Gizmo

For the past week, we've had a visitor. Most of Jay's family went to Florida to sort out Grandad's things, and little Gizmo needed a place to stay. So he came to our house.

Taking care of Gizmo confirmed that I am indeed a cat person. The dog drove me a little cuckoo. He's the best dog ever, too, so I can only conclude that it's the presence of a dog and not the particular dog that bothered me. The cat was also extremely annoyed by the whole thing. We started calling her Puffy Slow-Mo, because those seemed to be her two operating procedures when Gizmo was around: all puffed up and spitting, or in extreme slow-motion like a ninja. The one thing I enjoyed, though, was taking the dog on runs around the block. Not only did I get my exercise, but it tired Gizmo out and reduced his whining:
Jay, on the other hand, loved having the dog around. Their interactions made it all worthwhile:

Jay drove Gizmo home this morning and apparently Gizmo was sad to see him go. The cat isn't quite as upset about Gizmo's departure.

New week

Last week was just an awful week. It started on Sunday, when my car was broken into. I was at Simmons college for orchestra rehearsal, and when I got out, my back window was smashed. They took my rock climbing bag--which stinks on its own, since I had about $250 worth of gear in there--but I'd done something especially stupid, and I'd left my wedding rings in the bag. I'd been climbing that afternoon, so I took them off and put them in a little tiny pocket in the bag, and forgotten to put them on after climbing. So, it was an unexpected payoff for the thief, who couldn't have known that the rings were there, but now is the owner of a 1920s wedding band and a diamond solitaire.

So, we covered the window with a trash bag and waited for the glass people to come on Monday. It's nice that insurance completely covers glass--but it does help when the glass people bring the right glass. Yep, that's right--they brought the wrong window. Since we were their last customers of the day, they didn't have time to go back to get the right window. Thus we were stuck with having one more night of worrying that our car was open to the elements and crazy people.

They did come Tuesday afternoon, though not in time for me to take the car to my class at Brandeis. I took the bus--which is fine, I don't mind the bus--but the bus stops running at 3:30, and my class goes until 4. Supposedly, a Waltham shuttle takes over at 4, so I waited for that. When it drove up to the bus stop, the driver rolled down the window and told us that the bus was full. Now, my eyesight isn't that great, but I didn't need glasses to see that every one of the seats on the shuttle was empty. But the driver wouldn't let us on. So, I walked 40 minutes home.

Wednesday morning we got the news that Jay's grandfather had passed away. We spent the day with his family. Thursday was a bit of an odd day--I learned that there were layoffs at the Brandeis library, mostly affecting my old department, which lost several of the nicest people imaginable. I also got a raise (bright spot!) and learned some excellent but surprising news about a friend (another bright spot).

Friday was the wake. Wakes are never exactly a good time, but it was nice to see a lot of Jay's relatives that we don't often see. We had a really amusing conversation with Jay's great uncle about "CVS music," which is a phrase that will forever stick in my memory. My parents came, which was really nice, except that our bad luck rubbed off on them, and they got a flat tire in the funeral home parking lot. If you remember Friday, you'll remember that the nighttime temperature was below 0. Perfect!

However, we did get a sign that our luck was changing. While driving home on Friday night, a flash of whiteness caught our eyes--deer! There were three big beautiful deer on the side of the road. Jay slowed down and the deer stood still and we all stared at one another for a minute. It was a good omen, I think.

Saturday was the funeral, and afterward, lunch at Jay's aunt's house, which lifted everyone's spirits. So, we made it through the rest of the week without anything untoward happening. I'm extremely glad that there is a new week ahead of us. Now that things have (hopefully) settled down, I hope to return to photos for this blog. I've hardly been able to use the camera Josh gave us for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to playing with it.

Oh, and Grandad--I don't know if they have internet in the hereafter, but if you're reading this, you should know that Grandma's got it in for you. She told me that in return for you leaving her first, she was going to punch you out when she sees you next! You may want to locate a helmet when that day arrives.

