A Bad Day Camping Is Better Than A Good Day At Work

2 months have passed and suddenly there is a new contributor to the timandjoanie.org blog.  Tim went to work and Joanie did not, so here you go- new posts complete with typing and sjpelling errers.

To even begin to remember what we’ve been up to in the last 2 months I have to go back to the photos.  Hmmm…

Babysitting Tim, Ellery’s Farm Fundraiser, Smuttynose Half Marathon, annual Fall hike up Mt. Cardigan, Ailene and Matt’s wedding, my birthday, our move to Salem, Pumpkin Hunt, and Ethan’s birthday

All such great times.  I’m sure there were other fantastic events but without pictures my brain cannot recall them.

Well I suppose a few of the biggest events deserve to be written about.

• Tim and I ran our first half marathon together, finishing up with tired legs and a pint of Smuttynose’s new Star Island brew- quite tasty.  It is important to point out that we finished together at the same time.  There is a reason there are no pictures of the Waterford Fall Foliage 5K race.
• We celebrated my 30th birthday at Strange Brew, the best bar in the northeast!  My 30th celebration was arguably the best of the 4 birthdays I’ve celebrated at Strange Brew including my 21st.  After closing down the bar with an evening of dancing, Big Buck Hunter, and talking with new friends, we made our way through the drizzle to the Hilton Garden Inn.   Sarah secured the friends and family rate from her nephew who works there.  He was unaware that our idea of friends and family was not only to receive a discount on the room but also to have as many friends and family as possible stay in our room.  The pictures on Flickr tell the tale of the evening better than words.  A week or so later when I was  thinking about our night out at Strange Brew I realized that I indeed had turned the corner and hit the big 3-0.  I came to this realization while thinking about how I spent the majority of the night speaking to and dancing with two middle aged men (in their 50’s perhaps) at the table next to us instead of sneaking downstairs to check out the college scene where the axe body spray and scope mouthwash were wafting up the stairway. 

• We moved to Salem as a result of Tim’s new job and on one single suggestion from Jeff, a friend of Pete’s, and here we are in the town with arguably the best Halloween celebration!  Kiwis, you are now invited to not only experience Halloween but to experience Halloween Salem style.  Although we had never been to Salem before and only spent about 8 hours here before signing a lease, we are pretty happy with our decision.  So come visit Salem!
• Ahhh, the Pumpkin Hunt at the Gore.  Many thanks to Gunnar and Heather for hosting.  I can honestly say that the 5th annual pumpkin hunt provided me with more scares than any other.  When chainsaws have been a part of the scare for the past 4 years you don’t expect to be scared by them again but alas, Sam and Dan wielded their chainsaws at the perfect time and got me better than ever.  That, however, was nothing compared to Ethan jumping out of the leaves, or the elaborate story and scene Tim and Ethan conjured up in the house next door.  We learned from these two early in the night that when they had opened up the house to set up for the Pumpkin Hunt they found blood smeared on the walls and some type of dead animal laying on the ground.  The story was scary enough and strange enough that Sarah and I decided to grab a few accomplices and check it out.  Our nerves were already firing and upon entering the dark creaky house we were startled by two knife wielding bloody bodies splayed out in the living room.  The fear was over instantly when we smelled the ketchup and realized those two bodies were Tim and Ethan.  Good one boys!

• A pub crawl in Salem was in store for Ethan’s birthday or so we thought.  After all of our sick friends canceled and Pete headed for home with Josie puking in the car, we were left with Ethan, Sarah, Brett, and Tim and I for the pub crawl.  While we literally crawled, I’m not sure it was a bonafide pub crawl as we only made it to 3 bars.  Judging from the way we were feeling in the morning I must say that 3 was plenty and our game of 8’s at the Lobster Shanty was a great way to finish off the evening.

As you may have noticed bullet points are one of my new favorite things.  You can’t write 20+ cover letters without loving bullet points.  While Tim is at work and loving his role as the Assistant Director of the S.O.U.L.S. program at Suffolk University, I am waiting and waiting and trying to wait patiently for one of the many jobs I’ve applied for to call and let me know they loved my bullet points so much that they would like me to work for them sans interview.  Wouldn’t that be nice.  We shall wait and see.