I got somethin' to say!

Awesome Husband Alert!

2012-01-20T07:51:00.001-05:00

I'm not one for lovey-dovey posts (as you probably know) but I have to say how amazingly awesome Jim is.

Not only is he a GREAT stay-at-home dad (God knows I couldn't do it) but he's just an overall great person who makes me happier than anyone else in my life.

This morning around 4am I woke up to use the bathroom, and noticed that it had snowed a considerable amount over night. When I got back into bed, Jim was awake and I mentioned the fact that it had snowed, and I was not at all happy about that fact. Considering the fact that I had NO gas in my car (don't tell my dad!) I knew I wouldn't be able to let it warm up while I cleaned it off, and I was immediately irritated.
Well, while I was in the shower, Jim got up, cleaned off my car, and filled the tank! By the time I was ready to leave the house, I was able to let the car warm up and not have to worry about running out of gas!!!

Isn't that just the nicest?!?!?

That's all I have to post about today.
I'm here at work and hoping for a quiet day. (fingers crossed)

Happy Birthday to fellow blogger sfmoby!!! Stop by his blog and wish him well. :-)

Happy Friday!!!

First post of 2012

2012-01-17T08:01:00.001-05:00

Whoops!!! Look at that....it's already January 17th and I'm just getting around to writing my first post of the year.
UNFORGIVABLE!!!

I hope you all had an EXCELLENT New Year's Eve and that 2012 is treating you well so far.
Things around here are great.

Jim, Zachary, and I spent New Year's Eve up in NH with our friends John, Leah and their kids, as well as a group of their kid's friends from (high) school. It was a very fun, laid back night, and nice to get away - even if it was just overnight. We spent the night in a hotel not too far from their house, got up on New Year's Day and went out for breakfast at a nice little place in their town.

Since then, we've just been living life, going to work, getting things done around the house,etc...etc...

We celebrated Zachary's first birthday this past weekend - yes, he turned ONE on Wednesday. Can you even believe it?!?!? It amazes me how quickly the year went by. One year ago tomorrow (1/18) is the day that we brought him home for the very first time. Looking back on it, I can't believe that he's been with us for a year already...it seems like it just happened. Apparently time DOES fly! ;-)

His First birthday party was a success and I think he had a great time. We certainly did! It was short and sweet (who the heck wants to spend hours at a one year old's birthday party?!?!) and I think that everyone who came had a lot of fun.

Here are some pictures from his birthday, as well as the party (Jim made all the cupcakes, which were crazy-good):

We also had a one year old photo shoot, with all photos taken by Barrie Smith Photography....as always. :-) Here are a few of those:

Happy New Year!!!

2011-12-30T11:47:00.002-05:00

Hello Readers!

As we say goodbye to 2011, I want to take a moment to thank you all for sticking with me through what was a CRAZY yet, incredibly exciting year.
Not only were we matched with a baby, but the fact that we were able to get through the entire legal process and make everything 'official' within the same year, is beyond the comprehension of not only Jim and I, but everyone who we have dealt with since day one. We have been one lucky family.

While my work situation has remained a thorn in my side (grrrrr), I have to be thankful for the fact that I have a job. No, I'm not thrilled with what I'm currently doing, but I am grateful that Jim and I aren't dealing with unemployment, like so many people are at this time.

So - what will 2012 bring?!?!? Who the hell knows? Maybe a better job? Maybe more blogging?
One can only hope.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2012!!!
See you next year. ;-)

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-24T14:05:00.002-05:00

To all my blogreaders: I would like to take a moment to wish you all a very merry Christmas - or whatever holiday/event you may be celebrating at this time of year.
As 2011 winds down, Jim and I certainly have a lot to be grateful for, and even though my blogging has suffered because of all the crazy changes going on in my life, I certainly wouldn't have it any other way!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!
xoxo

PS - Here are those pictures I promised.....better late than never? :-)

If you write it, they will read.

2011-12-09T07:54:00.001-05:00

I realize it's only been a couple of weeks since I last posted, but with all that's been going on, I feel like it's been MONTHS.

Not keeping up with my blog (remember when I used to write every day?!?) has really made me sad.
Not only because I really enjoy writing (and reading) posts, but my lack of blogging makes me that much more aware of the fact that there's so much other 'crap' going on which is keeping me from blogging.
Does that make sense?

Since I last wrote, Jim and I went with friends on our yearly excursion to the Yankee Candle flagship store out in South Deerfield MA and (as always) we all had an amazing time. We go with friends of mine from UNH, who I also consider great friends of Jim's as well. This year, we 'allowed' one couple's daughter (and her boyfriend) to join us. There's always been a strict 'no kids' rule, which allows us to shop at our leisure, without having to deal with meltdowns, naps, etc....but now that she is a senior in high school we figured that it was safe to let her join us. ;-)
Anyway, it was a LOT of fun, filled with tons of stories, and trips down memory lane. Oh, and candles....lots and lots of candles - as well as plenty of Christmas-y stuff to decorate our houses with!

Speaking of, Jim and I have completed the decorating for this year. We've put up the Christmas Village, the tree (which is BEAUTIFUL), brought out all the decorations, and yes, once again, Jim did a bang-up job with the outside lights.
I will post some pictures of the aforementioned decor so you don't have to just read about it here.
I PROMISE. I'm writing myself a note right now, so I don't forget to do it.....

Other than that, I've really just been busy with work, and trying my damnedest to enjoy the holiday season and our first Christmas with Zachary, as best as I can.

I'm not gonna lie, it's been challenging. Work is really getting me down (as you're all aware) and the couple of 'lights at the end of the tunnel' regarding other options have recently faded, so more than ever I feel like I'm trapped here with no way out. (cheery, ain't it?)

Add to that the fact that this time of year is pretty difficult anyway, because the anniversary of my mom's death is quickly approaching (it'll be 26 years on 12/22). I can't help but think about the fact that she never got to meet Zachary (or Jim, for that matter) and that she never got the chance to see me be a dad.

Yes, I know...she's "watching over me from above" and all that, but it's not the same as her being here for real. :-)

BUT - as Patti LuPone says (or at least I'm pretty sure that's what she was saying - yeesh, that DICTION!)

'Life Goes On' - right?!?!?!?

Have a great Friday....and keep your eye out for those pictures....they'll be posted soon.

Promise.

xoxo

In the news.....

2011-11-25T07:18:00.001-05:00

Here it is folks!

I'm glad that it's available for viewing on line, especially since my dad and step-mother are in Florida and missed seeing it 'live'. In addition to my them missing it, my older sister and her family were in Florida visiting my dad, so they missed it as well. Not to mention all the people I know who are scattered across the country who will now be able to see it....all youse guys included.

I hope you all had a great day yesterday!!
I'm at work today and I'm literally the ONLY person here.
My entire floor is empty. :-)

Here's the story!!!
xoxo

It's official!!!

2011-11-23T15:22:00.001-05:00

As of 11:30am (or so) on Friday, November 18th, Zachary became OFFICIALLY ours. :-)

We were lucky enough to be part of National Adoption Day, which was above and beyond what we could have ever imagined.
From the moment we arrived at the courthouse, we were pretty much attacked by the press wanting to get our picture, interview us, film us, etc...etc.. Apparently two good looking guys and a very cute baby make good press....if I may say so. ;-)
Seriously though, we were totally taken off guard by the amount of attention we got, but all in all, it was an amazing day.

For those of you in the Boston area - Jim, Zachary, and I are going to be 'featured' (what this means exactly, I don't know) the 6pm news tomorrow night (Channel 7 - WHDH, Thursday 11/24). Local reporter (and a favorite of Jim and I) Nicole Oliverio is going to be at Jim's mother's house tomorrow afternoon to get some footage of our family, and to interview the three of us. As I mentioned before, I really have no idea what the segment will turn out to be like, but we're pretty excited either way.
The news crew (Nicole and her camera men) were at the courthouse on Friday, and came into the courtroom with us for the actual ceremony - so I imagine that will be part of the feature as well.
It's all very exciting, and we're looking forward to it - so be sure to watch if you can!
Of course, if it ends up being on line (which I imagine it will be) I'll be sure to post it here.

I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving - and I'll be back here to report what happens tomorrow!!!
xoxo

Here's a picture of Zachary on the 'big day'

Remember me?

2011-11-11T11:40:00.001-05:00

Is anybody there???...Is anybody there????...Is anybody there????
(Echo??? Echo??? Echo???)

I know - it's been a L*O*N*G time since I've blogged, and I apologize, but I did say that things were going to be different with my new location, responsibilities, etc.....so, I hope all is forgiven.

BELIEVE ME - I don't like it one bit....but, that's the way it goes. :-)

Let's see....there have been quite a few exciting things happening since I last wrote.

I took part in a reading of a new musical called 'Glory' - which was written and directed by some local Boston folks. It was a lot of fun to be a part of, and I think the reading went quite well.
Such a fun group and super talented folks were involved. Cool, cool, cool.

Then Jim, Zachary and I went on a mini-vacation to New Hampshire (North Conway) for a few days.
We stayed in a really nice house and had a great time. We had to cut the trip a day short though, because we were expecting a snow storm, and we were in no position at all to be stranded up in the mountains of New Hampshire. It turned out for the best though. Since we left early, we were able to get home and get settled before having to jump back into 'real life'. Not to mention the fact that and a lot of people all over New England were VERY much affected by the unseasonable snow storm. Dodged that bullet!!

Jim opened in his production of the play 'Doubt' which was EXCELLENT. He really is a great actor. I know, I know, I'm married to him and everything, but I can be objective. He did an excellent job.
He has only 2 more performances of the show and then he's done, so his life will be back to normal pretty soon as well.

Earlier this week, I took part in a fundraiser for SpeakEasy Stage Company which was a ton of fun to be in. It's their yearly show in which local performers perform musical numbers from shows/roles in which they'd never be cast. I was lucky enough to play one of the Von Trapp children in a rousing performance of 'Do-Re-Mi'. As you can expect, it was quite fun and all for a good cause.
The ridiculously talented and hysterically funny Varla Jean Merman is in Boston right now performing in SpeakEasy's production of 'The Divine Sister'. If you're in the area and are at all interested in seeing it, buy your tickets now! I saw it last week and loved it.
I have to say that Varla (Jeffery Roberson) was such a nice person to be around. He was super-friendly and was more than happy to have the group of us (who were in the benefit) take over his dressing room for two nights while we were performing. He's SUCH a great guy....and good lord....watching the work that goes into 'becoming' Varla?!?!? Amazing.

Anyway - that's all for now....I still plan on filming another a video blog, so don't give up on me yet!!!

xoxo

Here are a few pictures:

Jim and Zachary, shopping in NH

Zachary enjoying lunch in the diviest of the dives in some crazy-ass small town in NH

Scooter and Zachary ready for Halloween!!!

First time in the carriage!!

Hey gang!!!!

2011-10-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

I just thought I'd drop in and say hello!
I've been super-busy with training and trying to figure out where the hell I'm going from day to day, but I anticipate that things will be getting easier to deal with as this week goes on.

Tonight is the reading of that musical I'm doing....so that's good. I've been rehearsing just about every day since last Tuesday, so it has been slightly time consuming. (understatement) I've been having fun though, and as always, it will be exciting to see what the audience thinks of it. It's certainly a talented group of folks (if I may say so myself) so at the very least, they'll be entertained!

Jim, Zachary, and I are heading to NH for a little vacation at the end of this week, so that'll be fun. Scooter will spend that time with Jim's parents - who will spoil him more than we do (if that's possible) so he gets a little vacation as well.

I've got to get back to work, but I'm hoping to throw together another video blog for next week, since the last (and first) one was so popular. :-)

Hope all of you are well!!!!
xoxo

This Should Be Interesting....

2011-10-12T22:09:00.000-04:00

He's baaaaaaaack!!!

2011-10-05T08:56:00.002-04:00

Hello my friends!!

Things have been nutso at work, mostly due to the fact that I don't have as much 'me time' for blogging and reading as I used to, but I'm going to make an effort to get to it as much as I can, either in the rare moments of privacy that I get at work....or at home.

Either way, I just wanted to let you know that Jim (you know, my husband) has redesigned, re-created, and re-thought his AMAZING blog 'Jim's Whims'. It's full of all sorts of exciting and fun stuff so please take a look at it, and send your friends there too.

You'll not only get to see Jim, but you'll see me, Zachary, and the 'I Got Somethin' To Say' all-time favorite....SCOOTER!!

So, click on the link and visit. :-)

http://www.jimsullivanmedia.com/

Hope you're well!!!!
xoxo

Success!

2011-09-30T07:53:00.000-04:00

OK - this is going to be quick.

I moved in, unpacked, and all is well with the new desk and seating arrangement.
I also got a brand spankin' new PC, so as expected, I'm unable to do anything that I need to do.
Awesome.

Gotta' go track down the help desk guys to see if they can fix all the PC issues I'm having....which I'm sure they won't be able to figure out. God help me.

Have a great weekend...hopefully, I'll be 'back to normal' (have I ever been?) soon. :-)

xoxo

Moving day!!!

2011-09-28T08:12:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day I'll spend in my current building!!! I'm looking forward to the change of scenery, the new commute and a while new flock of people to 'watch'.....but I'm not quite sure what my new seating arrangement will bring.
However, you can rest assured that as soon as I get the chance to blog about it, I will!!

Time to get packing.....xoxo

Hope you're all doing well!!!!!

Weekly blogger? Or weakly blogger?

2011-09-23T07:40:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!

Yup, it's been over a week since I've blogged last and I'm not at all proud of that fact. Truth be told, I just haven't been in the mood. I'm not a fan of writing whiny, negative, or overly complaining blog entries - so that's why I haven't been writing. The past few weeks have been pretty rough, and I haven't felt much like trying to come up with something positive to write about.

For those of you who know me, or who have been reading this blog for a while, you know that this is TOTALLY not 'me'....so I'm hoping this negative, blah, yuck-o feeling passes soon.

I did see an amazing play last weekend at SpeakEasy Stage Company - which was a nice night out.
The play is called 'Next Fall' and I REALLY enjoyed it.

This is how they describe the show on the SpeakEasy website:

A 2010 Tony nominee for Best Play, Next Fall takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. Luke, a devout Christian, and Adam, a non-believer, have been together for four years; yet spiritual differences continue to spark trouble in their relationship. A sudden twist of fate, however, changes everything in this compelling new play that looks at what it means to 'believe' and what it might cost us not to.

I think it's a very good description....just enough to get you interested, but not enough to spoil the show. I went in knowing very little about it, and really had a great time.
By the way, I do have a couple of friends in the show, but that has nothing to do with my loving it. I certainly have seen friends in not-so-great shows before...and if that were the case with this one, I wouldn't have mentioned it at all. Anyway.... the show is amazing, and if you're in the Boston area, I HIGHLY suggest seeing it. You can get more information about it (dates, tickets, etc.) by clicking on the link above.

Other than that, nothing too exciting is going on.....just getting through each day, one day at a time, and continuing the search for a new job.

Have a great weekend!!!!
xoxo

Here are some pictures from the show....
Photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo

Will McGarrahan (L) & Dan Roach (R)

Deb Martin (L) & Amelia Broom (R)

Dan Roach & Robert Walsh

Will McGarrahan & Kevin Kaine

Dan Roach & Will McGarrahan

OMG

2011-09-14T07:45:00.001-04:00

TWELVE DAYS without a blog post?!?!?
Seriously?!?!?

Allow me to explain.....
For starters, today is the first time that I'm sitting at my own desk since September 6th.
Since I last wrote - we had a great Labor Day weekend, I've been working out of the Boston office or from home....OK - mostly the Boston office (I've worked from home once), we did a walk for pancreatic cancer, I went to my step-mom's 75th birthday bash, went to my softball banquet, and had a photo shoot with all of Jim's family.

Things are busy as ever here at work. I'm still working on my two October projects as well as trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about the new application that I'm going to be in charge of - very soon.
Every day is full of new challenges, none of which I enjoy...all of which depress me to no end.
Needless to say, I'm a bundle of joy these days. Maybe it's a good thing I haven't been blogging.

I had a busy day last Saturday, which was fun.
In the morning, Jim, Zachary and I did a walk for pancreatic cancer with a group of Jim's high school friends, then I took Zachary to my step-mom's 75th birthday party which was a good time as well. None of my step family (other than my step mother) had met Zachary up to this point (don't ask) so they were excited to see him. I also got to introduce him to a lot of my dad's friends - which was nice. He was thrilled to 'show him off' - and of course, Zachary was on his best behavior.

After the party, I took Zachary to my softball banquet for a little while. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only baby there! Two babies in a gay bar....SCANDALOUS!!!! ;-)
Another couple in the league were there with their little one, who was only 2 months old....so Zachary wasn't even the youngest one there!!! It was fun to chat with them and hear their story....which, let's just say, was VERY different than ours.
I was only at the banquet for a short time, but I was there long enough to receive an award. :-) I'm the very proud recipient of the Division 2 'Sportsmanship Award' - which is essentially the award they give to people like me who may not be the best players, but remember the fact that being in the league is supposed to be fun and try to maintain that attitude on the field. It's my third time receiving the award in my 10 year history with the league, which makes me happy - especially since the members of my division are the ones who vote on the award, and it's not just a select group of people voting.
Of course, the award itself had my name spelled wrong on it, and the incorrect division, but it's the thought that counts.

Sunday was our 'return' to church (we hadn't been in a while) - followed by grocery shopping, and then we had a photo shoot with Jim's entire family that evening. Barrie did an amazing job with the pictures and as soon as I get them loaded onto my PC here at work, I'll share some with you.....until then, here are a few pictures from my 'time away'.

I hope you're all well....and I have some SERIOUS blog reading to catch up on!!!!
xoxo

Here's Z taking his very first boat ride.....he loved it.

Jim and Leah going tubing....so much fun!

Zachary getting ready to run some errands with Jim

Holiday Weekend!!

2011-09-02T07:15:00.001-04:00

Well, I survived my jaunt into the Boston office yesterday! I ended up parking at one of our other offices which is right next to a subway stop, so I was able to park for free and only had to pay for subway fare - as opposed to taking the commuter rail, which is considerably more expensive than the subway.
It all worked out fine.

I haven't taken the subway since I stopped working in Boston, in June of 2009 - and I was amazed at the number of people I saw on the train who I used to see way back when I was a 'regular' commuter. They were sitting in the same places, doing the same things they always did (listening to their iPods, reading the paper, etc.). It was as if I'd stepped back in time....it was pretty odd.

My meeting went well, I got a LOT of information thrown at me, but best of all, I got to spend time and visit with my old co-workers!! I was surprised to see how many people from the 'old' company were still working in that building. For some reason, I expected to be surrounded by a building full of strangers, but that wasn't the case. It made me a little sad thinking about how things used to be, and how much things have changed with my job in the past 3 years. Don't worry I'm not going to turn this into yet another rant about how I feel about my job. Enough of that for this week!!

It's Labor Day Weekend, which means that my building is pretty much deserted. Fridays are usually quiet around here as it is, but when it's a holiday weekend - forget about it. It's like a post-Apocalyptical village around here....and I'm the sole survivor.
Jim and I are getting together with a couple of my college friends over the weekend, although which day is still up in the air. Neither Saturday or Sunday look all that great as far as the weather is concerned, so we're trying to figure out which day would the best of the two...we shall see!

I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend!
I'm off to write some critical test cases and continue my work on a FABULOUS test strategy that I'm writing.
Jealous?!?!?!? You should be. ;-)
xoxo

Breezin' along with the breeze...

2011-08-31T08:59:00.001-04:00

Well my friends....I'm officially at the point where I'm just cruising along here at work and doin' what I'm told.
I got called into a meeting with my boss yesterday, who informed me that I'm going to be 'transitioning' over to a new application (new to me, not the team) which I'll eventually be in charge of/responsibile for.

That means that I'm going to be learning something completely new, all the while I'm still struggling with the application that I've been working on for the past year or so...which I STILL don't fully understand.
Awesome.

