Happy Birthday, Bean!
I thought about you a lot today - especially after seeing the Fred Claus movie. I hope your day was great, and I hope you got to spend it with Daddy. I love you!
Daniel Faulkner, Chuck Cassidy
I was 17 years old when Officer Daniel Faulkner pulled over a vehicle driven by William Cook. It was in the wee morning hours of December 9th, 1981. An altercation between Faulkner and Cook ensued, and Faulkner was able to call for back-up. During the altercation, Cook’s brother Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook) ran up and shot Officer Faulkner in the back. Officer Faulkner returned fire, injuring Abu-Jamal with a single shot to the chest. Abu-Jamal shot four more times at Officer Faulkner, hitting him at close range in the face. Abu-Jamal was found at the scene, in possession of the gun, which was registered to him. Eye witnesses identified Abu-Jamal as the man who shot Officer Faulkner, and at the hospital where he was taken for the treatment of his injury, Abu-Jamal allegedly confessed to shooting Officer Faulkner.
Surprise! Universal and Islands of Adventure
My plan for the day is to get up early and be at Universal early so we can ride all of the rides that Eilis wants to do and hit Islands of Adventure, then head back for a swim and some dinner. The way the plan actually worked was Jim and Eilis got up only after I made enough noise to be annoying, and they decided they wanted to go to the pool nowrightnowrightthisveryminutenowdidIsaynowImeantitnow. We headed down to the pool, where the water was like ice. Jim and Eilis found a beach ball and swam and played while I headed over to the hot tub - much more comfortable! The hot tub was very nice - there were two of them, both about 3 feet deep, which was nice. You could actually do a little floating or drifting around the tub. I liked it.
Boston Area Theme Song - Rain, Rain Go Away
So, after much wrangling with time and babysitters, Jim came home a day early and Brighid and I got to go on the college visits in Boston this weekend. In retrospect, all the obstacles placed in our way were well placed, as we ended up touring Boston during a Nor’easter - can you say “not fun” in a Boston accent? (it goes something like “Nawt fahn”)
Sea World Halloween Spooktacular!
Jim and I have not been to Sea World in many years, and when we were annual passholders before, we always seemed to gravitate towards Shamu’s Happy Harbor - the area of the park where the giant playground is. Eilis LOVED Sea World camp over this past summer, and has been talking about going back to Sea World ever since. When the weather threatened our trip to the beach, having Sea World right across the street from the hotel made it an appealing alternative, and to make it even more enticing, they are hosting the Sea World Halloween Spooktacular today (most weekends in October).