Mocking NJ

I know I said I wouldn't, but I have to!!

Last time I mocked the citizens of Red Bank for closing school said mocking was followed by a horrible ice storm that left the city without power for the better part of a day. I swore I would not mock them again, as I, the ignorant Coloradan, had obviously no clue what I was saying.

However, last night there was no ice storm, just a little snow. A little being not enough to coat the streets, barely enough to coat the lawn. This morning her school has a two hour delayed opening. Two extra hours when there are no cars to shovel out or icy streets to handle. A little mocking must occur.

It's already melting off my roof and it's only 9 am. I am wondering if the reason this school district has such short holidays is so it can call no school or delayed school each time the sky spits.

Of course, now that I have mocked, there will be another ice storm and she and I will be shut up in the house for another week of madness. Interestingly, I have found many web resources for the locked inside, including FamilyFun.com which has great ideas for indoor crafts, has lots of coloring pages to print out, and other neat stuff to do when you are tearing your hair out with a bored child on the umpteenth consecutive snow day.

Well, off I go to lament the weather, and wish that I was home in a state where the school closure policies make sense.

100 and counting...

100th post!!

Today is my 100th post on this blog! I wish I had something very interesting and important to say for this momentous occasion, but I don't!! I do however have pictures of the frozen foliage in my front yard, news about the health of my little girl, and pregnancy jabber.

Monkey has recovered nicely from her role in "The Exorcist: Satan takes New Jersey!" and slept through the night, waking this morning with a voracious appetite and good spirits. My spirits have improved as well, since I was not up all night alternately holding her hair back and washing vomit covered bed-clothes. Yay!! No more vomit! (Thus far, Lee is not feeling very well, so we shall see if the saga continues.)

Today I am studying for the bar, Monkey is playing around the house, and we are enjoying the rising temperatures and melting ice. Things are beginning to move in the wind again, instead of just cracking in half and falling into the back yard.

Here are some pictures of the perfectly iced over tree and bush in the front of our house, these were taken this morning, so there has been some melting, but they still show how eerily the ice covered everything. It looked like a set for some mythical movie, every single thing had a fine coating of ice on it. All the fences, trees, bushes, flower stems, etc. Even the house has a shiny thin coating of ice on it. And the snow on the ground was so hard and frozen no footprints were left in it when you passed by.











The pictures don't show the detail very well, as my camera is limited to the abilities of a point and shoot, but the tops and sides of each branch and leaf is coated in a thin sheen of ice. It still feels like a winter wonderland, as long as you don't have to go anywhere.

However, the neighborhood and surrounding town is recovering, the downed power line outside our house was taken care of yesterday evening and the plows have been through so it is easier to get around the town. We may even venture out today! I think we are both a little stir crazy, having been stuck in the house for a few days in a row with no school or guests. Of course, nothing beat the day with no power for sheer stir craziness, but I have to say I am grateful that did not coincide with the 24 hours in which she forcefully expelled everything in her stomach. I am so glad that is over!

Otter has moved into position in this 33rd week of pregnancy and has begun to move around low in my womb. He moves around a lot still, and now has the size and strength to move my stomach with him. Last night he was rythmically kicking me while Lee and I were watching my tummy jump in time to the baby. His nickname is Leviathan Baby, as he rolls my stomach from side to side and causes parts of it to stick out oddly.

I suffer from this odd belief that I am going to give birth early, even though I logically know that chances of it are slim to none, and that he will likely be born closer to the 15th of April than his due date, the 1st. However, I am taking the bar exam at the end of this month, and am positive this is the cause of my concern. The thought of going into labor while taking the bar with complete strangers an hour's drive from my husband and house is horrible. I remind myself that the worst case scenario has Lee and Ellen driving to a hospital in Somorset, but I still worry. It is par for the course for bar exam takers, we all become obsessive about one thing or another while we prepare for licensure. (Okay, more obsessive.)

I will post more updated baby belly photos sometime this week. I have gotten a lot bigger and now have an outie instead of an innie. (Or as Lee so poetically puts it "Look honey! You've popped!)

Well, it is back to studying for the bar exam for me. Thanks for spending your valuable time reading the various things I have said here, I appreciate the connection. It is hard not to feel homesick, but connecting with everyone from time to time in the comments section really helps. Blessed be to all of you!

