Left at the Altar

An appropriate comparison, given that I spent last weekend at a wedding, only to return and find I (along with all other New England fans) had been left at the altar. Thank you, Sports Guy.

The "Left at the Altar Loss," when you're waiting for months and months for the season to start (like planning a wedding), then you have your fantasy drafts (the bachelor party), then you have the rehearsal dinner the night before (making your starting fantasy lineups, making your bets, figuring out which games you'll watch Sunday), then you go to the church for the actual wedding (getting in front of the TV for the 1 p.m. ET games)... and as you're standing on the altar, you find out your bride either changed her mind or got run over by the limo driver. That was me and every other Patriots fan Sunday -- we had our tuxedos on, we were ready to go, and suddenly we were sitting in a waiting room in a hot tuxedo waiting for medical updates on our comatose fiancee and halfheartedly trying to talk ourselves into one of the bridesmaids.

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend was the first weekend that I did not travel in well over a month (perhaps two?), and I made the most of it.

Friday night found me at the Lizard Lounge watching the Laura Thomas Band and The Grift. I managed to rally a good number of friends to go including some college friends, a grad school friend, and a former camper (actually "counselor trainee" but "camper" is a more universally understood term). Fun reunions and conversations were had all around. Also included in the Friday night festivities was the most awesome wingman job ever. Plus - because I hosted the LTB at my house on Friday evening, I got in free. Awesome.

Saturday morning found the LTB members and GT playing on the futuristic playground in my neighborhood. Entirely stress-free and entirely fun.

Saturday night I attended the Sox game with my aunt. Not only was it a great game, but we had phenomenal seats.

Not the view from our seats:

The view from our seats:

We also invented "kettlejacks" which involved kettle corn and peanuts (for eating purposes, we did remove the shells, but it made for a funnier photo with the shells on).

The game was short, and I was home by 10:30pm, which seemed to me to be a reasonable time to move lots of heavy furniture. The big, strong men of the LTB had assisted me in moving my bed and my A/C unit, but there was a dresser and many shelves to be moved as well. It wasn't until all the furniture had been moved that I remembered that my landlady's bedroom is directly below my old bedroom. Apparently she is a deep sleeper, because I didn't hear any complaints the next day.

Yesterday I continued the moving and sorting and dumping and put new bedding on my bed. I also managed to whack my knee against the corner of my bed three times before giving up and padding the corner with with bubble wrap and packing tape. I then drove all around the greater Boston area returning unwanted bedding to the stores. No photos of the new room yet, but I'll get one up soon. Bottom line is it has heat and floor space and it's nicer and more organized than any room I've ever had.

I finished off the weekend with a first date last night that was not the result of an eharmony match. And though it's a little early to tell for sure, he seems like I guy I'd like to continue to get to know - the kind of guy who wouldn't stop for red lights.

No word on the job yet, though they are checking references. Thanks to all who gave advice/input. Still not sure what I'll say if they offer me the job, but I'm trusting that I'll know what to do if/when that situation arises.

Scooperbowl Tuesday

Tonight I had ice cream for dinner, and I did not limit myself to just one flavor.

Apparently, every year the Jimmy Fund holds a 3-day fundraiser. Individuals pay $8 and receive a spoon, and then go around to tents to taste-test ice creams from New England vendors. Not sure how I missed this day last year, what with my ice cream radar being what it was, but this year I was prepared.

By my count, I sampled no less than 11 flavors of ice cream (indicated by "*" below). For what it's worth, the cups were (relatively) small, and I didn't always finish my sample, however that doesn't mean that I didn't come away feeling just a little bit ill.

Lessons learned from this evening:

1. It's fun to eat ice cream for dinner.
2. Nobody does cake batter ice cream like J.P. Licks, so don't bother trying any others.
3. The hotter the weather, the faster your ice cream becomes soup - eat fast.
4. Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip is damn good (and worth seconds)

26th Annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl Vendors:
Ben & Jerry's
*Cake Batter
ONE Cheesecake BrownieTM
Imagine Whirled PeaceTM
Strawberry

Breyers®
Vanilla
Strawberry
*Mint Chocolate Chip
*Cookies & Cream

Brigham's®
*Quack TracksTM
Mad Fish Mud
*Coconut Almond Fudge
Xtreme Razberry

Cold Stone Creamery®
*Shock-A-ConeTM
Coffee Lovers Only®
*Founder's Favorite®
Chocolate DevotionTM

