Adventures in Gastronomy

Randy and I attended our second to last holiday party this weekend. Just before the snow storm we went to a party in Reading. Now all that’s left is the Christmas Eve party on the Cape at the house of some friends of our family.

In the past, my family has always opened Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve…or earlier. Back when we were kids, Santa came to our house early because a) he knew we were driving up to Boston to spend the holidays and b) our name was at the beginning of the alphabet and he delivered gifts in alphabetical order (at least, that’s what I believed).

As we got older we just kept to that tradition. Apparently, I’ve got a very impatient family. But then Randy comes along and ruins everything. Up until last year, we’d open gifts before or after attending our friend’s party on Christmas Eve. Last year, Randy forced us to wait until Christmas morning.

The jerk.

Anyway, this past weekend we also went out to my brother’s place in Easthampton to drop off Christmas gifts and check out the new addition to their house. They had a new master bedroom suite added that is wheelchair accessible for my sister-in-law. The addition looks great. The inspection just happened last week so they’ve not moved their belongings in yet. But they should hopefully settle in soon.

And speaking of settling in, I think Randy and I are officially settled into our new place. There are a few small things here and there, but overall we are done, I think. Though, I think Randy is already thinking about moving. First he was comlaining about “all the stairs.” Then he was saying he wished we had a single family house so we could get a hot tub.

Then last night, he drove into the garage. Now, I’m not saying he drove into the garage and parked…I’m saying he drove into the actual building. Ooops. Now there’s a fairly substantial dent and scrape along the rear passenger side door.

Ironically, as we were heading out to my brother’s place on Saturday he snapped at me for coming dangerously close to the garage door frame as I was backing out. Two days later, he didn’t just come close, he actually scraped along it. He best not yell at me again!

In his defense, the garage door opening is surprisingly narrow.

In my defense, at least I didn’t do it.

December 22nd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 5 Comments

… complete destruction of the earth, apparently.

You see, I think of my self as fairly eco-concious. I don’t drive a car. I make sure to use compact fluorescent light bulbs. I don’t leave the water running when doing dishes or brushing my teeth. I also recycle.

Generally.

But certain times it’s not convenient for small things. For example, I tend to throw the tiny box that my bar of soap comes in into the trash can in the bathroom. I’m usually naked at the time (since you don’t realize you need soap until you’re planning to shower) and running downstairs to the recycling bin for a small, flimsy, piece of cardboard doesn’t seem like it’ll benefit the world that much.

But every time I do that, Randy will pluck the 2 inch by 4 inch box from the trash can and bring it to the recycling bin (often with what I interpret to be a slightly exaggerated sense of  frustration), as if I’d just poured 10 million gallons of oil in the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Randy is the same guy who will flitter about the house from room to room leaving beind him a wake of illuminated rooms  – never even thinking about shutting off the lights. I tend to follow behind and turn lights off as often as he’s turning them on.

It is rather peculiar. He seems to focus on the material benefits of being environmentally responsible (recycling), whereas I’m more focused on the conservation side (not wasting electricity). Combined, I guess we make a good match and balance each other out.

Though, the one area where I’m Al Gore’s number one enemy is when it comes to showering. I love a good shower. And a good shower has lots of water pressure and takes at least 15 minutes, ideally 25-30 minutes. I become all giddy and austic in the shower, standing under the warm water,  humming happily, while rocking back and forth and enjoying the spray.

I like to think I make up for it by not running water when I shave, brush my teeth, or even wash dishes (I’ll get things wet, turn off water, then scrub and stack until done…then turn water on again to rinse). And Randy and I just ordered a new energy-efficient dishwasher that should help, too.

So, I still think I do my part. Don’t  judge me.

December 16th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments

None of it is important, of course.

It seems I’m finally getting the commute routine down. To be honest, I think it’s all just random luck. For the first week of my taking public transit to work from the new home (after 2 months of scootering), the bus was late every day. The schedule said one should arrive every 7-8 minutes, but I was waiting 20+ minutes.

