Party Like It's 2012

I ushered in 2011 with getting kicked out of a bar and later some public barfing at the Verizon Center...inauspicious to say the least. Nevertheless, this was the year I ran 10 miles,

I met personal hero Hoda

and not least of all I hit 30, with the most fantastic, personalized celebration a girl could imagine.



No complaints at all, but everyone wishes for bigger and better as the ball dropping nears, even if we try not to make a big deal of New Year's. And since, as a molder of young minds, I've learned to accept the importance of setting goals [esp in writing] and planning to achieve them, here are some of my wishes:

-I want to write more. Whether it's this blog, or the Buster book, I need to work at it. I've always felt I had a knack for it, and if someone can get paid to write captions about owls that look hungover, well then...

-I'm really proud of all the crafts I've created lately, but I'd like to focus in on something and get really good at it, maybe even make some etsy sales. Knitting could be it...we'll see

-I'd like to spend less time relaxing my body (downgrade from 3 to 2 naps per Saturday?) and more time relaxing my mind. Could I really do a half marathon???

I'll be ringing in the new year with my closest high school friends--a low key gathering at the same place as many of our high school parties. In the past 12 months, they've gotten pregnant, gotten engaged, gotten married... I feel so blessed to have shared all of this and start the year with them as we continue to grow up. Here's hoping some of those milestones extend to me this year!

American Eagle

I've been a fan of American Eagle for years, even though I'm about 15 years older than their average customer. I especially love their underwear for the style, price, and quality for price. So I was super surprised to take a bra out of the wash the other day and find it ripped apart. Granted, the bra was 2 or 3 years old and I washed it, against the label recommendations. But I contacted them anyway with my patented "ho hum, this sad thing happened to your product, I just wanted you to know, you don't have to do anything about it..." remarks that always result in a refund. And low and behold, they replied with a certificate to take it back to the store for another bra or a gift card for the full price of the bra! I walked in yesterday and got my new merchandise.

My "sick" dog at the vet

(see full image)

Sent from my iPhone

The tin-foil wrapped presents were stacked by the dog bed with care...

I make funny faces when I knit

Buster has made it clear he does not care for me spending Sunday afternoon with friends instead of him.

And this is why I cancelled my subscription

Read from the bottom up...


you said
8 hours ago
RE:
The emails were exactly the same!! Both times! I guess that makes you stand out...for being unoriginal. The only difference is you spelled your name wrong the first time.


Hey there... Nate, 30, and new to the area. Joined match to make a friend or two and see where it goes. I like long walks on the beach, candle light dinners, and aged bottles of wine. Ha, just kidding. I mean, that is all nice and stuff but we'll save that for later. Give me a pair of jeans, my flip flops and I can make due pretty much anywhere. Maybe you'd like to chat sometime?

Cheers,
Nate
he said
October 11
Hey there... Nate, 30, and new to the area. Joined match to make a friend or two and see where it goes. I like long walks on the beach, candle light dinners, and aged bottles of wine. Ha, just kidding. I mean, that is all nice and stuff but we'll save that for later. Give me a pair of jeans, my flip flops and I can make due pretty much anywhere. Maybe you'd like to chat sometime?

Cheers,
Nat

he said
21 hours ago
RE:
It's something to break the ice.... All the first emails all sound the same. Have to find something that makes me stand out. I'm sure you get tons of emails from all kinds of people.

you said
22 hours ago
RE:
The fact that it was word for word the same suggests that it wasn't personally crafted for me.

he said
22 hours ago
RE:
Now I don't think it was all that impersonal... Cheesy maybe.

you said
23 hours ago
RE: Subject
You sent me the exact same impersonal email 2 weeks ago.

he said
Yesterday
Hey there... Nate, 30, and new to the area. Joined match to make a friend or two and see where it goes. I like long walks on the beach, candle light dinners, and aged bottles of wine. Ha, just kidding. I mean, that is all nice and stuff but we'll save that for later. Give me a pair of jeans, my flip flops and I can make due pretty much anywhere. Maybe you'd like to chat sometime?

Cheers,
Nate

he said
October 11
Hey there... Nate, 30, and new to the area. Joined match to make a friend or two and see where it goes. I like long walks on the beach, candle light dinners, and aged bottles of wine. Ha, just kidding. I mean, that is all nice and stuff but we'll save that for later. Give me a pair of jeans, my flip flops and I can make due pretty much anywhere. Maybe you'd like to chat sometime?

Cheers,
Nat

First attempt at royal icing

It sounds so fancy but really is simple and makes for much more fun decorating. I used this recipe from epicurious...it didn't taste great on its own, but is much better on the cookies, though still SUPER sweet. And this is from the girl who puts 11 sugars in her tea. I'll keep investing...this Nigella recipe gets mixed reviews, but I like the smaller sugar measurement.

More importantly, the sugar cookie base was made from what really is the best rolled sugar cookie recipe ever. And it's super easy and quick (minus all the times I stopped to "taste" the dough).

Quotes from today's date

Setting: mob-front diner, 11am Saturday

On my dress and denim jacket outfit in the mild fall weather (first words exchanged): "Oh, you're really trying to hang on to summer, aren't you!"

On our shared interests: "We have a lot of really unusual things in common. We both like coffee ice cream and have friends who moved away!"

"So here's where I had my extra thumbs removed. [shows scars] I think this one was a stump, but this one was a little bigger. Try finding a 6 finger catcher's mitt for a 5 year old!"

Me: "oh...i see..."
Him: "yeah. it's a dominant trait too. it'd be interesting to see if it got passed on to my kids."

And most egregiously, after the requisite "do you want to try some of my food," he took my BACON.

As a little kid, I was always the first one outside to help my dad in the yard.

I couldn't wait to get up the ladder and run around on the roof.

Today I got out there to help with gutters and 2 steps up, I froze. It was a 5' ladder, and I was terrified. Knowing how silly the fear was, I kept going to the gutter, barely able to move from fear. I finished and inched down with painstaking slowness, clutching the edges of the ladder. I moved the ladder over to try again knowing how ridiculous I was being and trying to overcome it, but the 2nd time was even worse. This time my family noticed, since I was moving so slowly. They were as shocked as me that this was difficult. But by the time I made it down the 2nd time I declared I was done.

What about growing up makes us illogically fear things that were never an issue before? Shouldn't we be scared as children, when everything is big and unfamiliar, instead of as adults, when we know the risks are tiny and have done these things before?

Shawn from Bank of America was nicer to me than any guy in awhile...

Shawn: The information in it will help you better now and in future as well.
Shawn: I understand. You know, I was under the same conception in the beginning days of my credit card usage.
Shawn: This is the least I can do for you.
Shawn: Is there anything else that I can help you with today?

e-disharmony (punny!)

Everyone who dates over the age of 25ish thinks he or she should write about their crazy dating experiences, because dating as you get older IS crazy, and generally awful, except for the few times it's great (which I guess is why we all keep going back for more). But this is a story that really could not go untold...

I had been chatting periodically with this guy "Tim" online and made plans last week to get a drink in my neighborhood. He even called me on an actual phone and talked to me for 45 minutes, so it seemed promising. But I didn't feel well that day so I cancelled, and last night was the only night for a few weeks that worked for both of us. Catch was, he had his fantasy football draft at 8 and would need me to come to Ballston (~25 min drive) so he'd be able to get home quickly if necessary. Fine. It could be a good conversation topic.

So we meet at this suburban pub around 7 and get a drink. We're enjoying ourselves chatting for about 1/2 hour when he starts checking his watch. A few minutes later and he starts looking for the waitress to get the tab. "I'm gonna need to get home after all so I can have a good wifi connection. You can come back and have a drink there." Um... A couple more minutes pass and he hasn't found the waitress; he asks if I mind covering the tab since he has to go. "I'll cover all the drinks at my place!" Uh, no thanks, I'm going to finish the 3/4 of the drink I have left (sip slowly, per Patti Stanger!) and stay on the safe bar stool rather than be lured to your murder den.

Then he left. And I finished my drink while making fun of him with the married men at the bar who watched it all unfold. But texted me later that he had a great time and wants to get together this weekend!

