Spring

Finally, the spring seems to be arriving to NC. It's still chilly in the mornings, but warms up to 65F by afternoon. Daffodils, crabapples, forzicias and other flowers, shrubs and trees which names I have no idea of are blooming. And even pine trees look more cheerful.

We take Mark on much longer walks now, sometimes for up to an hour and a half. He sleeps through most of it. He is just 1 day shy of being 1 month old. I was actually going to post this on 9 March. But things are quiet today at work (so far) and Mark is sleeping peacefully in his crib. So why not take this opportunity and post some pictures. Here they are...

Busy Bees

Mom left last Saturday. And I'm back to work as of last Monday, 26 February. So I'm super-busy and at times loose my head alltogether. I type with one hand now - slow process. Wish had more toe dexterity! Mom being here was a huge help. She basically did all the house work. Also, she'd watch the baby sometimes so I could eat lunch or even go to a store real quick. I was kind of freaking out when she left, but now I'm getting used to it. Besides, she left us a freezer full of home-cooked meals :)

Chris works full time, studies full time and helps out with house work and with taking care of Mark. Oh, and there's still kitchen remodelling to take care of. The counter-tops were installed last Friday, finally. All the plumbing was hooked up on Monday (Roto-Rooter is a rip-off). Now just the back-splash and electrical stuff left.

Mark is growing fast (tfu-tfu-tfu). Last week we went to the doctor for a check up. Mark was already 7lb and he wasn't 2 weeks old yet! Remember, he started with 5lb 15oz. The circumcision healed completely in less than a week. His umbilical stump fell off on 26 February. So now he's ready for a real bath, not a sponge bath. He sleeps a lot, but also stays awake more now, sometimes up to 30 minutes at a time. And his gaze is a lot more focused and alert. He also lifts his head a bit and can hold it for a sec or two whn on his belly. His hear is getting lighter. I think he'll be a red-head :)

We go on walks every day. It's hilly here - great butt work out. I'll have buns of steel in no time :) I'm desperate to loose weight and get back in shape. Last Saturday I walked all the way around lake Johnson pushing a stroller. It's about 3 miles and gets very hilly too. But I still have extra weight. My highest pregnancy weight was 148lbs. I'm down to 129lbs now - a far cry from my original 116lbs. But I'll start working out as soon as the doctor allows me.

With all this Xander fills a bit neglected. I hardly ever pet him and Chris has almost no time for him either. At least Xan still comes over and sleeps in our bed at night (and sometimes during the day).

It's not DiGiorno, it's delivery

Ok, so on Friday, 9 February, I was going to stop by my doctor for a weekly check. Then I was going to get through an uneventful work day and in the evening - kick back, order some pizza (we still don't have a kitchen), and watch a movie with Chris.

Instead, at 9:30 am my doctor sent me straight to the birthing center at Rex Hospital. I was going to have labor induced after all. Both Chris and I were in shock, to say the least. After all, I was so confident that it wasn't time yet, that I didn't even bother taking my cell phone with me or eating breakfast for that matter. While I was checking in, Chris rushed home to pick up my hospital bag, call my parents, and do all the last-minute stuff. In the mean time, I realized that I might be going without any food for as long as 24 hours (and I was starving already!). My pizza night was cancelled! Mercifully, my doctor thought that it was a bit unfair for me to go through the whole day without any food. So she allowed me to order a small breakfast from the hospital's cafeteria.

Right after I was done with scrambled eggs and turkey sausage, nurse Rachel hooked me up to an IV and to all sorts of monitors. It was all rather exciting, to be hooked up to all sorts of machines. But the novelty wore off and I decided to catch up on TV viewing. Chris got back and we just spent time in the birthing room chatting, flipping through magazines and watching Discovery Channel.

I'm not going to talk about my labor in all the details. Let's just say that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. The hours went by very quickly and next thing I knew, it was already dark outside. The pain grew steadily and at some point got pretty bad. But epidural solved this problem and once again I simply laid there and watched TV. The whole thing seemed kinda unreal. I still couldn't believe that I was about to have a baby. Even when I had to start pushing, it still seemed like just some odd procedure completely unrelated to having a baby. (By the way, I was asked if I wanted a mirror in the room so I could watch the delivery. NO, THANK YOU!)

Chris was with me the whole time and it really helped me a lot. He didn't faint or any such thing and he got to see the baby before I did and cut the umbilical cord. Little Mark was born at 11:01pm on 9 February 2007. He was 5lb 15oz and 19.5in - a perfect size little baby-boy as far as I was concerned. Immediately, he proved that he's got a great pair of lungs and that he could kick real well. Just as I was ready to be moved to the recovery room, my parents showed up (I think they set a new record driving from New York to Raleigh). Mark was taken to the nursery for some tests while I was transfered to the recovery room (in a wheelchair too!) flanked by my parents and Chris.

What It Takes to Remodel a Kitchen

When we bought this house, one of the first things that we knew we would have to take care of was the kitchen. It was ugly, unkempt and hopelessly outdated. Did I mention that this house was a rental property for quite some time? And it was rented out to a bunch of college students who apparently didn't bother cleaning up, like, ever.

So we were looking at a big project - installing all new cabinets, new counter top, sink, faucet, new stove and refrigerator, new lighting, not to mention all the painting and such. It definitely sounded like a big pain in the neck and an expensive one as well. Of course, we had no idea how big and expensive it would turn out to be. Or how long it would take for that matter.

First, we contacted a kitchen designer. I won't mention her name because what happened next was really not all her fault. We paid her $300 to come up and listen to our laundry-list of needs and wants. She make some suggestions, criticized our $10,000 budget as unrealistic, and took some rough measurements. In the end, she produced a very rough drawing of what the kitchen would look like and said that a more detailed blueprint would be available at Lowe's. At this point we decided to fire her and deal directly with Lowe's. Should've thought about it sooner - would've saved $300 bucks! And here's the thing - if you're planning on keeping the same footprint, just spend 2-3 evenings at a book store browsing through remodeling magazines and books for design ideas that can be copied. Even if you are planning on changing the layout of the kitchen, it would make more sense for me to hire a contractor, not a designer, for sound advice and estimates.

To make the long story short, we had to increase our budget to about $15,000 and try to stick to it. To accomplish this, Chris would have to do a lot of work himself - all the demolition and a lot of construction work as well. We also decided to keep the footprint the same and not move appliances or walls. All these savings allowed us to upgrade to semi-custom cabinets and a quartz counter top.

All this was ordered at the end of November. The refrigerator and the smooth-top stove arrived in the first week of December and the cabinets - shortly before Christmas. We had to use our empty living room as a staging area to a great delight of our cat, Xander, who thoroughly explored each box. With the cabinet installation scheduled for the second week of January, Chris started demolition. First, he removed ugly popcorn ceiling and worn and torn bead board. Even though he tried to isolate the construction zone by hanging sturdy plastic curtains and taping them to the floor, there was still a lot of dust all around the house.

