Shadow Shot Sunday ~ mystery man

Ralph (Airhead 55) at the computer.

And now ... just what you've all been waiting for - a portrait of Ralph from earlier this week.
He's wearing his wheelchair-friendly Snuggy to keep warm in our drafty house.

The laptop screen died, so he had to buy a monitor.


Join the fun and see shadows from around the world at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

College days are winding down...the future beckons

~ My guys ~

Ralph, my mother, and I went to a parents' weekend BBQ lunch Saturday at the University of Hartford.
Cameron is rather tired of school food and didn't even eat with us. He's graduating in less than two months so he won't have to deal with it any more.

At least the weather was with us. It was a gorgeous afternoon.
 
That name tag looks dopey where I pinned it on Ralph, but it is what it is!   

Haha. He is a good sport!
   

Change of pace: Going out for the evening

This was the view when we left last night's annual dinner meeting of the Center for Disability Rights in West Haven, Ct. It was lovely out, no heat or humidity.
The lights are from New Haven Harbor. I think it looks rather romantic.

There are always lots of folks walking on this paved pathway along the beach. 
It's a popular destination for exercise and relaxation.

Here is almost the same view, four hours earlier.

I love the dramatic clouds!

* Bonus photo: Blurry, yes, but I think we look pretty happy together. We are happy, aren't we Ralph?

I'd be even happier with a new camera.

I thank the woman at our table who offered to snap a photo of us. I wouldn't have thought to ask her. 

Bizzy days

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to radiation we go ...

It starts today and will continue for the next seven weeks. 

Life has been a bit busy lately...we got home at 10 p.m. yesterday from Ralph's co-worker's wedding and this morning I'm fixin' to head to my first radiation treatment.

Here's Ralph enjoying himself at the wedding. I had a tough time getting a good photo ~ I blame it on the soft lighting. This was the best one I captured.

Before we went to the wedding we visited our docent daughter working at an open house at the David Humphreys House. 

The annual open house features samples of Thanksgiving fare - turkey, cranberry sauce, cornbread, squash pie and more - prepared over an open hearth in the historic house. 

Here's a link to a post I wrote about the event three years ago! I would have guessed I had written it last year. Time sure does fly.  

Allegra surprised us yesterday when she told us she had made the tasty pumpkin soup.

My favorite is the squash pie. Our friend Christine who always makes the squash pies says she follows a pumpkin pie recipe and simply substitutes butternut squash, because it's sweeter than the pumpkin.

Yum!

That's about it from here. Off to get ready to be radiated.  

Pointin' and shootin' through the windshield

 

 

 When Ralph is driving, I like to take photos through the windshield. I'm easily amused, I suppose.

These are five of the nine I took Saturday. It had been a gorgeous day at an outdoor event we attended.

The view is along I-95 in southeastern Connecticut, as we headed home.

Balloons, crowds, and general silliness

As I mentioned here yesterday, I spent Saturday at the 14th annual Derby Day.

I had never been at a venue an hour before a festival started, so it was interesting to see the vendors hurriedly getting ready for their day, that feeling of anticipation in the air. (I'm easily amused I suppose).
At that point the skies were overcast and I thought that rain was on the way. Fortunately that wasn't the case. It turned out to be a lovely, sunshiny day.

I thought there was a good turnout, but I'll have to find out this week from the organizers what they thought about the how the day went.

Above you see the stately Sterling Opera House standing in the center of all the activity.
It's the same historic (and haunted?) 19th-century building that was investigated a few months ago by SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" team led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.
People were lined up throughout the day to get a chance for a free tour. It generated a lot of interest. I love that building.

These two wine bottles that Valley Arts Council member Billiejo of Prospect, Ct. transformed into incense holders were on display at the council's booth. Eye-catching!

So after helping at the booth a good part of the day I started to get tired, and by late afternoon I got out the camera to pass the time. These photos are what I call my balloon series:



Silly enough for you? There were more pix but I decided that was enough of that!

There also was a Mustang convertible being raffled off..here are Allegra and Ralph checking it out.

I think our daughter would like a vehicle like that. She sure looks comfortable in it. ;-)

Sepia scenes ~ wheelin'

After I took this photo as we were leaving the Vintage Vehicles Antique and Classic Car Show at the Shelton (Ct.) Historical Society I thought it might just work in sepia.
The annual event is held on Father's Day, and dads get admitted for just $1. Proceeds benefit the educational programs sponsored by the historical society.

Here's Ralph, my classic car buff, rolling back to our mini-van on his own set of wheels. It was a perfect weather day for an outdoor event. It couldn't have been nicer out.

Ralph wrote about the car show here, for Ruby Tuesday.

I haven't taken part in Sepia Scenes since November, and I thought this week I'd make a comeback. It's good to get back into a photo meme.

You can see many more sepia-fied photos by visiting Mary T's Sepia Scenes blog.

Happy day after Dad's Day

Hope everyone had a fun Father's Day..we did.
Ralph even went out Saturday to get us a tablecloth for the patio table. Woo hoo!
We is FANCY.

