If the shoe fits...

Mom laughed at me tonight when I told her I'd bought a new pair of shoes. And she wasn't wrong to have done that either.

When I was packing up to move I was flabbergasted by the number of pairs of shoes I had. Where did they all come from? I couldn't have purchased them all, could I? Surely they grew there. Or were gifts.

And then why, amongst the thousands of pairs scattered among my closets, were there none to suit my needs? Or was I just in great need of some retail therapy? (Did someone get her stimulus check? I think it's working.)

Whatever the reason, I am now the proud owner of these shoes:

They look alarmingly like the shoes I am replacing - the ones with all of the air conditioning in the sides. But the main point is that they are comfortable, wide enough for my feet, and black. I will wear them almost every day. Starting tomorrow.

Along with the shoes, the helpful salesperson gave me an envelope and a brochure. Ecco will essentially rebuild my nearly dead shoes for about half the price of new shoes. It's so worth it. I'm going to mail them off right away.

But the real question is, do I need these shoes in color #66?

Taking the night off...

What with the weather being hideous, and still feeling accomplished from the weekend, yet not motivated to tackle anything tonight, I decided to take the night off. I didn't go anywhere, I didn't talk to anyone. I simply snuggled up in a blanket and read, only taking a break to cook dinner.

One of my Saturday errands took me to the Central Branch of the Free Library where I hit pay dirt on some of the books I wanted to read. So I reached toward my 15 book limit and took out bunches of them. And seeing as how I only have three weeks and 3 renewals, I thought I'd best get going.

I read mostly mysteries, and these days search for authors (with the help of my sister who always has great suggestions) who have a pile of books to their name. I then proceed to use amazon and the Free Library catalog to put the books in order (if possible, I prefer to read the books in order so I don't miss the subplots and introductions of recurring characters), and find them in the library system.

So what am I reading lately?

-Books about coffee and tea: Cleo Coyle's Coffee House mysteries featuring Clare Cosi and set in NYC, and Laura Childs' Teashop mysteries featuring Theodosia Browning and set in Charleston, S. Carolina. Both of these series smack of being ghost written, or perhaps the poduct of several authors, a la Nancy Drew, but they are frivilous and fun. The coffee house mysteries especially make me long for a cup of coffee every time.

-Books set in Maine: This is just a coincidence, but at about the same time, I found two new authors: Sarah Graves, originally from the Philadelphia area, but who now lives in and remodels a house in Maine. Her series is Home Repair is Homicide, and features tips about restoring old houses, an area of great interest just now. The second is JS Borthwick, who's detective Sarah Deane is a college professor.

-Books by Rhys Bowen: She seems to have written a million books, but they are conveniently divided into three series. The one I have now is the Molly Murphy series about an Irish immigrant to NYC at the turn of the 20th Century. I'm on Book 2. So far, so good.

This is just a smattering of course.

Along with the thrill of finding a new author is the disappointment when an author stops writing (or takes a long hiatus). I think these authors should write more. Now.

-Madeleine Robins who wrote the Sarah Tolerance mysteries
-Joanne Dobson who wrote the Karen Pelletier mysteries (but wait! her website says there will be another in 2009!)
-Margaret Lawrence who wote about 18th century midwife Hannah Trevor
-Julie Kaewert who wrote booklover's mysteries
-Sharon Kay Penman's medieval mysteries
-Fiona Buckley's Ursula Blanchard mysteries

And on and on...

I think I'll go read a bit before bed...

Dinner for one...

It's only just after 10pm on Sunday, and I'm about ready to call it a night. It's been a full weekend, but amazingly enough, I accomplished a lot on my to-do list. And I scored a huge box full of burned-once pillar candles for a dollar. You just can't go wrong with that. I didn't get my shelves hung, but one of the boys will help me with that in the next couple of weeks. And I didn't polish the furniture downstairs, but it'll keep another week. But other than that, it feels good to have put in some major house time this weekend.

I am generally coming to terms with the idea that just because I live in a new space does not mean I'm a different person with different talents and tendencies. For instance, I'm still never home, I still hate drying dishes, and I have not overnight become a fabulous cook. In fact, I don't think becoming a fabulous cook is like to happen any time soon.

I've always had the sense that I could cook if I wanted to - I can follow recipes, but I don't have a good instinct for what flavors and foods will work together. Most of the time my time is short and so I want to do something quick - pasta, couscous, ramen noodles and salad-from-a-bag top my list of favorite home-cooked meals. Hence my struggle with tea and potluck items. It's long been easier to go out and buy something to eat or bring than it is to make it. And then there's the niggling fear that I'll bring something and no one will eat it. Purchasing something seems like more of a sure bet. So one of my goals this summer is to cook. To follow recipes. To try new things. Not to go crazy, mind you, but at least once a week, make something from scratch. I want to be brave and cook meat or fish. I want to incorporate non-salad vegetables into meals. I want to bake a little - something I feel more confident doing. I want to actually try those recipes I faithfully cut and paste from the Food Section every Thursday, and use the cans of beets I bought on a whim last year.

I may discover in the end that I'm still not a cook. I can live with that. But I want to go through this process of making my food less instantaneous, more flavorful and diverse so that when I have dinner parties, which I want to do soon, I'll have confidence that I can please my guests.

Or else I'll fall back on one of my favorite quotes from a card: Enough of these feminine stereotypes. Andre, call my caterer!

Back on track...

