Coincidence?

Things that make you go, hmmm...

Today, Dan and I went to Waltham to take his parents out to lunch for his dad's birthday. During lunch Dan and his dad were talking about a friend of theirs who passed away a few years ago; today was their friend's birthday too. After lunch when Dan and I were back in his truck, at almost the same time he asked if I minded making a stop and I said I thought we should go to the cemetery where his friend's grave is - that was the stop he wanted to make.

I have told Dan that some of my relatives are buried in a Waltham cemetery but I had no idea which one since I had only been there once and that was 20+ years. After visiting his friend's grave we were winding our way out of the cemetery. Not really thinking much of it, Dan had asked what the family name was on the off chance it was the same cemetery. Needless to say I was speechless when we came across what the pictures below are of.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

Fine, Fine, Fine

Josh Turner says, "Everything is fine..."

If you don't know who Josh Turner is then it's safe to say you're not a fan of country music. Thursday this week was spent at the VA hospital in Boston while my dad had some minor surgery and then off to a Josh Turner concert in Lowell. Dad's hernia surgery went well and I'm sure the next 4-6 weeks of not lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk will be the most trying for him.

The Josh Turner concert was great. It was a small venue, about 4,000 seats, an approximation my date came up with after counting the number of seats in a row and multiplying by the number of rows. Is that a guy thing, because it wouldn't occur to me to do that. I didn't know it when I bought the tickets but all of the proceeds from the concert were going to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital so not only was it a good concert, it was for a good cause.

I apologize for not keeping up with my blog as much, but I won't apologize for having a life! I'll try to make an effort to at least update it a few times a week. For now, the sun is coming out, the temperature is supposed to be 60 degrees and the park awaits. Happy Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring!

"Are the flowers blooming in Houston?"















This is Old Glory, one of my amaryllis plants. I did not set out to be an amaryllis farmer it just sort of happened. This particular plant blossoms every year which is partly why I named her Old Glory. The other reason is because she is glorious in bloom. I can't even tell you how many amaryllis plants I actually have. They just seem to multiply. Each year anywhere from 1-3 of them actually blossoms. I water them year round so they bloom around Easter instead of at Christmas. My sister in law doesn't water hers in the summer and then they blossom at Christmas. If anyone is interested in raising an amaryllis, just let me know, I've got plenty to share!

*A gold star to anyone who knows what movie the above six word quote is from and what it actually refers to, it's not flowers!

Hope Springs Eternal

I can hear the snow melting!

It was a lovely spring weather weekend in New England. On Saturday I put Jak (in my new car for the first time) and went to the local park to hang out with the two guys in my life. Yes, I've started seeing someone and this was his first meeting with Jak. Not that I was really worried, but they hit off great. After a walk, we sat watching the people go by and Jakky was holding court. Just about every man, woman, child and dog had to come over and see Jak. He was the park greeter and he took it all in stride. At one point four little girls surrounded him which he loved. One of them sat right down on the ground next to him and Jakky promptly plopped himself down right on her lap. You gotta love a happy-go-lucky Golden Retriever!

During the walk on Saturday and on Sunday when I walked Jak at home, in the spots where there is still snow you could not mistake the sound of it melting. After the winter we've had, there is not better music to my ears. It's hard not to feel hope when the days start warming up and whisper the promise of lazy summer days to come.

Good Advice

"Live, laugh, love just for today..."

I've been listening to the Prime Country station on my satellite radio a lot lately. They play country songs from 10-15 years ago and I am so loving it. When I got in my car to drive to work this morning the above quoted song by Clay Walker was playing and I decided he was making a pretty good point. Today is all we really have so we should just do our best to be happy in the moment and not waste it worrying about what may happen down the road. Coming from a worrier, I know that's easier said than done but I think it's worth a shot!

Relief

Snow is melting; days are longer!

I'd like to send out a great big WARM welcome to Daylight Saving Time! Its arrival couldn't have come at a better time. Yeah sure, it was a little dark this morning but when it's almost seven tonight and just about dark who will care?!? And now the official start of spring is only 12 days away. This reminds me of a quote:

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant..."
~Anne Bradstreet

One of Those Mornings

One step forward; three steps back.

Not even the promise of fresh brewed coffee could get me going this morning. I was moving so slow I felt like I was in reverse. I'm a multitasker by nature, usually I drink my coffee while I put my make-up on but not today. I found myself standing around in a daze sipping my coffee while the minutes ticked by ensuring I couldn't possibly get to work on time. When I finally got myself out the door, I had to go back two or three times for forgotten items. It would have been a good day to crawl back in bed and let the world go on without me. Unfortunately, there was too much stuff at work needing my attention (updating my blog not being one of them, but I'm doing it anyway!). So here I sit, functioning minimally. It's like the lights are one but nobody's home!

SSDD

Same snow different day. Where's spring?

Another day, another big dig. Except this big dig doesn't involve a gas tax hike to pay for. My aching back is the expense of this big dig. It was only a foot of snow this time and fluffy at that so no big deal really. It wasn't even snowing when I went to bed around 11:00 last night and this morning when I got up at 7:00, there was a foot. I made it into work only an hour late which all things considered is not too bad.

I have one last ray of hope that this long winter hasn't beaten out of me...we start Daylight Saving Time on Sunday. Longer days, more sunlight, snow melts faster. Things are looking up!