House of Stash

2011-12-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

We went to Burlington this past weekend to visit Curt and Kim. I found a great place to stay on airbnb.com. It's a converted carriage house to one of the large older homes that is now residential housing to Champlain College. We actually stayed in a small, beautifully decorated suite that doubles as an in-law apartment when visiting relatives are in town. You can see what once was the arched carriage entrance. The windows that are now in place look out from our sitting area. The second floor and turret are part of the main house.
It couldn't have been more perfect. It had one bedroom, kitchenette, sitting room, bathroom and a delightful hostess.

We got into town with just enough time to check in, and head right back out to watch Curt and Kim play soccer down in Shelburne. Fun to see Curt play again! and who knew Kim had those mad foot skills- not to mention the impressive job she did in goal for the last ten minutes of the match.
Time for a quick change for the kids and sandwiches on the road to our next venue: Warren Miller's "Like There's No Tomorrow" at the Flynn Theater downtown Burlington. We've seen a number of Warren Miller ski movies over the years and they never disappoint- great music, incredible footage laced with a little humor. Although I always feel they are just a tad too long- much like Route 89 going to Burlington.
After the movie we headed back to their apartment for a quick look (sorry- I don't have any pictures to share), then Flip and I headed back to our carriage house retreat. Justin stayed with Curt and Kim.
Saturday morning Flip and I went grocery shopping and headed back to the apartment to cook up a feast for later. Curt made homemade meatballs, and I made stuffed shells. We connected with Lauren, Steve and Emma at Vermont Pub and Brewery for some brew and snacks around 3. Then we all headed back to our homes, agreeing to meet around 7 at Curt and Kim's for our dinner party. Emma headed south.

dog days

2011-07-13T04:45:00.001-07:00

Flip has us all hooked up with floaties, complete with cup holders!
90 degrees and humid? Bring it on!

paint reveal...almost

2011-07-06T04:17:00.000-07:00

Stage two in the family room transformation at 73 Hillcrest took place two Saturdays ago. Who can forget "Stage One", when the shag carpet from the 70's got tossed out the windows and hauled away in Dave's trailer?

It took another year to convince Dad to let us paint over the paneling that contributed to making that room so dark. To his credit, it was top of the line back in the day, and I'm sure he paid a lot of money for it. I think the fact that Brenda, our professional painter friend, offered to help, finally convinced him it was time for the change.

I went down on a Friday night and got up first thing Saturday morning to pick up supplies at Home Depot. Once back at 73, I started in so the "Paint Boss" would see that I was no slacker. Brenda showed up a little after 9:00 and I really had to step up my game to keep up with her! The primer they sold me at HD was oil-based, which didn't set well with Brenda. She wasn't too hard on me though, understanding that I'm a rookie, and of course I'm going to get what the paint department people are going to insist is the only sure coverage for wood paneling. And cover it did! I primed the grooves with a brush while Brenda rolled, and Dad wandered in and out of the room making comments about changing his mind and wanting to wallpaper.

At some point we switched off and Brenda was doing trim while I rolled. This was when I got upgraded to a "big girl" tray for my paint...YAY! Once primed, we broke for a trip to down for finish coat paint and Subway. Quick lunch then back at it- no rest with the Paint Boss! She really could have her own show on HGTV.

Here's Paint Boss Brenda putting a second coat on the trim. This is the best picture I got of the wall color. I was dead set on a beige and Brenda wasn't going to have it. Soooo glad she convinced me. I think the Wedgewood Blue (Benjamin Moore) is perfect. Very beachy.

I know you are expecting to see a room shot here but honestly, after a long day of hard work, culminating with Maggie stepping in my paint tray and walking across the room with her painty paw, all I wanted to do was go home and have a glass of wine on my deck. So I left without the final photo.
To come...

in search of veggie burgers and cool typefaces

2011-06-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about goals for summer lately. Because the summer always seems to slip away from me leaving me disappointed that I didn't do all the things I thought I'd wanted to do. Today I decided that a good goal for the summer of 2011 would be to visit 11 classic hamburger joints. Unusual quest for a non-meat eater admittedly, but a challenge that I am up for nonetheless. It's not just about the food now. I have already made it into a study in signage and graphic design. But, you may have guessed that from the image I chose for the post. Rest assured, if I come across a great meatless meal on my quest, I'll take a picture of it.
First stop- Harry's Place in Colchester- serving burgers for 90 years.
The fish sandwich wasn't great- I imagine it's not what has kept them in business for 90 years. But I'd definitely go back for the typography.

about those toilet paper rolls...

2011-06-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure when or why it started, but when the cousins were all together for a weekend at Noni and Grampa Chuck's they would save all the used up toilet paper rolls and stash them all over the place. I was at Dad's this past weekend and saw a bunch of them in the magazine rack beside the toilet. Recently dropped there when the roll was changed, or leftover from the cousin's last visit or have they been there for years? Not a clue. But keep that family tradition going- those toilet paper rolls are art waiting to happen!

Junior Fritz Jacquet is the creative genius behind this toilet paper roll art.

family

2011-06-12T05:15:00.001-07:00

Emma & Jill

It was a celebration of epic proportions. Lauren's college graduation, Emma's grad school graduation, Dad's and Dave's birthdays. And, the rare occasion that all the cousin's were in the same place at the same time. Between food prep, serve and cleanup, it's always difficult to document the event. Invariably I am disappointed at the outcome. I did my best, and Nancy grabbed the camera to take some random shots too. The best of the best are below- sadly not many. I think there's enough material here to see that a good time was definitely had by all. Missing from the pictures: Dad, Randy and me. Missing from the event: Kim. As the summer progresses I hope to master the art of shooting people shots indoors. I really have to stop turning off the flash...

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

2011-06-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

Beautiful, fragrant, and they refuse to grow in my shady yard.
Thanks to my friend Cindy A. for keeping me in supply of peonies.
Happy weekend!

my addiction

2011-06-09T03:46:00.000-07:00

I am such a sucker for abandoned furniture. While I was on my morning walk last week I spotted an old dresser on somebody's front porch- with a FREE sign taped to it. I kept walking and a week later had all but forgotten about it until I saw this at Knack.

I retraced my steps on that morning's walk and as luck would have it, the dresser was still there and somebody was out gardening. It was meant to be.

I realize I have a problem with bringing home orphaned furniture. I have sought out the help of a support group. It's a group of one, and she has the same problem.

She supported me the other day by driving over in her van and helping me load this darling dresser and get it onto my deck where it will have a new home and a wonderful new purpose.

morning at the lake

2011-05-29T04:06:00.000-07:00

Before the jet skis and power boats churn up the water and turn up the volume...
Before the endless parade of loud motorcycles cruising to and from Angelico's Lakehouse...

When the fish are free to explore the water's edge.

And the geese and ducks feel safe to come ashore to forage...
That's when I love living by the lake.

sweet potato quesadillas

2011-05-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Justin came home the other night with a friend and innocently asked “heyyyyy.... what were you planning for dinner?” I wasn't expecting him, and was planning on spending some time in the garden before I made myself something quick for dinner, so I answered honestly: “sweet potato and spinach quesadillas“ He was speechless as his mind processed this information and struggled to come up with a Plan B.
I helped him out by offering up grilled cheese and french fries.

But I still made the quesedillas for myself:

• cooked sweet potato
(I use the ones that are wrapped and microwave in 10 min)
• fresh spinach
• cheddar cheese (any cheese will likely do)
• whole wheat wraps

Heat up a non-stik frying pan and drop in a wrap. No need for any butter, or cooking spray if using a non-stick pan.

Top with, in this order:
shredded or sliced cheese, spinach, sweet potato slices, another layer of cheddar, and the other wrap. Having a layer of cheese top and bottom helps "glue the wrap" and contents together. Heat over medium to low until cheese starts to melt. Carefully flip, and continue heating until everything is squishy melted and looks like this:

2011-05-20T04:51:00.001-07:00

Justin:
fast forward
intense
quirky wardrobe that he somehow pulls off
(black socks, red sneakers- who wears that?)

spring gardening

2011-05-20T04:14:00.001-07:00

Here's what's happening in the garden this spring:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The highlight for me is the lilac bush. I planted it by my deck about eight years ago and it has never bloomed until now! Well, I take that back- last year there was one bloom, and I was over-the-top excited about that! I had assumed that it just didn't get enough sun where it was and had resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to accept it for what it was- a non blooming lilac bush. It had really gotten too big to move so I had no other choice. I wonder if it just takes that long for a lilac to settle in?
Update on the robin's eggs: sadly, abandoned :(. I kept peeking under there to see if I could figure out a "schedule" of sorts that Mrs. Robin might be keeping. I wanted to powerwash the deck in the least disruptive manner. In an entire week of checking, not one sighting of any robin parent. It's a wonder that robin's aren't on the endangered species list between the bluejays and bad robin moms.

spring cleaning

2011-03-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Spring cleaning started in earnest two weekends ago. Nothing like clearing out a room to make you take notice of the things you walk by on a daily basis. An fall in love all over again.

A good friend found this piece at a Goodwill Store a couple of years ago. She called me from the store and described it. I had been looking for a server for our dining room and from her description, this sounded like just what I had in mind. And it was tagged at $56.00. She offered to sit on it until I got there. Which I did, in just under a half hour.

It was nearly perfect. I had to saw off about six inches from the legs for a better fit under the window. Tipped it over right there where it would stay, and cut with a hand saw. I also sanded and re-finished the top, with the intention of eventually doing the rest. Probably not. I think I like it just fine as is.

redundant

2011-01-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

Woke up to another 15" Thursday morning. Only 74 days until Florida.

enough of winter already

2011-01-26T17:06:00.001-08:00

I worry about Addie when it gets into the single digits. Blanket or no blanket? If she is without, I worry that she is too cold. If I put it on, I worry that she'll get tangled up in it because the buckle on one side is torn off. It doesn't matter that her owners insist that they have only had to blanket her once in 17 years.
I tried a new tactic this year. On the coldest nights I fueled her furnace with an extra meal late in the day. It worked. Now will I worry that she'll eat too much? Is that even possible?

I booked our flight to Florida for April vacation today.
That should help get me through this next storm.

art hop recap

2010-09-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

For one weekend in September, everyone in the south end of Burlington VT is an artist, and the South End Art Hop is the place to be and be seen. To quote Art Hop's executive director: "... a bloom of creative activity has taken root in a landscape of aging and vacated industrial buildings."..."the district comes alive during Art Hop like no other time of the year."
This event is a pure celebration of creativity. There is no judge or jury deciding whose work gets hung- if you have a place to hang your art, you are part of the exhibition. And we found art hanging in the most unexpected places.

We wove our way in and out of old factory buildings, some completely transformed into artists' spaces, and some still housing running businesses. Around every corner was a surprise. Imagine my delight when I saw this:

It inspired me to make this:

Here's some snippets from Art Hop. To feel like you've been there, go here.

:

cracks me up every time

2010-08-28T05:42:00.001-07:00

Seriously, I cannot stop laughing. Kim, Curt's girlfriend and Paddy one of his buddies.

block island biking beach and best cheesecake ever

2010-08-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

This Friday Nancy, Lauren and myself did a day trip to Block Island. We boarded the 8:10 high speed ferry from New London with our backpacks and bikes, and in little over an hour we were pulling into Old Harbor.
Once we retrieved our bikes that had been unloaded and parked by the crew, we pedaled off for a self-guided tour of the island relying solely on my memory of having been here twenty years ago and my uncanny sense of direction. A loop around the island presented tons more cars than I remember from my last visit... ditto for crazy people on mopeds. And I'm pretty sure this island used to be considerably flatter. With every hill we pedaled up I kept telling Nancy "it's all downhill from here". (I didn't have the opportunity to share that with Lauren. She was usually too far ahead of us.) Invariably, every time I made that promise, we came around a corner and were facing another hill. They were plentiful, but thankfully, short.
We took a break to check out Southeast Lighthouse, and got some 50¢ lemonade with a side of free stock tips from some young entrepreneurs. The lemonade was great, but the stock tip was somewhat outdated- "Apple Computers." "I love the gesture– big fan since the late "80's when I bought my first Mac, and if I had this tip ten years ago, I'd be buying your lemonade stand and a chunk of the island it's sitting on. Did I mention you make a great cup of lemonade?"

On our way back into town we finally came to downhill we had earned. I've never seen a sign like this. I can only imagine that the decision to install this sign was the result of countless tourists that came barreling out of control into the commercial district, gleefully capturing their reward after sweating out all those hills mentioned previously.

After our bike ride it was time to cool off at the beach. It's a short ride from town to State Beach where they go a long way to accommodate day trippers that are traveling light. There are changing rooms, and showers, and you can rent beach chairs, umbrellas and boogie boards.

When we'd had enough beach time we headed down the road back to town and stopped at the BeachHead Tavern for lunch and some well-deserved frosty cold beer. An hour or so to go until our 4:30 ferry back to New London gave us plenty of time to browse the many over-priced shops downtown. If you're not shopping for a t-shirt (why would I??) it's not easy to find a reasonably priced trinket. I did find a sweet mermaid bottle opener to bring home to Flip.

Once back onboard the Jessica W, we beat a "high-speed" path back to the mainland where we unwound from our daytrip eating cheesecake (thanks Lauren!) and watching Dave's new grass grow.

For the rest of the story... in pictures, go to my flickr photostream.

new studio

2010-08-08T04:54:00.001-07:00

Truthfully, it's a long way from being a studio, but it's cleaned up and I have this sweet table made out of stuff we already had- an old hollow core door and the legs to Gramma Martha's dining room table.
Fourteen years ago, this space upstairs in the barn was the inspiration for buying our house. At least it was for me. It was hard to see beyond the mess that was the interior of the house, but somehow perfectly clear to me that this attic space with big beautiful windows at either end was the ideal new home for my graphic design business.
But, over the last 14 years there has always been something else that we needed to spend money on that was more important than renovating this space. There still is I suppose... But for now, with a little elbow grease and a lot of determination I've carved out a creative sanctuary that I can escape to during the warmer months. And that's just enough to keep the dream alive.
Here's some advice from a wreckless optimist on how to keep your dream alive: Think small. That's right, small. We're used to hearing "think big". But often that "think big" mentality can be a little intimidating. Example: regarding my "new studio". Think big= insulate, outdoor staircase with entry from second story deck and sliding doors, re-wire and finish off space with awesome lighting and furniture. That sounds pretty intimidating, not to mention expensive.
Think small= get rid of the junk, sweep it up and make a table. Done.

weekend in burlington

2010-07-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

After 6 years of traveling to Burlington to pick up, drop off, or visit Curt, we have found our favorite landing spot to date. This past weekend we rented a condo in the heart of the city and became city dwellers for a long weekend. I found the condo on homeaway.com. I had tried this once before and it didn't work out. The owners sent back my deposit with apologies that their condo needed extensive maintenance that they hadn't anticipated. Personally, I think they sold it. I had seen it on realtor.com. So when I decided to try again, I was somewhat skeptical. I emailed the owners and after a little back-and-forth regarding dates and the rental contract, it looked like it was actually going to happen this time. When Meryl, the woman that owns the condo emailed me the contract she shared with me that her son had recently sold his screenprinting business in Burlington and moved to California. Small world. As it turns out, Curt bought his business from Meryl's son, Graham.

The condo we rented is in the historic Vermont House on the corner of Main and St. Paul, two doors down from the Flynn Theater, a block from Church Street, and a short walk to the waterfront. Perfect location. Our rental was on the fourth floor. It is filled with handcrafted woodworking and cabinetry by David Tanych, Meryl's husband, and paintings by Meryl. Windows facing Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks provided a new beautiful view each day. Depending on the weather, the Adirondack Mountains on the other side of the lake seemed to move closer, or farther away.

Our friends Cindy and Roger joined us. Here they are shopping at our "walk to" grocery store, City Market. It's like a small scale version of Whole Foods, and the only grocery store I've ever been in with Jimi Hendrix music playing in the background. Cindy flew through the store and filled our cart with the makings of a great dinner: shrimp, mussels, tomato, fresh basil (brought from her garden) fresh parmesan cheese and the makings of a creamy sauce that it all sat in. And of course, "ripping bread", which is not so much about the bread, but the art of "ripping it" rather than slicing. I was perfectly content to let Cindy take the helm in the kitchen. That girl has some mad cooking skills!

Curt and Kim joined us for leftovers later that evening after Kim got off of work. They had friends from Boston in town so they shared their time with us and their friends. Kim had to share her time with Garcia's Tobacco Shop as well. It's where she works. If they weren't visiting us at the condo, we were running into them on Church Street. They showed up at Sweetwater's outdoor cafe close to midnight Friday night just in time for Curt to eat our late night snack doggie bag. Good timing Curt.

Justin and Meg drove up Friday. They drifted back and forth between the condo and Curt's apartment where they slept. My only regret for the weekend was that we didn't get accommodations big enough for them to stay with us. Next time. I think they had a good time despite being left out of some of the activities... well, just the BrewFest. They walked around town and down to the waterfront, and figured out the closest pizza place that delivered using Meg's ipod. Smart kids, excellent pizza.

Here's Flip and Roger at the Vermont Brewers Festival down on the waterfront. The festival ran Friday night and Saturday with a total of three sessions. We had purchased our tickets back in May, and it was a good thing since the last session on Saturday night was sold out. Cindy's brother and sister-in-law came up to go but were never able to get tickets, so they did a dinner cruise instead. We tasted a lot of different beers in our little BrewFest glasses and I was well on my way to becoming an expert when the organizers shut down the festival an hour early due to threatening weather. So hordes of disgruntled beer drinkers left the park and headed up the hill to the bars in town and directly in the direction of the storm... The storm never amounted to much and I had seven beer tickets left!

The calm before the storm, or rather, the strange colored sky before the storm.

There's a great vibe in this college town. Even though it's summer and much of the student population is not in town, there's still a ton of activity into the wee hours of the morning. It was nice to get caught up in that flow of energy, then drift back to our beautiful sanctuary when we'd had enough.

Go to my flickr photostream to see more pictures of our weekend in Burlington.

UNKNOWN ARTS, Burlington VT

2009-10-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Curt and two partners purchased a screenprinting business in Burlington VT and opened up shop earlier this month. We spent this past weekend with him, tuning up the press, dusting the windowsills (me, haha) and generally hanging out in his new space.

The business is called Unknown Arts, and it's located in the south end of Burlington, away from the Church Street, mecca for Burlington's tourist population, in a lesser known "art district". The business purchase includes a market cart on Church Street where they can sell pre-printed T-shirts and promote their custom business.

Here's the building from the outside. Unknown Arts is on the second floor. No sign yet, but some creative graffitee on the window that I obviously didn't capture...

Here's the work area looking down from the loft. They are set up to screenprint garments and posters. That's a drying rack for the posters on the left.

There is a loft above the work floor that serves as the art department, client meeting area, and general business nerve center.

I created a little ambiance in the loft area that I'm sure was disassembled shortly after I left so the comfortable chairs could be used at the computer workstations. It's OK, I got my fix :~)

That's Curt at the computer, and Paddy, resident artist in the foreground. Paddy works with Curt at his current job (which he is going to keep until the new business is off the ground).

At one point Saturday night the whole gang was there. Way off to the right is Jonah, intent on tweaking the press to perfection. That's Scott in the foreground, one of the three partners. Dan is in front of him- the third partner and web wiz.

