Jack & Marcy

One of the things I miss the most from Los Angeles are the friends I made there. Jack and Marcy were two people I never got to spend enough time with while I was there, let alone since I've moved back to Mass.
Fortunately for me, Marcy's family is from Massachusetts, so her and Jack were "in town" for Christmas. I got to see both of them last Wednesday out in West Springfield. Not real close, but a hell of a lot closer than Cali. Amanda came with me, and I was all kinds of excited that they all got to meet each other.
Hopefully I'll get the chance to head out west in the Spring or Summer, but this was pretty damn cool in the meantime.

Christmas

My Christmas plans were a little different this year as Amanda and I tried to split our time between our families. We did a pretty decent job and basically just picked up where our Thanksgiving plans left off.
The Camelios had a Patriots/holiday party on Sunday which included us and some of their family friends. I held up the Cope tradition by falling asleep on the couch during the third quarter, but I don't think anyone minded too much. Monday night Amanda, Frank, and I did our own Christmas at our place, then Tuesday Amanda and I headed up to Westford. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning there, then went to her Aunt and Uncle's place where a lot of her extended family was.
Everywhere we went was a good time, and I think we did a decent job of seeing everyone over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Snow

It snowed again this morning, and there was at least as much snow to clear out as earlier this week. Frank is out of town, so Amanda and I tackled the driveway and cars. No snow fort this time, although the snow was a lot wetter and heavier so we probably would have had an easier time. Amanda was a hell of a trooper and cleared out a lot of snow. Shoveling snow is something I can do basically all day, but I'll definitely be laying down some Advil before I go to sleep tonight after heaving that heavy friggin' snow for a few hours.

Christmas Carol

Every year, my family heads up to the North Shore Music Theatre to catch their production of A Christmas Carol. Fortunately, Amanda was able to join us this year. Of course the story never changes, but every year the production itself is slightly different. This year's was not my favorite, although it certainly wasn't bad.
Amanda being there was a bigger deal than it sounds, and it's pretty awesome that everyone is comfortable with everyone else.

Celtics

I was fortunate enough to land tickets to a few Celtics games this season, and Friday night was the second game (of seven) that I'm planning on going to. The first game was the preseason match against the Knicks, so Friday's game against the Bucks was a little more exciting. My sister Kate came with me and we had a friggin' blast. We got there almost an hour before the game which gave us the chance to grab some food and get settled.
The Celts won, which was awesome, but the game was close at the half so it was pretty exciting nonetheless. The two of us are also going to the Pistons game on Wednesday, and we're both wicked psyched about that one as well.

Thurs 12/13: Snowfort

Last night brought the first serious snow of the season. Frank, Amanda, and I cleared most of the snow off of the cars and driveway at about 7pm, but a few hours later there were a few more inches of snow that needed to be cleared out. Frank and I went out at about 11:15pm and had the driveway and cars pretty well cleared out by about midnight.
As I was brushing the last of the snow off of my car, I noticed Frank had started an impressive mound of snow in the backyard. He simply wanted something he could stand on, but the powdery snow was giving him some trouble. I decided to up the ante and declare that we could build a mound that he could not only stand on, but do so as I tunneled underneath. About an hour later, we had a solid mound with what amounted to a mail slot snaking through it. Not without assistance, I managed to wiggle most of the way through before Frank had to pull me the rest of the way. The tunnel was tight enough that it was tough to breathe, and it probably about six and a half feet long, so it was a little creepy, especially at 1am. A few minutes later, I had widened the tunnel just enough to get through under my own power, with Frank perched on top. It was completely awesome and the first snow fort I've built in probably at least five years.
There's a video of it, but unfortunately it's too big to post here. Let me know if you're interested and I'm sure we can figure something out.

Dodgeball: Week 4

After our fourth week of dodgeball, we're beginning to see a pattern: we seem capable of winning three games per night, and that's it. We play ten games each night, against five different teams, and we finally managed to take both games against one team, but it was a small comfort. We continue to play better each week, but our progress continues to lag behind that of other teams. We're tied for 28th (out of 32), and that's two places back from where we were last week.
There are only two weeks left before the playoffs, so hopefully we can manage a breakout week before then.

Found an Apartment!

Amanda and I found an apartment!
It's right up the street from my current place, which is really convenient for me. It's also only slightly farther from her school than her current place, so it's pretty convenient for her as well.
We're both pretty psyched about it, and we move in officially in February. Nobody is living in it now, so as soon as the landlord is done refinishing the floors and cleaning the place up, she'll let us start moving our stuff in.
Offers to help moving stuff in are gratefully considered.

Dodgeball: Week 3

Tonight was our third night of dodgeball, and we're getting pretty consistent. We won another three games, but unfortunately it was still out of ten. Going into the night we were tied for 26th out of 32, so not great but not last.
I feel like I'm playing better, which is good, although I'm catching a little bit of shit for being too intense. Some of us are there to have fun, and some of us are there to win. I happen to find winning pretty damn fun, so I suppose you can count me in both categories.
We're making progress with our strategy, and it's really too bad our record doesn't seem to reflect that. Hopefully the season will be long enough for us to get our act together.

Auto Show

This weekend Jimbo and I made it to the New England International Auto Show at the Boston Convention Center. It was a pretty big improvement over last year, which was at the Bayside Expo Center. The BCC had all of the exhibits in one large room, and the whole building looked decades newer than the Expo Center.
The show itself was pretty cool; it was the first time I had gotten up close with the Dodge Challenger or the Pontiac G8, and they're both sweet cars. Every major automaker (that sells cars in the U.S. anyway) were represented, including an assortment of Ferraris and Lamborghinis which were absent from the show last year.
Here's the quick FAQ: The most expensive car there was probably the $498,000 Mercedes-McLaren SLR Roadster, the "nicest" inside was the Jaguar XKR, the "nicest" outside was the Lamborghini Murcielago, and the one I'm aiming to get next is the Pontiac G8 (or the Challenger, or the absent Chevy Volt).
To anyone who has never been to a car show, or hasn't been to one in the last five years, I highly recommend you catch one. It's a great opportunity to get your hands all over the inside and outside of a bunch of cars, and not just really expensive ones. It's amazing how much happier you could be with your next car if you take the time to sit in not only the one you're considering, but six cars like it, especially from different manufacturers. They all do things a little bit differently, so chances are you can find one that is exactly what you are looking for, then find another one that is even better because of a few things you probably didn't even think of.