Sundays at Joey's

The cutest littlest beer I ever done seen!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2006 at the Wollmans.

A Good Cause

Well I need you all to stop and check out www.davidsangels.org. As a lot of you know, I have made some very good friends from across the county and we all hang out on the OTE and we meet up a few times a year. What you may not know is that we have an Angels program in which we help out families in need. This year's project is a little boy named David who has been diagnosed with leukemia (the poor thing). Just check out the website - I'm not begging for money but would love it if you could spare something. However, what I am begging for is for you to keep David in your prayers and thoughts because he could use all the support that he can get. Thank you, in advance.

Well it's been a while since I last posted so I thought I should update. We just had our last wedding this past weekend - in Fishkill, NY. It was actually a great town and a really nice part of NY. Congratulations Chris and Nancy!

I'm very excited that Fall is upon us - that means that soon it will be Christmas time and I just love Christmas time.

In the meantime, we'll be hanging out at Joey's, enjoying the Pats games and not doing much of anything else.

Miguel & Nate

Return from California

Well, we have returned from California. So many things to say - where should I start? Well Matt left last Tuesday and headed out to LA to meet up with Andrew, Josh and I believe Dave to head out to Las Vegas for the bachelor party. As I didn't want to hear them, I don't know many specifics but I know that a good time was had.

Thursday morning all hell breaks loose in London and of course that is the day that I am to fly out to LA. So I leave super early for my 5:15pm flight and spend 4 hours in Logan Airport doing absolutely nothing except eatting and reading. Security was not so bad when I went through around 1PM but I think it got busier as the day went on. They did check baggage again at the terminal (by hand) and that took about an hour and a half. And of course everyone who didn't check their luggage and had a suitcase and a large ass personal item - well they were the ones complaining about how long it took. Do you think they ever stopped once to think "hey, if I had checked my suitcase, this would take half as long b/c then TSA would not have to go through the suitcase by hand to check for items that can't be taken on the plane?" Do you think that they ever thought that once? I'm sure they didn't. People who fly are inconsiderate assholes for the most part. Personally, I would rather check my suitcase, have a reasonable size "airplane bag" to carryon, have them check my carryon at the gate and not frigin get blown up in the air - but that's just me - personal choice and all. I could rant for hours about the idiots on airplanes but I will refrain at this point - maybe one day when I'm bored and not trying to tell you the good parts of our weekend :)

So I arrive in LA and Matt meets me; we find our rental car; and head out to the hotel - stopping at some spanish fast food joint which translated means "the Crazy Chicken" - the food was excellent - burrito and french fries - GREAT combination; get to the hotel and pass out. The next morning, we head over to Andrew and Karen's and hang out there for a bit and then Matt and Karen take me on a guided tour of the LA area. I saw Beverly Hills and Beverlywood (or something like that) and then Hollywood (which by the way was crazy busy and just way too many people around for me to enjoy) and then Venice Beach (which was pretty cool - loved the little shops and would have loved to spend a day there just shopping - but I was trying to save some money so I stayed away from them) and then Santa Monica (the Promenade - we didn't get down to the Pier). We enjoyed dinner with Andrew and Karen and then played some pool at Yankee Doodle - we thought it was appropriate. That evening we watched "Nemo" at their place and then called it a night.

The next day we got up, packed, met up with Andrew and Karen and after a delicious breakfast/lunch, we headed up to Santa Barbara (if I'm spelling that wrong - well you can shoot me later). The hotel we stayed at was very cute and charming and clean (all important elements - the most important element being clean). Then we arrived at Jenny's parents place and OH MY GOD - it was gorgeous. The house was beautiful, the spot was perfect. Jenny and Ryan got married in front of the cliff so that all the guests got to see them in front of a gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean. Jenny looked beautiful :) Jacob (Jakob?) gave an excellent interpretation of "Sweet Child o' Mine" as one of the readings of the ceremony - it literally brought tears to my eyes. It was wonderful to see so many that I hadn't seen in quite a while - it was really a great time. And the cake was delicious! Congratulations to Ryan and Jenny - you deserve all the happiness in the world.

The next day we all went back to Jenny's parents' house for brunch and then we headed back to LA. After a bit of shopping at Borders and a little bit of relaxation at Andrew and Karen's - Matt and I were off to the airport for our 9:35pm flight. And that was the end of our lovely weekend.

I have to admit that I'm glad to be back in Massachusetts. The weather in CA was gorgeous - but I wasn't sure when I would be able to bitch about the weather - so therefore, well it can't be that great. I was very happy to wake up to rain yesterday morning - it was exactly what I needed. So in my mind, CA is a great place to visit but I don't want to stay there. Matt may have another opinion though - I think he was missing it.

