October 17

As I mentioned yesterday I wanted to use my day off to catch up on some things around the house. First though was a trip to the grocery store which required a trip to the gas station to fill up the tank and add some air to an almost flat tire. Not sure how that happened but luckily my Dad trained me well and it was no problem to inflate. In addition to the grocery store I decided to tackle another issue in the house. The dresser. Here was our dresser situation. Looks fine, but actually the middle drawer had completely come off track and the drawer wouldn't open or close. The track and wall had actually been bent and damaged so fixing it was not going to work. This happened the week before Greg left and he was frustrated by it each day but neither of us had the time to do anything about it. Well my grocery store is right by the new IKEA in Brooklyn (yes, I go to Brooklyn to buy food but it is a really nice grocery store!) so I thought I would take care of this issue and surprise Greg with a working dresser when he gets home. I have also disliked the tall unit next to the dresser for a while now too. It is a bunch of shelves that hold our shirts and pants in big stacks. We had talked about phasing them both out recently and had even looked at IKEA a few weeks ago but couldn't find anything that LOOKED like it would work. Well I decided to be more scientific about it. I measured the units and calculated the cubic footage of storage space that we had. Then I went to IKEA and looked for dresser options and combinations that met or exceeded that calculation. I settled on Malm. I brought home 3 huge boxes and proceeded to put the dressers together. It took me about 4 hours to do it all by myself. I assembled the drawers downstairs and the bodies upstairs since I couldn't carry the boxes up there myself. Then I emptied everything out onto the bed, moved the old units out and the new units in and re-organized everything. Here they are and I love them. They ended up having about 4 feet of extra space and they sort of match our other bedroom furniture.

Two funny stories:
1. I looked at these on the showroom floor for quite a while and even had the info sheet on them as I was shopping but it wasn't until I got home and read the instructions that I discovered the smaller unit has a vanity/mirror top! Surprise! And a good one at that. I already filled it with long necklaces that were clogging up my jewelry box.

2. I had wanted this to be a surprise for Greg but BECU apparently thought these transactions were suspect because they called Greg to verify a bunch of charges on our card (this has been happening a lot lately and is kind of annoying actually). So they mentioned a charge today from IKEA and Greg said, "yeah I'm sure it's true" since he knew I had been to the grocery store but I hadn't mentioned IKEA. So he called and I had to confess. Thanks a lot BECU!

One not so funny story, I scraped up one of my fingers pretty bad unloading one the boxes from my car and it looks gross and hurts. I blame my mom and her "can do" attitude for instilling a sense of capability in me to do anything I set my mind to. Unfortunately lifting heavy boxes is not one of those things!

October 15/16

Wow, my first missed day yesterday. Things were a little hectic around here so I guess it was understandable. Greg's dad is doing well and improving every hour. He may be moved out of the ICU today which is great though physical therapy will be necessary before he can head home. Being in the hospital has brought up a lot of other issues related to his and his wife's lifestyle (like smoking) that are going to require big changes. Greg's mom is a little overwhelmed but taking it well. It helps that Greg flew out yesterday at 4am to be with them and help support them during this time.

So I am trucking along here at home as best I can. My schedule is a little on the crazy side so not having Greg around is a bit tough. We were supposed to go to DC for the weekend to spend some time together but that trip obviously got canceled (and there goes my planned blogging topics) but I am still taking tomorrow off to do some things around the house that need to be done (like buying some food!) and to get caught up on my studies. It is amazing how fast you can fall behind.

October 14

Sad news today. Greg's dad collapsed at the pool after his twice weekly swim. After several hours of no information we finally heard tonight that it was Ventricular Fibrillation. They are not sure yet what triggered it as there is no evidence of stroke or major heart attack. He is in the ICU tonight and Greg is flying out first thing in the morning. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, comfort for the family and a full recovery. Moments like this make being 3000 miles away almost unbearable.

October 13

Oops, I almost forgot to post today. I got so engrossed in studying data that makes absolutely no sense to me that I lost track of the time. I was just about to leave work and head home when I remembered the photos still on my camera. I bring you the crowning jewel of my craft club experience, coordinated push pins!

