I don't have as much time as I would like to in the mornings anymore. I wake up between 6 and 6.20am and leave by 7am. I need to find time and space to meditate and stretch daily. Perhaps I can try doing so upon my return from work? I have also stopped reading my emails (blogs I subscribe to), its the last thing I want to do - I'd rather play TF2 and relax after an hour of traffic on my way home. While that's reality I must still make it the best, and carve out time for my needs and hobbies. All I need to do first is to acknowledge it (check) and keep being aware of my needs. If they are great enough, I will find time.
For lunch today I made breaded chick peas with roasted pine nuts and sauteed peppers. Quite good I must say. I will need to buy more chick peas and keep them in our pantry to use.
Michelle's birthday is next week and I don't have anything planned (besides maybe going skydiving again). She's thinking about going to Boston for her birthday. Might be a good idea since I will be working.
Or there might be a birthday party of Saturday and we might go hang out outside for a bbq on 4th of July. Plans are tentative and things work out to the best of life's knowledge, right?
Right.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Strawberry picking
Went to Jones Winery for some fresh strawberries to pick. Had lots of fun, got 11lbs of berries for $20. As we were picking in our line (which we hopped eventually several times to get more berries) there was another young couple and a girl had a BC hat on. Turns out they just graduated from BC few weeks ago. Turns out the girl is actually a nursing student and Michelle and her know few people from school. Small world. The field had at least 50 rows and it just so happen that these two were picking right near us.
After the picking, Michelle convinced me to stop by 'Huge Tag Sale'. We followed the signs. There was a lot of stuff. I bought more than she did. I also admitted she was right to check the tag sale. We got a nice wooden napkin holder, few kitchen items, few jars.
Saturday wasn't just picking day - Michelle's dad came to visit. Food, conversations, drinks, food. Rinse, repeat. Good times. Polished few bottles of wine. Got few house warmings and whatnot. Taught each other few things about life and websites and wine and other conversation related topics.
Michelle is going to Boston for few days since she has no work, which means I'll be all alone and crying and other sad things. Freedom from fun.
My week at camp was fast paste, and the weekend seems to stretch. I don't mind my perception :)
Tomorrow I will have all 5 groups and I will be busy all five periods. The summer has begun but this week the camp will actually start resembling what the next 8 weeks are going to be like - crazy, hectic, fun, unpredictable. All are a staple of life.
After the picking, Michelle convinced me to stop by 'Huge Tag Sale'. We followed the signs. There was a lot of stuff. I bought more than she did. I also admitted she was right to check the tag sale. We got a nice wooden napkin holder, few kitchen items, few jars.
Saturday wasn't just picking day - Michelle's dad came to visit. Food, conversations, drinks, food. Rinse, repeat. Good times. Polished few bottles of wine. Got few house warmings and whatnot. Taught each other few things about life and websites and wine and other conversation related topics.
Michelle is going to Boston for few days since she has no work, which means I'll be all alone and crying and other sad things. Freedom from fun.
My week at camp was fast paste, and the weekend seems to stretch. I don't mind my perception :)
Tomorrow I will have all 5 groups and I will be busy all five periods. The summer has begun but this week the camp will actually start resembling what the next 8 weeks are going to be like - crazy, hectic, fun, unpredictable. All are a staple of life.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Art Specialist
Yeah, my title sounds cool, but in reality I just 'teach' art to kids at camp. It's a great work environment and staff is friendly and supportive.
Day one, I have been slightly stressed out about my unplanned activity (of key-chains and bracelets). Of course, it turned out just fine. I had tomake decorate some Oracle Counsel ponchos with duct tape. Oh camp rituals.
Taped paper on tables to avoid more mess than I can handle. I'm glad that the first weeks there aren't many kids so rookies (or people in rookie positions) have time to adjust and get used to the atmosphere. I myself have a good amount of free time but I also need to make sure I have enough time to plan the activities for the week.
Past weekend I went to the library and got like 8audio books out. My commute is abot 45min each way. Listening to Tina Fey's Bossypants in the car in the morning. (by Wednesday I already finished it.)
Wednesday went to see a fantastic movie Prometheus. I really enjoyed the suspense and plot and certain perspectives. Very good movie indeed, with just the boys.
And tomorrow is Friday already. Time goes fast at camp because of fast paste diversity of activities and rituals.
