silvermari & the stick: June 2010

FWD: Cooking Tips from the Experts

To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes

Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix. Keeps in the pantry for up to a year.

When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

Go to the bakery! Hell, they'll even decorate it for you!

Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

Celery? Never heard of it!

Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! All your pains go away!

Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Leftover wine??????? HELLO!!!!!!

Lastly, if you don 't forward this to 1 of your friends within the next 5 minutes, your belly button will unscrew and your butt will fall off

Via Auntie Sue

Photo Montage: Walkers in the City

We had a marvelous time, outlined below!

Arrival on Thursday was without incident, and after a brief rest (and the end of my workday), we went to dinner in the East Village. Margarita! We also took a peak at Washington Square Park and the nearby Edgar Allan Poe residence, which has been turned into the NYU Law School (or one of its buildings at least). We were kind of miffed that the museum (what it was) is only open Thursdays from 9 am-11 am. Weird!
Friday was kind of a dud. We first tried to go to the Museum of TV and Radio, which is now the Paley Media Center (or something like that) and no longer has exhibits (if it ever did). We decided not to pay the entrance fee to look at separate TV monitors and went to lunch at a place with bull riding, although the bull was silent during the day. There was tennis on a huge screen TV and it was quiet with good food. Then we went uptown to the New York Historical Society, which of course was also closed for renovations. They had a traveling exhibit of the Grateful Dead, but we didn't pay to see that either. We did make some purchases at the gift shop (Titanic coloring book?!) We walked in Central Park, saw Strawberry Fields and the Dakota then headed home to rest before our night out.
Around 6 we went to the Staten Island ferry and met my church young adult group. After brief ride on the ferry -- nothing better than Lady Liberty, a light chop and evening light -- we were at the Staten Island Yankees ball park. We had seats behind home plate (which looked directly to the skyline of Manhattan), had all-you-can-eat wrist bands (so we gorged on hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, popcorn, soda and water) and got free baseball caps ... for $18 each! What a deal. There was also a fireworks show afterward and lots of entertainment between innings for the kiddos. It was really a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. The ride back featured a full moon and sparkly lights of downtown. The train was arriving just as we got downstairs and we whisked home.
Saturday we got a slow start, ate some real NYC bagels at home and then quiche and salad for lunch. Then it was time to see "Hair" on Broadway. Ace Young, of American Idol "fame," is one of the actors. To be honest I'd forgotten until I read the playbill and have never a full AI episode (although I do love Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson), but I digress. The other lead actor was much better. Steve really enjoyed the show, and it was good. I think Shawn and I couldn't appreciate it as much because we never experienced the '60s. There really wasn't a true story or plot, and at times the instruments were much louder than the actors' voices ... which made understanding the songs even harder.
After the show we took an express train down to South Street Seaport, where we relaxed with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and ate dinner. It was happy hour, but we couldn't get the discounted drinks at the table -- only if we went up to the bar. So, we didn't drink. Oh well. A quick stop at Century 21 for the bathroom and for me to buy out the rest of the Tiny Temptations' White Buttercream candles (the checker said it smelled like diabetes ... really so sweet I love it). Then it was home to watch a movie (The Gift ... set in the South appropriately).
On Sunday we rolled out for brunch at Washington Square Diner, after which we headed uptown to the Green Flea. We all found good scores -- a CD of the original "Hair" songs for Steve, a big shoulder bag for Dale, a $1 book for Shawn and me ... I got a couple funny letterpress cards, a leather pouch that can also be worn on a belt and a couple novels for our upcoming trip. Then we took a bus to the Times Square street fair that was taking place. It was SUPER crowded, and the bus stop took us several blocks past the street fair. But we persevered and were rewarded. I found a $5 necklace, and Steve and Dale each got souvenir NYC T-shirts.
Next we took the subway downtown to cousin Kelli's workplace at the ESPN match truck -- a traveling catering truck that also shows the World Cup games on a big screen on top. We got free water and had a brief chat with her, then went into Chelsea Market to cool off (and take funny mustache pictures!) We were pooped so headed home, and we had authentic pizza for dinner. Love that Mercado's!
Monday was low key. I started work on time (or maybe a little early because I was geared up after being off on Friday ... uh ...), and they got up too to get packing. After they took one last turn around Washington Square Park, we had leftover pizza for lunch and they took off for the train. They made it home in 9+ hours, but home nonetheless. As far as I've heard the house is still standing and the cat is still alive.

