September 4, 2008 My first annual Cicada exuvia & Dan rides a bike.

Things here have been pretty good. Just catching up on errands, shopping, cleaning up the house, and what we spend most of our time doing now....cleaning up after puppies!


The puppies needed to get out for a bit, after taking lots of pictures of them, Dan wanted a turn with the camera!

Marley doesn't seem to mind the pups climbing all over her!

Our other big news this week is that Dan has learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He's still a little shakey starting and stopping, but he can ride like the wind when he gets going!

Dan riding his bike in the Remsen's yard

Last night I had my first class. Being a little nervous I left early....like 5:30 for a 6:30 class with a commute of 18 minutes. I needed to get my student ID at the library and since I didn't know where I was going I was glad I allowed extra time. I quickly made my way to the library, walked in the door and found that the receptionist at the desk was making ID's. I sat, took a picture and two minutes later was on my way. Since I was there I decided I'd see if I could find any information on Cape Cod Cicada's and saw a sign that said Cape Cod History with an arrow pointing down stairs. I came to a set of double doors, began to pull and realized the door was locked. Will have to go back another day when the Nickerson Library is open to do that research. I walked to South hall and began walking up and down the hall looking for room 111. The low numbers were on one side, the high numbers on another. An older gentleman was walking my way and since he looked like a professor I asked him directions feeling like a lost 1st grader on my first day. He directed me to the room directly ahead with no room number. I felt better. I sat, our teacher introduced himself and proceeded to school us on Sociology....and so forth...his favorite phrase. Since it was our first night he didn't want to stress us too much and let us go at 8pm. Nice way to start a semester...with a nice short class. I made it home to Mike, Em and Dan eating dinner and enjoyed sitting with them for the first time in a week.

Jen called yesterday afternoon and asked if we'd like to go apple picking with them today. I said sure, although it seemed a little early in the season. We hadn't seen them in a while and I thought it would be good to get together. I went for a short 30 minute walk this morning, trying to stretch out a pulled ankle muscle from Sleeping Giant. Then came home, showered, started laundry, packed a lunch and headed out to Walmart to pick up a few things before meeting the Harmon's in Acushnet. At 10:30 Dan and I were just leaving Walmart when we got a call from Buzz saying that the apple picking place didn't open until next week. With no other ideas we ended the call and were on our own. Dan's been asking about Water Wizz http://www.waterwizz.com/ so we looked in from outside the gates...too bad they don't stay open past labor day, we'd have been game for a September morning splash in their pools! We left there and decided we'd try to find some place to have lunch, thinking a beach, playground, park or cemetary. We drove toward Onset and made our way to Little Harbor Beach, it was breezy so we went to the marsh side and enjoyed lunch while watching 4 beautiful white cranes hunt for food. We went for a short walk along the water line, saw many fiddler crab holes and lots of poison ivy! We'd passed a cemetary on the way there, so I asked Dan if he wanted to do some poking around. Gerry swears by cemetaries for Cicada hunting, but admittedly they're not my favorite places....I thought I'd suck it up in the name of research. Dan said sure. Just as we were pulling into Agawam Cemetery in Wareham I heard a T. canicularis, that's a good sign I thought. We parked and started looking around. On the second tree we searched we found an exuvia, third and fourth tree two more. I was pretty excited with my first annual exuvia found on my own. As Dan and I made our way to a grove of pine trees I noticed large piles of sand and wondered if they could be Cicada killer burrows. Sure enough, finger sized holes on the edge of a pile of sandy soil. Looked just like what we saw in Wellfleet and I promptly called Gerry. He was interested enough to ask for a data point. We didn't see any Cicada killers and the mounds looked old (no new excavation) but you can bet I'll be checking it out next July! Here's the data point. Section A-3 & A-5 at the Agawam Cemetery, corner of RD Stillman Memorial Drive and Great Neck Road, Wareham, MA http://www.warehamhistory.com/AgawamCemetery/MapsectionA.htm

I had a GYN appt. at Wareham Nurse Midwives, and although I initially didn't want to take Dan with me, he behaved very well. Louise was very impressed with my new found health regimen. and encouraged me to continue with all the changes I've made. I weighed in at 175.4 lbs. Another 2 lbs lost! Blood pressure 120/70 pulse 72. I left there with an incredibly clean bill of health.