A view of the shop from the door where you enter. Beers are chillin' in the little fridge for when the work is done!

Looking the other way, towards the door. Washout station in the background, Flip and Curt adjusting the press in the foreground.

Wait... what's that little door to the right of the stairs?

Hmmm... on closer inspection it appears to be some sort of employee lounge! Haha, only Curt would empty a completely good storage space to make a fort for the employees of Unknown Arts to hang out in.

beach day

2009-08-18T11:24:00.001-07:00

Curt and Kim are visiting from Vermont so a beach day was definitely on the agenda. We had the perfect one yesterday at Scarborough. No need to go into too much detail. The pictures tell the story. See them here.

a weekend at home

2009-08-03T05:54:00.001-07:00

I hate that term "staycation", mostly because it has been way overused. But I like the concept of exploring fun, recreational stuff that doesn't require packing a weeks worth of clothes and toys (Flip) to go away for a vacation. In that spirit, I decided while I was doing my weekend "long run" on the airline trail that I would try to pack in as much local fun as I could stand this weekend. OK, so I already mentioned the Airline Trail. The Airline Trail stretches more than 50 miles from near the Connecticut River to the Massachusetts border. It is divided into two sections. The South Section starts in East Hampton and ends in Willimantic, with the Colchester Spur branching into the center of the town of Colchester. The North Section continues from Willimantic to Thompson and connects with the Massachusetts Southern New England Trunk Line trail. I love to run the trail because it's flat and shady and not jarring on the joints like pavement. Saturday I ran 3 miles out and walked/ran 3 miles back. It's quality brain time since fortunately, it doesn't take much thinking for me to put one foot in front of the other and truly, it's best not to think about how much farther I have to go. So, as I mentioned, it was during this Saturday am run that I was counting my blessings for having access to this great place and thinking about what else East Hampton has to offer.
Which led me to the Saturday morning Farmer's Market...

The East Hampton Congregational Church Farmers Market runs every Saturday through September 26th in the church parking lot. It features locally grown produce as well as locally made crafts. I think it would be a great place for me to sell this:

Don't ya think?
I went to the market with the thought that I would buy something fresh and local and make something delicious out of it.

While the leafy greens were beautiful, I had enough salad this week thank you very much. I'm thinking something sweet, so I bought peaches.

No, not these, even though these dogs were peachy keen... They belong to a friend, Linda May. They are beautiful, friendly and well-behaved. When I asked if they were high maintenance, Linda replied that they went to the groomer once a month. Must have been yesterday, I'm thinking... Absolutely gorgeous and well-loved.
Yes, so back to the peaches. I made this peach crisp. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. It was really good. Don't deny yourself the topping of vanilla ice cream.
But wait, back up. After the Farmer's Market, but before the peach crisp I found this strange toad on the deck.

He blended right in to the gray color of the deck but when I tried to encourage him to move on, he attached himself the the chair leg and proceeded to blend right in to that too. Me and Justin tried to get him onto the red Adirondack chair to see if he would turn red but he was having nothing to do with that. Then DeeDee got involved and Mr. Toad headed for the garden. Good choice.
Saturday night we grilled steak and swordfish then enjoyed wine and peach crisp on the deck with Cindy and Roger. I think we have enjoyed the deck more this summer than we enjoyed the pool for all the years we had it.

Sunday morning started bright and early with coffee by the lake. Even though the lake is right across the street it seems to take a conscious effort to go over and enjoy it. During the height of a hot summer day it gets pretty busy over there and it's just not that appealing to me. An early morning kayak, or simply a cup of coffee by the lake just feels like vacation. If an hour later I'm at my computer working, I'm more content to be there having started the day with a little lake time.

I rounded out my weekend at home by going to the YPCCA (Young People's Center for Creative Arts) production of Jesus Christ Superstar. I was blown away by this powerful production that’s all kids and comes together over the span of a four week summer camp. Can’ imagine that it could be that much better if it were Broadway- seriously.
I tried to cap off my "experimental" weekend with an evening kayak on the lake, but when I drove over much to my surprise the park was buttoned up with gates locked. And it was only 7:30. What's up with that?

dog day at the beach

2009-07-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we loaded the kayaks, beach bag, camp chairs, cooler and dog into the bus and headed down to the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme. The boat launch was crazy busy but we managed to squeeze our kayaks in between all the other kayaks, jet skis and fishing boats, then squeeze ourselves and the dog into our kayaks that were filled with aforementioned gear.
We paddled out with the tide to a sandbar beach only accessible at low tide. Good choice on our part since we now know that this is a nature reserve and the dog would not have been allowed above the high tide mark. Not a problem- there was plenty of territory to explore and plenty of time before the tide came in.

Although there was a lot of boating activity all around us, with the exception of a few kayakers that stopped by briefly, we were alone on our strip of the sandbar. I settled in with the "healthy" lunch I had brought and my book. Flip cracked open a beer and dreamed (out loud) of a salami sandwich on a hard roll while munching on dark pretzels. Poor guy...so deprived. He got restless soon enough and paddled out a ways to try some surf kayaking while me and DeeDee did some reading/sunbathing/napping.

We hung out on our little piece of paradise until the tide came in and our boats came up to meet us. Our paddle back to the boat launch was timed perfectly to enjoy the wind at our backs and the incoming tide.

last weekend

2009-07-16T17:53:00.001-07:00

Curt and Kim came home this weekend. First time we'd seen them since January! They rolled in around midnight on Thursday, Lauren came too, soon to be followed by the rest of the Vermonters.

Nancy and Emma arrived Friday morning, grabbed Lauren and headed to Niantic. The rest of us stayed behind to finalize preparations for Justin's graduation party Friday night. And when I say finalize, I mean work our tails off all day doing who knows what right up until the first guests arrive.
We probably had about 50-60 people including all of Justin's friends. The party was great fun and went well into the night with people dancing in the kitchen to DJ Kim's selections. I had some great pictures of the dancing, but they mysteriously disappeared from my camera. Here's a shot of DJ Kim the next day.

Saturday morning we were up an off to the Old Home Day parade party at friends who live on the parade route. It was also a celebration of their son's graduation. Good parade as always, but I do miss the fly-overs. Haven't had those for a few years now. I remember when we lived on Sears Place we would always have a big cookout on parade day with Grampa Charlie and Barbara, mom and dad, Nancy and her family and Dave and Jill. Good times!
So two parties down and one more to go, we head down to Niantic for the combination double graduation (Emma and Justin) / housewarming (Dave and Jill), extravaganza at Grampa Chuck's. Luckily all the preparation was done by Sue, Nancy and Jill because I was still exhausted from our party Friday night. It was great to see everyone- especially Barbara, Uncle Howie and Aunt Pauline and Pete and Lorraine all of whom we had not seen since last summer. Again... I had some great pictures that were part of that mysterious disappearing batch. I'm not pointing fingers but a couple of teenagers who will remain unamed were messing with my camera. Luckily this one survived:

So what's with all the goofy glasses pictures? They were Justin's signature "look" during the indoor track season this year. He even wore them when he had his picture taken for the Middletown Press All Area Indoor Track Team. Did I mention he was also class clown...?

Welcome to graduation day!

2009-06-23T04:53:00.001-07:00

A 911 call was made early this morning to rescue this poor horse from the roof of ehhs. Kudos to the brave pranksters that got him up there and kudos to the brave emergency responders who got him down. This is already shaping up to be a memorable day. Thanks to our favorite paparazzi, Cindy Abraham who is always at the right place with the proper attitude to get the best pics!

Shoreline Conference Meet

2009-05-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was the first of the championship meets for the 2009 outdoor track season. Justin was in 4 events: long jump (1st place), 100m dash (3rd place), 200m dash (4th place) and the 400m dash (4th place, 3rd time he's run it). All in all a very successful meet.
The highlight for me was when we were at the long jump pit and two uncles of an Old Saybrook athlete were telling me and Grampa Chuck to "watch this kid- he'll do 21 ft". The were talking about Jut, haha. When Dad pointed out that I was that kid's mom they confessed to be big fans of Jut's, and that they knew talent because they were track athletes themselves back in the day.
East Hampton girls' team took first place and the boys took second.
Next Tuesday is the Class S Championship. Keep your collective fingers crossed!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the long weekend was breaking in Dave and Jill's awesome new front porch. A couple of borrowed chairs, beer, wine, and the sombrero dish filled with chips and salsa... perfect!

Well, almost perfect. The "facilities" left a little to be desired!

Prom night 2009

2009-05-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Justin and Meg
Justin and Pat, dressed alike on purpose.
Right down to the matching Vans.

The group.
We had our own party bus.

Off to Skipper's in Niantic for fish and chips.

Coffee drinks, and then some... at the Black Sheep in Niantic.

Back on the party bus to drop in on the East Hampton parent prom parties- all of which were over by the time we got there...

Who Knew?

2009-02-08T16:24:00.001-08:00

Who knew that Justin could long jump 20"07.75?– farther than anyone else in the Shoreline Conference?
Not me.
Who knew that Justin could run the 55 meter dash in 6.88 seconds?
Not me.
Who knew that Justin's 4x2 relay team could pull a 1.37.55 for first place?
Not me.
As a newbie track mom I don't even know what much of this means.
This much I do know, Justin came home with a gold medal for all three events he was entered in.
Of the 77 points that his team scored, 22.5 were his.
I'm humbled, and I'm proud.
But I told him tomorrow he goes back to being a regular kid and he does his own laundry.
;~)

Farm Chores

2009-02-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Addie loves me. Can't you tell from the picture?
Actually she's trying to determine if I've hidden anything edible in my hat. She is soooo all about the food. (Apparently my arms aren't long enough to take a picture of me posing with a horse.)
When I came up the driveway this morning I saw four deer running through her paddock. That was my signal that along with feeding Addie, cleaning out her stall (that according to her owners she never messes in) and feeding the fourteen-year-old chickens- I needed to walk the electric fence to see if the deer had run through it. And they had. Luckily it was a quick fix and it was a beautiful morning, temperatures in the 30's and climbing.
And now it's time to snuggle in with my real best friend and watch the Super Bowl. NOT
(the Super Bowl that is). Yes, the tree is down and I let her take off the hat.

