simpering september

let's compare the last two days, shall we? yesterday being so craptastic, today being quite uncraptastic. to summarize, (because the confidentiality clause forces my lips to stay shut on sundry work topics)the program manager challenged me because i chose ethics over making us more money. the stress over the confrontation ate a whole in my stomach the size of kansas, and i had to rollerblade for over an hour to get the bad taste out of my mouth. picked up pizza and jalapeno poppers for J, then i went to a new writers' group (to supplement the one i already participate in- which i love) to check it out. then the evening got WEIRD. three participants- all in their 50s. two women, one men. very quirky. the first woman started talking about her son who had tried to kill himself- he was 18 and placed in a residential program in the same town i live in (about 15 miles from the meetup location). she and the other woman talked about a sister who had killed herself, then began discussing therapist at residential placements. so odd, since I'M a therapist at a residential placement, working with same clients as her son. i kept my lips shut lest it turn into therapy time, but then the talk turned to seattle and mount rainier... so when they asked me where i was from (the base of rainier) and what i do (work as a therapist. where? at a residential facility), it became a bit... surreal. when they further asked me what i was working on (writing-wise), i told them i was working on a book about my experiences... living on rainier... and dealing with the suicide of a friend of mine. it was odd. so odd.
then a drive home where i was talking to my sister. the call dropped and when i answered her call two seconds later, it was my mom- who was driving in another car behind her. what a weird day.

today- addressed the situation with the program director in a way that satisfied me and my ethics, then went to a birthday party for merissa where we went to this recreational place full of those children's jumping castles and we could jump to our heart's content. there were slides, obstacle courses, castles, a trampoline basketball hoop, and a jumping-castle type batting cage. so much fun. and it IS possible to jump too much. off for cake and ice cream, then a phone call from BSAL to figure out when we get to meet up tomorrow (she and her husband are driving through here en route from virginia to maine) and the day comes to a very satisfying close. except it's 11pm and i haven't even begun to start cleaning the place, yet. i'm way too excited!

a visit from the skit

this visit happened a month ago, but was fun:

Whitney (a.k.a Skittles) recently made the trek out to Massachusetts. She arrived at the Manchester airport at 11.30am. I met her at the wrong luggage place, but she was clever enough to hunt me down and get the show on the road.

We picked up her luggage, no problem. Her blue suitcase was easy to pick out, and even though she didn't have a big red ribbon around her, Whitney was pretty easy to pick out as well. We grabbed her bag, then headed out to where Joe was waiting for us, engine running.

Skittles was up for anything. Joe stopped for cash while she and I perused a consignment shop and looked at goofy dresses. Whitney got to talk to Carter on the phone while we made our way to the Rock 'n Ribfest... a yearly event at the Amheiser-Busch factory, featuring loads of meat and meat and meat. Barbequed meat, pulled meat, deep fried meat- we got to walk around, getting sunburnt, looking at animals in cages and kids in karate uniforms. After oodles of suntime and loads of bad music from a cover band, we headed home. Whitney was tuckered out, so we went grocery shopping, bought a soda maker, then headed home for an evening of tacos and video games.

Whitney was particularly keen on a Zombie versus Plants computer game, and she saved us all from getting our brains eaten multiple times. She and Joe bonded over Twilight, when I think Joe impressed her by giving her a Bella and Edward sticker. Ahoy!

Sunday

Whitney got up at the crack of dawn (well, 9am, actually, but during the doggone days of summer, that's pretty early) and went with me to church. Skiddadled home, then headed up to Gloucester to check out the pirate festival. Sadly, Whitney dragged rainy weather with her, so it was drizzling all day (and every day for the rest of her visit). We scoped out the pirate festival, which sadly ended up being nothing more than a scraggly group of people dressed in fancy costumes and shouting over each other regarding the condition of their ships and treasure caches. Joe knew one of the security guys who tried to talk us into going in, and instead ended up losing the baby carriage he was holding onto when it rolled down the hill. I remarked: “I hope there isn't a baby in there”, only to hear a piercing wail and the guy say: “Whoops. There is.” Brain damage notwithstanding, we opted against going in and instead wandered along the coast looking for snail shells.

I even got my feet wet in the tide until Whitney appetite was properly whetted, and we made our way to some grub at a local Friendlies (despite Joe's grumbles about the food being less than par). I really wanted that Reeces Pieces ice cream sunday, though, so Whitney and I vetoed him and we went anyway. The food was good. Of course I couldn't wait for dessert, so I ordered it with the meal and was properly food before I took a bite of the appetizers. Skittles couldn't even finish hers, so Joe ended up polishing it off. Mmm...

We were wiped out by the end of it all, and Whitney was exhausted from only getting ten hours of sleep, so we went home and vegged on movies and ice-cream sandwiches.

Monday

We let nature take its course and Whitney slept in until 11am. It's Whitney's vacation, after all, and she can sleep in however late she dang well pleases! And pleases she did, every morning. or... afternoon. Anyway, we got up. Of course it was pouring, but Whitney and I opted to try out some tennis regardless of the downpour.

