On Friday, space_craft and I went to see Food, Inc. (a documentary film about the industrial processes by which we are fed in this country) at the Amherst Cinema. Since this is a topic of interest to me, I've already read several books on the subject (even some written by people who appear in this movie) and I don't feel that I learned too much that was new to me. However, in general I thought it was a well-made film and worth seeing. Getting to see Michael Pollan on the big screen was a treat, too; I have a lot of respect for his writing, and he's just as well-spoken in a verbal sense.

Saturday was our housewarming party! A big thanks to everyone who made it out here (some from as far east as the suburbs of Boston, and as far north east as New Hampshire). It was great to see some of our friends from around town, too, and we even had some neighbors stop by and one who stayed to hang out with us for a few hours. People brought awesome desserts in exceptional quantities. Grilling was accomplished. And my parfaits and popsicles were everything I intended them to be.

By necessity, Sunday was for recuperating. I did manage to go to Northampton for some shopping with space_craft while anzovin went to a movie at Pleasant Street. We went to Deals and Steals, where I found lots of organic breakfast cereal for cheap that didn't even have nuts in it. And we went to River Valley Market, where we got some organic local blueberries, local corn, snacks of various kinds, chicken breast... it was a good trip. We came home, decompressed a little, and then with unfolded_cranes to help me, I grilled a pair of T-bone steaks from our local meat share, the corn we bought, and some zucchini. For future reference, garlic, black pepper, Worcester sauce, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil makes a tasty marinade for steaks. The vinegar, in particular, lends an interesting mild sweetness. And it's amazing how much better new charcoal catches on fire than charcoal that was sitting in the trunk of a car for almost two years!

Anyone who has been invited and hasn't responded, or hasn't been invited yet but would like to attend, we're having a housewarming party on the 11th, and if you RSVP, your chances of having popsicles and parfaits will go up dramatically.

Children are invited. Dogs are invited if it's not raining. Also, if the sun is shining, we will be grilling!! There will be Settlers. There will be Rock Band. You know you wanna! Come on down.

It's not that I'm allergic to yardwork... just most of Nature in which it occurs.

I did some much-needed weeding of the front walk and porch this morning, and am now covered in horrible welts of various kinds from plants and mosquitoes and whatever the heck bit me on the elbow - that one is the size of a dime. But no sun rash, by George. I had lots of sunscreen on.

I had a lovely vacation with space_craft last week. We drove down to Charlottesville on Saturday (12 hours) and spent time with her parents, sister fineeyes, and their 2 dogs and a cat until Wednesday. Went to the movies to see The Hangover, spent an afternoon at Monticello, and ate lots of yummy food, some homecooked and some at restaurants. I bought a stuffed animal filled with beans and lavender, a coffee-brown mole I named Theo. Also got a book and some magazines, because our next stop was the beach!

On Wednesday we drove to Virginia Beach (3 hours) to stay at space_craft's grandmother's house. We made it down to the beach both Thursday and Friday mornings for some lovely swimming and hiding out under a beach umbrella while wearing a lot of sunscreen. We opted for beach time in the 9 to 11am range to avoid the worst of the heat, during which we were generally huddled in some air conditioning. We went to the movies again, this time to see Year One, and borrowed Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day from the Blockbuster. We went to a mall to buy some earrings, smelled delicious soy-based candles at a natural foods store, and had dinner twice with space_craft's aunt. Also on Saturday we slept in a lot and watched a bunch of Mythbusters episodes.

On Sunday, we left Virginia Beach at 7:30am. Had brunch with fineeyes in Charlottesville from 11 to 12. And then drove home, which we reached at 12:10am, thanks to a great deal of caffeine consumption on the part of space_craft. The past two days were spent tidying our house and recovering!! But overall, I had a lovely time.

I got new shoes and I'm really happy about them! They're comfortable and cute, and that color that looks gray? It's shiny silver!

Our hot water heater may be in danger of exploding. Or at least, breaking in some way that lets all 75 gallons of it spew all over the basement. So, we spent some time yesterday getting all of our cardboard boxes off the floor, and as one might imagine, my arm hurts. The hot water heater guy will be coming to look at it today. It's going to be so nice to take a shower. Whenever it gets fixed, that is....

