Partial Panorama

A Very Lovable January

2012-02-04T10:52:00.007-05:00

Making berry scones in my Christmas gift pan on a snowy Sunday morning.

A new job at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

It's a girl! We found out that we're having a little Lucy.

Before the January cold snap hits Boston, three things to love about December

2012-01-03T21:09:00.008-05:00

Christmas presents wrapped with care.

Taro milk tea. It's like a lavendar latte.

This tiny red puffer jacket that Sumanth brought home the other night and that will get some use during next year's cold snap.

Three Things to Love about November News...

2011-12-03T09:29:00.005-05:00

These new giraffes came in the mail and have taken residence in our extra room...

As it turns out, next time the Christmas greens come out, we won't be the only ones to appreciate them...

Sumanth took a preliminary claim at primary colors for the nursery by buying this mobile at a Swedish gift shop in Chicago.

The baby is due June 13th, so whether it comes a little early or a little late, next June's post will be something to look forward to!

Three things to love about an October trip to NYC

2011-11-02T19:58:00.005-04:00

Going up to the rooftop of the apartment we stayed in.

Seeing Sumanth's books at Word bookstore in Brooklyn. Don't they look so perfect all together on this little wooden shelf?

The original artwork of The Snowy Day at the Museum of Jewish History. Peter's footprints in his first snow made me feel up for another Boston winter.

Three Things to Love About September

2011-10-03T20:18:00.005-04:00

Cupcakes from my new favorite spot for a Treat.

A BLT picnic on a blue sky Saturday in Rockport.

My new fall coat.

Three things to love about our fifth anniversary celebration

2011-09-01T21:44:00.003-04:00

Anniversary bouquet from Sumanth with pink Snapdragons just like on that hot August day in 2006.

We went to see Bon Iver in concert. This is their newest album cover which looks very much like the music sounds.

Dinner at one of my favorite spots in Boston. Fresh pasta is just so good.

Three things to love about July

2011-08-01T19:56:00.005-04:00

The best neighborhood find to have ever been found--a shimmery blue lake for swimming, just a seven minute walk from our apartment. If you squint you can see me and my turquoise bathing suit.

My new ipad. With this little smoothie at my fingertips, my commute has gotten quite a bit more exciting.

Iced coconut coffee from Marylou's during our first trip to Cape Cod. Driving over the bridge to the Cape reminded me of family vacations to the beach when I was little.

Oh, June!

2011-07-01T22:17:00.005-04:00

Bright flowers from a visiting friend.

Morning coffee with my mom while we planned a perfect day.

Hulling strawberries for brunch on our new picnic table.

Three Things to Love about May in our New Place

2011-06-02T22:33:00.002-04:00

Amidst a busy month at work as the school year comes to a close and the very, very exciting news of a new nephew(!), May has held a lot of easy moments...

Dinners on the front porch.

Cold strawberry lemonade as summer is on the way.

Sunny Saturday afternoon naps on the new windowseat. I hope to never live without a window seat again.

Three things to love about our April move...

2011-05-01T16:17:00.008-04:00

Our apartment has lots of new windows to look out of. (Thanks, Dad, for all of the coats of white paint!)

The flowers in the neighborhood are at their springiest peak. These mountain laurels are my very favorite.

We are now so close to the most delicious bagel shop that I can smell the poppyseeds baking when I get to the end of our driveway.

Three things to love about March (posted thanks to wireless internet on the greyhound bus from NYC to Boston!)

2011-04-03T12:14:00.010-04:00

A new apartment (we'll move this month) so close to this darling T station (there's a breakfast and pie diner inside), that we can almost watch for the train out the window before running to catch it.

Lavender lemonade at this perfect coffee shop in Portland with my best friends.

A new print for our new walls; it's called the Dreaming Tree.

Three sweet spots this February

2011-02-28T22:15:00.005-05:00

Melbourne beach in February with some of my very favorites.

Alamo Square Park on our sunny San Francisco Sunday.

My birthday table.

Three Things to Love About January (a day late because it took a little longer to think of lovable parts of January)

2011-02-01T20:44:00.008-05:00

Rolling out dough for Sumanth's birthday cinnamon rolls.

Parcels arriving from Christmas-giftcard purchases. (Thanks mom and thanks dad--they keep rolling in!)

The snowman outside of our little fruit market.

And just to show you how things are looking around our front steps...

Three Things to Love about a Cozy December

2010-12-31T16:12:00.000-05:00

Playing Scrabble with my mom

Reading through Christmas-present cookbooks

Lots of snow outside; lots of new coffee inside

Three Things to Love about a Late November Vacation

2010-11-30T21:36:00.006-05:00

New Hampshire Mountains at Sunset

Eggnog Cupcake in downtown Montreal

Vermont Reindeer sighting

Three Things to be Thankful for in October (besides the fact that it is over now, and my life can resume at a normal pace)

2010-10-31T21:49:00.004-04:00

Early Christmas shopping! We found this pear pillow for our nephew, Miles, at an outdoor market today while sipping my new favorite hot drink--chaider. Yum.

These mums on our tiny front porch have brightened my comings and goings all month long.

I've seen so much of Boston's fall foliage this month from my car windows while driving from school to school with picture books and spreadsheets in tow!

Three things to love about September (guest post)

2010-09-30T21:17:00.007-04:00

Guest post from Sumanth this month, as Emily is too busy. A whole post could be written about this, how busy she is, but as an issue it happens to not be among the top three anything of September. So it will be left to the imaginations of anyone reading this. Among the things Emily is too busy for is even just telling me what her top three consists of, so I've simply had to guess at them below.

1. Autumn Leaves Yankee Candle. Finally fall is here.

After months of anticipation, the above was finally lit, allegedly signifying the beginning of the fall season. The air conditioning units are gone from our windows, which means we can hear the outside world as we wake up in the morning. There are lots of bird sounds and the sound of the newborn next door, learning to cry. Sometimes we have to wear our sweatshirts outside. It is the best time of year to be here.

2. The smell of homemade bread, such a smell.

Last weekend, against all odds, Emily made some bread -- a hard enough task for a well-rested home baker with nothing better to do, certainly harder for the one of us whose back falls asleep every night in protest of all the hours in the office chair. The bread was mostly eaten at lunch this week with some cheese and other stuff, and the rest is in the freezer.

3. The Fox River, St. Charles, IL.

We visited my family in Geneva, IL, over Labor Day weekend, and one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was taking a daytime cruise on the Fox River with our one-year-old nephew, Miles. (Everyone else was there, too.) We shared a paddlewheel boat with ten or fifteen others, all with our own personal views of the river and surrounding foliage.

Honorable mentions: Nadal wins the US Open; Sumanth finishes writing a long story; new GPS arrives in mail, gets us where we need to go; something about toenails; something about a new coffee cup.

August: Three trips. No pictures.

2010-08-31T20:49:00.004-04:00

If ever a month has darted past like a tiny hummingbird with beating wings, it has been this August. My work has ramped up so much and so quickly with the approaching school year that I hardly noticed my workday gradually expanding to include more and more hours of these late summer days. Long gone are the relaxed July mornings waiting in the long coffee line to order my Americano--this morning I was stirring instant coffee granules into hot water as I walked out the door! Hummingbird pace and instant coffee aside, I am finding much to think about and to love in my everyday work. Today I got to bring new books to a school without a library, and then to go and have a discussion with a group of adults about Winnie the Pooh, and then I got to read Olivia out loud. I don't mind long hours so much with Olivia by my side.

If I had taken the time to take three pictures of this month, the first one would have been at my little cousin's beautiful wedding. I would have taken a picture right as we were all waiting for the ceremony to start--the air was so hot and so still and the sun so bright, that everything had a little shimmery halo around it, like how it sometimes does in a movie when something very important is about to happen.

The second picture would have been in Pennsylvania. I would have had someone take a picture of me napping on the porch of the bed and breakfast where we met Sumanth's family for a mid-summer reunion. The street the house was on was so quiet and the couch so deep and wide--the best nap of the summer, no question.

The third picture would have been of the fountain in the center of the Italian Federal Hill neighborhood in Providence, where Sumanth and I celebrated our fourth anniversary. The fountain was just the perfect height with just the right amount of water spraying out of it, and we made wishes with nickels.

Three Things to Love about the Way to Work

2010-07-30T07:10:00.004-04:00

The bold, brave bus that zooms through Boston traffic to drop me right in the heart of downtown. Sometimes I'm the very first person on in the morning, which makes me feel like the whole bus made a special trip just for me.

This green park that I walk through every morning. On the day of this picture, they were filming a movie here--hence the paper lanterns and fully set tables.

And lastly, an imperfect cell phone picture of my perfect morning americano. The last step before the workday starts.

What June has brought...

2010-06-29T23:10:00.006-04:00

Summer flowers in the house. (The big, blueberry-looking things are poppies.)

News of a new job (!) at an early-literacy non-profit that is nestled onto the 9th floor of the middle building in this picture. Tomorrow is my first day.

Baskets of strawberries that we picked by ourselves and then brought home and doused in chocolate.

My mom takes her coffee black, I take mine with cream.

2010-06-15T12:50:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning, at my kitchen table.

Yesterday morning, at our favorite coffee shop in Boston.

"All things seem possible in May." - Edwin Way Teale

2010-05-31T19:58:00.004-04:00

Saturday morning iced coffee and a cinnamon roll from Flour bakery. Sumanth doesn't usually like eating on the ground, but he made an exception this time, evidenced by his shoe in the corner.

The fireplace in my beautiful room at an inn in Vermont where I helped with a Children's Literature New England conference. It was snowing that weekend, so the fireplace got some use.

Watching gorillas blows my mind--this one in particular because we kept locking eyes and her expressions and gestures were so recognizable.

Menu, May 2010

2010-05-11T09:51:00.003-04:00

Written on D'Nealian pad while waiting to be retrieved from T.F. Green airport near Providence. Emily presumably stuck in traffic meanwhile, clutching the GPS with her free hand. Edits mostly from her.

