Hungry Horrors

When I woke up this morning I was RAVENOUS.  What the hell is that about?
I usually find myself a tad hungry in the morning, which makes sense, since I'm up at 5:15am and my last meal was about 11 hours earlier.  However, for some reason this morning, I was SO hungry.
Maybe it was because I went to the gym last night before dinner and my metabolism was all screwy?
Who knows?  What I do know is that I still haven't eaten yet.  Thankfully, my morning coffee seems to have dulled the stomach grumblings I was dealing with earlier and once I'm done writing this, I'll have my morning oatmeal.  YAY!!!

It's a BEAUTIFUL morning in New England.  It's not too hot and there is zero humidity.  LOVE IT.  Jim and I parked on the driveway last night for he first time and in spite of what I feared, we didn't wake up to find our cars sunken into the asphalt.  Phew!  I was extra happy about the 'cool' weather for that reason as well.  The cooler it is, the quicker the driveway becomes more 'secure'.  Hopefully  we won't have any issues with the warmer weather, but even if we do, the people who did the driveway told us to just give them a call and they'd come out and fix any dents or the like.  Thanks, driveway people!!!

Jim and I have a fairly quiet weekend ahead of us.  I know  - UNHEARD of.   In fact, Jim was out in the yard last night, weed-whacking, mowing the lawn, etc...and I was inside cleaning the house, so we have a completely 'chore-free' weekend.  Nice.  We're heading to the Cape on Sunday with all of Jim's family to celebrate his brother's birthday, so that should be fun.  His sisters and his sister's family are currently on vacation in CA (San Francisco and L.A.) but they'll be joining us on Sunday, so I'm sure we'll hear all about their amazing trip when we see them.

I'm SO jealous. I'd love to go to CA, especially San Francisco.  Jim has been 3 times, and I've never been.  I've been to San Diego and Anaheim (Disneyland), thanks to Rex Trailer Tours in the 80s - and I loved every minute of it.  But come on.....that was when I was in the 5th grade.  I think I'm more than overdue for a return visit.  Yes?!?!
I may be accompanying Jim to Chicago in October for his yearly conference, which would be FUN (for me at least...he'll be working) but that's still up in the air.....I'll keep you posted.

OK, my friends.....I've rambled on long enough.  It's time for me to go grab some coffee and then eat something before I whither away into nothingness (watch it....)

Good luck to all my friend in 'The Producers' at The Company Theatre!!! 
Tonight's their opening night, and I'm SURE they'll be fantastic.  :-)

Happy Friday!!!!!  xoxo

Photo by Zoe Bradford

Also - here are some 'after' pictures of the driveway.....

Over 25,000 'hits'?!?!?

I just noticed that my site counter is up over 25,000.  That's pretty fun.  :-)
I realize it pales in comparison to a lot of my fellow bloggers, but I was pretty excited when I noticed it this morning.

Thank you all for visiting!!!

Make sure you check out a certain blog at some point later on today or tomorrow.  There will be a new and exciting post, featuring a certain blogger you're all familiar with.....yikes.

I hope you have a great day today....it's almost Friday!!!

xoxo

Happy Birthday, Billy!!!

Today is my brother-in-law Billy's birthday.  Since I really didn't have a clever title in my mind for today, he gets the honors.  Hooray for him - I hope they do something fun for him, he deserves it...super-duper guy.

Well....it's Wednesday and we had a delightful weekend. 

Friday (as you know) was our anniversary, and we spent it with my parents!  :-)  They actually came down to our place and we went out to 'The Grille' for dinner.  They've heard us talking endlessly about it  and they wanted to come down and see what all the hype was about.  As it turns out, they LOVED it.  I knew they would.  We had a great dinner with them and then Jim and I hung out there for a while (after they left).  Before we went home, we stopped by another local place (yikes) where there was some SERIOUS karaoke happening.  Jim sang a few songs (I'm not a big karaoke fan), and then we headed home for a game of Skip-Bo followed by b-e-d.

