Unfortunately, with two side-by-side sinks in that bathroom, repairing meant replacing both sets of faucents (the existing model is no longer available and it would be tacky to have unmatching sinks).

So, off to Lowe’s we went (our home away from home, it feels) and purchased two new faucets. I’ll admit, Randy did about 95% of the work replacing the first faucet. I took everything out of the box and prepped them, I handed him tools when necessary, I held things in place on the counter while he secured them from underneath. But I did help, just not so much with the actual labor.

Because the old hardware was so rusted and nasty, replacement took around two and a half hours. Exhausted, we gave up and decided to work on the second faucet on Sunday.

And that’s where I more than helped. Well, not really. I still just helped, I just did more of it. Randy had me underneath the counter this time, removing the old hardware. What an unnatural position this puts you in. You don’t normally work on things while on your back, reaching upward, in a narrow space with no lights.

But we finished both faucets and the bathroom looks great.

Now we’re both feeling it in our backs and necks. I should also mention that we acquired an eliptical machine from one of Randy’s co-workers and we picked it up on Sunday. The thing weighs a few hundred pounds and doesn’t come apart (it’s nearly my height).  With our friend, Jeff’s, help we brought it into the house. Of course, this wasn’t something we could use in the foyer so it had to go in the office…which is on the fourth floor. UGH.

Needless to say, there was no need to start working out on the machine on Sunday since carrying it up all those stairs was exercise enough.

However, I did try it out last night. OUCH! Even with the resistence at the lowest level, this machine was much harder to use than the ones at the gym (where I set it at “difficult’). So now I’ve brought the pain in my arms and neck down to my legs, too.

‘Cuz nothing makes your body feel better than making it feel bad.

But last night’s dream was pleasantly peculiar in a more wholesome way. Randy received a work assignment in some eastern-European city. I want so say Prague, but that could be because we’ve been there before. The language and words seemed like Prague, but the subway system was that of Buenos Aires, and the architecture and sunshine more resembled southern California. Culturally, it also felt more like the melting pot of the United States versus the anglo-feel of most European cities.

Anyway, we apparently purchased an enormous home at an interesection with a subway stop right there. And when I say enormous, I mean enormous. The rooms were incredibly spacious with high ceilings, multiple levels and slanting roofs (I guess part of that southern California 60’s-70’s modern architecture).

However, we noticed that our neighbors were putting their home out for rent so we decided to pop on over and look the place over. Upon entering, we realized that this place was even larger and more spectacular than where we were living. So even though we just went over to be nosy, Randy fell in love with the place and decided we should rent out our place and move into the new place instead. Unfortunately, it was going to cost us more money.

After leaving the place, I told Randy that I liked the place, too, but we couldn’t afford to live there since I wasn’t working in that country (I didn’t have a visa). He offered that I should go back to school (and he’d pay for it). Conveniently, there was an English university at the next subway stop, called (and why I remember this name is beyond me since I can’t remember the name of the city) the Baryvalencia English School of Business. Now, Baryvalencia doesn’t sound the least bit eastern-European to me now, but it did in my dream, I swear.

So, I enrolled, got accepted, and became a student. The rest of the dream was a blur as I’m assuming it was when I was waking up. But I recall the neighbor’s wife (our landlord) poisoning some wine that she intended for us to drink.

Strange. I wonder what exciting place I’ll go tonight in my dreams?

Now, I’m generally not upset about this. I never understood those people who say that the more you go the gym the more you’ll want to go. These are the same people who say they like going to the gym. I’m saying it here and now: I will never (NEVER) enjoy going to the gym. I don’t understand how discomfort can ever equal pleasure.

Anyway, after a week of my most strenuous activity being lifting my arm to put a cookie in my mouth, I went to the gym last night. Feeling gutsy, I bumped up my crunches from 3 reps of 15 to 3 reps of 20. It doesn’t sound like much of a difference but, damn, those extra 15 crunches made their impact.

