What I learned today

Sick Day

2012-01-10T19:08:00.010-05:00

I started the new year with a sick day. It was one of those days I knew rest would just help ward off the way I was feeling. I do not get sick too often so having a rest day when feeling something coming on does me a world of good. After sleeping in and moving to the couch the boredom immediately sets in. It was me and HC for the day and of course since I had my iPhone handy pictures were going to be taken:

11am: Had some cereal and HC always gets the left over milk. He is spoiled.

12:00 pm: After a milk breakfast someone needed a nap on the warm radiator behind the couch. I was playing with my Hipstamatic app.

12:45pm: Ohhhh someone is up and interested in what I am doing. I am taking another picture from the couch dummy. Different Hipstamatic lens.
1:30: It took me a while but I finally got off the couch and took out boxes so I could take the ornaments off the Christmas Tree. It is right next to the couch so not much movement needed. Empty boxes are HC's favorite, plus I think he wants the Christmas Tree to stay, it is the best toy ever.

2:30pm: Ornaments are slowly coming off the tree, notice HC has not moved from his box, so I cannot put ornaments in that one. Asshat. Plus, now he will not look me in the eye.

2:45pm: HC realizes all those toys that were on the tree are now in the box right beside him. He can barely maintain his composure, notice the paw going in for the kill. Frog caught his eye, right in the middle of the box.
2:46pm: "Ohhh, look I must kill the frog ornament. I will kill it."
2:50pm: "Please do not take my favorite box, or the tree. Pleeeeeassse."

3:00pm: "Ohhhhh, a string of lights."

3:01pm
3:02pm

3:30pm: Finally done and checking Twitter in the iPad. I think HC may have opened an account while I was napping.

1 Year and Thankful

2011-11-23T17:21:00.009-05:00

It has been one year today since we said goodbye to our girl Ramona. We still miss her. This year has been busy but somewhat empty without a dog in the house. Luckily we have many dogs in our life to fill that void. This time of year I am thankful for the usual things, family, friends, and my lovely GF. This year in particular I am thankful for our crazy cat HC who meets us at the door every time we come in the apartment. He is mostly a pain in the ass, but makes us laugh at his horribleness. Having him and his big personality around really helped with our transition to a dogless house. I know not everyone agrees but pets are really special.
I am also thankful for all those wonderful doggies who we hung out with and visited us this year and provided us the dog love we so desperately missed.

HC in one of his good moments, so handsome:

Our doggie friends:

Rosie and Miggie- the best cockers

Bosco- cutie

Lola- the snorter
Mason- the muppet
Norman- the horse
Ellie- Sweetie Pie
Bear(Bacon)- our second favorite lab and house guest

Bodhi- dapper
Milo- cat wrestler
This weekend we are taking care of an Australian Shepard and we hope she herds HC around. We are grateful for all these wonderful dogs in our life and look forward to adopting a dog sometime after this winter is over. I think we will be ready again.
Have a happy holiday!

We Make Beer etc.

2011-09-23T17:11:00.014-04:00

So I looked and the last time I updated my blog was ages ago. More specifically December 2010. I am sure I have had plenty to say just not enough time to write, or have just been lazy. So this might take a while. Since December we finished off a very successful Ski Season in April, needless to say we had one of the best winters in years. We were very lucky to spend the snowy winter with these peeps:

We are going for round two this year. Different Condo, same complex. Hopefully the snow will be just as good. Keep your fingers crossed.

After ski season Mel and I decided to do a 1/2 marathon which we trained for all summer. I figured out I really do not have a runners body; short legs, big boobs. This equals a lot of gross chaffing. Not pleasant, especially when you hop into a hot shower right after running 10 miles. Ouchie! After all that training we ran the whole 1/2 Marathon along with our running pals Ashlee and Michaela, in the pouring rain. Yes, 2:20 minutes of unrelenting rain. It sucked, but I finished and was happy with my time and Mel was a superstar by beating her time from her first 1/2. Michaela was not so lucky, she fractured her hip from the stress of running and she is still laid up, poor thing.

Before we completed the 1/2 we had our usual summer of fun activities, which included but was not limited to:

Visiting Camden Yards to see Red Sox, and checking out a Ph.d. program for Mel.

Visiting Martha's Vineyard and buying summer hats. Smashing.

Driving/sailing a duck boat with the Femmes in tow.

Attending Red Sox Games with a handful of peeps

Watching this little one grow, OMG she is so cute and brings a smile to everyone

Pops rehearsal picnic for 4th of July

Watching HC continue to be a crazy pants

I visited New Orleans for the first time and met Mel's family, they were great and the city was so much fun. Definitely need to go back when it is not July. I was told to embrace the heat but no one wants to see me walking around in a wife beater, even if I am carrying a beer OUTSIDE!(See my FB pic)
We stayed in a wonderful B&B, The Green House Inn with a salt water pool. We would recommend it to anyone(it is pet friendly.) We went to Mel's Family reunion at a park on Lake Pontchartrain, visited the Aquarium with Mel's Mom, had a wonderful dinner at Commander's Palace, listened to live music, had beignets and coffee at Cafe Du Monde and bought some art. We packed a lot in a short trip.

And of course we sill make beer. We took a break for the winter but we are back on the band wagon and brewing beer again, this time from separate ingredients instead of kits. Our Pale ale came out really good and we just bottled a Trappist style ale. We are keeping our fingers crossed for that one. Mel said that it will be great because a lot of love went into it.

And now thanks to our friend Sarah we have official Beer labels, which capture the two namesakes of our brew company. HC(Hell Cat), and Quimby(Ramona Quimby). We love them.

I need take a queue from my friend Fran who updates her blog in a timely manner. Mel and I have even made and appearance or two, being fools, on it a couple of times since I last updated my own blog. I will try not to be as lazy and focus, but as you can see I am a busy gal.
So until next time, "Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow"

Greatest Gift

2010-12-25T14:25:00.018-05:00

I have had many great Christmas gifts in my life full of family, friends and great gifts: tickets to Annie, Ski's, the first season of Buffy. This year took the cake, Mel and my sister Jennie arranged for my 15 year old nephew Trevor to visit for six days by himself. After being laid up all last Christmas weekend with a bad back this year made up for it completely. I have been looking forward to the time when he could come up and I could show him the city. Once I found out he was officially coming, Mel and I have been planning for weeks. We had a well deserved week off to spend with Trevor and we kept him busy trying to be the best aunties ever.

Sunday
We started with the 5K Jingle Run in Somerville. I was pleasantly surprised when I turned the last corner toward the finish line and there was Mel, Trevor and our friend Laura cheering us on. It was a fun and festive run with this crew. The medals are bottle openers, of course.

That night the Patriots were playing and many of the Violent Femmes and friends headed to our place for football and pasta. We had a great time cheering on the hometown boys to a close win.

Monday
We headed out into the city and to our pleasant surprise it started snowing. Trevor was so excited he got to see some actual snow while he was here.

We headed through the Public Gardens and over to the Frog Pond to do some skating. Mel and Trevor did not make it too long on skates but they got around the rink a couple of times.

We walked all through the city and ended the night with a Bruins Game! First we stopped at Boston Beer Works for dinner and when you are on vacation with your aunties and want nachos for dinner, that is what you get.

I have not been to a Bruins game in so long. I think the last time was when they played at the old Boston Garden. Though they lost, we geared up and had a great time. A very fun night.

We had great seats too, 1st row balcony.

It was a long day but so fun.
Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
We headed up north to the ski house so Trevor could try out some snowboarding. I was a little concerned he might be frustrated but he took to it really quickly. We put him in a lesson the first day and he actually wanted to go back for a 2nd day. He caught on so quick. It was so great being on the trails together riding down the mountain. I was completely impressed with how fast he learned. I was also so happy he had a great time and really loved it. The ski house was perfect, we played games, had a fire, an amazing beef stew, watched movies. We did not want to leave.

He even went to the top of the mountain with us a couple of times and made it all the way down.

He even went up the chair lift by himself for his last run.

Lucky for us the half pipe opened at Loon that day and we got to sit and watch some cool tricks while enjoying our apres ski.

We were sad to leave the ski house after a wonderful couple of days, but we headed home. When we got home we put Trevor to work helping us make labels for our holiday gifts from H.C. Quimby Brew Co.

HC wanted to help.

He is going home with two hats, one Bruins and one from our friends at Wannagoout.

Friday
The week flew by and even HC was sad to see Trevor leave.

We had a wonderful week. It was everything I hoped for, and cannot wait until he comes to visit again. A Christmas to always remember.

Goodbye Old Lady

2010-11-24T18:06:00.008-05:00

Tonight we said goodbye to my old lady Ramona. It has been a tearful month and day at the H.C. Quimby Brew Company. It was a really hard decision to make, but we worked with a wonderful vet at Angell Memorial who guided us through our decision making process. As many of you know, her health has been deteriorating for the better part of a year. It was important to us that we made the decision at the right time and wanted to remember her as a happy dog- which she was to the last day. She got bacon and a run in the park with a tennis ball.

Most of the people in my life who know me have known Ramona. She has been with me since she was 8 weeks old and in a couple of weeks she would have been 14 years old. She has been my constant companion throughout all these years and as I joke my longest relationship with a lady. She was loyal, happy, crazy, and co-dependent. She saw me through 5 major relationships, the death of my father and graduate school. If you knew her she probably has either licked you, barked at you, head butted you, slept on the bed with you, or farted by you. She was a sweet dog who was never as happy as when she was:

Chasing tennis balls

Swimming

Rolling in the snow

Cuddling on the bed

or playing with her friends:

Stella Louise, one of her best dog park pals

Finn, who was in love with her

Her roommate Izzy, who I still miss to this day

Bear (or as I like to call her, Bacon)

Miggs and Rosie, the best Cockers ever

and of course Henry, who I think will miss her too

I really got lucky with Ramona, she was a great dog who loved being around people, especially babies, whose heads she especially liked to lick.

Even though saying goodbye is really hard and we never think about these things when we get pets, the sadness is worth the unconditional love you always receive and the great stories you get to tell about them. One of my favorites is when we were walking with a bunch of our friends at Peter's Hill, it was pitch black. We decided it was a good idea to put those flashing red bike lights on the dog's collars to keep track of them. Well, my roommate Gayle's dog Stutz came back to the group missing his light. About 5-10 minutes later we saw this bouncing red light coming over the hill and were like, "What the hell is that?" As it got closer we saw that Ramona picked up the light and brought it back to us. It was one of her best true Lab moments.

