Blinged Out in WNY

This past weekend, Nick and I left Boston around 5 Friday morning and shuffled off to Buffalo. Thanks to the combined early starting time & Sudafed I popped prior to leaving the house, I slept soundly for the first 3.5 hours of the trip. I never take over the counter medicine, and I think it made me a bit dopier than usual. A dream I had right before I woke up suddenly involved Nick and I traveling to Buffalo, but we were attached to the back of our car on water skis and skiing down a highway covered in thick mud. Anywhoo...

As soon as we arrived, we drove downtown to his dad's office so we could go to lunch and then head out for a sail around Lake Erie.

Captain Joe

1st Mate, Nick

Later that evening we headed out to Jim's Steakout, so Nick could get one of his beloved Chicken Finger Subs. (That's Buffalo chicken sub, to you and me; however, "Buffalo chicken" is apparently redundant in Buffalo as it's assumed that's how most chicken will arrive.) It's a good thing that there are no Jim's locations in the Boston area, because most of its menu items significantly (and tastily) contribute to heart disease.

On Saturday, Nick & I joined his mom for a round of golf at her club, Springville C.C. My mother-in-law is the best golfer I have ever played with. I'm not sucking up; it's simply the truth. She's been the club champion for about a bazillion years and was even invited to try out for the Senior LGPA. It's fun to play with her, because it's simply fun to watch her play. Amazing.

After golf, we headed over to East Aurora, NY to BBQ with Nick's sister, her husband, our 2 newphews and also her in-laws that happened to be visiting from CA.

My dad saw this photo & said it's proof we are still in a recession :-)

Jackson is a very neat corn on the cob eater!

Here's Nick fooling around with our 2 cute nephews! They love their Uncle!

After a late breakfast/early lunch on Sunday we hit the road once again. Below is a photo of the best rest stop vending machine I have ever seen. Behold, the Bling King!

I got a sweet $ sign chain, because I am so money

All in all, a great weekend!

The Family that Runs Together, Stays Together

Over Memorial Day weekend, Nick, Brad and I ran Boston's Run to Remember. When we woke up Sunday morning around 6, the sky was dark and stormy. Exactly one hour later while we were leaving the house, the sun came out and we were treated to a beautiful sunny day! I'm proud to report that all 3 of us improved from last year!

(All photos below are from Brightroom.com. Click here to search for your own race photos.)

Despite having spent the past 3 days partying in Vegas, Nick finished in an impressive 2:08:11. (Last year he ran in 2:16:32.)

Spent the race thinking of ways to spend the couple hundred he won in Vegas

Brad consistently kicks our butts and finished in 1:55:55, which was almost a 5 minute improvement from last year's 2:00:40 time.

I can only speculate what caught his interest in this photo- let's just say it was the finish line

My goal was to run the race under 2 hours, and I was (barely!) able to do just that. I finished in 1:59:22, which was an improvement from last year's 2:07:56 finish.

Mugging for the camera on the bridge during mile 10 or so

I would especially like to congratulate my sister-in-law, Jodi, who just started running on a whim this past January. She ran the Buffalo Half Marathon this same day and kicked butt by finishing in 1:59:30 and 59/199 for her age group!

Eyes on the prize!

Congratulations everyone on a great race!

My Boston Limerick

As part of a contest on Boston.com, I wrote a limerick today. Readers were asked to submit one that sums up Boston. I wasn't sure if there were syllable requirements to take into consideration in addition to the a-a-b-b-a rhyming scheme. I also wasn't sure if a limerick should start out with, "There once was a..." Oh well, I had fun writing it! I wrote mine about the morning commute, because that sums up Boston to me. Or at least that's something I spend a lot of time thinking about.

Shivering outside, cold freezes my feet

I see the bus! Maybe I'll get a seat?

Ugh, line's out the door at Dunkies

Iced coffee, skim, no sugar, please

Melt snow! (So I can whine about the heat.)

And, as my family in Buffalo would say, "There ya go!"

Break Out the Bubbly!

