Did you say Boston or Austin?

My title is a nod to all of the movie quotes that my friends and husband can spew when they get fired up.  We had lots of Caddyshack, The Hangover, Stripes and the list could go on.  I unfortunately do not possess this talent.  I think Jeff makes up for my lack. 

We had a ton of fun with our friends in Boston.  I briefly gave the history behind this certain group of friends meeting up once a year in this post.  The premise is that each couple or person in the Austin Sports Couple Road Trip group would get a chance to introduce the group to the local flavor of their favorite team; including history, traditions, food, bars and of course the actual event. The first year we went to Lubbock to see a Texas Tech vs Texas game because a lot of our group was comprised of these two schools alum.  The second year we went to Chicago to see a Bears game at Soldier Field.  The third year everyone came to St. Louis to see the Cardinal's play and then this year we went to Boston to see a Red Sox game.  Next year it is a trip to Tallahassee to see FSU play.  We all committed to five years, but now there is talk of stepping up our game a bit and getting more exotic in our sporting event endeavors (Monte Carlo Formula 1 race, London for 2012 Olympics, Wisconsin for the Lumberjack Champships, ahem, so maybe they all aren't exotic).

The itinerary was lovingly built around food for the two prego women in attendance, thank you Kerrie!  Smart girl, she knew that if she wanted to keep the fat ladies singing until the end she would need some incentives, and Boston is a great food town.  Here are the restaurants we went to:

South Street Diner for Breakfast - typical breakfast fare, except for the PBR that one of our fellow diners was enjoying at 9am.  I got the feeling he was a regular, he did spin some tunes for us that morning from the jukebox, including some Sweet Home Alabama - oops, sorry Greg.

Atlantic Fish Company for Lunch on Friday - yum!  Fantastic food here.  Not so sure the chowder was award winning, but it tasted pretty good.  The crab cake and brie sammy that I got was amazing with sweet potato fries.

Ballpark food at Fenway - sorry Sox fans, but Busch stadium cannot be beat for its kosher dog.

Summer Shack in Cambridge for Lunch on Saturday - double yum for the pan seared lobster, I am pretty sure there was some plate licking for this meal.

Giacomo's South End for Dinner on Saturday - double yum again.  We had a traditional Italian meal, complete with fried calamari, fried mozzarella and lots of pasta.  I had the butternut squash ravioli, I am a sucker for squash, it was great.  And lest I forget the fabulous piece of tiramisu that I polished off all by myself!

Three Arrogant Bastards walk into a bar.......and then the punchline.  No really, we went to the bar next door to Giacomo's and the first thing that our lovely husbands ordered were three pints of "Arrogant Bastard" beer.  Hmm, somehow it fit at the time.

We also did some sight seeing, although it was really hot.  I thought for sure that we would get a little bit of a break from the heat, but it was still around 90 everyday and very humid.  I think it was a break for the Texas folks, although they are smart down there, nobody goes outside in the heat.  So I am sure it was a little different from being at home.  In the midwest, everyone stays inside in the winter, exact opposite in Texas.  You try to get from one cool place to the next as quickly as possible. 

A little bit of trivia, did you know that the Omni Parker House Hotel is the oldest running hotel in the US AND that Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh both worked as busboys?  Also, this is the hotel that JFK proposed to Jackie and it is the home of the Boston Cream Pie, not a pie at all.  Those tricky Bostonians are always speaking in code, it's a cake!  Seriously, we heard this little schpeel no less than three times, not sure why we were always jumping on the trolley right before this famous hotel.

We were going to do the Freedom Trail, but we made a seriously good call when we hopped on one of the trolleys to ride instead of walk to some of the historic sites.  We did stop at Faneuil Hall and we also stopped at Copley Square and got a picture of Trinity Church reflected in the John Hancock Building.

The Sox lost to the Rangers on Friday night, and we had an hour or so rain delay. Seems like we get into a lot of rain on these events!  I thought I would be out of place not wearing Red Sox garb ---- negative.  Jeff informed me that the all red thing is unique to St Louis and maybe a couple of other towns.

We used the T to go everywhere, except at some point the T turns into a B, for some reason it annoyed us all, and Kerrie got very intimate with the caterpillar part on the way to the airport.

This group has come a long way in the past four years.  We have had a lot of laughs, hopefully we can keep doing it for a very long time.  See you in Tallahassee!

Week 22 and All is Well

Last weekend, Jeff and I traveled to Boston to be with a group of friends that we get together with every year.  Jeff started this little group as we were on our way out of Austin as a way to keep everyone in touch and it has worked wonderfully.  Did you you say Austin or Boston?  More on Boston later. 

The good news for me, is that my energy is coming back.  Shh, don't tell anyone because I still like to take a nap every once in a while, but I was amazed at my ability to keep up with everyone this weekend.  Or maybe, everyone was just slowing way down for me!  I haven't had a headache in over a week and no indigestion to speak of, life is good!  It took awhile, but maybe that was how it was the first time and I just thought second trimester meant that I was supposed to feel well when in reality it was middle of the second trimester.  Yes, I am in the middle of the second trimester, actually past the middle.  At almost 23 weeks (Wed I will be 23 weeks), there are only 17 more to go, basically four months.  What a four months it is going to be too.

August we will be relaxing as much as possible until my baby boy starts Kindergarten.  Then Mia will start preschool and turn 4 on the same day in September.  Jeff also has a high school reunion in September and we seem to have lots of birthdays for family coming up in September and October.  Then Halloween and fall and all those football games, I think this baby is going to be here before we know it. 

Don't Let It Go To Your Head

I am the unfortunate mother of an oldest child who has an enormous head.  He has had this gigantic head since the day I gave birth to him, well actually it was much before that in utero.  This kid was off the charts from day one. 

Well, he has been going to a camp this week and they were all fitted with new bicycle helmets.  This is very fortuitous because his helmet that he got last year with his bike is definitely getting too small.  I asked him about his helmet when he brought it home and he said, I was the only one who got a gray helmet.  (They were color coded by size.)  Hmm, sure enough when I flipped it over it said "L" on the label.  I am glad that he was fitted professionally, I probably would have bought one too small. 

Birthday Boy

Jeff turned 38 today (Tuesday) and he has never been better.  Age truly is just a number.  I can't wait to see what the next 38 years holds for him.  Especially on special days like today, I think about how blessed I am to have found Jeff and for the family that we have made.  We don't have the perfect marriage, maybe we will in 38 years, ours is more interesting than perfect.  It has highs and lows, ups and downs and lots of compromise (btw I hate compromise). 

But Jeff is my match and every year that he is on this earth he becomes a little more Jeffy.  That sounds a bit odd, not so eloquent, what I mean is he knows himself more and more every year; which is hard to resist.  I don't know that I have that gift, of knowing who I am and always staying true to that, sometimes I feel like I flounder around a lot.  It helps me to look over at my mate and find a man that is steady and firm; sort of like being at sea in a storm with a really good Captain.

Now for the good part!  As you get older, gifts change a bit, I think.  This year was all about the practical.  He received a pillow, because I have about had it with his complaining about his pillow.  About three times a week he accuses me of stealing his pillow and swaps with me, trust me I have never stolen his pillow.  He also asked for two pairs of shoe trees for his swanky shoes, so I gladly picked those up for him.  I did try to entertain a bit with a Tiger Tail for football season and a book that he has been wanting to read. 

All in all I think it was a good birthday.