I want to thank all my friends and family for all the support they have shown Mel and I these last couple of weeks. We really appreciate knowing that you understand how hard it is to say goodbye to a beloved pet. You all are the best. I will miss my girl, but I know it was the right time and that she in a better place probably chasing an unending supply of felt covered green spheres in and out of the water.

Goodbye my beautiful lab, you were the best, and on this Thanksgiving Eve, I am most thankful you were part of my life the last 14 years.

Cancer can eat my Poo!

2010-10-05T09:35:00.011-04:00

Yes, you read correctly. In the witty words of Tina Fey, Cancer can eat my poo!!!

Over the weekend my friend Amanda's sister, Allison, succumbed to Breast Cancer, she was 32 years old. Anyone who has been touched by this disease or lost a family member understands how difficult this can be. Though I lost my Dad to Pancreatic Cancer 9 years ago, I think about him each and every day and I imagine that will never go away.

I only met Allison a couple of times but based on all the work and fundraising her and Amanda did for cancer awareness a tireless voice was lost for a very important cause. I can only offer my sympathies and support to Amanda her partner Maia and their family. I have watched my two friends support Allison through some rough times these last few years. Amanda is a tireless caregiver and fundraiser and I hope she can find some peace now that Allison is in a better place. Allison was lucky to have such a wonderful sister by her side, and I know Allison's spirit will live on through Amanda always.

You can read more about Allison Bladt Fawcett here:
http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2010/10/05/news/doc4caaf456c80a3502894560.txt

and

Here, Amanda is quoted in this article:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/113/2010/october/06/death-comes-spirit-lingers.html

To support Amanda in the 2010 Susan G. Komen Philadelphia 3-Day for the Cure you can donate here:
https://secure3.convio.net/npt/site/Donation2?idb=608893643&df_id=2300&FR_ID=1468&2300.donation=form1&PROXY_ID=2612522&PROXY_TYPE=20&JServSessionIdr004=2azu5gs891.app321b

Take Care Maia and Amanda, my two travel buddies.

City Pedaling

2010-08-11T07:53:00.013-04:00

I love commuting on my bike. I get to ride through the city, get some exercise, and it relieves stress. There are so many benefits. 90% of the time I have a smooth ride to and from work. This morning did not fall into that 90%. There are some mornings and afternoons that I have a ride where one thing after another happens. Unlike many bikers I see I wear a helmet, never listen to headphones and follow the rules of the road. I think it is these things that keep me safe on my bike. It takes time and practice to hone your bike instincts while riding through the city. However, there are just some days that are so aggravating it is just really scary.

Today was a dozy:
1. Roslindale- barely a mile into my commute. School bus van on Washington Street in Roslindale decided even though there were plenty of spots to pull into she parks in the bike lane forcing me to weave into the traffic behind me to get around her. She got out of the van with children and proceed to cross the busy street. I was like,"You could not pull into a spot?", her response, "No!". Nice....and people trust you with their kids. UGH.

2. Brookline Village- about 4 miles into my commute. I am riding with traffic through a green light and I see this woman trying to pull out of a parking spot in front of the Post Office. She has her window open and is looking out the window behind her to see when she is clear. I am riding with the cars and they all pass me. She looks right at me and pulls out right in front of me anyway. This caused me to weave around her to avoid her. Since her window is open I say, "REALLY, you are going to pull out in front of me anyway?", she yelled something and drove beside me yelling at me then pulled in front of me again to pull into a parking spot. I was so angry. I yelled something about if she kills someone it will affect her the rest of her life. What a jerk. I would not mind if she did not see me or was just looking in her mirror, but she had her head out the window and saw me coming.

3. Harvard and Comm Ave.-about 6 miles into my commute. I am riding through a green light, this guy decides he wants to take a right and cannot wait the 1 second it will take me to get past the street he wants to take a right on(Comm. Ave.). So he swerves around me to beat me to the right turn, thus cutting me off. This happens a lot while I am riding. People do not realize how fast I am going and try to get ahead of me thus completely cutting me off. Not be morbid but I knew a young women in Western Ma. who was killed this way. Really sad.

This was certainly an unusual morning for incidents. After hearing about a biker getting killed the other day one would think both drivers and bikers would be more careful. I see so many egregious driving and biking violations it is surprising there are not more deaths on the road. I think many drivers do not realize how much damage they can do with their car, they drive like it is a weapon. But why should anyone care, I never see police doing anything about it. Until that starts to happen things will not really change. All I can do is follow the rules of the road and enjoy each bike ride while I can.

Last night at The Fort

2010-07-31T19:31:00.010-04:00

This is my last night at Fort Hill. I feel like I have so much to do but I am at that point where I cannot not really do anything until right before the movers get here. I always want to feel more secure about my organizational skills but I have done this so many times I know it will be fine. I have been living in Roxbury for a little over 2 1/2 years, I have had great landlords and all in all really enjoyed this neighborhood and living alone. I am glad I finally got a chance to do that. It was totally worth it.
There are things I will miss about Fort Hill and things I will not...

Things I will miss:
- Having a park right across from my apt., it has made it so easy with my old lady Ramona. We have been able to enjoy this park at any time of the year

- My friendly neighbors. The folks that live around me have been nothing but friendly, helpful and warm
- The close proximity to the S. End, JP and Brookline
- Having the opportunity to live by myself. It has been great
- My landlords, they have been nothing but responsive and completely generous
- The views of the city from the park, each time I go up there I am amazed about the view, it is quite special
- Forth of July fireworks, for three years I got to walk out my door and see a great show. I am glad I could share that with friends
- Most importantly I think Mel, Myself, HC and Ramona will miss my deck. We have had so many great times out there just relaxing, entertaining, eat, reading, enjoying the crazy stuff our domestics do, and almost being killed by spiders

Things I will not miss:
- The reality of living in a city. All tires stolen. Blurg
- Living in a garden level apt means, you might have mice
- Living in a quiet residential neighborhood means not really being able to walk to coffee shops, bars, markets etc
- People who consistently start their laundry but never seem to finish with in 24 hours. There are 3 other apts in the building. World does not revolve around you
- Living across dog park means having to deal with bad dog owners, aggressive dogs off leash, not cleaning up after dogs, untrained crazy dogs, you get the picture

All in all this 'hood has been good to me, I have made some great memories and I will miss the people, the history, and the lovely Fort. It really is a hidden gem in this city, one that more and more people are discovering. However, I am ready for the next chapter and really excited about my new neighborhood and moving in with the LF. We are more then ready.

Never suprised, always amused

2010-07-10T16:52:00.008-04:00

These days when I walk into my apartment I never know what I am going to find. With a geriatric, incontinent dog(Ramona) and a crazy cat(HC) it really could be anything. Lately, they both have been acting weird. I think the heat is getting to them. HC has been continuously walking up to Ramona and doing 1 of 3 things: head butts, licks or bites. Ramona finally got sick of never knowing what she was going to get and barked at him the other day. Usually she just lays there and takes it.
Then on one of our really hot nights I was sitting on the couch sweating and HC saunters in through the doggie door and I look over and see this:
They are killing me.
One day last week, Ramona was too hot to eat so I put her food down on the ground figuring when she gets hungry she will eat. I look over and see this:

WTF?!? That cat is just plain crazy and I think he thinks he is a dog. That is prescription food for chrissakes. Ramona just watched from other side of kitchen. What a push over.

So today Mel, Myself and Mel's friend Monica from NOHO were out and about and got caught in the deluge in JP center. We waited under the awning at Blanchard's for a good 15 minutes for it to stop.
When it finally slowed down I ran to my car to pick the ladies up. Of course I got soaked, proven by my flat hair.
Anyway, I digress. After that adventure I get home and my really smart dog decided she did not want to come in the house from the deck when the rainstorm hit. Instead she slept through the whole thing OUTSIDE!!!
Appearently she thought this table was going to keep her dry. Of course, guess where HC was the whole time.
So who is the smarter animal? So of course Ramona decides now that she is soaking wet it is time to come in the house and rub up against all the furniture and drip everywhere. HC and I had to towel her off.

This of course caused an impromptu load of laundry and for some reason any chance he gets, HC tries to leave and explore the basement.
I know one day I am going to close the door after he sneaks by me and leave him out there.
Apparently the opportunity to go outside at any time through the doggie door is not enough for him. Never surprised, always amused.

I'm 40! 40 years old!

2010-06-29T19:45:00.039-04:00

In one more day I will be in my 41st year. I turned 40 this month. I understand this is a milestone year for most people, but for me it has not been too big of a deal. This June was certainly better then last June, as my LF can attest too. Since that craptastic month last year things have certainly improved. As I reviewed my electronic photo album I realize I am a pretty lucky lady. All in all it has been a great year. Here is a recap.....

After getting past last June with my relationship barely in tact, my 40th year started off pretty good.

July....

We traveled out to MN to celebrate our friends Moe and Charla. We needed this weekend so bad, the whole month of June was a rainout in Boston. What a spectacular weekend all around.

and we had a fantastic time with Amanda and Maia while we were at it.

Spent some time in Ptown with a friend, who was having a rough time.

The pups came too, it was gorgeous and I got to be super gay and sing at a piano bar.

Ran a 5K on one of the harbor islands and met the mayor.

August....

Helped Ellen ring in her 50th, awesome party at a mansion.

With my BFF.

Watched the Sox lose in a bad way.

And sadly said goodbye and paid my respects to a great man.

Sept ...

Ended the summer in Western Ma. at Camp Scully! Finally Kayaked.

and got to hang with my grad school peeps.

Celebrated Jro.

And watched Jen cry in her beer at one of our annual Sox v. Angel games.

October....

Finally got to a game with Stratts, my sophisticated NYC friend who I miss terribly.

November...

Is pretty much about Football, not only the game I play but the game we enjoy watching together. Especially since Mel's team is The Saints.

The Violent Femmes celebrated in style once again, this year it included a wall retrospective of 12 eventful years, each milestone marked with a football and a story. My milestones were the day I met Monica with a game of catch and the first down it took all of the first season for the Violent Femmes to get. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

20+ years of friendship.

As usual the Soiree ended up a dance party.

I joined the team for the playoffs after taking the season off.

Though we lost, we gained some great new players and friends.

Of course watched as the LF's Saints beat my Pats.

Ran the Gooble, Gooble Gooble 4 miler so we did not have to feel guilty about Thanksgiving dinner.

December...

Finally we started getting snow so we could hit the slopes. My new obsession.

Rang in Christmas with a bad back that immobilized me for the entire weekend, but gifts were exchanged, even as I was high as a kite all weekend.

I managed to ring in the New Year still standing. This is pre Midnight.

January...

This is post Midnight.

Us oldies and our crazy traditions...at 3am no less.

February...