And instead of this making me want to go more frequently, it’s making me want to avoid the gym.  But then as I was dressing this morning I noticed some old marks on my belt indicating where I used to be able to clasp the belt into place (two holes “thinner’).

Sigh – why can’t I just get mono?

She made me smile.

I had a pretty darn good weekend. The friends who were staying with us for the weekend arrived later than expected on Saturday night and we ended up  chatting/drinking wine until 3:00AM. I don’t think I’ve done that in years.

The next day we slept later than expected then hosted the 7th Annual Re-Gift party. Despite the overall calibre of the gifts being better than in years past, I still ended up with Christmas-themed novelty boxer shorts with the image of a package on them labeled “Handle with Care.” Oh, and a riding crop. Yes, a riding crop. But this was not your ordinary riding crop. This one had a heart shaped indention on the paddle portion so that you can leave a romantic heart shaped imprint on the person you love (or love to hurt).

Lucky me.

Anyway, by Sunday we were both exhausted and did absolutely nothing. But then, isn’t that was Sunday’s are for?

But even with all of the stress I put on my self deciding whether to take this course or not, enrolling was actually the easy part. Now comes the hard part: completing the course and recieving a good respectable grade.

I won’t worry about that this weekend, though, because we have friends coming in from New York City (OK, Jersey City…same thing). Randy is hosting his 7th annual Re-Gift Party (essentially a Yankee Gift Swap where you bring a horribly tacky or useless gift you didn’t want and force it upon other victims). In years past I’ve seen a messenger bag with a built in AM/FM radio, a package of Fruit of the Loom tighty-whities, a Fog Hat poster, and my all time favorite: a gigantic head of Lucy, from Peanuts (see pic above).

Ah, good times.

I can see now why many people (myself included) believe that elderly should have their driving skills re-testing as they age. I mean, I notice now how my response time to things is not what it was when I was in my teens and twenties. Hell, I’m even finding non-urgent responses problematic.

Case in point: Randy pointed out, quite accurately, that I’d ceased taking classes when we met. Prior to meeting, I took 1 or 2 courses every semester for five or six years. The semester we met (September 2006) I was taking one course at graduate level. Within a week of meeting him I decreased my status to auditing, by the third week of class I ceased attending altogether.

I’m not blaming him. Not at all. But I guess after graduating in the spring of 2006 there didn’t seem much point. Besides, we do so much traveling it conflicts with the course work (and given the option of seeing the world and gaining real life experiences versus sitting in an overly-heated class room while there is perfectly good internet porn to be surfing at home, I’d opt for the travel and porn).

Anyway, as my home-life has settled down a bit (we’ve moved, we’ve done the “renovations”, we’ve only got one trip coming up this semester), Randy suggests I go back to school. Actually, he says I should go back to school towards another degree. I’m still not sure I’m up for another 12 courses plus thesis as I’m fast approaching 39 years of age (did I mention the balding and greying?). But perhaps I could test the waters this semester with a “fun” course to see if I still have it in me.

And this is where I realize I’m getting old. I’ve determined that I’m willing to give academia another shot. But now I can’t make the decision ‘how.’ I mean, I’ve picked the class (an urban planning course at Harvard). I just can’t decide whether to take it at graduate level (in case I decide to work towards a degree someday), undergraduate level (just so I can have a grade), or simply audit the class (this way, there is no bad grade on my transcript if I’m unable to focus).

It shouldn’t be that tough. But I can’t decide. If I was in a car going 65mph and a deer ran in front of me, I’m starting to question whether I’d be able to decide what to do (hit it? swerve left? swerve right? Hit the breaks?) I’d probably be in hospital a month later before the “Eureka!” moment hits me and I decide what my best option is (or, in that case, would have been).

A little too late.

We actually went on a date.

I’ve blogged about this before, but it truly is rare that Randy and I actually go out for an evening. We typically stay in and/or have friends over (or are traveling). So after we went to the gym on Saturday, we decided to stick around the Porter Exchange in Cambridge and eat in one of the Japanese food stalls (for those unfamiliar with this area, this building has a bunch of tiny Asian restaurants in the space you’d normally find one chain restaurant…very similar to what I encountered in Kyoto a few years ago).

