February quickly coming to an end

If any of you recall, during the last blog I was getting over that nasty stomach bug that was going around. Luckily, since then it’s been smooth sailing! Let’s recap what I’ve been up too since the last blog!

February 22nd, was Ash Wednesday, as all practicing Catholics know, they are required to attend a service that day to repent and receive their ashes. I attended toe 7pm service at St. Pius after getting a ride from my friend Dottie. It was a nice service and I got my ashes. It was also another chance for me to sing in the choir. I have been there for a few years now and I really enjoy it. After mass I stopped off at McDonald’s for a Filet of Fish sandwich and some fries since Catholics can’t eat meat on Ash Wednesday.

The next day (Thursday) I hung out with my friends Sean and Dave. First we went to the mall so I could buy a custom hat to help promote David’s film group “DnDFilmmaking” (Facebook.com/davidrutter1990). After that we went and got dinner at Five Guys (I love this place) and then went and walked along Lynn Beach for a while. It’s always interesting meeting up with those two loose cannons. On a side note, they convince me they were taking me out to a fancy restaurant so I got dressed up in a suit only to eat a burger at a fast food joint!

After walking the beach I had then drop me off at St. Pius for choir practice. Our choir leader Pat Caulfield wants to get us ready with all the special music for Lenten services. I gotta say, I really enjoy rehearsals, it’s a lot of fun, but serious at the same time.

On Friday, I hung around the house for a while and ordered a Domino’s pizza (Mushrooms and Onions since its Lent). That night I met up with one of my best friends Drew Russo and we went to Rolly’s Golden Tavern for a drink and some food. We both drank Shipyards Applehead Beer. At one point our good friend Clint Muche also joined us!

I started Saturday off by hanging out with my good buddy Jacob. He came over to take a look at my computer since it’s been having issues. Basically he said it was old and needed to be fixed or replaced. After that sobering news we went and had lunch up at Buffalo Wild Wings inside the Liberty Tree Mall. Latter on I met up with Dave and our friend Pat Cliffe for some drinks and laughs down at the Lynnway Sportscenter.

Sunday was a relaxing day with the whole family. In the afternoon I went over to my good buddy Brendan Crighton's house to hear Congressman John Tierney speak, John is a good friend and I look forward to supporting his reelection campaign this year. After that I hung out with friends, ate, drank, and watched the Oscars. It was a fun night for sure.

The next day was important one because it was my mother’s birthday. I woke up early and had to get a couple things for her at Walgreens. Later we ordered some Chinese food and had a cake. It was a nice low key way to celebrate a special lady's special day.

Tuesday was a relaxing day, with not much going on until night time. In the evening I went to the Knights of Columbus to begin the process to become a knight. I passed the first step with flying colors. I look forward to the next steps in this journey and getting meet all the fellow brothers and getting involved in the council.

Well that catches you all up. Wednesday will be a fun day with a train trip to New Jersey and maybe a winter storm for Southern New England. Although the way this winter has been, one can't be too certain. But ill cover those both in the next post.

All for now
Jack

Weekend Recap

Thank you for all the positive feedback on the blog; I really appreciate all the kind words. All in all it was a good weekend with Sunday being the more relaxing of the two.

Saturday was a beautiful day so I wanted to go out and enjoy it. I left the house about 12:30 and made my way into Boston to meet up with my cousin Brian for the afternoon. He's a great guy who's currently going to Law School at Suffolk. We have a lot in common so it’s always fun to catch up. To get into Boston, I walked down to Western Ave, took the 450 bus and then the blue line in Revere.

I got on the Blue Line at Revere Beach and took it all the way to Government Center and went upstairs to connect to the Green Line. When I got to the Green Line level that’s when I unexpectantly ran into Brian. Originally we were going to meet up in Brighton. So the two of us rode the B line to the Harvard Ave stop and got off.

We both were hungry so we wanted to get some lunch. We decided to go to the Sunset Tap and Grill. This is a cool place to go to. Its food and beer menu is off the charts (over 100 beers on tap). So if you like beers like Brian and I do it’s a place to go to. I got the Jambalaya Fajitas with Andouille Sausage, Shrimp and Chicken, good size portion and delicious. Brian got a pulled pork sandwich. I got a Hefeweissbier beer and he got an IPA (India Pale Ale). It was fun to hang out over good food and drinks and catch up on things. After the Sunset we went down the street to the White Horse Tavern for another drink and just hung out there.