The next step was to remove the existing cabinets and appliances. We were very nervous about it. In our old kitchen, we had a soffit going along the wall on top of the cabinets. These had to be removed as well to accommodate for the tall new cabinets. We were afraid that we'd find open ceiling joists. To our huge relief there was an existing ceiling underneath all but one of the soffits. We still had some nasty surprises. For example, we found out that the exhaust fan over the stove was simply a bathroom fan, rigged with, get this, a piece of an extension cord and vented to the outside. It was clearly not in compliance with any fire codes and Chris tore it down. He patched the ceiling with new drywall. For now we decided to live without an exhaust. The kind that we need, an island-style hood, is simply too expensive. But Chris made sure that everything was rigged right for when we do get one.

Another big thing was converting an existing under-the-stairs pantry to house a counter-depth refrigerator. Our designer made it sound like a very simple thing - just take the door down, remove the shelves and voila! In reality, Chris found out that he also had to enlarge the doorway, build additional supports, do extensive drywall repair, not to mention to wire a new outlet and connect a copper pipe for water.

The cabinets were installed in 2 days and they look absolutely wonderful. As soon as they were in place, we had the counter top templated. In the mean time, Chris was working hard on the pantry conversion, painting the entire kitchen, wiring new lights, and installing new bead board and chair rail in the dining area.

So far it's been one full month since the remodeling started in earnest. And we are still a few weeks away from completion. The reason is that the counter top installation is being delayed! Instead of 4 weeks we were guaranteed, it's taking close to 6 weeks. And of course, we have to wait for that to be done before installing a stove, a dishwasher, and a sink. And after all that's done, Chris will still have to work on installing back splash (we decided to do a bead board back splash) and hang some shelves.

In the mean time, the kitchen is absolutely unusable. We survive on hot dogs and frozen dinners. Saves on cooking time, of course. Plus in our search for the home-style frozen dinner, we have different menu every night. The other day I was flipping through "Every Day with Rachel Ray", reading through cooking instructions and just imagining myself cooking again. Pretty pathetic, isn't it?!

Happy-Happy Birthday, Chris!

How many people get depressed when they turn 30? I bet, I'll be one of them. But then you'd think it'd be a bit easier every year, until you hit 40, right? But seems like you just can't get used to getting another year older. So Chris was a bit bummed last week before turning 32. Which was a big waste of time because, as far as I'm concerned, the 30-40 age bracket is the sexiest when it comes to men (with an exception of Sean Connery). That's when their looks, brain capacity, sense of humor, and financial situation are most balanced.

As it happens, February is not such a good month for birthdays. I mean, it'd be ok if not for the cold. And this year it snowed too! Right before Chris' birthday there was a winter storm advisory. The schools got cancelled and all that. So Chris was prepared to sleep in and not go to work. At 7am on February 1 it was a beautiful almost spring-like day - sunny, few clouds, not a sign of snow - no excuse not to go to work. But by the time Chris got to his office, around 8, snow started falling. It was very light snow, nothing like a blizzard that we were promised the night before! And it didn't even stay on the ground since it was too warm. Then it changed to icy rain and finally, to just rain. Again, nothing scary or life threatening. But when Chris went to pick up his ice-cream cake at a local Carvel, the place was closed "due to inclement weather" (that was at 5pm, with not a trace of snow on the ground). Bummer!

Screw Carvel, then! Instead of munching on a cake at home, we went to an Olive Garden. Olive Garden is ok, if you ask me. Not too classy, yet a step above a diner. Plus you can eat as much salad as you want [good deal]! All in all, since the nearest Bucca di Beppo is 3 hours away, an Olive Garden will do. Their desserts are pretty good, especially if you order anything with chocolate (how can chocolate go wrong!). Chris was pretty happy about his super-chocolatie ice-cream and that's all that counted. And best of all, he took a day off from kitchen remodeling. So after all, something good always comes out from getting a bit older.

Renovations

Ok, we're still in the process of renovating the kitchen. And by "we", I mean Chris. He does all the work and I can't even help with simple things such as painting. I'm happy to say that the new cabinets are in and look great. Also, Chris widened the existing pantry and is turning it into a niche for our new side-by-side refrigerator (and it's counter-depth too!). He moved beyond cosmetic touch-ups (paint, minor drywall repairs, etc) to bigger and better things - some carpentry, some electrical work, doing new drywall, etc.

This is work in progress for now. Today Chris is fixing drywall and doing some electrical work. We should be getting our new quartz counter-top in a couple of weeks. After it's in, we'll be able to put in our new ceramic-top slide-in electric range and our almost new dishwasher. Hopefully the fridge will go in place within a week or so. As soon as the plumbing gets hooked up to the new undermount Corian sink, we'll be in business. And I can't wait since all those microwaved dinners are aweful!

Cold Snap, Flowers, and Melted Cheese

... all happen to be signs of our wedding anniversaries. First, it gets predictably cold. Just last weekend, it was a balmy 73 degrees here in Raleigh. But a couple of days before our anniversary the weather soured and temperature plunged to lower 30ies. Finally, we even got some snow that stayed for longer than 5 minutes. This is nothing new to us. After all, on the day of our wedding in Key West, with its average yearly temperatures of around 75 degrees, it dipped down to lower 50ies!

Last year, I thought that we'd turn this anniversary into a mini-vacation and go on a 3-day cruise or something like this. But with me being too pregnant, we can't even drive to the mountains for a weekend, since it's more than an hour away from my doctor's office. Which, after all, is not all that bad considering how much money it saves us to stay home. And Chris has been spoiling me with all the gifts. I already wrote about the spa package. He also got me these nice flowers. Look closely and you can see the coded love message. I guess it says that I'm fun like all the yellow and pink flowers, bright like the white ones, beautiful like the lilly-looking ones, undemanding like ferns, fragile like baby-breaths, and am overall the most adorable thorn-in-one's-side a husband can wish for (that's the prickly flowers).

We also went out to our traditional anniversary restaurant, the Melting Pot, for dinner. Of course, there are plenty of choices around here for a decent restaurant. And for a while I struggled between the Pot and the Angus Barn (which only sounds suspicious, but is apparently very classy and its chef defeated Iron Chef Cat Cora on the Iron Chef show). Ultimately, the Melting Pot won because fondue rules! So we had a 4-course fondue meal consisting of a four-cheeses fondue, a California salad, a Mojo style entree with a mix of shrimp, chicken, raviolli, and beef, and a chocolate-marshmallow fondue for desert. Since it was our anniversary, the hostess snapped our picture, table-side, and even framed it in a nice frame. And then on the way out, we asked her for another picture, this time - with our camera (it's taken in the wine-cellar, so the lighting really sucked).

