Like Matt and I, my friend Noelle and her husband, Justin, met in high school on their school’s swim team. They dated long distance in college and eventually got married a few years after graduating college. She is my #1 go to for relationship advice, complaining about Matt’s incompetence and general life advice.
Today she sent me the following email:
Subject: Reason Justin did not take out the trash
Body of the email: “It didn’t look full”
Attachment:
This email prompted me to ask her “how did we end up with such idiots?” Her response was spot on. “We locked them in early and attributed their ridiculousness to adolescence.”
Sometimes marrying your high school sweet heart isn’t so romantic. Just ask us! Don’t worry Noelle, at least we have each other. And blogs to publicly shame our husbands.
Last week was definitely a rough one in the lives of Bostonians and those of us who were lucky enough to call Boston home at one point.
It is difficult to know how to react to the events at the Boston Marathon and what transpired afterwards. At a time when the world doesn’t make sense feeling saddened, angry or threatened are all normal for such a terrible situation.
As a native New Englander and die-hard Boston sports fan, I know that no matter what, the city of Boston will persevere. As the Boston Globe wrote in Tuesday’s editorial “A commitment to rise to the occasion, to endure what must be endured, to remember all who suffered and lost their lives in times of strife, is written into the fabric of the city.” Acts of violence only work if they make people afraid to live their lives fully. We have an obligation not to let that happen. We will continue to live our lives, do our jobs and care for our neighbors.
Often, out of tragedy comes good. Boston’s people showed us their true colors last week. They gave the rest of us something to aspire to.
One of my favorite moments was when the fans at Saturday’s Red Sox game were treated to a performance by Neil Diamond to Boston’s unofficial anthem, Sweet Caroline.
Rumor has it that immediately after the second victim was captured, Neil purchased a ticket to Boston and called up Fenway asking if he could perform. Not realizing who the operator was talking to, she asked “what song would you like to sing?” His response… “umm, Sweet Caroline. If that is ok.”
Making this story even better, last week – the Yankees started an MLB movement to play this song, after the 8th inning in their stadiums to honor what happened on Monday.
I’ve sung along to this song many times at baseball games, parties and bars. Matt and I even asked the band at our wedding to perform this, along with a few other Boston favorites, while wearing Red Sox shirts… and they did.
This weekend, I realized that I didn’t know why this song was claimed by the people of Boston. My mom, aunt and I thought – what a perfect topic for a blog post.
The origins of the song’s association with the Red Sox date back to Amy Tobey, who worked for the Red Sox through a film and video communications company. From 1998 to 2004, she was responsible for selecting the music that would be played in the stadium. According to a Boston Globe article, she had noticed ‘Sweet Caroline’ was used at other sporting events, and she decided to send the sweetness over the Fenway speakers. The song was embraced by the fans, and the more it caught on, the more superstitious Tobey became about playing it – she considered it to be a good-luck charm. The Red Sox embraced the tradition and settled on the song being played during the eighth inning of every game.
Click here to see more of the tribute that took place at the start of the Red Sox game on Saturday (warning, you may need kleenex).
Well here’s your chance to meet them while giving back to an amazing cause. Aid Still Required has teamed up with these two superstars to raise some money for the forgotten issues and people who have been left behind after natural disasters and human crises. ASR continues to help the communities of Haiti, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, New Orleans and Darfur through programs that focus on women’s empowerment, education, disaster preparedness, environment issues and outreach for these communities.
Simply make a donation of $10 and you will be entered to win one of these once in a lifetime experiences. Plus, for every 4 entries you submit, 40 hours of trauma relief will be provided for victims of rape and PTSD in Haiti.
You +1 (aka the luckiest person ever) will fly to LA to meet Maroon 5’s frontman backstage at The Voice. Yes, this is real life
Airfare & hotel included
Bidding ends April 30th
If 70% of disaster funding goes to immediate relief, what happens when the disasters are forgotten? Aid Still Required is shifting the paradigm of global disaster relief by providing the long-term work of rebuilding that often goes sorely underfunded. This small but mighty organization champions areas frequently neglected by government agencies and provide long-term, sustainable programs that engender self-sufficiency.
Well, its back. Matt and I have Brooklyn fever again. And all it took was one trip to Williamsburg, brunch at Two Door Tavern and some oysters and Smorgasburg. Damn, we are suckers.
Yummy maple lemonade from Vermont.Two of our favorite things, Brooklyn and oysters!It is an oyster party!I’m not sure if this is Matt’s tough guy face, or his “I just sucked down an oyster” faceJust relaxing at the beachManhattan in the background
Our lease is up in August… is it too soon to look for an apartment in Williamsburg?
Matt and I are trying to work off the winter weight we recently put on. Not surprisingly, I think many of these extra pounds have come from the ice cream delivery that started as a weekly tradition and have progressed into a multi-weekly tradition….
So, being the good wife that I am, I tried to come up with a healthy alternative to the ice cream that we now crave nightly…
But unfortunately, Matt’s taste buds are so advanced and I couldn’t trick him with this faux-ice cream.
Matt and I have been watching A LOT of the Walking Dead lately. I have to admit, it has been having a negative impact on our lives.
1. Matt is now convinced that we need to become gun owners in anticipation of the pending zombie apocalypse. I’m sticking to my liberal ways and think we should learn how to shoot a crossbow.
2. I’ve woken up multiple times in the middle of night thinking that Matt is trying to rip out and eat my guts
3. I’ve stopped grocery shopping, because scavenging around in our cupboards for something edible seems perfectly acceptable. It’s gotten pretty bad – last night for dinner I ate a tortilla. Not, not a tortilla wrapped around something delicious or covered with melted cheese to make a quesadilla. Just a plain tortilla. Tonight’s menu looks like canned chick peas and frozen mango.
4. Since we’ve watched about 25 episodes in the last week or so, we are now desensitized to the goriness – I was literally complaining that 20 minutes into an episode there wasn’t a single bloodied, rotten corpse. And I said it like that was a bad thing.
5. Matt has repeatedly stated that he would dominate in a zombie apocalypse. Like that might actually happen.
I am starting to realized why my parents didn’t let us have cable going up. That whole “tv turns your brain into mush” might actually be true.
Look what arrived in the mail today for me at work…
I think they only send this stuff to the President of the Martha Stewart fan club – or at least VIP members.
And yes, I am definitely going to read her latest book that tells me how to live my life. I wonder if there is a chapter about “how to make the most of your time in jail.”
(via)
