This was a big, tasty ham, egg, & cheese crepe in Avignon. Yes, I ate the WHOLE THING!
Monday, March 14, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Three weeks in a row on the road. In short: Big city good, Small city bad, Small city good. I'll exapnd on this later.
I'm in the office this week and next, which of course means that everyone has dibs on my time. And all that stuff I should be working on when I'm in the office? Yeah, that's on hold until everyone and their lawnboy has a conference call with me first. Why oh why do I need to be on these conference calls that actually have nothing to do with me? I think it's because when someone sets up a conference call, they try to add as many people to it as possible so that they feel like it's a really important call. Because everything they do must be really important to everyone else, right?
Hey, Cat's been out of the office for 3 weeks. She's here this week- let's get her in on a conference call!
Yeah! Good idea! She'll be glad to be kept in the loop!
One of the best things about being home is that I can eat home-cooked food. I am so tired of beef and black olives (long story). I spend the first few days after I got home bloated like a salted slug from all the beef and black olives and MSG-saturated restaurant food. No kidding, my weight dropped 3 pounds in 4 days after I got home.
I'll tell you about the trips...
First, I spent a week in Manhattan. Which was terrific. I was traveling with a colleague who happens to be a dear friend, so I had someone to go and do stuff with every evening. We went shopping in all those little la-de-da boutiques that I'd never venture into alone. I played with Pucci shoes and scarves, we laughed at a $3000 pair of Gucci granny-panties, we saw just how ugly Stella McCartney's animal-friendly fashions can be (pictures don't fully convey the fug-factor here), we got dirty looks from security guards hovering around the J-Lo collection at Saks (which were deserved, since we were kind of talking trash about the ugly clothes...).
We saw The Gates. Orange. Shower curtains. A lot of them. The same color as construction cones. Enough said.
We went to some really good restaurants for dinner, including a thai-fusion place called Vong, a brasilian hole in the wall called Ipanema (get whatever the waiter recommends, but skip the paella), and L'Ecole, the restaurant associated with the French Culinary Institute, one of Jaques Pepin's little projects. Basically, you eat the homework. Four courses, all outstanding. That dinner, we were joined by my cousin Cosmopolitan and got to catch up on things in her life. My favorite place to visit is wherever I have family. I have a lot of family, but too few of them live in places where my job sends me. Hey, can someone move to Minneapolis, or maybe Denver, please?
But all good things must end. It is Lent, time to sacrifice and atone for sins. So I went to Erie, PA. Have I not suffered enough? Please oh please don't ever make me go to Erie again, Dreary Erie, Land of Great Sadness, Frozen Core of Hell's Misery. All the local restaurants specialized in local cuisine-- Frozen Vegetables. All the people specialize in the local pasttime-- Cold Stares.
If I get assigned to Erie again, I will start updating my resume.
I can't talk about it anymore, it's too painful.
After Erie, I flew to Lubbock. Lubbock, where there's something interesting behind every tree. I was there the better part of 5 days and kind of dreading it, since Lubbock has a pretty lame repuation among Texans-- it's out in the West where there's nothing but dust, tumbleweed, cattle, and Cadillacs. It's so flat that you actually can fall off the edge. It's so desolate that wind doesn't even slow down as it passes through. This is the birthplace of the Tornado Cannon, which is used to shoot 2x4's through brick walls to simulate tornado debris. I'm not joking.
Believe it or not, I had a terrific time. The restaurants were good, the students in my class were fun to go out with, and I had 2 friends who came to town to attend the class. I guess the worst thing about it was that I ate alot of the local cuisine-- beef. You can't get much to eat other than beef in Lubbock. Their veggies are very good. Their seafood is older than my shoes. Chicken? They don't go in for that sort of PETA-vegetarian-pinko food. So I had Steak. Steak Steak and Brisket. And Ribs. And some more Steak. And ranchero sauce. With black olives on top. Of everything.
Hence the salted slug.
After this brief hiatus at home, I'll be going to Milwaukee for a week. Never been there. Not really excited about it, but I'm keeping an open mind. Hey, why don't any of my family live in Milwaukee?
What kind of food do they eat in Milwaukee?
I'm in the office this week and next, which of course means that everyone has dibs on my time. And all that stuff I should be working on when I'm in the office? Yeah, that's on hold until everyone and their lawnboy has a conference call with me first. Why oh why do I need to be on these conference calls that actually have nothing to do with me? I think it's because when someone sets up a conference call, they try to add as many people to it as possible so that they feel like it's a really important call. Because everything they do must be really important to everyone else, right?
Hey, Cat's been out of the office for 3 weeks. She's here this week- let's get her in on a conference call!
Yeah! Good idea! She'll be glad to be kept in the loop!
One of the best things about being home is that I can eat home-cooked food. I am so tired of beef and black olives (long story). I spend the first few days after I got home bloated like a salted slug from all the beef and black olives and MSG-saturated restaurant food. No kidding, my weight dropped 3 pounds in 4 days after I got home.
I'll tell you about the trips...
First, I spent a week in Manhattan. Which was terrific. I was traveling with a colleague who happens to be a dear friend, so I had someone to go and do stuff with every evening. We went shopping in all those little la-de-da boutiques that I'd never venture into alone. I played with Pucci shoes and scarves, we laughed at a $3000 pair of Gucci granny-panties, we saw just how ugly Stella McCartney's animal-friendly fashions can be (pictures don't fully convey the fug-factor here), we got dirty looks from security guards hovering around the J-Lo collection at Saks (which were deserved, since we were kind of talking trash about the ugly clothes...).
We saw The Gates. Orange. Shower curtains. A lot of them. The same color as construction cones. Enough said.
We went to some really good restaurants for dinner, including a thai-fusion place called Vong, a brasilian hole in the wall called Ipanema (get whatever the waiter recommends, but skip the paella), and L'Ecole, the restaurant associated with the French Culinary Institute, one of Jaques Pepin's little projects. Basically, you eat the homework. Four courses, all outstanding. That dinner, we were joined by my cousin Cosmopolitan and got to catch up on things in her life. My favorite place to visit is wherever I have family. I have a lot of family, but too few of them live in places where my job sends me. Hey, can someone move to Minneapolis, or maybe Denver, please?