Saturday we spent the majority of the morning/afternoon by the pool.  It was SO nice to just hang out and relax.  Of course, I had to take off around 1:30 to go to my softball game, but other than that, it was a lovely afternoon.  The game was fine...we played well, but it was against a Division 1 team, so we lost (oh well!).  When I got home from the game, I showered and then started grilling.  Yay!
Our friend Katie was over for dinner and we all enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner of fresh corn on the cob (which Jim rode his bike to pick up at a local farm), homemade potato salad, and BBQ chicken.  SO good. 
After dinner, we took a ride down to Plymouth to get a cupcake at Cupcake Charlie's.  It's a fairly new place that makes CRAMAZING (crazy + amazing) cupcakes.  I got an Oreo one, Jim got a Peanut Butter one, and Katie got a red velvet one....they all looked and tasted incredible.  If you're anywhere near Plymouth - GO!!!! After our delicious cupcakes, we dropped Katie off and headed back home to call it a night.

We got up on Sunday morning, ha some breakfast, and then I pretty much headed out the door for softball.  My last THREE games of the regular season.  Yes, three games in one day.  And it was a hot, humid, sweltering day.  The bad news is that we lost all three games.  The good news is that we played really well, had fun, and we didn't finish last in our division.  Second to last - yes.....but not last!!!! :-)  Those were the final games of the 'regular' season, but we have playoffs to deal with next (don't get me started).  We play again on Saturday the 7th of August, and if we lose two games that day we're DONE.  However, if we do well in the playoffs, we'll finish things up on the 8th.  We'll see what happens.

After playing three games on Sunday, I FLEW home, showered, and then Jim and I met K, B, and {b} for dinner at Johnny Macaroni's - excellent, as always.  Dinner was great, chatting was great, and then we finished up the night with an ice cream (or frozen yogurt) at a local ice cream shoppe (olde tyme spelling) which was fun.

I had Monday off, and didn't do much more than run errands and chores around the house.  Monday was the day we were having our driveway paved (YAHOO!!!) so I hung out a bit to make sure they were all 'settled' and then I met up with my friend (and faithful blog reader) Joanne, for coffee.  We chatted about our reunion and her up coming vacation...JEALOUS.  After coffee, I returned home and saw that the driveway was TOTALLY done.  I couldn't believe how quickly they finished it.  It looks amazing and I'll be sure to post the pictures once we get them off the camera and onto the computer. 

Yesterday was busy as ever at work, but I'm hoping for a calmer day today.  I have a few meetings (annoying!) but nothing too stressful.

Have a great day, one and all!!!

Sunday dinner :-)

Photo by Barrie

14 Years Ago...

Fourteen years ago, Jim and I went on our first date.  :-)  It's amazing to me how quickly the time has flown by, but I couldn't ask for a better husband.  I'm a very lucky guy.

Happy Friday!!!

Mixed Feelings

So, we had our first meeting with our new case worker last night and she seems to be really great.  She was very friendly, knew a lot about us (clearly she'd read our home study) and has been with the department pretty much since the adoption department was formed.  It was formed in 1992 and she's been with it since 1993, so she's had a lot of experience with families and making placements.  All that is excellent news.

The bad part is, that Jim and I came away from the meeting pretty discouraged about everything.  With our original case worker we felt that we knew her so well, she really liked us, and we were confident that we would be well represented in 'the system'.  With this new worker, I feel sort of feel like we're going to be just one of the "19 or 20 families that are part of her caseload".  That's not to say that she doesn't have a good idea of what we're like; I truly believe that (thanks to our home study) she does - but she doesn't really 'know us' at all.  She also mentioned to us over and over again how 'narrow' our criteria for being matched is, which essentially means that we're (most likely) in for a long wait.  In our classes, we were told to stick to our guns and not change our criteria.  Jim and I have no intention of changing anything, but it sucks that following instructions means that we're going to potentially be waiting a long time before we're matched. 
Believe me, I know we're doing the right thing.  We can't be impatient and change our minds because we could end up being in a situation that isn't what we REALLY wanted, and this is not the type of situation where 'settling' is a good idea.  :-)
Her advice to us was that we "keep on living, go about your daily business and don't to put your lives on hold.  When it happens, it happens."  Well, it really stinks. 

This might be a strange comparison, but it came to me last night.  This situation reminds me of when I first quit smoking.  Right after I quit, I felt like everything I saw and did somehow related to smoking.  Everywhere I looked people were smoking, everything on TV had to do with smoking, everything people talked about had to do with smoking.  It was impossible to escape!!!  Now I feel the same way about babies/children.  :-)  Everywhere I turn are constant reminders about the fact that we're waiting and I'm constantly reminded about what we don't have.  It's extremely challenging. 

