Sorry

Sorry I haven't posted all week, I've been in training and just recently escaped! Well actually it finished, I didn't escape. Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, if you're wondering, nothing interesting unless you want to dimension part drawings.

Last weekend Jamie and I went to an amazing little farm right on the island that I fell in love with! Sweet Berry Farm, what a great name. They have a grocery store and all sorts of pick your own stuff. I'm really hoping to get out there soon and do some apple picking, it's one of my most favorite things to do and I'm hoping we didn't miss the season.

This past weekend Jon and Erin came down with their new baby boy Brendan. It was great to have them all over and have two days of baby holding time for me and Jamie. They slept over Friday night so we got to really hang out and relax. Friday we all went down to Second Beach, it was windy out but a great time. To celebrate Brendan's first visit to the beach we put a little water on his hand, I think he liked it! It was really nice to have the trio down. Erin and I had gone out shopping and Jamie held the baby the whole time we were gone. Jon asked Jamie to be Brendan's Godfather and Jamie was all excited about it and said Yes.

We also went to our neighbor's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It was good to meet some more of our neighbors and there was a cake shaped like a truck, which is always good. I don't remember the last time I went to a two year old's birthday party though, strange. Same night we also went to Greg's for his 24th birthday party. It was a good time too, but more in a beer and video game way. I'm glad that we get to see him so much and were able to make it out for his big birthday bash.

Have a good weekend!!

Happy Fall Equinox Day

Today is Septemeber 22 which is the Fall Equinox, a unique day in the sky. Here is a quick explanation that I found at www.solar.physics.montana.edu:

The Sun is at its lowest path in the sky on the Winter Solstice. After that day the Sun follows a higher and higher path through the sky each day until it is in the sky for exactly 12 hours. On the Spring Equinox the Sun rises exactly in the east travels through the sky for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west. On the Equinox this is the motion of the Sun through the sky for everyone on earth. Every place on earth experiences a 12 hours day twice a year on the Spring and Fall Equinox.
After the Spring Equinox, the Sun still continues to follow a higher and higher path through the sky, with the days growing longer and longer, until it reaches it highest point in the sky on the Summer Solstice.

So make sure you all take a moment and enjoy today, especially with it being so sunny and nice out. Today is one of the longest days of the year so soak up every bit you can! Have a good Equinox!!

How to Change you Last Name

For all those lovely ladies out there who are getting married and will be changing your name I've put together a list of where you need to change and what you'll need to do it. It's a big headache trying to get everything changed over and I wanted to try and make it simpler for you ladies.

Changing Name Information:

___ Get a copy of your marriage license at the town hall where you applied. They don't mail this too you and should be ready within a week after your wedding day. Once you get this make about 10 copies because you will need them to get everything else done.

___ Social Security Card: You'll need to fill out a SS-5 form and take it with your original marriage license to your local SS office. They can be located by going to www.ssa.gov and in the bottom left column there is a link to find an office by zip code. They also give you the phone number, directions and times they are open.

___ go to the DMV for your new driver's license, you'll need to bring your new SS card and current driver's license. You can check on www.mass.gov/rmv click on the second link in the left column for branches & wait times. You'll also have to update your auto registration AFTER you get your new license but check the website and go at the right time and it's not to painful.

___ Employer: you'll need your SS card and drivers license possibly, each one is different

___ Bank: They'll need your SS card and drivers license I believe, we had opened a new account so I didn't have to deal with changing my name on the old one.

___ Credit Cards: The weird part about this one is that you don't need to show proof at all, you just call the number on the back of your card and they'll do it for you.

___Passport- Fill out a DS-19 form and mail it with a copy of the marriage license & current passport to:

Charleston Passport Center
Attention: Amendments
1296 Holland Street
Charleston, SC 29405

It felt strange to mail my passport out but this is the way that they do it.

___Post Office if changing address
___IRS - you'll need to fill out an 8822 form and mail it to:

Internal Revenue Service

Andover, MA 05501

You can get it at and information at www.irs.gov

___Voter Registration this can do this at DMV
___ Doctors and Dentist
___ Insurance Companies
___ State Tax Board
___ Clubs
___ Memberships
___ Retirement Plan
___ Medical Plan
___ Online Accounts

This is the list I have been working off of to try and update my name with everything, it's amazing how many places it came up where I hadn't realized but hopefully this list will help get you through it easier. I have a pdf of each of the forms if the links don't end up working for you, just drop me an email and I'll send it out to you.

Congratulations to my favorite girls!!! Lindsay, Alicia and Robin I am so happy for you all!! I can't wait for all of your special days to come. I'm more then willing to help out with anything you need, just let me know.

