Near-Death Experience

This afternoon I experienced my worst nightmare.

Try not to laugh. My husband couldn't help himself though, even when he realized the seriousness of the situation.

Have I previously mentioned my extreme arachnophobia? Well. I'm generally a rather brave person. Blood, vomit, dirty diapers? No problem. Bring it! Skydiving, marathoning, parasailing? Yes, please. Even my other deep-seated, slightly irrational fear of serial killers has nothing on this. I have convinced myself that I would fight back using the mad skills I learned from self-defense classes, kickboxing, and Oprah specials (oh, yes). However, there is no fighting spiders. Something to do with all the legs. *shivers*

My big fear? Having a spider crawl on or in front of me while driving.

(Are you laughing yet? Pfft.)

The problem is, when it comes to spiders, I become a completely irrational, screeching, jumping freak. It's like a nerve damage problem. No matter how much I try to control the flailing and screaming, put an eight-legged monster in front of me, and I lose control. I've always been afraid that if a spider got to me in a car, I might cause a freeway pileup.

So there I was, minding my own business, chatting to my husband on my (hands-free!) cell, when a spider appeared on the INSIDE of my windshield. Cue MAJOR panic attack. Thankfully, I was sitting at a stop light, so I didn't crash into anyone. There was a gas station just before the light, so I was praying the spider wouldn't move before I could get to it and jump out. No such luck. The fat little beasty started opening and closing it's mouth at me in an attempt to hiss (spiders DO hiss, don't argue!), and then started crawling up the windshield closer to my face. At this point I'm sure all my husband heard on the other end of the line was high pitched squealing and hyperventilation. Luckily, the light changed, so I drove with my head cocked to the side and as far back as possible. Just in case. Pulled into a no parking zone, jumped out and proceeded to scream and flail, before removing my sandal and dealing the hideous monster a death blow. (Followed, of course, by more squealing.)

Husband's biggest concern during this interaction? That I would make a fool of myself. Ha! Not scared of that, clearly. Done and done! (Psh. Called my sister while still shaking afterward since her irrational fear of moths makes her much more sympathetic!)

I survived this round. However, husband has a major spider hunting task in my car tonight, as I may not be so lucky next time.

EURGH!

Surprise!

I awoke this morning to a lovely surprise:

(With flowers he brought me yesterday!)

Husband left a present for me, and it's not even my birthday, Christmas, or our anniversary! A rare treat.

This weekend I told him I felt petulant about my work. I'm tired of editing, tired of reading the same words over and over and over and tired of endlessly streamlining my novel. I suppose anyone who has revisited a project 50 million times would want to stomp their feet and throw it out the window. The chapter that induced this irritation wasn't even a difficult edit, in fact, it's in pretty good shape, but I'm ready to move on already. New characters and story ideas are clamoring for my attention, trying to lure me away with their newness. Of course, I'm ignoring them until I'm done going through this manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, but not without a little teeth-gnashing. *grins*

Being a native Pacific Northwesterner, I love me some fleeces, and I've wanted a lightweight North Face fleece for some time. Inside the bag, I found this:

Rockin' a fierce myspace pose in my pretty blue. ;)

A gorgeous light blue (my favorite color!) North Face fleece. He said he's proud of what I've accomplished and wanted to cheer me up in face of the petulant chapters. (Ah! At this point, I teared up a bit. Ahem.) However, it made me giggle to think of my chapters being petulant--stomping around the office, pouting like naughty children. The best part is that, with all the weird cold spring weather we've had this year, I could actually wear it today!

Feeling less petulant as I approach the page in my pretty blue fleece this evening...

Beer at 30...

It's been busy around here the last two weeks. Last Wednesday was husband's 30th birthday (yay!), so I spent my time planning, cooking, and shopping. I was exhausted by Saturday, but the outcome was fantastic--we celebrated his birthday with a 'Tarts & Vicars' Dirty Thirty Party over the weekend. Here's a sample of what I've been doing:

(Top: Making Czech Goulash and bread dumplings.)