September 1st Sleeping Giant State Park

Group picture from Sleeping Giant State Park
From left to right Chris, Barbara, Elias, Me & Gerry

What a terrific Day!
My day started at 3:15am when my cell phone alarm rang. I hopped out of bed, drank the garden patch juice I already had ready in the fridge, popped a couple of multivitamins and climbed into the shower. I left the house at 3:45 and headed over to Green Briar nature center to feed the animals, since I didn't have any idea what time I'd be back, I thought I'd get them taken care of first. I got on the road at 4:15 and headed West. The sun rose in my rearview mirror just as I was crossing over the Connecticut state line. It was a pleasant and uneventful trip and I arrived in Hamden Ct at 7:15. Quickly found Sleeping Giant State park and went in search of a bathroom. While exploring I found a couple of trail maps and tucked them into my bag, thinking it could only be a good idea to have these with us. Gerry pulled in with his friend Chris a little after 8am and suggested we take a ride over to the University to do a little nymph hunting. Gerry, Chris and I searched 300 hundred or more trees before Gerry found a nymph just beginning to eclose. I ran down to the Hummer to grab our cameras then we sat. It usually takes a nymph over an hour to complete the eclose process so we waited.


This is a female Tibicen canicularis nymph just starting the eclose process, you can see the pink flesh just starting to emerge from the slit in the exuvia.


This little lady has wiggled her head free from her shell.


This is a shot looking down on her pretty face, amazing how camaflaged she is with the tree bark


She's free of the upper portion of her shell, she'll hang out this way for quite a while until her legs harden


Good view of her wings here, still all crinkled


She doing the "sit up". She uses her legs to pull herself up so she can free her lower extremities


She's free and begins to pump "blood" through her system to inflate her wings


She's done, fully teneral and now needs time for her wings to harden, which will then lay down like a tent over her body.

Elias and Barbara met us at the University after some directional difficulty, and within minutes of arriving Barbara had secured another nymph. The girl has eyes like a hawk! Once the Tibicin canicularis was out of danger and able to be moved Gerry put her in a jar and we headed back over to Sleeping Giant State park. Our first path was a nice wide switchback, with a few rocky steep paths thrown in for good measure. We easily made it to the tower and enjoyed the view from the top.


Gerry, Chris and I at the top of Sleeping Giant Tower


Elias and Barbara with their home of Long Island in the background

We decended the tower, then after taking an amusing and "unmoving" wrong turn, decided to consult the trail map that I brought along.


Gerry and Elias trying to figure out where we are and which way to go!

After several wrong turns our fearless leader found the way and directed us to an amazing bluff. Along the way we heard several species of Cicada including Tibicens lyricen, linnei, and canicularis. One was just out of reach and Gerry was itching to climb the tree, which we thankfully talked him out of.


Here we are at the summit of Sleeping Giant, it's a great view....but we're hearing the Cicada's on the other hill!

Instead of going back the way we came, Gerry led us down a path that he and Elias had climbed up just a year earlier. It was very rocky and very steep in some places. Chris was swearing at Gerry and vowed at this point to never go on another Cicada hunting expedition. Here are a few pictures of us making our way down...




This is the view to our immediate right coming down Sleeping Giant

We finally made it down, probably took a half hour. We followed the blue (expert) trail for a while until the trail split and we had our choice of going up another rock (the blue trail) or going down (on the red trail) Since Barbara and I were in the lead and her knee was bothering her we chose down. I found a pretty cool big green caterpillar (that I failed to photograph) but that Elias took home. We followed the red trail until we came upon a shallow stream bathed in mid afternoon dapled sunlight. Barbara and I found a place to sit and relax until the guys caught up. Elias arrived and was immediately curious whether they're might be crayfish in the stream. Being a veteran crayfish catcher, I took off my sneakers and went in. After lifting a rock or two I found a very small one and presented it to Elias. Mission accomplished, I went and sat under a tree with Gerry. Elias headed back out to find some more, and Barbara showed our find to some little friends.