Spa 101

For our upcoming anniversary, Chris gave me an early present - a spa package. It included an hour of massage, a manicure, a pedicure, and some other nice things. So I finally, for the first time in my life, went to a real spa.

I tried very hard to listen to all the instructions, not be late, do the right things, and in general not to embarrass myself. Oddly, I succeeded. First of, I arrived almost an hour ahead of time. I was shown into the changing room and handed a key to my own personal locker. I was to change into a soft white rob with the spa's logo and a pair of comfy white slippers. In the locker, I saw another matching piece of fabric that looked like a sarong wrap. Eager to use 100% of provided services, I put it on as a skirt underneath the rob. Then I proudly shuffled into the relaxation room where the patrons wait between the treatments while helping themselves to snacks and water. To my utter surprise, I noticed that none of the other women were wearing "skirts", only robs. I sensed danger and quickly retreated back to the locker room to get rid of the "skirt". As I put it back into my locker, I realized that it was indeed a body wrap of a kind used when getting a neck and decoltage treatment! Humbled by a near-miss, I returned to the relaxation room and stayed away from snacks for fear of committing another faux pas. Finally, the other women left for their treatments and I hurriedly ate a saltine cracker and some grapes.

Then it was time for my first treatment - a massage. Since I can't get a real deal right now, I had to settle for a Mother-To-Be special massage. Actually, it was absolutely great! The massage bed was extremely comfortable complete with an oversized and, get it, heated body pillow! A warm blanket, dimmed lights, and soft music relaxed me and almost put me to sleep even before the massage session began. As for the massage itself, let's just say one thing - the following night was the first time in my pregnancy when I did not have any back pain!

After the massage and a brief stop at the relaxation room, I continued on to the next station - the pedicure. I'd never had one done before so I have no basis for comparison here. I thought that everything, from a cushy chair that not only reclined, but also massaged, to hot oil treatment to the color of nail polish, was wonderful. I traded my fluffy slippers for a pair of pink flip-flops and merrily flopped across the hallway to the manicure room.

All my previous manicure experience was limited to Vietnamese salons at various malls across the country. These are usually very crowded, noisy, and smell of acetone and other chemicals. This was a whole different affair altogether. There was no unpleasant smell and the only sounds were soft music and trickle of water from the fountain. The treatment that I got was also much nice and more thorough and included an exfoliating rub, a hand massage, and a parafin treatment. The last one gets to be boring since you sit there for 5 minutes with your hands wrapped in plastic bags wrapped in fluffy mittens. But I entertained myself looking at my newly painted toe nails.

After the manicure, I got an eyebrow wax and a haircut. Oh, and all the while, I was sipping cucumber water. I'd never had it before, but it is really pretty good. It taste more cucumbery than the cukes you buy at a grocery store and is very refreshing. Plus it has a certain snobby spa quality to it unlike say lemon water.

So all in all it was a great experience! Now I'm spoiled for life. I'm already looking forward to returning for more massages (hot stone one would be nice) and maybe some exotic facials.

Our Neighbors

We finally met most of our neighbors. No, we did not go door to door with a basket of freshly-baked muffins. I always thought that it was a bit lame. Instead, on Thursday night, one of our neighbors, Ellen, stopped by and invited us for a social at a local restaurant the following night. And so, over some really good food (mine was a monster plate of tilapia and grilled shrimp over pasta) we met and chatted with Ellen and Doug, Heather and Will, Sybil, Amanda, and others. Yes, we were all wearing name tags, but I still managed to forget some of the names. The entire social went so nicely, that we decided to have another one a couple of months down the road.

The next day, Saturday, was one of those perfect-weather days, that makes you want to get out of the house and do something, anything, just to be outside. Unfortunately, Chris also had to start demolishing the kitchen. We still managed to get out for several hours and go on a walk and have lunch at the Village Draft House, a sports bar in Cameron Village. When we got back, we were basically assaulted by girl scouts trying to sell us boxes of cookies. I really-really hate this whole thing. First of, why don't girl scouts think of something creative for once to raise money. The whole thing of turning little girls into peddlers of sugary trans-fats filled crap made by some ABC Foods or Little Brownies Bakers is pretty disgusting. Not like boy scouts are far behind with their popcorn and candy bars. And it is virtually impossible to say no to them either since their neat appearance and a pleading look make you feel like Grinch that's about to steal not only Christmas, but Easter and 4th of July as well.

New Year

Our first New Year's Eve in Raleigh turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I guess, I should take it as a sign of great things to come and adjust my usually rather pessimistic outlook accordingly.

First of, I got a very pleasant surprise at work - a promotion to a Project Manager (up from a mere Project Coordinator) and a very nice raise. Better yet, even though I went in fully prepared for some serious negotiating, it was not to be - my boss brought up the promotion and the raise himself. And since what he offered was about twice what I hoped to get out of the year-end review, I was simply stunned. Miracles do happen :)

Another nice surprise was that we were not busy at all on 31 December. And we even closed early, at about 3:30pm. That never happened before. Usually we get these awful last-minute projects right before a holiday that keep us busy until all hours. For example, for Christmas in 2005 I didn't get off work until after 7pm!

But the biggest nicest thing that happened was that my parents finally made it to NC. They arrived on Friday afternoon bearing gifts. Their blue Toyota, quickly dubbed "Welcome Wagon" was loaded with enough food to serve a holiday feast to a small and ravenous nation. Along with food, some baby stuff, and IKEA furniture, they brought plenty of crazyness and disorganized authoritativeness that distinguishes my family.

In the next 2 days we tried to show them the area, secretly hoping that they would like it enough to consider moving within the next couple of years. We already had rosy pictures of free baby-sitting on select weekends and generous helpings of freshly baked four-cheese pirogis (my Mom's specialty). And so we tried to go to the Monet exhibit, which was, as usual and to my father's great relief, sold out. And we took them to several of the stores that they do not have in Rockland County, NY (i.e. Trader's Joe). And we fed the ducks at Lake Jonhson. And we went on short walks along the greenways and around the neighborhood. And we drove through the downtown, pointing out all the advantages of living in the capital city. And did I mention reviewing real estate prospects in the area? Alas, that was not to be. It's not that the parents remained completely unresponsive to the area's attractions. It's just considering our past, they don't entirely believe that we'll stay put for any significant length of time. To be honest, we're not that certain either, again, given our previous history of almost semi-nomadic existence.

For New Year's Eve Mom pretty much took over the kitchen and I was not going to object either. I was a bit sick and anyway, it was getting rather difficult to move much with a size 42 belly. But I did my fair share of holiday cooking. I made a pot roast (ok, so it was pre-marinated and then done in a slow cooker; but I did cut the veggies) and an apple pie (ok, so what it had crust made out of Pillsbury sugar cookies). And Mom made a traditional "Olivier Salad" and tons of little sandwiches and other yummy stuff. So our little card table was positively overflowing with food. Chris made me proud by eating not one, but two herring sandwiches! I think he's getting more and more used to weird Russian food. Mom drank two tablespoons of champaign and got tipsy. Dad entertained us by calling all his friends and acquaintances to wish a happy New Year.