(Bottom: In honor of Husband's dual love for beer and jelly beans, I etched pub glasses and filled them with jelly beans for the party favors.)

Husband and I grew up in the Pacific Northwest--arguably the center of craft microbrewing in the United States. Portland, OR has more breweries per capita than any other city, and we grew up in a town with one of the best and most-well known microbreweries in the country: Deschutes Brewery. In college husband and I studied abroad in London, where he was introduced to traditional English beer and grew to love it above all but his PacNW microbrews. We stayed with a host family, and the dad was an avid 'Real Ale' fan (introduced us to CAMRA, and etc.). The very first night there, he took Husband out to the garage to make his first beer. Adam's Ale. Then he took him to the pub and gave him an education in cask-conditioned real ale. It's no wonder husband became such a beer lover. So for Christmas I got him his first beer-making kit. His second batch was finished just in time for the party this weekend.

A friend hosted the party at his house--his built-in bar and back yard were much more fun than our tiny condo. We ate and drank 'around the world' with food and beer samplings from various locales. The original menu included most of the major beer countries, but we had to whittle it down to avoid drowning in food and beer, so instead we sampled the following: England, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Pacific NW, California, and India (random, but our friend makes a mean curry, and wanted some Maharaja).The end result was quite a blast. Any guesses on my costume? Here's a hint: I went with a bookish stereotype, while Husband--standing next to me--decided that as the birthday boy he should be the pope. :)

Offline

I'm a bad blogger. I keep meaning to post writing updates; I often have random ideas and think, "Hey, that would be a good post." But I don't get around to it.

We entered our 'busy season' early last month, and I'm trying to keep my head above water. We made it through the spring birthday season (Husband and I, plus two parents, a grandma, a brother-in-law, and numerous friends) and mother's day. On the writing front, I submitted short pieces to four separate journals and attended two events in San Francisco by the HCNC for my research. (At the second event I chaperoned a survivor, which was an honor and a great experience. A story I wanted to share, but alas, the moment is gone.)

But soon we enter the real pandemonium.

In three weeks we're heading home for a long weekend, which will include sister C's 18th birthday, sister A's baby shower (which I'm helping to plan), a graduation and graduation party. When we return, we have a wedding and baby shower the same afternoon. July brings my baby niece, a wedding and sister B's birthday (on the same day, incidentally), as well as my ten-year school reunion, which I may or may not attend.

For some reason I thought this would finally be our quiet summer. Ha!

On top of all that, Husband and I devised a new work schedule for me. I was struggling with my edits, so he created a goal-oriented incentive program to keep me on track. I work well on a deadline. My aggressive goal is to finish this revision by the end of May. (For which I will receive a nice dinner, a pair of shoes, AND a new outfit!) If I reach this goal, I will have revised over 130 pages in May. Suffice it to say, I have not slept much the past two weeks.

All of this is to tell you I am sorry for being a bad blogger, and I promise to return to some kind of regular schedule after I finish this draft. Also, I have not forgotten my pay-it-forward recipients. I am almost finished with the gifts and will have them in the mail shortly! I'm signing off for now, but hope to see everyone in blogland again soon.

Grrumble

Yesterday started off with a whimper. Literally. The dog woke Husband and I at 5:20am when he jumped on the bed in agitation. He never does that because he knows he's not allowed up there. Husband got up to take Drew potty and to find out what had scared him. Everything appeared normal until Husband noticed Drew's stomach grumbling. As soon as his stomach made a noise, he would jump up and run away from it. He didn't know what it was! Husband filled me in on the details and I happily drifted back to sleep.

It didn't last. When Husband went out to the car to leave for work, he discovered that someone broke into our car and stole the stereo, breaking the air vents in the process. Grr. I've had that car since I graduated high school and it was my first big purchase. Luckily the car suffered little other damage and the windows and door were spared. I feel violated knowing that while we slept someone robbed our car outside our window. Needless to say I woke up every time I heard a noise last night. It didn't help that the police were unwilling to do anything unless we actually saw the robbery. The most we could do was file a police report in order to deal with our insurance. Great. I'm sure those police reports really detour robbers.

