On the Road to Recovery

Late last August, our friend Paul Asselin suffered a massive stroke. No one expected a 44 year-old guy in average health would suddenly be stricken with suck a life-changing event. The doctors discovered a genetic pee-disposition to strokes caused by a blood clot releasing from the heart.

Paul's family held a benefit for him on Saturday night to raise money in an effort to defray some of Paul's medical costs. We went down with our friends Steve and Helen and saw many of our friends from camp who also came to support Paul. Almost 8 months after the stroke, Paul is recovering each day. He has limited movement on the right side of his body, but he can walk. Talking is much more difficult.

We enjoyed seeing him and giving our good wishes for his continued recovery. We got a photo at the event with Paul -- he's looking great!

The local newspapers ran a couple of articles on Paul. I've included them below.

We are looking forward to seeing Paul at camp at least one weekend this summer!

Worcester Restaurant Week

Worcester Restaurant Week was hosted from March 17 to 31, 2012.  We had pretty much forgotten about it until our friends Steve and Helen reminded us and suggested we get together for dinner.

After perusing the choices, we decided to visit Via Alto 27 -- a new spot for all of us. We headed to Clinton and were welcomed by the elegant charm of the restaurant and notes of live piano music. It was lovely. We all decided to take advantage of the $23.12 restaurant week menu.

I started with the tomato bruschetta. Helen, Steve and Mike all got salads (Caesar for Mike) as their starter.

Tomato Bruschetta

The bruschetta was a hit. I really liked it. The salads seemed to go over well for everyone else, though it was difficult for me to notice with me bruschetta love...

We tried three different entrees. Mike and I each got the Surf & Turf 4oz. Beef bistro filet
w/shrimp & scallops risotto.

Surf & Turf and Seafood Risotto

It was fantastic. The risotto was very, very good. Mike read up on risotto later (we never eat it) and we concluded it is so good because it is so terribly unhealthy (rice soaked in milk, butter, and parmesan, then seasoned even more as it cooks). Steve got the Shrimp and crab stuffed baked filet of sole w/vegetable risotto and Helen got the White lasagna w/zucchini & mushroom topped w/tomato basil or Alfredo sauce. Both got rave reviews.

Dessert was the flourless chocolate cake for all but Helen, who got the gelato. I didn't get a picture of the cake, but it was quite good.

Via Alto 27 was a nice restaurant with a lovely atmosphere and excellent Italian cuisine. I am definitely looking forward to a return visit!

A Peaceful Retreat

We went to our friends' house yesterday and had a great walk around their property. Their rhoddys are in full bloom and were just amazing.

A pretty welcome

 They have a nice pathway down to the pond their property borders. The retreat is a tucked away treat line with more rhoddys.

A great spot for sunning, too!

They even have fun art scattered around to complete the feel...

You just can't beat this solitude!

In addition to having pretty flowers, they grow pretty flowers (and veggies). It really is a sight to behold.

And you can't beat a deuce and a half as yard art!

Thanks for the great night, Steve and Helen!

I'm back and other randomness

So... I welcome ME back! I'm going to try to get back on the blogging train again. I don't know how long this trip will be, but I'll give it a shot anyway. And we're off!

 Mike had his 25th college reunion this weekend. We went to the festivities on Saturday and had a nice time. It was a long, active day. We started with mowing our wet grass. Then we quickly cleaned up and headed to the campus. We enjoyed the Spree Day picnic and Mike got to catch up with a lot of his classmates. We attended a media symposium in the afternoon then rushed home for a wardrobe change before the class photo at 5:30 and dinner at 6:00. We got back to the campus just as Mike's class was up for photos. Dinner was an interesting affair, followed by a real dinner out with some of Mike's friends. We spent the rest of the night at various venues drinking and laughing until we go home around 1:30.

Mike and some of his friends

Mike messing around texting

We spent much of yesterday with Connor and Fiona. Mike took their training wheels off their bikes and we taught them how to ride. They LOVED it and were up and running in under 2 hours! More photos to come (one I get them from Mike's camera).

See you later!

Avatar

We went to see Avatar tonight. It was very good. We were so excited, we captured some Kodak moments...





Thanks for going with me Steve and Helen!

I give thanks to your friendship

This really says it all...

Julie and Julia

Tonight I am going to see Julie and Julia with Deb and Helen. I am sooo excited. I'm sure I'll love it and let you know all about it. In the meantime, the trailer is below (embedded) if you have not seen it.






Stay tuned!

