The Boston Non-Marathon

Once the marathon was over, Boston was ours to explore.

For a day.

We had to get back to work/school/reality, after all.

We started with the popular Freedom Trail Tour, a walking tour along the streets of Boston where, if you have a guide, you hear some of the not-as-well-known stories about Boston and Boston's citizens' roles in the forming of our nation.

We had a great tour guide. She energized history by talking in the first person and Seth and Sam were taken in. After the initial presentation, which took place in Boston Commons, the first public park, we headed to this old cemetery where Paul Revere and John Hancock, among others, are buried.

There are several of these graveyards scattered throughout downtown Boston.  It's bizarre but made me realize most other cities probably had and still have graveyards in their downtown too, they are just underneath all the buildings.  There are about 1,200 headstones or markers found in this cemetery but experts believe the real number of people buried falls between 5-12 thousand.  That's a lot of bodies!!

She told some fabulous stories about John Hancock, who has this large marker as he was a wealthy man, and really made a guy who is basically only known for his large signature, come to life.  For instance, did you know that he and George Washington were bitter rivals?  Hancock wanted to be the commander-in-chief of the first continental army, and was even promised the position after he donated so much money to the revolutionary cause.  But, when it came to actually choosing, they went with George, who had military experience.  Since he didn't get that gig, he was promised that upon victory, he would be the first "president" of the new,independent nation.  But we all know who that went to as well.  The worst insult, however, was what his own wife, Dolly, did.  Apparently, she did not particularly like her husband, and in his absence, named their first-born son, John George Washington Hancock.  Funny.  

Sam in front of Paul Revere's grave.

Sam got really into the tour.  We never had to prod him along.  Instead, he always managed to position himself front and center throughout the 90 minute tour.

Do you see him?  Right behind the guide.

Funny kid.  

The tour ended in front of this famous building, Feneuil Hall.   Basically, all the town meetings that eventually convinced the colonists to fight for their independence were held here.  

We decided to continue along the red line that marked the trail, and see the second half without a tour guide.  I don't recommend it.  The boys were bored and none of the sites felt as interesting without the personal stories.

We walked to Paul Revere's home.  He seems like such a fascinating man to me.  He had multiple jobs to provide for his large family:  16 children, 11 which survived.  I think he was a real patriot.

Here's the backside of the Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung, indicating that the British were coming by sea.  

Inside the church, which is still in use.

Sam checking out the large hymnal.  

After lunch and an Imax movie to rest our weary feet, we got on the Subway for our evening activity:  Red Sox vs. Texas Rangers.

The famous Fenway Park.  It was interesting to me that they had to handle the ticket lines here in the street.  The stadium just wasn't built to handle security issues like bag checks and turnstiles.  

We got there early enough to watch batting practice.  

The boys responding to my urging, "Pretend you're swinging a bat."  Lame, I know, but I was getting tired of the fake smile pictures.

As soon as I sat down, I was grumpy.  I did not fit in these seats.  The width was fine, but my knees were jammed up against the seat in front of me.  For those who are familiar with the term, the result was I was NOT lucified.  For quite a while.  Like, the seventh-inning awhile.  

Like a lot of moms, I carry the camera and am thus in no pictures.  Jay wanted to play around with taking pictures during the game, so during the seventh-inning stretch, he had it in his hands.  Here is the one shot of me on this trip.  I promise, I am not overly moved by the lyrics, "Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks."  He just caught me in a blink.  But, I think it's a funny picture.

The game was looking ugly for awhile and the fans were being brutal to the team due to their five game losing streak.  

Jay captured the landmark CITGO sign, which is a huge tease to marathon runners as they can see it for miles before they finally get to it.  

They ended up winning and the team ran out on the field to tackle McDonald, who brought in the winning run.

The scoreboard below the infamous Green Monster.

Boston is a really neat city.  I wish we had had more time to investigate its charm.  I guess I can say, "Next time" and mean it, since Jay is determined to go again next year.  I am as well, but I think we'll leave the boys at home.  

Book Review - Shutter Island

I am a novice when it comes to listening to audio-books.  I've listened to the Harry Potter books while traveling in other people's cars, but due to my strong dislike of talk radio, sports radio, and any kind of monologue in general, I have shied away from listening to one person read aloud to me.

