Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Gratuitous siamese kitten shots

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Olive in deep thought
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Olive and Louie are pretty much inseparable
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Here you can see Olive's kinky tail end
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Lest you think she usually sits still, this is what most of the photos looked like

welcome home!

olive

We are very excited to add Olive to our family! She's currently adjusting to her new surroundings and has a little sanctuary built in my studio. There's been a little bit of hissing from our other siamese, Louie but our rescue cat, Stan Lee is non-plussed. It's a lot to get used to for the little one, especially with a big, goofy dog in your face who makes a ruckus with her feet clicking around on the floors!

vacation.

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(more photos here)

sixteen!

happy 16th birthday, ella!
happy sixteenth birthday, ella (a.k.a. oldie, mo-mo, mink, bones, stinky, shmoe, ellie, mini mo, ol' lady)!!!

the ceremony.

(photo by Monica Donovan of Eve Event Photography)

We are gathered here today in the presence of family and friends to join Adam and Reneé in the bonds of matrimony. You have each been invited to witness this event to honor the individual role you have played in fostering who Adam and Reneé are, how they arrived at this day and the couple they have become. Without the love and support of everyone here, this union could not have been made.

He Never Leaves The Seat Up by Pam Ayres

He never leaves the seat up
Or wet towels upon the floor
The toothpaste has the lid on
And he always shuts the door!
She’s very clean and tidy
Though she may sometimes delude
Leave your things out at your peril
In a second they’ll have moved!
He’s a very active person
As are all his next of kin
Where as she likes lazy days
He’ll still drag her to the gym!
He romances her and dines her
Home cooked dinners and the like
He even knows her favorite food
And spoils her day and night!
She’s thoughtful when he looks at her
A smile upon his face
Will he look that good in 50 years
When his dentures aren’t in place?!
He says he loves her figure
And her mental prowess too
But when gravity takes her over
Will she charm with her IQ?
She says she loves his kindness
And his patience is a must
And of course she thinks he’s handsome
Which in her eyes is a plus!
They’re both not wholly perfect
But who are we to judge
He can be pig headed
Where as she won’t even budge!
All that said and done
They love the time they spent together
And I hope as I’m sure you do
That this fine day will last forever.
He’ll be more than just her husband
He’ll also be her friend
And she’ll be more than just his wife
She’ll be his soul mate ‘till the end.

Adam and Reneé will now read the vows they have written to each other.

“Reneé, I admit my love for you on this day in front of our friends and family. I invite you to share my life as I hope to share yours. I promise to always hike by your side, to love, help and inspire you and embarrass you by singing out loud every song I have in my mental jukebox regardless of where we are. I pledge to take time to share with you, to listen to you, respect you and most importantly bring you coffee in bed every morning. For the rest of our lives Reneé, I promise to share your laughter and your tears not only as your partner, but also as your friend.”

“Adam, I am here today surrounded by all of our most important people to tell you I love you and to promise that I will forever. You are my best friend and my constant support. You have made me a better person in more ways that I can name. Sharing my life with you feels natural and I cannot imagine a day without you. I promise to forever laugh with you, to always support you and to give you the best of myself for the rest of my days.”

With this ring, do you, Adam, in the respect and confidence of your own individuality, acknowledge within yourself that same respect and confidence for this woman, Reneé, in the certainty that you will share the deepest of all your emotions: aware also that you may share, but not know, for in knowing you deny the person that she is?

“I do.”

With this ring, do you, Reneé, in the respect and confidence of your own individuality, acknowledge within yourself that same respect and confidence for this man, Adam, in the certainty that you will share the deepest of all your emotions: aware also that you may share, but not know, for in knowing you deny the person that he is.

“I do.”

Adam and Reneé, inasmuch as you have have promised to share your joys and tribulations in the bond of marriage; I, in accordance with the authority vested in my by the law of the State of New York, now pronounce you husband and wife.

the things i'll remember.

