November 18, 2008 Relay Fundraiser, Gallery opening, Cuddles, and Bubbles, snow

I haven't blogged in so long I feel like it's going to take forever to catch up. I guess things here were pretty uneventful until Friday afternoon when Em, and I drove down to the Relay for Life fundraiser. After Dan's drama on Tuesday night we decided it might be good if he sit this event out. An old friend Brian Cook was DJing and it was good to see him again. It was a good turn out and a fun time. Kristin, Alicia and all the kids did a great job! The fundraiser ended and we went back to Moms house. I woke up at 5:30am, ran up to Newport Hospital, down Bliss to Green End Hill and back to Mom's via Valley Rd. It was a great run and I was thrilled to be able to get out even though it was still dark. It was nice to be back in the city! I met Paul at Blue Plate diner at 8pm, had a nice quiet talk, and a spinach and mushroom omelet. It's been too long and good to catch up. Hopefully we'll get another chance before he spends the winter in Key West. I drove home, but Emmy decided since she didn't have to work until Tuesday that she wanted to stay in RI. It made me wonder what she'll do when she's old enough to decide. Stay on Cape, or move back to Middletown. Mike worked in Middletown on Monday and brought Em home with him Monday evening. Tuesday Emily asked if she could take Danny to see Madagascar 2. She's driven with him in the car loads of times, but never without me and although I didn't think I'd be nervous I was. I told them she could, but she had to call me when she got there and before she left to come home. They had a great time and made it there and back safely. Saturday night Mike had a meet the artist at the gallery where he has 17 pieces. Dan behaved beautifully, and they had a great turn out. If you look in the background of the picture above you can see one of his platters over his left shoulder and a small bowl to the left of Danny's head. It's all very exciting and we're very proud of him...now how about making some Christmas ornaments......Mike?.....Oh Mike?
Mike and I didn't formally celebrate our anniversary this year, we did go out to dinner which was great, but we were definitely in need of a night out so we asked Em if she thought she could handle watching Danny over night. "Sure" she said. Mike and I spent the night at the International Inn a.k.a cuddles and bubbles a couple of years ago and had a terrific time, so after some coordinating we decided on Sunday night. Mike would take Monday off, and Em already had it off. Em, Sarah, Dan and I went to the mall 11am ish, did some shopping. I was thrilled to find a very form fitting knit dress perfect for dinner, and Emily a bright yellow shirt from Hot Topic she loved. At 3pm we checked into the room, stripped Danny down and filled the jacuzzi, where he had a great time splashing, playing and swimming. We got him dressed and I sent the kids home. Mike arrived a little while later and we enjoyed a nice quiet evening alone together and a fabulous dinner. I had the lobster imperial that was terrific, Mike had the prime rib, one of the best he's ever had. http://www.cuddles.com/ . We woke early and checked on the kids, they were actually still sleeping when we called. They drove into Hyannis to meet us for breakfast then Emily set off for the mall while Mike and I took Dan back to the room for one final jacuzzi swim before check out. We had a great night and are pretty psyched that for a small fee Emily will babysit for us overnight! It was definitely the right move on her part, considering she's been petitioning to go to a friends 16th birthday party in the Catskills and wants to take a friend, another family and our van. She's shown such great responsibility, and maturity that we told her she could go. Of course she took the first part of her GED tonight, I'm somewhat hoping we don't get those scores back before her trip on December 5th.

For the record it's 10pm, 35 degrees outside with a light 6MPH North wind and we've been having light snow flurries for the last 20 minutes! I think that qualifies as our first snow!

October 25, 2008 Halloween,Emmy's new car, and Mike's gallery.

Dan and I spent the better half of Thursday working on his turtle shell for his Halloween costume. He's going to be Leonardo from the Teenaged Mutant Ninja turtles and since Halloween is just over a week away we knew we had to get moving. The grocery store was giving away Red Sox balloons (since their season is now over) so we decided it would be the perfect mold for his turtle shell. Dan had a great time playing in the flour and water glue!
Friday we were scheduled to feed the animals at Green Briar but on our way there we got a text from Buzz and the girls asking us if we'd join them at the playground since it was such a nice morning. Last night was our first frost so I found it hard to believe, but we thought we'd give it a try and sure enough the morning was bright, beautiful, and warm. We played with the girls until it was time for them to go (Seneca had to be to school at noon) and Dan and I went off to feed the animals. We got home and Dan refused lunch, very uncommon for him. He layed on the couch and nearly fell asleep. I felt his head and sure enough a fever. He's spent lots of time with the Harmon girls this week and they all have runny noses. so I wasn't surprised.
Mike and I spent the afternoon getting ready for men's night then I took Marley for a walk while the guys rested. We had a small group for men's night, just Mike and Laurie and Richard. I'm not sure where everybody else was but we had tons of ham and scalloped potatoes left over. The night ended early and we tucked Dan into bed after a dose of Tylenol. Em, Mike and I stayed up to watch Ocean's 11, then went off to bed shortly after.
We woke up this morning and Dan immediately said "feel my head". He was nice and
cool and he seemed to be back to normal. He woke me around 2am to give him another dose of Tylenol, so I wasn't sure he was cured, but glad that he seemed better. I went for a run and did my 3.5 mile loop in 42 minutes, 5 minutes less then the last time I timed it. As I was getting back I decided to get the mail from the day before and found that our Disney tickets had arrived, Hurray!
We decided we'd head over to Wareham and try Leo's luncherama for breakfast then go check out that Ford Contour before Emily had to be to work at 12:45pm. Breakfast was good, typical diner food, Dan didn't eat and was suddenly looking under the weather again. While eating I got a call from Russ at Spirit Auto letting us know the car was ready. "Well good!" I told him "We'll be there in half an hour." We arrived just as the Contour was being finished. Mike immediately popped the hood, climbed under each side, checked the trunk, and found the source of a couple of leaks. He and Em climbed in to take it for a test drive. Mike drove it out, but Emmy drove it back. Mike declared it a decent buy, settled on a price of $3300, Em said it was the one she wanted and signed the papers. We arrived at 11:45am and left with the papers signed at 12:20.

We took Emmy to work then went over to Color Obsession which is a high end art gallery in South Cape Village that caters to New Seabury. Gail took 17 of Mike's pieces to display and sell. He's been working with a glass blower named Dave McDermott http://www.mcdermottglass.com/ and a master furniture builder Paul Noyse who both have work in this gallery. The three of them are getting ready to collaborate on a piece. He's excited and I'm very proud of him for following his passion!

September 29, 2008 Hurricane Kyle

Em's Our cottage guests were great to have around. Wendy was very nice. On Saturday morning she came by just as I was making Dan pancakes and joined us for breakfast. Danny really enjoyed the maple syrup she brought. I worked Saturday night but Mike hosted them for a t-bone and lamb chop supper, and they helped Mike and Emily unload a ton of pellets into the basement in the pouring rain.
Sunday morning was quiet. Wendy called and we planned to take a ride into Sandwich, have some lunch and Seafood Sam's then take a walk on the canal if Hurricane Kyle cooperated. We walked to the Sagamore bridge and half way back before the rain really began to fall. Another family walked with us as well, and their son and Danny kept swapping Dan's bike for Nicholas' ride in the wagon. It worked out great, and was enough variation to keep Dan interested. We got home in time to dry off, say goodbye to the stirts, then to work I went.
Monday morning was quiet as well. We deemed it Emily day since everything seemed to revolve around her. We made a trip to RI to visit her dad in the hospital, went shopping at the outlet mall where she bought 2 shirts, then to the orthodontist for her check up, to the grocery store to get the fixings for her favorite American chop suey, and finally I ended my night sitting in a two hour parents drivers ed class.