Add to the mix, the fact that I'll be getting my training from someone who is being laid off in November and is probably THRILLED about the fact that he's got to train the person taking over his job. However, I do know him, so I'm not too worried about him taking out his anger (if there is any) on me.
I'm sure that part will be OK.
The cherry on top of this shit-pile is that everyone working on this application is in Boston, so unless I want to try and do everything online or over the phone (training, meetings, etc....) I'm going to be making several trips into the city to meet with everyone face to face....which is going to cost me $$ that I'd rather not spend commuting.

Sure....maybe I'll end up LOVING the new application and it won't be a bad switch. And maybe getting away from the current application is just what I need....but there's no denying that this 'transition period' is going to be a nightmare of epic proportions. They always are.....

Well, that's my negative rant for the day.
And we still have no Internet, cable, or telephone.....but we do have electricity, so I'm grateful for that. :-)

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!!
xoxo

PS - we had a big birthday gathering at my sister's house last night which was VERY fun. I can't believe how grown up my nieces and nephews are!!! I. Am. Old.

I made it through the rain...

2011-08-29T07:43:00.000-04:00

Or should I say - "I made it through the tropical storm..."

Thankfully, we survived the storm with very little trauma. Unlike most of our town - we never lost power (HUGE Yahoo!!!) and only have to deal with cleaning up one large branch and a million little branches strewn about the yard.
It certainly could have been worse, so we're very lucky, and we certainly appreciate the fact that we made it through Tropical Storm Irene (which is what she was when she arrived in MA) unscathed.

Jim's relatives, who live in the same town as us, all lost power at various times during the day so they all (well, most of them) ended up at our house for a while, as darkness approached. It's certainly no fun having to deal with losing your electricity (which we had to deal with over the winter), so I was more than happy to have them over. Although we didn't lose our electricity, we did lose our cable, Internet, and phone - so my 'work from home day' is now a regular work day in the office....which is where I am right now.
Blech.

We have our monthly check-in with DCF today, so I'm unfortunately going to have to miss it, as I'm not at home. Typically, I take a lil' break in my work day for the meeting - but that's not going to happen today. Hopefully, they don't need me there, but if they do....we'll have to improvise!!

Here are a few picture of the crap we're dealing with in your yard. As I said - it certainly could have been worse, so we're not complaining. Well, we're complaining a little bit....it's still a total pain in the ass to deal with the clean up....but we're happy it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I hope you're all happy and safe, wherever you may be!!!!
xoxo

The back yard, littered with branches and all sorts of leafy debris...

Thankfully, this branch wasn't big enough to damage the fence....we had to deal with that two years ago, and it wasn't fun.

Jim is so annoyed about this....he takes great pride in the fact that our pool is SPOTLESS....but knowing him, it will be back to normal by the time I get home from work. :-)

Goodnight Irene...

2011-08-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well, the local news is abuzz with talks of hurricane Irene, who's apparently heading our way this weekend.
Of course, they aren't 100% sure which path she'll take, but it does look like she's heading our way....
Yikes.
I'm not going to panic, but I am going to 'pick up a few things' after work tonight (mostly because I need to go to the store anyway) to have just in case we lose power or whatever.

I've been crazy busy at work, which is why I haven't blogged, and why this entry will be brief.

Things have been great with us....I saw another production of 'Hairspray' last Saturday, which was SOOOOO good, spent a couple of great "family days" with Jim and Zachary on Sunday and Monday, went to the local fair/carnival with a bunch of great folks on Tuesday night and had a fairly quiet Wednesday - which brings me to today.

A large group of people at work are moving to another building on Friday (tomorrow) and lucky, lucky, me gets to be the 'move coordinator' of sorts for the floor, so I have a bunch of crap to do for that.
That's what I get for being responsible!!! ;-)

Have a great day and I'll try to write more soon....but I'm not promising anything.

OH - Jim and I decided it was OK to post some Zachary pictures on facebook over the weekend, which was very exciting. I'm not going to post a lot of them here....because it's considerably more 'public' than facebook, but I'll post a couple for those of you who have been chomping at the bit to see what he looks like. For those of you who haven't been wondering what he looks like, piss off. ;-)
Kidding!!!!

xoxo

Look who I met!!!!!!

2011-08-19T08:04:00.000-04:00

Jealous?!?!?!?

For those of you who have no idea who the hell I'm with, it's none other than Cleveland's finest - Blobby, (FYI, not his real name) the brains behind Blobby's Blog!!!

He and his husband were in the area on vacation so we made plans to meet up. He's actually only the second blogger that I've ever met, so he's in a VERY exclusive club.
I had dinner plans for a friend's birthday (you know, my AMAZINGLY TALENTED photographer friend Barrie? - it was her birthday yesterday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!....) so after dinner, I hightailed it into the city, we met up, and had a couple of drinks at one of my favorite local watering holes.
It was great to meet him and we had a great time chatting and talking about ALL OF YOU!
Just kidding (or am I?).
Clearly, I need to meet more of you, so if you're ever in the Boston area....give a little whistle!!!

OK, my friends....I have a TON of work to do, and not enough time to do it.
Have a great weekend, and I'm not even going to apologize for the amount of capital letters I used in this post. Deal with it.

Oh - and I'm re-posting this picture as a personal treat for Blobby....it's one of his favorites.

Dampened Spirits....

2011-08-16T08:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

We have been inundated with rain the past couple of days. Yesterday it rained pretty much all day, and this past weekend we had showers on and off. The next few days are supposed to be quite humid, but I'm not sure if we're supposed to get any actual rain out of it.
All I know is that it's very damp out.
I know lots of people that can't stand that word, but it's the best way to describe how I'm feeling these days.....d-a-m-p. You know those days where you get out of the shower and you feel like you'll never be dry again? That's how it's been lately.
I guess it's great for our gardens and the lawn, but it does a number on my mood.

Anyway...Jim and I had a great weekend!!
Friday night, I got home from work and we headed to 'The Grille' for dinner. It was very early, so we felt like we were senior citizens.  We went there so early because there was a whole gang of people there from town (Jim's parent's closest friends) that were meeting up with an out-of-town couple, who were up visiting from Florida. It was a good chance to see everyone and let them ooh and ahh over Zachary, since most of them haven't seen him in a while. Dinner was fun, and then after that I headed out to meet a group of friends from high school.
That was VERY fun. I hadn't seen many of them in a long time, seeing them on Facebook doesn't count, so it was fun to chat and catch up.

On Saturday, the entire family (Jim, Zachary, Scooter and I) all packed up and headed to the Cape for the night.  It was the first time that we brought Zachary (and Scooter, for that matter) to sleep over night at the cottage...and probably the last. :-) It was a lot of fun, but we really don't like staying there over night. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we had a baby and a dog with us, and it had nothing to do with the rest of the people (family) that were staying over, it's just that when we sleep over, neither of us EVER get a good night's sleep. And that's nothing new. As long as I've known Jim, any time we've slept over night down there, we hardly sleep at all. We keep trying, but it never works out, so I think we're finally done with trying.
That being said, we still had a lot of fun Saturday and Sunday. My parents came down on Sunday afternoon and we all went to lunch with Jim's parents.  Jim's sister and brother and their kids were all down on Sunday afternoon, so they watched Zachary while Jim and I went to lunch with our parents...it was fun.
After dinner, we stayed around for a little while and then headed home.

Yesterday, I worked from home and we had the piano delivered!!! It's awesome and I think it looks great in the house. I can't thank my sister enough for GIVING it to us!!!! Of course, they were dying to get rid of it, and were more than happy to have it out of their house...so we lucked out.
The two guys that moved it (in the pouring rain) had no issues at all and moved it into our house like it was nothing....I was quite impressed.
So, now we have a piano. :-) Time for me to start practicing!! It's been a long time since I've had to practice piano, but I'm looking forward to playing again. AND it'll be a great way to get some use out of the 'front living room' - which is one of those rooms that we hadn't used too often before....but now we will!!!

OK my friends....I hope you had a great weekend and returning to work hasn't been too traumatic.
For those people who are spending the week in P-Town this week for 'Carnival' - I hope the weather improves for you, although I'm sure you're still managing to have some fun!! ;-)
xoxo

The piano in it's new home

Scooter, collapsed - after an exhausting weekend.

Happy Birthday, Blog!!!!

2011-08-12T07:32:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is my blog's 3rd birthday!!!
YAY!
Let's have some cake!!!

And for those of you with food allergies, I have a couple of options:

Who would ever have guessed that three years ago, when I started this crazy blog, that it would still exist today?!?!?
I certainly wouldn't have, but I'm so happy that it is!

Looking back through some old posts, it's crazy to think of all the stuff that's happened since I've started, but I'm thrilled that I've stuck to it and even MORE thrilled about all the fantastic people I've 'met' since I started blogging.

I have to say that I owe it all to that crazy cat from Louisiana......Brettcajun.
He probably doesn't even know it, but his blog was the very first blog that I followed with any sort of regularity, AND he totally inspired me to keep on writing.
He also happened to be the very first person (not counting my husband) to ever comment on my blog....which made me realize that more than 2 people were reading this thing.

So - thanks to all my readers; past, present, and future.
Without you, I'd just be another loon ranting and raving to no one. :-)

Have a GREAT weekend!!!
xoxo

Lucky, Lucky, You!!!

2011-08-10T08:54:00.000-04:00

My 8:30 meeting this morning was cancelled, which means that you get a blog entry!!!! YAY!!!!

OK, maybe it's not that exciting, but I was overjoyed at the cancellation of my meeting, so that explains my enthusiasm.

Let's see....since I last wrote, not a heck of a lot has been going on.
Jim and I had a fairly quiet weekend.

We saw a bunch of our friends in a great production of the musical 'Hairspray' on Saturday night and then I pretty much didn't leave the house (or the pool area) for all of Sunday and Monday.
The weather on Sunday was totally 'stay in and watch TV' weather, and while Monday was a much nicer day, we didn't do much more than hang around and relax....very nice. :-)

This week has been pretty quiet so far, although work has been pretty busy....which is making the days fly by. We're having a pretty blah week as far as weather is concerned, so that's helping me stay busy at work. It's much easier to get my work done when I'm not being tormented by a sunny day outside my window.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I'm getting together with a bunch of my high school friends on Friday night for a lil' reunion of sorts and then Jim and I are heading to the Cape.
My parents are coming down for the day on Sunday to hang out with Jim's parents - which should be VERY interesting. They get along great (thankfully) so I'm sure it'll be fun.

I should probably get back to work before I get into trouble (as if) :-)

Have a great day!!!
xoxo

You got a problem????

Lazy day lounging.....

It's All In The Timing

2011-08-05T07:42:00.001-04:00

Remember back in June when I was blogging about that 'mass audition' that I went to? It was the one where I had two minutes to 'show my stuff' in front of a room full of directors/producers/theatre owners (and God only knows who else) and hope for the best?  Well, since that audition I'm having very mixed emotions about whether or not I should have done it.
My biggest reason for attending the audition was because I'd never done it before, and the thought of doing it COMPLETELY terrified me. Because I was feeling that way, it became something that I wanted to do in order to prove to myself that I could do it. Well, I did it and now I'm faced with a whole new set of 'issues'.

In order to make this as brief as possible, I'll try to sum it up as best as I can...without sounding like Cocky McFull-Of-Myself.

Since my audition in June, I've received a bunch of emails/calls from people who saw my audition and are interested in having me come in to audition for a number of different projects.
Some of them I've been very interested in, and others - not so much.
A couple of the calls got me really excited, but then reality set in and I realized that with everything that's going on right now in my life, there's no way I can commit to doing anything theatre related.

That's the big issue that I'm dealing with on (what feels like) a weekly basis, and it's stressing me out.
My goal was to make it through the audition, feel good about how I did, and be able to check it off my 'list'. However, I didn't really think it through, and now I'm left to deal with the.....consequences. Damn it all.

So, once again I find myself trying to come up with the best way to say "I'm unavailable" without saying "I'm a complete idiot and should never have made you think I was available in the first place." so I can avoid 'blacklisting' myself from any future opportunities with these theatres (assuming there are any).
I suppose it's better that I'm sorting through all of this now, as opposed to actually following through and having to back out later in the process, but the whole thing has made me a little bit sad and I wished I'd planned things a little better.

Of course, I have NO regrets about what's going on in my life right now and I'm happier than ever these days (other than my job, of course) - I just wish I could do everything.   :-)

Happy Friday everyone....have a GREAT weekend!!!!
xoxo

PS - 4 years ago today, our parakeet, Junior passed away...I usually mention it every year, so I'd feel terribly if I neglected to this year.  He was a great little bird and was so much fun to have around the house. He's the pretty blue one on the left. Buddy is the green one....his 'memorial tribute' will be next month. It was bad couple of months for parakeets back in 2007 ;-)

I Love A Piano!!!

2011-08-02T08:24:00.000-04:00

Jim and I are getting a piano!!!!

I'm out of my mind excited.
I've always wanted a piano, but I've never had one. I took lessons way back when (in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade) but I only had my Casio keyboard to play on, I never practiced, and as a result, the lessons eventually stopped.
I even took a piano class in college (for 1 credit) but again, I never kept it up, so my piano playing days came to an end.
It's definitely one of those things that I wished I'd stuck with so I could play better than I do, but maybe having a piano in my house will make it happen. God knows that if I don't play it, and it becomes another dust collector, Jim will have my head.

My sister wants to get rid of her piano (they want it OUT of the house) so they're giving it to us. In fact, they're going to pay to have it moved, and are throwing in a tuning as a 'thank you' for us taking it.
We'll pay them back whatever it costs to move it, but they said they're more than happy to see it go, and are thrilled that it's going to us.
Maybe Zachary can take lessons someday?!?!? We shall see.

This is a picture of it. I'm still trying to get more details about it's age, etc....but I do know that it's a Sohmer and Company 'Cupid' Baby Grand....and from what I was able to figure out, it's most likely from the late 1930s....which is pretty cool. It's in great shape, and once it's tuned, will be a great addition to our house!!!

In other news, our niece Katie won this at a Lion's Club event the other night:

Your eyes are not deceiving you...that is a GIANT, framed, latch-hook, rug of a lion. As tacky as it is, I have to give credit to the person who made it. That had to take a long ass time to make. It is huge, and I remember my sisters doing little latch hook rugs back when I was a kid, and it was a process.

Kudos to the crafty person behind this....and good luck to my sister-in-law in finding a place to put it.

We went to Jim's family reunion on Sunday afternoon/evening. It was VERY fun. It was for his dad's side of the family, which is a very big family, so there were close to 200 (if not more) people there. It was a bit overwhelming to meet all those people, many who I'd only met once or twice before, but most of them I'd never laid eyes on. Everyone was thrilled to meet Zachary, which was very fun. He was in a great mood and not at all fussy, which was excellent.

In addition to lots of family, one of Jim's cousins (from North Carolina) brought along their 6 week old, pot-bellied pig, named Stormy. She was beyond cute and a big hit with all the relatives.

This is her:

On that note - I'm outta here!!!!

Have a great day.....xoxo

Old Man River

2011-07-29T07:32:00.000-04:00

No, this is not post about the musical 'Show Boat', or the current production that's running at the Goodspeed Opera House in Jersey.

It's referring to the fact that apparently I'm a 39 year old man, with the internal organs (or at least one) of a 75 year old.
As I mentioned before (in my diverticulitis post), a majority of the doctors and nurses that I talked to in the hospital said that I was really young to be having diverticulitis. They did say that they've been seeing quite a few occurrences in younger people, but the majority of the cases we in people much older than me.
That may be true, but let me tell you - if that's the case, then the information they distribute to diverticulitis patients needs to be updated a tad in order to be a bit more 'inclusive'.

I went for my follow-up appointment on Wednesday afternoon and all went well. There's no plan for surgery and I just have to do some 'diet modification' in order to keep myself healthy so I can avoid any future problems. That being said, but the pamphlet they sent me home with, sent me into a spiral of depression (not really)....and at the same time, fits of hysterical laughter.

Here are a few examples:

This is 'me' and my 'wife' eating an unhealthy diet which, led to me having an unhealthy colon (note the sesame seed bun thrown in for good measure)

This is 'me' displaying the painful onset of a diverticulitis attack.

OUCH!!!!

This is 'me' during my hospital stay, FINALLY up and about.

I'm feeling much better now that I'm in my pink robe and slippers....and black socks?!?!?

This is 'me' - back to work, drinking lots of water, and eating healthy snacks

And finally, this is 'me' back to normal, and enjoying the fresh air!!!!

Thankfully, I have a sense of humor.....and I know that regardless of what the pamphlet says, I really feel like this inside:

And THAT'S what matters. ;-)

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!!
xoxo

Safe!!!

2011-07-27T07:35:00.000-04:00

Happy Hump Day from 'I got somethin' to say'!!!

I finally received word from my boss' boss that I am indeed 'safe' here at work and will NOT be affected by all the changes going on.

Phew...what a relief!
Although I'm still not in love with my job, it's nice to know that I don't HAVE to leave it any time soon. To say that I'll be unaffected may be a bit of a stretch, because I'm pretty sure that things will be changing for everyone, so it's probably best to just say that I still have a job....not that I'll be unaffected.
Either way - it was nice to get that news. There are a lot of my co-workers who aren't so happy with the news that they received, so I won't take my safety for granted.

Thank you all for the kind words and comments over the past few days...it's nice to know that my blog friends are out there thinking of me. :-)

Jim and I had a great weekend....we went to see the latest Harry Potter movie on Friday night (which I really enjoyed, in spite of the fact that it wasn't quite as great as the book) and then went to dinner afterwards....date night!

On Saturday we went to a wedding, which was VERY fun. We got to see a lot of people we hadn't seen in a very long time, so it was nice to relax and catch up with them.....yes, baby-free TWO nights in a row!!!

Then on Sunday, I had another recording session for two more video games that I'll be singing on. So that brings my total to THREE video games that I'll be heard on. Pretty cool, huh?
Of course, at this point I'm not allowed to disclose any information about the games - but from what I've heard (I know NOTHING about the current 'gaming trends') they're highly anticipated games, and they're a pretty big deal.
What I can say is that the chorus sounded pretty awesome and the music was really fun to sing....I can't wait to see it all together, when our singing is played along with the actual game. It should be very cool.

That's all that's going on with me right now. I have a follow-up appointment today with the doctor from the hospital, so hopefully that will go well. I've been feeling a lot better and (knock on wood) haven't experienced any more pain or run into any food and/or stomach 'issues' over the past couple of weeks.
Hopefully I'll get a clean bill of health from him and be on my merry way!!!

I hope you're all doing well.....I look forward to catching up on all your blogs and getting back up to speed.
:-)

Have a great day!!! xoxo

An Update....of sorts

2011-07-22T12:36:00.001-04:00

I have good news and I have.......no news. :-)

First the good news!!!
After much waiting, we can now happily say that Zachary is 'legally free'!!! We just got the official word last night and are BEYOND thrilled. We have to wait 30 days (appeal period) and assuming no one files an appeal, we can then start the adoption paperwork.
It's not quite 'over' yet - but there is certainly a great, big, shining light at the end of the tunnel - and we couldn't be happier!!!!

Now, for the other part of my entry, I'm STILL waiting to hear what my fate is at work. It's been a roller coaster ride of craziness here all week, and it looks like I'm going to be on the ride for a bit longer, much to my dismay.
In a meeting on Tuesday, everyone was told that at some point this week we would meet with 'one on one' with our manager in order to find out what our future is with the company.

There were three options:

we would be unaffected
we would be hired by the new company that is taking over a portion of our group
we would be given a termination date, somewhere between now and March of 2013

PS - I have NO idea what the hell those flower things are. When I see it, in the 'edit' window they're numbers, but I'm loving the flowers...so I'm not going to mess with it.

On Wednesday, management came to my building to talk to everyone. Unfortunately, I was out of the office that day, dealing with court stuff related to the 'good news' part of this post, so I missed my one on one.

