Sensory Launch

So I have this weird thing happen when I eat clementines. But not all clementines, they must be a certain kind. Every time I smell one, I get this launch back to when I was 6 and we spent a few months in Australia. We went to this school and they collected the bag lunches in crates and put them in a big refrigerator every day while we were doing daily calisthenics ( I have no idea how to spell that). They must have given us these oranges for snacks or something because every time I smell them I have like flashbacks to that playground. It's really weird. I do have a very sensitive nose though in general.

Huh. Anyhow.

Brrrr....

So snowglobe on Sunday equals problems on Monday.

The steps doing out into the street were pure ice. With work shoes on and carrying 4 bags of Christmas cookies, lunch, and purse (I hate the word purse) plus coffee cup, I couldn't make it down the stairs. I had to hold on to Savory Man just to make it to the car.

Thought the windshield wipers had bit the dust because I thought, it would be smart to leave them up so they wouldn't get frozen to the windshield. That would be the smart thing to do, right? Well, it seems as though the sleet and hail were so intense that the wipers did a flexibility dance. Thankfully they are actually alright.

It's freezing in the office. The heat must be broken. Oh wait, just as I'm writing that I hear something in the pipes.

Two days off last week and I come back to some not so small problems to fix at work. So much for time off.

Thank goodness it's a 2 day workweek. How can I already be spent? It's 8:45 am?

Yes, Virginia, there is snow

This is going to be a great post for people who like pictures. It's been busy, and snowy, and ultimately festive which has been fun.

Like good Bostonians, people started preparing for the stormy weather a day in advance by finding their chairs in their basements and marking their parking spots.

The snow didn't start in earnest until after 1 on Friday. But after last year when the plows, the snow, and the people all converged on the streets and then SAT on the streets for hours without movement, everyone was prepared.

I was cynical at first because we tend to make a big deal out of storms that come to fruition only 10% of the time here or end up being more rain than snow, or are just not as grave as the media makes them out to be. But it was pretty bad. I know you miss this stuff when you move out of New England:

If you're not asking yourself how and why I was taking pictures in my car while driving in a snowstorm, you should stop and do that now. At least I was wearing my seatbelt.

Yesterday Savory Man and I, after clearing the car out of the snow (never buy a house in the city without a driveway! I am so lucky!) did some volunteering for Community Servings and delivered holiday baskets to homebound people in Boston. I feel like since I still live in the city that it is really my duty to work in these neighborhoods for my neighbors. It was a great experience - extremely organized (which I LOVE) and truly rewarding. It was snowing out and we were listening to Christmas songs on the radio at the same time. We then met some friends at the Trinity Church for their Candlelight Carol service. It was cold and snowy and we had to wait for a little while in a long line, but it was worth it. It was warm, and festive, and I got to sing all the verses to all the Christmas Carols and get it out of my system. For someone who only really believes in the metaphors of religion, it is a good chance to sit and deliberately remember what I'm thankful for and to just be quiet and thoughtful.


We went to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner which was a great chance to get out of the box and end a great day.

I've been busy making lots, and lots, and lots of cookies. Today I'm going to try my hand at frosting the sugar cookies and try to make another batch of Key Lime Thumbprints since I feel the last batch didn't have enough lime in them.


So I need to get me some motivation to get off the couch and away from the computer. Savory Man was right when he said it's like sitting in a snow globe up here right now. It continues to snow and the trees are coated in it as the flurries flurry by. . But there's a lot to do and I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can destroy some perfectly good sugar cookies anyhow!

Letter to my gym

Dear Gym:

Thank you for welcoming me back tonight. It was especially nice that you had some machines waiting for me so that I didn't have to wait and get discouraged. Though I looked down at 15 minutes and then again at 25, it was nice of you to have a People magazine there to keep me occupied the rest of the time. You know I need to keep my mind busy so that I don't go crazy. I'm always better when over-stimulated.

I'm a little concerned about being able to get out of bed tomorrow morning though must admit I didn't push it to my limit. Thank you for letting me ease back in.

I promise I'm going to try to come tomorrow too. Will you have good magazines then too?

Looking forward to our renewed relationship.

Loooooove,

Kristen

Why Do I remember so much snow?

