo.

Labels: family, food, friends, life at home

posted by Miss Rachel 6/10/2007 05:09:00 PM

. . .

I planted flowers at two family graves last weekend. My paternal grandparents have been dead for a while (1970 and 1981, respectively) and my dad never planted anything at their grave, but now that my dad is buried there, my mom really wanted to plant stuff. Since I'm the only relative left in Connecticut, the job fell to me. I bought pink, white and red impatiens, the shade-loving flower, because I had the impression that the grave was in the shade. I also bought some white alyssum. I turned out to be wrong about the shade, but I planted the impatiens anyway, and decided to check back on the grave this coming weekend. There was supposed to be some sort of marker for my dad at the grave, but there was nothing there and when I told my mother she called cemetery office and they said they knew about it and would take care of it. So I want to check on that too.

My maternal grandfather has been dead since 1962 and my grandmother sporadically kept up on planting stuff there. After my grandmother died in 2000, my mom and I have tried to keep up on it. One of the problems is that my grandmother chose a stone that has a planter on either side of it so you have to plant stuff in both or it will just look unbalanced and not "right." It was typical Nana behavior to create more of project by choosing a gravestone like that. Anyway, that grave gets full sun and my mom and I have had a hard time getting anything to last there. Last year she put in hosta and I was surprised to see that *one* of them came back up. Of course, the other planter just had weeds in it so I had to fill that one, and I put flowers around the hosta in the other one. The hosta was kind of small so there was room.

The plants I chose for Nana's grave are pink and white vinca and purply blue lobelia. I love the color combination. I ended up having some left over so I planted some of it in my flower box on the porch. I still have some left over so I was thinking I should put it at my dad's grave if the impatiens don't make it. I'm hoping not to have to do that though. I think I would like to put the rest in a hanging pot I have. It can hang next to the calibrachoa plant my mom bought for me in Rockport. She wanted to pay me back for the flowers for the graves, but instead we decided she could just buy me a plant as a gift.

Here is the planter that had some hosta growing in it at Nana's grave.

Labels: family, spring

posted by Miss Rachel 6/07/2007 06:36:00 PM

. . .

On Saturday I went to Plainville to plant flowers at my dad's (and my grandparents') grave and at my maternal grandmother's (and my grandfather's) grave. They're at two different cemeteries (my dad's people were Protestant and my mom's people were Catholic). On the way from the Protestant cemetery to the Catholic cemetery, I passed through the center of town and got a shot of the Main Street Diner. (I didn't go in, but I have eaten there before.) I love diners, and I think this has one of the best signs I've seen. Dig the coffee cup on top of it.

Labels: family, the world around us

posted by Miss Rachel 6/05/2007 06:46:00 AM

. . .

Yea - 5 pounds gone! It's taken me more than 2 months, but it's finally something significant. (FYI, 150 is not my ultimate goal, but it's a good short term one.) I think the one thing, other than eating of course, that has helped is running on the treadmill. Yesterday I did a total of seven minutes of running - one interval of three minutes and two intervals of two minutes. As I said before, my goal is to eventually run for 10 minutes straight, but I think even these brief intervals of running are helping me to lose weight, and that's a good thing.

I'm kind of not really caring that much about weight lost right now though. I'm preoccupied because a lump has been found in my mom's breast and apparently, further testing has determined that it's not good and has to come out. It was found during a mamogram so I'm thinking it's "early detection" and that will be good, right? Still, cancer is scary.

I am heading up to Rockport today to visit, and although I'll be glad to see my mom, I'm conflicted about seeing my sister. I'm still feeling angry at her because of what she said the last time I saw her, and in some ways, dreading what annoying / rude things she is going to say to me this time. I need to let go of my anger, but I'm not doing a good job of it. For instance, I was really rude to her on the phone yesterday.

She called me and told me about the finding about my mom's lump (I already knew she had a lump, just not the results) and I said, "I wish you wouldn't call me about stuff like this at work." And she said she thought she was doing a good thing, and that I should call my mom. There was no reason for my sister to call and tell me and get me upset at work (!!!). I mean, I'm going to see my mom today and if she hasn't called me then she's waiting to see me and talk to me in person. FYI, I did call my mom right after talking to my sister, and she seemed as fine as she could be in this situation.

Of course, I'm much angrier about this than normal because I'm already mad at my sister. And now that I was rude to my her, she's probably hurt and I feel guilty. I don't like confrontation, butI tried to tell her how her comment made me feel, and she still wouldn't acknowledge it. Our family sucks at confrontation. My parents were never good at dealing with things head on and this is the behavior we learned. I have made a concerted effort to try to say things right out, but on this issue with my sister I didn't think I'd get a satisfactory outcome so I was hesitant. But I did it so I think that's all I can do as far as she's concerned. I don't think we're going to really resolve this issue between us so I need to let go of my anger and move on.

Labels: family, fat, physical fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 5/26/2007 06:40:00 AM

. . .

"Let's start thinking about a draft where the children of the investment bankers might even have to go fight. This might concentrate our thinking about the war considerably and might make us a bit more cautious next time." This is a line from an excellent editorial on economics and the Iraq War from a Republican, no less.

********************

I like Slate even though I don't always agree with the viewpoints of their writers. Dear Prudence is certainly no exception, but the third letter inher April 26 column is interesting. Prudence's response is decent, but mostly I found the letter interesting because although my sister is not nearly as bad as "Anna," what the writer said about her friend reminded me of the way my sister talks sometimes. I have noticed her interest in others' eating habits and weight has really increased in the last few years, and it doesn't make me more insecure about my weight and size, but it does make me uncomfortable for two reasons. One, I'm trying to have a more positive attitude about my body and I think one of the best ways to do that is to stop judging others for what they eat and how they look. And two, I am always on guard for comments she may make that obliquely chide me about my weight.

Labels: family, fat, reading, the world around us

posted by Miss Rachel 5/02/2007 08:22:00 PM

. . .

(CENSORED)

Labels: family

posted by Miss Rachel 4/21/2007 08:39:00 AM

. . .

(CENSORED)

Labels: family, fat

posted by Miss Rachel 4/15/2007 10:22:00 AM

. . .

Yea, I made it through a week alone! Yes, I've done it before, but I was feeling pretty low about it last Sunday (Easter) after I took Sweetie to the airport that morning. Had almost a whole day alone and of course, I didn't use it productively to study. At first I was wondering while I was feeling so low since Sweetie had just left, but I realized it was the prospect of his being gone for over a week (he returns Sunday night - tomorrow! yea!) that really was making me miss him.

So Sunday was sucky, but having to go to work the rest of the week actually helped me keep it together and not get bogged down in loneliness. I worked out every day too, which may have helped my mood. So anyway, here I am having made it through to Saturday and expecting a visit from my mom and my sister! I have class this afternoon, but they will be here when I get back. Their visit will be brief (they're leaving early tomorrow to avoid driving in a predicted storm), but it will be good to see them as I haven't seen them since Christmas - that's almost 4 months! ("Up to 4 months!" TV commercial reference... 2 points if you can get it.)

********************

I had a little freak-out on Wednesday night working on the homework that's due today. I felt as if I had forgotten everything I learned or just totally missed something I should have learned. I was starting to panic so in desperation, I e-mailed this girl in my class who very kindly e-mailed me back (she wrote "don't panic!") and cleared things up for me. Turns out, I was doing it right, but I thought it had to be harder than that.

********************

On the fitness front, I am still totally kicking butt. I worked out 5 times this week, and lost another pound. Yesterday this girl at work said I looked thinner so that was nice to hear. I think it will be good to have a day (or two) off from working out because my treadmill workout yesterday was really tough on my feet. I walked at 4 mph for 17 minutes, interspered with 3 one-minute 5 mph running intervals, all at a 2% incline. This was after 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer. I know 3 minutes of running doesn't sound like much, but it does wear me out. I made sure I took the time to stretch afterward even though I just wanted to get home, but my feet still feel a little sore, or maybe not sore exactly, but tired.

********************

Off to school now!

Watching: Poirot: Murder on the Links starring David Suchet.

Labels: family, life at home, physical fitness, school

posted by Miss Rachel 4/14/2007 08:58:00 AM

. . .

Remember how I said I didn't think I was ready for 10 pound dumbbells after I spent nearly a week unable to fully straighten my arms after using them? Well, things change because when I did my second weights workout of the week last Thursday, I felt that maybe it was getting too easy. So yesterday, on my first set of bicep curls and hammer curls, I used 10 pound dumbbells instead 8 pound ones. Today I am sore, but not in any way crippled as I was before. I must be getting stronger!

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This working later thing is, as my grandmother would say, for the birds. There were NO calls or e-mails after 5 on Monday night and after 6, the lights went off! Now I know that there is some code you can dial into your phone to have them turned back on, and I can find out what it is, but I didn't know it then, and so I was sitting in the dark. There were some lights on elsewhere on the floor and there were a few other coworkers there so it wasn't scary or anything. If it had gone completely dark and no one was there, I would have just gone home. Instead I chatted with the other people who all seemed to agree with me how ridiculous it was for me to stay late.

I talked to my boss about it, and he said why don't I just do it again Wednesday (today) and then not anymore. As I had mentioned before no one (except him) had seemed to notice that I hadn't been working the later schedule, and he doesn't care so hopefully, I can just bag it all together.