Around 5:30 we decided to head back on the Green line (in my case to Lynn and for him home in the north end). Once at Government Center we split up for good, me catching the Blue Line and he went up to the street and walked home from there. Then I got on the Blue Line and took it to Wonderland. It was my first time there in a while and its changed quite a bit with a lot of construction going on there with a new parking garage and other enhancements in that area. Soon after my 455 bus came and brought me to Lynn for my next event.

I was heading to the Bourbon St event at Lynn Arts as part of the Arts after Hours program. I have gone to a couple events previously and they were both a lot of fun. I’m a huge supporter of all things Lynn and anyway that can bring people to Downtown Lynn at night I'm all for it. So I got there, there was a room on the right with food setup and there were vendors selling arts, jewelry, raffles and other stuff. Down the hallway there was another room where beer and wine was being sold and where a brass band was performing New Orleans inspired tunes, they were very good. I was still full from lunch so I only ate one thing there, the jambalaya, it was very good and spicy, and so I naturally enjoyed it! It was a good turnout with Congressman Tierney, Rep Steve Walsh, Mayor Kennedy, Brendan Crighton, Pete Capano all in attendance. I also saw a few of my good friends there so it was an enjoyable night.

Sunday I woke up early and went to mass at St Pius where I sang in the choir as part of the 1130 service. After that I just relaxed and hung out at home.

Unfortunately the next day I woke up feeling sick and it was the dreaded stomach bug that is going around. It was bad timing because I was going to go out to eat with my friends Kevin and Richard, two of my Elton John friends, we were going to go to the Glenview in Chelmsford, but I had to cancel due to how I felt…

Luckily I'm now starting to feel better so hopefully now I can get to enjoy the rest of the week and have some fun with friends and getting stuff done. And lastly I want to send out a very Happy Anniversary greeting to two very special people, my parents who have been married for 36 years! I love them both so much.

All for now
Jack

Welcome to the Blog

    I have been meaning to start a blog for a while and I want to thank those who encouraged me to write about all I do and where I go and other stuff going on.
   
    Basically for those who are new to here, this blog is going to be about the places and things I do and visit. With some Sports, Music, Weather, Politics and other things in life mixed in.
   
    So where do I start? I might as well recap the last week. On Saturday, February 11th, 2012 there was the democratic caucus for the city of Lynn and I had the privilege to be nominated to represent ward 1 in Springfield at the Convention in June. I went last year in Lowell and it was a lot of fun, but it was an Issues Convention, this year we will be nominating candidates for the US Senate race to make it to the primary in September. There will be several good friends with me in Springfield so it should be a lot of fun.

The next day (Sunday) I went to mass at St. Pius, then went to Lynn Arts for an audio/video exhibit about Dimentia. My friend Mike Testa was involved with this. It was very interesting and had a lot going on. I was glad I got to check it out.

Monday I went into Boston and got to meet up with my good buddy Kareem, I hadn't seen him in while so it was great to catch up. We went to Zaftigs in Coolidge Corner, a very nice NY style deli. I got a deli sandwich and he got the Beef Brisket sandwich, both were great, I would definitely go there again.

The next few days I spent recovering from an unexpected cold. I guess it’s the time of year for the cold and flu to be around and it certainly found me. It’s not fun to feel like this, but it’s not the end of the world!

By Thursday I was feeling better and was able to get some stuff done around the house. It was nice to be productive again. In the afternoon I got a call from my friend Sean who wanted to hang out, so I met up with him and my other buddy David and we went to Fuddruckers. I normally get burgers there, but I wanted something different so I got a Steak Tip Caesar Salad, not bad once u enhance it at the condiment bar. However I think I’ll stick with burgers. I also got a Vanilla shake which was good. It is always an interesting time hanging with those two good friends.

Later that night I went to the Hibernian Hall for a fundraiser for my good friend School Committee Member Charlie Gallo. He had a good crowd and I knew a lot of people there so it was a nice time. The event had a 50/50 raffle, and to my surprise I won! I never win these things so that was cool. After the event we went to the bar at the Hibs and hung out and had couple beers with some friends.

Friday was relaxing day just doing stuff around the house.

My sister Angela has a new boyfriend. He seems like a nice guy, so I'm happy for her and wish her luck there.

Nothing new on the job hunt; didn't hear back from Grand Circle on a position I was interested in. But I got help from friends and family on improving my resume so that was good.

I recently booked a day trip riding the train to New Jersey, Feb 29th, post on this later.

Well this sums up the week pretty well, gonna make a new post on my Saturday/weekend stuff.

Hope you all liked this first post

Jack Suslak