When I was a kid, and granted, I grew up in a little mountainous region where I think it snowed 8 months of the year, it seemed like there was always snow this time of year. I don't know if that's because I was a kid or that's because of global warming. We had kids that came from 7 different towns that went to our regional high school so if one town couldn't get the buses started on those cold December mornings, then school was canceled for all of us. This was especially gratifying for those of us who lived less than a mile from the school.

Anyhow, I was having this memory recently about picking out presents for Christmas. One of the radio stations here has little kids that call in every night to Santa and I get to hear all of their funny requests while I'm in my car driving to tutoring. Most of them want high tech wizardry - Wii, iPhones, Nintendo DS (these are things I want! good grief!) but some of them are so cute - they want a toolbox and tools or a horse. When we were growing up, we anticipated the arrival of the Christmas Sears Catalog. The whole back end of it was devoted to toys. And of course then, things that ran on batteries were all the rage and parents had to stock up appropriately in advance to make sure that everything beeped and squawked Christmas morning (I mean, I am assuming this as I was not a parent in the 80s). Anyhow, my sister and I used to sit down with the catalog with a ballpoint pen and circle all the things we wanted. I have no idea what those things were anymore and don't necessarily remember my childhood Christmas presents outside of the things I see myself holding in old pictures, but I know that there were so many things to circle and I did it without a thought about price or greed. I had to put a big K next to my circles and my sister, an M.

My parents hid the presents for a long time in their closet. I think we finally figured this out when I was around 9, is my guess and I'm not sure what they did after that. Perhaps they just still did it and taught us to appreciate a little will power.

On Christmas morning we were not allowed to go into the living room until my parents went in to check and make sure that Santa had already left. They checked under the tree and behind the couch, probably making sure at the same time that the cookies and carrots were adequately chewed up and that there were no lingering presents in the back of the closet still.

These days I still enjoy Christmas morning at my aunt and uncle's house where I still have cousins who appreciate the unknown of Christmas morning. Ok, who am I kidding, I still love the unknown of Christmas morning. But I love putting on some Christmas music, turning the lights on the tree, brewing some coffee, and lighting the candles. It's decidedly warm and happy and involves all the things that make for a perfect morning - coffee, family, flannel pajamas, and presents.

Hot Top

I'm having a really frustrating morning slash twelve hours.

Last night my debit card kept getting denied which was really disconcerting because I knew I had money in my account. So I get home about 830 and call the bank. Turns out that the shady contractor I have hired to build my deck (mind you in May I hired him) gave me a check back with part of my deposit and it bounced. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But DAMN IT Citizens Bank why do we always have to be fighting? IF you show that $3000 in my account, should I not assume that it is ready to use? Should I not assume that you have it in your hands? That's why I gave it time to show up. For the LOVE OF GOD don't show it on my online account if it's not available. That is fine. I know you need to wait for it to clear. Now YOU, CITIZENS BANK are being shady. Are you doing this just so I'll spend it and you'll get the fees when the money isn't there? Aaarrrgh. I'm blowing my top. I sent the money to ING Direct so I wouldn't touch it as soon as I saw it in my CITIZENS BANK online account. Why do I continue to be punished by you CITIZENS BANK?

Anyhow, the contractor has not called me back and I have now left three pissy messages. I'm going to bring my big black boyfriend to beat him up.

So then, I get up early only to find that the electricity is not on. Actually I knew this was going to happen but I have these email coupons from Kohls that I need to use before 1 today and I needed to print them out. I shuffled around and did some stuff and thankfully the electricity came on so router and printer would then work. Turns out that I forgot that new computer would not have printer software installed. Thankfully you can do that stuff online now. But as it turns out the printer had no black ink. So I went out, got a few groceries, cleaned out my car, put in gas and picked up a black ink cartridge and some paper (didn't have any of that either). I got home and finished installing the printer, which thankfully worked fine. But then, the coupons wouldn't print with just black, even when I chose grayscale. WTF? The world is against me and it's not even 10 AM ( I failed to mention that I dropped all my groceries as I was carrying them through the supermarket too). The printer needed 5 new color cartridges too. So out I went again (oh I failed to mention that the first time I went down to the car I couldn't find my wallet. This is what prompted the car cleanout after I came back upstairs for a second look and then back down to the car where I eventually found it under one of the chairs along with other assorted sundries. Good grief.) to get 5 new color cartridges at $11 a piece. So it's been a fabulous morning.

The only consolation is that I know the last time I changed these cartridges was like a year and a half ago. Just figures that they would have to run out now.

