Vacation Over

Bob and Don have now arrived safely back home in NY and once they get over the 8+ hour ride home, I hope they have time to think about what a good time we all had. Bob drives a late model Cadillac and I got to drive several times over the past few days which was quite a change from my car, I can tell you.

When I bought the Volvo new it had quite a few bells and whistles on it. Since 1994, a lot more bells and whistles had been invented and Bob has them all in his car. There's a compass in the rear view mirror. A dinging bell to alert you if you've left the blinker on (which I think should be mandatory on all cars!) The passenger side mirror turns down towards the curb when you put the car in reverse. There's lots of others things, I just can't think of them now.


Here's Bob and Don outside my house last night. I caught them by surprise and got a good shot, I think. Don sure likes to read. He always had a book, newspaper or travel guide handy.

Much of their visit was spent driving around (when we weren't eating, that is) as there had been a lot of changes since Bob moved away in 1997. The entire downtown area had changed. The Westin, Prov Place Mall and, especially, the highways. There have even been a lot of changes since I was in the city on a regular basis just 3 years ago!

We took a ride by Bob's old house and I decided to post a picture of it to keep all this info together. This was a gorgeous fixer upper which Bob and Richard worked on for years. Had many a good time in that house, I can assure you. It's where I learned to use a mouse also.

Bob and Don had a day without me as I needed to stay home and sleep on Friday. They went to Newport and did a tour of The Elms and then went to Theater by the Sea for dinner and a show.

On July 4th, we headed to Narragansett to Iggy's for chowda and clamcakes, clam strips and fish and chips. It was a gorgeous day and the line wasn't bad at all. When we got back to my house we watched A Knights Tale, which was pretty good. They headed to Bugaboo Creek for dinner and I skipped dinner that night.

Yesterday was shopping and the ocean for the guys, then a return trip to Apsara's for dinner, a cruise through RW Park and back to my house for our goodbyes.

I had a really great time. I knew that I had missed Bob all those years and having him around reminded me of the great conversations that we've always had. Now that he's got his TMobile phone, we can talk free, so there are many more great conversations in our future!

Vacation Continues

My trust in human-kind has been restored.

Pete, the Volvo parts guy who I met through Craig's List, came through for me with the catalytic converter. Whew, is all I can say. I didn't think he would take the money and run and I was very glad that he didn't think of it either!

It is now being safely stored in the back hall of my house.

Our "gastrointestinal" tour of Rhode Island continued yesterday with Bob and his nephew Don. We went to Caserta Pizzeria for lunch - having had Wimpy's and a Pig in the Blanket. We also made a quick stop at Palmieri's Bakery so Bob could get his favorite pepper and wine biscuits.

We headed to Woonsocket to pick up the car part and on the way home stopped at Pearl's Candy and Nut shop in North Smithfield. OMG!!! My jaw hit the floor when we walked inside and it pretty much stayed there the entire time. Every kind of candy that you've ever had, loved or dreamt of is in that shop. All lined up so neatly literally from floor to ceiling. Bob found the pebble candy that he had wanted forever. I found the fruit nougat candies that I had been thinking of the for past several weeks (go figure) and we had a great time. Don was smart enough to stay in the car.

Bob brought some DVD's with him and when we got back to my house we watched PS I Love You which I very much enjoyed. Somewhat predictable, but very amusing and clever. Some of it was filmed in Ireland, which was just beautiful.

Last night for supper we went to Richard's Pub for calamari and a Reuben sandwich, which Bob is unable to get in the milquetoast food area of NY state where he lives.

Today, I was in a coma and didn't hear the phone when Bob called. I'm enjoying a quiet time home alone for now. Just too beat to think about going out! Having a great time though.

The Longest Storm

What is with the weather? I think we must have gotten 4 or 5 inches of rain today. The puddles in my front yard got so big they merged into a single pond. Several times. And the thunder and lightning lasted from 7 am to after 3 pm.

I really wanted (and needed) to color my hair, but I couldn't even take a shower we had so much lightning - it just wouldn't stop long enough for even a quick shower.

Chelsea slept over, so it was nice to have her here. She couldn't get over the amount of rain either!

I had dropped my car off at the mechanic's on Monday. I have been picking up parts for the car; muffler and tailpipe, headlight, blinker and a few other parts that I don't need now, but will probably need in the future. Kevin was having trouble finding a catalytic converter at a decent price. He could find a new one for $815, but I really hated to spend that much money.

