Two Games in One Week

First things first.  Happy birthday Matthew; happy anniversary Janet and Peter.  That was a warm weekend, too warm for a wool blazer.  Anyone remember?  The world's highest paid male model, when he was a teen?

It's hot here now, and it has been raining.  It used to never bother me, but with a driveway dug up by trucks, rain brings mud.  I blame climate change and the melting of the glaciers.  Just not sure how to turn that into a lawsuit.

We had a Massachusetts weekend, highlighted by a trip to Fenway Park.  I drove to Boston to pick up Joe at the airport and we headed to Fenway.  It was a few hours before the game, but that didn't stop us from getting an early start on the beer drinking.  The rain stopped right before the game, and then by coincidence the team was honoring Paul Cellucci, former governor, former Ambassador to Canada who has contracted Lou Gehrig's disease and is raising money for ALS research.  I wrote him an e-mail when we got back to Maryland and he responded right away.  The cameras at the game made clear that he has lost use of his arms in this terrible disease.

I spent the night at Joe's friends' house and then picked up Mary the next day also at Logan airport.  We drove to Pittsfield and put in about 75 hours of work in the next day and a half.  We joined John and Marilyn for a folk/bluegrass music concert, organized by their cousin.  Impressive musicians.

On the way back home, we stopped in to see Grandma who is well.  We did a few chores for her, but she says she has a longer list waiting for the next trip!

Another highlight came earlier in the week when Peter came down to DC to take up an invitation from a former student of his who is now clerking at the Supreme Court.  I was fortunate to be tagging along as Natalie took us around on an insider, behind the curtain tour of the building, including a hike up the stairs to another court, where they play basketball.  Peter was supposed to get here in time to go to a Nationals baseball game, but was delayed, so Mary joined me.  Fun for us, but Peter's delay didn't sound so fun.

Joe got back from a week in Jordan and was in Boston to check out Tufts and to go to his friend's bachelor's party.  Margaret went out to Denver for an orientation program for Fulbright teachers who will be heading overseas this summer.  And Annie has a great blog post on her Chinese name, which roughly translated means "peaceful concrete."

Speaking of blogs, check out Kathleen's blog on her work/stay in Tanzania:  http://kathleens-crazy-fun-adventure.tumblr.com/

We saw on Facebook that Jeffrey went to the airshow in town; and going back a ways, we enjoyed Mother's Day with three mothers - Grandma, Janet and Mary.  We went out to dinner on the the eve, and then the next day went with Grandma to a sculpture garden in Hamilton New Jersey.

Work is proceeding on our house, and things are coming together.  Should be ready well in advance of July 28!

Love from down here.

More holidays

Cinqo de Mayo; Passover, Easter and Mothers Day!   I can't take all the excitement!

In honor of Cinqo de Mayo (today), we plan on having fajitas, and I got my haircut by a Latina yesterday, which is, sad to say, the only time these days I get to practice my Spanish.  

In honor of Passover, we went to our first seders this year, one at a friend's home and the other at the Episcopal Church.  Both were very special and filled with overdue learning moments.  I had to provide some food for the latter one, including gefiltefish.  We learned we were not big fans.

In honor of Easter, we went north and weathered our last snow storm of the year.  Margaret and Dan (and D) joined us for the occasion.  The Easter bunny found us three times: at our under-construction home, at Sunday mass (!!) and at the Red Lion Inn, where we had a special dinner, evoking memories of dinners and brunches at the Harvest in Pomfret.  Those memories were spurred by the Bloody Marys consumed!

In honor of Mothers Day, we have big plans, that we don't want to give away since it's this Sunday.  But they do include heading north to Hightstown for Saturday evening.

Speaking of Mothers, I stopped by to see Grandma last week, minutes ahead of David and Paula, and then Peter.  The Fairport crew was down for a couple of days which included some work in New York and taking in a play called "Million Dollar Quartet" a play about Elvis, Johnny Cash and others at a recording studio.  Sounds like fun.

We spent lots of time in front of TV, next to radio, reading newspapers and checking on the Internet these past few days, trying to get as much info as possible on Sunday's raid into Pakistan.  Joe texted me well past my bedtime Sunday night telling me to turn on the TV which I did and stayed up as long as I could.  We saw lots of comments on Facebook and elsewhere which we liked, including Janet's evoking of the Wizard of Oz song (Ding, dong...) which Steven Colbert must have read since he used it the following night.  We also liked a friend's quote of Mark Twain:  "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure."   But, once we came to our senses, we liked this one which was posted by a Facebook friend who was an intern and a graduate of Wesleyan: http://www.revelife.com/746839071/the-death-of-osama-bin-laden-and-the-christian-reaction/

Other news:  Joe finished his final exams last night and is heading to Jordan this Sunday for a week of work.  Margaret has found a new place to live, down closer to her workplace.  Annie is starting a Hamilton alumni chapter in Beijing!

We got a full read-out from John and Marilyn of their trip to China, and saw a lot of photos (but not all of them!)  The trip sounded fascinating; after India, they remarked especially on how clean everything was in China.  They gave us lots of tips on what we should try to do when we go there.  (Got to get my visas done!)

We were also following Jeffrey and Melodie's trip to Florida on Facebook (social networking again?)  Their goal was to see the shuttle launch (what a great idea) but unfortunately, as we all know, due to mechanical problems, the launch has been delayed.  I hope the delay meant they had time for "South of the Border" on the way back.

We did also talk to the folks out in Dundee a few times, but for the life of me I can't remember the news.  Must have been Seinfeld-type conversations - wonderful.

I'm sure there's much more, like baseball and spring flowers and house renovations, but it's a beautiful day, and the weeds in the flower beds are calling me.

Saludos, abrazos y besos from down here!