IT'S OFFICIAL

I am now a member of TWITTER SOCIETY

You will notice a few things:

1) I am following only ONE person, and that person is Lindsay Lohan!
2) So far, Lindsay has advised that I "Do it".  I think I will.
3) The powers-that-be at twitter feel that I might be a good fit to follow the likes of Jessica Alba, Karl Rove or Oprah Winfrey.  Nothing Doing.  My heart and my tweets belong to Lindsay.

As a native Long Islander

She makes me proud!

My GOD, she is a fountain of wisdom & calm in a time of despair.

I DO believe I am going to have to join twitter for the sole purpose of following her.  I foresee a new "feature" in our future....."What's That Lindsay?"

Where dat Ringo be at?

Not surprisingly Ringo has put his life on the line, yet again, to help those in need.  As soon as he heard about the devastating toll that Hurricane Sandy was predicted to inflict upon the Northeast, specifically the New York City Area, Ringo hopped the last Acela train to Manhattan.

Ringo can be seen below boarding a raft en route to the ravaged are in search of stranded victims.

"Where's the F-ing Water?"

Contradiction

Do you see it?

Daily Disappointment

65+ MPH Hurricane Force Winds and my Whirly-Gig is neither Whirlying or Gigging.

#%#!&$!!!

FRANKENSTORM?

BRING IT ON!!!!!

A Cautionary Tale

I spent a really wonderful Sat/Sun with my pal Cathy in Portsmouth NH.  It was a quintessential New England port town in the peak of the Fall season.  Good Shopping.  Good Dining.  Good Friends*.

We started the afternoon shopping in the surprisingly bustling little town. We found the PERFECT restaurant for lunch, The Oar House, in a cool alley on the waterfront.  We had a couple drinks w lunch.  We walked around a bit more before we headed back to the hotel for a quick cat nap....right after we stopped into the port-view lounge for a drink or two.  Napped.  Freshened up, headed out the door for dinner.  Our new favorite haunt was jammed - not even seats at the BAR!  So, we went to our back-up dining option....don't remember the name :-).....had dinner.  Had a couple glasses of wine with dinner.

Then, THEN we went shopping.  We were surprised, and pleased, to learn the stores were still open!  We found this GREAT shop, FILLED with AWESOME stuff - I was overwhelmed by all the COOL stuff they had to choose from.

THIS is what I walked out the door with (AFTER paying...wise-asses.....)

Kids, let Auntie Ann's mistakes be a lesson to you.  We all know we are not supposed to drink or text and drive, but has anyone talked to you about drinking and shopping?  I thought not.  It's the silent killer.    

I live, so you can learn.

*  I use the term "friend" loosely in this context, a true friend would not a) allow me to make such a purchase and b) not insist, repeatedly, the next morning, that I show her that "thing" again, while laughing hysterically.

AND it starts.....

"I'd get it myself but......"

Poor Tom??!!

Okay, so about 6 weeks ago Tom injured himself running, he was training for a half marathon in Boston. 

So, Tom has been hobbling around ever since.  The 5K he was going to run with his brother John?  Tom walked.  The half marathon Tom was going to run last weekend?  Tom was a no-show.  So Tom FINALLY broke down and went to the doctor.  He sent me this picture this afternoon:



Tom has a fractured Ankle


According to the Doctor, Tom is supposed to use crutches for the next 2 weeks and wear the boot for a couple months.

You see where I am going with this don't you?  I mean sure, you could focus your concern on Tom's recovery. . . if you want to be selfish.

But have you given a moment's thought as to who is going to walk the dogs at 5:30 every morning and again every evening?   Of course you haven't, that burden is left to me.  Yeah, you got it, I'LL be the one to take on this task.  I have always reserved this "act of generosity" to Father's Day and Tom's birthday.  This will TOTALLY ruin the "specialness" of this gesture.

I guess this is where I wish my husband a SPEEDY RECOVERY!

A Night of TERROR!

I entered the Colonial Inn in Concord, MA at 6 p.m. on Friday October 12th.  I left the next day a changed person.

Room 24.

Haunted:  CLICK HERE FOR PROOF!


Tom and I spend a night in Room 24.   We laughed at the concept of a haunted room.

We aren't laughing anymore.

If you are faint of heart, you may not want to watch the videos below.

Awesome Parent Moment

Put together a really cool October/Halloween Care Package for Maeve.  Lots of cool stuff in that box (even snuck in some VT cheddar/mustard and pretzels!).  Neither Tom nor I take the blame for the Avril Levigne DVD - she ASKED us to send some old DVD's...that one was the scariest so we put it in the clutches of the skeleton.

CAMP IS CLOSED!!!!!!!

As much as I prefer to open camp vs. close camp, there is something bittersweet about closing up camp that I also enjoy.

Tom and I spent Saturday doing all "our" (read:  MY) favorite things - lunch at Simon Pearce and a stop at Scotland by the Yard in Quechee, Chapman's for some holiday gifts and to say good-bye to Mrs. Chapman & Alita, pick up some cheddar at Bev's farm stand to mail to Maeve at college, wander around Farmway in Bradford, and dinner in Lyme.

My brother Al joined us on Sunday around 10 am, giving Tom and I a chance to have breakfast at the diner first

I can't BELIEVE how fantastic my wife looks this early in the morning!

There was a period of stress in taking in the dock - as regardless of best efforts, the boat wouldn't start.  AAARRGH!  Boats suck.  OUR boat sucks.  We were supposed to meet Celia from the Fairlee Marine at the boat landing at 11, clearly that wasn't going to happen.  No one was answering the phone at the marine and they had no answering machine, so I drove over there - closed on Sunday.  I knew our contact there was named Celia - found her on linked-in, she lived in bradford, but isn't listed.  SO, I drove to the landing to meet her to let her know that the boat was not moving off our dock.  We were all done with close-up sans taking in the dock, which we couldn't do until we got the boat out....so, Tom and Al decided to ROW the boat over to the landing.  Fast forward, It's now 11:30, I am still at the landing...still no Celia and the boys continue their strenuous row....what if they FINALLY get there and Celia doesn't show - they have to row back - we can't take in the dock....what the F are we going to do?  "Good News" - Celia had a flat on her truck, was delayed, but DID meet us at the landing eventually.

LUCKY Tom and Al got to take in the dock after all:

Thanks for helping Ann!

AND,  then, we say our final good bye's!

Good-Bye summer of 2012!

SIDE NOTE:  Jack and Nancy got this TOTALY cool sign for Camp: