Suburban Living

Well, I've been out here for almost a year, and tonight was a great microcosm of some things I never thought I'd be getting used to about suburban living. Here they are:

1) People here drive. The time spent living in the suburbs is inversely related to the amount of consideration one gives to walking short distances. A year ago, I almost always walked to the train station, about 3/4 miles away. Now, I head straight for my car to drive the few blocks to the station.

2) There are bugs here. No city bugs like roaches (thank goodness) but I've had ants, a handful of centipedes (greeted by one just a few minutes ago, actually - oh and by the way, those suckers are FAST. I was unable to kill it before it darted behind my furniture and so now I'm afraid to go to bed, hence this post...), and a gargantuan spider on my garage door today.

3) There is grass here. And the grass gets watered. As a matter of fact, I got wet returning from dinner tonight.

4) There are gardens here. I looked out my back window today and was surprised to see in my complex's backyard these two huge green things. I'm not sure whether they are watermelons blooming late, or pumpkins not yet turned orange. I will keep you updated!

I Would Just Like to Point Out

that we are at the end of September. The weather should be cooling down. The forecast this week should not be calling for temperatures just short of 90 degrees. Yet, we will be enduring just that. Agh! I'm so ready to move with my brother to San Francisco where temperatures are in the wonderful 50's and 60's all year round.....

My Trip to San Francisco - more to come!

Giving into Temptation (or, a typical Chris story)

Those of you who've known me since way back when know that sometimes (more times than not), things just happen to not go my way. I had one of those incidents today. Don't ask me why, but on my way back from the gym, I got the worst craving for one of those Alba 77 chocolate shakes (the ones where you add milk and ice to the powder and blend it all together). My mom bought a box or two of them back in the day, and honestly, I don't think I've had one since I was about 8 years old. But suddenly, the vision that shake hit my conscious, I could practically feel the unique frothy-icy texture on my tongue, and I just HAD TO have one, immediately. I stopped off at the tiny grocery store a block down from my apartment, but alas: no Alba 77. They did however have Carnation Instant Breakfast, and I figured it would do, considering the pinch I was in. On my way out, I noticed that the car next to me was awfully close to my car, and there was a tiny scratch on my passenger door. I was able to rub most of it out, but I still got into a little tiff with the guy, who claims it wasn't him (let's not even get into the fact that the paint color on my door was the same exact steel blue as his minivan). All I could think about is that the shake better be worth a tiny scratch! I arrived home, only to remember that I don't have a blender - I thus pulled out my food processor, knocking down my cookbooks and bottle of vinegar in the process. I loaded the food processor with the shake, milk, and ice, and...... got completely sprayed by the shake exploding out of the top of the food processor! I got Chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast ALL OVER MY KITCHEN! Who knew that ice cubes don't act normally in a food processor?! It sort of reminds me of the time I put milk in the tea kettle, but that's another story for another day.... Anyways, the chocolate shake is just like I remember it: thick and frothy, and I am on cloud 9! It was just easier back in the day when Mom took care of the clean-up....

Mary Had A Little Lamb, Little Lamb, Little Lamb...

A few friends and I are trying to plan a little day trip to upstate New York to enjoy the foliage. New York State has the most beautiful foliage, I believe because its hills and mountains have so many different layers of trees (as opposed to, say, Vermont, where everything is pretty much the same all the way up the mountain). Anyways, while doing some research on quaint towns, apple orchards, and wineries for our itinerary, I stumbled upon the following website:

http://www.sheepandwool.com/index.cfm

I kid you not. At first I thought that it was some sort of joke, but no, it is real. And the best is that while people are celebrating sheep and wool, while people are holding competitions for heartiest sheep and best wool, they are also holding a lamb cook-off!!!! One minute, some poor little lamb is baaa-ing to its pen-partner, and the next minute, his friend is gone but there's some delicious smell wafting from the grill....

Congratulations

...to my friend Bridget and her husband Rob who just welcomed their first child into the world. Sophie Patricia made her debut on September 1 at 4 pounds, 4 ounces, and 17.5 inches. Congratulations to the new family! I'm so proud of you Bridget!

I Hate Ironing!

Today, looking for a way to keep myself busy enough to skip the temptation to go shopping, I decided to catch up on my ironing. Here's some evidence of my strong hatred of ironing:

1) I couldn't find the iron anywhere. After searching for about 10 minutes, I finally found it in my linen closet, stuck between the Christmas towels and my down comforter.

2) My to-be-ironed pile was so old that it contained sweaters, as well as clothes that I had last worn on my vacation in early April.

3) The clothes haven't hung for so long in my closet that the hangers have been taken over by other clothes; I'm going to need to make a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond for more hangers!

4) I started ironing after the Mets gave up their first home run in inning one, and I finished just at the start of inning 8 - about two and a half hours later.... (note: Mets losing 8-5, about to be swept by the Phillies)

5) I'm sweating like crazy (it was the first time the a/c was put on stronger than 'Speed 1'), and I have the hugest headache now. I'm in need of some serious dark chocolate.