Home again

This is something very strange indeed. I'm not (and rarely have ever been) a breakfast person. I don't even drink coffee most of the time! Since moving back to Somerville, though, I've awakened with a slightly rumbly stomach and- been able to take down food. My brain's food-enjoyment-receptors aren't typically working until 10am on any given day. Must be something in the air.

Several incredible things are present in my life.

1. iYo.

Frozen yogurt, self-serve, with unusual flavors and exotic toppings... just like Yogurtland but HERE! Not 3000 miles away! Yes, I had made a similar find last year with Mixx over in Allston, but coming from this end of Somerville, that seems oh-so-far away.. and not easily accessed by T. Now I've got my OWN lovely shop right here in Davis. The interior of the place is impressive- what used to be an ordinary, slightly dingy convenience store has been revamped into a much more fitting (Davis is no place for "dingy" or "ordinary"), industrial-style, open space. I can see myself becoming a regular. The only complaint I have is the price- where Yogurtland (my first experience with these types of establishments) charges 30 cents/ounce, and Mixx charges 42 cents/ounce, iYo charges 49 cents/ounce. Yowch. That cup (less than halfway full) cost over $4. But to be fair, what's in the cup? Small amounts of sea salted caramel pretzel yogurt, cake batter yogurt, and espresso yogurt with toppings like mochi, cherry and blueberry juice poppers, and oreo. I'm pretty frugal, but this treat will be MINE at least weekly. Also available- make your own waffles, and coffee/pastry fare.

2. Reality.

I guess I need to snap a pic or two of the Villa Victoria now that it's been revamped into Reality. The building is awesome, and the people I've met thus far are pretty rad. I'm excited for my first time at Reality's prayer group tomorrow. I went out with new friends on Monday. The lot of them strike me as glamourous people, at least compared to the typical brother/sister in Christ that you meet around the Boston area. Maybe it'll rub off on me.. I could use a step or two up in my fashion game :)

3. Grandma.

4. BOSTON!

Simply so very thankful that I am here. That I have the ability to get back here and adapt and still be able to pay the bills while God works something new in my life.

What's not so great? The Red Sox. Thank goodness that this is the last day of the regular season. Go home, boys. Go home, relax for a few months, and please come back next season ready to win some games.

Also worth noting- I have largely skirted around sci-fi shows. I watched Buffy but that was bigger than sci-fi, had a much wider appeal, so I could hide behind that reasoning. Well, no longer. I love Doctor Who. I LOVE Doctor Who! It's cheesy-ness is endearing. It's characters find various avenues into your heart.. and then they leave, making you realize all the more how darn attached you had become to them. David Tennant- who I despised and was essentially repulsed by in Harry Potter- has become the most lovely face and voice to me. And watching Doctor Who got me turned onto the band Chameleon Circuit, which plays "Trock" or Time Lord Rock. Yes, the geekiness continues. They're pretty good.

And now I'm off to find something great to fill today with. It's rainy/overcast. And quiet.

Woops

I've been a bad participant of this study. We're supposed to be two weeks in and I'm on day 3. Reasons, I have 'em, but who needs excuses? It didn't help that I spent the first week of the study in Boston and didn't spend much time in one place during that time.

It's the first day of Autumn. WOOHOO! I love this time of year. Granted, it's a little colder up here than I'd like, but soon I'll be a resident of Somerville once again. Boom. Autumn. Time to watch The Royal Tenenbaums. Time to hang out in a coffee shop and sip on a chai.. wait, check! That brings us to the present. Chai and coffee cake while the wind whips outside and the sun peaks through a thinly overcast sky. I just noticed the foliage this morning.. as if it had turned overnight. The bog is glorious, like God took a paint brush dipped in red paint and waved His arm across the top of the canopy, then orange paint a level lower, then yellow, and left the green. All of the trees looked that way, the most beautiful uniform imaginable.

I've gotten myself stuck on Doctor Who. Unfortunately, the part I enjoy most about the show only lasts for several seasons, so I'm forever looping through episodes I've already viewed. This is a great way to kill something that you like. Now I've found Trock- Time Lord Rock- a genre of music inspired by the show. Haha, yes, this exists! People are crazy. Some of it is very catchy, all of it is pretty poorly produced. I'd recommend a song or two but unless you're a fan of the show you wont like it- again, the quality is ok at best and so the only thing these tunes have going for them are the sentimental/emotional connections that they create between listeners and the stories from the show that they're referencing. (ok, ok.. I very seriously can not stop listening to Doctor is Dying by Chameleon Circuit)

Whew, we sold my Grandma's house. Well, it's under contract, and while I don't specifically understand what that means, I get the impression that it's better than not being under contract. I'm moving to a great location near my darling Davis Square in Somerville next weekend. The apartment itself isn't overly sunny or open, but the room is a good size for me and the roommates are pretty low-key. My priorities are always location and price, and while I could get a bit closer to Davis, I really couldn't find a more "cost efficient" situation. I'm psyched to be able to walk everywhere once again. I drove 30 minutes to get to this coffee shop. I'll have to drive 30 min to get home. Agh, gas is so expensive. Give me a $59/month T pass!

