Santa Clauses has returned to the Natick Collections again this year. You can find Santa in the "expensive" part of the mall near the Coach store and Neiman Marcus. First off they do have a good Santa, no pulling on the beard to see if its real!

We went to see Santa on the first day he arrived at the mall, November 17, 2011, and were disappointed how unorganized that Santa helpers were. They were having all sorts of problems with the camera and some of the digital equipment and had to retake some customers photos because they were missing in the computer. We also had to wait longer because of the technical issues.

We were disappointed with the photo that we got and found that the photo that we took with our own point and shoot digital camera came out better than their digital SLR camera.

If you plan on seeing Santa at the Natick Mall, just be patience while you wait and be sure to bring an extra camera along with you.

We found that the photo prices are a little expensive for the quality of photos, but I guess that the cost of having a good Santa.

The distance from Framingham's Pearl Street Parking garage to the main waiting area of the MBTA train is .35 miles. Walking rapidly it takes about 6 minutes.

In Framingham there are various choices when it comes to finding a place to park when taking the MBTA. There's a couple of things to consider. Monthly cost, and the location of the parking lot to the train station in bad weather and those days when you might be running late to catch the train.

The main MBTA parking lot, which is operated by the Central Parking, is near Howard Street and the train station. Parking is $4 a day, and you can get monthly pass which costs $70 a month. The biggest problem with this parking lot is that it is always full. Monthly parking doesn't guaranteed you a parking space!

The Town of Framingham operates the following public parking facilities:

Pearl Street Garage - 289 parking spaces, located on Pearl Street, (across from the former Registry of Motor Vehicles).   Spaces are sold by monthly permit.   Rates are $65.00 per month for residents and $80.00 per month non-residents.   There is an attendant on duty from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Friday.   This is the best option, but a long walk to the train station.

Waverly Street Commuter Lot - 65 spaces located next to Republic Plumbing, directly across the Framingham commuter rail station.   Spaces are sold by monthly permit, rates are $90.00 per month.  Since this is the most expensive lot there are always spaces available.

Hollis Court Lot - 89 parking spaces located near commuter rail station.   Spaces are available for daily parking on first come, first serve basis.   Lot is lighted at night. Rates are $4.00 per day.

Alternative Parking Lots:

Silton Glass - Parking is within easy walking distance of the Framingham MBTA Station Rates: $5 daily, $20 weekly, $50 monthly, $550 annually 612 Waverly St., Framingham, MA

Columbus Club - on Fountain Street Carl D'Aveta, president for that organization, says the club has offered parking for at least five years at $40 per month. About 20 commuters park there.

Orlando Enterprises Dumpsters and Demolition Site - on Cedar Street, is also offering discount parking for commuters. They are located right across from the Train Station. There's a sign in the window to call them about the Commuter Parking rates.

This year I have seen quiet a few wild turkeys in the Boston area. I don't know if it's a population explosion or something, but it seems weird to see so many wild turkeys.

I have seen them in various locations in Framingham, near Cushing Park and in Lexington near Route 2. They aren't the same turkeys because of the different size and colors.

I don't know who the known predator of Turkeys, Wolves, Foxes?  I got a feeling next year that they will be a population explosion of them.

Also in the Cushing Park area a Red Tail hawk has been flying around. Usually you'll see some crows attacking the hawk. I suspect that the crows are trying to force the hawk out of its territory.

This weekend we put up shutters on 10 windows on our house. Here are some of the lessons that we learned:

Never move a ladder with a drill on the top.
This happened during the first widow and I ended up getting a cut on my face. Lucky for me it was a small cut since it could have been worst.

Make sure to measure all the Shutters before drilling them
We mis-calculated on the bay window and decided that larger shutters would be better. We couldn't return the other shutter since I already drill holes in them. This mistake cost us $30. Hopefully this advice will save you money!

Make sure to drill all the way in the house.
There are a couple of shutter holes that I didn't drill all the way in, and as a result the placeholder isn't all the way in.

Shop around for shutters.
Both Lowes and HomeDepothad shutters, but HomeDepot had enough supply on hand to meet our needs. Both stores had them in the Window department near the back wall.

It took about 15 minutes to do each window. Some of the windows took a little bit longer because they were high off the ground a little tricky to do. Also it was difficult to maneuver the latter around some bushes and flowers.

We found that it does take two people to put up the shutters, if you want to get it done right this isn't a one person job. Also it best to drill the hole locations in the shutters first then put the bottom of the shutter on the house. This way the second person didn't have to hold the shutter while getting saw dust in their hair.