Winging it in... Boston

Don't you worry. Everything is under control.

I have to say, I had such high hopes for this weekend! Everything really was supposed to be under control, Christmas shopping, report writing, catch up on a bit of reading, possibly even a trip out of the city,but the best laid plans and all that…

Anyway, this weekend started with out a set plan, Christmas shopping was on the agenda, as was meeting up with friends, both of which sound like relatively straightforward tasks. After a midweek trip to Rite Aid revealed imported Polish chocolate oranges on sale, variety packs of Toblerone and a whole host of other delicious Christmas goodies I was planning a rather focused military style type shopping trip (I know- it is hard to be as classy as me) for Saturday morning. I was thinking and possibly dreaming about all the things I needed… I have put so much effort into this that I even have a Christmas running plan established on my laptop that lets me equate calories burned with chocolate enjoyed- I can’t afford to replace my wardrobe and shop for Christmas goodies! So, imagine my disappointment when I arrived at Rite Aid and the sale was no longer on. A trip to the Cambridgeside Galleria was needed.

This is actually when it all started to go wrong. Most people can make this six minute drive in, oh, I don’t know, about six minutes, give or take, depending on traffic. I however, have managed to make this route much more interesting but adding a good 35 minute detour to it! Now, Boston is a great place to live, loads of fantastic historical neighborhoods… I just think it right that you take a moment to enjoy them all…

This week saw a brief trip through Medford, Mystic Ave is probably one of the longest roads I have ever been on- especially when I think I want to turn around. However, it does have a great Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Jeep dealership. They will fix up your car, deal with the insurance company, store the car free of charge and generally be one of THE most helpful dealerships you will ever have the pleasure of dealing with. Other than that, a friendly branch of Dunkin Donuts and a stop on the Orange line I really have nothing else to add about this commuter town- it is a bit of a sprawl and very suburbanly empty (if a little concrete depressing).

Never mind because my special needs in not understanding simple instructions, such as left meant that I didn’t hang around too long and having found the Tobin Bridge- still not really sure where it goes, just that it is always backed up on traffic reports, I soon discovered myself in Sommerville. This is an up and coming area, and actually appears to have some cute coffee shops and a whole thing going on around Davis Sqaure. It also has the Alewife subway stop- I was getting quite excited at this point, which of course meant I was about to get hopelessly lost- again, miss the turn and discover that while I could see where I needed to be, I was about to sail straight past it on a completely unconnected piece of freeway that took me in another direction altogether. Luckily I learned that Prudential- does indeed make dreams come true, and JetBlue are here to stay while I am free to come and go as I please. Clearly this was a lie, as I couldn’t make it to the mall, so how they anticipate me navigating an airport is beyond me.

Next stop on the magical mystery tour was Charlestown, home of the USS Constitution, Bunker Hill, and the Navy Ship Yard. Apparently an unreliable water supply lead the Puritans to abandon this area in 1629, and anyone who did try and settle this area left when the British burned it down in 1775. I am told by those in the know that the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston was renowned for churning out a high number of armed robbers, generation after generation. These robbers never left their Charlestown life on their own volition, and after a bank robbery the police would simply sit on the bridge and wait for the suspects to come home. I just wanted to get back on the right side of the bridge…

I did eventually make it to the mall- which leads me onto Christmas shopping… this year I have decided to be ecologically and morally responsible. So, with the exception of my brother who was specifically requested we only do e-cards (he really doesn’t even know my address J) everyone will be getting Oxfam chicks delivered to a secret South American location. If this does not meet your required needs for this Christmas please let me know before 5:30pm EST on Sunday November 21 2010 and I will see what else I can arrange. (On the plus side it turns out I have been very good this year, and I appear to have treated myself to a new bracelet. However, Santa thinks he might be busy on Dec 25 so has delivered it early.) I also have to say, the chicks are REALLY cute! I think I would actually quite like one myself (if I hadn’t already gotten a bracelet of course- can’t be greedy and ask for too many things).

After all the stress of the weekend I never did get around to writing reports. I have headed up the page though, so that is one less job to do on Monday, and I have read the newest Sophie Kinsella book, so I can return that on Monday, that might free up a bit more report writing time J