Captian's Log

Captain's Log, Star Date: Day 41 Quarantine 2020: 

The troops are getting restless.

41 days into a Nation-wide shutdown and life on this ship is stable but teetering on danger. The crew of five is well fed, well clothed, clean, (depending upon the day) and rested. Provisions are abundant but restlessness is approaching like a meteor heading straight into our galaxy. Morale is stagnant.  The schedule is simple but constant; eat, clean, sleep, repeat. Weather conditions in this quadrant of the star galaxy have been brutal. The result has been increasing anxiety from barometric pressure on the body inducing a lack of vigor and vitality. Must keep the troops productive! This enemy is sneaky and lethal, but we can beat it.

Biggest concerns of the crew:

• Lavatory paper: In the earlier days of quarantine, before toilet paper was a scant commodity in ship's canteen, fluffy 2-ply was the constant. Due to demand, 1-ply is sometimes all the ship's captain can secure, resulting in reported unwelcome "finger holes" when employing it's desired use. 
• Mess Hall menus: While this ship boasts a Five Star chef, gratification for all it would seem, a daunting task. Chef's choices for daily menus are welcome and delectable, but there's always that ONE.  Yet, 4 out of 5 is still a great satisfaction ratio. Commissary Chef Candy offers her observations, "This isn't a restaurant, you know."
• Refrigerator Duty: "Wasn't me," a constant theme when weekly clean out sessions produce some penicillin worthy mold in the back of the fridge. Crew are questioned regularly and held accountable for uneaten, poorly contained foods that have been left for dead. Fines have been known to be levied. 
• Cocktail Hour: Which most day's turns into "Cocktails for Hours". The outcome of which can result in poor crew production on the morrow. Inebriated behaviors are tolerated for first time offenders only. 
• Flatulence: What was once a intensely personal behavior has now become commonplace and public on this ship. Repeat offenders often refer to behavior as such, calling it lighthearted and funny. When confronted with the outlandish actions, certain crew members have resorted to the much more devious act of "crop-dusting". Fines may definitely need to be levied.
• Privacy and Consideration for your Fellow Crew Mate: While in close quarters, the door closed to the bathroom would signal an occupant. A simple knock on the door would suffice, as opposed to the "busting in without knocking" tactic sometimes employed here. Also, a binge watch session does not give the viewer all day, common room TV rights. Each of the crews living quarters are fashioned with their own personal TV in which to binge watch, so common areas must be considerately utilized for the greater good of all on board. 

With the end of quarantine somewhat in sight, the Captain's job is to keep a tight ship! Steering the course and navigating the daily tasks can be daunting but we must not let boredom and negativity penetrate this spacecraft. It's all speed ahead for a safe landing in the coming weeks, but what that liberation looks like is yet another matter. We look forward to daily life being somewhat similar to the life we had before, although we know this won't be true for a time to come. Going out into the world again daily will be challenging and at times dangerous. But  face those challenges we must! We need to resume some sort of normal behavior soon, yet with guidelines for our safety and the safety of those around us. Safety first!

 And we must remember most of all, that injecting disinfectants is ill advised. No matter what the man with the orange face says.

Dipping My Feet Into The Pool

So last month My Guy invited me to join his NFL football pool. I was a little nervous about joining a football pool with 20 guys, so I recruited my BFF to join also. I played Fantasy Football once before and made it all the way to the playoffs, but this is different. This time I need to follow the entire GAME and not just my beloved New England Patriots, but all of the games in the league. I need to watch the spread and ponder and learn about lots of other teams. Shouldn't be too hard for someone who has worked in sports journalism not that long ago, right? I still follow and understand and read about and root for all sports-mostly my hometown teams-but sounds like a piece of cake right? Wrong.

Week 1 started and I was a nervous Nelly-searching the web for anything that would help me with the prospects for the first game of the season. After reading ESPN and finding several football pick sites, I took all that information and I sat down to make my picks. The Pats were opening the season on Thurs Night Football against the Steelers. The spread was Pats -7. Of course I took it as my top point pick, with all the "deflatgate" bullshit, I figured My Tommy was gunning for blood. I then went on to pick 4 other teams, mindful of the line and submitted my picks.

I was right about My Tommy, but Vegas has a way of snaring away all your glory. The Pats won, but only by 7, which means I scored a "push" and took only half of my intended points. Better than a loss, I figure, and not bad for a pool rookie. I ended up going 2 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie. Respectable enough and good enough to keep me in 13th place.

This Sunday that same anxiety overcame me as I knew my picks had to be in before the first kickoff. My cherished Sunday morning ritual of leisurely reading the paper and then watching CBS Sunday Morning was fast replaced by nervous energy spent pouring over the sports pages and the web. 2 hours later, I came up for air and was ready to make my picks. I made one fatal error though....
I was going to take Cleveland and take points for my biggest points pick-heck-two Heisman winners dueling it out on the field and even though it is the Browns, I figured this Manziel's last chance to prove himself. Just before I made the pick, I asked My Guy what he thought about the Cleveland game...

