Should I be Insulted?

We woke up this morning and Karlo tells me that he was dreaming of cuddling up with the dogs. At first I thought, "How cute." But then it occurred to me that he's laying in bed next to me, while dreaming about cuddling up with the dogs. What is wrong with this picture? After pointing out this little fact to Karlo he says, "They make better cuddlers." OK, now I'm starting to get insulted. They are just as boney as me and their breath is atrocious. I mean that breath could kill you if you're not careful. So what am I to make of this? Maybe I should stop shaving and brushing my teeth . . . grow a tail and pant when I lay down.

Another Work Perk

You gotta love this . . . a couple of years ago we started a community garden here at work. I was so excited as I never had a garden before. This was perfect. Somebody else would do all the work of preparing the soil and all I had to do was plunk in my plants, water (which was easy, as the garden was right next to a creek) and then enjoy the fruits of my labor. Well, my first year didn't go so well. Remember that creek I just mentioned? It sort of turned into a raging river during a particularly bad storm that year, over-flowed it banks, and completely steam-rolled every single plant I had. The funny part was that there were a dozen garden plots and only one got completely destroyed – mine! I suffered such a disappointment that year that I couldn't bare to try again the following year. I resolved to just going to the grocery store and buying my chemical-laden expensive foods.

But this year is different. The garden here at work got massively large and in addition to the private little plots, the company plowed another field and sprung for tons of plants. We have full-time landscapers tending to it and every single day they bring loads of organically grown veggies into the building for free pickin's. So far I managed to grab a few things here and there, but I miss a lot due to the fact that they typically bring the veggies in after we leave for the day. But it pays to be buddies with the guys in charge. After expressing my disappointment over missing out on all the good veggies, I walk into my office this afternoon and this is what I see on my desk.

So not only do I not have to plant, weed, water, and pick . . . I am getting these amazing veggies delivered right to my desk. Sometimes I complain about work, but this place really rocks.

Answers to the Inevitable Questions

• I have my next dog’s name picked out. And it’s gotta be a girl.
• My MINI is for sale in case anybody is interested buying it.
• I have to go to the “damned V” (as Karlo likes to call it) tomorrow.
• I’m not a very good window shopper. If I pet the dog, I must own the dog. If I test drive the car . . .

How many more statements should I make before I state the obvious?

You guessed it. I bought another car. I didn’t really mean to. It was mostly an accident. Things got a little out of control, very similar to the time when I sold my motorcycle without really wanting to to.

So the question that I know is burning is “BUT WHY?” Why have I been cheating on my MINI and test driving other cars? Why would I even consider driving anything but a MINI? The story is almost embarrassing, but there is no doubt that Karlo and I will get a kick out of it ten years from now when we are reading my blog book, so here goes . . .

Three weeks ago we were watching a program on the History Channel about the making of the BMW Z4. It was a fascinating one hour show that detailed every step in the production of this car, from the engine being built in Germany to every piece of the car being assembled here in the States. Being in the manufacturing industry I was really intrigued by it all. At the end of the show this amazingly beautiful car rolls off the production line and just as the ending credits roll on the screen I say, “I want one. Some day I’ll have one of those cars.” I put zero actual thought into that statement. It just seemed like the fun thing to say at the time.

We turned off the TV and went upstairs to bed. Karlo climbs into bed all jittery with energy. I ask him why he won’t settle down and he says, “I’m so excited for you getting that car.” What is he talking about??? I didn’t say, “I’m going to go buy one of those cars tomorrow.” It was just a silly meaningless statement. “Now go to sleep and stop being ridiculous.”

But the next morning the curiosity got the best of me and I just HAD to know how much they cost used. Brand new the cars are outrageous, but I just wanted to see if it would even ever be within my reach. That was mistake #1. I looked. And I found out they are indeed within my reach. I couldn’t resist sending Karlo a link to used ones with the title “A Dime a Dozen” and I said I could get one any time I so desired. So that was that. We were done with that topic.