And some more from Emily's dad's visit — walking the arboretum, circling the bonsai exhibit, and then supper.

Three things this April has brought...

2010-04-30T20:11:00.004-04:00

A walk with my dad through these brilliant tulips on Boston Common.

A formal occasion that entailed the curling of my whole head of hair.

Dinners cooked outdoors on our little new grill in our little new yard.

Three Things to Love about Our New Apartment

2010-03-31T21:10:00.004-04:00

My mother has always had a hutch for all of her favorite dishes and now I have one, too. I love lighting the lemon candle (thanks, Jodi!) on the top shelf first thing in the morning while I make coffee and putter around the kitchen.

After years of not having a window above the kitchen sink--we have two! (Although, if I were making a list about three things to be confused about about our apartment, I would have to add the fact that that is our neighbors' laundry hanging in our "own" yard.)

This extra room upstairs is the spot I love the most. It's the perfect place for peppermint tea and reading in the late afternoon. And, it doubles as a cozy guest room, so if anyone wants to come to Boston...

Lots of things to love about Valentine's Day (including a 12 inch wide everything bagel)

2010-02-14T13:42:00.004-05:00

2010 has started softly,

2010-01-31T21:21:00.007-05:00

with small trips, like this one to the Gloucester shoreline, where the water had washed away all of the snow,

with fancy desserts for Sumanth's birthday,

and time to read whatever I choose, including this lovely edition of Anne.

Oh, yeah, and some shiny new shoes...

The last bits to love before 2010

2009-12-31T17:54:00.005-05:00

Eggnog lattes without accompanying papers to write.

New job interview suit.

A clean slate of snow for the ducks in Boston Common. (And for me.)

November, my last full month as a grad student...

2009-11-30T21:35:00.005-05:00

has been more busy than photographed...December is only hours away and I have but one measly picture of me reading away on one of these November nights. (And, it is an accident that I am even in this picture as Sumanth was taking pictures of our new furniture arrangement and I just happened to be there.) In two weeks, when I have turned in the last of all of these looming papers, I will make up for this lame post with lots of things to love about December, namely my new freedom!

Oh, October!

2009-10-31T21:51:00.008-04:00

Dear me. This month has been so tightly packed that I almost missed documenting it here. Almost.

Amidst the larger issues that have been consuming me--beginning to wrap up school, learning (how very much time and energy it takes) to grade student papers, and applying for jobs, (not to mention flying to Chicago to meet my newest nephew!), these are three things that have made me very happy this month:

I ran into Sumanth on the T. It was bound to happen sometime, and after nearly two years here now, it has. I was coming from studying downtown with a friend, and Sumanth was coming from stopping at the post office after work. The train car that I was in was packed full, rush hour full, and I was fiddling with my ipod and I looked up and there was Sumanth's bright, superman-blue sweatshirt right in the middle of so many crazed commuters.

My mom came to visit and we found this sculpture of a horse that her art teacher eyes recognized from far away. She said, "Is that a Deborah Butterfield horse?" "No," I said, "just some horse." Sure enough, when we walked up to it, we read the plaque; my mom was right about the sculptor, and the horse's name is Henri. Now I think of her wonderful visit every time I see him.

I have found a new coffee shop. This is a picture from the outside. I go and get an americano in a purple mug and one of these brioche and it reminds me of the coffee shops I went to in france. The fall leaves look beautiful from its windows even when the sky is gray.

Three Things--So Far--To Love About September

2009-09-14T20:51:00.003-04:00

Miniature produce from the farmer's market.

Corduroy.

The view of the changing leaves from my favorite spot in the library.

Three Things To Love About August, (a quiet return to the world of blogging)

2009-08-31T16:30:00.006-04:00

Green, grassy destinations. (This was taken at the Rhode Island state house across from the hotel in Providence where we stayed for our anniversary.)

Long, sunny mornings to get quiet work done at our kitchen table.

Bookshelves full of books awaiting the first days of classes.

(more frequent updates to come.)

Three Things to Love about March

2009-03-13T10:30:00.002-04:00

Picturebooks galore! This is a sample page of my own experiment in picturebook creation...thinking about shapes and colors turned out to be more fun than I thought and dealing with a gluestick far, far less fun.

Shelf City...This tiny, handmade village is a birthday gift from Sumanth. The eensy houses remind me of the dollhouse exhibit at the museum of fine arts this winter that I loved so much. I rearrange them from time to time, while imagining the tiny ovens and rugs that must be inside...From the looks of this picture, I should spend less time imagining and more time cleaning my windowsill, yuck.

Bread from Clear Flour Bakery. It is our newest and possibly best Boston discovery. If anyone wants me to send some morning buns from here let me know, they are a Clear Flour specialty.

Three Things to Love about February

2009-02-12T21:25:00.003-05:00

Early Valentine vases (with itsy bitsy fresh flowers. aren't tiny ones so sweet?)

Melting snow (which I went for a jog through the other day and wound up feeling like a bumbling, melting snowman with each step because my feet couldn't find a hard place to land.)

Children's books galore (the semester is in full swing and last weekend I got to visit the library that houses the personal correspondence of the author of this dear book.)

Things to love about January

2009-01-07T21:31:00.006-05:00

Steamy peppermint tea on frosty mornings

Blue skies on snowy days (this is where I get off of the train in the mornings)

New winter boots with fuzzy insides

There is, of course, an accompanying list of things to hate about January--which would include: weather forecasts like this morning's that declare "Northeast Misery", umbrellas that blow inside out during a freezing rain storm, and waiting for the T to come with windblown groceries in hand, but I won't include photographs of them:)

Snowy South End Buttery

2009-01-03T19:34:00.006-05:00

First, a few words about the pictures Sumanth posted on Tuesday night (he's not as big on explanations). The Christmas tree salad was a yummy, tree-shaped concoction he came up with in about five minutes after he asked my mom if she had any extra salad ingredients around the house and she gave him tomatoes, feta cheese, an avacado and an onion. The jalepenos and oreos were both for appetizers he made for Jodi's family when they came over--he stuffed the jalepenos with cream cheese and wrapped them with bacon and he ground the oreos up to make crusts for mini-chese cakes. Yep, his love for cooking is ever growing and yielded him many chef-related Christmas presents including a ravioli stamp and multiple thermometers.

This is a picture of the bakery we went to today to use a Christmas gift certificate on cupcakes and coffee. It was in the south end, this neighborhood full of little stores that have signs that say, "Please don't let the dog out, when you open the door." The funny thing is that the shops are all boutique-y and full of small glass vases and spoons and ornaments and the dogs in them are HUGE Saint Bernards and it is so sweet to see them moseying around among all of the glassware miniatures, not breaking a thing. The funnier thing is that it awoke in me a desire for a pet. A desire where there is usually repulsion and which I haven't had since I was about 9 years old and wanted a mouse to keep in my pocket. It will probably pass soon, especially because we can't comfortably house a Saint Bernard in our 650 sq. feet, even if he/she was miraculously trained.

Christmas tree salad, mingling jalepenos, carpet of oreos

2008-12-30T22:59:00.001-05:00

Papers are in. Presents are wrapped. Snow storm is coming.

2008-12-18T23:09:00.005-05:00

Rachel Whiteread's Village

2008-12-07T18:57:00.004-05:00

...My blog is quiet lately as I try to save each and every typed word for my final papers, but I had to post about this dollhouse village we saw at the museum of fine arts this afternoon. We had snow for the first time today and it was really pretty, flaky snow but it was also really, really cold and the trains didn't seem to come on time and my throat felt sore and tired and I just wanted to be home. I needed to get a book from my school library, and while I was there Sumanth went to the art museum, which is next door. After I studied for a little while, I went to meet Sumanth so we could catch the train and go home to warm showers and hot chocolates and fuzzy socks, etc...Sumanth said that there was just one exhibit he wanted to show me. Oh, my goodness, I had no idea I would be so glad that we went to see it. To get to this exhibit of dollhouses, we had to go through dark curtains to get to a room with a little neighborhood of two hundred doll houses, all lit up inside. It was so, so fun to be in there and feel like we were in a tiny city about to curl up for tiny naps on tiny rugs (the houses weren't really furnished.) I actually forgot about the cold, grey skies outside and the mammoth papers that awaited at home...I guess now that we're home, I better start to remember at least the papers.

Our Little Christmas Tree...

2008-11-15T21:23:00.007-05:00

Well, I felt the urge tonight to put the planned homework aside, get out the step stool and reach up for the little box of Christmas decorations we have. It's not much...some white lights, felt stockings, and small ornaments, but I really love each thing in there and since we were moving last year during December, I hadn't seen them in awhile. Sumanth planted this tiny tree a few weeks ago (it's a spruce--can you tell?) and it is sprouting before our eyes. I wish that I had ornaments wee enough for its scrawny limbs but, alas.

And these are the paper stockings my mom made for us last year...

And here is our manger scene that has found a home next to the tree itself...

I'm glad we splurged at Sears for the 28 foot white lights, because, with the first plug-in tonight I thought of the centerpiece we had when I was little with golden angels that circled above lit white candles and the taste of Christmas eve cheese fondue and December 23rd ballet recitals and waking up to blurry twinkly lights before I put my contacts in and my brother carefully nailing lights up around every crook and corner of my room. And even though getting them up took up my homework time tonight, maybe I'll wake up really early tomorrow and work by their glow.

Falling Leaves and Gingerbread for Breakfast

2008-10-20T19:58:00.003-04:00

Even though I'm up to my ear lobes in homework this semester there are so many things to enjoy. These leaves are on my favorite tree that I walk under every day on my way to work school and this is the steamy gingerbread Sumanth made on Sunday.

