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This afternoon while most of the Boston area is making their way towards Salem's Halloween celebrations, we will be driving south on 128, laughing and pointing at all the people heading north who are stuck in traffic. We decided to forgo Salem's big night so we could spend the evening handing out candy at my parent's house. They live on a street that has lots of kids, and where pretty much everyone knows each other, so I thought we could take Henry to a few houses then just let him walk up and down the street, killing everyone with his cuteness.

We carved five pumpkins last night. It was quite the little marathon. Dave had been looking forward to carving pi into his pumpkin (Pumpkin pi, get it? Ha! He's so clever.) so that was the first thing he did. After that he suffered from a mild case of pumpkin-carver's block and had to take a break. We tried getting Henry to sit still for "It's the Great Pupmkin, Charlie Brown" but he was so not interested. The little bit we watched inspired me to try and attempt a Charlie Brown pumpkin. Year after year poor Chuck is done wrong by Lucy and Violet when they use his head to design their pumpkin that I thought perhaps a little redemption was in order.

I'm a little bummed about not being in Lewisburg for Halloween. I love getting our house decked out with candles in the yard and ghosts in the trees and all of that fun stuff. All of the trees we've taken out over the last three years really made us a lot more visible and a lot less spooky-looking (the bad kind of spooky) and last year we had more kids stop by than in previous years. I'm thinking of going to the Halloween store tomorrow or Thursday to see if we can't get a fog machine on sale for next year. Yes, the planning and day-dreaming does start one year in advance. Sad, isn't it?

Happy Halloween!

Posted by Jenn at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Henry is fourteen months old. Knowing that, you could safely deduce that my dad became a Grandpa fourteen months ago, and technically you'd be right. However, I'd like to say that my dad officially became a Grandpa this past Saturday.

My parents came up Saturday afternoon to babysit Henry so Dave and I could have a leisurely dinner then go see a movie. They've done this before, but usually we've only gone out for a movie, and we've always caught the late show which means Henry was already in bed by the time we would leave. While talking to my mom early last week I mentioned we were thinking of heading out on the town around five, which meant they would have to deal with dinner, bathtime, teeth-brushing, and bedtime. I believe my mom's exact words were "GREAT!!!" which is technically only one word, but you know what I mean. (For the record, they couldn't wait to get rid of us on Saturday. From the time they stepped off the train to the time we actually walked out the door to go out, I believe they asked us at least four times to clarify exactly when we were leaving.)

After we picked them up from the train station and had some lunch, we set Henry loose from his high chair so he could run around. Within five seconds my dad was on the floor with him and the two of them played until Henry started fussing for his nap. I gave Henry some milk, tucked him in, then retired back to the living room. While Dave was messing around on the computer, my mom and I worked at restringing Dave's banjo and my dad settled onto the couch with his book. Ten minutes later, my mom and I notice a low rumble coming from behind us. We turn around to find my dad, glasses still on, book across chest, snoring away. He and Henry had completely worn each other out. I turned to my mom and said "It doesn't get more "grandpa" than passing out on the couch after some hard-core playtime with the grandkid does it? I guess this means he's official now."

Posted by Jenn at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For some reason, Dave and I have been completely wiped out the last few weeks. Personally, all I want to do is pull the covers over my head and not come out for at least a couple of days. If given the opportunity, I could probably fall asleep any time, anywhere. Sadly, this is not the case for Dave who, despite his exhaustion, doesn't seem to be able to get to sleep at night, and when he does, still manages to. wake up a few times. You know who else isn't sleeping (during the day anyway)? Henry. Once again his naps are all over the place. Once again I'm worried he's transitioning to one nap a day. Yesterday took the cake; he didn't nap at all. Both times we put him down he chattered and fussed the entire time. I just put him down for his morning nap and haven't heard a peep yet, so fingers crossed.

On the days that Dave works from home I head out to the Salem Common for a walk. I always manage to somehow time it so that I'm there when the Common is overrun by loud fifth and sixth graders in town for a field trip. Yesterday I noticed that all the girls in one class were dressed in long flowery dresses and cardigans, which I thought was odd because it seemed the antithesis of sixth grade girl attire. At first I thought maybe it was a private school dress code thing, but then I noticed some of the boys were wearing blousy white shirts with vests, short pants, and black socks pulled up to their knees. I wonder if they were given extra credit for trying to dress "colonial". Anyway, the girls were all huddled to one side talking and giggling, and the boys were running around with a football. Suddenly there was a loud commotion with lots of shouts of "Eli! Eli!" I looked to see what was going on and there was Eli, holding the ball, standing in front of the other boys who were all shouting for him to throw the ball to them. Up from the chorus of "Eli, I'm open"'s and "Eli, over here"'s, a voice rose above the others, piercing the cool October air: "Eli! ELI.....I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND!!!" I couldn't stop laughing. Anything to get an edge.

