Live Free or Die Fest I

J is lucky enough to keep in touch with most of his high school buds from the Prep. Many of them still live in Jersey, but a few have strayed to other states. Despite geographical challenges and regular commitments, they find ways to get everyone together as often as possible. In fact, Crabfest, which takes…

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Play ball!

Like it or not, we live in Red Sox nation. And well, if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. Tuesday, J ran a trip for his town to go to a game (he technically does not have to chaperone these trips, but why not?). I’ve been to Fenway once last year,…

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Ahoy Mate!

A long time ago, we invited a bunch of J’s friends (and SOs) up for Memorial Day weekend. We reserved a boat and told them we’d get our boating license. All of the sudden, Memorial Day weekend was not but 2 weeks away and we never did get that pesky license. So this weekend J…

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To get cable or not?

We haven’t had cable since 2005. Mostly it was a cost decision. Before then, we had always caught a deal, or the cable company accidentally gave us cable in some cases. So once we actually had to pay, we decided $700+/year was too much to pay for something we don’t watch that often. And it’s…

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Chi-town revisited

It has become our annual tradition to spend Mother’s Day with MamaF and GrandmaL in Chicago. Last year, we saw the Cubs play (baseball). This year, we saw the “tigers” play … I say this because Saturday, we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory, which were … wait for it … FREE. I…

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The 5th of May

Cinco de Mayo is supposed to be a celebration of Mexican pride and heritage to recognize their defeat over the French army in the 1860s. Instead, we Americans use it as an opportunity to dress silly and drink heavily. 2007 – Cinco de Mayo party at our house in Danville. This is J and his…

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Because of swine, no wine

At Mass yesterday, the priest announced we would not exchange the sign of peace (which involves hand shaking, for the non-Catholics) and they would not offer the wine (blood). For the creature-of-habit church-goer, this was quite odd, but good I suppose. But see, I am one of wholesome faith who always believed that since the…

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Restitution checks

Gather round kiddos, it’s story time. When we were in Danville this month, I had a strange piece of mail waiting in the mailbox. Mind you, we stopped our mail 18 months ago, but somehow, the post office delivered a check from the Superior Court of Arizona. From 2004-2007ish, I received checks for $10-20 from…

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