Was all about hitting the slopes. It was amazing. Too many pics to post, but I look legit in this one.

We celebrated the Saints Superbowl win with King Cake from NOLA.

Made our first trip to Frog Pond with every little kid in Boston.

And made sure we rang in Leigh's birthday with some Beatles Rock Band, anxiously waiting for Nugget to arrive.

March...

We were sad to see the winter end. Last snowboard of the season. Still cannot wait for next year.
We saw some art in Western Ma. at MassMoCa

April....

Yes!! Baseball season. LF indulges me for a couple of games. First one is always cold.

MN friends Charla and Moe visit for Boston Marathon.

Beer Tasting at Cyclorama, there was nowhere to put jackets except around waists(much to Jro's chagrin). Little did I know these three sneaks took part in a secretive plot to obtain the cool poster from event for upcoming 40th birthday. There was a turtle on it.

May....

What a better way to start a month then the arrival of Baby Kempinson. Alexa B Kempinski made her appearence on May 1. So appropriate.

We celebrated Melanie's birthday.

And we had one of the best Florida visits ever with the family. May was a pretty good predecessor to my birthday month.

June...

Finally Birthday Month, and it has been eventful!

Mel and I did the harpoon 5 miler.

We celebrated the 40th anniversary of Boston Pride. It was not lost on me that Boston Pride and I are the same age.

Parade with friends who now have their own amazing families.

Jen hosted her 2nd annual Pride BBQ, it was fun though it rained. Not sure what I am doing in the picture but I thought it was funny.

Birthday week was eventful. I had two Sox Games. Melanie and I took the day off and finally did the Sam Adams Brewery Tour.

Then dinner at Rocca. A good day though the Celtics lost.

Jen generously hosted another birthday dinner at her place. Here I am holding the poster my sneaky friends stole a couple of months before. It is so long I had to stand on the deck to unroll.

Interestingly enough I look like the turtle in that poster blowing out my candles.

Starting the beer making process with the brew kit Melanie and friends gave me for my Birthday. The gift that keeps on giving. Hefewiezen is brewing as I blog. Ramona is brewmaster.

So that is my 40th year in pictures. They are just a small sample of the hundreds of pictures I took this year to celebrate my friends, my city, my family and life in general. I know I tweet, Facebook and social network my way through life, but it gives me the chance to share how lucky I am with those who care enough to be interested. Thanks to everyone in these pictures who make my life super fantastic, and support me through the good and bad.
Of course it would not be complete with out....

My geriatric dog.

Asshole of a cat.

and of course this hottie.

Happy Birthday to me!

Gone fishin'

2010-05-23T20:10:00.000-04:00

My brother-in-law was nice enough to get his boat ready and took Mel, Myself and Zach fishing in Tampa Bay. It was a georgous day on the water. Mel was really excited to go fishing, she has not been since she lived in Louisiana. We had a great time. We saw pelicans, a dolphin, went swimming off the boat and actually caught fish. I caught two fish, one we think was a mackeral and the other was what Michael called a ladyfish. Mel caught a couple as well but she lost them off her line they were so jumpy. It was fun.

One of my favorite pics of Zach and Michael

And the only pic I got of a caught fish with my phone.

After our day on the water we heading back to my Sister's house for some burgers and hot dogs.
Hanging with Zach and Trev was amusing as ever.
Zach referss to Trevor as, "My Asian Brother." Trevor's response, "You are just as Asian as me bro." Then we are sitting around eating dinner and out of the blue Zach asked, "What is a Rabbi?". WTF?

After dinner we decided to play games. But first was Zach's summer haircut.

First game up was clue. We had to improvise because there were some missing pieces.
Anytime we had to use the Lead Pipe or Wrench, which were written on pieces of paper. Trevor put the words "ghettoized" in front of them. e.g."I say it is mr. Green in the Library with the 'ghettoized' wrench," It was pretty funny and Zach could not stop laughing when we saw a clue and said, "interesting." The erasers represent, Ms. Scarlett, Prof. Plum and Col. Mustard.

Next up was a marathon game of Uno. Of course Zach had to sit right next to Melanie.

We had one marathon hand of Uno that Zach finally one. I used the word 'penalized' once and both boys broke out into the giggles.
We headed back to Mom's after that, it was hard to say goodbye to Sis, Mike, Zach and Trevor, they were so fun to hang out with and I wish we all lived closer. Next time it will not be too long between visits.

When we got back to Mom's place Mel, Myself and Mom talked for three hours until we were too tired to stay up any longer.

This is one of Mel's favorite pics from the trip.
I think this is a good representation of Zach's personality. He kept us on our toes and laughing.

-- Post From My iPhone

Day three-Finally

2010-05-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

Got to the beach. We got some more gems from Zach, that kid is gonna be smarter than all of us, though he keeps calling me man/woman just to be a nudge. Mel, Myself, Zach and Trevor went to the beach today. I have never swam in The Gulf before, it was spectacular. Warm and clear. We saw lots of fish. We did not plan too well though, we brought nothing for the kids to do. Zach wanted to pack up and leave half hour after we got there. Trevor and I went to the surf shop and got some goggles, a pail/shovel and a football. The football was the only thing we played with. The best part was just sitting with Trevor and talking. I did not get the sullen teenager I was being told about. He has been engaging, funny and just fun to be around. And he has the best hair out of all of us.

Another fun day with family included:
- Beautiful day at beach
- Mini putt putt with live Alligators Mini putt after hanging at beach today.

- Trevor got a hole in one on last hole

- Slurpies on way home

- Fried Turkey- Michael is a master

-Family Monopoly, Jennie wiped us all out without cheating.

-Surprise birthday cake, with a big 40 on it

- Bought a fishing license for tomorrow.
Another good day in store I think.

-- Post From My iPhone

Day two-Best day ever

2010-05-22T13:52:00.000-04:00

Because my 6 year old nephew used air quotes and he used them correctly. It was awesome.

Also:
- Realizing Zach may in fact be the next Tim Tebow. Holy crap what an arm.
- Bowling with Trevor and Zach

- I think Trevor broke the texting record

- Almost forgetting what a great invention bowling bumpers are
- Zach saying to Melanie, "I don't have a good feeling about you." then promptly getting a crush
- Mom's Chicken Cutlets
- Guess Who? Extreme

- Porch time with Jennie as she promptly started bossing me around.

-Zach insisting he sit in front with Mel

-Taz the cuddielist cocker-poo

A good day all around!!

-- Post From My iPhone

Tampa day 1

2010-05-21T09:09:00.000-04:00

We made it to Tampa and drove to my mom's in clearwater. We had dinner, argue about Glee and Politics. After dinner my Mom told says "turn on the game I want to see how my boys are doing." Next to TV there is a notebook of all the games so far, she keeps track of each game the score and winning pitcher.

Notice the scheduled pitchers for the upcoming games. Dedicated or crazy?

Mom was really excited to introduce me to her friends so we head down to the pool. As we walk out into the hallway we met Gloria, Annie and Sully. All older then my Mom by about 10-20 years and all have heard about me. It was walking into a hallway of Grandmothers I never had. We got the requisite questions about our flight and none of them bat an eye when Mel is introduced as my girlfriend, and we are all holding noodles for the pool.
Appearently the space station is in our atmosphere and you can see it, so we are all in the pool area with about 8-10 senior citizens looking up at the sky. There are lots of "hahs?", "what did you say?", "is that it, nope, that is a star". To quote my Mom "This is like a scene from Cacoon". I could not have said it better myself. THEN this gem walked into pool area.

This is Marie with her cat Vincent, who clearly did not want to be on a leash, he was shedding up a storm, but according to Marie, he needs exercise as she was dragging him around. It was surreal and Mom's friend Gloria who is 84 years young was married for 66 years, and hilarious, agreed. Also, Marie mistook Melanie for my daughter.

More adventures to come I am sure.

-- Post From My iPhone

Dog Park Follow Up- Vindication!

2010-03-30T17:57:00.009-04:00

So I took Ramona on her usual dog walk tonight with much trepidation. Last night's altercation has been weighing on me all day. I certainly did not want another incident like last night and at the same time I do not want to be intimidated away from the park which I only use 10 mins in the morning and the evening everyday. As I was making my rounds I ran into the other dogwalker who witnessed the whole argument. I was ready to pounce on him for slinking away BUT he apologized profusely for the other person's behavior and how disgusted he was at what happened. He went on to say that I was completely in the right and that dog has been aggressive to other dogs in the park. Both the guys who walk Jazzy do absolutely nothing about her and he is going to have a talk with the guy who I argued with last night. It was completely uncalled for. I cannot tell you how vindicated I felt. Since Jazzy's owner is friendly with many other dog owners in the park I was worried about my relationship with the other walkers. I feel so much better knowing that there are people who get it.
We talked for a little bit and I expressed that I understand the importance of the dog park and having a safe space to run the dogs of leash. Ramona grew up in off leash parks. Dog parks are safer and the dogs who run at them are better socialized, which is good for everyone. Good dog owners realize that the "unwritten" rules in off leash parks exist for the safety of the owners and their dogs. I am glad that a majority of the nice people who take advantage of Fort Hill understand this and most are very responsible and friendly. No animal lover would want to see a dog get hurt. I hope that Jazzy's owner's do not ruin it for everyone someday. Plus, who would want to hurt this poor old thing?

Dog Park Etiquette

2010-03-29T18:09:00.005-04:00

I have been meaning to write this post for a while. Tonight pushed me over the edge. I have a 13+ year old dog who is literally on her last legs. Luckily I live across from Highland Park in the Fort Hill neighborhood of Roxbury. Since I moved in over 2 years ago I have been walking Ramona at Fort Hill everyday. There is a small dog community who let their dogs off leash up there. A majority of them are very nice. I keep Ramona on a leash most of the time because she cannot really run anymore, but in her prime I used to run her at dog parks all over the city: Franklin Park, Peter's Hill, Fresh Pond, S. End etc.. When a dog owner takes their dog to these parks there are certain behaviors or etiquette that most people follow: picking up after their dog, controlling barking etc.. One of the most important ones is that if your dog is running towards another dog or person please let me know if they are friendly. It is really a safety issue. This seems to have been lost some of the nice people of Fort Hill. There have been numerous occasions when a dog has rushed Ramona and the dog owner says nothing. Twice I have actually asked if a dog was friendly and got nothing as the dog proceeded to be aggressive towards Ramona. It is kind of scary when a dog you do not know runs towards you.
There is also a set of dog owners in the park who own a dog named Jazzy. This dog is never on a leash. She is walked by two different men. They seem to know a lot of people in the park and Jazzy is a very exuberant dog. I also think they breed her and other people in the park have adopted the puppies. She is a large boxer. This dog has attacked Ramona at least 6 times, pinning her down on two occasions. This dog has also attacked other dogs I know and drew blood. When ever I see the owner in the park I tell him Jazzy is aggressive to my dog and he does not seem to care. He never puts her on a leash. When I yelled to him across the park tonight as I try to avoid him and he yelled at me and told me not to threaten him. All I said was, "Your dog is aggressive to my dog and has attacked her numerous times, my dog is on a leash." He also went into how he has been living the neighborhood longer then I have been alive and just keep walking my dog and mind my own business. Another dog owner he was with slunk away as he continued to argue with me and basically call me a liar. Jazzy does play with other dogs in the park and is fine, but she does not seem to like Ramona very much. There is another dog in the park who also has problem with female dogs and that owner immediately takes control of her dog when she sees us and we have a great relationship. In all my dog owning years I have never met a dog owner who does not seem to care that their dog does harm to other dogs and a dog community to supports that behavior. Every other dog park I have ever been to would never put up with such bad dog park etiquette. It is unfortunate because the park is really a hidden gem.

