smiling on foot

Yesterday, I entered a writing contest to describe my favorite Boston Moment to win a signed Red Sox jersey and a meal for two at Bacco that will include two perfectly mixed ABSOLUT BOSTON cocktails.  To be honest, I would trade the signed Red Sox jersey for a $30 bottle of ABSOLUT BOSTON, but I’m not sure negotiations are allowed.

I just went back to the listing of the contest because I wanted to look up the restaurant’s name… and just noticed that they wanted 50 words or less.  50 words or less!? And this is considered a contest!? If you are an avid reader of the bloggo, you’d know that 50 words or less is near impossible for me to describe anything. At this point of this very entry, we’re already at 132 words. Bogus.

So I submited 562 words about Marathon Monday 2008 that all lead up to my favorite Boston moment. And I think it’s pretty good. Maybe I’ll win anyway. Probably not. Oh snap… I hate when I don’t look before I leap.

There’s always the writing contest AMR has proposed where one has to submit a 2-page essay about their favorite foreign food.  Winners are selected to come over and enjoy a meal off the new raclette grill (a tabletop grill that she experienced in Switzerland and Bykfam bought one to teach us Americans the way).  The thing is, I am not one who likes foreign food. In fact, the more I hang out with NF, the more I’m realizing how picky my diet really is. I did try sushi with him one night and it was okay but not something I could call my “favorite” or write 2 pages about. In fact, most foreign food I eat is because I’m with someone who wants to eat these mildly edible concoctions and I just put up with it and try to be worldly.  I would say I like Italian… but Xtina told me that the Italian I like is really just “American Italian” and not the real deal. I guess the same would go for the Pu Pu platter at the Chinese restaurant. Not the real deal either, right? What about when I go to Mexican restaurants and say I want a quesadilla with just cheese and chicken and no onions, peppers or spicey things? Does that count?

So I will have to make something up since I have no favorite foreign food and do not want to risk the possibility of never eating off the new raclette grill! Hopefully, I have a slow day at work today or tomorrow so I can think of something.

HEKD is making fun of me because I was making fun of her choice of framed photos in her new house… every one of them a pic of her and her husband.  I told her, “We get it – you’re in looooove!”  What’s funny is that we then suddenly realized I have not appeared in any framed photos of hers during the entire decade of our friendship.  Then we thought back to the condo she lived in for about 6 years and confirmed that there were no framed photos of me on display at that place either.  I noted that she did have a framed photo of her friend LC and her husband MC on their wedding day… she used to have a framed photo of her and the tall one… and she has a framed photo of her with another girl she’s friends with (but she says it was a gift from that girl so I can’t be mad at that).  The point is, all these people aren’t as important as me and yet I have no presence in her house!  HEKD says she is working on a shrine in my honor if it will keep me happy. Well, it’s a start. Next, she will need to be sincere about worshiping it.

Then I was thinking about it some more and I don’t think any of my friends have framed photos of me in their living quarters… unless you count a photo of KDM, AMR and I on prom night in 1995 that is on display at AMR and Bykfam’s house.  If I am wrong, please let me know to help ease my mind. But even though my living space has decreased from a 2 BR apt. to just a single room within my parents’ house… I have pics of my friends all over! In fact, you would think I was in love with HEKD with amount of photos I have framed of her… at Vegas, at her wedding, at the cheesecake factory, etc.  AMR, RB, Bykfam, JBP, Xtina… they all are there on display so I can look at them lovingly and look forward to the next time I see them. The realization that no one does this for me is frankly devastating. Xtina doesn’t even have my 4th grade picture on display at her desk anymore.  :(  I’m feelin’ the non-love today. I see how it is.

On a related note… I have two very talented friends. One is a fiend at knitting and the other is a creative artist. Do you think either of them has ever made anything for me? Hellz no! I’ve been very good friends with them for years and watched with sadness as they’ve made project after project for every one else they know and nothing ever for me. What’s up that? Is it crass to complain about not receiving homemade gifts produced from their talents?  Probably. Are we close enough friends that they’ll think it’s funny? Likely. Have I been such a good friend that I deserve a homemade gift? You know it’s true. If I dote on my framed photos of my friends as much as I do, just think how much I’d adore your homemade gift! But don’t drop everything and make me something just because I’m sobbing every night at my multiple unrequited loves. I’ll survive. Don’t worry about me. But HEKD, I’m following up with you this weekend to see how the shrine is coming.

