Manga

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

The North End, Boston’s “Little Italy”. The food is fantastic and it has an old world charm about it. I try to go there at least once a year. I was there a couple months ago for a work event and walked through there. I’ve had a few jobs within walking distance, it reminds me of the days of having lunch in the big city.

I don’t go into the office much but when I do I’ll walk around the area, even walking a longer distance to get to the train station.

One year for my birthday I went there alone. I had a fight with my boyfriend and didn’t want that to ruin my day so I went into Boston, sat at the bar and had a nice dinner and glass of wine by myself. It was sad but I was proud that I didn’t give in to him.

The dessert places are amazing. A cappuccino and sweet treat after dinner ☕️ , take a walk around the block in between dinner and dessert.

If you’re ever in Boston I highly recommend the North End. Find a small restaurant (they are all small) on a side street. Bring your appetite.

Yum

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Describe a family member.

My bother is about 6 years older. As kids he would waffle between looking after me and torturing me. He was a good big brother and I always thought he and his friends were cool.

When our dad died young, my brother took over as a surrogate father. He took care of us and looked out for our mom. He shuttled me around places.

He had kids young and I got to see him become a responsible father, yet he was still good to me and my sister. I had no money during college and I sheepishly asked to borrow money, knowing that he had little to give. He selflessly gave me more than enough to get me by.

As adults we have grown apart and then come together. We have had moments where I was his shoulder to lean on, and that gave me such comfort. We joke that he is our mom’s favorite. We know that she has no favorites but a mother-son bond is special.

We lost our sister a few years ago. It was devastating and we once again had to lean on each other. I look at him knowing that we will have to work together when our mom ages. We have watched our family go from 5 to 4 and now 3.

I am proud of my brother and how he raised his kids. He is a good man, not perfect, but a good man. He loves his family and is a brother/father figure to many. I’m lucky to have him.

Perfect 10

What are your top ten favorite movies?

10? Yikes, I’m not sure but here goes. Movies that I love, made me think, or are just comforts. I’m not putting in quotes, sue me.

  1. E.T. – all time sentimental favorite. It’s the one I say as my favorite
  2. A League of Their Own – I love the story
  3. On Golden Pond – I enjoyed it, even as a kid
  4. When Harry Met Sally – I’m not a rom-com fan but this is fantastic
  5. The Breakfast Club – Yes, it problematic today but as a Gen Xer it’s a classic
  6. Bridget Jones’ Diary – I loved the book and was skeptical about the movie but it was fantastic
  7. Good Will Hunting – best Boston movie
  8. White Christmas – I saw it for the first time only a few years ago but I watch it each year while baking.
  9. Old Yeller – I cried at the end, probably one of the first movies I cried at. I also loved the little boy in it, I always wanted a little boy like him
  10. The Sound of Music – the music, of course

That was easier than I thought, definitely thought of some others but this will do. Now I want popcorn and milk duds.

Family vacations

Have you ever been camping?

In the 80s my family has a leisure van, I probably could have omitted “In the 80s”. It had captains seats in the front and a bench seat in the back so we sat sideways but had a great view of everything. We traveled a lot in it, going to South Dakota and Wyoming. Although most of the time we were in cabins or the van we did tent camping a few times. I loved it. We all had the same sleeping bags, brown with flannel inside. We had a huge tent that took my dad hours to put up. It was something that I wish we had done more but my dad died young and my mom didn’t love it as much.

Many years later I did a trip with a rock climbing group. We were all camping outside. I bought a single-person tent and borrowed a sleeping bag, I was excited. It poured that night, it was awful. My car was parked nearby and I contemplated going into it for shelter but decided to rough it out as I didn’t want to seem like a wimp. I found out the next day that a lot of people ended up in their cars, I guess it wasn’t considered wimpy. It was all part of the experience for me.

I used to do a relay race that went over 2 days. When not running our van would go to a predetermined location to get a couple hours of sleep. I opted to sleep outside, enjoying the beauty of the night sky in the remote location. It was always something I looked forward to.

I would still do it today. Tents and sleeping bags are so much better now.

I get more done by 9:00 am than most people do all day

When do you feel most productive?

I get up early before work and try to bang out a project, clean or get my run in. I feel better knowing that I can cross one thing off my list.

This time of year when the sun rises early I can be up at 5:00. I may, quietly go out and do yard work for an hour. It’s like my body has a spring awakening, I pop out of bed energized.

I have good intentions to be productive at night but I feel my energy, both mentally and physically, are drained then. I do, however, try to get my journaling done then.

It’s probably typical but I wasn’t an early riser until I started working full time. Like most teens and college kids I could sleep in until Noon.

Where are my early birds at?

Teamwork makes the dream work

My sweet old dog has trouble going up the stairs, or even finding the stairs. I help her out by either lifting her up or just picking her up. I tell her “We are all in this together”. She can’t hear me but it makes me feel good to let her know that I have her back (or bottom).

When I pick her up and carry her I put my arm out so that she can rest her front legs on my arm. She gets carried up like the princess she is, she looks ahead like she is telling me where to go.

I know that sooner rather than later she will not be with us. There is something so satisfying to know that I’m helping her and making her last years (months) special. Dogs give us so much love, this is her payback.

Class Pictures

I’m thinking of starting a book club where we read books that we enjoyed as kids/young adults. Each month a different person will choose the book. After the group discusses it the person who chose the book will discuss why it was chosen and the impact it had. I think my friends may think it’s weird but it could be fun.

My book would be Class Pictures by Marilyn Sachs. It is about 2 girls who meet in kindergarten. One is popular and poor (or middle class) the other is not popular and rich. I believe it is told from the pov of the popular girl, Pat. Each year she describes their class pictures and how their relationship grows. As they get older the dynamic changes, I won’t give it away though from the way I described it it sounds like a snooze fest.

I don’t know why I liked it so much but I did. I remember doing a book report in my speech class about it. It’s coming of age, though so different from my experience, yet so raw that I could relate.

I think of this book often and I know that I have read it as an adult. I need to find the book in my house and reread it. Maybe convince my friends to do the same.