Snow mania & Kitty update

What is with all the snow all over the country? It's been snowing in freak places like New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, and Malibu!? It's snowing here today, but it's supposed to snow in New York. The snow is actually falling gently right now but it was blowing sideways earlier. Cars are already blanketed as are the rooftops. It's just starting to stick to the sidewalks.

Steve and I will venture out to visit Kitty at the hospital tonight. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed Kitty wasn't able to urinate. So Steve came home early from work and we took Kitty to the vet around 4 o'clock. They took him right away and sure enough, he was blocked. They treated him last night for the blockage and he came through that very well. Today, they took an x-ray of him to see if there was any more blockage or stones in his bladder. Yup, bladder stones showed up. So they have to do surgery today to remove them. This is costing Steve a small fortune (he does have the option of a three month payment plan for the surgery costs) but Kitty will be all better and then we'll do preventative care here at home to reduce the chances of this happening again. Cleo seems fine but so did Kitty until about 2 o'clock yesterday. Even though there are other contributing factors, they do eat the same food and drink the same water, so I'll be keeping an eye on Cleo. Kitty should be home by Monday.

Here are some pictures of Kitty enjoying licking the leftover whipped cream from my mixing bowl, and posing so handsomely.





Needless to say, we aren't going to Maine for Christmas. We won't be able to afford in-home care or boarding for both cats and we don't want to leave Kitty so soon after all this drama. Everyone is disappointed, but we'll go visit Maine next month.

Dinner at Harold's

Last night, I met up with six girlfriends for the annual holiday dinner. The dinner is in lieu of having to get gifts for everyone. My friend Donna suggested Harold Dieterle's restaurant, Perilla. Harold is the first season winner from Top Chef. All seven of us are Top Chef fans and all of us really like food, so it was easy to agree.

The restaurant is small with a bar on one side and tables on the other flowing into the back. The kitchen is closed, so we weren't able to watch Harold cook up, or expedite, our meals, but we did see him several times. Our table was near the kitchen and he popped out to check on things but didn't speak to any diners. Maybe he's shy. His face was flushed from the heat in the kitchen and he was wearing a white shirt and jeans. He also had a green half full-length apron tied around his waist. My bet is that he was expediting and not cooking. He also had glasses on which I don't remember from the show.

The decor is minimalist but warm. Along part of the wall are curved, orange booths. The orange is pretty much the only bright color in the otherwise neutral dark brown and cream room. Clearly the focus is on the food. Between the seven of us, we managed to cover the menu nicely with our selections. I opted to have an appetizer and a side dish for my meal, bypassing an entree. (Wait staff in NY has coined the term nontrees for people who order like I did skipping an entree.)

I selected the spicy duck meatballs because they were mentioned in just about every review I read for the place. The reviews said the meatballs were small, the size of olives. But the ones I had last night were more the size of Swedish meatballs. Not small. And very rich. I didn't taste that distinctive duck flavor but the meat was a lovely soft texture, but not mushy, and they were definitely spicy. At first. But the time I got to the last meatball (there were only 4), I realized in addition to spicy, they were very salty. Or at least the broth that was under them was salty. They were served with a handful of mint cavatelli, spinach, and a raw quail egg. I wasn't expecting the egg to be raw. When the server put the dish in front of me he suggested beating the egg into the broth, which I did. Can't say I really tasted the egg at all. The meatballs were good but the salt needed to be quieted down a bit. Two others at the table also ordered the meatballs. We all thought it was salty but really good.

For my second dish, I ordered the farro risotto with artichoke confit, Parmesan, and grapes. Yes, grapes. And they made the dish as far as I'm concerned. They added such a nice sweetness to an otherwise savory, rich, and under seasoned dish. I could have had a touch more salt or lemon or other seasoning. There was some parsley which tasted nice, but not enough. The Parmesan was obviously high quality and it was delicious in all it's melted glory. I loved the artichokes. The risotto was filling and I was unable to eat it all. It was a side dish on the menu but our server assured me it was plenty for an entree and people ordered it all the time as such. I ordered a glass of delicious Chardonnay (California, Hanging Vine, 'Parcel 4', '07) to go with the risotto. This Chard wasn't heavily oaked and tasted like pears and honey. Very easy to drink.

We had started the meal off with a bottle of cava rose from Spain (Llopart '05) because it was festive both in color and in bubbly. The wine and beer list is also nice. There are only about five choices each for red and white wine by the glass, so making a choice isn't overwhelming. The wines by the bottle is several pages and ranged in price. One of the beers they had by the bottle is the Green Flash West Coast IPA. We have a friend who works at that brewery back in San Diego. I couldn't believe the restaurant was charging $8 for a bottle. That's NY for ya!

Here is what my friends ordered and I tasted most of them:
Crispy calamari and red watercress salad
Lady apple and red romaine salad
Crispy Berkshire pork belly
Seared diver sea scallops
Roasted local beets and lamb prosciutto
Roasted bacon wrapped game hen
Braised elk osso buco
Black Trumpet & sheep's milk ricotta cannelloni (I almost got this instead of what I did get)
Roasted Brussels sprout leaves
Sauteed spaghetti squash

The cannelloni was accompanied by a deep fried egg. It was a soft boiled egg (I think) that had been lightly breaded and fried. It was soooo good and quite possibly the best thing we had all night. I think these are also called Scotch eggs but haven't checked. All the food was very good and all of us managed to clean our plates each course (except I left a little risotto). Portions were a nice size that were of manageable amount and plated on plain white bowls or dishes. Not much garnish other than some sauces or herbs.

