Stormwatch

How the goofiest member of the family rode out yesterday's storm:

Ollie - mostly upside-down and always glued to someone's side throughout our residual hurricane winds and rain.

 I don't think he was experiencing any sort of fear of the elements as much as he was just capitalizing on having everyone together in one place for the entire day.

Moments after the photo above was taken we pulled out the blankets and candles, Netflix'd The Omen, prepped the back-up kindle movie downloads, and started the perpetual storm feasting.  We horror-movied our way through the day, sporadically keeping an eye on the ridiculously over-dramatic news reporters anchoring themselves to anything remotely stable looking in order to get the eye candy of reporting while submerged and in peril, and checking in with friends and family to make sure everyone was safe.

Not a bad day for a housepup.

We were extremely fortunate to not have any major damage from the storm.  We thought we might lose a section of the back fence at one point, but it held strong.  Even my parents, who live in a pretty storm-beaten area on the Connecticut shoreline, made it through okay.

We have a lot of friends in NYC who have been displaced due to flooding and power outages.  I am happy to hear they are all unharmed and in relatively good spirits.  It's surreal to see the damage as it is starting to come across the networks in photos and video.  There is talk of local fundraisers and drives coming together already.  Providence is a good little city.

Today we're back at it.  Work is back on track, though my in-box is unpleasantly full after the unexpected day off yesterday.  I am very happy to see that school is cancelled tonight.  I really wasn't ready for that test.

Tomorrow is Halloween!

Weekend, Shelled

My weekend in a nutshell

(the abbreviated version):

eye exam

blind selection

goodbyes at pubs

whips & ligers

friends

zoos

bats with human bits

 

 

The more detailed account follows:

 I went to the eye doctor Friday afternoon, after finally admitting to myself that the glasses I haven't seen in a year are actually probably not going to turn up any time soon.  I do so much work on computers all day, particularly lots of excel with tons of lines of never-ending data, that my eyes have been feeling constantly strained lately.  The bright side is that my perscription hasn't changed in two years and it's still minimal.  the other bright side is that I get new glasses.  yay for fun accessories.  The not-so-bright side is that the yellow "we're going to look inside your eyes now" drops made my eyes so blurry that I could hardly see a thing for a good hour or more.  Because of this I am trusting one of the optomi-techs opinions of what looked best and, not too surprisingly, they were hardly cheap glasses.  I like surprises.  Hopefully, when they are ready for pick-up, I'll get a good one!

 

 

 

 

Friday night was also J's last night working up in Boston after 9 years of commuting.  Bittersweet, no doubt.  Someone from management opened up a tab at the bar next door and a good-bye party commenced.  By the time I got up there, J had already lost count of how many drinks he'd been given and what they were.  I visited with friends from his office who we just don't get to see enough, while keeping an eye on my dear drunky.  We made it back to Providence in time to get to a friend's pizza shop for an early morning dinner.

 

 

 

J has never been to the ren fair in Mass.  This is in no way a bad thing. At all.  BUT, it does mean he's never seen a liger.  That is a crime that needed to be corrected.  So we had an adventure and went to the fair!

We sam NPR guy"Jacques ze Whipper" slice sticks out of people's mouths with flaming whips.  This was fun, I can't lie.

 

 

Then we saw the T.I.G.E.R.S people and their gorgeous big cats (and a little monkey).  We resisted (with much difficulty) the urge to jump up and hug any of the big cats, which means the crowd slaughter was averted once again this year.  We did, however, sit quietly, on our best behavior, and marvel at the beautiful animals and the rapport they have with their humans.

My camera settings went wonky... which I'm sure was in no way my own fault, so most of my pictures were unsatisfactorily blurry.

Regardless of the unfortunate representation, this is Mr Liger in all his enormous glory:

 

Sunday we got together with friends (who we also just don't see enough) for a birthday celebration at the local little zoo.  I made friends with a goat we named stuby-nubby.  I know he loved me because he sneezed on me.  Also, The two Js seized a few fun photo ops with zoo props.

Below is what they'd look like if they were bats (with human heads).  Pretty cute.  It's obvious from the photo who the poppa bat is in this bizarrly appealing fantasy world.

 



 

 

 

AHS and Guard Duty

2 quizes and an exam tonight.  Nuts, right?

Powered through and got home before 8.

American Horror Story is on the agenda for tonight.

I'm excited. 

(silly things excite me sometimes)

Meanwhile, here's Ollie on guard duty, watching over a sleeping Lucy.

She's snuggled on her little nook of pillows and blankets.

They're pretty adorable.

The Healthy Vegan

There is a healthy vegan here but she took an unintentional day off today (in a very big way).

Breakfast:
soy latte with cinnamon
cupcake

Lunch:
fried spring rolls
hot & sour soup

Dinner:
cupcake

Post school snack:
rice crispy treat (sweet & sara)
Uinta Punk'n beer

....and now I would really like some potato chips.

Monday Night Facts

I shouldn't eat all the falafel.
Ollie hates tibetan prayer bowls.
He really, really, really hates them.
Lucy is mesmerized by a black keys poster newly arrived from J's office.
Necco is also rather intrigued.
I have a little cthulhu to watch over me.

Lazy Morning Dog Mugging

Sunday mornings rule.  They don't rule quite as much as Saturday mornings (because Sunday has the impending work week breathing down its neck). 

J is very serious about whatever is happening on the TV and has apparently missed the thing that caught our attention (me and Ollie) ...which was most likely the flash of the iphoto both.

