Christmas Dinner

We had Christmas dinner at my house again this year. It was fun. The boys played with various trucks and games and watched some movies. The adults - as always - seem to hang out in the kitchen and gab.

It was a nice afternoon/evening.

Progressive Dinner

My friends coordinated a progressive dinner to celebrate the holidays. So we all gathered at one house around 4:30 on Saturday and started with some cocktails, stuffed mushrooms, and brie. All very tasty food. And what a great way to gather with friends.
From there we went across the street for dinner - lasagna, salad, garlic bread... There was an all veggie lasagna that was Great! I will have to keep that in mind for the future.
And speaking of great food --- at the next house there was this death by chocolate trifle thing. I don't know all that was in it - chocolate cake, whipped cream, heath bar??? I had a few servings...
Overall a good night.
As with Christmastown. There are pictures but they need downloading and editing....

Christmastown, USA

So my mom arrived on Friday. That evening I left work right on time and we turned around and got in the car headed for McAdenville. It didn't take too long to get there. I was concerned about the evening traffic and then the McAdenville traffic but it was all OK. I took some pictures - I need to not only download them but edit them. Maybe over the next few days I can get that done and post them.

Leaving for Cancun in 3 days

Hear all about it... here....
www.icancuncanyou.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving

I have one picture that I know of from Thanksgiving. It is from a few years ago. I think it is from when I first moved in. Or maybe the second year. I am standing by the sink. My dad is at the island carving the turkey. I always think I should scan this. But then I always get distracted with - why did we not take more pics of Thanksgiving? I should remember to take pics this year. Gosh I miss my dad. And then the whole idea of scanning goes out the window.
This year, the same as last I went to my friends house for dinner. There were 5 adults, 4 kids and way too much food. We had a fire outside afterwards with the intent on sitting around the fire, having some drinks and I think there were marshmallows. But the whole thing didn't take off that much. Personally I was freezing.
My mom went to my aunt's house and saw some of the family there.
And Bacchus well he just hung out here. He did have leftover turkey this evening and is very thankful for Neil having sent it his way.

TWENTY - FIVE!?

Where did that time go?
I remember my 25th birthday like it was yesterday. Well it was a good birthday celebration - Ed brought some amazing beef dish, Chuck brought free-range chickens, I don't know if we made any food, there was wine, there was cognac, I went to the Stone Pony at the end of the night... It was a good time...
So where did that time go that now Ty is turning 25? That just seems unreasonable. I suppose it would make sense however given I was a freshman in high school when he was born. Wow...

Scarowinds

We went to the Halloween version of Carowinds last week. Yes - I know - what was I thinking of all people... I was going for that - when was the last time you did something for the first time - again. I ended up not doing anything too adventuresome. I stood in line with friends for a good 20 minutes or so for a haunted carnival clown maze. While we were waiting in line an Armand-esque (Antonio Banderas in Interview with a Vampire for all you non Anne Rice fans) vampire walked by. Now I am all about Lestat, Louis et al. But on paper (OK Brad Pitt in person wouldn't be bad or that once rumoured Sting as Louis story line -I digress). I did OK when he walked by but about 5 minutes later I came to my senses. I had to get out of the line. I just couldn't do it. So I rode 2 rollercoasters, saw some scary creechers, dealt with ridiculous crowds and that was that.
I will probably avoid said event next year.

Happy 20th

Happy birthday - Lauren, Kelly, Cat, Carla, Mike, Nick, Anne, Fernando, Wayne and Alfred....
How crazy is that? How many people do you know with your birthday?
I think Mickey Mantle and David Lee Roth are with present company too.
A good day.

Happy Birthday Bacchus!

I can't beleive that he and I have been hanging out now for 8 years. Wow...
In some irony of my calendar I ended up traveling north of the city today for work.
It was odd in that it reminded me of the times I would drive up to China Grove to see Bacchus as a puppy before he could come home. He was so tiny. He was so cute. And it was so exciting. He's not as tiny anymore. He's still pretty darned cute. And when he gets all excited in the morning when he first sees me coming down the stairs or he's waiting at the back door when I come home from work - I would say it's still exciting as well.
What a great little guy.

Ramblin' Rose

Sunday was the culmination of all that training... well I possibly could have done more...
And off KP and I went even earlier Sunday morning to Huntersville for the Ramblin' Rose triathlon.
www.anewtriangle.blogspot.com

Race for the Cure

Mom and Andrea came to visit this past weekend.
We all got up real early on Saturday morning, headed into town, and hoofed it for 5k for the Race for the Cure. It was a good time.
That afternoon we helped Lily celebrate her 5th birthday!

