Bearshorty's musings

Happy New Year!

It feels quite appropriate that at this point of our Dante project (I just finished Canto 27 of Purgatory this week) we just said goodbye to Virgil and Dante is about to enter the Earthly Paradise. Feels auspicious.

This week I've been doing a lot of cross stitching in the evenings. I'm done with cross stitches, almost done with half-stitches and will just have back stitch and french knots left. And once Janna's baby is born, I will add the personalized details. I love seeing the picture grow.

I've been watching 'Friends' episodes in the background as I cross stitch. It's perfect since I mostly listen and don't have to look at the screen as much. I miss that show. I rewatched Monica and Chandler proposal and Phoebe's wedding. I can't believe how long ago it ended.

2015 overall was an even keel year for me. I was mostly either at home with Tanya or at work two days a week during the semesters. I didn't really have vacations but I did spend a week at my in-laws and Bear and I had 3 dates - Hedwig on Broadway, Jeremy and Fran's wedding and our recent hike and Star Wars date. I also went to Yeva's birthday party at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan.

Other than the whole business with the apartment, nothing really upset the status quo.

I read fun books and saw some good TV. I finally watched "Spartacus", which clicked for me this year and I loved "Sense8" and "Jessica Jones". I only saw "Star Wars" at the movie theater this year but it was fun.

The best thing about the year for me was meeting new LJ friends and making my LJ flist much more alive and fun. And getting more book recommendations that I can ever read! And finally reading the eight Tomek book to resolve a 20 year cliffhanger. And my flist led me to the Hamilton biography, which then fed into my interest in Hamilton the Musical - I'm listening to the soundtrack on repeat.

And, of course, watching Tanya grow and learn to walk and talk has really been amazing. At 17 months she is a different person from her 5 months self (with the same core personality though -she's my little hooligan).

I don't make resolutions but I do hope to write more and to master pies in the new year.

This week was the last week of the semester so it was a bit hectic. I needed to finish grading all papers and final exams by Friday afternoon. The students finished their final exam on Thursday afternoon. Since I was staying at my parents since Wednesday though, my Dad drove me to work and I had all Thursday to do a lot. My brain stopped working after grading 10 papers (it takes about 30 minutes per paper with all the comments) but luckily the finals didn't require brains. They are Pass/Fail with no comments needed. By the end of the day Thursday, I only had three papers left and of my smart A students, so I knocked them off by Friday morning and still had time to go to the playground with Tanya.

And the final handover of grades went well. I successfully argued with my director for higher grades for two of my students and everyone passed. And the students were mostly happy when they came to pick up their folders with their final grade on Friday afternoon. I do love seeing them improve over the course of the semester and they end up realizing how much they did need the class - it is a required class for them, so many resist.

On top of all the grading, Bear and I took Tanya to her pediatrician on Wednesday for one more vaccine shot. Now she just needs a booster flu shot in a months and a Hepatitis A shot at some point next year. And that's it for a while. Yay. We brought some toys with us and a book and she did pretty well. She still hates being weighted and measured and shots, of course, but there was less fuss than last time.

She is such a girl. Her new favorite game is to go to the closet where all my necklaces are hanging on the jewelry organizer. She wants to be lifted up so she could reach them and then I point to various ones and she says either "no" or "da" (yes in Russian). She tries some on or wants me to try them and this can go on for a while. Occasionally she goes in my closet where her fancy birthday dress is and wants to wear that for a bit. And she loves scarves and hats.

In less than pleasant news, in this hectic work week where I did not need more stress, we had to pull out of the apartment contract. Our realtor called on Tuesday afternoon, wanting us to switch mortgage brokers. Then not even two hours later he called again to say that he spoke to the president of the board and that the board doesn't want to let my Dad and I be co-owners since it would go against their occupancy rules (even though my parents have a house and have no intention in leaving it).

When we first came to see the place, he reassured us that our situation would not be a problem, that the board makes exceptions all the time, that the president is his friend and all. My parents were giving us half the downpayment so we wanted to co-own. My Dad also has a high income. The board wouldn't let just Bear and I get it because our income is not high enough for them - I work part-time since it makes the most financial sense right now with a baby and I don't have to pay for childcare this way, and how can I give definitive proof that I will have a full time job soon? No one can guarantee their job. Anyway, that judgment on us based solely on income pissed me off more than anything. The bank had no issue giving us a mortgage with our current combined salary, I have a very high credit score, we have a lot of savings, no debt, we rarely eat out, we don't buy alcohol, we don't qualify for any assistance programs, we can do more on our salary than people who make twice as much - but that really doesn't count here. I wrote the realtor a lengthy email on Friday because he should have checked with the board before we signed the contract and wasted these three weeks in putting together all the documents. Argh. He did write back to apologize but it did cause us a lot of stress. We got our deposit back (I checked with the lawyer and even put a stop on the check, just in case) and the lawyer reimbursed half of his fee so I at least didn't lose any money.

It was nice to have a weekend with no grading looming over it. On Saturday I cleaned the bathroom, finally ordered photos for my photo album and went to the dentist to finish with the crown. I order photos once a year - I like having a physical album and I get to look through all the pictures and pick the best ones that represent the year. Then I order it in December because of all the holiday discounts.

And this morning I went to the Chinese supermarket to get Jasmine rice and Udon noodles and a did a couple of more chores. Then I came home and made spinach pie.

I had a box of spinach in my freezer for a while and I was determined to used it and not to waste it. I looked up a bunch of recipes online and picked this recipe . I bought the puff pastry dough yesterday on the walk back from the dentist. I added mushrooms to the onion saute and didn't use garlic. My Parmesan cheese was a bit old so I used some smoked cheese. It came out well - Bear already ate like half of it - but next time I will use less salt and I will roll the pastry more to really cover the middle of the top more tightly.

And in the evening we drove to Brighton Beach so I could go get Tanya some Russian books for New Year presents and also some puzzle blocks. I got a book of fables and a learning book for learning concepts like "up/down" "left/right" etc. Bear already taught her "on/off" when turning the lights on or off. In the car today, she saw me in glasses (I don't always wear them when I'm not at work or not watching TV or computer) and said "ochki off" (glasses off). So she's getting it! It was nice to get out and go somewhere all together.

( TV for the week )