New Favorite Beer

OK, technically I never actually drank the beer . . . but I decided that it’s now my favorite . . . based purely on, what else?? The marketing!!! Yes, I’m a sucker for marketing.

My coworker just walked into my office and said, “I was having a beer last night and I thought of you!” Hmmmm, that’s not something I hear every day. Nothing about me reminds people of beer. Then he hands me the bottle cap. Now you will understand.

So I decided that I need to go and get myself some of this Magic Hat beer. Just for the thrill of seeing what’s under the cap. It’s like fortune cookie beer. Love it.

If you don’t hear from me in awhile it’s probably ‘cause I got carried away with the caps and I’m passed out in some alley!

Volunteer Needed

Is anybody free this Saturday . . . say around 11 AM? I am looking for a volunteer to accompany me (and my hounds) at the Annual Greyhound Walk at Wickham Park. Karlo is ditching me for the day and I don't think I can handle both dogs on my own. Well, I can . . . but I wouldn't get 5 feet before I was a tangled ball of leashes. And that's no fun! Bentley and Peanut have been looking forward to this and I have sponsor money that needs to get to WAG. So if anyone out there reading this would like to come with me, I would be most appreciative. Please let me know. It's a short walk (greyhounds aren't known for endurance) and there's a little picnic afterwards. All together maybe 1 hour!

Look at all the famous people I know . . .

We went to the Rocky Hill Memorial Day Parade on Monday and I saw all kinds of famous people marching . . .

First there was my nephew in the marching band.

Then I found Alana and Gianna Lionetti (not necessarily in that order and not necessarily spelled correctly - sorry guys!)

Next I saw Tina marching! I still don't know why Tina was marching, but obviously she's some sort of Rocky Hill celebrity!!!

And lastly . . .

I couldn't resist adding Scot Haney since he's actually sort of famous ;-)

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to Lisa who is celebrating a birthday today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!! Enjoy your day and don't forget, no matter how old you get, you will always be younger than me . . . you dirty dog ;-)

Stay tuned for my Memorial Day report . . . very busy at work today!

Exciting Sunday

For a day without many plans, we managed to fill every minute of the day with fun. We took Karlo's motorcycle out to Eastford in the morning. On our way we happened to drive right by some coworker friends who were out for a bicycle ride. We pulled up along side of them and they said they were headed for our street! We told them to meet us there and we would join them for a spin.

Only problem was that when we arrived at the house we realized that we forgot our garage door opener - our only way in to get our stuff. uuuugh. I had no choice but to plot my break-in through the doggie door. I was scared to death. Despite the fact that Rick told us several times how to work the house alarm, I knew beyond a doubt that I would set it off. Yikes. Well, I got half way in the doogie door and heard everyone yelling "they're here!" as Rick and Nancy pulled into the driveway. Thank goodness that stress ended. And come to find out, the house was even armed!

So Saturday we got our first taste of what it's like to have to run out to do an errand. It was about 15+ miles away and took us well over an hour to get back. That is not exactly ideal and I moaned a little about how much it's gonna suck. However, yesterday we got our first taste of what bicycling and motorcycling was like out there. In one word -- SPECTACULAR!!!!!

First we took a bike ride with our coworker friends. They had their baby in tow (in a trailer) and we rode in the middle of the road for just about the whole 8-10 mile trip. I think we encountered about a half dozen cars the entire time. It was the best bike ride I ever took in this country! It beat the pants off the Vermont rides - no huge hills, no cow stinks and no attack dear flies. I was simply stunned at how pleasant it was.

But that's only half the story. Next, we jumped on our motorcycles and went for a ride. This was beyond specatular. I can't think of a stronger word to describe it. We drove 5 miles out from the house and back and it was paradise. Part of the trip was on a dirt road, part was a primary trail and the other part was what appeared to be paved logging roads through the most beautiful pine forrest. I wish I had a helmet cam to share with you the beauty. You're just gonna have to come out for a visit and see it yourself.


