Adios, June!

I can’t even believe it’s the end of June. I’m not going to harp on the fact that the weather has been less than stellar so far - that would be pointless.
I just can’t get over how quickly time flies!

Coming up in July I have a friend from Ireland coming to visit (he’s coming to see Boston, not just me), 4th of July celebrations to attend, BBQs to host, and above all, the end of the softball season.
Most other ‘summer leagues’ are just getting going at this point, but our league isn’t one of them. We begin our season in early May and then usually finish up by the middle of July. When I first joined the league, we were actually always finished be the 4th of July, so the past few years have been an exceptionally ‘long’ season based on past BSL seasons.
When I tell my friends that I only have 4 games left, most of them are pretty shocked. I think it’s a pretty good deal though. We get to play a decent amount of games and still manage to have a summer. If we went any longer, not only would the heat be unbearable, but since it’s primarily a weekend league, there wouldn’t be any time to do anything other than softball all summer long, so this schedule is just perfect!

Maybe Jim and I will plan a weekend away at some point…at the very least; I’d like to spend a day down in P-Town.
We usually try to go for the day at least once a year, but I don’t think we made it down there last summer….or if we did, it was rainy. I can’t recall.
With my luck (and my memory) we probably went for the day and it was a beautiful, sunny day.

I don’t have much to say today….things are going well with the commute and new location. I’m greeted every morning at the entrance of the building by a bunny or two…that makes me smile. I’m a sucker for nature.

That is, unless I’m pulling it out of my pool filter. Yesterday I had to scoop up (SCOOP IT UP!) a drowned chipmunk off the bottom of the deep end; and one day a couple weeks ago we had a double homicide – a baby robin and a mouse went home to Jesus on the very same day. Sadness.
I think it’s time we invest in a ‘scamper ramp’ and see if they actually work…..

That’s all for today peeps….have a good one!!!

xoxo

It's a Long One....

What a weekend!

We started things off on Friday night with dinner and drinks at Ye Olde Standish Grille. As always – we had a great time, but it was even better because we were joined by our friends Karen, Barrie and Kirsten. It was so much fun and we laughed a LOT. Karen and Barrie we’ve known forever, but Kirsten is someone I only met recently. Karen and Barrie met her through a children’s play group they’re a part of (made up of gay parents) and they became friends with her.
As it turns out, she grew up with Jim and has known him since he was little. Not only that, but we run into her parents at the Grille just about every Friday night.
Yes….another example of what a crazy, small world it is.

First thing Saturday morning, I headed to the grocery store to grab a few things (for the appetizers I was making that afternoon – more on that later) and by the time I had woken up, Jim was already hard at work getting the hot tub drained, cleaned and re-filled. In fact, when I got into the shower….he had already drained it and cleaned it out. Clearly he had been up for a while.
Once I got home from the store, I headed into Boston for my softball game.
We won, which was exciting, but it wasn’t a very close game. It was against RG’s team - so THAT was fun, but as I said….it wasn’t very close.
After the game, I headed back home to get ready for the party we were going to that afternoon.

Since I was the one who volunteered to bring 2 appetizers to the party and Jim was super busy doing 1,000 other things, I had to make both appetizers all by myself. Now – I know that to some people that wouldn’t even be an issue, but seriously – it was kind of huge for me. I don’t cook AT ALL, and not that this was ‘cooking’, but it was certainly more than running to the store and throwing chips and salsa into a bowl.
The first appetizer, I’ll admit, was very easy. All they were, were little cucumber sandwiches, so it was only a matter of making the ‘spread’ – putting on the bread and throwing a cucumber slice on top….easy, and delicious.
The second one was a bit more involved. I decided to make roasted pepper and mozzarella bites which involved roasting two peppers, getting the skins off them, slicing them up, seasoning them and then wrapping them around little mozzarella balls. I won’t go into the details….but it was a bit of a challenge for me.
I must say they came out pretty damn good and I received lots of compliments about them at the party.
The party itself was very fun, and in spite of having to deal with a little rain (shocking, I know) we had a really great time.

