memory days
Three exciting highlights of my weekend:
1) I got to use a chainsaw this past Friday. It was AWESOME!
2) I have now officially ridden the tallest, fastest roller coaster on Earth. It was doubly AWESOME!
3) I now (finally) know how to change a tire. It was FUN!
Boring summary of my weekend:
This weekend I decided that I needed to get away from work and the horrendous rain and gloom that is Boston. So, Mark and I rented a car and drove home to Philly on Thursday night. We woke up at 7 on Friday, went to Home Depot and rented a chainsaw. Why? Good question. Because there were several large branches that had been laying across 1/3 of the backyard that had been just sitting there for at least the past year. So we got to work chainsaw-ing it up and stacking it. I let Mark do most of the work, but I did get to try it out. What fun! It cuts through wood like a hot knife goes through butter. Whee!!! When we finished clearing that up, my Dad asked if Mark could help take care of the tree next to our garage, half of which was dead. We did a bit of calculating, got some rope, and got to yell "Timber!" twice. The first trunk (there were three total, we were cutting down two) came down beautifully, but the second one got caught in the branches (since we were trying to pull it down away from the house) and Mark had to cut all the way through the trunk, then he pushed it and ran. Just as he ran, my mom came out to be where the action was only to find herself in the middle of it all! Mark was running at her and threw her down to the ground while my dad and I pulled and ran in the other direction. The trunk landed safely with a big thud and everybody was happy. I think that was the most excitement either of my parents have had yet this year.
After lunch we saw my little brother off to the airport, where he will be heading to China for the next two months to study. I wish I could go too. So jealous.
Without boring you with all the other details of our trip, I will fast-forward by saying we saw three gardens, and lots of pretty plants at Longwood, Chanticleer and NY Botanic Gardens. Two of those were to check out the greenhouses for Mark's studio (where they are designing a greenhouse and gardens for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which is a part of the Big Dig).
On to Six Flags Great Adventure (in NJ). It was beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees all four days we were home, unlike the weather in Boston. YAY! Sunday Mark and I took my sister to Great Adventure first thing in the morning. We got there at 10am on the dot, along with a billion other like-minded vacationers. Once we were in the park we made a beeline for Kingda Ka (I'm not fond of the name, but once you see it, the name doesn't matter anymore), and stood in line for TWO, very worthwhile hours. When you are right next to the track just watching people get launched 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, it's a rush. If you were scared, you become excited. When we made it to the front of the line, we saw one woman get off crying, and a guy get off who was wearing ski goggles and his hair was blown straight up. So funny. Everybody jumps into the cars and eagerly awaits to be "dispatched." They roll you to the launching point and you wait for them to sound the airhorn, giving you just enough time to realize exactly how high 456 feet straight up in the air really is. So now I'm scared to death and suddenly I'm blasting towards the ramp at 128 mph flying straight up into the air, over the hump, and hanging just long enough to look down and start screaming my head off (we were sitting in the second row). In a blink of an eye we're back on the ground, and the whole exhilirating experience is over in about 20 too-short-seconds. The other rides by comparison went at a snail's pace for us, but by the time we left the park at closing we had definitely gotten our money's worth.
Non-weekend-related life summary:
In other news, I will be putting in my 2-week notice at work today. I can't wait. It's sad, but necessary. Once upon a time I used to love my job, love what I do and be excited and challenged by it. Over time, struggling with the way the owner runs the shop has worn me down and out. I'm grouchy with the customers, unwilling to go the extra distance to make people happy. And that sucks, because I don't like feeling that way. I hate knowing that I am capable of making someone's day a little more special, but not wanting to bother. I don't like being mean, but I find that I can't help it. I've felt this way for too long now, and I've hung on because I'm fond of my regulars and it's a comfortable routine. But I know that it's not doing anyone any good for me to burn myself out like this. Not worth it. So I'm giving my two weeks today. And then I will be jobless. But you know, I am a-okay with that, even if I can't afford to be jobless.
I love and miss you all!!!
