the post easter update

Looking at my mapmywalk.com stats from last year they have me at having walked 95 miles, approximately. That's just what I tracked with their tool. So far this year it says I've walked 12. I may be on pace to break that 95. I hope I'm on pace to break that 95.

I aimed for 100. And fell just short. So this year I'm aiming for 100 and will get it.

I promise. Myself and you.

In Florida, I tracked about 9 or so miles of walking but it was a lot more than that because little .30 mile walks I didn't track on my phone. Walking to the shuttle bus at Animal Kingdom, Walking at the Board walk. The 2 major walks at Downtown Disney that I didn't track. I think Florida alone was about 15 miles. I'll keep that in my mind.

Saturday we took a just under 2.5 mile walk. The trails are still snowy and icy, even though the temperature has been in the 40s and 50s. It made for slow going, and I think we did a 20 minute mile on average where in Florida on the nice flat, wonderful ice-free surfaces I was doing 17 minute miles.

Sunday after church and a large amount of ham, we went to Gloucester and took a walk on the Eastern Point Breakwater. From car door to car door it was about a mile walk, but it was windy, freezing, huge wind gusts...

I long for spring. I didn't enjoy myself as much as I would have liked to being there.

Speaking of Easter, it was nice and low key for us. My parents are 2 hours south of here but we didn't connect. We didn't go to friends' houses or eat like pigs. We skipped sunrise service but I heard our church had a GREAT one and I kind of regret it now. But. I like sleeping. And God made me this way. So... I'm okay with sleeping in on Easter.

I missed our annual Easter Egg Hunt with the children because I was giving an historical tour to visitors, so I have no good pictures of all my little buddies running rampant through the church. And Jess didn't pick up on my non-verbal cue when I handed her my camera and went into do the tour... she pocketed my camera instead of using it. Didn't know I had to spell it out for her. But.  Oh well.

On Palm Sunday I brought 3 dozen eggs to church with me, hard boiled and ready for dyeing.

It was a big hit with the kids, especially a little girl with Aspbergers who freaked out (joyfully) when there was WRITING ON THE EGG!!! I used a white crayon on all the eggs and wrote things like Jesus, and drew hearts and crosses. All the kids loved it, but she was exceptionally happy.

And this, my friends, brought me great and amazing joy. Also, I was very pleased with all the kids who didn't spill dye all over themselves or make a humongous mess on the table. Three dozen eggs was not enough - Next year we bring six dozen.

The only other really important thing going on is that my 2nd part time job on Tues-Wed-Thurs doesn't seem to have enough work for me to do. I require a great deal of training for what they need, and no one really seems to have a great deal of time to teach me. My boss and good friend B says she feels awful, but that there just isn't enough time for her to train me as she's busy ... running the company. No one else has stepped up to do anything with me, utilize my skills, so ... I think I'll be switching to per diem work. When they need a quick graphics layout or screenshots customized and mocked up for a demo.

I'm kind of okay with that since I think I've been working 5 or so hours a week for her... because there is not much to do. I've been riding a power point presentation for weeks now, which I need to finish, but can't seem to bring myself to get it done.

The cooking school schedule for the office is all set, right now it looks like I'll be keeping my Monday/Friday role there through the summer unless something materializes. I spoke with a tech recruiter who seems to really understand me, and he sent me a few jobs... one of which I'm under qualified for but is a 30 hour a week job instead of a full time contract. I could see if I could work that out... but again, possibly not the right fit for my skills and I'm not sure they'd want me anyway. But, compared to two years ago, he seems to have a lot of postings instead of one once in a while... so I'm a little hopeful that there may be a good job for me somewhere. Maybe.

I feel I should spend some time with lynda.com and brush up some of my skills. I'm feeling woefully not up to speed lately.

Well, I guess that's about it. Not sure what else is going on. Looking at 2 very old dogs sleeping on a couch next to me, thinking about a nap.

Screaming on Roller Coasters - The Disney Adventure

When last I left you, dear reader, I had a date with the Winchester Brothers and stayed up until almost 2 am watching episodes when I should have been sleeping... ahem.

Our story picks up with Thursday morning.   I had two dates lined up for the day.

In the morning, my friend Peri from high school came to hang out. She lives nearby, and her kids are at school so we burned the day happily together. Peri and I (I think) were last in the same place at the same time in, I'm not kidding, 1985? Maybe? I don't recall.

