Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Where I'll Be This Weekend
I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow morning. Am I going to gamble, to see the shows, to hang out with Paris Hilton? Um, no. Actually, I will be here:
http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?i=33ec6f31-64ad-4c18-acca-85ae57ac5524
I am so excited!!!
http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?i=33ec6f31-64ad-4c18-acca-85ae57ac5524
I am so excited!!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Yay Fall!
I have been having massive computer problems lately. The Dell guy has been out to the house twice now, once to replace the motherboard, and then again today to replace both the screen and the motherboard. The computer is still not working, so tomorrow I'm supposed to send it in to Dell for a last ditch effort to revive it. I'm guessing I'm going to end up with a brand new laptop since the old one is still under warranty. In the meantime, I'm plodding along on my very old, very slow laptop from the days of yore (or 2007, whatever). Its lack of speed and reliability have discouraged me from even trying to blog or email much, but since I took some pictures this weekend of the pretty foliage, I thought I'd give it a try today.
Behold, autumn leaves:
And more leaves plus a waterfall:
And the best part of autumn of all, a haunted house:
The Syracuse fairgrounds is now home to a creepy carnival and 4 very spooky haunted houses--you have to walk in that scary, gaping clown mouth. Eek! I love Halloween so much, and after missing out on it completely last year due to living in Norway, I am celebrating it with a vengeance this year! In addition to the haunted houses, I'm going to a costume party on Halloween. I have no idea what I should dress up as--any suggestions? Keep in mind that my Halloween pet peeve is the stupid girl who wears a leotard, stillettos and pointy ears and says "I'm a cat!" I was at a costume store today toying with the idea of being a jester...I really want to be a Harlequin clown but I can't find a costume anywhere. I think I'll hold off on buying a costume until after I get to Las Vegas next weekend. I'm guessing that there are probably some amazing costume stores there. (And no, I'm not going to dress up as a show girl! Or Sigfried or Roy!)
Behold, autumn leaves:
And more leaves plus a waterfall:
And the best part of autumn of all, a haunted house:
The Syracuse fairgrounds is now home to a creepy carnival and 4 very spooky haunted houses--you have to walk in that scary, gaping clown mouth. Eek! I love Halloween so much, and after missing out on it completely last year due to living in Norway, I am celebrating it with a vengeance this year! In addition to the haunted houses, I'm going to a costume party on Halloween. I have no idea what I should dress up as--any suggestions? Keep in mind that my Halloween pet peeve is the stupid girl who wears a leotard, stillettos and pointy ears and says "I'm a cat!" I was at a costume store today toying with the idea of being a jester...I really want to be a Harlequin clown but I can't find a costume anywhere. I think I'll hold off on buying a costume until after I get to Las Vegas next weekend. I'm guessing that there are probably some amazing costume stores there. (And no, I'm not going to dress up as a show girl! Or Sigfried or Roy!)Saturday, September 27, 2008
Happiness is a Warm Puppy
It poured rain all day today, but despite the weather, I spent the afternoon with a group of volunteers, 3 dogs and 4 cats at an outdoor adoption event. I got very wet and cold, not to mention incredibly muddy playing with the 2 large-breed puppies we brought with us.
How cute are these guys--it's insane that they're both under 6 months old and this gigantic already! Anyway, I came home chilled and damp and covered in muddy pawprints, but so happy. I love these shelter animals so much...I wish I had room in my home for more. I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with them, they are so full of gratitude for every walk, every treat, every cuddle, every game of "fetch".
How cute are these guys--it's insane that they're both under 6 months old and this gigantic already! Anyway, I came home chilled and damp and covered in muddy pawprints, but so happy. I love these shelter animals so much...I wish I had room in my home for more. I feel so blessed to be able to spend my days with them, they are so full of gratitude for every walk, every treat, every cuddle, every game of "fetch".
Now I'm off to take a nice, hot shower, and then to relax in bed with a book...there will be many more slobbery kisses and muddy pawprints tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Reason #592 I Will Vote for Obama/Biden in November
I generally leave politics out of my blog. I'm not an expert, and I have no desire to engage in a political debate. I'm not trying to offend anyone...I have some wonderful friends and family who are staunch Republicans, and I love and respect them. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about their vote. That being said, if you are undecided thus far, and you are concerned about the rights and welfare of animals (wildlife, farm animals and pets) please read this article:
http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2008/09/humane-society.html
http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2008/09/humane-society.html
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Vocabulary of a Marriage
Sometimes Kevin and I will have a conversation, and at the end of it, I realize that anyone eavesdropping would think that we were raving lunatics. On any given day, we might discuss spongy ghosts, filthy bears and tons of other seemingly random, crazy topics .
When we first moved to our house, we were plagued by water...our driveway and garage flooded every time it rained, the roof leaked in about a dozen places (it took the roofers who replaced the roof about 3 times to finally get it right and leak-proof!), water would gush in through the downstairs windows during a downpour, the line to the refrigerator ice-maker leaked through the floor and into the ceiling below, and the washing machine died a spectacular, explosively watery death. I theorized that perhaps we were being haunted by a damp spector, a spongey ghost if you will, and the term stuck. Now, if one of us yells, "Ahhhh, spongey ghost, spongey ghost!" the other one knows to come running with a towel!