I've been having some annoying stomach upset the past couple of days. I sure would enjoy not having it anymore. *sigh*

Ten days until vacation! Virginia Beach, here I come!

So, for anyone who lives far far away, and wanted to see my new look, I finally have pictures. Like my new icon! My hair, it is short.

There once was an artist from France
Who would never clean paint off his pants
His maid finally quit,
Said, "I'm sick of this shit!"
And left him a pantry with ants.

ETA: They really should have been more specific in the instructions about the scansion. I mean, come on, there's more to limericks than the rhyme scheme, people! And most of the submissions don't read like limericks to me.

Bargain hunting is great, don't get me wrong. But occasionally I find that my scruples make me uncomfortable when I'm doing things like shop at Wal-Mart for cheap plastic crap from China instead of buying less things of higher quality from better places. Fact is, sometimes I just don't have the cash to live up to my ideals, though.

Just now, I spent $25.10 at Amazon. I got some glass pitchers imported from Italy for putting iced tea and lemonade and such things when I make them this summer. I also bought a book for about $3 to take my order over $25 to qualify for free shipping. Awesome, right? Only the original place I was *going* to order the same glassware, King Arthur Flour, is local to the North East, worker-owned, and actually has social and environmental responsibility. If only they hadn't been charging me $44.90 (includes $10 of shipping) for the same items, minus the book.

Baaaaah.

Spring has sprung, and it's already going to be too hot for my taste next week. Physical therapy is going well; my PT Guy is making me work very very hard, and I think it's doing some good. Time will tell!

space_craft is moving in this coming Friday, and there's so much left to do! I remember that. Oh, wait, it only happened to me a month and a half ago.

A slightly belated Happy Beltane to one and all, and I hope those that were inclined to do so celebrated in fine style. Y'know, with a May-pole. And flowers and stuff. Yep, that's all *I* had in mind. ;)

Valentino's new game of biting the stream of water that comes out of the faucet continues to amuse both him and the rest of us. M's friend Lily laughed hysterically when she saw him do it on Thursday when she came to dinner.

Speaking of which, anyone who's local: talk to me about when you're free to come to dinner! We have six dining room chairs, and four household members, and I'd love to cook you something.

Both the stew and the muffins were a hit. I particularly appreciated the help that unfolded_cranes and space_craft gave me in chopping ingredients to put in the stew, which was made of beef, carrots, potatoes, onion, garlic, celery, chicken broth, canned crushed tomatoes, white wine, and herbs de Provence. Mmmm. And I owe the Joy of cooking for making me cook the meat long enough.

But enough about that. I'd rather talk muffins. Whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in particular. I made 'em low fat, low(er than they could have been) in sugar, and dairy-free! Impressively, for the amount of oil I didn't add, they're still good the next day.

I've had a request for carrot-raisin muffins next, but then I think I'm going to experiment with bananas, chocolate chips, whole wheat (or oats), and molasses. (As a flavoring agent, not as the sole sweetener.)

Is it Miss Primrose's Finishing School for Ladies of Distinction, or did the Posture Police just run me over with their bus? I can't decide which metaphor suits my efforts to straighten myself out better. Because I feel like I've been run over by a bus made of PT exercises, and yet my posture, I'm sure, is going to *look* lovely.

Anyway, lots to do this weekend. Must remember to go to the art store when I'm in N'hampton this weekend for watercoloring supplies. Also a birthday brunch to attend and plenty of chores and cooking and whatnot to be accomplished.

I can't believe it's 72 degrees out! Holy crap!

Making beef stew tonight, and possibly inventing some muffins. Will report back on successes.

Got my physical therapy evaluation today for one more round of the stuff. The gentleman I'll be working with this time (Steve) wants to focus on my core strength and stability, particularly in the upper back and neck region. Apparently, with exceptional flexibility (like mine) comes the need for exceptional strength and stability, which I don't have. We'll see how this goes; I have another appointment tomorrow, and we'll get started. Oh, yeah, and we're also focusing on my posture. Which, as I've been paying attention to it since I left his office, is not very good yet.

