July 12, 2010

We had an exciting weekend as usual with a mix of chores and relaxation - as any weekend should be.  We started the party early this week by attending the North Stonington Agricultural Fair which is a local fair that we have attended for several years.  We enjoyed a dinner that contained no redeeming values from a health standpoint but tasted great as we enjoyed a lamb gyro, baked potato with broccoli (the only remotely healthy item consumed that evening) and Velveeta cheese (you can't beat Velveeta in my opinion, although Jo takes some exception to that rule), a plate of onion rings, and topped all off with hot fudge sundaes.  Needless to say we needed to run extra long over the rest of the weekend to try and make up for that.  Jo also got to pet some cows which seems to really calm her down and touches some deep part of her younger self.  Personally, I find them a bit intimidating, but then I didn't grow up with them in the backyard - although the thought of my Mom having cows in the backyard certainly brings a chuckle (sorry Mom).  Friday we tackled cleaning the garage - taking everything out of the cabinets and give them a good scrub along with removing a set of spider webs that would have made the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie proud.  We were pleased with our handiwork as it almost glowed once we were done - of course, that could have been heat exhaustion.  Then we enjoyed watching one of the Harry Potter movies and got excited to see the next installment over Thanksgiving.

Saturday morning dawned warm and humid - according to the weather report it was at 90% humidity which made our run an adventure in sweating.  No need to shower afterwards since we were already soaking wet, but we did get some good mileage in which helps in the preparation for our half-marathon later this year.  Then after a quick stop at the gym and grocery store (we did shower before, in case you were concerned) it was home to have our chimney's inspected.  Which did not turn out great, as we discovered some problems with the chimney for the furnace which will require a bit of repair work.  The amazing thing was the chimney guy climbing on to the peak of the house with no safety equipment what-so-ever - which warranted capturing in the blog for the week.  This must have been 40 feet in the air on a steeply pitched roof - did have the thought it would be a lot safer to be a chimney guy in the Midwest with ranch homes or the Southwest with the flat adobe roofs. 

Saturday night we went to see the fireworks that are part of the New London Sailfest event.  This is the big local firework display and it didn't disappoint this year.  Although with the changes at the Pfizer New London site, this might be our last year of really convenient parking.  Sunday after our morning run - yes, still warm and humid - we did some yoga and then got going on cleaning all the windows on the house.  As I've mentioned before, this house has too many windows.  We managed to get the one quarter of them done before we ran out of steam and did some other chores instead.  We'll get to the rest over the next few days/weeks.  The other big happening was the wild raspberries are ready for picking and we got enough to enjoy on our cereal for a couple of days this week with the promise of more to come.  They are smaller and tarter than commercial raspberries, but they came free with the house and with the right cereal are delicious.

This is a big week at work for Jo as she moves into her new office.  Gone is her 5th floor all-wood furniture digs with a view of the Thames river along with her winter seal watching - a seal would perch on a rock just below her window - and watching the submarines coming in and out of the Long Island Sound.  Now her office has a lovely view of the waste water treatment plant and she is back to laminate furniture like the rest of us.  But to help buffer that she is spending a good portion of the week in NY enjoying the heat in the city.