<1737>

Friday I went and got Joe, went to the house so I could give him the tour, and then hit the natural foods store nearby. It was pretty good, except the corn we got there was half crappy. Anyway, we grilled and enjoyed the backyard, then we went over to Rita's, which was packed. This Rita's also costs more than Rita's on York Rd, which is interesting. Afterwards we went over to Blockbuster and got some movies before coming home to watch Jay Leno.

Saturday we went over to the mall. I suspected and it was confirmed that Joe forgot we'd been to this mall before. There was some talk in Sears about Kitchenaid mixers and events in which people give young couples appliances. We wandered around, and I got some cheap polo shirts at Penney's, and he got a shirt at Macy's. I mocked his purchase of shirts every time we go out. He's such a girl.

We grilled some more that night, and even made this crazy awesome grilled banana dessert that was just so good. We have determined that the grill will burn and burn so long as you mix some self-lighting charcoal in there, because it really gets the other stuff going and burns forever. We also found stuff for s'mores, which was fun, but I forgot what a messy pain they can be. Later we tried to watch Word Wars, but Joey kept falling asleep, so I couldn't make jokes, which is really the best part about watching a documentary about people obsessed with Scrabble. So we went to bed.

Yesterday we went to dinner at this little pizza/pasta place near the house, and it was tasty even though Joey forgot what we had agreed to order and got both the salad and pizza with artichoke hearts instead of having one of those things with portobellos. He's so scatterbrained sometimes. Back at home we made some s'mores and there were still coals from the night before that we'd watered out, and they all relit and we had a giant fire for no reason. It was fun.

Today we came into town so I could get some work hours in and so he could teach. The idea was for us to part ways for the week until next weekend, but we can't stay apart and it's so nice out there, so I'll grab him after class again.

<1144>

Tuesday the cohort got together for some Trinidad Gourmet. It was good to finally see some folks... it's amazing how you spend the whole first year constantly together and then become increasingly scattered afterward. S just moved in with her fiance and what that's like (she, of course, asking prodding questions about my own housing situation). Afterward I went to TV Night, and there were kittens! Mike's kitty gave birth (teen mom!) to three kittens on Saturday, so they were pretty small and still had closed eyes. But they were cute and have squeaky meows.

Wednesday I had lunch with Joe at Mem Sahib, which was tasty. I told him about my conversation with S, and we decided it couldn't hurt to have a looksy at some apartments in the building. He signed a new lease, so he is confined to his apartment complex until August 2008. So after lunch we looked at a one-bedroom in the tower (awesome balcony) that seemed fairly spacious (of course, anything is spacious compared to his place) and had a nice kitchen. There will be lots more apartments opening up in August, as right now there are only 4 vacancies in the entire huge complex. So, we're pondering, but we may ultimately just decide that with locational uncertainty after the next 12 months, movage now doesn't make sense. It's kind of fun to look, though.

So later in the day I went out to Columbia to start housesitting. The house is great. Even just sitting in the house, it's so great to be surrounded by all these trees and open space, esp since there are lots of big windows. It also means I can walk around in all states of dress and undress and not worry that anyone can see me. Although a bird did fly into the window this morning, scaring the crap out of me. I had planned to go grocery shopping on Weds, but I forgot what the fridge and pantry is like when you have a family... full to the brim of all kinds of stuff. Joe and I will probably get some veggies to grill tonight, but otherwise there's a ton of food, much of which I feel like I should eat before it goes bad.

The dog is cute, but a bit whiny. She likes treats, but then whines at you for more after you give her one. She'll even bark. I'm trying to not give in because that just reinforces the usefulness of barking to get her way. So, she's nice, but kind of a brat. I always forget how much work dogs are. The ideal is a small dog with an enclosed yard with a doggie door, because then the dog can not only sit on your lap and be cute, but can also go out whenever he or she pleases.

Yesterday I went into work, but left a bit early because I had a raging migraine. Today I feel kind of headachy too. Maybe it's this french pressed coffee... too much caffeine, perhaps. Today I'm going to work a bit, get Joey, come back and have some groceries and grilling. Then we'll go to Rita's, unless we decide just to eat ice cream/sorbet here. And then I was hoping to drag him over to the nearby book warehouse place for some Harry Potter amusement, but they're not actually going to be open as far as I can tell. Boo.

