Parting is such sweet sorrow

Yeah - it's cliche - so what? So this is it. Tomorrow Bugg and I hit the road and leave the first signs of spring in Boston for the hot days and humid nights of summer in Nashville.

I need to get over myself already I know this - it's seriously taken me a month to say goodbye but in my defense it's hard to say a quick goodbye to something this significant in a person's life - specifically my life (this is my blog after all - me me me).

These months in Boston have brought about such major changes in my life that it would be impossible to walk away from the city and the people I've met here with just a wave. So I need a little more time to cry, a few more drawn out goodbyes, a couple more hugs and kisses, a little more time to let it sink in that it's the last time I'll see my friends for awhile.

See you in Nashville.

Love you, Natae

Dinner at Houston's

Had dinner last night with Jeff, Amanda, Emma, and Jenna ~

Aren't they cute! Love them!!! xo

Tiffany's Pictures...In MAINE

The third and final installment of the Time/Life Weekend in MAINE series...

More Pictures..IN MAINE

They see us rollin' in my Mini...In MAINE





Probably one of the only times you'll ever see a picture of our butts...IN MAINE







Death by Chocolate...how sweet it is...In MAINE

Pictures by Kristin ~ thanks!!

Saturday...In MAINE

Had a great, terrific, memorable, fun time in Maine today with Stef, Kristin, and Tiffany (the Deuce). Here are some pictures...more to come from Kristin and Tiffany soon - they got some really good ones. Thanks so much girls for the fun and the memories!! xo

Do Dead Babies Limbo?

I'm reading tonight where the Catholic Church has decided to banish Limbo ~ specifically that babies who die before they are baptized will be able to have/find eternal salvation. I'm not a very good Catholic so I hope I summed it up correctly... I am the sort of Catholic who has always believed the Limbo thing was a bunch of crap. I personally don't believe God would deny access to heaven to a baby simply b/c they weren't baptized - again forgive me if I'm simplifying or misquoting.

At any rate - this is not a religious post...it's so much more...so much more funny...

I was telling Kristin about the Limbo/baby story and she said in a very aggravated way, "Doesn't the Church have better things to do than make judgements about the types of games we play?!?!" And I was like uh...b/c it took me a minute to figure out that we weren't on the same page. I'm like not LIMBO LIMBO but Limbo.

We've been laughing our heads off for the last 20 minutes cracking jokes about how babies will now be allowed into heaven but they won't be allowed to actually play Limbo once they get there...Yet another reason why I'm not a very good Catholic.

Their First Time

I'm driving Kristin and Stef to J.P. Licks for some ice cream tonight (b/c there's always time for Licks) and we come upon a parking spot and I pulled in headlights first instead of parallel parking. As I whip my whip front end first into the sport both Stef and Kristin gasp and oooh...at the same time.

Evidently "front entering" as it was so christened in that moment, is not something they or many people practice on a regular basis. For me ~ it's just about all I do. I know how to parallel park but I'm not a fan and so I try to avoid it if at all possible. Stef and K can both parallel park an 18 wheeler given the chance - I can barely parallel park my MINI. Yeah I front enter...You gotta problem with that?

Last Train to Park Street

Words from a Wise Woman

I was emailing my friend Gloria yesterday telling her how glad I am that I got to know her, how much fun it's been etc...in case I didn't get to see her before I leave. She wrote the following back ~ It's a great way to look at life for all of us ~ not just those of us who have been saying goodbye for the last month (me) ~ hurry up and leave already ~ they can't miss me if I don't go away! :)

I've always been very grateful for all the wonderful folks like you who've come in (and out) of my life....so CHEERS! for the time we've spent together, and the moments we've shared, walking along this path of our lives.

Bowling...not so much

We ended up not bowling last night but the third Thirsty Thursday was still fun...

Don't make me pull this car over

I was chatting with Snooky last night and she reminded me of something that happened in college that I had totally forgotten but really was one of those priceless moments that should be revisited on occasion. Here's the scene...

Snooky, DeeAnne, and this dude Meckler were in my car (I think it was my car) (RIP sweet Prelude) driving "down south". The town where we went to college, Murray, KY was a dry county back then and if you wanted to buy beer you had to drive down south about 10 minutes to TN to Mack's to pick up beer and if you wanted liquor you had to drive further south to Paris TN. I assume that's what we were doing but I don't remember exactly - not the point.

Point: Meckler was a decent guy but he was ANNOYING! I mean hyperactive childlike annoying and DeeAnne did not and does not suffer fools easily so things were a bit tense in the car because he was acting up and DeeAnne was letting him know he was getting on her last nerve. He was getting on all of our nerves to be more precise.

