Hitting the Links.

It's official. I have a new addiction. I've always liked golf, but never owned clubs until about 6 years ago when a former boss bought me a set of irons. Since then I've added some other clubs to my bag and tried to play once or twice a year when I was in Utah, Chicago, Arizona, etc. But since being back in Massachusetts I've tried to play more and really learn the game. Fortunately I have a good friend who loves golf as well, so we try (weather permitting) to play every Saturday. Between rain-outs, traveling, and other things that get in the way, I still usually play about twice a month. It still kills me how much it rains out here! Anyways....if you even wonder why I'm not answering my phone on Saturday morning, its probably because I'm doing alot of this...









My friend Scott.


Scott's Dad.


Scott's dad again. He loves that white sweater!


Ever once in a while Scott's younger brother will tag along too.

Finished! (mostly)

The tool room remodel is essentially complete. Technically, I still need to paint the floor, install the drop ceiling and install a door, but once I moved all the contents back into that room, I considered it complete!
I don't have too many "before" pictures, but overall I'm happy with the outcome. Finally I have a place to put all the tools and can easily find just about any tool I am looking for.


Before...


After! The workbench that sits just under the tool pegboard was a recent hand-me-down from my grandmother in Maine. It used to belong to my grandfather who passed away nearly 20 years ago and had been sitting unused in a basement for years. It was nice to have something of my grandfather's at my place now. It's a great, sturdy, workbench, too!


Before...


After!


Finally, some good storage for coats and shoes!

Tool Room Update #1

The tool room remodel is coming along. I would say that about 80% of it is done, but the remaining 20% continues to linger. As you can see from the pictures, one side of the room is about done. The other side (where the jackets, gloves, hats, etc, will go) will hopefully get done in the next week or so. I'm still debating whether or not to do some built-in seating below the window. Hmm...


The built-in shelving is stained and finally able to house some of the random clutter that has been all over the place these last few months. The brown color looked a lot nicer on the sample at Home Depot then it does on the wall, but still a good color considering it's just a tool room.

Finished the trim around the door, but I still need to clean up some paint drips on the door.

Projects, projects, projects!

I think I was a carpenter in another life. I love working with my hands. And tools....what guy doesn't like tools!?! In addition, we all like the satisfaction of "doing it ourselves" right?

With my parents in Japan, they've pretty much given me free roam around the house to do as I please. Besides liking things clean and neat for myself, I want to make sure my parents come home to a nicer house then when they left. I have a lot of ideas for the house, but so far time constraints have those plans mostly in my head and only a few of those projects have come to fruition. I'm way behind on my "to do" list.

However, the current project is a mud/tool room in the basement. Previously, this section of the basement was unfinished and boasted a mix of tools flung on the walls while shoes and other random stuff really didn't have a home. So far, I've added a wall which will separate the tool room from the food storage/laundry area. The drywall is done. The mudding and sanding of the drywall is done. I'm going to put up pegboard throughout for the tools on one side, while making a tidier area for jackets, coats, gloves, etc. Again, I forgot to take "before" pictures, but here is some of the progress so far.


Built-in shelving will go to the right of this wall.


I added this wall to separate the laundry room from the tools, etc.


Tools will go on this wall.

The new bow (not bay!) window

I finally convinced my parents to invest in a new bow window for the living room. The old one was on its death bed and would be hard-pressed to make it through another winter. Although I enjoy doing little projects around the house, installing a huge bow window was not exactly up my alley, so we hired professionals. One day later, here are the results, although hard to tell since I don't have the "before" pictures.

The finished product.

Whale Watching

A few friends and I got together and went whale watching. Although I had gone whale watching once before off the San Diego coast, this was actually my first time whale watching in New England. The boat left Gloucester, MA and took us some distance out into the ocean where we followed three whales for a few hours. Although it was interesting to see, whales aren't the most active animals and besides a few extended rolls from ocean to surface back into the water, it was difficult to see more than a small section of their backs.

The tour guides were helpful with their whale expertise, but they weren't too amused when I asked where they kept the harpoons.


Pre-whale watch nap.

Napping, part deux. (and yes, my receding hairline is getting out of control. Sigh.)

New Phone Number

Greetings family, friends, and random people who stumbled upon my blog!

I have a new cell phone number! As much as I would love to post it here for all to see, I think a more controlled way to get the word out is to add it to my Facebook profile. So, I have added my new 978 area code phone number to my Facebook and will no longer have my 602 area code number.

If you're not on my Facebook, just send me an email if you need my number.