One of the most fantastic things about this move- God's impeccable timing on several levels here- is that it will put me in proximity to a church community that was just planted last Sunday in Boston. A LOT of people from Reality churches across California flew out to pray over the city for 3 days before the opening of the church on Sunday. I attended Reality LA for about 4 months when I lived in LA in 2010 and fell in love with it... God has given that church body such a collective heart for the city of LA as well as the greater world. I loved the spirits of worship and prayer that were so evident. So I prayed for a long time after returning to the east coast, that something like Reality would pop up in Boston. Lo and behold, here they are! The announcement of the church plant was actually released 9/2011, I believe, but I didn't find out until 3/2012 when rolling back through some of the online sermons on Reality LA's site (I still listen to Pastor Tim just about weekly). Very cool as I'm not sure that I would have come up to Maine had I known that the Reality family was starting to expand to Boston as early as last Autumn. Praise God because I have had hugely valuable experiences up here. (Man am I going to miss some of the people at my now-previous employer!) And now, just as Reality is getting up and running officially, the house is selling and I feel free within my soul to move back (no one has obligated me to being up here.. but I did come up here to help and would've felt unsettled leaving before things had wrapped up).

The sun has won and this shop is starting to smell like lunch. I've already spent $6 on a chai and coffee cake.. do I splurge on a sandwich? ...knowing me, probably not.

Something new

Great. Day 1 of my online study through Beth Moore's James: Mercy Triumphs and I'm tired and cranky. Maybe that's an overstatement of my current mood, but I've only just finished dinner at 9pm and have yet to start my first day of "homework". Time to press on... will just mean a short entry.

Ok, just finished. Blessed by a great quiet and calm over the past hour. I wonder what it was like to be James, to be the brother of Jesus, someone to whom no one could possibly match up. It's hard enough between two normal siblings.

Employment, financial peace, and coffee (every other day or so)

A month! A month has come and gone so quickly. The leader of the small group I joined commented on my last entry and it spurred me forward into the blogging world once again. Thanks for that Julie.

Well, after 5 interviews with Verizon and a number of calls and emails in between, I was hired. Quite a thorough process. Dave was also hired, and we start 7 or 9 weeks of classroom-style training on Feb 23. Got a few weeks more to burn, but for me at least, they'll go right by. I'm excited to start with Verizon, and am hopeful that I come to appreciate their company and be appreciated as well. It would be nice to stick with the same corporate family for a while. That just hasn't seemed to work out for me yet, and I'm not one to settle into a job that makes me unhappy or fails to challenge me. But one of these days, it WILL work out! And while I have no intentions of being in the customer service center for any longer than it takes to move up, I'll be fine for now. Being able to carpool with Dave will be great. I just hope our cubicles aren't next door to each other... we need SOME time away during our day. :)

So yes, I joined a small group through my church, and actually, it's a women's group. The idea of joining a women's group was truthfully daunting enough that I decided to go for it based on my discomfort. I need community up here, and I've generally felt myself a bit of an alien in all-female settings, so it's the perfect chance for God to give me some new friends and help me grow a bit. Wouldn't it be great for me to make one or two really close girlfriends through this? It's not that I'm opposed to the idea, and in fact, I would really like to find a kindred spirit (someone like Kearah or Ally, only hundreds/thousands of miles closer). It's just never the way it goes... Maggie and the guys. I love sports, playing around, being sarcastic and quick-on-my-feet witty. I like quoting The Office and Zoolander as often as the opportunity presents itself. I guess I'm just... not girly. Which is strange, because I enjoy some female-stereotyped things like cooking, baking, Pintrest, crafts, kitties... but ok, before I start getting too far into the inner workings of my mind (scary) I'll leave it at, "I digress". The group is studying prayer, and the homework each day is really helping me dig into the Word. I started a journal for it and found that it was a productive way for me to get my thoughts out. More to come..

Ahh, now Financial Peace University... that is what I'm REALLY high on these days. Dave and I are taking it together as it's being offered through the church we're going to and it has been so fantastic. Both he and I are in comfortable situations, which makes it even more fun as we're coming into it with a mindset of smartening up and preparing for the future, not so much a panic of needing to dig ourselves out financial holes that we've dug. I could talk about this course for a long time, and I'm only in week 2 of it. So far I've mapped out and put into partial motion 4 separate designations for my money (checking/expenses, student loans, retirement, emergency fund) and created a fairly accurate monthly budget for myself. My first and most immediate goal is to get rid of my debt... ugh, if I could only do college over again. I would have taken that full ride to UMO. Seriously, it's so silly to be paying off a degree that I'm not even using. AGH!!!!! And if I start soon with my retirement Roth IRA plan, and let it gain momentum, I will be in great shape come retirement. Just by adding $2k or $3k every year. I'm so pumped on the whole compound interest concept. Oh, and I am even MORESO excited about my monthly budget's allotment for giving. Compared to many people it's not much, I'm sure, but it sure feels great to me. I'm so psyched to feel empowered (all of a sudden- and all due to being able to see just how much money I really CAN devote to giving away) and to have this drive. To have Dave alongside me learning as well. To have a chance to participate i this program! And finally to pass it along to others.

What a time of blessing I'm in. I'm up here on a lake in the middle of the woods, sharing a home with someone I love and who loves me (by serving me and by respecting my boundaries! what a man), living in a house that has so much sentimental meaning to me for $50/month (Dave pays the other half of our "rent"), employed, near my Grandma... and it doesn't stop there. For whatever reason, I've been able to plug right in up here. I've moved around a lot in the last few years, and I've always attributed my struggle to find a small group or connect on a deep level with my friends to that fact. But it hasn't been all due to that. Now, though, I've got a church and a small group and another "extra curricular activity" all within one same community. I don't know what it is, but I'm thankful for it.

