Let the Good Times Roll

It was good to see Micah again, when he showed up after our naps. After all, it had been quite a while since we had seen him. (He moved to Texas a while back and just moved to Connecticut before our trip.) We said our hellos and decided to head out for dinner, sightseeing and some drinks.

I forget where we had dinner, but we also did little sightseeing in Copley Square (see previous blog) and the Back Bay area on Newbury St. if I remember correctly. After all that, we decided to check out a lounge/bar that we saw in the Boston book Eric had. That is the picture you see. This is at the Top of the Hub on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, overlooking the city, which you can kind of see in the background of the picture. We were just going to go to the bar and have some drinks, but it was SRO at the bar and we didn't feel like waiting around or paying the $24 minimum for a table. There was also a jazz band playing which is what we wanted to check out. However, as you can tell, we opted to get a table. Out stomachs were already stuffed from dinner (you know, that over-expanded feeling) but I decided to order some Calamari so that I didn't have to spend $24 on drinks since I hardly ever drink. Micah and I managed to pace our way through half of it over the two hours or so while we were there. I am holding a Rum & Coke, which was pretty good.

Our biggest adventure was actually finding the entrance to the building. We walked the entire distance around it before we actually found an entrance, which is pretty weird considering it's 52 stories tall. However, we did find it (obviously) and I think we got there about 11:00 or so. As I mentioned, we were there about two hours and decided to get a taxi since we weren't sure we could catch the last T by 1:00am. So we did and we made it back and were in bed around 2:00. Amazingly we decided to set an alarm for 10:00 so we would be able to get through everything we had planned for the next day. Good thing we did. We were all ready to sleep right on through the 10:00 alarm when it went off, but I guess that's a good sign that is a fun night.

The First Sights of Boston

Once we got a grip on where we were and got out into the city, Eric and I had fun taking in the local sights. We started off walking the length of Newbury St, which was lined with shops and cafes. Once we had been walking for a while, we decided to find a place for lunch and settled on Joe's American Grill. It sounded good and was reasonably priced, so we got a table.

Once we had indulged in our first taste of Boston, we headed off to Copley Square, home of the library and Trinity Church. The picture you see for this blog is me in front of Trinity Church. The architecture is amazing. It really shows how long it has been around and how much care they put into the design of the building. The stain glass windows were the most amazing I have ever seen. The detail on them was amazing. I have pictures of the inside of the church, but will probably just post them on MySpace (and maybe Facebook as well).

The library's architecture was pretty cool too. The inside was more amazing than the outside. The main reading hall was beautiful. There were actually a few people in there reading too, so we had to be quiet. I actually took a few seconds to look at a book in front of me about how the author ranked each of the presidents (up through Clinton) on various aspects of their presidency. Kind of interesting, especially to me because there were lots of numbers involved!

At this point in the day, we were pretty tired and still had a few hours to go until Micah arrived. So it was back to our room for a quality nap. And it was well worth it, especially after the bumpy red-eye flight.

Next up: let the fun begin!

Getting Around Boston

This is a picture of the subway system (Green Line) that we used to get around town while in Boston. There's nothing too exciting about it, but it did take a little getting used in terms of where the stops were that we needed and how to know which line to take. The key thing to remember was Inbound meant going into the city (downtown) and Outbound meant going out of the city.

As I eluded to in my last blog, it took Eric and I almost 2 hours from landing to check in despite our "home" only being a few miles away from the airport. Some of this had to do with getting my suitcase, which I checked (I think it was just over the carry-on size), but the main problem was that we got off the subway a little before we should have and therefore wound up walking farther than we needed to. We also started walking in the wrong direction initially, so that set us back a little too.

Fortunately, we had maps with us and were able to correct our missteps quickly. We became very familiar with T, as the subway is called there, and how to get where we needed to go. It was a very convenient transportation system. I can see why it is so widely used. Too bad LA doesn't know how to make something like this work. Then again, LA is very spread out compared to Boston which only seems to be a few square miles.