:)
is it grainy? i can't tell. all i see is happy. (iphone photo snapped by adam the night before the wedding)
you receive a lot of advice from people when you're planning to get married. most folks who have had a wedding will tell you to not sweat the small stuff. they remind you to drink up every drop of the wedding day because it all goes by so fast.
the one thing no one told me about having a wedding, is how much the people who attend make the event what it is.
does that sound too simple? in hindsight, it seems so obvious that i can't possibly imagine how i didn't consider it.
it's more that the actual guest list, more than the names and relationships. it's the actual energy that each of those people bring to day, or weekend in our case. i literally got swept away by our guests energy for two straight days. i admittedly got a little too swept away (read: intoxicated) by the energy the night before the wedding, although everyone wanting to toast and buy drinks didn't help.
the things i will remember will not be the exact color of the table cloths or the way the cake looked, it will be things like:
•the way i felt when i first saw my college friend, robyn at the welcome dinner after a decade of separation
•how i felt running into many of our guests at the outdoor lounge at the hotel the night before the wedding and subsequently partying it up
•how moses' cell phone went off during our wedding toast at the reception and consequently roasting him for it
•our entire family all getting out on the dance floor and rocking some sweet moves
•my brother's absolute and utter seriousness about being the perfect DJ-which he was
•the electric feeling of standing in front of everyone you love, pledging a forever commitment and knowing they all support you
•adam's brother making a toast, completely impromptu
•our photographer, monica getting out on the dance floor and jamming out with all of us
•running into my future sister-in-law, gretchen in the bathroom at the perfect time because i had not correctly fastened my strapless bra into the back of my dress
really, i could go on and on. these things that i will remember are not the things you can plan. these memories are precious. seeing our loved ones make new friendships, renew ties, pool their energy and become a community are what made our wedding the most meaningful single event of our combined lives.

(parentheses)

hi all.  it might be a little quiet around here for the next week.
we're hosting thanksgiving at our place, so please send me your most peaceful and well organized thoughts.  adam's making his first turkey (16 pounds!) and i will be preparing some delicious meatless loaf (although "loaf" isn't the most appetizing word).
i've also got a fancy new printer coming in the mail tomorrow.  i spent a pretty penny on it, but it comes with a $300 mail-in-rebate (which i would like to receive before the next ice age).  that printer will (hopefully) be the gateway to me making (and selling) some prints of my artwork.  i forsee some trial and error in my near future.
happy holiday!

recharging.

today is adam's birthday.
partly because of this, it's been a busy few days full of socializing and meeting up with folks for celebrations of different varieties.
i never was, nor ever will be a real social butterfly or party-er. i love my friends and family, but socializing as a general concept is extremely exhausting for me. i have to mentally prep myself to spend time with large groups of people. trying to shout over lots of talking or music inevitably leads to disjointed conversations where no one is sure what is going on; the times where you smile and nod because it's easier than asking for clarification. bars and concerts are fun in very small doses, but aren't where you form real lasting relationships with people.
only with the people who exist in my "inner circle" can i relax and not feel drained of energy by their presence. these are the folks that can have a thoughtful conversation about almost anything and aren't uncomfortable with silence. my best friends are people who don't need constant action, appreciate simple activities like sitting around a campfire or eating a meal together.
i am lucky that not only is adam one of those people, but he also understands how overwhelmed i can get by certain social situations. our lives are full of exceptionally awesome people and i enjoyed every moment with them this weekend.
now i am going to thoroughly appreciate spending a lazy sunday with my favorite person on his 33rd birthday.

whistling dixie.

adam and i took our annual memorial day vacation road trip to virginia beach to visit my father.  an added bonus was the fact that my brother, future sister-in-law and nephew made the trip too.  

adam and i have the comfortable car ride silence down to a science.  no awkwardness, just relaxing. audio books are essential and we completed two on this journey; Darkfall by Dean Koontz and In the Dark of Night by John Saul.  the latter was the better of the two.  Darkfall gave away too much in the beginning and i didn't dig the whole voodoo thing.
for road side food shacks and other regional curiosities, we stopped at the machipongo clam shack.  being vegetarian, i don't eat seafood but adam has none of my dietary restrictions.  none the less, i can certainly appreciate a local beer and some french fries!

different from previous years, we got a hotel room right on the beach.  listening to the ocean every night was incredibly relaxing and waking up to awesome sunrises didn't hurt either.
we caught some live music.  the hotel bar hosted nature's child, a five piece live reggae band the first night.  on our final night, adam and i met up with my father to see the yardbirds in the outdoor neptune park right next door to our hotel.  while they only have two of their original band members, it was still a good show.
time flies, especially when you're on vacation but getting back to our furry children was motivation to come home.  thinking of how excited the dog and cats would be was enough to power us through those draining new jersey miles.  a trip to ikea helped too.
i can't tell a lie...the view from our bedroom window pales in comparison to this:

south of the mason dixon line.

