Mumble, mumble...

Well, that's the holidays for you I guess. Let's rewind...

We went to Montreal for American Thanksgiving, which I celebrated with an asthma attack. Of course, since I have them so rarely and since I've never had one up north, I hadn't even packed my inhaler. After about twelve hours, I finally got some help (narrowly avoiding a trip to the ER). That was an adventure I wouldn't care to repeat any time soon.

We returned to Montreal a few weeks later for our BIG family Christmas. Adam's Uncle Chris drove up and both my Mom and Dad flew up and joined us, so it was a full house and very nice to have everyone in the same place for a change. You may have seen reports of the crazy snowfall that hit the northeast between Christmas and the New Year... we got a healthy dose of that. Flights cancelled, roads a mess, aging parents flopping around in snow banks like turtles on their backs. Winter wonderland I tell you. In the end though, everyone made it home safe and sound and uninjured. Happy New Year!

Of course, I returned to work after two weeks away and immediately had to dive into some serious insanity. Our office hosted seven events in the first two weeks of January alone. My sleep schedule is only now recovering from that trauma, but I SURVIVED. Moving along now...

At the end of January, we headed BACK to Montreal (yes, again) for a wedding. It was great fun! The bride and groom were so obviously happy, grinning like mad and having a blast. We got to visit with old friends who we don't run into very often anymore and I got to meet some of the Mr.'s friends from "before my time" that I've never met despite having heard countless stories over the years.

At the end of this month, we will return to Montreal once again for a 20 year memorial of the death of the Mr.'s father. With family and friends traveling from all over the world to celebrate his life, it promises to be quite an event. Sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that he died only a couple of years before I met his son, who is now (and has been for nearly 18 years) my other half. I know so many small details about this man, and yet I know nothing because I never actually met him.

I think that will be enough travel to hold us for a little while. Other adventures await closer to home.

My Father, Fearless Wanderer

Occasionally we find cause to stop and think about the important people in our lives in a way we don't do every day. Like suddenly seeing the forest rather than just the trees. I don't remember what prompted it, but some time ago, I had one of those moments when thinking about my Dad. And the realization I had was that one of things I admire most about my Dad is his sense of adventure, and that adventure needn't mean bungee jumping or trekking in the Andes, but can be as simple as getting out of your comfort zone. Some of the ways he has mastered this include:

• wandering Dallas or any other place he happens to land in "just to see"
• traveling the state, the country and the world
• making new friends in a breath
• immersing himself fearlessly in new technologies (even if they bite him in the ass)
• trying new restaurants or just new menu items at frequent haunts
• taking pictures, endlessly taking pictures

I, on the other hand, am solidly planted in my personal comfort zone. I barely leave the house, to say nothing of leaving town. I can count on one hand the number of true friends I've made since leaving school (largely because I find socializing to be excruciatingly exhausting), the only time I ever try out a new technology is when the Mr. presents it to me ready to use and I generally do my best to avoid photo-ops out of instinct.

I have decided that I need to work harder to emulate some of of my Dad's sense of adventure. Making new friends is tricky, but I could certainly do better at keeping up with the ones I already have, which means actually setting a date on the calendar when a friend says "We should get together!" instead of just agreeing vaguely. I also should be buying tickets when I see an event I want to attend instead of just thinking about how fun it might be (the cemetery tour was my first effort here). One of my projects for this year was to get at least one photo of myself and the Mr. every month. So far, so good... we'll try to get a slideshow up for you after the New Year.

Mother's Day Out (A Day at the Races)

In other news, my Mom finally retired in June and she is enjoying it so much! When she came up for her yearly summer visit, we decided to surprise her with a retirement gift. Something many people do NOT know about my schoolteacher Mom... she has a serious lead foot. My Dad likes to tell the story about waking up while my Mom was driving a late night stretch through Kansas and looking over to see the speedometer over 100 mph. He was afraid she was asleep at the wheel, but she was just driving at a "comfortable" speed! I remember her mentioning on multiple occasions how she should have been a race car driver. When I was a kid, we called her Mommio Andretti.

Naturally, I decided the best way to kick off her retirement would be to put her in a REAL race car. After much combing of the Internetz, I found a racing school about an hour from our house that was offering a variety of racing experiences during her scheduled visit. Of course when I went to make a reservation, there were a few points on the form that gave me pause (namely the reminder that she would need to crawl through the car window, iffy knees and all). I decided it would be in everyone's best interest to spoil the surprise, so we told Mom what we were planning and she got the all-clear from her doctor.

My Mom is usually pretty reserved but she was so excited, and she obviously had so much fun. Adam designed a super cool Tshirt and we had it printed for her to wear for her race. The workers at the race school thought she and her shirt were pretty cool! There was a nice young man who basically picked her up and slid her through the car window and her driver went faster than all the other cars on the track. She even got a professional photo of herself in the car, mounted on a keepsake plaque. She had an absolute BLAST and we had a great time watching her!

Smells of Summer

As I was walking to my car tonight, I walked into a wall of the aroma of woodsmoke and barbeque. The air was warm and humid, but the promise of a cooler evening was there. And suddenly, there were so many memories. Family gatherings, cookouts, summer camp and bonfires. Wow.

And I wonder, how much effort did my parents put into creating those memories? How much planning, and scheduling and arranging did that require? And where did they get the energy?

I hope there comes another time in my life when I am surrounded by family and close friends. When parties and gatherings seem effortless, not exhausting. When I have the energy to do more than just recover from my day at work.

Whoa.

Sorry about that. It's been a busy summer. Let me recap:

Memorial Day Weekend at Mirbeau (where we had our honeymoon)
Visit to Montreal to see Prue's first solo painting exhibition
Mom & Prue both came to us for a visit
We celebrated our second wedding anniversary
I travelled to Baltimore for a conference for work
I went to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my friend Heidi
Adam returned to Montreal for another visit
We joined our first CSA - split with Bethany & Joe
Many weeds were pulled, by many different people
There were picnics & BBQs with friends
We had a very cute brown bunny in our backyard
Rochester got a second Chipotle
Adam installed lights, ceiling fan and baseboards in the attic
The attic is finished to the point that we started moving furniture up!

I hope you have all been enjoying your summer, keeping well and thriving! I'll try to be a little more reliable with the posting from now on.

EEP! It's Spring!

Egads, when did that happen?!

This is a tree that I pass by between the parking lot and my office. We've had a very short and not particularly cold winter, and since the time change means more sunlight after 5 o'clock, I've been able to walk outside instead of using the tunnels to get around on campus. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this tree over the next month or so, and maybe even the rabbits that hang out in its vicinity.

Today was the first weekend day that was warm and dry enough to get out and start clearing the winter debris from the garden, so I got to work. One passing neighbor wished me a "Happy First Day of Spring", and I have to say it came as a shock. Not that she spoke to me (because she usually does), but that it really was the first day of spring. My garden is running about a month ahead of schedule, so I'm already behind!

In other news:

My job is going well. I've been there for just over a year now, and I'm still so glad I made the jump. My boss is out on maternity leave, so I'm looking forward to getting some time off when she returns in June...

Adam has been absolutely swamped with work, so much so that we haven't had much time for working on his new office space. We're getting some new windows installed in a couple of weeks, so perhaps that will motivate us to put in the finishing touches... we're so close!

Mom is doing well, recovering her spirit. She's seeming much more like her old self lately. Daddy has retired again, and taken off on a tour of unpronounceable locations in southeast Asia.

I believe I may have mentioned in the past that every time the Mr. goes out of town, Mother Nature takes a swipe at me. Usually it's a major snowstorm, a blackout, a flooded basement, a bat invasion... this time, she ran under the wheels of my car. I hit my first animal last night... a skunk. OF COURSE it would be a skunk! I did manage to come to a stop, so I didn't hit him very hard. I was pretty traumatized at the moment, but since I was on a highway ramp, I figured I needed to move on. As I drove away, I saw him in my rearview mirror, running off into the bushes. I'm guessing he was OK in spite of the incredible stink he left on my car. I felt so sorry for the poor kid at the car wash this morning...

The Christmas That Wasn't

At least, it wasn't what we were planning...

