One Who Is Lost

Apparently I'm going to be dealing with snow every other year for the holidays. Two years ago it wasthe blizzard that ate DIA and this year it's a double-hitter of storms in Boston where it's basically been snowing for three days straight. I'm flying out Tuesday, so fingers crossed that it clears up late tonight as it's supposed to.

My plan had been to take the T to the airport, as it's not that bad a trek. But just imagining trying to wrestle my suitcase from my apartment to the T station had me booking at Planet Tran just now so that I just have to make it from my porch to the car.

On the really good news front....new downstairs neighbors actually chip in the shoveling (beyond "I need my car, so I shall only shovel out the part of the driveway that has my car"). That was a very happy discovery.

Just got back from lunch and games with a friend...my first non-shoveling voyage since I came home from work in the first storm Friday. My plans are to hide in the apartment til Tuesday morning, with one trip to the post office to put my mail on hold and send a late present (sorry eeyorekdm, I oh-so-surprisingly procrastinated on shipping...).

Spent yesterday afternoon laughing at Twilight. I admit, I read the books...and enjoyed them in a "these are so bad, but I just can't help myself" kind of way. But the over-the-top melodrama that's bearable on the page is so incredibly laughable on screen. My friend and I were giggling throughout.

Then, off to a birthday party for a work friend. Find my work friends and I all have the bad habit of only socializing with each other at parties when there's a mixed group of the host's friends. I try to remember to mingle more, but never quite manage (at least it's a positive sign for how well I get along with my coworkers).

Then, the antidote to Twilight. Went to see Repo: The Genetic Opera, which was all kinds of entertaining. The crowd was reminiscent of high school and Rocky Horror in a lot of ways. The movie itself was actually pretty darn good (I was a little trepidatious considering it was directed by the guy who does the Saw franchise, which I can't stand...but I wanted to see it cause of Anthony Stewart Head). Loved the mixed bag of casting...besides ASH, there was the brilliant dichotomy of Sarah Brightman and Paris Hilton. Anyway, if you get the chance, I recommend it (though not if you're in any way squeamish about blood).

That was a midnight show followed by an entertaining ("You'll have to forgive us, we're pretty drunk now") Q&A by the director and one of the co-writers/actors. So not home til about 3 and since I'd caffeinated myself to stay awake for the movie, I came home at 3 and baked for a party today.

Today's party was a 1st birthday/trim-trimming party. Somehow I always forget that, not only do my friends who were hosting have a a baby, but so do 75% of their friends. Four babies about age one, and one around two. Plus several friends expecting. Yikes! Great and all (had fun playing with the wee ones), but so outside of where I am in my life right now (also enjoyed giving the wee ones back to their parents whenever the fussing started).

Two weeks and counting til CO time.

Itchy inner ears; red, swollen throat; and just general blah. Yet there's no way I can call in sick today. Whine, gripe, and yes, moan...

I'm officially old now (aka 30). I'm actually firmly in the "it's just a number" camp of whether or not to stress about milestone birthdays, but have been entertained finding out which friends are in the "ohmigod, are you OK?" camp.

Did throw a great "Last night of my 20s" party on Saturday. Always fun to get you separate groups of friends a-minglin'. Somebody brought champagne so we did a midnight toast to my new decade.

The actual day was Honkfest/Oktoberfest. Met up with friends, drank beer, bought some fun stuff, and of course listened to the bands. Was chatting with (possibly chatted up by? I can never tell) on of the drummers from one of the bands.

And then, have the wonder of a three-day weekend for my birthday. Of course, today did involve SOME work, but I balanced it out by doing the work in my PJs, which is always better.

My evening plans involve movies and knitting (so out of character for me), so all in all? My thirties have been good so far :oP

There's a reason drivers from Massachusetts are referred to as Massholes
( And frankly, if you had to deal with shit like this, you'd be one too: )

MMmmmmmm...lovely weekend and it's still got hours more to go. And, added bonus, the sun is finally back (hooray for the sun!!!).

Had an old friend from CO out to visit. She got in late Friday night...after falling asleep on the train and missing her stop, which really wouldn't be as funny if it weren't for the fact that this is the third train mishap she's had in visiting me, twice in LI and once here. It's odd that she now lives on LI and is attending the school that bought my bankrupt school. To add to the connections, her brother went to college in CO with Boy Roommate and his friend who were over last night and his friend actually knew her brother.

OK, strange coincidences and happenstances to the side. Yesterday was a fun day, despite the deluge. We joked that we should probably go from church to temple to mosque til we found the right one to repent in to stop the rain. A week of rain is a bit much, but at least it's finally stopped.

Anyway, we started off with brunch at a coffee house that does amazing crepes. Split a pesto chicken one and a nutella-banana one (mmmmmmmm!). Off to Target to try to find Red Sox Monopoly for her hubbie with no luck.

