Media-crity

I think I won some sort of MBTA lottery today.

1. I got to my bus stop 10-15 minutes before the next bus was scheduled to arrive but within a minute, one showed up. It was practically empty so I got a seat to myself AND it only made one stop so I made it to Malden Center in 7 minutes.

2. Got to the inbound platform just as a train was pulling in. Platform was mostly empty, as was the train, so no problem getting a seat. Train remained only 3/4ths full so there was no crush of people in my face

3. Got to DTX, very quickly I might add, and found the Braintree/Ashmont platform crowded with angry people. Guess the red line was delayed. No matter, I just went out the street exit on the platform, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself two blocks closer to work than if I had gone out where I usually do.

4. Then, the topper on this MBTA lovefest? The Newport Ave Ext. entrance at North Quincy was open after class! Usually it closes at 7:45, meaning I have to walk all the way across the dark, freezing parking lot, up the stairs to the W. Squantum St. entrance, and then back down the platform (I like to get on at the front of the train so I don’t have to walk down the mostly-deserted red line platform at DTX when I switch to the orange), which makes me angry every single time. Tonight, though, it was a quick walk from class to that entrance, and there was a warm vestibule to wait in! Oh if it could be like that every week.

I don’t know what I did to deserve such fabulous T-karma but Charlie, at least for this one day, I love you.

CON: Got stood up without a phone call
PRO: I have an awesome husband who drove me 2 hours so I could see an artist he hates

CON: Didn’t get to see Malin with Matt like I had been looking forward to
PRO: DID get to see Eric, which is always awesome

CON: Left my license at the bar somehow
PRO: … I’ll have to get back to you on that one. Sigh. No one’s answering at the Iron Horse.

BONUS that made it all worth it: Another fantastic show. Eric’s review here.

He did all of my (most recent) favorites: Little Star, Aftermath, Riding on the Subway. I am a happy girl. Or at least as happy a girl who doesn’t have her license and doesn’t quite know where it is can be.

Hmm. It’s mostly been pictures and bitching about Manny, huh?

Well let’s see. I turned 26 and I got to go into the Pacific Ocean for the first time. That’s about the most exciting thing.

For my birthday weekend I flew out to Portland (Oregon) to hang out with some cool girls. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Much of it too hard to articulate but suffice it to say it was also one of the best birthdays of my life.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from my birthday, both taken in Cannon Beach by Adria.

OMG THE OCEAN!! YAAAAAAY!!!!!

OMG THE OCEAN IS COLD!!!!!!!!!

Other than that, working hard, playing hard (My So-Called 90’s Night at the Common Ground in Allston, The Kinsale, Original Sin cider …), and not wanting the summer to end.

I went out to return some pants and shop a bit. Then I thought it’d be a super idea to wander down Quincy Market way to find some cheesy Boston souvenirs someone. FAIL. I nearly killed 3 people, plus I still feel like crap so the walking from downtown to there was clearly too much for me and I was getting dizzy and weak.

So instead I sat down by the Holocaust Memorial because it’s my favorite place to hang out/people watch/find some peace in chaos. It’s a little removed from the touristmania of Quincy Market/Faneiul Hall but close enough that you can hear the crowd noise and street performers, and that people do come by, but far enough away that you’re not stepped on and/or in 1500 pictures.

In the half hour or so that I spent there, I witnessed:

–4 or 5 kids with balloon-animal swords and … sword holsters? around their waists. Much jousting to be had.
–A man try to explain the Holocaust to his 6-year-old son. I don’t remember what he said but it was kind of touching.
–A woman crying silently and praying
–A homeless man dividing his bottle of Popov between three water bottles and two separate families reacting in a horrified manner before dragging their children away
–A man ask his mother what bestiality was. The whole family then debated the proper pronunciation.
–A homeless man ask another homeless man to tie his bandana for him.

Then I headed to Haymarket caught the train home. I’m spent.

Wow it’s been a little while.

I did indeed finish the Corporate Challenge. I walked it with two coworkers and had a lot of fun. I did it in 51 real time (1:02, minus the 00:06 start and the 5 minute bathroom break for one of the girls I was with).

Been quite social this past week, doing the CC, going to the infamous 90s Night at Common Ground in Allston, going to a wedding, and tonight going to the fireworks. I’ve been doing these things with some local friends via a local message board. So the internet is pretty cool.

