A Week in Review

Originally posted on September 22. 2005.

OK, I wrote this blog once and somehow it got lost. So, here it goes again...

...Wow, what a week we've had! I'm finally getting time to sit down and soak in everything that went on and actually get some rest. Here's a recap. Last Thurs. my best friend Aleta was to arrive at Logan International Airport at 11:30am from NC. Unfortunately, she missed her 9:30am flight due to traffic and had book another flight that would leave NC at 11:15am, but it wouldn't be direct. She would have to change planes at JFK in NY. She arrived in NY at 12:50pm and was to leave for Boston at 1:20pm, but her flight was delayed due to weather. Finally, after being on the tarmac for a 3 and 1/2 hours, they took the plane back to the terminal mainly because they needed to re-fuel. But, while they were there, they decided that they were not going to get the plane out that night, so they officially cancelled the flight. The airline charted a bus to take the passengers to Logan Airport. Aleta called and said they officially left JFK at 6:10pm and that the driver said it would be about 4.5 to 5 hours and that they would be stopping for a break, too. Our orginial plans were to go to the Red Sox/A's game that night at Fenway, so since Aleta wasn't going to be able to make it, we asked Dr. O'Bryan (who got into town Wed. afternoon) if he would like to come. So, we all headed to Fenway (with Ella, too!) and we decided that depending on when the game ended we would just take the T to the airport and pick Aleta up. We weren't expecting her any earlier than 11pm. Well, due to rain earlier in the day, the game was delayed 45 minutes and didn't start until 7:50pm. By the time the 8th inning came around, the Sox were losing 6-2 and we were getting bored (while Ella was getting tired). Our seats weren't very good either. It was really great to go to a REAL ballpark and watch baseball. It's a really old stadium, I believe it was built in 1912, so the ambience was great. But, I'm used to sitting behind home plate. We had seats in right field and it was really hard to tell what was going on in the infield. Anyway, we decided to leave and I just happened to check my cell phone to see what time it was. It was 10:38pm and I saw that I had voicemail. I figured it was Aleta checking in to tell us where she was. Well, her message said that it was 10:20pm and that she had just gotten to Logan! Holy Crap! I felt horrible. I did not want her to have to wait even more after what she'd been through that day. So, we left immediately and walked back to Dr. O'Bryan's hotel and took the T to the airport. We finally made it to the T station at the airport at 11:30pm. We didn't make it home until midnight and didn't get to bed until 1:30am. Sorry Aleta!