Doriti Gelati
Lemon Sorbetto
Orange Sorbetto
Mango Gelato
Vanilla Bean Gelato

Edy's®
*Birthday Cake
Cookies 'N Cream
*Mint Chocolate Chip
Orange Cream Sherbet

Élan Frozen Yogurt®
*Coffee
Chocolate
Vanilla
Black Raspberry

Garelick Farms/Gifford's®
World's Best Chocolate
Maine Wild Blueberry
World's Best Vanilla
*Maine Lobster Tracks

Häagen-Dazs®
Raspberry Sorbet
Belgian Chocolate Chocolate
Pineapple Coconut
Vanilla Honey Bee

HP Hood®
Red Sox Green Monster Mint
Fat Free Vanilla Pomegranate Swirl Frozen Yogurt
Light Martha's Vineyard Black Raspberry
Bear Creek Caramel
Cookies N Cream Itti Bitz

I Heart Free Air Travel

So I returned home from class tonight to find an email waiting for me from Southwest Airlines with the subject heading Bonus Credits for a Hometown Victory. They're giving me 3 bonus credits (16 equals a free flight, so 3 is no small change) because THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES. This email makes me want to say publicly (to the handful of you who read my blog) that Southwest, despite its cattle-call boarding system, is pretty awesome.

Speaking of THE RED SOX WINNING THE WORLD SERIES, I was walking to school from my internship tonight (both which are near Fenway) and there were no less than 4 helicopters and one blimp flying overhead to report on the fans gathering to welcome the players back home. It was fun to be that close.

Not sure yet if I'm going to be able to sneak away from my internship tomorrow to see the start of the parade, but I'm gonna try!

This past weekend was my a cappella group's 45th reunion, so I spent the weekend in cold and rainy Vermont singing my heart out with about 60 other women. It was an amazing weekend, and energized me in a way that I really needed. I came home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the second half of this semester.

Also (this is BIG news!), I came home to newly washed sheets. Ok, the sheets being clean isn't really big news (ok, it kind of is), but what IS really big news is that before I put my clean sheets back on, I put my heated mattress pad on my bed. Then I went away for the weekend, so last night was my first night of the season with the heated mattress pad. For those of you who have never experienced the wonder of the heated mattress pad, let me just say this: mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Despite my bedroom being somewhere around 50 degrees last night (here's why), I was snug and warm.

Almost took away the sting of my fantasy football team losing yet again.

Almost.

Good Peeps - Part II

As of tonight, I have officially had one week of classes, and so far, so good. One of our professors told us that we would have to work hard to fail the class, so I figure that's the sign of a good semester right there. :-)

School and school people have gotten me thinking a lot about the friendships I have in other realms of my life. Though I have met some wonderful people in my program, overall I have been rather disappointed with the lack of connection I have felt with my fellow students. Being nervous about moving here from across the country, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I had many friends in Boston already, and also that I'd be meeting lots of new people in my program.

Though it is indeed still true that I have many friends in Boston, the fact of the matter is that our schedules don't often match up in a way that allows us to see each other. I didn't mind it so much last semester, because I enjoyed throwing myself into school and babysitting and settling into my new life here on the East Coast, but now that I'm gearing up for another semester (and after spending a lot of quality time with friends from all over during my break), I'm realizing that I won't get through my next year and a half of school without the strong social support that has gotten me through so many other times in life.

I've been thinking about this a lot since returning from my trip to SF - how lucky I was there to have such a strong group of friends who got along like siblings (hugs and fights and everything in between) and saw each other fairly regularly. Now that I am in a situation where Survivor nights and impromptu gatherings at Zeitgeist or Cancun aren't the norm, I see what an incredible gift we all gave each other just by hanging out as often as we did. And I miss that.

And that makes me so grateful for my friends outside of Boston, and equally grateful for the friends I have here who have opened their homes and hearts and lives to me and invited me to dinner, and to playdates with kiddos, and to crash on their couches, and who have checked in with me just to make sure I'm alive when I go silent on a paper-writing binge.

Last night, I was wandering through the internet, and came across the website of Robert Fulghum, one of my favorite writers of all time. And in reading through his online journal, I came across the story of a blessing. I'll let you read the full story, but I copy and paste the blessing below, as a message of gratitude to all of you with whom I've shared a meal at any point in our lives together. I am blessed to know you all.


Wait.
This blessing does not require that you close your eyes or bow your heads.
I ask that you keep your eyes open, your head up.
Listen.
The finest blessing a meal can have is great companionship.
Look around this room. Take notice of those who sit with you.
Look around you. Look at these men and women.
Consider who they are, what they have done, and what they stand for.
Consider that you are not alone on your Way in the world.
Consider that you have the honor to break bread with such as these.
Look.
And know that this meal and each of us is abundantly blessed.

Amen.