YES!!!

someday...I will have one of these! Tom may follow behind me in his bmw to save face, but still--- :-)
(the music is a bit funky...)


blah...


Hurricane Kyle is dampening our weekend in a BIG way. While its on its way North and Maine has its first hurricane warning in decades, the rain, fog and dreariness surround us. Yesterday was the same and Pt Pleasant, where our boat is, got nearly 4" of rain. Things are supposed to get better tomorrow so maybe we'll go to the boat. Today though, its a stick around the house-run some errands-and-veg out watching college football-kindof day. Maybe there is a good movie on demand...

This weather has seriously gotten me into the sweater and boot wearing mood though and last night we went to dinner with some friends and started to talk about... ready?..... Christmas plans and traditions!!!!! FYI only 89 days until the big tree day...
Summer IS over (and the leaves are starting to change... BEAUTIFUL)!

Hope everyone is having a fab weekend.

pic: ollie ready for the heavy winter we are supposed to have.

have a nice fall








fall is here and oddly, we are semi-ok with it. Yes we are going to miss the guaranteed warm weekends at the boat, flip flops and our sun kissed bronze tans (well, only one of us really has a tan)... but autumn here is so beautiful and its actually still pretty warm out, PLUS with a thanksgiving like we had last year (70 degrees) how can we NOT look forward to fall?

We still have some summer weather to enjoy and last week we did just that which was a great thing as our friends from Canada came to visit.

John and Laureen live in the suburbs of Edmonton, Alberta and John and Tom have been buddies since high school. Because of work, Tom and I couldn't really take much time off, but we did manage to meet up for dinner in the city as well as spend time together each eve and the weekends. They had a fabulous time and the time we spent at the shore over the weekend was one of the best days we have ever had at the beach (John and Lisa joined us too).

Attached are some pics... diana and laureen living the beatnik life in Greenwich; tom, ollie and John hanging in the living room, ollie and frank, di and lisa being silly at the beach, times square at night, laureen as the statue and us 4 at dinner.

surf championship











No, Lisa and I didn't partake in THIS surf contest... but we really enjoyed hanging out and watching and taking it all in (see the SUP guy... cool!)
:-)
This was last weekend and I am just getting around to posting about it now...

Also, adding some pics of Frank and Ollie and their friends Snickers and Reeses when they spent the weekend with John and Li.
A good time was had by all there, for sure...

I am sure we all remember our limited high school spanish and this genius youtube video reminds us that it really didn't teach us how to say anything... pretty funny!

9/11-- 7 years now

www.mygooddeed.org

Just as we did last year, we are posting the above link to the website started because of the 9/11/01 attacks. What will you do to make this not just another day?

back to work






hey everyone--we are back home now and back to work. We had a great weekend with Gretchen and Doug. After picking up Doug from the airport we tailgated all day with various friends of Gretchen before the 3 30 kickoff.
Notre Dame won and it was a good start for them for the year. Here are some pics of the day and the campus.

Tom and I hung out Sunday in South Bend before catching our flight home. It was a very relaxing time--even with the flights.

pics* gretchen and di flexing our shamrocks, tom at the stadium (touchdown jesus is behind him), tom, doug and gretchen on campus, d & g on campus, gretchen at a tailgate stop paying respects to rick krispie treats and beer.

answers...


ok, I found out, its "Noter" Dame and anyone that pronounces it "Notra" Dame is clearly misinformed...

Second-- that guy is dressing up like a leprechaun just cause he can and probably cause he has red hair. After attending the pep rally today with Gretchen, I saw the actual leprechaun that the school recognizes and man, does that guy have a lot of energy.

This school is really into football and it has us fired up for the game tomorrow and any other college football game Tom and I will try and attend this year. (It makes me miss and at the same time fondly recall the Husky games we went to for years).

Tonight Gretchen, Tom and I visited some of Gretchen's old "college" hangouts for dinner and beverages and had a great time--college flashback for sure. All 3 of us are picking up Doug at the airport tomorrow and our day begins then!




tom and i took today off and flew (at 6 am--so tired) to cincinnati and then onto South Bend for tomorrows Notre Dame football game. Whew! Go Irish! ND is similar to the UW this year--going through a little bit of a rebuilding phase...

Tom has had work calls pretty much all afternoon so I gave myself a tour of the campus. Its a beautiful place and many new buildings are being constructed. (I still think the UW is the prettiest campus i have ever seen and thats not just cause I went there...)

I was shocked to see the bookstore totally packed, I mean packed--tons of alumni in for this game (and every game I am guessing). After happily purchasing a couple of necessary t-shirts for Tom and I, I wandered around and got some pictures.

Its cold here!! 68 only and drizzly--but its supposed to be mid 70's tomorrow and as I look outside now, I see the blue sky already peeking through.

This weekend will be a fun one and I hope to get the following questions answered:

1) Is it pronounced "Noter Dame" or "Notra" Dame. We have informally collected data from various residents here and its been conflicting.

2) Was the guy in this picture forced to dress like the mascot for rush week or something, or was it by choice? (He gladly posed for a pic).

Answers hopefully to follow.
Oh yes and the dogs are having a wild time at John and Lisa's. Not sure who will be more tired after the weekend between the humans and the dogs after hours of wrestling and playing, but my guess is John and Lisa...











technically I guess it is with labor day passing... the kids out here are all back in school, the pools are all closed and in the evening fall does seem to be in the air--except for yesterday, today and probably tomorrow!! It got to 90 here yesterday! Tom and I headed into the city for dinner last night (ate at a great restaurant: The Barking Dog) and it was HOT the entire night (the city cement definitely adds to that heat). I love the city. I love going in and everything about it. Tom scratches his head some at that (driving there is no fun, I agree), but he sees the draw.

This weekend we had possibly the best weekend we have had all summer (I know, I think I have said that before... but this time I mean it). We spent the entire weekend at the boat and took a 2-night trip to Tyces Shoal with Lisa and John. We love that spot as the water on the bay side is warm and shallow --perfect for floating around and swimming and just a short walk over a wood foot path that is only reachable by boat, you find yourself on a beautiful sandy beach and the atlantic ocean. We spent a day at the beach on Saturday and we enjoyed swimming in the ocean and both nights we took John's dinghy to that foot bridge and headed to the beach to build a bon fire. So much fun. Roasted marshmallows, laughed and just relaxed. Perfection. Tom and John took one full day and deep sea fishing on a friend's boat that is at our marina. They caught a bunch, but released a bunch (much to Lisa and my delight).

We have had a busy week back to work and its a short week for us-- Friday, Tom and I head to South Bend, IN to meet up with our friends from Santa Monica Gretchen and Doug (Gretch is Notre Dame alum) and to attend the 1st ND game of the season! Even though I am more of a USC fan (ND's arch rival), we are SO excited to go and experience all that is Notre Dame! They have the largest fan following in the country and tickets to the game are hard to get. We love college football so the weekend should be a blast!

Pics will be posted for sure and for now, here are some pics from our Labor Day weekend.
*pics: the gang at the beach at night, Tom fishing, Tom jet skiing, Piper and Timber on the dinghy...