Another mystery solved

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Yesterday, I explained where your missing socks are (too bad they can’t carry cameras – their vacation pictures are probably pretty good), and today I got a request to find out where the missing mittens are.  Mittens are pretty much the opposite of socks, right?  Socks go on your feet, mittens go on your hands.  Total opposites.  Socks run away and have adventures, but mittens aren’t like that.  They’re timid, fearful.  They have self-esteem problems.  All they want to do is hide (the LAST thing they want to do is go out in the cold and have snowball fights), and the ones that go missing are the ones that have wished SO hard for a good hiding place that they’ve turned themselves invisible.  Your mittens haven’t gotten lost or run away – they’ve disappeared.  You’ll find them if you feel around for them, but you’ll look pretty weird when you wear them outside.  Well, maybe not weird.  Bare hands don’t look weird.  But if you’re wearing invisible mittens you’ll have flipper hands (like The Penguin!), and that would be odd, so yes.  Weird. But warm!

Have a heart.  Leave your mittens in the closet.  They’re happier there.

Get it together!

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Things I did today:

  • Work
  • Ordered new sheets for our bed
  • Met Jess for lunch (I don’t think that counts, but it got me out of the apartment)
  • Talked to Mom and Dad (not sure that should count, either – no, it totally counts because we decided on dates for my next visit)

Things I didn’t do today:

  • Run (or work out in any way)
  • Laundry
  • Buy groceries
  • Look for a new job
  • Read my book
  • Play on the internet (this doesn’t count)
  • Write a book
  • Fly a plane
  • Ride a horse
  • Paint a picture
  • Build a house
  • Cure a disease
  • Sing at Carnegie Hall
  • Reach through my computer and strangle someone – oh, wait.  It’s good that I didn’t do that one.

Not every day can be the perfect example of how I want to live my life (yesterday was pretty darn close – it needed more John), but today fell disappointingly short.  It’s my own fault.  I didn’t get out of bed to run, and then I couldn’t get out of my head to enjoy the day, and then I let the rain keep me from the store.  Going to the store wouldn’t have been exciting in any way, but it needs doing, and I’ll feel better when it’s done.

I will just have to do better tomorrow.

Columbus Day rocks, but not because of Columbus

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Molly and Jess and I had the best Columbus Day.  It was beautiful out (see exhibit A), so we spent a few hours sitting at a sidewalk table, drinking wine and playing a game called Dreaming Spires, where we built Oxford University.  It was great.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A

Seriously nice day.  Despite the ONE mosquito who’s still hanging out in OCTOBER of all months, just waiting for me to show up.  She found me.  Her patience was rewarded.

John had a pretty good Columbus Day, too.  He had to work for a while, but then he had a flying lesson, and (as you can see from that picture), it was  a GREAT day to fly.  AND his instructor finally said something helpful to him the other day (new instructor next week, thank goodness), so his landings today were much better and he feels much more comfortable with it.  Soloing is just around the corner.  Yay John!

Jarring imagery

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We went to the Maryland Renaissance Fair on Saturday – we had a good time, as usual, but one thing stuck out from this visit.  Throughout the day, we saw this one guy dressed up in all black, kind of a leather armor sort of thing, with a black leather featureless mask that covered his entire head.  We’re not sure what he was meant to be (maybe one of the Nazgul or Sauron or something unrelated to Lord of the Rings), but he looked pretty creepy.  Kind of like this, but with fewer spikes:

Sauron cosplay

We bought in to the sinister vibe of this guy, and it lasted all day, right up until we headed for the exit.  Featureless face mask guys get hungry like the rest of us, I guess, but he lost ALL scary points when he bought a pretzel.  Not cool, dude.  You’re not scary when you’re eating.

How many times can I type Frankie Valli in one post?

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We watched Jersey Boys tonight.  I’m sure the Broadway show is fun and probably really good, but the move is decidedly not.  The actor playing Frankie Valli doesn’t do a very good Frankie Valli impression (well, he might do a great impression when he’s acting, but I’m just judging his singing), and so every song was a disappointment.  The thing is, it’s the same actor who plays Frankie Valli on Broadway. Are we just more forgiving when the show is live?  Is he better on stage than in the movie?  I mean, I don’t need him to be exactly like Frankie Valli – that would be tough. But he’s enough different (and not in a good way) that it took away from the movie.  Thankfully, the original recordings were playing over the credits.  The movie is…lacking and not just because we were unhappy with Frankie Valli.  Then again, it’s a movie adaptation of a Broadway musical based on the rise and fall of a boy band.  Our expectations may have been a bit unrealistic.

