Goodbyes are never easy, but saying goodbye you r baby before he leaves the west coast is a fucking gut punch. Parents that have sent their kids off to to the military, college or junior hockey know the mixed bag of pride and sadness that comes with this particular goodbye. Perhaps it’s that these particular drop offs represent and end of a life stage it be it in their life or yours. Not to be overly esoteric or anything like that.
The Mayor heads west to Fort Myers tomorrow for orientation and Eels training camp. He’ll be moving into his billet house tomorrow as well. The Hubby is baking up some of his trademark chocolate chip cookies for the billet family. While the hubby bakes, the Mayor will finish packing up his stuff. He was pretty much ready to go before I left, but knowing him he’ll be thoroughly checking everything twice like Santa Claus.
I’m currently 35,000 feet above the ground watching Drop Dead Gorgeous. (Thank you Daddy Delta for the upgrade to Comfort+. Funny, I don’t remember the “Minnesota” accent being so thick when I watched the movie in 1999. Now that I’ve been living in Florida, I’m hoping it’s an exaggeration and not typical. I suppose it’s not so surprising that the accent would become more noticeable after moving away. Anyway, the movie is pretty amazing.
Thankfully, my travel day has gone smooth so far. Checkin and security were both a breathe. The Sky Club was packed to the gills. Can we just agree that people that take up an extra table for their stuff are worse than gate lice? When did folks become so freaking entitled? On the upside, the food was mighty tasty today. And now back to my in flight entertainment, which is now Curb!
I’m so ready to head up to Minny tomorrow. I’m not so ready, however, to have an empty nest. While I head north to see family, including extended family due to a 50th wedding anniversary, the Mayor will head west for hockey. We’ve pretty much have hjm ready to go less a few things we need to pick up tomorrow morning before I fly out. He’s super excited to get junior hockey started.
Meanwhile, I’ve checked into my flight and have been praying to the upgrade gods. So far it’s looks a little iffy for a first class upgrade. Comfort plus May happen, but we shall see. Worst case scenario, I came at a the Sky Club while waiting for an aviator to fly me away. And just think I’ll have nobody traveling with me, so there will be no complaints about the food tomorrow. Unless I decide to complain to myself, but I don’t think that we’ll happen. I prefer waiting in the Sky Club to minimize interaction with the gate lice, who like pirates are thieves of joy.
How do you plan your goals?
I plan my goals around how I’m feeling mentally and physically. I also use current performance as a basis. Over the past few years, I’ve had to learn to be flexible with my fitness goals. Injuries and Graves’ disease have knocked me from my goals a few times. In those cases, I’ve learned to pivot and create new goals that are physically possible. I thin one of the biggest things I’ve had to learn is being flexible with my goals in the face of chronic illness.
I started work this morning with only two monitors, which felt a lot like being lost in a forest without a phone or compass. Ever since we lost power yesterday, my monitor has been out of commission and my headset has had intermittent issues. Additionally, I had to reset all our Nanoleaf lights, so they’d connect to HomeKit again. Admittedly, the process of resetting the smart lights is not so smart. I was able to reset two in our fan, but I still have a few left to fix.
Today I talked with IT for the majority of my morning. We worked together to fix my peripherals. Obviously, it’s a bit frustrating as I can’t take calls while on the line with IT. In fact, my entire morning was pretty much a waste (not to be theatrical about it.) The few clients I did speak to weren’t looking for coverage or wanted it free. This afternoon is off to a similar start albeit with a working computer system. Hopefully, I’ll get someone that’s ready to buy.
What are your future travel plans?
Is there anything more exciting than future travel plans? I don’t think so either. Next month I’m headed to see my parents for a week in Minny. I’m really looking forward to being able to see my extended family at my aunt and uncle’s anniversary party while I’m there. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen many of them. Fortunately, I’ll be able to work remotely, so I won’t need to take any time off for the trip.