Now I gotta run and throw myself into the middle of the insanity. We’re going to watch them from Memorial Drive, yipes.

We took this one shortly before we left. I was so disoriented when I woke up this morning that I was looking for the balcony. But there was no ocean, and I had to put on grown up work clothes instead of a bathing suit and sundress. Sigh.

Today was spent between the pool and the beach before the big rainstorm rolled in. We also rented boogie boards, hooray! I managed to ride a few waves in, but Nate mostly floated around, probably for the best with his back.

We started the day fortifying ourselves as only weary New Englanders can.

Then we went and waited out the rain and stuff and went boogie boarding for an hour. This is me afterward. Too bad you can’t see my skinned knees cause they were pretty awesome.

Nate, post-boogie boarding

Self-portrait, post-boarding!

Me shaking the sand out of everything

Now onto the pool portion of our program.

It started pouring shortly after this, but gosh darn it doesn’t he look happy?

Post-rain. Check out the rainbow!

Dinner at Maria Bonita’s. Do you SEE the size of that margarita? It was half tequila. The food was equally large but delicious. Even if thinking of it right now makes me a little queasy because I am still SO FULL.

Yesterday was the wedding. I don’t have any pics of that but Nate does, obviously. Instead, here are some pool pictures!

I am going to cry looking at these once I get home.

Nate contemplates a mozzarella stick, then eats it.

The tiki bar over my shoulder? Where the magic happens.

Nate enjoys a frosty margarita from the magic tiki hut

Mmmmmm strawberry daiquiri! Want to know how magic the tiki hut was? The bartender today made “extra” with both of our drinks so we each got one free!

Hanging out on our balcony, where we have spent pretty much every evening.

Mmmmm … tasty homemade ice cream.

Yesterday we spent some time on the beach, then in the pool, then we went to the rehearsal dinner. After that, we mini-golfed.

Joe Nate prepares to charge into the volcano to rescue Meg Ryan armed with only a golf club.

FORE! (If I knew more about golf, these would all have individual hilarious captions)

A proof from my Ladies of Mini-Golf calendar shoot

Nate trying to escape from the Tree God’s trap

It’s very hard to putt accurately with a dinosaur breathing down your neck. That must be why I got 17 over par on this hole.

It’s cool, though, cause I got a new friend out of it!

I don’t know how I’m going to handle next week. Another new SVU on Tuesday, then Lost and Grey’s IN ONE NIGHT.

Tonight was a REALLY disturbing SVU episode. And I regularly watch prison documentaries.

Tonight was also another fantastic game. Sweet start for the new guy and how about that catch by Ellsbury? We’re doing pretty well calling up from the PawSox.

Got some super news today about work. In short, they want to keep me forever and ever and are extending my contract another 12-18 months, pushing me right through to the start of nursing school. Whew. That’s a load off my mind.

Now, to bed.

After taking Friday off to let the meds really do their work (I’m on a taper of Prednisone, hence yesterday’s pic of my pills. I took 6 the first day, 5 today, 4 tomorrow, and so on) I was raring to get back into a productive life. Minus the gym because I can’t walk all that far without being winded but it’s a start!

This weekend my internet friend Laurel and her husband are in town from the far west for a conference. She’s tons of fun to talk to online and it carries over into real life. She flew in this morning and crashed on our office floor (well, on an air mattress) for a couple of hours because I couldn’t in good conscience let her sleep on the airport floor. Then we got on the train and I sent her on her way while I headed to class.

Got to class and … no one was there. No prof, no students, no note. I’m confused and concerned and annoyed because this is the third problem I have had this semester with this school and its class locations.

So back I went to downtown crossing-ish to shop a bit until Laurel finished her Fenway tour. When we met up again, we went toward the Common, taking the long way, because I’m terrible with directions. We were quite a pair, climbing Beacon Hill stopping to rest every few blocks and stopping on a bench to take our handfuls of pills. I should mention that she’s about 4.5 months pregnant and not just a wimp like me.

After that we met Martha, another internet friend I’ve hung out with a few times since moving up here, at went to Lulu’s Bake Shoppe for incredible cupcakes that I will dream about for years to come. Mine was pumpkin with cream cheese frosting. More please.