Movie time with the boy... before I leave I want to point you all in the direction of a fantastic recipe that we tried a week or two ago:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/03/coconut-chicken-salad-with-warm-honey.html
I found this one on Pintrest (my Pintrest time per day has decreased lately... which is a good thing) and we loved it. MMMM. We made lots of small 3-bite-sized pieces and had leftovers for a couple days. Gonna do this again in the next week I'm thinking... also, yellow curry chicken and cashew stirfry again soon. I don't believe that it's one of his favorites but I sneak it in there every couple of weeks :)

Night!

Home alone

That's right. Today I'm "all by me onesie", as a certain dashing pirate captain would say. And what have I done with my alone time, you ask? Nothing, or nearly so. Today I have 0 (zero) inspiration to accomplish anything. So the fact that I have done a couple loads of laundry, vacuumed, and washed dishes puts me at over-achiever status for the day I suppose.

I watched this great instant-watch flick on netflix called Opa!  I felt so good after watching that film. It made me seriously question why I'm still living in the USA. For many years now I have dreamt of living abroad and aside from NZ there are plenty of incredibly sublime locations to choose from. Sunshine, small town living, slow pace of life, the ocean... what more would I really need? Quaintness, my friends. That is something I would like for my life. Freedom- that's another.

I harvested my green onions a couple days ago, after they had grown thus:

Yum. They went right into a stirfry and were greatly appreciated.

I cleaned out my Grandmother's loft, which has housed seasonal decorations and some old clothes/toys/luggage for many years. I'm ready for trash day as I have bags of trash in the living room, and this tower of cardboard for recycling:

It's about as tall as the top of my head. Nevermind the fact that I have to be up at 7am to move it all out to the road. (7am is early for someone who is a lazy bum.) I'm ready to reclaim all of the space that the trash and recycling are taking up inside. What a mess, but I'm glad that one part of the house is under control now. We'll have to paint the loft in the spring when we can open some windows.

I have my final interview with Verizon tomorrow. Stage 4 of 4. The interview process is at least minorly stressful in even the best of situations, so I'm ready to finalize things here as this process has been thorough- and actually, the thoroughness has made me more excited about the position and possibly working for Verizon. I have never been through such rigorous screening for any job that I've held to date.

Well, I imagine I'll continue my quiet, uneventful day. Leftovers for dinner. I've got a minor headache that's been dogging me all day.. can't be helping. Apologies for this post- it's hardly worth reading. I'll come up with some better material soon, just you wait.

Quickly

Our day: lots of bread-related creations..

 (sorry, had to sneak this in here...)

tada! pretzel bites! 

Dave commandeered some of my dough to create buffalo chicken bites 

And I have a bowl-full of dough "resting" till the morning for a loaf. What else?

We went skating again. He is a star. Neither of us are too smooth but we skated across the lake and back today. Then, we did some reading, watched an episode of Terra Nova together, and that was the day! Lots of kitchen time. Tomorrow we both have round 3 of 4 in our Verizon hiring process... a "more formal" phone interview. I read through this blog last night and .. I really miss working for a baseball team :o/

A thought from Jan 7

"I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." -Romans 12:1

I've been really struck by a reading I encountered a few days ago. Here's what the rest of the devotional had to say about this verse:

"To be liberated in Christ, we've got some sacrifices to make. And as long as He is the one asking us for them -  not our own guilt or legalistic tendencies- any sacrifice we make in our quest for freedom will be wholly consumed by God as a sweet sacrifice. He will bless it.


"We fear making sacrifices. But the irony is that we also make a lot of sacrifices when we are not living in the will of God. How many things have we placed on the alter to Satan's kingdom? Don't we live sacrificially when we're outside the will of God, giving up all sorts of things that were meant to be ours in Christ?"

From Beth Moore's book Breaking Free Day By Day . I love the devotional because each day's entry is short, to be honest with you. That is helping me to make a habit out of it. But since it's short, I usually run through yesterday's and then read today's twice over. Long reads in and of themselves aren't the problem, but sometimes I just can't be bothered- as if that actually makes any sense! In any case, so far I've only been really truly struck by one or two readings but I'm enjoying it and getting at least a dose of scripture, in case I dont get to my Bible later that day (which I also have been doing; I've never been good with consistent reading like that). The one posted above is self-explanatory and poignant, and general in that I don't feel like I need to explain how it fits in my life as it fits everywhere (or most places), probably, in all of our lives.

I am heading into the Verizon building today to take some sort of computer-based assessment. These sorts of things are never challenging for me and so I find myself not thinking much about it. Hopefully this test is no different. Dave also has a phone interview with them in about 25 minutes- I hope that goes very well for him because if he wants the job and gets it, and I get it as well (or something else) we will be doing just fine for ourselves in our little lakeside existence up here.

