Adios Amigos

In just a few short hours we will be taking off for our trip. I think I’m ready. Well, that means I think I packed everything we need. I know for sure that I’m ready for vacation. I don’t think I ever needed one more! It sure will be nice to get away for some much needed R&R.

But before I go, I just wanted to say a couple of things . . .

First, I want to thank Lisa & Luke 150 more times for watching our hounds while we are gone. We simply can not thank you enough!

I also want to give a shout out to my cousin Eileen and her daughter who just kicked bootie in a triathlon. Actually Elizabeth managed to come in First Place for her age division. You go Lizzy!!!! There’s talk of getting me and Jamie getting involved in next year’s race – wouldn’t that be a hoot?


I’ll be back on July 11th (Karlo is taking right off for a business trip – poor guy) and I would love to go see the Savage Brothers play in Rocky Hill that night. I’m not sure what time they start, but they are playing at the band shell at Elm Ridge Park. If anyone is interested in meeting up, please either email me or call my cell. I would love to see you there.

If you are missing my blog entries over the next couple of weeks and you want to take a virtual vacation to Croatia, here’s a site for you: http://www.croatia.hr/English/Destinacije/Odredista.aspx

Are We Attention Seekers?

I’m starting to wonder if this is the case. I don’t think Karlo and I thrive on attention. In fact, in general we are hermits. We prefer to do our own thing and live far away from neighbors. So why is it that we always seem to attract so much attention? For instance . . .

We ride a rather unusual bicycle. Many people have never even seen a rig like ours (especially with my super funky softride beam). So without fail, every time we go out on it, some joker has to yell “Hey, she’s not pedaling back there.” If I had a dollar for every time that happened we could buy another bike! It might have been funny the first dozen times, but it’s getting old. We even had some guy start belting out the tune “ . . on a bicycle built for two . . .” But on a brighter note, we often bring smiles to people’s faces as they see us go by and the occasional kid screams out “Cool. Look at that!!!”


Then there are our dogs. For some reason I had to pick a rare breed that EVERYONE needs to comment on or question. Trust me, you can not walk around in public with a greyhound without drawing lots of attention. Normally we are used to walking in the woods (where there are no people), but lately we’ve been walking around the golf course. It is impossible to get around the park without comments like “Hey, I bet on that dog.” Or a million questions about the breed, and did we rescue them, and are they good pets . . . the list goes on and on. It takes us forever to take a walk because half the time we are discussing the dogs with strangers. I can’t remember the last time we walked by people that did NOT gawk at our dogs. Golfers stop their game to watch us go by. It’s like we are freaks!


And now we own a rather strange house. We get a lot of questions like “Why are you moving to Eastford?” and the answer to that question always relates to the post & beam issue. Most people don’t even know what a post & beam house is. So that requires an explanation of what it is. I’m getting sick of explaining what post & beam is!

And also on the subject of explaining . . . it seems we take unusual vacations too. Most people, when asked where they are going on vacation, can simply state: to the Cape, or to Disney, or some other normal place and be done with it. But our vacations require lots of questions and explanations . . . “Why would you want to bike across the state of NY? Where is Croatia? Why are you going there? Is there still fighting there? Is it dangerous?” I know people are curious about the unknown and it’s fun to explain ourselves . . . the first 20 times. But now we are sounding like broken records. I feel like we should just print up a statement explaining why we picked Croatia and keep them handy for the next person that asks where we are going on vacation. We can just whip out a “Frequently Asked Questions” sheet about Croatia. For that matter, we should make them about greyhounds too.

And just to add a few more things that draw attention . . . our tandem kayak always gets a comment on the lake. Our old Jeep was a huge attention getter – especially if the hood was up. That thing could attract every man from a 1 mile radius – to drool over the engine rebuild that Karlo did. We used to drive very strange scooters that nobody every saw and they just had to stop and ask about.

I’m not sure, but I think we have a problem. Maybe the mere fact that we want to get away from people simply draws them to us!