P.S. This is an awesome shirt! I have to have it!

I take it back...

Okay, so the snow/ice/slush storm was no joke.

Let's see, we were out of power all day yesterday until 9 pm at night, a power line fell outside our house, and the entire city was shut down for most of the day.

Apparently the few inches of wet slush was more debilitating than it looked. It froze and got cruchy almost immediately, and every branch, leaf and bud on every tree and bush was covered completely with a sheen of ice. It was unbelievable. Monkey and I took a walk and were enchanted by the icy splendor even while we dodged falling tree branches.

Then we spent the whole night with Monkey waking up every half hour to an hour throwing up. So thank god we had power and heat. The poor girl is still having a hard time keeping food and water down, and is lying in bed with Devon's little dog Fitz curling up beside her.

Ugh. It was a hard night.

Lacking in color...

Everything here is grey...

Okay, so one nice thing about Colorado is the relatively high number of sunny days. For example, while it may snow for a while, be frozen for half of forever, and be generally miserably cold, the sky will show some blue from time to time, and the mountains will have a lovely pastel of colors shining down on the valley throughout the winter.

Here, everything is grey.

It snowed yesterdayl. So today, the sky is grey, the ground is grey, the trees are grey, even the people look a little grey today.

It reminds me of a lovely Ani Di Franco song, Pale Purple, which has always sent me off to a dreary dreamy place. I place the lyrics down here for your perusal, and urge you to buy the CD. (She rocks)

pale purple nipples
goose pimpled
she shivers shifts from a walk to a trot
alone in the city
infested with faces
immune to new friendships
interested in places she's never seen
she says everything is gray here
and nothing is green
the girls from down the street
sixteen, seventeen years old
you can smell them getting pregnant
you can hear their rock and roll
that's america
you have to be tough
like a glad trash bag
the government's an old nag
with a good pedigree
but pedigree's don't help you and me
i see the precedent is gray here
and nothing is green
unless something unforeseen happens
i'm surrounded by the haves
they say i can have some too
just because of what i do
do they think a lot
about those who have not
or does it just distract them
from what they do
most of us have gray
except for those who can pay
for green
i'm torn
i'm torn
rejecting outfits offered me
regretting things i've worn
when i was still playing roles
to fill holes
in my conception of who i am
you know, now i understand
it's not important to be defined
it's only important to use your time well
well time is something nobody can buy
and nobody can sell you
so don't let anybody tell you
they have the advantage
because all the gray people can say every day
doesn't mean anything
if your mind is green

pale purple nipples
goose pimpled
she shivers shifts from a walk to a trot
alone in the city
infested with faces
immune to new friendships
interested in places she's never seen
she says everything is gray here
otherwise i'd stay here
but i'm looking for green
just like every human being

Back in the saddle again...

We are back in NJ, land of beaches, soft fuzzy pets, and rude drivers. We really enjoyed being home, my only regrets being that I was too tired to visit everyone. I am planning a return trip this summer for several weeks, so I am hopeful that I will have time to visit those I missed this time around.

It was a very calm visit, mostly spent with Mom and Dad and a few others. I had lunch with a good friend/former professor of mine, and have gotten the exciting opportunity to work on several environmental law cases. I am happy that I can work in Colorado from here, it is a rare gift to have a career that allows one to commute from 2000 miles away.

We had a lovely baby shower, lots of friends and good food. Everyone was so sweet and I am so thankful to all for the lovely gifts.

I think we need a different house. The one we are in is so annoying that it is hard to imaging staying in it for long. I believe this contributes to my desire to return to Denver. It is often the small things that make or break an experience. For example, our bathroom door randomly locks itself about half the time in a completely inconsistent manner. Therefore it is often the case that I will reach for the handle to leave the bathroom and find myself locked in. Sigh. Monkey's bedroom door locks from the inside when slammed. (A fact I discovered during an argument and remedied with a screwdriver and several minutes of cursing.) Our dishwasher turns off whenever you reach for a dish in the cabinet above it, the front door sticks shut, and it's colder than a cellophane wrapped whorehouse in the klondikes in both bedrooms.

I believe if I lived in a house where none of these things were daily issues, I might find my life here more pleasant. However, there is something about the Rocky Mountains being in plain sight as you go about your daily business. It seems to provide me with a sense of home that is absent in this mountainless land. Maybe I will get a similar feeling from the ocean, or the mass of trees abound here, but for now, I miss my lady in the mountains greeting me each time I leave the house.

