Day at the Beach

It's still amazing to me that this is ten minutes from where I live.

Dinasaurs!!! And New Friends. And Maybe a Shooting.

So, Kevin and I went to the Peabody Muesem this afternoon, which was pretty awesome. The Great Hall of Dinasaurs was my favorite (shocking, I know). They also had a really cool display about the ancient Inca civilization and a lot of amazing technology to make exhibits interactive. It was a good place to go - made more so by the face that since I'm a Yalie I get to go for free!

In other exciting news, I had my CPR class yesterday and two of the girls taking the class happened to be two girls that are in my nursing program. They were really nice - the three of us got along well. We went out for a nice lunch that day, and we're supposed to get together sometime before orientation, which I think will be fun. They're both from around here, so they offered to show me the ropes about the east coast. One of the girls actually went to undergraduate school in Missouri - it was great to compare notes with someone about how different the east coast is from the midwest. And it's good to know that at least two girls in the GEPN program are nice!

In other exciting, but not in a good way news: Four graduate students from Yale were attacked by a masked man on the street where I live, not far from my apartment building. One of them was shot in the abdomen and is now in the hospital. Everyone has told me that New Haven is a lot safer than it used to be and that I'll be fine as long as I travel in groups. This did much to shatter my already slightly paranoid confidence. I mean, the guy that got shot was in a group! I'm just not used to big cities, and I'm finding out that though there are many awesome aspects (like the Peabody) there are also many not so awesome aspects (like the crime). Kevin tried to make me feel better by telling me a Yale student hadn't been shot in over a year. Oh, good. So there's only one student shot every year?!?! Like THAT is soothing?!? We've also been told to get a club for our car. Our handyman told us that right before he told us that it wasn't a big deal, only three or four cars had been stolen from campus last year. Oh really? Only THREE OR FOUR cars last YEAR?!?!?! So, um... not feeling much like going out after dark these days.

Kevin's test went really well yesterday so to celebrate, we went to Little Italy down on Wooster Square. It was lovely. We went to an upscale restaurant for dinner where I had amazing housemade ravioli stuffed with crab and smothered in shrimp bisque. Kevn had stuffed pork chops - I tried a bite and they were very good! It was a lovely relaxed meal, our first at a real restaurant since we've been here. After dinner we walked to the Italian bakery where he had gelato and I had an Italian ice. His was way better. Almond gelato - yum! We still have yet to try the two famous pizza places on that square, which most people were shocked to hear, so I guess we'll have to go back soon!

When we got home, we watched Woody Allen's Match Point. It said it was a comedy, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Let me save you the trouble: don't ever, EVER see this movie. It's disturbing, so say the least. Plus Scarlett, Scarlett whom I have loved through all her low budget films, was terrible in it. I never thought I would see a movie that I didn't like her in, but she was awful in this movie. I don't know if our relationship will be able to recover this harsh blow.

In much better news, our baker's rack finally arrived yesterday! In case you hadn't heard, it was supposed to come the day before, but the UPS guy decided it was too heavy and didn't ring our bell - he just put APT C & K on a note and stuck it to the door. How lazy! Kevin in a fit of nervous energy about his test, decided he was going to take care of this problem and called the guy's boss at UPS and told him what happened. Then he wasn't impressed with the supervisor's response, so he called corporate. I don't know what happened, but when the guy showed up yesterday, he looked very embarrassed and never looked us in the eye. When I opened the door for him, he said thank you like twelve times. I felt bad for him and told him thank you for carrying the heavy package up - it was REALLY heavy! Anyway, I insisted on putting it together before we left for dinner - I was so excited! I took some pictures so you could feast your eyes on the loveliness. See the wicker baskets? The ornate side paneling? The beautiful wood counter? I'm a little bit in love.

Wedding Pictures!!