But all good things must end. It is Lent, time to sacrifice and atone for sins. So I went to Erie, PA. Have I not suffered enough? Please oh please don't ever make me go to Erie again, Dreary Erie, Land of Great Sadness, Frozen Core of Hell's Misery. All the local restaurants specialized in local cuisine-- Frozen Vegetables. All the people specialize in the local pasttime-- Cold Stares.
If I get assigned to Erie again, I will start updating my resume.
I can't talk about it anymore, it's too painful.
After Erie, I flew to Lubbock. Lubbock, where there's something interesting behind every tree. I was there the better part of 5 days and kind of dreading it, since Lubbock has a pretty lame repuation among Texans-- it's out in the West where there's nothing but dust, tumbleweed, cattle, and Cadillacs. It's so flat that you actually can fall off the edge. It's so desolate that wind doesn't even slow down as it passes through. This is the birthplace of the Tornado Cannon, which is used to shoot 2x4's through brick walls to simulate tornado debris. I'm not joking.
Believe it or not, I had a terrific time. The restaurants were good, the students in my class were fun to go out with, and I had 2 friends who came to town to attend the class. I guess the worst thing about it was that I ate alot of the local cuisine-- beef. You can't get much to eat other than beef in Lubbock. Their veggies are very good. Their seafood is older than my shoes. Chicken? They don't go in for that sort of PETA-vegetarian-pinko food. So I had Steak. Steak Steak and Brisket. And Ribs. And some more Steak. And ranchero sauce. With black olives on top. Of everything.
Hence the salted slug.
After this brief hiatus at home, I'll be going to Milwaukee for a week. Never been there. Not really excited about it, but I'm keeping an open mind. Hey, why don't any of my family live in Milwaukee?
What kind of food do they eat in Milwaukee?
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
*for anyone waiting on a normal post, that's coming soon. This was a recreation/fitness post I started a few weeks ago and just never finished*
I've been on a bike for a long time, to say the least. My dad is one of those dads who always wanted to give us bikes for Christmas and birthdays, and he had a tandem, which meant we could go riding after school and I wouldn't have to work as hard as if I was on my own (hee!). And I could postpone homework for just a little longer.
There were a few years in high school when a car superceded a bicycle on all counts, but living in a little college town rekindled the velo-love pretty quickly. I've played for both teams (mountain vs road biking) and am currently in a road-biking phase that has lasted about the last 6 years.
There are other sports I love (none of them involving a ball or a team strategy, BTW), and then there are the sports that I mostly do for the exercise, because they support my other sports: running and swimming.
In the summer of '97 or '98 (can't recall) I ganked up my ankle pretty badly after teaching high-impact aerobics 6 times a week for a few months. I didn't have fellowship money that summer, and I needed the extra income, what can I say. The sports med guy at the university health care center sent me to physical therapy- I had the therapist who takes care of all the women's athletics for the university. He was really good. In our first meeting, I asked him, "so doc, will I be able to run a 10K when we're finished?" and he says "Sure, I don't see why not!" and I say "Great 'cause I never could before!" (heehee, it really was almost like that). See, back in high school I ganked the same foot and it never quite healed right, and as a result I was unable to run. Literally. A block or 2, and then I was crippled with pain for the next few days. So when this PT guy says he'll get me running, I didn't believe him. But he did it. So I learned to run. I still don't like it, but the worse you are at something, the better the exercise, right?
I was always trying to find things to do outside of my graduate department- with only 10 people, you need a break from each other now and then- so the next year I took a few semesters of swimming stroke technique classes. For somebody who grew up waterskiing and fishing, I am an abysmal swimmer. The classes helped- I learned some formal strokes, I learned how to breathe properly, how to get a little bit faster, how to turn, all that good stuff.
For several years I've been thinking, "I could do a triathlon, something small like the Danskin" but I never quite got up the nerve to do it.
Until now.
I've registered for the White Lake sprint triathlon. OK, it isn't Ironman. It is a 750 m swim, a 17 mi bike ride (totally flat land) and a 5K run. It's only about 2 hours, but I am still pretty excited about it. And nervous. My "real" triathlete friends laugh at my little sprint-triathlon, but I just judo-throw them until they apologize for making fun...
So I've been swimming and running a lot more than usual lately. Maybe this time next year I'll do a big-kids triathlon. Or maybe the sprint will just kick my ass so hard that I'll never do another tri again. Or maybe I'll drown during the 750m open swim.
Or maybe I won't finish in the 2hr15min time limit and will be pulled off the course sometime halfway through the run, along with the other pathetic people who have no business doing triathlons.
Did you see that? From excited to pulled-off-the-track in 2 paragraphs!
Anyway, when you're a novice, and a woman, they let you (okay, the require that you) wear a pink swim cap during the swim. I might just have to sew little plastic daisies onto mine, just for a little style.
Anyway, so that's the latest on the recreational scene. In biking news, we've been doing more 50-mile rides on the weekends, and I think it's about time we started doing a 50 + a 70-80 mile ride some weekends. Especially since it's getting to be Spring, and for the MS150 this year SNG & I want to do the double century.
I've been on a bike for a long time, to say the least. My dad is one of those dads who always wanted to give us bikes for Christmas and birthdays, and he had a tandem, which meant we could go riding after school and I wouldn't have to work as hard as if I was on my own (hee!). And I could postpone homework for just a little longer.
There were a few years in high school when a car superceded a bicycle on all counts, but living in a little college town rekindled the velo-love pretty quickly. I've played for both teams (mountain vs road biking) and am currently in a road-biking phase that has lasted about the last 6 years.
There are other sports I love (none of them involving a ball or a team strategy, BTW), and then there are the sports that I mostly do for the exercise, because they support my other sports: running and swimming.