For all our friends reading this, have no fear.  You can still feel free to ask us what's going on the next time you see us and I promise we won't lash out at you.  :-) and we're not going to become hermits or stop spending time with my friends/families and their kids, that's just silly.  However, I do think that going on with our lives and trying not to think about the fact that we're still waiting is going to be a very difficult task, but we'll do our best.  We shall see!!!

In other news, she did say that if I were to get a new job anytime soon it wouldn't slow down the process at all, so that's encouraging.  After all, my job is not making things any easier to deal with.  I would love to find a new, well-paying career (who wouldn't?) but since I have no idea what that is at this moment, I'll just have to "make like a nail, and press-on!" 
(Thank you 'The Great American Trailer Park Musical').

Sorry for such a downer of a post - it happens to the best of us.  :-)

Jim and I are going to the Paw Sox game tonight which will be very fun.  We're going with my entire family, Jim's sister and her family, and a slew of people from my sister's church.
Have no fear, they're fun people, not all 'crazy religious', so we'll have a good time.

Have a good Thursday, and thanks for letting me vent. 

photo by Barrie

:-)

Jim and his 'whims'

My 'long-time' readers will be pleased to know that Jim has decided to bring back his blog - "Jim's Whims"!!
For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about - Jim started a cooking blog (for a lack of a better way to describe it) a while ago and things started getting really busy in our lives and he decided to let it 'go' for a while.  Well, now it's back.  :-)

Last night we filmed the first episode (of what I'm referring to as 'Season 2') and it should be posted within a day or two.  In the meantime, you can catch up on the most recent posts, as well as the older posts by clicking here.  He's had a few new posts, but more importantly, he posted all the old 'stuff' from when it was up and running the last time.  Now's your chance to get up to speed before the new ones come rolling in.
GO!!

Tonight is our first meeting with the new case worker.  I'm very excited to meet her and see what she has to say.  I have no idea what to expect, but from what I could tell over the phone, she sounds like she'll be great.
Let's hope that's the case!

I'll be sure to fill you in - ASAP.

Now it's time to get back to work....after I grab some coffee.....

Here's one more picture from the other night......they're rolling in slowly, but surely.
This is the gang that Jim and I met up with for the 'pre-runion' festivities.  A LOVELY bunch of gals (and blog-readers) who I've had the pleasure of knowing for a L-O-N-G time. 
I think we all look pretty damn good!

I survived.

Remember that time I was so hungover I couldn't get off my couch until 4:30pm???
Oh yeah...that's right, it was yesterday.  :-)

Sweet Jesus yesterday was R-O-U-G-H.  I can't thank Jim enough for being the amazing husband that he is.
I was a completely useless bag of bones yesterday and he was totally fine with it.  He worked on the yard, did the grocery shopping, and made a delicious dinner last night - all while I was near-death on the couch.

Thankfully, I'm 98% back to normal today and feeling a lot better.  Yes, I drank quite a bit, but I'm blaming my hangover on the fact that I spent the day of the reunion playing softball in the blazing heat and didn't drink nearly enough water.  I probably went into the reunion dehydrated, and never really drank enough water to get myself back on track.  Oh well....live and learn!!!!

In case you haven't guessed it, my class reunion was a GREAT time.  I am so glad I went and SO glad that Jim was there with me.  He was a big hit.  :-)  I didn't even think about it until after the fact, but I was essentially 'coming out' to my entire class by showing up with my husband in tow.  To be honest, I was more concerned about people remembering who I was than the fact that I was letting them all know I was gay.  As it turned out, neither thing was an issue.  There was a great group of people there, everyone had a great time, and so many people looked FANTASTIC.  I was really surprised.  Sure, the years haven't been very kind to some people, but the majority of my classmates looked quite good.

I'm not going to bore you with all the details, but I will say one of my favorite parts of the evening was when I was chatting with two guys who were in a few classes of mine, (we weren't really close, but would definitely say hello in the halls) and were also football players.  One of them says "OK, so if you liked guys in high school, how come you never liked either one of us?!?" and the other one says "Yeah, I'm a little bit insulted."  I laughed and replied to one of them (with red-hair) "You should actually be really insulted be cause I ended with a red-head too, so clearly they're my type."  They both laughed and we moved on to another subject.

