Project 365: Jan 29-Feb 4 2010

Friday, Jan 29: I don't know if I actually took a photo this day. We went to a very cool after school program to vaccinate at-risk middle schoolers and teens. I really admire their program and am thinking about volunteering there. Here is a card I made with my V-Day set and some patterned paper from AC Moore.
Saturday, Jan 30: Snowed all day. I had to get out of the house after spending most of the week in bed or on the couch. Walking to Caribou Coffee to write some letters, I came across a couple who had a unique answer to the snow. They're garbage bags, in case you couldn't tell. People here don't quite know how to handle snow. You can also see that the streets are not plowed at all.
Sunday, Jan 31: Miriam came over. We made chocolate-chip cookies and hung out on the couch. We don't hang out at eachother's houses as much now that we're grown-up (?). We decided we miss it.
Monday, February 1: We got some accumulation of snow that Saturday! It looked pretty out my office window.
Tuesday, February 2: My roommate Daniella. We had just finished watching Something's Gotta Give, which I liked quite a bit. It was about the 5th time Daniella had seen the second half of it. She has yet to see the beginning. Her hair is usually curly, but was straightened by one of the "Miss"es at her school.
Wednesday, February 3: We got a lot of snow on Tuesday night, but the roads were merely wet the next morning, so it was no trouble to get to work. Both the Montgomery and PW County schools were closed, but the Federal and State governments were not. The ride to work was beautiful with the snow just sitting on the branches.
Thursday, February 4: Asher's eyes were dry today, so Bobbi attempted to put eyedrops in his eyes. This was about as successful as it looks in this photo. I love how much we laugh in my office.

Today we also had a vaccination clinic at the Senior Center, which is like a JCC for seniors. They have all sorts of classes, crafts, computers, fitness equipment, and an area to hang out. Most of the seniors who got vaccinated knew eachother and were kibbitzing while filling out their forms. It is so encouraging to see seniors who are active and social. I really do interact with a limited age range usually. I was helping one of the men fill out his form and he was flirting with me to beat the band! We had a good time at the Senior Center.

They are predicting a big storm starting tomorrow late morning. I braved Trader Joe's to pick up a few things. They were out of most everything--basically all carbohydrates and milk. People are so funny about snow here. I was getting non-emergency food like feta cheese, salsa and soy cheese (for Daniella), so I was ok. I am stocked with at-home activities for tomorrow and Saturday--movies, a book and cards to make!

Stay warm!

Sick Day Amusements and Back to Work

On Tuesday, I started to get a little bored at home. I spent some time wrapping the canned wombat up in a sheet, trying to achieve different fashion styles. Mostly, he looked like a nun.
I had 2 squash on my counter: a delicata and a spaghetti squash. Squash and Squash-on-South-Beach.
On Wednesday I finally returned to work, glad to be back after what felt like a long time (despite the fact that I had worked on Saturday and had only been out Monday and Tuesday). The day mostly consisted of responding to the 14 voicemails that accumulated during my absence.

Today, I was out and about in the community a bit. I got to see the PW County schools admin building, which is new and gorgeous. I love the open architecture. The downside, I suppose, is the fishbowl effect of the glass internal windows. It reminds me of the campus center.
The admin building is right near the landfill, where I spoke a few weeks ago. The hills pictured here are the landfill; hardly the garbage heap of our imaginations. It's actually quite a complex structure with a great view.
The leaves are turning here a bit. I do not see the same colors as in New England, but there are splashes of a red orange here and there.

I also saw a rainbow as I pulled into the office parking lot this morning. The drive in the mornings has been pretty since it stopped raining.

Super Q Mart

Today in Virginia, I needed to pick up a few cans of chickpeas. I pulled into what I thought was another Walmart spin-off. It turned out to be Super Q Mart, which is an international foods extravaganza.
They had all manner of root vegetable--round, oblong and lumpy, hairy, knobby, purple, etc.
And 3 kinds of coconuts!
This store does not specialize in one ethnicity of food; but rather, has a bit from everywhere--ranging from falafel mix to 30 different soy sauces; from an assortment of queso fresco to pure cow ghee. I was in pure heaven and resolved to return when I had more time.

