Saturday morning, I woke up because of a phone call. I knew it was TB, so I picked up the phone and groggily (and a little irritatingly) said, “Hello? T(B)? Hello? T(B)?”. I got even more irritated because he wasn’t talking, so I was wondering whether he was just testing his phone settings on me. So I look at the phone with my forehead wrinkled and all, and I realize, it was just my hand. My pinky finger was the speaker end and my thumb was the earpiece. I must’ve been dreaming and actually woke myself up! My cellphone was next to me, and my cordless phone was charging in the other room. 6:30 am. Geez.

I went mountain biking today at Goose Pond with Mike and Jason. They considered it of moderate difficulty, but I would consider it a hard trail. Well, it was my first time, after all and during the first 10 minutes, we were mostly going over rocks and big roots. The poor guys had to wait for me a few times because I had to get off my bike and walk. I don’t think they ever got off their bikes, except for the time they had to carry their bikes over a tree trunk and the one time that Jason fell while trying to go over a 12 inch step. I fell 2x, but mostly because I lost my balance after hitting a rock or a tree root. So, they were pretty minor falls. The first two times Mike had asked me how I was doing, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I felt like it was too tough for me and I wasn’t ready for it. But once I had a hold of gear-shifting, I actually liked it a lot. I was able to stay on my bike longer and I was able to go over stuff I didn’t think I would be able to. I still had to walk the uphill the second time because I lost my momentum when I lost my balance. My legs just weren’t strong enough to go over the roots while going uphill with no momentum. Oh well. Maybe next time. So would I do it again? Heck yeah. I’d probably slobber myself with bug spray first and wear waterproof shoes. Anyway, I asked Mike to ask me again how I was doing towards the end of the trail and that time I said I was doing great.

It got pretty steamy today at 91 degrees and 73% humidity. Yikes. Oh well, it wasn’t too bad where my sister and I were. We spent the afternoon at Spofford Lake. It was both our first time swimming in a lake. It got a little cold at times, especially in the beginning, but it was mostly refreshing. It was such a warm day and the beach was relatively small. It was a pretty good place to just sit under the sun and do some people watching.

After that, we headed off to a local ice cream place. I had a pretty good soft serve ice cream blend. The flavor was chocolate raspberry truffle. Yum. Dinner was at 176 Main St. They had a pretty nice terrace, but it was too warm to stay outside. The food was okay but the service wasn’t very good. They were all nice but incredibly, quite unbelievably slow. Would I eat there again? Maybe, on a very nice night. Sitting out on the terrace might be worth the wait.

Check out my new bike! I had used it almost every day this week. I found a really nice trail that’s half off-road, half paved and mostly runs right next to the Ashuelot river. Back and forth from my apartment only takes me about 40 minutes. I gave my legs a break today though and gave my arms the work out. I kayaked the same river that runs next to the bike trail. It was about a 2 hour ride, with the upstream part taking up 2/3’s of it. I wish I had my camera but I left it at home. Bummer. Tomorrow will be sun bathing time and people watching at Spofford lake.

Happy Birthday, Ate!

I had a mini-breakdown at work and started laughing uncontrollably during a particularly stressful time. Thankfully, my friend had asked me to go out Friday night. It was a absolute must for me to de-stress. We went to the local blues club. There was a live band playing, Fat Tuesdays, I think was their name and they played mostly classic rock. I’m not a fan, but it was fun. I mostly had fun watching uninhibited locals dancing their hearts out. I normally don’t like dancing because I get all conscious, but this time, I just went with it. I mean, there were middle-aged people looking mighty silly having a good time. I stood out because I was the only thin girl with black hair, but I’d say some other people stole the scene.

Saturday, I bought a bike! Woo! I have a picture of it too, but I’m too lazy to get my camera and upload it. So, I’ll leave that for tomorrow. Anyway, it’s a Yukon Giant with a blue-grey finish. It’s a sweet ride. I’m still breaking in the seat though. My bum’s a bit sore.

