Happy Birthday to my sweet Mom!

My mom really knows how to make you feel special on your birthday. So much so that my sisters and I have joked each year that she ruined our birthdays for us because no one can live up to the standard that my mom set for our birthdays. It's not presents or fancy meals or anything you can buy. She makes me feel like it was the best day of her life the day I was born and somehow makes each of her children feel the same way. My favorite birthday tradition is my mom calling me to tell me to story of the day I was born. I feel so lucky to have a mom who considers that a very special day and still remembers it with so much love.

I can't tell my mom about the day she was born but I am so thankful for that day! I have seen baby pictures of her and she was a beautiful child. She grew up knowing that she wanted to be a mom more than anything else in her life. She had me when she was 22 and when the nurse handed me to my mom for the first time she said "You have no idea how long I have waited for this day." The surprised nurse said "How old are you?!?" As my mom raised me and my siblings, I never doubted that her family was the most important thing in her life. She showed this every day. She was always there to listen to me, no matter what she was doing when I came to her. I remember interrupting her during her favorite TV show and she turned it off without hesitation to listen to whatever it was I wanted to talk to her about (and it didn't matter to her whether or not it was important). This has continued to my adult life- my mom is the first person I turn to when I need to talk something out. She somehow perfectly knows when to get upset along with me, when to give advice, and when to just listen. There are times when I call her and talk for an hour and wonder how she is not exhausted. What amazes me is that she does the same for the rest of my family too. She is always there and available for us and ready to lend a listening ear.

Another thing I really admire about my mom is how well she managed money as I was growing up. She is able to stretch a dollar further than anyone I know. I remember her studying the grocery store ads and planning where to buy what she needed so that she could get the best prices. She also sacrificed buying things for herself to stay within budget. I remember years where my mom did not have any new clothes for herself. She and my dad always taught us that it was important not to spend money you didn't have, and my mom worked very hard to make this possible. I don't know how she did it, and the amazing part to me is that she never complained or talked about wanting more, or what she was giving up for us.

My mom has also been there for me in many other ways throughout my life. One of my favorite memories is of my mom proudly declaring to me "I will be your CHAMPION!" She said this to me on a day when I was in my freshman year of college, when I was in a difficult situation and things were looking bleak. I can't even recall the specific details of what I was worried about. I will never forget how good it felt to have a mom who was there for me- I knew I was going to be ok no matter what happened.

A fun thing that my mom and I share is a love of reading. When I was very young she shared this love with me by reading to me often. When I started reading books in school, my mom would read the books at the same time and we would spend hours talking about them. I still enjoy recommending books to my mom to read and being able to talk to her about them later.

I am so proud of my mom for the courage and strength she has shown in facing some tough challenges the past month. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful mom and friend.

Mom, Happy Birthday! I wish I could celebrate it with you! I love you AND I like you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although I have been away from home on Thanksgiving for six years now, it still seems very strange not to spend the day with my extended family. Steve and I have had a great day together but I have been thinking a lot about my family and some of these happy Thanksgiving memories:

- Snowmobiling up to the cabin with the food being pulled up in a sled behind a snowmobile. My Dad lovingly but sternly making me eat all of my food even though I took waaay too much. Sledding and snowmobiling with my cousins and aunts and uncles after eating. The smell of the snowsuits almost melting as we stood next to the heater to dry off.

-Taking my first commercial air flight at 20 years old on a Thanksgiving trip with my family to Nauvoo to see historical church sights. My mom taking pictures of us on a plane because we were all so excited. Not realizing that the other passengers were probably smiling at our excitement about this. On Thanksgiving, hopefully believing that we would be able to find a restaurant where we could have our Thanksgiving meal. Quickly finding out that we are in a really small town and that nothing is open on Thanksgiving. Luckily finding a resident who knows of a place that is open a few towns over. Ordering turkey dinner at the restaurant and laughing at my brother for ordering a hamburger. Being jealous of my brother when we realize that the turkey is a slice of processed turkey and that the potatoes are fake. Being so thankful to be with my family when noticing that most of the other people in the restaurant were alone. Laughing with my family after dinner and all of us saying that this will be one of our favorite Thanksgiving meals. Realizing 15 years later that we were right.

