Final Month in Cambridge

2 days until we drive 2500 hundred miles from Massachusetts to Arizona. We are going to average 10+ hours of driving per day and it's going to be a long, boring, cramped adventure. But on the plus side we are heading West and getting closer to California. Thank god.

Last time we left off. The mom's were here...

Mom and Domino

Mom and I in Harvard Square

We saw Blue Man Group = Rad

Left: Mom, Jen, Elliott, Karen, Deborah and Gary Woodward in Quincy Market. Mmmmmm

We spent our second Thanksgiving with the Woodwards on Beacon Hill in a tiny, swanky apartment playing board games and watching football. Then Christmas.

Since it was just me, Jen and Domino we really had nowhere to go for Christmas. Luckily Anna, JT and Mike Pierce had us over for dinner at their lakeside house in Worcester (pronounced Wooster). I randomly befriended JT on the golf course fifteen years ago in LA while visiting Grandpa Kenny and we have fallen out of touch but the food was great and it was nice to catch up with them.

Left: me, JT, Anna, Mike (Jen and Domino below!)

We've pretty much had our heads in the sand this last month or so. Jen has been busy at the hospital and is having some communication issues with one of the doctors. 

Ian Creelman came to visit us in January and we had a blast. We hooked up with Andy Jones and had an epic night of Catan. Unfortunately I don't remember it too well but here is a summary:

There also was vodka and scotch (not pictured)

However we are both ready to leave. It is beautiful here and we have enjoyed real seasons.

In the end have come to realize that we are homebodies and not city folk. The hustle and bustle of life in a city seems falsely glamorous and hollow, but there is good food and cool stuff to do.

I have had to say goodbye to the family I work with after 3 months. It was tough to go and I will miss working with my kiddo.  Here are two pictures of me at work, yes working:

Me and robot on mustache backwards day.

me and Monkey, chillin

The kiddo loved to take pictures and I used to do funny ones as a reward to motivate him. Funny, right?  Maybe not.

Domino has been adjusting nicely and getting more confident and loving everyday. He's been playing, sleeping and even getting his first eye exam (although I think HE thought he was at the dentist's office)

Oh! And we experienced our first blizzard! It sucked! 

The novelty of a white Christmas and snowy wintertime is nice for about 2 days. Then the novelty wears off, the snow gets dirty and disgusting, your shoes are wet, there's traffic (even more so) everywhere and the buses and subways run late. Time to get out of here!

See you soon. We miss you all and love you.

Oh and the Niners should have won the Superbowl.

Life in Cambridge

After a hectic month we have finally adjusted to city life.  And we have a new family member, a memento from Boston if you will.  His name is Domino and he is an incredible little doggie.

He's got Yoda ears..

frog legs...

big brown eyes...

and a loving disposition.  We are keeping him!!

Jen has been busy at her rotation site, working away and adjusting to the new doctors and patients.  Her first week was the most difficult.  The other doctors were very hard on her and her preceptor was condescending but ultimately she realized that it was probably part of an initiation process that every new student goes through in order to gain the respect of her supervising doctors.  Things have gotten much better and aside from the HOUR EACH WAY commute she is enjoying the site!  We are really looking forward to moving to a place where our commutes and lifestyles are a little more normal.  California we see you, we miss you and we are coming for you.

We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving with Patrick (housemate), his girlfriend and parents.

As you can see our house is small but we make the most of what we have.  Patrick did most of the cooking for Thanksgiving.  He's 24 and we were impressed with his determination despite some minor setbacks (turkey pan bottom falling out, fixings in oven = burned = fire alarm that we were unable to shut off screamed for half an hour, and we ate 2 hours later than expected).

It only snowed one day since we've been here but it was pretty.  So far we've had mostly warm days (mid 40s to mid 60s) and rain but we are looking forward to a white Christmas.

I've been getting to know the city a bit, running and working out along the Charles River.  Above is one of the many bike/running paths built for a very active community of young and old athletes.

Every morning there's rowing on the river.  Looks cold but peaceful.

This (above) is one of the main bridges connecting Cambridge and Downtown Boston.  I drive it every day as part of my commute.  