We spent a half hour or so here then walked along the stream back to the parking lot. Everybody was hungry and since Barbara and Elias didn't pack a lunch they headed out in search of food. Gerry, Chris and I settled down on the park lawn to have our lunch. We talked for a while. Chris seemed pleased with himself, he'd kept up despite his lack of regular exercise and his smoking habit. We wondered about a family that was acsending the summit as we were descending. This family worried us because there were two older people with dual walking sticks and two young children, one girl of maybe 7, the other a boy of maybe 4. At the bottom the boy was crying that he didn't want to go up. So when we heard sirens we immediately thought of them. Thankfully we saw them coming down another path and were glad they made it up and down safely. The emergency vehicles continued to pile into the park. Two fire trucks, an ambulance, an ATV, multiple police and environmental police cars. At the height of the activity there were 11 emergency vehicles on site. Elias and Barbara made it back and joined us relaxing on the lawn for a while. Gerry wanted to check out some short trees and brush along the road, but since it was nearing 5:30pm and I had a 3 hour drive home, I decided it was time to pack it in. We hugged goodbye and I was on my way.
The ride home was uneventful and I made good time. I watched the sun set in my rearview mirrow going through New Bedford. I pulled in the driveway at 8pm to a family happy to see me, my pictures and my exciting tales from Sleeping Giant.Chris, you can almost seeing him saying...."can we go home yet???"

What I learned this trip? Well Gerry's friend Chris is quite a character, I wouldn't mind hanging out with him agai. Gerry is far more mysterious then I ever imagined and I look forward to getting to know him better, and Elias and Barbara are truly a match made in heaven...I wonder if we'll be invited to the wedding!

Here is the link to Sleeping Giant State Park
http://www.ct.gov/Dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2716&Q=325264

And a brief news paper article about the emergency on Sleeping Giant
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=8933267&nav=menu29_2_9

August 29, 2008 MRI results and Oak Grove Cemetary

My MRI results came back normal, the inside of my head is really amazing to look at! Dr Mann referred me to a vestibular center in Hyannis for followup, since he can't figure out what's wrong. Hearing test came back abnormal with hearing loss in the middle range of sound bilaterally.He had no expanation why.

Oak Grove Cemetary in Falmouth was quiet with no signs of exuvia. 72 degrees and overcast, I wasn't surprised at the lack of calling. Off to make coconut custard tarts for my Kathy's 50th birthday party tomorrow at Adam & Kristins, before nap and work tonight.

August 22, 2008 1st instar!

On Tuesday night I left here for Falmouth to have an MRI. My ENT thought that it might be time have one just to make sure my dizziness isn't something more serious. I left with time to spare and quickly but thouroughly checked the trees in the Falmouth Hospital parking lot for annual cicada nymphs and found nothing. It was a busy night in the Emergency room and due to an emergency MRI I was pushed back from 8:45 to 9:15. While sitting in the waiting room, Elias called to tell me he'd caught at 1st instar Magicicada nymph. The periodicals lay their eggs in the branches of trees and 6-8 week later the eggs hatch into little white walking specks. This is pretty much the last part of the magicicada cycle to be seen. These 1st instars will drop from the branches to the ground, bury themselves into the soil, attach to a root and lay in wait for 17 years going through 3 more instars before they emerge again in their 4th instar form to turn into Cicada's. The whole process is simply amazing. I was very excited for Elias but only texted him after hearing his voicemail, concerned I'd be called in while talking. The MRI was mostly uneventful. I was injected with contrast dye about halfway through the test, but it was nearly painless with no unpleasant side effects. I left the hospital and checked trees on my way back to the van. I usually make a policy of not talking on my cell while driving, but it was night, and the roads mostly abandoned so I bent my rule and called Elias to congratulate him. We chatted for a bit, then I called Mike to let him know everything went well. I arrived home to find both Em and Dan still awake. I tucked them into bed and retired as well.