Xander, oblivious to the holiday, stretched out on the floor acting cute. We stayed up until midnight and heard fireworks at the FirstNight Raleigh celebration in the downtown. All in all, it was a very nice New Year's celebration. And the important thing was I finally didn't bother making any resolutions!

New Windows

The new windows are in! They were installed yesterday and we're already seeing improvement, quite literally. The old windows have not been washed for some time, especially on the outside. And plus their seals were worn out, so the condensed moisture collected between the panes. So it all looked very crappy. But with the new windows (and a large patio door) we can see clearly now!

Also, these windows seem to provide a much better insulation than the old ones. First, these are energy-efficient argon filled pure-vinyl windows. Second, the installers caulked all the little cracks between the windows and the house frame. So now we can sit/stand near any of the new windows for quite some time and not freeze. And did I mention that unlike our old painted-shut windows, these ones are very easy to open?

It's too bad that only half of all the windows in the house got replaced though. But hopefully we will come into money (miracles happen, you know) and fix this issue.

Greenways

Raleigh is a great city to live in. So says Money magazine and after being here for only a couple of months, we agree. What makes it so great? Well, there are plenty of places to go make money (jobs) and then go spend money (shops, movies, clubs, restaurants). It's still relatively warm here in winter, compared to New York, yet the seasons are more pronounced than in Florida. There are more country radio stations than hip-hop ones (something I personally am very greatful for). The schools are very good and there are several good universities in the area as well. And it's beautiful here too except for newly developed North Raleigh areas.

We knew all this even before we moved here. What we didn't know was that the Triangle in general and Raleigh in particular have a well-developed system of greenways and hiking and biking trails. In my present condition, I can't really do any biking or off-road hiking. But lucky me, I have miles and miles of nice paved greenways here! What are those? Those are trails, mostly paved and interconnected, that go through the woods, around the lakes, alongside the creeks of the residential and even some commercial neighborhoods. These are neither side-walks nor parks, but nature corridors that were left undeveloped for everyone's enjoyment.

The first greenway that we found was the Alleghany Trail. It starts at the North Hills Park with a steep decline and follows Crabtree Creek. It is tree-lined and quiet, except for a 20 or so yards of the Beltway underpass. Closer to the end of the trail, around Lassiter Mill site, there are large houses on both sides of the creek. We didn't mind those since they actually were very pretty and added to the scenery, especially around the old mill site and the Great Falls of Crabtree. This greenway also connects to several others, which we're planning on exploring in the future. But it is a very nice 2.4-mile walk/run/bike ride by itself.

Retail Woes

I don't go to stores on Black Friday since it's a rather stupid thing to do. First of, people do get injured and killed there. But suppose you do get a parking spot and make it into a store alive and in one piece. There are still suffocating crowds, maddening lines to changing rooms, restrooms, registers, exhausted sales people, and irritating Christmas jingles every which way you turn. The sales are not that good either. 10% off here or $20 off there - same as with any other holiday and even some non-holiday weekends. And the so-called "door busters" are mostly crap that otherwise noone would buy anyway. So I stay home on Friday after the Thanksgiving. Whatever I loose in terms of money, I save in terms of sanity and emotional well-being.

We did get to the stores this weekend though, simply had to. As I mentioned many times, our house is mostly empty. And we are remodeling. So we do need to go to stores to buy basic stuff. And then of course we find out that we don't need about half of it because it's the wrong color or just "doesn't go with anything else" and we go back to the stores to return it. Most of the times, it is not a problem. And then there's a case of Cost Plus World Market:

We had to return a seat cushion for a chair, but we lost the receipt. Not a problem, we figured, we'd just get a store credit. Right... They refused to take it back, even though the thing had all the tags attached and all. The reason - we don't have a receipt and since it's a PILLOW, they can't take it back without a receipt because it's a sanitary issue (or something like that). Ok, I can sort of understand how a seat cushion can be mistaken for a pillow by some dim sales person. What I fail to understand is how can presenting a receipt alleviate sanitary concerns that apparently arise without such a piece of paper. After some protracted arguments we did return it for a store credit. McManamans score 1-0 and take the lead!

Then on Sunday we decided to finally get some furniture for either a living room or an office. We aimed for a sleeper sofa. But first we decided to have breakfast at some greasy spoon. We drove to one such place, the Waffle House, and since all the tables were taken, got seats at the counter with a full view of the kitchen area. A Waffle House eatery is a place that we only go to once every few years. And every time we say to ourselves - never again! But the horrors wear off eventually and we return, attracted by irresistable smell of grease and the yellow shine of American Singles cheese. The strange thing is, it seems like there's a certain standard for employee selection for Waffle House franchise. I mean, every one of the places has the same crew - a mean middle-age manager with greasy hair; a fat and pimply white chick with glasses and piping voice; a disgruntled white guy in an exceptionally dirty, even by Waffle House standards, uniform...

The best seat in the house is not in a booth, but right at a counter. Your order will be taken much faster which by no means guarantees fast delivery. But more importantly, you get a chance to see your food being made. And believe me, this opportunity is absolutely priceless. Our server first searched for a stubby pencil while holding the order book in her mouth. Upon locating a pencil somewhere in the fathomless depths of her dirt-covered apron, she wrote our order down on a saliva-moistened page of this book. We then saw the same girl flipping someone's buttermilk waffle with her bare fingers - no gloves and yes, she did have what looked like an open sore on her thumb. Someone's order of hashbrowns got mixed up and the manager peeled already-melting slice of cheese off the top of hashbrowns, again, with her bare hands, and threw it violently right back into the alluminum prep basin, for the next order. We quietly paid for our orange juice and left without waiting to see how our order would turn out. Score: 2-0.

Thanksgiving Update

Our first Thanksgiving at a new place was pretty good (there's always room for improvement). My parents were going to drive down for a short visit. However, we figured out that since we had no furniture in the house except for my work desk, 2 chairs, and our bed, it was probably not the best idea for them to visit us right now. Of course, both Mom and Dad protested and assured us that they would be quite comfortable sleeping on an inflatable mattress and eating while standing up. Only with great difficulty did I manage to pursuade them to not go through with this folly. We agreed that they'll drive down here sometime in December when we're going to be better prepared to entertain.