Anyway, we had a blast, we took a drive over to Downtown Disney on a bright and beautiful morning. We ate an early lunch at Raglan Road Irish pub, talked about kids with learning disabilities (we each have one), food and cooking and cuisine, travel and fun, how one lands where one lives, weather, old friends and what it is like to live this close to Disney World.

We walked all about Downtown Disney, probably 2 miles. After Wednesday's walk total of 5 miles of walking, remember that my feet are killing me.  but ... we were having fun and I was powering through it.

Peri and I went back to my hotel, sat by the lagoon and talked more about parents who suck and how they make their kids grow up to suck. And how that totally sucks.

It truly felt like we've never been apart there for a such a long time. We both love our unique weird boys, and it is truly so lovely to connect with someone who sees their kid exactly how I see my kid.

After Peri left, my cousin Teri (yes, they rhyme. My friend and my family member rhyme, which confused the hell out of my husband) arrived and we had fun catching up.

We decided to take a walk (again, the feet!) and did about 3/4 of a mile before Doug called to let me know he was back at our room and ready to go to dinner. Teri and I trekked back, and we  talked about where would be best to go for dinner. She had never been to Disney, and we weren't sure where we could go that had stuff for us to see, would be a good amount of time, and would be free.

 We knew about the Boardwalk from the night before, but wanted to see somewhere different. Well, 2/3 of our group didn't know about Downtown Disney so we headed there. 

Thing was, 5pm and only one restaurant had any availability! Everything else was booked. Stupid Disney!

So we booked a seat at Cap'n Jack's and headed over in Teri's car. We made it over in plenty of time and enjoyed more walking (oh.my.god.my.FEET! They were hurting so bad that now my shins hurt).

We enjoyed lots of sights, sounds and people, and had a great dinner. So much fun. Doug was incredibly gracious as he has never met Teri (I think he did one time but he says no). We again walked all over the place, again with the painful feet, and Teri hit the road for her ride home just before sunset.

 Doug and I checked out the House of Blues, Splitsville (I wanted to go in but my feet wouldn't let me) and Cirque de Soleil (seriously folks, how many shows do these people have? it used to be SPECIAL. But I feel like they've totally jumped a shark or at least tight-roped over one). 

We sat and watched the balloon go up and down. We listened to some good music and waded through huge crowds. We got back to the room and headed out to the pool and hot tub. Mind you, it is about 67 degrees out. But to us, where we've been hanging out where it is maybe 20 degrees out, this is a heat wave. The pool water was warm and lovely - surprisingly. They pumped in nice warm water through vents in the bottom. No one else was in the pool so we swam under the giant fake Mayan ruins, and loved it. The hot tub had about 20 people in it, so we waited for it to thin out a bit and went in for a while. It felt so good on my pained feet and sore calves.  I was a hurt puppy.

Not taking any walks/hikes for the entire winter, wow was my body sore.

We lounged in the hot tub for about 45 minutes and decided to walk back to our room. On the way back, one of my blisters broke, painfully and violently. I thought I might die. The adorable British concierge happily gave me band aids and rendered first aid (so cute) and I slept like I was dead. Well, after one or two episodes of Supernatural.

Doug went conferencing again Friday morning. I nursed my feet, drank coffee, edited photos, emailed people. Tried to write this journal entry but the Disney WiFi network told me my website was R rated and violated the standards use for their policies. That made me honestly laugh. Seriously, yo...

Yeah, and Hannah Montana is one of your employees. Nice.

Doug got back and we had passes to go to any park we wanted after 4pm. Kind of lame, but free so ... no complaints there. We had three hours to kill so ... pool. Swimming. Floating. Sunning. Enjoying. Just enough time to pick up some sun and not get fried half to death.

Then... to Animal Kingdom.

I didn't want to go to Magic Kingdom because as much as I was enjoying myself, it kind of freaks me out. There would be a million people there, and screaming children, and so many creepy characters in their costumes coming up to me and being all "hey! friendly character! woo!" and I'd run away screaming from them. The only thing I really felt compelled to see there would be the Castle. Anything else... not interested really.

Doug doesn't like Epcot. He thinks it is for 70 year olds who still are fascinated by "the future." We thought the test track for some chevy car thing where you could drive at speeds up to 65 miles an hour was ridiculous. I drive at speeds up to 90 miles an hour on 128 on a daily basis. How lame.

