1. Bought provisions already
2. Girlfriend is coming over for the weekend.
4. Hope the power stays on so we can watch Netflix and let our brains rot all weekend while the storm rages.

1. Bought lots of groceries yesterday and have plans for lots of good food this weekend -- a sage chicken and sausage bake, shrimp in garlic butter, green beans, baba ghanoush.
2. The baba ghanoush is for a departmental bbq that is scheduled inauspiciously for Sunday -- it's probably going to rain but I'm hoping that the hurricane will not affect us toooo much up here in Ithaca.
3. Looking forward to snuggling with the bf when it's cold and rainy outside.

1. Driving to Utica, NY tonight to visit college roommate and family.

2. Going to the NY State Fair tomorrow, which is really nifty.

3. Driving back to Boston Sunday afternoon, will be on the Massachusetts Turnpike which is supposed to be in the eye of the storm. Woo-hoo!

1. Tomorrow, I'll bake bread, make hummus, and cut up some veggies so we'll have no-prep cooler-friendly food ready in case we lose power.
2. If it's not too stormy late Saturday night, we're going out to raise a glass for a friend's birthday.
3. I want to go to peacheater's bbq and stand right next to the baba ghanoush, eating it all unabashedly.

Keeping my fingers crossed for all the bunnies who may be in Irene's sights this weekend...

1. Today's goal: go through all the pics I took in North Carolina this week and get at least some of them posted on Flickr.

2. Also hoping that a part will arrive for our A/C unit so they can come fix it! We got home Tuesday and had no A/C. It's been tolerable so far, though yesterday was pretty damn warm, and at night our bedroom is like a hurricane with two different fans going (one to pull air in through the window, the other to circulate).

3. Today is partner's first day of not smoking. So far so good, but it's not even noon yet... :) Send him some good anti-nic-fit vibes, if you can. I know it's going to be really rough for him.

2. Going to the NY State Fair tomorrow, which is really nifty.

We always went to the NYS fair when I lived in Ithaca! Take pictures of the butter sculpture for me! Pretty please?

Oh, make #3 for me: Work on my resume. I love my job and the people there but the commute is killer and we've outgrown our current office space. If they move somewhere that's farther away from the LIRR, that's the end for me (unless they're going to run a shuttle or rent me an apartment).

1. I'm heading up to Chautauqua, NY, for most of the weekend, to stay at a friend's house. I'm so excited; it's a group of friends I adore and haven't seen in a while, and my brother + his wife are coming. I haven't seen them since June, and I miss them both so much. My life is less wonderful without them.

It's been a rough summer, and I am about due for a break.

2. Driving back to Pittsburgh with my brother. We have a lot to catch up on, and he's just about the wisest person I know.

3. Going on a second date on Sunday night. EXCITED. The guy seems completely awesome, and I'm hoping for good things. Trying to just enjoy this time and these feelings rather than anxiously overanalyzing it - I'm semi-successful so far.

1. Have had busy weekends the past few, so looking forward to a weekend of nothing. It's a happy coincidence that we had no plans anyway, so the hurricane won't ruin anything for us.

2. Stayed up too late last night. Stupid reading. Now can't concentrate on work.

3. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.

You betcha, Eid!

Take care, all those in the path of the hurricane. Anyone would think it's the End of Days on the east coast, what with an earthquake followed by a hurricane. Hope the Rapture's fun for you guys!

And good luck on the second date, punchtothehead.

1. I am really excited because my new steam cleaner arrived today. I'll be steaming the bathroom this evening. (This is the reality of Friday nights for 50-something single women.)

2. This is a long weekend, so the plan is to give my flat a good tidy-up and sort out my storage spaces. Steaming will probably be involved.

3. On Sunday I'm going for a run in the morning (the rain has probably put paid to a forest run, it'll be too muddy, so it'll probably be a road run) and then if I can still walk after that, I'm going into town to meet my friend, Nancy. She's flying back to the States on Monday, and she said that, after decades of spending every August in London, now she's in her 80s, this is the last year she'll do it. So I doubt I'll ever see her again :-(

3.a Also Manchester United vs Arsenal on Sunday. I'll have to record it and watch it on Sunday evening, but I'd rather do that than miss out on seeing Nancy.

1. Everything special planned for the weekend has been cancelled, mostly due to the hurricane, though a trip upstate tomorrow had to be cancelled because our friend's Mom fell and is in the hospital, :( As of right now, church has not cancelled Sunday service. The pastor lives right there, so he says he'll come no matter what, though I don't know if "no matter what" includes, ya know, a HURRICANE and all the various effects that might have. Whatever. I will probably not be going (might not have a choice, if transit shuts down). I e-mailed and told him to close the north entrance lest the unstable stained glass rose window over it fall on somebody.

2. Will be nice to have a weekend to do nothing after just getting back from our vacation with the in-laws + short Vegas stop. Vacationing with the in-laws was really stressful and I'm glad we've both vowed to never vacation like that (6 adults, 1 car, different hotel every night, hours of driving every day) again.

3. Everybody is getting on my nerves today. Perhaps this is related to #2, or #1, or just life, I don't know.

1. Worrying about family and friends back on the east coast.

2. Various choirs that have built up since we were away last weekend (laundry, bathrooms, etc)

3. Going to a new Gastro-pub tonight called "Meat and Potatoes" which has gotten great reviews.

2. Various choirs that have built up since we were away last weekend (laundry, bathrooms, etc)

I'm fairly certain you meant 'chores' but I love the idea of little choirs all around your home, singing lovely songs to you and filling your house with music.

Chores, yea. Haven't even started drinking yet. Champagne in an hour to celebrate a product release.