After a few hours of pure bliss out in the country, we headed back to Hartford on Karlo's bike. Right off the exit we were sitting at a red light on Airport Road and in the side view mirror I see a car approaching us (in our lane) at top speed. It was VERY obvious that this idiot was not going to stop for the light. I'm telling you . . . my life passed before my eyes. I was preparing myself to get rear ended and for sure DIE. As this @$@^$ got within one car length of us, he swerved into the right lane and flew right through the red light. What would have happened if that lane was not clear? I do NOT even want to think about it. I felt sick to my stomach. I promise I will never complain about having to drive out to civilization from Eastford. I couldn't be happier to get as far away from people and traffic as I can get.

And we wasted no time getting the heck out of Hartford. We fed the dogs, threw them in the car and headed out to a great little party in Andover. Stupid me didn't take any pictures there. Lisa, I need some! Thanks for the great night :-)

Be Still My (Beating) Heart

Did you hear Sting's voice when you read that title? I did!

Just as I suspected, today was a better day than Friday was. Of course, it wasn't hard to beat Friday, as far as good days go. I had a great night's sleep last night - probably due to the two Newcastles Friday night. (Any by the way Jamie, I thought the band sounded great!) I thought I would be too excited to sleep, but that wasn't a problem. This morning we went to go pick up my new baby! It wasn't quite fair because Karlo got to ride her from Glastonbury to Eastford. I got to watch him in the rear view mirror - having a ball. Grrrr.

Once we got to Eastford I got to take her for my maiden voyage. My heart was pounding at first from fear, but it wasn't long after I took off that it started to pound from pure enjoyment. I LOVED it. I can't believe how well I did right out of the gate. Karlo followed me in the car and we found a dirt road that led to a primary trail through the Yale Forest. It was heaven. Not only did I do great off-road, but I was able to do u-turns all by myself. That was a big accomplishment considering the bike is bigger and heavier than my old bike.

I don't know what it is about this bike, but as soon as you get on it, you just can't help but smile.

Now we just have to get my old Suzuki running so I can sell it. Karlo tried to ride her to Hartford this afternoon, but let's just say . . . that didn't go so well. That darn bike cost us most of the afternoon and as a result we didn't get our training (pedalling) miles in. How am I supposed to bicycle tomorrow with the lure of the new motorcycle beckoning? Uuugh, this won't be easy!

Return From the Firey Pits of Hell

Today was officially Hell. I know I already whined and complained last week after I set our trade show booth up, but this was even worse. Today was dismantle day and aside from the fact that it was 98 degrees in the hall (expect for when the fork lifts drove by you, increasing the temps by another 10 degrees and blowing propane exhuast in your face) dealing with lazy, imcompotent men has snapped my last nerve.

You know that saying . . . if you can't say something nice you shouldn't say anything at all . . . so therefore, I better sign off now!

I have a feeling tomorrow will be a much better day :-)

PS - Karlo, if you are reading . . . I just want you to know how much I appreciate the fact that you are a very capable, strong, hardworking man! I know I take you for granted, and days like today remind me of that.

This is all Lisa's Fault

A couple of months ago my buddy Lisa insisted that I put a movie in my Netflix que. I didn't even quite remember what it was all about, but I obeyed and added this unknown movie as she requested. Then a couple of weeks ago, said movie arrived. It was an incredible story about 2 guys that biked (motorcycled) around the world. It was called "Long Way Round" and it starred two British actors, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. In addition to Ewan being adorable with that accent that I love . . . the movie was just addictive and sucked us right in. Of course I was sucked in after hearing 2 sentences of the accent, and Karlo was sucked in the second he saw the BMW GS1150 bikes (his dream bike).

So we watched all 8 hours of the movie and followed these two guys around the world with the most incredible adventures you could ever imagine. By the end of the movie, I totally missed the two guys and Karlo is dying to take a similar trip. He started asking me when we are going to take a motorcycle vacation. My first thought was, "OK, he's old." We always talked about pedaling across the country and now he wants to cheat and take a motorbike. Hmmmm. But anyway, the thought of riding off road started to peak my interest.

