Photos of the Week

Many of these have already been posted here on the blog, but I want to keep the streak going of posting a picture from each day.

#24

And this wasn't even the coldest. A few minutes later it read -13!

#25

The frozen river as we crossed over the little wooden bridge on our commute home.

#26

Also taken on our commute home from work, during the snow fall.

#27Our house looks like a dessert - chocolate cake & Cool Whip.

#28
One cold seat.

#25

Our pendants finally working.

#30
My niece made these yummy strawberry treats.

Let There Be Light

And there was. We now have light over our counter and at the end of the tunnel. Leave it to my McGyver husband. Last night we set out to fix our pendant disaster. I really wasn't convinced that the problem could be solved without having to re-invest in 3 complete new pendants, but I was willing to let Karlo humor me. We brought our mini red glass shade with us to Home Depot and talked to their 'lighting experts.' We were told that they just don't carry anything that could help us out of our jam. They suggested we try a specialty lighting store, but who's got the time or patience for that?

We walked all over Home Depot, up and down every isle, all the while Karlo scratching his head. There must be someway out of this, and hopefully an inexpensive way out. I came very close to caving and buying three new pendants. They weren't terribly expensive and they would have matched our color scheme, but they didn't tickle my fancy like my mini red ones. A few minutes later Karlo reports that he has an idea. He gathered up some parts: cheap short light bulbs, a brown extension cord, and three little switch contraptions that you screw a bulb into. I was skeptical, but the entire purchase costs $16 so I figured I would let him have some fun with this project.

By the time I was done with my morning workout, this is what I see in the kitchen.

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement. I would say that Karlo is a genius, but I don't want that to go to his head. I'll never hear the end of it.

Now onto the light at the end of the tunnel. Remember the 7.5 hours of snow removal? Well, we still weren't finished. After shopping online and calling every equipment dealer in CT this morning looking for a snow blower, we finally resolved to the fact that we just aren't gettin' one this season. So Karlo headed back outside with his shovel and continued chipping away at our driveway. Look at the size of the snow wall that he had to move, by hand!



That wall was created by yours truly . . . from flinging the snow off the deck. So we didn't have to move that stinkin' snow once, but rather twice. Once from the deck and then again from driveway. What a joy.

Isn't it Romantic?

Before we moved into our house I had these silly visions of taking baths with Karlo in our huge whirlpool tub. I knew it would probably never happen, but I did hope that maybe someday we would give it at try. It just seemed so romantic to share a bath.

Well, last night my wish came true. We both got into the tub, but it wasn't quite as romantic as I imagined it to be. It went something like this . . . "Ouch! Oooooh, uuuuuuh, yikes. That hurts. You're stealing my jet. Move your leg. Oh, my God that hurts," etc. Not a picture of romance and luxury that is for sure.

We were both so incredibly sore from the 7.5 hours of non-stop heavy labor involved in our snow removal. To say we were (are) under-equipped for our property would be an understatement. Between the darn ATV getting completely stuck and buried in the snow, the snow blower dying, and there just not being any more room to put the snow, well, it was a nightmare. I can honestly say I don't think I ever worked that hard in my life.


And the day just didn't get any better from there. We realized that our 45' steel building was about ready to explode and collapse. The roof was bowing under the weight of all the snow and the steel structure was literally buckling inside. I swear two more flakes would be have the straw that broke the camel's back. We needed to do something and quick.

So after the backbreaking ordeal of digging ourselves out we started the fire building process. The only way to get that snow off the roof was to melt it. What a production that was!


And while all this is going on, I'm completely unaware that my father is in the emergency room. It appears that he was out doing God knows what in the snow, slipped, and hit his head so hard that he knocked himself clear out. OMG, could this day get any worse? Yes, yes, I know, it certainly could and I do thank God that it didn't, but I'm tellin' ya, I wouldn't want to relive it.