The pictures are up online! Go to: http://albums.proshots.com/owensphoto Our password is "hove"

The week is going by more quickly than I anticipated. My wedding DVDs arrived!! One of them doesn't work, but still... I've been able to go through the other two and start putting together my wedding album. That has kept me very busy. I've also been sewing pillowcases and a tablecloth for our bedroom and living room, respectively, which I think will look nice when they're done. I still can't decide what to do about curtains. There's no curtain rod or anything, so we'd have to instsall one, which means when we move out, we'd have to repair any damage we do. Plus, the windows have been painted such an ugly magenta color that I think any color fabric will clash awfully with them.

Our baker's rack is supposed to be delivered today, so I'm stuck in the house until it shows up. I've got plenty to keep me busy - there's a lot of cleaning that could be done, plus I've got three books fresh from the library to dig into. I already finished one of them - Confessions From an Ugly Stepsister - and it was pretty good. The last couple of weeks, I've been doing a lot of reading, going through three or four books a week, which means lots of trips to the library! I've really enjoyed having so much time to read, though. And Kevin and I signed up for a free month of the online Blockbuster movies. So we get three movies mailed to us at a time and as many more as we want for the next four weeks. It's kind of fun to do this last month that I don't have classes.

I'm also planning a trip for Kevin and me to mark not only our three month anniversary, but also the last week we'll have to ourselves before I start school. The third week of August, we're going to Newport, Rhode Island, to explore the old mansions, enjoy the beaches, and eat good seafood. I haven't found a place for us to stay yet, but looking at prices, we'll probably only be able to afford to stay two nights. Still, I think it will be a lovely vacation and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Kevin takes his boards tomorrow, so keep him in your thoughts. He's a little nervous, but he's studied so hard I know he'll do really well. And after he's done, we'll be able to do all the fun things we've been putting off for studying. He's promised me a trip to the Peabody Muesem (to see the dinasaurs!!!), a trip to the orchard to pick fresh blueberries, and also a day at the beach. That should keep us busy until we take off for Rhode Island!

Slow Saturday

Kevin is working today. He works four of the next five days, all of them 12 hours a day, so that means a lot of quiet time for me! It hasn't been too bad so far. I took a nice nap this morning, then went to the farmer's market and bought lettuce, tomatos, and cranberry walnut bread. I made myself some good pasta with fresh tomatos on it, which was delicious. Then Padmini, who moved out of my building the weekend I moved in, stopped by. She's so nice. I think this afternoon I may run over to JoAnn's to look for some material to make pillowcases and curtains. I know I need to clean the apartment and do the dishes, but it's hot and humid and I just don't feel like it!

The symphony was rained out last night, so Kevin and I ended up just renting a movie. We saw the Family Stone, which was actually pretty good. Jeff called and said that he'd like to re-schedule, and that maybe we could hang out sometime next week, so I'm looking forward to that. I feel very contented. I married a man who gets kinder and more thoughtful every day, and am already meeting people even though I haven't even started classes. Life isn't exactly edge of my seat since I don't have a job or school going on right now, but I think it's good for me to do a lot of relaxing and reading in between the chaos of graduating/getting married/moving and the time intensive program I start in the fall.

New Faces

Last night, Kevin attended a work function for new employees. Spouses weren't invited, so I stayed at home. A couple hours after he left, he called me and said that a few of his coworkers were going for drinks and we could come if we wanted. I thought it might be nice to actually be around people, so we went. There were six of us, including Kevin's boss, and we had the nicest time. It turns out that one of the guys that was really nice lives only a couple of blocks from us. He just moved here from Maine. We might go to the symphony in the park with him tonight if it isn't rained out. Another girl gave us advice on where to shop for scrubs and where to get my hair done. We spent a couple of really pleasant hours at a little restaurant on the water, talking and getting to know each other. I got home and finally felt like I might meet people out here. No one can or ever will replace the family and friends I left behind in the midwest, but I now have hope that I can create a new family even way out here in Connecticut.