By the time dessert rolled around, we were so stuffed but we endured and ordered two full desserts and then two orders of ice cream. We ordered the sticky toffee pudding and the brown butter bar. Both had interesting accent sauces that at first seemed like an odd pairing but mixed all together, they worked. The desserts were just okay but the ice creams were very good. We had two flavors - lemon curd and ginger. The lemon was absolutely divine. The ginger was good but could have used a touch more ginger. The flavor was very subtle. I had a glass of moscato with dessert.

Click here to see the whole menu. It's not a large menu and it is very seasonal. Prices are a bit high. We split the bill evenly seven ways and each share was $76. Not cheap. But we had good food and a really good time. We were there three hours, but I never felt we were waiting a long time for food and we certainly weren't rushed. The pace was very good. Our server was nice and unobtrusive but she was there when we needed her to be. She answered our questions and suggested wines confidently.

The music was the only thing that didn't seem to fit into this elegant and food-centric restaurant. It seemed like someones iPod was hooked up to the sound system because it was an eclectic mix of hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with something from the 60s thrown in for good measure. I liked the music since I have most of the songs on my iPod as well, but it just seemed a little strange. The noise level did get pretty high at one point when every table was full, but I think we were having to talk loudly to hear over the other conversations, not the music. I hate it when music is too loud to talk.

I liked Perilla and would probably go back should the occasion arise, but with all the other restaurants in NYC to try, a repeat visit won't be anytime soon. It's definitely a special occasion place for my budget. I'd like to go back in a different season when the menu changes.

Post-Turkey Coma

Hope everyone had a nice and food-filled holiday. We did. My friend Reka can cook up a mean bird. She had a whole chicken and a turkey breast. There were only five of us having dinner together and an entire turkey seemed a little much. I completely ruined the stuffing but Reka was able to whip up a batch with a moment's notice. I've made the stuffing before to good results but this year I completely messed it up and wound up with a big ball of mushy goo. My mashed potatoes turned out beautifully creamy and smooth, so at least I didn't screw that up. And my cookies were a hit. It was a very nice evening.

I've been working at my new job all this week. But it's a little anti-climatic because I'm working from home. I was in on Monday to meet with my new boss, and we will continue to meet every Monday afternoon, but until there is space in the office for me, I'm sorta stuck working from home. Logistics are going to take a little time to work out. I also need to go talk to an accountant and figure out what the best way to go as far as tax deductions and how to pay freelancer quarterly taxes. I will have to pay estimated taxes by mid-January for the money I get paid this month. Ug. But at least I found a job. Things are rotten in the state of publishing. Yesterday was a black Wednesday across many companies - Random House, S&S, Thomas Nelson, and good 'ol Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - had lay offs. Big ones. News on the fall-out is still coming in so I don't know who was let go from HMH yet.

Not all news was bleak yesterday. Steve came home with some good news. I can be included on his insurance through work. That's a relief. We'll get me enrolled before the end of the year.

What else? Oh, Amy and new husband Gareth came up from Baltimore over the weekend. They were only here a short time but since I missed their wedding, it was very nice to see them. We walked the promenade and after standing in line outside in the cold for about 45 minutes, we sunk our teeth into pizza perfection at Grimaldi's. Steve and I love that place and it's a great place to take visitors. It's very Brooklyn not to mention it has arguably the best pizza in the city. It's sort of an In-N-Out of pizza. Just like In-N-Out has basic burgers and fries, Grimaldi's menu has pizza. That's pretty much it. You can get a calzone but why? No salads, no appetizers. Just pizza and soda and beer and wine (red or white, nothing fancy). I'm fine with the simple, concentrated menu. Who would want anything else there anyway? Their take out is always busy and pies (and leftovers) are put on a cardboard round and wrapped in white butcher paper bags. Old school. No pizza boxes here. The walls are adorned with pictures of the Rat Pack (we seemed to be sitting under the Frank Sinatra shrine), famous New Yorkers and Italians, and 9/11 memorial images. It's very crowded and even though the red and white checked tables are separated, it feels like eating family style with your neighbors. The music will range from 80s pop hits to Rat Pack to Italian opera. Very colorful place that attracts all kinds. Just like In-N-Out. The other thing that makes Grimaldi's special is it's location. It's under the Brooklyn Bridge. When the moon hits your eye, like a-big pizza pie . . . They guy working the line teased Steve about not letting him in. Steve was wearing his Red Sox hat. When we left the guy said in his Brooklyn accent, you can come back but don't wear that hat.

This weekend, we are going to get a Christmas tree. It seems a little early but we were so late getting pumpkins for Halloween that we don't want to repeat the mistake with the tree. We are also going to help a friend pack up salvageable items in her apartment. Her building had a fire about two weeks ago and her apartment sustained quite a bit of damage. Her kitchen is completely destroyed. But she and everyone in the building got out okay. We are also going to try to get to a museum. This weekend, and every first weekend in the month, Bank of America members can get into participating museums for free. Steve is with BofA so we can save $ on one admission. The natural history museum and the Met are participating so we'll go to one of those probably on Sunday.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Thaksgiving

So, in case you haven't heard, I got a job yesterday. After months of waiting and searching, I got a freelance job with Egmont USA. I have a six month contract with them to be their library marketing consultant. The pay is good, the hours should be good, and I can work from home or the office. The job will be very much the same as what I've done for the last eight years, which is fine with me because I have loved what I've done. I am very relieved and happy to be working again. I start December 1, although I have some reading and work to start this weekend. But I won't start until tomorrow. Today is a holiday after all.

The stuffing has been brewing in the crock pot. I started it yesterday and it was on for hours. But I turned it off overnight. We woke up at 4:30 this morning due to a cat heaving up a hairball, so we plugged the stuffing back in. It smells really good and should be perfect by the time we eat. I also made gingersnaps yesterday that turned out really well after I got the baking time correct. The book suggested 15 minutes but I thought the cookies were a little too done. So I tried 13. Nope, not done enough. Fourteen minutes proved to be the sweet spot.