A Decision Has Been Made

I hemmed and I hawed and then I hemmed some more. Changed my mind about a dozen times only to come right back to where I started . . . but the vacation decision has been made. What a relief to just decide already and move on. It's official, we are going on a cruise, in a warm climate, to 'bleachy' places. I'm still not quite sure how Karlo and I will do, but I'm hopeful. We have taken a real cruise in the past - not counting, of course, our biking and sailing cruises. Those really don't count because the experience was totally different. But I figure if we could totally enjoy sailing on a sailboat where there is virtually nothing to do while on board, other than sunbathe and read, then a huge cruise ship can't be all that bad. Our first experience with cruise ships came on our honeymoon and I seem to remember that being a nice time.

So we are planning to spend a day and night kicking around beach front in Ft. Lauderdale and then make our way to Miami where we will start our 4 night voyage. I haven't booked our excursions yet, but I'm planning on a glass bottom kayak trip in Key West, an ATV jungle ride in Cozumel, and an Everglade airboat tour in Miami. The glass bottom kayak thing has been on my bucket list and I'm the most excited about that. This is my perfect way of seeing all my beloved tropical fish, without having to, God forbid, get wet or swim. (Yes, the person that almost bought a swim spa!) Karlo is thrilled with the ATV trip through the jungle and I'm just happy that I think we can keep ourselves pretty busy.

I have to admit, the thought of having a taste of 'nightlife' is exciting. On most (if not all) of our 'normal' vacations we are so physically drained and wiped out from our daily activities (and getting up before the sun rises every day) that we literally crash out in bed before it really even gets dark. Pitiful. Entertaining ourselves at night is usually not an issue. But now we will have shows to watch and bars to dance in. Wow, it's hard to even imagine. The hardest part to imagine is what on Earth I'll wear! Yikes. Totally out of our element here. I can't remember the last vacation that involved packing more than biking gear, hiking clothes, or fleece. This will be a big challenge for sure. I'll need 'outfits' and shoes, and jewelry, and they should match . . . holy cow, I knew I would find something to stress over. This packing will be harder on me that the biking during vacation #1.

Emotional Schizophrenia

Is it possible to be super excited and super disappointed at the same time, about the same thing? Well, I am. After years of hating our kitchen lighting and brainstorming alternatives to the ugly track lighting, we finally found the time to do some investigating and shopping. It’s been my dream to have some pretty pendant lights hanging over the island and by some miracle we found, and were able to special order a cool flexible track system that would accommodate for our post & beam ceiling. I was soooo happy and so excited to install it.

Karlo got busy on the project this past weekend. I helped with the entire install and it was all going too smoothly. The placement of the beams and the power, and the length of the track . . . it was all coming together before my very eyes. I was the smart one that insisted on shutting off the fuse that controls the power to the kitchen lights so it was my job to run down to the basement to flip the switch back on at fuse box. I literally ran back up the stairs in anticipation of seeing my beautiful pendants all lit up.

But when I got back to the kitchen it was dark, and Karlo was scratching his head. He said, “Well, the operation was a success, but the patient died.” Not what I wanted to hear. Karlo got the thrill of seeing the lights go on, for one brief second, before they total blew. At least I got the report that they looked really nice (for that one half a second.)

It appears that we bought 12v pendants for a 120v track system. Details!!!! Son of a gun. So we are in a pickle trying to figure out how not to completely waste our initial investment. There’s got to be a way to use the pretty glass shades that I love so much. More investigative shopping to come.

So now every time I glance over at the kitchen I feel such joy at seeing the pretty pendants hanging, but yet I feel such disappointment that they don’t work. What a strange mix of emotions. I didn’t think it was possible.

I Have a Confession To Make

You have no idea how hard it is for me to admit that I skipped my P90X workout today. Not because I was too lazy, and not because I didn't have time. Because I knew we would be doing enough other exercise to make up for it. And, more importantly, I'm trying really hard to be less anal about it. I'm not doing this program for any other reason but to be in shape for vacation and as long as that goal is accomplished I'm perfectly content. Baby steps . . . I think I'm improving.

I have to admit, our other forms of exercise were a whole lot more fun. I might have burned more calories laughing than I did working out. Our fist trip out in the morning was for a snow shoe hike and that was simply perfect. The cold didn't even bother me. It was just beautiful and the snow could not have been better. After lunch we went out for exercise #2. This time it was cross country skiing and that is where all the laughing came in. Holy cow, did we make it look hard. We both fell a couple times. My face plant was unreal. I was laughing so hard I couldn't even get up. Meanwhile snow is seeping down my back. Karlo was really wishing we had the helmet cam set up for this outing! Lucky for me, we didn't.