Last weekend the Moms came to visit and we had a blast.  Here's a pic (below) of them taking the subway for the first time.  They became savvy travelers and navigated the city alone while Jen and I were at work.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures of our 2nd Thanksgiving celebration but it too was fun and relaxing. 

Jen and I love it here.  The pace is fast, there's lots to do and see and we are very busy.  I think ultimately we want something a little slower though, for the long term, where we there's a little more space and a little less rushing around.  

Florida to Boston

Well, we made it.  We made it out of our tiny one bedroom apartment in Madeira Beach and up the East coast through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and finally Massachusetts.  Yikes.

It was a long drive.

Before we left we spent a day at the beach club with papa Buckley...

...took in one last sunset....

...and visited grandma Virginia.

Also:

1.  The San Francisco Giants SWEPT the world series!

2.  Obama was re-elected President of the United States!!!!

3.  We met and got to know new family.

From the left:  Brandy Thompson Ludlam, me, Jen, Ron Thompson.  These are my grandfather's niece and nephew.  Guess they are cousins?  Anyway it was great to spend time with them, they are kind and awesome family members and we look forward to spending more time with them!

The trip up was rough.  The 8 hours a day was somewhat scenic and I did most of the driving.  We stayed in Florence, South Carolina and Washington D.C.  In D.C. a friend from high school, Natalie Wasserman, kindly put us up in her Columbia Heights apartment.  Unfortunately her and her fiancee were gone for a weekend trip when we finally made it but they left us a key.  

We explored D.C. a bit but got an early start on Saturday November 9th to see Cody and Courtney, Jen's nephew and his wife.  It was great to see them!  We hope to see them in California in the near future.  

The last stretch of road was brutal.  We spent a ridiculous $35 in TOLLS from D.C. to Boston and I saw New York City for the first time.  It's huge, it looks like a level of the Death Star. 

We arrived at night and driving the freeways of Connecticut seemed somewhat death-defying.  People were driving like madmen and the two lane freeway was littered with short, abrupt on-ramps that spit cars going 15mph onto the road every few miles.  Jen was nervous and I was sweating the whole way.

When we got here no one answered the door to our new place.  We banged and rang the door bell until finally, Patrick, came downstairs.  He and another guy Rob, sleep in the same room although they are not a couple and there is only one bed.  However, they are barely ever here and we essentially have a 2 bedroom townhouse in Cambridge all to ourselves. We are close to the subway and it is great!!

More pics and stories to come.    

2 Weddings and a Bluegrass Music Festival

Let me start by saying I was ready to leave Florida before I went back to the REAL Bay Area (Tampa also dubs itself the bay area) but after these last few weeks I am starting to count the days.

After being denied a SUBSTITUTE teaching credential in this great state (I have a Master's Degree in Education) I was briefly employed as a Valet.  The owner of the company, Jimmy Alfonso (up-and-coming mob boss?), claimed that payday was every two weeks.  After over a month of working for him I still had not received any money and neither had my newly hired co-workers.  After many inquiries, excuses and ignored text messages I decided to keep a big wad of cash that I had collected from customers and said "adios" to Mr. Alfonso.  A series of awkward texts later I was free of the company, Jimmy was mad, my co-workers were mad, and I essentially got paid under the table but overall it was an awful and nerve-racking job experience.

The best man from my wedding, Chris Heintzelman got married on the 28th of September and one of Jen's Bridesmaids, Francesca, had her wedding on the 29th.  I went to California, Jen went to Newport Rhode Island.

Before we left Will came to visit.  We hadn't seen him since our wedding last year and we got to spend some quality time at the beach, playing ping pong and going to dinner.

I arrived in California 3 days before Chris's wedding so that mom and I could celebrate Grandpa Kenny's birthday with him.  We ate at the Buckeye and the Dipsea Cafe and had a blast.

Chris and Jen's wedding was beautiful.  The weather was perfect, the ceremony was short and sweet and they put a lot of time in to little DIY touches that really added a personal feel.

The ceremony took place in a meadow:

The bride and groom surveying a happy, tipsy crowd:

The first dance:

While Travis, Abby and I left Chris and Jen's wedding at round 9pm, Jen stayed out till 5am with Francesca and Ian, partying and dancing.  She did the partying during the wedding and I was jealous that I hadn't been able to celebrate like that with Chris. Oh well.

