A wild Irish rose?

On Sunday I practiced with the new camera and went on a photo shoot in the backyard. Just trying to have a bit of fun.

My question is, does anyone know what kind of blossom this is?

Looks like a rose, doesn't it?

Summer Sunday afternoon

This is Homer driving us home Sunday afternoon through the Litchfield hills.
Like the Hawaiian-style shirt, ladies?

We stopped for pizza, salad, and a glass of grape for dinner.


And to the right ----------->
Ta-da!
It's Kid One and Kid Two at camp.

That boy, our very own generic humanoid carbon unit (see wording on T-shirt) never wants to smile for photos.
Grrrr, says me.

Empty nest, temporarily

Homer and I are home alone.
The children are at camp, he's out of work and I work from home.

To top it off we even lost our kitty cat last month. So he's not here to keep us company in his soft and furry way.
So we are really alone.

Until Saturday.

Tar-jay

Yep, our shiny new red bull's-eye store is now open. It's only 1.8 miles from our house. Yippee!
The opening is fast becoming one of the highlights of my summer, outside of blogging.

I am not as organized as I used to be, because I ended up having to go there twice in one afternoon.
First I went with Kid One, who needed stuff for a week at camp. Then, surprise, surprise, for Kid Two, who also needed stuff for a week at camp.
She's already there and Kid Two and I are waiting for Ralph to get back from driving up hill and over dale (or is that down dale?) from taking her there.
And we are in the middle of a thunderstorm. Loud stuff and lightning.
Bye for now...

Off to camp they go ...

After tomorrow Ralph and I are going to be alone, sans kids, all week.
Whatever shall we do?

Kid Two is going to enjoy his last opportunity to be a conferee at the church-run camp (he'll be too old next summer) and Kid One is going to be an assistant counselor. She just found out Thursday that there is an opening. Everything is always last minute, it seems.

She's going there this afternoon and he's going tomorrow...It's way out in the country and kind of a long ride, up hill and down dale.

Then it will be just us.

A review of a review

A review I read the other day got me thinking about the end of time. Heavy, huh?
Not just my end of time, the end for all of us who fall under the category of homo sapiens.
In his book, "The World Without Us," Alan Weisman apparently paints a picture of what the world would be like without humanity here. I say apparently because I haven't read the book, just a review.
He talks about how cities and their infrastuctures would quickly fall victim to nature - plants and animals, rain and more. A people-free world would flourish, Weisman says. I don't want to plagiarize and quote directly from the review I read, but it sounds fascinating.
If I had the inclination (time, energy) I would read this tome.

What comes to mind here is a simple phrase, plucked from a long-ago TV commercial for margarine: "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

Because we all know who gets "fooled" in the end.

The living end

I got this in an e-mail yesterday from a co-worker who forwards all these jokes as soon as she gets them ...

A married couple was in a terrible accident where the
man's face was severely burned.
The doctor told the husband that they couldn't graft any skin from his body because he was too skinny. So the wife offered to donate some of her own skin.
However, the only skin on her body that the doctor felt was suitable would have to come
from her buttocks.
The husband and wife agreed that theywould tell no one about where the skin came from, and they requested that the doctor also honor their secret. After all, this was a very delicate matter.
After the surgery was
completed, everyone was astounded at the man's new face. He looked more handsome than he ever had before!
All his friends and relatives just went on and on about his youthful beauty. One day, he was alone with his wife, and he was overcome with emotion at her sacrifice.
He said, "Dear, I just want to thank you for everything you did for me.How can I possibly repay you?"
"My darling," she replied, "I get all the thanks I need every time I see your mother kiss you on the cheek."
~
(P.S. I made up the headline :-P)

Can't be a snob and do this job

Recent stories I've had published range from a feature about an English Springer Spaniel who works as a therapy dog to a senior citizen who has sketched all the U.S. Presidents and First Ladies. I've recently covered the grand opening of a farmer's market and a bedding store. And a lot of miscellaneous slices of life in between.

Welcome to my world.

Yesterday I was reading a post buried in a blogger's archival matter and the subject of snobbery reared its ugly head.
I would like to think that even if I were affluent, or semi-affluent, (whatever that is!) I would never be a snob.
A former colleague always said the best way to approach our job is to not have preconceived notions about a subject. We need to try to understand all kinds of people and their occupations and avocations.
I think, at least I hope, I have an open mind.
Sometimes what seem to be the silliest subjects evolve into stories that draw the most plaudits and attention.