I made these for my cubicle at work and I love love love them. They make me so happy. They put my old plastic push pins to shame and it was a pleasure pulling the old ones all out and tossing them. These lovelies will now hold up all future papers I may have. Then because I am completely insane I whipped this up this morning before work.
A matching lumbar pillow! Yes, I had to leave the house with wet hair and no make-up but I finished it quickly this morning using recycled and upcycled materials. The fabric is of course remnants from the roman shade in the office (and the same material in the push pins) and the pillow is stuffed with down and feathers from a recently retired bed pillow that was a little too flat for Greg's use. I actually ran the down bedroom pillow through my machine to seal some of the down to one side, cut it off then slipped it into my pillow form. Unfortunately I couldn't seal off the other side of the pillow and the down started to whaft out and got all over me! Now I have a bag filled with a cut open pillow and tufts of down that I have to deal with. Very messy, but what do you expect when you decide on a whim to make a pillow before work! Anyway, I love it too. It would be perfect with a couple coordinated fabric covered buttons to tuft it a little but I don't want any hard items on it since it is supposed to be for lumbar support. OK, time for bed, I had better be getting home.

October 12

Quiet day at home. A little housekeeping, lots of cooking, and more articles read. I have just one to go! Woohoo! Greg was busy in the kitchen making Butternut Squash Risotto (Hey Karen! I always think of you now when we make this!), lots of roasted veggies for lunch and some home made roasted tomato and red pepper pasta sauce for dinner. Man roasted veggies are so awesome. It is amazing how roasting veggies makes them taste like candy and boy do I love candy. Anyway, the only other thing I managed to do today besides order more supplies online to make covered buttons was to decorate the house with my fall decor items. Greg was nice enough to snap some photos for me while I was reading articles.




With the smell of roasting veggies and the decor it really felt like fall in the house. To bad it was 70+ degrees out today!

October 11

I am settled in at home taking a break from reading articles for class and thought I would post about today's adventure up to Columbia University where my friend Alice lives to attend Craft Club. Connie and Sandy were kind enough to teach of how to make covered buttons. The kit included parts to turn our covered buttons into magnets, push pins, and magnets. So cute! So easy to make. Put a fabric circle over the mold. Drop a metal form into the mold. Push the excess fabric into the form and use the other part of the mold to push the backing on. Presto! Add a magnet, hair tie, or pin back. Love these and can't wait to make more! Thanks to Alice for hosting, thanks to Sandy and Connie for walking us through the lessons and Happy Birthday to Connie!

October 10

Wow, what a long week. Work was really tough and draining. I am so glad it is Friday. I am studying tonight since I spent last night enjoying Thursday night TV in person (love that The Office is back!). Part of the reason I had to be home last night was because it was our CSA night and someone had to pick up the veggies. Greg agreed to go to church for a meeting and I picked up the produce. Here they are all washed and dried and ready for the fridge.
We are enjoying fall veggies a great deal. Though heavy to lug home we much prefer squashes and pumpkins and leeks.

October 9

It is always a treat to get pictures of my little nephew Ewan and today my mom sent these gems. It is crazy how fast they grow and how their little faces change so much. He is a totally different baby!

October 8

Today has been lots better than yesterday. The interpersonal drama is working its way out slowly which is good and I got a lot of accounting stuff done today which is always refreshing (to feel caught up). I am getting ready to leave for study group and am at a loss for what to post today. Here are some photos of my study buddies. You can see we have a good time studying, sometimes too good a time!This is me and Marcela in the library. Marcela is a Biology Masters student. She and I are sort of the study group core. We get the most out of it and take it seriously.My pal Suzan. She is a medical animation masters student. She is actually dropping out of study group starting tonight because she gets too distracted working in a group. We will miss her.And this is Jonathan. He is a computer science masters student and our newest group member. We are still giving him a chance to prove himself. He can be a bit goofy. This is the only photo I could find where he wasn't doing something vulgar!

October 7

I almost forgot to post today. My camera battery was dead this morning or I would have photographed the 3 packed trains that I couldn't get onto this morning. It was a bad start to a bad day. Some personnel problems today have kind of made the whole day tank. Do you ever have those days where work is just too much work? I am having one of those days.

