I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

We've had quite the weekend, the highlight being that the Mr. and I went for a torchlight tour of the Mt. Hope Cemetery (something I've been wanting to do for years now).

The cemetery tour was really quite fun... and surprisingly well attended. The trees are turning here and with the last couple of fronts that came through, many of the leaves have already dropped, so that there was a persistent rustling as the group made our way between the tombstones and monuments by the light of strategically placed torches. The weather was perfect... just cold enough that we were glad of our long johns and jackets, a crescent moon peeking through patchy clouds and the predicted rain notable only by its absence. Our tour guide was an older gentleman who I deemed a "local history geek", full of 150 year old gossip and scandal. Incest, adultery, murder, suicide, politics, activism and so on. Some day we should really go back during daylight hours, but I'm glad we got to experience it this way.

And Then I Turned 40

Ouch.

Apparently, I am stressed about this. My neck feels like someone stuck a needle in and left it, my teeth hurt from the constant clenching and this morning my right eye developed a twitch. I know I don't look forty. Just last month, I got carded when I ordered a glass of wine with dinner. I certainly don't FEEL forty (most of the time). I'm suffering from a serious disconnect here.

Smells of Summer

As I was walking to my car tonight, I walked into a wall of the aroma of woodsmoke and barbeque. The air was warm and humid, but the promise of a cooler evening was there. And suddenly, there were so many memories. Family gatherings, cookouts, summer camp and bonfires. Wow.

And I wonder, how much effort did my parents put into creating those memories? How much planning, and scheduling and arranging did that require? And where did they get the energy?

I hope there comes another time in my life when I am surrounded by family and close friends. When parties and gatherings seem effortless, not exhausting. When I have the energy to do more than just recover from my day at work.

Whoa.

Sorry about that. It's been a busy summer. Let me recap:

Memorial Day Weekend at Mirbeau (where we had our honeymoon)
Visit to Montreal to see Prue's first solo painting exhibition
Mom & Prue both came to us for a visit
We celebrated our second wedding anniversary
I travelled to Baltimore for a conference for work
I went to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my friend Heidi
Adam returned to Montreal for another visit
We joined our first CSA - split with Bethany & Joe
Many weeds were pulled, by many different people
There were picnics & BBQs with friends
We had a very cute brown bunny in our backyard
Rochester got a second Chipotle
Adam installed lights, ceiling fan and baseboards in the attic
The attic is finished to the point that we started moving furniture up!

I hope you have all been enjoying your summer, keeping well and thriving! I'll try to be a little more reliable with the posting from now on.

There and Back Again

To NYC that is... for another eight hour visit. This time I got to see some landmarks, namely Central Park and Rockefeller Center. I was surprised how small the ice rink was, I always imagined it to be so much more grand. I may even have seen the Empire State Building from a distance.

I took a picture this time.

Central Park after the blizzard, as seen through the cab window. Can't you tell?

Daddy would be so proud.

I Know You're Jealous

My evening commute today...

Jet-setter

I took my first ever trip to the Big Apple yesterday, for a whole ten hours. I'm sure someone took a picture, but it wasn't me. I took a Yellow Cab, sat in a Manhattan cafe and ate a chicken salad sandwich. I looked at a meeting room, took another taxi, and had a Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate (I hear they're famous) with my boss before staffing an event for work. Mad dash back to the airport and that was that.

The stuff dreams are made of...

Happy Turkey Day!

I am thankful for (aside from the obvious):

• the improvement in my career path in the light of the recent economy
• the excellent doctors who have helped/healed our respective families
• a year of many visits and reconnection with old friends
• the prospect of going home for the holidays for the first time in too many years
• Chipotle (yes.. you were saying?)

There's plenty more, but I gotta go pick up some guacamole at Malibu. Thank you Malibu!

Happy... Let's Just Say, I'm Glad You Were Born

To all you lovely people who didn't get a birthday card this year - Happy Birthday! Yes - I missed virtually every birthday on my calendar this year. Even my parents' birthdays were late. I'm sorry.

This is really embarrassing, but I still haven't quite adjusted to working Monday to Friday, 9-5. The rhythm of it just hasn't become natural yet. I just don't understand how everyone else manages to get stuff done after business hours or on the weekend! I have spent my entire adult life working the weirdest, off-balance schedules and just taking care of Life between the hours of 10am and 3pm. Usually on Tuesday and Thursday. Who knew Salvation Army is closed on Sunday?!

I'm not entirely sure why this has so affected my ability to remember birthdays, except perhaps that one thing that I actually have gotten used to (aside from dinner at home with the Mister AT DINNERTIME) is using the Outlook Calendar to remind me when to do everything but blink. No excuse, but a viable explanation at any rate.

I need to get iPhone to remind me of upcoming birthdays 10 days in advance, and then go buy the card. And the stamps. There must be an app for that...

Stop and smell the... umm... leaf mold?

This a very pretty part of the world, at virtually any time of year. Winter snowscapes, spring and summer flowers (we are known as the Flower City, don't ya know). But this really is the most stunningly beautiful time of year in this area. And my absolute worst allergy season. Ah well.