Christmas Part 3

Christmas morning started with Dad's famous pancakes. He makes them with Crisco--mmm, hydrogenated oils!--and chocolate chips, which make them possibly the worst thing you can eat. But they're ridiculously good, golden and crispy. I had a mini to start out with:
After breakfast was gifts at the Caissies'. Jay gave me a pennywhistle and a ukulele, just in case we ever want to have a Leprechaun Luau. Josh gave us the best regift ever--his digital camera. So our blog is back in business (and it is a super camera, too).

After Caissie Christmas, we split up. Jay and I went to his Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda's and the other Caissies went to Auntie Sue's. I was a little out-of-sorts until after dinner--I was so tired. We took a short post-dinner nap and I perked up, but forgot to take pictures. My mom took some at Sue's of the kids:
Jay and I gave Peter this Auto Garage (which I hope lasts more than two days--it wasn't very expensive). Apparently Emmy liked it too and turned it into a ladder for her dolls, saying "up up up up! Down down down down!" over and over.
After both of these gatherings, Jay and the Caissies headed over to cousin Kayla's for a few minutes (Christmas number 3), then Jay and I went back to Mom and Dad Provosts for Provost Christmas. There we did the stocking swap (Dad Provost did an impressive job on mine this year!) and other gifts. Mom and Dad Provost gave me some cake decorating supplies and a book on decorating cupcakes, which I think opened up a door that will result in everyone I know gaining at least ten pound from eating all of my creations. The book is super cool.

I only took one picture there (I was too busy playing my pennywhistle):
After Christmas number 4, Jay and I went back to the Caissies' and crashed.

Christmas Eve--Pie and Rock Band

Christmas Eve we continued our annual Caissie-Provost combo gathering. This year, Dave and Amy stopped by too. We started off the night with a pie extravaganza, provided by Jay and me. We made a french meat pie, which no one can stop talking about, two chicken pot pies, and a veggie shepherd's pie, which was mostly consumed by me but was delicious. The pielicious spread is seen above. The rest of the family were in the picture too, but I cropped them out because, well, they looked like mutants.

After dinner, we played Rock Band and some of us drank too much. To protect the guilty, we won't say who "some of us" are. This year, Jay and Josh had made avatars for everyone and gave them all funny names. Mom Caissie was "Antsy Metzy", the nickname bestowed on her by a pronounciation-impaired little Emily.

Sarah Casavant was "RedHotSarahPepper" due to her excessive use of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a vehicle for her vocal prowess. Other name highlights were "Rubber Band Denis", whose catchphrase is certainly, "Just like a rubber band!" His avatar was designed to look like he wasn't wearing pants, the reasons for which were unknown to all except the creators. Uncle Dave was "Ticketless Dave" because of his unfortunate timing in giving up his Red Sox season tickets. And Dad Provost was "Dennis Pukevost" as a tribute to last year's Rock Band night.
I'm not sure what Jay is doing in this picture, but it amuses me.
Josh looks very serious in this one.

Christmas

At Christmas, we went to NH for a few days. Here is my gingerbread house version of the Caissie abode.
More Christmas pictures on the way.

Additions

Two more additions to the Dad list, courtesy of the family at dinner last night:

5. When I was in high school, the infamous inbreeding episode premiered on X-files. You know the one I'm talking about. It's the one where they keep the deformed, limbless mother on a roller under the bed. I watched it and was completely freaked out. Anyone who knows me well knows that I can't watch scary movies or shows. I have a very active imagination, and I stay awake all night imagining whatever zombie or alien I'd just seen on TV is in my room, waiting to attack. Apparently this time, Dad forgot about my delicate consistency. After the show, I was in my parents' bedroom talking with my mother, sitting on their bed. Dad decided it would be a great idea to roll out from underneath the bed to scare me. Well, this seventeen-year-old immediately burst into tears. He says he still feels bad about that.

6. One from the "That Just Happened" files: apparently Dad was transporting a crock pot full of clam chowder to an event a few weeks ago when the whole thing spilled into the front seat of his truck. That's bad enough, but he didn't clean it for a week. Then, when he finally deigned to get off his butt and drive to get some products with which to clean the festering mess, the truck died and he had to subject a poor, defenseless mechanic to the smell of rotting clams and cream.