I know how lucky I am to have in-laws I enjoy being with so much. We had a great time, and I can't wait for our next family "vacation" when they come visit us in Baton Rouge!

Tik Tok: Star Trek

Via Love Maegan.

Too good not to post IMMEDIATELY.

The Eyes Have It

Vanity, thy name is ... Mari?

Seriously, this is cosmetic only, but finding out you have a wart growing on your eye is enough to gross you right out. I have a small tag or something on my ~~left~~ right eye too, but he didn't think it was big enough to burn off (yet?). SHUDDER.

My eye is healing nicely, and there was never a true black eye. A very minor bit of bruising that disappeared in a couple hours (so maybe a figment of my imagination anyway). These photos aren't sized great for comparison sake but you can definitely see the spot and then the red places where they were burned off.

GEE-ROSS!

Brief Ocular Update

Kind of a let down -- no black eye. Just three red spots where he burned the marks off. Right now it looks worse than it did BUT when they heal should be gone all together (and it won't feel like I've always got something stuck in the corner of my eye -- eeeeeyew!)

I'll still post pictures later, but my camera is in a bag, and I'm in the dark. My inlaws are still snoozing, Shawn is at work for a quick meeting and I'm checking email/reading blogs while drinking my allotted one non-water drink as a cup of milky coffee.

short story long

went to the dermatologist today to get some skin tags removed from the corner of my eyelid. took off 2 hours of work.

had to wait one of those hours to see the doctor -- he was running an hour behind. (would have been nice to have been called, since i could have just left work later!)

procedure took 15 minutes tops, and he told me i would get a black eye. i would have put off the procedure because my inlaws are coming today BUT i'd already waited an hour, was starving and just wanted to be done.

i also didn't want to have to put in for more time off to come back and wait even longer, although i've got enough sick leave to last me months and months and months.

made the 20 minute walk back to my apartment in 15 minutes in the 85+ degree heat on the sizzling sidewalks.

cooled down now, and my eye is a little bruised BUT mostly it just hurts where he numbed the area w/ a needle. those g-d pin pricks hurt.

before and after pictures to follow. i want to give the eye a chance to blacken if it's going to, so the pic will be really dramatic!

Webcam Restored?

Relative to last week the quality is 100 times better. Hope it lasts...

La violette bâton

Shawn suggested a name for my blog (post-move) -- something about the purple stick, only translated to French, like Red Stick = Baton Rouge. I like violette better than mauve, although if you just translate purple you get pourpre, which I kind of like. Google Translator for the win. But I'm still not sure what I'll do. I still think I need to have silvermari.com go directly to the blog and do away with my Dreamweaver coded HTML pages that live there, so outdated and sad.

Moving on. A recap of recent days:

On Friday after work Shawn and I raced to MoMA for the Target free Fridays, after 4:30 the normally $20 entrance fee is waived (or perhaps paid by Target? That is unclear). What is also unclear is WHY Target would sponsor something in the city where there are no Targets (same logic behind advertising in Times Square I guess). Maybe just for the tourists? Anyway, the museum was as expected. Very crowded but got to see some "important art." There were some pieces I liked (Picasso's Kitchen), some I didn't get (Pollock) and the every-body-loves-it Starry Night. Overall not a bad (free) date, although we both were glad we hadn't paid the $20. We're closing in on having seen all the museums we want to see ... maybe two or three left on the list!
Yesterday after the gym I went to Old Navy to spend the blood donation gift cards, and I got a new pair of shorts in a size I haven't worn in years. That was pretty exciting. I also got a cover up dress for the cruise and some layering tanks (on sale for $5 each ... can't lose). A negative to weight loss has been that my wedding ring is now a little big, so I'm worried about losing it and rarely wear my engagement ring at all. When I do I'm hyper vigilant, checking it every 5 seconds -- or wear the rings on my middle finger, which is slightly bigger although looks really weird with a ring on it. My ring finger knuckle is big enough to keep the rings on, but they still slip and slide and scare me!
After lunch on Saturday, Shawn and I walked to the Hudson River and read/crocheted/juggled for a few hours. The grass was really plush, and having the water right there is just spectacular.
We watched "It's Complicated" while we did our laundry last night. I thought it was really good, and I'm a sucker for romance of any kind.
Today has been church (new baby baptism made me tear up!), lunch at Silver Spurs and lounging after the gym. I also paid some bills, applied (probably fruitlessly) to some more job postings and, clearly, created some blog posts! Shawn is working away, reading and computing at the table. High level stuff, don't you know?

