Seasonal musings

Santa is real. Ask the families at Immaculate Conception School in Alphabet City and they'll tell you. Seven years ago, their Santa visited the school for the first time. She watched the students in their uniform plaid line up quietly in the hallway and she waved and smiled as they passed-eyebrows raised towards this stranger. She turned to the principal, a nun in her 60s dressed in full habit, standing tall at 5 foot nothing.

"Give me the names of those children who will have nothing under the tree on Christmas morning."

The next day, this Santa received a fax with a list of 16 names-boys and girls with their ages and sizes beside them. She called a friend or 2 and they hopped in the car. As they drove towards the highway lined with every store imaginable, they made a plan. Each child would get a winter coat, pajamas, sweats and a nicer weekend outfit. Every child would get a book, a puzzle and a toy. At each store, they took their assignments and split up, meeting a half hour later, arms fully loaded. That evening, they called more friends.

"You don't have to shop, but can you chip in to help give these kids a Christmas?"

The bags piled high and it really did begin to look like the Santa's Workshop in those old claymation movies like Rudolph. Each item was tagged with a child's name, age and size, grouped together by family. Teenage sons and daughters wrapped each gift, and in abou ta week, the sleigh-ok, the van was loaded to head back to New York City.

The week after Christmas, this Santa had yet another note in the mail. Parents and children alike were thrilled and awed by this mystery Santa and her ability to provide the perfect gifts.

Over the years, the list has grown from 16 to 30 children. Every year, Santa and her elves climb into the car early in the morning, stop at Dunkin' Donuts for some fuel and share the magic of Christmas with those who need a reminder that Santa is real.

T13

I am woefully behind in blogworld. I promise to catch up on all of your blogs very soon, but first I thought I'd do a T13 to catch you up on the 13 days since my last post.

1. The b-ball team is 2 and 0. The final score of the first game was 21-18. The second game finished at 28-27 in OverTime! We've only had one practice and it's pure chaos on the court. Tonight at practice, we plan on teaching the girls an actual offense and an inbounds play. We play our third game on Sunday, then we're off til 1/7.

2. I organized a successful scholarship reception for about 200 people. Later that evening, I read at the the College's annual Festival of Lessons and Carols--the night officially makes it feel like Christmas. It helped that there was a light snow swirling outside the chapel at the end of the night.

3. Last Saturday, I chopped down my very own Christmas tree. She's very Charlie Brown in stature...though much fuller than C.B.'s famous tree. 3 feet tall and about as wide as she is tall, but just perfect. Next Friday when I head home, I plan to throw the tree in the back seat for my parents' living room--but first I'll get pictures of my 3 footer next to their 15 footer!

4. Work has been full-throttle. It's exhausting and, at times, frustrating, but we're hanging in there. Our department Christmas luncheon is tomorrow at my favorite restaurant--nothing can top that!

5. I pulled an 11-13 year old girl and a female from the nursing home off the Giving Tree at work. Gifts are due tomorrow and I do not have gifts. Tonight, on my way home from b-ball practice, I'll be stopping at the mall.

6. None of my Christmas shopping is even started. I love love love Christmas, but I am not a good gift person--sometimes I get inspired, but otherwise, it's painful. I hate shopping, so that does not help my cause.

7. Though the last 3 Monday nights have been a bit shorter since I haven't been to Northampton, I do miss my B.Y. friends. I look forward to diving back in this coming Monday.

8. This past Sunday night, I was dead tired and had to babysit overnight. Usually, I try to get the kids to play board games, shoot some hoops, build with Legos, etc. This week, I pulled the youngest onto my lap and we watched the oldest play a handheld video game (he really wanted to show me, but he didn't need an audience of three!). I then let them watch an hour and a half of bad TV before bed. I did read aloud from Harry Potter 6 for a while too.

9. I've been missing new TV. There are some nights I come home and I just want to throw on the TV and find a new episode of a favorite show. No such luck. In the meantime, I have watched several episodes of Sex and the City. Wow.

10. Since I have not seen a couple of my Boston friends since the first weekend in October, we are trying to arrange a get together for this weekend. Hopefully it will happen because I miss them dearly.

11. I've been trying to unpack more in the apartment. The effort has been somewhat unsuccessful as I am too tired when I get home.

12. Today, I spent most of the morning (even though I have a million things to do) editing 2 of my brother's take home finals - one was on British literature and the other on US foreign relations.

13. Last night, I served Midnight Breakfast to students from 11 PM til 1 AM. It's exam week and dining services runs a Midnight Breakfast program and encourages faculty and staff to serve the eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, egg & cheese sandwiches, pancakes, toast and waffles. I came home feeling covered in grease.

And so it begins...

I just got this email:

Quote:
" 'Cue' (or 'Q'?) & E are sooo cool!"
-- Claire , 7:45 p.m. last night.
End Quote.

Our first basketball practice was last night. It was a wild hour and a half and I was reminded that 12, 13 and 14 year old girls communicate in squeals, shrieks and squeaks. Honestly, only dogs can understand what they are saying. 14 of them in a "gym" (cafeteria/auditorium/fake gym) for an hour and a half...exhausting. The girls are cute and most of them have *some* idea of how to play...but our first game is Sunday. I find myself sad that we don't have more time to get ourselves together--I barely know what name goes with what face! (Plus, we have Emily/Elizabeth/Ellen/Ethel/Emily...and Abby/Alysha...and Molly/Michaela/Megan, so it's a constant tongue twister!)

But then this afternoon, I got that email. It's from a colleague of mine with a daughter on the team. Apparently, we're a hit. I'm "Q"--nickname I acquired in L.A. from the kids at school and my co-coach is "E" for Erin. Apparently, we passed the test and we're officially in.

The game on Sunday should be HYSTERICAL...and maybe a little scary.

A Tuesday 13

Hello, all! I hope your holiday festivities were wonderful. I love Thanksgiving...none of the Christmas pressure and chaos. Good family, good friends and good food are the only requirements. Not that I don't love Christmas, because I do...but the whole "perfect gift" for everyone is stressful!

On with the show...

1. I finally gave in and got myself a MA license. The actual license came in the mail yesterday. Under "Sex" is the letter M. That's not right.
2. Thanksgiving was small this year--only 15 of us. Still had a great time.
3. The next night, 20 of us gathered in a cafe on 21st Street in NYC to visit with my cousin Amanda and her daughter Yasmin. They are visiting from Sydney, Australia. It's been 3 years since we've seen them.
4. Amanda is 9 years older than I am. She was raised in Australia, but came to live in NYC when I was about 12 and stayed for about 10 years. I definitely idolized her--this cool, Australian who seemed to have all the answers.
5. I want everyone to like me. It hurts my feelings immensely when I think or know someone doesn't like me--even if that person's a bitch. I'm working on this.
6. There is one person at work in particular--she doesn't like me. I don't like her either, and there's a laundry list of reasons why...but still, it bugs me that she doesn't like me.
8. I'm getting better at just ignoring her and focusing on spending my time, energy and lunch hours on people I genuinely like. It seems like a much wiser use of time.
9. Basketball practice starts this week. Our first game is Sunday! I don't even know the girls' names yet.
10. I have lots of Christmas shopping to do, and NO ideas as to what to buy.
11. The weather is making me sad. I hate global warming--I love snow.
12. Because someone asked me today, I'll share my answer with you all too...my favorite names are Conor and Caroline.
13. Now that I've finished waxing my eyebrows, it's time for bed. Don't you just love the completely random information I share with y'all in these Thirteens?

Snow

As school wrapped up for Christmas vacation, Sara spent a morning lesson planning for the first week of January. Her class was down the hall in the gym, practicing their Christmas pageant song and dance. She had decided to take advantage of some peace and quiet. They would be starting a new story in the reading anthology after break and when she flipped ahead, she saw the story's title: Snow Day. The vocabulary words included drift, plow, frost and snow angel. Her classful of 7 year olds from South Central Los Angeles would have little, if any, experience with anything having to do with snow. Sara would try to dig through photo albums over Christmas break and look for pictures to illustrate these otherwise abstaract concepts.

On Christmas morning, Sara woke up to the familiar scraping in her driveway. Out her window, she saw that the world had been blanketed in a thick coat of white. Grabbing her camera, she ran outside to catch the plow in action. Later that day, Sara cajoled her grumpy brother into making snow angels and snapped a snowblower in action. She captured the snow piled up higher than the bumper of her family van and made her brother stand waist deep in a drift.

Back in California, Sara sat cross-legged on the floor in a circle of 8 students.

"How many of you know what a snow day is?"

No response.

"Have any of you ever seen snow?"

Wendy raised her hand slowly.

"My mama took us to Big Bear Mountain. We made snowballs."

"How deep was the snow? How much was on the ground?"

Wendy thought for a moment, "We could still see some of the grass under the snow."

"Can you imagine having so much snow that they cancel school?"

Wendy shook her head, eyes wide. The rest of the group laughed.

Sara pulled out the picturesfrom Christmas morning and passed them around the circle. She explained how snow plows cleared the streets and how people used snow blowers and shovels to clear sidewalks and driveways. She told them about 5:30 AM phone calls that meant you could sleep until 9 and then spend the whole day playing in the snow and drinking hot chocolate. Sara had also brought a few pictures of herself at 6 or 7 years old, playing in a snowfilled yard and sledding down the hill in front of the high school. Her kids squealed with delight--the thought that Sara had ever been a little kid was hilarious to them.

After a few snowy stories about life in New Jersey, Sara reviewed the target vocabulary, making each student point out the term in one of her pictures. When she felt confident that the words had become concrete objects, they opened their textbooks and began to read.

a twist on the Random 10

Sorry I've been M.I.A.! I'll be better, I promise.