One of my favorite things about New Haven is the variety of farmer's markets. There are four every week in my area, most within walking distance, and I go to at least one every week. I've been to farmer's markets in Missouri before, but here there's so much more variety! The food is usually cheaper than a grocery store and it's picked ripe, so it tastes so much better. Plus it's all organic, which Kevin really enjoys since he's wary of any pesticides or hormones. We bought beef for the first time on Sunday and yesterday for lunch I made cheddar studded BBQ burgers with it, with fresh lettuce and ripe tomato. It was so yummy!

I'm still trying to get things done around the apartment. I finally got most of my pictures hung in the office, and cleaned the living room yet again, since it always seems to be in a state of semi-disaster. I tried to go to the post office, which we need to do pretty badly, but I couldn't find it! I got hopelessly lost and found myself in a bad neighborhood, driving around with my doors locked. Luckily, I found my way back before too long. I just want to go to the post office! I will try to find the one on campus, though I don't look forward to wandering around in the heat. Maybe I will try to go early in the morning, when it's still nice and cool. Kevin has to work again tomorrow, so I'll be up at 6 anyway to drive him to the hospital. The good news is that the stuff at the bank was finally straightened out and I finally have a way to buy things when Kevin isn't with me! The not-so-great news is that my landlord from last year still hasn't gotten me my deposit check. I did finally get a hold of her and she said she's on vacation and would take care of it when she got back. Yeah, right.

I'm running out of things to do around the house. I'm really hoping my wedding pictures are ready soon so that I can put together my album before school starts. I think I may give Pat a call sometime this week. Right now, things are a little boring here - nothing too exciting to write about. It will probably stay that way until Kevin passes boards next week. Then we can finally go out and see the sights! There's so much awesome stuff to do around our area (and a lot of it's free, which is really cool), but I haven't wanted to go without Kevin. I've been instructed to make a list of all the things I want to see before school starts so that we can get going as soon as he takes his test. I guess that will keep me busy until my wedding pictures done...

New Day

This morning, Kevin studied for a little bit and then we went out for a nice long (four hour!) walk around another part of campus that we hadn't been to yet. We saw several restuarants and had some very good food. We stopped in a few bookstores, including the Yale bookstore, which was like a huge Universirty affilated Barnes and Noble (that's who owns it). We stopped in a few Yale apparel stores and I bought my first school t-shirt. I had to look at every single one in every single store first though, since I am my mother's daughter. Kevin was very patient with me though, especially when we went back to the first store and bought the first shirt I said I liked! All in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon. I just hope Kevin has enough time and motivation left to do the studying he needs to get done!


One of the buildings on campus/downtown. We saw a lot of pretty buildings on our walk. I wish I could remember what this one is, but I really can't. Dorms maybe? I don't know.



My first Yale t-shirt. I was pretty excited and put it on as soon as I went home. They had tons of cute shirts (the cookie monster holding the Yale coat of arms saying, "I'm a smart cookie," for example), but I decided to go for short and simple.

I wish I could tell you that the trip to the library was the end of my rough afternoon yesterday. I double-checked the library hours online before I left just to make absoultely sure I would have a couple hours to browse and relax and be around books, which I find soothing. I get to the doors and the fat Mexican security guard informs me that the library will be closing due to construction. You'd think they'd put something about that one their website but they sure left that out!! SO, I had five minutes to return my books and dash to the Gregory section and get the next book in my series. I decided it wasn't going to get me down. I remembered that there was a tea shop around the corner that I'd been wanting to try. I thought, "I will make this bad thing a good thing. I will try some new tea and it will be totally relaxing - just like books! I will read my new book while I drink it! Brilliant!" So I walked down the block to this cute little shop and looked at the menu. THERE WAS NO TEA ON THE MENU. There was coffee, lots of coffee - iced coffee, hot coffee, flavored coffee. It was everywhere except in the name of the shop. Willington TEA House sells nothing but COFFEE!!!!! I felt stupid just standing there, gaping at the menu in disbelief, so when the young man (wearing an "I heart coffee" t-shirt) at the counter asked me what I wanted, I pointed to a piece of pound cake. I asked for it, and even said please. "NO," he said. "I'm not gonna get you that cake." I knew he was kidding, even though neither of us were smiling, but it still took every single ounce of self control I had not to grab a handful of that cake and shove it right down his coffee drinking throat. I stared him down, eye twitching, until finally he quietly got me my cake. I forked over my three bucks and chose a table. Luckily, it was maybe the best piece of pound cake I've ever tasted. I started reading my library book and it was pretty good. I decided to buck up and went home and made Kevin his favorite croutons before picking him up from work. This paid off because he patiently listened to my rant about my day and played cards with me until I felt much better. He even helped make dinner, after working a 12 hour shift.