Next up: our first sightseeing

On another note, Courtney had her first audition today! Traci blogged about it, so you can check it out at her blog via the link on the left side of this page (Traci's Treasures).

In the Beginning

Welcome to the beginning of what I hope will be an interesting series of blogs about my recent trip to Boston with my good friends Eric and Micah over Labor Day weekend. My goal: a picture a day.

And so I start at the beginning of the trip. Eric and I tried to play the market in terms of flight times and pricing. In the end, we ended up taking a red-eye on Jet Blue out of Long Beach Thursday night. We took off at 9:30, then landed in Washington DC at about 5:00am local time for a layover before landing in Boston at 8:30 Friday morning. The flight had some pretty rough turbulence a couple of times (over the Rockies and Missouri area of mid-west), just far enough apart that it made it hard to get sleep of any meaningful duration. I think we each managed about 2 hours total on the flight. As I mentioned, we landed in Boston at about 8:30 Friday morning at which point we were very much awake.

Eventually we made it to the place we were staying, Anthony's Townhouse. Technically, it's in Brookline, not Boston, but it was only one or two blocks outside of Boston and about a mile away from Fenway Park. That brings me to the picture above. That is Eric jumping on what turned out to be Micah's bed. We thought it would be fun to jump on the beds so he did, which made for a Kodak moment.

Anthony's Townhouse is a small, family-owned and run place that used to be a bed and breakfast, but now is pretty much just a guest house with 10 rooms spread out of 4 or 5 levels, with just one bathroom per floor. We had one of the two rooms on the bottom floor and there were three beds in our room, with plenty of space left over. Micah recommended this place and it met our needs. We really only needed a place to sleep and shower, which is what we got from it, plus "Little Tony," but he's a story for a different blog. At $145/night, it much less expensive than most other places in Boston that you would feel safe staying at. It was also conveniently located next to the T (subway) which made travel very easy.

Next up? Our introduction to the T and the streets of Boston: why it took us almost 2 hours from landing to check in.

Back from Boston

Well, I have made it back safely from my Labor Day weekend trip to Boston with a couple of good friends. And just to let you know, this will be more of a summary blog than anything. My goal is to post a picture a day for about the next month or so to explain the happenings of the trip. I took about 130 pictures, so I'll be picking the best ones and the ones that represent the highlights of the trip. But just to give you an idea of what I will be elaborating on, here is how the trip went...

Thursday, August 28:
Red-eye flight from Long Beach

Friday, August 29:
Land in DC for layover before landing in Boston
Intro to Boston subway system and streets
Check into "hotel"
Sightseeing (Back Bay, Trinity church, Library)
Nap
Micah arrives
Dinner/sightseeing/barhopping (what's going on there?)

Saturday, August 30:
Breakfast
Freedom Trail
Sightseeing
Dinner (seafood)
Jazz club/barhopping (again?)

Sunday, August 31:
Breakfast
Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)
Red Sox game at Fenway Park
Harvard/Dinner
Barhopping (what have my friends done to me?)

Monday, September 1:
Fly home (breakfast in NY...Traci was jealous)

I may have left out some things or confused the order a little bit, but as I go, you'll get more details. The bottom line is it was more fun than I expected it to be, which is pretty good considering I went into the trip with high expectations. I do have to say, though, that I'm surprised at how well I held my alcohol. I consumed more this weekend than I had the rest of my life to this point. (Granted, I hardly ever drink, but still.) Hanging out and just being guys with a couple of good friends definitely made the trip a weekend I'll remember for a long time. I hope you'll come back and read about some of the details as I attempt to post a picture a day. It will be a challenge, but it will be fun sharing with you all the memories and good times.

Red Sox Nation? INCOMING!!!!!!!!

The Labor Day weekend is just about upon us and that means one thing...my guys weekend in Boston is finally here! I have been looking forward to this trip since we first decided to do it. granted it will be close to impossible to top the cruise I just returned from 2 weeks ago, but still. I'm going with some good friends of mine, Eric and Micah.