I've also seen so many dear kids lately. I was studying at a cafe nearby last week when a father came in with his two little daughters, one probably three and a half years old and one two. He bought a pistachio gelato and a strawberry gelato and I think that the process of helping them both eat it was harder than he had imagined. While scooping up some pistachio for the younger daughter, the older daughter would be trying to wield the spoon like an ice pick, and then when he'd help her, the little one would put her fingers in it and cry because they were so cold. There was one magical moment, though, when both little mouths were full of sweet frozen creaminess. The father immediately asked, "C'est bon?" and they both shouted, "Oui! Papa! Oui!" And they were so excited and so happy that that one second seemed to last a long time.

And then I was on a train crowded with Red Sox fans last week when this little eleven year old chubster in full Red Sox garb who had talked the whole time about how this was his first game ever and how he just "couldn't believe how his sisters could ever like the yankees" asked if I wanted to take his seat. Right away his dad was like, "Ah, real nice son, wait until you're going to get off and then offer your seat," and the little boy's face just crumpled as he put his hands up in the air and said, "Well, it is only my second time on the train... I'll know what to do next time," and then offered up a tiny grin. I've never cared much about baseball, but that night I was sad when the Red Sox lost.

Three nice things about the cooler temperatures...

2008-10-05T22:10:00.005-04:00

Smoothing the duvet out over the bed.

Reading in my robe.

Homemade almond lattes.

Fall has hit. Hard.

2008-10-04T07:47:00.006-04:00

Not as hard as this picture may imply, though--this isn't our apartment--this is the dorm room that we stayed in at the conference in Canada last weekend where I got to present a little paper. We didn't arrive at this room until 6am Canada time the morning of my presentation and the plastic covers over the twin beds and pillows seemed a little harsh. Our lack of shower shoes aside, we really enjoyed the campus--the leaves were so brilliant and the hills were so rolling.

The conference went well, here is a picture of me during the break before it was my turn to go. I was nervous because the guy who was next to me, and who was the other person on the children's literature panel, was quite intimidating.

Hopefully, I will get back to blogging more now that I am starting to get used to how much homework I have. Sumanth has really kept us well-fed during this crazy time--last night when I came home he was stirring paella for tonight's dinner and whipping cream to put on top of pumpkin bread! Maybe fall is not hitting so hard after all.

Our new little roommate...

2008-08-23T10:53:00.006-04:00

This is Boris, a russian tortoise that we've been taking care of this week for some friends who are on vacation. Boris is slowly growing on me, and quickly growing on Sumanth, who woke up at 6:15 today to have Boris playtime. (I was wondering why our wood floors were so sandy until Sumanth said, 'I think it's a good idea to let Boris excercise in the morning; he is so much more relaxed today.') His snacks have attracted a brood of fruit flies which are taking some time to get used to (as in I've spent much time researching fruit fly traps and cleaning everything we own with hot water and bleach), but all in all, his addition to the apartment has been pretty seamless.

All week, I've been seeing signs for a big moving sale right down our street. I don't usually pay attention to this kind of thing, but for some reason, I had a good feeling about this one. The address was so close to us that I pictured a perfect Saturday morning where, after pulling a coffee cake out of the oven, I would skip down the street and come back with a new nightstand and antique lamp and maybe a basket to keep my socks in, all for about $9 or so...Well, the coffee cake part came true, but when I got to the moving sale, I realized that it wasn't outside, but in this guy's apartment, on the third floor of a building, and I'd have to call him to get let in. I debated calling for a few minutes, but thought that the chances of me skipping away with a perfect nightstand in hand might not be worth the strangeness of browsing through someone's apartment. Alas.

Early Start Saturday...Nutella Truffles

2008-08-16T11:19:00.004-04:00

I've been up for quite awhile due to the massive construction going on right below our windows. Not sure that construction is the right word--what is going on would more accurately be described as deconstruction because it involves those things that break cement and sound like helicopters and also those things that saw metal tubes in half and sound like your ears splitting into shards. Anyways, thanks to our early wake-up call, it is eleven am and the house is sparkling and smelling like begonias, cinnamon roll dough is rising and a draft of my big paper has been sent out. The only problem is I'm so tired that I would like to use the cinnamon dough for a pillow and go to sleep. Only the helicopters are still sounding. Sumanth does well with little sleep, though, and he is right now making truffles from homemade nutella...I was wondering what that one pound bag of hazelnuts was for...

He's been planning this chocolatey dessert for awhile. The other night we were on a bench waiting for a train that was taking a very long time to come because of a Red Sox game or something and he was talking about making a chocolate hazelnut sauce. Just as I was saying that nutella seems like the kind of thing that is just easier to buy, the woman on the bench beside us, said, "oooh, that sounds delicious." Well, we started chatting, first about chocolate, then about desserts, then boston, then the trains, etc. I enjoy chatting sometimes, so I held up my end of the conversation (Sumanth went back to invisioning his dessert) and answered her questions about where I liked to shop, what kinds of cheesecake I prefer, what kind of train passes I buy, etc. All the while I was thinking that it was a bit odd to be talking this long to someone while waiting for the T, but I figured we just had a lot in common and that Boston could feel like a small town after all. I imagined her thinking that I was quite good at small talk in the rare way that few people are. Sumanth said when he felt the conversation go astray was when she asked, out of the blue, "Do you ever make wraps?" At the time, I thought it was a fine question, and went along to tell her all the kinds of wraps I've made and even recommended a brand of wrap she might try. (Cedar's) Anyways, finally, the train came, and I imagined us all sitting in a row together, chatting it up about lunch meats and urban life, but lo and behold, she found another partner while on the way into the train. I heard her start in on all the same questions--even about cheesecake and wraps! She even offered her new friend some of her Trader Joe's chocolate mint balls that she had just bought. Whoa. Next time I'm going to be more discriminating with who I'll give my wrap advice to.

prolonged celebration is the best kind...

2008-08-10T21:19:00.013-04:00

The nice thing about having our anniversary fall on a weekday was that we were able to really stretch it out...
On Sunday, I got this painting:

On Monday, I got these flowers:

On Tuesday, we had sangria and fish tacos at Zocalo:

And on Saturday, we stayed here:

...It was hard to come back from the turndown service this glorious hotel offered to our apartment where I had left a bag of really old potatoes to rot in the sun...but at least I had my sweet new painting to look at.

In other celebratory news, my boss turned 85 this week. The blueberry-topped lemon tarts are made by Sumanth.

Getting back to writing papers with the help of a bathtub full of caffeine...

2008-08-01T15:54:00.004-04:00

If Sumanth had been with me when I took these pictures using the camera on my lap-top he would probably have been worried about the possibility of coffee leaking onto the keyboard. This is one of the reasons that I think we're a good match--while I was taking the bottom picture, and leaning the mug in order to get the best shot--I heard his voice in my head which was what stopped me from getting an even better shot by leaning my mug even further towards the camera risking the life of my sweet little macbook for pics of my sweet little latte!

While I was trying to get back into the writing papers mode, I couldn't help but overhear two people at the nearby table who were interviewing eachother to be roommates. The one girl said, "Well, when Lewis (whom I later found out is a cat) gets angry, he tends to go a little wild with his peeing. Yesterday he peed in my laundry basket. Lewis always finds the laundry when he's angry!" The other poor soul said, "Oh, I don't mind that kind of thing," leaving me to wonder what king of thing she does mind if not cat pee in laundry, and to be so so grateful not to be on a roommate search.

Oh Boy!

2008-07-30T22:45:00.002-04:00

My favorite poet, the one I made this diorama about, sent me a postcard today! It looks like he typed it on his typewriter, too. I thought it was a good mail day when I saw a Netflix and a laundry bag from my mom, but I had no idea...

"It Must Have Been Something I Ate..."

2008-07-27T10:53:00.003-04:00

Although this picture of Sumanth was taken many, many years before I'd ever seen him, I think it best captures his newly-found happiness in cooking. For the past couple of years, Sumanth has been making more and more recipes, mainly desserts and breakfast foods like truffles and french toast. During this time, I've noticed his expanding food vocabulary from time to time--like when he started to use 'mulch' as something that you do to fruit or when pepper stopped being just black. This week, however, has reached a completely new level. Sumanth has been reading It Must Have Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten, a book that casually mentions such delicacies as frog cappuccino and blood sausage and discloses the secret for perfect french fries (horse fat). So far this weekend, we've eaten homemade au gratin potatoes and herbed chicken with apricot sauce and tomato beef empanadas and wine soaked apples and that has just been for dinner...Between the shopping, cooking, eating and cleaning, this new hobby is pretty much all consuming for both of us...

Besides the food adventures...now that our last visitors of the summer have come and gone (see above before we went out for Tapas--I may appear to be smiling but the shoes I was wearing gave me blisters so bad I almost had to cut my feet off), life is starting to get back into a normal mode and going back to classes feels closer on the horizon.

2008-07-12T12:24:00.005-04:00

Well, this isn't the best picture of us, but I was trying hard not to miss the first fireworks and Sumanth was trying hard to smile amidst being bitten by mosquitos the size of a fist...I wish that the photo had caught some of the fireflies that were out that night--the sky really did look electric even before the fireworks started.

This weekend we're hosting some friends from Wilmington, and next weekend Amanda, Elisha, and Jodi will fly in! I can feel our apartment getting excited for them--the air conditioners are saving their strength, the floors are looking extra shiny and the coffee maker is ready to be filled to the brim. Come soon, girls, here are some places we can go...

Croissants, Hansel and Gretel, Summer Solstice Time

2008-06-21T10:05:00.007-04:00

I have to put in a little plug for these "mini-croissants" from Trader Joe's. They come frozen (as shown on the right) with the instruction to rise overnight. Rise, they did! I made them for the first morning that my mom was here and they truly hit the spot. We had really marvelous breakfasts when she was visiting--my favorite being chocolate chip cannolis bought the night before in the italian neighborhood of Boston. We also toured two art museums (I was scolded by a security gaurd at the contemporary museum where I got way too close to one of these sculptures) and saw a play at the Boston University Theater. . .

This week I've spent transitioning back into real life mode and starting to read seven versions of Hansel and Gretel. I found out that in September I get to present a paper I've written about Hansel and Gretel at a conference in Canada, and so I want to make sure I have my facts straight. By far the best illustrations are in this one.

The sun rose at 5:08am this morning, and it isn't slotted to set until 8:25pm, so I'm off to enjoy the extended blue skies.

Pink Roses and Pink Lemonade

2008-06-08T10:07:00.005-04:00

These are the rose bushes right outside of our building; like us they're starting to feel the effects of Boston's mini heat-wave. Walking down this sidewalk, though, is such a treat because they smell all rosy and they look like they're trying so hard to keep their blooms up in the rain and sun. I have a small collection of scratches on my right elbow from when I've gotten too close to the thorns.

Boston is starting to feel different now that students have left for the summer and vacationers have gone to their summer homes in the Cape. The business commuters have loosened their ties and lowered their heels. The trains have emptied out a bit, letting me overhear so many sweet things lately. The other day, when I got on the T, this poor, possibly homeless, guy who seemed kind of disoriented, kept loudly asking everyone their destination and repeating to everyone to make sure they grab the poles. Some people gave quick answers and some looked away, and then this woman, probably eighty years old or so, took the seat next to him and started putting on her makeup. She introduced herself and told him where she was going and asked him where he was going and they kept on talking about little things like the restaurants that the train was passing. He started talking in a normal volume and she told him that she used to think about opening her own restaurant up, and he told her that his father died last year. She told him that it took two years to feel better after her father died. The woman got off at the same stop as I did, and when she did, they nodded their goodbyes to eachother; I think it was the nicest interaction I've seen between strangers.

As I mentioned before, we're in a mini-heat wave, but we're coping quite well with two newly installed window air conditioners and lots of lemonade--normal yellow kind mixed with pink lemonade, making a pretty light pink lemonade. And, honestly, it feels good to sweat a little after so many months of scarves and ear warmers.

What do these things have in common?

2008-06-02T16:34:00.002-04:00

. . . Lobster roll, sangria, goat cheese empanadas, cinnamon buns, portobello mushroom sandwich, garlic shrimp, lobster pizza, creme brulee, chinese wontons, fiddlehead ferns, raspberry cobbler, chicken in wine sauce, champagne. . . Well, I consumed all of these things this weekend (and more actually, but the list was getting excessive.) My dad and Colleen came to visit us this weekend and we walked around the city almost as much as we ate. Let's just say today's breakfast of oatmeal and lunch of turkey sandwich have seemed very, very bland.

Lilac Time and the Livin' is Easy

2008-05-17T13:54:00.003-04:00

...Or at least it would be easy if I hadn't come down with a massive cold two days after I finished my semester. Cold aside, I've been using my newfound freedom to try new recipes--so far, I've made sherried tomato soup, honey-lime chicken, spicy sweet potato fries, cherry cheesecake, mexican corn pudding and experimented with wildberry sherbet smoothies.

I've also had time to browse the bookstore, where today I overheard a mother reading to her little daughter in the tiny chairs of the children's section. She was really trying hard, doing all of the voices and taking extra time to look at the pictures, "Priscilla was glowing, she felt like a star," she read, "And if that's how you feel, then that's what you are!" I heard the little girl gasp as that last line was read, and when I turned to look at her,her hands were covering her open mouth...What a revelation for a five-year old on a Saturday morning with her mom.

It's Not all Reading and Writing. . .

2008-05-10T07:39:00.003-04:00

I'm off to my last class of the semester where I'll present a paper and. . .

I actually had to make this graphic representation to present along with it. I hope that the wood glue holding those shelves up will do OK on the T ride over. . .

Petals: The New Snow

2008-05-02T23:16:00.009-04:00

The Spring petals covering the trees and the ground here are such a welcome sight. I took these pictures of the tree on our corner on my way to the library. I am always on my way to the library these days so it is nice that there are pretty trees along the way. Today I got there just before opening time (10:00) and there was a kindergarten class making their way up the walk as well. They were so disappointed when their teacher tried the door and found it locked. I cannot even tell you how much. "Oh,Sasha!" said one little girl, "The library is locked forever!" About fifteen seconds later a librarian came to open the door and all of the kids broke out in a round of applause so wild I literally looked inside to see if there was a zebra or water slide or Thomas the Train. One of the smallest boys with glasses with round, bright blue frames, started pumping his fist and yelling, 'Allllriggghhhhht!'(someone may have been watching their dad cheer for the Red Sox really carefully). . . all that to say, their enthusiasm definitely took away my paper-writing weariness and replaced it with a renewed vigor for studying children's literature:)

You know you've been studying too long. . . .

2008-04-25T17:34:00.004-04:00

When your rear end actually hurts from your lap-top bag slapping it so many times on your rounds around the library looking for needed books. . . or when you hear the library closing announcement and that just means it's time to change your working location. . . or maybe when you go to check your email and you realize that you're typing in your password for EBSCO Host. . .

I'm in my big paper crunch time these last and next few weeks and I'm already over-indulging on coffee and baklava and burritos, not all at once, but those are a few of my favorites lately. . . The hard part about doing so much homework right now is that the weather has been absolutely beautiful--the kind of days when the sunlight seems elastic and the air feels cool but not cold on your skin. Japanese magnolias, hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, and soft green grass that make me want to be outside smelling them or at least inside painting my toes to match them. . . When I've turned in the last of my three papers, I'll post some spring pictures, until then maybe I'll start carrying my lap-top:)

An Official Goodbye to Winter, Which Seriously Hasn't Left Until Now

2008-04-19T09:00:00.010-04:00

This beautiful reservoir is a suprise that I found just across a couple of streets from us! I guess that I just never noticed it hiding under so much snow. Imagine me getting a glance of these shimmering waters for the first time when I was just out for a walk among zooming and honking cars and apartment buildings and laundromats.

Goodbye floofy down comforter and scarves both scratchy and smooth. Goodbye to microwaving hot coffee so that it keeps my hands warmer for minutes longer. And to the radiator and its hissing, steamy, steam. Goodbye icy puddles and glittery, sugary snow. And frozen toes and hot cocoa with cool whip and my thick aqua robe. Goodbye hypothermia from walking to CVS in my flip-flops and Sumanth having to pour scalding water on my feet to revive them. Yes, Goodbye to that. See you later snow days from school,wintery dry hands and my Christmas tree pajama pants. Byyyeee red wool coat and the cold, cold walks to the T. See you next year cozy cream mittens and snowflakes and hot lemon tea. . . For now, I am off to say hello to spring in Chinatown in a sundress I bought two months ago when there was still ice on the ground.

The T, The T

2008-03-29T09:40:00.004-04:00

Here is a picture of our most chosen mode of transportation. . . These little trains squeal around the corner to pick us up almost every time we go out and I've become quite fond of them. One day last week, their were some Ts that were out of service on the D line that I take to work and so I had to wait with many anxious commuters quite awhile for one to come through the tunnel. Well, when one finally did, I wasn't quite aggressive enough about getting on and by the time I made my way to the stairs it was pretty full. I didn't want to keep waiting though, so I tried to squeeze myself in, thinking 'there's always room for one more, right?'. . . evidently not, because everyone on the train actually groaned "NOOOOOOO" as they saw me easing my way in. I think I remember seeing an example like that in my abnormal psychology book in college. It had a caption that said something like, "people experiencing extreme paranoia may feel that no one wants to be around them."

Then yesterday, I went to do homework at a library about 3 miles away. On the way home, I just missed the T that I wanted to catch, and again, I didn't feel like waiting, so I decided that I could run along with the train and meet it at its next stop. So, laptop bag and groceries flapping in the breeze, I went, only to, of course not be able to catch up with the locomotive at its next spot--what was I thinking? Anyways, I was still thinking that, because the Ts have to stop at traffic lights, I had a chance of catching it down the line... I probably don't need to tell you that I never caught up with it, that I walked/ran all the freezing way home, and that I actually missed two other Ts that passed me, headed in my direction. I think next time I will just wait the eight minutes for the next one.

A sweet T story to end the post on: Last week I was in the T during the morning rush hour, when the T cars are so full you kind of have to give up any ideals you had for personal space, and two mothers with three almost-toddlers came on. They were really having a hard time with all the babies gear and keeping the kiddies with them in the crowd. The T driver turned off the train and came marching back to the car where I was standing along with the mothers, almost-toddlers, and a sea of business people. I was worried that he was going to have the moms and babies get off because there are these new controversial laws that might go into effect that prohibit strollers during rush hour. Instead, though, this huge man started pleading with everyone that had seats to give them up for the kids and their moms. "Can we PLEASE get some seats back here? We've got some REAL little kids on board?" And all of a sudden, everyone, absolutely everyone got up to give the moms/babies their seat, leaving the moms/babies with quite a choice, because now all of the seats were empty. The moms let the little kids pick which seats they wanted and they sat down and everyone else remained standing up, almost in reverance for the "REAL little kids" that the T driver had made them aware of. That was my stop, and it really was sweet, as I walked away, to look back and see, through the windows, the little kids bouncing around in their open seats.

Ode to this Saturday Morning. . .

2008-03-22T11:02:00.010-04:00

And its soft sheets and new pajamas and clear, bright sun on glossy wood floors. To its two hot cups of almond coffee and its hours stretching ahead.

Here is Sumanth working on his story, and my spot where I am reading articles about young adult literature. Below is my stack of fun books that I need to read for class; read some of the titles and try not to feel jealous that this is my homework;)

Although with the wind chill, our local temp is 19 degrees, I'm so grateful for blue skies and snow-free streets. Today is an easy Saturday; we're trading in some books at the used book store and making buffalo chicken wraps and lounging around in pajamas.