After we discovered the robbery, we thought maybe Drew was scared by the burglary outside, but normally when he hears a noise outside, he barks, so I don't think he actually heard it. He confirmed my conclusion yesterday afternoon. His belly began rumbling and grumbling in earnest because he refused to eat his breakfast. With all the squeaks and growls, he started hiding behind my feet! Drew is not naturally timid, tending to be inquisitive and friendly instead, but his reaction gave me the giggles. He stuck close to me all afternoon and jumped up every time his stomach squeeked, which unfortunately for him was every few seconds. I felt sorry for him, but it was so entertaining. Even at two years old, he is such a puppy sometimes. After a bad morning, Drew managed to cheer me up as usual.

With a face like that, how could your spirits not brighten?

Seven

Darling Husband spoiled me this year.









Not that I'm complaining.

Picture this

A grown man, sweating profusely, walks two miles carrying a four-foot tall bush, whilst ducking low-hanging trees and amused pedestrians. Meanwhile his wife follows along with the dog and a serious case of the giggles.

That's our weekend in a nutshell.

It may not be hiking the rainforest, but it's always an adventure with us.













The jasmine vine looks lovely on the patio, and it smells divine, though it was a bit more work than he expected trekking it home.

Hiiii Ya!

"Everybody was kung-fu fighting...dink da da dink da dink dink dink...those bears were fast as lightning..."

I took Husband on a movie date night and let him choose any movie he wanted (with the tiny request that he not choose the Hulk movie). I knew what he'd choose, but I played along nonetheless. After I sent him the list of movies playing, he called excitedly and asked, "Do I really get to pick any movie?"

"Yes, of course," I said with a knowing smile. "What do you want to see?"

"KUNG FU PANDA!"

I knew it!

Husband's two great loves are cheesy action flicks and animated movies. (Oh, and can I add his third great love, macaroni and cheese, since he just berated me for not picking up another box of his favorite weekend lunch? Anywho...) The Simpsons occupy a special category all their own for him. You cannot imagine the childish glee when he finally heard "Spider Pig" in its entirety.

My favorite part of the movie? Hearing the aha ha ha of all the little kids in the theater harmonizing with my giggling husband. Oh, and the line at the end: "I figured it out...kuchikoo!"

He loved all the slow-motion shots and also appreciated Po's intense love of food since he shares it. Taunt him with some mac n' cheese and a bottle of Mt. Dew and he'd learn kung-fu in no time.

Island Tempo

The tempo of the islands stuck with me yesterday as I moved slowly about the business of getting back to real life. I began making a to-do list first thing in the morning (some things never change), which normally sets my shoulders into their tense, lifted posture, but by the afternoon, as I continued to leisurely tick things off my list, I couldn't be bothered to stress about how many things I hadn't done yet. If you know me personally, or you've been following the blog long, you'll know I do nothing if not stress well. Clearly I got too much sun in Punta Cana. Vivas la vida bien.

Ah, Punta Cana. It was lovely. White sand, aquamarine water, swaying palm trees laden with coconuts. Crystal clear pools with swim up bars and singing, dancing Dominicanas. Peacocks, flamingos, and sipping coffee on our porch overlooking palms and pathways dotted with orchids. The food was delicious, and even more importantly in great abundance, though of course there was the small issue of keeping it down, or rather, up, after catching the usual 'third-world' food illness mid-week, which we were made unhappily familiar with on our honeymoon in Mexico. No matter how careful we are, it seems to be unavoidable. There was also a small misunderstanding over sunscreen. Apparently it expires after seven years. Who knew? As my husband would point out on the second day with his shiny beet-red sunburn, obviously not me. With my Italian heritage, I managed to come out unscathed with only a slightly pink tinge, but poor husband, with his clear green eyes and Danish skin, had to hide under the palm umbrellas for two days, though he didn't mind too much since the view was fantastic and the beer was free.

