Friday, January 30, 2004
MTL Review 2004
ok, well yesterday evening we got back from the MTL Review. Apart from waking up early (7am, since the bus left at 8:30), the first day was great. We got there, ate lunch (i brought a chicken salad that i had prepared for us) and then Mischa went off to ski, while i headed for the athletic center. The athletic center was really convenient, it was only 5 min walk from the condos we were staying in, and once i got there they gave me a towel and a (free) key for a locker. The facilities were quite good, i got to do some cardio (400 calories total, on the upright bike and stepper), all while watching the Cosby Show and the Prince of Bel Air (yeah, i love old shows!) i also went swimming in the pool, and relaxed in the hot tub.
Anyway, around 4pm on Wednesday Michael and I both got back around 4pm to the condo (btw, it was cool since we got the "master" bedroom with a TV etc since we had gotten there first and claimed it. ;-D ). After chilling for a bit we headed off to conference center around 5:30 for dinner (wasn' t supposed to start until 6pm, but we were starving and thought we might be able to grab some food at the reception). But by the time we got there, most of the food was gone (it was just things like chicken wings and dip anyways) and it basically consisted of a crowded room of people standing around getting drunk (it was open bar).
By the time dinnertime rolled around, we were starving. There were bread rolls on the table, but of course I couldn't eat them. A small salad was served to everyone, which was ok, since it didn't have gross veggies (like swiss chard) or things like croutons or crispy noodles. Then the main meal came, which was quite disappointing. Thing is, I requested a special meal of no flour (Michael did the same). When our meals came, it consisted of a big piece of chicken with a side of some potatoes and zucchini. The reason why it sucked was because the chicken had *no sauce*--it was just a large piece of chicken that tasted almost completely bland. i saw everyone else's dish, and it turned out it was exactly the same, except for they had this thick chees-y sauce on the chicken. So basically the wheat-free version was just the same thing, but with the sauce removed. Argh! I was upset since they basically had put zero effort in preparing the special meal--could it have killed them to prepare a few table spoons of some kind of sauce that didn't have flour in it, to make the dish somewhat enjoyable? Geez. But since I was hungry, i ate most of it, and some of the potatoes as well. Michael ate the rest of mine, even though he didn't like it very much either. Then the dessert came, which was the lamest part. I thought they were going to give us some special wheat-free dessert (fruit or ice cream or something), but instead, they just gave me the same (wheat-containing) dessert as everyone else!! It was this lemon pie with a berry topping (with a wheat crust of course). I gave mine away, and Michael tried some of the filling on his, but stopped after he began to get dizzy. Anyway, I was quite frustrated, and so was Michael...he said it was probably one of the worst catered meals he had ever eaten. I agreed!
After dinner and after the guest speaker, we went back to the condo and heard Michael and his other group-mates (Rupa, Patrick) practice their talks for tomorrow. Around 10pm since i still felt starved, I ended up eating an Odwalla bar (Chocolate Peanut) which was the greatest. Tasted good, wasn't too much, and didn't make me feel sick or anything. I was so glad had brought a few for the trip!
The next day (Thursday) we had to wake up really early (6:50am) since we had to have packed all our stuff and gotten onto the bus to the conference center by 7:30am (since checkout time was 10am, during the talks). We went down there late (around 7:35) so we ended up walking there. We got to breakfast around 7:45, and again i was ready for a huge disappointment! It was a continental breakfast, so it was just basically muffins, bagels, and cereal. :( All the cereals (even corn flakes) had wheat or wheat starch in them, so i couldn't eat it. There was some fruit, but it didn't look good at all (there were some bananas which were green, and some melons & grapes which i don't like). So i just ended up eating some turkey slices (that i had brought from home) and a teeny 4-oz strawberry yogurt that was too sweet (and it was low-fat). Michael didn't end up eating anything since he was probably too nervous to eat before his talk.