<1415>

I got the tour of the house, and it's awesome. It's a quirky 50-year-old house, but it's ona ton of land, and it's just great. So housesitting will be awesome. The doggie is cute too. Their precocious daughter also told me there is a Rita's nearby, so that will add to the fun.

I got back and there was playtime with Talk Sex. This morning I had to get up ass early to move my car, which meant going home. Stupid downtown lack of parking. The new management company actually tows cars away during office hours, which totally ruins everything ever. But, I went home, bummed around, and then came in to school. I got some sushi from the place near the main building, and it was tasty. Now I'm adding people to this mailing list database, even though I don't have addresses for all the people who are already in there.

<1249>

Friday night Joe and I had dinner at Maggie's and then went to the O's game. They beat the White Sox, and there were fireworkds after. Then we headed back to Maggie's for more beer.

Yesterday we went to the Easter Shore for a party at E's. First we stopped by the giant outlet mall, got some clothes and food goodies. Joe was driving my car and doesn't know how to turn it properly so he drove overa curb trying to get out of the parking lot. :D But we made it to E's in one piece, and there were lots of crabs and other tasty things to eat. It's nice out there, although it's a bit far from the rest of civilization compared to other shorey places.

Today I'm going over to have dinner with the people for whom I'm housesitting so I can get the tour.

<1117>

Dude, I got a direct deposit of one cent from Hopkins today. I'm not supposed to be paid at all for this cycle since the grant is up and I just started working. So what's with the one cent? It takes more of my time to enter the damn thing in Quicken!

<1141>

Saturday's wine and cheese party was lots of fun. We had lots of good wine, tons of cheese, insane desserts, and excellent guests. Sunday we cleaned Joe's desk. There are Flickr photos. One thing that is not revealed in the photos is that he had this Whole Foods paper bag next to his desk with an assortment of things in it, including a sock and his birth certificate. At some point things had started sliding off his desk, and instead of taking this as a sign that he needed to seriously clean all that crap up already, he went into the kitchen, got the paper bag, and put things into it that were sliding off the desk. We did some serious tossing and sorting, and ended up with a pretty clean desk. Next step: the closet, because it's just totally disorganized. We looked in it last night and I said, "The first thing I notice is cans of corn next to Elmer's glue." It's all like that.

Monday I started work, which was good. Money is good. After work I went home, and then I tricked Joe into thinking I was going to sit at home all night, but instead I was walking to meet up with him so we could go to his house and watch To Catch a Predator.

Yesterday I went over there after work and we went to Maggie's for dinner. We spent too much, but we got to try both the cheese plate and a new dessert, and it was fun. I figure it's better to spend too much on dinner now while we're young and only have ourselves to bankrupt. :)

Today I was thinking of going in to school, but I think I'm actually going to clean this entire house because it is gross and totally neglected.

<1321>

I forgot to mention. I've almost finished my massive TV catchup, leaving only 24. Problem is, after just over an episode, just into Act II, I sort of don't want to bother. The remaining story line sounds totally dumb, and I've heard nothing but bad things about it.

<2207>

In an attempt to avoid any more productivity (I cleaned quite a lot today), but not wanting to watch 24, I started the Potter series again. I have this compulsion to always start over from the beginning, which generally does tend to be worthwhile because there is always stuff in the latest book pulled from several books back. It was also nice outside, and reading is a good thing to do on the porch.

<1338>

Tuesday afternoon I secured some work for the summer, which was good, and then I had dinner with some cohort peeps. After that was TV Night at Mike's new house. It's pretty giant and awesome. He noted that he'd asked if I wanted in on it and I'd said no, and I reminded him that if I'm moving out of my house at this point, I think it's going to be to move in with someone specific. :)

Weds was the 4th, which was pretty uneventful. Joe was mopey that we couldn't be in NJ, and I can't say I wasn't with him on that. We mostly vegged. We set up his new internet, had some Afghan Kabob for dinner, and tried to go see the fireworks but bailed when it started pouring. As wet as we got anyway even with the umbrella, we should have just stayed. But it seemed like a much better idea to get away from the torrential downpour.

Thursday I had a dentist appointment, for the first time in like 3 years. It was very benign. I guess it's because there were a lot more steps, but dentist appts seemed to take a lot longer when I was a kid. Thanks goodness for two of those procedures, though -- fluoride and sealants -- because they've kept my teeth cavity free! Later on I went to Joe's class, which was entertaining.