Monkeyis excited to get back to school, and I am pleased to be able to return to the office, so there is a sense of getting back to it. Please keep emailing and calling though!! I need to hear voices without jersey accents if I am ever going to avoid getting one myself!!

Solutions...

I love Cream of Wheat!!

I decided, after my not so helpful doctor's appointment, to proceed with my life as though I were anemic and ill. I started going to bed earlier, and happily discovered that Cream of Wheat has 50% of your required iron per serving. I ate it for breakfast and dinner day before yesterday and breakfast yesterday. I actually have color in my cheeks again! I have energy again! I went to the grocery store yesterday and shopped, I cooked dinner, I actually participate in my life for the first time in a week!

I am so relieved. I was beginning to look forward into the next three months with a growing despair and horror. I couldn't stand the thought of being too tired to handle the basic responsibilities in my life. Thanks to the aforementioned cereal, I am happily engaged in work and home life again.

It is still very odd being out here instead of in Denver. The weather is cold in a clingy, biting way that I have never really felt before. It's almost as though the cold is suffering from an attachment disorder that forces it to try and climb inside you and be absorbed. It's impossible to get rid of, and it seeps in through all the windows and doorways. It comes with a lovely morning frost that is slowly killing off my roses, and paints pretty images on my lawn. It is the worst by Monkey's school because it is in a swamp. I send her to school each day in a long wool coat with a sweater and hat and mittens. I make her promise to wear her little mittens so her baby hands aren't bitten by frostbite when she plays at recess. She acquiesces with a shiver and doesn't even try and argue.

The holidays are pretty out here. I see lots of huge inflatable christmas characters and lights all over the place. There is still a lot of green. All in all, I miss home. I miss Roby and Heather's magical christmas display, and my parents little tree, and indifferent cold.

We are supposed to brave the city this weekend to go see "the tree". I will let you know if we made it or not.

Happy december!!

News from New Jersey...

The rain is falling, the baby's kicking, and the cat is purring... News from New Jersey....

Well, to begin with, thank you mom for sending me the scary Mary Poppins.

For those of you who sat around watching the romantic comedy trailer for The Shining, here is a Thriller movie trailer for Mary Poppins!!

I found it amusing.

On a down note, we are not going to be able to afford to come home for christmas, we are reworking our budget, and like most americans, it is not working with us. So, we will have to celebrate over the internet with those we love back home. Unfortunately, this also means no winter baby shower. Do you think an internet baby shower would be tacky?

On an up note, Wednesday we find out if 'baby otter' really is an Otter!! We will let you all know as soon as we can!!

M

The rain in New Jersey falls mainly on my head....

My god they know how to have a rain storm here. It's a non-stop, heavy rain. It lasts all day. It is wet and cold and blows up all over you. Monkey got to school this morning, and was completely soaked just from walking between the car and the building!

Happily though, it is a pleasant sounding rain when one is warm and inside.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY (Warning, sports metaphors in the following segment are meant to mimic hockey, however, I am not really knowledgeable when it comes to hockey terms, I mostly watch it for the violence. Please forgive any inconsistencies.)

So, the Democrats won! Or, depending on your viewpoint, the republicans lost.

I found it interesting that a great number of Republican pundits spent a good portion of the morning stressing that the Dems didn't win, but rather, the Republicans lost.

Republicans losing seats in a large number of races + Democrats winning seats in a large number of races = Democrats not winning.

Hmm... in my experience, in a race of two parties, there is generally one loser, and one winner. (Unless of course, it is grade school, then we are all winners, just for trying.) It's not really as though we have a loser, and a non-losing participant. So why do the talking heads stress that "the Dems didn't win, the republican's lost"? I mean, doesn't one party losing imply by necessity that the other party won? I understand they are trying to explain that the voting was against republicans more than it was for democrats. However, it may be that the thinking of these pundits is too deep for me this early on a rainy day, with only half a cup of coffee in my system.

Also, it seems to me that many members of the republican party suffer from poor sportsmanship. As a child, when I lost a race, my parents would make me walk up to the winner and shake their hand, saying something like "Good race! Congratulations!" I wasn't allowed to talk about how they didn't win, I just lost, nor was I allowed to criticize what they were going to do with their win, making dire predictions about their chances in the future. (Granted, the Dems weren't really sportsmanlike last election, but allegations of extreme cheating are a different story, IMHO.)

