I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend! Due to some WiFi difficulties, this Epic Weekend In Pictures will be leaning much more on pictures than words. That's okay, some of these pictures are probably worth more than a thousand words anyway!
I had a great Thanksgiving / Birthday weekend with my family. I think many of us in radio are pretty burnt out by Thanksgiving as in our industry many of us try to cram as much of a 5 day work week into 3 days. By Wednesday afternoon - evening I'm betting most of us are pretty fried. That being said, to quote my still favorite coach Patriots Bill Belichick, it still beats working a real job. He's right about that!
Thanksgiving Eve I threw myself a little birthday party like usual at Kite's where I was able to enjoy a few laughs with some of my besties. So grateful for them.
Thanksgiving morning time to Ship Up To Boston! I left by 7:00am and was back up in Mansfield, Massachusetts by 11:00am. 4 hours door to door is about as you can do with that drive from Jersey to Massachusetts and vice versa. I was so happy to get home safe and hug my Mom (Madre,) Dad (Padre,) and Zannie (sister Suzanne.)
By then my parents are in full blown Thanksgiving hosting preparation mode, so it's best for me to hug, then stay out of the bleepin way. Even though I did pretty decent when my grill was up and running, there's very little help / expertise I would be able to provide in the kitchen during Thanksgiving dinner cooking.
My awesome family came over and we had such a great time. It was amazing to just catch up and simply hang out with my family. Not only am I lucky enough where my parents and sister are my best friends, along with Grammy (also known as Captain Chaos,) my Aunts and Uncles are also right up there - and my cousins growing up are fantastic too. I'm a truly lucky guy.
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Friday was rather low key. I went to Patriot Place in Foxborough to do my usual Gillette Stadium selfie. This wasn't nearly as challenging on a Black Friday morning as it used to be years ago, that's for sure. Crowds definitely aren't what they are now with convenient technology options. I'm hopeful that's why we don't see as many negative stories of the news when people accidentally get hurt or worse due to those Black Friday crowds we used to see for so many years, year after year.
Friday night we went to Bog Iron Brewing in Norton, Massachusetts. We were able to enjoy a nice happy hour beer with Gabby and Liz (sorry if spelling is off, ladies.) It's always great to see them.
Saturday had an adventurous and Epic start, and it was all my sister Zannie's brilliant idea. She thought it would be fun if the four of us, her, Madre, Padre and I went axe throwing. LOL. #WhatCanPossiblyGoWrong? We kept joking about how we were accidentally hurt each other without even trying.
I've only been to an axe throwing venue once. I have decent aim, but am always troubled with getting the axe to stay into the board. We all laughed and had fun laughing together over our axe throwing beginner challenges. I definitely had the embarrassing win when I must have hit the board in just the right/wrong spot, because it came flying back at me like a boomerang (just sharper.) The axe bounced up and drilled my shin. It definitely stung. Thank goodness this is a "rarity that almost never happens." My sister asked if I was bleeding. I confided to her that I didn't even want to look down to see if my leg was bleeding. Concerned and knowing there was a hospital nearby at Patriot Place, my parents and Zannie all demanded that I pull up my right jean leg to prove for all of us that I was not bleeding. I was definitely relieved and then we could just move on. Turns out a little higher on my shin, there is a slight cut and bruise but definitely nothing major at all not even a band aid needed. Success!
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Folks ask me sometimes why Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. I always explain how my November 25th birthday is on Thanksgiving once every 6 years, and we always celebrate my birthday on Thanksgiving with my family. If you were to ask me what I would want to do for my birthday? My answer would be getting to be with my family and watch football.
Saturday my family kept saying we could do anything I wanted to do, it's my birthday. Other than getting to be with them, I wanted us to get a picture on top of the new Lighthouse at Gillette Stadium. This brand new Lighthouse is 22 stories tall! I hate heights. I know I managed to go Skydiving that one time, but heights are definitely not my friend. It was only $5 per adult admission. The staff was very friendly and the skies were bright blue without any clouds. The elevator took us right to the top of it. What a sight! The second we opened the doors, my fear of heights crushed me. My sister joked that I turned as white as my white Under Armour hoody I was wearing. I was able to last out there probably 3 minutes, but long enough to get the awesome picture I was hoping to get with my family. If you don't have a fear of heights like I do, it is amazing and I highly recommend it. You can see more about it by clicking here.
Sunday I was on the road by 8:15am, making it back here to Jersey in plenty of time to suffer through another Patriots game, even though this time it was against the Giants. My bestie Jennifer gave me a cute Patriots gift and sassy card that are both inside funny jokes for us. I watched the game with her and I think everyone watching that game felt the same way: miserable! Even though the Patriots lost, at least it helps us get a better draft pick attempt potentially.
Sunday after the game I went to The Irish Cottage Inn to get takeout. My Uncle Jeff (JDawg,) called them to put my meal on him for my birthday. Too cool. Then all of the sudden, the lights at The Cottage dimmed. I figured someone hit the dimmer that's near the bar accidentally, that happens quite often. All of the sudden from the other side I could hear a group of friends singing Happy Birthday. Every single Cottage worker friend all lined up to sing happy birthday to me with a lit up cheesecake with caramel. As much as being sang to embarrasses me, that cheesecake was delicious!
Thank you for taking the time to read my recap. Time to start planning next weekend!