A long road trip forced me to reexamine my prejudice, however, and I downloaded two books from itunes, one being Shutter Island.

Consider me converted.  Before I knew it, seven hours had passed and I was embedded into Teddy Daniel's conspiracy theory, walking along beside him as he sneaks around the island, searching for the clues he believes Rachel, an escaped mental patient, has left for him.  He convinces his partner, Chuck Aule, that there is much more going on at Shutter Island than any of the good doctors would believe.  Because it is set in the early 1950s, Teddy's suspicion that the psychiatric hospital is really a front for experimental surgery on the brain patterned after the psychological and surgical experiments the Nazis performed on the Jews during the second world war, the rocky Shutter Island, home to a hospital and prison for the criminally insane is completely plausible.

The only nagging concern I had while listening was that I couldn't figure out what was Teddy's motivation for exposing what really happens on Shutter Island.  I didn't buy what the author was feeding me:  that Teddy was determined to discover the truth because he was a dedicated US Marshall doing his job and sent there on assignment to discover a missing patient, but his secret reason was to find and kill the arsonist he suspects is now a patient on the island who set fire to the apartment building he and his wife lived in, killing his young wife.  I mean, o.k..it's a motive, but for the risks this guy was taking, it seemed like a weak,and extremely lackluster one.

 Then, everything twisted and it turned into one of those stories where the story you thought you were reading wasn't the story at all.  Instead, clues you didn't even know were clues were telling the real story, that all fit together at the end.  I love stuff like this!

Unfortunately, there is a ton of foul language.  Lots.  The doctors swear, the US Marshalls swear, the patients swear, the orderlies swear...it's pretty rampant.

But I still loved it.

Book Review - Secret Sisters

I currently serve in a Relief Society presidency, so when the opportunity to read a comedy about a Relief Society president that spies on a sister in her ward in order to find out if she needs help or not her came my way, it seemed like the perfect chance to put some levity into what can be a pretty burdensome calling.

Ida Mae Babbitt is the perfect Relief Society President.  Ready at a moment's notice to help any and all that fall within the boundaries of her stewardship, she has the time and the resources to be that person, the one that seems to have a limitless supply of how-can-I-help-you.  Before serving with my own relief society president, who would give Ida Mae a run for her money, I never would have believed that someone could put this amount of effort into a calling.  Now that I've seen it done, Ida Mae seemed like a perfectly believable, refreshingly real character.  Having her narrate the story, complete with her own flaws and reasoning, gave the story a snappy, humorous edge.  

While I truly enjoyed and believed Ida Mae, none of the other characters, except perhaps her crusty counselor, Arlette, who is always knitting an ugly pair of socks, felt real.  Her young nephew, Ren, who was central to the idea of enabling his aunt to cross the line from caring Relief Society president to spy due to his interest in technological gadgets, felt especially weak.  Whenever he spoke, I didn't feel like it was something a pony-tail-wearing-ear-pierced-twenty-year-old-college-drop out would say.  He was just too nice.   Too...communicative.  My logic needed him to be more withdrawn and confused and much less eager to hang out with his aunt and her middle aged counselors.

Still, the writing is solid.  Tristi Pinkston, the author of Secret Sisters, does a good job moving her story along and keeping the main plot active.  There are a few times when Ida Mae attends to some other RS business that isn't necessary to the main spy plot, but instead of taking away from the momentum, it actually lends itself to develop Ida's character and the town of Omni, where the story takes place.

My only real grievance, unfortunately, has to do with the main premise of the story:  the spying.  No matter that the story is intended to be unlikely and humorous, I could not get over the fact that a relief society president put a surveillance camera in someone's home.  I was ready to go along for a farcical ride, but after reading, I felt like the story would have been equally as humorous had the spying been limited to middle age women hiding behind trees or sitting on benches with rain coats, dark sunglasses and hats.  I wanted the spying to be much less....well...disturbing.   Each time the story mentioned what information they were getting from their "bug" on the kitchen refrigerator, and later from another camera they secretly planted in the living room, I imagined the inevitable embarrassment that would arise when the realization that what you thought you were doing in the privacy of your own home, that thing you would NEVER EVER want anyone to know about, came to light.   You know, the times that you make up the lyrics to your own musical and sing them loudly.   Or what about when you hear your cell phone message alert go off right after you get out of the shower and walk out into the kitchen to get it without any clothes on because no one else is home.  Or what about the private talk between husbands and wives.  All of those completely acceptable things become mortifying when you add the fact that someone is secretly watching you.  And I can't even imagine the havoc and discord that would happen within a ward and community when it became public knowledge that someone in a position of trust did something like that.

