Indian Buffet

So a few weeks ago Steven and I went to the Indian Buffet up Route 37 towards New Farfield (for those of you from around here). Every time I go I drop my business card in for the free buffet. Well I won! Today I went with Bonnie (my boss) and used my free lunch coupon since it expires July 13th and I won't really be around here the next couple weeks. Ahhh - Indian buffet - it was good :)

Good books

So I have to get my reading list in order before vacation. At first I was going to read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, but seeing as I am almost through it after beginning on Tuesday night, I think I need another plan! Its a great book - in the line of the Da Vinci Code. I might even like this one better. I guess a trip to the library is in order before Sunday!

rain rain go away

It feels like it has been raining for weeks! This morning we woke up to pouring rain again... geez! I'm all bundled up in jeans and a sweatshirt today. The wind is whipping around too. Oh well - next week I'll want cool weather with heading to the desert southwest!

My morning routine has become a source of jokes with Steven. I do have a pretty lengthy routine each morning. I have to wake up by 7:15 or 7:30 to fit it all in and most days I am still running out of the house right at 9 when I have to be at work. Luckily if I leave at 8:55 I get to the office by 9:05... nice to live 10 minutes away! I watch the Today show, maybe flip around to NECN and MTV, eat my cereal, maybe iron something to wear, show and get ready in the bathroom for 20 minutes... some days I putter in the kitchen. I like to take it slow in the morning.

So I'm listening to the River on line and I think they are playing a new Dave Matthews song - its sort of good - but then again I like anything he does. Well - not much more to ramble about - Maybe later...

Catching up

So if it would stop raining then it might feel more like summertime. Its muggy again - but sleeping wasn't too bad even though we were used to the hotel :) Today its cloudy one minute and then sunny the next. I'm crossing my fingers that I get to play in my tennis game tonight. I haven't played in almost a week so I am sure I will be rusty. Not much happening this week around here. We have to pack for Arizona and I am trying to catch up on things in the office after being gone. I'll probably take one of the laptops when we leave next week so that we'll have access to email - but I don't see us posting too much on the blog - probably when we get back. But if we have some good pictures to share I might have to jump on!

Oh - the big news - Steven made ribs again last night and got them really tender - he was so proud of himself and he has witnesses besides me - our neighbors came over to try them.

PS - I just read this article in the NY Times today - see what you think!

BACK!

We're back! So the weekend went well. It rained all weekend here so I don't think the students minded being inside much. Steven drove up to Hartford on Saturday night to spend the night- and ended up staying with me until this morning. It was hot and sticky so sleeping in the air conditioning was great. He went to work for a little bit this afternoon and I am catching up around here. Have to start thinking about packing for Arizona - we leave on Sunday. Since its raining my flowers are looking great. Steven didn't have to worry about watering them while I was gone. I hope that when we leave next week our neighbors won't ahve to water them too much. If I get the chance I will take a picture of my hydrenga in the backyard which is starting to bloom this year.

Nice Day

So I leave this afternoon for Hartford for the weekend. It has been such a nice day here! Played tennis this morning - didn't do so well :( Then got to eat lunch with Steven and I might even see him before I have to leave. Its awesome out too! Too bad I have to go to work :( I'm back Sunday or maybe Monday - so there won't be much posted on here between now and then. Unless Steven learns how to log on and post! Don't hold your breath...

Muggys

Its been very very muggy here - one of those hot and humid weeks. Of course we haven't put the air conditioner in the window yet in the bedroom. Steven worked on the window sills yesterday that needed to be fixed before we replace the windows. The bedroom window still needs to be done and we hate to put the air conditioner in yet just to take it out again. And we are leaving on vacation in under two weeks - so if we can tough it out until then we will put it in after we return in mid July. It was better sleeping last night than the night before that is for sure. And tonight should be better. Then I'm off to Hartford for work until Sunday or Monday. So Steven can tough it out - I'll be in an air conditioned hotel :) hahaha - poor Stgermain...