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Tomorrow, March 8, is my dad's birthday. Had he lived he would be turning 78. Boy, that really makes him sound like a grandpa, but then of course, he was a grandpa. Although he officially died January 1, 2006, I truly feel he died long before that because he had Alzheimer's. We did battle over the years, but I do still have good memories of him, and I try to hold on to those. He had a good sense of humor and we used to get really silly together (something my sister and I still do).

Labels: family, fitness, work

posted by Miss Rachel 3/07/2007 07:55:00 AM

. . .

One of the things about my new job is that "they" like someone to work until 7 PM to answer requests that come in from the west coast. Since I started a couple of weeks ago, I haven't stayed late once and no one seemed to notice. My boss hadn't said anything, but I suggested that I would try doing the later (10:30 to 7) schedule on Monday and Wednesday this week and he said all right. I made it clear I don't want to do it more than that. The schedule was part of the bullsh** deal that was never discussed when the job was offered to me and just assumed I would do.

********************

School is going all right. I'm not that crazy about my class this semester. The subject matter is very dry, and I don't feel engaged with it, but I'm hoping to I will eventually. I took Friday afternoon off to do my homework, some very technical catalonging coding stuff called MARC. No homework was assigned for this coming week, except for reading so I'm feeling pretty relaxed for now. I do like the teacher and she does a good job of getting us involved in class, but the some of the stuff is just pretty dry, and there's not much that can be done about it.

Week after next is spring break, and dude, I'm gonna get so wasted, and it's gonna be totally awesome!!! Yeah, right. I never even did "spring break" when I was in undergrad in the 80s. I am going to take an extra day or two off though, and take Blue and go up and visit my mom and sister that weekend. I hate shopping alone, but I do like shopping with them, and I need some shoes so a shopping trip is on the agenda for the weekend. How girly, huh?

********************

I went to yoga class yesterday morning. I know that being critical of and comparing onself to others is totally not a yogic way of thinking, but... do you ever do this? I feel bad about it, but I do find myself my doing it anyway. I especially get annoyed with the people who do the hardest form of a pose, when the teacher doesn't suggest it. I feel like they're showing off, and it bothers me. I mentioned this to my sister, and she said that once she was in a class and everyone was struggling to learn how to do a split and no one could really do it, except this one woman, and she was sitting there looking all bored while the rest of them struggled.

I never had this feeling in the kundalini classes I used to take in a church basement, but now that I am going to an actual "yoga studio" I find myself getting irritated with some of the "glam" people who go there. Like sometimes there's this woman who wears really sexy clothes and sets up in the middle of the room and not only does the most advanced form of poses, but does completley different poses from the ones that are being taught. Huh? I just feel that's showing off. I mean if you're not going to follow the class AND you plunk yourself right in the middle of it, you must be showing off. I know my response has to do with my insecurity, but I can't help feeling really annoyed with this woman. Fortunately, she wasn't in class yesterday.

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Watching: Fight Club (1999) starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. I wasn't too keen on seeing this, but after I found out it was based on more of a "therapy" idea, as opposed to just fighting, I watched some of it with Sweetie. I did find the violence a little too much, and I covered my eyes during parts of it, and even left the room sometimes, but it was kind of interesting. Sweetie said he felt it was getting to be one of those movies he "had" to see because he was always reading references to it. I'm guessing especially on those geeky Mac message boards he visits.

Labels: family, school, watching, work, yoga

posted by Miss Rachel 3/05/2007 08:22:00 AM

. . .

I haven't been posting because I've been really unhappy. I hate my new job and wish I hadn't taken it, and I'm just going around feeling uncomfortable all the time. I know compared to most people in the world - the Sudan anyone? Iraq? or even just a few blocks away on housing project hill - that I have things pretty good. I also know part of my discomfort is New Job - itis, and that I may soon feel less awful about the whole thing. I hope so anyway.

Other things in the world: the snow and ice we got last week has frozen into a solid layer that I can walk on top of without falling through. The snow makes dog poop very easy to spot, but sometimes hard to pick up because it's frozen down (aren't you glad I shared that?).

I had $448 in car repairs done yesterday - this includes an oil change and a new battery that my mechanic suggested, in addition to the other issues. I hope he's honest; I think he is. The car seems to running very well now, not doing that weird revving thing it was doing before.

I have been needing / wanting a new, more spacious desk for a while, and we went and bought one at Ikea on Saturday. We also got a desk chair and a floor lamp. Everything, except for the lamp, is still in boxes and needs to be assembled. I'm calling and paying someone to do it because I've heard too many jokes about people who try to assemble Ikea furniture themselves. The lamp I assembled myself, but I don't like the light it gives. Sweetie likes it well enough, but says we can bring it back if I want to.

