A Time-ly Posting

Okay. So I thought I had talked about this before. But I've gone through last October and both March and April of this year and can't seem to find anything about it. Of course, I'm talking about the time change.

As it is currently almost "bedtime" on the Saturday night of the fall time change (I honestly can't remember if we're going into Standard Time or into Daylight Saving Time, so I'm just going to stick with "the time change"), Christopher and I have set about walking through the house and adjusting the clocks. And, yes, there are enough of them that both he and I need to go to work changing them.

Upstairs we have just the "usual" number of them. The alarm clock in the bedroom, the TV and VCR, the clock on the stove, the clock on the kitchen timer, and the chiming clock in the living room. Not so bad, right? So I let Christopher tackle all of those, and I headed into the basement.

You see, I have a thing for clocks. I'm not obsessed with time, mind you, but I simply like timepieces. So while Christopher was already done with the six clocks upstairs, I was downstairs resetting the... well... let me count... there's the 1 in the pantry, 2 in the bathroom (one is a radio), 1 in the spare bedroom, and then the 1 in the VCR and the 1 in the TV. That's not bad, right? Only 6.

Oh. But then there's the chiming clock. And, ummm, the 5 clocks all grouped together on the end wall, showing current local time, the time in Paris, Greenwich Mean Time, Mountain Time, and Pacific Time. I'm really not sure why I don't have one set to Eastern Time. I guess that one's just too easy for me to figure, so I don't have a clock set to it. That makes, what? 12? Okay. Not so bad.

Until you count the watches.

Let's just say it's a good thing I've got the extra hour.

(Okay. Even I'm not that bad. But here's the thing: If I say I have more than 2, it sounds like I've got a lot. If I say I have less than 10, you'll all just think I have 9. Suffice it to say that it took me less time to change them than it did to change the rest of the clocks in the basement. All things considered, I think my final line, above, is a much better punchline, don't you?)

A Trick (or Treat) Question

I was in the car, on Tuesday, and was hearing all about the favorite candy to buy in this area -- and throughout the U.S. -- for Hallowe'en. There was a whole discussion of whether you should buy what YOU like, or what the kids will like. And people were talking about buying bags and bags of candy, and then having to figure out what to do with all of the leftovers.

At Target on Tuesday night, I noticed that the Hallowe'en (yes, I like using the "we'en" spelling) candy was already being marked down, as the Christmas decorations had begun to encroach upon the orange-and-black space. And bags and bags of candy were being bought and sold all around.

Today, when I got home from work, I had the news on and they were talking about how low the supplies are in the food banks already this year. That they are not only lacking in food and donations, but also lacking in volunteers. And that they're really worried about how they're going to make it through the winter.

On the up side, General Mills, Cargill, and Land o' Lakes (all headquartered, here) are planning a major summit to discuss how to combat hunger. Which is kinda cool.

But I got done watching that segment and thought "What if every person who spent $10 on candy also bought a $5 food donation bag at the grocery store?" I mean... really... what if each of us, while we're planning for a night of total and complete gluttony also put just a little aside for the kids who won't be having dinner before they go Trick-or-Treating?

Imagine what the food banks could do with all of that food. Do you think any of those kids who only got one mini-Snickers instead of two would really care?

A Donated Space

It's been at least 48 hours since I last griped about work. Well... Since I griped to you, at least. And I'm sure of that because I haven't blogged since Monday. I'm going to do my best to keep that "non-work-griping-in-my-blog" track record for at least the next 15 minutes...

To keep this promise, I think my best bet is to donate today's blog space to someone else (in this case, even without the person knowing I'm about to do it).

I'm very excited to announce that someone I have had the great good pleasure to meet and spend time with in my own little hometown has a new book out, in collaboration with a few of her friends. It's a book of poetry called from the lonely cold, and my friend who contributed is listed fourth on the Amazon.com listing. (Again... I'm trying to be good and not name folks in my blog without asking. But since her name is listed there, I figure you can go look at it, for yourself.)

I fully admit that I haven't had a chance to read it, yet (it only just came out), but I've read some of her other pieces and I'm totally enamored of her poetry. I highly suggest checking it out.

And don't worry... I'm sure you'll be hearing me gripe about work again any day now.

