what i always want to buy every time i see it...

giddy up

I picked up an extra shift at work on sunday, which was great since it meant I got to work with my pal sara.  It was super slow though, so after checking in on all the patients and doing some busy work, she showed me the tunnel to mgh and we grabbed some coffee. I liked the tunnel. There's something fun about being able to go from one building to another without going outside at all. Plus, it was great to see a mural in a pedi area that was not ocean themed. Giddy up!

i win!

Starting around the age of 10, I spent a chunk of each summer at my cousin's house outside chicago. Each visit was spent swimming, making gum wrapper chains (which I still have and which measures somewhere around 75 feet), babysitting for an older cousin's kids, and taking trips to the lake house in michigan. It was great and something I looked forward to for months. The 17 year cicadas came during the summer I was 12. This resulted in an obnoxious constant buzzing noise, and a ground littered with dead cicada bodies. You literally could not take a step without stepping on several dead bugs. It was disgusting. My cousin and I spent that summer sweeping the driveway and wearing shoes anytime we went outside. When I returned home to massachusetts, a state thankfully without cicadas, I appreciated my ability to go outside barefoot.

A few weeks later, I received a beautifully wrapped jewelry box from my aunt in chicago. Since it was soon after my birthday, I assumed she'd forgotten to give this present to me while I was in chicago. I opened the box out on the patio, but instead of containing a necklace or bracelet, the box was filled with cicada corpses. I dropped the box, spilling the dead bugs all over the patio, and later had to pick them back up with a pair of scissors. 

Years later (at least 10 years later), I came across a dried up cicada under the rear window in my car. I have no clue how or when it got there, but I knew exactly what to do with it, namely wrap it up in a pretty box and mail it to my aunt at Christmas with this note: 

Dear Aunt Julie,

I thought of you when I saw this.

Love, 

Stephanie

Being the jokester she is, she got a kick out of this, and starting hatching a plan. For my next birthday, I opened my package to find that she'd painted the cicada gold, painted its eyes red, and hot glued it to a pin to make it wearable. I didn't retaliate, and a few years ago (after another coming of the 17 year cicada) she brought me a big box filled with dead ones. It sat in my garage for a while, but knowing that I'd see her at thanksgiving, I got to work. This is what I came up with:

I found an old frame, hot glued 12 cicada corpses around it, spray painted the whole thing black, dabbed their eyes red, varnished it, and added a photo of a dead cicada like bug I came across while hiking near hong kong (which I desperately wanted to bring home for her, but realized wouldn't have worked). I wrapped it all up pretty, gathered the family, and had her open it. She was very nervous (even jumped back when the flash from my sister's camera startled her!), but had a good laugh in the end. I cringe to think of how she'll beat this...

happy thanksgiving!

I am thankful for many many things, but especially a surprise visit from this little guy!

vermont

This weekend i had no plans, and since it had been criminally long since i'd made the trip to stowe (and never with stella), i decided last minute to head up by myself since no one seemed to be around. I briefly considered skipping it since the idea of having three days with limited activities available (no skiing yet and no swimming either) and just myself for company was a bit intimidating. But, after consulting my calendar and realizing that the next time i'd be able to make the trip was in 2011, i threw some sweats into a bag and made the drive up friday night. Best decision ever. If i were to sleep in late, spend the day reading and the night watching movies by the fire in boston, i'd feel lazy. Doing so in vermont seems perfectly acceptable.

On saturday i decided to walk up the hill to the end of the street, then cut through the woods to get back to the house. There's no trail per se, but i like to wander around and end up back home. This time i managed to come across an actual trail which meant i was off private property and onto the town land trust conservation easement. I followed it for about 3 miles back to the parking area and then made my way home. This trail system's great! So close, and i can wander the woods without getting sticks in my hair! Apparently people use it for snowshoeing in the winter. Will have to add a pair of snowshoes to my christmas list!

Trail map.

The woods were used for maple syrup production until 1990, and there are tons of reminders left. Rusty pails stacked neatly, metal piping and trash cans (like the ones above), and the sugar house (below). 

This place is totally abandoned and looks like it's about to fall down, but you can slide the door opened and see the old equipement inside.

