Eric's Road Trip

Eric went to the South Shore of Boston this past weekend to visit his High School friend Vic.



This is Vic's studio where he and his band practice/ jam / play / record / etc.

They went out to dinner one evening. The other evening, Vic and Eric went to a Todd Rundgren concert. But Eric didn't take his camera with him. He was afraid it would be confiscated. He said it was a great concert and that he thought he and Vic were the youngest ones there...

Eric also spent time with his friend Stella... he and Stella always seem to meet when he goes away for the weekend. Hmm....

Sweatpants Weekend

If ever there were a weekend to not do anything but hang out in your sweatpants, this would be it. I'll admit I haven't done a ton of hanging out, but I want to. I feel kind of crappy. Alex feels crappy. And Eric has left town! (He went to Boston to see Vic and to go to a Todd Rundgren concert.) He left just in time, although I blame him for our illnesses. He had it first. And now he's fine and out having fun... I did manage to get lots of errands done yesterday and even took Alex to the Doctor. I also got something interesting for dinner...

Sushi! I've never tried it, but always wanted to. So I started out with something simple. I got California Shrimp Rolls. There was no real "raw" fish in these. And they were fabulous! I got them at Wegmans from their Sushi bar. They were all packaged up ready for me to take with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And can't wait to have them again, and maybe be even more daring and try other types of Sushi. I even found out that Sushi is healthy, a double bonus! Does anyone else like Sushi?

Winter's Back

Red skies in morning, sailors take warning!

Because it's going to snow again....

The Groundhog Lied

The weather people said it's going to snow tonight. But the Groundhog said we'd have an early Spring. I think the furry rodent wasn't being truthful. Which isn't very nice. Snow and cold make me want to hibernate longer. I'd really like to get out and enjoy some nice weather. I guess it will get here eventually.

Eric and I did go out to meet some friends on Saturday evening up in Phoenix at the River Rock Bar. Rick, Kathy, Phyllis, Mark, Louis and John. Lots of Fultonians always means lots of fun! Too bad we watched Pittsburgh lose and break my NCAA bracket!!

Eric and I were at Wegmans looking for interesting beer last evening and came across this. I might have to try it in honor of Grandpa Sams! He was neither Irish nor from Cleveland, but maybe Conway's beer is tasty. Wegmans has a neat fill-your-own 6-pack where you can choose from lots of interesting beers. I'll have to add this to my list of beers to try... (And you all thought I only drank wine!)

Earth Science Symposium

Today was Alex's Earth Science Symposium. Each student had to do a research paper, a poster, a power point presentation and then present their presentation in front of a panel of judges. It was a 5-month long journey. The above picture is of the gymnasium filled with the posters. There were about 120 students who participated.

Alex posed in front of his poster.

His Symposium topic was "The Effects of the Shrinking of the Large Aral Sea."

After the presentations, awards were passed out. Alex is in there somewhere, sporting his medal.

And he even posed again when we got home. Congratulations on a great job, Alex!

Music & Cookies

Last night Eric and I attended the Syracuse Symphony, we had a lovely evening together. This was our view from the first row in the balcony. It sounded wonderful up there!

Yesterday was also a big day in our house, the Girl Scout Cookies arrived! This was the first year that I ordered them from an unknown girl scout that was selling door-to-door. (I hope she shows up again next year!) These 4 are my favorite... The Do-Si-Dos probably being my most favorite. I know that Thin Mints are the biggest seller, but none of us really care for them. What does everyone else like?!

Back in the Saddle

It's official. I started going to the gym again. I was sort of waiting for March to get here. And it got here. It was time. For 5 months I did next to nothing. And surprisingly, I thought it would take a lot more to start getting back into the swing of things at the gym, but it hasn't. I feel great! I'm not going to make any crazy goals for myself this year, other than the fact that I'd like to run in (2) 5k races again. I'd really like to run in 4 races, double what I did last year. But we'll see how I feel after I participate in the first one! And hope for no injuries this year.

Tonight Eric and I are going to the Syracuse Symphony. It's the "Broadway Giants" series. Sheila and Rich were nice enough to give us the tickets, and we're excited to get out for a night on the town!

Wine Tour

31 of Rebecca's friends and family gathered to celebrate her birthday by taking a Wine Tour!

Rebecca talked to the bus driver and gave him our itinerary.

It was a full bus!

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!

Our first stop was Three Brothers Winery in Geneva, on Seneca Lake. There are 3 wineries and a brewery all in one. It would be safe to say that all 31 participants of this particular wine tour were pretty sloshed by the time we left here!

LuAnne and her new boyfriend Matt were in attendance. They travelled from Boston.

One of the wineries at Three Brothers, this one was a lot of fun! It resembled a Dive Bar.

Everybody was bellying up to the bar for some tasting.

In the summer, there are bands that play out here. But for now, it's just cold and frozen.

Rebecca's mom, Cathy is so much fun!

Party girls, Jen, Rebecca and Sarah.

Mmm... popcorn...

At Hazlitt Winery, home of Red Cat wine... the "Hot Tub" wine. After you drink your Red Cat sample, they make you do the Red Cat Chant! "Red Cat, Red Cat, it's an aphrodisiac.... Red Cat, Red Cat, it'll get you in the sack!" Heheheh....

From the party atmosphere of Hazlitt, we went to Leidenfrost Vineyards. A bit "stuffier", but still tasty.

Here's a group shot of a few of the wine tourists.

And a little peanutty snack.

Leidenfrost was overlooking Seneca Lake.

One of the beer-drinking (not so much wine-drinking) husbands made little snowmen at every stop.

JR Dill Winery. I didn't care for any of the wine here.

But we got a free glass!

And another snowman was created.

All the women loved the bear.

Notice the little empty bottle of Red Cat in my hand...

Interesting sculpture outside one of the wineries. (I forget which one...)

Kim used to be a bus driver. But I'm thinking today wasn't a good day for her to be driving!

I think it's safe to say that Rebecca had a fabulous time on her Birthday Wine Tour!

This is Kate, my bus-buddy... we also had a fabulous time! Thanks for the fun and very memorable time Rebecca!!

Party of One

Eric has been having fun playing with his new camera. So much fun in fact, he threw himself a little party!

Disappointment

I was at Barnes & Noble the other night and thought I would try out my Nook in the Cafe. It was my understanding that you could read books for free while you were at a Barnes and Noble. So I got myself a coffee and sat down at a table. And proceeded to download "William and Kate, A Royal Love Story." I'm a sucker for a Biography. Especially one about the Royals.

As I was downloading the book, the Nook told me that I was only allowed to read for "up to 60 minutes per day" for free. Well, I guess that was ok, I hadn't planned on staying long enough to read an entire book. I figured I would read as much as I could and go back another day and finish it. Well, 16 pages into the book, it locked me out. My "free" reading time was over. I think it lasted all of 5 minutes. Seriously? I could just go over, pick up the actual book and read the entire thing right there. I don't understand why it did that, and I'm not very pleased about it. And stupid me, I was already hooked by the 16th page, so I ended up just buying it. (Eric had given me a gift card for Valentine's Day...) I guess their ploy worked on me, get 'em hooked and they'll buy it. But I'm still very disappointed by it and don't understand why you can't read forever while you're there. Because really, the actual book is right there.

Has anyone else tried to read a book for free at B&N with a Nook? I'm just curious if anyone else has had the same problem... I still love my Nook, but I'm pretty annoyed with Barnes & Noble.