Have a great Friday, I'm sure not too much work is getting done with wedding bells ringing in your heads.

Back in Line

So it's official! I got my license and registration changed over to Rhode Island, what a process! I was trying to change states, change my last name, and register my car at the DMV... need I say more.

I made it through though and came out with a new license and new plates! Jamie had given me a heads up on the level of inefficiency the RI DMV was so I headed there 20 minutes before it opened to be first in line. Turns out even with that I was third and by the time they opened the doors there was a line of over 30 people, I'm not exaggerating this. So in my round about way I got my license then my registration.

I turned in my Mass plates to the DMV in Fall River and expected the worse, I went around 4:30 and there wasn't a line anywhere!! It was terrific and they had a person set up for when you first go in to help you know where to go and what forms you need. It was like night and day dealing with RI and MA DMV's. At least now I can just mail in the renewals.

The house is coming along very nicely. I got all the bedrooms upstairs painted and moved stuff in. I'm still working on the trim in the kitchen, living room and hallway. Well to be honest I should be working on the trim but I am so painted out right now I'm waiting for my second wind. Jamie is doing a great job on the outside, it looks like a whole new place. The grass is mowed and the crab grass is dying off and the flower beds look amazing!

I've got to run Jamie just called and his car won't start! Darn that Caddie!! Anyone know of a cheap car that we could get??

Bright-Dim-Dimmer-Almost Dark-Off and a Few Inbetween

Jamie and I continued working on the house after work yesterday. I'm still painting the last bedroom and Jamie has been outside cleaning up and getting rid of ants. It's coming along and looking pretty good overall.

My brother Kirk came out and visited yesterday and did some of the electrical work that we needed done. He changed out some outlets and we put up a ceiling light in one of the bedrooms. Kirk and I went out and got another gallon of paint late last night and we went to Home Depot. We had a fun time and ended up getting a remote controlled dimmer switch! I'm very excited about this one and kept playing with it once he had put it in. This went on for a long time, I liked to see every setting and see them all again. From outside our bedroom must have looked like a light show! He did a great job putting everything in and it's looking a lot cleaner and safer now.

It's going to be nice to have all of the bedrooms done upstairs so that we can start unpacking all of our things and get things settled down. I can't wait to have our family and friends over once we are finished!

Yesterday

Yesterday after work Jamie and I went down to Second Beach in Middletown and enjoyed the sun and read. It's nice being so close to the beach that you don't have to plan a day trip, you can just go hang out for a few hours and then make it home for dinner. This is just what we did too.

It was a beautiful day out, I was amazed at how bright all the colors were. The grass and trees out in the bird sanctuary was a deep green and there wasn't any fog at all so the sky was a strong blue with puffy white clouds. The ocean water was a blue green instead of the stone gray blue you usually think it will be in September. We sat and read for an hour, the sun kept us warm and the view was perfect. It's a super charge to your batteries to be able to sit on the beach, it complete erases the work day and gives you energy for the rest of the day.

From the beach Jamie and I went to Home Depot and the paint store, again. We have become regulars at both. When we got home we both worked on house stuff. Jamie was out in the yard, it's looking amazing out there! He has done a terrific job, I can't wait to see what spring time brings us. I worked on prep-ing and painting the final bedroom upstairs. It feels like a never ending project getting everything painted but it has slowed down because it's just been me after work and there is only so much you can do with out sun light.

My mom is coming by later today to help out, I'm very excited to see her. It always feels like you get so much more accomplished when there is a second person so I'm looking forward to it. My brother Kirk said that he'd be able to come out on Wednesday to help out too which should be great as well. Yesterday was a good day for me almost made me forget what day it was....

Yesterday was Sept. 11 th, a day that when you hear it sends a shiver down your spine. Sept. 11th is also my brother's birthday, it feels strange to have something so terrible happen on a day that was memorable to our family even before 2001. My cousin's birthday is Jan. 28, which was a tragic day in 1986 when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded and something that we are reminded of each year.

I feel bad that such terrible things happened on a day that should be happy for them. I get excited when I see my birthday as the expiration date on a carton of milk. "Whoo hoo that's my birthday!!" and the milk always tastes better to me. I asked my brother how it feels to see his birthday everywhere, he said that he grew numb to it. I think that we all kind of grew numb to it though.

Watching the recreation of the 9/11 attacks on t.v. last night made me feel sadder now then when I had watched it all unfold in real time back in 2001. Now I know how many people are still in that building, that there will be very few survivors pulled from the rubble. Now I know what it means for our country, how everything has changed. I have heard many stories of the people's lives that were cut short that day, no one was ready. The pain is worse now knowing that almost 3,000 people lost their life that day and over 2,000 men and woman died in the resulting war.