Yeah right. We all know Karlo and I better than that. The next thing you know we are home on a weekend with no plans. This is always a dangerous situation for us. We must keep ourselves occupied at all times otherwise we can get ourselves into all sorts of trouble. So we come to the conclusion that it would be fun to go and test drive the Z4s and Z3s (which are older, but in my opinion, even nicer looking). I blogged about that day and it was mostly uneventful, expect for me getting behind the wheel of that Porsche Boxster S model monster – the one that really ‘wowed’ me.

That started the fire that we just couldn’t seem to extinguish. I knew there was no turning back. We crossed over the line by which we went too far and it was only a matter of time. When I stumbled across a yellow one with low miles it was simply too much to resist. I am finally fulfilling a long time dream – not to own a Porsche, but to put my CHEEZ license plate on a yellow car!

Here’s my new baby.



The truth is that I still do love my MINI and it almost breaks my heart to give it up. And here’s the kicker. This car is just really to tie me over until I can afford my real dream car . . . which is the new MINI Countryman. I figure I will get the whole convertible sports car thing out of my system while the new Countryman (due out next year) depreciates in value. Then I’ll go back to the ultimate Paula car and stick with it for the rest of my life.

Who wants my MINI?

This is a First

I’m typing while I have a bag of ice shoved into my pants. I never dreamed I could handle ice touching my skin anywhere, let alone below my belly button, but I was desperate and it actually feels good. We went for a hike tonight and the evening was starting off really nice. I was so enjoying everything about the hike. It was cool enough to bring the dogs along; I had my favorite new gadget in the world to track my every step, every mile, every calorie; Karlo and I were having a great conversation. Things were just perfect. Until a freakin’ bee flew down my shirt. I felt something bite me in the chest and I flipped my shirt in and out to let it escape. Only it wasn’t smart enough to fly to freedom. No . . . it had to fly DOWN MY SHORTS. OMG it was terrible. I lifted my shirt and could see the bee in my obviously-too-baggy shorts. I had to reach in and force it out, but unfortunately not before it stung me. I thought I was in pain for the rest of the hike, but the pain just kept growing and growing as we drove home. Thank God we fixed the ice maker because the ice cubes were a heavenly relief. Stupid bee. My one relaxing stress-free event of the night and it had to go and ruin it for me. I am getting so sick of these darn bugs that I think I might be anxious for Fall to arrive this year. I can’t believe I just said that.

Time is Getting Away From Me

Well, I don't know where this past week went or what I did. Oh, one thing I did was accidentally a YogaDudes blog posting on this blog. And I love how Tina creatively tried to fix the winnings ;-) Very cute. But that little accident was just a tiny example of what my week has been like. I can't seem to do anything right because I can't concentrate long enough on any one thing. Last night I needed to buy one thing at CVS. I ran in to get conditioner and ran out with shampoo. I'm starting to worry about myself.

I think things got off on the wrong foot around Tuesday when my freelance client requested another change to the website that I'm building that caused me about 8 extra hours of mind numbing work. I basically work from 7 am to 9 pm with a half hour for lunch and another half hour for dinner. And when I do finally shut down the computer, my brain doesn't stop. I'm exhausted.

And I do have to marvel at how the universe sometimes work. I have been running ragged between my freelance and real job projects. Sooner or later me or my computer was bound to break down. Luckily it was the computer and not me. On Friday morning I got to work to face the black screen of death. My laptop simply failed to start. Talk about an instant heart failure. Visions of losing data floated in my head and if that indeed happened, my life as I know it would have ended. I would have up and quit my job and ran away to be a beach bum. There would be no recovering from me losing all my data.

So I completely lost Friday as far as productivity goes. Everything that could have gone wrong did. Just a sampling includes the obvious computer melt down, dropping a half a bucket of dry oatmeal all over the hallway floor at the office, pulling out the broken vacuum cleaner to clean it, being in the bank along side some hysterical psychopath (that I was certain would take out a gun and kill us all), getting stuck in Hartford traffic and being late for my appointment at the Apple store, finding the perfect pair of shoes at the mall only to learn that the store didn't have my size, getting lost trying to get to a bar in MA. Sigh. I must say, sitting at the bar while sipping a beer and watching my cousin's band play was a much needed end to a really crappy day (and week for that matter.)