Today I am going to make sand tarts and get the mashed potatoes prepared without actually finishing them. I'll finish them over at Reka's before dinner.

The Macy's Thanksgiving parade starts in 15 minutes. I like the idea of this parade and there are some floats, balloons, and performers I like seeing - Sesame Street, all the balloons, the Rockettes - but overall the parade has become way too corporate and amounts to one long commercial. I rarely know the pop "stars" the "sing" on the floats anymore. I also like the high school bands. The Rose Parade is still the grand-daddy of all parades in my opinion. (Excluding the Mardi Gras parades down in NOLA.)

Hope everyone has a fun, safe, and YUMMY day today. Love me some Thanksgiving leftovers tomorrow.

Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. The weather was cold but gorgeous. I got my Brooklyn Public Library card, so I am officially a member of the neighborhood. I figured out what I am going to contribute to the Thanksgiving dinner I'm going to. I mailed what I hope are my last unemployment claim forms EVER. I went to Trader Joe's during an off-peak time and bought three pounds of butter. And I heard about a job that I thought was not an option anymore. It sounds extremely promising and I am going to go in and talk to them next week. I also had a good second meeting with another potential employer on Thursday. When it rains . . .

Steve and I had dinner at another restaurant we haven't tried yet. This was Apartment 138. They bill their menu as modern comfort food. They have a little bit of everything at pretty reasonable prices for NY. We split a huge field greens salad with tarragon dressing, and a chicken fried steak! It was a special for that night and neither of us could believe we found a place that has it in NY. It's sorta hard to find even outside of the South. It was good and came with smashed potatoes and fresh veggies that were crisp tender and not cooked to mush. It was good. The restaurant was very dimly lit and crowded but the volume level didn't offend us like it has at some places we've gone to. I'd like to go back and try some more.

Oh, and before we got to the restaurant, Steve and I were Shanghaied by a group of 13 year old girls and their dad chaperon who were out on a birthday party scavenger hunt. They needed to photograph Steve & one of the girls and the dad and me dancing - "get two of your group to dance with strangers on the street." So we posed and they snapped the pic.

Yes, it was an eventful day in Brooklyn.

Observation

The laundromat/dry cleaners around the corner from us has a meat counter and deli slicer. If that's not the weirdest combination of services, I don't know what is.

Snow Patrol

No snow here yet. Flakes have been sighted in the area, but I have seen nary a flake fall in Brooklyn. I'm watching for them since every day this week has had flurries in the forecast. I'm looking forward to that first real snow and we can make a snowman up on our roof, but after that I know I'll grow sick of the stuff fast. It's cold here. Our heat was on the fritz but it's been working properly for two days now, so hopefully I won't have to call our landlord, Mr. Lee, about it anymore.

Mr. Lee is very nice. He calls himself a "developer" not a landlord. He has other properties but since we reside in his newest, and there are still bugs working themselves out, he is quite attentive. Besides, if a landlord doesn't provide heat, we don't have to provide rent. So he has financial as well as legal motivation to make sure our heat works every time. Mr. Lee is Chinese. He's always very polite both in person and on the phone. He dresses very neatly and a little on the nerdy side. Mr. Lee is here at the building at least once a week, or if he isn't, someone from his family is. They take care of our weekly overflowing trash cans and recycling. They also clean up the foyer, laundry room, and ground level. I haven't seen anyone clean the stairs and boy, they sure need it. I like Mr. Lee. I just hope he doesn't kick us out in April when our short six-month lease is up.

Christmas is creeping into all the shop windows and decor. I haven't seen any Christmas tree lots/stands yet but I bet they start popping up this weekend. The big tree at Rockefeller Center goes live on December 3.

I had another meeting today with a prospective employer. It went well but it sounds like they won't be able to pay me anything near what I was making. Even on a part-time basis. But I think it would be an interesting job and there is tons of room for growth and more money down the road. I'll let you know what happens.

In between errands, chores, and job meetings, Steve and I eat. Amazing! This week, we've had Thai at a neighborhood spot, Thai leftovers, and homemade calzones. I did those last night. They came out really well and I have a feeling they will be added to the regular rotation. I made them with Trader Joe's herb & garlic pizza dough (divided in two and rolled out into 12" circles), spaghetti sauce, fresh mozzarella (because we live in an Italian neighborhood and can get such things for not very much $), diced browned chicken breasts (with olive oil, oregano, s&p), and a taste of browned Italian sausage. I also gave each calzone a light coating with egg to get a little crispy and brown. Steve declared the calzones better than the pizza I make from the same dough and almost same ingredients. I remember when Susan used to make us spinach and chicken calzones in college. Will have to try that version next.

I went to Lush today. Yay! Bought a shampoo (Big), conditioner (Retread), and one bubble bath bar. I also got another FREE bubble bath bar because I had received an e-mailed coupon from Lush for any solid product under $10. I love free things from Lush. I bought the French kiss (lavender scented) and Floating Island (sweet scented) bubble bars. Can't wait to try them out. Thanks for the gift card, Mom!

I'm also doing quite a bit of reading. I just read three books for the meeting I had today, and I'm in the middle of another but I just can't pick it up again so I don't think I'll finish it. It's very bleak and I don't care for the style. I think I'll move on to Peter Golenbock's In the Country of Brooklyn: Inspiration to the World. It's a not-too-short 20th-century history of Brooklyn. Peter Golenbock might be familiar to some of you because he's written other histories about baseball and baseball players. I picked up an ARC of this title at BEA and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Sounds interesting and I'd like to know a little bit about where I live.

