California Dreaming

My mother has told me probably 10 times that she has to keep pinching herself because it is so beautiful she doesn't believe it's real. Here's a few from her Pacific Coast Highway Drive.

Californistruction

In case anyone is curious about exactly what I am doing in California, here is a link to an article about the project I am working on. Quite a price tag for 1 restaurant...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2009/08/the-perfectionist.html

More China Pictures, I hope everyone enjoys them

As you all know, I had an absolutely amazing time in China. We had may "school based activities" planned, however, due to the H1N1 virus, all government offices were closed to international visitors. Instead we incorporated way too much shopping, and on a positive note, many attractions we were not scheduled to visit such as the Summer Palace which was lavishly enjoyed by the Empress Dowager. If I had to pick two favorite sites we visited (I have to say 2 because it is a tie), they would be the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square.

 

We climbed the Great Wall on the hottest day there, it was about 98 degrees and we climbed between 2-4 pm......exactly, insane!  There were points on our climb where we literally had to climb, as in scale with our hands, pulling ourselves up. Now there were two sides to travel, and a group of us (all under 35) chose the more difficult route. Hey if you only get to do it once, might as well make it count!

 

Overall, China was the most amazing experience I have ever had, from riding a rickshaw in the Hutong to eating at the famous, strange, and completely chaotic Old Beijing Noodle Shop. I absolutely recommend that everyone try to get there at least once in your life. If you do decide to go, I am there!

China Picture....sorry for the delay!

Nicole Caron
Program Director
The Bureau for Exceptional Children and Adults

Placing an order

Hi everyone -

I am participating in a study and I need to place an order on the e-store next week SO if anyone needs anything - let me know ASAP - just e-mail me!

Andrea

Here we come California

Cathy and I are leaving for California in the morning!! Can't wait I've never been there. We have a road trip planned. John mapped out a trip to Carmel and found a nice place for us to stay!! So off we go along the Pacific Coast Highway!!! I hear once there some people never come back???? You never know! Pictures to follow next week.

We had an amazing time in VT. We had a beautiful weekend. We could not have asked for better weather. We spent the weekend on the boat. Kevin took us to " The Blessed Cove". We anchored there and tied floats to the boat. We brought lunch and beverages, and most of us relaxed for hours, while Kennedy fished for 72 hours straight . It was wonderful!

Kennedy and I were on vacation this week. We spent the weekend hanging out by the pool at my parents, Tuesday and Wednesday in Rhode Island with my parents, and from Wednesday night till Sunday night in VT. We had amazing weather. We were so lucky. We brought Emma with us to RI, and Tommy and Sarah were in VT and I thought you guys may enjoy a few pics.

Congratulations Amy

Congratulations to Amy

She has passed her teacher's exam

Well Done

Happy Monday!!!!

Claire says HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

And do you have any ketchup?

Claire finally has a tub

While we were in Vermont, we had a contractor renovate our bathroom so Claire could have a bath tub. It was about time...


We had a wonderful time in Vermont and hope to post more pictures soon!

Hugs to Joey!

So upon Facebook stalking this morning I saw that Mandy posted this picture:


Mandy said that he fell off his bike last night. He cried a little and said it hurt, so I waited til this morning, and the nurses couldn't believe how badly it was broken and he wasn't freaking out. I have to take him to the orthopedic surgeon later.

So everyone send happy and pain-free thoughts to Joey for a speedy recovery! Let us know how the doctors appointment goes today!

Feel better soon Joey! We all want to sign your cast!

It's a good day :-)

Kristin got her kayak back, we have a new TV, and Julie updated her blog.

Thursday afternoon we are off to Vermont and I can't wait. It looks like the weather might be decent while we are there.

Every Wednesday, Claires classroom has water Wednesday where they get some time to play in the pool and sprinklers. They just posted a few pictures on their website so I pulled these off. Honestly - who looks like the trouble maker in this picture?

Update #1: Safely Made it to California!

***We've had lots of updates this week - Don't forget to scroll down for birthdays and videos***

Hi from California. It's been almost 2 months since we got here - Sarah, Uisce, and I made the long trip in Suzanna (that's the Jeep - Suzy for short) with a UHaul trailer in tow containing Blue Steel (my motorcycle) , some clothes, Sarah's bicycle, and tw0 dog beds.

The drive was a lot of things, mainly I would say too short (timewise not milewise). 4 days and we were within 150 miles of Los Angeles. Leaving Boston around 9 AM, we went through New York and then the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania... at night... in a ferocous thunder storm... on a thin highway occupied mostly by big rigs... it was like in Forrest Gump when Lieutenant Dan weathers the really bad storm riding the mast of Jenny and then after he comes out having made peace with God - that's what I was reminded of anyway. At the end of day 1 we were safely out of the storm and spent the night in the sliver of West Virginia between Pennsilvania and Ohio.

On a side note, our hotel choices each night were limited to the dog friendly accommodations of wherever we have the energy to drive to each night. Most of the hotel's had two queen sized beds - so we'd give Uisce his own bed each night!! Auntie Paula - just kidding - Sarah and I each had our own bed and the dog slept on the floor...

So after a morning jog through the neighborhood around the hotel, trying to avoid the 300 dogs running around off leash, day 2 began with a routine that we would keep for the entire trip to Los Angeles - DRIVE ALL DAY LONG. We didn't pick the most exciting route to drive, but we certainly saw a lot of corn... corn corn corn... corn corn corn corn corn corn corn... corn. 950 miles worth on this particular day bringing us to Independence Missouri where we spent the night.

To be fair it was a really beautiful drive - and we made sure that everyone knew we thought it was beautiful. The phrase "this truly is God's country" became our slogan and was mentioned to the majority of people that we struck up conversations with during our food, gas, bathroom, and sleep stops. I guess it was more of a you-had-to-be-there thing, but we got a kick out it! Everyone seemed to appreciate it and couldn't understand why we had looks of holding back laughter on our faces.

The one city that we timed our trip around was Denver. Both Sarah and I had previously been to Colorado and wanted to stop there for a night, which would also allow us to drive through the Rocky Mountains during the next day so we could appreciate them. We also decided that Uisce is really a wolf and he was born in the mountains of Colorado. This was clearly true by how at home he seemed to feel in the state. That lasted until we took him out to dinner with us in Lo-Do (Lower Downtown) Denver at which point I think he would have ran out of the state if we wasn't leashed. The chef at the restaurant we ate at ended up being from Boston and we talked with him for a bit before calling it a night to continue our trip in the morning.

Utah! Very underrated state that I personally thought was the most beautiful to drive through. There was a roughly 40 mile stretch where the highway ran parallel to a huge mountain range about 10 miles away, and in that ten miles of flat land there were towns spread out with lots of green grass, sports fields, and farms. Looked like a cool place to live... Then there are the yellow, brown, and red canyons of Utah which I couldn't stop thinking about because I knew that not too far from the highway was Moab, which is the Mecca of Offroad Jeep Riding... a slight tease but too much of a detour.

So after Colorado and Utah we drove straight through Nevada to make it into California on the 4th night, stopping in Barstow, less than 200 miles from Los Angeles. We rested up for the night and the next morning made it to LA in hopes of finding an apartment somewhere far away from where they lived in the movies "Friday", "Next Friday," "Friday After Next," and "Don't Be A Menance to South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood." The first apartment we didn't even get out of the car before we decided to move on and check on a few others. The second one, in West Hollywood, was set back of a quiet street in a 4-apartment house in a very nice neighborhood. We looked at the inside, saw the living room with the kitchen bar built off of it, bedroom, parking, and small porch and promptly signed the lease. We've been loving it ever since. There is a coffee shop around the corner (2 doors down) that also makes addicting cakes and desserts and draws a steady crown of celebrities. I don't watch enough TV or read enough magazines to recognize most of them, but Jason Stratham was in front of me a week ago with his pops, and Sarah, her friend Rachel who was visiting, and Uisce saw them filming an episode of Entourage there. Uisce also met Dog the Bounty Hunter last week. Sarah said Dog was petting Uisce and she says "Dog meet Dog!" hahaha - awesome!

So we've been trying to take advantage of our time here and adventure as much as possible. I am working 6 days a week which is making it a lot tougher, but I will follow up soon with posts of a few of our adventures as I think this one is long enough... I hope that I didn't boot all the previous posts off with this one taking up the whole page... I also hope that some of you are actually still reading... anyone? Thanks if you are and come visit me!!! I miss you all very, very much and can't wait to get home and see you all! Lots of love! Paul.

Happy Birthday Nicole!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Nicole!
Happy Birthday to you!

We hope that you have a GREAT day today and a wonderful time in Vermont this weekend! We love you!!!

I think I can, I think I can.....

Claire and I have had quite the week. Last Friday Dan left for Seattle to visit some of his buddies. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough vacation to join him so Claire and I have a week without Daddy. I didn't think it would be too hard, but boy was I wrong! Friday afternoon/night went great. Claire and I met friends at the park after work and we played until dinner time. Claire passed out around 8:15 and I followed shortly thereafter. I slept for 11.5 hours, Claire slept 12.5 hours and I felt great. Saturday morning we got a ton accomplished before 11AM and were home in time for her nap while I met with the contractor who will be renovating our bathroom while we are in Vermont. Saturday Andrea and a friend came to Hoboken, we had a late lunch and they headed to see Avenue Q on Broadway. At the last minute Andrea was stuck with an extra ticket, but I couldn't find a babysitter on short notice so I couldn't join them. That was fine though because Dan & I already saw Avenue Q. Sunday we went to breakfast, took Andreas friend to the airport, and shopped for the day. Claire was great! Then just as we turned down our street the skies opened up and we had a horrible storm. It wouldn't have been that bad but we don't have parking and the car was full from our shopping trip. I double parked in front of the condo and ran up to get an umbrella to get Claire & Andrea inside. When I came back to the car there was lightning and the loudest thunder I have ever heard. I dropped the umbrella outside and jumped in the back seat of the car faster than you can image! Andrea took Claire in and I was stuck unloading the car before I parked it. Not sure why I even bothered using an umbrella because I was soaked, so much so that it looked like I showered with my clothes on. And don't you know as soon as I got the car parked and was walking back to the condo, it was sunny with no rain. Go figure!

Monday was great, Andrea had stayed Sunday night so she could take Claire to daycare in the morning and I had a good day at work. When I got home I realized our TV, the only TV we have in the house, was broken. Not sure what has happened to it, but Claire and I have been enjoying each others company with lots of music since Monday. I can't even put on a DVD to get 20 minutes of sanity for myself! I called the TV manufacturer and they recommended I call repairment. The first guy said $60 to come to the house so I made an appt for Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday I called the other repairmen and the next guy said $105 to come out and the last guy told me no one should charge to come to the house, and if they were I was getting ripped off. In the meantime, the repairman cancelled my Tuesday appt and moved it to Wednesday (Thanks, buddy! Had I known, I would have gone to spin to work off my stress). I cancelled my appt for this afternoon and waiting on the other guy to get back to me with a quote for repair. In the meantime, Claire has figured out how to open every drawer and cabinet and I had to babyproof last night, when I would have much preferred to be watching trashy TV! Needless to say I have been on edge this week and am looking forward to Andrea and Paula visiting shortly for dinner and drinks (and I am in desperate need of a drink!).

But......how could I stay frustrated when this sweet child is around? You see why we are getting a tub installed next week - it is much needed. You can see Claire signing a few words for you in this video



And this is Claires newest toy from our shopping trip Sunday. Andrea - I hope you have a good explanation for Dan when he gets home :-)


Lastly, here is Claires newest trick. As Andrea pointed out in the previous video, Claire is not a dog - but I will still refer to this as a trick. What else would you call it?


FYI...the TV guy just called me back. $625 to fix the TV. I hope you're not tired Sunday morning Dan, it looks like we will be shopping for a new TV!

On the positive side - we are heading to Vermont next Thursday night.

Check her out

Laughs for a Friday

So, if you haven't seen the Today show today, or the CNN article yesterday, or heard anyone talking about it - you need to check this out:



Over 1.3MILLION hits in 4 days, they were on the Today show, and the entire bridal party will be on again tomorrow to perform.

Enjoy!!!

TECWAE

Three friends from the local congregation were asked "When you're In your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?

"Artie said: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a Fine spiritual leader, and a great family man."

Eugene commented: "I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people's lives."

Don said: "I'd like them to say, "Look, he's moving!"