I called a couple of guys that I know in MA and one of them gave me a price of $450 so Chels and I got picked up by Veronica, went to Warwick to get my car, then off to Woonsocket to give a guy I barely know $500 to pick it up for me in Worcester!!! Of course, I had to have a little chat with him before I handed over the cash, just so he knew that he was going to have plenty of trouble from me if he just took the cash and didn't get the car part. I almost hate to say it here, but I don't think he's up to anything, he does seem like a decent guy. I've met some of his kids and his wife over the last few months as I've gotten other car parts from him. So, we'll see what happens.

I haven't even gotten to the most important and best part of the day. During all of this rain and running around, my friend Bob Stevens was driving to RI from upstate NY!! It's been 12 years since we've seen each other and once I was back in Warwick, I got a call from him that he and his nephew Don had just crossed into RI from CT!! I told him that instead of heading to my house, to go straight to the motel6 since I was just down the road.

I hung out with the kids for awhile and then headed to motel6. Bob and Don were waiting right out front for me! It was so great to see Bob. A little less hair and a lot more gray, but other than that, it was my old friend. I couldn't believe that it took me years to track him down, he called when he got my note 2 months ago, planned the vacation right then and here he was!!!

I got to drive his car - a 2 year old Cadillac! It was great, so smooth after my car. On the way I asked if they had heard about the man who was kidnapped from the motel6 a couple of days ago!! We had a good laugh over that. I couldn't believe that I recommended they stay at the same place where this happened!

We headed north to Providence to go to Apsara's, an Asian restaurant that Bob and I have been talking about for the past 2 months. The food was as good as we remembered and we had a nice little feast.

Then I took Bob and Don on a quick tour of downtown, which had drastically changed since 1997! And then back to the motel6. When we pulled in there was a police car roaming the parking lot and while in the room we saw him again. When Bob walked me out to my car a few minutes later, there he was again. I was very glad to see a police presence, though Bob had said that if anyone kidnapped him, they'd give him back. I agreed, Bob is such a curmudgeon.

Anniversaries

Two years ago today, my buddy Dawn married her Joe. I've written about it in the past (one of my best posts, in my humble opinion) but I never had a photo to post until I stole this one from her Facebook photo album. Didn't she look absolutely beautiful? Joe looked very handsome that day as well. What a cute couple, eh? So in the two years since the wedding, guess what they've been doing, er, look what they made...

This is their daughter Haley (I stole this photo from Dawn's Facebook page as well) and she looks to be one sweet, happy and gorgeous little girl.

I could not be happier for all three of them! Happy Anniversary Dawn and Joe. May you have many, many more happy years ahead.

Drive Safely

My own personal little anniversary today is that 15 years ago I picked up my brand new spanking clean and shiny Volvo at Auto Show. A mere 15 years later, that Volvo has seen better days, but I love it as much today as I did 15 years ago.

I haven't had a car payment in 11 years, which may be why I love it so much. Still gets me from point A to point B without too much worry.

Remembering...

Tim Russert

It was one year ago that Tim Russert of NBC news died. One of his favorite sayings was "What A Country" and what a year this country has had. I still feel sad after a year because of the impact he had on me. His demeanor, sense of humor and integrity was something I much admired and I miss. There's a lot of press on how the mainstream media has a 'love affair' with President Obama - if Tim were still here, and I so wish he were - he would be the one journalist who would treat our President the same as he treated everyone else, with respect. Tim's wife and son have shown remarkable composure in this past year and I admire them for that.

Julia Langello

This past Thursday, the 11th, was my birthday. As I do every morning, I was looking through the obituaries at projo.com and I saw a name that I knew I would be seeing before long. Many years ago, I met Julia Langello while I was working for ADT. My job was to place a 'I've fallen and I can't get up' type unit at her home. She was 91 years old at that time and was one of the nicest, sweetest women I had ever met. She lived with her daughter who worked full time and was concerned about her mother.

When I got to their house, Julia was waiting by the door for me. I knew the moment I saw her that there was something special about her, (really, look at her picture and tell me she isn't one of the cutest grandmother type women you've ever seen) and I was so very right (for once!)

Even though she was elderly, and had lost her right eye at some time, she was a spirited woman whose mind was as sharp as a tack. She wanted the unit placed in her bedroom because she spent much of her time in there. As we sat on her bed, we chatted a bit while I set the unit up.

