Everyone in Waltham Goes to Disney World

like, every year. I don't get it.

My almost 10 year old has been begging to go for a few years now, so I visit here every day because I really don't feel like spending a couple grand to go.

I went when I was 12 and it left no impression on me, or my brother....or my parents (I just asked them), except that it was really clean. Scary clean. Maybe it's so popular with Waltham-ites b/c it's the antithesis of Waltham in the winter.

Though I think we secretly embrace the opportunity to settle in for the cold season, Waltham folks also love to complain about the weather and the crustiness that results from sand and salt trucks that lasts well into July. What else is funny is that snow shovels and window scrapers outside the front door or in the front seat of the car are usually not removed in the summer. My own included. It's like we're just waiting for that summer blizzard.

I guess this is some of what makes Disney appealing to the locals....but I prefer the crust.

Stuff Near Waltham, cont.

Went to Big Bugs exhibit at The Garden in the Woods with the boys yesterday.

It was awesome. Huge, like, 20 foot long, wooden bug sculptures.

My favorite was a huge dragonfly that was perched on a log jutting out of the pond.




I thought the baby might be scared....one of his newest words is bup (bug). He's fascinated and scared by regular bups like ants and worms and lobsters, so I was worried we might have to leave. But he loved it! And he even walked most of the mile path through the woods.

So much cool stuff to do around here.

Waltham Craigslist Scores

I think craigslist is a great way to get to know people and places a little better. For example, I had a pile of cement blocks in my backyard that I probably could have moved out to the curb, but it would've taken me a long time and the garbage man probably wouldn't have picked em up. So, last year I posted on craigslist: Free landscaping bricks! I got 50 flippin' responses and they were gone within a few hours. Pretty sweet.

Anyway, here are some of my killer craigslist finds:

1. Cheap townhouse. Super close to the Waltham library and Moody Street kick-ass restaurants and the Farmer's Market, and pretty much everything. I miss that place....I now live in a more residential part.

2. 3 jobs!

3. Almost got a free one of these, but its owner left it out in the rain *sigh*.

4. 20 bucks for my guinea pig. Alas, I was the only one cleaning her poop, which caused a lot of turmoil. Don't be a hater. She went to a sweet family.

5. Hundreds of bucks for my son who participates in craigslist "volunteer opportunities" at the Shriver Center. He's like a human guinea pig. Just kidding. There are hundreds of these things, considering we're in a place with about a billion universities and hospitals. He's had to do things like: wear a device monitoring how many steps he took over a week's time, record his eating habits for a few days, match pictures, etc. All in the name of science and new games for his PSP!

6. A treehouse in NH where my boy and I stayed for a night for $25. The people who owned the mostly farmland and wooded property actually built a 2 bedroom structure into a tree.

Probably not too good in the winter, and no kitchen or bathroom, but awesome for an overnight in the summer. There was a fire pit right outside, a river for swimming not too far away, and a homemade organic breakfast in the main house. The proprietress and daughter were fascinating people. The mom had lived in Alaska for a while and showed us (among many other cool things) actual baleen from a whale. Zoiks! Finally, we got to feed the chickens, but we had to wave sticks behind us the whole time to keep an angry black rooster from sinking his talon into our backs....which he had apparently done to some other unsuspecting folks.

Plus, all manner of other free and cheap stuff. Just writing about this makes me want to go on over to craigslist. See ya!

Keep Your Eyes on the Driving Prize

and don't show any signs of weakness. In traffic.

This is probably not just a Waltham thing, or even a New England thing, but an urban vs. rural thing.


and I LOVE it! Driving here is war.

It's referred to as giving information to the enemy.
What is it, you wonder? The answer is......using turn signals! Who needs turn signals when you've got mad driving skills? There is a certain zen, a beautiful one with the universe feeling, that comes when the stars align and no one in a cluster of say 50 cars all going 80 miles an hour uses turn signals to switch lanes....and no one wrecks.

And hey, late for work? Bored? Change that lane and a half wide city street into a 2 laner and pass that slow broad weaving down the middle. Don't ever hesitate to merge and forget about going less than 10 miles over the speed limit. Never disrupt the zen or you will be cursed (by everyone around you and by the universe)!

And. AND. During rush hour you can often drive in the "active breakdown lane." WTF?!? What if you need to break down!

Nothing is better for my low blood pressure than taking a spin around Waltham.

Driving in the Waltham vicinity lost again

Sometime back in 2002 or 2003, I take a wrong turn and what do I happen upon, but this:





Oh, hi omniscient-looking bronze god head up there on that hill. Was in the neighborhood and just thought I'd stop by.

One of my favorite places in the world must be the DeCordova Museum Sculpture Garden. It used to be free, but now you have to pay to walk around the grounds (there is a wonderful museum and art school here too). Totally worth it. Even after the surprise of seeing metal sharks swimming in the pine trees above your head wears off, you will enjoy coming back again and again with your friends, your kids, your grandchildren, or maybe just yourself.

It is truly unique.

Oh, this installation by Nina Levy up on the roof of the museum in 07 was pretty cool too.




These lovely sculptures are both about 15 feet tall. My one year old was petrified.

Waltham Boys & Girls Club

The Waltham Boys & Girls Club is so cool because even my SO's 80+ year old great auntie can belong!
In fact, she swims there every day.

It used to just be called the Boys Club, which is how my hubby and his parents still refer to it.

But now they let in women, even. Very liberal, no? I think back when it was the Boys Club in the 50s and 60s, the boys used to swim in the buff, though. Wonder if they were sad when girls started being admitted and they had to put the trunks back on. Ha!

We were pretty poor and had a somewhat limited social network our first couple years in Waltham and I didn't have childcare for Daniel a few days a year that I had to work like the day after Thanksgiving, certain snowdays, and others that don't immediately come to mind.

The club has an open door policy where you can drop your kid off for a membership price of like $10 per year and they are somewhat supervised in the games room and the gym, but can leave when they feel like it. A kind of scary prospect esp. considering that the club is right downtown. Also kind of scary when your kid is six years old and not very (at all) street smart.

I had a psycho boss though, and had to go to work, so I dropped him off there with my cell phone and specific instructions to not leave unless in a large group with other kids to get lunch at mcd's right down the street. I was on pins and needles all day these few days I left him. Called him all the time, to the point where he finally begged me to stop.

Turns out some Guatemalan pre-teens took him under their wing and taught him bumper pool and helped him order at mcd's since he couldn't add or read yet. My heart melted just a little when he told me this.



I heart you Waltham.