You know what it’s like when I come to Boston to be with my family, never a dull moment! And so far, we are not disappointed!

Ok…you know what these weekends are like, grab some caffine, take a nap and settle in!

I arrived on Thursday, as you know after my work/travel day, got smothered in hugs and kisses and just as quickly as I got there, we hit the ground running. Dinner [fun, fun, fun], bath [fun, fun, fun], bed [fun, stories, fun, games, fun, night night]

Friday morning began too early, but that’s what it’s like here! Everyone left for school and Peanut, dad and I went to the vet’s office, check out the sign they had, don’t you just love it!

After the vet, we took Peanut home and headed out to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and had a great time! We saw an amazing exhibit featuring Jamie Wyeth, http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/jamie-wyeth?gclid=CjwKEAjwwJmhBRC56KOelNOXhxUSJAB_w2uN12khBXEl8PtUKBuFOVgyj5KTXzzgIXBopdaMcYlWJBoCSyHw_wcB [this is the exact exhibit we saw], son of famed painter Andrew Wyeth, http://www.andrewwyeth.com/, his most famous piece, Christina’s World, http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78455. Dad and I really enjoyed this exhibit. Jamie Wyeth was famous for painting the Kennedy’s, in fact the John Kennedy portrait was just donated to the museum by Jamie Wyeth. He was a court artist during Watergate and had an amazing eye for detail, as well as being in with Andy Warhol and Rudolf Nureyev. Amazing! I loved this self portrait.

A spot of lunch in the museum cafeteria, then on to the modern art…to look at through one half closed eye. There are pieces we liked and others we cocked our heads to the side and said :”huh?” Here are a few I enjoyed.

After the museum, a few errands on the way home and then it was time to pick up EJS from after school, which she loves, almost as much as being picked up in the convertible! Home to see everyone and gather the troops, it’s time for dinner and out the door we went for Chinese while GES went to girls night. Home again, stories, books, bed. Not to mention a great deal of silliness! There is nothing like being fought over…I want Auntie J to read to me! No I do! It’s a great feeling, but exhasuting! I sat with one for five minutes, then the other, then the other, finally calling in reinforcements to sit with MGS while I sat with EJS. Tired yet?

GES came home and we bonded a bit on the sofa watching bad tv. Then it was off to bed, yeah right!

Up by 8, had to leave to go first to watch MGS have gymnastics at 8:45, good thing they live about 5 minutes away!  It was great, all those tiny tumblers! Then it was back in the car heading to EJS’s soccer game, she has got some talent in her. Now, I am not being biased, this is being backed up by my dad, who played 4th grade through college and was All Conference, my sister, who played against my dad when he coached for an opposing high school and my brother-in-law, who still plays on an adult league today, so when I tell you she’s good, she’s good people!

After soccer, it was playground for MGS and me, then off to the town square for breakfast and a festival of sorts. Half local vendors and politicians and half stuff for kids to do or things to buy. We were there for about two hours and dad and the girls racked up a lot of free stuff! After that it was home for a few minutes, hang with the neighbors, then take EJS to a birthday party, cat food on the way home and then home for a while. GES left to pick up EJS from the party, then went to get her skis for the season. Eventually, dad and ACS took MGS to a local high school game and I stayed home and finally took a shower!

Dressed and time to do my time and expenses, almost done! Then it was time for dinner, leftover Chinese food and then watched Dolphin Tale, I will probably be taking the girls to see Dolphin Tale 2 next week, as EJS asked if we could go tonight, but it was too late in the day. We watched the movie, it was great, btw…upstairs for much needed baths, stories and bed. Fighting over me and Poppa, how can you beat that!

The kids finally fell asleep, dad went up not long after and GES and ACS just got home about 30 minutes ago from dinner, had a great time and now friends, this is where I leave you, I have loved every minute of it, but I am now tired! I need to go back to work to get some rest!

Goodnight!

Positivity Challenge – Day #11
1 – I am thankful I got to see both nieces performing. MGS at gymnastics, then over to EJS at soccer, both fantastic!
2 – I am thankful that my nieces fight over who gets to sit near me!
3 – I am thankful my sister and brother-in-law feel comfortabe with me and Poppa, my dad, to go out with friends and let us spend the time with the girls.

The day started too early after very little sleep, you’ve met me, right?

I was leaving today and I packed most everything, I said most. It’s crazy, I had brought a lot of my stuff to my sister’s house the last time I was here, but there appears to be more that I realized, so…I packed up all my clothes to bring with me and when I go back, I’ll take as much as I need for the few days I’m there and bring what was left in the room back with me.

I got to work at 9, then turned right around and walked out to go to Indiana to the facility I was supporting to pick up materials and look for a chair, yes I said a chair. There were chairs loaned to the project from another hospital that were for the trainers and half of them grew legs, yes I know chairs have legs, ok, they grew feet and walked away…

Then back to the office, turned around and left with JS to go to another facility, drop off materials and look for chairs. No dice. Back in the car to go to the office and on the way had a call. Dropped JS off at the office, headed back to the hotel to finish packing and load the car to head to the airport.

Got to the airport in plenty of time, checked in, headed to the gate and waited. Time to go, got on the little baby planelet and sat down, wrong seat, window, not aisle,so moved over. After the flight, the woman behind us handed us our bags because she knows how tough it is when you’re in the front row and can’t have anything at your feet and sometimes the only place to put your stuff is three rows back.

Don’t you just love how everyone stands up the millisecond the plane lands? As if that will get them off sooner. I got off the plane in Detroit, headed to my next flight in another terminal, got on that plane and sat next to a great guy who works for Delta, been working for them for 35 years! That is commitment! We talked about plane etiquette, the differences between coach and first class, different airlines, his son, who is a championship Formula 1 driver, his ski lift chairs, yes, I said ski lift chairs! He bought an entire ski lift because his wife wanted one ski lift chair and then went crazy. He finished two for them and then is selling the rest. He said when people come over, they go straight to those chairs and if they have too much to drink, they lower the bar and say “The bar is closed” Ha ha, it made the flight more enjoyable.

Off the plane, head to baggage claim and wait and wait and wait and then it just stopped, great…While I was waiting for my bag, I used Uber for the first time, and what a great experience! For those of you who don’t know, Uber is a car service that uses a mobile app to complete the transaction. You put in where you are and where you are going, you can request a quote and then request the car. You will get a notification that the car is on the way, a picture of the driver and the car! You will also get a phone call from the driver telling you how far away they are.

This was a great service! Fast, efficient, clean and cheaper than a car service or taxi, I’ll be using them again! https://www.uber.com/

Hello family! Carry stuff in, get hugs and kisses [nieces, daddy, sister, brother in law, cats], put my stuff down, time for dinner. After dinner it’s play and then night night. Snuggle up with the girls, sweet dreams “Sleep well, get up well, I love you” Something we have been saying in my family for years and now my nieces know.

Hang out a bit, come down to write to you and now I am going to crash! Gotta get up and take Peanut to the vet, oh joy! Happy Thursday!

Positivity Challege -Day #9
1- I am thankful I made my connecting flights today
2 – I am thankful my dad is so awesomely cool. [He brought me a lactose intolerant t-shirt]
3 – I am so very thankful I got to kiss my sister, nieces, dad, brother-in-law and wish them a L’Shana Tova [Happy New Year] in person today!