He warned me about following the NFL Pick sites-he showed me ESPN and USA Today and explained about home teams and point spreads. He gave me this valuable piece of advice-that even the experts get it wrong some time. "There are no locks," he said, which now left me even more confused. I asked him who his 5 star pick was and he replied with this, "New Orleans is playing the worst team in the league at home. They are giving 9 points, but I'm thinking it's a safe bet." Now, My Guy went 5-0 in his first week, so he added, "You should bet against me. I'm probably not going to go 5-0 again"

Don't ask me why, but I started thinking; Brees at home-Tampa on the road-Tampa sucks, and 9 points is a LOT-2 score spread-at home-I'm doing it!!! Guess what? It was the only game I lost on Sunday and had I taken Cleveland I would have gone 5-0.....

Lesson learned, but I have to tell you that playing in this pool has made football on Sunday's so much more fun! I know that you can't be a hero every week, but I'm having a ball trying.
Sooo...anyone have any picks for THIS Sunday? I'm all ears.

Weekend At Mommy's

So how was your 4th? I had the best weekend..

I started my weekend on Thursday because Friday was the observed holiday, so I made my way down to my July 4th destination, Cape Cod, MA. The traffic was brutal brutal, even at 11:00 am but I didn't mind that it took us twice as long to get there. We went directly to our favorite restaurant once we arrived and proceeded to have.....the most amazing.....the summer favorite and a Cape Cod Classic.....a hundred million calories and I just didn't care....

FRIED CLAM PLATTER

And I ate the whole thing. It didn't disappoint because it never does. One by one, (or ten) my family arrived to the Cape house, each one with their traffic story. Seems it didn't matter what time you left that day-there was traffic and lots of it. Once everyone had arrived we went back to our favorite restaurant and enjoyed a huge, family meal-again. This was the start of a trend. A FAT trend as we all ate like we hadn't eaten in months. The drinks were flowing, the laughs were numerous and the evening was a pure joy.

Friday? A picture perfect beach day and we took complete advantage of it. There's nothing like spending the day on the ocean with your brothers and sisters-and the kids. We had a ball. Again-lunch was a smorgasbord of different foods and damned if I didn't indulge a bit in all of them-cuz that's what life is all about right? Enjoying yourself with your family has to be one of life's great pleasures. Friday night was the country club's annual July 4th BBQ and fireworks. We all showered, dressed up and piled into our cars for the ride to the club. When we go there we were greeted by Uncle Sam on stilts!! (who happens to be our favorite waiter from a restaurant at home-his real profession is that he is a clown)

The club was adorned with red, white and blue balloons, flowers and decorations everywhere. It was gorgeous. This year was extra special as there were carnival-like vendors all around. They had kettle corn, fried dough, a raw bar, ice cream trucks and activities and kiddie train rides for the young children. And of course...there was food. The BBQ had cold fried chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, swordfish, salmon and the most incredible salads you could imagine. Once again-we ate till we couldn't eat any more then drank quite a bit too. Once the sun went down we were treated to an incredible fireworks display with music. It was spectacular. Once safely ensconced in bed after the day, I said a little prayer to God to thank him for all the gifts I experienced that day. I am truly blessed.

Saturday was cloudy-perfect day to hit the local shops. I said hello to some of my old friends who work in the stores then went back to the house where we had a HUGE Corn Hole tournament. Some friends came for the day and we partied like it was 1999. We planned a big BBQ of our own, and I was surprised that all the stores were open for business on July 4th. We must have gone to the liquor store and the supermarket at least 3 times that day. Again...it was the food. And so much of it I started to repeat the phrase, "Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins." We laughed that this weekend was starting to be like reverse fat camp. That night we had a large bonfire on the beach and more fireworks from all along the coast could be seen from our spot on the beach. It just couldn't get any better.

Sunday was another beach day bonanza and a day of reflection on all the wonders we had experienced over the weekend. So many gifts, we had been given during the time spent together. We left to return home from our weekend truly fulfilled by a family's love and the blessings of a life spent enjoying it's spoils.

But we took with us memories that we will cherish forever-and for sure at least 5 unwanted pounds of good clean living.

Stranded at The Drive In....

I'm just *ahem* old enough to remember the drive-in movies. My parents would load up the station wagon with all 5 of us kids and drive out to Braintree, MA to take in a movie together at the local drive-in movie complex. We would get in our pajamas and bring blankets and pillows to bed down in the way back to enjoy the experience. I can still see my dad hooking the speaker on the car window so we could hear the all important audio. If my memory serves me correct, my older brother and sisters used to sit on top of the station wagon, pillows and all.

A recent resurgence of drive-in movie complexes in New England brought back all those happy memories. According to the Boston Herald, 350 drive-in movie complexes are still in operation around the country, but like any business, they face their share of unique challenges. Inclement weather and less family friendly movie choices top that list, but the food choices are better and thanks to FM signal, the audio is broadcast right through your car radio.

New England boast four theaters: Mass has Mendon Twin, Leicester Triple and Wellfleet Drive-In and Rhode Island has Rustic Tri Vue, with two already open for business today. Prices range, but for roughly $25.00 a carload of people can experience a movie together in the great outdoors or from the comfort of their vehicle. And make a lot of fun memories too.

I, for one, think the drive-in movies should be salvaged for old time sake. To me, the drive in is as American as apple pie and baseball and that's sacred. Although no one would want to be "stranded at the drive-in" like Danny Zuko sings, no one would "brand you a fool" for enjoying an age old summer past time.