She told me about her family, her late husband who had died quite some time ago, and her life as it was at that time. I explained the unit to her as I plugged it in and tested it. Unlike many other seniors, she understood how it worked right away and that left some time for us to visit before I had to leave.

She called me a couple of months later and I went back to her house and swapped out the unit because it was acting up. So, we had time for another visit while I was there. A few weeks later she called me as she was trying to reach her grandaughter Melissa, who worked for ADT in Florida. I tracked Melissa down and asked her to call her grandmother. And so it went. Julia and I spoke on the phone several times over the last few years and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Whether I was helping her or just chatting with her, she was just the sweetest woman. So, I was sad to see her obituary on Thursday. Last night I deleted her number from my cell phone. She was 96 years old. I'm sure her family will miss her dreadfully. I know I do.

Ann Grady
My first real boyfriend was Eddie Grady. I met him through my best friend Beverly Sardelli's then boyfriend, Bob something. This was 1972. Eddie had long wavy hair and boy did we like to make out. No matter where we were, we were always trying to get somewhere so we could kiss. One of our favorite places was under a big shrub on the grounds of the Aldrich mansion. We loved it there because no one ever knew we were there.

I don't recall why we stopped seeing each other, but we remained friends. We saw each other in school and for years after, he would come to our house each Christmas day for a visit. He wanted to be a fireman back then and today he is Deputy Chief of the Cranston Fire Dept..

In today's projo.com obituaries was the notice of his mother's passing. I had met her a few times and, of course, as a 15-16 year old, I was scared of her. She was a single mother as Eddie's father had died when he was younger and with two daughters as well as Eddie, she had her hands full.

I have a really clear memory of going to his house one day and we were up in his room. The walls were covered with posters and he had the black-light on, the windows were covered with aluminum foil (no idea why, but it seemed to make sense back then.) We were kissing, as usual, and his mother threw open the bedroom door making us both jump and his front tooth hit my front tooth which chipped. To this day, I often think of him when I run my tongue over my tooth chip.

Shortly after 9/11/01 I won at auction, a bid on two firefighter rememberance artwork in frames. I gave one to the EG fire department and the other I delivered to Eddie's (he's called Ed now) office in Cranston. He wasn't in, but I left it for him. I'm so very sorry for their loss.

Persistence Pays Off

OMG! OMG! OMG! I cannot tell you all how happy I am at this moment in time!

I have been looking for a friend of mine for many, many years. He moved from RI to PA and somehow we lost contact. Over 5 years ago, I started looking for him on the internet and have mailed letters to different addresses I've found, only to have them all returned.

Last Friday I mailed yet another letter to yet another address. At 17:10 this afternoon my phone rang with a number that I did not recognize. I hoped it was Bob as I answered and it was!!!!

We have talked for the past 2 and 1/2 hours and he's coming here for a long weekend for the July 4th holiday!!!

The really great thing about our conversation today is that, although it's been years, we picked up right about where we left off when we last saw each other. All those years (well, some of them) melted away now that we have connected again. He's doing fine, really good actually, and I am greatly relieved. Besides missing him so much, I was also worried about him.

I am so looking forward to seeing him in a couple of months, we've already talked about places we want to go to. Caserta's Pizza for a wimpy, Apsara's (Vietnamese/Asian food in South Providence) Newport, Waterfire (haven't checked the schedule yet, but probably is scheduled for the holiday weekend) among so many other things.

You know that bucket list that those of us at an age have, whether written down or not? Today, I can cross one item off my list. I have found my old friend and he is well!

And I am happy.

35 Years Seems Wrong

This June 7, it will be 35 years since I graduated from high school! In so many ways that time seems to have flown by. In other ways, it seems so like a really long time since getting up and going to school every day.

My high school reunion is scheduled for sometime later in June. I've already sent back my questionnaire and let them (whoever they are) know that I will not be attending.

I didn't have a really great time in high school. It was okay and I was relieved to graduate and move onto working full time. I still stay in touch with the people who I want to stay in touch with. Jerry and I met in 11th grade cooking class, where we were assigned to the same table. He and Faith, who I met in 12th grade, got married a couple of years after graduation and I see them pretty regularly. I am godmother to their daughter and look forward to spending time with all of them. Tom, who married Janice about 3 years after graduation, graduated with me and Faith. Jerry had gone to Tollgate and Janice to Pilgrim, yet we have all remained best friends all these many years later.