Thrill of victory and agony of defeat

2010-02-13T12:25:00.007-05:00

I just noticed it has been over a month since I updated my blog. I am not a fan of updating just to update so sometimes these log stretches are inevitable. Since the new year there has not been much going on. Work is crazy right now with a huge project I am working on that has forced me to work on weekends. I do not mind, it is still more engaging then my last job even with the drama involved.

Of course I have been snowboarding a ton and we had wonderful night away at the Mt. Washington Resort thanks to the best groupon ever. We took tons of pics which I posted on Facebook. Mel seems to have an issue with my camera where she thinks she is taking a picture but is really in video mode. Here is a perfect example. I have a lot of these little vignettes in my iPhoto library thanks to her technological prowess.

And of course we are all waiting anxiously for little nugget to appear. I have watched my friend Leigh get bigger and bigger each time I see her and get updates on what vegetable the nugget is each week according to her What to Expect When Expecting iPhone app. Based on how active the little tyke is in the womb I think s/he will keep JRro and Leigh very busy when s/he pops out.

(Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images)

What I am most excited about these days is the Winter Olympics. I love watching the Olympics when they come around but the Winter Olympics is my favorite. Being a skater as a kid, skiing as a young adult and becoming obsessed with snowboarding this past year I am drawn to the Winter Olympics. The Olympics was really the only sporting event we watched as a family and for two weeks every four years we sat in front of our ONE Non- HD tv and got caught up in the pageantry, drama and excitement that is the winter games. The Winter Olympics gives me a chance to watch sports I usually do not follow or even hear about during the year. The events at the Winter games are all about speed and flight. The winter game athletes defy gravity and make racing down a mountain at 90 miles an hour or flying through the air look easy. I get much more excited about the luge, bobsledding, snow cross and skating then the 100 yard dash. I know the summer games are a bit more accessible, most people around the world can run, swim, and play those sports outside with out much gear, but watching athletes race on snow and ice is thrilling. While watching the opening ceremonies last night my friend Monica discussed the Winter Games not being as diverse, as a sea of white athletes who participate in events many people around the world do not have access to, parade into the ceremony venue. I do hope and think with the addition of many new winter sports this will slowly change the face of the Winter Games. Though I still do not understand why the women ski jumpers are not allowed to participate, definitely a black mark.

(Michael Kappeler/AFP/Getty Images)

I found the opening ceremonies to be beautiful and solemn as the death of a young Georgian luger hung over the crowd. I know each country puts on their best face when presenting to the world, but only Canada could give us Orca whales swimming across the floor, Sarah Mclaughlin, macho punk tap dancing fiddlers, Joni Mitchell and of course K.D. Lang in all her butchness singing an amazing rendition of Hallelujah. I know the grass always looks greener but I would be blown over if we would see that at a US opening ceremony. So let the games begin and I will be glued to the TV the next two weeks as I have been my whole life to celebrate "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat".

New Year, Let' s Go

2009-12-31T12:31:00.012-05:00

It was a year ago today that I woke up and found all of my tires gone on my brand new car. We were heading out early to get ahead of a snowstorm on our way to a NYE weekend away with friends. Luckily we were still able to go and we had a great weekend ringing in 2009.
This year has had its ups and downs but for the most part it has been pretty good. I am ready for it to end but weary of what is ahead in 2010. This last month has thrown me some curve balls but I always find out how resilient we can be with the support of friends and family.

Some 2009 highlights:
- Completed my New Year's resolution and learned to snowboard, and became obsessed with it

- The family who lived above me moved out thus giving away to peace and quiet and a better quality of life

- FINALLY

- Puppies!!!

- Henry joined our little clan. Though Mel and I do not live together we have a traveling cat who we are in a love/hate relationship with, little bastard

- Traveled in Europe for the first time and it was amazing, cannot wait to go back
- Started a new job
- Watched as our new President try to mend relationships with the world
- Mom finally qualified for Medicare, one less thing to worry about
- GLEE- every time I watch I have a permanent smile on my face

- NUGGET!- cannot wait to welcome the little person in this crazy world

- Meeting new Friends

- The circle of friends who saw me through some rough spots and help me celebrate the good times

- Laughing a lot with my LF, I cannot wait until we can do it in the same space

Some Low lights:
- The passing of a friend's Dad, always hard.

- Helping friends through a breakup

- Not seeing some family members in over a year. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.

- Saying goodbye to the only Senator I have ever voted for, it affected me more then I thought it would

- Ramona's declining health

- Back pain that seems to be taking forever to go away. Just reminds me that I am turning the big 40 this year

Despite all of this I will be ringing in 2010 with old and new friends. Cannot beat that.
Happy New Year, wishing everyone the best.

Old

2009-12-24T11:16:00.001-05:00

Guess why I am in here instead of out enjoying the snow?
Because I am old.

Yes sitting by the fire is lovely but after being outside all day not instead of. This is not what I really wanted to do today but my body is not corperating. I have had a sore back all week from shoveling, but it has not been too crippling, so today I get up and get ready for some boarding, load the car pick up Jaime and Melanie. We have a easy ride to Bradford Mtn, we have free passes for the day. We actually had extra so I gave them out in parking lot before we hit the slopes. I made one family's day. Then all of a sudden my back started spasming. I managed to get my gear on and get outside then the pain became too much. I can barely walk. WTF. I have been looking forward to this all week. So that leaves me in the lodge trying to get comfortable in a lot of pain blogging on my iPhone. NERDS!!! (stolen from Liz Lemon).
I am surrounded by parents and grandparents reading books while their kids are enjoying the snow. What a great way to start the holiday weekend. Is it too early for a drink?

- Post From My iPhone

Thankfullness in Pictures 2009

2009-11-24T23:20:00.028-05:00

It is that time of year to be Thankful. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, I will let the pictures do the talking.....

Family

Mail from Nephews

20 year friendships

Annual Red Sox games

Being Prideful

BFF's

Great Travel Companions

Sharing in friend's happiness

Healthy and in shape enough to run a couple of 5Ks

And Finishing

Violent Femmes Football

Especially the Soiree

Learning to Snowboard

Missed Friends in Western Ma

Being able to travel in Europe

Especially with this Lady

Having another year with the other old lady

These two cuties

Even though one of them can be a stinker

And having this in my life...She is pretty great

It has been a good year. I am pretty lucky. To everyone who is a part of it. Thanks!!!

A Handsome Man

2009-11-14T12:07:00.010-05:00

Again, I had another blog post ready to go but other events in my life just keep getting in the way. Typical that I have not blogged in a while then all of a sudden I become a blogging fool. Perfect for a rainy Saturday.

I have have had my fair share of celebrity sightings in Boston.....

John Malkovich asked me for directions in Harvard Square as I was crossing the street once. He was very nice.

I was in line for Ice Cream on Newbury street with Melissa Etheridge and her wife Tammy and their kids. I literally was in front of Tammy in line and we exchanged a few words about Boston real estate. On my way out of the ice cream store, I almost tripped over one of their kids and literally ran into Melissa Etheridge.

I walked by Debra Winger talking to her kid about where he wanted to go to lunch. I recognized her solely by her voice.

Peter Jennings said hello and asked me how I was doing when I walked by him on the stairs at work some years ago.

The list goes on...Phil Donahue, Julia Child, Christina Ricci. BUT...

Last night was a dozy. Mel and I were at The Intermission Tavern in the theatre district sitting at a table by the door. We were there with Mel's friend Charlie from W. Virginia and some of his City Year friends who were all very nice. We ended up staying after Charlie left and hung out with a couple of them for a bit. One of the guy's wife plays for another flag football team in my league. Anyway each time the door opened it was freezing so you could not help look up and glare. So at around 10pm or so the door opens and I look up and in walks a tall guy with a 5 o'clock shadow in a scully cap. He was with about 4 people. My eyes opened as wide as saucers and Mel was like "What is wrong with you?". I managed to croak out, "John Hamm just walked into the bar."Holy Crap!!! I whip out my iphone and post and immediate tweet. Then I went into mini freak out mode. His group walked to the back of the bar, Mr. Hamm took off his cap and whoa even Mel was like yup that is him. The two other people at our table were equally as excited. Only two of us watch the show Mad Men so we ended up waxing poetic about how great it was. So after about 15 minutes a table opened up and Mr. Hamm's group sat down. No one approached or bothered him, not sure if it was out of respect or the other patrons did not realize it was him. I headed to the bathroom and said to the woman in line. "Do you watch Mad Men?" she was like "No". I explained that the star of the show was in the bar, and she was like "That is cool". Of course I sat back down and looked down the bar and that same woman was sitting at the table right next to him. SON OF A BITCH, what a waste. A woman in their party got up to leave, he got up and kissed her on the cheek, as she walked by we all remarked that she looked familiar but could not place her, so I am guessing she is an actress who might be in the movie he is filming. After an hour of glancing down the end of the bar in disbelief I got up to use the bathroom again and there he was standing in the doorway. I looked directly at him said "Excuse me" and brushed by him touching his arm. All I have to say is he is a handsome man. I really wanted to sneak a pic but I would never walk up to a celebrity and bother them. I am of the mind they just want to be left alone when they are out, and I think that is OK. If he happened to sit near us I might have said how much I enjoy his show but that would be it. Either way, it was an exciting end to a fun night of meeting new people and discovering a new bar. I would definitely go back.

This is more what he looked like last night....

Futher adventures in Comcast

2009-11-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

So my adventures with Comcast continues.... Here is the time line.