My computer has been admitted to the hospital for a week of surgery and recovery and that leaves me home with no means of accomplishing any freelance work. Thank you universe for this much needed break.

Ultima Replenisher Give Away

The nice folks at Ultima Replenisher apparently liked what I said about their products and they contacted me to see if I would like to give away some sample packs to YogaDudes followers. Seems like a good deal to me. They are willing to give away 5 sample boxes. Each box includes 24 flavor packets in 4 different flavors. All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog (or on our Facebook wall). Let’s make it interesting. Just comment and tell me what you think your favorite flavor will be. There are 4 to pick from: grape, orange, wild raspberry, and lemonade.

Winners will be drawn randomly (if we get more than 5 comments). Come on, just list a flavor. You know you want to try them for free . . .

One of Those People

I swore I would never become one of ‘those’ people . . . you know the ones . . . constantly playing with their smart phones, always distracted, never paying attention to a single conversation. And so far I’ve done really good. Of course it’s been pretty darn easy to not be one of those people because up until this weekend, I hated my phone. I had a Blackberry Storm. A pathetic iPhone wanna be that didn’t even come close to measuring up. It was inadequate in just about every way and caused me nothing but frustration. If I had a dollar for every time I said, “I hate this stupid phone” I could have paid for the new Droid. And the worst part was that I was paying for the hefty data plan and never using it. I would go several days without even charging my phone - not even knowing that the battery was dead. What a total waste of money.

But NOW . . . now I can barely keep my hands off of my phone. I simply love it. And yes, maybe for the past few days I have been one of those people, but my excuse is that it’s new and it takes time to set it up. Well, that’s the excuse that I will stick to for as long as I can. I have to set up my contacts and download a million apps, and then open all those apps up and figure out how to use them. The phone does so much that it’s gonna take me months to figure it all out. The way I see it this phone is going to help me with my stress and patience problems. If I’m ever made to wait for more than one minute I can whip out my phone and happily amuse myself. Not to mention all the useful apps. For instance, I have an app to help me relax. Who knew there was an app for that? As a matter of fact I downloaded two. I figure the more the better. So I’m all set now. I have something to help me organize my completely chaotic life, something to keep me patient when I would have otherwise been annoyed, and something to actually help me reduce my stress. Last night I even bought some digital fish for my phone that I can't kill. I’m sold and I’m in love.

To see the coolness for yourself click here.

Crusty the Clown

Lately I've been spending a lot of time flat on my back on the floor in our bedroom. This is my back therapy. I lay on a racquet ball and torture myself by putting pressure right on the muscle mass that is pressing on the nerve. It's excruciating. To take my mind off the pain I like to look up at our always interesting ceiling. There are so many knots in the wood and I like to play the cloud game. I look at the shapes and try to see things in the knots. There always lots of eyes staring back at me and sometimes I find dragonflies or butterflies, but this huge knot directly over my head really got me. How could I not have noticed this sooner? Is it just me or do you also think this looks exactly like Crusty the Clown? He's even wearing a hat!


Now every single time I look up at the beam this image looking back at me creeps me out. Clowns are nothing but spooky trouble.

Where did the week go?

I can’t believe how quickly this past week slipped by. Jessica was visiting all week and my normal routine was put on hold. And by ‘normal routine’ I mean the non-stop work and stressing. I decided to take a break from my life and just enjoy the visit. I figured just about everything else could wait. OK, there was that one night where I worked non-stop on a freelance job, but we won’t count that one. For the most part I relaxed and had fun . . . so much so that my back has been feeling the best it has in over a month. Jessica seems to have a good effect on me.

So what did we do all week? Let’s see . . . She arrived on Monday so that night went to catching up. We had 6 months worth of catching up to do. I needed to be informed of her new job, new boyfriend, school reports etc. Tuesday was my hellish freelance day, but we are not going to talk about that in this happy blog post. I took a half day from work on Wednesday and went up to the Auburn Mall for some shopping. Holy cow was that ever exhausting. My feet were practically bleeding after the 4 straight hours of shopping. And the mall is tiny so our time spent per store was unbearable. At one point I was convinced that Jess got abducted by aliens and vanished off the face of the Earth, but no, she was in the changing room for an hour. sigh.