-Paul and I having our first Thanksgiving dinner together a few months after we were married. As young newlyweds thinking that we needed to start our own family traditions and wondering why my parents still had Thanksgiving dinner with their parents. Making a complete Thanksgiving dinner by ourselves. Eating it and then wondering what to do the rest of the day. Feeling lonely and realizing why family makes Thanksgiving special. Quickly agreeing to have Thanksgiving with our extended families the next year.

-My aunt Shirley's famous rolls. The best rolls in the world. Eating Thanksgiving with our Davies family almost turned in to a treasure hunt for the rolls. She baked hundreds of rolls but had to hide them and dole them out or they would be gone in seconds.

Steve has been telling me some of his Thanksgiving memories too. My favorite is his Thanksgiving in Plymouth when he was 6 years old. Steve's parents and some neighbors decided it would be fun (and fitting) to have Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth. Plymouth must have Thanksgiving dinner celebrations, right?!? So they decided to just drive down to Plymouth plantation and have dinner there. Unfortunately, they found no turkey dinner anywhere in Plymouth! Luckily one of the neighbors had packed peanut butter sandwiches in case the kids got hungry on the way. Thanksgiving that year was peanut butter sandwiches in the car by the side of the road!

I am so thankful for my family and the many wonderful Thanksgivings we have had together. In thinking about all of these memories, the common thread is the love that I have always felt from my extended family. I miss them today but am so thankful to know that the love is still there. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, creating new happy memories!

Winter is coming!

I took this picture walking on a path next to the building I work in. I am missing the leaves already and do not feel ready for winter to come. I am going to try this year to find some of the happiness in winter that my nephews still find. It will be interesting to see if I can be successful in this. :)

How about this Diet Coke?

Ok, I wouldn't want to drink it either but it does crack me up! Especially since Diet Coke and bacon are two of my favorite things for breakfast. There's just nothing better than ice cold Diet Coke in the morning. Or any time of day. At least as far as drinks go. :) My most famous saying may be "Diet Coke with extra ice please." I realize that is kind of sad, maybe I should come up with something more inspirational. In the mean time, I'm off to get another Diet Coke!

Little things can make all the difference

This has been a kind of tough week for me. Work has been very stressful, I haven't been sleeping enough, and to top it all off I have a tooth that really hurts. I know, it all sounds so whiney, but still... it's been a tough week. However, I was lucky to have a very bright spot in my week too that keeps making me smile and reminds me of what is really important.

When I got home late one night I found a happy surprise in my mail- an envelope from my nephew Brendan! I was so excited to see it. Inside there were a bunch of drawings from Brendan. It completely turned my day around. The drawings are so cute. It made me so happy to realize that he had remembered me and wanted to send me some pictures. I really miss being able to spend time with my nieces and nephews and hope that as they grow up they will know how much I love them.

I hung up some of the pictures on my fridge, and brought the one on this post to work. Now every time I look at it at work, I can't help but smile and it puts work more into perspective. Thank you Brendan! And Andrea for taking the time to mail them. It meant more to me than I think you would guess.

Happy Halloween!

I admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I’m just not creative when it comes to thinking of costumes and dressing up. However, I do have some great Halloween memories and on Halloween I always think of my Grandma B. Not because she is scary (she isn’t, of course!) but because my Grandma always held the best Halloween parties throughout most of my life. She really decked out her house in wonderful Halloween style, and the most fun part was that she and my Grandpa ALWAYS dressed up! We’d play games like “Laugh Witch Laugh” which gave us lots of great laughs. Never heard of it? It’s just “Grunt Piggy Grunt” changed for Halloween. Still never heard of it? Well, it involves being blindfolded, and sitting on people’s laps and… well the description just doesn’t come out right! Anyway, I always complained about dressing up, but it was always fun to see what my extended family came up with for costumes. One of my favorites when I was a kid was when my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mark dressed up as a couple but my aunt was the husband and my uncle was the wife. I will say that my Aunt Barbara is a much better looking woman than my Uncle Mark was! And then as we all grew up and my siblings and cousins had their own children, it made it even more fun to see these adorable kids in their costumes. So I am thankful to my Grandma B every Halloween for all these memories she created for our family. I hope that she still smiles when thinking of them too. And that everyone reading this has a a very happy Halloween, whether you are trick-or-treating, handing out candy, helping your kids dress up, or skipping it altogether and going out to dinner (like me)!

