yankee battle

Well I don't know how we keep doing it, but we were blessed with yet another fun-filled day yesterday. We got a surprise call from Whitney that he found someone selling 2 tickets to what was supposed to be the last Red Sox game of the season, against the Yankees! Intense rivalry at our fingertips! At the Green Monster (Fenway Park)!! Are you kidding?
Unfortunately the game Sat was rained out so a double-header was scheduled for yesterday, but the rain was persistent (but not bad at all) so our game was delayed about an hour. We kept thinking, why won't these guys play in a little bit of rain? What are they afraid of? Tim clearly stated that he'd play in the rain for a million dollars....

During the delay the suspense built with a team of 20 guys pulling the rain tarp all over the field. First, we cheered as they pulled it away the first time. We watched them fold and shake and run all over the place.Then they ran back and covered the infield once again. Haha, tricked us. Booooos from the audience.
Then another cheer as they appeared again later to take it away for good. Finally. That was more work than the baseball players exerted! They earned their meager money yesterday, unlike the Sox, who lost.
We had pretty great seats, under a covered section so we didn't get wet when it did rain. Some authentic Bostonians were definitely behind us, with their thick accents and heavy comments and genuine hate for the Yankees. They were cruel! And into it! Chanting and screaming and swearing and drinking beer. And these were ladies!

I couldn't figure out where this guy's date went. It looks like she just evaporated.
Our side neighbors were surprisingly suppressed in their emotions, but friendly. We learned very quickly they were from New York. They would clap once when New York did anything well (which they hit MUCH better than we did which is why they won!!!) and stay silent when the Sox got anything right. Ruined our stereotypes that all New Yorkers are mean!

This girl was really nice though, she was the Sox' african water lady. That's no special hat, folks. She really balanced the bottles on her head all around the stadium, with a big smile on her face and lots of waves. She kept us entertained during the rain delay.Our New York neighbors agreed on our term of Alex Rodriguez, who used to play for the Mariners actually. We call him "the Man with the Money." He earns the most of any baseball player we think, at about $37,000 per at-bat. That just isn't right. But he does look good.Here's David Ortiz, a local favorite. He's the biggest player I've ever seen. I think he would be really good at football.
Here's the favorite little guy, Pedroia. He has a strange, unconventional swing that no trainer would approve of but the highest batting average of the team. Here he is making contact.
Here's the best pitcher in our opinion. Matsuzaka. We don't know why they took him out of the game. So these were my surprises:

• The Red Sox couldn't pull it together and lost 6-2 (but it was still really fun). I was surprised that the new-fad pitcher Papelbon (???) had mega trouble striking anyone out while the previous pitchers were awesome. I was also surprised that they won the second game of the double header! oh well.
  
• As the entire crowd was on their feet chanting "MVP! MVP" when Pedroia was up at bat (little guy with a wicked hitting streak!), Pedroia struck out, forfeiting what could have been a tying run.OUT!
  
• The Green Monster IS small, and we could get really close to the field level to watch the game.
  
• Tim knows a lot about baseball! He could tell me interesting facts about lots of players from both teams, where they came from, how much they made, and lots of other stuff. Nice job! Must have come from his baseball card-collecting days...and some extra time reading the sports section at work I guess!
  

We finished the evening by arriving to the evening service of Park Street a little late, then going to the Beantown Pub (where we had that cold Sam Adams a year ago) for dinner and a beer that didn't cost $7.75. All in all a great date and fun break from studying, which is ALL I am doing today in prep for a first big exam tomorrow night.

i farmed

Yesterday a new friend of mine, Megan, invited me to do two awesome things. The first was to volunteer at the Food Project near our neighborhood (Elisa, are you proud?). We harvested green beans, cranberry beans, collard greens, chard, and tomatoes on two of their farms. It was fun, and the produce is sold below market price in the local neighborhood (an underserved minority population) instead of at the expensive markets where everyone already has access to healthy and local food. Nice!

Next she invited me to climb a mountain in Maine!!!! I don't have the details yet but we are planning to hike and camp with a small group from the school and around Boston. Apparently you have to drive 6+ hours to get to a mountain tall enough that it takes all day to climb, but we have Columbus Day weekend to do it. I'm stoked. I will find out more details later.

Finally, a shout out to baby Nora, new to the Hanawalt family in Tacoma. She was born on Sunday! Yippee for Bill and Kathy and Nora!