we just got back from our annual trip to Virginia Beach. oddly enough, i am not a really beach-y person. i burn pretty easily and prefer temperatures around 72 degrees. i did get a bit of sunburn even with SPF 45, but i fared a bit better than adam. he managed to sunburn his inner thighs (honestly there isn't a lurid explanation) which is understandably uncomfortable. it could have been worse considering he almost used Icy Hot instead of a similarly blue colored sunburn lotion as a pain reliever.
we drove down in the CR-V because it's still cheaper than flying. plus, you can't really get a feeling for distance and place if you don't drive. Stephen King's, Cell was our driving entertainment (what is up with that ending?!?!). we stopped at Shucker's Pier 13 in Dover, DE on the way down. i don't eat seafood, but they had grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches and the food was cheap. the atmosphere was odd to say the least, topped off by what could only be explained as significant blood splatter on the inside of the women's bathroom stall door. on the way back home we stopped at the Dog House in New Castle, DE per the recommendation of Roadfood.com. again, i dined like a true vegetarian on the cheese fries (which were stellar), but adam got two of their famous foot long chili dogs. you can't get that on a plane!
we also ate well while in vb; mary's, captain george's, croc's, not to mention karen's home cooking, but i could go on forever about food...
i got to spend some good QT with my father; riding bicycles, chilling on the beach and staying up until all hours drinking and talking. adam partook a bit too heavily of the drinking part, but recovered enough to go to First Landing State Park the next day to check out the cypress swamps and ospreys.
to break up the trip back we got a hotel room in Paramus, NJ. at the hotel we watched 30 Days of Night, an incredibly creepy and disturbing flick which seemed pretty appropriate for our overall NJ experience. there is little to say about Paramus, except that there is a lot of shopping. and there's the atrocious Route 17. what is the urban planning logic behind this road? what is up with the u-turns?? why does this road inspire such hate???
anyway, before departing for home we stopped at IKEA and bought what seemed like enough to furnish a small apartment. we then went to CAMPMOR, where we got a new Ruffwear backpack and boots for crosbi (the dog).
an all around good time...thanks to dad and karen for their hospitality and to russell for watching the "kids"!

excluded erroneously.



i made oatmeal cookies today in preparation for our annual retreat to the friend's lake cabin for tara's birthday. i used the cookbook adam and i made ("Stuff We Eat") for holiday gifts as a guide. imagine my horror as i noticed that an essential ingredient was missing from the printed recipe!!! how embarrassing!!!! an email has been sent to all of the recipients of our cookbook, but i will also post it here just to be sure...

truth be told, i change the ingredients a little each time i make these cookies (although i NEVER omit brown sugar). this time i added cinnamon chips, which i recently discovered at the local grocery store, with the usual dried cranberries.






1¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries, blueberries or other fruit
3½ cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)

preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. lightly grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
whisk together dry ingredients.
beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well blended.
stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well blended and smooth.
stir in dried fruit and oats.
keep dough chilled until ready to bake.
drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. bake about 10 minutes, one sheet at a time, until cookies are lightly browned and almost firm when lightly pressed in the center. rotate sheet halfway through cooking time for even browning. remove sheet from oven and let stand until firmed slightly, about 2 minutes. transfer cookies to racks to cool.

twenty five albums.

i was hoping to dodge this meme; not because i dislike it, but because i know how much thought and time it would take.
pick 25 albums that had an impact on you...only 25?!? my tag-er, tim upped the ante by adding memories associated with each album. i am loosely organizing them in the order they influenced me. so here goes...

1) Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. this was my FIRST album (or cassette rather). my bedroom upstairs at the salina street house.
2) R.E.M.: Green. walking to school through baldwinsville.
3) Beastie Boys: License to Ill. my father had this cassette. a road trip to a wiccian church in new hamshire made possible by skipping school.
4) The Cure: Disintegration. it's hard to pick one album here, but this one always brings back the most memories. hanging with kate and walking around downtown b'ville. pizza man.
5) Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes. indispensible album. the song she chose wasn't on this album, but i remember nicole quoss chose a VF song to play during 10th (?) grade english class and the teacher was concerned.
6) Minor Threat: Out of Step. fuel for an angsty teen. totally in love with Ian MacKaye.
7) Janes Addiction: Nothing's Shocking. completely makes me think of a party at Jen Donahue's house. eggs were thrown. skateboards were ridden.
8) They Might Be Giants: Flood. odds are that a song from this album would be on any of the mix tapes we made in high school.
9) Fugazi: 13 Songs. one of the best albums ever. songs from this album would be on the soundtrack of my life.
10) Pixies: Bossanova. high school art class and staying after school to draw.
11) The Smiths: Louder than Bombs. big black shoe posse. roller skating at the rink in baldwinsville.
12) Inside Out: No Spiritual Surrender. this album was a light in the dark for me. the lost horizon and hardcore shows. taco bell.
13) Beck: One Foot In The Grave. moving back to syracuse and our first apartment.
14) Indigo Girls: Rites of Passage. one year at OCC. driving the dodge omni.
15) G Love & Special Sauce: G Love & Special Sauce. green haired nick and...that other guy. going to taughannock falls and throwing unopened cans of garbanzo beans in the campfire.
16) The Toasters: Dub 56. late night trips to Wegmans. dave.
17) Ani Difranco: Puddle Dive. some coffeeshop on the SU campus. getting ready to move to buffalo.
18) KRS One: Return of the Boom Bap. long studio sessions at the center for the arts at UB.
19) Zap Mama: Sabsylma. my first apartment alone on elmwood ave in buffalo.
20) Medeski, Martin and Wood: Last Chance to Dance Trance (Perhaps). working at the brewpub in glens falls. closing the restaurant and going to the bars.
21) Q Tip: Amplified. leaving two terrible, consecutive relationships. getting my life back in order. driving with the windows down in the jeep. RSS.
22) Metric: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? finding my path and motivation.
23) Tegan and Sara: So Jealous. being in the best, most simple/awesome/supportive relationship. home repair. crandall library.
24) Aesop Rock: None Shall Pass. my brother and learning that he'll be a father (and me an aunt!).
25) The Weepies: Say I Am You. driving back from the HIV clinic. feeling helpless and inspired by client's struggles with addiction.