My technique is to ask just a few questions, which quickly makes interviewees relax.
When they realize I'm not there to grill them they will inevitably tell me all kinds of tidbits, both on and off the record.
And that can be interesting.

Fitness factor escalates

Guess I'm not up to blogging. I just may have too many topics on my mind and can't sift through them to focus on something about which to write.
Anyway, I got this as part of an e-mail full of silly photos yesterday. The caption was "Only in America." I've seen it before, and maybe you have too.
;-)

Give me a ring when you get a chance

Yesterday for the most part I used the computer for what I absolutely had to do for work. I wrote a story about a new homeless shelter. Kid 1 took a photo of it Sunday and I sent it in with my story. At least our new camera is coming in handy. As you can probably tell, I work for free. Well, it seems like it. I work for bylines, I guess.

Yesterday I literally had a pain in the neck and it hurt to sit here.
So I rested my neck and it felt better this morning. Until, that is, I sat down here a while ago and started using the computer.
Not happy.

But never fear. I'm still here.
Waiting for people to return my calls.

The big news (at least the positive news) is that our fair city is getting a Target downtown and it's officially opening this afternoon. I'm not covering it for the paper. But I did cover the opening of a bedding store last week across the way from Target. It's an exciting life, believe me.

C'mon phone, ring.

I think it's the chair

I had to limit my blogging time yesterday because of an achin' neck. I only sat for a while and commented on OPBs (other peoples' blogs) and then relinquished the computer to Ralph.

At the moment I am typing standing up, because it takes the pressure off my neck.

The old manual wheelchair I've been using has lost its luster. I will have to sit here later on today to work, so I had better find another chair. Maybe a wooden kitchen chair will do the trick.

The plot thickens

Kid 2 was at the library again today for the murder mystery movie they're filming. He's behind the camera. I saw a few scenes on the computer, as they were reviewing their work.

The fictional victim is the children's librarian. Poor Kathi.
In an interesting twist, I just learned the murder weapon of choice is none other than today's release: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

How's that for timely?

He can 'splain it better

For an update on Ralph's job interview, click here.

As soon as he gets out of bed, Kid 2 and I will be off to buy the final Harry Potter tome...

Driveway update

Ralph recently rolled down the ramp (like the alliteration?) and confronted the aforementioned turn-around in our driveway guy. (See Tuesday's post).

"Sir!" Ralph yelled, to get his attention. "Do you have to keep turning around in our driveway?"

"No," the young man replied.

"I'd appreciate that," said Ralph as he rolled back up the ramp.

Now I'm wondering what the fallout will be. If he even tells our neighbors.

The library files

Following the quiet success of their 2004 film, "The Teens are Up to Something," some local teens are making another 20-minute movie, this one a murder mystery.
And, as an interesting side note for you former librarians (you know who you are) both films take place in a library. And the victim is ... you guessed it.

The reason why these films are near and dear to my heart is because Kid 2 is a valuable member of the crew. He and another boy, who is about a year older, have been involved in both.
Now they have some younger ones (12 and13-ish) to work with, and the two of them are more or less in charge (with guidance from the children's librarian).

I like the idea of a murder mystery "in the stacks." I wonder what would set someone off enough in a library to push them to murder?
Overdue books? Crabby librarians? Too much whispering among patrons?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Guess I will have to wait until the movie comes out.

Feline fun

Must be nice to have so many lives!

Hoping this will be a good day

Today Ralph has an interview for a temporary job.
He has been out of work for almost a month and could definitely use a new challenge. And it would keep him busy and out of the stores. (He likes to shop).

With his years of experience I know it's something he can do.

Think good thoughts for us, dear friends.

A wonderful surprise ~

When I got up this morning I was thrilled to learn that the one and only Empress Bee had honored me with the Thoughtful Blogger Award.
That was thoughtful of her. I'm not being facetious. I know Miss Bee knows lots o' bloggers! This is a prestigious award and I am indeed touched.


Miss Bee received the award from Sandee at Comedy Plus, and now I am going to have to pick five bloggers who inspire me...stay tuned.
The qualifications for Thoughtful Blogger status are (to cut and paste from Sandee's blog) :

For those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping others bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.

