Here in New Mexico...

After suddenly having no more classes to take or teach, I quickly got tickets to visit my grandma in New Mexico.  She knew my mom was coming to visit, but not me, so we were going to surprise her.  Unfortunately, a few days before I flew out she fell and broke her hip, has been in the hospital for the past week, and had to have a hip surgery the day I arrived.  We decided to let her know before I arrived that I was coming, so she wouldn't think she was hallucinating on the pain meds.

Good news: right now she's doing fine, medically.  Obviously, her hip doesn't feel great.  They also found a bit of pneumonia in her left lung, but they've given her antibiotics and it seems to be clearing.

Bad news: she's confused a lot.  They did a CT scan to rule out a new stroke (she's had one in the past), so it's probably just pain meds and being in a new place, but she said she saw my grandpa yesterday (who died in May 2011) and she was worried because she didn't have an apple for the teacher.  It's really, really hard to be around her when she says things like that.  I know it's harder for my mom than for me.  Plus, just in general, hospitals suck.  People in and out all the time, constantly feeling in the way, etc.

But other things have been fun!  My aunt and her family live in the area, too, so we've gotten to go out for some Southwestern cuisine with them, and last night I gave my family my lecture on Shakespeare-- using my slides and everything!-- because my cousin said she loved Romeo and Juliet.  I also got her the 1996 version of the film (who can resist Leo?).  Tonight I think we're going to make popcorn and watch The Avengers together.

So those are the ups and downs of New Mexico, and tomorrow it's back to Seattle to start hardcore prepping for this move and writing applications.

*Photo by me, taken on a 2010 visit to New Mexico

A Cozy Evening

It's really feeling like fall here in Seattle, very cool outside and the clouds have begun to roll in.  So yesterday afternoon I decided to use up some of my stock ingredients by baking a loaf of wheat bread (since I'm not going to move a pack of bread flour across the country).  Then I thought, what goes with fresh homemade bread?  Stew.  So I walked to the grocery store to pick up stew meat, an onion, and some carrots and spent the evening happily letting stew simmer on the stove while the delicious smell of baking bread filled the apartment.  Zan and I put on sweaters and lit a little candle out on our balcony and sipped wine (well, he had pumpkin ale) and listened to the Chocolat soundtrack and everything felt lovelier than ever here in Seattle. 

Feeling so happy right now is bittersweet, though.  Plans are in motion for us to move back east, and everyday I'm reminded how little time we have left in our first apartment.

So this is living!

On Thursday night Zan and I somewhat spontaneously went to a concert at Fremont Arts Abbey.  There were two acts playing: a Swedish singer named Sofia Talvik and The Paul McKenna Band.  Both had a folksy feeling to them: Sofia Talvik had a sound slightly similar to Laura Marling and The Paul McKenna Band plays Scottish folk music.  I loved the reels.  I can just picture people dancing and laughing and the long history of the musical style. 

And the best part was, I could actually enjoy it.  I didn't have to think about the reading I should be doing at home for class the next day, or about what I would teach on Friday, or anything.  I could be like a normal person who doesn't spend 24/7 reading or thinking about reading.  Or writing.  Not to say that I'm not currently a little ball of anxiety with a million apps to fill out (because I will start to miss reading/writing 24/7.  It's my nature.) and I'm planning another cross-country move within the next month, but it was nice to stop for a moment and appreciate live music.  It's something I don't do enough of at all.  It's also made me want to move to the British Isles.... or Ireland. (They played an Irish song, too, and it reminded me of that pub in Galway where everyone was singing and dancing and drinking as a band played folk music.  Loved it.)

It's fun going out on a school night. :)

the door is so wide open

You may have noticed that it's September, that the air has gotten cooler and school buses once again populate the roadways in the mornings and afternoons.  Backpacks are eagerly sold, and signs in stores proclaim "Back-to-School Sales" and "College Necessities."  But, despite the fact that last year I passed first year exams and everything for the next three years of my life seemed planned, I haven't mentioned orientation, or what classes I'll be taking, or how I've stocked up on several new, blank, shiny notebooks and fresh pens.  I do love that feeling of blank notebooks and new pens.

I haven't mentioned it because this year I'm not going back to school.  I realized this program wasn't leading me in the direction I wanted, and chose to find a new path.  If I'm lucky, perhaps next fall I'll be buying those notebooks and pens, sharpening my pencils, picking up textbooks, and looking at new messenger bags-- happily following a desired, more clearly delineated course.  But this year, I'm filling out job/school applications and deciding if I should move back east now or wait or not move back east at all unless I get a job/new school there.  Or should I go due south?  I decided to change my fate, remember?  It's scary and uncertain and exciting and wonderful and terrifying.  There's so much to decide, and-- deliciously-- so much I can decide.  For the first time in my life I have a whole year where I don't know what comes next and it frightens me and thrills me. 