At the end of September, I’m going to visit Jake once the Hubby gets back from Vegas. He’s going on a guys trip it Vegas, which should be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward, however, to spending time with my boy and hiking the mountains of Utah. Fall is gorgeous where he lives and I can’t wait to see the mountains. As of now, it’s a solo trip, but hopefully, I can convince Hubby to fly out for a long weekend. I’ll probably go back to Utah or Minnesota in December, so I don’t lose my status with Delta. Once the Hubby’s old boss actually pays him, yep still hasn’t paid him seven months later, I’ll look to plan something overseas.
We made it back home from Boston last night. Fortunately, the trip was completely uneventful and smooth sailing. The extent of our travel troubles was me missing my turn at the rental return center and the Mayor’s meltdown over food in the Sky Club. In his opinion, the food there sucks. In fact, it didn’t but he was happy to eat his Sbarro. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the locally curated food including one last bowl of clam chowder and a cannoli.
I ordered pizza on the way home as there was no way my ass was cooking dinner last night. It would have been nice to have a home-cooked meal after eating out the last five days, but whatever. Nonetheless, I was happy to be home and reunited with the puppies. Unfortunately, my sweet Athena is not looking too good. I keep hoping against hope that she’ll miraculously recover. I really can’t imagine our house without her.
The change in climate from Boston to South Florida was brutal. Our weather throughout the trip was quite comfortable. There was one evening of storms, but those hit after we had made it back to the hotel for the night. In contrast, South Florida continues to be unseasonably hot and humid. I noticed when we got home that our house was pretty hot. Apparently, the AC was not working so well. I’m not sure when it stopped working, but nobody seemed to notice until I said something. Fortunately, the hubby was able to get it working, so we could sleep comfortably.
It’s good to be home, but the trip to Boston was great. I’d be happy to never have to drive in that city again, but I did enjoy exploring it on foot. It was a great trip to connect with the Mayor’s new team and to connect with my dear friend Jenny. I can’t believe that we ended up in the same city on the same weekend. It was such a blessing to be able to see her for dinner. Now that we’re back home, it’s back to reality which includes work and eating healthy again. The splurge on tasty food in Boston was fun, but I’m ready to get back on the wagon.
It was a super Saturday here in Boston. After swearing I wouldn’t drive back into the city again, I drove there twice today. The first trip into the city was to see the New England Aquarium and Quincy Market. Fortunately, the drive into the city was much easier today with the weekend traffic. Moreover, it was super easy to find parking near the aquarium.
As for the aquarium itself, I can’t say that I’d recommend it. It cost way too much for the size and number of displays. For the Mayor and I, it cost nearly $70 for a forty-five-minute walk-through of the facility. The only reason it took so long was because it was super crowded and it took time to be able to see some of the animals. Fortunately, the cost of admission helps support the animals and the facility’s research efforts. While I can’t say it’s worth the price from the experience perspective, I’m okay with spending money to support the animals.
The gift shop was surprisingly not too expensive. I picked up a few gifts for the family including a stuffed penguin for the puppies. The Mayor picked out a turquoise necklace and a surprise for his brother. After we finished at the gift shop, we walked over to Quincy Market. Fortunately for the Mayor, it was a quick walk from the aquarium to the market. Thankfully, the market wasn’t overwhelmingly busy like it was yesterday. The Mayor opted to have some Chinese food and I opted to have clam chowder in a bread bowl. As Prue Leith would say, the chowder was “worth the calories.”
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to rest. We left early for his game as his teammate from last season was playing in the game before. All of our games this weekend have been in Attleboro, so I could probably now do the drive in my sleep. Of course, I’d be happy to never drive here again. The traffic and drivers create the next level of hell. The degree to which they suck at driving cannot be overstated. At this point, that thought is more than just a posit in my mind. It’s an absolute fact that these drivers are lethal weapons. As for the hockey, the Mayor and his team came up with a 5-3 victory. He had another strong game.