This change of plans happened at the last moment (the day before the Thanksgiving), after I bought all the food. Not like I bought a lot of it. After all, we are still living out of a tiny dorm-size fridge (the one for beer and soda). So, for example, I didn't get a whole turkey, substituting it for a small turkey breast instead. Nevertheless, I had a task of cooking all this food last Thursday. The menu called for all the traditional stuff:

- roast turkey breast with honey-mustard glaze
- celery and mushroom stuffing
- cranberry relish
- mashed potatoes
- baked herbed sweet potatoes
- sweet and spicy green beans with turkey bacon
- pistachio salad
- and 2 pies (store-bought)

Even though we stayed in bed until 10am and then spent some time going to the Blockbuster for some last-minute rentals, I still managed to finish all the cooking by about 3pm! By about 3:30pm my work desk was transformed into a dinner table. Yes, it was not very elegant, but as I mentioned, there's a lot of room for improvement. The important thing to know here is that everything was very tasty and we totally pigged out.

Our bellies after the meal looked something like this:









And afterwards, Chris got the fire going in our fireplace and we made ourselves comfortable on a couple of blankets in the living room (remember - no furniture yet) and watched some silly movies. All in all, it was a pretty darn great Thanksgiving and that's something to be really thankful for.

More Money

Yes, that's what we need around here - more money, a lot more as a matter of fact. We don't really do much for entertaining any more (except for going to see the new "Borat" movie which by the way was hilarious!). Nor do we eat out or even spend much on groceries. And yet, with all the home improvement projects going on, we are spending way more money than we're making. And I still can't post any pictures of finished rooms.

The master bedroom is almost done though. I know, I've been saying it for some time now. But we had an unexpected problem hanging a very heavy and stupidly designed ceiling fan. So it definitely slowed things down a lot and required extra work. But it should all be ready by the end of THIS weekend. Then I'll take some pictures, if I find my digital camera.

Chris is alternating between working on the master bedroom and the office. He just started on the office, but is making quite a progress. The plan is to finish everything (remove popcorn from the ceiling, paint everything, and bring in new furniture) before the Thanksgiving. Hmm, dunno if it really is going to happen, but I'll keep you posted.

Big progress with the kitchen - we finally ordered all the cabinets and the appliances yesterday. Who would've thought that it'd take almost a month to get this part done! But we're still going to be using our tiny dorm-style fridge for a while since the new one, along with a new range and a range hood won't be delivered until the beginning of December. So, due to the space limitations, we won't have a big stuffed bird for this Thanksgiving. Instead, we're going to have just some turkey breast. Also, not much room for leftovers, which some might consider to be a good thing.

This weekend we are going on a scenic drive around Raleigh area to look for inexpensive and not overly ugly furniture. We desperately need a sleeper sofa (or a loveseat), some bookshelves, and a dinner table w. chairs. Wish us luck!

Slow day at the office

Yes, this is another slow day at the office. Of course, it's Friday, which means that we might get something big or complicated or just plain pain-in-the-butt right at 5:25pm. Our clients have done this to us before, so why should today be any different, right?

Anyway, I know, I haven't posted for a while. But here's the thing - there was nothing new to talk about. My days are spent in the house, more specifically, in the kitchen. Not like I cook that much, but my work desk doubles as a dinning-room table for the time being. So as I said, I sit here all day, staring at the computer screen or at the bushes in the yard, which is a much nicer view with all the little birds and squirrels and sometimes a big grey cat. And then in the evenings, after Chris comes home, I cook food and then go upstairs to the only other piece of furniture that we have, the mattress, to read.

The only distractions from this routine that I have are tours of the house that I give to the contractors. Yes, the renovation saga has started with no end in sight. Chris does not have much time, between full time work and full time college, to do much work around the house. Plus a lot of it is pretty specialized. So I called around and so far had 5-6 people stop by. I wouldn't call it fun, since after the first couple of tours it gets very repetitive and boring. But I'd definitely say that it's an appropriate activity for the Halloween, since most of the quotes sound very scary.

We started with our master bedroom. Chris took the nasty popcorn off the ceiling. That didn't take long nor was it very difficult. But then he had to mud the drywall. Hmm, who knew that it'd be such a complicated process. So he spent his whole weekend last week on mudding the drywall and then priming it. Some butthole advised him to not waste time on painting with a roller and a brush, but get a sprayer instead. Right... After countless hours and many cans of primer, the room looked downright scary. You see, one needs to spend several hours practicing with a sprayer before starting a job and even then, each sprayer is very different. Of course, Mr. Butthole forgot to mention that to Chris. It's a good thing Home Depot has a great return policy.

Finally, today the contractor sent his crew in and they mudded the ceiling. This took them about 2 hours and cost us about $200. It should all be dry by tomorrow and Chris plans on sanding and priming/painting it himself. Thus he'd save us about $300 - our furniture fund.

In the mean time, we met with the kitchen designer, Susannah. She came over and measured our kitchen, something that we proved to be absolutely incapable of. Now we have to go see a guy at Lowe's since he's the one actually developing the plans for cabinets. So that's going to happen this Saturday. After that's done, we'll be pretty ready to order the cabinets and appliances and countertops and a sink and a faucet and light fixtures and other odds and ends that make this project such a nightmare.

Other than that, things are going pretty well here. It's been rather cold, so I mostly stay home (since I don't have a lot of warm clothes). Yesterday I finally bought a cheapy fleece jacket. Usually it means that the next day it would get considerably warmer. It sure did, but also it started raining. So I'm locked in the house again and my only escape at the moment is a potential trip to one of the area's malls.

More About the House

So, we're settling into our new surroundings. A couple of days ago we had a new washer/dryer delivered and installed and now I can finally do laundry (can't wait, right!). Other than that, we just committed to spend some major dough to replace half the windows in the house. Why only half? Well, some day, when we get rich, we'll take care of the other half. But for now, at least we'll have nice new well-insulated windows in the kitchen and in both rooms upstairs. We hope it'll all be in place by Christmas.

The much-needed kitchen renovation is not happening right now. We tried to contact 2 designers to come out and do measurements and just kick some ideas around. As luck would have it, one was sick all last week. And the other one is waiting on some additional information from her sources in order to come up with a ball-park estimate. So there goes my plan of having a great new kitchen just in time for the Thanksgiving!

Chris started work at CarQuest. He didn't do much yesterday since they hired so many people at once that they didn't have enough computers ready for everyone. So I imagine it was pretty boring for him. The good news is the work hours are flexible - he can start any time from 7:30am to 9:00am and can even take 30 min for lunch instead of the full hour, just as long as he works his 8 hours a day. And since he has no problem waking up early, he plans on starting at 7:30, cutting his lunch break short, and being home early as well. Great plan!

I'm not posting any pictures yet because there's really nothing to post. But hopefully we'll be starting and finishing our bedroom re-design in a couple of weeks and then I'll post the before and after pix.

OUR NEW HOUSE

We finally moved to our new house in Raleigh, NC. Well, the house is actually not new at all, it being almost 30 years old. But it's new to us, so there you have it.

The first couple of days were pretty miserable, to put it mildly. We didn't get here until Saturday night and there's nothing worse than arriving to a new place at night. It is completely disorienting and demoralizing. Plus the weather was really bad - rainy and cold.

