Snow Day!!

Merry Christmas from the Boston Browns

It is a different sort of Christmas this year for the Boston Browns. We are enjoying a very quiet celebration with Luke who is visiting from New York. We celebrated with Heidi and Alex the evening before they left on a Hawaian vacation with the Shalek family.

We went to a wonderful Christmas Eve candlelight service at the Old South Church, built in the 1600's. Also, Larry, myself, and some friends were treated to the Boston Pops Holiday Concert this past week.

There is a bit of snow on the ground from an earlier storm with more predicted beginning tomorrow.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Larry, Lorna, Luke, and Heidi

A Walk in Walden Woods

Cape Cod Capers

A couple of weeks ago, Larry and I drove down to Cape Cod to visit some friends. It was a wonderful time of great conversations, food, and sights. L and L on the Cape

Ahhhh.....the ocean!

Lorna and Peter at the base of Pilgrim Monument in Province Town

Elinor in her Cape Cod kitchen

Great lobster rolls with Elinor and Peter

Life in Boston
Since I just passed the 5 month mark here in Boston, I decided it was time for a blog update. Larry headed back to Idaho a few weeks ago to take care of some things. While not optimal, we have made it work. I will be headed back to Idaho for a brief visit in August and Larry will soon follow. We have decided that it would be nice to have his truck back here with us, so he will be making the solitary cross country journey AGAIN!

In the meantime, I have more than enough to do with my life here. The research project I am managing just received approval from the board that approves research on human subjects. This is a HUGE hurdle and we can now begin the process of consenting our research participants. In the meantime, the fall prevention clinical program I am developing is getting off the ground. My research boss and I have made multiple presentations to several physician groups and have a few more to go. We are already beginning to receive referrals to the program. In addition, I am currently on a short break from the research class I am taking. I will have a statistics exam soon, then a few more weeks of the class. It has been time consuming, but very interesting and a great compliment to my research duties.

The professional fit with all my work peeps is amazing. I share an office with the department manager and he is a big New York Jets fan so we have Kyle Wilson in common! There is an awesome poster hanging in our office of Kyle that keeps us motivated:) The rehab group at Spaulding Cambridge is really fun and we often do lots of social activities together.

Of course, it has been great to be closer to Heidi and Luke. Heidi, Alex (Heidi's boyfriend), and I often eat dinner together. Alex is an awesome cook, so this is a great benefit. I help out with the doggies now and then. And there is Heidi's business, the Training Room Boston. They are doing great and just had their 1st year anniversary celebration. It was a great success and they are looking forward to an even better year to come. I see Luke less often as NYC is four hours away, but he comes up occassionally. He is working in his chosen field of theater design. It has been a bit of a slow start for him due to the recession, but things are picking up. It is gratifying as a parent to watch your adult children be there to support and help each other.

An unexpected benefit was the arrival of Andrew, Dori, and the boys for the summer. Dori and the boys have returned to Boise, but they lived about 30 minutes away from me so it was fun to get to hang out with the Hungarian homies now and then. Andrew is excelling at his job and should return to Boise sometime in late August/September.

We found a great little fellowship, Calvary Chapel in the City. There are lots of young folks due to the abundance of institutions of higher learning in this area. It has been nice to have a more intimate worship venue. This small but mighty fellowship is involved in Haiti and supports a pastor through Chapel Missions India.

I think that about covers it. We still have many sites to see in this area before returning to our beloved Idaho.....so, more updates to follow. Now, some visuals.

Recent images of Boston

The deluge part II

The Doggies

Ahhhhh......the belly scratch...

Heidi and Wingnut having a moment:)

Kick *ss Cupcakes

One of the wonderful things about living here is the compact nature of the city. We live in a quiet little residential neighborhood, but we can walk to busy hubs of commerce in 10-15 minutes. On Saturday morning we walked to Davis Square and discovered this amazing little bakery along the way. The cupcakes were works of art...amazing to behold and even more amazing to ingest! We split a Chai cinnamon cupcake. As one friend commented...good thing you walk alot! We will be walking back here again soon:)

The Third Floor Walk Up

Here is a little taste of our apartment. The beauty is that I can let you see only what I WANT you to see:) The second bedroom is the repository for everything that doesn't have a place yet. Looks like a bomb went off in there. We will get it in shape soon in preparation for our first visitors:-) All of the furniture you see (with the exception of the Ikea kitchen table) is complements of Heidi/Alex and we are very grateful for the use of them. The giant beanbag looking chair is a wonderful comfy reading "nest". It is still a bit sparse, but I'm enjoying the minimalist look/feel of the place. Life is so much simpler without all the "stuff" that we tend to accumulate. However, you need a certain amount of stuff to facilitate life. The trick is in finding the balance and it isn't the same for everyone.

I started my research class last week and it will be very challenging, to say the least. There are 140 students on 6 continents and from 14 different countries! Here we go!!!

Spaulding Cambridge Outpatient Clinic

This is where I work. My time is split between physical therapy treatment and research.

Eating with Alex

Here is an amazing meal whipped up recently by Alex, Heidi's boyfriend. This is definitely one of the benefits of living here!

Larry Instructing Wingnut and Rivet

On a Solo Walk with the Dogs

Rivet and Wingnut take me for a walk:-)

Saying Goodbye to Judes

One of the most difficult parts of this adventure is saying goodbye to the friends we leave behind.

Red Tailed Hawk

I was lamenting the lack of wildlife in the city one day and I looked up to see a ginormous Red Tailed Hawk perched on a pole. Wildlife is all around us, all we have to do is look.

Rivet Relaxing

Rivet relaxing on the couch.

Endless Stairs

They don't call it the walking city for nothing. During my first week here, much of my transportation has been on foot and via the subway. These are some of the stairs up to street level from Porter Square T-station. I counted 178 in all. Who needs the gym!

The Dog Park

Heidi and Alex's siberian huskies LOVE to go to the dog park where they can hang out with their friends and run off leash to their hearts content. This is Alex with Wingnut.