So things heated up and the details are fuzzy but DeeAnne basically told him to shut up or walk home. Mind you we are at least 45 minutes from Murray and pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Well he wouldn't shut his pie hole and somehow I ended up pulling into a gas station and DeeAnne kicked him out of the car. We drove off and left him at the gas station. *eg*

We go back to Murray and end up at some house party and who is sitting there having a great time - Meckler. He might have even beat us to the party I can't remember. What I do remember is that he was happy as a clam - evidently he hitched a ride with some truck driver and made it back to Murray with no problem. He was sorta like a bad penny or a monster in a horror movie - you think you've gotten rid of them or killed them - but they keep turning up.

Snooky - feel free to correct me if I got the details wrong :)

Cuchi Cuchi

No not Charo - but Cuchi Cuchi in Cambridge http://www.cuchicuchi.cc/ a great little place to have dinner with your sweetie or your sweet friend Stef - whatever the case may be =)

The movers come today. I have to say this is the best packing job I've ever done - probably b/c this is the least amount I've had to move and well I've had some practice. Everytime I move I say - NEVER AGAIN and yet a year later I end up packing and moving to a new apartment, new city, state...I'm not going to say Never Again this time b/c I'm pretty sure I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in the Mission Brentwood Apartment Complex. (please no)

Later

Penny - Heads Up

Reason #358 Why I love my cat

Because he knows how to relax.

Biggest Flake ever

This was in Carlo's cereal box - it has to be the biggest flake in the world.

More Easter Pics

Kristin took the three cute pics of Vince with Moira, Arianna, and Rick.

Sarah posted these on her blog and I just saw them today...

The girls are so cute dying eggs and that's me w/ my "fluff" and no I'm not talking about the extra stuff around my mid-section - I'm talking about the jello/whip cream/fruit salady thing that has been a staple at summer dinners for as long as I can remember - which of course could be partly responsible for the extra fluff around my mid-section. "Are you looking at my gut?? I'm Working on it!!" See if anyone remembers that quote...

People are scared of the fluff ~ it doesn't go over well at parties with non-family folk. I can't figure out if it tastes really bad to everyone else and I'm just weird b/c I LOVE it or if it just looks kinda weird and therefore no one will dare try it. It's harmless - except for the cottage cheese which some people really can't stand - it's a texture thing you know. Whatever the reason you're not eating it means there is more for me :p~~~

Biggest Dog I've ever seen

This dog was chillin at the Beacon St. Pub this afternoon watching the runners in the Boston Marathon. He was so cool.

Maine

Next weekend is my last weekend in Boston ~ as an official resident. I want to be sure and make the most of it but sometimes when you put too much pressure on making the most of it, it ends up sucking the joy out of it. So, I've been wrestling with just keeping it normal and not doing anything special and wanting to do something "one more time".

I've pretty much decided that I'd like to see Maine "one more time". It was the first place I lived/visited in New England back in like 98 or 99 when I lived there for 6 months during my grad school internship. I've always held it a bit in awe (does that make sense?) No matter how many times I visit Nubble Light or Drake's Island I get that same "in awe" feeling. I love driving through the small towns, looking at all the cute shops, seeing the ocean.

When I moved to Maine it was the first time I was ever really on my own. I didn't know a soul, my family was hours away, my friends were all in KY and I was pretty much left to my own devices. The people I worked with and my landlord and her son were my surrogate family and friends. I spent a lot of time on my own visiting Nubble and the beaches in the area - even though it was the middle of winter and even though sometimes it was lonely it was so beautiful that I really didn't mind the cold or the lonely.

In a lot of ways my situation now is similar to my situation then. I started out on my own more or less and through Providence found another surrogate family of friends. I've been back to Maine only 3 or 4 times in the year and a half that I've lived here. One of those was a trip on my own one Saturday several months ago. I wanted to visit the lighthouse and the beach ~ it was cold and a bit lonely but it was so beautiful and I really didn't mind the cold or the lonely.

I wish I had made a few more visits but time gets away and there will always be another weekend it seems but here I am almost out of New England weekends. So I think I'm making the right decision in heading to Maine on Saturday as it seems appropriate to say farewell for now to one of my favorite places.

Summin' it all up

One of my favorite pics - a Sunday at the Littlest Bar

In the past 7 days I've gotten a job (go me), set a date for the movers to come (the 19th), gotten more fillings then I care to count (I'd smile but it hurts), decided to work three more days ($$), packed up more boxes (hate it), and secured my road trip companion (S.Bugg). I've also got cable and Internet service scheduled to be installed upon my arrival to N'ville (very important), made up the cutest (seriously the cutest) change of address cards, and Rocked the Casbah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_the_Casbah) .

I have only 16 more days here in Boston. It's going by so fast. I'm seriously thinking about wearing my cowboy boots and cowboy hat into work the last day just for sh*t's & giggles.