The Space Between My Ears

This Blog Has Been Moved

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

Please visit me at my new home . . . at www.paulaapro.com.

Week 52 in Photos

2012-01-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

I did it! I made it through the entire year with this project and I'm so proud of myself. OK, I should point out that I did screw something up somewhere and this morning I realized that I only have 364 pictures rather than 365. Uuuuugh! Karlo tried to convince me that it must be leap year, but my silly little alien was obviously misinformed because that would give me one extra photo, not one less. So I'm forced to cheat and post my first photo from this year's project as my last photo from 2011. Someday I'll get over the fact that it's not perfect. sigh

#359

I just love our little homemade Charlie Brown tree. I wish it could last forever.

#360

A whole week of cashmere socks. My feet will be in Heaven.

#361

Karlo has been busy. Because the 6 cords of wood he recently split and stacked weren't enough, he decided to take 3 more trees down today.

#362

My big shopping day. Here's Tina trying on hats in our new favorite store.

#363

The amazing cookie basket that Penni made. I had to immortalize it so now, like the tree, they will last forever.

#364

What a treat. We haven't had chestnuts in years. This might have been my favorite part of our New Years Eve meal.

#365

And my cheater picture to get 365 pics. This was taken after midnight for my first shot of 2012. Shhhhh, don't tell. I drank this at midnight rather than icky champagne.

And that completes my first Project 365 (or in my case 364). I had a ball with this project and I look forward to another photo challenge in 2012. Be sure to bookmark my new blog location to continue following me, my photos, and my ridiculous life.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Changes for the New Year

2011-12-31T11:29:00.003-05:00

Well, it's that time again. Time to reflect on the past year and look toward the new year with a refreshed outlook, and hopes of making positive changes. Thinking back to last year at this time, I remember that I resolved to focus on "simplicity." That was supposed to be my theme for the year. I think I failed miserably. It was just a challenging year on so many levels that simplifying was just not possible. But this year brings new hope. It's a fresh clean start and I feel as though I have a blank canvas and can pick any theme I want. Part of me wants to revert back to the theme I used two years ago (FUN). I somehow managed to accomplish that one and it felt good at the end of the year, knowing that I made an effort and I was successful. I guess I better choose my theme carefully this time so I have a chance at accomplishing it. So what's it gonna be?

I'm not sure I should try the whole "simplify" thing again. This will be the first year trying to manage my father's house and I dread that on so many levels. I just don't see how adding this to my life can help me simplify it so I need to pick something else. It's so hard . . . to pick just one word to sum up a resolution. Oh, but wait a minute . . . that just gave me an idea for next year's photo project. I think I will continue my "Photo of the Day," but instead of capturing the one thing that I want to remember from the day I will capture something (anything) that I can describe in just one word. No more long winded captions, just one word.

Now that I decided on my photo project for next year, well, that's all that really matters. I will continue to ponder my resolution theme for the year and see what comes up.

Another big change for 2012 will be the discontinuation of this blog. OK, let me rephrase that. I am no longer going to be posting to this exact "Paula's Brain" page. I will, however, be moving my blog to my new web site www.paulaapro.com. The new blog can be found here: http://www.paulaapro.com/blog-2/ and I will start to populate it next week.

Oh, and here's Karlo's New Years resolution . . .

He is resolving to clean the hounds' nasty teeth in hopes of destinking them. Hmmmm, maybe 'destinking' can be my word for the year.

Shopping With Friends

2011-12-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

That picture is the result of me shopping with Karlo, Penni, and Tina yesterday. It was quite and exciting day. After not leaving the house for several days on end it was hard to adjust to the hustle and bustle of civilization, but it sure was a fun day. I left the house shortly after 11 with a long and precise agenda. I had a lot of errands to tick off my list in between meeting up with my buddies. My first meeting was with Karlo (who, unfortunately had to go back to work). We met at the office and had a nice lunch together. There is no shortage of free great food hanging around the office between the holidays so we scored a yummy meal. From there Karlo and I went to the motorcycle store to return/exchange several of our gifts to each other. OK so there's no doubt which part of my new outfit Karlo can take credit for!

Next I had to run to Kohls to try to solve that coat disaster that I blogged about last week. This story deserves a blog posting all to itself and I'm not even sure I can conjure up the appropriate words (adjectives) to describe that entire ridiculous scene. Let's just say that I wasted THIRTY MINUTES of my life in what felt like a root canal. I don't think I ever witnessed anything more up surd on a consumer level. Thank GOD for my meditation because I kept my cool and didn't kill anybody. I can not wait to see if the proper coat ever arrives after all that.

Kohls made me late for my date with Penni, John, and Nicole. Well, that and the fact that I had no idea that DSW moved it's store location in Manchester. I was already late, driving like an idiot, and imagine my surprise when I pulled into what used to be their parking lot only to find the store gone. Penni and I had to meet to exchange a number of important items, the most important one being the AMAZING array of Christmas cookies that she spent a week baking and then forgot to bring to Christmas dinner. Check this out:

And now I'm sitting alone in the house with these cookies just begging to be eaten . . .

I was on a mission yesterday to find a pair of black suede wedge heel tall boots. I don't know why I suddenly decided that I needed a pair, but I knew I wasn't going home without them. I tried on every pair on display at DSW and totally struck out on every account. The boots either didn't fit, didn't come in my preferred size and color combination, or I just plain didn't like them. I finally gave up and resolved that I was not getting my boots. Then Nicole appears with a pair of boots on begging her Mom to buy them for her. She pleaded that the boots came from the clearance section and were a good deal. Clearance section??? I didn't know there was such a thing. I only had 5 minutes to spare before I needed to leave to meet Tina, but I ran back to check it out. In the first 45 seconds Penni pulls out the fabulous black boots that I'm wearing in the picture above and I instantly fell in love with them. Everything about them was perfect. Penni was my hero of the day. I didn't even think twice, grabbed them and ran to the check out.

Then I met Tina at the Evergreen Walk. I have been dying to take T to that jewelry and accessory store that Lisa introduced me to and of course, she loved it. I told her that she had to pick out something for me and we couldn't leave until she did. She didn't let me down and picked out the purple sweater and jewelry to match. Another total score. We had a grand ole time shopping in all the stores . . . until Karlo crashed our girl party ;-) He met us at Evergreen and we all went to dinner together. I had a great time. What a fantastic day. I really should leave the house more often!

Christmas Video 2011

2011-12-27T10:32:00.001-05:00

Biscotti Disaster

2011-12-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

I have no idea whatever possessed me to decide to bake biscotti from scratch. One night I was flipping through a magazine and found a recipe for pistachio cranberry biscotti. The picture looked so good and after reading the ingredients and directions I thought, "That doesn't sound too hard." I figured that if I could find the dried cranberries and the shelled pistachios in the grocery store, with very little effort, then I would give it a go. Of course, I truly thought I would have trouble locating the items and therefore would give up on the idea quickly and NOT have to actually do the baking. But to my surprise I found the darn ingredients with no trouble.

So off I went on my baking adventure. And an adventure it was.

The first thing I had to do was beat, blend, or mix . . . I'm not quite sure what the difference is between those terms, and as Penni pointed out, that may be my first problem. But non-the-less, I threw the sugar, baking powder, and whatever other dry ingredients into my mixing bowl along with the 2 eggs the recipe called for. I turned on my trusty little electric mixer and all the ingredients proceeded to bunch up into one huge ball of mess, wrapped around the mixer do-hickies. Now what? How the heck will I get it off? Uuuuugh. I tried the trick of slowly lifting the beater up and managed to get most of the sticky mess off the beater things without having too much fly around the kitchen.

Now I'm left with a big slop of super sticky, not quite mixed dough and another pile of dry ingredients that I can't get to mix into the wet slop. Did I mention that I only really have one hand to work with (my left one no less) due to the stupid sores on my right hand?

So I try like crazy to mix this cement with my left hand, but it just doesn't work. I'm forced to break the recipe (God forbid I don't go by the book) and crack another egg in to give it more stick.

By (left) hand, I manage to get all the ingredients wet and sticky and then I threw in the nuts and berries. OK, maybe I'm back on track. Next step was to transfer the sticky mess to a "prepared work surface" and form into two logs. Unsure of what I was supposed to do to 'prepare' my work surface because NOTHING could have prepared me for what I was about to face. I threw some flour all over my immaculately clean counter (and that hurt, let me tell you). I tried to grab the sticky mess with my one good hand and that quickly went nowhere. I was forced to use my preciously tender and un-bandaged right hand and now I was stuck. The slop was impossible to move or work with. I ended up with literally half of it stuck to me with no idea how to get it off of my hands. I wanted to cry.

Two logs? The recipe HAD to be kidding. I tried to just grab everything off the counter and put it onto the freezer paper-lined cookie sheet. What the point was of first putting the slop on the counter just baffles me. I'm not even sure how I managed to get any of the stupid slop from the counter and onto the cookie sheet, but I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it.

I would say at least 25% of the batter was still stuck to my hands and you should have seen me trying to get if off my poor painful right hand. What an ordeal that was. Then I had to turn around and figure out how to remove the cement from the counter.

At this point I figured I had to just give it a go and bake the darn thing. I got this far and no matter how bad they came out, I was eating them. Dammit! So in the oven they went . . .

They came out not so bad. The recipe said it would yield 30 cookies and I only got 10, but that was understandable considering how much batter went down the drain. To remedy the problem I cut them all in half.

And after all that work, nobody tried a single one on Christmas day. I weeped.

The next day Karlo decided to try one out. He asked if "they were meant to be dunked into coffee" and I said yes, but mine weren't like real biscotti and they weren't that hard and crunchy. So he proceeded to DUNK ONE INTO HIS COKE. I threw my arms up in complete disgust. Who dunks biscotti into Coke???? What a waste of all my effort. NEVER again. I got up and pitched the recipe into the wood stove. There will be no further urges in the future.

The Christmas Greyhounds 2011

2011-12-27T09:31:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve at the Mastrios

2011-12-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Week 51 in Photos

2011-12-26T11:46:00.000-05:00

Holy cow, I can't believe I only have one more week to go with this project. I better make an effort to take some good pictures this upcoming last week. Here's a festive look back at last week.

#352

I started off the work week very busy . . . downloading Snoopy Christmas apps on my iPad.

#353

On Tuesday my manager left this on my desk. I've been borrowing his nail clippers for the past decade so he finally broke down and bought me some of my own.

#354

Karlo's publisher always thinks of us around Christmas time. By now he feels like extended family. He sent us this tower of goodies from Harry & David . . . and it's been sitting unattended under our tree ever since. We obviously own "sight" hounds and not blood hounds.

#355

What a ball this was. We attended a super fun work happy hour and had some drinks with our silly co-workers.

#356

I spent this evening running around the house taking pictures of our holiday decor. I'm supposed to be practicing with my new flash, but I just refuse to attach it to the camera.

#357

We spent an early Christmas Eve at my cousin Jamie's. Always a great time with those folks!

#358

And Christmas was at our place this year. It was simply perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better day. More details to follow . . .

Shopping Craze

2011-12-21T18:26:00.001-05:00

I'm ready for it all to be over. I'm on both ends of the shopping craziness and I've had it. As a consumer it can be frustrating and exhausting. I just spent the last few minutes trying to track down an email from an order that I placed on Thanksgiving and have yet to receive the item. Of course it's a gift and it just makes me wonder how many other things I ordered and never got . . . and don't even know it because I can't keep track of all my shopping.

One purchase, however, I kept good track of. Remember my story about my 'old lady coat' and how I was going to buy a new one and charge it to Karlo? Well, I did. The very next day I fell in love with and purchased this coat...

I was so excited to hear that it would be delivered by Christmas. It was going to be a bonus gift for me. Yeah! And then imagine my dissapointment when this ugly thing arrived on our front porch yesterday.

Granted the photo and the lighting are horrific, but so is the coat. Does that look ANYTHING like the one I bought? I could scream. It also arrived with no paperwork and there's no way in Hell I'm paying to ship it back, nor will I drive to a store. So it will be days of back and fourth with customer service to settle this. The coat is hardly worth the aggravation.

I can't really be too hard on the poor customer service people because I know this sort of stuff happens. I am also in the middle of trying to figure out why my warehouse shipped an order for a Michigan customer to Florida. sigh. I really look forward to the end of the holiday season.

My Academic Show N Tell

2011-12-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

This just cracked me up. I was flipping through my grammar school records and noticed that my mother saved all of my report cards. I found it amusing that even way back then I already displayed my aversion to History and Geography. Well, I should rephrase that. I never cared for history because I always had an attitude of, "Why should I waste my time learning about stuff that happened a hundred years ago when I can be focusing on science and technology?" My sights were always set on the future, not on the past. That has not changed since childhood. I couldn't tell you the date of a single significant historical event. I even struggle to remember what year I got married, but I will soak up and retain new technology knowledge in a heartbeat. As far as Geography goes . . . no aversion there. I love geography. I'm just not all that good at it.

And without any further ado, here's what most of report cards looked like way back then.

On one hand I think the teacher must have been pretty sharp to nail my weaknesses with Geography and History (while clearly recognizing my brilliance in everything else ;-) But HELLO, what is with the B in Art????? And that comes the year after this. Go figure.

Week 50 in Photos

2011-12-18T14:27:00.000-05:00

#345

I was supposed to take a picture of the plate of cookies that I made and brought to our dance class, but I forgot and by the time we got home, well . . . the dish was empty. I guess that means the cookies were good! And I finally used the cookie dough that went from my brother's freezer, to my father's, to my office, to my friend's house and eventually made it's way home.

#346

This is a very dangerous combination sitting on my desk. It's Scott Kelby's (one of my favorite photographers) "Holiday Gift Guide" (better than "Oprah's Favorite Things") and a catalog from a large camera supply place. Just for the record, I was good and didn't buy a thing. Yet.

#347

Waiting in line at Big Y I was flipping through a magazine and wanted to make this drink. Instead of buying the magazine, I took a picture of the recipe. Is that stealing? Ooops.

#348

My new boots sitting on my office chair. Since I no longer sit on it, I figured my shoes should put the chair to good use.

#349

Here's my new Christmas party outfit that Karlo helped me pick out in Orlando. Too bad the photo is too dark to really see the outfit. My plum scarf gets totally lost and you also can't tell that there's plum in the skirt. Oh well. At least Karlo approved.

#350

We went to a fun Christmas party this night. The house was decorated so beautifully that it was really hard to decide what to photograph for my photo of the day. This little plaque was just too cute and irresistible.

#351

Early Santa strikes again. While Karlo was at Swarovski buying me my necklace he also picked this up. He wanted to give it to me before Christmas so I could decide where to display it on Christmas day. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's super sparkly and pretty. Hopefully there will be something left under the tree for me on Christmas. At the rate Karlo is giving my presents, I'm not so sure.

More Fashion Follies

2011-12-15T15:32:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I wore a pair of gray pinstripe dress pants and a gray wool coat to work. Nothing out of the ordinary. I've been wearing this dress coat for a year or two and I always liked it. I like the length. I like the style. I even got compliments from strangers on the cute 3 button (placed high on the coat) style. But suddenly yesterday afternoon something came over Karlo where he just couldn't take it any more and he told me that I looked like "an old lady" and that I needed better clothes. I questioned what was wrong with my pants and he said, "nothing." So I asked what was wrong with my coat and he said he hated it. He hated the color . . . (It's dark gray for Heaven's sake. The same color as his dress coat.) . . . and he hated the style. Well, this came as quite a surprise. Suddenly I felt self-conscious and miserable. But on a bright side I decided it was time for yet another new coat (like I need that - I have 4 dozen coats in my closet) and Karlo should buy it. Karlo pointed out the fact that I, of all people, should not be wearing a gray coat. "Why don't you own a bright pink coat?" he asked.

So that was it. First thing this morning I googled "purple winter coat" and I just had to laugh when this came up in the google images search:

I think it's perfect for me! And Peanut can borrow it when I'm wearing one of the other 4 dozen coats I own. I guess I'll keep searching.

My next fashion dilemma is my desire for these UGG boots.

I haven't been able to forget them since the day I first laid eyes on them. I don't know what it is about them that has me so captivated, but they got me. I decided that I would buy them for myself after getting my Christmas bonus (seeing as they cost $200). But then Black Friday came and I couldn't resist snagging these for $25 plus free shipping from JC Penny.

Today was the first time I wore them and I'm shocked at how comfy they are. That was a huge selling point for the UGGs. I wanted comfy boots. Now I'm torn trying to decide if these boots that I already own can satisfy that itch for comfy cute boots, or if I still need to splurge on the UGGs. What's a confused girl to do?

Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-14T20:06:00.000-05:00

Well this will be a challenge. I usually take this opportunity to look back on the year and remember all the fun and exciting things we did. It’s usually nice to force myself to remember all the things that happened throughout the year and relive the good memories. This year, however, has been one of the worst and most challenging years of my life. The thing that I am most grateful for at this point is the fact that the year is almost over. I look forward to a fresh start with an even numbered year.

