Back from Bahstun

I love Boston. I can easily see why people gravitate back to that city where they grew up or went to school. We had a glorious week in the city. The weather was magnificent everyday: 70's, low humidity, blue skies, occasionally overcast. It was such a welcome relief from 95º temps and 95% humidity that is the norm here now.

We crammed in every possible tourist attraction in our week there, thanks to the City Pass. It was a great deal, and I highly recommend it. One highlight was the ferry trip across Boston Harbor to the Charlestown Navy Yard to see the U.S.S. Constitution and the U.S.S Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer. The boys adore all that military stuff -- as an aside, I found Wizard watching The Military Channel this morning. Another great day was the one spent in the Museum of Science, which is the finest science museum I have ever visited. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next, having a great time, and with no clue of how much they were learning. Query: Why can't school be like Boston's Museum of Science? Hmmmmm.

Lots of delicous dinners in Chinatown, followed by fresh fruit smoothies with tapioca pearls. Lord, how my kids love "loogie-tea". We even made 2 trips to Cambridge to both Toscanini's locations. My favorite flavors were Burnt Caramel and Pistachio Gelato. The most unbelievable ice cream anywhere, bar none.

The kids really enjoyed some down time watching street performers in Quincy Market. They even asked for some money to give the performers. It was a joy watching them laugh and appreciate someone else's talents.

Best memories for Wine Guy and me were seeing old friends again. DKNJ is a dear friend from our days in PA. She invited us over to her new home in Newton for dinner one evening. Her two boys and our three played together all evening. We had a great time catching up with her and her beyond-brilliant husband. I miss her a lot, esp. now that we all have children. Another great reunion was the boisterous dinner in Chinatown with Wine Guy's professor friends. Mathman teaches at one of Boston's fine institution's of higher learning. He's a member of that beyond-brilliant club, but he is social and articulate and not offended by our children. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting and joking with Mathman, although I feared I sounded stupid. The second Ph.D., Mr. History, is a fellow dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. He and Wine Guy have been friends since they were teenagers in DC. They love to talk politics and foreign policy, but it was difficult while tending to Wild Thing, Moose, and Mr. History's two children. Thankfully, Mr. History's son is the same age as Wizard. The boys found lots of things to talk about that night and were glad for each other's company.

Now I'm home again. The dryer is working but not really fixed. The new motor they sent was also defective, so the repairman jerry-rigged the machine so I could use it. I'm going to have them fix it , and then I'm going to sell it and its evil washer twin. Then, I'm going to Lowe's and buy the biggest damn washer and dryer they make. I'll need to buy a new microwave while I'm there. The repairman said he'd install it for me (for free) when he comes to fix the dryer again. He's a prince; he should have his own key to this house.

Back to reality. School starts in one week. I am counting the hours. We've bought supplies, sweatshirts, and hats. We have orientation later this week, although we met a couple of teachers when we were on-campus yesterday. Moose is so excited to be joining his brothers at this private school.

And then, maybe, just maybe, I can get some stuff done.