Notes From Home Plate

"SOLE" Mates

Published on by Lisa

If and when Nick and I have children, we know this much is true:

S/he will have some seriously messed up feet and ankles.

Nick came home last week and his right ankle was so swollen it looked like he had accidentally swallowed a baseball and it was lodged in his ankle. A doctor and a physical therapist visit later, Nick has been given a series of exercises and stretches to strengthen it. Better to strengthen it now, the doctor explained, than to wait until you’re older and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Mhm. That medical advice sounds familiar. OH YES, I remember now – I told him that exact same thing about 287 times over the past 2 years. “Fix it now, it’ll be harder later on.”

He’s mobile and it doesn’t hurt much, but his ankle’s still pretty huge.

In the fourth grade, I had to wear orthopedic shoes to correct two extra bones in my feet. I have absurdly flat feet and the extra bones, located on the inside of my feet, can’t take much pressure and so I wore huge corrective brown shoes for my entire fourth grade year. Everyone called me, “Grandma” and I cried off and on for a year. Finally, the humiliation was too much and I put my Grandma shoes away, sabotaging my future of having any sort of a life with normal feet. If I had known then that my future husband would have severe ankle problems and by not fixing my own feet problems I would be jeopardizing our children’s future, I may have tried to stick it out with my orthopedic footware.

Despite our failing feet, things continue to go splendidly here in Boston. This past weekend, we had visitors. An old college roommate, Cara Hansen, was passing through and we met up for drinks. Nick’s aunt and uncle, Andy and Linda Meyer, were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary here in Boston and we had a great evening in Harvard Square and stopping for a drink at Cheers.

Familiar faces are always welcome! Book soon and frequently.

Seriously Football

Published on by Lisa

If you know the Borchers side at all, meaning, if you know Nick at all, you know that autumn means two reliefs come into our lives: cooler weather and Ohio State Football.

There are football fans and then there are Football Fans.

Nick is a FOOTBALL FAN.

As he is now 2 weeks into theologizing, if that’s a word, his mind for the next five years, I sometimes worry that he’ll begin to take life too seriously. Seriously, talking about Augustine and the ethical facets of Rwandan genocide are definitely not the most light of topics.

So we watch Tiger and boo Phil, laugh at 0-2 Michigan, and wag our index finger at Belichek. I like to think that sports, sometimes, provides a nice break from the seriousness of our lives. I also think he likes to pretend he doesn’t take sports as seriously as he did before, but when I hear:

[couch slap] “GOSH DANGIT BENGALS, why don’t you at least try to block once in while?”

I begin to wonder,

is he getting proper respite?

So, I worry about the level of fun in our lives and try to make sure we have appropriate levels of sarcasm and pop culture to balance us out. I had him sit in front of our new baby – the laptop we just purchased (which we LOVE) – that has all sorts of fancy gadgets. We started experimenting with the distortion tools and we couldn’t stop laughing.

Now, if Michigan goes to 0-3 against the Irish today, you’ll hear our guffawing from Boston.

Goodbye to Summer

Published on by Lisa

It’s only official in our books: Summer is Over.

Wedding season is over, thus our travels calm down a bit. And as Nick said today, “Classes have started, today I had to wear a sweatshirt, and football is on. There. It’s Fall.”

Agreed.

I stayed put last weekend while Nick partied it up in Akron for Allio and Christina’s wedding. Pelvic thrust dance moves by Goatee was probably the highlight of Nick’s storytelling when he came home.

This past weekend, it was my turn to head home to Massillon to see a childhood friend marry in our hometown church. A gradeschool and highschool reunion unfolded. That was interesting. “Hi, I haven’t seen you since 1994, how’s your life been going since then?”

As nice as it was to get away, it does feel good to be back with schedules just beginning to solidify into routines. We’ve been quite the movie goers lately. On Copley Square last week, there were free outdoor film showings and we parked our blankets and watched Raising Arizona and Napolean Dynamite on two separate nights. We even managed to go see Halloween that just opened in the theaters, as well. Even though I was curled in a fetal position and covering my eyes for over half of it, we both gave it two very big thumbs up.

And so summer is drawing to a close and, honestly, that is just fine with us. This picture was taken in the daawwwggg days of summer. We were biking around Santa Monica beach in Los Angeles and we took a break. Santa Monica pier has a ferris wheel and all kinds of crazy stuff right on its pier. As Nick read his latest 78lb. novel and I picked up my camera, we lazed around for a few hours.

Adios a el verano.

Adjusting to Beantown

Published on by Lisa
Nick and I have moved around a lot.

In 2004, I moved from Boston to Cincy and lived in Clifton and he lived in Norwood. When we got married, we suffered a double case of selective amnesia and thought that COLERAIN would be a good idea for residency. When we came to our senses that we would rather live in cardboard boxes on U. of Michigan’s campus than Colerain, we moved again. This time, we took our time in our research and chose Forest Park. Three time’s a charm.

Now, we’re back in Boston and this is our new home. The glass windows start on level 3 and we live on 5 off to the far right. That’s us. A highrise. It’s nice. We have a beautiful view of the Boston Common, right across the street.

Specifically, we’re in the theater district. That means big excitement from me and an occassional, “That could be cool,” from Nick.
If you squint and look hard at the first picture you can see two vertical flags, one yellow and one purple, that designate it as property of Emerson College, where I work. I am in charge of the lower half of the building and work with several other folks in running this urban campus. Emerson is a specialized school, meaning they concentrate mostly on communication and art: theater, journalism, digital media, photography, and performance. (I get to take amazing art courses for free at some of the best schools in the city. Sweeeeeet!)

Adjusting to the city can be a big much. You must get used to a lot of things living in downtown Boston. So, when you come visit, be ready for a couple of things:


1. An insane amount of noisy tourists. Duck Tours, with their absurdly decorated car/boats (see picture 3) are pretty popular, but try living on a street when they pass about 8-12 times a day and you hear the riders scream, “QUACK QUACK QUACK.” Yeah, you get the idea. A.n.n.o.y.i.n.g.

2. The movie references. The statehouse (see pic 4) is right across the street and we have a gleaming view of it and everytime I see it, I think of the end of The Departed. And everyone talks about Matt Damon and Ben Affleck like they are social justice heroes. Good Will Hunting is referenced at least once a week. It’s life. We’re growing accustomed to it.

Overall though, things have been very intense and hectic. While I work insane hours and Nick is getting our apartment, banks, mail, and such in order, we’ve tried to maintain positive attitudes. Nick starts his program on Tuesday and I am continuing to work on establishing my writing career. So, our lives are just unfolding and getting more and more interesting everday.

Tune in for more later, but leave us a message first!

In the Beginning…

Published on by Lisa

there was just us,

two cars,

and one big borrowed tank from Grandpa/Paul Cordonnier.

Somehow, though, we managed to make it all the way to Boston and unload after one of the most tiring trips of our lives.

After a fragmented loading and unloading and reloading process in Ohio (delivering unwanted furniture to Jay and Keith), we stopped in Lewisburg where my parents reside and spent the night. The next morning, we made it to Boston – through traffic, rain, and some serious illegal parking. Then Nick turned right back around to return the truck to Paul.

What a trooper I have for a husband.

But, we’re here!