Brighton Wildlife

So.. I did my activities last night...made it to japanese class (after the train dumped me out at Winchester St to go express) and then went for a run at the Brookline Reservoir. On the way home, on my very own street but down a few blocks from my house, I saw the cutest little things scurring across the sidewalk and hiding under parked cars! Little opposums! They were all fuzzy and had long tails and pointy little noses. Last year was raccoons, I guess this year is opposums.

The last japanese class was good. The weird kid asked me out. I said no. He had asked one of the married girls in class a while ago. He's just weird and obsessed with dates, I think.

The run was great. I warmed up for 12 minutes and then ran fast (well fast for me) around the reservoir 1 and 1/2 times for 15 minutes and wogged my way home after that. To wog is to walk and jog. Sometimes it is in one motion, other times it is a trade off between walking and jogging intermittently.

Post run, I sat on the porch, amongst my flowers, enjoyed the cool breeze and read the book club book. Summer is nice!

Happy Friday!

Do they sting?

The girls and I took a walk down Wollaston Beach last night. Lots of folks were wading and swimming in the water even though we could clearly see bazillions of dried up, dead, jellyfish on the sand. We even saw some, not dried up, still gooey, jellyfish in the process of being washed up (riding the waves). We walked out onto a concrete peir and dangled our feet in.

Then, some jellyfish came swimming by. We pulled our feet out at that point. I'm curious why the swimmers were not afraid of the jellyfish. Things that make you go hmmmmm....

I haven't run since Monday... so tonight and tomorrow night it's on!
Tonight's run: 10 minutes easy, 15 minutes at a faster clip, followed by a 10 minute easy cool down. This, of course, will take place at 8pm after the last japanese class of the semester and hopefully the temps will have cooled down by then. Oh, I think there's a forecast for thunderstorms this evening. Fun!

The tomato plants are flowering!!! The porch pansies are beautiful.
Happy Thursday!

Summer bliss

I realize the solstice was a few days ago, but it is really feeling like summertime now. The last two evenings have been fabulous. A bit warm, but fabulous, nonetheless. The tomato plants are skyrocketing out of their pots, the flowers are starting to bloom, and I cooked! Monday night I made a meatloaf and mashed potatos. (not exactly summertime food, I know). The cooking storm warmed up the kitchen quite considerably. But, the food turned out great!

After the sweating Monday evening (which included a run, in addition to the cooking)...I took last night as a lounge evening. I relaxed on the pink couch (in cool spring clothes) while A studied for his big exam this weekend. No cooking...no moving around...just laying still, reading. It was summertime bliss.

I'm generally not one to lounge around the house in the evenings. I usually have activities to attend, but I really enjoyed the past few evenings of quality "at home" time. I'm proud of my cooking acheivement and loved the relaxing reading evening. Tonight, it's back to activity central for a couple nights. The girls are going walking along the beach in Quincy tonight...and tomorrow is the last japanese class of the semester.

Every morning, I say hello to the jellyfish, and take a moment to chat with them. I figure that if I'm nice to them, I might not get hurt so bad when they take over the city. There are quite a few out there!!! Here's a pic taken last week.

Wingnut Meatloaf Recipe:

Hot italian sausage (a pack)

Ground Beef ( a small pack)

Ground Turkey ( a pack)

Egg (2)

Ketchup (several large squirts)

Worcesteshire Sauce (some) (spelling?)

Oatmeal (some)

Mrs. Dash (more than a dash)

Mix it all together with love. Bake at 375 for about an hour. YUMM!

Wingnut Mashed Potatoes:

I peeled, chopped, and boiled the potatoes until soft...then drained them....added Cabot garlic herb cheese, butter, and milk...and blended them until creamy with the mixer. YUMM!

Phew! Another whirlwind week flew by! With a business trip to Raleigh, a new fun house guest for the summer, and a baby celebration, things have been quite busy.

There are jellyfish kickin' around (or whatever you call their form of movement) in the Fort Point Channel. I think they are plotting to take over Boston. Regardless, they are fun to watch on my way to work!

The Baby Shower "Price is Right" game was a big hit at yesterday's co-ed Baby Celebration. We had a blast! Thanks Sis for teaching me the game! Another big hit was the book we all created for the Mommy & Daddy to be. I put together a little accordion book (using a kit from the paper store) and asked everyone invited to the Celebration to decorate a 4x6 sheet of paper that I provided them with advice, funny stories, etc for the new Mom and Dad. At the party, we glued all of their pages in and decorated the book with some scrapbooking baby stickers. The masterpiece was quite a hit. And of course, I know you're wondering, because I would too; Was there cake at this event? Yes, as all showers, weddings, baby celebrations require, there most certainly was cake! I picked up a Razmatazz cake from Finale in Coolidge Corner. DELICIOUS!!!! It was a delightful swirl of rasberry mousse, fresh rasberries, lemon mousse, and white cake. Yummy is really the best way to describe it.