In a bit I'll get dinner started. We have FreshDirect coming tomorrow, and Shawn's parents will arrive on Thursday. I'm taking Friday off work ... but we don't even have a plan yet what we'll do for most of the time they're here! We have some meal options in place plus two outings -- a Staten Island Yankees baseball game and tickets to Hair on Broadway. We know we want to do a street festival and/or Greenflea on the weekend. But otherwise I guess we'll just see what strikes our fancy! Can't wait...

The Past or The Future

...depending on how you look at it. How cute was our Shawn boy?

103 Things I Hate About You, New York

If I can do a list of 212 things I'll miss about NYC, an equal list of things I won't miss should be doubly easy.It was not, so I had to scale back to 103, a play on our ZIP code. I started on June 10, and here it is 10 days later and I was stuck around 110 or so. I just had to give it in and know I couldn't come up with another 100 things to hate (and why force negativity anyway?) so condensed a little and landed here at 103.

Aside: 10 Things I Hate About You was one of my favorite movies -- I think it came out when I was a senior in high school or thereabouts. I love Julia Stiles (who by the by will be starring in the next season of Dexter -- huzzah!) and could watch the movie over and over -- not something that's true for many movies and me. But I digress. Like the movie, my relationship with the city is not really about hate but love-hate. Some of these are definitively HATE, while others are dual sided and could even be featured on the love list.

