tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58751702646995026642024-03-05T23:01:57.670-08:00Turn Signals, Manners, and Iced CoffeeThis blog has been created as an outlet. Sometimes I just feel over-opinionated and need a place to share. Instead of keeping a written journal, I'm going to keep an online blog. Hopefully it will be more amusing than boring. :)sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-56154288430364295902014-07-23T09:05:00.001-07:002014-07-23T09:05:33.370-07:00Random thankfulness.This morning I woke up with a toothache. Not sure why... it's only been a year & a few months since my dentist said I needed a tooth extracted....never had it done. Why would it hurt?? Haha. So I called to get an appointment. I expected next week. But as it turned out, they had an opening tomorrow. Tomorrow. Great.... commence the going back to the dentist stomach ache.... but... it must be done. I am thankful that tomorrow it will be done.
Then I decided to open my new iDisciple app on my phone to check it out. And I made the wise decision to try the Beth Moore mini sermon about God's downpour/outpouring.... talk about having my guts kicked & being encouraged all at the same time. God will answer us, He will... when we admit & own our "thirst"... I cannot do it justice (obviously)... but that 8 minutes almost had me in tears, and feeling encouraged.
And I was thinking how amazing that is, when God answers a prayer we haven't even prayed.
Also... the rain.... I love the rain. God's downpour.
sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-80338191474870302322014-07-22T14:15:00.000-07:002014-07-22T14:15:42.453-07:00Kicked in the Gut"If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath." Psalm 34:18, The Message.
I am going to make my first attempt at attaching a picture. It is a picture of my candle. And by my candle, I mean a candle I bought with an Anthropologie gift card 2 years ago. I have been saving it.... for the perfect place to enjoy it.... today it hit me that there isn't a "perfect place"... today in my kitchen is just as perfect a place & time as any. Why do we not remember that today IS special? I am now enjoying my candle... enjoying today.... who even knows what tomorrow will bring. Or if there will even be a tomorrow.
During this last 6 or so months, I have said goodbye (for now) to my Gram, my great Aunt Hazel, and this last week to my Aunt Gloria. This season of life & grieving has given me pause to consider what will I leave behind when my days on earth are done. There is much to consider, and I have no great revelations. Except that I hope I will do my best to show Love to those I meet.
So today is here. I intend to be present, to listen, to Love, to live, and to let God help me catch my breath & keep going tomorrow.
(of course, attaching a picture won't work.)sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-90814196174929257182013-12-23T16:41:00.000-08:002013-12-23T16:41:53.183-08:00Christmas epiphanyI have had a wonderful change in my feelings about the season & spirit of Christmas this year! I *had* been struggling a bit (understatement) to experience the warmth & lightness that is the norm for me at Christmas...
You see, my Gram passed away a couple of months ago. She was my last surviving grandparent. She lived a full & blessed life. But I had been thinking so much about how I missed her. And how much I missed some of the traditions we shared at her Christmas dinner and gathering. Then that sadness & melancholy led to more feelings of winter blues, for lack of a better term...less daylight & more cold... and that led to feeling isolated. Even a little trapped in my home with my 3 sweet little ones. Which reminded me of the twins I miscarried a few years ago. More sadness. More melancholy. You see the snowball effect snowballing. That splintered off into fear.
Fear of a house fire, of someone breaking into our house, of someone murdering my family.... exhausting, snowballing fear. Grown out of melancholy.
So I started trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Why I had such a lack of faith in my God. And that made me fear even more... I love God & I thought I trusted Him. But He didn't create me with a spirit of fear...so, maybe I was broken. Or not really "saved". I have felt a lot of introspection & a lot of self doubt.
Then yesterday I read something (which I will misquote & butcher, but I will try to capture the meaning) from someone wise named Lysa. She said that having occasional fear & doubts aren't necessarily a bad thing. Because why would the devil attack us if God didn't have a truckload of good things right around the corner?? Well. Holy cow. I never thought of it that way. All I had been focusing on was what was wrong with me. By thinking of myself, I had just let the devil continue to attack me. I was giving him an in. But when I considered God & the good things He has for me, I shifted the focus back to where it should always be. Back on my savior.
