Maura Moves Up

Maura isn’t competing this month but she is skating. Last week she took her test to move up to the Alpha level in ISI competition. I didn’t take her to her lesson that day—it was Martin Luther King Day and her mother had the day off—but Maura was excited to tell me that she had passed her test when she got home. I wasn’t surprised and I don’t think her coach was either. She had already begun working with Maura on her new program.

Maura has been hard at work on her Alpha routine for several weeks already. It uses the same music and has the same advanced elements but otherwise it is quite different from her Pre-Alpha program. Her path on the ice is nothing like it was before. Maura is learning it well. She has a good sense of timing and to my unpracticed eye the new routine looks almost as polished as the old one. She still has a few of the same old problems, though. Maura has always had trouble keeping her arms up.

Maura will have to skate really well when she competes again at the end of February if she wants to bring home a medal. Unlike in her last competition she won’t be the only skater her age at her level. She’ll have at least one friend from her home rink skating against her and probably others as well. There are many more skaters her age at the Alpha level than there are at the pre-Alpha level. Perhaps I can use that to motivate her to work harder getting ready.

Maura always works hard when she is on the ice with her coach. She truly loves skating and she also loves her coach. It is harder to convince her that she needs to work off the ice. She has an exercise routine that she is supposed to do every morning but she doesn’t always remember to do it, even when she is reminded. I know how she feels. I don’t like to exercise either and I’m certain that walking around with pennies on the backs of your hands isn’t nearly as fun as skating.

Back to School

Soon Maura and I will both be students. I have decided to go back to school to add to the considerable education I already possess. I’ve applied to a Web Development Certificate program through the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. It may be a while before I’m officially in the program—I made up my mind to go back to school only a few weeks ago and I will be surprised if my application is processed before the spring semester starts next week. Nevertheless I will be starting classes next week. Non-degree students can register for classes without being accepted into any program and I’m now registered for nine credits worth of courses in the spring semester.

I’m looking forward to being back in school. My memories of student life are some of the best of my life, though I do recall it can be difficult at times. It’s been more than a decade since I last set foot in a classroom as a student. It may be much longer before I'm in class again. With this program I won’t be physically attending any classes but taking them on-line. UMass Lowell is too far away for a regular commute and I plan on taking all my classes over the internet. I may never set foot on campus at all.

I’m sure I will enjoy being a student, despite not meeting my classmates or instructors face-to-face. I am not going back to school for the fun of it, though. Regular readers of Travels with Maura may recall that I’ve been out of work since May. My job search has not gone well. Too many of the available jobs wouldn’t pay enough to cover daycare for Maura and the costs of getting to work. I have seen plenty of web development jobs advertised though. I have no doubt that it would be a far better job for me than selling insurance or cell phones.

Being a student will give me a chance to set a good example for Maura. She’ll see me studying and doing my homework. Maura is a conscientious student but it can’t hurt to have a positive adult example to motivate her in her studies. In a year I hope I can show her an example of what good study habits can bring—a good new job.

The South Shore Natural Science Center

On Monday, January 2nd, the Ellett family visited the South Shore Natural Science Center in Norwell, Massachusetts. We got free admission, thanks to the Museum Pass program at our local library. Available to anyone with a library card at a participating library the program gives free or discounted admission to local museums. Each library only has one pass, good for four admissions, available each day for each participating institution. To use them, especially on popular dates over vacation or in the summer you need to plan ahead and reserve early but they can make visiting cultural institutions more affordable for families on a budget.

The South Shore Natural Science Center is dedicated to the local wildlife and landscape. It includes a small museum set on a property mostly in its natural state with interpretive nature trails. We didn’t come prepared to explore the trails on a winter’s day but we enjoyed the museum exhibits on the ecosystem of the South Shore. The stars of the exhibits were the live animals that live in the displays—snakes, turtles, fish, frogs and an iguana named Spike. We also got to meet Hedwig the barred owl, who lives on the property as well. Except for Spike all are local species.

We had a good time on our visit. Maura enjoys nature and is always curious so she loves seeing animals close up. I enjoyed talking with the staff who clearly enjoy their jobs working with the animals and the visitors. We’ll make a point of going back in warmer weather to explore the grounds as well as the main building.

The South Shore Natural Science Center is more than a museum. It is a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center and many of its residents are rescued animals that could not be re-released into the wild. It runs a nature oriented daycare and summer camp and hosts outings for other groups. Maura visited once before on an overnight outing with her Girl Scout troop.