Maybe another movie (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) and a friendly game of poker. It's quite humid and somewhat uncomfortable back in CT. Today, my room got air conditioning. Or maybe it was yesterday? It's 10.16pm and I'm tired and ready for sleep. I require lots of sleep to function top notch.
Cats are catching some bugs or spiders in the apartment. I guess that's another positive side of animals - they eat other little animals :)
Day one, I have been slightly stressed out about my unplanned activity (of key-chains and bracelets). Of course, it turned out just fine. I had to
Taped paper on tables to avoid more mess than I can handle. I'm glad that the first weeks there aren't many kids so rookies (or people in rookie positions) have time to adjust and get used to the atmosphere. I myself have a good amount of free time but I also need to make sure I have enough time to plan the activities for the week.
Past weekend I went to the library and got like 8audio books out. My commute is abot 45min each way. Listening to Tina Fey's Bossypants in the car in the morning. (by Wednesday I already finished it.)
Wednesday went to see a fantastic movie Prometheus. I really enjoyed the suspense and plot and certain perspectives. Very good movie indeed, with just the boys.
And tomorrow is Friday already. Time goes fast at camp because of fast paste diversity of activities and rituals.
Maybe another movie (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) and a friendly game of poker. It's quite humid and somewhat uncomfortable back in CT. Today, my room got air conditioning. Or maybe it was yesterday? It's 10.16pm and I'm tired and ready for sleep. I require lots of sleep to function top notch.
Cats are catching some bugs or spiders in the apartment. I guess that's another positive side of animals - they eat other little animals :)
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Florida Vacation
What a fantastic past week has been. We left on Thursday early morning and by 10am were in Fort Lauderdale. Art picked us up and the first thing handed to us upon arrival was a cold beer. That's what vacation with friends is all about.
Staying at Everglade House, on the 16th floor, the view from which is amazing. I'm sure Chris and Maya took pictures. I was just enjoying the vacation and almost didn't touch the camera at all. Both of our balconies faced the water. That's right. We saw few cargo ships (one Chiquita), and several cruise ships.
On Friday, while girls were harry pottering the world in Orlando, the boys went to the beach and encountered a ton of lightning. Many times it was a flickering lightning where it would strike 5+ times at the same place in few seconds.
The clouds were getting heavy and dark so we eventually gathered our stuff and went inside. There wasn't too much sun in first few days but that didn't bother me at all.
In the evening, we went to Le Tub and had some burgers, voted one of best in US by GQ Magazine. We defeated the burgers and were stuffed until the next day. The seafood salad there barely had any salad and was mostly just seafood. Awesome dish.
Our Saturday was filled with Airboat rides at Gatorpark. We saw some wildlife of birds, gators, turtles, and a bunch of water and grass. Tons of fun.
At the souvenir shop I even found a great gift for my sister's 13th birthday. It was a metal sign with a frog on in and an old advertisement for voice restoration.
Went out to a non-irish bar/grille for some Mahi-Mahi and other seafood goodness for dinner. Michelle had to pick between two non-seafood dishes. One day she'll understand the power of yummy fish!
Saturday Michelle relatives invited us for some food and company, it was a pleasant and relaxing afternoon. In the evening I cooked chicken, corn, sweet potato for dinner. Everyone approved and even Art ate some sweet potatoes, though he doesn't like it in general.
On Monday, we went Snorkeling at Key Largo. Art went scoobadiving, while we were busy unsuspectingly burning our backs while floating in the ocean. It was a great experience, I wish I bought a water camera, but it slipped my mind until we were on the way. it was a relaxing activity, though I was a little nervous at first.
We took up another two hour drive to see Key West - the most southern-point in United States. The drive was enjoyable. Ocean on one side, and Gulf of Mexico on the other side. I was just trying to stay in the moment and appreciate the situation and the company of people in the car. Whenever there is a pleasant situation in my life, especially involving other people, I try to take a minute and appreciate where I am and who I am surrounded by.
But nothing goes smoothly as expected, right? At Big Pine West, about 30miles away from our destination we got a flat tire. All adventures have ups and downs. Chris was all over changing the tire, but unfortunately the last bolt was screwed in too hard so we weren't able to tackle it without AAA. Getting mosquito bitten and talking to state troopers while waiting for our service did put a dent on our timeline. We couldn't go faster than 55mph. But we weren't going to give up because of a flat tire.
