Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Another one?!
I got an email to say my hotel reservation in Venice has been switched to their sister hotel in Santa Croce because my hotel will be "under rennovation" while we're there. Did this one catch fire as well ??
Monday, November 17, 2008
Top ten reasons why I had an amazing weekend
Friday
1. Even though I had a tense, tiring week at work, somehow I was in tip top shape when I arrived at the temple and wasn't tired at all. It was the best shift I've had in months.
Saturday
2. I found a cool clothing store in the East Village where I can buy a vintage dress for my posh Christmas party and because I'm skinny I fit into anything I want.
3. I got to see the work Joanne and Drew have done on their lovely little house in Keyport. And I got to snuggle and play with the doggies. Auntie Genevieve has missed them.
4. I had the most delicious dinner I've eaten since moving to New York. Blackened 12 ounce pork chop, french onion bread pudding and porcini mushroom cream sauce. Everything cooked to perfection. I can still taste it. Drew's Bayshore Bistro in Keyport, NJ, try it for yourself.
5. Watched Bond speed through the Tuscan hills in the new Aston Martin. I have such a crush, and not on that Daniel Craig, though he's pretty gorgeous as well.
6. Jason and I played with our iPhones together til the wee small hours.
Sunday
7. We played with our iPhones some more, but not during the important bits of church. I promise! And he downloaded the scriptures for me so I can read on the subway.
8. Watched episode 3 of Venice - courtesans, the Grand Tour, Santa Maria de la Salute and Napoleonic invasion. I'm getting so excited to go.
9. We all scarfed luau Hawaiian food leftovers - salted pulled pork, roast chicken, pineapple and pina colada cake - until our tummies hurt so much we wanted to die. And then we all had some more.
10. Jeff Butler and I talked up a Scando-lovin' storm at the Mug and Mingle pre-Christmas shindig. Gave him the best relationship advice/pep talk of his life. He's gonna owe it all to me!
1. Even though I had a tense, tiring week at work, somehow I was in tip top shape when I arrived at the temple and wasn't tired at all. It was the best shift I've had in months.
Saturday
2. I found a cool clothing store in the East Village where I can buy a vintage dress for my posh Christmas party and because I'm skinny I fit into anything I want.
3. I got to see the work Joanne and Drew have done on their lovely little house in Keyport. And I got to snuggle and play with the doggies. Auntie Genevieve has missed them.
4. I had the most delicious dinner I've eaten since moving to New York. Blackened 12 ounce pork chop, french onion bread pudding and porcini mushroom cream sauce. Everything cooked to perfection. I can still taste it. Drew's Bayshore Bistro in Keyport, NJ, try it for yourself.
5. Watched Bond speed through the Tuscan hills in the new Aston Martin. I have such a crush, and not on that Daniel Craig, though he's pretty gorgeous as well.
6. Jason and I played with our iPhones together til the wee small hours.
Sunday
7. We played with our iPhones some more, but not during the important bits of church. I promise! And he downloaded the scriptures for me so I can read on the subway.
8. Watched episode 3 of Venice - courtesans, the Grand Tour, Santa Maria de la Salute and Napoleonic invasion. I'm getting so excited to go.
9. We all scarfed luau Hawaiian food leftovers - salted pulled pork, roast chicken, pineapple and pina colada cake - until our tummies hurt so much we wanted to die. And then we all had some more.
10. Jeff Butler and I talked up a Scando-lovin' storm at the Mug and Mingle pre-Christmas shindig. Gave him the best relationship advice/pep talk of his life. He's gonna owe it all to me!
The final countdown begins today
10 days - I meet baby Andrew
11 days - I'm in Venice
I'm working on setting up a gizmo on my iPhone that will allow me to post photos taken on beautiful brand new iPhone immediately to the blog, giving you all an almost real time travelogue. That's instant London, babies, Venezia, mamma mia!
11 days - I'm in Venice
I'm working on setting up a gizmo on my iPhone that will allow me to post photos taken on beautiful brand new iPhone immediately to the blog, giving you all an almost real time travelogue. That's instant London, babies, Venezia, mamma mia!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
North of the border
I was supposed to be spending today clawing my way up the side of a pyramid. But the gods and the elements had other ideas, and our hotel in Mexico City had a fire at the beginning of the week. No hotel ... no holiday. Everything was cancelled and here I sit, still in New York City, still haven't had a holiday yet this year.
Dad says we'll go to Oaxaca next year instead, so I still get a trip to Mexico and we don't have to dodge muggers, kidnappers and assasins. Ok, fair enough.
I still need a holiday though!
