following our "last supper" style dinner, karen and i went to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine). in fact, janine invited everyone back to her place after our dinner at joe's american bar and grill. so in addition to karen and myself, my friends (jen, hot amy and andrea) went back to her place as did my friends (pam, ed, and their children: owen and keira). that's a lot of people. and as my favorite brother-in-law (pj) would ask... "where would all the people sit?"
needless to say, things were quite interesting at janine and pj's. my nephew (pj) was very good at sharing and playing with owen and keira. i think my niece (kaleigh), however, was more into dancing like hannah montana.
(the video below is of jen, hot amy, karen, kaleigh and pj dancing like hannah montana... complete with hannah montana wigs.)
anyway, everyone seemed to be having a great time. i felt a little bad because... as much fun as it was tonight... i was just not feeling the happy vibes myself tonight. i sometimes wonder if my jekyll and hyde personality will ever go away. ever since my son (braden) passed away three months ago, i seem to go 180 degrees from being a wreck to being normal at the snap of a finger. maybe it is the holidays. maybe it is seeing the joy that other people have with their own children. i don't know. unfortunately, tonight was one of those nights where i guess i would be labeled the "party pooper".
i think making me feel worse was the fact that janine got an ice cream cake for me... to celebrate my snow stormed birthday from last week. she thought it would be a good idea to celebrate my birthday today with a bunch of friends. sadly, not even that could shake my mood. needless to say, i felt a little bad for that.
following the ice cream cake celebration, we started to play the nintendo wii. for anyone who knows me, they would know that i love video games. unfortunately, not even video games could shake my mood. granted, i don't really consider the wii a gaming console, as it is targeted to the non-gaming crowd... so maybe that is why i remained in my blase mood.
anyway, we played guitar hero on the wii. now i suck at guitar hero... but as it turned out... i don't suck as badly as andrea. in andrea's defense, it was the first time she ever played guitar hero... truth be told, she was not that terrible considering it was the first time she played it.
surprisingly enough, hot amy was very good at guitar hero. like karen, i was completely shocked when hot amy played it for the first time. if you have ever seen hot amy dance... or do things that require any sort of coordination... you would know that she is not exactly the first person you would pick to be on your team. but, she was actually very good. karen thinks that hot amy's piano lesson background may be a reason for her mad guitar hero skills.
don't get me wrong, i could still beat hot amy in a guitar hero challenge. i may, however, feel a little more trepidation than usual because i could actually lose that challenge... that is how potential good at guitar hero hot amy could be. luckily, i don't think i will have to worry about a guitar hero challenge. i think hot amy is more interested in challenging me to a wii tennis match, probably because she won't have to break a sweat and run after the tennis ball in a real match. sure, i'm at a disadvantage because i don't own a wii like hot amy... but then again, i didn't play tennis in high school like hot amy either. so, i'm still feeling pretty confident about my chances.
plus, i think the whole guitar hero challenge is between hot amy and her bff, andrea. let's just say andrea... apparently is a little competitive and seems to not like being second fiddle (or guitar) to hot amy when it comes to guitar hero. andrea kept playing guitar hero until she could finish at least 25% of the song (hot amy had no problem finishing 25% of the song). and for the record... the song "slow ride"... very annoying now. i will probably hear that song in my sleep tonight...
anyway, it was a nice time at janine and pj's. as much fun as it was, i do wish i could have been in better spirits tonight. this dual persona that i have been feeling is definitely weird. i'm going away on a cruise monday and you would think that i would be all excited and whatnot. normally, i am... and at times i am... just for some reason i have been quite apathetic of late. the apathy annoys me.
hopefully things will turn around before the cruise.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
I Still Suck At Joe's American Bar And Grill
tonight, karen and i went out to dinner at joe's american bar and grill located in hanover. now, i still suck at joe's american bar and grill. it's been a little over two weeks since i was last at that restaurant. prior to that, i don't remember the last time i was at joe's american bar and grill.
anyway, one of the reasons why we were going there was because my friend (pam) was up from bon jovi's home state of new jersey. as pam was up visiting, she wanted to get together with everyone. thus, she organized the little get together which included my friends (jen, hot amy, andrea) and my favorite sister-in-law (janine).
it was a good thing that pam made reservations because there were a lot of us attending the dinner. i believe there were 13 of us... total (pam and her family, janine and her family, andrea, hot amy, jen, karen, and i). the dinner table was quite interesting... as we were seated at a long rectangular table, reminiscent of christ's last supper table.
for anyone who knows me, they know that i have a preference for round tables when it comes to large groups. i realize round tables are not practical for a restaurant because of the amount of space they require. nonetheless, i think round tables are more conducive to everyone partaking in the same conversation. generally from my experience, what usually happens is that one end of the table is talking about one thing while the other end of the table is talking about something else. even though my nephew (pj) came down to talk to hot amy numerous times, i would say that the aforementioned situation was the case tonight.
even though that was the case, it was nice because i got to talk to jen and hot amy as they were down by my end of the table. i really have not seen or spoken to either of them in quite some time. prior to seeing jen on christmas eve, i have not seen her since her pre-thanksgiving get-together. similarly, i have not seen hot amy since the same pre-thanksgiving get-together.
unfortunately, i didn't get much of a chance to talk with pam as she was down closer to the other end of the table... which was too bad... seeing as how she organized the dinner so that she could see everyone.
anyway, the food was delicious. although joe's did not have the butternut squash ravioli special that both karen and i loved the last time, they had a scallop special... served on spinach with rice pilaf. it was very good (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound). of course, i ate part of karen's turkey dinner as well... that was good too.
at the end of the dinner, it was a little funny. pj (my nephew, not my favorite brother-in-law... pj) asked pj (my favorite brother-in-law, not my nephew) for some money to give to hot amy. i wonder where my nephew learned about paying women... nonetheless, it was cute. (my nephew has a little crush on hot amy... and really... who doesn't? she has the moniker "hot" after all.)
all in all, it was a good time.
anyway, one of the reasons why we were going there was because my friend (pam) was up from bon jovi's home state of new jersey. as pam was up visiting, she wanted to get together with everyone. thus, she organized the little get together which included my friends (jen, hot amy, andrea) and my favorite sister-in-law (janine).
it was a good thing that pam made reservations because there were a lot of us attending the dinner. i believe there were 13 of us... total (pam and her family, janine and her family, andrea, hot amy, jen, karen, and i). the dinner table was quite interesting... as we were seated at a long rectangular table, reminiscent of christ's last supper table.
for anyone who knows me, they know that i have a preference for round tables when it comes to large groups. i realize round tables are not practical for a restaurant because of the amount of space they require. nonetheless, i think round tables are more conducive to everyone partaking in the same conversation. generally from my experience, what usually happens is that one end of the table is talking about one thing while the other end of the table is talking about something else. even though my nephew (pj) came down to talk to hot amy numerous times, i would say that the aforementioned situation was the case tonight.
even though that was the case, it was nice because i got to talk to jen and hot amy as they were down by my end of the table. i really have not seen or spoken to either of them in quite some time. prior to seeing jen on christmas eve, i have not seen her since her pre-thanksgiving get-together. similarly, i have not seen hot amy since the same pre-thanksgiving get-together.
unfortunately, i didn't get much of a chance to talk with pam as she was down closer to the other end of the table... which was too bad... seeing as how she organized the dinner so that she could see everyone.
anyway, the food was delicious. although joe's did not have the butternut squash ravioli special that both karen and i loved the last time, they had a scallop special... served on spinach with rice pilaf. it was very good (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound). of course, i ate part of karen's turkey dinner as well... that was good too.
at the end of the dinner, it was a little funny. pj (my nephew, not my favorite brother-in-law... pj) asked pj (my favorite brother-in-law, not my nephew) for some money to give to hot amy. i wonder where my nephew learned about paying women... nonetheless, it was cute. (my nephew has a little crush on hot amy... and really... who doesn't? she has the moniker "hot" after all.)
all in all, it was a good time.
Friday, December 26, 2008
I Suck At The Union Brew House
tonight was quite the spontaneous night.
apparently, karen had plans with my friends (jen and joanna). so i would be home by my lonesome while karen partied it up with the ladies. as it turned out, while i was working today... my friend (andrea) contacted me via instant messenger. (you have to love the power of instant messenger.) andrea asked if i wanted to go to the union brew house tonight. naturally, i suck at the union brew house. i have never been to union brew house. and since i'm always up for something new, i figured i'd give it the old college try.
for anyone curious, the union brew house is located in weymouth on route 53... near the fork that leads to bj's wholesale. the union brew house is tiny... with very little parking. andrea, after picking me up after work, parked in the parking lot across the street at the boston sports club. apparently, andrea had visited the union brew house on a whim one night and thoroughly enjoyed herself. thus, we decided to go there tonight.
i must say, the place is quite interesting. i believe the union brew house prides itself on having 99 varieties of beer available... as evident from the menu and the t-shirts that the bartenders wore. and, as andrea would describe the place, the union brew house is like quincy... only not.
interestingly enough, andrea was totally correct in that the union brew house was like quincy... only not. the bartender tonight happened to be someone i graduated high school with. i believe his name was brian. in addition, i saw some other familiar quincy faces who went to my high school (kevin, jack, and kurt). it was definitely interesting to say the least. (kevin, by the way, recommends going to brew house on a tuesday when the fireplace is going and the place is not as crowded.)
nonetheless, i had a good time. the music was pretty good... 80s tunes... for which i totally am a fan of... and the beer selection was quite intriguing. i tried red stripe, a jamaican beer, for the first time. my boss from my previous company had loved red stripe. he used to rave about it, so i figured i would try it. needless to say, i will probably never try red stripe again. red stripe was not that good. instead, the smuttynose old brown dog ale and the gritty mcduff's pale ale were far more enjoyable. (yes, i chose the beer because of the name.)
as for the food, the food was quite good. granted, i only ate part of andrea's food as i had already eaten beforehand... but what i did have was very delicious (fries and part of her sandwich). needless to say, i enjoyed myself tonight. it was definitely a fun time to hang out with andrea. i don't think i have actually hung out with just andrea before. it was a welcomed change. (i'm not sure if she thought the same thing, but i did have a good time.) plus, i got to witness firsthand the type of men that andrea was interested in... as there were a handful to choose from.
all in all, i'm glad i had the opportunity tonight to hang out with andrea. i definitely don't hang out with her as much as i should... which is a shame. anyway, i hope she was able to enjoy herself as well tonight.
apparently, karen had plans with my friends (jen and joanna). so i would be home by my lonesome while karen partied it up with the ladies. as it turned out, while i was working today... my friend (andrea) contacted me via instant messenger. (you have to love the power of instant messenger.) andrea asked if i wanted to go to the union brew house tonight. naturally, i suck at the union brew house. i have never been to union brew house. and since i'm always up for something new, i figured i'd give it the old college try.
for anyone curious, the union brew house is located in weymouth on route 53... near the fork that leads to bj's wholesale. the union brew house is tiny... with very little parking. andrea, after picking me up after work, parked in the parking lot across the street at the boston sports club. apparently, andrea had visited the union brew house on a whim one night and thoroughly enjoyed herself. thus, we decided to go there tonight.
i must say, the place is quite interesting. i believe the union brew house prides itself on having 99 varieties of beer available... as evident from the menu and the t-shirts that the bartenders wore. and, as andrea would describe the place, the union brew house is like quincy... only not.
interestingly enough, andrea was totally correct in that the union brew house was like quincy... only not. the bartender tonight happened to be someone i graduated high school with. i believe his name was brian. in addition, i saw some other familiar quincy faces who went to my high school (kevin, jack, and kurt). it was definitely interesting to say the least. (kevin, by the way, recommends going to brew house on a tuesday when the fireplace is going and the place is not as crowded.)
nonetheless, i had a good time. the music was pretty good... 80s tunes... for which i totally am a fan of... and the beer selection was quite intriguing. i tried red stripe, a jamaican beer, for the first time. my boss from my previous company had loved red stripe. he used to rave about it, so i figured i would try it. needless to say, i will probably never try red stripe again. red stripe was not that good. instead, the smuttynose old brown dog ale and the gritty mcduff's pale ale were far more enjoyable. (yes, i chose the beer because of the name.)
as for the food, the food was quite good. granted, i only ate part of andrea's food as i had already eaten beforehand... but what i did have was very delicious (fries and part of her sandwich). needless to say, i enjoyed myself tonight. it was definitely a fun time to hang out with andrea. i don't think i have actually hung out with just andrea before. it was a welcomed change. (i'm not sure if she thought the same thing, but i did have a good time.) plus, i got to witness firsthand the type of men that andrea was interested in... as there were a handful to choose from.
all in all, i'm glad i had the opportunity tonight to hang out with andrea. i definitely don't hang out with her as much as i should... which is a shame. anyway, i hope she was able to enjoy herself as well tonight.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
I Suck At Christmas
today is christmas. merry christmas everyone!
too bad i suck at christmas. i'm surprised i didn't get coal in my stocking because the holidays have definitely been tough this year. as an interesting side note, the whole "coal in the stocking" has some derivation in italian folklore with a character called la befana.
according to my friend wikipedia:
"Christian legend has it that La Befana was approached by the astrologers (the biblical three kings) a few days before Christ's birth. They asked for directions to where the Christ child was, but she did not know. She provided them with shelter for a night, as she was considered the best housekeeper in the village with the most pleasant home. They invited her to join them on the journey to find the Christ child, but she declined, stating she was too busy with her housework. Later, La Befana had a change of heart, and tried to search out the astrologers and the Christ child. That night she was not able to find them, so to this day, La Befana is searching for the Christ child. She leaves all the good children toys and candy, while the bad children get coal or bags of ashes."
it's obviously folklore because men would never ask for directions. just kidding.
anyway, karen and i started off our day with a visit to the cemetery to see our son (braden) who passed away three months ago. i wanted to get braden a little present this year, but unfortunately i could not find the right present. in my bouts of insanity, i might have to settle for what i call... a gnome protector... which is basically a gnome lawn ornament, placed on braden's marker... to watch and protect over him.
needless to say, it was a tough moment for me. it probably goes without saying that a few tears were shed. truth be told, i probably could have spent the entire day at the cemetery with my son and i would have been content.
from there, we headed to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine). janine usually hosts the family on christmas day. and by family, i mean karen's parents and grandparents. it was great to see my neice (kaleigh) and nephew (pj). they seemed very excited about today.
(the picture below is of a penguin.)
it so happens that this year was the year that karen and i saved... and ruined... christmas. kaleigh really wanted this particular toy that created cupcakes. the toy also decorated the cupcakes as well. kaleigh was slightly disappointed that santa did not give her that toy this morning. but lo' and behold, imagine her surprise when she unwrapped her present from her auntie and uncle. it was great watching the joy on her face when she opened her present. for that matter, it was equally enjoyable to watch pj open his present from us as well. (we got him a robot kit. pj loves robots.) yeah, we thought we were the cool aunt and uncle... until later when kaleigh had a little episode over the cupcake making/decorating toy. kaleigh was simply over tired... it is, after all, a lot of excitement in one day for a child.
anyway, from there karen and i went to my parents for dinner. i may have to figure out something for next year because there's just too much food to consume in a given day... between janine's and my parents'. nonetheless, it was nice to see my parents and my cousin (betty) and her son (marvin).
i even got a chance to speak with my brother on the phone to wish him merry christmas. (my brother lives in texas.) i don't know what it is. don't get me wrong, i love my brother. it just seems like i have nothing to talk to him about. our lives seem to be at vastly different points. i sometimes even think that he isn't quite sure about what to say to me because he is at a loss for words himself when it comes to his nephew, braden.
it's a bummer, i guess. i actually almost started to cry again when my mom gave me her present. my mom told karen and i that she wanted to get us something nice this year... but she didn't know what to get... so she gave us "lucky money", a tradition where cash is inserted in red envelopes. just the look in my mother's eyes of wanting to do more for karen and i got me a little choked up. i guess that is also why she sent us home with a lot of alcohol tonight... not that she wants us to drink ourselves silly... but because she just wants to give us something.
i don't know. all in all, it has been quite the emotional christmas for me. hopefully, next year will be a little more joyous. anyway, merry christmas everyone!
too bad i suck at christmas. i'm surprised i didn't get coal in my stocking because the holidays have definitely been tough this year. as an interesting side note, the whole "coal in the stocking" has some derivation in italian folklore with a character called la befana.
according to my friend wikipedia:
"Christian legend has it that La Befana was approached by the astrologers (the biblical three kings) a few days before Christ's birth. They asked for directions to where the Christ child was, but she did not know. She provided them with shelter for a night, as she was considered the best housekeeper in the village with the most pleasant home. They invited her to join them on the journey to find the Christ child, but she declined, stating she was too busy with her housework. Later, La Befana had a change of heart, and tried to search out the astrologers and the Christ child. That night she was not able to find them, so to this day, La Befana is searching for the Christ child. She leaves all the good children toys and candy, while the bad children get coal or bags of ashes."
it's obviously folklore because men would never ask for directions. just kidding.
anyway, karen and i started off our day with a visit to the cemetery to see our son (braden) who passed away three months ago. i wanted to get braden a little present this year, but unfortunately i could not find the right present. in my bouts of insanity, i might have to settle for what i call... a gnome protector... which is basically a gnome lawn ornament, placed on braden's marker... to watch and protect over him.
needless to say, it was a tough moment for me. it probably goes without saying that a few tears were shed. truth be told, i probably could have spent the entire day at the cemetery with my son and i would have been content.
from there, we headed to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine). janine usually hosts the family on christmas day. and by family, i mean karen's parents and grandparents. it was great to see my neice (kaleigh) and nephew (pj). they seemed very excited about today.
