Christmas 2008 Part 1

Our annual Christmas tradition is to spend Christmas Eve with the Chaney clan. This year was no different. After attending 5:00 Mass at St. Vincent's, it was back to the Chaney compound. But this year - the Chaney compound was in Mansfield, not Arlington. This was the first Christmas at the NEW Chaney compound.

The rule is that we have to have dinner before we open any gifts. We had the traditional Christmas pizza. We also had the traditional question, "Are you done yet?".

This year we added a new wrinkle - no one gets to open their presents until all the presents have been handed out.
Paul and John wait patiently...well, somewhat patiently for everyone to get together so they could start opening gifts.
Can we start yet??? All 4 boys did really well waiting for the start gun to go off.
Mom and John stop for a photo together.
Brendan is required to give a nice smile before all the painful picture taking will stop.
The gifts just keep on coming!
Mom and Dad are having a Merry Christmas.
Mom gets new shades for Christmas. She looks way cool.
Brendan got spy goggles from Aunt Angela & Uncle John. Now, those are cool.
Uncle John is looking to see where Santa is.
James is ready for bed so he can check out what Santa leaves in the morning.
Wow! What happened to all the presents? The tree looks bare. I think a good time was had by all. Everyone got great gifts. Merry Christmas!

Christmas in New York - 2008

As most of you may or may not know, I've been "commuting" to New York every other week for the past 3 months or so. It was kind of a bittersweet deal in that I enjoyed going to New York but I really missed being home with my family.

Every week (and then every other week) we stayed at the Radisson on Lexington & 48th. For the past 3 months, this was my home away from home. I joined their points program and I'm already a gold member.

The weather has been awesome! We had one rainy kind of day but for the most part, we had wonderful weather. Monday, we actually had weather that was warm enough to be outside in shorts. Brian, my colleague, was looking forward to some snow or at least some cold weather. After all, we did pack our winter coats. On Tuesday, we decided that we'd head over to Rockefeller Center to check out the tree. Half way through the day, it began to snow. I kid you not. It was very light but it was still snow.

So we bundled up and headed over to Rockefeller Center. It was great walking around in the snow and the cold.

Here I am in front of the tree at Rockefeller Center. You can still see the light snow. The area was very festive and full of people taking photos.
This one didn't come out very well but I thought this was cool. If I wasn't afraid to ice skate (I'm afraid I'll fall and someone will skate over my fingers), I'd have tried to talk Brian into skating.

Here's another shot of just the tree. It was really nice.

Here's Brian. He didn't want to be on the blog but too bad. You can see the snow a little. It was starting to come down again. We were cold but we still thought it was cool to out in it. (at least I did, Brian might have just been humoring me.)

After we checked out the tree, we walked across the street to Saks. They had their Christmas windows up. I really wanted to see them because I'd heard so much about how all the stores go all out to do their windows. Macy's was too far so we checked out Saks.
Saks had these snowflakes on the building. When they'd play Christmas carols, the snowflakes would blink to the music. You can see the snow a little more here.
Here's one of the window displays. There was a series of 5 or so windows telling a story about Mike the snowflake. These were kind of cool but I heard someone asking about FAO Schwartz, the toy place. I bet they had some cool windows. I hadn't really planned for this so I didn't know where they were. It was beginning to snow a little more so we headed out and started looking for something to eat.
Here's a shot as we were leaving the area. The snow is coming down a little harder. By this time we were really cold. We walked around some more and finally gave up looking for some really cool place to eat. We headed back to toward the hotel and ate at a pizza place that was across the street from the hotel. At this point, my black coat was white. I was covered and so was Brian. It was coming down a lot harder. I kept getting hit in the eye with snow. Sheesh!

By the time we got back to the hotel, the novelty of walking around in the cold and the snow had really worn off. We were freezing. My coat was wet and my gloves were soaked.

Over all, the job in New York was a great experience. Everytime John & I go somewhere, I always wonder what it would be like to live there. This is as close as I'm going to come to living in New York. I'd say it was pretty cool but there's no place like home.

Chaney Family Photos - November 2008

Saturday with the Windsor Boys

This past Saturday, John & I drove out to Arlington to see our nephews play in their respective games. This is something we've wanted to do for a while but our schedules never allowed for. We had a great time and all the boys did a great job.

First up was James, who is 6. He plays soccer and his jersey number is 2. Here they are. James is on the red team. They all play for the YMCA so they all line up before the game to say the oath.





James doesn't play right away so he sits (or lies) on the bench until his number is called. Waiting is boring. (That's him draped over the bench).












Now the game gets interesting. James' number has been called and look at him go!



Mom and Uncle John watch the game from the sidelines.

Here he is mixing it up with the other boys trying to get that ball.
All the boys did a great job. It was really fun to watch because they all look so cute. They all chase the ball and run as hard as they can. In the end, everyone's a winner.

Next up are John and Brendan, who are both 8. They play flag football, also for the YMCA.
John is second from the left jersey number 27 and Brendan is to the right of the quarterback - jersey number 9. They play both offense and defense.


Here's John throwing a great block.
Now they're on defense. Brendan is keeping his eye on the ball so he knows whose flag to grab. He's very focused.
Looks like Brendan is being blocked from getting to the quarterback.
The proud family on the sideline watching the game. The boys aren't playing at the moment.
Once again on defense, the boys try to get to the guy that has the ball.
The brothers powwow on the sidelines. James gives his brothers some advice.
Brendan watches the game on the sideline with his dad.
Paul didn't play in any of the games but he was very supportive on the sidelines. He was the videographer for the family, taping all the action.

Below are a couple of video snippets from the games. The first is James' soccer game. The second is John & Brendan's football game. The last one is Uncle John and James kicking the soccer ball around at the end of the football game. Enjoy.

Race for the Cure 2008

It's that time again. NorthPark Mall is a madhouse. But, not with shoppers - with walkers - all with the same goal - to find a cure for breast cancer.

It was a brisk, clear morning. You couldn't ask for better weather. We got there a little earlier this year and we got pretty close to the starting line. We usually get there right when the race starts and it takes us 30 minutes just to get to the starting line. This year, we were on our way in no time.


We try to participate every year and, for the most part, we've been successful. Last year we invited Mom to join us. This year, we invited Dad as well.










Someone was kind enough to take a picture of all of us. So here we are - Team Chaney. I know I'm the odd man out because I'm not wearing the shirt but I never got mine in the mail. So, I had to make due. They let me participate anyway.









Here's Clarice Tinsley (in pink). She's the honorary Chair for the event. She was handing out race towels as we passed under the starting line.










There had to be about 3000 people here.

It was a really good time. We don't get to spend a whole lot of time together as a family. This was a great opportunity because we all got to visit with one another while we were walking.

(When I say "all", I don't mean all 3000 people. Just us 4).









What???? It's only mile 2? It seems like we've been walking forever! At least there's only one mile left.










We made it! We walked for a great cause, spent some family time together, and got a little exercise in. Afterwards, we went and had a delicious breakfast together.


See you next year!!!

Boston

Before you get started, I'll warn you - this is a little long.

This year John & I took a fly/drive vacation. We decided that we wanted to tour around New England and see the foliage. So, we flew to Boston and rented a car and drove around and made some memories.

First stop - Boston. This is a place I've always wanted to visit. We took a water taxi from the airport to our hotel. That was very cool. It was like a quick "harbor tour". Our driver was pointing out all the items of interest along the wharf. We stayed at the Boston Harbor Hotel, which was right on the wharf so the water taxi took us directly to the hotel. This is the most decadent hotel we've ever stayed at. All the people were very service oriented. Everyone wanted to help. For this stay, we opted for a harbor view. (That was my choice. Even though I tend to get sea sick, I LOVE the water!).



This was a view from our hotel window. I wish I'd thought to take a picture at night. When it was lit up, it was just beautiful.










Here's a little bit of a photo of our room. John is doing a little 'dinner' research.

That first day, we got into Boston about 2pm. We didn't have a whole lot planned but we didn't want to waste the day either. We ended up having a clam chowder 'snack' at Legal Seafood (which was wonderful) and then venturing out into the city to see what we could see.