Guest Blogger Strikes Again

guest blogger: Tim Isaacson

Okay, so I am always teasing my wife about how often she is updating this thing, but today I can't resist - I must blog again.

New Celebrity:
Today Doc Rivers, coach of the NBA championship winning Celtics, came into my Starbucks and ordered a venti nonfat caramel macchiato and a Top Pot old fashioned donut. I admit I felt butterflies in my stomach, but I went ahead and called him by his first name, "Venti nonfat carmel macchiato, right Doc?" He nodded, I fumbled out a "Congrats" and he smiled and walked out the door. I thought about asking for his autograph but decided he probably wanted to be considered a normal guy. A normal championship winning coach, drinking a delicious caramel macchiato.

"I love Top Pot donuts!"

New Favorite:
My new favorite thing is riding my bike home from work past Flour Bakery. The air is cool and when you get about a block away from the bakery the smell of bread and pastries surrounds you. It makes me want to take a bite out of the air!

New Sorrow:
I am having a massive toothache. I saw the dentist today and she said, "Root canal, next Wednesday." She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and pain killers. While I was waiting for the prescription to be filled, I walked over to Flour Bakery and drowned my tooth in delicious Boston Cream Pie. I sat next to an authentic Bostonian, also eating Boston Cream Pie, reading the Boston Globe. For those of you who don't know, the recipe for Boston Cream Pie seems quite simple: cake followed by cream, followed by cake, followed by cream, followed by cake followed by cream followed by chocolate.

MIKE

Today is Mike's birthday. In honor of his coolness and birth, Tim and I (mostly Tim) decided to make a top 10 List of why we love Mike. So what's so great about this guy?

10. His hip hollister wardrobe (and wife!)
9. His massive flatscreen TV to watch sports, nature, and Office together
8. Bleached blond hair and braces (awkward adolescence)
7. Very buff pecks
6. Losing to him playing 21 on the basketball court
5. Playing Christmas carols together on guitars
4. His ferocity - he attacks life with intensity and determination
3. His heart of worship and dedication to Christ
2. Isabella!!! (and his beautiful wife, too)
and the lengths he'll go to to get her to smile
1. He's the best brother (and in-law) we ever had!!

Happy birthday, Mikey!!

studs

This week was studly!

First, Tim had a special visitor in his store. He didn't recognize him at first but was informed by his local employees that it was Glen Davis from the Celtics. One down!

We went on a mission to locate more studs. We were able to borrow someone's drill to put the finishing touches on our apartment by hanging our shelves. Tim asked if I had seen the stud-finder, and I told him I already found my stud, and I didn't need a finder to do it! Strangely, there are a significant lack of studs in the apartment in places where they definitely SHOULD be. Makes you wonder how these places have survived for so long. Makes us also wonder whether and where we should hang our shelves!

Studly Tim also found a studly bike in Cambridge at a great refurbished bike store. What do you think, Matt and Katie? It has a flaming seat! It will definitely do the job and isn't much of a stealer. Tim loves it for what our options were!

Third, we finally got a shot of our studly landlady Maria and her son Salbos.
Maria grumbled about being in a picture (but laughed under her breath) and escaped to the bathroom to fix herself up to look nice. she frowned at all of the pics but we'll still print and give this one to her. We can't keep up with their funny sayings. Shortly after my accident, Maria fell down in her apartment and hurt her toe. Her response was "You, me, bad things happening. Put garlic on door." Tim proceeded to say he doesn't think that will do any good. Then she saw me the next day and told me the same thing, but this time when explaining how to make the pain in our appendages go away, all she had to say was, "Alcohol." and she nodded several times. I think she meant rubbing alcohol since she was motioning with her hand, but you never know. Salbos did tell me this week that he loved me, and he even carried my groceries down the block on the back of his wheelchair this afternoon (they WERE heavy!). Who says Bostonians are cold?

Finally, we broke down and took a historical duck tour through Boston. The WWII vehicle was filled with studs - both metal and biological (it was a student social). We rode ducks as a kid at the Wisconsin Dells (which are no longer in existence!) and now I got to relive around town and into the Charles River.
The only thing was it was COLD! Sunny day but the wind, my goodness, cuts you through like winter is around the corner. Coats are now a requirement and the blankets are out and the windows are closed. What a change from just a week ago!

