There's No Place Like...

So the Hub and I have joined the world of homeowners!

It's very exciting, and feels good to own our own place. We're having lots of fun decorating it and making it feel more like home. I would have to say that the most exciting home furnishing we purchased was our washer & dryer. One of our guy friends who bought a townhouse last year tried to say that it gets old quick when you realize it's still annoying having to do laundry, but I disagree. Laundry has gone from a chore to a treat. Will I some day share the view of said guy friend? Perhaps someday when there is more than 2 peoples' clothes to clean, but for now, I really don't mind it; it's leagues better than going to a public laundramat or, more often, lugging it 90 miles west.

The 2nd best new thing in the house is our king size BeautyRest. Oh baby, this is like heaven! I look at our old full size bed and wonder how we've survived so many years together. That thing looks so tiny now.

The latest addition to the place was a brand new sectional for the living room. After buying a new couch I am starting to really feel grown-up. Not that you need to buy things to feel like an adult, but it's weird like that. I love, love, love the sectional, and it has dual recliners--as if you didn't have enough room. It is sweet. The cats love it too and join us as we watch TV at night, everyone on their own cushion. We had to make sure to only look at certain colors so every piece of cat hair wouldn't show up as soon as they jumped on it. These kitties shed a lot, more than any other short-haired cats I've known.

The cats' acclimation to the new place is a story all its own, and for another day. Let's just say they hate all motor vehicles, actually anything with a motor really, especially vacuums.
Even though I miss the convenience of the city, it's hard to complain, really, since the Boston line is right down the street, and I still pass Comm. Ave every day to work, and see the T going by. That thing is so cute when you don't actually have to be stuck on it everyday for work.

One of the nicer benefits of our new home is that it is only a 15 minute drive to work. It took me longer to commute when I lived in Boston only a couple of miles away. It's funny how that works.

Right now, I am most excited about finally having kids come to trick or treat. Apartment complexes in Boston don't really get any Halloween visitors; they would tend to go to neighboring Brookline or Newton. Now we are in a cute little neighborhood with plenty of children, and even some wild animals. So far I've seen a wild turkey strutting across my lawn, a baby deer, and a little rabbit, as well as numerous types of birds and woodland creatures. Our neighbor's multiple birdhouses really drive the cats crazy! Who, by the way, are doing a great job losing that weight they had packed on from being cooped up in a small apartment. They love chasing each other up and down the stairs, and sliding across the hard wood floors. They're funny to watch!
My new neighbor, Dina, has a cute little dog who looks just like Toto.

All in all, I think everyone's happy here =)

You're out of the woods
You're out of the dark
You're out of the night
Step into the sun
Step into the light
Keep straight ahead for
The most glor ...
... ious place
On the face
Of the earth or the sky

Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate
And bid it open--

Fright Fest

So last Friday the 13th I wanted to see a scary movie. On Demand had only a couple worth buying, so I went with The Hills Have Eyes, and whew wee it sure was scary.

If you're looking for a scary one to view for Halloween check this out, just make sure not to watch it alone, and you might want to put something like a bat or a gun next to the couch...just in case.

You're it!

Seriously? This is pretty stupid.

Not it! Mass. elementary school bans tag

ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Tag, you're out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid."


Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.


What's next? A ban on hopscotch? The swings? Slides? God forbid Junior get a cut or a bruise--not my baby! Pretty soon we'll have a complete ban on fun itself. That's OK since adulthood is much more fun anyway. Right then. Wild and fun. Everyday. Yeah.

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

There's a land that's fair and bright,

I found it funny that my colleagues in other states didn't get Columbus Day off, but we did...suckas! They're all crying about it on the phone when they're like, but I emailed you on Monday, and I'm all, well we had the holiday off, so Tuesday was pretty busy for us. Then they pretend to feel sorry that Tuesday was so busy since they had to work on Monday--and I'm like hey, if you live in New England then Columbus Day is a required holiday off! It's beautiful here this time of year. And besides they can laugh at us when we're freezing our booties off in a nor'easter in January and they're wearing shorts & flip flops in Florida. Yeah.

I'm bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

So last holiday weekend I went to The White Mountains, home of my great-grandparents and the grandfather I never really knew. My great-grandmother lived to be an active 94- years old. She attributed this to the clean mountain air and the fact that she kept active throughout her life, both physically and mentally. One time I went to visit her in college with my boyfriend and I stopped at a flower shop in town to pick up a potted plant for her since she loved to garden. I sort of remembered how to get to her house, but had never actually been the driver during family visits so wasn't entirely sure. The lady at the flower shop started talking to me and it came out that I was visiting my greatgrammie. Since everyone knows everyone in small towns she asked her name and I said Doris Cawley and she, of course, not only knew her, but knew where she lived and gave good directions to her house. Small towns are cute.

As we set out for the 28 mile drive along the Kangamangus Highway for some hiking amongst the fall foliage followed by outlet store shopping we passed the hotel my family always used to stay at when we trekked up north. It looked the same, but was under new ownership. I looked around to see if I could recognize the flower shop I had stopped at about 5 years ago, but I think it was more off of the main road. I like to think it's still there, and that the lady still remembers my greatgrammie, who at 92 years of age would get down and dirty in her garden behind her little white house. The house where I saw my first hummingbird visit the feeder by her window, and watched the babbling brook running by out back. The place where I listened intently to many stories about my grandpa and greatgrandfather, and the work that they did to help build the little town of North Woodstock, NH.








That was the first time I drove there myself, and the last time I ever saw her.






I'll see you all this coming fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

Tonight's full Moon will be almost 12 percent bigger than some of the full Moons this year, according to NASA. For me, this explains a lot.

My week has been unusually weird; Monday was normal, but ever since Tuesday I have faced a number of oddities that I shan't get into on this blog, not only for the sake of sparing my hands from typing a novel, but also for your boredom's sake. I asked one of my co-workers on Tuesday if it was a full moon that night, and saw from my calander that it wasn't. Perhaps weird things happen leading up to a full moon, or perhaps I just have (probably all in this order) crappy/strange/awesome luck lately. I dunno.

Anywho, here is something you may not know about tonight's bigger-than-normal full moon...

The reason: The Moon is near perigee, the point on its slightly out-of-round orbit that is closest to Earth.

This Moon is called the Harvest Moon, owing to its timing of being nearest the autumnal equinox. Farmers in the past relied on it to harvest all night. The Harvest Moon is not always closer and bigger than normal.

The Moon will rise around 6 p.m. local time (compute exact time for your location). It will be officially "full" at 11:13 p.m. ET, though the Moon is never really full.

Some other strange Moon facts:

The Moon is not bigger when on the horizon.
The Moon is moving away as you read this. Far away.
There is no proof the Moon makes people crazy.

Late Monday night and into Tuesday morning, Oct. 10, the Moon will pass in front of the Pleiades star cluster, creating an interesting skywatching opportunity for skywatchers with telescopes.

There you have it folks--there is no evidence that full moons either make people, or machines, crazy, but this has still been a crazy week. If anyone has any explanation, I'm all ears!