Wednesday
7pm
I notice I have no Wifi, turn on TV and am not getting a signal either.
7:15
I call Comcast they tell me there is an outage in my area that I will have service within 24hours. Sucks to be me but oh well.
8pm
Pick up Mel from Back Bay Train Station, we get in fight over something stupid. Not good after not seeing each other for three days.
9pm
Pipes start clanking, obviously landlord did not fix the problem when he was here on Monday.
(two things above non-relevant to Comcast, just saying)
9:30
In bed frustrated.

Thursday
7:15 am
Go to walk Ramona and run in to two neighbors, both informed me they had cable all night. Intersting.
7:30am
Call Comcast on way to work, they tell me there was no outage and that I have to be home to troubleshoot and I should call back later. So this could have been taken care of the night before?
6pm- 6:45pm
Call Comcast and get a person right away. After I give him all my info he transfers me to someone in the internet dept because they might be able to help even though both my cable and internet are out. I wait on hold for 15 minutes before getting a person. After repeating all my information the rep determines that my modem is broken and schedules a service call. The call is scheduled for Friday 11/13 from 12-4pm. She then transfers me back to the cable dept., I have to repeat all of my information again. The rep tries a couple of things and makes a note on my service call that both my cable and internet are out. I re-confirm my service call is Friday 11/13 from 12-4. I also tell them I do not have doorbell to please call. They say they call before they arrive.
7:45pm
I get an email from Comcast saying I have service call scheduled for MONDAY 11/16 from 8-11. WHAT?!?!?
7:55pm
I call Comcast and get a message saying I have a service call from 12-4 on Friday 11/13. I cannot even deal. I leave to drop HC off at Mel's, I pick up a 6 pack.
8:05-11pm
Watch TV at Mel's, we make up from our stupid fight and drink some beer. Life is good.

Friday
7:30am
I call Comcast to confirm my service call that day. The nice rep confirms it is from 12-4pm and laughs after I tell her about the email.
12pm
I get home and wait for me service call.
1pm
Jen calls to chat and confirm weekend plans.
1:30pm
The Globe calls to try to sell me more days of delivery. No dice.
2:15 pm
Jen calls again about bringing the dogs to run in the park. I say I can come up because Comcast is supposed to call me before they arrive.
3pm
I get an email saying Comcast canceled my service call for the day. HELLO? Good thing I have an iPhone because my internet is out I would not have received this email via computer.
3pm-3:15
I call Comcast and am told the service guy tried to call me at 2:30 and I did not answer. After explaining I have been here all day and received other calls there is no way they tried to call. She says she can only tell me what she sees on her screen. They do not attempt to come to the door if someone does not answer the phone. Also, they do not even leave VM. She can get someone out between 4-7. So again I am being held hostage for 7 hours in my apt. waiting for Comcast. There is much frustrated yelling on my part since this is not the first time this has happened. I always feel bad after but I am literally helpless.
3:15
I tweet my frustrations.
3:20
I meet Jen in the park frustrated and angry and she has to listen to me bitch for a good 1/2 hour
3:25
I post a huge complaint status on Facebook and @comcastbonnie wants to know what she can do. We tweet back and forth.
4pm
I hunker down ready to wait for another 3 hours for Comcast to arrive.
4:05
I hear a knock on the door, and it is Comcast. The guy remembers me from when I had 5 Comcast guys in my apt trying to troubleshoot my TiVo and cable card. He is super nice and love Ramona even though she is barking at him. I ask him if he tried to call, he says NO. Interesting.
4:15
Everything is fixed, the connector by the house was corroded. He replaces it and lo and behold my cable and internet are back. I guess my modem was not broken after all.
He asks me if I want 3 months of free HBO and tells me it will just go away after 3 months. Why yes I do. Thanks sir.
He tells me to have a nice night.

So that folks has been my further adventures with Comcast. It is such a mixed experience each time. The service guys are always nice, and I get better response from Twitter then when I call. I wish they would just make the process for service calls better. Call at least twice. If you cannot get through can't you have someone from the office try? If the internet is out then do not send emails, people without internet will not get them. It was not the end of the world not having cable or internet for two days but it would be great if I could get some reliable information so it gets fixed.

Head full of useless knowledge

2009-10-23T20:39:00.006-04:00

It is no secret that I have a lot of useless knowledge in my head, mostly having to do with pop culture or entertainment. I am not sure why this type of information sticks with me when a lot of important stuff flies right out of my head but it does and my friends and family know this. It makes me good at trivia.
Last night I was sitting at home catching up on TiVo and I get this text from my friend KS....

Crazy enough I knew exactly that LHOTP stood for Little House on the Prairie, but the rest of the description was clearly not enough to come up with a a plausible answer. I actually paused my TiVo and thought about it for a good 10 minutes wracking my brain. I texted back, "I need more Info"
About 10 minutes later KS called me and said if she had more info she would know who it was as well as to illuminate me on why she was stalking a D- List celebrity at her local corner store. I asked more questions like, can you think of a small role she might have played or any actors who were in the TV show or movie she was also in? Nope. All she could tell me was she was an annoying younger sister type with curly blonde hair and big teeth, kind of goofy. We managed to talk it out some more and landed on the time frame being the 80's. I threw out shows like Growing Pains, the little girl is too young, Rosanne, it wasn't the first Becky but a good guess, Full House etc. Then we started talking movies. I was thinking John Hughes right away. KS said she is definitely a John Hughes type character. Then a light bulb went off. The little sister in Some Kind of Wonderful. Not the youngest sister that was Candace Cameron of Full House but the middle sister....YES!!! That was it. KS was amazed I managed to pull that out of my butt but hey that is the stuff that is burned in my brain. I have a lot of stupid useless knowledge taking up valuable space up there but this time it resulted in an impromptu catch up session with a friend who lives too far away from me these days.
In case you do not remember the little sister here is a picture from the movie to jolt your memory. Ms. Maddie Corman ala Laura Neslon.

and of course you all remember her, Watts...because we all know after HS was over she dumped stupid Keith Nelson went on to become a big old Mo.

and who did not want to be on the other end of this kiss....

enough said.

Peace

2009-10-10T17:26:00.000-04:00

I was just as surprised as anyone the other morning when I heard Obama won the Nobel Peace prize. My first thought was, what!?!?, that is weird but then I remembered the day after he was elected and the celebrations held around the world. I was so moved to see people in the streets of England, Germany, France, Africa etc gathering and supporting us again.

Leicester Square England(Leon Neil, Getty)

The last time that happened was the solemn days after 9/11. There are many people in this country who do not want to see Obama succeed. I do not understand this. No matter how I felt about Bush I knew if he failed our country would fail and that is exactly what happened. Do we really want that to continue, it is obvious the rest of the world doesn't. If the good people of Oslo gave Obama this prize for bringing the world together again around our great nation after many years of alienation then I can get behind that. I believe Obama and the U. S. can live up to those expectations. Don't you?

-- Post From My iPhone

Catch Up and Killer Spiders

2009-09-28T19:20:00.007-04:00

It has been a while since I updated. I thought it was time to catch up. Here is what has been going on....

1. I started a new job... well kind of.

I was lured back to an old work place to join the small ops team that supports the financial system for the organization. I am happy to be back working with some great folks, some old and some new. I get to be part of interesting projects and learn some of the technical stuff I never got to do at my old job.
Now for the hiccup. My direct supervisor who is also a dear friend just went out for 6 to 8 weeks after having her hip replaced. I barely had enough time to get up to speed. Unfortunately my co-worker has had me attached to his hip so I can eventually be a help to him and less of a burden. Since I started three weeks ago there have been 5 days of all day workshops or conferences thus hindering my progress on learning how to handle the day to day support issues we have to deal with. On the plus side I have been super busy and everyday I run into an old friend who is still there. It has been great to catch up with these people who I enjoyed working with so much in my last tenure. It is like coming home.

2. I have almost been killed three time by spiders.

I know you are thinking I am crazy but this will change your mind...

Attack #1
In the Shower. I was in the shower about to wash my hair and just as I turned around to adjust the shower curtain out from behind it jumped an evil spider in attack mode. I was naked and at my most vulnerable. Think Psycho people. Of course I screamed and almost fell, luckily Mel was at my place, she had to rush in and save me. Ramona and Henry who I am now referring to as The Domestics were of no use. Henry was on my sheets cleaning himself. As usual.

As a matter of fact Ramona is not even a good watch dog anymore. My neighbor just came down to inform me of the new washer and dryer begin delivered on Friday. We were 5 minutes into our conversation before she realized someone was at the door and started barking her head off. I could have been dead by then, geez...but I digress back to killer spiders.

Attack #2
In the Car. Mel and I were driving around doing errands last week and I saw a spider on the outside of the windshield. Naturally I put the windshield wipers on to fling it off but the dang thing fell into the front of the car. I had this sneaking suspicion this was not the last I would see of it. Later that night I was dropping Mel off and the little fucker crawled across my windshield on the INSIDE of the car. I almost froze but managed to keep my composure. Mel was like, "I do not have a tissue". WHAT?!?! Luckily I had a poop bag next to me in the car door, I pulled it out and gave it to her. She killed it while I managed not to kill us in a car crash. I was remarkably calm. So to Mel's credit this was her second save, but in the future it would be nice if she had spider killing equipment with her at all times and I think she was going to leave the bag with the dead spider in it in my car. Yeah, I do not think so.

Attack #3
On the Deck. I was rigging a homemade clothesline on my deck. I was trying to get my kayak straps around a vine covered pole on the other side of my porch railing, so naturally I was standing on my cooler to reach around the pole. All of a sudden this huge spider came out from the leaves and almost threw me off the deck. I jumped so far back off the cooler with my arms flailing that I broke my watch strap. It took a good 10 minutes of jumping up and down and brushing off my clothes violently to make sure he was not still attached. I gave up on the vine covered pole and rigged my Kayak paddle to hold up the other end of the homemade clothesline. Unreal.

Needless to say it is obvious I have done something to piss of the spider community.

3. I have become obsessed with Glee....I really cannot watch enough. Mel and I keep re-watching portions of the episodes on my TiVo. Love it.
Here are just a couple of the reasons.

and

Finally Jane Lynch is getting the recognition she deserves.

