New England Bloggers!!! I need your help!!!

Hello dear New England bloggers !!!

I know you are out there and Alicia over at New England Girl gave me great hopes that you could help me out...

My daughter will be running in her first Boston Marathon in April!!!

We are making it a family vacation (4 will be arriving from CA and 2 from WA state) and we will be in Boston for 5 days! Aside from the marathon on Monday we have all registered to run this 5k...

we'll also be taking in a Red Sox game!!!

I am looking for touristy sights to see ~

Great places to eat ~ Any comments on these two restaurants??

Cantina Italiana

Gennnaro's 5 North Square

We will be staying at the InterContinental hotel on Atlantic in Boston. We understand that the hotel is in the financial district and close to public transit. Hopefully there will be plenty to see close by.

Looking for a little guidance, I sure would appreciate the assistance!! Thanksomuch...

10k training update #3

At the beginning of this year I began training for a 10k (see here).

I have now been training for 12 weeks and here are my statistics -

Timeframe = Feb. 18 - Mar. 27, 2010

Running ~ 77.15 miles
Cycle ~ 71.6 miles
Other Fitness (Walking, elliptical machine) ~ 27.46 miles

Update #3 training miles = 176.21 with a combined total of 398.19 mi for 12 weeks of training !!!!

Since I began training I have run both 7 milers & 8 milers!

I will be running my first sanctioned 10k race tomorrow ~ This is what I have been training for!!! It will be so amazing to see my husband waiting for me at the finish line... Need to post this so I can get to bed and rest up for my big day!!

~~* Aloha Friday *~~

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday.

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that they take it easy

and look forward to the weekend.

So I thought that this Friday I would take it easy on posting, too.

Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer.

Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link here.

Remember to visit the other participants!

~ It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends ~

Share three things you do every day without fail.
(Everybody has a routine).

St. Patrick's Day - 2010

St. Patrick's Day Glitter Graphics

-:|:- One Year Blogiversary -:|:-

It is hard to believe that I have been blogging for a year already ~

I have enjoyed making new bloggy friends and look forward to the opportunity

to meet a few in person very shortly!!

I'm thankful for the opportunity to journal my life and express my views and opinions.

I appreciate being able to read about other blogger's daily lives and offer

comments of support, hope and the knowledge that someone out there cares about them.

Thank you to my followers for being there to offer your comments ~

I truly appreciate you all!!

Looking forward to another exciting blog year!!

Happy Birthday Fireguy!!!

Today is my husband, The Fireguy's birthday!!!

"Just another day he says"...

so he will spend the day

at work -

Protecting our community!!

I thought I would share a few photos of my husband so you can see the fine man behind this great woman (Tehehehe)...

Doing one of his many hobbies!

Whitewater raft guiding...

♥ The best friend I've ever had ♥

A rare moment when he is sitting down!!
and finally, "Poppa Bear" to this crew...
Happy Birthday my love!!!
I'll see you later with the German Chocolate Cake ice cream...
M-U-A-H!!!

Delayed weekend wrap-up...

This is about two weeks past due of being posted, but I wanted to share my fun family weekend with you!

Tommy & Lindsey arrived Friday evening for the weekend. This trip originally planned in December turned into an engagement celebration weekend!!! After fetching the newly engaged couple from the airport and we headed to Erin & Chris' for a homemade meal. It always a party with our little family group - we ate and traded information about the upcoming wedding!

I had a full house all day Saturday & Sunday as Erin & Chris stayed here while Tommy & Lindsey were in town. I just love it when my house is busting at the seams with suitcases and people going every which-a-way. I swear I tell myself each time that I need to take a picture of all the open suitcases and the shoes at my front entry, and somehow I usually forget! Trust me when I say that it is the most heartwarming view a Mom can have...

Saturday the boys went to 'the secret spot' for some male bonding time (aka shooting pistols and air guns) while we girls went grocery shopping and perused wedding magazines! I am so blessed to be included in Lindsey's planning of her wedding. I understand that I had my "day in the sun" helping my daughter plan her wedding and to have my future daughter-in-law included me is just icing on the cake :-) Thanks Lindz...!!

For dinner we had our traditional fish fry; complete with striped bass, chicken strips, french fries, onion rings & asparagus and an amazing orzo dish prepared by my son-in-law!

Here is Erin testing out my famous onion goggles...

YUM-OHHHHHHH!!!

Our oh, so yummy meal!!!

The guests of honor at the engagement party...

I blew up a photo from Hawaii & Erin 'blinged' the kids' initials for them...

Made for a darling centerpiece

Happy Momma, surrounded by her two kidlets!!! LOVE THEM... Loved our family filled weekend but sadly it came to an end too soon! Sent both couples back to their respective homes which made our home SO incredibly quiet... I am truly thankful that we get to spend the time together that we do!!! Next up, BOSTON!!!

Back to work, no really... For now!

Sorry for the onslought of posts, but I am behind and need to catch up!!!

Serioulsy, it was not this bad, but I had to laugh at what I thought it would be like...

The doc released me to full duty (no restrictions) and I returned to work on February 24th.

The jury is still out on whether my surgery was a success, as he offered me a 'cocktail' shot (lydocain, dextromethoraphan & something else) so I basically am not being bothered by the pre-surgery sysmptoms. Before the shot, I was still having the same symptoms I had before the surgery!! I suppose we are testing out how long the shot lasts and then to see if the pre-surgery symptoms are still evident!

Fortunately, I had a job to return to... Unfortuntely, the district that I work for will be handing out 'pink slips' to 1/6 of the employees!! Most of those notices are in the certificated (teachers) sector but alas, I was informed by my supervisor that there is someone that is looking taa position elemination that can bump me per union bumping rights..

I have not shared this with my family (other than The Fireguy) as this has come up too many times!!! I feel like the boy who cried wolf!! I really don't like to worry my family so I will wait to see how this all pans out... Prayers would not hurt, I suppose!!

~~ * Aloha Friday *~~

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday.
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that they take it easy
and look forward to the weekend.
So I thought that this Friday I would take it easy on posting, too.
Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer.
Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

"Goodbye or See You Later"
We recently attended a funeral service for a fellow Firefighter...

It was during the service that one of the speakers told the story

of how the firefighter and his wife would say
"See You Later" instead of "Bye" when leaving each other
in the morning and when ending telephone conversations.
It was such an endearing story,

how they wanted to leave each other
with the thought that they were not saying "goodbye",
but that they would see each other later...

The Fireguy and I really liked the idea and we discussed it

at great length.
A couple of days later, we began using the story in

our personal lives.
It was very easy to do when we each went our ways each day,
however it has been such a struggle to NOT say 'goodbye or bye'
when we end telephone conversations.
We would occasionally slip and say goodbye and then need to
go back and say, okay see you later and hang up.
For us, it didn't come natural for us to not say goodbye.

We quickly came to the realization that that was their story

and not ours.
It indeed was an endearing story and we loved to hear about it.
We went back to our story, our comfort level of communication ~

So, my question to you is...

What do you say, "See You Later" or "Good Bye"???