Wednesday was uneventful. Em worked, Dan and I spent some time at the beach, went bug and blackberry hunting since they are in season right now. I checked a few trees for instars but didn't find anything. We picked Em up from work, just in time for me to go to work. Em's been great about watching Dan for me, never complains and even volunteers before she's asked. She's a real treasure, and I appreciate what a great kid she is even more now that I'm working with kids her age who are doing things I would disapprove of. I arrived home early Thursday morning to find a message from Nettie saying she'd be down at 7am to take Marley to have hip x-rays in Warren, RI at noon. Dan had story time at the library (which was eventually cancelled) so I told Nettie I couldn't do it. Knowing it was going to be an early morning to bed I went.

Thursday morning I awoke at 6:15 and realized I had very little time to get alot of stuff done. Started laundry, cleaned the puppy pen, vacuumed, and did a quick cleanup. Em's great with Dan but the house is generally trashed when I get home. Nettie and Gram arrived at 7, I made them some tea and we talked until it was time for Em to go to work. Nettie and Gram made their way up the hill a little after 9am. Melissa and Danny were up there as well as Jessie, John and Suzanne. Jessie was upset that Nettie didn't call, and left for most of the day. I invited Nettie and Gram to stay for dinner, and prepared Chicken parmagiana, cesar salad and corn on the cob, which Emily finished off after I left for work. Mike arrived home just before 5pm, ate dinner then with Nettie's help returned the box truck. Em, Dan and Mike visited me at Dunkin before heading home and putting Dan to bed. Work was good, but the power went out just minutes before midnight. With nothing more to do and rescue vehicles on the move, we closed the shop and went off ambulance chasing. A short distance down the road an SUV had missed a corner and landed in someone's front yard. Thankfully, it didn't look like anyone was hurt. I arrived home to find Mike barely awake, he kept me company for a quick cup of tea, we climbed into bed shortly before 1am.

Friday morning and we all got to sleep late. Marley woke me up at 6am because she needed to feed the pups, but I went right back to sleep and Dan woke us up at 8:30am. It was good to catch up. It was our day to feed the animals at Green Briar so we dressed and headed over there. Afterwards we went to The BeeHive Restaurant in West Barnstable. We thought we were going to a breakfast shop but it turned out to be a higher end lunch and dinner place. Mike and Em had burgers, Dan a corn dog and I had terrific cajun scallops with sweet potato fries (which I'm now paying for) We arrived home to a hot sunny summer day and Dan and I changed for the beach. Mike decided he'd nap and was still asleep at 4pm when Dan and I had had enough. We showered, changed and headed out for some true 1st instar hunting of our own, armed with a burgandy fleece blanket and a small pill bottle for any specimens. We found nothing in the neighborhood and made our way across Pimlico Pond Rd to the old road and walked up a bit. I broke a few branches across the way but found nothing. I also tried Elias' technique of laying something dark under the branches and shaking them hoping any loose ones might fall onto the blanket. Neither approached worked until I snapped a branch and saw something move. Amazingly enough I'd found a nymph, quickly put it in my bottle, and texted Elias...the only person in the world that I know that would be as excited as I was. True to form he texted back how thrilled he was for me. Here's a video I made of my nymph. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Gq5vW8Hv8. Dan and I walked home and prepared Chicken Caccitore for men's night with italian antipasto vegetables and rice. We had a good showing and after winning two games of cribbage it was time to update my blog then head to bed.

August 18, 2008 Wellfleet's Cicada Killers

I'm sitting here at the computer, it's 2:08pm on a Monday. The weather today is typical August in heat, but not in humidity and we're enjoying a nice south wind. Mike is away in Geneva NY for the week. He left early Sunday morning and we're expecting him to return either Friday or Saturday this week. The puppies are barking like crazy right now, Marley just fed them, so they're awake and practicing their barks before tiring out and taking a nap. Things here have been crazy busy, but I'll take it over being bored.
Friday I woke up at 6am, after working 5pm to midnight the night before, to go for a 3.5 miles run, then showered and quietly left my sleeping family to take my college placement exam at 8:30am. The drive to 4C's took 18 minutes. Directions were flawless and I soon found myself seated at a computer terminal. I took the test in 1 hour and 9 minutes. I aced the English comp, grammar and arithmetic portions of the test. Algebra was a little lower. I was then ushered to an advisor who helped me decide which course to start with, we chose sociology and she encouraged me to study up on my algebra a little bit and retake that portion on the test in hopes of pulling my score up 12 or so points so I wouldn't have to take a remedial algebra. If passed I can then move directly into Chemistry in the spring. I was sent next to the registration office and finally to the business office. It was 11am before I arrived home a happy new college student. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the beach, before another eventful evening at D & D.

