Aaaahhhhh... New England In The Spring!

Well it has taken a while for me to get myself together enough to redo this post... somehow I kept losing either the pictures or text, and then I just gave up for a couple of days! I have no pictures to share with you from Boston. Sigh. My camera was not working... actually, to be more accurate, the rechargable batteries were not working. By the time I got batteries for my camera, it was time to head for Hartford. Hopefully, I will be able to get some pictures from some generous person who will share his pictures so I can post them at a later time.

Boston was terrific! It was rainy when I arrived the first day which put a bit of a damper on sightseeing, but we were still able to do a bit and go out for a nice lobster dinner near the aquarium. Thursday I did a bit of recuperating from back problems due to lifting luggage around. I always overpack and this trip was no exception. So, I slept in, did some reading and then we went out to a wonderful restaurant at the Copely called the Oak Room. The dinner was scrumptious... and we polished off a very good bottle of wine! Friday night we met up with my son, Jason and his girlfriend, Sheila, and imbibed a bit to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

Saturday, Jason, Sheila and I headed for Hartford in Jason's car. He actually lives in a small town called Old Wethersfield. Yes, I do have pictures...

Jason's abode in Old Wethersfield

Plaque on Jason's home

Jason and Sheila in Jason's livingroom...
Sheila is a former Miss Connecticut... cute, smart and a real sweetheart!

back yard with new plants

more bushes and a new addtion to the patio out back... you can tell where Jason has redone the bricks and where he has yet to straighten them out!

Some more new bushes... notice the rework on the brick patio!

side yard

Cemetery behind Jason's house...

the photos don't show how vivid the colors actually are...

Neighborhood view...

another neighborhood view

Some of Jason's artwork

My first night in Hartford, Jason took Sheila and I to some of his favorite hangouts...

these drinks were yummy!

Breakfast at O'Rourkes... a wonderful Irish diner with the best breakfast!

Posing in front of the odd sculpture next to O'Rourkes Diner in Hartford

St. John's Catholic church... Mother church of the Diocese...
just happens top be across the street from O'Rourkes!

Elizabeth Park in Hartford

Jason not quite tiptoeing through the tulips...

funky trees

Posing under the trained funky trees

These trellises are not filled out yet and the rose bushes are still quite barren...
however, in about a month this will look quite spectacular!

This Gazebo is in the center where all of the trellises meet...
it too will be covered in flowering vines fairly soon!

These trees were in bloom everywhere!



Lilacs

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this cute elderly couple smelling the lilacs!

Sunday afternoon after Elizabeth Park, we toured the Mark Twain house at Nook Farm. Nook Farm was a community of the "movers and shakers" of the time. Harriet Beecher Stowe (who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin) also had a house there as you will see in the pictures below. There is a museum there that we toured before taking the tour of the house. I wish I could have taken pictures inside the house, but it was not allowed.

Harriet Beecher Stowe house

Jason heading towards the Museum entrance

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) House in Hartford (Nook Farm)



Mark Twain's House
The famous bed that Sam and his wife slept in backwards
is in this house which has 19 rooms and 17 fireplaces!

This was a fabulous tour... if you are ever in Hartford, it is worth taking the time for the tour!


I had such a wonderful trip! It was so much fun to spend time with my son and his girlfriend. This was the first time that I have been able to visit Jason in his own place since he graduated from college! It was nice to be able to go when I did... kind of an early Mother's Day for me. I hope to go again sometime... as long as Jason has the room and the time! I'm thinking that the fall trees would be quite spectacular to see!

Post Coming Soon...

Must be a good day for Mimosas!

I am sorry that I have not been able to get a post done about my trip yet. I was having a bit of trouble with Picasa. After finally getting the pictures posted, I lost almost all of them when I went to add some text... sooo, I will work on it again later. It is Mother's Day and I want to spend the rest of my day relaxing... not fighting with my computer! Hope you all have a great day!

Thought for the day 

Daily Scurrying

Hey there! The week has been flying by! I have been scurrying around a bit since Saturday getting ready for tomorrow's meetings and my upcoming trips. It has been busy.

Surprisingly, I have been waking up (sort-of) early this past week in spite of the fact that I seem to be up late at night each night. The early birds may be singing and raring to go when my eyes first open, but I am still yawning, trying to focus, and in need of a morning cup of tea for awhile after the eyes first open! I just need to get the falling-asleep-at-a-reasonable-hour part down better.

Monday, I decided to make a visit to the chiropractor as my lower back has been a bit off and I didn't want it to let it get any worse. So, I got my adjustment, my chiropractor left on a trip, and my back is worse than it was before the adjustment. Sigh.

Spreadsheets and adding machines have been a huge part of my life this past week...

