I Suck At Hanging Out With Karlene

Yesterday, Karen's cousin (Karlene) came down from the All-American city known as Lowell. There is a lot to like about Lowell, or so the city would have you believe. Unfortunately, I suck at hanging out with Karlene. (I have this thing... called work.)

Anyway, Karlene was gracious enough to come down and spend the day with Karen and our newborn daughter (Briana). It turns out that Karlene was on school vacation this week. Karlene is currently teaching in a New Hampshire school and apparently New Hampshire schools have designated this week as school vacation week. (For anyone curious, the vacation week in Massachusetts was last week.) Regardless, Karlene did not have any major plans for this week and consequently offered to help Karen and I out.

And indeed, Karlene was a major help. She fed and changed Briana for us, allowing Karen to do some other things that have been on her "to-do" list. On Karen's "to-do" list was mulching. And Karen was able to throw some mulch down on her garden beds. She's not completely done with the mulching, but at least she started. For some time, the mulch has been sitting in our garage. We just never could find the free time to lay down the mulch while taking care of Briana. Enter Karlene!

Anyway, thank you very much Karlene! I hope you also had a great time taking care of her and I hope Briana was not too fussy with you.

I Suck At Hanging Out With My Friends

Yesterday, a few of my friends came over. Unfortunately, I suck at hanging out with my friends.

My friends (Renee and Jeff) visited during the day. Renee and Jeff live up on the North Shore of Lynn... the city of sin. As both of them have such hectic schedules, yesterday during the day was the only opportunity they had to come down for a visit to see our newborn daughter (Briana). Consequently, they decided to bring lunch for both Karen and I.

Needless to say, lunch was good. It was nice to see Renee and Jeff especially since I could not hang out that long. After all, I was working yesterday. (For anyone curious, I work from home most days of the week.) My employer is gracious enough to provide me with the opportunity to work from home because they know that I am extremely disciplined. Granted, I probably end up working more hours during the week from home than I do if I were in the office. So while I had a little work emergency to tend to for the rest of the day, Renee and Jeff hung out with Karen and Briana.

Later that night, my friend (Scott) also stopped by. Scott lives in New York. He happened to be back in Massachusetts for a couple of days for work. Consequently, he also wanted to stop by to see Briana. It was definitely great to catch up with Scott again. Scott and his wife (Ofelia) are one of the nicest couples I know. It turns out that in addition to raising their own child (Xavier), they will now also be raising two of Xavier's cousins from the Dominican Republic who would not have had the educational opportunities otherwise. It's great that Scott and Ofelia can do that. Anyway, it was definitely great seeing Scott. I don't get the chance to see him that often. So it was nice to hang out for a while.

And as a way to end the night, Karen and I put our new movie package from Verizon FIOS to good use. Well, I put the package to good use. I don't think Karen was as thrilled. While waiting for Briana's next feeding at night, we decided to watch the movie "Sex Drive".

(Below is a trailer for "Sex Drive".)


The movie is the average teeny bopper virginity movie. The plot is simple: virgin boy gets propositioned by a girl he meets online. He then takes a road trip to meet the girl to lose his virginity. A couple of friends join him on the journey, one of them obviously being his BFF/real love interest. Hilarity ensues.

Essentially, the movie is like all the other generic movies about teenagers losing their virginity. I think "Eurotrip" did it the best thus far. And since I like silly teeny bopper movies, I of course had to watch "Sex Drive". Plus, the movie had Seth Green (of Buffy and Robot Chicken fame) as a wise-cracking Amish character. So I had to watch it for that.

All in all, the movie was enjoyable. Predictable, but enjoyable. It was a good way to kill time before Briana's next feeding.

I Suck At Movie Packages

Today, I put my recent movie package trial to good use. Yes, I suck at movie packages. Over the weekend, a Verizon FIOS representative called asking if Karen and I would be interested in trying out their movie package. For a good while now, Verizon has been calling quite frequently. Very frequently. With our phone's caller ID, Karen and I were able to see that Verizon was calling our house. Naturally, thinking it was nothing but marketing garbage, we never answered the calls from Verizon.

Well, one crying newborn baby later, I decided to answer the phone when Verizon had called. Sadly yes, the crying of a newborn drove me to answer the phone. Anyway, the representative gave Karen and I a trial membership to one of its movie packages. Unfortunately, they never told us which movie package it was. I had tried to refuse receiving the movie package altogether, but the representative was very insistent in giving it to us. After all, according to the representative, the movie package trial was only for their good customers... which is obviously full of baloney I'm sure.

Naturally, I gave in and just said "sure". For those who know me, "sure" usually means "yes". And so the movie package trial began. For the past few days, I would randomly flip through some of the movie channels available through FIOS (and believe me, there are a lot of channels to flip through). Nothing.

And then yesterday, I noticed that one of the movie channels came in! (It was Starz.) For anyone curious, or anyone who lives in a whole and only watched public access television, Starz is a channel that shows recent movies... and I love movies. It's like a Netflix of sorts. And movies, after all, shaped and warped my little impressionable mind when I was growing up.

Of course, no good movies were on Starz yesterday. So I waited and waited... and today I finally saw a movie of interest... not for me... more for my BFF (Kerry). And so, I decided to DVR the movie for my BFF. That movie: Julie & Julia. At one point in time, I believe Kerry wanted to watch the movie. And what kind of BFF would I be if I didn't record the movie for her?

Anyway, hopefully Kerry can come over soon to watch the movie. Of course, we also have a bunch of episodes of Veronica Mars to watch too. So it may take a while.

I Suck At Deadliest Warrior

Last night, my friends (Marc and Andrea) came over. My friend (Kelley) unfortunately could not make it. We have this on-going joke amongst our circle of friends for whenever a particular friend can not make a gathering. In the case of Kelley, we sometimes joke that she has the "Kelley Runs". I know, it's not the most visually appealing joke. (And for anyone curious, Kelley did not have the Kelley Runs last night.)

Anyway, it just so happened that Lost was a repeat yesterday. The episode was about Richard... complete with the useless pop up bubble information. We, however, did not watch Lost. Instead, we decided to have ourselves a night of Spike TV. Spike TV is simply another channel that is not public access. For the life of me, I still don't understand how my friend (Hot Amy) can only watch public access because the programming on those stations are god awful, but that's just my opinion. I am also starting to wonder if her sanitary engineering fiance (Mark) watches anything either. (Mark is not really a sanitation engineer... or is he?)

Regardless, Spike TV was airing an episode from the second season of the Deadliest Warrior. Now I suck at Deadliest Warrior. I find the show pretty enjoyable because it plays on intriguing "what if" scenarios. And to add a little geekiness to the show, there is a computer programmer who simulates the battle scenario between the two combatants due to some "scientific" data that is collected during the show.

