Month: July 2007

Two quick reviews…

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Loved it! Started reading it yesterday morning, finished around 9pm tonight. 🙂

Indians Pizza, the new pizza place in town: Quite enjoyable. Nice pizza, tasty ice cream.

How did *he* get into my dream???

The kitties have been especially annoying this morning, doing what they could to try and get me up at 4am. Pretty much 4am to 5am was me spent trying to sleep while Linus kneaded the bed around me. Lucy was being nice and simply sleeping on top of me. I did fall asleep around 5am and only recently awoke (again, Linus kneading the bed). And what was I dreaming about when I awoke?

Well in this dream, elsaf, judiang and I were vacationing together, as we are wont to do. But we get picked up by some security folks when we land at the airport and are driven to some unknown property. When we arrive, it’s an ordinary enough house and no security folks are actually IN the house. Whose house, you ask? Why President Bush’s house, of course. (!!!!) So we’re there and thankfully spend more time with his wife (not sure she looked like the real Mrs Bush) and son (who looked a bit like hergrace‘s youngest only with short hair that’s curlier).

As we did at Steph’s place, we were having a birthday celebration for someone (but I don’t recall who now). Rather than bake her famous cheesecake, Elsa had apparently ordered some pecan dessert thing – all very hoity toity – and had it delivered to the place. Never did get to see what it was (I think it was something in an intricately tiered thing) but I did get to eat ice cream in the dream. And spent most of my time in the dream having to play with the little kid. The final bit in the dream is all of us at the dinner table – including the Prez.

Well, actually, there was something of a follow up to it. When we were heading back home, someone was bragging about their holiday, but I had ’em pipped when I said I got to vacation with the President. He asked what that was like and my response was “Well, I still don’t like him all that much, but his wife and family are pretty nice.”

So, my dear psyche, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON?????

BTW, I think I’ve figured out why the kitties were so antsy (pun intended). I went to clean out their automatic feeder to put fresh cat food in it and found that teeny tiny ants had discovered it. ICK! Looks like I shall be buying some ant dots after work today! (The being squicked by ants is pretty much why I haven’t gone back to bed. Ick!)

Losing my grip…

No, I’m not losing my grip on reality (at least, I HOPE I’m not). I’m just losing grip on my possessions.

Last Friday, I drove to the Lake to hang out with the parental units. I listened to my new audio CD Valhalla (the latest Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who audio). I listened to part 1 on the way up and part 2 on the way back. I remember ejecting the CD from my CD player in the car. I remember taking the CD case with discs into the house. And now I cannot find it anywhere! Grrrr, it’s driving me bonkers.

I wanna listen to the rest of the story! And I can’t find it. Argh!

Happy Harry Hump Day!

I decided not to attend the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Mostly because I’ve been sleeping fairly well of late and knew that would throw off my current pattern. So I decided to catch it today.

I worked today for about 4 hours (2.5 in the morning and 1.5 after lunch) before heading off to Piqua for the movie. Being the paranoid type, I paid the extra buck to get my ticket online just in case. Turns out for the 4:00 showing, that wasn’t needed. (The 12:45 showing earlier and the 7something showing later – probably would have been advisable.) No matter, I still paid less than $6 for the flick, which works for me.

I will admit, I do prefer it when I’m the only one in the theater (as usually happens when I see movies), but it is neat sharing a movie experience with complete strangers. And, as with all good movies, I got completely caught up in Phoenix and forgot all about the other folks until we all laughed at something together. I’m quite impressed with the movie – they were pulling from a lot of material and managed to get, I think, what was needed to make a good movie. The acting was excellent and the effects were superb. I wasn’t think “Wow, neat CGI!” I was thinking “Wow!!!!”

After the flick, I talked myself into having supper at Frisch’s for a Big Boy platter (onion rings & baked apples) and hot fudge cake. Let’s face it, I didn’t have to be too convincing. And while stopped at Walmart getting supplies, I finally found some Americone Dream ice cream. Cool, will finally get to try that flavor. But not tonight!

So, it’s been a good day for me. I hope you can say the same for yourselves!

Things I learned…

While vacationing with hergrace, elsaf and judiang, I discovered some interesting things, which I shall endeavor to share with you folks.

  • Judi, Elsa and I can’t name all the state capitals to save our lives.

  • Steph’s in-laws are two of the most hospitable people you’re ever likely to meet.

  • Barns are painted red cuz the paint is inexpensive (confirmed with papa).

  • The wait for the Holland tunnel is longer than actually traveling through it.

  • Street lights in NYC are relatively coordinated with each other.

  • Grafton, VT is where the best Vermont Cheddar is made.

  • Steph’s boys are growing up so fast! I mean, the eldest has his learners permit now! Eeeep!

  • Even with a room full of geeks, getting regular DVD players to play non-regular DVDs is pretty damned difficult.

  • GPS units don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know either.