So I did (very grudgingly) go to the 20th reunion. It was okay. Not great and not bad, just okay. It was strange to see people who looked familiar, yet different. There were no great surprises, just a bunch of people who used to know each other a long time ago. Now, 15 years past that, it seems pretty silly to go. I suppose it would be interesting to see who ended up where, but we did all that at the 20th and I don't remember who ended up where. I think I forgot because I didn't really care.

Faith/Jerry and Tom/Janice have gone to every reunion. Each time I would tell Faith to let me know if one particular classmate was there. If so, I would get dressed and meet up with them. But he never showed. About 6 years ago, I ran into his brother who gave my numbers to him. I got a call and we reconnected. He was living in DC and after talking for a couple of months he planned a trip to RI. I picked him up at his downtown hotel and we went for dinner and then to a PawSox game. During our dinner conversation I realized two things; the first being that he was a total and complete drunk and, secondly, he had no recollection of me at all. After all those years of wondering what happened to him, now all of a sudden, I couldn't get rid of him. It took some time and many late night calls where he was pretty loaded to finally get him to stop calling. I also moved and changed my phone number which may have helped as well.

So, mostly, I don't want to know the details of the lives of a bunch of people I don't recall all that well and didn't really care about to begin with.

However, at 52 years old, I am finding that life is pretty tenuous. Just a couple of days ago I ran into an old school friend. She is having some health problems and has lost most of her eyesight. She also mentioned that a guy from our class, who was at that kitchen table with Jerry and I back in 11th grade, had come to a mini-reunion that was held in March. A couple of weeks later, he was dead after suffering a massive heart attack.

A few years ago, I ran into the mother of another classmate who I was pretty close to in 9th and 10th grade. They were a pretty wealthy family and when I would go to their house, I was surprised that they had a live-in housekeeper and an elevator in their house. The big surprise, however, was the master bedroom and bathroom which was one big room. The bed was huge and round and the bathtub was a double and there was a beer tap right into the tub! We'd hang out in that bedroom, not that we drank the beer, but it was funny to sit on the round bed and look at the double tub and the two toilets, one of which had a phone next to it. Anyway, when I ran into Mrs. Casey, I asked how Mary was and found out that she had passed away a few years earlier from cancer. I couldn't believe that I hadn't known.

Just in the past couple of months there have been two other classmated who's obituaries were in the newspaper. One guy I didn't recognize at all, but I did remember the girl (hard to say woman.)

So my thinking is that why should I spend time filling my brain with information that I don't need to store, when there is so much I work hard to remember, mostly regarding my nieces and nephews.

The only thing is that 52 is much too young to die.

Baby Talk

I just got off the phone (not literally) from talking with my friend Dawn, the new mommy.

I did not expect a call so soon and it was such a surprise and so great to hear her voice. As with other new mothers, she's very tired. She told me about what she went through in those 38 hours of labor, and all I can say is that I am thankful she prevailed and she got to go home with a baby, which made it all worth it.

Here's her husband, Joe, who looks like a natural at being a dad.
Dawn said that Joe was a rock for her and gave her lots of support during the labor and birth. As I've said before, there is nothing that shows what a real man is more than how good he is as a husband and father. Looks like Joe's got both of those covered!

Haley Elizabeth's Second Day Of Life

Here are some more pictures of Dawn and Joe's baby daughter, Haley Elizabeth. What a doll!


It's love at first sight when you see a baby - look at those cheeks!!

She looks pretty serious for just being two days old. I wonder what she's thinking about.

Haley Elizabeth

Meet Haley Elizabeth Breault !!

She was born on Thursday, March 19 at 9:17pm after 38 hours of labor to my friends Dawn and Joe Breault. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 2 ozs.

I am thrilled for them - the joy of a healthy child and the infinite possibilities of her life!

Friends Christmas

This coming Friday night will be one of my favorite nights of the year! How do I know that?

Well, it's my friends christmas - where my friends from high school; Faith and Janice - along with their families and I have our annual get-together.

It is always a fun night, even though we've been doing it forever (really, I can't remember when we didn't do it!) A guaranteed fun night.