Needless to say, in my warped little world, if I were to apply the concept of the show to my friends, the results would probably be my friend (James) as the deadliest male friend and my BFF (Kerry) as the deadliest female friend. Although with Kelley's running into battle with guns blazing combat style... she may stand a chance.

Anyway, it was the first time Andrea had watched an episode of the Deadliest Warrior. To prepare her for the show, we naturally watched a few UFC matches beforehand. Apparently, Andrea has never watched a UFC fight as well. I'm not sure if Andrea enjoyed watching the UFC bouts like my BFF. For Kerry, I think she enjoyed (very much so) watching a certain UFC fighter is his tight little spandex shorts.

Speaking of UFC, Marc and I had a brief discussion about whether we could do participate or not. Aside from my sensitive nose, which gushes blood with but a single glance, I'm not so sure I could (or would) do it. It's not the getting punched that I would be worried about. It's the grappling with a sweaty combatant that would deter me. I just wouldn't want my skin to come into contact with the skin of another sweaty guy.

On a side note, I almost forgot. Andrea brought these delicious chocolate covered pretzels last night. The chocolate covered pretzels were from Whole Foods. Now, I'm normally not one for pretzels because I find them more often than naught too dry for my taste. But cover them in milk chocolate... and yum! Needless to say, the chocolate covered pretzels from Whole Foods were delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It's no wonder why Andrea has taken quite a liking to them.

All in all, it was good to hang out last night. Karen and I had missed seeing them the prior week, so it was good to catch up again. I had a lot of fun.

I Suck At Birthday Parties

On Sunday, my niece (Kaleigh) had a birthday party. Now I suck at birthday parties. This year, however, things were different. In the past, Kaleigh had themed parties. There was a dress up party... and most recently there was a pajama party. For the birthday party in honor of her sixth birthday this year, Kaleigh simply had... just a regular party.

It also turns out that Kaleigh's birthday party was the first party that our newborn daughter (Briana) attended. For anyone curious, Briana is a little over a month old. And with any newborn in attendance at a family gathering, that newborn will get a lot of attention. I guess it's just the way things are. People like newborns... unless the newborns are are ugly. (And although I may be biased, I don't think my newborn is ugly. Stinky? At times, yes. Ugly? No.)

Truth be told, I was a little hesitant to bring Briana to Kaleigh's party because of the whole newborn attention thing. I didn't want Briana to steal Kaleigh's thunder. After all, it was Kaleigh's birthday. The party should be about Kaleigh, not that Kaleigh would even have minded. Kaleigh was too busy running around playing with her other able-bodied cousins.

And sure enough, a lot of people wanted to hold and cuddle with Briana at the party. For me, I thought that was great because Briana is such the cuddle bug. The more people who want to hold her... the better... at least for now. I'm sure eventually she'll have to stop with the whole cuddling thing.

It seemed like everyone held her at one point during the party. Karen's mother, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), Karen's cousin from Lowell (Karlene)... which of course means that there is a lot to love about Lowell, Karlene's husband (Tommy), Janine's BFF (Gretchen), my favorite brother-in-law's (PJ) mother all held her. Even Kaleigh and her two cousins took a turn holding her. Interestingly enough, Kaleigh's other aunt (Nikki) even held her.

It turns out, Briana seemed tiny to Nikki because her children (Kaleigh's cousins) were both over 10 pounds when they were born. So like my friend (Pam), her children never had to wear newborn clothes. I find that pretty interesting. Nikki, by the way, was quite the social butterfly at Kaleigh's party. Generally, whenever I see Nikki, she doesn't say a peep. It was actually quite nice to have a conversation with her.

All in all, it was a good party. Briana actually did very well with being passed from person to person. She didn't fuss too much. I also thought it was great because it gave me a little break for a little while. As for the party itself, I think Kaleigh had a good time. In true Uncle Mike fashion, I got to pick her up off the ground and turn her completely upside down. It was fun.

I Suck At Hanging Out With Hot Amy

Today, I got to spend some quality time with my favorite girl: my daughter (Briana). In the morning, Karen had volunteered to help out with a fund-raising activity for the public library, leaving me to take care of Briana.

So what does one do during father-daughter bonding time? Well... not much. I wrote a few thank you letters because I've been running a little behind on those. It seems like just when I'm almost done, more thank you letters have to be written. Case in point: I had written a few today. I thought I was close to being done. But my friends (Cass and Ellen) stopped on by to drop off a present from a mutual friend of ours. It's not like it's a bad thing. It just seems like I'll never catch up at my snail mail pace.

Cass and Ellen did not stay long. They hung out for a little while to see Briana again before heading to DirectBuy and to the new BJs located in Quincy. As soon as they left, Karen returned from her fund-raising activity. From there, my parents, my cousin (Betty), and Betty's son (Marvin) came over for lunch. As usual, my mother was ecstatic to see Briana. She probably would have held her all day if she could.

It was the first time Betty and Marvin got to meet Briana. Betty and my mom even took Briana for a little walk around the neighborhood. While they were walking Briana, my father, Karen and I hung out with Marvin. I can't believe Marvin will be entering high school in September. I remember when he was born and how when he was a baby, Betty was taking him to Hong Kong. It's amazing how time flies.

Interestingly enough, Marvin runs track in middle school. Also interesting is that he runs the hurdles... an event that I ran in track. Maybe hurdling is in our genes? One of his favorite video games happens to be one of my favorite games too: Resident Evil 4. (Resident Evil 4 is awesome! It's a great game.)

Anyway, it was good to see Betty and Marvin (and my parents, of course) during lunch. And naturally, it being the weekend, the busyness never stops. Because shortly after Betty, Marvin, and my parents left, my friends (Jen, Hot Amy) and Hot Amy's fiance (Mark) came over.

Now, I suck at hanging out with Hot Amy. I feel like I haven't hung out with her in awhile. Apparently, she has been sick of late, which is never good when seeing newborn babies. And I'm sure if I were to remind her that she's always sick, she would probably tell me to shut it... even though it's true... Hot Amy is always sick. So like Betty, this was also Hot Amy's first time meeting Briana too.

Hot Amy, Mark, and Jen brought dinner from the Villa Rosa located in Quincy. As well, they brought an ice cream cake. I'm always a sucker for ice cream cake! So it was definitely a good meal. And of course, the three of them got to hold little Briana too. I think for Mark, it was his first time holding a baby... ever. Needless to say, it was fun hanging out.

Most of the discussion centered around Briana and Hot Amy/Mark's upcoming wedding. There is talks about having an ice luge at the reception, which I am all for. Karen and I even came up with a cool new idea: a chocolate martini fountain! I'll keep my fingers crossed. I think Jen wanted a big dance floor.

