Wedding Day!

Kaylyn and her father

Lighting the wedding candle

Parents of the groom, my brother Chip

and his wife Tammy

First Dance

Aunt Joan and Uncle Cal

Nicole, me and Brooke

Tammy and I

Nicole, my Dad and Brooke

The weather was perfect for the wedding, a little cool but at least it was sunny all day. It was a long Catholic ceremony but I got to sit in the last row where they have padded seats. mwahaha.

The reception was good, they had it catered by Hart's Turkey Farm. You can't go wrong with a turkey dinner. (except when you have to cut the stuffing with a knife!) The seating was arranged, which was a big bummer. Gary and I and the girls were over by ourselves with another couple that we didn't know very well. When Nicole gets married, everyone sits where they want! Also we were right next to the DJ, and the music was so loud all night, that you had to scream in someones ear for them to hear you, or you could do like I did half the time and just nod and smile and act like you heard them. :) Gary unfortunately waited too long to eat and had low blood sugar. He made it worse by downing the box of candy that was on the table when we got there. Bad move, instant headache and generally not feeling good that no eating could fix. We stayed about 4 hours and came home and Gary crashed for 13 hours!

I wasn't thrilled with the pictures my camera was taking in the low light, and I couldn't seem to find the right setting. Oh well. The ones of me were clear so that's all that matters right? just kidding.

Yesterday we went out shopping for things for our new camper. Gary wanted a Rubbermaid storage unit for outside, and he perused on-line until he found the cheapest one on sale in Pittsfield. So we drove there first and got that. Then we went to Camping World for a roof vent cover. Then we went to the Weathervane to eat. I had clam strip dinner, Gary had the combo fried dinner, and Brooke had baked stuffed shrimp. We went on to Target after that , I needed a new trash can, silverware holder, step ladder and we had to get Louie some birthday presents. :) After that we just came home and watched a bunch of shows that I had recorded, read the Sunday paper, and ate popcorn. And we saw 3 does in the backyard, they were too far away for a good picture though.

New Camper Arrival

Our new camper arrived in Maine yesterday. It was a beautiful day up there, warm and about 72. It took them about 3 1/2 hours to get it set up. Gary and I snuck some stuff in so that on opening weekend we have a little less to do. The owner is very strict about not doing anything in your camper until the campground is open. period. I can't wait until May 2 when we can go stay for the whole weekend.

Change of Heart

This book was enthralling. It takes place in NH, and if anything will make you question the justice system and the death penalty, and even your own faith, this book will do it.

Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

I cried like a baby at the end.

This picture was taken last Thursday. I got a surprise call from our friend Marylou who used to be at the same camp in the summer. She was in MA for a few days and wanted to meet for lunch. It was so good to see her, and even Gary took an hour off of work to come to lunch with us. I wish she still came to Maine in the summer.

Today it is 81 degrees out! It's funny how quickly we forget the snow and cold after a few days of this. I will enjoy it while it lasts, because it is going to start cooling down again. Tomorrow our new camper gets delivered!! Gary is taking the day off and we are driving to Maine so he can "oversee" the setup of it. :) I am putting my camera in my purse right now so I don't forget it.

New Moon

This is the second book in the Stephenie Meyer series that I bought for Brooke. She raced through these first two and is on the third. I can't believe how fast I read this, and it is 563 pages long. So if you like Stephen King stuff, and can read something far-fetched then this is really good. This time it had werewolves as well as vampires in it. And the heroine, Bella Swan is right in the middle of it all as usual. The noble Vampire, Edward, is conspicuously absent at the start of the book, and you start to wonder if that is it for him....

To The Nines

This is the ninth book in the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series. Much like the other ones, a mystery, some love story and some outright hilarious moments. I only have four more to go in this series, maybe by the time I get to 13 she will have another one out.

Still pushing this flu away, inch by inch. What a stubborn bugger! Yesterday we dropped my car off to have the fender fixed. Then we went to Maine for the day. I didn't take one picture, I don't know why. I am going to blame the remnants of the flu fogging my brain. We took a nice walk around the campground, really you are only supposed to stop in the off season and check on your camper, we had no excuse since our camper won't even be there until next week. :) Peter saw us but pretended not to, that's pretty much how he is all summer too. I went and got my hair highlighted while Gary watched a movie in the car. Then we picked my brand-new-again car up and came home. I was told to stay away from the mailbox today :)
So Amber won on Rock of Love 2, I was totally shocked. I figured he would pick the young stupid one. And Ali won on Biggest Loser. And Bernie won the $100,000 prize! That shocked me, I did not expect him to win it. I was bummed that Mark won nothing after being such a fierce competitor through the whole game. I have not watched American Idol from last night, so I don't know who got sent home yet. It better not have been David Cook.
Today is supposed to be warm. They keep saying that, yet even though the temperature goes up, I can still feel that cold little nip in the air. I want to feel a warm breeze for a change!

Twilight

I bought this series of books off of e-bay for Brooke. They are very popular in the teen crowd right now. She read it so fast and loved it, I just had to read it too. I started it on Saturday and I finished it last night. It is about a young girl, Isabella Swan, 17 years old, who moves to a gloomy, rainy town called Forks. I think it is in Washington state. She meets a mysterious and beautiful family named the Cullens. One of the adopted sons is Edward and she is drawn to him. Long story short they are vampires, but they don't feed on humans, they hunt for beer and deer to survive. Otherwise they go to school, and the parents are doctors. (they are also vampires) Edward and Isabella fall in love and she is inadvertently exposed to danger when a trio of nomadic vampires caught her with the Cullens. One of the vampires, James, is a tracker and he will do anything, once he spots Isabella, to have her. Or is it her he really wants? Great book. This is also being made into a movie, it is being filmed right now and will be out in December.

The Sick House

I used everything in this picture in the

last 5 days. Nothing really helped though . Now Gary has it, he is strong though, he eats every meal and he goes to work. I pity whoever catches it from him at work, this flu kicks ass. For the past 3 nights I have had to get up during the night 2 to 3 times and change clothes because I am soaked in sweat. Isn't that a lovely picture? Saturday I thought I was out of the woods, and I think I did too much because yesterday my butt became part of the couch. In fact, I don't think I ever want to sit on my couch again. My appetite is coming back though, and the 4 pounds I lost will rush right back with it I am sure. Today I feel so-so. Not good, not bad. I don't have to go anywhere so I can still take it easy . Anyone see Biggest Loser last week? I have no idea what happened because it disappeared from my TIVO list!!! Survivor was no surprise when they voted Eliza off. I am not sure why they all had such a strong dislike for her, but she hung in there. I have not seen Rock of Love from last night yet, I am sure he picked Daisy but there could be a surprise there. With nothing else to do but cough all weekend, we did watch some movies. No Reservations: It was just ok, not bad, not something I would want to watch again. The Jane Austen Book Club: another ok, Brooke hated it. Atonement: a little better than ok, I cried at the end.
We were supposed to go to Maine yesterday with Charley and Shelly, and have lunch and go to some shops. There was no way we felt like doing that, what a disappointment! We have had that planned since Easter. Stupid flu.
I can't get rid of that second picture, don't know why, and don't feel like screwing around with it.

Hard Eight

Another great addition to this series of books. As always Stephanie Plum is caught up in danger and mystery. Eddie Abruzzi is after her and he resorts to all kinds of nasty little tricks. There are plenty of funny moments, but the best part, if you read this series, she finally sleeps with Ranger! But it doesn't end like you think.

The Ghost

This was another good Danielle Steel book.

I realized after I started reading it that

I had read it before, but I couldn't remember what happened so I had to finish it again. The main character is a man this time, wronged by his wife of ten years. He gets stranded in a snowstorm at a B&B run by a nice old lady who he quickly becomes friends with. She agrees to rent him a house that has been in her family for years, a chateau hidden in the woods by a lake. It is there that he first meets the ghost. A beautiful woman named Sarah Ferguson. He finds her journals in the attic and reads her remarkable story, and opens his own heart to love again.

Sick!!!