Yesterday we went ice skating! We donned our $7 thrift store ice skates and hit the lake. It was his first time ice skating, and though he started off by using some sort of skateboarding motion (only propelling himself forward using one foot like you would with a skateboard) he eventually got the hang of it. I grew up sliding around on ponds but never really got the hang of skating- it has been years and I have traveled to many rinks and ponds with friends only to sit out and watch as opposed to rent skates and flail about on the glassy surface. Gliding around was a surprisingly sublime experience for me yesterday, however. There are drifty patches of snow checkering the ice but even including these the lake is largely very smooth right now and there was no wind. It was nearly effortless for me to make it from the house out to the island and back (and lest I make it sound like I looked like a figure skater, let me assure you that I can't stop myself correctly and have great difficulty turning with any semblance of grace). The constant booming of the ice shifting was .. well, constantly disconcerting, but I've seen 4-wheelers out lately and so I tell myself that we should be ok. It is a very nice view once you get offshore a bit- to look and see a distant dot-figure with a hockey stick flying around on the other side of the lake, and a huddle of ice fishers farther down the shore. All that flat, open space. Dave's feet hurt afterwards but I believe that he had a great time as well :) We'll visit the other side of the lake over the next few days.

Haha.. hope you enjoyed those graceful and not-awkward-at-all photos.

And now I think it's time for a quick update...

woooowwwwwie! Check out that one stalk! I dont know why that one is shooting up so much faster than the others- they were all initially cut to the same length. As you can see, it did a lot of growing yesterday. Clearly, my measurements are subjective and I can only really keep consistent track of one stalk as they're all growing differently. Also clearly, there's an overachiever in the bunch. Anyhow, I'm having a lot of fun keeping track of my green onions. To give you a sense of how tall that big guy is, I'd say it's currently 4-5 inches high. We made stirfry last night (with a delicious orange sesame dressing/marinade by Drew's ... I'd highly recommend it) and are now down to the last little bit of the original onions, so... grow babies, grow!


And now I'm off to get ready for my meeting with Verizon. I can hear Dave on the phone downstairs, so that's in motion as well. Onwards into the windy, overcast day I go..

Baby, it's cold outside...

..Well, I guess it could be worse in the temperature department... or at least, it certainly has been at times over the past month. I'm more of a wimp each year it seems. But thankfully, I have someone else to prod me into enjoying the Maine outdoors this winter...

 so graceful ;)

 way off shore.. Dave's first time on a (frozen) lake!

I love...

...you!

We spent about 20 minutes out there sliding around and seeing who could throw rocks the farthest. The ice was about 5 inches thick or so.. and today I saw about 10 people down the lake a ways out ice fishing. Dave and I were heading into town to find some thrift store ice skates- mission accomplished, by the way. $7-a-pair. You do understand that this is going to be at LEAST moderately disastrous, don't you? I can't remember the last time I donned a pair of ice skates. We used to live near a pond and even though I would play on the ice all throughout the winter in those days, I more often than not preferred to stumble my way around in boots during our hockey games. But! If nothing else, these skates will provide another means for winter exercise. I see a family of 3 or 4 skating past the house every day, close in to shore, almost like they're doing laps around the lake (doubtful).
I was also hunting around the thrift stores we visited for an old or vintage-looking, unique wooden frame. I want to do something like this:

.. and I didn't find exactly what i was looking for. It's worth the wait to find the right one. I'll be making mine primarily for earrings, but I was also considering making a jewelry holder out of three smaller frames put together in a triangle-ish fashion (so that looking down on the contraption, the three frames would make a triangle). One side for earrings, one for rings, one for bracelets/necklaces. Maybe attach it to a lazy susan sort of rig. We'll see what I'm able to find going forward.

Tonight we had sloppy joes bundled in crescent roll dough (two tubes of the dough left over from Christmas... and it's the buttery kind, so I cant make any sort of pastry out of it; figured it would be worth a try in this capacity).

(pre-baking stage)

Pretty good. The sloppy joe mixture actually "melted" the dough as you may be able to see in the bottom righthand bundle (for instance). It held together through baking but was thin. And what would sloppy joes be like without...

..homemade sangria? :)

Actually, I think it would be delicious to lay out sangria-soaked orange slices at a party. That has been my favorite part of this current batch. Anyhow, we're having some fun in the kitchen these days.

One more thing for today, and then I'm heading to do my devotional for the day. Check this out:

I might just be in the dark here, but until very recently I was unaware that you can grow your own green onions "just like that"! Just over 24 hours ago, I chopped off the ends of a bundle of green onions and set it in a tall shot glass with a bit of water in it. The growth between then and now is already noticeable- you can see the shoots continuing to grow past where I made the chop (where the outside layer of the onion is at- everything inside/above those lines is new!!)... this is amazing and fascinating to me. So quick! I've since added a line in dry erase marker to show where they were at as of 24 hours after the initial cut. I'm very excited to watch these babies develop.

Goodnight friends!

Interviews and crafty crafting

Today was pretty low-key. Three people- a father, a young girl and a young boy- skated by on the lake this afternoon. It was the first that I'd seen of ice trekkers this year, so I suppose it's safe to go out there now. If only the temperature didn't bring out the coward in me.. this year I simply have no patience for anything that could be considered below "brisk" status.