I got this from a friend...I'm looking forward to seeing what your soundtracks are!

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

Opening Credits: Another Horsedreamer's Blues (Counting Crows)
Waking up: Jesus on the Radio (Guster)
Falling in Love: Mercy House (The Nields)
Fight Song: If He Never Said Hello (Linda Eder)
Breaking up: Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes)
Prom: As Long as You're Mine (Wicked)
Life: After All (Linda Eder)
Mental Breakdown: I Spy (Guster)
Driving: It Happens Every Day (Dar Williams)
Flash Back: The Sweetness (Nerissa and Katryna Nields)
Getting Back Together: Ali Boumaye (Nerissa and Katryna Nields)
Wedding: From Me to You (The Beatles)
Birth of a Child: She's Saving Me (Indigo Girls)
Final Battle: All My Pretty Horses (The Nields)
End Credits: What Do You Love More Than Love (Dar Williams)

slacker

That's me! As our friend GretaJane reminded me last night, I am woefully behind on blogging and commenting. I'm going to try to make up some ground today. As a start, here's my piece from last night's Big Yellow session.

* * * * *

I don't remember learning how to play basketball. I've known how to dribble, pass and shoot for as long as I can remember. Throw that hard, orange sphere at my face and my hands will catch it, instinctively dribbling, spinning and playing mindlessly with it. My mom taught us how to play--she'd played ball in college, coached and reffed for years. At the age of 15, she started to run clinics in the South Bronx for elementary and high school students. Naturally, she'd raised her children with a ball in hand.

My sister and I attended one ballet lesson when I was about 6--Erin was 4. My mom still insists it was our idea. At the end of class, the teacher walked over to my mother and suggested that we find a different activity for Tuesday afternoons. Halfway through ballet class, I'd turned to her and asked for the ball.

When I was 9, my father's best friend began coaching the Fordham University women's basketball team. That summer, he started a girls' basketball camp. My mom signed on as a coach and we spent the next 4 summers playing ball and living for a week or 2 in the Fordham dorms.

When I was 13 years old, I fell out of a chairlift while on a day long ski trip. The 30 foot fall snapped my arm in half. When the orthopedic surgeon determined that surgery to insert stell plates and screw was the only way to stabilize my arm, I didn't flinch. When he followed that with the fact that contact sports were off limits for at least 2 years, I was devastated. High school was just a few months away and he was effectively telling me that I wouldn't see playing time on a field or a court.

A few years later, on the first day of college orientation, I turned around while in line for my ID to find Mary O'Reilly standing behind me. Mary and I had played on the same team one summer at camp when we were about 10. As we waited for our turn for ID photos, we began planning our intramural basketball team for that fall. My skills were rusty at best, but it didnt' talk long for my muscles to remember the mechanics and rhythms of the game.

In 2 weeks, I'll begin coaching my own team of 7th and 8th grade girls. I've never had to coach a team all by myself and I'm already racking my brain, trying to remember drills for practice and different offensive sets for games. I've been told that the girls don't have a solid foundation of basic skills, so I've been making lists of the drills I can remember that are designed to teach the basics of passing and rebounding, the art of the free throw and the mechanics of a lay up. Thanksgiving weekend will be spent discussing strategy with my mom and coming up with offensive plays that we can call "Holy Cross," "Syracuse" and "Duke." I'm planning a Saturday afternoon or two when I can bring my girls to watch the HC women play so that they can see what a tight zone defense actually looks like.

I'm not looking to win the league title or even have a winning record (though that would be nice!). In the end, I want to create an atmosphere for the girls to have fun, hopefully learn a little and laugh a lot. And honestly, I can't wait to be back on a court with a ball in my hand helping to make that happen.

Thursday Thirteen

1. I have to work for part of this weekend.
2. Before I help with a black tie event Saturday evening, I'll be getting a haircut.
3. I'm not sure how much of a haircut I'm getting.
4. I love taking pictures. (I'm sure this shocks you all!)
5. This week, I bought some frames and ordered some prints...soon, they will be on my walls.
6. My blank walls are driving me crazy.
7. I'm going to Denver from Tuesday until Saturday for work.
8. While I'm there, I'll visit with a friend from home--I haven't seen her in 4 or 5 years.
9. My cousin Amanda is coming in from Australia for Thanksgiving.
10. She's bringing her 6 year old daughter, Yasmin.
11. Amanda is quite ill, but hopefully I'll get a good visito or two in with her and with Yazzie.
12. My cousin Hannah will be home from South Carolina too.
13. It's time for bed.

Happy Anniversary to us

25 years ago on Halloween night, a woman knocked on our front door. My parents had just moved their little family (2 1/2 year old and 8 month old little girls) from New Rochelle, NY to Ramsey, NJ on that very day. The woman at the door, AQ, lived 2 doors down with her husband, DQ, and their 2 kids. And so began our life in Ramsey.

Ramsey is a family town--there are 3 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school--plus a Catholic elementary school and an all-boys Catholic high school. We celebrate "Ramsey Day" every September--complete with a street fair and fireworks. There's an amazing park with 8 baseball/softball fields, 3 basketball courts, 2 tennis courts and a huge playground that the town built together one summer when I was about 8.

I grew up in that park. My dad played in a summer Sunday softball league for about 12 years. He joined the summer after we moved to Ramsey at AQ's husband's suggestion. It was a team of men in their 30s, for the most part, so there was a whole flock of kids under the age of 8. There were barbeques and pool parties, playdates and new additions. My first best friends were boys from this group. As we got older, my sister and I became the big kids who escorted the little ones to the playground and supervised so that the moms could talk and watch the games. Later, I played softball myself on those fields. Ramsey's recreational sports program is enormous--my parents spent weekends of their lives at soccer, basketball, softball, baseball and football games (and swim meets too). My parents served as coaches for our baseball, softball and basketball teams. My siblings and I grew up walking to the Catholic elementary school across town and riding our bikes to the stores on Main Street or over to our friends' houses. My brother and his friends could walk into town for bagels, sandwiches and baseball cards by the time they were eight years old--it was just that kind of town.

I'm not sure if my parents intended to stay in Ramsey for so long, or if they really knew the kind of community they had chosen. I do know that I'm eternally grateful for their decision and the life it gave me. It was the perfect place to grow up. It's a town where you wave at least 3 times as you drive down Main Street because you see people you know. When I come home for a visit these days, I bump into old friends at church and in the supermarket. The guys who run the deli and the pizza place know who I am and ask how "mama" is doing these days. As for my parents, I think they're pretty happy with their choice too--when I talked to my mom last night, she was headed out to the bar for a glass of wine with a friend from town. And yesterday she was able to say "Happy Anniversary" to the woman who came to our front door 25 years ago Halloween night with a casserole--AQ is the 2nd grade aide at my mother's school.

Magic Happens There

As we walked up the hill from our offices on Friday afternoon, my friend and colleague JD looked at me and said, "You're living life right." I had just told her of my weekend plans--to gather with old friends and new in a cozy living room in a big yellow house in Northampton.

I thought a lot about JD's comment this weekend. When I sit in that living room, pen on paper, I revisit a time in my life that was lonely and miserable. I felt isolated partly because I was--both physically and emotionally--and partly because I didn't know how to seek out connections in that strange city.

When I moved to MA last summer, Nerissa suggested that I join a writing workshop and I figured, "What the hell?" I never expected to discover the safety, security, community and joy that I've experienced in my writing workshops. So, I keep coming back--I delve deeper and deeper into my three years in L.A. All the while I am mindful of the fact that I'm making up for lost time. I am taking advantage of an opportunity that makes me happy and whole and leaves me "under the influence."

I'm going to fall in line behind *A* and give you a "top ten" weekend recap:
1) Team George. Rematch in March?
2) The hootenanny at kj and jb's house.
3) Songwriters...what a fabulous addition to the group!!
4) The power blowing out in A & my room on Sunday morning.
5) Seeing 3D (shy) versions of Charlotte and Iris.
6) Successfully fitting 11 of us (plus Lila) around the dinner table for family dinner on Saturday night.
7) Wandering through "Faces" with A & N on Saturday afternoon.
8) Thai food on the way out of town on Sunday.
9) Lila (c'mon, she had to make my top 10)
10) The exciting, fresh and totally outstanding writing that came out of this weekend from all of our pens and guitars.

This past weekend couldn't have been more perfect. It was the reunion I'd been waiting for with my January friends--with some perfect additions to the crowd. I look forward to our March reunion.

T13: Big Yellow Edition

Here's what I'm looking forward to...

1) Seeing kj, A, N and M!!
2) New people with new writing
3) Tea and Cookies
4) NFN's cooking
5) Lunch at the Brewery
6) Saturday afternoon freedom in Noho
7) 3D versions of Charlotte and Iris (and Eli too)
8) Testing a new motel (am I *really* looking forward to this?!)
9) Hearing the brilliant writing of wonderful people
10) Sweet Lila girl
11) Seeing N's Gatsby Girl
12) Crazy amounts of laughter
13) It is worth repeating--a WHOLE weekend with kj, A, N and M!!

Tuesday 13

A little late on the Thursday 13! I went home on Wednesday night for a visit with the Irish cousins. We had a grand weekend--lots of family, food and some NYC sightseeing to boot.

