Took a bit of an unexpected blog break. A lot has happened since the summer. After weeks of working from home in a small one bedroom apartment, we decided to buy a house. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had this idea. House hunting is stressful and I really don't plan on doing it again any time soon. I wasn't prepared for how emotional it would be to lose out on a house and we lost out on a few. One house we lost out on because the seller's agent was "overwhelmed" with the amount of offers and picked one to show to his seller because they had a dog. Our offer was higher and we could have gotten a dog! I don't think the seller's know they weren't presented with the highest offers. Talk about a bad agent. That house wasn't meant for us but at the time it stung. We stayed in our price range and the house we ended up with has most of the features we were looking for. We closed in October and are slowly getting things in order. Yes there are still unpacked boxes. I fully admit to being a procrastinator.
I did find the time to start decorating for Christmas. I'm going to leave these snowflake lights up well after the holidays.
Let me tell you the story behind these GIGANTIC ornaments. I thought they were normal sized and well as you can see they are not. Derek hates them, they're growing on me. When I found the box on the porch I could tell someone had opened it to see if there was anything worth taking and they decided they didn't want some giant ornaments. None of my other packages have been touched since we moved in. Now I'm paranoid about my packages being stolen. It's not a bad neighborhood at all but I guess it is the season for porch pirates.
My mom gave me the tree. She said it was too big for her apartment. My living room ceiling is not low so I think you have an idea of how tall this is. Currently our living room doesn't have any furniture. The couch is backordered until February (ordered in September!). We do have a finished basement where our old futon and loveseat is so we're not completely seatless. Maybe in a future blog post I'll talk about how my wall got damaged by a dresser delivery.
Another decoration from my mom. It's in the dining room on the sideboard.
Very proud of how this wrapping job came out. This is a Lego set for my nephew. I need to mail out my gifts this week. Christmas is really sneaking up on me. Wasn't it just Thanksgiving? This table is in the kitchen and was left by the previous owners which was very nice of them considering how long it took for our dining room set to be delivered.
Yeah, pretty much sums up the past few months. I took this photo in Barnes & Noble to send to someone as part of a little inside joke.
I know I didn't show many photos of the actual house but I'll post more once I feel like things are more put together. It's an old farmhouse built in the 1860s. I was actually shocked when I saw the year it was built on the listing. There's been some renovations done by prior owners but if you look closely you can tell that it's an older house. The first night in the new house we thought we heard knocking at the back door when we were in the kitchen. Turns out it was either the washing machine or a ghost. There was no one at the door.
One of the falcons came to visit me at work. I went to sit down at my desk and saw him (or her) hanging out outside my window. The nest is two floors above my office. Probably just wanted a break from the kids.
Although I live in a part of Boston nicknamed Rat City I live right on the border of a very nice town. People have yards and actual gardens. It's a much nicer area to walk in so let's go.
All the greens! Very nice.
Hmmm is this Wisteria? I need a plant expert on this walk.
Flowery privacy.
Don't worry I was! Thanks for joining me on my walk.
There's nothing I want more right now than to enjoy a burger and fries in an actual restaurant. I'm missing our regular date nights and just being out in general. It's even starting to get to Derek (I admit I started complaining long before him). We still try to have a "date night" to break up the monotony. Our go-to quarantine date night is making White Russians and playing Rummy. I think I've gotten pretty good at making them. I like to use cactus glasses because why not?
One of these bad boys and you are feeling it.
At this point I expect our third wedding anniversary in May to be celebrated in quarantine. It's a bit of a bummer but I'm just glad that our wedding wasn't planned for this May. I feel bad for the couples that have to change their wedding plans or postpone. Camping is also looking like a distant fantasy right now. Usually our first camping trip of the year is over Memorial Day Weekend. Might have to set up the tent in the living room and play some cricket noises.
My blog has been fairly dormant for a while now but considering the amount of time I'm spending behind my computer these days I think it's time to get back into it. I'm bored and maybe we can be less bored together. I'll try to be as entertaining as possible.
How have you been? I'm doing ok. I'm staying home except to go for short walks or get food. I wear a mask when I'm out. Marty Walsh has asked everyone in Boston to wear a face covering when we're out of our homes and for the most part people seem to be complying. Although I do see quite a few runners and bikers not wearing masks. I know it sucks to have your mouth covered while running or biking but you're heavy breathing all over the place. You need to be wearing one.
I'm working from home except that I had to go into the office to replace our firewall. I managed to do it with our IT company walking me through it over the phone. It's nice and quiet in the office but I miss coming in and seeing my co-workers. I did see my co-worker T today in the office since he works nearby and is usually in checking the mail and turning computers back on if they shut off (why does this keep happening!!!) T has also been watering my work plants. They're still alive and my snake plant even has a new leaf coming up right in the middle.
