44 - thursday

I LOVE new england sports fans.

'nuff said.

43 - wednesday

my little sister never ceases to amaze me.  she is completely brilliant, one of those students who always seems to be having a wild time with friends instead of studying, yet still brings home straight A's (why didn't I get that gene?).  she makes the most flawless, textbook perfect grilled cheese you've ever had.  she has an infectious laugh.  she's graduating from high school this weekend, boston-bound in the fall on a nearly full ride at northeastern university in the engineering honors program.  and she's an incredible athlete: a week ago, when I was all "woe is me" about the temperature outside, she was out on the lacrosse field destroying her biggest rival and helping her team secure a spot in the playoffs.

have I mentioned that she's amazing?

tonight she played in the state semi-final division 1 lacrosse game against the undefeated #1 seed.  they had two brutal (as in... total scoreboard slaughter) regular season defeats against this team, and were looking to defy all odds and bring home the win this afternoon.  when I got there they were down by 3 goals, which quickly grew to a five-goal deficit.  not great odds with twelve minutes to play in the game. then there was some confusing stick jabs-to-the-ribs and facemask-pulling and violating the player's running space (I'm not good at lacrosse rules, bear with me) and it ended in the other team getting back-to-back yellow cards.  which gave us a five minute power play.  

leave it to teenage girls to boomerang from completely discouraged to FIRED UP in a split second.  they came roaring back, scoring six consecutive goals and taking the lead at 16-15.   one of the moms sitting next to me was crying she was so excited.  everyone - the coach included - was jumping up and down, fist pumping and cheering.  seriously the most intense and emotional crowd I have ever been a part of.  

when the power play ended, the other team quickly tied the score.  with less than a minute to play my brilliant, beautiful, wickedly funny little sister made a quick sideways jump to block a shot, and re-sprained her ankle when she landed.  she was sobbing as she hobbled off the field.  

...aaaand, with 0.4 seconds remaining in the game, the other team knocked in a goal, and that was it.

if there is any way to leave or end something that you love, it has to be at your personal pinnacle.  her team has struggled with some technical imperfections over the season, but tonight they were just dead on, every play.  this was hands down one of the best sporting events I have ever attended.  and I am going to be SO proud of my sister on sunday when she graduates, even if she has to hobble on that ankle across the stage!  

42 - tuesday

meet pete.

pete is my very dear friends katie and sam's daschund.  he is energetic, social, and obedient.  today, katie is on a bus on her way to crew nationals (go bruno!), sam is moving all her stuff from providence to boston (what a guy), and her parents, the usual suspects when pete needs a dogsitter, are ALSO moving houses.  all this means that aunt michaela got the little guy for last night and today.

meet buddy.

 
buddy is my younger sister's dog.  he's the runt of his litter of mini daschunds, and the baby of our family.  he is lazy, reclusive, and bizarre.  and we may or may not have coddled and babied him for so long that he doesn't even know he's a dog anymore.  more importantly, he's never been socialized, and becomes totally submissive and pathetic (on his own turf!) when another dog (pete) is present.  especially when the other dog is younger, spritelier, and bigger.

after a night of snapping and nipping at one another, and a lot of what seemed like unnecessary barking, they discovered that they can be best friends because they enjoy the same things.

baby carrots.

napping in the sunshine.

digging holes to nowhere in the backyard.

humping their favorite stuffed animals.

I'm sorry, I realize this is a bit of an internet over-share, but I could not stop LAUGHING when I went to my parents' house this afternoon after work to pick pete up and bring him to providence.  this is the scene I walked in on.  they both started crying when it was time for pete to leave.  dog best friends forever!!!

41 - monday

today is the day that I have been waiting for since beginning my marathon training: I ran the perimeter of conanicut island (jamestown & beavertail).  it's a breathtakingly gorgeous 20+-mile loop along the water, through the woods, up and down giant hills, past sprawling farms and ponds and out to the cliffs of beavertail, from where you can see all the sailboats cruising in and out of newport harbor.

it was really hard, but totally worth it.  OF COURSE, I left my camera at home by accident.  I did take this picture with my blackberry at the beginning of the run.  I started at the rec center, and the Memorial Day parade was passing on the same street.  would you look at all those flags!

I'm so proud that I finished the run, but insanely tired.  and my right sock looks like something from the curt schilling collection (apparently, my old shoes are eating my feet.  must. buy. new. shoes.).  only 26 days until seattle, eek!

40 - sunday

most weeks, I work at least six days and if I'm lucky I get sunday off.  this weekend I managed to get from friday afternoon to tuesday off... such a treat.  it's been great to relax (what's THAT?), go out, and catch up with old friends.

today was picture-perfect.

I started the day at Brown, at the annual Alpha Chi Omega mimosa toast.  all the alumnae come and provide breakfast for the graduates before they spend the next nine hours marching and doffing and pomping and circumstanting.

please ignore how bizarre I look.  everyone else is adorable.

becca and I spent the rest of the day in newport at the beach:

...then went to dinner in the city before heading to the bike path to check out the sunset over the harbor and skyline.

I hope everyone got a chance to enjoy the weather and the long weekend!

39 - saturday

brown reunion weekend is here! last night was campus dance, one of my favorite brown traditions.  they hang 10,000 paper lanterns over the main green, lincoln field, and the quiet green, have two dance floors, four bars.  the works.  everyone gets super dressed up.  at midnight, the graduating seniors gather on the steps of sayles hall and sing the alma mater and fight song.

being an alumna is awesome.  I love free stuff.  there was an open bar, catered pre-dance cocktail party for the young alumni of the most recent 5 classes.  it was so fun to see people I haven't otherwise heard from much in the past year.

... and we even got our picture taken with President Simmons! (I may or may not have chased her down yelling "RUTH! RUTH!" until she finally turned around and agreed to the photo op).  what a great night.

38 - friday

happy memorial day weekend!

if you see a man or woman in uniform, make sure you thank them for their service this weekend.

thanks, t. I love you, I miss you, and I can't wait for you to get home.