On Thursday Karlo and I both took the day off and we headed to Mystic for the day. First we took a 4 hour sail and I have to say, that was very relaxing and just what I needed. We just sat there chatting and taking in the sights of the sound.

Then it was time for shopping and more shopping. We covered every square inch of Mystic and had a ball in all the shops until Karlo finally gave up and went to the car for a nap. Jess and I forged on . . .

Next it was off to the casino and I can’t even believe that makes Karlo and my third trip to Mohegan Sun in less than 3 weeks. That is surely a new world record for us. We spent most of the time on the roof of one of the parking garages. They had a car show, farmers market, cook-out, and bands playing. We planned to stay for the fireworks, but we were all pretty tuckered out so we bailed early. But not before cruising through the casino for, you guessed it, more shopping. I swear to God I’m not stepping foot in a another store for at least a month.

Friday it was back to work, but luckily the day flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go to Happy Hour. Oh wait, I hate to even admit this but on the way to Happy Hour we stopped at the Verizon store to get my new Android X. I’m so excited. I love that stinkin’ thing. No more complaining about my useless POS Blackberry. I’m officially a Droid freak. Oh, and Karlo and Jess also managed to sneak off to the mall to buy even more stuff. Good grief. Happy Hour was very happy, a little reunion with volleyball pals.

Finally we got home and crashed on the couch for movie time. It was blissful. As was this weekend. I did practically nothing. We had the gallery open on Saturday which meant we spent most of the day entertaining friends. We never left the house and I loved it. The weekend rapped up with hiking, kayaking, and lounging around. Loved that too. I hope I can maintain this pain-free back streak. Actually, it should be no problem at all. Did you know there’s an app for relaxing? Well, there is and I got it. So now my new phone can take the place of my physical therapist. He is officially fired!

To see a few more pictures from Mystic, please click here.

Fast Cars and Bald Dogs

Once again combining stories, although this is the ‘weekend story’ so maybe it’s just one story after all. This was one of the few blissful weekends where we didn’t have a single plan. God I love weekends like that. Lately I hyperventilate at the thought of making the slightest commitment. I am becoming the most non-committal person I know. I just love keeping myself open. It seems to take a little bit of pressure off me and Lord knows I can use that these days.

So Saturday we played and did some house chores in the morning. We went for a nice hike with the dogs and made a little dent in cleaning the house. That is one battle that we will never win and I’m very proud of myself for not really caring too much about it. I seem to have a million other things that cause me stress and lately a messy house is not one of them. Why kill myself to try to keep it clean only to have a dog shake it’s head and a cloud of hair to follow? At least watching the hair fly around a non-immaculate house is easier to handle.

When the rain came in the afternoon we decided to kill the rest of the day driving nearly to Boston to test drive cars. Lately I’ve been itchy (thanks to some unnamed person instigating) for a cool sports car. Maybe I feel like I need a reward for all the crazy work I’ve been doing, as if that will give me the mental motivation to make it all worth while. I don’t know. I still love my Mini, but strangely we went off to see some cars. It almost made me think back to when we spent a year looking at houses. Every house we saw (until finding our current one) just made me love home all the more. I would go out with big expectations and then come home and realize how much I loved what I already owned. That sort of happened on Saturday. I guess I set my expectation really high for these high-end European sports cars and when I realized that they were no more fun to drive than my own Mini it made me feel great about my little car. Here was the only car that made me say, “Now THIS is a sports car.”


Yeah, that was fun.

Sunday surprised us with the weather. We were planning for rain and as it turned out it was a gorgeous day. After spending the first hour cleaning up dog hair I snapped and called our neighbor. It was high time to shave these animals. I ran over to borrow some clippers and there went the dog’s coats. Good bye shedding. Hello bald dogs.


They didn’t seem to mind a bit. In fact, I think they kind of liked it. We shaved Cooper first and when it was Peanut’s turn we couldn’t keep Cooper away. He wanted more clipping action. They were adorable and now they are so soft I can’t stop hugging them. They don't really look much different, just a few shades lighter in color.

The rest of the afternoon went to kayaking, shopping, and a trail run. We even had time to lounge on the deck and drink more frozen drinks. My stress-induced twitching eye problem was totally under control all weekend and that makes me happy. Still trying to solve the back pain.

Batman and Robin

If I don’t start combining stories on this blog I will never catch up. And today is the perfect day to do that because I simply could not resist the title I picked. First we will talk about the “Robin” part . . .

Our long lost buddies (The Grovers) who moved down South last summer were back in town this week for a visit. I was so excited that they would be coming over for dinner one night to catch up. Although we email and Facebook every now and again, nothing beats the real thing - spending quality time. The kids are growing up and I feel like I’m missing it. So sad. But Thursday night was great. The heatwave finally broke and we were able to enjoy a delightful dinner on the deck. The only bad part was that the time seemed to go way too fast. I hope it’s not another whole year before we get to see them again!



Then there’s the “batman” part . . .

I was looking forward to Friday all week. It was the only night of the entire week that we didn’t have plans after work. Wait a minute, we DID have plans . . . we planned to have a date at home. We stopped at the store on the way home and bought some fancy cheese, grapes, bread, and a bottle of wine. The screened porch was just waiting for us to lounge, nibble, and sip wine . . . and that is exactly what we did. Of course I envisioned nice music and dancing, but it sort of turned into a little too much web surfing. It’s amazing how off track we can get so easily.

Anyway, we finished off the wine and decided it was time to come inside, snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. It sounded perfect. We got the movie in the player, got all comfortable, when suddenly something flew between us and the TV. It was dark so we couldn’t really see it, but there was no doubt in either of our minds. It was a bat. Good grief, there goes our perfect night.

I hightailed it into the tiny guest bathroom and waited and waited until I couldn’t stand there waiting anymore. I could see this was going to take some time so I ran upstairs to Jessica’s room, slipped in, and quickly shut the door. My back was killing me so I took this time to lay flat on my back and rest. Rest I did. I think I feel asleep as poor Karlo tried everything to get this darn bat out of the house. This is no easy task given the impossibly high ceilings. An hour easily passed until he finally gave up and dragged me reluctantly out of the room. Back to the couch we went, me with one eye on the TV while the other eye was constantly scanning the room.

When the movie was over we went upstairs to go to bed and this is what I see:


Knowing he couldn’t catch the bat and I would never be able to sleep because of it, Karlo set up one of our tents in the bedroom. What a riot. I happily crawled in, but due to my current back problems, I didn’t last very long. I had to be brave and get into bed . . . .

We slept for several hours until Karlo told me, “Hide under the sheet, the bat is in the room.” The darn thing was likely in there the entire time (given that our door was shut). So there goes Karlo swinging his tennis racket until he finally traps the bat between the racket and the stone wall. What an exciting night. Now I could finally get to sleep in peace. So much for our totally relaxing date night. Better luck next time!

Catching Up Is Hard to Do

Holy cow, will I ever get back to present day with this blog? Apparently not anytime soon. Sorry to keep going back in time, but I need to tell the story about the celebration extension and a memory it brought back . . . talk about going back in time.

Tuesday it was finally back to the reality of work. I had a good attitude going in. I didn’t get all tensed up and got through the day fairly smoothly as far as work stress was concerned. I guess that was because my mind was elsewhere all day. It was counting down the hours until the Sting concert at the casino. Wow, I just realized that Karlo and I went to the casino twice in one week. That’s a new record for us.