Voting in Brooklyn

I've done my civic, patriotic duty and voted about 9AM this morning. Before I left California, but after I had an official address in Brooklyn, I registered to vote in New York. Luckily, I had 30 days before the election to register so I just squeaked in. The polling place was a high school just in the next block. The process went fairly smoothly. The only real problem I saw was poor placement for the voting machines. I think four to six districts were voting at this particular location. Each district had two voting machines. Everything was crammed into the main hallway of the school. It was very hot, very crowded, and confusing as to which line is the correct line to stand in. I'm not sure why they didn't place the machines and check in desks in a gym or cafeteria. But everyone remained patient and pleasant. People helped others to find the right line. We waited in line probably 20 minutes, so the wait could have been worse. The machines appeared to be working properly. The only other complaint I have besides the poor placement of the machines is that they didn't have any "I voted" stickers. Bummer.

After voting, Steve went off to work and I came home. I'm going to do some housecleaning and make a pie as I watch the news all day. I can't wait to watch returns tonight. Happy voting everyone.

Hellooooooo!

Okay, so it's been a little quiet here since MARCH, but I think maybe some of you out there are still checking in hoping for a new post.

I have joined the facebook hype, so if you access to that, you can also check in with me there.

For those of you who don't, here's a quick recap of what has happened in the past seven months:

-I ended my job with Harcourt on June 30.
-Steve and I spent most of the summer looking for new jobs, enjoying the beach and zoo, and generally doing nothing during our forced vacation.
-In September, Steve got a job with Macmillan in NYC. I went to NY for a week to find an apartment. It was quite an ordeal.
-We moved from San Diego at the end of September. Steve started his new job October 1.
-I am still without a job. But I have lined up some freelance projects with other publishers. I'm staying in the game.
-Our new apartment is in Brooklyn in an area where several great neighborhoods meet. We are three subway stops from Manhattan. We have a brand new place complete with private roof access. (read: we have a our own outdoor space which is a luxury in the city. However, as it's getting cold we won't really be able to use it till spring.)
-The cats flew on the plane and did great. Cleo even rode on the subway. Both have adjusted to the new house.

That's about it.

Fall has arrived in NY. It's chilly and leaves are on the sidewalks. I haven't visited Central Park yet to see the trees, but I hope to do that soon before they are all gone.

Hope everyone is doing well.

St. Pat's

Top o' the day to yous!

Quick update:
-we had a pot luck o' the Irish lunch today at work. Steve and I made Colcannon soup - cabbage, leeks, onions, rendered bacon fat (yummmm), white wine, cream, chicken broth. It was a hit and we don't have any left to take home. Other folks made delicious soda bread, salads, and desserts.
-over the weekend we had a seven-minute thunder storm. Most of you are probably thinking, "whoop-de-doo" but here in SD, I think I've experienced about three cases of thunder. It's rare. It also happened at 4 in the morning Sunday. Both of the cats were scared and jumped up on the bed like little kids would do. We didn't sing "Some of My Favorite Things" a la Sound of Music, though. Earlier that night when we were still watching a movie, it even sleeted a little, but there was no thunder.
-Finally saw No Country for Old Men. What a movie.

The big news will be tomorrow. I am finally getting information/confirmation about my job status. The VP of Marketing is coming out from NY to give us all the news. Last Thursday, our children's editorial department found out their status. Tomorrow is marketing's turn, including Steve in Internet marketing. I don't really expect anything other than confirmation of what I already suspect - that I have my job until the office closes in June and then it's toodle-oo.

Hope everyone had a nice St. Patrick's Day.

Pic-O-Rama

I finally got some photos uploaded to flickr. I have shots from my December Texas visit (Terry's wedding, Kaylie Macmurphy), ALA Midwinter, and Disneyland. Enjoy!

Still no update on work.

Update: If you want to see even more pictures of our Disneyland visit, click on over to Steve's flickr page. When you're on my flickr page, click the "Profile" link at the top and then choose the link for Steve.

News on the job front

Well, after months of waiting, we finally got some news about our office and personnel. I still have some waiting to do, but there is an end date in sight.

Here it goes.

The San Diego office of Harcourt will be closing June 30. All personnel in the SD office will know the status of their employment by the end of this month. If offered a job, employees would be relocated to either the New York or Boston office.

Second, some of you have heard me talk over the years of Lori Benton. She was my second boss at Holt, and for the past five or six years, she has been VP & Publisher of Harcourt Children's Books. It was announced yesterday that she would be leaving Jan. 31, and the publisher at Houghton would be taking over. I do not know of Lori's plans after this month.

Lastly, we were also told that the three divisions now under Houghton Mifflin Harcourt would remain separate. Which means, they are not going to combine our list (books) with Houghton's. Harcourt will remain an imprint of HMH, as will Houghton Children's Books and Clarion. This is good news.

So what does all this mean? Well, it means I may loose my job at the end of this month, or I'll be kept on. Duh. It's gotta be one or the other, right? In either case, chances are very good I will be moving back to New York. Or Boston. If I don't get to keep my job, I'll definitely relocate to New York. Jobs are more plentiful there. I have no idea what will happen if Steve is offered a job (which I strongly suspect he will be) and I am not. It's best not to think too much about it since there are so many different scenarios. I find that often the scenario I don't even think of will be what happens.

I will keep you posted about my job and where I'm going to land. But if you haven't visited me in San Diego, you're running out of time!

I'm in Philadelphia right now, and it's hard not to be in the office with my colleagues and friends. The announcement about Lori was made on Wednesday, and the office closing announced yesterday. It's been quite a bit of news in less than 48 hours.

2008-ready or not, it's here

Hello everyone. Thanks for the Christmas cards and holiday greetings. Hope you had a nice holiday and got to catch up with friends and family. Many of you received a card from me. I planned to include a photo sheet in the card but when I found out color copies are $2 apiece at Kinko's I nixed that idea. BUT, thanks to technology, I am able to post some of those pictures on a flickr account and you can see them. Click here to see some highlights from my 2007.

