We've Moved

This blog has now moved over to a new SaltyHedman.com site, with a new RSS feed.

Please come along with us!

Adopt, Don't Shop

THIS is what our incredible Saturday is going to look like this weekend! Please EVERYONE, consider adopting your next companion. There are dozens of breed-specific rescue options out there if you think you know what you want. These folks have pulled dogs out of poor shelter conditions, brought them into their own homes, and done everything possible to find new loving families who will open their arms.

Bromley's family's house burned down ten years ago, and Brandon's family was displaced by a tornado. Both dogs spent too long in a shelter after that, having no idea what happened to their humans but willing to give their unconditional love anyway.

You've seen what we found in Bromley... a better commercial doesn't exist. Yes, some dogs come from more difficult backgrounds, but you CAN find a match for your life.

A special thanks to friends Mike & Peg, Kevin & Danielle, Paul & Kristin, Carina, Tracy & Mike, the Mazzareses, Amy & Mike, Kim & Dave, Sarah & Roger, Margaret, and several of our neighbors for taking the chance.

Lab Rescued!

We've been talking about our next adoption for a year now, and wanted to wait for the right moment. Now that the days are longer, Gary started reaching out to a lot of lab rescue groups to find the perfect companion for our 10-year old Bromley.

Just a month or so into the process, we got the call today! We're picking up Brandon THIS SATURDAY in CT!

Brandon is two years old and was displaced by a tornado in Tennessee. He will miss his family and particularly his sister, Chase, but we're ready to devote all our time to welcoming him into our family!

Obviously many more photos to come!! And for those who've asked, we may change his name depending on how well he likes his current one.

Now.... leash, collar, younger dog food, dog bed.... Eeeeeeee!

Closing the Season

Went to Sunday River with “the vets”, Kevin and Danielle, this past weekend – they make for incredible company and lots of laughs. We had our own fun little Easter on the icy, sunshiney slopes.

It was the kind of skiing where you wake up whenever, make coffee and a nice breakfast, take time to change and adjust the gear properly, take funny photographs along the way, and quit as soon as wings at the brewery start to enter your mind. Had it dumped a foot of snow the night before and warmed up, we might have felt a little differently about it. Sunday was a longer ski day in the sunshine.

This weekend we’re off to Vermont to ski Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, so the plan states at least. The Pashby Orphanage will be in FULL effect.

THEN it’s spring.

Yurt-terrific '08

Another yurt-terrific adventure weekend! Thanks to all who organized the event and provided scrumptious food and entertainment!

Bromley didn't make it... he had a tough time in last year's snow with his arthritic hip, so we had to make the responsible decision of leaving him home (and by home I mean with my parents, not alone in the house with a 40-pound bag o' dog food and a pee mat).

The weather was decent enough for some hiking and sledding - or "sliding" as some parts of the country seem to want to call it ;-) The full sun even came out long enough for us to catch some rays in this photo! ...And Shakedown Street turned out to be the weekend's theme song.

We saw a bumper sticker on the way home that gave me a good chuckle, so I ordered a few of them today: "At least the war on the environment is going well."

Two ski weekends ahead before what looks to be an April R&R period! Gary's on PetFinder.com daily now that the days are longer...

Vacation Time

While out with friends a couple of weeks ago, the subject of vacations came up. It seems to be coming up a ton these days - everyone making big plans and eventually coming around to "hey, what are you guys doing for a vacation?" I never have an answer.

That particular night, my friend BG immediately pointed out that Gary and I seem to treat every weekend as a vacation... and you know what? It's kinda true! I've been thinking about it a lot ever since she said that.

It's not that Gary and I don't go anywhere. In our four years of relationship-parte-dos we've circled the country by car, honeymooned in Costa Rica, skied the Lake Tahoe region with friends, jaunted down to Amelia Island and Jacksonville FL, and visited great friends in the DC/VA area for a week. But on the weekends we've hiked, camped, yurted, skied, explored, constructed, photographed, fished, bike-toured, toasted, road-raced, and laughed with almost every one of our dear friends and family.

Whenever I tell someone we're "just chillin" this weekend, it usually means a combo of three of the above and only crossing one State border. And I'm okay with that (should I ask G?). Never seems odd to me until someone suggests we slow down. Huh? And do what?

To answer that question -
Next flights: Chicago, Arizona
Next international: St. Kitts
Next conventional "vacation": Costa Rica 2010
Dream vacation: Greek Islands













Happy 1st Birthday to Jake!

A Whole Life

I just came across a witty blog today called "Whole Foods for a Whole Year." A woman my age in Maine is documenting her attempt to completely overhaul and eat no refined, processed, hormone-boosted, chemically enhanced, genetically altered, etc., foods in 2008. A great real-life example and a fun way to learn about what "whole" really means.

I spent a good three years eating as "clean" as possible, and I was actually darn successful at it when living between Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in Newton, MA. I went all the way, cutting out most coffee and booze too. I drank obscene amounts of water, and my energy levels were through the roof.

(What changed? I fell in love, and with love came wine and ice cream...)

Well, I didn't actually stray that far over the last few years of marriage - many of you know how I can be sometimes, particularly about the Purdue brand and grocery-store baked goods. But it's not always easy to find meat free of growth hormones or to have to toss milk and bread that last less than a week because it doesn't have preservatives.

2008 has marked a gradual upgrade in our kitchen cabinets, however. I'm walking the extra distance to pick up the right groceries during work days in Boston and commute home with them. We're trying new food options (thanks to Mom Hedman for the quinoa tip!), and always making everything we can from scratch.

I encourage everyone to go whatever tiny distance you can. A great resource is: http://www.whfoods.com/

Leap Day

According to Wikipedia, "a leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing one or more extra days in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. Because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of full days, a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would, over time, drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected."

An extra day. 24 more hours. What are you gonna do with it? And why is it not a day off from work...?

My ideal extra day would include a soy latte, the ocean, Bromley, exercise, my camera, sushi and wine.

What I'm really wondering is how many people will use the extra 24 hours to watch the Sarah Silverman/Jimmy Kimmel videos over and over and over again.