Randy had bimim bap (which is actually Korean) and I had lemon chicken katsu. Mine was quite tasty…with enormous portions (said chicken, brown rice, miso soup, steamed veggies, dumplings, and salad.

After dinner, we headed to Kendall Square to see “Up in the Air.” We both really enjoyed it, and it was impossible to watch a movie like that and not make comparisons to Randy. While George Clooney’s character had a lofty goal of reaching 10,000,000 frequent flyer miles on American Airlines, Randy is only shooting for 2,000,000 (which he will reach after his next business trip to Asia). And here I used to be impressed with my mere 325,906 miles.

Our yummy meals at the Porter Exchange made us both decide that we wanted to finally visit H-Mart so we decided to do that on Sunday. Now, H-Mart is an Asian grocery store chain with their local presence in Burlington, MA. But unlike Asian markets you find in Chinatown (which are tiny and cramped), H-Mart is like a warehouse-sized store (think WalMart or Target in size).

It has a foodcourt (all asian restaurants, obviously) and aisles upon aisles of foods you simply can’t find at Stop & Shop. They also have numerous free samples (I sampled some korean BBQ beef, some dried squid, and strawberry juice.

And we ran into our friend, Kana, while we were there. Small world.

Speaking of small worlds, this market is exactly 5 miles from our home (on the same road as our townhouse, in fact). Meanwhile, the Boston border is 4.4 miles away in the other direction. Essentially, we are equidistant to the city and to great outer-suburbia. I never thought I’d be so…rural.

But the following weekend we ended putting up the art. Again, I thought “Yay – now this place is done!”.

A month later we decided to paint the 4th floor. Upon completion, “Yay, the place looks great! Nothing left to do.”

A few weeks later, a new dishwasher gets installed. “Now this place is complete!”

Last weekend, the washing machine literally imploded (spewing white chunks of plastic all over our clothes). But today, I’m optimistic! Not only are we having a new washer and dryer delivered and installed this morning, but we’re having an electrician come by and (finally) install the two ceilings fans we purchased; one for the living room, one for the master bedroom.

I’m sure I’ll come home tonight and admire all of our new home features and think “Everything is finally done!”

But then we’ll want to replace the carpets. Or install hardwood flooring on the stairway and in the halls. What’s that? Some touch up paint? Hmmm, we’ve already replaced the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer, now the refrigerator is looking a bit tired and this “Cash for Appliances” program the government is offering won’t last forever.

And who picked out that light fixture?

What 1970’s whore house did those drapes come from?

Did somebody say hot tub?

ugh – my head is spinning.

I can honestly say that I don’t hate Scott Brown. I admire his ability to hold a belief and stick to it, unlike the other recent Massachusetts Republican, Mitt Romney, who says one thing while courting the vote, then changes his opinion once in office (gay rights, abortion, etc…). At least Brown has said from the offset that he’s essentially against both things. I tend to disagree with him on every social issue, but also seem to agree with him on some (SOME) fiscal issues. But at least he’s consistent.

And Martha. Oh, Martha. I don’t fully blame you. Could you have run a better campaign? Absolutely. Perhaps if you pulled Vicki Kennedy into your commercials earlier than the week before the election it might have helped. Perhaps if your ads focused less on healthcare, especially as it was obvious to the rest of us that universal healthcare was scaring people. I’m not saying you should have backed down on your stance, but perhaps if you stressed it less.

In a way, (and I’m probably going to get banished from Massaschusetts like Roger Williams for saying this), Ted Kennedy himself is partly to blame here. He knew he was gravely ill but refused to step down (whether it was his determination to pass universal healthcare or ego…I suspect the latter). If he’d have stepped down when it became apparent  he wasn’t going to be around to do his job effectively, a replacement would have been voted in BEFORE the topic of universal healthcare became the issue that made Massachusetts a little more purple. As you saw over the past month, Scott Brown’s popularity skyrockets just in the past 4 weeks. If the election was last fall, I suspect the outcome would have been completely different.

