My physical grace simply amazes me

Last weekend The Wife and I cleaned the hot tub which involves draining it, hosing it out, etc and then refilling it. Once it is being refilled we have to add various products because we have such hard water (helps to keep the minerals from depositing on the hot tub and in the pipes). To facilitate this process we had removed the cover, folded it in half, and placed it on the lawn about a foot away from the concrete slab upon which the hot tub rests. I was walking around the tub pouring in the first bottle when I suddenly found myself on my back staring up at the beautiful blue sky. Apparently I caught the edge of the slab, slammed down on my right knee (giving myself road rash right through my pants without tearing my pants...), and then proceeded to roll across the cover. Of course, no one was filming this because it was totally an America's Funniest Home Videos money shot. I managed to not spill the bottle of hot tub additive and found it happily bobbing, open end up even, in the partially filled tub. At the time, I was focused mainly on my knee because that was what hurt but it was very apparent on Monday morning that I had pulled/strained muscles all along my right side. My trainer was very understanding on Monday night (and quite concerned - asked if I had hit my head etc) and helped me stretch things out. We even had to make adjustments for my shoulder on Thursday night. For those of you who know me IRL, you know that I am prone to this sort of amazing display of physical grace. This one was simply better than most of my displays... I am such a tool.

What a week

Those of you who know me IRL, know what a week I've had. The Wife had a mild stroke on Tuesday. She has been rapidly improving since then and should be able to come home today or tomorrow. She'll get speech and physical therapy as an outpatient and should make a complete recovery with time. It's been a brutal week especially coming on the heels of the events of last week (work-related). I had such high hopes for this weekend in terms of yardwork etc (low humidity, cooler temps, rain this week) but I'm just too pooped. I'm going to try to get some things done inside that have been neglected this week (folding laundry, sorting through a giant lump of mail) and also face the mountain of work that remains to be done. I need more hours in the day right now (longer weekends would be nice too.)

Not my day, apparently

The Wife called during the drive home to say we were missing a crucial ingredient for dinner. Can't make burritos without taco mix. I stopped at the grocery store. It was POURING so I sat in the car for a moment hoping it would slow down, and it rained harder. I got out of the car and stepped into a river flowing across the parking lot and squished my way into the grocery store. Then I shivered my way through the store and my short list, which now included peanut butter m&ms along with the taco mix and a few other things. I arrive at the checkout and...no wallet. Back into the pouring rain. Back into the store where I proceed to knock over the checker's bagging station. Now I am home where I think I shall stay...at least for the evening.

Such a big girl!

I drove through 5 states in under 5 hours on Friday (PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA) on my way to a meeting at the Alma mater. As always, it is really wonderful to spend time with fellow alums and it makes me wish I hadn't been such a complete fuck while I was a student. Anyway, I spent the night in CT with friends and then went to New Rochelle, NY to a high school rugby match on my way home. Because of New Rochelle's proximity to NYC there was no point in going north to the Tappan Zee bridge like I normally do to/from New England. Instead, I went down the Hutchinson Parkway to 87 S into the Bronx and across the George Washington Bridge. I am the fuckin' master. I realize this seems like such a pathetic thing to be proud of, especially for people who drive into NYC all the time but for me this is HUGE. I have avoided driving anywhere near NYC for my entire life until recently when The Wife and I drove into Manhattan to see a show. I even called The Wife to tell her that I had managed to navigate through NY and was safely back in NJ.

I have a secret

I'm going to share a secret with you. I'm the Easter Bunny. Lest you think I'm completely delusional, let me explain. When I was a child, a friend of my parents would leave chocolate eggs on our front walk every year at Easter. I still remember it so when we moved here and there was a family with little kids next door I started doing it for them. I didn't think the kids really cared but last year their mother told me that they remember and they run for the front door on Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny left outside for them. It's a silly little thing but it makes me happy.

Abby Normal? Super Duper!

Yesterday, The Wife and I drove into Manhattan to see "Young Frankenstein: The Musical." We've had these tickets since September when The Wife presented them to me as an anniversary gift. I absolutely LOVE the movie "Young Frankenstein" which The Wife tolerates because she loves me. The musical has received so-so reviews and The Wife was very worried that I wouldn't like it. On the contrary, I laughed the whole way through. In my opinion, it was very Mel Brooks - lots of double entendre and physical humor. There was also a song about tits. What can be bad about a musical with a song about tits?

We then met a friend (whom we haven't seen since our wedding...in 2001) for drinks and dinner at Becco. The food at Becco was just great. I had "polentina con speck", followed by a ceasar salad (The Wife did say mine was better), and their "sinfonia di pasta." The sinfonia di pasta is a trio of chef-selected pastas that are served table-side and for which refills are available. Last night's selections were mezze rigatoni with pesto and green beans, spicy tomato with fried shrimp over spaghetti (one made without shrimp was available which was good as our dining companion is allergic to shellfish), and mushroom ravioli in a light cream sauce. It was amazing. For NYC the price was surprisingly affordable especially given that we each had a 3-course meal and 2 of 3 had drinks. With tax and tip it was about $45 a person.

I'm back

I have a lot of stuff going on personally (those of you who know me IRL know that The Wife has been ill and in and out of the hospital twice over the past month and my sister has been having some health issues) and professionally (can't talk about work but suffice it to say that it has been crazy busy with no end in sight.) I have had either no energy to blog or nothing I could write about. There are times when I really wish I could blog about the job or the family because I'm in a period of "you can't make this shit up" and from the outside it is so outrageous it is funny. In fact, a few days ago I emailed a friend a list of the things that are going on. I saw her last night and she said "I could have cried and that probably would have been the appropriate response but instead I laughed my ass off for 25 minutes." I was glad that she laughed. I didn't email her to make her cry or feel sorry for me, I knew she would see the absurdity of the situations (yes, plural.)

I have been so caught up in my life that I haven't really been paying a lot of attention to what is going on outside my world. I don't think I've read the paper in weeks (and we have 2 delivered to the house every day - I am grateful for recycling...) I did read Newsweek this week because I was travelling and it is a good read on the plane. Even now, I feel like I should be coming up with a list of things I need to get done this weekend and get started on the list. But I'm enjoying the quiet. The Wife is still asleep, the dog is snoozing on the couch, the cats are snoozing in one of their many napping spots, the TV and Ipod are silent, and all I can hear is the dryer, a sound that is fairly innocuous to me. It is cloudy and in the low 40s today (snow is predicted for tonight) but we still have lots of fall color.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but the moon has been fabulous this week. Earlier in the week it was a perfect crescent low in the sky, last night it was at maybe 1/3 of full but huge and beautiful and low. During the day, the sky has also been that deep blue that only seems possible in the autumn. Yesterday I started to think of winter because it was very windy and we had low dark clouds that were scooting across the sky and I knew that a cold front was coming in. Perfect hot tub weather...which reminds me I'd better get started on that "to do" list which includes "put sanitizing chemicals in hot tub" if I want to take advantage of the weather.