Monday, Monday....

Back at work after a really fun weekend. Went to dinner at Mom and Dad's Friday night which was a lot of fun. Dad makes a mean cosmo and Barb (mom) and I imbibed on a few. : ) John wasn't feeling all together well, so we made it an early evening. I stayed up late as my night owl-ness kicked in and enjoyed the quiet of the wee morning hours while nesting away. Got a few things accomplished, and created a To-Do list for the next couple of weekends.

Mother Nature bestowed her wrath upon us on Saturday with relentless rain. Had to cancel pumpkin picking, but we did keep our dinner plans intact. The rain really came down. We desperately needed it in our area, but it's tough with two puppies at home. B&C had had enough of the rain and simply would not go outside anymore. I decided to take them to day-care and that really paid off as they were able to run and play with their friends. I was afraid of them running around outside and blowing out a knee on the wet leaves. Luckily, day-care was open and that gave me time to work around the house.

With the girls busy, I dove into full nesting mode. I emptied out the family room closets (what used to be our old bedroom) and set aside items to give away, stuff to trash, and clothes for Goodwill. I love the sight of a clean and organized closet. I decorated the house with Halloween/Thanksgiving stuff and in the process of pulling stuffed pumpkins out of the closet, I found a bunch of picture frames I had forgotten about. They're cute little silver antique-y looking frames and I immediately thought of all the old black and white family photos I have from when Gram passed. I think they'll look really great displayed in these frames and added that to my future To-Do list.

I also transfered some digital pictures onto my 2005 CD. I learned that when I name a photo, I should put the date first, then whoever is in the picture (or the folder of pics). That way, when I transfer them to a CD, they remain in date order. So my 2004 and 2005 CD's will be a little out of whack, but starting now I'm going to begin dating the pictures first. I also organized my film pictures by date, and will begin putting them into albums next weekend. I've got quite a bit to catch up on and need to be more diligent with my photo maintenance.

After a full day of nesting, John and I met Gretch at the pub for drinks and dinner. We always sit in a bar booth so we can watch whatever sporting event is on TV. Iowa/Purdue was on, so our Iowa girl, Gretch, was able to watch the home team play. The Pub is featuring an Oktoberfest menu, and I dined on the Knock & Bratwurst platter. Quite yummy with sauerkraut, potato pancakes and homemade applesauce. I do have to say, Mom's potato pancakes are much, much better. I was pretty wiped out when we got home, and ended up crashing around 10:30. I didn't stir until John woke me around 7:30 Sunday morning. I got some much needed beauty sleep.

John and I spent the day watching football and baseball. The Astros took the NLDS in an 18 inning instant classic over the Braves. Between that and watching 41 year old Vinny Testaverde lead the Jets to a win over Tampa Bay, we had a pretty exciting day. The Yankees extended the ALDS by beating Anaheim and forcing a deciding Game 5 in California. We'll see if the Yankees still have a little more magic to pull out a win tonight and advance to the ALCS.

Back to work time for me.

Anyone for Martinis and Pumpkin Picking?

So looking forward to the weekend. John, Gretch, and I are going pumpkin picking and then to the Blackhorse for drinks and dinner. I was joking with Gretch that I had a mental image of her stumbling through the pumpkin patch, cigarette in one hand and beer in the other. She's decided the occassion calls for a little something stiffer, so I'll need to make a mental note to pack my flask. And some olives.

Dinner is with M&D tomorrow night. That's something nice to look forward to. Combine that with the pumpkin festivities and it's a homerun of a weekend. Thankfully, I've got Sunday to recover. I think that will be my day to put out my Halloween and Thanksgiving decor. As much as I hate this time of year (post-season baseball being the exception)I do enjoy Halloween. I have some really cute pumpkin, ghost and black cat decorations and a few other things that lend a festive air to the house. I do a combo Halloween/Thanksgiving decor. My house is a cape, so all the rooms are fairly stand alone. Not much flow goin' on in my crib. Many little nooks and crannies. Those nooks and crannies are pointedly driven home every morning when I get out of bed and smash my head on the slanted ceiling. What moron came up with this layout? No doubt it was a midget. I'd like to give a big WTH? to the architect, however, it should probably go to me for not exactly acting in a Pavlonian manner and ducking when I roll out of bed. Exactly how long is it going to take me to learn to duck? It's been 8 damn years! I digress...