We have been good friends since high school. They were both in my wedding (Eric was the best man) and we have been able to keep in touch over the years, which isn't bad considering we graduated from La Serna 14 years ago. (Has it seriously been that long?!) None of us have been to Boston before so, but we've done our research and have a good idea of what we want to do while we're there, which includes the Freedom Trail, MFA (Museum of Fine Arts), check out Harvard, take in some live music at a jazz club, and of course go to Fenway to see a Red Sox game. Needless to say, it's going to be a fun weekend full of good times with good friends.

Now the next questions should be, "Hey, why are you still up when you have to wake up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to get ready for work and then take a redeye flight (taking off at 9:30) tomorrow night?" My answer would probably be in the form of a blank stare about now. Our flight takes off about 9:30 tomorrow night and after a brief layover in Washington DC early Friday morning, we'll land in Boston about 8:30. And then, let the good times roll. Eric and I will be on our own for most of the day since Micah just started graduate school this week at U Conn.

I am packed for the most part, just a few things to go, which I can't really do until tomorrow. It will be a little tight in terms of time between getting home from work and heading off to the trip(about and hour to an hour and a half).

My brain is starting to shut down now that it is after 11:30 so I will call it a blog and head to bed. I'm sure I'll have pictures and plenty to post when I return on Monday.

My First Employee Picnic with Chevron - A Completed Checklist

I could tell you about how great the picnic was (they don't hold back much) and how much fun we all had (a ton!), but I thought I would just show you with a visual checklist. (I posted a lot more pictures on my MySpace sight.)

Picture of the family riding on an elephant? Check!

Giant slide? Check!

Butterflies painted on the kiddies' faces? Check!

Pirate slide and bouncer? Check!

Balloon animals (monkeys)? Check!

Checking out the fire truck (from Chevron's Fire Dept.)? Check!

Picture of me with the wee ones? Check!

Ferris wheel? Check!

Petting zoo? Check!

Crazy Life

As I sit here at home, with a queasy stomach, while I should be at work, I realize how quickly life can get so crazy. Yesterday was my first day back at work after the cruise and things got crazy quickly. Of course that doesn't count the massive amounts of voice mails and e-mails that stacked up while I was gone.

So I start chipping away at it and my neighbor in the cube behind me (to my back) gets a call. From what I could catch with a quick conversation after he got off the phone, it sounded like his dad passed away. My heart sank for him as he took off to go be with his family.

Then in a phone call with one of my co-workers/teammates in San Ramon, I find out that one of our Leads (we have two Leads, plus me the Analyst and a "temporary help" guy filling in while we wait to find a new manager) is out indefinitely due to health issues. I suspect it is a second round of cancer as he apparently went through chemo last fall. (I can only assume this because I haven't directly asked him for details and he lost his hair.) I have to admit that if that is the case, the timing of his battle coincides almost exactly with another friend who is also battling a second round of chemo currently.

Add to that a couple of other things going on (changes with our Sunday School class, my mom's surgery today and general life things) and I just feel overwhelmed. I know God's in control and that He won't give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I just wonder what my limit is. I know these things will pass and some are more worrisome than others, and that with God all things are possible, but it just seems like so much.

Reflections of My Frist Cruise

You may want to settle in and get comfy. I have a feeling this is going to be a really long post. I'm going to try to hit on some of the details, but I know I won't get them all. So let me get it going. (I am also thinking about trying to add a slideshow to my blog so you can see some of the many pictures we took during the cruise, so please keep checking back.)