When we were in Germany two summers ago Karlo found a BMW training course where you can go off-road with guys that teach you how to do it. Karlo begged me to do this and, at the time, I had no interest. But now after the movie, I would love to.

So . . . . we were looking on Craigslist last weekend for a used ATV. We will need a utility vehicle for our new house. As Karlo is searching for the ATV, he stumbles across a used BMW for sale. He HAD to open the listing and look at the photos. I was standing over his shoulder and my heart stopped when I saw the bike.

We will cut right to the chase. Here's my new toy . . .


More details to follow . . .

Crazy Week

This is one of my least favorite weeks of the year. We have a local trade show (at the Big E Fairgrounds in Springfield) and it consumes most of my week. I'm only in the office (and at a computer) one day this week (today) and I'm trying to catch up on work.

I have stories building up and for sure I'm gonna forget them. I'll try to share them as soon as I can. Bare with me.

Tomorrow it's back to the grueling trade show work. See below!

Back to a Real Keyboard

Now that I can type properly, it's time for a real blog entry. Today was a busy day. I had to catch up on two days of work emails (from last week), requiring me to have to actually 'work' on a Monday. Uuuugh. Didn't like that at all. Then it was off to the dentist and then to Tolland for a bike ride. This weekend was a washout as far as riding goes. This puts us to only 2 weekends left to train for our Finger Lakes tour . . . gulp!

We took the tandem out today for our first ride of the season. It felt good. It's so different from riding single bikes. Everyone likes to tease and tell me that I'm not working as hard when I'm on the back of the tandem. For all of you that say that . . . I invite YOU on the back of that insanely heavy bike and crank up the hills at the gear of Karlo's choice! Let me tell you, NOT easy. And I so get the short end of that deal. I'm going to have to put Karlo on a diet :-)

Since I didn't get to recap the weekend, I'll just mind dump some random thoughts:

First of all, I need to do a follow-up to "The Secret" posting. Not only did we get ANOTHER unexpected check in the mail (this time we apparently over paid our homeowners insurance), but I got a great email from CA Sue. She read my posting about The Secret and she's really been trying to practice it. She's in the process of buying and selling a house and going through some stress (yes, I can relate). I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this. This is written by Sue.

"I really believe that you have to be happy and grateful for what you have. I had emailed my cousin and complained a bit about the situation. And she told me to pray and that you can live anywhere if you are happy. Tonight I got a call from a friend. She is getting a divorce because her husband is a cheating pathological liar. And I thought wow I am so lucky to have Jim and the life I do. So I check my email and I have an email from our agent that he sent at 10:45pm. He had just found out that an appraisal was to be ordered today. I asked for a "bone" just a small sign and while I was busy just being happy with what I had, I got it."

Ta da. I told you guys, this stuff works.

In other news:
On Saturday night we had dinner with the SCHG dudes: Doug, Lucio and Jim Fiorino. All I can say is that my cheeks hurt for hours from all the laughing. Jim positively kills me. Stay tuned for more info on the premiere of Jim's movie. Can not wait!

Oh and here's an interesting note. Yesterday I ate a small piece of steak!! This was my first piece of red meat in 10 YEARS! And I am happy to report that I did not get a stomach ache. I'm still stunned. Maybe the trick is to wash it down with champagne! But here's the funny part. It was literally 22 hours before I could even THINK about eating again. My poor digestive system was working double overtime on that one. So I'm thinking this can be a good thing. I hate eating anyway. Perhaps I should start eating steak. That way I will have to eat much less often. Brilliant. And now I know how to order my steak . . . Let's see, what was the term? Medium? Well? No, that wasn't it. Incinerated. Yes, I believe that was the correct term. LOL.

A Rockin' Night Out

Rather than telling you all about my weekend . . . since I'm on my laptop right now and typing is an issue, I thought it was better to tell you to mark your calendars for this Friday night. I will be out partying in Hartford . . . Hmmmm, there's something that I haven't said in AGES!