This is what they looked like…..but these aren’t pictures of the ones I made….but seriously, they looked just as good.
Seriously….I’m not lying.

Yesterday, Jim and I woke up, showered, got dressed and then immediately headed out to the grocery store. Once we got home, we began getting the house ready for the cookout that was happening at 3pm (for our niece’s 12th birthday). Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all that great, (again, shocking) but at least it wasn’t raining!
I had to take off at 2pm for a softball game, but by that point the house was in excellent shape and ready to go!

I won’t get into the specifics of my softball game, but I will say that it was probably the most disappointing loss I can remember. I never get upset about losing games, but this one was really depressing. Put it this way – our games are 7 innings long, and we were winning 1-0 (which is unheard of in slow pitch softball) going into the bottom of the 7th inning (we were the ‘away’ team, so this was their last at bat) and they ended up scoring 2 runs.
DE-PRESSING.
Whatever…I’m totally over it now, but there were a few things that happened during the game that really got me annoyed....but I’m not going to bring it up again…it’ll just get me angry. And who needs that?!?!?

OK – this has been a MARATHON post, but no one told you that you had to read the whole thing!!!!!

Have a great Monday and thank the LORD it’s a short week…..xoxo

Two in One Day...

Wow….what a day yesterday, huh?

First, we find out that Farrah Fawcett dies and then later in the day Michael Jackson?
What the hell?

I was so sorry to hear about Farrah’s passing, but as someone who has seen first hand what cancer can do to a person, I’m happy to know that her pain and suffering are finally over. I’d like to think that she’s finally at rest and in a much better place.

I’m sure that just about every blog on the planet will be talking about Michael Jackson’s death today, so I’m hopping on the bandwagon.
Like most of my friends, I was kind of obsessed with Thriller and I really do enjoy a majority of his ‘early stuff’.
How weird to think that he’s really gone?!?!?
I’m certainly not going to miss hearing about his ‘random acts of strangeness’ in the news, and I’m not even going to get into his physical appearance or his history with the legal system.
Yikes.
But, I’m glad that we’ll always have his music to remember him by.

I’m VERY excited for this weekend….I just hope the weather cooperates.
We have only 6 softball games left and I’m hoping we can at least get a few more wins before the season ends.
Maybe two of those will happen this weekend?!?!?

Have a great weekend, and PRAY that we get some decent weather!!!!!

So far, so good....

Here I am….day four in my new seat.

Everything has gone incredibly well so far.
My commute is pretty steady at ½ hour in both directions, although because of traffic, the ride home tends to be a little longer.
Since I’m getting to work so much earlier (6:30) I’ve been leaving earlier (3:30) which is AWESOME!!!
As far as I know, no one has a problem with me leaving that early and until I’m on a project that requires me to be around later in the afternoon I’m going to stick to that schedule.
It certainly works for me!

On Tuesday night my best friend (Neil) from Florida flew home for a few days. He’s helping take care of some stuff for a mutual friend so he’s here staying with his parents until Friday.
That night we got together at his parent’s house with a couple of other friends and had a GREAT time.
I haven’t seen Neil since Christmas and the other friends who joined us (Nancy and Amy) I hadn’t seen in almost 3 YEARS – which is really scary, since neither one of them lives more than 45 minutes from me. But – they have kids and we all have our own things going on, so it’s understandable. Not to mention the fact that facebook has allowed us to keep in touch without actually seeing one another, so it doesn't feel like it's been that long.
We spent the night laughing, catching up and of course telling a million stories from the ‘olden days’. It was so much fun to see them and be able to spend time with them just like we used to.

Since I last wrote, the weather around here hasn’t improved one bit. It seriously feels like we’re living in London. While the rest of the country is sweltering, we’re suffering through one cold and rainy day after the other…and I’m really sick of it.
According to the weather forecast, there’s supposed to be a ‘break’ in this cycle this afternoon and we’re supposed to have a sunny day today.
I’ll believe it when I see it.

