May 31, 2010

Happy Memorial Day especially to David our nephew-in-law (I think that is the term for someone who marries one of your nieces) who is serving our country in Afghanistan.  It has been a few weeks as I didn't get to the blog last weekend and I wasn't home on Monday to catch up - more on that later.  I won't try to catch up on everything but you should know that starting here and for the next few months you will be inundated with vegetable garden photos - consider yourself warned, you can always just wait until late September if you want to spare yourself. 

Last weekend we spent the days working around the house doing the usual mix of summer repair chores - sanding and getting the first coat of paint on the bulkhead doors, mowing the grass, and edging the beds.  But the highlight was getting all of our crops planted in the garden.  Everything is now in the ground and once again it is up to the weather gods and fertilizer gods to determine what will rise.  We are hopeful of having a good strawberry crop as many of the plants have strawberries set, just need some warm sun to turn them red.  We have enjoyed our first few strawberries and combined them with rhubarb from the garden for our first dish made from the garden this year, strawberry/rhubarb cobbler.  Warmed up and served with ice cream, it was excellent.

On the social front, last weekend we had Deb and Rich, and Mary and Dave over for an evening of dinner and conversation.  We only manage to get everyone together once every six months due to family and business schedules so we spent the evening catching up along with solving all the world's and Pfizer's ills.  This week, Jo's sisters and nephew Drew are visiting for the long weekend.  They have taken a world-wind tour of the sites in CT with tours of Mark Twain's house in Hartford, the New Haven green, and a ferry cruise of the Thimble islands.  We also went up to Lexington and Concord - that's in MA (in case any of you Americans have forgotten what state these key cities are in) where we met up with Pat (sister-in-law) and her boys who were out visiting her son who lives in New Hampshire now.  It was a great time for the cousins to all catch up and the sisters and sister-in-laws to all talk since they don't get that many opportunities to all be together anymore.  Me, I enjoyed the history - what did you expect for an introvert.  They also spent a day lounging around at home to catch their breath as well as to not spend another couple of hours in the car. 

Work wise, the usual mix of New York trips for Jo along with her usual hectic schedule since her team is launching a big project in the next couple of weeks.  I was in Newport, RI for a couple of days for a leadership team meeting.  It was certainly fun running by all the massive home in Newport and to enjoy the similarly massive boats in the marinas there.  Recession aside, there remain some people with copious quantities of money.

Have a great week - at least it is a short working week!

May 16, 2010

We are having wonderful weekend weather as the temperature is in the 70's with a nice breeze blowing through the trees.  After the cool weather during last week it is a nice change.  We took advantage of the weather and have been outside puttering around our various yard chores.  Yesterday, we planted flowers in the pots on the front steps and I sanded down our basement casement doors to get them ready for painting today.  They seem to invariably rust about 2-3 years after painting so this is one of those never ending chores.  Today, after our morning yoga routine, we are planning to hit the garden.  We thought we would get a couple of rows of beans started in the garden to try and get an early crop, along with staking up our pea plants, and of course, the usual weeding that is always needed.  Then it will probably be some lovely naps and catching up on our reading.

We had Stuart and Tiffany over for dinner on Friday and after BBQ'ing some salmon spent the evening discussing work (they are both Pfizerites), family, and the world at large.  Although, it could have been the pomegranate-tini's that helped the conversation flow - or least make it seem like it was flowing.  Saturday night was our theater night in Westerly, RI with Sheri and Bruno.  After a great dinner at the Prime Time Cafe (my filet mignon with apples and blue cheese topping was excellent) we saw a rousing rendition of "The Ladies Man" which is comic romp with the cast constantly running on and off the stage.  There were good performances by all the cast, although the actor playing Mr. Bassinet stole the show.

For our work week, Joann spent most of the week in New York at her usual mix of HR meetings.  As one of her major projects is about to launch she and her team are feeling the pressure.  Fortunately, she managed to have one evening without a dinner or other work to do so she could relax some.  Also, she managed to fly out of New York on Thursday before they shut down the airspace so she got home at a reasonable time.  Pres. Obama was in town and they stop all the helicopters from flying when he is about to take to the air.  As his schedule is uncertain it usually means the airspace is closed for hours.  There's a little known fact that I would never have been aware of without Jo scooting around NY and CT in a helicopter.  I got more clarity on my group's new role although the remit of the group is really still a work in progress.  The other big event for the week is that I finally succumbed and joined the blackberry crowd.  Since my new role is likely to involve more frequent travel it was finally time to be more connected.