Track Mom

2009-01-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Cindy A. took this picture of me and Justin Friday night at the first of two Shoreline Conference indoor track meets in New Haven. It was a long but exciting night. Justin is in three events- the 55 meter dash, the long jump and the 4x2 relay. He placed third in the 55- though I still don't understand the timing since numbers 1-3 recorded the same time: 6.6 seconds. He was second by a half inch in the long jump -19' 4.5", and his relay team came out strong, but ended up in fourth place after one of the guys dropped the baton.
Monday was the second conference meet. Jut definitely redeemed himself in the long jump winning the meet with a 20' 5" jump- a personal best. The relay team smoked the competition coming in first way ahead of the pack. Not sure about the 55.

Found Art

2009-01-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

If you leave stuff on my computer, it just might end up on my blog.
I’m just sayin’.

My MLK Day

2009-01-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Another four inches of snow overnight, but at least it was warm enough to snow.

And for the last time! NO, it’s a camera and it’s NOT edible

What’s your pledge?

2009-01-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

As we approach the inauguration of Barack Obama there is much talk of all Americans pitching in to help fix what’s wrong with our country. Very reminiscent of JFK's inaugural address that prompted us to “Ask not what our country can do for us, but we can do for our country”, Obama’s call to service speaks to each and every one of us.
I have taken the call to heart and have been giving a lot of thought to what my pledge will be.
I’ve been volunteering at some level ever since the kids were little- helping 3rd graders with math problem solving, participating on the board of the daycare where Justin and Curt went, and serving as Middle School ski club chaperone for 4 years. Later, and currently I volunteer as secretary of the East Hampton Soccer Club, founder of EHSC Friends of Soccer and president of the East Hampton High School Sports Boosters.
Where do I go from here? While acknowledging that my plate is pretty full right, now, I somehow still feel the need to make a new commitment. I have an idea what it will be, but I'll think it through before I share.
How about you? Have you thought about a pledge?
MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge

Where’s Justin?

2009-01-17T14:41:00.001-08:00

This picture is a fairly accurate representation of the chaos of an indoor track meet- multiply this by four or five different events running at the same time and you get the picture.
We spent our day today at the Yale Relays watching, and mostly waiting, for Justin to participate in two events- the 55 meter dash which is over in about 7 seconds, and the long jump which seemed never-ending
Justin came in second in his heat for the 55 with a 6.89 second time. He didn't make the finals but finished in the top third. He jumped 20' 4", a personal best but an inch-and-a-half short of qualifying for the finals. All in all he did very well for a high end meet. Good practice for the conference meets coming up.
Did you find Justin yet? (hint: top picture)

Addie

2009-01-15T14:47:00.001-08:00

Meet Addie- my horse for the next three months. She brings a smile to my face every morning when I come up the driveway and she whinnies HELLOOOOO! and gallops to the fence looking for a treat. She stomps her hoof impatiently while I walk across the field like she's just a little annoyed with me for taking so long to get to her. In the picture above she's trying to determine if the camera is edible.
I make her wait. I like to go through the barn out into the paddock and feed her treats up close and personal. That seems to work for her. She can check my pockets for treats I may be hiding once I'm done handing them out.
And I've been told she'll eat anything. Stale donuts one day, week-old pumpkin pie the next. Neighbor Dave visits often, he brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some stale cornbread the other day.
This morning when I went up she had snow on her back and she was shivering. Luckily I'd been trained in putting her blanket on, though they told me it was unlikely that I would have to. Admittedly, I was a little nervous leading this 1,000lb+ animal into the barn to dress her for the cold, but together we did OK. 1,000lb horse or 14lb dog- just let them know who the boss is and you'll be OK.

Weekend at Bolton

2009-01-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

nostalgia

2008-12-31T09:45:00.001-08:00

I'm the new Horse Woman

2008-10-18T04:41:00.001-07:00

I always wanted a horse. And now I will have one. At least for three months this winter. I struck a deal with my neighbor up the street to feed Addie while they spend the winter in their mobile home in the Everglades. When I heard they were paying someone $17 a day to fill her grain bucket I blurted out "I'll do it for $10. I was thinking $12, but oddly, $10 is what fell out of my mouth. Still, some sweet cash. I'm sure that by spring Addie and I will be good buddies and I might even get to ride her on occasion.

Columbus Day Weekend

2008-10-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't guessed, my camera still has not been fixed or replaced so I am forced to get creative with my blog images. You're looking at Christopher Columbus Smurf. Who knew one even existed? What started out as a Google search for Christopher Columbus images led to the discovery of this crazy website dedicated to Smurf culture. Check it out. Good to know there's a place to get blue body paint just in time for Halloween.
The weekend got off to a great start with the high school boys moving into first place in the Shoreline Conference Friday night. It was a fast-paced nail-biter against Morgan down in Clinton. Their record is now 9-1-2 and they are number 3 out of 45 in Class S. A bunch of parents had to go out here in East Hampton to Governor's Tavern to celebrate after the game. Can't tell you when was the last time I was going out at 9:30. To bed yes, out??? Good times.
I started Saturday morning with a run on the Airline Trail. Gorgeous morning, lots of people out walking. I did 6 miles, a personal record.
A week later...
I guess I got busy and forgot to finish this post and now my feeble mind is having trouble remembering what I did for the rest of the weekend. I know it involved leaves and Advil. Hmmm, maybe my mind is blocking it out.

Welcome to my world...

2008-10-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Enough said?
The East Hampton High School Boys' Varsity soccer team is 5-1-1 and just over half-way through their season. I've only missed one game. Flip had t-shirts to print and I felt guilty going without him...
Jut's having a pretty good season. He's real fast. He's got "explosive, incredible speed" in the words of his coach. He gets that from his Mom ;~) LOL!

Running into Fall

2008-10-01T03:45:00.001-07:00

I was running on the Airline Trail Monday morning and there were little waterfalls that had sprung out of the rocks all along the trail after the heavy rains overnight. They kind of looked like this. I would share a real picture but my camera doesn't work so well since I took it kayaking and spilled my water on it. Not much blogging lately because posts without pictures are just too boring.

Here's a quick overview of what's been going on at the House of Stash.
Jut is enjoying his senior year from what I can gather. We seem to see more of him from the sidelines of his soccer games than we do at home. Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but since he got his car he's always on the go. And I can tell you a few places he's not going- to the Post Office to mail out any college apps, or on any college tours. Right now he's all about his senior year of high school. I have to keep reminding myself that we didn't look at colleges with Curt until November of his senior year and that all worked out fine.
Here's a picture of Jut's car before he pimped it out with some sweet wheels and a ridiculous sound system that allows us to hear him a full 60 seconds before we can see him.

I've been following a 10K training program for 7 weeks now in preparation for a race in Mystic on November 2. The race is the Tarzan Brown Mystic River Run. It's a 5.5 mile run that heads out from just off of Main Street Mystic and follows the Mystic River opposite the Seaport, loops around and comes back. I think I will actually be better prepared than when I ran it in 2001. Monday and Wednesday mornings I do timed runs on the Airline Trail. This picture is about where I turn around and head back. That little dark spot at the end of this long stretch is the entrance to the cool, shaded tunnel of trees that is my uphill path back to the parking lot.

Tarzan Brown, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939

Flip has gotten a little break from the crazy print schedule of the past month or so. He has used this time to list some of his shoe collection on eBay, including this pair of MBTs.
Any takers...? (Not for me, but that's Flip- always on the cutting edge of footwear.)

And lastly- we have finally launched dukescloset.com. We're currently accepting orders from friends and family who understand that we are still working out the bugs of order fulfillment...

Curt continues to thrive in Burlington VT. His website has been up and running for a while now and includes a front page blog. I love that idea! Have a look: curtcorp.com

Where did summer go?

2008-09-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

For the past two weekends we have tried to hold onto summer. Even though it was just Labor Day a few days ago, it feels like summer slipped away from us a few weeks ago. School meetings, soccer practice, and volunteer board meetings– all scheduled during August so we can hit the ground running as soon as school starts– have a way of stealing those last few weeks of August.
So it was with a fair amount of determination that we headed to the beach for the past two weekends. Beach days seemed to elude us this summer, with more than one planned beach trip foiled by forecasts of afternoon thunderstorms. In fact, that seemed to be the daily forecast for most of July.
On Labor Day me, Flip, Cindy and Roger headed down to the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme for some beach time. We headed out to Long Island Sound in our kayaks with coolers on board and beach chairs strapped to the back. We paddled out to a limited access strip of beach between the Sound and a salt pond. As we expected, the beach was pretty secluded except for a few occasional beach walkers. No umbrellas or wall to wall beach blankets, and much closer than the Rhode Island beaches that we love. Paradise.

Well, almost paradise. It seems that limited-access and a rocky bottom aren't the only reason this beautiful beach is uninhabited by humans seeking sun and solitude. Little black biting flies own this strip of beach. It obviously didn't bother the guys out surf-kayaking, and they seemed to leave Cindy alone. But, they LOVED me! So, I didn't do much sitting and reading. I kept moving- picking up shells, dead crabs and the like. Not the ideal beach day, but a great piece of summer just the same. Maybe next time I'll just plan on surf-kayaking.

