Sunshine, Stingrays, and Showtunes

I wasn't intending to blog so much about mice and other stressors in my life. Indeed, the last couple weeks have been so much fun (rodents and stressful work aside)! Here are some snapshots of the best parts.

First, I would be remiss to not include a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Mother Earth for the lovely weather last week. I had to admire most of it from inside my cubicle, but even leaving work at 6 to find it still sunny and 75 degrees was amazing. I didn't wear a jacket once, and I opened my windows as soon as I came home. Just that unseasonable change in the weather made me about 500% happier than normal! (Too bad it's probably more evidence of a changing climate... which brings up an interesting thought: as soon as the world, and particularly the U.S., quits assaulting our planet, I won't have a job anymore. The incentives for sustainability experts are oddly perverse, and yet I would LOVE to have to find new skills because the world doesn't need my services.)


The next big thing was that Colin was on spring break and chose to spend more than half of it with me. We spent a sunny afternoon reading The Hunger Games by the Charles River, and another day petting stingrays at the New England Aquarium.

Hmmm, this looks familiar...

Oh, right, Mom and I petted stingrays in St. Louis in the summer of 2009!

And it was just as incredible this time.

The best part of the Boston Aquarium is the huge, walk-around, multi-story tank.

What up, turtle? You're huge!!

We ate our first ice cream cones of the season, explored the lavish architecture of the Boston Public Library, and snacked on now-way-too-expensive Girl Scout Cookies on the train home.

Best of all, I treated Colin to tickets to the Broadway production of Les Miserables for a belated Valentines Day present. IEc had managed to get a block of tickets, and Colin's almost-nonexistent class schedule allowed him to be here on a Tuesday night for the occasion. I left work early and met him downtown for a fun Italian dinner and a stroll through the city lights in the gorgeous spring weather. We were both impressed by the ornate interior of the Boston Opera House (it was only my second trip there, and I'm not sure Colin had ever been). We quickly found our seats among my IEc friends and settled in for the show. Which was amazing. We were both singing the songs for the rest of the night. I love musicals, and I hadn't been to one in far too long!

The lobby and mezzanine of the Opera House.

Blurry, but proof that we were there!