Anyway, i somehow survived till 11:40 when they were going to starve serving lunch (i thankfully managed to find a small apple in the snack area about an hour earlier). Anyway, the lunch turned out to be yet another let-down. They had some salad there, but the main thing was bread and meat/cheese for sandwhiches. i had a few slices of turkey and cheese, but at that point i was kind of sick of it (since i had to eat some turkey slices for breakfast). they also had some broccoli soup there, and when i asked the server if it had wheat in it, she told me to wait aside while they got someone to ask. then she told me, "No, it doesn't have wheat flour in it, it just has regular flour in it." I was confused,and asked what she meant by "regular" flour..what kind of flour. She said, "I don't know what kind it is, it's just the white flour." Argh. I said, "White flour IS wheat flour!", and just left. I sat at a table and ate in like 5 minutes, still unsatisfied. THere were desserts available, but they were all flour-y cakes and pies. Plus the room was SO freezing (even with my puffer jacket on), i felt weak and sick. I felt so awful, that when i finished eating i went over to Michael's table and told him that i wasn't feeling well. He was so nice..we went outside and he accompanied me to the ski lodge. the bus driver was really nice, and when we finally got there we walked around, searching the snack bars for some food i could eat. at first it looked really hopeless, most places sold greasy-looking burgers and hot dogs for expensive prices. finally we asked about other restaurants, and one lady told us about a place across the courtyard. we went there, (it was called T-Bars) and checked out the menu. michael ordered a hot chocolate (it turned out to be really good, it had lots of whipped cream). i asked for a quesadilla (7.95 + 2.00 for chicken) with a corn tortilla instead of a flour tortilla. at first they asked and said it couldn't be done (corn tortilla was too small they said), but i (rather michael & i) insisted that they try agian, that i really couldn't eat anything else. They complied, and when the waiter returned he came back with a delicious-looking quesadilla! it had chicken, olives, onions, bell peppers and cheese inside, and the outside and small bits of tomato. I swear, I should have taken a photo of it. I asked for sour cream and then devoured every last piece..it was delicious! instantly felt better. michael laughed at how much better i looked/felt after eating it. Anyways, when we got the bill i left a generous tip ($4 for the $10 quesadilla). i didn't really feel bad about spending $14 on quesadilla..after all, i got a free trip to waterville, one night's stay at a condo (with Michael) and a free athletic pass (including a nice rest in a hot tub). i also got some free food too on the trip (as i noted before, most of it sucked, but at the end i stole some water bottles and a few apples). :)
Anyway, around 4pm on Wednesday Michael and I both got back around 4pm to the condo (btw, it was cool since we got the "master" bedroom with a TV etc since we had gotten there first and claimed it. ;-D ). After chilling for a bit we headed off to conference center around 5:30 for dinner (wasn' t supposed to start until 6pm, but we were starving and thought we might be able to grab some food at the reception). But by the time we got there, most of the food was gone (it was just things like chicken wings and dip anyways) and it basically consisted of a crowded room of people standing around getting drunk (it was open bar).
By the time dinnertime rolled around, we were starving. There were bread rolls on the table, but of course I couldn't eat them. A small salad was served to everyone, which was ok, since it didn't have gross veggies (like swiss chard) or things like croutons or crispy noodles. Then the main meal came, which was quite disappointing. Thing is, I requested a special meal of no flour (Michael did the same). When our meals came, it consisted of a big piece of chicken with a side of some potatoes and zucchini. The reason why it sucked was because the chicken had *no sauce*--it was just a large piece of chicken that tasted almost completely bland. i saw everyone else's dish, and it turned out it was exactly the same, except for they had this thick chees-y sauce on the chicken. So basically the wheat-free version was just the same thing, but with the sauce removed. Argh! I was upset since they basically had put zero effort in preparing the special meal--could it have killed them to prepare a few table spoons of some kind of sauce that didn't have flour in it, to make the dish somewhat enjoyable? Geez. But since I was hungry, i ate most of it, and some of the potatoes as well. Michael ate the rest of mine, even though he didn't like it very much either. Then the dessert came, which was the lamest part. I thought they were going to give us some special wheat-free dessert (fruit or ice cream or something), but instead, they just gave me the same (wheat-containing) dessert as everyone else!! It was this lemon pie with a berry topping (with a wheat crust of course). I gave mine away, and Michael tried some of the filling on his, but stopped after he began to get dizzy. Anyway, I was quite frustrated, and so was Michael...he said it was probably one of the worst catered meals he had ever eaten. I agreed!