This morning, Kevin went to the DMV to get a CT lisence so he could get started on the whole registering the car ordeal. He was there over an hour and came home empty handed because apparently in CT there are all kinds of hoops you have to jump through to do ANYTHING. So, he took a break while I called the bank because my card that was supposed to arrive Wednesday still isn't here. I couldn't get a hold of anybody. It's the worst phone answering system I've ever had to deal with, and that's really saying something. So I called my landlord because I STILL haven't recieved my deposit check that she said she sent a month ago and then said she'd re-sent 10 days ago. For the first time in the year and a half I've known her, she didn't answer her phone. I left a message asking her to please return my call because I hadn't recieved her check, but I'm starting to wonder what in the world is going on. She owes me almost four hundred dollars!

Now for better news. My husband, as I type, is in the kitchen doing the dishes, even though he spent most of the afternoon studying. I didn't feel good this morning, and he very sweetly tucked me in on the couch and made sure I had plenty of water, a movie, and my heating pad before he left for the DMV. Tonight, if I'm feeling up to it, he's going to take me to the free movie downtown and maybe out for dinner. Lots of little petty stuff may be going on (and I'm sorry if my rants have become annoying), but the big stuff is so great. I mean, I have maybe the best husband in the world. I have what is turning out to be a very cute apartment (it's amazing what a little scrubbing can do). And I get to live in this great coastal town where seagulls fly over beautiful buildings that have been here for over a hundred years. In a couple of months, I'll be able to go to a school I've only heard good things about, in a program that's one of the best of it's kind. Yesterday, I found myself getting lost in the details, but today, looking at the big picture (and it doesn't hurt that Kevin has the day off), I feel blessed.

Rough Afternoon

Today was Kevin's first 12 hour day at work. I thought it would be a very long day without him, and while it hasn't been as long as I thought it might be, it has had it's moments. For example, I went to Costco to pick up a perscription and a few groceries. I was standing in line for them to check my receipt on the way out. I had just walked up to the guy when the bottom of my box fell through and all my groceries fell on the floor. Nobody helped me. Everyone stepped around or over me and my things and went on. Then, on the way home, I stopped by Trader Joes to pick up a few more things. I managed to escape the store without incident, but I had just climbed the stairs to my apartment when the bottom of my bag fell out and a gallon of milk rolled ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN THE STAIRS. The only shred of good news is that my milk traveled a whole story down without breaking. It's bent so weirdly I don't know how we'll pour it, but it's drinkable. I think that's the only thing that kept me from screaming and throwing the rest of my groceries after it.

I still have three hours before Kevin comes home, so I think I will go the library and try very carefully to avoid disaster.

Our dining table, which I finished painting today. The eating area really isn't as washed out as this picture makes it look - I think the white looks alright. Now the only furniture we ahve left to get are a baker's rack for the kitchin (desperately needed) and our TV cabinet we picked out at Ikea (but still won't see for another month...). Still,the apartment is starting to look a little better, I think. Now if I could just get a particular boy to start putting things away when he's done with them instead of throwing them down on the space I JUST CLEANED, we'd really be in business. (I don't know how he always finds the spot I spent all day getting clean BUT HE ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS DOES).


Kevin all ready for his first day at the hospital - he was happy to be out of the orientation classrooms and into the real workplace. Doesn't he look cute in scrubs? I made sure he had his wedding ring on before I took him to work!