I was in a different building this morning, and even though the management folks were all there, they clearly had no intention of talking to me today, as they were on a 'tight schedule' and had to give priority to the people on the schedule for today.
That leads me to believe that I'm pretty much going to be either given a termination date or sent to work for the new company. Had I been one of the 'unaffected' - they could have taken the 3 minutes it would have taken them to tell me that, but the fact that they couldn't squeeze me in speaks volumes.
I know that all the other people who were given dates or being hired by the new company had an HR representative in the meeting with their manager, so they probably have to set up an overflow schedule to deal with all the people who missed their initial meeting.

I'm not going to put in writing what I'm hoping for....call me superstitious.....but I'd rather just wait and see.
Until then, I'm going to enjoy my long weekend (I have Monday off) and not worry about it!!!

Oh - and I'm VERY excited for tonight. Jim and I are celebrating our anniversary!!!
FIFTEEN years ago (tomorrow) we went on our first date and we've been together ever since. :-)
I'm one lucky man!!!!

Jim and I in 1996

Our Wedding - September 2005

Summer 2010

Christmas 2010

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

In the Office

2011-07-18T07:53:00.000-04:00

Good Monday, my friends!!!

I'm actually working IN the office today, which is unusual since it's a Monday. Typically, on Mondays I'm either working from home, or have the day off - but I have some stuff that I needed to do today, and it will be a lot easier to get things accomplished from in the office because my connection at home isn't so speedy.

That being said, I had a GREAT weekend.

On Friday night, Jim, Zachary, and I went to see my niece Julia in a show that she was in. For two weeks she was going to a 'musical theatre camp', and Friday night was the showcase of all the stuff they've been working on. She did a GREAT job. And I'm not just saying that because she's my niece. Please, I'd be the first one to critique her every move. ;-) Seriously though, she really is great on stage.
She was in several numbers and was in two different tap numbers, which is very impressive because she just started taking tap, but she LOVES it and is a total natural. It may have taken a while, but I'm thrilled that one of my niece's and nephews (on my side of the family) took an interest in musical theatre.
Zachary was very well-behaved in the audience. He didn't make peep and was fascinated with all the activity happening on stage. Also, Jim and I won a Tom-Tom GPS at the intermission raffle, which was an added bonus for the evening.

On Saturday, we spent the day down the Cape with Jim's parents. It was SO much fun and very relaxing. Typically when we go down to visit them, there are lots of people (Jim's sister and brother and their families) but for one reason or another, none of them were down there, so it was just the five of us for the entire day.
We hung around the cottage for a while, spent some time at the beach, went back to the cottage, played games, relaxed, etc.....very fun.

I played my FINAL two softball games yesterday in the ridiculously blazing heat, with only 9 players on our team. For those of you who aren't aware, you normally have 10 players on the field (4 in the outfield, 4 in then infield, a pitcher, and a catcher) but in our league, you're allowed to play with 9 (only three outfielders) but when the non-existent "10th player" comes around in the batting order, it's an automatic out.
So....it's a bit frustrating to play with only 9. I refer to the "10th Player" as Elijah, who's REALLY bad at softball, but no one on my team got the joke, forcing me to explain it.
Anyway....we played well for having 9 players, but we lost both games. I actually played quite a good game and got a hit every time at bat....so I felt good about the day - in spite of the heatstroke. :-)

So, here I am on Monday morning.....working in the cool silence of my cubicle.

I hope you all have a great day/week.....xoxo

Thirsty Thursday

2011-07-14T08:06:00.000-04:00

Hello blog-readers!
I have one more day of antibiotics and then I'll be back in full force!!!!
At least I hope to be. I have a call out to my sister (the nurse) to get the scoop on when I can safely have alcohol again once I'm done with my meds. The pharmacist said I should wait two days once I take my last dose, but I want to be sure that's long enough. The last thing I need is for me to have a 'celebratory beer' and then spend an hour throwing up. Not. Cute.

Anyway...that's the most exciting thing that's happening with me right now.

This weekend I have two softball games on Sunday, which will be my final games of the season. Our team has two more scheduled, but I'm not around for them, so this weekend will be my swan song.
I'm also pretty sure that this will be my final season playing softball.
I'm going to remain on the roster as a non-player, mostly because I don't want to remove myself completely from the league, but this is it for playing. I've been playing for 10 years and as much as I love it, I've grown tired of having to plan everything around softball games.
I'll most definitely miss my teammates, but I certainly won't miss spending every weekend sweating on the softball fields. :-)

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures, so I'll post a few for your enjoyment.
We still can't post any 'decent' pictures of Zachary....but hopefully the day when we can is quickly approaching. Until then, this is what you'll get. :-)

(all photos were taken by Barrie Smith Photography)

Woof.

2011-07-12T08:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday!!!

Not too much has happened since I last wrote, but things are going well!! :-)

I'm feeling a lot better, and even though I'm still not 100% - I'm getting there. I have a feeling that things will greatly improve once I'm off these crazy-strong antibiotics and I'll start feeling like myself again.
That, and I'll finally be able to have a beer. One of the antibiotics I'm on is one that will make me violently ill if I consume any alcohol while on it so I've been 'dry' since the last week in June!!!  The doctors and pharmacists even warned me about 'hidden' alcohol in mouthwash, cough syrups, etc. - so clearly they ain't foolin'. I don't want you to think that I'm someone who drinks all the time, but to be honest there have been a few times I would have LOVED a cold beer, especially over the Fourth of July weekend, or at the various BBQs I've attended recently - but I resisted. Clearly, it's not worth getting sick over.

Anyway....things have been fairly quiet around here. Work is a world of uncertainty, and no one (upper management) has done a thing to make any of us feel better, so we're all just plugging along waiting for the next shoe to drop.  It's irritating, but it's nice to know that we're all feeling the same way. Misery does indeed like company.

I've only had one softball game in the past weeks, and it was a GREAT game (played on Saturday afternoon) against a division one team. We lost by 1 run, and really had them scared for most of the game. I was a little nervous about playing again, since I wasn't feeling 100%, but I ended up going three for three and having a very good game!

On Sunday, Jim , Zachary, and I spend the day by the pool with K, B, and {b}. It was a GORGEOUS day, and since Z is finally old enough for sunblock, he took his first 'swim'. Jim was in HEAVEN and Zach seemed to be loving the water as well....I have a feeling he'll be in there a lot more often now. :-)

Yesterday, Jim and I took Z to P-Town for the day. We haven't been there in over a year and we haven't been there since becoming Dads, so it was a day of 'firsts'. We figured that bringing him during Bear Week would be fun....and it really was. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, the people-watching was so much fun - as it always is...just with a lot more hair ;-) and we're planning on making another trip down there in August. We did some shopping, lots of walking around, and we had a great lunch at Bayside Betsy's. That also happens to be the restaurant which sponsors my softball team. If you're in P-Town and want a great place to eat - go!
My teammates made a 'Bayside Betsy's Brawlers' t-shirt for Zachary, which he wore yesterday, and Betsy was THRILLED to see Z wearing it.
All in all, it was a great day.

Now I'm back to work and counting down the days until Friday. Is that bad????

I hope you're all doing well.....xoxo

Putting the 'cute' in Acute Diverticulitis

2011-07-05T09:29:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone!!! I hope you had a pleasant Fourth of July weekend.

Sorry for my absence, but I was unexpectedly in the hospital for a few days last week and I'm just getting back into the swing of things.

Here's the Reader's Digest version....or at least an attempt at it. :-)

Last Monday (6/27) I had the day off and spent it at home with Jim and Zachary…wasn’t feeling ‘right’.

Woke up Tuesday, not feeling any better, came to work for a 9 o’clock call, went to doctor’s at 1pm

Doctor sends me to the local hospital for a cat scan of my lower abdomen.

Cat scan tech sends me to the Emergency Room

Doctors in the ER tell me I’m being admitted because I have acute diverticulitis with a micro-perforation (because, apparently I’m 80)

They bring me to my room on Tuesday night on IV fluids and two heavy-duty antibiotics, also via IV (PS – at this point, I haven’t eaten all day)

On Wednesday I was still on IV fluids and antibiotics and allowed to have clear liquids starting at noon (chicken broth, apple juice, ginger ale, Italian Ice, and Jell-O.....delish)

Thursday – 3 meals of clear liquids and still on antibiotics (yes, I had chicken broth for breakfast) but feeling a lot better. Still not 100% - but a lot less pain.

Friday – French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, it all went OK, so I made it home by 3pm!!!!

So, now I’m on crazy-strong antibiotics for 2 weeks and will have to change my diet. Again, because apparently I’m a senior citizen. No more eating nuts, seeds, or any other indigestible foods, unless I want to have another ‘incident’.

Thankfully, I was home in time and feeling OK enough to enjoy the weekend! We went to the see fireworks on Saturday night, spend the day/evening at the Cape on Sunday with Jim's family, went to a 4th of July parade and a cookout yesterday, and I'm back to work today.

I'll write something a bit more exciting once I get caught up on all I missed at work, but I thought I'd let you all know what the heck was happening with me. :-)

PS - While I was in the hospital, Jim sent this to me....and yes, it made me a bit teary.

Confessions of a Musical Theatre Nerd

2011-06-24T08:02:00.001-04:00

As many of you know, like it or not, I'm a HUGE musical theatre fan.
Since I rarely get to New York City as much as I want to (hardly ever), the only way I learn about shows is via the Internet and I must say, I do a pretty decent job of keeping myself up to date as far as what's happening in the 'theatre world'. I'm familiar with what shows are running, and I'm full of useless information as far as who's in what shows or what shows are happening.
However, where I've taken a HUGE step back is in my familiarity with the actual shows themselves....more specifically, the cast recordings.
I blame it all on the 'digital age'.

It's very simple.....I want CDs. I don't want to go to iTunes and download a CD. I want it in my hand....I want the booklet that comes with it.....I want to be able to see what character is singing what song, and more importantly, who the performer is behind the character....

I know that some CDs offer a 'digital booklet' chock-full of all the information I want, but am I supposed to print it out and have it with me whenever I listen to that CD?!?!?!
Recently, I downloaded a few solo CDs by some of my favorite singers, and it makes me insane that I have to do Internet searches trying to find out who wrote the songs they're singing....or who's singing backup.....or who's singing a duet with them. Not to mention that a lot of the time, I can't even get the information I'm looking for!!

I know this is a pointless rant because soon CDs will be a thing of the past, but it makes me sad and I wanted to vent a little.

By the way, I am aware that CDs are still being produced and I can still get them, whether it be ordering them online or hunting for the rare store that carries current theatre CDs....but it used to be so EASY....and I miss it.

That's my old man rant for the week.....month?

I hope you have a DELIGHTFUL weekend and the sun shines wherever you are.....because it ain't shining here!!! Damn New England weather.... ;-)

Really, June??

2011-06-22T08:14:00.000-04:00

I can't even believe that it's June 22nd already. Insane. This year has FLOWN by.

Sure, it's been a crazy year for us becoming dads and all, but even so....holy cow, it's gone by quickly!!!

Anyway....I don't have much to report in the way of exciting news.

Last weekend was pretty busy. Jim and Zachary came to the fields on Saturday, which was fun - especially since we won (Yahoo!!). After the game, we hung out with some college friends of mine and their families. Most of them hadn't met Zach yet, so that was a good time.
On Sunday, we celebrated our first Father's Day. Jim went to his sister's house for breakfast in the morning and I headed into Boston for my softball games. I only stayed for the first game, and then headed back home to meet up with Jim and Zachary. We pretty much just spent the day relaxing by the pool, playing cards, and having a few drinks. Later that evening we went out to dinner and then came home and collapsed. It was a very nice, relaxing day!

On Monday, I was working from home, but we had our monthly check in with our social worker as well as Zach's. They stopped by in the late morning and everything went well. Nothing new to report, we're just (patiently) waiting for the next court date to roll around. Until then, it's just business as usual!
Monday night, I had yet ANOTHER softball game, but this one was a night game played on the Boston Common. We didn't win, but we played well and had a lot of fun!!!

Last night, Jim and I were 'guest speakers' at Panel Night for the latest MAPP training class. For those 'newer' blog readers, MAPP training is what all people who are interested in becoming foster/adoptive parents in MA have to go through in order to become certified. At the second to last class, a panel of 'experts' comes to the class and shares their foster/adoption stories with the class.
It was our first time being on the panel and it was an excellent experience. I can't wait to do it again!!!

I just looked back at my blog archives to this week a year ago, and I had just written about Jim and I receiving our 'official' certification from MAPP training. I'd also written about me attending the 'car seat clinic' at work and that I'd received two brand-spankin'-new car seats our of the deal.
Little did I know when I was writing that, that less in than a year later we'd have a baby and those car seats (well, at least one of them) would be a part of our daily lives. CRAZY!!!!

That's all I have for now....nothing too exciting going on here....OH - but the rumor mill is churning away here at work. Apparently something B-I-G is supposedly happening here within the next 3 weeks or so.
I'm not going to get into it right now, but the rumors are flying fast and furious!!!!

Have a great day!!!
xoxo

This was my Father's Day gift from the 'kids' :-) Awesome

The Stanley Cup comes home!!!!

2011-06-16T07:47:00.001-04:00

Hooray for the Boston Bruins!!! My goodness, what an exciting night it was. Admittedly, I didn't watch the entire game from beginning to end because I just find hockey WAY too stressful to watch. I was switching back and forth and kept my eye on things. I did watch the final 10 minutes or so, plus all the post-game coverage, which was so fun to see.

Aside from the crazy Vancouver fans trashing their city, things were quite peaceful here in Boston. Even in our little town 45 minutes south of the city there were some fireworks set off, which led to a chorus of cheers from all the neighbors. It was pretty funny....Scooter didn't find it amusing at all, but I was happy that I stayed awake to see the historic win.

As you all know, I'm not a rabid sports fan, but the fact that in the past 10 years Boston has won 7 championships in all 4 sports - is pretty cool. And as I mentioned on Facebook, Scooter has been by my side for each of the final games. Jim may have been sound asleep (and Scooter may have been too) but at least he was in the room with me.
:-)

Scooter - 'watching' game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals with me.

My new hero, Bruin's goalie - Timmy Thomas

In other news, today is Kerry's birthday!!! Kerry and I met my freshman year at UNH, and became the best of friends my sophomore year. We've remained friends since then and pretty much talk every day.

She'll kill me for posting these pictures, but she looks a hell of a lot better in them than I do!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KERRY!!!!! xoxo

Kerry and I, right before my final GENTS show (Spring, 1994)

Getting ready to paint the town red. The 'town' being Manchester, NH

We. Are. Ready. Look out Colosseum....HERE WE COME!!!!

What You've Missed....

2011-06-15T07:41:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone!

Hmmmmm...what's been going on since I last wrote?!?!? Well, let me see.....last week was 'Pride Week' in Boston and for the first time in God only knows how long, I didn't do a damn thing in celebration of my gayness. I've decided that I'd much rather be warm and dry than proud. :-)
Truth be told, Jim and I were all set to bring Zachary into the city for his very first Pride parade, but when we woke up on Saturday morning to a dismal, rainy, day - we decided it wasn't a great idea to stand out in the rain with our 5 month old son. (Yes, he turned 5 months old on Saturday - crazy)
Instead, we hung around the house and then met up with friends that night to celebrate Karen's b-day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!!!!
It was great to see everyone, and we had a great time.

On Sunday, I had my audition. As I mentioned before, it's kind of a 'mass-audition' situation. You basically have two minutes to show your 'stuff' (watch it) in front of whatever Boston/local theatre producers decide to show up. I'd never been before, so I was happy that I decided to go in.  I was a completely nervous wreck, but I'm hoping that didn't come through at my audition. There were a lot of people (30+) crammed into a small-ish space, but they laughed at my monologue (it was a comic monologue, so that's a good thing) and they seemed to enjoy my song so I'm happy with the way things went.  I didn't do it in hopes of being discovered....it was mostly because I'd never done it before, and had always thought about it....so now I've done it and that's that! If anything comes of it....excellent, but if not - that's OK too.

After the audition, I caught the last hour of my neices' dance recital. They both did a great job....I was a very proud uncle. After the recital I went to my sister's house for a bit and then headed home to watch the Tony Awards (aka - The Gay Super Bowl). I thought it was an excellent show this year, and that Neil Patrick Harris was a great host.  I haven't seen any of the new shows this season (back off, I have a baby!) but I've been keeping up to date on all that's going on, so I wasn't really surprised with any of the winners.
I thought most of the performances were great (that awful 'thing' from 'Spiderman' did NOTHING for me) and it was a very entertaining show.

I had Monday off, so while Jim tended to the yard, I spent some time with Zachary.  That evening we brought him to my sister's house while Jim and I had a 'date night'! We went on a sunset cruise with the gang from SpeakEasy Stage Company to celebrate their 20th anniversary. It was a great time, and a nice little escape for a while.  Going on a boat ride of any sort is pretty tricky. Thankfully, this one wasn't too long that we felt trapped, but it also wasn't a short little "what the hell was that?!?" kind of trip.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful, and I'm pretty sure that today will be the same.

Work is work....and I'm still trying to find a way out of here....but I have faith that it will happen sooner or later. Until then, I'll keep smiling....or keep trying to. :-)

It's a hard-knock life!

2011-06-09T07:55:00.000-04:00

Woe is me.
Being the working dad is wicked hahhhhd.
It's hard enough leaving the house each day knowing that Jim, Zachary, and Scooter get to spend the day together, but it makes things just a little bit worse (OK, a LOT worse) because I can't stand my job.

I know, I know.....you're probably all sick of hearing me complain about it and you're probably thinking "If you don't like it only you can change it....stop complaining and DO something about it, blah, blah, blah." Believe me I'm trying. I've been actively searching for jobs, but it's not easy.

First of all, I really can't spend a lot of time looking during the day, for obvious reasons.....I'm at work!! :-)
Secondly, I don't want to come home from work and spend all my time sitting in front of the computer when I should be spending time with my family.
Third of all, it's incredibly discouraging. I've sent out several resumes and applied for a number of jobs and haven't heard ONE peep from anyone. And I'm not counting the automatic email replies I get once I apply: "Thanks for applying. We will review your application, and if we think you're a good candidate for the position, someone will be in touch." I miss the days of walking into a place and applying for a job. ;-)
I have a list of more places I want to apply, but I just need to find the time to sit down and do it.

In the meantime, I'll try and stay positive in spite of the misery I'm surrounded by each day.

Sorry for the negativity - but I'm just trying to vent a little. :-)

PS - It's clearly summer. All I hear at work is the disgusting sound of flip-flops slapping up against sweaty feet throughout the office, and it's making me sick.

Back from the weekend...

2011-06-07T07:54:00.002-04:00

Jim, Zachary, and I had a great weekend in NH!!! This is the annual trip we take each June with the alumni (and current members) from my college a Capella group. It was Zachary's first trip to 'Gents Weekend' and he was a hit. Thankfully, since he's so easy to deal with he didn't ruin our trip. ;-)
Seriously though, he was no problem at all, and still managed to sleep soundly through the night, allowing Jim and I to have fun and still feel like responsible dads.

The other night after work, I met up with my crazily-talented friend Barrie to get my head shots taken. You're all familiar with her work, since I've been stealing he photos since day one, and posting them here.
I'm going to an audition on Sunday (it's a local, Boston-area 'mass' audition) and since I haven't had a real head shot taken in God only knows how long, it was time.
Here are a few of the shots.....for your enjoyment. ;-)

I guess I should get my lazy ass back to work. :-)

Have a great day!!!
xoxo

Living in the lap of luxury....

2011-06-02T08:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday at Fenway Park, I ate:

5 chicken tenders
1 Italian sausage
1 slider
1 slice of pepperoni pizza
1 bag of Cracker Jacks
1 chocolate chip cookie
1 brownie
1 Haagen Dazs ice cream bar
several (?) Bud Lights

and I never took my wallet out of my back pocket. :-)

Unfortunately, the Red Sox lost (BOO!!!) - but Joanne and I had a great time, in spite of the crazy, weather-induced traffic we sat in trying to get home.

