More Sam time

Tricia's pain just got too bad yesterday, so she had to go back to the hospital. It was back to school night at Mrs. Black's school, so that left Roddie on Sam duty. I cancelled plans with a friend (sorry again!) to help him out. Rod's never fed Sam since he went on real food, so I didn't have a moment's hesitation when I heard about Tricia.

Sam, as usual, was great. He's very good at stuffing food into his mouth, sometimes to the point that it has to sort of dribble back out when he's put too much in and forgotten to chew. Last night's menu was ravioli, peas and pasta salad with avacado. The child like avacado? Odd. Even I didn't really develop much of a taste for avacado until the last couple of years. Apparently we failed when we forgot to give the child fruit. Oh well. Dinner was followed by time with my (vintage) FisherPrice racecar. Ooooh, must try to find the missing piece somewhere on the internets. Sam's also discovered splashing in the tub, so I looked like a drowned rat after his bath. Such a cute kid. I'm sad that I won't see him for a year. :-(

The last crop of Master's students at LSE are finishing their dissertations...as they're due tomorrow! That's me a year from now. Ack.

My life is boring

We're finally having another one of those slow weeks at work. After all summer, the code supplements are finally (almost) done and I'm not really going to be doing the editing stuff for the new bills. 'Sides, it's my last couple of days here. It's been a good job, really, and I'm grateful to have had it. Plus, my co-workers have been great.

So, the London countdown continues to get closer and closer and my days are getting more and more filled as we go. I leave for my grandma's house on Saturday and will be there until Wednesday. I'm doing the obligatory granddaughter thing, but it should be ok. I just hope that I'm not flipping out so much about the details of everything that I have to do when I get home that I can't spend quality time with her and the rest of the random family that's in the area. There's loads of random family, since the only ones who really moved away were my mom and her brothers.

This weekend is also Sam's first birthday party, which I'll unfortunately miss. We took the little guy for his one-year-old photos on Saturday and they were a trip. Hee. His parents thought that he'd just stand still and have his photo taken. If we've learned one thing about Sammers, it's that he loves to be in motion. He's always going as fast as he can and if he's not, well, then, he's either eating, sleeping or completely zonked. It was still fun and there were some cute ones.

Unless I start going into the details of all the things I still have to do, then my life's pretty darn boring right now. I'm ready for London and I'm not ready. I'm looking forward to all the new things that I'll do both at school and in the city, but I'm sad about the things that I'll miss here (Duchie's show, ECMUN, etc.). I'm excited to see my British friends again and visit some of my Earlham friends at home, but I'm really sad to leave the people behind who have become my family over the past few years. I have a strong emotional attachment to my car, but I'm not at all sad about not buying gas for five years. I know that it "will all get done," but I get hung up on all the details that need to be attended to beforehand.

So, I'm going to try not to get to stressy or bore anyone with details. Less than three weeks to go!

Sick...ewww

Well, actually, I'm better now and back at work. But it was a bit disappointing. I finally went out and bought proper running clothes (the kind that dry quickly...) Sunday night after we saw Valerie off at the airport. I got up early to run Monday morning (very excited to try new things out) and something did not feel right. Anyway, details are not pleasant, but it was some sort of stomach "thing" that knocked me out for two days. Still waiting to try out running clothes.

In other news, Eddie Bauer is EVIL because I like their clothes too much. When you look at the wardrobe that I'm intending to take to London (and, hence, haven't "deaccessioned" yet), very few things are items that I didn't buy at either Eddie Bauer or its outlet over the past four years or so. They're pricey, but do amazing (and continuous) sales. At which I am an expert. *Bows*

Also strange is to read about everyone starting the new year at WCL (the law school I'd be attending if it weren't for LSE). In some ways, I'm kind of relieved to be "taking a year off," although we'll know in a month's time whether I'm still thinking of it as a "year off."

Finally, news that's probably not exciting to very many people at all (but very exciting to a few of us). But my bestest friend Duchess got cast as Mary Warren in The Crucible at Civic Theatre, here in Indianapolis. I'm so proud!!! (Although I may have been less than responsive at the time that she call...being between involuntary diaphram contractions and all...sorry 'bout that Duchie). I'm just sad that I'm going to miss it. :-( Must go find a copy of that play now....