And going home, where I board the bus just one stop after the route starts (so you’d think it would be more punctual) I would arrive to find that a bus had just gone by (2 minutes earlier than scheduled) and then I’d wait another 10-15 minutes.

But this week I’ve been right on time in both directions (so far). It figures that when the weather is warmer, I’m not stuck standing outside as long as I am when it was in the 20’s and windy.

Still, despite today’s warmth, the driver found it necessary to have the heat blasting the entire ride. Within seconds I removed my gloves. Within a minute or two I removed my jacket. If public decency allowed, I’d have removed more, trust me.

In the middle of my ride, over my iPhone blaring some Natasha Bedingfield, I heard some screaching. I looked down to my left and saw a car stuck in traffic next to the bus. And then I saw the front end of a 1970’s esque van ram into that car’s bumper. Now, this was in heavily congested Porter Square during morning rush hour. How the hell the van gathered enough speed to cause such a lengthy break squeal is beyond me.

So, back to the warmth on the bus. It was at this time that I also noticed that my window was fogging up around my arm (which I had been leaning against the glass to cool down). I looked around the bus and it was only my window that had fogged up. I’m such a freak. It confounds me how much heat my body gives off sometimes.

As we pulled away from the accident, I saw another car pull up beside the bus. It was a BMW and inside was the most petite 30-something woman. She was so short that her seat was pulled up as close to the steering wheel as possible so she could reach the pedals. Despite being stick thin, the steering wheel was at her belly. This made me realize that it must really suck to be a short AND fat person. I mean, I wonder if such a shape can prohibit some from being able to drive at all (unable to reach the pedals, and unable to turn the wheel because it’s squeezed against their belly)?

And that was my commute.

December 15th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

Well, not really.

But I did have a pretty full weekend. On Saturday our friend, Pete, had us over for Hannukah dinner (mmm – brisket) and games. Randy managed to win both games (Settler’s of Catan and Hands and Feet), but he didn’t gloat so no enemies were made.

On Saturday, we got up (late) and drove to Newport to see a few mansions. When we went in October we signed up for the annual membership and visited the Breakers and Chateau sur Mer. This time, we went to the Elms (just ok) and Marble House (I could live there). The Gothic room was particularly spectacular (see pic above…and, yes, I need a tan).

We drove around a bit after dark then returned to Boston where we attended Sven and Mike’s Christmahanukkas party.

On Sunday, phew, we purchased a new dishwasher for our house. The current one, we assume, is the original and it is quite loud. We could handle that if it was the only problem, but it also doesn’t clean items on the front half of the top rack. So, we upgraded to a Bosch (big sale at Lowes) and it should arrive in the next week and a half.

After shopping, we went to our friends, Ben and Brad’s, for another Christmas party. More good food, more fun conversations, then we came home and caught up on the DVR before Randy headed to bed before me. Since we’ve been together I think this has happened fewer times than I can count on one hand, so he was obviously tired.

And now it’s Monday.

December 14th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

I’m not sure what it was, but I managed to catch a strange bug this week. I woke up Monday very achy and with a slight sore throat. Recalling the colds (yes, plural) Randy had for the entire month of November, I suspected that’s what I was catching. I took the day off, got plenty of rest, and drank plenty of fluids.

Regrettably, I decided to return to work Tuesday morning only to realize that I felt even worse than the day before. I was burning up, my entire body ached (even the water hitting my body in the shower that morning actualy hurt), and my head was throbbing.

I ended up taking another sick day on Wednesday and the pain started going away. Oddly, the sore throat never morphed into a head cold. I never got congested, my nose never ran, and I haven’t coughed once. Obviously, this isn’t a cold.

But I don’t think it’s the flu, either, since I had a flu shot, and never felt nauseous. I was, however, peeing nonstop. Not that I’m self-diagnosing, but could this have been H1N1?

Anyway, it’s Thursday and I’m back at work. Oh, and I just discovered that the townhouse unit two doors down from us just went on the market. It’s identical in size, shape, layout, and age and was listed at $45,000 more than we paid. FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND! I’m sure they won’t get asking price, but it’s at least making me think that we got our place for a steal.