My brother, who was helping us move our meager belongings, and Chris brought all the boxes into the living room. I brought Xander in. He got so scared, poor thing, that he ran straight for one of the closets and refused to come out even when I was trying to coax him with his favorite treats. That was very much like the episode of the South Park in which Tom Cruise locks himself in the closet - very funny, but a bit sad too.

We had cold water and electricity, but no heat since our forced air system and water heater run on gas. We also had no phone service and no Internet. And did I mention we had no furniture at all? If this did not add to the misery of the whole thing, then I don't know what would've. Our realtor, Galina, stopped by with some home cooked food which we ate off of paper plates and with our hands (couldn't find any silverware).

It was really getting late and very cold. The best thing seemed to just go to bed. My brother rolled out his sleeping bag and made himself semi-comfortable in the corner of the kitchen. Chris and I huddled under a couple of blankets on a squeeky air mattress upstairs. All in all, we looked much like some bums at a bus station.

The next morning, after my brother left, we went shopping. Basically, we need pretty much everything for the house and it does feel like we're starting completely over. There were so many little everyday things that we had to buy, that we kept forgetting something or other.

But today is day 3 at our new house and things seem to be getting back to normal. Three major achievements were getting Internet connection, hot water and heating (read - showers and warm bedroom), and a new mattress. Yes, we're the proud owners of a brand new and a very comfortable Sealy and since we upgraded to queen sized one, there's plenty of room. It feels so good after months of sleeping on an old crappy mattress and especially after a couple of nights on a tiny air mattress.

Xander is back to normal and he runs around exploring all the rooms, jumping on counters, tearing toilet paper to shreds and being in general a pain in the neck, but still adorable. And that's all the news for now.

I'LL BE BACK... maybe

Ok, so the reason I wasn't adding any more posts was that I had a problem with uploading images to my blog. Yes, I do like posting a lot of pictures (and not necessarily of myself). So not being able to post pix makes the whole blogging thing a lot less interesting for me. Also, I'm sure that some people out there don't really care for my ramblings, but just look at the images.

Today, all of a sudden, I decided to give it another try. And lo and behold, it finally worked and I was able to attach a new (actually, a rather outdated) picture of myself and my friend, Amanda.

Looks like I'm back after all. So, ever since my last post, tons of things happened. Here's a brief run-down:

1) We sold our house in Daytona Beach and left Florida. We're temporarily staying at my parents' house in New York.
2) We bought another house, a larger one, in Raleigh, North Carolina. This happened a while ago, but we just never found time to move due to important developments (see below).
3) Chris and I finally went to Russia, survived the trip, took tons of pictures, and I will be posting them soon.
4) THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL is saved for last - WE ARE EXPECTING OUR FIRST BABY!!! How cool is that?!!! Actually, I'm more scared than anything else, but thanks to Chris' support I'm not freaking out. So all that weight that I put on, it's really not me pigging out or the camera adding 10 lbs.

Ok, more on all this later. I gotta get back to work now...

Disney-MGM Studios

Resistance Is Useless! That is probably a not-so-secret Disney slogan. Only a couple of months ago I was making fun of all those tourists flocking to Orlando and spending hundreds of dollars on multi-day park hopper tickets and Mickey T-shirts and picture frames. And then we went to Epcot and really enjoyed it. And then we went to Disney-MGM Studies and really enjoyed it to the point that we mulled around a souvenir store with a $20 Mickey coffee mug in hand (fortunately, the check-out line was long enough for us to come back to our senses). And now we're thinking about going to the biggest, bestest, and most famous of them all - the Magic Kingdom!

But wait, I was going to talk about how we went to MGM Studios. I really liked this park better than Epcot. It was smaller and more manageable. We actually saw everything that we wanted to see, rode every ride that we wanted to go on, AND made it to the early Fantasmic! show with plenty of time to spare. Partially it was because we got smart and started getting Fastpasses whenever possible. And they really work - you get to go straight to the front of a 50-minute long line of sweaty and bored no-Fastpass people.

Another nice thing about MGM park is that it's built to look like a real town. The streets have well-marked car lanes (of course, with no cars) and wide sidewalks. There are plenty of trees for shade, park benches for rest, and souvenir stores for window shopping. In short, MGM has more of a neighborhood feel to it than many real towns.

There are also tons of interesting things to see and learn, mostly about movie-making business. For example, a "Lights, Motors, Action!" shows how such awesome stunts like high-speed car chases and villains falling off the roofs of tall buildings are filmed. This show is as real as it gets which makes it rather unpredictable. When we were there, first it was delayed for about 20 minutes because of a fuel spill and then it went for longer than scheduled because of a small accident on the set. It seems a bit long-drawn especially during the set changes. But those that stay for the entire show will be able to impress their friends explaining the stunts in the next "007" movie.

Another awesome stunt show is "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular". They recreate a lot of scenes from the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" movie. I personally think that Indiana Jones movies are THE BEST action/adventure movies out there. That's an opinion shared by a lot of people, by the way, seeing how this show is always packed.


It was a "Star Wars"-themed weekend and we saw lots of movie characters, such as Choobakka (that's a very hairy giant beast) and the Jedis (that's the good guys) and Imperial Troopers (that's probably bad guys, but I'm not sure) parading up and down the streets. We also went on a Star Tours ride where we boarded a "Starspeeder" (like a space bus) heading for Tatooine (that's a desert planet). In reality it was a big room with chairs and a large TV screen. The chairs would shake and rattle and the screen would show stars and asteroids and space battles and all that. As I'm not a fan of Star Wars, I wasn't very excited. But it is a very good flight simulator in a sense that it came make you sick pretty quickly, reminiscent of Mission: Space at Epcot.

A couple of mellow rides that we went on were the Backlot Tour and the Great Movie Ride. The backlot tour is long and mostly boring. But a man-made Catastrophe Canyon is very impressive and at the end you get to see a full-size Alien character and the Queen of Narnia. The Great Movie Ride takes place behind the Mickey's Giant Hat. It's very nice, slow, dark, and the animatronics figures are so realistic, that I even confused them with real actors (maybe the real ones are so bad?). But the coolest part of the whole ride was not even seeing John Wayne on his horse, but riding through the Munchkinland and listening to the Munchkin Song.

And speaking of songs, we also got to see the Beauty and the Best - Live on Stage show. I've never seen the original cartoon, but now I definitely will rent it.

The MGM park has 3 thrill rides. One was the Star Tour and it wasn't all that. But the other two we had no complaints about whatsoever. First we went to the Tower of Terror. The ride is absolutely awesome. It's very simple - you're in an old creaky elevator with a bunch of strangers. The lightning strikes, the lights go out, you get completely disoriented first and then the elevator drops several stories down. Then it lounges up to the 13th floor with a beautiful, but increadibly short-lasting bird's eye view of the park. And just as your scream reaches the vacationers down below, your body is already falling down-down-down the dark elevator shaft. Your stomach tries to keep up with the rest of your body, but can't... And that's just the beginning of it.