In any event, of the two contenders last night, there was one whose successes looked a lot like winning, and one whose failures looked a lot like losing. This was important to some people, because the contenders whose failures looked a lot like losing have been kicking the country around unimpeded for a while. I am glad the referee stood up and benched some of their players. It is time for some new blood on the ice. I am not expecting miracles, a game that has run corrupt for most of it's quarters is unlikely to suddenly get cleaned up when new players are sent in. The score from the previous quarters doesn't get deleted and the losing side still has to pony up and run a good offense. However, it will hopefully be easier to run a good offense when there are no blind referees, and players caught high-sticking are actually given a penalty, instead of ignored.

I guess I am trying to say, I expect no miracles from the next two years. At this point, the game is so corrupt, I barely even recognize it anymore. I just hope my team gets to score some points and even up the game a little. Maybe we can create a new game, or if not, get the rules back to something remotely resembling the old game.

Living in the twilight zone...

Okay. I lived in Colorado for the first 30 and 3/4 years of my life. All my friends were there, barring the few that left. All my connections, family, peers, etc., were located within a short distance. I could have lunch whenever I wanted. I had an active social life. I saw people outside the office and my immediate family.

Now, I live in New Jersey. When I am in the office, I feel fine. When I am home with Lee and Monkey, I feel fine. When I am able to meet with Ellen, or Tiff, or the other few friends I have here, I feel fine. However, the rest of the time, I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

I can't call my friends and go out for a late movie or a beer/coffee while Lee hangs out with Monkey. The friends I have here can't really go out late. I can't go to the breakfasts I used to attend every week, or stop by my parents for dinner. I stay home every single night of the week, except for coffee for two hours on Sundays. I stay home because here, I have no one to go out with.

I have read all my books, I have watched all the rental movies I want to watch. What do I do now?

Red Bank Primary School

We went and visited Monkey's school yesterday. They have a very nice principal, he was a spanish teacher in the district for a while before going to Guatamala to teach. Now he is back as the Principal. He was very interested in welcoming us. The school had a little presentation, which bored the hell out of Monkey. Then we had a tour of the school, during which Monkey ran around with another kid. Finally we all had cookies and "juice", which was the only time Monkey was really into the experience. However, she made a new friend, a little boy named Timor, and I met several nice moms. We are feeling better about school already.

They have a computer room that the students visit once a week for instruction, a music room, art room, library, gymnasium, and outdoor recess area. They focus primarily on reading and literacy, writing, math skills, communication and social skills. However, they have five special classes and the student do one each day. Art, Performing Arts, Computers, Science and technology, and physical education. Monkey's classroom is the only kindergarten room in the pre-school wing, but that's actually kind of neat because the pre-school wing is decorated a lot more colorfully than the other wings. Her teacher's name is Ms. Diamond, and her room is really nice. It is a small space, but she has set it up really well and Monkey is very excited about starting school.

It seems like a good school, they have a G&T program for 1st - 3rd grade. (The primary school only goes to 3rd grade, as the middle school is 4th through 8th.) They have the funding and capacity to handle IEP's if the students are having any problems and the ability to provide higher level education if the students are advancing. Overall I am happy.

So wednesday of next week she will go to school for the first day, and I will come home and do.... whatever I want to. It will be odd to have so much freedom. Hopefully I will find something valuable to fill it with.

Well, I am off to start another day!

Your Denver Girl in an East Coast World.

Rain, it happens here.

Well, we are in the market for a rain slicker for Monkey. We have had day after day of beautiful rain. It is odd because the rain is generally light and mellow, but at times gets fairly torrential. We were at the craft store the other day and while we were there we heard this thunderous pounding on the roof. It made it the noisest shopping experience of my life.

I had a cardboard box outside the house from setting up Monkey's splash pool, and it got left out during the rain. I went out back to remove it and an entire ecosystem objected. There were frogs, teeny tiny ones, and crickets, and beetles, and worms, red bugs, black bugs, spiders, etc. I shrieked like a cheerleader and jumped out of reach, but then just watched them all. I REALLY need a pet bat, and more frogs.