(the picture below is of a penguin.)
it so happens that this year was the year that karen and i saved... and ruined... christmas. kaleigh really wanted this particular toy that created cupcakes. the toy also decorated the cupcakes as well. kaleigh was slightly disappointed that santa did not give her that toy this morning. but lo' and behold, imagine her surprise when she unwrapped her present from her auntie and uncle. it was great watching the joy on her face when she opened her present. for that matter, it was equally enjoyable to watch pj open his present from us as well. (we got him a robot kit. pj loves robots.) yeah, we thought we were the cool aunt and uncle... until later when kaleigh had a little episode over the cupcake making/decorating toy. kaleigh was simply over tired... it is, after all, a lot of excitement in one day for a child.
anyway, from there karen and i went to my parents for dinner. i may have to figure out something for next year because there's just too much food to consume in a given day... between janine's and my parents'. nonetheless, it was nice to see my parents and my cousin (betty) and her son (marvin).
i even got a chance to speak with my brother on the phone to wish him merry christmas. (my brother lives in texas.) i don't know what it is. don't get me wrong, i love my brother. it just seems like i have nothing to talk to him about. our lives seem to be at vastly different points. i sometimes even think that he isn't quite sure about what to say to me because he is at a loss for words himself when it comes to his nephew, braden.
it's a bummer, i guess. i actually almost started to cry again when my mom gave me her present. my mom told karen and i that she wanted to get us something nice this year... but she didn't know what to get... so she gave us "lucky money", a tradition where cash is inserted in red envelopes. just the look in my mother's eyes of wanting to do more for karen and i got me a little choked up. i guess that is also why she sent us home with a lot of alcohol tonight... not that she wants us to drink ourselves silly... but because she just wants to give us something.
i don't know. all in all, it has been quite the emotional christmas for me. hopefully, next year will be a little more joyous. anyway, merry christmas everyone!
I Still Suck At Celebrating My Friend's Birthday
today, our savior was born... my friend (anna). happy birthday anna! too bad i still suck at celebrating my friend's birthday.
for anyone curious, the savior known as jesus (and not anna) was not actually born today. christmas was originally a pagan holiday called saturnalia. according to my friend wikipedia, "Christians in the fourth century assigned December 25 (the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar) as Christ's birthday (and thus Christmas) because pagans already observed this day as a holiday."
i imagine it must have been interesting having a birthday on december 25th. after all, i wonder... did anna get birthday presents in addition to christmas presents... or did she get a present for both occasions?
whatever the case, i hope anna has a good day today. i've known anna for quite some time... since middle school. in fact, anna has the fine distinction of being the inspiration for my inaugural fantasy football team this year. (i used her name for my team.) unfortunately, my fantasy football team was absolutely awful and did not even make it to christmas... so maybe i will need to rethink the whole anna/christmas/good luck angle next year.
anna also has the fine distinction of receiving a smooch from yours truly... a result, i believe, of the first and only time i have ever played "spin the bottle". i suppose depending on how you look at it... my lips could either be a curse or a blessing. it's probably more of the former because i remember anna freaking out when i had to kiss her. (what can i say, i have that affect on women...)
now before i get too carried away, i should clarify that my succulent lips never touched anna's succulent lips. had i been my friend (cass) at the time, i'm sure there would have been some lip locking as cass was quite the man in middle school. (in fact, i coined the term "casslings" in middle school because cass had such a following...)
anyway, i forget the actual circumstances surrounding the spin the bottle incident. (so i guess the kiss could not have been too memorable.) i have a feeling that there was a party at anna's house or someone's house. and with any party in middle school... a lot of people got invited. being the wild and crazy middle school kids that we were, we decided to play spin the bottle. i spun... the bottle pointed to anna... anna was obviously mortified (again, because i have that affect on women)... and so i ended up kissing her forehead.
that was the first and only time i have played spin the bottle. in the years since, anna has asked me to model her clothes. i should clarify that... by "model her clothes", i mean model the clothes she designs... not model apparel from anna's personal wardrobe... because that would be odd.
a long time ago when we were in college, anna was thinking about going to fashion design school and naturally she thought about asking her doughiest out-of-shape friend to model clothes. of course, i agreed... although i'm hoping she does not design speedos, because that could be bad. anna ended up getting a degree in something "business-y"... and only recently has thought about going back to the fashion world... in which case my modeling services would be needed again. and yes, she's still holding me to my word that i would model for her.
anyway, that's a whole other story. today is anna's birthday. happy birthday again, anna! hope you have a great day.
for anyone curious, the savior known as jesus (and not anna) was not actually born today. christmas was originally a pagan holiday called saturnalia. according to my friend wikipedia, "Christians in the fourth century assigned December 25 (the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar) as Christ's birthday (and thus Christmas) because pagans already observed this day as a holiday."
i imagine it must have been interesting having a birthday on december 25th. after all, i wonder... did anna get birthday presents in addition to christmas presents... or did she get a present for both occasions?
whatever the case, i hope anna has a good day today. i've known anna for quite some time... since middle school. in fact, anna has the fine distinction of being the inspiration for my inaugural fantasy football team this year. (i used her name for my team.) unfortunately, my fantasy football team was absolutely awful and did not even make it to christmas... so maybe i will need to rethink the whole anna/christmas/good luck angle next year.
anna also has the fine distinction of receiving a smooch from yours truly... a result, i believe, of the first and only time i have ever played "spin the bottle". i suppose depending on how you look at it... my lips could either be a curse or a blessing. it's probably more of the former because i remember anna freaking out when i had to kiss her. (what can i say, i have that affect on women...)
now before i get too carried away, i should clarify that my succulent lips never touched anna's succulent lips. had i been my friend (cass) at the time, i'm sure there would have been some lip locking as cass was quite the man in middle school. (in fact, i coined the term "casslings" in middle school because cass had such a following...)
anyway, i forget the actual circumstances surrounding the spin the bottle incident. (so i guess the kiss could not have been too memorable.) i have a feeling that there was a party at anna's house or someone's house. and with any party in middle school... a lot of people got invited. being the wild and crazy middle school kids that we were, we decided to play spin the bottle. i spun... the bottle pointed to anna... anna was obviously mortified (again, because i have that affect on women)... and so i ended up kissing her forehead.
that was the first and only time i have played spin the bottle. in the years since, anna has asked me to model her clothes. i should clarify that... by "model her clothes", i mean model the clothes she designs... not model apparel from anna's personal wardrobe... because that would be odd.
a long time ago when we were in college, anna was thinking about going to fashion design school and naturally she thought about asking her doughiest out-of-shape friend to model clothes. of course, i agreed... although i'm hoping she does not design speedos, because that could be bad. anna ended up getting a degree in something "business-y"... and only recently has thought about going back to the fashion world... in which case my modeling services would be needed again. and yes, she's still holding me to my word that i would model for her.
anyway, that's a whole other story. today is anna's birthday. happy birthday again, anna! hope you have a great day.
I Suck At Christmas Eve
last night, karen and i celebrated christmas eve with our family. for some time now, we have hosted a christmas eve dinner for my parents, karen's parents, and karen's grandparents. in addition to our family, our house has always been open to any friends who wanted to stop by as well. usually, the only friends who consistently take us up on the offer are our friends (jen and bill).
needless to say, last night was no different. karen made a delicious pork roast for everyone, complete with sweet potatoes, rice pilaf, green beans, peas, and gravy. it was very good. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) sadly, i could not have helped in preparing the food because at the time... i was working on moving our shed.
for anyone curious, i actually like to cook... granted, i don't know how to cook, but i like trying. karen ends up doing the majority of the cooking because... well... her food usually turns out better than mine. i think that could be one reason why i like to challenge my friend (hot amy)... because the the loser of the challenge sometimes has to cook something. i am hoping that some day, i can actually cook something. it's too bad hot amy is genetically predisposed to losing.
anyway, i think our family enjoyed the christmas eve dinner. i think karen's mom almost started to cry when karen asked her to knit a stocking for our son (braden) who passed away three months ago. it was a touching moment for me.
(pictured below are my dad, karen's grandfather, and karen's dad.)
anyway, jen and bill also stopped by. it was good to see them. in the past, we usually get a group picture taken on christmas eve of the four of us together. unfortunately, this year we seemed to have forgotten about that tradition. that's too bad. perhaps next year we can resume that.
in addition, my friends (marc and kelley) stopped by. i believe christmas eve is marc's favorite holiday. unfortunately, this year i don't think marc enjoyed his day too much because he spent most of the day at a hotel (the marriott) in quincy. his brother was up from florida and wanted to spend christmas eve at the marriott. that's a bummer. i hope marc had a better time at our place. needless to say, it was very nice to see both of them. i'm glad they made it. kelley and i still have to make plans to watch "resident evil: degeneration". i'll have to remember to plan that some day.
my bff (kerry) was supposed to show up later too for our christmas eve open house. unfortunately, she could not make it. this may sound a little odd, but i'm actually happy for her for not showing up. this christmas eve was the first time in a long while that her father got to spend the holiday with kerry. in fact, i hear her father is actually spending christmas day with her as well. so, it was very nice to know that things went well with kerry and her family. i'm happy that she got to spend it with her father.
anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed their christmas eve yesterday. 'tis the season, right?
needless to say, last night was no different. karen made a delicious pork roast for everyone, complete with sweet potatoes, rice pilaf, green beans, peas, and gravy. it was very good. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) sadly, i could not have helped in preparing the food because at the time... i was working on moving our shed.
for anyone curious, i actually like to cook... granted, i don't know how to cook, but i like trying. karen ends up doing the majority of the cooking because... well... her food usually turns out better than mine. i think that could be one reason why i like to challenge my friend (hot amy)... because the the loser of the challenge sometimes has to cook something. i am hoping that some day, i can actually cook something. it's too bad hot amy is genetically predisposed to losing.
anyway, i think our family enjoyed the christmas eve dinner. i think karen's mom almost started to cry when karen asked her to knit a stocking for our son (braden) who passed away three months ago. it was a touching moment for me.
(pictured below are my dad, karen's grandfather, and karen's dad.)
anyway, jen and bill also stopped by. it was good to see them. in the past, we usually get a group picture taken on christmas eve of the four of us together. unfortunately, this year we seemed to have forgotten about that tradition. that's too bad. perhaps next year we can resume that.
in addition, my friends (marc and kelley) stopped by. i believe christmas eve is marc's favorite holiday. unfortunately, this year i don't think marc enjoyed his day too much because he spent most of the day at a hotel (the marriott) in quincy. his brother was up from florida and wanted to spend christmas eve at the marriott. that's a bummer. i hope marc had a better time at our place. needless to say, it was very nice to see both of them. i'm glad they made it. kelley and i still have to make plans to watch "resident evil: degeneration". i'll have to remember to plan that some day.
my bff (kerry) was supposed to show up later too for our christmas eve open house. unfortunately, she could not make it. this may sound a little odd, but i'm actually happy for her for not showing up. this christmas eve was the first time in a long while that her father got to spend the holiday with kerry. in fact, i hear her father is actually spending christmas day with her as well. so, it was very nice to know that things went well with kerry and her family. i'm happy that she got to spend it with her father.
anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed their christmas eve yesterday. 'tis the season, right?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I Suck At Moving A Shed
after a pleasant breakfast with my friends this morning, i did what any normal person would do on christmas eve... i moved a shed. now, i suck at moving a shed. luckily, i did not have to move the shed by myself. i had a little help from the contractor.
for anyone curious, my neighbor is installing a new septic system because they never passed title 5. as it turns out, according to the land survey, my shed was on my neighbor's property by about two feet (1 foot 9 inches to be precise). unfortunately, neither karen nor i knew about the infringement because when we bought the house... the shed was already there. the shed was to have been moved when our own septic system was installed. that was almost seven years ago.
anyway, the contractor (george) asked if i could move the shed today so that he could finish installing the septic system. george also offered to help in the actual moving of the shed because he probably figured that i would have no means of moving the shed by myself... given the quick time frame.
so, the two of us attempted to move the shed today. the plan was to run straps around the base of the shed... connect the straps at the top of the roof with a chain... and connect the chain to the barrel of the excavator, which is a machine that digs or "excavates" (the machine has been sitting in my neighbor's yard for quite some time). from there, the excavator would lift the shed slightly off the ground... and over to its new location.
well... i climbed up onto the roof of the shed to shovel off all of the accumulated snow while george shoveled near the base of the shed. (i accidentally dropped a huge amount of snow on george because i did not know where he was standing at the time. i felt a little bad about that.) and for anyone curious... sitting on the roof... trying to shovel... not fun... especially when you have to sit on the roof with wet ice cold underwear. (i need better insulated pants, i guess.)
after running the straps beneath the base of the shed, we connected the straps to the chain. and from there, we were able to connect the chain to the barrel of the excavator. i would have loved to have driven the excavator, but i didn't know george that well to ask him if i could drive it.
anyway, it took us numerous attempts to actually move the shed. while george operated the excavator, i attempted to move and guide the shed to its new location. george must have thought i was a muscle-bound weakling because there were times when i simply could not budge the shed. it was awful.
needless to say, the shed finally moved to a new location. i don't think the shed is perfectly level or square for that matter... especially since the door does not close now, but i don't really care right now. my body aches too much to care. heck, i don't even like the shed. i'm just happy the shed is out of the way, so that george can continue installing my neighbor's septic system. i felt bad for holding him up.
as much of a pain it was to deal with moving the shed, it was actually nice to meet george. i think george felt bad for my weakling attempts to guide the shed because he gave me a discounted rate for his help. he even offered the use of some of his tools to help level off the shed if i wanted to. normally, i would probably take him up on his offer, but since i don't even like the shed... i will probably decline the offer. all in all though, george seems like a good guy and i'm glad to have met him.
for anyone curious, my neighbor is installing a new septic system because they never passed title 5. as it turns out, according to the land survey, my shed was on my neighbor's property by about two feet (1 foot 9 inches to be precise). unfortunately, neither karen nor i knew about the infringement because when we bought the house... the shed was already there. the shed was to have been moved when our own septic system was installed. that was almost seven years ago.
anyway, the contractor (george) asked if i could move the shed today so that he could finish installing the septic system. george also offered to help in the actual moving of the shed because he probably figured that i would have no means of moving the shed by myself... given the quick time frame.
so, the two of us attempted to move the shed today. the plan was to run straps around the base of the shed... connect the straps at the top of the roof with a chain... and connect the chain to the barrel of the excavator, which is a machine that digs or "excavates" (the machine has been sitting in my neighbor's yard for quite some time). from there, the excavator would lift the shed slightly off the ground... and over to its new location.
well... i climbed up onto the roof of the shed to shovel off all of the accumulated snow while george shoveled near the base of the shed. (i accidentally dropped a huge amount of snow on george because i did not know where he was standing at the time. i felt a little bad about that.) and for anyone curious... sitting on the roof... trying to shovel... not fun... especially when you have to sit on the roof with wet ice cold underwear. (i need better insulated pants, i guess.)
after running the straps beneath the base of the shed, we connected the straps to the chain. and from there, we were able to connect the chain to the barrel of the excavator. i would have loved to have driven the excavator, but i didn't know george that well to ask him if i could drive it.
anyway, it took us numerous attempts to actually move the shed. while george operated the excavator, i attempted to move and guide the shed to its new location. george must have thought i was a muscle-bound weakling because there were times when i simply could not budge the shed. it was awful.
needless to say, the shed finally moved to a new location. i don't think the shed is perfectly level or square for that matter... especially since the door does not close now, but i don't really care right now. my body aches too much to care. heck, i don't even like the shed. i'm just happy the shed is out of the way, so that george can continue installing my neighbor's septic system. i felt bad for holding him up.
as much of a pain it was to deal with moving the shed, it was actually nice to meet george. i think george felt bad for my weakling attempts to guide the shed because he gave me a discounted rate for his help. he even offered the use of some of his tools to help level off the shed if i wanted to. normally, i would probably take him up on his offer, but since i don't even like the shed... i will probably decline the offer. all in all though, george seems like a good guy and i'm glad to have met him.