Posted by Jenn at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First of all, I'd like to send a happy birthday shout-out to my girl Megan. I'd tell you how old she's turning but, hello!, that goes against the code! Happy Birthday!

In knitting news, I've been working on Salina (from the Rowan Vintage Style book) this past week. When last we left her, I was facing endless rows of stockinette stitch, with only an increase here and a decrease there to make it interesting. Thus, there was not much going on in the way of progress. Fortunately, Dave wanted to make a trip to Lewisburg to scope out all things magnet-y, so what better way to spend the bulk of an eight-hour road trip that you've made four thousand times before and can pretty much navigate in your sleep? If you answered knitting rows and rows of stockinette stitch, give yourself a pat on the back. I wrote on a Post-It which rows had increases and which had decreases, stuck it to the windshield, then settled in for the long haul. I worked my way up to the start of the armhole shaping somewhere in New York. The armhole shaping happens to coincide with dividing the front for the lapels. Unfortunately my stitch holder was in the trunk so I wasn't able to go any further. Also, the pattern has you cast on five extra stitches at the end of a row and I hadn't ever done that. Technically I still haven't because when I asked my mom about it, she said "I know how to do that" and then did it for me. After that bit of excitement, I was back to rows of stockinette stitch.

Two nights ago I reached the point where I could start shaping the lapel, so yesterday evening I put in "Liza with a Z", cut myself a piece of apple pie, then sat down and got to work. Not only did I knit my way up to the point where I can start shaping the shoulder, but I'm so going dressed as Liza for Halloween next year, more specifically this outfit. She's so cute! Also, the shiny red mini dress with the red tights was pretty good too.

So, how about some pictures?

Closeup of the moss stitch lapel:

I love knitting with Rowan Felted Tweed. It looks gorgeous when it's knitted up. You should run out right now and buy some. I envision a world in which every knitter's stash has some Felted Tweed in it. Together, we can make it happen.

Posted by Jenn at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Because I know you're all interested, here's a history of my weight:

1989-1993: I never weighed myself because I never cared. Those were the days. Here's what my school-week diet looked like: no breakfast, Starburst and a soda for lunch, whatever I wanted for dinner. Healthy right? Perhaps needless to say, I was pretty thin. Also slightly woozy all the time from lack of sustenance.

UNO (dorm living): I was on a meal plan that only allowed for two meals a day, which meant I was constantly faced with the challenge of having to decide which meal I shoud skip. Turns out it wasn't very challenging at all, because by the time I hauled my lazy, well, you know, out of bed in the morning, it was already time for lunch. Unfortunately, breakfast was the only meal that was palatable (except for crawfish day, but that only happened once a semester), so for lunch and dinner I usually ate endless bowls of cereal out of the cereal dispensers, which is why I have since refered to it as my Fruit Loop Diet. Also, you are what you eat. Every once in a while me and my boyfriend at the time would go to the Hard Rock Cafe and order a massive plate of nachos. God I loved those nachos. I lost about ten pounds.

UMass: I was working at a camping store the summer I transferred to UMB. It was a great summer. I put on fifteen pounds eating lots of pizza and baclava. It was all good. Those were the days.

UMass: While I was attending UMB, I quit my job in favor of another one (Harley Davidson at the Cambridgeside Galleria, RIP). It was a little crazy because the campus is somewhat removed from the city, and my job was in Cambridge. I spent a lot of time on the T. Also, I was broke. I would stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way to class, buy two corn muffins and a large iced coffee, then make them stretch through to the early afternoon. When I got to work I would hit Au Bon Pain and buy two spinach croissants and make them last until the mall closed at 9. Then I would go home, study, then start the whole process over again the next day. There was a woman I worked with who also had a full-time job during the day which meant she had money, and thus got to consume real food. She'd order her dinner from one of the mall restaurants and the smell of garlic mashed potato would nearly bring me to my knees, it smelled so good. I lost about fifteen pounds.