For Dad

He said he couldn't think of anything weird, so for today's show, we have: Weird Things Dad Has Said or Done.

1. There is the ubiquitous Dad quote, "just like a rubber band!" The story: he snapped his Achilles' tendon in an ill-fated Christmas Day football game and his telling of the story always included that fateful phrase, which is how he described the feeling of the tendon snapping.

2. We also can't forget the "six-foot tall deer" he saw in the neighbor's yard one day. (He is slightly prone to exaggeration, if you haven't guessed.)

3. One of my favorite stories from childhood: once I was riding with him in the car when the song "Oh Won't You Stay Just a Little Bit Longer" came on the radio. The man sings very high in one of the verses, so I asked, "Dad, how can that guy sing so high?" Dad's response: "He had an operation." For years I thought he meant that he actually had an operation on his vocal cords...sometime in high school or college it occurred to me that it was an entirely different type of operation Dad was alluding to.

4. Another one from the childhood vault: Josh and I were eating watermelons one day when Josh swallowed a seed. Panicking, he ran in to ask Dad what would happen, and Dad told him that a watermelon would grow in his stomach. After assuring Josh that he was kidding, Josh appeared to forget about it--until the next day when Dad took Josh to the supermarket. As luck would have it, the headline on the National Enquirer was "Boy Grows Tree Out of Stomach," which featured an accompanying photo. I think Josh may still be scarred from that one.

Any others from the peanut gallery?

Jay's Birthday Party

Saturday night was Jay's 30th birthday party. It was a rousing success. You know you've thrown a good party when you were having too much fun to take pictures. I managed to snap exactly one:
This is a prime example of why you should never indulge in rum-induced photography. Note that no one's entire head is visible and the focus of the picture seems to be the floor.

Jen managed a few more than I did, including these two pictures of the parents playing Rock Band:
Mom Caissie was a hit on the drums (oh no, she didn't just make that pun!). People kept coming up to me, saying, "your mom rocks at drums!" As you can see in the above photo, rocking at drums takes a lot of concentration. Sadly, only one photo of Jay from his own party has turned up so far, and in it, he is displaying some inappropriately doctored cupcakes, so you won't be seeing that photo here.

The cat made a spectacular appearance late in the evening. Anyone who has ever caught a glimpse of our cat knows that she is extremely skittish around strangers and prefers to hide under the bed rather than socialize. Well, apparently she was behind the couch when guests started arriving, and must have sat there paralyzed with fear for many hours. Around midnight she decided to make a break for it and took off at a full run through the living room and dining room towards the bedroom. Once she hit the linoleum in the kitchen, it was all over. She careened into several cabinets and, in a blind panic, ineffectively pumped her legs like she was on a treadmill gone haywire. That was the last we saw of her that night.

It was a fun time. Lots of people came and we managed to wipe out over a hundred bottles of beer and several bottles each of rum and whiskey. There were many fights over the musical worthiness of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and an embarassing photo of Jay as a child surfaced. Thanks to everyone for coming!

Two years ago today...

It was much like today weather-wise, but a wonderful day in spite of the rain.


I can't believe it's been two years already.

Dad's Pesto

This week we have been enjoying Dad Caissie's pesto, made from the copious amounts of basil in his garden. Wednesday, Jay made tortellini with onions, peas, green beans, and broccoli and tossed everything with the pesto. It was a really satisfying dinner, particularly since I'd come off of an entire day of giving tests and answering "oh my gosh I'm going to fail help me" questions.

Today I made mozzarella, cucumber, and red onion sandwiches and used the pesto as a spread. I like pesto in pasta but I love it on sandwiches. I served that with leftover vegetable soup from the night before. Thanks for the pesto, Dad. It's delicious.

The vegetable soup was really good this time. My veggie soups are hit or miss, so I'm recording this one for posterity.