The Old State House

Last Friday, the 30th of December, Maura and I took the red-line into Boston. The weather was fair for late December, not bad for walking in the city. We met Jennifer for lunch at her company cafeteria and then visited the Old State House, only a few blocks away from Jennifer’s workplace.

The Old State House is one of Boston’s iconic buildings and a colonial survival. It has been altered considerably from its 18th century floor plan as it has been adapted over the years for various purposes but its outside has been restored to approximate its 18th century appearance, including reproductions of the lion and the unicorn, symbols that once marked the building as the seat of crown authority in Massachusetts. As the seat of the colonial government the Old State House was the scene of many of the events that led up to the revolution that broke out around Boston in 1775. After independence it was also the first seat of the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and later was used as Boston’s City Hall and as a commercial building.

In 1879 the Old State House was one of the first colonial buildings in Boston to be saved from development and preserved. It has been used by the Bostonian Society as a museum since 1881 The museum’s displays are small but very interesting for history buffs. They focus on the colonial history of the building and on the Boston Massacre, which took place in the streets immediately adjacent to the building. One gallery is dedicated to staff favorites from the Bostonian Society’s extensive collection of historical artifacts, which is much too large to be displayed at one time, and has artifacts from various periods in the city's history.

Maura enjoyed the multi-media display about the Boston Massacre. It was very well put together and raised some interesting questions about the nature of the event and the way it has been viewed, both in the immediate aftermath and since. We had to sit through it twice because we came in just after it started and Maura wanted to see it from the beginning.

For me the highlight of the visit was our interaction with the staff. We took a free tour of the upper floor led by one enthusiastic staffer. It’s not large by modern standards but it once housed all three branches of the colonial government--the office of the Royal Governor, the Massachusetts Assembly and the Supreme Judicial Court. The current floor plan is different than it was in colonial times, but instead dates from the 19th century so the tour was very helpful in imagining what the building was like when it witnessed momentous historical events including the establishment of the first court of appeals in North America and the first legal arguments against taxation without representation that led to resistance against the King and Parliament of England. We also had a fascinating conversation with another staffer about the Old State House clock,still wound and set by hand, and about Weymouth’s Town Hall, which is a replica of the Old State House. All the staff members we met were friendlyand very knowledgeable about the building and the City of Boston.

Doing Almost Nothing

We’ve had a wonderful holiday season in the Ellett household despite worries about money. We have not, however, done very much. We followed all our Chanukah and Christmas traditions and enjoyed all of our family rituals but we haven’t been inclined to do much else since but relax at home. Maura had a few play dates with her cousins and friends but I have hardly left the house since I did the holiday food shopping last week. I didn’t even drive Maura to her skating lesson on Monday. Her mother is on vacation this week and she took her.

Our one family excursion out of the house was to go to see a movie, one last Christmas tradition I didn’t mention last week. Sometimes we go on Christmas Day but this year we waited until Tuesday afternoon, two days after. We try to find a movie that the whole family can enjoy, but of course it must be a movie that is appropriate for Maura. We let her pick the movie but the adults in the family get a veto over anything that doesn’t appeal to us. Most often we see an animated movie because we all enjoy them. Most years we see a Disney feature but there wasn’t a new one this year.

This year the movie Maura chose  was Tin Tin which we saw at the Cameo Theatre in Columbian Square, Weymouth. It was a good choice; we all enjoyed it. It had plenty of action and humor. The plot was not a surprise to anyone familiar with the Tin Tin comics but nevertheless satisfying. Maura wants to read some of the comics now. I’m proud of her.

After the movie we went out to dinner. We had a little money set aside to have fun over the vacation, we were hungry and it was late. We went to one of our local favorite restaurants, Sweet Lemons, our local gem of a Thai restaurant. We weren’t disappointed. We’ve been going there for years and the food and service have been consistently good.

I’ve really enjoyed a few days of doing almost nothing but I am finally starting to get a little bit of cabin fever. It’s nice out today for almost January. I think it’s time to go out for a walk.

Holiday Traditions

In our interfaith family the holiday season is very busy. Chanukah has started and Christmas is coming soon. We celebrate both holidays with or own traditions—some drawn from our families and others unique to us. Our holidays would not be complete if we skipped any of them.

Chanukah comes first, of course. The first day of Chanukah is my deadline for holiday shopping—I always try to get all of it done before the first night of Chanukah, no matter how early it falls. I feel lucky when Chanukah is early. I might have my shopping done by Thanksgiving and not have to worry about it during December. There always has to be eight presents for everybody for Chanukah so everyone can open one each night after we light the candles on the menorah. Most of them are small and practical, especially in these financially stressful times, but appreciated nonetheless. Even practical things can be fun.