*Today’s photo is of me when I was sick, but back in 1996. My beard was so dark and full 13 years ago. Sigh.

December 10th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

Despite being warm blooded (or hot-blooded considering that I sweat in bed even on the coldest of nights), I’m realizing as I get older that winter just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I look forward to the cool, crisp autumn nights, I enjoy the first snowfall of the year. but once that happens (typically by the end of December), I’m ready for it to be all over.

But no, it lasts through March (and occasionally into April). So, five more months of this? No thank you.

That’s why I loved waking up to pouring rain this morning that disappeared by the time I’d finished my oatmeal and turned into sunny skies and, by 9AM, 65 degrees! Aer you paying attention, Mother Nature? this is how winter ought to be.

Now if only my office would cool down (I’ve not turned on the heat yet…in fact, I’ve kept my windows open since the building turned off the AC).

Last night I also decorated our Christmas tree. Normally I do this the weekend after Thanksgiving and invite a few people over for a tree-decorating party. But with our housewarming party coming up, I decided one party was enough and did it myself. It actually looks pretty darn good (I forgot to take a picture…will try tonight). And Randy unknowingly helped me with a tradition – despite not helping in decorating the tree.

You see, ever since I moved away from my childhood home I’ve baked chocolate chip cookies to eat while decorating. Randy and I had no cookies (or mix, or ingredients to bake cookies) in the house yesterday. But before getting home he picked up a few groceries, including a package of Chips Ahoy.

I’m not sure if he’s aware yet, but those cookies served their purpose and helped continue a tradition of eating chocolate chip cookies while decorating the tree. Now I just hope he doesn’t notice that half the bag is gone.

December 3rd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

A typical day in my life reminds me of the Godfather’s classic 1980’s song “Birth, School, Work, Death.”  I typically wake up (my birth), go to work (which happens to be school), then go home and eventually fall asleep (death).

Yes, it’s terribly exciting, I know. But it keeps me content. But once in a while it makes sense to spark things up a bit. As I was scootering home last night (the stage between work and death) I noticed that the town of Arlington had put up all of its Christmas lights.  And that made me start thinking how nice it would be if Randy and I had a nice romantic dinner in our neighborhood.

But then I got home and remember our friend, Paul, was in town for the night and we were supposed to get together w ith him. So, instead, when Randy got home from work we met up with Paul in Davis Square for dinner/drinks and then came back to our place to show him the new pad.

All in all, it was a great night. And a welcome distraction from the same old-same old.

December 2nd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

I had a pretty good holiday last week. I dropped Randy off at the airport on Wednesday morning so he could visit his family in Virginia. Then I went work. When I got home, I pulled out all of the Christmas decorations to get them ready for their installation when I got back from my parents.

On Thursday morning, I drove to the cape (no traffic…L-O-V-E it!) and spend the next to days in a haze of card playing chocolate eating, and drape hanging. Yes, I was domestic and hung drapes for my parents. Between the drapes, the all new stainless steal appliances in the kitchen, the new blinds, all new living room furniture, and the all new paint (colors!) thoughout, the place looks amazing compared to it’s previous incarnation.

On Black Friday I had planned a restful day with my parents. Instead, Randy sent my Dad an email before 6am telling him that Norton Antivirus is on sale at Staples as a door-buster special. You had to get there by 10AM to get.

Now, he really should know better than to put any ideas into my Dad’s head because my Dad ran into my bedroom at 6:50AM freaking out about how we have to go. Go NOW!

Ugh – so much for a resftul Friday. It didn’t help matters that it was pouring rain. I’m talking torrential. Not only did Randy tell me to go to Staples, I had to go to Macy’s to buy a door-buster Christmas tree that he said to get.

All said and done, we made it back home by 9:30AM, which kills me since when I worked at the Cape Cod Mall in my youth, the mall didn’t even open until 9:30AM.

