Spring Break

Spring break this year was amazing. I have a friend who is going to graduate school at New York University for dance. She lives right near Penn Station. I took the Bolt Bus down to NYC and booked my ticket for only one dollar! You can't even buy a cup of coffee for a dollar. My friend's spring break was during the same time as mine so we spent a couple of days exploring the city and then took the train home to Maryland together. I visited her last October and we saw many of "the" sights to see. So this time we walked around Chinatown, SoHo, the Village...

Then in Maryland I spent some time with my family, hung out with close friends and spent St. Patrick's Day in Baltimore. My friend is going to the University of Maryland in Baltimore so we went to Fells Point and walked around. There is some really cute shopping and place to eat there.

Then on Wednesday I got a phone call that my aunt went into labor with her first baby. I took an emergency flight back to Boston to be here for his birth. His name is Zachary and he was 8 pounds 7 ounces. He is absolutely beautiful. Pictures to come later!

Only happens in the movies...

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous! The weather was in the high 50s/ low 60s but it felt so much warmer. I worked the Students to Students event on Saturday in the Admission Office. It was an information session for prospective students which was completely run by students. There were four Trustee Ambassadors who spoke about different topics related to Suffolk. I was lucky enough to be one of the speakers and touched on the academics of the University. Then we gave tours to the group after the info session.

I thought it went really well and I had a lot of fun. I don't know what it is about working special events, but I always have such a good time. Perhaps it is because I get to see Ambassadors I might not normally see in the office. Or maybe because students are generally more excited and more apt to ask questions when they are at an event surrounded by a lot of other students. Anyway, it was a great morning and I had a wonderful time speaking to the group and giving a tour.

I took a nice walk through the Boston Common and the Public Garden on my way home. Then I got off at a T stop that is a litte farther from my apartment than the one I usually get off at so that I could enjoy the lovely weather. As I was walking down a small neighborhood street I was noticing that all the snow on the ground was melting and forming huge puddles. The thought crossed through my mind that if a car drove by, there would be potential for me getting splashed. So I walked on the farthest part of the sidewalk away from the road but figured that most of the cars driving the speed limit would have enough momentum to do so.

Until this mini-van comes flying down the street, probably going ten or more miles over the speed limit, and dangerously hugging the right side of the road. This happened at the same moment that I was walking by a huge brown puddle of disgusting melted snow. You guessed it... dirty water all over me. There was water on my face, dripping down my sunglasses, in my hair, all over my adorable white shirt, on my jeans, in my purse, all over my new fuggs (fake uggs)... eww! I was on the phone and gasped. I think my friend thought I was mugged. Ahhhh dirty water all over me!

This kind of thing only happens in the movies-- it is not supposed to happen in real life!

Something Profound

So I'm really upset. Yesterday before I fell asleep I had a really profound thought. You know one of those profound questions you have about how the world works... but it isn't really profound, it is just a random question.

I thought that it would make a great blog topic. But now I've forgotten what it was. So much for my profound blog...

Snow Day

On Monday we had the first snow day I've ever had in my college career. And it will probably be the only snow day I'll ever have at Suffolk. We only got around 12 inches of snow, but visibility was terrible in the morning.

So I slept in, took the dog out to play and cleaned my room. I got rid of every speck of dust and dirt. I swifer-mopped the floor. I did four loads of laundry. I even washed my curtains! It was like spring cleaning, but on a snow day.

An American Tale

We have a mouse in my apartment-- his name is Fivel. He is not a pet, he just lives with us. He is ridiculously cute but also a ridiculous pain.

I've never lived with a mouse before so you can imagine my reaction when I first met him. He ran into my room at 1:00 in the morning. At first I thought it was the dog. But Fivel is much smaller than our dog. Some high-pitched squeals sent him running right back out again.

I've had a few other funny encounters with him. Like the time I had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and found him hanging out in the bathroom. Needless to say, I stood on top of the toilet while I brushed my teeth.

