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...)
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.
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.
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!
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?
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.
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...
hey everyone--we have nothing exciting to report so this will be a short one, but we wanted to say hello. We have both been so busy with work this week! Pretty much everything else has just been put on hold. We are really looking forward to the long weekend thats just 2 short days away now.
Fall seems to be coming faster here this year than last. Its still really nice weather, but the mornings and evenings are brisk.
Well, told you this is short. Hope everyone is doing well! More to report after the weekend away. We don't have any real plans--maybe an overnight trip with John and Li.
:-)
In my b.t. days (before Tom) many of you know that I had as my most prized possession, a 1977 VW Westfalia bus complete with stove, sink, fridge and slept 4. The fact that it needed a serious paint job and getting it to start required a serious pre-key turn prayer didn't matter to me... I loved it. But alas, I lived in Seattle and while these are common modes of transportation in Seattle... its so not a beach lifestyle and my bus was not used for its true purpose: surf bus.
Now, here on the East Coast, the vw busses are not so common; the rusty conditions overpower them, but oh how much I would love to have mine back, and here. Why you ask??
For my newest sport: SUP! Stand Up Paddle!! Its related to Surfing in a more movie-stars-are-doing-it and I-can-pick-it-up-pretty-easily-kind-of-way. Its really big on the West Coast and in Hawaii and I have been dying to try it out out here. I found a surf shop that demo'd them for free so Lisa and I picked it up Saturday am and spent a good part of the day on the water. At one point, Lisa stood on her kayak and we both "sup'd" all over the area near our marina. We mainly stayed in flat water and even with a random wake now and then from a boat, managed to stay up right the entire time. Its a great core workout and so much fun--I like it far better than kayaking. A few more times on flat water and then I think I will be up for trying it in some small waves in the ocean.
Tom took pics from the boat and due to the awkwardness of learning the right position and therefore the sometimes less than flattering body shots, only a few are posted. More to come. :-)
Other pics from the weekend too!
*frank, tom, ollie and di on john and lisa's little boat at Treasure Island, di on a sweet beachcomber in Long Beach Island (LBI)
hey everyone-- its officially been a year now since we moved to the East Coast. Its been a full year, but has gone by pretty quickly.
As you can see from our entries, we have no complaints. Of course we miss family and friends very much, but we've seen a different side of them (and us) as we now play host and tour guide.
We had a great weekend at the boat and I will blog on that later with some pics. Lisa and I did Stand Up Paddle which was AWESOME and I am completly loving this surfer-dudette lifestyle I try to imitate (Tom makes fun of me!) :-)
Happy Monday!
we had a wonderful vacation! wow! we are home now and while that is nice, we wish we were still at the boat. We had so much fun and being just an hour from home? Unbelievable!
after AC we went to Long Beach Island (LBI) and docked at Barnegat Light--a very, very small fishing town. We walked all over the island visiting the famous lighthouse. It was a beautiful marina, and town and very relaxing. After LBI we stopped at Tyces Shoal where we swam in the warm water and then crossed through the state park by foot and hung out on the beach before heading back to our marina and relaxing the rest of the weekend with some kayaking, long walks around Point Pleasant and hanging out with John and Li.
We lucked out with weather--mid 80's and not that humid all week. Today, just as we got home a storm came in and the temp dropped to 64! We threw on some "winter" clothes and just vegged at home getting ready for our back to work week.
Have a great week everyone!
Here are some pics:
*tom the dogs and I heading from the boat to the shore to cross into the ocean at Tyces Shoal (the dogs "surfed" in on the floatie), frank on the boat, our marina--look at those clouds, barneget light light house, john rounding up the posse of dogs.e
...and meet me tonight in Atlantic City".
- lyrics from 'Atlantic City'
I could not resist quoting one of my fave Bruce songs especially since its so fitting for our current location!
Atlantic City is about a 3 1/2 hour boat ride from our Marina so it was a perfect choice for a 2 day trip. We considered some other locations, but some windy weather and time factored in so this seemed like the perfect idea and it is turning out to be just that--perfect!
We are docked at Trump Marina (the hotel attached was just bought by Jimmy Buffett so soon it will be themed Margaritaville! We will be back for that for sure!!). The Marina and boats here are gorgeous--some of our "neighbors" here seem to be doing very well for themselves.
We got in yesterday and after getting settled, checked out the famous boardwalk. I LOVE Boardwalks! This one is complete with countless fun to watch "win a prize" booths, instant weight gain snack shacks and tons of amusement park rides (sometime ask Tom about the go-cart race he and I had overlooking the Ocean. Lets just say he is demanding a rematch. :-)
We are not big gamblers and even Vegas grows tiring for us after a day or so, but down here the beautiful beach is a nice bonus that distracts one from the casino life that runs day and night. The boardwalk is quite long--we walked about half yesterday and then went for dinner. We'll head over there soon to explore some more.
Here is some background: First the facts starting with the best one in my opinion... the streets of Atlantic City were used in the original Monopoly game. There are little bridges leading off the boardwalk onto the beach with names you will recognize: St James Place, Marvin Gardens, Indiana Ave, Pacific Ave and more. The boardwalk was first established in 1870 and as with all boardwalks then, were designed for the sole reason of helping store owners keep sand out of their shops. The salt water taffy is famous here (and delicious).
Now the opinions: Atlantic City is a bit cheesy-- but thats sort of expected and thats ok! Aside from the Ocean, it reminds us of Reno. It is much smaller and less showy than Vegas, but slighty larger and more lights than Reno. You can people watch all day here and of course the casino's are always packed. Caesars seems to be either re-done or fairly new. Its huge and well kept. They even have designated no smoking floors which for a Casino, is pretty rare. I especially like it after I turned $5 into $40 on video poker last night. Big spender I am.
The weather is perfect--mid 80's and sunny.
John and Lisa are going to drive down tonight to visit and go to dinner!
Have a great Wednesday!
*pics- tom on the boardwalk, hard rock and elvis, the dogs keeping watch and the marina area as we pulled in.
Hello everyone! We are vacationing this week and for the first time ever, we did not leave our home state. We are at the boat all week and while we may venture into NY waters (Montauk) or even up to Block Island, we are just happy where we are. No airplane rides, no hotels to deal with and we have the dogs here too!
The only obligation I set for myself today was to get the special issue of People with the Jolie-Pitt twins featured. Once that chore was done, its been non-stop relaxing. :-) Ahhhh vacation.
Tom and I hung out at Pt Pleasant and Seaside Heights today visiting the boardwalk, some surf shops and the nearby beach towns. We found a place that rents Stand Up Paddle boards so either we'll rent them this week or next weekend! I am very excited to try it!! It truly feels like summer down here. We love it!
so I am always one to love every technical gadget there is (even before I knew Tom, but of course now its worse); however, I am not often the first to know of said gadgets, so this entry may be old news to many of you...
Skype is awesome!! Its a free software program that allows you to see/talk/webcam with another over your computer FOR FREE. Even if your computer doesn't come with a webcam, just buy an after market one for less than $50!
Just the other night Tom and I visited with my aunt Jan in Hawaii and the broadcast was perfect, with no delay or "strobe light" effect with movement. Of course, Skype could be a real pain for example if you are feeling sick and looking awful in your pajamas on the couch, but aside from that, to quote my aunt "its like we're the Jetson's". She is so right!
www.skype.com
