The paper aisle at Michaels, where I spent several hours today picking out materials for a special project that I can't yet divulge. :-)
My energy's slowly coming around again. So, finally, here's a brief roundup of highlights from last week, beginning with the graduation on Sunday ...
I got up at 4:30 a.m. and left the house at 5:40 a.m. with a big mug of coffee in hand, just a few minutes behind schedule. Realized about a block away that I had left my map and directions on the kitchen table (ergh!), so back home I went. Luckily, I hadn't gone very far.
It was a beautiful morning and the roads were empty. In fact, there were several times that there were no other cars within view either in front or back of me on the highway. That's sort of fun ... well, at least at that hour of the morning when you're still half asleep and even silly things seem like fun.
I got low on gas while driving through Connecticut, so I pulled off at an exit and into the nearest gas station. I then remembered that I had to pump my own gas, since I was no longer in New Jersey, where someone (a wise someone) has deemed that the drivers should stay in their cars, and that jobs should be created for gas attendants to pump the gas. Miraculously, this doesn't make the gas any more expensive for some reason ... unlike in Connecticut, where you do have to pay about 30 cents a gallon more for the privilege of pumping your own.
Now, mind you, I do know how to pump gas. I've done it a bunch of times, but not recently. Since John and I have been together, if we're driving through a state that's self-serve, he always does it. So, it's probably been three or four years since I've pumped my own gas, and never with John's car, which I happened to drive that day.
So, I pump the gas, and everything's fine, until I go to pull the hose out and somehow managed to splash gas all over myself and my new outfit. Actually, I do know how it happened, but I feel much too embarrassed to explain it here. Suffice to say that it wasn't just a drop or two that spilled out ... it was a big gusher. So, my hands and upper arms were totally doused with the stuff, and some splashed on my clothes and shoes. Lovely.
I went into the convenience store and asked the cashier for some paper towels, and he was kind enough to also give me some liquid soap that I could take to the restroom to wash up (... he must keep it handy for all the Jersey drivers passing through). Luckily, I was wearing a knit tank top and wasn't wearing the matching sweater over it yet, so my arms were bare and I was able to wash up to the elbows, albeit there was no hot water in that restroom ... only freezing ice-cold water. Still, better than nothing. I really couldn't do much about my clothes, and couldn't tell yet how extensively they'd been splashed, so I decided to let those dry and assess the damage later on. I did try to wash my keychain, which had a woven fiber strap between the two keyrings, and was also doused with gas.
Eventually, I got back on the road ... driving mostly with the window open ... and made good time the rest of the way. I realized I had a small container of cocoa-butter moisturizer in my purse, so about 20 minutes before getting into Boston, I pulled into a rest area and slathered the cream all over my arms. I also took off my pants and shoes to get a good whiff (in a stall, of course), and luckily, they seemed to be okay. The only place I could really smell it was on a small area of my tank top, so I slathered moisturizer on my stomach and a little on the back side of the shirt to mask the lovely smell of petrol, and that seemed to help. I did, though, decide I had to ditch the keychain, because it reeked and was still completely soaked, so every time I touched it, I got the smell on my hands again. It was not an expensive keychain, but one I had bought in Dallas on a trip and had for many years. I just really liked it for some reason. But, it was time to let it go for the sake of anyone who came within five feet of me that day.
Despite all this, I still got into Boston early enough that I had time to go check out Ryan's apartment, which he's had since September, but which I hadn't yet seen. It's in a great location right across the street from a park ... very nice. He lives with his girlfriend Nicole and another roommate, John. Nicole is petite, pretty, and demure and reminds me of a young Audrey Hepburn. Look how cute these two are! (click to enlarge).
Ryan's father, stepmother, and grandmother had arrived just a few minutes earlier, so after a quick tour of the apartment, we all drove downtown to the theater district, where the commencement ceremony was held. Ryan's school (The New England Institute of Art) is in an urban setting in Brookline and doesn't have the facilities for something like this, so they held the event at the Shubert Theater, which is part of the Citi Performing Arts Center on Tremont Street.
The Shubert is a gorgeous 1600-seat theater, originally built in the early 1900s, that was restored back to its old splendor in 1996 (you can read about its illustrious history here and see pics of the renovation here). One of its most beautiful features is this massive chandelier. We snagged great seats in the front row of the mezzanine, so we had a bird's eye view of the stage.
The ceremony itself was very nice. The staff and faculty sat on the stage, and the graduates sat in the front rows of the theater. There was a student speaker who credited much of his success to consuming massive amounts of Red Bull and ended his speech by pulling one out of his pocket, popping the tab, and toasting the class of 2007 before taking a big swig. There were also speeches by the teacher of the year (Tom Good ... how can you go wrong with a name like that?), who got loud cheers from the grads, followed by the commencement speaker, Gene Lavanchy, who is a morning news anchor in Boston.
After the ceremony, the large crowd spilled out onto the sidewalks and street to exchange hugs and congratulations and take lots of pictures (much to the chagrin of the drivers trying to maneuver their cars through the throng). Here's Ryan with his proud mom. :-)
From there, a group of 10 of us (Ryan's bunch, and his friend Nick and Nick's family) walked a few blocks over to McCormick & Schmick's (seafood restaurant) for a really delicious celebration dinner. I had the mahi-mahi, which was outstanding. There were five mothers and grandmothers among us, so we were all toasted, too (not 'alcoholically-challenged' toasted; just acknowledged). We all had a really nice time in celebration of the two grads and their fantastic achievements. A great Mother's Day present, for sure!
I left the city around 4:30 to head back, and although the drive home wasn't nearly as peaceful due to the volume of cars and sun glare, I still made it home in five hours, which wasn't bad. And when I filled up again in Connecticut, I managed not to spill a drop.
... which is a good thing, because at $3.23 a gallon for regular that time, even a drop isn't cheap.
So, that was graduation Sunday, which capped off a long week ...
On Saturday, I had the Morristown Women's Festival, which is a day-long event for women that also has a small 'marketplace' where women can shop in between attending workshops, musical performances, and a keynote.
Last year, I did really well there, so I was a little stressed about making sure I took lots of things with me. I was getting up around 4:30 nearly every morning to make things for a few hours before having to take care of other things ... such as going shopping for something to wear on Sunday, which actually turned out to be the week's biggest and most time-consuming project ... argh! It 'only' took about eight hours over two days, in seven stores, before I found something I liked that fit. Now, mind you, I have to buy clothes sized for petites, because otherwise either the sleeves or the legs are way too long, but still ... should it be that hard to find one simple daytime outfit? Granted, I'm a size 10 now ... sometimes a 12, depending on the brand, which is the largest size I've ever worn ... so some of the new pretty (but clingy) dresses were decidedly out ... which made the whole process not only more challenging, but also a little demoralizing. It was also sobering. I haven't touched a piece of chocolate since. Gee, maybe I should go shopping for clothes more often.
On Wednesday afternoon, my wonderful friend Joanne came over to help me make some jewelry for the women's festival, even though she was covered from head to toe with poison ivy (or maybe sumac, we weren't sure). Now, that's a friend, wouldn't you say? She had a great time playing with the beads, and I had an extra set of hands that I figure I can have well-trained by the time the busy holiday season rolls around. No ulterior motives here. :-)
So, the morning of the women's festival (Saturday), I got up once more around 4 a.m. to finish up a few more things before showering to get there by 7 a.m. to set up. Despite the fact that it was not as well attended as last year, which made my sales about a third of what I did last year (ugh), it was still a great day. I was between two other wonderful and really talented vendors ... Margaret, who makes gorgeous lampwork beads two days a week and has a psychotherapy practice the other three days ... and Beth, a potter who creates beautiful bowls, plates, and sculptures, as well as doing custom tile work. Both were a joy to get to know, and we spent the slow times huddling to share and exchange information about being an artist and marketing our goods. Fun!
The other great part of the day was seeing people I don't get to see nearly enough, including the fabulous Deb, who not only facilitated her 'Living Out Loud' workshop at the festival, but emceed the entire day ... and then came over and helped me pack up, shaving a good 30 minutes off my packing time (thanks Deb!). That way, I could get home a little earlier (6:30 p.m.) have some dinner with John, iron my outfit for Sunday, and tuck in early so I could get an early start for Boston.
Whew ... and so, I was glad when I pulled up to the house Sunday night, still certain I could catch a faint whiff of gas from my shirt every now and then ... totally pooped ... knowing I could sleep in on Monday.
Okay, maybe that wasn't so hard, but I didn't think it would be that easy, either. Yes, it's a yummy pineapple that I picked up at the grocery store yesterday.