I wish i knew what it was all used for, or better yet, could see it in action!

Sunday brought about more of the same; sleeping in, grabbing a quick breakfast, and hiking a different trail in the same woods. In the afternoon, I stopped at laughing moon chocolates for my favorite hot chocolate, and happened to catch their daily chocolate dipping demonstration.

Some more pictures from the day.

A rusty old sap bucket.

One of the many bridges along the trails.

When i cut back to the house through the woods (the part that's not on a trail), i overshot a bit and ended up on the higher ledge above the house. It's pretty neat to look down on!

Too cold to swim or zipline, but the pond still looks great.

Driving back to the house from town, you can see this huge snow cloud hovering over the mountains in the distance. It's hard to see in the picture, but if you look close you can see the trees all snowy up there.

The end of sunset- i almost missed it completely.

Finally, another fire in the fireplace. Tomorrow i have a few hours before heading back so will have to find a few more things to do.

pictures

Ever since i got my iphone over a year ago, i've been much better at taking random pictures. Here are a few from a recent rainy day in wellesley.

I like that all the trees are bare and black, and then there are a few yellow leaves hanging on up front.

I couldn't decide which one i liked better- horizontal or vertical. I think vertical.

Beebe meadows path.

I loved these berries. I'm planning to pick some when it's not raining and see if they'll dry out well.

This might be my favorite. If you look close you can see individual rain drops.

saturday night clip

Every once in a while, I'll watch a hulu-ed episode of saturday night live if I'm a fan of the guest host. The most recent week's episode was hosted by my boyfriend jon hamm, so was a must see. Personally, my favorite clip is the one below, which for some reason I found exceptionally funny- the first "skit" in particular.

happy halloween!

Unlike the past few years, tonight I am staying in and handing out the candy. I got a huge bag from costco last week and after having candy for breakfast the next morning, brought it to my neighbors for safe keeping. Today I carved the pumpkin and made some pumpkin spiders to hang outside. The squirrels must have been extra hungry since they basically ate the entire thing. Crazy. I made a fire in the fireplace, put on a good movie, and am currently pausing it every two minutes to hand out candy. Our neighborhood is prime trick-or-treating area, and kids come in from all over the place- tonight more so than normal. Consequently, i totally ran out of candy after the first hour. This has never happened. Usually I have a bunch of leftovers that I try to pawn off to the last few kids at night. Tonight I had to go next door to steal some from my neighbors. Though I'm all for shutting the porch light off early, 7:15 is pushing it. Hopefully this will hold me over until at least 8:30 or 9.

goodbye vivian, hello stella

It's now been two days since i've had my new car, stella! I love, love, love her, and am still getting used to the idea that i don't have to stress out anytime i have to drive somewhere! It was actually a lot harder to trade in vivian than i'd anticipated. After 10.5 years, i'd become quite attached to her, and felt like i was abandoning a child just because she'd gotten a little older. I guess it's a good thing i was so excited about and in love with my new car or it would have been a lot harder! I love you viv!

Here's the last picture of vivian and me:

And the first of stella and me:

I anticipate many fun road trips in our future!

produce

I've been growing stuff in my vegetable garden for some time now, and finally picked what was left and pulled everything else out today. While I lost a bunch of stuff to the termite poison, the small garden did a good job providing me with tons of green beans, herbs, a couple beets, and carrots. Here are some pictures I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

This is the biggest carrot I managed to grow. Not bad, considering the garden is a raised bed only on foot high. The other ones I pulled today are all cut up in the bowl in the background.

Here are the beets and another batch of carrots.

And lastly, here are the beets (cooked) and some of the green beans. I love the rings of color in the beets. While the envelope the seeds came in said that would happen, I was still excited to see it really happened!

