Happy New Year

I stumbled across this cool 11 minute movie about the National Archives and Records Administration called Democracy Starts Here. The movie was created by NARA and the Discovery Channel. Check it out!

Have a Wonderful New Year!

Seasons Greetings

Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope folks are enjoying themselves this holiday season.

I was taken aback when I went to my blog today and realized that I had not posted since November 3rd. My life sort of took off in a tornado of activity at around that time. I should update you.

First off........my friend Elke's birthday was on November 4th....the day after my last post. Happy Belated Birthday Elke.

We went to my friend Mary's baby shower on November 5th. She and her partner Jen are expecting a baby boy at the end of January. I cannot wait. Unfortunately Mary has recently been put on bed-rest until she delivers. She is at home reading books and watching tv.

I went to the Christmas Craft Festival with my mother on November 5th. We had a nice time. The festival usually marks the beginning of the shopping season for my mother and I. I bought some nice things.

We went to a time-share sales pitch at Inn Season Resorts in New Hampshire on November 11th. We didn't buy the time-share, but we got some gifts for sitting through their presentation. We ended up making a weekend of it. We stayed at a little place right next to Franconia Notch. Looked at what was once Old Man of the Mountain, went out to dinner, went for a swim etc.

I had Thanksgiving with my parents in Belmont. I met some friends for our Thanksgiving morning breakfast tradition. I worked the day after Thanksgiving and got more work done than I could have if everyone else was in work on that day.

I found out around Thanksgiving that Cyn and Mike are pregnant. Yee haw! They are due in May.

I went to the Gilbane conference on November 30th. I went to the keynote on blogs, wikis, and rss and its usefulness across the enterprise. It was very interesting. I have been doing a lot of collaboration stuff at work lately....and am totally excited about blogs and wikis as collaboration tools.

We went dancing at Toast on December 2nd. We were celebrating Ronda and Trish's birthdays. We also met up with our friend Kim who we haven't seen in an age. She moved to New York and then Colorado a few years ago.

We went to Edaville Railroad on December 3rd. We had a lot of fun. I hadn't been there in 25 years or so. It was a little smaller than I had remembered. We also went to the new Ikea in Stoughton that night. We were only able to stay for 15 minutes. They were closing. We still need to take another trip there.

I went to a party at my cousin's on December 10th.

I made Christmas cookies with my mother on December 15th.

On December 16th we went to see the Christmas Revels at Harvard. This was my first time. I would definately go again.

I went to my friend Joanie's holiday open house on December 17th.

We had some friends over to watch the Godfather on December 18th.

We left for Frenchville, ME on December 22nd. We visited with family......and braved the cold weather. We left on Christmas morning to come back to Boston. We had dinner with more family.

I came back to work on December 28th.

That pretty much brings you up to date on my life. My mother is enjoying her job more now than before. She saw her doctor recently who said she looks free of cancer. My liver is pretty much status quo. I'm still on the same meds. I'm assuming my bloodwork will be normal when I go in January. I am hoping to be involved with next year's Football Walk in Boston. I just submitted a patient match form to the Run For Research folks. I'm waiting to hear if they still need patients to match with runners. I'm looking forward to the New Year. The new season of the L Word is starting on January 8th. I cannot wait. My step-brother is in town this week. We had dinner the other night. It was good to see him...it had been a while. Elke is coming for a visit next week. I am looking forward to seeing her. I need to run......

Happy New Year!

Some people like the toilet paper roll to go over....others like it under. I myself like it over. It doesn't come rolling off as easy.....and there is no chance of it running away from you. I am so adamant that the toilet people be over that I have been known to switch it in the homes of dear friends who happen to have a difference of opinion on the matter. My latest trip to the ladies room at work has confirmed my suspicion that the new maintenance guy likes his toilet paper under. I started noticing the toilet paper under thing on Tuesday....here it is Thursday...and the paper is still under. He seems nice enough...and I'm sure he will do a great job. I just wish we agreed on the toilet paper issue. I did an informal survey and it appears that most folks like it over.