This is a lovely, huge park that I have the good fortune to drive through a few times a week on my way to or from work. It is home to geese and ducks, squirrels and chipmunks aplenty, woodchucks (otherwise known as Fat Fuzzy Brown Things) and rabbits and foxes. There are probably even deer, though I haven't seen them IN the park, there are certainly enough of them on the adjacent highway! There is another park, maybe 15 minutes from this one, where I regularly see a flock of wild turkeys. Every time I see them, I wonder where on earth they go when it snows...

Anyways, take a moment to stop and savor the beauty around you today. It may not be as obvious as this, but I promise you it is there.

Ummm... yeah. Where did that month go?

Sorry about that. On a day-to-day basis, there doesn't seem to be much worth relaying recently.

I'm still working, so is the Mr.

Attic progress has slowed somewhat due to contractor schedules, but should recommence soon.

Weather has been kinda dry, and just warm enough to encourage the bees. So I've been avoiding the garden, much to its detriment.

We had Company a couple of weeks ago. Miss Jill came for a visit with Chris and baby Ada, who looks just like her pretty Mama. It's such a gift to spend time with an old friend (sheesh, I sound like I'm 93). But it really made me think a lot about friendships. How maudlin! I have a handful of friends, who no matter how much time passes between email or conversations or visits, the moment we meet again it's like the sun comes out and the years fall away and I'd swear it was only a couple of days since we last met. Jill is one of those people (I'm lucky to have a few such). A lovely present for me.

It's funny, I don't think of myself as shy, but I've never really been a social butterfly. When I was a kid I never liked going on sleep-overs, and I'd call my Mom to pick me up as soon as the other kids started off to sleep. If we had one at my house, I made all the other kids sleep in the den and I slept in my room by myself. I hate crowds and particularly large parties. I never know what to say to strangers, so it's a wonder I manage to make any friends at all! It is NO wonder at all that I find myself surrounded by people who will carry a conversation for me in situations like these. That sounds so mercenary... I think I just fit best with friends who don't need me to be just like them in order for them to like me. Wrap your head around that one. Which is all to say I'm extremely fortunate in my friends. They are open-minded, generous and sincere.

Last week was my thirty-seventh birthday. I think. I mean, I'm sure it was my birthday, and I'm pretty sure it was my thirty-seventh. I can't say I still feel like a teenager, but I certainly don't feel my age. We spent the evening with Bethany (one of those lovely friends who understands about what parties do to me) and her boys, riding go-carts and playing putt-putt. Take THAT thirty-seven!

Ostrama... Llamu...

If you had been a fly on the wall (or perhaps a cat under the table) of our dining room yesterday evening, you could have witnessed the following exchange. Though you might have had difficulty deciphering the words through the snickering. Which eventually dissolved into hysterical, breathless laughter on my part.

A: Ooh, I've got goosebumps... or perhaps emu bumps.

K: Or ostrich bumps?

A: Yes, ostrich bumps.

K: Or maybe even llama bumps?

A: Llama bumps...? Llamas aren't birds!

K: Well, yeah. Little known fact that the llama is actually a distant cousin of the emu and ostrich. Think about it... great big feathery backside...

A: Llamas don't have feathers!

K: ... great long neck, tiny little head, pointy nose and bulging eyes...

A: ... bilaterally symmetrical...

K: OK, now you're just being... [insert hysterical laughter here] ... silly!

Homecoming

Spent the weekend in the Keys with Heidi and the girls. Driving down that 2-lane highway in the brilliant sunshine, blue skies, turquoise water and mad tropical flora and fauna... it's been more than ten years, and yet it felt oddly like coming home again.

Nose to the Grindstone

Thanks so much for all of your kind wishes and congratulations!

Everyone keeps asking, "How's the new job?" and after only two weeks, I'm not entirely sure how to respond. It's been a novel experience to say the least. I hesitate to say "I love it!", but there's really nothing to complain about. It's neither glamorous nor particularly thrilling, but how many people can honestly say those things about their 9-5?

I'm learning new stuff every day and THAT makes me happy. I can see paths of personal advancement branching out from where I stand, and THAT is reassuring. The small things I do on a daily basis help bring funds to the school, which improves the educational opportunities for our students, which ultimately improves their lives (and, one hopes, the lives they touch).

Idealistic, I know, and that the halo effect will probably wear off. But for the first time in my memory, I don't find myself wishing I didn't have to go to work. Like I said, novel.

Recommended Reading

You are already reading the Twilight series, right? When you finish those...