My cousin's (Jamie) band is playing at Sweet Janes this Friday night. Sadly, I don't even know where that is, but it's downtown for sure. It's been a long time since my days of bar hopping and band watching. The last time I went out to see Jamie's band we only lasted one set. The old farts went home to bed to go to work the next day. But this time it's on a Friday, so maybe we can make 2 sets!

Anyway, if you find yourself free and want to join us, click on the image above and print it out. It will get you free admission. Hope to see you there.

Three Blind Mice

I had a rough couple of days and I'm not happy about it. I think I need to vent . . .

I spent the past two days in Springfield setting up our trade show booth. Yeah, I know I talked about this very unglamourous portion of my job before, but this time it's worse. I have been so spoiled the past few years doing these shows with Karlo. I got very used to him being around and him knowing what to do with this incredibly intricate and difficult booth. But I'm not always lucky enough to be able to steal him away from his real job to help me out. And since this nonsense IS my 'real job' I'm stuck with it.

Now here I am . . . a graphic designer, a writer, an editor, an all around Marketing genious :-) (hee hee) and did ANY of my college education come in handy for this job? No, not really. All of the things I currently do at work, I pretty much taught myself. OK, except for my English skills! And what part of my childhood education came in MOST helpful these past two days?? My carpenter apprenticeship!!! Yes, being the daughter of a carpenter has saved my tail.

It just astonishes me how incompetent some people are. I guess I just assume that men have mechnical abilities and know-how. Perhaps I'm just really spoiled having my Dad for a dad and Karlo for a husband.

But the fact of the matter is that I must be way more mechancial inclined than most. I just spent 2 days leading the three blind mice. I had 3 strapping young guys to help with the booth install and none of them could function without my direction. And two of these guys have put the booth up several times in the past. And did I mention one was my manager?? It was simply incredible. All I have to say is THANKS DAD for teaching me how to be a little carpenter. Who knew that I would actually need these skills so much in my "professional" career? Go figure.

Help Save the Greyhounds

I know everyone knows about our hounds. You have all met them, played with them, know how cute they are, and what good dogs they are . . . BUT, did you know the harsh facts about the greyhound industry? Did you know that thousands of these amazing dogs are still killed every year by heartless racing gurus. The video below tells the true story . . . Warning, not easy to watch and not intended for children.

There are plenty of "greyt" organizations around the world that are working very hard to rescue and protect these delicate creatures. Every state has a greyhound rescue that takes as many dogs as they can from the tracks and works hard to place them into loving homes. To know a greyhound is to love a greyhound.

In case you want to help the cause . . . Bentley and Peanut are walking in a greyhound walk-a-thon on June 2nd. They could use some sponsors on their registration form. So far only Mom and Dad are listed. I think we can talk grandpa into a small donation too. But if you would like to make a small donation to the cause, you can make checks payable to WAG and mail to me at 70 Plymouth St, Hartford, CT 06114 by June 2nd.

Bentley and Peanut thank you!

My Drugged Up Little Pooch

Peanut is here with me at work today. I was just about to ask her if she wanted to go for a walk and when I looked over my desk . . . this is what I saw! Poor thing. She just got a shot at the vet's and they warned me that it may knock her out. I know it's hard to imagine a greyhound even more subdued than usual . . . but she is. Too cute not to share!

The Not so Secret "Secret"

Considering Oprah talked about this book, it's no longer a Secret. I recently got this book (despite the fact that Lisa told me to buy it several months ago) and I can't put it down. I just have to share . . .

I have been believing, practicing and preaching the teachings in this book for years. I am a firm believer in the power of our minds. Think it and it becomes your reality. This is one thing that Karlo and I see eye to eye on. He believes this too and reminds me of it just about every day. Of course, there are plenty of times . . . like when I have some excruciating injury and he tells me "oh come on, it's all in your head" that I want to smack him . . . But ultimately he's right. Most things are just in our heads. Whatever we are thinking will become our reality. So if I'm thinking and focusing on the pain, chances are, it will hurt even more.

