Moody Moving Blues

Well folks, September 1st is less than 24 hours away -- the day Bostonians pack up their moving trucks and shift around the city. For those smart enough to stay in their current apartments, Labor Day weekend usually means a long weekend anywhere outside of the city, but for me it's going to be quite, well, laborious. Things are already underway on White Place since we have to be "out" by midnight tonight (the literal beginning of September 1). However, the new tenants can't move in until tomorrow morning, so we are going to crash on air mattresses in our soon to be empty living room.

I have recruited a few strong friends -- the American Gladiators were busy -- to help me carry the heavy stuff (read: all of it). Aunt Nancy sprained her ankle last week so this might be the first time in 5 years that she will not be a part of my move. Melissa is going to be heading to Boston a day early, and as long as traffic isn't too bad, I'll have an extra set of hands/expert design eyes. I'll post some pics of the new digs next week. Perhaps next year I will be one of the lucky ones who gets to relax on their Labor Day long weekend!

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I spent the past weekend on the vineyard with Melissa and Kevin. What a great way to relax before starting the new job! With two warm and sunny days, we had a hard time pulling ourselves away from the beach. It was just so nice to be down on the island again. I'm not sure there is any other place in the world where I feel so at ease.

On Sunday, Kevin and I stopped at the Eck's to say hi. They were in the process of getting the pekes ready for their annual trek Good Dog Goods in Oak Bluffs -- on bikes. Scooter and Sully were outfitted for the old bike trailer and looked hilarious. Apparently last year Scooter kept trying to push his head through the Velcro enclosure and Kerri was worried that he would fall out. Kevin really took a liking to Scooter. The Eck's are also having a "Peke Pen" built in Braintree so the boys can spend more time outside.

I made it back to Boston in time to get all of my paperwork in and get to bed early. So far I have had a great experience with Forrester. Everyone I met during my day-long orientation today was so friendly and eager to answer any questions we had. They had everything set up for us, so I got my email, phone extension, badges, and laptop right off the bat. I already had 35 emails and am booked up for meetings through the end of the week. There are no offices in the building -- we work in "pods" instead to foster communication and efficiency. Even George F. Colony works in an executive pod. There are fooz-ball and ping-pong tables in the cafeteria and most of the associates I met were around my age or a little bit older. It feels strange to be starting over again, but I am looking forward to establishing myself and all of the opportunities this venture will provide.

At the end of September I will be participating in "Starting Blocks," Forrester's global corporate training program. They fly in new hires from all of their offices for three days, and we will get an in depth explanation of the company's history, values, mission, and best practices. One of the days we will even have lunch with George F. Colony (GFC) and the rest of the executive team - so yes Dad, I will get to meet the CEO.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Driving over the Bourne Bridge

Biking to South Beach

Melissa and I

Kevin making friends with Scooter

The girls ready to bike with the Pekes

Christmas Pic

I'm worried about a family picture for the xmas card this year. Any ideas? Should we just photo shop Em into a pic maybe?

drumroll please.....

.... how was the bash?!!!