Postmen Throwing Their Parcels into the Nearest Bushes

2008-03-18T20:55:00.005-04:00

My dear, sweet boss really stood up for me today in a time when I was needing standing up for. About a month ago, we applied for two grants(with deadlines), both of which are very important to the continuity of the entire project. I was really careful about addressing and mailing them but then I started to be busy with other things and never checked to confirm their receipt. Well, we found out today, that, although we didn't
get anything back in return mail, the applications were never received. The office was all abuzz with how this could have happened, and you have to admit, it didn't look good for me. My boss, Helen, responded quickly: "Has anybody heard about the postmen who throw their parcels into the nearest bush when they're fired? Yes, its true, and sometimes they throw them into rivers and oceans. We should be glad that our papers are probably dry somewhere. They could be at the bottom of the sea." When no one had heard of those stories she said, "Oh, the poor souls who work at the college mail center; they can be so slow-witted." I hope I can be that kind of boss someday.

Still Jet Lagging. . .

2008-03-06T16:43:00.002-05:00

That's the Taj Mahal in the background!

I used to think that jet lag was a term people just threw around. . . an excuse for being tired when really they just should have slept more. Well, I've come to understand the full meaning of the word this week as every day at work feels like I've just come from a slumber party. I pretty much have to pry my eyelids open to stay awake after dinner and then around 1:00am (noon, India time) I wake up, bright-eyed and ready to get the day started. The bright eyes don't last very long.

Anyways, it's been nice to see some sunrises and think back over a really good trip and also be very glad to be home. . . Here is a link to a ton of trip pictures if you're interested and have some free time on your hands.

Off to India!

2008-02-22T14:31:00.002-05:00

Yikes. . . we are running out into the blizzard in three minutes to catch our flight to London where we'll connect to India. . . I'd assured myself that I would have plenty of time this morning for a long, lesiurely post, followed by long, lesiurely coffee. . . you get the idea. . . Anyways, that is not the scene. . . I'll have plenty of pics to post when we come back March 2nd, though:)

Early Birthday

2008-02-09T07:33:00.000-05:00

This here is my beautiful new coffee maker(from Sumanth); the color is called intrigue blue. It makes the most wonderful steamy/hissing noises to let me know that it is doing its very best which isn't hard to do with these kona beans that are also an early birthday gift, and a grinder which I've never had before, which isn't shown. I think that my excitement about the grinder is hindering the coffee process, though, because I grind the beans until they're about the consistency of confectioners sugar.

This is a quick one since I'm off to my poetry class, which so far is the very best thing about moving to Boston. The teacher is my new hero and she is as interested and excited in poetry for children as anyone could be about anything. It's a good thing that I love it, because it is Saturday morning.

Paperwhites

2008-01-27T11:29:00.000-05:00

These paperwhites grew from bulbs given as a Christmas gift and they are really brightening up our snowy, kitchen window and are one of my favorite things to look at when I come home.

When we were at the aquarium last week I heard a mother talking to her 18 month old son who was busy massaging yogurt into his cheeks. 'Timothy, after we leave the aquarium we are going to the North End. The North End is a lovely neighborhood with many Italian bakeries.' While I'm not sure that Timothy was excited about the bakeries I sure was and so Friday we took the train down there to find one of my new favorite parts of the city. One of the best places was this small public library with a square fountain in the center that had been shut off leaving the water still so that I could see all the pennies and nickels at the bottom. So many wishes in the bottom of such a quiet fountain in the middle of such a quiet library in the middle of a neighborhood full of italian pastries. How could one not love the North End?

Breakfast?

2008-01-16T17:53:00.001-05:00

Here are the snowy trees outside of our bedroom window.

Yesterday morning I was walking to work and cramming a strawberry cashew granola bar in my mouth when I crossed paths with a police officer dressed in a thermal police uniform. He looked down at my granola wrapper and said, "Breakfast?" and in that small moment I stopped feeling like a visitor of Boston. Instead of a person needing directions or help I was just another person eating breakfast on the run. At long last!

I think the other part of not feeling like a visitor anymore has to do with my new galoshes. When we moved here, and I noticed that all the other girls had waterproof boots to tuck their pants into I decided pretty quickly that I didn't really like the idea of scrunching my pants into rubbery shoes. Well, that all came to an abrupt change with the snowstorm that swept into the area on Monday morning. I woke up at 6am excited to greet the snow with a cup of hot chocolate sitting in front of the window. I'll skip the part about being on the other side of the the window in my cloth sneakers as well as the frostbite part and tell you that my new galoshes are shiny and navy blue and have saved my life with every step the past couple of days.

My new job is really nice and quiet. My boss graduated from college 1n 1944 and makes sure that I have a dessert with lunch every day. And, from the windows in my department, I can see the library, the building where my classes will be when they start next week, and the spot where I was inhaling the strawberry bar.

Settled In

2008-01-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

. . .

The picture of me by the fridge is to give you an idea of the scale of the apartment. We are definitely grocery shopping in frequent, tiny batches!

I don't know when I've ever fallen in love with a city so quickly. I really adore the green line trains that pick us up and take us all over and the 1/4 size grocery carts at our Trader Joe's and Pino's Pizza down the street and the chocolatier where we went to celebrate my new job (I start Tuesday) and the sound that our radiator makes when the steam comes (umm, I particularly love that sound because it doesn't come quite often enough,) and how the lobby smells like whatever the lady in Apt. #1 is cooking (usually something fruity smelling like blueberry pancakes but sometimes hamburgers which is kind of gross for an apartment building) and how the black and white tiled shower in our apartment feels like my own little slice of the city when I take a steamy shower after being so so cold outside and I can look out of the window and see hundreds of other apartment lights. . . I've also learned a lot pretty quickly, like how, although some things are much easier in the city, Target runs are not one of them. We went last night to get some ice cube trays; three hours and three forms of public transportation later I was craving my own little slice of the city for sure. And I've learned about the extreme importance of washing my hands and or gloves after riding the T. Unless anyone is really curious, I won't go into big details on that one. . .

The move has aged me. . .

2008-01-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

Here is me on the plane yesterday-anticipating our new life while listening to my new ipod.

And here is me, a tad overwhelmed by all of the boxes and wires that need connecting after being in our apartment for 12 hours. Can you see the bags under my eyes?!

Time to take down the decorations. . .

2008-01-01T11:59:00.000-05:00

So, I think I've finally had a long enough break from reality, and I'm basing that on the fact that this morning I woke up and thought, "When we get back to Boston, I have got to take down our Christmas decorations." Oh, wait. . . not only are there no Christmas decorations up, there are no trash cans to put garbage in nor are there places to sit free of boxes, nor is there anything to eat or drink besides the two bottles remaining in the six pack of gatorade we bought the night of our move. . . Yeah, taking down seasonal decor will not be my top priority when we get back. For now, though, I am taking in the new year in the florida sun while drinking Dancing Goats coffee (a blend from Seattle that has the power to move continents) in my new aqua robe.

A week from tomorrow I have a job interview for an administrative position within the social work department at the school I'll be attending. Last week, Sumanth and my dad helped me shop for my first suit so that I'd have something good to wear. I feel like, for the same price and a lot more comfort, I could have draped myself in cashmere, but now I have a suit to wear. I hope the interviewers don't think there will be more where that came from.

I still haven't decided on a new year's resolution, but Sumanth says I have until the end of the night. . .

Resurfacing

2007-12-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm resurfacing to my little blog after months of wrapping up my job at DREAMS, packing up all of our belongings and moving them to a snowy apartment in Boston where I will start classes in January. Well, I guess the apartment itself isn't snowy! I think we kind of underestimated the efforts it would take to move every fiber we own up four flights of stairs. I mean, I definitely did not anticipate shedding tears over how heavy our mattress was. . .

After throwing the last q-tip box, dining room chair and dishtowel up into the apartment, we fell asleep until it was time to return our 16 foot truck and then drove to Florida, where I sit right now, typing on my new MacBook, drinking coffee with eggnog and admiring my freshly polished toes. Life is easy for a little while.

My mom gave Sumanth an alarm clock with wheels for Christmas. If you don't turn it off after the first ring, it jumps off the nightstand and rolls all over the room. It's name is Clocky and I'm already wondering if I can turn Clocky into one of those robot vaccuums by attaching cleaning pads to it's legs. . . See, how much free time I have?

Here are some pics of the new apartment, taken in October before the snow or our own belongings came. . .

And here is the building at Simmons where my classes will be, as well as the little park across the street.

animal departure

2007-11-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

tomorrow we will be releasing our turtle, jasper, into a nearby pond, so that he'll finally be able to play with other animals and swim in a body of water that's more than 1.5 times his circumference and eat unprocessed foods and hopefully grow proportionally larger. it will be very difficult to have to empty out his little corner of the living room, but he's been debilitatingly sad for the past few months, and so we think it's in his best interest. he must feel so restless in our apartment, without anything to do but wait for feeding time and try to understand what it means when we watch television.

i especially like this blurry photograph of him, in which his tiny turtle head looks like some kind of gem, washing up on a grassy riverbank.

Lobster for Lunch and a Signed Lease!

2007-10-13T18:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I woke up at 5am and got on a plane to join Sumanth in Boston where he has been apartment and job hunting all week. Within about twenty minutes of landing I'd already ordered an $11 lobster with lemon and butter for my lunch and within about forty-five minutes we were already taking my first ride on Boston's Subway, the T, to see an apartment that Sumanth had scoped out earlier in the week. About half an hour later, I was putting my initials under Sumanth's on the "Lead Paint Acknowledgement," that went with our apartment, (probably not too smart seeing as my current skin condition has yet to disappear, but. . . ). The apartment is adorable, and I will post some pictures soon. There are carefully maintained pink roses outside of the building and the wood floors absolutely gleam. It will be smaller than our current, spacey 2br, but from the front door we can take steps to a Thai restaurant, the subway and a very modern Dunkin'Donuts. Right now, we're planning on painting the walls in varying shades of purple.