a mile

This masters swim course is kicking my butt. My previous delusions of being a strong swimmer have now been crushed as i'm in the slower lane while men and women much older (and seemingly in worse shape) are cruising past me without breaking a sweat. My problem seems to stem from my endurance (or lack thereof). When we do sprints, i'm good. Kicking, one armed butterfly/backstroke/crawl (or, excuse me, freestyle), etc are all good. When we get to pyramids (4 lengths, break, 8 lengths, break, 12 lengths, break, 8 lengths, break, 4 lengths, done), i fall behind. Obviously this is an area i'm working on and hope to improve upon during this course. Last night the instructions were to swim a timed mile (88 lengths in our 20yd pool). The thought was to time us at the beginning, then again at the end, and see how much we'd improved. Going into it i was sure i'd need a break, but my lane partner (who i'm faster/stronger than, but who has much more endurance than i) gave me a pep talk, telling me to swim slowly, focusing on kicks and said he'd keep track of laps (since i lose count after 4). It worked! I managed to swim the entire thing with just a quick drink of water. My time wasn't great (39 mins), but that just leaves tons of room for improvement next time!

car

I bought my new car! A 2010 subaru forester 2.5x limited in sage green. It's on the boat from japan, so within the next couple of weeks, i should be able to pick it up! Here's what it looks like:

Not only am i happy to have a car that won't cost me an arm and a leg in unexpected repair costs, i'm excited to have one with awd. This means i'll be much more likely to make the drive to VT, particularly in less than ideal weather! Now all that's needed is a name for him or her.

brunch

One of my longest friends, Jen, has been staying with me for two weeks while she's been in town for her sister's wedding. It's been great spending time with her, as well as being able to catch up with other friends who actually live in the area (but whom I don't often see for some reason or another (none of which are good reasons)). Today we drove out and had brunch with a good friend and her family. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere very laid back and relaxed, and the drinks...super fun. They'd made horseradish infused vodka and tomato juice (strained to a clearish color), picked home-grown celery and tomatoes, and served us their own version of slightly spicy bloody marys- in an "acton" glass to boot. Mmm mm. Now that I've gotten used to having people around the house, it will feel quite empty when everyone leaves!

comment away!

After a few mentions, i changed the authorization to comment on my blog. Now you all can (even without an id), but you'll still have to do the word verification. Otherwise i'll get a bunch of spam posts.

car

I've decided that i can no longer put off getting a new car. My poor jetta will soon need a significant amount of work, and at 11 years old, it just doesn't make sense to spend the money fixing it. After much research, I've decided on the subaru forester as my new mode of transportation. Though i haven't test driven it yet (in which case things may change), i am in love. Tomorrow i will spend the day crunching numbers to make sure i can swing it, and then it will be on to getting the best deal on the new car as well as the trade in. Today i read through some online info on how to maximize your trade in value. Basically, they have a general idea of what the car's worth from the get-go, but then look at the paint job, the interior, fluid levels, and take it for a test drive. Luckily for vivian, her exterior is great. Most people are shocked when they hear how old she is. (Must take after me.) Her interior's not bad, but the door handle broke off a few years ago, as did the one to the glove compartment. After some research, it looks like the glove compartment won't be worth my fixing, but the door handle should be super straightforward. I already have the whole thing removed and disassembled, so will check with vw to see if they have the replacement piece tomorrow.
I've also decided that i should start picking up lottery tickets. That, or marry rich. Or just find some wealthy person who appreciates that i work with sick kids and wants to buy me a car or pay off my school loans. If only it were that easy!

new pet

After walking my bike down a hill to get to this path on my way home, i saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Turned out it was this doe. Now, i've seen plenty of deer before, but this was something else. She stopped and stared at me, not scared or frozen, but curious. She walked in front of me, paused again, and watched me some more. She was probably within ten feet of me and took a good minute before she decided to go off into the woods. My phone was in my armband recording my route home, so by the time i was able to get it out and take a picture, she'd moved off a bit. She reminded me of those children's stories where one animal wants to be friends with another, but knows it's not allowed. Strange, but true.

progress

Today i had an interview for a per diem position. Going into it, i wasn't sure it would be a good fit for me, but after meeting the people and learning about the program, i left super excited about it. Not only did the interview go quite well, but i managed to get on a train that went express to forest hills which then allowed me to just make the 11:25 bus going right to my neighborhood. That saved me 40 minutes of waiting, or an extra twenty minute walk. So far today's looking to be one of the best!