So much for gracefully sliding through the winter without catching a cold. Brooke came home Sunday morning with it, and by Tuesday night I had it. Yesterday it wasn't too bad though, a few Advil and I felt pretty good. I even took Louie for a walk. Then last night we went to see The Ruins at Smitty's. It was okay, not really scary though. Luckily there were only about 7 people besides us in there, because Brooke had a non-stop cough and mine was pretty annoying too. I went to sleep at 10:30 after drinking a cup of Sleepytime tea , and was awake again at 12:57. My chest was really tight, between the wheezing and whistling noises I was making with that, and sniffling and shnuffling I was doing with my nose, my side of the bed sounded like a party was going on with noisemakers. I gave up at 2 and went downstairs. By this point I had a fever and a headache. Brooke also gave up trying to sleep and came down a little while after. We sat in the living room coughing and hacking and moaning until the sun came up. Brooke fell back asleep at 6 , and stumbled back upstairs, where she is still sleeping soundly, lucky her. I had to call the school again and say she wouldn't be in, they must think I am a horrid mother, this is the second time this week. This is no regular cold, this is a flu, and it is kicking ass and taking names.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's snowing! That's different huh? How beautiful is that? Like a picture postcard. NOT. And that is what Louie does when it is snowing out, he snuggles. :)

Gary brought my car in to work yesterday to see if the Dent Wizard guy could take some of the dent out. no way. Wasn't happening. So after they were through laughing at what an idiot I am he brought it back home, and tomorrow it goes to an auto body shop. My shows this week, American Idol: why would they make those poor kids suffer singing Dolly Parton songs? OMG, that was enough to kill their careers before they started. My loyalty still lies with David Cook, I just think he is a natural. David Archuletta is cute, and nice, but not my favorite singer. Biggest Loser: I have never seen men cry so much as on this show. The brothers finally got split up and Jay went home. I really like the brothers and I am rooting for Mark to win it all. But I think Ali is going to be serious competition. And how is it that the blond woman is still there??? No doubt, she has done a great job of losing weight, but she still has a ways to go. And she loses weight like me, a little itty bit at a time. She has a funny way of talking, and Brooke can imitate people great. At the beginning of the show when they all first got weighed she said "I'm the biggest woman here, aren't I?" and Brooke can imitate that to a tee and sound just like her. It cracks me up. I haven't watched Survivor yet, I recorded it last night. I kind of forget what is happening, it wasn't on last week. Oh, and Make me a Supermodel, I think they picked the winner last night, that to is recorded. I am going to guess who wins, Perry. That is my pick.

Answered Prayers

This was another very good book by Danielle Steel. It was a lot like the last one I had read though. Same theme, wife waits on husband hand and foot, husband acts cold and aloof to her, kids are grown and no longer living at home, wife wants to go back to law school, husband says no way your job is being married to me, wife forges ahead with it anyway, husband gives her the silent treatment, wife goes on a field trip to Washington DC and comes home a day early, finds out husband had some bimbo staying with him at their house, wife ends up with man who was her "friend" through the whole story. Really, it was the same exact storyline as the last one, just different names. But, that being said it was still good.

Crash Bandicoot

Yes, that is the front fender of my brand-new 2008 Ford Edge. I had a little run-in with my mailbox yesterday. Yes, I was being lazy, and I did not want to pull into the driveway and God forbid, get out of the car and walk to get the mail. It was freezing rain and I didn't want to get my hair wet. :) So I drove in from the other side and pulled up to the mailbox, and as I backed away I caught on the wood under the mailbox. I thought to myself, crap, I hope that didn't scratch the car, please God don't let it be scratched. It seems God does have a sense of humor, and indeed, it was not scratched as I had feared, but when I ever got out of the car and saw the big dent I almost threw up.

Brooke, the deserter, made sure she was safely ensconced in her bedroom at 8, plenty of time before Gary got home from work. He didn't yell at me though, I would have immediately dissolved into a puddle of tears if he had. He tried a few things to pull the dent out a little to make it look nicer until we get it fixed, but that baby wasn't going anywhere. So now I have to drive around with my Dent of Shame, until we can get it in the shop.

Duma Key

What can I say? Stephen King has done it again. This book was phenomenal, horrific, outstanding, creepy. Everything I love about Stephen King. This is a massive book, 607 pages long, and I was thrilled when I started reading it, because I thought it would take a while to read. No, it did not, because I could not put it down. As always, you have to have an open mind and a vivid imagination to read his books, I read through this like I was watching it on a movie screen, and some nights I wished I couldn't picture it so vividly! Only Stephen King could think up the stuff in this story and make it sound plausible.