I don't know if it was planting that lilac, or whether it's the psychological shift that the end of the school year brings, but somehow, I feel as if life is returning. (Maybe it was just catching up on sleep for a few nights?) From whenever in January, it was all-house-all-the-time. Then it was Passover and Neffa and Rochester all in quick succession. But now, with a whole almost-free weekend upon me I want to catch up and move forward with house things and other activities that get pushed aside during the craziness of the semester.

Highlights of the past week:

-Had a lovely time calling the Jane Austen Ball
-Got a gig for December 2009!
-Bought, set up, and used a mechanical sheep, AKA a manual push mower
-Planted my lovely lilac and lillies of the valley - two favorite flowers, both gifts from Jenny
-Washed a pile of dresses I previously only handwashed one-at-a-time using the "handwash" cycle on my washer
-Finished up the semester at Swarthmore with a final party, followrd by tea with Jenny
-Attended a concert with Rachel at the Folk Factory which is mere minutes from my house. Got on their mailing list and hope to go to more things there in the future.

Weekend plans (oh, that I could accomplish all... I'll settle for some)

-Finally dispose of my dead laptop (tomorrow will be attemt number 3 to drop it off...)
-Go to a studio sale where someone is selling off rubber stamps and other stuff
-Pick up a wall-mounted folding drying rack in Center City (yay FreeCycle!)
-Clean the bathrooms
-Hang shelves
-Put more books away
-Scrub the stove
-Go to dinner at Jenny's and thence to the AGM
-Clean out the backyard (thanks, Paul!)
-Dust and vacuum
-Grocery shopping
-Check out plants at Liz's
-Call Mom

New summer schemes (just the first batch of many):

-Try Jenny's daily bathroom cleaning ideas
-Cook at least one meal a week from my stash of recipes to see if I really do like them
-Try the Satuday morning walk at Morris Arboretum
-Spend time on my front porch and in my backyard
-Learn how to strip wood
-Move this blog back toward my original scheme of topics (though I'm sure the house will continue to dominate, if subtly)

Tomorrow's post - potluck/tea items

The beginning of a post...

I still can't get over the idea that I can come home from the dance. park right away, and just pop in a load of laundry, even if I don't have enough quarters in my wallet. I wonder if I'll ever get used to it.

This post must be brief, though there's lots to say, as it's been a couple of late nights and a very early morning this morning. So I'm going to write only until it's time to pop the clothes in the dryer and then go to bed.

On Monday night I bought, among other things, a mechanical sheep, otherwise known as a rotary push mower. It's perfect for my little patch of grass out front, and will do for the back until I some day put in a patio. Last night I put the mower together, gave the front patch a once over, and with help from George and Paul, planted the lilac and the lilies of the valley, both favorite flowers, and both from Jenny.

OK, losing it now. Time to switch the laundry and go to bed.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig...

Desperate not to recreate last weekend hellish drive home after Neffa, I raced out of Rochester right after the Ball, only minimally stopped, and made it home in under six hours. Pretty good, I'd say.

And the weekend was quite good in fact. I was dance mistress at the Country Dancers of Rochester's Jane Austen Ball.

It suddenly struck me as I was driving up to Rochester yesterday, that this was one of my first gigs where I really didn't know anyone in the community. Not true, of course, because I knew the folks who hired me and withwhom I was staying, and because the dance world is so small, I know/recognize people from Neffa or from other dances, but I'd never met/heard the band before, and I had no buddies in the crowd. And though I was equally unknown to them, I think I made good.

It was a lovely event. The hall is drop-dead gorgeous and with a good floor to boot. Pricey, I hear - too pricey to get on a Saturday night, but the tea dance format really works. And folks are into the clothes - gave me extreme dress envy. Though I have no concept if that style of dress would look like anything on me, I want one. Heck, I also want the perfect body to pull one of those off...

And my calling went well. The comment I get all the time is how clear my instructions are. Clear is the word people use over and over. This make me really happy, but also puzzles me a great deal. Why are other people not clear. Are they talking too much? Are they straying from the instructions and trying to be descriptive, but winding up being confusing? Nevertheless, the organizer was happy, and the dancers seemed happy. Working with the band was great, and I may even have gotten a few more gigs out of this!

And did I mention that all of the lilacs were blooming in Rochester. For that reason alone it would have been worth going!

This week I finally have several nights at home, and a weekend at home at last to look forward to. I must clean and do yard work, go to Lowe's, and maybe Ikea. But I am desperate to tackle the craft room and make some cards, including a thank-you card for my weekend host and hostess - something blue and white I think.

Huzzah for good weekends and good dancing, and a good night's sleep at the end of it all.

What were you doing as the sun rose this morning?

This shot could be from almost any year, but it was taken this morning at Belmont Plateau where more and more gather each year to welcome in the May.

We now have two morris sides, two longsword teams and a garland team. There were green men and a maypole dance for all.

May Day morning is always amazing. It's horrid getting up at the early hour, but you collect your coffee and arrive at Belmont Plateau while it's still a bit dark and get to watch the sun rising over the skyline, far removed from the city, but right next door... All this and you still get to work on time!

As I was driving home from work, it started to rain. This did not bode well for the Swarthmore may pole plan. But the rain stopped, and while not bright out, and admittedly damp, we danced around the Maypole with the dance that Jenny and I made up on the spot last year. It was great.

This picture is from last year. I think it was too dim tonight to take pictures. The current Swarthmore maypole was built last year afte Facilites Services lost, then found, then lost the Folk Dance Club pole. The only improvement might be if we could figure out how to secure the head to the pole so that it doesn't rotate with the ribbons. Maybe we'll work on that for next year. So, what May Day song was in your head all day today?