Quiet weekend

It was nice to have a normal weekend this week. Friday night we went to the movies. Steven wanted to see Nacho Libre... that new Jack Black movie. It was ok - more stupid funny than anything else. Tons of kids there. Saturday he had to work and I got called to play tennis. It was good because I was the best player in the game - which wasn't saying much because everyone I was playing was at least 30 years older than me! A friend and her husband came for dinner Sat night and yesterday was hot a blazes. We hadn't put the air conditoner in yet in the bedroom and I was horrible sleeping. I went down and slept on the couch around 2 AM and it was a little better there. Then at 5:41 AM I was woken up by the newspaper delivery people. The car they drive basically has no muffler and is loud as heck. I have heard it before but it was worse because now the windows are open. But I also think their muffler has gotten worse in the past six months. The worst part is that we don't even get the paper!

Ice cream

So last night we had to stop for an ice cream - its only averaging once a week or so - that's not too bad. Here's my idea - write a travel book based only on the ice cream places we visit in New England. It would only be for New England since I have realized that we have a larger proportion of ice cream stands per person - other areas of the country don't seem to have as many places to get ice cream as we do. Would anyone buy that kind of book? Who knows but it would be really fun to do the research on it!

Tennis burn

Not a sun burn - which you might expect from me with my fair Irish skin - nope - more like road burn but with sand and har-tru stuck in it. So yesterday in the first game of the set I was running for the ball and made a great shot, then had to run back for another, tripped and fell backwards landing on my left leg. I have a great big red burn mark on my leg. It didn't bleed much but stung like heck... of course at the time I was using stronger language :) The worst part was I went to get my haircut after tennis and the whole salon was probably thinking "what's wrong with her?" Steven had to bandage me up before I went to bed - not really - but I was whining so much that I think he did it just to shut me up. Used a whole roll of gauze and it looked like I had survived some horrific accident. Probably good that he did bandage it up because it bled a little bit last night. Hey - but at least this morning my hair looks good!

Nice catch Colleen

Just because Colleen has been harping about her day fishing with Dad on Sunday - here's a picture she sent me. I just feel bad for Mom with 25 pounds of fish in the freezer. That's on top of Dad's latest win in the meat raffle at the Knights.

Yes - I did go camping

For those skeptics (Greg) who left voice mails on Sat night - Steven did get me camping. Of course we went to a nice place right off the road in Cornwall CT, about an hour and a half from the house - but I slept outside. Well sort of - here is our nice tent with air mattress. This place was great - the bathrooms were very clean.... hahaha. Hey at least its a start for someone who had never even seen the inside of a tent before.

Camping

So we got a tent yesterday and Steven's taking me camping for the first time ever today. Just up Route 7 in Kent by the river. Not too far - so if I hate it we can come home:) The plan is to see if its something I'd like to do when we go to the Grand Canyon. The tent is small enough that we can put it in our checked bags to Arizona when we go. I'll let you all know how it goes later this week.

TGIF!

Thank goodness its Friday! I really value weekends because in a few weeks I won't have many weekends around home. For four weeks straight I will be gone on the weekends, mostly for work. Sort of a little over the top when I think about it. Since when I came back to this job I had an unspoken rule that I wouldn't try to be gone more than once a month on a weekend. But I guess that those months of not going anywhere added up. But Steven will be with me for 10 days that we aren't in CT so that's not too bad. Anyone who might want to visit us in CT in the month of July - don't - we won't be here! I leave for a conference in Hartford June 21-25, then the next weekend, July 2 we leave for ten day for a vacation/work trip for me to Arizona - returning really late on Tueaday July 11. Then I leave again Sat July 15 for Indiana and return July 20th. Then - if that's not enough - I have one more trip July 28-30. I counted up the days I'm gone in July and its 19 out of 31.... Can't wait for August!

