Around town: a fire, tree chopping, and a weekend with the Coluzzis

Like I mentioned earlier, the past couple weeks have been pretty dry, with the exception of some notable local events.  First off, there was a crazy fire in the house across the street.  I think there is one lady who 'lives' there, though we hardly ever see her and I guess she was out of town for several months.  So, no one was hurt, and the fire provided a good reason to dump some of the accumulated stuff in the house (even before the fire you could see piles of what appeared to be junk through the windows of the house, providing plenty of fuel for the flames). 

Umm... why is no one putting the fire out?  

Pretty much the whole town came out

It was a nice big 3-alarm fire.  We had a good view of the fire engine ladder in action. 

Several hours into the fire the snack table was set up  

The fire blazed for at least 3 hours, and there were 13 fire engines crowded along our street (and on our so-called front lawn) all night long. 

The second big event in town has been the clearing of the land down by where we go running in the mornings.  This space was tagged for development, though unfortunately it lies butt-up against Prospect Hill Park.  Supposedly the park will remain mostly intact, though the developer did not waste any time (or land) clearing out the trees right up to the park boundary.  This also happens to be just a couple meters from one of the main trails.  

Besides the fact that I hate seeing land cleared for yet more offices and chain stores, other annoying issues include:  

1) The offices that already border the north-west side of the park are 20% vacant.  FILL THIS SPACE BEFORE CLEARING LAND FOR MORE. 

2) There are plenty of run-down and empty buildings near the center of town.  Why not revamp Main Street and also encourage business downtown?  I hate seeing the city sprawl when so much can--and should--be done downtown. 

3) The 120 acre plot was sold to developers for the dirt-cheap price of 40 million dollars.  Land in this area was valued at $1 million per acre.  This appears to me as a poor business move on so many levels.  

4) Just two days ago we saw an albino squirrel not far away from the construction.  Just minutes later I saw a black squirrel.  I wonder who else in the park might be disturbed by the development?  

Read more about the whole situation on the blog Seth set up for the park.  This also links to a story in the Boston Globe about the development. Finally, here is an editorial Seth wrote for the local Waltham paper.  

Now for some recent news!  Seth's parents, along with Tory, Melissa, and Melissa's niece, Brier, came out last weekend to celebrate Erik's First Communion.  They arrived on Friday, so while Seth was out partying with the other Brandeis music faculty over tapas, I met the Coluzzi clan in Boston.

I didn't think there would be a good place to eat outside of Quincy Market, but we tried Wagamama and I was proven wrong.

And of course we had to take a trip into the North End for some Mike's.  Seth missed a fun, flaky, and cream-filled outing!

Saturday morning at the Church of St. Ignatius in Boston College.  The family of the newly communioned one (not sure if this is a real word).

 

Lunch at Bertucci's!

The whole gang spent the rest of the afternoon checking out Boston.  We walked from the Commons to the Ferry at the Aquarium to take the short ride over to see the USS Constitution.  A bit sunny and warm, but still a great day to see the sights!

The USS Constitution.  I have never made it to this last item on the Freedom Trail, so it was exciting to finally step on board.

A crazy jelly fish.  The Australian coast doesn't hold a candle to the horrors lurking in Boston Harbor.

So Long, Spring Semester!

Sorry I haven't been able to post in a long time.  For the past couple months I pretty much just put my head down and studied...  Yesterday was my last exam, and though my final grades aren't in yet, I am happy with how the semester went.  Ironically, I think my grades now are better than my undergraduate grades!  So many people say it is hard to go back to school after taking a few years off.  Luckily I don't think I took a single semester off from some sort of class since getting my B.S. (ie. auditing classes at UNC, ANU, Brandeis, and being enrolled as a full-time Italian student in Florence), and during these years I learned how to study more efficiently.

For this semester in particular, my biggest obstacle was getting back into the swing of studying tougher science classes.  Since I had not taken a chemistry or cell-type biology course in about 7 or 8 years, I was very out of practice and had pretty much forgotten EVERYTHING.  Several months ago I couldn't tell you the difference between an ionic bond or a covalent bond (one of the first things you learn in an intro to chemistry class).  Biochemistry was one of my spring courses, so over the winter break I read old chemistry books to try to get caught up on some of the basics, and I studied like mad during the semester.  The same goes for my tricky little human nutrition science course.  I think I will be proud of my final grades.  The best part is that after several years of flittering along, I actually feel like I deserve a guilt-free vacation!

A very domestic Spring Break

So, I finally have some time to myself! Seth is lucky and has *two* week-long breaks--according to Brandeis they are called Winter Break and Passover Break, but really, they are two Spring Breaks. Unfortunately these don't mesh with my *one* break this week, so I can't really go travel. I can, however, catch up on assignments like a good student, but also research some new vegan recipes. Some neat things we have tried are orange-roasted tofu and asparagus, different sorts of tofu puddings to replace yogurt (chocolate peanut butter, pumpkin pie, and strawberry banana puddings have all come out amazingly well), and strawberry jam made in the bread machine. Actually, this jam was my favorite find--it takes only strawberries (fresh or frozen) and lots and lots of sugar--and it comes out so incredibly fresh tasting. As much as I appreciate not having to rely on store-bought jam, it is even nicer that you don't have to stand over the stove stirring a pot of simmering, sticky, sauce for ages--the machine does all the dirty work ;o)

Also, since early January, I have decided to start mixing up my exercise routine and resume focusing on my posture. I feel like I have really dropped the ball since swapping power yoga in the studio for practicing solo at home the past year and a half. In order to start challenging myself again I went to youtube :o) I found this really wonderful pilates instructor who has a website called blogilates.com. I noticed an instant improvement to my posture after the first video and I have continued doing 40-60minutes of exercises 3-4 times a week for two months now. The instructor might seem really cutesy and girly (maybe a bit too girly??), but she gives a really intense workout! Other perks include being able to do it at home, when it fits my schedule, and it is FREE :P

I will have to enjoy all the pilates and recipe testing now, while I can. I won't have another break until after exams :o( FSU doesn't even have a three-day-weekend for Easter, boo!