i need a benefactor

I do. What i really want to do with my life right now is to spend a year traveling around south america, southeast asia, africa, etc, etc, volunteering in hospitals as a child life specialist. I'm sure there are lots of people with too much money who would barely bat an eye at paying my expenses and student loans, and i could help so many kids during that year. Maybe i should set up a blog to raise money- like julie and julia. Once i raised enough money i could set out, keeping a blog of my journey, and come back once the money ran out. Then my blog could be made into a book and movie, which would raise more money. It would be like eat pray love, except i'd be helping poor kids along with myself.

check

Spent some time tonight emailing several contacts in the child life field. Though many of them would ultimately lead to relocating, i feel like the act of establishing contact is good practice in and of itself. Maybe i'll find something in boston, but maybe not. In any case, if i move somewhere for the perfect job, that's the way it was supposed to happen. Maybe that's where i'll meet my future husband (since evil's apparently given up on this job)!

i'm sick,

and i'm never sick. I woke up with a sore throat thursday morning, but chalked it up to sleeping with my mouth opened. By thursday night, my voice was wacky, and friday morning i was up at 6am with pretty severe throat pain. Neck pain, ear pain, and congestion followed. Salt water gargle and tea did little, but the doctor said it was probably just a virus that i had to wait out. Boy, let me tell you- i have new found pity for people who get these things regularly. For the past three days i've gotten little to no real sleep, eaten several boxes of popsicles, and felt like razor blades were ripping my throat apart every time i swallowed. And i tend to think of myself as having a high pain tolerance. Ouch.

rainy

Today was perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Which was so needed since recently i've been somewhat anxious about my plans for the future. I didn't have anything in particular, but was hoping to get a last minute appointment for a haircut (since i had to reschedule the one i'd originally scheduled for weds night). As luck would have it, they were able to sneak me in at 1pm. Since the weather was crappy (decent blowing rain all day), i wasn't interested in driving and looking for parking. Instead, i threw on my rain boots, grabbed an umbrella, and hopped on the bus. I even got to finish my book on the way in. As i mentioned, i hadn't had my hair cut in 8 months since david left his old salon. It was looking rough. It was so good to see him today- he was so happy i'd found him (he'd looked for me on facebook with no luck!) and took his time giving me a perfect cut. 
Since i was on newbury already, sara met me down there and we went to restaurant week lunch at bouchee. We had a fantastic three course meal (though split everything, so technically it was six half courses) and took our time because we're ladies who lunch. I've decided that my favorite type of restaurant is french brasserie. You have no clue how long it's taken me to come to that decision. 

Upon venturing back out into the rainy day, we said goodbye and headed towards our own bus stops, picking up some flowers at the farmers market on my way. As i walked away after my pleasant exchange with the flower man, i realized how content i felt. Not exuberantly happy- just quite relaxed and at peace. I can't remember ever noticing this before, but realized it was so much better than being happy or excited about something. It was just what i needed today.

mystery fragrance

The other day, i got the mail. As i was walking back through the house, i caught a whiff of perfume. Obviously, i assumed one of the catalogues had a sample included, though i did wonder when catalogues (and not magazines) started including fragrance samples. Upon arriving in the kitchen, i tossed the pile on the counter and began separating the junk from the treasure. I soon found that the smell was coming not from the lands end catalogue, but from the pink letter of the woman running for political office. Interesting approach.

typeracer

After reading about this site in real simple, i've been practicing my typing abilities non-stop. It's addicting.

zip

This past weekend i went up to the vermont house with my parents, aunt and brother for our dad's early birthday weekend. We had perfect weather so were able to get in lots of golf (for those who golf), swimming, and lounging around outside. My brother had been excited about taking the zip wire over the pond for ages, so after watching me once, he climbed up. Halfway down, we heard a crack, and the wire dropped a foot or so. He was over the water and just dropped in, so the rest of us went to investigate. At first everything looked normal, but then we noticed that the entire trunk of the tree was split. My dad grabbed the wire and pulled, and the entire tree came with it. Frankly, i'm not sure how it stayed up with Kevin on it in the first place. Since we're handy, we managed to reattach it to a stronger tree with new (not rusty) bolts, and it's even a bit tighter now. Kevin might work on his tree climbing abilities to keep them up to snuff.

the zip line in action before it's initial demise.