From ye olde bake shoppe, we went to the aquarium! I’m kicking myself for forgetting my camera because I can’t show you all the fun stuff we saw. Mostly penguins. We also learned that clipping a sting ray’s barb hurts no more than cutting your own finger off. I’m guessing we got the new girl to give the talk. There were also giant turtles, creepy eels, blind fish, birds, fur seals, a tent, and more penguins. The Rockhoppers had one giant penguin that just stayed on top of the rocks like the one in Happy Feet. He was the unanimous favorite, especially when we passed by again on our way out and he had stood up to shower in the spray they were using to clean the rocks.

THEN, after parting ways, Nate and I met Laurel and her very funny husband for drinks in Kenmore. BU kids never fail to amuse and horrify. The boys tried a whole range of beers while we sipped our sodas and fended off encroaching elbows on our table, which was apparently the best table in the whole place judging by the way the guy next to me lovingly patted it.

Caught the last train home, thank god. I love you, Boston, but another hour of trains on the weekend might be nice.

Tomorrow, more wandering until Laurel’s flight back to the wild west. Then I guess there’s some sort of big sports game on TV.

Now, though, bed. I love bed. And sleeping in. I love that, too.

I was at Downtown Crossing waiting for my redline train to work this morning. Nate had an interview so I was obsessively checking my phone to see if he had texted. I pulled it out one more time, fumbled, and it flew out of my hands and landed on the tracks!

Customer Service told me to stand there and wait for the inspector to come so I did. And hour goes by, nothing. I see a T conductor waiting for his train so I asked him if he knew anything about it. He suggested I go back to customer service. I did, they’re amazed that no one has shown up so they send me back down, this time with a T employee to wait with me. Next train that comes in stops, an inspector hops off and comes to talk to me. He was the second guy they called and he rushed right down for me, so that was nice. The train left, they called to hold up the next train, and he hopped down, grabbed it, and gave it back to me. 22 trains passed over it and barely a scratch on it!

Do they have those? If so, sign me up. After last year’s mild winter today was a bit of a shock to the system.

This morning walking to work my breath was fogging up my glasses cause of my scarf. The condensation then froze. I took my scarf off to clean my glasses and after a minute or so I started having trouble breathing cause of the shock of ice-cold air so I had to use my inhaler.

Yeah, I’m a giant nerd.

In other news, tomorrow is the halfway mark for stats. I have no idea if I even know what I’m doing but I’m pretty proud of myself for keeping up with it.

My new office has an amazing view of the harbor. I can see the very tops of buildings from my cube if I pop my head up a bit. At 12:30 I looked up and saw whiteness. At first I thought it was maybe the fog before the storm but when I got up and walked closer I found the truth.

At that point we were still supposed to have a normal day so I cursed Nate because he was being let out at 1, but resigned myself to the rest of the day. After all, I don’t drive at any point in my commute so I’d really just be whining over nothing. Plus I had a meeting at 3.

THEN the most coveted of all emails came: The office would be closing at 2! Suddenly the snow was a lot prettier. I chatted with a guy on the elevator and practically twirled out of the building. I took a picture of it (see previous post) and got down to the subway. That was all cool. Got a seat on both trains, got to the station.

Walked outside to get the bus and found … a hell of a lot more snow than when I went underground.

Two of my buses came near the station and went to “Out of Service” before turning in. The rest of the waiting passengers and I considered commandeering one of said buses but then one that would get us somewhat near where we were all going so we got on it. It got me to within a half mile of my house and I walked the rest of the way home. My coat and belongings should dry out sometime in the next week.

Still, I’m glad I wasn’t driving. And now I’ve been home safe and warm for a few hours watching Day 6 of 24.

Not much to talk about anymore. I’m temping at a CPA firm in the theatre district. It’s wonderful to be able to take the train in, especially because I don’t have to change trains.

Nursing school application went in Wednesday night. The essay was my stumbling block but I pulled through. Didn’t dress up for Halloween, obviously, and I was home alone for a good portion of the candy distributing part of the evening so I left a bowl and a note on the porch. I was happy to see that the kids were very respectful and didn’t grab whole handfuls. I’m really happy with the essay. Maybe I should post it.

I finished my nutrition prereq and am currently doing anatomy & physiology in a self-directed online format. Next up will be Statistics at Quincy College, likely in a 2 week wintersession format. After that, bio and chem in the spring, also at Quincy College.

Meh. I don’t even know if anyone reads this anymore. I haven’t gotten one comment in probably a month. /end whine.