Today is my one year blogiversary! One year ago today, I wrote my first post. (Not a very exciting one.) I love writing my blog and I'm glad that some people enjoy reading it!

This is a short post, because Nick and I are in Buffalo and getting ready to celebrate Christmas Eve with his parents, sister and brother-in-law and our two nephews. I know my mom and dad are reading my blog while I'm away, so I'd like to say "Merry Christmas! I love you!" to them and the rest of my family in Connecticut. I'm really looking forward to opening presents with my nephews, because it's been a long time since I've been able to see some kids get excited about Santa coming.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Christmas Eve!

Maybe Jobu Can Take the Fear from a Football too

Nick's favorite player on the Bills is the punter, Brian Moorman. He says he's the best player on the team; to which I say, if the best player on your team is the punter, then you've got a problem. For his birthday, I gave Nick a Brian Moorman jersey and he was thrilled. The party guests had a good time laughing at his enthusiasm for the punter, but Nick just kept repeating that he was the best player on the team. Anyway, I watched Monday Night Football last night with Dwayne, because Nick was traveling for work in Vermont.

Just chilling, watching the game...

After Trent Edwards' 2nd interception in 3 passes, I sent Nick a text.

8:51 PM "Uh Oh"

Then I sent him another one after Leodis McKelvin scored after running the ball 98 yards on a kickoff return. I wanted to make sure that he either a) hadn't fallen asleep, or b) gotten frustrated and turned off the game.

11:01 PM "Are u awake?"

11:02 PM "Yeah, what's up? Bills aren't looking so good."

11:03 PM "What r u talking about? That was a great return!"

11:06 PM "I missed it! Watching Rambo."

11:06 PM "What the freak?!" (Nick's dad, Joe, says that a lot.)

In the end, former game-winning hero, Rian Lindell blew a 47 yard field goal and the Bill's lost 27-29.

11:53 PM "Ugh. I'm so sad."

11:55 PM "Do you see now why my favorite player in the punter!"

I can actually see that now, because with the exception of Marshawn Lynch, Moorman had the best game performance. But like I mentioned earlier, if your punter is the best player, than you better start breaking out the lucky charms and offer Jobu a cigar.

Weekend Wrap Up

On Friday afternoon, I battled rush hour traffic on the Pike and drove home to Glastonbury, so I could help my parents hand out Halloween candy.

I may wear this to the BC/ND game on Sat night. This is the warmest suit ever.

Saturday morning, my mom and I drove to Bethlehem, CT to attend a baby shower. Bethlehem's post office is particularly busy around the holidays; a lot of Connecticut residents like to send their Christmas cards from there so they'll be postmarked from Bethlehem. I doubted whether someone would notice that, but my dad said that the few times he sent his cards from there, that his clients would tell him how they thought it was a nice touch.

Sunday morning, after I got home, Nick and I went to Costco to stock up on chicken breasts and paper towels (and unexpectedly, chicken meatballs after receiving a free sample.) Sunday around 11 am is probably the worst time to go to Costco, because the sample booths are in full swing. The popcorn chicken sample table was particularly swamped, and I felt bad for the older woman in charge of cooking the chicken and placing a few pieces in the small paper cups. As soon as the chicken hit the cup, greedy hands would grab as many samples as they could. I was frightened for the sample lady, but she seemed unphased.

This was not a good weekend for football, as BC, Buffalo and New England all lost. This weekend the Pats (my team) and the Bills (Nick's team) will go head-to-head; we only have one television, so that should be interesting. I'll hate to see Nick so upset after the Pats kick butt! (Hopefully.)

Rian Lindell's Birthday Present to My Father-in-Law

Yesterday was my father-in-law's birthday and he pretty much got the best present he could ask for when the Bills beat the Raiders in the last play of the game. Nick and I watched it at the Harp, and it was a pretty exciting game. With the Bills down by 2 scores with about 6 minutes to go, I definitely thought it was game over for Buffalo.

Joe with his grandson, Jackson, about 2 years ago

So, Happy Birthday Joe! We know you had a great day!