Yesterday I went to work for a bit, then to happy hour, then to dinner with Joe's friend and his wife and mom at Dukem. Mmmm, Dukem. Then we had dessert and drinks at Maggie's, just the two of us. Tastiness.

Today I'm hosting a wine and cheese party with two of my dear neighbor-friends. We won it at a silent auction last year and we're finally cashing in. Should be loads of winey goodness.

<1422>

I'm actually at school today, working. My new officemate is here, doing work for another prof. She's pretty young, and she's listening to music, but she asked me if I minded and it's good music, so go her. Otherwise she's quietly working. This is very good.

I'm tooling away on my dissertation. It's not too awful.

<1544>

Friday we met at the shuttle stop and went to the train station. The train up to Trenton was pretty crowded, but we managed to find a seat together in the quiet car, where we whispered to each other the whole time. It's a fast train ride. Joe's mom picked us up from the station, and after a stop at home, we went to this place called Papa's for tomato pie. We would have gone to DiLorenzo's, but it was way crowded. Papa's was nice, and Joey approved of the tomato pie quality. It's basically a pizza with a very thin crust, cheese, and tomatos just stewed to sauce on top. Tasty. After dinner we drove around a little bit and then came home to hang out with Joe's mom until sleepy time.

Saturday Joe was very excited about going to the shore. We went to Mastori's for (huge) breakfast and then drove out to Seaside Heights. Joe's family used to spend two weeks there every summer in this house that we parked next to. It was a bit nostalgic for him. We walked the whole boardwalk, played skee ball and other games in the Big Top Arcade, and had some snacks, including Kohr's orange and vanilla twist ice cream. The wheels of chance were kind of expensive, although Joe spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what the odds of winning something good would be if you devoted like $100 to the cause. The rides were also overpriced, so we opted only to ride the tram thingy over half the boardwalk on our way back. Oh, we also bought cute hats. Joe fulfilled his promise to win me a stuffed animal, thus fulfilling our gender roles. The weather was gorgeous, and we had an awesome time.

We returned and Joe took a spin on the new lawnmower. He was so excited about it, I thought he would never stop riding it. Then he grilled dinner for his mom and I and we vegged outside for a good long while. We thought about jumping in the pool, but it was too cold, so we went to see 1408 instead. It was a depressing move on our part. I kinda liked it even though it didn't quite seem to know what kind of terror to settle on, but I didn't read the short story, which is more understated according to Joe. Either way, it sorta messed with our minds, and then we drove around Princeton some, which didn't really help because it's dark and creepy around there at night.

Sunday we planned to tool around, have dinner with the fam, and then leave, but it was so gorgeous and the shore had been so fun that we decided to leave today and spend another day at the shore. On our way we stopped at the Cream Ridge Winery for some tastings and buyage. Then we drove out to Long Beach Island, which is a really nice place. It's a lot fancier than Seaside Heights, with tons of good stores and really nice houses. Joe's cousin has a house she rents out down there, so I think we're going to spend some quality time there in the offseason if we can. It was just so lovely. We played minigolf at this challenging and nice pair of courses (Joe won both times, boooo) and went in a few stores, but it really wasn't enough time.

Upon our return we went to this Indian restaurant with the fam that was quite tasty. Then we attempted to swim in the pool, but it was way too friggin' cold, so we just watched TV and Joey tried to get drunk on Bailey's so he wouldn't have to think about going home. It was adorably uncharacteristic, and he kept saying, "I'm getting *toasted*!" in this funny voice.

This morning we had to leave, sadly. But we're definitely planning to return to enjoy the shore some more.

<1954>

Joe has reminded me that after dinner on Friday we went to the nearest Citizens Bank so I could make a deposit. This was over in Pennsylvania, in a supermarket. After I was done, Joe asked, "Is there anything else we need while we're in Pennsylvania?" Heh.

<2353>

Joey ended class early today because none of the tech was working in his classroom, and then it turned out they double booked the room anyway. Brilliant. So he came over to eat the rest of the leftover indian food, but the poor kid has a headache, so he's been sleepy all night. We did manage to watch To Catch a Predator, however. There's some Wimbledon bullshit on instead of Jay Leno.