Post-college: I got a job at MIT. I gained five pounds. I met Dave, who had a car, which meant I wasn't walking as much as I used to. I gained ten pounds. I had a kid. I gained 53 pounds, lost 38, which brings us to fifteen pounds more than when I first found out I was pregnant, or 25 pounds more than when I met Dave, or 30 pounds more than when I started working at MIT. Good grief. Notice how 63 of those pounds somehow point to Dave?

Posted by Jenn at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yesterday was my birthday. Here's how the morning went:

7:15: alarm goes off
7:16: I go back to sleep
8:00: I wake up
8:01: I go back to sleep
9:00: I wake up
9:15: I get up

It was glorious. Best birthday present ever. After 31 years of dealing with mornings, 14 months of which have been spent living with a baby who likes to get up and get going before seven, I'm still no where near being a morning person.

Yesterday was very relaxing. We talked about various activities we could get up to, but after the craziness of all the traveling we've done of late, we weren't jumping at the chance to get back in the car to go anywhere, so we ended up kicking around the apartment all day. I alternately ate cake, watched the second season of The Office, knitted, and napped. I finally showered and got dressed around 6:30. Dave ordered in some Indian for dinner, we watched Ghostbusters, and then went to bed. Sounds like a great birthday doesn't it? It was.

In honor of my birthday I've decided to make a few resolutions for the upcoming year:

1. Finally lose the last 15 pounds of pregnancy weight, plus five more. That's 20 pounds. Sigh.
2. Find some sort of job that will get me out of the house every once in a while. You know, for my sanity.
3. Join a playgroup or something so Henry can run around with some other kids. I can't let my own anti-social tendencies get in the way of Henry's meeting other kids.
4. Take a look at our finances and start thinking about how to save for some of the following: a) a trip to Hawaii in 2008; b) a house remodel; c) a vacation home; d) a plasma television.

That about covers it. Of the four items listes above, 3 is probably going to be the hardest. Also, 4d was for Dave's benefit.

Posted by Jenn at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last night (as in "all night") they were doing road work outside of our apartment building. Okay, technically they were working a little further up the road, however, the piles of asphalt and other muck they were using to pave the aforementioned road were right outside our window, so all night long there were trucks coming and going. It felt like every few minutes I was eased into a wakeful state by the soothing sound of trucks backing up, beeping the entire time. Needless to say, by the time I got out of bed this morning I was feeling a bit fussy.

Tomorrow we're heading down to PA for a few days, which means I won't have internet access until we get back. Things I am looking forward to about this trip to Lewisburg:

1. Seeing Megan and Adrian.
2. Watching Gilmore Girls. Every Tuesday at 8 I get the shakes and start thinking we should just buy another tv already.
3. Not having to listen to someone stomp around on top of us all day long.
4. Not having to wonder if tomorrow morning at 5am our neighbor's alarm clock will go off. This wouldn't be a problem if it didn't continue to go off every seven minutes for the next hour and a half. Sometimes they just let the alarm go off for five or ten minutes at a time. Also, they conveniently don't answer their door. Sorry. Remember how I said I woke up fussy?
5. Not having to wake up to the sound of construction at seven in the morning.
6. Carving some pumpkins and eating some cake in honor of my and Megan's upcoming birthdays.

I suppose now I should go clean and pack and think about all the things I'd like to get done before we leave but probably won't manage to do because it feels like I'm moving through molasses. See you in a few days...

Posted by Jenn at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Two weekends ago while out for a walk, I happened to notice a pumpkin hat with matching mittens in the window of one of the local yarn shops. Since the weather has been steadily getting colder, I had been thinking about buying Henry some mittens, but after ogling the shop window for a while I was instead inspired to try and use the Fiber Trends pumpkin hat pattern to knit some up. The first attempt came out really sloppy. The comibination of working out a pattern as I went along and the fact that I was doing it at eleven o'clock at night (really tired) conspired against me in that I had to rip out and reknit some parts a number of times which really took a toll on the yarn. The lesson there is no matter how inspired I'm feeling, I really need to just go to bed already, especially when working on dpn's. It wasn't an entirely unsuccessful venture though. I did figure out how I wanted to work everything, so this past Saturday and Sunday while Henry was napping or in bed for the night, I broke out the needles and yarn and went to town. The result:

I used the same yarn I did for the hat (Debbie Bliss Merino DK for the orange and Plymouth Encore DK for the dark green border) which meant my guage was the same as for the hat. I'm thinking of writing out the pattern I used and posting it here. You'd have to buy the pumpkin hat pattern (This is where I got mine) because I used it for the cuff border and don't want to steal someone else's work.

