What I Like About You

1. Spring here is great. We still have some crap days, but when it's nice I REALLY appreciate it.

2. I was able to make a reservation for THE restaurant in the area for a Friday night at 7:00 the day before. Like that would ever happen in NYC!

3. I like driving, actually. I feel like it would be frustrating to have to take the bus/train with The Bean. Not only all the stuff, but also it's nice being in control. Like the other day when we met a friend, had lunch, and then around 1:00 we booked it back to the Bean-Mobile and drove pronto home singing the whole way so the nap would be taken in the crib and not the car. Not sure how this would fly on the Q train.

4. I like driving and not seeing any cars for like ten miles sometimes.

5. I love our sun porch. It was closed off for the last six months, but now that it's nicer out we've been using it and you feel like you're on vacation in the trees. I'm so glad we only gave 1/2 of it to The Bean. The other half is ours and we've been having our cocktails and dinners out there. You should come visit if only to watch the sun set while drinking a vodka martini from there.

6. Today The Bean had a date with her friend O at Dartmouth's museum otherwise known as The Hood. She got to get her crawl on around the floor in some of the galleries because it was empty. It's very important for Bean to get her crawl on during her waking hours, you know. I do believe it would be impossible to crawl around any art museum in the five boroughs.

7. The Valley News. I love our local paper. Not only do I learn of cool happenings, but the local stories are a laugh riot. Like the mobster guy in Vermont who had posters from The Godfather all around his apartment and totally tried to be a gangster by selling drugs and beating the shit out of people, but who also, on weekends, to make money, sold crafts at local fairs.

Say, Do You Still Hang in New Hampshire?

I've heard that perhaps the blog is getting a bit Beancentric and that the peoples might be interested in life in NH, which was the reason this blog was born. So....I'll answer a few questions I think you might have and then, gentle readers, you can ask me some more and I will answer them. Really. The weirder the better. Fun, no?

1. Is it cold there?
Lots of people asked me this last week and the answer WAS not really. I mean it was cool, but all of the Northeast is cool in December. But Sunday night a cold front came in and it dropped like seventeen degrees in an hour! It got so cold so fast. When I went to the dentist on Monday morning it was a whopping 4 degrees! Tuesday and Wednesday were on the warmer side. Today And it snowed like a mother. Luckily I just got new ugly boots and snow tires.
2. Do you have any friends yet?
Um....I'm not sure. I know a lot of moms and I do things with the moms but it's always about the kids, you know. What I need is someone I can call spontaneously, which I might be able to do but haven't done lately. But I certainly do go out to lunch a lot. Us moms love our lunches. Making friends with moms is a lot like dating or the first month of your freshman year. Read this if you're so inclined.
3. What do you miss most about NYC?
I missed the city the night Obama won. NH seemed so quiet although realistically I probably wouldn't have been out in the city either the quiet felt particularly isolating. I miss having my family close by. If they were around life would be different. N. and I would probably have more date nights and on those long Tuesday afternoons I could just bring The Bean to grandma's. Plus, my family is pretty cool. I miss my friends, people who have known me for years. It's hard establishing who you are with people you've just met. I miss good ethnic food. I also miss people of color. I really miss the ease of curbside recycling. In the battle of the family vs. recycling it seems the recycling is going to win.
4. Are there things you don't miss about NYC?
When I was back in the city last month I could see what a drag city life can be with a big stroller and even-bigger diaper bag. It's kind of nice having a car where you have more of an option of nursing or changing a diaper than on the 2 train. The crowds can be annoying. N's schedule was horrible back in NY and not conducive to having a Bean.
5. What else?
I don't know. Ask and all shall be revealed.

Jersey Boy: Strangely A Post That's Not About Me

Congrats to N. for finishing a whopping 6 years commuting to and from New Jersey! I thought about figuring out the number of miles and hours you put in slogging from Brooklyn to central NJ but I don't want to depress you or my 4.5 readers.

For those of you who don't know, N. had a really rough commute for a less than stellar teaching environment for a less than stellar salary. And you know what? He didn't complain about it. I know, it's crazy since I've been known to complain about the hair on my left pinky toe or the texture of a piece of cheese, but N. would get up at 5:30 AM to get to Jersey by 8:00, teach a 5 hour class, have office hours, maybe have 20 minutes to scarf down a mediocre Quik Check sandwich at his desk, and then teach another 5 hour class. After that, he'd finally drive the hour-if-you're-lucky home only to spend 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. He didn't have any of the heaps of time off that other academics get either since the terms began anew every eleven weeks. Despite all this, he never complained. I know, I'm a lucky woman.

He will have to drive to work in NH but it will be a simple 30 minutes down the comparatively empty highway to a beautiful school with a real art department, traditional students, and an actual cafeteria where he might get to eat some kind of human lunch. Plus, no night classes! And no more looking for parking since our new place comes with a driveway!

Here's to a job well done, N. And here's to better schedules, less traffic, and more satisfying classes in your NH future!

Another Thing I Won't Miss

Heavy footed, clomping upstairs neighbors at 2:00 AM.  I think they were playing drunken bocce up there. Or maybe full court b-ball.  Being pregnant and stressed about the impending move has already made my sleep less than great.  Big Foot upstairs last night didn't help.  From here on in, buddy, I'll vacuum at 7:00 AM and grind coffee beans at 6:00 if the mood strikes.