Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Here are a couple of photos from this weekend's regatta. If anyone wants full size photos, let me know. Bree / Nor, thanks for inviting us. We had a good time.

By the way, what's wrong with a "senior citizen's waistline?" Isn't that where you're supposed to wear your pants?

Geegaws, Sweet Potatoes and Jocularity at the End of the Santa Fe Trail

On Thursday, Nov. 9, before the sun had a chance to even think about rising, Barb Hayward (my sister-in-law), Noreen Kennedy (my sister) and I boarded a plane headed to Albuquerque, NM. (Mary K. LaTempe -- also a sister-in-law -- joined us later in the day.)


Our mission? Find and procure vast amounts of jewelry, pottery and art while eating a steady supply of chips and salsa and drinking margaritas (on the rocks with salt, please).

Operation Geegaw was a wild success with much laughing during the procurement process.

Minimal purchases were made on Thursday due to fatigue and Barb's struggle with FBHD. (For an explanation, please see Karen Fitz). The troops were reenergized with lunch at the Church Street Cafe and dinner at Little Anita's. Barb also overcame her bout with FBHD with a Robitussan/vodka/Pepto elixir (custom brewed in the penthouse suite of the Monterrey Non-Smokers Motel).


On Friday, after again patronizing the Church Street Cafe, we achieved geegaw nirvana. Our "strategery" was to spend two hours at Skip Maisel's, another hour at The Palms, then tour Old Town in a blitz that can only be described as "shock and awe." Here is a small sampling of our shopping booty.




On Friday, we had a unique encounter with Chief NotACostume. He educated all of us about the differences between a costume and an outfit, for which I'm eternally grateful. (How did I live all these years without understanding the difference between a costume and an outfit?) During his ceremonial dance, he asked the Great Spirit for an Annie Oakley jacket just like mine, but to no avail.

On Saturday, the team began to fade. We drove to Santa Fe and, after a stop at the Cedar Grill (Barb, was that the name of it?) for the most delicious breakfast I've ever eated, we headed directly to Jackalope, which offers "fine Mexican folkart by the truckload." Group purchases were less than $100, I'm ashamed to say. From there we headed uptown to the Square, and, well, I can only say that Show & Tell was very short. We did laugh our way through dinner at Maria's Kitchen with discussions of "brumskis" and assorted other less-than-ladylike topics.



On Sunday, we started on the High Road to Taos. Taos was our ultimate destination, but first a stop in Chimayo for breakfast and some miracle dirt guaranteed to cure osteoporosis, FBHD, acid reflux, snoring, and sweet potatoe-itis.

• When we finally landed in Taos, we discovered first and foremost that my new Annie Oakley coat wasn't warm enough. In what I'm calling the "Great Coat Caper of 2006," I gave my coat to Barb, Barb gave her coat to Mary K, Mary K gave her coat...oh, that's right, she didn't bring a warm coat. Noreen was the only one to retain her original coat. While I was freezing, let me just state for the record, that I looked "way cool."

Prior to arriving in Taos, Noreen interrupted discussions of brumskis with a suggestion we start a new secret society called The Divine Secrets of the Sweet Potato Sisterhood. Much of the rest of the return trip to Santa Fe was consumed with an analysis of the pros and cons of such a group. After all was said and done, we decided to give the group a try, elected Jay as our new president and took an oath never to reveal the group's rites of initiation.

Ladies, I had a blast. Leave a comment with your favorite trip memory. Remember, others will be reading this, so be careful what you reveal.....Until next year, let me leave you with this photograhic memory (see left).

Home Sweet Home

In July, John and I moved into a new home on Katy Meadow Ct., a typical suburban home in one of those housing development I swore I'd never live in. You know the kind...the kind with a "name" chiseled into the stone wall at the entrance to the development. All the homes are painted in varying shades of tan, all the garages hold two cars and no one talks to their neighbor.

We moved here first and foremost out of convenience. The location is exactly halfway between John's and my job. What I've been surprised by is how much I enjoy the neighborhood. The people have been friendly. There are tons of noisy kids, which make the neighborhood feel alive. There's also a nice walking path that Halfpint and I make use of every morning.

So here I am in suburbia land. Our first task was to paint the outside of the house.
That required removing and painting shutters, painting trim and the garage door. Changed from a kelly green to warm earth tones. Turned out really nice and, as an added bonus, I learned that my husband is a little nervous at the top of a tall ladder.

Next we repainted the guest room and guest bath. We have some more work to do on the guest bath ( laying new vinyl tile, adding a new light) which we'll do later this month.

We had to peel a bunch of kids stickers off the guest room walls, followed by a bit of drywall repair. The walls are painted a cactus green. Here's a before and after of the guest room.