We arrived at Key West at 11pm and were home at FLL by 4am. Again, we were debating on which seafood place to have dinner at. Michelle ordered key lime pie, which was all right. Tons of people use bikes at Key West, since the place is even smaller than Greenwich CT. Wish we were there a little earlier and had time and energy to explore the town. There is always next time.
We made some baked goods before the flight home. The aerial view of Florida - real nice! We have these ideas about what our state looks like and what other states are all about, but until I saw it from the airplane - the swamps and farms - I just assumed Florida is coast and people.
I keep finding assumptions based on nothing in my world view. Good thing I at least try to 'fix' them with personal experience.
The vacation was a blast, I burned my back a little and got few souvenirs and post cards. Hanging out with two recent grads put things into perspective. Where am I now and where will I be one year from now?
I will be 25.
Staying at Everglade House, on the 16th floor, the view from which is amazing. I'm sure Chris and Maya took pictures. I was just enjoying the vacation and almost didn't touch the camera at all. Both of our balconies faced the water. That's right. We saw few cargo ships (one Chiquita), and several cruise ships.
On Friday, while girls were harry pottering the world in Orlando, the boys went to the beach and encountered a ton of lightning. Many times it was a flickering lightning where it would strike 5+ times at the same place in few seconds.
The clouds were getting heavy and dark so we eventually gathered our stuff and went inside. There wasn't too much sun in first few days but that didn't bother me at all.
In the evening, we went to Le Tub and had some burgers, voted one of best in US by GQ Magazine. We defeated the burgers and were stuffed until the next day. The seafood salad there barely had any salad and was mostly just seafood. Awesome dish.
Our Saturday was filled with Airboat rides at Gatorpark. We saw some wildlife of birds, gators, turtles, and a bunch of water and grass. Tons of fun.
At the souvenir shop I even found a great gift for my sister's 13th birthday. It was a metal sign with a frog on in and an old advertisement for voice restoration.
Went out to a non-irish bar/grille for some Mahi-Mahi and other seafood goodness for dinner. Michelle had to pick between two non-seafood dishes. One day she'll understand the power of yummy fish!
Saturday Michelle relatives invited us for some food and company, it was a pleasant and relaxing afternoon. In the evening I cooked chicken, corn, sweet potato for dinner. Everyone approved and even Art ate some sweet potatoes, though he doesn't like it in general.
On Monday, we went Snorkeling at Key Largo. Art went scoobadiving, while we were busy unsuspectingly burning our backs while floating in the ocean. It was a great experience, I wish I bought a water camera, but it slipped my mind until we were on the way. it was a relaxing activity, though I was a little nervous at first.
We arrived at Key West at 11pm and were home at FLL by 4am. Again, we were debating on which seafood place to have dinner at. Michelle ordered key lime pie, which was all right. Tons of people use bikes at Key West, since the place is even smaller than Greenwich CT. Wish we were there a little earlier and had time and energy to explore the town. There is always next time.
We made some baked goods before the flight home. The aerial view of Florida - real nice! We have these ideas about what our state looks like and what other states are all about, but until I saw it from the airplane - the swamps and farms - I just assumed Florida is coast and people.
I keep finding assumptions based on nothing in my world view. Good thing I at least try to 'fix' them with personal experience.
The vacation was a blast, I burned my back a little and got few souvenirs and post cards. Hanging out with two recent grads put things into perspective. Where am I now and where will I be one year from now?
I will be 25.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Muffins
Made some zucchini (smaller) and banana (larger) muffins. We had a very ripe banana that wasn't being eaten so I transformed it into something tasty. Zucchini I froze (grated) few months ago with plans to make it into bread but didn't quite get to it until yesterday. Michelle woke up to warm smell of baking.
Tuesday is my 'last' day of Boys and Girls Club since I'll be working with ESF this summer. Since I don't have any concrete plans for the fall I might very well come back there and put more hours. It's always good to leave on positive notes and have an option of coming back.
This poem I wrote while Camping:
6/26/12
Adapting to fresh air
As darkness raptures trees.
The fire is right here,
Tongue-licking skin I bare,
Emotional Release.
To be the early human,
To sleep with skies, to eat.
Like-minded men and women
All gathered under heat.
We celebrate each other,
Ourselves, and strangers like.
Forget the thrill no other
Except to be alive.
This is a very cool concept, I am intrigued and I might just do this at one point of my life . Or, I mean, at several points in my life.
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