Rappin' Down The Street

I should have been up at 7am on Thursday, but I was tired and procrastinating which is why I was so irritated to discover that our street is the shortcut a number of teenagers take from the Davis T over to their high school. At first, I thought it was neighborhood toddlers that were being vocal so I rolled out of bed to check things out. Instead of cute little kids, I saw packs of teenagers walking down the middle of our street, laughing and joking around. Just being normal teenagers, but they were being kinda loud especially since our windows were open. I flopped back into bed and tried to "rest" pulling my comforter over my head when I heard what sounded like someone rapping right in front of our house. I heard some "S" words and some "N" words and I don't mean shoot or nincompoop so I had to get up and see for myself. I saw one lone teenage boy with giant headphones shuffling down our street very slowly to the beat of his very loud rapping. He looked like a nice enough kid in his slacks and sweater vest, but at that moment...I wanted to tell him to "shhhh....be quiet." It was, after the fact, kind of an endearing sight and I don't think he was intending to be disruptive, but I sure hope he walk more briskly in the future so I don't have to wake up to his rapping... it's not my favorite.

Hippie Points

My friend Zlyssa was telling us the other day that Adam and I could claim "hippie points" for not having an air conditioner. Of course, part of the reason is I'm not big on air conditioning since I get cold easily and we're too lazy to install the window units that are in our basement. According to Zlyssa, sheer laziness does not void our "hippie points" We can also claim double points for not owning a car even though it's because we're a too lazy to care for one, we don't need one and because I feel a little cheap as well. I'm not really sure we deserve these points, but I've decided to defer to Zlyssa's judgement. After all, she legitimately deserves her hard earned points since she drives a hybrid, eats organic foods and composts and we could definitely use some of those "hippie points" to combat our yuppie tendencies.

We are ever true to Zrown...

We were hanging out with some friends last night for the last of a series of summer happy hour hangouts which was why it was called "Last of the Mojitos." It cracks me up to no end. We sat out in the yard, drank homemade Mojitos made from a Hemingway recipe and snacked on a variety of fun things like Adam's pesto/mozzarella cheese melty baguette concoction. We chatted about this and that as night fell when the conversation turned to college. "Would you send your child to your alma mater" basically. Now, I don't think of myself as the most rabid alum, but turns out, I was the most enthusiastic about my alma mater out of the entire crowd. I felt a little dopey and goofy being so rah rah about college since most people were kinda lukewarm or cold about it, but I really did love Zrown. When someone made a rather astute point, "Does it really matter where you went to college," I wanted to leap up and shout, "Yeah, I loved Zrown," but I restrained myself since they were probably right to some extent. Rather, I rattled off all the things I loved about Zrown which was probably a little annoying and then when I woke up this morning, I thought of a whole bunch of other reasons why I loved it. I decided not to rattle those new thoughts off to Adam since he was trying to sleep and I was being rather noisy. I was a little embarrassed to admit it last night, but I've even recently acquired a Zrown diploma frame seven years after the fact and I also purchased a decorative Wedgwood plate of the Zan Zickle gates that makes me so happy just to look at. I even considered one of those wooden chairs with the seal, but I didn't think Adam would go for totally Zrownifying our home since he's not as personally invested in Zrown. So yeah, if I knew my kids would enjoy Zrown as much as I did, I would totally encourage them to go.

First Love Springs Eternal

Last fall, when three year old Zess started her preschool, a cute little blond boy named Zvan instantly developed a major crush on her. He loved her pigtails and braids, her brown hair and eyes, everything about her. He wanted to sit next to her at lunch and at circle time. Zvan even told his grandpa on the phone about how much he loved Zess and how beautiful she was. After school, when the mommies pick up their kids, little Zvan would try to hug Zess and shout, "I love you!" Poor Zvan's mom was a bit embarassed at her three year old son's strong sentiments. He was quite young to be such a Casanova. Zess, however, was totally oblivious and hardly noticed Zvan's attentions or his presence all year.

