I was all set to clock out for a long weekend. Put in my due diligence, getting the Halloween playlist ready. Thinking about what movies I was going to watch on Friday, that had been burning up my DVR for weeks, nay, months, for my big day off of nothing. I was stoked, to say the least.
Then, disaster, from afar. Nothing of my doing, but my problem to fix (apparently). I'll be lucky if I'm not sitting here all thru the weekend now. And to top it all off, I was threatened with some foreign imprisonment. Just your ordinary run-o'-the-mill nonsense.
Up early and at it so I can enjoy some of the holiday we planned.
Been shooting black/white for a couple days now. Sometimes you just get in the mood. Memorial Day happened. We worked in the yard and had dinner with the Trunks. Details to follow. I've had this set of assembly instructions hanging over me for what seems like forever. I swear I'm almost done tho. One more day. Maybe. Our trip is coming up and it's heads down til then. It's fairly legit vacation, and a new destination is being added every day. We better leave before the places to go outnumber the time we have to go to them.
Laura's at the gym. Better than at a bomb scare I suppose. Oh we didn't tell you about that one. Next time we see you. Laura's still diffusing. Pun intended.
We had a breakthrough in home refurbishing this week that just couldn't wait another minute to make it down onto graph paper. It would've burned a hole in someones head. I can't believe we didn't think of this before. Maybe because we'd eradicate one of our favorite features on the entire house, but weighing the multitude of pros, it must be done. Now we have to decide which project to bite off this warm season. Could we fortunate to complete both? Would be able to finish one? Only the fall harvest will tell. And she ain't talking yet.
We celebrated how awesome we were at playing pretend and rewarded Yuula for hearing us say the words 'ice' and 'cream' too close in succession by heading out to the Gem & Keystone Brewpub at the foot of Shawnee slopes. We thought we deserved it. Laura & I did the sampler trio of beers, brière blanche, triple pale, and session porter, left to right, not the order we drank. Yuula had a decadent 'roni & cheese, I had the fish, Laura the steak, as we are wont to do, and finished up with some delicious desserts of a double brownie a la mode for her, a quite creative apple crisp for myself, and Yuula a toddler size bowl of some delicious chocolate ice cream. I only know it's delicious because she could not finish so... c'mon now. We were kind of stunned to hear it was Breyers. Was kind of hoping for a crunchy homebrew. We sat next to some delightful Long Islanders just in for the powders and their 2 year old Belinda, whom Yuula spent the later part of the evening running ragged thru and amongst the tables that had long been abandoned by earlier diners. That's how we do.
Then we needed orange juice, but it's never that simple. A cartful and a blind swipe of the visa later and we were on our way home. She's brushing her own teeth and I am changing into my own pj's as I type. I'm good like that. No time to blog these days.
This here is the time of the year that we make all our upcoming travel plans. We know we'll going down to Georgia twice, once in February for a delayed holiday celebration, and again in October for some exchanging of the vows between Kevin and Mariah. Then we have my side of the family's group getogether, which is looking like it'll fall in September sometime, probably right after Labor Day. Good time to hit the hot spots out on the shore. November and December are usually off the table as far as taking a vacation because of all of the holiday madness. Too much to cram into a short period of time. January is almost over as far as I'm concerned. And March is looking like it's gonna be the month that I have to make that long-planned, oft-delayed work trip which could be anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks. So that leaves mid-April to August an open slate and the world our dartboard. Well, at least the American midwest to the east coast. We probably won't be boarding any planes as a trio just yet. Talks are already under way to make it out to Chicago and hit some lake Erie and Ohio/Indiana family on the way to and fro. That would probably take place sometime between Laura's birthday in mid-June and Yuula's in late August. But we'd also really like to head north, as far as time will take us. Awesome people, great cities & too many sites to list. The options are kind of limitless. Southern Connecticut and Boston are obvious destinations but we're yet to hit the Vermont/New Hampshire leg and Maine seems like a distant planet. But nothing a nice week-long roadtrip couldn't cure. A day here, a night there, maybe camp out at that spot where we can be the first ones in the country to see the sun come up, sounds like a plan. Keeping on the move but stopping long enough to take in the moment. And all this could take place in early spring when it's still chilly at night so we can wear sweaters near the shore and warm during the day so we could drive with the windows down. This along with all the "local" daytrips that assuredly take place and I think that without much effort we've given ourselves and pretty extensive itinerary. We should start packing.
Plans? Oh we gots plans. Extended dinner at the table plans. This goes here, that goes there. thing goes everywhere.
Right now we got more immediate plans. And then there's plans for the near future, the future future and the present future. The plans for the past future fell thru.
