Tales from the MUP Hut

So much is happening I don't know whether to shit or go blind. I'll be brief.

My parents are redoing the house I grew up in. Siding, roofing, doors, windows, front steps, shrubs, and even the entire kitchen. It's pretty cool to go home each week and see what's changed.

My cousin Jamie headed back to Korea with the Air Force a couple weeks ago. We had a little cookout in Salisbury with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents to see her off. That morning I hilariously bumped into Jon, Kevin, and Alyssa at Stop & Shop in Amesbury whilst holding 4 pounds of hamburger meat.

After work the next day, I bolted to Beverly to see Ashley's kids at Camp Mitchman put on a stellar production of The Aristocats. It was adorable and hilarious. I was amazed to see what Ashley and Emma were able to do with a rag tag group of hooligans. Well done, fiend!

Marmaduke's birthday was on the 29th. I drove home and joined the rest of the family getting dinner at Not Your Average Joe's in Newburyport. We ate out on the patio, then surprised Gram and Daba at the concert out on the waterfront. It was a fun night!

Last weekend, Ashley and I snuck away to Maine. On Friday night we headed up to North Conway and where we grabbed dinner at Friendly's. As we walk in we notice the night manager... Don freakin' Bryant! Hah! Last time we were up there hiking Mount Chocorua with Jamie and Julia, we stopped at the same place and cracked up over this guy's name tag. "Friendly. You bet we are Don Bryant!" Still funny. Don't ask. Theron, our crack-up of a server, even got ol' Don to make a cameo appearance at our table. The awkward factor was minor, but we ramped it up a notch by getting a stellar photo of Ashley and DB.

The weekend was amazing, although it seemed like it might rain the whole time. Saturday night we crashed in the MUP Hut, Mean Uncle Paul's cabin that he built in the woods. Unfortunately, this meant we had to trek two mattresses down a muddy, sluggy path. Of course this was accomplished barefoot on my part, while Ashley found yet another use for those orange Crocs she bought for color wars at Camp Mitchman. Sunday turned out to be gorgeous. We went swimming tubing, rope-swinging, and soaked up every possible drop of sun.

Monday was our monthiversary. We celebrated with sushi at Bangkok Paradise where I finally asked our friend what his name was. Ben! Funny guy that Ben fella. We capped the night off with some painting and photos.