We (me, Traci, her cousin Bryan and his wife Shauna) checked into the ship at about 11:30 in the morning on Monday, August 11. I had been really excited about this trip since I left work on Thursday. (I had Friday off.) We said goodbye to our kids who came to drop us off with our parents. It was kind of tough knowing we wouldn't see them again until Friday, but at the same time, we knew they were in good hands and would have a lot of fun with everything the grandparents had planned for them. Once you check in, you really just get to hang out on the boat for a while. They bring your luggage to your room so you pretty much just check periodically to see if it has been dropped off there. Since it was lunch time when we checked in, we went up to the Windjammer Cafe to have lunch and experience our first buffet of the cruise. It was one of the two biggest meals I had on the cruise (the other one wasn't even really a meal, but more on that in a little bit). After that, we pretty much walked around the ship, getting familiar with it. Bryan and I let Traci and Shauna lead since their scrapbooking cruise in February was on the exact same ship. It was at this time, that we visited the spa and booked our couples massages for later that night. Since it next door to the spa, we also checked out the gym. They really had a pretty good assortment of equipment. Eventually, at 5:30, it was time for dinner, which was a 3-course dinner every night. We, the 4 of us, were fortunate to have out own table as many people had to share a a table with people they did not know. We also got to meet our waiting staff: Pepito (waiter), Andrew (asst. waiter) and Pedro (head waiter). They were all awesome, cracking jokes and making us laugh whenever they were around. After dinner had ended, I think we hit the jacuzzi (there were two, as well as two pools) to relax before our massages at 9:45. The massage created a little anxiety for me since I had never had a professional one before, especially a full-body massage! However, it wasn't as bad since Traci and I were in the same room. (Bryan and Shauna were also together in a room of their own.) By the time we left there, it was about 11:00. Bryan and I decided that were going to take full advantage of the pizza bar that was open until 2:00am. So he and I headed up there and got some pizza and soda for the late night snack. It's funny how pizza seems to taste better when you're supposed to be asleep and it's already paid for. After that, it was finally time to sleep as the ship sailed toward our first destination: San Diego.


On Tuesday morning, we headed to Windjammer for the breakfast buffet and filled up for our day in San Diego. We didn't sign up for any of the excursions that were available since we had all been there enough times to know what we could do. So we took the free shuttle from our ship to the Gaslamp District. It dropped us off at Hilo Hattie's where we shopped and got some gifts/souvenirs. After that, we walked up the street, shopping as we went until we reached Horton Plaza, where there was a mall. Ultimately, we decided to grab a light lunch since it had only been a few hours since breakfast and take in a movie. We saw Ironman, and it was pretty good. I'm not one who has followed comic books much, but it was still an enjoyable movie that I would recommend. After that, we walked back (about a mile or so) to our ship and relaxed before dinner (scheduled for 5:30 for us each night of the cruise). Tuesday's dinner was special because it was formal night. We got dressed up for dinner. Traci was wearing a beautiful outfit and I wore a nice shirt, nice pants and a tie. One of the nice things about our table was that we had a window table (same table each night) and could see us leaving the dock each night. It also helped us see some dolphins and whales on a couple of occasions! That was pretty cool! I think we checked out the shops on the ship this night before we hit the jacuzzi again. We also took in a musical show on the ship that night, which was pretty good. They sang and danced to music from Ray Charles' era to Alicia Keys. It was pretty good. Later, Bryan and I headed up to the pizza bar again and got our pizza. That seemed to be a good way to end the night.


Wednesday represented all of our first visit to Catalina Island! We decided to try the dining hall (there were two: the one we ate dinner in and another one the level below that) for breakfast. We wound up sharing a table since this was first-come, first-served seating arrangement. After that, we hopped on the tender, which was a large boat that held a couple hundred people that took us from our ship to Catalina. (A cruise ship is too large to dock on the island, so it anchors offshore and you take the tender to a dock on the island.) The four of us explored the shops on Catalina before grabbing lunch. We then headed off to our excursions. Bryan and Shauna did a kayaking excursion, while Traci and I took a guided tour of the city (Avalon). We got to see the sights in the city, which has a total population of 4,000. That included the Wrigley Mansion, the school, the stables, as well as the scenic hills and how close the large fire the island had last year came to the city. After we got back, we shopped a little and hopped back on the tender to get back to our ship. Bryan and Shauna actually wound up meeting us on the ship even though their excursion ended about an hour after ours. We bought some cards on Catalina, so after hanging out in the pool (salt water pool, I might add), and going to the casino on the ship (I doubled my money...I started with $1 on the poker machines and walked away with $2.25!) we went to one of the lounges/bars, found a table and played cards for a while. We did this to try and help keep us awake for one of the things we had to experience on this cruise once we learned about it...CHOCOLATE BUFFET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it didn't start until 11:30 at night so we had our work cut out for us. After a while, and once Shauna was looked pretty wiped out, despite really wanting to hit the buffet, we headed to our rooms to relax before it was time to indulge. As it turns out, Bryan and Shauna fell asleep and didn't make it to the chocolate buffet. Traci and I watched a movie in our room (which was next door to Bryan and Shauna's) and had some light snacks to keep us awake. I wound up dozing off, but was able to recover in time to hit the buffet that was too good to pass up. We went down and waited in a massive line! And it was worth it! The assortment of chocolate items was mind-boggling. I think I took one of almost everything available. After all, when is the next time I'll be able to eat as much chocolate as I can without having to pay for it (money-wise)? To give you an idea of what it was like, here are a few pictures from the experience.