No trip to Boston would be complete without doing some of the really goofy stuff like visiting the Cheer's bar. We wandered over on the first day. There wasn't a lot to see. The bar was really crowded so we just walked around and left. The weather there was absolutely amazing. I had a jean jacket and there was only one day that I could have used something heavier.









This was a bit of the Boston Common. (at least we think it is). Based on the map in the book, it looked like this part of the park was part of the Common.








The next day we got up and took the subway over to Cambridge to visit Harvard. What a beautiful campus. This is one of the buildings there.

I guess we can technically say that we "went" to Harvard, no?











This would be me in front of the Harvard Library. Don't I look smart? Sadly, just walking around the campus does not increase your IQ. That's too bad really, because mine could have used a booster. We wanted to eat at Mr. Bartley's which is a burger place there. John had heard a lot about it and we were all set for a great burger. Unfortunately, they had a fire and were closed. We ended up eating at another place called Zoe's. It was a diner that had everything and it was packed. Deservedly so. The food was great.



We also wanted to check out the JFK Memorial and Library. They had a really great museum with lots of election memorabilia.

We watched a film that was narrated by JFK himself talking about his childhood. They also had the news reports about the shooting in Dallas. No matter how many times you see that, it's still affects you.







This is one of the newspapers they had on exhibit in the section with all the election memorabilia. They had all kinds of stuff. I think the coolest things they had were the old photographs.










They had this photograph as a mural on the wall. I've always thought this was a cool photograph. Whoever took it had a great eye. This was part of the exhibit that was showing the office of the Attorney General, which, of course, was Robert Kennedy.

This was really an all day excursion. By the time we walked around Harvard/Cambridge and then took the train to the museum, we were pooped. We also thought we'd actually get to see the library where all of JFK's papers were but I guess that's not for the public.



When Monday rolled around, we rented a car so that we could drive around New England looking at the leaves. Apparently, we weren't the only ones that had that idea. The line for the car was really long. A lot of the people in that line were Europeans. I asked the rental car lady and she said starting in May they were busy through winter renting cars to 'leaf peepers'.

The first stop on our tour was Maine. Much to John's chagrin, I'm big on photographing the crossing of state lines. Don't worry, folks. I didn't make him pull over on the highway. This was an actual rest stop so our lives were not in danger getting this photo. Our initial destination was lunch. Friends had given us a dining suggestion called the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. So we headed out for a lobster roll. Boy! you really had to know that place was there. We went down and around and really had to guess that we were on the right street. Once they give you the street name, you are on your own. They don't tell you again.


So, here we are passing into Cape Elizabeth. (That's not us in the truck). The journey was really worth it. The food was good and the view was amazing.













We order lobster rolls and fried clams. I think each roll was stuffed with 2 pounds of lobster. It was very good. The fried clams were good as well. In my experience if you batter it and fry it, it will be good. Even okra is edible if it's fried. I was enjoying the clams until we got towards the bottom of the stack and some of the breading fell off the ones at the bottom. Have you ever seen a clam? I'm glad I was full because I was done.









After lunch, we walked around a bit. This is a view from the parking lot of the restaurant. I think the area is called Two Lights but that might be the state park that was along the other fork in the road. Isn't this view fantastic?

It was freezing up here. I wanted to walk down to the water and see how cold it was but John wouldn't let me. With my luck, I'd have fallen in.






After lunch, we pressed on to Portland, Maine. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was right on the wharf. Once again, we had a harbor view. This is the view from our window.

Portland is kind of a sleepy little town. It's very small. We got out and walked around a bit. We had time for one museum and we chose the Victoria Mansion. This was a house built in the 1800's that actually had 90% of it's original furniture. We got a tour of the actual house as well as a history lesson on how people of the time lived as well as the history of the house. I love that stuff. I always find it interesting to know how other people lived during different periods.
We had dinner at a great place called Fore Street. The food was really good. John got monkfish and I had seabass. Their menu changes everyday depending on what they get in. It was a Monday night and the place was full. That should tell you that it was very good. We also had the absolute worse mixed drinks ever.

