worth a thousand words: pictures we love

worth a thousand words: pictures we love
higgins family ready for THE BOSS
Showing posts with label be our guest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label be our guest. Show all posts

13 November 2008

make new friends...keep the old

rita came to visit us for a few days this past sunday. if you don't know rita you are really missing out on a neat person. the youngest of seven children rita is about as laid back as they come. we met soon after i moved to boston when we worked together at the archdiocese of boston. we became fast friends and have remained so over the past 7 years. i was so grateful that she made the trip to NJ...five hours in a car alone is not always easy...but thankfully she had beautiful driving weather both ways. it was a thrill to be able to show off wil - especially to such an attentive audience. we spent her time here cooking, walking, shopping, eating, driving and, most importantly, talking. rita is both a great conversationalist and a great listener. we have shared a lot of thoughts on many subjects over the years and it was fun to have nothing but 3 days to talk and think with her. i am so glad you came, rita. i cannot wait for the next visit!

after last week's post detailing the events of my failed playdate i have happy news to report. this week at music class a new woman joined our group. she and i seemed to hit it off and at the end of class she suggested we exchange numbers which we did. i don't know where that will lead, if anywhere, but it was nice to be singled out for a number exchange. i also made some headway with a woman in my class that i like and have been casually and slowly cozying up to for a few weeks. her daughter is almost exactly the same age as wil and she and her husband are about to move into a house in one of the towns that make up the newcomer's club. i actually know someone that lives near her new place and asked her if she planned to join newcomer's. she said she probably would after the first of the year and suggested that wil and i come over after they actually moved in and were settled. that also felt good and i walked out of music with a little more spring in my step.

also of interest...the failed playgroup seems unwilling to die. a woman from the original group offered to host this week. i emailed her to say that wil and i would be there. it was this morning and before we arrived i stopped to buy her some sunflowers, my favorite, as a thank you for having us. we were the only people to show (she was expecting 3 total) and i was glad we did. her son is 10 months old and he and wil played well together. we had quite a few things in common: both lived in boston, both dated our husbands long distance, both red sox fans, both husbands are penn state fans, both tall. i admitted to her that i wasn't sure i saw our assigned playgroup getting off the group but suggested that she and i do something together with the boys soon. she seemed happy with that suggestion and i will make good on it.

i am also stepping a little further out there by attending the newcomer's club vendor night tonight. vendor night is held this month in place of the monthly sip & chat and there might be some cool arty-crafty stuff to buy. it will be the second newcomer's event i've attended this season and will complete #34 on my list.

and one last thing combining both playgroups and newcomer's club....heather's playgroup is being held tomorrow and i have been invited. the interesting part is that it is not at heather's and one of the women took it upon herself to include me. even though my link to the group is unable to go wil and i are still going and that is a good thing.

all in all things are good. i went from taking pictures of an empty room to this in just under a month. patience truly is a virtue.

15 October 2008

surprise, surprise, surprise


there is nothing better than an unexpected gift to boost your spirits and last friday* i was the lucky recipient of one such gift.

ryan and i had a pretty lame friday night planned. we were watching wil use his walker and throwing a stuffed chicken for lucy when ryan offered me a deal...i would shower with wil, he would shower with lucy. both desperately needed a bath.

in the middle of my shower with wil i heard ryan talking to someone and thought he was on the phone. he then opened the door and i could see someone down the stairs staring up at me...it was TIA. i was so excited. tia, shawn & hank made a surprise trip to NJ for the weekend. it was perfect! we had a wonderful weekend eating portuguese food, watching football, visiting the beach and laughing. (especially when while tia was giving wil a bath, hank felt the need to get in on the action.) it was just what the higgins family needed.

sadly we took only one picture (above) but we have good memories. thank you tia, shawn & hank for making the trip. it was fantastic!

*this was the weekend of the 11th. i had a busy week last week and am just getting around to posting this.

29 September 2008

just-in time

it seems like every time i am about to get homesick to see someone from home i get a visit. at the end of august i was beginning to feel bummed that i wouldn't see any family until november. after much consideration we called off a september texas trip due to insane airline prices and bad timing. about the same time we were deciding not to go to texas, my delightful (and cute!) cousin justin made arrangements to come up and visit. justin is one of the most relaxed guys i know and truly lives a "go with the flow" lifestyle. because he is so easy his visits are always freewheeling and fun. we did three states in 6 days and it was a blast. here are some of the highlights:

*thursday: train trip to NY, lunch at isabella's (best burger ever!), afternoon at the museum of natural history. i think we could've spent 2 days in this museum and still not seen everything. it was fantastic!


*friday: car trip to liberty state park, picnic on ellis island, visit to statue of liberty. if you've never visited ellis island it is truly a sight to behold. and old lady liberty isn't too shabby, either.


*weekend: labor day with shawn & tia in PA...guys watched football, i got my hair done, we went to a rib & clam bbq, shot off fireworks and lounged by the pool for two days. it was great!


justin and wil made great friends. it's not hard to imagine knowing how chill they both are. about 100 people over the course of our touristy activities thought wil was OUR child and that gave us some good (but a tad uncomfortable) chuckles. justin was a great sport to hit all the sights with his cousin and a baby who used him as a human jungle gym. i hope we didn't dampen his style too much. we were so sad to see justin go (ryan and i tried to convince him to be our manny) but we are already looking forward to the next visit. love you justin! thanks for coming... just in time.

for the picture version of this story...click here.

picture of the day

picture of the day
merry christmas & happy new year! we'll be back in 2009!