And, in turn, I quit thinking of how much I missed my Gram. I started having a thankful heart (easier when you're not filled with fear!) and suddenly Heaven doesn't feel a million miles away. It doesn't feel like some up high in the sky can't-quite-reach-it place. Heaven feels like a Place very close.... another dimension that is right here around us but we just can't see.
I feel like my Gram, my twins, and so many other loved ones are right here, looking after me. And when I think of it this way, it seems to take on a magical feel. Not Merlin the magician abracadabra garbagey feel. But an intangibly warm magic.
So the Christmas spirit has wrapped itself firmly around me. And I feel joyously ready to celebrate my Savior's birth!sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-54571595203890215262013-10-29T13:21:00.002-07:002013-10-29T13:22:00.406-07:00random blessingsYou know how your brain can remember the most random memories? I think that is so rad.
My Gram has been more on my mind since she passed away a couple of weeks ago, but.... a week or so ago I was busy with the girls, and just going about my day when, all of a sudden, this memory overcame me. It was when I was litle, at my grandparents house before they moved to the farm...and they had a sidewalk that ran downhill between their house & their garage/workshop. We used to take out little toys that you could ride on & race them down the sidewalk. For some reason I always had either a cinnamon or butterscotch candy in my mouth....and I remember repeatedly choking on those candies while racing down the sidewalk. But I was also able to remember the smell of that garage....the cool, grey smell of the concrete...so random but so vivid!
Also, a certain Irish blessing has been my favorite for several years. I have always identified most with my Irish ancestry, and found out at Gram's service that I have even more Irish blood than I ever knew. I even saved up $$ before one of our trips to Boston to purchase a framed copy of this blessing at the Irish store at Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market shops. But I have never figured out where I knew the blessing from....only that I loved it. Well, this last Sunday night I was working on getting Caroline to sleep & was getting pretty frustrated with her. So to calm myself, I just shut my eyes & started repeating the blessing over & over:
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall softly upon your fields
And, until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
And that's when it hit me. EPIPHANY! I could see it, a white trinket with a black, lattice frame. With that blessing in black, Celtic font....and green shamrocks around the words. It was hanging on the wall in my grandparents' kitchen at the farm! That Irish blessing that I loved for years, that comes to mind every St. Patrick's Day, and that I couldn't get out of my head when Gram had her stroke & died....I knew it from the trinket in HER kitchen, and I can only assume she purchased it from her & my grandpa's trip to Ireland in August of 1976 (they were there when I was born).
Wonderful blessings of memories....things I didn't realize were treasured away in my brain....sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-27784975342239611712013-09-05T07:55:00.000-07:002013-09-05T07:55:07.835-07:00uh .... progress.... hahaha!Day 1 of homeschool: Awesome.
Day 2 of homeschool: pretty good.
Day 3 of homeschool: kicking my fat, white butt.
We have already taken an Oreo & milk break, written a song called Rock it Like a Homeschool Kid, and then it got so bad we agreed to watch a Blue's Clues (MOMMY CRINGE, I handle every other show much better!) And we will try Day 3 again later.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-9299710025029651832013-09-03T06:19:00.001-07:002013-09-03T06:20:56.304-07:00Homeschool first dayI might be changing the name of my blog to Confessions of a Homeschool Mom. Because it is *supposed* to be Lucy's first day of kindergarten.... Hadley hasn't slept much in 2 nights so my attitude stinks, Lucy is grumpy from not sleeping well, and Caroline...well, Caroline is screaming because she wants pickles and tomatoes for breakfast. Plus she won't keep her pants on. She wants to potty on the potty chair. Not so bad except that it always ends with a ton of pee on the carpet & none in the potty chair.
Is it all still worth it to homeschool my big kindergartener??
....I think so....
We shall see.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-32943959629875898702013-07-30T12:59:00.000-07:002013-07-30T12:59:37.659-07:00randomly trying to write againI am watching the Bachelorette. I love this show. It reminds me of when I fell in love. Nobody tell me what happens this week please. I hate spoilers. (I am also coveting Des's hoodie sweater at the beginning!)
Also.... I said Random!... I cannot get Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 out of my head. Love.
I have three daughters now. I am feeling so stressed & blessed constantly. One minute I think I won't survive this, and the next minute I can't believe how amazing this is. *and* if things had gone differently, I would be raising my twins along with my 3 daughters! Some things just aren't meant to happen.