It all started in January with the never-ending snow issues and the impossible task of just maintaining the house and property. During one of those crazy storms my Dad fell down on the ice and that pretty much changed the lives of everyone in our family. Nothing was the same after that and that fall marked a significant start of a downward trend.

My poor father struggled with his health all year and it was a sad, stressful ordeal. I threw myself into my exercise training program all Winter and managed to get into great shape for our bike trip to Utah in March. Unfortunately that peak of athletic performance was short-lived because I contracted Lyme Disease at the beginning of April. That turned into three of the most miserable weeks of my life and something that I hope to never experience again.

No sooner do my antibiotics kick in and make me start to feel human again, but Karlo does a number on his spine and spends 8 straight days flat on his back, completely immobile in severe amounts of pain. I quickly went from being the patient to being the nurse and I’m not sure which one was worse. Complete nightmare. Luckily emergency back surgery fixed Karlo up and he was back on his feet in no time.

By now June rolls around and we actually had a month of somewhat of a normal life. We were both healthy and Dad was living back at home and seemed happy. Things were looking up. But of course, that wouldn’t last long either.

I ended up with a terrible pinched nerve in my neck, which caused life changing constant pain for several months. There went the entire Summer (and Fall for that matter). I couldn’t ride a motorcycle or a bicycle, couldn’t do yoga, lift weights. I couldn’t even sit in a chair without pain and it really sucked big time. But wait, there’s more . . .

Dad ended up back in the hospital in July and it was pretty bad. His kidneys were failing and it really took a toll on his brain . . . and my pinched nerve, along with the nerves of my brother and sister-in-law. This marked the beginning of Dad’s very challenging dialysis treatments, which were basically his life support.

Most of the Fall was a blur. I was on the road traveling more than I was home. In a month’s time Karlo and I only saw each other for 4 days, and those weren’t even consecutive days! I missed the most beautiful time to be in CT, but fortunately my neck pain seemed to be subsiding so that I was no longer in constant pain. Maybe the rest of the year would slip by without any more problems. Or not.

My father decided in mid October to stop his dialysis treatments. The following two weeks were more than I ever dreamed I could handle (emotionally). Let’s just say it was very very hard to watch my father deteriorate rapidly and then finally take his last breathe on Halloween night.

So November comes and I’m thinking it’s the final stretch to ending this terrible year. Maybe the time will just pass quickly and be uneventful. There were some minor negatives, but in comparison to what we’ve been through I’m not complaining. I’m just looking forward to spending quality time with my family on Christmas – not discussing the million details of my father’s property nor going over my never ending list of things to do. I just want to be together, be happy, and be relaxed, if only for one short day. Maybe it takes a bad year to reflect on what really matters and to finally realize that Christmas is not about the presents under the tree, but about the people sitting around the dinner table.

A sincere Merry Christmas to all my friends and family, with the warmest wishes for a New Year filled with good health and happiness. When it comes right down to it, that is all that really matters.

Dancing Stars

2011-12-13T07:41:00.000-05:00

Who knew that somebody had a video recorder on Saturday night? It's not the best quality and you can barely see Karlo and I (we are in the back row on the right side of the floor), but it's still pretty neat that we have a memento from our big performance. Enjoy!

So Proud

2011-12-11T19:09:00.001-05:00

I just realized that I never shared these drawings on my blog. Way back when I was in Seattle this past Summer I found myself in Best Buy with time to kill (which is never a good thing). My manager and I were trying to solve a work-related hardware issue and while he was at the Geek Squad desk I was aimlessly walking around the store, trying not to buy anything. I have to say, I did really good and only wasted $12 or so. I bought a silly little iPad stylus. I had no idea why I wanted it or what I would do with it, but I bought it anyway. Footnote: I'm pretty sure I lost it by now because I haven't seen it since.

After my big Best Buy purchase I decided that I now needed to buy a book to teach me how to draw cartoon animals. This was to be my big plan for the stylus. I was going to use it simply to draw on my iPad. At the very least it would serve as good entertainment in my lonely hotel room. And that it did.

I went back to my room and spent the next couple of hours doodling on the iPad. I completely forgot about these sketches until this weekend when I was tinkering with the pad. When I drew them I thought they were terrible, but now looking back at them I can't believe I drew them. I think they are grand! What do you think? Cute?

Week 49 in Photos

2011-12-11T14:13:00.003-05:00

#338

While we were away in Florida all of these packages were piling up at home. The timing of our trip was terrible right after the biggest shopping weekend of the year. Poor Jill.

#339
It's positively sinful that this is my pathetic picture of the day rather than Lisa shopping or dining, but it will have to do. Here is the result of our evening of shopping.

#340
This is much more exciting than it looks. I have been waiting a long time to get a 'stand-up' desk at work. With the push of a button I can change the height of the desk so I can either sit at it, or more likely, stand at it. I'm hoping this relieves some of my shoulder and neck issues.

#341
Karlo came home from CA today and he brought me back an early Christmas present. The reason he bought it and gave it to me early is because we were performing in a dance show on Saturday and we needed to dress in black, white and red. This was the perfect compliment to my outfit. So sweet!

#342
We went to see this terrific play at UConn called "I'm Connecticut." It was a hilarious story about how boring CT is and we so enjoyed it.

#343
And here we are at the holiday ball. Unfortunately I don't have any photos or video of us dancing. Well, maybe that's a good thing ;-)

#344
This Christmas takes the record for the easiest and most stress-free shopping and wrapping routine of my life. Every family member gets one sack full of goodies. Wrapping done in under 10 minutes!

Show N Tell 2

2011-12-08T18:47:00.001-05:00

I love this picture of my young Dad. Wasn't he cute?

This was my father's business card when he was a builder down in Florida. Boy he sure did regret moving back up to CT.

My Big Night Out

2011-12-07T08:15:00.001-05:00

And I don't have a single picture to show for it. I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture of Lisa in one of my new favorite stores at the Evergreen Walk. I'm not sure which store takes the title of my favorite. It's a close call between Charming Charlie and Soft Surroundings. I'm in love with both of them. So you'll just have to picture Lisa standing amidst a million adorable pieces of costume jewelry, handbags, scarfs, tops, shoes, etc. The entire store is arranged by color and it's simply amazing. So imagine that you needed to get some red accessories . . . you trot on over to the red section and see things like this:

I could have stayed there all night. What a ball. I just wish I knew this place existed when I needed to buy some red jewelry for an upcoming holiday ball.

Then you'll have to picture me trying on my favorite pieces of clothing at Soft Surroundings, which is positively a beautiful store. I've been studying all the clothes in the catalog on my coffee table for a month. I have every other page dog-eared and soon this puppy will be mine:

Next you'll have to picture Lisa sipping some crazy good looking fancy coffee with whip cream on top. It's times like those when I wished I drank that evil stuff. We had dinner at a new place that I didn't even know existed. Thanks to Groupons we found ourselves chowing down on gourmet pizzas. Yummmy!

Also thanks to Groupons, we also found ourselves in Old Navy. I had a $20 Groupon and walked around the store a dozen times only to pick up a high tech fleece (the last thing in the world that I need) and some Snoopy lounge pants (the second last thing in the world that I need). I just have a tough time finding things I like in Old Navy. Luckily I had some intervention and not only did Lisa talk me out of my poor clothing choices, but she helped me pick out a new outfit that I'm sporting today.

I'm Back

2011-12-05T11:56:00.001-05:00

Goodbye Orlando, hello home! Unfortunately I flew home alone while Karlo took off to LA for a few days. I sure don't envy him. LA is one of my least favorite travel destinations. I can't complain about the Florida gig. Of all my work travels, this trip is always a pleasant one. This year was even better because it took place one week earlier than normal so my yoga business wasn't quite as crazy. That made a big difference in my stress level.

I didn't get much free time to keep up with my blog so I will attempt to recap the trip here . . .

I managed the booth set up all by myself this year while Karlo stayed at work and arrived the next day. Luckily I had my usual team of labor and things went smoothly.

We finished the set up in one day which meant I earned a day of freedom (well, at least half a day of freedom) to go out and have some fun. Karlo and I took our annual trip to the outlets and shopped for a few hours. I was in Heaven and Karlo was a good sport. He worked hard telling me all the reasons why he hated just about every I picked out. We finally settled on a new outfit for me that we both liked. Boy was that a lot of work.

All of our nights were spent in great restaurants having amazing meals. We really had some fun nights and we were treated to some delicious foods and wine. Boy do I miss that now that I'm back home, starving, in an empty house :-(

The work portion of the week was cool and, as always, we got to see some pretty neat cars and talk to lots of interesting people. I just couldn't take my eyes off the paint job on the Viper I'm standing near in the picture above. By the end of the show we were starting to get a little silly. Here we are arm wrestling. Notice that I'm completely suspended in air. I think my elbow is still sore from that stunt.

We spent all day Sunday relaxing by the pool, waiting for our early evening flights. It was nice to just kill a day without the guilt of feeling that I should be doing a million other things. There's plenty of time for that now that I'm home . . .

Week 48 in Photos

2011-12-05T11:47:00.001-05:00

#331

I arrive in Orlando and get bombarded with billboards advertising all the fun things that I won't be doing all week.

#332

This will be my home for the next several days - its the Orange County Convention Center.

#333

I got a half a day off to spend at the outlets. I should have taken the photo after the few hours of shopping when I had more to show for my efforts.

#334

I thought this was my favorite Orlando restaurant. It's a Greek place called Opa and I love it.

#335

But the next night we went to a place called the Funky Monkey Wine Company and OMG, it just took the title of my favorite Orlando place to eat. OUTSTANDING. This was the wine I had that I wanted to remember.

#336

After working the show all day we had to stick around and "work" really hard watching my labor guys break down the booth.

#337

And Sunday we just lounged by the pool all day. Aaaaahhhhhhhh.

Show N Tell

2011-11-27T19:16:00.001-05:00

Here I go again . . . packing my suitcase for another trip. This time I'm headed to Orlando, Florida which may sound fun, but there's very little of that to be had. I'm not complaining. I'm just happy this trip if falling one week sooner than it normally does. I'm hoping that my yoga business is just a bit less crazy and stressful as it normally is during this trip. Fingers crossed.

I'm in the middle of trying to prepare for my trip and tie up all my digital loose ends, although that last one never seems to end because as soon as I post this blog there will be new emails to read. sigh. A couple of days ago I got this neat little idea to share some interesting tidbits that I'm digging up at my father's house. Every time we go over there we uncover some little part of my past and I thought it might be fun, not only to share them, but (of course) to record them. I am aiming for one "Show N Tell" per week and this one is short and sweet. I found this little note at the bottom of one of my old dresser drawers.

Thank goodness the world went digital because it sure does make typos much easier than it used to be in the good old days of white-out. But nothing beats the authenticity of a real typed note!

I have no idea what's in store for Show N Tell #2. Stay tuned for some embarrassingly old photos and such. Should be fun . . .

Week 47 in Photos

2011-11-27T11:36:00.001-05:00

#324

Karlo and I somehow managed to wiggle our way back into dance classes, after being absent for over a year. It pays to be friends with the instructor! Not only did we score ourselves a couple of group lessons, but also a private lesson to prepare us for PERFORMING at an upcoming holiday ball. Gulp.

#325

This is the basket of chocolate that has been torturing us all week.

#326

Just a part of the huge spread our company puts out for our Pre-Thanksgiving Feast.

#327

Here we are at the start of the Manchester Road Race. What a perfect day for a run. We had a blast.

#328

It's tradition that I put up the Christmas tree on Black Friday. Also a tradition that I do it all alone :-(

#329

Amazing that two days after Thanksgiving the weather was nice enough to go for a motorcycle ride. What a treat that was.

#330

FINALLY!! This day was better than Christmas morning for Karlo. Our friends came over to visit and help us attack that huge basket of chocolate. Oh happy happy day!

Paula's Favorite Things 2011

2011-11-23T16:49:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. Time for me to make my list of the best products that I discovered over the past year. These things are not necessarily new, but they were new to me and I loved them so much I wanted to share. So without any further ado, here's my list in no particular order.

These first 3 aren't exactly items to buy, in fact they're FREE. What could be better than free stuff? Both of these first two items are downloadable apps (both for your smart phones, as well as just your computer) and they have been life changing so let me explain.

DropBox - On any given day I touch no less then 3 different computers, and usually 4 different computers. I tried to juggle my digital life between these 4 computers and keep everything straight, but needless to say, it was impossible. I NEVER had the right data on the right computer. I had my blog pictures on my home desktop, but I was at work trying to post a blog. I had my yoga business files on my laptop at work, but now I'm on my laptop at home and I need to access one of those files. Every day I would fight this same battle until I finally discovered DropBox, the answer to my prayers. DropBox is an online storage place that you can access from any computer as long as you're online. It has completely changed the way I operate. No more emailing files to myself on a daily basis. I now keep all of the things that I may need to access from wherever I may be "in the cloud" and much frustration and chaos has been eliminated.

Evernote - Along these same lines is my "data, ideas, lists, you name it, whatever-I-need-to-keep-track-of" filing system. This too was split up and duplicated on several different computers. Only problem with that is that I would add some ideas to my files at work and then get home and not have that info. Enter Evernote. Their slogan is "Remember everything" and this free little utility is the greatest thing since sliced bread. to sweeten it further, I also have it loaded on my phone and ipad. No matter where I am I can make a note and it instantly syncs to every computer I own. This, my friends, is how I managed to keep track of all my photos of the day. I would take photo and whip out my phone and make a note of the day and the subject matter so a week later (no matter what computer I was on) I could post all the photos in the right order from (of course) multiple different cameras. I am carrying all my ideas with me no matter where I am and I couldn't be happier about it.

Mint - Mint has exterminated Quicken for me. This is another free utility that you can just join and log into from any computer. Once you get all your financial data plugged in it will automatically track all of your finances (well, as many as you let it). I have all of our credit cards plugged in and it will log every single purchase. Not only does it just log it, but it's smart enough to categorize most of the purchases for you. Sure it can't do it all automatically, but when you're buying things at a grocery store, gas station, or home improvement store, the categorizing works like a charm. It will save me hours upon hours of sitting and fighting with Quicken this tax season. And it also offers a phone app so you can work on the fly.

Eddie Bauer - It seems that I have fallen for this Eddie guy this year. I bought several things from this store: the most awesome high tech First Ascent jacket, super warm mittens, fleece lined pants for snow shoeing, and the coziest flannel lined jeans, a cool and versatile linen jacket . . . Every single piece of clothing that I bought there this year has become one of my favorite pieces. I simply love this store and plan to frequent it. I can't think of any other store that I've been this happy with everything I bought. Two thumbs up Eddie Bauer!

Downey Wrinkle Release - How come it took me this long to discover a product that magically takes wrinkles out of clothes without the need for an iron? Do I really need to explain the benefits here? I should buy it by the case.

Moroccanoil Hair Oil - Jessica introduced this stuff to me and she called it "hair crack." This is strange because growing up 'greasy hair' was a no-no, but now I'm purposefully putting oil into my hair. I don't know how it does it, but somehow rather than making your hair look greasy, it gives it an amazing shine and healthy glow. Cool stuff.

D7000 - This is my new Nikon camera and it has become the love of my life. I could write a book on it, but I'll spare you. Just know that I LOVE it.

Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry Beer - Yeah, so it's a girly beer, but even Karlo likes the Michelob Ultras. There are 2 other flavors (lime and peach) that I also like, but the raspberry is my favorite. It's almost like drinking a wine cooler, but not so sweet and doesn't make me ill. With the reduced calories it's my drink of choice. Yum.

Tostidos Artisan Nacho chips - And speaking of yum, the first time I bit into one of these chips I literally yelled out loud, "Oh my GODDDDDDDD, these are the best chips in the world." And they are. Period. Get yourself a bag immediately. My favorite is the roasted garlic and black bean, but there are other flavors as well.

Cashmere Socks - This is just a piece of heaven for your feet. Socks are one of my favorite things and I think I mentioned this before that bad socks can ruin my whole day, while good socks can make my whole day. Nothing beats cashmere and since it's always so expensive, the easiest way to splurge and add some to your life is in sock form. Your feet will be thanking you, I promise.

Fuze Drinks - I have tried every single so-called healthy drink on the market and this has become my new favorite. I'm sure I've tried every flavor and haven't found one that I don't like. The slenderize versions are super low calorie and refreshing, but the thicker fruitier ones, holy smokes, they deserve an umbrella in them! The yummiest drink on the market and amazingly low calorie for how good they taste.

