Congratulations K & V!

So our friends Kevin and Victoria had their baby boy, Timothy Scott, on August 17 (and under a full moon I might add)! Both baby boy and mother are doing well (and I guess dad is doing well despite the lack of sleep).

Kevin and Victoria just had their baby shower so they are all set to bring their new addition home. They are the couple I made the baby quilt for (see a few posts earlier).

We were able to visit them in the hospital and then after they had come home (both times we came bearing gifts of food). It was great to bring them dinner and spend an evening with Kevin, Vicki, and Timmy. Timmy is adorable!

Vicki and Kevin at their shower

Congratulations guys! And I'm sure it won't be long before we are called in for laundry and bring-us-dinner duty again!

Smile Mallie!

Nick took this photo on his iPhone. She never looks at the camera when I try and take a picture!

Breezing through Boston

A couple weeks ago my sister, Cindy, and her now-fiance Mike (that's a story you'll hear about later) came to Boston to visit. Those of you who have been here know what that means.. the return of Tour Guide Nick. But it's cool, I actually still like seeing all the sights here in Boston -- being the Revolutionary War buff I am.

Here's a quick run-down of what we did:

Friday, August 1, 2008 -- Freedom Trail to Fenway

Cindy, Mike, and I started the day pretty early. We headed out from our place here in Charlestown and hit the Freedom Trail (the path through the city marked by a red line taking you by most of the cool historic sites) in reverse -- starting with the Bunker Hill Monument. Climbing the 294 steps first thing in the morning took a little out of Cindy and Mike, I think.





(By the way, Ann still had to work this day and missed all the fun.)

After that, we hit the rest of the sites, stopped for lunch for some awesome clam chowder (a requirement from Cindy and Mike) and then for a beer and some Boston Cream Pie (also a requirement from Cindy and Mike).

By the time we were done with the Freedom Trail it was mid-afternoon and we started making our way toward Fenway Park -- where we watched the Sox beat the Oakland A's in 12 innings. When all was said and done, we had probably walked a good 8 miles that day. Not a bad day's exercise.

------------------------------------------------

Saturday, August 2, 2008 -- Beer Bust

This was the day we had planned to tour the Sam Adams brewery, but by the time we got there (early afternoon) all the day's tours had been filled. Nuts. So.. it became a bit of a recovery day following Friday's whirlwind tour. I was able to show Cindy and Mike my TV station, which they seemed to enjoy. We also got lunch with Ann's sister Susie and caught dinner and a movie later on -- since it was raining buckets and outdoor activities weren't possible.

-------------------------------------------------

Sunday, August 3, 2008 -- Babies & Betrothement

Ann and I were invited to our friends Kevin and Victoria's baby shower (Vic is due to give birth to their first son in just a few days -- August 30) in Salem -- and since Cindy barely remembers Salem from our first trip as a family out to Boston, and Mike has never been anywhere around here -- they tagged along.

Ann and I had a great time at the party, but Cindy and Mike made the headlines today. While they were off on their own (the only chance they really were alone this whole trip) Mike proposed (and Cindy accepted, of course). They have been dating for a few years, and living together, and frankly, what the heck took so long? hehe... Just kidding. I did know it would happen sooner or later, though. Congrats again, guys. :-)

For dinner we met up with Susie at Legal Seafoods to celebrate the engagement.

---------------------------------------------------

Monday, August 4, 2008 -- Big Screen, Surf, and Sand

I just couldn't let family from out of town visit without exposing them to the marvel that is Jordan's Furniture -- and particularly the IMAX movie theatre inside the furniture store. So.. Cindy and Mike and I caught an early showing of "The Dark Knight" (and, yes, it is still awesome after seeing it four times) and lunch at Fuddrucker's (which is also inside the furniture store) before heading to one of the many beaches here around Boston. After a few hours in the sun, we came back to Boston, met Ann, and got dinner down in the North End at Pizzeria Regina.

After that, the engaged tourists and I took a quick drive up to Lexington and Concord to check out the spot where "the shot heard 'round the world" was fired at the Old North Bridge.

----------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 -- Suds Success!

Giving it another shot, Cindy, Mike, and I were able to make it on a tour of the Sam Adams brewery, which was fun, as always. Then after more chowder and beer for lunch, and seafood and beer for dinner (at my favorite place, The Barking Crab), Ann and I took Cindy and Mike to the airport where they got on a flight back to Chicago.

