A Minor Course Correction

Well the weekend did not quite go according to plan. (What ever does?) Instead of just working in the morning Saturday I worked the better part of the day. I did get to enjoy a nice dinner in Quincy at what is becoming my favorite Mexican Restaurant - La Paloma.

Its small and unassuming but its got great food, and some of the best Margarita's I've ever had. My favorite (because its the only one I order) is the Pepper-ita! Its a got everything you would expect to find in a regular one but with the addition of Tequila that has had Jalapenos fermenting in it. The result is a sweet, salty, sour, spicy drink that goes down well. Seriously almost like kool-aid but with a kick!

Sunday though we had originally planned to go to Newport, but those plans were changed when we discovered that the store we had wanted to visit was not quite what we wanted when we checked it out online. So we tabled that trip for another time. We did head up to Salem. Now I have never been to Salem so I was a bit curious about what goes on up there. To my surprise however the answer was, not much. Or at least not much right now. It was really quiet. There were a lot of shops and we checked out quite a few but I have to be honest. I understand and support Wicca as a religion, but it does nothing for the cause when you sell fake blood, fangs and fake dog poo. Don't get me wrong there were a few stores that did seem authentic but for the most part it was all very commercial.

Another thing I noticed was the proliferation of herbs all over the place. I know there are "magical" qualities that are suppose to come from them, but those are based roughly on the medicinal benefits you get from them. One would take the herbs and fashion a tea, tincture or salve from them and apply as needed and directed. No its not magic its actually science. Where do you think the pills in the bottle came from. Alot of them are chemicals these days but medicines were once made from nature so its not as strange as it may sound. Where am I going with this? Well the herbs I saw all around were all sealed up, but it was quite obvious they may have been packaged during the Nixon administration. What once was dried green, is now brown dust. At this point I doubt they would be any benefit to anyone. By now all the essential oils, and medicinal properties these items once had are long gone, so I would think that it would reason that so would its "magical" properties.

Maybe I just realized how to make a buck off all those old spices I was just going to through away.

After we stopped by The House of Seven Gables. I took some photos. One of the house and one of the view from the house. It was next door to the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who personally is not my favorite author but I can appreciate his work. He spent time in the house growing up and lead to him writing the story of the same name.

For lunch we stopped by Woodman's in Essex. Its rumored to be the place where Fried Clams were invented. I have yet to find the truth to that but I do know they make a damn fine clam. Just about everything is award winning and its all homemade. From Onion Rings to Shrimp its all fresh and its all fried golden goodness. I skipped out on my usually Clam Chowder, I know I know! I get the clam chowder, wherever I go. Just not today and not here. I was not feeling it. Besides as I am beginning to discover this is New England, you can't go two feet without seeing someone's "award" winning clam chowder. Hell I think even Friendly's claims they have award winning chowder. So I passed on it. What I did have blow my mind was the onion rings. They were just perfect as well as everything else. Except for maybe the coleslaw I didn't try it but Rob didn't like his. Oh well nobody is perfect.

Resident Parking Only

That's pretty much all you see down Commonwealth Ave. Designed to give residents enough places to park. Of which I am very appreciative of considering I live practically on the BC campus. However since I got a new car I need a new sticker, something of which I am trying to get, but our lovely state has a different set of rules for people who lease. So it requires a letter form my insurance company proving that I live in Boston, because my mail, or my registration or my driver's license is not enough.



Now this would be alright if I had that letter from my insurance but they have not been able to send one yet, nor have they been able to even fax me a copy. Thus it lead to a nice little bright orange envelope on my car this morning. $40 is the fine by the way for parking in a resident section space. I am hoping I can win the appeal I mean I even park down along the area for the St. John's seminary where Cardinal Law used to call home. No one parks there. I figure since I am not a 12 year old boy I'd safe. Today I spoke with my insurance company and they said they would mail and fax the letter. So far no fax. Tomorrow will be a pleasant morning for AAA when I call, and God help them if I have another ticket.

So this weekend I'm going to be working a bit on Saturday and Saturday night I'll be helping Rob pack to move. Fortunately he hired some movers so all we'll have to do is pack the boxes. Probably the easiest move I will have done in years. Sunday though I think we are off to Newport to do a little shopping. So I know I will have a little bit of fun then. Maybe I'll get a chance to see some friends this weekend to depending on everyone's schedules.

Any which way but back.

Well I know its a little overdue but better late than never. The poll is closed and it appears that poeple like the name of the blog just fine. I thought maybe a name change would be in order, but people had some real good reasons why they liked it so "give the people what they want."

Life has been busy as of late. Works crazy, you've read already that I have a new car. I have three weddings coming up soon, and they are all for some pretty important people in my life. I just have to go out and do some serious gift shopping. LOL.

Life in general has been good lately. Don't get me wrong there's been plenty of stresses in the days but inevitably this life is what we make of it. Sure we have our setbacks, but ultimately its our choices that have brought us to where we are today. For good or for bad. Its all relative. If you find yourself in a particularly rough patch. Search your memory of the collective experiences you've had at this point. Chances are that you will have something you can use to get you through.

Everyday we live is another chance to learn.

Zoom . . . Zoom Indeed!!

I gotta say I'm in love. Well its been a full day since I picked up my car and I love it. Its just so me. I love the way it drives, the way it feels, the way it looks. I suppose eventually it will loose its appeal but for now I can have a little fun. I'll post more tomorrow but for now I'm tired.

Shoulda ... Coulda ... Woulda

Well another day another dollar. Its times like these that try my patience. While we are making positive changes at work I can't help but be a little disappointed when things start to back up. I know we are doing a great job but it just shows that we still have some opportunities to improve. So with that things can be a bit stressful.

When asked to today what I wanted to do, I had a laundry list of things that I should be doing. Which was immediately dismissed as an answer because it wasn't what I wanted to do. So again I was posed the question. What do I want to do? I really was flummoxed. I mean so much of my life is defined by what I should be doing so I find it difficult sometimes to sort out the "I want"'s from the "I should"'s.

So what do I want? I guess its what everyone wants. I want to be happy and I want to do those things that will make me happy. I want to do those things that inspire me, that make me want to challenge myself and ultimately be a better person. Next step is incorporating those things into my life. I mean I do like my work and I do love what I do. If I didn't it would not make any sense for me to stay. I just have to remember to treat yourself. After all "what's the point in living if you can't feel alive?" Luckily I can incorporate those things that I want to get out of life into my routine. For now I am enjoying my metro experience and I think I'll do it for a while longer. I know though that I will want to eventually move on out maybe out to the countryside and up to Vermont if not over to the coast of Maine.

That's a more long term goal. Right now I want to relax a little more and enjoy a nice stroll at night. Like I did earlier. I want to go on little day trips to Vermont or the Cape. I want to see a show or two. I want to laugh. Fortunately enough for me I have also found some who wants to share in those same experiences, and ultimately I want to be able to share it with him. So now I know what I want and oddly enough work wasn't on the list. I guess I am not hopeless.

Have a good night everyone and remember to do more of what you want and less of what you should.