In the summer of '97 or '98 (can't recall) I ganked up my ankle pretty badly after teaching high-impact aerobics 6 times a week for a few months. I didn't have fellowship money that summer, and I needed the extra income, what can I say. The sports med guy at the university health care center sent me to physical therapy- I had the therapist who takes care of all the women's athletics for the university. He was really good. In our first meeting, I asked him, "so doc, will I be able to run a 10K when we're finished?" and he says "Sure, I don't see why not!" and I say "Great 'cause I never could before!" (heehee, it really was almost like that). See, back in high school I ganked the same foot and it never quite healed right, and as a result I was unable to run. Literally. A block or 2, and then I was crippled with pain for the next few days. So when this PT guy says he'll get me running, I didn't believe him. But he did it. So I learned to run. I still don't like it, but the worse you are at something, the better the exercise, right?
I was always trying to find things to do outside of my graduate department- with only 10 people, you need a break from each other now and then- so the next year I took a few semesters of swimming stroke technique classes. For somebody who grew up waterskiing and fishing, I am an abysmal swimmer. The classes helped- I learned some formal strokes, I learned how to breathe properly, how to get a little bit faster, how to turn, all that good stuff.
For several years I've been thinking, "I could do a triathlon, something small like the Danskin" but I never quite got up the nerve to do it.
Until now.
I've registered for the White Lake sprint triathlon. OK, it isn't Ironman. It is a 750 m swim, a 17 mi bike ride (totally flat land) and a 5K run. It's only about 2 hours, but I am still pretty excited about it. And nervous. My "real" triathlete friends laugh at my little sprint-triathlon, but I just judo-throw them until they apologize for making fun...
So I've been swimming and running a lot more than usual lately. Maybe this time next year I'll do a big-kids triathlon. Or maybe the sprint will just kick my ass so hard that I'll never do another tri again. Or maybe I'll drown during the 750m open swim.
Or maybe I won't finish in the 2hr15min time limit and will be pulled off the course sometime halfway through the run, along with the other pathetic people who have no business doing triathlons.
Did you see that? From excited to pulled-off-the-track in 2 paragraphs!
Anyway, when you're a novice, and a woman, they let you (okay, the require that you) wear a pink swim cap during the swim. I might just have to sew little plastic daisies onto mine, just for a little style.
Anyway, so that's the latest on the recreational scene. In biking news, we've been doing more 50-mile rides on the weekends, and I think it's about time we started doing a 50 + a 70-80 mile ride some weekends. Especially since it's getting to be Spring, and for the MS150 this year SNG & I want to do the double century.
Monday, February 14, 2005
HAPPY V-D DAY!! (heehee! that one is so Beavis & Butthead but in 7th grade, I tell you, nothing funnier)
What a great excuse to get flowers at work. :-) And it's funny to see the guy in the office next door get all bent-out-of-shape because SNG "makes him look bad."
SNG always make me smile. So do flowers. Tonight I'm bringing a bag of goodies for the divas in my aerobics class. There are pink Hershey's kisses, little plastic heart-shaped rings, and heart-shaped plastic pendants with bubble-wands inside. Something for everybody, but I better set a rule of no bubble-making in class or else we'll end up with slipping-flying-super-gliding divas.
I lurve all my divas, and don't want to see them fly.
ON TO OTHER STUFF, I did an all-day aerobics workshop Saturday for CEU credits. These things are so funny. I never learn much in them, but I get to meet some extraordinarily dim-witted people. Case in point:
Case Study #48, Advanced Math Concepts in Aerobics
CEU Class Instructor: So, if you want to count the beats per minute [BPMs] for a song, tap out the rhythm for 10 seconds. Then multiply that number by 6. That gives you the approximate BPMs for that song. This will help you in planning what kind of choreography to use for that song.
Particiapant Aerobics Instructor Colleague 48: Well, OK, but I took a workshop a few months ago, and THEY said that if you want to get the BPMs that you should count for 15 seconds! Well, which is right? What is the industry standard?
CEU C.I.: .... um ... you get to the same number either way, so you can do what's...
PAIC48: well, I'm just saying, which one is better?
Alphagal: (eyebrows up, jaw down, unable to grasp that this conversation is happening)
CEU C.I.: Yeah, I can see your point, if you're like, Wow, multiplying by 6 is really hard in my head, but multiplying by 4 is easy, I would just use 15 seconds. If you're like, Multiplying by 4 is hard but adding a zero to the number is easy, then, like, count for 6 seconds. You can do what is easier for you.
Alphagal: (smirk, snarky chuckle)
NEVER let it be said that you don't need madskillz in math to be an aerobics instructor!
Anyway, so 8 hours and 2 indoor cycle group workouts later, I had earned my 5 CEU credits. Ten to go for the year. Wheeeee!
Sunday SNG and I biked and swam, then we shopped. Then Dianaverse came over to make Valentine's cookies for the dogs. The dogs love them, especially because they are pink and heart-shaped. SNG lit a fire in the backyard firepit and we put a big marinated turkey breast in the dutch oven with some olive oil and veggies and let it slow cook for a few hours. YUM.
Tomorrow: off to New York. I'll get to see that exhibit in Central Park everyone is excited about.
What a great excuse to get flowers at work. :-) And it's funny to see the guy in the office next door get all bent-out-of-shape because SNG "makes him look bad."
SNG always make me smile. So do flowers. Tonight I'm bringing a bag of goodies for the divas in my aerobics class. There are pink Hershey's kisses, little plastic heart-shaped rings, and heart-shaped plastic pendants with bubble-wands inside. Something for everybody, but I better set a rule of no bubble-making in class or else we'll end up with slipping-flying-super-gliding divas.
I lurve all my divas, and don't want to see them fly.
ON TO OTHER STUFF, I did an all-day aerobics workshop Saturday for CEU credits. These things are so funny. I never learn much in them, but I get to meet some extraordinarily dim-witted people. Case in point:
Case Study #48, Advanced Math Concepts in Aerobics
CEU Class Instructor: So, if you want to count the beats per minute [BPMs] for a song, tap out the rhythm for 10 seconds. Then multiply that number by 6. That gives you the approximate BPMs for that song. This will help you in planning what kind of choreography to use for that song.