The goal of this trip was sheer relaxation. Usually when we go on vacation, I drag husband around to see as many sights as is humanly possible. We arrive home battered and more tired than when we left. Since husband started his new job, he has worked long hours and deserved a break away from it all. This trip was spent lounging by the beach and the pool, reading and relaxing, and eating lots of tasty food and drinking lots of yummy drinks, just like he wanted.

I managed to polish off a few books in my TBR pile. I finally finished Practical Magic, which I began months ago--though technically speaking I did not actually finish it because when I read the last word, I realized I was still mid-sentence and there were no more pages! This week I'm visiting the bookstore and demanding a new copy since mine was so incomplete. I also finished Petite Anglaise, of blogging fame, and adored it. It made me hungry for sidewalk crepes and bakery croissants and thirsty for bowls of cafe au lait, though I'm not sure that was intended. I also read a book by another blogger I admire, Lucy Diamond's Any Way You Want Me, which was a fun, sassy read unlike anything I've read for quite some time, and which made me feel slightly naughty while reading on the plane home and a little red hoping no one was reading over my shoulder. ("Is it hot in here, or is it just me?") For my birthday, I ordered a book by another lovely blogger, Caroline Smailes' In Search of Adam. Even though I already found my Adam, I was excited to arrive home to find my book had finally winged its way here, just in time for me to need a new book to read, so I began last night and can't wait to dig in deeper.

The tempo of the islands still beats in my mind, thump thumping, beckoning for me to dance, calling for me to sing out loud, teaching me to slow down and enjoy each moment. As I shift gears and slip back into my routine, I will use my recharged batteries to meet real life con mucho gusto.

Guns N Roses and Easter on 28th

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Husband's mom came down for a visit, so we took Drew and her two little Aussies for a long walk down to Campbell where we enjoyed brunch outside in the sunshine. We then spent Saturday evening with friends at the pub celebrating Husband's 28th birthday. It felt more like a 21er when Husband disappeared for a good 20 minutes because he drank too many free beers, meanwhile we were entertained by a friend karoaking "Sweet Child of Mine" in full shouty form ("Where do we GO-OH, where do we go now..."). He also performed a moving Neil Diamond rendition.

Yesterday was his actual birthday, so we had a little celebratory curry, and then, because he gains full control of the remote on his birthday, we watched a few tivoed hours of tennis--the Pacific Life Open--with a friend. While we were watching, there was a great 'Janet Jackson' moment. The camera panned the crowd and stopped on a woman who was watching the match in a bikini top when she was surprised by a hand that reached from the side of the viewing frame and grasped her breast. A perfect Tivo moment - we rewound it a couple times to make sure it really happened.

On the writing front, things are moving slowly this week. I spent much of yesterday running errands that I tried and failed to finish on Sunday since the stores were closed, and then I had birthday details to tie up. Today I must (I must, I must!) catch up. I'm off to a great start since I chose to blog first. Hmph.

A (Jet)Lagging Homecoming

I arrived home for the second time in one week on Sunday evening. Husband's best friend and his wife had their first child while I was traveling, and we wanted to see little Adam William before he grew too big. He was a precious, tiny little thing. So far they are lucky: he doesn't cry much, and he's quite the little snuggler with cute puckering lips.

Last Tuesday evening, I arrived home 23 hours after I began my travels in Prague. Everything went smoothly, but I was stuck with a 7.5 hour layover in Munich, so it made for a long day. Husband picked me up from the airport with a sweet little kiss, but I think Drew missed me more because he howled on my lap for a full five minutes when I arrived home. It's been over a week, but still he doesn't like to leave my side.

I want to thank everyone for the thoughtful comments left while I was gone. Even though I didn't respond, they kept my spirits up during my down moments, and made me laugh as well. I'm still attempting to get back into the swing of things, which is why I haven't blogged since my trip, but at the same time I'm trying to wrap my mind around all the ideas and experiences I had while traveling.