Congratulations Jason and Gena!

I just wanted to take a quick moment to congratulate Jason and Gena on their nuptials this past weekend. Congratulations you two and I know that you will be very happy together.

How to Fix a Broken DVR

Okay....First of all, I apologize because my husband hasn't posted here in aeons. Second of all, I apologize that you have to read my ramblings. Third of all - let me tell you how to fix a broken DVR. A DVR that just won't record pre-set recordings. Well you whine a bunch on Tuesday. You have Matt look at it on Wednesday. You unplug it on Wednesday and then when that doesn't work; unplug it again, go outside and have a cigarette and randomly record "Cops" to see if it works. You come home on Thursday with your sister-in-law and see if "Cops" is recorded properly - nope! "Cops" which was recorded on Channel something or other (say 74 for the sake of argument) at 10:30PM on 07/19/2006 says that it is recorded on Channel 0 on 12/31/1989 at 7PM and oh yeh - it has no name. Then both of you push random buttons on the remote. Then you record part of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Wait a few minutes, realize that Raymond seems to have been recorded properly - but wait - it overrode "Cops" or the show formerly known as "Cops". Now folks, this is where it gets tricky...you and Sister-in-law need to get off the bed and move behind the tv. Unplug it again, stare at things, wiggle some wires, hypothesize about the tv and the DVR and why it's not working. After approximately 7 minutes of this, plug it back in and wait a bit - see if it works and determine that Matt needs to call Comcast. Right before you leave, unplug the damn thing again, plug it back in and leave. When I returned from picking up Matt - the DVR was working. And that, my friends, is how to fix a DVR.

Cracker Jack Licenses

So I'm convinced that Massachusetts residents at the age of 17 get a box of Cracker Jack sent to them from the RMV on their bday. They open it up and the majority get a lovely prize of a driver's license. It's the only explanation for the driving abilities of Massachusetts drivers (sorry all of you Massachusetts drivers who actually had to take their road test). Every morning I drive Matt to work in Harvard Square and then I continue on to Watertown. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of road and water main construction going on during our route and the driving is 15 times worse then it normally is. Big arrows point the way to the right showing clearly that the lane is closed to drivers but yet it seems that at least 2-3 drivers next to me do not see this and then b/c their lane is closed, well they just move on over into my lane - it doesn't matter if they will hit me or not. And then b/c traffic is moving slowly, the intersections are always blocked by cars who cannot make it through the light and so therefore I am stuck on my side of the intersection unable to make it through. Why aren't Massachusetts drivers more courteous? Why don't they know what is going on around them? And it's not just the summer months and construction - God forbid that there is something in the right lane (like a stopped bus) and you are in the left b/c I guarantee that the person next to you is going to swerve into the left lane to avoid what's in their lane - never once checking to see if someone is next to me. Numerous times I have actually been forced to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid being sideswiped by the car next to me. I have lived in Massachusetts and in NY and I don't care what anyone says - NY drivers are 50 times more courteous and more aware of their surroundings then MA drivers. Seriously - Cracker Jack Licenses.

July Vacation

Well I simply can't believe how fast this summer is zooming by. It seems that it was just Memorial Day but now our July vacation on Long Island is over (very sad). But before I recap that - let's talk about the 4th of July:

Matt and I both lucked out and were able to take the Monday before the 4th off and we were able to enjoy a nice long four day weekend. Saturday and Sunday we stayed in Boston and enjoyed each other's company and had a chance to relax. Monday we headed off to Plymouth to meet up with Matt's family. We had a great time - relaxing day on Monday and then off to the smallest carnival ever where we had fried dough and I watched them go on one ride. Then downtown to drink champagne on the jetty and then to the Cabby Shack (a/k/a Crabby Shack, a/k/a Crabby Slut) for some more drinks. After that we headed back to the house where we sat on the back deck and bothered Andrew and then finally went to bed at some undisclosed hour. On the 4th itself, Matt's uncle and aunts and cousin and grandmother joined the festivities where we ate more then I care to admit and we had a genuinely good afternoon. Finally back to Boston...

whereupon we remembered receiving a phone call from our landlords while we were out on Monday night stating that there had been an incident with their washing machine and our apartment had some water damage. We got home and it wasn't pretty - and it's still not so pretty - but I have to say that our landlords have been wonderful about the situation and they are doing everything they can to get it taken care of. Hopefully they will get the insurance company to get a move on and the wall in our living room can be rebuilt but until then we have the a/c and the tv and dvr machine in the bedroom so we should be okay for a while. We didn't lose much - just Mikey's futon mattress which needs to be replaced, some frozen foods, possibly some cds and just space in general (as our entire living room is in the office right now). Luckily we were only home for 3 nights b/c we were off to Long Island on the night of the 7th.

Long Island was fantastic. We had a chance to clean some of my father's house (including invading one of the rooms that used to be my bedroom, became the dart room, became the dog's room and was just a junk room - now it's cleaned and organized, there is a bed in there, new curtains and once they paint it, it will be brand new again). I took Matt to Smith's Point (a beach on the south shore right on the ocean) where I was too chicken to get into the water b/c those waves were fierce but he seemed to enjoy it (except for the sand in the pants after he finished being tossed about by the waves) (oh and except for the horse flies that were just plain nasty as we were lying on the beach). I went fishing for the first time - 8 of us went out on a charter boat from Port Jefferson and of course the name is escaping me right now - but the captain of the boat was Amanda and her first mate was Kevin - they were really nice and we had a great time. Oh the name of the boat was the Osprey. I caught 2 fluke and Matt caught 4 fluke - it was awesome. Of course we had so much fish that we gave a lot of it away to Gracie's and they had it on the menu that same night. We went out to dinner two nights and while my first meal was not the greatest, the second one made up for it. I was able to see my Aunt Maureen who lives in Florida b/c she just happened to be in the area while we were home and that was a wonderful surprise. The best part about the whole trip was that I got to spend a lot of time with my family and we were able to make good use of that big pool sitting in my dad's backyard :)

Now we're back to work and that's sad but I'm relaxed and looking forward to August for the next round of trips LOL

DC/West Virginia Recap

Well, I didn't get a chance to post much more information about our trip so I'll have to do my best to complete a recap here. Thursday evening we had dinner at Morton's and it was delicious. We shared a bottle of Charles Krug "Generations" which is a Meritage (a type of wine that I had never heard of and apparently is a blend of grapes that changes at each winery) and it was absolutely delicious - Matt and I both truly enjoyed it. As always the food was delectable and as always, we managed to eat too much and decided to just go back to our lovely hotel room (in our defense it was after 10:30pm when we finished dinner).

Friday morning we headed out to West Virginia, stopping in Hagerstown along the way to do some shopping at the outlets. Our only true purchase was at Kay-Bee toy stores where we purchased several water pistols as we planned to ambush our friend Foxie at the cottage when she arrived. Unfortunately as we got closer to Berkeley Springs, I realized that Matt's laptop didn't download the directions in his email so we had to stop at the public library to use their internet access to get the directions to the cottage and we were not the first ones to arrive at the cottage.


The cottage was adorable. Unfortunately, there is not much of a castle view when you get there and there is a slight obsession with cats, right down to the cat performing voodoo on a dog in the picture in our room. Fortunately, it had central AC and comfy beds and we had a great time. Matt and I had the chance to see some really good friends and to meet some others whom we had not met before. We were given the opportunity to share in our friend's wedding and see her light up the church as she walked down the aisle. (Keep checking back b/c I'm hoping to get Matt to post some pictures soon) We were even able to catch up with some friends who live less then a mile away from us and we hardly ever get to see :)

Let's see - the highlights of Friday included surprising the bride with a surprise visitor; buying lots of alcohol and ice cream at Food Lion as our "necessary staples for the weekend;" watch my friend Sugar smoke Twizzlers so that she could be a "smoker;" saving the American Legion lady from certain death as my Snarky friend attempted to kill her right after the American Legion lady informed us that the gift table could not stay where we had placed it; and just seeing my friends and hanging out. Oh and Matt and I were introduced to Sheetz which is a gas station that serves food - serious food - you just punch in your order and when your number is called, you have real live food.

Saturday was the day of the wedding and we had a lovely morning followed by a beautiful ceremony (mercifully short b/c there was no AC in the building) and then followed by a lovely reception (the food was delicious and the first "real food" that I had eatten since Mortons - Matt had two hot dogs from Sheetz so he was ahead of me). After the reception, we headed out to the bride and groom's house where we drank and ate and drank and sang and talked and hung out until we were thrown out sometime after midnight.

Sunday was a sad day as we all took over this cafe in Berkeley Springs and then had to say goodbye. After much delay, we headed out. Matt took the wheel for the trip back and the poor thing had to deal with downpouring rain for most of the first 3 hours of the trip. Eventually it cleared up but he was dead tired by the time we reached Boston almost 10 hours after we left. The highlight of the trip for me was definately the diner that we stopped in where I saw one of the largest chocolate chip cookies I had ever seen. In fact, all of their baked goods were ridiculously large. Even the bun for the burger was huge.