I'm in College Park, MD this week. I just went for a swim in the heavily clorinated pool. I had a lovely day at work. I sat in on a class....met with a colleague. I went to IKEA for the first time in my life tonight. I had some super yummy swedish meatballs for dinner. I did some shopping. It was pretty swanky. I got in at around 6:00 p.m. last night. I managed to get to DC for a bit and hang out in Dupont Circle. I went to eat at Wrap Works...I love their tropical chicken salad. I also bought a tasty espresso chew at Firehook and grabbed a flavorful chai at Teaism. I have had a nice trip, but I am ready to go home. I'm looking forward to being back in my own apartment tomorrow night. I'm off to take a shower. I need to get this clorine off me before my hair turns green.

Not much to report on. Life has been busy. We are going to the Common Ground Fair this weekend in Maine. Going to see Dar Williams tomorrow night at Sanders Theatre. I got her new album My Better Self last week. I really like it so far. I am enjoying it a lot more than her last two albums. My favorite songs are Teen For God, Echoes, and Close To My Heart. My liver is doing ok. I am due for an ultrasound and bloodwork on October 3rd. Speaking of October. I am really looking forward to fall this year. We are going to the fair this weekend. We already have plans to go apple picking and to attend a fall party. I'm loving the fall vegetables at our farm. I cannot wait for caramel apples, foliage, and cool days.

What is on Yoyogirl's mind!

The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance has a list of Hurricane Katrina Relief Organizations.

The Football Walk for Liver Wellness is coming up. This 5 mile walk to raise money for the American Liver Foundation will take place on Sunday, October 9th at Artesani Park in Brighton. Check it out.

Sandy Berger was sentenced to pay $50,000 and do 100 hours of community service from stealing documents from NARA. Serves him right for stealing. Read more about it at CNN.

NARA has released that Lockheed Martin will design the Electronic Records Archives. read more about it at NARA.

There is a lot going on in and around Boston this weekend. The Habitat for Humanity group at Harvard is having their Stuff Sale starting on Saturday. The JP World's Fair is coming up on Sunday. The Boston Arts Festival is this weekend too.

Have a great weekend!

I just got back from a week in Provincetown. We had a lot of fun. We went on a Whale Watch. We went to see Suzanne Westenhoefer. Went to the beach...stayed out of the rain. Rode our bikes. Went to the pool. One day we went to see Me And You And Everyone We Know. This movie is great. Go see it if you can.

I saw Jai Rodriguez walking down Commercial street at some point. A couple of days later John Waters rode by me on his bicycle. Cool huh? It isn't very often that you see two famous gay people walking down the street in one week.

So lets talk about food for a bit. We ate dinner at Cafe Edwige one night. I had the most amazing T-Bone steak. We ate at Chester on another night. Chester was good, but not as good as Edwige. We also had dinner at Fanizzi's. I really like Fanizzi's because the food is consistently good. We had brunch at the Martin House on Saturday. They just started serving brunch and more people need to know about it. My cranberry and blueberry waffle was pretty tasty. Of course we consumed a bunch of espresso shakes at Spiritus. Spiritus has the best espresso shake in the world. It costs $6.00, but it is totally worth it. I had lunch at Clem and Ursies one day. I really like Clem and Ursies, but it is totally overpriced. My overall impression of the culinary situation in Provincetown is that you need to pay a lot to get good food. That being said you could probably pay less in Boston and get better quality food. I have only had two meals in Provincetown that I feel were flawless. My meal at Edwige was incredible. The other amazing meal was at Gallerani's. Unfortunately Gallerani's closed about a year and a half ago. The gallerani's chicken was my favorite dish in provincetown for a while. They also had the most amazing lobster corn chowder. It is too bad that Gallerani's closed. Enough about food in Provincetown....

I'm off to see my hepatologist tomorrow. I will most likely have bloodwork done. We'll see what the results say.

I'm going to Lenox for one night at the end of the week. I will be stuck in the office for both days. I hope to get out and enjoy the Berkshires during the late afternoon and evening.

I'm staying in Lenox tonight at the Cranwell. It is pretty nice so far. I'm bummed I won't be able to take advantage of the spa while I am here. I drove out this morning and am leaving tomorrow afternoon. I was at work all day today and will be in the office tomorrow too. I did have a nice dinner with two colleagues at this restaruant called Zinc Bistro. It was yummy. I might stop off at the outlet mall on my way home tomorrow.

I had a wonderful time at Boston Pride this weekend. We went to the Dyke March....had breakfast with friends.....Stood out in the heat to see the parade.......briefly stopped by the festival (it was too hot)........spent a while at the Esme Block Party and checked out the Women's Block party yesterday afternoon. I am exhausted today, but it was totally worth it.