For dinner, we headed back into the city to meet my best friend. Jenny and I have been besties since high school and I don’t get to see her nearly enough. Fortunately, she had a conference in Boston this weekend, which gave us a rare opportunity to have dinner together. Honestly, dinner was awesome. It was wonderful to be able to hang out with her and catch up in person. What a blessing she has been to me. Now we’re back at the hotel getting ready for bed and watching television.
Today was all about exploring Boston much to the Mayor’s chagrin, but more on that later. We started our day today the same way we did yesterday, at the rink. Game two was a bit more difficult than the first game. The other team had some lucky bounces and we took some bad penalties. Consequently, they ended up losing 5-3. The Mayor had plenty of opportunities to score, but the opposing goalie came up with some ridiculous saves. He continues to play well and is enjoying playing junior rules. Since the asinine USA Hockey rules don’t apply to Juniors, the games actually flow nicely and don’t take forever.
Once we left the rink, we came back to the hotel for him to shower and get ready for a day on the town. Before we headed north to Boston, we had to stop at the original Dunkin’ Donuts. It was pretty cool. I can’t wait to show Polly, who manages my regular Dunkin’ back home. She’s been making my coffee since the kids were young. I grabbed another coffee for the road and we headed to Boston.
I decided to park at the Boston Common garage, so we could grab lunch and walk the Freedom Trail. Traffic was utterly horrendous once we got downtown. The Mayor remains unimpressed with the big city. He definitely doesn’t have the patience for big-city traffic. Once we got to the parking garage, the rest was east. Okay, not so much. The Mayor was in a mood. His attitude was quite angry. I hoped it would improve after lunch, but it didn’t. He only wanted fried rice for lunch, so we ended up at PF Changs. Some battles just aren’t worth fighting.
After lunch, we headed back to Boston Common to start the Freedom Trail walk. I had intended to walk the entire trail less crossing the Harbor to the USS Constitution, but my Mayor was not on board for that. We made it to the North Church with the Mayor grumbling the whole time. He enjoyed seeing the sights closer to Boston Common but was not thrilled to walk across town. We attempted Quincy market, but the Mayor wasn’t about that life. To be fair, both the market and the Freedom Trail were jammed packed.
Tomb of James OtisJohn Hancock’s TombPaul Revere’s tombMonument to Paul RevereThe tombstone of Mother GooseTombstone for Ben Franklin’s parentsMonument to Ben Franklin’s parents Boston Massacre memorial Sam Adams tombstoneRobert Paine’s tomb
He did enjoy walking through the Park Street Church and the Granary Burial Grounds. The burial grounds were particularly cool. First of all, there are some major American heroes buried there including John Hancock, Sam Adams, Ben Franklin’s parents, Mother Goose and Paul Revere. It was a nice walk and a beautiful way to see the city and its famous historical sights. I wish the Mayor would have enjoyed it more instead of being in a mood. His mood was reminiscent of his breakdown on the Kongevegen in Norway. Nevertheless, I enjoyed myself.
Afterward, we headed to the mall to pick up some more goodies. This, of course, was easier said than done. Driving in Boston is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it’s complete hell. To be clear, driving in cities or new places doesn’t bother me. I’m from South Florida, which is notorious for its horrible drivers and traffic. Driving in South Florida is a lot easier than driving here. It took a good forty minutes to go a few miles.
The mall was busy, but we still managed to get in and out pretty quickly. There are some fast chargers at the mall, which recharge the car really quickly. We wanted to grab some Starbucks, but the line at Target’s Starbucks was ridiculous and there was only one barista working. Consequently, we headed over to the Starbucks in Quincy near the hotel.