Which really left Animal Kingdom. Now, we've gone to so many animal parks in our time. So. Many. I have to say this one was pretty nice. There weren't nearly as many actual animals as I would like to see in an Animal Park, compared to shops and stores and stuff, but ... overall, the presentation was gorgeous, the layout was lovely. There was a sudden thunderstorm shortly after we got there and we snuck into the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" show, which was funnier and cuter than I thought it would be, and we rode out the storm. Coming out we found the park had pretty much emptied out. We walked up into "Africa" and enjoyed being there with very few people.

We walked to "Asia" and really enjoyed the presentation and details put into that area. It was lovely. ... and then...

...(oh my GOD!) we're standing in front of the Everest Adventure ride.

And Doug wants to go on it and wants me to go with him.

I hate roller coasters. I get vertigo easily. I do not want to get sick or poop my pants. But he's jumping up and down and saying that we have to go. A park employee (excuse me, cast member) hands us a Fast Pass ticket (the wait for non-fast pass was 20 minutes) and tells Doug "I like your smile! here's a fast pass!"

Jerk.

So Doug grabs my hand and we go through and we get on the very next car when we get down there. It is now pouring out. And we're on a roller coaster, zipping around to our death.

In all reality it was fun. I didn't poop my pants, I didn't even scream. It didn't have any straight forward drop face first plummet thing that I hate. Going backwards in the advanced darkness wasn't a problem. And we never went upside down.

Not a bad trip.

Then, Doug wants to go down the water float ride. We are already wet from riding the roller coaster so ... why not go get more wet. Sure. Sun is setting, it's windy and cold, but hey. You're in Florida and everyone else at home is wearing fleece jackets while you're wearing shorts.

We go for it. We ride it twice. It was fun. And we got soaked to the bone. Doug got me a sweatshirt from the gift shop, and we enjoyed our walk back to the shuttle with me being exhausted but nice and warm.

Dinner was at the Maya Grill at our hotel and it was overall the most disappointing meal of the trip. There was way too much food, but it wasn't really flavorful, just salty. The sangria was nice, and I drank a little too much of it and felt bloated and sick. I didn't sleep well or much, and when the alarm went off at 3:45 am I was already up packing.

Our flight was at 7:30am, and I've made a mental note to never ever in a million years make an early flight out like that. Getting to the shuttle bus for 4:30am was a huge pain. I was still full from dinner and sick to my stomach. My feet were killing me. I needed another couple hours of relaxing and laying back... maybe by a pool.

We were home by noon, I was napping by 1.

It was a good trip. I feel like I need to do it again. I have a lot of thoughts about the "Disney Experience" as it were, but will try and articulate them later.

All the photos are up on Flickr if you would like to see them.

Thoughts on Florida

I am in a tank top and panties.

In a hotel bed. In Orlando Florida.

Doug is asleep in the next bed. I'm going to make another cocktail and watch the season 3 finale of Supernatural on my laptop (God bless streaming Netflix!) and go to sleep.

Before that... some observations.