Got back to the apartment and tried to catch the T for a trip to the Gardner museum, but the deluge won and we gave up, got the car and went to see a movie. Saw Good Night and Good Luck, which is a biopic about Edward R. Murrow and CBS taking on McCarthy. Really, REALLY good. I'd read some reviews that there were undertones of political commentary on today...they weren't undertones, they were just flat out tones. But, despite the lack of subtlety, they still did a phenomenal job. It was pure genius to not have an actor for McCarthy and just use old film clips of him. The cinematography was fabulous and the messages (one about the political atmosphere and the other about the wasteland that is TV) were spot on and well-conveyed. I highly recommend the film.

Since the movie was at the Fenway theater we stopped at a souvenir store to see if they had Red Sox Monopoly with no luck. Thankfully the BU Barnes and Noble did.

After that we hit Harvard Square, which, of course, meant the Harvard bookstore. I got some great used books (Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences both of which I've been meaning to read for awhile now and Beluga Days, which I didn't even know existed til yesterday, but....belugas!!!). I'm sure it'll take me forever to get around to read them considering the length of my "to read" list, but such is life. Then it was dinner at Legal Sea Foods. Yummy lobster and crab ravioli as well as some crab legs. We stopped by Finale on the way to the car to pick up dessert.

Home meant watching Mystic River with Boy Roommate and his friend. I'd already seen it and my assessment still stands...good movie, ends too abruptly and despite all the twisted minds of the male characters the freakiest character of all is Laura Linney because of her final speech...just...gah!

Off to the train station early this morning to drop my friend off. I've been relaxing all day today and then this evening is a yummy birthday dinner with school friends, work friends and even some CO friends so good times will be had. More on that after it happens. Hooray for the almighty weekend (and for the reappearance of the sun, of course!)

Well, Saturday went well (despite my waking up ten minutes before I was suppose to be at work or ten minutes after I should have left for work, however you want to look at it. After that adrenaline boost, the day went fairly well, even with the weather not cooperating. I heard mostly positive reviews. A bit of gripping for people who couldn't sit with their guests at lunch...you know, the guests they didn't tell us they were bringin. But overall...things were good.

Count me as relieved that it's over and I can finally get back to a semi-normal schedule.

Yesterday was just relaxing all day and then going to a party with the coworkers. It was just what was needed to completely unwind from the stress of the past few weeks. Good food, good beer and lots of laughs.

Went apple picking in the rain today, which was actually much more pleasant than it may sound. Came back with more apples than I know what to do with so if anybody has any great apple-based recipes, please share.

Came home to find a box from eeyorekdm waiting for me (which confuses me, cause isn't there no mail today?) It's my birthday present, but I'm going to be good and wait til it's actually my birthday before I open it.

Now I'm going to do some grocery shopping and then do some mix of reading, cleaning, movie watching, and Photoshop fiddling for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

And I'm in Reverse Christmas Mode...yet again.

Although it felt like a long weekend, I'm still not ready to face work again tomorrow. Friday evening was...ok, I'm having to think harder about this than I should...oh yeah! Watching Dead Like Me. I do enjoy that show, though the lead actress has a very oddly-shaped mouth. I've already discussed my Saturday. Today I did some budgeting and went grocery shopping. Went to the movies and then watched more Dead Like Me while doing some homework (again, they shouldn't be allowed to give you homework from a full-time job *whine gripe moan*)

The movie I saw was Murderball. Boy Roommate had been gushing about it for about a month so I finally decided to go. It was indeed quite good. It's a documentary about quadriplegics who play wheelchair-rugby. The stories are told really well and it's just a terrific film, but I really lost it at the last five minutes. By then, the "plot" of the movie is over, but it ends with the team going to a veterans hospital to show the kids coming back from Iraq with missing limbs that there's still an active life ahead of them. I was crying then and I'm tearing up now because these veterans really are kids. There's one who doesn't even look old enough to drive and he's there missing a leg cause he got sent off to war. I just...I have no words to describe how that scene made me feel. Totally not the point of the movie, but definitely the image that is sticking with me right now. Anyway, if you get the chance, you should definitely check out the movie.

Mmmmmmm... I'm a happy taerowyn right now. I just got back from a Tori Amos concert. It was an outdoor concert on a nice breezy night. I found street parking on a street that lead right to the onramp home. I'm now in my room which is all clean and shiny thanks to the cleaning I did today and my fridge is full thanks to the grocery shopping I did today. I'm just a content girl right now. It's nice.

Forgot to post about this. Awhile ago I got a package from school with a picture of me receiving my check at graduation and a letter asking me to write a thank you to the donor. No big deal or anything, but what was really entertaining was the letter, which, as I said, was enclosed in the package which contained a picture of me receiving the check at the graduation ceremony, says "Although you were unable to attend Commencement to accept your award in person, please know how proud the College was to...."

Somebody wasn't paying attention to their mail merge/form letters. But hey, I got a smile out of it.