Lorraine comes to town!

Hooray for visitors!!! Lorraine came into town last weekend for a quick visit, and it was really nice to have her around! While I haven't yet mastered my "tour de Boston" repertoire, we still managed to see lots of stuff. We spent the day exploring Boston on our very own “walking tour” that ended up lasting 5 ½ hours. (Bring your walking shoes if you come to Boston...) We even managed to find a GA Bulldog’s bar to watch the game!

Goodbye, I will miss you...

Two big things happened over the weekend. First, my trip to Geneva was canceled (Thank goodness. I'm kinda over flying long distances for short meetings). Second, my computer blew up!!!!!! Well, it didn't really blow up but it might as well have; the hard drive died. Which really stinks. I spent the day trying to recover data (which was mostly successful).

I feel so disconnected and unable to keep in touch with the world. Maybe it is withdraw symptoms from not being able to surf the net for useless information. I am also shaking a lot and have a cold sweat....wonder if I should look into getting help.

I am able to post this tonight as I stole Allison's computer. So if you do not see anyting from me for a while it's because I am επίθ as the greek say, or "disconnected". (Or I may have gone on another CIA mission.)

Welcome to Boston, Chris

Chris is finally home. And he'll be here for A WHOLE WEEK before he's off to conquer the world, er, I mean sell some computer programs or something...

Maybe I'll give him one of my famous walking tours while he's here!

The response has been AMAZING...

OK, so I was hoping that people would have a chance to look over the Blog and kind of laugh along with Chris and I as we document our year here in Boston (and around the world), but I have truly been amazed by the amount of emails that I have received concerning one particular post. So many of you have lovingly expressed your genuine concern over a matter that I thought might be the one reason to pack up and move back home.

No Duke's Mayonnaise.

If you're not a Duke's mayo fan (what are you, crazy???), than there is no reason for you to read on.

We have had people offer to ship us the stuff, and I don't think they were kidding. This is serious. Since I'm going to be doing quite a bit of research over the course of the next year, I thought I'd start off with something close to my heart (but not in my fridge, because, clearly, the nice folks up here have no IDEA what they are missing...)

Fun Facts FYI
- Duke’s original sales force was all women
- Famous Duke’s users include Paula Deen, Ina Garten and Race Car drivers Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Haas, Davis Love, JEB Stuart IV and RE Lee V
- Southerners have hit the web to yelp, blog and even broadcast their love for Duke’s Mayonnaise. You can find Duke’s on Flickr, YouTube as well as the blogosphere
- Duke’s is not only a favorite among the SE, it’s shipped to Germany, Russia, Africa, Iraq and other international locations monthly.

***Just so you know, that came off of the Duke's website. That's right, they have a website, and as it turns out, they'll SHIP their products anywhere in the world!

Life is good.

(A special thanks to Chris's dad (not a Carolina boy) for trying the Duke's Vs. Kraft taste test. Unfortunately, his taste buds are dead from years of exposure to other "sandwich dressings", and his opinions on the matter cannot be taken into account.)

Oh boy...

Well, I did. If nothing else, I can now tell people that I made it through an entire week at Harvard University. Not a small accomplishment, considering the fact that I feel like I just ran a marathon. There is a distinct possibility that my head will explode if I have to read any more, and Chris will be forced to clean up the mess, and head off to take pictures of barns and turtle-rocks...

My posts might become much shorter in the coming weeks. So far, this has been the most rewarding and challenging week of my life (academically speaking), but it has been fun. I can't wait for Chris to come back to Boston and experience this great city with me.

I found out today that I will be completing my internship at the Martin Luther "King" School in Cambridge. I chuckled to myself as I walked into the building and considered the irony of having to come 1000 miles away to teach in a school named after the man who played such a dominant role in Atlanta. God does have a sense of humor...

If anyone knows anything about multivariate evidence for a convergent skills model of reading development, please call me IMMEDIATELY. I've got a paper to write, and I don't think my stack of Organic Chemistry books is going to help me on this one. (Nice observation, Mr. Sandlin. Are you on Facebook?) :)

Ahhh, Park City

So I have made it back to the US of A from Asia and all its earthquakes. It was only a 7 hour flight from Singapore to Seoul (a 30 min layover) and then a 10 hour 30 min flight from Seoul to San Francisco, and then another 1 hour 30 min flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. So a grand total of 18 hours on an airplane, do I know how to spell F-U-N or what?.

The flight path coming into San Francisco was amazing. We flew parallel to the coast and the Golden Gate Bridge. After the bridge we banked to the left, flying over the city and Alcatraz. It was such a pretty view from a great vantage point.

I decided to go to Salt Lake City, Utah to spend the night with my dear friends Mike & Teash Lawson and their two kids Aden & Amelia in Park City. I have not seen them in a long time ,and by visiting them I was able to avoid the Red Eye flight back to the East Coast, and sleep in a bed instead of an airplane seat...That is what I like to call a bonus item.

So if anyone is wondering what it is like trying to adjust back to a time zone that is 12 hours different from the East Coast,... Sometimes it is not too bad but other times it is, well how do I say....hmm...well....it sucks. Last night I slept great but today I have been up since 4am EST, which is 2am Mountain time. Later today should be very interesting!

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day. It started off with a nice bagel and a cup of coffee, followed by a very competitive trash- talking game of Sorry! (which I have not played since I was about 10 years old, man it was fun!) against Mike and his son Aden (I was winning right up to the end when Aden pulled 2 Sorry! Cards and pushed me back home. I do not like to lose-not even to a 5 year old). After dropping the kids at afternoon school, Mike and I had a great sushi lunch with a nice bowl of miso soup to warm us up (it is a bit cool here), and followed it up with a great steak dinner. (Thanks Mike- it was good and needed after 10 or so days in Asia). And then another round of Sorry!, which I lost.

I am glad to be here visiting the Lawson Family and enjoying the wonderful weather and views here in Park City. (I could see Allison working here and me being a SkiBum, note to self....... "talk to Allison about future plans in Park City upon returning to Boston"). However, I am looking forward to getting home (well Boston) and spending some time with my wife. I have to check the blog to remember what she looks like.

The time will be short as I found out today that I am heading to Geneva, Switzerland on Sunday night and returning on Thursday. I will then be in Boston for the last weekend of September to host Brad Owens (Allison's Dad's wife's son, did ya follow that?) who is coming to visit with tickets to the Sox game next Friday night. NOTE: We have not set any gift minimum to visit us, but Brad has now set the bar pretty high for anyone who follows him.

On the following Monday, October 1st, I have to go to Sao Paulo for a business meeting, and then I am heading to Cordoba, Argentina to go Dove hunting (man I hope I do not pull a Cheney) with Allison’s Uncle. And finally, I'll be returning to the Boston on the 15th of October. So this month was a blur and next month will be one as well.

**Play will start next week for "Where In The World is Chris", with the winner being able to take Chris's place on his next business trip some place in the world.

Oh, and the picture is of The Mcpolin Barn in Park City from Jeff Swindell at www.postercaseproductions.com

Allison Miller, HGSE student

Well, it's official. I am a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Whoo hoo.
I had my first class today, and all is well. They sure do expect us to read a lot here though...

Next step, become a die-hard Red Sox fan (sorry Chip and Kristin.)