Getting Everything You Want
Wow...I just had a weekend full of getting what I want and it feels good!!!
Friday:
Drove to NH to see a performance of White, White, Black Stork by Ilkhom Theatre. This is the company I studied with in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for 4 months in 1997. My time there was a life-changing experience and I have not seen any of them since then. The trip was on a beautiful day and fairly easy traffic. There was only one person touring with the company who I really knew (since the head of the theatre was tragically murdered in September) from my time there, but I saw him on our way into the theatre and we were able to go out for drinks together after.
The show was good and seeing it brought up many good as well as difficult memories. The end of the play was particularly hard since the play dealt with similar themes to the life of the head of the theatre and in the end there is someone who is stabbed as a result of the situation (which is how he was killed).
The visit with the company was both wonderful and strange. Seeing people after such a long time has a mixture of strange familiarity and yet uncertainty. All in all, though, I was thrilled to be able to put my arms around my friend one more time and let them know how much my time there meant to me.
Finally, mad props are due to pearmeson for driving the 4 hours home at midnight.
Saturday:
Even after getting home at 4am, we got up at 8am to join our neighbors for an Earth Day clean up of the lake shore at the end of our street. It was a fantastic morning full of jokes and lazy conversation while we picked up over 50 bagfuls of trash out of the water and from the shoreline. I was in one of the canoes which maybe gave me a little bit more of a fun-factor, but had a great time taking care of the area where Mark and I love to walk every week.
Following that there was a BBQ at a neighbor's house and the with the beautiful weather it was a gorgeous day to be outside doing labor (and a good deed) and then sit with friends and enjoy a beer in the sunshine.
We brought a salad to share which included the first 2 asparagus we have ever been able to harvest from our garden (we planted it two years ago and the third year is the first season you can safely harvest). It was the most delicious asparagus I have *ever* had!
This was all followed with a nap on the wicker loveseat on our porch, some working on my thesis, and then watching 2 episodes of Lost.
Sunday:
The morning started with waking up as slowly as we wanted, having some coffee/tea and a nice conversation with Mark's Mom (we have an arranged call with her every Sunday morning - for those who don't know, she lives in Albania and this is the only contact we have with her except a little email), then off to Joe's American Grille for a delicious brunch with friends we don't see often enough.
When we got home I finished up coordinating a multiple-family order of rain barrels which will arrive May 10. Mark and I made a deal about our tax rebate checks that we will each save 1/2 and we each get to spend the other 1/2 on whatever we want - I'm buying 4 rain barrels which I've wanted for several years. :)
I talked a neighbor who is a master gardener into helping me rework our front yard (I have an order of plants arriving tomorrow or the next day).
Then did a few hours of work on my thesis.
Finally, printed out the order form for a local CSA which we are going in on a share with some friends to send in tomorrow. It's a really cool system where we pick up our portion at a local farmer's market and it functions like a debit system, so we can actually get what we want or need for the week (including anything produced by the farm, which includes eggs, honey, and cheese).
And to top it all off...Mark is currently making dinner - delicious, delicious fish!
Life is good! :)
Friday:
Drove to NH to see a performance of White, White, Black Stork by Ilkhom Theatre. This is the company I studied with in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for 4 months in 1997. My time there was a life-changing experience and I have not seen any of them since then. The trip was on a beautiful day and fairly easy traffic. There was only one person touring with the company who I really knew (since the head of the theatre was tragically murdered in September) from my time there, but I saw him on our way into the theatre and we were able to go out for drinks together after.
The show was good and seeing it brought up many good as well as difficult memories. The end of the play was particularly hard since the play dealt with similar themes to the life of the head of the theatre and in the end there is someone who is stabbed as a result of the situation (which is how he was killed).
The visit with the company was both wonderful and strange. Seeing people after such a long time has a mixture of strange familiarity and yet uncertainty. All in all, though, I was thrilled to be able to put my arms around my friend one more time and let them know how much my time there meant to me.
Finally, mad props are due to pearmeson for driving the 4 hours home at midnight.
Saturday:
Even after getting home at 4am, we got up at 8am to join our neighbors for an Earth Day clean up of the lake shore at the end of our street. It was a fantastic morning full of jokes and lazy conversation while we picked up over 50 bagfuls of trash out of the water and from the shoreline. I was in one of the canoes which maybe gave me a little bit more of a fun-factor, but had a great time taking care of the area where Mark and I love to walk every week.
Following that there was a BBQ at a neighbor's house and the with the beautiful weather it was a gorgeous day to be outside doing labor (and a good deed) and then sit with friends and enjoy a beer in the sunshine.
We brought a salad to share which included the first 2 asparagus we have ever been able to harvest from our garden (we planted it two years ago and the third year is the first season you can safely harvest). It was the most delicious asparagus I have *ever* had!
This was all followed with a nap on the wicker loveseat on our porch, some working on my thesis, and then watching 2 episodes of Lost.
Sunday:
The morning started with waking up as slowly as we wanted, having some coffee/tea and a nice conversation with Mark's Mom (we have an arranged call with her every Sunday morning - for those who don't know, she lives in Albania and this is the only contact we have with her except a little email), then off to Joe's American Grille for a delicious brunch with friends we don't see often enough.
When we got home I finished up coordinating a multiple-family order of rain barrels which will arrive May 10. Mark and I made a deal about our tax rebate checks that we will each save 1/2 and we each get to spend the other 1/2 on whatever we want - I'm buying 4 rain barrels which I've wanted for several years. :)
I talked a neighbor who is a master gardener into helping me rework our front yard (I have an order of plants arriving tomorrow or the next day).
Then did a few hours of work on my thesis.
Finally, printed out the order form for a local CSA which we are going in on a share with some friends to send in tomorrow. It's a really cool system where we pick up our portion at a local farmer's market and it functions like a debit system, so we can actually get what we want or need for the week (including anything produced by the farm, which includes eggs, honey, and cheese).
And to top it all off...Mark is currently making dinner - delicious, delicious fish!
Life is good! :)