Try to Top My Travel Nightmare!

Friday June 19
2:30pm: Leave my cousin's house to go to the Charlottesville airport for my 4:03pm flight

3:10 pm: Check into my flight. It is overbooked and I have no choice but to be bumped to a later flight that leaves at 5:45pm. I do get a $300 travel voucher good for one year.

5:40 pm: Board my flight. I find out that there are only 5 people on my flight. Total. Seems like a total waste of a plane, but it makes me feel famous like I'm on a private flight or something.

7:50pm: Arrive in Detroit where I wait for my plane to Boston to board.

8:20pm: Decide that since I have such a long layover (I didn't get on my original connection because they bumped me off my first flight) I decide to have a long dinner at the Chili's in the Detroit Airport.

9:15pm: My plane to Boston is delayed. It is storming pretty bad outside now.

9:30pm: Still delayed.

9:45pm: Still waiting

10:00pm: Plane is boarding! We pull back from the gate.

10:20pm: We are on the tarmac. The captain tells us that because of the storms, no east bound planes are being allowed to take off. We are 20th in line when they finally let us go, so it shouldn't be too long.

11:00pm: Planes are allowed to go, so we all buckle up and get ready!

11:30pm: They have closed all flights again. We are now 5th in line.

Saturday June 20
12:30am: Still waiting on the tarmac.

1:00am: We finally take off! I don't even care that it is super turbulent. I just want to get home. I fall asleep.

2:00am: The captain comes over the intercom and tells us that the airplane's computer system has gone down. We are in no danger, but must divert to Newark, New Jersey.

2:30am: Land in Newark, New Jersey

3:00am: We have all gotten off the plane and got our bags at the baggage claim. Now we are just waiting for someone to come and tell us what they are going to do. And we are all fighting over the electrical outlets because all of our cell phones are dead.

4:00am: Someone finally shows up. We are all tired and cranky at this point. He tells us that they are getting buses to come and they are going to bus us from Newark to Boston. The buses should arrive in one hour.

5:00am: No buses yet.

6:00am: Buses finally arrive.

6:10am: I am on my bus. I call Jake and almost immediately go unconscious.

9:45am: Finally arrive at the Logan International Airport in Boston.

10:00am: Jake picks me up at the airport.

11:00am: I finally pull into home. I take the fastest shower ever and fall dead into bed.

A simple flight that should normally take 2 hours ended up taking 12! It was a VERY long day and my lack of sleep is still catching up to me. Luckily, I was able to laugh about the whole situation, which made it a lot easier to handle. Some people were extremely upset and yelling at everybody about everything, but it just made the whole ordeal worse. I'm glad I was able to just laugh it off. But now I'm home, safe and sound!

Virginia!

So I am in Virginia for a few days hangin' with my cousin! I have never spent much time in this state, so I am excited to become better acquainted with it. Although, my cousin is studying for her chemistry test tomorrow and it's bringing back a lot of really bad memories! Oh how I HATE chemistry!

P.S. There are lightning bugs outside my window! I love lightning bugs!!!
Both Utah and Massachusetts are seriously lacking in lighting bugs!

Robbie - Not Your Typical Doggett!

(Robbie's self portrait)

Most of the Doggett's strive for perfection in everything we do. Until now.

Meet Robbie Doggett. He is my 6 year old brother, and he is walking trouble! He is 100% hilarious and is proud of it! He wants nothing more out of life than to make people laugh! And he is good at it! However, it can present a problem too. We got his Kindergarten report card today. His dance teacher (yes - he has to take dance at his hoity-toity private school) wrote that he needs to learn how to respect teachers and keep himself under control. Apparently he led an uprising in the class. He has also been kicked out of pretty much every class at Waterford. Even his music teacher kicked him out, and he is a family friend. It's been a LONG time since any Doggett has ever gotten kicked out of a class, and this kid is only 6! Can you even imagine the grief he is going to give my parents!?!