Oh, I know it's fiction.  I get that defense a lot.  It's fiction!  It's fun!  Don't take it too seriously.  I know that.  But, I have never thought labeling something as fiction means the rules of life no longer apply. In fact, I believe what is funny in real life translates into what's the most funny in literature, and unlawful surveillance placed inside the sanctity of someone's home isn't funny.  Like I said earlier, I would have liked it a whole lot more had the spying been more of the old fashioned and less technology dependent kind.  Sure, they would have still been breaching the scope of their calling by spying at all, but I think the end result would be a much more easy to digest comedy.

I believe this is the first in what will become a series of Ida Mae Babbit books.  As I'm a fan of Ida Mae, I'm glad she will continue to serve in her best-of-intentions way.

As I read and reviewed this book as part of an online book tour for Valor Publishing, I am including a purchase link here.

The Boston Marathon

As soon as we arrived at our hotel, I started noticing them.  The cut jaw bones.  Flat stomachs.  People, everywhere, that had that gaunt but strong look.  Marathon runners, by mere choice of activity, are a different breed, but Boston Marathon runners, with their qualifying times and desire to run in the granddaddy of all marathons, really stand out.

We followed them around on Sunday, picking up Jay's bib number and packet at the Expo and chartered bus tour of the race course.  It was easy to spot the difference between the runners and their supporters.  We supporters all looked....softer.  

The tour took us to the start of the marathon, a small town with a population of about 7,000 named Hopkinton.  Jay wanted to have a visual of the race course before he ran it, and I enjoyed having a mental image of the 26.2 miles he would be traveling along.  It's a beautiful course and even though the Boston area is at sea level, the path is not an easy one.  Some of those hills are mighty long and pretty steep.

At the starting line

A lighter moment with Seth

Jay and Sam on the bus

Jay's race stuff laid out the evening before the race.

It's time I cleared things up after leaving my Aaaaarrrg post up for a week.  Sam and I DID go to the marathon.  As I said, he threw up in bed at 5 am and had had diarrhea all night long.  While I typed the post on my cell phone, Sam fell back asleep in the other bed and I waited until 7:30 to wake him up to see how he felt.  When he woke up, I asked him, "Sammy, does your stomach hurt?  Do you want to go watch dad or stay at the hotel?" he said, "Hmmmm..  I feel pretty normal, Mom."  

So we went.  

We reached downtown Boston at about 8:45 and went in search of a front row spot to cheer from.  Because we had left a little later than I had planned, I was about a block further away from the finish line than I had hoped, not to mention a block away from where I told Jay to look for us.  Both Jay and I had been warned by people who have run the Boston Marathon before, that it's easy to miss runners as they go by and even easier for runners to miss their cheering section as it's loud and crowded at the finish line.  I thought about sticking with our original plan, which was to be in front of the Lord and Taylor building, but decided I'd rather be right on the fence and take my chances that we'd spot Jay and cheer loud enough to get his attention.  

It was the right choice.

It was such a cold morning.  Windy.  They boys were bored and cold and I'd be lying if I said I was glad the boys were with me.   Thankfully, at around 10:30, the wheelchair racers started coming in and we had something to cheer for.    The elite women runners started coming in at around 11:45.  The winner from Ethiopia finished in 2:26:11.  

Teyba Erkesso

A foot race for third was exciting to watch.

Then the men started coming in shortly behind them and the crowd cheering was amazing.  Non-stop noise.

Robert Cheruiyot from Kenya finished in an amazing 2:05:52 - a new course record.

We had cowbells to ring for the racers.

Ryan Hall was the first American runner to finish (4th place).  Jay used his training schedule to get ready for both of his marathons this year.  Seth and Sam think he's a super star.  

He is fast.  Look at those leg muscles!

Right behind him was another American runner, Meb Keflegzighi.  

Even elite runners hit the wall.  This woman was walking but started running again after being passed.

So glad he felt better.

The soldiers started coming in.  I don't know what time they started, but to go 26.2 miles in full gear with packs is pretty darn amazing.  