Finally the clock hit 3:30 and we were off to start our exciting night. I probably don’t have to tell you how GREAT the show was and how much I LOVED every second of it. That is not news to anybody. In a nutshell it was fabulous and one of my, if not my all time favorite Sting concert. But the real story is here. As we were getting into the car Karlo grabbed the binoculars and threw them to me saying, “Here’s your Sting binoculars.” I told him that they were ‘bird watching binoculars’ and he reminded me that the whole purpose for him buying these things 10 years ago (holy cow did I just write TEN years ago?) was for a Sting concert. That comment blasted me back to that day and it’s a story that I want to document so here goes:

When Karlo first moved to the US we did a fair amount of ‘hanging out’ together. Most of that hanging out time included group biking. OK, all of that hanging out time included biking. We did a lot of it back then. We were not ‘dating’ and never did anything together that didn’t involve group biking. So when, out of the blue, he told me that he wanted to see Boston and asked me if I would be his city guide, I was quite surprised. First, he was asking me to do something with him alone that didn’t require pedaling, and second, me a city tour guide? Yikes. I know nothing about the cities. I sort of reluctantly agreed to go with him.

It was a hot summer day and I had a headache. The city was jammed with people, most of which were blowing their car horns and I wanted to cry. But as the day went on it got better. Much better. We walked all over and strolled through Quincy Market. There were street performers playing music and at one point Karlo grabbed me and we started to dance - in the middle of the sidewalk in crowded Quincy Market. What on earth was happening? The next thing you know he lifts up my glasses (this was pre-Lasik) and he kisses me! Boy was I surprised. This looked like something out of Hollywood. I went from surprise to shock when he pulled two tickets to the Sting concert (happening that night in Boston and I hadn’t a clue) out of his pocket. He said, "I wanted to kiss you before giving you these tickets because you would have kissed anybody for them."

Is there any doubt why we are together today? Any relationship that started out like that has got my heart forever. He even bought and brought these binoculars for me and had them in the trunk of his car. So yes, they are, and will always, be my "Sting binoculars."

De-Stressing 101

Monday was our last day of non-working bliss and I was already getting sad to see the great weekend come to an end. I informed Karlo as we climbed into bed on Sunday night that we needed to get up early to make the very most of our last day. I mean I wanted to be up before the sun so we could have as much relaxing time as possible. I know you’re probably shaking your head right now, but this is Paula logic and somehow it makes sense to me. Instead of getting up before the crack of dawn we decided to sleep late (7:30) and then take our bike ride early before the temps got out of control. I found this next fact so amusing that I had to document it. In the middle of this insane heatwave we are having Karlo and did our quick 16 mile hilly ride in exactly one hour (not a bad biking average speed at all) and when we got home I realized that I never even broke a sweat. I literally didn’t even take a shower. Now that was an accomplishment. Of course the dirty little secret is that Eastford stays amazingly cooler than most places and our sun exposure on the roads was less then 5%. We were home at 9 am, just in time for breakfast. Now that we worked I could comfortably relax.

And that we did. We did positively nothing productive for the rest of the morning. We just sat outside in the porch, Karlo surfing the web and me making my happiness collages with the magazines that have been piling up around the house.





I can’t remember the last time we wasted this much consecutive time and it was great. I had a blast cutting and gluing my little clippings. When our tummies started to growl we took a drive up to Sturbridge to go to one of our favorite pubs for lunch. Then we did a little shopping and came home to make my favorite blueberry smoothies. More time on the porch, swinging in my swing, sipping my smoothie, and then the idea struck to do something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I had an artist canvas kicking around that was just begging for some paint to be thrown on it. I had no vision at all what I wanted to do and since the canvas was already damaged (thanks to Cooper stepping on it) I had positively no feelings of “wasting the canvas” because that is what I would always think since I’m not an artist. But I brushed my paint brush across the canvas in a carefree way and it was so amazing. For this one short hour I didn’t have a care in the world. When the paint was dry I gathered some do-dads from our recent trip and started ripping them and gluing them on top of my painting. It didn’t end up looking like much, but that didn’t matter. I loved every second of it.


And guess what? I woke up on Tuesday morning and my back felt the best it has since the nerve thing started. I made it through the entire work commute and I never even thought about all the projects I would have to face. I just couldn’t believe how at peace I felt and I can’t help but to wonder if my little craft project had anything to do with it. I think I’m going to invest in some more artist canvases, just in case.