FINALLY finished!

Well it took me over a month, but I finally finished reading Atlas Shrugged!

So what did I think of this book?

This is what Steve's shrug looks like every time I mentioned the book (which he calls Shruggy). :)

I am glad I read this book, but in retrospect should not have started it right after The Fountainhead. I am pretty Ayn Rand'd out. Maybe it was the 60 page speech near the end. That's right, 60 pages!! This book illustrates the same ideas as in The Fountainhead, but seemed more unrealistic and preachy to me. However, Ayn Rand's ideas are provocative and really made me think- even when I really disagree with her philosphy it has been interesting to think about my point of view on the issues she brings up. I found the parallels between this book and current events to be fascinating. I won't bore everyone with a long explanation but the bailout sounds like it could be a chapter straight from Atlas Shrugged. As I was reading it I was wishing I knew someone who could discuss some of the ideas with me... Lisa its your turn! For now I'm happy to be finished and move on to some lighter reading.

Today I was feeling so lucky to be taking a walk through Boston Common on a sunny fall day!

Regatta

This weekend I was finally able to see the Head of the Charles Regatta. It is one of those things that I have wanted to do for several years, but always remember right AFTER it happens. Each October they have rowing races with people competing from around the world. Since my office is near the Charles River, I was able to walk down and watch a few of the races. The reason I have wanted to see it because I think rowing looks like so much fun. I just think it looks really neat to see a group of people rowing together. I also love water and imagine that it would be beautiful to be rowing in the morning and to see the sun shining on the water. The side effect of having well toned arms would be a nice plus too! Ever since I moved to Boston I have been telling myself "Next summer I really need to sign up for rowing." Unfortunately, it has remained on the "next summer" list. I wonder if my aversion to getting up early in the morning has anything to do with this...? I still love the idea of it so hopefully next summer I will really do it!

Fun Visitor!

I was so excited last week to have a visitor! Flat Stanley came to visit me with the following note:

"Hi, my name is Flat Stanley. I am a friend of Jordan. I used to be a normal boy until my headboard fell on top of me and left me flat! Now I must get used to a new life. I have found one big advantage of being flat. I can travel very inexpensively in envelopes. That is why I decided to come and see you!

Back in West Jordan, Utah, Mrs. Lynch's 3rd grade class is learning about maps. They would like you to please send them a postcard, letter or photo telling them about my trip to visit you."

Flat Stanley was a great visitor! I had so much fun taking him around Boston and taking pictures of him. He is very quiet and well mannered :) but I think he had a good time too! I was so happy that my nephew Jordan thought to send Flat Stanley to me. I sent him back yesterday with pictures, a couple of books about Boston, some Red Sox pencils and Boston Baked Beans candy. I hope the kids have half as much fun welcoming Flat Stanley home as I did having him visit me! Thank you Jordan!

Imagine how much fun we would have if everyone could travel as inexpensively!

I wish I could bottle up these days and open them again in February!

Today was a perfect New England fall day. It was so sunny and the fall colors were beautiful. It was one of those days where you don't want to miss a single minute! Especially knowing the cold weather is coming. I took these pictures on a walk in Rocky Woods (in Medfield near my apartment), and also in Lexington. I wished I could share this day with everyone and wanted to capture some of the beauty I was so thankful for.

Jessica's Baptism

My niece, Jessica, was baptized today. When I saw her in July she was so excited about this day coming up. As I thought of her today, I could just picture how big she must be smiling. Doesn't she look like such a princess? I wish I could have been there to share this day with her. I remember the day I was baptized, I was so proud and happy to be baptized and to have all my sins taken away. I wanted to stay perfect the rest of my life. This lasted until that evening when I fought with my sister (and may or may not have said not very nice things)! I had a few hours of goodness at least. :)

It doesn't even look real, does it?