And the continuation of my Project 365. So far I haven't missed a day. So proud.

#17

Went out for Chinese dinner.

#18
Karlo's Birthday cupcake and cognac.

#19
Long exposure picture at 8PM with a full moon.

#20
This is what happens when I leave fruit unattended on my desk at work.

#21
My (partial) camera collection.

#22
Karlo's special Hungarian birthday dinner.

#23
The beginning of our kitchen lighting makeover.

Fun Filled Saturday

What a busy day we had on Saturday. We had all sorts of projects to do around the house, but we had to put them all on hold. After my workout and breakfast we headed to Hartford to meet some friends at the hot tub show going on at the Expo Center. Karlo and I have been batting around the most ridiculous idea on earth. I am almost embarrassed to even admit it. It's worse than the silly yellow car purchase. This time we were considering getting a swim spa. In case you don't know what that is, it's basically a miniature indoor swimming pool, only large enough for you to swim in place. It also called a 'current pool.' Basically you swim in place against a current. Do I even need to explain why this is the most ridiculous idea on earth?

1. I can't really swim.
2. I hate getting wet.
3. I can't stand being cold and will likely never even be able to get into it. If it's cool enough for Karlo to swim, it's too cold for me . . . and if it's warm enough for me, it's too hot to swim.
4. Do we really need yet another means of exercise in our lives?
5. Should we make a huge investment into a house that we don't plan on staying in very long?

Well, all this logic aside we were still strongly considering it. Because you know . . . there is no logic in our world. But I have to admit, by the time we walked in the door of the expo center we were both convinced it was crazy and instead we wanted just a normal hot tub, to do nothing but relax. We don't need more exercise. There, decision made!

As if anything could be that easy. Little did we know there was a brand new breed of these spas and this one was smaller than the swim spa, had all sorts of exercise options, and the only 'swimming' you could do involved holding onto a bar and kicking your feet. That is MY kind of swimming. And the best part, you keep the temps much higher than a swim spa. Well this changed everything and completely confused us. I love this next picture. It's the sales guy kneeling, literally PRAYING TO GOD that he could convince us to buy this big ticket item.


Lord knows he tried. And Lord knows we considered it . . . all day, until we finally came to our senses and decided on a small hot tub. I have to admit all this shopping was a ball with our buddies. Too bad we didn't bring our bathing suits.

Next stop was Dad's for a quick visit. We really enjoyed spending time with my father and catching up with him. He was all excited to take some pictures around the house of all the snow.

Then we ran home to change our clothes, get all gussied up, and head out to Karlo's special belated birthday dinner. He had no idea where I was taking him and I was so excited about the surprise. I took him to a place called Vienna's, which specialized in Austro-Hungarian cuisine. It was perfect. The place was an old house with seating in the various rooms. We got seated right next to a crackling fireplace and I was a happy camper.

All the decor was from Europe and the waiters and hostesses were even dressed in authentic Austro-Hungarian attire. I was just thrilled with the atmosphere and Karlo was thrilled with the menu. Me, not so much, but I was a good sport. I was severely missing sauce and meatballs, but at least the dessert was yummy.

But Wait There's More

I couldn't shoot all my cameras at once because one of them is perked on a tripod in the master bathroom. I should have Photoshopped it in to give the full effect of the ridiculous amount of cameras in my arsenal. Oh, and of course . . . I need a camera to take the picture. But that one doesn't really count because it was my phone that took the picture.

So what's the point of the photo? Well, it's my photo of the day for my 365 project and I had nothing else to talk about. I had originally planned for my photo of the day to be a nice frozen river shot, but my dreams of snowshoeing down to the river were squashed by the need to get the 9 new inches of snow cleared from the driveways and deck. I was nice and helped Karlo out and there went the daylight. There also went my pretty photo of the icy river. Maybe tomorrow.

