I’m afraid I really don’t have that much to say about Monday night’s Red Sox game. Susan and I got beers, the cast of Forever Plaid sang the National Anthem, a little kid said “Play ball!” and then it got boring out there on the field. But we were in really cool seats (maybe a dozen rows from the front), and there were funny fans and peanut throwers to watch, and Elizabeth and Alec were there too, and so it was really quite delightful. I tried to be very polite when Susan explained what was going on, and I did the wave and everything. That was fun. I also asked a lot of questions, but maybe they were the wrong ones:

“How come everyone boos at poor Kevin Youkilis? What did he do wrong?”

(Nothing. They were going “Youuuuuuuuuuuu,” not “Booooooooooooo.”)

“Why are some people’s Red Sox shirts pink?”

(Because they’re girly-girls.)

At any rate I had a fabulous time, mostly because I wasn’t too worried about what was happening on the field (we lost). And there was a hot dog in my stomach and three cold beers as well on a beautiful evening with three beautiful people. I really couldn’t ask for more.

I could ask for Elizabeth (and Kristin, and Susan) not to move out of town (and for Sarah to move back from Omaha), but everyone has to follow the dream, I guess. Too bad the dreams don’t all live in Boston. So today we said goodbye to another of the flock, and Erdos helped. Kristin (who thought she was done packing!) discovered another nine boxes (and a carpet*) worth of stuff that she wanted to take with her to California, so I drove to her apartment and we loaded up the little black beast with all her things, parked at the post-office, and got intimate with the man behind the counter for half an hour while he stuck stickers, stamped stamps, and charged Kristin 240 dollars to ship half her life back home. It’s tough moving across the country.

Fortunately, then there were sandwiches. We went to the Parish Cafe for lunch. The Parish Cafe invites chefs at famous restaurants from around Boston to create fancy gourmet sandwiches, which they then make and serve at their own place. These are not your mother’s ham and cheese sandwiches. These sandwiches involve slices of flank steak in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. These sandwiches involve cranberry chipotle. They have tomato confit in them and their fillings sit within peppercorn brioche. I have no idea what chipotle, confit, or brioche are, but they sure sound good to me. I had the Zuni Roll (Smoked turkey breast, crisp bacon, chopped scallions, Dill Havarti cheese and cranberry chipotle sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. Served warm with a side of homemade potato salad), and it was goooood.

Kristin leaving for the airport was less good, but (car-phobic) Jo getting in Erdos while I was driving and not flinching once was very good.

And being awake and on time for my first day of work will be very, very good, so I’ll leave you here until next time. Wish me luck and I’ll let you know how it turns out… I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be wonderful.

*If you ever want to pack and ship a carpet, here’s how you do it:

1) Roll up the carpet (make sure it doesn’t weigh more than seventy pounds, or they won’t take it at the post office. If your carpet is like Kristin’s carpet, it will weigh about 37 pounds. It will also be called a rug.)

2) Slide a clean garbage bag onto either end of the rolled up carpet, rip the bottom of a third bag, and slide it over the middle part of the carpet. Tape everything down with duct tape, to keep the carpet cylindrical in shape.

3) Slit the bottom and side seams of five or six Trader Joe’s paper bags and rip off their handles, turning them into handy rectangles of brown wrapping paper. Or you could use actual brown wrapping paper, but this way is more fun.

4) Wrap the carpet in the bags and secure with duct tape.

5) Address and mail your carpet! No one will think it is a dead body. Trust me.