I won tickets through ABB to the ‘Monet in Normandy’ exhibit that made it to Raleigh, so the whole family made an adventure of it. More than 40 public and private collections were pooled together for this amazing show. Continue reading “Monet in Normandy”
Author: m
Me and… cancer??
Seems impossible. I eat as low on the food chain as you can get. I exercise and try to take care of myself. But about three weeks ago I lost my appetite and started having pain in my abdomen…
UPDATE: I’ve moved the cancer story here.
A whole lotta horsing around
Wren and Reiley really amazed us (and their trainer!) with how quickly they picked up horseback riding. With only four lessons under their belts, they entered an all-day horse show on Saturday. They were awesome!! The event was great too – about a half an hour straight into the country, we entered another dimension full of cowboys, country music, horse trailers, and really really nice people. We sat in our folding chairs under a canopy someone else shared with us (it was a bit cold, a bit rainy, a bit windy all day, but still really nice – especially when you wrapped up in our super-warm Scotland gear for a quick afternoon nap). The girls did cloverleaf patterns and potato drops and barrel racing and pole runs and all kinds of stuff for which I am sure I am getting the names wrong. Andrea even had a Dr. Pepper, for old time’s sake (her regular drink at the stables when she was but a wee bairn).
I took a ton of video, as soon as I get some skillz I will drop them here. I promise. Way to go girls!
MoveOn.org kickin’ it
If you want to rein in the reign of King George and his cartel, get on over to MoveOn.org and sign up to call voters in swing states this November. They have a website that steps you through the calls. You have to make them on your own dime, with your own phone. I thought about killing my caller ID, then said screw it, I’m ready to shout it out. And with most decent cell phone plans, an hour of long distance a week is no problem. It’s empowering – even if America continues to so*o*ize itself this November, at least you can say you officially objected.
9.0 Good Will Hunting
Sorry I missed this the first time around – I guess I avoid hype. My New England homies from across the Hudson were great fun to watch 10 years later – Ben Affleck’s track suits alone make this a must see. It’s good, if you haven’t, see it.
Raleigh Chalk-a-thon
Raleigh had a fun event a couple weekends ago, where local artists were assigned sections of downtown roadway and sidewalk, given a theme (urban renaissance), and a bucket of chalk! Every section had a milk jug next to it, and you’d vote with your change for what you liked best. Our neighbor Kim earned a couple bucks from us with her entry, we liked it.
And it wasn’t limited to the artists – anybody could grab chalk and mark up one sidestreet, until it overflowed with creativity. The girls made some nice contributions:
Building Together
We got a kit to build a small brick house using a sandy gluey mortar, and spent a couple summer weekends on the back porch and kitchen table laying bricks. It was great family fun. We were all into it and worked together off and on until it was done. Our final creation!
9.0 Melinda and Melinda
I’ll say it again, Woody Allen has made my life richer. He’s on track again with this one. It springboards off an intellectual discussion around a table at a NYC restaurant with Wallace Shawn proposing that “we run to comedies to hide from our deep dark fears of our mortality”. And takes off. Enough said.
Captured Biking
Jim Brown caught up to me on the way in to work today, and took this video… I didn’t know he was grabbing it or I could have done some wheelies or something… cest la vie, maybe next time… don’t blame me for the music, turn it down if kids are around :> but it is rockin’, and seems perfectly timed to the ride, thanks Jim!
Carcassonne Game Day
The night before last, the girls stayed with Grammy and Andrea and I found ourselves with a Saturday pretty much all to ourselves. We ate up the morning with a massive game of Carcassonne, including the River, Builders and Traders, The Dragon and the Princess, and Inns and Cathedrals expansions. Later that day, Jane and Larry invited us over to see our Scotland photos on their big HDTV, sweet. The kids all played upstairs while we got in another big game, this time with The Count expansion (which is great). It was fitting to play a game set in France, as they faced Italy in the World Cup Final today. Too bad Zidane tainted the whole experience with a tasteless headbutt to the chest of an Italian player. By the time they lost in a penalty shootout, I had lost the urge to cheer for them. Zidane just eclipsed Rooney for the most disappointing World Cup performance. But it was still a great ride, even if it was full of disappointments and surprises.