A Great Time in Newport (RI)

Mike and I started off last weekend with a trip to the Sole Proprietor for dinner (lobster salad sandwich -- extra yum!), then we headed out to camp. We ended up driving through a deluge in spots and arrived to a quiet campground. We watched the first few innings of the horrible Yankees vs. Red Sox game (Red Sox lost 20-11), then just hung out.

By Saturday morning we had decided that since the rain was set into the Berkshires and it was sunny at home, we'd beat feet back. Steve and Helen had mentioned a trip to Newport Saturday afternoon and were still willing to have us along. We all wanted to see the big waves from Hurricane Bill, about 100 miles east of the coast.

The four of us headed out around 3 pm. We stopped at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown to look at the waves. The surf was pretty impressive.

I like these pictures of Mike, so had to include them!

Helen and I also took the time to explore the lighthouse museum. It was a really neat place, complete with a fourth-order Fresnel lens that was replaced by a rotating beacon in 1991.

Next, we headed over to the Brenton Point State Park in Newport. The waves were crashing like crazy there, but that didn't prevent the kite fliers from enjoying the breeze. At that point we realized the memory in Mike's camera was not fully inserted while we were at Beavertail. The only photos we got were the ones above. He righted the memory and got some more shots of Brenton Point.

We were hungry for dinner at that point and decided to head to downtown Newport. Busker's Irish Pub had available seats and turned out to be a great place for dinner. Mike and I got the Shepherd's Pie, while Steve got Chicken Marsala and Helen got the Garlic Herb Chicken. We gave four thumbs up!

We rounded out the night by walking around the downtown and stopping for gelato at Cold Fusion. It gave us the energy for the ride back home. Hmm, ok, I slept on the ride back home... But it gave me energy to stay up with Mike until 3 am after we got home!!!

Fun Weekend

Please don't let the lack of posts let you think something is amiss in our little world. We've been having a good time, and that has kept me from having time for blogging!

We took Friday as a vacation day and headed to camp for a long weekend.  We got up Friday morning ready for an adventure. I starting with an attempt to make Aebelskivers, a Norweigan treat, for breakfast. The experiment ended up being a messy flop, but we had fun all the same. I tried two batches before giving up and make a giant pancake for two with the remaining batter.

Next, we headed off for a hike to Rounds Mountain.



View Larger Map

We used to make the hike, top to bottom, in one and a half hours. We knew the path would be overgrown, but gave it a shot.

We greatly underestimated the degree of over-growth. The path was barely passable. It was covered with weeds and briar coated plants that reached out and snagged us.  It took us about 40 minutes to cut a trail 1/2 mile long. Mike used this feet instead of the clearly needed machete or scythe that we did not bring. He was covered with cuts and blood and we were both drenched in sweat when we decided to turn around and bail.

We got back to camp only to realize we'd both being cut to ribbons. Even though I trailed Mike, my fragile skin looked worse for the wear. Below is a photo showing part of the damage. It was taken 24 hours after the hike.

That part of my legs didn't actually look too bad... Luckily, a few soaks later and I am looking much better.

Our next adventure was a trip to Bob's to find out the extent of damage to our trailer. We noticed a wet carpet in the bedroom. They investigated and found that a trim piece had dried out caulking that was letting water wash into the insulation below the trailer. It all has to be replaced, as well as removing and replacing some caulking around the outside. Fortunately the damage was caught very early on. We were lucky.

We headed back to camp and ended up having happy hour with friends. The time was happy and fun until Mike was trying to staple a tablecloth to a table using a staple gun and stapled his thumb instead. Ouch! He didn't even blink, he just pulled the 1/2" staple out of his thumb. He was really hurting on the inside. Fortunately, the healing process seems to be going smoothly. No swelling, no discoloration, no temperature. The site is very sensitive when he hits it wrong and his outer thumb is partially numb. He may or may not go to the doctor (boys).

We hung out at the fire and had a nice evening Friday night, then off to bed! Saturday was the Ghetto event, a pig roast. We needed to rest up. The event ended up being a lot of fun. There was a corn hole championship with a $50 first prize. Food was good and socializing was great.

We came home Sunday in time to have lunch, go for ice cream, cut the grass, wash the cars, and wax the Accord before dinner. Whew! What a weekend!

We hope you had fun, too! Smiles!

Fun at Fenway

We had a great time at Fenway last night. Rain seemed imminent -- and we did get a few drops around 4:30 pm, but they only lasted a few minutes.