Boating with Bud

2008-08-04T03:51:00.001-07:00

I was in such a funk yesterday after our beach plans got botched up for the second weekend in a row. Here it is August and I haven't been to the beach. It just doesn't feel like summer. Poor me! We didn't go last weekend because of the weather. This weekend it was because Flip felt pressured to clean screens and print to stay on top of the screenprinting. Geez, all we do is work! Where's the fun?
Yup, there was a real pity party for one going on here!
And then Bud called and invited us for a boat ride at 3 on the lake. He claimed to have a wine cooler with my name on it chilling as we spoke. We brought some snacks and beers and had ourselves a very enjoyable time out on Bud's pontoon boat for a couple of hours puttering around the lake.
That's Bud in the back of the boat with the life jacket on. That's the deal he's made with his therapist and Nancy, his wife- he can go boating, but he wears the jacket.
You see, Bud went in for surgery for a pinched nerve the end of May. Ten minutes into surgery his spinal chord collapsed and he came out of surgery a parapalegic. For twelve long days all he could do was talk and blink. He spent 7 weeks in rehab and has been home now for 3. He works with a therapist daily and has come a long way. He walked to the boat under his own power even though he has yet to regain any feeling from the waist down.
Bud is amazing and an inspiration. Throughout his ordeal he has maintained his sense of humor and his wisecracking personality.
Of all the people who could have dragged me out of my pity party, it was Bud. There's a message there, and I'm listening.

Saturday morning

2008-08-02T04:04:00.000-07:00

I keep my kayak in the back of the bus all summer long so that when I have a little window of opportunity I can drive across the street and launch for a paddle. Sometimes it's a workout, a "power paddle", and sometimes it's a leisurely tour. As many times as I have been out on our lake, I still see something new every trip. I like to hug the shore and check out the houses and gardens. It's usually early in the morning so there is never much activity besides a few fishermen and some fellow kayakers. But everywhere I look there are hints of activity that has been put to rest for the night most likely to be fired up later today- jet skis, motor boats, water trampolines and slides. Every type of water toy you can imagine resting on the lawns and docks of these waterfront homes.
To look at the above picture our lake could be a secluded spot somewhere in the middle of nowhere. A crystal clear lake surrounded by forest. Not at all. It's a green lake surrounded by homes. Every year a few more cottages disappear only to be replaced by million dollar homes, and every year the lake water turns green with algae bloom- a condition directly related to fertilizer run-off from all the lush green lawns surrounding the lake. Over developing is hurting our lake, yet people continue to invest tons of money in their waterfront mega-mansions. Admittedly, the lake is beautiful to look at (unless you are trying to see your feet as you stand in water that doesn't quite reach your knees) and the green factor doesn't affect me when I'm out for a paddle. But for swimming- I'll hold out for the salt water.

Breakin’ in the New Deck...

2008-07-24T04:54:00.000-07:00

We put the new deck to the test last Saturday night by hosting a party with 50+ guests. It was a celebration for no particular reason and an opportunity to have our friends Gary and Alyce– aka Hot Acoustics play for us. I think when you are surrounded daily by bad news like rising gas prices, falling home values etc, etc you have to make a concentrated effort to celebrate all that is good in our lives. What better way than to have a party with friends and family?

Party's are a ton of work especially if you are trying to finish a deck at the same time. We were working well into the night the day before the party, painting railings, securing posts, and cooking food, all in the oppressive heat that best describes Friday's weather. By the time we went to bed we were barely speaking and both wondering what were we thinking when we decided to host this party.

Saturday morning rolled around and Cindy S showed up to help me find my Zen. We detailed the downstairs of the house and the deck. The Hulls showed up with not only the bar stools I had requested, but the bar, the marguerita machine. the mixers and even the little umbrellas for the drinks! Cindy and Roger A dropped by with extra chairs and a beautiful table and chair set complete with tablecloth. Cindy S comes back with a trunk full of gorgeous floral arrangements, and Nancy and Lauren come to help in the kitchen and wherever else I need help.

Last night's anxieties and frustrations have fallen by the wayside...almost. Even though it looks like the party plans have fallen into place and it is going to be a great evening, it seems we will not be seeing Curt and Kim due to some transportation issues :~(
Or, will we??? One hour before party time they surprise us be showing up– the culmination of a hoax masterminded by Kim! We couldn't have been happier! Now it will be a party!

I think you can tell by the pictures that everyone had a great time, including me. Thanks to all of our friends who helped set up, brought delicious food, photographed the event, cleaned up the kitchen and kept the marguerita machine humming all night long we had a blast at our own party!
Let's do it again next year.
If you missed the link above, click here to see all of Cindy A's pictures. Once you are on the Flickr page, click on "slideshow" top right for best view.

Curt's sweet new bike

2008-07-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

Curt- this one's for you. Thought I'd use the opp to try this cool new free html to show you your new/used $59 bike. How sweet it is... the bike that is.
Love, mom & Dad

fillin' the hole

2008-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

We began the process of filling the hole where the pool once was. What a relief to be replacing that high maintenance, low use pool with a low maintenance deck. And the good news is- looks like it will be ready in time for the big bash on the 19th of July. Invitations will go out this week. If you are reading this, you can rest assured you are on the list. If you are say, like from New Zealand or something, and you stumble on this blog- email me and I will be sure to invite you too.
Anyhow- it was a busy, productive weekend here. While Erwin and crew were framing out the deck expansion, Flip and Jut crossed the 1600 piece mark on the massive Old Home Day print job. Another 300 pieces and we can really start our summer. I'm guessing the temp in the barn approached the 3 digit mark today. Where is that cold pool when you need it? Oh yeah, high maintenance.
Me and Dee, no slackers, were finishing off a new garden prompted by the hostas we scored from Dave and Jill's lot. We all worked pretty hard until a thunderstorm rolled through about 3:30 at which point we all ran for cover-especially Dee.

the governor and first lady

2008-06-26T09:09:00.001-07:00

Here's Curt and Kim on the steps to their new place. Apparently at one time the governor lived here-hence the post title. Curt and Kim's apartment is bottom left as you face the house. They share it with two roomates. It is by far the nicest place that Curt has been in since he moved off campus after his sophomore year. And the cheapest...go figure. Curt and Kim's room is the big one in the front, with a side door that leads out to a porch. These few pictures don't do it justice- it's spacious, comfortable and inspiring- every square inch of wall space is decorated with photos, paintings and special memories. It's like being inside a comfy scrapbook... with surround sound. The apartment has the character and charm of another time, with high ceilings, wood paneled walls and marble fireplace. It makes you wonder- at what point in time did someone decide to chop up the interiors of these grand old buildings and make apartments for college kids who may or may not appreciate and respect the building's history?
I'm sure Curt and Kim do.

When Curt was home this past week he spent a good amount of time going through our LPs in the basement and took over 100 back to VT with him. I bought Flip a USB turntable for a late Father's Day gift and Curt will contribute by converting LPs to digital- something I'm sure Flip would never find the time to do.
I drove Curt back up on Sunday and checked out the new digs and enjoyed a reallllly good dinner prepared by Kim. Spent the night at Nancy's and headed back home Monday morning.
Nice little getaway.

hotter than hot

2008-06-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

Dammit! Where is the pool when you need it? But seriously, no regrets (maybe a fleeting moment). We sold the pool for the second time a few weeks ago. We listed it last year and sold it, but the people who bought it never came to pick it up. Even though they had paid for it. The husband didn't want it and I guess it was more important to him to not have a pool than get his money back, if that makes any sense. So we sold it again, this time for more money-what with inflation, the price of gas, milk, everything... So this woman from New Britain shows up with two teenage boys (who clearly didn't want to be here) to dismantle the pool. That was the deal- buyer takes it down. Made sense since they would be putting it back up. Flip had just come home from work and was planning on going right to bed because we had plans for the evening. It was apparent right away that if we wanted that pool gone before day's end we were going to have to get involved in a big way. Well a bajillion screws and 4 hours later it was dismantled and loaded onto their pickup truck. I still can't believe they fit it all- solar cover and reel too.
So now we have a dangerous drop off, but a nice soft landing in sand. Erwin, the guy who framed the original deck has been out to measure and should have us finished off by the big party with Hot Acoustics July 19.

And while we were suffering in 99+ degree weather for the past few days, without a pool, Jut was out in the even hotter barn printing t-shirts of one of his teachers. He did two different designs and sold them to kids at school. Some kids even bought both, or I should say "ordered" both. I think he has a lot of collecting to do, but fortunately he has a business manager- 2nd best girl friend Meghan. This teacher is wildly popular with the kids and has been wanting his own t-shirt since Curt was at the high school. I think Jut sold over 70 shirts, so if he collects on all he should do pretty well.

prom

2008-05-25T04:11:00.001-07:00

Jut and one of his best buds, Andrew Kemp.

A couple of the group shots. Amanda in lime green is Jut's best girl friend. Meghan in kelly green is probably second best. Apparently he likes girls who like green... His date is not here yet.

The limo ready and waiting to take the group to the high school for the Grand March. Unique to East Hampton I think, the Grand March is where the kids going to the prom are "presented" to their adoring public. It's held in the auditorium and each couple is introduced by announcing the girls first, then "escorted by...whoever their date is. They enter from opposite sides of the stage, meet in the middle then walk together out of the auditorium. This event usually draws a huge crowd.
In this picture Justin's date, Maggie has yet to show because her hairdresser was late. Liz (in blue) is waiting for her date Mike who is with the baseball team busy winning the conference title.

Finally, Maggie makes it in time for the Grand March.