It started so well, too. We had our shopping done, gifts wrapped, vacation days saved up. We breezed through the first two days of highway with nothing more than a light drizzle, and arrived in Oklahoma City right on schedule. The photo was taken from our hotel window the next afternoon (Christmas Eve). If you own a TV and turned it on around Christmas, you probably know where this is going. Bless their hearts, Oklahoma City just isn't equipped to deal with fourteen inches of snow in an afternoon.

We were fortunate in a number ways.

• My Mom had decided, at the last minute, to stay at the hotel with us. 
• We decided to brave the blizzard to pick up our pre-ordered Christmas dinner (we had volunteered to bring the turkey, stuffing & mashed potatoes) just in case the roads would be clear the next day. 
• We actually made it back to the hotel with the food. 
• Our hotel room had a fridge & microwave.
• We did not require a tow truck after all.
• We were able to get out of town and down to Dallas almost on schedule.
• We had no trouble getting to Ponca City to visit Uncle Herb, who had driven through the storm after his flight home from Chicago was cancelled.

We won't dwell on the ways in which we were unfortunate. It could have been so much worse, and it was for so many people that were not as lucky as we were.

OH! And those wacky Canadian sunflower seed flavors? They sell them in Oklahoma City, too.

Happy Turkey Day!

I am thankful for (aside from the obvious):

• the improvement in my career path in the light of the recent economy
• the excellent doctors who have helped/healed our respective families
• a year of many visits and reconnection with old friends
• the prospect of going home for the holidays for the first time in too many years
• Chipotle (yes.. you were saying?)

There's plenty more, but I gotta go pick up some guacamole at Malibu. Thank you Malibu!

Happy... Let's Just Say, I'm Glad You Were Born

To all you lovely people who didn't get a birthday card this year - Happy Birthday! Yes - I missed virtually every birthday on my calendar this year. Even my parents' birthdays were late. I'm sorry.

This is really embarrassing, but I still haven't quite adjusted to working Monday to Friday, 9-5. The rhythm of it just hasn't become natural yet. I just don't understand how everyone else manages to get stuff done after business hours or on the weekend! I have spent my entire adult life working the weirdest, off-balance schedules and just taking care of Life between the hours of 10am and 3pm. Usually on Tuesday and Thursday. Who knew Salvation Army is closed on Sunday?!

I'm not entirely sure why this has so affected my ability to remember birthdays, except perhaps that one thing that I actually have gotten used to (aside from dinner at home with the Mister AT DINNERTIME) is using the Outlook Calendar to remind me when to do everything but blink. No excuse, but a viable explanation at any rate.

I need to get iPhone to remind me of upcoming birthdays 10 days in advance, and then go buy the card. And the stamps. There must be an app for that...

It Can't be Summer Because I'm Not Sweating

So, yeah... it's been awhile. Sorry about that. We'll just call this a quick update before I head off to a BBQ at a friend's house (woo-hoo BBQ!).

My Dad stayed for about a week and even bought himself a new Old Car before he left. I believe "Daisy" has now made it safely to Texas where she is acclimating to the heat. A few days after my Dad's departure, my Mom & Adam's Mom (henceforth to be referred to as the gardeners-in-law) met up at our house for a few days worth of gardening. And there was much gratitude in the air. I haven't been out there since, but it is still massively improved! They got out almost every sprout of fennel (can I get an A-men?) and did a truly heroic amount of weeding and pruning. We got the weeping [read: falling over] cypress tied upright again, and eliminated a couple of renegade rosebushes that had popped up in the middle of other shrubs. Four - count 'em FOUR - 4.5 foot deep wheelie bins full of weeds and trimmings. *whew*

The bat exclusion people finished setting up, so now we just wait a couple of months and then they come back, take off the valves and seal up the holes. Yay - no more bats! For those who are unaware, they identify the major bat entrances/exits and place one-way valves over them so the bats can get out but not back in. They seal up all other potential entrances and wait. The bats leave to get food and are trapped outside the house. No chemicals, no dead animals, no guilt. I'm sure there's another house somewhere in the neighborhood they can get into...

Adam narrowly escaped having to make a short notice trip to Nigeria. The company he does most of his contracting with wanted him there for almost a month! Lucky for me, the logistics just didn't work out. I have filed my request for him to please not go to Nigeria again. I think my odds are fairly good on that one.

