In the hilltowns...

On Saturday, we took a ride to Cummington, MA for the Hilltown Spring Festival. Dennis had heard it mentioned on the news that morning, so he took us on a surprise ride. It was a gorgeous day - bright blue sky, low 70's, and just mile after mile of beautiful scenery.


As we arrived at the Festival, we reminded each other about a similar fair we went to last year, also in the hilltowns of Massachusetts. Let's just say we stuck out like sore thumbs. This time, not quite so bad, although if I had known where we were going, I might have chosen a different shirt for Matthew....

It ended up being quite an interesting mix of farmers and hippies, so we kinda fell somewhere in the middle. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself....

We got to see lots of different animals, which was great. Matthew got to check out a few, up close and personal...

He also got to go on his very first pony ride. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but he actually did fine. He was a bit distracted, and didn't want to hold on to the horn of the saddle. He was more interested in touching the pony's mane. We went round and round a few times, and he could barely take his eyes off the creature beneath him.

We definitely saw some things we'd never seen before.......a composting toilet, a bearded lady (and not like in a side show tent for people to check her out - just saw her doing a demonstration with her horse), and this....

Sadly, we didn't have a chance to play, since apparently the pigeons had just done their business right before we got to the table. Next year we'll know to time our visit so we get in on the action.

Really? Why?

I've been waging this silent battle at work for the past 2 months. I say "silent" because I'm not entirely sure the parties on the other side know it's going on.

It all started when we moved into our new building. Just like in our old building, we each have two separate trash bins, one for paper to be recycled and one for trash to be, well, trashed. Now my personal preference for aligning said bins is recycling to the left, trash to the right. Always. When I'm sitting at my desk, I know exactly where they should be, and I can just toss stuff without needing to look. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening when I leave my office, my bins look like this.....


And invariably, the following Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning when I return to my office, my bins look like this....

What's up with that, yo? I'm beginning to think the cleaning crew is messing with me. I think they're purposely switching them on me to see if I'll switch them back. Either that or their level of OCD matches mine, and they feel compelled to put them the opposite way.

I think I'm gonna have to set up a nanny cam to catch the bandits in the act....

Take Me Back Tuesday

Taken: 1988, maybe 1989

This was my bunny, Euki (short for Eukanuba). Don't ask me why I named my rabbit after a brand of dog food. I just liked the word.

I had her for about 5 years. Based on the fact that she only had one chin in this picture, I'd say she was still pretty young. She got quite large over time, and ended up having 3 distinct chins.

Seeing the bunny on Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night reminded me of her. There were 30 or so kids all petting a bunny all at once, and Dennis commented that they should be careful because the bunny could have a heart attack. That's what happened with Euki. She had started to seem ill, wasn't eating much or acting like her normal self, so I took her to the vet. She didn't really like riding in the car much, so she got a bit stressed out, running in circles in her carrier and thumping her feet very loudly. I was able to reach in the back seat and slip my fingers in the cage to reach her, and she calmed down. When we got to the vet, I went to get her out of the car and noticed she wasn't moving. I ran into the vet yelling like a raving lunatic that I had an appointment but that I thought my bunny had just died in the car on the way over. Bless their souls, they were so kind to me, rushing out to the car to get her. Unfortunately, in her already weakened condition (from uterine cancer, they suspected), the stress of the car ride caused her to have a heart attack. Poor Euki.

Shoot - this wasn't intended to be a downer post. What the heck?? All I really meant to say was "Check out this cute picture of my bunny hanging out on my bed". Cute, right?

Forever grateful

Take Me Back Tuesday

Date: October 7, 2006
Place: Providence, RI

Dennis and I had gone into Providence for a Saw Doctors show at Lupo's. We took a trolley into downtown, had a great dinner at RiRa, and then headed over to catch WaterFire. If you've never been, you really should check it out. There are 100 bonfires lit along the three rivers in downtown Providence, which are tended by these folks in gondolas, all dressed in black. It's set to beautiful music, and it's really quite breathtaking. We had the added bonus of seeing one of the gondolas crash into one of the bonfires as it was being lit. Oops!

The sponsor for WaterFire that evening was the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, so the Capitol building was all lit up in pink. During the display, hundreds of people, many breast cancer survivors, marched silently through the crowds carrying torches. Just beautiful.

We later saw a great Saw Docs show - one of my favorites to date, actually. Great, great weekend.

Playing at the park

Thought I'd share some pictures from our playtime at the park tonight during Dennis' softball practice. We had a blast!

Take Me Back Tuesday

Taken: Summer 1986 or 1987

Place: Saint Joseph Church Rectory

Here's a picture of a little squirrel I befriended while working at Saint Joseph Church - hard to believe that was more than 20 years ago now. The cooks and I named him Ezra, and he would come up on the back porch of the Rectory every afternoon for a snack. I used to feed him peanuts, which he would typically take right out of the pockets of my pants. He'd then sit on my leg and polish off his snack. This went on for months, until one day Ezra just stopped showing up. I like to think he must have found a better offer somewhere else.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the Moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Take Me Back Tuesday

Date: October 29, 2005

Place: TD Banknorth Garden

Since the Stanley Cup playoffs are underway, I thought this would be a timely picture. This was taken at a Bruins "Old-Timers" game we went to in Boston. A number of former Bruins players took on a team from Russia - an exhibition game, of course.

I must admit I was never really into hockey before I met Dennis; didn't get it, really. It wasn't until I went to my first hockey game in person that it all clicked. I could follow the puck, follow the line changes, and really see the game unfold. Since that day, I've really enjoyed watching it, live or on TV.

The Bruin surrounded by a sea of Russian players in the picture is Ray Bourque, Dennis' all-time favorite player. As you can see, the Russian players were just thrilled to have their picture taken with Bourque. They were just in awe of him. He retired before I got into hockey, so I never saw him play. (Althought I've watched plenty of highlights since then, right babe?) I did catch a glimpse of what it must have been like, though, even in this exhibition game. During the game, one of the Russian players cross-checked Bourque, and he spun around with a look in his eye like he was gonna make him pay. He thought better of it, naturally, but it was fun to see nonetheless.

Go B's!