Camp Scully

2009-09-07T11:03:00.013-04:00

I finally got out to Western Ma this past weekend to see my grad school/W. Ma friends who I have been woefully neglecting. Every time I go out there I know it should be more often. Mel and I had a fun filled two days hanging with my buds Carolynn and Jason(my male doppelganger) in Noho on Friday night and then we packed up The Fit Saturday morning and headed out to North Adams to Camp Scully to hang with Amy Scully, her new husband Jessie, Noah, Sebastian and some other friends.
Mel was amazed what a small town Noho is, we ran into some old friends on the way to dinner on Friday night on the street, then Saturday at the supermarket we saw everyone who was going to be at Camp Scully later that day getting provisions.
Amy is one of the first people I met in my grad program. The first week she took our whole cohort white water rafting. It was a blast and I am still in awe that at 5 feet tall and about 100 lbs she was able to guide us down the river. Exhilarating. Camp Scully is in the N. Adams woods behind the Mass College of Liberal Arts Athletic fields. You have to take a dirt road to get to it, but once you arrive you are in a different world. So quiet and peaceful. Exactly what Mel and I needed this weekend. With me starting a new job and Mel moving we needed some Happy Valley. It worked. It could not have been a more perfect day. We kayaked on the lake, swam, barbecued, caught up on all of Amy's funny wedding stories, played lawn games, drinking games and basically just soaked in one of the last days of summer.

Some highlights:
- $6 Chimay on draft at Sierra Grille
- Playing pool at Ye Olde Watering Hole(The valley's only beer can museum)

- Getting all four of us in The Fit with all of our stuff
- Hearing Amy's wedding stories, I knew they would be hilarious. We were not disappointed
- Seeing Watts and Finn again. I miss those pups

- Hanging my feet over the Kayaks as we tooled around lake

- Remembering that Jason and I are basically the same person. His LF thinks we should get married so we can be old grumpy people together drinking pretentious beers and kvetching

- Washers

- Playing flip cup by fire pit with head lamps

- Amy's trash talking her hubby in flip cup
- Explaining and justifying twitter to everyone, but still being made fun of with each new tweet

- Quality time with some of my favorite people
- 8:30am kayak around pond before we headed home

- Making plans to go back in winter to snowboard at Berkshire East, a short drive from Amy and Jessie's new house. I cannot wait.

Full Circle

2009-08-25T19:02:00.006-04:00

So I had the unfortunate task of giving my notice on Friday. I hate those conversations, especially with a boss I have a lot of respect for, and it was certainly difficult. I think she was truly surprised and a little disappointed. Having been at my current job for 2 1/2 years it was time to move on. As much as I appreciate the skills I have acquired the past two years, ultimately the work environment was not for me. I had many discussions with my boss about my frustrations, and I know I am not alone. It has been very difficult cultivating good working relationships, and it is not the type of collaborative work place I tend to thrive in. My direct co-workers are great but I need a more positive and lively work environment. My decision to leave was not an easy one, but I did not really see getting much more from where I am now. Though it is a big organization, when I looked around at other opportunities there just wasn't anything that excited me.
Luckily I have another job lined up. A former employer contacted me and asked me to come back. They made me an offer I could not refuse. I had mixed feelings about going back but in the end the lure of a great work environment, a good supervisor and finishing the work I started years ago before I left the first time was too much to say no to. This new position will also help me build and hone some essential skills I feel that I need.
So things come full circle for me and my work life. I hope heading back the warm fuzzy arms of my old employer will be a good move. I guess with every decision we make we just have to see it through. Hoping this one is a good one.

Before my first day Mel and I are going to out to Western Ma for the long weekend to see....

Carolyn and Jason

and

Amy and Noah

Some of my favorite people from my Western Ma and grad school days. I miss them and I cannot think of a better way to spend my time before starting a new chapter.

Lathario

2009-08-11T00:09:00.009-04:00

HC decided to go out tonight without permission. He has been gone all night galavanting around the neighborhood. We have been letting him hang out on the deck when we are at the apt. He has been really good, tonight was no different, both him and Ramona were hanging out on the deck while I was making dinner and getting my stuff ready for tomorrow. He kept coming into the house and checking in and whenever I checked in on him he was lounging around doing nothing. Certainly not planning to escape. Then I took a quick shower and he was gone. Of course he disappeared right when Mel called. She was like, YOU lost the cat? Ummmm, he lost himself. I did not launch him off the deck. I walked the neighborhood twice, kept looking for him on the ground around my deck with a flashlight....yeah, nothing. Not even a rustle. I saw every other friggin cat in my 'hood except for him. Of course when I left to look for him the first time Ramona ate all of his food. It was like they were tag teaming me. Fuckers.
My lovely friends offered to come over and help me look, and I was going to get Mel but what could we do? It is not like a dog, where you go out and call their name.
Finally around 11pm I heard rustling below the deck and flashed my light and there was a possum. Gross. Then alas there HC was looking up at me. Thank god the possums were on the other side of the fence. He was stalking them.

So for the next hour I tried to get him to climb up to the porch with no luck. It seemed like he wanted to. Don't cats get stuck up trees, I thought up was easier then down? Finally I went out my front door and tried to get him to climb up the side of the house using the vines. I see cats in the 'hood jumping up and down there all the time. One of them did figure out how to get on my porch. Not HC, he just looked up at me meowing, with no clue. So I tried to figure out what I could lower to him to get him up, blankets, sheets etc. Then I emptied this basket I have and tied my kayak straps around the handles and put a open can of cat food in the middle. I figured I would just lower it and he would get in and I could heave him up.

I was just about to take the basket outside and guess who sauntered in the front door like nothing happened? What the hell? I want to know how he figured out how to get up the side of the house.
After his nightly adventures he is acting like nothing happened, roaming around on the counters like usual,

and is pretty wiped out. How nice for him. He is on my shit list again. He better sleep through the night.

Hot Mess

2009-07-30T13:46:00.014-04:00

I used this expression at dinner with my HS friends last night had a bunch of blank stares looking back at me, I also got lots of "Did you just say hot "H-O-T" and mess "M-E-S-S?", "What the hell does that mean?", "I have never heard of that before", and Michelle just laughing her ass off next to me at my disbelief. Anyway, I used the phrase again with some context. "Amy Winehouse is a hot mess", all of a sudden the clouds parted and they understood. It was quite funny. How was I to know this is not a common phrase used in the world of working moms?
BUT...This post is not meant to give my 'out of touch' friends a hard time, it is really to celebrate them. Get ready for some schmaltz, it doesn't happen often. I have known four out of the five women at this table for over 20 years. The fifth is someone we all became friends with after college and have adopted her as our own honoree NDA(our HS) alumni. These five women are all working Moms. You are looking at an Architect, Attorney, Marketing and Advertising Director, IT infrastructure specialist and Paralegal and Court Advocate in the pic above. They have 13 kids between them including 1 set of twins, and 11 others who I know personally and through pictures. Of course I am constantly forgetting all their names, there are just too many. Sorry Ladies. My nephews are lucky if I remember who they are.
In the last 20 years we have supported each other through new love, breakups, weddings, divorce, pregnancy, ill children, death and coming out. It has been quite a ride but we are most definitely better for it, and I know this because when we get together we relive old stories, tell new ones, give each other a hard time and laugh, a lot. My life is much different then the ones they lead; kids, husbands and mortgages and I am always amazed how they keep it together with their humor in tact and let me tell you these are some funny ladies. I laughed all the way through high school and beyond with them. Of course it is good for me because I get to listen to the hilariously embarrassing situations their kids get them into and various other trials and tribulations of being a working mom. When Nat's (only select few are allowed to call her that) left eyebrow goes up you know the story is going to be a dozy and last nights pooping/recital story was exactly that. The boys next to us got an earful. I could not do it justice here. The delivery made it that much funnier.
They should all twitter or blog because it would be hilarious, but they all said collectively "We do not have time to Twitter." I do not mind that we have not hung out as a group in over a year, they did not know I have a girlfriend or a cat, the part fun is catching up on each others lives, and they always ask about my family and Ramona who I quote, "Has been around forever". These ladies knew my father well, that is something I will always cherish. And as we come the the end of schmaltz road, lastly, we helped each other grow into the smart, funny, strong, confident women I think we all are. We have definitely come a long way and I would not be who I am today if it was not for them. Plus, when they hang with me they learn new urban slang. As always our next date can not come soon enough.

Done

2009-07-24T17:39:00.005-04:00

What is wrong with this picture? No it is not that some of us, me included, decided to not put our beers down when taking a photo with the Mayor of Boston. Look closer and notice what most of us are wearing after our 5K(Harborview 5K) run in JULY!!! Yes...pants, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts and jackets. Why, you may ask, because it was 60 frakking degrees out, and rainy...in JULY! Not news to some but this summer has been a wash out. We have not been able to put 1 whole week together without rain. The dirt in the the plants on my deck has been wet for two straight months now. It is gross. I know I have been bitching about this for a while but I am not alone. I along with my fellow New Englanders are DONE:

- With having everything wet
- With my hair looking like crap
- With walking Ramona in the rain
- With my apt smelling like wet dog
- With stepping on and crunching snails that have made my walk way their personal highway
- With my new kayak racks and kayaks not getting any use
- With running in the rain
- With damp pants at work
- With S.A.D

When July came I think we New Englanders were hoping for a fresh start. No luck. Maybe with August 1st around the corner we will get the summer we have been waiting for. We can only hope.

It would have been better if it was toasted

2009-07-13T10:52:00.001-04:00

We are so tired we are laughing at everything this morning. We made it the airport for our 7 am flight back to Boston. Woke up at 4:45 and we are working on little sleep. We managed to grab some coffee and grub before boarding and Melanie keeps telling us her bagel is good but would be better if it was toasted, which Amanda and I find super funny each time she says it, and I think she has said it 10-15 times. Some other passengers on the plane are not fairing so well. There was almost an altercation behind us as some cranky lady did not like the way her carry on items were being manhandled by others as they were trying to get on the plane. Even after it was over, she had to get the last word in and lay into this clueless guy who speaks little to no English so we are sure he had no idea what she was yelling at him about. Jerk.
We are sad to see this fantastic weekend end. Last night after the game we got some quality time with Moe and Charla, dinner in their 'hood, ice cream and then back to their place to see the photobooth picture book from the wedding. It was sweet and funny. Such a good idea.

