We just got home from the Sleater-Kinney show at House of Blues in Boston. In a last-minute switcheroo, we actually took Lucy with us. We bought the tickets back in October, before we realized what a fan Lucy was going to become. The plan was that we were going with Elizabeth; Ian was going to hang out with Lucy for the evening. Perfect! But over the past few months, Lucy has been listening to the new Sleater-Kinney album, No Cities to Love, and singing along and dancing and listening with rapt attention to their interviews on the radio. So we went into stealth mode, telling Elizabeth & Ian to NOT tell her who we were going to see.
Then Elizabeth called this afternoon and said that she was pretty sure it was an all-ages show, and that she would be glad to give up her ticket for Lucy to go.
Yikes!
We offered it to Lucy, and her face lit up. She *was* disappointed that she wasn't going to spent the evening hanging out with Uncle Ian, but the thought of Sleater-Kinney was super exciting to her.
Lucy has previously been to two big shows. The first was They Might be Giants when she was four months old, as pictured here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakeb/2371604259/
Understandably, she does not remember much of that show (she was asleep in the Baby Bjorn for most of it). She saw They Might Be Giants again in 2010: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakeb/4636697316 and tells us that she remembers the confetti canon (of course).
We were worried, as the show's opening act was scheduled to start at 8pm, which is already just about her bedtime.
But it turned out great. She was into the opening act, and very interested in all the action on the stage. We were *extremely* lucky, because we had standing room only tickets (we didn't realize this and thought we had seats). But an usher came up to us when she saw Lucy and said, "would you like some folding chairs?" YES! And then, she took the folding chairs, walked right to the edge of the balcony and set them up for us with a terrific view of the stage. It was amazing (we thanked her profusely). We would not have lasted long -- any of us -- if we had had to stand for the whole show.
The show was tremendous and loud and wonderful and awesome. Lucy had a great time. I'm pretty sure she was the youngest person there. A guy sitting behind us was very excited to see her and said it gives him hope, because he has a couple young daughters at home. A couple of other people smiled and one woman even said "Thank you for bringing your daughter!!!" It was pretty great.
Lucy sang along, clapped, and was fascinated by all of it, from her ear plugs to the crazy stage lights and backdrop, to the awesome, raging performances coming from the stage.
I couldn't be happier.
Plumbing woes, weather worries, and the late hour of bedtime were quickly forgotten.
She's in bed now, and I'm heading there myself. We have many cities we love.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Friday, February 20, 2015
A completed catastrophe
This evening Jake uttered the phrase, "well, at least it's not an ongoing catastrophe."
And that is what you call the glass half full.
We have a frozen pipe, scourge of the New England Winter/Snowpocalypse/Artic Blast.
More serious situation: we have a BURST frozen pipe.
Possibly more serious situation: it is a DRAIN pipe that has burst.
On the up side:
1) The damage is in the basement, not in our living area/ceiling/roof.
2) We turned off the water to the sink and won't use the kitchen sink or dishwasher so as not to add to the water situation. These are the only two drains affected, so this means all other sinks/tubs/toilets in the house are authorized for use as normal.
3) The vast majority of soaked stuff was a) empty boxes, b) tools and (ironically) plumbing supplies, c) extra kitchen stuff d) camping equipment, including sleeping bags, which apparently soak up a lot of water.
4) JB quickly grabbed the one box of importance -- the one labeled "Bridget Archive" -- and dumped everything out of it before the wetness of the cardboard could soak into the contents. Archive has been saved. Also, now I am clearly going to have to do a blog post on the archive!
So, as Jake said, it is not an ongoing catastrophe. It is a completed catastrophe, and now we just have to clean up the mess, dry out the stuff, throw a bunch of stuff away, and oh yeah, get that pipe fixed.
Fuller post tomorrow, after we get some sleep and return to further survey/assess the damage.
We are officially done with Arctic Winter 2015.
And that is what you call the glass half full.
We have a frozen pipe, scourge of the New England Winter/Snowpocalypse/Artic Blast.
More serious situation: we have a BURST frozen pipe.
Possibly more serious situation: it is a DRAIN pipe that has burst.
On the up side:
1) The damage is in the basement, not in our living area/ceiling/roof.
2) We turned off the water to the sink and won't use the kitchen sink or dishwasher so as not to add to the water situation. These are the only two drains affected, so this means all other sinks/tubs/toilets in the house are authorized for use as normal.
3) The vast majority of soaked stuff was a) empty boxes, b) tools and (ironically) plumbing supplies, c) extra kitchen stuff d) camping equipment, including sleeping bags, which apparently soak up a lot of water.
4) JB quickly grabbed the one box of importance -- the one labeled "Bridget Archive" -- and dumped everything out of it before the wetness of the cardboard could soak into the contents. Archive has been saved. Also, now I am clearly going to have to do a blog post on the archive!
So, as Jake said, it is not an ongoing catastrophe. It is a completed catastrophe, and now we just have to clean up the mess, dry out the stuff, throw a bunch of stuff away, and oh yeah, get that pipe fixed.
Fuller post tomorrow, after we get some sleep and return to further survey/assess the damage.
We are officially done with Arctic Winter 2015.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The new normal
Right now, Jake is shoveling the roof. Again.
Last night, a bat was flying around our living room.
We are likely to get another foot of snow on Saturday, and then maybe another foot next Wednesday. Because our current 93 inches simply won't suffice.
Dear Nature: WE SURRENDER!
Last night, a bat was flying around our living room.
We are likely to get another foot of snow on Saturday, and then maybe another foot next Wednesday. Because our current 93 inches simply won't suffice.
Dear Nature: WE SURRENDER!
Monday, February 9, 2015
The Big Reveal....