It's Kevin's second day of work and I'm already learning to enjoy the time apart. I love being with him, but it's also kind of nice to have some time to get things done and shut the windows if I want to without turning on the AC (Kevin would choose death over a warm apartment, even if it means freezing out his wife). I've found that I'm remarkably more productive without a cute new husband hanging around to distract me.

Yesterday, after taking care of some things around the house, I went down to the public library and explored. I got a library card and checked out a couple of books, along with a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. I felt like I could have spent the whole day in that huge beautiful building. As it was, I spent most of the afternoon there.

This morning, I dropped Kevin off at work so I could have the car to run some errands. I went to Home Depot and bought some paint and primer for the dining table, my new project. I also went to the Bank of America and took care of some business there that I've been putting off since we got here. I spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out how in the world we are supposed to register our car here. It took me over an hour to figure it all out. I'm growing to love Connecticut - they've got a lot of good laws (it's illegal to talk on your cell phone while you drive). But they've also got a lot of stupid laws - for example, you have to pay several hundred dollars and do several weeks of work to get your car registered! UGH.

The good news about this afternoon is that the repairman came and fixed a couple of things around the apartment - we can close our windows now! This makes having air conditioning much more convienent. I also primed the table so it's all ready to be painted tomorrow. I was hoping to have some more time to read my new library book, but it's almost time to pick Kevin up from work and then I'd like to spend a little time with him before he hits the books. He's been studying very hard for his boards. I'm proud of him for working so hard, but I also miss talking to him and playing cards with him. It turns out he has to take his test sooner than he thought, so he has spent almost every minute he's not sleeping or working taking practice tests and reading his old books. By August 1st, however, he'll have taken his test and I'll have my husband back! In the meantime, I have lots of time to explore the city, get chores done, and turn this apartment into a proper home.

Update

This morning, I cleared all but one of the boxes out of our bedroom, so I snapped a photo of our bed to show off. I forgot to mention earlier that a few days ago, I planted a little herb garden that we keep by the window in the main room. It's already showing some green! Well, the thyme and basil are showing some green! It's happened much sooner than I anticipated and I'm so excited! Pretty soon I'll just walk across the room when I need some fresh herbs.



This is the whole herb garden the day I planted it.



This is my thyme. It's growing the most of the five; therefore, I love it the most.



My bedroom. Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it look like a real grown up's bedroom?

Weekend

It's been our first weekend here that wasn't spent half awake unloading boxes and trying desperately to find a mattress at a reasonable price so our achy, weary bodies could finally get a real night's sleep. Needless to say, compared with the last one, this weekend was awesome.

Friday, Betsey came up for a visit. That night we walked around downtown and finally settled down at an irish pub, where they had a live band in the front and a DJ in the back. We sat in the middle of the two, which was really confusing. We each had one drink and then decided it was probably time to move on. We walked around some more and thought about grabbing a drink somewhere else, but every bar in New Haven has a cover charge. Maybe it's because I'm from the midwest, but I refused to pay another cover. So we went next door and had some awesome late night pizza. It may have been the best pizza I've ever had.

Saturday, Kevin and I woke up early (we always wake up early) and walked down to the farmer's market (Betsey was at the apartment working on a paper that was due yesterday). It was much further away than we anticipated. I really thought I might lose a leg, or maybe a foot at least, before we made it. The good news is that it was worth the walk. It was a great market, with several local venders selling everything from fresh herbs to fresh goat cheese to fresh pastries. We bought some squash and zucchini, green beans and garlic. We also bought two pastries to fortify ourselves for the walk back. They were pretty amazing, and reminded us both of the patries in Italy. Later that day, after we'd fully recovered from the walk, we went to lunch downtown with a friend of Betsey's from school. After we got back, we went to see the second "Pirates" movie, which wasn't as good as the first, but was still worth going to. There were a couple parts that were pretty gross and one part that was really frustrating. Both were made more so by the teenage girls sitting next to us screaming, "Oh my god!! Oh my god!!" and then text messaging all their friends. After the movie, we walked a couple of blocks to this place that's supposed to have great pizza. We're trying to taste all the different pizza restaurants so we can decide for ourselves which place is the best (there's a lot of controversy about it in New Haven). The pizza we had at the place called BAR was pretty good - they had a unique flavor (mashed potatoes and bacon) which was interesting but not nearly as good as their classic pepporoni.