(other weekend activities this past weekend included cleaning the house and taking naps, so I'm not sure you need the details on that.)

A and I did hit the reservoir for our first long run (50 minutes) Sunday morning. We did great. We can tell the summer heat is setting in. The runs are going to have to be early or late to avoid the heat of the summer from here on out.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!!!

Geese & more

Why don't geese just poop in the water while they are swimming? Why do they have to come up on shore and poop all over the running path around the reservoir?

I saw three families of geese this morning. Each family had a mom, a dad, and several babies. They were cute. Sis would've loved them!

Sis's trip to Beantown, unfortunately came to an end. We spent the weekend up in Vermont enjoying the sun, the scenery, a house on a lake, Ben&Jerry's factory tour, cider donuts, Lake Champlaign chocolates, and little shops in Stowe. Back in Massachusetts the rain was coming down. She made it home safely. I miss her already.

In the spirit of Father's Day, this site is worth a few chuckles.

Happy Father's Day to Pops and all the other dads out there!

It's Official!

My Sis is officially a HOME OWNER!!! (all the paperwork is done and they did that "closing" thing)

We celebrated last night with Steak Fajitas for 3 and Raspberry 'Ritas at Fajitas & 'Ritas. Then we hit the theater for Ocean's 13. Both the restaurant and the movie get rave reviews in my book!

Highlight of the day (yesterday): Riding the swan boats in the public garden!!!!

Highlight of the evening (yesterday): Playing hangman on the white paper covering the table at Fajitas & 'Ritas.

Tonight we're off to Vermont for some good 'ol country fun!

Well Earned Gold Stars

Two Gold Stars for A! He did double workouts yesterday. Not only did he run at 6am, but he hit the gym after work and did some weights! Meanwhile, Sis and I pampered ourselves with pedicures and delicious Ethiopian food. YUMM!!!! YUMMM!!! YUMM!!! We liked all the stuff we ordered. Sis had great suggestions on the ordering.

To the M of M&D regarding sports: The Sports information that I post here is completely sporadic... therefore I cannot answer your question about the A's. I'm also not familiar with this team you call the Pink Sox. Are they new? The Colorado Rockies are in town!!!

We took Sis to the Parker House last night for fine Boston dining. It was quite hopping there actually. The Parker House rolls and the Boston Creme Pie continue to be excellent!

She enjoyed an afternoon of strolling Faneuil Hall, while I worked.

A and I hit the pavement at 6am this morning for a nice 30min run. It is amazing how wonderful the temperature and the air feels at that time of day!

My Sis is in town!!! YIPPPEEEE!!!

Happy Monday everyone,
This Saturday, I volunteered at the Gay Pride Parade. There are lots of pics on flickr (not mine, but other people's pics). It was quite an event and a long morning for me. I got home around 4pm caught a quick nap (okay, so I passed out) and then prepped for Sis's arrival!

Sunday morning was amazingly productive. I made pasta salad and banana bread. then, I put away ALL of my clothes that had been begging me to put them away for months. A is great about doing the laundry, I just fall behind in putting my clothes away.

Sis got up around noon and we headed down to Coolidge Corner for lunch. Yummy Crepes! We got some cupcakes to go home (of course).

Sis and I spent the early evening at Wrentham Outlets forgetting that we are poor. We have quite the stylish wardrobes for summer! We dined at the ever-fancy Cracker Barrel and took pics to send back to M & D. It's one of their favorite spots.

Time is flying by.. A and I didn't run over the weekend, but I hit the pavement this morning for a 40 minute run.

Tonight we are dining at The Parker House for some delicious Boston Creme Pie (and maybe dinner, too).

A story about my conversation with a little boy on the way home from the T

Last night, I was walking my normal route down a residential street from the T to my house. It's about 5:30pm.... A little boy (probably age 4 or 5) is sitting infront of his house holding a metallic shiny swirly thing people hang in their yards to add sparkle. I smiled at the little boy and he began the following conversation:

Boy: Do you want to buy a toy for your kids?
Me: No thanks. But that looks like a great toy!
Boy: But, I'm selling toys for kids that don't have any toys.
Me: Well, that is a great thing to do, but I don't have any kids.
Boy: They're still in your tummy?
Me: (a little chuckle) No, not yet.
Boy: They're growing right?
Me: (more chuckling) Nope not yet. Have a fun evening!
Boy: (waved goodbye)

Ducks!