• First of all, Manchester NH airport is THE way to go if you live north of Boston. Easy and cheap parking, and great effort by the ground crew to make sure flights in blizzards get off the ground. Also, very nice TSA agents. 
• I hate babies on planes. I love babies... but. Man alive. I hate them on planes. I subjected the world to Geoff once, in 2001. It was the hardest trip I've ever taken. He didn't scream or fight or cry but he didn't understand that he had to stay in his seat and he wore me out... I felt bad for all the other passengers. 
• The baby next to us did pretty good... there was some screaming. But thank God once we were in the air my ears were too clogged to hear any of his yelling and his parents trying to cope with him. I needed a cocktail after the flight. 
• Disney should be in charge of just about every federal government agency. People would be so much nicer and more helpful. So far our experience here in Orlando at a Disney Resort has been amazing. I feel almost guilty because everyone is so nice. Please, be somewhat rude to me. I'll be okay with it. 
• That said, shuttle buses to get around the whole area suck. We left at 6pm for a 7pm reservation for dinner and were 10 minutes late. 
• There is no really good one stop comprehensive map to show you ALL of what Disney offers so it is slightly confusing. I'm starting to figure shit out, but it has been hard. 
• We are staying at a hotel/conference center called Coronado Springs. The celebration of Spanish Colonization and Mayan Culture. Which cracks me up because it is kind of weird to "celebrate" both, considering Colonization wiped out the Mayan Culture. But.... hey! let's celebrate it! Woooo! 
• They take this whole Mouse motif very seriously. 
• I walked over 3.5 miles today. My feet are not used to hiking/walking and now I have the biggest blisters on my left foot. 
• Rum is a wonderfully numbing. 
• We went to the Boardwalk for dinner tonight and Cat Cora's "Kouzzina" was fantastic. Well not 100% fantastic. The food was mind-blowingly good. But the service wasn't the best. Our waiter was very good, but very slow and deliberate. No one bussed our table, so we sat there for 20 minutes with our appetizer plates, only got offered one chance to order a cocktail (no "can I get you another drink, sir?") And we sat for 30 minutes with empty dinner plates in front of us. Not sure why. 
• This may be why you always need a reservation for any restaurant in the Disney world... no one buses tables. 
• 70 degrees feels cold in the rain. But it feels much much warmer than 41 degrees in the snow. 
• Always remember your sweatshirt. 
• There are Disney characters that we don't recognize. We noticed there are no references to certain characters though, like ... where are the 101 dalmatians? But what is that platypus thing? Rur? 

Okay. Me and the Winchester boys have a date. Photos coming soon.

Last Summer On Earth 2013

I may not be able to function today after seeing this. I literally yelped when I saw the news on facebook. Guster, BNL and Ben Folds, all on the same bill. My literal Holy Trinity of favorites. 

All joking aside, it may be my last summer on earth because I can die happily once I see these guys all together.

I'll be wandering in circles in my kitchen if you need me.

thoughts on trampolines...

I had a great time with the Boy Scout troop this weekend.

I did jump on trampolines but I didn't do any tricks or anything. I had this mental block that prevented me from letting certain things happen.

This happens to me where I think "yeah, I can totally do that" and then I get to the point where it has to happen and then... I can't. I simply cannot do it. This was the case last year when I had to give myself shots when I had the DVT. My doctor demonstrated it to me like it was nothing, I had dozens of friends who have to give themselves shots all the time say "oh yeah, it's nothing you can do that." I felt confident, put the needle in my hand and held it to my side and just couldn't do it.   Doug had to give them to me, because I just could NOT GET PAST the putting the needle into my body.

The same thing happened to me at the trampoline place. I can jump, stop myself from jumping, but can't do the sit-bounce move because I can't get over the fact that I am falling down.

All our lives, we work rather hard to stay upright. Not fall down. Falling Down HURTS. So why would I want to deliberately shoot my legs out from under me and land on my ass? That shit's gonna hurt. Right?

I know, I know, I'm not landing on solid ground. I'm landing on a mesh surface with springs attached that is going to sproing me back upwards and I'll put my feet back UNDER ME and stand up again.

I can do this if I jump into WATER. It is nothing. I know, I can shoot my legs straight out in front of me and land on my butt and it is called a cannonball. I've done it a billion times, maybe a billion and a third. Yeah. But...

I totally could not do it on the trampoline. One of the kids, Kevin, totally tried to coach me in doing it. But there was just this thing, this "OH SHIT I'MMA GONNA FALL DOWN AN'DIEEEEEEE" thought that was going through my head. As I stood there in a room surrounded by 24 other people who literally were doing this as easily as if it were breathing.

There were long stretches of me just jumping up and down, swinging my arms, enjoying myself, and then I would psych myself up for it and .... No.

This has been said a thousand times by me here and elsewhere, but I love our Boy Scout Troop. I love that they love Geoff. I love the friends I have in both the dads and moms involved in the troop.

And I totally love the kids. The newer kids I'm still getting to know, and going on these trips gives me an opportunity to talk to them and get to know them. One little boy, Ryan, was running all over the joint having a blast. He came over to the area where the coach was teaching people how to do flips in a tethered harness, and I asked him if he was having a good time. He nodded yes, and smiled. "No you're not." I said. And he looked and me and said "Oh, yes, I really am. I'm having a good time."

"I don't believe you." I said, smirking.

Now all the other boys know that this is my M.O. but he doesn't really know me well. So I had to look at him and tell him I was joking. He eventually got it. When we left I asked him if he had fun, and he said "No, not one bit."