honorable mentions: 7 Seconds: The Crew, Killcreek: St Valentine's Garage, New Order: Substance, everything sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Sonic Youth: Dirty, Blackalicious: Nia, Tori Amos: From the Choirgirl Motel, the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack and INXS: Listen Like Theives.

over the top.



who is this delicious valentine's day surprise for?

well, the dog of course!

we picked these treats out especially for crosbi at Sloppy Kisses in Saratoga Springs. it's a cute dog friendly boutique that will be opening a second location in Clifton Park in March.

you can also order off their website...



mix tape.


i forgot how much fun it is to put together a music compilation. i haven't done it since i listened to cassettes.
remember those?
so this morning, while adam has been flailing around on the floor in the kitchen trying to install our new dishwasher, i thoughtfully created two playlists. i burned them and they will soon be in the mail and off to virginia. dad and karen (purely coincidentally~today is her birthday!) are the lucky winners of my morning efforts. it is important, after all, to have your recipient in mind when creating a mix...it's almost like a letter to them.
crap, that's pretty emo, huh?
so enough of that...
maybe i had better see if adam needs some help in there.

strong island.

hockey season starts tonight. it's the only sport i truly follow.
and it's the only sport to which i am loyally aligned with one team. it was natural for me to love this team (thanks to my father), and some may argue i was born into it.
i am not ashamed to say that i am a new york islanders fan. i even have an islanders license plate cover.
the trouble is that no one ever has any faith in the islanders. i mean, the season hasn't even started and the predictions are not so good. but this time of year, for me, is all about the possibility. every team comes back sometime. right?
granted, they fired ted nolan (?!?) and they seem to like to sign slightly unknown/untested/on the downhill type players every year.
but they still have dipietro. and the injured list isn't too long.
*fingers crossed*

please welcome...

...my nephew, adam lee!

sir bundle of awesome-ness was born today at 12:38 AM; weighing in at 9lb 15.4oz (!!!) and measuring 22 inches long.
























congratulations gretchen and ian!
and happy birthday adam lee!

what i've been doing while not blogging:

  • going to physical therapy in addition to stretching, icing and exercising. i happened to have pulled a muscle in my right thigh while running. and now i have tendinitis in my hip. and my right ass muscle is exceptionally tight (not in the good way). it's super fun stuff.
  • cutting down trees.
  • planting the vegetable garden.
  • listening to music.
  • working on my mojito skills. we have a plethora of mint in our yard. it's the best use i can think of.
  • visiting my beloved father in virginia beach. pretty conveniently coinciding with a memorial day vacation.
  • going to this place to listen to our friend Brian play with his band. did you know that you can still smoke in bars in virginia? i forgot how gross that is.
  • taking the lewes-cape may ferry.
  • getting stuck in traffic in new jersey. i mean the ENTIRE LENGTH of new jersey. from south to north. i swear i try not to dislike new jersey, but it is so hard.

that'll be aunt renee to you.

there's some pretty cool stuff that can happen to a person.
i think that being an expectant-aunt ranks pretty high on the list.
plus, today we found out the little bugger is a boy.

off to fairways lined with great cigarettes...

(a thursday dinner out. coming home. playful joking. a red blinking light. a message; anticipated but never wanted.)

ed,

over a decade ago i met you.
i remember a dinner at a chinese restaurant with you making what i thought were slightly inappropriate jokes.
but you were my mothers faithful companion and you grew on me. you never played the evil step-father role. you shied away from the father role altogether. instead you were always present but never intimidating. you were hilarious and creative. you built beautiful things and you sold cars. you were wonderful.
i wonder if you knew. i wonder how far before you put down that last pack of cigarettes you knew something was really wrong. did you not go to the doctor on purpose? stage four lung cancer doesn't happen overnight.
when i saw you last, i had a bad feeling. you were in the living room on a hospital bed. you were a shadow of yourself. physically, not spiritually. you spoke of the future, but i couldn't believe you.
you finally got to say piss off to cancer. and i am glad that i got the chance to share time with you.

love,
renee