Surprisingly, we played better than we'd ever played, and actually hit the ball over the net a couple times. We got thoroughly wet, then headed home to change.

A very drizzly day ahead of us, we decided to head out to The Butterfly Place. I should have taken the gigantic schoolbus parked in front of the building as a warning. We went ahead, paid our fee, and entered, only to be plunged into a room jam-packed with many, many children and many, many butterflies.

The marvel of the children's loud and atrocious behaviors sadly outshone the beautiful flitting behaviors of the butterflies, so we didn't stay long. Whitney had a much better touch with the camera, so all the photos that turned out were hers.

We opted to salvage the day by heading to Boston. We circled around a parking garage for almost an hour looking for a spot, then caught the train downtown. What fun! We walked along the freedom trail looking at the sights, ending up at

Faneuil Hall for food. There was a huge selection. Of all the options: New England clam chowder, Phad Thais, Turkish Gyros, Whitney settled on Chinese food. That's my kind of girl!

We then made our way outside, battling the tourist crowds, and stumbled on a group of British acrobats who put on a spectacular show using stilts and juggling balls, and contorting into all sorts of painful-looking poses.

We had a great time wandering around. Whitney sampled her first gelato and shopped around for the Perfect Souvenir T-shirt. Thankfully we had umbrellas this time. We bought a few canoli and the famous Mike's pastries (Whitney even gave the canoli a thumb's up), then met up with Joe to head to Chunkies- a combination restaurant/movie theater. We ordered up some good grub, then settled in to watch the latest Pixar film, Up. Great movie. Joe was bawling within the first ten minutes- that's how good it was.

Tuesday

We were out and about at a fairly reasonable hour. Gave ourselves a good breakfast, then headed out to the boulevard. Whitney was bound and determined to try rollerblading. Got out of the car, strapped the blades onto her feet, then held her up as she stood and balanced. Before I knew it, she was heading down the sidewalk going 30mph. No issues with balance, no issues with stopping- that girl was a natural. She'll be hitting the roller derbies in no time!

I was very impressed, especially as I've been rollerblading for a year now, and STILL haven't managed to master the art of stopping.

We changed into some hiking clothes and made up some homemade bread so it would be waiting for us when we got back. We then hit the hiking trail for some geocaching. Another thing Whitney was a wiz at. Of the three geocaches we were looking for, we managed to find two of them. Not bad! Whitney used the GPS like a pro.

The third geocache wasn't an easy find. We spent a very damp two hours trailblazing the deep woods of the Dracut-Lowell national park, following the coordinates far from the trails. Whitney bravely pushed on, battling mosquitoes and undergrowth until we successfully found what we were looking for. She ended up with quite the collection of mosquito and tick bites, after deciding it wasn't all that cool to spray her entire person with bug spray. But Whitney didn't mumble a single complaint. She was a warrior, that one!

The contents of the geocache wasn't all that spectacular. Whitney walked away with some stickers and a green lizard, while I scored a few glow in the dark sticks. Butthe success at finding the thing was all we needed to feel we were very, very awesome.

By the way- the sandwiches we made with the homemade bread was fantastic. In fact, I think I'll go have a slice right now.

The lure of the nearby stadium being too much, we met up with Joe and headed out to watch the Spinners play ball! It was Politically Incorrect night, and we were entertained by sumo wrestlers, a subway sandwich eating contest, and of course baseball. Joe found a caricature artist who was willing to tackle the faces of Whitney and I, so we sat down and had ourselves drawn.

We gorged on nachoes, fried dough, and peanuts, before heading back home, wet and tired from a very busy day.

Wednesday

We met up with Joe at a fairly reasonable hour, and drove up to New Hampshire to go to the Lost River. It was a long drive, but we got along fine with Ipods and Joe's talk radio. Once we got there, we immediately found a place where you can buy a bunch of dirt and pan for gemstones. I bought a bag and Whitney and I swished those pans around until our trays were brimming with rubies and bits of minerals so sparkly, they made my eyes hurt.

We then headed into the beautiful forest/gorge. There was a lot to see- beautiful views and many side trails that took us through tight squeezes (there was even one called the Lemon Squeeze) through rocks and caves and very dark, damp places.

Whitney braved them all- I sort of dragged myself along, wary I'd get stuck and have to be blasted out with dynamite.

It was like some sort of bizarre fairy land with tons of ladders and bridges and walkways leading to dark and mysterious corners of the world.

Awesome! (and no ticks this time)

We then headed to find something to eat. We ran into an unusual restaurant called The Common Man, which was decorated brilliantly. We sat on couches around little coffee tables, and ate crackers and fancy cheeses until our appetizers came. Then we ordered meals- Whitney got a Mexican pizza, Joe got a burger, and I indulged in a Mac and Cheese pizza, which was surprisingly good. Whitney scored in the dessert department while mine fell flat. Still, we walked away with tight tummies and another fabulous day in our pocket.

