Other goings-on

So my last post (a) had a random picture of Jay, and (b) mentioned something about taking classes. Well, I researched the kinds of classes that colleges/tech schools offered around here, and hell, they're not that great. Okay, granted, I have no idea what I want to do or what kind of classes I want to take, but the ones that sound interesting on the surface end up having already started or end up not being not what I really expected. I truly thank everyone for their suggestions - I looked up all the continuing ed classes at all the suggested schools offered... I think I just have to wait until next semster, and I also think I have to not be so picky... I don't know what I want to learn, so I say, "I don't want that," but when I see a class I'm on the fence about, I automatically say, "I don't want that!" So what do I want??

Well, enough about my so-called academic endeavors... Jay's getting into full force with the Get Buckets Brigade. He went to the last preseason game on Wednesday, and somehow managed to hold an Asian baby on his lap. You'll have to ask him about that. He and Matt are semi-major celebs in Celtics circles! I hope to attend a few games as a non-member of the Brigade in order to somehow document the Brigade song being played on the JumboTron. (The C's media peeps have told Jay and Matt that they'll play the song that Jay & Matt wrote about Ricky on the JumboTron during the opening day game! All I have to do is sneak my camera in...) I know that Jay works a lot of overtime, so hopefully he'll be able to put in extra hours on days when there's not C's games to compensate... but we'll see. It's all very surreal. Jay has freakin' season tickets!! C'mon!!

Well, that's it from here. October has been much too short and much too cold, and soon we'll turn the clocks back and it will be winter after that. We're coming up on a year living in the Indian Spring house... it's pretty much the same as last year, but soon there'll be some changes. Maybe. God bless saving money for a long time and then spending it in one fell swoop! (That's a reference to it costing $4000 to take trees down. That's just inhumane!! Because, shit, $4000 is a shitload of money!) Sorry for saying "shit" so much. But hey, all I gotta say is that life hits you with things you totally don't expect, and as long as you can keep up, then you're doing okay.

Classes?

I've been toying with the idea, and I think it's a good one, of taking some classes during the evening. God bless continuing education, for reasons I shall soon be enlightened by (hopefully).

So I get pretty bored very easily. My job is very boring, and most days consist of not doing anything. Literally. So I get very bored, which makes every minute feel like an hour. I leave my boring job, and I come home, where I don't have much to do, so I get bored again. (Oh, sure, I could, y'know, CLEAN or something, but that's something I dislike very much.) I realize that I've created this boredom cycle where I'm bored at work and I'm bored at home, and boredom makes my days go by soooo much slower, so I feel kinda crappy about myself by being so bored. Cure to boredom? Classes!

I've realized that late October is not such a great time to look at enrolling in classes at various schools, because most classes happening near this time have already started. Take Arnis, the Art of Filipino Stick Fighting. Oh, sure, you wouldn't think I would be interested in something like that, but Christ! that's just damn interesting! But it already started. Or Astronomy. I've always been intersted in the heavens. But that, too, has already begun... If only I had the continuing education itch one month ago.

But that doesn't mean I won't sign up at some point! I just have to be aware of semesters and such. Semesters have lost meaning to me since I left college. God, it's 2005?? I graduated in 2001? (Should have been 2000 if I didn't stop going to classes in my junior year... doh!) So four years of constant work with no 3-month vacation have skewed my concept of semesters. I shall soon get into the swing of things, as long as I keep checking in on these classes.

Hey, if you know of any college/technical schools that offer classes around the Ashland area, let me know! I find it difficult to search for such things on the Internet. But that just means I'm bad at searching for things on the Internet...

Another flooded basement

Well, we didn't get to go to the White Mountains last weekend, but we did spend some time up in Beverly with Jay's parents. When we got home on Sunday (well, when I got home; Jay had to work all day), I found the basement was flooded. Which I guess was to be expected... even though we bought a house whose basement was "guaranteed" never to have water in it. ::shaking fist at previous homeowners::

So other things going on: didn't get to go to Hell Night, it was booked up over a month ago... Jay went to his first Celtics game (preseason) last night at the TD Banknorth Garden last night, and the Buckets Brigade was on TV for a bit... we have no heat, so I'm waiting for someone from Nstar to fix it... we're getting our wedding pics back tonight yay!... I've been considering signing up for some classes at different places, who knows if I'll actually follow through... I had Chinese food last night yum!... I want to hire a housekeeper because I'm a wimp who hates cleaning... I want Jay and I to be millionaires by age 55, even though it'll only be worth $411,070 by then... y'know, same old stuff, different day.

I was also considering again joining a gym, but if I know myself well (and I think I do), if the place I join is in like Framingham or something, there's no way I'll want to drive 20 minutes there to exercise. So I noticed this place in the CVS plaza about a mile from our house, it's called "Feel Good! Fitness for Women," and I assumed it was going to be like a Curves-kind of setup or something. Well, click here. It is. I might drop by anyway to see if they actually have treadmills or stair-climbers instead of strange specialized contraptions that you sit in for 4 minutes at a time and then rotate.

Apparently, Jay and the rest of the Get Buckets Brigade got tickets to the Celtics' open practice on Sunday, and they can bring a guest. So looks like we're going to see the Celtics practice! It'll be a fun way to spend a rainy day.

Well, my fingers are cold and numb... can't type anymore... where's Mr. Nstar??

I can't think of good titles, here.

