Vermont

That's the view from my window at the farmhouse where I'm staying till Friday.  I took the picture around 6 am.  Below is a photo of the same view around 10 am.

Vermont is the greenest place I've ever seen.  Especially after two weeks in south central Texas.  Yesterday we walked all around the town of Middlebury, VT, checking out the shops and the college and various other interesting things to look at.  Today, I think we're going  to Ft. Ticonderoga, across Lake Champlain in New York.

The night I arrived, we had a late dinner at a little pub in Middlebury.  They served mac-and-cheese as an entree.  You know what I ate for dinner?  Mac-and-cheese.

I don't have time for a long entry; just waiting on my friend Tom to finish a phone call and then we'll be out of here.  I figured I had time to post a couple of photos.

Saturday

Turkey avocado BLT at Blue Star.

John skipped yoga today and we went to the Blue Star Art Complex in San Antonio.  We had lunch at the Blue Star Brewing Co. and poked around some of the art galleries.  It's oppressively hot outside, but for some reason it's more tolerable than Georgia heat.  The difference between sun and shade in Texas is actually a difference, not just a brightness.  In the sun, you feel like you're going to die on the spot; in the shade, you kinda feel like it's not so bad.  In Georgia, you want to die both ways.  Texas = heat lamp, Georgia = steam table.  I took some pictures (but not inside the galleries) and we came back to the house.


This morning, we tried showering at the same time.  Not in the same place, for chrissake--why would I write about that here?  We have two showers, but we share a large hot water heater with several other apartments, so I wondered if having both showers going would affect water pressure at all.  It didn't.  I didn't even notice that John got in his shower while I was in mine.  Kinda cool.

I'm thinking I will try not to post ALL the same photos here that I post on Facebook.  I know pretty much everyone who reads this is also on Facebook, so it seems silly to post all the same pictures.  I don't know, maybe it's not silly.  I definitely don't post as many here as I do there.  I'll decide after the New England trip, in any case.

Speaking of which, I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow to fly to Vermont, with a layover in DC.  I'm there till Friday, when I'll be in Massachusetts for three days, leaving Sunday to drive to Philly, staying there till Wed. the 6th, then flying to Detroit to hang with my parents for a few days, then flying home to TX on the 11th with a long layover in Atlanta.  When I get back in two weeks, Fleck will be even less amused than he is in this photo:

Blah

Didn't end up going to the game tonight.  As it turns out, John has yoga on Friday nights.  Also Tuesday and Thursday nights and Sunday mornings.  Oh--and we're not going to the festival tomorrow, because Sunday yoga got moved to Saturday.

I need some friends.

I also have a lot of stuff to do to get ready for the trip, so it's just as well that we're not doing anything.  I have to do laundry, which I did today, and I have to...well...ok, I have to put the laundry in a bag.  I don't have a bag; I tossed all my luggage during the Bed Bug Incident.  So I have to borrow a bag from John.

I'm a little stressed about clothes.  I guess it's kind of chilly in New England at night...and I'm going to be sleeping outside a couple of nights.  My clothes haven't arrived from Georgia yet, so all I have are a couple of pairs of capri pants, a bunch of tank tops, one pair of jeans, and a couple of lightweight men's dress shirts.  I think I have a zip-up sweatshirt, maybe.  And shoes--all I have are flip-flops and sandals.  I do have my tennis shoes, but they're ugly and I never wear them.  Oh hell, I have to wear them to fly--I can't wear sandals through security.  I've never understood how people can walk around barefoot in an AIRPORT.  No.  Way.

I'm in a pretty yucky mood today...tried to make it better by getting a pedicure, but the place I went to was pretty low-budget.  They didn't do my favorite part, the sugar scrub.  And they held me hostage at the end because my toes weren't dry yet...believe me, I'll be careful about the toes, if you just give me my shoes and let me leave.  

Bah.  Cranky.

Got this hat on clearance the other day.  Yes, it makes me a turtlehead.

I hit a proactive streak today.  I'd been meaning to contact the Austin Wonder Brass, a brass band in Austin, so I looked them up and found they'd changed their name to the Austin Brass Band.  I emailed them and confirmed that it's cool if I come to rehearsals after I get back from my trip next month.  After that, I saw that the San Antonio Pet Expo is looking for volunteers.  I debated for a few minutes: "What if I'm busy?  What if something comes up?  That will totally get in the way of my--" and I couldn't come up with anything for it to get in the way of.  I'm used to being so busy.  When I'm not busy, I catch up with photos or work in the repair shop...which I no longer do.  So I emailed THEM.  Within ten minutes, I was confirmed to work both the day of the expo and the set-up day before it.

I needed quarters to do laundry, so I ran to the grocery store...decided to go to a different grocery store in another neighborhood, and drove around a little bit, looking at houses.  Went to the store, came home, realized I hadn't gotten the quarters.

What DID I get?  Pumpkin empanadas, which I promptly re-named pumpkin pasties.  Also, some travel stuff: shampoo, laundry detergent in single-serve packets, etc.  Saline solution, because John keeps stealing mine.  Toilet paper.  AND A NEW CAT.

