Massachusetts Citizen

As of 4:45 this afternoon, I became an official citizen of the state of Massachusetts. I now have a (temporary) driver's license and am registered to vote here. As someone who has been a proud Texas citizen for almost 27 years, this is kind of a sad day. Massachusetts does have some great qualities, of course, but no one ever wrote a song called "God Blessed Massachusetts." At least I'm still a proud Texas Longhorn.

Excuse me as I wallow.

Whoops!

So, I'm not so good at this whole blogging thing. It's been over a month since I last posted! Of course, a lot has happened during that time, which is probably why I haven't found time to blog. First of all, I got the job at the museum — yea! Then I went back to Texas for a week to pack up all of my things and enjoy being home for the last time in awhile. The last big news is that I got an apartment in Natick, MA, which is about 20 miles west of Boston. I'm excited about living in a smaller town and having my car again (but not about paying for gas!).

Well, that was a quick recap. I'll try to do better in the future. :)

Save the Earth!


Sammy encourages everyone to use reusable shopping bags. You can fit a lot in them — even cats!

Pop goes graduation!

Wow! The last week or so has been crazy! I feel like I've been doing so much and haven't been able to stop, take a deep breath, and relax. Now that I have a long weekend ahead of me, I've been able to think about all that has happened/is happening. These are the highlights of the last week and a half.
  • My mom arrived in Boston on Wed., May 14. Since I had to work both Thursday and Friday, we did things during the evening. Of course, I was usually pretty tired by around 8 both nights since I had been up since 6. We were able to eat at Stephanie's on Newbury and look around the Public Gardens on Thursday and eat at Brown Sugar on Friday. On Saturday, we went to Brimfield to shop for little "treasures" (it's an antique show held three times a year) and then came back to the Natick mall to shop for clothes.
  • My brother and Dad arrived Saturday afternoon, and we met up with them on Sunday. We decided to go to the top of the Prudential Building to see the city (Paul and I did a silly photo booth thing up there). After that we went to the North End to eat. We also stopped at Mike's Pastries (yum!).
  • Monday was graduation (and the whole reason for the family visit). The ceremony wasn't until 3 p.m., and I had to be there at 1:30. We came up early to eat around the school and then I went to line up. It was so good to see everybody again and walk with people I knew during graduation (I didn't really know anyone well during undergraduate — that's what happens when you transfer). I'm now officially a Master!
  • On Tuesday I returned to work, and that night we went to see the Pops and John Williams directing. It was definitely cool to be in the presence of a man who has written so much music everyone knows. My favorite part was the Harry Potter suite.
My family left the next day, and between work and other craziness, I haven't been able to think about all that we did. We really did a lot — no wonder my late morning felt so good today!

Beautiful Spring!

These are just a few pictures I took on my way to work on a beautiful spring day in Boston.



A beautiful tree with pink flowers



A close-up view of the tree


A little goose family

BTW, I had to take a wider path to avoid these geese (there were a lot more of them than in the picture). Some of the geese were a little upset and loud. At least they weren't as mean as the ducks at Lake Forest Park.

First Blog

Well, this technically isn't my first blog entry, but it is the first one on this blog. I decided to try out a new blog format since LiveJournal reminded me too much of writing a blog for class. Anyway, I'll see how this one goes. Hopefully more people will find this one and enjoy reading it.

So, what is new with me? I guess that taking my last final in graduate school counts for new and exciting (blushes). Yesterday was such a long day for me with work from 9-5 and then class from 6 until whenever. I really don't know how everyone in the program who worked full time kept up that schedule for two years. I was so relieved when I finished my final and left class for the last time. I actually finished my final before every person but one in the class (if you know me well, you know this is completely unlike me). I think I was just ready to be done.

Now I just have to concentrate on working at the museum. I've been working full time since last Thursday and will continue to work as the PR assistant until May 22nd. Things are getting busy at the museum now with the China exhibit opening next week. Luckily it has been beautiful outside the last two days so I've been able to eat lunch outside. I love the sun!

That's all for now.