Class tonight so I need to prep my bags and thought I would post this odd picture from underneath my desk (everyday photos, I warned you!).
Under my desk you can see my printer, scanner, my collection of work shoes that keep me from having to wear heals around the city or carry them in my bag, as well as the place I stash all my school books and binders. I study most nights here at work so I leave my books here instead of lugging them back and forth from home. So far it has worked really well.

****Just met with my boss about the above issues and our conversation went really well. We are meeting again tomorrow with the affected parties which I am not looking forward to but at least I can go to class without some of that stuff hanging over my head.

October 6

Pretty typical Monday. Catching up with co-workers on their weekend adventures. Reassessing things that need to be done this week. Putting out fires for my boss who returned from CA last night. Mostly computer work today.

This is my notepad/mouse pad by Thomaspaul. I love it. I put my daily list on it and cross things off as I go.

Today I wasn't so good about packing a lunch so I ran across the street for a frozen burrito at Space Market.

Next is a little prep work for study group tonight. I have lots more reading to do!

October 5

Sunday around here usually means laundry, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR, cooking a big meal and church in the evening. Today we deviated a bit from that plan so we could see our good friends the Campbells. John was up from Texas where he is working right now while his wife finishes her dissertation here in the city. It is always a treat to see them since they are the closest thing we have to family in New York. We headed over to Astoria (our old hood) to their place and listened to WWDTM in the car (can't deviate too far!). Then we all walked over to a neighborhood restaurant called 718 for brunch. 718 is the area code for Queens, get it? It was so nice to sit and chat with them and catch up. We are all so busy these days that it seems we don't get to see each other nearly enough.

Unfortunately I started to get a migraine at brunch so we had to call it a day at 2pm so I could go home for a nap and to give my meds a chance to work. I love the fall weather but the overcast skies and cloudy days are really hard on my sinus and have been giving me lots of headaches over the last few weeks.

At 4:30 it time to get up and go off to church. I was only feeling a little better but couldn't skip church because the first Sunday of the month is Communion Sunday and we are communion team captains. My head did feel better as the day went on so praise God for that. Here are some photos of us setting up and then cleaning up at the end of the night.




We love our team, they always do a great job serving and make our jobs as captains much easier. Then it was home for homemade pizza using that no-knead dough I made and some phone time with our parents. I want to give a shout out to my mom who just celebrated her 60th birthday and today ran her first marathon! I can't believe it, and she even had the energy to chat with me on the phone after driving back from Portland with my dad. Go Mom!

October 4

I wanted to wait until late tonight to post for today so that I could document all the stuff that happened. It started out like a normal Saturday. A little sleeping in and then launched into tidying the house. Greg was gone for the first part of the day so I worked alone. Then I settled in for a little study time.
First in honor of a lovely chilly fall day I lit a candle in my tart burner which melted a hazelnut flavored soy tart from this candle place. I got a couple tarts as a free sample and I am really liking them. They are natural soy wax that doesn't release any nastiness into the air, and the smell was wonderful and not too overwhelming. I bought the tart melter at the drug store and it came with 3 tarts that I had to toss out, they were so overpowering and fake smelling. Not these. The whole house smells like warm hazelnut coffee. Yummy.

Then I settled in for some email checking, bill paying, and finally studying on the sofa. Got a couple chapters read and started reading articles for my microeconomics class. I did take a break to make some no-knead bread from this blog post which involved a run to the store a block away for a jar of wheat germ. The dough is rising in the fridge now and I will bake it up tomorrow. Not sure yet what I want to make. Then a little snooze on the couch until Greg came home. Several months ago Greg got us tickets to a show for tonight so the nap was a good idea.

We headed up to Harlem and stopped at Strictly Roots for dinner. A West Indian place that also happens to be vegan. It doesn't look like much but this dish of sweet and sour tofu and veggies was amazingly full of flavor. Greg had BBQ'd seitan, plantains, and potatoes. After dinner we headed over a couple blocks to this place...