Dad says we'll go to Oaxaca next year instead, so I still get a trip to Mexico and we don't have to dodge muggers, kidnappers and assasins. Ok, fair enough.
I still need a holiday though!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
In ready supply
My roommate Libby called out to everyone in the apartment yesterday asking for some Bandaids for a cut finger. I rushed to her aid, reminding her that I always have a huge stash of Bandaids.
"It's one of the top three (not quite sure why I said that) things I always have!"
"What are the other two?" she asked. "Attitude and travel plans?!"
And she's right.
"It's one of the top three (not quite sure why I said that) things I always have!"
"What are the other two?" she asked. "Attitude and travel plans?!"
And she's right.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Another trip?
I would love to take Jonathan on a little trip next February, just the two of us. And I would like to do some family history research in Ireland. Jonathan has shown a lot of interest in family history (don't tell him yet, but I'm grooming him to be the next Bovee genealogist) so I thought a trip to Ireland might be the perfect thing. I had County Mayo in mind, but thought I should probably do a bit of research ahead of time to make sure we had a good enough reason to go!
My great-great grandmother Ellen Mulherin, later Ellen Ducie, (the lady on the right with the rather interesting hairdo)
came from Mayo and thanks to some records newly made available online, I was able to find her exact date (5 April 1867) and place (Coolcronan, North Mayo) of birth. I knew from her obituary that Ellen had a least one brother, and with a little further digging I discovered that in fact she had two brothers, Thomas and James, and three sisters, Anne, Elizabeth and Bridget (there's always a Bridget!).
We already knew the names of Ellen's parents, Ellen McDonnell and Patrick Mulherin. I found a record of their marriage, also in Coolcronan, which supplied me with the names of both Ellen's grandfathers, Martin McDonnell and Thady (short for something?) Mulherin, my fourth great grandfathers and Jonathan and Andrew's (can I just tell you how exciting it is to write Jonathan and Andrew) fifth great grandfathers. Most of my research now involves extended families, so it's quite a special moment when I discover the name of a direct ancestor.
So now Jonathan and I have somewhere to go. We don't come from wealthy families, so there's no ancestral pile to visit. There's probably no physical legacy of these chaps, but, as with my dead of winter expedition to Wisconsin last December, it's just nice to be somewhere where our family was. And of course we'll cruise around a bit and do some serious 9-year-old stuff as well. Does anyone know what 9-year-olds like to do? Auntie's a bit out of the loop I'm afraid.
My great-great grandmother Ellen Mulherin, later Ellen Ducie, (the lady on the right with the rather interesting hairdo)
came from Mayo and thanks to some records newly made available online, I was able to find her exact date (5 April 1867) and place (Coolcronan, North Mayo) of birth. I knew from her obituary that Ellen had a least one brother, and with a little further digging I discovered that in fact she had two brothers, Thomas and James, and three sisters, Anne, Elizabeth and Bridget (there's always a Bridget!).
We already knew the names of Ellen's parents, Ellen McDonnell and Patrick Mulherin. I found a record of their marriage, also in Coolcronan, which supplied me with the names of both Ellen's grandfathers, Martin McDonnell and Thady (short for something?) Mulherin, my fourth great grandfathers and Jonathan and Andrew's (can I just tell you how exciting it is to write Jonathan and Andrew) fifth great grandfathers. Most of my research now involves extended families, so it's quite a special moment when I discover the name of a direct ancestor.
So now Jonathan and I have somewhere to go. We don't come from wealthy families, so there's no ancestral pile to visit. There's probably no physical legacy of these chaps, but, as with my dead of winter expedition to Wisconsin last December, it's just nice to be somewhere where our family was. And of course we'll cruise around a bit and do some serious 9-year-old stuff as well. Does anyone know what 9-year-olds like to do? Auntie's a bit out of the loop I'm afraid.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
I'm an auntie!
Andrew Anthony King was born around 2pm England time. I don't yet have his weight, but I hear he is long-legged and destined to sprout spectacularly.
My little sister is now the mother of three sons!
My little sister is now the mother of three sons!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Travels
I'm going to Venice for Thanksgiving. Now that's something to be grateful for.
I'll be making a quick 2-day stop-over in England to meet my new baby (arrival imminent - watch this space) and then on to Venice for 3 days with Lauren. I'm not a first timer, I spent 5 hours in Venice some years ago, but there's so much more to explore. We went on a warm, sunny May Dad, having seen the city bathed in sunlight, I'm looking forward to seeing it in the fog. And I'm hoping for Aqua Alta so we can splash around in the Piazza San Marco.