Carb-loaded veggie soup

2 medium russet potatoes, diced
1 large carrot, sliced
2 leeks, chopped (white parts only)
large handful of split peas
10 cups veggie broth (I use water and bouillon, it's cheaper)
2 pinches dill weed
1 pinch thyme
3/4 can chickpeas
1 cup alphabet pasta, cooked

Combine everything put the last two ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for 5 hours. Add chickpeas, cook 1 more hour. Add pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This makes a really leeky soup, which I love. If you're not a huge fan of leeks, leave one of them out (but that's a mistake if you ask me). Most people might pick potatoes OR pasta, but I say don't skimp on the good stuff. Plus, you can practice your spelling if you use alphabets. The secret of a really good veggie soup, I think, is the handful of split peas. They thicken the soup and give the broth a nice flavor. Normally I might add minced garlic and definitely a chopped celery stalk (I didn't have one). You can also sub cannellini for the chickpeas, or maybe even navy beans, but I think the chickpeas were really good this time, and they hold together better than cannellini.

For those about to rock...

I salute you.
However, the rockingness of this crew is definitely in question. Apparently the only rock signal known among this crowd is the sign of the devil.

Blog wars

In attempting to emulate my brilliance, both my Dad and my brother have started blogs. Okay, cool. However, now we have an all-out blog war here. First, my friend emails me to let me know that although my blog makes her laugh, my Dad's blog makes her laugh and cry. Alright, so Dad's got a bigger range of emotions than I do.

However, Josh has really upped the ante with his heart-wrenching account of how he sponsors a poor wayward child from Zambia. That is hitting below the belt. How am I supposed to compete with that? This is complicated by the fact that when approached on the street by the Childrens International people, I heartlessly told them that I don't give wantonly give out my credit card information to people on the street, no matter how philanthropic the cause. Yes, I denied a child a future because I was afraid of getting bad credit. I just hope my saintly brother doesn't shun me.

Peter and Emily's Birthday

Saturday, Steve and Jessica had a birthday party for Peter, who was turning 4, and Emily, who'd turned 2. Peter loves cars more than any kid I've ever seen, and can wax poetic about the Audi 86 and many other cars (don't ask me what other cars. I can't tell a Mustang from a Porsche. I'm pretty sure I could identify a Delorean, though). I'm not sure who got him the big rig, but that person gets Peter. He didn't really care about any of the other gifts after he opened it. Emily didn't care so much about the actual gifts as much as she cared about ripping open the packaging.
Just to prove that Josh isn't the only weird one in the family, here's Steve:
And Mom, who was reliving her childhood with the ViewMaster, but hilariously, she didn't take it out of the package before doing so.
Peter got a real bike, with real shocks! and a real mud flap! (This one lured him away from the big rig.)

The Cape: Silliness

I wish I'd inherited my mom's smile.
I don't know whose smile Josh inherited. Neither Mom nor Dad admit to knowledge of this relative.

The Cape: Kayaking

One of the things on my to-do list this year was sea kayaking. Tuesday, Mom, Kelly, Jay and I set out for a morning on the high seas. I was a little freaked out at first--I'm not the biggest fan of deep water. I don't like to think about all of the stuff that's swimming under me that I can't see. I got over it fast and could even appreciate the giant crab that we saw.

We kayaked over to a lighthouse and a beach over on the very tip of the Cape, where we ate lunch.

Before heading back, us girls went for a swim. Why don't boys swim? Jay went in the water when we started dating, but stopped after a while. Maybe he was just trying to look cool. At least he admitted this time that he's just a big baby about the water. Anyway, I'd worn my flip-flops in the water, because I didn't feel like stepping on seaweed and crabs. When I was walking back, I stepped into a soft spot and sank up to my ankle in sand. The ocean stole my flip-flop! We searched for a while, but it was gone. In true manly fashion, Jay didn't help look for it, but stayed on the beach and took pictures of the ridiculous scene.

In the end, I gave up the flip-flop as a sacrifice to the ocean gods. As punishment for my reluctance to sacrifice the shoe, the ocean spit up algae all over me, which colored my legs green and wouldn't come off. I felt so attractive coming off of the kayak back in P-town, covered in algae and wearing one shoe. We still had fun though, and it was nice to get a little exercise in midst of all the eating and napping.