Many of you also know that my company has been sold to Houghton Mifflin-Riverdeep. This is still true and we still don't know anything regarding the San Diego office, our jobs, etc. I think things are happening at the higher-up levels right now, but I don't expect to be affected by things until February or March. I'm off to Philadelphia this week for the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting. It's going to be cold. After that, I'm going direct to Maine. Steve does Christmas with his family in January ever since he moved to CA. He'll be there when I get there, and we'll stay another four or so days. It's going to be cold.

Right before New Year's, David and Allison visited. They flew into LA and stayed with Mom and Dad a few days before we met them at the half-way point, San Juan Capistrano. Picked them up and spent the day at the zoo and Coronado beach. It's fantastic when one can go to the beach in December.

Christmas in LA was spent cooking and eating. Steve and I went up armed with our Wii and recipes. We made tamales for Christmas Eve, a very complicated chocolate panna cotta cake, and rack of lamb for Christmas dinner. Everything was a group effort. We all helped make everything, and everything tasted great.

I've also spent *a lot* of time playing Word Whomp (www.pogo.com) thanks to Allison and my mom. I'm so addicted. And now you will be, too. Hahahahahahaha!

Weather report!

Holy crap, it's raining in San Diego! The planes are taking off the wrong way and everything.

The river is even flooding over it's banks out in Mission Valley. (Steve and I were just over there and saw it with our own eyes, so you know it's true.)

It's December already?

Since David is giving me grief over not updating my blog since August – and he has a valid point – here’s a recap of what has happened since then.

Steve and I went to Maine for some vacation and to visit his family. I hadn’t met any of his family until this trip. We had a good time basically just hanging out there. We did go see some of the sights in Portland (lighthouses and such) but mostly we hung around the house and were entertained by his five-year-old nephew. Before we got to Maine, we were in Connecticut. We’ve decided that people in Connecticut don’t like visitors. We tried visiting some beaches there and almost all of them are privately owned by a club, and the beaches that are public have no public parking anywhere near them. We did luck out and find a wildlife area that was completely free. We had a nice walk there and spent lots of time on the shelly beach. Beaches in the east are completely different than SoCal beaches. The Atlantic beaches are coarser, have more whole shells, and are smaller. We also spent one night in Boston to go to a Red Sox game. Our seats turned out to be fantastic and the Sox won in extra innings against the Blue Jays. We had a great time at Fenway eating hot dogs, drinking beer, cheering and jeering with the rest of the crowd. We got to Boston later than we wanted to (thanks to a side trip in Rhode Island), so we didn’t get to Fenway as early as we planned. Instead of doing pictures before the game, we did them after. It seems the grounds crew lets people hang out for about 15 minutes after the game to take picture but then they start shooing everyone out. We were able to walk all the way down to the field (not on the field) right behind home plate. A grumpy staffer started telling us to leave, but then he offered to take our picture. Not satisfied with the first one he took, he insisted he take another. Go figure. We did eat lobstah whilst in Maine and it was good.

After getting back from Maine, it was all work, work, work. Nothing interesting.

In October, we visited Crystal Cove State Beach just north of Laguna and south of Newport Beach on the Pacific. My mom has been obsessed about getting a reservation at one of the historic restored beach cottages at this state beach. She succeeded in doing so back in April, and the dates she got were in October. Yes, these book six moths out via an online only reservations system. They are extremely popular and have only been open since 2006. Steve and I drove up and stayed on night with them (mom & dad were there for two nights). It’s really a great place to go for a little weekend get away. The entire place feels like it’s back in the 50’s. The cottages are all different and have different amenities and prices. We were in a “dorm” style cottage which means two parties stay there. Each has their own sleeping area (some with private baths), and they share living area, porch, and kitchen. Other cottages are completely private but cost about three times as much. All of the cottages are right on the beach and it’s a gorgeous one. We could walk for miles on the beach. At low tide there are tide pools, but we weren’t really there at a good time for low, low tides. There’s not much to do but enjoy the beach. And there are no tvs.

The weekend after relaxing at Crystal Cove, Steve and I headed north to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. This was the same week as the fires that whipped through San Diego County. We were luckily not affected by the fires, nor was anyone we know. Our office was closed for a day and a half. When we got back from the parks, everything was running pretty much back to normal for most people.

We really enjoyed the parks. We stayed in a bath cabin at Grant Grove inside Kings Canyon park. The cabins are old (circa 1910s I think?), but well heated and functionally furnished. The cabins do have mice and we heard scurrying, but since we protected our food, no mice nibbles on anything. We only had two days to visit, so we did the highlights: Grant Grove, General Sherman Tree, part of the Congress trail that features the stands called The House and The Senate, and Giant Forest. We also visited a cave in Kings Canyon and had a very nice walk/hike through forest along the river. We stopped during that walk to have a snack right by the water and Steve declared it was the best apple he ever had. The surrounding were gorgeous. Fall had reached the higher elevations there and all the maple and oak trees were yellow. I love the big trees of Sequoia. They are indescribable because my mind can’t really comprehend how big and old they are. You just have to see them.

I’ve had other travels since August, too. I went to Arizona to have a Greene reunion of sorts due to my Grandmother’s 90th birthday. For work, I’ve been to Arizona and NY to attend conferences. I’ve hardly had a weekend at home for two months.

Next on the agenda is a trip to Texas next week. I’ll be going to San Antonio first to visit my aunt, celebrate her birthday, and go to a Spurs-Mavericks game. Love going to those b-ball games! The trip will end in Dallas at the wedding of one of my college friends, Terry. Should be fun to see her since I haven’t seen her since Summer’s wedding back in 2001 perhaps? Can’t remember what year, but needless to say, it’s been a while.