September 27, 2008 The Stirts and Facebook

Mikey is the President of Cape Cod Woodturners. Every year the club hires a professional turner to come to the Cape and do a demonstration for a weekend. This year they hired Al Stirt. http://www.alstirt.com/ He's a little bit of a man, quiet and reserved but with a quick smile. He's tremendously talented and Mike can't wait to see him in action again. They met in Virginia this past June when Mike went to the woodturners symposium in Richmond, VA. Anyway, with the cottage on the hill, and nobody in it this weekend Mike offered it to him and his wife. They accepted and after a few minutes of trying to break into it in the pouring rain I managed to open it back up. Suzanne, Mike's cousin, had all but closed it down for the winter, so I spent a half hour or so turning the gas back on to the stove, lighting pilots, turning the water back on, plugging everything back in, making sure the electric fireplace worked. etc. We had a no name tropical storm blow through yesterday which made the opening that much more eventful. Since they were in town just a few hours before dinner time we invited them to join us. They live in upstate Vermont and don't get to enjoy seafood fresh from the sea very often so we treated them, and us, to a seafood feast. Mike took Dan to Wayne's house to set up for the demo, while I went shopping for everything we would need. We finished our chores right around lunch time and decided we'd meet at Marshland too again. Last time I was there I enjoyed some swordfish tips, rice and butternut squash, and asked Mike to order that for me again since they got there before I did. However they didn't have any so I was forced to pick something else. They had a fried oyster and fish platter which I chose with rice and squash again. It tasted great, the fish was perfect, the oysters succulent. The plate was huge but I couldn't help but eat it all. I left feeling too full.
We went back to the house and started getting ready for the night. I'd picked up 2 lobsters , one for Emmy and the other for Wendy, Al's wife, at the Mashpee Lobster mart, since I was on that side of town, but they wanted $5.99 lbs for steamers and I was sure we could do better at Joes. Mike picked up 4lbs of steamers ($2.99lb) and 3lbs of mussels from Joe's Lobster mart. http://www.joeslobstermart.com/index.htm Joe's is right on the canal, has the best prices around and everything is as fresh as it can be. We also planned Shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, cesear salad, warmed Parisian bread and for dessert baked apples with walnuts, raisins and french vanilla ice cream.
The Stirts arrived right on time, brought with them a quart of fresh Vermont maple syrup and we enjoyed a great dinner. They are a very nice couple and conversation was fun and easy. After dinner Mike took them on a quick tour of the shop before coffee and dessert. We finished the night with a Wii demonstration. Em showed Wendy how guitar hero worked, and although she got booted off stage twice was a good sport. Lots of people are too intimidated to even try it. Next we built Al and Wendy Mii's which was pretty amusing, Wendy and I had a couple of good games of tennis and we finished the evening with a wii fit demonstration. It was 8:30 pm. Mike agreed to pick Al up at 7:30am and we retired for the night.

Which brings us to now.....it's 4:24am. I've updated my new facebook account with some recent pictures of the kids and puppies. I was introduced to facebook in a discussion box in my sociology book when studying at the playground on Thursday, and checked it while Danny napped. It's amazing how many people I know there. I quickly contacted 8 or 9 old high school classmates. When you enter data about where you've gone to school, worked, etc it automatically finds other people with the same information. That's how I found Andruis Dilba. Andy (he's Lithuanian) and I went to college together. He was roommates with Chuck and very good friends with an old fiance Craig who I dated during and after college. We spent lots of time together those couple of years and I learned to ski at two Smugglers Notch trips with them. I know that shortly after Craig and I broke up he started dating another girl from the ski trip and eventually they got married and had a son. I think I was in touch with Craig's brother Chris some years ago and he gave me the information. Still I was curious what became of these three guys I knew so well. So I was thrilled when Andy sent me back a message that he was doing great, teaching in Boston and that he was still in touch with both Chuck and Craig who are also doing well. It was nice to catch up a little bit.
Janet who I used to work with at Pickles is also a regular on facebook and I was happy to see pictures of her girls. Janets daughter Paige is the same age as Emily and for quite a while when Em was younger Janet took care of her for me, so she and Paige were pretty close. I think I still have pictures of the two of them in a bubble bath somewhere! I'm also attempting to contact an old friend from High school, named Fiona Bancroft. I think I found her and did send her a message but haven't heard back. If I wasn't already internet obsessed, I am now!

