The beautiful bride

Our friend Jessie got married yesterday. She looked so beautiful. I felt so bad for her toward the evening though bc it was pouring and she was just so upset that it rained pretty much the whole time, except during the ceremony.

My mom's glasses

When we had to pack up my mom's stuff from the hospital, we slipped her glasses into this box of tissues. We hadn't used these until now. The rattle of the glasses when I pull out a tissue is somehow comforting, not morbid.

phone booth

Everytime I go around this corner, I try to get a photo of this phone booth. This is the best I've managed so far. And all I got today. Not only did I finally have that appt, I think I have bronchitis or something. I have a fever and can't stop coughing. Ugh. Bad day.

Lazy dog

Today was the first time in probably more than two years that Yoshi was home alone all day. After being gone for more than 8 hours today, I worried that he probably had to pee. I came home and found him here, zonked out by the fireplace. It took about five minutes to get him to actually go outside and pee. : ) He was pretty content.

Bracelet

Anna's having some trouble keeping still in class, so I designed and made this bracelet for her. I'm not convinced it's going to help, but I had to try. (The buttons slide inside and when she needs something to fiddle with, she can slide them out, one by one.)

Starbucks, save me!

When I get stressed out at work -- like today -- I make a run to Starbucks for some warm chai. It seems to make things better, if only for a little while.

Blue sky

The sky was so beautifully blue today. The ride home from work was so peaceful.

Birthday drinks

The girls went out for drinks for Enid's birthday. Yay! It's been a while since I've had a girls' night.

Binary code

Do you know what that binary code says? I do. Another silly thing I've figured out because of Picture the Impossible. Don't worry. The game is over Saturday and you won't have to hear much more about it. ;)

The view from my window

The leaves are finally turning here. This is my favorite tree in our yard. It turns the most beautiful shade of yellow every year and drops tons of leaves, which Toaster hates bc he has to rake them (I have to stay away from leaves, i.e. mold).

Anna's first play

Anna's first school play and I couldn't understand a word of it (Spanish). It was called Nabo Enorme (The Enormous Turnip).

Fall flowers

These flowers remind me of you for some reason. Maybe it's the colors, but they make me think of our old apartment in Binghamton for some reason.

Getting lost

We went for a drive early this afternoon on some back country roads, just getting lost for a while while we looked at the fall foliage. We also got lucky and found an ice cream shop. : ) Yoshi wanted some too. : )

Who knew?

Who knew Winnie the Pooh had a driver's license? Or that he was friends with a pig?

The happy couple

Toaster and I went to a wedding tonight. It was pretty awesome, nothing like any of the weddings I've been to before. Very bohemian. And look, I grew boobs!

My date

I couldn't get my other date, Joy, in the picture because I couldn't fit the camera in my purse and we met her outside. Both my dates were stunning (and Anna, too, of course).

Yoshi's bday

Today was Yoshi's birthday; he turned 10. We celebrated with a bowl of steamed rice -- his favorite. : )

Packing the purse

I had to figure out a way to get all that, and my husband's iPhone, into my purse. (Sorry about the unartful job of blocking out my DL#.)

Poetry

My poetry class with the elderly has really inspired me to read more poetry. It's been really exciting!

Picking the dress

The dress (bought on sale at a Max Azaria outlet). Just needed a button sewn back on.

Replacement

Instead of outsourcing my coworker's job to India, we went to the elementary school. (Actually another coworker had her daughter at work today and she stuffed some envelopes for us in Germaine's office for a little while.)

My grandma

Seven years ago today my grandmother passed away. Today was a heavy day, between remembering her, and hearing your news and then hearing my bad news today, it's just been... heavy. Wasn't she so beautiful though? I love this photo of her so much.

Dinner guest

We had a superhero for a dinner guest tonight.

The movies

Andrea and I saw "Whip It" tonight. It was great. So cute. I think you would love it. Roller derby girls scare me. : )

Organized

It doesn't look pretty, but it's a vast improvement.

A gift

My friend Andrea surprised me with these gloves today. They're so me! She has them in light pink and black. She bought them bc we're always so cold at the office. : ) I love when people surprise me with things like this. I feel so special

My Superhero

A new exhibit opened Strong -- National Museum of Play, and considering the subject, we had to go opening weekend.

Snake on our house

So at 8 a.m. today while we were pulling out of the driveway to go to breakfast, I saw a snake on the side of the house. At first we were not sure what it was, but then we got a closer look and saw the snake's head. Who knew snakes could climb that high? I mean, what was he doing? So here's Toaster getting the snake and then chopping off its head with a shovel. Awesome stuff.

Here's Toaster with the dead snake's body.

Here's the snake's head. It was still opening and closing its mouth.

Irony

After our scavenger hunt through the cemetery, we decided on noodles from Ming's. Anna bit right into her fortune when she went to eat her cookie. Her's is the nearer fortune. (Parker's is the farther, and I believe it!)

Woodie's art show

Miriam and I went to our friend Woodie's art show this afternoon. Great stuff. I think you would love her art.

Unhappy

Parker was NOT happy about having to stop for sour cream on our way home. She just wanted to EAT!

Our town library

Isn't it amazing? I finally got a library card today from our library. It used to be the high school, I think. When I walked in today, it smelled like the school where I went to kindergarten. It smelled like old books and worn, creaky floors.

Obsessed

I may now be obsessed with this Picture the Impossible game. This was an incredible amount of decoding work. All by hand. And only one little piece of it was actually necessary.

Supper club leftovers

I got home late tonight after my poetry session at the nursing home so I heated up some of my supper club leftovers including my tiramisu for dessert. Yum!

Supper club turns 2

We celebrated our second anniversary tonight. I love these ladies!

Glee!

I am officially addicted to a new show. Sue is so, so wrong. And I love Will. And all the singing and dancing. Who doesn't love all the singing and dancing?!

Colors

At least half the trees have some color on them. Love that!

The walk home

It's been getting a lot darker earlier here. Tonight Toaster said that it's starting to feel like Halloween weather.

Cozy fire

It was cold enough today to turn on the fire place for the first time this season. I think Yoshi is pretty excited about it.

Trees Dominate

Anna and I did a scavenger hunt for the Picture the Impossible game we're playing and we had to take a picture of us reading the paper with these paper people. Check out Anna's headline.

Our team name is The Tree.

Thanksgiving

I didn't get a chance to get any photos during our Canadian Thanksgiving feast tonight, so I stole this photo of our friend Liz Foran's cake from her on Facebook. It was a GREAT night.

Landscaping

Toaster landscaped around our back patio all day today. We picked out all of our shrubs from the farmers' market yesterday. Toaster did such a nice job. What a difference!

New bed

We bought a new mattress last week (upgraded to a queen) and it was delivered on Friday. Spent all day today shopping for bedding. Upgrading to a queen is expensive! But our comfort is worth it!

Zombie tattoo

Today was pretty awesome. Started with pilates, ended with Julie & Julia and in between, Joe got the first of two tattoos I gave him for his birthday. (The other is scheduled for February.)

Miriam

I had an after work cocktail with Miriam. I haven't seen her in almost two months. It was great to catch up.

First Christmas

For our first Christmas, Joe made me this. It has our first emails to each other in the background. I hung it across from my desk so I look at it all day. I love that man.

Poetry

Tonight was my first night volunteering for a project called LifeVerse.The project places volunteers in nursing homes where we facilitate poetry workshops. We discuss, read and write poetry. It was an amazing evening. I could write you a book about my first session tonight.

Goodbye Germaine

We say goodbye with a front page in PR just like we did in newspapers.