...vowed to never vacation like that (6 adults, 1 car, different hotel every night, hours of driving every day) again.

Holy cow. Yeah, I'd say you're under a ton of stress.

1. I've declared a day of rest at work because I got all my tasks for the week done, so I'm surfing the hell out of the net and snacking and having a good old time.

2. Trying to figure out if we have a house or not. The property manager is VERY pregnant, and it appears that she's the only one who answers the phone. I haven't heard from her on our application or lease for two days.

3. If we do have a house, this weekend is packing and next weekend is moving. We'll be a nuclear family again. This is going to be a long winter.

TPS I got your postcard today! Made me LOL (you know why).

1) Dinner and drinks with an old friend tonight.
2) Hurricane.
3) If hurricane not bad, then dinner and drinks with same old friend tomorrow. He moved to Jordan and is in town for a short while.

1. Planning on baking some bread tonight (not b/c I'm worried about the hurricane, just 'cause I like bread) (but I will charge all my devices just in case).

2. Catsitting all weekend and babysitting Saturday! Hoping it doesn't rain too hard/isn't too windy. Babysitting a 3 year old and a baby is hard enough without scary storming/power outages.

3. Just killing time till the weekend . . . with less than an hour left of work, I seem to have exhausted the internet.

1. I just spent a half hour figuring out if we're in a flood zone/evacuation zone or not (it would be very helpful if the city would include more street names on their flood zone map -- I kept flipping back and forth between the flood zone map and google maps). Near as I could tell, we're okay. We're not far from possible flood zones, but mainly the ones affected by stronger storms (category 3 or 4). Of course, we're on the third/top floor of a brick row house, so I was never worried about having to swim for it (not like when we lived in Miami), but I am mildly concerned about my car. A few feet of water is never good for engines. (Fingers crossed.)

2. Food (check). Water (check -- gotta fill up the bathtub to have water to flush the toilet, if needed). Flashlight (check). Car parked away from any tall trees (check). We're ready, sort of (canned tuna anyone?). Jon's gonna stay home from work tomorrow since the trains are all shutting down by noon Saturday. Given we don't lose power it could be a rather cozy weekend. Watch TV, eat, read, nap. (Toes crossed.)

3. Mom's coming along. The leg is healing and she's walking with a walker now. Wednesday when I visited she took herself to the bathroom by herself for the first time. She could probably go home in a couple weeks. My brother's worried about her living alone, though. He's checking out some assisted living places, where she'd still have her own small apartment but help with things like showering or shopping, as needed. My heart sinks when I think of it. I know she doesn't want to leave her house. My other brother, who's a semi-retired attorney, might be willing to move in with her. That could be hard on her, though. He's good-hearted, but a bit difficult to live with (you've seen Hoarders? Not that bad, but along that continuum. It's all still in discussion, as they say. The Assisted Living apartments look nice online, and the services go from minimal to full, should she need them in the coming years. Ultimately, I'm just glad, at 96, to still have her around.

4. Feeling blue. Trying not to give my mood too much weight, but feeling blue. Soon I'll be back to work and too busy and tired to think about being blue. Meep.

Wishing it would rain.

Well, scratch #2.

GOT THE HOUSE GOT THE HOUSE I'M SO EXCITED!!

Oh, man. Sorry Eid. Stay safe.

You're always welcome to hang with us, Eide!

Congrats lysdexic!!

An update:

RE: item #2, we've learned that our A/C will be fixed Monday at the earliest. It's 8:30 PM right now and still 95 degrees F, down from 99 earlier today. The cats look like a Salvador Dali painting. And...

RE: item #3, my poor husband's first day without cigarettes in 40 years is turning out not to be very optimal for avoiding stress. Heh. He's a trooper, though... I think he's up to 4 whole cigarettes now, which from a daily average of 2.5 packs, is still pretty good. On the plus side of this A/C debacle, maybe he's sweating out a lot of nicotine or whatever byproducts it has.

I'd still rather be doing this than facing down a hurricane, so I'm keeping y'all in my thoughts and hoping for the best.

1. Is it better to be alone than to miss someone? To miss someone, obviously, but...
2. Missing her drags on and on, since our future together is tied to my getting a frustratingly elusive good job with health insurance for both of us. I love that woman, but...
3. I hate my shitty life. And I really, really miss my love.

Sometimes I feel like I'm pinned under a giant boulder. Sometimes all I can think about is falling asleep on the same pillow and being awakened by her breath tickling my chin. Sometimes I want to tear my eyes out. Mostly I just wish.

Pips, Bless your mom for being so active at 96. She's inspirational.

Lysdexic, great news, congratulations!

1. Got my yard in order and secured everything. I am leaving my bird feeders until the last minute, as I feel bad for the birds, and even the hummingbirds come to feeders in horrible weather.

2. I had taken tomorrow off as a vacation day, but I offered to come in for half a day (I work in a supermarket). It's just been crazy for the last two days, and I don't want to leave my coworkers high and dry.

3. Planning on staying inside and keeping fingers crossed that noone suffers horrible damage (while still being excited over the whole thing. I'm weird like that). Stay safe, all bunnies in Irene's path!

One) Feels really weird to hear lots of discussion about hurricanes and not have Florida involved or in danger. Stay safe everybody.

Two) As of tomorrow we'll have had Evie for a week. She's 3 1/2, was dumped by previous owners for skin issues due to allergies, and is a charming delight.

Evie is SO beautiful, what a sweet face she has.

1. Studying. So much studying, which I am putting off a few minutes longer to write this.
2. Feeling worthless and incompetent. Trying to accept this and move on, somehow.
3. Maybe I just need a good long cry and a hug.