I had an interview with Verizon Wireless for a customer rep job after lunch. It was a phone interview and it went very well- they make me so nervous, any sort of interview, but in the end I general come out unscathed and feeling (actually) confident about my ability to handle those QUESTIONS they always ask. I had a very negative-centric interview with the Atlanta Braves once (a lot of "tell me about your weaknesses/a time when you were in trouble/what you didnt like about your last boss/tell me about a major conflict that you had with a coworker" etc) and so, like an abused job seeker, I am forever waiting for a similar "barrage of  bad" to start streaming from the interviewer's mouth.
But again, this one went well. I am going in for a computer assessment on Tuesday. It's not smart to type about things having to do with employers (potential or otherwise) so I'll end it there. But no matter where I end up, I'm just about ready to get to work. It's not so much that I want to work- though I do enjoy working in a healthy and productive environment at challenging/stimulating tasks- but that I feel this weight starting to bear down on my shoulders, this implied responsibility to be productive and make money and find a "good job". It's tough up here, folks. The job market is much slower, and while there are jobs, the variety is a little less colorful than ... well, probably anywhere else. Someone with my experience and position in life will likely have to work for longer than a month to find a job in their specific field that pays as much or more as other jobs I have held (this has a 98% chance of not happening... I have worked for a salary of $42k before, and most similar jobs around here pay $8 - $12/hour). It's not discouraging, but I also know that it might not be earth-shattering, the way things turn out for me in the short run.

I also tried a rough run of making a Do It Yourself canvas:

Yes indeed. This is a terrible photo, mostly because it was taken in softer lighting with my iphone. Forgive me? I didn't follow the tutorial's rules, and while it came out ok, I'm going to try it their way next time. Very basically, I bought a plain 8"x10" canvas from Jo Ann Fabrics, along with some black fabric (nothing fancy- and just enough to cover the canvas, with an inch or two to spare on all sides), modge podge, and of course the print itself. As this was a trial run, I didn't splurge on the print, but when I do this "for real" (gifts, or to actually be displayed anywhere) I'll get my photos done at a photo shop or online by SmugMug or Snapfish.
I wrapped the canvas as tightly and neatly as I could- unavoidable were a few small folds visible on the sides of the canvas, but I don't really see a more agreeable way around this. On the back of the canvas, I securely duct taped the fabric down (no one is going to see this side of the canvas anyway... so tape away!); then, I modge podged the front of the canvas and stuck the photo on! It looks.. pretty sharp. I haven't gotten a good look yet, because where it's hanging right now is not a fitting spot for it anyway. But! It's fun to realize that I don't HAVE to dish out big bucks to have a canvas version of my favorite photos. A bit of tweaking and this will be a great tight and professional-looking money-saver! Like I said- I'm going to go with the foam board from the tutorial next time, and perhaps invest in a can of spray adhesive (while we were in Jo Ann's, Dave advised against it as it has a tendency to spray all over the place- which means everything gets sticky- but surely there is a way to proof against this sort of thing).


Nothing too new to report beyond that. After many months, we are caught up to this current season of The Office. What's next? Perhaps Arrested Development... maybe The Event, though I already know that that series leads nowhere (was cancelled right in the "heat of battle" so to speak). We visited my Grandma yesterday and brought her drunk gummi bears and a couple slices of rainbow cake. Both seemed to delight her, and I have to find out if anyone at her living community's happy hour dared to try out the gummi bears. Bucky wouldn't have any of that... but was in good spirits.


It seems like everyone is putting together reading lists for 2012, and the more I think about it, the more I am struck by the idea. Of COURSE I should have a "To Read" list as well... I'm up in Old Town in the dead of winter!
A few goals for this year, though:


-go swimming in Pushaw Lake
-garden, whether a small herb garden indoors or a revamp of the beds outside this spring
-read Scripture every day
-abstain from driving Dave insane :)

Heading north for the winter

Every unemployment-related website, blog, or posting seems to think that blogging is a great use of that extra time that we non-working folk often have an abundance of.

I get antsy. I have deeply engrained ideas of what productivity looks like, what I should be doing and accomplishing each and every 24 hours to remain in good standing as a decent and productive part of society, and I can't stand to live apart from this sort of structure for too much time before my cool and calm facade starts to chip. I've lasted this long (one month and a little less than a day) by playing the part of housewife (*note: I am nobody's wife, but you see what I'm getting at). The holidays brought a few handfuls of people to my current abode, as always, and so there was much in the way of preparation and then cleanup for the weeks before and after. My Grandma's house (which, by they way, is where I'm staying- I'm here to take care of the place until we can sell it) is on a lake in Northern Maine, a mile or so down a dirt (or muddy) lake road. Beautiful, quiet, peaceful, windy, frigid. Within 15 minutes of the house: a Dollar Tree, two grocery stores, a movie theatre, a Dunkin Donuts or two, and a smattering of local businesses that have little to nothing to do with my daily needs. All this to say, there's not a whole lot going on in the way of the entertainment I had grown accustomed to living in Boston, where anything and everything was at my doorstep.

So I have baked. And I have cooked. I have done these things excessively, actually. Much of my inspiration has come from a little site called http://www.pintrest.com . I could explain it to you here, but if you click that link you'll get an idea of what the site's purpose is much more quickly. Over the last two weeks I have tried at least six recipes that have been posted on the site. In fact, I should probably start chronicling these mini adventures here... I've made a spaghetti calzone (pasta inside of bread... didn't really realize the unnecessity of this until i was making it, but oh well), drunken gummi bears, marshmallow fondant (easy! and it keeps for months), chick-fil-a replica chicken nuggets (I didn't achieve chick-fil-a perfection but these were tasty, if a bit much in the prep and cleanup departments), and rainbow cake (SO MUCH FUN! we're about half way through the cake that I made and I am still delighted each time I see it!). Recipes I have on my radar include but are not limited to chocolate chip cookie cups, safe-to-eat cookie dough dip, three-bean soup w/ turkey meatballs and dijon mustard dumplings, chewy pretzel bites, and "crash hot potatoes". I'll keep you all posted.