Every year it's at a different house, but has usually been at Faith's or Janice's. I've hosted it twice in the past 15 years. Now that two of Faith's kids have their own homes, we've been able to spread it out a little bit more. Last year was Tim and Becky's year to host and the year before that was Rachel and Mike's turn.

This year will be Faith's turn. We'll have our usual appetizers while everyone is arriving. Then dinner (no idea what it will be this year) and we usually play Trivial Pursuit (boys vs. girls.) Intermingled in there is lots of talking, laughter and catching up. I'd like to say that the game is the highlight of the night, but all aspects of the night are fun. I especially enjoy Faith and Janice working in synch with each other and getting completely off track as they try to answer our question. There are a couple of attendees that seem to be bothered by that, (which is something that I can totally understand) but I end up enjoying their annoyance as well. It is what it is and I've learned to appreciate it over our many years of friendship.

Last year we added a new element which was a great deal of fun. It's called a Yankee Swap and everyone was instructed to bring a gift wrapped present of about $10 in a brown paper shopping bag. Now this bag had to be folded over and stapled with 3 staples!! There were more details than I am sharing right now but it was quite fun. I took it one step further and wrapped my gift to resemble a brown shopping bag, which was quite clever if I do say so myself.

As the kids have gotten older, it's been more difficult to get everyone together. Joseph is home from school in Minnessota. The next day Kimmy heads to Florida. The math that goes into figuring out which night works out best for about 15 people is more than I can do, that's for sure. It's always disappointing when someone is missing. This year we should have full attendance, and that makes me very, very happy.

Very much looking forward to a fun night with fun people who I love dearly.

Not Yet Born Baby Pictures

Here are the first baby pictures from my friend Dawn and her husband Joe!! Look at what a friendly child she will be having! Already waving at such a young age! Look at that profile, what a cutie patootie. How exciting is this? Amazing pictures!
Needless to say, my dear friend Dawniebird - all the best in these last few months until that baby is born!

Hank Cooper

At least 20 to 25 years ago, I went to a birthday party for a guy who was a friend of my fathers. He was always coming by the Castle and the party looked to be a good one, so I went. While at the party there was a guy there who I didn't know and he and I got talking. Our conversation came around to music and we had one of the best conversations I have ever had talking about our favorites; from The Beatles to Clapton to Zappa, and everything in between. He was about 10 years older than me so he had even more experiences at concerts and with music in general.

I never did get the guys name, but a few weeks later we were talking about the party and I asked who the blond guy was that was there. I was told it was Hank Cooper, Lillian's brother!
I was surprised that Lillian had such a cool brother. Not that Lil isn't a cool person, but she has always listened to classical music - always! (She plays the cello which may be why she prefers classical, though she does enjoy The Beatles!)

Over the years I would see Hank often - especially when I lived with Mr. Cooper. We always had a good relationship, talking about all kinds of things including our love of music. Hank and his wife lived in Japan for awhile, then Massachusetts and more recently in Spring Hill, Florida (which is where my Aunt Rita and Uncle Larry lived for many years when I would visit them!)

So about 20 minutes ago I hung up the phone after speaking with my lovely, wonderful friend, Lillian. She left me a message a couple of days ago to tell me that she was no longer in Maine, she was in Florida where her brother Hank had been hospitalized.

A (very) few months ago, Hank had hurt his back while moving a box. After being checked with the doctor, he was sent for further tests. At that time he found out that he had cancer and that he had just a few months to live. Being in his early 60's, that was a shock to him and his wife Jackie and to Lillian as well.

Hank had had a very rough time about 15 or 20 years ago when he had had a heart attack. Since that time he stayed in pretty good health.

Over the past few months Lillian spent quite a bit of time in Florida, and shipped quahogs and saugys to him to remind him of home. He was able to come to Rhode Island last month for a few days visit and to say goodbye to some of his friends and family.

So when Lillian called me a couple of days ago, I missed the call. (I knew that this was not a good call. We had spoken a few days earlier while she was in Maine and left off that we'd talk again when she got home because school was starting the week before the Labor Day weekend and she had meetings to go to and schoolwork to prepare. So I knew she wasn't calling to chat and I didn't want to listen to her message, and hearing whatever news she was calling about.) Just as I had thought, her message was that she was in Florida and Hank had taken a turn for the worse. She left a time that was good to call her back and when I called, she didn't answer so I left her a message.