After dinner and after the guest speaker, we went back to the condo and heard Michael and his other group-mates (Rupa, Patrick) practice their talks for tomorrow. Around 10pm since i still felt starved, I ended up eating an Odwalla bar (Chocolate Peanut) which was the greatest. Tasted good, wasn't too much, and didn't make me feel sick or anything. I was so glad had brought a few for the trip!
The next day (Thursday) we had to wake up really early (6:50am) since we had to have packed all our stuff and gotten onto the bus to the conference center by 7:30am (since checkout time was 10am, during the talks). We went down there late (around 7:35) so we ended up walking there. We got to breakfast around 7:45, and again i was ready for a huge disappointment! It was a continental breakfast, so it was just basically muffins, bagels, and cereal. :( All the cereals (even corn flakes) had wheat or wheat starch in them, so i couldn't eat it. There was some fruit, but it didn't look good at all (there were some bananas which were green, and some melons & grapes which i don't like). So i just ended up eating some turkey slices (that i had brought from home) and a teeny 4-oz strawberry yogurt that was too sweet (and it was low-fat). Michael didn't end up eating anything since he was probably too nervous to eat before his talk.
Anyway, i somehow survived till 11:40 when they were going to starve serving lunch (i thankfully managed to find a small apple in the snack area about an hour earlier). Anyway, the lunch turned out to be yet another let-down. They had some salad there, but the main thing was bread and meat/cheese for sandwhiches. i had a few slices of turkey and cheese, but at that point i was kind of sick of it (since i had to eat some turkey slices for breakfast). they also had some broccoli soup there, and when i asked the server if it had wheat in it, she told me to wait aside while they got someone to ask. then she told me, "No, it doesn't have wheat flour in it, it just has regular flour in it." I was confused,and asked what she meant by "regular" flour..what kind of flour. She said, "I don't know what kind it is, it's just the white flour." Argh. I said, "White flour IS wheat flour!", and just left. I sat at a table and ate in like 5 minutes, still unsatisfied. THere were desserts available, but they were all flour-y cakes and pies. Plus the room was SO freezing (even with my puffer jacket on), i felt weak and sick. I felt so awful, that when i finished eating i went over to Michael's table and told him that i wasn't feeling well. He was so nice..we went outside and he accompanied me to the ski lodge. the bus driver was really nice, and when we finally got there we walked around, searching the snack bars for some food i could eat. at first it looked really hopeless, most places sold greasy-looking burgers and hot dogs for expensive prices. finally we asked about other restaurants, and one lady told us about a place across the courtyard. we went there, (it was called T-Bars) and checked out the menu. michael ordered a hot chocolate (it turned out to be really good, it had lots of whipped cream). i asked for a quesadilla (7.95 + 2.00 for chicken) with a corn tortilla instead of a flour tortilla. at first they asked and said it couldn't be done (corn tortilla was too small they said), but i (rather michael & i) insisted that they try agian, that i really couldn't eat anything else. They complied, and when the waiter returned he came back with a delicious-looking quesadilla! it had chicken, olives, onions, bell peppers and cheese inside, and the outside and small bits of tomato. I swear, I should have taken a photo of it. I asked for sour cream and then devoured every last piece..it was delicious! instantly felt better. michael laughed at how much better i looked/felt after eating it. Anyways, when we got the bill i left a generous tip ($4 for the $10 quesadilla). i didn't really feel bad about spending $14 on quesadilla..after all, i got a free trip to waterville, one night's stay at a condo (with Michael) and a free athletic pass (including a nice rest in a hot tub). i also got some free food too on the trip (as i noted before, most of it sucked, but at the end i stole some water bottles and a few apples). :)
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
eeeek
well tomorrow we're supposed to go to Waterville Valley, NH for the MTL Review. I won't be able to go skiing (i'm not taking any risks injuring my back) but i'll be able to spend the day in swimming pools, saunas, and jacuzzis (they have several, according to the website). that would be great, because i've been wanting to go to a hot tub for a while here, but the Z-center doesn't have one, and apparently a lot of the Boston sports clubs don't have them either (i don't get it, they were all over the place in California). oh, and i don't have to present either, so that would be good!
