catching up against all odds (read in shifts)

ok, I don't remember everything we did the weekend of the 13th-the 16th. I know that on the 14th we were in charge of cooking at the Chelsea Soup Kitchen. We made jambalaya and except for the fact that most of the rice was undercooked, we had plenty of food and most things turned out right (I did get a lecture the next week telling me that we should have cooked the rice separately when I pointed out that the thing that made jambalaya jambalaya was that the rice was cooked in it he started over at the beginning explaining I should have cooked the rice separately like I was a big dolt).

That Sunday (the day before Patriot's Day or maybe it was on the Monday of Patriot's Day) we went for a Greek Easter dinner. It was great. It deserves more recognition, but I have no time.

Friday April 20 was our churches big dinner. It was a very fancy affair at the Copley Westin Hotel. Sadly, they didn't have enough wait staff to serve the number of people who showed up (huge delays in the first being served and the last). Also, some of the donated flowers impeded the view. We had a very pleasant table though. With three lovely couples and my friend's parents who had come in from their own church's retreat. Her parents are actually stellar people able to talk to any number of weirdos (which is good since a good number invariably show up at large church events -- oh, wait, have I mentioned that I am a bad Christian?). Anyway, good event.

That Sat. we helped in the soup kitchen in the morning then my boy went to a crosswalk event and I went with friends on a route one road trip. This time we managed to find Costco (though it did take two passes) and we went to the mini golf place where the dinosaur had been vandalized the week before (he'd undergone a gang beating). We managed to miss a good number of other fun sites though, so another road trip is definitely in order!

Sun. we went to costco and ran other random errands ending by picking up a friend and taking her all the way to the 'ville to get dumplings at wangs. It was good (I LOVE their cucumber salad so garlicky and light and good).

That brings us to April 28th -30th or the Boston Independent Film Festival (the same festival where I saw chalk last year and am still anxiously awaiting it's widespread release -- go contact them, tell them we all want to see it over and over again!!!!). We saw several great films that weekend. We saw Eagle v Shark which is a New Zealand film combining elements of Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine.

The next day I watch Low and Behold an insurance film (of course) it was quite good and it turned out that the creators had been through hurricane Katrina And one of them had been a claims adjuster. It was quirky and a pseudo-documentary. I recommend it.

My favorite film we watched though was the King of Kong, we randomly ran into a friend in Harvard Square shortly before the movie and convinced her to join us (which made it even more fun) The King of Kong was just exactly the kind of fluff documentary I LOVE!! It reminded me a lot of Cinemania (if you haven't seen that you totally should) and a little of Trekkie's (another must see!). It was just such a good movie with good v. bad and suspense and lovable wackos. So good. I can't wait to see it again. I am so glad I chose it as my random third choice.

Ok, that brings us to May (YAY!!! aren't you excited we've made it this far?). On May 1st I randomly ran into the gang I usually ride the redline home with (sans two very important people). The four of us tried to ride home but due to a random fire, we ended up stranded in Lechemere. So we decided to hoof it home from there. It was a lovely (if long) walk. I am sad I can't remember all the amusing things we talked about. I do know that after we'd made it all the way to Harvard Square I convinced John to go with me to Unos and we both convinced Suzib to get out of bed and join us. It was fun and good practice for my upcoming walk.

May 5th we went to Chelsea and then rushed to a farewell picnic for two of the people leaving our small group. Then I rushed to meet my old roomie for a pedicure at Bella Sante. It was great (it's only now fading slightly and only b/c my nails have grown) nice to catch up and good to be pampered. After the pedi, we convinced my boy and my current roomie to join us in Roslindale for dinner and an HDTV version of a devils game. We stopped at Viva Mi Arepa in West Roxbury (the food there is amazing -- you MUST try the garlic sauce and the owners are really helpful/nice) on the way back to the house. It was a lovely evening except I started to fall asleep and the devils weren't doing so hot. So we headed home for a fairly early evening good since we had to be up early for the walk the next day.

May 6th was the Walk for Hunger. Thank you all for your incredible support. I have been meaning to write a good post and take pictures of my shirt and mug and sticker and everything, but I haven't had a chance yet. Anyway, I made it to the end and my boy was incredibly encouraging and it wasn't so tough if you kept breaking it down into small steps. I am only walking to Brookline. I am only walking to Newton etc. I will try and write more, but I think that sums it up.

May 12th was my roomies special day (it was the day she was adopted). We spent the day pampering her. We started with a manicure (for me) and a pedicure (for her) at the Square Nail Studio. We then went to breakfast next door at Johnny D's and then headed over to Harvard square where we got her a new nose ring and searched high and low for a breast cancer pink ribbon pin. We didn't find one. We found a breast cancer t-shirt, pen, mug, scrubs, but no pin. We finally gave up and came home. I tried curling her hair but it fell out. I told her that my sister could have made it stay, but she didn't believe me (I think that's a challenge, you should come visit now Lea). Anyway, she rushed off to her benefit and my boy came over and we watched tron (which apparently has two actors who went on to Babylon 5 -- I only recognized one).

I can't remember what we did May 13th. . . .