So I got this book because 1) I love this entire concept and read lots of books like these, and 2) I thought I could use an extra boost of positive energy in my life. In the past, when I really focused on needing positive things in my life, I was always able to bring them my way. It really is a mind set. I often get trapped in cycles of stress and worry where my stressing over something just brings more stress about something else. The cycle must be broken.

Right now I'm just trying to focus on NOT stressing about our finances. Buying this new house was taking a big leap of faith. I'm trying to stay positive and believe that we can handle this and it will all work out. We REALLY need to sell some property (in Maine or CT) in order to keep my sanity so I'm thinking that by focusing on it, it will come true. I've been telling myself that 'good fortunes will come my way.' I am never very detailed in my thoughts. I mean, I don't want to discount somebody giving me a winning lotto ticket, so I thought I would keep things more broad based. And I'll be darned. In the last two weeks since I started reading the book, all sorts of unexpected checks have come in the mail. For instance, we overpaid our home equity loan by $220 and got a check back in the mail; We over paid our cable company and got a check back in the mail for the overage; We got our rebates from recent purchases; We got a rather large and quite unexpected check from our mortgage company. (I still don't even know what it was for, but I ain't asking!); I even got a check for $2.45 from my bank (what on Earth?); and you ready for this . . . I opened a credit card bill from a card that I thought I cancelled last month. Guess what it said? I had a $60 CREDIT!

Ok, so maybe it's all coincidence and if that's what you want to believe, that's fine. But I believe that I drew all these things to me by my thoughts. This stuff works! Every single thing in your life is a result of your thoughts - whether you want to believe it or not. Think good thoughts - have a good life. Thing bad thoughts and, well, you get the idea. Go spend the $13 on the book and give it a try.

See What I Mean?

I manged to find some cute clothes to wear to the dance show that we went to see on Saturday night. And I must say, I loved the dance show. I decided in my next life . . . I want to be a dancer!

On Sunday I got dressed and threw on my new black capris, a hooded 3/4 sleeve top and some sandals. Karlo kept looking at me strangely and when I questioned why, he said "I'm trying to figure out what you are dressed for." Do you see what I mean? On the weekends I need to be dressed for whatever sport we are planning to do. We went for a walk with the dogs and I went to put my cell phone into my pocket and my darn pants nearly fell off. So now I'm complaining that I have to either hold my phone or hold up my pants! Karlo had to comment on the fact that I'm not dressed appropriately for the occasion. I give up! I am doomed to a wardrobe of high tech clothing. After our walk, we went kayaking - which of course required me to change clothes into "kayaking" clothing . . . and what did I put on my feet? Instead of my very high tech waterproof Keen sandals, I wear my suede pink sneakers . . . insisting that Karlo gets out and walks in the water so I can keep my 'cute' sneakers dry. Yeah, he was ready to kill me by noon for my wardrobe choices that day.

The Real Me

I have come to the realization that I just have to accept the real me. Last night I went shopping with Tina. It was a hoot. I felt like I was on the show "What Not to Wear" and Tina was Stacey. Tina was picking out all kinds of highly fashionable clothing and I was protesting, just like the usual slobs on the show. I'm sure the other shoppers were laughing if they overheard our conversation. Tina kept insisting that I look "adorable." Meanwhile I'm telling her that I think I looked pregnant! I'm just not hip to the whole empire waist thing. Why wear maternity looking clothes if you don't have to? Tina must have been losing her patience with me. She is a high fashion model and here I am . . . after complaining for the last 4 years that Karlo buys all my gifts at EMS . . . and I have no fashionable clothes, what do I tell Tina? I hung my head and said "Maybe I should just go to EMS." Uuuugh. Can you even believe it? Shameful.

So here's me in the clothes I feel most comfortable in:
OK, just kidding. But I guess there's a reason why 70% of my wardrobe is high tech clothing. Outside of work, I'm either biking, hiking or kayaking. I got that wardrobe down pat. I'm going to have to see if Tina will take me shopping again. This time I'll have more of an open mind.