I may post a few pictures and stories over the next few weeks as I continue to settle back into normal life, whatever that is. We have a few birthdays coming up (including husband's and mine) and two more trips over the next month, so I'm just hoping to keep up. However, I surpassed the 90% mark today, so I'm well on my way to finishing this draft in April! Hurrah!

250th post...Going Places

OMG

(omg omg omg omg omg)

*Breathe*

I have exciting news.

Okay, I'll start from the beginning. In October, when I created my new writing plan with a deadline to finish in April, I was worrying a lot about a few chapters, because they are located in places I've never been. I know, "write what you know," but if I did that, I would have a very boring book, or possible a book that exposed things I'd prefer not to be exposed! I once read a quote by a writer (blanking on who, possibly Jodi Piccoult?) who said that you should write what you are willing to learn, which I much prefer. I like learning new things while I write. I find it much more interesting and fulfilling. Anyway. Unfortunately, the places I need to see are in Europe. And I am in California. So. Husband gave me an incentive to finish my book on time. He said if I finish this draft in April, he would send me to Europe to do my research!

Over the past month, we've been discussing this trip more. I'm a little ahead of schedule, and let's face it, Europe is cheaper in the spring than in the summer. Husband has always wanted to go to Germany, so we were going to try to incorporate our vacation this year with the research trip. But. The planning became too difficult. We would not be able to visit all the research spots I need to see, and visit everything he wants to see while staying within our budget and his allotted vacation days. So. I started scouring fares and crunching numbers and came up with a plan B.

I am going on the trip alone. And. We are going to the Caribbean for his vacation! As crazy as it sounds, it ended up being the same price, if not cheaper, for me to do a bare-bones backpacker-style trip to Europe alone and add a week in the Caribbean. He can only travel in April, but one roundtrip ticket to Europe in April costs the same amount as a multi-city ticket to Europe in March (I need to visit both Munich and Prague). As a couple, we wanted to at least have our own room with a private bathroom, but alone I can stay in cheaper hostels. Incidentally, Husband is over the moon because when we went on our last trip in 2006, I promised that the next trip would be tropical and relaxing because that's what he really wants. (I tend to not relax on vacation. I make sure we see everything possible in our allotted time, so he always comes home feeling worn out. We have not had a relaxing vacation since our honeymoon 6.5 years ago.) He was willing to do the Germany trip now so I could do my research, but he's thrilled to push it off for another two years so he can save up enough vacation time to go for two weeks so we can see more sights outside Munich.

So, I am going to Europe alone to research for my book. OMG! Then in April, when I should almost be done with my book (crossing fingers and toes!), I am going to lie on a beach with my hubby, who deserves a vacation so so much for all the overtime he works. I am so excited, and also a little scared, and feeling slightly guilty, and it took me hours to fall asleep last night after I booked the tickets...

And *breathe*

(omg omg omg omg)

Excellence

Fabulous JJ has awarded my blog an E for Excellence! How lovely of her. My Monday feels brighter already.
I can nominate ten new people to receive the award, but I see many of my favorites have already received it, so I will pass it along to five who may not have it yet:

Alix, Caroline, Helen, Hullaballoo, Lucy Diamond


Speaking of excellence, the paperback of lovely Caroline's book In Search of Adam was released Friday in the UK. And look! I found Adam in Silicon Valley: (And the lovely boy helped me with the shopping after he was discovered. How nice of him.)

Drew also found Adam...


(In Search of Adam is not yet available in stores stateside, but check Caroline's site for information on how to obtain a copy online...I've been dying to read it so I'm planning to snag mine while vacationing this spring, but more on that later.)

Blue Monday?

Yesterday was supposed to be the worst day of the year. What do you reckon, did it live up to all the hype? Today sure started off with a crash, so to speak, with the stock market continuing to drop and the delayed action of the fed slashing interest rates. I don't know if yesterday was the worst day of the year for me--there have only been 21 so far--but I certainly felt under the weather literally (it's quite drippy here) and figuratively. I know the quality of my blog has been suffering of late due to my somewhat exhausted and uninspired mood. I exert most of my energy during the day attempting to get words onto paper, and by the end of the day all I feel up for is a session in front of the TV, which by the way, has been playing nothing but the Australian Open lately. (For Christmas I gave husband a Tivo--he loves tennis but always misses the majors because they play at odd hours here, so now he's recording every match and watching endless tennis. He even enjoys watching the boring matches in fast forward. I like tennis, but I'm ready for the finals already! I did use the Tivo to squeeze in two Jane Austen adaptations this weekend since PBS is airing the complete Jane Austen.) Anyway, back to blue and drippy Mondays. This weekend I found out my grandma was admitted to the hospital for elevated blood pressure and heart problems--she's a long-long term smoker with a history of heart and lung disease, unfortunately. After that, Monday didn't seem quite so bad, though I'm about ready to take a sick day just to catch up on rest!
In an attempt to cheer up, I'm making some small visual changes to the blog just for fun, and I also wanted to share a website a friend recently introduced to me. It's called Good Reads and it's like myspace/facebook for readers. You can share the books you've read, are reading, or are planning to read and give reviews, share quotes and view the books that friends recommend. Anyone that fancies a look can check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/angielondon

Close misses

I'm keeping busy busy, and I feel like someone has stolen half of December! I cannot keep up with everything. Two days last week I missed my writing goals. I started to catch up this weekend, and I passed the 30k mark, but I have more makeup words to write today. So far so good.

Friday night we had date night. I know there are a few McEwan haters out there, but I love his writing and Atonement is my favorite. I've been waiting months to see it, and it was finally released in the US this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't find out until Friday afternoon that it was a limited release, so it wasn't playing anywhere in the south bay. We did have a lovely dinner downtown, where we were seated next to a couple on their first date. We could hardly talk because we were so absorbed in the oddities of this couple. They were probably in their mid-40s, both had children of their own, but they acted so immaturely it was as if they were teenagers on their first date. The man said he wanted to sit next to her after dinner, so he invited himself over to her house. Uh huh. "Sit next to her," my arse. She ordered sorbet for dessert and when she didn't want anymore, she dumped it in the to-go box with her dinner. Okay. And then I was horrified to hear him say, "I am so aroused right now. Nobody should ever be this aroused." *shudders* No. No they should not (or he should not). Mind you, the seating in this place was tight, and I'm sure we weren't the only ones to hear that declaration. I wanted to wash my ears out with soap. Eurgh.

Saturday night was Hubby's work Christmas party, which was interesting. Hubby remembered the time of the party wrong, so when we arrived fashionably late at 5:30 for a 5:00 start time, we were actually stupidly early for a 6:00 start time. Hello Starbucks. We were by far the youngest people there by 10-20 years. I knew he was young for his job, but I didn't realize how young until we were there. Then I had a strange experience when I was meeting his co-workers and their wives. I was worried about the dreaded question: "What do you do?/Where do you work?" I prepared myself to be brave and pronounce my writerly ambitions. (Sort of. At least, I was planning to tell the truth: "I'm a writer.") However, people didn't ask that question. Instead they asked me: "Do you have children?" While chatting with one friendly wife, I discovered that her oldest child is my age. Ha! The 50s/60s dance music after dinner was a tip too. Hubby was honored to be one of only a dozen who received gag gifts. They called his name right after the new CFO and right before a VP. Guess young hubby has made a good impression! He was so embarrassed, I loved every second of it.

Finally, we dropped Drew off at a friend's yesterday so we could spend the day in San Francisco at the Dickens Christmas Fair, but we had to run an errand downtown first. I bought Adam some jeans a few months ago at H&M, but they didn't fit and we haven't driven up since then. (Incidentally, H&M did open a mile from our house, but sadly they only sell women's clothes.) We left our friend's place an hour late, and with all the Christmas shoppers downtown--including a man who asked us to give him change so he could buy drugs--we didn't leave Union Square until 4:30, so we ran out of time for the fair. Hopefully next weekend. Although Atonement does open here next weekend, so we'll see if we have time left.

I can't wait for Christmas Day to arrive with morning mimosas and relaxation (and, um, you know, presents!). (Sorry for the novel-length post. It's been awhile.)

No more Ms. Random

I'm on fire today. I wrote all my words for the day (plus makeup words for Monday) before lunch, and now I have time to walk the dog and go do the grocery shopping I've been putting off for the past two days. No random dinner for husband tonight.

Word written today: 1515

Museums galore

I'm a *bit* of a planner, so before we set off on a trip, I always make husband pick the sights he'd most like to see so that I don't dominate the itinerary with all the things I want to do. With him being interested in science, and me being interested in literature, art, and history, we have quite different tastes, although they do often overlap. We both love learning about WWII history, for example.

At the top of my list was the Holocaust Museum, but I'll save that for a separate post. On my last trip to D.C. I went to two places that thrilled me, but husband probably wouldn't enjoy them: the Library of Congress and the Folger Shakespeare Library. This time I wanted to see the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection if we had time, but as long as we went to the Holocaust Museum, I was going to be happy. Husband wanted to go to the top of the Washington Monument, see the Air & Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the zoo, if possible. We didn't make the zoo or the Phillips Collection, but we squeezed in everything else.

I didn't get to see as much of the National Gallery as I would have liked, but I did a 'highlights' tour of the paintings I most wanted to see: the French Impressionists collection, the JMW Turner exhibit, the only da Vinci in the western hemisphere, and the Rembrandt's. I probably could have skipped Turner since I studied him while in London and saw the Tate's fabulous collection--where much of this exhibit was on loan from--but I love Turner, and I couldn't resist. Two paintings on our tour particularly delighted me, so I bought a print of one (the other wasn't available as a print) and postcards of the others: Monet's The Houses of Parliament, Sunset and Monet's Rouen Cathedral, West Facade. I think I shall be redecorating soon, and The Houses of Parliament will look lovely over my desk.

The Air & Space Museum was interesting, but the WWI and WWII exhibits were closed for some construction/restoration work, and they probably interested me more than the rest of the museum combined. The Wright brothers collection was interesting to see as was Amelia Earhardt's plane, and I found the space exhibits amusing because all the machines looked like sci fi creations or tin foil fakes. They did have a German V-2 rocket and Messerschmidt plane on display, which were amazing to see. Husband was actually a little let down by the A&S Museum because he visited it in his teens, but thought he had missed a lot of it and in fact had not. He wanted to see the WWI and WWII exhibits too, and he thought it was by far the most run down museum we visited. It was very oriented toward children. We did buy freeze-dried ice cream from the gift shop, which is supposedly what astronauts take into space, so we'll see if it's yummy or not.

The Natural History Museum delighted him though. He loved the mammals exhibit and the dinosaurs, meanwhile I just wanted to see the Hope Diamond. The Hope Diamond itself was gorgeous, but the display wasn't fantastic. It was in a four-sided case to allow more people to see it, and it rotated around, but there was no light shining down on it to illuminate the sparkling beauty. I suppose like the Mona Lisa, the sheer popularity of the item makes the exhibition of it difficult. I also wanted to see the Harry Winston exhibit, but I had no idea how large it would be and it ended up being my favorite exhibit at the museum. It was very shiny! All that glitters isn't gold - tanzanite, alexandrite, emeralds, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, oh my! Napoleonic necklaces and diadems. If it weren't for the crazy tourists snapping photos of every single display case without even glancing at the contents, and then stepping in front of you as you patiently await your turn to view the glass case, the exhibit would have been perfect.

Phew! And now I better return to writing my real novel...

