No stronger bond than a man and his blog fan

I am very happy to be finally being with Jennie after five long weeks.  But I'm over the moon about the fact that Fletch said he missed me!

Love you, Fletch.

The Early Bird

I was about to get out the door early this morning when I heard a weird noise in the house.  It turned out to be the sound of a little bird hurling it's little bird body at the glass doors of our wood burning stove from the inside.  Hmmm...what to do.  Will it fly out the way it came?  Will it die and start to smell?  I decided to dial a neighbor and get some back up.  

Laura was over in seconds.  If you ever have a bird trapped in a major appliance, you want to be living next to Laura, the Bird Whisperer.  She was able to reach in and swaddle my little visitor in a hand towel to bring it outside.  At first it played dead which did give me time to get my camera but it was off and flying down the street before I could get a shot.   The bird is actually in this picture - - it looks like a  little smudge on the street in front of the orange house.   Bye bye Birdie!

The day Joey discovered the joys of gardening

I was out tonight with Dawn (my Booktopia VT roomie) but the picture we took of ourselves was on her phone.  So here it is, late at night, and I have no photo.  Time to dip into the archives - again!

Fortunately I came up with this pre-blog gem just begging for a snarky caption (or a cutting remark).    Anyone want to give it a go?

Last night out with Stacey and Di...in July

The girls snuck in one more night out before I go to visit Bill.  Of course, August will bring a whole new round of "good bye" nights out.  Conversation topics included babysitting by-laws, STDs running rampant in nursing homes, Facebook tips for newcomers, and bad HR advice - something for everyone!!

Bill is Back at Home

After a two week jaunt in Asia Pacific, Bill is finally back on familiar ground.  He spent the afternoon with a beer and a cigar in a cigar bar in Marylebone.  (on my "to do" list before moving to the UK - find out how to pronounce Marylebone... is Mary-le-bone or Marly-bone?)

I spent the morning packing for my own journey to the UK (just a visit).  The fact that Bill is wearing a long sleeve shirt and v-neck sweater means I probably won't be wearing those summer dresses I have laid out on Joey's bed.  

The Goodbye Tour Continues...

 Why does it take threats to move out of the country to get people together?  First stop on Saturday's Goodbye Tour agenda was tea with Patrick on Newbury Street.  We had finger sandwiches and scones and Patrick even surprised me with a bouquet of flowers.

Next stop, cocktails at a hip and trendy hotel bar while we waited for Shelly and Tres to join us.  Many drinks later we headed out for some very decadent snacks (Disco Fries are fries covered in bacon and melted gouda and brie.  Basically a heart attack on a platter.)  We tried to keep the work talk to a minimum but since Shelly, Patrick and I have all worked together for 13 years (!!) it was hard not to throw in some office gossip and reminiscing.  (An old favorite - the time I yelled at a lame duck employee who was causing havoc in the office on his last day: "I'm going to get my haircut and you'd better be gone by the time I get back!!!"  He was.  It's a shame I'm not still putting those stellar people management skills to use.)

Three!!!

Malikai turns three on Monday!!  That means it's only seven more years until my next colonoscopy.  I can taste the evacuation elixir already.

Anyway, all the boys and Trudi came over for pizza night tonight and Malikai opened his presents from Grandma Jen and Grandpa Bill.  I was flying blind in the store but scored a hit with a Buzz Lightyear phone and a Five Little Monkeys game that came with a plastic bed that pops the monkeys off.  We didn't actually play the game but we did set the moneys up on the bed and pop them off about 4000 times.  A winner!

Oldies but goodies

A slow day for the blog so I dipped into the archives for these old shots of Bill and boys. Remember when Bill was clean shaven?  Remember before Bret had braces?  Remember when Joey had a round head?   Classics.

Bill Down Under

This is Bill at work in Sydney.  I'll bet Fletcher doesn't even recognize him in a black suit and white shirt - he certainly didn't look like this at work in America.  I barely recognize him myself without something pink or paisley. This is what happens when you're the International Director of something...you wear suits and have a string dangling from your ear.  

My soul was touched here

Moonrise Kingdom at the Screening Room tonight with Laura, Cindy, Alison and Christin.  I didn't think of taking the blog shot until after the movie when Cindy and Alison had already left.  

Christin, Laura and I were lured down State Street by the sound of bagpipes playing in front of Agave.  We got there just as they finished and one woman sitting outside the restaurant was in tears overheard saying "When something touches your soul..." I'm going to try to use that as my new catch phrase.  If this were a Wes Anderson movie we would cut to various shots of me, deadpan in various oddball garb and scenarios (on a horse wearing a bishop's hat...bailing out a small isolated sailboat with a stuffed beaver...in goggles sitting neck deep in a cannibal's boiling cauldron) saying "When something touches your soul..."  

Alas, Wes is not directing my life.