I Suck At Stars
this morning, karen and i went to stars located in hingham for breakfast. our friends (jen and joanna) and my bff (kerry) also joined us for breakfast at stars. now, i suck at stars. i'm actually fortunate enough to even be invited to go to stars.
i'm not exactly sure how the tradition started. for quite some time now, the five of us have usually gotten together on christmas eve for a quick bite to eat... whether it be breakfast or lunch. this morning was no different. as stars was the usual breakfast place the past few years, we decided to go to stars again this year. (i think in the past, we may have gone to grumpy white's at one time. as my memory is not the greatest, i can't confirm that.)
anyway, it was great seeing everyone. i very rarely see joanna because she normally lives in oregon. it seems like every time i do see her (which is once a year around this time), she looks different. today, her hair was quite long... probably the longest i have ever seen. joanna simply cracks me up.
i think her comment this morning about underwear was quite hysterical. basically, the topic of underwear came up during breakfast and how kids these days sometimes wear underwear with the word "juicy" across the back. well, as joanna pointed out... women's derriere's should not be... juicy... because that then would be a symptom of other problems. needless to say, for anyone eavesdropping... we must have sounded quite old... complaining about underwear.
as usual, breakfast at stars was good. i had the hearty breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and pecan/raisin toast. (i don't think i've ever had pecan/raisin bread... ever.) and i may have had some of kerry's blueberry pancakes as well. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) stars also had this drink called a "sunrise" which consisted of grey goose vodka, orange juice, champagne, and some energy drink... surprisingly, it was good as well.
anyway, i had a good time at stars this morning. good food and good company makes me happy. although, i did feel somewhat bad today. karen and i do not normally exchange gifts with kerry, jen, and joanna. today, however, jen gave karen and i a little present. it was nice... a santa pooping candy for me... a pig pooping candy for karen. i felt bad because i did not get anything for jen.
and actually, kerry also gave all of us a container of cookies. kerry loves to bake. if kerry could own a bakery, she probably would. it is almost a tradition now that all of us receive a container of cookies from kerry on christmas eve.
it was nice to receive presents from kerry and jen. at the same time, i also feel bad because i did not get either of them a little something this year. after all, they have been there for both karen and i. perhaps i will have to work on that for next year...
i'm not exactly sure how the tradition started. for quite some time now, the five of us have usually gotten together on christmas eve for a quick bite to eat... whether it be breakfast or lunch. this morning was no different. as stars was the usual breakfast place the past few years, we decided to go to stars again this year. (i think in the past, we may have gone to grumpy white's at one time. as my memory is not the greatest, i can't confirm that.)
anyway, it was great seeing everyone. i very rarely see joanna because she normally lives in oregon. it seems like every time i do see her (which is once a year around this time), she looks different. today, her hair was quite long... probably the longest i have ever seen. joanna simply cracks me up.
i think her comment this morning about underwear was quite hysterical. basically, the topic of underwear came up during breakfast and how kids these days sometimes wear underwear with the word "juicy" across the back. well, as joanna pointed out... women's derriere's should not be... juicy... because that then would be a symptom of other problems. needless to say, for anyone eavesdropping... we must have sounded quite old... complaining about underwear.
as usual, breakfast at stars was good. i had the hearty breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and pecan/raisin toast. (i don't think i've ever had pecan/raisin bread... ever.) and i may have had some of kerry's blueberry pancakes as well. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) stars also had this drink called a "sunrise" which consisted of grey goose vodka, orange juice, champagne, and some energy drink... surprisingly, it was good as well.
anyway, i had a good time at stars this morning. good food and good company makes me happy. although, i did feel somewhat bad today. karen and i do not normally exchange gifts with kerry, jen, and joanna. today, however, jen gave karen and i a little present. it was nice... a santa pooping candy for me... a pig pooping candy for karen. i felt bad because i did not get anything for jen.
and actually, kerry also gave all of us a container of cookies. kerry loves to bake. if kerry could own a bakery, she probably would. it is almost a tradition now that all of us receive a container of cookies from kerry on christmas eve.
it was nice to receive presents from kerry and jen. at the same time, i also feel bad because i did not get either of them a little something this year. after all, they have been there for both karen and i. perhaps i will have to work on that for next year...
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
I Suck At Installing A Septic System
today has been quite dreadful.
to start with, karen and i have been told that our shed is actually two feet onto my neighbor's property. my neighbor is installing a septic system because the house did not pass title 5, which is a regulation in massachusetts where wastewater disposal like a septic system has to be compliant within certain guidelines in order to protect the home owner and the community. too bad i suck at installing a septic system. (luckily, i don't have to... yet.)
part of the septic system installation includes having the plat of land surveyed so that a proper wastewater disposal can be designed. as it turns out, according to the land survey, my shed is actually on my neighbor's property. the contractor installing my neighbor's septic system even went to town hall to verify that indeed is the case.
apparently, when karen and i purchased our current home, there were notes on our land survey that our shed had to be moved back onto our property when the septic system was installed. our house failed title 5 when we purchased it almost 7 years ago. unfortunately, the contractors who installed the septic system never mentioned that tidbit of information to karen or i... and neither did the previous owner.
needless to say, our shed sat at its current spot since karen and i purchased the house. after all, we didn't know it was two feet onto my neighbor's property. my previous neighbor did not even seem to know about it as well. and naturally, as my current luck would have it, the contractor installing my neighbor's septic system is asking me to move the shed... now. (in his defense, the contractor did offer to move the shed for me for a fee... which seems like the best course of action right now because i am just too tired to deal with things anymore. hopefully, it won't get too expensive.)
so, that predicament has been on my mind all day. it's very frustrating. since my son (braden) passed away three months ago... it seems like something major is breaking or needing to be repaired/replaced. and now, something major needs to be addressed. it's a lot to deal with in three months. i just wish something would go karen and my way... just once. it's amazing that i haven't drunken myself into a downward spiral yet...
and of course, making my day worse than it already is... my commute home. from the time i left my work in marblehead, picked up karen, and made it to the front door of my house... it took about four hours. traffic was simply awful. i can't even catch a break on my commute.
i am just so... frustrated... annoyed... you name it. i sure hope 2009 is a better year because right now... i don't know how much longer i can endure all of this.
to start with, karen and i have been told that our shed is actually two feet onto my neighbor's property. my neighbor is installing a septic system because the house did not pass title 5, which is a regulation in massachusetts where wastewater disposal like a septic system has to be compliant within certain guidelines in order to protect the home owner and the community. too bad i suck at installing a septic system. (luckily, i don't have to... yet.)
part of the septic system installation includes having the plat of land surveyed so that a proper wastewater disposal can be designed. as it turns out, according to the land survey, my shed is actually on my neighbor's property. the contractor installing my neighbor's septic system even went to town hall to verify that indeed is the case.
apparently, when karen and i purchased our current home, there were notes on our land survey that our shed had to be moved back onto our property when the septic system was installed. our house failed title 5 when we purchased it almost 7 years ago. unfortunately, the contractors who installed the septic system never mentioned that tidbit of information to karen or i... and neither did the previous owner.
needless to say, our shed sat at its current spot since karen and i purchased the house. after all, we didn't know it was two feet onto my neighbor's property. my previous neighbor did not even seem to know about it as well. and naturally, as my current luck would have it, the contractor installing my neighbor's septic system is asking me to move the shed... now. (in his defense, the contractor did offer to move the shed for me for a fee... which seems like the best course of action right now because i am just too tired to deal with things anymore. hopefully, it won't get too expensive.)
so, that predicament has been on my mind all day. it's very frustrating. since my son (braden) passed away three months ago... it seems like something major is breaking or needing to be repaired/replaced. and now, something major needs to be addressed. it's a lot to deal with in three months. i just wish something would go karen and my way... just once. it's amazing that i haven't drunken myself into a downward spiral yet...
and of course, making my day worse than it already is... my commute home. from the time i left my work in marblehead, picked up karen, and made it to the front door of my house... it took about four hours. traffic was simply awful. i can't even catch a break on my commute.
i am just so... frustrated... annoyed... you name it. i sure hope 2009 is a better year because right now... i don't know how much longer i can endure all of this.
I Still Suck At Buffy The Vampire Slayer
last night was prince spaghetti night... only without the spaghetti... or prince for that matter... although it would be interesting to party like it's 1999 with prince. (and also interestingly enough, i just found out a couple of weeks ago what "little red corvette" was actually about... who knew? i should listen to song lyrics more often.) anyway, i did have some form of pasta for dinner.
yesterday, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). as usual, the dinner was delicious. we had tortellini and garlic bread. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) we usually hang out with marc and kelley on wednesdays. this week, however, wednesday happens to be christmas eve... so we decided to move our little get together up in the week.
naturally, we watched the greatest tv show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. now, i still suck at buffy the vampire slayer. we were able to watch the first three episodes of the third season: "anne", "dead man's party", and "faith, hope and trick". of the three episodes, i like "faith, hope and trick" the best. after all, that episode had the debut of a character played by boston's own... eliza dushku (who incidentally will be in a new tv show... called dollhouse... next year.)
on the show, eliza dushku plays the character, faith. she was also in such great films as "true lies" and "bring it on"... and she had a tv show called "tru calling" at one time. (i've never seen the show.) as well, according to my friend imdb, her birthday is in seven days (december 30th).
i don't know why i enjoy the faith character so much on the greatest tv show ever. i think it may be due to the complexity of her character. the faith character is good... yet bad... i guess it helps that she's hot too... not as hot as my friend (hot amy) of course...
anyway, i'm quite excited to watch the rest of season three. it is, after all, my favorite season of buffy the vampire slayer. too bad i'll have to wait a couple of weeks to watch more episodes.
yesterday, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). as usual, the dinner was delicious. we had tortellini and garlic bread. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) we usually hang out with marc and kelley on wednesdays. this week, however, wednesday happens to be christmas eve... so we decided to move our little get together up in the week.
naturally, we watched the greatest tv show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. now, i still suck at buffy the vampire slayer. we were able to watch the first three episodes of the third season: "anne", "dead man's party", and "faith, hope and trick". of the three episodes, i like "faith, hope and trick" the best. after all, that episode had the debut of a character played by boston's own... eliza dushku (who incidentally will be in a new tv show... called dollhouse... next year.)
on the show, eliza dushku plays the character, faith. she was also in such great films as "true lies" and "bring it on"... and she had a tv show called "tru calling" at one time. (i've never seen the show.) as well, according to my friend imdb, her birthday is in seven days (december 30th).
i don't know why i enjoy the faith character so much on the greatest tv show ever. i think it may be due to the complexity of her character. the faith character is good... yet bad... i guess it helps that she's hot too... not as hot as my friend (hot amy) of course...
anyway, i'm quite excited to watch the rest of season three. it is, after all, my favorite season of buffy the vampire slayer. too bad i'll have to wait a couple of weeks to watch more episodes.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
I Suck At Watching The Celtics
i had a very enjoyable day today... and not just because the snow has stopped coming down (for now).
today, i went to watch the celtics game with my friends (cass and marc). now, i suck at watching the celtics. i have not been to a celtics game in quite some time. in fact, i have never gone to a celtics game when the celtics were actually a good nba basketball team. the last time i went to a celtics game was when i worked at state street bank... which was my first job out of college.
the only thing i remember about going to the celtics game when i was working at state street was that my coworker (debbie) got herself on the jumbotron. unfortunately, i was not lucky enough to get my mug on the screen during that time... even though i sat right next to her at the game. i did, however, get my picture taken with her once for my state street identification badge.
it's a long story... when i worked at state street bank, all employees were required to have a photo identification badge taken by security which allowed you access to the various buildings. well, one day i happened to go to security with debbie for my picture... and as we were both being silly, we asked if we could get our picture taken together for our badge. apparently, security was not too tight... because they agreed... and much like those photo booth picture scenes that you see on television, debbie and i had our picture taken together.
needless to say, that was a long time ago. i went to the celtics game with her and a couple of other coworkers because we were the lucky raffle winners for that game way back when.
anyway, today's celtics game came as quite a surprise to me. apparently, cass got the tickets through his work and thought it would be a great idea to take me to the celtics game for my birthday. he was able to get three tickets... so him, marc, and i went to the game today for my birthday.
after marc picked me up, we met up with cass and took the mbta subway train in to boston. it was the first time i have been on the subway train since i worked in town... so it was rather nostalgic. ah... the commuting memories. by the way, i must say... i am quite surprised by the state of the streets in quincy. the streets in quincy were absolutely horrendous... it seems like the city of quincy did not even bother to plow its streets. my itty bitty street that my house is on was better plowed than the main streets in quincy. (for anyone curious, if i were a resident of quincy, i would think twice before voting for the current mayor. that's just my opinion.)
regardless, the three of us went to the fours located on canal street for a little pregame celebration. it was nice. we had some nachos and wings... and watched the new england patriots manhandle the arizona cardinals in football. from there, we went to hurrican o'reilly's to meet up with cass's brother (bj)... who incidentally had a flirtatious moment with my bff (kerry). i don't know the complete details, but i heard there were back rubs involved. what can i say?... men can't resist kerry.
interestingly enough, it was at hurricane o'reilly's where i learned a new term... "butterface". i have never heard the term used... until today... and it cracks me up. and for the record, no... the term was not used in regards to my bff. i believe the term was used in regards to our waitperson... who when we first met her... told us that she was a little hoarse and that she did not know why because she did do any yelling or screaming or anything like that. her hoarseness, as the place got busier, seemed to have mysteriously disappeared... interesting.
anyway, the basketball game itself was amazing. (following hurricane o'reilly's, we went to the "gahden".
(the video below is of paul pierce sinking a three pointer for the celtics.)
the celtics easily beat their opponents (the new york knicks). the game was never even close. nonetheless, it was great to watch the celtics... especially with cass and marc. the three of us sat in the promenade... which was quite nice. i've never been in the promenade before in the "gahden".
(the video below is of godzilla... getting the crowd into the game.)
truth be told, to show you how much of a nutcase i have become since my son (braden) passed away... i actually almost started to tear up before the start of the game. as we were finding our seats, cass wished me happy birthday and told me that the game was for me and braden. his words did not seem like much... but it was very touching and i almost started to tear up. in fact, i'll probably remember the sentiments from cass and marc tonight... for my son and i... more than the game itself. it is times like that which make me thankful to be blessed with such great friends.
all in all, i had a fantastic time today. i really am lucky to have such great friends and i hope they will always realize how much i appreciate them.
today, i went to watch the celtics game with my friends (cass and marc). now, i suck at watching the celtics. i have not been to a celtics game in quite some time. in fact, i have never gone to a celtics game when the celtics were actually a good nba basketball team. the last time i went to a celtics game was when i worked at state street bank... which was my first job out of college.
the only thing i remember about going to the celtics game when i was working at state street was that my coworker (debbie) got herself on the jumbotron. unfortunately, i was not lucky enough to get my mug on the screen during that time... even though i sat right next to her at the game. i did, however, get my picture taken with her once for my state street identification badge.
it's a long story... when i worked at state street bank, all employees were required to have a photo identification badge taken by security which allowed you access to the various buildings. well, one day i happened to go to security with debbie for my picture... and as we were both being silly, we asked if we could get our picture taken together for our badge. apparently, security was not too tight... because they agreed... and much like those photo booth picture scenes that you see on television, debbie and i had our picture taken together.
needless to say, that was a long time ago. i went to the celtics game with her and a couple of other coworkers because we were the lucky raffle winners for that game way back when.
anyway, today's celtics game came as quite a surprise to me. apparently, cass got the tickets through his work and thought it would be a great idea to take me to the celtics game for my birthday. he was able to get three tickets... so him, marc, and i went to the game today for my birthday.
after marc picked me up, we met up with cass and took the mbta subway train in to boston. it was the first time i have been on the subway train since i worked in town... so it was rather nostalgic. ah... the commuting memories. by the way, i must say... i am quite surprised by the state of the streets in quincy. the streets in quincy were absolutely horrendous... it seems like the city of quincy did not even bother to plow its streets. my itty bitty street that my house is on was better plowed than the main streets in quincy. (for anyone curious, if i were a resident of quincy, i would think twice before voting for the current mayor. that's just my opinion.)
regardless, the three of us went to the fours located on canal street for a little pregame celebration. it was nice. we had some nachos and wings... and watched the new england patriots manhandle the arizona cardinals in football. from there, we went to hurrican o'reilly's to meet up with cass's brother (bj)... who incidentally had a flirtatious moment with my bff (kerry). i don't know the complete details, but i heard there were back rubs involved. what can i say?... men can't resist kerry.
interestingly enough, it was at hurricane o'reilly's where i learned a new term... "butterface". i have never heard the term used... until today... and it cracks me up. and for the record, no... the term was not used in regards to my bff. i believe the term was used in regards to our waitperson... who when we first met her... told us that she was a little hoarse and that she did not know why because she did do any yelling or screaming or anything like that. her hoarseness, as the place got busier, seemed to have mysteriously disappeared... interesting.
anyway, the basketball game itself was amazing. (following hurricane o'reilly's, we went to the "gahden".