This is about as festive as it got here. I posted on Facebook last night about the troubles Allegra and I had getting the grill going..we are convinced it's "a guy thing"!
But the coals were finally ready and we were able to make steak for dinner. And actually dine outside, the first time this year.

Dessert was Ghirardelli chocolate brownies with walnuts...yummy. Yes, it was a mix.

Happy Monday to all!

Thoughts on care: giving and receiving

So now with my status as someone undergoing chemotherapy (I had my first treatment a week ago today) we sorta have adopted new roles in our household.
The caregiver (that would be me) has become the caregivee.
And the caregivee (that would be Ralph) has become the caregiver.
Sorta.
Kinda.

Ralph says it's a symbiotic relationship. He's right about that.
Now I get to play both roles: I still have the role of caregiver for him, but I am also getting a chance to be the one getting some care. Even if it's only lots of emotional support!

Oh, the challenges. But thus far we are are up to them.

Tomorrow we mark a major milestone. More on that later...

Happy Birthday to my guy

Today is Ralph's birthday. Yay! I think he's 39...

Oh, if that were only the case!

I'll post this for him in case he stops by:


If You Were Born Today:

"You are a very fixed and determined person. These qualities help you to determinedly focus on a goal and patiently see it through to fruition. However, at times you can be one track minded and stubborn! Change and instability tend to bother you more than most. You can also be an exceptionally good worker with excellent work ethic and a strong sense of responsibility. Others know they can depend on you."

Happy Birthday, my Airhead 55!

A re-post with some linky love

For several days I've been meaning to write about Ralph's new venture in the blogosphere...he is trying to figure out how to work for himself and forge a new career path.

The part-time job he has now may not be there for much longer.

He has started a blog called Lapareau Consult.

Please take a moment to check it out! Thanks in advance.

Giving my love some linky love for his new blog

For several days I've been meaning to write about Ralph's new venture in the blogosphere...he is trying to figure out how to work for himself and forge a new career path.

The part-time job he has now may not be there for much longer.

He has started a blog called Lapareau Consult.

Please take a moment to check it out! Thanks in advance.

Ruby Tuesday

Ralph posted photos of the Memorial Day Parade for Ruby Tuesday, but these are two that he didn't use!

I doubt he would have used this one that I took of him watching Sunday's parade go down Main Street. :-)

See many photos featuring a little or a lot of red at Mary T's Work of the Poet blog.

Birthdays = burpdays

We went out last evening for dinner to celebrate Ralph's birthday two days' late. Better late than never!

We had a lot of food, and everything was yummy. I'm happy to report we passed on dessert. We had a chocolate cake for his birthday, so I thought maybe I had better pull back and not get dessert.

Since we have a big balance on our credit card, Ralph redeemed points and got a $50 gift card for the restaurant. So it didn't cost too much. Yay!

And it's nice to get served, and not have to cook and clean up afterward. Isn't that the best part of eating out?

Well, that and people watching...the place was packed and I was able to do a lot of people watching.

It was so busy for a Wednesday night you'd never know the economy was bad. Surprising.

A birthday shout-out to my guy

I took this photo of Ralph (the birthday boy) at an art exhibit yesterday. We went to visit blog friend Linda who had a photo in the exhibit. We had a great time and you can read about it here.

I was trying to be 'artsy,' since he was in a gallery, so I gave this photo a sepia tone.

Happy Birthday Ralphie!

Weekend miscellany

Yesterday afternoon was nice and sunny so we drove around a bit and took some photos. Ralph will be posting his soon.

On the way home we stopped at Target and bought a vacuum cleaner. Can anyone tell me how to use one?

Bwahahahaha.

This morning we are off to church, and then to visit a blog friend somewhere in Connecticut. More about that later.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday. It's raining here but I'm just going to ignore it.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Ralph's long-awaited new vehicle is the subject of today's shadow pic.

And it was also featured here yesterday. ;-)

Tracy is our meme hostess. See many more shadowy pictures at her blog, Hey Harriet.

Friday morning at our house

Ralph is enjoying his new mini-van. It's a major improvement over the full-sized Ford Club Wagon that drove like a truck that he had for 12 years. It was roomy, but not that comfortable or fun to drive.

I finally took a picture of him in his vehicle this morning as he was getting ready to leave for work. I didn't even notice that I caught my reflection as I was taking the picture.

Hope everyone has a great Friday. Spring is on the way!

A beary comfy ride

I know at least two of our bears like Ralph's new mini-van. I took a picture of them as we drove to Hartford along the Wilbur Cross Parkway Sunday. They didn't seem to mind their ride on the dashboard.

I still need to take a photo of Ralph with the vehicle. Today is the first day that it hasn't been icky out since he got the mini-van, so maybe today is the day.

Looking at the Sky on Friday

I snapped this late Wednesday afternoon as I was on the way to the Post Office. This is the church where Ralph and I exchanged our vows. Although we don't attend this church, we do live about a mile away. The church is smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

I used some 'edge blur' to be a bit artsy here.

I urge you to go see many more sky photos by visiting Tisha, our meme hostess.