New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 20-21

Day 20:
We found out that the strike was over!!! D said he's never been so happy to go back to work, ever. It is definitely a relief, & here's hoping that they don't go back on strike if the company decides to suck again. So, yeah, awesome.

I then went to work, tried a $40 per pound cheese, headed home, called 911 because of an accident on 95, swung by Target & then went to work on catching up with these here blog entries. Not bad, not bad.

Day 21:
We went out to breakfast because, yay, no strike! We can do stuff again! We saw our favorite waitress & she informed us that she knows our friend Shannon. Oh, Rhode Island! Afterwards we did some errands, which included getting a delicious peach pie at Schartner Farms to share with Tristan & Laurel, as they were coming over so Tristan could hook up our outdoor speakers for us. It all looks & sounds great, so yay! Now we don't have to blast music from the parlor when we want to listen to music while we're outside. A plus, for sure.

While I waited for dinner to cook I tied up some of our cayenne peppers to dry on a string. We planted a cayenne pepper bush in our garden this year, & holy hell do we have a lot of cayenne peppers. What's cool is that once they're dry we'll be able to make our own cayenne powder. Cool! Behold my rudimentary cayenne bundle, which is currently hanging over our kitchen sink.

Disregard the overall crappiness of this picture, along with the window in need of a wash. Look at the peppers we grew!

What I didn't know & have learned is that cayenne peppers only turn red after you pick them & they start to dry. Huh! The plan is to add to this string as we pick peppers. It's gonna be huge, dudes. Huge.

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 15-19

Day 15:
Not much happened. I went back to work (drag) & the second week of the strike & picketing started for D. Good times, good times. I do think, however, that we watched a bunch of Psych episodes while folding laundry. So there was that!

Day 16:
Rinse & repeat. Add excessive worrying about the strike & there you have it. Ick.

Day 17:
I was off this Wednesday & after D picketed we headed out to East Matunuck & met up with his aunt & "little" cousins. We spent some time in the water (it was super seaweed-y that day!) & caught up with the family. It was a much needed relaxing time in the sun by the ocean.

Also, we did something that was really hard. We resisted Crazy Burger. It was murdah! But we were good doobies & opted to save our pennies--not knowing how long we'd have them--& instead made super yummy falafel at home. Behold, thrift & control!

Day 18:
See days 15 & 16. I'm pretty sure I'm really boring. Maybe I said something crazy & hilarious to Lucy the cat, though. In fact, I'm sure of it.

Oh! I tried canary melon at work. It was pretty good! Really sweet & juicy. I've been on a bizarre melon kick the last few days. Bizarre because other than watermelon, I've never really like melon all that much. However, today I noticed that after my two slices of cantaloupe my throat felt kinda weird. Hmmmm...

Day 19:
After work, I swung by the library to pick up the book on qigong that I reserved. While there I perused the books-for-sale shelves & picked up a Roald Dahl children's book for myself & a Goosebumps by RL Stine book (holy nostalgia! they also had a Fear Street book) for D for a total of $.50. Nice! Additionally, I renewed my human-animal interaction/psychology book (super interesting so far!) & paid part of my ludicrous $5-6 late fees. Oops. Vacation makes you forget about due dates & stuff. Head hung in shame, I drove home.

After lounging around for a bit & nearly dozing off, the boy & I decided to head out to the beach. This time we went to Charlestown Beach, which was suggested to D by a co-picketer. We got there late so we luckily didn't have to pay to park, & the beach was populated but not overly crowded. The sand was super soft (compared to the coarse sand of East Matunuck that I love anyway) & there was quite a drop-off to get to the water. There is also a pretty epic view of Block Island, which looks deceptively close from the shore. We laid on our towels (forgot the blanket in the car because we were both space cadets yesterday) & read for awhile. Ate some cantaloupe. I fell asleep in my book & woke to D piling sand in the bend of my knee.

Mr. Husband chose to go in the water, but by this point it was about 5:30pm, the air had cooled & the water felt frigid to me, not refreshing (I really am getting old). So I people-watched while D swam around like a cute-cute (sorry).

Later, we headed home, showered the sunblock & saltwater off of ourselves, made a quick dinner & headed to a friend's to play some games. One game in, though, I was struck with my random lady plague, turned white as a sheet & had to be whisked home by my loving husband. Bummer! At least my team won the one game of Identity Crisis we got to play.

Once home I crawled into bed & watched about 7 minutes of Corner Gas (we are huge fans of this odd & entertaining Canadian show) until I fell asleep & stayed asleep 'til 10am this morning. Aaaaaaaah :)

More coming soon, I swear!

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 8-14

Holy crap, can you say "worst project do-er ever"?!? Shameful. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm so behind on posting that I don't even remember what I did on certain days (because I also managed to forget to write stuff down). Also, some of these are kinda lame. Ok, without further ado, let's go!

Day 8:
I made refrigerator pickles with our own garden-grown cucumbers!

Behold my fancy crinkle-cut knife in the foreground. First time using it for pickles. It made me stupidly happy.

Unfortunately, I wasn't totally into these pickles this time around. I thought they tasted weird. Their taste bummed me out, despite the cuteness of their crinkles. D liked them though, but maybe he was just being a darling husband, because there's still a metric buttload in the fridge. It's totally possible he was, because that's what he is all the time, anyway. *smush*

Also, while watering the plants in our backyard I noticed that the bird's nest on the crook of our gutter that had been vacant since after the spring birdies left is once again occupied with red-breasted robins. Yay! So cute.

We have tons of these in our backyard. I chose this photo (not my own!) because the bird looks hilariously indignant.

Day 9:
Had our monthly girls' night at my friend Crystal's house. (Hi, Crystal!) It was nice eating mostly bad-for-us food, drinking wine & catching up on happenings & gossip with the ladies. We had missed the prior month's gathering & a good night was had by all! There was also the added fun of colorful conversation & quotes regarding pregnancy, labor & all sorts of other lady business. Here, here!

Day 10:
This day was spent working & coming home to clean & pack for our weekend trip with friends to Vermont. Ayup.

Day 11:
D & I were Vermont-bound on this day. Neither of us had ever been to Vermont before! Isn't that nuts?

We were staying just over the New Hampshire border & drove through Franconia Notch to get to our destination, which was our friend's uncle's winter mobile home on a country road. I hadn't been through the White Mountains since I was about 13, and it was really nice to make the drive as an adult. Holy crap, is it gorgeous. It's nice to be able to appreciate it now.

Here's a through-the-window-of-a-moving-car shot I took as we were nearing the park.

While on the road you pass the historic site of what was once the Old Man in the Mountain. RIP Old Man, RIP.

Once we arrived at "camp," we got settled, mingled, relaxed & tore through some trails with the ATV. Oh yes, the ATV. It was my first time ever on one, & let me tell you, it's pretty frightening at first.

Here I am on my first ATV ride with Tristan. Photo by Kyle.

It's also really, really fun. It's startling because you feel really high up on the vehicle, in addition to feeling fairly unsafe while zipping down a narrow, bumpy as hell dirt "road" lined with large trees, ditches, rocks, puddles & not-super-far-away hilly cliff-like things. All of those things also make it exhilarating.

I drove it a couple times too, & holy crap is that fun. I took it out onto the main road shortly after the above photo was taken (& by taking it out on the main road, I mean I missed the turn off trail back to our plot of land) & brought it up to almost 40MPH uphill. Good times!

Also, ATVs turn Derrick into a little, maniacal boy. Also fun!

Day 12:
It was Friday morning, & we woke smelling of the prior night's campfire. After spending some time in the woodsy Vermont air, drowsily reading by the still-smoldering fire, Derrick & I made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon & toast for everyone. Afterwards, we took our morning constitutional to become one with nature & aid digestion.

On this!

We also had a golf cart to play around in! It's pretty funny how driving vehicles that are not actual cars is still super fun as a "grown up." We all had a blast using this thing, & it came in handy for the multiple golf cart vs ATV races/apple battles that were held in the yard.

D & I were saying how much we'd love to have a golf cart someday, but how it would probably get out of hand & we'd use it to make the 60-foot trip to the mailbox.

Also on this day we went to Littleton, NH to go to a big candy store & get lunch at the Littleton Diner. It's been featured on the Food Network's 50 Best Breakfasts. It was so cool inside (I forgot to take a picture like a ninny) & I had a locally stone-ground buckwheat pancake, which was featured on the show, because hey, it's supposed to be really good! And it was delicious. Nutty, a little chewy & smothered in VT maple syrup. Please sir, may I have some more?

Day 13:
After spending the entire morning & a couple hours of the afternoon lazing about & reading under the apple trees after a breakfast of pancakes, some of us got antsy. So most of us piled into a car & headed to nearby NH Forest Lake. After a whirlwind of a trip, which included me in the most uncomfortable "bitch seat" in a car ever & getting "lost" on a steep, winding dirt road in the middle of the woods we finally got to our destination.

D'aaaaaaaaaaaaaw!

Oh, right. The view.

Right?? Also, that dog was adorable.

Agent Cooper, is that you?

The day was pleasantly warm but not hot, so despite having my bathing suit with me I wasn't planning to swim. But after sticking my feet in the cool, amazingly clear water I decided that I just had to go in. I was only in for about 10 minutes (which was enough, it was cold!), but it was lovely & I'm glad I made the effort of getting & changing into my suit & all that business. Beauteous!

Day 14:
On this day we headed home. You know how it is heading home from a vacation? No matter how short of long it is, ugh. Just ugh. You're sad to be leaving & you aren't looking forward to the voyage home. You just want to BE there! Luckily, the trip back to RI wasn't too bad (I was helped by candy & a brief nap), & singing Mumford & Sons on the winding highway through the mountains didn't hurt either. Once we got home we made a quick dinner & vegged, all the while trying to get our cat to not hate us for leaving.

Though, before we left VT we took a drive down the road from the campsite, to a farm that had a sign boasting their own maple syrup & belted galloway cows, one of my favorites. We drove around their property looking for a sugar shack, cows, a farm stand or any sign of life, really. We found only a cute piece of property where no one was home but a slightly-too-skinny horse (grumble) & a lovely li'l donkey. No one was home & no syrup was to be had, boohoo!

Stay tuned...

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Days 3-7

I'm backed up already, oi vey! I'm the worst. Ok, fun(ish) attack starting now!

Day 3:
On this day I FINALLY signed up for my Chemistry class *grooooooooooooan*
I need to manage a C for these credits to transfer over to URI & then I will officially get my degree & slap it up on the wall next to D's. Also, this was my first venture over to the Knight campus of CCRI & it is the ugliest building on the planet. Take a look!

This is from the Wikipedia page.

A friend told me it is supposed to be a boat? All I know is that it is horrendous & imposing as you drive up the road & the inside is dank, dreary & outdated. Hopefully it houses easy Chemistry classes!

Afterwards I made a Spinach Orzo, a recipe of my Mom's that she used to make a lot when we were kids. So good & heartwarming, & D loves it too!


Day 4:
Um, I worked. It was a crappy day. Afterwards I got a nice hug from D though!


Day 5:

I worked all night, came home & made a bowl of homemade kettle corn. This time around I remembered to use my Dad's technique & voila! Best batch I've made in a long time....so I ate it all. D came home late from a friend's house & he was all hopped up on blue Mountain Dew. I chased him around the house at midnight while he laughed like a maniac. Aw, love! How am I supposed to resist a goofy guy as cute as this, anyway?

Day 6:
After talking/obsessing about our cats for a couple hours, I randomly sang this song at work, much to the amusement of my co-worker: "Stick it in yer butthole, fart it on out!"

Later, we went out to Mexican with friends, where we spoke of in-utero babies & made a plan to bring lots of stuff to make mojitos when we go camping. I also made my requisite Polish comments. Or jokes. Good-natured jokes!

Day 7:

Yesterday was D's first day of picketing for the strike at work. Of course it poured buckets on the poor masses & he came home soaking wet & exhausted. Being close to anyone on strike is a first for me, & when it is this close to home it is scary. Hopefully it gets resolved quickly & favorably. If you are a customer of Verizon, get the facts & make your opinions known to the company. Any little bit helps.

In brighter, less heart palpitation-inducing tidbits, I took the pouring rain as an opportunity to don my plaid galoshes & splash in puddles as I ran a couple errands. It is strange how fun that can be!

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Day 2

Day 2 of Fun was all in all a great day (minus the $95 "speeding" ticket I got in front of my grandparents' house), but the main awesomeness was a trip to the zoo with my cousin Marissa.


After having a brief conversation about sloths, we decided we both wanted to go to the zoo. So we did! It was nice spending time with Maris (especially because I missed her birthday) & it was lovely seeing my animal friends at the zoo. Great day!

I also came home with a new pet. Meet Lucy's new best friend!

The remainder of my day was filled with small but lovely visits with other family members & friends, & buying a $70 jacket & $40 skirt for a grand total of $36. Score!

Til next time!

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun, Day 1

On August 1st I managed to convince my boss to let me leave work two hours early!

It was dead as a doornail in there, & it was making my brain leak out of my ear. I got home & got to spend even more time with my husband, yaaaay! We had dinner, followed by a few episodes of Dollhouse while folding a month's worth of laundry. Still preferable!

New Thing #18--31 Days of Fun!

Oh my, I haven't posted in almost two months! For shame.

My latest "new thing" will be 31 Days of Fun, for which I was inspired by Mighty Girl, a blog I peak at once in awhile. She's in the middle of 30 Days of Fun & I think it's a great idea so I'm adapting it (or basically stealing it). August 31st is my birthday, so this little posting project will hopefully keep me in a time-for-fun frame of mind leading up to my birthday, get me posting more regularly & will hopefully help me be a little more positive on days when I've pretty much only worked,bummed around the house or am in a crabby mood. 'Cause life is beautiful, guys!

Basically, I will be posting daily(ish) with a fun thing I did that day. My daily fun-isms may not always be spectacular (or even close to spectacular!), but the point is to call out the fun I've had, or when all else fails, make my own fun.

Keep checking back for my fun-of-the-day posts, & even better, why don't you become a followed of my blog? Gosh, that would be swell!