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your patience in waiting for the big news. Imagine our surprise when Alice's DNA results came back with this announcement: Alice is a Great Pyrenees, Australian Cattle Dog, German Shepherd Dog, Golden Retriever Mix.
Here's the family tree they generated for her:
Thank you for your patience in waiting for the big news. Imagine our surprise when Alice's DNA results came back with this announcement: Alice is a Great Pyrenees, Australian Cattle Dog, German Shepherd Dog, Golden Retriever Mix.
Here's the family tree they generated for her:
We are still kind of in shock.
According to the report, Alice's adult weight is predicted to be between 55 - 84 lbs. We're pretty sure she's done growing (currently holding at 48 pounds). But who knows.
Having a Great Pyrenees makes me think we need to get some sheep. Of course, at the moment, if we had sheep, we would not be able to find them in the snow. I've been too overwhelmed by the snow to get out and document it, but we'll try to do that later today.
Come over and meet our Great Pyrenees! Also, bring a snow blower.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Shocking News
Dear Readers,
We have some shocking news. You may recall a little while ago that we posted a notice regarding sending in Alice's DNA.
We now know. Would you like to guess again?
The DNA testing informed us of FOUR breeds that make up our Alice.
Here are all the guesses that you, dear readers, suggested:
NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE IS CORRECT.
Well, it's possible that both "Mutt" and "multi-mix" are correct in some sense. But none of the other ones are on the right track.
Seriously.
So, guess again!
Here's a link to the form where you can register your new (or you first) guess:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15V0ZJI95eAIMKYE7NRbUGD0qMuabFhbZkd1azGr4a8M/viewform?edit_requested=true
I plan to do the big reveal in the next 24-48 hours, depending on how much snow we get/whether we have power/etc.
Happy guessing!
We have some shocking news. You may recall a little while ago that we posted a notice regarding sending in Alice's DNA.
We now know. Would you like to guess again?
The DNA testing informed us of FOUR breeds that make up our Alice.
Here are all the guesses that you, dear readers, suggested:
| Labrador Retriever, Pointer |
| Dalmatian, Boxer |
| Greyhound, Labrador Retriever, Dalmatian |
| Saluki, Border Collie, Coyote |
| Dalmatian, Border Collie |
| Greyhound, Labrador Retriever, Border Collie |
| Dalmatian, Border Collie |
| Dalmatian, Pointer, panda |
| Greyhound, Border Collie, zebra |
| Greyhound, Pointer, Border Collie |
| Greyhound, Dalmatian |
| A mix of Akbash and Anatolian shepherd |
| Greyhound, Labrador Retriever, Coonhound |
| Greyhound, Labrador Retriever, Pointer, Saluki |
| Dalmatian, Border Collie |
| American |
| Labrador Retriever, Border Collie |
| Mutt* |
| Catahoula |
| Dalmatian/Collie |
| Lab Pointer |
| Multi-mix* |
NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE IS CORRECT.
Well, it's possible that both "Mutt" and "multi-mix" are correct in some sense. But none of the other ones are on the right track.
Seriously.
So, guess again!
Here's a link to the form where you can register your new (or you first) guess:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15V0ZJI95eAIMKYE7NRbUGD0qMuabFhbZkd1azGr4a8M/viewform?edit_requested=true
I plan to do the big reveal in the next 24-48 hours, depending on how much snow we get/whether we have power/etc.
Happy guessing!
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
we saw the sun!
We had a sunny day yesterday!
According to Mill City Weather: "From Last Tuesday to this Tuesday, 52.5"!! SNOWIEST WEEK IN LOWELL'S HISTORY! "
I'm so glad we were here for this historic event. I will try to get some photos of the enormous heap of snow in front of our house so you can understand the scale of things.
Lucy has school today (and so do I, but I don't teach on Wednesdays, so this is the day I stay home and write! WRITE!).
Current weekend outlook:
Sorry for the all-weather-all-the-time lately, but that's pretty much what's happening here.
According to Mill City Weather: "From Last Tuesday to this Tuesday, 52.5"!! SNOWIEST WEEK IN LOWELL'S HISTORY! "
I'm so glad we were here for this historic event. I will try to get some photos of the enormous heap of snow in front of our house so you can understand the scale of things.
Lucy has school today (and so do I, but I don't teach on Wednesdays, so this is the day I stay home and write! WRITE!).
Current weekend outlook:
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
also, too cold
It is a problem when the weather tells me that today is going to be MUCH WARMER than yesterday and, as you can see (in the current, right now conditions), the temperature is 3 degrees. It also FEELS like 3 degrees. That kind of accuracy is important.
No school for me today, representing 3 class meetings in a row cancelled (we only have 27 total for the semester to start with). My syllabus no longer has any relation to reality. We've had to reschedule 3 job candidates. All meetings and events are officially rescheduled until JULY.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Snow update.
According to Mill City Weather, with today's snow, 59 inches has fallen in Lowell over the past 9 days.
Lucy had a snow day today. She gets another tomorrow. She's at 6 for the year so far, and it is only just February.
Crafting supplies are getting low, in addition to the bread, milk, and eggs shortage.
Send reinforcements. And tickets to Florida!
Here's the upcoming weather forecast for us:
Really looking forward to that 33 degree day on Saturday! Also, to the LESS THAN one inch of snow for both Friday and Saturday. That'll be nice. Real nice.
Lucy had a snow day today. She gets another tomorrow. She's at 6 for the year so far, and it is only just February.
Crafting supplies are getting low, in addition to the bread, milk, and eggs shortage.
Send reinforcements. And tickets to Florida!
Here's the upcoming weather forecast for us:
Really looking forward to that 33 degree day on Saturday! Also, to the LESS THAN one inch of snow for both Friday and Saturday. That'll be nice. Real nice.
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