  • Garmin, the GPS manufacturer, has stock in the Holland Tunnel. (Well, that’s our best guess at its continual behavior to try and send us through it both times.)

  • You *can* go from Vermont to Philly without going through New York City.

  • Trina is still obsessing about driving through the Holland Tunnel and NYC. (Sheesh woman, GET OVER IT!)

  • The Vermont Country Store requires hours of looking in order to see (and taste) it all. I think I need another trip to VT.

  • Ben & Jerry’s is no longer owned by Ben & Jerry.

  • How much wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

  • There are still glassblowers around using the same equipment that was used centuries ago.

  • Vermont has Deer Crossing, Moose Crossing, Bear Crossing, and Truck Crossing signs. (I always wondered what happened when trucks went wild!)

  • When the airport security check your luggage, they pack it back up even better than it was when you packed it.

  • Judi liked the last ep of Doctor who least of the four of us. That surprised me to no end.

  • I have some of the bestest friends in the world. (Well, I knew this before the trip, but it’s always great to confirm it.)

  • As lovely as Vermont is, There’s No Place Like Home. 🙂


Also, in the “It’s A Small World After All” stakes: Today at church, I found out one of the ladies there has a son who lives in Springfield, VT and attends a Unitarian Universalist Church in Chester. (She says it’s the old stone church – I didn’t know that was a UU church!)

Leaving on a jet plane

Actually, I’m flying on a jet plane. I’m bored while on my delayed flight back to Columbus, so I decided to get on my laptop for awhile. Who knows when I’ll remember to actually upload this to LJ, if ever. If you see this, I guess I did eventually upload it.

It’s 10:42pm – 37 minutes after I was supposed to land. We actually took off when we were supposed to land. It’s a dark & stormy night, apparently. (Hmmm, should have used that as my title for this entry, I guess.) I’m glad they do the delays – I’d rather get home in one piece rather than scattered about in little bits.

Oooh – my ginger ale is almost here. Woot! Ginger Ale is always what I get on planes. Not sure why – guess cuz the burping helps me keep my ears unplugged.

elsaf, judiang and I got on the road this morning at 10am. There were lots of hugs & thank yous, and then we were off. We figured we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us provided we could prevent Garmin from sending us through the Holland Tunnel again. Sure, he wimpered every time we used hergrace‘s directions rather than the ones he wanted us to follow. But eventually he caught onto the route we wanted to go. Sort of.

We stopped at a McDonald’s in Massachusetts Connecticut for lunch and to switch drivers. Once again, I was going to attempt the Connecticut-New York-New Jersey leg – this time hoping to avoid New York City. The goal was to take the Tappan Zee bridge. And despite Garmin’s protests, we successfully did. Woot!

In New Jersey, we once again swapped drivers (and Judi and I got milkshakes from Burger King) Elsa drove us the rest of the way to the Philly Airport. (Mmmm, honey roasted peanuts have just been passed out. And yes, on the package it states “Produced in facility that processes peanuts and other nuts.” Well duh!)

Garmin predicted us arriving before 5:30 and we certainly did. We dropped Judi off first and then Elsa and I took the car back. We tucked Garmin back in his little bag and then took the transport to the terminal. Alas, none of us were in the same gate – indeed, my gate was completely cut off from the others. Still, we texted each other for awhile before the flights took off. I’m pretty certain Judi took off nearly on time. Elsa said she was delayed. And I was definitely delayed.

My main goal when I land will be to drive safely home. It’ll be around 1:30am when I arrive home. And I’ll be very glad to see my kitties!

Descent time.

Ah – forgot about free wireless at the Columbus airport. Will post this now while I wait for my luggage.

Thanks girls for a WONDERFUL time! See y’all when I can!

ETA: changed Massachusetts to Connecticut – for some reason I always forget that state!

Girls’ Day Out

Yesterday could well have been subtitled, Girls’ Day In, since we stayed in all day (well, in town). But today, we did go out and we left the kids at home.

We started off again with another leisurely morning. hergrace had purchased some sticky buns from Baba A Louis yesterday, so we had those at breakfast. And without ever getting off my duff at the kitchen table, we moved right onto a lunch of leftovers. I had leftover steak and salad, which was very tasty. Plus some of the sour dough bread I’d bought the day before.

Steph, elsaf and I then walked to Mitch’s Maples which was a mile away from the farmhouse. The place is a self-serve maple syrup store. I wanted some of the maple cream that I’d tried at the farmhouse and this was the place to get it. $7 and signing the guest book and I had my cream. It was quite neat to be in a self serve store that’s done by the honor system (and employs closed circuit TV…)

After the walk, it was time for us to head off to Simon Pearce – a glass shop at the Old Mill in Quechee, VT. At Simon Pearce we got to check out the waterfalls and covered bridge and to watch the glassblowing. Wow! Was that guy buff or what? Oh wait… The process of glassblowing is really neat. And the Master glassblower? He was fine. 🙂

We looked around the shop at Simon Pearce and marveled at the beauty and the prices. Even the seconds were pricey, but they were very beautiful as well (and often we weren’t sure what made them seconds).