Today has been a complete whirl of touring the city; maybe it is my medicine, but all I could think was this city sparkles. Between the adrenaline of everything and my still high dose of Prednisone my head is kind of thrumming, but in the most positive kind of way.

An Important Update. . .

2007-10-11T22:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I am under the care of a very good doctor (finally) who isn't particularly baffled by my lil' rash. . . he said that it originated from contact with some chemical (we're thinking it was our landlord's homemade pesticides) and that the weak treatments I had actually made the rash come back stronger. Now I am on a heavy 12 day course of steroids, which Sumanth is waiting to see the results of before he tries (his rash has stayed pretty contained). . . I'm really hoping this is my last prescription for awhile, because when I went to pick this one up the pharmacist said, 'hey,' and didn't even ask if I had questions about the medicine.

In the meantime, the steroid that I'm on has resulted in me sleeping only in small snatches from about 2:30am-5:30am, reacting with extreme poignancy to life's smallest details, and moving faster than rocket fuel. For instance, I was just washing my hair and thinking to myself, 'how can I make this process more productive, more quick?' Last night, during a 6am episode of Gilmore Girls, the Gilmore Girls got termites under their porch and I found myself gasping, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!' and getting a lump in my throat just thinking about how they could never afford the repairs. . . At work, I've been writing down everything that everyone says just so that I have something extra to do with my hands. . . Does anyone need anything cleaned? I can travel.

The Sad Truth. . .

2007-10-07T13:17:00.000-04:00

Well. . . two sad truths to be be exact. 1) My rash is back in full color and 2) Sumanth has it now too. Last night we vacated our apartment for the Days Inn in case we were allergic to something inside, but that didn't seem to change much. Hopefully the doctor will have a good idea tomorrow; if not I may have to invest in an above ground pool of Calamine Clear Lotion. . .

The Effects of Steroids

2007-10-05T06:38:00.000-04:00

. . . Well, it's 6:30 am now, and I've been up for a couple of hours tending to my poor, under-the-skin itching, but at least the steroids I'm taking have let me sleep some this week (Tuesday morning definitely found me at Dunkin' Donuts at opening time (4:30am here,) writing a check for vanilla chai tea and a sesame bagel. They have also deflated my rash in a big way, although the itching is still extreme. I am quite hopeful that I'll get to post my smooth belly picture soon, although the Dr's have warned me that it might all come back when I go off the medicine on Sunday. Iyy Yii Yii. . .

A very drugged yet hopeful report. . .

2007-10-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

I went to three doctors today and the verdict is that I am having some sort of internal reaction to something. I am on four heavy medicines and am eating a lot of Breyer's triple chocolate ice cream (one of the side effects of one of the medicines is overeating-yikes!). . . I can't tell too much yet, but I think that the rash may be starting to deflate. Hopefully, I'll post a real smooth picture soon.

Really hoping it doesn't get worse than this. . .

2007-09-30T23:45:00.000-04:00

I'm off to the doctor's office before I even brush my teeth tomorrow!

Poor Bellelly

2007-09-29T14:06:00.000-04:00

. . . I guess there was a reason for putting the question mark behind 'On The Mend' in my last post. . .

On the mend?

2007-09-28T00:06:00.001-04:00

Well. . . I seem to have had a run-in with a poisonous plant that I do not recall. That was the best answer the dermatologist could give me after she said, "My, my, at least some people wear sunscreen properly." "Umm, yes, maam, I know I'm pale, but could we give a little bit of attention to the raging rash that is eating my belly alive?" . . . Yes, this little condition, which is spreading even as we speak has had me in its grips since Sunday. I have little else to think about or talk about than my itchiness. . .

The Beat Goes On. . .

2007-09-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

This is the first weekend without plans that we've had in about a month and it feels pretty perfect. The way the after-rain light is leaning up against everything in our apartment, the temperature of my coffee, the fit of my new corduroy pants. . . Last weekend we ate yummy meals out and visited Airlie Gardens with my Dad and Colleen, and the weekend before that we (and my mom) got to see Sumanth's parents new house in downtown Geneva, Illinois. The weeks in between these weekends have been filled with the gut-wrenching chaos that is the start of classes, but I'm finding myself a little bit more prepared for it every time, (i.e., I have a bigger supply of band-aids, printer cartriges, paper towels, peanut butter and dance pants on hand than in previous semesters.)

Lately I've been touched by how quickly happiness can come to someone who is sad. On the first day of DREAMS classes, I saw one of my tiniest little students standing in the corner of our (unfortunately) unisex bathroom looking very troubled. When I asked him how he was doing, he said, 'Just terrible,' and proceeded to explain that in his guitar class he wasn't able to get even one chord right. About an hour later, in the middle of his multimedia art class, he was standing in the door frame of my office, one paint-splattered leg pointed to his left, exclaiming, 'I'm polka-dotted!'
I was so proud of him, I can't even tell you.

This Thursday I was getting ready to take some students to drum at a United Way benefit and we were without our lead drummer. We couldn't get in touch with him and everyone was getting nervous and practicing their routine by slapping their palms on their thighs. It was time to go and so we packed up the congos and caravaned out to the benefit without him. The entire drive over I kept picturing how pitiful the drummers would sound without their lead and how embarrassing this event was going to be. When we got there, not only was our drummer already there with his Gramma, he was looking for food. I heard him say to one of the kids, "I don't know if it's just something Miss Emily told me to get me out of the house, but she definitely said that there would be food." I think I need to relax more.

Jodi was here!

2007-08-27T19:57:00.000-04:00

On Friday, Sumanth and I went to pick Jodi up from the airport for a quick weekend during which we mainly ate, laughed, watched Extreme Home Makeover, drank coffee with chocolate raspberry creamer, and took advantage of talking for longer than we can on the phone. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was when we were listening to this shoal diver at the aquarium give a presentation about the ins and outs of salt water and Jodi started talking to me about something completely unrelated. It made me remember high school and how much more fun my life has been because of her.

DREAMS classes start Monday, at which point I will probably be mildly overwhelmed. Currently, I am hovering around almost overwhelmed. One day last week we received a 1400lb donation of supplies from Jerry's Art-O-Rama which, although Wonderful, is yet to be sorted out and is comprised of about 200 boxes blocking every path except for the small one that leads to the only bathroom. DREAMS is the kind of place where when you open a drawer labeled 'Tools,' you usually find some butterscotch chips, packing tape, a comb and some gluesticks, so organizing our new donation might prove a bit difficult;)

Today I had to go to the Dr's for a little swimmer's ear and while I was waiting, I was thinking about work (the only reading materials they have there are issues of The Pause and Men's Digest)and the classes/teachers I still need to schedule and I started to get a little stressed. In my efforts to calm down when the nurse started to take my blood pressure and pulse, the first thing that I thought of was from one of the Blue Planet movies that Sumanth was watching last week, from the episode about the frozen seas. The image was of a large seal swimming in his own pool in the middle of so much ice. The water was very dark and very blue and the only thing moving was the seal. The way it moved seems to combine floating and twirling and reminded me of the way a baby rolls before it crawls. My pulse was lower than it has ever been.

First Anniversary

2007-08-15T08:29:00.000-04:00

Here we are at the Seven Sisters Inn in Ocala on our first anniversary. The robes in the pictures are not ours, but I did really wish they were. When I first slipped mine on I truly thought I would buy one, that is how transformed I felt in the combination of silk and thin towel. Soon after I had this thought, I saw the polite notecard on the hanger explaining that we could indeed have them, but it would cost about three times the cost of our luxurious room, or in clearer terms, about two months of groceries. . . as I type I am in my blue cotton Target version.

Although these pictures were taken in the Egypt Room of the inn, Sumanth had chosen the adorable and quite perfect Paris room for us to stay in. Before we had even gotten settled, the owner of the Seven Sisters came by and asked how we liked the room. "Oh," I swooned, "I spent a summer in France and this is just the most charming, lovely room, I absolutely love it." She then explained that the room had been hit by lightening last week and so some of the electronic things didn't work, and since no one else was staying that night, we could either stay in Paris or upgrade to our room of choice. I quickly grabbed my suitcase and said "OK!" and left our perfect french room for the deluxe amenities of Egypt across the hall. I hope this doesn't say bad things about my character. . .

In Case You Have Some Reading Time. . .

2007-08-02T22:51:00.000-04:00

An editor of the online magazine Busted Halo invited me to contribute an essay for this week, and here is the link:

http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/TheLight.htm

Where My Blogging Time Has Gone. . .

2007-07-28T17:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm trying to think of it less as a mistake and more as a fun way to make extra money, but for the past month I've been spending most of my free time and energy and lunch breaks babysitting. It has taken quite a toll. And although I have had a lot of fun, and learned quite a bit about the inner workings and juggling involved in having young children, I've also learned that 1: I need a lunch break, and 2: Juggling this much babysitting around a job is just too tricky. As far as learning about having young children, I've learn to appreciate things I've hardly even noticed before such as the family changing room at the YMCA swimming pool, and the magician that comes around to kids' tables at Chic-fil-a. His name is Nugget, and I had certainly never noticed him before.

On the fun side, I have gotten to spend many hours making up games on the spot like "Pizzeria" and "Pony City" and then playing them with Peanut Butter Kitty and her slightly older brother. I've also spent hours playing games that they've made up on the spot like, "Rip Eachother's Heads Off," and "Triple Ripple." Triple Ripple is a game that involves all three of us and the trampoline, and I have to give them credit because it has been the source of some very happy afternoons. The best part has been that they also Love to read and be read to and so we've maxed out my library card many times and have spent hours curled up on the oversized green chair in their house, reading books like, Lizzete's Green Sock and Stink: Tales of the Astonishing, Shrinking Boy.