I asked for a Mai Tai. Huge mistake. I should have taken the hint when the guy came back and asked me about which rum to use. It tasted like lemon juice. John got a bloody Mary that he said tasted like watered down tomato juice and shrimp. We ended up getting a great bottle of wine instead. We highly recommend the food and wine. This is a view from our room at night.

The next morning we ate at a place called Becky's. Holy Cow! That was a great diner. It, too, was packed with locals. We went in on a Tuesday at 9:00 am and it was really busy.




Then we pressed on. The next stop: New Hampshire. We took the scenic route and took photos along the way. Sadly, they really don't do justice to how beautiful it was.


Here are some really pretty colors along the highway.






Here we are! New Hampshire. Our destination is North Conway. We were staying at the White Mountain Resort. This selection was basically throwing a dart at the map. I know nothing about New Hampshire so I just chose a town based on a reasonable drive from Portland. As it turned out, it was very nice.





Being from Texas, I really thought this was funny. As we crossed the state line into New Hampshire, there were huge signs like this advertising the state run liquor stores.












I thought this was kind of cool. It's a covered bridge. I don't think it's used for anything other than a picnic site. The other end is blocked with a picnic table. I thought it was very quaint.

So, the resort was mostly for older retired people that liked to golf. I think we were the youngest people there and it was a little disconcerting but I couldn't tell you why. The hotel was nice and it was up in the mountains. We didn't get there in time to take the cog train up into the mountains so we decided to drive around the town. We decided to drive along the Kancamagus Highway. It was so beautiful. It's a scenic drive up into the white mountains. We pulled over at a lot of the scenic stops and took photos. It was a great place to see the leaves changing. Driving back to the hotel at night was quite a challenge as there were very few lights along the way and it got pitch black in the evening.



This was at the first stop. The highway ran along side a river. The vistas were just amazing. It was a nice relaxing drive. We took turns driving so that we could both ooh and aah.










I thought this was the most amazing view. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice. This river looks like it runs straight into the mountains and you can kind of see some of the color off to the side.



















At the other side of the highway was Lincoln, New Hampshire. We stopped for a McDonald's snack and there was another beautiful view. So much fresh air. I had to sit down because I think I was getting a headache. Too much oxygen, not enough car exhaust.









The next day we headed back to Massachusetts. Once again, we took the scenic route. This was a lake that we saw that we thought was really pretty. There was no place to pull over so I had to take the picture on the fly.






These moose signs were everywhere but we never saw a moose. I don't know why but this really struck me as funny. In addition to these signs, they also had moose crossing signs.











Here we're crossing back into Massachusetts. Another rest stop. I swear I didn't make him pull to the side of the road, although....










Back in Massachusetts, we didn't go directly back to Boston. I've always wanted to go to Salem so John indulged me. This period in time (the witch trials) have always peaked my interest. So we went to the Salem Witch museum. It was good in theory (the museum) but in actuality, it was very hokey. They had little scenes up on the wall with mannequins and a voice over the loud speaker that described the events of the time. Then in the next room they had pictures of witches on the wall that they actually described to us. "This is Samantha from Bewitched. This is Glenda, the good witch of the east". At that point we snuck out. I was really disappointed. John was a good sport.



The next stop was the House of the Seven Gables. After the witch museum, I was surprised that John would let me choose again. But, this one was actually interesting. It was a tour of an old period home. It's the house that the Nathanial Hawthorne book was based on. The city was going to tear it down in 1901 and it was saved by a citizen that bought it and opened it up as a museum. They also had Nathanial Hawthorne's house that he was born in but we ran out of time. We still had two more spots along the coast that we wanted to stop at. The next town was Gloucester.

This is the fisherman's memorial for all the men of Gloucester lost at sea.











The final destination was Rockport. This time we couldn't get a proper photo. No place to pull over.

It's kind of hard to see but it says "Entering Rockport".