For the award rules, please go visit Sandee.

My choices are: the lovely Lynn at A Tired Mama; her cousin, Ina, The Moose Buyer; her royal highness, Mimi, Queen of Memes; that loveable geek, Sari; and Michael C, who writes volumes about nothing worthwhile.
I believe I did this right. If not, someone will let me know. I hope.

Moi, 11 months

I think I showed signs of having been born with the anxiety gene even at the tender age you see here. ------->
As I grew, so did my anxiety. It's almost as big as I am now.
That's one reason I love to blog. It lets me release some of those anxious feelings. And I don't have to say anything out loud.

I can write about anything or nothing and anybody can read it and comment, or maybe decide not to comment.

I figure if my husband can put his high school yearbook picture on his blog, I can put a baby picture on mine.

Simon Sez don't turn here

Are Ralph and I making a mountain out of a molehill?
The problem is a guy who visits a girl next door, who is home from college for the summer. He's her boyfriend, I guess.
For some reason he drives down the street, automatically pulls into our driveway and then pulls up in front of her house.
And for some reason this has started to get to me and Ralph. We have never met this young man, but his behavior has gotten under our collective skin.

We don't live on a dead-end, and there is no reason why he cannot take an alternate route so he would be able to pull up in front of the neighbor's house - without needing to turn around in our driveway.
What tore it for Ralph is when this young man's friend, who was driving a commercial truck, turned around here the other day right before he did. It's like the guy had told his friend what to do before they came down the street.

Last weekend Ralph started parking his tan barn, I mean full-size Ford Club Wagon, at the very end of our short driveway to make it difficult to turn around in.
But this guy found a way. Since my car wasn't parked at the end of the driveway he had just enough room to pull in and back out and then pull in front of the neighbor's house.
Kid Two said we should get some traffic cones and line them up at the end of the driveway.

We have never turned around in our neighbor's driveway, nor have our guests.
This probably sounds petty. We are otherwise easy-going folks. We play well with others. We get along with our neighbors. We wave and smile.
But his driving habits irk us.
Update - At 5:05 p.m. I was standing at the stove making dinner (a rarity) and out of the corner of my eye I saw a red car pulling into the driveway! It was him! Ralph isn't home so with no van blocking him he had all kinds of room to turn around.

Just for fun

Got this in an e-mail today:

Three nuns were attending a hockey game and three men were sitting directly behind them.
Because their habits were partially blocking the view, the men decided to badger the nuns, hoping that they'd get annoyed enough to move to another area.
In a very loud voice, the first guy said, "I think I'm going to move to Utah. There are only 100 nuns living there."
The second guy said, "I want to move to Montana. There are only 50 nuns living there."
The third guy said, "I want to go to Idaho. There are only 25 nuns living there."

One of the nuns turned around, looked at the men, and in a very sweet and calm voice said, "Why don't you go to hell. There aren't any nuns there."

Drawing on talent

On Friday I interviewed a senior citizen who has spent the last 20 years sketching portraits all of the U.S. Presidents and their First Ladies.
Except of course for James Buchanan, who never married. So instead he sketched Buchanan's niece, Harriet. She served as the White House hostess, I later learned.

The framed likenesses, now on public display, were remarkably well done...all in pencil.
For the Presidents, I thought he did a great job with Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower and 41.
As for the First Ladies, he really captured Eleanor Roosevelt and Nancy Reagan.

Such a gift, to be able to come up with recognizable sketches like that freehand.

Me, I just doodle. ~<~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~>~

Money is just a tool, he tells me - Part 2

As anyone who knows my husband and me is aware, we love each other and actually think alike much of the time. Safe to say we get along well, like two peas in a pod.
Having gotten those niceties out of the way, I will press on.
Ralph is currently unemployed, yet he just purchased a camera for the four of us to enjoy. EEK.
I admit it's very nice. It's a Canon. I tried it out. I like. And the old one was not working well at all any more.
Here is a photo taken this morning of our first tiger lily of the summer.
Usually they bloom in early August...

I am trying to take this unemployment status in my stride. We've been down this road before and survived.
But if it were up to me, I wouldn't have plunked down $$$ right now for a camera.
But that's just me.

A truly fine actor

I just discovered what a great actor the late George C. Scott was.
Boy, am I late to this party!