I have to get ready now to go out. Oh boy. It's Saturday night and I have a date with Karlo. Now what on earth am I going to wear? Tina . . . HELP!!!

Welcome to my Shopping World

Yesterday I got unexpectedly abandoned at work. Karlo had to make a work emergency run to the Boston area, taking my car and leaving me with no way to get home. A coworker offered to drive me to Hartford, but once I got there, all I could do was sit and stew . . . our other car is in the shop, I had nothing to do and no way of getting out of the house. I also couldn’t go to the (as Lisa called it) Saab Lovers Convention that we were scheduled to attend last night. I could see that the night was not shaking down to be very exciting . . .

Until Lisa offered to rescue me. She offered to take me shopping and then drive me back to Hartford – despite the fact that she lives in the total opposite direction (in Andover). I was thrilled. I went from being pathetically abandoned and alone to a shopping date with a girlfriend – yeah!!!

And the best part was that I got to introduce Lisa to my shopping hell. Yes, I know that nobody likes to hear me complain about trying to find clothes small enough. Yes, I am very grateful for my skinnyness. (is that a word? Well, it is now) However, shopping is hell. Every year about this time I get the urge for adorable sandals. Karlo takes me out shoe shopping and he runs around and picks out dozens of cute pairs for me to try. Inevitably, I walk out of the store empty handed and usually in tears. My stupid feet are too narrow to wear most of the sandals. My feet slide right through so my toes hang over the front. That is NOT attractive! Then there’s the high heel and throng between the toe problems, but we won’t get into that now.

Last night I was on the hunt for simple black shorts or even carpis. I wasn’t being picky. That shouldn’t have been too hard to find, right? Wrong! I couldn’t wait to show Lisa how hard it would be. She was determined to find me something and she put in a very good effort. Now, we were at Kohls and I have gone on rants before about Kohls. I was even compelled to write to them once and complain about their complete lack of small sizes in that store. Even tops and sweaters – they never seem to have smalls. Pants and skirts – forget about it. Once in a blue moon I find something in that store that fits me.

So we had to make the dreaded trip over the Junior’s department. It is so embarrassing for me to shop there. Much easier when I’m with my step daughter. Anyway, we couldn’t even find anything appropriate (in my size) there. So we headed back over to the Misses department where Lisa did manage to find a simple pair of black shorts in a size that sometimes fit me. So I tried them on and came out of the dressing room with 6 inches of fabric gathered into my fist, asking if my safety pin trick would work. Lisa then decided that I may be better off shopping in the BOYS department. How sad is that? I have a body of a BOY! No curves, no shape, no cute sandals :-(

Oh well, think of the money I saved! I bought sheets instead. Our bed will certainly be dressed better than I will be!

I Better Get Used to This

I just got off the phone with CL&P. I had to call to switch the electricity bill for the new house over to our name for the end of July. Here’s how the conversation went . . .

I explained the reason for my call and the guy asked for the address of the house. I said “144 Kozey Rd . . . in Eastford.” I was going to add “Connecticut” to the end of my sentence, but I figured I was calling CL&P – which stands for CONNECTICUT Light & Power – so why would I be calling them if I didn’t live in CT? And what do you think the guy’s first question was, after I ended with “Eastford?” “Is that in CT?” Yes, of course it’s in CT!!!! OK it gets better from here.

Several seconds goes by and he says, “I don’t see a town called Eastford. It’s not coming up in my computer.” I got the feeling that he was questioning me if I’m SURE it’s in CT. Hello, shouldn’t I know where the house is? This was starting to get funny. He didn’t know what to do and was just trying to explain to me that the “computer can’t find Eastford.” He said "It's pretty bad when the computer can find it, isn't it?" I was thinking that most of our friends will have the same problem that his computer was having . . . .

We made sure he was spelling Eastford and Kozey properly . . . I sighed and asked if the zip code would help him . . . Finally he proclaims that there IS a town called Eastford and they do provide service there. What do you know? I could have told him that 5 minutes earlier. Too funny.