oh, and today i went to my last Russian class. Actually the last day is tomorrow, but I won't be able to be there since i'm leaving at 8:30am for the MTL Review. And they're having an end-of-class party on Thursday, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to attend it (i'm getting back from the Waterville around 6pm).
oh, and today i went to my last Russian class. Actually the last day is tomorrow, but I won't be able to be there since i'm leaving at 8:30am for the MTL Review. And they're having an end-of-class party on Thursday, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to attend it (i'm getting back from the Waterville around 6pm).
Monday, January 26, 2004
i went to physical therapy appointment today. gawd, it was COLD outside. hmm, i guess i should stop saying that, since it's nothing new...it's been cold all week. :)
anywaya, this time they put heat on my back and told me of more stretches i should do. i'm supposed to go back on Friday. i hope it get's better by then..it's been almost a month. it has been slowly getting better, but *very slow.* good thing is that it hasn't been hurting that much, and for the past 2-3 days i haven't had to take any ibuprofen (i ran out). also, i've been able to get a half-decent workouts done lately (yesterday Michael and i dragged ourselves to the pool at 10pm, and stayed until it closed..and on Thursday we went to the cardio/weight machines and i did the stepper & upright bike and went swimming afterwards)! maybe we'll get to go again tomorrow, esp before a long bus ride on Wednessday morning.
anywaya, this time they put heat on my back and told me of more stretches i should do. i'm supposed to go back on Friday. i hope it get's better by then..it's been almost a month. it has been slowly getting better, but *very slow.* good thing is that it hasn't been hurting that much, and for the past 2-3 days i haven't had to take any ibuprofen (i ran out). also, i've been able to get a half-decent workouts done lately (yesterday Michael and i dragged ourselves to the pool at 10pm, and stayed until it closed..and on Thursday we went to the cardio/weight machines and i did the stepper & upright bike and went swimming afterwards)! maybe we'll get to go again tomorrow, esp before a long bus ride on Wednessday morning.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
another cold day
well, it's not that bad..although there's some strong winds it's not as freezing as it was a few days ago, when it felt like -28 C (!). Now it only feels like -12. And over the weekend, it was around 0 or 1 C..after all that crazy freezing weather earlier, it felt balmy!!
anyways, nothing new going on. i did get to go to the Z-Center again last night, to go swimming. it was really fun..michael and i tried racing, and it was funny cuz even when he gave me a 5-second headstart, he still won. but it was great cuz i could finally do exercise (the day before i did the upright stationary bike). woo-hoo. hopefully by February i can be jogging again..
anyways, nothing new going on. i did get to go to the Z-Center again last night, to go swimming. it was really fun..michael and i tried racing, and it was funny cuz even when he gave me a 5-second headstart, he still won. but it was great cuz i could finally do exercise (the day before i did the upright stationary bike). woo-hoo. hopefully by February i can be jogging again..