In Rockport, we stayed at a bed and breakfast called the Yankee Clipper Inn. It was great. It was right at the top of a cliff and this was the view. I wish I could have a taken a panoramic view of the whole bay. It was beautiful. Very relaxing. They had lawn chairs out there as well as a gazebo where you could just sit out and enjoy yourself. We sat out there taking in the view for a while. Once the sun went down, it got a little chilly.





We headed back to Boston the next day. On the way we stopped for a quick visit to this lighthouse. I think it was called Eastern Point. We had to invade a "private drive" to get to the lighthouse. I say that because there were signs everywhere to discourage visitors. The lighthouse itself was privately owned and lived in so you couldn't go on the grounds or in the lighthouse but you could take photos from outside the fence. It's too bad you couldn't go up. I think that would have been an awesome view. Besides, I've never been in a lighthouse.


We took the scenic route (1A) back down the coast to Boston. It was really nice. We avoided the highway which might have been a mistake. I didn't have directions along 1A so I actually had to read the map. While the overall trip wasn't too hard, once we actually got into Boston we were very taxed. I couldn't tell which way to go from the road atlas and we ended up on the Mass turnpike on our way to Worcester. We finally found a place to turn around and I just told John to take the first exit he could. (the exits were few and far between). Then we had a city map that we tried to decode to get back to the hotel. It's kind of funny because initially we thought we'd keep the car a little longer. After that drive through, we went straight to the rental car place and gave them back their car. We stayed at the Boston Harbor Hotel again and this time we got a city view. That hotel is awesome! If you have a chance to stay there but if you do, save your nickels because it's not cheap. (we'll be having ramen noodles for the next few months but it was worth it!) We mostly hung around the hotel to enjoy the ambiance that day. The next day, our friend, Jennifer and her mom, Nancy joined us for some sightseeing around the city. It was cool to go with city natives .



Our first stop was a tour of Fenway Park. That was way cool. The meeting place for the tour was at the souvenir shop. How convenient! It would have been rude of us not to make a purchase. So, we got our fan for the day shirts and John got a cap.









There it is - Fenway Park - home to the world champion Boston Red Sox.











Here's Jennifer and her mom - on part of our tour we got to go up to outfield seats. (I think it's the outfield - what do I know about baseball?) Still, it was a cool view and I think it would be a great place to see the game.









I guess when they broadcast games from Fenway, you can see this Citgo sign. John wanted to have a photo of the sign so here it is. the famous Citgo sign outside Fenway Park.











This is John and Jennifer taking their turn sitting in the seats in the Green Monster. Apparently these are very coveted seats and you can only get them through a lottery system. Then you only get to buy them for one game. To get to this section, you have to have tickets for this section. I think with other tickets you can roam around a bit but this section is exclusively for those holding tickets.







After our tour of Fenway Park, we went along a bit of the Freedom Trail. We stopped in Old North Church in time to hear part of the history of the church and the role it played in the revolution. This is the church where friends of Paul Revere gave him the signal - 1 lantern if the British were coming by land and 2 lanterns if they were coming by sea. Based on the signal, Paul Revere went on his famous midnight ride to warn that the British were coming!

Apparently, in those days, the families owned the pews. This pew that Jennifer is sitting in was owned by the Revere family. (I think it was his son. It says on the plaque next to Jennifer but it's hard to read). From there went to one of the old cemeteries in the city - Copps Hill Burying Ground. The headstones showed that people there died back in the 1600's. It was amazing that you could still read some of the engravings. By that time, we were done in. We stopped for a little gelato snack but then we all headed home. It was a lot of fun. Our thanks to them for coming down and showing us around town.


Our last night in Boston - this is the view from our room.

















This is our hotel from the front. This city was wonderful. There is so much history here and so much to see and do. We barely scratched the surface. We've put this back on the list of places to come and visit and next time we'll just stay in the city for the whole time.








This was a view of the harbor at night.

Overall, I'd say our vacation was a rounding success. We had a great time driving around New England and roaming around Boston. We ate at some excellent restaurants, thanks to the recommendations of our friends - I think we had seafood of some kind everyday and it was excellent! We had a great experience. The people were very friendly. We kept listening for the stereotypical New England accents and we heard some but not as much as I would have liked. We definitely want to come back.