Atta'boy.

So I have no pictures of me jumping, thank God. You don't need to see that. Me in all my fatness airborne. But I have a ton of pictures and some video of the kids in action. It was hard to take pictures inside. Even with the flash on, most of the pictures came out blurry. Only a few were truly awesome, and I think that is when the guys seemed to hang in the air for a few seconds, weightless and joyful.

Another observation is that my son has the most rock and roll hair ever. It's been close to a year since his last haircut, which is driving his father mad, but I love it. Video of Geoff rocking out on the trampoline, with apologies for the slight butt-crack visible (and me laughing) due to the fact his shorts are too big. All the pictures are over on Flickr if you want to go see. Enjoy.

Trambopoline!

In a little over 15 minutes I will have four boy scouts in my car, and we will be headed to Connecticut to go jump on trampolines. I bought myself some yoga pants and a top, because schlubby old T-shirts and sweatpants are no good for going up on a trampoline.

I'm sure I can just sit there and do nothing, but ... I will want to join in and probably throw my back out or bust my butt.

But I have an air mattress, and am looking forward to sleeping tonight already.

"A Way of Praying" - End Construction Productions reunion concert

Jon Svetkey, Brian Doser, Ellis Paul, Jim Infantino
End Construction

A long time ago, when Doug and I were in college, we were volunteers at a  coffeehouse in Marblehead, MA. I was privileged to meet and become friendly with dozens of fantastic musicians, including four wonderful men who performed together as a round-robin ensemble but who also performed solo.

They were mainstays at our coffeehouse, which ran on Saturday Night in Marblehead opposite of the Me & Thee which ran (and still does run, thank God) on Fridays.

Ellis Paul

The four musicians in question were Ellis Paul, Jim Infantino, Brian Doser and Jon Svetkey. Together they were known as End Construction Productions. They put out a sampler tape (yes, tape) and I was madly in love with all four of them for different reasons.

I remember seeing all four of them at a church coffeehouse in Boston right before Doug and I moved to Atlanta, right after we got married.

I remember standing pre-show at the church where we ran our coffeehouse in a weirdly robin's egg blue colored hallway with Paul (I called him that instead of Ellis Paul, which is his stage name). I still can see his knee-torn jeans and navy blue poly-propylene thermal long johns showing through, one leg bent with a foot against a wall, a denim shirt, and his shoulder length dirty blonde hair cascading around his blue eyes... his head tilted to the side  as he intently listened to me babble on and on as I am wont to do.

Jim Infantino

Jim was on stage one night in a white T-shirt that said OhiO, and a mosquito was flying about him as he played his song "Rita." The mosquito landed on him and he squashed it, without missing a beat of the song, and the mosquito blew up in a blood red splotch on the shoulder of his bright white shirt.

Brian had long curly curly curly hair and a deep beautiful voice. Jessica danced to his music in front of the stage, bright white toddler hair shining in the spotlight. When I think of "Who Woulda Thunk It?" by Greg Brown I hear Brian's voice in my head, not Greg Brown's. Funny now because thinking of Jess being 2 and dancing to his music, he does a children's program now called "The Music Man" as part of his regular performance schedule.

Who woulda thunk it indeed.

And Jon. Saddle shoes, crazy ties, amazing shirts and stomping. So much stomping. He possessed a strong, powerful voice which showcased his great songwriting... opposite of what Ellis' style, which was gentle, soft, baby-cradling of a guitar and sweet high singing. And when they performed together, it was a perfect match which you wouldn't expect when you saw them sing apart.

Jon Svetkey

I remember one night having Jon over for diner in our Lynn apartment, eating in the living room with plates in our laps because even after 2 years of marriage Doug and I still didn't have  a dining table. I asked him who he was listening to at that time and he told me about a guy named Ben Folds and his amazing songwriting. I'm forever thankful for that recommendation.

Ellis Paul has gone on to massive success, Jim Infantino's ego is so big three guys need to represent him on stage (sometimes four!). Jon got married and he and his wife perform together, and he also fronts a band called The Loomers. I blame Jon entirely for my preterm labor with Geoffrey, outlined in this entry I wrote in 2001. (kidding. It wasn't his fault. Honestly).