Dad's New Garden

2008-05-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday in Niantic

2008-05-13T05:06:00.001-07:00

I spent Saturday in Niantic sprucing up the CT house for Dad's arrival in a week or so. I started the day detailing the inside of the house. Granted, much of my detailing will be lost on Dad, but I'm doing it more for me anyhow ;~). Dave made me lunch-tuna sandwich and an awesome salad and when I went back down to Dad's the sun was out. At this point yardwork seemed much more appealing than more dusting and vacuming, so I switched gears. Dad and I had talked about splitting the hostas in Mom's garden out back and bringing them up to the front of the house. Seemed like the perfect day to do that. I cleaned leaves out of the garden, dug, split, moved etc. Can't wait to get back and see it next weekend. I should have taken before and after pics, but I was up to my elbows in dirt and way too obsessed with finishing to take a photo op break. I will take pictures to share next weekend when I go back to finish the inside.
And yes, I did move some furniture around before I headed back home.

the road home

2008-05-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to grabbing these images from my camera. They were taken on the way home from graduation weekend.

Jut sleeps peacefully beside his newly procured stash of Arnold Palmer iced tea...

and Dee wonders why she can't ride up front on my lap for the next 4 hours.

the graduate

2008-05-03T13:45:00.001-07:00

Curt "ends his school zone" graduating with honors, on May 3, 2008.
We couldn't be prouder!

FL2008.3

2008-04-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

I posted some of the pictures. Still have to get Cindy's, but here's a start.

FL2008.2

2008-04-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

Day two I am up bright and early for a sunrise walk to the corner. I met a crazy dog on the beach that was burrowing for sand crabs. He sticks his nose in their holes to sniff them out, then digs with reckless abandon until the crab comes out. At this point the crab is ready for a fight and the dog is ready for breakfast, I guess. Good thing he as a human at the other end of his leash that is not about to let him get into it with this feisty crab.
Later in the day we go back down to the corner to Hurricane's for lunch. Matt thinks he wants the ridiculously hot wings. The waitress brings out a small cup of the sauce for him to taste and he is still insisting he can handle it even while he is breaking into a sweat and his eyes are tearing. It's when she tells him not to touch his eyes and to wash his hands before he goes to the bathroom that he finally backs down to the next hottest. I'm pretty sure some of those came home and stayed in the fridge for the rest of the week.
Later it was off to BJs to stock up on YooHoo and such.

FL2008.1

2008-04-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm working on putting my FL pics on Flckr because there are too many to post here- between mine and Cindy's which I have to get copies of tonight. But, I thought I better start telling the story of FL2008 before I forget, because you know, the mind just doesn't hold things like it used to do.
Now, where was I?
;~) Geez it's easy to amuse myself!
The first day didn't start out so great since we got to the airport and learned that our flight was delayed 2 hours. While my bag was going through the x-ray machine my phone was ringing. You guessed it- it was Delta alerting me to the delay. Would have been nice if they had called me TWO HOURS AGO! (Read that and imagine Adam Sandler saying it.) No big deal, they can't steal our sunshine. It's still early in the day and we have a direct flight.
Fifteen minutes to our new boarding time we are told that the flight will be delayed two more hours. OK now they're stealing my sunshine! but, 10 minutes later they are telling us we will be boarding shortly. I think they did that on purpose. Get everyone realllllly pissed, then take it back 10 min later and everyone is so overjoyed they forget all about the 2-hour delay because it could have been a 4-hour delay. Or not. I think it's something right out of their customer relations tactical handbook.
So that was the big event of day one. The rest followed the typical pattern- Dad and Sue pick us up, we eat Goodfellas do some night swimming and bask in the glory of being on vacation.

Florida Overdue

2008-04-25T04:02:00.000-07:00

I realize I am way overdue on posting about our Florida vacation. My apologies. It's just that I am so exhausted from the ordeal of having to search for fun. Where did Dave put it all? He obviously used way too much.
Every day and night all we did was look for the leftover fun scraps. Often to no avail. Exhausting.
I am on the road to recovery though and hope to have some energy to post this weekend.

Girls' Weekend Boston.2

2008-04-01T03:17:00.001-07:00

Emma's front door and Emma in her apartment. Where the journey begins.

Walking the streets. Emma said is was like 3 miles. I say more like 30. Well, you have to consider all those laps around Crate & Barrel. Three floors no less.

Rich & Patty. Rich is back from LA for good. He is almost finished with his book on couples counseling. Then once he is discovered by Oprah Patty can retire.

Great meal at Al Dente in the north end. It looked exactly like the place we ate last year- also in the north end. Maybe they are all the same?

Group shot outside the restaurant before we headed over to the imax theater to see U23D. Great subject for the venue. When that guitarist swings sideways you want to duck to avoid getting hit by his giant guitar. And the waving arms in the foreground seemed like they were in our audience rather than on screen. sucks that you have to give those glasses back. Not like they would do you any good in real life. Not like x-ray vision glasses.
Sadly, we didn't have the energy to hike back up to the north end to get cannolis at Mike's. That worked out OK though. I got Ben & Jerry's back at the hotel and that allowed me the unique experience of having ice cream for breakfast. Great way to top off the Boston experience.

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T03:48:00.001-07:00

I started the holiday weekend in sort of a funk. Saturday morning at Jazzercize the girls were talking about their family plans for Easter Sunday and I started feeling sorry for myself because it was just me, Flip, Jut and Grammy. Not the Easters I remember with Nancy and her crew down from VT, Dave and Jill, Mom and Dad, the Easter egg hunts in Noni's backyard, coloring eggs with the kids at Noni's kitchen table. Shopping at Ben Franklin's for goodies to fill the Easter baskets. Filling the eggs for the hunt, hiding the baskets etc., etc.
Nope, just a simple lonely dinner. Just another day. Boo hoo for me.
Snap out of it already. At this point I had done nothing to make the day special and truthfully if I didn't do it nobody would. So I put on my game face and went out shopping for Easter basket goodies. That got the ball rolling- when doesn't candy lighten the mood?
From there I turned to my second all-time favorite thing to do- decorate! I got a $4 bunch of flowers at Shaw's, added some artificials that I had in the attic and put the whole bunch in a beautiful vase that I got last Mother's Day from Curt and Kim. When I finished the arrangement I knew I had to climb up to the attic in the barn to dig out the mystery pink dishes. I call them mystery dishes because I have no idea where they came from. They were with a bunch of stuff that Mom had left here after one of our joint tag sales, but I don't remember them from home. Somehow they remind me of Aunt Peggy's cottage so I'll just call them hers. And now I guess I'll just call them my Easter dishes. Wow, how frivolous, special dishes for one day!
So, it was a happy Easter after all. And Cindy and Roger stopped by for a few glasses of wine at the end of the day and we talked about our FL vacation coming up in just over 2 weeks!!!

the even more perfect day

2008-03-03T03:46:00.000-08:00

How do you begin to describe the even more perfect day? Maybe I should start by clarifying- the even more perfect day of skiing? I mean, surely there must be more perfect... memorable...important?? days other than a day of skiing with my sister?
Maybe not.
It all started with a plan that just didn't work out. See The perfect day. (Be sure to read the comments to get the whole story.) Wednesday of this week I get a call from Nancy telling me that Pico got 10" of snow overnight. I think she was challenging me to follow through on my suggestion that I sneak away sometime before the season is over for a little skiventure. I go into an immediate flurry of indecision... should I go? Is this irresponsible? What would I be neglecting? Can my family surrvive without me? (shame on me for letting that question enter the equation!). Anyhow, it took me almost 24 hours to come to the realization that this was really a no-brainer for the following reasons:
• my sister is my best friend
• we didn't get to ski together last year because of her surgery
• we weren't going to get to spend April vacation in FL together
• there was 10" of new snow
• I had a gift certificate for $25 to Pico and Nancy had another $15 discount (it would cost me a whopping $9 to ski for a full day)
• and last but not least, I was the one that suggested I should run away for a skiventure
So by now you must be wondering why it took any time at all to come to the conclusion that I must go north.
I think maybe the real thing that was holding me back was the idea that if I were to go up to ski I should make a visit to Curt part of the trip. And that's the part that was complicating it for me. I really miss Curt and Kim but I just had so much time and I needed to do what I needed to do. Period.
And that was to spend some quality chairlift time with Nanc. I know Curt would understand.
So I left CT around 3o'clock Thursday afternoon, had a cup of chili from my favorite pitstop in Chester VT and was at Nancy's before 7. Just in time to share a bottle of wine and some snacks before packing it in early for the night.
When we got up Friday morning it was in the single digits. Balmy compared to Island Pond up in the Northeast Kingdom which was reporting -36º. We thought we would hold out for double digits before we headed up to the mountain.
We got up to Pico sometime between 10 and 11 I think. Lauren sent Nancy a text message just as we were driving into the parking lot telling us to have fun skiing. We agreed not to challenge ourselves and stick to trails that made us feel like good skiiers, which of course we both are but you know how some of those black diamonds can make you feel a little off your game... ;~)
I was so amazed at the lack of crowds that I had to take some pictures of all the people that weren't there. Very unlike my two trips to Mt. Snow this year. We practically had the trails to ourselves and the conditions were perfect. the only ice I saw all day was hanging vertical off the roof of the lodge. We took a short break after about six runs, mostly to warm up a little and spin the neck gaitor around to a dry spot. Yup it was maximum coverage, no skin showing. (That's why I had to explain in the picture of me above that I was smiling.) Unfortunate that we opted to ski a little more and work up an appetite for burritos. When we came in hungry at 2 the burrito bar was closed for the day. We grabbed a quick bite at the regular snack bar and went back out for our last runs of the day.
Driving down the mountain road we fantasized about going home to our mountain retreat with it's hot tub and gourmet meal waiting for us after which we would watch an excellent movie in our home theater.
It was more like excellent homemade pizza and fall asleep in front of the TV. We were both waiting for 8:00 which seemed like a more respectable time to go to bed than 6:30.

