Square Footage

My last apartment was a 268 square foot studio - I measured. It felt large enough at the time, although I couldn't have people over very easily. Greg's and my new apartment has 2 bedrooms and is 600 square feet - 2.2 times larger! We love it, and so does Billy. He runs from room to room, naps on the bed or hides on top of a suitcase under it, and he loves looking out the windows. It's been a great move for us all.

Autumn

The moon was enormous the other night. This is the Charles River and part of the Boston skyline.

And to the west, the sunset was also an awesome show.
The leaves are changing but this autumn is unlike the previous two. My friend Britt says I'm looking for a pattern where there isn't one. New England seasons aren't the same from one year to the next. Some of the leaves are still green and others have been off the branches for awhile. The colors aren't as vibrant, but I feel like the show isn't over yet.



Billy's being sent to the Goodwill.
Here are the pumpkins from the third annual pumpkin carving and cider sipping at work. Mine is second from the right. Greg's is on the far right.

Chittenden, VT

Our friends Logan and Marie are getting married this February. Marie is currently in France, so it was up to Logan to find a place for the wedding. Logan, Greg, and I went to Chittenden, VT, to scout out a place. Because it's further north and at a higher elevation, it was past peak for leaf color, but it was still beautiful. We got to stay for free in a great house on the property - Logan and Marie did end up selecting this place. Here's the view from the balcony of the house we stayed in.
Greg enjoying his morning coffee and our view.


Along the drive from Boston.

San Diego Trip - Sept /Oct 2010

I had a wonderful time in San Diego last week. Greg had to work and couldn't come with me, but we'll be back between Christmas and New Year's. Here are some pictures from my trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/genoa76/SanDiegoTripSeptOct2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJiBjuzEgrGTQA&feat=directlink

More of the New Apartment

Above, Greg and Billy are enjoying our new wool blanket, from Massachusetts sheep. We bought the blanket directly from one of the shepherds.

Below is the living room looking into the kitchen. We still have some unpacking to do, and we have to figure out what to do with the bikes...

The Big E and Moving In

Greg and I went with friends to the Big E, the Eastern States Exposition. We ate fair food and saw the farm animals. They didn't have the delicious Vermont milk I had last year, but we did see and eat lots of great stuff. The photo above is of our friend Dave showing us new lace tying techniques. If your shoelace bow is more vertical down your foot than horizontal across your ankle, it's more likely to come untied. I didn't expect to learn that at the Big E!

The photo below is of Greg getting a Vitamix, a powerful blending machine. Greg has gone to the Big E and sat through the Vitamix presentation for at least 15 years, and this year, we bought one. It's powerful engine can liquefy strawberry seeds so your body can make use of those nutrients, rather than just passing them through. That's just one of the amazing things about a Vitamix. Another thing is that it's encouraging us to cook more and eat more produce. It's fun, easy, and nutritious.
From the machine below, you can buy a Charlie card (for public transit) or add more money to your card. This particular machine is, as you can see, only for debit or credit cards. But the screen reads, "Sorry, no credit or debit cards accepted." Dumb system if you ask me. I used a different machine.
Greg and I moved in together! We traded our two studio apartments for a two-bedroom. There's so much more space, and Greg and I are really enjoying living together. Greg and Billy get along swimmingly, too.

Greg is red-green colorblind. This is how he paired my socks when we did laundry. I cracked up.
There aren't too many pics of the new apartment yet because we're still unpacking and haven't started decorating yet. But here's our hall as Billy helps Greg tie his shoes.
My last apartment faced the air shaft, so the only view was of other apartment windows. Now Billy can look out the window at trees, people walking down the street, birds, etc.
Here's our bedroom.
And here's part of the living room where Billy is about to help Greg with his homework. Greg's taking a class for fun through the Harvard extension school on Artificial Intelligence.
I'll post more apartment pics once we're a little more pulled together...

Whale Watching

Greg and I went whale watching with our friends Britt and Lauren.

We saw humpback whales, minke whales, fin whales, sei whales, right whales, pacific white-sided dolphins, and a seal. We also saw hunting tuna. Smaller schooling fish jumped out of the water in groups as they were pursued by the tuna. It was incredible.