But as much as I want him to calm down and behave, I don't want him to loose his confidence or change his quirky personality. Not too long ago, he told someone that he had pooped his pants. My dad told him that you don't have to tell people that, but he just looked up at him and said, "But dad, it makes them laugh!" He has no problem sharing the most embarrassing details as long as he can make someone laugh, and I love that about him! He has such a love for life and for people, now I just need to figure out how to channel that into being the class clown who has perfect citizenship...

Plymouth - A Definite Must See!

We went to Plymouth last week, and boy did we ever have fun! And it was definitely better than Salem! We went in the most interesting museum - it had tons of artifacts that came over on the actual Mayflower, a bible that was printed in the 1500's, and a doll from my direct ancestor Mary Chilton. She came over on the Mayflower and survived the first winter. We also went on the Mayflower II which is an exact replica of the Mayflower.

We also saw Plymouth Rock, which actually has no historical significance at all except that someone once deemed it the first rock stepped on by the Pilgrims. In fact, the Pilgrims first landed in Cape Cod and decided to try to find somewhere else that was more hospitable. It is actually more of an icon than a historical fact.
As you can see from the pictures, it was kind of a dreary day, but that kept most of the tourists away. Unfortunately, it also kept us from the Plymouth Plantation and our Ghost Walk. But our tickets are good all summer so we are going to be sure to go down again. Maybe then I can get Jake agree to fork over the $$$ for whale watching!

Salem - Never Again

I was so excited to go to Salem! I love The Crucible - both reading it and seeing it performed. I love reading the dark history of the city. And I love a good ol' witch hunt. Unfortunately, no one told Salem that was what people loved. I am glad that I went to Salem, and I'm glad that I am never going back!

First of all, the town seemed very tourist unfriendly. I understand that we didn't go during peak tourist season, but still, parking and finding our way around proved very difficult. The town almost focuses more on their current witch population than on their past witch trials. In fact, everyone there seems really resentful that the only thing they are really known for are those darn witch trials! I mean, they think that people would actually care that they have been a thriving maritime metropolis for over 350 years! Seriously Salem - come to terms with the fact that you have a dark history that everyone is curious about, embrace it, and capitalize on it! They could make so much more than they actually do! Our tour guide even told us that tourism only brings in a 3rd of the towns wealth. That is after elderly healthcare! They are sitting on a seriously huge cash cow, and they are doing nothing about it!

We poked around for half a day, took some of the obvious touristy type pictures, and raced home to make it to a movie on time.

By they way, we HIGHLY recommend:
You'll leave happy!

Il Est Fini!

You Would Think Having Cancer Would Teach Me Patience

I have always had a problem with my patience. I am more of a "here and now" type of person. God has sent me situations and trials time and again to teach me to have more patience. And you would think that going through all of my super drawn out cancer treatments would have given me a little more patience. Obviously not.

Today was painting day in the TV room. I have actually never painted before. I've watched a lot of TV shows that paint rooms, but apparently that doesn't make my skills any better. Jake was helpful and patient, and the room turned out nice:

However, through the process I almost got more paint on the ceiling and trim than on the actual wall! I would just get so caught up in the 'hurry and do it' mode that my brush would go a little too fast and *poof*! The ceiling magically had paint on it. At least, that's how I like to think it all happened. But we do have some white paint somewhere that Jake will have to use when the walls are dry to try to cover it up. I would try it, but I'm sure I would get so impatient that the walls would then have white blobs on them. And now you can see the never ending cycle it would become. Good thing I married someone who is patient!

Stripping Down!

Word of the wise: Never Wallpaper Your House! And if you do and then get tired of it, DON'T STRIP IT YOURSELF!!

I have been feeling super lazy lately with not a lot to do so I decided to give myself a project. We are living in a nice house out here, but it is 50 years old and back then my grandma wallpapered every surface possible. Since then, not only have styles changed, but the wallpaper is dirty, gross, and peeling. So I decided that I wanted to paint the TV room and the kitchen. The wallpaper came off easy enough (I don't even want to tell you how many cobwebs and spiders I encountered while doing this process!) but the glue on the back proved much harder. Luckily, Jake and I had bought:

to make the process easier. And now, here is the universal truth that will save you many frustrating hours in life:

Things are easier to do when you follow the directions.

