Events of 9/29/08

Rode in with Jim today because Kelly Bates and her vipir radar told me that it was going to rain all day, but of course it didn't. Started my new low carb breakfast routine of 2 fried eggs and 1/2 slice of toast and 1/2 banana as opposed to 2 slices of bread every morning. I was feeling quite good about myself until I got to work and there were pumpkin muffins. I ended up having 1/2 in the a.m. and 1/2 in the p.m. Got home at 5:15 and Lisa had made that great mexican soup with the crispy tortilla strips, shredded cheese and cilantro. Olivia was at Matt's so we picked her up on the way to the meeting. After the meeting we went to Wendy's for frosties, Lisa and Olivia tried the new coffee shake which was sickeningly sweet. I stuck with the tried and true chocolate frosty.

Events of 9/27 & 9/28/08

Woke up saturday to more torrential rain which will continue through tomorrow. Nana called and asked if Olivia could come over to Uncle Bob's where she's housesitting. We dropped her off at noon and went to the N. Smithfield Barnes & Noble. Lisa tried some stores looking for coats but couldn't find anything. We had a relaxing time at the book store and headed back to get Olivia at 3:30. It was raining so hard that I could only do 40 in rt95. Visited for a while with Uncle Bob and headed home for the evening. When we hit Newport Ave., Lisa wanted to treat us to Uncle Tony's (lots of uncles today). I stayed under control and had a grilled chicken salad, Olivia had a plumpy and Lisa had eggplant parm. Sunday morning, still raining. Luke came over around 10:00 for the study and laundry and lunch. Went to meeting, visited gramps and got home around 5:00. Went to Stop & shop for some italian bread that Lisa ended up turning into these delicious cheesy croutons that went on top of tomato bisque soup. As usual, it's all about food.

Events of 9/26/08

Today was Cirque du Soliel day, Kooza. It was at the Bayside Expo center in Boston, a brutal location to get in and out of. It was also pouring rain all day. Anyway, we started the day by cleaning the house (fun!), then we decided to try Angelos' on Federal Hill for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised. Lisa had linguine and clam sauce, I had the meatball sub and a beer and Olivia had the chicken fingers as usual. Well, it was all quite good and the atmosphere was great, but the surprise was that the kids' chicken fingers seemed to be made from the same recipe they must use for the chicken parm, and they give you this delicious tomato sauce to dip it in. I would order it for myself. The breading they use is unbelievable. After lunch we decided to go around the corner to Pastiche, our favorite desert place. We got 2 wonderful desserts, Lisa got an espresso and I got the moccachino (probably spelled wrong). Then off to the Cirque, which if you've ever been is quite an experience. Human beings performing things that seem humanly impossible to do. After an hour traffic jam in the parking lot, we drove down to Meeting St. cafe for supper, a Greek salad and grilled ham and cheese for Olivia. A very fun, busy day.

Events of 9/24/08

Another uneventful work day. Fairly mind numbing. Went to lunch with Luke at the Hong Kong in Attleboro. Pretty good. Another case of a chinese waitress who looks befuddled when you place your order, writes nothing down, and you have absolutely no confidence that your order will be correct, yet it arrives perfect. Went up to see Luke's apartment and it's pretty nice. Lots of cats and very tidy. Came home, mowed the grass, had another one of Lisa's great dinners (some chicken dish who's name escapes me and polenta). Had some manly white wine and retired having conquered another day.

Events of 9/23/08

Rode the bike to the bus and it's getting down into the 40's so I broke out the head wrap for the first time. It warmed up by lunch so I went outside to the picnic table and sat in the sun. It was such a nice day I rode the bike all the way home. Felt like I needed to get out so Olivia and I went to Meeting Street Cafe for desert, excellent chocolate cake and ice cream.

Events of 9/22/08

Monday again. Conducting the book study tonight so worked on that at lunch. Went to Mom's for supper, very good eggplant parmesan. Thought I did mediocre on the book study. Today was the day Lisa unveiled her latest creation, a purse made out of 2 of my old suits. I was blown away as was everyone at the hall. She's a force of nature.