As it was 5:30, we decided to have Garmin choose supper for us. (We were in the rental car on this trip.) Despite the fact that it had earlier tried to send us down a one lane dirt road, we were trusting it with supper. It had lots of restaurants in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, so we picked one there and let it direct us (rather ineptly at first) to West Lebanon.

Our first choice of supper turned out to not be a German restaurant but instead a chocolate store. Which was closed. But across the shopping complex was the Weathervane, a New England seafood chain. While there, judiang and I gorged ourselves on lobster while Elsa and Steph stuck to lighter fare. And we all had dessert – I went with a classic hot fudge sundae, which simply hit the spot. It was a very good (very expensive) meal! Best of all? The last bite of lobster was the best of them all. Yum!

Garmin the GPS got us back OK and halfway through the trip, Steph gave it a sex-change and made it a British male (Daniel) rather than the American woman (Jill) we’d been listening to. Garmin is now very demanding, rather than simply exasperated.

We’re now back at the farmhouse and checked into our flights. Judi’s working on a movie of the glassblowing while Steph & Elsa are watching Harry Hill. We’ve had a fabulous time at Steph’s in-laws and have thanked them over & over for the chance to be here. It’s always great to be with my friends. Gonna miss y’all, girls!

I shall bow out of this post with today’s photos.


More pink flowers, the variety of which I know not.


Some purple flowers.


The Sugar Syrup Shack.


The waterfalls by the Old Mill.


The covered bridge by the Old Mill.


The big ass kiln at Simon Pearce.


The very buff Master Glassblower.


Oh go blow!


The mold where they would blow the glass to shape in. The glass is so hot, the wood mold burns.


Transferring the glass vase to the pontil.

Steph’s Birthday

Yesterday was hergrace‘s birthday, so we celebrated in grand style. But before we got into all of that, we had a whole day to experience.

Once again, we had a nice leisurely start to the day. And eventually we headed off on our 4 mile walk to Baba A Louis bakery, Chester town proper, and back to the farmhouse. At Baba A Lou’s we got some baked goods (surprise surprise!) I picked up a loaf of sour dough bread and a cheese & herb croissant. And as we rested outside of the Cathedral of Bread (well, that’s what the place looked like) we all ate our croissants.

We headed into Chester’s downtown in order to have the walk back be at a less steep incline than our walk to the bakery. The town is very quaint and quiet. We popped into a couple of stores, but didn’t buy anything. We also checked out a small suspension bridge near the downtown and walked across. Then on to the town’s cemetery for some perusal of very old headstones (some 18th century ones).

We then returned to the farmhouse, stopping only at Lisai’s market to get some bottled water. When we returned, we all crashed and felt good about getting out on such a lovely walk. The weather was simply perfect for the walk – not hot or cold, not too sunny or too dreary. A very lovely day.

The afternoon was spent geeking and reading and relaxing. And eventually the plans were afoot for supper. Steph’s father-in-law was going to grill steaks, elsaf would bake potatoes and make the salad, and all of us would eat well. Steph’s mother-in-law decorated the dining room in 4th of July party favors and decorations. And with pinwheels at every seat, we had plenty to keep ourselves entertained while we ate our wonderful supper.

Once the supper dishes were cleared up, the birthday cake was brought it. The birthday cake, made on Dairy Day Monday, was an Elsa-made cheesecake. Yummy! She also made a strawberry sauce for those who aren’t cheesecake purists like I am.

After desert was present time. Steph got lots of lovely gifts from her family and friends. Including several Doctor Who toys. Woohoo! The party eventually ended and folks started heading off to bed.

The girls and I stayed up to watch The Last September, a David Tennant movie that judiang gave Steph for her b-day. The movie was a bit hard to comprehend with all the people being introduced without proper introductions. And DT had a big furry caterpillar on his upper lip. So to keep the squee going, Steph put part 2 of Blackpool on for watching.

Rather than staying up til 2am, we actually filed out at fairly decent times. Elsa left at midnight, followed by me at midnight thirty and finally Judi ordered Steph to bed at one.

Today is Independence Day and our only real plans are to visit a local glass blower and watch them make beautiful glassware. Hopefully we’ll get to see some fireworks tonight too!

Photos from the walk and from the party.


We’ve had some very sunny days here.


The folks in Vermont call this a creek, but I know it’s a “crick.”


More mountains (Vermont has a bunch!)


I can tell a train has been here. I can see its tracks!


Lots of scenery on the walk.


A scarecrow! I wonder if he’ll come to life & attack us!


Baba A Louis – the Cathedral of Bread!


Foxglove flowers outside of the Cathedral of Bread.


Pink flowers outside of the Cathedral of Bread.


Steph’s birthday!


Present Squee!