New York City: Me and Jo-Ann

March 19, 2019 By Carole

I’ve been wondering how to break up my trip to New York City with Jo-Ann into manageable segments for blogging. I’ve decided, after looking at the photos, to divide them into three posts. Today’s is the first and I’m sharing 3 photos of us. Well. Two photos of us and one of me.

Here we are on the set of The View. It was really fun to go to the taping and I’m so glad Jo-Ann entered us into the drawing for tickets. Everything was very organized and there was a cool cafeteria where we got to hang out before entering the studio. Before they start taping there is a comedian who gets the crowd excited and we danced, too, all in the name of enthusiasm. Whoopi was still out sick and I’m sad to have not seen her but I was stoked that the only guest for the entire show was Bernie Sanders. Political junkie that I am it was right in my wheel house. Dale was watching from home while we were live and he saw us in the audience about 10 minutes before the show ended.

Here’s my hair after getting it done at Dry Bar. Honestly, the experience was a little disappointing. It was great to have the shampoo and blow dry, don’t get me wrong, but the styling itself wasn’t that great. I went for the Cosmo but, as you can see, my curls (while pretty) were not the curls I expected from looking at the photos. I will say that the products they use smell amazing and I’m not completely opposed to trying it again but it didn’t blow my socks off the way I expected.

And here we are outside the Richard Rogers Theater before the start of Hamilton. Of course it was amazing and I loved every minute of it. The set, the music, the dancing, the energy of the cast and the audience, being there with Jo-Ann (who had seen it in Boston but declared that New York was better) all combined to make it an unforgettable experience. When Dale and I visited New York City in February 2016 the show had just won all those Tonys and we couldn’t get tickets for less than $800 each. I’d literally been waiting 3 years to see it and I was not disappointed at all.

Next time: the places we went!

Weekending

March 18, 2019 By Carole

How about some weekend snapshots? I’ll warn you now, they are (almost) all food!

Friday Night Snacks. You know the drill. Note the St. Patrick’s Day cocktail napkins. And also the cucumber “subs” which I made by hollowing out cucumbers and filling them with ham, swiss and cream cheese.

On Saturday I went to the Blue & Gold banquet and spoke on behalf of the Board of Selectmen. It did my heart good to see our community come together to support our scouting program.

We went to a couple of breweries in the afternoon with Jo-Ann and Shawn. We drank some beer, ate some pretty great Irish grub, were entertained by Irish step dancers, and then came back to our house for Mexican Train. Oh! And Shawn taught me to play cribbage and I might be a little obsessed at this point.

On Sunday the kids came over for dinner. I roasted a chicken (easier and more well liked around here than corned beef and cabbage) but I did give a nod to St. Patrick’s Day with veggies in the colors of the Irish flag.

And cupcakes from a friend with gorgeous green frosting and sparkles. They were delicious and beautiful!

That’s my weekend in a nutshell. It was good and it went by too fast . . . in other words, it was just like most other weekends around here!

Weekending

March 11, 2019 By Carole

It was a very . . . normal . . . weekend around here. No trips out of town, no big plans with friends, no car purchases or any of the other things that our weekends have been taken up with lately.

In other words, it was just what the doctor ordered.

We had our usual Friday Night Snacks with napkins chosen specifically because it was International Women’s Day.

We got to spend some time with Jackie on Saturday while his mama went to an appointment. The little bugger took a long nap, meaning he pretty much slept the whole time he was here, but when he got up we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and mild temps.

In the evening we went to a local fundraiser. Last year we went with a big group of friends but this year it was just Dale and I and that was pretty nice, too. Plus we won a gift card to a local restaurant and a big gift card for a local company that rents tents and moonwalks and stuff. We’ll get a nice discount next time we throw a big bash!

We spent Sunday sorting and clearing out our bureau drawers since our bedroom furniture is being taken away this week to be painted. It’s the start of our bedroom redo and, while it’s simple stuff like removing wallpaper and painting, I’m still pretty excited about it. I’ll share before and after photos as we go along. We also spent some time going through things that have accumulated in the attic, including identifying stuff that our children have left behind even though they don’t live here anymore. Time for that stuff to go, too!

We ended the weekend much the way we began, with cheese and crackers and a cocktail. And perfect napkins for Daylight Savings Time.

And that’s about it. Nothing very significant but perfect nevertheless.

Sometimes Mondays

February 25, 2019 By Carole

Are all about re-entry. Let’s hope it’s a peaceful one!

Reframing My Day

February 12, 2019 By Carole

Oh what a day I had yesterday. It wasn’t bad it was just . . . super full.

I had a monthly report to file.

I had some annual paperwork to finish.

I had to renew my passport agent certification. This included a web based online training thing that took the better part of my afternoon.

I fielded several phone calls about town stuff.

I had to get to the bottom of an overdue invoice.

I had to reschedule picking up my new car. Stupid impact weather day.

I had a Board of Selectmen’s meeting.

In between all of that busy stuff, though, there were good things.

A package of essential oils arrived.

I tried a really great new to me hand cream.

I had a delicious beet and goat cheese salad for lunch.

I grabbed 5 minutes to knit before I had to go out for my evening meeting.

I relaxed after the day’s work and meetings over a beer and light dinner with Dale and my cousins Len and Peg.

I got to write a blog post telling you about my day.

I felt useful and challenged and loved.

So. Even though I didn’t have as much down time as I prefer it was still a good day.

It’s all in how we frame our circumstances, my friends. Frame them in a negative way and a day can be terrible. Frame them with a positive spin and you can turn things right around.

It’s all in the framing.