ironic

Every april, i clean up my gardens and plant some new vegetable seeds. I get a bit overexcited and have far too many seeds for the designated area, so this year, i decided to rip up an overgrown mess of a (flower) garden along the side of the house and plant vegetables there. This more than doubled the previous allotment which consisted of a raised 12' x 3' bed. Though i'd considered doing this years ago, i was concerned with lead levels in the soil (thus the raised bed), so this time, i got an at-home lead level kit and confirmed that the soil was a-okay. Tomatoes, green beans, carrots, beets, peppers and herbs (rosemary, basil, thyme, sage and mint) remained in the old garden while pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini and watermelons occupied the new one. Despite a slow start, everything kicked in by june. In the smaller garden, i had a contant supply of tomatoes, herbs and green beans, and the vines in the larger garden were growing out of control. I spied a few baby watermelons just starting out- something i've been trying to grow for years without any luck.
A while ago, the guys we use for annual pest control found some termites near the front corner of the house. After getting a second opinion, the treatment of choice was the liquid defense system which consists of applying poison underground around the foundation. They did this last week. What does this mean for all those nice juicy watermelons now growing on their vines? Yes. That no one will be eating them. What a crime.

good news!

I may have located my long-time haircutter, david. After finding out he was no longer at his old salon when i tried to make an appointment in april, i swore i wouldn't get my hair cut until i found him. The impression i got when speaking to the old salon was that it was an unexpected (and not very friendly) parting, and they were not willing to pass on any forwarding info. My hopes of him having my number in his own "little black book" were not met and i resigned myself to looking like rapunzel in a few years time. I buckled down and prepared for a future of ponytails and hair ties. Until, that is, i found my first ever split end after just eight months without a hair cut. That was enough to get me moving and i repeated my initial google search hoping to find something, anything, that would lead me to david. This time luck was with me and i managed to come across his last name (which i hadn't been able to remember). From there i found a few random mentions of a new salon which appear to be legitimate. I will call on tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed!

south carolina

After the weekend festivities for my grandmother's birthday, the six of us took off to wild dunes on isle of palms for the rest of the week. Kevin and Brian had to leave tuesday evening, but we managed to get in some beach time and a dinner out first. Though the weather was perfect for beach trips, it was so hot and humid (heat index around 110), that i was in the water for 3.5 out of our 4 hours on the beach the first day. Despite reapplication of sunscreen, i managed to get a burn on my face, back, and shoulders. Luckily, i had an under armour running shirt with me that i wore over my bathing suit for all subsequent beach trips. Phew.

Each day i thought about how much i wanted a boogie board. The waves were perfect for it, and i was in the water for so long it would have been nice to have something else to do besides handstands and wave diving. My dad told some poor kid to "watch out with that boogie board. She's been wanting one and might steal it." I finally picked one up for $15.04 at the piggly wiggly, and tried it out this morning. Apparently there were huge thunder/lightning storms at 6:30am, but the weather was perfect- though a bit windy- by the time we got to the beach at 11. I decided riding waves is a lot like sledding- so fun going in/down, and so much work getting back. I'm exhausted. The wind made for extra waves which made getting back into deeper water with a floating board a bit tricky. A few times i almost got the wind knocked out of me when a wave broke slamming hard into my chest. After a few hours and julie getting stung by a jellyfish, i came out for a break. Ten minutes and one huge thunder crack later, the entire beach population headed for cover. The sky was bright blue and sunny over the water, and ridiculously dark over the resort. Luckily we made it back just before the rain and lightning came. Though it was our last beach day and i would have liked a few more hours in the water, it's probably for the best. I'm already sore!

Uh oh.

over resort.............................over beach

happy birthday grandma!

My grandmother's 90th birthday was August 1st. This gave us all an excuse to get together with family we don't see often. Friday night was dinner for 20 at woodlands, a fantastic restaurant on an old plantation near her in south carolina. I wish i lived on a plantation like this.

We took the opportunity to get a picture of the six of us with our grandmother. She looks so cute and happy!

Saturday we poked around charleston and had a cookout at my uncle's house. I found plenty of houses i wanted down near the battery. We ate lunch at poogan's porch which was tasty. We got fried alligator and fried green tomatoes. Very healthy. I happened to be standing on the edge of the wall for this picture, which makes me the tallest of the four of us in the photo. Strange.