Instead of driving straight back to the hotel, we drove to the Old House at Peace Field. This is where both John Adams and John Quincy Adams lived during their presidency. The house was closed, but the grounds including a beautiful garden were still open. The mayor sat in the car as I walked through the gardens. We ended our mini Adams National Historic Park with a trip to Abigail Adam’s Cairn. This is found in Penn’s Hill and is where she took her children, including John Quincy Adams, to see Charlestown burn during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Our day ended with some pizza delivered to tree hotel for dinner. Originally, we had planned to go out for dinner, but we were both exhausted. By the time we got back to the hotel, we had already walked over 17,000 steps. We’re finishing our night watching Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Netflix. Tomorrow there will be more hockey and more exploring to be done.
A poem from Mother Goose:
Come Out to Play
Girls and boys, come out to play, The moon doth shine as bright as day; Leave your supper, and leave your sleep, And come with your playfellows into the street. Come with a whoop, come with a call, Come with a good will or not at all. Up the ladder and down the wall, A half-penny roll will serve us all. You find milk, and I’ll find flour, And we’ll have a pudding in half an hour.
It was a busy first day in Boston. This morning absolutely kicked my ass since we got just over three hours of sleep. Our day started with an early morning drive to the rink in Attleboro. We stayed near the airport last night, which is an hour’s drive from Attleboro. However, I knew I wouldn’t want to drive an hour after landing at midnight.
Do you know who wasn’t tired this morning? The mayor. I don’t know how he did it, but he had an awesome game. He got a decent amount of ice time in the first period. Since we got in late last night, he missed the team’s practice. Nevertheless, in the second period, he was playing all special teams and was on the ice a lot. He had some key plates including drawing a nice penalty. The game ended in a tie, but it was a good game for a group of boys that haven’t played a game together.
After the game, we headed back to the hotel for a brief nap. I was fried despite all 40 ounces of Dunkin Donuts that was onboard. Fortunately, I was able to sleep for about an hour. I’m not a napper at all, so I wasn’t convinced I’d fall asleep. While I slept, the Mayor showered and took a nap. We had a gourmet lunch at MacDonalds before heading to the mall to kill time.
We ended up with a fully electric rental car, which was super intimidating. I had to google a lot of the functionality to even get out of the rental lot. One thing I didn’t like at all is that the car comes to a dead stop as soon as you remove your foot from the gas. Honestly, I was terrified we’d get rear-ended because of it. It was terrifying. Fortunately for us, we met the nicest guy, Nico, at the mall chargers. He owns a Polestar and was able to walk through how to maximize charging while minimizing cost. In fact, he reconfigured the settings for me, so the car would drive like a regular car. His act of kindness has made this trip so much easier for me.
The Mayor and I killed some time at the mall. There was an absolutely amazing candy store in the mall. They had absolutely everything from everywhere. They even had a wall of ramen and drinks from everywhere. Now we had no interest in trying the pickle soda, but we did buy a can of Warhead Lemon soda along with a bottle of root beer and cherry cola. Naturally, I couldn’t in good faith pass up an opportunity to buy a Milka bar.
After the mall, we headed to Quincy where we are staying. We drove past the original Dunkin Donuts on our way to the beach. There is a nice beach not too far from our hotel. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s beautiful and peaceful. Obviously, the water is way too cold for me to consider swimming. On the way to the hotel, we stopped at the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Quincy has a ton of history embedded in it, which makes it a nice town.
We ended our day with a trip to the USS Constitution. Unfortunately, due to traffic and lack of parking, we got there after the museum and ship closed. Nonetheless, the wharf where it is located has a nice waterfront walking path. You can view the USS Constitution after closing, you just can’t go on it. The Mayor was happy to see the ship as well as the Bunker Hill memorial in the background. We ended our night in Boston with dinner at Pier6. I had the clam and corn chowder, while the Mayor enjoyed a lobster roll. And now it’s time for bed because our busy day and late night have left me exhausted.
