New Hampshire Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, Jason and I went to New Hampshire for a little camping and hiking. We stayed at an Appalachian Mountain Club campsite at Mt. Cardigan. Unbeknownst to us, the lodge was rented out for the weekend for a wedding, so we were regaled by dance music late into the night Sunday night. So not necessarily the quiet weekend we were anticipating, but still nice. And I think it's cool that someone decided to gather a bunch of friends at an AMC lodge for their wedding. Sounds low-key and fun.

This was the pond in front of the lodge
The path leading to our campsite
Me with our gear
We didn't get any pictures of the tent set up, but it's a nice 2-person tent and on Saturday night we found out that the rainfly works.

Friday night, I had a Young Women's slumber party, so Jason and I left Providence by about noon on Saturday. We drove up to the White Mountains area and, since we started out late and didn't really have time to go up Mt. Cardigan like Jason had originally planned, we took a drive on the Kancamagus Highway, stopping a couple of times to get out and walk around a little.
Saturday we hiked Mt. Moosilauke via the Beaver Brook Trail. I'm just going to say right now that the trail completely kicked my butt. The trail is 3.8 miles, with a 3200 foot elevation gain. Not too bad, right? Except the first 2000 feet happen during the first 1.5 miles. That means it's steep.

We should have known how this would go down when our friend who RUNS TRAIL RACES IN THE ALPS told Jason this was his favorite trail in the White Mountains.

Here I am, optimistically starting out.
The sign says: "This trail is extremely tough. If you lack experience, please use another trail."
Word.

The first 1.1 miles run along the cascades of Beaver Brook, which are pretty waterfalls down part of the mountain.
Rather than make us actually scale a sheer rock face, they hammered wooden railroad ties into the side of the rock for us to walk on. Thoughtful.
Looking back on the steep, steep trail.
About halfway up the steep trail, we got our first pretty view back.
And some more pretty waterfalls.
Making my way up.
Taking a break.
Lookout
Final push up to the summit.
Moosilauke is the Algonquin word for "bald place", referring to the bald summit.
As soon as we got above the tree line, the wind went CRAZY. Jason took this video at the summit (you need the volume up for the full effect)



The summit!


We sat behind some rocks to shelter us from the wind and ate the best tuna salad sandwich ever (food always tastes so fantastic when you've worked really, really hard for it).
Then we headed back down. I started feeling a little sick and, despite making sure to drink a bunch of water on the way up, think I may have gotten a little dehydrated. Compound that with a punishing 1.5 miles of straight down at the bottom of the trail and I was not very happy.
Jason gave me some Gatorade and that helped a bit, but my legs were very shaky toward the end. We were basically stepping from boulder to boulder and every time I stood still for more than a few seconds, my legs started shaking uncontrollably. I have never been so happy to see the end of a trail.

I think 7.6 miles of strenuous trail was a bit much for me. I have plans to spend some time walking up and down the steps at the Brown stadium to get ready for our next hike. Looking back, I do feel accomplished and proud that I actually did it. I just wish I hadn't felt quite so sick along the way.

Jason thought maybe we could do Mt. Cardigan today, but I had to say no. My legs are really screaming at me tonight. I've done 3 loads of laundry since we got home and feel like a total hero for making it from our second-floor apartment down to the laundry in the basement.

Anyway, camping was great and we found a new restaurant conglomerate that we love called The Common Man. They have a bunch of restaurants all over New Hampshire. Saturday night we read a couple reviews of Italian Farmhouse that sounded good, so we tried it. Fabulous! It's a restaurant run by The Common Man with a focus on Italian food (and a bread and seasoned olive oil bar). Sunday night we looked at reviews for restaurants near where we were (love smartphones with GPS) and discovered we were right near The Common Man in Lincoln. So we went there and were treated to yummy homestyle American fare, with a cheese and cracker bar. I kind of want to try a new Common Man whenever we're in New Hampshire now.

We're going back to New Hampshire in a couple of weeks for a camping trip with Jason's lab. Looking forward to it!

Career Commiserations

Last night I had dinner with an attorney from the Boston office who is having a baby in 6 weeks or so. My main goal with going out to dinner with her was to pick her brain on how she told the firm she was pregnant and what her plans are post-maternity leave.