Getting Ready for our Trip

As most of you know, Karlo and I are leaving this week for our long awaited trip to Croatia. We started planning this adventure two years ago! We booked it a year in advance and then one week before we were due to leave, we were informed by Homeland Security that Karlo got approved for permanent residency and could not leave the country again without a special stamp in his passport. Does this make sense? Now that you are an official permanent resident of the USA, you are restricted from traveling! But when you are in limbo and not really a permanent resident, you can do as you wish. Unreal. So long story short, we had to cancel our trip and rebook for the following year. We have our fingers crossed that nothing else crops up between now and getting on the airplane on Thursday.

In preparations for the trip, I’ve been trying to figure out the bus or train schedule to get us from the airport to where we need to go. Very frustrating because nothing is in English and I can’t rely on busy Karlo to translate the Croatian web sites for me. I just booked us a car so we can drive ourselves from the airport. A one day rental cost us $200. That is the price you pay for being a lazy American!

I also found a website that lists the weather in Croatia. Last week I checked it and it looked too good to be true. Here’s what it looked like:


So I just checked it again today to see what’s going on this week. And this is new forecast. I think I’m gonna like this place!

Time For Dessert

OK, looks like I'll be busy making dinners for everybody :-) Now that we had our dinner, it's time for dessert . . . Penni sent this to me last week and it was really neat. Check it out:

If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose (sorry, you can only pick one!) This is amazingly very accurate. (At least it was for me and Karlo). Pick your dessert, and then look to see what Psychiatrists think about you.

1. Angel Food Cake
2. Brownies
3. Lemon Meringue
4. Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing
5. Strawberry Short Cake
6. Chocolate on Chocolate
7. Ice Cream
8. Carrot Cake

ANGEL FOOD CAKE -- Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy Items. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at The end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature At times.

BROWNIES -- You are adventurous, love new ideas, and are a champion Of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up you whip out Your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and Direction. You tend to be very loyal.

LEMON MERINGUE -- Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are An excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walk And chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you Have many friends.

VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Fun-loving, sassy, humorous, not very grounded in life; very decisive and motivated. Everyone enjoys being around you, But you are a practical joker. Others should be Cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE -- Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other People, can be counted on in a pinch and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. Can be very emotional. Also tend to be very loyal.

CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE -- Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to Have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take Chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

ICE CREAM -- You like sports, whether it be baseball, football, Basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but You enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.

CARROT CAKE -- You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very Warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal Friends.

So what are you? Leave me a comment to let me know! I was strawberry shortcake and without having to ask Karlo, he was FOR SURE, chocolate on chocolate. His description was even more right on than mine. Fascinating.

Free Dinner

I have been on a roll lately with cooking nice dinners. Moving to Hartford has completely changed me! I went from attempting to cook one meal every 2-3 weeks to cooking just about every night. And I have discovered that it’s not really all that bad. I have learned that it’s not the cooking that I hate. It’s the chopping and cutting. I’m just not good with knives! So when Karlo helps me by doing all the chopping, it’s really quite easy.

Before we moved to Hartford I bought a new cookbook – one with lots of pictures that’s presented like a children’s book. Perfect for me. If only they explained what part of the grocery store to buy the ingredients in, I would be all set! Anyway, between that book and a couple great web sites that Lisa gave me (http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Dinner/ and http://www.backofthebox.com/recipes/onedish.html) I’ve been amazing myself (along with Karlo and Dad).

Last night I whipped up what is now my new favorite dinner. It’s easy to make and super yummy. The picture at the top of this posting is the dinner I made (only mine didn't quite look that pretty). I like it so much, I’m offering you all a free dinner when you come to visit us. Just leave me a comment on this posting and consider it a gift certificate for that meal. All it will cost ya is a few gallons of gas to come and visit us 

Let’s see who is brave enough to take me up on it . . .