I thought I was above directions. I was a fool. And if you are stripping your own wallpaper, know that you really should let this stuff soak in for the full 15 minutes. Sometimes I amaze myself with my own stupidity and thick-headedness.

P.S. I only did the TV room. No way am I foolish enough to go through all this again! I can live with the kitchen the way it is!

Rainy Days on Fridays Always Get Me Down

When it rains here, it makes you just want to sleep. All day.

Further Details

A lot of people are wondering what in the world we are doing in Boston. Well, Jake is doing his research for his senior thesis. He has decided to study the Brazilian immigrant population in Boston and how churches here help them become established. We chose Boston because my grandparents house was sitting empty waiting for us and we chose the Brazilian population because Jake is fluent in Portuguese. We were lucky that there is a HUGE Brazilian population in Boston! Jake is working with the Celebration Church, a Brazilian Baptist church here. They are really nice - when I went they even offered a translation ear pierce! They are afraid that Jake is going to try to convert their members, but we have done our best to convince them that we are only here with academic purposes in mind. So far the pastor has been really willing to help Jake and we are very grateful. We will be out here until the end of August and then Jake will write his senior thesis during Fall Semester. So now you know!

Imposter!

I was excited to have a bird feeder right outside the window so I bought some bird seed to attract the birds. This guy is definitely NOT a bird! :) I wondered how my seed was gone so fast!

I think I'll call him Fred.

I Love To See The Temple!

Hana went to the temple for the first time last Friday! Jake and I went with her and had some fun photo ops outside of the temple. It was our first time to the Boston Temple, and it was gorgeous! We had a great time all together!

It's Official... I'm a Water Snob

If the tap water even has a hint of an odd taste, I won't drink it. I mean, I will, but I find it revolting and it makes me gag. And since our water here comes from the local pond, I can't really handle it. So I accepted the fact that I am a water snob and went to the grocery store and bought 4 gallons of water! At least I am embracing my snootiness!

The Lazy Ways of Cohasset

Jake and I are having a great time out here, but it has taken an adjustment to get used to the slow country life. There's not much to do here, and if something is a 30 minute drive away it is considered "close". But it is undeniably beautiful and we love living in the house overlooking the pond and it has a big garden that Jake spent all day in the other day planting things! Here is the view that I wake up to every day:

And that was even a rainy day! You should see it when it is sunny! Last week we got so bored of doing nothing but sitting on our butts looking at the computer, Hana drove us out to some of the closest beaches and we had some fun! The Scituate "beach":

We walked a long way out to the edge of the peninsula but it was fun hopping from one rock to the other! We felt quite victorious, as you can see:

And since it is so beautiful, we had to do a photo-op!

Then we watching the waves crashing over the rocks some more:

After that, we headed to the beach in Cohasset - the prettiest beach in all of Massachusetts if I do say so myself! This is the beach that is only about 5 minutes from my house!

Jealous? You should be! :)

P.S. Jake just got a job teaching archery at a summer academy! Hooray for my manly husband!

Niagara Falls

Since we were only a few miles away, and since Jake had never been, we decided to venture up to Niagara Falls for most of one day! We had a great time watching the vast amounts of water topple over the falls and walking all over the place - until I got a massive blister! That's when we decided to try and drive over to the Canadian side. What a mistake! First, we got interrogated by the Canadian crossing people, then we couldn't find anywhere to park that wasn't under $18 (which we weren't willing to pay since we only planned on staying for 2 hours), and then we decided that since we had payed the toll to get over to this new country we would at least drive around in it! Well, pretty much all we saw were lots of hotels and motels all advertising that they had heart shaped Jacuzzis. Canada - not my favorite place!

At night they light up the falls. Jake and I were too cold to stay for more than one color - red. So there you go! That was all we put up with. Then we hurried back to the hotel and jumped under the blankets to try and warm back up!

And my favorite picture:

Um, DUH!!!