The bedbugs -- I know not limited to NYC but this is where we survived them -- including the itching, swelling hives, the paranoia, the expense of cleaning up after them, and constant vigilance -- if it hits the floor it has to be washed
The smells on the street -- pee and poo especially, both human and canine
The weird burnt cheese smell -- from the vendors perhaps ... or the subways ... or both
Dirty hot dogs -- yuck when you think about that bacteria infested hot tub (go for the grilled)
The crowds -- people everywhere, even in seemingly open places you'll still see 50-100 people
The stifling heat -- I know I'm in for even worse in BR, but something about sweating in the city is even less appealing
The bone chilling cold, although right now I'm thinking that wouldn't be so bad
No way to seek refuge in a car w/ AC
The subway heat
The subway delays, including weekend track work and unexpected delays
Ever increasing subway ticket prices while service does not improve or speed up
Cutting full subway lines and service while also raising fares
The noise in general, including subway noise, garbage truck noise, loud sirens, NYU carts wheeling across cobblestone under the window
Having only a single window
Dogs peeing on sidewalks -- concrete soaked in urine is so gross. NEVER wear flip flops around this city
Neighbor's cat randomly in the common areas/hallway (specific to my building but STILL)
Laundry lugging and communal washers/dryers
Walking EVERYWHERE
Expensive rents
Small spaces: no bedroom and miniature kitchen w/ 3/4 size appliances
Expensive EVERYTHING, including high utilities and insanely high city taxes
Too expensive for a car
Parking, or lack thereof
Too expensive to RENT a car (maybe that's just me being cheap!)
Ticket costs for plays, shows, etc.
Museum entrance fees
Drug store gouging
Duane Reade -- they're everywhere but you can never find EVERYTHING you need in a single trip
Boutique shopping -- snotty, too-good-for-you feeling
High brow restaurants that cost too much, give too little food and leave you with the same too-good-for-you feeling
Feeling like there's so much great cuisine here and feeling bad for not fully taking advantage
Same for not fully taking advantage of the cultural opportunities
Or the shopping (also partly me being cheap/frugal)
Lugging purchases I do make on foot
Lugging purchases in the rain
Lack of access to yarn and other craft items; have to take a long subway ride to get to a Michaels, and the price of those goods when you do finally get to them
RATS -- subway and otherwise
TOURISTS: taking your picture as part of their panoramas, looking up when they should keep moving, clotting around on the sidewalk to look at maps instead of stepping aside, not knowing how to use their Metro card on the bus, delaying the movement and lengthening a trip for everyone
Sketchy people
Hipster doofus people
Hateful, rude, snooty people (I know they exist everywhere)
Excessive tipping -- doormen, super, etc. (although I know their value in my life, it's still a PITA to tip)
The particularly obnoxious doorman who made me cry after coming home from my first DC trip after moving here
Obnoxious cabbies who don't know the city
Cabbies who try to gouge you with roundabout routes
FILTH - on the sidewalks, in the subways, everywhere
Air quality
Lack of park access -- mostly because of construction but still
Ridiculous commute to church -- 30-40 minutes to get a couple miles
Never made it here -- i.e. never had an NYC job (my own failure, but still stings)
Complete anonymity isn't always a good thing
Health care seems hard to come by, but maybe it's just my experience w/ my doctor, who I will not be sad to never see again
Rude nurse who works at the doctor, so brusque and unprofessional on the phone
Same with my dentist -- although much less so
The commute to get to my chiropractor
Tiny, smelly, overpriced grocery stores
Even the semi-decent one is pretty bad, AND it's a far piece to walk to, especially lugging groceries
The limited selection at FreshDirect (some things I just can't get there -- sugar free jello pudding cups, for example)
Bagels, street vendor pretzels, etc. -- the temptation of highly processed carbohydrates so warm and luscious
Obnoxious subway performers
Panhandlers (I don't like to be harassed on the subway or sidewalk for spare change)
Do-gooders looking for signatures or money for causes on the sidewalk (similar don't harass me request)
Hike to any airport -- but particularly Newark
CRAZY people, especially drunk crazy people at night
False statement: the city that never sleeps (my foot!)
Graffiti - including scratch-iti on trains' windows
Pigeons -- aka rats with wings
The traffic -- bus rides take way too long sometimes
The stupid pedestrians who walk against traffic or scramble to make the lights, mucking up everything further
The stupid drivers who do the same
Stupid bus and subway drivers who screech and jerk at every stop
Bicycles -- particularly those who ride on the sidewalk
The dirt: within a few days after a thorough cleaning the apartment is covered in dust again
The lack of ventilation in the kitchen -- everything is covered in cooking grease that is nearly impossible to remove
No dishwasher to get everything clean
A tiny sink that makes dish washing by hand even worse
The big hump in our floor from bad construction/steam pipes
The steam pipe heating itself -- too hot in the winter
Parades that block traffic divert buses and change subway lines
The lines everywhere, and being cut off in those lines, especially at the drug store
The people who think that living in NYC somehow makes them better or cooler or something like that
Water in this old building -- scalding at times
The stupid bathroom sink here -- weird bump between the faucets
The corner restaurant that hoses down the kitchen mats on the sidewalk, which is especially hazardous in the winter when the water freezes!
Halal food smells when mixed with nearby fruity stores (esp. Lush, which stinks on its own)
Crowded subway trains and buses
The rude people who jostle/fondle in such situations
Smokers on the street (because no smoking in bars) and then their cigarette butts all over the place
Trash randomly on sidewalks, subway tracks and in the water
Bags of garbage regularly below our windows
Wind whipping through the streets
The New York Blood Center calling obsessively
The rude blood center staff who couldn't care less if you donate DESPITE those calls
No access to Walmart, long commute to a trashy Target and the K-Mart is awful, although I will give it convenience (although still have to lug purchases!)
Lack of church culture (but maybe I'm not running with the right crowd!)
You have to go to New Jersey to find a real mall
Disgustingly small locker room at the gym
And the awful women who inhabit it -- dripping in water, ignoring general etiquette
The sometimes grungy equipment in the gym
The sweltering heat inside the workout room
No pools, unless you count the one in the gym, which is not made for lounging ... and I can't swim well enough for laps
Lack of public bathrooms
It's so far away from almost all the people I love!

Webcam Distortion

See how bad the pixilation is getting? It's like the internet is getting WEAKER in Oklahoma ... OR maybe the Fios people are messing with my TWC connection here. There were a wad of them in the lobby yesterday trying to sign up new customers. Another for my I Hate NYC list ... which is taking me longer than I expected!

ABCs of NYC

I've had this first 26 set done for about a month, but kept putting off uploading them. I wanted a mouse to make it easier, and I just got my new wireless one in the mail!

Click through for photos w/ the captions.

Art Appreciation

... or lack thereof.