I had been trying to figure out over the past couple of days when to call Lillian and find out how Hank was. I left a message for Jason, Lil's son yesterday to see if he had any news - he never called back (I found out today he is out of cell range on Cape Cod.)

So I decided to call Lil tonight just before 20:00. When she answered I knew right away (and what she confirmed almost immediately) that Hank had died just about an hour or so before my call to her. She and Jackie had just returned from the hospital and Lillian had gone into the guest room and sat on the bed, not knowing what else to do. I called at that right time, thank goodness, which gave her something to do. We talked for awhile before I let her go to make other calls.

Other than one of Mr. Cooper's brothers and some nieces and nephews, it's just Lillian and Jason left. My condolences to them all. Rest in peace Hank Cooper.

Come To "A Time"

In Rhode Island we have something that I think may be unique to this little state of ours - well, actually we have lots of things that make us unique, but the one I am referring to is "a time."

Sooner or later everyone in Rhode Island ends up going to a "time." By that, I mean an event, usually a fundraiser of some sort. Typically it's for someone who is running for office or is down on their luck. Maybe they had an illness, or an accident of some sort and their bills are piling up.

I think that it is mostly our Italian-American population that coined the term "time," though I am not completely sure of it. I am pretty sure that the meaning is that when you go to "a time" it means that you will spend some time with that person and his or her family and friends. There may be raffles to up the amount of money raised.

Friends and families get together and plan this "time." It may include a dinner which is usually chicken, but always has pasta in the menu. Or it could be cocktails and appetizers only - to keep the overhead down, of course. Most times, though, the location has been donated because a family member or a friend or a friend of a family member or a friend of a friend of a family member or a friend of a friend of a friend owns it. It's a small little world here in the Ocean State, that's for sure.

Example: My brother Michael turned in his license plate a few years ago when he bought a new car. Sometime after that I went to a friends party that was not "a time" although they are a political family. I saw Michael's old license plate on a car that I didn't recognize. Parked in front of it was Michael's car. When I got in the house I found out that Dave, my brother's best friend from high school, now had Michael's old license plate!

So anyway, I am going to a "time" later this month. It's a fundraiser for my god daughter, Rachel, who is running for Cranston City Council - Ward 6. Rachel, who I am quite proud of, has become quite the activist since she has married and had a child. And she has a strong passion to keep the quality of life in her city. I am hoping that the "time" that is being held raises lots of money for her to be victorious in her campaign. This "time" will take place at the Kelley-Gazzaro Post on Plainfield St. in Cranston on August 21st at 6:30 pm, which, coincidentally I used to go to for dances and singles parties! (Again, small world here)

I hope all who know about it come to it with their checkbooks. Remember there is a $2,300 limit for any contributions.

A bouncing baby .....

I just got off the phone with Dawn, my very good friend who lives in New Hampshire. She had called me about a week and a half ago and I hadn't yet had the chance to speak with her. Today, we finally got to catch up and boy did she have some big news. Really big news. I mean BIG NEWS!

Come next March - St. Patrick's day or so - she is going to be a momma! I am so excited for her -and her husband Joe - of course. Congratulations!

Dawn and Joe were married last June 23, so it's been just over a year. They added a dog to their family during that time, a girl named Sophie, who looks quite a bit like Hannibal would if he were on steroids. And now a baby - boy or girl flavor, who cares - as long as he or she is healthy.

Go Dawniebird!

Oh, and you too, Joe!

Not Something You See Everyday

So I finally get to blog about Faith and Jerry's trip to Mt. Rushmore for the 4th of July week. They took some pictures of their adventure and I was surprised to see the Prez's faces from another perspective. Very cool. Their trip took them to South and North Dakota and Wyoming.

They also ran into some wildlife while on the road. Faith took pictures (of course) from the sunroof of their rental car. This is a herd of buffalo that, obviously, have the right-of-way when you happen upon them while driving.
Thank goodness my friends go places and do things. I live my life vicariously through them. Here's a close up of a bison (another name for buffalo) that wanted to get up close and personal with Faith and Jerry. That head is massive.