Events of 9/19-9/21/08

Friday was 1/2 day of work. Lisa and I then headed over to Tokyo on Wickendon St. for sushi for lunch. On the way there we get a call from the school nurse telling us that Olivia's "sad" and won't eat her lunch and wants us to come get her. We turn around and go get her then all 3 of us head to Tokyo. Olivia perks up (surprise). After that we visit 7 stars for coffee and pastry, of course too much pastry, chocolate almond croissant and lemon cake. When we get home I paint some window trim and later we have a fire in the chiminea since I promised Olivia we would do that. Saturday was AM service, followed by food shopping. The neighbors were having a yardsale and Olivia spent quite a while in the middle of that. We ended up with a very large brightly colored blow-up basketball hoop, a ring for Olivia, a shower caddy, a toy motorcycle and a beer glass for the grand total of $1.00. Sunday we went to breakfast at Modern diner with nana and Luke. Very good. Studied with Luke, went to the meeting where Chris gave the talk and did a nice job. Went to gramps after and had supper. I tried to show him the new procedure for calling in to the meetings but had to abandon that. Too much for him. We'll revisit it.

Events of 9/18/08

Had the opportunity for an extra hours' sleep, but set the alarm an hour too early by mistake. Very busy with all the price increasing going in, what a world. Got a haircut at the place at the Seabra's plaza. The annoying young girl with the tatoos chirping in my left ear with the other girl about taking her daughter to Chuck-e-Cheeses'. I wanted to slap her. I hate getting a haircut. Had another HVAC meeting in the PM, and rode the bike all the way since I want to get home earlier. When I arrived home I was reminded about Olivia's open house at 6:00. She has a very nice teacher and she seems to like school, she's doing quite well. Went to the meeting and that was it. Made it through another Thursday.

Events of 9/17/08

Drove in today. We're having HVAC classes at work, today I think was the next to last one. Tommorrow I think is the final episode. It's a big chunk of time taken out of the day. Had a delicious roast chicken for supper with mashed potatoes and salad. Lisa made a wonderful lemon flavored au jus. You forget how good roast chicken is, and how satisfying mashed potatoes are. Simple. After we went to visit Paul and I had brought a DVD with Olivia's 1st talk and her dance on it. Sadly it didn't play. I told Paul about vitamin B2 for Parkinsons', maybe he'll decide to try it. I tried the epoxy repair on the storm door window, we'll see if it works. I'll be shocked if it does. Yet another Mickey Mouse home repair job.

Events of 9/16/08

Another nice morning riding to the bus. An uneventful morning at work, went to El Azteca with Lisa for lunch. That was a nice surprise. The afternoon was a groggy one for some reason (too many chips & salsa?). When I got home Olivia was in the tub. I asked her, "what are you doing in there?" she answers with an expressionless face "taking a bath". It was a stupid question. We had a very typical evening, beddyda went well but there was a begging jag at the tucking in stage, so I had to speak sternly to her. Hated to end things on a bad note, but I'm sure she'll recover and do the exact same thing tomorrow.

Events of 9/15/08

Monday again. Rode the bike to the early bus and it was a beautiful morning. 70ish, breezy and best of all a full moon. The beauty of it helps temper my re-entry into the working world. Mondays are a difficult transition from 2-1/2 days where I almost never think of work to 4-1/2 days of my mind and body being owned by work. To think of another 20 years or more of it and it's almost unimaginable. I'm glad that I have a job that I mostly like. Anyway, went to gramps' at lunch. Got home at 4:30, Luke called and came over for supper and we went to the meeting. Went to bed at 9:30.

