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.