Suave Styling Sprays - You gotta love it when one of your favorite beauty products just happen to be the lowest price ones on the shelf. I have to admit, it was the commercials that sucked me in and made me want to try the new Suave products. They did a great job on the marketing and I have to say, the products back up the claims. I really do like the finishing spray and how neat of a concept to make a dry shampoo. The stuff really works and is perfect for those days when I'm going out on a weekend night and want to push my shower off until later in the day. I spray my hair in the morning with this magic aerosol and it really does clean your hair. What a concept. Would be a perfect companion for camping - or those long weeks with no electricity!

Midnight with a Mystic - This is the book that led Karlo and I into meditation. I blogged about this book on my YogaDudes blog and you can check it out there for more details, but the book was truly life changing. If you're looking for an interesting read this holiday, this would be a good investment.

Rialto Shoes - It's not often that I find shoes that fit me and are truly comfortable. I usually search high and low. I try to buy higher end shoes, I prefer them to be from Europe (where they make them more narrow), and I exhaust myself reading reviews before making any purchasing decisions. But one day I was strolling through Kohls with no real purpose and I stumbled across a pair of shoes that caught my eye. I didn't really need them, but for some reason I couldn't resist them. Best shoe purchase of the year. From day one they have been the most comfortable shoes I own and they fit me like a glove. I tried to buy up every color, but no luck. I will be keeping my eye out for this brand in the future to start my new collection.

No Gray Hair Color Additive - Ever since we moved to the middle of nowhere I color my own hair. The salon is just too far and it takes too darn long to sit in one place while I'm waiting for the color to process. The only bad part of this deal is that the home hair coloring systems are not as strong or good as the professional ones and my grays NEVER really get fully covered. That was until I discovered these magically little tubes of juice. They come in packages of two (you can get them at CVS) and you just drip them into your store-bought hair color and it greatly improves your gray coverage.

What is Wrong With This Picture?

2011-11-22T18:06:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Karlo and I attended a local school fundraiser. It was a pasta dinner and along with the dinner there was both a live and silent auction. I just love those. The thrill and sport of stalking the items that you want to win, while outbidding your fellow neighbor is all just so exhilarating. And it really does work out to snag some nice things, especially gifts, and take the charity tax write-off to boot. It's just a win win situation of doing something good for the community while helping your own finances a bit.

Karlo and I both got caught up in the whole spirit of the silent auction. I must have placed a bid on 25 different things. It could have been one heck of an expensive night had I not gotten so distracted by socializing while slacking on the bid stalking. And little did I know that Karlo was off on his own, doing his own bidding. He, of course, is not as savvy of a shopper as I am (given the fact that we went home with items that he bid well over face value on -- but I'm happy knowing it was for a good cause so I didn't give him too much grief). But this next stunt, however . . . this deserves some grief. Can you tell me what is wrong with this picture????

It's a reenactment, of course, and I'm still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the actual bidding sheet. Early in the evening (when I was stalking my desired items) I was paying very close attention to my favorite items where I was getting outbid. Imagine my surprise when I saw this item (which just happened to be a gigantic basket of chocolate that I was trying to win for Karlo) and I saw that I was outbid -- by MYSELF! OK, maybe it wasn't exactly myself. Maybe it was my bird brain husband that didn't notice that the exact same number and name was listed on the line right above the line that he filled out. What kind of ding dong ups the bid on themselves? OMG that one takes the cake for never paying attention to anything.

And here's the best part of the story. Since I was so busy not paying attention to all the things that I wanted to win so badly I didn't realize that somebody (other than Karlo) outbid me on that chocolate. At the last second our friends Jill & Dan put the winning bid down and . . . you ready for this? GAVE us the basket. I was just stunned by this amazing act of friendship. So now we have this puppy sitting on our counter:

And it's torture because we PROMISED them that we wouldn't open it until they visited us this coming weekend. Yeah, my family wasn't too happy with that deal when they were over last weekend and we didn't break our promise. It's like waiting for Santa to arrive . . . Saturday can't come soon enough. Thanks again Jill!!!!

Splitting Wood

2011-11-20T15:42:00.001-05:00

When we moved to Eastford I had these grand ideas about how we would heat our house for free. What a great concept. We have 28 acres full of trees that we can burn for heat. It sounded too good to be true. It was.

The first year we had a bunch of dried wood left over from the previous owner. That gave us a good head start, plus the original wood stove was small and didn't require much wood. It also produced very little heat. The second year we decided to invest in a bigger stove, which of course, required a lot more wood. Poor Karlo spent endless evenings and weekends from the Summer all the way through to the Winter harvesting and chopping wood to prepare for the burning season.

By the third year we decided that it was just far too much work and his time was worth more than the price of buying the wood. That was easy, just get it delivered. All we needed to do that year was stack the perfectly sized pieces of wood in the shed. [Side note: All that stacking of dusty wood gave me an instant sinus infection that lasted for 3 weeks of misery so I paid for that wood in more ways than one.]

The fourth year rolls around and we didn't think twice about ordering more wood, only this time we had to order more cords than the previous year and the extra $1,000 expense came right around the same time as the shed roof repair, the new generator purchase, the new snow blower purchase, the repair bill on the ATV, and one of our vacations. Needless to say the extra grand hurt. So I stood on the deck one day, gazing out at all of our millions of trees and made a comment to Karlo about getting his chainsaw out and taking down some trees to save us money next year. Within two hours of my comment there were a dozen trees down. He wasted no time jumping to action.

And the work has not stopped since. It has been an endless project of cutting and chopping and hauling and stacking all that wood from the backyard to the shed. Now, suddenly, it's all coming back to me . . . the reasons why we decided against Karlo doing all this work. It's funny how you can forget all this in just one short year. sigh. So now I feel guilty because it's my fault he's back in this mess. A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to try to help out. I thought maybe I could split some wood too. I walked outside and watched closely as Karlo chopped away.

It actually started to look like fun. I wanted to try it too. Karlo told me, "Give it all you got and don't miss the target." That sounded easy enough. Well, here is the result of my efforts. Not only did I nearly miss the target, but 'everything I had' only sunk the axe into the wood a half an inch. Good grief. Chopping wood is apparently not for me. I better stick to hauling and stacking. Lord knows I'm getting pretty good at that.

Week 46 in Photos

2011-11-20T15:25:00.001-05:00

#317

This is the lovely picture that we had to take to send to the hot tub manufacturer. It shows the melted wires and the fried circuit board. Yeah, that tub is doing a terrific job of relieving my stress. Just great. With the temps under freezing at night it was a stressful week of waiting for the new circuit board and heater to arrive, followed by a whole lot of work trying to fix it, and refill the tub. Oh, fun times.

#318

I whipped up some homemade white bean and chicken chili and it (surprisingly) came out really good. I was proud.

#319

The fun of the holiday season is starting. We spent a couple hours counting, stacking, and packing YogaDudes holiday cards. The ornaments should arrive next week and we can do it all over again. Yiippee.

#320

Isn't it cute how Karlo and I can never get our teas confused? That strange word on his mug means "Hungary" in Hungarian.

#321

This was on the wall in the restaurant we had dinner in. I couldn't resist snapping it for my Popeye.

#322

Today's picture was suppose to be of my friend Jill's daughter as she SERVED us dinner at the local school fundraiser, but she was too quick for my phone camera and she escaped the humiliation. Darn it. So I took a picture of happy Karlo with a plate full of food instead.

#323

Moving day. My brother was nice enough to help us haul the big stuff we wanted to keep from Dad's house. Now we finally have the wine barrels that I've been wanting to decorate the deck with and spare washing machine for dog beds, along with some other misc items.

Foreign Fashion

2011-11-15T14:09:00.001-05:00

Two years ago I graciously accepted the polka dot tights that Karlo brought me back from Germany. Of course I never wore them, but I figured it wasn't a big loss and he wouldn't even remember buying them for me. But then last year he came home from Japan with a God awful 100% silk old-Japanese-lady outfit. Not only was it ugly and ill fitting, but it was very expensive. Actually everything in Japan is both expensive and ill fitting. Trust me, nothing in that country fits me because I am some sort of bizarre freak of nature there. Women just don't grow as tall as me in Japan. I couldn't bare to wear the entire outfit, but one day I did reluctantly put on the top and sport it to work. I was uncomfortable all day thinking the sleeves were too short and wondering what people were thinking. That was when I decided to enforce the "Please don't buy me clothes from foreign lands (unless you're in Italy)" rule. The next year Karlo went to Sweden and came home with jewelry. Yeah, my rule was working.

But not for long. This year Karlo went back to Sweden. I truly don't expect gifts when he travels. Well, except for gummy bears. He positively is not allowed to go to Germany and not buy me gummy bears. And this past trip did include Germany and I did get gummy bears so that should have gotten him off the gift-buying hook. But for some reason he didn't stop with the bears and was compelled to buy me clothes in Stockholm. He was so excited about his purchase he wrote to me to tell me he got me "something way cool." I couldn't imagine what it could be.

Well, that photo says it all. Check me out! I have to say, this purple Prince-like jacket was much better than the Japanese outfit (and no Tina, you're not getting a picture of me in that). I wore this outfit to one of the Sting concerts and that day is going down in history as the most comments I ever received on any outfit in my life. There wasn't a single person I could walk by at work that didn't have something smart to say. Most of the comments involved pirates, crying doves, and little red Corvettes. But seriously, as much as we joked about the outfit I do think it's quite cool and I'm very happy to own such a unique piece of wardrobe. The greatest part is that Karlo had two of our coworkers with him when he was shopping and they all agreed that the jacket was "totally Paula." At first I wasn't sure what to make of that comment, but the guys insisted that if anyone could "pull off wearing that jacket" it would be me. I will take that as a compliment.

And to put the icing on the cake, I bought this pair of cool patten leather purple pumps to go with the jacket. These replaced those other disastrous purple shoes. I can't wait for Tina's comments on this post . . .

Tree Removal With Karlo

2011-11-14T10:40:00.001-05:00

We still have not cleaned the yard from the hurricane and now we have tons more clean up to do from this past snow storm. We will ever catch up? In order to help speed things up a bit I offered to help out.

Here's the scenario . . . Karlo is operating the chainsaw. Paula is driving the Jeep (that will help to persuade the tree to fall in desired direction).

Here's the conversation:

P: Are you sure that tree is not going to fall on me?
K: If we do it right it will be a very slow process.
P: And if we don't do it right?
K: Then it will be a disaster!

Just for the record it was NOT a very slow process and there was some desperate yells of "GO GO GO!!!" coming out of Karlo (which of course scared me to death and sent the Jeep wheels into a spin on the slippery snow), but thankfully it did not result in a disaster. The tree fell just where we had intended with no damage to the shed, the Jeep, or more importantly ME.

I did of course get hurt later on, but that was my own doing. I got into a little brawl with a branch and I think I lost. Maybe I'm not cut out to be lumberjack after all.

Working Hard

2011-11-13T12:58:00.001-05:00

I don't know how I'm ever going to catch up on all my blog stories if I keep skipping out of town for days on end. No sooner did I get back from New Jersey, but I had to take off for scenic downtown Hartford. Of course it didn't much matter how scenic Hartford is or isn't. From Tuesday afternoon until Saturday morning I only spent approximately 10 cumulative minutes outside the walls of the Marriott. It was just a long grueling week . . .

The days were spent in actual business meetings and those flew by. We had over 150 resellers from all over the world in attendance and, of course, they have all sorts of agendas that include talking to the corporate staff. You truly don't get a moment of free time. Even after the business meetings, you never really stop working. It's all work talk, all the time. Of course, the environment for these talks did get a little more interesting. And Karlo might have gotten a little carried away with the constant talking to everyone . . .

I got to spend a little time with my buddies from North Carolina. After all, it's been over 3 weeks since we saw each other last and we had a lot of catching up to do. They are trying hard to get me to "embrace my inner redneck" and they were responsible for the Bourbon drinks I was consuming. uuugh.

OK, maybe we did get a little break from all the "work." Karlo tried his hand at some downhill skiing.

And we even got some swing dancing in.

I know it's starting to look like one big party, but some of us actually did some real work . . .

That was my buddy Robin who used to be my neighbor and my co-worker before she broke our hearts and moved away. How cool was it that she got to 'officially' attend the meeting?

After the second night's event (where Robin was busy working while the corporate staff was busy eating and drinking) we attended some after hour parties in the hospitality suites of the hotel. Flash back to college. You walk into the hotel room and are greeting with this:

It was a self-service bar, but good luck if you actually had to 'use' the bathroom . . .

The best party was the one hosted by the Candians. They always know how to have a good time. I'm just glad I was the one taking the photos ;-)

It started to get harder and harder to get out of bed in the mornings. I think I'm out of practice for these types of events. Our last night was coined the "Fun Night" and it entailed a lot of this:

As you can see it was an exhausting week of work!

Week 45 in Photos

2011-11-13T12:32:00.001-05:00

#310

After having no power for most of the week and going away for the weekend I was under the gun to do laundry and pack for this coming week. Multiple loads tonight.

#311

This is what the lobby of the downtown Marriott looked like this week. I arrived this afternoon to help set up for our big conference.

#312

We had a really cool dinner at the new Science Center and this is Karlo exploring space. By far my favorite exhibit because of the super comfy reclining seats.

#313

This sums up the after hours college-type party hosted by our Canadian dealer this night. Just for the record, Canadian beer is dangerous.

#314

This was our 'Fun Night.' Because, as you can tell, the other two nights were not fun at all . . .

#35

I arrived home on Saturday afternoon to find amazingly thoughtful gifts waiting for me. I made it through the entire morning of cleaning out my father's house without shedding one single tear. Then I get home to this and cried like a baby for 15 straight minutes. I was just so touched by the thoughtfulness of my amazing friends. Thank you - you know who you are!

#316

We came home to an exponential amount of yard work. I spent all morning making a serious dent into the insane piles of branches that were piled all around the fire pit. I totally should have taken a BEFORE picture for the full effect. I got this far and was certain my arms would fall off from all the sawing I did. I took a break while Karlo walked the 4+ acres with a leaf blower. There has got to be a better way . . .

My Dad

2011-11-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about my father over the past week and I finally managed to get some words down. I need to have these thoughts documented and preserved. It may be a little rambling, but here goes:

When you lose a parent early in life I think it's only natural to grow twice as close to the one you have left. Of course, looking back at my early childhood I seem to remember being closer to my father even when my mother was still alive. There is no doubt that I was always Daddy's Little Girl. For some reason just the thought of anything domestic has always turned me off. I wanted nothing to do with being in the house and being anywhere near cooking or cleaning. Bleeck. Why would I do that when I could be cutting the grass, playing with tools, building, or fixing something with my father? I was just always more drawn to spending time with him and as a result, I still can't cook and hate cleaning, but I'm one of the most mechanically inclined chicks you ever want to meet.

My father was so patient and easy to be with. He loved taking the time to show me how to do something and back then I thought he was the smartest man in the world. He seemed to know everything and he could build or fix anything. It all intrigued me. I wanted to know how to take apart and rebuild a television. I wanted to learn how to drive the lawn tractor. I wanted to learn how to play an instrument. To this day the never-ending desire to learn new things burns within me. I think my father gave me that by constantly teaching me and constantly stressing the importance of education.

At my Dad's funeral the priest talked about how a little piece of him lives on in everyone who attended the service. I'm not quite sure that is true for most of my extended family, but for sure that is true for his immediate kin. We all seemed to get some very specific piece of him that will indeed live on. My nephew inherited my father's amazing musical talents. My brother inherited my father's quiet personality. I inherited just about every quirk he had (and thankfully his skinny genes!). There aren't many days in my life where I don't stop and marvel at how much influence my father has had on my life. He really has made me what I am today, in both positive and negative ways. It may even be scary how much I'm a little replica of him. For instance, I am constantly fighting off the urge to save some useless item because I may some day need it. My father never threw anything away for this very reason. You never know when you may need it. Sometimes it takes all my will to resist the urge and just throw things away. I hate wasting things, anything, be it material items, money, time, anything. I just plain don't like to waste and there is no doubt where that came from. Yes, I tend to eat the stale chocolate before opening the fresh stuff and I have this problem with saving things for another day. It's in my blood and as hard as I try I just can't fight it. Karlo lives by the saying, "Tomorrow never comes" (so in other words, "eat all the chocolate right this very minute), but I'm still stuck storing it away for another day.

I never ever let my gas tank go under 1/4 of a tank. OK, my Dad's rule was never let it go under 1/2. I modified it a bit, but it's because of him that I live by this rule. Every month when I pay off my credit card bill in full I remember my father's lessons on money. He taught me about finance charges and instilled the lesson about never EVER buying things that I couldn't afford. He taught me to always, always have an emergency stash of cash in the bank and always live within my means. I took these lessons to heart and to this day, I never ever carried a balance on my credit cards. I truly thank my father for these important lessons that have molded and formed the responsible adult I have become.