Right, so the really exciting thing is that the Proddies have scheduled a show in Columbus on Sept. 17! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! That means that I get to see the band one last time (right) before I go!!!

Last night consisted of me buying short term health insurance, ordering credit reports and getting a credit card. (Weird, I know, since I'm leaving in a month, but Valerie's convinced me to work on my credit history.) Other highlights include working on scheduling an appointment with an accountant and figuring out finances. Blech, this is all very grown-up stuff.

But, there's still so much to get done. I've purchased a planner and have been trying to use that to help me stay on track. This is also very grown-up.

so close...

I've added a countdown bug (as I'm sure you can tell), thanks to Kristine's help at Divine Angst.

Oh, god that's not much time. And I'm still fighting with the Richmond utilities. This time it's the gas.

Dublin Irish Fest

I'm still trying to figure out what to write about that weekend. Of course, my progress has been hampered a bit by the fact that we were very busy at work last week. It's the same stuff, but the pace has increased. I think everyone's just ready to be done with the supplements.

I still have such mixed feelings about the Dublin Irish Festival. You walk around the enormous park (that mostly lacks shade, btw) stuck behind strollers and people absolutely moseying along and remember why you like the smaller size and smaller crowd at Berea. Then, you read the schedule and realize just how many performers are appearing, how high their quality and recognize that the same amount of music could be spread out over a week and you still wouldn't be able to see it all. That part I like. I think Dublin itself is a lot like Carmel in Indianapolis...posh neighborhoods/city-ettes without a hint of diversity and nothing better to spend money on than fancy sidewalks. Everyone and everything's just too pretty. Blech. But, the music...and the festival's within walking distance of the hotels. That's pretty sweet. Anyway, still mixed. I had a great time, but I think more than the two days would have been a severe mistake.

We're getting smarter about these things and set the "leaving time" at 9:30...knowing perfectly well that we wouldn't go until 10. And sure enough...the other guy we were taking along was late. Heh. I win. But, there was still plenty of time to get to Dublin (had to stop at the exit 38 Tim Horton's for coffee, etc.), check in and walk over to the festival. Irma wanted to see Ashley MacIssac, who's a Canadian fiddle player from the Maritimes and pretty sweet. I wasn't sold at that show, but was by the next day. Secondhand CDs are on order from Amazon as we speak (or type...whatever). After him came Seven Nations and I totally take back everything I said about them sucking in Berea. They seemed so much more relaxed and like they were enjoying themselves. I wonder if they don't prefer to be a little bit aloof...there really is never much interaction with the crowd. Anyway, they did a great show and I was very happy. :-) Black 47...meh. The Earlhamite in me left and went to the stuff tents. The Prodigals were the final show of the night, the 10 o'clock. They were great, of course, and there was a huge crowd. Gregory did

We didn't really go to bed that night (although I slept more than the grown-ups, having crashed for a two hour nap). We went over to the official hotel, wound up talking to Ed and others in and around the bar (after it closed), then to a room party hosted by one of the local bands. The highlight for many was the keg of Guinness (made all the more necessary because it's not served at the festival...WTF is an Irish festival that doesn't serve Guinness? I think it's nasty, but even I know that that's WRONG!) Ed made fun of me for drinking water in the Nalgene most of the night (although he claimed the next day that he didn't remember a thing). Others were incredibly drunk (I'm not naming names) and we were frankly amazed that they made it for the show the next day. We went back to our hotel around 6...I went running, then breakfast and the nap. Why I thought running was a good idea, I'm still not sure. I do know that I didn't get over the no-sleep night for a week.

Sunday was also excellent, although bands always look a little worn around the edges by then. Seven Nations got to do an acoustic show (another way of saying that they got to sit down and it was on the huge trad. stage), which was really about the right energy level. Flogging Molly did not excite me and I'm surprised that there weren't some cases of severe heat exhaustion in that tent. I was amused by the no moshing signs and announcements. Heh. Finale was great and the ride home was uneventful (although we did have to keep rearranging the seating of passengers...and stop at both Tim Horton's).

Just another note...

I really did start writing the report from Dublin. But I'll try and take the mactop to the internet this weekend and finish. No promises, though. (And if that was the band that found the blog, then...I'm just glad that I don't generally make comments that could be embarassing on here. That's what LJ's for, anyway.)

But...tomorrow's my birthday and I'll be old! Woot! I'd love to have gone over to Earlham to see Joniford and Baaaaaahar, but there's a bunch of other stuff already planned.

Does anyone have experience with stm bags? I'm looking at the Small Drift and the Medium Curve...

TEB's troops

This is an infomercial for everyone who gets here by typing "TEB's Troops" or "teb's page" into google or yahoo.

I live with Tricia's parents. They've sort of adopted me since the death of my own parents and are absolutely wonderful.

If you're looking for Tricia's blog, it's at: tebspage.blogger.com (and it's hard to find because it isn't listed with google). Or, use the teb's page link on the side of the page. The TEB's Troops website is: www.tebstroops.com. Go buy a bracelet and support her fight!

Thank you all so much for supporting Tricia. She and Sam and Michael are absolutely wonderful!

Weekend, part 1

So, I actually took Thursday and Friday off of work last week so that I could go to Stampshow in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Stampshow's the biggest show held in the country (except when there's an international show) and always good fun. I was sort of weirded out by the fact that it was being held in such a small city. It's usually located someplace major, but this worked. Grand Rapids is absolutely lovely and I went for several walks along the river.

It is also the site of the Ford Presidential Library. I decided to skip the show on Saturday morning and hit the library instead (it was across the street from our hotel). As a politics student and presidential library virgin, it seemed far more important to take advantage of the opportunity. I can't say that it was the best ever museum in the world, but was generally very well done. It must be incredibly hard to do the text for those exhibits because your audiences are soooo diverse...from presidential scholars to tourists who've hardly even heard of the former president. There were times when it seemed as though they were assuming a greater level of familiarity with the Ford administration then I had, but I still liked it. The big highlight (para mi) were tools from the Watergate break-in. Sweet! They also had a fairly ordinary white metal staircase that turned out to be the staircase that used to be atop the US Embasssy in Saigon...the one in the photos of the last few moments of evacuation from Vietnam. I couldn't decide if that was really creepy or really cool, but it was moving in an entirely ordinary "dude, it's just some stairs" kind of way.

The show itself was ok. I rejoined (for life!) my guatemalan collectors society and found a few neat items. I even paid in Euros at one booth, which was a bit strange. But, hey, I'm down to a 5 euro note.

On the way back we stopped for fruit! Mmmmmmm, Michigan blueberries and peaches and the most wonderful nectarines in the whole world! Saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Duchess that night and really rather enjoyed it (although I'm still on the fence about the oompa loompa(s?)). Johnny Depp was fantastic, but that's sooo not a kid's movie.

More later on the Irish fest.

Right.

Off to Stampshow tomorrow in Grand Rapids, Michigan, then to the Dublin Irish Fest in Columbus on Saturday and Sunday. Probably won't have internet access during this time, so have a good weekend!

So, this running kick...

I really hate to turn this into the "look how far I ran today" blog, but I'm kinda of doing it. You see, there's just not a whole lot going on right now. I go to work, I edit stuff, I clean out the storage unit, I deal with the stress that's building up at home right now and I wait to go to London.

But, I'd read in several, several places that one of the best preparations that a person could make for law school was to get used to the idea of exercise as a stress reliever. Last year wasn't the healthiest for me and my family has a history of ill-health (both my father and his dad died of heart attacks). So, before I go to London I'm trying to get myself together. And that's meant running, since I like the feeling of actually accomplishing something...like going somewhere. I'm less regular about doing other things, but I'm trying to run at least every other day (because sometimes the best way to get rid of achey legs is to give them a rest).

I don't really have much of a goal right now, unless it's to be able to run 3 miles straight. I've done two miles now twice (got up early this morning and went running, which was...nice) and I'm going to start building up next. You know, mailbox by mailbox.

My godsister Valerie has been really helpful, mostly because she tries to kick my bottom with lunges every time she visits (and is back on the 8th). My iPod has also been absolutely key. As a present, I bought it an armband this weekend, which has performed quite nicely now. :-)

Thanks, I'll try not to be annoying now.