No, I don't have any news. I like to conduct a lot of research before leaping into something.

As far as the firm goes, she told me what I already knew. We work with a lot of family-oriented people who were thrilled for her when she announced she was expecting. They're even throwing a little baby shower for her in a couple of weeks. She's not exactly sure how it's all going to work when she comes back from maternity leave, but has told them she wants to come back, probably at a bit of reduced time, and that they seem willing to work with her.

My situation in Providence is a bit difference since I'm one of two attorneys in this office, but knowing my boss, and how into his kids he is, I figure we can work something out whenever the time comes.

However, the best part of the evening for me was when she and I started talking about how the expectations for our work had changed recently. She and I clerked at the firm together and graduated at the same time. She started working there immediately after the Bar, while I took my more circuitous path down to DC, through contract attorneying and a couple part-time gigs, finally landing at the Providence office of the firm that had originally trained me.

Talking to her made me feel so much better about some career stumbling blocks I have hit recently, culminating in a VERY BAD DAY right before we left for Hawaii. Which, you know, great, let's leave the boss with a bad impression while I take off for 2 weeks.

My main problem is, I am still inexperienced. There is a steep learning curve to this job. At some point (like now), your boss stops giving you tasks to complete and actually starts asking for your input and expecting you to think about the whole picture, rather than just one task. My Boston friend and I have both felt this change recently and have both felt a little intimidated by it. Or a lot intimidated by it, depending on the day.

The thing is, I don't want to give clients the wrong answer. The key is to either figure out the answer based on past experiences, or to find a way to sound confident while actually asking for a little time to do some research and figure it out.

When I got back from Hawaii, I made a deal with myself that I would work on sounding confident and expressing my opinion. Over the last several months, I've discovered that my gut instinct on something often turns out to be the right answer. But when I wait for my boss to say it and then I lamely say, "That's what I was thinking...", that just sounds, well, lame. So I've tried to be more assertive and tried to be better about looking at the whole picture in a situation, even if I am just working on one piece of the puzzle.

I think it's made a difference. The other day, my boss introduced me as his "colleague" and while I'm probably reading too much into that, I do think he's been more pleased with my work lately.

Talking about it with my Boston friend and realizing I'm not alone in this feeling, has helped so much. Frankly, it makes me feel better about this choice I made 8 years ago to go to law school and be an attorney.

Just Kidding

So remember when we were going to move? Yeah, that's probably not happening. Apparently, Mel (who you'll remember from my last post) told the guys on the 3rd floor to knock it off. He also told them that keeping us as tenants is more important to them than renting the 3rd floor and they have no problem getting rid of them if the shenanigans continue.

Since then it has been almost silent. We have had a week and a half of just normal neighbor noise. We hear them walk around some, we hear a bit of bass now and again, but the constant din has stopped. It's quiet when we go to bed. It's mostly quiet when we're awake.

It's almost creepy.

So despite finding an apartment that we really loved, we think we'll stay put. We weighed the pros and cons, and decided the pros of the new place weren't really worth an extra $300 per month (though we think we could have talked the landlord down to $250 more than we pay now). Although if I think about it too much, that 3rd bedroom, deck and updated kitchen (with a dishwasher!) almost convince me. I just have to remember, that money is going toward paying down my student loans and saving for a baby.

Frankly, our rent is ridiculously low, even for Providence, and the longer we can keep paying lower rent and saving more, the better. Plus, there are a lot of features we love about our apartment - HUGE living room, fireplace, the neighborhood, being next to the Observatory, great owners, large backyard we can use. It also has the added benefit of being the place where our stuff is. If there was some way to magically teleport our stuff from our old place to the new fancy place, moving might seem a little more appealing.

However, we've decided that when we tell them we're staying, we're going to ask for a couple of things. One, mold abatement in the bathroom. I have scrubbed the walls and ceiling and that stuff just won't go away. Neither of us have allergies, so it doesn't really bother us, but it does gross me out. And really, it can't be very healthy in the long run.