the perfect day

2008-02-22T03:50:00.000-08:00

Spent the perfect day at Mt. Snow yesterday. The original plan was to go up to Nancy's, ski with her at Pico, spend the night and head up to Burlington for a quick visit and a meal with Curt and Kim. Jut was willing to go wherever I wanted to but he was really campaigning for Mt. Snow because a group of his friends were going to be there. So in the end I chose the least complicated plan and settled on a day trip to Snow where Jut would at least have someone to ski/ride with. I made the traditional chocolate chip cookies that are a must with any ski trip and went to bed not really looking forward to the trip. I pictured a long day of battling the school vacation crowds and trying to keep up with the Price family. Reilly Price is one of Jut's friends who was up there for the week. I love her parents- we skied with them last year during vacation week. They are season pass holders and ski at Mt. Snow all winter. And hence, they are really good and ski pretty fast. Now I'm a capable skier and can hold my own, but I like to ski at my own pace and if I find a trail or two that I love- I might just want to ski them all day long.
We left the house around 8:00, but by the time we gassed up and picked up Jut's friend Maggie we were not really on our way until 8:30 or later. It was a little after 11:00 when we got to the mountain, so we opted to have lunch and hold out for noon to buy afternoon tickets at reduced prices. In doing so we avoided the lunch mob scene and saved $30- exactly the amount I spent on gas.
Justin and Maggie went off to the bunny slope since this was the first time Maggie had skied in seven years. I skied alone for the entire afternoon and it was one of the best ski days ever! Singles line, no waiting, two quick breaks to warm up and hydrate, and at the end of the day, the kids were waiting for me.
On our way home we were stopped at a traffic light in the center of Wilmington and who do we see waving to us from inside the restaurant on the corner? The Price family! And then, after a day of excellent skiing, I felt bad that I hadn't run into them to share my perfect day.
Go figure.
Oh, and to top off an already great day- Flip made awesome chicken and it was all ready and waiting us when we got home.

snow day

2008-02-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Curt sent me links to his facebook photo albums- lots of Utah pics that I hadn't seen. And some, including these, from Bolton. He sure is lovin’ life in Vermont!

mt. snow

2008-02-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

pbj sandwich slightly squished, standard ski/snowboard outing lunch fare.
Good day on the mountain with our half price tickets courtesy of CT Ski Council. The summit was closed because of high winds, but there were still plenty of trails for us. Jut and Matt rode together all day and met me for lunch. I skied single because Flip had to work. Really enjoyed myself at my own pace and singles lift line is the place to be.
To the front of the line, no waiting.

Dave wanted a pirate hat too

2008-02-01T08:38:00.001-08:00

my day at the casino

2008-02-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

Me and Flip went to Foxwoods yesterday. We were actually going to a trade show that one of our main garment suppliers was hosting. We went to touch and feel t-shirts because when you're in the biz you just can't get enough of that. It was our first time there so we got lost. I mean, we found the place alright, but we got lost once we had found it, if you know what I mean. Should have just followed the trail of overweight, seedy looking characters. Ashamed as I am to admit it, that describes the majority of people in our business. After we fondled, sniffed and rolled around in all the 100% ring-spun cotton we could handle in one outing we stood and watched a direct to garment printer spit out full color t-shirts at a rate of 1 every 90 seconds. All that and more could be ours for 20 grand. I had the guy print out a ROI (return on investment) spreadsheet on the back of a white T and I told him I would sleep in it.
On to the casino.
Just to look.
Wow- can't say I've ever seen anything quite like it. Slot machines- kind of sad. Lots of elderly yanking the bar smokin’ their cigs hoping to win big before they die of lung cancer I suppose. Like I said, kind of sad. But probably not for them, they're probably having a good time. What do I know- please let me have something better to do when I'm old.
Crap tables were far more interesting. Every player has their little routine they go through before they roll, like this one guy had to place his dice in the exact same spot, same numbers up, then pat the table gently three times then rub the table three times counterclockwise. I couldn't figure out if this helped or not because as much as this kind lady that was keeper of the chips tried to explain what was going on to me- I just wasn't getting it.
Wish I could have taken a picture to illustrate this experience but the guard told me that just wasn't allowed. Hmmm...wonder why.
So I leave you with this picture... Those cute little underwears were in our sample box from the trad show. Flip thought it was some kind of hat.
PS- I make no apologies for my posts. If it makes me laugh until tears are rolling down my cheeks, it's going up. ;~)

memo

2008-01-31T03:46:00.000-08:00

Holy macaroni, Batman is coming at 4:30! Will he be staying for dinner? What will we have?
Not much going on around here these days. Of course how would I know? I may be missing some appointments, dates, scheduled fun etc... because someone keeps erasing important memos to draw pictures of presidential candidate look-alikes.
Heard from Curt today- his computer is acting up since someone’s guitar fell on it. News was a little better last night when he emailed me to say he was able to retrieve all of his Itunes playlists. And here I was wasting worry on lost schoolwork.

gangsta

2008-01-30T04:27:00.000-08:00

I was looking through my iphoto library for a picture for a project this morning when I ran across this. Does Jut have a secret life as a gangster? If any of you have any insight to this bizarre photo, please let me know. We may have to stage an intervention

inverted

2008-01-29T04:58:00.000-08:00

and this is how Flip un-does from the holidays. He inverts. Damn those infomercials.

calming

2008-01-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

The mantle was the last holiday decoration to get... well, "dismantled"- with the exception of the masthead for this blog, that is. I think I enjoy the undoing almost as much as the decorating. It always feels good to clean up and start fresh. No more over-decorating, over-spending, over-eating, over-drinking, not for a good 11 months.
Been pretty busy the last few weeks working on a blog for Red Barn Studios hoping to re-connect with some clients I haven't heard from in awhile and possibly hook up with some new ones. After the flurry of screenprinting activity right up to the new year, things have slowed down to a manageable pace. Again, time for cleaning house... or office...or barn.
Not the basement though, haven't been back down there in over a week. Little progress, but moving forward.

chaos

2008-01-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

Below the surface of this organized household (well, I try...) lies a different beast.
Its name is chaos.
In the spirit of the new year we launched a basement cleaning event this weekend.
Let me re-phrase that:
In the spirit of the new year I launched a basement cleaning event that I hoped with the right promotion, my family would join me at. I promoted short 2 hour shifts, and the promise of cash earnings from items that I would post on Craigs List.
I didn't get much response.
The closest thing I got to help was Flip identifying things that I could get rid of while he worked on his skis.
And Jut did go out to the barn and get some boxes for me.
I have to face the facts, they're just not as passionate about organization as I am.
Or, they're oblivious the chaos.
Regardless, I stuck to it for as long as I could bear to, and then I took the dog for a walk. I realize now that this is not a weekend project, but rather, a winter-long project. With that in mind, I'll try to stay optimistic even though it may look worse down there now than when I started. It would have been a slam dunk if we had a dumpster, but I am trying to recycle as much as I can through donations to Goodwill, postings on Freecycle, and for anything of any value, listings on Craigs List. So, this will take time.
Watch for the sequel to this posting titled "order". Just don't expect it any time soon...

a dog and her bone

2008-01-09T16:46:00.001-08:00

I find this damn bone in my bed every night. She's been working on it since she got it on Christmas. Maggie, how you doing with yours?

chain of fools

2008-01-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an incredible 73 degrees on the bank thermometer! That always reads a little high so I figure it was in the mid 60s at least.
I walked the lake walk in the morning and took this pic. That hazy fog resulting from warm air over ice I guess, made a nice backdrop for this funky old tree on my friend Nancy's property. I was inspired not only by the warm weather but by a blog I stumbled on. It's about Rosie, a 57 year old woman who is running around the world. She chose a route that puts her on the most land and the least sea. And that's way up there in cold country! Hey, if Rosie can walk around the world, I can walk around my lake.
Danielle called later in the day to ask if she could borrow my bike to go for a bike ride with DJ. When they came back from their ride DJ confessed that he lost the key to the barn. Luckily we had a spare, so they went and had an extra made and replaced my keychain with 3 links of heavy-duty chain. So, "chain of fools" replaces the lost keychain "I'm surrounded by idiots". That'll do.
Jut had his first practice for indoor last night. It will be fun to see our soccer friends again, but there go our Saturday nights. Oh wait, soccer is our social life...

post holiday postings?

2008-01-08T03:27:00.000-08:00

Dad phoned yesterday to tell me that he had just checked my blog and it had not been updated recently. I explained that it was a holiday blog and I had only promised new posts up to the new year. Afterwards I got to thinking that him being all those miles away from his family for all those months that was not the answer he wanted to hear. So, I guess I can change the masthead and keep it up. It will force me to live an interesting life so my posts will be worth reading. How's that for putting the cart before the horse?
It is so quiet here now that Curt and Kim are back in VT and Jut is back to school and his busy social life.
Curt and Kim were up bright and early on their last full day in CT. They worked from morning til late at night creating t-shirts and custom hoodies, taking a break to go to Taco Coral with Phil, DJ, and Danielle. When they came back there was a whole crew out in the barn printing and drinking beer. I made lasagna and a veggie calzone and finally convinced them to come in for a food break at about 8:30. Not sure what time they finished up, but this is what I found on the kitchen table when I got up this morning.