We're Home

Downloaded pics and commentary - as usual...
I hope you enjoy...
http://downtheshore-exit98.blogspot.com/

In NJ

Well of course my mom is always in NJ. But this week Bacchus and I are in NJ. We arrived yesterday evening after an 11 hour drive. We unpacked, stretched our legs by playing in the grass a bit, took a little drive to find dog treats, and unwound for a bit.
Today is a work from home day - kind of.
Then to the airport to pick up Deb. She and I will be playing tourist for the remainder of the weekend. Will post more...

More Gettysburg Pics

http://www.kodakgallery.com/SlideshowEnd.jsp?&collid_list=39118512315.46044520715.1219658942363:&img_size=5&trans_delay=3000&trans_enabled=true&conn_speed=1&mode=fromshare&collid=39118512315.46044520715.1219658942363&Upost_signin_override_collid=39118512315.46044520715&UV=223137150265_84425530715&Upost_signin_override_collid=39118512315.46044520715&UV=223137150265_84425530715

Congrats Michelle & Brian

Welcome to this world Miss Claire...

Gettysburg

This month my mom and aunt are in Gettysburg. I think there is more to the trip than that but that's what I know so far.
Over the weekend they "met Abe Lincoln". They said the guy had an uncanny resemblence to him. That would have freaked me out - reminded me of the story of me in the Hall of Presidents as a child... I don't remember it myself but supposedly when Abe stood up to talk - I lost it.
Last night they were watching the first part of Gettysburg. Nothing like a little dose of the Sheen family to brighten a vacation. In the process I also found that Gettysburg is a pretty hot topic on youtube. Who knew.
I will post pics when I get any...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hyy5ha3.bk0iw63&x=0&h=1&y=-pgqdln&localeid=en_US

Baby Corbin has arrived!

Congrats on the arrival of your new baby boy!!!

We're Off to Carowinds

http://www.carowinds.com/

Here are some pics...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=oe1f59m.3u0apzpm&x=0&h=1&y=32pmc9&localeid=en_US

Big Birthday WeeK!

Yesterday was Spencer's 40th!!!
And today is KP's birthday!!!
Woo - hoo!!!
Happy birthday.... I hope you enjoy your celebrations.

Got new glasses

Yup - started the month off with excitement and now get to finish it off with some excitement... I can now see the outline of leaves in the distance again. I guess those other ones were a bit old... Now to see how they work after a day in front of the computer tomorrow.

Pictures from CT....

I would write more - but I wasn't there... PLUS we are in the midst of a thunder storm... The first rain Bacchus and I have seen in weeks....
http://www.kodakgallery.com/SlideshowEnd.jsp?&collid_list=39118512315.85461055615.1216860208075:&img_size=5&trans_delay=3000&trans_enabled=true&conn_speed=1&mode=fromshare&collid=39118512315.85461055615.1216860208075&Upost_signin_override_collid=39118512315.85461055615&UV=56205667933_28493255615&Upost_signin_override_collid=39118512315.85461055615&UV=56205667933_28493255615

Mystic, CT

My mom and aunt are off to Mystic, CT next weekend. I hope they have a good time. It has been ages since I have been in that part of the country. I hope they take lots of pics.

Charleston

OK - I just say that to make you all jealous. In reality I stayed in North Charleston - where I have to say it was more hot and humid than my entire week in Bermuda. And I spent my days in Moncks Corner - about 30 minutes into the middle of nowhere from Charleston. And that time - 5:30am to 8pm was spent in the cafeteria of a plant of a client. So no real reason to be jealous - except for maybe the scratch made biscuits but then again maybe not.
As is tradition - when I leave the facility on the last day I do a drive to the ocean. It's an easy drive on 526 around to Mount Pleasant - and I get to see the container boat ports while I am at it. The most familiar being Oriet Overseas - I figure it is a Bermuda thing? Anywasy, the weather was a bit tumultuous this time so I didn't go all the way to Sullivan's Island to stick my toes in the Atlantic. But as always I did go over THE BRIDGE http://www.cooperriverbridge.org/ My dad was pretty obsessed with the construction of this bridge. It is pretty breathtaking to see. And from there I came home...

Congratulations Lesley and Chris

For 9 days between June and July I went to Bermuda to help my friend Lesley celebrate her marriage to Chris. There were lots of wedding festivities and I was able to scoot around the island and see lots of sites. I also had an opportunity to catch up with other friends along the way.
As with the trip to Belize - I am trying to create a Bermuda based page. We shall see how well that goes...

http://bermudafuldream.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Megan!

Megan (my cousin's daughter) is preparing to graduate from the Intermediate School today. The ceremony will take place at the high school football field - although it sounds like the coordination of the festivities are a bit more complex than when I graduated. There will be a party after. I hope everyone has a nice time.
Now off to the high school. Should we tell her that we all had half days when we were freshman at the high school? I get looks from everyone when I tell that little factoid.

Happy Father's Day

You know I have commentary for most of these pics. I was looking for one pic in particular. I never found it - but found a whole bunch more instead. Happy Day..