To recap: Despite living in a major happening city, I drive to the suburbs of another state to meet a guy and get left mid-drink (with the tab) so he can pick players for a pretend football team.

Musings

7 1/2 years after moving here as an adult, I went to the DMV to change my registration. I thought 3:30 on a Wednesday would be a good time to go, but clearly I wasn't the only one with that idea. After about an hour and a half of waiting (and haughtily laughing at all the people being turned away for not being prepared), there were 2 people ahead of me in line and I realized that one of the many forms I had spent days collecting was missing a piece of information. I decided to stay and see if I could get away with it. Another hour or so waiting for my number to be called, I get to the counter to find I cannot in fact get away with it. I'm not quite sure why you need to have a license, passport, 2 proofs of social security, registration, insurance, and proof of residence to transfer your tags, but you do, and I didn't. Yet somehow, in the midst of this annoyance, the DMV employee walked away and returned with a little card that was a fast pass! Go directly to the front of the line! Any time you come, no matter how busy! "You have everything together but that one paper, and I feel bad no one told you before this you needed it and you waited all that time." All of that waiting and annoyance was erased by one tiny kindness.

So today when I went to the grocery store, there was another interminable line of people getting essentials (doritos and bush's beans) for the hurricane. I'd been waiting about 10 minutes and there was 1 person in front of me before we got to the register. An older woman with 1 item approached the man in front of me and said "I've never done this before, but I have to be somewhere in 15 minutes and I just have this one thing..." and he said no. So she walked away to the end, about 5 people back. I thought about it for a moment, then caught her eye and motioned her in front of me. Maybe tomorrow she'll do the same for someone else, but regardless, it always stops me in my tracks a little to realize how easy it is to make people happy, and how amazing it is that it happens so infrequently.

Done.

15.75 down, -.75 to go

Big finish with Thirteen Reasons Why. Proof of my young-adult-books-are-great rant from the last post. Fast moving, intense, surprising. Maybe not a deep intellectual read, but a lot of things that stick with you.

As for my other goals, not so successful. I'm happy with my needlepoint progress, though I didn't finish one. I'm also happy with my musical horizon opening. My weight loss plan didn't go quite as well. Lost a few pounds at first, but as soon as that started I relented on my diet plan and ended up even by the end. Apparently a couple of 2 mile runs each week does not counteract nightly ice cream cones. I really wish someone had sat me down and told me how much my body and metabolism would change with age. "Happy Birthday, here's 20 lbs!" And it's not just that I can't eat as poorly as before; I'm always hungry. If I got a sandwich or went out to dinner, I'd maybe eat half and save the rest for later. I'd never get more than a 6" hoagie. Now, 3 sizes later, I gobble everything down and want more. What's a hungry girl to do?

Also done is the summer. Not much to say about that. I hate going back to work no matter what, but accompanied with moving from one lifestyle surrounding with family/friends to another separate lifestyle with different friends/work brings up a lot of feelings. I always swear this will be my last year in DC when I'm leaving NJ, and then I get to DC and remember it's not so bad...

Almost There...

14.75 down, .25 to go~

I panicked a few days ago that I was never going to make my goal with a week left before school. Then, suddenly, a quick weekend read and 2 books down in 1 day! With 3 days left, I need to read 1/4 of a book...

After the disappointment of Americans in Paris, I went for an old standby, Marian Keys, and The Brightest Star in the Sky. Her books aren't going down in history, but it's always a quick read with interesting characters, and I like the Irish dialects (which I then imitate for several days after reading).


The Other Wes Moore: I figured I should jump into something heavy with school approaching. The premise of this book--2 boys from the same neighborhood with similar situations take different paths in life--was enticing, but the story itself wasn't as compelling as other similar stories. The author also makes a point to say he doesn't know what the differences were that lead to his success and the other Wes Moore's downfall, but it seems pretty apparent: the author was born to 2 adult, educated, parents and strong family structure who constantly monitored him (even after his father died from illness) while the other Wes's biggest role model and most dependable family member was his drug dealing brother. I think a better side focus for the book would have been how the system failed the other Wes--and the author does mention towards the end that the other Wes was actually smarter and a lot of the author's success grew out of family connections and contact versus luck or natural ability