Saturday morning promised to be very busy. Em had to be to work at 9am. The Goulds and Pam and London had beach cleanup at 9am as well. An early morning e-mail from Gerry said he wanted to go out to Wellfleet to check out a cicada killer Lek and asked if I'd join him. Mike had to pick up a box truck for his trip at 3pm, Em needed to be picked up from work at 4pm and I had to be to be to work for 5pm. And if that wasn't enough, our annual PPA adult social was Saturday night as well, and I was on the committee. Thankfully, after a call to Gerry telling him how bad the traffic was he decided he'd save his Wellfleet trip for Sunday. Mike, Dan and I arrived at the beach with Pam, London and Justin to find it already done. We have a mystery beach clearnerupper. Em finished work early and was home by 3pm with plenty of time to rest before she needed to set up for the party. And Mike's box truck was ready and waiting when we pulled up at 3. Our hectic day wasn't so hectic after all.I went to work, but heard that the party went great. Black and white was a hit, and there was plenty of good food to go around.

I woke at 7:15 Sunday morning in a panic because as of midnight Saturday, I still didn't know what our Wellfleet plans were. I ran to the computer to find a note from Gerry saying he was running late...awesome I thought, I'll have more time....until I read further and realized that running late to Gerry meant he was going to be here at 8am! I kissed Mike good bye and wished him a safe trip, ran down to start some laundry, made the bed, woke Dan up, and packed up a few things within minutes of Gerry pulling up. It was a bright beautiful morning and with nothing to do for the entire day I was thrilled to be making this trip. The only pitfall was that Dan would have to come with us. Even so, we were checking out a cicada killer Lek in a parking lot. Dan would be fine. And he was mostly. We arrived there a little after 10am. We got out of the Hummer, and started walking around. Gerry quickly found a pile of sand with a finger sized hole and stated this was exactly what we were looking for, but this one seemed old with no new sand. So we looked around some more and nearly tripped over a whole grouping of them right in parking lot itself. Seems they had made use of the cracks in the pavement. Gerry wes pleased to see newly excavated sand, so we hung around and waited. Sure enough with in a few minutes a female cicada killer arrived and flew into a hole. Gerry suggested that we plug the holes with sticks so that if a female arrived with a cicada she would drop it because she couldn't get into her hole. We filled all the visible holes and waited again. A few minutes later, a female arrived carrying a cicada. She dropped it just as Gerry said she would and Gerry picked it up and laid the Canicularis in his hand, hoping that the female Cicada Killer would take it from him. She never did, but I got some great video of her buzzing around and even eventually she did take it down her burrow. Gerry had asked if I'd like to keep the Canicularis and I said no, thinking if we got one, we'll get more. Gerry has a way of making things look easy. We hung around for another half hour waiting for the Cicada killers to bring in more Cicada's and nothing. Wished I'd kept that canicularis! Dan was getting restless and Gerry suggested a hike. http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/upload/GreatIIslandseparationsfinal.pdf
Here are a couple of youtube videos of the Cicada/Cicada killer we saw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D58MST_nE8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6CWMcy5G7Y

