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!