As you can see there were other cars on the road that were stopped by the buffalo. Not something you'll see in Rhode Island, that's for sure. Could you imagine running into one of these herds while trying to get somewhere on time? You'd be late, I think.
Faith wasn't the only one to pop out of the sunroof of a car to look at the herd. Very cool. Amazing, actually.
Here are a couple of African elephants. Faith and Jerry did not see them on their trip, I just like the picture so I decided to add it. Did you know that the reason African elephants have larger ears than the Asian elephants is because of the intense heat of Africa. There are thousands of blood vessels in the elephants ears. As they fan them, it cools the blood in those vessels and the cooler blood travels throughout their body to keep them from overheating. It takes approximately 20 minutes for the cooled blood to work it's way back to the ears. Pretty interesting, huh?
I think you'd have to stop for a herd of elephants too!

Father's Day

Alice & Faith's Rosie Adventure

Yep, that is Rosie, me and Faith together at the AC Moore craft store in Framingham, MA! What a long day we had; long lines, friendly people and finally, a chance to meet and talk with Rosie, who I totally enjoy. It all started at 5:15 am on Saturday 5/31 when I woke up. After showering and letting Hannibal out, I was off. First to the bank as I had about 57 cents on me, then onto Faith's house and then 95 north to 128 into Framingham. We had a nice ride, only running into a couple of stupid drivers, only getting a tiny bit lost (we actually passed the AC Moore store as it was at the rear of Shoppers World) and arriving at the store at about 8:25. We got our red tickets, which meant we would be in the first group of people to meet Ro. We were told to return about 11:00 so off we went to find a place to have some breakfast. After our very filling breakfast we went to Trader Joe's, which I had heard of, but never visited. It's a little like Whole Foods, (which I've never been to either,) but it was fun. We found some cereal called Joe's O's, which Faith bought for her Joe.

Then we went back to AC Moore and the wait for Rosie began. We got in line a few minutes before 11:00 and we waited and waited and waited and then we waited some more. Thank goodness for the other people in line. We all had Rosie in common, so it really was a fun time and nobody got grumpy, including me. And, of course, there was the one crazy Rosie stalker fan! She looked strange to begin with and her actions and words pretty much put us all off and made us very wary of her, enough so that one of the girls in line notified security. Surprisingly, Faith was able to get her in a picture, which I will post soon.

Once Rosie got to the store, all babies, elderly and handicapped went to the front of the line, which was sort of frustrating. While I understand how Rosie feels, she doesn't want them to have to stand in line - but those of us who aren't babies, elderly and/or handicapped stood in line for hours (or sat, as I did) it was a very long wait.
Once we did get to the front of the line, it got pretty exciting. I thought it was strange to hear her voice in person - while it sounds the same, it was different. We watched Rosie interact with the ladies in line ahead of us and, just before us, a small boy named David. He wouldn't approach Rosie as his sisters did. And he wouldn't smile either. So Rosie approached him and gave him a beanie baby type stuffed animal.

I was next and Rosie explained to me that he had a brain injury from a car accident. I can't remember everything we spoke about, but we did cover the color green, which is my and her favorite color - as well as the color of her eyes. She has the most beautiful green and hazel eyes that don't show up when she's on TV or in movies. They are very distinct. She's very pretty also, not just attractive, but pretty and I suspect that she will become beautiful as she gets older.

She signed my Crafty U book, as well as a poster of her art that I brought with me, and we hugged and she gave me a kiss on my cheek. Faith took a few pics and a woman photographer there took the picture of Rosie, me and Faith.

All that waiting in line suddenly vanished from my mind and having met Rosie, my mission was accomplished. It was great to meet Rosie, she was everything and more than I had expected.

But the real gift that day was the time that I spent with Faith, my best friend for almost 35 years, since we met at the beginning of 12th grade in the fall of 1973. I'm so glad to have shared the day with her and completely appreciate the support and help that she gave me, her enthusiasm for our road trip, and the pictures that she took. She is the best!

Happy 1st Birthday Benjamin

Look at this beautiful brand new baby!
Is that Casper on my head?
Yummy in my tummy!
What a monkey!
I'm a big boy now!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAM BAM!!!

Bam Bam And Santa

If this isn't the sweetest picture, I don't know what is.

It seems that Ben found the real Santa! Rosy cheeks and all.

This young man has had quite the life in his 10 months and I've got the pictures to prove it. Theme clothing for all holidays so far this year. I cannot wait to see him in his Christmas finest.

He's been to the zoo at least a couple of times, a pumpkin patch in New Hampshire, the I-Way and now a visit with Santa.

I can only imagine what the next year of his life will bring.

Stay tuned....