A time for a post

Have any of you heard of moodtracker.com? Well, it's pretty self-explanatory; you track your moods on it. I feel like this blog would be a deformed arm of moodtracker.com because I have lots of different moods, most of which where I don't feel like posting, but right now I actually have time to post (from my Treo) while Jay drives us back from having dinner with his family in Lowell.

Anyway, life's been busy for both me and Jay recently. He's been working on work stuff and school stuff, gettin ready for his second year of grad school at MassArt. He's also been tryint to get some swimming in at the state park here and there to get in better shape, but mostly because he just really likes swimming.

I've been busy with work crap, getting orders for expedited transcripts left and right. Plthh, I say!! So I'm trying to catch up there, which is going to be an uphill battle. On a side note, there's a woman there that wants to type for people, but she won't accept the usual rate of $1.00/pg for a typist; she wants the full kit and kaboodle of $3.00/pg. Talk about unfair and GREEDY!

In other Erin news, I signed up to take Orientation to Counseling Psychology at Framingham State College. It starts on th 9th. I'm nervous! I feel like I haven't really used my brain since college. That was seven freakin' years ago! Holy mush-brain! I hope to matriculate into the master's program eventually, but we'll see.

Last weekend we had Matt's (Jay's younger bro) new dog over and wanted to see how Abe and she got along. Well, they actually got along really, really well; so well, in fact, that I think Abe thinks they have a wedding date somewhere in the future. (He humped her backside and leg repeatedly.) It was funny for awhile, then it just got creepy and inappropriate.

Cuddy's back home! She has lots of job interviews this weekend, so cross your fingers that she gets a good one.

What else? That's about it. Hopefully I will post more often. HOPEFULLY.

Pics of Ted and other stuff

So here's some pics from when Pat and Kate and Ted came over:

Dad and Ted:







All the tasty foods we had:




I tried getting an action shot of Kate bouncing Ted in his bouncy thing (I don't know the official name of it), but it kind of looks like shaken-baby-syndrome pic to me. I don't know... maybe I shouldn't have posted that.


In other news, I realized yesterday that this big long transcript I'm working on is actually 12 volumes, not 9. Which means I have three extra days of it to type, which is a LOT of work. I wanted to cry, but I didn't. I took it like a man. But I'm not a man, so it was kind of weird.

Jay and I went swimming yesterday RIGHT after it got chilly. It was so hot and muggy all day, then I got home, we were in the backyard, and suddenly the air got a chill to it. We went swimming anyway and got caught in a thunderstorm. The only bad thing about swimming while it's raining (it shouldn't matter, because you're wet anyway, right?) is that you know your towel is getting soaked. Dangnabbit!

Tonight we're going to Judy, Dennis, and Matt's place to watch some works of the fire. I'm excited - I LOVE fireworks. LOVE 'em. I'm just like a kid in that way, and so many others... I love carinvals, amusement parks, balloons... you name anything kids like, and I probably will like it, too! Because mentally, I'm eight!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July! I hope you get to see some wicked awesome fireworks, dudes!

The weekend.

Hello! I'm in a bad mood right now, but I thought I'd post anyway. (I'm probably in a bad mood because I'm at work and it's a Monday.) Anyway, here's an update of our weekend. If I get dates wrong, it's because I'm retarded and am bad with days, names, and faces. Who are you?

Friday night, I believe, Jay and I did some rogue swimming at the state park.

We took our floatie noodles out. It was pretty chilly outside, and the water was definitely more chilly. It was kind of creepy because we went over to the boat launch side, and there were like 3 or 4 trucks there, one with its headlights on, and as we floated around, we could hear what sounded like fake duck calls to me, but Jay said they were frogs. Ain't no frogs I ever heard!

Then Saturday, I believe, we went to see Wall-e with Judy and Erik.

It was a really, really good movie! I've not been in the mood to go to the movies much lately, but I'm glad I went. And Judy and Erik brought in lots and lots of candy, so that was totally awesome. We had some apps and a pitcher of beer beforehand at John Harvard's. Good times.

And then on Sunday evening, Pat & Kate came over with their 3-month-old baby, Ted. He's a cutie pie! I haven't downloaded the pics yet, but I will and will post some. We planned on having a barbeque and hanging out outside, but it was SO MUGGY and hot that we stayed inside. I grilled the usual grilling food outside as it rained, but that was okay. I had my beer to keep me warm. (Wait, it was already hot out...) Kate brought me a plant with orange flowers on it! Weee!! Pat & Kate got to take my Honda Fit out for a test drive. Pat used the paddles. (That sounds like a euphamism for something else...)