What's that? You'd like one more picture. I guess I could post another one. This is the "I don't need pants because I have a toasty hat and mittens" shot.

Posted by Jenn at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've been reading "Out of Africa" off and on for the last month. Because I think it's very important that you know how terribly smart and literary I am, I'm compelled to tell you it's not the only book I've read during that time. I've also read "Puppy Mudge: Finds a Friend/Has a Snack/Finds his Blanket/Wants to Play", "Time for Bed", "Babies First (Colors/Animals/Alphabet/Body) Board Book". The list goes on, but I think you get the picture. Also, some of those I've read as many as twelve times in one sitting because they're so compelling. Impressed? I bet.

Last night I read the following passage in "Out of Africa": "In fact the more time you can give them, the happier they are, and if you commission a Kikuyu to hold your horse while you make a visit, you can see by his face that he hopes you will be a long, long time about it. He does not try to pass the time then, but sits down and lives." This sentiment really struck a chord with me, because I am just the opposite. If we're not out doing something, anything, then we really aren't living our lives. All of the time spent getting some place doesn't count, it's the being there that does. So often you're told to live today as if it's your last, hinting that you should be out doing something extraordinarily exciting all the time, but what does that really mean? You can't always be jumping out of planes or running with the bulls.

This past weekend we discovered that our digital camera wasn't working, and that for once it wasn't a battery problem. At first I was completely horrified. Here we were, going pumpkin picking and walking along the beach FOR THE FIRST TIME with our kid and we weren't going to be able to document it for posterity with the usual four thousand clicks of the camera. I nearly had a panic attack. Imagine my surprise at discovering it's actually a relief not to have the camera. When I'm trying so hard to document an activity, am I actually taking an active part in it? Before one thing is finished I'm already wrapped up in what's supposed to be coming next or tomorrow or next week. The whole thought of sitting down and living is counter-intuitive. Sitting down isn't living. It's passing time.

Dave and I talk all the time about how when we leave Salem we'll probably have a long list of things that we'll wish we would have done while we were here. It's time to stop listing out all of the things that need to change or be done in order for me to be able to declare myself happy, because I'll never get them all done and they're arbitrary anyway. It's time for me to just sit and live.

Posted by Jenn at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave took Columbus Day off which is a major coup. Usually he works through holiday's because, you know, he's a Scrooge. We got up to all sorts of excitement over the course of the three days, and by last evening, it felt like we'd gone away for a mini-vacation, except without all the traveling.

Saturday my parents came up and spent the day with us. Henry was so happy to see them. Salem is officially in full Halloween swing so after getting hot dogs from the Boston Hot Dog Co. on Washington Street, we made our way down the pedestrian mall and over to Pickering Wharf by way of the following: the roasted nut stand, the fried dough stand, the sausage stand, and the hot cider stand. Henry ran around Derby Wharf for a bit and then we headed home. My parents were looking to give us a break so they brought up dinner for us, which they then cooked (bbq'd steak tips, mashed potato, salad, apple crisp). It was all great.

On Sunday we drove down to Arena Farms in search of caramel apples. Dave waited in the apple line forever while Henry and I wandered around the pumpkin piles and the animal pens. Approximately thirty seconds after Dave got his hands on his caramel apple, the stick broke and the whole thing hit the ground. It was sad and hilarious all at the same time. He had the crowd's sympathy because the tell-tale thump of apple meeting ground was followed quickly by a chorus of groans and "oh no!"'s. I gave Dave mine and went back and got a new one. After Arena Farms we drove out to the Minuteman Trail in Concord. All the trees are changing color and there were lots of acorns to crunch on the ground. There was a guy firing off a musket while we were there. Flash nearly had a heart attack. She tucked tail and ran in the opposite direction.

Yesterday we drove up to Plum Island. It was Henry's first trip to an actual beach. Initially he wasn't a big fan of walking on the sand. He held onto Dave's hands for the first five or ten minutes, which is something he's never done before, until he got used to it. Then he was all over the place. He didn't get too close to the water, possibly because it was a very loud surf. On the return trip up the beach he caught sight of a young woman sunbathing. Henry stopped and stared at her for a very long time. She started waving and making eyes at him and that was pretty much all the encouragement he needed. He made a beeline for her and when we finally picked him up and carried him further towards the car, any time we'd put him down he'd do an about face and head back towards her. Smart kid. We stopped at Bob Lobster on the way out of town and got a fried fish sandwich and a lobster roll. Then we stopped at Dairy Queen, ostensibly for milk for Henry, but since we were there, we also walked away with a Peanut Buster Parfait and a chocolate dipped.