Last night I happened on the 1971 film "The Hospital" on TV and couldn't stop watching it because of Scott's performance. It's a black comedy complete with murder, mystery and romance.
Scott plays a surgeon whose life is coming apart at the seams. He is estranged from his wife and two children. His life is his job, serving as chief of medicine at a New York City teaching hospital.
He drinks heavily and attempts suicide.

The hospital where he practices is also coming apart at the seams. Several staff members are found dead in a short period of time.
British actress Diana Rigg is in the movie. I remember her from her days playing Emma Peel on "The Avengers."

So now that I saw this movie, the next logical step would be to rent another one starring George C. Scott, wouldn't you say?
"Patton" and "Dr. Strangelove" come to mind.

Missing our furry gray guy

Yesterday marked a month since we said farewell, quite unexpectedly, to our Humphrey. He didn't seem sick.
Ralph and I think it was the tainted cat food recalled last spring that slowly did him in. He had his prescription dry food from the vet, but he always wanted some wet stuff as well.

Humphrey was only about 9 years old. Since he was an indoor cat, we mistakenly believed he had many good years ahead of him grooming, purring, napping and watching the birds and squirrels. And of course getting "high" on the occasional catnip treat.

I see him all the time out of the corner of my eye. I was so used to him sitting by his bowl, or the pantry, to give me a hint it was time for something.
When I sat here at the computer he would stop by to say hi, never failing to give me the ol' fluffy tail swish against my legs.

I miss you, Humphrey. We all do.

Important info for fellow bloggers...

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

More meme-ing

Mimi, that member of blog royalty who is always writing beautiful prose, tagged me to do a meme that I believe I already did, but since I am avoiding work, I figure why not.

We are supposed to look up our date of birth on Wikipedia and find three events, two births and a holiday that happened on that date.
I'm a Capricorn and was born on Dec. 29 sometime during the last century.

Event #1 - British soldiers burn Buffalo, N.Y. in the War of 1812, even though this event was on Dec. 29, 1813.

Event # 2 - In 1851, the first American YMCA was established in Boston. Three years later, The Village People got together and recorded their huge hit, "Y.M.C.A." OK, maybe not.

Event # 3 - In 1921, William Lyon Mackenzie King became Prime Minister of Canada. Interesting, a king as prime minister.

Two Births: Actress Mary Tyler Moore, 1936, and singer Marianne Faithfull, 1946.

Holiday: It's right between Christmas and New Year's, isn't that enough?

I shall tag Joan, Lynn, Moose, Ralph and Curmudgeon, Esq.

Take the top name off the list and bump everyone up so that yours can be added to the bottom.
Here's the list:

108th

Starrlight

Big Leather Couch


Mimi Writes


Late Bloomer Boomer

Friends, I hope you do the meme even though you may have possibly, probably, no doubt done it before.

Wow. Two posts this afternoon. And I thought I was having a dry spell.

Nothing to say on a humid day

Never realized I knew how to schmooze...
Always did know that I could snooze.

With me please don't get bored
Joan won't give me another award

Because, don't you see
It's all about me.

And when I have nothing to post
And instead just give up the ghost

I hope you don't care
'Cause I'm not really all there.

Got this in an e-mail ~

Little Bruce and Jenny are only 10 years old, but they just know they are in love. One day they decide that they want to get married, so Bruce goes to Jenny's father to ask him for her hand. Bruce bravely walks up to him and says "Mr. Smith, me and Jenny are in love and I want to ask you for her hand in marriage."

Thinking that this was just the cutest thing, Mr. Smith replies, "Well, Bruce, you are only 10. Where will you two live?"

Without even taking a moment to think about it, Bruce replies "In Jenny's room. It's bigger than mine and we can both fit there nicely."

Still thinking this is just adorable, Mr. Smith says with a huge grin,
"Okay then how will you live?You're not old enough to get a job. You'll need to support Jenny."

Again, Bruce instantly replies, "Our allowances, Jenny makes 5 bucks a week and I make 10 bucks a week. That's about 60 bucks a month and that should do us just fine."

By this time Mr. Smith is a little shocked that Bruce has put so much thought into this. He thinks for a moment trying to come up with something that Bruce won't have an answer to.

After a second, Mr. Smith says, "Well Bruce, it seems like you have got everything all figured out. I just have one more question for you. What will you do if the two of you should have little ones of your own?"