But I do know I need to write more. And I need to pray more. God is the lifter of my head. A phrase that is so dear to my heart these days!sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-52630687098897910792010-09-02T20:36:00.000-07:002010-09-02T20:54:17.439-07:00being a Mommysince i'm a stay-at-home mom sometimes my brain wanders. like about how my Christian beliefs and my mommmy-ness line up (or not so much). <br />for instance... i believe that God let his only son die on the cross for the sins of the world. ...God let his ONLY SON DIE on a cross for the sins of the world. Not me dude. i'm selfish... obviously He's God and i'm not *thank you!!* but there is NO CHANCE this happens if i only get ONE child. NOPE.<br /><br />also the whole Abraham & Isaac story baffles me more everytime i think about it now. So they thought that Sarah was barren, then at 90 years old she has Isaac. Then Abraham is supposed to take Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice. Seriously? Are you kidding me?! I realize this was back when sacrifices were commonplace, but his only son from a wife he thought was barren?? Nope. And I know the whole story... I know Abraham didn't have to actually put the knife to Isaac and sacrifice him. I still say there's not a chance that's happening if I'm involved. <br /><br />Makes me question my faithfulness a little. For me that's the one line you do not cross. Mess with just about anything and I can deal with it. You mess with my child. Nope. It definitely brings a whole new dimension to a lot of Bible stories for me. But it also makes me pray that I constantly remember Lucy is not MINE, she is God's and I get to raise her, teach her & take care of her for a short while. <br />Great is THY faithfulness, absolutely.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-16948769037847557232010-09-01T19:53:00.000-07:002010-09-01T20:20:35.915-07:00whine... whine... wine?feeling very whiny tonight so i decided to focus a little bit of energy on a happy list for today. also pulled out my old happy list to try to remember other happy times too (if there are happy past & happy present then there will be happy future times too). 2 + 2 = 4.<br /><br />happy list for today:<br />1. *finally* finished a mix cd i promised a friend<br /><br />2. Lucy woke up very early this morning BUT came to snuggle in bed with me<br /><br />3. i downloaded Paula Fuga's ep on iTunes and any music that involves Jack Johnson or his type of music is a happy thing<br /><br />4. the weather here was gorgeous today! and i could enjoy it more because we're finally supposed to get a little rain tomorrow. <br /><br />5. ...isn't that sad... that's where it ends for today... that is how whiny i am right now. seriously though, i dropped my birthday cake all over the kitchen floor tonight. a cake i specifically asked for b/c i was so excited to have cake. such a silly thing. <br /><br />happy list past (#100-115 of one old list of 117):<br />100. colored fountains in lake sno-tip<br />101. wearing d's big oatmeal wool sweater<br />102. kurt (???)<br />103. playing piano<br />104. crazy stripe sweater from Gap/"butt-ugly" sweater<br />105. llama llama!<br />106. sitting w/Robert Sean Leonard on NYC subway<br />107. accidentally walking through movie set - Family Man with Nick Cage & Tea Leone<br />108. Fat Cats at Rutgers<br />109. seeing Life Is Beautiful at ft.wayne cinema center<br />110. Caribou Coffee with Carrie in Columbus<br />111. Clay Cafe in Columbus<br />112. 4-story Barnes & Noble<br />113. iced mochas<br />114. when i tell D about my current crush & she acts so happy she might burst<br />115. free postcards in NYC<br />See it's good to keep happy lists on an ongoing basis because i don't think until i read that again that i would've remember fun things like colored fountains in lake sno-tip. :)sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-68190898256839218232010-08-20T20:08:00.000-07:002010-08-20T20:30:20.306-07:00still waiting on the world to changeso tonight i was watching a David Gray special we taped off of one of the music channels we get (fuse, maybe?) and his recent music worked beautifully as a muse for writing poetry. it wasn't on purpose, i was just listening to his gravelly (sp?) voice and picked up a pen and a poem came out. i haven't been hit this hard by poetry in ... well.... forever. really. like a decade or something. so here it is...<br /><br /><br /><br />Flippin, stickin<br />playhouse-trippin<br />Where was i when i was lookin<br />i went to find what i knew i had<br />the past<br />the Truth<br />the Love<br />..... A field afar<br />with wildflowers (FULL)<br />Where did i go What did i do<br />Whatever. everything i saw was you.<br /><br />what did i do to earn your love<br />what did i do to earn your love<br /><br /><br />Nothing. <br />it just was.<br /><br />the grass. the hill. your hands. the dance.<br />and somehow i just lost my chance.