The Mighty Ducks take the cup! It's the first time for them. No, I don't keep up with sports...but I saw it on the news this AM and I've always felt this connection to the Ducks because of the movies with what's his face Estevez. I love those movies! They are the feel good kind which I tend to eat up like a big piece of cake.

In other Duck related news, I saw a family of baby ducks in the channel waters this morning as I walked over the bridge. So cute! It seems that spring came a bit late this year...we have summer baby ducks and geese around here.

A and I hit the yoga class at the Y last night. It's high time we got back into regular yoga practice. Class felt great! I love the teacher there. She remembers us and learns our names even though we've only shown up 3 times in the last 6 months. We did a lot of back bends last night and I'm feeling lots of muscles in my back I didn't know I had.

This morning I hit the pavement at 6am for my 25 min easy run. A will do his this evening. He hit the sidewalk to the train at 6:30am to go to work.

Happy Birthday to Liz!

Chocolate Boosts

As I snack on my chocolate covered goodies (pistachios, blueberries, pretzels) and cashews, I am reminded of a lesson I learned in the Pyrenees.

---No matter how tired I am or how wobbly my legs become, a few bites of chocolate covered goodies will always give me energy to carry on!-----

The official start!

Training for the Half Marathon officially began last night. A has agreed to join in on the half-marathon training! (I'm the coach and training schedule maker because of my extensive years of experience).

We started off slow and easy for a full 20 minutes last night. Then we did a few sprints for fun! We had a healthy dinner chock full of vegetables....so this morning, I celebrated with a Boston Creme donut from Dunkin!

At the reservoir, after our run, we watched the baby geese swim, eat, and do their thing.

This week's movie pics: The Freedom Writers, Two For The Money

Happy 3-0 to Nate today!!! Wow, my schoolmates are turning thirty. I think that means I might turn 30 this year.... We'll see.

Still overcast and gloomy here.

Ambs canoed 18 miles!!! As part of an 85 ski-to-sea relay race.
Emily hit another personal record for marathon racing in the San Diego Marathon.
(so much inspiration to hit the ground running and get training myself!)

The Snapfish album of Spain is coming along... hopefully you'll have it accessible by week's end. The RI C forwarded this timely article along about the different online photoshare sites. It has a very helpful review, and it looks like I chose wisely with Snapfish!

As Vonnegut and A say: "Hi Ho"

P.S. Our art teacher stiffed us and didn't show up for the last class!

Monday morning update - June 4, 2007

We hosted a 35th Birthday Party at our house last night! Complete with a "tiki man" shaped pinata. All the kids walking down the street were jealous of us! One lady walked by and said it was her birthday, so we let her have a blind swipe at the "tiki man" too. It made her day! Thanks to A for rigging up the line so we could hang the "tiki man" in the front yard and away from danger of swatting the house.

Dinner with baby J on Friday was awesome!!! He is the cutest 3 week old baby I've ever met! He and his dads are very very lucky to have each other. We chowed on pad thai (well J had a bottle) and talked about babies, spain, work, etc.

I figured out that it wasn't Cara's b-day on Friday...but it was my half birthday! Also Kathy's birthday. She loved the cupcakes we brought to her this weekend. I'm grateful for the fresh cut flowers I got from her yard!

Does Nate turn 30 tomorrow??? So many birthdays this week. Yesterday was Grandma's birthday. Mom and Dad's anniversary is coming up!

It's pouring rain here... I'm drying off slowly.
Happy Monday!



Someone is riding around in CA with my name on their motorcyle! You can't really see it here, but the license plate says Wing Nut. Thanks M for thinking of me!

Honey Bunches of Oats Tour

The Honey Bunches of Oats van invited me to go on tour with them.

It's June!!!

Happy June 1st to everyone!

On this day I always wonder whether it's Cara's birthday today, or July 1st. Then, I check my calendar, which I will do now. It does not help me... I know her birthday is six months apart from mine which is Dec 1st. So, that must mean it's today?

I tried uploading Spain pics to Yahoo!Photos last night, to find out that Yahoo!Photos is phasing themselves out of the game... This weekend, I will conform, like everyone else, and put them up on Snapfish. Stay tuned!

Baby Jed is coming over for dinner tonight!

Today's fun: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/05/31/lego.artist/index.html