mmm....summer

I'm really not down with working 5 days a week. Especially in the summer. So this summer I put an end to the barbaric practice. 4 days a week for me. With my flex days and plethora of vacation days (because I can't take vacations while I'm in school) I managed to somehow at least have one day off a week from the middle of June through the week of August 18th. And then I have the whole next week off. My life after Labor Day is going to be painful, but the summer will be worth it.

Last week I had Friday off. And the stars and planets aligned and Andrew took it off too! We were Falmouth bound Thursday night. 3 day weekends are fantastic

Saturday was one of those postcard Cape days. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the high 80's with that ever present sea breeze that made life bearable. My mother and I went to the beach and I could have stayed there all day. I even went swimming. My father and Andrew played 9 holes. Then we went to FYC where I had my once yearly frozen pina colada. And what made the whole day sweeter was we heard the weather wasn't very good at home. That never happens - we actally had better weather in Falmouth!!

And people wonder why I spend my weekends here.

Ol Skewl

On our way down the cape last night, DMB's crush came on to my favorite radio station ever (thank you, thank you, thank you to the person who decided to stop playing crap on 92.9 WBOS and start Radio 92.9: I might just sacrifice my first born child to you), and Andrew and I had a conversation about how much I just do not like Dave Matthews, with 2 exceptions. Other than those two, I can't stand listening to him. So Andrew asked which ones I did like, and the answer was Ants Marching and Satellite. Andrew happened to mention that he'd love to listen to Ants Marching, so I dug out The Oldest iPod Ever (seriously, I got my iPod in 2004. Black and white, tiny screen, no pictures.... you get the idea. It's the first generation iPod that had the scroll wheel) and queued it up. For the rest of the ride to the cape, I found the most random songs I could find and played them. It was kind of fun and brought back some memories! Among others, we listened to

Ants Marching, DMB
Satellite, DMB
Angel, Shaggy
Stan, Eminem
Rough Riders Anthem, DMX
Sailing Away, Styx
The General, Dispatch
Swallowed, Bush
Wild Rover, Dropkick Murphy's
Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Crash Test Dummies

Talk abour your random list. There were a few others that I can't remember. I haven't really updated my iPod in the last year or so. I've got the major country hits that have come out, but other than that, I've been loathe to spend that dollar. I supposed I should, since sooner or later the price of an iTune is going to go up!

catch up

Never having lived on an Army base, I can't say for sure, but I would assume almost nothing about Army Wives is real. That doesn't stop me from religiously watching though. This week we saw episode 3 of season 2. And for the 3rd week in a row, it's made me cry. I'm such a sap for girly shows. I can't help it. But who actually thought they would kill off Amanda Holden? Certainly not I! Tears since the season premier.

So what do we think of this whole Gloucester pregnancy pact? Personally, I am inclined to believe that it did exist. I think that elected officials are desperately trying to do some damage control. Real or not, the town of Gloucester has got to do something. So many high school girls in such a small town should not be getting pregnant. And note to Gloucester parents - don't let your 17 year old pregnant daughter go on Good Morning America. She'll look like a tramp and sound like an idiot.

Have you watched I Love The New Millennium? If you aren't, start watching. Hysterical

I should be working on my backswing

Andrew and I went up to hit a bucket of balls today. My god, I get worse every year. By the end I was at least hitting the balls, not just skimming the top and sending them rolling on the ground. I know what my problems are.... I don't plant my front foot, I don't follow through on my swing, I pull up halfway through, and god only knows what my front arm is doing. But it's fixing the problems that is proving impossible. I just need more practice, but golf ain't cheap. I run into the same problem with skiing, but honestly, skiing is easier than golf. Tiger makes it look so easy. At least he used to. And he will next year. There is nothing easy about golf! We might go play 9 next Sunday afternoon. It kills me to drop 20 and then go play and absolutely suck. I know I will not get better if I do not practice, but I just wish practicing wouldn't send me to the poor house!

Second Year of Marriage

I can't believe it's been two years.

Well technically two years ago was the night before our wedding, but this is when we had time to celebrate.