We’re packed up and ready to go. This morning the Mayor went out and picked up Athena’s favorite donuts from Publix, so she’ll have plenty to munch on while we’ll we’re gone. I’m hopeful our flight will be on time today and Sunday. The airports in the northeast have been an absolute disaster this summer. We get in pretty late, which is an absolute bummer since he plays tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. Tomorrow morning is going to be an early start.
While in Boston, I’ll try to post as often as I can. Hopefully, the weather will hold out, so we can go whale watching. I saw a whale when I was in Puerto Vallarta, but it was from a great distance. I would love to see one up close. Albeit, not too close. I’m looking forward to taking time to explore the city with my Mayor. Additionally, it will just be nice to hang out with him since he’s moving out next month. Needless to say, I’m excited to see how he does at the next level of hockey. We’re ready to go, so stay tuned.
I’ve started packing for our trip to Boston tomorrow. The Mayor and I don’t leave until tomorrow night, but I want to make sure we have everything we need. This trip I’m not faffing around. I hate getting to our destination only to realize I forgot to pack something important. Consequently, I’m hoping that going through my list and packing today will help avoid that frustration.
We fly out late tomorrow, so I’m hoping and praying the weather doesn’t mess up our travel plans. This time of year, it’s difficult to fly out of Florida due to our summer storms. The weather hasn’t been better in the northeast either grinding most of those airports to a complete halt. I’m going to bring my work laptop just in case we can’t get back Sunday. I figure if I’m prepared for the worst, we’ll get home without a problem.
This will be our first trip to the Chowder Cup, which is the big showcase tournament held in Massachusetts every year. It’s a good opportunity for players to gain exposure to junior teams as well as colleges. For me, it’s an excellent opportunity to enjoy summer in Massachusetts. Our schedule is pretty open, so we should have plenty of time to explore Boston and the surrounding area. Planning fun, random excursions is kind of my forte, so we should have a good trip.
I’m super excited for the trip, but it will be hard to leave Athena behind. Her days are numbered, so I hate to be away from her at all. While we’re gone, Goalielocks and the Hubby will take good care of her.
The Mayor and I had a great weekend in Minnesota courtesy of his Janesville Jets camp. Even though we ended up with bronchitis, we had such a great time seeing our family and friends. We flew up Thursday evening, so I could work Friday and the Mayor could rest up for his camp. It was a pretty smooth trip less a little delay on the ramp due to severe weather. Fortunately, we were able to take off in between storms. Nevertheless, we made it to Minnesota a little late.
Thursday night we went straight to my folks and got situated. I got set up in the guest room while the Mayor took over their basement. My folks ordered Pizza Man including the boys’ favorite, pizza buddy. Every time I have the pizza, it’s like stepping back in time to the Friday nights of my childhood. It’s probably a similar feeling for our boys since they spent their summers in Minny. At least, they did until Covid put the kibosh on it.
Friday, the Mayor and I really started to feel the effects of the pollen and smoke. We were feeling quite miserable. Unfortunately, for the Mayor, he had a lot of hockey to play that weekend. He loves playing, but it’s a bit frustrating when you can’t play your best. A bright spot in Friday’s on-ice session was that Grandpa Steve and Grandma Linda were able to join us at the rink. They had plans to be out of town but rearranged them so they could see us. It was awesome!
Saturday brought more hockey and a road- trip up to Forest Lake to see Cassie’s family and Uncle Eric. It was nice to see everyone. Neither the Mayor, nor I had seen them since 2019, which was way too long ago. We had a really nice time and some great food. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay as long as we would have liked due to an early ice time Sunday morning and not feeling great. Hopefully, I’m able to see them all again later this summer.
Sunday brought us back to the rink for the last on-ice session. Afterward, we picked up my Grandma and Uncle Mark and headed to my brother’s cabin. Their cabin is perfectly located not too far from their house or the cities. It’s on a beautiful lake that’s perfect for boating. Fortunately, the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the lake views. Honestly, I was happy we got to see our family back home after a four-year absence. I’m hoping for another great weekend in Minnesota later this summer.