Daughters of the Revolution: SPOILER ALERT: I read this in one day, so that tells you the writing at least was good. I enjoyed reading but when I was finished I just sort of went "huh?" It was a good story interweaving the characters, but you realize at the end you don't really know any of the characters. It's alluded to that the daughter doesn't eat, but why? The mother sleeps with the daughter's boyfriend and that's it? There's no other mention of it? The last chapter reveals connections and announces the theme of poverty vs privilege, but then it's over, just when you want to know more! In the end, all these women react in different ways to freedom, and in the end they just have to take care of the men anyway!

Tangent: I feel like a lot of the "real" books I've read lately follow the same trajectory...people try to be individuals and explore their freedoms but end up disillusioned and right back where they were before, just a little less happy. And often there's a drawn out narrative of a character's perception of their own death or demise. I'm thinking the last book, Tinkers, A Visit from the Goon Squad, Freedom...

It reminds me of an article I just read about the allure of young adult literature, which I find myself enjoying a lot lately: "The tone of YA lit is often different: there’s less retrospection, less melancholy and nostalgia. Often, though not always, YA lit is more story-focused." That disillusioned melancholy and nostalgia is what I can't stand, so I turn to nonfiction, chick lit, or YA. As an English major/teacher, I feel a little embarrassed, but as a reader I want to enjoy myself...at least it's not romance novels!

Sun setting on the summer

Sigh.

Even More Summer Reading

11.75 down, 3.25 to go

Trading Up: not great, but fine for the beach. I finished it about 2 weeks ago and can't even remember what it was about without looking up, so that says something. But I finished it, so that also says something...

Then Came You: Loved it. Isn't gonna win any awards, but a good, quick read with sympathetic characters. I think I've read all of Jennifer Weiner's books, and they went way downhill with the past few, but this one is back up to snuff.

Americans in Paris: had this at the beach for 1 day and just couldn't do it, especially knowing I only have another week or so to get to my 15 book goal. It'd be great as a documentary, but not a beach read. Maybe I'll pick it up again another time.

Animals Being Dicks

There's a whole blog's worth! This is my favorite so far.

I'm doing this the second I can. I LOVE maps, but never know where to put them. Hopefully my next move will be to my own house and I can try it out

What is cheating?

Comments from a teacher who admits to assisting students on state testing...

Confessions of a Cheating Teacher

State testing dishonesty has been in the news a lot as far as teachers and principals sanctioning changing answers, etc... but the type of "cheating" discussed in the article must happen in every school. I'm sure I've "cheated" at times unintentionally. As a teacher you work hand in hand with every student 9.9 months of the year, then for 4 days you're supposed to have no interaction with them? Our whole goal is to work with students to give them ways to think on their own, yet we can't even say "well, think about what we did in class, what would be the best strategy we talked about for solving this?" All of our professional development, all of our teacher instruction encourages teaching for a 21st century student, yet we have to tell them that they (and their school) are a failure if they don't meet an arbitrary benchmark on an arbitrary multiple choice test. (Which, by the way, is 100% proficient by 2014.) When I practice questions with my kids, it's not that they don't understand the questions, it's that they are so used to discussion and analysis that they can't narrow down to 1 answer. Normally this would be lauded: "My students led their own debate about the merits of A over B for 15 minutes!" Yet somehow I have to make them understand that on these 4 testing days, only 1 answer counts. And if you have a bad day, you won't get into the class you want.

I watched Waiting for Superman last night, so I'm extra agitated about the education system. According to the movie, basically, charter schools are the best. More classtime and no excuses win! Of course, if every school was filled with super motivated students whose parents are super involved and everyone involved accepts that the school has the final say on discipline, etc... then we'd be back at #1. Is that really reasonable for the entire nation though? I interviewed at a super successful charter school and the kids all sat in class in silence, no interaction, no groups. It was a classroom management dream, but shouldn't a class have some collaboration and energy?