U2

Like most other people, I'm a big fan of music. I probably value my iPod more than my cell phone. I've been a fan of U2 for years and have always wanted to see them live. Some friends and I bought our tickets months ago and the day finally arrived to see them perform at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, home of the New England Patriots. Even though I have been a lifelong Patriots fan, this was my first time ever seeing Gillette Stadium, too! (or the old Foxboro Stadium, for that matter).

The traffic down to Foxboro was horrendous - the last 10 miles or so probably took us about an hour. After playing $40 (!!!) for parking and walking 15 minutes to the stadium, we arrived just before U2 came on stage. They played alot of their newer stuff to start, which, unfortunately, I didn't know that well, but towards the end of their performance they played more of there older (better?) songs. Unfortunately, the horror of the commute to the stadium was more than enough persuasion to prompt us to leave the concert early to avoid the gridlock that would inevitable follow. That said, we missed the last hour or so of the concert, but did avoid the frustration of post-concert traffic.

All in all it was a good concert even though much of the music sounded echoey (did I just make up that word?), but maybe that was just a result of our nose-bleed seats!

Some pictures:


Our tickets!


Anita, Carolina, and me.


Everybody, including random guy on the right.


Wendy, Rene, Lumina.


U2's 40 million dollar stage!

Red Sox game #3

Third time is a charm, right?

Way back in April (before that?) my friend Scott told me of a friend of his that has season tickets to the Red Sox. Even the most devoted fans have trouble attending all the Red Sox home games, so each year this season ticket holder sells some of his tickets to close friends and family for face value. Even "face value" can get pricey in these parts, but splurging once a year won't hurt, especially when showing your devotion to the Sox, right?

Accompanying Scott and I were our better half's (halves?) Carolina and Melissa. The seats were the best I ever had - just off of home plate about 10 rows back.

Oh, and for what it's worth...I have been to three Red Sox games this year and the Red Sox are 3-0 in those games! Maybe I should attend more games!


Carolina, me, Scott, Melissa.

Big Papi!

Family Trip to Japan (minus me)

While I took an earlier trip to Japan at the beginning of August, my three sisters (and their families) visited Japan in September when the weather would be slightly cooler and things wouldn't be so hectic at my grandfather's place. Originally, I was planning on going with my sisters, but after being asked to play tour guide a few months back, I decided to go a few weeks early, thus missing a rare opportunity to get the entire family together. My trip was more of the touristy/travel stuff, but I my sisters' trip was more family focused, although they did do their share of sightseeing as well.

Even though I was not there for this particular set of adventures, I thought it would be nice to share some photos of their excursions in Japan was well as general family time photos. Plus, I'm always looking for reasons to post pictures of my cute nieces, Maya and Lucy. Most of these pictures were taken directly from Elaine's blog, so I apologize if they are heavy towards the Elaine, Mike, and Maya.

Pictures, in no particular order:



Emily and Jared



Proud mothers: Elaine with Maya, Annie with Lucy.



Walking down the street in the little village of Nozumi.

Lucy

Elaine and Maya chatting through Skype with Dada (Mike) before he flew to Japan to meet up with them.

Where my parents are staying, my grandfather has one car. Since alot of the family would be in town for a few weeks, my grandfather bought another car for my parents so it would be easier to haul everyone around. Definitely not the biggest car on the lot, apparently.

My two nieces, Mayumi and Lucy.

Ojii-chan (My grandfather) in one of his rare trips outside the house these days.

(My) mom and baby Lucy.

Part of the Sturgis clan trying to find their way around Tokyo.

The Dayton Family (Annie, Brandon, and Lucy) on the Shinkansen on their way to visit my mom and dad.

My mom and Maya.

Forget the shrine, check out these pebbles!

Maya has a fascination with fish!

Maya at the fish market.

My mom cutting up some sashimi. Believe it or not, all three of my brother's in law love sushi and sashimi! Surprisingly, my mom who is 100% japanese doesn't like either one of them.

Maya helping Aunt Emily perpare dinner.

Lucy on the beach with Uncle Jared and Maya in the background.

Uncle Jared and Maya.

My dad teaches english part-time at a nearby high school and brought Elaine, Mike, and Maya in for a day. Here, Maya and Mike pass time in calligraphy class.

Proud mother Annie with Lucy.

When my dad brought Maya around the school, she was treated like celebrity. It's not too often you see a cute baby with blond hair and blue eyes in your school.

Maya tending to the gravesite of my grandmother who passed away some 11 years ago.

Great-grandfather and great-grand-daughter.