Bruce just shrugs his shoulders and says, "Well, we've been lucky so far."

Mr. Smith no longer thinks the little shit is adorable.

History lesson

Yesterday I covered an always popular fund-raising tea for our local historical society. Entertainment was a one-woman play, and an actress from Massachusetts kept the crowd spellbound with her portrayal of Elizabeth Blackwell.

"Now class, who can tell me who Elizabeth Blackwell was?"

"Yes, Joan, I see you back there waving your hand in the air. Why don't you tell us who she was and why a play has been written about her life story?"

To be continued ...

Firing offense

A friend forwarded this to me today:
For the last company picnic, management decided that, due to liability issues, we could have alcohol, but only one (1) drink per person.

I was fired for ordering the cups.

Moi? a schmoozer?

Today I must thank my blog friend Joan
for bestowing the Power of Schmooze Award on me. Gee, I never knew when I started this blogging back in January that I would be getting awards. Pretty nifty, I daresay.

I would like to honor Mimi, the Queen of Memes, Michael C, the King of Fun Reads (I just made that up) and Sari (Geek woman) for the award. I would have honored Lynn (Joan's sister) and Empress Bee but Joan beat me to it.

The award, borrowing from Joan, was created over at Ordinary Folk. Again, borrowing from Joan who borrowed from Linda (who honored her) who borrowed from award creator Mike, here is what the award entails: (hope that all made sense)

Schmoozing as defined by Dictionary.com is the ability "to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection." When it comes to blogging, schmoozing is your ticket to making new friends, getting yourself noticed and building a reputation. Some bloggers are gifted with the ability to effectively schmooze and others not so much. My new friend Danielle and I would like to recognize those bloggers who exhibit strong schmoozing skills. In order to do so we've created the new Power of Schmooze award!

Getting less tolerant

Today I observed two incredibly stupid drivers. Or maybe I am just losing patience with stupidity.

The first incident happened when this young girl driving a big SUV flies into a parking space near me while simultaneously talking on her cell phone and holding a cigarette.
She must have been controlling the steering wheel with her knees. Such talent.

Then when Ralph was driving I notice this guy coming around a curve toward us driving an old mini-van with the left-hand slider open behind him. I must admit I have never seen this done before.
Granted it's close to 90 degrees here in Connecticut today, and his A/C must be broken, but there was a passenger in the back seat. It just looked incredibly stupid. And dangerous.

Maybe I am just being too critical.

Overcoming the overwhelming

This afternoon my husband, Ralph, and I went to a picnic sponsored by a local group that advocates for disabled children. Although made up mostly of parents, it is starting to broaden its horizons to include other members of the community.

The reason why we were invited is because the founder of the group, a woman with an autistic son who is 16, asked me to serve on the organization's board of directors. I've never served on a board of directors before, and I was honored to be asked. This energetic and accomplished woman also has four (!) daughters.

I wanted Ralph to be there too as a role model for children who use wheelchairs. We did meet a couple with a very young son who can walk a little with braces on his legs but who also has a manual wheelchair. The little guy cannot speak, but he is going to a great school and he is learning.
He had a big smile and an even bigger hug for everyone there, friends and strangers alike.

We met a man who has an autistic son and has been a stay-at-home dad for four years. His son is about to go into fourth grade. But in addition to the disability, the family is facing financial difficulties. A lead paint abatement for their house cost $74,000, for starters. My mouth dropped open as he told us about it.

There were other parents with autistic children there who we didn't meet, but we observed. What a constant struggle their lives must be. Hard to fathom if you haven't walked in their shoes.
Parents like the ones we met today face overwhelming circumstances on a daily basis, but they are doing what they need to do and they are overcoming.

I give them a lot of credit.

I get it

When I finally revealed my true self, as I did in yesterday's post, no one comments.
I am hurt and now I am now pouting.

Pout. Pout. Pout.

Smart enough to blog ~

toothpastefordinner.com

It would be nice if I felt I was smart enough to blog today, but I don't. My head is feeling weird. Not pounding like a headache, but just full to overflowing with stuff.
I cannot accurately put into words here what I want to say. I have a lot to think about. I need a better-paying job and it is starting to gnaw at me because I actually love what I do. I don't want to win the lottery. I may joke about it but it's just joking.
I wouldn't even want tons of money. That brings its own responsibilities and headaches I'm sure. I just want to feel more secure.
I want to feel that it's true what they say "What goes around, comes around," and that by trying to do the right thing by everybody, family, friends, co-workers, I will somehow continue to be OK...
Is that burying my head in the sand?