Before (My loaded plate)











During (The chocolate has taken over!)

After (This is seriously what my plate looked like when I finished and couldn't eat any more!)

Believe it or not, it was off to bed after the chocolate buffet. Pleasant dreams were had by all who made it to the chocolate buffet. Something I will not regret. After all, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!

Meanwhile the cruise ship was well on its way from Catalina to our Thursday destination: Ensenada, Mexico! This was my first time to Mexico. I like to refer to this as my first visit to my (not-so-distant) ancestors homeland. I am 1/8 Mexican because my great grandmother came to the US from Mexico. (She married a German man who came to the US as well, thus I am also 1/8 German, which is also where the last name Steinman came from.) We did our breakfast buffet and then headed off the ship into Mexico. We didn't do anything too exciting there. We took the shuttle to the main shopping street in Ensenada, shopped for a couple of hours, then headed back to the ship to relax for the rest of our trip. The shopping was an interesting experience, much different from the US. There are shops and street vendors all along the street. We did some bargaining with street vendors which is where we got most of our items, using the store prices as guidance to see what we could get the items for on the street. Anyway, when we got back on the ship, we headed to Windjammer for the lunch buffet. After that, it was poolside relaxation time. Traci and I hit the jacuzzi one more time. Then we did a variety of things. While poolside, I played in the bean bag toss tournament. We had to try to toss the bean bag through a hole about 20 feet away. I made 1 out of 5. About 5 or 6 others also made one, while everyone else made zero with the exception of one lady who made 2 and therefore won. Side note, the lady who won was completely plastered the night before. How do I know? She came in the elevator with us, guided by two friends who took control of her about 6 drinks too late. It should also be noted that this was especially awkward for me as she rubbed my arm as she entered the elevator. Fortunately after that, her friends turned her around, although she was still next to me. Very awkward to say the least. We then proceeded to do a couple other activities. Traci, Bryan and Shauna did wall climbing. I was too much of a wuss to try it so I was the photographer. Bryan and Shauna made it all the way up (Bryan on the hardest one) and Traci made it about half way...not too bad for her first time...I was proud of her. Then we went down a level where Bryan and I participated in the free throw shooting contest. We both didn't make any of our three attempts and were therefore eliminated right away. I guess I'll stick with baseball. We then got ready for dinner and had our dinner, where I tried lamb for the first time. it was pretty good. It reminded me of pot roast. It would definitely be worth eating again sometime. After that, we packed our luggage since we had to have it set outside our room before midnight so they could collect it and get it to us in the terminal in the morning. After that, we played some more cards before heading for the night. By they way, it should be noted that we primarily played two card games the entire time...Busstop and Rummy. Bryan and Shauna pretty much dominated Rummy and Busstop was more even, although I remember Bryan doing the best in that as well...punk!

Friday morning arrived and we were getting pretty anxious to see the girls again. The four of us met for breakfast at the buffet at Windjammer and played cards there until they kicked us out (in a very kind manner) to start cleaning up the room for the next bunch of cruisers who would be checking in in just a few hours. So we relocated to one of the lounges/bar areas and after completing one game, they called our luggage tag color and it was off to check out we went. We would up standing in line for about an hour to get off the ship and get through customs. It was nice that we could all talk and hang out while in line though.