We started our adventure with a trip to Filene's Basement. We wanted to see if they had any good Vineyard Vines wear. We struck gold and found a great vest for me. Mike got it for me as a little present (he's so sweet!). You'll see it pictured below. We had dinner at McCormick and Schmicks before the game. I had monkfish wrapped in prosciutto and Mike had haddock stuffed with lobster. Both were excellent.

We got to the park around 6 pm and located our seats. They were in the right field grandstand (Section 9, Row 15, Seats 11 & 12 for you Sox fans). The view was slightly obstructed -- we couldn't see left-handed batters at the plate -- but hey, we were at the game. The best part was the overhead in the grandstand held the heat in and kept us warm through the game.

Wakefield was on the mound and made it through most of the 7th inning. Manny DelCarmen -- not one of my favorite pitchers -- was up next for about 3 batters until he gave up a run. Hideki Okajima was up next and held steady until the end of the 8th. Jonathan Papelbon closed the game. It was by no means a shoe-in since he gave up a run and had two on base before the final strike out. Whew! We were on the edge of our seats.

Another highlight was getting to meet up with our friend Art during the game. He has season tickets (that he has graciously sold us in years past) and was there with a client. We had a beer and chatted during the pivotal 6th inning when the Red Sox scored 4 runs.

We have some photos of our night below (embedded). If you are getting this message by email, hop over to the blog to see them.

Le Tour de France 2009

Saturday marked the first stage of the 2009 Tour de France. Lance Armstrong has rejoined the race as part of team Astana along with many other top riders including Alberto Contador, Andres Kloden, Levi Leipheimer, Daniel Navarro, and Yaroslov Popovych. Team Astana leads the tour after stage 3 in overall rankings, followed by Team Columbia-HTC, who is 1'46" back. Mark Cavendish is part of Team Columbia-HTC and, according to Armstrong, is someone to watch. Cavendish is currently ranked at 142, but won stages 2 and 3. George Hincapie is also on Team Columbia-HTC. Hincapie began riding with Lance Armstrong in 1997 and continued through Lance's first step away from the tour. Hincapie is renowned in the cycling world and one of the longest riding cyclists in the Tour de France and the only cyclist to have been on 8 tour-winning teams.

Lance Armstrong returned to cycling in large part to bring attention to the thousands battling cancer each year. His Livestrong Foundation is very active. You can support cancer with a donation to Livestrong (I recently made donations in support of my stepfather John and a friend, Claude). If you are on Twitter, you can add a Livestrong band to your profile photo to show support, too.

One last thing, there is a great cycling website if you have kids interested in the tour. Check out Mike and the Bike for easy to access kid orientation tour information.

Have a great day!

Did you think I disappeared?

Oh, you could only be so lucky!!!!

We had a great time at the Eastern Naturist Gathering in Lenox last week. We saw many old friends and met some new friends, too. We were asked to join the Membership Advisory Committee for TNS and are looking forward to continued involvement with such a phenomenal organization. Goodbyes abounded as we left friends at the end of the week, as well as Eastover will be closing its doors in November. We will have a wonderful time no matter where the Gathering is next year.

I heard a song on the radio yesterday that made me think of my friends and family [who are generous enough to follow this blog]. It is called Smile by Uncle Kracker. You can listen to in online over at MusicRemedy. It is the first track to be released from the upcoming album Happy Hour. I hope you like it as much as I did!

Smiles

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Deb, Helen, and I went t see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past on Tuesday night. The trailer is embedded below.







It was a great chick flick! We all laughed and got misty eyes at various parts of the movie. The twist on The Christmas Carol's three ghosts was interesting and executed pretty well overall. The ghost of girlfriends past (as opposed to present or future) was the strongest, while the ghost of girlfriends future was most poignant.

Nearly all of the scenes were filmed in or around Boston. I can't wait to see it again on video with Mike so he can tell me where some of the places were that I didn't recognize right away!

We are thinking our next movie will be The Proposal (trailer here)...

A close-up of our birthday gifts: from Girlfriends

I am blessed with not only a great family, but also with a great group of girlfriends. They are always there (even long distance) to share a laugh, a story, or just a random thought. And they are just so thoughtful...

Melissa knows we're always having get togethers in the summer and she got me a fabulous set of salad servers. I just love them! She also got me the book Dewey. My mom read it a couple of weeks ago, and it was on my list of books to get. Melissa is such an amazing mind reader that she just must have known! I can't wait to read it.

Helen is a jewelry treasure trove (what with a live-in jewelry smith) and gave me these gorgeous earrings. Aren't they fabulous?!

