Thanksgiving

I spent the day (noon to 7:30 pm) at Dad & Ma's. Sarah & Jon and the 4 kids (plus Hayden's Audrey and Celia's Michael) all had dinner with us around 2:00 pm. Sarah & I each had a beer. The Bears beat the Lions in the early game. Chocolate cream pie & coffee for dessert around 4:00. Hung out with Ma during the 2nd NFL game (with "FRIENDS" on too). Home with a ton of leftovers (turkey, gravy, stuffing, Syrian bread, dark roast coffee, pepperoni, cheese, crackers, a chocolate cream pie & a can of whipped cream) and two cool pint glasses (Brooklyn Brewery and a combo Wachusett Brewing Co & Westminster Crackers). Also, Dad & Ma gave me a $50 bill and a nice card for my birthday 2 days early. The sky was blue, but it was below 10 degrees all day!

Friday Funday

I have today off, and I received my check from the time my boss was away, including its 19 hours of overtime.

I did some reading in front of the tv over breakfast, and later I paid the rent and bought some high-quality sheets, a book and a bamboo toothbrush from Amazon. It's actually sunny today for the first time in days.

I shaved my head and then took a shower so I could run errands. I food shopped and the grabbed some beer, and came back home for a late Hannaford fried chicken lunch. Then it was off to the lake!

I was there 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm, and the place was pretty quiet for a sunny Friday afternoon! A few jet skis, a few floating porches, and a couple of slow-moving motorboats. That made me very happy. I read some of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". I drank a pair of Hanging Hills Brewery Metacomet IPAs (one as I read, one as I floated). I had pretzels and an apple. And I listened to Tiny Firelies "Nothing/2040" and Cocteau Twins/Harold Budd "The Moon & the Melodies". What an afternoon...

Only Day Off

This is my only day off until next week, due to the events of the "Bossless 9" (see previous post).

I went to bed at 1:00 am, and wound up sleeping in until 10:00 am. I needed it. I had cereal & coffee for breakfast as I watched an old episode of "Face Off" and played "Clash of Clans". Before, in between and after, I took out the trash, washed dishes, and shaved my head.

More dishes & finished shaving my head while I was online playing "Elvanar" among other things. Lunch was cold pizza. It was in the 90's and humid all day. Got a couple of annoying texts from my manager too (just enjoy your 'vacation', will you?).

At 6:30 I showered and at 7:00 I arrived at the lake to hang out for an hour with a beer (Fort Hill Brewing Doppelbock), pretzels, an apple, and the sunset. I listened to "The Moon and the Melodies" and Tiny Fireflies "Nothing/2040", and as it grew dark, the mosquitoes had at me, including my right ankle and right cheek.

2 Days Off

Yesterday: It rained off and on all day and it was incredibly humid too. I watched tv, hung out online, and didn't talk to a single human all day until my cashier at approximately 9:07 pm in the Hannaford check-out line. In between I made a scrambled hamburger sandwich with the last of the ground beef, the last of the 4-cheese shred, and two slices of multigrain bread. Supper was cold fried chicken from the food store. I fell asleep reading a chunk of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", after watching the first half of the recent "Jumanji" film.

Today: The rest of "Jumanji" during breakfast. Lunch was the rest of the fried chicken. At 3:30 I shaved & showered and then headed down to the lake from 4:00 - 8:00. No one else was there (though Sarah's crew had been there earlier, according to her reply to my first Instagram post of the day), and there were not a lot of boats racing around.

I had a 25 oz. Pond Jumper IPA from Flying Dreams Brewery while I read another big chunk of "Harry Potter". Then it was floating/swimming in my inner tube (and another small beer), and then more reading, with "The Moon and the Melodies" in my ears. What a great afternoon. Supper was Kraft Mac & Cheese while I watched sports tv and a shark movie called "Frenzy".

Rainy Day Off

It rained off and on all day, and was supremely humid.

I went on a quick drive to Starbucks around 3 pm to grab coffee beans (Organic Yukon Blend - a medium roast) and a free large dark roast.

Around 11 pm I had the Pukwudgie Session IPA from Down the Road Beer Co. in Everett, MA. Unremarkable. I drank half of it, then grew tired of it. Beer from a can: ugh.

Got some good shots of Chumble on the counter, too.

Hubbardston House

Hung out at J & Stacie's rental in Hubbardston on Sunday night after work. Steak, various Ballast Point Sculpins (Aloha in a bottle: good! Grapefruit in a can: not so good...), glow sticks, sunset, moon & Venus, etc... What a great way to spend a post-truck Sunday.

Lazy Saturday

I got out of bed at 9 am at Chumble's insistence. I had cereal, coffee, and 3 cranberry oatmeal cookies from Union Coffee Roasters (I bought them, and a mug yesterday). I watched "Bewitched" (not bad, not awesome, but pleasing enough for a morning viewing).

The middle of the day was tv, online, more tv, and mac & cheese and ground beef for a late lunch (2 pm). I watched a WWI PBS special, and flipped around the channels a few times. The weather was fantastic for the first time in weeks! Sunny, 70's and dry. Chumble was in heaven, enjoying the outdoor smells & sounds instead of the noisy a/c for a chance.