Particiapant Aerobics Instructor Colleague 48: Well, OK, but I took a workshop a few months ago, and THEY said that if you want to get the BPMs that you should count for 15 seconds! Well, which is right? What is the industry standard?
CEU C.I.: .... um ... you get to the same number either way, so you can do what's...
PAIC48: well, I'm just saying, which one is better?
Alphagal: (eyebrows up, jaw down, unable to grasp that this conversation is happening)
CEU C.I.: Yeah, I can see your point, if you're like, Wow, multiplying by 6 is really hard in my head, but multiplying by 4 is easy, I would just use 15 seconds. If you're like, Multiplying by 4 is hard but adding a zero to the number is easy, then, like, count for 6 seconds. You can do what is easier for you.
Alphagal: (smirk, snarky chuckle)
NEVER let it be said that you don't need madskillz in math to be an aerobics instructor!
Anyway, so 8 hours and 2 indoor cycle group workouts later, I had earned my 5 CEU credits. Ten to go for the year. Wheeeee!
Sunday SNG and I biked and swam, then we shopped. Then Dianaverse came over to make Valentine's cookies for the dogs. The dogs love them, especially because they are pink and heart-shaped. SNG lit a fire in the backyard firepit and we put a big marinated turkey breast in the dutch oven with some olive oil and veggies and let it slow cook for a few hours. YUM.
Tomorrow: off to New York. I'll get to see that exhibit in Central Park everyone is excited about.
Friday, February 4, 2005
I'm glad to be home from R'ville. More importantly, I'm glad that I don't have someone nose-mining from across my desk here in my office.
Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend! I'm not completely sure who is playing, but I know what Super Bowl means:
Super Bowl of chips, Super Bowl of cookies, Super Bowl of salsa, guacamole, and queso, Super Bowl of Tastykakes at my friend MLP's Super Bowl party. Yay!
Super Bowl means getting to party with a bunch of people drunker than I am, who cheer and yell every time someone moves on the football field (which isn't all that often, come to think of it). Yay!
Super Bowl means funny commercials during the game that I will grow to hate after seeing them in abbreviated form repeatedly for 3-6 months *after* the game is over. Yay!
Super Bowl means SNG won't waste my Sunday afternoons watching football again until August or September! Yay!
I'm rooting for the Longhorns to win, just for the record. HOOK'EM!!
Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend! I'm not completely sure who is playing, but I know what Super Bowl means:
Super Bowl of chips, Super Bowl of cookies, Super Bowl of salsa, guacamole, and queso, Super Bowl of Tastykakes at my friend MLP's Super Bowl party. Yay!
Super Bowl means getting to party with a bunch of people drunker than I am, who cheer and yell every time someone moves on the football field (which isn't all that often, come to think of it). Yay!
Super Bowl means funny commercials during the game that I will grow to hate after seeing them in abbreviated form repeatedly for 3-6 months *after* the game is over. Yay!
Super Bowl means SNG won't waste my Sunday afternoons watching football again until August or September! Yay!
I'm rooting for the Longhorns to win, just for the record. HOOK'EM!!
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
I'm teaching, I feel kinda cruddy (something I ate?) and one of my students won't stop picking his nose. Why do I always get these?? A few months ago, I took a poll of my coworkers, and they all claimed that this doesn't happen in their classes. I get one of these about every 2-3 classes I teach.
PLEASE STOP, I CAN SEE YOU.
PLEASE STOP, I CAN SEE YOU.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Dear Mother Nature,
OKAY, OKAY, we're SORRY we had lovely, upper-70s weather in early January. Can you PLEASE STOP the cold now??? Haven't we atoned for our sins enough already?? It's cold ALL THE TIME!
Love,
The Joggers, Bikers, and Dog-Walkers of Raleigh, NC
PS- feel free to bring back some of the nice cold in July and August.
OKAY, OKAY, we're SORRY we had lovely, upper-70s weather in early January. Can you PLEASE STOP the cold now??? Haven't we atoned for our sins enough already?? It's cold ALL THE TIME!
Love,
The Joggers, Bikers, and Dog-Walkers of Raleigh, NC
PS- feel free to bring back some of the nice cold in July and August.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The Bridge From Atlanta to Rockville
Last week in Atlanta was fun, although I had hoped to see family a little more than I did. It was unfortunate that my flight came in kind of late on Tuesday and my aunt and uncle weren't free any other night that week. So I ate alone Tue and Wed nights (*sob!*) and after a healthy diet of feeling sorry for myself, my cousin Twinkie #2 and her boyfriend came over Thursday evening for a fun dinner out at this weird but cool jazz/fondue/pirate ship place in Buckhead called Dante's Down The Hatch. I'd been there once before about 4 years ago, and it promptly burned to the ground about a week later. (Aside: Really, I had nothing to do with it. Fire's not my bag, baby!) Now they've rebuilt, and it looks exactly the same. The food is still good, the music is still good. But I must say that I'm not crazy about their fondue- your only choice is oil (except the cheese appetizer) and to get chocolate fondue you have to give them 2 days' notice. 'The hell?? How hard would it be just to have a chocolate fondue dessert on the menu? For gosh sakes, you call yourself a jazz/fondue/pirate ship, you should have some broth options (meat cooked in oil? eew) and some chocolate fondue.
ANYWAY, it was a fun trip. Atlanta is one of the cities where I usually do a lot of shopping and the local office ends up having to mail several boxes of stuff home for me via interoffice mail. This time I tried, I really did, but I think it's a bad fashion year or something. Nothing looked appealing. It wasn't offensive, just kind of... bla. Maybe the preppy-comeback thing is just a bad idea, hmm?
I'm in town this week, which is nice, although it is SO DARN COLD that I wouldn't mind being in Florida/crazyland. Next week I'll be in Rockville/DC. I like going to DC. It's another good shopping city, and there are so many terrific restaurants. I don't think I'll have time to see any friends this time, though, because I was just nailed with *2*!! course development projects at once, while I'm also trying to learn another course to teach (that someone else wrote, which makes it kind of difficult).