Here's something most people didn't know about my father . . . he exercised every day. And in the event that he splurged and ate too much one day he would purposefully skip a meal or two the next day to make up for it, not because he needed to worry about his weight, but just because he thought he 'should.' Does that sound like anybody you know? And yes, my nose constantly drips and I'm always freezing cold. Two peas, one pod.

I know my father was proud of me. I know this because he told me all the time. Listening to stories of my life brought true joy to his heart. He marveled at the places I've travelled to and the things that I've done. Sure I never did become the doctor that he groomed me to be, and I truly thought he wouldn't live through the heart-breaking news that I changed my career path . . . in hopes of becoming a photographer. I can only imagine the disappointment he felt way back then. But somehow I pulled through and made him proud. It wasn't until this year that I found myself spending much more time with him when I had the opportunity to show him some of my most prized photographs. Watching his reaction to them nearly brought tears to my eyes. He was actually moved by the beauty in my photos and for the first time I thought, "Wow, he's even impressed and proud of me as a photographer" - the one thing that I always felt was my biggest disappointment to him. He finally got to appreciate the burning creative desire inside of me.

I just wish my Dad could have seen all the instances when I would have made him proud. I wish he could have seen me at trade shows, acting as foreman of the booth building, when I have to direct 3 or 4 carpenters and show them how to get the job done. Or better yet, just grab the tools and do the job myself. There aren't many times that I pick up a hand tool, or power tool, or embark on a home improvement project when I don't think about my Dad and be thankful for all he's taught me. I'm sure that my life will go on and the memory of my father will live in me forever. The lessons he taught me are with me for good and I'll never stop being thankful for everything he did to make me what I am today.

Week 44 in Photos

2011-11-07T19:19:00.000-05:00

#303

The single most dreadful day of my life. One Halloween that I will never forget and I'm not going to relive the story here. This was taken from my father's window. It's the ambulance coming to take him away in the afternoon. He passed away later that night.

#304

We had no power at work still so Karlo and I spent the day keeping busy to occupy my mind. We removed that tree that was threatening to crush our shed. This is a story for another blog posting . . .

#305

Who knew my brother wore glasses? I thought he looked so cute I needed to capture it 'on film.' And besides, this was way less depressing than taking a picture of the funeral home or the casket choices.

#306

This was a good sign to spot a CL&P guy and a tree truck in front of our house. One of the huge branches hanging on the power lines was our own tree. I was very happy to see it taken down and even happier to see the power restored later this night.

#307

A very sad day indeed - my father's funeral. We had a special military service at the cemetery and it was amazing. Rifle men, a trumpet player playing Taps, and two uniformed Air Force men presenting the flag to my nephew John. It was the first time in my life that I ever felt a true sense of pride that my father served our country in the military. It was very touching.

#308

And then we traveled to New Jersey for the same meditation event that I went to in Atlanta this past Spring. This time it was Karlo's turn to get 'initiated' if that's the right word. For me it was a long and grueling ordeal of being slave labor. As if going through the event the first time wasn't hard enough, this was torture.

#309

And speaking of torture, Karlo despises crowds (almost as much as he despises New Jersey) and look at him here (in the red shirt) smack in the middle of 400 people - and he was smiling about it too! I do hope we both found a little more enlightenment after those very long two days.

Week 43 in Photos

2011-11-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

#296

Another round of Sting, this time at the Oakdale.

#297

We still had some pretty Fall color happening at the office.

#298

Yeah, this was the most exciting part of my day - trying out the new tuna squisher.

#299

My attempt at chopping wood. Pathetic, really.

#300

We got our first dusting of snow and Karlo and I took at walk at lunch time with my camera. I took some nice shots of the grounds, but this was my favorite silly shot.

#301

Fire and a bottle of wine -my attempt at relaxation. OK, here's the real story . . . We got home and the house was cold so I started the propane fireplace for warmth. Then we had no more seltzer waters and I was too cold for beer so we opened some wine with dinner. I totally staged this photo because I needed a photo of the day. But the idea of stress relieving relaxation was nice, wasn't it?

#302

And then the real snow came . . .

Welcome Winter, a Little Early

2011-11-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

It will take me weeks to catch up with my stories . . .

Well this was an interesting Halloween treat. Who would ever believe that we would get a blizzard in October? All I got to say is, "Thank God we were prepared this time." After last Winter's snow ordeals we decided it was time to buy some new equipment. We got ourselves a brand new nice big snow blower to use in addition to the ATV and plow. Karlo was almost eager for some snow to try it out. Then after that disaster of a hurricane and losing power for a week we also decided to replace the generator that decided to blow up on the very first day of the storm. We had this, "OK, bring it on" attitude and maybe we were a little too confident. We weren't prepared to nearly get killed by falling trees!

The snow started even earlier than expected. I was in Rocky Hill visiting my family (in my MINI) when the first flakes started to appear. I immediately left for home. I had visions of stopping at the grocery store on the way back, but by the time I got to Tolland it was snowing like crazy. I couldn't believe how fast this storm was starting. In the hour that my commute took it went from two flakes in the air, to completely snow-covered slippery roads. Boy were me and my MINI happy to roll into the garage.

Karlo had just picked up the ATV from the repair shop that very morning so it looked like we would be all set. We just sat back and watched the snow fall, and fall, and fall. The power went out in the early afternoon, followed shortly by the phone, internet, and TV going out. Drat. That is far worse than losing power. Not much to do at night, but sleep . . . if only we could.

I did manage to fall asleep, but was awoken to the sounds of chainsaws within a few hours. A big tree came down in the road just in front of our house and the tree crews were out there buzzing away for what seemed like forever. Then there was the constant groans and creaks of the nearby trees. That is the worst feeling to be laying in bed, hearing a groan, followed by a load crack, your heart stops beating for a couple of seconds until you finally hear the crash of the tree or the branch fall somewhere OTHER THAN on your roof. This went on all night . . . groan . . . CRACK . . . boom . . . sigh of relief. We got no sleep at all and woke up to this:

I have to admit, everything was beautiful and we were eagerly looking forward to the snow removal. First we had to clear the down branches from the driveway. I started moving along with the snow blower while Karlo went in front to clear the way by moving tree limbs.

I couldn't resist taking this cool picture of the gallery as I looked back down the driveway.

At one point I heard an enormous crack. I looked up to see Karlo falling on the driveway and a huge branch falling (nearly into the porch and into the hot tub) about 10 feet from where Karlo fell. Scared the crap out of both of us. I just can't believe how close he was to potential disaster. And 5 minutes previous it was me picking up all the branches, but my hands were getting too cold and wet so he took over. Wow. The reason Karlo fell was because he heard the cracking and wanted to run for cover, only the ground was too slippery and he was like a cartoon character - feet shuffling in one place, but going nowhere.

We used the handy dandy Jeep to remove the branch from the driveway:

Aside from that near death experience, we survived the snow and branch removal without too much trouble. We are very grateful that the house didn't sustain any damage. The newly fixed up shed came pretty close to disaster though. Imagine what was going through Karlo's mind when he looked outside to see this. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it for a better image.

Luckily it didn't let go and all is well. I managed to save just about all of our poor shrubs from the heavy weight of the snow. I just hope our poor little beautiful birch tree manages to right itself.

Looks like it's going to be another long week of no power and that I'm not looking forward to.

In Memory of My Dad

2011-11-03T10:23:00.001-04:00

Not Ready

2011-11-02T07:47:00.003-04:00

Sometimes you think you're ready for something, but yet when it happens you suddenly realize that you weren't ready at all. And sometimes you think that you're ready to talk about it and then you sit in front of a blank computer screen and realize that you're just not as ready as you thought you were. There are not many times in my life when I'm left without words, but now happens to be one of them. At some point I will be ready to talk about how much I miss my father and how hard it was to say goodbye, but today is sadly not that day.

Since I finally got my internet lifeline back at work I do plan to catch up and post the several rambling typical blog entries that I've written over the past few powerless days. And because I do feel the need to document all aspects of my life, at one point I will force myself to write about my very recent and very sad loss . . . when I'm really ready.

The Amazing Part of the Amazing Race

2011-10-27T18:31:00.000-04:00

I should start off this entry right away by saying that Karlo and I are not big fans of the Amazing Race, not because we don't like the show, but simply because we never watch the show. I personally would be all for watching it. On some isolated occasions when Karlo has been out of town the lure of the show pulled me right in as I was channel surfing. I'm not quite sure what it is about the show exactly that sucked me in, but it didn't take long. I imagine it was the cool and exotic travel locations or the interesting challenges the contestants must face. Something about it totally interested me and, if I had my way, we would watch it all the time. I'm not quite sure why, but for some reason Karlo seems to be morally opposed to reality TV. If it doesn't involve dancing or singing then he's not at all interested. sigh.

So why am I talking about this show that we never watch? Because I can't tell you how many people have told me over the past few years that Karlo and I should be on that show. Everyone says the same thing, "You guys would be great on The Amazing Race." For some reason everyone that we know that watches the show, watches it and thinks of us. There is no doubt that I would love to try it. As a matter of fact one of the excursions on our Cozumel cruise was the "Cozumel Amazing Race" where you got to participate in a mini Amazing Race. I was totally into it, but there were so many other cool excursions to pick from and we only had one day. Note to self that we must go back there.

To continue my rambling story . . . last week I heard from another friend that me and Karlo should be on the Amazing Race, but this time it was different. This time it was "They are holding Amazing Race auditions close by and YOU GUYS GOTTA GO." If I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that we should be on the show we would be halfway to the grand prize, so finally I got curious enough to look into the auditions. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. We COULD be great on that show. We could travel to cool places and have an amazing experience. Why wouldn't we audition for the it?

Karlo insisted on asking, "Why would they pick us?" And I just thought, "Why WOULDN'T they pick us?" Karlo is a pretty interesting guy and I'm sure he would peak the interest of somebody watching. So that was it. We were going to try out!

Then I went to the web site and read the rules and restrictions and our very short lived bubble got instantly popped. Among the first three rules was "You must be a US Citizen." Booooooo hissss. There goes our big worldwide adventure down the tubes. And what kills me the most is that I went from never even giving one single thought to ever trying to get on this show to complete and utter disappointment over not being able to audition. That little fable about only wanting the grapes you can not reach is so true. The second I found out that I couldn't have it I wanted it ten times more. So ridiculous. Well anyway, I think Karlo is going to begin his application for citizen ship next year so maybe there's still hope for us.

4 Words to Describe You

2011-10-27T07:38:00.001-04:00

What four words would you use to describe yourself? Here’s a test… close your eyes. scroll down to the picture below. Quickly, look. The first four words you see describe you.

I don't think it works at all because here are the first 4 words that I saw:

patient
peaceful
elegant
dramatic

Well, that was good for a nice laugh to begin my day. Did it work any better for you?

Tuna Squisher

2011-10-26T19:30:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this. I have been longing for this invention for years. I even asked Karlo to invent one for me. Who knew that it actually existed? And who knows how long it has existed without my knowledge, but low and behold I happened to stumble across this little beauty at Big Y earlier this week:

It's a tuna fish squisher and all I got to say to that is AMEN. Is it just me or do you also despise opening a can of tuna fish? I mean it's just disgusting to have to squish that can and have that nasty fishy juice running all down your hands and into your rings. I wash and scrub and still my hands stink like fish.

So I bought this little gadget and positively could not wait to try it out. OK, so it's not perfect. I did still get a little fish juice on me, but I have to admit, it was much better than not using it. It was a sound $3 or $4 investment and I will buy another to keep one at home and one at the office. Might not be as exciting or fun to use as the pineapple corer, but you should still get one. And who would have imagined that I would have not one, but two kitchen gadgets to recommend in one year?

Our New Pet

2011-10-23T17:27:00.001-04:00

Seems we have a new friend that wants to take up residence at our house. For two weekends this little bugger has been hanging out on our back deck. The minute we go outside, he/or she lands right on us and stays there until we move. I'm just so intriqued by the beauty of a dragonfly.

Week 42 in Photos

2011-10-23T17:19:00.002-04:00

I've been laying pretty low this past week and I'm not exactly sure I can explain why. I think maybe it will just take me some time to adjust back to my normal home life. I need to fall back into my 'home' routine and this past week wasn't exactly a good chance to settle back in. It was a very busy week (at work) with not much free time at home in the evenings. I think the entire week slipped by without me spending any time at my home computer. These pictures are the only shred of memory that will remind me of what I did.

#289

It was so very nice to have a real home-cooked meal. Karlo made a batch of his Hungarian veggie soup and we enjoyed it for days.

#290

This was a real treat. For some reason you can't buy one of my favorite beers here in CT so our friend from PA brought some up from home for his visit to us. We spent this night entertaining him at home.

#291

I'm just appreciating some creature comforts of home. I was so loving spending this night on the couch with my favorite blanket.

#292

Went for a walk at lunchtime and captured a small speck of fall color.

#293

The highlight of this day was, of course, going to Boston to see Sting. Luckily Karlo graciously backed out of using his ticket and I made a deal with a friend . . . "You drive me to Boston and the ticket is free." Best deal I ever made. I ended up having a great dinner and great time while Karlo was happily in the seclusion of home. But he's on the hook for tomorrow night, when he will be escorting me to see Sting in CT. Fingers crossed that it goes as smoothly.

#294

Tonight was another one of our group themed dinners. It was a repeat on Mexican night and I was, once again, in charge of dips. My spinach dip was a huge success and crowd favorite. I also lost my mind and decided to bake a few batched of tortillas using the never reliable convection oven. No wonder I agreed to a shot of tequila, after the horrific kitchen experience I had leading up to dinner.

#295

We took a couple of short motorcycle rides this weekend to try to capture some of the Fall beauty. I think Northeast CT is way past peak at this point, but it was still nice.

Shoe Update

2011-10-17T19:40:00.002-04:00

Well, my brilliant shoe find turned out to be a total bust in mega proportions. I was so excited about those darn shoes. I loved the style, I loved the color, I loved the heel height, I especially loved that they got Tina's approval . . . and then kaboom. I wore them around the house last night for a whole 15 minutes and that was long enough to bore small holes into each heel. I simply can not believe how much they hurt after such a short time. Does nobody actually wear and test these things before they go into mass production? I mean if somebody with the thinnest heels on Earth can't wear them then tell me, who can? So frustrating. But on a bright note this means that I have to take another trip to Marshalls for more shopping. What a treat!

The Skinny Heel Struggle Continues

2011-10-16T17:08:00.001-04:00

I don't think I will ever make peace with my difficult feet. It just really irritates me that it is nearly impossible to find shoes that fit me. It's rough getting through the Summer having to avoid all the cute 'slide-style' sandals, but at least there are plenty of other sandal options available - ones that include adjustable straps. Wait a minute, now that I think about it I do recall having to take a stapler to my beloved Athena Alexander sandals this Summer because even those adjustable straps simply refused to stay up on my heel. Drat.

So now that Fall has arrived I breath a sigh of relief. Finally, I can drag out all my boots and clogs and I can finally walk around while staying in my shoes. Yeah right. That is until I need to dress up and put on a pair of pumps. I had a wedding to go to last night and with all my recent traveling I didn't really have much time to shop. Thank God for online shopping because I purchased my dress from my bed in a hotel room in North Carolina. But with shoes I don't really have that luxury. I knew I had to physically go to a store to try them on. I found a pair of cute black pumps at Kohls that would be perfect for any dress so I pounced on them. I always first try a size 8 and then I either go up or down a half size depending on how badly my heel slips out. Well the 8 fit me pretty snugly and my toes were not all too happy. The whole front of my foot felt too squished so there was no doubt that I had to move up to the 8.5. And of course, in true Kohls style, they didn't have my size in the color I wanted so I ended up buying online anyway. But I knew I was safe with this purchase because I went to the store to first try them on. They would be perfect for sure.

It's now time to get dressed for the wedding and yes, I waited until the very last second to put on my outfit and head out the door. Luckily the dress fit (literally) like a glove and the shoes, well, not so much. I could barely walk out the door due to the fact that they suddenly felt a whole size too big. Just great.

We drove straight to the pharmacy on route to the wedding. I bought a pair of heel liners and unfortunately they barely made a difference. Maybe if I doubled or tripled them up I would have had a chance of not walking out of the stupid things. It was a very difficult night of trying like heck to keep my shoes on. I HATE that.

This afternoon I found myself in Marshalls looking for a new purse. Now that it's Fall I can no longer get away with toting around my sunshine bright yellow purse. So instead I got a pink one ;-) Anyway, I took a quick stroll through the shoe department and found what just may be the answer to my skinny heel problems. These may look ridiculous off my feet, but I love the concept. They actually stretch to accommodate your heel, no matter what size that heel may be. The stretchy fabric makes them snug. Oh, I have very high hopes for these things. I can't wait to build an outfit around them and take them for a test drive.