I would doing a disservice to staff on our boat, Monarch of the Seas, if I didn't spend some time talking about them. I mentioned Pepito, Andrew and Pedro earlier. (I was amazed and the wide range of countries, 26 in all in the dining room they announced, that were represented in the service staff.) Pepito was definitely a big part of our enjoyment on the ship during dinner. He provided great service and always did it while cracking jokes and being funny the whole time. Anytime he refilled our water, it was with "Mexican water." When we asked him to take be in a picture with Andrew and Pedro, he joked that the others didn't want to be in the picture because we were immigration. He also teased Bryan and Shauna for not making the chocolate buffet. He just made things fun for us. Speaking of the chocolate buffet, yet again, I got to meet Cornelio, who was Traci's and Shauna's waiter on their cruise back in February. I heard rave reviews from Traci when she returned from that cruise, so it was nice to be able to meet him. The service on the cruise is one of the big reasons I would very much like to take another cruise again sometime. Even our stateroom attendant (I feel bad for forgetting his name) was really cool. We'd always seem to be catch him as he was ready to make up our room or turn down our room and he would have a huge smile on his face and tell us to take our time.

Looking back at this trip, I would definitely say it is one of the best vacations/trips I have ever had. It's right up there with our honeymoon and trips to Colorado. (Please keep in mind that it's very hard, almost impossible, to compare our two trips to Colorado with our honeymoon.) I love taking trips as a family with the girls, but having this chance to get away without them, and spend some quality time with Traci, is so refreshing and rejuvenating. I haven't felt this relaxed on a trip in a long, long time. It was definitely good for us. I think what also helped the trip be so enjoyable was the fact that we get along with Bryan and Shauna so well. They are easy going and easy to get along with. I very much look forward to going on another cruise eventually. Being able to get away and not worry about checking e-mail, going to work and just getting away from everyday life in general, is such a healthy thing. I really needed it. It was also nice to focus on our marriage and just enjoy time with each other. It gave me a greater appreciation of just how lucky I am to be married to Traci and how I look forward to our long life together, all the memories we have already had, and all the memories we have yet to experience. God has truly blessed me more than I deserve, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Steinman...out!

So here it is almost midnight, and tomorrow morning Traci and I head off on a cruise (my first one) with her cousin Bryan and his wife Shauna. I am really looking forward to as we will be heading to Catalina (our first time), San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico (my first time in Mexico). I've been looking forward to this trip for a while as it is always good to take some time away from the kids and just enjoy some time alone with the love of my life. It's good for the marriage and our sanity. The kids should have a good time splitting the week between the grandparents. They have lots of fun stuff planned and that should be good to help keep the kids distracted from us being gone. They will probably start missing us as the week goes on (Courtney has already told us she is going to miss us), but they'll be getting plenty of love from the grandparents. I should probably be in bed, but I'll head there after this.

I also talked to my good friend Eric today as we finally booked our flight for our Boston trip over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, we booked after prices appear to have bottomed out this past week. So although we're paying a little more, we will get to spend an extra day in Boston as we are taking a redeye on that Thursday night. That should also be a great trip and we will meet our good friend Micah there. He just moved up to Connecticut to go into grad school so he has a short drive (compared to how far we're going) to meet us there. So it will just the three of us roaming around Boston for the long weekend and passing out thank you cards to the Red Sox Nation for giving us Manny Ramirez. I'm hoping they have some dreadlocks wigs on clearance out there. But then again, since Manny will be cutting his hair soon, if he hasn't already, it may not make sense to get them. We have already bought our tickets to a Red Sox game so that may very well be the highlight of the weekend for me.

So it's off to bed now to rest up for the cruise, and hopefully I won't forget my little Dramamine patches tomorrow morning.

Oh, one more thing. Traci just started her own blog so check it out when you have a chance. I tend to give the Cliff Notes version of stories where she goes into more detail. Plus she has a pretty cool perspective of things too. I love her!