Another YURTastic Adventure!

We're coming off another beautiful weekend in the great outdoors!


This time we had eight of us - and three exhausted dogs! - together for two nights in a yurt in Huntington, Vermont. If you're not familiar with a yurt, it's a Mongolian tent design that is basically a permanent round tent - complete with bunk beds, a wood stove, and propane stove/cooking supplies. We used this company for the trip: http://www.otloose.com/

Anyway, it was a great group including Gary & I, Rich & Sarah, Emily, cousin Nicole, and new friends Jen & Kathryn! Bromley's friends Rubin and Toro joined as well! The sun was shining and we had a blast snowshoeing and building sled jumps, etc.

Been listening to Citizen Cope after hearing his great sound this weekend - you can use the media player on the site http://www.citizencope.com/.


This weekend will be a much-needed one back on the homefront! Gary back in the boat-barn, presumably, and me getting some errands out of the way. We can't wait to hear news this week about our new little niece or nephew!














Hope everyone's doing well out there, ready for one more very cold week. Then it's soon time to change the clocks and start searching for a matching pair of flip-flops in your closet!
XO

February Chill

The winter weather is definitely bearing down on us now! Gary and I fiiinally got our skis revved up - including some new ski gear to make sure we were both gorgeous and warm - at Sugarbush with the Pashby's! <--That's Sarah and Boo!

Please visit www.isisforwomen.com and give a boost to two Vermont women who are making excellent clothing and gear for almost any activity!

The work week is chugging along, as I now take the bus to Boston instead of the train. It's saving me about $100 a month and helping me kick at least 200 extra calories a day with the walk (or do calories freeze in cold?)! The good part is that I drive only about 15 minutes now. And more importantly that "Central Parking" is no longer getting two bucks from me for a car-sized plot of pavement every day - coins or bills (or all pennies, if you're ticked after doing it for two years) that I have to strategically stuff into archaic little slots so difficult you'll miss your train. Yup, I'm a bus girl.

Did I mention that on my first ride home yesterday we got pulled over for speeding? HA HA HA HA..... Don't worry, the female bus driver gave the cop a few earsfull at the front of the bus, which was also quite entertaining.

We are just coming off of an awesome weekend at home. Made friends with the vet, checked out cousin Ian's incredible boat-building craftsmanship, enjoyed a spontaneous coffee with Kelly & Joe, and then met up with our friend Eric who's in town from Iraq. Got in some great outdoor running myself, and Gary made some big progress on the boat!

Happy Birthday to Jill, Dad Hedman, and Rich!!! And CONGRATS to Dad Hedman on his retirement this month too!!!! Big things happening.

Two Years of Married Life

My mom RETIRED on Friday - how incredible is that?! We also celebrated her birthday, and took off to Foxwoods for the day on Saturday. I had never been there, but aside from the smoke, it was pretty cool to check out! I doubled my $5 bill twice but left with nothing. CONGRATS MOM!!

We are off to Freeport, ME, for a little anniversary of our own this weekend. Two years since we asked our closest friends and family to stand outside in the Vermont snow with us! No real reason for picking Freeport - we toyed with the thought of skiing, and Gary's never been to the Freeport LLBean (a must!) - but I just love the Maine coast. We found a cute B&B for one night. And just our luck! There will be a team of women scrapbooking there all weekend too! Ha ha ha...

Gary and his mom have been busy with rennovations on the house in Rhode Island. It has been great to hear about it and see some transition photos. He hasn't gotten too much further on the boat, but the barn has a stereo system and he just bottled his third batch of homebrew beer last night!

One of my many resolutions - and my co-workers have joined me on this one - is to have Pad Thai only once a month. I'm excited to report that a week from today is the day! Happy Birthday to Jess! Oh my gosh I can't wait.... ha ha!

Also, to take a moment in other special birthdays... Carrie and Steve had their little boy Ethan on January 8th! He's adorable, and they are adorable as a family. Happy birthday to Heather this Saturday as well! - glad we could send you some snow in time to remind you of New England in Arizona.

Happy end to January everyone!

65 Degrees in January

Yeah. Wherever you are, you know it's true... It was a day of t-shirts and ice-coffees. Unbelievable.

It's a very beautiful winter of course - who couldn't get used to this? But you're never quite at ease. Mother Nature has fallen off the wagon but you know she could get back on at any minute.

If you want to know who's fault it is, it's all me. It's the new skis, the new ski helmet, the new ski pants I bought for Gary... We've tried desperately to counteract our mistakes by not replacing the necessary part in the snowblower, but so far... nuthin.