Mini-post Monday

I should be writing, tonight, about a movie. But the last movie I saw in a theater was simply a nice little move which didn't really do anything for me one way or the other. It was "The Boys are Back," and when it was over Kelly and I fought for words to describe it. All either of us could come up with was "It was nice." Which, well, seems that it doesn't deserve its own blog posting.

I feel a little the same way about the "Broadway Rocks!" concert I went to at The Minnesota Orchestra on Saturday night. It was mostly Broadway, and it sorta rocked, but mostly it was just a cheesey crowd-pleaser version of either of those things. But it was a nice way to spend the last night at home alone without Christopher, at least.

I DO need to say that the sun came out for a short while today. We got up to 51 degrees, with no snow or rain. It was great. Tomorrow we could get into the upper 50s with sun all day. I'm definitely planning to go out for a walk at lunchtime, even if I don't plan to buy any lunch. I plan to enjoy as much of our 2-day fall as I can get!

And, finally, I'd like to say that Christopher's flight got in on time on Saturday night, and we spent all day yesterday completely ignoring the outside world. Some days that's all that you need.

The Sun'll Come Out... Tuesday?

I'm very happy to report that when I woke up this morning the sun was shining. There was actual sunlight coming through the windows. It wasn't raining. It wasn't snowing or sleeting or "snaining." It was actually sunny.

So I spent part of my day outside raking -- but only in the front yard where the one big tree has already dropped its leaves. I didn't do the side yard or the back yard, where all of the trees are still leafy. I just figured I should do what I could since it's the first day that being outside hasn't seemed like a completely stupid idea.

While I was out there, I also took the opportunity to clear out some of the flower beds and get things a little more ready for winter. Strange to be celebrating a warm (okay -- 52-degree) fall day by preparing for winter. It seems that we've completely missed all of the "normal" fall weather and gone straight into November. And, although fall isn't my favorite season, I certainly like it better than the wet, snowy early winter we've had, lately.

By the time I was finishing up in the yard, the sky had become hazy, and by the time the sun went down it was cloudy. We hope to see the sun again on Tuesday. Or, rather, I hope to see it every day, but the forecast says we probably won't until Tuesday.

But, as I'm typing this, I'm also kind of cyber-stalking Christopher's return flight. According to the airline website, he's about 90 minutes out from here. I think the next few rainy days will be a little brighter -- even without the sun.

(Sorry. I know that's cheese-y. But you'll deal with it, right?)

New York Nosh

Since this is Friday, and I typically like to write about food on Friday, I thought I'd talk a bit about the food I got to enjoy last weeked in New York City.

I know we already talked about last Friday night's dinner at Vynl, so we'll jump past that. On Saturday, Christopher was up and about first, and he went to a charming little tea shop called Alice's Tea Cup about a block away, and came back with 2 Pumpkin scones (drizzled in some kind of maple syrupy glaze), and 2 "regular" scones. Yeah. Okay. Even I thought that that was a nice way to start the day!

We spent the first part of Saturday on the trail of a kind of chocolate Mecca. We made our pilgrimage to La Maison du Chocolat near Rockefeller Center. Okay, so it's not quite the same as being in Paris, but it's still wonderful. And the ice rink had just opened, so we got to watch people skate for a little while, too. We bought chocolates and macarons and -- once the staff realized we were shopping and not just browsing -- we even got samples. It's not a cheap place to go, but it's worth it!

That afternoon we got a little "food for thought" by going to Carrie Fisher's one-woman show "Wishful Drinking." I'd guess that we were some of the youngest people in the theater, but we had a great time. I laughed for almost 2 hours straight. If you get the chance -- and are even remotely familiar with who she is and who is in her family tree -- I recommend it.

Of course, it wouldn't be a day of chocolate shopping without a second chocolate store. We stopped at the Jacques Torres Chocolate store on Amsterdam Avenue just a few blocks from Colleen's. It was a totally different feel than La Maison. Much more accessible, complete with an espresso and hot chocolate bar. But... Yeah... Pretty much just as expensive. The hot chocolate I had and the "chocolate chip" cookie Christopher and I shared were amazing. WAY too rich to have on a daily basis. But perfect on a chilly afternoon.