Im, this photo is for you. My parents probably still have some of these cans in their pantry. I remember you unloading them from your suitcase in our bedroom, plucking from among the dental supplies and spilled bottle of fish sauce.
I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it reminded me of Telephone Agar Agar, or those lychee gel desserts. However, if you look closely, it appears to be a product of a Spanish-speaking place.

This place was really awesome, although I don't think I'd buy anything from the meat or fish section. At least they didn't have those half-alive eels like at Super 88 in Boston.

Sukkot, Yogurt, and More of those green plant balls

I'm at my kitchen table right now, after a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond that left me feeling less than enthusiastic about my home improvement plans (namely, buying an iron and some bowls). But, I am now happily eating whole-milk yogurt from the Blue Ridge Dairy, purchased at the Dupont Farmer's Market with honey from the Shenandoah Valley, purchased at the Manassas Farmer's Market. Local bliss. This has done much to improve my mood.

Monday, October 5: Miriam and I made plans to meet up after work. She had had a hellish day, so I gathered a small present for her, which I stashed in my purse so it would be a surprise.
Miriam was appropriately grateful.

The lovely vegetation gift did not accompany us to dinner at Nest, a cozy new restaurant off the beaten path in Bethesda. Relaxed atmosphere and a menu with many tempting choices. Afterwords, Miriam and I strolled in the fall night air, savoring the comfortable quiet that comes with knowing someone for about 13 years.

Tuesday, October 6: Work Monday and Tuesday was extremely busy. My phone never stopped ringing, and every time I got off the phone, I had a new message waiting. It's a different kind of productive on these types of days, measured more by the number of people who have gotten off the phone with their questions answered and feeling better about something than by letters written or emails sent. On Tuesday I also gave 2 presentations to the employees of the county landfill. I was pleased with the presentations, and got good questions. These questions brought up points I had missed, or things I forgot that most people don't know. I talk about flu so much that I sometimes forget what most people think of when they think of H1N1. I also got to take a tour of the landfill, which was really cool. The views from the top of the carefully-constructed mountain were quite scenic--trees and hills as far as the eye could see.

In the evening on Tuesday, I went to Sushi in the Sukkah, put on by the local Chabad women's group. The sukkah was decked out!
In addition to the artistically arranged food here (including kosher sushi from New York), we rolled our own sushi and discussed the connections between sushi and the holiday of Sukkot. Both involve wrapping. On Sukkot you wrap yourself in the sukkah, one of two mitzvot involving wrapping (our host N. cited the other one as being immersion in the mikvah, but I wonder about laying T'fillin or wrapping oneself in a tallis. Since it was a women's group and Chabad women do neither of these things, I kept my questions to myself). Also, the lulav and etrog bring together the "4 species" in one group, which you then shake in all directions (east, south, west, north, up, down--in that order) to show that G-d is everywhere. When rolling sushi, different foods--rice, avocado, fish, etc--are brought together. Soooo, not a super-intellectual comparison, but it works.
It was a fun evening, but I missed the "outside" feeling that most sukkahs have. This one, while spacious and well-lit, had canvas sides and tightly spaced bamboo skak (the roof, which must be made of natural materials and leave space to see the stars). The sukkahs in Rochester have corn-stalk roofs, and most have wooden sides. A very different feel. Even though I technically fulfilled the mitzvah of eating in the sukkah, I don't feel like I did.

Wednesday, October 7: I drove behind this truck on my way to work this morning and it made me smile back.
Work was fairly low key today, a welcome break. It certainly feels like fall in the office, as we have candy corn in our candy dish (everyone digs for the candy pumpkins), hand-picked apples at the ready, and gourd decorations.