I’m heading right from work into the city for softball practice and then immediately following practice, I have a softball meeting to go to.
It is a softball-full day!!!!
It will be my first time going to practice from my new building, so I’m hoping that I don’t sit in traffic for hours and hours.
If I do - you'll certainly hear about it.

Have a great day!!!

P.S. – I’m keeping my Internet use at work to a minimum until I get a better ‘feel’ of what this place is like, so if you haven’t noticed me commenting or visiting your blogs lately, it’s nothing personal. :-)

I Made it Through the Rain...

Let’s hear it for the first blog entry from my new desk!!!

HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!!!

As previously mentioned, I’m now at a new desk, in a new location out in the suburbs.

My commute has gone from an hour and twenty-five minutes on three different trains, to a half hour in my car.
I certainly can’t complain about that.

I’m in a fairly private cube (as private as cubes can get, I suppose) in a not-too-busy location on the floor, central to the bathrooms and kitchenette. I certainly have more space than I did in at my last desk, and while I’m not hidden away in some secluded little corner, I’m also not on a main thoroughfare - which is very nice.

My friends reading this blog will be shocked to hear that I have ‘non work connections’ to the people sitting near me (yes, I’m being sarcastic).

The woman sitting across the aisle from me grew up in the same city as me and graduated high school with one of my sisters. The woman sitting behind me is also from the same city and now lives in the town next to me. Her brother graduated high school with my best friend and their cousin is someone I’ve known for the majority of my life.
Yes, it’s a small world after all.

Thanks to you all for all the encouraging words about my move….you’re all totally awesome.

Enough about work!!!

Last weekend was very fun. In spite of the rain, I played softball on both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday’s game was one of the most fun games I’ve had in a long time. We didn’t win, but it was so much fun. Games like that remind me why I started playing softball in the first place.

On Saturday night I attended the Beantown Softball League Hall of Fame induction.

There were three guys being inducted and it was a really nice event.

Here are a few pictures from the night….that’s not really Joan Rivers.

Have a great Tuesday, and thanks again for all your encouraging words!!!!

You Better Work!

I had the privilege last night of attending a reading of a new musical that's been in the 'works' (pun intended - you'll get it in a minute) for about a year or so.
The name of the musical (for now) is 'It's Working' and it was written by Tommy O'Malley with music and lyrics by Sonia Carrion.

Now, I'm NOT going to write a review of a reading...can you say TACKY??? But I will say that there is a whole lot of really great stuff happening with this show. I laughed, I had fun, I 'went along for the ride' and above all I heard some really GREAT music.
Remember that title...."It's Working".

I met Tommy for the first time last night, but I've been reading his blog for a while now. His blog was the very first blog that I started reading regularly, and was one of the biggest reasons I started this blog.
So, all you faithful readers out there have Tommy to thank!
It was great to finally meet him and see that he was EXACTLY what I expected.
That's always nice. :-)

This is Tommy and Sonia....aren't they just adorable?!?!?

Today was my final train ride into work, and I am happy to report that it was a very smooth and uneventful trip. I even had a few 'goodbyes' from some of the people I see every day, who knew that it was my final trip into the city. Well, for work, that is.

Of course, now that I talked about how smooth my trip into the city was, I'll probably end up taking the train home with 90 elementary school kids or something horrible like that.

I don't have much planned for today, other than the final packing and making my rounds to say goodbye to everyone before I go. This weekend is very much up in the air right now...I'm supposed to have a couple of softball games, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the horrible weather we're having will change that!

We shall see!

Have a great weekend, and HOPEFULLY I'll be able to write on Monday and let you know how the move went, and what's up with my new digs. :-)

xoxo

The Final Countdown....

Change is on the horizon....and no, I'm not talking about Obama and all that political stuff.

Hello?!?!

I don't talk politics on here. I'm talking about ME! :-)

My world is about to be all turned upside-down and I'm not sure if it's hit me yet.

Come Monday morning I'm going to be surrounded by a whole bunch of strangers.