Our Chanukah food is potato latkes. At other times of the year we bake latkes and they come out of the oven crisp and tasty enough to satisfy everyone but the Chanukah latkes have to be fried and they are the best. We always have them for dinner one night during Chanukah. We make a big pile and eat nothing but latkes  accompanied by plenty of sour cream and applesauce. I look forward to it all year.

Our Christmas celebration is just as important for the family and it also goes on for days, though not for eight of them. Sometime before Christmas we decorate the house. We don’t have room for a big tree but we set up a small table tree that Maura decorates with enough ornaments that it’s hard to see the green beneath them. I string lights around the living room to give the house a festive air and our gifts are piled on the piano and on the floor under the piano bench.  Most of them come from my parents.

The Christmas celebration starts on Christmas Eve. It starts with supper, always soup or chili. For me the most significant part of it is the evening service at my church with Christmas carols and candles. It always fills me with peace and joy no matter what emotions the season has brought to me before then. Since I worked in retail through the last ten Christmases I have been in dire need of both most years. When I get home we read “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” and Maura gets to open one gift before she goes to bed, my family tradition from my childhood. We let her pick one, but we won’t let her open the best one. She also makes up the plate of cookies for Santa, complete with a carrot for the reindeer.

In the morning Maura wakes to find her stocking filled with small gifts and one more present added to the pile from Santa Clause. If she is up before her parents she gets to explore her stocking, also a tradition from my family. When we were young my sister and I would be up by 6:00 am on Christmas but my parents wanted to sleep in. We could wait to open our gifts because we had small surprises small surprises to keep us occupied. It works with Maura, too. Once we are all up we enjoy our Christmas breakfast of Christmas cookies, clementines and eggnog lattes while we open our presents. It’s always fun to watch Maura open hers while the cat's chase each other through the piles of discarded wrapping paper.

Later we get to the best part of the day, dinner. Our Christmas dinner is always duck. We don’t eat duck any other time of the year but we all look forward to the Christmas feast and won't eat anything else unless we are having guests in which case we cook a goose. We always have shrimp as an appetizer but the rest of our meal is different each year. It is always carefully planned and lovingly prepared. We always finish with a decadent desert. We’ve never made the same dinner twice but it’s always a feast to be anticipated and afterwards remembered, my favorite meal of the entire year.

Fairs and Strolls

Last weekend my parents came for their annual holiday visit. It was a short one this year. They arrived from Indiana on Thursday and left again on Monday morning. We thought about doing lots of things while they were here but in the end we spent most of our time at home. We dined in local restaurants and did a little shopping but never went far. Our big events for the weekend were on Saturday and early on Sunday. On Saturday morning Maura’s school had its annual holiday fair and in the evening we went to the Holiday Stroll and Tree Lighting in Columbian Square, South Weymouth. On Sunday we attended a craft fair.

Maura was excited about her school holiday fair. She volunteered, helping with games for the younger kids, but she wasn’t needed for long. There were plenty of volunteers. She was happy that her grandparents could come and see her school. I don’t recall that they had ever seen the inside of it before. I admit that I begged off spending much time the school fair. I got a badly needed haircut while Maura was volunteering and only showed up for a short while. Maura didn’t seem to mind very much that I wasn’t there the whole time.

I was along for the trip to the Columbian Square Holiday Stroll but I wouldn’t have been upset to be left behind. It was cold and crowded and there was not much happening to excite me. Maura had a great time, though. She took part in the scavenger hunt that encouraged us to visit many of the businesses in Columbian square. I did a little shopping along the way but unfortunately my current financial troubles (I’m still unemployed) take what little joy I might otherwise find in that away. By the time we had completed most of the circuit, and Maura had claimed her prize, I was entirely out of holiday spirit. I’ve been stressed lately and I only hope I didn’t ruin everyone else’s night. I did manage to cheer up at dinner. Two bottles of Dos Equis beer and an excellent Mexican meal at El Serape in the Braintree part of Weymouth Landing were very good for my mood.

On Sunday we went to a craft fair at Congregation Sha-aray Shalom in Hingham, where Jennifer and Maura attend services. It was quite a large craft fair with about two dozen exhibitors. Most of them had beautiful things. I would have done some holiday shopping but the things I would most like to have purchased were too expensive for this year’s budget. We did pick up a few small things for Maura. Her grandmother bought her a bracelet of beads that turn from white to bright colors in the sunlight. She’s worn it to school every day since.