Two, a dishwasher. We've talked about getting a roll-away dishwasher, but because our kitchen is small, it would basically sit in the middle of the kitchen when it wasn't in use, which, you know, isn't ideal. Mel told us it wouldn't be too hard to pull out the cabinets and put in a dishwasher, as long as we were willing to give up some cabinet space. We're going to offer to buy a dishwasher ($50 on Craig's List) and ask if Mel can put it in.

I think those two things will make us much happier. Especially me since I'm the one who loves to cook and dirty up the pots and pans.

Fixin' To Move

Jason and I are looking for a new place.

Two years ago our awful upstairs neighbors moved out. We put up with them and their crazy friends for awhile and finally reached our breaking point. After coming home for the hundredth time on a Friday night to a raucous party and no place for us to park (we're supposed to get 2 spaces), we decided that Jason would call the landlady the next day and give her an ultimatum: they go or we go. Imagine my joy when I woke up the very next morning to a U-Haul in the driveway. Hooray!*

The owners decided to reshingle and paint the house, and to fix up the upstairs apartment. For the past 2 years we have been the only tenants, which has been lovely. Mel** is a contractor whose family owns the building, so he and some of his guys did all the work. The refurbished apartment looked outstanding and we considered moving up there, though we didn't really want to live on the 3rd floor because it's hard to decorate around eaves. Plus, it's a hassle to move.

Well, maybe we should have. While we were in Hawaii, 3 guys moved in. Mel had told us repeatedly how he wanted to get us some nice neighbors and get in a nice couple or small family who would take care of the place. Then his cousin rented the apartment out to the first 3 guys who showed up. They're in their early 20s, fresh out of college, and I was totally willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

The second night I was home from Hawaii their bass was thumping pretty loud at midnight (on a Thursday), so I went up, introduced myself, and asked if they could please turn it down. They were perfectly nice, apologized and turned it down. That gave me hope. Despite the fact that every second they were home we could hear bass beats distantly thumping, I figured, we can deal with this.

Then came Saturday night. Cars parked all over the driveway and adjoining street, music that sounded like it was in our apartment, shrieking and screaming, pounding. Around 2:30 AM, Jason and I made the executive decision to move. It just feels way too much like a road we've been down before. We hopped on Craig's List and I shot off 9 emails that night.

We ran into Mel last night when we got home from work, right before our first scheduled appointment to see a new apartment. He asked us how it was going with the new neighbors and we told him. And we told him we're looking for a new place. He was all disgusted and his cousin will probably be getting a big, "I told you so" from him. He wants to work this out somehow, but really I think the only solution is for one of the apartments to move out. Since they just signed a year lease and we're on a casual month-to-month, it looks like it will be us. Sure, the landlord could evict them over the whole "quiet enjoyment" thing, but evictions take time. Plus, I don't really want to deal with any retribution they might heap upon the heads of the neighbors who tattled on them.

We're looking at two places tonight. I dread moving, but there are a few things I am excited about. For one, I think I'm going to insist our new place have a dishwasher. Or at least room for one of those rolling dishwashers. Our current place has neither. Two, this is a PERFECT reason to go through our junk and reorganize and FINALLY get all the decluttering done that Jason has been promising would happen for the last 2 1/2 years. Three, I'm looking forward to not living on a main street. We have our windows open all summer and the Harleys, buses, and emergency vehicles on the road, not to mention drunk students wandering by, are LOUD.

*The previous neighbors' shenanigans included:
- Constant loud parties
- Constant bass thumping away
- Breaking the screen door
- A drawing from one of their friends of a p**is on the screen door
- The word "r*p*st" carved into the side of one of the guys' cars
- Loud screaming arguments in the stairwell between one of the guys and his girlfriend
- Constant laundry wars (as in, they wouldn't remove their clothes from the washer or the dryer for DAYS, but got mad if we did and had no problem removing our stuff while it was in the process of washing or drying)
- Battles for our assigned parking spaces
- Numerous holes gouged into the walls in the stairwell
And the kicker
- Two weeks after they moved out, we found an (already opened) letter regarding one of the guys' upcoming court dates for domestic assault. In other words, he beat up his girlfriend. The sad thing is, I knew he moved in with that girlfriend and, sure enough, a few weeks later, we looked online just for kicks and found out she dropped the charges. Of course.

** Not his real name

I Am Tan, Darn It!