On sunday, we had a big party at my grandmother's place with all her little friends. I talked to lots of older folk, and loved them all!! Cheers for new friends!!

Monday morning we played some cards before heading to the beach for the rest of the trip. Happy birthday Grandma!!!

hairdos

I judge people based on their haircuts. If someone's sporting a well coiffed 'do, i think "wow! That person's really put together!" Frizzy/messy hair says "lazy", combover says "insecurity", while a closely cut crown around a balding spot is the opposite (and good, in my opinion). If i spot a punkster with multi-colored spikes, i'll likely cross the road. 

As far as i can remember, all my prejudging has been directed at teens or adults, never kids. My question is, do the same stereotypes apply to the under ten crowd? If you saw this kid and his new mohawk hanging around your local park, what would your impression be?

cost of t30 torx bit: $0.84. treating dad to kimball's as a thank you for his help: $7.05. saving $280 while getting 3 hours of quality time together? priceless.

I've been needing a new car for a while now (the subaru forester is currently in first place), but it won't work quite yet. Vivian, my 10 yr old jetta, is hanging in there, but barely. While driving to work last week, the window fell into the door. Annoying. After taking the outside panel off, my dad and i managed to yank the glass up and duct tape it shut until i could get the parts to fix it.

This was good because it poured the next day. After calling, i showed up at the VW dealership to pick up the $57 regulator repair kit. I'd found step-by-step instructions (complete with photos!) online detailing how to fix the clips, and considering it would run $280 in labor alone to have the dealership fix it, thought i'd head out to my parents' house and have some quality time with my dad. Quality time we had! After removing the glass from the door, we disconnected wiring and removed the inside panel.

Then came the fun part- replacing the clips and trying to get the very tight wire to go back where it was supposed to. That took forever and left both of us bleeding, but was very satisfying after the fact. It was super neat to see (thus understand) how the whole thing worked. This picture shows the clips (at the bottom) that hold the glass, and the wires (covered by black plastic in some places) that roll the window up and down when the motor turns.

After getting that back in place, we reinserted the glass, reconnected the wires, and reattached the outside panel.

Good as new! And $280 dollars that can now go towards the new one. Merci dad!

construction

I was potentially going to stay in vermont until sunday, but couldn't find a ride back, so came back yesterday instead. This only matters because i was warned that there would be a rambunctious group of 45 year old guys hanging out tonight, and that i might want to "hide". At first i planned to see a movie, but when i wasn't quite excited about any of my options, i decided to finally build a headboard for my bed, something i'd been planning to do since september when i upgraded from a full to a queen.
I had a mental picture of what i wanted, and after building my full size bed from old doors, this was fairly straightforward. Got some plywood, added some foam, batting, fabric, buttons and legs, and attached to the bed. It took me a good three hours or so (of which 1.5 were used making the buttons and sewing them on), but worked out exactly as i'd planned. Here's my new headboard..

It's a good thing i had a project to do on the third floor, because they're still at it at 2 in the morning. It sounds like i live in a frat house.

skinny pancake

I only had to work for two days over a period of five weeks (which was both a nice break and a financial nightmare), so i was able to get up to the vermont house two times. Since my car is now a senior citizen, it's not able to make the trip so i rely on my guests to provide the mode of transportation. If that weren't the case, i'd probably have stayed for the entire five weeks. The most recent trip was made with two friends and a baby, and was a nice mid-week getaway highlighted by puzzle doing, pond swimming, zip lining, bonfire building, and s'more eating. Aside from the mild issue of large quantities of water pouring through the basement bathroom ceiling and the ensuing calling, fixing and cleaning of said water, it was great and relaxing.
On our trip home, we stopped at the skinny pancake, my favorite crepe place in montpelier. I always get the same thing, the johnny crepe- an unbelievably tasty concoction of pulled pork, caramelized onion, cabot cheddar, and a corn meal crepe. I cannot stress how good this thing is, really. The other great thing about this place is that they use as many local ingredients as possible, and have a map on the wall that shows where each ingredient comes from. The pulled pork, for example, was from duclos and thompson farm in weybridge, and the cheese from cabot creamery in montpelier. Very cool. Today, as an extra bonus, i passed on the water in favor of a root beer that was...