I’ve been a bad friend lately. I’ve been spending so much time with my new “interest” that I really haven’t seen much of my girls these past couple of weeks. Yikes, I’m THAT girl. Ugh. Well, that all changes as of tomorrow. After work, I’ll be traveling up to the Watch City to see Xtina and have some Thursday night drinkies and eats at our favorite restaurant. Then on Friday after work, I’ll be traveling up to N. Andover to hang with AMR and HEKD at HEKD and Double D’s new house. I was there a couple of weeks ago to help on move-in day and it’s really a nice place. I love those 100-year old houses and the old fashioned wide wood floor boards. But my favorite thing in the whole house is the doorknob on the front door (see below). It’s so antique looking with its filigree stylings. I bonded with my Godson while everyone else carried H and D’s belongings from the storage unit into the house. Then I unpacked and organized the kitchen. I love organizing kitchens – it’s the most fun room in the house to work on. HEKD disagrees and says the baby’s room is the most fun. All I say to that is: bah! So I guess I’ll get to see the full setup on Friday. I’m looking forward to it!

Ten years from now, we’re all going to look at each other and say, “Remember when we used to put ‘LOL’ on everything?” And then we’ll all laugh and say, “Yeah, HEKD would start and end every email, facebook comment and blog comment with ‘LOL’ back then.” Then I will recall the time when AMR, Bykfam and myself were returning from our MD vacation and Ozzy’s “Iron Man” was on the radio and Bykfam sang “L-O-LOL-LOLOLOLO-L-O-L” to the tune of the popular guitar riff. That story will get a big response for sure.

Then someone will say, “And remember how we used to ‘put on our lollerskates‘ all the time?!” Oh, the roars of laughter will be immense in the future. The conversation will inevitably start turning down the road of other “text speak” like OMG, FML, IMHO and whatever else we can remember. And then we’ll all sit back and reflect at how silly we were with dreamy smiles on our faces.

I’m back from Vacation and it was every bit as wonderful as I anticipated. As with the implementation of the new catbox, my vacation can be described in 3 easy phases:

1) Cape Cod Weekend
2) Wey-cation
3) Ocean City Wonderland (Where Dreams Come True)

I will have to cover #3 in a separate post since there is just so much to say about this fantastic portion of my vacation.  I also need to upload my photos to kodakgallery some night this week. I don’t have many from Ocean City, MD, because my battery was nearly dead and I forgot my charger. AMR has some so maybe she’ll share with me for the bloggo before I do the Maryland post!

So before I did the Cape thing, it really started with a Friday night dinner with Xtina, her brother and her brother’s friends at Fire and Ice. It’s always nice to hang out with Xtina but with all the comings and goings involved with getting your food at Fire and Ice, I didn’t really get to talk with her for the first hour or so! The next day, my parents and I headed to the Cape for a few days. The three of us haven’t vacationed like this together in a long time and it was a very quiet and serene weekend. There was a family gathering that Saturday for my great aunt Ethel’s birthday and I saw some relatives that I haven’t been able to see all summer. The weather wasn’t super, but I did finish my Bible Salesman book (terrible!) and Mum and I saw the Julie & Julia movie (terrific!) together so that was nice.

On Monday, I came back to Weytown for an afternoon visit with HEKD and little Nathan… the baby actually didn’t scream all day as he usually does with me! Maybe he likes me better now. Here is a photo of him and his mama with the “breck girl” hair (as mum said – who knows about Breck hair products?)…

Nathan getting burped in my bedroom

The next few days of my Wey-cation included a brief beach visit where my bikini top broke, a consultation with a gum specialist at my dentist’s where I scheduled a “scaling” and other fun upcoming dental visits, a chiropractor visit that wrecked my neck, a fun restaurant week dinner with AMR, Xtina and HEKD and some shopping excursions to prep for MD. On a particularly cloudy/drizzly day, I convinced Mum to come with me on a Duck Tour of Boston. This was my 2nd and I love them so. I learn so much about my city in a fun way (and then forget it all a few days later). My sister, my niece and my niece’s friends wanted to come too so when we arrived at the Museum of Science, I was not really surprised that the next available tour for us would not be for 3 hours. We killed time by eating some ice cream treats and then saw an Omni Theater movie. I don’t think I can handle these Omni movies anymore. It made me extremely dizzy and nauseous… I’m getting worse motion sickness with age. But the movie itself, The Greatest Places, was very informative and beautifully filmed. The Duck Tour took the normal routes through the touristy sections of the city and I realized I’d be coming up on AMR’s office location soon. So I texted her and she sent this image back to me of our purple duck!