I was so pleased last week when I left Hawaii with a dark tan. I only got a small burn on my shoulders one day, which I think happened because my sleeveless hiking top shifted after I put on sunscreen. I diligently applied sunscreen to my New England-pale skin, and managed to wind up a nice toasted color.

Then the Young Women (and one of the Brown freshman) completely deflated me yesterday when they commented that I didn't look tan at all. True, I could have shown them my tan lines and how ghostly pale I used to be, but I elected to keep it clean at church.

Since I grew up in Tucson, I usually had a tan just by virtue of being outside and dressing for the heat. And swimming a lot. And riding my bike everywhere. Maybe living in Southern climes again eventually wouldn't be so bad after all.

Things I Learned On My Trip To Hawaii, Part 1

An extensive wardrobe is not necessary. Meaning, I brought WAY too many clothes.

In an effort to stick it to The Man in the form of airlines charging checked baggage fees, Jason and I stuck to carry-ons only. (This
is my new favorite bag ever. I got it at REI on sale a few weeks before we left and it's the perfect under-the-seat-in-front-of-you carry-on. It has a nice little pocket for your laptop, pockets inside for water bottles (or, as I discovered, cylindrical skeins of yarn), and numerous other little pockets and nooks and crannies all over to hold EVERYTHING. Love.)

My little 22 inch roller bag was filled to the brim even before I bought souvenirs. I wore my jeans and sneakers and brought about 7 shirts, 3 skirts, 2 pairs of capris, a fleece (because it would have been cold on the top of Haleakala, which we actually didn't get to while I was there. However, both flights home were freezing, so I was thrilled to have it), 2 swimsuits, a sarong, nice sandals, flip flops, and my new Keens.

(Jason chastised me for having 4 pairs of shoes. WhatEVER. Guys don't understand the need for different shoes for different occasions. I wore all 4 pairs while we were there, though, I probably could have gotten by without the nice sandals.)

Here's what I should have brought: 2-3 shirts, 1 skirt, 1 pair of Capris, 1 swimsuit, flip flops and Keens. Half my bag would have been empty if I had done that. My most important clothes were my swimsuit, and a gauzy white shirt and knit skirt to go over the swimsuit.

Also, my Keens:
Bought for a little more than half price thanks to Jason and his talent for finding internet discounts. I wound up getting men's so they would be wide enough for my decidedly undelicate and unfeminine feet. These shoes are kind of incredible. I hiked and scrambled over wet rocks in streams and even swam in the waterfall pools in them (since to get to the waterfall pools, you have to do some rock scrambling). My one complaint is, if you get sand inside, you have to remove the shoe to get it all out. But it's kind of worth it, assuming you can stop for a second and empty your shoe.

The moral of this post, though, is if you're going to Hawaii, pack light.

(I'm sorry, do I seem a little obsessive about my Hawaii trip? Probably a true statement.)

Hawaii

I just got back from Hawaii. It was a beautiful day today in Boston, where I landed, and a lovely drive home to Providence, but I am still pretty bummed out to not be in Hawaii anymore because, you know, it's Hawaii.

One thing I have learned this trip: the best way to overcome a 6 hour time change is to not sleep on the plane. I was up for almost 24 hours when we traveled to Hawaii and quickly got used to the time there. I left last night at 9:05 PM (that's 3:05 AM on the East Coast) and slept for maybe an hour or two on the plane. I am notoriously bad at sleeping in moving vehicles, which is good when we have somewhere to drive at night since, as we've seen, Jason is not so good with the night driving. So it's only 2:30 PM in Hawaii, but I'm feeling pretty tired. I'll probably get to bed by 10 and be up and ready for work tomorrow with (hopefully) only minimal jet lag.

Longer posts with pictures to follow. For a couple of days I managed to do a Facebook album every day, but then we got so busy and I was so tired at the end of our days that I couldn't keep up. But highlights include:

- Seeing actual lava flowing
- Snorkeling on both the Big Island and Maui (I saw a huge turtle yesterday!)
- Swimming in freezing cold waterfall pools

I have gained a probably well-deserved reputation with Jason's family as being something of a water junkie. What can I say? I like to be in the water.

Jason gets back on Saturday. I miss him a lot, actually.