We went to out farm yesterday afternoon. We got there and went right to the potato plants. We smooshed the beatles and their eggs. I was tired...and hot and sweaty. I should prepare myself to do more of this type of work next week when we go. Oh yes and we picked up some tasty vegetables too. Scallions...lettuce.......spinach etc.

I cannot believe they found Michael Jackson not guilty on all charges. What does this say about our justice system?

My mother recently had a scare. She had a mammogram and they found an abnormality. She went for an ultrasound yesterday. They said that they didn't think she had much to worry about. The ultrasound revealed that she had big ducts. Whew! What a relief! This was my mother's first medical issue since her run-in with colon cancer.

I'm a winner! Yes I am! The Curves I belong to recently had a silent auction. Members earned "curves bucks" by answering trivia questions and getting a buck if one exerciesed at least three times a week. In the end I had 34 bucks. Much more than I had expected to have. I used them to bid on two Tupperware bowls and I won. I was pretty psyched. I never win anything.

I had dinner with Kent last night. He is in town for the School for Scanning. We had a nice time. We had yummy burger's at Bartley's Burger Cottage and got coffee at Cafe Algiers. When I first met up with Kent I noticed a big group standing in front of the Harvard Book Store. David Sedaris was reading from his paperback version of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim . The bookstore had filled up and they decided to put a speaker out front so people could here out there. Kent and I were among the lowly on the street. We only stayed to heard him read one story and then we were off. That being said....what we heard was very funny. It was nice to see Kent. We talked about our jobs, lives, and library school. I had fun catching up.

I should run....I have a lot to do today.

My Memorial Day weekend was eventful. We went to the camp in Maine. This is usally a nice time. We do yard work. Pick up branches. Hang out. It was a nice time this weekend too. However the bugs made it a bit difficult. I got eaten alive by the black flies. And lucky me found a tick embedded in my right ear. I had a hard time getting it out. B managed to get it out of my ear. However it looks like it wasn't actually in my ear. B was able to flick it off with some work. I never drew blood. The tick head doesn't appear to still be in my ear. At first I was strssed out about it being a deer tick....and the whole lyme disease thing. After a closer look we believe it was a wood tick. We also realized that if the tick was hanging there that it couldn't have been for too. long. Certainly less than 12 hours. BUT we did decide to keep the tick and keep a lookout for a rash and/or other lyme disease symptoms.

We watched a bunch of episodes of the Deadliest Catch yesterday. I couldn't stop watching once I turned it on. The Discovery Channel was running a marathon. If you get a chance definately check this show out.

I recently met Sam Seidel and his wife Ann at a birthday party. Sam is running for Cambridge City Council. After speaking with him for a bit and scanning his website I think he is a good candidate. I like his ideas about parking in Cambridge. When I met Sam I informed him that I was not a resident of Cambridge, but would pass the word along. So here you go....vote Sam Seidel for City Council!

I went to see my primary care physician for my yearly physical. She said everything looked good. Having dinner with Cyn and Steph tonight. Getting together with a colleague who is visiting from out of town tomorrow night. My mother is feeling a little overwhelmed in her new job because no one seems to have taken the time to train her. I hate this. My supervisor is out of the office for the next three weeks. She had rotator cuff surgery this week. We might be going to Lewiston, ME for Memorial Day weekend. Too bad it is going to rain. I am sick of the cold and rain. We might stick around Somerville instead. I hated the season finale of the L Word. It was all filler. I am tired of Betty. Stood out in the rain to see the Butchies last weekend. They were playing at Youth Pride. We were probably the oldest people there, but it was fun to see the Butchies. We went to the new Danish Pastry House in Medford last weekend. It is a mighty tasty place. I am definately going back.

Did you know that May is National Hepatitis Awareness Month? Well now you do. This is the month to education people about the liver and the over 100 diseases that affect this football shaped amazingly important organ.

We went to the Living Well With Liver Disease" event at the Sheraton in Newton last weekend. This years event was great. I would encourage anyone with liver disease and/or their family members to attend next year.

Our CSA share is about to get started in a couple of weeks. We cannot wait.

We went to see Saving Face at the 21st Annual Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival at the MFA last night. The movie is very funny and totally worth seeing. See it if you can.