Happy Summer

Today marks the first day of Summer . . . which means you better hurry up and start enjoying it, because it’s almost over. Or at least it seems like it is. Why is summer always the shortest season? And an even bigger question than that . . . Why can’t you find a bathing suit in the stores in July? That always kills me. Luckily, this season I went bathing suit shopping in June (this week) and it was a joke. Most of the suits were completely picked over and this section of the store was complete chaos. Finding a particular size was like hitting lotto. I just don’t understand why it’s so terrible for stores to stock appropriate items for the season THAT WE ARE IN. If you need a bathing suit this year, I’m telling ya . . . you better hurry to the store now – especially since today starts Summer. I’m sure that means the winter coats will be on the racks by the weekend.

Scary Night

Last night was scary and frustrating. I was brave enough to let Karlo dye my hair again. I know, you are probably thinking that was a stupid move, but I have faith that he will keep getting better at it, and if he learns how to do it, it will save me lots of money. Not to mention, time. It is torture for me to sit in the chair at the hairdressers for two hours. What a huge waste of time. I get so antsy sitting there, I want to run out midway through. But with Karlo doing it at home I can multi-task . . . like I did last night.

While I was waiting for my hair to process I was busy reinstalling software on my computer. That STUPID computer finally nearly crapped completely out. I’ve been limping along with it for a couple of months, desperately trying to make it until the move to Eastford. But it was getting to the point where it wouldn’t boot up. That darn computer is nearly new and I’m sure the problems are with good ole Vista. Jury is still out on Vista.

My install was very tricky and scary, but I made it though. I think I was able to do it only because I had a little more patience than usual. I had nowhere else to go with a blue head! And I’m sure you’re wondering how my hair came out. Well . . . last time it turned out pretty orange and I hated it. Only thing is that I got used to the orange hair and now it’s much darker. This time Karlo did the job properly but it’s so much darker that it’s going to take some getting used to. All in all, I’m happy that he’s just willing to help me. Orange, red, brown . . . I guess anything is better than gray so I’ll stop complaining.

Another Graduate

Tis the season . . . for graduations . . . and I recently discovered that my ‘little’ niece just graduated from grammar school. It’s getting hard to swallow . . . Nicole will be going to Jr. High next year. How is this possible?

And get this . . . her brother John is starting his new job this week. He will be working 35 hours a week as a life guard. Now that is a pretty sweet job, but he’ll be working as many hours per week as me! Nothing like jumping right into the work force. He’s very motivated because he’s turning (yikes) 16 this year and he’s already saving for a car.

So all the kids in my life are not really kids anymore. Jessica is in love. John is working nearly full time and shopping for a car. Nicole is glued to her cell phone and addicted to online shopping. Good grief, life is going by too darn fast.

Interesting Morning

Uuuugh, we woke up this morning at approximately 4:45 to the sound of a jack hammer about 25 feet from our cracked-open basement window. We laid there and tried to pretend we didn’t hear it until about 5:30. Finally, Dad came and knocked on the basement door to inform us that the water main had broken on the street and there was going to be no water for the rest of the day. What a Monday.

So Karlo immediately packed a bag and took off for the office. I, personally, had to desire to start work at 6:00 am so I paced around the cellar until 6 and then took off for the office. Which is a drag, considering Monday’s are my ‘days off.’ But I figured a shower, toilet, and something to drink all day was worth going in. So here I am . . . feeling quite lucky to have a stocked locker and nice shower here at the office.

We had a good weekend, despite the fact that I’m struggling to remember anything that we did. Oh, we did a little biking and a little kayaking. We biked in Eastford and I had my first experience running over a snake!! You should have heard me scream. Ick. I’m going to have to get used to the creatures out there. Yesterday, we kayaked at the Cove. We are selling our old kayak to a co-worker and tomorrow will be our last day with it. We had to take it out one last time to say good-bye. So sad. I get emotionally attached to objects! I hope I don’t miss it.

Other than that excitement, we tinkered around the house. Karlo was busying playing with the roof rack on the VW and cleaning his “new-to-him” chainsaw. I was busy learning how to use my new toy . . . . We bought a push lawn mower – just for me! I think I have lost my mind because I’m all excited to help Karlo mow the grass. I tested it out in Dad’s backyard and I think I got it down. Now I’m ready to take on the hills in Eastford.

Another New Favorite

How many people do you know decide they have new favorite things before they even see, try or taste them? Yeah well, I'm a strange bird. But this is a FOR SURE thing . . .

I have been a big fan of Ardman Animation for 10 years. These are the people that created Wallace & Gromit, the Chicken Run and the Ware Rabbit. I don't know what it is about these clay creatures, but I adore them!!!

This morning a friend told me about a new television show starting next Monday. It's called Creature Comforts and its these clay creatures with hilarious personalities. Check out the web site and you can view one of the episodes. Hands down, my new favorite show! Only problem . . . (would you believe) . . . Dad doesn't get Ch. 3. So now it’s becoming crucial that we move SOON. I’ve been sacrificing all sorts of things, but missing this show will be too much for me to handle.

Not So Little Anymore

I still can’t believe this . . . Jessica graduated high school this week. It seems like just last summer when I was teasing her about being a “freshman.” Where did 4 years go? I also vividly remember redoing “her” bedroom before I even met her. She was 11 at the time and I made the room all colorful in a theme for a little girl. Then before I even knew it, it was time to redo the room for a more grown up young lady. And now, well . . . she’s an adult. Scary how fast the time goes. I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you moms out there.

I’m not quite sure what Jessie’s plans are from here. She still has not decided on where she’s going for her college education or what she wants to be. But then again, how many of us knew what we wanted to do when we entered college? (Besides Gina, who probably already knew.)

I’m sure it’s hard for Karlo to see his little girl all grown up. She’s in love with a college boy now (yikes) and is being torn between being with him and doing her school work. We’ve all been through it and somehow it all works out.

And as hard as it is for Karlo to see his little girl all grown up . . . it’s harder for ME to admit that my step-daughter has just graduation high school. Aren’t I too young for this??

Number 9

Last night I finally had my new favorite beer and good news . . . I actually liked it! It was yummy. I also learned all about beer etiquette. I was not aware that it is taboo to drink Newcastle in the summer. According to Peter (my old – and I mean ‘old’ volleyball partner), Newcastle is a winter beer. La te da.

So last night I was supposed to meet some friends to play volleyball. After wussing out of subbing for Sheryl a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I need to get out and see if I still remember how to play. I was all excited to play a few pick-up games – in the sand – with no pressure of real competition. My ‘old’ partner has mellowed out and no longer gets into vicious competitive mode, so it’s just all fun and no stress these days.

But the plans went downhill. Peter hurt his back (like I said, he’s old) and we decided to go out for drinks instead. Pathetic. So instead of a couple hours of great exercise, we sat around at Shea’s (more on that below) and had a light dinner and some beer. It was lots of fun . . . but I still wanna play!!

Now, if you haven’t been to Shea’s in Manchester you should go. They have a nice outdoor patio, the food was good, reasonably priced and the atmosphere is great for hanging with friends. It’s pretty much in the Kohls parking lot so what’s better than a little shopping followed by dinner and drinks outside? And here’s the best part . . . they have bands playing on Friday and Saturday nights and I convinced the owner/manager that he needs to let my cousin’s band play. So hopefully that will happen this summer and we can all get together. (Jamie, email me for the details).

Still on a Biking High

We really needed that ride this weekend. I think Karlo and I have been losing our passion for biking. One day this Spring Karlo asked me “Why do we bike?” I figured just the mere fact that he is questioning this shows that he really doesn’t love it like he used to. Should that be a question? My answer was hesitantly . . . “Because we like it?!?” I didn’t know if I was making a statement or asking a question. Do we still love it? Now I was confused.

For sure owning motorcycles has muddied the waters. I mean who wouldn’t rather go for a refreshing motorcycle ride instead of spending a few hours pedaling in the baking sun? It’s a hard choice when you have to pick between the two. Biking started to become a chore we do just to stay in shape. And this past weekend’s trip was supposed to be just a training ride to prepare for our vacation.

Little did we know that it would reignite our passion for biking. Yes, we both questioned why on earth we are doing this . . . on Friday night when the terrain was hell and the heat was deadly. But by the end of the weekend it all came back to us . . . why we do it. Sitting on the back of the tandem gives me lots of time to think and reflect on things that I don’t normally have time to think about. I thought about all sorts of things. I felt happy. I felt good – mentally and physically. I just can’t describe the great sense of accomplishment that long distance biking gives me. I guess it’s like a runner’s high.

I made a mental list of things that I love about biking. I’m sure the list was longer while I was pedaling, but getting back to the real world strains my brain more and now I forgot half of my list. But here’s some of it anyway . . .

Things I Love About Biking:

• As I already stated, I love the sense of accomplishment I get at the end of a long hard ride.
• I love the wind and sun on my face, and the sights and smells of undiscovered places.
• I love the chance to let my mind wander – no music, no conversation, just me and the road.
• I love the way my legs feel - nice and hard - after riding.
• I love overcoming obstacles as a team with Karlo (getting lost, broken bike, mending wounds) and feeling closer because of it.
• I love pigging out on ice cream and feeling like I deserve it.
• I love the good excuse to wear adorable socks!
• I love the feeling of complete exhaustion and sleeping like a rock afterwards.

Holy Cow

That is the official name for our Finger Lakes bike tour . . . because:

• Holy cow, it was HOT the first day.
• Holy cow, that’s all we saw the first 2 days of riding – cows, cows and more cows.
• Holy cow, we broke our bike and still finished the ride!
• Holy cow, my butt is sore from pedaling and sitting in the car for over 12 hours round-trip.

But, all in all, we had a great time. I’ll try to condense my report so as not to bore you.

Friday
We took off Friday morning and drove straight to the Corning Glass museum. Karlo always wanted to take me there and it turned out to be a nice bonus to the trip. We saw truly amazing things, learned about the origin of my favorite Corelle dishes, watched a presentation by a master glass blower, and then got to SHOP in the glass gift shop. Yes, that was the best part :-)

We got to the campground just in time to change and get ready for the first ride. It was hotter than hell and I truly didn’t have much motivation to ride. Most campers where already settling in with drinks and snacks in their hands. Why were we changing into bike clothes when it was 94 degrees and so humid that breathing was hard just sitting there? But, like idiots we rode. And we regretted it. The ride was only 16 miles, but the first 8 were straight up hill . . . and our bike wasn’t shifting into the lower gears. We both thought we were going to explode from the heat. Let’s just say the ride SUCKED. But we made it. Luckily that night the thunderstorms came through and the temps dropped significantly, making for perfect riding the next two days.

Saturday
After not sleeping one wink in the tent the night before, I was amazingly alert and ready to ride on Saturday. The trip was supposed to be 50 miles of rolling hills. The weather was perfect and we had a great day. I didn’t complain too much about the hills because compared to the night before, it was pleasant. I got such a kick out of seeing all the Amish folks doing their thing. The kids were positively adorable - all dressed in their Amish digs . . . riding their bikes with bonnets and dresses or hats and suspenders. I still can't believe this way of life. I marveled at it all weeeknd.

The views all day were terrific. You can see for miles and miles across the country sides looking over dozens of farms, cow pastures and distant hills. Karlo was in heaven just looking at the clouds. He says the best clouds in the country are in this region. It was hard getting his head out of the clouds all weekend because this is the area that he used to regularly fly his hang glider and his mind was back there in his days of flying.


Luckily for me, Karlo was happy with his head in the clouds all day and didn’t get too mad at me when I screwed up the navigation and caused us to pedal an additional 10 miles -- 5 of which where up hill (a BIG stinkin’ hill – of course). So we ended up doing a metric century that day!

Sunday
We considered today a short ride (only 44 miles) and we had the mind set of “let’s just do it fast and head home.” We felt good after our longer ride the day before we were ready to breeze through this ride. We decided to park the car so that we tackle the big hill first. It was about a 4 or 5 mile uphill stretch and there just happened to be a bike race going on. What a riot. We were biking in the middle of this race. We had buff guys that looked like they could be on the Tour zipping by us like we were standing still. And here’s the kicker . . . crowds were cheering US on. Did they really think we were part of this race? Apparently so! So of course, this motivated us to pedal FAST. And we cruised through that hard stretch in no time at all.

The rest of the ride was pretty easy. We went the complete perimeter around Keuka Lake and it was beautiful. We stopped for a snack in Hammonsport before pushing back to the car. We got about 15 miles from the end when the bike made a loud bang. I asked Karlo, “What the heck was that?” and he said “That’s bad news.” NOT what I wanted to hear. We pulled over and apparently Karlo’s crank was busted. The ball bearings literally fell out and the crank was barely hanging on. There was nothing we could do but limp the bike back and pray to God it would hold on until we made it back.

Well, we made it. I was a nervous wreck because I didn’t want any delays in starting our drive back. I pushed harder than ever because I didn’t want Karlo putting too much pressure on his cranks. I was exhausted. We did the 44 miles in 3 hours and I was so relieved to see the car at the end of the ride.

Now I think we are ready for Croatia . . .

To see all the photos from our ride, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/paulasworld/FingerLakes

I'm Ready -- I Think

Tomorrow we are taking off for upstate NY for our Finger Lakes bike tour. This seemed like a good idea at the time . . . a weekend out of the city, a chance to do some good mileage to prepare for a week long bike tour in Croatia. But the reality is that we barely rode up to this point. Exactly one week ago, we went for our lunch time ride and I was totally dragging. My legs felt like bricks. I was tired and lethargic and having second thoughts about this entire trip. I told Karlo that I can’t do it on the tandem (and I was the one pushing for the tandem). It was just SO HARD that I couldn’t bare the thought of doing a couple 50+ mile rides this weekend with it.

It was a sad and depressing ride last week and rather than looking forward to this weekend, I was starting to dread it. But then everything changed just two short days later. We went out again (on the tandem) for a ride, twice the distance of our lunch time loop. I don’t get it . . . this time I did great! I felt so strong and in shape. What changed in two days?

So now I think I’m ready. It’s all a mental thing for me. If I doubt my abilities, for sure I’ll have trouble. But as soon as I convince myself that I CAN do it, I’m good. Karlo insisted that we don’t bike at all this week. He said we need to be “hungry” to ride. But I’m sure he just wanted me ending on a good note. If I had another bad day, we’d be in trouble.

We’re taking off tomorrow morning for a 6 hour drive. My father said, and I quote, “I can’t think of one good reason why you would want to do this.” I think he was referring to the biking, but I assumed he meant sitting in the car for 6 hours . . . because to me, that is far harder than pedaling for 5 hours.

Stay tuned for next week for my full report and hopefully some pictures.

Junkyard Dogs

It appears that our highly refined, regal greyhounds have been turned into junkyard dogs. Living in the city is taking its toll on all of us! Last week our dogs got two bad report cards, two days in a row. Dad has reported back to us that our dogs have lost their minds. Two days in a row they went crazy barking! Yes, barking! I know this doesn't sound very unusual. But you need to know . . . Our dogs don't bark! Well, they never did before. I would have loved to just witness this.

Apparently there was a landscaper in the yard directly next to Dad. He was planting some trees in the yard and our hounds went nuts - barking and charging the fence. Then the next day, there was a small terrier two yards away and again, they went nuts. What on earth has gotten into them? Back in Andover, they wouldn't even acknowledge other dogs in the neighborhood. Other dogs would be in their respective yards, barking away as we walked down the street, and our hounds wouldn't even turn their heads. Now that's the greyhounds that we know and love. Maybe the dogs just aren't used to seeing other people or animals so close to "their" turf. Living in Hartford is much closer quarters than what they were used to in Andover. Well, if that's the case . . . We will certainly solve that problem in Eastford! Seeing other people will NOT be a problem out there so our dogs should go back to being the snooty, "I don't see or hear you" greyhounds that we are used to.

The hounds, however, are getting used to their walks through the golf course. This is much different than their usual strolls in the woods and they seem to like it. There are more smells to investigate, more people to meet, and more squirrels to hunt. In the woods, Bentley doesn’t have a fair chance at the squirrels - too many trees for them to seek shelter on. But on the golf course . . . well, they are in trouble.

This week we took a walk right after the rains. Nobody was in the entire park and we let Bentley go hunting. I don’t think I ever saw Bentley have more fun. He was in attack mode and I didn’t think he was even capable of running as fast as he ran. We had a ball watching him stalk and chase squirrels. I only wish I had video proof. It is amazing to see the difference in prey drive between Bentley and the little clueless wonder who still doesn’t even notice squirrels.

Heaven . . . I'm in Heaven . . .

Yes, I am very excited about paint chips!! And the harassment that I took at work over them . . . you would not believe. Everyone at work teased me because I spent money on something that you can walk into the store and get for free. I don't care what it costs and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Nobody understands the pure bliss that comes from having a complete color wheel. Maybe it's the graphic designer in me.

So now I have thousands of colors at my fingertips. Yes, I KNOW I can go to the paint store and pick up individual chips, but that just doesn't compare to having them ALL!!! Now the fun begins. I have a huge blank canvas just beckoning for color. How on earth will I choose? Luckily I have a professional color consultant (yes Lisa, that would be YOU) to help me out.

At this point I don't even have the vaguest idea of what colors I want in the new house. I thought the first step would be to pick out one room to tackle and that will be the master bedroom. I want it painted before the furniture gets put in, and me sleeping on a REAL bed again is TOP priority. I don't even want to begin to discuss the back pains from the contraption that we've been sleeping on . . . Anyway, to help me decide, I figured I would start with new bedding and hopefully draw some inspiration from that. So far it's been weeks of hunting, shopping, buying, returning and shopping some more. Karlo is ready to use a sleeping bag for our quilt. I think he has reached his bedding shopping limit. And luckily for me, since he no longer cares, I bought the one that he said he didn't like. He's just going to have to trust me ;-)

Here's the bedding that I picked out. Only I'm planning on adding maroon accent pillows. So what color should the walls be?

I'm a Loser!

Volleyball used to be MY LIFE! There were times when I couldn't even imagine a week day evening where I wasn't playing volleyball. I played every night. Oh, and by the way, I also used to look just like the chick above! My life literally revolved around playing. I was even once ranked 7th in New England for my bracket in beach tournaments. Ah yes, those where the days . . . And here I am . . . sitting in front of my computer, riddled with guilt over NOT playing tonight. What is wrong with me?

My friend Sheryl asked me to sub on her team tonight. It's an indoor team (of 6 players) on a women's net. Years ago I would have drooled at the thought. Yeah, my true love is beach volleyball, but given the fact that that's a ton harder to play, I should be jumping at the opportunity to play on a court.

But I turned her down. I'm terrified that I forgot how to play. Karlo insists that it's like riding a bicycle, but what does he know? First time I got on my road bike this year, I forgot how to switch gears!! And at least you don't make a fool of yourself trying to remember how to ride a bike. And you don't let a team down if you screw up.

I just couldn't bring myself to go to the game. It pains me to think about showing up in silly clothes (I don't have any appropriate sneakers or shorts here at Dad's) and looking like I don't know how to play. I don't want to be the team loser. I want to be the chick that stuffs the ball down the opponents face. And if I can't do that, I don't want to play. So there! Sorry Sheryl. We need to get to a park and see if I still got it.

Green or Not Green - Which Is It?

It’s hard for me to make any complaints about the company that Karlo and I work for. It truly is a GREAT place to work and I consider us both very lucky to have the jobs we have. But sometimes this place just kills me. Lately the owners of the company have really been on a ‘green’ kick. We have to consider the environment on just about every decision we make. Some things are good – for instance they now offer bio-diesel fuel here at the office. You can fill up your car and have the money deducted from you pay. I guess that is a perk, only the fuel is more expensive than going to the gas station. BUT, it’s better for the environment.