An AMR-eye view of our Purple Duck!

Later on in the tour, we spied AMR sitting on a bench near the north end chatting on the phone. We yelled and waved at each other and my sister asked to the driver, “Isn’t she beautiful?!!!” And the driver responded by announcing to the world on his microphone that there on the bench was the most beautiful girl in Boston. :)

The Most Beautiful Girl in Boston

I’ve been living with my parents for a few reasons. 1) To get ahead in my finances. 2) I’m done living with roommates but can’t afford to live in a 1BR in this area until #1 happens. 3) I’ve never lived alone and would like some transition time to think about it. 4) I’d kind of like to be able to save a little dough towards a condo. As far as #4 is concerned, I’m so wishy washy about the whole idea. At my old age of 32, I should really be looking to invest in some property but the responsibility that comes along with owning something freaks me out a little bit. Just enough to make me rent instead of own? Maybe… I’m just not sure if I want to handle something like that by myself. I’m also hesitant to commit to a particular city or town. I don’t think I’ll be moving across the country or anything, but my recent history shows vast instability in sticking with the same job, apt. or boyfriend for any extended period of time. What if I hate where I live after 3 years and I want to move? Do I really want to risk losing money in my investment or should I keep it to my free and easy apt. living? Most advise me to stick to my parents’ house until I can afford a mortgage on a halfway decent condo. Although I’m up in the air on all this, I’ve been really trying to stick with the condo plan – until this past Monday.

For the past year and four months, I’ve been consistently checking apartments and condos in the south shore area to just increase awareness. I am essentially broke, so we’re talking purely educational purposes. An apartment caught my eye this week on craigslist for a 1BR on Wollaston Hill in Quincy. It’s the top floor of a beautiful old Victorian and only $900/month. Something told me that I had to see it in person. However, I wouldn’t have much to live on after the bills are paid. I figured that it’s a good thing I like grilled cheese sandwiches and called the realtor to make a Wednesday night appointment. I obsessed over whether or not I could afford to live in this apartment and whether or not I should even go see it from Monday to Wednesday. I’m sure I annoyed my co-workers with my apartment talk and even polled them on how much money they live on per month after bills are paid. If I’m unsure about something, it’s all I can think about… a severe disability.

I asked AMR to accompany me to see this place. I was so nervous because I knew if I fell in love with it, I’d have to move into it and then proceed to starve to death. I know this because 1) I’m stupid. 2) I’m sometimes that kind of passionate person who follows her heart no matter the consequences. (And I know 1 and 2 are sort of synonymous.) Thank goodness for level-headed AMR. The realtor took us through the bedroom first and it was a pretty good size, 2 closets and tall ceilings. The previous tenant left a note about a certain cord he had found to bring free cable into that room. Bonus. There was a cute “in between room” when walking from the bedroom to the living room. The living room had been advertised as narrow… but boy was it TINY (and narrow). It looked like a closed in porch with windows lining two of the walls. It also had a working fireplace. Although the house is old and beautiful, the windows are old and terrible. I’m sure all those windows are too old to keep out the winter – and I hate winter. With 3 of us standing in the living room with no furniture, I felt a little too closed in… I can only image putting my futon in there and never wanting to invite people over for fear of claustrophobia. On the other side of the living room was a little “dining room” that would hardly fit any sort of a dining set… even a cafe style would be too much in the way. And then the grand finale was the kitchen/bathroom area. I don’t even think “tiny” could cover it. If I was any bigger than I am, I would not be able to fit into the shower area or be able to take something out of the oven. It also smelled like gas in that kitchen (the scary blow up kind, not the stinky bum kind). I took some photos seen below, but I honestly think they make the place look better than what it was.

AMR and I had a little heart-to-heart in the street afterward. She reminded me how rewarding it would be to own my own place rather than living in some Quincy dump. I’ve since regarded this 3-day apartment obsession as a mere moment of weakness and am back on track for my ultimate goal of world domination, er, buying a condo. I still think it’s a scary endeavor to do on my own, but who knows where my mind will be at in a year. So I’m sitting tight in Weytown and avoiding the craigslist listings to protect myself from anymore moments of weakness!