So now we are home and I'm back at work and Matt's back at work and we still need to unpack and to start laundry. I'm exhausted but I wouldn't have missed this weekend for the world.

Day 1 of DC Trip

Well, Matt and I are just about completing Day 1 of our DC trip extravaganza. We
left Boston last night after work and I took the driver's seat. We made great time until we hit the Jersey Turnpike. That's where we ran into a ton of traffic on the southbound side of the highway b/c of a massive accident on the northbound side. I don't really know what happened but Matt was able to identify an axle being hauled away on a trailer. As a sidenote, I would like to commend the state of NJ for their turnpike system - EZ Pass lanes at 55 MPH, merges that are easy to handle and well detailed road signs.

Our original plan was to stop in Delaware but unfortunately there were no motels available so we headed into Maryland and stopped at a very sketchy Motel 6. Unfortunately that was just about the time that all the drunks, drug dealers and prostitutes arrived. The room was nasty and we didn't dare use the comforters. We managed to get a few hours sleep and then off to DC we went.

We arrived in DC and checked into the Omni Shoreham where the staff was helpful, personable and just all around wonderful. You can imagine our pleasure when we finally got into the room and saw how beautiful it was. Then we were off to the Metro Station where I had my first opportunity to ride DC's subway system and then to Arlington Cemetary where we walked around, saw JFK's resting place, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (and just for Daddy - No, his wife wasn't there this time), and were privy to a portion of the burial of a serviceman. (For a beautiful vision of the sight we saw as we stood in silence to the sound of "Taps" being played indicating the conclusion of the burial service, see below.) We then walked across the Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and walked back down along the reflecting pool to the Washington Memorial.

All in all, a wonderful and relaxing day (even if we were both hot, sweaty and smelly when we were all said and done). Now we are enjoying some cocktails before we get ready to head out to dinner at Morton's in Georgetown. I can't wait for Day Two to start.

Visiting Long Island

Matt and I are alone again. My nephew has returned home to New York for the summer and we are left to our own devices. It appears from the weather forecast that summer will be soon upon us. I am slightly sad because I feel that we have had almost no spring - lots of rain with temperatures mainly in the high 50's - 60's but very few clear days in the 70's. Soon the high 80's and 90's will be upon us, as will the humidity, the very reasons that I don't like the summer very much.

We have a few trips planned over the summer that I'm looking forward to. A weekend in June to see DC for a day or two and then on to a wedding in the area. It should be a good time as Matt and I get to spend some time together sightseeing and forgetting about work and then I get to see some good friends that I rarely get to see (maybe twice a year if I'm lucky). In July we have a week in New York with my family - our plans are simple enough and involve hanging out with my Daddy and enjoying the beautiful sights of Long Island as well as the coolness of Daddy's pool. August is our "big trip" away. We have a wedding in Santa Barbara for which Matt will spend two days in Las Vegas for the bachelor party and then I'll fly out to LA to meet up with Matt and Andrew and Karen. We'll all head up to Santa Barbara for the wedding and an overnight stay and the following day Matt and I will take the red eye back to Boston (it's my first "red eye" ever and I'm interested to see how much I will sleep). Another wedding is anticipated in New York in September and that will finish out our weddings for this year. I nearly forget the highlight of the year - September 23rd we will be attending a once in a lifetime concert of Journey and Def Leppard - despite some cynical comments, I am still holding out that it will be the most fantabulous concert ever. And even if the concert sucks and we all hate it, there will be 9 of us tailgating and having a blast enjoying each other (not nearly as perverted as that could possibly mean).

We're off to New York now to spend Memorial Day weekend with my family and eat lots of sausage. If you have never had the opportunity to sample "cheese sausage" - I highly recommend it. We purchase it in our local Italian food store - it's a pinwheel sausage with cheese and parsley mixed in and OH MY it's delicious. I'm pretty sure Matt has been drooling ever since I told him that it was on the menu. Besides the consumption of cheese sausage and Italian sausage and hamburgers and hot dogs and potato salad and lots of other yummy yummy foods - the rest of the weekend is up in the air. Matt even remembered the camera so hopefully we'll be able to take some pictures to share with you.