1) I got to use a chainsaw this past Friday. It was AWESOME!
2) I have now officially ridden the tallest, fastest roller coaster on Earth. It was doubly AWESOME!
3) I now (finally) know how to change a tire. It was FUN!
Boring summary of my weekend:
This weekend I decided that I needed to get away from work and the horrendous rain and gloom that is Boston. So, Mark and I rented a car and drove home to Philly on Thursday night. We woke up at 7 on Friday, went to Home Depot and rented a chainsaw. Why? Good question. Because there were several large branches that had been laying across 1/3 of the backyard that had been just sitting there for at least the past year. So we got to work chainsaw-ing it up and stacking it. I let Mark do most of the work, but I did get to try it out. What fun! It cuts through wood like a hot knife goes through butter. Whee!!! When we finished clearing that up, my Dad asked if Mark could help take care of the tree next to our garage, half of which was dead. We did a bit of calculating, got some rope, and got to yell "Timber!" twice. The first trunk (there were three total, we were cutting down two) came down beautifully, but the second one got caught in the branches (since we were trying to pull it down away from the house) and Mark had to cut all the way through the trunk, then he pushed it and ran. Just as he ran, my mom came out to be where the action was only to find herself in the middle of it all! Mark was running at her and threw her down to the ground while my dad and I pulled and ran in the other direction. The trunk landed safely with a big thud and everybody was happy. I think that was the most excitement either of my parents have had yet this year.
After lunch we saw my little brother off to the airport, where he will be heading to China for the next two months to study. I wish I could go too. So jealous.
Without boring you with all the other details of our trip, I will fast-forward by saying we saw three gardens, and lots of pretty plants at Longwood, Chanticleer and NY Botanic Gardens. Two of those were to check out the greenhouses for Mark's studio (where they are designing a greenhouse and gardens for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which is a part of the Big Dig).
On to Six Flags Great Adventure (in NJ). It was beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees all four days we were home, unlike the weather in Boston. YAY! Sunday Mark and I took my sister to Great Adventure first thing in the morning. We got there at 10am on the dot, along with a billion other like-minded vacationers. Once we were in the park we made a beeline for Kingda Ka (I'm not fond of the name, but once you see it, the name doesn't matter anymore), and stood in line for TWO, very worthwhile hours. When you are right next to the track just watching people get launched 128 mph in 3.5 seconds, it's a rush. If you were scared, you become excited. When we made it to the front of the line, we saw one woman get off crying, and a guy get off who was wearing ski goggles and his hair was blown straight up. So funny. Everybody jumps into the cars and eagerly awaits to be "dispatched." They roll you to the launching point and you wait for them to sound the airhorn, giving you just enough time to realize exactly how high 456 feet straight up in the air really is. So now I'm scared to death and suddenly I'm blasting towards the ramp at 128 mph flying straight up into the air, over the hump, and hanging just long enough to look down and start screaming my head off (we were sitting in the second row). In a blink of an eye we're back on the ground, and the whole exhilirating experience is over in about 20 too-short-seconds. The other rides by comparison went at a snail's pace for us, but by the time we left the park at closing we had definitely gotten our money's worth.
Non-weekend-related life summary:
In other news, I will be putting in my 2-week notice at work today. I can't wait. It's sad, but necessary. Once upon a time I used to love my job, love what I do and be excited and challenged by it. Over time, struggling with the way the owner runs the shop has worn me down and out. I'm grouchy with the customers, unwilling to go the extra distance to make people happy. And that sucks, because I don't like feeling that way. I hate knowing that I am capable of making someone's day a little more special, but not wanting to bother. I don't like being mean, but I find that I can't help it. I've felt this way for too long now, and I've hung on because I'm fond of my regulars and it's a comfortable routine. But I know that it's not doing anyone any good for me to burn myself out like this. Not worth it. So I'm giving my two weeks today. And then I will be jobless. But you know, I am a-okay with that, even if I can't afford to be jobless.
I love and miss you all!!!