Arizona

Steven and I are going to Arizona in July for about 10 days. Yes - it will be hot - but as we keep joking - a dry heat! Last night we were online making plans. Its hard to determine what we want to exactly do. When we went to Alaska it wasn't hard - we just stayed in one place and did everything there. This time we are renting a car and driving all over. I think the most time will be spent up towards Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Of course we are going to be there over the Fourth - so that will be strange. If anyone has been to Arizona and has any suggestions - pass them our way!

Wedding registery

Here's a quick article in the NY Times about registering for your wedding. Ah - the memories! I loved every minute of my registery list - so much so that I sometimes revisit it just to see what I liked so much a few years ago. One regret - I never did really decide on a duvet cover... but now there are new ones out there that I like even better - so maybe it shouldn't be a regret!

Stop the insanity

Remember that crazy exercise lady, Susan Powter? The one with the spikey blond hair who had an insane amount of energy and had lost a ton of weight? Well she's back - and was on Good Morning America this morning. I think the only reason she'd make me want to work out is to run far far away from her! She now has dreadlocks and tons of tatoos, but is still as hyper as ever. But, she does look like she's in shape. Not dead skinny, but healthy looking. Sometimes the pictures in magazines now are just depressing. All those super skinny models and stars. I do agree though - I find myself sitting most of the day and definitely not as active as when I was younger so I have to work harder to find time to get moving. When the weather is nice its easier. But I have no excuse - my husband works at a health club - and I can use it whenever I want - so I've just got to get myself there. Playing tennis twice a week, though fun, just doesn't cut it! Plus I haven't been that great at tennis lately - have to get back into it. The French Open is on this week. They are on ESPN2 from 6 AM until later in the afternoon. I was watching it the past couple mornings and maybe I'll get inspired for my tennis game. There was a thing advertised called Cardio Tennis which I might like to try. Would have to find a class close by here. They don't do it really at Steven's club.

Monday already?

The weekends just seem to fly by these days. It rained here all weekend so not much was accomplished outside or on the windows. Steven did work on the desk a lot yesterday and went over to Dave's today to do some more. The lawn really needs to be cut after all that rain. At least the spots that we seeded have grown in and we have mostly green in the backyard. But there are tons of weeds - next year he'll work on loosing the weeds. My plants are doing ok - had to buy more basil since the first ones got too much rain a few weeks ago - I bet the same thing will happen with this one. The other herbs are doing ok.

Home Depot

Just to let everyone know - a Home Depot trip might be in our future this afternoon since its raining... don't get too excited - but be jealous all the same! Steven needs a dehumidifier for the basement and I need some tarps to finish touching up the paint in the office room. Curtains are next on the list and I need to hang the rods that I bought months ago.

Sewing...

So I was a lucky girl this week - I actually had two sewing machines at one point. Steven got one for my anniversary present, but my mom's friend had an old one she hardly used that was in great condition that we got as well. So the brand new one went back and now I just have one. Have to figure out where to set it up. Since I don't have a ton of room I think I'll get a case for it and keep it in the dining room closet which has been turning into my craft closet. Then I can take it out and spread out on the table when I need to use it. The plan is to make curtains. But for now I will just practice on hemming pants. Its been years since I used a sewing machine so I have to get back into the "stitch" of things :) hahaha...

Good night

Last night was a good night. All week I've been saying that the only thing that isn't perfect about CT is that we don't know many people here - even though Steven grew up here - its hard to meet people now that we are adults. Its not like when you were kids and there were hundreds of other kids at school to meet or on a sports team. Where do you go when you are thirty something to meet people besides work? And that gets even harder when you don't work with many people like Steven and I. A friend of mine from the DZ alumnae group works for Bed Bath and Beyond and she came over last night after work to go walking then we had dinner - Steven cooked chicken on the grill. It was a really nice night because it was laid back - good to chat and catch up and talk about things with someone other than my husband! Although he's great too - its nice to have other people in your life too. Then our neighbor came over and he's always fun to hang out with. So that is the goal this summer- to meet more people and create more friendships. Everyone also says it will happen when we have kids - but since its going to be a while for that to happen we will have to make friends on our own:)