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
busy day..
ok, well today was a busy day, even though i got zero research work done! :( thing is, i spent a lot of time going to doctor's appointments. let's see, after i woke up, i ate breakfast and went to Russian class. After getting a coffee at LaVerde's (mocha decaf, which tasted excellent), i then went to Ashdown since my office was literally FREEZING (apparently there was a heating problem in Building 39). awful since today was especially cold (i think it was -18 C w/o windchill). So, after spending about an hour or so in Ashdown talking to Michael (he's was having issues with his cell phone minutes at T-mobile) we had lunch around 1:30. Then soon after i had to go since at 2:30 i had my appoinment with the gastroenterologist. He basically said that i should get another blood test to check if i'm producing iron properly (apparently the previous blood test 6 days ago checked my iron stores only). also since 2 of the 3 test turned out negative there's not enough reason to do a biopsy of my small intestine. but he also said that if the new test (for iron) abnormal, then i might consider getting a biopsy, since it would indicate that something actually is going on with my iron absorption. eek. a biopsy doesn't sound too great, but whatever works.
anyway, right after that i went to see a chiropractor, near central square. she was really great..spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on with me. she noticed that was a bit flat-footed, which affected my walk. she said that playing DDR might not have been what caused it..since i have crappy posture and i jog a lot (admittedly, w/o stretching beforehand) it could be that my lower back muscles were always straining, but it never caused me pain until now. argh. i should have listened to my parents ("sit up straight!) and michael ("aren't you going to stretch before we jog?")..i guess i really paid the price now. argh. well hopefully i can recover soon. i guess i'm glad it happened to me now (at 25) so i can correct for it in the future.
anyway, right after that i went to see a chiropractor, near central square. she was really great..spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on with me. she noticed that was a bit flat-footed, which affected my walk. she said that playing DDR might not have been what caused it..since i have crappy posture and i jog a lot (admittedly, w/o stretching beforehand) it could be that my lower back muscles were always straining, but it never caused me pain until now. argh. i should have listened to my parents ("sit up straight!) and michael ("aren't you going to stretch before we jog?")..i guess i really paid the price now. argh. well hopefully i can recover soon. i guess i'm glad it happened to me now (at 25) so i can correct for it in the future.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
can't escape the construction!
ok, they've been pile-driving on Landsdowne street (right across from SP), and then in Ashdown this morning they were installing new sprinkler heads in the ceilings of all the rooms. that made for a noisy breakfast. :) Then after my Russian class i go to work and notice that they're still working on this hole they knocked out, right across my office. it's really huge, they basically removed an entire section of the wall, so ther'e's concrete and dust everywhere. On Friday it was so bad (plus the heater wasn't strong enough to overpower the cold that day) so i just left and ended up taking my laptop to the library. luckily, today it's not that cold (i think it's just around 0 C) so the temperature is fine. but the construction outside (now they're just hammering i think, instead of knocking stuff out) can get annoying!
oh, and today in Russian class they mentioned that мишка = "toy bear." it's also related to the name миша, usually мишка is a nickname for it. i knew that already, but isn't that cool that michael's nickname is mentioned in class! :)
oh, and today in Russian class they mentioned that мишка = "toy bear." it's also related to the name миша, usually мишка is a nickname for it. i knew that already, but isn't that cool that michael's nickname is mentioned in class! :)
Monday, January 12, 2004
michael's got a cell phone!
