Visiting Estee, who is currently (and oh so briefly!) a mere four and a half hours away by Chinatown bus, which passes much more quickly when you are repeatedly falling deeply asleep on your neighbor’s shoulder than when you are sandwiched between hyperactive 13-year-old Chinese geek-boys and evil 13-year-old twins who hate each other with a passion. Estee is just as smart and funny and wonderful in person as she is online, and she also reminded me that when I was 18 and she was 17 she did me a huge favor for which I apparently repaid her with a tub of artificially-flavored frosting and a carton of blueberries. Given that I didn’t particularly like blueberries until this year, I cannot help but wonder if perhaps I was trying to get rid of the damn things, but thankfully I can quite honestly say that the motivation for my bizarre thank-you has disappeared into the bottomless caverns of forgetfulness. I just want Estee to know that the next time she does something nice for me I am most likely going to send her raisins and a bottle of syrup product.
Going to a wedding with in-laws of all stripes, in Albany, NY. In the past year Ross and I have been to several weddings and we have developed a terrible habit of looking at each other in the middle of ceremonies and winking in silent communication as if to say, “Ah, but ours was better.” This wedding, though, had readings from Dr. Seuss and Margaret Wise Brown, and the bride, who is a 5th grade teacher and thus the recipient of my everlasting admiration and respect, wept, laughed, and jumped up and down with excitement throughout the entire thing. In my book that makes for a pretty sweet ceremony, so we refrained from comparing just this once.
Attempting to get the $5 scanner I bought to work with Windows XP, having the memories of why I hate Windows so very very much come flooding back in a huge rush (in what other universe could you possibly install a seemingly useful program that proceeds to insert an icon on your desktop which you can neither click on nor delete because doing so causes your machine to freeze?), and abandoning the effort after reading forum conversation after forum conversation between dozens of suffering people who had all struggled with the same problem and been forced to give up in despair despite going so far as to delete obscurely named files in their registries. You are just going to have to wait for Costa Rica pictures. Sigh.
Cutting the number of our possessions in half while not throwing anything useful away. This involves migraine-inducing amounts of communication with terminally flaky Craigslisters and Freecyclers, walks to the recycling drop-off center run by the city of Cambridge (they take CDs!), repeated drives to Goodwill, transplanting Velma and two other plants to Jenn’s sunny apartment, and the placement of a permanent “FREE STUFF!!!” sign in our driveway surrounded by an ever-changing array of items. Currently out there are a toaster, a wine rack, and a twin headboard with cubbies I’ve been using for storage for the past seven years. Oh, and the scanner. I am also waiting for Boomerang’s to come for my reading chair and trunk on Monday, as well as for various people to pick up a suitcase, a set of haircut clippers, and a pair of speakers. I literally bounced up the stairs last night when a lady came by to take away a huge box of miscellaneous kitchen items; I was so happy it was all gone. I would feel like the Earth ought to personally thank me for re-homing all this crap instead of chucking it out, except that I simultaneously feel horribly guilty for collecting it all in the first place.
Visiting with Dana, who is in the middle of her MLS program and loving her children’s literature class, and Liz, who is about to become a brand-spankin’ new MSW student and positively brims with smiles every time she talks about her program. Boy am I jealous of everyone going to graduate school to learn just exactly what they’ve always wanted to know! Because instead of that, I have been…
…agreeing to take on all manner of projects from the company where two of my ex-colleagues now work, all of which get going right-fucking-away after I get to Chicago and am living in chaos amidst boxes and cans of green paint. Did I mention we are painting a wall? Did I also mention I am not going to have a desk in Chicago until I build one from parts yet to be purchased from Ikea? Did I further mention I am slightly overwhelmed by my life right now?
Missing you.
Leave a Reply
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:47 pm
You have been very productive while not blogging, well done. Miss you too.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:08 am
it was good frosting and i like blueberries!
thanks again for visiting.
x
August 27th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Hi Meera
all the best for your move to Chicago. Moving’s a bitch. My place is undergoing upgrading in 1.5 years and I have a lot to clear…
i find it hard to blog regularly too, because life happens too fast…
love
yueh chin