Apparently it was not enough scary screamy darkness for us because we also got Fastpasses to the Rock'n'Roller Coaster. It's a normal coaster only it's inside a building. So the bad news is there are no huge climbs or drops on this ride. The good news is there are plenty of twists, turns and loops in tight dark spaces and the only light there is comes from flashing neon signs. In darkness, noone can hear you scream... mostly because they are too busy screaming themselves and also because all this is set to "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)".

But we were done with all the sight-seeing and with all the rides just in time for the early (9:00pm) show of Fantasmic!. It's kind of pointless to try to describe any of the Disney fireworks shows. But this one was absolutely mind-boggling mostly because the pyrotechnics was down to the absolute minimum. Instead there was a laser show projected onto 3 huge dancing fountains, a boat parade and a moving story.

And that's why Disney is so great. It's just a lot of good clean fun even for adults. And the behind-the-scene efforts and technology that creates and sustains this giant show it becomes truly amazing and even more enjoyable.

Real Estate Business

Ok, this is really very annoying - I typed a nice story about us selling the house and was ready to publish it when the stupid blog crashed. So of course nothing was saved.

So basically, we're finally selling the house. We signed all the papers two days ago and got a big red sign in the yard yesterday (I should take a picture of it). All our remodeling is finished. Well, almost all, since we still have to buy one bi-fold closet door, install new carpet on the stairs, and get all the construction mess out of the garage. But we bravely fought through all the little and medium-size obstacles thrown our way by a heartless corporate monster known as Home Depot and by scores of contractors and sub-contractors that we dealt with throughout the remodeling process.

Overall, we've made a lot of changes to this house since we bought it. Hopefully, it will help us to sell the place quickly and with good profit. The market is cooling off and there's a lot of inventory now. So it's much more difficult to sell a house now than even 6 months ago. But hopefully it'll play in our favor when we proceed to buying our next house.

We decided not to go with a traditional real estate agency because it sucks paying 6% of the selling price to someone that is not even your friend or relative. Yeah-yeah, they do a lot of work, supposedly, but the gig must still be very sweet. If they were truly overworked and underpaid as some of them claim to be, we'd have illegal immigrants doing this kind of job. Anyway, we went with this Assist2Sell (CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR HOUSE) service. They are a full-service realty and operate nationwide. But they charge a flat fee of about $3000 if they sell the place and not a penny more. Of course, we had to also put our house on MLS listing (CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR HOUSE) to give it a better exposure and increase our chances. So now we'll probably have to pay 2.5% to the buyer's realtor (unless Assist2Sell people find us a buyer as well). Still we'll save two to three thousand dollars compared to going through a traditional real estate agent. And it's the next best thing after Selling by Owner, which we have no time for.

Our first showing is actually tonight. So wish us luck.

RENOVATIONS GALORE:


Kitchen BEFORE


Kitchen AFTER


Master Bedroom BEFORE


Master Bedroom AFTER


Living Room BEFORE


Living Room AFTER



Front of the House AFTER

Epcot

After living in Florida for almost 5 years, we finally made it to our first Disney park, Epcot. And why not? After all, it is as much a part of real Florida as the Everglades or St. Augustine. Ever since the first Epcot brochure that I saw, I wanted to do three things:
1) Ride the monorail;
2) Find out what's inside the huge Epcot sphere;
3) Take a picture in each of the World Showcase countries and be able to say that I travelled around the world in just one day.

And so we charged the camera battery, drove an hour, parked the car in the Discover lot, paid for two adult one-day passes and followed several thousand other people through the park gates. The park itself has two parts - the Future World (with the monorail and a huge sphere) and the World Showcase, spread around the World Showcase Lagoon. We decided to follow the yellow brick road clockwise and see it all.

First stop was the Spaceship Earth, the iconic 180-foot tall geosphere. Inside, we boarded a little cart and moved through an animated display of the history of human communications, from cave paintings to instant messaging. The whole experience was very much like being inside a PBS educational program. It was not interesting and undoubtedly educational, just rather mellow and a bit old-fashioned.

Not to worry though, since we had plenty of thrills and excitement ahead of us. The Universe of Energy attraction was closed, so we went straight to the Mission: SPACE. It is the kind of ride that can send one to a hospital and should not be attempted by those that suffer from claustrophobia, motion sickness, back and neck problems, heart problems, high blood pressure, headaches, migranes, vertigo, or anxiety. For the rest of the tourists there are motion sickness bags located within an easy reach. The G forces and the super-realistic graphics will sure make you sick, especially if you don't follow the simple rules, such as DO NOT try move, close your eyes, or attempt to take your eyes off the monitors. Let's just say that this Mission: SPACE left me sick to my stomach, covered in cold sweat, hyperventilating, and experiencing a mild case of claustrophobia, something I'd never had before.

Feeling very sick I asked Chris to bypass the Test Track ride and we continued on to the World Showcase. Very slowly we made our way through Mexico and Norway. Every time I would turn my head to look at something, a wave of nausea and dizziness would flush over me. So I don't remember much of either of these showcases except a little boat ride inside the dark and chilly pseudo-Mayan pyramid. By the time we got to China, I started getting my bearings and was able to not only snap pictures of a fantastic floral dragon and a colorful pagoda, but even express mild interest in the menues. Unfortunately, the Circle-Vision 360 film about China's grandeur set me back a couple of steps on my way to recovery. The film reminded me of the best Soviet propaganda movies, with overjoyed kids with red kerchiefs tied neatly around their necks, red flags flowing over the Tiananmen Square and a larger-than-life portrait of the fearless leader guarding the gate to the Forbidden City.

There are many ways to cure post-motion sickness nausea. One is to sleep it off. Another one is to drink some Ginger Ale. Yet another one is to eat something with enough salt and spicy mustard to jolt your stomach back into submission. And that's exactly what I did once we reached Germany and its beergarden-style cafe. A fresh salt-covered pretzel and a bratwurst smothered in mustard and buried under a heap of warm sourkraut did the trick and I was back to feeling peachy once again.

What are the country showcases anyway? Well, these are mostly souvenir shops and ethnic restaurants hidden inside stereotypical structures and manned by country natives. Name a country, than quickly write down the first couple of things that come to mind and presto - you got yourself a country showcase. Mexico is Maya pyramids and sombreros. Norway is vikings and swords. Germany - beergardens. France -the Eiffel Tower and snobby waiters. Some country showcases have additional attractions, such as China's Circle-Vision fild, Japanese drummers, or American animatronics puppet show featuring Ben Frankling and Mark Twain.