Last night we went out with Alexis and Nico, some hip friends through friends who are becoming our good friends. We went to this great pub called Jacob's Wirth, build in 1850, and it serves authentic German food (and some extras for good taste!). Oktoberfest beers from years and years of awards are too many to try (and HUGE!), and live pianists play showtunes with songbooks at the tables. It was a bit loud, but we can imagine a very happy, warm environment there once the weather gets unbearable. We'll take anyone there!

We've also been keeping an eye on the leaves around town, and one little branch outside our window has been stuck like this since early September.
We hope to see more changes soon.

Beantown Countdown

guest blog writer: Tim Isaacson

Okay all you readers around the world wide web, I'm going to give this blogging thing another go. Don't worry - Abby will be back soon to give you her delightful prose updates. The last time I wrote on the blog I talked about a little place called Urinetown. But now, here it is - Tim's Top Ten Things to do in Beantown.

10. Working on Newbury Street. My new store is in the swanky part of town where all the tourists and celebrities go. So far no celebrities have been sighted, but I feel like Matt Damon's really been hankering for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
9. Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. Yeah, we really did - it's not as cold as the Pacific.
8. Walking home from work while the sun sets on the old brick buildings. (This beats walking home from work in the pouring rain, as rain leaks through the hole in your shoe and you wonder why you ever left Washington where when it rained you at least had a car to stay dry in.)
7. Watching movies on the rooftop. Our friend Whitney has a top floor apartment, so the last two Sundays we have climbed out on the roof, projected a movie against a building wall and watched some cinema under the stars and Boston skyline.6. Flour Bakery and Aroa Chocaterrie are two beautiful little cafe's just a couple blocks from our house. Scrumptous pastries, and delicous chocolates. You haven't lived until you have tried the Earl Grey Chocolate.
5. The Holocaust Memorial. If any of you visit us, I will make sure to show you this incredibly moving memorial. I think our friends at Beautiful Angle will especially appreciate it.
4. Going to church at Park Street. Park Street Church has been in the heart of the city for 200 years. Sam Adams and John Hancock are buried in the graveyard next to it. There is such a sense of awe and history worshipping in a setting such as this.
3. Our Greek landlady, Maria. Recently Maria told me, "Honey, another day, another... penny. Think. Maybe penny, maybe dollar, maybe two dollars. What can you do?" I love her!
2. Laughing at all the tourists. (Hey we've been here three weeks now. We're locals. We know this city like the back of our hand.)
1. Watching my wife study. She is the best and brightest thing in Beantown.

Guest writer (sporting new haircut and current favorite book) :

p-town escape

hello again, everyone. I thought it was about time to document something positive happening rather than looking at bruised and diseased posts from the past week. I'm currently at school studying since our conveniently-free wireless connection at home is not non-existent as of yesterday. Whoever didn't have a lock on their wireless network got one. So now we have to all our not-so-favorite-friends, Comcast, to come install. Dang, it was nice imagining saving $55/mo. At least on-line streams of the Office and movies won't be constantly interrupted by wireless glitches. We can get a cable!

Today I'm feeling less sore overall but more sore in my neck. I think I have a pinched nerve, so most likely I'll be finding a doctor out here tomorrow and scheduling an appt. You can pray for nothing serious!

In the meantime to get some R&R in this weekend, Tim wisked me away to Cape Cod for a night! It was actually quite hilarious of an adventure. Without a car, there's really only one place you can go, and that's to take a ferry 90 minutes to Provincetown. Good ole' P-town, East Coast style. AKA the LBGT capital of the USA.

We left during a rainstorm that basically turned into a roller coaster ride through the Atlantic. No studying for me. I was trying not to get sick! Tim was having a blast. He would have paid for more. While Northeasterners ALL carry umbrellas, here we were, Northwesterners, with nothing but our fleeces as coverage as we trudged from the ferry landing dock to our B&B through the pouring rain. Not my idea of a weekend beach getaway - it wasn't supposed to rain!

Well either way we made it to our Fairbanks Inn, built in the late 1700's, run by Kathleen and Alicia. We were probably one of 2 guy-girl couples staying in their 3 buildings:) We met lots of cool people though and had some great food! In the morning the rain and clouds dissipated as we crossed a rock jetty out to a couple lighthouses on the end of the cape. The beach was deserted and gorgeous! After lunch in town we took a shuttle to Race Point beach on another side of the cape and the sun came out for a few hours!
It was beautiful and warm and we actually went swimming spontaneously in our previous day's clothes because it was so tempting and inviting. We finished the day with a patio dinner at sunset and boarded the ferry back to Boston (much more calm ride).Beantown doesn't yet seem like our home; I think it will take at least a year. It's not a comfy place to return after a weekend away, but it's a home. Maybe that will come just in time for us to leave again! From t-town to Beantown to P-town, we hope you enjoy following our accounts. Stay tuned for a slideshow of p-town when our internet works again!