Today, Betsey and I are headed back to the theatre, where every Sunday they play a classic movie while serving mimosas. Today, it's an Affair to Remember, one of my all time favorite movies. Betsey's in for a treat because although she loves Cary Grant, she's never seen it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in a theatre.

The Inside

We got it cleaned up a little, so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the interior. It's still got a long way to go, but it's getting there...

A Few Pictures

This is the best I can do on pictures. The first one is of the Yale Peabody Meusem (where the dinasaurs are!). It's a perfect example of what most ot the buildings on campus look like. The last two are the outside of our apartment complex. Once the inside looks a little less like a tornado hit it, I'll post some of pictures of our apartment. I've been so tired lately that even when we go around town I haven't been taking pictures. Kevin's made fun of me because for the first three days we were here I didn't take a single picture! Hopefully I'll get a little of my camera gusto back once we get better settled in so I can show you all what a gorgeous area we've moved to.

Holiday

There's so, so much to do, but Kevin ordered me to take a day off from working. It's hard to sit around when there are still sticky spots to be cleaned and boxes to be unpacked, but I'm trying really hard to do it. I'm so tired and sore from the long weekend of moving furniture and shopping and cleaning that I know my body desperately needs the rest. I never knew I could hurt so many places at once!

This morning, we took a long walk through campus, since we still hadn't seen it. It's beautiful. Beyond beautiful. It's absolutely perfect. There are big green trees and grass and gardens everywhere. Between huge, ornate school buildings are little shops and restaurants that we can't wait to try. There are nice wide sidewalks and crosswalks everywhere, making it easy to walk around downtown. Huge, old money houses line the edges of campus. The whole area is lovely and has a unique historical feel to it. We still haven't come into contact with a single unfriendly individual. We bought a paper from a man on the street and stopped in a bagel shop for a snack. I feel like I'm on the set of a movie and that someone's going to yell "Cut!" at any moment. We'll see if I still feel so captivated come winter. We've had more than one person look at Kevin's Arizona driver liscence and tell us they hope we stay in Connecticut after experiencing a northeast winter!

There's lots to keep us busy until then, though. On Friday nights, they play old movies in the big park on campus. On Saturday, they have free music concerts there. Wednesdays, there's blues music and a farmer's market. They have city sponsered hikes at the 17 New Haven parks, and tonight there will be fireworks over the ocean on Long Wharf Drive. This weekend, our surrogate daughter, Betsey, will be coming up to see our apartment, which is still a bit of a disaster. We found an irish restaurant/pub that we'd like to take her to this weekend. It's designed like one of the many old buildings in Ireland and looks very homey. I'm excited to take a break, maybe have a Guinness and let somebody else cook some greasy fish and chips. It will take my mind off the six million tasks that wait for me at the apartment.

We're Here!

We made it! It's been a very long and stressful weekend, but I think things are finally starting to calm down, although I think it will be a little while before I can post pictures or anything.

The apartment is perfect for us. I was a little frustrated with it at first becuase it was much smaller than the sample one they showed us online. It was also extremely dirty! But, having scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, it's finally starting to come around. We got a beautiful sleeper sofa, shelves, a computer moniter, and lamps from our neighbors upstairs who were moving to a smaller apartment. We also bought a mattress, which improved our moods a lot. Sleeping on the floor when you're exhausted from moving is not the best way to recover. We spent all of our gift certificates - that was fun! We had six carts from Bed Bath and Beyond - we really got everything we needed! There's still a lot to do, but our apartment is finally starting to feel like home.

I would write more, but Kevin needs to use the computer before he goes to work. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon.