Fall Light

The leaves are down. The mornings are frosty. Our annuals have long since been thrown into a pile in our future flower bed in the backyard. The deck furniture has been moved out of the elements. And all that remains now is a watering can. Why we've left it out there, I'm not quite sure. There's nothing left to be watered. Maybe it's a last vestige of summer to console us.

Tranquil places

Sweetie and I spent nearly one month in Japan this October. It had been almost two years since we had been to Japan, and this trip wasn't as rushed as last time, so we were able to enjoy visiting various places that were sentimental to us. Sweetie had previously lived in Kamakura, so that was one spot we wanted to revisit. On our way there, we stopped at a lesser-known temple, which offered some welcome quiet and tranquility. It was fun to explore the cemetery up the hillside, and dodge the giant spider webs that proved very few people made their way up that far.

Kamakura in October

My Addiction

I am addicted to saving money. I like to think that I'm not one of those people who spends money to save money, and I think this is generally true. Approximately 90 percent of my non-food shopping is done online, mostly because I can't tolerate visits to our local mall.

My most recent online orders have been a set of guest towels (actually, TWO full sets, of organic towels for $40 including shipping), and a belt for Sweetie because he left his beloved, reversible, Mont Blanc belt in a hotel room recently (and not surprisingly, the cleaning staff did not report it as being found...).

My most favorite shopping sites are bargain fashion sites. But I should tell you all about www.ebates.com. Go there. Register. And remember to go there first whenever you want to shop on any one of many hundreds of different websites. You will get a percentage CASH back (well, actually a check). I've been using ebates for about a year, and have saved about $50 already. Of course, the MOST popular online shopping sites, like Amazon, are not on ebates, but soooo many ARE.

Happy shopping!

The Great Curry Disaster and other adventures

Yes, again I have transgressed and seriously neglected the blog. I blame it all on the New House. The Trip to Hawaii. My new Obsession with buying art on eBay. The Trip to
Chicago. Choose any or all of the above.

The New House
The pictures are hung. The cars are in the garage. And I've planted pots and pots of annuals to brighten up the deck. The wicker furniture is arranged on the lower deck and is accompanied by a lovely iron plantstand I picked up for 25 cents at a garage sale (had to get there the second the seller on an upscale street dragged the for-sale goods out of her garage at the strike of 8AM on a Friday morning). We have Japanese katori senko (mosquito coils) and citronella candles in reserves for evening drinks and dinners outside.

Speaking of which, last week we hosted a party for 23 and then a dinner for 6 the next night. And then I promptly fell ill just as we were headed to Chicago for a fabulous weekend with Sweetie's daughter who was visiting from England. Heftily drugged on Tylenol, I persevered through a most amazing dinner at a restaurant called The Gage on Michigan Avenue. Fabulous food and even better service. Not cheap, however. Gochisosama Sweetie!!

I booked us into Second City's show, "The Best Frickin' Time of Your Life," which we all thoroughly enjoyed. I busted up laughing at the solidly-built ladies' singing "Reubenesque."

We had brunch at the Fox and Obel on the recommendation of a chef I randomly met in Indianapolis, who is originally from the town where we live now. Little did we know that we had stumbled into the just-opened "bistro" at the Fox and Obel, and were not in fact eating at the "cafe" that had been recommended. Well, despite some service issues (which were explained in a conversation we overheard), we had a wonderful brunch. We totally cracked up, when, AFTER eating, it occurred to us that not only was Sweedle's bacon served on Sweetie's plate, but we realized that a nearby diner's Eggs Benedict was ALSO on Sweetie's plate, which explained why that customer got served AFTER we did, even though he was there before us. So, essentially, Sweetie unwittingly ate three people's breakfast.

We followed brunch with a river cruise with the Chicago Architectual Foundation. We'd previously done their bus tour, and I really enjoyed seeing a different part of Chicago. I especially loved the housing developments along the North Fork.

After our return, my cold transitioned into a mystery illness. I unofficially called it West Nile Virus. It involved blurred vision so bad one day that I couldn't even read emails or see people's faces properly at work. And then it resulted in...

The Great Curry Disaster
So, after a long, blurry and confused day at work, I stopped at the grocery store, picked up a few things, and then proceeded to make an Indian dal. The recipe called for pureeing, so I got out the Vitamix and spooned about 1/2 the cooked soup in. I carefully put the lid, on, held it, and then turned the Vitamix on. And then...the soup exploded out of the Vitamix and all over the kitchen. And all over me. I was wearing glasses, but it nevertheless was on my eyelashes. It was in my hair. It was on anything within about a 15 foot radius (open plan kitchen). The cookbooks were dripping in it. The cupboards were covered. The flattop cooktop was encased. Sweetie ran over and flipped out: "Oh my god!!!! What happened here?????"

What happened is in my ill, confused, West-Nile-afflicted state, I had forgotten to start the Vitamix on low.

After a massive cleanup effort (Sweetie calmed down quickly and did most of the work), we sat down to dinner and Sweedle very graciously said, "This is delicious." And then I broke into tears.

Still not in Kansas anymore

After nearly two years, we are still adjusting to life as relative strangers in a strange land. Only 3.5 hours by car from my hometown, it's still nothing like home. We try to find the amusement in it all as much as possible.

Today, I received a catalog in the mail. In the first pages are hunting clothes. Then you find gun holsters. After that are $2000 pairs of binoculars (for hunting??). And then I saw something that I was sure was a wine refrigerator, but it was a food dehydrator. A few pages later, I finally found my wine refrigerator. But wait, no, it's a "smoker with window."

Proselytizing
Everyone we meet asks us what religion we are. They all want us to join their church. And there's nothing subtle about it. One neighbor announced the first time we met her that she was sending her pastor to our house to "call on us." Apparently, all British people must be Episcopalian. It told Sweetie that we're about to become Quaker by default because it's the only way to fend off the proselytizers.

Hydrangea

I love hydrangea. And all the tons of rain we've had lately has been very good to the ones in our front yard. Please enjoy them with me.

Drowning in Reading Material

(Another pic from springtime in Borrego Springs) Whoever says that newspapers and magazines are going to die out is just plain wrong. That is, if our house is any indication. This year, I was enticed to subscribe to three additional magazines (all three for a grand sum of about $10 -- Oprah, Smart Money, and Good Housekeeping). On top of that, Sweetie renewed my coveted Practical Photography (a British mag). And, we get the New York Times 5 days a week, plus the local "rag" 7 days a week. And then there's the weekly student newspapers at the college where we work.

If you ever need kindling for a fire, just pay us a visit.

Anyway, this is largely just my way of making excuses for neglecting the blog.

The House
We continue to plow forward with home improvements. The painting continues. Today, a gutter company came by to give us an estimate to add a downspout that was clearly forgotten about when the house was built (there are 3 turns in the gutter before the next downspout AND we found a length of downspout disposed of under the wooden stairs on the side of our house...). We've had a landscaper by, since I was proven wrong about the "ornamental grass" in the backyard. There ain't nothin' ornamental about it. It's pure weed. And once the sun came out, the whole backyard became a jurassic weed park.

But I'm really looking forward to moving out of this rental and getting settled into a house with two sinks in the master bathroom. The house could not have a kitchen, a living room, nor any bedrooms, but as long as there are two sinks in the master bathroom, I will be happy.

The Sun, the Sand, the Jumping Chollas

The Blog has really been taking the backseat lately, and I do apologize for that. On our recent visit to California to visit my mom, there were a few references to my lack of updates.

Things have been busy. Sweetie and I resigned ourselves to living in this town, after my job search in more "civilized" areas (ie: cities where we aren't among a minority of people who don't drive a pickup truck -- though nothing against pickup trucks) turned up dry.

So, we bought a house.

And now we must tend to yard of said house. And hire painter for interior of said house (we have -- and he's busy at work -- using no-VOC paint so the place does not smell whatsoever). And choose colors for rooms of the house. And trim the liriope in the front yard (after figuring out that it's liriope and not some other random ornamental grass). And raking approximately three years of leaves from the back yard (ornamental grass in the back remains unidentified). And hire someone to clean and stain the deck. And exterminate the wasps.

But, it's all good. We're looking forward to settling into our new digs. I need to get some custom tea ceremony cabinets made this summer, so there will be numerous boxes left in the garage, but otherwise, we hope it's a smooth move. Certainly better than an international move!!

Hooray for Healthcare

Praise the Lord. I am so pleased that the healthcare bill passed. I don't really care what might be wrong with it. There will always be something wrong with such a bill. But what's right is so much more important. That we will no longer be a country that thinks it is acceptable to leave 32 million people (my mom and a colleague among them) uninsured.

It's quite possible that my taxes or premiums could go up. Even on my pathetic salary. But, maybe I will no longer have to make career or life decisions based on healthcare coverage. And if I have to pay a little bit more so that others can have health insurance, then so be it.

Thank you, President Obama.

Punch Brothers and other fun

On Friday night, Sweetie and I dragged ourselves back to the college after a long day in order to see a group called Punch Brothers with Chris Thile.  I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I had the impression that I SHOULD be impressed that they were playing at our dinky little college.  

Well, they are hard to define.  A bit of bluegrass.  A bit of alternative.  And a ton of technical musical supremacy and creativity.  

There were some rather serious bluegrass fans in the audience and I couldn't help to think that Sweetie and I and many of our colleagues were watching the band as if they were some sort of alien life form.  Studying them, if you will.  But also thoroughly enjoying them.

Good eatin'

As remarkable as it may sound, Sweetie and I have actually found some good eatin' in our neck of the woods.  There's a privately-owned historic mansion in town and they are now hosting dinners twice a week.  So, Sweetie treated me to a Valentine's dinner there.  The chef is a caterer/personal chef (I can't imagine anyone in this town actually HAS a personal chef), and she even caters to my vegetarian needs.  She's a genius.  It was a wonderful evening and we sipped on a wonderful Bordeaux that we managed to smuggle over the Ohio border with the help of various friends and family (we are unable to get wine shipped to Indiana, so we had to have it shipped to Ohio).  Really, really wonderful and we book one of these special dinners about once every two months.  We never eat out in this town otherwise, so it seems worth it to indulge in a really wonderful dinner now and then.

