Hello family

A Winter Sunday in New England.

Waking up to the snowfall was wonderful.  We were told we'd have nice fluffy snow to shovel.  I don't mind a bit of shovelling a bit of light fluffy snow.  It's nice exercise, I get to talk to the neighbours, listen to my iPod ....

Then the weather was warmer than they expected.  The result was a ridiculously heavy foot of snow.  It took me close to three hours to slog through the shovelling.  I was one of the first out their shovelling (internal time clock still on GMT) so I didn't get to talk to neighbours.  And I left my jacket at the party last night, which meant my iPod was in Boston.

Ah well, these were minor nuisances, because......

I got to see Mom and the boys!  We watched the Patriots lose.  Oh well, we watched it together.  I brought over some mediocre pizza for lunch (by U.S. standards mediocre, would have been top notch in the U,K.)

 Mom's little Christmas tree was very cute.  She hand strung popcorn, like the old days and used it as garland.

 Bret has to practice making stupid faces.  Joey's a natural.  He's growing a ratty beard and moustache, like his father.  Bret is jealous because he is incapable of growing any significant facial hair.  I keep telling him that neither can Joey and I.  Just don't look in the mirror much and you can convince yourself that you are rocking cool facial hair.  (I had to look away from my picture on this blog quickly.  Much like when I look away from the mirror when the barber shows me the back of the haircut and highlights my bald spot)

Anyway, suddenly it is feeling more like Christmas.

Mother Nature (and Chris and Dan) Welcomes Us To Boston

Despite the snow, our plane landed without incident.  We found the one Boston cab driver who didn't know the area and got lost trying to find the house in the South End but we eventually made it to Chris and Dan's place with all our luggage in tow.  Quick change and we are party ready!  (And let's just agree up front that there is nothing cooler than saying, "Oh, we just flew in tonight from London!" when meeting new people at a party.)

 When did blue become the Christmas party go-to color??

Chris and Dan know how to throw a party.  The house is decorated with style with a fire in the fireplace.  They have caterers and a little three piece band and their dog Max comes around every now and then for a scratch behind the ears.

It was fun and we were not even tired yet when the car service arrived to take us up to Newburyport.  The ride was nasty - over 90 minutes in almost white-out conditions.  And the driver didn't do a lot to instill confidence.  When I said "I'd be crying if I had to drive in this weather" his response was "What makes you think I'm not crying?" 

It's now 7 AM ET, Bill and I are awake although we could have used a few more hours of sleep, the snow is still falling and it's time to go find someplace in town open for breakfast.  Happy to be home!!!

Homeward Bound

We are headed home for the holidays today.  Time to pack and clean (I like coming home to a clean house!) and all those last second don't-forget-to-do-that things.   

We were talking about what the blog will look like when we return home for real.  We'll have more sink series.  We'll have pictures of Jen, Diane and Stacey at dinner at Paparazzi.  We'll have selfies of Jen and I making stupid faces in bed.

And maybe we'll have television reviews.  Since we won't be going out to Barcelona or the Isle of Skye, we'll have plenty of time to review the television shows we are watching.

Here is one we've been loyal to from the start.

The League.

It's about friends in a fantasy football league.  It's R-rated, crude humor and we love it.

Mother Entwistle may not be there demographic, but DiDi?  Definitely.

Hat as Prop

No wonder why Jen is always reluctant to wear a hat.  She treats it like its a prop to a comedy show. 

She looks very cute when she forgets she's wearing it.  Forget you're wearing it, Jen!

Actually, these pictures are my fault.  I asked her to pose after giving her different scenarios to act out.

Thinking about Fletch wearing his Fred Flintstone animal skin outfit.

Actually seeing what Fletch looks like in a Fred Flintstone animal skin outfit.

 Any time the camera is facing her

I always think she looks like Archie Andrews in this first pose.  The smiley pose is more just Jen being Jen in front of a camera

Fletch when asked any question about how the software works by a client or prospect.

What's in Store?

Fletch's request for less Bill, more Joey is duly noted.  We will be able to comply with that in just a few days.

Please also note that the answer to my mother's eloquent question ("What the @&#@ do you have on your feet?") is my new boots from Barcelona!!!  Didn't they look good on my little Peggy Fleming legs?  (I assume your answer is no?)

And now with out further ado….a post about nothing.

___________________________

As you can tell from our blog - we do a lot of shopping. While the rest of the tourists are looking at art in a museum, I like checking out the oddities in the shops.

If you are British, these are the foods that say "America" to you:  

Jolly Time Popcorn (Where do they sell BACON pop in America??)

Crisco

Betty Crocker

Fluff (attention Lisa!)

Oreos

Bisquick

Sort of a disappointing list, don't you think?

In Spain we wandered in a very funky jewelry store.  My favorite item was this guinea pig chair!! I'm sitting on dozens of stuffed guinea pigs (as in fluffy toy - not taxidermy…or we would have bought it).

This was my favorite - this little fella has his own shelf space. When I eventually go back to work in an office I'm thinking about putting this sign up outside my cube.

Homeward Bound .... almost

On Saturday we'll get to see the family for the first time in months.  

I wish it were Saturday

Street Art Walkers

Every time we go to Shoreditch we see new street art.  I'm sure I'm mocking some sort of serious political statement here.  (How do you like those fancy hose?  Looks like I got a henna tattoo on my legs.  Bill bought me those in an effort to raise my fashion level even close to his.)

"Our entire world is a great stage of fools" - look, there's one now!  (How is this a quote from Val Av Havel(?) when it's just a paraphrase of Shakespeare? )

This ship was impressive.  But not as impressive as Bill's green on green outfit - complete with red bow tie and green polka dot pocket square.  It's a very Dandy Christmas in Shoreditch!

My motto - when in doubt, flail.  (I think that may also be a paraphrase of Shakespeare)

But this was definitely my favorite - -made out of a bag of garbage and a toilet tank!  Why does he have a chicken bone leg?  Love it!