mizarchivist

I do not get to keep my vacation days. If I have any by Dec. 31, they evaporate. So, this means I need to take random days off (I know, we weep for humanity)
Thanks to not being rushed, the morning routine didn't feel like a race. I got to talk to D's teacher for more than 30 seconds. He's been going to play group, which allows the school district to observe him over a longer period of time than one random instance. There's some frustration for his teachers because my child doesn't like to stay focused. Again, please contain your surprise. The teachers are hoping that the school system professionals could provide some extra tips/tools to meet this goal. At this point I am feeling like "He's 3. What do you want?"  After a few months of the playgroup, I haven't been convinced that it's making any difference whatsoever. Eh? Anyway. Nice to talk to the teachers and confirm the "let's figure it out one way or another" sentiment.

One of my favorite mom friends was dropping off her kid as I was leaving, so we ended up having a walk, coffee, and a chat for an hour or so. That was awesome. I was hoping that would work out, and there you go.

The big goal for today was to go see Avengers Age of Ultron. Which I did! I decided that if it was going to be a nice day (and it is!), that I'd figure a bike route. Which I did. I even found a path along the Mystic River for a bit. I'd not been in the Arsenal Sq area since it got its facelift. So, I left early so I could wander. The movie was worth seeing, but I'm not a huge fan of movies based on the premise "and now we destroy all things." There were some definite good moments. I'm definitely on team Romanov and Barton, so having their storylines feature moreso than not: win.

It's now 3:30 and I have another hour and a half before my kid comes home. Luxury.

+ Half day off yesterday
- But ended up being kind of cranky
- Not enough sleep, primarily due to a 2 year old being very 2. I think I was mostly asleep by 9 last night.
+Took the kid to school via bike path, then walked all the way back to Alewife the last two days. That's round trip 3 miles
- My hips are sore from the sudden surge in activity
+ I'm going to keep doing this as much as I can because the bus makes me crazy and I am not getting enough exercise or vit. D.
- There's a particular person I've not really seen much since August. He's kind of been crazy-busy forever, and I suspect this season was just worse. Mostly I leave it alone, but today I decided to ping and see if I can get an ack. So now I'm compulsively checking my email.
- (Honorary) niece Laura seems to have ratcheted her needy and clingy up a great deal. I worry about her and I'm getting burnt out at the same time.
++++ Minds Eye Yarn is selling my buttons. Like, right now if you were to go to their establishment, you would see my buttons for sale. And you could buy them. I've never had successful interactions with a retail establishment, ever, so I'm somewhat stunned.
+ I'm participating in the Project for Awesome again this year, as I did last year. They request original art as part of the rewards for those who give money, so I'm making watercolors again. I just have to get my act together and do 20 by the end of the month (ahahahahhahaaa)
+ The road rash I acquired last Thursday is healing. I've managed to down-grade my bandaid needs from a big patch to a large strip as of today.
- Relatedly, I've not looked at my bike since it was brought home. It kind of makes me want to cry. I've been told it's not really "that bad." 

- Got a cold, eventually shared it with Crime Fighter and eventually purple_terror.
+ Attended barodar's wedding, had a great time
- Kidlet ran out of cope half way back from Mosaic and serenaded the kind ride-giving childless friends with inconsolable howls. 
+ Celebrated Father's Day with QE: a picnic at Spy Pond Park with entrope and family
- Lost my bike helmet... or it was stolen off my porch
+ QE's letting me borrow his for today. My head felt so unpleasantly exposed without one yesterday.
+ Boss is back from 2 week cruise. We can revisit the stuff put on hold since last month because we weren't going to deal with it pre-vacation.
+ Got to attend mangosteen's Backbar extravaganza like a real adult last night and was able to buy doeeyedbunny the promised drink in thanks and apology for the ride with screamy baby. 
-Teething, congested baby had a wholly off night and would not settle or sleep after his final feed of the evening. There was snuggling and nursing, but he was just not convinced this "Sleep in my own bed" plan was the right and true path. 
- None of us really fell asleep before midnight but the usual routine of up at 5 was still on course. I'm more than slightly groggy. 

While I was offering instruction for those who were so inclined out on the very unfamiliar side of Ohio yesterday, the guys along with Robin, caulay  and asciikitty  painted at Swan. As I expected, they were an excellent team and got the majority of things done. The basement in also well on its way to rehabilitation. All new photos are in the Flickr photostream.


We were clever, we were- my bike came along in the car with us, and I rode back- That's about 4 miles or so. I'd not have wanted to do more. I stopped by the bit of wetlands field I consider Bob Wright's (due to the uncanny ability for my ipod to play Pink Floyd on that bit of my treks), sat, talked to my parents, and reveled in the reality....