As I'm typing, the purser of the ferry just announced that "two drivers have still not purchased their tickets." I can guarantee that in 5 minutes there will still be "two drivers who have not purchased their tickets and even if you have a reservation, you must still come to the purser's window and purchase your tickets." It's the same announcement that we hear at least 2 if not 5 times each trip. Do people get on the ferry, see a long line of people waiting to purchase their tickets and think - oh that must not include me? It's truly a pet peeve of mine. But then again, I tend to have a lot of pet peeves so take that as you will.

All in all, I think Matt and I will have a fantastic summer. We still haven't had the chance to meet Anthony - Matt and Natalie's son - but we hope to do that soon. I also hope to get a few more hikes in as well as at least one weekend in Maine. Fourth of July will be down in Plymouth, unless Mom and Dad have other plans. Labor Day, as of the current time, is still up in the air. Meanwhile, Matt just became the supervisor of the help desk so he'll have a little bit of an adjustment period as he acclimates himself to the new position and we're coming up on my busy season at work so we'll both have work to keep us busy, trips to keep us entertained and each other to keep us company. If I had a Magic 8 Ball I'm sure that it would see that the outlook is good for these upcoming months. (And just so that Ed and Andrea do not think we have forgotten about them, we will still be trying to fit a trip to London in our itinerary!) Happy Summer everyone!

Sunday, was an absolutely beautiful day 62° and not a cloud in the sky. PeggyAnn and I decided to hiking and after pursing the web discovered Ravenswood Park in Gloucester, MA.

Finally, someone has taken a stand for crimes against proper grammar. Alleluia.

You have new Picture Mail!

Daedalus on St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day at River Gods.

St.Patrick's Day Pub crawl from Grafton Street Grille, to Daedalus, to the Cellar, to the Plough & Stars, the Field, and finally River Gods. It was impossible to find a cab. To go home I had to take the 64 bus to Union Square in Brighton and walk home from there.

Good news - we got a new car - a 2006 silver Pathfinder - named Saucy Sally the Silver Pathfinder - "Sally" for short.

Bad news - we discovered that $3500 was stolen from our checking account. Apparently someone got a hold of my credit card number that was on my debit card and charged some items while they were in Rio. We're working on getting the money back now.

That's the big news in our life.

You have new Picture Mail!

Just friends eatin', drinkin', and reminscinin' after tubin'.

First, a few notes, the last two posts were experiments with blogger mobile. I feel they worked well and probably setup PeggyAnn's and my other phones. Going to try to revamp and improve the site. Improve the formatting, widen the central column, figuring out why blogger inserts a <div clear="both"></div> before and after every post. I also need to research and apply the IE box model hack. I'm also thinking of a lighter color scheme and the possibility off a CSS style switcher. What site's design do you like the best?

This last weekend was one of the best of my life. In celebration of my 30^th birthday my lovely wife flew in my bestest friend Jill and her husband Andy. Surprising me while making merry at Shay's PeggyAnn arrived with our surprise guests. I feigned the best surprise face ever while, simultaneously, PeggyAnn and Jill both denounced my emotion. I ruined the surprise a few weeks prior, by uncovering a bit of evidence accidentally with my curiosity. Much merriment was then upon that establishment and two others before continuing our celebration at our house. We finished early in the morning.

The next morning I awoke at 11ish and found that Jill had been awake since eight. Heidi came by with some breakfast pizza. We all hung out for a but before Heidi had to go to work, Mike and PeggyAnn had to go back to sleep, and Jill and I decided to go see the Star Wars exhibit at the Museum of Science. Unfortunately, tickets were not available for the exhibit that day. Therefore, I decided that I would take Jill and to the waterfront and we would have a bowl of Boston Clam Chowder and catch up. It was a great idea except for the fact that the two places I wanted to go the Barking Crab and Jimmy's on the Pier for both closed. So we ended up just taking the scenic route back to the house. We all had a delightfully delectable dinner at Morton's steakhouse that evening. Hopping in cabs after the meal we headed for the North End and Stanza dei Sigari. Most us had a nice cigar and some drinks. I had a wonderful glass of McCallen 30 year old scotch. After that, we hit another pub and returned home.

The following morning we woke up and took Jill and Andy back to the airport, I was very sad to see them leave so soon. It was like a tease to have such a short time to spend with them. I returned home and PeggyAnn, Vös, and I relaxed and took naps, read books, and watched movies for the rest of our Sunday. In the end, it was one of the best weekends I ever had. I wish we had remebered to bring a camera. Thank You everyone for had a hand in this weekend, I love you all so much for giving me this memory for the rest of me life.

My Office

Here is a pic of my office taken with my cell. Testing Blogger mobile.

I'm sitting at Shay's doing what I do best.