Things I'm Grateful For
I'm trying to be positive here...
That my loved ones are safely at home
That I still have a job
Video chatting with friends
Wine
Card games
Food delivery
Plants
Books
The internet
What I Have Been Doing to Keep Myself Entertained
I seem to have a new obsession with house plants. I blame this on not having a pet to smother with my love. I ordered two plants online from Planterina and rescued a sad looking African Violet from CVS after Easter. I'm watching plant tour and plant care videos on YouTube. I've learned that I tend to be an over waterer. I'm having dreams of my apartment looking like a mini jungle and now that's all I want. I've always been the type to latch onto an idea or hobby and go all in. It's the follow through that I need to work on. Derek just shakes his head at me and is grateful that we still don't have a cat. There would be a cat if building management allowed it.
Derek and I started watching What We Do in the Shadows on Hulu (the tv show, but the movie is also great). I seem to watch a lot of serious shows and right now I need something that's just fun. Season 2 just came out and the episodes are pretty short if you wanted to catch up. There are a lot of fun cameos so keep an eye out for that while watching.
Do I think Carole Baskin killed her husband and fed him to the tigers?
I've been reading but not as much as I thought I would be. All my Boston Public Library digital holds have suddenly become available all at once and I don't have time to read them all. I'm still working a full-time job and very busy with my part-time jobs of stressing and new plant mother.
It's Earth Day today!
There's less pollution in big cities and the animals are enjoying empty streets and beaches. If only we could continue cutting emissions and sharing the planet with our animal friends when the pandemic is over.
That's enough blogging for today. Stay safe, wear a mask and I'll try not to let the dust gather on the blog again. Enjoy this photo I took of myself today in desperate need of a haircut.
I recently came across a video of Tones and I performing her song "Dance Monkey" (see clip below) and I immediately loved the song and wanted to know more about the singer.
After some googling I found out that she was a busker from Australia and that her song "Dance Monkey" is about drunk people demanding that she keep playing when she was done for the night and about to head home. She's very talented and I'm glad that her hard work is finally paying off. Busking ain't easy.
Boston has it's fair share of buskers. The most well known busker from Boston is probably Amanda Palmer. Although she's not busking here anymore there are few that almost every Bostonian knows. I thought I'd show the Boston buskers some love with a blog post.
Keytar Bear is my personal favorite and currently the most beloved Boston busker. Trillium Brewing even had a limited edition Keytar Bear IPA. I've also seen a few Keytar Bear Halloween costumes. He's sadly been robbed a few times and even beaten and robbed. Who does that! The community raised money to replace his broken equipment and people well furious. He still goes out and does his thing. I always give him money if I see him.
Boston Opera Guy is another personal favorite of mine. No costume and minimal equipment. I often hear him before I actually seem him. He always draws a crowd.
If you're visiting Boston and want to see some buskers and street performers your best bet is Fanieul Hall, Harvard Square (in Cambridge), Davis Square (in Somerville) or one of the main T stops. I've seen buskers at Park Street, Back Bay, Harvard Sqaure and Downtown Crossing. You never know which station you might come across a busker. They're out there working hard so considering giving them a dollar or two.
I'm part of a small book club with some friends and our last two books were duds. The first dud had an interesting premise and plenty of good reviews but the general consensus of the book club was that it was tough to get through. The most recent book was only finished by two people. The rest of us gave up. Humor books can be a risky choice for book club and Dear Girls was not my first choice but I give every book club book a fair shot. I don't like not finishing a book. I decided to stop listening with two hours left on the audio book. (I like to listen to memoirs when they're narrated by the writer.) I decided that I didn't want to waste two more hours of my time on a book I was not enjoying. Ali's humor is not for me. As someone who was firmly in camp MUST FINISH THE BOOK I'm now giving myself permission to put it aside if I'm not enjoying myself. There are too many good books out there and no one is forcing me to finish a dud but myself.
Despite no one really liking the book we still had some interesting discussions over tacos and cheesecake. Did I mention that our book club is called Goldenbooks and Cheesecake Club? My suggestion for the next book is Picnic at Hanging Rock. We're still voting but so far it's in the lead. Fiona kept saying the title wrong so now we're all joking about the name of the book. "Can't wait to read Rock Hanging at the Picnic." I hope we end up reading it so we can have a picnic themed meeting and of course for the running joke of the name.
I was lucky enough to visit Sydney for a week back in October. It was already getting pretty hot going into the summer season there. I had a wonderful time visiting gardens and museums. The people were very friendly. It's hard to imagine how devastating these brush fires are. I am going to donate to the relief efforts. Here are some photos from my trip. Australia is a beautiful place.
