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.

Thoughts on the End

I was talking with one of the lab staff today about an email I sent out that had a minor flub in it (the pdf was upside down). I was telling her how I had righted the file and saved it as such and didn't realize it still went out upside down until after I sent it. The girl replied, "Sometimes the harder you try the more you mess up". And it gave me pause (literally) and I said to her, "You just summed up my last year and a half".

I've started going through my files and my office in general, getting rid of things, organizing, etc in preparation for my exit and the longer I'm at it the more I realize two things:

1. The people that I work with in this building are awesome - they have taken such good care of me and I will truly miss seeing them everyday. They were there when everything had turned to sh*t and even though they had no idea what was happening in my personal life they were friendly faces to see everyday and that made it worth getting out of bed - sometimes it was the only thing that made me get up.

2. The beast I've had to work for however is the exact opposite of all the great things they have been. And I'm reminded of this as I go through things - like the spiral notebooks that she insisted I buy - insisted. As I sift through the countless repeats of papers, policies, emails, and other things that she insisted we had multiple copies of, the notes and emails she wrote to me filled with !!!!!! for no good reason the more my stomach churns. I'm reminded that the harder I tried to do the "right" thing the more I screwed up.

Feels good just to get it out...

As I get closer to the last day of work and my last day in Boston I feel like I'm walking around with two heads. One that is ready and excited about my move and all the great things that are in store and the other that is sad at the great people I'm leaving behind. Actually I'm not leaving them behind - I just won't see them everyday...that sounds better.

Expect happier posts in the near future - even the happy things here are tainted with a bittersweet edge. But it's life right - it moves on with or without you and mine is taking me to Nashville where I'm going to be a country music super star and live happily ever after with my KY Bugg. I'm not really going to be a super star but I do plan on living happily ever after with a boy named Bugg. I also plan on making frequent trips to Boston, catching up with old friends, seeing my family more, sweating to death in the heat and humidity and kickin' some serious bootay at my new job.

Thanks for participating in my afternoon moodswing!

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail

Had a super-sized Easter Sunday. I think we all felt super sized after eating all of the ridiculously good food everyone made. Eggs were hidden (of the plastic kind), colored (of the hard boiled kind), and eaten (of the deviled kind). Brisket was baked, ham was...well ham was crock-potted, desserts were devoured, and I think a good time was generally had by all.

Saturday's all right for fightin'

Because she can

I love this woman...she's performing a routine during try outs to be a Denver Bronco's Cheerleader. She didn't make it - but bless her heart for trying!

Lucky

Pam, Tiffany, Stef, Arianna, Jeff, Tori, Me, Michelle

In what was the first in a series of four Thursday night's out before my departure to Nashville the PFA Menards kicked some trivial butt last night. (I'm trying to put the illegal use of cell phones out of my mind [dirty dirty prize money]). We still rocked - the other rider w/ Paul Revere, Tony Danza for 10 points, seriously we are pretty awesome. Sparkles and Beads!!

Snooky, Snookah, Snoop Dog, aka VD, arrives tonight and there is much rejoicing!

The only thing that tastes good lately is chocolate. Perhaps it's a good thing it's close to Easter. I'm hoping I score big time with the Easter Bunny.

I'm awful

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hell for saying this but the perky lil eskimo lady from Alaska on Deal or No Deal tonight made me want to jab a pencil in my ears and eyes. She's a single mom with three cute little boys and an adorable uncle with his ceremonial Eskimo drum - swinging his hips and dancing and drumming, her supportive aunt, her token chubby friend. She's as cute as a button really - petite and pert and perky. The three "P's" of Prime Time TV.

Perky. I do hope she gets that 4-wheel drive truck she so desperately needs so she can cart her kiddos around the frozen tundra of Alaska - but she's crying now wearing a head dress and her aunt just did a cheer so you'll have to tell me how much she wins b/c I can't watch anymore.

Actually I find that more and more often the contestants on game shows are getting increasingly annoying. Either they are loud and obnoxious, perky and obnoxious, or just plan obnoxious. It's like they have no shame at all - perhaps it's a prerequisite - you have to check your good sense and shame at the door if you want to win the big money. Of course the reality TV folks aren't any better - i.e. I Love New York, Vanilla Ice (Rob van Winkle) on that Vh1 celebreality game show thing, or any of the bimbos or frat boys on the Real World.

I'll take "I'll act like a monkey on TV for 250 Alec".

Sunday w/ Stef, Moira, and Vincent

Friday Stuff

Two pics

1. Picture from a children's book about the artist Frida - it's Frida as a little girl and they kept her unibrow. I'm in love.