Steve and I did have a weekend at home for Thanksgiving. With Mom & Dad out on the cruise, we did T-day with our friends Roseleigh & Matt. We brought the stuffing, crans, desserts, and dip. They did the rest. It was really nice and we had just the right amount of leftovers. We went to Ikea to buy some shelving for Steve, got my car washed, and other chores. We did go to the beach to enjoy the extreme low tide created by the full moon. The water was so far out we could walk around the end of a rock jetty. It was great. We also went to the zoo. Our first visit since August. We found a keeper working in the enclosure right next to Spanky (the Alaskan Brown Bear who was having health issues), and she said he died. He was old. Poor guy. There was sign in his old exhibit saying a pair of grizzly bear brothers will be arriving soon. We’ll miss Spanky.

And finally, yesterday we found out that the sale of our company (Harcourt) to Houghton-Riverdeep has been approved by the FTC and DOJ. I still don’t know what this means for us yet, but at least we know that changes will be happening soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Steve took pictures during all our trips and visits. He just hasn’t uploaded them to his flickr account yet. I’ll add another entry when they are there and you can take a peek at some of the highlights.

Present Day

Now that I got that ComicCon post I wrote 6/30 and didn't post till today, 8/23, I feel I owe you another one that is a tad more current.

Not much is new. Susan and I heard from Terry, thanks to Summer's heads-up, that Terry is getting married! She met the guy at the gym and it was love at first sweat. Gag, sorry that was was too cutesy but I couldn't resist. The wedding will be in December in Texas.

Steve and I are departing for the east coast next Thursday (8/30) on the redeye. We are going to bouncing up the coast from Connecticut to Maine. First, Steve has friends getting married Labor Day weekend in CT. After that, we head to Boston on the 3rd for a Red Sox game. Fenway baby! It will only be my second trip to this fabled ballpark, and I'm very excited. We had to buy tickets through StubHub because the games sell out so quickly. Here's hoping we don't have one of the notorious "obstructed view" Fenway seats. We'll be in Boston that night, and then head up to Maine the next day. We'll visit with Steve's family for the rest of the week until we fly home at the crack of dawn on the 8th. I'm driving up to LA tomorrow night to leave the Cleo with Mom & Dad while I'm gone so long.

I don't think I've shared the big news at work with you yet. In July, our company was sold, but the deal is not closed yet. The sale of such a large company to a competitor involves lots of governmental approval (anti-monopoly stuff), so we are all in limbo until that happens. No one at either company knows what's going to happen with restructure, merge, etc. The ideal time to have the sale closed would be by the end of this year, but it may not happen till next March. With the government, there is no set time-table. The company that bought us is Houghton Riverdeep, which is headquartered in Boston.

Can you believe I haven't seen the Harry Potter movie yet? I can't. I'm going to try to see it this weekend in LA since it is starting to disappear from theatres. I have seen Ratatouille and Bourne. Rat was cute but not as funny as previous Pixar films. Bourne is nonstop action.

Summer has flown by. Can it really be over? Steve and I only made it to one night zoo night. The San Diego zoo is open till 9 during the summer months, but it ends Labor Day weekend. We went last weekend. Almost all the big cats were doing something! They weren't sleeping! the snow leopards were up and playing, the mountain lion was pacing and stalking kids walking by his enclosure (which is really great fun to watch), and the lynx were wrestling. Even the lions were awake even though they were just sitting staring at us with a very arrogant and bored look on their faces. Our favorite animal, Spanky the Alaskan Brown Bear, was sadly off exhibit. We are worried about him. He's about 23 years old, and last time we saw him there was a sign on his exhibit id tag that he was being treated for some skin growths, but he was still on exhibit. Since he was gone last week, we only hope that he's behind the scenes getting treatment and that something worse hasn't befallen Spanky. We also saw the baby sun bear and his mama. Usually, when we visit the zoo it's during the day when the papa sun bear is on exhibit. This was the first we had seen the baby. He was having loads of fun rolling a large stick/branch around on the rocks.

I don't think I ever posted the link to the pictures from our weekend in Montana. Steve has them up on his Flickr page.

I think that will do it for now. Hope all of you are doing well. Have a good holiday weekend!

Superheroes, Storm Troopers, and Fairies, oh my!

Note: I wrote this weeks ago but never got around to finishing it. Now that so much time has gone by, I've completely forgotten anything else I was going to tell you about ComicCon, so I'm just going to publish this as is.

When you spot a group of half a dozen Storm Troopers in the Gaslamp of San Diego, you know it's ComicCon once again. This annual event attracts nerds, dweebs, dorks, the women who love them (there are some), and people who make their living selling stuff on eBay. In addition to the Storm Troopers (and Darths, Boba Fetts, Luke Skywalkers, and gold bikini Leias), there are also lots of anime characters I don't know, fairies, Lara Croft-looking women (picture tightly clad women with guns strapped to them), and other things I can't even begin to identify. Steve and I were finally not the palest people in the room.

Festivities got started Wednesday night, and lasted through Sunday. I had the pleasure of attending the show twice, and let's just say, a few hours is all you need. Or at least all you can take.

I was able to take advantage of Steve registering as a "professional" and tagging along on his dual pass. I don't know what we were supposed to be professionals of exactly, but at least we had a *free* full conference pass that allowed us to go to the exhibits and programs. We went to the preview night Wednesday - only open to professionals and full-conference registrants - and wandered around gaping at the not-quite-full-scale-but-pretty-darn-big Pirates of the Caribbean pirate ship, huge Golden Compass polar bear, life-size LEGO R2-D2 and C3PO, vintage Batmobile, Speed Racer's racer, and loads more. We snagged Harry Potter bags (these are the same promotional bags I mentioned in an earlier post) from Scholastic, a Homer Simpson fan from Harper, and other little things from the other trade publishers who were exhibiting. We only attended the show for about two hours that night, but it was plenty.