Last week, I went to lovely Chapel Hill, NC, for my first business conference - ABSAP, the Association of Business School Alumni Professionals. I wasn't sure what to expect, as the only conference I've been to before was NCECA. It was certainly different (50 people instead of 2000 - membership is limited to top tier schools), but it was actually quite fun and gratifyingly educational. The group has an amazing spirit of sharing and camaraderie that was somewhat unexpected. I guess it makes sense though, as we all do the same work, face the same challenges, share the same goals for our institutions and yet are not in any real competition. We are all trying to better engage our own alums, for the improvement of our school communities. If I haven't mentioned it before now, I absolutely LOVE being able to feel good about what I do.

Now it's back to work, but with the addition of drywallers coming to finish our attic so Adam can have better space for his office! Yay - office! We planned to do this when we bought the house three years ago, and it's only just now becoming a reality. The previous owner had started the drywalling and Adam has done a ton of work up there in preparation for this point, so once the rest of the drywall is done, it's just woodwork, paint and carpet. The picture above is the "now", and I'll post some during and after shots as we move forward.

The driveway has already been given fair warning that it is next on my list.

Take THAT You Turkey (or Season's Greetings from the Christmas Plague Rat)!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (almost)! We had a wonderful visit with Adam's folks, as well as his Uncle Chris and my Dad. Daddy wins the Christmas Trials & Tribulations Award for spending the night in Chicago O'Hare airport with three pounds of frozen tamales and no phone charger when his connecting flight to Rochester was cancelled. AND THEN his flight out today was cancelled - so we'll be seeing him off at 4:30 this morning instead. Standing ovation please!

And... WhaBAM! Turkey chili! Courtesy of the Houston law firm Whoosie, Whatsit & Thingimie - the world's cutest little cajun spiced turkey was delivered to our door amongst the holiday loot. The thing that amazed me was that the six of us did not polish it off Christmas Day! So less than 24 hours after Christmas dinner - I used the left-overs to make chili to go with the fabulous tamales Daddy brought along from Dallas. Mmmmmm...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers, y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

So the Mr. has been working in up Montreal for longer than I care to contemplate, and lucky for me, I had the forethought MANY weeks ago to request off several days in a row so that I might attend Canadian Thanksgiving for a change. So, new tires on the little Golf, and off I trundled on Friday... up I81 and across the 401, in a blaze of glory. It was beyond lovely to see Adam, and to NOT be at the bookstore. We had turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes, courtesy of Malibu. I even made cheese grits. I think the cranberry sauce may have eaten a hole in my tongue...

There is really no adequate segue... so I will just say that Monday morning, Adam's step-dad Jim had a small stroke. We are thankful that it was a small stroke. We are thankful that Prue noticed something was not right. We are thankful that he agreed to go to the hospital. We are thankful that he is OK.

I am home now, sans husband.

Song of the Daffodil

We don't have a release date for our upcoming album, but we've got a rockin' cover shot (courtesy of photographer Tiffany Webb)!

ONE MORE DOWN!

We completed one more room in the house today! The guest room is officially ready for occupation! Many thanks to the generous family members who gifted us with credit at Lowe's (not to mention furniture and carpets). The kitchen (pictured in the next post) and the new guest bedroom have been the primary beneficiaries of your largesse. Note the distinct absence of mint green and royal blue...

Thank you!

Ponca City, USA

And we return for another visit to Ponca City, home of the Rains clan and the Pioneer Woman! It was a full house this time, with friends Rick and Malin visiting from Sweden as well. We were greeted on our arrival by live music pouring out of 221 N Oak. There were 3 guitars, one bass guitar and one harmonica rockin' the house, and an appreciative audience spread round the house and out on the porch.

We spent a lovely evening catching up with Herb & Margareta and getting to know Rick and Malin. Herb grilled up some steaks, and we did a bit of reminiscing and some wedding planning. Sunday was Herb's birthday, and there was a big celebration with BBQ ribs and deep fried turkey and all manner of sinful indulgences. We even got to do some sight-seeing!

