Today is my day off, and Linus and I are heading out to suburbia to play a little social call on my Aunt Mimi and Uncle Terry. I’m excited because it has been far too long since I’ve seen them, and Linus is excited because they have a penchant for giving him all kinds of snacks, particularly his beloved CHEESE (ohboyohboyohboy).

One of my favorite recent memories of my aunt is her munching on some cheez-its as Linus sat afoot. She asked me, “can I give him a chip?” “Sure,” I told her. She tossed Linus a chip and as he inhaled it, she was delighted. “Oh boy, look! He liked it!” ….. as if there was ever any doubt??! Lady, ye know not my dog. To this day, she always gets a thrill when she’s eating something, gives some to Linus, and he “likes it.”

ha ha. You could give Linus a rock, and if you pretended it was edible, and he would eat it.

Another funny thing Linus does at their house (now that we are wise to this, we don’t let him do it anymore) is wait until we are all distracted, then wander into her flower garden outside near the driveway AND EAT HER STRAWBERRIES OFF THE VINE. I find this hilarious. I’ve never seen a dog eat strawberries directly off a plant before. Guess he learned how to forage well during his time in the wild!

Additionally, while out in Pleasanton I have to run the thrilling errand of arguing at the Verizon store to get a new phone for free because the one I have now is a total dud which has been shutting off randomly and giving me a very static-y connection.

Finally, I’m hoping to sneak in a little hike/run up Pleasanton Ridge, time permitting.

My adorable niece Kameryn (pictured here), just turned 4!

And she loOOves PIGS!

Soo… I just sent her this little guy from ALittleCharacter on Etsy.  You like?

Just look at his adorable expression and cute little hoofs! I think she’ll love him.

If you’re interested in Tracey’s work (her figurines make great gifts), you can find her etsy shop here .
ps- I am out of my funk from yesterday. Sorry so grumpy… but man, was I steamed!

Just wanted to put up a happy post of warm-wishes to my industrious parents, who finally had their “barn” (aka- barn-style garage) finished on their lovely winter home in Bartlet, NH.

Look how fantastic it turned out!  Can you picture a more “New England” style home than this?! Just looking at it makes me want to bust out my maroon woolen moose sweater and some fuzzy socks and sit with my mother by the fire while chatting over a steaming cup of cinnamon-spiked apple cider.   I love how the barn came out and am so thrilled for them.  Plus this means even more space for us when we come visit (there is an inlaw apartment over the garage).

and a closeup of the barn:

A few notable things from these photos:

• in the first pic, if you squint VERY HARD you can see the very ex$pen$ive lilac tree which Earl and I purchased from a garden store in NJ and planted in a whiskey barrel our NYC patio garden (you can see it here in the very back corner).  It was $150 and it never bloomed where we had it- probably because we had it less than six months before we had to move!  When we drove up to visit my parents before we drove cross country we brought the lilac tree with us (as well as a bunch of other plants!) so that it would live on and stay in the family.  I hope hope hope it flourishes up there despite the frigid Mount Washington Valley climate!!!!
• Also in the first pic is my old Taco Supreme aka my beloved Tacoma Truck, living out her golden years as a worker-bee truck for my parents.  So many memories were made in that baby, from off roading with high school friends to hauling around bunches of sorority girls at UNH to helping move to NYC… according to my father she still runs great.
• In the second photo you can see the weathervane my sisters and I pooled together and purchased for their Christmas present a few years ago.  It has been waiting for proper placement for SO LONG!
• Another notable fact:  the barn raising was delayed many days because the builders had a clause in their contract that they would not work when it was under 10 degrees.  Heehee (seeing that it is 75* here and I went surfing at Linda Mar beach yesterday and layed out afterwards in a bikini I find this somewhat amusing).

Part of the reason I couldn’t get going yesterday is because I am just overwhelmed with the sheer amount of things that need to be done in order to move across the entire country. Pair this with planning a crazy fun three-week roadtrip/tour of the country adventure, my obsession with researching a zillion guidebooks and learning about EVERYTHING before we go see it, and you have Ceej going nuts.