The winter that wasn't

I am sure it is very obvious by now that this winter has been very wussy. Though we weren't in MA last year, I was told the winter of 2010-11 was brutal. In fact, it was listed as the third 'whitest winter' (ie. greatest snowfall) on record. After this past October's freak snow storm I was afraid we would be heading down that same direction, but that surprise snow shower was pretty much where winter stopped. According to the Blue Hill Observatory located south of Boston, this winter (Nov-Feb) had the warmest average temps on record and was the second least snowy on record. I am sure there is still time for a few snow showers to sneak in, but it is not looking too hopeful.

I hope I am not alone when I feel that these extremes in temperature and precipitation are not normal. I do, however, feel like the minority when people praise our 'great weather' these past few months. Though I must admit to liking the convenience of not having to scrape snow off the car every other day and being able to walk in the streets without slipping on ice, and of course the warmer temperatures take the edge off the bitterness of winter, these are things I enjoy even more when they occur at season-appropriate times, like in mid-late spring. These extremes are indicators that something in NOT RIGHT. And though we might be having fun in our 60 degree (and today 70 degree) temps in WINTER, I am already very concerned over how sweltering hot our summer will be. To those of you who 'don't mind hot summers', try living without air conditioning for a couple years (or try doing some physical activity outside) and take some accountability for the totally unnatural changes we are making to our planet.

Since we can't beat the inevitable heat, Seth and I have totally been considering moving to New Zealand for the northern hemisphere summer. Either that or I can pretend to be an ex-camp counselor and apply for that nutrition internship in Alaska :o)

Old bread maker, meet new bread maker, Bread Man

We are going to have to say good-bye to a good friend of ours, bread maker. We bought him when we first moved to Waltham, and we met him at a community garage sale (a very affluent community) with the extravagant price-tag of $5. Since that very auspicious morning, he has made two or three loaves a week for us, with the exception of last year, of course, when we were in Florence. (We missed him dearly during that time, especially since our only choice for bread came unsalted, the "typical" Tuscan style.)

Bread maker's paddle crank has been starting to corrode, so we figure it is time to find a replacement since apparently that brand (Regal) is no longer in business. Meet Bread Man. He has some 90 different settings. His little operation light makes him look like a UFO in the dark. He is a real man. Don't know how many of his fancy features we will be using considering I only ever make one type of bread (the type where I dump in flours, oats, and water willy-nilly without measuring anything), but Bread Man made a loaf very nicely this morning so I think he will be able to fill big shoes. The real bonus will be that his dough setting has a delay start feature (which our very basic original maker didn't have), so it will be easier to make pizzas :o)

Good-bye friend, and hello shiny chrome Breadman Ultimate Plus!

My first loaf using the easy no-exact-measuring-technique came out great. I think the horizontal bread pan helps the heavy ingredients to rise.

**If anyone is need of parts for a Regal Kitchen Pro (K6743) bread machine, let me know! The only thing wrong with this one is the seal and paddle. I want our beloved machine to keep on giving for as long as possible ;o)

Forty Day Food Challenge

So I have decided to actually give something up for Lent this year. I don't consider myself a very religious person so I am going to use Lent as an excuse to challenge myself. I have done something similar in the past--while living at Johns College in Canberra I did a 'reverse' Ramadan. While so many of our Muslim friends were fasting during the day, I decided to fast at night and gave up my beloved pre-bed snack for the month. This was actually really hard.

For the next forty days (starting after Fat Tuesday, of course!), I am going to follow a plant-based, minimally processed diet. This is kinda like being vegan--I will not be eating any animals or animal products--but I will also not eat processed foods. Seth and I already follow a mostly vegetarian diet, and we hardly eat processed foods anyway, but I guess this will make it more official. Here are some rules for myself:

1) Obviously, no meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, cheese, etc.
2) No packaged foods like crackers, chips, canned soups, frozen meals, etc. This won't be hard since I never buy these things anyways.
3) Baked goods are ok, so long as they do not contain milk, butter, or eggs, and they were made from scratch (Pillsbury cake mixes are not exactly 'minimally processed').
4) I can eat whatever is served at our Table of 8 group next month. I already told the host I don't have any dietary restrictions and I don't want to burden anyone.
5) Cereal is ok, even though it is packaged
6) No sugar substitutes like Splenda. I usually like to use these for my tea to reduce cavities ;o)

The more challenging points: NO cheese sprinkled on my salads and pastas, NO Laughing Cow cheese wedges, NO Marshmallow Fluff, NO milk or cream for my coffee and tea, and NO YOGURT!!! :o(

Let's see how the 'no yogurt' thing goes...

Bringing Up Bébé

Ok, so I'll be first to admit that I really am not all that great with kids and I have no clue what it is like to be a parent, but hearing about this new book on NPR (Pamela Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting) and reading the related Times article Why American Kids are Brats really radiated with me. Basically, I realized I am always happy to attend to a well-mannered, pleasant kid; a bit of old-fashioned politeness goes a looong way with me. Adults shouldn't have to completely give up their own lives once they have children (or even when they mind someone else's), and to me it isn't worth the effort spending time with sour lemons, whether young or old.