We have not seen more fireflies in action, though we saw a couple on the wall but without any lightup butt action. We will have to have some hot cocoa and watch for them soon. Summer seems to be over here, which is odd. In Colorado, as you know, summer lasts until at least February, so having it over before September even hits is unusual for us. I had visions of many more hot beach days, and have had to revise them to be many more cold beach walks.

On the upside, there is plenty of moisture and I don't have to water. On the downside, I always feel a bit damp, and Lee is a bit grumpy without his sunlight. However, we are trying to put the best light on things, and it seems to be working. Devon came over last night with a new recipe off "Good Eats" and filled our bellies with damn good chicken fried steak. Marlena and I hit the craft store this weekend and I taught myself two new crochet stiches and am in the process of making her a back to school sweater. Monkey got a new computer game and has been holed up in her room playing it for a while.

So despite some rain, a little morning sickness, and lots of home sickness, we are doing all right. I apologize for not calling everyone back this weekend, we got pretty busy putting the house in order, I will try and call this week!!

Love you all!

Our house, in the middle of NJ

It's our house in Red Bank!! A small little red brick bungalow on a quiet little street. We are such a small, quiet street that we are only one block long. The upside is, you can only get to us from two streets. The down side is, no pizza delivery unless you want to pay through the nose!!

Flesh eating bugs

The one where they get eaten alive by mosquitos...

Monkey and I are covered in mosquito bites. We simply can't seem to avoid the blood-sucking parasites. Every day I douse the two of us in Off, and every day we have little red nibbles all over our legs and ankles. I even get bites on my feet, the bottoms of my feet!!! It is so bad I am considering getting a pet bat. Yes folks!! A bat! I am thinking about buying a bathouse and placing it on the roof. Maybe attracting a few bats to the yummy bug smorgasbord that is my backyard.

New Jersey is teeming with life! Creepy crawlies abound here. I encountered the largest free range spider I have ever seen in my gardening shed. Consequently, I will not be entering the gardening shed, of my own free will, again. It was easily the size of a silver half-dollar, and that was just it's vile, fuzzy body. Yeehhehhh. I saw it, it saw me, but I was out of there with the door slammed securely shut before it could act on any plan of attack.

We have crickets, fleas, ticks, mosquitos, grasshoppers, spiders, tiny little red bugs, and god only knows what else! I definately need a pet bat. Granted, owning bats as pets is generally a bad idea, and some of the rarer species are illegal pets, but I can certainly build a bat house and try to lure one of them to me. Here little bat, come eat these lovely bugs, check out the spider in the shed, come eat at McMisty's!!

We have got to do something. I could put up a bug zapper but I am afraid it would be so busy killing bugs that it would keep the neighbors awake, or maybe blow the neighborhood power grid. (Which seems a little dodgy anyway, given we have lost power several times in the 12 days we have been here.)

At least Monkey can enjoy catching bugs. And we do have an abundance of butterflies and fireflies, so I shouldn't complain too much; BUT THE REST OF THEM ARE ICKY!!!

Off the bug topic, we are settling in. The final chapter of the gross carpet saga will be resolved this week, and we will be able to get our stuff moved in and set Monkey's room up. Finally. We will be able to hang up and put away our clothes, and get all her toys out, and have a house, wherein we can actually live.

I am going to go spray some more Off! around,

Your Denver Girl, signing off.

Clerks

Kevin Smith... a walk on the beach... and the Corleone family...

Last night we went to see Kevin Smith and Clerks in the park in Red Bank. Lee and I were sent to get food while Morgan and Devon reserved a space in the park. We ended up parking at home and walking from our house, heavily laden down with Cluck-U chicken, because over 2000 people showed up. tee hee. So when we finally arrived, Kevin Smith was just about to start the pre-presentation Q&A. It was pretty funny. He took questions for about an hour, was generally humorous, humorously rude, and kind. Then they showed the movie. It was about the experience you can expect from watching a film on a giant inflatable screen, in a windy park, on a blanket, on the hard ground, pregnant. But, it was fun, and Lee would occasionally kiss my shoulder, and I had chicken. My favorite part was definately the Q&A.

