Sheila's visit & Amanda's new career focus!

My friend Sheila came out from Oregon and spent Thanksgiving and 12 days with us to see the East Coast and put in a french door. We covered a lot of territory and she swore off french doors for life, I think. Doesn't it look good?


Just kidding - this was stage one - get the sliding glass door out. Of course, New England decided to honor this day with a downpour. It was GREAT FUN! It is in now and gorgeous, but I haven't taken a photo of it yet and it is dark, so I'll take one and post that later. Now, off to the fun . . .

After a FREEZING cold day with Andrew, Sheila and I enjoying a Boston Duck Tour and drive around Boston, Amanda, Sheila and I spent a day in NYC. Also freezing cold. They were preparing for the Macy's Parade so we saw some people wandering around in parade jackets and the beginnings of decorations:

Did I mention it was cold??


We again froze our behinds off on top of a double-decker bus and then a ferry out to see the lady. Saw a lot of the city and finished the night meeting another friend (Sheri) for dinner and then saw Spamalot on Broadway, with special guest Clay Aiken!



The end of the week, Paul and I took her for a whirlwind day around coastal New England. We went through Providence to Plymoth so she could see "the rock" and the replica of the Mayflower. Seemed the appropriate thing to do this time of the year:


Then we headed up towards Boston and went to Salem to see some of the sites and for a quick walk around town looking at houses. This is the old "Witch House", built in 1642. Cool.

Then we did go into Boston for lunch next to this really old park - maybe you have heard of it? We took a tour, although it is under some major renovations so much was in progress. Hey, when you are the oldest ballpark in America you need work.


Then we went up to the top of Mass. to my favorite coastal towns, Gloucester and Rockport to see the sunset and to stop for lobster. How can you pass up two lobsters for $20?



Rockport:




I hope she is going home with a huge bank of memories and enjoyed her time here. I know we will enjoy those doors for many days to come!

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Also during the visit, we got to enjoy watching Amanda's debut to her football career. Yes, I said that right. My daughter is a very intimidating linewoman. Every year the Junior and Senior classes switch gender roles for one very competitive game of football. The boys don cheerleading uniforms (and were hilarious by the way) and the girls put on their football gear and play. They practiced for weeks and took this rivalry against classes very serious. Amanda was named co-captain of the team and was really very good! She was on the starting line for the offense AND the defense. We had a blast watching them play although the Juniors were very disappointed to lose 8-0. One interesting note was that Mandy accidentally broke a girl's nose. Certainly not intentional, it was a collision and let's just say Amanda has a hard head. Anyone surprised here? I do think she has a future here . . . forget theatre. WNFL could be a serious draw.