Following dinner, all of us got to see Jen's pictures from her trip to Egypt. The pictures made Egypt look amazing. I think it would be awesome to go there some day. Jen really looked like she had a great time.

And of course, since I was moved by finding out that Marvin ran hurdles earlier in the day, I subjected everyone to watching the Penn Relays on television. It just happened to be on. And as Jen and Karen could tell you, the Penn Relays were featured in an episode of the Cosby Show. Needless to say, Karen and I got to reminisce about the good old days when we used to run track. (Now, we'd both be sucking wind.) But I do miss those competitive days, especially when I watch Track and Field now. Sadly, the only competition I get now is from Hot Amy... and trust me, she's not much competition.

Anyway, it was a fun night. I had a good time. And as if the day came full circle, I got to end the night with my daughter, Briana. Granted, Briana pooped all over me... but it's okay. And when I say "pooped all over me", I literally mean it. While changing her diaper, she shot a laser beam of poop right at my hand. You wouldn't think that a lot of poop would come from such a tiny little peanut like my daughter, but it does. The projectile poop was definitely a first.

I Suck At Meeting My Neighbors

On Friday, my friend (Christine) came by for a visit. Like everyone, she came more to visit our newborn daughter (Briana) than to see either Karen or I. As this week happened to be school vacation week, Christine was able to stop on by. (For anyone curious, Christine is a teacher.)

Unfortunately, I was not so lucky to have the day off. I still had to work. But, I did get to see and hang out with Christine for a little while. I got to hear Christine's interesting date story which involved the guy's sibling who accompanied them on their third date. Even though Christine thought it was a little peculiar, she seems happy so far with the relationship. That's good.

Anyway, while I was hanging out with Karen and Christine, Karen noticed that our new neighbor was introducing herself to our other neighbors. Now, I suck at meeting my neighbors. So of course, Karen had me go out and introduce myself (as Karen herself was afraid to go out and introduce herself).

Luckily, the mail had just been delivered. So using the guise of picking up the mail, I casually strolled outside, waved and introduced myself to the new neighbor who was talking with my neighbors (Helen and George). Apparently, my new neighbors are Cheryl and her son, Steve, who are temporarily renting the place.

A couple of days ago, Helen and George had noticed a police car parked out in front of Cheryl's house. They thought it was strange, as did my other neighbor (Jeff) who noticed the police car. They were curious if the new neighbors were shady delinquents or something like that. (Interestingly enough, the previous neighbor was shady. There was a warrant out for her arrest, or something like that. Who knew?) And heaven forbid a shady character living in Norwell! I thought I was bad by being the only minority in Norwell. Just kidding.

Anyway, neither Karen nor I saw the police car. I guess we were just too busy being cooped up in our house taking care of Briana. As it turned out, the reason the police car was next door was because Cheryl had hired some shady movers through Craigslist. Cheryl had called the police because the movers were essentially extorting money from her. The movers would not deliver her furniture and such until she paid them upfront, but she wanted to pay them when they actually showed up and delivered her furniture.

Well, the movers finally did show up at night. During the move, however, they destroyed a lot of the furniture. The police officer watched as the movers brought all of the furniture into the house. Apparently, the police officer also ran the license plate of the mover's vehicle. The license plate was legit, but it belonged to another vehicle (a fact that was not discovered until after the movers drove away).

For me, the worst part was hearing that the movers stole Cheryl's medication during the move. Cheryl, apparently, is a cancer patient. Stealing medication is bad... stealing medication from a cancer patient... awful. But apparently some people need to resort to theft. It's very unfortunate. Subsequently, the Craigslist posting has been removed. The movers have disappeared without a trace, leaving Cheryl unable to file a lawsuit or take any legal action. It was a very bizarre story. Needless to say, Helen, George and I were surprised to hear the story.

And to think, the introductions started off so differently. Upon meeting me, Cheryl asked if I were a Native (American). I thought that was a little comical because I'm not. Although, my friend (Dixon) had thought at one time that I would make a great school mascot (Yakoo). For anyone curious, our school mascot was a Native American caricature of an Armenian dentist. Yeah, it's strange. Don't ask. And in case you are curious, I never was the mascot... although I probably would have enjoyed being the mascot.

I Suck At Not Your Average Joes

On Thursday, Karen and I reached another milestone since the birth of our daughter, Briana. That milestone: going out to eat as a family. Prior to Thursday, either Karen or I would go out to run an errand while the other one stayed at home to take care of Briana. Thanks to the doctors' orders of avoiding public places for a while, we would never all go out due to the Briana/germ factor.

That all changed Thursday because... well... both Karen and I got tired of the wait. Inevitably, the three of us would have to go out together at once. The list of errands to run was piling up a lot quicker than we could cross them off of our to-do list. So naturally, we decided to start with some baby steps.

We decided to head out as a family to Ace Curry Hardware located in Hanover. Ace was offering a free reusable tote sale. Any items that could be fit into the tote would be discounted by 20 percent. Naturally, I was all about the free reusable tote. Tote bags now are like those free promotional t-shirts that you get at liquor stores. In reality, you probably don't need another reusable tote... but you just want it because it seems cool.

Anyway, Karen and I thought Ace would be the perfect place to go as a family of three because there probably would not be that many people in the store. (And really, there weren't that many people in the store.) Regardless, the store was fantastic! Prior to Thursday, I had never been in the store. Well, the store was clean, well-organized... I thoroughly enjoyed the place. Sure, we did not purchase a lot of items (the sales associate was surprised by how little we had in the free tote), but it was nice to get out of the house as a family and check out the store.

So riding the wave of accomplishment, we decided to chance things and go out for dinner. Of course, we decided to go to Not Your Average Joe's located in Norwell. Now I suck at Not Your Average Joe's. Both Karen and I had been craving the food for some time. We had not been to the place for about over a month. I believe the last time we were there was the day before Briana came home. It was our celebratory dinner because the doctors had informed us that she would be going home the next day. And as it turned out, my friends (Cass and Ellen) had lunch there the other day. So the place was in our minds.

Needless to say, the food was delicious. Oh how I missed the food! It was definitely a great dinner. (I had the butternut squash pizza.) For both Karen and I, it was good to finally get out of the house and have a nice hot dinner... one that was not microwaved or processed or anything like that. It was good. And interestingly enough, Briana was absolutely great during the meal. Granted, she was passed out... asleep.

Topping off our spontaneous night, Karen and I then visited my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine). Janine, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) and Janine's BFF (Gretchen) had gotten back from Las Vegas the night before. So we figured we'd stop by and hang out for a little while. And as luck would have it, Gretchen was there last night.