Week 41 in Photos

2011-10-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

#282

Ahhh, my glamorous job . . . I spent this morning setting up computers at our trade show booth and the afternoon hanging around in this giant machine shop. Such the rock star. [sigh]

#282

After dinner this night Bubba and I strolled around the city streets of Charlotte. Thankfully it stopped raining long enough to enjoy some of the cool artwork around the city. This skull was big enough to get inside. Too bad I don't have the photo Bubba took of my arms hanging out of the skull's mouth.

#282

The reason I may soon be fired. I think I'm pushing the limits of how many shots I can get away with putting on the company tab. This was my introduction to Jack Daniels. When in Rome . . .

#282

By far the best part of this day. I was so thrilled that Einstein Bagels was in the convention center. I had a very long day and night and was the very last exhibitor to get out of the hall. I had to get back to my hotel room to set my alarm for 4am . . .

#282

And the stinkin' rain followed me up north. This was taken before sunrise from my window seat on the tarmac in Washington/Dulles. Then I got home to a monsoon. uuugh.

#282

We attended a beautiful wedding on this evening. The weather held out perfectly for an outdoor ceremony. Everything was so beautiful and we had a rockin' good time. (footnote: I didn't take this photo. My camera phone did a pitiful job so I stole this photo from somebody else. Hey, my game, my rules and I can break them when I need to ;-)

#282

We sat on the deck and tried to take in some much needed vitamin D today. This one dragonfly took a liking to us and just wouldn't fly away so I got out my macro lens while he posed for several shots.

Losing my Identity

2011-10-12T08:05:00.001-04:00

I've been in this same career for nearly 20 years now. I've met a lot of people through my business travels and I have always been introduced as, "This is Paula from Corporate." Or, "this is Paula from Marketing." Both of those introductions usually were met with instance recognition and respect. It's funny how people view any "corporate" entity. That word just seems impressive I guess.

But lately it seems that my introductions have completely changed. I am no longer 'the marketing girl from corporate.' Now my introductions go something like this . . ."Do you know Karlo Apro? Well, this is his wife." HA, how about that? I am now just Karlo's wife in this industry. I guess that is way more impressive than me being from corporate! I am the wife of the famous author and 5-axis guru. I guess I can accept that. ;-)

Video Bootcamp

2011-10-10T07:05:00.001-04:00

I survived my one week video bootcamp in Maine. Well actually, I did more than survive it. I excelled at it and had a terrific time. What a huge contrast it was between last year's 'bootcamp' training and this year's class. Last year I almost never saw the light of day. It was nothing but grueling long hours inside a dark cold computer lab with my nose stuck behind a monitor from 8 am to 10 pm. My goodness just thinking back to it gives me the shivers. It's hard to believe that I willingly volunteered for another week of this sort of intense training, but I am so very happy that I did. I learned a tremendous amount of information. In fact, the instructor normally takes 5 weeks to cover what he covered in 5 days. To say it was fast paced was an understatement, but I couldn't be happier. I love fast moving things and finding fast moving things in Maine can sometimes be a challenge . . . as I flash back to my drive up there and the 56 miles of one lane roads and nothing but locals in my way driving too slow . . .

Oooops, back to the training . . . This class was fantastic for several reasons. First, we had a really good instructor and teaching assistant. Those two guys made the learning easy and entertaining. Then we had a great group of people that all got along and gelled really well together. That is probably the single most important thing to having a great class compared to a disaster. It's the people that make it and these folks were fun. And the last thing that made this class so awesome was the fact that we were out and about with shooting assignments every day. It was just a thrill to get out and interact with the community for all of our various assignments. My God are people from Maine friendly. In one week's time, interacting with over a dozen different people we were just floored by the level of cooperation and kindness we recieved. It was just so refreshing. I never felt so welcomed anywhere. Oh, and add to that the fact that my partner for the week was a stinkin' hoot. Never a dull moment and nothing but laughs.

So now that I painted a picture that it was just a joy ride vacation week I should share some of the real details to illustrate what I did. Day one was intro to a professional video camera, that has no less than 50 buttons, switches, levers, and adjustments. You can not imagine the extent of controls and adjustments on these cameras. Holy spinning head of trying to remember what to do and when. But off we went with with several thousand dollars of equipment and zero experience or knowledge of how to work them. There's only one way to learn and that's to just do it. It was a challenge, but it was a ball.

Day two we learned about audio and it's importance in any film. Our exercise on this day was to record an audio short story that didn't include any narration. The listener should be able to visualize the location and what's going on. Since I had a car, my partner and I had more flexibility to get off campus and we headed to a local music shop. The guys working in it were, of course, all too eager to help us out with the lesson. Let's just say that our project rocked!

Day three was all about simulating the real world of video production. In the morning we were given the video theme and it was up to us to go out into the community to talk to people to try to find a good story. We needed to find our lead characters and develop 6 different 'scenes' that could be strung together to formulate a short story within our theme. Just like in the real world, you are given so many hours of research time before you need to be back to the art director to 'pitch' your ideas. During the pitch the instructor helped up develop our scenes and then were were sent out for the rest of the afternoon and following morning to shoot the footage. Wow, was THAT every challenging. Now we had to worry about everything all at once . . . working the camera, recording the sound, figuring out how to do the lighting, directing the overall shoot, the angles, the ambiance, the "cinemaverte" (which basically means 'keeping it real.' We were not allowed to mess with reality as far as directing our characters what to say or do. This, by the way, drove me nuts because I'm not a documentary filmmaker. I make propaganda to sell products. I'm all about distorting reality!

It was a long 24 hours of shooting. Our next huge challenge was to jump into the editing phase and we were already late with getting the footage. Then my camera took twice as long to transcode so we did a lot of pacing around. It wasn't until Friday morning that we had all the footage and after hours of painstakingly beginning my project, the computer I was using crashed, not once, but twice, causing me to lose hours of work. I was so frustrated that I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and quit. I didn't really get started on my project until 2 pm and I had it all finished by 4 pm. In the professional world we were taught to budget one day for every one minute of finished edited video. I think I blew that average out of the water. Of course, my project was crazy raw and mostly bad (as far as the professional world goes) but I was very proud of my accomplishements. I had, by far, the biggest disadvantage in the class and ended up with the longest and most complete project. I will try to upload my project to YouTube one of these days and share it here on my blog. But first I need to stay home for more than 31 hours. I'm already sitting in another hotel room and homesick :-(

Week 40 in Photos

2011-10-09T15:34:00.000-04:00

#275

Today was the first day of my week-long video boot camp class in Rockport, Maine. The class started with a bang and was chock full of learning and laughs.

#276

This is just a sample of what the class was like. Never a dull moment. By day two we already covered what is normally covered in a week+ of video training. By now we were mastering the professional cameras and we already dove into the world of audio recording.

#277

Every team had to pick a story to base our final project around. The theme was supposed to be the effects of the bad economy, but somehow I managed to score the assignment of building a story around a brand-new high-end chocolate shop in Camden. The first day was all about research so we were forced to sample all the flavors! Not a bad gig if you ask me.

#278

I strolled down to Camden harbor on this fine day to take some pictures of the boats during the 'golden hour.' But instead of using one of the pretty pictures for this day I just couldn't resist this perfect picture of Maine.

#279

It's tradition that the last day of class is celebrated by a lobster dinner. My classmates and I had a great time, despite the fact that we never did make our video deadline.

#280

It was so worth the little sleep I got in order to leave Maine really early in order to get home as soon as possible to spend the gorgeous day with Karlo. We took a nice motorcycle ride and enjoyed a great Thai lunch. It's about time we spent some time together.

#281

What a beautiful day for a run. And now I have to run . . . and go finish packing . . . I'm off again to the airport this evening for another week on the road. It's getting old.

On the Road Again

2011-10-05T05:49:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm on the road again. This time I'm in Camden, Maine so I really can't complain too much. I'm here for a week of video training and so far I've completed my first two days. This year I'm having a much better time than last year, mostly because I'm not stuck in a computer lab (with no windows) for 12 hours per day. On Monday we had a morning and an afternoon shooting exercise, which got us outside. It's almost sinful to be in such a beautiful place and spend every waking moment indoors in front of a computer. It looks like this class has no computer time and the only thing I'll be in front of (and mostly behind) is a camera. Not many things make me happier.

And speaking of cameras, I haven't touched mine since I got here. I can't even explain that one. I spent sunset on the Rockport harbor last night and the lighting was spectacular. I didn't even have my stinkin' phone! Good grief, what a loser photographer I am. But in my defense, I was on a mission and that mission was to shoot video (which a big, confusing, real professional video camera). That task consumed all my attention and energy and it didn't even occur to me to tag along my camera. Still kicking myself.

And also speaking of cameras and photography, Monday night was a life changing experience. Unlike all my evenings at last year's training where I never made it out of the computer lab, this year we were released to attend some of the activities that the school sponsored in Downtown Rockport. I'm pretty sure that "Downtown Rockport" is an oxymoron, by the way. You have to see it to understand. Anyway, I went with my classmates to see a famous photographer, Vincent Versace, give a talk and present some of his slide shows. Can watching a simple slide show really be a life altering experience? Well, it was for me. This is unusual for me, but I struggle to find the words to describe what I felt after watching this guy and his work. I'm just stunned and amazed and inspired beyond belief. One thing is for sure . . . after me blogging about whether or not I'm a "photographer" a few months ago and trying to come to terms with the fact that I am . . . well, I'm NOT. Not even close. Not yet, but someday I hope to be. Vincent is my new photographic hero and idol. I won't soon forget that slide show and as far as I'm concerned, if I learn nothing else this week, the trip was worthwhile.

Week 39 in Photos

2011-10-02T21:28:00.001-04:00

#268

On my last day in the Carolinas I toured Michael Waltrip Racing. I spent most of the day there taking pictures and interviewing a couple guys that use our software. A very neat day indeed.

#269

I stopped along the road on my way to work to snap this picture of the pretty fog.

#270

Karlo makes it home from a very long day of traveling back from Europe. He spent the previous week and a half in Germany, Austria, and Sweden. I couldn't believe he brought me back that Ocktoberfest gingerbread cookie (hanging from his neck). Can you imagine him on an airplane for lots and lots of hours holding onto and not eating this cookie? So sweet. Thank you Karlo!

#271

This goes against my rules of me taking the picture, but this was such a special occasion that I wanted to be in it. We had a mini family reunion at my Dad's place. Not something you see every day, that's for sure.

#272

Finally a night at home with Karlo. I can't remember the last weekend night we spent at home together. I brought back that wine from NC and we just relaxed and hot tubbed. Aaahhhhh.

#273

My original photo today was of the cool decor at Willington Pizza, but then we came home and set up our anniversary present. I first saw one of these pendulums in Chicago with Lisa about 7 years ago and wanted one ever since. It's about darn time I got one. I could sit and stare at this thing for hours. So relaxing. Just what I need!

#274

I visited my favorite store in Freeport today. I had to drive up to Camden for another business trip so I left early in the morning and stopped in both Kittery and Freeport for some outlet shopping. That sure did make up for the fact that it rained all day.

Redneck Adventures Part 2

2011-09-27T19:30:00.000-04:00

The weekend was nice because I didn't have to worry about any more work for a couple of days. My biggest worry was our first planned activity of the day. We were supposed to go ATVing in the same place that we took the truck the night before . . . and it continued to rain all night. I was NOT looking forward to all that mud, but I was determined to be a good sport and go. How relieved was I was my host's wife (Katie) called to inform me that it was 'crazy muddy' and they were officially letting me off the hook? Thank goodness.

Plan B was zip lining and that was much more fun than drowning in mud. We had a ball.

It was a perfectly pleasant day followed by a perfectly frightening evening. It started off pretty nice at dinner. I managed to get through another meal without a complete overload of fried and over-buttered food. Eating is a challenge down South for sure. Next on the agenda was a trip to a local redneck bar to see a band play. My hosts were friends with the band guys and we had the equivalent of front row seats.

After I got over my short stress factor of what to wear to a redneck bar I figured this would be an easy and interesting night. Well, interesting doesn't even begin to describe this event. There are no words to describe what I witnessed. Holy smokes. I felt the need to go back to my hotel room and wash my eyeballs. Yeah, interesting it was. I think it redefined the terms drunk and redneck, but it sure was entertaining. Needless to say, we didn't stay long and had some good laughs on the drive back.

Sunday was positively idyllic. I spent the entire day with Katie and their two oldest daughters. We drove over to Asheville, which is a town that I always wanted to visit. We toured the famous Biltmore Estate and it was fabulous. I didn't even realize that this was the private home of the Vanderbilt family. The same family that owned the Breakers mansion at Newport. Well, that was only their 'summer cottage.' This was their secluded getaway in the woods and is the biggest private residence in all of history. Simply incredible. It took all day to tour the home and the grounds (and the winery).

On Monday it was back to work and we headed down to the 'other Carolina' to tour Michael Waltrip Racing. I was meeting our public relations writer who is doing a feature article on this company. It was my job to take the photos that will appear in the magazine so that was exciting. And while I was there I also shot some video. It sure is a shame that I'm not a race fan because I was up close and personal to the race cars. I just happened to be outside when they were unloading one of the cars that was just racing in New Hampshire this past weekend. I couldn't resist snapping this photo of the interior of the car. Notice the cup holder. Why is it a real race car can have one, but my Boxster doesn't? Go figure.

This was quite the work trip. It feels like I've been on a great vacation hanging with some awesome friends, with just a little bit of work sprinkled in. And now that I'm back home, I need to get busy doing laundry and packing all over again. Next week I'm back on the road again . . .

Week 38 in Photos

2011-09-27T19:01:00.000-04:00

#261

Found this balloon on our trail in the middle of the woods. I wonder if it really floated all the way over from MIT.

#262

How sad is it that I need to set myself reminders to call Karlo (whom I haven't seen or spoken to in days?)

#263

My phone sitting on top of my suitcase. Notice the alarm is set for 4am. I'm ready to hit the road (again).

#264

Driving through the mountains of North Carolina.

#265

My buddy took me wine tasting this evening to 'put me more in my element' after spending two days with 'hillbillies.'

#266

Day off. Went zip lining and it was a blast.

#267

Another day off. Toured the Biltmore Estate and it was gorgeous.

My Redneck Adventures Part 1

2011-09-26T15:26:00.001-04:00

On Thursday I dragged myself out of bed at 4am to start my Redneck adventure. It was quite the stressful morning just trying to get myself out of the house and then the drive to the airport in terrible fog was dreadful. It was quite the relief to just get on the airplane and relax for a couple of hours. I arrived in 'some Carolina' and I was quite embarrassed to admit that I wasn't even sure if I was in North or South Carolina. I flew into Greenville and apparently there's a Greenville in both states so maybe it wasn't so bad that I was confused. The guy I was meeting (Jimmy AKA Bubba) wasn't in the airport waiting for me and that was when I realized that I never even put his phone number into my phone before leaving the office. Brilliant. I overcame that hurdle and got a message to him to call me. He did, and the first thing he says to me, "Hello, Miss Bubbette . . . I thought you were coming NEXT week." Good God almighty, I totally believed him! My heart immediately sank, but luckily he was just pulling my leg and calling me from right outside the door. Thank goodness.

So I jump into the biggest monster pickup truck I ever saw (which just got washed for the special occasion of driving me around). My Mini Cooper could have fit in the truck bed (well, after he removed the ATV that he hauls around everywhere he goes for some unknown reason). I managed to fit my bags in the backseat along with tons of camo gear, sleeping bags, bows and arrows. I guess you never know when a deer is going to walk by and you need to jump out of your truck and hunt.

Off we went to work for the rest of the day. That was business as usual . . . walking around boring machine shops talking about boring work stuff. Ho hum. That evening we went for a drive back to the mountains and it was beautiful. Such a pretty area. I really enjoyed the sightseeing. If I could just be less of a Yankee I could see myself living down there.

The next day was a carbon copy of the first. Work all day in a stinky machine shop, but the day got much more exciting in the evening. It was time for my off-road adventure (in the rain). We took this monster truck on some crazy slick trails and it was a hoot.

We managed to get ourselves what I called "stuck," but I stood corrected. We were not stuck, we were just not going to move any further. OK, is there a difference? I was starting to panic given the fact that we are in the middle of the woods, in the rain, and I had to pee! Some how we managed to reverse our way far enough back down the slick hill to get enough momentum to make it all the way up. By the time we finished the trail, it was pouring and at the same time the sun was out and shining brightly. It was beautiful. I captured this rainbow.

I made one comment about how I should have video taped it and that was it . . . Jimmy decided that we needed to do it all over again - this time with my camera rolling. When will I learn to shut my mouth? So off we went again and this time I have to admit, I enjoyed it more because I knew that it was indeed possible to make it up that slick hill. We cranked the country music on the radio and had a ball. When I get home I will try to post the video of that crazy ride.