A Much Needed Half-Hectic Weekend

We took a long weekend, Friday through Monday.  The goal was to spend Friday in New York, visit family Saturday into Sunday, and then get ourselves home early enough Sunday afternoon to still have two days of weekend to ourselves.  A well crafted plan if ever there was one.

Friday consisted of a sugar-laden adventure through the LES.  We snacked on treats and coffee as we wandered around constructing a plan for the day, visited several of the most quiet and beautiful little community garden spaces I've ever seen, and spent some time hanging with a very sweet cat on a bench.  We happened upon (not entirely by accident) Lula's Sweet Apothecary where I had to get a scoop of pumpkin for the road (which went way too well with the butterscotch to be ignored).  It was 80 frigging degrees out, after all.  We met up with a friend, wandered in and out of some fun spots, had dinner at our favorite NY vegan comfort food spot, took a tour of the coolest dog parks in the city, headed over to Brooklyn, saw more dog parks, met up with another friend, played with a very cool little pup, went to a great little bar... and just had a really fun night.

LES street-side pumpkin pit

I was amazed at how completely packed the train was when we were heading home.  We made the mistake of sitting at the end of one of the back cars, where the last two rows face each other.  An enormous man with a swollen face practically sat on me.  He appeared to be somewhere in the outer realms of beyond drunk, to the point that he had a very distinct and uncomfortable zombie vibe crackling around him.  He opened a bottle of soda, sucked it down at an inhuman speed, and then began to belch loudly and continuously as he leered at me with his one functional eye (the other appeared to be swollen somewhat shut).  There was not one open seat for miles in either direction.  We very seriously considered just gathering up our stuff and standing at a door for the next hour, instead we took alert stance-ready to bolt at the slightest hint of impending vomit or blood thirsty rage.

He left after 20 of the longest minutes of my life.  We got to my parent's house with 5 hours to sleep before the start of our "Saturday with the Fam" plan.

Kitty on a bench in a community garden on E 4th-ish.  

We adventured with my parents Saturday.  We drove to central Massachusetts for a day my mom had excitedly planned for us months ago - butterfly garden, Yankee Candle shopping spree, apple picking at Lyman, and a lovely dinner.

It was a lot of fun.  I am incredibly thankful to have J who is not only an amazing man, my best friend with whom I can have completely telepathic conversations in the back seat of my mom's car, and a serious hottie with kitchen skills beyond belief, but he's also happy to be part of my family.  He willingly accompanies me on visits and even has fun.  It's pretty sweet and it is definitely something I will never take for granted.  (::end off-track happy-rant::)

My parents were dog sitting for my brother and sis-in-law, who were on vacation.  We had to pick the little guy up at daycare by 6, so we decided to go home and do a late dinner of pizza from Modern.  J and I offered to go get it, seeing an opportunity to capitalize on some play time.  We ran to Mamoun's to split a quick combo plate, hit Edge of the Woods to pick up the spicy veggie jerky that we cannot find around here anywhere (along with some cupcakes to bring back to my folks'), and then we flew over to Modern to pick up our super veggie pizza (and a half meaty one for my dad).

We hung out with my parents, played with the pup and were completely exhausted from the events of the last two days.  We gave up on our night plans and went to bed by 11.

Mom & J filling the tank mid-roadtrip -working as a team

We said good-bye, packed up, and left the house in time to get a cup of coffee and wander around New Haven for a bit.  It's probably mostly nostalgia from my teen years, but wandering around the gorgeous expanse of gothic architecture that is Yale at the height of Autumn, as the leaves are falling and the air is crisp, with a coffee, a warm coat and scarf, and a super special handsome man holding your hand ...well, it pretty much the best (the only difference from the teen years would have been subtract the guy, replace with teenage similarly-angsty pal, add some cloves, make it night time, and throw in my old 20-hole docs and a visit to the Rep. Voila - NH trips circa the 1990s).

We picked up the pups from boarding (or doggie sleep-away camp as I prefer to think of it), and got home by mid-afternnon.  We had a delightfully lazy day of movies, pup snuggles, and fun (punctuated by some laundry and general home cleaning/maintenance).

Monday we tackled some projects at the house, ran some errands, had a productive day, and then joined forces in the kitchen to create the ultimate cold autumn day comfort food.

A movie, yummy food, and a night in with my four favorites.  

And our wonderful mini-vacation draws to a close.

(big sigh)

End of vacation, cold rainy night comfort food fest.  Vegan mac&cheese, amazing smoky-spicy chili, and garlicky greens (spinach, kale, broccoli, walnuts and loads of garlic)

Ollie and the Roses

Ollie keeps sneaking sniffs, so I snuk a photo.

Hallowed Treats

I ordered some fun stuff from Sweet & Sara and it showed up at the office this afternoon. 

Holy vegan marshmallowy Autumn deliciousness!

The pumpkin spice mallows are amazing. 

I have big plans for these.

Monday Again

Again???

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnd, here I am again.  Another flipping Monday. 

But, it's also the first day of October!

At least this is only a four day work week.  Ooooooo, and so is next week!  The little things make me happy.
Tomorrow is Melvins after class.  The weekend holds a trip to NYC and a Connecticut family visit, complete with a day at the orchard.  Lots of fun in the next few weeks.  I'm a little worried that it's too much to fit into just four weekends.  October is always so packed with plans that we don't seem to get to everything, and then it's all over in a blink!

Fall has always seemed to accompany my biggest life changes and it looks like this fall may be no different.  With some uncertainty and a world of options ahead of us J and I are musing somewhat more seriously than usual about picking up and moving soon.  We're throwing some cards out there and waiting to see where they land.  But until that's all figured out, there are an endless array of Autumn and halloween activities to be tackled!