...on tap. It was the best root beer i've ever had. In short, i will now require a stop at the skinny pancake during each trip to the vermont house. It's a good thing i don't live closer.

like a fish

I started swimming when i was little. My dad would take my brother and me to the Y where we took lessons and swam around with him during free swim. I distinctly remember my bubble. It was a pinkish retro bubble (ie- an actual inflatable rubber bladder with the cloth cover- unlike the foam things that are around today), and it had some quite appealing-to-five-year-olds design on it that i loved- maybe a bumble bee? I wish i had a picture of it. Who knows how good i was at that point, but when we moved to a house with a pool when i was nine, my mother signed us all up for session after session of lessons in hopes that none of us would drown in the backyard. I made it to the lifesaving level where you're swimming in your clothes (and blowing them up to make "floaties") before my mother finally was comfortable with my swimming abilities. Though we were in that pool daily from june through september, i can't remember ever swimming any real stroke. Marco polo, jumping tricks off the diving board, playing around with flippers mask and snorkel? Yes. Swimming laps? No. The four of us survived many summers in that pool without incident before they filled it in a few years ago. That was a sad day.
Twenty-years after my last lesson, i decided to start swimming laps at my local Y. Everything was going well. I had a very strong crawl stroke (freestyle to all you weirdos), and with a little practice my backstroke become quite efficient. I wasn't a fan of flip turns, so i took to swimming four lengths in order- one crawl, one backstrokes, one breast stroke, one elementary backstroke. The real work happened on the crawl and backstroke, the other two were my equivalent of stretching. One day it occurred to me that my breast stroke might need to be tweaked a bit. A friend who's also a swim teacher confirmed this- i was doing it all wrong. After checking a few things out, i signed up for five weeks of swim lessons for the low price of $38 (got to love the Y). Three weeks into it, i've now learned the correct way to do the breast stroke (knees together!), butterfly, flip turns, and push offs. What i've also learned is that doing the strokes correctly is much more exhausting than doing them my way. Doh!

new space

I don't like squishy mattresses, especially after purchasing and sleeping on my current firm one. It's fantastic. I downloaded the iphone app "sleep cycle", an amazing thing that monitors your movements while sleeping and gives you a neat graph the next morning. This app confirmed my theory that i sleep poorly on soft mattresses. I toss and turn all night, waking with a crick in my back and a crabby attitude. Thus, after the fourth night of sleeping on one such mattress, i developed super human strength, and shoved my mattress up a very narrow winding stairway (until it got stuck and i got my neighbor to help at 11pm) so the fifth night never happened. Upon getting the mattress up there, i realized that the only way it was going down was through a window. This led to the decision to relocate all my belongings to the third floor- a floor that is empty and never used by others. Within a period of hours, i'd repainted the room, sanded the floors, hung new blinds, moved all my furniture including the box spring (which required removal of staples and dust cover, cutting of three wooden bars, folding in half, tying together, dragging up same narrow winding stairs, unfolding, repairing and restapling), and settled in. Though all that happened fairly quickly, it took another week to finish all the little things like buying and installing new window locks (so no monkeys try to sneak in while i'm sleeping), extricating all my belongings from random 2nd floor closets and relocating them to their new home, and climbing into the attic to adjust the air conditioning/heating dampers to better regulate air flow. Now that it's done, i realize how much i love this stuff. Part of it's the repainting and starting out with a new clean space, but mostly it's the purging of lots of stuff that took up plenty of mental space. Knowing that my belongings are now organized and packaged neatly and that i got rid of five black trash bags of junk lowers some level of anxiety i didn't realize i had. So, tonight when i sleep in my fantastic bed, i expect "sleep cycle" to register an even healthier and more relaxed pattern of sleep.

begin again

I used to love my blog. I wrote daily, added images, liked doing it. Then i got busy and it felt like a chore, so i stopped. When things settled down and i wanted to write again, i didn't understand why it made me so anxious. Then i realized i'd done too much moving forward to back up into the same blog again. Which brings me here- new life equals new blog. Funny how a clean slate makes everything much more appealing.