And so we made our rounds, through the Italian vineyards and the a capella presentation of American patriotic songs, through the bonsai forests, and past the Moroccan belly dancers, bypassing the very tempting French bistro and British fish & chips place where you can drink beer while listening to the Beattles tribute group. And we finally made it to Canada. Even though Canada smelled like a medium-rare filet mignon (they have a steak house on premises) we decided against stopping there. After all, we can always go see the real thing, right?

Instead, we left the World Showcase alltogether and returned back to the Future World for some more rides. The next ride we went on was the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". It is a very old, what's called "venerable", attraction scarred by a horrible Kodak-sponsored pre-show. And yet having legions of white mice run over your feet in the dark theater and a giant friendly dog sneeze in your face makes up all the outdated cheeziness of this attraction.



Next we spent hours in line waiting to get on the new attraction called Soarin'. The first hour was passed in playing an on-screen geography trivia. In 60 minutes I learned, among other things, that Atacama is the driest desert on the planet that once went 40 years without a drop of rain; while the dunes in the Namib Desert reach 1000 feet high; that at the current rate of destruction the rain forests will be completely destroyed in less than 50 years; that an acre of these said rain forest has more species of plants and animals than in all decidious forests of Europe; that Himalayan mountains are not only the youngest on the planet, but also grow at 4 inches a year; and that Bryce Canion is famous for its fantastic rock formations. But the ride was absolutely worth the wait. How did they do it, I don't know. But somehow the ride designers managed to create an exhilarating and very real hang gliding experience. At some point it seemed I could almost touch the water surface or kick a surfer right in the head. And the golf ball that went wizzing by only inches from my face was so real that it made me duck.

Our last attraction was the Test Track. Even though we were promised a 40-minute wait, the line actually moved much faster. The ride simulates testing conditions that cars experience during development process. It provides a succession of climbs, bumps, sharp turns and unexpected stops, a heat chamber followed by an ice chamber and a corrosion chamber, and a sudden acceleration on a super-elevated stretch. It's fun and all, but not nearly as much excitement as driving on I-4 through Orlando in heavy traffic or driving on I-95 through all the construction zones.



By the time we were done with the rides it started getting dark and the time drew closer to IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks display. Our plan was to watch the fireworks and then have a nice dinner at a Morroccan restaurant. Except we didn't know that the entire park essentially shuts down right after the fireworks, at about 9:15pm. And so we got some ice-cream instead and found a spot along the World Showcase Lagoon for firework watching. I'm not going to try to describe the show itself, except to say that it the most fantastic 15-minute fireworks, light, and music show that we've seen.

Wine Tasting

Dear Diary,

Two days ago I went to my first real wine tasting event. I was so excited yet nervous about being surrounding by snobby middle-age high-brows. What's all the excitement about? Well, I'm not a wine afficionado and have little interest in the subject. But for the past couple of weeks I was stuck in the house, mostly confided to my office. When I would get out, it would be to get the mail or do grocery shopping or go to the blasted mall. In short, it was a typical case of cabin fever.

Now, Chris on the other hand has gotten into wine tasting. It started with a book that I got him for Christmas, "Windows on the World Complete Wine Course". Next thing I knew, my husband was leafing through the issues of Food & Wine while sipping espressos at Barnes&Noble and spending money on esoteric accessories such as a professional bottle opener and a decanter.

While working in Deland, Chris found out about the Elusive Grape wine store. He used to spend his lunch breaks there, talking to the owner, Bill, or sitting in one of the overstuffed chair in the back of the store with an old issue of a Wine Spectator. Most of the time he would emerge from the store carrying a brown paper bag with a bottle or two. Chris even signed up for a 5-week Wine Appreciation course at a local community college. And so our spare closet was converted into a wine-cellar, our Wednesday nights at B&N were moved to Thursdays, and our wine glasses were filled with Merlots, Shirazes, and Cabernets on most evenings.

And that's how we ended up at the Elusive Grape's wine event a couple of days ago. We paid $10 each, got our glasses and duly entered our names in a raffle. Inside, a 100 or so people, all middle-aged and all with glasses in hand, were standing in the ailes between the wine racks, crowding around the counter, occupying every nook and crany of the lounge, and even spilling over to the sidewalk and into the back alley. Deland is a small town and most of the guests knew not only each other, but each other's friends, bosses, and most family members several generations back. We were clearly the outsiders. Feeling slightly (read: very) uncomfortable in this convivial atmosphere, I was pretending to study the labels while tasting some red wine. As I said, I can't tell the difference between a Merlot and a Cabernet, nor can I taste smoky flavor, ripe cherries, leather or any other tastes that supposedly are present in wine (I guess part of the problem is that I never bothered to spend time munching on BBQ chips or licking leather belts). My wine descriptives are generally limited to "dry, spicy, sweet, fruity, watery, and bitter". If it's not too dry or bitter, it's a good wine as far as I'm concerned. (here's a good article).

Nevertheless, things started looking up as I discovered the Chocolate Amore, a dessert Merlot with a distinct flavor and taste of all the warmth and spicyness of a raising-and-hazelnut dark chocolate bar. Now, that was a find worth the money! Perfectly content, I retired to the lounge with my perfect wine while Chris was breaking "one bottle at a time" rule and buying half the store's inventory. I forgave him for his acquisition included a bottle of my new chocolate obsession.

Soon enough we started some perfectly delightful and non-commital conversation with some perfectly middle-aged people. Hours later we emerged from the store into the perfect summery breeze and quietness, walked along the perfectly quaint streets of Downtown Deland back to our perfect little economy-size answer to the rising gas prices, and drove 30 perfectly safe miles back to our perfectly simple and inviting house.

Another Trip to NY - Part 2 (Parents)

Ok, so this part is long overdue. But my work has been really crazy lately. I even had to work until 7pm a couple of days. Of course, by now the details of our stay in NY faded and are of little interest to anyone. Let's just say that it rained non-stop for our entire stay in NY. So instead of going to the City or to experience some great outdoors in rural NY or PA, we divided our time between devouring my Mom's cooking and window-shopping at the Garden State Mall. Speaking of Mom's cooking, as if non-stop eating wasn't enough, we stopped by the Rockland Bakery on our last day in New York. There you can actually enter the production area and grab fresh out of the oven bread right off the conveyor. Not to mention that you can try all sorts of bread there for free as long as you don't take it outside. If you want to take it outside, you got to pay for it. Rules are rules and so we spent some time there stuffing our faces with deliciously fresh walnut-raising rolls.



To be fair, the weather cleared up for about 30 minutes on Sunday and we used that time to go on a walk around the Rockland Lake. We got there, got out of the car, and walked for about 200 yards when it started raining again. But I did get to take a couple of pictures.




At home, my parents provided us with non-stop entertainment of their own. Let me tell you, I doubt anyone else would be able to create a non-stop buzz out of half-finished dialogs, laughter, petty quarrelling, phone calls, and background TV noise that the way my folks do it. And then sometimes my brother would join our beehive as well. In short, it was a short, loud, and cozy visit.