I finally looked up exactly how far it is from my house to Alewife on the bike path. Not 6, but 6.4 miles. Mwah hah! Today's time: 20-ish minutes. I started off the season at about 35, I think. This is all in that one direction. Coming home--- totally different story.
Someone must have doped my vitamins because I actually went out and ran. Outside. On purpose- at the end of circuit class today. We had some of the old guard attendees who were all pumped up to do one more thing before calling it quits. I really don't recall the last time I ran. We estimate the block's about .25 miles, so a lap on the track, but with more cracks, trash, and pedestrians...and sometimes cars.  But, I did it! Go me.

Do any of the long hairs out there have a solution- other than a haircut- for the rubber band induced headaches? My hair seems to have gained about 2 pounds this week. I think it has a lot to do with the humidity and never drying. But I swear, I have been doing the usual keep-off-neck tactics I have done for the past many months, but now there's always a hint of extra tension to win out over gravity.

After the commentary from Thursday, I decided to extend a bit longer to make sure the reboot works. Not much else worth noting other than I'm not dead- neither is anyone else. I may get mini eclairs at BJ's when we go at the end of the week, though. (Mwah hah)

I was just minding my own business this morning, riding my bike to Alewife as I have been doing rather often when I came to the last 1/4 mile and whoom. Have some downed branches. OK, have some down trees. I was able to duck under the first one, but the other three required major clambering and bike-carrying. Microburst, you say? Yowza.

It seems that once a year near quiet_elegance 's birthday (observed), that there's the biggest cleaning events that overshadow all other uncluttering moments. Q_E started on Saturday, which sparked me to do many random things yesterday, things that are not apparent to the casual observer. However, my art drawers are now beautifully arranged. The Ikea bookshelves are much more full and hold 90% of card/board games and a large stack of the over sized art/coffee table books. I am most pleased.

I may have mentioned that I really have taken a shine to Chef Sang, the sushi guy at Teppenyaki. We took lifecollage  a week ago and purple_terror  this past Friday. That makes 2 converts in 2 weeks. He's really that brilliant. quiet_elegance  made a box out of rosewood for our chop sticks that we're keeping there and Sang hung out with us after we were done eating, as there was rather significant lull at that moment. Supposedly, they're redoing the menus eventually, but even if they did, I don't think I'd use them. I'm more than a little happy to be a guinea pig for new ideas he has. I have yet to be disappointed with anything, rather it's usually way too brilliant for a middle-of-the-road establishment. I am keen on taking one of his classes at some point.

Tomorrow: I go to my first salsa class in years. Should be fun, though. I am curious to see what they're working on, how much I remember and how much Bollywood improved my ability to pick up moves faster. After all, I know all the basic moves already, so that's an advantage. It will be a sadness not go go with q_e.

Motorcycle: Still in the shop. The latest theory is that there wasn't enough compression in the ...uh, tubes (?), which threw off the vacuum and so fuel wasn't going through the petcock like it was supposed to. The mechanic almost certainly experienced the bad when he was testing it out and he saw this with another bike earlier this season. This is apparently a gradual deterioration, so it makes sense that last fall it could limp along, but by 2 weeks ago, I was doomed. I'm hopeful that I can pick it up on Friday. Fingers crossed!

I haven't seen Richie around in quite a while. Last time I saw him was when he was having issues with a cop hassling him, so it's possible that he's had to set up shop elsewhere. But I worry enough to him in random dream cameos.

Hokay. I'm still entirely exhausted, but I haven't posted in many days and... you know, stuff.

Friday- actually low-key. Got the massage so I can be ready for a massage from barodar . Note to self: Don't wait 3 months between massages, really.
Saturday- usual shopping/food acquirement- then... OMG- the first bike ride of the season! It was fantastic and a lot harder than the boring old stationary bike crap I've been doing for months now. It's just not the same.
I don't think I'd mentioned in this format that I have been entranced by The Big Bang Theory since last weekend. I ended up killing off yet another disk while doing kitcheny stuff.
Then- birthday party (not mine) with drinks, more drinks, music, lots of fun people, dancing, people, drinks, .... I think we were home by 2:30. It's very rare that I can recapture that college/ O'Hooley's [the bar where we went out for 80s dance night] experience. Which meant...
Today- Urk. Definitely underslept. But I had a few moments doing some clean up in the garden before going to a friend's (different one) birthday photo shoot. We steampunked it up. Now- Oscar's. Thanks, Mr. Gaiman (via K) for reminding me.

This should definitely be filed under really obvious:
If you arrive around 9:30 on a really gorgeous day, there are chances you won't find a legit* space to lock up your bike. Sort of like parking upstairs in their garage, really. But I did.

*they don't want you to lock up on the railings, you see.

Ok, I should not feel compelled to yell to the 2 rollerbladers, "Red Rover, Red Rover, I'm gonna bowl you over." I've determined the 2 are very co-dependent in that they can't bear to not hold hands even while on a Very Busy Bike Path. Seriously. Hordes and hordes. I will remember this for next time and avoid Sunday afternoon in favor of any other point ever, except for possibly Saturday. Wow.