Road Trip

Well, it has been a long five days but we are safely back in Ponte Vedra! Colleen, Hayley and I left MVY Wednesday afternoon and stopped off in Boston for a quick overnight. after checking into Nine Zero on Tremont Street in downtown Boston right on the Common, Colleen and Hayley (collectively known as farn or the farns, ask them not me) and I walked across the Common and through the Garden and down Newbury Street to meet up with Em. The farns then proceeded to go on a duck tour of Boston. They enjoyed the trip, but were disappointed that there was no quacking! I don't know why they didn't just start it themselves. They also did not volunteer to drive the boat down the Charles River as I suggested they should. They then ventured back on the T, by themselves, to the hotel. We then met up with Em and Kevin (the one with the six pack) and had a very enjoyable dinner at Gaslight in the south end of Boston. Back to the hotel and we crashed. Up early and off to see Aunt Mary in Pocono's. We made good time, but it was a short one hour stopover. She was extremely happy to see us and she made scotcharoos, chocolate cake, and blueberry muffins (with yummy berries grown right in her own backyard) for us to take to the Bash. She is quite the baker as we called at 8 am or so and arrived at 1 pm and everything was all cooked and ready to travel! I told her that next time I wouldn't give her so much notice as to wear her out! Back on the road for the next leg to C-Ville. It definitely seemed longer than the first half of the trip. But, we arrived around 8:30 pm stopped at Aunt Kate's to drop off the farns and on to the Boar's Head for the night. Up early on Friday and over to help Sinclair's ready for the main event, rib night and the bash! Ribs were fantastic, Stolzies were there and Cathy and John Hackney and kids, Tanner 12, and Taylor 10. Shy at first, but they warmed up after a day and a half. Dad flew in arriving early and was able to enjoy ribs a little late. Saturday dawned sunny and warm for a perfect bash. We had crabs, clams, shrimp, scallops, ham, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, fresh corn, straight from the garden tomatoes and cucumbers, peaches, and desserts too many to count. Bean bags were played all day. Elizabeth coordinated a tournament and although the Kerrick/Sinclair teams dominated the roster, were unable to pull out a victory. Aunt Jo and I even lost the consolation round for third place to Dick and Pete by 1/2 a bean bag. We decided that we need to take back the court next year. Maybe if Melissa and Cullen had been there......... Ping Pong was also a big hit for those not into the bags. Stolzies were awarded the JoAnn Kerrick Attendance Award for 30 years of bash enjoyment. Dad is on track for the award next year! Some of us took a trip down memory lane perusing the photo album that is in desparate need of update. Pics are only through 2005. Also, the newest edition to the Sinclair family was there, 10 month old Elisa. What a cutie! She is the daughter of Rich and Andrea, who are son and daughter-in-law to Marsha and Dick (Uncle Tom's sister). Em, Hayley, and Colleen had a roaring good time in the hammock and Em is a now an honorary farn. Although she almost lost her farness when she misplaced Kenneth in the car. Kenneth is Colleen's small alien friend that she got with a T-shirt she bought on MVY. Again, you'll have to ask her to show you some pictures. Too funny. On the road again early on Sunday for the 11 hour drive back to PVB. Uneventful trip. Now we are getting ready for TS Fay. Dad left early today and Em ended up leaving tonight as well. Both worried about getting stuck in PVB longer then they intended. So it is just the Bean and I for a few days.

Monday, Monday

Today marks the beginning of my last half-week of work at Northeastern. Since I gave my notice almost two weeks ago, it has been rather difficult to stay motivated. Most of the projects I worked on this summer are done, so the days have been dragging by. I don't think the rainy weather of late has been any help. Today my department is having a farewell lunch at P.F. Changs which will be nice!

I had a great, relaxing weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful until the late afternoon when some menacing storm clouds rolled in. Today is much chillier than it has been, the temp today isn't even supposed to reach 70. I hope this isn't an indication of an early fall as I have my fingers crossed for an indian summer. I have also been checking out the Olympics - the men's 4x100 freestyle relay last night was incredible. I really hope that Michael Phelps wins his 8 medals. He's an incredible athlete.

The next few weeks are going to be very busy, what with starting a new job and moving to a new apartment, but I am looking forward to the excitement!

For kicks, I thought I would share this short video with you all. It's very silly:

Last Day of Work!

So today was my last day of work for Summer 2008. I talked to Molly about coming back next summer and she said she wants to make me a manager! I don't know exactly what that's going to mean but hopefully I will get more hours, more responsibility, and more money. Also, Ellie and Andra are coming to the Vineyard today for the weekend! I can't wait to see them. As for tomorrow, I'm excited to have one more beach day with our family and friends!

Gee....

gee mom, thanks. that was harsh. At least Im contributing.

Ive been busy hanging out with Sara and what not.... so okay, i guess not that busy. Its a pretty easy job that I have here. SOOOO excited for the beach tomorrow!

(I can do colors too....)

What a thunderstorm we had last night at about 2:25 am! Torrential rain and then lightening. Awoke to a beautiful, cool, sunny vineyard morning. I hope everyone notices that I wrote a comment on a post and now I'm writing in color. Lots to explore on this blog thing. I am working up to a real blog though. So far my postings have been more like email or conversations. Not sure what I want to say though. I'm thinking about it. It may take awhile! LOL

Okay, so I guess "okay" is my word of the summer. I love this.

Okay, Melissa that was so lame. Yay? I'm not even sure what that means. Dad arrives tomorrow and I'm excited for our last beach day on Saturday. I hope we have good weather. It is dubious at the moment but I am hopeful. Love, mom

YAY

OMG I'm so excited!

Okay, so this is the best (almost) thing that has happened this summer!!! I am so excited that Em has taken time out of her busy schedule and life to set this up. I have only been talking about it for months and couldn't make it happen. I hope everyone contributes to this on a regular basis. I have a lot to learn to help make it a great and fun blog. Thank you Em, I love you! See you next Wednesday.

Oh Yeah!

So Mom had mentioned the idea for a family blog a while back, and considering she is moderately (okay, majorly) technology challenged, I figured I might as well start the thing up. Happy posting!