-----------------------------------------------------

In all, it was great having Cindy and Mike out here. Ann and I had a lot of fun and would definitely enjoy hosting them again. So.. y'all come back now, ya hear? On the docket for next time: a Duck Tour, the New England Aquarium, the Harpoon Brewery, and how about a trip to the cape?

Happy Birthday Mallie!

Yesterday was Mallie's 4th birthday. Well, since she was a stray and the shelter found her when she was about 1, and we adopted her on August 1, 2005, we consider August 1 her birthday. She is still as crazy as the day we brought her home, just a couple pounds heavier.

This was taken the day we brought her home.

Nick with Mallie the day we brought her home

Mallie seems to find the strangest hiding spots, especially in our closets!

Mallie sleeping with her "mouse" (taken right after her surgery)

This was taken a few days ago, Mallie likes to act like a sea otter and loves to have her belly scratched!

Happy Birthday Maleficent!

Baby Quilt

So my friend V. is having a baby at the end of August. This weekend is her baby shower up in Boston. I started a baby quilt for her, and just finished. Its actually a simple quilt, but I just wasn't finding the time to finish it.

There is a polka dot blue fabric, with two appliqued yellow fleece ducks, a border of white (with stars and moons in a slight off white), and then a satin baby blanket binding. The back is a soft textured fabric. I quilted simple squares on it (to look like blocks). I'm proud of the ducks, I think they are really cute.


Isn't he cute?? (By the way, they are having a boy)

The iPhone chronicles

So exactly 3 weeks before the new iPhone came out, Nick's old phone decided to die on him. Well, it wouldn't charge anymore...and a battery only lasts so long. So, we decided to brave it, dot matrix style, and only live with one cell phone in the house for 3 weeks. Those were three very long weeks.

However, the day finally arrived when Apple would launch the new iPhone to Apple and AT&T stores everywhere. And, we had an Apple store less than 1 mile away at the Cambridgeside Galleria (there was even an AT&T store and a kiosk in the mall as well). Thus began the iPhone adventure.

Day 1 - Launch Day
Nick is up before the sun and out the door in order to get to the Galleria and in line before the store opened. He arrived around 7am (store opened at 8) and was 57th in line.

Apple only sent 50 phones to this prominent, mall location, adjacent to MIT, Apple store location. Nick was talked into pre-ordering a phone at the AT&T store. They said only a few days and he would have one.

Well...days later, and his order is still backordered.

Attempt 2 - 5 days after launch
Nick decides the AT&T promise of a phone is bogus and doesn't want to wait any longer (remember he doesn't have a phone...) so he gets up before dawn again to head to the other Apple store in Boston.

Now, this Apple store is the largest Apple store in the country (only the one in Tokyo is larger). Right here on Boylston street in little old Boston.

He gets there ready to wait in line (still, days after the launch), but there is a sign on the door saying that they didn't get a shipment in and have no phones.

Attempt 3 - Same day
Coming back from a job site, Nick calls me (he's at work using his desk phone) and asks if I'll stop by the Apple store in the Galleria and see if they have any phones. My office is two blocks from the Galleria, so I agree. I get there just before 10, when the mall (and the Apple store open). There is a short line, of 10 people or so, so I que up.

Then they announce that they didn't get a shipment and only have white 16 GB phones. I'm not waiting in line and paying a lot of money for the color Nick didn't like. So I left.

Then...90 minutes later, I get another call from Nick...thus...

Attempt 4 - Same Day
Nick tells me the Galleria did get a shipment in, just in and asks if during lunch I could head over there again. I agree.

When I arrive I'm told the line is 90 minutes long. Sure, a long lunch, but I am promised they have enough phones for me to choose black or white. Sweet.

THREE HOURS LATER...I leave the Apple store with a black phone and a promise that I can control the TV for the next 10 years.

Of course Nick had to wait for his phone as I had to make up the hours at work that I stood in a line, filled with MIT geeks on summer vacation (and some professors also taking a long lunch). But he finally has a new black 16 GB fancy new phone, and he can not only check baseball scores, but actually update his fantasy baseball team with it. Fabulous (do you hear the sarcasm?).