I needed to shoot something indoors and I was trying to figure out which camera to use. That's when it hit me that the amount of cameras I have to pick from is sort of a funny picture. Also funny is the fact that I JUST BOUGHT ANOTHER camera last week. Its the smallest one (on the left) in the photo. It's really more of a video camera than a still camera (although it does both) and it's meant to be worn on your wrist, your helmet, or your handlebars. Remember all the times I said, "I wish I had a helmet cam to give you the full effect of what the scenery was like" . . . ? Well, now we finally do. Only problem is that I'm convinced I'll never figure out how to operate it while moving along on two wheels. We'll see how useful it actually will be. Just the fact that I convinced myself that I needed another camera is another reason that I may need help of the psychiatric kind.

I Need Help

. . . Of the psychiatric type. As you know we recently booked one vacation. That's when my nerve pain started to surface. I'm trying not to focus on the bike travel logistics or the fact that we really need to whip ourselves into shape. I think we got that under control. I am personally working out three times a day so I should be OK. I'm feeling like I'm getting stronger and nothing makes me happier than that.

So maybe it was time to think about booking another vacation. You know, as a reward for the first vacation. I actually got the feeling that maybe it would be nice to go on a vacation to just have fun and maybe relax a little. Not expend a zillion calories a day, and most importantly, not feel guilty for not burning all the calories. Yes, this sounded like a wonderful plan and Karlo was game.

I must first confess that this whole grand plan was mostly brought on due to the fact that we have a $400 credit with United Airlines (from them royally screwing up our last flying vacation). This credit will expire mid-May and I just hated the thought of wasting it. So OK, I'm sort of busted. I wasn't really motivated by wanting to relax and reward ourselves, but rather I was motivated by not wanting to waste something. Gee, there's a big surprise.

I spent the past week researching different options. With the new hikes in airfares, you can't really go too far on $400 so the likely choice was to fly to Florida and take a cruise. Yes, that sounded perfect. Maybe this was going to be easy.

But then again, maybe it was going to be a colossal ordeal that would put me over the edge and flair my nerve problem up even more. OMG, there are no words for how angry I am at United Airlines right now. That is a really long story that I'm not even going to document because it will just serve to upset me all over again when I read my blog book next year. So we will just fast forward past all the reasons why I HATE United Airlines at this moment. We completely ditched the idea of trying to use their entirely useless credit and completely bagged my original plan to fly to Miami and cruise to Mexico. Instead I found a cruise to Bermuda that would require a much cheaper flight. I thought I had my mind made up.

No, I changed it right before booking. I just couldn't stop brooding over the Bermuda excursions. I got over the whole 'triangle' thing that bugged me, but it was the lame excursions that I just couldn't accept. The 2 best shore excursions that I could dig up involved an 8 mile bike ride and 30 minutes of kayak paddling. I tried to imagine Karlo and I going for an 8 mile group bike ride that would ultimately take 2 hours and I knew we would blow a gasket. There was just no way we could do it and there were no 'adventure' excursions offered. So much for my 'no guilt over not exercising' plan. Simply can't be done.

My next plan was Alaska, but that would require sucking it up and using that stupid United credit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Alaska would be way cooler (OK, make that colder), but the excursions kicked booty - totally our style and we would love them. I was sold and ready to book. I made the announcement to Karlo last night that "we are going to Alaska!" He was thrilled.

Luckily I slept on this idea. The more I thought of going to Alaska in early May the more I thought I was nuts. If we are going to go, I want to do it right - not cheap out just to use the credit. Why not go in July? OMG, I was starting to drive myself nuts and Karlo was ready to commit me to an institution. How many times can I change my mind about one stupid vacation?

And after all that, this afternoon I think I finally made the last decision. I went completely full circle and I'm right back to the EXACT same cruise that I started with - to Mexico only buying our own airline tickets and saying to Hell with United. I still haven't book the trip yet and that means I have plenty of time to change my mind 6 more times. God, please give Karlo the patience he needs to live with me!

Stay tuned to find out where we will end up . . . maybe the Institute of Living the way I'm going.

Cupcakes and Cognac

Maybe that's an unlikely combination, but it suits my baby to a T. Immature enough for cupcakes, but at the same time old enough for an 'old man's drink.' Believe it or not, these were the first cupcakes I ever made in my life. And judging by the huge mess I made in the process, they will likely be the last cupcakes I ever make in my life.