Sunday night they had a reunion concert and fundraiser for another musician, Stuart Ferguson, who is battling cancer right now. I don't know Stuart or his music. I don't remember getting a demo tape (yes, tape) and press kit from him back in the day when I scheduled the artists at the coffeehouse. My friend Amy asked me if I wanted to go see the show, because she wanted to see it with someone who had a history with their history. So of course I did. And I made my whole family go. Because it is their history too.

Wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Brian Doser

It was so lovely to go see them again. They did a few songs I had forgotten, and some that I'll never forget.  Jon still stomps and has that powerful voice. Brian is ever so lovely and funny and an epic story teller.

Ellis still sings with an ethereal beauty and holds that guitar up close to his face like he's not singing to you, he's singing to it. And I just love Jim's songwriting and his phrasing and how incredibly smart he is. They had special guests perform, most notably Josh Kantor who plays in Jim's Big Ego, and also is the organist at Fenway Park. He was fantastic, adding a beautiful little layer of sound to the songs performed.

They closed out with a song off of the End Construction "Resume Speed" compilation they'd put out 20 plus years ago with all four of them singing together and I felt transported back to that church with the big huge Earth Peace flag hanging up on the altar. It was kind of sweet.


I still have a smile on my face, and was happy to share the night with my family and Amy. Pictures are here if you want to see them.

Oh Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in.

All of the pictures from this trip are over here in my Flickr account, if you want to go there and see them.

This weekend, we went down to visit my sister and my brother in law. Doug had Monday off, I took Monday off. Geoff is on school vacation. No better time to run down to the city.

We went down Saturday morning under the threat of a snowstorm, which completely missed us, and we had a wonderful quick trip down with no one on the roads.

Upon arrival, we chatted for a while and then decided it was time to think about starting to get ready for dinner (that whole line is a running in-family joke). We ended up at a little place near my sister's house where they said the burgers were the absolute best in the area. They weren't kidding.

When we got there, a man was walking down the street in front of us, obviously very intoxicated. Ronnie and Doug both decided he needed help, or else he was going to be killed. The recent blizzard has resulted in so much snow down there, no sidewalks are clean, there are mountains at intersections that you cannot see around if you are pulling out into traffic. Doug ran across the street and I heard him yell "hola, mi amigo!" the guy was most likely Guatemalan, didn't speak any English. Doug gestured to the street and made other gestures with his hands like a steering wheel in a car. The man said si, si ... and shook Doug's hand.

Between the three of them, they got the guy to the point where he said he'd take a ride home to be safe. Ronnie came and grabbed his car while Linda, Geoff and I watched.

For a minute, I kind of thought we'd never see them again. This is the way horror movies start.

But in my heart of hearts, I knew it would be okay. We went inside and got a table, and watched from the window for their return. Geoff said he thought it was stupid to help some "drunkass douchebag" who has no common sense and deserves to be hit and killed in order to clean up the gene pool. I told him that lacked empathy and mercy, and that I hoped his father and uncle's gesture would be taken in by him to think to always do kind for others even when he perceives the situation they're in is their own damn fault.

The boys returned moments later. Dude lived just down the street and a block around the corner. Usually not a bad walking distance for the stumbling drunk but not with all this snow on the sidewalks. I'm glad they didn't have to go far. He gestured and said "aqui aqui, mi casa y mi auto!" So Ronnie pulled into the the driveway and Doug got out and helped him out of the car. The guy acted like he was being treated like royalty and beamed and smiled and gasped when Doug opened the door for him. Doug and Ronnie were laughing, and a woman opened the door and it was obvious he was at the right house... they left him there waving goodbye in the driveway.

Dinner was great, conversation was great, lots of laughs were had. Ronnie got a new nickname of "McDerpbutt" instead of his actual last name of McDermott. My sister almost spit out her wine. My sides hurt when we got home.
And for the rest of the night Ronnie had the trump card. "I saved someone's life tonight. Who'd you save tonight? Huh?" in his playful taunting way.

Next morning, Linda made omelets for everyone. We then got in the car and drove to Brooklyn to go to the New York Transit Museum.

My husband is the king of finding quirky different non-touristy (or touristy with a clue) things to do when we head out places. He had been eyeballing this one for a while. He said he wanted to go there, then walk up to the Brooklyn Bridge, eat dinner in the DUMBO area, and just have a really fun time traipsing around the city.