The Rest of the Birthday Celebration

Let's see if I can catch myself up to present day. Although it seemed like we were already off from the realities of real life for a long days, by the time we got back from Litchfield it was only Saturday night. What a great bonus that was. We still had two whole days of our mini vacation to go. We had originally planned on going to the fireworks on Saturday night, but in my condition of extreme pain that was just not going to happen. I resolved myself to the fact that the world wouldn't end if I didn't see live fireworks on the 4th. I must be getting old for this to happen because it's the first year in my life that I missed them, but strangely I was at peace with it. I was just too tired to care.

On Saturday we thought it best to bag our bicycle plans and we opted for a nice hike with the dogs followed by a picnic at sea (or lake). We took the kayak down to Mansfield Hollow and it was the perfect kayak day. The humidity had not yet attacked and there was a strong wind. We paddled to the far side of the lake and then sailed all the way back to shore, twice. I brought a magazine and totally relaxed. My back was already starting to feel better.

Before we knew it it was time to boogie back home. We had to get showered and dressed for our big night out. Part of my birthday present was tickets to see Cirque du Soleil. We made a pit stop at Evergreen Walk to cash in on my birthday coupon from The Loft and I scored myself a pair of dress pants for $5. Nothing makes my day like that. Next stop was a quick visit to my Dad, which is always nice, and then we were off to see the amazing show. We've gone a couple of times in the past and the same thing happens to me every year. I get so inspired by the performers remarkable physical talents that it made me want to go home and attempt some ridiculous yoga pose right away. But luckily my back kept me from doing anything stupid.

On the way home we stopped at the Wood n Tap for dinner. I love that place. I had my ultimate birthday dinner. It just doesn't get much better in my book . . . a garden burger, sweet potato fries, and a Blue Moon. We sat outside and watched the sky turn beautiful colors while I licked my fingers in bliss.

Oh boy, we really had to haul to get home because we wanted to catch the NYC fireworks on TV. I know, I know, pretty lame for my birthday fireworks, but it was better than nothing. We watched the great show in the comfort of our home, with our dogs, no traffic, no drunks. It was perfect. Only thing missing was the birthday cake, but only Karlo was missing it!

Sorry no pictures today. And I still didn't catch up . . . and ran out of time. I'm restricting my evening computer time so I better sign off. More soon.

Phase 2 - Part 2

We were both so exhausted after an entire day of riding that scouting out sunset photo ops was not even a consideration. We went straight back to our inn after dinner and after some nice chatting with the inn keeper and other guests we crashed out. The next morning we were ready to start another exciting day of riding. Karlo meticulously got the bikes all cleaned and ready to ride. I just stood around taking random photos.




Then we were off. Our first stop was what the locals called “the most beautiful farm in the country.” And I think they were right. It was immaculate and so picturesque. One of the other guests that we chatted with the night before was an auctioneer and they were having their big annual cattle auction this day. He invited us to come and check it out and I’m so glad I did. Of couse I wanted to buy a cow! But could you blame me? Look how cute they were.

Next we went to Kent and stopped for a break at Kent Falls. We took a short hike (again thankful for my new Keen boots), did some much needed yoga stretches, and just meandered through the park. I had to feel like we got our money’s worth for the $9 parking ;-)

Next stop was Cornwall to see the covered bridge. The bridge was neat and the best part was that we got to ride through it twice. There wasn’t much to see or do in Cornwall so it was a short visit. We did go through the display room at a local cabinetry shop and we were just in awe. I snapped some photos of my dream headboard and dining table. Some day . . . next house . . .

Now it was time to make tracks back home. We started to head north and ended up back in Norfolk but I didn’t want to stop at the same place for lunch. We needed a new expereince. So we went to a cute little town called Rivertown. As you can imagine, it was next to the river - actually the Farmington River. We parked in front of little Italian place that smelled do good I couldn’t stand it. I mean the smell of that sauce launched me right back to childhood. That was MY family’s sauce in there. I was so excited to go in for lunch, but unfortunately the deal was that this place prepared full meals and then sold them to you frozen to have at home. I wanted to cry. WHY couldn’t this place be in our neck of the woods? This would be a dream come true. I think our next house will be in Riverton, next door to this place! We got some deli sandwiches at the adorable little general store and ate on the picnic tables outside. This would be our last stop before the long ride home.

