Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What's Happening to my Kitchen?

Renovation.

I didn't realize how many things I had in my kitchen.

I didn't understand that I would lose my kitchen sink on day one.

But in a week or so, it will be gorgeous, right?

Sigh. It's only the beginning...bathrooms, flooring, painting and window treatments will follow.

Sometimes I wish we could just move into a new place instead.

Too Little, Too Late

On Saturday afternoon, we went to Citi Field for a Mets game for the first time in two years. RA Dickey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning (after being perfect through five.) I joked at the end of the first inning that he had a no-hitter--hope I didn't jinx it. A no-hitter remains an elusive goal for the Mets.

The Phillies scored first in the seventh and I had a sinking feeling that Dickey's great performance was wasted. Enter Valentino Pascucci (who?)  in the bottom of the seventh who homered. David Wright doubled in the winning run in the eighth. We returned home to watch the Mets beat the Phillies again in the nightcap.

A sweep was a pleasant surprise: I had prepared myself for defeats. But I couldn't help but be disappointed that the games were essentially meaningless--the Phillies had already won the NL East and the Mets' poor home stand ensured that they would have a losing season.

Regardless of the mounting disappointments over the past five years, I am a Mets fan. Being a Mets fan has become a part of my identity. I hope their current lows will only serve to enhance their future highs.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Summer's Almost Gone

This song has been going through my head for the past month http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwpA3AV1jT8 ever since a cool morning at the dog park when I wore a jacket. Either Chris or Roberta said that summer was over.

I thought that comment was premature. I knew we had several weeks of warm weather to go. But the cool weather this past week seems like a harbinger of the cold to come. And if it's anything like last year, it will be a tough winter.

I don't feel melancholy about the end of summer because autumn is my favorite month. I regret that I haven't done many of the traditional summer things: barbecues, picnics, beach visits. But I will still relish the cool, brisk days ahead.

Atrophy

For me, blogging is like working out.

It's good for me.
I enjoy it especially when I do it on a regular basis.
It's easy to forget about it when I don't do it on a regular basis.

Just as my muscles atrophy from lack of working out, so too do my blogging/writing muscles atrophy from lack of working them. My last post was August 13th and my last gym visit was August 18th. While I have legitimate reasons for missing both activities for a few of the respective 30-plus days, I have no good reason for the others. (Not that I have to make excuses here, but it's something that I'm trying to figure out.)

Let's start working those muscles again.