Some other highlights include:
- Badminton and pontooning on the lake with the Moe's and Clemintine
- Meeting Moe and Charla's friends and family, every one was so nice
- Church sign that said Even Jesus Says No, Paula Northorp
- The Bad Waitress
- Edie's private tour of The MN Institute of Art
- Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Tapas
- Mini Clemintine on Pontoon wedding cake

- The Saloon
- The cult of personality dykes
- Stumbling back to hotel after The Saloon hand in hand with brides
- Maia being told that the $5 reprinting fee is waived because it is her first time, after she lost her game tix on way to Metrodome. In Boston I think they would have just looked at us and laughed
- Getting 4 seats next to each other and game time bloody Mary's

-Twins kicking White Sox butts, punks
- Mel's nerdy excitement at seeing the Mississippi

- Looking at pics from weekend on plane and laughing our asses off
- Greatful to our Boston friends who took care of HC and Ramona.
- Being lucky enough to be able to travel to a wonderful city and celebrate our friends

-- Post From My iPhone

Ancient Chinese Secrets

2009-07-11T16:38:00.001-04:00

Wandered around Minneapolis today in the glorious sunshine. We had breakfast at The Bad Waitress, a recommemedation from Moe. It was delicious, and we got to eat outside. This diner has self serve ordering from the menu, you just fill out an order form at the table and bring it up to the counter, then they bring your food out to you. Since you pay when you order there is no waiting for the bill or dealing with a waitress. I loved it. Plus the diner logo is cool.

A couple of other guests(Wellsley gals) from the wedding met us and we walked over to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. We had our very own tour guide in Edie who is a friend of Moe's from college.
She works for Sotheby's in Hong Kong and her expertise is in ancient Asian art. The museum has a large Asian collection and she regaled us with facinating info about different pieces at the museum. I was impressed and humbled by her knowledge. They graduate some smarties from that school.
This whimsical bronze owl is a wine vessel. One of the coolest pieces we saw. We really could of have spent all day there.

Now we are back at hotel and "Thrumming from excitement for big gay party" tonight as e_moe tweeter earlier

-- Post From My iPhone

Obsessed

2009-07-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am loving my new iPhone. It is so convenient to have my iPod and phone in one device, plus all of the other fun stuff. The video is a great feature that comes in handy when you have a crazy cat.
The problem is I downloaded a couple of games from the app store and now Mel and I are obsessed with Bejewled. I did a search in the app store after discovering it on Facebook. The minute one of us puts my phone down the other one picks it up and starts playing. With all of this frakking rain, we have been doing a lot of sitting around. So of course we are trying to out score one another. At this moment I am in the lead. The only way to solve this problem is for Mel to get her own iPhone. Maybe someday, when she is done with her practicum work.
Oh yeah and another great iPhone feature, you can take screen shots of your phone. I just emailed this one of my new high score to Mel just to taunt her. Ha!

-- Post From My iPhone

Guard Cat

2009-06-27T16:39:00.003-04:00

Apparently HC has claimed the deck as his own. He has taken to guarding it against bugs, squirrels, birds and anything that comes through the doggie door which really is only Ramona. It is nice to know he is protecting the deck from everyone that lives here, pretty soon none of will be allowed out there.

In other news Mel and I successfully ran our first 5K today in my hometown of Hanover. It was weird to literally run around the neighborhood where I learned to drive, hiked along the North River, rode my bike to the corner store and basically grew up. We both finished strong and felt really good at the end of the run. We are looking forward to our next one. Now to find a better sports bra that doesn't chaffe. Blurg.

MJ

2009-06-25T20:26:00.006-04:00

I will never forget the night this 25th Motown Anniversary was on and the whole family sat around the TV and was mesmorized by this performance. It still stands the test of time and no matter how you feel about how MJ lived his life, his talent and influence cannot be denied. He was electric live and you could not take your eyes of off him. You can see and hear him everywhere in today's pop music. Thriller will always be the cassette I wore out and had to get a new one because my BFF Suzy and I would listen to it over and over again in our tree house. I knew every word by heart.
I was lucky that my Dad introduced us to all kinds of music, but Motown was a staple in our house and I consider myself lucky to still have some of those LPs, including The Jackson 5, and MJ's Off The Wall. Now I just have to get his old turn table up and running again.
MJ's legacy will always be controversial but you cannot tell me you do not want to get up and dance when you hear these songs.

or

I hope he finds the peace he seemed to be always looking for, I am thankful I got to experience the times he was most prolific.

Fun in Bed

2009-06-24T09:24:00.005-04:00

My first iPhone video. I edited it right on my phone. Maybe someday I will be able to embed in the blogger app on my phone but no dice for now. I had to email it to myself. But still pretty cool. Though it is a little dark, it looks better on my phone.
As much as I kvetch about HC and his craziness, he is nothing but entertaining and easy to tease. I think it is so funny when he attacks my feet under the covers, although the other morning he got underneath. Ahhhh. Probably not a good habit to get him into, but it makes me laugh.

S.A.D

2009-06-23T11:25:00.016-04:00

Seasonal Affect Disorder...usually rearing its ugly head in the winter months has become the bane of my existence these days with one of the the rainiest Junes in years. It should be called Seasonal ANGER Disorder, I am angry about everything. However I also remember last June being pretty rainy too. I think our seasons are shifting. It is staying colder into our usual summer months and hotter past August. Weird.
Anyway June is not a great month for me anyway, so having it be this gloomy makes me a difficult person to be around. It all came to a head on my bday/father's day weekend and I was a pain in the ass, just plain super moody, and in a funk.
There were a couple of bright spots. Mel took me out on a surprise date for my birthday, we ended up going to a murder mystery dinner in the N. End. Not something I would ever do myself. I really despise interactive performances like that, but I got over that hump, and it ended up being pretty fun.

We also saw Star Trek, which was really good, and after a hiccup that brought my mood to alert color RED, I got my new iPhone. Then finally, lunch with Kristine on Sunday, who totally gets when I am like this. It has been a week of ups and downs. Analogous to the Homeland Advisory System my moods have gone from YELLOW to RED at any given moment. Maybe I should post these advisories on the outside of my door, or on my messenger bag so people know when they approach.
Because of this I spent some time alone. I enjoy going to the movies by myself and saw Away We Go. I read a couple of reviews that seemed to like the movie but said it was kind of pretentious. I did not find this to be the case. I thought it was a very sweet movie about two people in a healthy relationship searching for the best place to have and raise their baby. I know for myself, especially when I feel like I do now, I am constantly questioning myself; am I living in the right place and doing the work that is going to make me the most happy? Maybe Boston does not bring out the best in me all the time and contributes to these funks I get in? Maybe I need to be in a quieter environment near water? I imagine many people have this same dialogue. Either way the movie struck a cord and I was quite touched with Maya Rudolph's subtle performance as a woman who loves her BF but does not see the point in marriage, and questions whether they are "fuck-ups" because they are not living the prescribed life society forces down our throats. I totally got it.

39

2009-06-18T09:29:00.004-04:00

I turned 39 this week. Hard to believe. As most people who know me know I am not a big birthday person. Every year I try not to get grumpy about it but that never seems to work and I think resisting it makes me grumpier. It really has nothing to do with my age. I do not mind getting older, but I do think about where I am in my life and all the things I want to accomplish but haven't yet. It can get overwhelming.
Things that weigh on me:
- CC debt
- That I still rent (only sometimes)
- Yo-yo weight (no pun intended)
- Watching Ramona getting old with me
- My job
- Calling to make appointments that need to be done (Eye, Teeth and Dr. etc)- I have a weird phone thing.

I do not want to be all negative. I was walking home yesterday from the gym and I realized I was pretty lucky I still have a job, that I am healthy enough to go to the gym and have the choice to stay in shape, have good friends to spend time with, and am in a healthy relationship with a smart, funny, lovely lady. Everyone comments on the big 40, not sure how I am going to feel about it next year but I will try to make the most of this year. You never know what the future will bring. I at least know the future is going to bring me a shiny new iPhone that I can geek out on.

I don't get it

2009-06-15T17:49:00.000-04:00

I walk by this ad everyday and it baffles me. What the hell are those two blue olives and what do they have to do with Dr. Scholls? And why are they talking? Shouldn't they be in some space age drink from one of the vodka ads with the robot women? When I walk by this bus stop every day I just say to myself that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. I do not know why I bugs me so much, but it just does.

-- Post From My iPhone

You're killing me

2009-06-09T22:47:00.001-04:00

This has become part of Mel's and My vernacular while we were traveling Europe. We needed something to defuse tense traveling times. This worked perfect when I started to go into crank mode or when Mel was being indecisive. Either one of us would say it and it would instantly placate the other person and we would laugh. This little trick has followed us home and we are now using it constantly for many situations besides annoying each other. I think I hear it more from her for lots of reasons, which I won't go into here. Those who know me will know. I have been using this phrase a lot with the animals lately for example; When HC is going crazy, trying to escape off the porch, licks my head in the middle of the night with his sandpaper tounge and attacks me unprovoked also when Ramona doesn't poop, let's HC bully her, squeezes in between couch and coffee table only to trip me up every time, and licks everything...I think you get the point.
Other things that have prompted this phrase from my mouth lately:
- Co-worker taking a personal phone call in middle of a meeting
- Apple's failure to put at least zoom on the new 3Gs iPhone
- AT&T not supporting MMS right away, poor form
- Drivers who cut through the gas station on corner of rt 9 and S. Huntington and almost run me down
- The Housewives of NJ
- How easy it was to guess J and E computer passwords
-How much Toast sucks for getting shows from TiVo to my Mac. Still kicking myself for buying it

The list goes on, here is what prompted it tonight.

-- Post From My iPhone

"Do your business"

2009-06-06T18:02:00.006-04:00

Mel has picked up some dog sitting through our friend Jen. She will be able to make some extra cash by helping out this Dr. who has at least 3 overnights a month. So this weekend she has her first sleep over with the pups. The owner of these pups is very particular and gave Mel a 15 page manifesto on how to take care of her dogs. It is quite funny but hey some people really love their dogs.
Over in my neck of the woods we have a house guest this weekend. Sophie our friend's lab is staying at my place. The only reason she is staying is because she has an injured leg and our friends wanted her to be around a dog who would not be playful. That is where my old lady Ramona comes in. Since she is 12 1/2 she does not do much anymore so it was a safe bet she was not going to get Sophie all riled up. A couple of days before Sophie came to stay she came over to have a meet and greet with HC. This went fine, I am not sure HC can tell Ramona and Sophie apart. He just sees another submissive lab he can bully. Sophie is getting the same treatment as Ramona. The usual swipe from the table as she walks by, and the cat hug/attacks that HC likes to give Ramona. It has been quite amusing. We got some video of this. As you can see HC is quite bold. Luckily, like Ramona, Sophie is such a pacifist she does not care. We are not sure if HC is licking, pecking or biting Sophie.

The one quirk Sophie has been exhibiting is lack of poopage. Not sure where she is keeping it but she has only pooped once since she has been here and has eaten like 4 times. Our friends said that when we are outside with her say, "Sophie, do your business." Well guess what, that does not work. Mel and I are walking around the park following Sophie around with a poop bag saying "Sophie, Do your business." We look like idiots.
Meanwhile Ramona has pooped like 8 times. Thats my girl.
Finally, I bought a rack for my car and became an official REI member. I think that should at least get my score from 89% to 95% on the Facebook, "How Gay Am I" quiz. The Honda Fit is now Kayak and Snowboard ready. I gave myself a pat on the back after installing it all by myself in 1 1/2 hours, typically this is a 2 person job. Car racks just make the car look cooler, but it is BS how much they charge for those things. Really there should be a discount for the labor it takes to get two bars on the top of your car.