Maybe I could take a class or something to understand, but for whatever reason a slightly deflated inflatable toilet is not my idea of art. I'm OK if other people want to look at it, but as for me, I think one trip to the Whitney was enough. There were some pieces I liked and could see the artistic value. Others ... not so much. Like a series of snapshots of a kid playing. Great -- but in no way unique. I guess it's the story that goes along with them ... i.e. what the artist is trying to convey. But that was not evident just looking at these pictures of a kid in his PJ's. Anyway. Another bucket list item checked and I'm actually glad two floors were closed -- the price was cheaper and I didn't have to look at double the amount of weirdness. The gift "shop" was even a big disappointment. Live and learn.

I'm going to try to hit the other missing pieces of my NYC tourist time in the coming weeks, including a few more art museums that will probably be over my head.

Shawn wasn't with me yesterday because he's recovering from a cold, but today after we had brunch at Cozy we passed by an NYU art installation. It's basically a camera that films people and you can interact with the TV screen in the window. It's a game where you shake the picture by moving certain parts -- and keep other parts of the image still by freezing. We got the high score so far and it was pretty funny. I tried to find the URL to link to it but not having luck. I'll have to walk past it again and see if I can figure it out better/if there's a link listed on the project.

Now we're about to go out and enjoy this incredibly mild weather. Seriously, you'd think it was early spring or late fall it's so nice. I guess NYC is loving on us so we'll miss it even more when we hit the road in a few weeks (~six weeks 'til our honeymoon cruise, and about eight weeks until we load a U-Haul for the drive south).

Edit -- just kidding. Looks like rain, so we're going to either do a movie or the usual -- i.e. sit around and look at each other/the TV/our computers. m-e-h.

Edit 2 -- found the art installation (it's on Waverly and Broadway): http://madparker.com/recurse.

Eight Hundredth: That Old Ache

I write about the ache every time Owen leaves. His absence surrounds me for a while and I feel so sad, knowing how much I miss between each visit and how happy his sweet face, voice and general demeanor make me feel.

After this trip realizing that being closer to him and the chance to be a bigger part of his life is a number one reason to be excited about the move to Baton Rouge. There are a million other things that are going to be amazing. And it goes without saying that where Shawn goes, I go. He is my main reason for everything. And he helps temper the hurt of saying goodbye after a fun, relaxing, BUSY week of vacationing in the city.

Not sure if I can chronicle everything ... but I do enjoy looking back on these vacation posts and remembering. Makes the photos somehow better/more complete with the words to accompany them. But I can do a quick hits post.

