Welcome to the Neti Pot!

This week I got sick.

This was a major drag, because last weekend I was fine, but on Sunday I started sneezing. I figured it was allergies.

I continued to sneeze on Monday. "Damn allergies!" I thought to myself.

I went to work, and then to an after work meeting in Northampton at La Veracruzana, a Mexican take out/eat in restaurant. I was super proud of myself because I drove into Northampton, parallel parked, went to the meeting and then drove home in the dark - all by myself!! (Remember, I'm a new driver, so these were firsts... don't kill my buzz, dude.)

(La Veracruzana Side Note: I took home two Carne Asada Burritos for Andy and me... they were fine, for what they were, and the salsa was great, and I appreciated that I got some limes with the order... but I really find myself missing Burritoville and it's creativity!!)
Anyway, somewhere on the drive between La Veracruzana and my house, I came down with an awful head cold. I was suddenly so congested and disgusting that I could barely be alive. I was sneezing non-stop... it was gross.

A day later I'd had to miss work and was still nasty, so I forced Andy to drive me to Whole Foods where I purchased my first Neti Pot.

A neti pot is a little pot (kind of looks like a mini tea pot) that you fill with warm saline water (you buy the neti pot salt separately and mix it in, or use Kosher salt), and then pour it into one nostril for it to come out the other. Sounds gross, right?

It kind of is, at first, and when I first did it I felt like I'd jumped into a pool... it's just that water-in-your-nose-and-face-cavity feeling. But you get over that.

The whole point is that the saline washes out toxins and mucous and crap that's making you all congested and nasty. And, by Golly!, it worked! It absolutely worked. I've been doing it twice a day for three days now and I feel great. I would definitely recommend the neti pot to anyone. I mean, people swear by it for relief for allergies, sinus issues, everything, and now I know why. I'm a true devotee for life.

Hooray for the Neti Pot!!

And if you have a hard time picturing the process, here's the official how-to video to help you:

Day Trips & Fun Spots in the Pioneer Valley

Andy has four days off next week. We'd initially thought we'd make a trip to the Cape at some point, but because of various life things right now I suggested we do a "vacation at home" instead.

So, instead of spending the money to go away and stay in a hotel AND pay for every meal, we'll stay here at home but do vacation-y, explorer-y trips each day.

After all, we've lived here in Easthampton since June and really haven't explored much, like Mt. Tom or anything. We just went to Look Park in Northampton for the first time on Monday!

With this plan we can also actually splurge on a few nice restaurants and maybe even buy some "souvenirs" in our travels, AND get some exercise AND have fun in the nature and towns of the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts.

I was reading a recent post in a great local blog, in the valley, that has some amazing pictures from Mt. Pollux (click on that link to see them). So, I think we might try that for a picnic one (clear) evening. The sky from that spot just looks breathtaking!

Also on my list is the Montague Bookmill, which sounds very exciting to me, and the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Have I mentioned I'm an English Teacher? This is the stuff that gets me going!

(Now that I think of it, Mark Twain's house is in CT... maybe I should see how long the drive is?)

If you know of any fun places to go to see, eat, enjoy - whatever - anywhere here in the Pioneer Valley, please suggest it!!

Big Big Things!

Gosh, we've been here for four weeks now and we've definitely accomplished some things!

- Andy got a kick-ass job at the first hospital he interviewed at. It was his first choice, and seems like a really great, progressive place to work. He starts next Monday.

- I am making progress on reversing the effects of the I'm-30-and-am-without-a-driver's-license syndrome of which I suffer, and picked up the old driving manual and even took my 5 hour pre-licensing class yesterday.

- We bought a new car! Yes, a real, new car. 2009 Pontiac Vibe. Metallic Black. It rocks, and pictures of it and me in it will follow.

- We found a place to live!! We will be renting this condo in Pittsfield (where Andy's job is) temporarily - for at least three months - while we house hunt in the Northampton area. It's beeyoootiful and is an amazing place that we'd totally never be able to afford in NYC. Pictures of that will follow, too, when we move in, this Saturday!!

That's it for now. We're happy but totally freaking out about how much we're doing and how's it's just a lot all at once. But it's great, so who are we to complain?!

Only One Week?!!

It's a shock to realize that we've been back for only just a week. It seems like we have done so much. We are right back in a semi-normal way of life. As normal as not working and living with your mother can be.

After seeing great friends in the city last week for the two days we were there, we came up to New Paltz, where my mom and step-dad have a house.

We got Earl (our tan '93 Cutlass Ciera, inherited from my grandfather, named after my great-grandfather who owned a Harley Davidson shop) out of the garage and discovered, on the way to fix a leaking tire, that the brakes weren't working!

After a trip to many fix-it garagey people (can you tell I'm not a car person?) we finally had to leave it for a couple days. Because we were going to Northamton the next day for Andy's interviews, we had to rent a car.

Thursday we were up bright and early. We drove in the rental car (using a GPS system, which was awesome and spoiled us and which we subsequently bought at Circuit City's
going out of business sale) and easily got to Andy's schedule interviews on Thursday & Friday and a meeting with a mortgage broker to see if they'd laugh in our faces when we told them we aren't yet employed, nor have been for 7 months, and want to buy a house.

All interviews went well, with one in particular being an amazing RN job where the even have a wellness program for employees (and hopefully their spouses) that includes yoga and aromatherapy. Yes, please!!

The mortgage broker did not laugh in our faces at all and said she'd get back to us and it was likely we'd have to wait 90 days after employment start to get a mortgage, which was great news.

Now we're just waiting for job calls and then will get settled with a short-term living situation in Northampton or the surrounding area.

Returning to Northampton and driving around the Berkshires, we were reminded of why we want to live there. It's such a great town - it was lit up and lively on Thursday night in town, despite the cold, and it's just such a great area with outdoorsiness and shops and everything. We can't wait! We didn't take pictures this time, but here's some pictures from last year.



We are going to my grandmother's house in Michigan on Thursday, so it might be a while before I post again. Have a great week!