Things making me happy right now

1. Finally being able to ride my bike again to work after we had a thaw, at least a few times a week now. I was getting completely sick of the subway.
2. Chris having steady work after six months. It’s really really nice to have the second income. I know money isn’t everything, but just some stability is like a sigh of relief.
3. Vegan cupcakes – I know cupcakes are the “in” thing right now but I’ve always loved them. I vastly prefer cake to cookies.
4. 
5. My new five year diary. Easy to keep up with and it feels great to be journaling again. Doing this every day has prompted me to start keeping another one for longer entries.
6. My two kitties – Augustus is the most loving, fluffiest cat in the entire universe, and Kiki is such a lap-cat, and she’s growing up so fast! She’s now almost as big as Augustus – I can’t believe how tiny she was when we got her compared to now.

Hello from Cambridge!

Wow, feels like forever since I’ve posted. I wish I had cool pictures to share, but my computer is currently in pieces, my digital camera is god-knows where, and my film camera needs to be developed. So for now it’s just text.

EDIT: I lied – here’s an old picture from Harvard Square that I found from a previous business trip!

We left Friday morning and arrived on Monday early afternoon, tired and ready to get rid of our stupid Penske truck! Trust me, Cambridge is not a nice area to be driving a huge truck around due to the narrow, weight-limited roads. We hired movers to unload the truck for us, and they were fast and efficient. I am not going to drive a truck halfway across the country EVER AGAIN.

Oh, there was one point where we drove through New York City, specifically through the Bronx. That was fun – loads of traffic, people cutting each other off, honking, and other fun activities. Took us half an hour just to drive through it.

Cambridge is just lovely. When we arrived, it was 90F, but the past couple of days have been in the 70s. Fantastic! Feels like Austin spring/autumn. I’ve already joined a writer’s group that I’m excited about and taken the subway lots. Yesterday Chris and I went for a bike ride by the river/ocean and it was like something out of a dream. I can’t believe I live here! It’s incredible. I can see why people love it here so much.

Things about Cambridge that I did not expect:

• People are FRIENDLY. I know they say that about all cities (except maybe New York), but really, I thought Austin people were friendly. They’re not, compared to Cambridge. We’ve already met our upstairs neighbors, something that has never happened in Austin (no joke, I’ve never met my neighbors before). We’ve also had plenty of people, including police officers, talk to us about our car or saying hello. This would never happen in Austin. I saw plenty of people chatting with police officers around here, too. I think we’re all terrified of police officers in Austin because they tend to be sort of power hungry evil dudes.
• There’s actual weather. Yes, make fun of me. But honestly, when we arrived, it was 90F, and I swear to god I was like, “Man, now it’s going to be 90F for the rest of the summer” because in Austin the forecast for every day in every summer is 100F and sunny. When I saw actual clouds, I panicked and thought it was going to rain, because in Austin, no overcast days without rain. EVER.
• Everything is 100x more walkable than Austin was. And Austin was pretty friggin’ good.

More later!