And finally, a PS for my dad - HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARTY TODAY!! Dad's bday was yesterday but he's partying today with pizza AND pop AND hotwings AND the Broncos and family. Wish I could be there! herzliche gluchwunche zum geburtstag! I'll work on the Boston accent version.

bruised

These are no academic bruises. (Start faking injury or sickness and you'll be sorry!). Today I biffed on my bike. I wiped, flew, and crash-landed, hard. Never done this before. here's what to avoid:

I thought it would be great to carry a greater quantity of groceries back home with my backpacking backpack, rather than my regular school one which fits like 10 things. So I rode to the store, loaded it up, and was on my way home (much heavier) when I hit a section of 'historic' Boston cobblestones in the middle of a street. Normally when I ride home this way, I just stand up over the bumps and it's fine. With this larger backpack throwing my weight off, I didn't expect anything to be different. It was. My bike stopped at the first cobblestone 'dip' (they are uneven and fairly far apart) while the rest of me continued forward at a decent speed. I hit the pavement head/elbow/shoulder first, got the wind knocked out of me, started getting dizzy and losing hearing, got the backpack off, and laid back down.

The car traveling behind me stopped before running over me (thankfully), but to passers-by who were concerned, it looked like I had been hit by that car. And I wasn't really sure how I was doing, I just hurt. Especially my arm. Before I knew it, people were calling 911 and an ambulance and firetruck and police car came to check me out. By this time this guy had called Tim like a million times leaving emergency messages with him and his store that his wife was on her way to the hospital (I wasn't yet). He was kinda freaked until he got ahold of the guy and got to talk to me in person, which by this point I was sitting up and feeling better. All in all I declined to be taken by ambulance to the ER. Good choice I think. No broken things, just overall soreness and scrapes and bruises, thank God. I left my bike there temporarily and the cops took me and my groceries back home:) I am giving my bike a major break, avoiding the cobblestones at all costs, and that backpack is going straight back on the shelf and will NEVER return to the grocery store with me in my life. Especially by bike.

Maria heard what happened and said, 'throw bike away. bikes not for women' and did a few Hail Mary's while saying God saved me because I go to church. Well, God did save me, from lots of things besides my bike - from myself!!!

diseased

I am officially suffering from OA. It's an infection I've had at various times in my life, but I have repeatedly recovered over time. Now it's back, like a virus. (Oh and by, OA I mean Over-Achievement). These are the symptoms:

• Doing homework BEFORE it's due (accidentally)
• Upgrading to a new class the first week
  
• Raising my hand so often in class that the professors start looking for anyone else (I hate silence to questions! And I have a too-fast reaction, as Tim repeatedly tells me)
  
• Asking other students if they've done the problem sets like I have (granted, out of mere confusion)
• Ordering books that aren't required to 'supplement' my library
  

I suppose I should explain. This week has been somewhat stressful in trying to measure my workload and what I should expect. Will I be able to handle it? The answer and my emotion depends on which day you ask. Last Tuesday, I loved the start. Epidemiology has a 'suggested' text (which I don't have to buy, but did find on Amazon for 1/4 of the price!) and the assigned readings aren't due by the day they are listed, rather they are for the following week. ok, syllabus means read during the week after class.

Then I go to Environmental Health on Wednesday. Not much communication here. We were supposed to have read BEFORE class for this one, and a quiz is due by the start of the next class, we eventually learn. So lots of reading to do.

Social/Behavioral Sciences on Thurs. Syllabus says no homework, but come to find we were supposed to have done the reading also before the start of the class it's listed for on the syllabus.

Two marks for before, one mark for after. I start noticing a pattern.

Today comes, and the syllabus for Health Law states read before AND after. What? Yes, that's right, read once before class, then again after hearing the lecture to make sure you understand, and highly suggested a third time after that. My goodness, the first time took me an hour and a half!! I'm NOT reading it 3 times!!

Three marks for before, Two for after. My final class is Biostatistics, and it doesn't state explicitly whether the syllabus readings are due before or after. But it DOES state that the homework problems are due by the start of class. And, there are homework problems at the end of each chapter. SO, I INFER that the readings and problems for that class are due by the start of that class. This severely challenged my day and weekend since I wasn't really expecting this amount of reading for today, and so I spent WAY too much time doing these problems (and the readings so I could understand the problems) and forfeiting my potential of free time today. I even emailed the prof to ask if the problems were needing to be turned in my email or in person in class. She responded: in class at the start of class. Seems right, right?