And the owner of the mansion loves Sweetie's accent:-)

And just when we've shoveled the driveway

 There is apparently yet another major winter storm headed our way.  Our weather alert went off today and nearly gave me a heartattack (usually it only goes off during thunderstorm/tornado season).  Just as Sweetie was finishing off our last-ditch effort to clear enough space for two cars in our driveway, I was informed by the National Weather Service that we are going to get hit by massive amounts of snow YET AGAIN.   Please, tell me it's not true.  

Where Am I?

Nothing like a trip to the local mall to remind me where I am living.

I avoid the local mall at all costs, and I don't think Sweetie has even been there once.

But, I needed to get a tiny little battery at Radio Shack. There was quite a line when I got there, but there's always a line, so I decided to just suck it up and wait.

And wait.

And listen to the man in front of me fighting very loudly with his S.O. on his cell phone.

And listen some more.

And more.

And then make a desperate face at a normalish-looking man who was wheeling around a baby in a stroller and debating whether he could handle waiting in line as well. He bailed.

And I listened some more. And of course the two people at the two cash registers were BOTH buying cell phones that needed to be activated. Which means I listened to the guy in front of me fighting on the phone with his S.O. (may I remind you --- LOUDLY) for a very long time.

These are the moments that really make me wonder, How the heck did I end up living here? It must be even more mind-boggling for Sweetie, because this isn't even his country.

After living in places as cosmopolitan as Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Washington DC..... Most of the time I try to look on the bright side. No traffic. A 10-minute commute. Ummmm.....I'm thinking......I'm sure there are other things. Cheap food. No decent restaurants or stores to tempt us into spending money (of course there's the flipside that we're not actually making much money either).

But sometimes, I do wonder how we ended up here.

Winter Tells Us Who Is Boss

Snow descended upon us in mass quantities Friday and Saturday. I love that my employer doesn't allow people to go home until AFTER the county has said NO ONE is allowed on the roads except for emergency vehicles. I love when the head of security sends out a message, that we all read at work because we haven't been allowed to go home, that tell us it's EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to drive and that you should STAY WHERE YOU ARE.

What I really do love

I love being married. This morning I was preparing my grocery list and had assorted recipes and cookbooks strewn about the countertop. I was also simultaneously preparing some food to put into the crockpot for dinner and had used my Vitamix in this endeavor. I did notice that various loose papers blew across the countertop when I turned on the Vitamix.

What I did not notice was what was on the backside of one of those pieces of paper (a recipe).

Sweetie came into the kitchen, glanced at the countertop and read out loud, "How to Break Up With Someone Who Drives You Crazy"?!?!

I laughed so hard I almost fell over.

Sandhill Cranes Part II

Sweetie and I got home yesterday and realized that we hadn't quite found the perfect vantage point for seeing the cranes. So, after a bit more research, we ventured out again this afternoon. We first drove down across a bridge, and turned into a curious little village. If you want to know more about that, you'll just have to ask me.

We eventually reached our planned destination, but there were too many trees in the way. Sweetie scrambled down an embankment slightly, but then the 1000+ cranes all flew up and relocated further up the lake (someone assured us the cranes were NOT skittish...).

So, we rumbled back to the car in the zero-degree windchill weather. And headed back to the state park and our original vantage point on New Year's Day.

We eyed the mudflats, and having heard yesterday that someone else had walked across them, we decided to try. I had my long camera lens and its teleconverter. So, it was worth trying to get closer. We made our way down the mudflats and looked north to find a suitable crossing point (ie: one that did not involve crossing 20 feet of thin ice). We eventually made out way to within about 60 yards or so of the cranes. The low light made picture-taking challenging, and as I told Sweetie, there was NO WAY I was dragging my tripod out there and setting it up. As it was, I think we were mildly hypothermic, certainly I was, by the time we made it back to the car.

At any rate, it was an incredible site to be so close to thousands of cranes. At one point, they started flying around up above us and their sound is so distinctive. Truly a New Year's to remember!

Happy New Year

Today, Sweetie and I drove about 25 minutes south of our house to a lake where we heard cranes had been hanging out the past week or so.  I wasn't sure they would still be there.  It was bitterly cold, but sunny, and after driving cluelessly around a state park that we had never been to before, we finally found what appeared to be the "mud flats" that people who had seen the cranes had referred to.  

So, we got out of the car, and Sweetie stopped and said, "Listen."  We heard birds.  And they weren't geese.  We walked down a short path.  And heard more birds.  Then I looked up.  And saw them.  Hundreds.  They were flying into the mudflats for the night.  They kept coming.  There were about 1,000 in all.  It's very good luck in Japan to see cranes on New Year's Day.  

It was incredible!!!