The Historian

I promised a post on my reading of The Historian. It seems not everyone was a fan of the 642 page tome. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself, but I can see why some may not enjoy it as much with the endless passages discussing the smell of old books encased in old libraries. I liked that bit, but I'm a weird bibliophile. I think husband was just wondering when the bloody vampire was going to show up. (No pun intended. Oh alright, it was intentional...) It was clear Ms. Kostova did her research well, and I enjoy getting a mini history lesson wrapped in the shrouds of fiction. I also felt like I was whisked along for a trip down the old cobbled streets of Eastern Europe, and since all I can afford these days is a couch-side visit, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of old crypts and churches and cities. However, I will say that the ending knocked me sideways. When husband finished the book, he closed it with a snap and was quite peeved he had wasted months (yes, months!) reading the book for it to be wrapped up in a few short pages. I wasn't quite as peeved. I could see the difficulty in wrapping up such a monster, but it was the open ending that threw me. I won't give away the details in case you haven't read it, but it seemed like a cop-out ending, like she couldn't think of some better way to tie the loose ends. But regardless of that, I loved it.

Continuous blogging (or is it blagging?)

...for 30 days, at least. When I signed up to post every day this month, I forgot that I would be on vacation this weekend, so you should expect some very quick posts from DC. I'm posting on location, don't you feel special? Too bad I can't load the photos from the camera directly to my laptop so you can see pictures. Also, Thanksgiving will be a bit of a stretch. "Excuse me mom, my readers need me to post a blog today...I'll be back for the turkey in one minute." I suppose I can always talk about the tasty pies to make you non-observers jealous. It's the least I can do.

After all that pumpkin carving, we didn't receive one trick or treater last night, which means we're stuck with the two bags of candy I bought for the occasion. Great. (Okay, okay, it's 1.5 bags. Husband reached them before Halloween). Husband is pleased at least.

Words written today: 890

Hippety hop

After much arm-twisting, husband took me for a date last night. We haven't had a proper date for awhile, and I bought cute new shoes a few weeks ago that I longed to wear. (Sexy high-heeled mary janes.) I dressed up in my new shoes, favorite jeans, and a cute new shirt. Dinner and a movie was on the menu. We went to our favorite Indian restaurant, where the food is always tasty, but unfortunately the cute new shoes had already done their work. Did I mention that I have a bad hip? At my age? Well, I do. It gets 'stuck' so to speak, and I have difficulties walking when this happens. Usually this occurs when I wear heels for a long period of time, or if I sit too long. Road trips are a nightmare. My doctor has done an x-ray and an MRI, but so far we don't know what is wrong. So back to dinner. I had just finished a lovely chicken tikka with husband and went to use the restroom. When I got up to wash my hands, my hip stuck. I could barely stand to wash my hands or walk out the door. Embarrassed, I didn't know what to do because I had a whole restaurant to traverse to meet my husband outside, and I could barely walk in my cute hobbly heels. I opened the door and slowly took two steps forward leaning on the wall as I moved, assessing the long walk ahead, and luckily hubby, who stood waiting just outside the restaurant, recognized the hobble in my step and ran in to give me his arm to lean on so I could hobble out. Luckily, being a practical girl, I keep a pair of old running shoes in my trunk with clean socks, just in case. (I once ran out of gas and had to walk 3 miles to my house in cute shoes and learned my lesson.) I limped to the car leaning on my snickering husband and changed into sneakers, which unfortunately ruined my outfit, but they were more comfortable on the walk over to the theater and sitting for another two hours. I eventually walked enough to get it 'unstuck' so I could properly function in public.

Incidentally, we watched Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I thought Cate Blanchett did a wonderful job again. My sympathies were with the queen as she depicted her - her maid shagged Clive Owen and she only received one tiny little snog. Bah Humbug. Ah well, I was able to watch him, so I shouldn't complain.

Oh yes, and the Red Sox won the World Series! Quite the weekend and only 5 days until we leave for DC.