Knowledge is power, though sometimes it causes more pain. Stay informed and empowered.

Where 22-27 Went

Labor day weekend - the last hurrah of summertime. We had a good time, we continued working on the house and it's really coming along nicely.

Both Jamie and my parents came and visited us this weekend. It was terrific to see them all. It was Jean and John's first visit on Saturday and they seemed to really love our place. We explored the neighborhood and went out for lunch. My parents helped out around the house painting and installing a new stove hood on Sunday.

Sunday was my 27th birthday. I can't believe how quick this year has gone and how much has happened. While I was 26 Jamie and I moved into our apartment in Rhode Island, got married, bought our first house, moved out of said apartment and welcomed our new nephew into the world all with in the span of 1 year! These were the big events, there was also many weekend adventures that took place as well in there.

Time is moving fast. September has never come so quick for me, it really feels like Christmas wasn't that far ago. 27 has come amazingly quick as well. While I was holding baby Brendan at the hospital I was thinking about how time has so simply gone by. I find myself wondering what happened to 22-27 they seemed to have slipped by quietly. What happened in between college and now?

The night of my last final for my last class in college I met Jamie, I sure remember that amazing moment! I took a summer looking for a job with no luck. I decided to take Jamie up on his offer and moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina and we lived there for 3 months. It's strange that these three months created so many memories when the following years created so few, it was an amazing time and place for us. I worked at Kigre and loved it but we decided to head back to New England for family and the job potential. Spent another few months looking for a job once we arrived. I moved in with Jamie's family and started working at ITT Industries in Gloucester, Mass. I enjoyed the job and people so Jamie and I got a house along Walker Creek in Gloucester, some great memories there as well.

After a year there Raytheon finally got around to calling me back to see if I was still interested in a job that I applied to over a year and half before, I figured I'd see what they had to say though I wasn't looking to change jobs at the time. They came with an offer when things were getting shaky at my current job and Jamie and I decided to go for it. We moved to an apartment in Andover, well technically Lawrence but we called it Andover, and I started my new job at Raytheon. Things were going ok but the commute was terrible for Jamie and I felt that something was missing and it took a while to figure out what, I was missing the ocean.

So we uprooted again and I transferred to their Portsmouth RI facility and we both lived at home. This was a tough time, too many things felt up in the air. Christmas Eve Jamie proposed to me on the swing in his parent's back yard, it was so special and I cried and cried. When Jamie found a job on the island we moved into our apartment above the Beach House. It felt so good to be living back together again. In May we married on the bridge in Brewster Gardens.

From here I've already covered it above in my synopsis of my 26th year, so I guess I do know where 22-27 went, it just seemed to have passed so easily. These moments we've shared I'll always treasure, it feels good to go back and remember them.

Birthday Trio

September!?!! Holy cow the summer went by fast.

Jamie and I drove up to the hospital last night and visited baby Brendan, Jon and Erin. They all look great and happy. Brendan seems like such a great baby, he didn't cry the whole time we were there and though he didn't like it he was fine with getting a million pictures taken. He loves to play with his hands and touch his face and just move them around in general. Everyone was excited to see him and hold him and he didn't mind at all, he just kept on napping and waving.

It was a day of birthdays with Brendan coming in as the third to have his birthday on August 31. Erin's mom and Uncle both share the same birthday as well! They'll be the birthday trio from now on!

Mine's right around the corner as well, Sept. 3, I'll be turning 27. I really don't know where the time has gone, I can't believe I'll be 27! It's always works out nice having my birthday fall around Labor Day because I usually get an extra day off to enjoy it.

I love to hear stories of when I was born. I think that everyone must love their own story as well. I was born on Labor Day, for longer then I should I believe I was the reason it was so named. Living right off Cape on Labor Day means traffic, lots and lots of traffic, and so was the case when I came into this world. My mom tells me that my dad drove them to the hospital in their purple Gremlin, yes a Gremlin. Traffic was bumper to bumper and crawling at best, my dad sat rigid in the driver's seat with a white knuckle grip on the wheel the entire ride. I can picture him doing this quite easily, it must have been such a relief once they got there. They got to the hospital fine after all that and I was born at 1:01 in the afternoon.

I love to hear stories about when I was born, the one above and how my grandmother forced her way into the delivery room to see me. It's amazing to think that I will be the one telling Brendan about the day he was born. Jamie and I took a picture of a rainbow we saw on the ride up to see him, it was special and something that I will always remember. I hope that the picture comes out good so that I can show him when I tell him about his birthday in the future.