Anyway, now I'm at work and Jay's having a man's day out at Foxwoods. I hope he wins lots and lots of money! Because I'm SOO into having lots and lots of money! Money money money!! More for me!!

I'm not materialistic. Really.

More dumpster news (more exciting than ever!)

Today I helped Jay fill up the dumpster we rented. It was tough work. But I'm one tough cookie.


We focused on the basement, which had lots and lots of stuff we haven't seen or used in the past three and a half years we've been in the house, so we chucked most of it (except for sentimental things like pics and videos and the like). Jay worked REALLY hard - I didn't know how strong he really was! Rrrowwlllll. I guess he worked in Crate & Barrel's stockroom for a few years, so the C&B strength came back. Here's some more pics:



This is a pair of Jay's old skateboard pants. Matt Doyle will remember them.

Dumpster diving

Jay rented a dumpster we could throw out crap. I haven't seen the dumpster yet, as I am writing from work right now and the dumpster was delivered after I left. (Oh, I also forgot my laptop this morning -- hu-duh -- but Jay met me in F'ham to bring it to me.)

Anyway, back to the dumpster. We have old wet rugs and old desks and extra trash cans and 50-lb. glass doors and lots and lots of other stuff we need to get rid of, so Jay decided we'd rent a dumpster and, well, dump all that stuff in it. I'm excited to see it when I get home. He says he's been taking some pictures (I love pictures), so I'll have to post some, if they're appropriate, that is...

Let's see. Last weekend we finally went to the place down the street called T.J. Spirits (I thought it was called T.J. O'Brien's for some odd reason...). It's a townie bar for sure, and part biker bar for sure. I felt out of place without a Laconia T-shirt on. There was a normal-looking young woman there hanging out with lots of biker dudes, and she turned around and her long hair was braided and some sort of leather sheath was wrapped around it. I'd never seen anything like that. I thought Kerry, Bri's wife, might like something like that. You know, because she's the wife of a biker... umm, yeah.


So this weekend we'll be dumpsterin' for the long haul! Unfortunately, we have a mouse problem in the basement.

We've already caught two of them, and once we go through the basement and clean up and go through old boxes and stuff, I'm sure we'll find a nest. Igkcey! We'll bring Abe along - he can utilize his terrier skills to catch and maim them. Because that's what he does. The two mice we've seen him catch in three years he hasn't quite killed. He maims them and then plays with them. Abe's a sick, sadistic dog. He should be in The Most Evil Dogs in History book.

Inconsistent posting

Unlike Pat and Kate who actually have something to write about (Ted), Jay and I live mildly mundane lives that aren't really blog-worthy. However, I will write about sweet potato chips. They are so damn good. I can't get enough of them. My big tummy can't get enough of them. Mmmm, sweet potato chips!

Anyway. Yesterday we went to a place down the street called T.J. Spirits that's sort of a biker bar. We were always scared to go there, but Jay took me there as a surprise. It was actually kind of neat. The prices are really cheap and the food was pretty good. Some interesting company, too, what with the biker dudes and such.

On Saturday we went swimming (sort of) in the reservoir. I say "sort of" because we used our water noodles. It was still a workout, I tell you!

Right now I'm still working on a monster transcript that I hope to have completed in the next month. ::sigh:: I hate big transcripts; they overwhelm me!

We also got Abe's hair cut finally. He looks so much like a chihuaua (sp?) that it's crazy! He's much cooler (temperature-wise) now. Which is good, you know, because it's summer. Yeah.

I have to go finish up some laundry now. See ya'll later, dudes.

Beer helmet!




No, I'm not shooting the boat with a cannon...


Ooo, it's Jay in a headlock given by Trouble!


Oooh, it's Erin in a headlock given by Trouble!


The rewards of the chocolate buffet



Beef Wellington... mmmmmmm.


I forget what beach this is... I think it was Horseshoe Bay... they're all beautiful


Proud Jason keep on turnin'....


Proud Erin keep on burnin'...


I loved the hibiscus flowers!




Our first day on the ship


A look at Boston in the background as we leave for Bermuda


Aww, aren't we just the cutest?


Jay enjoying one of the many amenities on the ship, the hot tub.


Oh, I wish I lived in the 1920s...

Bermuda!