hooray, today i recieved michael's cell phone in the mail. finally! i opened it and charged it, it looked really awesome. it's really light and cool-looking (it's a Samsung x105). after the spec meeting i took it over to ashdown (along with the most part of a Boston Cream Pie) to show him. he was all excited, since he's all into cool gadgets and electronics (and he's never had a cell phone before). and of course, he likes boston creme pie too. :)
anyway, were spent a while playing with all the cool features of the phone, sending each other text messages and such...we are such nerds. :) and he only has 60 minutes/month (free on weekends though) so he can't use it a lot, but it's still fun to have. the ringtones are cool (there's one with a bird making a chirping sound...there's even one with singing voices)! anyway, it will be great cuz now i can always bug him. :)
anyway, were spent a while playing with all the cool features of the phone, sending each other text messages and such...we are such nerds. :) and he only has 60 minutes/month (free on weekends though) so he can't use it a lot, but it's still fun to have. the ringtones are cool (there's one with a bird making a chirping sound...there's even one with singing voices)! anyway, it will be great cuz now i can always bug him. :)
allergy test
well today i went to the allergist, in which i got tested for possible allergiest against wheat and about a trillion (ok, about 50) other things. what she did is prick each arm with these pins that were dipped in concentrates of various foods (i.e. wheat, peanuts, milk, lamb, pork, beef, etc). after about half an hour they check and see if any of of them are swollen, itching, etc. anyway, i got this done and it turns out that i'm not allergic to wheat, or to anything else (how horrible). its funny, i guess i should happy about that, huh?
but anyway, the doc said that this test only rules out wheat allergy, and not a wheat/gluten intolerance such as celiac disease (which i suspect i have). she then referred me to see a gastroenterologist to follow up on that. later i called and set up an appointment on Wednesday, so that's great.
oh, and she also showed me the results of my blood test. IgG was abnormally high again (26, normal is 19 and lower) but IgE and IgA were normal, and so were RAST for wheat. She also said that i'm still anemic (even though i've been on prescription iron supplements for a month). although i am improving a bit, i still apparently have a very low ferritin count. eek. i wonder if this could be related to a wheat intolerance? i'm supposed to get tested again in a few months, to see if it gets any better.
but anyway, the doc said that this test only rules out wheat allergy, and not a wheat/gluten intolerance such as celiac disease (which i suspect i have). she then referred me to see a gastroenterologist to follow up on that. later i called and set up an appointment on Wednesday, so that's great.
oh, and she also showed me the results of my blood test. IgG was abnormally high again (26, normal is 19 and lower) but IgE and IgA were normal, and so were RAST for wheat. She also said that i'm still anemic (even though i've been on prescription iron supplements for a month). although i am improving a bit, i still apparently have a very low ferritin count. eek. i wonder if this could be related to a wheat intolerance? i'm supposed to get tested again in a few months, to see if it gets any better.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
mental note: Odyssey Slim Advantage protein bar (in "Caramel Nut" flavor) is de-licious. tastes just like a candy bar, actually even better. i should have bought more than one. this one i got at Trader Joe's, i think maybe for $1.29 or something like that.
the weather is really, really cold. michael and i spent the entire day (until ~4pm) in Ashdown, and then we decided to venture out to Trader Joe's. we stopped by the Microcenter on the way. it was damn cold. my face felt frozen.
the weather is really, really cold. michael and i spent the entire day (until ~4pm) in Ashdown, and then we decided to venture out to Trader Joe's. we stopped by the Microcenter on the way. it was damn cold. my face felt frozen.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
the weather is not that bad...
i repeat, the weather is not that bad...aww, who am i kidding? ;-)
my day today was actually quite busy. i ate breakfast in ashdown (sans Michael, since he had to go off to NYC super-early). since i had all my luggage there i could have showered and gone straight to work & class (that's so great about Ashdown), but i soon realized had to go back to SP (to get my office keys!) plus, there was this new winter shuttle to/from SP, so i figured it would be ok. unfortunately i ended up missing the 8:30am shuttle (just by a hair, the driver didn't even stop since he didn't see anyone at the stop). so i ended up walking the whole way (killed my back so much i forgot about the cold). however i was able to make it to 39 around 9:45, thanks to the new shuttle (7-minute service from SP to 39!)
so at 10am i had my first day of Russian class (actually it started on Monday the 5th, but since i got back last night i missed the first two classes). anyway, it was really great..the instructor is really nice, and totally helpful. we went through this chart of Russian sounds and asked things like "how are you" and "what's your name" etc. it's so great! and the instructor also took about 1/2 hour after class for me and a few others who missed the first few classes. so, so far it's coolio!