I get to class only to strike out. She didn't collect anything; she assigns us a small handful of the homework problems I attempted, and tells us to read the material listed for today by next week. AGHGHGHHGHAAAAGHHH! I can't figure any of these profs out!! She also tells me (kindly) essentially I'm in the wrong class since I've had a stats class before and I should try to add a different one.( I wonder what reading style THEY will assign!) I'm just trying to keep up!

OK so this isn't that big of a deal. And my drowning feeling the past couple of days was mostly due to my infection of OA, ultimately. Yes, I'm diseased. The average joe around here didn't even try to figure anything out before the first classes unless they were instructed to during orientation. I could have just gone by that, dangit. And had a little more time in the sun today:) I guess I'll just treasure my new-found knowledge of epidemiological study methods and the best way to assess whether certatin new medications have an impact on premature babies' developments. (I think I should start with my own!)

And now, though I do have endless homework for other classes this week (I'm at a day at a time at this point), it's time for an online episode of The Office if you ask me.

PS - you can check out some of the real diseases and epidemics that have hit our world over history and the documents people created to assess them at the School Link on the right. It's a harvard resource we're supposed to study :)

before and after

Alright, we are finally starting to feel settled in our apartment, for what it is!! The only thing missing is a kitchen cart we ordered from target for some counter space. That should do it! Here's what it looked like a week ago:

...and this morning!

We can't wait to sprawl our queen size (bigger than our bed!) air mattress out for our first guests. There is room for you!

Maria

Here is our Greek landlady, out leaf blowing yesterday morning. It's hard to see, but I'll get a real pic soon. Our daily conversations have gone something like this (try to add some real harshness to at least one syllable in every word):

"It's a beautiful day today, isn't it?"
"What can you do, honey. You work hard, you finish job, get job done."

or

"Hi, Maria."
"Ohhh, where is wife?
"She's upstairs on the computer."
"Oh you go make something."

or

"Morning. Sweet."
"Morning Maria, cleaning up the sidewalk today?"
"Lav to clean. I crazy. Clean clean. Feel better. Guess what time sleeping. 11:30. Cupboards, counters, everything. I crazy."

Her son, Salbos, is in an electric wheelchair and cruises up and down the sidewalk every morning, talking about Hawaii and how much he loves Hawaii and wishes he were there. He thinks I'm Cindy, but sometimes he remembers I'm Abby. Every day is an adventure! Soon Maria's other son, Theodore (to whom we pay rent), will return from Greece. It will be fun to meet him. Oh, Maria.

Hahvahd and Labor Day City Life

While Tim slaved away yesterday at his first day of work (which went well), the rest of us rested FROM work. I spent the day biking around Boston and I headed to Harvard Square. Beautiful and historical - although it kind of prefer UPS's campus! The library was particularly impressive-looking, but closed. I bet I'll get to find some sort of book there to checkout in the next 2 years.

Here are some sights from the 'other side' of the Charles River and Boston, Cambridge.

Old Cambridge/current Baptist church

A 1734 milemarker - 8 miles to Boston!

The Harvard Library

Johnny Harvard himself.

A pretty building in Harvard Square?

Chapel on campus

Memorial Hall, a large concert hall and auditorium that was closed.

Hallway outside Memorial Hall.

I biked back closer to downtown along the Charles River toward a new grocery store, Shaw's.
It's in the same category as Albertson's only way huge. I was actually very impressed by their ethnic food and fresh meat selections, as well as organics. Then Tim tried to get single beers from there on our way to a BBQ and you HAVE to buy the 6 pack, or LARGE single beers, so we went with the large. Here I am with our shared Sam Adams that everyone thought was my own:)
As you'll notice we had a great view of the city on Whitney's ROOF, where he hosted a BBQ. The views were amazing up there, right in the middle of Boston at sunset! Dang!




And finally, a couple of shots from this week around the city. This is the neighborhood we walk around every day.
I'll get some soon of the leaves outside our window - already changing! We may even get 'away' this weekend, somewhere between here and Pennsylvania....since we would have a ride. We'll see!

Oh yeah, my first day of classes (one class, epidemiology) was invigorating. I am excited to do my homework (geek)!