Tuesday was arrival day, and Owen took a nap. After that we went to Union Square Park, did some light shopping (first day of the new NYU bookstore!) and Lisa came over for dinner -- quiche and salad and cherries (we ate in WAY more than we ate out or ordered in)
Wednesday we went to the Chelsea Market -- where Food Network is. We didn't see any celebrity chefs, but it was good to say we'd been there. We also walked along the water and Chelsea Piers. Then, because Owen asked to ride the A train we rode up to Washington Heights -- 181st Street and the Little Red Lighthouse. It was SO not worth the trek and I cannot discourage you enough. Keep it OFF your list. Apparently there's a children's book about the little red lighthouse and big gray bridge (GW). Whatever the case, we saw it and walked for over an hour, part of that in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, then a windy trail by the river with no signs and then trying to get BACK to civilization we wandered again without signs until finally we found a way to cross the West Side Highway. After the ride back and walk across the park, we collapsed at home and ate chicken fajitas (Fresh Direct FTW).
Thursday we went to Queens for mall shopping. We had our unlimited ride Metro passes, but we probably should have gone out to New Jersey for the full mall experience (PATH trains don't take unlimited ride cards though, so it would have been more traveling expense and we're nothing if not thrifty ... or something like that). After dinner at home (spaghetti and meat sauce w/ salad), Mama and Beth went to West Side Story. Owen and I went to Toys R Us and deliberated how best to spend his $20 budget. (We went with a cool only in NYC set that included a taxi, police car, fire truck and garbage truck.) Our boy's a good shopper! Then we had ice cream in Times Square -- nothing better than snacking under the glittering lights.
On Friday Beth took a train to Boston to visit her friend Crystal. So it was just us three. We went to the New York Public Library's main branch. Mucho fun for my mom the librarian, and Owen and I liked it too. We got a children's book about New York at the gift store and spent some time in the children's section, where the original Winnie the Pooh toys are. So cool! We went to FAO Schwarz (verdict: Toys R Us Times Square is much cooler) and rode the 5th Avenue bus home. After a rest we bussed to Tompkins Square Park and played for over an hour in the sand and water. We walked home through St. Mark's Place, gawked at the hipster people but didn't buy anything. We ate leftovers for supper and went to bed!
Saturday was the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn. I'd been looking forward to it for so long! Live Action Etsy was how I described it to my Aunt. I bought a cool headband that I want Beth to replicate (or teach me to sew so I can create more) and had a lot of fun looking. Mama got some earrings made of postage stamps. We got to ride the L train, which pleased Owen, and he got to eat some blueberry ice cream. But we had to walk around a lot in crowds, which did not please him. We were going to the playground near the fair, but Owen changed his mind. We ended up riding FIVE subway lines because of transfers and weekend service (when will I learn?) but finally made it home and walked through the Washington Square Art Festival booths. (Maybe someday I'll have enough dough to collect paintings ... or even have one!) We rested and then walked to the Washington Square Park Fountain, where Owen played for over an hour and the light hit the water just right to create a rainbow. So fun! Shawn came home just in time for hamburgers for supper.
Sunday morning, Mama and I went to church, leaving Owen and Shawn home for an hour before Beth arrived back from Boston (she was super tired!). After church we met for brunch (the only time we ALL went out for a meal, although the four of us minus Shawn ate some lunches while we were out), and then Owen, Beth and Shawn were off to the World Science Festival! I was sort of sad to miss it BUT was happy with what my mom and I did -- SHOPPING! We ran out of steam on Saturday to go to the World Trade Center (to be honest the MTA snafus took the life out of me and I just wanted to go home). But Sunday was a breeze and we made it, saw the construction site and all the progress being made. Then it was Century 21. We had WAY more luck than I've ever had there. We found some souvenir things, beach hats (hello cruise!) and the best smelling candle -- it's like birthday cake baking w/o the effort (or the calories!). We met back up w/ the science festival kids, who had amazing fun and won lots of prizes and saw cool things, just before it started to rain. We relaxed before dinner (bacon cheesy pasta -- no kidding around here) and then Mama, Beth and I went to Billy Elliott. Uncle Shawn and Owen had a good time together -- did a craft project (assembling a balsa wood airplane) and went to the Washington Square Park fountain again. We had nosebleed seats, but it was a good experience and a fairly good -- although LONG -- musical. On the subway we ended up talking to a couple guys from Memphis, one of whom grew up in Lawton. Small world, I guess. When we got home Owen was snoozing so we all went to bed too.
Monday was CONEY ISLAND. So fun. Beth put up some pictures on Facebook already (and of the World Science Festival too). It took an hour train ride to get there (and almost as long to pack everyone up). Despite the broken glass all around on the beach (major fail), we managed to survive w/o slicing our feet and had a really great time -- nice weather (not too hot), beautiful sun and softly lapping waves. Owen and I even got in and swam a little and made a new friend, Will from Puerto Rico, who gave me a whole discourse about Obama's policy on undocumented immigrants. Very weird, as he was no more than 10 years old. Owen had fun splashing with him though! The hour ride home seemed much longer because we were so hungry (the picnic lunch of bologna sandwiches and sweet potato chips didn't tide us over what with the surf and sand play!). When we got home and dropped our gear, we threw Owen in the tub and ordered pizza from Mercado. YUMMO. After Mama and Beth were so energized they went back out and did some last minute shopping at local shops. I was too tired (and can really feel the sand walking in my thigh and butt muscles today)!
Today we just woke up and lounged about. Owen played www.transformers.com (he says the entire URL each time he asks for it). They got packed up and I deflated the air mattress, cleaned a little and spent time drawing with Owen and trying to help him beat the blasted Transformer games. I'm not a gamer and never was! The car came around 12:15, and Shawn was back from work to see them off. I did my best to not cry, but let myself feel a little sad when I was back in my room alone.

I don't think the ache is any less than past visits, but I will say that it is tempered by the knowledge that I can be home for Owen's birthday in late August (job or no job, although hopefully there's a job) and that they will come visit us for fall break and in general I will be a more regular presence in the life of Owen. One can hope anyway. This turned out way more detailed than I intended. We walked enough that I dropped another 3 pounds. Hope it keeps on coming off! I'm closing in on a big milestone w/ weight loss too!

Happy 800th post!

My Week

Pretty much sums things up. More details later this week. Still in vacation mode but tomorrow afternoon will be back to work.

silvermari & the stick