But before I get to Venice, I shall be going to Mexico City for Halloween. Dad will be there for 10 days sharpening his Spanish and I'm dropping in for a four-day visit. We'll see a good part of the city and one day he's taking me to the ruins at Teotihuacan.
I would imagine many Americans think of Europe as exotic and far flung, and Mexico as just the neighbors, but for me this is really exotic. And it will be so much fun to finally visit Central America with Dad after growing up with stories of his time there. Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wide awake
We moved apartments last night/today. We had seventeen hours to do it: midnight to 5pm today. Got everything done, but that means I've been awake since 8am yesterday. The others had a nap around 6 am but I kept schlepping and painting.
That means I've been awake for almost 33 hours. Never studied all night at university. Never worked a night shift. So I'm going for a record. Wait a minute, I've set the record, ages ago. I'm just breaking my own record.
I heard once from Ronnie Wood that he and Keith Richards did six straight days once. I'm not going to break their record.
That means I've been awake for almost 33 hours. Never studied all night at university. Never worked a night shift. So I'm going for a record. Wait a minute, I've set the record, ages ago. I'm just breaking my own record.
I heard once from Ronnie Wood that he and Keith Richards did six straight days once. I'm not going to break their record.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Big cheese
He said third Indiana Jones film was released in 1990. I said no, 1987, maybe 1989. He was adamant and wanted to make a bet with me. I'm careful with my money, but mighty competitive, so I said, "Alright, I'll bet you a LARGE cheese sandwich." He said, "You're on".
And I was right. 24 May 1989. I just won a cheese sandwich! I don't care if I even get it. I just love that I won the bet.
That's two in a row.
And I was right. 24 May 1989. I just won a cheese sandwich! I don't care if I even get it. I just love that I won the bet.
That's two in a row.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Longer days
Today was the first day I left the office and it was still light outside. That's usually something I announce in the springtime when the days are getting longer, but it's autumn. So what does this mean? It means I've been working late every night for the past two weeks. So what it really means is my life is a bit crap right now.
Still, I always take some comfort in knowing it could be much worse. Like for this chap I heard about in a BBC new story who got himself arrested for having 86 wives. The Shariah court is all up in arms because under Islamic law he's allowed only four. But he doesn't believe Allah is unhappy with him. What evidence does he offer for this? He says, "Any man that did not have help from Allah in keeping 86 wives would surely drop dead!" I'm inclined to agree with him.
And I really like his hat.
Still, I always take some comfort in knowing it could be much worse. Like for this chap I heard about in a BBC new story who got himself arrested for having 86 wives. The Shariah court is all up in arms because under Islamic law he's allowed only four. But he doesn't believe Allah is unhappy with him. What evidence does he offer for this? He says, "Any man that did not have help from Allah in keeping 86 wives would surely drop dead!" I'm inclined to agree with him.
And I really like his hat.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wish I could live in Kentucky
I've been working on a project that involved transcribing what felt like about a million addresses of mine workers in northeast Kentucky. Tedious job, but the street names were kinda fun:
Silk Stocking Road
Middle Greasy Creek
Big Ugly Road
Burning Tree Lane
Pigeon Roost Road
Fox Hunters Ridge
Bob & Joann Lane
Stumbo Hollow
Triple S Road
Raccoon Road
Little Lick Fork
Upper Blackberry
Pansy Lane
Sulfur Springs Road
Left Jockey Hollow
and my favourite...
Fex Creek
I know it's puerile but that one makes me laugh out loud every time.
I think Dad has a list of towns in Texas with silly names. If anyone can think of other such lists, let me know, we Bovees love this kind of thing.
Silk Stocking Road
Middle Greasy Creek
Big Ugly Road
Burning Tree Lane
Pigeon Roost Road
Fox Hunters Ridge
Bob & Joann Lane
Stumbo Hollow
Triple S Road
Raccoon Road
Little Lick Fork
Upper Blackberry
Pansy Lane
Sulfur Springs Road
Left Jockey Hollow
and my favourite...
Fex Creek
I know it's puerile but that one makes me laugh out loud every time.
I think Dad has a list of towns in Texas with silly names. If anyone can think of other such lists, let me know, we Bovees love this kind of thing.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
C.E.R.N.tainly it'll be fine
So our physicist friends in Switzerland are pretty confident there won't be some kind of planet terminating event over there tomorrow when they switch on their giant bicycle pump. Still, I'm going out for a really good dinner tonight and enjoying a bit of my favourite telly. I don't want to have spent my last evening in this dimension eating cold pot noodle and doing the wash!
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