So the reason I was awake at 2:45am is because of a gallbladder attack. I had them on occasion going through high school. Looking back, it's no wonder considering my french fry and suzie Q lunch everyday. I think my mother chalked it up to growing pains and it would eventually subside. I was never taken to the doctor for it as a teenager. It happened again in my 20's, mostly I found, after I'd eaten Burger King and eventually one time it was so bad an lasted so long I finally went to the ER to see what was going on. They called it a gallbladder attack, gave me some meds and sent me home. I was offered the option of surgery to remove it, but at that stage of my life, and still for that matter pride myself on having never had surgery and did what I could to avoid it. I did some research and learned if I avoided fat (apparently Burger King's in particular) I could avoid further problems....and for the most part I have.

I think one of the significant side effects, other then the weight loss, to avoiding so many foods is that now my body is getting used to not having them. I had buttered popcorn while watching Another Cinderella story with Em, TJ and Sarah last Saturday and spent the next couple of hours in the bathroom. There wasn't really that much butter in there, but I guess it was enough because the results were dramatic. Yesterday I had the fried seafood and although it took a while to come on, but by 9:45pm I was in enough pain that I took 4 Advil, which I rarely, if ever do. 3 months ago fried seafood wouldn't have bothered me. I was planning for the most part that this diet change to be temporary, but I'm not sure my body is going to allow it....good thing I like vegetables...alot!

Wendy came down the hill and joined Dan for pancakes, then retreated to finish up some school work. She's a reading teacher and had lesson plans to do. The kids and I took a trip to Hyannis. Em was interested in getting a snake but abruptly changed her mind when she saw a pinkie mouse in one of the snake cages. Next we went to Old Navy. The kids and I are going down to Disney world for two weeks starting the end of February. It occured to me a few days ago that with my weight loss and the time of year I might run into problems finding clothes to wear while I'm there. So I made it my mission to scour the clearance rack for summer clothes. I quickly found several pairs of shorts ranging in size from 2 to 10 and settled on 8's. It's good to have a goal. Once I fit into those shorts I'll know I've met it. Even better was that since they were on clearance I got them for $4.99 each. In the end I bought 3 pairs of shorts, 2 skirts, 4 shirts, and a cardigan...with the sale they were running this weekend I got all of it for $50. Emily also made out well, she spent over $200 but with the sale she saved over $94. She got 4 pairs of pants, a dress and several shirts. We came home to relax, Mike arrived home just as I was walking out the door for work and announced he was on his way to pick up our second ton of pellets. With hurricane Kyle coming up the coast, pouring rain and after a full day of playing videographer for Al Stirt he still had the energy to not only get them but unload them with only Emily's help. As I type he's snoring on the couch next to me.

September 7, 2008 Woodturners Picnic continued...

The Woodturners party was great, even though it was wet we made the best of it. I was thrilled when many of the guests arrived with vegetarian dishs. We had a fresh vegetable and bean salad that was terrific, a mixed green bean salad, and for dessert one of our guests made a peach, nectarine & raspberry cobbler that was incredible. Definitely a benefit of hanging out with the older crowd...they know how to eat! After lunch, Mike led the "meeting" where someone nominated him for president forever... I think Mike might have blushed! They did a lottery, show and tell and just general woodturners news. Then it was time for dessert, and the parties end.



Homeschooling:
Emily studied England's history, government and landmarks.