One of the DREAMS donors called on Tuesday of this past week and said that if I could round up enough of our ballet students by the next day, he could donate a limousine to pick them up and take them to watch the Carolina Ballet Company practice and arrange a luncheon for them to eat with some of the ballerinas. Making the calls to the students was one of the best parts of my job so far. One of the kids even called back to make sure that she wasn't dreaming when I had called. "Miss Emily, did you just call and ask if I could go have lunch with ballerinas?" Here is a picture of them in the limo; try to pick out the one who thought she was dreaming.

These days. . .

2007-07-06T19:04:00.000-04:00

Elisha came to visit this past week and we had lots of fun doing things like: getting summer haircuts, eating summer desserts (like chocolate sushi) and making wishes with sparklers. Here are a few pictures of our mini-vacation in Wilmington:

Here we are in front of the mural made by DREAMS students this summer.

And here we're carefully navigating our way through the rocky beach.

And here we are post-hair cuts. We found the salon in the yellow pages and were mildly disappointed to find out that the man with whom we had appointments laughed like a wild boar and boasted about things like riding his motorcycle down the busy sidewalks on the fourth of July. He explained that this was an OK thing to do because there are no posted signs telling him not to.

My loud voice and other small, incohesive thoughts

2007-06-26T15:55:00.001-04:00

I've had some good ideas for blog posts recently, but none of them have quite worked out. One idea was to take some pictures of the darling houses and cornfield that are in our neighborhood and write a small bit about the kind of people I imagine would live in each one. I set off with Sumanth as my photographer, and as we got to the very first house, the owner came out on the porch demanding to know why we were taking pictures of 'HIS PROPERTY' . . . needless to say, that kind of killed the charming post I was planning about how, in that house, I invisioned a research librarian who loved tangerines and playing checkers with her grandchildren.

This morning, as I was directing the morning traffic on our third to last day of summer classes, a teacher came up and told me that I had found my loud voice this summer. He said that my voice was 'suprisingly filling up the whole auditorium.' . . . I think that this has probably helped me survive the summer, but I do hope my quiet voice returns soon.

One tiny student came up to me today and asked if he could have an extra project to do during his lunch hour. I remarked on how well mannered he was and he said, 'Well, I had a very strict teacher last year,' and I nodded and smiled as he went on to say, 'and I have apocalyptic fears.' Oh, boy.

Today a student called in to say that she wouldn't be coming in because she stayed up late and needed to 'get her sleep out.' I'm trying to decide whether I think that is a nice way to put it.

Thursday we are leaving after the summer showcase to celebrate my grandparents' sixtieth anniversary in St. Augustine, which I think is very close to a perfect city. I'm looking forward to showing Sumanth the Bridge of Lions as well as the candy store where I used to buy pralines and the small shore where my dad would pay my brother and I to catch sand crabs. (In years of vacations, we never caught one.)

So sleepy. . .

2007-06-18T19:40:00.000-04:00

(Deepak and Corinne. Don't let the small cake fool you--about 400 people came to the wedding. There was a dessert bar on the side.)

As far as all of the things that I said I would do in my free time, I think that the only one I've actually accomplished is the iced-coffee drinking, which has been more like gulping, and has happened only on the seven minute drive to work. And we did go to Sumanth's brother's wedding in Michigan this weekend. Our hotel room had a TV in the bathroom and I got into the fun habit of watching the Food Network while brushing my teeth; my teeth got really, really clean. Sumanth gave a very good toast at the wedding, so good that people we didn't know came up to us in the airport the next day to tell him how much they liked it. The only weird part was that the toast was pretty serious and afterwards everyone told him that he should go into stand-up comedy.

I've never been one to fall asleep easily, but lately I've been falling asleep so, so easily. Today when I came home from work I took a nap with my flip-flops still on. I've also never been one to make lunch for 75 people every day, so maybe that is the connection. The summer program is going well while building my troubleshooting skills exponentially. There have been so many moments when I feel like something is sticking on my leg and I look down to find a tiny little art student, the size of a monkey, wrapped all around my calf, saying something like, 'Miss. Emily, we are out of paper towels--can I dry my hands on you?' I truly love my job.

Free Time

2007-06-10T19:25:00.000-04:00

The crunch time of my summer starts at about nine o'clock tomorrow morning when I welcome 85 students into our crumbly building for the next three weeks. I've been trying to think of jokes to tell at the opening assembly but they all seem too lame to post online. Last week presented its share of problems (for example, getting a phone call that one of the 85 students has a severe nut allergy right as I returned from the Food Bank with about eight flats of peanut butter to get us through the three weeks.) It should be a pretty busy few weeks, and hopefully after the first couple of days my nerves will settle down. (Hopefully, also, the actual pinched nerve in my neck will settle down, but that is another story.)

Here is what I plan to do in my off time:

1. Drink iced coffee. Once when I was little, I saw my Aunt Donna make herself iced coffee and the image has really stuck in my mind. I remember that she brewed a small amount of strong black coffee and poured cream into it which swirled into paisley shapes before dissolving. Then she splashed the whole thing over a fat glass of ice cubes. I have been experimenting some with the technique. Iced coffee is definitely my elixir of the summer.

2. Work on my little water color children's book about chairs. I don't know how to paint but it is really fun to pretend I do. I mix colors in my plastic palette and use really expensive paper.

3. Watch Monk. The latest season of our favorite detective show comes out this month, and since we don't have TV but we do have Netflix, we are really looking forward to it.

4. Read more short stories. I just finished Pam Houston's book of short stories, Cowboys are my Weakness which was really, really good. I think I'm in the right frame of mind to read lots and lots of short stories.

5. Travel to weddings. This weekend Sumanth's brother is getting married in Michigan and we are both in the wedding. (I'm a little bit worried about the dress that I'm wearing in the wedding. I read some of the reviews of it online and they really varied--one person said, 'This dress makes me feel like Audrey Hepburn. I just sit in front of the mirror and stare when I'm in it,' and one person said, 'This dress looked great online but the minute it hit my body it looked like cheap garbage. I couldn't stand to keep it on.' . . . I'm not asking to feel like a Hepburn, but I hope it's OK.) In two weeks a good friend from high school is getting married and so we are going to Ocala for that.

6. Swim in the ocean. Or at least go and walk around when it isn't so terribly hot.

Two Side-Notes

2007-06-05T22:18:00.000-04:00

1. Well, in my post earlier this evening, I alluded to being a little bit tired. To more clearly illustrate this: I was just ironing something that I need for tomorrow and found myself thinking that the iron just didn't work as good as it used to. I kept at it for awhile, until I noticed the plug dangling by my knee.

2. I'm sorry, I know we're in the midst of the slow foods movement/healthy, local foods movement, but I must put in a little plug for Eagle Brand Magic Bar boxed mix. We made it this weekend and it was just about the best thing that has ever, ever come out of a box.

Book Factories

2007-06-05T19:48:00.001-04:00

Whoo Boy! Although art supplies and children's summer schedules are nice things to think about, I am completely maxed out. The DREAMS summer program starts Monday and in preparation I have only left my office the last few days to take out the garbage, an outing which provides very minimal fresh air, satisfaction and/or feelings of having been in the outside world. Now, though, I am home from work and have washed my hair with strawberry shampoo and drunk an iced spiced chai latte. Sumanth is at the grocery shopping for things to make tacos and oatmeal cookies and Jasper is swimming and shedding in a way that seems very happy.

In a desperate need to fill my head with other things than summer camp spreadsheets, I've been thinking about some of the stories that I've started writing but haven't finished, and possible ways I might be able to preserve some of the characters within them. One is about a woman who wakes up with her face smelling like something different each day. Another is about a man whose hearing begins to flicker at certain times during the day, allowing him to hear only fragments of conversation or allowing him only to hear certain sounds, like the sound of shoes hitting the ground as people walk. One story is about a baby who eats books instead of food and learns to talk from the words that he eats. One is about a clinic that helps people who are allergic to the absence of things. One is about a town that has a deep well filled with layers of blue paint in many different shades. When people fall into the well, the different blues remind them of things that they've seen during their lives and it helps them to make big decisions. I've started writing all of these stories, and have come very close to finishing a couple of them, but can't quite seem to really wrap any of them up in a way that seems right. I'm thinking that maybe I will combine some of them and see if that helps. Or maybe all of the characters I have can live in the same town with the blue well and the Absence Allergy clinic? I heard that all of the Nancy Drew books were written, not by Carolyn Keene, but in a book factory of sorts where different people were responsible for separate parts of the book. Maybe what I need to do is get a job starting stories in a book factory like that.

addendum

2007-05-31T22:59:00.000-04:00

Here are two pictures of jasper:

You'll notice that in both pictures, his pose is facing away from the interior of his tank and toward the glass walls. He prefers this position over all others, I believe, because it allows him to look out at the rest of the living room, where he can search for his friend, Barnes & Noble, whom he lost last winter.

Orange-Cheeked Finches and Our Own Pet Turtle

2007-05-31T21:33:00.000-04:00

Well, the events of today leave a little bit to be desired as far as pleasant reading material goes. . . I met with a nine year old student and her case worker today to talk about the student attending the DREAMS summer program. When I asked the girl what kinds of art she liked, she simply screamed, 'NO' and when I asked the case worker if there were any issues that I should be aware of he said, 'Oh, yes, she is quite verbally and physically aggressive. Don't worry, though, she'll usually give you a warning before she gets physically aggressive on you.'. . . Hmmm. . . I'll let you know what the warning looks like when I see it. . . Also I think I might have burned my fingerprints off while trying to fix the copy machine at work. What was worse was that when I was telling people in the office about it I kept calling it the copy maker instead of the copier and so everyone thought that I meant the coffeemaker. 'Oh, the coffee maker is a breeze to fix, Emily, let me show you. . .' I fixed mushroom risotto and canteloupe for dinner, and when I was done I thought, 'Now wasn't that easy and cheap and pretty?' Well, two hours later when Sumanth and I were quite hungry again and in the Chic-fil-a drive through lane, I thought, 'easy, cheap and pretty just doesn't pay.'