This is a picture of the most interesting building on MIT's campus. It is a beautiful fall day here so I decided it was a good day to take a walk and get a picture of it to share with everyone. Every time I go by this building I want to find out the story behind who designed it and what it is used for. Of course I don't remember to look it up by the time I get home!

Happy 4th Birthday Elijah!

Elijah, I love this picture of you because it reminds me of your great laugh! Grandma sent this to me before I got to meet you and it gave me a glimpse of your fun personality.

I took this picture on my cell phone one day when we went to lunch at McDonald's. You have grown so much since then!

This picture is from the cabin when we were there for Grandpa's 80th birthday celebration. You did not want to leave those horses! I think you must get this from your mom.

You probably won't understand until you are a proud uncle how much it meant to me when you remembered my name and sought me out to play with you when I visited this summer. I was so excited because I realized you remembered me! I am so glad that you are my nephew! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and that you get to eat lots of ice cream. I love you!

Steve in a box!

Andrea, I don't mean to brag, but....

2,000 words!!!

Typing Test

Or not.... :)

The best place to go after the dentist!

If the sight of this box doesn’t make your mouth water and bring a smile to your face, you really should come to visit me! It's a Boston icon!

It’s a long (and boring) story how I came to have a dentist in the North End, since I live about 30 miles away. But it definitely has its side benefits! I did feel (a LITTLE) guilty going straight to Mike’s Pastry after leaving the dentist. But I dare anyone to go there and then have the willpower to walk by it without going in! The North End is Boston’s Italian neighborhood, and has some of the yummiest food I’ve eaten. Mike’s Pastry is definitely high up there on the list! I’d say it even makes up for having to go to the dentist.

Its a beautiful fall day in New Hamp-cha

Happy Birthday to my bestest littlest sister!

Lisa,

In September 1979 I started kindergarten and turned five. But what stands out more than anything during that time is how excited I was to have a new sister. I had decided that you would be a girl and that your name would be Alisa. I couldn't wait for you to come to our family! The day you were born I stayed at our neighbor's house, the Ormes'. When Mom called to say that I had a new sister (I knew it!!) I was estatic when she told me that she also named you my favorite name, Alisa! Wow! As you can guess, I heard wrong. :) Lisa's a much better name for you anyway, I just didn't realize it yet!

You are my only sibling that I remember being born. I remember going with Dad to pick you up from the hospital. I was fascinated with your long fingers! When you were a baby I had the chance to hold you and feed you once in a while and that was a great privilege to me. You were such a beautiful and sweet girl. You brought so much sunshine to our house. I remember when you would wake up from naps Mom would be worried about us waking you, and you always, always woke up smiling. I had so much fun being your older sister. I always felt so much love from you. One day, I think I was in 4th grade, I came home from school crying because my best friend Erin and I had been in a big fight. You asked me why I was sad, and as I told you, still crying, you hugged me and were crying too. I couldn't believe my little sister cared so much about me having a bad day!

Through most of my teen years, we shared a room. I didn't spend much time thinking about how it was for you (sorry!) but you were a great roommate for me. I had fun sharing a room with you and you never complained about my New Kids on the Block posters or the music I listened to every night. You were so easy to share with that I wonder looking back how many times I drove you crazy that you never said anything about!

When I moved away for school, I remember feeling that you were so proud of me and that meant a lot to me. During my really lame "I'm too cool for everything now that I'm an 18 year-old college student" phase, I had no idea how sucky this attitude would be for an adoring 13 year-old sister. I wish I could rewind time and that I would have stayed closer to you during those years. I just want you to know that I have always loved you very much even when I have not been good at showing it.

It was such an amazing experience when you became a mom. I loved seeing you with Carolyn and how much happiness it brought you to see her with your family. You brought our family closer by your love of sharing your beautiful daughter with us. I have never seen you happier than when you were introducing your each of your new children to us.

The picture above is from when you and Bella visited me in Boston. It was so great to have you here and to show you around the city. I'm glad we had that chance to spend some time together, and that it also led to us running a marathon together two years later. That was an awesome experience for me that I will never forget.



I'm so glad that you are my sister and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday!

Love you!

Christina

PS- We must have some elephants to celebrate this special day also!

Endamame is salty goodness!

Its tough to drink at a Japanese restaurant!