Then I thought I spotted Jay's red shirt.  

Turns out the red shirt belonged to this guy.  But wait.  Who is that running behind the man in the white visor?

It's Jay!

Jay used tape to make the letter "J" on his shirt and said it made the race even better.  Having fans cheer for "J" gave him boosts throughout the race.  By the time he got to me, however, the "J" was struggling.  He said from mile 20 on, he figured all the cheers "Go T!" were meant for him.

Jay spots me and the boys.

It's an emotional moment. 

So proud of him!!!!

Totally passed the guy wearing the white visor.

Going to the finish line.  

Jay's time was 3:13 and he felt great throughout the race.  He had been struggling with IT band pain for three weeks previous but felt great on his race.  He ran a smart race and was able to finish with a negative split (ran the last 13.1 miles faster than the first 13.1 miles).  

The Boston Marathon is an experience.  Jay's time keeps him qualified to run again next year.

He's already booked a hotel room:)

Book Review - I'll Know You By Heart

In I'll Know you by Heart, Kimberly Job writes about the complexities that arise when temple covenants are broken due to abuse.  While it seems unfathomable to me that the abuse described in this LDS fictional romance is even possible, I know that it occurs, even within the bonds of a temple marriage.


Stephanie Roberts has all but given up trying to be happy.  She craves stability but never seems to be able to predict what will send her husband into an irrational rage.  When a spaghetti dinner displeases him to the point that he punches her in the face, as well as her sixteen year-old son who attempts to protect his mother, she finally realizes that she has to leave.  


Throughout the book, I vacillated between feeling frustrated that Stephanie wasn't a little more proactive about getting her abusive husband out of her and her children's life and appreciative that Job wrote what is likely an honest account of the difficulties that really exist when ending a marriage, especially one whose history is filled with control and manipulation.  


Interwoven into Stephanie's story is Jared's own story.  Jared, a recent widower whose own marriage was a far cry from happy is now raising his four year-old daughter on his own.  As both characters struggle to deal with the ramifications of single parenting, Jared and Stephanie's lives intersect and the stirrings of attraction become both a source of worry and hope. 


I admit to being a romance enthusiast but I think romance as a subject matter is difficult to do well in literature.  Real romance, anyways.  The entire time I was reading, I admit that I was cheering for Stephanie and Jared.  I can't help it.  When someone writes about attraction and falling in love, I swoon.  On the other hand, I also couldn't help feeling their relationship and interactions were being over simplified.  Romance....people...it's all very complicated in real life.  While the author certainly included a complicated and burden heavy romantic plot, the character's behaviors and motivations didn't always seem to match either their earlier choices or what I had been led to expect from their descriptions.    I think the author uses a Saturday's Warriors technique to explain that both Stephanie and Jared felt drawn somehow together, like they knew each other from way back when in the spirit world, but I'm not sure.  The title seems to support the idea, but since there is no vision or revelation, only a short dream sequence that happens during a coma, I am merely hypothesizing.  


I recognize that I am hyper critical of LDS fiction because it seems that as soon as a character seems human and flawed and recognizable as someone I might know, the great gospel sweeper seems to come along and get rid of all the bad stuff, leaving only the shiny and good.  It's a nice message, but most often, the mists of darkness stick around while we figure out all the hard stuff.   When I get to the end of a story like this, I wonder, "What if the nice in-laws hope for the best for their son's new girlfriend, but really wish he'd find someone that didn't have the emotional baggage of someone who has lived through seventeen years of physical and emotional abuse?"  Or, "How can these two people not have some serious intimacy issues after being married to who they were married to?"  I know..I just need to enjoy the story, which is really quite interesting.  But still, I need things to feel real.  While the characters were given obstacles and struggles, which is real and expected, many of theirs felt so big and dramatic that the effect for me was that they felt less real.  


I do appreciate the message that our Heavenly Father loves us and that he wants us to be happy.  I appreciate the inclusion that there is a Savior who is willing and able to heal our pains.  To get those kinds of messages from a book, I can see why people enjoy reading LDS fiction.  It is uplifting.  If that sounds like your kind of thing, I think you'll like this book :)


As I read and reviewed this book as part of an on-line book tour for Valor Publishing, I'm including a purchase link. Click here for more information.