Running Out of Excuses

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, Karlo and I have set May as the month to start doing all of our physical activities. I described our first day back in the gym and that was no picnic. We also took our first VERY short and very pathetic bike ride. We went for a lunch time ride last week. We set out with no water and no plan of where we were going to ride. All of our usual rides from work consists of hills, BIG hills, and I am just not ready for that torture. So went rode for about 30 minutes and during that time I couldn't breathe or swallow. As soon as I started to breathe hard, it felt like somebody was choking me. My stinkin' allergies just took over. I will have to find a way to exercise outdoors during the spring without all these respiratory problems. Between the allergies, the lack of water bottles, the old broken helmet and my new foot injury, I sure have found enough excuses to NOT ride. But that has to stop. My foot is getting better every day. I just found an old water bottle in my office. I'm going to buy some allergy medication. The Fed Ex guy just delivered this beauty to my office . . .


And now I can't wait to wear it. So not only are my excuses falling by the wayside, but I have to decide whether we are going to register for a bike tour by this Friday. Yikes, that is only 2 days away! I want to take a tour of the Finger Lakes in NY. Only problem is that the trip is 4 weeks away and I KNOW (from experience) that it is very hilly up there. It's a 2 day ride (50 miles per day). Hmmmm, I used to hear 50 miles and think "ah, that's nothing!!" I'm used to mileage over 70 per day. But now I'm totally out of biking shape and I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old. I feel like I need to train for 50 miles a day. Karlo says "It's just a bike ride." And he feels no need to prepare whatsoever. I think my butt, neck and leg muscles will have something to say about that.

I am inspired by what the president of the bike club wrote to me . . . He said at the bottom of his email to me . . . "You can do it. We can help." Maybe he works for Home Depot! But it did inspire me to Just Do It. So I think I'm gonna. Oh boy . . .

Attention Everyone

My brother, the old man, is a year older today. Still has a few more to go before the BIG one. I'm not ready for that day. It's bad enough my husband is in that "old fart" category . . . but my brother is much closer in age to ME and that just scares me.

Happy Birthday Angelo!!!

Not Much of a Weekend

My weekend was pretty pathetic. We went down to Haddam Saturday morning to help Dad out with the final clean up. There was a whole new dumpster to fill and lots more wood to burn. The whole scene was not very pleasant. If you can imagine what the land looked liked after being under water for two weeks . . . or better yet, what it SMELLED like. Yuck!!! It smelled, well . . . . like the CT River at low tide. Disgusting! And everything was covered in mud.

So I thought it would be a good idea to wear my brand new LLBean gardening clogs. Bad idea. I don't think I was there more than 20 minutes before I completely impaled my foot with a big rusty nail. It hurt like hell and I was scared at the consequences. The last thing I needed was Karlo yelling at me and telling me that he "told me not to step on any nails." I swear to God, I wanted to choke him.

The rest of the day I hobbled around and didn't really do too much work. I mostly watched everybody else work. We got home and took the dogs out. I couldn't go for a walk around the golf course with them, so we brought a bike and I pretty much coasted around the whole park. What a cheater.

Yesterday was pure frustration. Penni scared me into going to get a tetnis (sp?) shot. Dad told me where the closest medical clinic was in Wethersfield and Karlo brought me over there in the morning. Only problem was that it wasn't a walk-in clinic at all. So we drove back home and went online to find one. Then we drove out to South Windsor and come to find out, that one was only open Monday - Friday. Grrrrrrr. So there was only one more that I knew of and that was in Vernon. We drove over there and found a note on the door "Sorry for the inconvenience, Dr had a family emergency." That was it. I gave up! I decided to take my chances and we went shopping instead.

Today I'm still having visions of poison flowing through my blood. The thought of that nail being in the CT River for 2 weeks makes me want to vomit. My stupid foot is still killing me and tonight is our first dance class. I'm not a happy camper right now. I suppose I will call my doctor this morning and see what he thinks. Stupid nail, stupid LLBean clogs. uuuugh. I hope your weekend was better than mine.