We also went to the pet store this evening, shopping for food and treats for our little turtle, Jasper. Sumanth is very careful about Jaspy's food and treats while I am the one scanning for a low price and easy dispensing mechanism. The saleslady came and found us looking at the eensy dehydrated shrimps that we usually put in the tank in the morning and said, 'Ohhhh, WHY aren't you giving him frozen shrimp? They are SO much better for him. The dehydration process takes away 90% of the nutrients.' While I am thinking that frozen shrimp might smell more than dehydrated shrimp and so aren't worth further consideration, Sumanth is looking tenderly at a little box labeled 'Turtle Emergency Care Kit,' which contains things like tweezers and tiny turtle eye drops and tiny turtle laxatives.

My favorite sight at the pet store was an Orange-Cheeked Finch, which reminded me of my Grandma Bobby's back porch where her finches lived and where, about twenty years ago, I would drink limeade with my brother and watch my Grandma make linoleum block prints. Usually smells bring back memories for me more than sounds, but tonight when I heard the Orange-Cheeked Finch chirping, I could clearly picture the plastic yellow citrus juicer that we used to make the limeade.

Postcard Painting and Pomegranate Juice

2007-05-28T23:12:00.000-04:00

This weekend was very nice and pretty aimless. Because we had no plans we were able to just come and go, taking outings to the bookstore and the smoothie place, coming back to read and take naps.

We went to the Orange Street Arts Festival, and for the first time, purchased an original painting (it is the size of a postcard and it was in the clearance bin and when the artist rung us up she did say, 'my! the deal of the day') but, still, it's very pretty and now sits on our dining table waiting for a frame.

We went to the Wilmington Youth Theater's outdoor presentation of The Tempest, but we never could find the ampitheater, so just ended up exploring a new park while looking for the directory. At least we hadn't pre-bought our tickets.

We went to our favorite grocery and bought edamame dumplings and pomegranate juice and dark chocolate chip cookie dough and olive tapenade and goat cheese.

We went to this salad bar called Sweet Tomatoes, where, for some reason, I just don't know when to stop eating. Generally, I eat about 2/3 of what Sumanth eats, but today was a different story. When he went up to get frozen yogurt, I thought, 'You're kidding--right?? Dessert after only the third course? Have you even tried the eggplant pasta or the cornbread?'

We bought one of those giant bubble tubes that makes bubbles that are three feet long.

Sumanth got his first blurb from Publisher's Weekly, calling him a 'gifted newcomer'. He said that he feels neither gifted nor new.

I started the watercolors for a children's book I'm hoping to write. The problem is that everything I paint turns out looking like a ghost.

Any suggestions? Any illustrators?

2007-05-28T21:22:00.000-04:00

Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

2007-05-25T23:17:00.001-04:00

These are the four young artists I've been working alongside the past three afternoons at a local food pantry called Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. We've been making a mosaic to cover the walls of the rather large, cement block trash can in the MH's picnic area. I say trash can, but I think I mean trash can holder, since, for the first two days of our project, a very full, bagless trash can remained inside, chained to the cement. This was unfortunate to put it quite gently. Possibly, if it hadn't been quite so full, I would have spent more time thinking about how nice it was to get to watch kids come into an unfamiliar place and make it more beautiful, but instead, I thought mostly about how terrible everything smelled and how to avoid being stung by a bumblebee dragging garbage on its behind.

Adam, the lone boy in the picture, and the artist behind the 'tree' side of the mosaic, jumped into my car on the first day of the project and said, 'I don't know where we're going, but I really hope it's to do art.' He then asked me what my favorite stuffed animal was out of zebras, hippos, or rhinos. I told him hippos and he said, 'small or large?' I told him that I thought I would like a stuffed hippo of any size and he said he thought that could be arranged. I'll post a picture of it if I get one anytime soon. On Valentines Day, Adam brought in his clarinet to play 'When the Saints Come Marching In' for me. Have you ever heard of a sweeter gesture?

Doria, the girl in the white shirt, led everyone in a rousing round of 'Down by the Banks of the Hanky Pank' while we were all waiting for the grout to firm up. I kind of remember singing some version of that when I was in school but, unlike Doria's version, mine had no references to women's underwear. Doria made the flower with the many colored petals. One of my jobs at DREAMS is to give snacks to the students after school. I think that she is the only kid who hasn't once complained about snacks. Once I accidentally gave her burned popcorn and when I tried to take it back, she said, 'Oh, no, Miss.Emily, this is good. You're good at making popcorn.'

Rachel, in the orange, and I worked on grouting the butterfly today. She picked the stones and tiles for the butterfly so carefully that I think she got a little sad to see all the white go over them. That is one of the steps of the mosaic making process--you coat the whole mosaic with this fudgy, white cement and then quickly wipe away the spots where the tiles are so that they can show through. Rachel started wiping away the grout almost immediately. 'I think I see one of the pink stones on the wings!' . . .and then, 'Oh, good, the eyes are still under here, he can see now!'

Gates, in the navy jumper, gives me daily advice on my wardrobe. For example, 'I wish that brown and purple went together, Miss Emily, because then you would match, but they really don't.' . . or, 'You've worn those shoes four days so far this week, Miss Emily, is it because you really like them, or because you don't have more at home? Because, if you have more at home, you really should wear them.' I've found that she has a very good eye for color but I also think that it's easy for a person that always wears a school uniform to tell other people they don't match. I am touched that anyone pays attention to what is on my feet. Gates made the fruit, although I am responsible for the malnourished looking banana.

Below are pictures of the trash can holder from both sides.

Trash Can Pictures

2007-05-25T23:14:00.000-04:00

Peanut Butter Kitty

2007-05-23T19:20:00.000-04:00

About a month ago, I found myself standing next to Sumanth at the food table at an MFA (the degree that Sumanth is studying for in creative writing) end-of-year gathering. We don't tend to have a whole lot of friends at these events, so we always seem to end up akwardly hovering over the food table having a conversation like this one:

'Did you try the hummus?'
'Yeah, it's really good. Did you like it?'
'Yeah. Is it homemade?'
'No, looks like it's from the store. Do you want to get some?'
'Yeah. We should get some. When do you want to go?'
'Tonight, probably. Does that sound good to you?'
'Yeah, let's go tonight. Lowes or Harris Teeter?'
'I don't know. Do you want a drink?'
'No. Do you?'
'Yeah, I'm going to get one.'
'I'll come with you.'

Anyways, a month ago, when I was following Sumanth from the food table to the drink room, I saw two small girls jumping up and down in a side room with their mothers watching. One of the girls had short brown bangs and immediately introduced herself as a peanut butter kitty. Her friend was also a peanut butter kitty, I learned quickly, and if I wanted to, I could be a peanut butter cat. By the time I left that night I learned that peanut butter kitties 1)eat peanut butter, 2)can get stuck in peanut butter, and 3) are made of peanut butter. I also found that while I'm not good at making party talk, I am better than average at being a peanut butter cat. Anyways, the mother of the brown-banged pb kitty asked if I babysat, and so today I spent the morning with Maia, my new four year old kindred spirit.

When I was little, I loved to make beds for fairies to sleep in. I mainly used a combination of leaves and flowers and grass and dirt, and I remember that the most important thing was the thick mattress and having a pillow available, in case the fairy wanted one. Since then, I have tried to pawn my love of fairy beds off on every child I spend time with. "Wouldn't you like to make a nice place for the fairies to sleep tonight?" I've asked on countless occassions. Usually the children are polite, and pretend that they didn't hear me, and remind me that it's time to play with the My Little Ponies or watch Finding Nemo. A couple have seemed interested before, but they usually start looking at me funny when the beds blow away and I tell them that it's just the fairies getting under the covers. Anyways, today was met with Success. Maia took the project on with ferocity. "Let's put down two pillows so that fairies can lay side by side." and then "Let's put flowers all the way around the edges, but leave a space for them to get in." "Yes," I said, "Let's definitely leave a space for them to crawl in. In fact, we can make a night stand out of the bark here for them." I think it was at this point, that Maia saw how into it I really was because she kind of gasped and said, "Oh, are fairies for real for real?"

"That," I said, "Is a very good question, peanut butter kitty."

DREAMS Showcase

2007-05-21T21:49:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday marked my first Showcase (semi-annual recital/production) at DREAMS, my first enjoyable workplace (besides Baskin Robbins where most of the enjoyment came from Pistachio Almond and Maui Brownie Madness), and so I thought it would make an ideal subject for my first post on my first blog.

Although I've been working at DREAMS since January, and have experienced many afternoons of earsplitting chaos {"Miss Emily, where are my Cheese-Its? I hid them under your mouse pad and they're not there any more. "Miss Emily, We NEED air freshener over here." (said while spraying lemon pledge furniture polish directly at another student) "Miss Emily, did you know that there is a hole in the wall? It is big enough to put my foot in." (Now it is bigger)}, I have never been through a week as crazed as last week's build up to the Spring Showcase. At one point, someone at work was so busy that she actually came into my office and asked me to flush the toilet for her. (This has resulted in much thought on my part about the time and effort that goes into flushing a toilet. Sumanth said that if I don't start saying no to requests like this, he doesn't know what is wrong with me.) Anyways, it was a very busy time of transforming our small, fairly shabby art school into an art gallery/reception hall/and theater. Thursday was the most fun, putting up vases of tissue paper flowers, hiding the extra drums under pieces of fabric, and making 72 ham sandwiches.

Although I'd been expecting behavior problems, all the students seemed to know exactly what to do. No one ate too much food or tripped over the white lights or cried out for air freshener. I stationed one of my favorite students (an eleven year old boy who wore a shirt and tie to the event and even colored a mustache on his upper lip for added maturity) as the greeter, and he welcomed everyone that came in with such kindness and humility that I got a lump in my throat.

Here are a few pictures of the artwork and the drama.

Pictures from the Showcase

2007-05-21T21:40:00.001-04:00