Pintrest is also great for Do It Yourself crafty ideas, home decor, fashion, art, etc. I looked through a few outfits that were posted and got enough inspiration to head to the thrift stores, buy shirts and sweaters for a dollar or two each, and create some really cute, stylish looks. I have a lot of room to grow in the style area, I'll admit, but this is a start- also, having a super cheap and large thrift store in Bangor helps too.

Of paramount importance to me is that I dont lose my motivation to accomplish "things" on a daily basis. I am itching to get myself back into an exercise routine and hopefully I can get to this before I start working again (by the way- I'm job searching several times each day, every day, on about 6-8 different websites; I find that I submit 1-6 resumes/applications daily, albeit to jobs for which I'm qualified but not passionate. the job market up here is flat, but I suppose having a job at all is a blessing for the now).

So here's to a new start with this blog, I hope.

life is good, life is sweet

The thing about memories is that if you dont think about them once in a while, they disappear into some dormant part of your brain. Or cease to exist up there at all, i'm not sure which to be honest. I was just thinking the other day about taking batting practice over the summer. So many times I couldnt talk someone into coming with me into the cage so I'd steal away by myself and hit off of a tee. Once or twice, bat boy Steve would lob a few pitches to me; another time, our broadcaster Scott pitched; I was even coerced by Jeff to stand in and take some cuts during one of the baseball camps... my head grew a bit that day as he praised my swing (I was using a little league metal bat, haha). And once, just once, on a brilliant blue-skied puffy-white-clouds day in late August, those of us who hadn't left the team to head back to school got to take bp on the field. Mac pitched and we all rotated in the field. I swung a bat that was much too heavy for me and was exhausted by the end of my turn. I remember standing out in left field, where Steve-John and Brendan were playing baseball golf, taking turns hitting the ball across the outfield towards an end goal on the other side. Ignoring the fact that I was standing between him and the goal (quite far away in the right field corner) Steve-John hit a line drive that, he served a ball up and WIZZ .. it flew within a foot of my head, right past my ear. One of the scariest and most infuriating moments of my life!

It secretly thrilled me every time one of the guys caught me in the cage. If I was down there, I wasnt expecting anyone else to be- their personal batting practice times usually tended to be closer to game time when I was busy with my various responsibilities. Still, once in a while Derek Kinzler would catch me, or Shawn Williams, or Dom or Keith. It's not a secret to most people who know me that I dont like doing things that I'm not good at in front of others (to the point where I wont do them sometimes). My swing, well, I have confidence in my swing, so I was just fine with the boys encouraging my southpawedness and having no tips to give. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty standardly sound; only Dom and Shawn would give me any sort of advice, and while I've forgotten Shawn's (losing my memory at age 25.. very frustrating.. but I feel very much that it was along the same lines as what follows) I will always remember Dom's "loosen up, let it flow".. the bats were a bit heavy and my whole body was tensing up every time I turned my shoulders in order to try to get them around fast enough/compensate for the weight of the bat and the inadequacy of my muscles. :) Advice from a friend is good. I enjoy improving myself.



Now here I am. Too much time on my hands many days.. but I am having a love affair with Boston. Things on my mind include wondering how in the world I will ever live apart from it again. And yet, I havent figured out how to make a permanent home here- the local real estate is not in my price bracket. (I could remedy that and I think about it at least once weekly- give up the baseball dream, sign on with a healthy-atmosphered corporate job and bring in the bucks. Do the 9-5, and go to baseball games every day to unwind. Buy a house asap, rent out rooms to help pay the mortgage, get rid of those pesky student loans, fall into comfort.) Still, EVERY. TIME. i see Boston's taller buildings in my rear view mirror when I'm returning home through Somerville from Market Basket or Star Market, I automatically crack a tiny sentimental side-smile. My favorite places are on the bridges that connect Cambridge to Boston... no matter what time of day or what type of weather, I think to myself in the moments I'm crossing (on foot, by T, in my car) how utterly, heartbreakingly beautiful my city is. That I've never seen before like I am seeing it at that point in time. The leaves have been changing for months and every new shade of every leaf is just as uniquely bold and gorgeous as the other colors they have shown through this season. And then, one day, the leaves are totally gone and everything is a bit more spacious and the air is crisp and clear and bites at my nose and cheeks. Heatless sunshine splashes onto the brick buildings of Back Bay and Beacon Hill. The Charles is like frosted glass, not smooth like a mirror nor choppy with waves.. just textured.

Sigh.

I love it here.

With that said.. I interviewed with the Cleveland Indians a couple days ago. My resume made it to the final round out of.. well.. a LOT of applications. I am honored to tell you the truth. I spoke with the man I would be assisting (Director of Operations for Spring Training) and we got on very well, or that's my feeling at least. We talked for an hour. A step or two in the process, and then the decision on his part. The job would be perfect for me, and I for it. I truly have relevant experience to meet the requirements of the position, but not enough time in the biz nor with a MLB or affiliate team to be able to push my weight around... moving up to work with the Indians would be incredible. Remarkable. A dream. Completely unexpected. An extremely rare opportunity. A jump from a lower rung to one at the very top (the ultimate top being the Red Sox or Yankees in particular). There's nothing more I can do.. I have put my best foot forward and am entirely satisfied with /optimistic about how my interview went.

I miss my girl in New Zealand.


I am a dodgeball fiend. Not afraid to tell you that I excel at dodgeball.