May 18th was women's night in at my house. It was sort of done in shifts. we made taco fixins and gin punch and then consumed them at 9:00 or so when we traded women (one came and one left) there was lots of punch left because no one was at the top of their game. We had a good time though and talked and watched Friends (hence why my mood improved on May 18th).

May 19th my boy and I were in charge of cooking for Chelsea. We did extremely well this time with the incredible help of one of the women from my tues. night small grp and one of the guys from my thurs. night small grp. Our plan of peach muffins didn't work out so well (too much baking powder in the mix I swear the batter almost started to foam over the side). I improvised with dinner rolls drizzled by butter and raspberry melba sauce (not sure how that went over). We made spaghetti and meatballs with a side of spinach and incredibly yummy garlic bread made with garlic we'd roasted on the grill. That got great reviews (and let me tell you they're a difficult crowd). Probably their favorite part was that we had so many leftover meatballs. So many in fact, that my boy was eating meatball sandwiches for days afterward. . . .

My boy and I went back to his house after the soup kitchen and I promptly fell asleep. I was out cold for two or three hours. I woke up and we discovered the bread dough we'd brought home was bursting out of the bags it had been placed in. We went on an adventure to find a baking sheet. It was a lovely walk to the fenway Bed Bath and Beyond (where we also picked up a rib rack). When we got home I was hungry and so we ordered bad Chinese food (bad in a fairly good way). As we were dealing with the bread it got to be too much. We finally just stuck a giant loaf in the oven and struggled to stay awake till it was finished.

I don't remember what we did May 20th.

May 25th was my boy's photo show. It was a lovely affair good music, interesting conversation and a good display of artwork. My boy's was a shining example. He also looked very nice in a great pair of jeans (suzib and I helped him buy them) and a pretty blue striped shirt (and you could hardly notice the little seaweed salad spot he'd gotten on it at suzib's new favorite sushi place -- she like it b/c it has karaoke).

May 26th was my boy's birthday party. He managed to lose his mp3 player in one of the zipcars but other than that and a mishap with a missing zipcard it was a pleasant evening at the decordova sculpture park. People seemed to enjoy themselves and my boy was happy. Our picnic featured, ants (on a log), lady bugs (on honey dew melon) and snakes, and was terribly yummy. People didn't even notice they were being slipped healthy brownies (they're still healthy if the only thing good for you in them is the eggs and the whole wheat flour right? even if they're covered in chocolate and marshmallows).

May 27th was my boy's actual birthday. We attempted Church but after an hour and a half driving, we ended up dropping a delivery at church and then going out for happy meals where I treated everyone. For dinner my boy grilled incredible ribs with a marinade and bbq sauce he'd made from scratch the night before. I quizzed my roomie on CNA related questions while my boy finished up the grilling.

May 28th I was planning on taking my boy out to a special breakfast, instead we went to one of our usual weekend spots b/c we overslept. I was taking him skating (not an easy feat in the Boston area in May). I had researched it and was very excited. It required taking a train and then a bus (which I hate). We made it though with few mishaps and we were putting on our skates when my boy realized one of the worst mishaps you can have happen. His wallet fell out on our bus. It took us over an hour to catch another bus (two of them passed us by) and then much hassle which I just can't go into again asking around for the wallet until we gave up and went back to his place to cancel credit cards etc. It took us all afternoon. We were not happy campers when we ended up at the Memorial Day bbq we'd been invited to (an hour late). The food there was good though and the company comforting. I think it was good that we got out among other people again.

June 1 we stopped at the butchers for meat and then came straight home so we could listen/watch my boy's AHL team play for the Calder cup (more on the game he took me too later -- it was on a wed. night not a weekend -- hitting the highlights here people). My roomie watched a sox game at the same time. I was so distracted by both I didn't watch either. Both games ended up lost I think.

Saturday we went to the soup kitchen and then came home and relaxed before we went to a friend's engagement party. There were some false starts (I put a glaze on my boy's pineapple upside down cake and while we walked to the train it leaked all over him so we had to go back home and start over again). We finally made it to the party. It was so great. The hostess had an incredible eye for design. There were beautiful lanterns, lights, candles and draping of swags. The dessert table was gorgeous, a two tier affair with a mirror top and hurricane candle. It was very nice. The couple we were celebrating looked ecstatic the whole evening flitting from group to group. One awkward moment was when a couple of women came up to me and my boy and said, isn't this lovely? My boy and I nodded and then the other woman said, so when are you two going to have one? The first woman said I am glad you could see where I was going with this. I think, perhaps I am being a little sensitive, especially since it does seem like something I might say, but my first thought was we've been dating slightly less than four months people!!! Calm down!

June 3, I slept and slept and then slept some more. My boy was surprisingly supportive (he doesn't usually tolerate that sort of laziness. He gets bored with it and wants to go out and do something. He was oddly compliant though. Around noon he started grinding meat for homemade sausage. We took a break to get a new toilet seat (long story) at home depot and then we went to church and came home and replaced the old toilet seat and my boy finished making sausage while I posted two craigslist ads. So all in all a very lazy day.

Let the record show, I am officially caught up!!!!!