September 6, 2008 Woodturners Picnic

Since we're expecting Tropical Storm Hanna tomorrow and the rain bands have already begun moving in, we've decided that we'll have to hold the picnic inside today. We're expecting 25 or so people, but since they are woodturners we can also utilize the basement shop, so it should be fine. This party will take the place of this months meeting. They're a great bunch of people and it should be fun!

Homeschooling
Emily is up to Chapter 5 in her Math GED prep and chugging along nicely.

August 24, 2008 Woodturning

Saturday was an uneventful day. Took Em to work, then Dan and I came home and went to the beach. The weather was beautiful and Dan had a great time playing with his friends. Mike spent the day at the Brewster women's library turning tops for kids, and selling some things he's made. He was happy that a platter of his sold for $100. Dan and I picked up Em at work, and after making a quick dinner for Mike and the kids I went to work myself.
Sunday morning I awoke, poured myself some vegetable juice, and dressed for a run. I returned home to find Mike and Dan bleary eyed on the couch. Since the pups are 4 weeks old today I decided it was time for them to have their first meal. I brought up the kiddy pool from the side of the house, and prepared a meal of puppy food and evaporated milk. Dan helped me round up the puppies and they all quickly knew just what to do, although by the end they were all wet and dirty. Since it was a such a nice morning and they are all moving around so well, we decided a quick swim might be in order and I went down to the playground to get the wagon to transport all of them to the beach. They looked very cute in transit, and quickly made their way to the waters edge as soon as we got there. Marley had fun chasing the ball and after only a few minutes. Most of the pups snuggled down for a nap with full bellies.

Emily had her first driving lesson with an instructor and after only a few minutes he apologized to her for having to do 10 more hours. Seems lots of parents don't teach their kids to drive anymore, they wait for the instructors to do it, then complete their driving logs after the instruction. Em traveled to Hyannis then to Woods Hole in Falmouth before heading home. 2 hours down, 10 more to go. Dan and I spent the afternoon at the beach, and didn't come up until almost 4pm when Dan promptly fell asleep on the couch. Suzanne, Janni and I decided on shrimp, edamame, and grilled summer squash for dinner. Mike Leone came over with some pasta, and chicken breasts and we had leftover pepperocini rice, and lamb chops from last night. We all retired to the deck after dinner and one by one the puppies arrived (thanks to Emily) on the deck and eventually proceeded to nurse...probably one of the last times they'll all nurse together now that they've begun to wean. Trying to keep your eyes on 7 roaming puppies is alot of work!

August 2, 2008 Blueberry Festival Green Briar

So much for 45 minute run, today it was 3.5 miles in 49 minutes. I decided I'd try my new sneakers out but something wasn't right and I had a pull in my back about half way through. I don't know if I was overcompensating for something or if they just need to be broken in more. I think I'll wear them on short trips for a while before wearing them for that length of time any time soon.
I got back from my run, did an ab workout, then took Em to work for 9am. Dan and I went to visit Dad at Green Briar where he and a few other wood turners were doing a demonstration at the Blueberry festival. The guys were in good spirits, and everybody seemed happy to be spending their day there. Next stop for us was home to change into suits and head down to the beach. It's was hot and humid, just the way I like August to be. Dan swam out to the raft with his life jacket on to jump off with the big kids. I enjoyed laying in the sun in my new suit, which got lots of comments. After an hour or so a couple who we rarely see at the beach made their way down with a small boy in tow. They've had fertility problems for years and last I heard were looking to adopt. Turns out the little boy is 5, his name is Justin and he'll be coming to live with them at the end of the month, after 6 months they will adopt him. He was sweet as could be, smart and precocious and fit in with Tiger, Dan and Bradley like he'd always been there. It'll be nice to have another boy in the neighborhood! At 4:15 Dan and I packed up and went to pick up Em at work. Dan fell asleep in the van on the way there, slept through dinner and finally woke at 7:30pm. Time enough to watch some TV and have something to eat before Mom and Dad changed him up and sent him to bed. Sorry kid but we're pooped!