Please Come to Boston

I know, I know - I promised I would blog on Tuesday. I forgot about how exhausting it is chaperoning a field trip for teenagers. I drove a car full of students (BOY students, no less) from Alex's voice class to a dress rehearsal performance of two operas put on by the music and theater departments of the University of Southern Maine. In case you're into opera, the two performances were Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, both by Puccini. I don't listen to this kind of music for fun very often, but I don't mind going to a fully-staged opera once in a while. I think I learned to like it by watching Bugs Bunny cartoons when I was a kid (remember the Rabbit of Seville? Classic.)

It was about an hour's drive each way. plus two operas and a lunch stop. I was wiped out. I'm not sure which was more tiring - the uplifting themes of banishment, suicide, greedy relatives and corpse abuse or listening to teenage boys talk for two hours (dude, really?)

I came home with a horrendous headache and I was unable to keep my eyes open past suppertime. The good news is that I'm fully awake now, and can tell you all about Boston.

Since I had been at the dogsled race for Friday, and came home very late that night, I went down to Boston first thing on Saturday morning. We all met at my friends' house in North Reading and carpooled to the TD Banknorth Garden for the Bruins game. We had the highest possible seats (the only place the purchaser could get 12 seats together) and I was a little creeped out at first - that last section of stairs was pretty darn steep, and I admit to a little fear of heights. After a bit, though, I got used to it, and we could see everything going on perfectly.

Here's the view from my seat. I left my camera at the dogsled race, so I have only this picture from my cell phone.

We had an amazing time, and the Bruins won, so all was right with the world. GO BRUINS!

Last week, when I mentioned that I was going to Boston for the game, one of my blog readers, Lisa from The Life and Times of Lisa, mentioned that she was going to be there, also. She was good enough to tell me the section that she would be sitting in with her family, and told me to look for her kids, who would be wearing Bruins jerseys with Kessel and Bergeron on them. At that point, I had no idea where our seats were, as my friends had the actual tickets. When I got to the garden, I was amazed to find that we were sitting in the section directly next to the one she was in. I spent every spare moment searching the section for her, but no luck. I saw lots of Bruins jerseys, but not the right ones.

I was walking out, after the game, when my friend (who had heard me complain about not being able to find her) said, "Hey, those kids are wearing Kessel and Bergeron." I ran down the stairs (fear of heights be damned) just as they were disappearing around the corner, and I shouted "LISA!" thinking, 'if this isn't her, this woman is going to call security on me' or, worse, 'this is her and she'll think I'm a total nut job!'

It WAS her, and she didn't think I was a nut job - well, at least she didn't SAY so. She turned out to be just as nice as she could be, with a lovely - and patient - family.

Lisa is from Vermont, and has a great attitude about life, which is why I like her blog. The first think I noticed on her blog was a quote that said, in part, 'Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Play with abandon.' I loved it, and I grew to love her positive way of looking at things and her daily gratitude journal. Go on over and check her out - and next time we're headed to watch the Bruins kick some ass, you should come along!

Lisa's son was nice enough to take our picture - again with my cell phone. I have my eyes closed, and this is definitely not my best angle (don't my boobs look HUGE? Well, they are big - not quite as big as they look in this pic...) but I wanted you to see how adorable she is. We managed to chat all the way out of the building, and I was absolutely thrilled. What a small blog world it is!

My friends and I spent the rest of the day walking around Boston. Not the best thing for my broken foot (damn you, cobblestone streets!) but I didn't care. It was above 50 degrees, sunny, and I was with some of the funnest people on the planet. We ate cannoli's from the North End Bakery and window-shopped and people-watched and laughed ourselves silly. Some of us stayed in North Reading overnight (pizza and movies) and then our hostess made these spectacular Belgian waffles with every conceivable topping for breakfast.

It was a wonderful time, and I managed to forget all about the things that trouble me for a while. I think a little respite from my stresses was exactly what I needed, and I think I need to schedule more of these little breaks into my life. I can't afford a big fancy vacation, but that isn't what I need. What I need is to do more things with people that make me feel happy. If I was a resolution-making kind of person, I think that would be mine.

Note to self: Spend more time with people who make you laugh.