The cat didn't come from the grocery store.  He has been hanging around outside my apartment.  I pet him whenever I get a chance; he's sweet and friendly, and today he was sleeping right outside my door, so I sat on the steps and petted him for a while.  Then I coaxed him all the way around the building, past a man who shouted, "Hey, that cat BITES!" and onto my patio, where I gave him the leftover food that Lily and Fleck always leave in their bowls.

They were outraged.

More Texas food

My friend, Forbes, sent me these two pics from his business trip to Dallas.  On the right, we have Texas-shaped pasta.  Below, just pecan candy in a Texas-shaped container.

I'm bored out of my mind.  I have a few days to kill this week, and figured on unpacking/sorting boxes from our move, but the stuff won't be delivered till July 5th.  So, I'm doing lots of laundry and watching My So-Called Life on Netflix.  The cats are so happy to have me here all day, they don't know what to do with themselves.  Wherever I go in the house, they follow me and both try to sit on my lap.

Got a couple of interesting things coming up this weekend.  I think we'll go to another Missions game on Friday night.  Saturday, we might drive out I-10 about 50 miles and go to the Watermelon Thump Festival in Luling, TX.  And Sunday I leave for two weeks.

I honestly haven't found that much to dislike about Texas, yet.  So far, the crappiest thing about Texas is that it's not Georgia.  Never thought I'd say that about anyplace.  The weather sucks, but we're supposed to get thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow, maybe.  I  better see some badass thunder and lightning.

I've been eating a lot of fruit.  Pineapple, watermelon, strawberries.  This morning I had those things mixed with Horizon organic plain nonfat yogurt, raisins, and Fiber One cereal.  It was a weak imitation of the granola/fruit/yogurt combo I used to eat for breakfast when I worked for my friend Rich.  I shouldn't say weak, it wasn't weak.  But Fiber One can't touch Rich's homemade granola.  Anyway, I ate breakfast late, so I skipped lunch and later had a snack of celery with peanut butter and raisins.  Oh, and a handful of wasabi popcorn, and the three remaining Texas snaps.

I've been sleeping better since I got here, and while it is quieter than my old apartment (no more craptastic barking dog next door!--but now there is a thumping toddler upstairs), I should admit the real reason.  Back during BedbugGate, my doctor prescribed an anti-anxiety drug to help me sleep, since the mere thought of the bugs drove me crazy.  Anyway, I probably shouldn't get that prescription refilled, but it *has* been great to fall asleep so easily these last couple of weeks.

All-Dairy June

Wow, there's a lot of cheese in Texas.

This is my dinner: cheese enchilada, taco, refried beans, rice and a guacamole salad from Chacho's.  The foil-wrapped thing at the top right is fresh tortillas, which show up with a lot of Mexican entrees around here.  Like bread at an Italian restaurant.  At lunch last week, I invented the Infinity Taco: a taco where half the stuff falls out, so you use a tortilla to make another taco from the leftovers, and half the stuff falls out of that one, so you use a tortilla...and so on.  The tortillas are AMAZING.

This is John's dinner from Chacho's.  There's stuff under the cheese, I swear.  Look how it's dripping off the plate!  No Dairy January is going to be one hell of a challenge next year.

Below is a different kind of cheese: the mascots from the San Antonio Missions game we went to on my first full day in Texas.  The one on the left is the Ballapeno, a large pepper wearing a Missions jersey. On the right is the Puffy Taco, who represents Henry's Puffy Tacos, which is a restaurant very close to our house.  When we went there back at Thanksgiving, John bought me a puffy taco doll to add to my collection of plush food.  At the ball game last week, I got a Ballapeno doll for the same reason.  I don't know why I like stuffed food.  It makes me laugh.

Photos

Pictures from the first few days.

Brush fire in Louisiana

John driving.

My first friend in Texas.

Lily using Fleck for a pillow.

The view from my patio.

They have food shaped like Texas.

We arrived safely in Texas.  I keep calling it Georgia.

Lily is mostly hiding in closets and behind the TV.  The cats were great on the way here--unhappy, but quiet.  The trip went smoothly.

The apartment is nice enough, but it's already got a lot of John's stuff in it--especially work stuff all piled in the second bedroom--and it's going to be really full when the rest of our stuff arrives.  Don't know what we're going to do with all the crap.

I'm resting up, getting used to the place, and writing more than usual.  Mostly trying to get some of the emotional stuff out that I've been storing up for the past six months.  It's not turned into anything worth posting yet, but if it turns into anything good, I'll put some of it up here.  On the 26th, I'm leaving for two weeks--going to Vermont, Boston, Philly, Michigan, and maybe a long layover in Atlanta on the way back to Texas.  Then I'll be stuck here till September.

No job prospects.  I'm realizing that I might have a hard time getting a public service job because I'm not bilingual enough.  I will have to make some teaching contacts at some point, but for now I just haven't been able to deal.

It is HOT.

I'm going to be taking some photos, but for tonight I'm too tired to post much.  The one up there is a cookie--a Texas Snap, to be exact.  The package says "Our famous GINGER SNAPS in INTRIGUING TEXAS shapes."  I think that says all that needs to be said.