Speaking of....we were unscathed by yesterday's nutso weather that passed through Massachusetts. Although, I probably would have been totally safe, had a tornado even ATTEMPTED to lift my fat ass off the ground, given the fact I'd eaten so much.

Here are some pictures:

The AMAZING view from our super-comfy seats

Joanne and I

This is the little flat-screen TV that's on the wall in the private bathroom we had....you seriously don't ever have to miss a second of the game. :-)

The 'foul weather tarp' they place over the infield at the end of the game. Advertising, anyone?!?!

Happy Thursday!!!!
xoxo

Luxury Box!!

2011-06-01T08:41:00.002-04:00

Today I'm leaving work early and going to the Red Sox game. YAHOO!!! My dear, dear, friend Joanne (she reads the blog) has selflessly invited me once again to attend a Red Sox game with her. The last time she took me, we sat in the Monster Seats for a game against the Yankees. Seriously??!? It was AMAZING. The only drawback was that it was about 35 degrees at the game. No exaggeration....it was craziness. However, we managed to have a great time....as always.

This was us at that game.....freezing our 'parts' off.

Today's game is going to be the exact opposite...VERY warm and humid. However, the weather probably won't be an issue since we have seats in a luxury box. One of her company's major clients not only have Monster Seats, but a luxury box as well, which is where we're sitting today. I'm very excited. I've been lucky enough to have seats in a luxury box before, and it's so nice. Most of the time, there's a fridge stocked with beer and plenty of snacky food-type things to be had. Hopefully, that will be the case today.
Although, if I show up and it's just a great place to sit.....I'll be just as happy to be at a game and NOT at work.

Jim and I had a great holiday weekend. We got the entire yard and pool area all spruced up and ready for summer. We went to a BBQ on Saturday night, hosted a teeny-tiny, impromptu BBQ at our house on Sunday night, and then attended a crazily fun BBQ on Monday afternoon. It was NOT easy going back to work yesterday, but it was great knowing that Zachary was going to be at home with Jim, and not shipped off to daycare.
I hope you all had fantastic Memorial Day Weekends as well!!!

Tomorrow I'm working, and then I'm off on Friday. We're heading to New Hampshire for our annual weekend away with the alumni and current members of the a cappella group I sang with at UNH. We're very excited to FINALLY be attending with a child of our own. It's something we've always talked about, and it's kind of unreal that it's really happening. :-)

This is totally random, but here are a couple pictures of our yard. I took them to show a co-worker all the work we've done since moving in, and figured I'd share them all with you.

At one time, this entire yard (side yard) was nothing but dirt, there were about 5-6 awful, dying, giant, trees on the property, and not a blade of grass in sight. As you can see from these pictures, the grass is coming along nicely, and our newly paved (almost a year ago!) driveway makes SUCH a difference.

This is a picture of the backyard where there are HUGE improvements. Not too long ago, there were two giant trees back there and nothing but dirt.

And of course....Scooter, enjoying the pool area

Two Days in a Row!!!

2011-05-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, I'm blogging two days in a row!!!

Boy, I woke up in a crabby-ass mood this morning. It's just one of those days where everything is 'off' and it's annoying me. Now, I'm not necessarily annoyed with anyone - but I'm just a little bit irritated in general.

I'm sure it'll pass....maybe I'm hangry (hungry + angry)?

I think I'll have my breakfast now and see if that helps.

The pool is opened and I was shocked to see how great it looked! It wasn't as crystal-clear as the yesterday's photo, but it really isn't bad at all. It's just cloudy and needs a day or two to clear up, which is great. I've seen newly opened pools that look like swamps and you can't even SEE the bottom of the pool. Ours looked fantastic in comparison.

When Jim got home from work, we all went outside to check it out. Scooter was immediately at the side, ready to jump in, but we were able to keep him from doing so. He's so funny when it comes to the pool. He would be in it all day, every day if we let him and as soon as he got out there last night was looking at it like "Oh that's right....I LOVE this thing!!!!"

Very cute.

Jim and I have no plans for this weekend, other than getting the yard and pool area in order - and it looks like the weather will cooperate. I just hope Zachary's nap times do as well. :-)

Have a GREAT long weekend!!!!

PS - Blogger continues to piss me off and make posting a complete nightmare, so if this entry looks all wonky and awful, I apologize.

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty sure it's because I'm posting from my work PC, but since that's where I write the majority of my entries, I may have to make some changes.

Stay tuned. :-)

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment....

Name change??

2011-05-26T12:57:00.004-04:00

Hmmmm...maybe I should change the name of the blog to 'I sometimes got somethin' to say!' or maybe 'Once a week I got somethin' to say!' :-)

Yikes...clearly my life has been in the way of my blogging.

Don't get me wrong, everything is GREAT, but I've become one of those bloggers that drive me crazy, due to lack of posts. All I can do is TRY. I'll try to write a little something each day, just to let you know I still care.

Things are going well....our pool is being opened today, our softball team won another game last weekend, one of my good friends and teammates celebrated his 40th birthday party last weekend, I saw a hysterically funny 'show' last night featuring Seth Rudetsky, one of my faves....and here I am today....working.

Have I mentioned that Jim is going to be a full-time 'stay at home dad' starting on Monday?!?!?

Pretty exciting, huh? We've gone back and forth with the idea and finally decided that there's no time like the present - so we're just gonna do it!! I'm sure there will be a little bit of a transition period, but ultimately, it's going to be great and definintely the best thing for our family.

Please remind me of that when I'm at work and they're poolside. ;-)

I hope you're all doing swell...I'm keeping up on my blog reading, so I at least feel like I know what YOU are all up to.

I'll be writing more....at least that's what I'm saying today.....xoxo

Soon.....soon.....

13 days later....

2011-05-18T07:13:00.003-04:00

For those of my readers who enjoy my 'Update' posts - this one is for you!!! :-)

OK - I'm not going to deny that it's been 13 days since my last post, and yes - that's totally unacceptable. But it's not entirely my fault. At some point during those 13 days, Blogger was being a brat and wouldn't work for me (or anyone else for that matter) so when I TRIED to write an entry, I couldn't.

Since we last 'spoke' -

I saw 'The Drowsy Chaperone' at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston and really enjoyed it. It has received RAVE reviews, and they're extending their run.....GO SEE IT!!!

Jim, Zachary, and I visited with friends from out of town who we hadn't seen in a long time....they're doing great, and it was a blast spending time with them again. They need to move back to MA...and that's that.

I played two softball games on Mother's Day - we won one (YAY!) and lost one (BOO!) but we played very well...a far cry from how we played opening weekend. There's hope!

Work, work, work....Zachary's 4 month appointment....seriously, FOUR MONTHS already?!?!
Craziness. After talking to his ENT specialist and pediatrician, we're going ahead with getting tubes put in. More on that later....but we're hoping that we get all the necessary approvals and we can put these ear infections behind us. Fingers crossed!!

We hung out with K and B, and brought Z to his first show!!! Well, he was AT the theatre, but we didn't watch much of it. I ended up feeding him during the first act, and then after intermission, he felt like 'talking', so we played in the lobby for a bit. I will say that when he was in the theatre itself (while the show was going on) he was silent and seemed fascinated by the kids on stage. He's sure to be an excellent audience member.

On Saturday (5/14) we I cleaned the house from top to bottom, while Jim cleaned up the yard, and then we met up with a couple of friends for dinner (one of my high school friends). After dinner, Jim took Zachary home and continued to prepare the house for Z's Christening the following day. I went to see what turned out to be an AMAZING production of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' (apparently I'm only seeing Sutton Foster 'vehicles' this month) at a local high school. Seriously....this production blew me away. I can't even wait to see something there again. Rumor has it that they're producing 'Les Miserables' next year, which I'm SURE will be amazing. These were some of the most talented high school kids I've ever seen. Crazy.

Sunday was Zachary's Christening and it was a really fantastic day. We kept it very small, only inviting our families and closest friends - and in spite of the rain, it was a perfect day.
Some day we'll be able to post picture of all these amazing events that I'm talking about - but until then, you'll just have to be patient. :-)

I went to the dentist and Scooter went to the vet on Monday, and it's been raining all damn week...with no sign of relief (or the sun) in sight.

Now you're all caught up!!!!

Now it's my turn....I've got some SERIOUS blog reading to do.
Peace out!

Play Ball!!!

2011-05-05T14:02:00.004-04:00

Since Brettcajun made the request, and since I'm BEYOND bored at work....here are a few shots from opening day 2011.

Incidentally, I compared these to a few shots I have from Opening Day 2010, and lets just say - I'm now on a strict diet. ;-)

**All photos courtesy of Patrick Lentz Photography....he's awesome.

Tra-La!

2011-05-04T07:16:00.003-04:00

It's May.

Let's see what's happened since we last spoke.....

The softball season has officially started, and I can barely move. We had three games over the weekend and lost all three. We went to a super-fun event at our church (did I really just type that?), Osama Bin Laden was killed (allegedly), I had a great Monday off, and yesterday we celebrated Jim's birthday!!!

That's it - see you next week!!!!

Kidding. :-)

All of the above is true and to see it all summed up in one lil' paragraph is crazy, especially since I'm still exhausted from it all.

The weekend was crazy, but fun. I really am WAY too out of shape at this point....yikes. I need to get my fat ass back on track and shed some of this winter/baby weight. It's making me CRAZY. Monday was a great day - the weather was beautiful, and I got the chance to visit with my friend Melissa, who I hadn't seen in a LONG time. We had a super-fun visit and should probably try to do it again sometime, before Zachary is in pre-school.

Yesterday was Jim's birthday and was pretty low key. After work he opened up his presents from Zachary and Scooter - I wasn't allowed to buy him anything this year ;-) - too much 'stuff'!!
but Z and Scooter bought him Tina Fey's new book 'Bossypants', a stand for his iPad, and cologne. The three of us then went out to dinner at 'The Grille' (you know you're a regular when you walk into the building and three people yell 'Happy Birthday' as you enter) and then went back to his parent's house for cake and 'presents'.
Since we're trying to cut back on the amount of stuff, clutter, etc...etc...in our lives, he received gift cards, restaurant gift certificates, and the like....which are great gifts, but don't force us to bring more things in to the house. Perfect.

We spent some time there visiting and then went home and immediately went to bed.

So - here I am. It's Wednesday morning, and I'm blogging again. This week should be pretty quiet. We're seeing 'The Drowsy Chaperone' at SpeakEasy Stage Company on Friday night, spending the day Saturday doing nothing (which means we'll probably be cleaning and doing yard work) and then Sunday is Mother's Day.
I have two softball games that day, so I'll probably just swing by the cemetery to visit my mom on the way home after my games and then meet up with Jim and his family wherever they end up.

I should really get back to work and do something....as much as it KILLS me.
After I catch up on my blog reading, of course. :-)

xoxo

PS - blogspot and my work PC are SOOOO not getting along, so if this post looks all wonky it's because I gave up on trying to make it look decent. Annoying.

Easter and stuff...

2011-04-27T08:07:00.009-04:00

Hello all!!

It's Wednesday, and time for me to blog. We had a very fun weekend in spite of the fact that Saturday was a grey and rainy day, and I had to attend a wake. Boo.

Even though it was a sad occasion, it was great to see a few old friends who I haven't seen in a VERY long time. We had the typical "It's so great to see you, but sorry it's under such awful circumstances!!" conversation, which feels kind of cliche at this point, but it IS true! It's been so long since I've seen them in person (facebook does help a bit) and had the chance to talk to them. We shared lots of great memories about Marian and all the great times we had together.

She will certainly be missed by many.

On a happier note - Friday night was very fun! We got together with K, B, and {b} for dinner and Zachary's three month photo shoot. Dinner and dessert were ridiculously delicious and we had a blast hanging out with them and catching up, as we always do.

Sorry, we still can't post any pictures publicly of the little guy, but let me say that B did an AMAZING job with the pictures...and (hopefully!) you'll be seeing some 'real' pictures of him soon. Fingers crossed!!

Easter was quite fun...we all got spoiled by the Easter Bunny and had a nice day - beginning with a very nice Easter service at church, followed by dinner at my sister's house, and then we ended the day at Jim's sister's with all of his family.

It was lots of fun - and a GORGEOUS day.

Work is well......work.

I'm still actively searching for something else to do, which has been kind of interesting, but I still haven't found anything, so keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Here are some pictures to keep you all happy. :-)

These are the 'cupcakes' (they were GIANT - and SO good) that K made for our dessert on Friday night.

Scooter - 'patiently' waiting to attack his Easter basket

Posing with his new chick...

Enjoying the lovely Spring weather. :-)

In Memory of Marian

2011-04-21T10:15:00.013-04:00

I just found out this morning that one of my good friends, Marian passed away yesterday morning.

I knew that she was dealing with some health issues, but I had no idea (nor did anyone else) know that they were so serious.

Marian and I first met when I was doing the show 'FAME' in Dover, NH back in the Spring of 1992. I was a student at UNH and she was a living in the area and was always doing theater wherever she could. She and another friend of ours had an apartment close to the theatre, so their place was where we spent a lot of time both before and after shows, or just hanging around doing what 'kids' our age did. (I was 20, she was 25 or so)

We remained close througout my years at UNH, but once I graduated we lost contact for a bit. I knew where she was, and I knew that she was doing well - but we didn't talk regularly.

In the summer of 1999, I went to see her in a production of 'Bye, Bye Birdie' (she STOLE the show as Mae Peterson). She has no idea I was in the audience, and as she went to make her first entrance (the show was performed was outside, in a park) she walked right past me, saw me, stopped in her tracks, and mouthed 'OH MY GOD!!!!' then proceeded to make her entrance.

I hadn't seen her in MANY years at that point - so we spent decent amount of time playing 'catch up' over drinks after the show.

Since then, we've been in touch on again and off again - but thanks to Facebook, we reconnected and kept in touch quite often. We got together in the fall of 2009 for dinner and a show up in Portsmouth, and that's the last time I saw her.

We'd been in regular contact via FB messages, comments, etc...and it was on Tuesday night that I last heard from her. Funny enough, I posted the picture of the 'belly cast kit' (from yesterday's blog entry) on Facebook Tuesday night, and she was the first to comment on it.
:-)

She was such a talented and funny woman, and every time we got together or talked, it was always so much fun.

I'll certainly think of her every time I go to Portsmouth, and the NH theatre 'scene' won't be the same without her.

xoxo Marian....we'll miss you!!!

Here are a couple of shots from the last show she did in March.....

This is one of my favorites....

It was taken in the 'cabin' we stayed in on a trip that we took to the Poconos back in the summer of 1992. In case you can't see it clearly, on the wall it says 'Picture is Missing'....hysterical.

I'm on a roll!!!

2011-04-20T07:56:00.004-04:00

Two days in a row of blogging!!!!

OK - I'm not going to get too excited, but hey - it's the little things, right?

So, Jim and I went out shopping last night in search of something for us to wear for Easter.
A coupe of weeks ago, we took several trips trying to find something appropriate for Zachary to wear for his very first Easter, and (as I believe I mentioned previously) THAT was a pain in the ass. Thankfully, our search was a bit easier.

We went to the Burlington Coat Factory down the street from us, knowing that it would be a great place to find something inexpensive and halfway decent. For those of you who aren't familiar with them (probably most of my readers) it's similar to a TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc..etc..
They get a lot of name brand stuff and sell it cheaper than the original price.
Anyway - we were successful in our search, so we should look pretty dashing come Easter Sunday. I'll be sure and post pictures for your enjoyment. :-)

Even better, we were able to find Zachary a little white suit for his Christening!!! We were out shopping a couple of Sundays ago and came upon this fancy-pants kids clothing store and they had Christening suits, but they were around $100.
Really? Not f-ing way am I paying that much money for something he's GUARANTEED to wear once. After seeing that ridiculousness, we decided that we'd keep looking and possibly just get him a nice outfit for him to wear that day and not restrict ourselves to getting the typical Christening suit.

Well, we were looking at the baby clothes at the store last night and lo and behold, they had a totally adorable, white Christening suit in Zachary's size - for only $35!!!! Yes, it's still a little bit of a high priced item - but it was SUCH a deal, and they rarely have Christening suits there, so we HAD to get it. Along with a pair of little white, satin shoes to match. ;-)

They also had these - but we decided against buying one - besides, who has the time?!?!?

Thirteen Days?!?!?

2011-04-19T10:27:00.002-04:00

I should be taken out back and beaten.

I've become one of those bloggers that make me crazy. You know, the type that never blog. :-)

I SWEAR, I'll try to be better....I really do miss it and want to get back to writing regularly.
I think it puts me in a better mood each day.

That being said - things are going great with me!!!

Note: My job stil sucks and I despise it, but enough of that negativity. :-)

Since I last wrote Jim and I saw the national tour of 'HAIR' (it was a fun night out, but we didn't love it), softball practices started, my softball team threw us a baby 'shower', we met up with another gay couple that are in the process of adopting, we celebrated our four year anniversary of having Scooter, and Zachary is still battling his ear infections.

Even though he's having some trouble shaking the latest round of ear infections, he's still a great baby and as happy as ever. We're taking him to see his ear, nose, and throat specialist on Friday just to make sure there isn't anything that we should be worried about, but according to his pediatrician, it's more of a preventative thing than anything to be concerned about.
I'm hoping that once the warm weather arrives (assuming it ever does!) he will stop getting them....but we'll see!!

This week is school vacation week around these parts, so it's a pretty quiet week here at work. I was off yesterday, and I'm off Friday, so this week is sure to be a good one.
(consider myself jinxed)

Hopefully this will be the return of me blogging regularly....I KNOW you all miss me so.
xoxo

The sun is shining....

2011-04-06T07:22:00.004-04:00

Isn't it nice when the sun comes out?!!?

Well, the concert at Symphony Hall was a BLAST! In spite of the fact that it was a LONG night, the concert went very well. We sounded pretty darn good (especially for having only one rehearsal) and a good time was had by all. All of the songs we did were recorded by someone and are up on YouTube, if you're curious. I would post one or two on here, but I'm writing this at work (shhh!!!) and YouTube is BLOCKED here (rude).

However, if you go to YouTube and search for Video Game Orchestra at Symphony Hall, I'm pretty sure you'll find them. FYI - we sang the following pieces: March Madness, Myst, Baba Yetu, Snake Eater, and Final Fantasy VII....all very exciting.

Jim was in the audience (with 2 of our nieces and 1 of our nephews) and he said we sounded really good, so I know it's true. If we didn't sound good - he'd definitely let me know. :-)

On Saturday we spent the morning at home, went grocery shopping, (love) and then went out in search of an Easter outfit for Zachary. I can't believe how difficult it is to find a decent outfit for a 3 month old boy! Everything we saw was either navy blue or beige. Hello?!?!? It's Easter!!! How about something a little brighter? Pastels? Something?!?!? And don't even get me started on the fact that there are racks and racks of cute, little, COLORFUL baby girl outfits - yet one measly washed out looking rack of outfits for the boys. Not fair.

Anyway...after looking for an outfit, and not finding anything at all that we liked, we met up with some friends for dinner. It was great to see them all and catch up. I love our friends. :-)

On Sunday morning, we went to church, and then headed out for a second attempt at finding an Easter outfit. I'm happy to say that this time we were more successful. We still weren't able to find something with a lot of color, but at least what we ended up with isn't beige!!! I can't wait to see how he looks in it!!

After shopping, we dropped him off at my sister's house and Jim and I had a 'date night'. We went to see Patti LuPone ("Who do you think you are?!?!?") performing her 'Gypsy in my Soul' concert at Symphony Hall. I know...twice in one weekend?!?!

I'm happy to say that the concert was VERY good, and she certainly got a great reception. The crowd was LOVING every minute and it was well deserved. I've been a long time fan, but have never seen her in concert, so this was a nice treat. I'd definitely recommend seeing her if she's coming to your area. Well worth the price.

Monday was my day off, so Zachary and I spent some quality time together. We had an appointment in the morning (that's a post for another day) and then stopped by to visit Jim's parents who had just returned on Sunday night from their vacation. They were so excited to see him after not seeing him for an entire week, so I earned some points for stopping in and paying them a visit. ;-)

Well, my friends...I should probably get to work.......boo.

OH! As many of you know, my dad works for the Red Sox in Ft. Myers. At the end of every Spring Training season, the Red Sox throw the staff a 'wrap party'. At this year's party, they held a bunch of raffles, and my dad was the lucky winner of a bat, signed by #33 himself - Jason Varitek!!!! He told me that he put all of his tickets in that raffle because he knew how much I like Tek...and he wanted to win it for Zach...and me.

So, I'm now the proud owner of Jason Varitek bat. I can't wait to add it to the Tek shrine I have at home. :-)

It's gonna be good...

2011-04-01T08:27:00.002-04:00

Two things....this is all I will say about the snow 'storm' we're having right now and the fact that it's April Fool's Day. Both things annoy me to no end.

Anyway...on to bigger and better things!

I had my first (and only) rehearsal last night for tonight's concert and it was AMAZING.

The Video Game Orchestra are a crazily talented group of musicians!!! It's been a long time since I've performed with, or in the presence of an orchestra of any kind and it was a huge treat.

It was especially cool because Alan Silvestri (who composed the music for both Forrest Gump and Back To The Future) is one of the guest conductors and they are playing both of those pieces...which sounded ridiculously good.

And not for nothing....I have to say there are some VERY attractive orchestra members. Apparently the age of the 'band geek' has passed. Some of these people (both men and women) were quite easy on the eyes. Back in my day, the bank geeks weren't always the best looking group. Sure, many of us have 'grown into' our looks and turned out totally hot (side note: all the former band geeks who read my blog certainly are anyway - you know who you are) but these kids are already there. Yowza.

That being said, I'm very excited for tonight. The orchestra is so good, and our group is sounding better and better each time we sing together (we've had ZERO rehearsal beyond last night) so I'm betting that tonight will be a blast.

I'll certainly post an update as soon as I can.

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

xoxo

Home again, home again....

2011-03-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

I'm happy to report that our first family trip to Florida was a HUGE success!!!

Not only was the weather PERFECT, but Zachary was great the entire time. He didn't make a peep during either of the flights, and while were in Florida, he was well-behaved and seemed to love the warm weather. My dad and Betty were over the moon being able to spend time with him, and Jim and I loved spending time in the sun and our ‘family time’ by the pool. :-)

We went to a Red Sox game on Tuesday night, which was VERY fun, but they weren't looking their best. I realize it's only a Spring Training game, but yeesh...they looked TERRIBLE. I'm hoping that once the actual season starts (on Friday) they bring it up a notch and actually hit the damn ball.
Just sayin'

The day before I left for Florida, I had a 'recording session' with the group I'm singing with at Symphony Hall this Friday night. As it turns out, we recorded a piece that's going to be used as the background music for a soon-to-be-released video game.
As I've said before, it's a HUGE deal to those people who consider themselves 'gamers', but it's pretty much lost on me. It's such a big deal that we all had to sign non-disclosure agreements saying that we wouldn't reveal the name of the game, or any details about it. Totally fine by me!!! To be honest, I can’t even remember what the name is. It was a pretty cool experience though, and it was nice to make some unexpected money right before we left for vacation. As it turns out, we're all going to be listed in the credits of the game when it's released, which is pretty cool. I guess I'll have to get myself a copy so that I can hear the final product once it's finally released - and who knows? Maybe they'll ask us to record more stuff in the future?!?!?

Jim and I have a busy/fun week coming up, which I'm very much looking forward to.

I have dress rehearsal for the concert tomorrow night, then the concert itself is on Friday night. Jim's sister and brother-in-law are going to babysit Zach, and in return, Jim is taking her three kids to the concert with him. :-)

Saturday night we're getting together for dinner with K, B, and {b} - who I feel like we haven't spent any time with in FOREVER - so it'll be great to see them and catch up.

On Sunday evening, Jim and I are going to see Patti LuPone in concert at Symphony Hall which I'm VERY excited for. (I'll be sure to leave my camera in the car) I'm sure she'll be a hoot and sound fantastic….even if she leaves her consonants at home. ;-)

Next Thursday night, Jim and I are going to see the national tour of 'Hair' at The Colonial Theatre in Boston. He was able to get super-discounted tickets at the last minute, which is awesome. I saw the show in September of 2009 when I was in New York with Jim for his work conference, but he wasn't able to see it with me. It's one of his favorite musicals, so I'm very excited that he's going to get to see it. I hope he likes it as much as I did!!

OK - that's what's going on with me....believe it or not, softball season is about to start, in spite of the fact that we're expecting snow on Friday night. Don't even get me started on THAT!

I hope all of you are doing well. I'll be doing my best to catch up on all your blogs over the next few days....I've missed you all so. :-)
xoxo

Jim, hanging out by a palm tree during the weekly "Monday Night Carport Cocktail Party" - oh to be retired...

Jim and Zachary (in disguise) spending some time by the pool.

(don't worry, we kept Z out of the sun for the entire trip)

Scooter, enjoying the fact that the sun was out, and we were all back home - together again.

Be Back Soon!!

2011-03-18T14:52:00.002-04:00

Hey there everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick 'I'll be back soon' notice, because I probably won't be posting for a week or so. :-(

We leave on Monday for Florida, so I won't be blogging. Keep your eye on my twitter or facebook if you REALLY get desperate....but otherwise, I'll be back before you know it!

Take care!!
xoxo

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

2011-03-17T10:34:00.001-04:00

I hope you all have a great day. :-)

Humpty Hump!

2011-03-16T07:04:00.006-04:00

Happy Hump Day to one and all!!

I hope this blog entry finds you well. I have hardly anything to report, but I felt like it was SO long since I've blogged that should at least write something to say hello and let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking.

Of course, I'm assuming that there are people still reading this. Are there? I'm sure you are...you're just a little quieter than usual.

Maybe I need to post some more pictures.....those seem to get people talking!!!

So, my work from home 'experiment' has been successful so far. I definitely get a lot done when I'm at home, it's just that I have a bit of trouble with the guilt of having Scooter at home, yet I'm pretty much ignoring him. I get lots of looks like this:

In spite of that pitiful look, I think he's OK. He just sits in the office with me and hangs out, and from time to time, I'll take a break and bring him outside.

I can't even WAIT to go to Ft. Myers. I'm a little anxious about having Z on the flight with us, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I know how I'd feel if I saw an infant getting on to the plane, so I'm hoping that Z doesn't become THAT BABY....but I'm confident that he won't. He hardly ever cries, and when he does, it's easy to calm him and quiet him down...and he has a really quiet cry. I know, that's hard to believe, but it's true.

Anyway...I'm very excited, not only for my dad and step-mom to meet him, but for us to have the chance to be somewhere warm! This has been one cold winter!

I'm also excited to see the Red Sox in action. We've been to the park and practice fields before, but that was in November, so no one was even there. This time we'll be there in the middle of all the action, and I'm hoping we'll get to watch a practice or two. We're going to a game on Tuesday night (vs. Tampa Bay) so that'll be fun, I'm sure. I'll certainly take lots of pictures, and fill you in once I get back!!!

Have a great day!!!

xoxo

PS - I've been meaning to mention it on here, but for all you 'Twitterers' - I'm out there now...and looking for followers (@ ajohnpjr).

I'm not promising anything earth shattering, but you know...it's something else to keep me occupied. ;-)

Friday!!!

2011-03-11T10:38:00.002-05:00

Hooray, it's Friday!!

I'm currently listening to our IT Executive Vice President blather on about the current state of our company as we come to the end of the first quarter of 2011. Clearly, I'm not giving him 100% of my attention, but I'm listening to the 'highlights' - which is more than enough attention, in my opinion.

This weekend should be pretty calm, given the fact that we only have plans on Sunday night, when we're going to my sister's house to celebrate my nephew's birthday.
That being said...we're always ready for anything and 'surprise' visits aren't all that uncommon, as Zachary is a very popular fella these days.

I'm not going to go into a huge post on the issue, but this whole Japan thing is really freaking me out. Seeing the footage they've captured is really alarming. It looks like something you'd see in a disaster movie, but it's alarmingly real. My friend who's a flight attendant just got home from Japan last night, so we're VERY happy that he has such great timing!!!
Hopefully, the folks in Hawaii and the west coast were given enough notice to get themselves to higher ground in the event that the tsunami does hit them with any kind of force.

Keep everyone in your thoughts, and have a great weekend!!!
xoxo

And So It Begins!!!

2011-03-10T08:09:00.002-05:00

I had the day off yesterday to take Zachary to his two month check up.
(I know, I can't even believe it's been that long! Crazy.)

Anyway...the little guy is doing great. He's up to 9 pounds 12 ounces and just about 22 1/4 inches, so he's right on track as far as height and weight are concerned - and everything else looks good. He was suposed to have a couple of shots and an oral vaccine, but when the doctor was checking him out, he found that the poor kid has a double ear infection!!!

Of course, I felt horribly, and was convinced that Jim and I are the worst dads ever, but the doctor assured me that since Zachary wasn't showing any symptoms, we couldn't be expected to know that anything was wrong.
So, Zachary is now on antibiotics (which he loves the taste of) and is still acting as happy as ever, so we're lucky.
He can still fly with us to Florida, and although getting ear infections this early is usually an indicator that he'll probably get them often, we can keep an eye out for the slightest changes in behavior, and bring him in to be checked. :-)

Other than that bit of excitement, nothing too exciting is going on.

One of my neghbors from my old neighborhood passed away the other night.
It makes me very, very sad to know that she's gone.

In my neighborhood, there were 4 families that were very close. All the parents were the best of friends, they all had kids the same ages, (many of whom babysat me) and we often took family vacations together. When my mom passed away, everyone was there for my family, and especially for me, since I was the youngest.
Eileen, Elaine, and Ida were the three moms who pretty much took over and made sure that my dad and I were OK. There were SEVERAL occasions when I was lucky enough to spend dinner time with the other families.

Eileen's son Scott and I were best friends, so I was there more often than not, Ida and her family owned a local restaurant which we frequented throughtout my entire childhood/teen years, and Elaine lived directly across the street from me, and kept a watchfull eye on things. :-)

Eileen and Ida passed away several years ago, as did both their husbands, and Elaine's husband passed away about a year or so ago. That left Elaine, as sole survivor of the group - and she lost her battle early Wednesday morning.
It's never easy to see your old neighborhood transformed into a completely foreign place, especially since I grew up in such a great neighborhood, where you knew everyone so well - but although they have all 'moved on' (with the exception of my dad) - I take comfort in the fact that I have such great memories of the old days and can look back fondly on the place where I grew up, surrounded by supportive and caring people.

Video Game Orchestra

2011-03-03T08:12:00.002-05:00

This is kind of random (OK, completely random) but also kind of fun and different....

I was asked by a friend of mine, who's a local music director, conductor, actor, singer, and all-around musical genius,if I wanted to be a part of a choir he's putting together for a performance at the end of the month.
Now, as you know, I'm a big theatre fan - and the fact that I haven't been in a show of any sort in almost a year (RENT opened in March of 2010 - I can't believe it's been a year already!) means that I'm getting a little antsy as far as performing is concerned. That being said, when my friend contacted me, I was immediately interested. He's a very talented guy who I trust, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be working with some rag-tag, amateur group.

Anyway, the deal is that there's this group called the 'Video Game Orchestra' who performs all over the place, and have quite a following. They're performing a concert (one night only) on Friday, April 1st. My friend is working closely with them, and he has been put in charge of getting together a choir (around 25-30 people) to sing along with the orchestra for this concert. The cool thing is that the concert is going to be held in Boston's Symphony Hall!!! SO cool.

Video Game Orchestra, you ask? What the $*&% is THAT? Exactly what I said when I saw his email. So, I did a lil' research, and this is what I found:

From their website:

"VGO, founded by a Berklee College of Music alumni Shota Nakama, is an orchestra that performs contemporary arrangements of video game music. As the first and only New England based orchestra that focuses on showcasing interactive media compositions, VGO is dedicated to provide access and raise awareness of orchestral video game-related compositions.
Comprised of a chamber orchestra, a 5-piece rock band, and a choir, the regional and international award-winning musicians come from over 20 countries. This multi-cultural diversity background contributes to the unique sonic signature of VGO.
VGO's debut concert was on July 2008 in front of about 200 people at a small Boston chapel. Since then, the success and audience number have been growing along the way. The latest concerts at PAX East 2010 won VGO an acclaim for our outstanding performance from the 7500 people who were at the concert."

Now, I'm not a 'gamer' by any means, but I looked on YouTube and they have a few videos up there. They seem really cool. Their concerts seem very laid back (no formal wear for them!) and their audiences are TOTALLY into their performances. You know how people can be when it comes to their video games! Apparently it's not uncommon for a character or two from some popular games to make a surprise 'guest appearances' during the concert, which makes the crowd go wild!

As for me, it seems like a pretty cool way to get back up on a stage again with limited commitment and a pretty cool pay off. Hopefully everything will work out, and it's not some big April Fool's joke...I'll certainly keep you posted!!!

Have a great Thursday, y'all!!!
xoxo

It's Mahhhhhhch!

2011-03-02T06:58:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all!

I'm going to do my best to refrain from starting off every blog entry with an apology for not blogging more often. Let's face it my peeps, anyone who reads this blog with any regularity is well aware of what's going on in my life and when they see I've posted a new entry they're probably so THRILLED to see it, that they don't even care why it took me so long!! ;-)

I can't even believe that it's March already! How crazy. I'm very happy that it is, but yeesh - time sure flies around these parts, don't it?!?!?

Things are going quite well with everything at home. We're all adjusting to work/life/daycare quite well, if I may say so. The craziest days for me are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those are the days that I drop Scooter off at daycare in the morning, pick him up after work, drop him off at home, and then run right out the door to pick up Zachary at daycare. It's a lot of running around in a very short amount of time, but so far, so good!

I'm apparently getting accustomed to feeling slightly hungover at all times. I still haven't had a single drop of alcohol (since January 16th) yet each day I wake up feeling like I went on a small bender the night before. However, I'm managing to ignore the constant, dull, headaches - exhaustion - baody aches - and slight nausea, and press on through the day.

Who said fatherhood wasn't fun?!?!? :-)

Did I mention that we're still taking the trip down to Ft. Myers? I think I may have, but if I hadn't - now you know. We're heading down on the 21st and staying until the 25th and I can't even wait! Not only am I excited to go to Florida for the week, but I'm so looking forward to my Dad and Betty meeting Zachary for the first time. My sister Donna is flying down with us and staying until Thursday, so not only will she be there to lend a hand if need be, but she gets a little vacation of her own!!!

Jim and I are going to see the Red Sox play Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, which I'm SO excited for. I imagine that we'll also do the 'touristy thing' at some point and go to the practice fields to meet/watch the players. I'd love to get a picture of Zachary with a player of two, so that we can show it to him when he's a little older. I'd also like to get my picture taken with a player or two...but for an entirely different reason. ;-)

Other than the Red Sox stuff, we're just hoping for some good weather so we can go to the beach or pools, and not be at work!!

OK my friends, enough blabbering....I's got some work to do!!

Kisses!!!!

Get back to work!!!!

2011-02-23T08:15:00.008-05:00

Yes, it's true. Yesterday, I returned to work, and I SURVIVED!

To be honest, and I think I said this before, I wasn't so much worried about missing Zachary as I was just dreading coming back to work in general and having to pick up where I left off. :-)

However, I will say that I didn't come back to a nightmare of a situation, which made things a lot easier. People really took care of things while I was out, so it made everything a lot more manageable.

As for everything at home - things continue to go well. We're getting by on what little sleep we're getting, although we really can't complain becuase he's such a good baby. He's going a good 4-5 hours between feedings, which is HUGE.

I don't know how we'd do it if we had a screaming baby who only let us sleep for an hour or two at a time. Thankfully, he's either eating, sleeping, or quietly observing his surroundings....yes - we are aware and truly appreciate how lucky we are!!!

For those of you who were worried about how Scooter is getting along these days, have no fear!!! He really seems to enjoy having Zachary around, and whoever isn't holding Zach, is generally holding/paying attention to Scooter. :-)

I have to get back to work, but here are a few pictures, just to prove my point.

Here he is about to take off with the bone that Joanne gave him. Playing "Chase" is always a favorite of his. (Thanks again, Joanne!!)

Trying a bib on for size...

If Zachary isn't in the Boppy...you can be sure that Scooter will be.

Finally, for those who may have been wondering.....the beard has returned.

Wait...what day is it?!?!?

2011-02-17T09:07:00.005-05:00

OK - I'm not going to lie...being out of work has COMPLETELY screwed me up. Thank God for my iPhone and the fact that it has the day of the week and today's date right one the 'home' screen, or I'd be screwed.

So, I've been out of work exactly 4 weeks today, and this was supposed to be my first day back. However, since it's a Thursday before a long weekend, and Zachary has a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, I decided to go back to work on Tuesday.

It's certainly going to be a rough adjustment, but I'm pretty sure I'll be OK. The hardest part about going back isn't going to be leaving him (he's going to be with our sister-in-law who runs a daycare out of her house, 5 minutes down the road from us) but the fact that I'm going back to the job that I don't really love. :-)
I haven't missed the work one, tiny, bit. My co-workers? Sure. But that's about it!

Many of you have requested pictures, but unfortunately at this time, we're not allowed to publicly post any pictures of him. Once all is said and done, and he's 'officially' ours, we can post whatever we want, but until then, we have to follow the rules.
I'll post what I can, and you'll just have to wait for the rest. Trust me though, he's REALLY cute.
I know...every parent thinks their child is cute, but seriously....he's pretty darn adorable.

I hope all of you are well, and I'll be posting with more regularity come Tuesday!
Have a GREAT weekend everyone!!!
xoxo

Come on....you KNEW there would be a picture of Scooter, didn't you?!?!?

"Home Is Where Your Story Begins"

I. Am. Alive.

2011-02-09T16:15:00.002-05:00

Hello? Hello?? Is anyone still out there?!?!?

I realize that it's been quite some time since my last blog entry, but I hope that my faithful readers have remained faithful and are still out there somewhere. :-)

For those of you who are unaware, I have a pretty good reason for my lack of blogging.

You see...on Friday, January 14th - Jim and I were matched with a newborn baby boy!!!

Yes, it's true....I'm a daddy.

I'll give a quick synopsis, as it's going to be almost impossible to catch you all up on a month's worth of blog entries. I hope you understand.

Let's see....on Tuesday, 1/11 we were hit with a horrible snow storm. I was going to work from home on Wednesday, 1/12 but we lost power, so that didn't happen. Oh well, random day off.
As scheduled, I took off on Thursday morning for my softball tournament in Orlando.

Everything went great with that. I arrived on time, found my hotel with no problems, met up with my friends and all was well. On Friday afternoon, we were having afternoon cocktails at the local Irish pub, and I got a phone call from Jim. He informed me that our case worker called and wanted to know if we wanted to be submitted for a case. Jim and I briefly discussed it and decided that we did. After all, we've been submitted plenty of times and nothing had come of it so far, so we should absolutely take the chance once again. We were told that we'd know by the end of the day Friday or at the latest - Monday.

I hung up with Jim and continued on with my vacation (next stop - the pool bar!!)
After a few more drinks, we headed back to our hotel room and got ready for the evening's registration party. While getting ready, Jim called me again and told me that we had been selected and that I needed to get home as soon as possible.

Say what?!?!

Long story short (WAAAAY too late) I changed my flight, informed my teammates, and was on a plane back to Boston at 7am Saturday morning.
(Have no fear, my team was able to find a player or two to take my place in the tournament.)

Before I knew it, it was Saturday at 10:30am, and I was back in the sub-zero weather on my way to the hospital to meet our baby boy. We met him at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon, visited him again on Sunday and Monday, and then on Tuesday afternoon - we brought him home.

Since then, it's been a roller coaster ride of craziness, but it's been totally amazing. I've been out of work since 1/17 and I'm not due to go back until 2/21 (or so) which has been GREAT.
Jim was off for 2 weeks, and for the next couple of weeks, he's working part time, with at least one day a week working from home
.
When we both go back to work full time, Zachary Paul (that's his name) will be going to daycare with our sister-in-law who runs a daycare out of her home, about 5 minutes from our house.

Zachary is doing GREAT, we're adjusting quite well (if I may say so), and things are beyond excellent for all of us (and yes, that includes Scooter who is a BIG fan of the baby).

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'll try and visit the blog a bit more than I have been...which shouldn't be too hard, considering it's been over a month since my last post, and I'm sure that once I get back to work - things will pick up even more!!!

I hope you're all well, and I know I have SOOOO much reading to do in order to catch up on all your blogs.
I miss you all terribly, and I hope that you haven't given up on me and my blog.
I'm still here and will be back to 'normal' soon....well, as normal as can be expected. :-)

xoxo

Fridays are FUN!!!!

2011-01-07T07:51:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday to one and all!!!

I'm writing this blog entry from a different office than usual, as it is Friday, and that's my 'remote meeting' day. I'm part of the Communication Committee here at work, and every Friday we meet at 10am in one of the other buildings (where all the big wigs are).
Since I have back to back meetings from 9 to 10 and then 10 to 11, it makes more sense for me to start my day in the 'other' building and head to my normal office after the 10 o'clock meeting.

Now that you know that completely USELESS piece of information, I'll move on.

Thanks again for all your positive and insightful comments about my job situation. It's nice to hear from people who have 'been there' and yes, I'll say it - are a bit more 'seasoned' than myself, so they clearly know what they're talking about. It's a little sad to see that my company is heading in the typical, awful, un-loving, direction that so many others are - but I'm not at all surprised.

Anyway - enough work talk!!!

I'm looking forward to my Orlando trip next week, but I'm still a lil' sad that Jim isn't coming with me. It's going to be really weird traveling alone (I never have) so I'm planning on reading a lot and keeping myself entertained. I just hope the person next to me on the plane doesn't mind me gripping their leg in terror during take-off. Jim never does. :-)
Once Thursday night rolls around, and my friends start arriving, I'm sure I'll be fine, but all the logistical crap (getting to the hotel, checking in, blah, blah, blah...) will be weird for me to be doing alone.
I'm sure most of you can't even remotely relate, but I've never travelled for work, so the entire concept is very foreign to me.
So, back off. ;-)

In other travelling news, Jim surprised me last night with an early birthday present!!! He informed me that we're heading to Ft. Myers for a week in March!!!
We're going to be staying with my parents while we're there and will be seeing two Red Sox Spring Training games. My dad works for the Red Sox at City of Palms Park, so I'm hoping we get some 'special treatment' while we're there. We've been there to visit before, but it was at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, so even though we got a tour of the park, we never got to see a game. I'm VERY excited to go.....I'm sure we'll have a great time.
The fact that we're staying with my parents is great, because we not only get to visit with them, but save a TON of money!!!
VERY exciting.

OK peeps...I'm getting back to work now. I hope you all have a super Friday, and a great weekend!!!!

xoxo

Something's a little 'off'....

2011-01-05T07:21:00.003-05:00

Things around the workplace these days are feeling a little 'off' and it's no fun at all.

It's not an uneasy, "There are layoffs coming!" feeling (although there probably are, but not until March or closer to the end of the 1st quarter) it's just a general unhappiness and 'over it' feeling that everyone seems to share.

In the past couple of months, all of us in the office survived a round of layoffs (the first week in December) and then a couple of weeks after that, we were informed that as of 12/27 we would be required to work more hours each week, without any sort of pay increase to make up for it.

So, as you can imagine, the morale around here is pretty darn low.

To add to the misery, all the 'powers that be' seem to have the attitude that "If you don't like it - find another job!" - yeah....good luck with that.

Most of my co-workers have been with the company for a long time, and have been recently reminiscing about the 'good old days' when the upper management was nice and cared about the team. There were after-work gatherings and lots of fun to be had....and yes, all the work still got done! Recent changes in management (around the time I officially joined the company) have put an end to all that, implemented lots of changes, and due to all of that, the overall feeling is not a positive one.

At first (keeping in mind that I was still new) I thought it was that people were just having trouble getting used to all the changes being made - but over time I've come to realize that it's way more than that.

The people who are now running the show are not the type of people I want to work with, for, or around....and the work I'm doing (or will be doing) is not the kind of work I want to be doing.

Part of me is pissed, because I truly believe their goal is to get rid of as many people as possible -those who don't want to follow along and play the way they want to play, so I feel like in a way, I'm letting them win. However, a bigger part of me (watch it!!!) is coming to realize that life is way too short for me to be waking up each day and going to a job that makes me completely miserable.

It's time to get the ball rolling....

Falling for the New Year....

2011-01-03T08:52:00.002-05:00

Hello My Friends!!!

I hope you all had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve!

Jim and I had a great time with friends, going out to dinner in Providence, followed by seeing the national tour of Mamma Mia! at the Providence Performing Arts Center.
As I mentioned previously, our friend Mary is in the show, (playing one of the three leads) and as expected, she did a GREAT job. She was meant to play that role, and she certainly didn’t disappoint.

The rest of the show was fun and entertaining, but it really isn’t the best piece of theatre you’ll ever see. Of course, I don’t think it ever claimed to be. It promises to be a fun night out, and it definitely lives up to that. It’s very fun, especially if you like ABBA music; so if you see it’s coming your way, I would recommend seeing it. Fun, fun, fun!

This is a picture of Mary and I on the set….it’s kind of a dimly lit shot, but you get the idea.

After the show, Jim and I visited with Mary for a bit, and then headed home. Thankfully, we made it home in time to ring in the New Year on the couch with Scooter, Ryan Seacrest, and Dick Clark (no comment). After that, we stayed up for just a little while longer, watching Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. They were so funny together….I loved watching them.

On New Year’s Day, Jim and I relaxed and watched a bunch of episodes of Dexter – our latest obsession. We’re in the middle of Season 3 right now, and I’m already sad that we only have 1 ½ more seasons to watch…..I may have to look into getting Showtime for a little when the new season starts up.
At one point on New Year’s Day, I decided to head out front and change the light bulb in the light on the front of our house. The other night I noticed it was out, but it was snowy and cold, so I didn’t feel like doing it.

Since it was still light out, I figure I'd head out front and change the bulb without incident.
Boy, was I wrong!!!

I grabbed the step ladder, a screwdriver, a new lightbulb, and then headed to the front door. I climbed up on the step ladder, (it’s a small one that we keep in the kitchen for those ‘hard to reach’ items) unscrewed the top of the light fixture and started to remove the bulb. The next thing I know, I’m flying ass over tea kettle (thanks Dad) and slammed onto the cement step in front of our door.

Apparently, I didn’t quite have the step ladder placed entirely on the step, and it slid out from under me, sending me flying backwards. Thankfully, I didn’t hit my head, but landed on my left side/back. Jim heard the commotion and came to the front window asking me if I was ok – and then came outside to double check. I was ok, but a little shaken, and a lot sore and wet.

The thing that pissed me off the most is that when I was in the process of falling, I managed to knock the front light fixture off it’s base, so now it’s barely attached to the house and it looks TERRIBLE!

My left leg is pretty sore and still swollen, but isn’t bruised quite yet….I’m sure it will be though. My left shoulder is a little sore as well, but I’m glad that I didn’t do any ‘real’ damage and avoided whacking my head on the cement. THAT would have sucked.
Anyway – I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and headed back into the house, where I pretty much remained on the couch for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, I was quite sore (as expected) but we got up, showered, returned a couple of wayward Christmas gifts (one duplicate, and one ill-fitting pair of slippers), did the grocery shopping and began ‘de-Christmasing’ the house. We got all the outside lights taken down, and will be tackling the inside of the house for the remainder of the week. I’m still sore, so sitting still at my desk is a bit of a challenge, but I’m pretty sure I’ll survive. Pretty sure. ;-)

I hope you all have a great week, and aren't too traumatized by having to return to work!!!

xoxo

What a year it's been...

2010-12-31T07:22:00.014-05:00

As 2010 comes to a close....I sit here at my desk and wonder.....

Why the HELL am I here today??!?

Seriously. On one hand it's been great becuase it's SO quiet and I'm not being pestered with a million questions or pulled into a ton of meetings. On the other hand, I'm not all that busy, so it's making the days drag on. But - it's Friday and I'm excited for tonight and the upcoming weekend!!!

I'm pretty sure that at this point, I have the cleanest desk in company history.

It doesn't even look like anyone sits here.

Fun!

Anyway - it's been a good year. Nothing outstanding has happened - nothing traumatic has happened (thankfully), but it hasn't been a 'banner year' or anything. :-)

I look forward to 2011 being a year full of changes.

Of course, no changes will occur on their own, so I suppose it's up to me to make sure they happen.

I've got my work cut out for me!!!

I hope you all have a great 2011, and I look forward to another year with all of you.

While I have your attention....I want to welcome all those 'new-comers' to the blog.

Thank you for the comments (Ron & WranglerMan) and letting me know you're out there. Sometimes it feels like I'm just blathering on and on into the emptiness of the world wide web, so it's always a nice reminder that someone is reading. :-)

Have a fun and safe New Year's Eve - and I'll see you in 2011!!!

xoxo

Here are a few pictures from 2010:

Yes, most of them were taken by B...but that's no shock to any of you 'regulars' out there.

Booked!

2010-12-29T11:45:00.003-05:00

Well, I did it....I finally booked my flight to Orlando. :-)

I'll be there from Thursday, January 13th through Tuesday the 18th. I'm going for a softball tournament, so my time will mostly be spent on the fields (assuming we don't lose immediately) but I'll have a couple of days to spend with my teammates, which should be fun.

Sadly, Jim isn't coming with me. :-(

Typically, at tournaments, we spend a whole lot of time on the fields - either playing or waiting....and waiting....so, he'd probably end up either going out and doing stuff alone - or waiting around until we're done playing, and there's no fun in that.

The interesting thing is that my neice and her competition dance team are going to be performing in Downtown Disney the same weekend we're there. Since we're staying so close to Disney, it's entirely possible that I'll get to see her show. If we're eliminated from the tournament early (as we unfortunately have been in the past) there's a possibility that I would be available on Sunday afternoon and could catch her performance. I'm not going to make any defininte plans, but I'll be in touch with my sister and dad, who will be there to see her perform. If it all works out, that would be VERY cool...BUT - I'm not going to get my hopes up.

Anyway, that's the latest and greatest from my lil' corner of the world.

I'm trying to keep myself busy and entertained in hopes that the day will go by quicker....tick tock...

The Blizzard of 2010

2010-12-28T08:12:00.005-05:00

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside.....

Hey y'all!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (if that's your thing) - or at the very least, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. :-)

Jim and I had a great Christmas, and Santa was VERY good to us both.

Before I get into that, a quick re-cap of what we did over the 'break'.

On Thursday night, we got together with a small group of friends for a very fun and relaxing low-key evening. It was exactly what we all needed after a long and crazy work week, leading up to the holiday weekend.

On Friday (Christmas Eve) - Jim and I spent the day taking it easy, completely stress free, getting ourselves ready for the night at Jim's brother's house. Jim made the risotto for the risotto croquets that we were bringing to a couple of places, he also made and decorated a gingerbread cake, and I made my little 'turtle treats' (which consist of a Rolo on top of a pretzel, topped by a cashew - yum!).

Early in the evening, we stopped at 'The Grille' for a few drinks before heading to Jim's brother's house, and then spent the rest of the night over there. It was quite fun. There was a ton of food, lots of people (family and friends), and we had a great time.

Christmas morning we woke up, had breakfast and then headed over to Jim's mother's house. After we exchanged gifts with Jim's family, we stopped at home to drop off our 'loot', and then headed to my sister's house for dinner.

My parents and both sisters (and their families) were there, which was very nice. My older sister had to work until 4pm, but thankfully the hospital she works at (she's a nurse) is literally in the backyard of our oldest sister's house so she was close by.

Again, we had a TON of food, and a lot of fun with not only our family, but a few close friends as well. After dinner, Jim and I headed home, got into our PJs and exchanged gifts.

That's been our tradition for some time now and it's one that we've grown to love. After the craziness of seeing family and friends and driving from one relative's house to the other, it's a great way for us to end Christmas night. Just the two of us (and Scooter) sitting in front of the Christmas tree with a fire going, exchanging gifts and talking about the day. :-)

As I mentioned earlier, it was a very good Christmas for the two of us...

I got a bunch of new flannel shirts, a few books, some CDs, an iPhone/iPod adapter for my car (so I can play the music on my iPhone in my car), a couple of new buildings for the village, a gift card or two, tickets to see a couple of shows at SpeakEasy, some cash, and tickets to see Mamma Mia! in Providence on New Year's Eve!!!

A good friend of ours is playing Rosie (one of the three leads) on tour, so a bunch of us are getting together and seeing the show that night...I can't WAIT to see her!!!

Jim got tickets to see 'Jersey Boys' in Boston (fun!), some clothes, some books, gift cards, cash, a leather jacket, and an iPad! He was very excited about the iPad. It was one of those things that he had talked about wanting, but kept going back and forth as to whether or not he really wanted it or not, so I finally decided that I was going to get it for him. He was thrilled. :-)

As it turned out, our parents (both mine and his) were in cahoots about our Christmas presents this year, and wanted to get us a snow blower.

For those of you who aren't aware, we just had our driveway paved this year, which means that we could FINALLY get a snow blower. Gravel driveways and snow blowers don't mix, so we were forced to shovel every time it snowed....and we have a BIG driveway.

Anyway....they decided to give us money towards a snow blower, and we were more than happy to oblige. In fact, on Sunday morning (the day after Christmas) we got up early, went to the grocery store - along with a million other people (blizzard warnings will do that) did our grocery shopping and then went out to buy a snow blower. We ended up getting a really great one, and thanks to our parent's contribution, we essentially only had to pay for half of it.

Those suckers are EXPENSIVE - but, we wouldn't have ever been able to afford it without their help.

Thanks folks!!!

Our timing couldn't have been better, as we were BURIED when when woke up on Monday morning. Jim was out there bright and early clearing the driveway, as I shoveled all the areas that the snow blower couldn't get to (only a small amount of shoveling, thank Jesus).

Once the driveway was cleared and the cars cleaned off, we both sat on the couch and continued our Dexter marathon, which we'd started the night before.

(I'd never seen the show, but countless friends said I'd like it, so I put it on my Christmas list. I got seasons 1-4 on DVD, and we're already into season two at this point. It's SUCH a great show.)

OK - I have gone on WAYYYY too long at this point, so I'm going to stop blabbering.

I hope you had a great holiday, weekend, week off...whichever the case may be.

I'm here all week, so you'll be hearing from me.....

xoxo

Here are a few pictures I swiped from B - which were taken on Thursday night, at our 'low-key' gathering.

Enjoy!!!

This is our friend's tree. and believe me, it's even more amazing in person as it looks in these pictures.

Merry Merry!!

2010-12-23T09:05:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone!

I'm not sure when I'll be posting again, as I'm going to be out of the office and not online for a few days, as well as keeping busy with lots of fun family events.

Before I 'disappear' for a few days, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas (or whatever holidays you may be celebrating over the next few days) and a VERY happy and healthy 2011.

I was going to post the Christmas card we sent out this year, but I didn't get around to scanning it, and taking a picture of it with my phone would have looked like crap.
Instead, I'll post the three pictures we put on the card, and you can use your imagination. :-)

The first two were taken by B (who I'm always swiping pictures from).
FYI - Scooter is actually wearing the Santa hat in the second picture...it's not trick photography.
The last picture is the one that was taken on the field at Gillette Stadium, which I talked about in a previous post.

Thank you all for reading and spending another year with me!!!
Enjoy...

25 Years ago...

2010-12-22T07:21:00.002-05:00

I find it hard to believe that my Mom passed away TWENTY-FIVE years ago, today.
I know I say this every year at this time, but it really feels like it was yesterday.....not to mention the fact that it makes me feel O-L-D!!!

For those who are new (or new-ish) to my blog, my Mom lost her battle with breast cancer when I was 13. She fought long and hard for my entire life, and let's face it....the fact that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1972 and lived until 1985 says a lot.

I often think about what my life would have been like if she was still around, and what paths I would have taken if she hadn't died when I was so young.
But - like so many things in life, it all happens for a reason, and I'm very happy with the way my life has turned out and I wouldn't want to change a single thing....so apparently it was meant to be. :-)

Each year at this time, it's become a tradition of sorts for me to post the last letter I received from her. She wrote it from the hospital the last time she was admitted, and sent it to me while I was away at summer camp. Even though it makes me a little sad to read it, I'm happy that I have that little bit of her to hold on to....

Tuesday Aug. 20, 1985

Dear John,

How are you doing? Hope you are having a great time.
Well John, I did it again. Dad and I left for Cape Cod Saturday. I was feeling pretty good. It took us about 1 hr. and 1/2 to get there. We drove around for a while to see where everything was, stopped in to see the L*****s. They have a bigger trailer than the M***s. It was very nice. We got our place, unpacked, sat around for a while, and then went out for dinner. It was excellent. I had fish, and Dad had white clam sauce on pasta. Home we went, watched some TV, and went to bed.

We woke up Sunday morning and decided to go to 11:30 mass. I wasn't feeling too good. I was having trouble breathing. We left mass early and found a nice place to have breakfast. We sat around the rest of the day and relaxed & met some of our neighbors. When we woke up on Monday it was pouring. Dad went for a ride and said some of the roads you couldn't use they were so flooded. I really wasn't feeling that good - still having trouble breathing and felt lousy. We decided to go for a ride. We went to the post office and just rode around. We went back home, it was still raining. We sat around for a while, I still wasn't feeling any better, in fact I felt worse. We decided to call the doctor. He thought I should go to the local hospital and be checked. My doctor would call the hospital and tell them what to do. Now is where the fun begins.

We decided there was too much traffic, so we called the ambulance. Of course the fire engines showed up too. Everyone was looking and watching, wondering what was wrong with me. They told me it would be a noisy ride. Was it ever. They has the sirens going all the way. As it turned out, it was the same thing as before - they had to take out the fluid from the chest cavity. I am feeling much better. The only thing is, Dr. L. decided he wanted me at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, so back into the ambulance I go, this time to Boston. This time the ride wasn't quite as noisy. I got here at 8:00. I had no supper. I was starving.
I got my supper at 10:30 last night, boy did it taste good.

So here I am John, at the hospital. I haven't seen the doctor yet, he had a big surgery this morning so I don't know when I'll be home. Donna and Bill will be picking you and Scott up. I'm hoping I will be home when you get there. Have a great time John and please don't worry about me, I am doing just fine. Looking forward to seeing you and hearing all about your adventures.

Love ya, Mom

Clearly, I spoke too soon...

2010-12-21T10:28:00.003-05:00

Remember that 'dusting' of snow I spoke about yesterday? Well, it turned into a hell of a lot more than a dusting as the day progressed!!

The bad news is that my car sucks in the snow and it took forever to get from point A to point B, but the good news is that I had a great night out on the town with my friend Joanne last night and was reminded that shoveling a PAVED driveway is soooooo much easier than dealing with the gravel driveway!

Don't get me wrong - shoveling pretty much stinks no matter what the surface may be, but after shoveling a gravel driveway for four winters - having a newly paved driveway to shovel was a downright treat!!!

Today is the office potluck (yes Dr. Spo - we like to keep the tradition alive!!!) and I'll be avoiding it at all costs. :-) OK - that's not entirely true. I'll eat some food, as long as I know who made it, and it's someone I trust. It also helps that a lot of people are lazy and are bringing in 'take-out' from various restaurants. That's more than fine with me. I'll take some Chinese take-out over risking my life eating the slop that some of my co-workers are trying to pass off as food.

As my contribution, I brought in my 'office famous' (they aren't quite world famous yet) whoopie pies. Since they went so fast the last time I made them, I made a lot more this time, in hopes that more people would get to try them.

For anyone who doesn't know what a whoopie pie is, here's the Wikipedia definition:

Whoopie pie (alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo), an American baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them.

And this is what one of my homemade whoopie pies (all from scratch, no rubbish) looks like:

Well my friends....I've got to get some work done before the festivities begin.

Wish me luck. ;-)

Just a dustin'

2010-12-20T07:12:00.003-05:00

Well, our brand new driveway got its first 'taste' of snow...and I'm happy to say it wasn't a lot.

Jim was hoping that we'd get a 'real' snow storm, but I was hoping it would blow out to sea.

Thankfully, this time - I won. :-)

It did snow, but hardy enough to even call it that. I was able to melt it all on my windshield by just putting on my car defroster....so there you have it.

The weekend was busy, but fun. We went out to dinner, went to a Christmas party with friends, went grocery shopping, and then I spent the entire day yesterday making whoopie pies.

Since they were such a 'hit' at the last work event, people have been asking me to bring them again, so I did. I ended up quadrupling the recipe, which ended up making 62 whoopee pies. That's a total of 124 individual cakes, which took 21 'trips' to the oven. Pain. In. The. Ass.

Not to mention the fact that in order to fill those cakes, for the quadrupled recipe, I ended up making 5 times the normal amount of filling. :-)

That being said....it was a fun day, and I can enjoy the fact that they're all done. Hopefully, they'll go over well at work again, and there aren't any other parties come up, when I'll have to make them!

Today is VERY quiet at work, and I have a feeling that's how the rest of the week will be.

Fine by me. The quieter, the better!

I'm going to head upstairs and get some coffee. Tonight I'm going to dinner with a friend who shall remain nameless. I'm her date for her work office party and it's a VERY exclusive event at a super, fancy-pants restaurant in Boston. I can't wait....I'm sure we'll have a GREAT time.

Stay tuned for the details tomorrow!!!

Have a great day!

xoxo

Busy as a Bee!!!

2010-12-17T14:26:00.011-05:00

Sorry folks, I've been wicked busy (ooops, my 'Boston' is showing!) and have had ZERO time to write.

I couldn't leave you without an entry for almost five days, so I'm going to at least take a moment to say hello....

HELLO!! ;-)

I have a ton of stuff happening this weekend, which is great - but I have to get my work done, so I can get to the fun part.

Leaving work.

Have a great weekend!!!

Here are some shots that B took the other night when they were all over for a visit.

Enjoy!!!

Brrrrrrr...

2010-12-15T07:09:00.007-05:00

Dang, it is COLD out!!!

Of course, we're one of the few places that aren't buried in snow, so I'm not complaining!
To all of you up to your eyes in snow - I hope it's not making your lives too miserable. :-)

It's been a while since I've written, but not too much has gone on.

Over the weekend I went out for drinks with co-workers on Friday night, which was VERY fun.

On Saturday, Jim and I were out of the house by 10am and did almost all of our Christmas shopping, and had a great time doing it.

One of our stops was at Patriot Place, which is the giant outdoor 'mall' at Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play (that's the New England football team, for all of my non-sports following readers). Jim noticed that they were having a special deal where if you made a donation, or spent at least $25 in the pro shop, they would take your picture with Santa, on the field! Since we'd spent WAY over $25 in the pro shop we decided to do it. It was SO much fun. Jim had never been inside Gillette stadium, so it was extra exciting for him. I'd been in the stadium for a game, but I'd never been on the field. Very fun. Thankfully, the weather was nice, and the line wasn't too long....and the picture came out great. BUT, you aren't going to see it yet.

Here are some other pictures I took w/ my phone - for your enjoyment:

Since that was the last stop of the day, we went home, hung out for a while and then met up with my sister and brother-in-law at a friend's Christmas party. It was very fun, and thankfully - not a very late night.

The next day, Jim and I took our niece, Katie and nephew, Danny to see 'A Christmas Carol' up at North Shore Music Theatre. As I mentioned before, I knew a few people in the show, which made it extra fun. We got to see them after the show and chat, and the kids really enjoyed seeing them in 'real life'. It was great to see the show again, and being back at the theatre brought back a lot of memories from when I worked there. It's still remains the best job I've ever had!!!

After seeing the show, we headed home, picked up Danny and Katie's older sister, Molly, and we went back to our house. Jim and Katie made dinner, while the rest of us watched the Patriot's destroy the Bears. After dinner, the kids were picked up, and Jim and I were able to relax for a bit before heading off to bed. :-)

The past few days have been fairly routine....I had Monday off, which allowed me to get all the laundry done, clean up the house a bit, start Christmas shopping for Jim, and I had a delightful lunch date with B.

Tonight we're having K, B, and {b} over to see our house - they haven't seen it decorated for Christmas - and the plan is to just hang out and enjoy each other's company.

I'm very much looking forward to a relaxing night at home with friends....it should be fun!

Have a great day, and Happy Wednesday!!!
xoxo

Let the weekend begin!!!!

2010-12-10T13:37:00.005-05:00

Actually, it can begin when I get out of work - in about an hour and a half.

I really can't complain about my week, as it's the first 5 day week I've worked since the last week in October.
BUT, it is my blog and I can say what I want....so there! ;-)

I'm SO looking forward to this weekend.

Tonight, I'm going out with some work folks for drinks, which should be fun. Technically, I've been working for this company since July of '07, but I've really only felt like part of the group for about a year now. Before then, I was still doing my old job in a totally different building, but last June we all moved to the same building, which has helped me to feel more included. That being said, tonight will be the first time I've my 'team' for after-work cocktails. I'm sure it'll be a good time.

Tomorrow, Jim and I have the day free, and we're going to a Christmas party tomorrow night at a friend's house. My sister and brother-in-law will be there as well, so it will be nice to see them and catch up.

On Sunday, Jim and I are taking two of his sister's kids to go see 'A Christmas Carol' up at the North Shore Music Theatre. They were the two that just did the show at their school, and since both their birthdays are next week (the 19th and 20th) we thought it would be a great gift for them. I'm very excited to see it!

I used to work there (my first job out of college), and I was actually in their production of 'A Christmas Carol' back in 1995, so it will be fun to see it again. We're planning on sticking around after the show so they can meet some of the people I know who are in the show. I think that they'll not only love the show, but I'm pretty sure they'll enjoy meeting the actors afterwards. I hope they do at least. :-)

Well my friends....have a GREAT weekend!!!

xoxo

PS - We finally got the tree up and decorated. Happy happy!!

Gingerbread houses!!!

2010-12-08T07:10:00.010-05:00

Last night, Jim and I got together with B, K, and {b} to have pizza and decorate gingerbread houses. 'Making' a gingerbread house is something that I've always wanted to do, but never have actually done. We bought a few kits, which included all the pre-made sections, so all we had to do was assemble the house and then decorate it....which was more than enough work. I can't imagine having to actually make the gingerbread as well. Yikes.

It was SO fun....but V-E-R-Y messy. I think it was extra messy because it was the first time I'd ever done one. Now that I've done it once, the next time I do it - and there WILL be a next time - I know what to do and what not to do. :-)

We had a great time, not only decorating the houses, but spending some quality 'catch-up' time with our friends!!!

Here are a bunch of pictures, taken with mine and B's iPhones. As usual, they aren't all that great, but you'll get the idea.
She took some 'real' photos too, which I'll swipe from her as soon as I can. ;-)

This was taken at the beginning....just as I was in my first moment of panic. Icing coming out both ends of the piping bag.
Note to self: don't overfill the bag, and be sure to twist the top shut. I definitely know better, but in all the excitement, I forgot.
Ina would be SO disappointed in me.

Cut to: The finished product. :-)

Another view

The artist with his 'work'

Jim, about to attack his house...

Ready to hit the road....Lucy was sitting so nicely, hoping one of us would give her part of our house....no such luck!

The gingerbread houses arrived home in one piece, and we put them 'on display' on our dining room table. First thing this morning - Scooter was in the dining room, crying, whining, and begging at the table.

In his defense, they do kind of look like giant, fancily decorated dog treats. :-)

"Can I have some of your house??"

"Seriously....just a little bit?!?!?"

Happy Wednesday!!!

Monday, Monday

2010-12-06T07:47:00.003-05:00

Hello y'all!

It's Monday morning, and I had another delightful weekend. :-)

Friday night we went to see our niece and nephew in their school play. Both of them did and EXCELLENT job. They were by far the best two kids in the show...and seriously, I'm not just saying that. I'd be the first one to critique them on their performances, believe me...but they were truly outstanding. It was a musical version of 'A Christmas Carol' and Dan (11) played Bob Cratchit, while Katie (9) was The Ghost of Christmas Present. They did so well, I was very proud.

Saturday we spent the day at the Yankee Candle flagship store in Deerfield, MA. It's a yearly tradition (this year was our 13th year going!!) and it's always so much fun. We go with college friends of mine, and it's a guaranteed great time.
Jim and I did very well and didn't spend a ton of money, which was VERY nice. Just so you know, we really don't go there and buy a huge amount of candles. We usually stock up on the 'holiday scents' (votives and tarts) because they have every scent created, but we're more more likely to buy holiday decorations and ornaments, than candles. It's a huge store and there's so much to see....love it!

Yesterday, Jim spent the day with his sister, our sister-in-law, and two nieces making cookies all day long. While he was doing that, I spent the day doing stuff around the house (getting ready for the tree!!) and running errands. We're going to get the tree tonight, and then we'll be decorating it later on this week. I'm very excited to get it, not only because I love having a real tree, but because for once, we won't be dealing with a snow-covered or wet tree!!!
The weather has been cold, but not snowy or rainy, thank God. We've had some terrible luck in the past with tree shopping. We always get a GREAT tree, but the past few years we're either wandering around the tree lot in a blizzard looking for a tree, or we're carrying home a snow covered one. Not fun. If all goes well, we'll only have to deal with the cold tonight, and none of the other wintry garbage.

Have a very happy Monday!!!
xoxo

We saw this little guy in the toy section, and almost bought it, but decided against it at the last minute....Scooter would have been pissed, and probably tore it to shreds.

This is a shot of the main courtyard outside the store - all decorated for the holidays and looking pretty darn festive!

Living to see another day....

2010-12-02T10:33:00.012-05:00

It would seem that I've survived yet another round of layoffs.

Phew.

As expected, yesterday was 'the day' and thankfully, our group (the testers) didn't suffer too many losses. The word around the office was that as far as the IT folks were concerned, the people on the chopping block were VPs and above. Unfortunately, that proved to be true, as the 3 people in SQA that were terminated were all VPs. Sadness.

Aside from the three people I knew within SQA, I said 'goodbye' to one of my former bosses (who I LOVED), one of my sister's best friends, (who just happened to also work at the same company as me) and saddest of all, one of my former co-workers and close friends.

Way back when, he and I worked at a different company on the same team, eventually I took over the group and was his supervisor, then shortly after that I left the company. He stayed there and coincidentally, both of our companies ended up being bought by the same larger company, so we were working for the same place once again. If he hadn't been laid off, we were all going to be back together again in the same building come next Spring. BUT - that clearly wasn't mean to be. :-(

There are more layoffs on the horizon, but hopefully you won't hear me mention anything about it until at LEAST March of 2011. Hopefully.

In other (happier) news - Thanksgiving was GREAT, my time out of the office was fantastic, and our house is completely decorated for Christmas!!!! Yay.

We'll probably get the tree this weekend and decorate it early next week.

In the meantime, here are the pictures I promised of the 'new and improved' Christmas Village display for 2010.
They aren't all that clear, because they were taken with my iPhone, but you'll get the idea.

Enjoy :-)

Level One completed...

Jim, the handyman...

Always wear your safety goggles!!!

Our helpful assisstant...

Level Two completed...

Done!

The village at 'night'...

The outside of our house, all 'done up' for 2010...

Giving Thanks!!!

2010-11-24T06:57:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Yes, I'm aware that I'm a day early, but I know I'm not going to be posting tomorrow so I thought I spread some holiday cheer while I had the time.

I hope you all have a great holiday, and enjoy your time with family and/or friends....away from work!!!

Have a great holiday! xoxo

Hopefully none of your guests will show up at the front door with one of these:

Short Week!!!!

2010-11-22T10:51:00.001-05:00

Another weekend has come and gone. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad coming into work today, knowing that it was only a three day work week, but is it ever easy to get up at 5:15am knowing that you’re going into work?!?!?

Friday night, Jim and I met up with B, K, and {b} for dinner and a lil’ shopping. It was great to see them and to catch up after not seeing them for a while. They just got back from a few days in Florida and had a GREAT time. Jealous.

On Saturday, Jim and I did some stuff around the house, and then I took off to go see the matinee of ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ at Brandeis University. As I mentioned earlier, I knew the director as well as the woman playing the lead, Dot.
I’m very happy to report that it was an excellent production. The sets and costumes were outstanding and the performances were quite good. The director made the choice of having two different men play George (usually it’s the same actor playing George in act 1 and in act 2). I was a bit apprehensive at first when I heard about it, but I have to say it made SOOOO much sense and really added to the whole thing. I loved it. McCaela Donovan as Dot was beyond great. She really made the part her own and avoided the temptation to put on her best Bernadette Peters. She’s not only got an excellent voice, but she is a great actress. I can’t WAIT to see her in ‘nine’ at SpeakEasy in February!!!

After the show, I headed home, had dinner, and then Jim surprised me with a trip to go see ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1’ – which I loved! As you may have heard, this was by far the ‘darkest’ of the HP movies, but it was one of my favorites. I’m not gonna lie – this isn’t a sit back and relax kind of HP movie, where you spend a lot of time watching all the fun and crazy wizardly stuff happen around Hogwarts. I spent a majority of the movie on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next ‘thing’ to happen. Yikes. I’m not one for running out and seeing a movie as soon as it’s released (the crowds tend to make me crazy) but this time it didn’t bother me at all.
If you’re a HP fan, I highly suggest it. I’m already looking forward to seeing part 2.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day around the house, with the usual Sunday stuff going on. Laundry, grocery shopping, etc… This week, Jim and I are going to be building something fun which will be the place where we display the Christmas village.
Every year we talk about it, but this is the year we’re going to make it happen!!! I’ll be sure to share some pictures with you as we begin the journey. Very exciting….

Have a great day everyone!!!!

McCaela Donovan as Dot

Finale of Act One - amazing

Quickie...

2010-11-19T06:47:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a super short post, because I have a TON of stuff to do before I head off to my morning full of meetings. Blech.

We had our 'Employee Appreciation Luncheon' yesterday afternoon, which was a big hit. The lunch was catered, but people brought in desserts. I made whoopie pies (again) and they were gone in seconds. I got lots of compliments, which was nice. People apparently don't expect male software testers to be able to bake something decent. Little do they know....

Anyway, that was yesterday - and today I have to write up my year-end self evaluation, which I find tedious and annoying, especially since my boss really couldn't care less about it. He likes me, he knows I do my work, and he'll write up a decent review regardless of what I say about myself. Although, it is nice to have some additional stuff added in that he maybe wouldn't have thought about or even know that I was working on. OK....I'll get writing.

Nothing too exciting going on this weekend. I'm going to see a local college production of 'Sunday in the Park with George' tomorrow, which I'm VERY excited for. The girl playing the lead is going to be playing Carla in 'Nine' at SpeakEasy, and I can't wait to see her in this. I'm sure she'll be fab. And the director is someone who works a lot at SpeakEasy and does excellent work.
I'm sure it'll be a treat. Come back on Monday for the details.

Have a GREAT weekend, and enjoy your Friday!!!

xoxo

Rainy days....

2010-11-17T06:56:00.002-05:00

Good day!

I finally made it into work this morning after having to deal with some CRAZY ass rain. Good GOD it was pouring this morning!!! As you can imagine, that makes driving on the highway a complete nightmare. That being said, I made it into work unscathed, and wasn't even late!
Nice work.

Things have been busy since I last wrote. I got my flu shot, which was no big deal at all - I knew it would be fine, but what's the fun of getting a flu shot if you can't throw some high drama into the mix?!?!? It was a little bit sore for a day or two, but only if I touched the place where she gave me the shot...other than that - no biggie.

I had a fun softball meeting on Sunday...you know - getting ready for the season....which starts in May.
Actually, it was a very necessary meeting, as we're planning on making some changes next season and we wanted to get the team's input before committing to anything. We're going to have a new coach, we're losing a few players, and gaining a few players, you know...stuff like that. Also - we're planning on going to Orlando in January for a tournament, so if you're going to be in the area around that time - let me know!!! You can come watch us play!!! :-)

I'm planning on going to the tournament, assuming I still have a job in January.

Yes folks, that's right.....the layoff rumors have been flying fast and furious once again!! I'm pretty sure they're more than rumors at this point. I've heard from several very reliable sources that there will be layoffs and they'll be happening soon. I've heard a few dates thrown about, but December 2nd seems to be the most popular one out there. That date makes sense since it's a Thursday and that's when they all took place the last time we went through this - 2 short years ago. Once again, I have no idea what's going to determine who stays and who goes, so all I can do is hope for the best. I'll certainly keep you posted.

Hmmmm....what else? I went to see Sutton Foster (Broadway S*T*A*R) in concert on Monday night and she was SOOOOO good. It was such a nice treat. Originally, I wanted to go see her, but it was a benefit concert with tickets starting at $150. Not in my price range.
Then, out of the blue on Friday, I got an email offer for $25 tickets!!! After clearing it with my business manager/accountant (a.k.a. Jim) I bought a ticket. She sounded and looked amazing and I was very happy I got to see her.

That brings me to today, which incidentally happens to be the one year anniversary of when Jim and I started our MAPP (Massachusetts Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) training.
I can't believe it's been a year!!!!
Time certainly flies when you're going out of your mind each day, waiting to be placed with a child. :-)

Yes, we're still waiting...and slowly losing our minds.
But that's a post for another day.

Have a great day everyone!!!!!
xoxo

Shot through the heart....

2010-11-12T13:28:00.002-05:00

It's 1:45pm on Friday, November 11, 2010 and I'm about to go get my flu shot.

It was nice knowing you.

Who said I'm dramatic?!?!?!?

Happy Friday. :-)

Sup?

2010-11-11T07:50:00.002-05:00

I had a free moment this morning, so I thought I'd say hi!!

It's Veteran's Day today, but we don't get it off from work, so here I sit. It's a very quiet day, as most of the people in the office took the day off to be with their kids who are off from school.

My commute was fantastic this morning, and I anticipate getting a LOT done!!!

Today's also the day that the furnace gets cleaned/fixed!!! I hope it all goes well and we don't have to start working the streets in order to pay the bill. I'll keep you all in the loop. ;-)

Here's a fun picture from the concert rehearsal on Monday.

(For those of you who are friends with me on 'the book' it will probably look familiar)

Have a great day!!!

Hey y'all!

2010-11-10T07:05:00.009-05:00

Good day, and happy Wednesday to one and all!!!!

I've been a busy, busy fella the past few days, which has left me NO time for blogging and I apologize. I know how much you've all missed me.

Anyway...I was kind of going out of my mind towards the end of last week because I was asked to be a part of SpeakEasy Stage Company's 20th anniversary concert, which took place on Monday night. The weekend was a whirlwind of activity, but SO much fun. I wasn't singing in anything, just doing a few 'talky' moments during the evening. Apparently, appearing in 8 of their musicals over the years isn't enough to get you into a musical number for the concert.

But I'm not bitter ;-)

Seriously though, I was thrilled and beyond honored to be asked to be a part of the concert, and I was happy to contribute my time and my 'memories' for the evening. There were over 40 (46, I think) people that were part of it, ranging from people who appeared in the very first shows they produced, right up to people who are in the show that's currently running. It was a long show, but to be honest, I watched most of it from the audience and they seemed to be having a great time, in spite of the running time.

Now that the concert is behind me, I'm just playing 'catch up' with everything else.