But it was all worth it. Karlo really enjoyed his special day. We both called in sick, partially due to the weather, but mostly due to the fact that today is his birthday and we wanted to stay home together. It wasn't really much of a birthday celebration - certainly not compared to the rocking good time we had during my 4-day birthday extravaganza, but I still think he enjoyed the day. And we still have a special birthday dinner planned for this Saturday so hopefully that will make up for a rather lame day today.

Who eats a cupcake with a fork????

Happy Birthday Karlo!

Vacation #1

As I think I mentioned in a previous post, we booked our first vacation of the year. I'm pretty sure that was the start of the twinges of shoulder pain I've been experiencing . . . because, as usual, it's a little bit more complicated than most people's vacations. The decision to book the trip was an easy one. Normally that's the hardest part for us–to just make a stinkin' decision already. But this time we found a trip and without much deliberations at all, we were both sold on it. We figured the details could all be ironed out if we just committed. So we did.

We committed to a bike trip in the middle of March. Are we insane? Normally I would freak out over a bike trip in say May or June (like we did last year). That barely gives us enough time to train and prepare. But March? March is just plain crazy. And of all of our bike trips (OK, maybe not all, but most) this one is very challenging. This one requires lots of climbing every day and not the kind of climbing that we are used to . . . the short, but steep, rolling hills not exceeding 1,000 feet above sea level. This time we are talking about hills that go on for several miles at a clip and elevations that reach over 6,000 feet. For those of you not familiar with elevations, it gets hard to breath over 6,000 feet. If your lungs are not accustomed to high altitude, you simply can't get enough oxygen. So tell me, how are we going to have our legs, backs, and more importantly our butts in shape for climbing AND acclimate our lungs to altitude? There's an easy answer . . . we are not!

And so begins our training . . . for our vacation. I know, I know. We have it all wrong, but we are simply not normal. And of course, this trip comes with complicated logistics like shipping our bikes, or flying with them on the airplane, and carrying a bike rack to transport the bikes on the rental car, and figuring out how to secure bike boxes to ship them back. Uuuugh, more details than I wanted to deal with. I don't have time for that. I'll be too busy working out like crazy from now until March 10th.

So where are we going anyway? We are going to Moab, UT, the mountain biking mecca of the world. Funny, we are going there to road bike, but still it should be beautiful. Here's the little video that sucked us in.



Another reason that I wanted to do this trip was because it's actually a fundraiser for cancer research and surviorship. If you're gonna spend money to go biking, why not put that money to good cause. Karlo and I have a fund raising page set up at http://www.active.com/donate/livestrong2011/teamapro. If you would like to make a small contribution to Team Apro we would certainly appreciate it.

365 Project Going Strong

I'm actually amazed to say this, but so far I haven't missed a day of my Project 365. In fact, I've been struggling to pick the one picture that will represent each day, from the many that I've been taking. For the dead of winter, I would say I'm doing pretty well.

So here we go . . . continuing from where I left off . . .

#10

The day I gave Sue her 'wedding book' which she loved.

#11

Taught my first yoga class of 2011.

#12

Snow Day - Blizzard Benedict

#13

The morning after the storm - shooting pictures at the office.

#14

We get our propane fireplace fixed, but this causes us to miss our 1st ballroom class :-(

#15

Finally we get to play in all the snow.

#16

Snowshoe with the dogs.

Comparing Notes From Last Year

I can't tell you how much I love to read my blog books. I recently got last year's printed and I get such a kick out of rewinding and reliving the past year of my life. It really is fascinating to see my normal patterns of stress and chaos repeating over and over. For instance, last year I made it through most of the winter without much shoulder pain, but then Spring rolled around and no sooner did I book a vacation, but I started to complain about my shoulder hurting. I even made a comment about 'just the thought of vacation stresses me out.' What is wrong with that picture? Last night I read about the days preceding our bike trip to Europe and by the sounds of it, I was in agony . . . and all to go on vacation. Unreal.