I returned to Boston (I mean, Arlington) on Saturday afternoon and opened the box of the new tree (yeah, it’s fake, don’t judge me).  I noticed the branches weren’t the style Randy wanted (he wants the plastic tipped ones, where as these are the old school fake branches). I called him and he said not to bother putting it up.

So, I put up the old tree instead. The trusty old tree I’ve used for more than half a decade. And despite being pre-lit, certain sections of the tree remained pre-lit even after I plugged it all in. Yep, somehwere in that mess of plastic and metal is a rambling strand of lazy-ass bulbs that won’t light up.

Randy won’t let me put up the new tree. We can’t use the old tree. So I just gave up and did Wii Fit instead.

On Sunday, to round out my festive and frustrating weekend, I decided to see the movie, Precious. I invited Chris along to keep me company…which was a good thing because, damn, that movie is hard to watch.

I loved it. I really, really thought the performances were amazing (Mariah Carey and M’Onique…who knew?). And the cinematography was disturbingly stunning. Seriously…even now, a day after seeing the movie, when I close my eyes I’m still envisioning that horrible apartment of theirs and the abuses that were taking place inside.

If this movie doesn’t win awards, the system is royally screwed up (the system previously proved to be joke when Crash won so many awards a few years ago and I hated that manipulative drivel). With stellar performances by everybody in the film….let’s see if the system can redeem itself this time around!

November 30th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

I got spoken to last night because Randy thinks I don’t update my blog enough. He’s right. I attempted to defend myself by saying that nothing exciting has been happening so I was having trouble coming up with topics to write about. He pretty much said that it didn’t stop me mebore so shut the hell up and start typing.

So, here goes…random experiences and thoughts in my head since the last I posted.

1 – I used the Wii Fit for the first time in, gasp, 217 days. I hate that the damn thing reminds you of how lazy you’ve been. I’ve also managed to take a negative and turn it into a positive: it said I’d gained 3 pounds….but I was relieved that it was only 3 pounds since I was expecting more! Even bad news can brighten my day!

2 – I’ve enver seen this before but there’s this bizarre moth thing going on right now. Our front door is covered with them and I couldn’t figure it out. But then I saw a report on the news the other night that certain towns north of Boston (including Arlington) are having a problem with moths that came out as it started getting colder and who won’t disappear until the first substantial snow fall. Super. Our white front door looks so ghetto.

3 – I had a dream about Bowzer (from Sha Na Na) the other night. But it wasn’t the Bowzer from his skinny 1970’s hey-day, it was the current slightly overweight version I saw on an informercial the other day. It wasn’t an erotic dream, but he did kiss me.

4 – I’m still scootering to work these past few weeks despite the rain and cooler temperatures. I started getting the T-pass for next month so let’s see how long this lasts. I’m not really minding the temperatures (in a way, it’s refreshing), but I have noticed on my new commuter that despite their being clearly marked bike lanes up and down Mass Ave, certain drivers seem to pretend they don’t exist. There are the double parkers, the truck-unloaders, the cars that swerve into them while chatting on the phone or drinking coffee. But then, scariest of all, are the MBTA bus drivers who in the past week alone have nearly killed me twice as I’m beside them (practically to the front door) when they start merging into the bike lane for a bus stop that’s ahead. They don’t even look sometimes!  When I’ve been a passenger on the bus I’ve seen this happen to cyclists… a lot.

5 – Christmas music is offically acceptable now. Though, truth be told, I began playing it on my iTunes around November 1.

6 – What’s all this hoopla about Adam Lambert? His singing was mediocre at best, but the theatrics were the most interesting part of the show. More erotic things have happened in the past that haven’t ended up with a performer being dis-invited to another show (GMA). Remember Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” performance at the MTC Video Awards when she rolled around in a see-thru wedding dress simulating an orgasm? Or how about Michael Jackson in everything since 1983 where he constantly thrusts grabs his crotch? Or Madonna, Britney, and Christina making out at another awards show? And some of these were 25 years ago. Adam Lambert did nothing different – it’s good old-fashioned rock-n-roll shock (or shlock). Besides, this aired at nearly 11PM on a school night. It’s not like it was a commercial break on PBS during Sesame Street.