Anyway, it was a fun time to just hang out. Gretchen tried to pop PJ's pimple. Janine and PJ had a little disagreement over curtains. Karen and I seemed to have just added to the mayhem of the night by bringing Briana, but it was all good. For me, the most memorable part at Janine's was lining up all of my niece's (Kaleigh) dolls on the couch and placing Briana smack dab in the middle of the dolls. It was a picture moment that simply cracked me up. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on me. Oh well.

I Suck At Remembering My Son

This past Tuesday, Karen and I unfortunately did not get to see our friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). We usually get together every week for Lost. As it turns out, our newborn daughter (Briana) had not been sleeping well the previous nights. Well, I should rephrase that. Briana had been keeping her parents up till the wee hours of night, and sleeping thereafter. So needless to say, Karen and I were both exhausted come Tuesday. (Incidentally, Marc was not feeling well that day either. I hope you're feeling better, Marc.)

Anyway, with our plans canceled, Karen decided to attend a library meeting. Karen has been volunteering with the Friends of the Norwell Public Library, which helps the local library raise funds for its services (like museum passes, children activities and whatnot). Karen was hesitant to go to the meeting at first (probably because she did not want to leave Briana with me), but she eventually did decide to go.

Truth be told, I'm actually glad she went to the meeting. I think Karen needs a break from Briana ever so often. It does the body/mind good to step away and recharge the batteries, so to speak. I have the luxury... if you can call it that... of going to my office in Marblehead. Karen, on the other hand, is home on maternity leave. And no doubt, taking care of a newborn child is difficult when you are home.

So while Karen was at the meeting, I got to spend some time with my daughter. I actually had a great time playing with Briana. Sadly, I did almost get a little emotional while playing with her.

I started telling Briana about her great older brother (Braden) and how he would have loved to have taken care of her. I didn't have to say much before I started getting choked up. My son, Braden, passed away one week after being born. He was great. Being born extremely premature, he fought hard to survive. It just wasn't meant to be.

Yeah, I suck at remembering my son. I try to think of him as much as I can, especially with Briana in our lives. One of my fears is that I will forget about my son. I can already see it happening. Most of my time is currently consumed with taking care of Briana. I have only been able to visit the cemetery where Braden is buried only a couple of times since Briana's birth.

Don't get me wrong. I am excited and ecstatic to have Briana in my life. I just don't want to forget Braden in the process.

I Suck At Target

On Sunday, my friend (Dolores) stopped by for a visit. Dolores wanted to drop a little present off for our newborn daughter (Briana) as she thought that we would be needing the gift sooner than later. And most likely, she was correct in her thinking that we would be needing her present sooner than later.

Needless to say, it was good to see Dolores again. It's always good to see a fellow Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. I have not seen Dolores in quite some time. So it was good to just hang out for a while and catch up on things. Her significant other (Loser Tom), unfortunately could not make the visit.

Speaking of Loser Tom (he's not really a loser, I just refer to him as such because he was so worried that we would think he was a loser when we first met him), I actually discovered that I have more in common with him than I originally thought. The topic of discussion came up with Dolores about having children. For anyone curious, Dolores is self-proclaimed to be afraid of babies because she is an only child. I don't know if there is a term for being afraid of babies. A babyphobe? Of course, I already knew that fact about her, but since it was my nature to instigate I did my darnedest to get her to hold Briana. (Dolores wouldn't budge.)

Of course, there was a method to my madness. I tend to take a lot of pictures. My latest kick is taking pictures of everyone who holds Briana while she is a baby. There have been a handful of friends who have not held her yet, Dolores being one of them. Someday I'll get a picture of her holding a baby... someday!

Anyway, somehow the conversation about babies led me to learn something about Loser Tom. It turns out that he and I both lost children. I lost my son (Braden) as he was born extremely premature. Losing a child is definitely not something I would wish upon my worst enemy... even a scourge of evil. I think hearing the fact that Loser Tom lost a child simply surprised me because it seems that losing a child is more commonplace than my television-warped reality made it out to be. It really is something that is hardly ever talked about. Of course, now knowing this enlightened fact, I will still refer to Tom as Loser Tom.

Following the visit from Dolores, my friends (Cass and Ellen) also stopped by. They happened to be in the neighborhood (dining at Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell... yum!) and asked to meet Briana. As usual, it was great to hang out with Cass (future mayor of Quincy) and Ellen.

Interestingly enough, Briana did not cry when she met Cass. We have a running joke within our circle of friends that Cass makes little children cry. The joke may have started with my friend's (Aimee) son (Rio) who ran away after meeting Cass. Luckily for Cass, children cannot vote in city elections. I have been unsuccessful in convincing him to run for mayor. The sticking point (among other reasons I'm sure) is that being mayor brings a whole bunch of politics and people knowing your business and all of that. And well... Cass isn't much for that. That's probably why he doesn't use Facebook all that often... which is also why a Facebook group would be the perfect way to get him elected as mayor of Quincy. He'll never even know!

Anyway, it was great hanging out with Cass and Ellen. Shortly after they left, Karen and I then headed off to Karen's parents in Quincy for a home-cooked meal. The trip was actually another milestone for both Karen and I. That milestone: going to Quincy was the first trip we had with Briana that did not involve going to the pediatrician. Yes, it's sad. We really haven't traveled much since Briana came home, in part because the doctors put the fear of God into us in not exposing her to the public (germs)... and also because I was afraid to drive anywhere with her in case of any road raging accidents (on my part).

Regardless, dinner was great. Karen's mother was naturally all smiles. It's good to have such a loving family. After dinner, Karen and I made a brief visit to the local Target. Now I suck at Target.

Going to Target was my big night out. I really have not gone anywhere since Briana was born. And truth be told, the visit to Target was because of Briana. The reason why we went to Target was to pick up a file folder, which was to be used to contain Briana's information like her medical paperwork, her old ultrasounds, etc. Basically... it's a Briana scrapbook... although with less pictures and more information... and more usefulness.

And of course, so as to not expose Briana to the public, Karen waited in the car with Briana while I made the executive decision on the file folder. Needless to say, it was a quick visit to Target. But one of the bonuses of the trip, aside from the file folder, was that Target gave away free reusable bags that night to celebrate Earth week (which is still week). And of course, if it helps the environment, I'm all for it!

So now we have a green Target reusable bag to help cut down on the use of plastic bags! Woo hoo!

I Suck At Red Egg And Ginger Parties

To start off Saturday, Karen and I had a surprise visit from our friends (Kristine and Rick). Kristine and Rick happened to be in the neighborhood and they asked if they could stop by to see our newborn baby daughter (Briana). Of course, no one ever wants to stop by to see Karen or I anymore... it's always about Briana. (No, I'm not jealous. It's just how it is now.)

For Kristine and Rick, it was their first time meeting Briana. And although they did not have to, they also brought a little baked good with them. They brought a loaf of blueberry bread from Mann Orchards with them. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The blueberry bread was delicious! I could probably have eaten the whole loaf at one sitting.

Needless to say, it was a nice visit. Shortly after Kristine and Rick's visit, my parents and my mother's friend (Jane) came over. In fact, some of my in-laws also came over as well. Karen's parents, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ), my niece (Kaleigh), my nephew (PJ), and the Lowell contingent consisting of Karen's aunt (Denise), uncle (Paul), cousin (Karlene) and her cousin's husband (Tommy) also arrived. The reason for the gathering: the infamous red egg and ginger party.

Now I suck at red egg and ginger parties. The red egg and ginger party, however, is customary in Chinese tradition. Essentially, the party is held one month after a child is born and is to bring good luck and fortune... and all of that. If it seems like most (if not all) of the Chinese traditions involve good luck... you're probably right. To this day, my lack of luck has been evident from my non-existent lottery winnings. So it makes sense that we keep wishing for good luck and fortune.

Regardless, most red egg and ginger parties these days are held at Chinese restaurants and involve 10 course meals and all of that. Unfortunately, Karen and I could not have a party like that just yet for Briana as she was born prematurely. Due to her prematurity, the doctors advised us against going out into public places for a while because of the risk of catching something viral could be life threatening. Truth be told, I bet Briana right now is still healthier than my friend (Hot Amy) who is always sick. Just kidding.

Anyway, my mom was more than happy to provide the food for the red egg and ginger party involving Karen's family. Of course, to make the party more palatable for the non-Asian folk, she did away with some of the things... like the ginger. So in essence, it was a "red egg" party... no ginger.

As usual, my parents made a ton of food. I think Karen's family enjoyed the food, and that always brings a smile to my parents' faces. My parents could lose a limb in a freak wok accident, but as long as everyone else enjoyed the food they're happy. Actually, I think my mom would have been all smiles anyway especially since she got to hold and feed Briana.

All in all, it was a good night. I hope everyone had a great time. Interestingly enough, Briana was asleep for most of the party. Sure, she was wide awake when everyone left... keeping her mommy and daddy up till the wee hours of night. For anyone curious, Briana is very good whenever company is over. It's when they leave she starts to fuss. It's like she knows.

I Suck At Lost

On Tuesday, Karen and I saw our friends (Marc, Kelley and Andrea). With our baby daughter (Briana) still a little too ripe to venture out, we decided to have everyone over. Regardless of how exhausted I was from my lack of sleep, I had to stay up on Tuesday night. After all, Tuesdays are Lost night.

Unfortunately, I suck at Lost. Needless to say, the episode of Lost was great. It was also definitely good to see everyone. Andrea apparently has been busy looking at new places as she gets ready to venture out into the world of home ownership. As bizarre as this will sound, I am hoping her new place will need a new thermostat because I have a couple of extra ones that I'm looking to get rid of. (It's part of the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...)

And yes, I did already get rid of another thermostat awhile ago thanks to my BFF (Kerry). Apparently, our house was chock full of thermostats. I have no idea how or why we had so many thermostats. We just did. Now that I think about it, maybe my friend (Hot Amy) will need a thermostat too when she eventually leaves the confines of Quincy... the city of lights... red lights.

Anyway, it was a great time on Tuesday. I had fun.

I Suck At Being A Care Giver

Yesterday began in-law week. I am lucky to have great in-laws because I suck at being a care giver.

Karen's mother took a week of vacation off this week. She had done the same thing for my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) when my niece (Kaleigh) and nephew (PJ) were born. The reason for the vacation was not so that she could constantly poke, prod, and play with her grandchildren (although I'm sure being able to see them for a week was a bonus). Nope, the reason for her vacation was to actually help out around the house.

By helping out around the house, my mother-in-law was providing Karen with a much needed commodity: sleep. Like mother like daughter. It seems like Karen and Briana have that in common: they both need sleep... lots of sleep. Luckily for me, I don't require as much sleep. Years of playing video games into the wee hours of night have prepared me well that way. (That is not to say that I am not exhausted... I am. I think that my progression to adjusting to the new schedule is quicker than Karen's.) So thank you Sony Playstation! (And as much as I value game consoles, Briana will still not get one until she is much much older...)

Regardless, my mother-in-law was great yesterday. She took care of a few chores for us. She made us lunch. She took Briana out for a walk. She even changed Briana's diapers and fed her. Needless to say, it was a nice break. Thank you again! I'm lucky to have a great mother-in-law.

I Suck At Seeing Friends

Since becoming a parent, I have lost track of days. I have lost track of time. Luckily, I have this thing called "work" that ever so often reminds me of what day of the week it is. As for time, my time seems based around our baby daughter's (Briana) feeding schedule.

Briana currently roughly feeds every four hours. Feeding her is like a vicious cycle. By the time Karen and I finish changing her diapers, cleaning her, feeding her, burping her, washing her bottles, making sure she goes to sleep, etc., it's almost time to repeat the cycle. Needless to say, the cycle leaves very little time for socializing with friends. I guess you can say I suck at seeing friends.

Luckily, this past weekend I was able to see a few of my friends. The funny thing about having a baby is that everyone now wants to visit you to see your baby... not you. Babies seem to have that affect on most people. It just so happens that Karen and I live with Briana... like we're both an afterthought, but I'm okay with that. I still get to see my friends either way.

On Saturday, my friend (Jen) came for a quick visit during the day. Jen came with her mother as they had spent some family bonding time by shopping. It was good to see Jen again. I sometimes feel like I don't see Jen that much. And when I do, it's generally within a larger group where the group dynamic is different, so I hardly get to chat with her. Regardless, I'm glad she came to visit.

My friends (Ron and Trinh) stopped by Saturday night. They had a busy week the week prior as one of their daughters was in the hospital (she's okay), but they had some free time on Saturday. So they also stopped by. Trinh, a mother of three, was funny. She jumped at the chance to hold Briana and she did for some time. (Ron said he'd hold Briana the next time.) Apparently, Trinh learned how to multitask while holding a baby in her arm. It's quite amazing. She made it look very easy. Given the chance, she probably could have held Briana for hours. In fact, she referred to Briana as "precious", which was a term I never thought to use when talking about Briana. The term that jumps out in my mind about Briana... stinky. Just kidding.

On Sunday, a couple of Karen's friends (Lisa and Rachel) stopped by for a visit. (Again, it was to visit Briana... or at least give them an excuse to visit Karen.) Both Lisa and Rachel know Karen through her work. I had met Lisa before while attending one of Karen's company parties. Although I had never met Rachel, I heard stories of her. And interestingly enough, her current boyfriend attended college in New Orleans and happened to be in the same fraternity as one of my other friends... while my friend was there. Small world.

For me, it was good to place a face to Rachel's name. Oddly enough, she happened to be a Facebook "friend" of mine and I had not never even had a conversation with her. (Crazy how Facebook works that way.) Needless to say, Lisa and Rachel were quite nice. As they were all dietitians, it made for an interesting time. It almost reminded me of those get-together dinners that Karen has with my friends (Hot Amy and Dolores) who are also dietitians. Interestingly enough, Lisa and Rachel recommended that I have ice cream with chocolate chip cookies. After a recommendation like that from two dietitians, how could I say no to ice cream?

While Lisa and Rachel were visiting, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), my niece (Kaleigh) and my friend (Gretchen) also stopped by Sunday. Janine has been trying to visit Briana... when Briana was awake. Every time Janine had stopped by before, Briana was fast asleep. As luck would have it, Janine got to see Briana awake for the first time.

Needless to say, Briana got to see a lot of people this weekend. In fact, she got to be held by a lot of people this weekend, which is good because Karen and I think Briana is quite the cuddle bug. Briana apparently loves to be held. And really who doesn't like to be constantly hugged? (No, I'm not jealous.) While being held, Briana practically makes no peep. People have even asked us if she ever cries. Trust me. She does. If people only knew her once they leave...

I Suck At Giving Baths

Friday was another milestone for Karen and I. On Friday, Karen and I gave our daughter (Briana) her first bath. Now I suck at giving baths. Since Briana came home over a week ago, neither Karen nor I could have given her a bath because her umbilical cord had not completely fallen off. (And for anyone curious, it appears that Briana will have an "innie", not an "outie".)

My friend (Andrea) was generous enough to provide Briana with a bath tub, complete with soaps. (Thank you again Andrea!) So whenever Briana takes a bath now, she'll have Andrea to thank too. Although after her first bathing experience, Briana may not want to thank Andrea. Just kidding.

Truth be told, the bathing experience was not that bad despite the look of sheer terror on Briana's face as she was lying on a towel of our bathroom floor. Her eyes were big and wide, as though she knew what we were planning to do to her. Interestingly enough, Karen was probably more terrified of the bath than Briana.

For some reason, Karen had the notion in her head that Briana would endlessly cry during bath time. (And apparently that thought distressed Karen so.) It turns out, Briana had no problems at all with the bath. Briana was very good sitting in the tub. It was getting out of the tub that she seemed to have a problem with because it probably felt very chilly and cold to her while we were drying her off.

And in case anyone is curious, we dried her off in a Winnie the Pooh hooded towel... which actually belonged to her big brother (Braden). Sure, it was just a hooded towel, but for me, it was nice to have Braden symbolically taking care of Briana by drying her off.

All in all, Briana's first bath went very well.

I Suck At Having Friends Over

Last night, Karen and I did something we haven't done since our daughter (Briana) came home from the hospital: we had a bunch of friends over. Apparently, I suck at having friends over. Truth be told, it was not like we purposely have not had any friends over our house since Briana came home. We just did not want to be an inconvenience to our friends whenever Briana had to feed... and she constantly feeds.

My BFF (Kerry) was gracious enough to come down from Salem yesterday. She wanted to make dinner for Karen and I, as well as meet our little Briana. I won't kid people. The first few weeks of raising a baby are exhausting. Television does not lie when it comes to that aspect of parenting. I don't know how single parents are able to do it because it is initially just that tiring attempting to adjust to a new routine.

Needless to say, when Kerry offered to make dinner, I was quite ecstatic for a fresh hot meal that was not cooked in the microwave. Kerry decided to make tacos for the night. Apparently, it was her first time making tacos... a taco virgin. (And for anyone who is curious, she also brought down some bagels from the ever popular Bagel World.) Anyway, the tacos were quite delicious.

While we hung out for dinner, my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) also stopped on by last night. After all, yesterday was Tuesday and the best show currently on television is on Tuesdays... Lost. It was great to watch Lost with everyone again. Andrea got to hold Briana... as did Kerry. They both looked good holding her. You know how sometimes people just look awkward holding babies? Not Andrea and Kerry...

Marc, Kelley, and Andrea also brought a frozen treat for Kerry: ice cream complements of Frozen Freddies in Quincy. Ice cream... yum! Marc had a graham cracker ice cream flavor. It was good.

Anyway, it was simply fun to hang out with friends again. Briana was also good for the night. She did not fuss at all until everyone left. And even that fussing was because Karen and I had to wake her up for her feeding. So it was a good night. Plus, Lost was another great episode.

I Suck At Meeting The Pediatrician

Yesterday, our daughter (Briana) met her pediatrician. Interestingly enough, yesterday was also the day Karen and I first met the pediatrician. Yes, I suck at meeting the pediatrician.

Normally, the process of choosing a pediatrician happens before your child is born. I am told that you are supposed to meet and interview with the pediatrician to make sure you like them enough to take care of your child and all of that.

Like most things in our lives, not a lot follows the normal flow of things. Before Briana was born, Karen and I had scheduled the whole meet and greet with the pediatrician for Monday. Apparently, Briana couldn't wait to meet the pediatrician and was born prematurely on St. Patty's Day. As luck would have it, Briana was released from the hospital last week and her follow up visit with the pediatrician happened to be during our original meet and greet with the pediatrician.

So whether we liked it or not, the pediatrician was Briana's pediatrician. Luckily, Karen and I thought the pediatrician was great. In fact, the entire staff seemed pretty good.

And naturally, Briana received rock star treatment at the pediatrician's office. The entire staff wanted to see her as she sat there sleeping in her car seat with a pacifier in her mouth. They apparently thought she was amazingly cute.

Not that I'm jealous or anything... I sometimes wonder what that must feel like now as an adult to enter a room and have a bunch of women start cooing at you. I'd be curious.

I Suck At Easter

My mother-in-law got her wish today. When our daughter (Briana) was born prematurely on St. Patty's Day, my mother-in-law hoped that Briana would be out of intensive care and home from the hospital before Easter. As luck would have it, Briana came home the Thursday before... just in time for the Easter Bunny.

(Speaking of the Easter Bunny, the video below is one of my favorite Easter videos.)


Needless to say, today Karen, Briana, and I celebrated Easter with my parents and my in-laws. Too bad I suck at Easter. I was actually expecting Easter to be full of stress... with my mother and my mother-in-law vying to hold Briana for hours upon hours and preventing her from getting her sleep (which is important as she needs to grow to an appropriate body weight). As it turned out, Easter went pretty well.

As Karen and I were still exhausted trying to find a routine that worked with Briana's feeding schedule, my in-laws decided to bring Easter dinner to our house. They prepared the Easter staple known as ham, complete with fixings. It was quite the delicious meal. Everyone got their chance to hold Briana for a little while. (My father even got to hold her for the first time.)

With the nice beautiful weather, we even got to take Briana out for a little stroll around the neighborhood. It was good to get out of the house for some fresh air.

I even had the luxury of just getting out on my own. And what better destination to go... than South Shore Hospital, where Briana was born. As a token of our appreciation for the quality of care that the hospital provided our daughter, Karen and I had my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) wrap two baskets of goodies containing healthy snacks from Trader Joe's. (Being married to dietitian, the snacks of course had to be healthy.)

I think the staff at the hospital were delighted that I visited, especially since I was carrying presents for them. My visit probably broke up the monotony of the day for them. Plus, with it being Easter after all, things were pretty quiet in the neonatal intensive care unit and the special care nursery.

I spent a good amount of time chatting with the staff. As a side note, there is a nurse practitioner (Amy) on the hospital staff that looks like my friend (Hot Amy). I thought it was comical that they had the same name. I guess by the mathematical transitive property, the nurse practitioner could also be called "Hot Amy". (For anyone curious, the transitive property is "if a=b and b=c, then a=c".)

There is also a nurse (Jen) who reminded me of Selma Blair. And there is a doctor who reminded me of Jenna Fischer (of The Office fame). Yes, maybe I have too much time on my hands. The only reason why I even brought up the topic was because Hot Amy, the nurse practitioner, was there today.

Anyway, following the brief visit to the hospital, I actually stopped on by Janine's for a little refreshment before heading back home. All in all, it was a good Easter.

I Suck At Being An Overprotective Parent

I can now see why social networks like Facebook are filled with so many parents posting updates to everyone about their child: they have no life. Well... I have no life. Since my daughter (Briana) was born prematurely on St. Patty's Day, my entire life has revolved around her schedule. Her current schedule is basically eat, sleep, poop... repeat... not necessarily in that order.

I suppose after a few repetitive cycles, I too would want to share with the world my child's pooping pattern just to keep me sane and in touch with the world. Luckily, I'm not like most people. I still refuse to post updates on social networks about what my child is doing at every waking moment... because I still think it's rather arrogant of me to assume people want to hear about my child's pooping schedule.

Unfortunately, one of the things that I do have in common with some parents is being overprotective. Yep, it's true. I suck at being an overprotective parent. Today, however, was a major milestone. Today, Karen and I actually took our daughter out of the house... into a car... and drove somewhere. Granted, we simply went to visit Karen's grandparents that live a few miles away in Hanover, but it was a big step for us nonetheless.

Because Briana was born prematurely at 33 weeks, the doctors recommended that we not go to shopping malls or grocery stores or anywhere where there are a lot of people due to the increased chances of Briana contracting germs or viruses. Premature babies have an extremely tougher time should they get ill. In fact, it could possibly be fatal. Hence... the recommendation to essentially avoid the public for a couple of months.

Naturally, based on that recommendation one can only assume that as an overprotective parent... we would never leave our house for a couple of months. After all, the thought of potentially losing a child... not exactly something I want to relive. Our son (Braden) was also born prematurely and passed away after a week. So the recommendation was definitely something that I did not want to take with a grain of salt.

At the same time, it would be crazy to never leave the house because so many friends and relatives want to share in the joy and happiness of seeing Briana. Thus, Karen and I decided to take some baby steps and leave our house for the first time with Briana to visit her grandparents... after of course, the check up visit from the nurse.

We also visited the local public library too. Since no one really uses public libraries, it was safe. Just kidding. I simply just returned some books for Karen's grandmother. Interestingly enough, Karen and I have been living the rock star lifestyle of late when it comes to Briana.

The only reason why I bring that up is because one of my favorite librarians (Vicki) asked about Karen and the baby while I was dropping off the books. We started chatting about how Briana was prematurely born and all of that. I guess in the secret society of librarians, Karen is on the fast track to being the grand wizard. Just kidding. I guess Karen's volunteer work for the library is not going unnoticed. Of course, it could also be the fact that we are at the library a lot too.

At the hospital, Karen and I were seemingly quite popular too. A lot of the staff had remembered us from before when Braden was born at the hospital and spent his time in the neonatal intensive care unit until his unfortunate demise. That was about a year and half ago. To be still remembered as Braden's parents by most of the staff was... well... incredible in my opinion. (Granted, it was probably easy to remember us from before because my last name is not exactly the most common last name on the south shore.) Nevertheless, it was nice and comforting to be recognized by so many of the members of the hospital staff.

Anyway, leaving the house was not the only major milestone for the day. There were actually other milestones too. Today my mother got to hold Briana for the first time. As well, today was also the first time someone other than Karen or I (or a nurse) changed Briana's diaper. That honor goes to Karen's Lowell-loving cousin (Karlene).

Karlene and her husband (Tommy) came down from Lowell (there's a lot to love about Lowell) for the day to see Briana... and also Karen and I. They were both actually gracious enough to make dinner for us, which was great because Karen and I have been trying to get into a routine with Briana. Like I said before, every little bit helps during this period... especially food. Food is good.

Karlene and Tommy made turkey salad with craisins, nuts, and celery. As well, they brought a salad and ice cream. The entire meal was very delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) I must have devoured everything and then some because I was just that hungry. (This is where Briana gets her appetite from.)

Anyway, Karlene also helped with changing Briana's diaper. And by helped... I mean she changed it in a record time of 4 minutes. Karen is pretty good at changing diapers too. Me... not so much. (Like most things, Briana is not too cooperative with me. She knows I will not be wrapped around her little finger...) It also turns out that Tommy has never changed a diaper... ever. So perhaps someday I can convince him to change Briana's. Just kidding.

All in all, it was a great day today. Thank you again Karlene and Tommy!

I Suck At April Fools

Today, Karen and I took our daughter (Briana) home from the hospital. April Fools! Just kidding... about the April Fools part. Yes, I suck at April Fools.

Karen and I did actually get to take Briana home from the hospital today. I kept waiting for the hospital staff to yell "April Fools" today because it seems so surreal. It was just a few days ago that the doctors were predicting that Briana would spend several more days at the hospital due to her apnea spells. (She was having spells where she would stop breathing.) It's funny how quickly things can change.

But yep, daddy's little girl is home now. It's great! Karen and I basically spent the whole day with her... just holding her in our arms... some of it for heat-related reasons... some of it just because we could. We even made a little pit stop at the cemetery so that Briana could meet her big brother (Braden) in the sky. Sure, Briana was passed out in the car seat... but it was a nice moment to have our family together. (I'm sure Braden was happy regardless.)

Thank you again Braden for looking after your baby sister and helping her come home so quickly. Interestingly enough, although this may be a violation of patient privacy... Karen and I were surprised to overhear the name of the baby that was directly across from our Briana. That other baby's name was Braden. I'm not sure if the parents spelled the name of their son the same as our son. We only heard the parents say his name. But it was definitely comforting to hear "Braden" at the hospital... being so close to our Briana.

Anyway, today has been a great day. To me, it feels like today has been a turning point of sorts. I don't want to place any huge expectations on Briana or anything because that would not be fair to do so. It just seems like today life is making sense again. After feeling lost and empty for about a year and a half since losing Braden, I seem to have a purpose again... and it feels great.

I Suck At Test Runs

Yesterday, Karen and I got our first taste of parenting by ourselves... together. Unlike other parents who have normal babies and get to take their children home shortly after delivery, Karen and I have been shuttling ourselves back and forth from our house to the hospital to take care of our daughter (Briana) who was born prematurely. Luckily for us, the hospital staff does a great job in taking care of our daughter when we cannot be there.

In addition, one of the features that the hospital offers is the opportunity for parents of premature babies to take a test run of solely taking care of their child before actually taking their child home. There are no nurses. There are no monitors. There is nothing but you and the child in one of the hospital rooms... with milk of course. Unfortunately, I suck at test runs.

Karen and I were originally supposed to do our test run on Tuesday night. Due to a late minute change by the doctors, however, we had to settle for taking our test run on Wednesday afternoon. Karen and I were given a room in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. And for a span of over eight hours, we took care of our little Briana.

I must say, the experience was definitely worth it. For me, I sometimes worry that I won't know what to do when it comes to taking care of a child. Should I be doing this? Should I be doing that? What am I looking for to make sure she is alive? These questions... and many many more... ran through my mind prior to Wednesday. To some extent, the questions still run through my head... I just don't think I'm as neurotic now when it comes to figuring out an answer.

When you're in a room taking care of your own child... you just do it. Granted, things are a little different when your child is born prematurely because the child's sole job is to eat and sleep (and thereby gain lots of weight). There is a little more leeway with full term babies because they already have the weight. In essence, premature babies need to play catch up when it comes to packing on the pounds. Luckily for Karen and I, Briana is a chow-hound. (Of course, she is more of a chow-hound for the hospital staff than she is for either Karen or I.)

But the whole test run experience proved to be quite valuable. Karen and I learned that we could in fact get Briana to eat like a chow-hound for us. Plus, we got to experience the grunts and noises that she makes during the course of an average day. And believe me, Briana makes lots of bodily noises. (You would be surprised at how loud a fart from a premature baby sounds.)

All in all, it was a great to spend time with Briana in an environment where she was not hooked up to monitors or had nurses taking care of her. It provided a glimpse into our parenting. Hopefully, she won't be emotionally scared by either Karen or I... more so me...

I Suck At Painting

On Sunday, my friends (Marc, Kelley) and my BFF (Kerry) came back to our house to finish painting our first floor bathroom. The day before, Kelley and Kerry were only able to prime the room and paint the ceiling. Thus, all that was left to paint in our first floor bathroom were the walls.

Apparently, when it comes to home improvement projects, both Kelley and Kerry like to finish what they started. I guess you can say it is similar to how I like to complete things... like reading the god awful Twilight series. It just has to be done.

It also turns out that Kelley is quite particular about painting. Luckily for me, I suck at painting. I have never liked painting. I'll do it, but I don't like it. Kerry and Kelley could have painted the entire white ceiling the same color as the walls and I probably would not have cared. (And actually, they did get some paint on the ceiling while painting the walls, but it's okay.) I was just thankful that they even wanted to paint the bathroom for Karen and I in the first place. Plus, it's always a memorable moment to see Kerry and Kelley's faces speckled with paint.

Needless to say, Kelley meticulously went over the ceiling to touch up all of the errant paint marks. It was a little comical because she kept incessantly checking the paint while it was drying.

While that was happening, my friends (Renee and Christine) stopped on by for a quick visit. Both Renee and Christine were saddened that they could not have helped the day before when a whole slew of friends were helping out with projects. And truthfully, I'm not sure I would have had any more projects for them. As it was, I was stretching to come up with projects to subject my friends to. There are just some things I would never ask my friends to do. It would be like asking my friend (Hot Amy) to sweat... because she doesn't like to sweat.

Needless to say, Renee and Christine had decided to come down on Sunday instead. (For anyone curious, like Kerry, Renee lives on the north shore.) Both of them ended up helping Karen run a little errand at the grocery store. So it was great that they helped out.

It was good to see everyone on Sunday. And for anyone curious, Kelley and Kerry did finish painting the walls of the bathroom on our first floor. They did an amazing job. Thanks again Kelley and Kerry!

I Suck At Project Management

On Saturday, I got to play the role of project manager. Unfortunately, I suck at project management. My friend and possible future mayor of Quincy (Cass) would probably be better at it because he likes to boss people around. Plus, I think it's what he does. So remember... vote Cass!

Anyway, to help Karen and I while our daughter (Briana) was at the hospital, my friends (Marc and Kelley) organized a little get together with a bunch of our friends. The general idea was to have everyone come over to our house and help us complete a bunch of projects. Since Karen and I had so little time these days, every little helping hand helped. And I must say... I was pleasantly surprised come Saturday. There were just so many friends offering to help us out. It was amazing. Without sounding too sappy, it was moments like that which make me extremely thankful to have the friends that I do.

Needless to say, there were simply a bunch of friends doing our projects around our house. Since Karen could not drive (due to having stitches from pregnancy... doctor's orders...), Marc drove her around certain stores to run errands; My BFF (Kerry) and Kelley helped paint our first floor bathroom; My friends (Ellen and Leeann) hung up shades in Briana's room; My friend (Carlos) moved a bunch of rocks from our driveway; My friend (Garv) and Cass also helped move the rocks when Carlos had to leave (yes, there are a lot of rocks); My friends (Jen, Hot Amy, and Andrea) removed fallen tree limbs and turned over the soil in our garden; Andrea even took a sledgehammer to our driveway; Hot Amy even cooked some things for us;

The list goes on and on. I'm sure I missed listing a few projects, and for that I apologize. My friends were so efficient that they finished many of the tasks all within the limited time frame that Karen and I had before having to shuttle ourselves back to the hospital to see Briana. To me, it was amazing to have so many our friends coming together to help us out. I know I will never forget it.

Again, thank you everyone. And of course thank you Marc and Kelley for organizing it. All of you made it a special day for me, Karen and Briana. So thank you... all of you! I feel blessed to be able to call all of you friends.