Just guessing...

Just found this among the photos from Karu's wedding in June (which, amazingly, I never posted about!!!), and I'm guessing it could explain why I'm still single.


Yes, that's me (and Pete!) doing the Thriller dance, and it is what is going to help me keep my sense of humor in the middle of finals madness. Just thinking about what an utterly awful (and hysterically funny) photo it is makes me laugh out loud. So if any of you are bored or just having a bad day, this post is for you.

Love in an Elevator

So I was heading up to meet with my supervisor last Wednesday, and hopped in the elevator as I always do. There was a man in the elevator - probably a relative of a patient - who nodded at me as I got in. I smiled back at him and at the two nurses who were also in the elevator. The elevator stopped on the third floor and the nurses got off.

"How's your day going?" asked the man.

"Pretty good, how about yours?" I answer (elevator chit chat is a common occurance in the hospital)

"Ok." pause "So, are you a nurse here?"

"No, I'm a social worker."

"I'd love to take you out sometime."

At this point, as if on cue, the doors opened and I stepped out onto my floor, flashed a big grin, and said, "You have a great weekend!"

A gentle let-down for him, and a good ego boost for me.

Never a dull moment in this place.

Thanks. (again)

I was making a list in my head yesterday as I drove up to Maine of things I wanted to remember to write about in this post, but after a day of cooking and eating and playing one of the longest games of Phase 10 ever, I can barely remember one. I wrote a fairly comprehensive post last year and after reading it just now, I am at a loss as to how to say thanks this year better than I did back then.

Nonetheless, here is my Thanksgiving post. Not nearly as comprehensive or well-written as last year, but just as heart-felt.

This year, I am thankful for:

- Family. All of 'em. The ones who raised me, the one who grew up beside me, the ones who saw me through all of my awkward phases and loved me just the same...

- My grandmother moving to Maine, because I get to see her almost every month now instead of every few years. Not only do I see her, but I get to hear stories about her life that I might never have heard otherwise - stories about how she and my grandfather got together, and about her time living in Boston when she was in her early 20s, and so many other fun things. We get to go on lunch dates and play canasta and we laugh a lot. And I think it means just as much to her to get to know me as an adult as it does to me to get to know her on a different level now too.

- Friends near and friends far. Friends with whom I have entrusted secrets and fears and who have entrusted me with the same. Friends who open their doors to me whenever I can visit. Friends who send random email forwards that I hate getting, but kind of like because I know it means that somebody out there was thinking of me for a second. Friends who are popping out babies left and right and who are letting me share in their joy and excitement. Friends who call me out of the blue just to say hi.

Some of you know and some do not that this was a tough fall for me on many levels. The combination of school, internship, work, and life that I was balancing overwhelmed me and there were times when I felt lost. Whether you knew that or not, the amount of support I received from many of you through emails and phone calls and hang-out time and text messages and comments on this here blog was hugely significant to me.

Thank you all for blessing me with your humor and your kindness and your listening ears and your love. I am lucky to know so many great people and I'm so very thankful to have you in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007.

They're back!!!

It is the time of year when my absolutely most favorite treat is available!

Go directly to Trader Joe's.

Buy some.

Your mouth will thank you.

Misery, thy name is...

... grad school.

Apologies for the lack of updates/musings/links as of late. There was a tiny window of time when I wasn't slammed with 600 kinds of papers to be writing all at once, but that time is gone, and it's now full-speed-ahead until December 14th.

I went to another baby shower a few weekends back, and this one was at the home of the parents of my best friend from elementary school. I hadn't been back to this neighborhood in probably 15 years, so it was pretty trippy. I drove by my old house, which has been painted three shades of ugly since we moved out in 1990, and then on to my friend's parents' house which flooded me with memories the moment I walked in. Building obstacle courses in the tv room, playing out in the back yard... it was fun to re-discover memories like that.

MOMP had her baby, which is all kinds of exciting, and I am impatiently waiting for a break in my schedule so that I can get out to meet him. Congrats to MOMP and husband!

I'm heading up to Maine for Saturday night to celebrate Dasein's birthday, which will be a good break for me. I was originally going to try to stick around in Maine to watch the Pats game, but I think there is too much writing to be done to be able to justify that - especially since I'm babysitting on Sunday night.

So the boringness of this post pretty much explains why I haven't posted in a while, but I got feeling bad (not as bad as Dasein should feel - no trip log yet and you've been home 3 months!?!?!?), so I had to write something.

Next up: the annual Thanksgiving gratitude email.

Team Spirit

First, let me say that I am tragically sad that The Decemberists concert, which I was supposed to attend tomorrow night, was cancelled. I really am. Because I heart The Decemberists.

However, I also heart the Patriots, and the concert being cancelled ensures that I am able to catch every second of the Pats-Colts game tomorrow. There is so much hype around this game they've even had daily news stories on NPR about it. Crazy.

Before I tell you the next part of the story, I need to explain that I have a slight obsession with socks and underwear. It started over 10 years ago when I was at summer camp as a counselor trainee and we all went to WalMart one night and purchased Mickey Mouse underwear. They were fun (and funny), so we purchased more. By the end of the summer, I had an incredibly large collection of underwear that featured cartoon characters. I no longer have cartoon characters on my underwear (mostly because they stopped making them), but I do like to have a good selection of underwear that have stripes or colors or that are in some way more interesting than just plain colors.

The sock obsession came a few years later, when I got my first pair of "fun" socks. Now I own lots of them, and I can't stand wearing boring socks. It keeps me from taking myself too seriously when I have to dress professionally for work (or any day, really). I can look professional, and then I sit down and my socks become visable, and they have pigs or monkeys or bright colorful stripes on them and people can see I'm not as serious as I look. I have Red Sox socks that I wore all season, and Patriots socks that I wear on Sundays so I can subtly show my team spirit.

Anyway, the point of telling you all that is that I was shopping for World Series gear the other day and happened upon a discount rack of Patriots gear, including half-price Patriots underwear. Being the true fan that I am, I purchased a pair with no hesitation and I will be wearing them tomorrow.

Go Pats!