A Change In Scenery...

Yeah, so I haven't been doing too well trying to blog more than once a month, but this past month has been a whirlwind for me!! First, my baby boy flies off to the warm confines of Puerto Rico to stay with my wife's family (still can't figure out how I'm 28 and haven't left the continent once while my favorite anklebiter has already visit PR twice now!!) while she finishes nursing school. I thought it would be a long 2-hour drive from JFK knowing that I wouldn't see Ethan again until the summer, but I was happier knowing the fact that he would be in good hands while we took care of things here. We get just about daily updates from my in-laws with phone pictures at least twice a week, and if he hasn't fallen asleep yet (PR is an hour ahead of us here in CT- at least until 2AM Sunday) we'll call him so he can hear our voices. I can't even begin to describe how I'll feel when I do get to see him again in July.

Next, I was very fortunate to celebrate my 28th year on this earth in such a special way. My wife Karla took me down to New York City to have dinner at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. While the food may have been a little on the disappointing side, just being there made it worthwhile, especially since I was with her. Before we got to dinner, we began our Big Apple journey at Grand Central Station making sure we wouldn't get lost. On our way to find the Museum of Television and Radio, we managed to find Rockefeller Center. Needless to say, as evidenced by my Starbucks hot chocolate, it was quite cold that day.

After that we ventured over to the NBA Store, which neither of us had visited before. It was definitely an experience I would never forget. It was a combination of memorabilia, shopping, and interaction similar to the Hall of Fame up in Springfield, just condensed into a different form. For example, there was an area on the lower floor where you could measure your hand size against today's NBA stars. With me being only 6'2", I didn't expect my hand to be close to any of them, but I felt like a midget when I put my hand up against Shaq's. It was almost like putting Ethan's hand against mine- it was that big!! See for yourself:

Once we got to the museum, we found out that it had changed its name, and take it from me, while what we saw was rather interesting, it wasn't worth the price of admission. From there, we made our way toward Times Square and ESPN Zone. Once we were seated, I couldn't help but keeping my head on swivel looking at all the different feeds that were available on the big wall of screens. As I said earlier, the food wasn't that great, but the time spent with Karla made it enjoyable. We had to take a raincheck on the upper level game arena, but we'll be back there again soon enough.

Later on in the week my dad took me, my cousin and some of my friends up to F1 Boston for some extreme go-kart racing. We only raced twice, but when you're averaging almost 40 mph in a go-kart, it can be really intense. Here's a layout of the track we raced on:

In the first race, I topped out at almost 40 mph, but hit the wall hard twice and got stuck making a turn. Needless to say I wasn't too pleased. In the second race I was a bit more consistent but finished second by about 2 seconds. Once everyone's nerves settled a bit, we headed into Beantown to have lunch at Boston Beer Works, then go bowling over at Jillian's behind Fenway Park. Being able to spend part of my birthday with some of my closest friends racing and bowling really meant a lot to me and is a tradition I hope to continue as long as I can. To top it off, the only way I was celebrating was by wearing my brand new Whalers t-shirt that I got for Christmas (see below). Let's just say I'm still on my quest to find a jersey.

After that wonderful week, it came time to begin the process of moving from my childhood apartment to New Britain. While I have many memories here, and can proudly say that my son grew up in the same house as me, the time came for us to step back out on our own and keep taking the steps toward our first house. We're in transition between here and New Britain, but I can't begin to describe how excited we are to start settling in at our new humble abode. I want to share a piece of a blog from my friend Gina that describes this transition:

"You know when you get on a rollercoaster- that feeling when they put the shoulder bars down and they lock and you realize there is no turning back? And you round the bend and hear the click click click as you head up that first giant hill... you look around and for that 30 seconds or so that you are chugging up that giant hill things look so peaceful and everything looks so small. The feeling I have right now is the feeling you get just as you see the first car come right up over the crest of that giant hill and you are like "oh shit." You know its gonna be fun, you are gonna survive and who the hell knows how many loops and twists and turns are up ahead- you got yourself into this damn mess."

Now I wouldn't say this transition is a mess, but it's sure going to have its fair share of twists and turns. It's going to be a lot of fun and we're going to grow as a family, especially with Ethan soon to be going to school (I know- almost 3 years has gone by since our Peanut arrived). From here, as the cliche' famously proclaims, "The sky's the limit." Until next time...