The Cape 2008

We're back from another wonderful trip to the Cape. On Friday, I dropped Jay off at work at 5:30 AM (do I win the Wife of the Year award yet?) and headed down to the Cape, successfully missing all of the traffic. Seeing as I couldn't get into the house until 2, I had some time to kill. Fortunately, Memere and Auntie Sue were renting a place in Falmouth, so I stopped in for a surprise visit. At 8am I knocked on their door. Poor Memere was so sleepy and my visit was so out-of-context, she didn't recognize me. Once she realized who was standing outside her door, she shrieked, "Oh my goodness! It's Sarah! I can't believe it!" It was a nice welcome. The three of us went for a walk on a little seaside path and saw this nifty ship:

Memere also uttered the most amazing quote. We drove by a kid of about sixteen and a couple who looked like the kid's parents. The kid was smoking, which was obviously so outrageous that we had to discuss it for a good ten minutes. At one point, Memere said, "well, maybe it was marijuana." "Does that make it better?" I asked. Her response: "Well, if you're going to smoke, you might as well do it right!" NICE! I think Memere has some stories she hasn't told me...

After lunch and a stop for some fudge (why do all seaside towns have an abundance of fudge? What about the ocean makes people think, "MUST EAT FUDGE"?), I set off for North Truro. This year, Fran and Dave stayed the weekend, which made for good times as usual. There was a rousing game of poker:

and several games of Catchphrase, which is always extra exciting when half of the players are partially blind and your own father thinks that a pirate wears a do-rag.

The rest of the week was spent on the beach and in Provincetown. Jay and I made it back to the vineyards for a wine tasting:

Last year, I didn't like wine, so I didn't participate. This year we both joined in. We got to taste every wine they made. Jay liked the dry reds, but I was taken with the sweeter wines (big surprise there). We bought a bottle of blush, which we drank with dinner, and a Maritime Red for Jay and a Cranberry wine for me. I'm not sure I'll be able to save my wine until Thanksgiving this year, seeing as I don't want to share!

And of course, we saw some spectacular sunsets.
Kayaking picture and some silly family shots to come later this week.

Off to the Cape

On Friday, we are off to North Truro for our annual week at the Cape. I can't tell you how much we look forward to this. The house is beautiful, P-town is exciting, the company is wonderful, how could you ask for more? This year, my list of hoped activities includes sea kayaking, swimming in the glacial ponds, shopping in P-town (I'm hoping for some more good finds in the vintage clothing store and the antique shop where I found my favorite necklace last year), and of course, drag karaoke. One of my favorite things to do is to wake up early, run down to the beach, and wade in the shallow morning water, so I'm looking forward to that, too. Oh, and I'll be reading lots of books and doing the puzzles Memere gave to me.

In anticipation, here are some picture from last year. Check out this idyllic scene of familial harmony:
The view from the deck:
We went for a hike in the dunes one morning:
And for a winery tour one afternoon:
The whale watch was a highlight from last year. A baby whale was having a grand time breeching over and over. Here he is waving:
Here, Jay's ordered a dessert that came with instructions on how to eat it. To my great surprise, it did not say "1. Put in mouth. 2. Chew. 3. Swallow."
Can't wait for Friday!

Father's Day

For father's day, we went to the Caissie's house. The boat was broken and the weather was bad, so no trips around the lake this time, but we did light a fire that smoldered all day. For gifts, we had the $2 (or $3 depending on who you asked) gift challenge. Josh's contribution was a grab bag "for a girl" from the dollar store. It included a lovely orange creature that purportedly was a frog, a container of bubbles, and a little toy maze. In my estimation, it was worth so much more than $1. (The ghostly apparition in the picture is smoke from the fire.)
My contribution was a board game called "Mutual Fundz" that I got for $3 at a yard sale. Don't be fooled by the $5 price tag; I haggled. They also tagged the game "NEVER USED!!!" though I can't imagine why, because it's endless fun "for bloodthirsty capitalists of all ages." Jay decided he couldn't compete with the weirdness that runs in the Caissie blood and bought a book on barbecuing.
The boys also schemed evilly:
Mom and Dad Provost came, too, and Sarah and Kyle. All in all, a good day despite the rain. Thanks to both dads for being great!