Here’s the schedule for the next few days:

• Tuesday: delete files off my old laptop, de-authorize itunes, pick up trial contacts, pick up ordered contact lenses, do laundry, clean apartment so it is not gross for tenant and computer tech coming over, meet computer tech who is installing/preparing my new laptop at 4:30, swing dance, meet tenant to sign sublet and give keys, respond to emails, confirm going away party at Carlyle, install new printer to new computer and E’s computer.
• Wednesday – 12:15 hair appointment to get my roots done and haircut, 3:00 meet Lauralea for our “last” matinée at Lincoln Center and martinis at Vince & Eddies (ie- our final girltime hangout in NYC!)
• Thursday - pack! Also have friends from Miami who may be crashing with us (haven’t run this by E yet)
• Friday - pack! Go out to dinner with our friends from Miami
• Saturday- Linus’s Herding Aptitude Test on a sheep farm in New Jersey. We are THRILLED about this! I don’t care how busy we are, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s two hours away, and he goes on at 9:30am. We’ll probably want to stick around and watch all the other corgis have their herding tryouts as well.
• Sunday - finish packing?? 1-3:00, Dog Park Halloween Howl at Carl Schurz Park. I have mentioned before, I have something really special planned for this year’s Halloween, so I am completely psyched for this. Then Sunday night we are meeting my brother in law and sister who insist on taking us out to dinner “one last time” and “sending us off in style” at my bro-in-law’s brother’s restaurant, the Redding Roadhouse. It will be great seeing them and honestly I have been very sad about leaving my nieces and nephew on the right coast, so I turn into a basketcase thinking this will be the last time I see them for a while. When we get back from dinner, probably drunk knowing them but most likely will be pulling an all-nighter finishing packing because the movers are coming first thing Monday morning!
• Monday- Movers coming first thing in the morning! We have to get all our posessions into two 5x7x8 crates which will be shipped across the country. I have to say, using Door to Door has been a great experience thus far. They are helpful and responsive and hopefully this moving debacle will continue to be painless. Also packing up the Jeep for our roadtrip. Then Monday evening we have our NYC-based going away party at Bemelman’s Bar in Carlyle Hotel. It’s dressy and we have to look smashing, which will be a bit of a task after feeling disgusting and moving boxes all morning!
• Tuesday- we’re out of here! Heading to DC on the first leg of our roadtrip, with Linus and Lucy in the car. Lucy will be being dropped off in DC and then flying out to meet us in SF when we’re done with the trip.

And here’s the “To Do” List of items which haven’t been added to the schedule yet:

• change of address form online
• change address with the bank
• join triple A
• print out all the directions for the roadtrip
• confirm all of our places to stay during the roadtrip
• get absentee ballots
• vote
• finish reading all the roadtrip books and planning the roadtrip route
• take photos of all the furniture we are not taking and post them in the FREE section of craigslist

So, tonight, when Earl and I realized we have a shit-ton of stuff to get done, I asked him if he wanted to skip dance. This is how it went:

earl: agh

fucking printer is huge

Sent at 10:10 AM on Tuesday

me: oh yeah?

YAY! printer!

do you need help getting it home?

why don’t we skip dance tonight? since we are just so busy?

earl: no

me: i will call margaret and tell her

earl: I want to go dancing

no

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

dance dance dance

me: okay okay okay

Sent at 10:13 AM on Tuesday

• make a gourd birdfeeder (this was already attempted and ruled out because I learned gourds take 8 months to dry! I thought you could do them in the oven, but apparently there is no way to speed the process up. Who knew?)

• take Linus to Herding Instinct Test on a sheepfarm in New Jersey

• finish my Meditation for Dummies book

• write out my Christmas lists! This includes list of presents to buy for family & friends, Christmas-card address list, Christmas sweater party invite list, and also present wishlist

• visit my parents at their home in North Conway, NH

• surprise Earl on a random night by picking him up directly from his office and taking him out to a fun dinner downtown somewhere new

• have four friends over for dinner

• start swimming regularly and get ready for the Grand Cayman 5k Sea Swim in November

• be a better friend (answer my phone, respond promptly to emails)

• finish and submit my post baccalaureate program applications for Spring 09

• finish up our Halloween costumes!!! they are going to be so awesome I have something really special planned this year. This includes finding a reptilian green dress for myself.

• ride to the apple orchards with my girlfriends again on our annual apple orchard ride