Crepes and sushi

I had a very multicultural and friend sprinkled day. I had breakfast with my two favorite former teaching co-workers. One was smart enough to get out of ghetto, the other was lucky enough. They are both teaching elsewhere and we try to get together whenever we can. I always enjoy talking with them about everything from teaching to relationships to our mutual love of dogs. They are wonderful people. We met at a restaurant that specializes in crepes. So many kinds it was hard to choose! I decided on one called "The Elvis". Nutella, peanut butter and banana. It was chocolaty and peanut buttery and very tasty. Here it is in it's half eaten state.

Dinner was the monthly sushi night. Yummm how I love sushi. Its mushy and crunchy and just about everything you could want in a bite size piece of fish and rice. As with breakfast, the company that accompanied the sushi was nearly as enjoyable as the meal itself. Diapers, weddings, shooting, proper use of chopsticks- any topic is on the table at girl's sushi night. I wanted very much to take a picture of my yummy sushi dinner, but was so immersed in eating, that I forgot.

I've been having a lot of moments of forgetfulness lately. Moments where I will sit down and think "I was just about to do something, what was it?" "I was just about to tell L something, what was it?" Seems to be happening more and more lately. For now I will chalk it up to heat stroke.

Shoo fly don't bother me..

I am intrigued by most things nature has to offer. I love animals and wildlife and being outside. L won't go near most things creepy-crawly, and I am forced to dispose of spiders, moths and any other insects in or near our house. Not killing them whenever possible, just getting them out. When I was a kid, my siblings and cousins and I would find cicata bug shells around our grandparent's house. We would collect them up and think it was very cool. That was the only place I had ever seen these molted shells. Until last year, when I found several around the maple tree in our front yard. Revisiting my childhood, I took them all and put them in a plastic bowl. L thought this was throughly disgusting. It is amazing to me though; like a snail or hermit crab, when the cicata has grown too big for its shell, it molts it off. Unlike a snail, and more similar to a snake, the cicata doesn't find a new shell, it merely grows a new one. Unlike a snake, the molted shell that is left behind looks just like the bug that has left it. How does it get out of there without tearing it apart? I can hardly take off my shirt without stretching out the arms and neck. But that little bug manages to get all of its legs, claws, antenni out of there with one small slit. Nature is amazing.

America Runs on Dunkin

So that we all understand my coffee obsession, I saw this over the weekend and had to stop and take a picture. It was one of the greatest sights of my life. Only in a dream would there be a gigantic ice coffee on the back of your car.

Cinco de moi

5 Things I need to get me through the day

1. Coffee, coffee and more coffee... My idea of heaven would have a never ending supply of Dunkin Donuts and my very own Starbucks barista. Unfortunately, I have yet to master making a great cup of coffee at home.

2. Food... I love food. Crunchy food, soft, smooth food, sweet food, dinner food, breakfast food, sandwiches, ice cream, cupcakes. I love to eat, and I have learned to not be ashamed of that.

3. Glasses... I'm blind as a bat, let's just get that out there. I started wearing glasses in fourth grade because I couldn't see the board. I started wearing contacts in eighth grade. I've switched back to glasses in the last month or so because contacts are, well, annoying. I'm not good at cleaning them, and that's important. So rather than get headaches from uncomfortable contacts I've switched back to glasses full time. I've "retired from contacts" as my eye doctor says. Contacts or glasses, bottom line is I can't see a damn thing without them.

4. Internet... I don't know what I did before the internet. L thinks I'm addicted to the computer. I'm a little bit obsessed with checking email, checking Facebook, looking things up on random sites. I'm not sure if I could go an entire day without access to the internet.

5. L... Rarely do I gush over my husband to other people. I do believe in soul mates, I do believe in fate, I do believe that there is someone for everyone. L is all of those things for me. He is my best friend. Almost more important than that, he makes me laugh. I don't think in the three and a half years we have been together, that a day has gone by that he hasn't made me laugh. And not just laugh, but laugh until my cheeks hurt. Laugh until I cry. I couldn't go without that.