The Sand Dunes of Cape Cod

2011-09-20T19:19:00.003-04:00

One of the field trips from the photography workshop I attended last weekend was a dune tour. It was a hoot to get to drive through the untouched roads of the dunes. And by 'roads' I mean sand trails. I guess I should also specify that I didn't really get 'to drive' through it, but yet ride in the tour vehicle (which sadly was a Suburban rather than a dune buggy) but it was still lots of fun. Seeing as we were a bunch of photographers the tour operator stopped often so that we can all pile out of the truck and run around in the sand to take pictures. It was like doing a dozen Chinese firedrills and it brought back found memories of my youth and doing these on the city streets in Downtown Hartford.

Anyway, back to the dunes . . . after taking my first dozen pictures of far off landscapes (which never really were my cup of tea) I started to get bored. I figured it didn't matter how many different angles I could shoot sand dunes, they were all starting to look alike to me. So I started to experiment with different things and I tried to focus on lines and shade variations.

Then that started to bore me so I started to get a little more creative and look for things to shoot other than just dune landscape.

And then when I depleted my creativity with that I just plain got silly.

If you would like to see more of my B&W series, please visit my picasa album here. Overall I had a really nice time on the trip and I look forward to getting back on the Cape someday. But first I'm off to the Carolinas for a few days. Be back soon.

Week 37 in Photos

2011-09-19T18:17:00.001-04:00

#254

Still in the White Mountains here and we got up for sunrise. Actually, I should rephrase and say that Karlo got ME up for sunrise!

#255

One of the many beautiful covered bridges along our travels.

#256

This was our anniversary and this shot was taken at the top of a ski mountain.

#257

I took this day off to spend nearly the whole day looking at all the photos I took the few days prior.

#258

Now I'm in PTown on the Cape at a photography workshop.

#259

And of course we were up for sunrise and on a beach.

#260

The sunrise wasn't so great on this day, but I liked this pic.

A Short Stay

2011-09-19T13:31:00.001-04:00

I'm back!! But only for three days before I have to turn around and leave for another trip. Life is starting to get very busy and crazy, but I guess I should be used to it. At least I got to enjoy a great time in NH with Karlo, followed by a wonderful long weekend at the Cape. I decided to book a photography workshop since Karlo was going away on a business and I didn't feel guilty for either leaving him, or dragging him along.

It couldn't have worked out better. Not only was the weather near perfect (again), but my buddy Sue just happened to be in Boston the couple days before my trip. She took the high speed ferry over to Provincetown from Boston and we got to hang out during my down time.

Now granted, I didn't really get much down time, but Sue turned out to be an honorary member of our group. We dined with the group, strolled through PTown, and all went on a whale watch together. It was good ole fun and reminded us the days when we used to travel for business together and be roomies. I can't say that I learned anything at the workshop, or got many nice photos, but I did enjoy meeting all the other photographers, spending a relaxing weekend on the Cape, and catching up with Sue.

I didn't really have time to do much photo editing and I haven't even downloaded the pictures we took at a fabulous wine tasting event at the Truro Vineyard, but I did upload some of the pictures to a picasa album. If you would like to see them, please click here.

White Mountains Get-away

2011-09-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

We just got back from 5 days in the White Mountains. This wasn't our first trip up there. We went up a couple of years ago for a dancing event and during that brief encounter we just barely caught a glimpse of all the beauty. Since it was a dancing event we spent nearly all of our time indoors, which is the last thing in the world you should be doing when visiting an outdoor mega playground. This time, we really got the opportunity to see just what the White Mountains have to offer and we were blown away. Blown away by the sheer beauty and endless hiking and biking options, but also blown away by the fact that this place is only 3 hours away from home and we are just now discovering it.

We trailered up the motorcycle with blind faith that, not only the weather would be nice enough to ride, but also that my neck would cooperate. And I am thrilled to report that we were blessed with 5 solid days of picture perfect weather and my neck was far better than I ever dreamed it would be. I was able to do all the riding that we wanted and I can't tell you how happy that makes me!

We took a leisurely drive up North on Saturday morning, stopping at Lake Winnipesaukee for lunch. This was the destination for an anniversary celebration in the past and it was nice to revisit the same cool beach lunch spot.

From there we made our way to North Conway. I had my heart set on riding the train and Karlo was a good sport. He actually very much enjoyed it too. We both felt like kids and I couldn't resist snapping a couple shots of some real kids.

Our ultimate destination this day was Gorham, which is on the North side of the park. I picked this place because that's where the advertised moose tours started from. We went into the motel office to check-in and I was greeted by this guy . . .

And I knew I made the right decision. After chatting with the motel owner about the tours, we decided on the do-it-yourself moose tour. She gave us the exact location of the real tour and I loved having the flexibility to stop anytime I wanted for photos. I got lots of photos of the river and ponds at dusk, but sadly no moose. That doesn't mean we didn't see any moose because, in fact, we saw FOUR moose. One of the greatest thrills of my life! I can cross another thing off my Bucket List. I finally saw real live moose in the wild. What I didn't realize was that all moose hunting happens at night, which is not the ideal photographic opportunity. The first moose we saw was standing in the middle of the road. I was so excited that I literally couldn't even get the camera to my face. I didn't want to be distracted and I just couldn't take my eyes off this creature. It was a young boy and he took his time ducking back into the woods. My heart was pounding and I was so thrilled I didn't even mind not getting the picture. Even if I got the picture it would have been terribly dark and crappy and you know I can't be bothered with bad pictures.

We continued the drive up to nearly Canada it seemed and we were running dry on spotting another moose. Karlo decided to pull off the road and shut the car so we can listen for moose and that proved to be brilliant. As soon as we stepped out of the car (parked on the side of a marshy area) we could hear splashing. We walked down a little closer to the water and we could just barely make out a big dark shape so Karlo got the car started again and pointed his headlights across the water. Sure enough there's a gigantic male moose with a huge rack of antlers splashing around in the water. He didn't seem even slightly annoyed by our headlights so we continued to watch him. I was giddy by this time.

But wait there's more. As we started to drive back down the road heading South (back to our motel) we ended up smack behind the 'real' moose tour vehicle. We figured we would follow them for as long as we could because they had big search lights. They soon caught on to our freeloading and they pulled over to make us pass. Not more than 1 minute after passing them we spot a boy and girl moose together on the side of the road. They were on a date! Too cute. We scared them off into the woods so the actual moose tour never even got to see them. Ha, that's what they get for pulling over.

The rest of the trip was all about motorcycle touring on endless beautiful roads, covered bridges, waterfalls, hiking trails, etc. It was simply perfect and the best way to tell the stories if via this movie. If you have 5 minutes, sit back and take a little trip to the White Mountains . . .

Week 36 in Photos

2011-09-15T11:16:00.000-04:00

I guess I went MIA for a while. Karlo and I just came back from a little vacation get-away that I completely forgot to mention. I think I forgot to mention it because my life was crazy busy the three days leading up to vacation. Work required long nights on Wednesday and Thursday, getting us home at 10PM and then we had a party to go to on Friday night. We didn't get a chance to pack our bags until the morning we were taking off and it's been a whirlwind. It will take me days to catch up and the fact that I'm going away again tomorrow certainly isn't going to help. So here's a recap of the past week and the travel stories will come shortly . . .

#247

Karlo is preparing for next winter and dropped a dozen trees for future free firewood.

#248

Most of these photos deserve a blog posting of there own, but in the interest of time I'll just use expanded captions. . . on this day I found this adorable little glass chicken in my mailbox. What a surprise THAT was. My friend Lisa not only saw it and thought of me, but she bought it and mailed it to me to boot. Unreal. By far the biggest bright spot of my day. Her name is Ginger and I want to take her everywhere I go. Chickens always bring a smile to my face :-) THANK YOU LISA!!!!

#249

One of the reasons we got home late this night. Karlo and I entertained some out of town colleagues. We went out for a very long dinner at the Wood N Tap and it was lots of fun.

#250

The second reason we got home late . . . we had another Open House event at work and here's Karlo sitting on one of the OCC bikes. This is a dragon bike and believe me, it's very dangerous. I nearly sliced my leg getting off of it. I guess that's why there were red ropes around it to keep you away from it. Ooops. Maybe I shouldn't be showing this picture to the world!

#251

Sorry for the horrific photo. My phone camera is not so great indoors. This is Tina and her husband Michael at the dinner party we attended on Friday. It's been about a dozen years overdue for a night out together and I really enjoyed it.

#252

Now were are in North Conway, NH and our first vacation event was riding the train. It was a hoot.

#253

Today was September 11th and I wanted my photo of the day to reflect the memory.

Not a Total Loss

2011-09-07T10:52:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we were supposed to attend our annual family picnic at Devil's Hopyard. I haven't missed one of these picnics in a decade and it's become part of our Labor Day tradition. This year was to be a special one because one of our relatives from Florida was coming up and, for the first time in 10 years, my brother agreed to attend. Trust me, this was a big deal! I know my brother was still dreading it, and he was only doing this for my father. Getting my Dad out and about to visit with his family would have been the highlight of his year - especially seeing his favorite cousin from Florida. I was so very much looking forward to this day, to spend time with my father outside of a hospital, or blood clinic, or a depressing old folks home, and to see him really enjoying himself.

But unfortunately things did not go as planned. Karlo and I rolled into Devil's Hopyard right at noon, just like we planned, but I had a bad feeling as soon as we pulled in. I'm not even sure why I got the feeling that things weren't right, but they weren't. When we got to the area that my family always reserves we found signs for a different party. No familiar faces in sight. We drove all over the park, but couldn't find anybody we knew. My heart sank. My brother was going to KILL me! With my complete inability to keep track of my life, I must have screwed up and got the wrong day. I grabbed my trusty Droid and checked back through my emails . . . there it was - the email telling me that the picnic was the Sunday before Labor Day and it was indeed Sunday. Karlo and I actually started to wonder if this was really Labor Day weekend. Maybe we got so lost in time we confused our entire weekend! No, that wasn't it either.

I was terrified to call my brother with the news that Karlo and I were standing all alone in the park. Come to find out my family decided to cancel the picnic, but never bothered to contact me. Gee, that was nice! I thought my heart would break when my brother arrived with his family and my father (who just couldn't understand what was going on) and we just stood there shaking our heads. We both drove an hour to get there and for nothing. We said hello and goodbye and that was that. I wanted to cry.

The only thing that kept me from tears was the fact that we drove the motorcycle down and this was my first real ride since my neck injury. I tried once two weeks ago, but it didn't go so well. This time I was able to ride (mostly) pain-free and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the scenary, the signs of Fall in the air, and the simple fact that I WAS ON A MOTORCYCLE again. It was great. This was my test drive to see if we could actually take our scheduled (motorcycle tour) vacation next week and I think I passed the test.

One of the biggest highlights of the day was stopping at a little farm to visit with the adorable animals. I just can't get enough of petting goats!

Who's Stalking Who?

2011-09-04T18:50:00.001-04:00

Is it my imagination or is this bird more focused on me than I am on it?

I'm very happy to report that we spent most of Saturday on a beautiful beach in Rhode Island without a single bird poop landing on us. Which is incredible seeing as these suckers flew about 6 feet overhead all day long.

Week 35 in Photos

2011-09-04T16:55:00.001-04:00

Finally catching up . . .

#240

Couldn't resist taking a hike to see these pretty falls after all the rain.

#241

Slim pickin's in the candle isle at Walmart.

#242

An unexpected visit with Tina and the girls. Tina models the dress that she's making me buy.

#243

The most beautiful sight I laid eyes in quite some time. Glorious running water at OUR house. Thank you God.

#244

These arrived on the very same day as the Manchester Road Race registration email. I think that's a sign that I should run the race.

#245

What an amazing beach day. I spent the day wondering if the waves in Rhode Island were always this big and beautiful.

#246

Our family picnic today was a total bust, but on the bright side I was able to ride on the back of Karlo's bike without much pain and I got to visit these adorable goats.

Week 34 in Photos

2011-09-02T07:22:00.000-04:00

I'm a little bit late with this week's photos due to no internet at home. I am thrilled to report that our power came back on last night. Still no phone, TV, nor internet, but no complaints out of me. I'm just thrilled to have running water! There may be a blogging drought over this coming weekend depending on our connection, but in the meantime here's a catch up from two weeks ago.

#233

I had lunch beside the CT River today, making friends with ducks while Dad had his blood treatment.

#234

The clouds were amazing today. I wish I caught either a sunrise or sunset, but this will have to do.

#235

Wall tall and carry a big stick.

#236

Went to Foxwoods tonight to see a terrific show. A fun night indeed.

#237

Company picnic day and a perfect one at that.

#238

The best dinner party ever where I did zero cooking.

#239

Hurricane Irene day.

Our Big Night Out

2011-09-01T15:31:00.005-04:00

Based on the above photo you can see that our big night out was a rockin' good time . . .

Poor Jessica. She was supposed to fly home on Sunday morning because she needed to be back home for work on Monday. It was becoming very clear that was not going to be possible as the storm forecasts started late last week. We were proactive and called the airline to rebook her for a Monday morning flight. All was well. But then we got notification that the airline took the liberty of changing her flight again – this time till Wednesday. Really? With every day being sunny and clear there was no chance of her flying Monday or Tuesday? So she was forced to stay with us, in a dark house with no running water, and virtually nothing to do. A rocking good time.

We survived the first night and even managed to whip up a gourmet shrimp and pasta dinner in the dark. I'm hoping to be able to wash the dishes from that meal some time next week.

On Tuesday night we decided to treat ourselves to a night out of the house. We got in the car and managed to navigate around the closed streets to get to the Eastbrook Mall. We had a lovely night of dinner and a movie planned . . . only problem was that the darn mall was closed due to the power outage. uuuuugh. Plan B was to go to the only other restaurant nearby, which happened to be near Walmart.

I meant to take a picture of my lovely dessert, but I was a little more interested in gobbling it down rather than fiddling with my phone. Dinner was nice and we decided to drop into Walmart to buy a movie on DVD as an alternate to the real theater. I had my laptop charged and we were going to have to make due. So our big night out was a trip to Walmart. Whoohoo. The good news was that we were able to pick up some more supplies like candles. I was lucky to get any with the shelves looking like this:

Back In the Good Old Days

2011-08-31T12:35:00.006-04:00

That is . . . when we still had power . . . This is almost like a "Way Back Wednesday," but it's only going back one week. Of course, the rate this week is passing it feels like a month.

I got a little behind on my blog stories last week. Jessica was visiting and, as usual, we are busy doing fun stuff. I just don't know where the times goes, but it seems to travel quicker when she's around. Unless of course, the power is out, in which case times seems to stand still. But anyway, last week we had a few days in a row of fun events. To recap, it looked something like this:

We went to see the Legends in Concert at Foxwoods on Thursday night. Once again, the show did not disappoint. This time the acts included: Donna Summer, Carrie Underwood, the Beatles, Celine Dion, and my favorite . . . Frank Sinatra. All of the acts were fantastic and we had a great time. Seeing the Sinatra impersonator was even better than seeing Old Blue Eyes himself. Granted, I saw him on his last tour and he was running out of steam in those days. The impersonator was a young Frank and he definitely played the part to a T. And speaking of T, when Frank was signing "The Summer Wind" I was just lost in my own world . . . singing along with a big smile on my face. Karlo looked at me and probably wondered what memory I was lost in. He might get a giggle knowing that it was Tina I was thinking about.

Jess posing with Old Blue Eyes

After the show we cruised around the casino playing tourist. I teased Jessica for taking so many silly tourist pictures, but she pointed out that she is a tourist - not even from this country. OK, she has a point. She's allowed.

Friday was our annual company picnic and the weather certainly cooperated. We spent the afternoon hanging around, drinking beer, and playing yard games. The best part was the endless amounts of yummy food which meant no cooking at home. Always a plus.

Unfortunately the weather didn't stay very nice. Saturday was all about storm prep and it didn't make for a very nice day of outdoor activities. But that was OK, we had all our fun during the evening hours. We had some friends over for dinner and it was the best dinner party we ever hosted . . . because Jessica did all the cooking! Oh wait, I got into the kitchen for 2 minutes to help and managed to hurt myself. When will I learn to stay away? I should have taken lessons from Tim who knows to keep his distance and just observe.

Roughing It and Not Liking It

2011-08-30T12:48:00.003-04:00

At first, the thought of a big storm was exciting. I mean who doesn't like to watch wild weather? Or is it just me? I was always a bit of a weather geek. Maybe I missed my calling and should have been a meteorologist. Anyway, I was thrilled with watching the weather reports and hearing all the pre-storm chatter. Then it got a little less thrilling when we had to prepare the house. It seemed a bit pre-mature to disassemble the gazebo tent that I've grown to love so much. I knew this was it for the year. There was no point it putting it all back up for another month of use. Sniff, sniff, goodbye gazebo tent. I'm gonna miss you.