We also repainted the dining room a warm chocolate brown. Turned out so nice. We need a new chandalier and drapes, but those will be down the line, probably after the holidays. Photo to come at a later post

Our first BIG project is to put wood laminate downstairs. Neither one of us has done a project of that magnitude before...hope it doesn't lead to divorce :^)

Let us know what you think. Any tips on laying wood laminate would be appreciated.

Philadelphia Freedom

In early March we took a long weekend and headed to Philadelphia to visit John's daughter, Erin. It was my first trip to the birthplace of this country (Is that the official title?). We left Dayton early -- up by 3 a.m., packing the car at 4:15 a.m., standing at the airport longterm parking shuttle stop at 4:45 a.m. -- I felt like a fugitive stealing away in the middle of the night, banking on anonymity under cover of darkness.

To my surprise the flight was packed. Who goes anywhere at 6 a.m.? Except for the usual irritants (security just shy of a cavity search, weight limits on baggage so as not to burden the baggage handlers...after all it's all about the baggage handlers...no wonder that industry in going downhill), the flight was fine. One stop in Detroit where we walked the entire length of the Terminal B, and by noon we were in our hotel in downtown Phili.

After a turkey sandwich at the Independence Pub (grilled turkey with bacon and honey mustard on rosemary foccacia bread...it was excellent) we headed back to the hotel for a long nap. (John pointed out that right after I said, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep," I started snoring.

We headed to the gym only to find the jacuzzi out of order. That makes the second hotel we've stayed in where the jacuzzi wasn't working. Is it us? After showers, we walked the streets of Phili looking for a quaint restaurant, but no luck. We ended up at the Marriott and enjoyed two $12 glasses of wine apiece and chicken quesadillas. Hit the spot!

Since all my travels center around my appetite, I'll move right on to breakfast the next morning. We enjoyed crepes at Profi's Creperie in the Reading Terminal Market. What a cool place! That afternoon we headed to the Philadelphia Flower Show. It was spectacular with flower displays that defied imagination. Even if you're not much of a green thumb, it's an event worth seeing. Skip all the vendor stuff and check out the exhibitions. Anyway, Erin and her...what do I call him, Erin, boyfriend? Friend?...whatever, his name was Jaime and he was very nice. We hung out at the flower show, then headed over to Starbucks to catch up. We (John and I, Erin and Jaime) finished the evening with a jazz concert at the Art Museum and dinner at Friday's.

The next day John and Erin had breakfast to talk father-daughter stuff. I hung out at Starbucks and read the paper. My favorite vacation luxury. Erin headed home to study. John and I walked down to the historic district. We spent a couple of hours at the Constitution Museum. Also worth the investment of time and admission fee. There was a four mile line of people wanting to see the Liberty Bell and an equally long line to get into Independence Hall. We bagged it and headed down to the waterfront. We lingered over hors 'deorves and beers long enough to give our feet a break, then headed back to the hotel.

We loved all the rowhouses in the historic district and it got us talking again about moving downtown (Dayton, that is...). That's a whole other blog entry. Anyway, we finished with a dreadful dinner at the Hilton and called it a weekend. We were back home the next day by 11 a.m.

Philadelphia was a great town. I would definately go back.

Hocking Hills Honeymoon

Since our wedding was right after Christmas, John and I decided to postpone our honeymoon until January. A good plan in theory, but John's work schedule got crazy and for awhile it looked like we'd have to postpone the honeymoon until spring.

The very last weekend in January, John got three days off. We decided to reserve a place in Hocking Hills for a little R&R. We found Frontier Log Cabins on the Internet and booked it site unseen because it had a fireplace, a jacuzzi and an opening.

We were pleasantly surprised at the cabin. It was a rehabbed, one-room log cabin. Very small, but cozy. A gas fireplace heated the entire place. There was a loft bedroom, a small bathroom we dubbed "The Artic Circle," because the heat never seemed to get to that corner of the cabin, a tiny kitchen, a cozy couch and rocking chair in front of the fireplace, and a screened-in porch with the hot tub. It was so clean, you could literally have eaten on the floor.

When we first got there, we hiked the rim trail at Conkle's Hollow. John got a lot of great photos. After the hike, we retired to the hot tub for beer, guacamole and chips and a long, relaxing soak. The next day, we hiked from Ash Cave to Cedar Falls. We packed a picnic lunch, which we inhaled when we got to Cedar Falls. The walk back was long...We were a bit ambitious about our hiking abilities. The hot tub revived us. After showers, we headed to Laurelville and had dinner at the local diner, mostly because I was too tired to cook. I'd like to say we curled up in front of the fireplace and read, but, in actuality, we crashed about 9:30.

The next morning, I made french toast and mimosas to toast to one month of wedded bliss. After cleaning up, we decided to get in one more hot tub soak before we had to head home.

The weekend was lovely. The weather was unusually warm for January. My only disappointment? We didn't see very much wildlife. Oh well...we loved the cabin so much we decided to rent it again for a 4-day weekend in September. Hopefully, it will be warm enough to enjoy the glider on the front porch of the cabin. Maybe we'll even luck into some fall color. All for now.