Eyes: 30 Rock / Parks & Rec / The Office
Ears: The Internal Tulips - Mislead Into A Field By A Deformed Deer
Early to bed in hopes for early to rise. Tomorrow morning starts a long and hopefully productive weekend. Planning on crossing a big to-do off the list as well as create some self-fulfillment opportunities. Two birds. For now we're in bed trying to get this nutjob to sleep. She is close to worn.
...today I left the plant at the perfect time. Perfect time to get back and have to leave. To leave for Roxbury a long rehearsal. Long rehearsal with some Saladworks on the middle. The middle of the week came fast tho. Fast tho I can't be home soon enough. Soon enough it'll be the weekend and I got an idea. An idea of an early morning up 447. Up 447 where I just drove and scouted out...
Got an interesting couple of weeks coming up. Cadets camp this weekend. Laura is coming down with me on Friday night and staying til Saturday morning. Always fun when she gets to come around and see everyone, meet some new people, put faces with names. That sorta thing. Plus at least we'll be able to have breakfast together on my birthday before she has to head off to work.
We finally used our Lowes & Home Depot gift cards yesterday. Mainly, we bought wood & chicken wire. Now we have to build that vegetable garden. Hopefully it doesn't come out too awful. As long as she's able to grow some stuff in there this summer, I'm sure we'll figure it out as we go. Plus Laura bought a lot of seeds.
Unfortunately we won't be able to get that going til I 2nd week of May or so. I will be teaching Strängnäs, a drum corp in Sweden. I am excited about going over, but it's bitter-sweet, cuz it's just me, and that's a place I'm sure we'd have a great time exploring. Maybe someday.
Laura broke her phone when she dropped it in the pool the other day. Ha. She was upset, but luckily Christina has like 17 extra Verizon phones and she's gonna send 'em up sooooo, Thanks Christina.
With the nice weather upon us and in hopes to jump start some more conversations as to our redesign of the yard this summer, we got out there yesterday morning and started some actual work. First we mapped out where we're thinking of putting an enclosed vegetable garden and Laura actually broke ground.
I brought in the backhoe to clear some land.
Ha! I kid. That's not my backhoe. But we do want to blaze a new path from the driveway to the house so that we can have a bigger, less interrupted front lawn, so I decided that I should at least clear the area in question as to possibly give us a clearer understanding of just what we're dealing with. So I spent most of the day moving giant boulders from here...
2008 is coming to a close. Laura is on her way home from work, a tad early because it's been snowing pretty hard all morning. Mike & Andrea are somewhere between here & Philly, hopefully. When they all arrive we will begin our New Years celebration which will consist of fried foods, alcohol & fireworks in the snow. Could be a disaster.
But in the meantime...
Some Finer Moments Of 2008
Finding our first home. It was a long, strenuous search, but the second we walked thru the front door we knew this was the place for us. When you know, you know.
Buying our first home. It was a long, strenuous closing, tying loose ends, having mini panic attacks, dealing with inadequate agents & seemingly hesistant sellers, but in the end the papers were signed and the keys were handed over. Seriously, if not one of the happiest, definitely one of most relieving days of my life.
Everything that goes along with owning your first home. Cooking in our own kitchen. Burning wood in your own fireplace. Even cleaning your own toilet. Thrilling!
Giants winning the Super Bowl in the biggest upset in sports history.
Hot honey chamomile tea with a splash of cream and sugar
Accidentally and all of the sudden having four new kittens. We haven't totally gotten over losing Abner in the yard, but Alps, Obaldi, Høgni & L'Schtuppe have become amazing additions to the clan. Now if they'd just stop sleeping on our faces.
Tom Robbins Skinny Legs and All. This is the 3rd time I've started this book from its beginning, I kept getting halfway thru and then got busy or lost it to Laura, but this time I am nearly finished, and this book is blowing me away. Could be a life altering moment when I get to the last page, when that seventh veil drops. Oooh so good.
Trip to Ohio. Going to Lake Eerie, I've never wanted to just stay in the water like that before. I could've swam to Canada. And then working the farm was a rousing experience. And you can't help but be motivated by celebrating someone's 60th year of marriage.
Getting out to a Mets game before they tore Shea down, and even tho they lost pretty miserably, it was still pretty frigin sweet.
The Dark Knight. Are you kidding me? I've seen this thing like 8 times already. Even bought the DVD and I don't buy DVDs (anymore). I can't wait to see what happens next.
Lost. We are still deciding whether we will watch week to week for season 5 or wait til it comes out on DVD next Christmas. We don't like waiting.
Teaching Guardsmen in London. Nicest group of kids I've taught in a long while, keeps us dreaming about the big move. We'll see how 2009 goes.