Getting out into the Community with Flu

Tuesday, September 22: I arrived back to my office to find that I had two new co-workers and office-mates. And one of them had been very busy.
This co-worker, B, is in charge of the Medical Reserve Corps, which are medical volunteers. She inherited an enormous amount of stuff with this job. Why it all has to be stored in our office escapes me. Apparently on Monday it had been worse, my other office-mate assured me--B. had at least made a path for me to get to my desk.

I spent the rest of Tuesday frantically cutting and pasting, in the analog sense. My project was to create 2 display cases for a large county building. It was actually sort of fun, if rushed, and I was pleased with the results. I also got to eavesdrop on some conversation about H1N1 vaccine while I was setting up the cases. I drew the virus pictured below.
The flu bug attached to the display below actually belongs to my boss J--she has her own little collection of microbial mates.

Wednesday, September 23: I had my first public flu presentation. I spoke to one of the Rotary Clubs in our area. The presentation went fairly well, and people asked many earnest questions. Then they all came up and shook my hand, which I found rather ironic.

I didn't know much about Rotary Club before I presented there. It turns out to be a community-oriented service organization comprised of business, professional, and community leaders. There were more women than I had anticipated, and everyone was quite friendly. We started with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. I was initially uncomfortable with the prayer, just waiting for the moment when Jesus would come up. But he didn't. The prayer leader just addressed "Lord" and led a very nice prayer. Once I stopped feeling weird praying at work, with my head bowed (Jews don't do this really), next to my boss, I relaxed into it and tried to use it.
After the presentation, J was called to the front with me and we were both presented with Rotary Club pens, and the following photo opportunity. Here we are with the chapter president. We were also featured in some sort of Northern Virginia news.

Friday, September 25: Today I presented at an assisted living facility. The presentation did not go as expected, due in part to the fact that my audience's mean age was 85. I had been promised staff and family members as well, but they were conspicuously absent, as was the woman who arranged my visit. I did come away with quite a bit of advice about how to speak, such as louder, slower, and closer to the mic. On my way home, I manged to go the wrong way on the Beltway, which is a large circle. By the time I realized this, I was pretty much directly across the circle from Bethesda. Since going through the city at 4pm was out of the question, I just continued around the Beltway. It took a damn long time. But I did get to see this cool view of the Mormon Temple in Maryland.
Tonight I also made some awesome butternut squash soup. It only had 4 ingredients: butternut squash, onions, fresh ginger, and vegetable broth. It was succulent and cozy. It is now 10pm, which has been my bedtime lately, to go with my 6am wake-up call. But tomorrow is Saturday, and the National Book Festival!

Grown-Up Clothes

After 2 weeks at work and realizing that I have about 6 days of work outfits, I decided it was time to take the plunge and buy some nice clothes. Miriam had the goodness of heart to serve as my biz cas fashion consultant, qualified by her general good taste and job as a paralegal. We drove out to the Leesburg Outlets, which are about 1/3 the size of the ones near Syracuse. But they did have Ann Taylor and Banana Republic. I tried on just about everything I even vaguely liked. Not everything fit.
But I did very well: I bought 3 pairs of pants (tan, brown, and houndstooth), a gorgeous black dress, and 4 tops (1 sweater and 3 short-sleeved).

We had lots of giggles in the dressing room, as it's hard to tell on the hanger if something is going to be cute or simply hideous. Now I am fully suited up to work in different outfits each day. It's always nice to spend time with Miriam. We've known eachother since sixth grade, and sometimes you just can't beat history.

We drove from Virginia to Columbia Heights where Rowan's coop was having a potluck in her honor. I met some great people, and had some interesting conversations. I spoke to a guy from Panama doing research on Maryland blue crabs. "Cranky old bastards," was his description, with an affectionate grin. I also ran into two women I had met at someone else's party. I had connected with one of them there, and was so happy to have another great conversation. It's nice to socialize in groups. Rowan knows lots of people, and she always has a way of bringing people together. I look forward to more of this. Also to more of this:
She thought we were taking a nice photo, then at the last minute I did this.