I auditioned for MasterChef 2. I didnt make it. Boohoo. They did say that my cake's frosting was "excellent"..

One of many great things about Boston is Bostontweet- Beantown's very own Tom O'Keefe. I follow Tom on twitter where Bostontweet does it's thing about town- tweeting to his followers about everything Boston, from upcoming concerts large and small, to accidents, to events and happenings, and especially about local businesses (Bostontweet is Tom's startup marketing vehicle- he promotes local businesses). We have become twitter friends, and whenever he tweets about where he is during the day, I always have the desire to go out and find him. I know that plenty of people around town do the same, and in the past few months I've actually had some near run-ins but in the end I was a bit to slow. On Saturday I went to the Prudential Center to make Christmas cards for yet-unsponsored Compassion kids and to make myself available for others to drop off cards that they had made as I plan to send them out to Compassion all together. One person stopped by, and I had forgotten my scissors, so I left about 45 minutes earlier than I had particularly planned to.
(AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I had the whole story written out. somehow while i was writing the site signed me out and stopped saving my progress, then asked me to sign in when i tried to submit the post!! WOW I HATE BLOGSPOT RIGHT NOW! WOWWEE)
Tom had tweeted about an a cappella performance being put on by one of the college groups in front of the Nike Store on Newbury, just a few blocks away, and I was going to stop by on my walk through the city to Park Street.. but first I headed in the opposite direction to the nearest (participating) Starbucks to take advantage of a special that they were running with their holiday lattes.

Happy Halloween!

The most remarkable thing about this Halloween was that I saw not ONE vampire costume.

Here's mine- and then a few pics from a farm I visited for work. Just sayin hey to those who peruse my blog once in a while :) hope to post something more tonight or tomorrow- we'll see.

AUTUMN!

http://bos.to/jetblue

this is my next adventure, to commence in less than 4 hours when I wake up to my alarm (a snippet of Muse's Hysteria), throw on layers of clothing, and trek down the street to the Arlington T stop. The first inbound train departs at 5:14am and I will be on it. Aside from showing up an hour and a half early, I have no power over whether I win anything at this Jet Blue event, but I'm going to put myself in the right place, hopefully at the right time, and see what happens. It will be nice to be in North Station- havent been there for quite a while.

My days in Canton are over. Today I started working on Peabody's Patch, doing the same sort of stuff only this time it's north of the city in familiar territory. Today wasnt super productive, but I got enough done. Last week, in an effort to finish things up, I turned in about 40 listings in one day (most people do about 30 in a week). I felt pretty good after that. So work is going very well, and Pat is actually going to be doing some side stuff with Peabody's Patch force too.

The only things I plan to say about baseball tonight are that I am 100% behind the Rangers and that my friend Dom was at tonight's game and sent me this pic:

YEEEAH! Pretty cool. He's going to tomorrow's game as well. Next year I'll catch a WS game. I've been to ALDS and ALCS games in the past few years, and definitely remember the excitement with MUCH longing. Sigh. It wasnt to be for us this year.

Let's see. Since I last wrote, I've had the chance to catch up with a bunch of friends. Kenny and I chatted over Boloco, Victor bought me a drink at the Pour House, I celebrated the end of the JUICE's best softball season yet with my teammates at Dan's new house in Wenham, I spent an afternoon and evening with Johannes, saw Justin (S) off at Logan Airport, and watched Point Break with Chy, Lauren, JB and Justin (B), I made plans with Linc, I had a few quick chats with Dom, Julia and I enjoyed some home-fried chicken at the Highland Kitchen where she works part-time, even saw Lindsay while she was visiting from Argentina- and Jeff was present as well. I'm watching Glee with Julia tonight, having dinner with Johannes on Wednesday, meeting Pat for dinner on Friday, and going out with my friend Dan on Saturday. MAYBE having some video gaming quality time with Kubs somewhere between now and Sunday. Whew. That's a pretty good list if I do say so myself. OH! And I know what I'm going to be for Halloween:

Of all places, I got the idea from Martha Stewart's site. Looks fun to make and creative to wear.

Things are great. I'm headed to sleep now, in hopes that I can get out of bed when I need to in a few hours. I miss working in baseball. I miss working at the Rox. Closing thoughts..

Flexibility

Things are a lot different for me right now, and it all centers around work. My work day is definitely not 12+ hours anymore. I'm sure that most people cant imagine getting used to 12+ hour work days but it really did become standard procedure for me this summer... and if you've been reading this blog you know that I didnt mind it. In fact, I didnt know what to do with myself when I had shorter days. Now I make my own hours. I've been spending 2-3 hours each day in Canton speaking with business owners, managers, or anyone else who will talk with me. It's a good time, especially because it reminds me of Raymond. I am starting to get a sense of the flavor of Canton, it's social and economical and political dynamics. Canton, this town I have no real ties to- aside from the fact that the original members of Relient K are from Canton, OH. It has been interesting thus far! Beyond that, I get to set my creative skills to work a bit, selecting and editing pictures of the different businesses I've visited and doing paragraph-length write-ups about each establishment. I'm getting quicker at the writing part, but man am I out of practice. Also, I'm glad I have a job like this where I really have to be diligent and self-directed... those are great abilities to have, and I dont get enough practice at honing them. Cant beat the pay- and it's weekly so I'll get my first monetary dues this Tuesday. What... money coming IN for once? It's a dream come true.

