Everyone Loves a Boston Girl

I just finished up a few days stint as a dog sitter. I’m pretty much pro at it by now and besides the fact that the neighbor’s house got broken into the night that I was hearing weird noises, the dogs wouldn’t stop barking, and I was incredibly freaked out, everything went smoothly. Sas came over on Thurs and we took the girls for a long walk around the pond my Aunt lives next door to. Cissy is NOT a walker and generally sits on the sidewalk, staring at the house, and trying to pull me back. This time she was like a true athlete, didn’t look back, and even did some running. Must have been the Mitzi puppy influence. We walked them around the pond until we saw several bats flying around us and decided it was a good time to call it an evening. Gross.

My sister is officially living in Boston and this makes me all kinds of happy. She and her fiance’s apartment is pretty nice and only a 25 minute walk from mine. It’s so great to actually be in the same city as her. We met up at Beer Works for some beer and the Sox game this afternoon. When we were leaving, she gave me a hug and then we looked at each other and said, “uhh, we don’t need to hug each other goodbye anymore; I’ll see you soon!” I’m so not used to being able to see her whenever we want to. Love it.

I had one of the most unproductive weeks ever last week due to the beautiful weather and the holiday. I’m almost happy this week’s weather is going to be a little ehh because that means I can actually get tons done. Basically I’m going to be working 24/7 and I kind of don’t really mind because it’s going to feel so good to make progress on some of my stuff.

Maybe you noticed the new links I added to another site I’m writing for, Guidespot.com. I recently started writing guides for Boston (obviously), so check them out if you want some fun ideas on things to do and places to go. Guidespot has guides for most major cities, so no matter where you’re from, check it out! The site is like Yelp, only better! Let me know what you think of it and if you have any suggestions.

I know, I know; I’m basically doing a million things, but writing is my full-time job, so it would be pretty sad if I wasn’t.

Oh, and I made cupcakes on Friday and wrote about them on We are not Martha! Yum.

Reasons this week wins the award for best week ever:

-Tomorrow is Patriots Day, also known as Marathon Monday in Boston. While this is a state holiday, a lot of people I know don’t get it off. Of course, since I am on an “alternative work schedule,” I am granting myself the day off (for my recent good work habits). Sara and I can be found wandering Boston starting in the early AM, possibly sipping coffee with Kahula. And looking for bars that will let us in so we can watch the Red Sox game. Eventually we will make our way to the Marathon finish line and revel in the fact that we live in the fabulosity that is Boston.

-Wednesday, my favorite UNHer is coming to town. We will be going to the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum, which I’m ashamed I have never been to. Then I’m giving Kyle a tour of Paper Source, which I’m certain will quickly become her favorite store. Can’t wait to see her!

-Wednesday evening I will start dogsitting for my two favorite little puppies in the world. Allegedly, my aunt now calls Mitzi “Houdini,” as she has recently learned to escape from her pen. Sweet. Let’s hope she doesn’t destroy any more of my personal property.

-Friday, my sister and her fiancee are moving to Boston for 3 months! I’m already sad as I know the 3 months will fly, but maybe just maybe they will end up back here after they travel to North Carolina and Austin. I’m also quite excited to visit them and my lovely cousins in Austin.

So, my week basically looks fabulous. I’m going to be fitting a lot of work in the PM hours, but then, how is that any different than usual? Seriously though, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been excited for a “week” as opposed to a “weekend.”

Bed time now as I have to be up earlier tomorrow than I do on a normal Monday. Ahh, tough life taking a holiday, huh? Sorry to all of you poor kids who don’t live in Boston and so don’t get to celebrate one of the best holidays of the year!

Flashback! From last year’s marathon. Wow. that feels like SO much longer than a year ago. Cannot even believe where I was at that point.

-My improved blog woot:

I know it doesn’t look like much, but I literally spent hours working on this site’s html. The reasons for this are a) I know nothing about html and b) I had so much random crap in my html that it was impossible to tell what was what. I had no idea why there was a large gap in all of my posts. I assumed it had something to do with Google Ads. After hours of searching, I finally realized I had to “expand widgets,” whatever that means, and then I saw the Google Ads html! Then it took another hour to properly take it out. Needless to say, not touching this site for a while. Well, maybe. Messing with html is highly addicting and I might just have an addictive personality because I couldn’t stop until I got it right. Or maybe sitting and staring at a screen full of html was just better than all the other work I had to do.