Thing I'm Looking Forward To In 2009
Tom Robbins new novel B Is For Beer.
new music from Animal Collective, Ben Kweller, Sholi, Neko Case, Morrissey, Antony & the Johnsons, M. Ward, Psychic Ills, Loney Dear, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists & PJ Harvey, woo!
investing $$$ in our house in the form of a new expanded kitchen, relocated bathroom, a spacious food pantry and a luxurious mudroom
getting out to a concert
an Emerald Marquis reunion
heading back to the UK to teach again, possibly with a travel companion
But seriously folks, I am about to get busy. Not busy like a DJ on the turntables or a rapper on the mic who rocks the mic right. Just good ol' fashioned busy. This may be one of the busiest November/Decembers in recollection. I just got back from Miami, and I got a few days here, but then I go, and hopefully by the time Christmas rolls around I will be welcoming those tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.
Breaking it down
Nov. 21-23 in Philadelphia
Nov. 27 Thanksgiving in NJ
Nov. 28-Dec. 3 London
Dec. 4-8 Xmas in Georgia
Dec. 11-14 in Miami
Dec. 18-21 in Alabama
Dec. 24 & 25 CHRISTMAS!!
Dec. 26-28 back to Miami
I should just set up a bed at the airport terminal.
Add to this, pretty much every Tuesday & Thursday I'm in town I'll be over at ESHS doing my thing. Hope I make it. Eggnog & yule logs can't come fast enough.
Ooh there's a buncha stuff I'm * in the next couple of months, and I'm just so jazzed about it all that I gotta write them down so I can read them back to myself and * them even more.
FRIENDS & FUN First off, this weekend we will be heading up to Trumbull CT to finally watch our bestest bud Eric Brust [try saying that 11X fast] perform with his Blessed Sacrament. Neither of us have been to a winterguard show in many moons so it should be either very entertaining or it will simply re-enforce the reasons why we haven't been to a winterguard show in all those moons. Either way we are looking forward to a nice mini road trip, seeing some of those friends, and possibly, most definitely, stopping at Stew Leonards.
REST & RELAXATION (& RELOCATION) We will be coming home Saturday night, late after the show, only because we have to wake up early and head to Swiftwater PA, where we've rented out a condo for the week, serving many purposes. First and most importantly is to see a ton of houses in the surrounding area. We've narrowed it down [temporarily] to Pike County, Bushkill Falls area. We've got about 15 homes to see so it should be a busy week. On top of that we will be job hunting. I am meeting with people who looking for a new director for their HS there, and Fran is going to drop in on some random TJX companies to see if a transfer is possible. And hopefully, somewhere in there we find some vacation-type time where we can relax and explore these towns that could be our future home. It is in the mountains and I hear there are some crazy waterfalls. Ooooh I'm getting gooseflesh.
MUSIC
Mystery Jets, who made my 3rd [on occasion, 2nd] favorite album for 2007 will be putting out their new masterpiece Twenty One on March 24th. I've heard a few tracks already and it's more refined and seems to pack a little less of a punch, but their strength is really the exquisite quality and originality of their songwriting, and that hasn't seemed to falter any.
Matt Ward, who has been the soundtrack of many a Sunday mornings for us the past few years, has teamed up with Frans favorite actress-turned-songstress, Zooey Deschanel. Fran called it on the closing scenes of Elf as Zooey leads a crowd in an endearing sing-a-long of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" when she said, "That girl has a great voice. Who is that?" Indeed. And the title of the record, Volume One, leads us to believe that March 18th is only the beginning.
Bound Stems, who is responsible for my favorite album of 2006, Appreciation Night, and my favorite Ep of 2005, The Logic Of Building The Body Plan, will surely throw me for yet another loop when they put out their latest opus & ode to Chicago, The Family Afloat on June 10th. The countdown has commenced.
The coming months also expect releases & definite album of the year contenders from Tapes 'N Tape, Destroyer, an Ep from the knob twiddling/mind expanding Animal Collective, another opera from the elegant gloom 'n doomers Thee Silver Mt. Zion, and the always prolific R.E.M. will release its 14th album, as well as everyone's favorite sister-fronted rock juggernaut, the Breeders will come back out of hibernation, again. My iPod is gonna be busting a gut. I foresee an upgrade.
MOVIES A guilty pleasure is gonna be this film 10,000 B.C. Just to see these mastodons and sabre tooth tigers on the screen...that's gonna be very cool. I'm not sure anyone's ever made a movie about this time period so, yeah. Not expecting much, but I do expect to see it in the theater.
You're crazy if you don't think Be Kind Rewind is gonna be hilarious. Even if the sum is less than its parts, this is a brilliant idea for a story, with brilliant casting in Jack Black & Mos Def [check out that name tag], and it's written by a brilliantly imaginative director. My money's on: Brilliant.
As if I wasn't already itching to see The Dark Knight, the recent airing of the only tolerable prequels, the first Tim Burton version & Batman Begins, on late night TV has really got me going. You better believe I will be seeing this opening weekend, on a Sunday evening naturally.
Don't let the title scare you away. This just looks darling.
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