I fell down

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I fell down today.  Like, I landed on the floor with a big boom.  John admits responsibility, since it was his shirt dripping on the floor that caused the puddle I slipped in post-shower.  He’s very apologetic.  And I’m okay.  The only visible evidence is a scrape up my right forearm.  I will live.  I didn’t even drop anything.  (I’m talented that way.)  But I have to say, falling down like that is not fun.  It didn’t hurt that much – it was more shocking than anything.  If I were still three years old, I would have burst into tears, but once I caught my breath, I realized that nothing hurt – it wasn’t even as bad a stubbing a toe (which, to be fair, is pretty bad).

I still feel kind of stupid.  Who slips in a puddle?

I like TV

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It’s fall, and that means we get our TV shows back!  Yay TV!  I might be over-selling this a little bit.  I’m not that excited.  But I’m a little excited.  In the last two days, we’ve watched the first episode of the current season of Gotham, The Flash, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  We’ve found that we remember what was going on at the end of the last season of Gotham and The Flash, but SHIELD we somehow managed to completely forget.  The season premiere started, and we were both like, wait – what?  What’s going on?  Where’s [some character]?  We’re not really any clearer having watched the episode.  We might need to go back.  But with SHIELD we don’t really mind.

Until this week, we haven’t been watching much TV, but we’re likely to fall back into old habits.  Are we fighting it?  Not so much.  Winter is coming.  Why not watch TV?  And in support of that goal, we started a new show tonight called Blindspot.  Jaime Alexander stars in it, and we’re pleasantly surprised to see that she can act.  The only other things I’ve seen her in are the Thor and Avenger movies (maybe just Thor?) and one episode of SHIELD.  She’s doing a hell of a lot more acting in this show than she ever did as Lady Sif.

Brand new, totally original thoughts about TV!

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You know what phrase I have never uttered?  “Well, I’ll be.”  Also, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” or any  other variation.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say either of those things in real life, actually.  Just TV.    Something else that only happens on TV: big dramatic pauses after someone says “I did something bad,” when any normal person would be like, “Bad how?  What did you do?  Bad like illegal?  What are you talking about?  Stop looking all tortured and talk!”  “Never mind – I’m sorry I said anything!”  I mean, really.  No one talks to each other on TV.  Or when they do, it’s cloying and horrible.  Or maybe that’s just on CW shows.  And yet, I keep watching them.

Is it home yet?

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We’re back from Kentucky and a successful surprise party for Corey to celebrate his 40th birthday (very late – it was in July) AND his successful bar exam results.  Corey is an actual honest-to-god lawyer now!  Well, he will be when he gets sworn in, which I think happens tomorrow (Wednesday).  He’s got business cards and everything.  (You can’t call yourself a lawyer without business cards.)

It was a good visit (and I’ll be going back soon), and it was both good and super strange to come back to Annapolis from there.  On the one hand, it felt like coming home.  It’s familiar (BWI, the main roads – we’ve lived in the area for a LONG time), our stuff is here, the weather was super-nice (that always helps a homecoming feel good), that sort of thing.  But on the other hand, we’ve only lived here for 7 weeks.  Just how homey can it be?  And on the OTHER hand, does it need to feel like home?  We’re basically itinerants now.

We missed the torrential rain from the hurricane (since we were in KY), but it definitely came through the ceiling again.  The bowl we left behind was half-full. And the toilet has started leaking again.  One of the bathmats was soaked from the end near the toilet to about halfway across the sink.  Our landlady says there’s a window leaking on the third floor (she’s waiting for the replacement window to arrive), and she’s calling the guy about the toilet.  So maybe that stuff will get resolved.

Other than that, the apartment is in good shape.

We got home around 4:30, unpacked, picked up a little, and then went out to eat.  We picked another good one this time.  Vida (on Main Street) is a taco place, local food, and really good.  Yummy guacamole and really interesting tacos.  They have traditional ones (carne asada, avocado, that kind of thing) and non-traditional ones (ahi with kimchi, pulled pork, etc).  SO good!  And when they brought the check, they brought little hot hand towels doused in lavender water for our sticky hands.  (Oh, the margaritas were really good, too.)  AND today is Tuesday (Taco Tuesday), so we got 20% off the bill.  I’m happy.  We’ll go back.

