Happy 16th Birthday, Jamie!

There's nothing like having your youngest child turn 16 to make you feel old ... well, maybe having them turn 30 but I've got a few years to go on that one!

Needless to say I'm feeling pretty old today while Jamie's probably feeling pretty good about having attained that age where you're not quite a kid but not quite an adult. I'd ask her how she's feeling but unfortunately I'm at work for 16 hours so she's spending her birthday at home enjoying the last of her ice cream cake, admiring her new over-the-knee striped socks, drawing in her new sketch book, and probably spending way too much time on the computer! In other words, probably acting very much like a 16-year old!

In an attempt to at least do something semi-special for Jamie's birthday, the girls and I took a road-trip with my friend Amy to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York this past Friday where we got to see some very cool gravestones and take lots and lots of pictures. Matter of fact, we took so many pictures that it's taking me forever to edit them so you'll have to wait a bit longer for a post on our trip!

I did, however, have time to edit some pictures of Jamie to share with you today on this most auspicious occasion of her 16th year of birth. As you can see, she doesn't possess my problem of not being able to not look like a goof as soon as someone points a camera in my direction!

As an example, allow me to present Exhibit A ... Jamie looks good while I look like I'm half asleep or something!

Jamie, on the other hand, manages to look good in spite of the occasional distraction ...

In addition to our trip to Sleepy Hollow, dinner with her grandmother on Saturday, and a few other assorted goodies, Jamie also got a new camera for her birthday; a Casio Exilim S10 that has some very nice features for a small digital camera. These days no teenager is complete without a digital camera that also takes video (just in case he or she happens upon the perfect YouTube moment) and I figured it was about time Jamie got an upgrade from the handed-down-twice-not-working-so-well camera that she possessed. Plus it's red which is one of her favorite colors!

I gave Jamie the camera last week before we went to Massachusetts so she could have it to take pictures while she was visiting with her cousins so she'd had a bit of a chance to practice with it prior to yesterday's trip. Like mother like daughter she took A LOT of pictures at Sleepy Hollow and then on the way home we made a brief stop at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven where she took some more pictures. I wanted to share a couple of them as I think they're rather good - of course, I am also horribly biased what with being her mom and all!

She took this first one using the 'sunset' setting on her camera. I think the pink hues add a nice touch to the evening sky ...

This next one was shot using the regular setting but she also did a great job of capturing the sun reflecting on the water and the clouds above ...

Lastly, this picture was also shot with the camera set to 'sunset' and for once I really don't mind a picture of myself as I'm nicely hidden by shadows!

What do you think? Does this mean I'll be having both Amanda and Jamie fighting over who gets the Nikon once they pry it from my cold, dead fingers?? Oh noes!!

Happy birthday, Jamie; may your 16th year be one of your best ever!

Three Years of Blogging and Friendships

Holy cats! Has it been three years already since I first started writing this blog? Seriously? For those who never had the chance to read my very first post, feel free to click here so that you can see what this blog was supposed to be about when I first started it back on July 25th, 2006. I think I have more or less, at times!, stuck to my original goal of writing about being a single parent though I'd have to say that has definitely not always been the case!

When I first started blogging, I'm not sure I knew exactly what I was getting into as I had no clue that there was such a thing as a Blogosphere, had no idea what a meme was (a French grandmother?!?), and certainly never knew that there were so many wonderful people out there to meet and become friends with both virtually and in real life.

I was thinking this morning about the wonderful group of people that I have had the privilege of meeting face-to-face; people who have enriched my life and made me laugh and smile and even break down a little bit of that "hugaphobia" that I have!

The very first blogger that I met was Ms. Maggie Moo who, at the time we met, was also a fellow Nutmegger ...

We met on September 2nd, 2007 and of course the very thing she did when we met was give me a big ole' hug. In addition to that one of the things I remember most about our meeting was the "tiny Margaritas" we were served and the fact that we had no problem spending four+ hours laughing and talking!

On October 5th, I got to meet my second blog-friend in real life, Morgen of It's a Blog Eat Blog World. Mo had taken the train down from Michigan to spend the weekend at Mags' house and we had a wonderful time of it slow-dancing in Mags' kitchen, eating some of her delicious food, and then exploring parts of Connecticut in one of the worst heat waves we'd had all year! Ugh!


Still, it was one heck of an outstanding weekend and we had such a good TIME even as we laughed our way through the HEAT of Gillette Castle!