We went back on Friday right when the exhibits opened at 10. This time, we took more time and went up and down aisles browsing at the wares on display. There are lots of toys, oh excuse me, collectibles, for sale. Other items include pop-culture t-shirts, artist prints & originals, posters, and of course the heart of the show, comic books and graphic novels. The movie and television studios have enormous expensive booths that are all about lights, loud videos, and not much else. The studios also have celebrities autographing but the lines are always huge. I saw someone from Heroes, but since I don't watch the show I didn't have a clue who he was. We did stop at the Golden Compass booth to look at costumes from the movies (Nicole Kidman's dress was on display and she's freakishly thin), and discovered they were taking pictures of people in front of a green screen. The picture printed out almost instantly and you now had a picture of you digitally inserted in the Golden Compass movie poster. It looks like the polar bear is hugging you. Aw. Steve and I did this and now we have a very cheesy--but free--souvenir of ComicCon.

We also stood in a very long line to get autographed DVDs from Nick Frost and Edgar Wright - one of the lead actors and director/co-writer, respectively - of Hot Fuzz. In case you haven't seen this wickedly over-the-top violent and hilarious movie, you have to add it to your Netflix queue today. Now. Have you done it yet? Hot Fuzz is another film made by most of the guys who also did Shaun of the Dead. Add that one to your queue, too.

After the marathon autographing line and wandering the exhibit hall aimlessly, my eyes started to glaze over and a skull-cracking headache set in. It was time to go home.

So this is how it all ends

I won't give anything away here, so it's safe to read this even if you haven't finished HP7.

I finished the last installment of the Harry Potter saga yesterday. Part of me wanted to read this book as fast as I could because I was just dying to find out how it ended, and part of me really wanted to slow down since I knew it would be the last time I'd read a new Harry Potter. I think I could have read faster, but I made myself do things. Such as . . . I made myself go to bed. I made myself eat and not read at the same time. I made myself talk to Steve. We even went out to dinner Saturday. I made myself go grocery shopping. All those things interrupted reading and helped me savor the book from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Still, I guess that's pretty fast to get through about 750 pages, although I know others got through it faster. I didn't take a shower on Saturday, and that may have bought me about 20 minutes of reading time. :)

So what did I think of it? Well, I don't want to say until everyone is done.

Instead, I'll tell you about the midnight release party I went to on Friday. Steve and I rolled into La Jolla about 10:45, and made our way to Warwick's. I managed to find the person one person in the mob distributing line numbers and received the fantastic number or 243. Yes, that meant I was the 243rd person in line. Great. Warwick's staff didn't get us lined up until about 11:30, so the rest of the time we spent people watching. (People watching and going to Von's - a grocery store - that was only a couple blocks away. I was out of cat food.) The store had set up various activities and food items along the sidewalk. Each booth had a HP theme. Professor Trelawney was there to tell fortunes, there was a quill shop where people could write their names or whatnot, a joke shop, ice cream, etc. I was quite amazed to see how many people were in costume. It really felt more like Halloween. The age range was extremely varied. It seemed all ages were accounted for, the bulk being older high school kids who were probably the same age as Harry when the first book came out. There were plenty of adults there without any kids in tow, and many adults were dressed up, too. Women in witch hats, men in capes. Everyone was very excited.

When we finally got the call to get in line, the process was surprisingly smooth. I think I was just about in the middle of the pack because I saw some numbers that were over 400. Warwick's staff kept morale up by raffling off promotional bags provided by Scholastic featuring the jacket art. These bags were all over ALA and BEA, and I wasn't surprised to see them at the event. The woman right ahead of me - #242 - won one of the bags and she was so thrilled. She kept showing it off to everyone.

There was the obligatory countdown during the last 10 seconds and a cheer went up from the line. And then we stood there. It was rather anti climatic. I think it was a good ten minutes after the doors opened before we moved two feet. For some reason, those ten minutes were far less productive than the second ten minutes, during which we moved forward regularly and I was in the store by 12:30 or so. Since I had already paid for my book, I turned in my voucher and got a book and t-shirt. Steve took my picture outside the store after I got my book. I'll post that pic soon. I am such a geek.

I was home by 1, when I promptly started reading. I really, really, really wanted to peek at the end of the book, but I managed not to. I had told myself that I would stay up reading as long as my eyes would allow. That was only another hour and half. By 2:30, I was in bed. But I woke up at 8:30, and couldn't go back to sleep because that book - which I had left in the living room - was calling.

And that was the weekend. I read and read. I took a nap. I read some more. I didn't shower. I didn't do the dishes. Cleo loved having me on the couch all day. The timing of the book couldn't have been better though. I already had an excuse to stay at home all weekend - it was gay pride weekend and the epicenter for the events was at Balboa Park. Which means, parking in my neighborhood becomes very difficult. I didn't want to move my car all weekend. People got very creative with their parking and most of it was illegal - parking in fire zones and crosswalks. Steve came over Sunday morning to pick me up so I could get my weekly grocery shopping done. We got back from the store right before the crazy parking started and managed to find a small parallel spot around the corner of my place. We lucked out. On Saturday night, as I said previously, we did go out for dinner, but we walked rather than drove. We walked up to Hillcrest - about a mile and half one way - for some Thai.

This has probably been a pretty boring post to read. Sorry. This was my weekend. I really enjoyed it but I will be glad to have a bit more freedom next weekend. Between Harry and Pride, I felt like a shut-in.

Let me know when you're finished!

14 hours and counting!

