Halloween '07

OK, kids, it's time to start thinking of Halloween costumes! This year, I don't have a boyfriend with whom to do a "couple costume," but oh well. I've got something good on my own. :)

You probably guessed it from the photo, but I'm going to be . . . Indiana Jane! Decided to go that route instead of the other option, Lara Croft, mostly because I like Indy's outfit better than any of Lara's.

However, I have a problem. I have a great white safari shirt & a khaki skirt with cargo pockets that will be perfect. I also have a leather jacket & fedora - but they're the wrong color! Indy wears brown of each; I have black.

What do you think, kids? Is it worth getting a brown fedora and brown leather jacket or should I suck it up with the black versions? :)

Game 1

As carefree as they look in this photo, these are your Boston Red Sox & they are ready to play tonight. :)

First pitch is at 7:10pm: Josh Beckett (a.k.a. Commander Kick-Ass of the F@# Yeah Brigade) on the mound against HUGE C.C. Sabathia.

A couple of old friends are in town for the weekend & we'll be meeting up with a couple of new friends to watch the game at The Page. Go Sox!

Birthday Weekend Recap

OK, the long awaited birthday recap. :) My actual birthday was Monday, but we celebrated it mostly on Sunday, since I had class & my mother had to work on Monday. Turned out to be a good thing, since the weather on Sunday was gorgeous & Monday left a little to be desired.

At my request, we spent part of the day at Cardigan Mountain Orchard, enjoying the view & the sunshine. The first pictures are from that, while the final are from my birthday dinner.

The orchard had a tractor, which totally made Thing 1's day

Pretty view from a hill in the orchard

My dad, nephew, brother-in-law & I

Before Thing 1 was born, my bro-in-law started calling me Auntie Stinky (a play on Auntie Stacey). Here's hoping it won't stick, but considering I now get cards addressed to Auntie
Stinky, I'm probably out of luck. ;)

My new tweed tote bag

My cake, which I made myself because I wanted to. :) It's a
pumpkin spice cake with an orange glaze. Go Auntie Stinky!

In this photo, Thing 1 is traumatized b/c Auntie blew out the candles, thereby making the pretty little lights go away. How dare she?!? ;)

So that was my 26th birthday. Man, I'm old. ;)

Too Much Going On

for a coherent post at the moment. I had a great 26th birthday over the weekend & the Red Sox are advancing to the AL Championship Series!!!

Plus, I have a paper to write, so I can't linger. I'll leave you guys with a cute picture of W. from the orchard we went to on Sunday & an IOU for a few longer posts soon. :)

Just Ain't Right

Well, I came on to blog about how great Wednesday's night win was, how great it was that the Yankees lost, and how excited I am to see tonight's game. Instead, I felt I had to write about this instead: Red Sox fan assaulted in New York.

Just looking at that title, what do you picture? I pictured a brave, but foolhardy fan in Sox regalia sauntering into a Manhattan sports bar during a playoff game - "bearding the lion in its den," so to speak. In which case, violence is never the answer, but that guy was taking a risk.

However, when you read the article, the facts emerge & it's not at all that simple. Carlos Ortez, a carpenter from Quincy in NY for a construction job, was watching Wednesday's game in the lounge of the Ramada Inn in Yonkers. Another patron of the bar made a comment about his Sox hat. After the game was over, this patron & two others with him followed Ortez & his co-worker outside & attacked Ortez.

Ortez is in intensive care & two of the three men were arrested. Wait for it - the story gets weirder. The men arrested for Ortez's attack are from Pennsylvania.

From the known facts of the case, the attack did not appear to be a "heat of the moment" thing based on an argument between two rabid Sox & Yankees fans. Ortez & his co-worker were away from home, just watching the Sox play at their own hotel bar. They did not go out looking for trouble, but somehow it found them, in the form of two other construction workers from another state altogether.

Now, I'm not saying that I would have been ok with two opposing fans from NY & Boston getting into a fight & hurting each other seriously - but I would have at least been able to understand it. This seems like a calculated attack on a lone man (Ortez & his co-worker were walking in difference directions when the three men attacked Ortez) who didn't appear to be baiting his attackers.

As tempting as it is to point to the two attackers as "typical brutish no-class Yankees fans," I'm not going to do it. As sacrilegious as it seems for me to say, I think most Yankees fans are pretty similar to most Red Sox fans - fiercely loyal to their team, but law-abiding.

However, this attack was beyond the pale of normal sports loyalty & should absolutely be condemned by both sides. Please think of Carlos Ortez as the Sox go into the second game of the playoffs tonight.

Back in the Game?

As much as I love my nephew & am looking forward to nephew #2, I am definitely not ready for kids, you guys. ;)

I had a lovely visit from my parents & nephew on Saturday, while my sister & her husband were in Maine celebrating their anniversary. However, Thing 1 was tired at dinner (at the Portsmouth Brewery) & he was a little crazy. I'm ashamed to admit that I got a little frustrated, especially when chasing crayons all over the table made me elbow my pint glass & spill a quarter of my Octoberfest.

Yes, I love him, but I am happy to be an auntie for now. ;)

However, on the bus on the way home from campus today, I saw something that made me realize that I am ready to be with someone seriously again. A couple was sitting side by side under a tree on a hillside & throwing a ball for their golden retriever to fetch. They looked happy.

I miss that kind of thing. Both of my exes shared my desire to explore the world "off the beaten path." Therefore, I spent a lot of time over the last three years tramping around outdoors: taking pictures, going on long walks, and exploring historic sites.

I'd like to have that again, please. Don't know to what romance authority I'd need to speak, but let's see what can be done, hmm?