By the time we got home I was in so much pain I could barely get off my bike. My back was KILLING me. That really put a damper on the day, but it was still worth it. I’m so glad we went. It was a big accomplishment for me and we are already planning the next one for next year. If you would like to see more photos from the trip, please click here.

Phase 2 - Paula’s B-Day Celebration

Despite waking up on Friday morning in rough condition, we packed our bags and jumped on our motorcycles for my first tour on my own bike. I was a bit nervous and anxious, but excited at the same time. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and since my new bike came with the touring cases I just had to put them to good use.

Our destination was Litchfield and we planned a scenic ride just about the entire way. The only hairy part was driving through busy Enfield and getting over the CT River, but once we got by that it was smooth sailing. The weather was perfect for riding and the scenery was beautiful. One of my favorite parts of the ride was Rt. 20 through Barkhamsted. What a ball that was on a bike.

We stopped in Norfolk for a lunch break where I had the best turkey & cheese sandwich of my life. I also got the chance to stretch my legs and stroll around with my camera.


Next we headed South to Litchfield and checked into our inn. By this time my back was really hurting and I couldn’t wait to lay down, if only for a few brief (but blissful) moments. I decided that my driving for the day was done and instead I opted for a stress-free ride on the back of Karlo’s bike. It was then that I realized all that I miss by driving my own bike. I really didn’t get the full experience with all my attention on the road. There was so much to see off the road and I really enjoyed taking it all in as a passenger.

First we went to the Town Green where there was some lovely, but super expensive shops. That is one lesson I learned - Litchfield is pretty to visit, but don’t even think of shopping there. I fell in love with a leather jacket and Karlo wanted to buy it for me for my birthday. We both agreed on what we were willing to spend, and when we saw the price tag . . . we were a grand short! So, needless to say all of our shopping was of the window variety. But we still had fun. The people were the most friendly folks we ever encountered in CT. And that was everywhere we went for those two days. Such a nice change of pace to have such lovely human interactions. We strolled around, ate expensive ice cream, and took more photos.

Then we went to a nature preserve and took a long walk along this big boardwalk that surrounded a pond. I was so incredibly happy that I sprung for new black Keen boots to wear in place of my huge, heavy motorcycle boots. My feet were so happy.

More cruising through the area and a few more pit stops for photos.

Then is was time for dinner. We picked a very casual place where we wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable dressed the way we were. Up until know I couldn’t believe the warm and friendly reception we got everywhere, despite the fact that we traveled via motorcycle, which is usually NOT the case. I didn’t want to blow it now with our casual clothes and helmet heads. Although the helmet head didn’t seem to be a problem for Karlo because he mostly wore a sombrero!

Stay tuned for part two of phase two . . .

Phase 1 - Paula’s B-Day Celebration

Well, I took Penni’s advice on Thursday. I left work and went straight to CVS to buy the pain killer that she recommended. Then I went home, got dressed and proceeded to drink alcohol for the rest of the night. And you know what? I don’t remember the pain at all. It worked like a charm. All I remember is having a great time . . .

We went to our friend Sue’s place for a lovely dinner before our limo arrived. After a few drinks before and during dinner we all piled in the limo for a cruise down to the casino. We drank more during the ride.

Then we got to the casino and went straight to the bar. The bar was funky and cool and I had the most amazing Almond Joy drink. Yum, it was heaven. We laughed and talked and decided that we needed to dance.


From there we headed over to the night club where the tunes were spinning but nobody was dancing. No problem. We were a self-contained 8-person party and we managed to get others to join us on the dance floor. Karlo and I danced every single song, most of which were 80s dance tunes. We had a blast. Holy cow. I don’t remember having that much fun in a very long time.

I woke up the next morning and was unable to open my eyes and my mouth. I managed to suck every drip of liquid from body with dehydration. I had severe calf cramps, an aching back, and a headache to boot. Uuuuugh. It was such a temporary fix, but still worth it. Next I had to crawl out of bed and get ready for Phase 2 of the B-Day weekend celebration . . .