Didn't get out for my walk this morning. How about a big WTF? to the idiots who schedule the baseball? Honestly, I think it's a smidge easier for those on the West Coast to follow a game that starts at 5 pm PT than it is for us East Coasters to follow a game that starts at 10 pm ET. We've already got a bunch of bleary-eyed idiots walking around the office and now I'm one of them. Can't get out of the sack early enough to get out for my walk. Going to have to turn in early tonight and get my fat ass out in the morning.

Time to shut it down and go get the girls from day-care. Cami should be tired enough to not eat anymore of the carpet. The little hellion.

What A Trip!

We're back from Stratham
after an absolutely fabulous visit with our friends, the Rowe's. We met Kevin and Sandy at the bar at Sapphire Beach in February and were then introduced to Kevin's parents, Joyce and Chris. We've kept in touch and were able to visit with them in New Hampshire this past weekend. That's John on the left posing with Chris, Sandy and Kevin.


What a great time! Joyce and Chris welcomed us into their lovely home and made us feel most welcome. They have a knack for putting people at ease and making a visit very pleasurable. After a tour of their beautiful home (which was Joyce's parents home) and their abundant garden, we were treated to a trip to the Lindt candy factory in town. Can't go wrong with Lindt chocolate! Interestingly, the Lindt site in NH serves all of the Eastern part of the country.

After sampling some chocolates, we returned home to begin happy hour. Of course, it's always happy hour with the Rowe's-that's why we like them so much and get along so well! Kevin and Sandy joined us for dinner after returning home from work and we all enjoyed Joyce's royal feast. We were treated to steak with mushroom sauce, green beans, red potatoes, corn on the cob and tomatoes. Everything except the beef came from Chris & Joyce's garden! It was fantastic. Joyce didn't think we'd had enough to eat so she set out her pumpkin pie and apple pie. John and I needed to be rolled away from the table.

After a trip to Kevin and Sandy's house to see their new kitchen, we met their son , Shane. What a nice young man and, lucky for us, he'll be coming to St. Thomas next year. We're really looking forward to introducing him to the island!

We watched the Bosox beat up on the Yanks then headed to bed for a great night's sleep in Joyce's fabulous guest room. We threw open the windows and slept in the clean country air. I haven't slept that soundly in years.

The next morning, Joyce served up a breakfast casserole that was out of this world. Bread pieces, eggs, cheese and sausage-a real stick to your ribs meal. That gave us the sustenance needed to tackle a day of shopping and bar hopping in Portsmouth, a quaint little town north of Stratham. We took a scenic route up the coast and stopped at a few of New Hamphire's beautiful beaches on our way to town. Portsmouth is the kind of place I love...people sitting outside little cafes with their dogs, specialty boutiques and little restaurants all along brick topped sidewalks. Very picturesque. I was able to find two wonderful paintings: one is of waterfront Portsmouth and the other of the little pub, The Rusty Hammer, where we stopped to snack before heading to the Brewery to watch the game.

We really tied one on at the SmuttyNose Brewery and watched as the Yanks took the lead over the Bosox. A win and the Yanks would clinch the AL East. After a few too many drinks, Chris and Joyce got us all home safely to see the end of the game and sit down to yet another fantastic meal. This time we were treated to lobster and Joyce's homemade coleslaw. We had a lot of fun getting the meal together, especially with cooking the lobsters. Live flames are not a good thing when you've been drinking. Luckily we were able to put out the fire on the lawn (Chris being a fireman and all) and save ourselves from ourselves. John and I toasted and Yankee win and well, toasted just about everything else.

Sandy didn't have enough partying for the day, so she called her friend, Paul, to drive us into Portsmouth to The Gas Light. Great little place with an outdoor courtyard, lit by torches (we were having a fire theme day). We enjoyed a band, enjoyed more drinks and then staggered into this little place called Gilleys for some midnight munchies. Gilley's is a little trailer type of thing that is about 6 feet wide and 15 feet long (and that includes the kitchen...if you can call it a kitchen). Gilley's is definitely the place to soak up the alcohol and get righted before going home. We chowed on some dogs, burgers, and fries then found our way home to fall into bed.

Sunday morning was a little rough. Surprisingly, Kevin and Sandy made it over for Joyce's French toast breakfast and then John and I had to pack the truck and say our goodbyes. We're so very fortunate to have the Rowe's in our lives. They are all such wonderful people-John and I just adore them.