Being back in Marin was surreal.  The weather was perfect and the natural beauty reminded me of why the Bay Area is such a special place.  I think there was a full week of sunshine in San Francisco which is a rarity.  Travis and Ricky drove me around, paid for disc golf, lunch, beer, etc. and made me want to move back to the Bay badly.  Travis and I biked to Lake Lagunitas one day, a childhood stomping ground:

Ricky and I went out at dawn to go surfing and play disc golf.  We drove up the headlands as the sun was rising.

I managed to do a number of fun things nearly every day I was there.  One day Ricky and I spontaneously rode our mountain bikes from his house in Fairfax to the top of Tam.  I had never done that before in my entire life!

As my trip was coming to an end, word of a free Bluegrass festival (Hardly Strictly) in San Francisco was reaching my ears daily.  Ian (another one of my groomsmen) was coming to town and a number of other friends were going to make a weekend out of it.  I decided to push back my return date.  Jen, while supportive and understanding, was bored out of her wits during the extra week I stayed.  Luckily she was able to socialize with Ron Thompson and some of his friends.  

Before we even went to the (free) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which was probably the best concert/set of concerts I have ever been to, we went to see Capleton at 19th and Broadway.  The show cost $35 and was by far the most expensive activity I was planning on doing while in Marin.  Ricky managed to get us in for free.  Smooth.  Then, when Capleton finally came on the stage at 1230am, he erupted with energy and the crowd went wild.  I have never seen it so crowded and vibrant in 19th, it was astounding.  The tiny venue was instantly hot-boxed and people were dancing, drinking, smoking and loving every minute.  After that amazing show it was time for a weekend of more music.

Because we had such a large group at Hardly Strictly we were able to sit, talk, hang out, dance, drink beer, eat good food, walk around, listen to all kinds of music and generally enjoy the beautiful, sunny, and lush environment of Golden Gate Park.  It was awesome.  And, I got to re-connect with good friends.  It has taken me a full 4 days to recover from all the partying but it was worth it.

(Above) The very final act we saw, The Civil Wars, played an awesome, soulful and genuine set.  Their humility and incredible harmonies made it easy to really enjoy the moment and as the sun set we cheered, whistled, swayed and howled at the end of each song.  As this was the last day of the festival, naturally we were out of beer.  Everyone knew that in order to get more beer they would lose their spot and miss the end of the show.  Just as we were planning a beer run Andy Jones showed up with a 12 pack and we congratulated him heartily.  The perfect end to a perfect weekend.  

(Above) We arrived home from San Francisco after thai food and the end of a depressing Giants baseball game (luckily they went on to win the series in one of the greatest comebacks in recent history).  Bloom (green shirt) was unexpectedly in town for a funeral.  He has been unable to come to Hardly Strictly because he had to go to a conference in New York but those plans were trumped by the death of a good family friend, Rene, and so Bloom ended up in the Bay after all.  Unfortunately under dismal circumstances.  But we DID get to see him and that was a plus.  After all that drinking and dancing we took a sauna at midnight on Sunday and washed out all the toxins.  It left us happy and relaxed.  

The next day Bloom and I saw Looper, one of the best movies I have seen in years, and then I went to the airport for a redeye back to Tampa.  It was incredible to see Jen, we had missed each other terribly.  With no job and a month to go I am trying to make use of my time in this strange state.  I am looking forward to the freezing cold of Boston :) 

Valet - eh?

It was Thursday night. I carried a plastic double-sided sign to the entrance of the parking garage.  I opened it up and put one leg on the sidewalk and the other in the street.  People were coming and going all around me, like passengers in an airport.  Servers, boat captains, cooks, bartenders, deliverymen, parking attendants, cashiers, bussers.  Restaurants and bars pumped employees in and out like blood through a heart.  I made sure everything I needed was in order and then all that was left was to wait.

            Mitchell was supposed to arrive at 5pm. It was 5:15 and he was nowhere in sight.  I paced frantically hoping he would get there soon. 

            “Valet!” two guys in white button-down shirts, black pants and black vests walked up behind me.  I turned around and didn’t recognize either of them.  I gave a pitiful half smile.  The guy who’d called my name was smoking a cigarette.  Big fake diamond earrings dangled from his earlobes.  He had a thin, chinstrap string of facial hair hugging his jaw line.  He looked like a porn star.  “You the valet?” 