Today Ellen and I took the kids to the beach. After being stuck in traffic on the Garden State Parkway for about an hour and a half, we found this wonderful place in Manasquan. The ocean was only about a foot to a foot and a half deep for about 50 feet out. The water was warm. The kids were able to splash and run around and play. This was a huge step up from Monkey's and my last few beach visits. Usually she and I cling to each other desperately as the cold waves try to suck us out to sea. We played for about an hour and a half. Seth (who is 6 months old) even liked the beach.

The odd thing was the Jellyfish. They were ALL over the place but no one was bothered by them. They didn't sting. I had them constantly hitting against my body as we were walking in the water, but didn't have anything painful occur. (Although it was creepy to have them touching me.) The kids were even catching them and playing with them. I thought they looked, and felt, like silicon breast implants. It was weird.

Afterwards we stopped by this little beach-side cafe and I ran inside to quickly order a snack for the three hungry, and now tired, children. I ordered 2 sides of fries and a small coffee. The woman behind the counter proceeded to plod over to the fryer, toss in the fries, plod over to the coffee maker, brew a pot. I decided to add some hot dogs to my order since it was obviously going to take a while. While I waited for the food, her mother got a phone call. I swear that these people were connected to the Corleone family. She kept saying "Haven't I been nice to you Michael?" " I am always doing favors for you and you disrespect me" etc. She even had the New Jersey italian accent and the accompanying gestures. Finally, her sloth-like daughter brought me the food in a large box (like the ones you load your groceries into at a Cost-co) and I fled before a rival family came in to shoot up the place.

After we got back I made my first Chicken Parmagiana. It was yummy. It was one of those cooking experiences I love. I actually had to substitute all or part of each ingredient except the chicken. I needed 2 cups of bread crumbs and some flour, but only had 1/2 a cup of bread crumbs and some corn meal. I needed a full can of spaghetti sauce, but only had 1/2 a can and a can of fire roasted dices tomatos. The recipe called for mozarella cheese, I only have mini-babel cheeses and cheddar. However, it worked out well, and I am looking forward to actually being able to cook it according to recipe in the future.

Well, your Denver girl is signing off, I get sooooo tired soooo early these days!!

Love you all, save a little mountain for me.

Shelf paper and temper tantrums....

Regardless of how "easy to apply" shelf paper may claim to be, I have yet to come across any that actually is easy to apply. If it doesn't stick to itself, it doesn't stick to the object to which it is applied. We are re-papering our kitchen cabinets, as the person before us felt that white plastic and packing tape were appropriate tools for shelf covering. The shelves themselves are a dark and forbidding particle board. Ick. Not that the re-papered shelves look much better than particle board, but at least you can see when they are dirty!!

Today was a hard day, continued resistance from the Monkey front occurred all afternoon. I tried to get her to take a nap, mainly because she wouldn't entertain herself long enough to let me finish any work, and that did not go over well. It began with the normal resistance; "I'm not tired", "Can I just rest?", "If I can't sleep can I play?" and then became a full fledged attack! "I am going back to Colorado without you!!", "I hate it here!!", "I don't want to live here with you!" etc. I maintained robot mom status, calmly informed her she wasn't leaving the state without us, and then told her her choices were nap, or grounded in her room until it was time to get her father. An hour later she was asleep. (Thankfully)

Still, a hard day. with many tears on her part and a dull headache on mine. So when she woke up we went and got Pizza Hut to try and restore good humor. Luckily it worked. She and I were happily singing away in the car and giggling all the way to get Lee.

Well, it is getting more real. This whole "Crap! I live here now!!" feeling. I keep expecting to get on the plane home, but each day, there is less of that, and more of a sense of permanency. Not a sense of home, but a sense of permanency.

Oh! Last night we were getting Monkey to bed when she started yelling " a firefly mama! A firefly!" AND THERE THEY WERE!! All these little bugs with light up bottoms flying around my front yard. Neither she nor I had ever seen one before, so we got to share that experience together. Which was very, very special. After it got really dark, I got her out of bed to look for more, but alas, they were finished with thier light show for the night. I will have to try and catch some on film.

Missing you all...

Your Denver girl, signing out on the east coast.

The Garden State

Why would anyone name a state "The Garden State"? Did these people stop to think about what is usually present in a garden? Yes, you can have lovely flowers, and veggies, and if you are lucky, butterflies and hummingbirds. (Lucky, or extremely skillfull like Tracy!!) However, there are also bugs, millions of bugs. Bugs abound in gardens, and a whole garden-esque state provides flora for more bugs than you can imagine. Creepy crawly monster creatures all over this state. And FLEAS!!! I have to get my dogs flea collars!! Argh! So.... Welcome to the creepy crawly state.

