new stuff

For times of uncertainty, there is retail therapy. Every day since I learned about being reassigned, I have purchased. There was the trip to Williams-Sonoma, to spend my gift certificate from work. My, that grapefruit spray cleaner is nice. And the Emile Henri loaf pan. New dish and hand towels. And that was just Monday. Since then, there has been Restoration Hardware, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and of course online shopping, where organic socks are available at wholesale prices if you order in bulk. And you wondered what you were getting for Christmas.

Dang. I love being an American.

Dropped $700 on my car today. I am now the proud owner of a new 1.5 something distributor -- a specialty part of the ultra-fuel-effiicent Honda Civic VX. I'm just relieved that the horrendous, two-squirrels-mating-badly noise is gone away. Yay! Thank you, Pat's Garage. They'll be geting more of my money next month, when I do the CV boots and the clutch cylinders.

Saturday I leave for New York, where I meet ALex for what is currently looking like a jaunt all over the place. Hoping to score an apartment swap in Greenwich village to have a wee bit of a home base while I'm away on my one week of vacation this year. FIngers crossed. I've offered a nice man from Craigslist my car, all the beer in my fridge, and a first born or two. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my new non-stick triple teflon 10-inch fry pan (only $12 with a coupon) and my new heavy-duty tea mug finished in Blue Rutile glaze (made it, didn't buy it).

Saw my niece Katie over the weekend. Silk-screened a starfish onto a couple of shirts together. And she helped me pick out shoes -- help I sorely need, as my shoe-buying habits are truly remedial. What can I say? I don't like mey feet that much. Just need to walk on them. Sometimes it sucks to a single, unmarried, quasi-fashion-conscious American woman. THen again, there is the shopping.
Hope everyone is well.
Love,
Aunt Judy

horse-trading

I've been re-orged. My manager Julie and I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Today it did. With a thump. My new boss called during lunch but I didn't take it. It's like being livestock. Your old owner fobs you off on some sub-executive and good luck to you. What's the Tom Waits song? 'You got to git behind the wheel in the morning and plow...' I anticipate walking on gently with someone else's hand on my bridle. Unless I decide to be a bad horsie.

For all life's curveballs, there is yellow chicken curry. Thai ice tea. And lots and lots of chocolate. Later, there will be yarn. Cashmere this time. I promise.

extreme self-care

I have a new program of behavioural modification: I award myself points for doing the above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty nice things for myself. Seems odd to have to arm-twist for pampering and other self-enrichment activities, but that does seem to be the case.

Here are some examples.
+1 Point for:
moisturizing face mask
sitting meditation
finishing a book or magazine
completing a creative project
writing a short story
working out

Conversely, I subtract points for behaviors I don't want to encourage. Such as...
-1 Point for:
Watching >5 hours of tv or videos per week
playing more than 2 games of Solitaire per day
putting on makeup while driving

When I rack up 5 points, I get to buy yarn. There's a soft, lovely rusty orange wool/cashmere mix I've had my eye on. But boy those points add up slowly! Fortunately, I've learned to meditate while wearing a moisturizing face mask. Tough life.

accident prone

First, it was the biting pinecone. Then, I stepped on a big honkin piece of glass -- in my own apartment. Ther ewas blood and limping. It was very sad. Then I burnt my thumb on a pair of superheated jumper cables. (Apparently I was supposed to ground the negative...) It's been just a terrible week, injury-wise. Although I enjoyed everything else.

Went to Tassajara Zen Mountain resort. It was lovely. I hiked, swam, fell into a stream (*didn't* hurt myself), ate delicious vegatarian cuisine, and sat three periods of zazen. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

I'm hanging in Santa Cruz with Stacy and Michael, who are taking good care of me by feeding me bread with garlic and several glasses of crisp white wine. The beach was fabulous - no great white sharks around at all. The weather rocks. Too bad we can't any of us afford real estate. We could just hang in the sun and BBQ in style, all summer long.

Interstate boyfriend

Evidently, while visiting Salt Lake City, Utah today, my boyfriend Alex visited the Mormon Visitors Center and became acquainted with three young Morman missionary women who tried to turn him on to the Church of Latter Day Saints. (They don't call themselves Mormons, and they believe that there have been several saints after Jesus who have imparted teachings, starting around 400AD.) It sounds like some sort of setup for a religious porn flick; he dubbed himself an "Interstate Playboy." Anyway, he abstained, his Buddhism intact.

He's driving now on the old 40 transcontinental highway. It was raining this morning in Salt Lake City. He ran into a snowstorm on the way to Park Slope, home of the Sundance Film Festival. Now, he's safely ensconced in Vernal, where he's gotten the last room in town -- a suite at the Motel 6 -- due to a livestock show somewhere in the vicinity. He is, he says, in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

How do you know when you're in Utah? "When there are two packets of coffee with the coffee maker in your hotel room, and they're both decaf," Alex says.

Big milestones: today, he visited Muir's Jerky Factory, to stock up for the trip. Tomorrow: Dinosaur National Monument. But first, a sampling of the local cuisine...

a good goodbye

woke up this morning at 4am in Reno, NV. I went with Alex to Lake Tahoe this weekend, then Reno, and flew home this morning. He's probably partway across the Nevada desert by now. Kinda crazy, if you think about it.

We had a great last weekend together. Stayed last night at the Peppermill, which was surprisingly nice, for a casino. Lost $40 in Blackjack, rolled craps dice for the first time, and had a most excellent steak dinner. You can't quite see it in the photo, but there are actually life-size mechanical animals in the pool area. When we arrived, gale-force winds were making whitecaps in the warm pool and the bear was growling...

Yesterday we hiked the Rubicon trail in west Lake Tahoe. Stunning. Alex went on a bit after I stopped for a post-prandial snooze on the beach. He did a bit of rock scrambling and saw a brown bear, hanging out. Then, a bit more scrambling.

Stayed Sat at Tahoe Lake Cottages in Tahoma, ate at Gar Woods, and had a nice hike in Desolation Wilderness, where I got bitten by a pinecone. (We were using them for batting practice and a pointy one opened up my middle finger. Ouch!) For future reference, Cedar Glen Cottages looked like a nice spot to stay.

On Friday I took Alex out for a last night on the town. Met him at the Top of the Mark for drinks, took the cable car to Town Hall for dinner, and then walked the labrynth at Grace Cathedral. San Francisco was at her best.

Alex and I said goodbye this morning. He left his beard, his prayer flags, and his keyboard in California. (I may learn to play this summer.) Me? I've got my heart traveling east through the Nevada desert at the moment. It's okay. I'll survive.