Recap

by Matt | Aug 7, 2002 | Imported Entry

Lauren’s plane left today at 2:00 and like usual, I was an inconsolable wreck in the airport. I was at least able to hold back my blubbering until Lauren boarded the plane but as soon the that thing moved away from the gate I was done for. The people sitting next to me in the terminal must have thought something was seriously wrong. Well, there was, my Lauren had left. Make all the jokes you want but I have no problem showing emotions in public and I was very sad to see her go. The upside is that we’ll be back in Savannah at the beginning of September. That’s not too bad, just a few weeks. While she was here though, we certainly had some fun. Actually it was one of the best vacations I’ve had in a long time. Equal parts relaxation and interesting activities.

Let’s see:

Wednesday and Thursday I’ve already mentioned, so I’ll skip down to Friday. On Friday we went to the Shaker Village in Canterbury. It was interesting, at least for Lauren and my mother. I had at least 3 field trips to Shaker Village while I was in high school. It wasn’t too bad and it was a nice enough day for it.

Saturday we took it easy as it was supposed to be “rainy.” Originally I thought my parents were flying out on Saturday but I was wrong. This rearranged plans a little. So, the thought was that we would go up north to Sugar Hill on Saturday. That is, until we looked at the weather report. So, we rescheduled for Monday. Instead we spent the day bumming around town. We went to Old Navy and the Mall. I got myself some pants which I happen to be wearing at the moment.

Sunday was our adventure into Boston. My parents were leaving for California that morning at 7am and of course I had to drop them off at Logan. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good drive into the city, Lauren and I decided to park at Haymarket and spend the day in town. We realized quickly that because it was Sunday nothing was going to be open until at least noon. Seeing as how it was only 8:00 at this point I figured breakfast would probably be our best option. Breakfast came and went and eventually everything opened. First stop was Pix Poster Cellar where I got a Casablanca original movie poster reprint and a 8X10 production photo. Next it was over to Bread & Bowl (think Pier 1 or Crate & Barrel) where Lauren got me a nifty set of drink coasters with the instructions on how to make different alcoholic drinks printed on them. They’re actually really cool. Next, no Boston trip would be complete without a trip to Newbury Comics where I was fortunate to find a copy of FatBoy Slim – Live at Brighton Beach. The word “fantastic” doesn’t begin to describe it. It’s definitely on my list of “best live sets” (the ones I haven’t been to, that is). Next was a walk over to the North End to get some food. There’s only one kind of food served in the North End… Italian. My favorite. I had veal parm and Lauren had some sort of chicken and pasta in wine sauce. Stuffed, we then made our way over to Mike’s Pastries, a North End land mark, for some canolies. Delicious.

Monday Lauren wasn’t feeling fantastic so we pretty much hung out around here and watched movies. After a long day in Boston, the relaxation was welcome.

Tuesday we took a trip up North into the mountains. We went up past the Notch into Sugar Hill and had a fantastic breakfast (brunch) at Polly Pancake Parlor. Again, delicious. I certainly ate well this week. Later that day after we were headed home, we make a quick stop at The Comic Store in Nashua. Lauren was looking for a present for her brother. There’s a “make your own” action figure out there and that’s what Lauren’s brother had been looking for. Unfortunately they’re not available in the US yet so we came home empty handed.

That was pretty much our week. Lots of relaxing and spending time together, just what I had wanted. It’s good to have someone you can hold on to and when you’re apart for long periods of time you start to realize how much the other person is a part of you’re life and how much more happy you are when they’re near.

That’s about it. I’m going to go clean up a bit. Later.

Vacation

by Matt | Aug 1, 2002 | Imported Entry

Lauren’s plane got in safely and on time yesterday. She was really pretty tired from the trip so we came back to my place and had some dinner. Today I think we’re just going to sit around and not do anything interesting in the least. A mental break sort of day. We might go see Austin Powers, but that’s still a “maybe” at this point. Tomorrow we’re going to Canterbury and Saturday is Boston. Sunday we’re planning to head into the mountains. After that… who knows. Monday is a long way off and I don’t intend to make any plans that far ahead. Well, I’m off to make breakfast. Later.

Lauren’s Coming!!!

by Matt | Jul 31, 2002 | Imported Entry

Lauren’s plane left TX this morning at 8:00 and should be here around 3:00. HUZAH! I can’t wait. It’s been two years since she’s been up to visit. Sure, we see each other at school obviously, but it’s still cool to have someone visit. I’m not quite sure what we’re going to be doing all week but I’ll think of something. I know that Friday we’re going to that Shaker Village. She had wanted to go last time and it’s “New England-ish” I suppose. We’re also going into Boston on Saturday to drop my folks off and will probably end up staying the whole day. I also wanted to catch a Red Sox game but I think they’re on a road trip. Lastly we’ve got to make a stop at Polly’s Pancake Parlor, obviously. If you’ve never been, you’re missing out. Best pancakes in the world. Alright, I’ve got to get cleaned up so I can go pick her up at the airport. Later.

FreeBSD’in away

by Matt | Jul 30, 2002 | Imported Entry

Not much going on yesterday. I spent a good portion of the day cleaning the house and I’ll definatly be doing more of the same today. Lauren’s flying in on Wednesday and it’s always nice to have a clean house for a guest.

I did get to hang out with Chip and Nick for a while though. I hadn’t seen Nick for most of the summer so it was good to catch up. The purpose of our get together was actually so that Chip could help Nick install FreeBSD on his laptop. Things went well until they found out that they needed some patches and couldn’t download them. They’re going over to Simpro this morning to remedy the situation. All this mention of FreeBSD, plus the allure of Gnome has got me thinking. I might just have to install it on my old machine in Savannah. I’ve always wanted to try it out and I think that might be the perfect option. Of course I’m completely clueless when it comes to anything BSD related so I’ll probably need to be on the phone with Chip while I’m doing it.

Alrighty. Time to get some serious cleaning done. A mere 28 hours until Lauren’s here and my room looks like a weapons test site. I also need to go get some food. I can’t very well entertain guests on tuna fish and hot pockets. Later.