We bought our house from an interesting character. He was a big, burly man who polished his rifle and talked to us about bear hunting while we measured for tile. When we first toured the home, we found a bottle of vodka in EVERY cabinet, and since then, we have heard from neighbors that he was known for walking around the yard with a drink in both hands (and a cigarette in his mouth). Based on the amount of grease that coated every surface in the kitchen when we moved in, he must have cooked a lot of bears during his time here. Kevin and I started calling him the "damn dirty bear hunter" but that was quickly shortened to "filthy bear." Whenever we discover some half-assed repair or renovation, we just curse the filthy bear, and go about fixing it.
I kind of like being in this odd little club of two, speaking in our own "secret code." Are we particularly crazy, or does every couple create a unique language over time?
When we first moved to our house, we were plagued by water...our driveway and garage flooded every time it rained, the roof leaked in about a dozen places (it took the roofers who replaced the roof about 3 times to finally get it right and leak-proof!), water would gush in through the downstairs windows during a downpour, the line to the refrigerator ice-maker leaked through the floor and into the ceiling below, and the washing machine died a spectacular, explosively watery death. I theorized that perhaps we were being haunted by a damp spector, a spongey ghost if you will, and the term stuck. Now, if one of us yells, "Ahhhh, spongey ghost, spongey ghost!" the other one knows to come running with a towel!
We bought our house from an interesting character. He was a big, burly man who polished his rifle and talked to us about bear hunting while we measured for tile. When we first toured the home, we found a bottle of vodka in EVERY cabinet, and since then, we have heard from neighbors that he was known for walking around the yard with a drink in both hands (and a cigarette in his mouth). Based on the amount of grease that coated every surface in the kitchen when we moved in, he must have cooked a lot of bears during his time here. Kevin and I started calling him the "damn dirty bear hunter" but that was quickly shortened to "filthy bear." Whenever we discover some half-assed repair or renovation, we just curse the filthy bear, and go about fixing it.
I kind of like being in this odd little club of two, speaking in our own "secret code." Are we particularly crazy, or does every couple create a unique language over time?
Monday, September 8, 2008
Getting to Know You
Kevin and I went to the Syracuse Irish Fest last Saturday. It was fantastic!
There were some great bands, including "Enter the Haggis".
As wonderful as the music (and the free-flowing Guiness) were, my attention soon wandered to the beautiful architecture of Clinton Square.
We have now lived in the Syracuse area for 10 months, and we realized that we don't really know the city at all. This is partly due to Kevin's crazy travel schedule, but also partly due to that feeling of, "Eh, there's always tomorrow." When we lived in Chicago, we definitely did go out and do things, but we were usually spurred on by out of town guests who wanted to see the sights. There was so much more to see and do that we never got around to--our loft was directly across from Oprah's Harpo Studios (we could watch the celebrities' limos pull up to the building) but I chose to watch her show on TV instead of bothering to get tickets. I always thought "Someday" and then we moved and I have been kicking myself ever since! When we moved to Norway, we knew it was going to be for a limited time, so we really did take advantage of living there. By the time we moved back, several Norwegians told us that we had seen and done more in Norway than they ever had. But now we've fallen back into that rut of thinking we have all the time in the world to get out and explore our new city. Kevin and I vowed on Saturday, "No more! We're going to hang out on Tipp Hill, in Armory Square, by College Hill! And once we get to know Syracuse, we're going to expand our horizons and check out the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario, and heck, maybe we'll even venture into Canada!"
We have definitely made progress--Kevin already has a favorite building in Syracuse, the very cool art deco NiMo building:
There were some great bands, including "Enter the Haggis".
As wonderful as the music (and the free-flowing Guiness) were, my attention soon wandered to the beautiful architecture of Clinton Square. 
We have now lived in the Syracuse area for 10 months, and we realized that we don't really know the city at all. This is partly due to Kevin's crazy travel schedule, but also partly due to that feeling of, "Eh, there's always tomorrow." When we lived in Chicago, we definitely did go out and do things, but we were usually spurred on by out of town guests who wanted to see the sights. There was so much more to see and do that we never got around to--our loft was directly across from Oprah's Harpo Studios (we could watch the celebrities' limos pull up to the building) but I chose to watch her show on TV instead of bothering to get tickets. I always thought "Someday" and then we moved and I have been kicking myself ever since! When we moved to Norway, we knew it was going to be for a limited time, so we really did take advantage of living there. By the time we moved back, several Norwegians told us that we had seen and done more in Norway than they ever had. But now we've fallen back into that rut of thinking we have all the time in the world to get out and explore our new city. Kevin and I vowed on Saturday, "No more! We're going to hang out on Tipp Hill, in Armory Square, by College Hill! And once we get to know Syracuse, we're going to expand our horizons and check out the Thousand Islands and Lake Ontario, and heck, maybe we'll even venture into Canada!" We have definitely made progress--Kevin already has a favorite building in Syracuse, the very cool art deco NiMo building:
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