The museum was fantastic and so amazingly inexpensive. $7 for adults, $5 for kids under 17. Compared to what it costs to get into museums with giant endowments and huge corporate underwritings, I felt like this was an absolute steal.

My first impression though almost set me off the love of the cost. The first exhibit that you walk into upon buying your ticket is about the geology of NYC and construction of the subways. Really interesting stuff, very very badly designed. The  area was incredibly cramped, so crowded, so much to read and process, and all of the information to read felt like it was a foot too low down on the wall. Trying to stand and read things was literally impossible with parents shoving through with their kids on their shoulders or strollers or whatever. I began to get incredibly agitated.

I really felt disappointed and bummed out about how this section was put together compared to the enormous space used for a film/video viewing area that was just an absolute waste.

We worked through this area quickly, and disapprovingly. But the next stop was out in the wide open. it was about electricity and conduction of power, how over the years it was figured out how to run the trains and make them better, faster, efficient. Lots and lots of hands on stuff for the little kids here.

There were two great climb-in bus fronts with built in video of how it looked for the specific time periods the buses represented. There was a great display on signage over the years, one of my very favorite things.

At the back of the museum was the children's "arts and craps" section. Geoff walked through there and noticed there was a door open, and walked through it. He didn't care that there was a sign that said employees only. He's like the honey badger that way sometimes.

There was this glorious long tiled hallway, with signs glued into the walls and it was like a time travel tunnel to my youth.

Welcome to the 80s in New York, minus the piss smell.

So many great old posters. US Open from 82, Radio stations long gone by, Darryl Strawberry and the Mets , CATS! Geoff and I walked up and down looking at them totally enjoying this trip to the past when I eyed someone sitting in their office way ahead eyeballing us. Oops. Let's go! we busted a move to go find Linda, Ronnie and Doug.

The next part was worth the price of admission and then some. We went downstairs to the track level section of the original old Court St./Boerum Pl. station. About a dozen trains are down there, lined up and restored to the way they were when they were new.

We had a great time going through here, took a million pictures. It was way fun.

When we were done, we headed upstairs and out doors. Our original plan of going on a walkabout were quickly dashed when we walked a block or so from the museum. The wind was wicked, it was maybe 17 degrees and just miserably uncomfortable to walk out in it. We circled back around to   the museum area and discovered a little place called the Downtown Ale House. It was open, and they didn't bat an eye when we walked in with a minor, which I thought they might. We took a table, ordered up some wings and drinks, and had a great time talking. The barmaid had an adorable Irish accent and was exceptionally friendly to us and kind to Geoff.

The barmaid got wind of the fact that Linda and I were Irish girls too, so we ended up talking old country, Boston, life in the city, and she shared a toast with us of some Tullamore Dew, whiskey from her home town distillery. It was a lot of fun. I could have spent a lot more time there but we had a date with dinner over at Ronnie's favorite little place called Alma's in Red Hook.

My sister wanted us to sit in the rooftop section, but it was closed due to the wind. No bother - it was lovely sitting indoors with the view of lower Manhattan and all the construction going on. We had a good dinner -- Linda's food was too spicy and mine was not spicy enough. Geoff was very happy with his steak fajitas and we had fantastic sangria and spent another two hours talking and laughing and having a ball.

Getting home was a harrowing experience - we missed a turn, ended up having to get down to the Belt Parkway, areas of which are under construction and deadly at night. Seriously a disaster, with my sister and Ronnie in the back seat yelling and bickering and fake fighting. We walked in the door at their house and I declared it immediately "Pyjamas and Wine Time." I stayed up until after midnight editing my photos from the day.

Following morning I met my good friend Patti for breakfast. We've known each other since freshman year in high school and it's like we see each other every day. We laughed our asses off and told great stories. I love her so much. I got back to the house and the boys were all hungry, so we went back to exactly the same diner where I just had breakfast. Thankfully no one recognized me. That would have been weird.

We packed up to go but there was one more stop to make. Linda's friend Joanne had to get rid of their guinea pig, so we are now the proud owners of a black and brown male named Max. He bit me the minute I picked him up but so far he's settling in okay. I feel like he moved from a 20 room mansion to a one bedroom condo though. The set up they had for him was huge and impressive, but we knew we didn't have a place to put it in our house, or even our car ... so it stayed behind. Our old cage was cleaned up nice, and ready for him. I ought to go up and get him and take some pictures for Joanne's kids so they know he's at a good happy place with us. He needs his nails trimmed, so i want to get that done first.