And I can't believe my good fortune, my next trip after Rockville is the Platonic ideal of shopping cities, Manhattan (well, actually, that'd be Paris, but Manhattan is a close 2nd). Can't wait. I'll be traveling with a good friend from work, which is a rare, but welcome, change of pace for me. I'll have to call my cousin Cosmopolitan to see if she's free some evening. Last time I went to NYC, she was in Hattiesburgvillesland, PA or someplace awful like that. I was sad to miss seeing her. I bet she was even sadder...
Cosmo, if you're reading, keep one evening free the week of Feb 15.
After New York I'll be in Hattiesburgvillesland, PA.
Last week in Atlanta was fun, although I had hoped to see family a little more than I did. It was unfortunate that my flight came in kind of late on Tuesday and my aunt and uncle weren't free any other night that week. So I ate alone Tue and Wed nights (*sob!*) and after a healthy diet of feeling sorry for myself, my cousin Twinkie #2 and her boyfriend came over Thursday evening for a fun dinner out at this weird but cool jazz/fondue/pirate ship place in Buckhead called Dante's Down The Hatch. I'd been there once before about 4 years ago, and it promptly burned to the ground about a week later. (Aside: Really, I had nothing to do with it. Fire's not my bag, baby!) Now they've rebuilt, and it looks exactly the same. The food is still good, the music is still good. But I must say that I'm not crazy about their fondue- your only choice is oil (except the cheese appetizer) and to get chocolate fondue you have to give them 2 days' notice. 'The hell?? How hard would it be just to have a chocolate fondue dessert on the menu? For gosh sakes, you call yourself a jazz/fondue/pirate ship, you should have some broth options (meat cooked in oil? eew) and some chocolate fondue.
ANYWAY, it was a fun trip. Atlanta is one of the cities where I usually do a lot of shopping and the local office ends up having to mail several boxes of stuff home for me via interoffice mail. This time I tried, I really did, but I think it's a bad fashion year or something. Nothing looked appealing. It wasn't offensive, just kind of... bla. Maybe the preppy-comeback thing is just a bad idea, hmm?
I'm in town this week, which is nice, although it is SO DARN COLD that I wouldn't mind being in Florida/crazyland. Next week I'll be in Rockville/DC. I like going to DC. It's another good shopping city, and there are so many terrific restaurants. I don't think I'll have time to see any friends this time, though, because I was just nailed with *2*!! course development projects at once, while I'm also trying to learn another course to teach (that someone else wrote, which makes it kind of difficult).
And I can't believe my good fortune, my next trip after Rockville is the Platonic ideal of shopping cities, Manhattan (well, actually, that'd be Paris, but Manhattan is a close 2nd). Can't wait. I'll be traveling with a good friend from work, which is a rare, but welcome, change of pace for me. I'll have to call my cousin Cosmopolitan to see if she's free some evening. Last time I went to NYC, she was in Hattiesburgvillesland, PA or someplace awful like that. I was sad to miss seeing her. I bet she was even sadder...
Cosmo, if you're reading, keep one evening free the week of Feb 15.
After New York I'll be in Hattiesburgvillesland, PA.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Updates all around...
The Wild-and-Crazy-Fad-Diet is going really well- 6 pounds down, 5 to go! It's still the most fun diet ever (except, of course, that chocolate-overload one, which didn't lead to any weight loss). We made "million dollar brownies" the other night-- that's where you make brownies in 2 layers, with a layer of peppermint patties in the middle. I dig diet food. hee!
Last weekend's frosty 50 ride was...um...challenging. It was about 35 degrees the whole time, and a little windy. It seemed to actually get colder as we rode on, so by the time we finished, after 3 1/2 hours of riding in the cold, we were all near dead. Then, going home in the sweaty clothes, which cooled rapidly on the way from the truck into the house, I developed symptoms of hypothermic shock. Uncontrollable shaking, blue lips, desperate cold. I stood under the hot hot shower and felt my toes crack into pieces for about 30 minutes, and couldn't even reach out of the hot water for my shampoo. FREAKING cold.
Next Saturday it's supposed to be low 30s and snowing! Yay! Then maybe I can get hypothermia *before* we finish the ride! Won't that be fun?
Seriously? If it's snowing? No riding. I will jog in snow. If you slip on the ice you're only going, what, 6 mph? Slip on the bike at 20 mph and you're off the hook for riding for the rest of winter.
Which might not be such a bad thing, come to think of it.
SNG says that if it's that cold, he'll jog... in little circles around the living room!
The dogs have a fence!!!! Yay!!! With gates and everything! They love it. Modean has been exploring the "back 40" most of the time, since that's the part of the yard the he couldn't get to from his leash before. It's also the most wild and overgrown part of the yard, so I think he's finding lots of stuff to dig up. And it looks like the chemo has helped. He is eating like a linebacker. Think Remission!!!
AND stay tuned, I will be updating my webpage soon! It's time to get some new pictures up there. I'll let you know when I do it. The biggest trouble is figuring out an easy way to mass-convert all my BIG picture files to smaller picture files, besides opening each one individually and doing a Save As.. for each one and reducing the picture quality. Because that's a pain in the arse.
The Wild-and-Crazy-Fad-Diet is going really well- 6 pounds down, 5 to go! It's still the most fun diet ever (except, of course, that chocolate-overload one, which didn't lead to any weight loss). We made "million dollar brownies" the other night-- that's where you make brownies in 2 layers, with a layer of peppermint patties in the middle. I dig diet food. hee!
Last weekend's frosty 50 ride was...um...challenging. It was about 35 degrees the whole time, and a little windy. It seemed to actually get colder as we rode on, so by the time we finished, after 3 1/2 hours of riding in the cold, we were all near dead. Then, going home in the sweaty clothes, which cooled rapidly on the way from the truck into the house, I developed symptoms of hypothermic shock. Uncontrollable shaking, blue lips, desperate cold. I stood under the hot hot shower and felt my toes crack into pieces for about 30 minutes, and couldn't even reach out of the hot water for my shampoo. FREAKING cold.