(I'll admit that the internet and the GPS tool are actually really cool. But I still don't have control of the TV...perhaps someday). How I wish I could take a picture of Nick on the couch right now, in his underwear, checking baseball scores/stats while watching the Cubs game, but I won't subject anyone else to that...

Bachelor Party Weekend... at Bernie's

I can still taste the Jagermeister. Yuck!

Now that I've gotten the only negative out of the way I figure I'll write about some of the awesome things I did this past weekend while in the Hamptons -- the setting for one of the best movies of all time -- and the setting for my friend Steve's bachelor party. Thanks for agreeing to get married, Steve, and congratulations for inviting me. Or.. is it the other way around? :-) Also, many thanks to Steve's friend Doug for opening his house to us drunken slobs.

Anyway, what a great weekend. It began with me waking up at 5 am in order to meet my friend Dan, who was driving, and hit the road. On the way we picked up my other friend Jay, and set off driving to the ferry in New London, Connecticut. We were shooting for the 8 am boat, and arrived half-an-hour early and were able to squeeze onto the 7:30 ferry at the very last minute. A pleasant surprise for us, anyway.. but not so much for Steve.

Once landing in Orient Point, NY (at the far eastern tip of Long Island) it was only about a 45 minute drive to Doug's place in Hampton Bays. So.. we pull into the drive way just short of 10 am and give Steve a call. He'd been out drinking the night before and was not very happy. But, he and the other three guys that were there successfully rallied and we all went out for breakfast.

After eating we drove to a place where we rented jet skis (seven skis for seven guys) and took to the ocean with the help of a huge wife-beater-wearing muscle guy who turned out to be completely whipped by his stereotypically New York Italian girlfriend. But, to be honest, she scared all of us, so we aren't criticizing the guy. She was a beast. Once we got out on the water, it wasn't long before I took a bath. Falling off a jet ski is actually pretty fun.. once you get the salt water out of your lungs.

After the jet skiing we came back to Doug's place, cracked open a couple cases of beer, then sat on the beach and pier for a while, until Steve and Dan decided to go Greco Roman and see who could win a fight for dock supremacy. In case you're wondering who won, Steve is the splash you see there.

But.. it turns out Dan may have been the real loser, as one of his favorite Penn State shirts did not survive the ordeal.

After that, we got a game of wiffle ball going. It didn't last long, though. Mr. D-3 Baseball (Dan), who proclaimed himself too "thick" for his own good, cracked the wiffle ball in half.

But don't worry, we got back to him after he passed out (or if you asked him, "took a nap") on the lawn.

While Dan was finishing his nap, pizza was ordered and we got ready to hit the clubs. We went to a place called "Beach Bar," which was populated by a bunch of guys exactly like this...

No joke, either. EXACTLY like that. All with the same haircut, all obsessed with lifting weight, tanning, and picking fights. (The best source of information on this type of person I can giv eyou is the video called "My New Haircut" on YouTube. Go watch it. You won't be sorry.)

Cases in point:

1) We witnessed two "jacked and tan" guys get in a screaming match and get tossed out onto the street by two even more "jacked and tan" bouncers.

2) Doug popped his collar in a nod to the video -- and a huge middle finger to all the "My New Haircuts" in the place and was quickly called on it. A guy comes over to say "Hey, has your collar been popped all night, or did you just do that? Doug tells him he's been taking it up and down because it's just too big to wear up the whole time. And the guy, relieved, says "Oh, good! Because that chick over there told me it looked stupid, but I'm glad you're on my side and have my back." He had no clue.

And 3) Once we were outside waiting for our cab, we saw a Power Bar-eating, protein-pounding ogre yelling at his girlfriend on the phone.. all raging out. As he and his buddy walk past, Dan decides to attempt to provoke a fight (none of us remember exactly what he said in order to do that) that Steve quickly, and thankfully defused.

I can honestly say that I have never seen stereotypes lived-up to to the "T" ever before in my life. I didn't think all the guys there would be the way that video and all the rumors say they would be, but damn it, they were. It was amazing. Completely frightening and sad, but amazing. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of these kind of people. I decided, in the name of preserving something that would be expensive to replace, to leave my camera at the house for the night.

There are the highlights. Thanks for reading...