New Year's Day at the Evertson's

2008-01-02T03:43:00.000-08:00

The last official party of this year's holiday season, though I don't think the celebrating will stop around here until Curt and Kim head back to Vermont this weekend. Justin couldn't join us at the Evertsons because he waited until the last day of his vacation to do his history project...

back home and in our jammies

2007-12-31T17:37:00.001-08:00

Some special drinks compliments of Curt and Kim then off to dinner at Cherrystones. Justin was eating Chinese at Ali's house then go to a party with friends. Dinner was really good- we all had seafood and brought home leftovers. It's 8:40 now and Curt and Kim are napping before they go to their party- a short walk from home. Me and Flip are going to put in a movie, sip some hot chocolate with Kahlua, then fall asleep before the movie is over and certainly long before the ball drops at midnight. Ahhhh, the perfect New Year's Eve!
Happy New Years Everyone!

left behind

2007-12-31T13:26:00.001-08:00

Tonight we will head down to Cherrystone's to meet Dad for an early New Year's Eve dinner, and unfortunately somebody will be left behind. If all goes well though we will all be back home in our jammies by 9 to snuggle in with our pets.

more experimenting

2007-12-30T17:16:00.000-08:00

Curt picked Kim up at the train station in Hartford at 5. We are SO HAPPY to have her here for the week before Curt has to go back to classes! We had a lovely dinner and Dee waited patiently to lick Flip's plate. He doesn't know though because he has his eyes closed since that what he does when I take his picture. He also doesn't know that Kim is doing that 2 finger thing behind his head. That makes him the devil, right?
Please note that my pictures are relatively in focus and warmly lit. Too bad I wasn't armed with this information on the night of the party.

what to do with all those bad pics

2007-12-30T08:38:00.001-08:00

disguise them as art...
again, if you have any good pics from last night email me ;~)
(click on image to see it big and read captions)

and she wasn't even at the party!

2007-12-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get up and look at my pictures from last night's festivities.
What a disappointment! I have so much to learn about this camera that I've had for a couple of years now. Indoor people shots continue to be impossible for me. I thought I had the over-flashed, washed out thing licked by making adjustments in Photoshop. But, with last night's pics that wasn't the problem. They all came out blurry. I thought that the exposure seemed extra long when I was shooting pics. I had fooled around with some settings and I guess I should have left well enough alone.
Needlesss to say, I was really disappointed. So, Dave and Nancy, if you took some good pics, please share. I will post them here as a proper finale to the holiday blog.
PS- I fooled around with the exposure settings and I think I can get the flash pictures I want now. (See picture of cat above). I guess we need to have another party!

Curt and Miss

2007-12-29T04:31:00.001-08:00

The Day After...

2007-12-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

It's the day after Christmas and I have enjoyed picking up the rubble at a leisurely pace. I had to get out of the house around 3- little touch of cabin fever I guess. I went to Marshalls to see if there were some awesome holiday decorations on sale. There sure were and who do I run into but my friend Kim who turned me on to this after Christmas sale in the first place. I got two beautiful topiary trees for the mantle and two bunches of red silk amarylis. Not sure where they will go. Christmas is over and I'm still decorating. Well, the holidays aren't over. We still have the family Christmas after Christmas party on Saturday night.

So this is Christmas?

2007-12-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

OK, I was wrong. This year was no different. I was not a photographer on Christmas. I was a chef, house cleaner, last minute gift wrapper, entertainer...whatever. But not a photographer. Here's my meager visual contributions to the day.
Pretty pathetic...
Jut & Ali off to find friends after dinner
Cindy and Roger- they came at 4 with snacks and Night at the Roxbury.
The traditional Christmas morning fire.
Not pictured:
Curt, Grammy, Grampa Chuck, me, Flip.
Oh well, I'll keep working on this.

Christmas Morning

2007-12-25T03:04:00.000-08:00

It's 6 AM Christmas morning. I have been tossing and turning for a few hours now. Even though I went to bed at nearly midnight, and I have a big day ahead, I find myself up on my regular schedule. I worry what the rest of the day will be like. It's no mystery to me that among the yearly holiday pictures of my childhood the only one of Mom was her napping on the couch. When I look through holiday pictures from when the kids were small there are relatively few for such a big day. I guess we were too busy living the moment- or staging the moment- to record the moment. This year will be different though, as I have to feed the blog. Hopefully there will be time for a little cat nap later, once the turkey is in the oven.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

I really had intended to make daily posts until New Years, but as you can imagine, I got caught up in Holiday preparations and finishing up last minute t-shirt orders. It's 5 PM on Christmas Eve and we are just getting ready to leave for the Hull's for the first leg of our Christmas Eve progresssive dinner. We started doing this about 4 years ago. We'd start at the Hull's for appetizers, come to our house for the main course of lasagna and stuffed shells then finish at the Kantlehner's for dessert. I can assure you that after the Hull's we didn't need to eat any more.
But we did.
Last year we skipped because people were going in different directions. This year we are back at it with changes. Appetizers at the Hull's and dessert here. And I'll bet we still overeat. Tis the season.
It finally feels like Christmas. Probably because everyone is home. Dad arrived from Florida last night, and I drove Curt home from Vermont today. We all have a whole week together and I look forward to making the most of every day.
After all this is what all the preparation is all about.

The Countdown Begins

2007-12-17T02:36:00.000-08:00

Just one week away from Christmas Eve. I think I'm in pretty good shape- I went out shopping Saturday morning and joined the fun/madness at Kohl's. Came home with all kinds of loot! Still not sure if I am done with the boys?? When they were little it was always so important to make those giant piles under the tree for Christmas morning impact. "Look what Santa brought!" I remember we would be down in Niantic Christmas Eve. We'd come home close to midnight, carry two sleeping boys up to bed, then drag the gifts out from every corner of the house where they were hidden. Then, a few hours later the boys would be up!
This year they both pretty much know what they are getting. At the same time, there's that part of me that needs to have the surprise, the WOW factor under the tree for them. So, that's what I will struggle with this week- trying not to do something stupid and expensive in the final days before Christmas.

Cruelty to Cookies

2007-12-16T06:22:00.001-08:00

Check this out for a good giggle:

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

Cookies!

2007-12-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

I was invited to a cookie swap party Tuesday night with my girlfriends. I looked forward to going to Cindy's– she does an awesome job decorating her house on a normal day, I can only imagine what it looks like for the holidays. My excitement was mixed with a tiny bit of anxiety as baking for a cookie swap puts me slightly out of my comfort zone. As good as they are, I wouldn't dare bring my typical"instant" cookies. I cracked open the cookbook Mom had put together for me and decided on a recipe from Nancy's mother-in-law, mostly because it claimed to produce a BIG batch and I was to make 7 dozen. Baking went well, and the party was great fun. Here's the recipe for Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies:
3.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
.75 cup brown sugar
1.5 cup margarine
.25 cup hot water
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups chopped walnuts
1.5 cups corn flakes
Mix sugar and margarine. Add egg, hot wateDrop by spoonfulls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.
Makes close to 5 doz.

Curt & Kim

2007-12-11T03:13:00.001-08:00

Kim sent this picture of her and Curt all dressed up to go to a "snow ball" up in Burlington. Curt leaves on the 18th to go to Park City, Utah for some snowboarding before Christmas. He comes in to Burlington at 9 PM on the 23rd. Looks like we will be traveling home early on Christmas Eve. Can't wait to see him. Hope to see Kim sometime soon too!

Lights, Action, Tree!

2007-12-10T03:17:00.000-08:00

The tree is up and 90% decorated. All that's missing is the mountain of presents. Amazing that there was enough time to decorate a tree in between the big sanding project and the even bigger clean up after the sanding!

Sanding for Santa?

2007-12-09T04:24:00.000-08:00

What sort of mental illness consumes me every holiday season that compels me to begin a major project that I have been wanting to tackle for over a year- a mere 2 weeks before Christmas? Here's how it happens: I'm in the process of primping the house for the holidays, and all of a sudden I can't stand looking at the old green tablecloth on the dining room table for another day. It's there, of course, to cover up a tabletop that's been in bad need of refinishing for probably 2 years. OK, some may say "spring for a new tablecloth". Makes sense, right? This is where mental illness creeps in. Somehow, to my impaired mind, sanding the table and refinishing it, along with the other kajillion holiday tasks that are on the list, makes more sense.
I instruct Flip to bring a sander home from work and this will be done this weekend. I start the project Saturday afternoon and soon realize that working with this little sander, this table might indeed be ready for Christmas. Christmas 2008 that is. So, today we will bring in the big guns- Bill's bad boy sander and if all goes well we won't be eating Christmas dinner off our laps. And if not, there's still time to get a new tablecloth when I get around to doing some Christmas shopping ;~).

First Snow

2007-12-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

Just a dusting, but enough to get me humming Christmas carols, get Justin up and out early to get a few rides on his snowboard up at the high school, get DeeDee out chasing her tail in frantic excitement (that doesn't take much), and get Flip excited about shoveling the new driveway (so much more rewarding than shoveling rutted gravel). Footnote: by noon it was all gone and borderline balmy.

Oh Christmas Tree!

2007-12-08T10:25:00.001-08:00

Just back from Paul & Sandy's where I wandered around for no less than an hour trying to find the perfect tree. It's not there, it's at Wilcox Tree Farm in Leicester VT where I wanted to be this weekend. So I had to settle for less than perfect. I chose to go the pre-cut route since these trees have already been sacrificed, they need to find homes. I had my eye on a number of fraser firs, but at a ticket price of $50 and up, I decided to adopt my less than perfect balsam at a somewhat more reasonable $38.
Just wait 'til you see it all decked out!
Hmmmmm? Wonder what condition I'll find my lights in? That will be a good indication how last holiday season ended.

Naughty or Nice?

2007-12-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

THE SANTAS ARE OUT let the festivities begin! Just over 2 weeks to go until Christmas. My plans were to go to Vermont and spend the weekend selling trees and hanging out with Nancy and Randy but I realized there is way too much to be done here at home- both decorating and working. Seems like people are coming out of the woodwork with ideas for Christmas gifts that involve T-shirts. More on that later. I made a to do list this morning that could fill a week, and my intention is to do it all this weekend. And creating a holiday blog wasn't even on the list.
But- every year when I sit down to do my Christmas cards (right, last year I never even sent any out) anyhow, I always want to add more meaning, more communication etc., particularly to the people we never see. So, I came up with the idea of this "holiday journal" as a means of catching up and sharing with all of you.
Let's see how it goes...