Maybe you've heard of it, the World Famous Apollo Theater. We had tickets to the Jenny Lewis show at the Apollo. It was fun to visit such an iconic theater I've seen so many times on TV. The theater was in pretty good shape and had the nicest staff around. We were seated up in the balcony with a perfect view of this giant chandelier.

Then we were surprised with an opening set by comedian Sara Silverman. She was very funny and as vulgar as ever. No flash photography meant not so great pictures, sorry.

Then Jenny Lewis and her band performed and did a great job. We really enjoyed the show. The only time I was not having a good time was when Jenny had the entire house up on their feet to dance along for the final song. The entire balcony started bouncing and made me really nervous. I mean come on, that is an old theater and the entire floor was visibly moving up and down. That I didn't enjoy but otherwise it was a lot of fun.
The best part is this concert was that it was perfect for an old fart like me. I went to a lot of shows in my youth but I tend to avoid them now because I no longer love standing for hours in smoky bars listening to too loud music and not getting home until the wee hours of the morning. Not at the Apollo. First we had real seats and got to sit the entire time (plus the NY smoking ban meant no smoke). The music was loud but the show was over by 10:30pm and I was home in time to catch the opening of SNL for the spoof of the debate (gotta love Tina Fey!). So it was a great night and the perfect end to a good day.

October 3

These are photos from my nightly commute waiting for the 7 train after 10pm. The one really annoying thing is that at 10pm it still runs express so I have to be careful to get on the right train! This is usually the spot I stand and usually the time I call Greg to let him know I am above ground and that I will be home in a few minutes. Sometimes he comes to the station to meet me and walk me home (so sweet!). This is also my first sight of the Empire State Building at night when I get to find out what color it is. You can see it in the upper left of the photo, a little green triangle. This is acutally one of my favorite parts of living in Sunnyside is that I get to check out the ever changing colors of the ESB. The view from my street is lots better but harder to photograph at night without a tripod.

October 2

This photos is entitled, Dinner at Breakfast. The one problem I am having with my new graduate student schedule is food. I often eat 3 meals a day at work and lets just say I don't always make the best choices. Especially when it comes to dinner with my study group. Peer pressure and a plethora of junk food, fried foods, and other delicious debacles available to me are not a good combination (a + and - of working in the village is tons of food options). When I am on my game I have been using Sunday to pre-cook some dinners to take to work. When that doesn't happen I am forced to cook dinner during my breakfast. Today I cooked up some stir-fry using tofu (in the photo), leftover veggies from the CSA and some rice I cooked up last night at 10pm when I got home from studying. This is 2 days worth, some for tonight's dinner before class and some for tomorrow at lunch since I don't think I will be studying tomorrow night. A girl needs a break!

October 1

These photos were from the weekend which means I am already cheating but they signify a big change to my everyday life now that fall is here. We can finally use the oven again! I love foods baked, broiled, or otherwise cooked in the oven and since the weekends are the only time we get around to cooking these days, our weekends are filled with homemade pizza and and these homemade crackers.

I got the recipe from Everyday Dish and last weekend we experimented with different flavors. I made veggie crackers using a blend of seasonings that you would find in stuffing or dumplings. Greg went with curry for his choice and both batches turned out really well. Homemade crackers are quick and easy, free of preservatives or ingredients you should avoid like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup, and you can make them any flavor you want. I might try sugar and cinnamon next!

October Blogging

Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I blogged? Where does the time go? Well my time goes to studying. My classes are going really well so far and that is mostly due to my daily study sessions after work. We have formed a little study group in the lab. 4 graduate students, all in different programs, meeting together to keep each other company as we work on our various assignments. 6-10pm you can find me in the graduate student lounge with the group studying my heart out. It doesn't leave time for much else unfortunately. I have even given up weeknight TV and resorted to watching only my very favorite shows on DVD on the weekends (Greg is really great about taping stuff for me. I call him G-vo!).

A lot of the scrapbook blogs I read are focusing on daily living and documenting the everyday so I thought since I don't do anything interesting these days I would share photos of my everyday for the month of October. Hopefully it will be simple enough that I can keep up with it in addition to my studies!