I don’t feel any different

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I am officially a resident of Maryland now.  I was a Virginia resident for 12 years.  TWELVE.  So this is big.  My car is registered and titled in Maryland, I have Maryland plates, I have a Maryland license, and I have registered to vote in Maryland.  Maryland Maryland Maryland.  Maryland, My Maryland, which is apparently the state song.  (I had to google that.  Never heard of it.)  Maryland.   That is not my favorite state name.  Lacks imagination.  Even Virginia required a teensy bit of imagination.  (Sorry, Maryland.)  I do think, as far as state names go, that Maryland ranks above New York, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey.  At least the North/South states (and West Virginia) started out as one state.  Splitting and taking a whole new name might have been traumatic.

I thought this only happened in the movies

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A few weeks ago, during a very heavy daytime storm, we found out that our roof leaks right through the kitchen ceiling.  I told our landlady, but she didn’t seem too concerned.  She certainly didn’t send anyone over to check it out, and IF she sent someone to fix the roof, that person did a terrible job.

The other night, the rain started around 7 or so, and it was serious rain.  We could hear it against the windows, hear it on the roof, and, shortly after we went to bed, we could hear it on the kitchen floor.  We only saw the one leak, so John grabbed a mixing bowl to catch the rain.  Rain dripping on plastic is still pretty loud, so he folded a washcloth in the bottom.  That helped a little.

I couldn’t stop listening for it at first, but it must not have bothered me too much because I can’t remember if I the rain stopped before I fell asleep.  Luckily for us, it didn’t rain ALL night.  We didn’t have to empty the mixing bowl during the night, and it was only half-full when we got up in the morning.

I should try to remember to tell our landlady about it, though, even if she decides not to do anything.

Single-minded and annoyed to boot

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You know how when one thing in your life is acting up (it’s usually work), you can’t think about anything else?  It’s this constant irritation (and it’s usually work), and much as you’d like to think about other things, more pleasant things, this ONE THING (usually work) takes up all available brain space.

Oh, you’re telling me a funny story?  I’m sorry – I was distracted by thoughts of the big annoying thing that isn’t going the way it should (work, most likely).  We’re going to watch TV?  Let’s choose something I don’t have to pay much attention to because my mind will be going in circles about how to solve a problem like Maria (except no singing, no dancing, no love story because it’s almost certainly work).

Actually, The Sound of Music might help.  “How you solve a problem like Maria” might not solve my problem (with, let’s face it, work), but it might be the most effective distraction.  If only it weren’t raining and I had a handy hilltop or convent to spin around in…

To bad “thoughtless” has a different meaning

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I have no thoughts.  Well, I have no interesting thoughts.  I have gosh-I-wish-it-would-rain-already thoughts.  I have don’t-forget-to-get-the-laundry-out-of-the-machines-in-an-hour thoughts.   I have I-can’t-tell-if-Sudafed-is-really-helping-me-today thoughts, and I have I’m-going-to-go-to-the-gym-after-work-even-though-I-don’t-feel-like-it-because-I-didn’t-run-this-morning-and-it-might-be-raining-tomorrow-morning-so-I-might-not-run-then-either thoughts.

But that’s all.  There are no other thoughts.

Oh, no. Fall is coming.

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I like fall.  It’s pretty, and the temperature’s nice.  But sometimes fall doesn’t like me back.  Today, for example, I can feel the allergy monsters approaching.  There’s been a little bit of the whole back-of-the-throat mess happening for a couple of days, and today I’m blowing my nose and sneezing a lot.  Fall is doing this to me.  Jerk.

But I feel fine!  This is just a minor annoyance.  I don’t know how accurate this is, but I always assume that if  my head is exploding (could be mild, could be extreme) but I don’t otherwise feel sick (no achiness, no fatigue*, no general blah-ness), it must be allergies.  If I actually feel bad, then I must have a cold or something.  According to me, then, this is allergies.  Which is good.  Ish.

*This past weekend’s constant complaining about how sleepy I was doesn’t count.  It was self-inflicted.  Especially on Saturday – we didn’t go to bed until 2am Friday night.  I don’t handle that well.  Just thinking about it is making me yawn.

A win!

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I’ve said before that our experiences with Annapolis restaurants have been pretty disappointing, but I’m happy to say that brunch this morning with John’s parents at the Severn Inn was SO good.  It’s in a very pretty spot (I wish the sun had come out – I’d like to sit out on their deck and eat, but it was chilly and windy), the food was really good, and it was surprisingly not crowded.  We picked a good weekend for it.

Of course, now I want a nap (again with the naps!), and I may never eat again.  Buffets (good ones) are evil.

All the memories came flooding back

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Last night, we went to a high school football game for the first since high school (I think).  (We lived two blocks from a high school with one of the best football teams in the state for ten years – NEVER went to a game.)  Sean is one of the coaches, and last night’s game was against their big rival, and (nicely for us and them), they won.

It was both super-strange and VERY familiar.  John and I didn’t get there until the second half (we were parking the car as the marching band marched off the field (to my disappointment)), but one half of a football game was plenty (for a number of reasons).  The view, the smells, the students, the parents – I only went to football games because I was in the marching band and I HAD to go, but I went to every football game in high school (the home games, anyway – I don’t think the band went to away games), and it was ALL familiar.  It was neat, but although there was a little nostalgia (I really enjoyed marching band), I’ve never liked football, and I’m in no hurry to re-live high school.  This will not become a regular thing.

It was kind of fun to sit with Emily and compare notes about how little we both know about the sport.  Who has the ball?  What are they doing now?  Ooh, that looked painful.  Is that allowed?

I’m not even going to get into how they must be recruiting from elementary school.  Surely those kids aren’t in high school?

I’m old.

Stiff and sore

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John and I found a boxing gym not too far away, and we finally went to check it out Wednesday night.   This gym has boxing classes a few times a week (that we might not be able to get to all that often), but better than that, it’s open a good amount of hours, and we can get in any time to work out on the bag on our own or use the weight room.  It’s only been five weeks since our last boxing class, but apparently, five weeks is enough to take away all the goodness we’d gained.  We found that out the hard way.  We took a class at 5:45 Wednesday night that wasn’t that different from some of Nick’s classes at our old gym.  We started with sprinting, hit the bag for a while, and finished with an ab workout.  It was tough, but doable.  And then we woke up Thursday morning.

Oh my god, I was sore.  Stiff all over, too sore to move.  And today?  Not much better.  Here’s hoping I can hobble through a run tomorrow morning.

We’re just going to have to pick up boxing again to toughen up (which we wanted to do anyway).  And hurt a little bit.  Does anyone have any ibuprofen?

Calling in tired

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I am SO damn sleepy right now.  I got the normal amount of sleep, and I was the usual amount of awake after my shower this morning, but then we went to the DMV.  Which apparently isn’t called the DMV in Maryland, so I guess we didn’t go there.  We went to the MVA.  I got my title transferred to MD, registered the car in MD, and got a new MD driver’s license.  I’m a MD resident now!  And it only took about an hour.  John only needed to get a new license, but that became a much bigger ordeal.  Turns out they got his name wrong when he registered his car (VIII became his last name instead of the suffix), and they can’t fix that at the Annapolis location.  They had to punt that task over to Glen Burnie, and no one had any idea how long it would take.  But they didn’t tell him that right away, oh no.  First, they told him he had to see a supervisor and that he’s next in line for one when they free up.  That took…I’m not sure how long.  But we didn’t leave until about an hour after I was done, and that hour sucked all of my alertness away.

We got back home, and we’ve been catching up on everything that happened at work while we were away, and ALL I WANT TO DO is nap.  My level of tired is approaching just-got-off-a-plane-in-Europe tired, the kind where it’s not safe to drive.  And Jess tells me (via text) that she stayed home today because she’s sick.  Please tell me that is not where this is going.

Maybe I will nap.

Update: I didn’t nap.  Well, I did, but only for maybe 8 minutes.  I did feel better, though, so maybe the 8-minute nap is a thing.

It was dark, so I couldn’t get pictures

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IMG_20150915_075635

The other night we were out by the water, and I was watching the ducks.  (I like the ducks.)  There was this one duck just floating in place.  He wasn’t paddling, he wasn’t fishing, he was just sitting there on top of the water.

What was he doing?  What was he thinking?

Then another duck paddled up to him, and off they went down the docks together.  So what was he doing?  Waiting for the other duck.  And what was he thinking?  Probably “Where the #$*& is the other duck?”