Our furnace has been giving us grief for a week or two, and I'm hoping THAT will be taken care of tomorrow when the 'furnace men' come and clean it.

Every so often it sounds like it's working really hard, and gets really loud. When it first happened, we kind of panicked (as I'm sure you all would have) and called someone to come out and look at it, because we thought the house was going to blow up. That man replaced a part and said that all it needed was a good cleaning, so I called the next day and made an appointment. Of course, they had nothing even remotely close coming up, so I made the first appointment I could. Well, since then, it's continued to act up, so I called again on Monday and they were able to squeeze us in for a cleaning tomorrow. PHEW! Let's just hope we make it until then.

I'll keep you all posted....because I'm SURE you're dying to know how it all turns out.

OK faithful readers....I'm out....and going back to work.
Luv ya! :-)

Here are some pictures that Barrie took of all the fun stuff we've been doing together over the past couple of weeks....seeing our friends in 'Annie'....dinner at their house, etc...etc...
She's a great photographer and I love stealing her pictures. :-)

November?!?! Really.

2010-11-03T07:07:00.007-04:00

It's November, and I've been a very bad blogger. Of course, when I'm neglecting my blog, that usually means that I'm being an excellent employee. :-)

Things at work have continued to be super busy, and not at all fun, but I won't bore you with that crap.

Jim and I had a great weekend last weekend, and I had an excellent day off from work on Monday!

Friday night we got together with all of Jim's family to celebrate the anniversary of the first night his parents met. I'm pretty sure this is the first year we've celebrated such an anniversary, but since they met 50 years ago this year, it seemed fitting. Jim's mom was VERY surprised and happy to see everyone, and it was a nice night out.

On Saturday, we hung around the house and then headed over to Jim's sister's house to celebrate her birthday. I only stayed for a little while, as I had previous plans to go see a friend of mine in a show that night.
The show was 'A Class Act' (a not often produced musical) and I have to say it was quite good. I worked on the show when they produced it a number of years ago at SpeakEasy Stage Company, so I know the show quite well and they really did a great job with it. As expected, my friend was EXCELLENT in the show (Yay Jackie!!!) and the majority of the cast were great as well.
There were a few 'clunky' moments, but overall, I was SO glad I went.

On Sunday, Jim and I went out in search of some more Halloween decorations, in hopes that they'd be on clearance. Well, much to our dismay, what little Halloween stuff they still had out was complete CRAP, and was overwhelmed by the crazy amount of CHRISTMAS merchandise that was out on the shelves. I was flabbergasted. Seriously?!?!? On Halloween they're putting out ALL the Christmas stuff? Gross. Anyway, we ended up buying some purple Christmas lights, which looked FABULOUS in our windows for Halloween night.
We had about 17 kids come by for candy, which is great considering that we live on a main street, and all the kids that came by seemed to really like the way we had the house decorated.
Fun!!

Monday I had the day off from work, so I totally 'de-Halloweened' the house and did some cleaning/laundry. I met B and {b} for lunch,which was VERY fun, and then pretty much just hung around for the rest of the day. Jim came home from work, started dinner, and I headed out to the dentist (NO CAVITIES!!!). I came home, ate dinner, and then we had some 'family time' on the couch until bed time. :-)

As I mentioned earlier, work is a NIGHTMARE, so my posting may be few and far between, but I'll do my best - I promise!!!

Happy Wednesday!!!
xoxo

This is our house on Halloween night, note the purple lights in the side windows. ;-)

My Yankee Candle haunted house all lit up for the night....

Jim - ready to hand out candy....and terrify the neighborhood kids.

Costume Parade....doggie style.

2010-10-28T07:32:00.007-04:00

So, we were trying to figure out what Scooter should wear to the big day care Halloween party tomorrow. Yes, they have a Halloween party, complete with costumes, bobbing for apples, as well as 'doggie safe' cake and frosty paws (think Hoodsies for dogs). It's a big day for the pups!

Every year the dogs have their pictures taken in costume, the pictures are put up on the daycare's website, and the people who send their dogs to daycare get to vote on who's dog wins the costume contest. There are two prizes awarded (a free day of daycare). One for the best 'little' dog costume and one for the best 'big' dog costume.

Jim and I were trying to decide whether or not to have Scooter go as a pumpkin or a skeleton. He's worn both before, so it's not a new costume either way. (the skeleton was 2 years ago, and the pumpkin was last year).

I posted these pictures on facebook, and the decision was unanimous.....the pumpkin won. :-)

I'm guessing that a lot of that had to do with the fact that he looks much happier in the pumpkin costume, but I have to admit - the skeleton picture makes me laugh.

So, the pumpkin it is....I'm sure you'll all agree.

Have a great day!!!

Scooter, the skeleton

Scooter, the pumpkin

Just for fun. (ours, not his)

After posting the above picture on facebook, my friend (who's known for her Photoshop trickery) posted the following picture of Scooter and her cat, along with the comment below.

I almost collapsed.

Two hopeful thespians await their turn to audition for Petco Presents: Grey Gardens, the Musical

Back in the swing of things...sort of.

2010-10-27T06:58:00.002-04:00

Finally things are kind of getting back to normal around here. And by normal, I mean completely crazy.

Work has been a real challenge lately, and I don't see that getting better any time soon. We've got two people joining our team (temporarily) to help out with our current project, as well as a woman who's here from India for 4 weeks that's a 'subject matter expert'. She's going to be helping to get the new people up and running as well as helping myself and whoever else may be a little bit experienced, but still a tad 'shaky' when it comes to certain aspects. She's very nice and certainly seems to know her stuff.

That being said, I'm kind of going crazy because at this point, I'm the one who's overseeing the entire training process. For those of you who aren't aware, there's nothing I despise more than managing/supervising people. In fact, that's the reason I left my previous job 9 years ago. I was offered a promotion to supervisor way back when, and since it was the 'natural' progression in my career I tried my hand at supervising and didn't like it one bit. Don't get me wrong, I no problem helping people, answering their questions, or making myself available for them - but what I can't stand is being the one who has to make sure that everyone is busy at all times...having people come to me with, "OK - what do I do now?"....having to deal with all the set-up crap associated with new people, etc...etc...etc... I find it all very stressful and not fun.
However, I have no other choice at the moment. They need someone to do it, and they're looking for me to 'step-up' and be the one. Gross.

Well, that's my bitchy, complaining rant for the day. I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon - or at the very least, just deal with it. You know, when everyone comes to see me in a couple of hours with their endless list of problems, questions & concerns. ;-)

In other news, Jim was home sick with a horrible cold for the past couple of days and I think he's finally on the mend and heading back to work today. Feel better, dear!!!!

Oh, and the Spo-Shirt is on it's way to the next blogger....keep your eyes peeled for it!!!

Happy Wednesday (and thanks for listening)
xoxo

A Catch Up of Sorts...and Wearing a Shirt for 'Charity'

2010-10-25T07:31:00.006-04:00

OK - so I just got this blasted thing to work again and as usual, I'm at work - so I MUST keep this brief. :-)

My trip to Chicago was AMAZING. Here's the 'short list' of stuff I did:

Show tune Monday night at Side Track (where I met the fabulous blogger Stephen R. of 'Are You There Blog?, It's Me, Stephen' and enjoyed some crazy show tunes)
The Art Institute of Chicago, The Field Museum, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, several bars in Boystown (Bobby Love's, Bucks, Scarlet, to name a few), shopping on State Street, fancy-pants gala event at The University Club of Chicago, followed by a visit to Redhead Piano Bar, The Willis Tower (aka The Sears Tower), visited some college friends in Wicker Park and ate at a great place called Boundary, visited my relatives in LaSalle/Peru, and walked around a LOT.

When I have more time, I'll post some pictures....all in all, it was a blast and definitely some place I want to go back and visit.

The second part of this posting is dedicated to Dr. Spo of Spo Reflections. He's not only a super entertaining blogger (and brilliant Dr.) but he makes shirts!!! And they're fantastic.

He came up with a really fun idea, and I'm proud to be a part of his 'experiment'.

Basically, he chose one of his shirts and sent it out to one of the fans of his blog. From there, that person would take a picture of him/her self with the shirt (wearing it, ideally) and then sends it along to another blogger. From there, it would travel on and on, from blogger to blogger until God only knows when. Along with the shirt, there's a little notebook so that people can record the shirts journey, AND (as if that wasn't exciting enough) for each person that received the shirt, Dr. Spo is making a donation to one of 4 charities (Test Positive Awareness, Doctors without Borders, The Humane Society, or Research for Prostate Cancer) that he's listed in the notebook.

Well, I'm happy to say the shirt has reached the east coast!!!!

Here's my contribution to the cause:

I figured this was fitting, since Dr. Spo's favorite holiday is Halloween :-)

A little closer.....

And since my charity of choice is The Humane Society, this seemed fitting as well.

The shirt is now making it's way to the next blogger.....stay tuned for more updates!!!!

xoxo

A-L-I-V-E

2010-10-21T07:45:00.000-04:00

Ok people...I'm alive.
I had a GREAT time in Chicago and came back to utter chaos at work. Not only that, but for some inexplicable reason I can't write an entry on my work PC, so I'm currently writing this using my iPhone. Crazy.

Once I figure out the PC issue, or have a moment to write a 'real' entry at home, I will do so.

Until then, please don't forget about me!!! I still have a lot to tell you about my trip, not to mention my incredibly exciting day to day life.

I'll write more soon...xoxo

Vacation!!

2010-10-07T12:44:00.000-04:00

This is a rare, middle-of-the-afternoon post, but since I had a free moment, I thought I'd write.
Work has been CRAZY, but I'm very excited because I'm on vacation next week, and going to CHICAGO!!!
Yahoo!

I hadn't said anything before, because I wasn't 100% sure that I was going, but I received the 'ok' this morning and confirmed that I will be going. Jim is working a conference there all next week and I'm tagging along for the ride. I have a few things planned, but nothing concrete.

That's where you all come in!!! I've been there once (with my mom and grandmother, back in 1985) but I've never visited as an adult, so I'm open to all suggestions.

Let me know what I shouldn't miss. :-)

Also - I'm passing on a website for all of you to check out. Moby's boyfriend (of 'The Moby Files' fame) is launching a brand new t-shirt website, and there is a HUGE sale happening right now.
Be sure and check it out.....

***WARNING*** - these are quite adult in content and may not be appreciated by everyone...soooo....view at your own risk.
But I kind of liked them. ;-)

Here's the website: www.monkeywrenchtshirts.com

So...to re-cap....buy a bunch of t-shirts and send me Chicago suggestions.

xoxo

So much to say...

2010-10-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

This was such a busy weekend, it was crazy - but fun.....I'll try and keep it brief. :-)

Friday night after work I met up with a bunch of my former co-workers to celebrate the end of our old accounting system. (Geek - much?) Anyway...the system we used to work on/test was FINALLY going away (meaning that all the clients had successfully converted to the new system - at last) and we decided to celebrate. It was GREAT to see them all again, and made me miss the 'good old days' way back when.
I met them all in Boston for a little while, met up with Jim for dinner at 'The Grille', and then ended the evening back at his sister's house with drinks and games.
Fun.

Saturday was pretty low-key all day long. We met up with some friends later that night over at one of their houses to view a bootleg of a certain Broadway show that was up for Best Musical last year (2009). It didn't win, but I can certainly understand why it was nominated. The female lead won the Tony for leading actress in a musical, so if you're up on your Tony history (I know at least one reader who now knows what show it was) you can figure out which show we watched. It was a fairly decent DVD of the show, and I was THRILLED that we had the chance to see it...especially since I never get to NYC as often as I like. Thank you XXXXX for inviting us!!! I'll leave your name out of this - you know....so you don't get arrested or anything. :-)

The 'viewing' group!! (thanks for the picture, B!!!)

On Sunday, Jim and I met up with some of my college friends and their families and we went to the Deerfield Fair in Deerfield, NH. Needless to say, it was more of a giant carnival than a 'traditional' country fair. We had a great time seeing them, but I don't think we'll make that particular fair a regular destination. It was made up of about 75% food vendors, and the clientele was......questionable, at best. Yikes.
It made for some amazing people watching though....that was fun.

Yes...Fried Ice Cream....candy bars....Oreos....Twinkies.....

I cant imagine why so many Americans are overweight?!?!?

This made me laugh....no kissing!!!

Yesterday, I spent the day at home putting all the storm windows in, doing several loads of laundry, and 'general' house keeping stuff, as it was rainy and I had the day off. I also watched the 'Live at Lincoln Center' production of 'South Pacific' which I've had saved on my DVR for weeks at this point...it was SO good. I'm glad I held on to it and didn't delete it. I'm going to keep it around for a while so hopefully Jim will watch it too...I think he'd really like it.

Anyway...I'm getting back to work....have a GREAT day!!!
xoxo

A night at 'The Bee'

2010-10-01T07:21:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I went to see a production of 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' last night and I LOVED it. This was my third time seeing the show, and I was thrilled that it was great. It was especially nice to see a cast of people on a Boston stage that I'd never seen perform before. Of the 9 cast members, I'd only seen one of them in a show before. THAT is pretty much unheard of - especially in the Boston theatre 'scene'...but it was a very welcome change.
I'm not a fan of writing reviews, so I won't. But I will say that this production was by far the funniest of all the productions I've seen, and above that, the singing, staging, and acting were all top-notch. I wish I'd seen it earlier, so that I'd have a chance for a return visit, but I didn't, so I don't. :-)

It's Friday, I have a few meetings and a ton of work to suffer through, and then it's time for the weekend!
This is one of my long weekend weeks, so I'm extra excited for it to be here!!!
YAHOO!!!!

Have a GREAT day....xoxo

Mid-Week Blues...

2010-09-29T08:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday!!

Here I sit at work....TRYING to get my lazy ass motivated and get something done.
Sometimes it's not easy my friends...but there's a ton to do and I'm the one who needs to do it!!!

There hasn't been too much going on this week. I've been going to the gym, which is nice....Jim has been super busy with work, and we've been lying low at home the past couple of nights, which is always nice.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' in Boston and I'm VERY excited. I have a couple of friends in it, and fora while I was afraid I wasn't going to get to see it. Thankfully, I called the box office, and they were looking for ushers, so I get to see it for FREE! Quite a deal. :-)
I can't wait to see it. I'll be sure to report back on Friday morning.

Yesterday was our 4th anniversary of home ownership! I can't believe it's been that long. We've done a decent amount of work on the house, but more so in the yard. As any homeowner will tell you, there's ALWAYS something to do, but we're getting there little by little...and couldn't be happier!! :-)

Here are some pics....before and after:

This is an outside shot of the house, when we first bought it:

This was taken a year or so after we bought it, with the awnings removed and all the overgrown, crazy, 'gardens' tidied up around the house. Since this picture was taken, we added a new garden next the driveway, paved and increased the size of the driveway, and removed that tree on the right side of the photo.

This room was being used as the master bedroom when we bought the house. We kept it this way for a few months, then moved the bedroom upstairs and made it into a living room.

This is the 'new' living room....

More of the 'master bedroom' before...

And that very same corner of the room - 'After'

This was the crazily cluttered 'middle living room' before.

Take note of the gun over the fireplace...and all that damn furniture.

This is that same room....after....from a different angle.

That's all for now, folks!!!

Have a great day. :-)

Rain, rain, go away...

2010-09-27T07:49:00.000-04:00

It's raining out and I'd rather it wasn't. Leaving the house this morning was difficult enough, but then to have it be SO dark out and raining?!?! Seriously? I felt like I was leaving for work in the middle of the night.
Of course, all I could think of as I was driving into work was how nice it would have been to be working from home today and not have to be out in this gross weather.
Oh well....que sera, sera!!!

We had a great weekend, which started on Friday night with dinner at the Grille. :-) We hadn't been there in a while, so it was nice to see everyone. After dinner, we headed down the street to a different place for a few drinks and then headed home.

On Saturday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things for our pre-apple picking, pot luck lunch. Yes, we're the only people in the world who would go to the grocery store and buy a 5 pound bag of apples the day that we were going apple picking.....BUT it makes total sense. We wanted to serve apple crisp as the dessert (you know, to get everyone 'in the mood' for picking) and we needed apples to do that, so - there you go. While Jim tidied up the house, I made the apple crisp. Yes, you read that right...I made the apple crisp.
Thankfully, it came out yummy and everyone seemed to like it. I'd made an apple crisp before, but that was Paula Deen's recipe, which I really didn't love.
The one I made this time was Ina Garten's recipe and it was very good. I kind of loved it. Can I say that if I'm the one who made it? Oh well. I said it. Actually, everyone that tried it was very complimentary and wanted the recipe. So now they have something to do with all those apples!!! See? Not only did it get them in the mood for pickin' - it will give them a new recipe to try out with all those apples. :-)

After lunch, we headed out in the 500 degree heat to the apple orchard about 3 minutes from our house. seriously, it was SOOOO hot out, it was kind of ridiculous. In spite of the fact that we were all sweating like pigs, we had a great time (see the stolen pictures below). Once we were done, a few folks came back to the house for some apple crisp, (those who couldn't make it to the pre-picking lunch) some re-hydrating, and then everyone headed home. It was a great day.
Jim and I went grocery shopping later in the evening, and spent the rest of the night at home.

On Sunday, we didn't do much of anything, just relaxed, ran a few errands, and watched some TV.
It was a nice 'family day' at home. :-)

So that brings me to today....gearing up for what will hopefully be an easy week.....hopefully.

Have a great day, everyone!!!
xoxo

The apple picking gang!!!

No comment.

Jim picked this one from the 'not yet open' part of the orchard.

He wouldn't have lasted a day in Eden.

The cutest child alive.

All our 'kids' playing in the yard. :-)

Aaaaaand, scene!!

2010-09-24T07:56:00.000-04:00

The pool is closed....BRING ON THE FALL!!!!

How sad it looks.....oh well - moving on....

In order to celebrate the fall, we're kicking things off with an apple picking excursion! This is the 'trip' that was supposed to happen last weekend, but had to be postponed. We're all gathering at our house for lunch (we live about 5 minutes from the place we're going) and then heading over to pick some apples.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been apple picking. I find that surprising, but in the off chance that I have been....I was so young I don't even remember it. Either way, I'm sure it'll be fun. :-)

Other than that - we have a pretty 'free' weekend!!! Love that.

Have a great Friday - and a pleasant weekend to one and all.
xoxo

Scooter and I spent some quality time on the couch last night..he had a really busy day yesterday.

Playing all day long is tiring!!!

The closing of the pool.

2010-09-23T07:40:00.000-04:00

Our pool is being closed today. I always have mixed emotions about this day....

On one hand; I'm sad to see the summer go, I'm sad that there will be no more sitting by the pool, and I'm sad that there will be no more watching Jim and Scooter frolicking about in the pool just about every day.

On the other hand, it means that there will be a lot less 'stuff' to do around the yard, pool area, and gardens.
Plus, I enjoy the fall and soon it will be time for the holidays - which I love.

While I'll miss having the pool open and all the fun that goes with it....I know it will only be a short time before I'm posting about opening it again. :-)

See ya' later, summer!!!

I have a feeling...

2010-09-22T07:16:00.000-04:00

...that today is going to be a VERY long day. I'm not sure why, but I just have that feeling.
Hopefully I'll be wrong. I'm in NO mood to be at work and if it goes by slowly....well, that's just unacceptable. :-)

Since we've stopped using the air conditioner, Scooter has been waking up in the middle of the night and barking when he hears something 'of interest' outside. Most times he's hearing the rumble of a large truck driving by the house. Since we live on a main street, it tends to happen a few times a week, which is irritating. It's no fun being woken up out of a sound sleep by a barking dog, 2 inches from your face. Especially since it takes me FOREVER to go back to sleep afterwards.
At least we won't ever be surprised if someone tried to break in during the night!!!

Good thing he's cute.

The early days....

In 'time out' for mis-behaving

Being cute.

That's all I've got folks....have a great day. :-)

I got somethin' to say!

Awesome Husband Alert!

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OMG