Posted by Jenn at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave: When can we go to Arena Farms?
me: How about Sunday?
Dave: Do you think they'll be doing the caramel apples yet?
me: I don't know. Columbus Day weekend is really early this year. Actually I bet they will be.
Dave: I think I'll just tell myself they won't be so that if they are it'll be like "Oh lovely." You know, because we men always say "oh lovely" when we're pleasantly surprised. God, how come you married me?

Posted by Jenn at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey, Dave again. So I just read this article about a japanese guy who recited pi to 100,000 decimal places. I'm reading the article thinking how accidentally hip that guy must be and dwelling on a growing desire to start a fan club, when I saw the article claim that "most math texts" report Pi as 3.141. Cringe. I have modestly memorized Pi to 3.1415926535... and I doubt any math text would commit the sin of rounding down a 5 (worse a 59). OK, to be fair math texts avoid rounding since it is misleading - science texts round like it's going out of style. But my guess is that "most math texts" show much better judgement and would NEVER report Pi to only three decimal places, but carefully introduce Pi as an irrational number and include a generous number of decimals, like Eric Weisstein's MathWorld entry on Pi.

I think it's a little like false authority syndrome - in a moment of hubris a reporter made a silly statement (that caught me in the wrong mood and raised some serious nerd hackles) in the hopes of sounding smart, much in the vein of the awesomely bad (and much more entertaining) technobabble we all love in Star Trek. Admit it - you love it!

Posted by Dave at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other day I was searching for pictures of Salem on Flickr, curious to see what people were finding photo-worthy. I happened upon this woman's photoset of a trip she took to Massachusetts this past summer. There were a few pictures of a cemetery located in Danvers. What could be more intriguing than a cemetery nestled somewhere in the woods?

I did some searches online for "Goodale Cemetery" and amongst what little I could find, I did happen upon a map. Yesterday Henry and I got into the car and headed out 114 to Danvers in search of Cemetary Road. As it turns out, Cemetary Road is aptly named. I assumed it was named after Goodale, but after traveling up the road a bit, we were greeted by the site of four Jewish cemeteries, each fenced off and separated from the other, and each serving different communities. I drove around for a while looking for a sign for Goodale, but didn't have any luck. As I rounded one corner I noticed a large sign denoting the entrance to the Danvers Town Forest. Who knew Danvers had a town forest? Anyway, there was a map of trails posted so I got out and took a look to see if perhaps Goodale was hidden away there somewhere. There was nothing on the map so I got back in the car and continued looking around. I ended up back on 114 headed in the direction of Salem and was thinking of just going home. Instead I turned around and went back to the Danvers Town Forest trail entrance, deciding we'd come all that way (all of six miles), we might as well go for a bit of a walk. Naturally, twently feet into the forest we were greeted with this sign:

The cemetery's not too far into the forest. I posted a photoset of a few pictures I took. Because it's Fall, there were lots of acorns falling and chipmunks making a racket scampering over dried leaves. Those random noises coupled with the fact that you could see where people were buried because of the body-length mounds of moss that grew over their plots made everything seem a bit eerie. I should note that I'm very easily freaked out, so someone else might have found it very peaceful. As for myself, I kept thinking of the Blair Witch.

We'll have to go back sometime and hike some of the trails. With Dave.

Posted by Jenn at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is the only truck in the world that could cut me off and not send me plummeting head-first into the abyss of road rage...

The side of the truck reads "Danvers Cesspool". Yuck.

Posted by Jenn at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. We're so broke. I paid bills the other day. I'm loving the sabbatical and being back in Salem and I hope it lasts forever and ever amen. However, paying two sets of bills, a mortgage, and rent is pretty depressing.

2. Is there any way to nicely ask the people who live in the apartment above us to tread a little lighter? It sounds like they're trying to bust through to the earth's inner core with each foot step. Seriously. Light fixtures rattle. We're thinking of trying to bribe Megan into visiting (four thousand Horrible Cookies? twelve quarts of cake batter ice cream?) because she has no problem telling people to knock it off.

3. Just when I think I've beaten the exhaustion into submission, I'm suddenly unable to get to sleep for a few nights, and thus the vicious cycle continues...

Posted by Jenn at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)