Didn't look like we had too many takers for Hell Night (see post below), but I'm going to make a reservation for 6 people for Wednesday night, and just let me know if you're interested. (I know you are, Dennis)

So this weekend we had been offered to use our realtor's condo up in the White Mountains for $50. Okay. That might sound odd. Yes, we still keep in touch with our realtor - only because he keeps sending us little notes every 3 or so months to check in (they're on company stationary), and when Jay got into the Get Buckets Brigade, I emailed him (our realtor) to let him know. (Our realtor is also a Celtics fan.) So when he emailed back saying how embarrassing that bucket-on-the-head thing is, he offered to let us use his condo for ultra-cheap. So we took him up on it. But now it looks as though we might not be able to go, because Jay's been super-busy at work. He's been working 12- to 14-hour days all week, and he might have to work this weekend. He's a damn hard worker, and I'm proud of him! Although if we do go, it'll still be raining up there as the sun comes out here. So we'll see.

Last weekend we had a tree guy come give us an estimate of what it'd cost to take down some of our problem trees. It was a very expensive quote. But we must take the trees down so we can put on a new roof (also expensive). There's many, many things we'd like to do with the house - if only we both made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year... We'll get there in about 10 or so years' time, though. Little by little...

Last night I was messing with Abe's head (not too hard because he's not too bright) - I was tossing Goldfish crackers into the air and catching them in my mouth, but he didn't realize I had caught them, so he was all freaking out about where they landed. I wanted to get the video camera - he'd look at me, start shaking, try to follow the path of the cracker, but then get all confused when he didn't hear it land. He'd just sniff around frantically, then run up to me, start shaking, start whining and barking... and then I'd do it again. He got his fair share of crackers, though, 'cuz he's so damn cute.

Hell Night at the East Coast Grill

At the East Coast Grill in Cambridge (right near Improv Boston), they are having what is dubbed "Hell Night." We saw it on the Phantom Gourmet. They serve really really spicy dishes, the spiciest being the Pasta From Hell, which you have to sign a waiver for before you eat it since they were once sued as a result of a customer ingesting it.

Jay and Matt are fascinated with spicy things. They love hot sauce, even though it hurts. It's a good hurt, apparently. So we're going to make some reservations for a night out, and if you're interested in being on the list, let me know. They will accept reservations for up to 8 people, so if we have more, we'll make two reservations. Oh. It's next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I think probably either Monday or Wednesday. Let me know what's best for you.

I bet Jay's nose is sweating as he reads this...

Steak!

I was very, very bored last night and had just finished watching the Red Sox lose. So I was itching to get out of the house. Jay is good at deciding on things to do when we go out, and I am incapable of making decisions, so I let Jay do the driving. He pulls into Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, which is odd because he doesn't eat steak. But he wanted to take me out and have me get a big ol' steak, because I really really really like steak. A lot. So I got myself a 16-oz. prime rib! Mmmm! So tasty!

That's my story. There were sure a lot of birthdays there. We saw the moose get kissed like 4 or 5 times in the 45 minutes we were there. But, oh, my steak was tasty. Medium rare deliciousness... thank you, Jay!

Auntie Erin

Well, at 6:50 p.m. last night, my sister-in-law had a baby! Mason Patrick Reardon. Awww... so now I'm an auntie by blood. In the span of a little over a month, Jay pointed out to me that I acquired 4 new nieces and nephews - three from his side and one from my side. Wow!

Love the timestamp...

UPDATE: His hair is SO long!! I saw him tonight, and he's a dirty hippie for God's sake!

A job interview. For my job.

Today I have to go into Boston for a job interview. I'm being interviewed for my current job. Hmmm... odd? Well, I apparently was hired as a "temporary full-time employee," and now there are "permanent full-time positions" available. I don't get the logistics of it all, but in the back of my head I'm scared I'll somehow lose my job. The stupidest thing is I'm all paranoid about what to wear. I don't know if they expect me to wear a business suit or just nice office clothes. I tried buying a suit for the past couple of days, but I absolutely abhor shopping and refuse to spend large amounts of money on clothes.

So anyway, I spent the morning mapping out my route into Boston. I don't really like the city, only because of the lack of parking. I like free parking. But they don't have that in Boston. I'm going to take the T, I believe. It takes me a while to plan things out, as I have a hard time planning ahead. But I think I'm all set.

So hopefully I'll make a good impression on my bosses, who really haven't even met me yet in the almost 2 years I've been working for the courts. We'll see! ...I think I'm just bitter that I have to get interviewed to keep my job!

Lost again!

On Saturday, our plan was to go to Mount Wachusett and have ourselves a little hike. We never got there. Instead of taking I-190, we took I-90. I noticed we were going the wrong way after I said, "Boy, I feel like this is the wrong way!" and Jay said about the same thing. He said, "North on I-90, right?" And I said, "...There's no such thing as north on I-90..." Ah, well. We got off at the Sturbridge exit, as we were about there when we realized we were going the wrong way. We remembered that at Hyland Orchards in Sturbridge, they were having an Oktoberfest event that day. So that's where we went. We had Abe with us, and he was quite the hit with the young ladies. Ages 3-5, mostly. One little girl was completely enamored with him - she kept putting her arm around him and squealing about how much she LOVED him!! It was cute.

Today we went for a round of disc golf. Well, I didn't; I just kept score. But Jay, Matt, Mikko, and Dennis played a round. It was so nice out, and it was nice being out in the woods. Surrounded by metal baskets. Then we went to Moe's for an Art Vandalay and an $8.00 pitcher of lime margaritas. Mmmm! When Jay and I got home, we took a nice long nap. Naps are cool!