Mom started a new job at the hospital recently. I am proud of her. She has been through so much in the past two years. I had my bone density test. They told me I was dense. This is good news. I had my enzymes tests done too. They are looking great. I got a haircut. I am back to getting in done at Great Cuts. I cost a third of the price and it looks exactly the way I want it to. Went to see Amy Ray at the Paradise recently. I do not love her solo stuff. I am loving the L Word. I'm disappointed that the season is nearly done. I love Tina. Dana and Alice are great together. I am liking Bette again. Jenny is just as annoying. Helena is beautiful, but too controlling. Shane has grown on me. I have no thoughts on Carmen. And Kit is just amazing. I am looking forward to the season premier of Queer As Folk.

I tried posting recently, but my computer had a freak out. I hope it doesn't do the same thing today. My life has been busy as usual. We finally got out car back on March 9th. My liver is doing better. I'm off the Prednisone....up on the Imuran. We are going to Provincetown to get away for a few days. I'm off to New York next week.....and DC the week after that. My mother's health is better. She is done with school and looking for a job. I've been getting back into exercise again. I was so bad that the nice staff at Curves called me to say they missed me. Well....I'm back. I am so happy that the spring is coming. I am tired of snow. Of course we are expecting heavy rain and wind this weekend. Thats no good either. Street cleaning starts again in my town today. I should run along........

Looks like it has been a month since I posted last. I need to stay on top of this. Oh well. My life has been insanely busy. Taught a class in Newport, RI two weekends ago. Been teaching a lot at work. Planning a trip to Provincetown. Going to New York and DC for work in April. Had an endoscopy recently. They said everything looked good. There was a little bit of redness in my esophogus, but they didn't seem too worried. Off the presnisone. Up on the imuran. Liver enzymes are down. My sprained ankle is feeling better. We got our car back....FINALLY. Mom is done with school and looking for a job. She spends a lot of her time volunteering at the local hospital and looking for work. Celebrating my Step-Fathers birthday this weekend. Excited about Easter. Done with the snow. Looking forward to spring. Exercising at Curves. Have a bone density test in April. Guess they want to find out if I'm dense or not. Most people would say I am. Ha Ha!

So..my life....lets see.....

My ankle is feeling better. I'm not sure if I still need physical therapy. I went to Curves three times this week and experienced mild discomfort...but thats it. I think I'll be back to normal soon.

My insurance company is still being scummy. They keep blaiming the car dealer saying that it is his fault that they sent me a check for $320 less than they should have. They say he should have notified them if they were going to do extra work.....and if it were going to more expensive. I know for a fact that the dealer had notified them of any changes. The insurance adjuster was at the dealer's last week and said they could only find and extra $118 worth of work. Well.....last night I did my own math and what I found is that.....the insurance company did their math wrong. The numbers they gave me do not add up. Argh! I left them a nasty message last night...and I called the adjuster today. They probably hate me.......but they clearly keep %$^&ing up. We'll see if I hear back.

I heard from my hepatologist that my bloodwork looks good. My enzymes are normal...my IgG is low. So...she is taking me off the Prednisone and increasing my Imuran to 100 mg QD. This is very good news. I'm a little concerned about being on the higher dose of Imuran. Will I have cold sores left and right.....will I get colds more often? Will I have to be more concerned about being around sick people? I'm also a little nervous about not being on the Prednisone. Yeah I complain about the Prednisone all the time...it makes me hungry.....it weakens my bones.......it gives me facial hair.....BUT.......it's also a great anti-inflammatory. It saved my life when my liver was really sick. The small 5 mg dose appeared to take away the inflammation in my left ankle last year after I was recuperating from the broken leg. I currently have a sprained right ankle and am a little nervous that not being on the Prednisone will cause more discomfort in that area. Argh......I can never win.

Hmm...what else is new.....I'm going in for an endoscopy in a couple of weeks. I'm starting pt for my right ankle soon........I'm also having a bone densitometry in a couple of months.

Well...well...whats new with me. We still don't have our Honda back. It is at the dealer still. We are waiting for the check from the insurance company. I sprained my ankle recently. I went a little bit nuts at Curves. I'm icing and elevating it these days. I was in New York for a couple of nights this week. Guess who was behind me on the airplane to New York! Ming Tsai! Cool huh? Had a nice dinner with Christine while I was in New York. It was good to see her. Well I should run along. I have a lot of work to do.