June 17, 2008June 17, 2006

I have a really good picture of me and my husband on our rehearsal dinner, but I can't find it right now. This picture is good though. I can't believe that my hair was so long. I think I am officially growing it out now. No more short haired Meghan.
In honor of my anniversary, here are some of my favorite wedding pictures(above) oooh.... who's the pretty bride? Right. Me. I forgot.

( above) Me and my gorgeous maid of honor. Aren't we sooooo cute?

(above) me and my parents - doesn't my dad look handsome?

( above) My Daddy giving me away. Tear!(above) the whole gang!

(above) me and my newly minted husband.... we look so happy. If only we knew about our 40 hour trip to Aruba...


(above) sure... we won't pose on the Green... anything you say, Ms. bosslady.
(above) Note to Brides - give your bouquet to your mother. She deserves some special attention(above) Ending the night with good company totally makes the whole wedding!

summer

What a whirlwind weekend.

It started out Friday night in town at Jen's apartment, which happens to have a perfect roof deck for Beirut.

me, Bree, and Val

Andrew and me

Ian and Bree

Then on early Saturday morning (like 6am early) we headed to Falmouth and just made it in time to join my parents on the boat. We were really lucky that we caught them, because it turned into one of the best boat days of the season. Even though the season is only a few weeks old, I can already tell we won't get many days like that. We headed over to Vineyard Haven for breakfast at the Dog and then when we were leaving the water was just perfect. So we took a right out of the harbor and went over to Edgartown.

Andrew, en route to Edgartown

Edgartown bank- I don't know why I love this building so much, but it's one of my favorite on the island. I think because it still looks like an old fashioned bank

This pink rose was blooming in a yard of one of the really really old mansions in Edgartown, relics of when the elite families on the island were old fishing and whaling families.

a flag flying on one of the aformentioned houses . Saturday happened to be flag day and the island was full of flags.
view of Edgartown Harbor from on top of Edgartown Lighthouse.

So Saturday was pretty fun. We had some G&T's at the yacht club and there was a wedding there - we saw the bride and groom roll up and get on a boat to go take pictures in the harbor!! I'm sure those pictures came out absolutely beautiful, but she is extremely lucky that the weather was perfect yesterday. The chance that the yacht club was going to be completely fogged in was really high. Good for her though, she gambled on the weather and she totally won. I wish I found out the name of her photographer so I could stalk the website and look at the pictures when they came out!

Sunday kind of sucked for a few reasons - but I happened to be standing in my grandmother's kitchen and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a fish swimming in the pool. That didn't make any sense, so I investigated and found this swimming in the pool!

I have no idea how the little guy got into the pool, but I got some really cool pictures of him. My cousin scooped him out of the pool and let him mosey on his way on the grass.

It was a pretty good weekend, though I still have not made it to the beach!

This is not my finest year

I think 2008 is going to go down as The Year Meghan's Health Went to Shit. I used to be pretty healthy. Presently that is not the case, and it annoys me. There isn't a whole lot I can do about it, nothing that is happening is within my control.

Example 1 - Dysplastic Nevus. Fair skin meet sun. Sun, meet fair skin. Welcome sunburns.
Example 2. My eyes. Severe myopia meet Meghan. Meghan, you know severe myopia. You've only been dealing with it since you were 8.

I've tried to tell the medical professionals I deal with for the past year and a half that I can't see. They didn't believe me at all. So I've put up with my lack of seeing clearly. I can't drive at night at all. It's actually been hard on Andrew because he has had to do all the night driving for a long time. But I'm sick of it. So today I demanded that someone listen to me. The result? My eyes suck even worse. I have sucky sucky eyesight. And that is the professional opinion. I need BI-FOCALS on top of everything else. But I can't get my eyes checked until next February. So what's a blind girl to do? Get a stronger contacts prescription by my life-saver of an optometrist and buy reading glasses. READING GLASSES. I'm 27!!!!!! But if I don't use them with my stronger contacts, I'll do more damage to my already worn out eyes.

Life sucks.

I'm Meghan

I am a short, somewhat chubby, American woman of Irish descent.

I don't believe in abortion. I do believe in adoption. I don't judge people based on their beliefs on this issue.

I don't believe in the death penalty. In any instance.

I don't think that people who got mortgages way above their means should be helped by the government.

I do believe in a higher power. I do not believe 99% of what the Catholic Church would like me to believe.