At 5 pm I bounced up out of my chair, then packed my cooler & backpack, and after a quick stop at Kappy's for beer & ice, I headed down to the lake. No one else was there - SWEET! I stayed until 9 pm, and during that span I drank three beers (Two Hearted Ale, and American IPA from Bell's Brewery in Cormack, MI); listened to my iPod; watched all of the power boats, floating porches and jet skis blast over the water; dozed; and did some floating and photography. Sadly, the batteries in my digital camera were dying, so most of the photos came out darker than real life. But what a day! And for good measure I food shopped at Hannaford on the way home.

Longest Day

I left Chumble at the vet today for his follow up, overnight. Then I ran a few errands (milk and half & half at Hannaford; ham & provolone & pickle sub from Subway; Ice & beer at Kappy's) on the way home for a lake visit.

I was there from 4 pm to nearly 9 pm. I had the place to myself, and it was glorious. I ate the sub and had chips & a 22 oz. Pond Jumper IPA from Flying Dreams Brewery in Worcester. Good stuff! I listened to Ozean and Tiny Fireflies (the latter's "2040" on heavy repeat). I did a lot of thinking and staring into space. I enjoyed the scents of pond water and freshly-mown grass. I inflated my float ring and paddled out with a Mountain IPA from The Shed Brewery in Vermont, to enjoy the water for an hour or so. I read for a bit, until the sun started going down. There were no clouds in the west, so the sunset wasn't amazing, but the day was fantastic...

Echosmith at Royale

Great Day Off

I had today off, and it was a good one.

I got out of bed around 9:30 am, and had coffee, a banana and a Kit Kat White for breakfast. I read a bunch of old "All New X-Men" comics, and then I spent awhile online, and drawing a 'Seasoned Gnomish Warrior' for the #DrawingDudesChallenge. Laundry happened, and then I had lunch: chicken patty sandwiches with shredded cheese on ten-grain bread, along with ripple chips and apple juice. I watched "Wet Hot American Summer" again, and then washed a sinkful of dishes.

Ohr Durv, the gnome warrior, gets lightly seasoned in a giant's stew bowl.

Back online for a bit, and on a whim I checked my bank balance, because I'd planned to food shop later tonight. Lo and behold, my state tax refund arrived! So I did some online window shopping, and wound up buying 2 old issues of Dragon Magazine and some stickers for (me and) the kids. After that I showered and then headed out into the night to buy beer and food shop. DAMN, but it's nice to have a decent amount of disposable income...

Paperwhite Night

I went to Boston tonight to hang out with Erik and see new favorite band Paperwhite perform live at Great Scott in Allston.

I had the day off after I got a text from Julio at 8:30 am that today's 9:00 am truck was cancelled. A lazy day ensued, and after dropping off the manager keys to the Clinton FD store, I drove in the rain to Alewife, and arrived at 7:00 pm sharp.

Erik was waiting there, and we loaded money on our Charlie Cards, and jumped on the Red Line to Davis Square for a pre-show dinner at The Burren, a bar I've been hanging out at off & on since it opened in 1996. I got the Burren Burger with cheddar, bacon & mushrooms: a half-pound of amazing beef, with fantastic fries, and a Harp Lager. We hung out there for an hour, and then got back on the T: Red Line inbound, and then a transfer to the Green Line outbound on the B Train to Harvard Avenue stop at Great Scott.

We arrived just after 9:00 pm but the opener (Iyves) hadn't even set up yet. So I bought a round of beers (I had a Lagunitas IPA) as we waited. She came out and sang her lungs out, but most of her songs were too slow and chill to get me going. She had a powerful voice, and she was a sweetheart, but her music isn't my cup of tea.

Finally, after another beer Paperwhite finally took the stage. Wow. What an energetic gal! It was a 2-woman show (Isabelle De Leon supporting on percussion and miscellaneous sfx), but Katie Marshall totally killed it with her voice and her dancing. They played every song i wanted to hear, plus a few (good and bad) new ones, and they ended with "Only Us", my favorite. Followed by a one-song encore, "Unstoppable". The lights came up, I congratulated her on a great show on our way out, and we grabbed a waiting cab back to Alewife. It cost us twenty bucks, but shaved a good 40 minutes off our return trip. The drive home flew by. I was at my door at 12:30. What a fun night out...

Superbowl Sunday

I slept in 'til 10:45!

A lazy day.

Then off to Gardner to watch the Superbowl at Jay's. Teriyaki wings from the Gardner Ale House, Mello Yello, and fresh broccoli. A super hard-fought game, but the patriots came up short, 41-33. I don't feel too badly. We have won 5 SB's and appeared in EIGHT in the last 17 years. Plus, Nick Foles (Philly's QB) is a good guy, and that team has never won a Superbowl. So I am okay with the loss.

Now it's all about "Go Celtics!", plus MLB's Spring Training coming soon...