I also broke the closet door today. But Savory Man has since fixed that. Oh and the computer speakers are broken. Oh and my transmission is slipping.

But it's all ok. I'm going shopping. You know, with the $3000 that never really arrived.

The Tony Side of Life

I consider the ability, both financial and geographic, to shop at Whole Foods to be a luxury. There are certainly no Whole Foods stores in Dorchester. If I were in charge of new store construction, I probably wouldn't choose Dorchester as the neighborhood to build in either. The closest one for us is downtown which equals no parking.

On Sunday, on my way to tutor in a tony neighborhood in the burbs, we stopped to pick up some groceries at the Whole Foods in Cambridge. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the prices were not exorbitant and were pretty reasonable. GRANTED, the lovely fresh bread display, the exotic olive oils, and the freshest of fresh fruit during a New England winter could have easily jacked the bill up to a beyond reasonable total. But the handful of things we needed and the 365 brand which I assume is Whole Foods' generic brand, made it almost equal to shopping at the Dorchester Stop and Shop.

This morning we popped open a can of the coffee we bought there for $5.99 and it was GOOD. Boy was it good. So much richer than the $5.99 stuff we've been drinking. I wish it was a convenient option for us to shop at Whole Foods. We have been getting meat at this old school supermarket in Quincy called Roxies. It's kind of fun to go because you can negotiate the prices with the butchers. It's not the place to get all the stuff you need, but if in the neighborhood, it's the place to get a couple of weeks worth of meat.

So this is my story about Whole Foods and grocery shopping. Go buy yourself some really good Whole Foods coffee now.

Back to my existential funk

Yesterday I sat in two meetings that revived my dormant existentialism with rigor. Sitting in the meetings reminded me that 1) I am not cut out for the policy and negotiation conversations involved in business relationships because they pull too hard at this existentialism in me. I've told you about this before. I get in these places in my head where I wonder what the hell we're all doing 8+ hours a day just so we have money to get by. I am totally missing out on the meaning of life and how the day-to-day fits into why life should be special. It's troublesome because I am a big fan of life being special. Why do I get so caught up like this? I work in an industry that supports the well-being of people and their quality of life, and yet I still get into these funks. Maybe I need some drugs.

Here are some more ornaments with stories. Savory Man is always impressed when I show him things from my childhood. He doesn't have a hope chest or a trunk with kid stuff in it. I even have school papers from when I was a kid that my mother saved. They of course are all A++++++++++++++. Ha.

This is an ornament I love that I think I bought at Urban Outfitters when I first moved to Boston. The colored parts are indented and it's one that looks the best when it's in front of a light. The snowflake in the background, if I'm not mistaken was a gift to my parents from someone who got it at the MOMA in NYC.



This guy is so sad isn't he? We made these ornaments at a birthday party for my sister I think, but that would have been in March so maybe it was a party for something else. I remember we had this big circle table in the basement which had beige and cornflower blue linoleum. We kept the extra freezer down there too and that was behind the closet doors behind the table. I don't remember who was at this party but of course my sister made a happy girl popsicle stick person and I of course had to make the sad boy popsicle stick person. I'm surprised his little sad face is still stuck on after all these years!



On Apple Tree Lane we had this one house that had a lot of family turnaround that was across the street from us. The woman of the house was a woodworker and she made this ornament. I looked up Berkshire Woodworkers Guild and don't see their name so they perhaps have moved out of Berkshire County at this point (I think he worked for GE and since GE is basically defunct in Pittsfield now, this is no surprise). I don't remember much else about this family except that they came from one of those religions that plans for Armageddon by stocking a year's worth of food in their shed. I could be having weird childhood memories but I think they built a shed just for that reason.



I think this star was one of a pair that belonged to my mother's parents. She will have to leave a comment though to confirm.


And this was a gift from me to me I think after graduation. The Old Chapel is the historical home of the UMASS Marching Band (go, go U!, go UMASS!, go UMASS!) and the symbol of the University. The band was asked to vacate as the building was in disrepair, leaving the band with no home for practicing, storing instruments and uniforms, and having a central place for its 350+ members to gather and socialize as a group. Thankfully, the University and the Band have been on a huge fundraising campaign for over a year and plans are in the works, despite the economy, to construct a building just for this purpose for the Band. George Parks, the Director, is a man with endless enthusiasm, pride, and belief in the importance of this building and the students it serves. The Band holds a special place in my heart and in those of many of my closest friends. This ornament is a reminder to me of all the time and energy we spent making sure the Band was an organization that gave opportunity and memories to future Band members the way it did for us.