Getting Acquainted with Prince William

The last few days I've felt like I was in a fog. The weather has been cooler and rainy, and I come home every evening unsure of what to do with myself. Yesterday I made curried lentils and cauliflower. They came out really well; I could taste all of the tumeric. But I should have just eaten them for dinner and taken a break. Instead I ate them for dinner, then lunch today, and then dinner tonight. This was a poor choice.

Yesterday (9/10) driving to work I missed my exit and ended up in rural historic Virginia. I knew it was so because I passed the historic site of the Battle of Bull Run, and the historic brick building standing next to it.

Also, because the fences looked like this.


I thought it was pretty cool, but was soon extremely lost, so I called my boss and said, "I'm lost. I'm not sure where I am but there are these funky fences..." Luckily, she knew where that meant I was, so she gave me directions and I got to work only about 10 minutes later than usual.

Because gas prices are about 30 cents cheaper in Manassas than Bethesda, I figured I would see if the same was true with groceries. It was interesting to compare the Giant there with the Giant I shop at usually. I think the products in a grocery store can really reflect the demographics of the area--flavors of snacks, types of produce, and relative amount of devoted space in the "international" or "ethnic" aisle. In Manassas, the kosher section had about 2 boxes of matzah and some Kedem Tea Biscuits, while further down the same aisle was this extensive collection of Goya sodas. And this doesn't include the cans of fruit nectar. In Bethesda, there are 4 kinds of Bisli, but only coconut soda and Malto.


As a public health person interested in the demographics of the region, this reflected what I had been told about Prince William County. Few Jews, many Spanish speakers. It's my time out of the office that is helping me to get to know where I am working. It's really different from Bethesda, and I like it.

Friday, September 11: Today was a very busy day at work, but good. I got a lot done. After work I was feeling, as we put it in my family, "sad and lonely," so I went to downtown Bethesda for some coffee and people watching. It had been raining, so the number of people out and about was reduced, but the teenagers were out in droves. Not older, oh-so-cool teenagers, but 14 year olds in tight packs, lighting candles in a piece of cake and singing happy birthday in front of the gelato shop. And vaguely pubescent boys, skateboarding through pedestrians while warning, "on your left." This all reminds me of growing up in Pittsford and having nothing to do on weekend nights. At least these kids have somewhere walkable.

I popped by the grocery store tonight for some beans (not for me, for a potluck!), and found this gem of a cake. It's made of cupcakes and I think is a lion that ran into a wall.

Multinational Cuisine and Office Space

Tuesday, September 8: While my Smithie friends started classes, I had my first day at the office without any meetings. I got a lot done, including calling many doctors' offices to sign them up to give people the vaccine. It was not nearly as scary to talk to these strangers on the phone as I had anticipated. People were generally friendly and well-informed. Also today I picked up 2 speaking gigs in the community. I like giving people information and talking in my phone voice. The above photo shows the magnitude of my office. The photo is taken from the opposite corner as my desk. Soon there will be other people in the space too, but I am enjoying the quiet for now. And that, on the coat rack, is the top half of the duck suit.
Every day as I drive down Route 28 to the highway (in Virginia), I pass this sign. Who would think that one restaurant would serve such a plethora of international cuisine? Latin American! Middle Easten! Italian! Philadelphian! and of course, that famous dish, breakfast. I stopped to get gas the other day, looked up, and was surprised to find that I was under the sign. Yes, folks, this sign advertises the culinary offerings of the gas station.

It's starting to feel like fall, and it's sinking in that I'm alone here now, with Sarah and Im gone. Right now I feel fairly peaceful, but last night I was missing Convocation dearly. I was remembering how it felt to be a first year, when everything was so exciting and every person I met was a potential friend. But the grown-up (?) life has its perks: no homework and good food.