-My hi, I’m stupid horrible story of the day:

This afternoon when I was leaving my apartment, I went down the back stairwell so I could grab the mail on the way out. I was texting on my phone as I walked down the stairs and accidentally went down one level too far. I had no idea I was on the basement level and opened the door that was supposed to lead to the main hallway of my building. Um, no. I definitely opened the door that led into someone’s apartment bedroom. A little dog started running toward me as I yelled “oh my god, wtf am I doing” and quickly shut the door. Oops. Now my questions are these. Why would you leave your apartment door unlocked, especially when you have a cute little dog? And also, is it bad of me if I want to go play with this dog during the day now that I know a cute little dog lives downstairs in an unlocked apartment?

-My reason of the day for why I’m psyched:

My sister and her fiancee move here exactly one week from tomorrow. OMG excited. They are moving into a beautiful apartment exactly 2 miles from me. Apartment has pool. I work from home. It’s summer. Hi. Beth, please call me to discuss. Kidding (kind of), I’m just completely soo happy that they’re going to be living in the same city as me, even if it is only for 3 months. It’s going to be amazing.

-My future predictions for my life:

I get myself into messy, awkward situations a lot. Not sure how. Not sure why. But I haven’t gotten into one in a while, so looks like it’s about time. Sweet.

-My, because I know you’re looking for one more thing of mine to read, post:

You’ve probably noticed I don’t talk about my relationships too much on this blog. Mmm that’s either because they are sometimes non-existent or because, like I said above, I’m a huge mess. And I’ve recently realized that pretty much all my writing on the Internet is connected in some way and probs tons of strangers know my deepest secrets. But then, if I really cared about that, I wouldn’t be a writer, correct? So yeah, learning to let go and share yourself with the world is something I’m learning needs to be done if I want to be a successful writer. Of course, I could write fiction, but ehhh no, I probably couldn’t.

So right, where am I going with this? If you want to check out my dating and relationship blog, please do. You can find it on my fabulous boss, April’s, website. Right here. I hope that you will enjoy it and maybe even leave me lots of comments. And maybe even tell your friends. And maybe even visit often because I promise I’m trying to make it more exciting.

I know, I’m totally ridiculous. I’ll have to post a “shameless self-promotion” post soon because I have lots of stuff I’m working on. Out of control. But you love me. Right? Right? Please say yes.

*Update: Peter is right (he’s not just “dopey”)…the comment feature seems to be missing. I will look into this!

Martha Stewart’s dog, Paw Paw, died and for some reason I am really sad about this. Paw Paw (and Martha’s obsession with animals) was one of the main reasons I first started liking Martha. Hey, I was like 14 and had no interest and cooking or any of that Martha Stewart stuff, but I was in love with dogs. Paw Paw looked like a little lion and Martha was always talking about him. Whenever people would say Martha is “cold” or “bitchy,” I’d argue with it because if you’re really cold and bitchy, you don’t have that kind of compassion for animals.

I really feel for Martha because I know exactly what it’s like to go through the death of an animal you’re so close to. A lot of people do, but it just feels really personal when it happens to you.

I was the kid who got bit by dogs every other day because I annoyed the hell out of them. I was the kid who went to MSPCA camp just to play with the dogs. I read Dog Fancy at age 7 because I wanted to learn everything possible about dogs. I grew up with the best little dog in the world and maybe I’m slightly biased, but I have never met an animal as good as she was. She died when I was 11 years old, and you know what? I still miss her intensely sometimes.

Peaches must have had nerves of steel to put up with me. With never so much as a growl, she sat while I dressed her in jewelry, sunglasses, scarves, and hats. When anyone asked me who my best friend was, I said Peachy. She came in my room and sat with me every time I cried. I fell asleep with my face buried in her fur while she sat in her “spot” at the top of our stairs. I never ever saw her bear her teeth at anyone. She never jumped or barked at anyone. Not the best guard dog in the world, but the most amazing companion.

I strongly believe that part of my childhood was defined by that dog. I would not be the person I am today if it was not for her. The day that she died was the most painful day of my life. I do count myself lucky that I’ve never had any human close to me pass away, but they really would have to be pretty close to me to make me feel the same pain I felt when Peaches died.