oh, and soon after we had group lunch at Sidney's Grille. I ordered the jumbo scallops again, since they are so great.
and i was lucky enough to get a doctor's appt at MIT medical this afternoon. the doc said i should continue to use anti-inflammatories, but i should up it to 600 mg at every meal. i think started doing that last night. ack. well hopefully it will go away soon. although it hurt a lot going to SP, during class and at the restaurant and later on i didn't hurt that much. if i sit for a period of time, it seems to help it a lot..isn't that the best excuse for being lazy? ;-)
my day today was actually quite busy. i ate breakfast in ashdown (sans Michael, since he had to go off to NYC super-early). since i had all my luggage there i could have showered and gone straight to work & class (that's so great about Ashdown), but i soon realized had to go back to SP (to get my office keys!) plus, there was this new winter shuttle to/from SP, so i figured it would be ok. unfortunately i ended up missing the 8:30am shuttle (just by a hair, the driver didn't even stop since he didn't see anyone at the stop). so i ended up walking the whole way (killed my back so much i forgot about the cold). however i was able to make it to 39 around 9:45, thanks to the new shuttle (7-minute service from SP to 39!)
so at 10am i had my first day of Russian class (actually it started on Monday the 5th, but since i got back last night i missed the first two classes). anyway, it was really great..the instructor is really nice, and totally helpful. we went through this chart of Russian sounds and asked things like "how are you" and "what's your name" etc. it's so great! and the instructor also took about 1/2 hour after class for me and a few others who missed the first few classes. so, so far it's coolio!
oh, and soon after we had group lunch at Sidney's Grille. I ordered the jumbo scallops again, since they are so great.
and i was lucky enough to get a doctor's appt at MIT medical this afternoon. the doc said i should continue to use anti-inflammatories, but i should up it to 600 mg at every meal. i think started doing that last night. ack. well hopefully it will go away soon. although it hurt a lot going to SP, during class and at the restaurant and later on i didn't hurt that much. if i sit for a period of time, it seems to help it a lot..isn't that the best excuse for being lazy? ;-)
the best flight ever..?
well, i flew direct. and it was only 5 hours. plus, i got a meal (gluten-free). they showed a movie ("Out of Time," with Denzel Washington), which was surely one of the best movies i've ever seen on an airplane. they also showed "Everybody Loves Raymond," which is one of my fave sitcoms! That and the fact that I snoozed a bit really helped pass the time. I was also really luckily that the flight wasn't full and the girl next to me wanted to move to an exit row, so i got all 3 seats to myself. oh, and my back didn't really hurt most of the time which was really good. and the plane landed relatively early (around 10pm, instead of 10:30pm). i swear, i guess this flight was supposed to make up for that @#&*( time i had getting to Washington, DC last month. maybe there is a god?
but the best part of it all was michael waiting for me at the airport. he's so sweet! just thinking of him makes me smile. he waited with me and took all my bags (my new MEC backpack, big suitcase, and small suitcase) and helped me T it to Kendall Square. luckily we didn't have to spend a lot of time outdoors (from the Kendall T station we took the underground route to Ashdown). when we got to Ashdown, michael surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and dinner (stuffed cabbage) that he cooked himself !! the thing is, michael rarely cooks (always says he never knows how to prepare anything) so i was totally impressed. yay michael. you are so sweet!!
but the best part of it all was michael waiting for me at the airport. he's so sweet! just thinking of him makes me smile. he waited with me and took all my bags (my new MEC backpack, big suitcase, and small suitcase) and helped me T it to Kendall Square. luckily we didn't have to spend a lot of time outdoors (from the Kendall T station we took the underground route to Ashdown). when we got to Ashdown, michael surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and dinner (stuffed cabbage) that he cooked himself !! the thing is, michael rarely cooks (always says he never knows how to prepare anything) so i was totally impressed. yay michael. you are so sweet!!