I don't know the solution. All I know is I have lots of great, talented kids in my classes. Many of them come from backgrounds ranging from tough to impossible. I know they have a good teacher in me. But as good as I can be for them, as much self esteem and grammar tips as I can give them, I can't make all of them good at taking a test for whatever reason (they're just too nervous, their parents don't get them to school on time, they can't relate to the stories about periscopes and President Reagan at age 11 no matter how much we practice), and without that they are deemed failures.

Back to funny dogs tomorrow.

I love etsy

Animal Kingdom

Dog in sunglasses!



Doesn't work quite as well for Buster


He politely removes them and goes about his business.

Dog in the tub

Whiskey does not react well to even the hint of thunderstorms. Any ideas for dog storm anxiety?

There was a baptism at church on Sunday. Haley James. Coincidence?

More Summer Reading

9.5 down, 5.5 to go

A Visit from The Goon Squad: Really? This is an acclaimed book? It just made me annoyed. In theory, it tells the stories of about a dozen quasi-connected people. But really, it starts to tell the stories of these people, gets you interested, then moves on to someone else without a satisfying conclusion to any of the characters' stories. The characters come back later, but how did they get married!? What happened to their dreams!? Where did this kid come from!? You never find out. Plus, all the people are at some sad, unfulfilled point in their life without any sincere efforts to improve. Maybe, along with movies, I'm just not cut out for serious intellectual-ism anymore in my life. But from the second chapter on, I just felt like this book was written for the purpose of everyone talking about how unusual and innovative (aka pretentious) it was rather than actually being a good story. Second disappointing Pulitzer winning book this summer!

The Hunger Games: so far so good. Much more up my alley. Quick read, not totally predictable.

Nothing Daunted The story of two wealthy women in the early 1900s teaching in Colorado. Most people would think this sounded boring. I thought it sounded interesting. It's boring. It's just way too much detail about tangential characters without really getting to know them. I'll give it a little more skimming time, but after today I'm done.

The Memory of All That: I liked this book. I like stories about the early 20th century, and I like George Gershwin, and this was well told.


The Carrie Diaries: Meh. Nice quick beach read, but nothing special. Much better than Trading Up, which I'm currently reading/not enjoying, but a lot of continuity issues with Sex and The City considering it's supposed to be a prequel.

Buster's trapped in the closet

So this happened today...3 pilar cysts removed from my scalp. MMM. I'm the weirdo who asks to take a picture before I go. The nurse, though initially amused, was very helpful in trying to get the right angle. This is the 5th cyst I've had removed in the past 6 months. They're not harmful, just gross and annoying (except the ones on my back, which got inflamed).But there's also no way to prevent them.

Summer Reading!

This summer's goal: read 15 books. 5 down, 10 to go. So far:


My Booky Wook 2: Not nearly as hilarious as My Booky Wook, but many LOL moments, especially for Russell Brand Fan #1 (me)

The Long Goodbye: major sad town, but also really interesting portrayal of the illogical and persistent nature of grief.


Tinkers: how did this win any prize, let alone a pulitzer? A couple interesting passages about epilepsy treatment/views in the past, but major snooze town otherwise.

the Art of Racing in the Rain: love. Maybe just because I'm a dog owner, but I thought this had a very interesting perspective.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: OMG. Just started this, but I"ll be finished by tonight. Amazing story, amazing scientific information that can be easily understood.

Beach Etiquette

I hate to be a beach nazi (not really) but there is a certain distance that needs to be maintained between beach-going groups.



This is not it.

Especially when there is this



directly to the right.

Things get a little dicey when the tide's coming in, but come on

I'm Back!

Since this is a blog about things Buster likes, posts dropped off during the winter. There's not much we like in the winter. But it's summer and we're back!

Beware of Chef Basket!

Chef Basket looks all great on tv. Ouch! Cooking pasta is so painful! Chef Basket helps! But beware. Apparently the buy one get one free offer is mandatory. And by "free" they mean "free plus $7 S&H." There is nowhere on the order form to say you want 1 item, even if you check 1 in quantity. And there is nowhere to review your order before purchase. After 3 15-20 minute phone calls, I finally got a $5 discount on the 2nd shipping charge. So not worth my time, but I refused to accept that there's no way to buy just 1 of an item and not get charged for a 2nd!