We had dinner in on Saturday night. Or, rather, we co-hosted a party with Colleen. We had a ton of food -- expecting about 15 to 20 people -- and only ended up with about 8 people, total. But it was fun, and everyone enjoyed the food. We had a couple of different baked brie, and baked cheesey puffs, and fresh vegetarian spring rolls, and apple crisp, and "bourbon hot dogs" in the Crock pot, and guacamole and chips. And, in the middle of it all, I broke a corkscrew when I was trying to open a bottle of wine. Luckily, there was a back-up.

Sunday brunch was nice, but nothing incredible. But, again, the conversation was the point, and that was as good as ever. Then Christopher and I were good and aimed for a little more culture, so we went to the Frick Collection (which is housed on the first floor of what used to be someone's mansion. I could have stayed in the library for days...) and the Asian Society Museum (which was odd, but had a couple of amazing things in it).

After a lovely -- if chilly -- walk back across the Park, we decided it was the perfect blustery night to order in. Colleen, Christopher, and I ordered a Buffalo Chicken Salad (and fries), Pork Chops with mashed potatoes and applesauce, and a Chicken Quesadilla with pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream, which all showed up at the door -- all from the same neighborhood restaurant, The City Grill. I love New York!

Oh. I do have one other chocolate story as I wrap this up.

On Friday, when Christopher and I braved shopping at Fairway Market (on Broadway at about 74th), we were kind of swept up in all of the chaos. Luckily, we've been there before and knew what to expect! We didn't opt for a cart, but did it all with a hand basket, and we bought a lot of stuff for Saturday night. So, as we were waiting to check out, Christopher had gone of in search of a couple last items, and I set down the basket and waited. An older (possibly elderly, even) woman came up to me, shoved a chocolate bar in my face, and said "What's this say? I can't read it. I'm blind." She was on a quest for a dark chocolate with a filling. We walked the few steps over to the chocolate bars on display and found her a nice 70% cocoa bar with orange infusion from Lindt. And then she disappeared again into the chaos of the store. It makes me happy just thinking about her determination -- at least toward chocolate.

Man. I don't know about you, but I'm suddenly feeling kind of hungry. Sorry 'bout that.

A Thursday Too Far

Maybe I should actually say that Friday at 5pm is simply too far away. But, as I'm sitting here at work desperately trying to not explode, implode, or plode in any way, I thought I should share some of the strangenesses of the moment:

1) A true series of phonecalls I've just had. (I've mentioned that I now play receptionist for 2 phonelines, right?)

9:54am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's in a meeting. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

9:57am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's not at his desk at this time. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

9:58am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"I just left a message on Extension 201. We were talking before but got cut off. I'm sure he'll call me back."
I'm sure he will.
"Fine."
Have a nice day.
- call ends -

2) My office is a casual workplace. When I show up in business casual attire, I frequently feel overdressed. Now, I'm the last person to complain about being able to wear shorts all summer and come in unshaven, but some days it's a bit odd coming in here. Right now someone is meeting with an author. She's in a baseball cap and a cardigan over a plain white t-shirt. Not exactly what you'd expect. Oh. And then there's the person who walked in this morning looking like Little Red Unibomber in a cut-off grey hoodie made of "flowy" fabric, with the hood up. She's still at her desk that way.

3) My email inbox is going crazy this week. I don't know the last time I really looked at my personal email, because by the time I'm done at work, I just don't care to do any more of it. Having been gone last Friday, I came in on Monday to 73 new emails. Between last night at 5 and this morning at 8:45, I received 28 emails. My goal each night is to leave no more than 10 un-acted-upon emails. I think I'm currently leaving about 15 of them un-acted-upon as I type this.

4) Christopher is still in New York. One of the things getting me through my week is knowing that he's having great weather and enjoying some downtime in the big city. When I talked to him last night he was awaiting a delivery of Chicken Vindaloo, which he was planning to eat out on the terrace overlooking the city. Yes, I'm jealous, but I'm also thrilled that he was able to do that. And I had one of my favorite meals last night, too: leftover Orange Chicken while watching "Glee."

I know I owe you more tales of the trip to NYC. I'll try to get to them, soon. For now, though, I'm diving back into my inbox -- which is now up to 21 un-acted-upon emails.

UPDATE:

10:56am - Name on Caller ID "Owen S" - I answer...
May I help you?
"Extension 201, please"
He's not at his desk at this time. May I transfer you to voicemail?
"Fine."
- call ends -

I think it's going to be one of those days.