Events of 9/12 - 9/14/08

Friday the 12th was a typical friday. Left work at noon, went to lunch with Lisa. Today it was the Edge Cafe. Had one of those great (cappucino?) muffins. Went to Whole Foods shopping then went to pick up Olivia at school. I had promised Olivia that we could have a fire in the chiminea in the evening but it was raining, not a good sign for Saturday and the Pawtucket Arts Festival, but we get up the next morning and it's only overcast thank goodness. Setting up the canopy goes well, we get the bags all displayed and we're ready to sell. I get to meet Lisa's Arts in RI people who are all quite nice and very talented. Lisa has a great day and sells alot. The weekend proves to be one of indulgence in the cuisine of Slater park- hot weiners, fries, dough boys, fish and chips, sausage sandwiches, frozen lemonade and as if that wasn't enough we added some Dunkin Donuts. For half of Sunday it rained quite hard. We got there in the morning to find that our booth was now in a puddle, so we had to move. We huddled under the canopy until noon, soaked. Very little business, but it picked up somewhat in the afternoon and she sold 4 or 5 bags. A nice feature of the weekend is the Stone Soup Folk festival. Sunday two groups stood out to me, Low Anthem and the Bluegrass group Northern Lights. Both were really good, too bad there weren't more people there. After we packed up our damp stuff (the hanging paper globes were soaked so we chucked them) we went to East Side Pockets for greek salads and went home to watch the Pats-Jets game won 19-10 by the Pats. All in all a very nice weekend, if only the weather had been better.

Events of 9/11 (no, not that one)

Breakfast was different today, which was really exiting. Stole some almond butter for my toast, truthfully I prefer peanut butter. Foot burns are ghastly looking but the pain is better. Took the 7:00 bus, and really applied myself at work on a large price update. Went to the river park for lunch. Heated up my buritto and thank goodness that my lunch bag kept it warm on the ride over. I love that lime green lunch bag, it's been one of my best. Some kids were skateboarding (skipping school I guess). It was a beautiful day so I laid down on the grassy knoll and as I thought about the Kennedy asassination, I noticed the clouds. Saw a baby elephant, a chipmunk that slowly transformed into a poodle, and a roast turkey. It was really plump and tasty looking. I think we need to roast a turkey soon. Came home, and went to half the meeting (Lisa headache). Went to Luke's football game which they lost, came home and wasn't tired, probably because of the coffee I had at 9:00. Went to bed at 12:30, slept fitfully.

Events of 9/10/08

On Wednesday September 10th 2008 I awoke at 5:25am to a nice sunny day and had the usual peanut butter and banana on toast with orange juice. Running low on peanut butter, so tomorrow I'll probably use Lisa's almond butter, or maybe something cheaper like caviar. Drove the car today so I can bring the bike home on the rack. Decided to start staring at the sun in the morning and evening for 1 minute based on what Earthclinic recommended. Thankfully it didn't burn my retinas so I think I will continue and see what happens. Studied with Luke at lunch on the picnic table at work. Came home and became irritated at the storm door window breaking which made for an unpleasant situation. Was able to somewhat compartmentalize that for now. Had a bowl of leftover dry stew meat (better than it sounds) for supper and pulled out the mower to do the lawn, but decided to go with Olivia and Matt to walk the dogs. Tossed several large branches in the truck to dispose of illegally at the nature trail. Strange that it's illegal to put branches on the forest floor, I guess I see their point, it would be like littering a plate with delicious food items, wouldn't make sense. The dogs got wet in the pond, so the ride home was quite stinky. Mowed the lawn, Lisa hypermiled to Joanne fabric and I put Olivia to bed. Had a couple of cocktails and decided to make a fire in the chiminea. Lisa joined me and after an hour or so an ember flew out into my shoe. In trying to remove it it somehow got underneath a fingernail burning the delicate pink skin under there to go along with the melted skin on the top of my foot. Decided it was time to go inside, took my vitamins, watched a little tv and went to bed. All in all, a roller coaster of a day filled with the usual monotony, frustration, lawbreaking, nice things, and physical discomfort.

Events of 9/9/08

Woke up at 4:55am, rode the bike to the bus. Picked up the usual suspects along the way. There's two mentally challenged people other than me who ride the bus nearly every day and it's quite an interesting dynamic. The older lady gets on first at Hebron Village, Joe gets on in Dodgeville. She speaks to me a little and I respond, but when Joe gets on she wants to engage him in conversation, but he wants to talk to me. Now she's slower than him and he's trying to avoid talking to her and I'm trying to limit my conversation with him. All way too much thinking and talking nonsense so early in the morning. I had the usual burrito/prunes/carrot lunch and managed a 5 minute nap. Rainy and windy all day. Mom picked me up at 3:30 to get the car at Saturn. Olivia was with her since she had no school. We had Lisa's delicious chili for supper, I went to Matt's to watch baseball and drink beer. All in all a day I won't soon forget, it will probably take at least 24 hours.