Tannenbaum

Well, I have not heard back from the Obama-Biden transition team about how they're going to save money at the inauguration. Maybe they didn't get my email.

We bought a tree and put it up on Wednesday night. It's been a bit of a work in progress since then but it's up now. For some reason all of the trees this year seemed really fat. So it looks like my tree is kind of barren in terms of ornaments. I'm hoping for a delivery of memories in a box from my parents in North Carolina to help spruce it up a bit though.



My father was always in charge of the lights because of his endearing patient nature. I was reminded of a big orange slab of wood we wound and unwound the lights from every year as I was taking off the few strands I had from last year's tree. My father taught me about the importance of winding the lights into the inner branches of the tree and back out again so as to ensure that the tree shined from the inside out.

We had a tradition at 93 Apple Tree Lane (and I guess at 85 Pleasantview Drive too!) of decorating the house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. The day was interwoven with eating leftovers and turkey sandwiches on white bread (before white bread was considered evil). I can actually recall all of the storage boxes that were brought up from the basement and put in the kitchen waiting to be unwrapped. I loved anticipating getting the boxes from the basement that Friday each year and was a willing helper. Though what was in the boxes didn't obviously change from year to year, opening them up to see the beginning of the Christmas season and the family heirlooms were reminders of such a fun and exciting time of each year.

All of our decorations had a specific place in the house - dining room, living room, family room. Now that I live in a place where there is but one room to decorate, it doesn't take a day to do, but perhaps 20 minutes if I take time to dust where I'm putting decorations first. No leftovers when Thanksgiving is hundreds of miles away. But the feeling of unearthing the decorations was the same. They're like familiar happiness.

Last year I picked up a few new Christmas ornaments. It is tradition that the day after Christmas my mother, who is of Polish ancestry buys my sister and me an ornament that was made in Poland. This is the one I got last year.

We took my cousins to the Museum of Natural History in ATL at Christmas last year and I of course fell in love with gift shop thingies. I settled on a tree ornament, which, for the record, I am still in love with. I was excited to remember it when I took the paper off it a few days ago. How cute is he?

And this one isn't a new one but I think makes me think of the wild and racy Kristen of years past and maybe the wild and racy Kristen of days to come.

Ready for Some Random?

* I just wrote to the Obama-Biden transition team who has a great transition website which I assume must be employing lots and lots of creative geniuses to keep it current and interesting. I'm wondering where that money comes from. Obviously there is some sort of Federal transition budget but no one has done this stuff before. I also asked about the Inauguration and Presidential Ball to see if they are going to scale down and save money. While I think every new president deserves to be honored, my guess is that the costs are exorbitant and the lavishness excessive. If anyone is going to pare it down, I would think it would be Mr. O.

* Three copies of the Yellow Pages have been out on my sidewalk for 2 days now. Who uses phone books? I might take my copy just to see if there are coupons in it. Seeing them reminded me of a couple of teenage summers when we worked for the distributor of the phone books for a couple of weeks. We filled the car with Yellow Pages, tooled around neighborhoods and threw them at people's doors. I think we made some decent money. That was a funny job.

* Yesterday I had insulation blown into my insulation-free home. I'm happy to report that there is no longer an inside breeze in my house. We did find though that the knuckle-head that built this set of condos put his refuse into the open walls instead of disposing of it properly. This does not surprise me in the least.

* Guess who is dressed for September today on December 3rd? No warm coat. Little fall shoes. Seriously? I don't have a mid-weight coat and it's driving me crazy. Everytime I say I'm going to go find one something happens and I end up somewhere else or doing something else. Meanwhile...hello 35 degrees!

* I am feeling quite single and not pregnant these days. Being this way drives introspection.

* I need to re-introduce myself to the gym. Hello gym, it's me Kristen. We enjoy each other's company when I can drag my ass through your doors - why must I make it such an issue to get to your doors? I am cutting way down on tutoring very soon in order to focus on being friends with the gym.

* I might get a cat. I've been spending lots of time on the MSPCA website creating hypothetical relationships with long-haired cats. I'm not big on dependent things though (I should totally be a mother, huh?). I'm wondering if I have grown out of that stage. I don't want to get a cat just to find out but I do suppose it's better than using a child to test my own behavior evolution!