Next Saturday it's supposed to be low 30s and snowing! Yay! Then maybe I can get hypothermia *before* we finish the ride! Won't that be fun?
Seriously? If it's snowing? No riding. I will jog in snow. If you slip on the ice you're only going, what, 6 mph? Slip on the bike at 20 mph and you're off the hook for riding for the rest of winter.
Which might not be such a bad thing, come to think of it.
SNG says that if it's that cold, he'll jog... in little circles around the living room!
The dogs have a fence!!!! Yay!!! With gates and everything! They love it. Modean has been exploring the "back 40" most of the time, since that's the part of the yard the he couldn't get to from his leash before. It's also the most wild and overgrown part of the yard, so I think he's finding lots of stuff to dig up. And it looks like the chemo has helped. He is eating like a linebacker. Think Remission!!!
AND stay tuned, I will be updating my webpage soon! It's time to get some new pictures up there. I'll let you know when I do it. The biggest trouble is figuring out an easy way to mass-convert all my BIG picture files to smaller picture files, besides opening each one individually and doing a Save As.. for each one and reducing the picture quality. Because that's a pain in the arse.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Since we don't have "real" internet at home, this is posted a day late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY songs today are dedicated to *TWO* of my most favorite people!!
.My cousin PartnerInCrime turned 29 Sunday (for the first time) and got an awesome new mountain bike!! Yay! Next time I come to Seattle, I am SO going to rent a bike and we'll ride together. I'm sure we can find a way to get into some trouble, if we put our minds to it! Happy birthday, PIC!
.My sister"-in-law" (they're not married, but they started dating about 100 years ago) turned 29 yesterday (for the not-quite-first time) and was washing dishes! I hope someone gave her plumbing to install a dishwasher in the kitchen for her birthday. Happy birthday, HMV!
It's funny that two people, one for whom I was a bad influence during her formative jr high years and the other who was a welcomed bad influence on me in my formative jr high years, share a birthday... Great birthday, great women. :-)
(for the record, I'm no longer a bad influence on anybody. And that whole internationalsmuggling thing? I've tried to keep others from being influenced. And the one time I was caught? Mom helped me do it.
And I'd do it again. Maybe I already have... >:-) )
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Atlanta. I have accidentally managed to have a lot of family in Atlanta. There's, from mom's side, 2 cousins and one cousin's spouse, and from dad's side, an uncle, an aunt and her partner, and a cousin. So going to Atlanta is a little like going home, even though I've never lived there.
.My cousin PartnerInCrime turned 29 Sunday (for the first time) and got an awesome new mountain bike!! Yay! Next time I come to Seattle, I am SO going to rent a bike and we'll ride together. I'm sure we can find a way to get into some trouble, if we put our minds to it! Happy birthday, PIC!
.My sister"-in-law" (they're not married, but they started dating about 100 years ago) turned 29 yesterday (for the not-quite-first time) and was washing dishes! I hope someone gave her plumbing to install a dishwasher in the kitchen for her birthday. Happy birthday, HMV!
It's funny that two people, one for whom I was a bad influence during her formative jr high years and the other who was a welcomed bad influence on me in my formative jr high years, share a birthday... Great birthday, great women. :-)
(for the record, I'm no longer a bad influence on anybody. And that whole internationalsmuggling thing? I've tried to keep others from being influenced. And the one time I was caught? Mom helped me do it.
And I'd do it again. Maybe I already have... >:-) )
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Atlanta. I have accidentally managed to have a lot of family in Atlanta. There's, from mom's side, 2 cousins and one cousin's spouse, and from dad's side, an uncle, an aunt and her partner, and a cousin. So going to Atlanta is a little like going home, even though I've never lived there.
Friday, January 14, 2005
HAPPY FRIDAY!
This week seemed to go by really quickly. I think it was the great weather we've had the last 2 weeks- time flies when you're having fun. Last night a huge storm came through and by the end of today we should be back down in the 30s, with lows in the 20's tonight. Tomorrow's "frosty 50" ride will live up to its name- we expect a high of around 35 degrees. That's Fahrenheit. For my fellow southerners, that's a temperature that sometimes happens when you live in the wrong place.
Last night the storm blew in at about 5:00. The wind picked up and blew through the tall hardwood trees in the backyard making a huge howling noise. I got up to look out the window at the storm. SNG rolled over and said, "mrrf torrential elf-war?" Yes, dear- the elves are at war again.
He says he said torrential downpour, but I know what I heard.
It was quite a torrential elf-war. The dogs wanted nothing to do with it. So of course when I put them out, the first thing they did was go bury themselves in the mud. Little orcses, nasty muddy little orcses, my precious.
Modean had his first round of chemo yesterday. The vet found a way to do the first dose at a dramatically lower price than the doggie oncologist could do, so we took her up on it. Modean is completely in love with the vet, even if she sticks him with big fat needles. I think it's partly because she has a cute little tiny voice.
She says:
Modean is going to need to take 15.5 grams of prednisone every day- he'll get 3/4 of this pill and 1/2 of this pill. Make sure to watch him for signs of allergic reaction...
Modean hears:
Modeeeeeeean coo coo coooo teee teee tee daaaaaaa, heeeeee, cooo cooo, tooo tooo, pii pii rerere coooooooo.
Modean says:
You had me at Modeeeeeeeean
This week seemed to go by really quickly. I think it was the great weather we've had the last 2 weeks- time flies when you're having fun. Last night a huge storm came through and by the end of today we should be back down in the 30s, with lows in the 20's tonight. Tomorrow's "frosty 50" ride will live up to its name- we expect a high of around 35 degrees. That's Fahrenheit. For my fellow southerners, that's a temperature that sometimes happens when you live in the wrong place.
Last night the storm blew in at about 5:00. The wind picked up and blew through the tall hardwood trees in the backyard making a huge howling noise. I got up to look out the window at the storm. SNG rolled over and said, "mrrf torrential elf-war?" Yes, dear- the elves are at war again.