Thursday

A glorious day which promised at least an hour of sunshine. We didn't even think about the fact that we'd need sunscreen, so we fried our faces when we went whale watching at the Bostonharbor. Joe and Whitney rode the waves and had no problems as we headed out to open water.

I, on the other hand, felt every choppy wave in my bones and in my stomach. I barely made it without losing my breakfast on the guy standing below me (on the second deck- we were up top on the third).

After an hour or so, we were finally rewarded with our first whale sighting. After that, there was no stopping them as we saw loads of hunchback whales, frolicking and sporting among the waves. We even got to hear them singing as they did whatever whales do when they sing. The sun blasted through the fog, so our view was good, and this is the time that we really got sunburned. The day ended up being beautiful and we didn't get a drop of rain the entire time we were out.

The ride back afforded a great view of Boston and we had a great ti

me playing “king of the world” (particularly crazy as we watched the movie Titanic the night before).

We then went to Bill and Bob's, which happens to be Joe's most favouritest roast beef in the world.

Friday

I had to work, so Whitney had to entertain herself for several hours (killing zombies and such) while I slaved away at my desk. After I got back, we made up some pizzas, then headed to watch a couple of my

old roommates participate in Chaotic Wrestling. The Logan Brothers and Chase del Monte managed to maintain their titles and we watched a very riveting show. Lots of challenges and “in your face”

moments that had us laughing our boots off.

Quite entertaining.

Saturday

A day that started out gorgeously, but ended in rain. After Whitney woke up, we made up some German pancakes from one of Granny Andrews' old recipes, then headed out to a pool party/barbeque at a friend's house. Skittles splashed in the pool and chowed down on hot dogs and chips while I caught a few rays before the downpour. Joe met up with us there and we goofed around a few hours before heading home. We then watched Land of the Lost, which proved to be a better movie than I think any of us expected.

Sunday

Sadly, the last day. We went to church in the morning, then Whitney packed up her clothes and souvenirs and got ready to leave. We met up at Joe's house to do a load of laundry (after Nike was kind enough to vomit on her sheets). We watched some Futurama on the Tivo until it was time to head out to the airport. Joe dropped us off and I got Whitney checked in and her luggage paid for and collected (I'd completely forgotten the airlines had taken to charging for checked luggage. I'm getting mighty forgetful in my old age). I then waited with her as she went through the metal detector, then waved her off Paul-style as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and departed for home. All in all, a visit I thoroughly enjoyed, and even now as I pick up random cups stashed under the couch, I miss her terribly. Come any time, Skittles- the door is always open to you!

just a manic sunday

church this morning, then a realization that i'd committed to bringing dessert to a co-workers house for lunch. so i hied me home and made a scrumptious batch of no-bake cookies. these little cookies are so delectable, so mouth-watering, that it is physically impossible to refrain from eating less than 12 (i should know. i'm on number 13 as i type). oh, yum. sadly, my timing was about 4 hours off as i forgot these little suckers needed to set, so J and i headed out as my cookies were left on the kitchen table, a gooey un-set mess.
cookie'less, we drove out to pelham where my co-worker resides. her husband greeted us and my eye was immediately drawn to the off-road segway on the side of the house. a couple of lustful glances and the owner of said segway offered J and i lessons. this $64.000 was so much fun- backward, forward, side to side... all with the flick of a wrist and pressure shifted from heel to toe. i did fine during the mobility portion of the adventure- it was getting off and on the darn thing that i was horribly inept with. i couldn't get off it without making the thing drive backward into the bushes. thankfully the segway's owner was immediately on hand to keep me from rolling backward into traffic.
much good food- it should have been the first moment of the day when food passed my lips, being fast sunday and all. sadly, when i made cookies earlier in the day, the wooden spoon covered with batter found its way to my lips before i remembered with a jolt that i wasn't supposed to be eating yet. so by the time i ate that afternoon, i was already on second lunch (otherwise known as onsies). there was this delectable salad dressing: it was a sweet and sour poppyseed concoction, perfectly delicious on the walnuts, strawberries and greens salad. my co-worker gave us a tour of her house (including an up-close and personal visit to her wasp infected bathroom, and by that i'm certainly not referring to any white anglo saxon protestants).
then to J's aunt's house for more eats and for lobster, fer goodness' sake. i stuffed myself silly, only to realize too late that i was taking up precious stomach room. a friend of the family had brought these Absolutely Scrumptious cream puffs that were to die for. seriously. die. for. i had 7. and that was without stomach room. my pants were already a bit tight going in- one can only imagine the pressure the pants seams were under when i left.
so finally got home late tonight, (sunday) feeling fat as a walrus and fried as scrambled eggs, as my face caught the attention of every ray of sunshine that happened by this way. i'm red and pooped. and i need another cookie.

achte meine gute

i'm so sorry, my little blog. i'm sorry for the neglect, for the good intentions, for failing to nourish you with thoughts and events and inspirations. i am fully prepared to make up for that neglect... starting tomorrow. there are just so many more interesting things to do (heaven forbid) 'sides sit on my buttocks and try to make sense of the world.