I’ll never forget when my parents told me we were putting her to sleep. I flipped out. They waited until the night before to tell me because they knew I would be far less than OK. They told me at the dinner table, and I immediately screamed that I hated them, called for Peachy and locked myself in my bedroom with her. My parents tried to explain it to me. And I knew they were right. I knew it wasn’t OK that Peachy wouldn’t walk up the stairs anymore. And that all she ever did was lay around. I knew it wasn’t fair to make her go on living like that. But I couldn’t accept it. I tried to run away with Peachy that night, but I didn’t get farther than the back yard before my parents came and got me. I spent the entire night awake and crying.

The next morning, the vet came to my house. Peachy hated being in the car and we didn’t want to put her through that in her last hours. She had her head in my lap as the vet gave her the shot. I will never forget the look in her eyes. I’ll never forget looking at my dad and for the first time in my life, really seeing him cry. The vet left with Peachy and my family just stood there crying and hugging each other. This is what a broken heart feels like. This is what it’s like to lose your best friend.

We still talk about her all the time. If we have something for dinner that she would have liked, we call her name to the table. My dad still finds the bones she buried in her backyard. We laugh about the time she ate the bouquet garni off the kitchen table. And when she’d disappear and then return hours later covered in burrs. My family never got another dog. I think we knew none would ever be as good as Peachy.

I think people too often underestimate the power of pets and how they can enrich our lives. Peachy gave me that kind of inconditional love that nobody could ever match. And who couldn’t use that sometimes?

Me and my little pup. In the home-made frame I made at MSPCA camp. Try to ignore the wallpaper in the kitchen.

I’m not dead and I swear I am not neglecting my blog. I’m planning on finishing up the HTML disaster some time this week. And I’m also planning on catching WAY up with my Google Reader.

I’m in a fairly fabulous mood because yesterday I filed my taxes. Why does this make me feel fabulous? Because I’ve been freaking out about it for months! Because I’m a freelancer, I don’t usually get taxes taken out of my paychecks, so come tax time I knew I would owe A LOT. I clearly avoided filing until the very deadline, and guess what? I don’t owe nearly as much as I thought I was going to. I still had to dish out a lot of money, not to mention pay for the first quarter of 2008 (supposedly you’re supposed to pay taxes quarterly as a freelancer…who knew?). But I was able to pay it all right away, and didn’t have to set up some atrocious payment plan like I thought I would. And now, I can move on with my life and start to obsess about the grad school loans I have to start paying back in June. No, it never ends!

I also learned some important things, including just how much my parents love and support me. I mean, I obviously already knew this times one million, but to hear it so bluntly makes me feel so amazing.

My mom legit asked me 45 times if I needed her to give me money so I could pay my taxes. Every time I said, “no, I’m fine.” “Are you sure??” she kept asking. I tried to explain to her that if I didn’t have the money to pay my taxes, I wouldn’t have just written out the 2 checks to pay them. “But do you have money to pay your rent?” she needed to know. Once again, I explained that if I didn’t have money to pay my rent, I’d be living on the street, so I probably wouldn’t have just written out 2 checks to pay my taxes. She would not stop asking me.

“Please, please tell me if you need help,” she continued to say. I couldn’t make myself more clear. “Mom! I have nobody else in this world to ask for help, so I swear to you, if I need help, I will be asking you.” She finally relented. And then called me tonight and after I told her I just scored a really cool, new freelance position, she asked again. She said she and my dad had talked about it and would be more than willing to loan me money. Once again, I said “thank you SO much, but honestly, I’m fine”

It feels really, really good to know that if I’m ever in a tough situation, I can go to my parents for help. While I always knew that, I guess I didn’t realize they would be that willing and understandable. I think they can see how hard I work and how I’m trying really hard to achieve my dreams, rather than having a mundane, blah job. It’s seriously rough sometimes, but it’s so worth it to me. And it feels so good to know that they can see this and that they support me. I know I will make them very proud!

I just wrote a post on We are not Martha all about my parents, too. Sometimes I get all emotional just knowing how much I’m loved and how lucky I am. I never want to forget to appreciate that.

And now back to celebrating being done with paying taxes. And to catch up on some of your blogs!