On November 2nd of 2007, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting another blogger from Michigan - Carrie of Asara's Mental Meanderings, and her wonderful family. Carrie and Billy had taken a road trip with their two adorable children and we met at a Chili's not far from the hotel they were staying in. Mags joined us as did Amanda and we all had a really good time. Geesh, I look horrible in this picture so I think I'm going to have to get together with Carrie again to get a new one!


The next time I was to meet anyone from the Blogosphere again wasn't until March 29th, 2008 when I was ushered into the presence of Royalty at a Bertucci's Pizzeria in Glastonbury, Connecticut.

It was there that I met Queen Mimi herself who was visiting the north from her castle in Bloggingham and Princess Patti who had driven in from her estate in Ansonia. My hair looked like crap but in spite of that we had a great time laughing and carrying on and no doubt scaring the locals! It was a night to be remembered and we truly had A Royal Time of It!

On Saturday, August 9th I got together with royalty again when I met Princess Patti's husband and fellow blogger, Prince Ralph of Airhead 55 along with their lovely daughter the Lady Allegra at the local Olive Garden.

We giggled our way through a delicious meal and probably raised the eyebrows of a few other diners but I've come to the conclusion that when fellow bloggers get together, worrying about what other people think is not a problem!

Earlier in the year during a trip out to Stockton, California, I had the extreme privilege of meeting my first two West Coast bloggers - Sandee of Comedy Plus and Katherine of Wading Through My Stream of Consciousness - when we all got together on Friday, May 2nd for dinner at Cancun, my favorite Mexican restaurant of all!

Joining us were my friend Cyndi, Sandee's hubby Zane (the official photographer of the evening), and Katherine's significant other Dave (who now also has a blog of his own!).

This past May I found myself out in California yet again and Sandee and Katherine and I reprised our dinner at Cancun on Monday, May 4th. Unfortunately Dave was out enjoying his Teamster 5-0 Tour and couldn't join us but Zane was there with the camera again recording the event for posterity! We actually ended up closing the place down we were having such a good time and the evening remains one of the highlights of my trip West. Which also gives me good reason to go West again at some point!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the meeting but during my trip to Stockton this past May, I also got to meet another West Coast blogger when I first arrived in Sacramento on May 2nd. Shortly after arriving in Sacramento I had the privilege of meeting up with Carol from A Letter To Me at one of the local IHops where we had a lovely late breakfast. Carol is originally from Massachusetts but has been living in the Sacramento area for quite some time. She truly is a lovely lady and I was thrilled to meet her though I wasn't smart enough to take a picture or have someone else take one!

On September 8th, 2008 I met my very first blogger from Across the Pond when Claire arrived in Connecticut in anticipation of our Blogger Beachhouse Vacation in Rhode Island. What a great birthday present (my 50th was the day after her arrival) but I can't post a picture as Claire has even more of a phobia of cameras than I do. We spent the next day going out to a birthday lunch with my friend Rhonda and then hit the local pub, The Harp & Dragon, with some of my friends from work and Mags who drove down for the auspicious occasion. Because I don't have a picture with Claire from that night (bugger the girl!) I'll post one from our beach vacation ... that's her with her back turned to the camera looking home towards England!

Finally, on Saturday September 13th myself, Claire, and Kai (who had flown into Hartford from Canada the night before) piled in the car with a lot of stuff en route to a week on Matunuck Beach in Rhode Island for our much-anticpated Blogger Beach Vacation. Joining us there was Mo, Mags, and Callie of Scrappin' With Life ... who had flown into Boston from the wilds of Oregon and come down with Mags and Mo.

I find it hard to believe that almost a full year has gone by already since we spent that week at the beach and I can't go back to Rhode Island at all without thinking about at least one or two things that happened during that week which included a ferry ride out to Block Island, a lot of really good cooking, and a ton of picture-taking!

Just last week I met another blogging friend who has found herself in Massachusetts for a few months while her husband is assigned to a job at a local yogurt plant. Lois from Lowdown From Lois is just like she is on her blog - warm and friendly and a real hoot to spend time with. You can't help but smile and laugh when you're around her and her husband Hank is just as nice - he also has that streak of sarcasm that I so enjoy in a person! I'm hoping we have the chance to get together again a time or two while they're on the East Coast.

So ... after all that, the question now begs to be asked ... who's next as I start on my fourth year of asking "Are We There Yet??" Any volunteers?? I have a few blog posts available for future meetings!!

Balloons? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Balloons!

So what do you do when you go to a balloon festival and the only balloons that are there are the ones on sticks that you can buy for some truly outrageous price? Unfortunately that turned out to be exactly the case this past Saturday at the South County Hot Air Balloon Festival in Wakefield, Rhode Island but of course we didn't find that out until after we had paid ten dollars a piece to get through the gate.

Seems to me that someone should have at least done the courtesy of telling us that due to the wind, there was a pretty darned good chance that none of the balloons would be going up as scheduled but our money was merely happily scooped up as we walked onto the grounds blissfully unaware that the only balloons we were going to see are the ones in this picture.

Shame, shame, shame on the Wakefield Rotary Group which hosts the festival every year that has been touted by Yankee Magazine as "one of Rhode Island's top 20 events". I would be willing to bet it is when there are actually some balloons to see but alas, such was not the case.

So what does one do when they are no stinkin' balloons to be seen? Being that we were almost there anyway, I asked Jason (who was driving) if he'd mind a ride over to Point Judith so that I could take yet more pictures of the lighthouse that has really become quite a favorite of mine since first visiting it last September while on my Blogger Beach vacation with some of the nicest people in the world - and Claire! Kidding, Claire, you know I love you!

Even though the brisk breezes had totally screwed up the opportunity to take any pictures of hot air balloons in flight, I couldn't be mad as they made for some delightful weather at Point Judith which sits on the west side of Narragansett Bay. One seventeenth century legend has it that Point Judith was named after Judith Thatcher who was a passenger on a small vessel with her father when it ran aground on the point and was almost wrecked. The legend states that Judith rendered great service and as a result the vessel was saved; in remembrance of this the crew called the point after her name. Another more likely possibility is that the name was derived from the Tribe of Judah in the Bible as settlements named Jerusalem and Galilee are located nearby; some early maps even mark the spot as “Point Juda Neck” which tends to give more credence to this legend rather than the first (even though the first is much more romantic!).

Inscribed on a plaque in front of the United States Coast Guard Station building, the history of the Point Judith Lighthouse can be found: "Because the treacherous waters and rocky shoreline have become the scene of many a shipwreck, Point Judith is often referred to as "Cape Hatteras of New England". In an effort to protect mariners, this site was acquired in 1809 from Hazard Knowles, and Point Judith Light was established the following year by William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence."

If you'd like, you can click on the above picture to read the rest of the plaque which goes on to give the history of the first lighthouse which stood for only five years before being destroyed by a storm in 1815 as well as information about the other dwellings which have helped guide mariners safely into and out of Narragansett Bay, including the small building which houses the compressor for the fog horn that sounds every 15 seconds and can be quite loud if you're standing too close!

Even though it's loud, there's something horribly romantic about the sound of a fog horn and the rolling surf together even in broad daylight - at least for me! It brings back memories of stories of Captain's wives waiting anxiously on their widows' walks scanning the horizon for a sight of their men and their ships returning to port. Yep, I'm definitely a New Englander it seems!

In spite of my Yankee heritage and close proximity to the coast, I have always considered myself to be more of a "mountain" person than an "ocean" person but lately I've been rethinking that as I seem to have found a real affinity for the sea and the sound of the waves as they crash upon the shore as well as the smell of the salt in the air. Granted, I'm pretty sure I'd do pretty lousy as any sort of seafaring type (after all, I got pretty seasick just making the brief passage between Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz Island in San Francisco!) but the more time I spend near the shore, the more I like it and wish I was one of those lucky people who could afford a home by the shore. Unless I get around to actually buying a lottery ticket every once in awhile and beating the odds to win, though, that ain't never going to happen on dispatcher's pay!

I guess in the meantime I'll just have to be happy with the occasional journey down towards the sea so that I can sit on the shore

and watch the surfers

while listening to the waves crash upon the rocks

and wait for my ship to come in.

Let's Go to the Hop(yard)!

This Tuesday it was back to rain, clouds, and cool weather here in the Constitution State but last Tuesday was blue sky, puffy clouds, and the perfect day to take a drive out to Devil's Hopyard State Park in East Haddam. After grabbing my camera and my Dad's old walking stick, the girls and I headed west out of Norwich and had a very pleasant 25-mile drive to reach our destination.

Devil's Hopyard is an 860-acre parcel of land that became State property back in 1919 and it boasts some lovely campgrounds, picnic sites, excellent bird-watching and hiking, and - more importantly - Chapman Falls which drops over 60 feet in a series of steps. I had read about the falls but never actually seen them so it seemed like the perfect time to rectify that oversight.

As a kid, I can remember my beloved grandfather telling me the story of how Devil's Hopyard got its name - the Devil had passed by the falls accidentally getting his tail wet which made him so mad he burned holes in the stones with his hooves as he bounded away - but truth of the matter is no one exactly knows how the place got its name. No matter the origin of the park's name, though, it's a pretty cool place and was well worth the journey out to see it.

The picture above was taken at the very top of Chapman Falls before it begins its descent down to the pool below where swimming is prohibited but teenagers who apparently think they are outside of the law do so anyway. Should one find themselves in trouble at the falls, you are pretty much up the proverbial creek without a paddle as cell service out there is non-existent.

Another feature of the Hopyard is the covered bridge located downstream from Chapman Falls ...

Even if it's not an antique one, I do so love me a covered bridge!

The girls posed for a few obligatory photos and then Amanda took charge of the camera to snap a few pictures herself; she does that whole "MySpace" thing so much better than I do! I think she's hoping that if I ever upgrade from my D60 that she'll 'inherit' the Nikon but I think she's got a long time to wait for that to happen! As a teenager, though, she should be used to disappointment!

All in all, we had a nice trip out to see Chapman Falls and as neither girl tried to push each other into the water I chalked it up to a good day all the way around!

Meanwhile ... Back in Massachusetts ...

As previously posted about last week, I had a spur-of-the-moment, hey-kids-let's-pack-a-bag-and-go-north-to Massachusetts moment last Thursday which resulted in the girls and I driving north through some hellacious traffic and landing at our final destination which was the Fairfield Inn Marriot in Amesbury - just down the road aways from that one and only Nashville Belle and Blogger, Lois.

My post from last Friday described our first get-together at Salisbury Beach, a place that has definitely seen better days but is trying to revitalize. In spite of the fact that we were all waiting to be attacked by pizza-eating zombie clowns, we had a good time and when we parted company we were looking forward to the next day's get-together at lunch with another blogger, Ms. Maggie Moo, who was coming up from Boston to join us.

The Fairfield Inn turned out to be a lovely place to stay with comfy beds, free wireless internet, and a free breakfast buffet that certainly was not lacking in variety. The breakfast room was actually pretty crowded so Jamie and I went downstairs, snagged a bunch of goodies, and went back up to our room where the girls took advantage of the free wireless for a couple of hours until it was time to check out and head over to the Friendly's that was right next to the hotel for lunch.

Upon on our arrival at Friendly's, we joined Mags sitting at an outside picnic table fresh from her drive up from Boston (about an hour south of Salisbury depending on traffic) and then shortly afterward we were joined by Lois and her hubby Hank who had opted to work at home out of the Air Stream rather than make the drive into the plant in Metheun where he is currently assigned to a project. Of course he joined us for lunch because even if you're working from home you deserve a lunch break, right?!?

After sitting outside and laughing and chatting for awhile we moved inside for lunch and ice cream because you can't be at Friendly's without having ice cream (though strangely enough neither Amanda nor Jamie did as I think they were still a little full from the free breakfast at the hotel!). Following lunch Mags was going to head back to Boston for an evening out with friends, Hank and Lois were heading to Haverhill to buy bicycles, and I was going to stop by Shirley, Massachusetts to drop Jamie off at her cousins' house for the weekend on my way to the train station in New Haven, Connecticut to pick up Amanda's friend who was going to be visiting from Brooklyn, New York for the weekend. Whew!

Before we all went our separate ways, though, there were a couple other things we needed to do with one being to try to stop laughing long enough to have our picture taken by Amanda ...

... we seemed to have a major case of the giggles in this one (perhaps it was in reference to Lois and my white pasty legs!) so we tried it again ...

... and managed to stop laughing long enough for the picture to be taken.

Following that, I needed to deliver some hugs to Lois from some other blogging/Facebook friends who had requested them so there was a big bear hug for Mo, a hug for Callie, one hug for Claire and another for her Mumborg, and several more hugs for myself and others. Let it be said that Lois gives great hugs! Actually, it was probably starting to look like a big hug-fest under the tree there at Friendly's by the time we were done but I guess that's just what we bloggers do when we get to finally meet in person!

Lois and Hank plan on being in Massachusetts until perhaps October so I'm hoping to get back up there and visit again (I found out there's an old lighthouse not too far from where we were that I want to check out) as well as perhaps meet up with them again when they come down to my part of New England. No matter where it is, though, I'm sure there will be more giggling and carrying on as that's just the type of people they are! I'm really looking forward to it!

Sailing, Sailing ...