The Wedding Day

I never dreamed that at age 46, I'd be planning a wedding. I'd pretty much given up hope of saying "I do," and why not? I'd been single my whole life and there were no prospects even on the distant horizon. Truthfully, I wasn't thrilled with the idea of being single forever, but it wasn't something I obsessed about either. Oh, I supposed it bothered me around the holidays, Valentine's Day, but for the most part, my life was full. I had family, a job I enjoy, good friends.

Funny, isn't it? It's always when you decide to stop worrying about something that everything seems to work out. I met John in October 2004. I'd known his family for years, and I'd met him once, although he doesn't remember. We met (again) because of his sister's dog, Arrow. Barb (John's sister) was going out of town and asked if I could dog sit Arrow. She'd already asked John if he could watch Arrow, but he wasn't available the whole week. Neither was I. So, John and I split the job and met when he came to pick up Arrow. We met, we talked, and that was it. (There were no real sparks...he showed up 45 minutes early and I had just gotten out of the shower. My hair was in a towel and I was wearing my favorite, 10-year old ratty green bathrobe. I was a vision of loveliness...NOT!)

Surprisingly, he called a couple of weeks later and asked me out. He had just moved back to Dayton after 20+ years in New Jersey. (He has never admitted this, but I think he was just calling anyone he thought would go out with him.) So, sure, I said, I'd love to go out to dinner. No immediate connection, but we had a lot in common. It wasn't long, however, after we started dating that I knew John was Mr. Right. We started talking about marraige in May and in September John proposed. (If I'd left it up to John, we would have been married sooner, but I had it in my head we needed to date for a year. Not sure why I was stuck on that, but, in retrospect, we both agree it was a good move.) We set the date for December 28, sold my house, had a gigantic garage sale, moved everything into his house and I took up temporary residence with my parents.

Maybe I'm not like most girls, but I hadn't really thought about what my wedding would be like. I didn't have any expectations. Maybe because of that, everything was perfect.

Everyone was able to make it home for Christmas and the wedding. The wedding festivities began December 23 with a girls-evening-of-beauty, organized by my sister-in-law, Karen. We spent Christmas Eve with John's family, Christmas day with mine, the day after Christmas with both families. Tuesday was the rehearsal dinner. It was lovely. And Wednesday was the big day.

Other than having a bit too much time on my hands Wednesday afternoon, the whole day was great. Everyone did their best to keep me distracted. John and I went to breakfast, my sister drove me to have my hair done, my other sister met me for lunch. I tried to walk around the mall, but I was too nervous...maybe because everyone was calling me to ask me if I was nervous. I had several hours to sit in my hotel room and think, worry, worry and worry some more. (I was nervous about crying uncontrollably during the ceremony.) I have to say the nerves got to me a lot more than I thought they would. Once I got to Benham's Grove and saw John in his tuxedo, I calmed down.

My neices had been praying for me in the days leading up to the wedding. Praying that I wouldn't breakdown in the middle of the ceremony is a puddle of tears. I confess, while I was flattered, I didn't believe the prayers would work. It was an amazing feeling...the minute the bagpiper started to play and dad and I walked down the steps, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm. God really showed up. Thanks to Shea and Laurel, my faith in prayer has been renewed.

The ceremony was brief, but the words were perfect. As soon as we were introduced as Erin and John Fitzharris, the party began. We had drinks, a delicious dinner and headed to the barn for the reception. We, as our caterer said, "danced ourselves silly." Every goofy song you ever hear at a wedding -- Hokey Pokey, the chicken dance, Shout, YMCA, Rocky Top -- we danced to it. Even my new husband, who insisted he couldn't dance, spent the better part of the evening on the dance floor. My brother-in-law, Bill, stole the show during "Rock Lobster." My other brother-in-law, Jay, danced with his tie on his head (we're still not sure what that was all about....). My nephew walked into a post and was out of commission for the rest of the evening. (We missed you, Murphy.) My other nephew, Jack, slept through most of the party. (That kid could sleep through anything.)

At the end of the evening, the limo picked us up, stopped at Starbuck's drive-thru, and headed to our hotel. John and I must have sat up for another hour, too wound up to sleep. It was all just perfect.

We were so grateful that everyone, with the exception of John's daughter, Kelly, was able to make it to the wedding. (Kelly joined us the day after the wedding.) John's daughter, Erin, was there. All his brothers, sisters, in-laws, nieces and nephews and his mom were there. (John's father, Jack, passed away in 2002. I'd say we wished he could have been with us, but we suspect he saw the whole thing.) My parents were there. All my siblings, their spouses and kids, even my aunt and uncle were there. We also had a few close friends who were able to come. Sharing that day with family and friends was what made it so special. We felt loved.

So, now I'm married. We didn't take a honeymoon until later in January. I'll save that for another post. Until later.