Anyway! Long time no write! We took down the tree today, so I thought it was a good time to acknowledge the beautiful holiday season that we had! Hosted another great Thanksgiving here with a houseful, and enjoyed a long Christmas weekend with our neices and the big McClarran family down in Connecticut. We both had that weekend off, during which Gary built a massive boat barn over the new Sea Ox so he can begin restoration for the, uh, winter. I, of course, was pretty darn sick, but I managed to shape up my resolutions ahead of schedule and joined a gym! I love running, but you can only get so excited about the same neighborhood loop and cranberry bogs. I like the weight training and even attended my first two pilates classes yesterday and today! Owie.

Work is insane INSANE for both of us right now, so you might not have heard from us in a bit. We have essentially nothing planned for our upcoming weekends, though, and that feels pretty darn good! Next up is a yurt trip in March; www.otloose.com if you want to check it out or join us!

So, with that little update, I must get back to work on this drizzly Saturday evening. Just wanted to say hi and use you as an excuse to procrastinate. Hope all is well out there, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Random November

So there's really no reason to write today, except to just update anyone who's paying attention. It's a Sunday night after a weekend in Vermont at the Hedman's. Such gorgeous weather in Dorset, and after shopping all day one day, we earned it the next day by clearing out trees and brush. It's just so hard to believe that it's November...

Our neices have been in Disney World all week! How funny is it that Eric and Jill told them on Tuesday that TUESDAY they were leaving?! We got the photos tonight and it looks like a magical kingdom for them both. Can't wait to see them soon for turkey!

On the homefront, Gary didn't have enough to complete before 17 family members join us in three weeks - he decided to tear down the wall between our kitchen and living room last week while I was at a friend's for the night! So that will be cool - and quick - to watch unfold... it already seems amazing to walk in the kitchen and be able to see such a big room.

The week ahead brings my first book club meeting ever?? and then a night out to bid adieu to a co-worker on Thursday. So I decided to stay later tomorrow and get a good run in at the work gym. You'd think I'm never around for Gary, but don't worry - the Pats and Colts are. I have a very full week of work ahead, which makes me happy, and then we have friends coming for a fun surprise weekend ahead...shhhh... Gary's work has been busy in the field, so less time spent in front of the computer and more time in the oddly sunny fall weather. Life is good, and busy as always.

Winter is an etching,
Spring a watercolor,
Summer an oil painting,
and autumn a mosaic of them all.
~Stanley Horowitz

A New Boat?!

Okay, so maybe you heard... but here it is! Gary has had his sights on two boats for the "next boat". This could have been next spring, next fall, whenever... Well, he found one THIS WEEK for the right situation and price (and then he offered half that)! The guy wanted it out of his yard and now it's in our yard!

In a weird twist of fate, the previous owner had named the boat "Lady K" - which is what we've called [Gary wants me to say "dearly beloved"] Kaya for years! Gary's planning to tear out the inside deck and console and rebuild it over the winter. It's a 20-foot, 1981 Sea-Ox that has barely been in the water, but it wasn't covered from the damage of rain and leaves for all these years. Gary paid about a sixth of what we can get for our current boat, so he got the wifely seal of approval for sure. Game on!

The bathroom photos...

Jack-o-lantern

October! How is everyone doing out there? Lots of nothing going on with us and it’s great. Been home for a couple of weekends in a row, and I’m happy to say that I got in a couple of long runs and bike rides, painted on my easel on the back deck, made some crafty gifts that I won’t mention ;)… made fresh pesto from the garden basil, baked an apple pie…. We even watched the first season of Entourage on DVD. Who has time for that?! Yep, that’s right – we do!

We are heading back to Conway NH this weekend, but this time with my folks! Bromley’s on bed-rest a bit, and some heavy meds for an agitated/arthritic elbow. Gary and I are up for a big Presidential hike while the pooch has his grandparents, but we’re also just psyched to hang out with my parents. Because they live so close, we take that for granted and never spend quality time with them. We don’t visit for the whole weekend any more, play dominos after dinner and such. Looking forward to it!

It sounds like we’re hosting Thanksgiving again this year and we love it! Before that, though, we’ll be enjoying a few more weekends of R&R in October, and a great birthday weekend for Gary at the end of the month on Lake Winnipesauke!

Happy October Birthdays to Caitlin, Derek, Dad, Nancy, Steve, Trina, Amy, and McKenna too!!! (in that order) HOLY COW!

The bathroom looks gooorgeous! Love that husband of mine. Photos coming, but Blogger is irritable.

Have a great spooky month, complete with a Friday the 13^th! Bring on the pumpkins!

Hope to catch up with you all soon - XO