..

My mom got pics for Mother's Day as well - don't worry. It was just easier to hand deliver those memories.

US National Whitewater Center

I must have ofrgotten to write about this during my mom's visit.
We went to USNWC for a morning and walked around. We only did the 0.80 mile loop - no heavy trails or water activities. She is think the next visit.
We did have lunch overlooking the water. That was fun - kind of like The Patio but not guite.
Check out the site - http://www.usnwc.org/ - it is a pretty cool place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8x5Pj8D9gM

Wachovia Championship

My friends had some extra tickets for the first day of the Wachovia. My mom and I went first thing and spent the entire day there. We met up with my friends around lunch time (where I proceeded to get ketchup all over me - shirt and pants) and spent the afternoon with them. It was fun - it gave my mom other people to chat with on the whole golf thing. It was a fun day. Sure it would be great to have pics but they don't allow cameras. This year's excitement - we got pretty close to Sergio this time. Tiger did not play due to that surgery etc.

Tourist in the city

My mom has also come to visit. Her first day visiting we played tourist in the city. We drove over to the new light rail line and took it into the city. You know my dad would have SO enjoyed that!
http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/LYNX/home.htm
We took the ride from the furthest point out into the heart of the city. From there walked around for a better part of an hour. I know there is a runner's web-site where I could track how far we walked but for now let's call it a better part of an hour.
The hightlights of the walk were
Imaginon - this is a children's library just down the road from the main library
http://www.imaginon.org/index.asp
Bobcats Arena (recently - like within the week - renamed to Tome Warner Cable Arena)
http://www.timewarnercablearena.com/
We walked passed Discovery Place - the topic at the moment is Dinosaurs - which did not catch our interests.
And Bank of America Stadium.
We picked up the light rail again at the other end of the city and headed back out. We stopped in South End for lunch at Pikes. There was also a kids arts festival going on. We proceeded to walk through that as well.
http://www.historicsouthend.com/index.asp
Eventually we got took the rest of the ride back to the car. But HEY check out the pics from along the way.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=oe1f59m.7xm624zq&x=0&h=1&y=prhddf&localeid=en_US
We also caught a glimpse (OK - I caught a glimpse because my mom has no idea who this is) of Dan Morgan. It was a great day.

Puppy Sitting

This month Bacchus and I have also had the pleasure of dog-sitting for one of the pups down the street. He has been with us for about 2 weeks give or take. Bacchus has been exhausted with the concept - teaching the puppy not to do certain things has confused him a little.
By tthe end of the 2 weeks the little guy hd figured out a bit about quiet time.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=oe1f59m.2tzj3b2e&x=0&h=1&y=-adiakl&localeid=en_US

Race for the Cure

My dad's cousin's wife passed away this month after a 2 year battle with breast cancer. I suppose this enough motivation to put my mind towards doing the Race for the Cure again this fall. I hadn't given it much thought to date. But I think it is a worthy cause to continue to pursue.

Please visit the Notice for Anne Westmoreland Leddy.
http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000108235569X

Charlotte's Race for the Cure
http://www.komencharlotte.org/site/PageServer

Arizona Pictures

I mentioned ages ago that my mom would have phots and then totally forgot to add the link when she finally sent them to me. Probably was a bit overwhelmed with her love of taking photos. Perhaps I should give her the Pentax back - nah...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hyy5ha3.g2wynnz&x=0&h=1&y=gmvgli

April 2008

This is turning out to be a busy month as well. My mom arrives later this month - we are looking forward to that. In the meantime there is the living room to finish painting and spring gardening that needs to be attended to.

March 2008

I suppose I avoided writing about March because then I would have to write about the inevitable... Still can't believe it has been 2 years. Memories of that day, of that week, still seem so vivid. Memories of all the years prior still seem so vivid.
Easter was nice - I spent most of that weekend with friends. The weather was great here. So it was lots of outside time with everyone.
The rest of the month was busy with work. At the end of the month - just last week (wow it was a long month too) - I ended up in Mississippi for work. Over the course of 2 days I made presetnations to over 300 people. Not really my comfort zone but something that needs to be done. I always say I am going to stay longer to site see - but I don't. Last week there were floods expected in that part of the country. This week - severe thunder storms and tornadoes. So I came home.

February 2008

I seem to be starting off the year with single pattern months.
Last month it was football.
This month, I have been sick the entire month. I have 3 days left of antibiotics. I sure hope it is working.
Mom - she was in AZ. I am sure she will have pics soon. I will post some.

January 2008

My mom went home before the New Year. She spent the month in NJ.
I got sucked into football after that amazing Giants / Pats season finale.
No really, the main thing I did in January was plan my weeks around Giants playoff games.
Now we all knew the Pats were going - I wasn't as concerned.
But to see the Giants go all the way! WOW!
It was a good month