From there we continued to remove every single thing from the back deck. Just when I got used to looking at everything being so pretty, it's all gone and we are back to a huge barren wasteland of wooden planks. We even had to go through the screened-in porch to remove all the furnishings and now that's blah and uninviting too. I suppose Winter may as well just come at this point.

Thankfully we survived the so-called hurricane with no real problems. We lost a lot of trees, and thankfully all but one were in the thick of the woods. Our trails were almost unrecognizable with the amount of leaves and branches covering them. I can see a whole lot of trail maintenance in our future, but we really can't complain about that. The only tree that fell in the yard was considerate enough to fall into the woods, rather than on the lawn and for that we are grateful.

We are also extremely grateful that no trees fell on the house, the newly fixed-up shed, nor the gallery. Phew. I think we both decided that we have way too many trees, way to close to the house after that ordeal.

So Sunday was kind of fun. We woke up to the winds whipping through the house, doors slamming, and blinds chattering. It didn't take more than 20 minutes of high winds before we lost power, but that was OK. It just added to the whole 'riding out a storm' atmosphere. Karlo, Jess, and I put on our raincoats and sat on the side porch watching the trees perform all sorts of interesting dances and yoga bends.

When that got old we came inside and played cards, read magazines, and drew pictures . . . It was the ultimate rainy day experience. We really didn't miss the power all that much because we had the generator that we could start at anytime to give us running water, flushing toilets and a stove to cook on. And that's just what we did. We only started it for our three meals, and extended it into the nighttime hours so we could watch a movie. It was manageable.

But suddenly the party was over. The novelty had officially worn off on Monday. Having no power is one thing, but having no cable TV (which means no TV period), no internet, and no land line (and almost zero cell phone reception) was just not cutting it. It is amazing how much we take for granted . . . like running water and plumbing for instance. When we had the generator going we were dwelling on not being able to surf and watch TV. Then suddenly our trusty generator crapped out and bit the dust. That left us with nothing. No running water, no flushing toilets, no nothing. Funny how having nor computer and TV didn't seem like that such big of a deal anymore.

This morning I came to the office to take a cold shower and yet I was still grateful for it. At least water came out of the shower head! This is a drag and I'm so ready for it to be over. But my constant checks of the CT power outage webpage is not giving me a good feeling. One Monday Eastford was 98% out. This morning it was 94% out (oh boy, progress), and right now it's up to 99% out. WT . . . ? We are going in the wrong direction! sigh. The new generator isn't scheduled to arrive until Friday. With any luck we won't need it by then.

One of the Coolest Kitchen Gadgets Ever

2011-08-29T14:15:00.003-04:00

OK, so maybe I shouldn't be an authority on rating or reviewing kitchen gadgets. And perhaps the whole world already knows these things exist and it's just me in my sheltered little non-cooking, kitchen-hating life that didn't know about them . . . but just in case you never heard of a pineapple slicer, check this out.

About a week ago (yes, I know I'm behind with my blog stories. It's Jessica's fault) we had some friends come over for a visit. As usual, Karlo and I had very little food in the house and certainly nothing to entertain with. We had to resort to cutting up a pineapple and serving that, and it turned out to be the best decision ever. You see, our friend Jean . . . when seeing Karlo's pineapple cutting hack job, asked us if we ever used a pineapple slicer. Of course our answer was "What is a pineapple slicer?" and that led to a phone call the very next morning. Jean called me up to tell me that she had a slicer (and a fresh pineapple) for me and wanted to stop by to drop it off and demo it. Like this happens every day . . . a friend calls and says they want to bring you over a gift. I was thrilled.

But with the impending thunderstorm threats I felt bad to let her and her husband drive 45 minutes (each way) on a motorcycle to inevitably get caught in the rain. The better plan was to meet up half way. We picked a parking lot in Woodstock and Karlo and I packed not only our rain gear, but also a knife and a Tupperware. Jean couldn't believe that we came prepared to slice, dice, and eat the fruit. Here's the scene. I wonder what the passer-byers thought of this on the side of the road:

This gadget not only removes the core of the pineapple, but it slices the fruit into perfect rings as it travels down.

You are left with a perfect stack of pineapple rings and shell filled with pineapple juice. The very best part is drinking the juice straight from the shell. OMG yum.

We all gobbled down the entire pineapple and jumped on our bikes to head for shelter. Luckily everybody got home before the storms and it was the most fun little afternoon pineapple rendezvous. Jean, thank you so much for the slicer! We used it this past weekend and, of course, made a big deal about demoing the product to our friends. I let our friend Sue drink the juice from the shell and now she's sold and must have one too. I wish I could tell you where to buy one. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to have a friend just give you one :-) but if not I'm sure you can google pineapple slicer. Don't delay. Order one now. Operators standing by . . .

Watch Your Wedding Rings

2011-08-25T07:34:00.004-04:00

I learned an interesting lesson last week. I learned that chickens like shiny things. I marvel at the irony that Karlo calls me a chicken and how I too love shiny things. And how did I learn this lesson? I nearly lost a few diamonds out of my wedding ring . . .

I went out to the barn at lunch time one beautifully sunny afternoon to visit with the chickens.

I found it curious how some chickens ran away as I approached, while other chickens seemed curious to investigate me. I crouched down to snap a few pics and one chicken in particular started to make her way toward me.

I stayed very still and waited to see what she would do when she got to me. Well, that was stupid. She came right up to me and tried to eat my ring. She just zeroed right into the shimmer of the diamonds and pecked hard at my ring. Yikes. I better go have the diamonds checked to make sure they are not loose. Some nearby coworkers laughed that I would be having chicken soup for dinner had any diamonds really gone missing. Funny how quickly I would have gone from loving the chickens as pets to ripping one open to get my precious rocks back.

Strange how they weren't interested at all in fresh basil . . .

Lesson learned - either stay away from the chickens or remove shiny objects when visiting them.

What Makes a Photographer a Photographer?

2011-08-23T07:21:00.002-04:00

I find it funny how I sometimes call myself "a photographer," while other times I insist that "I'm not a real photographer." I guess I feel conflicted. While in Seattle I was shopping at a Fossil store where I was just about to buy a cute camera charm. The sales girl asked if I was a photographer and I said, "why yes I am" without thinking twice about it. After all, my company was spending a lot of money to send me across the country to take pictures and shoot video. I must be a real photographer. But inside I know I'm not. I guess it was easy to tell a complete stranger that I was.

And that leads me to wonder when a real photographer makes the decision to call themselves one. I mean what constitutes a person being a real photographer? For sure it's not simply owning a nice camera. Any shmoe can go out and buy a nice camera without having any talent whatsoever. Karlo used to challenge me when I either called myself, or someone else, 'a biker.' He would pose the same question. What makes a biker a biker? I figure if somebody is riding an expensive fancy bike and is decked out in all the proper gear, they must be a biker. But I think that goes against my photographer theory. Anybody can waste a lot of money on a fancy bike without being in shape or have the passion for biking in their hearts.

So what makes a photographer a photographer? Do they all have degrees from photography schools in frames on their wall? I doubt it. Do they call themselves photographers as soon as somebody pays them for their photography? This is also an interesting question for me because it took me a dozen years before I called myself a 'graphic designer.' I was making a (good) living doing the work for many years, but because I didn't have a degree in graphic design I just never could officially label myself as one. Silly, I know. One day I just woke up and decided that not only do I 'do' graphic design for a living, but I'm good at what I do. I therefore MUST be a graphic designer. I changed the title on my nameplate and that was that. Also interesting that I have my instructor certification to teach yoga, I've taught a class for 2 years, but I still can't call myself a 'real' yoga instructor. What is wrong with me?

Now here I am trying to convince people that I am NOT a photographer. I occasionally get contacted by distant friends and acquaintances on Facebook, asking me if I would photograph their kids, or head shots for their resumes. This week alone I got three different paying offers for my work. A friend asked me to shoot her son's wedding (gulp), a PR professional asked me to shoot pictures for a magazine article on location, and my manager asked me to shoot some product shots for packaging (a side business for him). Each of them having seen my work and each of them willing to pay me for it. My answer to all of them was, "You know I'm not a real photographer, right?" But now I'm sitting here thinking . . . if people are willing to pay me to take pictures, what more do I need to call myself a photographer? Maybe it's time I wake up and decide to call myself one.

Week 33 in Photos

2011-08-21T15:25:00.004-04:00

#226

The first pineapple I ever bought. Good thing Karlo was around to cut it open.

#227
The sun finally came out after days of rain. To celebrate I went to see the sunflowers at work.

#228
Four hours of my day was spent looking at this machine today. Good times!

#229
I got a kick out of this sign at the beauty salon. I was proud to answer, "My husband."

#230
The only pictures I took today were for my manager. I agreed to shoot some product packaging shots for him.

#231
So Karlo and I were bored one day and went to test drive a trike . . . OK, just kidding. We didn't buy one . . . but we want to.

#232
I can't believe how much I love this snapshot taken with the cheapest camera I own. I used my underwater video camera to snap this still and I didn't wipe the water off the lens. The result is a cool watercolor effect. Click on it for a bigger version to see what I mean.

Inspired Week

2011-08-20T18:57:00.003-04:00

That may be a misleading title because I wasn't very inspired all week. It wasn't a particularly good week because I suffered with a lot of pain and stress. However, I signed up for another silly online class that sends daily inspirations to 'create.' Unfortunately, I wasn't in the creating mood and didn't take any specific photos for the class. The class kick-off included the photo above with some hints on things to do to make some relaxing 'me' time and I have to say, without even trying I did an amazing job at accomplishing most of them this week. Here's a run down:

The first one was to 'sleep more.' They suggested that you go to bed a little early or catch a nap. Due to my current pain situation, I came home from work most days and went straight to the couch. One afternoon I fell asleep for over an hour. Plus, there's the fact that I was sleeping alone all week and therefore got much more sleep.

The second one was to 'make your bed,' something Karlo and I do every single day. I say "Karlo and I" but it's really Karlo. He's a stickler for putting all the fancy pillows back into place and making it all look nice. If it were up to me, I would barely make the bed at all. But while he was away I put the effort into making the whole bed up every morning.

The third prompt was to 'dance' and although I thought I would excel at this one, I sadly did no dancing. And to think I have all those Wii dancing games. What a waste. Stupid neck.

The next one was called 'Juicy Fruit' and as luck would have it I just happened to buy a pineapple at the grocery store last weekend. I never buy pineapples and I'm not quite sure what came over me. So I guess I lied. I did take one photo of the pineapple as Karlo was cutting it. Yum, it was delicious. I should buy them more often.

I didn't get around to making any 'savory sips' because it just so happens that I had some Newman's Own lemonade in the fridge and that was a whole lot easier.

The next one was to make a grateful list, which I forgot to do, but there's no time like the present. Here's my list:

I am grateful that my neck isn't actually broken.
I am grateful for a few days of peace and quiet and no requests to crash the Jeep.
I am grateful that nobody stole my lunch from work this week, and nobody stole my Skinny Cows from home.
I am grateful that it hasn't rained on my clean car yet.
I am grateful that the chicken didn't actually suck any diamonds out of my ring (that story to come later).
I am grateful that my father hasn't caused me to have a complete nervous breakdown (yet).
I am grateful to have Karlo back home (even though I enjoyed my HGTV marathons and cereal for dinners).

The next prompt was 'bath time' and although I would never have gotten around to taking a real bath, Karlo and I did get into the hot tub on Monday night, and with any luck we'll be back in it tonight.

Next was 'movie night' and that is just about every night at our house (well, except for when Karlo is away - then it's all HGTV). I can't even tell you the last show we watched on a network. It's all Netflix all the time so that prompt was pretty easy.

And lastly, the final prompt was to 'just sit.' This one came quite easily this week. I did a lot of just sitting, and brooding over my pain. But technically I just sat there so check another one off my list.

Strange Man

2011-08-19T13:09:00.002-04:00

I married such a strange man. After years of me making and Karlo eating tuna fish he suddenly decides that he doesn't like it. For the several months he just flat out refused to eat it. But this afternoon we were hurting for food. We literally had no other choices and it was either a tuna sandwich or plain bread. Karlo reluctantly agreed, but insisted that I don't prepare it. He just wanted it straight out of the can. I explained that he might like it more if it actually tasted good. What was wrong with me mixing it? Is it the mayo that he's opposed to? Whatever.

So I happily made my own yummy tuna sandwich. I even had some slices of fresh tomato from the garden. It was truly delicious. It was then that I noticed Karlo was eating a mayo sandwich, while shoveling out the nasty plain tuna and eating if off a fork. Oh and he had a pile of cut tomatoes at his side too. So he doesn't like tuna sandwiches, but yet he eats all the ingredients separately with no problem. Does this make ANY sense? Any? I think he has a serious screw loose somewhere. I better go find a screw driver . . .

The Project from Hell That Will Not End

2011-08-16T18:28:00.006-04:00

I think I mentioned the "shed project" a couple of times and it's been a thorn in my side for weeks now. Of course, I complain while it's Karlo doing all the work. If it sucks for me, it has to suck x100 for him. Of all the incredible jobs I've witnessed him perform: putting an addition on and finishing the basement in our old house, building the gallery, remodeling our bathroom, moving a hot tub . . . the list goes on . . . nothing was ever as big of a job, or as bad as this last project. And it really snuck up on me because I had no idea as to the magnitude of it all. Had I known what was involved I would have single-handedly torched the shed to save him all the effort and the potential of hurting his back again.

So what did the project entail exactly? Well, unlike all the other projects that we got some terrific benefit out of, this stinkin' project was just to rebuild what we already had. You see, our 35' steel shed (the shed the previous owner used to store his boat in and we now store our firewood in) nearly collapsed under the weight of the 2+ feet of snow we got during one snow storm in January. We did everything we could to salvage it during the winter and Karlo knew that he would have to do some major repairs this summer. The roof was bowing down and all the trusses that holding it up buckled under all the weight. And so began the project from Hell.

First Karlo removed all the buckled trusses. Then he ordered the 35' wooden beam and got busy cutting down trees in our backyard. Rather than buying the vertical posts, he decided to make them by hand (but of course). This required not only cutting down the straightest trees he could find, but pulling them out of the woods and precisely sawing both ends of each tree (by hand) to the correct size.

I didn't fully appreciate how difficult this job was until I was on hand to watch him try to move one. It required driving the ATV under the tree until it was pitched at such an angle that Karlo could muscle it straight up. Then he had to use the hot tub trick of placing pieces of wood on the ground to move it, only this time he had to spin the tree in circles to get it to move . . . all the while stopping it from falling over. When I witnessed the amount of strength this took I immediately tensed up. I just HATE to watch him man-handling trees for fear of another accident.

I missed an entire week of this production so I can't really recount all the things he had to do, but I did get to witness the main center beam getting raised. He had to build two wooden 'rails' for the 35' beam to slide up into, wach supported by a brand new pad of concrete. Oh yes, there were days of him digging holes and pouring concrete too. That was during the parts I missed.

I'm not exactly sure how he got this ridiculously heavy beam all the way up to the ceiling, but what I do know is that it was me that raised it the final foot into place. The roof was sagging down by one foot and Karlo set up a hydraulic jack and all the rigging to force the roof back to straight. This had to simultaneously occur as Karlo held the center support post into place. So picture this . . . Karlo holding a several hundred pound tree in place as I muscled the jack to push the roof up. At one point I was literally sitting on the jack handle, feet dangling in the air, and it wouldn't budge. Karlo said I needed more weight, but where was I going to get that from? I somehow managed to squeak out some extra force and, I'll be dammed, the roof started to creak as it bent back into place. Now here's the tricky part, as I pushed the roof up, the tree that was on top of the jack (the one used to actually push the roof) had to get loose in order for the center support tree that Karlo was holding to take the weight. Karlo had to instantly line up the center support tree and get it into place while CATCHING the other tree from falling over. The two trees were about 4 feet apart and we had no idea which way the tree on the jack was going to fall. No stress there!

This picture shows the center support post and the main beam in place.

Beam is finally up and the center support post is holding it. Amen. But no, it's not good enough for Karlo. He insists the beam needs to move 3 inches further back toward the back wall. Unreal. So we resort to trying to build a wooden rig and use the Jeep to push it. That doesn't work. So Karlo climbs up the ladder with an enormous sledge hammer and literally bangs it into place. Uuuugh.

Karlo finishes up the header over one of the support posts.

A few more days go by and Karlo finishes placing all the other support post trees on their respective concrete pads. I can taste that the end is near. Little did I know that the freakin' FOUNDATION needs to be moved. What the???? I can't even begin to explain this one, but this was the part that sealed the deal at this being the worst project ever. I was involved with very little of this project so when Karlo said he needed my help, I (of course) wanted to do everything I could to help him. But when he ever asked me to purposefully CRASH the Jeep into the contraption he made to physically move the concrete foundation pilings I thought he lost his mind.