In case you missed it, there is a little book coming out tonight called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Or HP7, aka DH, in fan-speak. Here are what the other titles are in shorthand, not that it takes a rocket scientist to figure them out:

SS - Sorcerer's Stone

COS - Chamber of Secrets

GOF - Goblet of Fire

OOTP - Order of the Phoenix

HBP - Half-Blood Prince

I wanted to get a good night's sleep last night so I could read a bit tonight after I get my book at midnight, but I seem to have a sudden bout of insomnia this week and wound up getting about 5 hours of sleep before I was rudely awakened by the cat TWO lousy minutes before my alarm was set to go off.

Last week, I saw a licence plate that said, "MUGGLZ."

Like I said, I'm picking up my copy of HP7 tonight at Warwicks at their midnight release party. Tomorrow, the UPS guy is going to be the most popular guy in the neighborhood.

Fourth of July in Big Sky Country

Hello all. I can't believe my last post was back in April. Actually, that's a lie. I can believe it. Things have been so busy and blogging hasn't been on the agenda.

I'll start with the most recent events because let's face it, who really cares what happened two months ago.

Steve and I flew to Great Falls to spend last week with Susan & Pat. They moved about a month ago from Choteau - NW of Great Falls - to Moore, which is NE of Great Falls. Moore, if you look it up on a map, is quite literally smack dab in the middle of the state. And there ain't much there. Moore is very small and surrounded by hay and alfalfa fields. It was also hay harvest and most of the fields were cut, being cut, or already baled. Steve's allergies acted up a bit but he kept them controlled with some Claratin. I thought all the freshly cut hay smelled wonderful - the epitome of summer.

We flew up on Monday so we all could drive to Choteau on Tuesday for a *free* Willie Nelson concert, courtesy of David Letterman, the "anonymous" donor. Dave has his big ranch near Choteau and he provides gifts to the town and residents every year. This year, he got Willie Nelson to play at the Choteau Rodeo Grounds for free. Three thousand tickets were given out to residents. Willie played with the sunset and a huge Texas flag behind him. My favorite Willie song, "Pancho and Lefty," was the third song he played. The concert was fantastic and we didn't even realized it was 2 1/2 hours long even though we were standing the entire time.

We slept that night at their friend Ian's house. Ian's house has decor that features lots of animals. The biggest elk rack I've ever seen dominated one wall. A mountain goat pelt hung on another. We had to move his ammo around in order to make enough floor space for our sleeping bags in his finished attic. Before the concert, Ian and Pat grilled up blue cheese elk burgers for dinner.

On Wednesday, we got up to go to the Choteau 4th of July parade. The parade consisted of classic cars, home made floats, local charities and businesses, women on motorcycles, lots and lots of horses, fire trucks, and of course, Shriners in their mini Corvettes. They were hauling ass up and down the street in those things. Ian was also in the parade leading the Forest Service black pack mule train. Another one of Susan & Pat's friend was driving the Forest Service's fire truck.

Later that day, we attended the Choteau Rodeo. It was Steve's first rodeo and he seemed a little dumbfounded by what he saw. After, I asked him which event was his favorite, and he like the team roping. Of course, our favorite was actually the unofficial event of "wild cow milking." This chaotic event consisted of six teams of three guys (some drunk) wrestling a beef cow for control and milking her enough to pour it out of a beer bottle. The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo has the calf scramble, and Choteau has wild cow milking. Many of the rodeo participants were from Choteau, and many of them were still teenagers. Even the bull riders.

We took it easy on Thursday back in Choteau. We drove home on Wednesday, and made it to Lewistown (the closest "big" town to Moore doing city fireworks) for the fireworks show. I was a little skittish by the do-it-yourself fireworks that were being set off in the parking lot. Fireworks were going off everywhere. On Thursday, we attempted to spend some time at Crystal Lake, a mountain lake in the Little Snowies, but we were chased out by huge biting horseflies. It was very pretty and I would have liked more time there to hike and maybe dip a toe or two in.

We flew home Friday and spent the weekend recuperating from the oppressive heat we had in Montana. Susan's car had broken AC, so we did all the driving in the heat. More accurately, Susan, Conner (her dog), and I did the driving in the heat. The boys rode in air conditioned comfort in Pat's truck to and from Choteau. Men.

The Montana countryside is gorgeous. East of Great Falls towards Moore, the land is rolling. Mountains are visible in every direction. The fields are all green and gold. We saw whitetail and pronghorn deer many times. No other wildlife other than some birds.

So what else has happened since April? Here's the rundown:

Movies I've seen: Spiderman 3, Ocean's 13, Shrek 3, Pirates 3. Bottom line review: They all suck. They all disappoint. Of course, what was I expecting.

Places I've gone for work: San Antonio, Toronto, Washington D.C.

People I've seen (other than Susan and Pat): Amy Schumacher, Auntie

Friends who have had babies: Jason & Corrie - a preemie baby girl! (Keep those updates coming J!)

Friends who are going to Uganda later this month: Katrina!

Friends who bought an iPhone and I sat in line with them but I didn't buy one: Steve!

Baseball games I've gone to this season: six - two on my dime, four on the company

Championships the San Antonio Spurs have won: FOUR!! Go Spurs Go!

Books I've read: uhhh, I can't remember all of them. I've read several manuscripts for work purposes, and I started Special Topics in Calamity Physics during my trip to DC (I was stuck in airports and on airplanes for 12 hours trying to get home). Currently, I'm rereading Harry Potter #5, to be followed by #6, before the release of #7. I went to Warwick's, an independent bookshop in La Jolla, over the weekend to prepurchase my copy and to get a spot for their midnight release party on the 20th. I've never gone to a midnight release party and I figure this is the last one. Call me a nerd, but I'm very excited.

Guess that's enough information for now, chillens. When Steve goes through all his pictures, I'll post a few.

Have fun out there!