He says he said torrential downpour, but I know what I heard.
It was quite a torrential elf-war. The dogs wanted nothing to do with it. So of course when I put them out, the first thing they did was go bury themselves in the mud. Little orcses, nasty muddy little orcses, my precious.
Modean had his first round of chemo yesterday. The vet found a way to do the first dose at a dramatically lower price than the doggie oncologist could do, so we took her up on it. Modean is completely in love with the vet, even if she sticks him with big fat needles. I think it's partly because she has a cute little tiny voice.
She says:
Modean is going to need to take 15.5 grams of prednisone every day- he'll get 3/4 of this pill and 1/2 of this pill. Make sure to watch him for signs of allergic reaction...
Modean hears:
Modeeeeeeean coo coo coooo teee teee tee daaaaaaa, heeeeee, cooo cooo, tooo tooo, pii pii rerere coooooooo.
Modean says:
You had me at Modeeeeeeeean
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Mom has convinced me to try her latest crazy-diet-scheme with her. It's sort of a hobby with us. We try out fad diets, see how well they work, test their limits. Between diets we power-eat to keep our strength up. ;-) This one is called the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. And it's fun. You get to power-eat any crap you want one meal a day, as long as you start with 2+ cups of salad and eat the whole meal within an hour (therein lies the key- it takes 56 minutes to eat 2+ cups of salad, so you're left with 4 minutes to power-eat). The other 2 meals are just plain old low-carb a la south beach diet phase 1 (which differs from Atkins in fat content). I've lost 5 pounds. I'm looking forward to strawberry shortcake with buttercream frosting and french chocolates every evening at dinner, which keeps me out of the M&M jar in the breakroom all day. I'll keep you posted, but so far it's the most fun I've had on a diet since the "eat dark chocolate until you're sick of it" diet-- which didn't work very well, but who cares?! And it's WAY better than the "nothing but tomato, egg, and grapefruit for 2 weeks" diet.
We've had the most uncharacteristically superb weather lately. Since New Year's it's been warm and sunny. We've been taking advantage of it with lots of hiking, biking, jogging, driving around with the top down, wearing shorts- all those crazy indulgences we're not usually allowed in January in North Carolina. Why the heck they call this "the South" I'll never understand, but I am digging the warm. It'll be over this weekend. Penance time. Last weekend began the "Frosty Fifty" series, put on by our local bike shop (LBS). All year they put on early morning rides Sat and Sun, which usually we can't go to because I teach aerobics on weekends. We're also too wimpy to go ride at 8am in the wintertime, when it's still 20-something degrees out. So we've been rolling-our-own rides most of the time, which means very few off-season miles. But for the winter months, LBS is doing a series of Saturday rides that start at 11 am. Yay! I get out of aerobics at 10:30! And it's warmer by 11 am.
Last week's ride was fun, but a little scary-- remember that nasty crash I had 2 summers ago, where I bit a train-track in the rain? Some of you remember. That's when I discovered TegaDerm (Sure it looks like you've wrapped yourself in saran-wrap, but if you ever have terrible road-rash, get some- it's worth the expense and the goofy factor. Trust me). Anyway, we rode *that same route* on Saturday, and wouldn't you know it, it started drizzling just before we got to those nasty train tracks. Steve-o, the owner of LBS, will never let me live it down (he was there that fateful day). He told everyone "Cat's going to lead us through the railroad crossing! Don't follow too close behind!! She'll show us how to cross it gracefully." Grr. If he didn't have 500 tattoos and quads the size of a redwood tree, I'd smack him.
But, I made it over the tracks, didn't even put my foot down, no crashes. Whee! That was empowering. So I guess I DID show them how to cross it gracefully, without making a taco of my front wheel.
Next weekend we'll do the frosty 50, and I think it'll actually be frosty. I bet there will be a lot fewer people, too.
We've had the most uncharacteristically superb weather lately. Since New Year's it's been warm and sunny. We've been taking advantage of it with lots of hiking, biking, jogging, driving around with the top down, wearing shorts- all those crazy indulgences we're not usually allowed in January in North Carolina. Why the heck they call this "the South" I'll never understand, but I am digging the warm. It'll be over this weekend. Penance time. Last weekend began the "Frosty Fifty" series, put on by our local bike shop (LBS). All year they put on early morning rides Sat and Sun, which usually we can't go to because I teach aerobics on weekends. We're also too wimpy to go ride at 8am in the wintertime, when it's still 20-something degrees out. So we've been rolling-our-own rides most of the time, which means very few off-season miles. But for the winter months, LBS is doing a series of Saturday rides that start at 11 am. Yay! I get out of aerobics at 10:30! And it's warmer by 11 am.
Last week's ride was fun, but a little scary-- remember that nasty crash I had 2 summers ago, where I bit a train-track in the rain? Some of you remember. That's when I discovered TegaDerm (Sure it looks like you've wrapped yourself in saran-wrap, but if you ever have terrible road-rash, get some- it's worth the expense and the goofy factor. Trust me). Anyway, we rode *that same route* on Saturday, and wouldn't you know it, it started drizzling just before we got to those nasty train tracks. Steve-o, the owner of LBS, will never let me live it down (he was there that fateful day). He told everyone "Cat's going to lead us through the railroad crossing! Don't follow too close behind!! She'll show us how to cross it gracefully." Grr. If he didn't have 500 tattoos and quads the size of a redwood tree, I'd smack him.
But, I made it over the tracks, didn't even put my foot down, no crashes. Whee! That was empowering. So I guess I DID show them how to cross it gracefully, without making a taco of my front wheel.
Next weekend we'll do the frosty 50, and I think it'll actually be frosty. I bet there will be a lot fewer people, too.
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Oh, MAN did I ever need that holiday!!!
Well, maybe not NEED, but I sure did enjoy it. We had a few ups and downs but overall it was just terrific.