So, hopefully by the time the next several weeks are out, I'll see if his theories are any more successful than those of the last two physical therapists I've been to see in the past 2 1/2 years. *crosses fingers*

Lessee....

1. Happy Easter, to those who celebrate Zombie Jeezus Day. Hope those of you who are not devoutly Christian had lots of delicious chocolate fertility symbols and otherwise subverted the meaning of the day with Pagan goodness (intentionally is better, but I'll take unknowingly).

2. Mulch is expensive.

3. space_craft and I are painting her closet blue. I had missed spackling and taping down plastic tarps and suchlike. I can't wait until I own a house so I can paint for real.

4. Homemade pizza tonight for the first time in the new place, and sydneycat is coming over for dinner. Rock! In other food news, I've been cooking a lot of fun vegetarian food, and I got this *amazing* Roasted Strawberry Compote recipe out of an old copy of the Vegetarian Times. It was so good, I'm making fiendish plans to go strawberry picking in bulk this June/July and freeze lots of extras. Also, I subscribed to the magazine.

5. Starting new physical therapy on Wednesday. Should be good and helpful in my continuing slow gains. :)

Whatever it is that I'm allergic to, it started blooming yesterday. My daily dose of Zyrtec was abruptly overwhelmed, and my kitty is now making me sneeze. Also, the air makes me sneeze, being awake makes my nose run, and my pillow makes my face itch when I'm trying to sleep. :( Simultaneously, this morning's forecast calls for rain and SNOW. Snow?!?!? Damn it, New England. I hate you today.

I'm pretty much all moved now. Computer has yet to be set up, and internet is only on unfolded_cranes's laptop until Monday night, soonest; lots of unpacking has yet to be done, and there are still bikes and fans and things over at 74... but simultaneously, I'm about half unpacked and I've tried out all of the appliances. Our new house is nifty, and there will eventually be pictures. space_crafty and I are going out later to buy a microwave.

Yesterday unfolded_cranes and I went for a walk and found some woods with trails and a fairly sizable stream!

Going to see Coraline tonight at the late show. Haven't been to the movies since... last fall? Should be fun, anyway. Really, I just wanted to use this icon. ;)

You know, in the past day or two I find myself suddenly missing playing my trumpet in my high school band. I didn't always enjoy the practicing or the other band members (though there were also redeemingly awesome fellow bandmembers), but I loved it so when a piece finally came together and we had a performance. And County Band and my senior-year brass quintet were particularly great, because they stretched my skills a little further. Most of high school isn't worth remembering, but I'm really glad I was in the band.

Just a quick note to say that I wasn't just bluffing at the beginning of the year. I found myself some therapy, and today I had a driving lesson, and my first tattoo is looking closer and closer.

The fact is that I don't *like* the squeezy feeling in the pit of my stomach eking up into my throat that anxiety brings me. But I can stand it, particularly when to do so is earning me some serious cred for being awesome with my new final authority on the subject.... me. ;)

Being proactive. Who knew? (Okay, some of y'all knew. Hush.)

So, space_craft and I went in on a little purchase a couple of weeks back - DDR Universe 2 for the XBox 360 with associated dance pad controllers. Today I went over to her house in the middle of the day and quite literally danced my pants (mostly) off. I think I need to wear tighter pants next time. Of course, if I don't wear jeans I won't have protection from her attack cat... and if you think I'm kidding, come on over and try it yourself. Copper thinks bear-hugging the leg with claws is an appropriate response to humans doing something so odd as DDR.

People often say that actions speak louder than words, which is certainly true. What is also true, but less often quoted, is that actions speak louder than intentions or emotions. Whatever I think about a thing, or feel about a thing, or rationalize about a thing, it's what I DO that matters.

If I'm going to apply the Yardstick of Adulthood to my own life and actions, then I believe I'm entitled to apply it to other people, too. Being able to do so is one of the perks you get for going through the difficult and frustrating process of adopting such high standards for yourself.

There are always days and situations in which I won't measure up. And I don't expect perfection from my friends, family, and associates, either. But when it comes to noticing when someone's words and intentions don't stack up to their actions, like The Who song says, I won't get fooled again.