(the video below is of paul pierce sinking a three pointer for the celtics.)
the celtics easily beat their opponents (the new york knicks). the game was never even close. nonetheless, it was great to watch the celtics... especially with cass and marc. the three of us sat in the promenade... which was quite nice. i've never been in the promenade before in the "gahden".
(the video below is of godzilla... getting the crowd into the game.)
truth be told, to show you how much of a nutcase i have become since my son (braden) passed away... i actually almost started to tear up before the start of the game. as we were finding our seats, cass wished me happy birthday and told me that the game was for me and braden. his words did not seem like much... but it was very touching and i almost started to tear up. in fact, i'll probably remember the sentiments from cass and marc tonight... for my son and i... more than the game itself. it is times like that which make me thankful to be blessed with such great friends.
all in all, i had a fantastic time today. i really am lucky to have such great friends and i hope they will always realize how much i appreciate them.
I Suck At Shoveling
yesterday was day two of the snow storm. i think i am going crazy. i have not left the house since the snow storm began... with the exception of going outside to shovel. i suck at shoveling. the snow never stopped yesterday. it seemed like karen and i have done nothing but shovel the past two days.
i guess that is not totally true. karen and i actually watched a whole slew of movies to pass the time. karen was even ecstatic for a little while because she made a martini that tasted pretty good.
here are the list of movies that i have seen while being cooped up during the snow storm:
spiderman 3
the mummy 3: tomb of the dragon emperor
3:10 to yuma
kung fu panda
kung fu panda: secrets of the furious five
horton hears a who
yes, that is a lot of movies in the span of two days. too bad my bff (kerry) was not around. we could have spent the past two days watching season 1 of veronica mars. that actually would have been fun. well... at least i think so. i don't know if karen or kerry would agree.
unfortunately, i don't know what it is. i just have not had any motivation to do anything lately. i don't know if it's just because i'm not into the holidays this season... or not into my birthday this year... or what... i just don't feel like doing anything and it somewhat bothers me. perhaps i am in a rut. (for anyone curious, i think the last time i was in a rut was during the whole "scourge of evil" era... okay, so maybe the ex-girlfriend doesn't deserve an "era".)
i just don't know what it is. normally, people relish having a day to themselves. i sometimes wonder if i have become someone who just needs a distraction to keep my mind off of things. after all, watching movies and escaping from reality for a couple of hours sure beats having to deal with stupid things like property line disagreements and all that. i'm guessing by the end of year, i'll have become a full blown coach potato... just not as starchy.
having the past two days being cooped up in the house would have been a great time to actually complete some home improvement projects too. the only problem was... the snow blower and the shovels were all in the way in the garage... so i could not even at least be somewhat productive during the snow storm. oh well.
i am hoping the snow storm will end soon.
i guess that is not totally true. karen and i actually watched a whole slew of movies to pass the time. karen was even ecstatic for a little while because she made a martini that tasted pretty good.
here are the list of movies that i have seen while being cooped up during the snow storm:
spiderman 3
the mummy 3: tomb of the dragon emperor
3:10 to yuma
kung fu panda
kung fu panda: secrets of the furious five
horton hears a who
yes, that is a lot of movies in the span of two days. too bad my bff (kerry) was not around. we could have spent the past two days watching season 1 of veronica mars. that actually would have been fun. well... at least i think so. i don't know if karen or kerry would agree.
unfortunately, i don't know what it is. i just have not had any motivation to do anything lately. i don't know if it's just because i'm not into the holidays this season... or not into my birthday this year... or what... i just don't feel like doing anything and it somewhat bothers me. perhaps i am in a rut. (for anyone curious, i think the last time i was in a rut was during the whole "scourge of evil" era... okay, so maybe the ex-girlfriend doesn't deserve an "era".)
i just don't know what it is. normally, people relish having a day to themselves. i sometimes wonder if i have become someone who just needs a distraction to keep my mind off of things. after all, watching movies and escaping from reality for a couple of hours sure beats having to deal with stupid things like property line disagreements and all that. i'm guessing by the end of year, i'll have become a full blown coach potato... just not as starchy.
having the past two days being cooped up in the house would have been a great time to actually complete some home improvement projects too. the only problem was... the snow blower and the shovels were all in the way in the garage... so i could not even at least be somewhat productive during the snow storm. oh well.
i am hoping the snow storm will end soon.
Friday, December 19, 2008
I Suck At Celebrating My Birthday
today is a special day for me. in fact, today happens to be a special day for a bunch of people i know. the day is special to my friend and former coworker (kristen); the day is special to my friend's (hot amy) father; and the day is special to my father. all of us happen to share today as our birthday. happy birthday kristen, hot amy's father, and dad!
too bad i suck at celebrating my birthday. generally speaking, a person's birthday is supposed to be "their" day. for the most part, i have always stuck by that rule. i usually take the day off of work and basically spend the entire day having fun... or at least what i consider fun. in the past, i did things like watch the "lord of the rings" trilogy in the theaters with my friends. i sometimes spent the day playing playstation. (for anyone curious, there was one time where i did not take my birthday off from work... and it was not fun at all... so ever since then, i made sure i took off my birthday from work.)
this year, however, it was tough to get excited about... or even celebrate my birthday. my son (braden) was born extremely premature this year. his original due date was january 2, 2009. braden was born three months ago in september... and unfortunately, he did not survive shortly thereafter. if i could use a birthday wish, it would be to change the past in such a way so that braden could survive and have a full healthy life for himself. i'm sure if my dad could also use a birthday wish, he would have wished the same thing for his first grandson. sadly, neither my dad nor i cannot change the past. i can only hope to use my birthday wish today for good fortune in the upcoming future.
needless to say, today really has not been a great day. adding to the lackluster day is the snow storm that has blanketed the state of massachusetts. with the snow fall, i spent part of today shoveling. luckily, i have a snow blower so the shoveling did not take as long. aside from that, i spent most of the day cooped up in the house watching a couple of movies... wrapping a couple of christmas presents... all fun things... i know.
i did, however, get to go to the abington alehouse for lunch before the snow storm. apparently, after running a few errands... (visting braden being one of them) karen and i arrived at the abington alehouse quite early and were the second ones seated there. as usual the food was delicious at the abington alehouse. for anyone curious, the abington alehouse provides a free meal to people on their date of birth. birthday celebrants even receive a little pudding dessert with oreos and whipped cream. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
i had a sirloin at the abington alehouse. in conjunction with the steak, it was the first time in a long while where i used a1 steak sauce. as weird as it sounds, using a1 steak sauce reminded me of my childhood. my father, when i was growing up, used a1 steak sauce a lot... and naturally i did as well with steak. it was a nice memory to have today.
anyway, in addition to the great lunch at the abington alehouse, one of the other great things about today was the phone call i received from my favorite sister-in-law (janine). janine had my niece (kaleigh) and nephew (pj) sing happy birthday to me on the phone. it was very nice.
that's about all the excitement today. well... there was something else that came up today which makes me think that i am cursed and will never catch a break ever again. my neighbor is having a new septic system installed and there seems to be a discrepancy between property lines. needless to say, the contractor is claiming that my neighbor's property actually extends onto my property where my shed currently is located (and has been there even before i purchased the house). thus, the contractor is wondering if i could move the shed.
lately, there always seems to be something going wrong. for once, i would like things to go my way. you would think that on my day of birth, that i could just catch a break for once. the snow storm... the property line discrepancy... if i could yell "calgon, take me away"... i would.
too bad i suck at celebrating my birthday. generally speaking, a person's birthday is supposed to be "their" day. for the most part, i have always stuck by that rule. i usually take the day off of work and basically spend the entire day having fun... or at least what i consider fun. in the past, i did things like watch the "lord of the rings" trilogy in the theaters with my friends. i sometimes spent the day playing playstation. (for anyone curious, there was one time where i did not take my birthday off from work... and it was not fun at all... so ever since then, i made sure i took off my birthday from work.)
this year, however, it was tough to get excited about... or even celebrate my birthday. my son (braden) was born extremely premature this year. his original due date was january 2, 2009. braden was born three months ago in september... and unfortunately, he did not survive shortly thereafter. if i could use a birthday wish, it would be to change the past in such a way so that braden could survive and have a full healthy life for himself. i'm sure if my dad could also use a birthday wish, he would have wished the same thing for his first grandson. sadly, neither my dad nor i cannot change the past. i can only hope to use my birthday wish today for good fortune in the upcoming future.
needless to say, today really has not been a great day. adding to the lackluster day is the snow storm that has blanketed the state of massachusetts. with the snow fall, i spent part of today shoveling. luckily, i have a snow blower so the shoveling did not take as long. aside from that, i spent most of the day cooped up in the house watching a couple of movies... wrapping a couple of christmas presents... all fun things... i know.
i did, however, get to go to the abington alehouse for lunch before the snow storm. apparently, after running a few errands... (visting braden being one of them) karen and i arrived at the abington alehouse quite early and were the second ones seated there. as usual the food was delicious at the abington alehouse. for anyone curious, the abington alehouse provides a free meal to people on their date of birth. birthday celebrants even receive a little pudding dessert with oreos and whipped cream. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
i had a sirloin at the abington alehouse. in conjunction with the steak, it was the first time in a long while where i used a1 steak sauce. as weird as it sounds, using a1 steak sauce reminded me of my childhood. my father, when i was growing up, used a1 steak sauce a lot... and naturally i did as well with steak. it was a nice memory to have today.
anyway, in addition to the great lunch at the abington alehouse, one of the other great things about today was the phone call i received from my favorite sister-in-law (janine). janine had my niece (kaleigh) and nephew (pj) sing happy birthday to me on the phone. it was very nice.
that's about all the excitement today. well... there was something else that came up today which makes me think that i am cursed and will never catch a break ever again. my neighbor is having a new septic system installed and there seems to be a discrepancy between property lines. needless to say, the contractor is claiming that my neighbor's property actually extends onto my property where my shed currently is located (and has been there even before i purchased the house). thus, the contractor is wondering if i could move the shed.
lately, there always seems to be something going wrong. for once, i would like things to go my way. you would think that on my day of birth, that i could just catch a break for once. the snow storm... the property line discrepancy... if i could yell "calgon, take me away"... i would.
I Suck At The Scarlet Oak Tavern
last night, karen and i ran around doing some errands... and by errands i mean christmas shopping. unfortunately, karen and i are very behind in our christmas shopping. usually, we are done fairly early with our christmas shopping. this year, however, has been a strange year to say the least. christmas simply snuck up on us. i can't believe christmas is next week.
anyway, while we were out and about, we decided to go to the scarlet oak tavern located on queen anne's corner in hingham. too bad i suck at the scarlet oak tavern. neither karen nor i have been there in a while. karen's parents had recently gone and told us that they enjoyed the food there. as we had not been there ourselves in quite some time, we decided to go there.
it turns out... it still will be quite some time before we go to the scarlet oak tavern. last night, the place was absolutely packed. there was no parking available in the parking lot. the wait to be seated was over an hour. i was surprised because never would i have thought that the scarlet oak would be that busy on a thursday night. (this is normally where i would disparagingly shake my head and mutter "hingham" under my breath.) i am not sure if people were trying to get in a last meal before the big forecasted snowstorm or not.
needless to say, we did not dine at the scarlet oak tavern. instead, we decided to go to not your average joe's which is located just down the street in neighboring norwell. i'm actually happy that we ate there instead... after all, i love the food at not your average joe's.
based on the recommendation of our waitperson, i tried the not your average joe's chicken oscar... it was very delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) and for anyone curious, yes... my urine smelled funny afterwards. (the chicken oscar comes with asparagus.)
anyway, not your average joe's was great. for the heck of it, we decided to get ourselves a gift card for the restaurant. not your average joe's is running a promotion where for every $50 gift card you get, you also get a $10 gift card for purchasing it. in essense, it boils down to a free money. since karen and i frequently go there, we thought... why not? besides, it was like a little pre-birthday celebration for me. yay... not your average joe's!
anyway, while we were out and about, we decided to go to the scarlet oak tavern located on queen anne's corner in hingham. too bad i suck at the scarlet oak tavern. neither karen nor i have been there in a while. karen's parents had recently gone and told us that they enjoyed the food there. as we had not been there ourselves in quite some time, we decided to go there.
it turns out... it still will be quite some time before we go to the scarlet oak tavern. last night, the place was absolutely packed. there was no parking available in the parking lot. the wait to be seated was over an hour. i was surprised because never would i have thought that the scarlet oak would be that busy on a thursday night. (this is normally where i would disparagingly shake my head and mutter "hingham" under my breath.) i am not sure if people were trying to get in a last meal before the big forecasted snowstorm or not.
needless to say, we did not dine at the scarlet oak tavern. instead, we decided to go to not your average joe's which is located just down the street in neighboring norwell. i'm actually happy that we ate there instead... after all, i love the food at not your average joe's.
based on the recommendation of our waitperson, i tried the not your average joe's chicken oscar... it was very delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) and for anyone curious, yes... my urine smelled funny afterwards. (the chicken oscar comes with asparagus.)
anyway, not your average joe's was great. for the heck of it, we decided to get ourselves a gift card for the restaurant. not your average joe's is running a promotion where for every $50 gift card you get, you also get a $10 gift card for purchasing it. in essense, it boils down to a free money. since karen and i frequently go there, we thought... why not? besides, it was like a little pre-birthday celebration for me. yay... not your average joe's!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I Still Suck At Buffy The Vampire Slayer
tonight is prince spaghetti wednesday... or more appropriately for tonight... frozen pizza wednesday. usually on wednesdays, karen and i get to hang out with my friends (marc and kelley)and tonight was no exception.
as both karen and i were coming from work, we told marc and kelley that we would bring some frozen pizzas for dinner. sure, it was not the most exciting of dinners... but the pizza did the job.
so while we had dinner, we watched the two-part season 2 finale of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. too bad i still suck at buffy the vampire slayer. for anyone curious, the episodes (called "becoming") center around angel's quest to end the world by awakening the demon known as acathla (or as buffy puts it... alfalfa) who will open a gateway to the demonic world. the episode also features willow's first foray into witchcraft, and the unfortunate demise of the slayer known as kendra.
as the episodes featured the end of kendra, i figured i'd check to see what the actress (bianca lawson) who played the character has been up to. according to my friend, imdb, bianca lawson has been in a lot of things that i have never heard of. in fact, the only thing i did recognize was the movie "save the last dance", which features my casting choice for my bff (kerry)... that choice being julia stiles. for anyone curious, "save the last dance" was an awful movie. ballerina turned hiphop dancer? c'mon... i can think of a better plot than that. needless to say, bianca was julia stiles's nemesis in the movie (the character, nikki)... a role that i did not even recognize her in.
anyway, the season finale of season 2 was awesome. i was probably more excited about the season finale than karen, kelley or marc. after all, the upcoming season 3 is my favorite season of buffy as it features the slayer known as faith, played by boston's own... eliza dushku.
following the season 2 finale, the four of us also watched another episode of my bff's new favorite show: fringe. needless to say, it was another interesting episode. i must say, the show does have me hooked.
i can't wait till next week... buffy season 3! i'm already getting giddy with excitement...
as both karen and i were coming from work, we told marc and kelley that we would bring some frozen pizzas for dinner. sure, it was not the most exciting of dinners... but the pizza did the job.
so while we had dinner, we watched the two-part season 2 finale of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. too bad i still suck at buffy the vampire slayer. for anyone curious, the episodes (called "becoming") center around angel's quest to end the world by awakening the demon known as acathla (or as buffy puts it... alfalfa) who will open a gateway to the demonic world. the episode also features willow's first foray into witchcraft, and the unfortunate demise of the slayer known as kendra.
as the episodes featured the end of kendra, i figured i'd check to see what the actress (bianca lawson) who played the character has been up to. according to my friend, imdb, bianca lawson has been in a lot of things that i have never heard of. in fact, the only thing i did recognize was the movie "save the last dance", which features my casting choice for my bff (kerry)... that choice being julia stiles. for anyone curious, "save the last dance" was an awful movie. ballerina turned hiphop dancer? c'mon... i can think of a better plot than that. needless to say, bianca was julia stiles's nemesis in the movie (the character, nikki)... a role that i did not even recognize her in.
anyway, the season finale of season 2 was awesome. i was probably more excited about the season finale than karen, kelley or marc. after all, the upcoming season 3 is my favorite season of buffy as it features the slayer known as faith, played by boston's own... eliza dushku.
following the season 2 finale, the four of us also watched another episode of my bff's new favorite show: fringe. needless to say, it was another interesting episode. i must say, the show does have me hooked.
i can't wait till next week... buffy season 3! i'm already getting giddy with excitement...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
I Suck At Being Dehydrated
tonight, karen and i had tentative plans to see my friends (hugh and jenny). hugh was the best man at my wedding and jenny actually went to grade school with karen. we also ended up running track and field together in high school... which actually led to one of the more memorable moments i have had with my bff (kerry). anyway, karen and i have not seen the two of them since my son's (braden) funeral service. (karen actually saw jenny at her high school reunion though.)
unfortunately, we had to cancel our plans with hugh and jenny so that we could visit the hospital. for the past few days, my niece (kaleigh) has been a little under the weather. after their family trip to disney, my favorite sister-in-law (janine) came down with a bug. as janine got better, kaleigh soon started to get sick. i sometimes think janine's consitution rivals that of my friend (hot amy) who is always sick.
needless to say, kaleigh was admitted yesterday at the south shore hospital for her symptoms. karen and i took care of my nephew (pj) last night while janine and my favorite brother-in-law stayed with kaleigh in the hospital. i must say, it was initially unnerving to hear that kaleigh had to be admitted to the hospital... at least for me it was. after all, she is my favorite niece. (i only have one niece by the way.) luckily, kaleigh was dehyrdated. i suck at being dehydrated. granted, dehydration is not the best thing to have... but it beats having other terminal issues.
anyway, karen and i went to visit kaleigh tonight. it's a little strange. although karen and i have been back to the hospital since braden passed away, i still have memories about braden when i am there. (braden was born at south shore hospital.) i don't know if those memories will ever fade away.
(pictured below is kaleigh in the hospital bed.)
don't let the picture fool you. kaleigh is back to being her old self. she actually started to argue with my nephew (pj) over some food... this after little pj got her a little teddy bear for a present.
for anyone curious, we took my nephew to the cafeteria for dinner. and i must say... the food there is pretty good. i had a seafood salad sandwich... there was not that much mayo... yum! afterwards, we took pj to the gift shop so that he could pick out his present for kaleigh (and get a present for himself as well... a york peppermint patty).
anyway, as kaleigh was feeling better, she was discharged from the hospital. so, things are back to normal in janine and pj's household.
unfortunately, we had to cancel our plans with hugh and jenny so that we could visit the hospital. for the past few days, my niece (kaleigh) has been a little under the weather. after their family trip to disney, my favorite sister-in-law (janine) came down with a bug. as janine got better, kaleigh soon started to get sick. i sometimes think janine's consitution rivals that of my friend (hot amy) who is always sick.
needless to say, kaleigh was admitted yesterday at the south shore hospital for her symptoms. karen and i took care of my nephew (pj) last night while janine and my favorite brother-in-law stayed with kaleigh in the hospital. i must say, it was initially unnerving to hear that kaleigh had to be admitted to the hospital... at least for me it was. after all, she is my favorite niece. (i only have one niece by the way.) luckily, kaleigh was dehyrdated. i suck at being dehydrated. granted, dehydration is not the best thing to have... but it beats having other terminal issues.
anyway, karen and i went to visit kaleigh tonight. it's a little strange. although karen and i have been back to the hospital since braden passed away, i still have memories about braden when i am there. (braden was born at south shore hospital.) i don't know if those memories will ever fade away.
(pictured below is kaleigh in the hospital bed.)
don't let the picture fool you. kaleigh is back to being her old self. she actually started to argue with my nephew (pj) over some food... this after little pj got her a little teddy bear for a present.
for anyone curious, we took my nephew to the cafeteria for dinner. and i must say... the food there is pretty good. i had a seafood salad sandwich... there was not that much mayo... yum! afterwards, we took pj to the gift shop so that he could pick out his present for kaleigh (and get a present for himself as well... a york peppermint patty).
anyway, as kaleigh was feeling better, she was discharged from the hospital. so, things are back to normal in janine and pj's household.
Monday, December 15, 2008
I Suck At Celebrating My BFF's Birthday
today is my bff's (kerry) birthday. happy birthday kerry! too bad i suck at celebrating my bff's birthday.
i have known kerry for quite a long time... not as long as the time my friend (andrea) has known my other friend (hot amy)... but long enough. for anyone curious, i believe the whole "bff" label came about due to andrea's relationship with hot amy. a bunch of us were being silly and andrea had referred to hot amy as her bff. so naturally, i referred to kerry as mine. thus, my bff kerry was born.
labels aside, kerry has really been a great friend. (truth be told, karen and i are lucky to have a great supporting cast of friends.) kerry has done a lot in recent months. she cancelled her trip to the midwest for the babyshower that she had planned, so that she could be with karen and i when braden passed away. she took care of things during braden's service when everyone was at our house. she has frequently come down from salem (which is an hour drive) to just hang out with us. i probably don't tell her enough, but it has been very appreciated... by both karen and i.
unfortunately, one of the fondest memories i have about kerry involves track. back in the day, i used to run track and field. i believe it was kerry's first year on the track team. a bunch of us were at "the stadium" in quincy. as usual, i was just goofing off and hanging out... which was a prerequisite to running track. the next thing i know, kerry is absolutely yelling and screaming at my friend (jenny... not to be confused with jen). jenny is currently married to the best man at my wedding (hugh).
i don't remember what the argument was over, but it was quite interesting to watch... maybe because i enjoy a good catfight now and then... if only they were grabbing each others' hair. just kidding. needless to say, i remember kerry just storming off across the field in anger. i think at that point, i realized... don't mess with kerry.
luckily, i have always been on kerry's good side. there have been times that i have come quite close to bordering on her bad side with my instigating ways. thankfully though, she is my bff now.
kerry is quite the character. at one time, i remember a number of my friends having a crush on her. my friend marc... crush... my friend scott... crush... (their date didn't last too long) my friend garv... crush (and that was while garv was dating karen... for 3 years). looking back, it just seems too funny.
needless to say, kerry has provided me with a bunch of great memories. heck, she is even somewhat responsible for the term "calling kerry" which my friends currently use. the term originated when a bunch of us were in newport. (yes, nothing good comes out of rhode island except the family guy.) a bunch of us were able to head down early to newport for st. patrick's day. i think kerry may have been debating about joining us or not. so when i excused myself from the group, the term "calling kerry" was born because it was thought that i went to call kerry to ask her come join us. i was actually going to the bathroom. (and hence, "calling kerry" became a euphemism for going to the bathroom.)
on that note, i have had a lot of great memories with my bff. happy birthday kerry! i hope you enjoy your day today.
i have known kerry for quite a long time... not as long as the time my friend (andrea) has known my other friend (hot amy)... but long enough. for anyone curious, i believe the whole "bff" label came about due to andrea's relationship with hot amy. a bunch of us were being silly and andrea had referred to hot amy as her bff. so naturally, i referred to kerry as mine. thus, my bff kerry was born.
labels aside, kerry has really been a great friend. (truth be told, karen and i are lucky to have a great supporting cast of friends.) kerry has done a lot in recent months. she cancelled her trip to the midwest for the babyshower that she had planned, so that she could be with karen and i when braden passed away. she took care of things during braden's service when everyone was at our house. she has frequently come down from salem (which is an hour drive) to just hang out with us. i probably don't tell her enough, but it has been very appreciated... by both karen and i.
unfortunately, one of the fondest memories i have about kerry involves track. back in the day, i used to run track and field. i believe it was kerry's first year on the track team. a bunch of us were at "the stadium" in quincy. as usual, i was just goofing off and hanging out... which was a prerequisite to running track. the next thing i know, kerry is absolutely yelling and screaming at my friend (jenny... not to be confused with jen). jenny is currently married to the best man at my wedding (hugh).
i don't remember what the argument was over, but it was quite interesting to watch... maybe because i enjoy a good catfight now and then... if only they were grabbing each others' hair. just kidding. needless to say, i remember kerry just storming off across the field in anger. i think at that point, i realized... don't mess with kerry.
luckily, i have always been on kerry's good side. there have been times that i have come quite close to bordering on her bad side with my instigating ways. thankfully though, she is my bff now.
kerry is quite the character. at one time, i remember a number of my friends having a crush on her. my friend marc... crush... my friend scott... crush... (their date didn't last too long) my friend garv... crush (and that was while garv was dating karen... for 3 years). looking back, it just seems too funny.
needless to say, kerry has provided me with a bunch of great memories. heck, she is even somewhat responsible for the term "calling kerry" which my friends currently use. the term originated when a bunch of us were in newport. (yes, nothing good comes out of rhode island except the family guy.) a bunch of us were able to head down early to newport for st. patrick's day. i think kerry may have been debating about joining us or not. so when i excused myself from the group, the term "calling kerry" was born because it was thought that i went to call kerry to ask her come join us. i was actually going to the bathroom. (and hence, "calling kerry" became a euphemism for going to the bathroom.)
on that note, i have had a lot of great memories with my bff. happy birthday kerry! i hope you enjoy your day today.
I Suck At Hanging Out With Marc And Kelley
yesterday, i had tentative plans to help my friend (amy, the czar) move. amy the czar (not to get confused with aimee or hot amy) lives in marshfield. i believe she was moving to another area of marshfield and had asked earlier in the week for some assistance with her moving this weekend.
now, i have helped a lot of people move. there is a long list of people who i have helped move... some more than once. similarly, my friend (marc) has helped a lot of people move as well... because at the time he had access to a truck. so naturally, both marc and i agreed to help amy move yesterday. unfortunately, amy did not require our assistance yesterday. so marc and i were off the hook.
so instead, i got to hang out with marc and kelley. too bad i suck at hanging out with marc and kelley. interestingly enough, it was a marc and kelley weekend for me. i hope they don't get tired of seeing me all the time.
anyway, we basically just hung out while karen was in quincy meeting with my friend (hot amy). karen and hot amy were meeting to discuss the upcoming course in the spring semester that they will be teaching at simmons college. (i foresee some chauffeuring in my future.)
marc decided to rent a video game (the mortal kombat versus dc universe game). he actually wasn't feeling too well, so he took a little cat nap shortly afterwards. so... kelley and i basically hammered away at the controllers as we played the game. it is an interesting fighting game where superhero characters can fight the mortal combat characters, etc. (like any typical fighting video game, the female anatomy is generally enhanced... and mortal kombat is no different.)
when karen arrived after her course planning, we were able to catch a couple of more episodes of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. we saw "i only have eyes for you" and "go fish". of the two, i liked "go fish" the best. the former episode is about a poltergeist that wants forgiveness, whereas the latter episode is about the swim team turning into monsters.
the "go fish" episode also featured wentworth miller of "prison break" fame. he was one of the swimmers. and... i don't know about anyone else... but when did the boys swim team become the cool jocks in high school? at my high school... the swim team was anything but cool... or hot for that matter (and for the ladies... the episode featured xander in a little red speedo.)
needless to say, it was a fun marc and kelley weekend. like i said, i hope they don't get tired of seeing me and karen... because the season two finale is coming up for buffy!
now, i have helped a lot of people move. there is a long list of people who i have helped move... some more than once. similarly, my friend (marc) has helped a lot of people move as well... because at the time he had access to a truck. so naturally, both marc and i agreed to help amy move yesterday. unfortunately, amy did not require our assistance yesterday. so marc and i were off the hook.
so instead, i got to hang out with marc and kelley. too bad i suck at hanging out with marc and kelley. interestingly enough, it was a marc and kelley weekend for me. i hope they don't get tired of seeing me all the time.
anyway, we basically just hung out while karen was in quincy meeting with my friend (hot amy). karen and hot amy were meeting to discuss the upcoming course in the spring semester that they will be teaching at simmons college. (i foresee some chauffeuring in my future.)
marc decided to rent a video game (the mortal kombat versus dc universe game). he actually wasn't feeling too well, so he took a little cat nap shortly afterwards. so... kelley and i basically hammered away at the controllers as we played the game. it is an interesting fighting game where superhero characters can fight the mortal combat characters, etc. (like any typical fighting video game, the female anatomy is generally enhanced... and mortal kombat is no different.)
when karen arrived after her course planning, we were able to catch a couple of more episodes of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. we saw "i only have eyes for you" and "go fish". of the two, i liked "go fish" the best. the former episode is about a poltergeist that wants forgiveness, whereas the latter episode is about the swim team turning into monsters.
the "go fish" episode also featured wentworth miller of "prison break" fame. he was one of the swimmers. and... i don't know about anyone else... but when did the boys swim team become the cool jocks in high school? at my high school... the swim team was anything but cool... or hot for that matter (and for the ladies... the episode featured xander in a little red speedo.)
needless to say, it was a fun marc and kelley weekend. like i said, i hope they don't get tired of seeing me and karen... because the season two finale is coming up for buffy!
I Suck At Tree Trimming
on saturday night, my friends (marc and kelley) were having a tree trimming. too bad i suck at tree trimming. for awhile, marc and kelley have been having an annual tree trimming where everyone would get together and decorate the tree... and just have fun.
sadly, this year i did not get to use any power tools on marc and kelley's tree. i had my trusty circular saw ready to cut the bottom of the tree. unfortunately, the circular saw was not needed this year. in years past, i made the mistake of using a handsaw on the tree. using a handsaw took too much effort... plus... when you get the sticky tree sap all over your hands... it gets frustrating. i think we ended up destroying the handsaw that year because the tree was just too hard to cut.
anyway, i had a good time at the tree trimming. karen made a chocolate pecan pie just for the event. although i did not have any of the pie, i heard it was quite delicious. lucky for me, i still have the bottle of bourbon used to create the pie... so i'll drink that instead.
although, maybe i should lay off the booze for awhile. (booze is my friend... and as i sometimes say... it numbs the pain.) apparently, kelley is quite the bartender... as all of the vodka was used up that night to make martinis. i don't know how many martinis were made, but i think it was a lot. i may have partaken in the martini drinking as well... because i vaguely remember the tree trimming night.
i do, however, remember my friends (adam and alex) stopping by. adam (sometimes known as "atom") and alex are the brothers of my friend (scott) who lives in new york. scott also seems to have a penchant for finding karen and me while at marc and kelley's a lot. apparently, i told adam and alex about my scotch incident... which is rather ironic since i don't remember that fateful scotch night... in fact, i don't even remember telling adam and alex about my fateful scotch night. i only heard about it through karen.
anyway, it is times like that which i sometimes think that i should probably give up alcohol. after all, my memory is bad enough... so i probably should try to keep any remaining brain cells that i have left and not have alcohol kill them off. i don't know. we'll see...
sadly, this year i did not get to use any power tools on marc and kelley's tree. i had my trusty circular saw ready to cut the bottom of the tree. unfortunately, the circular saw was not needed this year. in years past, i made the mistake of using a handsaw on the tree. using a handsaw took too much effort... plus... when you get the sticky tree sap all over your hands... it gets frustrating. i think we ended up destroying the handsaw that year because the tree was just too hard to cut.
anyway, i had a good time at the tree trimming. karen made a chocolate pecan pie just for the event. although i did not have any of the pie, i heard it was quite delicious. lucky for me, i still have the bottle of bourbon used to create the pie... so i'll drink that instead.
although, maybe i should lay off the booze for awhile. (booze is my friend... and as i sometimes say... it numbs the pain.) apparently, kelley is quite the bartender... as all of the vodka was used up that night to make martinis. i don't know how many martinis were made, but i think it was a lot. i may have partaken in the martini drinking as well... because i vaguely remember the tree trimming night.
i do, however, remember my friends (adam and alex) stopping by. adam (sometimes known as "atom") and alex are the brothers of my friend (scott) who lives in new york. scott also seems to have a penchant for finding karen and me while at marc and kelley's a lot. apparently, i told adam and alex about my scotch incident... which is rather ironic since i don't remember that fateful scotch night... in fact, i don't even remember telling adam and alex about my fateful scotch night. i only heard about it through karen.
anyway, it is times like that which i sometimes think that i should probably give up alcohol. after all, my memory is bad enough... so i probably should try to keep any remaining brain cells that i have left and not have alcohol kill them off. i don't know. we'll see...
I Suck At Christo's
on saturday, karen and i visited karen's grandparents who live in hanover. in addition to just checking in on them, karen wanted to show her grandparents a video that my favorite sister-in-law (janine) discovered on youtube during the week. the video is basically about her cousin (doreen)... who would be another grandchild to her grandparents... singing a patsy cline tune known as "i go walking." (i have never heard of the tune up until i saw the video.)
(the video below is of doreen.)
maybe doreen should try out for the next american idol audition.
anyway, karen's grandparents soon asked if we wanted to go to lunch with them. with the recent inclement weather, they had not really left the house in some time. naturally, we agreed to go. the destination for lunch: christo's... home of the greek salad king... or so their tagline would have you believe.
now, i suck at christo's. my past experiences there have never been really stellar. as mean as this sounds, i would consider christo's a place where the elderly frequent... which with karen's grandparents wanting to go there... makes sense. i just never thought the food was all that great, even the greek salad. in addition, the commercials on tv for christo's used to annoy me because they had that "made in a basement" feel to them.
nonetheless, we went there for lunch. karen's grandparents love christo's. they go there quite frequently. in fact, when we got there, the waitperson immediately recognized karen's grandparents and started chatting with them. even mr. christo (or whatever his name may be) said hello to karen's grandparents. mr. christo called karen's grandfather... "charlie". karen's grandfather's name is not charlie. apparently, when karen's grandfather first met mr. christo, mr. christo thought his name was "charlie". karen's grandfather never corrected him... and so... he became known as charlie within the christo world.
karen's grandfather is a definite marvel. he is 96 years old and still has his mental acumen. i can't even remember yesterday and i'm a little over a third of his age. his stories are quite funny. in fact, both him and karen's grandmother have fascinating stories about the past. it was definitely great to have lunch with them.
and surprisingly, the food was not that bad at christo's. i had broiled haddock with roasted potatoes and squash... it was actually good. anyway, i had a great time with karen's grandparents. i don't remember the last time, if ever, that we had lunch with just them... but it was fun.
(the video below is of doreen.)
maybe doreen should try out for the next american idol audition.
anyway, karen's grandparents soon asked if we wanted to go to lunch with them. with the recent inclement weather, they had not really left the house in some time. naturally, we agreed to go. the destination for lunch: christo's... home of the greek salad king... or so their tagline would have you believe.
now, i suck at christo's. my past experiences there have never been really stellar. as mean as this sounds, i would consider christo's a place where the elderly frequent... which with karen's grandparents wanting to go there... makes sense. i just never thought the food was all that great, even the greek salad. in addition, the commercials on tv for christo's used to annoy me because they had that "made in a basement" feel to them.
nonetheless, we went there for lunch. karen's grandparents love christo's. they go there quite frequently. in fact, when we got there, the waitperson immediately recognized karen's grandparents and started chatting with them. even mr. christo (or whatever his name may be) said hello to karen's grandparents. mr. christo called karen's grandfather... "charlie". karen's grandfather's name is not charlie. apparently, when karen's grandfather first met mr. christo, mr. christo thought his name was "charlie". karen's grandfather never corrected him... and so... he became known as charlie within the christo world.
karen's grandfather is a definite marvel. he is 96 years old and still has his mental acumen. i can't even remember yesterday and i'm a little over a third of his age. his stories are quite funny. in fact, both him and karen's grandmother have fascinating stories about the past. it was definitely great to have lunch with them.
and surprisingly, the food was not that bad at christo's. i had broiled haddock with roasted potatoes and squash... it was actually good. anyway, i had a great time with karen's grandparents. i don't remember the last time, if ever, that we had lunch with just them... but it was fun.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
I Suck At Bailing Out The Auto Industry
normally, i don't post anything related to politics. after all, politics is one of those topics that can lead to a heated argument... and regardless of people's entitlement to their own opinions, some people can never agree to disagree.
unfortunately, the news tonight has been all abuzz about the auto bailout death. (and since i have no life, i have been watching the news.) for anyone curious, according to yahoo news, "Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year's end." apparently, the majority of the republican party is mostly responsible for the auto bailout death.
anyway, the topic of bailing out the auto industry annoys me (probably because i have seen the topic covered so often tonight). normally, i do not agree with conservative republicans, who were mainly responsible for the auto bailout death. in the case of the failing automotive industry, however, i actually agree with their action.
don't get me wrong. should the u.s. automotive industry collapse, millions of jobs will be lost. that is never a good thing, especially with the current economic conditions that the u.s. is facing. i've been on unemployment before (twice) and it's not fun... trust me. so, i can empathize with people who lose their jobs. i would never willingly wish for anyone to lose their job.
that said, i don't think the automotive industry should be bailed out at all. for anyone who knows me, i am a proponent for equality and fairness. just because the automotive industry is huge and the possible repercussions of bankruptcy can be devastating, i don't think the automotive companies should be bailed out. after all, there have been many companies that have gone bankrupt in my lifetime. where was the bailout for those companies? i'm sure the workers at those bankrupt companies could have used a bailout. to me, it only seems fair that if a handful of companies (like the automotive companies) receive a bailout, then all companies... whether big or small should receive a bailout whenever they are on the verge of bankruptcy. it does not make sense to bail out the auto industry if the sole reason is because the automotive industry has a huge unionized workforce in the numbers of thousands. (it turns out that the united auto workers union is also a big contributor and loyal supporter of the democratic party... interesting.) in essence, that act boils down to preferential treatment.
so unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), i suck at bailing out the auto industry. it just does not make sense to me (and i wish it would be off the news because i am tired hearing about it). sadly, the bailout for detroit's auto industry will still likely pass in the weeks to come as the issue is not totally dead yet.
unfortunately, the news tonight has been all abuzz about the auto bailout death. (and since i have no life, i have been watching the news.) for anyone curious, according to yahoo news, "Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year's end." apparently, the majority of the republican party is mostly responsible for the auto bailout death.
anyway, the topic of bailing out the auto industry annoys me (probably because i have seen the topic covered so often tonight). normally, i do not agree with conservative republicans, who were mainly responsible for the auto bailout death. in the case of the failing automotive industry, however, i actually agree with their action.
don't get me wrong. should the u.s. automotive industry collapse, millions of jobs will be lost. that is never a good thing, especially with the current economic conditions that the u.s. is facing. i've been on unemployment before (twice) and it's not fun... trust me. so, i can empathize with people who lose their jobs. i would never willingly wish for anyone to lose their job.
that said, i don't think the automotive industry should be bailed out at all. for anyone who knows me, i am a proponent for equality and fairness. just because the automotive industry is huge and the possible repercussions of bankruptcy can be devastating, i don't think the automotive companies should be bailed out. after all, there have been many companies that have gone bankrupt in my lifetime. where was the bailout for those companies? i'm sure the workers at those bankrupt companies could have used a bailout. to me, it only seems fair that if a handful of companies (like the automotive companies) receive a bailout, then all companies... whether big or small should receive a bailout whenever they are on the verge of bankruptcy. it does not make sense to bail out the auto industry if the sole reason is because the automotive industry has a huge unionized workforce in the numbers of thousands. (it turns out that the united auto workers union is also a big contributor and loyal supporter of the democratic party... interesting.) in essence, that act boils down to preferential treatment.
so unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), i suck at bailing out the auto industry. it just does not make sense to me (and i wish it would be off the news because i am tired hearing about it). sadly, the bailout for detroit's auto industry will still likely pass in the weeks to come as the issue is not totally dead yet.
Friday, December 12, 2008
I Suck At Chipotle Mexican Grill
it's true. i have no life. rather than partying on a friday night, i'm at home... writing this post. some might say that i suck at having a life... which right now i would agree. i was actually hoping that my bff (kerry) would come down for a little veronica mars visit tonight. unfortunately, due to the inclement weather, she was unable to visit. bummer.
so, i'm pretty much at home tonight... twiddling my thumbs. for anyone curious, karen is trying her hand at baking a chocolate pecan pie for tomorrow. the pie sounds yummy.
anyway, tonight i had my first experience at the chipotle mexican grill. yes, i suck at chipotle mexican grill. i guess you can say i was a chipotle virgin. and my first time was with a burrito... it sounds so kinky, i know.
i always heard about the chipotle mexican grill. i just never went there. so when the chipotle opened in quincy, i was quite curious as to trying out the food. lo and behold, tonight presented the perfect opportunity for me to go... (again, since i have no life...)
after visiting karen's grandmother (nana) in the nursing home, karen and i went to karen's parents to drop off the laundry. by laundry, i am not referring to karen or my laundry... because that would be odd. i was referring to karen's grandmother's laundry. karen's mother does her laundry since nana is in the nursing home.
so, we were going to drop off nana's laundry with karen's parents in quincy. needless to say, i was getting pretty hungry on the ride there. we decided to stop off at chipotle to grab a quick bite to eat.
i must say, the food was good. the parking at chipotle is bad... but the food was good. i ordered a steak burrito... filled with rice... black beans... corn chili salsa... and guacamole. for anyone curious, guacamole costs extra. it apparently was a good night because i was not charged for the guacamole... to which i say "thanks little b!"... even though i'm sure my son (braden aka little b) would agree with me that daddy doesn't need the heaping spoonful of extra calories.
needless to say, the burrito was a good size. the burrito was messy... but quite filling. i was pleasantly surprised. and as of yet, i have not felt any ill effects from eating the large portion of mexican food... which is always good. so yes, i would go back to chipotle again. the food was good.
so, i'm pretty much at home tonight... twiddling my thumbs. for anyone curious, karen is trying her hand at baking a chocolate pecan pie for tomorrow. the pie sounds yummy.
anyway, tonight i had my first experience at the chipotle mexican grill. yes, i suck at chipotle mexican grill. i guess you can say i was a chipotle virgin. and my first time was with a burrito... it sounds so kinky, i know.
i always heard about the chipotle mexican grill. i just never went there. so when the chipotle opened in quincy, i was quite curious as to trying out the food. lo and behold, tonight presented the perfect opportunity for me to go... (again, since i have no life...)
after visiting karen's grandmother (nana) in the nursing home, karen and i went to karen's parents to drop off the laundry. by laundry, i am not referring to karen or my laundry... because that would be odd. i was referring to karen's grandmother's laundry. karen's mother does her laundry since nana is in the nursing home.
so, we were going to drop off nana's laundry with karen's parents in quincy. needless to say, i was getting pretty hungry on the ride there. we decided to stop off at chipotle to grab a quick bite to eat.
i must say, the food was good. the parking at chipotle is bad... but the food was good. i ordered a steak burrito... filled with rice... black beans... corn chili salsa... and guacamole. for anyone curious, guacamole costs extra. it apparently was a good night because i was not charged for the guacamole... to which i say "thanks little b!"... even though i'm sure my son (braden aka little b) would agree with me that daddy doesn't need the heaping spoonful of extra calories.
needless to say, the burrito was a good size. the burrito was messy... but quite filling. i was pleasantly surprised. and as of yet, i have not felt any ill effects from eating the large portion of mexican food... which is always good. so yes, i would go back to chipotle again. the food was good.
I Suck At Joe's American Bar And Grill
tonight has been an annoying day. aside from the constant downpour of rain, i just discovered that the project i have been diligently working on has just gotten larger... with the addition of another business requirement. in addition to the project's growing size, i have been stuck trying to figure out a solution to handle one of the other business requirements. generally, when i'm stuck figuring out a solution, i tend to constantly think about it until i have somewhat of a resolution.
so, in an effort to take a break from the constant contemplation about a possible work solution, karen and i decided to go out for dinner. we ended up going to joe's american bar and grill located in hanover. unfortunately, i suck at joe's american bar and grill. i have not been there in quite some time. i believe the last time i was there was with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (pj)... and that was only at the bar of the restaurant.
karen's grandparents actually gave us a gift card for joe's american bar and grill. apparently, they wanted to thank us for helping with the home improvement projects from awhile ago.
i must say... the food tonight at joe's was delicious! (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) karen had the butternut squash ravioli special while i had the steak tips. both meals were very good. i was quite surprised at how good the meals were. i am thinking... should i ever be lucky enough to wager a bet again with my friend (hot amy), i think i would wager butternut squash ravioli. now, i'm not saying that i will win the wager of course... but i would say my chances are pretty good at winning. after all, hot amy is genetically predisposed to lose. come to think of it, i think hot amy still owes me a yummy mac 'n cheese dinner. oh well.
needless to say, joe's american bar and grill was very good. i'm glad karen's grandparents got us a gift card there because i probably would not have gone to the restaurant otherwise. for some reason, i never think to go to joe's american bar and grill even though the restaurant is just up the street from our house. although after tonight's dinner, i may consider going there more often.
so, in an effort to take a break from the constant contemplation about a possible work solution, karen and i decided to go out for dinner. we ended up going to joe's american bar and grill located in hanover. unfortunately, i suck at joe's american bar and grill. i have not been there in quite some time. i believe the last time i was there was with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (pj)... and that was only at the bar of the restaurant.
karen's grandparents actually gave us a gift card for joe's american bar and grill. apparently, they wanted to thank us for helping with the home improvement projects from awhile ago.
i must say... the food tonight at joe's was delicious! (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) karen had the butternut squash ravioli special while i had the steak tips. both meals were very good. i was quite surprised at how good the meals were. i am thinking... should i ever be lucky enough to wager a bet again with my friend (hot amy), i think i would wager butternut squash ravioli. now, i'm not saying that i will win the wager of course... but i would say my chances are pretty good at winning. after all, hot amy is genetically predisposed to lose. come to think of it, i think hot amy still owes me a yummy mac 'n cheese dinner. oh well.
needless to say, joe's american bar and grill was very good. i'm glad karen's grandparents got us a gift card there because i probably would not have gone to the restaurant otherwise. for some reason, i never think to go to joe's american bar and grill even though the restaurant is just up the street from our house. although after tonight's dinner, i may consider going there more often.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
I Suck At Buffy The Vampire Slayer
tonight, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). it has been a while since we got together on prince spaghetti wednesday. unfortunately, marc and kelley passed up the opportunity to go see the ting tings to hang out with us. i hope they did not cancel their plans because of us.
anyway, as usual i had a great time hanging out with marc and kelley. we grabbed dinner at the falafel king in quincy (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound). interestingly enough, karen and i got to see how the falafels were made at the falafel king. apparently, there is a falafel mold that the king uses to form the nice round falafel before frying it. the mold basically has a handle with a round top to it... which sort of reminds me of a waffle cone... only for falafels.
needless to say, dinner was fantastic. we watched another episode of my bff's (kerry) favorite new show: fringe. it's a good show... even if joshua jackson plays the same wise-cracking character in all of his roles. for anyone curious, the show takes place in boston... and evidently there is supposed to be a bridge in stoughton. i didn't even know stoughton was near water. poetic license? maybe...
after fringe of course, we were able to catch a couple of more episodes of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer! the episodes we watched were "passion" and "killed by death". "passion" features the death of jenny calendar, after she discovers a way to restore the vampire's (known as angel) soul. "killed by death" featured the freddy krueger/nightmare on elm street doppleganger about a demon who preys on children. too bad i suck at buffy the vampire slayer.
of the two episodes, i liked the "passion" episode the best. the episode was well done... and quite touching with the death of jenny calendar. the first time i saw the episode, i was sad to learn that they killed off her character. watching the episode again... i'm still sad. (and yes, perhaps i was sad because she was cute.)
anyway, after watching the episode, i started to think... what ever happened to the actress (robia lamorte) who played jenny calendar?... because i don't remember her being in anything else. well... as it turns out, i learned a few things from my trusty friend, the internet movie database... or imdb for short.
according to imdb, robia lamorte was a dancer before she became an actress. in fact, her first dancing gig was in the music video "shake your love" by debbie gibson... i just can't shake... your love.
(the video below is "shake your love" by debbie gibson.)
shake your love... i just can't shake... your love. apparently, robia lamorte has the big 80s permed hair in the video. she also later became "pearl" of prince's "diamonds and pearls" fame. as for what robia lamorte is currently doing... she is now doing god's work, having retired from acting altogether.
all right, so maybe i had too much time on my hands. needless to say, it was another great night hanging out with marc and kelley.
anyway, as usual i had a great time hanging out with marc and kelley. we grabbed dinner at the falafel king in quincy (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound). interestingly enough, karen and i got to see how the falafels were made at the falafel king. apparently, there is a falafel mold that the king uses to form the nice round falafel before frying it. the mold basically has a handle with a round top to it... which sort of reminds me of a waffle cone... only for falafels.
needless to say, dinner was fantastic. we watched another episode of my bff's (kerry) favorite new show: fringe. it's a good show... even if joshua jackson plays the same wise-cracking character in all of his roles. for anyone curious, the show takes place in boston... and evidently there is supposed to be a bridge in stoughton. i didn't even know stoughton was near water. poetic license? maybe...
after fringe of course, we were able to catch a couple of more episodes of the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer! the episodes we watched were "passion" and "killed by death". "passion" features the death of jenny calendar, after she discovers a way to restore the vampire's (known as angel) soul. "killed by death" featured the freddy krueger/nightmare on elm street doppleganger about a demon who preys on children. too bad i suck at buffy the vampire slayer.
of the two episodes, i liked the "passion" episode the best. the episode was well done... and quite touching with the death of jenny calendar. the first time i saw the episode, i was sad to learn that they killed off her character. watching the episode again... i'm still sad. (and yes, perhaps i was sad because she was cute.)
anyway, after watching the episode, i started to think... what ever happened to the actress (robia lamorte) who played jenny calendar?... because i don't remember her being in anything else. well... as it turns out, i learned a few things from my trusty friend, the internet movie database... or imdb for short.
according to imdb, robia lamorte was a dancer before she became an actress. in fact, her first dancing gig was in the music video "shake your love" by debbie gibson... i just can't shake... your love.
(the video below is "shake your love" by debbie gibson.)
shake your love... i just can't shake... your love. apparently, robia lamorte has the big 80s permed hair in the video. she also later became "pearl" of prince's "diamonds and pearls" fame. as for what robia lamorte is currently doing... she is now doing god's work, having retired from acting altogether.
all right, so maybe i had too much time on my hands. needless to say, it was another great night hanging out with marc and kelley.
I Suck At Fantasy Football
as of monday, my fantasy football season is mercifully over. my fantasy team unfortunately did not make the playoffs. yes, i suck at fantasy football.
this was my inaugural year in the fantasy football league that my friends are a part of. i was not really expecting much from the football league because in the past, i heard about the constant bickering and discord that took place. i was, however, pleasantly surprised that there were no incidents this year, perhaps because my friends knew about my hesitation in joining the league for those reasons.
needless to say, the fantasy football league was fun. my team finished a mediocre 7-7 (7 wins and 7 losses), which is not that bad with all things considered. as a special bonus, i achieved my goal of not finishing dead last... although i was pretty close to the bottom in the standings (9th place). sadly, my good luck charm... that being my friend (anna)... could not help my fantasy team this year. (i named my team after anna... for no reason other than the name seemed to fit. plus, her birthday is on christmas, so i figured there had to be some luck in that, right?... apparently not.)
anyway, hopefully next year... if i participate in the league again... i will fare better. now that i have one season under my belt, i will know what to expect for next season.
this was my inaugural year in the fantasy football league that my friends are a part of. i was not really expecting much from the football league because in the past, i heard about the constant bickering and discord that took place. i was, however, pleasantly surprised that there were no incidents this year, perhaps because my friends knew about my hesitation in joining the league for those reasons.
needless to say, the fantasy football league was fun. my team finished a mediocre 7-7 (7 wins and 7 losses), which is not that bad with all things considered. as a special bonus, i achieved my goal of not finishing dead last... although i was pretty close to the bottom in the standings (9th place). sadly, my good luck charm... that being my friend (anna)... could not help my fantasy team this year. (i named my team after anna... for no reason other than the name seemed to fit. plus, her birthday is on christmas, so i figured there had to be some luck in that, right?... apparently not.)
anyway, hopefully next year... if i participate in the league again... i will fare better. now that i have one season under my belt, i will know what to expect for next season.
I Suck At Attending A Service For Remembrance
last night, karen's parents, karen, and i went to the old south union church in weymouth. the church is directly across from the south shore hospital, which where my son (braden michael) was born... and passed.
anyway, the old south union church was having a service for remembrance for those who have lost their children... whether it was from extreme prematurity, being still born, having cancer, car accident... whatever the reason. too bad i suck at attending a service for remembrance.
karen and i actually received an invitation in the mail about the service. the service for remembrance (and hope... as it is officially known as) has been going on for the past 15 years. (last night was the 16th annual service.) apparently, south shore hospital works in conjunction with the old south church to offer the service for families who have lost their children. in my opinion, it is a very nice thing to offer families as they attempt to cope with the loss of a child. it is comforting to know that the south shore hospital recognizes the grieving process and that they don't simply forget about you when you leave the hospital.
as for the service itself, the service was nice. the service is non-denomination... but the obvious emphasis is a belief in god. for anyone who knows me, they would know i am not much for believing in god. heck, i still have original sin. even if i were to believe in god, i would probably not be his most ardent fan right now with the loss of my son, braden. (if you have ever seen the movie "dracula" with gary oldman... picture the scene where gary oldman first becomes the creature of the night. i believe he asks why god has forsaken him. thus, if i were to believe in god, that is probably how i would feel right now. luckily, i have not been turned into a vampire yet.)
anyway, i wasn't much for the faith-based service. the part of the service i did enjoy, however, was the telling of personal stories by some families who had lost their respective children. one woman read a poem that she wrote and gave to her husband on father's day. their child was unfortunately stillborn. the poem was through the child's perspective and about even though they never really met, the child knew his father loved him by hearing the stories he read to her belly and things like that.
there was another personal story involving a woman and her second child. the first child unfortunately passed away. for school, the second child had to do a family tree for an assignment. the child then had a dilemma about whether to include her sister on the family tree or not. she did not want people to feel sad should they see the family tree and inquire about her lost sister. it was touching. (she eventually did put her sister on the family tree.)
afterwards, we got to hear braden's name read aloud as he was remembered during the service. all in all, it was a good service. the night was definitely harder than i expected because all those thoughts i had three months ago when everything was happening was brought to the forefront... probably because in my mind, the service was for braden and just seeing the familiar faces from south shore hospital reminded me of my time with braden in the neonatal intensive care unit.
but after yesterday, i've come to realize that my fear is unfounded. i don't know why i even thought of it in the first place... because i will never forget about braden.
anyway, the old south union church was having a service for remembrance for those who have lost their children... whether it was from extreme prematurity, being still born, having cancer, car accident... whatever the reason. too bad i suck at attending a service for remembrance.
karen and i actually received an invitation in the mail about the service. the service for remembrance (and hope... as it is officially known as) has been going on for the past 15 years. (last night was the 16th annual service.) apparently, south shore hospital works in conjunction with the old south church to offer the service for families who have lost their children. in my opinion, it is a very nice thing to offer families as they attempt to cope with the loss of a child. it is comforting to know that the south shore hospital recognizes the grieving process and that they don't simply forget about you when you leave the hospital.
as for the service itself, the service was nice. the service is non-denomination... but the obvious emphasis is a belief in god. for anyone who knows me, they would know i am not much for believing in god. heck, i still have original sin. even if i were to believe in god, i would probably not be his most ardent fan right now with the loss of my son, braden. (if you have ever seen the movie "dracula" with gary oldman... picture the scene where gary oldman first becomes the creature of the night. i believe he asks why god has forsaken him. thus, if i were to believe in god, that is probably how i would feel right now. luckily, i have not been turned into a vampire yet.)
anyway, i wasn't much for the faith-based service. the part of the service i did enjoy, however, was the telling of personal stories by some families who had lost their respective children. one woman read a poem that she wrote and gave to her husband on father's day. their child was unfortunately stillborn. the poem was through the child's perspective and about even though they never really met, the child knew his father loved him by hearing the stories he read to her belly and things like that.
there was another personal story involving a woman and her second child. the first child unfortunately passed away. for school, the second child had to do a family tree for an assignment. the child then had a dilemma about whether to include her sister on the family tree or not. she did not want people to feel sad should they see the family tree and inquire about her lost sister. it was touching. (she eventually did put her sister on the family tree.)
afterwards, we got to hear braden's name read aloud as he was remembered during the service. all in all, it was a good service. the night was definitely harder than i expected because all those thoughts i had three months ago when everything was happening was brought to the forefront... probably because in my mind, the service was for braden and just seeing the familiar faces from south shore hospital reminded me of my time with braden in the neonatal intensive care unit.
but after yesterday, i've come to realize that my fear is unfounded. i don't know why i even thought of it in the first place... because i will never forget about braden.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
I Suck At Celebrating My Friend's Birthday
today is my friend's (jen) birthday. too bad i suck at celebrating my friend's birthday. happy birthday jen!
i have known jen for quite some time... at least since high school. the story about how jen and karen became friends is quite interesting. jen and karen would arrive at school very early in the morning. as it turned out... on one fateful morning, jen's father was driving jen and her brother (bill) to school. as they were driving to school, jen's father happened to notice karen on her way to school. jen's father asked jen if karen went to the same school as jen. at the time, jen did not really know karen at all. needless to say, jen's father pulled the car over and offered karen a ride. i heard that the car ride to school that day was somewhat awkward. nonetheless, jen and karen have been friends ever since. (of course, this was all back in the day when taking rides from strangers was not like how it is today.)
anyway, one of my fondest memories of jen happens to be on her birthday. jen was going to florida for the weekend to celebrate her birthday with her family and she invited karen and myself to join her. we ended up staying at the portofino bay hotel in universal studios, orlando.
during the day, all of us enjoyed universal studios together. after all, what is there to not enjoy at universal studios... theme parks are always fun. (incidentally, it was the first time i got to ride the incredible hulk roller coaster with bill.) i don't know how many roller coaster rides i did that day. we saw the x-men characters... we saw spiderman in one of the shops... it was like a comic book nerd's dream come true. we even went to jimmy buffett's margaritaville for dinner with jen's family.
all in all, that was a great weekend... one filled with great memories. it is always fun to hang out with jen and just be silly.
anyway, happy birthday jen!
i have known jen for quite some time... at least since high school. the story about how jen and karen became friends is quite interesting. jen and karen would arrive at school very early in the morning. as it turned out... on one fateful morning, jen's father was driving jen and her brother (bill) to school. as they were driving to school, jen's father happened to notice karen on her way to school. jen's father asked jen if karen went to the same school as jen. at the time, jen did not really know karen at all. needless to say, jen's father pulled the car over and offered karen a ride. i heard that the car ride to school that day was somewhat awkward. nonetheless, jen and karen have been friends ever since. (of course, this was all back in the day when taking rides from strangers was not like how it is today.)
anyway, one of my fondest memories of jen happens to be on her birthday. jen was going to florida for the weekend to celebrate her birthday with her family and she invited karen and myself to join her. we ended up staying at the portofino bay hotel in universal studios, orlando.
during the day, all of us enjoyed universal studios together. after all, what is there to not enjoy at universal studios... theme parks are always fun. (incidentally, it was the first time i got to ride the incredible hulk roller coaster with bill.) i don't know how many roller coaster rides i did that day. we saw the x-men characters... we saw spiderman in one of the shops... it was like a comic book nerd's dream come true. we even went to jimmy buffett's margaritaville for dinner with jen's family.
all in all, that was a great weekend... one filled with great memories. it is always fun to hang out with jen and just be silly.
anyway, happy birthday jen!
Monday, December 8, 2008
I Suck At Ordering Jewelry
two months ago, i posted that i wore a medical bracelet that was issued to karen and me when my son (braden michael) was born. in my efforts to never forget about my late son who shortly passed away after birth, i wore the medical bracelet until finally... the bracelet snapped.
i had debated about how i would remember braden since that moment. i thought about getting another bracelet. there were even suggestions for tattoos from some of my friends. (i would like to thank everyone again who suggested ideas. i really do appreciate it.) in the end, i decided on a simple charm with braden's footprint etched on it. his name is also engraved on the back of the charm.
(pictured below is the charm with braden's footprint.)
anyway, karen and i had to order the charm. (karen ordered a ring for herself with braden's footprints engraved around the ring... as though braden were walking around the ring.) well, today the jewelry finally arrived. it's too bad i suck at ordering jewelry. in typical fashion... because nothing seems to go according to plan these days... part of the jewelry order was missing. the piece of jewelry that my parents ordered did not come in. so obviously, there is the headache of tracking that down to figure out what had happened with that order.
i should not be surprised... after all... very little has been easy in the past months. aside from that, however, i am quite happy to have my charm. i feel like i can fiddle around with the charm forever. (i'm actually playing with it now as i type this.) i guess you could say it is just my way of playing with my son since i won't really have that opportunity in life.
i had debated about how i would remember braden since that moment. i thought about getting another bracelet. there were even suggestions for tattoos from some of my friends. (i would like to thank everyone again who suggested ideas. i really do appreciate it.) in the end, i decided on a simple charm with braden's footprint etched on it. his name is also engraved on the back of the charm.
(pictured below is the charm with braden's footprint.)
anyway, karen and i had to order the charm. (karen ordered a ring for herself with braden's footprints engraved around the ring... as though braden were walking around the ring.) well, today the jewelry finally arrived. it's too bad i suck at ordering jewelry. in typical fashion... because nothing seems to go according to plan these days... part of the jewelry order was missing. the piece of jewelry that my parents ordered did not come in. so obviously, there is the headache of tracking that down to figure out what had happened with that order.
i should not be surprised... after all... very little has been easy in the past months. aside from that, however, i am quite happy to have my charm. i feel like i can fiddle around with the charm forever. (i'm actually playing with it now as i type this.) i guess you could say it is just my way of playing with my son since i won't really have that opportunity in life.
I Suck At Kerry's Holiday Party
saturday was quite the busy day. in addition to hanging out with my friend (aimee), karen and i attended my bff's (kerry) annual holiday party. too bad i suck at kerry's holiday party.
for quite some time now (i think maybe for the past six years), kerry has hosted an annual holiday party. she began hosting the annual holiday party when she lived in medford. go mustangs! please don't ask me how i know medford high is known as the mustangs, because the story involves my friend (carlos)... and cheerleaders.
anyway, kerry and her roommate at the time (jamie) would invite a bunch of friends over to celebrate the holidays. historically, jamie and his friends would hang out together in one area of the apartment (like the kitchen), while kerry's friends would hang out in another area of the apartment... and never the two shall meet... well, they would hardly cross over to intermingle.
for me, the hang out area of choice was kerry's bedroom. sure, it sounds odd... hanging out in kerry's bedroom, but there were a lot of good memories in her bedroom... all during her holiday parties of course.
one of the fondest memories i have is attempting to open a bottle of beer in her closet... and i don't mean me standing in her closet opening a bottle of beer. i mean... using the striker plate of the closet to open the bottle of beer. (the striker plate is what the door knob comes in contact with to actually keep the door closed.) the idea came about because my friend (jen) said that she learned how to open a bottle of beer via the closet striking plate. needless to say, i figured i'd give it a try as well. unfortunately, the results were not too good. i got beer everywhere in her closet.
another memory of kerry's bedroom during the holiday party involved jamie's friend (horatio). at the time, kerry kept all of her numbers from the road races that she ran. in fact, she placed all of the numbers above her bed. well, horatio entered kerry's bedroom on one unsuspecting holiday party and noticed a bunch of us on kerry's bed. he then noticed the collection of numbers above the bed and asked what the numbers meant. well, in our bout of silliness, we told horatio that the numbers were the number of conquests that kerry has "notched" above the bed. (for anyone curious, the numbers that are usually given out at road races generally tend to be in the hundreds.) i think horatio got a chuckle out of it. i am hoping he did not really believe all of us.
needless to say, this year kerry made her bedroom off limits. her new apartment in salem is large enough that guests can hang out anywhere but the bedroom now. it was a good time. my friends (carlos and andrea), karen and i went this year to kerry's holiday party.
(pictured below are carlos, karen and andrea on kerry's new couch.)
although i did not really talk much with kerry's usual friends from rhode island, i got to meet her firefighting friend (rick) and her cousin (melissa). i hung out with them more because... well... we shared something in common... none of us were part of the rhode island crew. and like i tend to joke... nothing good comes from rhode island except the family guy...
i am just kidding about rhode island. don't get me wrong. kerry's rhode island friends are nice. but like anything, people generally tend to do things that they are familiar with because it provides a level of comfort. so it only makes sense that her friends from rhode island would congregate with one another... much like how in a high school reunion people would tend to hang out with people who they hung out in high school.
regardless, i had a fun time with rick and melissa... and melissa's boyfriend (pat) who apparently has been hired by carlos to manage carlos's dream bar: cocktails and dreams. yes, i think there may have been a little inebriation during this holiday party. (i think carlos may have passed out on the car ride home.) and as a holiday party bonus, the food was good as usual. kerry is quite the baker. (granted, i did not eat any of her baked goods at the party, but i do know that a lot of people raved about her cookies.) i stuck to the dish of scallops wrapped in bacon... so good.
for quite some time now (i think maybe for the past six years), kerry has hosted an annual holiday party. she began hosting the annual holiday party when she lived in medford. go mustangs! please don't ask me how i know medford high is known as the mustangs, because the story involves my friend (carlos)... and cheerleaders.
anyway, kerry and her roommate at the time (jamie) would invite a bunch of friends over to celebrate the holidays. historically, jamie and his friends would hang out together in one area of the apartment (like the kitchen), while kerry's friends would hang out in another area of the apartment... and never the two shall meet... well, they would hardly cross over to intermingle.
for me, the hang out area of choice was kerry's bedroom. sure, it sounds odd... hanging out in kerry's bedroom, but there were a lot of good memories in her bedroom... all during her holiday parties of course.
one of the fondest memories i have is attempting to open a bottle of beer in her closet... and i don't mean me standing in her closet opening a bottle of beer. i mean... using the striker plate of the closet to open the bottle of beer. (the striker plate is what the door knob comes in contact with to actually keep the door closed.) the idea came about because my friend (jen) said that she learned how to open a bottle of beer via the closet striking plate. needless to say, i figured i'd give it a try as well. unfortunately, the results were not too good. i got beer everywhere in her closet.
another memory of kerry's bedroom during the holiday party involved jamie's friend (horatio). at the time, kerry kept all of her numbers from the road races that she ran. in fact, she placed all of the numbers above her bed. well, horatio entered kerry's bedroom on one unsuspecting holiday party and noticed a bunch of us on kerry's bed. he then noticed the collection of numbers above the bed and asked what the numbers meant. well, in our bout of silliness, we told horatio that the numbers were the number of conquests that kerry has "notched" above the bed. (for anyone curious, the numbers that are usually given out at road races generally tend to be in the hundreds.) i think horatio got a chuckle out of it. i am hoping he did not really believe all of us.
needless to say, this year kerry made her bedroom off limits. her new apartment in salem is large enough that guests can hang out anywhere but the bedroom now. it was a good time. my friends (carlos and andrea), karen and i went this year to kerry's holiday party.
(pictured below are carlos, karen and andrea on kerry's new couch.)
although i did not really talk much with kerry's usual friends from rhode island, i got to meet her firefighting friend (rick) and her cousin (melissa). i hung out with them more because... well... we shared something in common... none of us were part of the rhode island crew. and like i tend to joke... nothing good comes from rhode island except the family guy...
i am just kidding about rhode island. don't get me wrong. kerry's rhode island friends are nice. but like anything, people generally tend to do things that they are familiar with because it provides a level of comfort. so it only makes sense that her friends from rhode island would congregate with one another... much like how in a high school reunion people would tend to hang out with people who they hung out in high school.
regardless, i had a fun time with rick and melissa... and melissa's boyfriend (pat) who apparently has been hired by carlos to manage carlos's dream bar: cocktails and dreams. yes, i think there may have been a little inebriation during this holiday party. (i think carlos may have passed out on the car ride home.) and as a holiday party bonus, the food was good as usual. kerry is quite the baker. (granted, i did not eat any of her baked goods at the party, but i do know that a lot of people raved about her cookies.) i stuck to the dish of scallops wrapped in bacon... so good.
I Still Suck At Casting
one of the topics of conversation that came up on saturday while i was hanging out with my friend (aimee) is who would play her signficant other (jim) in the movie about all of us.
jim is a great guy. of course, i have to say that because jim could whup my butt simply using one finger (he takes martial arts). seriously though, he is great and i'm glad he's with aimee. plus, what is there not to like about a guy who loves video games (in paticular... city of heroes)... and dungeons and dragons... all staples of geekdom.
anyway, i still suck at casting. for my choice, however, i decided to go with leonard roberts of heroes fame. i'm sure jim would love the reference to a television superhero as well... it's part of the fraternity of geekdom. (for anyone curious, leonard roberts was also in the movie "drumline". the reason i bring that movie reference up is because karen at one time really wanted to watch drumline... which we did... and like most movies karen wants me to watch with her... they are hardly ever good... like kirk cameron's "fireproof"...)
(pictured below is leonard roberts as jim.)
leonard roberts, by the way, also played a character on the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. he doesn't appear until season four though. hmm... i wonder if i'm starting to see a trend in my casting choices...
jim is a great guy. of course, i have to say that because jim could whup my butt simply using one finger (he takes martial arts). seriously though, he is great and i'm glad he's with aimee. plus, what is there not to like about a guy who loves video games (in paticular... city of heroes)... and dungeons and dragons... all staples of geekdom.
anyway, i still suck at casting. for my choice, however, i decided to go with leonard roberts of heroes fame. i'm sure jim would love the reference to a television superhero as well... it's part of the fraternity of geekdom. (for anyone curious, leonard roberts was also in the movie "drumline". the reason i bring that movie reference up is because karen at one time really wanted to watch drumline... which we did... and like most movies karen wants me to watch with her... they are hardly ever good... like kirk cameron's "fireproof"...)
(pictured below is leonard roberts as jim.)
leonard roberts, by the way, also played a character on the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. he doesn't appear until season four though. hmm... i wonder if i'm starting to see a trend in my casting choices...
I Suck At Hanging Out With Aimee
on saturday, i had the pleasure of hanging out with my friend (aimee). now, i suck at hanging out with aimee. i don't think i have seen aimee since the funeral service for my son (braden) which was almost three months ago. prior to that, i can't remember the previous time i was able to just hang out with her. it feels like it has been a while.
this weekend, aimee's mom was taking her kids to bon jovi's home state of new jersey. as her significant other (jim) was working on saturday, aimee had some available time. so, she thought it would be nice to catch up and hang out for a little while since we really have not seen each other in quite some time.
i must say, it was very nice to hang out with aimee again.
we had lunch at "not your average joe's" located in norwell. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) for anyone curious, not your average joe's has become one of my favorite places to grab a bite at. i never used to like the restaurant chain, as i had only been to the location in randolph. yet, for some reason, after i ate at the norwell location... i found myself consistently going there (probably more than i go to the british beer company in pembroke). for some reason, not your average joe's in norwell... is just good. i think my bff (kerry) would agree to that statement as well... and she only likes certain restaurants.
it was aimee's first time at not your average joe's. (i guess you could say she's a... not your average virgin.) lucky for her, not your average joe's just changed their menu. she ended up getting their claim to fame, as the menu calls it... the mustard crusted chicken. karen ended up getting their new veggie burger. and i ended up with the chicken mole special. (that's mole as in sauce... not the furry animal.) all were very good. i had the pleasure of trying karen's veggie burger... with beets. i hope aimee enjoyed it as well... it being her first time and all.
after lunch, we simply hung out at my house. it was good to just laugh, talk... and listen to the new kids on the block. heck, we even were able to watch their "dirty dancing" video on youtube... a few times...
(here is the link to the video, dirty dancing. i could not embed the video into this post... and don't be surprised if the video is in german... that's how it is supposed to be.)
in addition to the new kids, karen and i got to actually hear the story about how aimee and jim met. i'm afraid i won't do the story justice by retelling it. all i can say is... it was a funny story... involving dating jim's friend... a silly grin... massaging aimee's hand to remove a stamp... numerous phone calls to aimee at star market... and aimee's sister (angela) asking aimee to please return jim's call so that he would stop calling.
anyway, i had a great time with aimee on saturday. i hope she likewise had a good time. i'm definitely glad that she wanted to spend her time with karen and me. perhaps now i am getting all soft and mushy for the holiday season like i generally do... because after saturday, i look back and think about how nice it is to be blessed with such good friends.
this weekend, aimee's mom was taking her kids to bon jovi's home state of new jersey. as her significant other (jim) was working on saturday, aimee had some available time. so, she thought it would be nice to catch up and hang out for a little while since we really have not seen each other in quite some time.
i must say, it was very nice to hang out with aimee again.
we had lunch at "not your average joe's" located in norwell. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) for anyone curious, not your average joe's has become one of my favorite places to grab a bite at. i never used to like the restaurant chain, as i had only been to the location in randolph. yet, for some reason, after i ate at the norwell location... i found myself consistently going there (probably more than i go to the british beer company in pembroke). for some reason, not your average joe's in norwell... is just good. i think my bff (kerry) would agree to that statement as well... and she only likes certain restaurants.
it was aimee's first time at not your average joe's. (i guess you could say she's a... not your average virgin.) lucky for her, not your average joe's just changed their menu. she ended up getting their claim to fame, as the menu calls it... the mustard crusted chicken. karen ended up getting their new veggie burger. and i ended up with the chicken mole special. (that's mole as in sauce... not the furry animal.) all were very good. i had the pleasure of trying karen's veggie burger... with beets. i hope aimee enjoyed it as well... it being her first time and all.
after lunch, we simply hung out at my house. it was good to just laugh, talk... and listen to the new kids on the block. heck, we even were able to watch their "dirty dancing" video on youtube... a few times...
(here is the link to the video, dirty dancing. i could not embed the video into this post... and don't be surprised if the video is in german... that's how it is supposed to be.)
in addition to the new kids, karen and i got to actually hear the story about how aimee and jim met. i'm afraid i won't do the story justice by retelling it. all i can say is... it was a funny story... involving dating jim's friend... a silly grin... massaging aimee's hand to remove a stamp... numerous phone calls to aimee at star market... and aimee's sister (angela) asking aimee to please return jim's call so that he would stop calling.
anyway, i had a great time with aimee on saturday. i hope she likewise had a good time. i'm definitely glad that she wanted to spend her time with karen and me. perhaps now i am getting all soft and mushy for the holiday season like i generally do... because after saturday, i look back and think about how nice it is to be blessed with such good friends.
Friday, December 5, 2008
I Suck At Visiting The Cemetery
today, karen and i visited my son (braden michael) in the cemetery. it's too bad i suck at visiting the cemetery.
anyway, braden would have been three months old on this day had he survived. happy 3-month birthday braden! i still wish you were here with karen and i. unfortunately, i have to keep telling myself that it was not meant to be... for some reason that i will probably never ever come to know. so instead of experiencing the joys of fatherhood during the past three months, i get to experience the joys of self-doubt and have thoughts about the dreams that will never happen for my son. it sounds like an even trade-off... i guess.
the good news, however, is that braden's flat marker was finally installed... just in time for his three month birthday. i know a flat marker is not exactly the most thrilling item to get excited over.
(pictured below is the flat marker for braden.)
i am quite pleased with the flat marker (and with quincy memorials in general). both karen and i were actually surprised on the size of the marker as it is noticeably larger than the other surrounding flat markers at the cemetery. i'm sure there is some irony there because braden was a tiny little guy who weighed the same amount as a stick of butter. so to have a flat marker that is larger than the other markers at the cemetery is quite interesting.
karen loves the winnie the pooh engraving. she was very happy when she knew quincy memorials could engrave winnie the pooh on the flat marker. in fact, she even thought about having a family disney theme for our flat markers. (i'll let whoever deal with that when i pass away.)
anyway, we both thought that winnie the pooh was appropriate for braden. in addition to being karen's favorite disney character, winnie the pooh was going to be the theme for braden's room. obviously, we never finished braden's room, but it would have been a nice theme for him had he survived.
when karen and i saw the image of winnie the pooh holding the three balloons from the books and books of images we could have quincy memorials engrave from, we immediately knew that the pooh image was what we wanted on braden's marker. karen liked how the three balloons could represent the three of us: braden, karen and i. i also liked the symbolism of pooh flying up into the clouds. (i believe the scene that features winnie the pooh with the three balloons has him float away into the sky.)
as for the "little b" on the marker, that was a result of something that started while at the neonatal intensive care unit. if you could have seen braden when he was alive, you would have seen how tiny he was. (again, he weighed the same as a stick of butter.) in fact, braden's entire arm could fit through my wedding ring... which we have pictures of. needless to say, i just started referring to braden as "little b" and it sort of stuck. he was so gosh darn cute.
anyway, happy three month birthday braden! i hope you like the flat marker. please remember that daddy loves you.
anyway, braden would have been three months old on this day had he survived. happy 3-month birthday braden! i still wish you were here with karen and i. unfortunately, i have to keep telling myself that it was not meant to be... for some reason that i will probably never ever come to know. so instead of experiencing the joys of fatherhood during the past three months, i get to experience the joys of self-doubt and have thoughts about the dreams that will never happen for my son. it sounds like an even trade-off... i guess.
the good news, however, is that braden's flat marker was finally installed... just in time for his three month birthday. i know a flat marker is not exactly the most thrilling item to get excited over.
(pictured below is the flat marker for braden.)
i am quite pleased with the flat marker (and with quincy memorials in general). both karen and i were actually surprised on the size of the marker as it is noticeably larger than the other surrounding flat markers at the cemetery. i'm sure there is some irony there because braden was a tiny little guy who weighed the same amount as a stick of butter. so to have a flat marker that is larger than the other markers at the cemetery is quite interesting.
karen loves the winnie the pooh engraving. she was very happy when she knew quincy memorials could engrave winnie the pooh on the flat marker. in fact, she even thought about having a family disney theme for our flat markers. (i'll let whoever deal with that when i pass away.)
anyway, we both thought that winnie the pooh was appropriate for braden. in addition to being karen's favorite disney character, winnie the pooh was going to be the theme for braden's room. obviously, we never finished braden's room, but it would have been a nice theme for him had he survived.
when karen and i saw the image of winnie the pooh holding the three balloons from the books and books of images we could have quincy memorials engrave from, we immediately knew that the pooh image was what we wanted on braden's marker. karen liked how the three balloons could represent the three of us: braden, karen and i. i also liked the symbolism of pooh flying up into the clouds. (i believe the scene that features winnie the pooh with the three balloons has him float away into the sky.)
as for the "little b" on the marker, that was a result of something that started while at the neonatal intensive care unit. if you could have seen braden when he was alive, you would have seen how tiny he was. (again, he weighed the same as a stick of butter.) in fact, braden's entire arm could fit through my wedding ring... which we have pictures of. needless to say, i just started referring to braden as "little b" and it sort of stuck. he was so gosh darn cute.
anyway, happy three month birthday braden! i hope you like the flat marker. please remember that daddy loves you.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
I Suck At Casting
last night when i was watching the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer, i started to think more and more about who i would cast as karen if there were ever a movie about all of us. too bad i suck at casting.
i actually started to think about the casting choice over the weekend when i saw "get smart" with my friends (marc and kelley). the movie "get smart" stars anne hathaway from the princess diaries fame. at one time, it was suggested that anne hathaway be cast as karen. i believe the idea of anne hathaway first came about when a bunch of us were joking around and uploaded a few of our images to a genealogy website that used facial recognition to match the image to a celebrity's image. (apparently, my friends and i are trendsetters in this "who would play you" idea.)
anyway, the uploaded image of karen returned the result of anne hathaway. anne hathaway is not a bad choice. (it definitely beats rosie o'donnell, that's for sure.) for a while, a bunch of us were content with anne hathaway as karen because we could not really think of anyone else.
needless to say, i thought more and more about my casting choice for karen since this weekend. and whether i have been influenced by the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer or not, i am going to cast alyson hannigan as karen. (alyson hannigan played willow in the show... and is also known for her role in the american pie movies.)
(pictured below is alyson hannigan as karen.)
truth be told, one of the reasons i had watched buffy the vampire slayer... in addition to buffy of course... was willow. during the early seasons, willow reminded me a lot of karen. in fact, as marc, kelley, karen and i are watching buffy again, i still see the similarities. and since alyson hannigan played such a great willow, i figured i'd cast her as karen.
i actually started to think about the casting choice over the weekend when i saw "get smart" with my friends (marc and kelley). the movie "get smart" stars anne hathaway from the princess diaries fame. at one time, it was suggested that anne hathaway be cast as karen. i believe the idea of anne hathaway first came about when a bunch of us were joking around and uploaded a few of our images to a genealogy website that used facial recognition to match the image to a celebrity's image. (apparently, my friends and i are trendsetters in this "who would play you" idea.)
anyway, the uploaded image of karen returned the result of anne hathaway. anne hathaway is not a bad choice. (it definitely beats rosie o'donnell, that's for sure.) for a while, a bunch of us were content with anne hathaway as karen because we could not really think of anyone else.
needless to say, i thought more and more about my casting choice for karen since this weekend. and whether i have been influenced by the greatest show ever: buffy the vampire slayer or not, i am going to cast alyson hannigan as karen. (alyson hannigan played willow in the show... and is also known for her role in the american pie movies.)
(pictured below is alyson hannigan as karen.)
truth be told, one of the reasons i had watched buffy the vampire slayer... in addition to buffy of course... was willow. during the early seasons, willow reminded me a lot of karen. in fact, as marc, kelley, karen and i are watching buffy again, i still see the similarities. and since alyson hannigan played such a great willow, i figured i'd cast her as karen.
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