“Yea,” I said attempting an air of cool.  “You guys working on the boat?”

He took a long drag from his cigarette and then looked over his shoulder.  He held smoke in his lungs and without exhaling answered, “Yup.”

“You guys servers?”

“Slot technicians.”

I imagined him patrolling old lady’s coin cups, giving errant machines a stiff elbow if needed.  He moved on to talk to someone more interesting.  Standing there with baggy shorts and a shirt tucked in too tight I wasn’t up to his standard.   He and his buddy left me standing awkwardly outside the circle of conversation. 

            A car pulled into the valet only lot.  My boss’s instructions echoed in my brain “If they aren’t valet, call the number and have ‘em towed.”  Maybe it was Mitchell. 

            I jogged over to the lot.  Two Filipinos, an older woman and a younger man, sat in a red, dilapidated T-Bird.  The man rolled down his window as I approached. 

“Valet only sir.  I can valet your car or you can park in the garage.”

“What is the cost, valet?”

“I’m seven, the garage is ten.”

The old women butted in, “We can’t park enwhere, not there, not there, not here.  We going on the boat to gamble, where we park?”

I was sweating, my face was glistening, I could feel it.

“I’m sorry,” I offered, “but I just work for the company that is using this lot.  I don’t want to tow anybody.”

The man and woman both perked up at the passive aggressive threat and the woman looked in her purse for some cash.  They were pissed.

“Ok,” the man said getting out of the car. “I want you to leave it parked like this.”

“I will have to move it against that wall,” I said pointing over his shoulder.

“Why, why you can’t leave like this?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense, I have to organize the lot like this,” I made two parallel movements with my arms. “One row like that, another like that.”

“I want you to leave it here, like this.”

I smiled despite being frustrated. “This is how I was told to do it…”

“Huh,” he interjected sharply.

“I have to do it like this, this is how I have to park them.”

He shook his head and went to give me the keys.

“Wait,” I said, “I need to get you a ticket.” 

They walked off in the direction of the casino will call and I ran to get their ticket.  One part tore off as their receipt, another went on the dash of their car and the middle section of the ticket went onto their key ring.  Tear, tear, stab. 

            I jogged over to them standing in line.  The woman gave me the seven dollars and I gave them their piece of the ticket.  I could see all her bottom molars were missing as she gave me a perfunctory smile.  “Good luck,” I told them.

New Digs

If you have ever been to Florida you know it's hot, spread out and humid (mind out of gutter).  Luckily we live on the water here.  Check out Jen's early-morning-before-work-view:

At this hour I am asleep.  When I do wake up I usually take an hour run on the beach or do yoga on our dock.  Then I spend a good portion of the day looking for work and writing stuff.  We have some neighbors:

This is Henry (above).  He is weird.  He eats the fish out of a pond maintained by the landlord.  He likes to walk up to our deck and stare at us for hours.  If you look in his eyes you can almost tell what he's thinking.

This is Leo.  One of our neighbors (human) rescued him.  He is very affectionate and makes us think of Zoey.  He also wants to eat the fish.

It is pretty quite here.  Soon I should be valeting cars for a casino cruise ship in port.  I expect an interesting crowd, who knows what the tips will be like but the hourly is a whopping $4.75.  Yea, people in Florida live on that.  Teachers make squat here.

More pictures of our backyard:

On a Sunny Day

On a Rainy Day

We are trying to stay busy with free activities.  Here are some pics from a recent nature walk:

We've seen more wildlife here than Colorado!

Jen isn't working today because of Tropical Storm / Hurricane Isaac.  The media hyped it up like it was going to be a huge disaster but in the end, it turned out to be not much more than scattered showers and some above average wind gusts.  We got sand bags and everything!  Even went to the grocery store to get supplies.

We are still working on finding a friend with a boat.  It would be nice to do some fishing while we are here.

We had lunch with Ron Thompson in St Pete the other day.  He was really nice and we had a great time, we plan to see him again soon.  

All in all Florida ain't so bad but personally, I can't wait till we are back in California.

Counting....the....days.