First of all, the sad news-- Modean is not doing too well. He has lymphoma, the vet said he won't be around much longer. Poor dude. He's only 7 1/2. I'm most worried about Goofch, since they've been together almost every hour of the past 6 years. And I'm worried that it's going to take a long time to get over not hearing his little feet tapping across the hardwood floors. Or barking the geese out of our international airspace. But for now, he is still Mr Energetic and seems to have at least a few months in him.
But enough sad, onto the fun stuff. This year was not our usual holiday. No trip to NOLA this year (*sad*) but that also means we won't be saying "'the hell??" come February when the credit card bill arrives. For some reason we always end up spending hundreds of dollars eating when we go back home. Maybe that's because food anywhere else is inferior?? Well, yeah.
Anyway, so instead of the traditional Truxillo-fest in NOLA, we (SNG, Dianaverse, all 3 dogs, Voldemort's cat, and I) went to New Bern to visit SNG's family. It was a nice 3 days- a little walking, a little eating, a little Special-edition SNL Trivial Pursuit (sorry, Dv, your mom and I suck at SNL Trivial Pursuit), a lot of chocolate, some excellent gifties. And then some more chocolate.
SNG and I went back home again on Monday the 26th and I taught aerobics that evening (WHO the heck goes to the gym the day after Christmas?? My Divas do, that's who!). After that, every day was filled with biking, hiking with the dogs, shopping, going to the museum, and watching dvd's with Fuzzy and Peace. We watched all three extended-edition LOTR movies, Tue-Wed-Thur. Our eyes were burned to their sockets by Friday. Peace even had a nightmare about gollum. But it was way fun having friends over every evening.
This week I'm back at work, and it's our annual division meeting where everyone in the division (US only) comes together for various training, updates, comradery, discussions of the next year's plans and general fooling around. I love seeing everyone. The only bummer is that we're in solid meetings 9-5 every day, and I have *two* papers due to editors Monday next week and I think that means I'll be working this weekend. Oh well. Vacation's over.
You may also have noticed that I'm not out of town! Yes, that's right! I'm not scheduled to go anywhere until the 18th, when I'll be headed to Atlanta. My cousin Twinkie #3 lives there (along with 2 other cousins and one wife-of-cousin, an aunt and her partner and an uncle, but who's counting). Anyway, the hotel where we stay in ATL is in Buckhead, which rocks, and it's right next to a terrific mall, which rocks, and I have a hefty per diem, which really rocks. So, in honor of opportunities-not-to-be-missed, T#3's going to come stay with me at my hotel and we'll have a big 3-day slumber party, shopping, eating up the per diem, and catching up. It'll be just like summers when we were kids and I'd go stay in Laredo and she'd show me new and creative ways to get into trouble. Thanks, T#3, I owe so much to you! :-)
OK enough for now. Time to get to the meetings.
Oh- Da...Haydel? Everyone goes by an alias on my blog (you know, in case your boss or your mom reads it, nothing too incriminating). So, you will need an alias. I kind of like Da...H. Tell your mom and sister I said hi, and I hope they're doing well!
Well, maybe not NEED, but I sure did enjoy it. We had a few ups and downs but overall it was just terrific.
First of all, the sad news-- Modean is not doing too well. He has lymphoma, the vet said he won't be around much longer. Poor dude. He's only 7 1/2. I'm most worried about Goofch, since they've been together almost every hour of the past 6 years. And I'm worried that it's going to take a long time to get over not hearing his little feet tapping across the hardwood floors. Or barking the geese out of our international airspace. But for now, he is still Mr Energetic and seems to have at least a few months in him.
But enough sad, onto the fun stuff. This year was not our usual holiday. No trip to NOLA this year (*sad*) but that also means we won't be saying "'the hell??" come February when the credit card bill arrives. For some reason we always end up spending hundreds of dollars eating when we go back home. Maybe that's because food anywhere else is inferior?? Well, yeah.
Anyway, so instead of the traditional Truxillo-fest in NOLA, we (SNG, Dianaverse, all 3 dogs, Voldemort's cat, and I) went to New Bern to visit SNG's family. It was a nice 3 days- a little walking, a little eating, a little Special-edition SNL Trivial Pursuit (sorry, Dv, your mom and I suck at SNL Trivial Pursuit), a lot of chocolate, some excellent gifties. And then some more chocolate.
SNG and I went back home again on Monday the 26th and I taught aerobics that evening (WHO the heck goes to the gym the day after Christmas?? My Divas do, that's who!). After that, every day was filled with biking, hiking with the dogs, shopping, going to the museum, and watching dvd's with Fuzzy and Peace. We watched all three extended-edition LOTR movies, Tue-Wed-Thur. Our eyes were burned to their sockets by Friday. Peace even had a nightmare about gollum. But it was way fun having friends over every evening.
This week I'm back at work, and it's our annual division meeting where everyone in the division (US only) comes together for various training, updates, comradery, discussions of the next year's plans and general fooling around. I love seeing everyone. The only bummer is that we're in solid meetings 9-5 every day, and I have *two* papers due to editors Monday next week and I think that means I'll be working this weekend. Oh well. Vacation's over.
You may also have noticed that I'm not out of town! Yes, that's right! I'm not scheduled to go anywhere until the 18th, when I'll be headed to Atlanta. My cousin Twinkie #3 lives there (along with 2 other cousins and one wife-of-cousin, an aunt and her partner and an uncle, but who's counting). Anyway, the hotel where we stay in ATL is in Buckhead, which rocks, and it's right next to a terrific mall, which rocks, and I have a hefty per diem, which really rocks. So, in honor of opportunities-not-to-be-missed, T#3's going to come stay with me at my hotel and we'll have a big 3-day slumber party, shopping, eating up the per diem, and catching up. It'll be just like summers when we were kids and I'd go stay in Laredo and she'd show me new and creative ways to get into trouble. Thanks, T#3, I owe so much to you! :-)
OK enough for now. Time to get to the meetings.
Oh- Da...Haydel? Everyone goes by an alias on my blog (you know, in case your boss or your mom reads it, nothing too incriminating). So, you will need an alias. I kind of like Da...H. Tell your mom and sister I said hi, and I hope they're doing well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)