Meanwhile, I thought they were both TOTALLY cute in high school, but thought it better that I kept that to myself.  :-)

OK people....I'm getting back to work.  BUT, before I do, I just want to quickly say that my niece's show on Friday night was GREAT.  she did an excellent job, and I think that I finally found someone else in the family who has the musical theatre 'bug'!!!  It's about damn time.

Here are some pictures from the reunion.  I think there will be a few more to follow in the upcoming days.
These were copied off my phone from facebook, so they aren't the best, but they're better than nothing!

Joanne, Jim, and myself at Joanne's place perusing the yearbook before we left for the reunion.

Me, Cindy (our class president), and Jim

Me, Jim, and my friend Michelle

(we're a few drinks into the evening at this point)

   

The Reunion approaches...

Yes, that's right people....I made the decision that I WILL be attending my high school's 20th class reunion and it's tomorrow night!!!
To be honest, I'm very excited about it.  Thankfully, high school was quite fun for me.  In spite of the fact that I was in the marching band, chorus, drama club, and all the other 'geeky' things you could be a part of during your high school years (including The National Honor Society) but I still managed to have a great 4 years.
I know...I was VERY lucky.  I definitely received my share of 'comments' from certain classmates, but they were kids from the 'Vo-Tech' (you know, the kids who went to high school and learned how to be plumbers and car mechanics) and I'm pretty sure they won't be attending the reunion.  I hardly ever saw them when we were in high school and haven't seen them since.  If they do happen to be there, I can guarantee I'll have no contact with them, as I'll be too busy chatting with all the people who haven't served time in prison.  :-)
Jim is coming with me, which will be very fun.  He knows a decent amount of people I've remained friends with, and I look forward to him meeting some of the people I haven't seen in years. 
Stay tuned for stories and/or photos of the big event.

Other than the reunion, this weekend isn't too busy. 
Tonight, we're going to see my niece in a 'show'.  She's been going to a theatre camp of sorts for the past two weeks and tonight they get to show us all that they've learned.  :-)  Based on the information I've received about the camp (my sister forwarded me all the info) it seems pretty cool.  It's being run by a guy who I know through the local 'theatre scene' and he has gathered together quite an impressive group of teachers.  They all have several 'legit' credits....including a bunch of Broadway appearances.  Impressive!
I've talked to my niece a couple of times since she started rehearsals and she said that she's having a great time.  I saw the list of songs/numbers that make up the revue and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result tonight.....it should be fun!!!  

Tomorrow afternoon I have a softball game at 1:15.  Hopefully I'll make it through the game unscathed, so I don't have to attend the reunion with any unsightly blemishes or bruises.  And I just jinxed myself.  :-)

I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

 

Another 'bump' in the road...

Hey there everyone!

We got a call yesterday COMPLETELY out of the blue from a new case worker letting us know that she was now handling our family's case and she'd like to set up a time to meet with us.  Awesome.

Apparently our previous case worker (who we've known since November and has been working with us all along) is no longer handling our case.  We had no warning this was happening, and we have no idea WHY it's happening.  The only thing we can do it remain hopeful that it's a positive change.

However, it's a bit discouraging and kind of feels like we're back to square one.  We had someone out there 'representing' us who knew us well, and we felt comfortable with.  Now we have to start all over with someone who we've never met - who only knows us by what she's read about us on paper.
Kind of like most of you!  :-)

I'm going to try and stay positive, even though it's a little bit difficult to do so....

Everything happens for a reason, right???  Right.

UPDATE - I just got off the phone with the new case worker, and we've already set up a meeting with her next week so she can meet us and start getting to know us better.  Apparently our original case worker was going back on leave and rather than give us another temporary replacement, they decided it was best to give us a new, full-time case worker.  I have no idea what's going on with our original worker, but I'm sending positive thoughts her way, since I imagine there's something pretty serious/important going on her her life.

The new worker has made a great first impression though.  She's VERY nice, seems eager to meet with us ASAP, and above all, she ANSWERED HER PHONE and the one time I missed her, she returned my call right away.  I'll keep you posted if there's any more news!!!

 

Five More Games!!!

Will this softball season EVER end?!?!?
Yeesh. 
I love playing softball and everything, but come on!  Last night was supposed to be our final game of the year, but due to rain outs, we've still got 5 games to play.  We were supposed to play 4 games this weekend, but our game on Saturday was rained out (INSANE rain storms came out of nowhere).  We did play the two games on Sunday, and won, which was VERY nice, and we didn't win last night.  In fact, we were pretty much destroyed.  Oh well.  I had a great game though.....I went 2 for three, and made a fantastic (if I may say so) play at home.  In spite of losing, I still had fun.  And isn't that the point!?!!  ;-)

Jim and I were watching his oldest niece Molly this weekend, so that was quite fun.  We went to her all-star softball game on Friday night after work, then we all went out to dinner.  Her team didn't win, but they were playing a REALLY good team, who had already played 6 games so far in the playoffs (this was Molly's first game) so it was understandable.

On Saturday, we all went out to breakfast, then Jim and Molly spent the day in Plymouth, while I hung around waiting to go to my softball game, which ended up being rained out.  Of course, I didn't know it was cancelled until I was already at the fields, and then I almost drowned trying to make it back home because the rain was so bad.  Thankfully, I made it home in one piece, went for a swim, showered, then met up with Jim and Molly and we all went out for dinner. 

Since I had two games on Sunday, I barely saw either of them in the morning, but after my games (TWO wins!!!) I came home to a full house and an impromptu pool party / BBQ in full swing.  I had a few drinks, ate some food, went for a swim and then Jim and I went out and ran a few errands.  We came home and collapsed on the couch until it was time for bed.  We watched 'The Family Guy' and it was an episode we'd never seen before (the one where Stewie and Brian are locked in the bank vault) and were in hysterics.  It was SO outrageous and 'offensive' we were dying.  I couldn't believe some of the stuff that happened.  If you haven't seen that episode and you're a Family Guy fan, look for it.  It's CRAZY.

I had yesterday off and spent it running a bunch of errands I need to take care of.  I got a new inspection sticker for my car, got an oil change, did some laundry, went out to dinner to celebrate my coach's birthday, and lost miserably in softball.  It was a very full day off!!! 

I hope you all had a splendid weekend....happy Tuesday!!!

Molly and Scooter....post-swim

This is the parking lot at the softball fields on Saturday afternoon.

I told you it rained a lot...

Scooter, the circus dog.

He LOVES his big, purple, ball!

I'm a life saver...

This morning I saved a mouse from certain death.
As many of you know, it is not at all uncommon for Jim and I to find a variety of woodland creatures dead in our pool.  Whether it be chipmunks, mice, moles, and one time a baby bunny (THAT was sad) I'm pretty used to it and it doesn't even phase me at this point.

This morning, I went outside to put out the trash and I notice a teeny, tiny, mouse sitting on the top rung of one of the pool ladders.  I figured, if this mouse was smart enough (or just plain lucky enough)  to get itself safely onto one of the ladders, then it clearly deserved to be rescued.  I went into the house, told Jim what was going on, grabbed my iPhone, and went back out to save a life. 
It was quite simple, actually....after a quick photo-shoot, I grabbed the net we use for skimming the pool, knocked him off the ladder, which sent him swimming, and then I was able to pluck him from the water. 

He/she was not at all thrilled about being captured, but even so, he/she grabbed onto the net, and then once I lifted him out of the pool, he let go of the net, fell to the ground, and took off into the woods behind our house.  I was happy to have saved him, but BELIEVE me.  If he gets any crazy ideas about coming back to the area (or our house) when the cold weather rolls around, I will be more than happy to trap the sucker and that will be that.  Swimming in the pool or running around the back yard is one thing, but if that thing sets one of it's little, furry, paws in my house, he's done.  

Side note: I'm sure Jim will crank up the chemicals for a day or two just to be sure there are no mice germs left behind.....he's not a fan of mice at all, especially when they try to use the pool without permission.

Other than that bit of excitement, I have nothing too exciting to report.  I have a softball game tomorrow afternoon, but it's supposed to rain, so that may be cancelled.  I have two games scheduled on Sunday and one on Monday night, which should be very fun, since we're playing on the Boston Common.
That's always a good time.  :-)

Have a very happy Friday - and a GREAT weekend!!!
xoxo

The culprit

Moments before the rescue...