We were supposed to have a bbq party at my friend Kim’s house tonight. I got there 20 minutes late. When I got there, they were looking frantic. I found out that they lost their 2 cats. So we went out looking for the cats for about 1.5 hours. We eventually got pizza, and the cats eventually came back, a little rattled with some scratches, but altogether okay. I still had fun, we had some fun stuff to talk about over dinner. We might see a movie tomorrow. Maybe.

“You don’t understand.”
“No, I understand, YOU don’t understand.”
“We’ve been through this before. YOU don’t understand.”
“I told you, I understand, You don’t understand what I’m saying.”
“You don’t understand.” Infinity.

Think you’ve had your fair share of those arguments as kids? Well, you better make sure you do. It’s good practice for the real world. It was amazing to see two adults scream at each other like two kids. It almost made me crack up.

So I went to a concert festival this weekend. It was my first 3-day festival, although I was only there for 2 out of the 3 days. Here’s my take on the bands that I saw:

1. Interpol - They gave a good, solid show. They were dressed for the part and they performed the part too. TB thinks the bassist is just acting the part, but I don’t quite agree. I think that maybe his style is put on, but the way he performs on stage might be how he really does it.

2. White Stripes - I’m not a fan, so I don’t know their names, but since there’s only 2 of them, I’ll refer to them as the guy and the girl. But I thought the guy gave a really good performance. He was really into it, and he’s also quite talented. I’m not really impressed with the girl, although I can see how she might be adding to their mystique. Anyway, I liked some of their songs, the opening song for Napoleon Dynamite, especially. But otherwise, I think they’re an okay band. Good to see live though.

3. Keane - Keane was amazing. They were all into their music, with the non-stop almost spasmastic movement of both the drummer and the pianist. They sounded exactly like they do on the CD, which is actually quite impressive, except that maybe they vary some details in the live rendition. By vary I mean a slightly longer hold, or a littl change in pitch in one section. All in all, they played exactly the way they recorded it in the CD. The singer was having so much fun on stage and kept talking to the crowd. It was great.

4. The Killers - I can’t talk about the band without talking about the inconsiderate, stupid drunk teenagers who just happened to be one body away from me. Good thing they got kicked out, except that they were kicked out a little too late into it. Anyway, I thought the band was great. I was surprised to see that some of the band members looked a bit old, since they’re playing really up beat and almost teeny-boppy songs. I love their songs and it was really easy to get into them.

5. Tom Petty - Not a fan, but I enjoyed the songs that I heard. He seems to have put on a good show too. I was too far away to really see them, but they were a good background music while I was eating my sausage.

6. The Pixies - Not a fan either. I only heard 2 songs, and I can’t really judge from those 2 songs that I heard. But I’m glad that for one of the songs, it was the lady bassist who was singing and she was laughing in the beginning. Good times, I guess. Plus, I was eating Fried Green Tomatoes while they were playing. Oh my, they were sooooo good. It deserves to have a movie titled after it. Yum.

I had a great weekend. Went hiking up Mt. Monadnock with the Santankids and Casey. It was hot and buggy, but it was great. I’d write a lot more if I hadn’t already spent 1.5 hours making the page to show the pictures. Oh well.

Oh yeah, and we had a really good “surprise” party for Lyds too. Too bad she found the KFC before her two special guests hiding in her closet. Oh yeah, Daisy, thanks for shutting the bathroom door.

Here are the pictures.

Check out the artwork I have in my cube! They’re made especially for me by Sophie and Ella - my friends Mike’s and Sarah’s kids. They had me over for dinner one Friday night and they told me I was sure to get posters from the kids Monday morning. I didn’t, but I do now! I had to ask Mike to remind them. I’m such a loser. But hey, who cares, I’ve got artwork! I love Sophie’s “S” (on the first poster) and Ella’s choice of shapes. The third poster (with the marker stamps, will soon be on my fridge door.