All told, good times good times. Everyone had good times. I even have pictures of Geoff smiling. And when he saw how willing Ronnie and Linda are to do goofy things when I ask them, he did some too. He was a pleasure to spend time with, and lots of fun.

Can't wait to go back when it is not super siberia cold out.

Coat Tail Rider

Doug is going to a conference in March and asked me if I wanted to go too. He's gone to several conferences over the years and never asked if I wanted to tag along. Mostly because the places he was headed had prohibitively expensive airfares for us to justify my going.

This trip is to Orlando Florida, and the airfare is 300 bucks round trip so we're scraping together the moneys and I'll tag along.

I have friends in the area I will want to try and spend some time with. The hotel is a Disney resort, but does not include time in Disney... but by the looks of things, there is a bar in the middle of the pool. And to me, that's kind of more fun than going on a ride or getting my picture taken with Goofy. See, right there? Laguna Bar? yeah.

We fly down on a Tuesday afternoon. Doug will be conferencing his brains out Wednesday and Thursday, with day and night activities. I'll bring my laptop and do work but will also entertain myself. Looks like a nice long loop walk there. I'll look forward to some of that nonsense.

Our friends M and J live 3 hours south so Doug's conference ends after breakfast/morning sessions on Friday and we then have the afternoon to ourselves. We're staying the extra night and our flight is Saturday morning. So I've notified them that I hope they can be free to goof off with us on Friday night. Maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle. Maybe they're happy to come up and goof off with us?

We shall see.

I don't like flying, but I do need, as Southwest airlines says, "wanna get away?"

Bar. In Pool. Yes.

blizzardocolopyse 2013

Not. Funny. At. All.

 We've had little or no snow, literally, since early 2011. Several times this year they got their collective hopes up, panties in bunch, snowgasms were roaring, predictions of several inches were made and we got ... dust. "ZOMG! FIVE INCHES ARE COMING !!!" dusting.

Seemed to me as if winter in New England was becoming winter in North Carolina on a regular basis. I was okay with that concept.

Earlier this week, the collective prognosticators once again got their weather caps on and started predictions of a blizzard. The european model says we're going to get hammered but this other collection of models says ... meh.

On Tuesday, I was laughing at them. Saying that once again they are the boy who cries wolf. Or snow. Or snow wolf. Or something.

As Thursday approached... graphics like the one above started popping up places. And it appeared as if little european model for the forecast may be right spot on.

I still call shenanigans.

If you look at the map above, where it says "Lawrence" is actually across a wide swath of area that is NOT Lawrence... and my house is right underneath the second, lower bump in the number 3, right above Lawrence.

3 as in 43.8 inches of snow.

This better be off by a full 30 inches or I'm not going to be happy.

So anyway, that's what is going on here. I'm allegedly sitting in what will be the major dumping ground of a storm named "Nemo," which makes me laugh because all I can think of is a little clown fish with a damaged fin not being able to swim really hard. I think the weather channel has some serious nerve naming storms that aren't hurricanes. Especially naming them stupid things. I don't think of Captain Nemo, I think of cute little harmless fishies.

Best part of this whole thing was Doug took it upon himself to go do the shopping for storm prep. He figures we'll lose power, so he wanted to get food that we can cook without the oven and electric stove top.

Sounded like a plan to me. I figured he'd get some canned soup that we can cook on top of the wood stove maybe.

I got home from work and opened the fridge to see three packages of hot dogs. Three. And on the shelf, a giant bottle of vodka. And literally nothing else.

Confused, and wondering what I was supposed to make for dinner that night (I mean, the storm hadn't even started yet and we have nothing to eat for dinner...) I asked him what the hell he was thinking. What kind of storm prep is this nonsense.

"Open the freezer," he answered. So I did... and inside it was packed with meat and chicken cutlets and meatballs and all kinds of goodies. "I bought all frozen food to keep the freezer cold in case the power goes out, and if it goes out for a long time, all we have to do is put that all in a cooler, and put it on the back porch. Done."

Still, three packages of hot dogs and a bottle of vodka was pretty funny.

Here are some pictures so far. first is 11:30am, second is 2pm. Hopefully there will be stuff to take pictures of at 5pm before it is pitch dark. We'll see.