The basement of my mom and sister's condo got flooded partially because their parking area didn't get plowed. My sister lives in basement and has had to have the carpet ripped up and the floor redone, all on her own dime. I think the person who was responsible for plowing should contribute (he's the condo association president), but for whatever reason he's not. I was upset for her and told her she should make him pay for it or at least yell at him. But then I realized it's none of my business and I called her back before class on Saturday to say I hope I hadn't made her feel bad because it's really not my business.

I guess that about sums it up.

Labels: family, the blues, winter

posted by Miss Rachel 2/20/2007 06:44:00 AM

. . .

A Clean Dog is a Happy Dog

Or the owner of clean dog is a happy owner.

There is a cute and *clean* dog lying on his bed behind my chair. I had him groomed yesterday and he looks beautitul. He also smells better. He's never been much of a smelly dog, but I guess this time I let him go a little too long "between cleanings" and he started to get a bit ripe. While he was at the groomer's, I washed the cover on his new bed to nip any smelliness in the bud (is that a mixed metaphor?). I also ended up throwing out the orthopedic bed in his crate because I found that it wasn't just the cover that smelled, but the whole bed.

I need to keep up and not let him go too long again. The thing is, the groomer is very busy and Blue is a very furry dog whose coat requires time to work on. So when I call, it's often two weeks before I can get an appointment, because other very furry dogs have already been scheduled, and that means living with a smelly dog for two weeks. So for next time, I've planned ahead. I put a note in our WebCalendar to call the groomer two weeks before Blue will be due for a spring cleaning. Literally, spring cleaning, since I like to have him done every 3 months, the next appointment should be in May.

Unlike Blue, I always enjoy going to the groomer because the people are so nice and I enjoy seeing the other dogs there. Yesterday, there was a Border Collie and a Pug and there was one of the groomer's dogs, a Pomeranian and another groomer's dog, a Shih Tzu. There was also a cat. As you might imagine, the cat was extremely unhappy to be there. When I arrived to pick up Blue, two of the groomers were working on the cat.

There used to be only those two people, but there is now a third groomer, who saw me out, and she seemed quite enamoured with Blue saying how cute he is and how well he behaved. I said he was different at home. When a stranger is in our house, you have to watch him because he might take his or her ankle in his mouth. For some reason, he never does this with my mom or sister though. It's as if he immediately accepted them as part of the pack even though they don't visit here very often. Maybe it's because my mom and my sister and I have similar genetic make-ups, and since Blue likes me, and they seem similar, he's decided they're all right too.

********************

My arms are finally more mobile. There's still pain when I straighten my right arm, but today is the first day since my new strength program that I can fully straighten it. I did my new program for the first time on Monday so I was due for my second weights workout of the week on Thursday. I was still in a lot of pain then, and I had some training for the new job and then the ill-fated meeting with the branch manager, and by then it was 3 PM, and I still hadn't gone to the gym. As you know, I was pretty unhappy after the meeting, but instead of shutting down, I thought, "F*** it, I need to go to the gym." So I did.

I talked to the trainer, and we decided I should still do all the exercises, just with lower weights. So in exercises when I had previously used 7, 8 or 10 pound dumbbells, I used 3 and 5 pound ones instead. I also managed to due my push-ups, but I didn't straighten my arms all the way when I came up. I probably said before here that my goal is to do a real, full push-up, and at this point I can't even do full "girlie" push-ups, but I am progressing. The trainer is now having me do girlie push-ups on the floor starting from a lying down position. So I start them fully pushing up, but I don't lower myself all the way down in between them. I know to some of you super fit types, this may not sound like much, but I tell you, I have really make some progress here. And I'm proud of myself for this.

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In other good news, I had a good conversation with my mother. She called me at work on Thursday, after my meeting with the manager and before my work-out, and I kind of felt like crying. I didn't though; I dealt with my stuff. As you know, I was really upset with my mom's reaction to me last week, for a habit she has of trying to deny or ignore any feelings I express if they're negative. So after we had chatted a bit, I said, "Mom I don't want to make you feel bad, but it bothers me when you try to deny my feelings. If I feel depressed or unenthusiastic about my job, I can handle it. You don't have to fix it, and I'd rather just feel bad than pretend I don't feel bad." God, that sounds like something from an after-school special or a self help book, but I felt so relieved after saying it. And she totally seemed to get it and, she was all right with it. Really, it was like, now that I've said what I need to say and she accepted it, I can go back to having a good relationship with my mom.

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Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season Five. More awkward and offensive interactions with one of the most unlikable people to ever star in a show. It's just plain funny though. The Susie Green character is still my favorite. Larry: You call Jeff a fat f***. Susie: That's because he is a fat f*** !

Labels: Blue, family, fitness

posted by Miss Rachel 2/10/2007 08:33:00 AM

. . .