He is becoming more and more bold as time goes on. We are seeing more of him running across the floor, skittering into the next room, even escaping behind the oven after helping himself to whatever food was on the counter. We are becoming good friends :)

So we bought a humane trap to catch him because he's just too cute to kill. The trap is really awesome-- it's a little mouse house. You are supposed to put a cracker with peanut butter in the one end of it, and the other end has a door that will trap him when he enters. Then when you release him, you pull plastic from the end with the cracker and he has to eat his way through the cracker to freedom. It gives him a full belly before you send him out into the wilderness.

But Fivel is too smart for this mouse trap. He has chewed on the edges of it and even eaten all the food we have placed around it. But he refuses to go into it! I was talking to the former executive chef of the Blair House (he's part of my extended family) and he told me that mice do not eat any white or processed flour because they know it is poisonous. But they will eat whole wheat or natural flours and foods. He also joked that they are smarter than us humans. But apparently mice like chocolate, fat and raw meat.

So I'm going to have to try chocolate next. I mean, if Fivel doesn't like chocolate I don't think I can be friends with him anymore. Who doesn't like chocolate? I'll blog later to conclude this classic American Tale.

Adventures on the T

As a commuter student, I ride the train into Boston everyday from Brookline. On a good day it takes me 30-35 minutes to get from my house to Park Street. On a bad day it can take over an hour. The Sawyer Building, where all my classes are, is about a three to five minute walk from Park Street.

The great thing about riding the train is that there is always a story you have to tell from it. Stories about interesting characters, about eccentric T drivers, or even about delays can provide much entertainment.

Mondays and Wednesday are not so bad travelling to and from Suffolk because my schedule is on the off-hours of the regular 9-5 workday. But on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to be on campus from 9:00am to 5:30 pm. This is literally the worst time to be on the train. Obviously, because it's rush hour. Commonly people think of rush hour as honking horns, irritated drivers and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Rush hour on the T includes people yelling, irritated passengers and squished-like-sardines travel. (That sentence did not achieve quite the level of parallel strucutre I wanted it to.) Anyway, passengers are pushed into every crevice of the train car as people try to squeeze in as many bodies that will fit. It sounds awful, and it can be, but I've gotten used to it so it does not even bother me anymore.

About once a week the disgruntled passengers on the platform will yell into the opening doors of an already packed train "Move into the train," or "Ah, come on look at all that room in there," or "This is rididculous!" These comments always make me smile. What would you like for us to do? Where would you like us to go? The best time was when this poor college student was standing with people surrounding her on all sides and this older woman screamed at her, "I'm trying to move into the train, but you are standing there like a brick wall!" I had to actively restrain myself from laughing.

Yesterday this cute little boy who was probably four years old, exclaimed to his sister, "Stop squishing me! I got squished against the door and now you're squishing me into mom. I don't want to be squished!"

My favorite is people with backpacks. Their bag is on their back, so they therefore have no idea how much room it takes up. People with briefcases, purses or side bags are fine because at least they can see how much critical room their stuff is occupying. But people with backpacks either do not realize that they are taking up the whole train and crushing other people, or they pretend not to notice. This guy last week was holding onto the overhead rails, leaning his weight back onto his heels and pushing his backpack up against my back in a packed train. Um Hello? Do you not see that you are taking up a ridiculous amount of room stretching out over there? And Hello again! Did you not notice that you are crushing the short Suffolk student behind you?

So if you knew me, you would realize that I am not passive agressive by any means and I do whatever it takes to avoid conflict. But these backpack people on the T are getting on my last nerve. So I pushed right back. Everytime this guy's backpack shoved into the small of my back, I would shove it right back to him with force. He got the point fairly quickly.

I also love the person who talks loudly on their cell phone while they are surrounded by people. We do not want to hear what you are having for dinner tonight nor do we want to know what your plans for the weekend are.

Even though riding the train has given me many strange and irritating stories to share, it also does have rewarding moments. Like watching the two year old stare into the window underground realizing that she can see everyone's reflection. Or like the guy who gives you his seat not because you are pregnant or elderly, but just because he is a gentleman. Or like listening to the hilarious T driver repeat, "Sardines, please. Sardines, please." into the microphone to signal people to move into the train.

I'm sure there will be more adventures to come...