Now, it’s probably obvious that I voted for Coakley. But that also doesn’t mean I love her. I, too, have issues with the universal healthcare proposal. Although i’m 100% for universal healthcare, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, i think the way Obama’s crew is going about it is all wrong. The timing is wrong (so rushed). The methods are wrong (it seems they’re just adding and removing stuff nilly-willy just to get it passed in any form). The organizing is wrong (people are scared of this proposal…isntead of blaming Republicans for it not going through, educate the people as to how it is a good thing).

They should be studying this issue for YEARS, learning how other countries do it effectively. You know, those other countries I mentioned yesterday that all have universal healthcare, all have lower health costs per citizen than the U.S., and who nearly all have longer life expectencies. If that chart/statistic appeared in a commercial for Martha Coakley, or was presented in a presidential state of the union address, people might realize that it ain’t so bad.

Instead, the American public runs on fear. Fear of the unknown. The elderly determined that they will get less medical attention or have their fates decided by death panels (seriously…how can that actually have been in the news?). The rich white guy determined that his money will go to support the health of illegal immigrants. The midle-class family determined that they will never be able to get an appointment to see a doctor because “in Canada and England you have to wait months to get in.” (For the record, I’ve lived in the Boston area for 20 years and it’s always taken me 3-7 months to get in for a physical exam, and referals to specialists have always taken a few weeks to a few months. Obiovusly, something already isn’t right here…and this existed long before Massachusetts implemented its own half-hearted healthcare plan).

Though, my main thing is this: I still don’t understand how a constituency who voted in Obama, whose main issues were the economy and universal healthcare, could now be so against universal healthcare. If you’re against it so much, if it scares you so much, why did you vote for the candidate who made such a big deal of it? Do you like the idea of change more than the reality?

Well, there’s always a positive side to this election: at least Scott Brown is more fun to look at than either Ted Kennedy or John Kerry.

It’s shocking to me to think that the election is this close. I mean, how could the politician that conservatives considered the most left-wing liberal imaginable get re-elected over and over again and then suddenly the same demographic could potentially vote for somebody who holds polar opposite beliefs as the candidate they’ve chosen for 4 decades? I mean, I hear about all these people wanting “change”….but change is one thing, completely switching your ideology is another. And if you’re claiming it’s for lower taxes because that’s what Republicans are for…let’s look back at the 8 years of Republican rule and get a reality check.

I suppose universal healthcare could be a factor; at least, the version being proposed (I’m for universal healthcare, I just think they’re going about it all wrong). There was an article/graph in National Geographic about healthcare in industrialized countries and only the U.S. and Mexico didn’t offer it. EVERY OTHER “modern” country has it. Not coincidentally, the U.S. spent more per person per year on medical expenses/drugs  than any other country on the list. Even more interesting, more than half of the other countries had longer life expectancies, so don’t use the whole “they spend less in those countries because it’s harder to get medical care when you need it” excuse. If people are living longer, they must be getting the care they need.

OK, off my high horse.

Randy and I had a rather eventful weekend. Our washing machine imploded on us on Saturday night. For the past week it had been banging during the spin cycle. On Saturday, we did three loads. The first load was loud. The second load was louder and we had small white plastic chunks in the fabric of our clothes. The third load started off loud but got quiet. That’s because it completely stopped functioning before it finished. We opened the door to find the clothes soaking wet, and completely covered in white plastic pieces that stuck to everything.

So, on Sunday we went to the laundromat to re-wash the plastic-infused clothing (most of it came out). Then we researched washing machines and headed out to buy a new one.

Monday was a holiday for me (Randy had to work). He woke me to say good bye, but I was able to fall back asleep. When all was said and down, I slept for over 11 hours. I was shocked, and somewhat disappointed that I slept through half of my holiday. Oh well….