Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We had a lot of fun, in spite of the MBTA trying to thwart our plans on Saturday.

My cousin actually ended up arriving later than expected, but she called before she even left her place to let me know. It was no biggie. Chicken divan and apple crisp reheat very nicely, so I made them up ahead of time and threw them in the oven to warm when she called from about a � hour away.

Saturday we went to the Museum of Science. Taking into account the drive to our chosen green line station of departure and then being bussed from Government Center up to the Museum, we expected to arrive around noon. When we got to the T station, we were informed that we would be bussed 3 or 4 stations up because of repair being done on the tracks. D checked MBTA�s website before we left and there was no mention of this, otherwise we�d have just taken the red line in. We didn�t get to the museum until almost 1 o�clock. Idgets.

At any rate, the LotR exhibit was phenomenal! We all could�ve easily spent the entire day in there. D and I are talking about going back to go through it again before the exhibit closes (10/24, I think). We were able to spend only a couple of hours in there. It just wasn�t enough time. There were a lot of women dressed as elves there. Kinda creeped us out. Probably would have creeped us out even more had there been men dressed as elves there. The lady elves were walking around and cutting in front of people like they owned the place. We saw them all again later that evening while walking through Quincy Market. I started to say, �Look! It�s Arwen and her merry band of�� and D finished the sentence with, �Freaks!� Ha!

Unfortunately pictures weren�t allowed in the exhibit. That stank. So I took a few of the outside of the museum. What struck me most in the exhibit, and made me so tempted to try to sneak a few pictures anyway (but I didn�t � there were notices regarding security cameras everywhere) were the row of armor for each race in the story and the models of the Witch King and Isengard. The model of the Witch King was quite daunting. Here are a couple of quick picks I got before we got into the exhibit. Hope they�re not too big.

There was one woman there who must have stood in front of Viggo Mortensen�s costume for Aragorn for at least 20 minutes. When we were standing near her, I was saying to my cousin, �Check it out! The hems are filthy and frayed, there are signs of wear and tear everywhere � this must be the actual costume he wore.� The woman infatuated with it turned and said, �Oh, it is, and I�m having the hardest time leaving it. I want to take it home with me!� To which my cousin said, �Mmmmm� Viggo sweat��

After we left the museum we figured since we were being bussed back to Government Center to get back on the green line, we may as well make a stop over to Quincy Market, grab some grub and do some shopping. The bus ride was interesting. Not only were we packed in like sardines (typical), but our bus driver kept getting into an exit or turning lane and then would cut off traffic to get back into the lane we actually belonged in. It was pretty funny. He got a lot of angry honks. By the time we got to Quincy Market we were famished. A breakfast of chocolates and Sun Chips will hold you for just so long. We went to Houston�s for dinner. We�d never heard of it before, and discovered yesterday that it�s a chain. We stood outside discussing if we were going to check it out or just go get a slice at Regina�s when 2 older ladies standing near by piped up and told us the food was fantastic and very reasonable. So we decided to go in. I was still dying for a cheeseburger, fries and shake, so was happy to see they at least had burgers and fries on the menu. No shakes, though. But when I saw the price of the cheeseburger I almost spit. $12! Do they feed the cows gold? I kept asking D if he was sure he wanted to stay there. He said he wanted to at least give the place a try since we were already there. I was finding it hard to justify paying $12 for a cheeseburger. Until our plates arrived and I took a bite, that is. The price was instantly justified. If a burger could be orgasmic, this would be the one. It was the best cheeseburger I�ve ever had in my life. And the fries were perfectly thin and crispy and had just the right amount of salt. It was burger bliss. Can�t wait to go back for another one.

After walking our be-hinds off on Saturday, we spent Sunday lounging in front of the TV watching Season 1 of Chappelle�s Show. Funny, funny stuff. We had a late breakfast of toast and scrambled farm fresh eggs. Around 4 o�clock we decided we were hungry again so called our favorite Chinese restaurant for delivery. Tried to send some home with my cousin but all she�d take were the crab rangoons. Blech. She can have �em! Neither D or I like seafood in any way, shape or form. So after a good late afternoon lunch/early dinner, my cousin left for home. It sucked to see her go. I miss doing stuff with her.

So have I mentioned that today was a crazy day? Usually you know it�s not going to be a stellar day when you wake up thinking it�s Thursday or Friday and then realize it�s only Tuesday. My department was so busy today that there literally was never more than 3 seconds of silence at any given time. It was insane. The elevator barely stopped moving. I cursed it at one point and told it to stop spitting people off onto my floor, but it didn�t listen. Being short-handed and having idiots for bosses doesn�t help matters much, either (I�ll touch on the latter in a moment). Always amazes me how a person in charge can make so many mistakes and be able to laugh them off without a worry of being reprimanded.

I also think my car is invisible. Yesterday and today I�ve had people look right at me and pull out in front of me. Both times I had to stop so fast my tires squealed. Thank God in both instances there was no one behind me or I�d have been rear-ended. The horn on my car is already an angry sounding one, which is good, but I want one that sounds like a tractor trailer. Just for instances like that. And the woman who yanked out in front of me today waved. I won�t repeat the words and gestures she received from me in return.

Okay, so we found out at 1:30 this afternoon that there are mandatory meetings after work at 5 PM for �sexual harassment training�, held today and tomorrow, for regular employees. 8,239 notices went out for managers well in advance (theirs was last week, and they received notifications every week for 3 weeks leading up to it), but today�s notice was the first for regular employees. Supposedly the big boss of my department knew we were supposed to go to this, and claims she let us all know. Well, guess what? I keep all internal email and triple checked it this afternoon for this email she claims she sent. What a surprise � there was nothing from her, or #2, or from Human Resources about the rest of us attending any seminars.

Way to Freakin� Go!

So we get to the meeting and the woman giving the seminar says, �Well, when we scheduled this 2 months ago�� 2 MONTHS AGO! ��we had no idea the Red Sox would be playing this afternoon, but I�m sure that after you leave this seminar you�ll feel it was worth missing the game.� WHAT?! If only I could choke someone with just a thought... My co-worker almost busted out laughing when she saw the expression on my face.

Hey, anybody want to go to Anaheim? There are still limited tickets for the Wild Card games there. Can you believe that? The Red Sox decided to hold a lottery for available post-season tickets. There are only 2,000 per game available to the general public to begin with. Guess who didn�t get chosen? *sigh* Oh well. I had a dream the other night that my name was chosen for the World Series lottery, and I�d much rather go to a World Series game anyway. ;-) We might actually head to Fenway on Saturday just for the heck of it. Hey, why not? Who knows? Maybe by game time the scalpers will be desperate to sell their tickets.

Riiight.

And guess what? T started a diary! YAY!!!!!

And one more thing...

GO SOX!