Here are my favorites (generally listed in the order in which they should be read):

ALL TIME TOP THREE or four
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Lamb - Christopher Moore
Snowcrash - Neal Stephenson
Burning Chrome - William Gibson

MORE Terry Pratchett:

Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith

Discworld Series, Witches sub-series

ALSO - rent the movies Hogfather & Color of Magic

MORE Christopher Moore:
Fool
Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, Dirty Job
Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Stupidest Angel

MORE Neil Gaiman:

the Graveyard Book (recent Newbery winner)

Anansi Boys

BEST SERIES YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF:
Extraordinary & Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle (1st in series) - Webb

IF YOU LIKED HARRY POTTER, TRY THESE:

Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart
Mysterious Benedict Society & the Perilous Journey - Stewart
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air - Diana Wynne Jones
Percy Jackson & the Olympians (series begins with the Lightning Thief) - Riordan
Frog Princess - E.D. Baker (first in a series)

MORE Diana Wynne Jones:
Chrestomanci series
Dalemark Quartet

IF YOU LIKE MYSTERIES (be sure to read in order):
Amelia Peabody series - Elizabeth Peters
Lord Peter Wimsey series - Dorothy Sayers
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave - Stephanie Barron (Jane Austen mysteries)

IF YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR A CHALLENGE:
Name of the Rose (be sure to invest in the companion as well, it's a HUGE help) - Umberto Eco
Possession - A.S. Byatt (forget the movie)

HONORABLE, BUT UNCOMFORTABLE MENTIONS:
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Maguire
Handmaid's Tale - Atwood
Elegance - Tessaro

Enjoy!

He Calls Me His Little Yellow Jackette

Well - I've had so many requests for info on my new job, so here goes.

I am the new Program Assistant for the Office of Advancement at a local Graduate School of Business which shall remain nameless. I have an office of my own, with a door and all. The people I work for are very friendly, and seem to laugh a lot. I've apparently been very fortunate in my assignment of parking lots.

I started Monday and Tuesday with general University Orientation, followed by time in my very own office. Our group is putting on a recruitment event in NYC for Thursday (I don't have to go, but everyone else will), so they were in prep mode. Today, I spent the majority of my time putting together nametags from the registration database. Doesn't sound so complicated, I know, but I'm using a computer I only just met, with an operating system I haven't seen recently, with software updates I haven't had a chance to get friendly with yet. I don't like Windows, it's not intuitive and it's doing a very good job of making me feel like a total idiot. It's something like the first day of high school. In a strange place, not entirely certain what's going on, and surrounded by unfamiliar faces who know a LOT more about what you're supposed to be doing than YOU do. It's exhausting.

As glad as I am to be learning, I hate feeling so ignorant. And now I'm having paranoid fantasies about having left a sheet of nametags out when I packed them up for my boss. I'm pretty sure I did not do that.

Happy New Year!

Well, sorry about the long silence, but things have been a bit hectic with getting back in gear after the holidays. If you don't work in retail, you probably don't realize that the weeks immediately AFTER Christmas are almost as exhausting as the weeks immediately BEFORE. Except that the volume of returns means that profits are lagging and payroll has to be reduced accordingly. And then there are all those people who are so angry that you actually expect them to read the return policy on the receipt, or even expect them to have a receipt at all. What can we be thinking??? Boy - I won't miss that bit...

Which leads me to the main reason I've been so quiet, and the "Happy" part of the year to date... I've just accepted a position in the Office of Advancement at our major local University! No, not the one I attended. THAT would be sheer torture. The other one. So raise your glass and three cheers and all that! I've been job-hunting for nearly two years, and this is exactly the thing I've been hoping to get into. I haven't mentioned much about this process, because it hasn't been a pleasurable one. Downright daunting if I'm honest. Our local economy wasn't booming to begin with, and the slide in the economy at large hasn't been helping. Perhaps not the best time to make a career transition. But this week, I can heave a great sigh of relief. What a load off!

Yippeee!!!

Yeah We Did...

Activity was brisk, but lines were moving very quickly. Staffers said it was unusually busy.

Good.

That Sound You Just Heard...

I know you thought it was the breeze ruffling those glowing yellow leaves on that tree at the stoplight, but no. It was the gentle exhale of someone who LOVES autumn. I love the changing colors of the trees and the still green grass, highlighted against approaching rain clouds. And the way the maple around the corner seems like it has a light inside it when the sun comes out. I like wearing a scarf, even without a jacket (I know. You're shocked). I like the smell of the damp, cool air. And the aroma of other people's lit fireplaces after dark. Each season has its own particular beauty, each its own little awe-inspiring moments. But Fall? The sole drawback to the autumnal season would be that it is my absolute worst allergy season.

Perhaps more of a wheeze than an exhale, but a very appreciative wheeze all the same.

My Day Off

Things I did on my day off today:

• Drycleaner. Check.

• Post office. Check.

• Gas station. Check.

• Grocery store. Check.

• Played with iPhone. Check.

• Nap. Check.

THEN

• Made lasagna.

• Took a "Thanks but No Thanks" call from a prospective employer. Hey, at least they called.

• New batteries in the thermostat so I can TURN THE HEATER ON, cuz it's officially Fall now...

AND

Nori had her follow-up vet check. Two more weeks of soft foods, because she somehow popped her stitches. And now, in addition to her twice daily antibiotic, I have to put cream on her leg (six times a day) where they shaved it last week, because SHE WON"T STOP LICKING IT and it's all raw and angry.

Do I know how to live it up or what?