<br />where did you go you go you go<br /><br />the Love<br />the lies<br />the past<br />my chance<br />the Truth<br />and oh, the Beautiful Dance.<br /><br />Flippin, stickin<br />playhouse-trippin<br />You took it all when i stopped lookinsunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-83987189033989128492010-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:002010-08-12T20:01:12.302-07:00My Birthday!HA! My birthday is still a couple of weeks (2 weeks and 4 days) away, and already I'm thinking about it and planning it. See, last year kind of sucked. So this year I want to celebrate. (fyi celebrate for me means coffee & cupcakes, not drunkenness.) so i combined my thoughts about my Happy List and imagined my perfect birthday. I decided in a perfect world, we would magically spend a day in chicago (magically = no car/train/bus ride to get there). i would love more than anything else to take Lucy and go to the Art Institute to the room where my favorite painting is: Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at the Park... or Sunday en la grand jatte... whatever you'd like to call it. Most who don't know art might know it as the painting that Cameron stares at for a while in Ferris Beuler's Day Off. it seems to be the most calm room in the world to me... i believe there's a Picasso in there, and a van gogh maybe??... anyhow last time i was there it was all wood floors, normal white museum walls, and a bench to sit on... just completely serene to me. anyhow i can just imagine going there and enjoying that room with Lucy for a while.... Brad's in chicago too, but he's NOT an art fan, so maybe he could go to niketown and get some tennis shoes? <br />oh and of course then we'd go to get some cupcakes and coffee afterward. basically just enjoy a CITY. no suburbs just for one whole day. eat some food at a restaurant that's not a chain. i could use that. <br /><br />alright, happy list... some classics: <br />1. earl greyer when i have a headache<br />2. foozball when rick & cam are playing<br />3. movie night (sometimes) <br />4. paper daisies<br />5. portsmouth, NH (esp the Elvis Room)<br />6. bonfires at the reservoir in huntington<br />7. plymouth, MA (home of our forefathers and cranberry world)<br />8. party at Shan's (4/99)<br />9. jones 'pink' soda <br />10. surviving graduation<br />posting some classics tonight b/c tomorrow is my doctor's follow-up appt and i am anxious. anxious. anxious. here's hoping for sleep. to sleep perchance to dream.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-30116403949915504402010-08-05T20:14:00.001-07:002010-08-05T20:36:57.846-07:00who do you think you are?sorry, i have that john mayer trio (was it the trio??) song stuck in my head.<br />it's a great song and really at this point anything is better than TMBG ABC's songs from the dvd that Lucy is currently ob-sessed with. at least she's learning from it but it might be about to "disappear". <br />i don't have a happy list top 10 for today. i'm feeling pretty happy and blessed without a list tonight. lots and lots of Lucy laughter (resulting in mommy laughter) filled the day today. and the house across the street from us where there are always about 150 people, lots of trucks & trailers, loud language, and all-around sketchiness... well lets just say they had 1 firetruck and 3 police cars in front of their house tonight. and if the cops are busting up any of the sketchiness going on in there then i am happy about it! i didn't move my adirondack chair around to the front yard to watch like i wanted to... but... i did watch from the front door like a little kid on christmas morning.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-14669664490029695762010-08-04T20:04:00.000-07:002010-08-04T20:11:55.328-07:00looking for God's blessingsi made it my new goal to make a top 10 happy list for each day. to focus on what God has blessed me with and even though i'm not always "feeling" it... to FIND it and realize it. <br />so for today here are my top 10 (i'm tired so five are from today and five are from my old lists):<br /><br />10. fuzzy wool sweaters (this is a repeat several times over on my old lists)<br /> 9. gumball machine rings<br /> 8. my lucid bootleg<br /> 7. the wild cat & the raptor (some of my favorite roller coasters)<br /> 6. meteor showers<br /> 5. finding that my Jack Johnson concert "passport" has a free song download code<br /> 4. having someone ask me how i am and knowing they're listening (thanks Mom)<br /> 3. Lucy's laughter & giggles<br /> 2. comfy pink pj's<br /> 1. Lucy constantly saying "mommy" and giving me kissessunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-40113460832778223832010-08-03T20:40:00.000-07:002010-08-03T20:55:21.108-07:00trying to catch upso lately i've been thinking about getting a laptop (major purchase!) and writing more. i think f/b has been sucking a lot of time that i should be spending elsewhere. and while it's nice to keep up on what's going on with everyone it doesn't necessarily help one feel centered or balanced. it kind of helps spread out where one's thoughts are and right now balance is necessary. also everytime Lucy raids one of my bookshelves and brings a book to me (one of her favorite past-times), she brings either children's book publishing guide from 2008, writing & publishing for dummies, making a literary life, the writer's guide to publishing.... you see where i'm going with this. it must be a sign. <br />so i'm blogging. <br />not exactly professional "write 50 pps per day" writing, but better than no writing.<br />and definitely more than just updating my profile status.<br /><br />also i find myself as of late re-visiting my Happy List often. almost daily. i have my pseudo-current Happy List, my back-when-we-lived in the Barky's basement Happy List and my oldest/things from college life Happy List. the medicine i'm on currently is for a potential facial nerve (disease? disorder?) problem and it can cause mood swings/if you're already down it enhances that feeling. also it tends to make me really tired & worn out which doesn't help with feeling down... and someday i'd like Lucy to have a sibling & i can't do that on this medicine, so that doesn't help anything (and also reminds me i've already done the miscarriage route once)... it all kind of snowballs. (my potential diagnosis is Trigemenal Neuralgia...look it up sometime) so my happy list does what loved ones can't/don't do when i'm feeling down and it's too late to call. i'm seriously considering putting the un-edited version of all Happy Lists on my blog. this would be a big step for me. but sometimes when i read things about what makes someone else happy, it reminds me of something that makes me happy... or even sometimes a memory i've forgotten about. so maybe my happy list would make someone else feel good too. <br />for tonight i'll share one memory from my college Happy List: seeing TMBG for free at Purdue in the POURING rain, and they still shot off the confetti cannon. it was great seeing all that paper confetting just wet & sticking to the 10 people right in front of the cannon. :) <br />goodnight.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-10361229384797727672009-12-31T16:52:00.000-08:002009-12-31T16:58:02.690-08:00Another Year GoneI'm kind of glad 2009 is over and a new year is about to start. There were a lot of great things in 2009, but also some things I'm ready to leave behind. <br /><br />4 more hours. And I plan to spend them putting Lucy to bed, eating some pizza and drinking some champagne with hubby, watching The Hangover (just purchased and not watched yet), and hopefully reading some before we watch the ball drop. <br />Nothing exciting, nothing loud.... and that's the way I like it. <br /><br />In years past I would get out my journal and write a lot about what the past year held and what I hoped the new year would bring. But now that Lucy's here, most of my old hopes have come to fruition... and now I get to start thinking of new goals & dreams. Probably finding more time to write, and play piano... maybe another baby down the road?... we'll see. But this is definitely one day that I like to reminisce. I can't believe I've been out of college SO long. Crazy. <br />Time to go ring in the NEW! Happy New Year! And no, I don't think auld acquaintances should be forgot and never brought to mind... even though i love that song! Thank you Robbie Burns!sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-51455445499014759182009-12-08T18:24:00.000-08:002009-12-08T18:36:15.000-08:00Theory of Equilibrium in Times of Stressso i have a few crazy theories. i have no scientific data or evidence to back up any of my theories. once you read my Theory of Equilibrium you'll understand what i mean. :)<br /><br />alright so i feel like when i get stressed out my brain moves crazy fast... trying to work through whatever's got me stressed out. and my thinking is going warped speed, but my body's still physically at normal speed. and i have a theory that everyone seeks balance, or equilibrium, in some manner. <br /><br />there are those who, when stressed out, reach for alcohol. these are the people who want to forget their problems and stress. so if they reach for the alcohol, in an attempt to drink away their stress & problems, they are the people who want to slow down their brains. some people just want to slow down their brains until they are back to moving as slow as their bodies... and some people forget to quit drinking when they reach equilibrium (between brain & body) and get really drunk. obviously once they wake up or sober up, their stress is still there and completely un-dealt with. <br /><br />then there is the second category of people. this is the category into which i fall. i belong to the people who, when stressed out, want to chew through their problems and stress until there is a viable, rational solution. even if the solution is just that i'm going to have to deal with the stress until it's worked out... i want to analyze my stress from every angle. so instead of alcohol, i reach for caffeine (coffee, in my case). because i want to speed up my body until it's just as frantic as my brain, to reach equilibrium, in order to work through my stress. i don't want to slow down until i'm done analyzing. so my solution for equilibrium in times of stress is coffee. <br /><br />Now you see, i'm just trying to justify my over-consumption of coffee. But in truth, when i get stressed out i reach for coffee and i do think that's why. I don't want to forget my troubles, i want to work through them as quickly as possible. <br />No scientific data, no homework done. Just my silly theory. Sometime i'll write about my theory on infants. Not tonight. Tonight i have a pot of coffee waiting for me downstairs. :)sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-22859580149308283852009-11-10T18:52:00.000-08:002009-11-10T19:13:16.683-08:00Boston Bucket List and other random nothings<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUa9COacgmeMgNdTjnleteQss-IUTPivXR9CWo7u2MRXQHSyvYJV7xNuK6gWRiPADsnjpvh8rruRapjjNCmdRRh5Bek2APZeFttQpZwdjWR2uHgOPm4wWcizrgutydV1JFlwVWv-CBvgQN/s1600-h/old+trinity+turtle+picture.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 166px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUa9COacgmeMgNdTjnleteQss-IUTPivXR9CWo7u2MRXQHSyvYJV7xNuK6gWRiPADsnjpvh8rruRapjjNCmdRRh5Bek2APZeFttQpZwdjWR2uHgOPm4wWcizrgutydV1JFlwVWv-CBvgQN/s200/old+trinity+turtle+picture.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402678797860396658" /></a><br />i've been thinking a lot lately about when we do finally get back to Boston. right now it has been (how old is Luke?)... it's been 3 years since we were in Boston. So i'm making a list of things I want to make sure i see when i'm there again. and there are the obvious never-fail places we go... Fenway Park tour & Yawkey Way souveneir shop, Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market, Swan Boats, the Pru, Mr. Bartley's, Newbury Comics, Urban Outfitters at Harvard.... and of course i go to Anthropologie on Boylston and drink coffee from every DD in the city...oh and i always visit Peet's. and on our most recent trip we hit a couple of new places (3 years ago's not really recent, is it?) we managed to go to the Granary Burying Ground, and i *finally* found the little food cart at downtown crossing where they sell amazing chilean food (Chacarero)... but i have still come up with 3 things that i need to see in Boston. <br />1. the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (i think for the gardens alone it would be worth it)<br />2. the Boston Public Library (seriously, for the number of times i've been to the city and we always stay near the library... it's a LIBRARY and i've never been in?!)<br />3. i need to find a really good Italian bakery on the North End and have tiramisu and espresso<br /><br />so that's it. that's my Boston bucket list... maybe "bucket list" is the wrong name for it, but it always seems longer in between each trip... and it starts to feel like i might never get back, so bucket list seems somehow appropriate.<br /><br />also i've been wondering what it is about that particular city that i love so very much. i guess first, it's a city founded by independents... so that's an obvious reason for me. high Irish population... home of the Red Sox!... it's been referred to as the most European city in the U.S. so that's wonderful.... great architecture, rich history... they love coffee as much as i do... some of my very favorite people in the world live a train ride away... so many reasons. so little time. so sorry it's 17 hours away by car...sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5875170264699502664.post-68818443047336105592009-11-09T20:07:00.000-08:002009-11-09T20:14:22.898-08:00In The BeginningThis is the start. <br />I have been considering starting a blog for quite some time...today is the day. No day but today. <br /><br />I am also beginning a new book tonight: Pride, Prejuce, and Zombies. I was reading The Little Prince... I just couldn't get into it. I've heard it's wonderful and full of life-lessons, but I don't have the patience for that little book right now. I have recently finished The Time Travelers Wife and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Both were wonderful reads, and were the first books I've read in a couple of years. Now the itch to get working on my childrens' books is coming back as well, and a blog seems a good place to vent and get in the practice of writing again. <br />Sadly I'm not overly-caffeinated or over-opinionated tonight. <br />But, I have begun. So now I have a place. <br />I'll learn my way around.sunshinyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369751365519149629noreply@blogger.com5