We followed a path that emptied into a marsh, and this little bay created by Great Island. We took a right and followed the water around. Great Island is a peninsula with a small sliver of land connecting it to the mainland. It's mostly just a glorified sand bar at high tide probably no more then a couple thousand feet wide. We followed the path but it was slow going, the air warm and I could tell Dan was quickly tiring after about 1/2 mile of high speed walking. We decided to pass Gerry's net off to him when we realized we'd never keep up, and go exlore the ocean on the other side of the dunes. Gerry left us the Hummer keys and quickly disappeared onto Great Island. Dan and I had a great time exploring this little traveled beach and found a couple of bouys to start our collection. One was fully intact blue and yellow, the other small green and white. We made our way back down the beach parralle to the way we'd come and eventually made our way back to the Hummer. I had the presence of mind when packing to include Dan's bathing suit, and I wore mine, so we changed then headed back down to the marsh. Dan and I played in the water a while and observed the fiddler crabs, and small fish swimming around. Elias called and we chatted for a bit. Unfortunately I didn't charge my phone before heading to Wellfleet and mid converstation my phone died. It'd probably been over 2 hours since we'd last seen Gerry, and with no phone I was mildly concerned. I had the Hummer keys however and knew that my fears were unfounded. It's amazing how much carrying a live cell phone adds to your sense of security. Amazingly enough, Gerry appeared only minutes later, and we started our trip home. Elias had armed with enough ammunition to keep our ride home intereting. Gerry and Elias go to great lengths to annoy one another, and Elias thinks it's hysterical when he gets someone else to do his dirty work. Gerry never falls for it, and Elias and I are always disappointed not to get more of a reaction out of him.

Dan and I arrived home a little after 4pm. The Leone's were in the grove so I went and sat. Dan immediately ran off to play with his friends. We said goodbye to Gerry, and then hung out chatting in the grove for a while. As 6pm approached, Mike Leone went home. Laurie and I decided that since low tide was at 6:30 that we'd take the kids down to the tide pool to poke around for a while then get dinner at Seafood Sams. We hadn't really dressed for the tide pools, but it was nice to be by the ocean anyway. Em and Dan did a little exploring before we all got hungry and decided it was time for dinner. Seafood Sams was packed. So we decided we'd call in our order for takeout. One problem, my phone was dead, Emily's went dead just as we were dialing, and Laurie didn't bring hers. So we started looking for pay phones, giggling at how stupid this was all getting. After trying 2 broken pay phones we decided to give up and just stand in line. It moved quickly, and by 8pm we were sitting at the canal enjoying our meals. It was a great day on Cape Cod, nearly perfect in fact.

August 11, 2008 Mom's 60th Birthday party

Saturday was fairly uneventful. I woke up a little after 7am, quickly drank my garden patch and took my vitamins then hustled Marley out the door for a run. While I was out I noticed a peculiar rattling sound while passing in front of the field next to Cape Cod Pediatrics on Rt 130 and wondered if it was a lyricen chorus. Gerry says we have them in Falmouth so it wouldn't be very surprising to find them in Forestdale. I made a note to check my sound files later and decided it was indeed lyricen that I was hearing. Made our way home in time to drive Emily to work. Mike, Dan and I then set out to turn in cans and bottles down at the local package store and then headed home for lunch and a nap. I had about an hour at the beach before it was time to take a shower and dress before picking up Em at work at 4pm and then heading to work myself at 5pm. I walked into a different store on Saturday night and was thrilled that what I found on Friday wasn't the norm. JJ was there along with the Asst. Manager who was on till 8pm and did all the sweeping and mopping, and another girl who was on till 6pm. Much, much better. The night went along pretty uneventfully, and in slow motion compared to the night before. JJ and I left at 12:20 or so, and I arrived home to find Mike still awake and ready to hear about might.

Sunday morning we all slept in since nobody had to be up this morning! I was the first up however and decided I'd go for a walk. My walk turned into a run at the normal running spot and I was thrilled that even with work I managed to squeeze in three days running again this week. Came home to clean out the puppy cage and Dan noticed that Abigail's eyes were open! The pups are two weeks today and are really starting to move around, even walking at times. Let the games begin! Tank is still the largest by far, and even though Abigail was the last one born and slow to start she's ahead of the others developmentally.