I love summer. I tolerate winter, only because I can't ski any other time.

I'm a semi-retired sailor (I'll come out of retirement if my brother ever finds more crew and the 210's start to race on Saturday. Neither is happening soon).

I'm a bleeding heart liberal only when it comes to the environment. In all other instances I lean marginally to the right.

Gilmore Girls is the best television series ever. EVER.

I am a product of single sex education. I am not a lesbian, feminazi, male hater, or socially awkward because of it. I can only hope that if I have a daughter, she too can be a young lady of the Academy.

Thanks to having an older brother, I can recite passages from Star Wars, know what the icing rule really means, and still try to avoid being sacked or tagged out (depending on the season) whenever I walk into a room.

I figure skate lefty. If you can figure out why, I'd love to know. I play hockey righty, so it doesn't have to do with being on skates.

I love the smell and feel of salt water.

I would re-locate to another country before I left New England for another part of the US.

















this is your annual reminder as to who your author is

I am whoever you say I am

Well. Bree takes issue with u-MASS. She thinks the emphasis is actually on the campus. u-mass BOSTON, u-mass LOWELL. I've pondered the issue. I still think the Mass is more emphasized than the U. But maybe not as emphasized as the campus.

It was 90 degrees today and I didn't go to the beach. Or even a pool. I'm pretty upset about this. Tomorrow I hope to at least make it to the pool. I bought a bathing suit today, so hopefully I will at least make it to the pool.

I really want to be at this beach:
Unfortunately it is in San Diego. And I am not in California. So getting to that beach will be a little hard. I could have gone to the beach in Southie today, but the lack of a bathing suit, plus the fact that I was in Quincy for most of the day prohibited the Southie beach adventure. I seem to be striking out on all fronts.

say it right!

There is an ad on the radio now that bugs the hell out of me.

UMass is pronounced u-MASS. Not YOU-mass. I don't know why, I know most other states emphasize the U (YOU-conn, YOU NH, YOU VM, YOU Maine, etc). But for some reason, it's u-MASS. Ask any graduate of the University of Massachusetts system where he or she went to school. The answer will be u-Mass. Not YOU mass.

So why, I ask, does an ad running on MA radio stations that is trying to promote Massachusetts schools say YOU-Mass? They have children at all different levels of education speaking about their schooling and then there's a voice at the end telling you to support Massachusetts education. We all know these are paid actors. But if you are selling Massachusetts schools to Massachusetts residents, maybe try to have them pronounce the name of the school correctly. When people from out of MA say YOU mass, it doesn't bother me. I don't know of any other school that doesn't emphasize the You. But here in MA we don't. So say it correctly.

vent

This is my blog so I get to vent once in a while. And vent I will.

There is a particular intersection in Braintree in front of the South Shore Plaza that is a nightmare. The off ramp from 93 North goes all the way to the next intersection. WHERE THE TURN FOR DUNKIN DONUTS IS!!! So in order to take a right to go down to where they keep the magical elixir of caffeinated goodness you have to merge with the people coming off the highway. And let me tell you, those people are in no mood to let you merge into the right lane. Why? Because they came off the HIGHWAY. So clearly they have the right of way. They are the HIGHWAY PEOPLE! But I need my coffee... and I don't care about the highway people. And their refusal to let me into their lane so I can take a right. So I cut them off. Today I had someone wave at me in an angry manner. Because she apparently owns the right lane. So what was I supposed to do but slam on my brakes in front of her, wave to her in my rear view mirror and then c.r.a.w.l. to the light. While waving to her. And smiling.

You don't own the right lane!

Manic Monday

Working makes me hate every day just a little bit more than the day before. Sad, really. But on the positive note, I have Thursday off and this weekend should be fun. If I can get through the 3 more workdays I have to get through.

Sometimes I dream about working someplace else. Some other industry. Anything but what I do. What I really want to do is work for a non-profit group environmental group. I don't know what exactly I want to do for them, but I want to be involved with something that doesn't make me hate my life. Any ideas? anyone? no? damn.