Sigh. Also, it is hotter than satan's sauna here. It reminds me of the time I did Bikram Yoga at the little place on about 4th and Broadway. I went in thinking, well, I enjoy hot weather, and I enjoy Yoga, I bet the two together are an amazing exeprience. I wasn't entirely wrong. Amazing is defined as: causing great surprise or wonder. And I was greatly surprised at how hot a single room could be. Half the poses I couldn't do because the sweat prevented me from holding my body in any of the positions!! I wondered how people can stand to do this all the time. My first Bikram experience was my last. Until I moved here, of course. Since it is impossible to leave my house at anytime of day or night and have it be cool outside, Marlena and I have taken to dashing between air conditioned locations. Leave house, dash to car, leave car, dash to mall, leave mall, dash to car, etc.

On the upside, the dogs are well behaved on their walks! They are too hot to do anything but balefully gaxe back at me and eat some grass from time to time. They don't pull on thier leashes at all and they don't go after other dogs anymore. They just pant, drink a lot of water, and pee as qjuickly as possible.

The cat is still traumatized, she was locked in the bathroom all night with a cat box so she could remember how to use one. She is now glaring at me from her perch on the arm of the chair, her earlier remonstrations having secured her (temporary) freedom.

Slowly we are getting it all together. I miss you all, I miss my lovely house and my lovely city, I miss air!!

Central Air

so hot.... SO MUGGY!!!

My house is a popular hang out, not due to my sparkling personality or it's "young and hip" location, but due to it's central air conditioning. Yes, each and every time I open my front door and attempt to leave my lovely, cool abode, I am hit with a solid wall of hot, wet, air.

Monkey walks around muttering "it's like walking in soup."

I think she and I will be living inside, with the cold air, all summer long.

More tomorrow, now, it is time for bed. I do not envy you the headache you will have tomorrow Denver, but for now, sleep well, and dream of large women.

Ah... Another bright and boiling hot New Jersey day...

The cat has post traumatic stress disorder, I think. She freaks out and runs away anytime anyone walks towards her with any intent or purpose at all. I think she is afraid we will shove her back into her very stylish red Sherpa Bag and take off for another new place. She has also begun howling at night. Loudly, as only a true Siamese can. Additionally, she likes to hop onto the bed in the middle of the night, crawl under the covers, and press her wet, freezing cold nose against the middle of my back. It is quite the experience, let me tell you!!

We are settling in here. Yesterday Monkey and I sat around the house and watched movies, ate donuts, and blogged all day. Oh yes, and played tea. Monkey prefers to use real wet things when playing tea, as opposed to pretending. I believe this is do to her preference for all things messy but she claims it is simply an attempt at artistic integrity. So we had real lemonade tea in her Ikea tea set. She loves this tea set, she has begun requesting that we eat off of it some upcoming meal. I will not be surprised when she wishes to cook with her cookware set, also from Ikea, as Lee and I were debating whether or not it's stainless steel design would actually work on a stove. However, we will need some more investigation before we allow her to try it out. Did you know Ikea has it's own exit on the highway here? Yes indeedy! The post college furniture Mecca is big enough and smart enough to have it's own big sign on the Garden State Parkway. Sigh. At least it is not a sign for Focus on the Family.

Last night we ate fondue at The Melting Pot at the Galleria in Red Bank. It was interesting. Monkey was initially afraid of the middle part of the table, because they warn you it is very hot. Then she played the "how close can I get to the really hot surface before I burn my hand off?" game. We did not appreciate this game. After some pouting, she began to play the "blow steam over to mommy" game. This was fine, until she began to fan the steam with her hands, once again bringing them in range of the really hot surface. It was an interesting evening, I believe we will go there again, but not soon, and likely not with her again until she is older. She liked cooking the food, but not eating it. She did enjoy desert, so we may just go for desert some time.

Otherwise, things are all right. She and I cleaned the kitchen and made it a working space yesterday. It is unbelievable how much better one feels when you can cook a simple meal and avoid fast food. We also set up our stuff in the office, and spent the day relaxing. Today, it is off to Freehold and Ellen!!