Thirsty Thursday

I don't know why that popped into my head (Thirsty Thursday) but it did.  I mean, I know why it did - because it's Thursday - but it's not something I've thought of in a long time....like since college.
You know when Thursday was (for some odd reason) the official kick-off to the weekend?!?  Isn't that funny how that happens?  Even now, we live near a college and if you try to go out on a Thursday night and find yourself in one of the places that the 'kids' frequent, it tends to be super-crowded.  Whatever, good for them!!!  If they can go out and party on a Thursday night and still function on Friday, more power to them. 
I'd rather sleep. :-)

My sister, two of her daughters, and four of their friends stopped by our house yesterday afternoon for a quick dip in the pool.  It was nice to have them over.  I'm used to Jim's sister and her family being over, but it was nice to have my side of the family stopping by to enjoy the pool.  What was even nicer was that they felt totally comfortable there, which I was a little worried about.  Since they don't live as close to us as Jim's family does, they don't come by as often.  I was worried that they may not feel 'at home', but as soon as they got there, they were in the pool and before I knew it all the pool toys, masks, etc. were out, and they were having a great time!!

I have softball practice tonight after work and I really hope the weather isn't unbearable.  I'm in no mood to collapse on the softball field tonight.  It's supposed to be a lot nicer today...I just hope Dylan (one of my favorite weather gals) is right, and it's not going to be too hot.
Speaking of news reporters.....I kind of love the folks who do the morning news on channel 7 in Boston (the chosen station of our home).  Anne and Adam are a great team and they make me laugh.  Some of the folks out 'on the streets' kind of make me crazy, but overall I like the whole bunch.

Side note: two of them are gay and pretty easy on the eyes as well, which certainly doesn't hurt.

OK everyone...this totally random, rambling post is all I've got for today.....have a great day and stay cool!! 

This is Anne....she make me laugh

  

This is Adam ('family member' #1)

This is Dylan....she's the weather gal.

This is Ryan ('family member' #2)

Another Fantastic Weekend!!

Lucky, lucky, me!!!
It's Tuesday morning, and in spite of the fact that I'm at work, all is well.  :-)
Although, truth be told, it's so damn hot out I'm thrilled to be in the a/c.  I just hope that Scooter isn't too hot at home.  I'm sure he'll be fine.  He's in the kitchen with the fan on, and it's a shady spot, so he won't be in the blazing sun all day.  Knowing Jim, he probably went swimming with Scooter first thing this morning, so that probably cooled him off as well.  Anyway, the weekend was SO fun spent with a ton of family and friends.

On Friday night, Jim and I went to the fireworks that are held every year in the town where B, K, and {b} live.  There was a big group of us that got together for the viewing and we had a great time.

Here are some pictures from that night.....stolen from Barrie....as usual.

The whole gang...

Jim with Diego....and Benjamin

Me, waiting for everyone to arrive

Me, Jim, baby Nick (Emilee and Dave's son), and Joyce

I love this picture  :-)

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6am (say what?!?!) got showered, packed, dropped Scooter off for his 'vacation', and we headed to Jim's parents place down the Cape.  We made it there in no time at all (leaving early was a GREAT idea - nice work Jim!!) and spent the entire day on the beach.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  Some of the family went out fishing on the boat, but a number of us decided to stick around the beach instead.  Once everyone returned from fishing, the beach, etc...we all got ready and went to the annual '4th of July cocktail party' that's held on the beach each year.  Everyone in the neighborhood gathers on the beach to have a few drinks, some food, (everyone brings an appetizer to share!!) and a lot of 'catching up'.  We stayed down there for an hour or so and then headed back to the cottage for dinner. 

After dinner, we hung out for a bit longer and then made our way back to the beach for some fireworks. 

Because of our location on the water, we were able to see not only the fireworks that were happening right on our beach, but at any given time, we were watching the firework's displays of about 4 or 5 other towns along the water.  It was amazing to see so many of them all going off at once.  There was one town in particular that had a CRAZY amount of fireworks , directly across the water from us.  After the fireworks, Jim and some of his family played cards, while I read (I'm not a fan of cards) and then we all called it a night.