London Memories: Borough Market

I wrote about London's Borough Market and Monmouth Coffee after we went the first time, I know, but I'm not sure I got across how wonderful it was.  Nor did I have pictures.  So here, I present you with images of Borough Market: the beautiful stalls with cheese and fruit and piles of delicate meringue, the people who seem so satisfied with life and so perfectly happy that I'm considering running to London to work in the tea stall, the intense smells and the sounds of bartering and free samples to taste.  If I could make a living working at Borough Market (or on a farm outside the city, then sell my goods on the weekends in London), I would seriously consider it. 

(All photos mine, please do not repost without credit)

A Moralistic Pet Post

In between changing my future and planning new plans, Felix got sick.  You remember Felix?  He's our giant black and white cat, weighing in at 18 pounds 11 ounces, prompting us to give him the middle name André (for André the Giant).  He was fine when we got home only a little over a week ago (how has it been only a week?), but a few days ago he started acting mad and yowling when we picked him up.  Then he began to spend his time by the litter boxes, acted as if he would urinate on his scratching pad, and the yowling became so sad and unbearable.  So on Thursday morning, quite early while the sky was still gray-- not yet melted into blue-- we took him to the emergency vet.

Let's just be upfront: Felix lives.  Thank goodness.  But there were a tense couple of hours where I wasn't sure what his condition was, and I was worried he was "blocked."  Male cats can get "blocked" urethras that then keep them from urinating, stretching their bladder and even killing them.  Felix was only partially blocked and had a UTI, but he had to spend the night at the emergency vet so they could give him subcutaneous liquids, run tests, and start him on a round of antibiotics and pain meds.  He's home now, and we're very grateful, though giving him pills sucks.  Yesterday wasn't too bad, but he's gotten wise about how to spit them out now, and he clenches his jaw shut so we can't get the pills in without a fight.  We tried putting a pill in wet food but, predictably, he ate around it.

I suppose the moral of this story is, if you have a male cat, make sure he gets plenty of liquid and don't wait too long to take him to the vet if he starts acting odd.  We were lucky Felix was only partially blocked (and our wallets were lucky, too), but I've read about cats who get totally blocked and need emergency surgery for this condition-- both risky and expensive.  So take care of your pets and love them, because can you imagine how sad it would be not to have a giant pillow-cat sleeping at your side every night? 

If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?

(Photo found here)

Big things are happening.  I'm changing up the entire trajectory of what I thought my future would hold, and while it's at times terrifying and uncertain, I have to admit that I don't remember the last time I felt this excited and happy.  The world is full of possibility. 

Feeling the Fall

Autumn is most definitely in the air.  Even in Williamsburg the leaves had a distinctly yellow and red tint to them, and in Seattle it already feels like fall with cool, crisp air and blue skies (for now).  So, yes.  Back in Seattle.  Zan and I were thrilled to return to our beloved cats Rhett and Felix, who seem to have gotten if anything fatter and more good-natured.  Our apartment was kept in lovely condition by our wonderful neighbors, and for now the weather is holding steady at partly cloudy and high 70s.  We even got to the 80s yesterday, though the evenings are deliciously cool.

But summer has definitely ended.  Pumpkin ales fill the grocery stores, Peets and Starbucks are offering pumpkin lattes, and I'm thinking its almost time for apple cider, hay bale mazes, and candy corn.  I absolutely adore autumn.  Could there possible be a greater time of year?  (Besides Christmas.) 

 (Cannot find source, if it's yours let me know!)

(Photo found here)

(Photo mine; taken October 2010 in Colonial Williamsburg)

Cruising in the Caribbean

Saturday afternoon I returned to Williamsburg after a lovely seven-day Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy with my parents and Zan.  We had such a great time-- we celebrated two birthdays (my mom's and Zan's), we ate glorious food, we played trivia games in the pub, we met some of our favorite Disney characters, we watched two Muppet movies, and we soaked up the sunshine on the boat and in the ports.  My favorite port was St. Thomas-- I would love to return there for a week or so to actually explore the island and to get away from the incredibly touristy bit right off of the dock.  We had a fruit and rum smoothie with chips and mango salsa at a tiny cafe in an alley, and I think that's when I totally fell in love with the place.

Best bits?  Meeting Phineas and Ferb was definitely a highlight.  I also loved watching Muppet Treasure Island on the big screen on the top deck with the stars shining down on us.  It happened to be pirate night, so Zan and I were dressed as pirates.  I managed to reread I Capture the Castle, mostly sitting with my feet in the pool while a cool breeze played over my arms and face.  If you've never read that book, I highly recommend it.  Zan and I partook of almost every pub trivia, and though we never won, we always came close.  The trivia-mistress seemed to really like us.  We also took a pretty sweet mixology course and made some amazing mixed drinks.

 In sum, cruises are pretty fun.  :)

(All photos mine; please do not reproduce without credit)