1. The Irish cousins have replacement knees, hips and shoulders.

2.
Therefore, we took an aquatic tour of NYC on this boat.

3.
We saw the Empire State Building (it was a grey day, but fairly warm and not raining).

4.
And the Statue of Liberty.

5.
We came up on the south side of Manhattan.

6.
And under the Brooklyn Bridge.

7.
The World Financial Center with the restored Wintergarden Theater in between--my dad's part of the City.

8.
No trip is complete without a stop at St. Pat's!

9. All a far cry from home for them.


10. Friday night, we went out to dinner in Gramercy Park.


11. Notice the picture of Gregory Peck hanging over the table. I love Atticus Finch.

12.
The whole group at Saturday night's dinner party.

13. The group includes cousins and 2 women who traveled to Ireland with my mom in the early 70s.

Weekend happenings

I am still in recovery mode from a non-stop weekend. It was, however, just what I needed after a particularly trying week at work. This week isn't much better, so I'm grateful for a fun and chaotic weekend.

Friday night, I decided at the last minute to join a few work friends on a jaunt to wonderful Northampton, MA. Our VP's son and his band (Okkervil River) played the 10 PM show at the Iron Horse. We met up with some of Meg's friends for thai food, then wandered over to the IH. I'd NEVER seen such a line--going in both directions, up and down the street, wrapping around into parking lots. The boys had played Buffalo the night before and due to 2 feet of snow, had a tough time getting out. So they were just arriving at 9:30 when doors were supposed to open. We stood out in the cold for an hour and the show didn't finish til 2 AM, but it was fun. A different sound than I'm used to, but I really liked it and the venue was perfect.

Saturday, after sleeping in due to a 3:15 am homecoming, I went to my friend Kelley's wedding. It was in Andover, MA and it couldn't have been prettier. Kel's mom died soon after Kelley graduated from HC, so it was a little bittersweet, but Kel and her husband seemed very happy. We danced the night away to some of the best music I've ever heard at a wedding. I generally hate dancing, but it was well worth it.

Yesterday, I traveled with my friend Bethany to New Haven, CT. Since I missed N&K at the Iron Horse on Saturday night, I made up for it with their New Haven house concert. It's become my favorite show of the year. 25 or 30 of us packed into a tiny living room, surrounded by wonderful music. Lots of new songs that made me anxious for the new CD release. It won't leave my cd player for months, I'm sure. Perfect way to end the weekend.

As if that's not enough, as N reminded me earlier today, in 11 short days I will see many of you. I'm just giddy. I will miss those of you who are not there dearly, though!

T13

Sorry I've been MIA. Work has been absolutely crazy and I'm pretty spent. I will try to catch up on your blogs tonight and tomorrow night. I'm thinking of you all though...and getting increasingly excited for the Big Yellow retreat. 15 days!

1. I bought a 6-pack of Blue Moon last night.
2. Since I don't have roommates to drink/eat my stuff anymore, the remaining 5 bottles should last me til Thanksgiving.
3. I love the fall.
4. I'm going to my 2nd wedding as many weekends on Saturday night.
5. The director of the Chaplains' Office at HC is one of my favorite people in the world.
6. We scheduled our first lunch of the school year for the Friday of retreat weekend--great way to start if all off.
7. Next week, my grandmother's cousins are coming from Ireland for 5 days--they've never been to the States. I'm psyched to see them.
8. Thanks to my parents, my apartment now has a love seat in the living room.
9. After boiling pasta for dinner last night, I realized I had neither tupperware for the leftovers or a colander to drain the ravioli.
10. In using the top to drain the water, I dumped half the pasta down the drain. That solved the leftovers problem.
11. I ordered new stationery this week.
12. The cards are handmade by my youth minister from high school. Weehah! Cards
13. Let's Go Mets! (I'm still a (depressed) Yankee fan, but in their absence, I'll pull for the Mets)

quick check in

Ah, October is here. As I drove out to Noho on Monday night, the sunset was incredible and the light on the trees along the Pike was breath-taking. The leaves are beginning to change and the sunset cast them all in a golden glow. It's going to be a busy month (2 weddings, a huge work event, visit from Irish relatives and a fabulous BY retreat)--but I'm psyched.

Yesterday was my parents' 30th anniversary. Monday night's prompt got me thinking and I wound up writing some of what I've learned about love from my parents. NFN called it a prescription for love...whatever it is, I thought I'd share.

*You can never have too many friends. Make them at every opportunity. Throw parties where you bring those you’ve known for 10 days, 10 years and 40 years together in one place. It’s important to have friends who make you laugh, friends who will jump in front of a bus for you and friends who will sit up until 1 AM, with a bottle of wine, to plan a funeral with you.

*Be there for the little things. Coach your daughter’s basketball team and your son’s baseball team. Take a Saturday to go to Jones Beach. Make a fool of yourself to make your child-or your spouse-laugh.

*Support each other. When my father gets up at 5 AM to catch a train into the city, my mom is there with him—every day for 30 years. My mother decided to go back to school for her doctorate last year. Just when my father thought he was through with tuition, he began again.

*Smile a lot. Hold hands. Enjoy each others’ company. Take long walks on the beach. Eat dinner together. Have date nights. Ski, swim and bike tighter. Do your own thing every once in a while. Laugh.

a late 13...moving day edition

1. I sign my lease in less than an hour.
2. It's at a different apartment than I thought it would be last weekend.
3. I hate feeling unsettled.
4. I cry when I am frustrated--pretty much the only time I cry.
5. So, there have been some tears this week.
6. When a coworker came to check on my progress on Tuesday, I almost burst into tears just talking about being frustrated and unsettled.
7. She gave me a hug and burst into tears herself.
8. I'm grateful to have people to lean on and who lean on me in return.
9. My car is currently packed to the gills.
10. After I sign my lease, I'll be unloading my car, driving back to the house and loading up again.
11. My father and uncle arrive tomorrow morning to help move my bedroom furniture.
12. It will require a uHaul rental.
13. Is it Monday yet?

cheat post

My writing from tonight...more real stuff tomorrow, I hope. You should know that this is "Sara's" story...just from the first person point of view...switched it up tonight.
*** *** *** *** ***
I should have known better. The far-end of my classroom is cluttered with boxes in various stages of paper mache and paint. Some stand 3 boxes tall, others are in pieces. All of them block the path to my desk--and to the lockers where my students store their backpacks and sweaters. There is a bin filled with newspaper and half-empty bottles of starch and another bin filled with paints, brushes and rags. I really should have known better.

Two months ago, Nancy--the 7th grade teacher, fellow coach of the middle school girls' basketball team and general partner-in-crime--approached me with an idea--a project our classes could work on together--totem poles. It would be an art project and a writing project combined. After all, totem poles were supposed to tell a stories. I hesitated from the get-go because art is far from my strong suit, but Nancy--B.A. in art in-hand--assured me that she would take care of that end--she would supervise the construction of the totem poles from boxes, through newspaper tearing, starching and paint. And, having temporary amnesia, I agreed.

I agreed even though just a few months earlier, we had been ear-deep in another of her crazy projects. Each year during Lent, classes were paired up and responsible for a dramatization of the Stations of the Cross. Most grades simply read through the stations while acting them out. The classes took a week to practice their renditions during religion time and in the half hour before dismissal. Nancy, of course, had a better idea for the 7th and 2nd grades. She took the images from my Stations of the Cross coloring book and, using overhead projectors, had her students trace the images onto 9' x 9' paper. All 14 stations were then painted cooperatively by the 2nd and 7th grades. This took the better part of a week and a half to complete. Once the painting finished, Nancy cut each 9'x9' rendering into 9 separate squares. Preparations moved from the gym floor to the church. As each station was read, my 2nd graders came out to re-enact the scene. As they did so, 9 of Nancy's 7th graders flipped up the squares--sports arena style--to reveal corresponding station. We rehearsed endlessly--Nancy was a perfectionist and this was going to be the best presentation ever. When her "flippers" complained that they were tired, Nancy shot back, "Jesus died on te Cross, you didn't hear him complaining. Suck it up!" She was a little too into it.

So, as I said, I should have known better. But I agreed to the totem pole project--now referred to as Totem Hell (by me, not the kids). The totem pole stories had been an adventure in themselves, having 7 year olds and 13 year olds as co-authors--genius! Now that the stories were complete, each animal in the story needed to be reflected on the totem pole. Boxes were stacked and taped together, beaks for eagles and snouts for bears were construced and taped into place. Nancy's promise to run this leg of the project is a distant memory. Every time we start to work on the totems, she's called into a meeting.

So it's me, 70 kids and 35 totem poles every day in the parking lot. I've never really paper mache'd before and bottles of starch are being knocked over on the blacktop at an alarming rate. One night, I actually bought out K-Mart's entire stock of liquid starch.

At the end of each day, Totem Hell gets returned to my classroom--I'm not sure who's decision that was. But the school year ends in 2 weeks and I'm determined to finish every one.

Relief

I am 99% sure that I have an apartment. I think I'll be signing a lease on Monday. I love the place...it's teeny tiny, but since I'm the only one living there, it's fine. I'm signing a 6 month lease because it's street parking and on the first level on a main street. If either of those become a problem, I don't want to be stuck for a year. In 6 months, I'll likely sign another lease, probably for a year. I will email you all the website where you can see pictures. I love the fact that it has character. The previous tenant painted, so the kitchen is a burnt pumpkin, the living room is a sunny yellow and the bedroom is a sage green. There's a working woodburning fireplace that is original to the building from the 1920s and a pretty stained glass window in the living room. I could start the move in as early as next Tuesday!

In other news, my mother is beside herself with excitement. Cousins from Ireland (in their 70s) are coming for a visit in October (thankfully not Big Yellow weekend!)--they've never been to the U.S. My mother spent 3 summers with them when she was in her early 20s and I've spent time with them on both of my trips to Ireland. I can't wait to see them and to spend some time showing them NYC. John is a vet and was a world-class equestrian/jumper back in the day. He and his wife Eileen are delightful and hysterical. My brother was named for John--his surname, Blake, is Ryan's middle name. So, my mom's pretty happy and so am I.

I also booked my November conference in Denver. 4 days that I'm "working" but not in the office. It's the week following our on-campus, black tie campaign celebration, so I'm sure I'll need the escape.

This weekend, I'll catch up with a T13 and maybe even a Friday 10.

T13

Hello all. I'm sorry for my lack of blogging--I have tried to comment on all of your blogs though! Work is a bit crazed at the moment, but in a good way. The apartment hunt has come to a shuddering halt because I have no time to look and I'm really discouraged by what I've seen.

**disclaimer--the following is a grammatical mess. I am too tired and too grumpy to care.**

1. Fall is arriving in MA.
2. This means sweaters--and I love sweaters.
3. I had a massage yesterday.
4. It felt nice in the moment, but I'm pretty tight and pained again already.
5. Maybe I need to think about a chiropracter--I haven't been since high school.
6. I think falling 30 feet out of a chairlift and landing on my feet screwed with my back permanently.
7. Some friends at work are going through really tough times right now.
8. The feeling of helplessness that leaves me with is one of my least favorite things in the world.
9. For her birthday, I am giving one of these friends a free night of babysitting--she and her husband can get out and enjoy an evening--I'll play with their boys and their puppy.
10. I'm terrified that I'll walk into BY next week and freeze--that I'll have nothing to write, because right now, I have NO clue!
11. I've always been very extroverted, but lately, I've noticed myself hanging back and staying quiet more and more.
12. I'm looking forward to catching up with Grey's Anatomy season 2 this weekend.
13. This past year, in this job, in this state, with the activities I've been involved in (like BY) has been the happiest since I graduated from college.

cross your fingers, please

The apartment hunt continues. I went to see a place last night--the location is GREAT, but the apartment was old. Appliances were new, but the wallpaper, paint and ceiling tiles needed major attention. And they are asking the same price as some of the "brand new" place I've seen! My friend at work told me today that her grandmother lived in the building 30 years ago--and I honestly don't think they've repainted since! I'm going to see another one tomorrow in a condo complex. I like the location, the woman who owns the condos that I'd be renting seems very very nice. Cross your fingers that it works!

On the bright side, NFN just sent out an email to my Monday group and I am beyond excited. It also made me giddy for October. Can't wait to see some of you!

finally!

Blogger works. I head home to NJ for the weekend tonight, but I'll be back for work on Monday. No, HC is not closed on Labor Day--yippee ;) I can't wait to go home. This apartment hunting is sucking the life and joy out of me. I am so frustrated by the limited market in this area and lack of affordable, SAFE options. I just want to move already. Have I mentioned that I'm impatient?

Enough of that. It's September! Welcome to fall. It's the month I will return to my cozy spot on a floor in Northampton, even if I remain apartment-less.

And it's Friday. You know what that means. The iPod is DJ and no apron-wringing!

1. when i reach the place i'm goin' (the verdant mile)--tracy grammer
2. yesterday (1)--the beatles
3. preston miller (flower of avalon)--tracy grammer
4. one man wrecking machine (ganging up on the sun)--guster
5. hey conductor (tanglewood tree)--dave carter and tracy grammer
6. this is where it ends (born on a pirate ship)--barenaked ladies
7. ruby falls (ganging up on the sun)--guster
8. just like that (remembering rachel)--dar williams
9. hope alone (become you)--indigo girls
10. you may be right (essential collection)--billy joel
Bonus: what do you hear in these sounds (end of the summer)--dar williams

General Thoughts--A great set. This week, my iPod clearly fell for Tracy Grammer's voice, and really, who can blame it! I don' think there's a bad song here.

Seen Live--Tracy Grammer, Guster, Dar Williams, Indigo Girls, Billy Joel

Favorite Album--There are some great ones here...I'm having trouble deciding between Flower of Avalon and Tanglewood Tree. Dave Carter has definitely become one of my favorite song writers.

Favorite Lyric--And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing/And they'd know that I was scared/They'd would know that I was guessing/But the wall came down and there they stood before me/With their stumbling and their mumbling/And their calling out just like me

i'm early too

I'm early too. We have a stupid work retreat tomorrow. Here it is, my week in images.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

13)

quickly...

I need to go to sleep. The cab is coming in 4 hours to take me to the airport (ahh, gotta love the 4:30 AM cab ride!). My heart is breaking a bit to leave the kids behind. You'll see some pictures later in the week, but they are simply the most gorgeous, loving, sweet children ever. We read and played and swam and smashed jellyfish and sang "Aiken Drum." I've fallen head-over-heels in love with them both and I don't want to leave them behind. It's been a great weekend, if only too short. Back to work tomorrow (today really).

random 10

Let the iPod or other source of tunes play D.J. and let us know what it spins out. No apron-wringing!

1. cat eye willie claims his lover (tanglewood tree)--dave carter and tracy grammer
2. you may be right (the essential collection)--billy joel
3. maybe it's love (if you lived here, you'd be home now)--the nields
4. calling the moon (the green world)--dar williams
5. jeremy newborn street (if you lived here you'd be home now)--the nields
6. on the air (little star)--girlyman
7. farewell to the old me (beauty of the rain)--dar williams
8. fruitcakes (live at fenway park)--jimmy buffett
9. santa monica pier (good thing he can't read my mind)--christine lavin
10. even now (it's no secret anymore)--linda eder

General Thoughts: My iPod continues to favor the sisters Nields. Quite a folky set today...appropriate for a day when I'm going to see Dar in concert.

Seen Live: Tracy Grammer (unfortunately, I missed Dave Carter), Billy Joel, the Nields, Dar, Girlyman, Christine Lavin and Linda Eder

Really Enjoyed: Cat Eyed Willie, On the Air, Santa Monica Pier

Memory Trigger: When we were little, we listened to a LOT of Billy Joel--I mean, it's classic! My sister used to sing the line "Friday night I crashed your party" as "Friday night I crashed your body"...and my mom heard her singing it one day and couldn't believe that Billy Joel was singing about such a thing! Most of the time, I still sing it that way.

**I will "see" you all Tuesday. My flight leaves at 7 AM tomorrow for Philly and I will spend the weekend with my British cousins. Have fantabulous week!**

T13

1. I am seeing Dar Williams in Lowell tomorrow night.

2. Saturday, I head south to meet my cousin Larissa's 2 munchkins. The family is in from London--I haven't seen Riss and her husband in 5.5 years. I have yet to meet their 3 year old, Minty, or their 1 year old, Ned.

3. While in MD, I'll be ever searching for pictures to serve the visual T13.

4. I love Coldstone Creamery.

5. I'm sad that I'll be no where near a TV for any of the 5 Yankee/RedSox games this weekend. Should be a bloodbath.

6. I told my roommate about the move. She isn't crazy about me moving out on the 15th. I figure I'm giving her 1 month's notice and that's sufficient. I have no lease and won't be made to feel guilty.

7. I'm already looking at pics I've taken and which ones I want to blow up as wall art for my very own place.

8. I taught a 5 year old to swim this week--the whole length of our inground pool.

9. This October, my parents will celebrate 30 years of marriage--and 25 years of living in my hometown.

10. If you were to look in my closet, 1/2 - 2/3 of my wardrobe is blue.

11. One of life's simple pleasures is an ice cold CAN of coke.

12. Our maintenance department came up this week and hung my office wall decor--a b&w photo of Manhattan looking south to north, pre 9-11--the Twin Towers stand proudly. Also, 3 frames with 4 3x3 openings each--one of b&ws of sights around my hometown, one of color shots of Ireland, one of b&ws of my favorite spots in Santa Monica, CA.

13. Most of the time, my boss and I are very much on the same page--it's scary at times.

the hunt

So, after all the griping I did about apartment hunting, I just *may* have found the place on my first try. The building has recently had walls-out renovation...the renovation is so new, in fact, that they are still laying carpet in the hallways and touching up the paint. All new appliances in each apartment and electric heat. In-house security, which in this city is something I value...and on-site management and maintenance.

The price is a *bit* more than I was looking to pay, but I think I can swing it, particularly if I pick up some more babysitting gigs and some tutoring, which I plan on doing. I am looking at another place tomorrow, but made a follow-up at the place from Saturday to go over details, see if a Sept 15 move-in would be feasible. I was originally shooting for Sept 1, but that's Labor Day weekend and I think it'll be too hectic. I really do want to have it done during September though! Also, I feel like Sept 15 is giving fair warning to my current situation.

Now, I have to break it to the current landlord/roommate. I'm a little nervous about that. But I think I can sell it with the whole "I am ready to live on my own, by myself" bit, which is very true. I'm done with roommates, done with feeling like I'm hiding in my bedroom.

day late and a dollar short: random 10

So, after work yesterday, I headed into Boston to see Guster at the Pavillion. I'd never been to the venue before--outdoors right on the harbor...a great location and boy, did the boys from Boston put on a great show!

I tried to use Pandora, but it won't work (can't hear it on this computer), so we'll just turn to the ol' iPod. I'm kicking it off with a song from last night, but we'll see where it spins after that. No apron-wringing!

1. barrel of a gun (lost and gone forever)--guster
2. mercy of the fallen (beauty of the rain)--dar williams
3. seven years (come away with me)--norah jones
4. he loves the road (love and china)--nerissa and katryna nields
5. sarah maria (gorilla)--james taylor
6. all together singing in the kitchen (all together singing in the kitchen)--the nields
7. an innocent man (the essential collection)--billy joel
8. the city of new orleans (hobo's lullaby)--arlo guthrie
9. teenagers, kick our butts (the end of summer)--dar williams
10. jack and diane (american fool)--john mellencamp

Random Thoughts: My iPod's crush on the sisters Nields continues.

Seen Live: Guster, Dar, The Nields, Billy Joel

Enjoying: Barrel of a Gun, Sarah Maria and Teenagers

Lyric with Best Use of Simile:
Fragile as a leaf in autumn/Just fallin' to the ground/Without a sound

thursday already!

Time for another 13 random thoughts.

1. Mrs. Sullivan was my favorite teacher ever. I had her for first grade and even though she's the only teacher who ever gave me a "detention" (I was talking to Katherine in class), I still love her best.

2. We were released from "detention" early when Sr. Brigitta, the 3rd grade teacher, came in, gave us a blessing and had us apologize.

3. I had 3 nuns for teachers in grammar school and 4 or 5 in high school.

4. I took horse-back riding lessons for 2 years.

5. Apartment hunting is frustrating. I've never really had to do it before--during my teacher-service corps, housing was provided. Then I lived with family and this current living situation came together pretty quickly with not too much searching.

6. I have never lived alone--I'm both nervous and excited at the prospect.

7. I spent all 4 of my college spring breaks building houses--in Tennessee, Florida, Maine and Mississippi.

8. Most mornings, as I try to figure out what I'm wearing, I long for the 12 years when I wore a uniform.

9. I am looking forward to fall leaves.

10. I secretly love What Not to Wear on TLC.

11. My top 3 world destinations are Australia, Africa and Alaska.

12. I don't think I'll be seeing World Trade Center--I'm still not ready.

13. I have 3 phone calls to return right now.

a real blog

Summer is flying by and all I seem to be able to do is post an occasional 13 or random 10. Today, the boss is out, our secretary is out and I'm having a less than productive day. So I might as well blog.

So, the news here is that I'm looking for an apartment. I go through this phase every few months, but I think I might be serious this time--LOL! I'm just tired of having roommates, tired of feeling like I have to hide in my room, tired of coming home from a weekend away to find that all my soda's been consumed and not replaced. None of these are HUGE deals, but in combination over time, I just feel like it's time to at least start looking for alternatives. The challenge is going to be finding something in a decent neighborhood that's as affordable as where I am now. I hate moving!

Other than that, it's pretty quiet on my end. Work is crazy--I signed 300 letters yesterday. My signature isn't a pretty thing under normal circumstances...by letter 100, it was pretty ugly! I'm looking forward to the coming Fridays--this week, I see Guster in Boston. Next week, Dar's playing an outdoor venue in Lowell and the following Friday, I believe I'm taking a few young tykes into Boston to see the sisters Nields play a kid's show. Plus my little side trip to Maryland to see my cousins' kids. I'm actually looking forward to the routine of fall at this point!

a belated 13

I took a last minute trip to the Cape with my mom, aunt and nana from Tuesday evening til yesterday morning. I missed y'all.

1. I am singing and dancing to Tailspin right now. I also just got 2 new Dave and Tracy cds (Seven is the Number and Tanglewood Tree). I am a musically satisfied girl.

2. With all the travelling both near and far I've done this summer, I'm feeling a little scattered.

3. My bedroom (and my desk at work) reflect this!

4. Just when I thought my travels were over, I got a call yesterday saying that my cousin Larissa is coming from England for 2 weeks. She will be with her husband and their 2 young kids--so there will be another long weekend in the next 3 weeks--likely on MD's Eastern Shore.

5. As a result of my "scatteredness," I bought 2 desk calendars (one for work and one for home) and a new planner yesterday--to feign organization and planning.

6. I smiled a huge smile when I wrote in the October retreat at Big Yellow.

7. I love everything about the ocean--the sound, the smell, the saltiness it leaves on my skin. You could see the Vineyard from the beach this week and I just wanted to swim all the way there.

8. I am woefully out of shape. Every Sunday, I think, "This is going to be the week I start hitting the gym."

9. Considering I have access to the on-campus pool/track/gym for FREE, it's pathetic that I haven't gotten there yet.

10. In 10 months, my brother will graduate with his BA on a Sunday. We will then haul ass from western OH to NJ where my mother will graduate with her Ed.D. on Monday.

11. Though I love my current job and situation, I contemplate going back to school regularly--for about 6 different things.

12. When I taught, the younger kids all called me "Miss Q"--this turned into the big kids just calling me "Q"--I loved it all.

13. I have not been to church in a couple of months. I am feeling a wee bit guilty and need to get in the habit again.

T.G.I.F.!!!

It's Friday again. This weekend will be spent hanging around the house, relaxing, swimming, some grocery shopping. I'm looking forward to a bit of downtime.

Alright, here we go. You know the drill. Shuffle up and deal. No apron-wringing!

1. party generation (end of summer)--dar williams
2. heading home (love and china)--nerissa and katryna nields
3. happy frappy (parachute)--guster
4. strangers like me (disney's greatest hits 3)--phil collins
5. love me do (1)--the beatles
6. jennifer falling down (play)--the nields
7. this town is wrong (if you lived here, you'd be home now)--the nields
8. mona lisa (parachute)--guster
9. stupid (afterglow)--sarah mclachlan
10. phantom doll (flower of avalon)--tracy grammer

Seen Live: Dar, N&K, Guster, Tracy

Majorly enjoying: Heading Home, Happy Frappy, Phantom Doll--this is a pretty stellar set, though.

Memory Trigger: Strangers Like Me used to stop my friend's son from crying on a dime. The opening chords would sound, and even if Ben was in major meltdown mode, he'd immediately stop crying and listen intently.

Favorite Lyric: will i say "i love you" even when they are just words/the way words sometimes are when you pray

thursday thirteen...the frff edition

4 days later, and I'm still carrying a bit of Falcon Ridge with me. Here are some of the hilights/lessons learned:

1. Arriving in the daylight (as I did this year) is FAR superior to arriving after 9 PM and pitching a tent in the dark (as I did last year).

2. There is NOTHING better than sitting around laughing and catching up with old friends. Somehow, though the other 2 members of our camp also live in MA, Al and I only manage to see them at FRFF. They are wickedly funny.

3. *Always* wear disposable shoes at FRFF. You never know when you're going to have to navigate gushing streams of mud. My FR flipflops were tossed as we packed up camp on Sunday.

4. Falcon Ridge always holds musical gems that you don't expect. This year, I discovered Dan Bern (hilarious), TaxiChain (very cool) and was introduced to Shawn Colvin's folky side.

5. A Friday Night Song Swap that includes Susan Werner, Christine Lavin and Cheryl Wheeler WILL make you laugh til it hurts.

6. Old favorites never fail to amaze you at FR. There's just a magic about it all. Crooked Still, Tracy Grammer and the Nields put together some of the best sets and workshops I've ever attended.

7. *Never* complain about the sun and the heat. It will come back to bite you in the ass.

8. Embrace the rain--as long as your tent stays dry and the music plays on, how bad can it really be? Muddy, rain soaked hillsides can come in handy and save property and lives.

9. When you are evacuated from your tent at 3 AM due to fire, grab a blanket. Otherwise, you will freeze for 3 hours in the damp, muddy cold. (How many times can the word "mud" be used in one blog entry anyway?)

10. Less than 48 hours is *plenty* of time to establish wonderful friendships that continue to grow. Big Yellow reunions rock and I can't wait for October.

11. Sometimes, you just have to put on clean, dry clothes and pretend that mud isn't caked all over your ankles, feet and legs. It's the only way to get some sleep.

12. Emergency cookies and apples taste better at 4:30 AM than cookies and apples have ever tasted before.

13. As you drive away from the farm--exhausted, filthy, drained and sunburned--you can't help but ask "How many days til Falcon Ridge '07?"

Big Yellow friends, how did we manage to NOT take a photo of the 6 of us together?

rain, flood, fire and mud...my weekend at frff

I am home (well, at work right now).
I am clean.
I am dry.
I am tired.
I am riding a high from good friends and good music.

When I arrived at Dodd's Farm on Thursday, I was a little grouchy. Work had been crummy on Wednesday and I still felt like grumbling and raging. However, as we drove down Rte. 22 towards Hillsdale, I caught a glimpse of multicolored tents and tarps through the trees. I gasped at the beauty of it and suddenly forgot all the work worries. The new farm was great...and the vibe and soul of Falcon Ridge was the same. As I parked my car to get my wristband, the volunteers greeted us with a "Welcome home!" And it really does feel like home.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the music was better than ever this year. Clearly, N&K's energy was better than usual being back on stage after 3 months...I thought NFN was going to jump right off the stage during Tailspin! Other favorites did not disappoint either...Crooked Still, Tracy Grammer (who is just sublime), Lowen and Navarro and EFO had us singing and dancing in our seats. I laughed until my sides hurt with the likes of Christine Lavin, Cheryl Wheeler and Susan Werner. And DD's fave, Dan Bern, had us all laughing hard and ignoring the rain well into the wee morning hours.

Speaking of rain, after a SCORCHING Friday, the rains did come on Saturday. Everything from sprinklings to drizzles to outright downpours...the field of green became a muddy mess. And less than an hour after climbing into our tent, finally dry, in clean clothes and with substantially LESS mud on our feet and legs, AL and I woke up to screaming and talk of 911. A car had caught fire about 50 yards from our tent...we quickly decided to abandon camp, abandon the car and head down the hill in case things got worse. Fire officials had trouble getting up the hill due to mud, but thanks to the ground being wet and tents being wet, etc., the fire didn't spread and just burned out a car or 2. So, in the end, thank God for the rain. It could've been a lot worse.

By far, the hilight of the weekend for me was catching up with my Big Yellow friends. Those of you who couldn't be with us were missed, but it was great to see A, N, J, T and C. T and C, I'm sorry we didn't get to catch up more! I looked around during N&K's mainstage set to see all of your smiling faces and was amazed at the sense of community that had been formed in less than 48 hours.

I'm not sure how coherent I was here and I'm sure that N, J, A, T and C will also have blog entries about this weekend, probably more coherent than mine. I arrived home yesterday exhausted and drained as I did 3 loads of laundry and scrubbed off the mud. I loved every minute of it though!

kissing the new england soil

I've returned from the South. I was the only Yankee in the ranks, so I spent some time deciphering the "southern-ese" spoken in every session. It was a good conference though, learned some interesting things, met some nice people. I'm always glad to meet other professionals in my line of work and realize that I'm not alone in my struggles and that this is a new area of focus for institutions. We're all working without a net. I'm also glad HC doesn't have the tradition of WEARING the school color in professional settings the way that Clemson does. HC Purple is not much more flattering than Clemson Orange.

One of my favorite moments was when I drove past an intersection in SC that had a Dollar General on one corner, an El Cheapo gas station on the other and a Family Dollar on a third corner. About a mile down the road, I found a Dollar Superstore. Also, on the highways and roads leading into campus, there are big orange paw prints, for the Clemson tigers, don'tcha know?

How did it get to be July 16?! FalconRidge is a mere 4 days away and I'm thrilled, but also disturbed! This summer is flying by. I have to go now to do some more shopping for the weekend. I'll be around, but busy this week, so don't worry too much if I disappear. My goal is to post my "road not taken" thoughts by Wednesday. It's been so interesting and enjoyable to read your thoughts.

early 10 and 13

I'm off to South Carolina. Should be hot and sticky--yippee ;) I thought I'd treat you all to a random 10 and a *Tuesday* thirteen.

I set the 'pod a'shufflin. No skipping tracks or rationalizing.

And the winners are:
1. Romeo and Juliet (Rites of Passage)--Indigo Girls
2. Your Fire, Your Soul (Beauty of the Rain)--Dar Williams
3. Red, Red Robin (All Together Singing in the Kitchen)--The Nields
4. Forever Young (Forever Young)--Alphaville
5. Lightning Rod (Ganging Up on the Sun)--Guster
6. Two Points for Honesty (Lost and Gone Forever)--Guster
7. So Close to My Heart (My Better Self)--Dar Williams
8. You Like Me Too Much (Help!)--Beatles
9. Rebecca (Pat McGee)--Pat McGee Band
10. California (The Guest)--Phantom Planet
Bonus: Closer to Fine (Indigo Girls)--Indigo Girls

Seen Live: Indigo Girls, Dar, Nields, Guster, Phantom Planet (as a guster opening)

Good Tunes: Your Fire, Your Soul; Red, Red Robin; Lightning Rod; Rebecca; Closer to Fine

And Not So Much: Romeo and Juliet

Favorite Album: The "newest" albums on this list were all *really* pleasant surprises...I get nervous that new CDs won't be as good as the last, or the first. But Guster's Ganging Up on the Sun is fabulous. Dar's My Better Self is different, but really fabulous. The Nields' latest, All Together Singing in the Kitchen, is delightfully fun.

Least Favorite Album: Well, I only have the one song on it, but I'll go with Alphaville's Forever Young because I just can't imagine it being good!

Memory Trigger: In that same veing, Forever Young is a trigger...I spent 2 summers as a counselor/RA for an academic "camp" in Lancaster, PA. We had 10 dances in a 6 week period and Forever Young was part of the "Canon" that we played at EVERY dance, along with classics like Istanbul, End of the World, Bizarre Love Triangle and American Pie. This song takes me back to a hot, steamy quad, with 600 teenagers dancing all around me.

Favorite Lyric: Could you wear something that celebrates/Everything you love and maybe/What your family hates
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Tuesday Thirteen
1. I have 2 scars on my right forearm from where I had 13 screws and 2 plates inserted.

2. I fell 30 feet out of a chairlift and snapped my arm in half.

3. I love thunderstorms.

4. I am practically counting the hours til FRFF.

5. I am spending the night in Brighton, MA tonight.

6. I'm a little nervous about going to this conference by my lonesome. What if no one talks to me?

7. When I was younger, my mom had my hair permed.

8. I love to fly.

9. I'm planning to coach a 10 year old b-ball team this winter with a co-worker.

10. My first concert was Billy Joel/Elton John at Giants Stadium.

11. I am a Yankees fan (ducks for cover).

12. I was a Yankee fan when they were the worst team in baseball--not a carpetbagger.

13. I'm determined to teach myself the guitar, but I haven't picked it up in months.

love

I am in love, my friends. His name is Jack. He has long arms and endless legs. His fingers are long and skinny. His mouth is kissable and he has deep, soulful blue-grey eyes. His jet black hair is looks ready for a mohawk. My heart melted the moment I saw him.

He is 6 days old.

My weekend was delightful. Friday night, I went into Boston with friends from work for tapas--YUM! Saturday, after seeing my boss' daughter play in a b-ball game, I headed home to NY/NJ for my cousin's college grad party. The apartment is at 22nd and Park and we were on the roof. It was a perfect NYC evening...not too hot, not too humid, no rain...we watched the sun set over the Hudson and had a view of the Chrysler, Empire State and Met Life buildings. Make-your-own-fajita dinner, surrounded by cousins (some of whom I saw in NC, some of whom I didn't), a little time with my parents, siblings and grandmother...it was a great night. Without fail, these nights turn into an opportunity to tell stories about my mom and her cousins growing up, or my generation of cousins as kids. Always fun.

Yesterday, I headed north, with a stop off in CT to see baby Jack. He'd just finished eating, so he was full and happy...he passed out in my arms for an hour and a half...I could have sat there with him all day.

I'm only here today and tomorrow at work, then I head to SC for a conference Wednesday til Friday. I have so much to do at work that I'm a bit overwhelmed, but it'll all get done.

Friday Shufflin'

Once again, it's time for the Random Ten. Set those 'pods a-shufflin' and tell the fine folks of the blogosphere what's spinnin'. No skipping tracks or rationalizing.
Here's the juice:

1. Hallelujah (Grace)--Jeff Buckley
2. Perfect (Goldfly)--Guster
3. Three Hits (Rites of Passage)--Indigo Girls
4. We're Okay (Rent: Original Broadway)--Cast
5. Blood and Fire (Indigo Girls)--Indigo Girls
6. Eternal Flame (Lilith Fair)--Susana Hoffs
7. Either Way (Fooling Around)--Fools on the Hill
8. The Night Before (Help)--Beatles
9. Happy Frappy (Parachute)--Guster
10. Rent (Rent: Original Broadway)--Cast

Seen Live: Guster, Indigo Girls, Rent, Fools

Majorly Enjoyed: Hallelujah, Either Way, Happy Frappy, Rent

Minorly Enjoyed: Blood and Fire

Favorite Album: Rites of Passage or Parachute

Favorite Lyric: Struggling to content ourselves with what we think best/That what makes happy of which we seem never full/Is actually more than plenty though it is already possessed

Thursday Thirteen

I can't wait to dive into the prompt on "The Road Not Taken," but first...

1. My parents have had the same phone number since I was 2.

2. I just ordered a copy of the Nields' newest CD and I'm wicked excited.

3. I am number 4 of 24 cousins.

4. I don't think I could ever give up iced tea and coke.

5. But I don't drink coffee.

6. When I swam competitively, I was a backstroker.

7. I took 2 years of Spanish and 3 years of Latin in high school.

8. I really like TV on DVD.

9. I miss coaching even more than I miss teaching.

10. I think I'll look for a rec league to coach in the fall/winter.

11. I have pictures and prints in my office that haven't gotten on the wall in the last 6 months.

12. I love cards...I love hunting for the perfect card and accumulating pretty/funny cards.

13. I'm a little tired of my current living situation.

summer thoughts

First things first...
Countdown to FRFF: 15 days

Ahhh...summer. The heat, the humidity, the stickiness, the OCEAN. I'm back from my week at the beach and I have a sprinkling of freckles across my nose and cheekbones to prove it. My freckles go into hibernation for the winter, but a few hours in the sun on a June afternoon makes them POP. 3 people have commented on them today, as if they are a new phenomenon. I'm 100% Irish, of course I freckle!

Anyway, I just spent a week here in this house. My cousin Mark graduated from high school and got to choose the family vacation destination and the Outer Banks was his pick. The house was full of my mother's cousins and mine. We played ENDLESS rounds of SlapJack, a few games of Cranium, ate a LOT of seafood (steamed crabs, crabcakes, swordfish, grouper), set off fireworks on the beach, took long walks, hung out in the hot tub, lounged on the beach and played in the ocean. The water was pretty cold and pretty rough (in knee-deep water, Mark's 180 lb. frame was getting knocked on it's ass), but still a delight. There were dolphins jumping on a daily basis. We taught my 10-year old cousin Maya (a mere 53 lbs with not an ounce of fat on her Chinese body) how to boogie board and she LOVED it. She became a total ocean lover in my company. She didn't even mind getting slammed by a few waves...it's not a real day at the ocean til you come up bloody anyway! We made a trip to a Sonic (our first experience with this particular brand of fast-food--we loved it!) and to a Brew-Thru because you can't just drive past the 8 we saw without trying one!

For as long as I can remember, summer has meant the ocean. I have a mother who LOVES the beach. Many summer days and summer weekends were spent at Jones Beach on Long Island with my parents' best friends and their 4 girls. We went to Spring Lake on the Jersey Shore from time to time to spice things up a little bit. Our vacations were to the Outer Banks and later Cape Cod. We spent hours every day on the beach, biked endless miles, wandered the towns of Duck and Chatham, able to return to our favorite shops summer after summer. Sure, there were many days spent at the Ramsey Pool, since it was 5 minutes from home and by the time I was 10, I could ride my bike and/or walk there with my sister...plus, swim-team practice was there at 8 AM every morning all summer long. I learned how to swim in that pool, how to dive in the diving well and played endless hours of games with my best friends there as well. But the ocean meant summer...the smell of sunscreen and saltwater, cokes and cold-cut sandwiches on the beach, playing "chicken" in the waves (you turn your back, link arms and hope for the best--we used to get SLAMMED).

My grandmother (dad's mom) and uncle (dad's brother) also joined us on every summer vacation (to OBX/the Cape) for about 15 years. The huge bonus to this meant that Erin and I could ride with them, and not deal with Ryan during the 5-10 hours of car time involved in driving to said destinations. My grandmother was laid-back and easy-going, loved going to the beach when we were younger, and when she got older, she'd hang in the AC'ed house, watch reruns of Hunter and Golden Girls and Matlock, then ask for updates on the water conditions and beach activities of the day.

When I look ahead 10/15 years or so, I see myself taking my own children for vacations to the same beaches, wandering the same towns, biking the same trails. Vacations weren't about expensive meals (the benefit of renting a house was making our own meals) or extravagant hotels or exotic locations. Vacation was a time to hang out as a family, spent time laughing and playing together, catch the occasional Cape League baseball game and come home relaxed and slightly pink. I have nothing but the happiest of memories about family vacations. In fact, family vacations still exist...occasionally we do something more "unusual" like a tour of the CA coast (which still involved 5 days at the beach) or visiting family in Ireland, but most years, like last summer, it's still a house on the Cape with whatever family members feel like coming.

Now, getting back to the first lines of this entry, summer has another meaning. The 3-4 days that I spend in Hillsdale every summer since 2003 are a summer hilight. Good friends, good food, good music, good times...and this year, it means a mini-BigYellow reunion, so that's even better! I've been introduced to wonderful new music at FR (including the Nields, EFO, Girlyman, Tracy Grammer, DaVinci's Notebook, disappear fear) and I come back every year feeling relaxed, peaceful and giddy for weeks! See lots of y'all there!

summer's gonna have to wait

My musings on summer, of which I have many, will have to wait a week. Tomorrow morning, I fly to Norfolk, VA and then motor to Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks. A week full of cousins, good food and the ocean is just what the doctor ordered!

Anyway, you know the rules at this point. Fire up that iPod and tell the blogosphere what's playing. The first ten songs. No skipping past or rationalizing the embarrassing tracks (even if it's Celine Dion!). Afterwards you might want to entertain us with who you've seen live, and favs and least favs...

Here's the set:
1. downtown (absolutely live)--christine lavin
2. someone like you (linda eder)--linda eder
3. we are the true americans (live at the cactus cafe)--christine lavin
4. on the air (little star)--girlyman
5. goodnight, elisabeth (recovering the satellites)--counting crows
6. rocky mountain high (best of john denver)--john denver
7. iowa (out there live)--dar williams
8. living on a prayer (slippery when wet)--bon jovi
9. the sweetness (love and china)--nerissa and katryna nields
10. gypsy rose (flower of avalon)--tracy grammer

Random Comment: Living on a Prayer is the only song I've ever sung for karaoke, but ALWAYS in a group. It was the "theme song" for my cohort in the teaching program.

Seen Live: Linda Eder, Girlyman, Dar, N&K, Tracy Grammer

Majorly Enjoyed: "We Are the True Americans," "On the Air," "Iowa," "The Sweetness"

Minorly Enjoyed: "Goodnight Elisabeth" (a song I adore, but it killed the mood)

Favorite Album: I am loving Flower of Avalon right now

Least Favorite Album: Not really a bad album here

Favorite Lyric: "Nothing would ever happen if we always stayed the same" (another nod to NFN!)

Thursday Thirteen

Here's to *A*...fun idea!

Without further ado, here are the rules: 13 random facts about YOU! The quirkier and the funnier, the better. Go for novel tidbits. It'll be more interesting that way.
Here are the goods:

1. According to Myers-Briggs typology I am an ENFJ.

2. Every time I take the above typology, I fluctuate between ENFJ and ENFP.

3. Sometimes I still wish I had to wear a uniform every day.

4. I broke my arm in half when I was 13 and needed 13 screws and 2 steel plates to fix it.

5. I only wear Speedo bathing suits.

6. I took the LSAT and still contemplate law school.

7. I drink a lot of Coke (probably too much).

8. I hate the humidity.

9. I love the snow.

10. I can still ID which episode of the Brady Bunch it is within the first 5 minutes.

11. I can pretty much do the same with Little House.

12. I can't sing, but I do it anyway.

13. My legs are frighteningly and disturbingly pale right now.

good old fashioned catholic...

...guilt

So, the prompt is guilt and last Friday's post seemed to kick it off well for me. It's also the area of my life that prompts the most guilt. I'm far from a perfectionist, but I *am* a people-pleaser. I want nothing more than for everyone to like me. There is nothing I hate more than thinking that I'm letting someone down.

My mom's call on Friday wasn't aimed to make me feel guilty (I don't think)...she was just being her--and at the last minute thought that it would be fun for me to surprise my dad and good to have me home. She was right, of course, but I had planned on spending a quiet weekend at home after working the 3 weekends previous. 3 hours in a car to NJ, and 3 hours back to MA first thing Monday morning didn't factor into my plans. And yet, dutiful daughter that I am, I hopped in the car and took the Pike to 84 to the Merritt and arrived in NYC for my mother's cousin's ex-husband's musical.

I have guilt, as I've mentioned here before, about leaving teaching. Though I have a feeling I'll be back in a classroom someday, I feel guilty for liking my current job, for "abandoning" inner-city kids. I feel guilty about putting my own needs before the needs of the world. I need to "fix" things even if helping to fix them isn't necessarily in my own best interest.

It's a work in progress. I think I'll always feel obligated to be at every family party, funeral, celebration and hospital vigil. However, this year and this job have taught me that sometimes carrying the guilt on my back and doing what's best for me anyway can work out incredibly well. Progress not perfection, my principal used to say.

However, a huge Irish-Catholic family, 22 years of Catholic education and many a nun along the way, I don't think guilt will ever leave me!

crazy mother

Just got a call from my mom:

Mom: "Are you coming home this weekend?"
Me: "No...did I say I was?"
Mom: "Well, no, but I thought you might surprise Daddy."
Me: "Wasn't in the plan...do you want me to come home?"
Mom: "Well, you don't have to, but we're going into the City tonight to see Rich sing (mom's cousin's exhusband!) and we'll have a bbq on Sunday evening. Your father would be so surprised and so happy."

So, I have no clothes for the weekend, no thyroid medication, but I'm hopping in my car about 3:30/4:00 and heading to Manhattan. Why couldn't she have thought of this "surprise" yesterday?!

friday shuff

You know the rules. Put your digital music player on shuffle and report back the first ten songs it spits out. No "apron wringing" allowed.
Here goes:

1. she will be loved (songs about jane)--maroon 5
2. seasons of love (rent)--original broadway cast
3. i go like the raven (drum, hat, buddha)--dave carter and tracy grammer
4. better things (end of summer)--dar williams
5. eye of the tiger (rocky III soundtrack)--survivor
6. amsterdam (keep it together)--guster
7. best black dress (gotta get over greta)--the nields
8. fallen (afterglow)--sarah mclachlan
9. you give me love (faith)--faith hill
10. superman (america town)--five for fighting
BONUS: if i had my way (gold)--linda eder

General Thoughts: Good, strong mix of songs...not one that I dislike. Pretty eclectic, but that's me!

Seen Live: Rent, Tracy Grammer (unfortunately, I never saw Dave Carter in action), Dar Williams, Guster, The Nields, Linda Eder

Favorite Song: I'll go with Better Things. It's probably my favorite Dar song and she didn't even write it. Fun to sing along to, fun to drive to, just all-around fun.

Least Favorite Song: If I had to choose, I'd say Amsterdam just because I think it's weak in comparison to the "old school" Guster sound.

Favorite Album: Gold is a great album. Linda's voice is among my favorites in the world, and Gold is a great variety of different styles of music, all of which she handles with ease and grace.

Particularly enjoying right now: I Go Like the Raven is among my favorite of DC's music. With a fiddle in Tracy's hand, the song just makes me smile. It's also the first song I heard Tracy perform. I love it.

Memory Trigger: Eye of the Tiger always brings me back to basketball camp and the high school gym.

a little irish pub never hurt anyone

Last night, I met up with my friend (and yours), *S*, of Big Yellow fame. She is currently winging her way to Taiwan for 6 weeks, but stopped through Woo last night for dinner. O'Connor's is my favorite restaurant in the area. It's a pub that's been here for ages and one that I discovered while I was in college. The menu is huge and absolutely delicious. Though everything appeals to me, I usually fall back on the old sea scallops, as I did last night. *S* and I caught up for the first time in ages, tucked back in a corner, surrounded by old Irish sayings, keg taps and Irish directional signs adorning the walls. The pub is actually quite big, but they have divided it up nicely so that every room feels small and private.

I am ready for a break. The last week of June, I'm off to NC (the Outer Banks) for a week and I can hardly wait. A week at the beach with many a cousin sounds just right! We have an event next Thursday evening in Boston for work, then I'm pretty much free and clear for 10 days.

purple knights

We call grads who have been out for over 50 years the Purple Knights (purple being our school color, knights b/c our mascot is the politically incorrect Crusader). They are invited back for reunion every year because, as they are out so long, their numbers dwindle, so it's good for them to reconnect every year, rather than every 5. We celebrate them on the same weekend that we bring back the 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th and 50th reunion classes. Some of these men and even their widows go to great lengths to be here -- widows from the class of 1931, men from the class of '37 who don't move so well, but arrive with huge smiles on their faces, back to the Hill that was their home, their pride and their joy. It's amazing...and inspiring.

It was a fun weekend, though a little stressful. My boss is sick--and the possible causes range from the ordinary to the serious and we have no clear answers yet. I've had this job for a little less than a year, but the respect and affection I have for TH grows exponentially by the day. In order to keep my mind off the possibilities (I'm a real worrier), I threw myself into figuring out what needed to get done for the weekend. She's fabulous at her job, so most of the legwork was done, it was just a matter of delivering it and being where she was supposed to be when she was supposed to be there. Gave a little energy to my weekend. I talked to TH briefly yesterday and she's still not feeling well, still not sounding like herself. Hopefully, a diagnosis will be made soon and the cause will be fairly benign.

OK, I'm heading home. I need some sleep!

weekend in review

So, Friday afternoon, I realize that my ATM card is gone. By today, I've come to the conclusion that I was in a rush and took my receipt and my money, but not my card out of the campus center ATM on Thursday. A new card is on the way...it'll arrive sometime next week. Great.

Friday night was fine...caught up with some old friends, my friend CGB spilled a vodka tonic on my feet because she was drunk and SMF and I were hit on by some current HC hockey players. Oy. After a quick visit to the football practice field to make sure our guy friends hadn't broken an ankle or thrown out a back, we retreated to our dorm room. We were, however, blessed with an RA room, because HC is nice to those of us who work here. So, our own bathroom was REALLY clutch and very convenient. The two of us dissolved into giggles as we climbed into bed and realized that for 4 years, we'd slept on "mattresses" made of cheap plastic stuffed with styrofoam. Comfy!

On Saturday, we headed up to breakfast, attended a little workshop organized by a friend (so we were guilted into going), and headed to the picnic. It had POURED rain all night long and was still drizzling, so the walk across the grassy field was just delightful. Lukewarm burgers were served with yummy pasta salad and decent potato salad and cheap beer out of kegs. Felt like college all over again. I left for a couple of hours to attend a med school graduation party, then came back to the dorm before heading to our class mass. My friend MTD is from Omaha. We met the first day of our first year and have been pretty friendly ever since. I love her family and stopped for an Omaha steak dinner on my drive cross-country. The 2 of us had a freaky synch going on all weekend where we'd walk out of our dorm rooms at pretty much the same time to go everywhere. It felt like frosh year all over again.

After mass, we got ready for the cocktail reception, dinner and dance. This was sort of the event I was dreading. (But I did look *good*) A LOT of time with many classmates, most of whom would be drunk (not really my thing) and hours of awkward interactions. While I had 4 good girlfriends there and while there were others I enjoyed catching up with, I wound up feeling trapped for the majority of the evening. I ducked down to the lower dining hall a few times to catch up with my work friends who were eating their dinner with the class of '96. A live band played during the "dance party" portion of the evening and I had fun for parts of it. When we headed back to the dorms at 1 AM, it was still pouring rain and we soon kicked off our shoes and headed up the 5 staircases between the dining hall and the dorm barefoot. While my friends went to find more booze and party, I jumped in a hot shower and got into bed. It was so loud that I didn't get much sleep, but at least I was warm and semi-comfortable.

Sunday morning, SMF wanted coffee before our friends were ready to go out to brunch. So half awake and not having washed my face, I headed up to the campus center with her...where I was greeted by my bosses...the president of the College, the senior VP, our development VP and my very own boss, TGH. I was so tired that I think I acted (and looked) hung over. Lovely.

After a fun brunch with friends, I headed home to watch Lost on DVD (this show is really good, I agree, M & kj!!) and do some laundry. As I transferred the load from washer to dryer, I saw that I had just sent my cell phone through an entire wash cycle. So I need to replace that too. I'm feel like I'm losing my mind.

This weekend, I get to do it all over again. Except, pressure is off as it's the "older" classes. I can just hang out with my work friends and go to bed early. I'm psyched.

well...

...SMF has arrived from Philly. Let the reuning begin!!

See y'all Monday!

i'm already grumpy because of the weather

and blogger just ate my friday shuffle!

NO APRON-WRINGING!

1. amsterdam (keep it together)--guster
2. both sides now ()--joni mitchell
3. the sweetness (love and china)--nerissa and katryna nields
4. storybook (storybook)--linda eder
5. sympathy, tenderness (original b'way soundtrack)--jekyll and hyde
6. the times they are a'changin (live at bukodan)--bob dylan
7. jersey girl (live 1975-1985)--bruce springsteen
8. jesus on the radio (daddy on the phone) (keep it together)--guster
9. i love, i love (travelling ii) (the honesty room)--dar williams
10. i've just seen a face (help!)--the beatles

song that makes me want to tear my hair out: i have to admit that it's mr. dylan. i've really really tried, but i just can't make myself like the sound of his voice, even a little.

song that makes me bounce up and down in my seat: to redeem my dylan-disliking self, i'd like to say that i've just seen a face simply makes me happy.

album i really haven't listened to enough: keep it together by guster. their first 3 albums, especially the first 2 are just so darn good that i haven't gotten into number 4.

song that takes me back: well, being a jersey girl, the boss always takes me back.

song that makes me hit repeat: the sweetness usually gets a second listening. it's the first song i heard the girls sing and it was at falcon ridge...lots of good memories and just a great song!

flashback to 2001

I promised that my next blog would be in response to kj's prompt of Divine Justice...and I'll touch on it here, but I'm much too hot and much too antsy to be too philosophical right now.

This past week has been pretty nostalgic for me, and it's just going to get worse (better?) this weekend. Last Thursday and Friday, the Baccalaureate Mass and Commencement ceremonies were held for the Class of 2006. I hadn't even BEEN to our football field in the 5 years since I walked across the grass for my own graduation. It was surreal. No one does an outdoor mass better than HC. The ribbon banners floating in the breeze, the choir with snare drums and horns, the view from the top of our Hill--no matter how many masses I attend there (and I've been to a LOT), they never cease to make me gape in awe. Also helping with the nostalgia was the raging sunburn on my shoulders and cheeks that night--no amount of SPF protects me from that!

Graduation day was hot and sunny. It gave me the opportunity to catch up with some old friends who had siblings graduating, which was fun. Weird to be on the "other side" of things, though. Helping with the Trustees and Honorary Degree recipients instead of being a student. As a student, I wouldn't have been asked by the prez of the College (a priest) to go and check the stage (in front of a packed football stadium and the entire faculty/staff/senior class) to make sure the citations were on the podium. But now that I work here, I tried to be inconspicuous as I walked across the field in front of thousands, with a flaming red face, I'm sure!

This past Tuesday, I attended a mass and bbq for the HC Mexico Immersion Program. I went on the 2 week trip after my sophomore year here and I still carry the images and experiences of those 14 days with me every day. The director of the Chaplains' Office (and leader of the program) invited me to come and join in the send-off, which I did gladly. I just kept thinking about my own trip and the lessons I learned, the pictures that I took with me from indigenous villages. Talk about questioning the concept of divine justice. I still struggle with how the life I lead here can possibly coexist with the lives I saw there. How their faith and strength and JOY can remain intact despite the hand they have been dealt. How can I use my life and my privilege to have an impact in this world? It's a daily struggle.

The last load of nostalgia will begin tomorrow as my 5th reunion kicks off. I'm excited. Thrilled to be seeing some good friends and excited at the prospect of seeing people I haven't seen (or even thought of!) in 5 years. We get to live on campus and spend close to 36 hours reliving the heydey of our early 20s (was it really all that great?!). I just need to try to keep the class from destroying the place. 2 years ago, the 5th reunion class caused $10,000 worth of dorm damage!

catching up!

I am still here! Last week got a little hectic at work with graduation on Friday, and since my home computer has quit on me, work is the only place I have to update. Graduation was nice--beautiful (if not hot) day on the football field, I got to catch up with some old friends who had siblings graduating and eat good food. That's the wonderful part of this job--I get invited to all the good parties, so I get all the good food.

Anyway, I also headed home this weekend. Really quiet and boring weekend there, but it was just what I needed. Good things happen when I go home--my dad takes my car for an oil change, a wash, and fills the gas tank. Dads are so useful!

Now I'm back at work. This weekend is my 5th reunion so lots of old friends are coming to town. I'm excited for it--excited to catch up and hear about everyone's adventures in life.

Here's my overdue Friday Shuffle:
NO APRON WRINGING!

1. i am what i am (broadway, my way)--linda eder
2. tripping the light fantastic (66 hoxsey street)--the nields
3. x-ray eyes (goldfly)--guster
4. ticket to ride (1)--the beatles
5. kittery tide (little star)--girlyman
6. walkaways (recovering the satellites)--counting crows
7. easy people (live from northampton)--the nields
8. one song glory (original broadway recording)--rent
9. for good (wicked)--wicked
10. arrival (the honesty room)--dar williams

Seen live: Linda Eder, The Nields, Guster, Girlyman, Rent, Dar Williams

Favorite Song: The standby is Easy People, of course. But I *love* I Am What I Am from La Cage Aux Folles. And in Linda Eder's voice, it just becomes magic. It's a great driving song.

Least Favorite Song: There really isn't a bad one on here, but I'll go with Walkaways because it isn't long enough, IMO.

Favorite Album: Tough one, but I'll say Goldfly. It's full of great memories and I love pretty much every song on it!

Memory Trigger: Rent songs always bring me back to the first time I saw it, sitting in the balcony of the Nederlander Theatre in NYC. I went with a few friends, one of whom had just lost a good friend to lupus. The first time you see Rent, it's a powerful experience, but I still love the songs just as much the zillionth time I hear them!