You gotta start somewhere

2009-06-01T20:59:00.002-04:00

2 miles from Mel's house
Find more Runs in Jamiaca Plain, Massachusetts

Mel and I decided to do a 5k run at the end of the month. I have been pretty good about working out consistently but it has started to get boring and I do not really enjoy working out in a gym when it is nice out. I also do not want to gain the weight back I lost last year, and that has started to happen. Mel stopped going to the gym since her work stopped subsidizing it and wants to get back to working out. We figured it might be fun to have a goal and maybe we can work up to a 10K.
It was Mel's idea to do a run, and neither of us has done one before. Although I run on the treadmill at the gym, running outside is quite different and harder. Since the weather has gotten better I have been running around the Jamaica Pond after work anyway. Unfortunately, running outside means I do not get any weight training in. Luckily, I get out of work earlier then her so I will go to gym for weight training and some cardio to supplement my workout and then met Mel later for a run.
Today was our first run together. I registered at Map My Run to plan some routes. We did a simple one around Jamaica Pond tonight walking from her place. Since Mel is new to the running thing we are going to start slow and build from there. Tonight was about a 1.5 mile run and about a mile walking. She did great.
Funny enough the 5K is in the town where I grew up. When we are done I can show Mel around before heading back to the city.

He tells me in his bedroom voice C'mon honey, let's go make some noise

2009-05-28T16:18:00.010-04:00

Yes, those are The Bangles. The "other" all female pop band from the 80's. Last night the old gays(OGs, as I will be referring to us in future posts) said school nights be damned and headed to The House of Blues to see the reunited Bangles perform. Now these ladies are all like 50 years old but they can still rock the house. True MILFs. After all of these years the songs are still fun, and girls with guitars are just hot no matter what age. Only three of the original members of the band were there last night, apparently the bassist did not rejoin the ladies for the tour. That was OK, it is was more than obvious then in the 80's that the Peterson sisters(guitar, vocals, drums) are the ones with the real musical chops in the group. We especially enjoyed when Ms. Hoff got down on her knees in front of Vicki Peterson's guitar and played it for her, there were some blushing OGs in the crowd.
Some other highlights include:
- Rockin' open with Hazy Shade of Winter (video)
- When Debbi Peterson came down from behind the drums and sang with the group. I especially enjoyed Going Down to Liverpool
- Vicki Peterson singing and playing mad guitar on all songs. She was really good
- Susanna Hoffs' really short skirt and flipping her hair on stage
- Being really impressed by older ladies just having a good time playing fun music that I knew all the words too
- Jro's iphone flame app for Eternal Flame
- Sharing it with some great friends

The Bangles(l to R Vicki, Susanna, Debbi) now w/ Juliana Hatfield

The great deck experiment

2009-05-26T18:25:00.002-04:00

One of the things I love about my apt is the deck. One wouldn't expect to have such a nice deck in a studio apt but the owner built it for himself and because the building is on a hill he was able to build a deck off of the kitchen. The door to the deck even has a doggie flap so Ramona can go in and out at will. She loves being out there. Since she is getting up there in age, it is nice I can afford her this pleasure. Since the arrival of Henry we have had to modify this a bit. We cannot leave the screen door open because we do not want him to escape through the doggie door. This has forced us to put up a doggie gate infront of the doggie flap so we can keep the door open. Stepping over this gate to get to the deck has become quite a challenge for my short legs and I imagine I will fall and break my nose at some point this summer.

On the weekends Mel and I like having our coffee and breakfast on the deck and Ramona usually joins us. Henry feeling left out has taken to climbing the screen door or hurling himself onto the screen so the door swings open with the hope of freedom.
As you can see here...

After much discussion we jointly decided to see if he can handle being on deck with us without running for the hills. It had been a slow, harrowing process. We do not really want an outdoor cat and he can definitely get off my deck, other cats have gotten on it. So we trepidatiously watch him explore, get close to the edge and walk along the railing hoping he chooses us over chasing a bug, squirrel or other creature on his way to freedom. He needs to remember he cannot attack our feet at will if he takes off. It is a work in progress, and might just send Mel to an early heart attack.

Why I am not a golfer

2009-05-23T10:31:00.005-04:00

You would think that going mini golfing would bring back childhood memories, but no I actually never played as a kid, at least not that I can remember. I remember playing mini putt putt, but that is another story involving thrown golf clubs and bee stings.
Last night we went mini golfing for Mel's birthday. A couple of weeks ago when driving out to catch a friend's football game we drove by McGolf in Dedham. I thought Mel was going to have a fit when she saw it, she nearly jumped out of the car. So when it came time to decide what to do for her birthday, of course she thought....MINI GOLF. The place is a driving range with a mini golf course and they have a koi pond, with turtles. I think Leigh was going to have a heart attack when I held my iphone over the water to take this pic. She actually had to walk away.

I get easily frustrated when I do not get sport/activity the first time around. I knew this was going to be a problem, but we had a perfect night for golf and 10 of us met for a round of mini-golf. First of all my friends have obviously played before, a lot, because Jro got a hole-in-one the first friggin hole, then preceded to get another one on the last hole. Needless to say our team was not as adept as the other team, they had a number of hole-in-ones and I kept hearing cheers from behind us, or should I say taunts. Suppressing my competitive nature was difficult. At one point I think I said to Mel, "if you hit my ball one more time I am going to throw you in the koi pond", what? it just slipped out. Meanwhile our team was a frustrated bunch. Diane hit the ball like it was a baseball, they kept bouncing out of the hole. My middle finger was up most of the night as my ball now has a complex because I kept giving it the bird. My mini golf connoisseur friends said the course was not that challenging, apparently the lack of windmills and loops was disappointing.
All in all it was a great activity and night, we will definitely go back, it is cheap way to enjoy friends and be outside. The beers afterward made it all that much better.

I could not resist

2009-05-21T09:36:00.009-04:00

This is the first time since the first season of American Idol I watched the entire season. And by watch I mean fast forward my Tivo strictly for the performances. I have it down to a science. I have so many issues with this show. I do not understand how they weed out the good singers from the throngs of people that come to the auditions. We see so many bad ones end up in final rounds. I think it is pretty much fixed, but I have to realize it is Fox TV and I go into watching the show understanding it is pretty staged. Other issues include, the homophobic banter between Ryan and Simon, making fun of the people who are overweight, socially awkward and just plan weird. So in the end maybe I should not watch altogether so as to stop supporting such dreck. Either way, I do enjoy watching the try outs and early rounds the best because I love those handful of singers who open their mouths and lo and behold have a great voice. Those moments of the show are the best.
Of course none of these people make it past Hollywood, because many are not marketable.
Last year I stopped watching halfway through because it was boring. Once it gets whittled down to two or three people it is not surprising anymore. The best part is seeing what each contestant is going to sing each week with in the awful themes they pick (Movie theme, Andrew Llyod Webber, Song the year you were born etc). Anyway the only reason I continued to watch this season was because of Adam Lambert and Allision Iraheta, man can these two sing, and you never knew what to expect from them. It is a singing competition, right? If either of them got kicked off early I would have stopped watching. Really do we need another Danny Gokey...so boring and too earnest. I want a little edge from my performers. I do have to say Kris Allen did surprise me a couple of times, he was smart with his song choices, and I loved that he picked the theme from Once, but again I was never wowed. I enjoy Jazon Mraz(he was great on SNL live) as much as the next gal, but I would rather hear someone who can hit a high note and hold it any day. It is more exciting and shows more talent.
I was not surprised by last nights outcome. Though we have had Bowie, Adam Ant, Boy George, and Freddy Mercury(notice all brits), America is just not ready of the likes of Adam Lambert. I am glad Idol let him take such risks each week, which was surprising, but they knew he was good TV and could back up the theatrics with his voice. In the end his ambiguous sexuality, the judges continuous praise and over the top performances did him in. He was too polished, it is obvious he has been doing this for a long time and American Idol is really about finding that diamond in the rough. Kris Allen is exactly that, so I guess it is not surprising he won it all. He is a pleasant, nice looking guy who can write songs, play instruments and sing. The AI marketing machine's dream. I would rather have him over Danny Gokey any day, but we all know who should have won that SINGING competition. I am looking forward to what Adam Lambert does next, we need someone to gay up the music biz a little.

Loved Kiss and Queen but this was my favorite duet of the evening.

Moved

2009-05-20T09:40:00.004-04:00

I decided to move my blog to blogspot since returning from Europe. My original blog was at my website www.stephaniemar.com but I had not updated since January. You can see the archive there if you are interested. As much as iWeb is easy to use, although last night I could not publish the changes to my site, it is not convenient. I had to be on my computer to update and by the time I got home at night I was not in the mood to write, or couldn't compose anything longer then 40 characters, hello twitter. Also, I felt a lot of pressure to write long blogs since they were few and far between. As I did in Europe, I like off the cuff blogs much better, they are in real time and spontaneous, and I feel it is in my voice in that moment.
Before I left for Europe I set up our travel blog on blogspot, which I received a lot of great feedback since getting back. Yeah! We loved updating it and now we will have a great archive of our adventures. The best thing was actually being able to blog from my iphone. I installed the Blogger app and it is wonderful. Since we had limited Wifi, we could write a post and save it until Wifi was available. It was perfect. I will not have that problem in the U.S., but the freedom to be able to update from anywhere is more attractive then waiting to be by my computer to update. I really enjoyed keeping my website but now that I am on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter etc the need to pay for Webspace seems unnecessary. So I will probably let it just it lapse when my .mac account comes up for renewal.
It seems that twitter has been getting most of my attention lately, but sometimes you just want to write something longer then 40 characters and I like to list my complaints, er musings.
For example:
Last night I was in the shower shaving, I was trying to pay attention and not cut myself so my head was down. The next thing I know I feel something on my head, I jumped about 8 feet thinking a spider had dropped on me and then saw a fuzzy paw reaching from behind the shower curtain trying to pat my head. I am not sure what Henry's motivation was(attack, attention, love) but he scared the crap out of me. I surely could not tell from the look on his fuzzy face. I was like,"What the hell are you doing, I am trying to shave here". I said it like he would understand. That cat is going to cause a major injury someday. So my point being how could I have tweeted about that?