I have no school tomorrow night and I'm making one of my Make and Take dinners, which means more time to sit around and do nothing! whoo hoo! I'll probably go for a walk after work. Then I'll mosey around, cook my Make and Take meal, and perhaps watch some mindless television. Sounds divine. The one sad part of that is I have no more Sex and The City to watch. I've been watching them On Demand since January, but now I've seen them all, plus the movie. I'll have to find something else to watch.

So what, you ask, is the Make and Take Kitchen? Only the greatest idea since sliced bread! You sign up before you go for either 3, 6, 9, or 12 meals (I make half orders, they feed 2-3 people). You can choose from a bunch of different meals and when you get there on your selected date and time, they have everything you need to make your meal set up for you. Everything is chopped, peeled, sliced, diced, you name it. All you have to do is put everything together in whatever container they tell you to put it in. Even the meat is already portioned out for you. And it is all fresh food. If you don't like onions - don't put them in! Love garlic? Double what it calls for! (actually never double a garlic amount, but you get the point). You don't have to worry about prep, cleaning, making sure you have all the ingredients, and you make it with fresh food. Pop it in the freezer when you get home and all you have to do when you want to eat it is follow the fool proof cooking directions on your container. Honestly, it's a lifesaver. And I don't even have kids! I know of one mother of 3 who makes 12 full meals every month (and gets a 13th meal free). It's really awesome; you go out to eat less, you eat less frozen pre-prepared meals full of sodium, and you can actually have a real meal in about 20 minutes. I love it. I wish I had come up with the idea. See paragraphs 1 & 2

I enjoy being a girl

** This post contains spoilers for the Sex and The City Movie. Don't read if you want want plot spoilers **



I have so many things to say about my experience tonight, but as it is 1:13AM EST and I should go to bed soon, I won't be able to say everything. Here are a few of my thoughts.

The women behind me in line had very bad self esteem issues. We were all waiting in line like crazy people for about an hour before the movie started. They were in line behind us. And they kept saying things like "what does all this say about womenkind? I can't believe how shallow this is". Um.... you are here too. Behind me in line. Near the front of the line, I might add. And you know what? Sometimes it's fun to get your girlfriends to go see a movie and have an excuse to get dolled up. It's okay to be a woman. It's okay to do girly things. Why do women have to feel ashamed to throw on some make up, high heels, and cute outfits and go sit through a very girly movie? Men don't feel ashamed when they go watch "Rambo Meets Rocky and they Blow Up NY With Russian Mafia Explosives" (and yes, I know Rocky and Rambo are played by the same person). We don't need to feel ashamed of getting into Sex and the City.

On that note, I have never seen so many different and cute pairs of shoes at a movie. Every other girl had high heels on and there were more dresses than I have ever seen at a movie. It was actually kind of nice to see.

(This is where the plot spoilers begin)
When Big jilted Carrie at the altar I wanted to die for her. When she was beating him with her bouquet screaming that she was humiliated, I wanted to start smacking him over the head (then again, I never liked Mr. Big). As I watched the once strong Carrie Bradshaw fall apart with a severely broken heart, and how she knew it was going to happen, I realized I never had that fear. I remember having an absolute freak out on the way to the chapel on my wedding day. I remember feel nauseous and wanting to be sick and so nervous I could barely walk. I remember thinking to myself "I cannot do this" and telling my mother I didn't feel good. My father told me we didn't have to do it, and we could go out on the boat instead if I so chose. And I almost chose to. But I never once in a million years though my groom wouldn't be waiting down there at the end of the altar. If someone had told me, as they told Carrie, that he wasn't there yet, the furthest thing from my mind would have been that he wasn't coming. I probably would have thought that since I wasn't there to nag him about being on time that he was running late. I'm glad I never even had to consider him not showing up.

And when Steve told Miranda that he cheated on her, my heart dropped. Steve? Cheat on Miranda? What? Why would he do that? I got mad at him, and I understood why Miranda didn't want to forgive him. I'm not sure I could either. And his excuse was so low, that I think I would have hit him. So what if they hadn't been having sex for a long time. Does that give you the right to sleep with someone else? No. You should stay home and try to fix what is wrong.

And finally, I was very impressed with Samantha for not cheating on Smith. I was sad to see them break up, but I was impressed that she ended it before she strayed. Good to see her making a good decision for once.

Overall, a really good chick-flick