So here we are this brand new year. The year of simplicity and doing less. I am so very proud of the fact that I made it through the Christmas madness with no shoulder and neck pain. Sure I had a couple IBS attacks, but I have figured out that IBS strikes based on emotional stress. My shoulder strikes from subconscious stress. I managed my business, hosted Christmas dinner, and handled all the other holiday tasks with amazing ease. But suddenly I'm feeling the start of my shoulder tightening up again. What is going on? Sure I had to teach my first yoga class of the season this week (always terrifying), and there was a little bit of stressful driving on slippery roads. Could that have done me in? Or maybe it's the fact that I booked one vacation within the past couple of weeks and yesterday I spent an hour researching another. I literally logged off of the travel website yesterday afternoon, got in the car to go home, and realized my shoulder was starting to ache. Why am I so adverse to vacations?

Not According to Plan

So much for the fun relaxing day. Well, I guess it was still fun, but not so relaxing. After doing my P90X workout and eating lunch all alone, I felt guilty that Karlo was out all morning clearing the snow by himself. I decided to help. What was I thinking? By the time I got out there another 10" had fallen on our already cleared back deck. I figured I would start there. With a deck bigger than some driveways, and a shovel way too small for the task at hand, I kept very busy out there.


The snow was falling faster than I could keep up with it and finally I realized that I'm fighting a losing battle. I moved to the front of house to see how Karlo was doing with the ATV. That's when I discovered the 3 foot pile of snow that the plow piled in front of our front door. I start chipping away at that until finally I cleared a path to the door. My poor shrubs are completely buried under feet of heavy snow and I fear for their lives.

I also feared for my own life with this next stunt . . .


The driveway was a sheet of ice under all that snow, as I learned very quickly nearly killing myself. Not only was I having trouble getting around on it, but so was the ATV. Karlo requested that I ride on the back (with, and I quote, "all my weight") to see if I could help stop the back tires from spinning. I thought it would be a nice peaceful rest from all the shoveling. All I had to do was hold on and go for a ride. Yeah, a ride with KARLO! Nearly scared my to death. I was sitting backwards on the metal cage with my legs dangling over the side as Karlo sped at full throttle down the icy street. I was hanging on for dear life with flashbacks to the last time I rode with him and swore it would be my LAST time EVER getting on an ATV with him. Why didn't I learn? I wanted to be helpful today, but those 10 times of riding around our circular driveway made my heart beat faster than with all the heavy shoveling. I couldn't wait to get off that death trap. I was more than happy to get back to my shovel.

Karlo started the snow removal process around 9:30 this morning. I put in my two hours, but he didn't finish until 6:30 tonight. Unbelievable. We either need a way bigger plow or a much smaller house. Something's gotta give. And to think, we were so excited to have 'a day off.' Going to work would have been much much easier.

It's time for a hot shower. To see more pics from the day, please click here.

Feeling Like a Kid

So far this day has been terrific. We woke up to the morning news and all the talk about the snowstorm. Finally, the predictions proved accurate and there was already a foot of the glorious white stuff on the ground by 6 AM. Despite getting official word from work, Karlo and I deemed the day a ‘snow day.’ If need be we would take a sick day. But as it turned out, there was no need for that. The company called off work! Yipppeee. Ahhhh to be a kid again with the absolute thrill over staying home for a day. And for me, it really is like being a kid. I’m inside playing while poor Karlo is outside laboriously clearing all that snow . . . and by the looks of it, it will likely take him all day. Just the deck took an hour!


This has to be the greatest feeling ever. I have the whole day ahead of me with nothing that I have to do. Sure I spent the last hour doing some YogaDudes work that needed to be done. And then there’s the working out that I ‘have’ to do, and the taxes that I should start . . . but I have plenty of time to just relax, read, and play in the snow. I simply can’t wait for Karlo to finish plowing so we can snowshoe or ski. A dream come true. I wish this day could last for a week. Maybe it will snow again tomorrow . . .

Project 365 - So Far

I'm very proud of myself. I managed to take a photo every day for the past 9 days. And here they are:

Day 1

My buddies Sue & Tim tie the knot on New Year's Eve.

Day 2

Jess loved her new cowboy wellies.

Day 3

An Angry Birds session.

Day 4

The arrival of my new camera equipment.

Day 5

I drank 3 frozen margarita's at Sue's this night.

Day 6

Portraits with Jess.

Day 7

Dinner with toddlers.

Day 8
Christmas card photo shoot.

Day 9
Woke up to lots of beautiful snow.