7 – Harvard gave us pies to say thank you for our service over the past year. I’m trying to figure out how  to get it home with my scooter. I’m thinking I’ll putit on the place where my feet go and dangle my feet on the side. Classy…and safe!

8 – I finally booked us a room near Death Valley this week. I’d been putting it off because everything I’ve found online looks like a trailer park. Seriously, numerous properties put you up in trailers or “cabins” which look like shanty town rejects of corrugated metal.

8 – And now we’re trying to plan our next trip. 2010 is going to be an interesting year for us travel- wise. Randy will achieve Platinum status for life (since he’ll have flown 2,000,000 miles on American over his lifetime). So now he wants to use that perk to build a profile on United (apparently you can ask United to match the benefit so that you’ll use them from now on). On top of that, we’ve got $300 worth of vouchers (each) on Air France/KLM that we have to use by the end of spring. And I’ve got United miles expiring by March.  Randy wants to go to Chile, but United and Air France won’t get us there. He’s also likely to go to Asia on business a few times (and I plan on tagging along this time). So, I guess we need to prioritize so that we an use the expiring miles for one trip, the expiring $300 for another trip, and at the same time boost his profile on United.

9 – The toenail from hell is still black. It first became bruised in April when Randy’s Diet Coke fell on my flip-flopped toe. That ugly bruise lasted under my toenail for 7  months. Just as it was about to fall off, I dropped a shudder on the same toe while doing home improvements. That nasty looking bruise appears now about 1/4 the way up my nail. It’s got a long way to go…hopefully it’ll be gone by summer.

10 – Who in their right mind would install off-white carpets?  The previous owners did just that on the stairs and at the bedrooms and office. It shows everything. Even if they’re not stains, it just shows every piece of black sock lint, every crumb, every smudge of dirt. Everything. I feel like I have to vacuum (or walk around pick sock lint up) daily to make it look presentable.

11 – Randy is gone again. I drove him to the airport this morning so he could spend Thanksgiving with his family. Sigh. I was kinda’ getting used to him around the house.

12 – I went shopping last weekend. It’s so rare for me, but I had a coupon at Macy’s so after purging my older clothes to move into the new place. I ended up coming home with 9 shirts for about $160. Randy bought 2.

13 – I love Glee. Puck is dreamy.

14 – Oh, you know how I mentioned that I used Wii Fit for the first time in 217 days? Well, I feel it today. I did the step aerobics for 45 minutes, but finished off the hour doing the most painful of Wii exercises: the hulu hoop. Regrets? I have a few.

And there you…random musings. So comment, dammit. Give me a reason to blog more frequently.

November 25th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments

But I’m not counting. That is technically the time remaining on Randy’s excessively long business trip.  A trip that found him in clouds and rain every single day, and one that found me dialing 9-1-1 in the middle of the night because the damn fire alarms wouldn’t stop going off. It’s been a trip of him catching a second cold in three weeks, and me resorting back to my old lazy ways with no motivation.

But in less than 12 hours I will be bright and shiny and excited to pick him up at the airport. He, on the other hand, will probably be completely jetlagged, exhausted, and dehydrated. I feel like a puppy. It’s like my parent’ dog, Dusty, who piddles in glee every time she sees me (I call my parents 5 minutes before I get there so they can take her out first). Don’t worry, I’ll go to the bathroom before heading to the airport.

Anyway, the last two nights were the nights I slept best during his absence. I’m guessing it’s partially because I was getting used to having the place to myself, but also because I knew that the nights I was sleeping alone would be ending soon.

I’m such a sap. One thing this absence does make me realize is that if he ever does do that temporary assignment in Asia for 3-6 months, I’ll have to go along. Initially, I was thinking that if he went for 6 months, I’d go for three months in the middle and be in Arlington by myself for the first month and a half and the last month and a half.

I don’t think so.

What does this mean? The optimist in me says it’s love. The pessimist in me says it’s codependency. The realist in me says its a combination of the two.

I can accept that.

November 20th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments