random thoughts – Day 1,139 – (Sunday) – rain and quiet

Last week, I decided to not attend dance class today. Knowing there would be two nights of events this weekend, it seemed unlikely I would be productive today. The foresight and self knowledge paid off. 

The unusually late night on Saturday resulted in sleeping unusually late on Sunday. By the time I woke up, it was 15 minutes past the time I usually leave for class. Getting up at the usual time (7:00) would have meant being too tired and cranky to function. Sleeping until naturally waking up (9:15) made it impossible to get to class on time with the whole time-space continuum thing and still not having the jet packs and ability to teleport that was envisioned (promised) when I was kid.

The day was a slow moving rainy day. Laundry was done on Saturday, which opened the day for maximum relaxation (cough, laziness). Winston slept, alternating between the couch and his living room bed, but he usually does that most of the day most days, anyway. 

A couple hours were invested in Finnish homework which involved reading the chapter we’ve been working on, along with several exercises that weren’t assigned but that we’ll likely cover on class Monday. I like to feel prepared.

Homework - negative verbs.

We’re on the negative questions and answers – “Why do they not ask the teacher?” and “I do not live in Finland.” In Finnish, there is a whole series of conjugations for “not” depending upon who is “not” – I, you, he/she, you (plural), we, they. And it doesn’t stop at “not” – the verb (sitting, laughing, etc.) also has a full conjugation to match the pronoun. It is definitely not boring. 

To add an entertaining element to training the ear to the language, the Finnish crime series Deadwind is now being watched for about the third time. It’s fun recognizing more words and catching the differences between spoken and written Finnish we’ve been told about. Spoken uses shortened versions of a lot of words and numbers. The funny thing is, it’s the words that are already short that get the shortening. Yksi (ook-see, for "one") is spoken as “yks” and minä (mee-nuh for "I") gets shortened to “mä” or dropped altogether. The long words seem to stay long.

Outside, the driveway lake is large and deep and the debate all day has been whether or not to roll the trash and recycle bins through it/around it to the curb for Monday pickup, or to just skip it. The trash bag is barely half-full each week, and the recycling can go six to eight weeks before being full. For now, it’s a no-go, but the situation will be reassessed in the morning.

There was a quick trip to "The Basket" for Winston's weekly roasted chicken, bravely executed without makeup. There was a deli curiosity chosen -- Holstein horseradish cheese. Tomorrow's lunch may include a slice or two of that. 

random thoughts – Day 1,138 – (Saturday) – ha ha ha

Tonight was the second night of my April fundraiser double header weekend – comedy night presented by Scamps Comedy Productions. The event was to raise funds for our class gift to be presented to the high school in a few more years.

The setup went smoothly. We set the raffle table in the back, and spaced the rest of the tables around the dance floor because we were told the tables aren’t allowed there. The tables were covered with plastic table cloths in red and white, our school colors (which are technically red and gray, but gray tablecloths are hard to find and I know because I looked in three stores).

When the comedy team arrived, it was determined they would perform from the dance floor, and we needed to move some of the tables again so they weren’t behind the comics. The raffle table was relocated to the front of the room, to squeeze a couple more tables from the front to the back. 

Furniture relocation is one of my areas of athletic prowess, honed in fifth and sixth grade gym class when the girls were in the classroom, rearranging furniture to square dance, then moving it all back at the end of the so-called "physical education" period. Meanwhile, the boys were the basement doing pushups or outside learning baseball or something else that was actually physical and a sport. Imagine the shock in junior high when my female classmates learned there was no square dance team, the only “sport” we had learned. 

Comic in the house.

After the half hour of furniture rearranging and thirty minutes before the doors were scheduled to open, ticket holders began arriving and I may have begun to stress out a bit. Every one else seemed calm, cool and collected.

The show was funny, with four comics delivering jokes on a wide range of topics including colonoscopies and heart attacks because they read the room and saw the demographic present. They talked about playing the British American Club in Fitchburg after past career gigs at Tsongas Arena and even Las Vegas. 

After the show, we drew the raffle winners with the assistance of Dave Rattigan, the group’s leader. Half the baskets were some sort of alcohol, and the drawings were as funny as the show. Laughed my butt off. Pants no longer fit. Thanks, Scamps Comedy Productions. Now I’ll need to go shopping again.

random thoughts – Day 1,137 – (Friday) – Aperol after all

It was a vacation day and we know what that usually means for me … life maintenance day! 

After coffee, the morning featured a trek to Fitchburg for Winston’s diabetic supplies. There were a couple side quests for items to fill out a raffle basket for a fundraising  event on Saturday, check my favorite consignment shop for whatever might be found (there was nothing for me today), and the gas station for the budget friendly pricing. The crown jewel of the journey was a stop at Kappy’s Liquors for a bottle of Aperol.

Ever since returning from vacation, there have been frequent pangs of regret over not buying Aperol at the duty free shop at the airport in Rome. It was in my hand while I considered the logistics for getting to my car. There would be the carryon bag, the purse, and the checked bag, plus the additional Aperol package, while maneuvering from baggage claim to the express shuttle bus. At the end of the bus ride in Woburn, it would be a schlepp to the car. I had managed the baggage to the airport, but the extra liquor parcel on the return could be the straw that broke the back. Or more likely, that was fumbled and smashed on the ground. I returned the Aperol to the shelf. If only I were that good at talking myself out of pounding down a big bag of M&Ms or a pan of brownies or a bag of chips.

Upon arrival home, as I sat on the couch, I thought how nice it would be to have an Aperol Spritz, which I had enjoyed nearly every day on the trip. The thought has repeated many times over the past month. 

Event wardrobe contenders.

After the errands, there was the most glamorous of pet parenting tasks – the yard poop harvest. Then it was time to get dressed for tonight’s fundraiser for the Brush Art Gallery and Studios. Clothes were laid out on the bed. The contenders were black pants, red pants with a black lace overlay, and multiple tops for each. 

Choices were made, (the fancy red pants and a plain black top with a fancy-ish necklace) and once dressed, it was time to prepare for another departure. 

Bagged wines for the wine pull raffle were gathered. Winston was let outside. Potty pads were l set on the kitchen floor. Luckily, I realized I hadn’t fed him yet and got that settled. And then I was off to the event.

The centerpieces had already been set out when I arrived. Sponsor and program cards were set at each place setting. The wine raffle table was set up in a corner. Other raffle items were set on a table in another corner. Table assignment cards were laid out alphabetically on the check-in table. And we were ready for “Dinner and a Show.”

After helping with check-ins, the bar was visited for a beverage. The beer selection left me unimpressed. The array of wine and the full liquor selection provoked anxiety. I told the bartender I didn’t know what to order, and Aperol Spritz had been stuck in my head for the past month. The bartender delivered the best news possible, saying “I can do that.” And boom, there was my drink. Aperol after all. 

The event ran smoothly. The room was full, the food was good. The entertainment, comprised of local singers and musicians, was stellar. There was a variety of semi-oldies popular songs interspersed with show tunes.

And now it's back home with Winston in his bed on the floor and a rewatch of a Perry Mason episode on TV (new HBO, not the old-timey series). 

random thoughts – Day 1,136 – (Thursday) – flower and flag

Wayward plant is
growing strong.

There is a bleeding heart plant growing next to a violet between the pavers under the mailbox. I noticed it a couple days ago and thought that I should pull it out and replant it elsewhere. I didn’t. There has been rain since, and I’m also kind of lazy and haven’t pulled any of the gardening tools out from the shed yet.

While letting Winston outside today, I noticed the wayward plant has grown a lot in the past couple days, has flowers, and now I’m not sure what to do with it. There is another one sprouting up between a paver and the front steps. 

My gardening skill tends to be limited to noticing that there are oversized and/or oddly placed plants that need attention or relocation. By the time the weather is dry or I have the time, energy, or interest to get to the task, it seems like it’s too late to do so.

As I was in the driveway starting the car to leave for book club after work, the random plant fluttered under the mailbox and the wind blew the neighbors’ flags in the perfect, photo worthy manner. By the time I dug the phone out of my bag to take a photo, the wind had shifted and the flag on the tall flagpole was flipping and flopping around instead of displaying itself in the perfect windblown pose. 

Flag photo flop.

I sat in the car like a weirdo, camera phone aimed at the next-door neighbors’ flag on the tall pole and the one mounted from the front of the house beyond, waiting for the wind to shift again. It did, but not enough to make the flag on the pole fly like it did before the camera was ready. Such is life.

The trip downtown to book club took me over the Merrimack River on the University Avenue bridge in the opposite direction than the past two nights. There was time to look around because as usual, I hit the red light. The water is still very enthusiastic and energetic and it was nice to see it in action from a different vantage point.

random thoughts – Day 1,135 – (Wednesday) – springy

The garden on John Street
is waking up.

Spring is emerging all over the place. The trees are reawakening with buds, flowers, and tiny leaves. Daffodils and tulips are up.

The little secret garden nestled between two buildings on John Street has begun to bloom with pink flowers on the plant the furthest from the street. It’s a nice embellishment to the frequent crop of used masks, plastic takeout cups, and small liquor bottles that seem to find their way into the fenced area. Soon enough, there will be roses in several colors in the space. 

In my yard, violets, dandelions, and bleeding hearts are appearing. The lilac tree has buds, and the lilies and irises have sent up fresh green leaves. Between the plants and the longer daylight, this really is the leading edge of the prettiest time of the year.

The enthusiastic Merrimack.

Like yesterday, while sitting in traffic on the bridge at University Avenue, there was time to observe the Merrimack River. That red light can be enjoyable when the river can be watched, and it was moving at an enthusiastic pace again today. The reflections of the sky took the water from yesterday’s gloomy gray to today’s deep blue which accentuated the whitecaps.

random thoughts – Day 1,134 – (Tuesday) – varied day

Back yard bleeding heart.

Things were mildly weird today. There was a vivid dream that may have been influenced by the book I’m reading and that flitted away once the alarm went off. At work, there were alternating flurries and floods of emails and phone calls with weird questions and alerts about crazy quirks. A colleague pointed out that Mercury is retrograde (again?!?) and that explained a lot. 

The afternoon featured rapid-fire questions about projects that didn’t sound the tiniest bit familiar and which research revealed had never been requested. There were problems with service providers. Weird questions from other departments.

The river was flowing fast and mighty.

There were also fun moments. The best was lunch with a colleague. Yes, away from the desk and out at a restaurant! It was great chatting over sandwiches of grilled brie, apple, and fig jam.

The weather featured a range of clouds from bright and fluffy to dark, heavy, and ominous, mixed with sun. The ride home had big rain splats on the windshield as I sat in traffic on the bridge at a red light watching the Merrimack River rushing by. The water looked high and moved fast, crashing over the spots where there used to be rocks visible. It was impressive.

At home, during a drizzle stage, the yard was visited to admire the violets and bleeding heart plants that are flowering. After several stops and starts, the rain eventually evolved into a downpour. It slammed against the windows and the tone of the rain shifted. Upon investigation, in this case, a highly scientific look out the front door, it was discovered that hail was bouncing loudly on the deck, the cars, and the walk, and gathering on the grass. The driveway lake, which had disappeared after Sunday’s rain, reemerged in its full depth and glory. 

Overall, a pretty full day with a little of this, a bit of that. 

random thoughts – Day 1,133 – (Monday) – wine notes

I recently received an order from Firstleaf, the wine club I joined during the early days of the pandemic. It was nice having six or twelve bottles delivered to the house based on a taste profile I filled out. Each shipment allowed for rating of individual wines to help with future “personalized club selections” and the only thinking required from me was if the delivery needed to be sent according to the club schedule, delayed, or skipped. The best part was, I never had to leave the house.

When there were shipments, most of the time I had no idea what was coming, nor cared. There are product cards and info on each wine with the shipments, (hints of this and notes of that), and after a couple years of skimming the cards and drinking the wines, I really haven’t learned that much about wine. Newly acquired wine facts have been personal and specific and include the knowledge that red wine seems to increase my body temperature, making it ideal as a winter beverage choice. Also, I’m not great at remembering which wines I liked a lot, which makes it hard to look for them for future orders. Whatever. It's not like Winston and I sit around discussing wine. 

In recent months, most of the scheduled shipments were delayed by me. Wine consumption at The BungaLowell had slowed. More like stopped. It had been largely replaced by ice water. Recently, "confirm order" was chosen on a selection of six wines, two bottles of each.

A text message came that the order was in transit with a delivery date. Under product it listed “chanmé méchant 2021 cinsault-grenache rosé toothpaste d’oc igp, France.” Ummm….. toothpaste? Is that a free gift with order? A new use for the product? Or is there really some wine toothpaste in there? I'm low on toothpaste, and usually prefer a strong mint flavor. Wine flavor might be kind of cool, but I’m still a little nervous to find out. 

random thoughts – Day 1,132 – (Sunday) – rain day

The rain that held off on Saturday rolled in overnight and hung around all day on Sunday. It was fine with me, because we got to dance on Saturday. Now we're looking ahead to the next booked performance in September.

The water level is plentiful and rising at Lake Lafayette, also known as the end of the driveway on the deck side of the house. The lake used to form in the street outside the shared driveway, but the owner of the house next door two owners ago kept calling the city about it. Right before he moved, the street was repaved, which solved the problem of the lake forming in the street. 

Lake Lafayette.

Now, the puddle starts collecting in my half of the shared driveway, creeping up to about one-third the length, and spreads to the neighbor's side of the driveway. At the deep end of the puddle along the street, it's usually an  inch or two deep. To get the trash bins out to the curb requires tall rain shoes or taking the long route into the neighbor's side and around the shoreline. I’m waiting for an increase in the property tax for the waterfront location. 

The ride to dance class has a stretch of Route 113 that is under construction and is at the stage were the old pavement was removed. On Friday and Saturday, the stretch was packed dirt, but this morning it was approaching mud bog status. I wondered what it would be like on the return trip.

After class, I decided to pick up the plastic table cloths for a comedy show fundraiser event on Saturday, which put me on the Route 2/495 path home and spared me the mud bog Jeep adventure. In a moment of reckless abandon, it was decided to skip the Waze app. I use it regularly for the updates like “vehicle on the side of the road” and “police reported ahead,” and the sometimes sudden and unexplained instruction to exit the highway earlier than the previously plotted route.

When the traffic slowed to a 10-mph crawl at the Chelmsford exits on 495, the choice to skip Waze was regretted.  After what felt like forever at a snail’s pace and then finally logging into Waze, there was a notice about “accident reported ahead.” By then the lane closure, tow truck, and police lights were visible, so I’d figured it out.

It might have been the rain or maybe it was bad driving, but there was a crunched guard rail and a damaged medium sized white car on the shoulder of the road facing oncoming traffic. Two guys in jeans and sweatshirts stood in the breakdown lane in the rain, staring in the direction of the oncoming traffic. I felt bad for them. Once past the tow truck, the traffic broke free and moved again.

From then on, it was the regular Sunday afternoon drill. Market Basket for Winston’s chicken and a check of the discount bakery rack. Laundry. Empty the small wastebaskets into the larger one to prepare for trash day on Monday. Carve up the roasted chicken. Finish the Finnish homework. Watch the latest season of Better Call Saul. All indoor things, perfect for a rainy day. The rainy night is booked with reading the book for book club. It’s been a busy month and slow going on the reading. I’m on page 81, with 302 more pages to go for the meeting on Thursday. It’s not looking good.

random thoughts – Day 1,131 – (Saturday) – earth day

We got lucky in that the weather wasn’t rainy for the Earth Day celebration. It was dry, cloudy, chilly and breezy. It was around 50 degrees and it reminded me a lot of a cold April day dancing in Tennessee a bunch of years ago as we gathered in a parking lot and did costume adjustments before putting our coats on again.

Pre-show, chilly Earth Day
morning in a parking lot.

Our costume plan for cold weather included long sleeve mesh shirts under our sparkly costume tops. To that, I added another long sleeve dance top that reminds me of Stevie Nicks, and then the costume top. There was a bit of regret I hadn’t worn leggings in under my skirt. Duh. I'm not as tough as I used to be. My giant dance bag held supplies including makeup, hair pins and clips, jewelry, multiple sets of zills, jeans and a shirt for later, and a water bottle. 

Despite being chilly, my feet were sweating in my vinyl dance shoes. My fingers were cold and puny and the normally snug zill loops were suddenly loose. The zill on the middle finger of my right hand started flopping around in the middle of the dance, making it hard to control, but at least it didn’t fall off and we used them for only one dance. The wind meant having hair in my face and stuck to the lipstick, but that is life with long hair.

Those were the “hard” parts and they were minor. The rest of it was smooth and fun. Right before our scheduled time, the DJ played "Love Shack" by the B-52s and we had a spontaneous song and dance party that was perfect for calming the nerves.

There were friendly faces in the crowd, which is always nice. We had a great response with an audience participation bit at the end. We worried we might not have anyone want to come up to learn a little dance combination, but quite a few did, including the gymnasts on the performance schedule. It was fun.

After the show, we had professional troupe and individual photos taken by a photographer friend. This was in addition to candid shots before the show and photos during the show. It felt very glamorous. During the posed photos, I realized I had never put on my earrings. Totally forgot and never noticed in the many pre-show checks in the mirror. I'm happy to report that the world did not end as result of this personal oversight.

 Afterwards, I hid behind a pillar to slip jeans on under my skirt and then take the skirt and sparkly layers off and jam it all into my dance bag. It took practically no time to become a civilian leaving a festival thanks to great training from years of recitals with multiple dances and complete costume changes. A makeup remover wipe helped to tame the performance makeup. 

That’s when my sister pointed out the security camera behind me and we had a chuckle. Then Mom, my sister, and I went for lunch at Bailey’s Bar and Grill across the street from the festival, which was my reason for wanting to change immediately.

Back at home, I sat with my coat on for an hour because I couldn’t get warm before finally changing into a fleece top and curling up under a blanket. Winston seemed uninterested in my presence, but that is the usual course of things.

random thoughts – Day 1,130 – (Friday) – prep

Parts

It was dress rehearsal day for the Earth Day performance, which meant gathering all the many costume parts to go with the 25-yard skirt. Yes, 25 yards of fabric, that's not me exercising poetic license. Plus a belt with shiny paillettes. And a top with shiny paillettes. And a hair flower or two, necklace, earrings, bracelet, zills and belt pouch. And shoes for dancing on concrete but not the floor in the yoga studio where we practice. 

At the event venue, there is no dressing area, so for tomorrow, that will mean dressing and driving with most of it on instead of shoved in a bag. Plus a full face of stage makeup. I always feel so self-conscious decked out in costuming while out of context. At the gig, bring it on, but on the way to or from the gig, by myself with no safety in numbers, I want to hide. I’ve probably seen too many “People of Walmart” photos.

I took a vacation day, which gave me most of the day "to prepare." Before it was time to leave for rehearsal, the day was spent on some loose ends like logging in to work to set my out of office auto responder that I forgot to set yesterday before I left. There was coffee drinking and some tidying up. The new vacuum was run and we're still in the honeymoon phase and it's swell. 

There was also a lot of “relaxing,” which today meant watching back-to-back episodes of HBO’s Perry Mason. Hair was combed and sort of arranged in some littlc clips. Makeup was applied, but not the full-face stage makeup of tomorrow, just enough to look like I planned to leave the house.   

Then it was off to rehearsal, which went well. The ride home went less well and reminded why I hate driving at night. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happened tonight. The oncoming LED headlights on the narrow roads home  felt like a knife to the head, via my left eye. It was rather unpleasant. In a brutal way.

random thoughts – Day 1,129 – (Thursday) – technology

Technology was supposed to make things faster and easier. Someone please tell the airline websites. A task that should have taken a few minutes has expanded to become a real headache. 

Two full hours of the night have been spent trying to book a flight. I already had the flight info from the rest of the travel group and there was no need to deal with checking and choosing. There was the signing in and lookup of the existing mileage account which was straightforward. The flights were chosen, the seats were chosen, the checked bags were chosen.

The other airlines with mileage accounts were checked for quick rate comparisons and schedules because due diligence can bring piece of mind. That caused a time-out situation in the first airline, and the schedules weren't better on the other sites and there were no nonstop flights. The person who did the initial research did a great job.

Logged back into airline site number one (Jet Blue), the choosing began again, and things were moving along until the payment screen. After entering all the payment info, there was an error message about the traveler profile not loading. That bounced me back to the step of choosing seats. 

Seats were chose (again), checked bags were chosen (again). The screen timed out. The third time would be the charm, right? Nope. The whole thing timed out again, but this time was an attempt at being light hearted and amusing and cute with an “aw, snap” screen. 

It didn’t work. I am not amused. And I am still not booked on the frigging flights. Errrrrr. Grumble, grumble, swear words. This is time I will never get back. 

Right now, I really miss the olden days of calling a travel agent. They did all the work, I could carry on with my own activities, and I just had to read off some credit card digits.

random thoughts – Day 1,128 – (Wednesday) – feats

It was an interesting and colorful day. The ride downtown was light on traffic and idiot-free. A Wednesday morning miracle! 

A photo of frost to fill a space.

The walk from garage to office featured a shut down on Merrimack Street with a trailer carrying a steel structure stopped in the street, then backing into Lucy Larcom Park. A crew moved ahead of the trailer and trimmed trees along the path of the trailer and framework. Facebook posts seen later informed that it was one-third of a bridge at the high school construction project, with another section arriving Thursday, and the final piece on Friday.

Early in the day, our team pulled off an assembly line feat. In a half hour, we assembled nearly 90 logo coffee mugs stuffed with festive shred and candies for a couple upcoming events. I unpacked and unwrapped mugs from the shipping boxes and added the shred. Colleagues added the assorted candies, slipped the loaded mugs into shimmery bags, tied the satin drawstring into a bow, and packed the completed mugs into boxes for transport. Henry Ford would be proud of our assembly line wizardry. Give us some coffee, a task, instructions and a deadline, and we can get it done quickly. Our motivational, self-assigned deadline was getting the assembly done and everything cleared out of the way for a team meeting at noon that required use of the counter.

Our monthly S&M meeting (that’s Sales and Marketing, weirdos) was an agenda-free, no-business, social pizza lunch laid out on the recently cleared counter that was an assembly area just hours earlier. There was a stack of pizzas and a massive salad for lunch from my favorite local pizza joint (Primo!). This was followed by a delicious and beautiful cake decorated with colorful and beautiful frosting flowers to celebrate the birthdays of five colleagues. Kudos to Market Basket for the consistently amazing cakes. 

What a day! And I have exactly zero photos. It will all soon be but a fuzzy memory.

After parking the car this morning and beginning the trek to the building, there was the usual rummaging in the bag to put away the keys and retrieve the access badge and cell phone (aka camera that takes the occasional call). There was no phone in the bag. I even paused walking for a more thorough rummage. 

The consequence of not having the phone (could be needed for multifactor authentication) was debated against the time and hassle of going back home to fetch it and arriving late instead of early. I rolled the dice and carried on with no phone. It felt reckless. Almost carefree.

Upon returning home, the cell was found on the kitchen table, right next to where my bag sat while being loaded with notepads and a banana for a day at the office. There were no urgent messages. No missed calls. No photos of a really decent day.

random thoughts – Day 1,127 – (Tuesday) – mrs. maisel

The new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel started last week. This show is the reason I finally caved and joined Amazon Prime after hearing the hype and seeing episodes at my friend’s house. I loved the zippy dialogue and I really loved the clothing, which confirms my suspicions I was born in the wrong fashion era.

Midge Maisel in her sit down job outfit.

Season five, like its predecessors, is loaded with great fashion looks. There is also some brilliant fashion logic, like when Midge realizes that her new office job will require a lot of sitting and a different silhouette than her usual stand-up gigs spent literally standing while on a stage. As a result, she’s up at 4:00 in the morning rifling through her closet for an outfit for the first day at the new job. She’s not wrong and I get it. 

I can say from experience and more than a few ripped seams that sitting in a sleek pencil skirt is a different experience than sitting in a flared skirt. Even more challenging are walking and entering and exiting a vehicle. 

Then there was the 1960s wool straight dress with gold-tone buttons that was once my Mom's. I wore it to my job at the museum in Clarksville, Tennessee. We were hosting a reception and I crouched down to pick up something from the lobby floor and the seam in the lining split open. Oy. At least it was at the end of the event and it wasn't the outer seam where people could see it.

It’s been more than enough time for me to have forgotten most of the story lines from the previous four seasons of Mrs. Maisel. Normally, I would prepare and binge all the the earlier seasons, but I dove straight into season five tonight. Except for the great fashions, the show is leaving me kind of flat. Everything feels a bit overdone. Over scripted. Over acted. A bit too contrived. It might not even be the show. Maybe it’s just more collateral damage from my mysteriously disappearing sense of humor. I hope it comes back soon, I really miss it.

With Mrs. Maisel now airing its final season, maybe the Prime subscription can be cancelled before the next renewal. It's the only show I watch on it anymore, free delivery from Whole Foods went away ages ago, and next day delivery on most products is mostly a memory. Sigh. 

random thoughts – Day 1,126 – (Monday) – some more of the same

Another Monday is done and it was a lot more of the same. Coffee. Work. Class. It all went pretty well, and that is a good thing.

It is impossible to know if it was the Monday sort-of holiday or leaving five minutes earlier to get to Fitchburg, but the traffic was much less horrible today. I hardly swore at all. Finnish class was fun. It seems like most of us in the class have taken some Finnish lessons before and the pace for this session is quicker than last fall. It feels like we’re blazing through the textbook.

Small art.

Yesterday after dance class I made a quick stop at Jeffrey’s Antique Co-op. I was looking for a felted wool art piece featuring birch trees that I saw a few weeks ago and didn’t buy because I didn’t like the frame. Later, I decided I liked it enough to change the frame, but in the classic case of “if you snooze, you lose,” it was gone. Some lessons are just not learned in a timely manner. 

Instead, I got three other small pieces that seemed like they might work in the kitchen. A rooster theme has developed on the kitchen wall over time, and one piece is a simple crate label featuring a rooster mounted on a piece of wood. <Insert adolescent rooster/kitchen/wood joke/comment of your choice here.> The other two pieces feature cows.  

Adorable Winston.

Of course, it hasn’t been as easy as just filling in some spaces on the wall, because the spots available aren’t quite a size match for the new pieces. No worries. The kitchen wall has already been rearranged several times, and it’s not like I’ve ever finished moving in or decorating. This is more of the same for my last three or four residences and just feels like a bit of "whatever." 

Winston is also in a "more of the same" trend. He is still specializing in sleeping, eating, and pottying. After a potty trip, he still does his little front paws tappy dance to demand a treat and prefers his bed turned inside out. I still find him delightful.

random thoughts – Day 1,125 – (Sunday) – festival dancing

Earth Day 2022.

In Massachusetts for several years (excluding the pandemic) my northern dance sisters and I have performed as Troupe Salaamati in the Townsend Earth Day Festival. This year's event is scheduled for next weekend. 

My April festival dancing days go back many years to my time in Tennessee performing with The Jezebellies dance troupe, my southern dance sisters. One of our annual performances was in the Rivers and Spires Festival in mid-April. A few weeks later, we would perform in the International Festival at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, where we usually followed the hula dancers and the announcer always introduced us incorrectly as “The Jelly Bellies.” We also danced at Riverfest in September. Good times.

I was a staff writer with Our City, the weekly news and entertainment paper once based in Clarksville, when I heard colleagues talking about the “Rivers and Spires Festival.” With their middle Tennessee accents, it sounded to me like “Rivers Inspires,” and I was confused about both the name and why it was being held downtown instead of along the river. I eventually understood that the downtown festival was named for the two rivers which flowed through the city (Cumberland River and Red River) and the many church spires downtown.

The Jezebellies, April 16, 2011.

April festivals can be tricky. For a couple years at Rivers and Spires we danced on the raised stages  which offered shade and improved the view for the audience. Then the organizers decided that only musicians were allowed on the stage and other performers were placed on the street in front of the stages. They told us this one year when we arrived without dancing shoes,  prepared to dance barefoot on a stage. We scalded our feet on the asphalt that hot, sunny afternoon. 

On April 16, 2011, we were scheduled to dance at Rivers and Spires in the morning. It had rained most of the night before, it was chilly and raw, and the sound guy was late arriving. We waited on the wet street at 10:00 in the morning, shivering in our dance costumes and jackets in the mid-40s temperature. At least we were wearing sandals.

Last year, the Townsend Earth Day event took place on a sunny and breezy day. There was squinting as the sun shone in our eyes, and my hair kept blowing into my mouth, but it wasn't so bad. This year, we’re watching the weather forecast for next weekend with our fingers crossed for luck. We have costume contingency plans for both cold and warm weather, but wet is beyond our sphere of control. 

The forecast currently shows rain for Saturday, and depending on if, when, and how much, the event could be pushed to Sunday. If we all hope for dry weather on April 22 until 3:00 pm, maybe it will happen as scheduled. 

random thoughts – Day 1,124 – (Saturday) – food and stuff

The weather was nicer today than I expected based on the forecast. It was sunny and warm, but not as warm as Thursday and Friday and made for a most pleasant day out of the house.

Thrift shop haul.

There was a rehearsal scheduled for our Earth Day performance and my preferred route takes me past a church thrift shop that is open on Saturdays. I left early to have time to stop there. Church thrift shops are the best for actual thrift shop pricing. Today’s score was five frames and a blouse with a total under six dollars. I was looking for the ever impossible to find shallow soup bowls, but those were another case of "not today."

Rehearsal was good. For whatever reason, there are a couple spots in a couple dances I sometimes mess up, and one spot in one dance that I consistently screw up. Today was no different. I have one week to get it straight. After the rehearsal, we visited North Middlesex Regional High School to check out the stage area for the event.

Across the street from the event site is a shopping plaza with a Hannaford, where my $10 off a $25 coupon is due to soon expire. The cart was loaded with an overachieving $53 of stuff, including salad ingredients, Greek yogurt, ice cream, and extravagances including smoked salmon and jarred tikka masala sauce. Warm weather usually inspires me to want to eat crisp and refreshing salads, probably because I'm suddenly thinking about shorts, sleeveless tops, and the ever terrifying beach attire.

Definitely not pasta with
crispy artichoke slices.

Last month on this date, my friends and I were in Italy, and like most days since then, I’ve been pining over the food we ate. Today’s “I wish I could have this again” food memory was a pasta dish I had in Tivoli that had thin, super crispy artichoke slices. 

Tonight’s less exciting than a meal in Italy was a home-prepared salad with Feta cheese and balsamic dressing. The healthy supper was balanced (more like completely negated) by a 3.5 ounce Lindt milk chocolate bunny that was half-off at Hannaford. Oh, and a bowl of ice cream. 

The Netflix binge du jour is Barry. It’s very violent, obviously, with the lead character being a hitman and all. The thing that keeps me coming back to it is my favorite character, NoHo Hank, a Chechen mobster who manages to maintain a certain charming, innocent quality. Possibly the most adorable killer around.

random thoughts – Day 1,123 – (Friday) – false summer

The weather had been early chilly spring-like, and suddenly, this week, there were two glorious days of false summer. It was a two-day special event that allowed the furnace to be turned off and the windows to be opened.

Thursday’s temperature of 89 degrees broke a Lowell record. Today, it hit the high 80s again before it began to drop. By 9:00, the temperature was back to around 60 degrees on its way to a forecast of 49 for overnight. The people who were whining about the heat on Facebook like we were all suddenly going to melt had calmed the heck down, so that was nice. 

False summer looked great from the desk where I sat, longingly looking out the window, fantasizing about frolicking at the beach or lounging on the deck basking in the sunshine while sipping an Aperol Spritz. 

The cold reality was spreadsheets, Word documents, review cycles, and emailing vendors, bathed in the glow of the computer monitor. I thought about taking a walk downtown this afternoon to enjoy the weather, but suddenly it was 2:45 and the high school kids were out of school and had descended upon  Merrimack Street and it felt too late. 

At the end of the workday, when it was still nice outside, there was no furniture on the deck upon which to lounge and no energy to retrieve it from the shed where it was stored for the winter. The weekend is predicted to be closer to regularly scheduled spring, with temperatures in the mid-60s and cloudy, which is usually comfortable for outdoor labor. Maybe things will get done then. Or not. It’s New England, and it could be back down to the 30s and snowing in no time. The shovels were put into the shed last weekend, which pretty much ensures another snow will happen. 

random thoughts – Day 1,122 – (Thursday) – surprise details

Sasquatch!?!

While backing into the driveway at home after work on Wednesday, I turned to look out the back window. Yes, the car has a rear-view camera, and no, I don’t usually use it.

I don’t really trust the rear-view camera thingy ever since a couple times it was all splattered over with highway salt and grime and wasn’t showing the view back there anyway. So I do the torso twist that requires swearing at the seat belt that wants to pin me to the seat facing forward. Sometimes the torso twist cracks my spine and feels pretty good, a bonus to traveling in reverse the old-fashioned way, looking over the shoulder, without benefit of modern technology.

While backing in, something on the back window above the rear wiper caught my eye. It is the tiny black silhouette of some Sasquatch type critter climbing the hump where the arm mechanism is mounted. I hadn’t noticed it before even though I’ve had the Renegade for almost two years. 

Ciao baby!

It felt kind of embarrassing realizing I’ve been backing into the driveway for one year and ten months and didn’t notice the little surprise silhouette until yesterday. There are now three little surprises I’ve found in the Jeep, and in no case was I actually looking for any of them. 

The first one found was inside the gas door and is a rather large embossed spider with a conversation bubble that says “Ciao Baby.” I must confess that I didn't see this the first million times I got gas. Now I smile every time I see it. Yes, indeed, ciao baby.

Stuck in traffic one morning, many months after I got the vehicle, I noticed an irregularity in the black circles at the edge of the windshield near the state inspection sticker. At first, I panicked a bit because I thought I was trapped in the car in traffic with some sort of creepy insect. It turned out to not be a creepy bug at all, but a fun little outline of a Jeep on a climbing adventure up the edge of the windshield. And yesterday, it was Sasquatch. 

Tiny Jeep climbing the windshield.

Now, I’m resisting the urge to go through the car inch by inch to look for more little surprises. On the one had, it might be fun to have a full inventory. Then again, would it lose the sense of delight and not be as fun if found while searching? 

random thoughts – Day 1,121 – (Wednesday) – donuts and more

Maple iced donut with bacon.

The weather forecast promised warm weather and Mother Nature delivered. Cropped ankle pants were pulled out for the occasion. Unfortunately, I failed to leave the office during the day to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperature, but the walk to the garage after work was most pleasant.

The office had a Wednesday thrill in the form of amazing donuts that a colleague brought in from a shop in Andover. Holy moley. I had one with maple icing and bacon. So, so good. There also may have been portions of other donuts, like maybe a piece of a chocolate with honey glaze, and possibly part of a jelly donut, and/or maybe a portion of one with pink icing. Maybe. 

There was a late afternoon surprise delivery of 11,500 promotional slips that I forgot I ordered for a campaign because once I cross something off the list, it’s purged from my brain. There was enough time left in the workday for me to divide them and pack them in interoffice envelopes to go to our 27 branches and an internal department. I can kick ass when it’s needed.

After tending to the Canine Overlord, it was directly to the couch for me. It was time to binge this week’s Netflix obsession, BEEF, with Ali Wong. Holy shite. Wow. Early in, this show has a small parking lot event and then it just keeps going. I’ve loved Ali Wong’s standup shows, but dang, she’s also an amazing serious actor. 

When BEEF was over, it was time for Leanne Morgan because she cracks me up. And just like that, the night was pretty much gone like the donuts at the office. Because that’s how it works.

random thoughts – Day 1,120 – (Tuesday) – art stuff

View from Lowell City Hall.

The weather was delightfully spring-like and the forecast is for warmer weather the rest of the week. It was a joy letting Winston outside during the workday. All 572 times. At least it got my derriere out of the chair. Having a dog can be a great way to fight deep vein thrombosis.

At the end of the remote workday, it was a mad dash downtown. There was an art reception with the studio artists from The Brush Art Gallery and Studios at City Hall at 5:30. Their art will be on display throughout the main level for the rest of the month. You gotta love a city with the motto "Art is the Handmaid of Human Good." 

Bonus, the traffic getting downtown today was significantly less annoying than when I was trying to get out of Lowell the past two Mondays. 

Fancy, lightly dusty
 column top at City Hall.

The City Hall reception was nice. Not too much speechifying. Platters of yummy cheese quesadillas. And it was a nice chance to chat with people including artists from The Brush and other friends. The building is really cool with stained glass windows, and stonework and fancy golden slightly dusty column headers.

After the reception, we had our monthly board meeting for The Brush Gallery and Studios a couple blocks away at the Gallery. Our board is great, and we are experts at not dragging out the meetings. We get our business done and then we are off. I delivered my photo to the Gallery for the Associate Artists show that opens on April 15. Our “Dinner and a Show” fundraiser event featuring local singers and musicians is in a couple weeks and things are shaping up nicely. There is an exhibit reception is in May. 

Between the Brush events, Finnish lessons, two high school reunion committee events, an oh, yeah, work, busy season is definitely here. Oy. I used to thrive on a jam-packed schedule, but now I'm a little worried I won't survive this one.

random thoughts – Day 1,119 – (Monday) – springing up

The signs of spring are becoming apparent. The nest over the drain pipe at the front corner of the house is being updated by this season’s avian tenants. Green shoots are several inches tall in the spots where the irises and lilies grow. The site of the bleeding heart near the front door has an abundance of red shoots appearing, and based on how large it got last year even after being cut back, it will need to be divided again. 

The Monday destination.

The 5:00 hell ride to Fitchburg the past two weeks has taken longer than it did in the fall session of Finnish classes. It took nearly 25 minutes to get out of Lowell and then it was the joy of the weekday parking lot also known as I-495.

For several miles it was long lines of traffic with tail lights as far as could be seen. There were brief stretches where things moved at the blistering speed of 14 mph. After the slow motion miles there was a stretch with tire shrapnel scattered along the roadway and across three lanes, and finally, an 18-wheeler parked in the breakdown lane with one destroyed tire. 

Once beyond the truck, the logjam cleared and it was the more normal travel pace. Thank goodness, because I was getting antsy and may or may not have been yelling at Waze for sending me straight into the mouth of hell. It could be a long eight more weeks. Last fall, the system navigated me along peaceful, scenic country roads that I don’t know how to find on my own and it was great. This session, it seems like Waze is trying to kill me.

I arrived for my 6:15 class with less than five minutes to spare. It had taken an hour and ten minutes to arrive. It’s frustrating knowing that in the fall, it took about an hour to arrive, and on a Saturday morning, the ride to the monthly breakfast at the same location takes about 45 minutes.

Sunshine yellow crocuses springing up.

While walking into the building, I noticed the flower bed that runs across the front of the building and around the side had been tidied up. A cluster of sunshine yellow crocuses sat like a welcome sign at the side door, and clusters of tiny purple flowers were scattered along the front portion of the bed. It was pretty. Calming. Hopeful. 

It’s been a long and weird winter and it’s nice to see the signs of spring and growth. It was especially refreshing to see the flowers after the stressful ride.

random thoughts – Day 1,118 – (Sunday) – Easter weekend

Saturday dessert.

Easter weekend had a lot of running around. There was a hair salon visit Saturday morning, scheduled 14 weeks earlier. My hair had been behaving beautifully the entire week leading to the appointment and I almost changed it a few days prior. The calendar had other ideas. It would be another four or five weeks before I had a Saturday opening, so the appointment went as scheduled.

The hair trim was followed by shopping for items for a fundraiser gift basket, Easter tulips, and a few grocery items. After a 2.5-hour break, it was time to change into something festive and head to the Khmer New Year dinner celebration which included overeating and a pretty dessert and fun. 

Saturday night featured weird dreams and waking up a couple times, which is the new norm. When Easter morning arrived, there were still a couple things that had been floating in my head and seemed to have escaped undone. The worst was never getting the Easter card into the mail to my niece who lives in Vegas.

In the car wash.

There was Sunday morning coffee drinking and a banana for breakfast while doing the homework for Monday’s Finnish class. Then it was time to dress and blast out the door. Along the preferred route to Fitchburg, the $5 car wash was open with no long line so I pulled in for a wash. It had been months since the last wash, and the last time I was near there the line was forever long and clogging the street. 

The gas tank was filled at the station across the street from the car wash and then there was a quick visit at my sister’s house to drop off tulips for her and cards for my nieces. We chatted for a bit, and suddenly I realized I was going to be late for Mom's.

From my sister’s house, it was a drive a couple towns over to Mom’s. I brought her some tulips and we had dinner. Our after-dinner entertainment was Scrabble, the usual activity when we visit. The day flew by, and the next thing I knew it was time to get back into the car to drive home. Mom sent me with leftovers for the already overcrowded freezer.

Back at The BungaLowell, the usual nonsense was happening. A Prime truck blocked the street and my driveway, and I sat patiently in the road waiting for the driver to move. I think he was contemplating life or rearranging the contents of the truck, because it was a long wait. The worst part was he wasn't even delivering to my house, just blocking my access to it. 

Inside, the Sunday chores awaited. At least I was full from dinner and didn't need to deal with supper. The trash was bagged and the bin rolled to the curb. Laundry was done. The dishwasher was run. Then there were some extra tasks – framing an image for a show. Organizing a basket for a fundraiser for the weekend of back-to-back events later in the month. Many other tasks and chores went undone. 

And just like that, the weekend is over. Sigh.

random thoughts – Day 1,117 – (Saturday) – Khmer New Year

Angkor Dance Troupe.

Tonight was the Khmer New Year Dinner Celebration at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center. The Bank had two tables and it was a great night out with bankers I rarely see anymore. It was the perfect event for dressing up (sequins!) and it felt like a major accomplishment being out on a Saturday night.

The pre-dinner entertainment featured a band with singers and a performance by  master instructor/dancers from the Angkor Dance Troupe. I’ve wanted to see these dancers for ages and just never made it happen, so it was great to finally see them performing tonight. 

The line at the bar was the perfect spot to see the dancers while waiting for service. The dance movements had so much precision with subtlety and nuance. The toe movements and weight shifts in the feet. The finger dexterity. The head movements. I was mesmerized.

Yummy buffet!

The buffet was yummy. A few of us at our table are open advocates of the “see food diet” (see food and eat it) and we visited the buffet twice. I was full when the dessert was set out, but that didn’t get in the way of having some coconut tapioca. There was also a mango gelato, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

When the dance floor opened with a live band, we were coaxed out there by a fellow banker for the “cha cha cha.” The floor was packed. It was fun.

Despite all the merriment and the advertised party end time of 12:30, I cut out at 9:30 because I know my limits. It feels like some sort of boot camp training will be required for me to successfully be out late dining and dancing. The past few years of hanging out at home have made me very soft.

random thoughts – Day 1,116 – (Friday) – Transatlantic binge

It’s been a long week. Lately they all feel like long weeks, but this most recent one felt especially grueling. There were frustrating tech issues and a crazy workload topped with weird dreams and fitful sleep. 

Today's tech warfare involved the office printer, and later, the paper cutters. There were paper jams, a series of other issues, and a lot of colorful cussing. There are three paper cutters in the office and they are all awful. It took the cutters plus the scissors and hand cutting to get it done. What should have been a quick task before heading to a photo shoot took a couple hours spread across the day.

After arriving home tonight, I wanted nothing more than to park it on the couch. It was ramen for supper because something hot and quick was needed. The day was colder than dressed for and the walk from the office to the garage left me chilled. I didn't even have the energy to fancy up the ramen. It was chicken picante flavor made with water and nothing else. 

While eating ramen on the couch, a new Netflix binge obsession was tuned in. It’s Transatlantic, in which “Two Americans and their allies form a scrappy rescue operation in 1940 Marseilles to help artists, writers and other refugees fleeing Europe.” Since turning it on at 6:00 tonight and for the next three hours, I’ve been glued to the screen. Just wow. 

Gillian Jacobs in Transatlantic.

One of the leads, and the only actor I recognize in this one is Gillian Jacobs, who I liked in the series Love several years ago. But all the cast in Transatlantic is good. I’m in love with the women’s costuming, because the styles of the 40s are amazing. The suits! The trousers! The blouses. 

But for now, gotta run. My show is on.

random thoughts – Day 1,115 – (Thursday) – freezer fun

The other night, there was an ambitious hankering for rice and enough was made to feed an army. The last time I did this, a lot of rice went down the garbage disposal about a week later. The crazy part is, I was thinking about that last time makin rice, even as I made all the extra rice this time. Some people never learn.

Veggies were sautéed in butter and olive oil and tossed with soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, sriracha sauce and sesame oil. That bunch of stuff was tossed with some of the rice and yielded three meals, plus two side containers of plain rice. 

Today, plain rice was tossed with salsa and pepper jack cheese for supper, and it was pretty good. The second container of plain rice was crammed into the freezer, fingers were crossed, and the door was closed. There would be no feeding of the garbage disposal with this pot of rice.

The freezer is now full to the point of a near avalanche each time the door is opened. Pizza, mac and cheese, quiche, rice, a crazy amount of bread, egg rolls, and that is just the stuff in the front that can be seen or is recent enough to be remembered. There is soup broth in containers and bags with chicken carcasses and veggie bits to make more broths. And two trays of ice cubes and several freezer packs.

There is some barely remembered precious stuff buried in there, including various shredded cheeses, the remaining half box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies and a couple random fruit Danish. Some people collect tchotchkes, but it seems that recently, I collect leftovers. If I didn't need the steady stream of chicken for Winston, I wouldn't have to go to the grocery store for weeks. 

It might be time to start a spring freezer excavation. Maybe it can be scheduled for Sunday as this singleton's version of an Easter egg hunt.