royal flood fashions

The Wellington boot was worn and popularized by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.This novel "Wellington" boot then became a fashionable style emulated by the British aristocracy in the early 19th century.

(in this photo...Jen's wellies, a rubber hose, and about 10 inches of rainwater being pumped out of our basement....)

Help me make it through the night....

Dr. Barney Clark was kept alive for an additional 112 days because of his experimental Jarvic 7 artificial heart.

Our home is dependent upon our own little artificial heart, this shabby little water pump which is keeping us from losing our heating system in the latest flood.

fine line between stupid and clever

Marge and Doug sent us a 10 year anniversary package that included an antique silver cup.

Traditionalists know that the silver cup is pretty close to the 10 year anniversary gift. As nice as this is, I'm looking forward to next year when we can turn our marriage up to 11.

The Cairn Man

A woman passing by asked me if I modeled my cairns after the work of Andy Goldsworthy.

Quite a compliment . Goldsworthy is a genius.

Scared of Squirrels

lease to own

I have 3 days before my 10 year trial period expires. I think I'll keep him.

lemonade out of lemons, perhaps?

We have a leaky roof. Luka, our handy man guy, is coming to check it out tomorrow.

Maybe it means we can start planning for our new deck overlooking the pretty church....

24 x 7 Litfest

Read in order to live. Gustave Flaubert

I cannot live without books. Thomas Jefferson

I want a Kindle. Bill

The Newburyport Literary Festival is a month away and Jennie is beavering her way through all her Co-Chair tasks.

March Madness

The basketball equivalent to ten pin bowling.

Not running for office

I read up about the Health Care Bill debate. I was disturbed by the quid pro quo. Dude from California supposedly received a promise of more Federal sponsored water for his district if he changed his vote. A Chick in Texas was looking for increased NASA funding; another clown in Chicago wanted to influence immigration, etc, etc. This is why I would get ground up like Steve Buschemi in the wood chipper if I were ever in politics.

"Come on, guys. Let's stop this arguing. Can't we just vote on the bill in front of us?" It would be like this baboon and flamingo.

I'd make Jimmy Carter look like Mao Tse-tung.

I hate politics.

a whole lotta nuthin'

We had a lovely day - lunch and shopping in Portsmouth NH and then a long walk on the rail trail in Newburyport - all without our camera. The result is this lame last minute picture to commemorate the day.

Jumping for Skort

I'm not sure if Jen is excited about the perfect weather day or her new skort.

Bro's and Ho's

Joey had the dudes over for pillow fight with Playboy playmates. Jen and I slept through it.

Every time the playmates are over we sleep through it! Damn....

Smoke gets in your eyes....and food

We had a lovely little fire. Although we were a bit out of practice because we burned painted wood and smoked ourselves out. We had to take our evening indoors to finish Lost.

and that ain't Bull

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! - Sitting Bull

The Bull had it right.... nothing recharges one like a beautiful spring day following a weekend typhoon.

The grilling season is now.

It ain't easy being green

Bill and Randy played basketball tonight. We painted ourselves Celtic green to intimidate the opponents.

After the game we washed the green paint off but we were so sick from running up and down the court a couple time that we were even greener.

Jennifer (singing monkey voice)

Today sucked again, as we spent the day in the basement surrounded by water like we were in a bad Kevin Costner movie. Even Petey had a bad day as she was taunted by monkeys wearing tightie whitey undies and Susan-on-a-stick.

f%$#ing rain.....

The J and B team dominate in season 7 of Domestic Survivor. Here the hatted pair vacuum thousands of liters of dirty water from their basement.

isn't it the thought that counts?

For months Bill has been chipping away at this third floor painting project. And every time he picks up a brush I think about how I really should help him.

Just looking for distractions

I painted while I watched Star Trek at the same time. I've never been a Sci-Fi guy but too many people rated this one in their tops for the year. I liked it. Not too geeky..... old Spock brought back for a cameo......good times.

We're still finding so many things remind us of our Noodle.

"Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning... breath in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out... and, then after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while."

Too dramatic.... I know.

Hello? Newburyport Police?

I'd like to report a surly homeless man sitting on my porch smoking a cigar....

goodnight Noodles

Financial Aid Night at Ipswich High

Bill takes it for the team and sits through a session on the ins and outs of college admissions while Joey plays Volleyball and Jen watches TV back home on the couch. If you could do it all over again would you go to the same school? Would you study the same subject?
*** I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of another boy.
-Woody Allen

love our Noodle

inflatable toast

Silly plastic gimmick or bread-shaped pillow of joy? Take it from Malikai - nothing says happiness like inflatable toast.

Oscar Madisox

Laura and Jim came over for our annual Oscar night. Jennie wore jewels and jammies.

The Oscars were boring, but Laura and Jim's stories weren't. We especially liked the one of a naked Laura running across the street yelling "chocolate mess".

Little Girl Spoiled

Big night for Jennie....

She got a pedicure while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Talking Trash

Joey's room after an hour of video games with Matthias, Derek and Kieran.

the most beautiful faucet since Farrah

After six months of a perpetual leak we have a new Kohler faucet and soap dispenser.

We love it so much we wanted to put it on the world wide interweb.

The Six Million Dollar Mother in Law

Bill couldn't bear to look at this - it's a picture of his mother's back pain zapper - a wire goes right into her back and she can create vibrations on the nerve endings when she is in pain. Bill was too squeamish to look at it in real life so I don't know what he is going to do when he sees it on our blog. I hope our one follower isn't squeamish too.

networking

I'm working on a project with the President of Canary.com.

They will sell short videos, music and art. I was asked to design a logo.

I won't get paid but it's a good chance to build up some clientele for the future.

If he likes my work he may think of me later as the business grows.

The guys name is Thomas Kay. He's 8 years old.

Crapshoot

It's always an adventure when I go grocery shopping. Tonight I picked up little Dill pickles at Shaws for Jennie and then went to Guiseppe's for lobster ravioli. Either I'll be chosen to shop every week because of my creativity or, more likely, I'll be shunned from shopping ever again.

The way I see it I win either way.