No more driving to the commuter rail, no more familiar faces on the train, no more walks through the mall to get coffee, no more lunch dates with friends, no more walks through the South End (SAD!!), and the list goes on and on.

It's totally going to be like the first day of school.

I have no idea where I'm going to be sitting, who I'm going to be sitting near, or what awaits me in my new building.

I can take comfort in the fact that I'm not totally alone. My co-worker Kelly is moving with me, and I know she'll be sitting next to or at least near to me.

She's the only other person I know who will be moving with me. All my other work friends are staying behind....together.

I know, I know.....I'm sure I'll be fine, and over time I'll develop a whole new 'routine' - but for now I'm a little bit nervous.

I hope I make friends!!!

More importantly, I have no idea what kind of cubicle I'll have. If I end up in a 'high traffic area' with my computer screen in a position for all the world to see, I'll be PISSED. Granted, my screen is viewable in my current seat, but I'm in a fairly quiet area, with hardly any traffic. If that changes, and I end up in full view, with zero privacy....I'll be sad...and be forced to find a new job.

OK - I'm heading out to have a 'farewell lunch' with my friends.

Happy Wednesday to you all....xoxo

Quick and to the Point.

OK folks this is going to be quick.

I'm busy packing up my desk and working on my mid-year self evaluation....God help me.

The weekend was VERY fun. Saturday was a beautiful day for the Pride Parade and Block Party, Sunday was a bit dreary but actually turned out to be not-so-bad. We actually hung out by the pool for a while before heading to the Lions Club Charter Night....which turned out to be quite fun. Those CRAZY Lions!!!

Yesterday was another dreary day (weather wise) but it was nice to spend a relaxing night at home with Jim and Scooter.

I finally added some pictures from Gents Weekend and Pride to my flickr account.

Here's a few, but if you want to see some more, just click on the flickr bar to the left and look for the Pride and Gents sets....

Enjoy!!!!! :-)

PS - I know I'm totally 'late to the party' but if you haven't seen or heard of this site...you need to check it out now (it's safe for work, don't worry).
I'm obsessed, and can't stop laughing.

Gents Weekend

Pride 2009

Lions and Drunks and Gays! Oh, MY!!!!

Yesterday afternoon Jim and I took the train home with a very loud, upset, and SHITFACED woman. She spent a majority of the train ride on her cell phone screaming at various people - to the amusement of a majority of her fellow passengers.

Jim and I were in hysterics because she was SO 'out there' - yelling and swearing her face off with absolutely no regard for anyone else on the train. Much like most of the rude, self-centered cell phone gabbers out there, she was behaving as if she were sitting in her living room.

Insane.

It all started out very funny, but by the end of the ride I was feeling a little bit sorry for her. From what I could tell: she's currently living with her boyfriend and for whatever reason she decided yesterday that she had had enough and was moving out. At one point, she called her boyfriend's sister and was explaining the situation to her and in the middle of the story she started to cry. It seems that she and the sister are quite close and she's afraid that the breakup is going to ruin their friendship. She was also telling the sister that she on her way home to get some stuff and was planning on staying at the local Motel 6 (which I KNOW is a dump) for a couple of weeks. That in itself is just sad.

I know this isn't the first time that this has happened, because we've heard her similar rants on the train before...but that makes it even more pathetic. She's clearly got issues and should probably be getting some 'professional help' - that doesn't involve a trip to the packie (that's what we Massachusetts folk call a liquor store) every morning.

Oh well...if I run into her again, I'll give you an update. :-)

In happier news, tomorrow is the Boston Gay Pride Parade!!!!

YAY! I love parades, and even if the parade is made up mostly of politicians and church groups, it's always fun to see the gays out in full force.

I'm going to bring the camera this year and take some fun pictures, come hell or high water.

Other than going to the parade and maybe the block party afterwards, we really don't have any big plans this weekend.

Well, that's not entirely true. On Sunday night, we're going to Charter Night for the local Lions Club. Jim's dad is being installed (inducted?) as The King Lion.

No - I'm not kidding.