Love you all, Miss you all, wishing you were all here in my tiny east coast house in the oppressive humidity of New Jersey!

Beginning in New Jersey

A Denver Girl in New Jersey...

Well.... it's official, we are now domiciled in New Jersey.
(Of course, for all you law friends of mine, can one be domiciled when one has all the indicia of residency, but has neither the desire, nor the intent, to remain too long?) We have the job, the house, our stuff, but I wanna go home!!! (Wah!)

Our trip out was quite an interesting experience. To begin with, we had to rush into the airport because the helpful (overly so) man at curbside check-in raced away with our luggage before we could have our long, lingering goodbye with my parents. So instead, we had a quick hug and kiss each, and ran after his quickly retreating frame. Luckily, we were able to have a lovely breakfast with them before heading out, so I do not feel as bereft as I could.

Then, Monkey and I went through security with one backpack, a carry on, a Siamese cat in a carrying case, and three laptops. This took quite some time. All the laptops had to be removed and placed in individual containers. Then the cat had to be removed. (Yes! I had to remove a very unhappy, scared, and quite pissed off Siamese from her carrier in the middle of DIA security and desperately hold onto her while they scanned the carrier for bombs and other terrorist equipment.) Once I was completely covered in fur and scratched beyond recognition I was allowed to shove the cat, now with 20 unbelievably long legs (all resisting), back into the carrier and remove my shoes for inspection. Sigh. Finally, I was able to pack up all the laptops and creatures and proceed to the train to concourse A.

On the train, Monkey somehow managed to get her arm stuck in between the wall inside the train and the hand rail. She screamed bloody murder for three of the longest minutes of my life while I attempted to find the one position in which she had managed to shove her elbow into this tiny space to begin with. Meanwhile, the cat screamed like a dying baby and the passengers all fervently hoped they were flying no where near me. Finally, after asking Monkey to straighten her arm several times, each with increasing intensity, she was free. The train arrived at concourse A, we got off, set down our stuff, and cried for a while.

When we were feeling more like ourselves, we got up, and began our trek to the gate. Once there, we were basically calm for an hour. There was a brief panic when Monkey left her Nalgene bottle in the bathroom, and I thought I would have to trek back into it with the backpack, carry-on, and cat. Thankfully, an angel disguised as a fellow passenger went in and got it for me. Once again, I am both touched and disturbed by how sweet and helpful people are. Touched because I so obviously need their help, and disturbed because I am now that person who so obviously needs their help!! Ah, the days when I used to travel with a backpack, and nothing else, for two weeks. :(

Once on the plane, things were all right. Chloe's carrier did fit nicely under the seat, and she was quiet for the first hour. Of course, the in-flight movie was "Good Night and Good Luck", so Monkey was bored right away, but I had thought ahead and packed a gazillion little travel packs from Target, so she was all right. These are by far the coolest idea in kid entertainment I have encountered in ages, especially at a dollar a piece. Each kit comes in a see through, colorful, plastic, zipper container with a key chain. Her favorite kit contains a glue stick, several colorful foam pieces, and pictures to glue the pieces to. We also had a card kit, with four miniature cards and envelopes, a stamp pad, stamps, stickers, and a pen. There are bracelet kits, watch kits, Mirror and Frame kits, etc. I love them all. I have bought about 50 of them. I will cry when they are gone.

So, back to the plane... Monkey was an angel, entertaining herself with these great kits. Therefore, the occasional Yowl! from Chole was not too bad, and usually she was quieted with a pet or two. I started to relax a little. Contintental still serves meals, so we actually had a hot and yummy dinner on the plane. I relaxed more. Then the baby three seats up began to scream. Non-stop for the remainder of the flight. I could hear her through my ear plugs. Chloe could hear her in her carrier. Chloe commiserated with the baby in loud and strident tones, though I doubt anyone heard her. I compensated my seatmate by producing an extra pair of earplugs. (Which I had because I recently took the bar, and in a moment of OCD induced mania purchased about 40 sets of earplugs "just in case".)

We finally got to New Jersey, got lost on the way home, had to stop at Target to get a litter box, but finally got home with food, cat, luggage, and kid. Safe and sound.

Our house is still packed, as we are still waiting for carpet removal, but the landlords have responded to us, and they will be gone within the week!! Yay!!

I miss you all, I miss the mountains, I miss the low humidity, and indistinguishable accents.