We still don't have our car back. It is at the dealer.......and we are waiting to get the information from the insurance company.

We probably won't have it back until the end of the week.

I'm so angry at the people who took our tires. I'm also annoyed with the police department who have been close to useless.

I'm also sick of hearing people say things like...."yeah.....those criminals really love those Honda Civics"...or "Where do you live? Oh thats why." I know people are trying to be helpful...and they aren't blaming me for the situation, but it is hard to not interpret that as "well if you didn't drive a civic and live in that neighborhood then this wouldn't have happened to you."

On top of all of this I have been having lots of ankle pain recently. I think I overdid it at Curves. I am seeing my doctor this afternoon.

I'm also seeing my hepatologist this afternoon.

I have a fun-filled day of doctors appointments...yee haw!

This week has been pretty bad.

It started to look bad when I came home from work the other night and noticed that someone had hit the driver side mirror on our Saturn. Of course they left no note. I brought it in had had it fixed. I picked it up on Wednesday afternoon.

Bad right? Well the following takes the cake.

I left my apartment yesterday morning at 7:00 a.m. and walked towards our new car to drive it to work. I noticed that the car looked funny from a distance. Then....I noticed that the wheels and tires were missing...the back was jacked up...the front of the car was on the pavement. Yup....stolen. Soo....to the people who stole my four wheels and tires.....you can %$^& OFF!!

I'm waiting to hear back from the dealer about whether there was any other damage or not. I sure hope not.

I hope things start to look better soon.

It s snowing outside....what a surprise. I'm a little sick of the snow at this point. I am tired of being afraid to drive.....or that I'll slip on the snow and break my leg again. I'm tired of fighting for parking and digging out my car. I wish they would send us home early because of the snow. No such luck.

My ALF meeting was cancelled tonight. I met with the local public library Director last night. She was very nice. I'm supposed to be doing an inventory of their public history room. I hope I will have some time to get to that in the next week. I went to Curves last night. It was a lot of fun.

My mother is doing well. She is going to ask her surgeon if he thinks she is ready to start an exercise program. She is enjoying her volunteer work at the hospital and her classes.

Gotta run.......

Nothing much to report on. My mother is feeling well. I have felt like I am on the verge of getting a cold for weeks now. I'm busy as usual. Work is busy. Next week I have a meeting at ALF. I am also meeting with folks at the local public library. I might be volunteering in their public history room. I am preparing for a class I am teaching in March. I have an interview next week to get ready for. I just joined curves this week. I know it was started by a right wing fundamentalist...but aside from that it works for me. They have heavy people in their commercials...most of the people there seem to be regular folks...not gymheads...and it works into my schedule. I don't have time to go to the gym for hours at a time. Curves is just a half hour...a few times a week. I have only gone once this week, but am planning on going after work today. This weekend we are expecting snow. We also have a friend coming into town. I see my new hepatologist next month. My tibial plateau aches sometimes. It was 3 degrees when I left my apartment this morning. I need to get some coffee. I can taste prednisone in the back of my throat from when I took it this morning. It is an awful taste.

So.....I've been in Yardley, PA for the past few nights. I'm looking forward to going back to Boston tomorrow. Nothing against my colleagues.....I like them....this has been a productive meeting........I just miss home. Since I have been here I have only eaten brown foods. This is not good. I need to eat some vegetables or I'm going to get scurvy. Ha...ha. Thats all I need. Since I have been here I have eaten.....pork tenderloin.........an italian sub (aka hoagie in these parts).......a cheese steak.....a patty melt....and a falafel sandwich with fries. See my problem? Ok so.....I had potatoes and green beans with the pork tenderloin....and every morning I have had a bagel and a piece of fruit.....but still.....I can feel my arteries clogging....glug.....glug.

I forgot to mention that I fell on the ice last week...yup....right on the spot where I broke it a year and a half ago. I'm sure its ok......I was more scared than anything else. At first it stung really bad....then it hurt when I touched it. It sort of feels like it did when it was healing. I'm sure its fine....I would know if it were broken right?

I am sad about the tsunami in southern Asia. The devastaion there is beyond my understanding. I'm happy to hear that the world is coming together to help out.

Having dinner with Elke tonight....looking forward to seeing her.