Hey everyone, we're in Bermuda. I will post pics and some stories later, and I probably e-mailed most of you who would check this blog out anyway, but so what? Today we are going to walk around St. George and check out the local shops, and tonight the Celtics play the Lakers in game 1 of the Playoffs - guess how excited Jay is?

Okay. That's it! My time on the internet machine in this cyber cafe is running out... we'll talk soon. I promise!

Detroit rocks!

So Jay's at a business conference in Detroit until Friday, and I'm oh so lonely. I just have Abe to keep me company, but he smells like flea and tick medicine so I don't want him to sleep in the bed with me.

In other news, Jay and I went to see my new friend Carter (who I met at the NAMI conference) at a choral concert in Boston. It was nice - even though we totally couldn't find our way into Boston. We were supposed to meet at the Public Garden pavilion, and we had no idea how to drive to the parking garage, so we did the only thing we knew how: drive to Lechmere and take the green line in. We were late for dinner (isn't there some kind of saying that goes something like that?) but still had time to eat at Legal Seafoods. Then we mulled about Newbury Street until the concert. Carter sings bass, and the men totally get the fuzzy end of the lollipop when it comes to singing. It's mostly the women that do the singing, and then sometimes the men will join in. It was Shakespeare bits and pieces set to music. It was pretty nice.

We planted a whole new lawn. There's some grass coming up now, which I'm very excited about. We rented a rototiller and I rototilled the front lawn twice, then we seeded it twice and fertilized it. Please, grass, grow!

And on June 1st, we're off to Bermuda! Yay yay yay! June 1s through the 8th. We're going on a cruise leaving from Boston. We can't wait. Can't wait!!

I attended the NAMI facililitator conference

Hey, everyone! I just got back from attending the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) group facilitator conference where I got certified as a group facilitator, which means I can create a support group for people with any kind of mental illness. Ah, the freedom to help those who are a bit on the loony side. (Principle of Support No. 9: We embrace humor as healthy.) It was held at the Embassy Suites near the Logan Airport, and the accommodations were suite. Get it? They were sweet/suite. Because they gave us suites. And they were very nice...

I spent 2 1/2 days in classes learning different ways to facilitate a group of people with a mental illness diagnosis, which could be easy or could be very difficult. I met lots of great people, had lots of good food (too much food, methinks, because I'm on Weight Watchers now and I totally didn't keep track of my points). A few of us also played Cranium on Fri. and Sat. night. which resulted in many laughs and poorly drawn Miss Americas.

So here's a shameless request for donations for our NAMI Walk that Jay, Matt, Lisa (Matt's girlfriend), and I are participating in.

"I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks08/MAS/erin_bailey. It features a link to my team's page where you can see who else is walking with me. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I'll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation"

For those of you who have donated already, we thank you so very much! If anyone else is interested (oh, I know you're ALL interested) and would like to donate, it really is very easy. Any amount is appreciated. The walk is on Saturday, May 31st. I guess last year there were like 7,000 people there! I couldn't believe that number. They're going to have lots of refreshments and music and stuff, so if you'd like to actually come join us in walking or want to just watch, it's at 11:00 a.m. at Artesani Park, along the Charles River. It'll be a 3-mile walk. Small beans! (Is that a phrase that's commonly used or did I just make that up?)

In other news, I have a new favorite film. No Country for Old Men. I have a crush on Javier Bardem, who played the psychotic bad guy with no sense of humor in this movie.

He won an Oscar for his role in the film (and the film won Best Picture), and his portrayal of this murderous man with a great haircut is just mes-mer-iz-ing. Personally, I think he should have been the star of the film, not Tommy Lee Jones. But that's just the way it is. You should definitely check out the movie if you haven't already. Ooo, so good. And ooo, such a crush on Javier Bardem...


I shall end this long post now. I have to pee.

Update on car

Hey, everyone! I've had my new Honda Fit for a few weeks now, and I love it. The sport mode is so cool - there's these little paddles on either side of the steering wheel (left is down shift, right is up shift) and you can control what gear you're in with the paddles. I'm just getting used to them because I've never driven a manual before, but if I wreck my transmission, the warranty'll cover it!

I've also been at the new courthouse which has been great. I've been driving in with my pal Chrissy, who now is also my officemate. You'd think that spending so much time with one person would make you a little crazy, but we get along really well and have pretty much the same sense of sick humor.

Jay's been very, very busy (as always!) with school and work. He's got a conference coming up this weekend plus a meeting with his thesis advisor tomorrow. Tough stuff! He's doing well, though - really well considering how much work it is.