VERY early on Sunday morning they all got up for church - crazy Catholics :-), but Jim and I woke up once they left, packed everything, and headed home.  Since we left so early, we had time to get home and relax for a bit before starting 'phase 2' of the weekend.  We met up with K, B, {b}, and John at the 4th of July parade (in the same town where we viewed the fireworks on Friday night) and of course, had a great time. The parade isn't the greatest, but the company sure was!!!  

Here's a picture of us all enjoying the festivities:

After the parade we went to our friend Julie's house for a BBQ and then Jim and I headed into Boston to watch the fireworks on the esplanade from the roof deck of my friend's (and teammate) condo.

He lives one block from the esplanade, so needless to say, it was AMAZING. 

I had never seen the Boston fireworks in person, and seeing them from that close up was unreal.  It was SOOO cool.  In a crazy coincidence, Jim's sister Susan was on the roof deck at her friend's place directly next to us.  We yelled to her across the roofs, but had to pass on her offer of trying one of her Rice Crispie treats, which she brought to her party.  :-)

After the fireworks, we hung out on the roof for a little bit and then headed home.  Thankfully, getting home wasn't an issue at all.  I expected to get stuck in some traffic, but there really wasn't any....very cool.

Yesterday we slept in, picked up Scooter from daycare (as well as my sister's dog, who we watched for a few hours) went grocery shopping, and spent the rest of the time by the pool.  It was SO incredibly hot out, I was beyond happy that we had the pool to keep us cool.  Scooter was thankful too, as he spent most of the day in the water, whether we wanted him to or not.  Jim's sister and her family stopped by for a little while too, in an attempt to stay cool....I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of them this week, as the weather is supposed to be crazy-hot through tomorrow.  After everyone left, Jim and I went out to dinner at a nice little Italian place down the street (not our favorite place - Johnny Macaroni's, since they're closed on Mondays......grrrrrrr) and had a delightful dinner.  It was a great way to end a great, long weekend.

Now that I've been writing forever, I suppose I should get some work done.

I hope you all had a great holiday and are staying cool, wherever you are!!!

xoxo

My sister's dog (Miner) visiting us for the afternoon.....

You know who.....taking one of many, swims in the pool

 

My coffee and I....

Since it's the Friday before a long weekend, I knew it would be a quiet day in the office, but I thought it would be a BIT more 'populated' than it is.  I walked into the building this morning and felt like I'd walked into this:

Seriously, it is SOOOO quiet in here, I feel like I'm alone.  Well, not completely alone....I do have some company.

Hooray for Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee!!!!

Anyway....I'm here at work, pretty much alone.  It should be a quiet day.  I have my daily conference call with the folks in India and Princeton, NJ - then I'm headed to a meeting in a different building, then I'll be back here for the rest of the day.  I'm out of here at 3:30 every day anyway, so there's really no need to leave early....although I may do just that if the spirit moves me.  We shall see.

We have lots of fun and exciting stuff happening this weekend, which I'm VERY excited for. 
Fireworks with friends tonight, heading down the Cape with family tomorrow, a cookout/pool party with friends during the afternoon of the 4th, followed by watching the fireworks on the Esplanade from a roof deck on Beacon Street later that night.  THAT should be a great time.  I can't wait.

Before I depart, can I just say that I'm completely mystified by the amount of attention/press/hype that Lady Gaga is getting?!?!?  She's performing in Boston tonight (and last night) and I really just don't get it. 
I like her music just fine, but I don't think she's all that spectacular.  Whatever...I'm glad that so many people are having fun listening to her and following her every move, but she doesn't really strike me as the type who will be very long lasting, but who knows? If she sticks around for a good, long time - excellent.  If she's fallen off our radar by this time next year, I probably wouldn't realize it.

OK - enough about her.....have a GREAT holiday weekend (or if it's not a holiday for you - have an equally great 'regular' weekend) and I'll be back blogging before you know it.
xoxo

Pizza Pahhhhty!!!!

It's the day of the Pizza Party, y'all!!!  :-)

OK - so last night's whoopie pie making session was a success.  Of course, it took FOREVER, but it was well worth it.  They seem to have come out quite well, but I haven't tried one yet.  I'll report back after the pizza party and let you know how they were received.

I took a few pictures of the process -

Direct from the oven.....

A cooled, pyramid of cakes....

Filled, wrapped, and ready to go!!

Scooter, hoping a pie will fall his way.

No such luck!!

Have a great day everyone!!!
xoxo