May 10, 2010

Given the spring like weather, I'm just not getting around to posting my weekly missive on Sunday.  So you get them a day later.  Not much news to report this week and neither Joann or I was a shutterbug so no new pictures to post.

Fairly quiet work week for both of us with no new surprises to be had.  Weekend wise, we had the entire weekend to ourselves so Friday afternoon we went to see Iron Man 2 at the matinee.  A very action packed movie with the usual spectacular special effects.  We both enjoyed it and would recommend taking the time to see it in the theater.  It was home then to our usual pizza night although we splurged and ordered take-out pizza instead of making our own.  Saturday morning dawned wet and drizzly so we worked out downstairs.  Then it was patching the cracks in the walls and ceiling of the porch for me while Jo did the usual mix of grocery shopping, dry cleaning, and miscellaneous chores.  Then we both got to relax with a 90 minute massage.  After our massages we found a cute restaurant in East Lyme for lunch and topped it off with Dairy Queen blizzards - ice cream is the perfect way to end a relaxing massage session (in case you didn't know).  Then it was home to a few odds and ends for the rest of the day.

After our run Sunday morning we hit our weekly yoga session to get rid of any kinks remaining after our massages.  Then I painted the previously patched porch while Jo mowed the grass - seemed like a fair trade.  Then in the afternoon we weeded the garden and added some protective screening to our tomatoes due to the forecast of frost potential.  We do have some progress on our peas, lettuce, and onions but everything is still pretty small - still hasn't really got completely warm as yet, with pretty cool evenings still happening.  Dinner was steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes (yummy!), and some green beans from last year's harvest.  Then it was an evening of relaxation and mental preparation for another week of work.

Work wise this week, I finally met and spoke for a little bit with my new boss.  Seems like a nice guy - but we only talked for 2 hours so we'll wait and see.  Jo is off for another of her New York jaunts until Thursday, so I'm a bachelor the rest of the week. 

May 3, 2010

I should have put this post up on Saturday in celebration of May Day - although I'm not entirely clear why May 1 is so special, kind of makes June and April feel left out.  I am a day late since Jo and I were somewhat worn out from our activities on Saturday and I just couldn't seem to manage the energy required to write my blog yesterday. 

We did have some interesting animal sitings this week.  Saw this butterfly just sitting on our back wall last week and, for the first time in over a year (or two) Jo saw a coyote come through the yard.  We would have had a better picture but the camera battery ran out just as Jo was trying to get a good photo.  I will say though, that with Madison no longer with us, Jo is a whole lot calmer and more appreciative of the coyote's visit and beauty. 

Most of the week was fairly usual - work, Jo in New York for a day, running and lifting.  I'm still waiting to get fully engaged in my new role, but my new boss is back from his vacation so there is hope something might happen soon.  Jo continues to be busy with her group in working through the Wyeth integration pieces that HR needs to help with along with implementing various other changes within HR, although it hasn't caused as much world travel as last year. 

For the weekend, we completed moving all of our chipped mulch up to the garden and on the pathway to the garden - notice how beautiful it now looks.  It would be great if it wouldn't all disappear in another 12-14 months.  This coupled with usual chores of grass mowing, weeding the garden, and tending to the front flower beds left both of us ready for rest and relaxation.  We entertained Bruno and Sheri for dinner - fettucine with walnuts and feta sauce and a wonderful walnut tart for dessert (walnuts were the theme for the dinner in case you were wondering) - and then a couple of rousing games of Mille Bornes.  Sunday after our morning run and yoga we just puttered.  Jo went for a nice bike ride to enjoy the warm weather while I took some cuttings from our forsythia to root some new bushes for the bed by the mailbox.  Was a relaxing day capped off with a wonderful dinner of pasta with scallops and broccoli.  Since we had left over walnut tart we chose not to head to Dairy Queen - I do like my blizzards!

We are both in town this week which always a pleasure to have Jo for an entire 5 days.  Weather is turning warm and our early vegetable crops are almost up enough to be featured in next week's photo montage.