In the picture above you may just catch sight of the Braum's cup...

At some time in the past, I introduced Adam to the Sonic Cherry Limeade, and he was hooked. Oddly enough, every time we stopped for one of these special treats, I was vaguely disappointed by the experience. Something always seemed to be missing. So when we passed the Braum's here in Ponca City, and I recalled the Cherry Limeades of my childhood, I knew Adam needed to try one. EPIPHANY! That's what was missing - I didn't grow up on Sonic, I grew up on Braum's! We'd been drinking the wrong Cherry Limeade! Much like the burgers at Johnnie's, if you get to this part of the world, you've got to try the Braum's Cherry Limeade - you won't be sorry!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE HERB!

Our short stay in Ponca City coincided with Herb's 64th birthday, and Margareta made a carrot cake for the party, much to Adam's surprise and delight!

Visiting with the Adams Family

As we are now wrapping up our trip, we headed to Oklahoma City to spend some time with my Mom's family. Friday afternoon, Adam and my mother and I picked my grandmother up, and we all went to meet up with the other Adams girls (Aunts Lele & Junel, and cousins Annia and Allison). Whenever we manage to get all of us in town at once, we get a professional photo taken, and this was one of those times! We had beautiful weather, so we went for an outdoor session at Daffodil Hill. Adam took advantage of the light and got some shots of his own (see above). I'll post one of the pro shots when we get them.

We followed our photo shoot with a visit to Johnnie's, and a life sustaining Cheese Theta with Bacon and Onion Rings. If you ever go to OKC, GO TO Johnnie's! The best burger you will ever find, from the plain and simple to the Ceasar Burger and the Theta. We topped off our evening with some of the tastiest gellato I've ever encountered (at Giovanni's, tee hee!). Who'da thunk, in OKC?

Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast with Mr. Adams himself - my mother's father. He took us to Beverly's Pancake Corner, the home of "Chicken in the Rough". No idea what that means exactly... but they have a stuffed chicken on top of the bakery case. And by stuffed, I mean a taxidermy victim and mascot, feathers and all. Can't speak to the chicken, but they made my poached eggs just EXACTLY (I refuse to make that pun) the way I like them.

Hit the Starbucks in the parking lot, and it's off to Ponca City!

THERE'S NOTHING WRETCHED ABOUT IT!

The excess that is...

As you can see from the photo above, we had an EXCESSively lovely Christmas here on Raeburn Ave. Prue and Jim made the trip down, and Prue's brother (aka Uncle Chris) came over from Pittsfield, Mass. This was our first time to do Christmas in our very own house, so it was particularly special. It was a RAWTHER grand affaire which began with a delightful selection of imported cheeses (one of which went straight in the bin after I smelled it, eewww nasty foot medicine smell, eeewwww I AM NOT eating that!), various olives and crudite (and rather a lot of wine), followed by the exchange of many lovely gifts and a fine meal catered by the elite Pittsford Wegmans. Dessert was courtesy of our many lovely friends who bake, featuring the elusive Martel cookie. Daddy assures me that David slaved over those cookies, and boy are they worth every calorie! We rounded things off with a rousing "Cracker Concerto" of Christmas carols (so sad, no recording was made...) before the visitors returned to their hotel (by which you can read that the guest room is still a work in progress).

David, if you're reading this, we need more Martels!

BBQ in Flower Mound

During our visit, Erlann (Kelly’s mother) organized a BBQ to celebrate the engagement and help me get to know some of Kelly’s extended family. Since we were a bit of a crowd, Barry and Susan kindly hosted the event at their lovely home in Flower Mound, TX. So many Texas towns seem to have interesting, quirky names. Mind you, I come from Quebec where people thought nothing of naming a community St. Polycarpe or St. Louis de Haha…so quirky may just be a matter of perspective.

I was a little anxious before we arrived but everyone was so gracious and friendly that, before long, I felt right at home. Erlann was even kind enough to make labeled hats so I could learn everyone's name with a minimum of embarrassment. At any rate, between the wonderful company, delicious food, and Barry’s potent margaritas, Kelly and I got some much needed relief from the frenetic pace of our visit.

Check out the photos on our Flickr page.