And speaking of spending more money to be green . . . we now have a new directive that we must print all our brochures of super special, highly recycled paper. This is costing us an additional $20,000 just for the remainder of this year. We got our first brochures back from the printer last week and they LOOK like they are recycled paper. There’s little flecks of Lord knows what, all over the place. Is this supposed to be a good thing? Costs more, looks worse. I don’t get it. And that is money that can be in our bonus checks, so that’s the hardest part to swallow.

And that’s not even my biggest gripe. This weekend we came to the office to do some biking. Even on a Sunday afternoon the AC was too high for me to be comfortable walking around in shorts and a T-shirt. What is up with that? We have to UNPLUG our printer every night because it uses what is called “phantom” energy just by being plugged into the wall. And YET we are running the AC fans all night and weekend? Does that make sense? Yes, it’s a geothermal system, but still. Aren’t we wasting some sort of energy here?

I’m all for helping to save the environment, but sometimes I have to hide or bring home an empty peanut butter jar because I’m too lazy to wash it out for the recycling bin . . . and I’m terrified that the ‘recycle natzi” will catch me throwing it away. And now I am faced with even unnecessary guilt just bringing fruit to work. From now on, peels and cores need to be deposited into the compost station! For heaven’s sake, we now have a “compost team.” A TEAM. What exactly entails being on the compost team? I’m betting monitoring who throws their peels in the garbage and ridiculing them. And I thought I had a stress-free job. So much for that!

A Greyhound Day

Today was the greyhound walk-a-thon and luckily Tina and her kids assisted me with my hounds. It was a hot ordeal and there were plenty of long tongues. The route had to be shortened to avoid the sun. I'm telling ya, everyone sure does pamper these guys. As if 5 minutes in the sun would be the end of the world. But that's OK. We had a 4.5 minute walk through the woods. And I was totally off the hook. The kids walked the dogs for me and I got to chat with Tina during the stroll. Just watching her hike through the woods with her high heel sandals was worth the trip to the park!

A special thanks to those who made a donation to WAG!

Here are some pictures of a greyhound's life. Wait a minute, make that a RETIRED greyhound's life.

And if that wasn't enough greyhounds for you for one day . . . you have to check this video out. It's great!

Picture This . . .

You have to use your imagination because . . . despite the fact that I carry my camera everywhere I go . . . for some reason I wasn’t motivated to take any photos last night. I think the problem was that I was too cold! Yes, too cold. It was dipping down into the lower 70s and I was shivering! I sat in the car where it was warm. So picture my car with a shiny new hitch on it, pulling our small utility trailer, hauling a huge ATV that BARELY fit into the trailer. I mean it didn’t have more than ¼” to spare. I was so proud of my car hauling this load and I didn’t even record it. Shame on me.

So . . . in case you haven’t already figured this out, we bought a used ATV last night. After many weeks of researching, mulling, making decisions, reversing decisions, getting confused, shopping and getting more confused, we finally decided on buying an ATV. The biggest reason for it will be for snow removal. But Karlo also needs some sort of vehicle to drive into the woods that can haul a trailer full of wood and rocks. Not to mention Paula just wants a toy to drive through the woods. And did I mention how far the mailbox is from the front door? All those trips out to bring my YogaDudes packages to the mailbox in the winter . . . that alone warrants an ATV!

So here’s a picture of the model we got. Only difference is the ATV in this picture is new and shiny and ours is, well . . . not new and shiny.



Last night we put our GPS to the test. We drove from Tolland to Voluntown (which is officially more in the middle of nowhere than Eastford.) It’s so far out that the locals have a funny accent for heaven’s sake. Then we made our way from there to Eastford to drop off the ATV and pick up my old motorcycle. Rick is insisting that we are already losing our bet. He says that we will accumulate ‘stuff’ directly proportional to the amount of storage space we have. And since we now have tons of storage space, he insists that we will fill it all up. Since I am terrified of getting the same disease as my father (Pack Rat Disease) I refuse to let this happen. I know we are not getting off to a good start, with our recent onslaught of toy purchases, but I refuse to lose this bet!