I'm still loving my piano music, and a lot of the same stuff I was listening to almost a year ago. Cant wait until I'm a little more settled somewhere. I'll have a piano, and I'll be able to practice and play at will.

I think it's about time for bed. I'm in Maine, my brother is sleeping upstairs, my parents are at a wedding out of state, and my hair is curly. It's been raining all day and night. I'm sporting my moose pj pants. The smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies hasnt completely disappeared from my earlier baking efforts. I'll be back in MA tomorrow afternoon, and will probably just do some work from home to finish the day off. I miss Campanelli Stadium, Grant, Karissa, Dom, Scott, Mason, Falu, the batting cage, Christian and Cory. The Meadow and Lake Erie Rainfall have been on repeat on my iTunes... I want my love to be described by those two songs, among perhaps one or two others. I've had one alcoholic drink since the season ended (things are back to normal). Even now at age 25 I feel "grown up" when I get my oil changed without parental prompting (just yesterday, thank you). There's nothing good on TV... and TV is almost entirely dull to me anyway. I'm going to buy an EZ Pass for the highway and then go to sleep. 

Night.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

I'm not above tangents. My life is made up of seeming "bunny trails", in fact... when I look back it sure does look that way, at least. I have the inside scoop, and I know that all of my passions and jobs and pursuits have significant purpose behind them, but to an onlooker I've got a lot of unrelated experiences.

Nah.

These things all make me who I am. Some have enriched me personally, emotionally, spiritually; some have made me the kind of money I've needed to travel or pursue certain career paths; some have simply given me great life experience and serve as interesting stories to tell- which I believe is very important, having stories. Someday I'll be "old" and my life will be relevant to others through the stories I can tell about my experiences.

And now, another seeming tangent- although an overarching theme to my life has always been that things inevitably come back around. Relationships, work, hobbies, interests.. nothing has to be lost or passed by forever. Today I start my freelancing career with Patch. Check it out- www.patch.com . It's a site that is ultimately owned by AOL, so reputable for sure. It focuses on bringing backyard, hyperlocal news and interests to its readers. MY first efforts will be towards furnishing information and small writeups about local businesses- a la Yelp.com , but more focused and more complete. The pay for doing what I'll be doing- hitting local businesses to gather basic information- is incredible, and there is almost unlimited work available to me. I will easily make a living wage doing just this, and in fact will be making much more than that as I have no second job and can devote an intense amount of time to this. As a freelancer, I make my own hours. I can submit 30 listings in a week, or 100 (or more). It blows my mind how I fell into this job, especially so soon after my end with the Rox. But finding jobs and making money has never been a problem in my life, and I am extremely grateful for this. The best part is that while I am working for the Canton, MA Patch site, Patch will soon be expanding into Maine. At the moment, there are quite a few states that Patch is up and running in, and about 200+ towns that are being covered. The goal is 500 by December... and new town Patches are going live every day. I talked to my overseer today about Maine and she is happy to get me involved with the expansion into Maine, which will be taking place over the next couple of months (my thinking is, maybe sooner- if they have someone who is actively interested in getting the ball rolling, and who knows an area well and can furnish some freelancers and employees who can cover a few towns to start with). My overseer is actually a Christian, attends Reunion in Boston and I am just continually amazed at how I find myself in the situations I come into... God really does have a purpose behind all of the relationships we're part of, all of the endeavors we undertake when we're walking in His light. I've got a personal connection with this woman now and I know that if I want to get settled in with Patch for the long term, she is a great IN and will be a good friend to get to know outside of work.

Separation from my Rox world has been SHOCKINGLY unpainful. This might be the first time in my life where I havent felt inner turmoil while removing myself from a community I'd become a part of. I fondly miss a number of people, but I dont kid myself that the community will ever possibly exist again. What a great summer though. I'll never forget it. Let's look at some pictures, that always makes a blog post more interesting. No particular order:

Scott Wearne at bat vs the Pittsfield Colonials

My buddy Reyes

Falu

All the Rox during a pre-game parade

Scott Wearne and Danny Mac

Jack and Me!

Michael rounding third

Sunday Family Fun Day autographs

What was about to be a walk-off win!

Steve and Brendan

Cisco and me

Ed Nottle and Freddy

Mike Conroy

Mac and Jerry

John1 and K-O share a special moment

Ed Nottle flanked by Dom, Cuadrado, Falu

Pregame parade.. Phillip, Kinzler, Hertz, Aquino, Wayne, Rigo, Valley, Dom, Jon

Phillip, Kinzler, Hertz

Tom and Leo's album cover

Scott

Scott and Karissa

Bat Boy Steve

Woody and Shawn

Woody, Shawn, Mike

Brac

One last night... Peaceful Meadows ice cream!

G, Me, Wayne, Falu

The Peaceful Meadows first-timers

Part of a group pic

Our crew

G 'n' ME

This is what I'll miss

Pat is in the blue

Bill Lee

Derek and Marycarmen

Bill Lee and Brendan

Death match in the MMA ring.. Leo and John

John getting wrecked

Brac

Tom, Mike, Paul... music, PA, video

Aquino in Worcester

Launch-A-Ball

K-O

Megan, Mike, Me!

Fireman carry... or something like that. Carly and Fireman, Me and Policeman

Intern softball!

Steve and me.. he's only 15! Tall guy :)

Maggie and Mikey

Playoffs in Pittsfield

Mac catching in the bullpen in Worcester

The birthday card Reyes sent me!

Dan gettin some air