First Time "At Home"

Today after work we drove 'home'. It was weird to get on the highway and travel in the wrong direction. By wrong, I mean heading East. We are getting pretty used to hopping on the highway and driving to Hartford. So today we got to 'test drive' what our new commute will be. It took us about 35 minutes, but that included a brief stop at the post office. I came to the scary conclusion that I may need to take some Dramamine until I get used to Karlo's terrible driving on the back country roads. That will take some getting used to. And for all of those that thought Andover was back roads, this is worse!

We went out there to pick up a few things . . . an old bike that I won't cry about if it gets stolen in Hartford (so we can start riding around the golf course in addition to walking around it), our life jackets so we can start kayaking at the Cove, and a push grass cutter so I can cut the grass for Dad. Yes, and I mean "I". I love that little grass cutter.

We intended to sneak in and out without disturbing Rick & Nancy. (In case you don't know who Rick & Nancy are by now . . . they are the "previous owners" - wow, that sounds funny). Anyway, these two have become our friends and the worst part of this whole deal is that they are moving away! I'm gonna miss them. That house is going to be so lonely without them there!

Anyway, we totally interrupted their dinner and I still feel bad about that. But I so enjoyed another wonderful visit with them. As you can see below . . . Karlo carried me across the threshold for the first time, we had some celebratory wine, I hugged my precious "posts" (I finally figured out the difference between a "post" and a "beam." I hope Karlo is proud of me for that :-)

And this is Mack, but he doesn't come with the house :-(

90 more days . . .

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that it’s May and that means we have one month down and 3 more to go . . . The bad news is that every time I have asked Karlo “When are we going to start biking?” and “When are we going to start lifting weights again?” and “When are we going to go kayaking?” . . . his answer was always “In May!” I’m really not too sure what was so magical about May, but May is here and today was our first real day in the gym. Oh the dread of realizing just how weak you got from slacking for several months. It was horrible. Even Karlo was burnt out and couldn’t do nearly what he used to be able to do. I’m just wishing I had a picture of him collapsing on his stomach as he tried to do his (leg inverted) push-ups. There he was, flat out on the floor with his arms out. It got quite a few strange looks from others in the gym. Could that be KARLO, the iron man, flat on his face??

So if that’s what happened to Karlo, it was worse for me. I HATE feeling weak. And I dread getting on my bike this month. I’m terrified. I’m going to be sucking wind, my butt will kill and forget powering up the hills like I used to. I wonder if I even remember how to switch gears. I actually woke up this morning and wondered how to switch gears on my motorcycle. I honestly couldn’t remember! That is bad.

No doubt, tomorrow my muscles will be sore, but I actually look forward to it. I remember complaining to Karlo in the past if I wasn’t ‘sore enough.’ I always judge my work-outs by how sore I am the next day. At least I know I worked hard when I’m sore. Strangely, I think it’s a great feeling.

Stay tuned to see how I do on our first ride of the season. Hopefully there will be no pictures of either of us flat out on the ground!

Meet "The Jos"

Sort of like "Meet the Fockers" only this is "Meet the Jos." Karlo and I have called JoAnne and her husband Joe, "The Joes" since their first date. And when we are talking about them, we always have to say . . . "So Jo (girl Jo) told me . . ." or "I got an email from Jo (boy Jo) today . . . "

We went to visit "The Jos" this weekend. They just bought a camper and a site at Roaring (something or other) in Stafford Springs. I am very excited about this because, come to find out, it's not very far from our new house. Actually it's probably within 10 miles which practically makes them our neighbors!!!

The weather didn't cooperate and the bugs were out in full force, but I got to see the kids playing in the playground for at least a little while. Then we moved inside their new camper digs. Their camper was orginally owned by Bob of Bob's Discount Furniture. So it's like a celebrity mobile. If you can count Bob as a celebrity!

The kids are adorable. Looking at Olivia is like looking at JoAnne when she was little. As a matter of fact, when I look into JoAnnes eyes now, I see her daughter. And David . . . look out. He is exactly like his father. He will be a handful - no question! All boy!!


I probably should have kept my helmet on for this ride!