One if by Land, Two if by Sea

On Saturday we headed to Downtown Boston to try to go sailing. The wait was two hours and we just didn't feel like waiting that long so we opted to go to wander around the North End instead. We stopped by our favorite place, Mikes Pastry's and got ourselves some canoli and brownies. So yummy! It was such a nice day that we had to take advantage of the beautiful Spring weather. Look at the trees they are no longer barren.
We also made a trip to the Old North Church. The signal lanterns of Paul Rever displayed in the steeple of this church April 18, 1775 warned the country of the march of the British Tropps to Lexington and Concord. One lantern meant the troops were coming by land and two lanterns meant they were coming by sea.

I am constantly in awe of all the history Boston has to offer. I'm not sure why I enjoy going to the old cemetery's so much, but they are just so cool looking. I wonder what it was like for people to come to this "new world" and lay a foundation for our country.
(I also thought this was a cool picture and maybe Terese would be impressed with my photography skills. I still want lessons Terese!)

I really struggled living in this area for the first 4-5 months but strange enough over the winter I fell in love with all this place has to offer. As Annie put it, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"

They say the darndest things

Today I was visiting with an elderly woman at her home who is 83 years old and has Alzheimer's Disease. Here is how the conversation went:

E: You are so pretty! My what a young beautiful woman.

L: Thank you! You look very nice also.

E: I am so glad you came to see me, you have such nice hair.

L: Thanks, I am really glad I could come and see you today.

E: You are so pretty, but I bet you are a real B*#@! when you get mad.

L: Well....you might be right about that.

E: I wish I had a danish to give you. They are shaped like figure eights and have lemon and raspberry filling and are laced with white frosting, it is so delicious.

L: That sounds very good!

Working with elders is never boring! This lady is so cute and really made me laugh today!

Marathon Monday!

We experienced first hand yesterday the BOSTON MARATHON! The weather pulled through for the runners this year, some might even say it was a little too hot. It was a perfect day for a side line cheerer (C and I). We headed to Newton with some friends to watch the runners at mile marker 19, right before what they call, "Heartbreak Hill." We also took McDuff so he could enjoy a nice day out of the house!
Watching the runners was so much fun!! I was on the verge of tears a few times watching these inspiring people run this long course. Those who were running for charity were so amazing! I honestly do not know how anyone could run 26 miles!?!?! There was a little elderly man running it with a sign pinned to him that read, "Running my 100th Marathon." Others had signs that read, "For dad" There were even blind runners with guides to help them achieve this great accomplishment. Many of the runners had their names on their shirts or written on their arms; I would cheer and yell for them by name and many times they would turn to me and give me a thumbs up or just a simple "thanks." I have to say, my calling in life is not running, but I have always been a pretty good cheerleader! Yesterday I did not let the talents I have be hidden, I cheered like crazy for those runners! They are total ROCK STARS in my book!

A fun family filled day!

Good thing I was totally camera happy and was taking a million pictures. I snapped this one not realizing at the time it was LANCE ARMSTRONG!! He is the totally built guy in the yellow shirt! LIVE STRONG!!!

A great part of the Marathon was handing out oranges to the runners. Here is a great shot of Aimee, Tracie and Laci offering our services of orange holders to the runners.


It was such a fun experience. Have I mentioned that I love living in this city?!?! There are always so many cool things going on!
A shout out to my friend Jen who ran this marathon for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute! Way to go girl!

Bikes not Brahms

This weekend Christian had one of his peices premiered at Brandeis. It was a piece written for Electronics, piano, guitar and voice. C's friend Jose wrote the poem/words for the piece. C's friend Matt, who he met in Italy and attends the Hartt School in Hartford played the guitar. It was a great concert (really long...3 hours), but I was very proud of Christian. He is always working so hard on writing music and making things sound exactly how he wants them to.
It is hard to believe he is almost done with his 1st year at Brandeis; only 4 more years left! He had written 3 wonderful peices and is already planning his next work. It is nice to know that my husband LOVES what he is doing. It was great to see this work performed after so much blood, sweat and tears (maybe not so many tears or really even blood, but sweat for sure!) went into it.

I decided to surprise Christian on Saturday by taking him to a bike shop to buy him a bike. He has been wanting one since we moved to Boston. So we went to BIKES NOT BOMBS and got him this fabulous looking bike! This will make it much easier for C to get around town.
He has been telling me how he wants a new hobby besides music and I think this will be just the thing!

Congrats on a fabulous year! Hope you enjoy the bike!

i'm all grown up but I still want to be a rock star!

I saw this bumper sticker on a car the other day and I loved it!
There are days I want to be rock star!
Sometimes it is weird for me to think that I am "grown up". I am done with school and I have a career. Sounds pretty impressive.

I have been working with the elderly population for 6 months now; it has been a big change as I have been working with children and adolescents until now. In the last 6 months I have seen things I could have never imagined seeing in my entire life. I have been in roach infested houses, seen a drunk man with a jacket and boots on only, a woman who is so thin she can barely lift her head, and so much more. It has been seriously hard work and some days I am exhausted and frustrated when I get home.
There have been a lot of wonderful things about my work as well. I have been able to see many elderly get services they need to stay in their home longer, many get their homes exterminated and be bug free, some get better housing, others get so excited to hear from me, and others have a good Christmas without their spouse for the first time. I have been able to help a lot of people help themselves. On hard and overwhelming days and weeks like this I have to remember the good things I do in my work. This is why I do this work because it gives me a sense of purpose to know that I can effect peoples lives for the better.
Social work is not a high paying job and sometimes I think it would be nice to have a job that paid a little better, but I feel so blessed that I get paid enough to pay all of our bills and never go without what we need. I also feel so lucky to be able to have bigger rewards than monetary with my job. I have learned so much about myself doing this work and feel that this career choice has really enabled me to be a better all around person!

Opening Day for the Red Sox

Today was opening day @ Fenway Park. Like anything that has to do with the Red Sox, this game is a big deal, especially since they have a championship ring ceremony before the game. It is very exciting for all Bostonians and unless you have money or are very lucky, you probably don't get to go to the game. I fit into the category of not going to the game. However,I was not too sad because I found out in honor of opening day a local ice cream store, JP Licks, was giving out free ice cream. During my lunch break a few of us walked over to partake of this wonderful treat! We were expecting a small little scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream, this was not the case. We got a full regular ice cream cone AND the flavor of our choice. I got some "cow tracks" and it was delicious! If I can't be at the Sox game the next best thing is FREE ICE CREAM! Thanks JP Licks!