In all seriousness, The Lions Club is a really great organization and they do a ton of great stuff for people in need all without shoving religion down your throat, which is a HUGE plus in my book. I'll be sure to report back about that as well.

Have a GREAT weekend and HAPPY PRIDE!!!!

Is it REALLY only Thursday??

This is shaping up to be one of the longest weeks ever.

I realize that I haven't written since Monday and that is just unforgivable!!!
Sorry, y'all.

Monday night was the BSL All-Star game and it was a really great experience. I'm not going to lie - I was pretty nervous about the whole thing.
I knew I'd be on a team with really great players, and I'm really not all that great, so I was getting myself all worked up. Sure, I can hit the ball decently, but when it comes to defense, I'm not at all in the same league as mos of these guys.
Granted, when you're a catcher in a slow-pitch softball league, you don't have to be an amazing defensive player. As long as they didn't try to put me in the field I knew I'd be OK.

As it turns out, I ended up catching the entire game, and went 2 for 3 as far as batting was concerned. There were no 'real' plays at home, so even though I had a few moments of "Oh my God they're about to throw me the ball from left field..." (which generally means it's coming at you like a cannon fired it) there were no close calls that I had to deal with.

Our team was down 11-4 going into the last inning, at which point we came back, making the score 11-10. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it going, and that was the way the game ended. We were happy with the result though...nothing like an exciting comeback to get the crowd interested!
And what a crowd it was....there were a LOT of people there, and it turned out to be a very fun event. AND I got a 'BSL All-Star' medal....what more could I ask for?!?!?
Sweet.

On Tuesday, Jim was whisked away to NYC for the day/night for a meeting and a cocktail party. I came home from work and headed to The Company Theatre for the second installment of their '30th Anniversary Cabaret Nights'. The theatre is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, and to commemorate that fact, they're having three nights of musical revues, each one representing a decade of shows they've produced.
Tuesday was focused on 1988-1998. Within those years is when I first became involved with the theatre (Evita, 1990) so it was very fun to re-visit that time period.

It was a really great show and SO much fun. I would have loved to have been a part of it, but I wasn't available for most of the rehearsals and with something like that, you really need (at least I do) all the rehearsal time you can get. I would have been a WRECK if I'd tried to squeeze it in. Besides, it was nice to be able to just go and watch all my talented friends sing their hearts out and have an excellent time doing it.
Great job peeps!

For some reason, I'm still exhausted. Maybe I really do need more than 8 hours of sleep over an entire weekend to keep me 'fresh as a daisy' - because I still feel like a 70 year old man.
I'm planning on going to bed early tonight, which means I'm NOT going onto facebook. Nothing keeps me from going to bed like facebook does....
"Oh look, it's so and so.....oh wow, look at him...I wonder what what's-his-face is up to these days??"

Seriously, it's never ending.
Of course, if I had some control that would be a different story.
:-)

That's where I'm at now, folks....OH - and I finally found out that I'm moving from my current office (in the city) out to the 'burbs on June 19th. BOO!!!! :-(
I'm trying to focus on the fact that I won't have to spend all that money on my commute, and not on the fact that I'll be trapped in a suburban office park all day long.

Positive thinking....positive thinking....

xoxo

2 Men, 90 Beers

Apparently, hanging out with a bunch of 20 year olds doesn't make you 20 years old again.

That being said - Jim and I had a GREAT weekend, but I'm not going to lie....I am feeling O-L-D today.

We got up to NH on Friday night - started drinking somewhere around 7pm or so and didn't stop until about 4am. At that point, I got myself into bed, collapsed, and woke up around 9:30. After eating breakfast, I headed to the softball fields and proceeded to play two games of softball.

My team won both games, but it was very eye-opening for me, when in the 'Old Guys' vs. 'Young Guys' game, I was 6th in the batting order (we went in order from oldest to youngest).

Yikes.

Once the games were over (we slaughtered the young guys) we had a big barbecue. After eating some people went to the pool (Jim), some people played poker, and some people napped (Me).

After a quick nap, I got up, showered and we all headed to the banquet. After dinner, we gathered together to 'Sing Through The Years' - which is when we go year by year (or more realistically, a chunk of years at a time) and each group gets up and sings a few songs from the years they were in the group.

It was really fun. Not only was it fun, but it was VERY interesting to hear the current group, especially since I haven't heard them in a few years. There are LOTS of talented guys in the current group, which is definitely a nice thing to see.

After that, there was more drinking and socializing until the wee hours (again....somewhere around 4:30 am....terrible).

By some miracle, I woke up feeling OK (but looking like hell) on Sunday morning so we got up, had breakfast and hit the road.

Once we were home, we headed to a birthday party for our niece, followed by dinner and the TONY AWARDS!!!!

My favorite night of TV....I was very excited.

Overall, I think it was a very good show. MUCH better than it has been the past few years.

I won't go into the details, but I will say that from a technical point of view, it was atrocious. There were a ton of sound issues and a whole lot of random (and horrible) camera shots.

I will say that there were a few excellent performances ('Next to Normal', 'Hair') some awful performances ('Guy and Dolls', 'Shrek: The Musical', Mama Mia!) and an AMAZING host (Neil Patrick Harris).

Don't get me wrong, I love the Tonys and even the worst broadcasts are always very exciting for me. Since I don't get to NYC nearly as much as I'd like to, the Tonys are my one chance to see a lot of these numbers performed and it's always very exciting.

I don't agree with all the winners, but hey - you can't please everyone, right?

I am looking forward to my next NYC trip though (in late September) and have a better idea of what I'll be trying to see.

Well, I'm exhausted and need to try and figure out how I'm going to stay awake for the next few hours before my softball game.

That's right!!! Tonight is the big All-Star game....Ahhhhh!!!

I'm praying that I'm only going to be used at an extra hitter...I'm in no mood to spend an hour squatting behind home plate. :-)

Have a great day - and I promise, the non-exhausted, more excited John will be back soon.

ZZZZZZZZ...

Alice Ripley, Marcia Gay Harden, Kiril Kulish, Trent Kowalik, David Alvarez and Geoffrey Rush

(Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik

(Photo by Aubrey Reuben)

Let The Weekend Begin!

When I said that I wouldn’t be writing today I was apparently telling a big, fat lie.

As I mentioned yesterday, today I am working out of a different office and I’m so bored I could die.
I’m in a ‘holding pattern’ at the moment about to rip out my eyes if I have to read one more thing about my upcoming project.
There’s nothing ready for me to test at the moment, so until the developers are ready I’m ‘tasked’ with keeping myself entertained.
Thankfully, I’m really good at that. :-)

Let’s see….our pool was opened yesterday, and to our amazement, it really looked great. Sure, the water was green, and there was a considerable amount of algae/slime along the walls and bottom of the pool, but there was hardly any debris in the water at all. In fact, we could already see the bottom of the pool.
Amazing.
After dinner, Jim and I went to Lowe’s and bought some pool chemicals (as well as a new smoke detector) and then while I ‘installed’ the new smoke detector, Jim took care of the pool.

This morning when I went outside to take a peek at the pool I was shocked to see that the water was already blue!!! Sure, it’s not crystal clear, but come on….less than 24 hours ago it was swamp-like and today it was looking 1000 times better. Jim was very happy and said that it was due to the magic stuff we bought last night. I believe his quote was: “It’s because of that stuff I put in it. It clears things up quickly, but if you got in the water right now, your skin would fall off.”
Note to self: Don’t go swimming tonight.

I’m so ready for the weekend, it’s ridiculous. The current plan is for us to get up bright and early tomorrow….I’ll drop Scooter off at daycare (he’s staying for the weekend – which he’ll LOVE) and then I’m getting an oil change, while Jim vacuums the pool and mows the lawn.
At some point before we leave, we’ll pack our bags and hit the road for New Hampshire.

Speaking of New Hampshire……yahoo!!!! Another state has legalized gay marriage!
Come on Rhode Island, it’s time for you to step up.

I’m going to sign off now…..have a great weekend and you’ll hear from me first thing Monday morning.

Good Singing, Good Times

For some reason, I haven’t been in the mood to write for the past day or two.

I don’t know why(laziness?) but I haven’t.

However, I know that there are people out there that are hanging on my every word, and who am I to deny them the opportunity to hear from me? :-)

Here’s the scoop.

It’s June, and June = Gay Pride. As a matter-of-fact, next week is pride week here in Boston.

Hooray!
There was a time when I wouldn’t have missed a single pride event, but those days are long gone.

I’ll be at the All-Star game on Monday night (as a player, thank you very much) which is being treated as a Pride event; I’ll definitely be at the Pride Parade on Saturday (Yes, I LOVE a parade) and I’ll most likely stick around for the 'post-parade' festivities this year.

Side note: Our softball team may be working at the Fritz Block Party this year – but that’s still up in the air – stay tuned for details

In addition to all the 'fun stuff' going on, I love the sense of community that Pride celebrates.

It’s always nice to see people that I haven’t seen in a long time, which is a ‘given’ at Pride. You’re almost guaranteed to run into some folks that you haven’t seen in a long time and that's mostly a good thing. ;-)

Other than Pride, June is also when Jim and I go away for the weekend with the guys I sang with from UNH. It just so happens that it’s THIS weekend!!!!

When I was at school, I was part of an a cappella group called The New Hampshire Gentlemen (The GENTS). The GENTS have a VERY strong alumni group and as a result, we still get together once a year for a weekend away – affectionately known as ‘GENTS Weekend’.
It’s something that Jim and I look forward to every year. This year is extra special because we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the group.

I’m hoping that there will be a large turnout, but even if the numbers are small, we’re guaranteed to have a great time. Seriously, it's a LOT of fun....and beer.

The GENTS are a little bit more like a fraternity than a singing group. If you’re at all familiar with the college a cappella ‘world’ – you’ll know what I’m talking about.
If not, you’ll have to check back for some pictures of the weekend.

I’m going to be working out of the ‘other’ office tomorrow, and I’m not working on Friday – so this will most likely be my last post of the week….stay tuned for my Monday post, full of exciting news, I’m sure.

Two more things…..read this for some more exciting stuff that's going on in my life – and don’t forget to watch the Tony Awards on Sunday night.

Go Hunter Bell and [title of show]!!

xoxo

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

And after this weekend, so am I. ;-)
As usual we had a fun-filled weekend.


Friday night, dinner and drinks at the Grille - Saturday I went to softball (we lost...BOO!) while Jim worked on the yard. Saturday night we met up with a few friends for dinner and then we all came back to our house for a few drinks and more 'catch-up' conversation.


Sunday we got up early and headed to my oldest niece's confirmation (I can't believe she's almost 15!!) followed by my youngest niece's dance recital later that afternoon.
She was very good, and was BY FAR the best one up there....and I'm not even saying that because she's my niece. I'd be the first one to critique her. :-) She was definitely a stand out.


After the recital we went back to my sister's house for lots of food and drink.

I ate so much at her house, between the post-confirmation celebration and the post-recital celebration, I really won't need to eat for a day or two....but I bet I will.


As usual, I swiped some photos from my fellow blogger's blog - not only is her camera AMAZING - but she takes really great pictures.

Have a great Monday!!!!!




This is Jim, describing his handiwork to Karen. This is a garden that he 'created' from nothing. There was a big tree there at one point and he's turned it into a garden....I think it's my favorite garden.





This is one of the other gardens in the side yard:

This is another 'reworked' garden - it used to be a lot smaller and had what used to be a koi pond type thing in the middle of it when we bought the house.









This is me, trying to walk Scooter - who was VERY excited to have company.










Jim and I - I like this one because we both look fairly slim.
Jim actually is slim (thanks to his 32 pound weight loss) - I was just lucky. :-)







Playing with Scooter:

Scooter up close:

Scooter on the lookout (putting his birthday present to good use)

A new head shot??