2. First spring flowers.

Droolin' at the Dentist

I've been to the dentist twice this week...both experiences have been good. Dr. Dentist numbs me with a good dose of Novocaine and shortly thereafter my lips feel fat like someone hit me with an uppercut and the drilling begins. Today I had two small cavities in my front two upper teeth filled. I've never had any work on my front teeth done and it was an interesting/humiliating/funny experience. So after three shots inside my upper lip or lipf at this point cuz that's how I think I sound when I talk, my lip seem to swell up like a balloon and I feel like Bucky the Super Bucktoothed Beaver. I mean I literally feel like my two front teeth are so big/long/overbitten that I could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence. The image of this made me start to laugh (on the inside - always quietly on the inside). Then Dr. Dentist jams a bunch of gauze up under my upper lip - exaggerating the fatness of my lip and the buckness (?) of my teeth. The laughter is starting to creep to the outside... Soon the drilling begins and with that comes water and suction...the next thing I feel is water running down the side of my face down my neck and down my shirt to my back. At first I didn't know it was water - I thought I was actually drooling that much - and that's when it hit me - I must look like a big ol baby Huey sitting there in that chair, mouth all open, eyes squeezed shut, drool running outta my mouth - and it made me laugh. It's hard to laugh when you have all this business going on..but I started laughing. As soon as he stops drilling I bolt up - more water (now I know it's water) comes streaming out and the poor hygienist is doing her best to suction the whole mess but I'm laughing and choking and moving too fast for her to do much good.
I don't know how dentists keep straight faces when their working on patients. I know I looked ridiculous and if I'd been able to see my face I would have been crying from laughter.

I'm Back

Word verification bugs the ever livin crap outta me. Half the time I can't read the letters so I end up having to do it over and over again and it makes me feel like a dumb*ss.

Best Birthday Party Ever

Last night I helped Vincent celebrate his first birthday. It was a great party! It's hard to believe a year has passed ~ Momma Moira baked a bundt cake, had fresh strawberries, cheese, bread, wine, (not for Vincent) and we all got to wear party hats. After the candle blowing and cake eating we got to listen to some jazzy, snazzy kids songs. We sang and danced along to "If you're happy and you know it..." And we were happy and we did know it - that I'm certain of. While I was singing and clapping my hands I realized I was experiencing one of the most perfect moments I've ever seen/been a part of. I can't do it justice but here's what went down....

Moira and Vince were sitting by the stereo: Vince was beebopping his little head back and forth, stopping to watch all of us now and then, turning up the stereo, laughing, grooving in his little boy way. Moira was smiling and clapping and singing - watching Vince and you could see all over her face that he was her light :)

Stefanie and Tori were in the doorway ~ full out dancing, laughing and singing. Kristin was over on the couch getting her groove on as well - clapping and stomping, laughing and singing.

It's hard to explain but as I watched all of us it seemed like not only were the six of us in our own world (the world of the birthday party) but we were each in our own worlds within our selves. We weren't self conscious, weren't worried about work or bills or life - we were just in the moment - clapping our hands b/c we were happy; happy to be celebrating Baby V & Momma Moira.

It hit me on the ride home how perfect it all was and I wanted so much for Vince to be able to remember it - how much fun was being had because of him. And it made me think about how life is full of these perfect moments - sometimes they last a few minutes, a few days or a few years. Once they pass you know you'll never be able to recreate it.

This used to be hard for me to accept. I remember spending the summer in Europe with the two Jennifer's and how much fun we had - and how we said - we'll go back next year - we never made it back and maybe that's ok b/c I don't think it could have or would have been as perfect and it had been.

It also reminded me of how for several weeks (it seems like it went on for months) last year a group of us met at the Littlest Bar on Sunday afternoons ~ we would cram ourselves into this tiny space and listen to the same guy play guitar and sing the same songs every week - and we would drink and sing along like it was the first time we'd heard our favorite songs in years. It was perfect.

There comes a point when you have to move on from those perfect moments (too many to list here but I wish I could) - it's inevitable - things change, people come and go, and we move from perfect moment to perfect moment.

Uh - little sentimental over here if you haven't guessed :-) What I really want to say in a nutshell is... "I LOVE YOU MAN". Thanks for the perfect moments!

What is this?

Seriously, what is this? I missed AI last night and I really want someone to explain to me what the h*ll this is.

Starting again...again :-)

I started this blog back in the summer of 05 when I moved to Boston as a way to share with my family all the neat places I visited (beach towns and Walden Pond are two that come to mind)

It morphed into a few things:

• A record of all the crazy and ordinary day to day things (think bus rides, and my love affair with the T)
  
• A photo album of all of the crazy and ordinary weekends/trivia nights/concerts/pubs/roadtrips
  
• A journal of the last year and half of my life that has captured all of the ups and downs (mostly ups), the new, wonderful, friends I've made, falling out of love, and finding love in the least expected place

Very soon it's going to be filled with stories and pictures of roadtrips, trivia nights, concerts, kiddos, family, reconnecting with old friends, and visits from the Beantown Friends - but instead of a Boston backdrop all of this will be taking place in Music City USA baby - that's right - NashVegas - Nashville, TN.

I'm excited and sad - how could I not be? I'm going to try and bring Camel Back to Nashville ;)

Nashville, Nashvegas, Music City

Had a great weekend in Nashville. The weather was warm, the trees were in bloom (the bumble bees and wasps were out - eek!), and the company was awesome :-)

Crying on TV

Does anyone know who that crying blond girl in the AI audience was and why was she crying? OH WAIT! British Invasion was the theme so I guess they had to have some crying chicas to make it look like the Beatles or something. Sanjaya sang his little heart out and his hair was normal - sweet little thing ;) That poor crying girl is going to die when she sees her ugly cry face on TV!! No one should have their ugly cry face on TV.