Kid Two's away message today:

A group of eco-tourists took a small plane out into the deepest, darkest part of the jungle. As soon as they stepped off the plane, they heard the faint yet forboding sounds of drums off in the distance.
One of the tourists asked the tour guide "what do those drums mean? It sounds kind of scary."

The tour guide let out a big laugh and said "Don't worry, mon. As long as de drums keep playing, every-ting will be fine."

The next day, as the group was camping out in the jungle, the drums were growing louder and more intense. Now several members of the tour group were getting really scared and worried. They asked the tour guide again about the drums. "Like I said yesterday, der is nuttin' to be afraid of, mon. As long as de drums keep playing, every-ting will be just fine".

This went on for several more days, and the drums just kept going and going, getting more and more frenzied.

About the fifth day, suddenly the drums stopped. Everyone in the tour group was horrified. "Oh my God" they said, "what should we do? Does this mean we are in immediate danger?"

The tour guide had a dark look of fear written all over his face. He took a deep breath and said "This is very, very, very bad. I tell you before, as long as de drums keep playing, every-ting is fine. Now they have stopped. This is de terrible omen for all of us".

The tourists said "why, why....please, tell us why, sir."

The tour guide said "when de drums stop it is very, very bad because..... NEXT COMES BASS SOLO!"

When exactly does the fun start?

The Fourth of July fizzled around here weather-wise. Cloudy, rainy, no go outside-y. So I made another seal.
Surprise! It is in a foreign language.
Politics aside, the French have a beautiful language. In my humble opinion.
I was a French major back in the last century, il y a bien longtemps. ~ ~ ~
Note: I am re-posting in the hopes that my seal is visible to Lynn and Joan who told me that they couldn't see it.
Can you see it now?

When exactly does the fun start?

The Fourth of July fizzled around here weather-wise. Cloudy, rainy, no go outside-y. So I made another seal.
Surprise! It is in a foreign language.
Politics aside, the French have a beautiful language. In my humble opinion.
I was a French major back in the last century, il y a bien longtemps. ~ ~ ~

Eggs, anyone?

Yum.
A holiday morning breakfast courtesy of Ralph. It was going to be an omelette, but ended up being eggs scrambled with homemade home fries and chopped up turkey bacon.
It came out well. My compliments to the chef.

* Happy Fourth of July to all *

It's just after dark and I can hear fireworks rumbling in the distance.
It's Fourth of July eve, I guess you could call it.
There were outdoor concerts in two nearby towns. I hear the towns' dueling *~ fireworks ~* display over the river.
But the four of us are not out watching them. The weather is great and maybe we should have gone to see them. But instead we're home chillin,' bloggin' and basically hangin' around.
Kid 1 is watching her new favorite TV show, "House." It's practically the only one she watches.

She does enjoy watching The Weather Channel, however. It has been a fascination of hers since she was very small. Oh, and she just reminded me how much she likes The History Channel and Discovery.

We are a very quiet family, it's fair to say.

I'm glad they sent her to us, aren't you?

I tried to put this Statue of Liberty comic on my blog but the art was too wide. Sniff.
So my son told me to just put the link to it here.
http://www.marriedtothesea.com/053007/take-it-to-america.gif

Check out Married to the Sea...it's fun.

Preemie puts on pounds

Here is Adam, chillin' at his grandmother's annual Fourth of July picnic on Saturday. His grandmother, Michele, Ralph's (slightly) older sister, has been throwing the Independence Day fiesta for years.

One of Ralph's younger sisters, Sharon, is holding him here.
Adam spent an enormous amount of time snoozing. When he finally opened his eyes, we were surprised at how blue they were!
I got to hold him, too. It was great fun.

Adam was born three months early, as many of you recall. But now he weighs almost 16 pounds.
And boy does he like to sleep!

And yet another...

We just got back from an early Fourth of July picnic, full of food and fun and fireworks.
The big news is I may have picked up a new reader!
Ralph's sister, Sharon, has checked out our blogs. And she likes them.

So I made her this seal as soon as I got in the door.