Earthquakes and hurricanes!

I made smelt for myself, but Mom's,
of course, tastes better.

It’s been an intense week for me. Last weekend, I took the train to Trenton because Nana died, six months after Pop-pop. I don’t want to say too much about it in this blog, but it was easier to cope with than Pop-pop’s because Nana was so sick when she passed that I know she’s at peace now. It was good to see my family.

Sunday night, after I got home from the trip, I went to see my first roller derby bout. The sport had a revival in Austin, and it’s surprisingly popular here. Anyone can join the local league, though they don’t let you play until you can safely (and they’re really good), so I’m thinking about showing up for “fresh meat” night some week. It’d be a great way to get some good exercise and meet other girls.

Monday I went to a new members’ social for the Harrisburg Young Professionals club. It was a great setup because everyone there (about 50 of us or so I’d say) was new to the group so there was a lot less social pressure. I met some nice girls and I think it’ll be a good way to keep meeting people. I am really starting to miss my friends though.

Fortunately, I’ll get to see a lot of them in January because Laura (my college roommate) is getting married and asked me to be a bridesmaid! I’m so excited for her and John, her boyfriend of 6+ years, and I’m excited to be going back to Austin for it. I also can’t wait to see Vivian and her family, especially their newest addition, Katelyn, who will be making the journey from Ethiopia this fall/winter. John and I have also planned our next rendezvous in San Francisco in October for a record 11 weeks between visits. The separation isn’t ideal, but we’re both doing what we need to be doing, and we’re making it work.

Anyway, back to the crazy week: Tuesday, I experienced my first earthquake! I was at work, on the third floor of our building, and thought maybe I was sick and about to pass out because I felt movement but didn’t see anyone else reacting or doing anything that would cause it. All at once, people started reacting and the magic of social media set in—the news reported that night that Tweets about the quake hit New York before they actually felt it! Crazy. No damage, just excitement.

Paparazzi and I like to walk down to the Riverfront
Park for events, like the gay pride festival. (He was a
huge hit, what with that flamboyant tail and all.)

Wednesday night Paparazzi and I had our first obedience class. Fortunately, he’s not the worst behaved pup in the class of 10 (mostly because he doesn’t bark), but he still jumps the highest. We have six more weeks to go and hopefully by the end of it he’ll be well behaved enough to qualify as a therapy dog, which is something I’ve wanted to do with him since I got him. Wish us luck!

This weekend has been relatively quiet—mostly chores, errands and a bit of work—though I did have a "hurricane party" with some of my neighbors (I’m surrounded by doctors completing their residencies). Monday marks the beta launch of a 250+ page website I've been working on most of my time here, and right after Labor Day is the official public launch of this massive endeavor. It's been trial by fire, but I think we've done some solid work; I'll post the link here once it's ready, though it probably won't be all that interesting for y'all.

And finally, on the garden front:  I’ve used a couple jalapeños and tomatoes from my garden. I also completely ripped up my yard a few weeks ago and the new grass is starting to sprout. Anyway, I need to go because I still have 100+ pages to zip through before my book club tomorrow!