But being the obedient assistant that I am, I did it. And I didn't do it once, but 8 times! That was like 8 small car wrecks that I endured with my horrific neck condition. Do I even need to say what that did to me? I can't even bring myself to say what that did to my condition . . . .

Here's the top view of how much the concrete piling got moved. I am guessing it will be an extra week of pain per inch it moved.

I'm pretty sure this tree is holding the foundation in place at this point.

So far it's been two more days of non-stop welding as Karlo fabricates the new trusses that will hold up the now straight roof. As far as I am concerned I never want to step foot, nor even LOOK at that damned shed again.

One side is now complete with the new metal trusses.

I had a one hour massage tonight to try to relieve some of my nerve pain. On the way out I asked the therapist what I should do to try to reduce the pain while at home and she said, "Stay away from your husband!" Luckily for me, Karlo is out of town this week so with any luck I'll be feeling better when he gets home.

Week 32 in Photos

2011-08-14T16:09:00.004-04:00

#219

Almost grounds for a divorce! I left Karlo home last week with my sacred Skinny Cow ice creams and he PROMISED not to eat them. I got home to a house with zero Skinny Cows. Needless to say, it was an emergency getting to the grocery store today.

#220
This is a long story that I will explain in a future blog post, but Karlo is in the process of lifting this 35' beam . . . all by himself.

#221
My God did I need a drink this night. This was immediately following the most stressful visit to my father in the hospital. I think I was still shaking by the time we got to dinner.

#222
All we need is a match and some marshmallows.

#223
A lunch time play date with the chickens.

#224
We finally invited some friends over and had a much needed bonfire. Got rid of the wood and all the weeds in the fire pit.

#225
The very exhausted welder. Karlo has been working non-stop on his shed project. His trusty Cooper dog never leave his side.

Adjusting Back to the East Coast

2011-08-11T09:01:00.005-04:00

It's been a hard and long week of trying to adjust back to my regular life. Seems everything about my life right now is challenging. I blame my neck nerves for all my pain. I blame jet lag for the fact that I'm constantly exhausted. I blame my father for my constant downer mood. Uuuugh. I need to snap out of this.

To switch to a brighter note, my last day in Seattle was a non-working day. At first I was fuming at the fact that Delta airlines was going to charge me over $750 in addition to the original $600 plane ticket to switch my flight to a day earlier. That was just highway robbery and it really ticked me off. Our work plans changed so that we were no longer needed on Saturday and I desperately wanted to come home a day early. But with that high price tag, my manager (Ben) and I decided to suck up and and make the best out of being stuck in Seattle.

The day turned out to be gorgeous and sunny and we headed into downtown. After listening to some very good advice from the locals, we decided to take the train from SeaTac to downtown. I was so impressed with how clean, easy, and pleasant the whole experience was. We got off right in the heart of the action and our first stop was Pikes Market (the very famous open market that you see in lots of movies). As usual the place was packed and we only spent a little while browsing the very unusual 'hippie' shops. I call them that, not only because they sell many hippie things, but they all smell like patchouli - yuck. Since this was my third visit to the market I was less captivated than Ben and luckily his desire for food was greater than his desire for strange memorabilia.

We headed outside and found the first nice restaurant that had seating. The place was neat and directly across the street from the market. We had views of the ocean, as well as the bustling street below.

After much deliberations Ben and I decided that we each should pick the one cool Seattle thing that we wanted to do and we both agreed to do whatever the other picked. Neither of us was happy when I wanted to go on a DUCK tour and he wanted to go to the Science Fiction Museum, but we made a deal.

So off to the Science Fiction Museum we went. I figured I would endure it and try not to be too embarrassed to be labeled a 'geek.' Well who knew I would like it more than Ben? There was an Avatar exhibit that had me on cloud 9. From the second I sat in the movie theater to see the film I've been dying to know how it was made. From a computer graphics standpoint it was the end all be all. I was in Heaven.

Next it was my turn to torture Ben. I was so excited about the DUCK tour I was giddy. And it didn't disappoint. It was GREAT. 90 minutes of fun as we drove through the streets of Seattle, learning about some history in the most humorous way.

Then it was time for the DUCK to take a dip in Lake Union (which was beautiful). We went for a little cruise as the tour guide pointed out the house where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed and all sorts of other amazing places and stories.

I didn't want the tour to end and I can not wait to do this again in Boston. As it turned out both Ben and I truly enjoyed every minute of both activities. The day was just perfect and in the end I was happy that we didn't switch our flights.

Week 31 in Photos

2011-08-07T17:57:00.003-04:00

#212

I love Minneapolis! The home of Snoopy.

#213
My first Pho.

#214
What a treat to see how these sweet rides are built.

#215
Still wondering why this rubber chicken was strapped to the B-29. Was so excited to find a chicken!

#216
Took in the awesome airshow with the Blue Angels zipping directly overhead.

#217
Amazingly this duck ride was the highlight of the entire trip. LOVED it.

#218
The lovely scene I came home to. Nearly 5 straight days of sun in Seattle to come home and nearly drown.

Boats and Planes Galore

2011-08-06T12:33:00.004-04:00

With a couple deviations, the focus of this trip has been primarily boats and planes. I guess Seattle is really the best place for that. It's the home of Boeing and it's surrounded by water. Yesterday we spent the day at one of the biggest events that takes place in Seattle. It's called SeaFair. The real purpose for this event is the hydroplane boat races. I've seen short clips of these boats racing on TV in the past, but unfortunately it's usually been on those "Worst Sport Disaster" programs. I never really watched a race before and I certainly never got within inches of these so-called 'boats' with jet engines onboard. I mean they are literally JET engines. When these things start up, you would swear you were at the airport.

So it was a pretty neat experience to have pit access to where all the boats were stored and put in and out of the water. One of our customers (the guy that I interviewed a few days ago) just happens to own the #1 boat in the racing world. And coincidentally enough, it's driven by the most winningest (yes, that's a word) driver of all time. Such a shame that I really don't follow this sort of thing, otherwise it would probably have been a much bigger thrill to hang out and chat with him.

We got to watch the boats get hoisted by huge cranes in and out of the water as they sped through their qualifying laps. We even got a secondary "hot pit" pass that allowed us through more security gates and go right up to the boats and even put our toes in the water. This wasn't such a great thrill as far as the boats go, especially since we spent most of our time directly under one of those huge cranes, but it did get us the best view of the air show.

Standing directly under the crane.

The Blue Angels were in town for this event and getting to see them take off a couple of days ago was just the warm up to the air show. We were right at the shore of Lake Washington to watch the amazing show. I'm still kicking myself for not bringing my long lens. Some photographer! I just didn't think I would get the chance to take fun photos outside of work. Oh well, with a little cropping I got some decent shots (that still need lots of photo editing).

And if I thought the screaming jets were loud, check out our ring side seats, in BACK of the jet engine boats. No, that wasn't loud at all . . .

And speaking of planes, I get to take a ride in one tonight. I'm very much ready to fly home. Today will be a long day waiting for my 11:30 PM flight, followed by my 4 hour layover in Detroit. Yeah! I wish I could just click my heels . . .

My Job Doesn't Suck

2011-08-04T17:16:00.004-04:00

Today was one of those days when I had to reflect on the fact that my job, not only doesn't suck, but it sometimes really rocks. This morning I found myself writing to a friend and saying that I am grateful every day for the job that I have. I know I have grand plans of not working, or at the very least, working for myself . . . and I am often asked why I'm not pursuing those plans and dreams. My answer is always the same . . . because I have one of the sweetest job in the world, working for one of the best companies. I love the work I do and there are endless perks right in the building. But occasionally I get to travel to cool places and do cool things and this week is one of those occasions.

I flew out to Seattle on Monday, where I got to make a pit stop in Minneapolis, the home of Snoopy :-) Note to self: I need to go back there and spend more time. I was met in Seattle with the most splendid weather any Washington-stater can ask for. What a treat. On Tuesday I got to interview a "rock star" of the speed boat industry (more on that soon), and I also got to meet and interview a person at a local hospital that is responsible for saving the faces of burn victims. What a great feeling to know that our software is responsible for making the burn masks that help to restore these faces.

Yesterday I toured a company that takes new Corvettes and completely strips them down to engine and frame to rebuild them with brand new vintage bodies. What an amazing story that was. These cars take several months to rebuild and in the end you get an amazing work of art that looks exactly like a late 50s or mid 60s car, but with all the modern comforts and safety features. I've never been a fan of Corvettes, but I have to admit, these things were the most beautiful cars I ever laid eyes on. Truly works of art.

And today . . . holy cow was today a hoot. We somehow scored ourselves invitations to the Blue Angels Reception at the Boeing Flight Museum.

We were there to interview a guy that is building an exact replica of the airplane that took the second most significant flight in the world (second only to the Wright Brothers flight). He is rebuilding the first plane to ever fly around the world. If you're interested in more info about this story, please click here.

Another fascinating story. We got to go into one of the 'not-open-to-the-public' hangars and crawl around inside of a vintage B-29 Flying Fortress.

The B-29 from the ground.

And from inside the cockpit.

Then we headed over to the Blue Angels reception. This was by invitation only and I'm pretty sure the only people invited were those that donated a significant amount of money to the museum. Boy did my manager and I feel out of place. But we had a ball. We had a great lunch and were treated to VIP "sky box" seats to watch the Blue Angels take off. We were right on the side of the runway and it was the most amazing experience.

Tomorrow we are off to an event called Sea Fair where we will be joining the race boat crew in the 'pits.' Should be an exciting day of boat races and Blue Angel air shows. I better go charge my camera batteries now.

Quick Catch up Before I Scoot

2011-07-31T17:11:00.003-04:00

I didn't make much time for blogging last week. I guess it was just a crappy week all around. Between my three chiropractor appointments, the two visits from our electrician friend and, let's see . . . what else was there??? Oh yeah, my father had a ridiculously close brush with death. To say my week was busy and sucky would be an understatement. But fortunately a lot has changed in just a few days. My father pulled through his near death experience and it looks like he's going to be fine. Our hot tub finally got hooked up and if the stress of balancing the water doesn't kill me, we may just get to enjoy it some day. Unfortunately my neck and shoulder are still miserable and the timing for me to have to jump on an airplane and fly across the country certainly isn't ideal. If Karlo calls me on any given night from the hot tub I swear I will scream. So not fair!

I pray that my week in Seattle is uneventful. I'll be very busy with work so it should fly by. I just hope I come home in no worse condition with my neck. It seems that I'm in such bad shape the chiropractor can't even start to adjust me. I have to 'work my way up' to the adjustments. In fact, the doc said that the hot tub may not even be a good idea for me right now because the heat may cause further inflammation. uuuuugh. I'm pretty sure if I was a horse somebody would have shot me to put me out of my misery by now. Wishing I could click my heels and be back from my trip and be ready to get fixed. Be back soon . . .

Week 30 in Photos

2011-07-31T17:01:00.005-04:00

#205

I spent most of my late afternoon trapped in my car watching the rain as I waited for Karlo to finish his dentist appointment and then go grocery shopping. I was in too much pain to move out of the car so I made the best of it and took pictures.

#206
Our electrician friend and his assistant trying like hell to hook up our tub, but to no avail. Tub has to wait for part three of the major hook up production.

#207
My lovely portraits showing the depressing story of my neck issues. Do not even want to discuss . . .

#208
I was convinced I would never see this day. The tub is now hooked up and filled. Amen! I should have taken a picture of Tim, Karlo, Luke and Lisa all huddled around the tub watching the water flow in . . . but I was in so much shock that the power was hooked up that I was delirious and forgot to reach for the camera.

#209
The highlight of my otherwise horrific day was finding this bracelet in the mail that my niece made for me.

#210
Walked out to the deck first thing in the morning and took some dewy pictures of water droplets hanging off our new wooden shelf.

#211
Up to my eyeballs in spa chemicals and not happy about it. Getting so frustrated with this science experiment that I'm ready to give up. Stupid spa. At least the duck is cute!

Big Picture Color Class

2011-07-26T18:15:00.004-04:00

During the month of June I participated in an online photo class and it was a ball. Every morning I would rush to my email to see the daily photo assignment. Each day was a different theme (all pertaining to some aspect of capturing color) and the assignment included an inspiration shot. It was up to me to capture my interpretation of that assignment. I did really good as far as getting a new shot just about every day. Not all shots were stellar, but it sure was fun doing them. A couple days the weather didn't cooperate for the particular assignment and I was forced to pull from archives, but for the most part I did all my homework.

It took me nearly a month, but I finally compiled all my homework into one place. I made a pdf booklet showing every assignment and my answer to it. In the booklet, the left pages represent the assignment inspiration and the right side pages are my photos. If you would like to see it, please click here.

A Week Late

2011-07-24T13:03:00.004-04:00

We were supposed to be in our kayak on a lake right this minute, but the weather is not cooperating. And I'm so disappointed too. We went kayaking yesterday to one of my favorite lakes in Eastford. This place always reminds me of Maine and it just happens to be the lake that first attracted us to Eastford. We found a post & beam house across the street, but that deal (like so many others) just wasn't meant to be.

Yesterday was our first trip to this lake in a very long time and just being there was a thrill. But the trip got so much better. The water was perfectly clear and I had a ball spying on all the pretty fish. I mean this was almost as good as our glass bottom kayak trip to Cozumel. Granted, the fish weren't quite as pretty, but they were cute with their blue tails and the boat was a million times more comfortable. Since it was such a hot and lazy day, Karlo and I decided to just relax and float around without paddling. It was then that we realized the schools of fish swimming around the boat. I swear I could just reach down and grab one if I so desired. I was ready to catch some new pets for my little pond at home. I put my finger into the water and I'll be darned . . . the fish swam up for a nibble. I was actually petting the fish!

Then Karlo decided to throw some pumpkin seeds into the water and it turned into a feeding frenzy. Fish everywhere! I was not comfortable with the fact that we may be choking the poor fish with the seeds so that didn't last long. I was kicking myself for not having my underwater camera with me. What an idiot. Karlo promised that we would go back today (this time with some proper fish food) and now it's raining. So sad.

So in lieu of some amazing shots of cute fish eating out of my hand, here's some pictures we snapped last weekend at Mansfield Hallow. Also a great day on the lake.

First we spotted this spot in the sand bar that we wanted to park. The birds were not too happy that we invaded their space.

They took off as we approached. I'm pretty sure I heard bird cursings.

I got out of the boat and waddled around in the water.

While Karlo happily stayed in the boat and ate his snacks.

Week 29 in Photos

2011-07-24T12:45:00.003-04:00

#198

Karlo has fun playing with his drill as he works on the big hot tub wiring project. He needed to drill a hole through the house to get from the basement to the porch.

#199
Because I didn't have enough fun staining on Saturday . . . Karlo found more staining projects for me to do.

#200
I just happened to capture the milestone of my MINI turning over 60,000 miles.

#201
The story of my life lately–all the things that help me manage pain and get through the day.

#202
You know it's bad when this is the thermostat, in the shade, in Eastford.

#203
This was just too cute not to pick for my photo of the day. Peanut peeking through Karlo's legs as she gets shaved.

#204
A perfectly lazy Sunday on the porch.

A Grumpy Mess

2011-07-22T18:43:00.002-04:00

Gee, I've been quiet this week and as far as Karlo is concerned, the quieter the better. I'm just a grumpy angry mess and I'm totally losing my patience with this neck/shoulder condition. I have grown steadily worse every day for the past month and a half and the reason I'm blogging about my misery is not to publicly complain, but to document this ordeal so next year I can look back at my blog book to compare and contrast. That is exactly what I did this year. I literally turn to my blog book for answers. When will this end? How long did I have to suffer last year? Since most things in my life seem to repeat in very predictable patterns I need to know next year how bad it was this year. And so far . . . it's been pretty stinkin' bad.

I just took off my neck brace because I swear it causes me more pain to wear it. I've been to a massage therapists this week who pretty quickly diagnosed me with thoracic outlet syndrome. I already made my first chiropractor appointment for next week, and I am (surprisingly) happily icing my back, neck, and shoulder as much as possible. I guess I picked a good week for icing seeing as it's over 90 degrees even here in Eastford. I am pretty much in constant pain management mode and I tried really really hard all week to limit my time in front of a computer. As I type my left arm is cold and numb with a dull ache running down to my forearm. Gee, maybe that's a sign that I should get the heck off the computer!

Well, let the record show that so far this year I had one month of the good life. That's right, ONE MONTH of blissful happiness and pretty much total crap for the other 6 months. My patience is being tested for sure. And the worst part, I can't even do my daily meditations. Oh, and we also can't find an electrician to hook up that freakin' hot tub. What is worse than sitting here in pain and looking out the window at the EMPTY hot tub? Uuuuuugh