Emskyrooney

*** portions of this post are taken from last year's post on 9/11 *** Eight years ago today I was sitting in a hotel room in Boston with the guy I was dating at the time, a pilot for Continental, watching the world come crumbling down... He was supposed to have a flight from Boston to D.C. that morning but there was some sort of issue with his plane the night before and so the flight was delayed until later in the day. We spent the next few days watching the news reports in the hotel room and the hotel lobby, frantically calling our friends in NYC to make sure they were safe, talking to the other pilots and flight attendants at the hotel and wandering around downtown Boston, completely stunned. There was an article in the Boston Globe today about how teachers are changing the way they teach their students about 9/11 because of many of the students either weren't born yet or aren't old enough to remember much about that day.  For those of us who can vividly recall every...

Ok so I couldn't stay awake late enough to watch the men's swimming 4x100 freestyle relay race last night... And I heard this morning that the US men came through at the last second in an amazing race to the finish to beat France. But I just watched the video of the race and it made me cry- it's so damn exciting! I've never really been into watching swimming, but this year I'm into it... Go USA! (and the abs on those swimmers definitely make it even more fun to watch!)

On Tuesday last week my little brother Spencer came to visit for a few days. He took an overnight flight from San Francisco where he was visiting his girlfriend (!!!) and arrived in Boston Tuesday morning. He hung out around my office on Tuesday (exciting stuff) and on Wednesday hung out at our house since I had to work. Thursday he came into work with me in the morning and then in the afternoon we decided to go and see the John Adams birthplace and house in Quincy. After driving in circles in Quincy we finally managed to find the visitors' center where we purchased tickets for the tour. You hop on a trolley to the first site where a ranger takes you on a tour of the two homes which were the birthplace of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The houses are the oldest presidential birthplaces in the U.S. Spencer in front of John Adams' birthplace. After touring the birthplaces you hop back on the trolley to go see the "Old House" where the Adams family lived from 17...

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and am feeling inspired today... (the template and idea came from here ) I am from lavender scented air freshener, from Crayola Crayons and crocheted hats. I am from brick and stucco and green grass, from the woods out back and from the play yard and the turnaround. I am from the bleeding heart, the apple trees, and the black eyed Susans. I am from cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and from stubbornness and sarcasm, from GrandmaRee and Nana and Aunt HeHe. I am from intelligence and creativity and the Bushkill Creek. From eat your sandwich crusts so you'll grow hair on your chest and from if your uncle wore a dress he'd be your aunt. I am from Lutherans and Quakers. I am from Pennsylvania and I am from Germany and England. From sauerkraut and shoo-fly pie. From my father's pet rooster Gaudy, from my Italian uncle and his collectible glassware and giving heart, from my Great-Aunt and her kitchen sponge. I'm f...