Mike, Em, Dan and I piled in the car at 1pm and headed for Adam and Kristin's house for Mom's 60th Birthday party. Em drove the entire way, including over the Bourne Bridge. She was very nervous but quickly got the hang of highway driving and on several occasions had to be reminded that the speed limit was only 65. Dan quickly joined Alyssa, Megan, Taylor and Julia in the pool as soon as we arrived. Em went town to check out the chickens, who are really pretty neat! Mom arrived and the party started. Lots of food, veggie platter and casserole, chips, hot dogs and hamburgers, nacho dip, and king crab legs (thanks Ed) At one point Adam brought out a bottle of tequila and some Dixie cups and asked who wanted to do shots. The picture above shows the participants including the birthday girl. The party ended with Zachary taking an impromptu dip in the pool after picking on his old aunt all day. Em drove us home, and we arrived just after 7pm to a house full of miniature barking. The puppies learn so quickly! Here is a youtube video of the pups!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6nq0IlAwB0

August 8, 2008 I'm hired...and enrolled!

Wednesday was wet and quiet. We took Em to work then went to D & D to apply for a job. I was told to return on Thursday to talk to the manager. Will do. Dan and I came home and declared it movie day. We ate lunch then went up to the loft, popped in Jumanji. Dan thought it was great, action packed, and a little scary. Right up his alley, since he's a big boy now. Then we came down, made some popcorn and watched Flipper. Dan loves the ocean, and the animals in it, but he wasn't all that interested in watching Flipper, I don't know if he was all movied out, or if he just didn't like it.

Thursday started off the same way, Em to work, Dan and I to Dunkin to talk to the manager. I was hired in 2 minutes and asked to return for my first 5-midnight shift on Friday. Very excitig!

Today started off with a 3.5 mile run with Marley, I'm thrilled to have my running partner back! Did my ab workout when I got home, hung two loads of laundry on the line, showered and then took Dan, Em and Sarah to Hyannis. I dropped Em, Sarah and Dan off at TJ Maxx and went to Trader Joe's to do some shopping. On my way back, my cell rang. It was 4C's saying that I was accepted as a student, and that I should make an appointment for my assessment testing, which I then scheduled for next Friday August 15th at 8:30am. I'm very excited and Mike seems pleased as well, he's calling me his "coed". So tonight's my first night of work, looking forward to it,I hope it's going to be easy since I have so much experience and I also hope I can keep my eyes open until Midnight. With any luck, I'll come home happy but tired, fall into bed for 6 hours or so, then awaken refreshed and ready for a run.

I also talked to Gerry today. He asked if I would be interested in joining him in a cicada killer expedition in Wellfleet that I promptly accepted. Wellfleet in the summer on a weekend can be pretty frustrating, maybe I can talk him into a weekday!

August 3, 2008 Dan can swim !!

I started this morning with another run. 3.5 miles in 50 minutes...I thought more running for more days would make my time faster, seems just the opposite...might need a day or two to let the muscles heal. Came home and did my ab workout, then loaded the truck with 5 weeks worth of trash and recyclables. We think we're beating the system buying 10 dump passes at $5 each over buying a dump sticker for $75 for the year. If we can go 5 weeks between dump runs it'll work! So far so good!
Mike and I dropped Em and Dan off at Percy's to wait in line for a seat for breakfast while Mike and I got rid of trash, and picked up a lawnmower (which Mike had running within 5 minutes of being home) and a bird cage that I think I can convert into a toad terrarium. Love shopping at the dump!

The kids were already seated when we arrived. Dan had Belgium waffles, Em scrambled eggs, a bagel and hash browns, and Mike Eggs Benedict with mushrooms. Percy's has a pretty amazing menu. I had an order of pan fried catfish and a small bowl of fresh fruit. Em asked if we could make a stop at Mashpee Commons for a new book that was just released named Breaking Dawn, and to see if she could find a bathing suit at Suit's you. Dan and Mike went in search of the book, while I helped Em with a bathing suit. She found a suit she liked and we headed home. Dan and I changed into our bathing suits and Em settled in to read.

It was a beautiful hot day and Dan and I went right into the water. Dan started swimming, and I wondered if he could make it to the raft, and asked him if he wanted to try. He swam the entire way, mostly underwater. He jumped off the raft and diving board and swam back to the beach, with minimal help from me. It was a big day for him and we celebrated with a big dipper when the ice cream man came.

The night ended quietly after having dinner with the Leone's. The puppies are a week old tonight and doing very well. We just determined that we have 5 girls and 2 boys. I don't know where we went askew but clearly somewhere. They are very cute and wag their tails now when they're getting ready to nurse.