all that's past is prologue...

Internet challenges can be my downfall. I always sign up thinking I am going to revamp my Linked In page/revitalize my wardrobe/learn Portuguese fluently while losing 30 pounds, all in a month. I get a good start but never really make it. Last year I was fairly successful in an Instagram #52weeksofhome photo challenge, but I have fallen off this year. But the Apartment Therapy "Cure" is always my downfall, where I start off well and fall down fast. The Apartment Therapy emails always remind me of this. BUT in a recent email from them I did get a great tip: We have A LOT of books, and they are double-shelved because we don't have enough room. That means that we can never see the ones in the back. And Patrick eats a LOT of eggs, which has been key to him losing weight and keeping his diabetes under control. So when the email came with the tip to use the empty egg carton to slightly raise your back row of books so you can see them, we were intrigued. As you can see, it's...

1) My husband describes — far better than I can — what I feel after visiting a bunch of schools. Right now I think we have shafted this particular micro-generation of kids in more ways than I can describe and if Beatrix told me she just wanted to stay in her room for the next 5-10 years I might not even argue. 2) After an evening where we went to a couple of neighborhood places (after flying back earlier today), I feel like I am more committed than ever to the people that care about my community and work to make it better. 3) Despite a lot of deep thoughts right now we had a lot of fun on this trip and I am glad we went.

Yesterday we hit Bard in the morning, which was a little bit of a disappointment. So many people had told us it would be perfect for Beatrix, and pulling on to the campus felt like arriving at summer camp. But the vibe was just not right. BUT then we got to arrive at the AirBnB we chose in Hadley, a 1797 home at the bend of the Connecticut River, and have this view, along with the nicest homeowner imaginable. We got to visit Emily Dickinson's house. We got a private tour of the magical Double Edge Farm and had dinner at Hop and Olive with my college advisor, Carroll Durand, who is one of the most incredible women on the planet. Today we visited Amherst and really liked it and had good conversations with people there, and saw some bones. They have dropped Lord Jeff as their mascot and picked up the Mammoths. We arrived in Salem and checked in to our lovely hotel, wandered around to shop and see Hocus Pocus sites, had cocktails, and had a fantastic ghost tour with Black Cat Tours . ...

It was soooo cold and rainy yesterday, but we made it through. Rain did not make Brandeis look any better (it's off Beatrix's list now), and I'm afraid the pouring rain didn't help Tufts' chances much either. But we warmed up at Grendel's where we met my friend Carolyn. But the sun came out today and we made it to Connecticut College, which she liked, and then zipped around New Haven to relive Patrick's old haunts, play tourist at Yale, and pick up a sweatshirt so B's friend H can manifest it as his school of choice. We're spending the night in Poughkeepsie so we can better understand the relationship of Vassar to the town — it definitely makes Northfield look cosmopolitan. Tomorrow Bard, and then on to the Happy Valley.

Tomorrow we start the big spring break college visit gauntlet, but today we played Boston tourist (after our flight was delayed and we did not get into the hotel until 2am). The city is both just as I remembered and astonishingly different. Luckily, some things just stay the same: We did a Greta Gerwig Little Women tour, checking off a few of the sites from the movie filming: And a few of Patrick's top places too — yeah, Thoreau was kind of a white mansplaining spoiled brat who would never have made it without Emerson's help, but the Transcendentalists were pretty cool. Then after a meh lunch in Waltham we headed into central Boston to check out the Good Will Hunting bench and the ballroom at the Fairmount Copley where the ball was filmed in Little Women (and scratch the hotel dog): From there we did some thrifting at Garment District and in Davis Square, as well as hitting the Davis Square H-Mart. We meet up with my old friend L for dinner at the Rosebud, which wins huge awar...

This is another "Attend" post of dealing with something that has been kicked down the road for fall too long. The fall before last (so 2023!) our front storm window literally gave up the ghost — the muntins broke, it slumped, and fell out of the window frame. Luckily, it was a storm window, so the main window was still there. (Winston looks very concerned...) We looked at tons of salvage places for a replacement, but windows of that time period are very specifically sized, and ours was...large... So finally we connected up with Hayes and ordered a new front window, which was not cheap but is gorgeous (and should be very long-lasting)! They measure, and come to fit it, and then take it back and perfect it, all of which I appreciate because we have a garage full of storms that don't fit due to the company mis-measuring them. Here they are in the first fitting over the winter. Here's the final product! From the inside, you can really tell the difference of without the s...