A New York State of Mind

There are 728 songs on my iPod. 169 of these are under the Classical genre. 213 are Soundtracks, most are musicals. 49 are The Beatles and 27 are Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow. I haven't listened to a current radio since I was in college. I probably couldn't name 10 currents artists, and the ones that I could are mostly from what the kids at school talk about. I love to sing in the car. I love to sing in the car loud and proud. Someday I would like to do a recital. A vocal recital. Of showtunes, of course. I would either do really well, or get booed off the stage like a first round American Idol contestant. All proceeds would go to charity and I would do do duets with some of my friends. I haven't thought this through at all.

I moved to New York two weeks before September 11, 2001. I stayed there for two years. Was it the best two years of my life? No. However, they were life-changing, as stereotypical as that sounds. The 9/11 experience was surreal and something I can't even explain, but my time in NY was so much more than that. I was a music major, but didn't have a lot of education classes left, so really I played clarinet all day. I played music that was so contemporary, the composer was in the audience. That's an experience that can't be duplicated. I met amazing people. Most of my friends were Asian, from Taiwan and Korea. They introduced me to sushi, sashimi, those coffee drinks with the gel balls in the bottom, and the contemporary concept of arranged marriage. I went to Broadway shows for $25 on my student discount. I met Neil Patrick Harris 3 times by standing outside the stage door after shows. I almost saw Adrien Brody (my second favorite to NPH) in Saturday Night Live, but we missed the cut. I love going back to NYC now, but I could never live there forever. Just like there are people from NY would could never live in Connecticut forever. Its just not me.

Dogs and kids

In a lot of ways I think having a dog is good practice for having a child. If I'm tired, he still needs attention. If I don't feel well, he still needs to play. If I've had a long day, he doesn't know the difference and still needs my attention. Rain or shine, he needs exercise. He loves me and comforts me. He holds me together when I need it and leaves me alone when I need that. He makes me laugh and he makes me cry. Different than a child, he is the first real "thing" that L and I have had together. Nothing will change that. Everyday I see and experience the love that we pour into our friend. Our future children will be so loved. Not only by L and I, but by our wonderful Rex.

Team Matzoh

Team Matzoh originated when L and I first started dating. We were at his friend's parent's house for Christmas Eve, which was something he had done for years prior to meeting me. One of their family traditions for Christmas Eve was Christmas Trivia, and they broke into teams as you would with Trivial Pursuit. For some reason I thought I would do well with Christmas trivia, I believe I even bragged about it. Everyone needed to name team, and since we had already been dubbed "The Jewish Team", we needed to have a Jewish flare to our name. While matzoh has nothing to do with Channukah, or Christmas, or anything even in that time of year, we called ourselves "Team Matzoh" and it stuck. Needless to say, however, Team Matzoh did not do very well at Christmas Trivia.

Meningitis, Swine Flu and Sperm

I've never been someone who disliked going to the doctor for fear of hearing bad things. I know this sounds bizarre, but I want to know what the problem is. When I was in middle school, my parents and teachers sent me for IQ testing and testing related to ADD, learning disabilities and things of that sort. The doctor told me to write down what I hoped would transpire, and I wrote "I hope you find out what's wrong with my head." A strange thing to say as a middle schooler, but I wanted answers, I wanted reasons. If I have a headache, I want to know the reason. If I don't have a reasonable reason, I jump to meningitis, lyme disease and other such things. Thankfully I don't have meningitis, lyme disease or even swine flu. I have a headache. Maybe its allergies, maybe its stress. Its just a headache, and I won't die from it. At least not today.

On Monday, we went to a fertility specialist to find out why, after a year, I am not pregnant. The answer thus far is, "Unexplained Infertility". Could we be any more vague? There is nothing wrong with the swimmers, they all swim just fine. At first glance, everything looks fine on my front as well. Therefore, the infertility is "unexplained". So now we make sure the things the doctor can't "see" are healthy as well. I went for blood work yesterday. Six, count them six viles of blood taken from my arm. On the 30th I will go for a dye test to make sure nothing is blocked. Blood work will take a week or so to come back and the dye test is done by a doctor, so he can tell me the results right then and there. While there are not actual answers right at this moment, there is movement towards answers, which is better than sitting around not knowing, which is what it has been for the last several months. I can sleep through the night because I know there is something that can be done. I can look at a baby without feeling like I'm going to burst into tears. While there still aren't reasons, there is the possibility of results.