And Alison knows how much we love the beach, so she got me this insulated bag that has a matching pareo, hairband and pouch!

I'm feeling so loved!

Have a super day!

A close-up of our birthday gifts: Yard Art

Our friend Steve is very creative. Every time we turn around he has come up with a super-cool new design. Yesterday he gave Mike his birthday gift -- a beautiful Celtic knot for our garden.

Here's a close-up:

We put it by the driveway for now... It will be fun to move it around as the mood strikes. Thanks, Steve!

Remains of the [Birth] Days

Mike and I have had a great 6 days of birthday celebrations. We made a yummy sugar-free cheesecake for his birthday on Saturday.

It was so yummy... As you can see by what was left this morning, we didn't like it at all. Nope, not at all...

We were so blessed to be thought of by so many of our friends and our family. (Don't worry if you don't see your gift in the photo, they are all around the house and we love everything)

If you were wondering, the eggs in the nest are a cocktail table decoration, not a gift.

Our two favorite cards were from our friend Helen. She made them herself and they are so awesome!!! Check them out:

This one was for me. The background in Aquinnah (Gay Head) Beach. She included shells, sand, sunglasses and flowers. The inside (did not get shots of the insides before I left the house) had presents, a cake, and a purse that looks very similar to the one Pat gave me...

Mike's card features a picture we took from Mount Snow this winter. Look at those ski boots and goggles! She included a set of skis and poles inside. How awesome!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped make our birthdays so special! I'll try to feature some of the goodies over the coming days...

Kansas City Visit

I had a great time visiting my Mom and Brian in Kansas City last weekend.  I arrived at nearly midnight on Friday night. Mom and I stayed up talking until 2 am, when we figured we should probably turn in. We did a little of this and that on Saturday, including some computer maintenance and creating some ringtones for Mom's iPhone. If you are using a PC and not a Mac with your iPhone, iRinger is an easy application that turns your music into ringtones for free. A couple of her songs gave us trouble, so I made them into ringtones using Garage Band. Easy Peasy.

We celebrated Mom's retirement dinner at Piropos. Their Argentinian cuisine was delightful, and we ate a ton of food. Mom had a great time catching up with a former co-worker, while I had fun visiting with people I hadn't seen for a while. The evening was a great celebration of my Mom's accomplishments at AT&T (formerly Southwestern Bell) for 31 years.

We spent a few hours at the car show at Bartle Hall on Sunday, then walked around a dealer lot to look at cars more closely. The time and research paid off -- Mom picked up a new car yesterday. Her 11-year old Escort is up for sale, with a potential buyer lined up already.

We enjoyed time together shopping and having lunch on Monday before I spent a few hours with Melissa. It was definitely a girls day! We especially enjoyed exploring Sephora's offerings. Mom loved the Hydrating Perfection Powder (foundation), but at $59 (!!!) we had to look at each other in confusion. I guess people spend that much on makeup, but not us two people!

I had a wonderful visit with Melissa and really enjoyed seeing her 4 year-old Serena and her new baby, 2 month-old Tiernan. What a happy and loving family! She and I spirited off for a couple hours of girl talk. It was really nice to get to spend time catching up in person.

I ate like a little piggy for my entire visit so I will be on the treadmill and stairmaster for the forseeable future -- especially after eating so well with Dad and John in Arizona!!! As much as I enjoyed my trip, it sure was nice to be home in my own bed last night, all snuggled up with Michael.






Have a happy day!

Happy Weekend!

Well, the weekend is here!!! I am off to Kansas City for the weekend to celebrate my mom's retirement. We are looking forward to seeing each other and spending some time catching up. I'm also hoping to squeeze in a visit with Melissa!

On another front, my friend in the hospital has been improving. Doctors are hoping to take off the respirator this afternoon, so I am crossing my fingers.

Have a happy weekend!

A Fun Rainbow Cake

At first I was going to mail this (to Pat, then to Melissa), but decided, hey, let's share with everyone. This recipe for a Rainbow Cake was linked in Amazon Daily's blog. OMG!!!!! It is so easy and fun -- you have to check it out. Seriously. Anyone can make this and have fun!

So, here's what it looks like:

And here's the best part -- the ingredients are simple. Check it out!

Even I want to make this... Right away!!!! I probably won't... Mainly because cake is not a low-carb choice (no matter how you cut it -- and this recipe is 81 carbs for 1/12 of the cake -- I worked it out). Aaah, to dream!

Have a happy day!

Thanks, Melissa

more animals

You are the best :)