I've actually got all sorts of things to blog about but now just don't have the time - figures! Hopefully I'll be able to find some time to sit down and get caught up soon but in the meantime, enjoy this picture I took of some lucky folks sailing the Atlantic just off of Point Judith in Rhode Island yesterday. I've never really thought much about sailing but yesterday I really would loved to have been on that boat enjoying the beautiful day. Ah well, at least I was lucky enough to be standing on the shore enjoying the sea breeze!

A Quick Trip to Massachusetts

After sitting at home for most of the day on my day off Thursday and debating what to do, I suddenly decided that a trip to Massachusetts to visit Lois, who is temporarily residing on the East Coast, was in order. I told the girls to pack a bag while I saw what I could negotiate on Priceline for a hotel in the Salisbury area. After a couple of clicks I had us booked into the Fairfield Marriot Inn in Amesbury at a pretty good savings (gotta love Priceline!) and we loaded up the car and headed north ... into traffic!

I had thought that getting through Worcester would be the worst of it but that part of the trip was a breeze compared to the traffic we ran into in Lowell, Lawrence, and other places that made no sense at all! I have come to the conclusion that there are way too many cars in the northeast and not enough highways to handle them. Sad thing is, almost every single car had but a single person in it. Sheesh! And people like to talk about the West Coast having commuter problems - ha!

Just a little over two hours later we got off the turnpike and had no problems finding our hotel where we checked in, checked out the room, and then headed down Route 1A to meet up with Lois and her hubby, Hank. Needless to say, Lois is even greater in person than she is on her blog (if that was even possible!) and I absolutely loved Hank - matter of fact, I found myself wondering on more than one occasion if he had a twin brother or a clone hidden away somewhere! Hank and Lois really are the perfect couple and it was a joy to meet them! Amanda and Jamie both thought they were a lot of fun, too.

As for Salisbury Beach itself ... it looks nothing like it did when I was last here way back in 1974 and it was actually purty skeery. We all agreed that it looked like the kind of place Stephen King would set a book in and scare the beejeebers out of people! I would have to say that Salisbury has definitely seen better days but I think we made the best of it and had a good time anyway.


Before heading south today and dropping Jamie off for the weekend at her cousins' house in Shirley, Massachusetts we'll be meeting up with Lois for lunch and another blog friend - Mags - will be coming up from Boston to join us. It should be a lot of fun no matter where we end up dining at - I'll let you know!

Return of the Plushies ... Sort Of!

Even though I haven't been doing much blogging myself lately, Amanda decided to do a post over on her blog Artcetera chronicling her adventures in doll-making. Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile now are probably quite familiar with the "Plushie Progress Posts" from the past - particularly when Amanda was working on making dolls of the boys in My Chemical Romance ...

or the pantless plushie of guitarist/vocalist Steve Righ from Mindless Self Indulgence ...

or even the version of LynZ, flexible bassist from the same band ...

In her current blog post "Death of a Dollmaker", Amanda reveals her latest two plushies ... excuse me ... dolls that she made based on Curtis and Erik - the two members of her current favorite band, Creature Feature. If you get a chance, go check out her post and her two latest creations then leave her a comment telling her that her mom wants a Doctor Who plushie ... er, doll! Considering she's got me hooked on the darned show, the least she can do is make me a doll! Oh, and no Daleks please!

Canterbury Tails

Having been at this blog for almost three years now, it's hard to see something or do something remotely interesting without thinking "that would make a good blog post!" so I guess it's about time that I quit lazing around and wade back into the Blogosphere ... though I may stay in the shallow end of the pool for awhile rather than dive right back into things which means I'm probably going to be posting a lot of pictures.

As I mentioned the other day, I was up in my hometown of Canterbury taking some pictures of the local area on an absolutely beautiful July day; lots of sunshine, blue skies, and no humidity - it was your textbook perfect New England day! One of the places that I stopped at was Dean's Cemetery which is divided into both older and newer sections with the newer section being down a small dirt road behind the older section. As I pulled into the road to turn into the cemetery what should I see in front of me but ...

Now for those of you wondering why someone would have a cow as their gravestone (like Jamie asked me when she first saw the picture!) let me just say that's a real bovine standing right there trying to pass herself off as a statue! Apparently she'd gotten out of whatever field she was supposed to be in and decided to dine on cemetery grass.

These other two ladies looked on with what I think was probably grass envy as they were fenced in behind the cemetery and could only look longingly at the green grass and clover that covered the newer part of Dean's Cemetery that this other cow obviously knew about!

Gotta love spending some time in the country!