Fri. morning we met up with Dr. O'Bryan and his Seminole crew (they were up here for the FSU/BC game) at their hotel where they were eating breakfast. We were supposed to meet them at 10am to eat with them, but those freakin' morons who work on our house whenever they feel like it showed up at 9:15am as we were getting ready to leave! Anyway, after watching them eat, their group split up and Dr. O'Bryan and his wife, Ann, came with us to do some sight-seeing. We first went to a church in Back Bay that had been around since the late 1700's and had just finished a $50 million renovation. Unfortunately, the tour wasn't going on that day, but every Fri. at 12:15pm they have a organ concert (this church is known for it's organ and it's thousands of pipes). Apparently every Fri. different people from all over the world come to play this organ for 30 minutes. It ended up being a National Day of Prayer so we had a prayer for the victims of Hurricane Katrina before the concert began. While the concert was cool, I was ready to get out of there by the 3 song (there were 5 total). Afterwards, we walked to the Museum of Art and saw the Ansel Adams display. This guy is known for his black and white pictures. I'm not a big art person, but some of his photography was really neat. They looked like paintings with some of the effects that were in the pictures, but it was just different ways he took the pictures or different kind of film he used that made those effects. By the time we were finished with this part of the museum we were starving and Dr. O'Bryan and his wife were ready to head back to their hotel to rest before our big evening. So, they left and we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch...YUM!! By, the time we got home we had 20 minutes to change and get ready to meet up with Dr. O'Bryan and his crew to go to The Blue Man Group show. And Aleta was gracious enough to babysit Ella for the night. Now, I had no idea what to expect, but I had heard that it was a great show with percussion and comedy. I won't give anything away, but if you happen to go (they're in Chicago, Boston, NY, Las Vegas, and Berlin) here's some advice: wear the ponchos that they provide for you! After the show, Dr. O'Bryan and his wife to us to a restaurant that they thought was Italian by it's name. It wasn't, but it was still delicious. It ended up being the most expensive dinner (per meal) we had ever had, but hey, we had a great time hanging out with them. But, by the time I was finished with my meal I was totally exhausted. I could've fallen asleep right there at the table. We got home at 11:30pm and learned that Ella had a rough night. She was overly tired from the past couple nights and was really fussy. And apparently that made Aleta think twice about having kids in the near future.
Saturday! Saturday! Saturday! ...we slept in. Today was the big football day and I was so excited for the UF/UT game that night. I woke up in time to watch College GameDay on ESPN and hear them pick UF over UT. WooHoo! By noon we left to go down to the Prudential Center to buy tickets for the Boston Duck Tour. We heard a lot of neat things about the tour and were very excited to go on it. Unfortunately, the tour was sold out until 5pm. The tour is approx. 80 minutes, so we figured that would give us enough time to make it to the store to get some dinner before the game and get back to fix it by 8pm. So, until 5pm, we ate at Chili's for lunch and shopped around Copley Place and the Prudential Center...well, I should say Aleta shopped. The Duck Tour finally came and unfortunately, I have to say it was overrated. Maybe it was because of our driver. He didn't seem interested on giving us the full history of things. He was more interested in being funny. So, we'll have to go on it again when we have more company visit. We were done with the tour at 6:10pm (a little early) and made it to Shaw's to pick up some steaks and potatoes. We got home around 7pm and were able to watch the end of the Miami game which had gone into OT. We were hoping they would lose, but they eeked out a W right at the last minute. Finally, the UF game started and I'm happy to say that we won and it was a strong outing, too! It was very nice to see us play well and to not have poor officiating lose the game for us like it did last year in TN. Well, we were all tired and went to bed shortly after the game was over. We had to wake up early the next morning to take Aleta to the airport.
VERY early Sun. morning we took Aleta to the airport for her 7am flight. I'm happy to say this flight was as smooth as it could be and she got home quickly. It sucked that her trip was so fast and we were so exhausted the whole time and the weather sucked so we weren't able to show her a lot of Boston. She'll just have to come back again! Well, we came back home and slept all day. We woke up briefly to check football scores and check on the race, but we mostly slept. Went to church at 7pm, wasn't much to write home about and came home and went to bed fairly late since we slept all day.
Since then, I can briefly say that I've been doing nothing. Just resting and chilling out at home. Oh wait, I almost forgot. We noticed Gator had a growth on his right, rear rump area and at first I thought it might be a histiocytoma which he had when he was younger and they're completely benign, but this seemed to be bothering him and the one he had previously did not bother him at all. So on Tues. we took him to the vet. and he didn't really think it was a histiocytoma although there was a slight chance it could be. He was concerned about the fact that it was bothering him as well and said that with him being 2 1/2 y.o. it's less likely to be a histiocytoma. So, yesterday I took him back and he had surgery to remove the mass and they sent it off to figure out what it is. So, we have to wait about 5 days to hear back from the vet. But, poor Gator. It was harder on him than I thought. He was pretty out of it for the rest of the day and he has a bald butt...he looks like one of those baboons with the bald butts. You could tell he didn't feel well. He looked so sad. He seems to be a little better this morning, but he's starting to lick at his sutures and I'm trying to make him stop because I don't want him to have to wear an e-collar!
Well, that's been my week...a whirlwind, I know. You'll be hearing from me this weekend. We'll be doing some more painting...or I should say, I'll be doing some more painting. And UF plays Kentucky this weekend. Another W for the Gators! I believe you'll be seeing us in the National Championship...I hope! It's Great to Be a Florida Gator!