Blessed Relief

For the first time this summer it was cool enough to turn the air conditioner off. I opened up all the windows,turned the fan on high, and aired out the apartment. I've been praying for autumn's early arrival these last few weeks as I near the beginning of my third trimester (which is this Friday! Woot woot!!). As this is the most exhausting and uncomfortable trimester, I'm glad the bulk of it will take place during cooler weather.

Some men were doing construction in front of our house and had blocked off the driveway with a 4 foot mound of dirt. We had been warned about this, but I had completely forgotten. As such, I neglected to pull the car out of the driveway last night and park it on the street. As I had my final dentist appointment at 2:00 pm today, this meant I had to hoof it down to Main St. rather than drive myself in the air-conditioned comfort to which I am most accustomed. Had it been in the mid-80s like earlier this week, this would've sucked ass. It turned out to be a very pleasant walk (interrupted by a very unpleasant torture session at the dentist).

When I had finished schlepping my big butt and even larger gut up the (never ending) hill to our house and finally up the stairs to the apartment, I found that I was only slightly damp and breathing normally. Any other day I'd have been dripping with sweat and gasping for air. This made me feel frickin' awesome! Not like the giant, plodding land mammal I normally feel like.

On the way up the hill, I met an adorable little bichon frise named Zoe with a less-than-warm mommy. She barely tolerated me stopping to pet her dog. I normally don't pet dogs whose owners give off the "don't pet my dog" vibe, but this dog was begging me to pet her--standing on her hind legs and giving me that two-paw wave that only bichons seem to give. So I stopped to pet her. And she loved it. And I secretly wished I could steal her and take her home where she would be adored and not treated like a status symbol or accessory.

Although I do live in a town brimming with rich people--most of whom are republicans--I'm happy to say that the majority aren't like Zoe's mom. Please keep in mind, my definition of "rich people" are people who make over $250K, not $5M as McCain would have it. They're warm and friendly. They say "Hi!" when you pass them on the sidewalk and stop to pet Fred and Lulu when we walk them. I wonder sometimes if this is because they assume we're one of them. Though not rich by any means, I guess we do technically qualify as "Yuppies"--even now that we're down to one income (note: Ethan HATES when I point this out), but I'd like to think they're just genuinely nice people.

I'm also happy to report the surprising number of Obama yard signs and bumper stickers that have popped up all over town over the past 6 months. New Jersey is a solidly blue state, but Madison in a very red town. Or it was--it's as purple as a savagely twisted nurple now!! We even have an Obama sign in our front yard now--and we didn't put it there! Our downstairs neighbor did. It's like we have our own liberal enclave in the heart of Republicana. I'm surprised we haven't been egged by privileged, A&F-draped teenagers "raisin' McCain!"

Here There Be Monsters

I just saw the largest rodent-like creature in the backyard from the bathroom window. I'm still not sure that I've identified it correctly. At first, I thought it was just a big pregnant possum. It had grey fur, but not the skinny pink tail or pointy face (mind you, I'm on the 2nd floor so I'm viewing this thing from a distance).

My next thought was that it might be a beaver, it was so huge, but the fur was the wrong color and the tail was all wrong again. Then I thought "badger," but it didn't have the black markings or triangular head and I have no idea if they're indigenous to this area.

I decided the only thing it could be was a ground hog, but it's the biggest goddamn ground hog I've ever seen. If I had to guess, I'd say it was easily 15 to 20 lbs. I only wish the dogs could've seen it. They'd have gone ape shit. It lumbered slowly and fatly into the bushes before I could snap a pic, and there's no way in hell I'm going down there looking for it!!!