We're also really excited that we booked a cruise for June 1-8! We can't wait. The day before that (May 31st) is our walk for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI). For those of you who didn't get out e-mail, here's the link to check out the walk and donate a few bucks, if you got the spare change: http://www.nami.org/walkTemplate.cfm?section=namiwalks&Template=/customsource/namiwalks/teampage.cfm&teamID=9389 You can donate either to me or Jay. You just click on one of our names down at the bottom and then click the red "sponsor me" button. C'mon, we all know someone who's crazy, am I right? Huh? Yeah? Yeah, of course.

I know, I know, it's been another long while

So here is another post, for those of you who still visit here and there.

Some news since last time I posted: All of our aquatic life that we had has now passed away. We will miss Houlihan, Ruby, and Val. Oh, and those fish and ghost shrimp; though we never cared much for them (as they roll around in their sewer graves).

Jay's been very, very busy with schoolwork and working full time. He's always working on something, coming up with new ideas and doing lots of research. I'm very, very proud of him for working so hard! He's a pretty smart (and handsome) guy. Don't you think?


We also signed up for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) walk on May 31st where we'll walk a whopping three miles from Brighton to Boston in order to support NAMI's cause. C'mon, we all know someone who's crazy, right? If you'd like to help our cause, you can click here: Jaywalkers. What you can do, if you'd like to donate, is just click either on Bailey, Erin or Bailey, Jason on the bottom of the page, then it'll take you to our personal websites where you can select "sponsor me now." Or, if you'd like, on that first page, you can click to walk with us! Wouldn't that be fun?? Right now we have Matt and Lisa walking, and we have about three or four more people that might be interested in walking. No pressure, though. (And thanks so much, Pat and Kate!!)

The courthouse in Cambridge I worked in is no longer in operation; we now have a new facility in Woburn. It's much, much nicer than the Cambridge courthouse. I share an office with Chrissy, my carpool buddy. Um, that's about it for that topic.



But I'll save the best for last. Jay and I have purchased a brand-spanking new car! No, not a used car; a car with only 50 miles on it! It's a Honda Fit.
And yes, that's the color we bought it in! Orange! It's for me, and I'm very excited. We get to pick it up tomorrow. It's got great reviews from critics and users alike, so we decided we'd go for it. But now I've got to go type my little ass off in order to pay for it!

Pics of snails et al

Here's one of the ghost shrimp we had. It died.

Ruby is very photogenic. Houlihan really isn't.

Another picture of Ruby.

Here's Ruby with Houlihan.

Here's the black sheep of the tank, Val. (We got him/her on Valentine's Day)


So yeah, we're weird, we like snails. Different strokes for different folks, man.

Besides our aquarium, there are other interesting things going on in our lives. I just will withold that information right now so that I'll have some other stuff to post about in the future...

I'm back?

I'm posting from my Palm Treo, so hopefully this'll work... I know it's been months and months since I've posted, and for that, I'm so sorry. I went through a tough time back in the March/April/May time period and haven't been in the mood to post since... but hi!

To move backwards in time starting today (happy Valentine's Day!), we have a new miniaquarium (2.5 gallons) with some animals in it. Initially it started with Celery Joe, a snail that I found in a stalk of celery while making a veggies & dip platter for the Reardon family Christmas party. We kept him because you can't just kill a snail, now, can you? Well, he ended up passing away a few weeks later. To console me, Jay bought me two 'mystery snails' in a fishbowl. We upgraded to the current setup, complete with filter and heater. Then we added two guppies and two ghost shrimp, some white gravel and a little fake mountain.

Yesterday I found the orange guppy (Agamemmnon - I know I spelled that wrong) stuck up the filter intake, the life literally sucked out of him/her. I scooped him/her out and put him/her in a plastic baggie and put her in the freezer. I also took out the filter because the water was very cloudy and I figured it needed a change. Unfortunately, I had bought the wrong kind of filter, so I had to leave the tank sans filter for a day.

Well, I couldn't get to Petsmart until tonight to bring in the dead fish and a water sample from the tank, but I forgot my receipt for the fish, which was okay. The guy there tested our water and said the ammonia content was "through the roof" and we should do a 20 percent water change in the tank. We bought the correct filters and also a black mystery snail.

It appears I'm running out of text entry room. More on the aquarium saga coming soon, as well as an account of my Valentine's Day. Good to be back!