Moving Day

Moving.  Spent most of today sitting in a plastic lawn chair, surfing on my laptop, waiting for the movers to finish packing and loading our stuff.  Moving day turned out to be about the most relaxing day of this moving experience.  Not counting the hour or so that I spent looking for a hotel room for tonight.

Naturally, I've turned hotel-phobic.  Yesterday I booked a room for us to stay in with the cats, thinking it would be easiest to leave them in a hotel room for moving day.  When I checked in, I went to the room and performed my now-usual ritual of dismantling the bed, looking for evidence of bugs.  Found some.  Went to the desk, asked for a room on the other side of the hotel...found more.  Got a refund and went home, and because I'm totally freaking out about the bugs now, I stripped, cooked my clothes in the dryer, and showered.  We decided to stay at home for one more night.  The cats?  They've spent a thoroughly horrid day locked in the bathroom.  Lily is actually hiding behind the toilet, making her little snorty noises that she makes when she's scared.

Today I went to a different hotel--three, actually, before I found one that takes pets--and checked the bed.  I found...something...like a flea, maybe, or a bedbug; who knows?  I've never actually seen a bedbug, just their little skins and eggs.  This thing was definitely dead, and there was no other evidence of bedbugs.  I requested a different room.  I'm going to be okay in that one, I guess, but I told John we have to leave all our clothes at home except the ones we're going to wear tomorrow.  After all that hassle finding a cat-friendly hotel (btw--La Quinta.  They don't even charge for pets), we decided it would be better to leave the cats in the house tonight.  There's no furniture in it, but at least they will be home for another night before we take them on a 1,000 mile car trip.

It's going to be miserable.

I know it's been a while.  I keep thinking things will get better, and they only get worse.  John is here now; we're getting the house ready and the movers will come pack us up in less than a week.  Then we're moving to Texas.  I will be there for a week, then I'm going up to New England for one last brass band weekend, and then back in Texas for good.  Right now I feel a lot like that angel over there, with the broken wing.  I just can't seem to get things right these days.

I'm struggling with leaving my students, my band, my jobs and my friends.  Everyone thinks I should be delighted to be moving back in with my husband--I'm happy about that, don't get me wrong--and that I should be happy to move to a cooler city than the one where I live now.  Maybe they are putting a positive spin on things, but I hate lying to them; I don't want to say I'm happy or I'm making the best of it; hell, I'm really not.  I don't want to go.  I don't want to be unemployed and lonely.  I don't want to lie to people, so I avoid the subject.

I'm going to be leaving straight after the brass band gig in Massachusetts, and I haven't really hung out at the bar with my band friends much lately, so I doubt that there will be a party or any kind of goodbye thing.  My best friend quit the band already, and he would have been the one to arrange that.  I'm also leaving just a few weeks before my birthday...it's so unfair of me to say I want to have a party with my friends on my birthday, because I want that every year and never actually have the party.  Now I'm going to blame Texas when the truth is I would have copped out on the birthday party anyway.  I'm always afraid nobody will show up, so I talk about having a party and then I wait too long and don't do it, and say next year I'm going to have a party. Well, next year I'm not having a party.  I'm going to be in Texas.

I spent two weeks dealing with the bed bugs that I ended up getting after all.  I went on a rampage throwing out most of my clothes, furniture and a lot of books (most of it needed to be tossed anyway), cleaning, cooking my remaining clothes in the dryer, bagging everything in trash bags, and sleeping on an air mattress in the living room.  I stormed and stressed and finally remembered a thing that my Al-Anon groups used to say a lot, that they would stand inside a hula hoop and they knew that they could only control what was inside that hula hoop.  I realized I had a cell phone inside my hula hoop, and a checkbook, and so I called an exterminator.  He was wonderful.  He had me bag everything and empty the bedroom and put the cats in day care, and then he sent me out of the house for eight hours.  When I came back he had vacuumed and steamed my bed and carpets, treated the baseboards, floor, and furniture in the bedroom, and put my mattress and box spring into bugproof covers.  It doesn't mean that the bugs are 100% gone, but I'm hopeful.  I'm still checking my linens obsessively.

Tom and I went to Savannah a couple of weeks ago, taking care of a lot of the things I wanted to do before I left GA: a Sand Gnats game, Tybee Island beach, and Bonaventure Cemetery.  Last weekend, I went with him to the Highland Games at Furman University.  Took lots of photos of bagpipes and guys (and girls) throwing telephone poles, and sheep-herding dogs.  Between these things and my wrapping up work at the repair shop, I've had very few days to think or settle down.  I'm getting rid of so much junk from around the house, but there's still more junk that expands to fill the space.  Now John's here and I have to force him to get things done around the house.  Tired of being a grown-up.

I'm hoping to start another writing project once things settle down, something similar to the No Dairy month.  I might do the 30-day song challenge that's so popular on Facebook these days, only with more writing to accompany the songs.  I might use this space to explore San Antonio and Texas, and write about what happens (possible blog title: Shut Up, Texas).  I will likely be researching and buying a house, so I could write about that--or about trying to get a job.  We'll see.