At the end of the year, his passion unabated, Zvan managed to get Zess to agree to give him a kiss goodbye. Imagine this mommy's shock when Zess and Zvan fully embraced and smacked lips! This was followed by this mama in the car ride home explaining that Zess never had to kiss or touch anyone else unless she wanted to. In retort, Zess declared, "I wanted to kiss Zvan."

Cut to this fall, at the beginning of the four year old year at preschool. This mama was sure that Zvan would have forgotten his passion over the summer and moved on to other boyish things, say riding bikes and marble runs. But immediately at the circle time on the first day, Zvan tried to sit next to Zess by wedging himself between Zess and her best little girl friend, Zofia. Bad move. Zofia and Zvan had a bit of a scuffle over the coveted spot next to Zess, but Zofia won out. Zvan went and sat on his mommy's lap and cried.

We'll see how this unrequited crush plays out over the course of the year. . .

Not About Me

A friend of ours is temping as a receptionist. Part of the job is to answer the phones by saying either, "Yada Yada Office, may I help you, " or "Yada Yada Office, will you please hold." During a particularly crazy phone answering session last week, he mistakenly answered, "Yada Yada Office, may I hold you?" Understandably there was awkward silence on the other end.

Product Raves

I'm really loving the Trader Joe's 100% Desert Mesquite Honey. The honey is tasty, but boy oh boy let me tell you about the packaging. It's totally awesome. The spout features this rubber nubbin with a slit that only opens when you squeeze the bottle. This means, there's not honey drippage after the fact and thus no sticky cap issues either. I'm never going back to Shaw's generic honey in a bear shaped bottle or honey jars. 3X concentrated laundry detergent is another product that I'm becoming almost fanatical about. Short of 3X possibly being more expensive, I don't know what the point of buying or even making 2X detergent is. 3X is less packaging, a smaller bottle and so much lighter. Once again, I could care less what brand it is and I haven't noticed a difference in how well the detergent performs, but I do love the smaller more compact packaging.

The Longest Short Week

I'm not big on change and new situations so starting a new job is inherently exhausting for me. That's probably why I stayed five years in my first job. I didn't want to have to experience the longest two days of my life which was when I started working right out of college. Who would have thunk that a Thursday/Friday work week would leave me utterly drained. I'm not feeling so wussy since I worked four whole days this time around. That said, here are some of my highlights from my first week back in the labor force:

1. Sam LaGrassa bills itself as the "World's #1 Sandwich." I was famished on Thursday so I tried the pastrami since everyone else was getting it. I'm not a huge fan of pastrami since it's typically very salty, but Sam LaGrassa's Pastrami Sandwich is a keeper. The meat is tender, delicious, not really salty and the fresh baked french roll is awesome. It's only a block from my office which is a little dangerous, but I do have someplace great to go whenever those meat cravings hit.

2. Badge drama: I managed to lose my badge on Thursday. Yup, that would be two days in. Adam even walked over to Davis along my route to look for it and when he couldn't find it, I reported it missing and sheepishly begged the facilities guy for a new one. This morning, I get a surprise call on my office phone. Another person at my company that works on another floor also lives nearby and found my badge on the bike path near Davis. She thought it looked like her own and picked it up wondering if it was for someone at the same company. Lo and behold, now I theoretically have a commuting buddy in spirit. We've never met, but we've seen each other's photos thanks to the nifty online company directory.

The End

My nonstop fun during work hours has come to an end. I start my new job tomorrow. I did go to the North End on Friday, shop like crazy for work clothes on Saturday, check out the new Whole Foods at Alewife and play a super long game of Catan on Sunday and enjoyed a lovely day downtown today on Labor Day. As for what I'll wear on my first day, a rather boring, but appropriate combination of a black v-neck cashmere sweater, black pinstripe suit pants and some black flats. I've acquired many fun outfits that I'm excited about, but I've decided to dress with my badge photo in mind on my first day. Why do I think I photograph well in that black sweater, it's the sweater I'm wearing in all my IDs: Student and Driver's.