Medfield

When I was visiting my family in July, my Aunt Barbara asked me what the town I live in is like and told me she would like to see pictures. So one evening in August I took a walk and took these pictures. They are all taken in an area of about two blocks around where I live. I am posting them so the rest of my family can see what the town I live in looks like also! I like Medfield a lot. I chose to live there because it was pretty close to the town I worked in when I moved here and the first time I drove through it, it looked like my picture of a New England town. I also thought it was great that the library is right on the corner of my street and the main street!



1. The building I live in
2. The field across from my building, mostly used for lacrosse
3. The front lawn of the complex I live in
4. Sunflowers from a neighbor's yard
5. A church on my street
6. Medfield town hall
7. Hardware store
8. Library
9. An old house across from the white church
10. Lord's department store
11. Unique building on the corner of my street
12. Medfield common
13. Another church on my street
14. Pleasant Street sign
15. Clouds as the sun was setting

Happy birthday Jeff!

Steve's nephew Jeff just turned 2 on September 21 and we celebrated his birthday today. He was running around the house and jumping up and down most of the time we were there, I think he was excited to have visitors! We thought he looked very cute in his Red Sox hat!

Steve and I love this song!

I should warn you though... if you listen to this song... it will pop in your head at random times and you might find yourself singing it unexpectedly, even years later!

New playlist

I just posted a new playlist with some songs I like right now, in case you'd like to check it out! My guess is that my mom won't like it (no need to check it Mom!), and Merlin probably will (since we seem to share the same taste in music. Sorry no Red Hot Chili Peppers on this one though!). Happy Friday everyone!

The Green Monsta

I was lucky to be able to go to a Red Sox game at Fenway park last night. One of our vendors took me and my boss. There is something magical about Fenway park, it has such a great atmosphere. We were also fortunate to have terrific seats- we were right behind the visiting team dugout, about 6 rows back. We were so close that it was hard to take a good picture of the whole baseball field, so I took this picture of the Green Monster instead. I like how the scores are still posted manually, I think it looks neat. Happily, the Red Sox won too!

Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard

Steve and I went to Martha's Vineyard for my birthday weekend (at least I thought that was a good excuse to go there!). :) We stayed in Edgartown which is my favorite town on Martha's Vineyard. The houses there are mostly white with black trim or grey shingles with white trim. The town is very picturesque and right by the water (of course!). The weather was beautiful and I had a great weekend. Steve, thank you for celebrating my birthday with me and for all that you did for me!

Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are two of my favorite places. I wish I would bring them with me to visit my family in the summer so that you could see them too! I will happily take anyone who visits me there to see them. :)


This is the hotel where we stayed.


A view of the harbor from Edgartown.



This is the house that I want when I am a gazillionaire! It is so beautiful and right on the water.

Gingerbread house at Oaks Bluff

This is one of the gingerbread houses in Oaks Bluff. Near the center of town there is an area with an outdoor tabernacle and many small cottages decorated in bright colors. There was a Methodist association that used to have camp meetings on this site. Over time families started leasing tent areas and then building cottages on their tent site. The way that the cottages are decorated they look like brightly painted dollhouses. This made me think of my mom when I saw them, I thought she would get a kick out of seeing them.

South Beach

I think South Beach on Martha's Vineyard is my favorite beach that I have been to so far! The summer that I discovered it I went there two days in a row even though it took me 3+ hours one way! The reason I love it so much is that there is an undertow near the beach that makes really neat crashing waves. I love the sound of it! I think that the sand dunes are really pretty too.

Cliffs at Aquinnah

Thanks to my family for making this a special day!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I love you very much!

My brother posted this picture and I loved it so much I wanted to post it too. I think we were all such cute kids. :) We were great friends growing up also.

My mom makes my birthday very special and I will write more about this later. For now I wanted to say thanks to my family, I have brought you all with me in spirit to Martha's Vineyard and wish you could be here with me too!

The Patriots' Good Looking QB

I mentioned to my friend Todd that I thought that Matt Cassel was very good looking and he sent me this picture of him in high school. It cracks me up every time I look at it so I thought I would post it! What a perfect 90's 'do! I think Zach on Saved by the Bell would have been jealous! My brother might have been going for a tamer version of this style in high school too. :) (Correct me if I'm wrong Robert!) For everyone not living in New England who might not know who Matt Cassel is, here is what he looks like now:



I feel really bad that Tom Brady is hurt, but I think that Matt is much better looking! This is about the depth of my thoughts about football, which is another indication I must be missing the football gene.

I have the best brother!!

I was just looking for my brother's email address to write him an email to thank him and found this picture that he sent to me. I like this picture and decided I want to tell everyone how great my brother is instead of just telling him! I know Robert would do anything he could for me- he has helped me so many times. My funniest memory is of the day that I broke the side mirror off my new (to me) Accord. I was really upset because I felt awful for damaging a car that Paul and I had just bought. I broke it on the way to taking Merlin to see Monsters Inc. Coincidentally Robert and his family were at the same movie! I told him how upset I was and he told me that he would be happy to help me fix it. I went to Home Depot and bought several types of glue hoping that we could glue the mirror back on! :) Needless to say, it didn't work, but Robert spent hours trying to help me. I ended up buying a mirror from a junkyard and Robert also helped me put it on. This is just one example, but there are many ways he has helped me and has shown support to me throughout my life. It meant a lot to me how much he wanted to drive with me across the country when I moved to Boston even though it would have been a big sacrifice for him at that time. I can't even remember how many times he offered to go with me! I also love to see my brother with his sons, they love their dad so much and I am so proud of what a great dad he is. I love you Robert!

Just the reminder I needed today!

"I am the perpetrator of my suffering, but only all of it." -Byron Katie

Happy birthday Allyson!

My niece Allyson is turning 2 today! She is growing up so quickly, I am always amazed by how much she changes every time I see her. I had fun with her in July hearing her say lots of new words like "awesome." Allyson, I hope you have an awesome birthday!

The best book I've read in a long time

First of all thanks my sister Lisa for getting me to read this book even though she didn’t realize it! :) Lisa is in school and my mom mentioned to me that she was reading a book by Ayn Rand. I have thought about reading a book by her for a long time, but always seem to put it off. I vaguely remember hearing that Ayn Rand was a radical author and being told that I wouldn’t like her books. That made me curious about them, but I’ve never followed through on reading any of her books. I figured that this was a good chance because I could talk about the book with my sister once we both finished. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember which book Lisa was reading and I chose The Fountainhead while she is reading Atlas Shrugged. In the end, I’m really glad I read this book anyway. I will definitely read Atlas Shrugged so we can still talk about it sometime!

One of the reasons that I thought this was a great novel is that it really made me think. Ayn Rand wrote it to illustrate her philosophy, and while there are aspects that I agree with and aspects that I don’t, it caused me to really reflect on what I thought about it. It has been a while since I read a book like that. What I thought was the core message of the book (and one I agree with) is the importance of remaining true to yourself no matter what happens to you, and how rare it is to really remain true to yourself. Another theme of the book is how easily public opinion is led and how many people tend to follow public opinion. The side I don’t agree with is the extreme extent of independence it seems to advocate or the level of importance and value placed on men’s individual achievements (i.e. designing a great building) vs. appreciation of the majestic beauty in nature.

An interesting side effect I experienced while reading this book was the reactions I got from people who saw me reading it. One day the man sitting next to me on the train asked me what I was reading and then said “Isn’t that a Nazi book or something?” What?!?! I’m can’t imagine where he got that idea but it reminded me of how I had a vague feeling that she was considered dangerous but had not been able to remember anything other than that. The cashier at Starbucks when he saw my book told me to be careful, that he had been mean for a year after reading it. I thought that was an interesting reaction also, but I’m happy to say I don’t feel any meaner after reading it! If nothing else, you can still see over 50 years after Ayn Rand wrote this book that she succeeded in provoking people which I think can be a positive thing.

I'm back on the train!

School is back in which means crazy traffic. So, I'm back to riding the train. I love it! It's so much easier than fighting the traffic. I have a feeling that my love for the train might mellow with the cold weather. So I'm recording why I think it is so great now so I can remind myself in the winter. :)

1. I can read during my commute!
2. I know exactly when to expect to arrive instead of planning on one hour and having it take two for no apparent reason.
3. I feel so grown up getting on the commuter rail with all those business people. :)
4. I might actually drive a reasonable amount of miles per year, unlike the 20,000 I put on Phillipe in his first year.
5. I have no temptation to yell bad words at anyone on the train, unlike how I feel when I'm driving.
6. I can play Guitar Hero on my way to work! Possibly someday I will be able to beat Steve's nephew even!
7. My boss thinks its great that I am taking the train because I can work during my commute. I think its great that she thinks I would work and not read or play Guitar Hero. ;)
8. Many less trips to the gas station which means many less $70 charges on my credit card.
9. You can hear the best Boston accents on the T.

For some reason, more than any of the above reasons, I just enjoy being on the train. Maybe I inherited my dad's love of trains. Or maybe my mom had something to do with it to- I remember her coming back from a trip to CA when I was in high school and she had enjoyed riding the train around the city and I thought that was really cool. On my first visit to Boston I bought a 3-day pass and took the "T" all around Boston. I thought it was so amazing that you could easily go anywhere you wanted to go. Its crowded and noisy but for some reason its fun and its great for people watching. I take the commuter rail for most of the way which is more quiet and has better seats. Then in Boston I transfer to the Red Line on the T and take it for a few stops into Cambridge. On the way there is a great view of the city. I think my co-workers think I'm crazy for liking the train, but so far I really do!

Thinking of my 21-year-old self

September 10 is confusing day for me. It used to be a day to celebrate, because Paul and I were married on on that day in 1996. On this day I can't help but think about that and have so many mixed emotions. I have such happy memories of that day, and it feels like a special day. On the other hand, I feel a little melancholy that things turned out so differently than I would have imagined and that this is now an anniversary of a marriage that no longer exists. This morning I was thinking about it and thought of a cheesy movie that I really like, The Kid. In that movie, the main character gets meet his 8-year-old self and talk to him. If I had the chance to talk to myself at 21, about to get married, I don't think I would tell her much, I would just give her a big hug and congratulate her. The only advice I would give her is to never take anyone you love for granted and to try to enjoy each moment and not worry so much about the future. I would also tell her to be thankful for her strong 21 year old body and lack of wrinkles 'cause that definitely doesn't last! :) Even knowing how everything turned out, I wouldn't change a thing. I am thankful that I married Paul, and I am thankful for my life as it is now. I really hope he feels the same way even though I know we both went through some very hard times. I think that we both grew a lot through our experiences together.

Hooray for moving day!!

I have a new home at work! I am so excited to be here. My original cube was in a very busy area and the noise was a big challenge for me. Now I am in a quiet area, with a window! It makes a big difference for me to be able to see the sun. Plus for some reason I love the sound of the traffic below even though it sounds like I am contradicting myself about wanting it to be quiet. :) It is more white noise than distracting noise. The picture shows my view- the building you see is a Residence Inn. I've heard that from time to time other employees have seen some pretty interesting things from the windows of the Residence Inn. I promise to keep you posted if I see anything good! :)

Taking a break

Thanks for reading my blog! :) I need a break for a while so this will be all for now.

Steve's brother has my fantasy backyard!

Happy birthday Brendan!

Today is my nephew Brendan's 6th birthday. He is such a great kid! I wish I could describe his personality adequately because he is so cute. He can be shy when you talk to him (especially if you try to take his picture) but then you will see a big smile on his face. He has such a big heart and I am so glad he is my nephew. Happy birthday Brendan! I love you!

I want to be more like this

Steve and I just arrived in Buffalo. We are here to visit his brother and family who moved here a few years ago. Just as we sat down on the plane, a baby started to cry in the row in front of us. I tensed up and started thinking that we were unlucky to be by the crying baby. I closed my eyes and tried to wish the noise away. All the sudden I heard the cutest laughing. The baby was giggling! At Steve! Steve was making funny faces at him and the baby loved it. Soon everyone around us was watching Steve and this adorable baby making funny faces at each other. The father kept saying thank you to Steve. It was such a cute moment and really made me think about what a difference a positive way of approaching a situation can make, which is a reminder I seem to need often. Thank you Steve!

Mt. Air