Tomorrow is the Finance Committee meeting in which I have to present the quarter end (3/31) financial statement for review and signature before it goes to the Diocese. We will also be reviewing the coming fiscal year's budget. At 2:00 PM tomorrow, I meet with the pastor to go over the pay raise decisions. Then I get to spend the rest of the time between then and 4:00 PM putting those changes into the budget and printing budget copies up for the finance committee members. I am thinking that it will be a good idea if the 2:00 meeting goes quickly!

I am very proud and happy to announce that today, my son Matthew defended his thesis for his Masters Degree in Computer Engineering. When I talked to him today he was happy to report that things had gone very well and he only has to make a couple of small changes to the thesis. He is on cloud nine! This weekend we will head to "O Town" (Orlando) to celebrate the successful completion of two Masters degrees... his and one of his roommates. It will be quite a celebration!

Yup, I am one proud mom!

Today Fr. Mike surpised us with a cake for Administrative Professionals Day. He also picked up and paid for my lunch! What a wonderful treat! I had forgotten that it was today and was quite surprised when I walked into the lunchroom and saw the cake! I told him that I was probably more of a professional pain in the butt than anything else! And right now my desk looks a lot like the above picture! His response was that I had job security... probably because no one else could find where anything is in my office right now! He is always a lot of fun and a joy to have around!

Things are gearing up for my trip to Beantown (Boston) and Hartford which is coming up very quickly! I have been checking out the sights in Boston on the internet so that I have an idea of some options for sightseeing. There is so much you can see and do in Boston!

I have scheduled a hair trim for Friday... and perhaps a bit of color touch up too. My hair is just the length I like it right now, but it will be too long to manage by the time my trip rolls around if I don't get a trim. You know... it is perfect just before it is awful... one day to the next. I just don't want to be bothered having to spend any extra time fussing with my hair while I could be doing things that are much more fun!

And since I am in that mode, I have also scheduled a manicure and pedicure for next week before I leave. That is something I rarely take the time or spend the money to enjoy...

... But Hey! I plan on leaving all of my life's complications behind me for a few days! The cats will survive without me. Payroll will be done ahead of time at work so that staff will not lynch me when I return.

So far the only hitch seems to be the weather, and it is not a major one. It seems like it will be colder than I had originally thought while I am in Boston and Hartford. Since I had already started packing up my winter things for storage, I have had to dig out some things that I will need to wear. Yup, I have had to change gears. I can do that!

On a high note, I discovered that I will be in Boston on Cinco de Mayo! Son Jason and Sheila will be sharing in the celebration in Boston that night as well, so it should be a grand time! I don't know how they celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Boston, but this tropical girl is ready for some Margaritas and a fun time. I will just have to bring some tropical atmosphere to Beantown with me. That is for sure!

I am especially excited to have a chance to see my son, Jason, in his home in Hartford. This will be the first time that I have been to visit him since he has graduated from college and been living out of state. He has been working on the house he is living in, and I am curious to see what he has done. Maybe now that I will get this first visit in, I will be quicker to get back there for another visit when I have more vacation time.

I am sure that I will do another post or two before I leave. I will also try to take lots of pictures while I am gone to share with you when I return. If anyone has any suggestions for things to see or do in Boston, please leave the info in a comment!

Inquiring Minds Want To Know... Or Maybe Not!

After Girls' Night Out on Thursday and a few manly comments last night at our Friday night gathering, I've been thinking...

What is the point to some of women's lingerie? I mean I like to wear pretty, sexy things. I prefer that they be comfortable as well. I get that. What I don't get is things like underwear that have no remote connection to the reason they were designed. Let's pose a few questions here...

1) Wouldn't is just be better/easier to go to bed naked than put some exorbitantly priced, itchy, uncomfortable nightie on that will be removed within 30 seconds?

2) What IS the whole deal with costumes? I mean really!

3) Why is it that the skimpier women's underwear, sleepwear and bathing suits are, the pricier they are as well?

4) Would any man even consider wearing some uncomfortable, itchy garment to bed to seduce the intended romantic target?

5) Wouldn't most women laugh uncontrollably if he did? (Case in point here... I know of a man that presented himself to his wife dressed only in his newly acquired gold lame jock strap. He did not get the reaction he intended. His next door neighbors even inquired about what was so funny since the wife could be heard next door laughing uncontrollably for an extended period of time No this was NOT me!)

6) What is the deal with the latest trend in women's underwear designed to resemble men's underwear (sometimes referred to as "tightie whities") ? From thongs to those? I just can't keep up! Do men actually consider these sexy or erotic? Who thinks up these changes? Is this all part of some evil plot to keep us all confused? Is Dick Chaney behind it all?

Okay... some of you guys out there give some explanations to the mindsets behind all of this. I know that I may have led a somewhat sheltered life to date, but come on! I guess I suffer from not having grown up with brothers. My mother still tells me that. And my sons don't seem interested is discussing such things with their mother. Go figure! Even after being married for so long, some things still remain unanswered. So I am relying on some of you bloggers out there to explain some of the various male mental musings related to all of this.

Sheesh!