Amanda the Trekker

Amanda has signed up to do the Trek Across Maine, a bike ride that goes across the whole state of Maine, starting in the western part of the state at Sunday Riv er, and ending at the sea in Belfast. The three day event covers about 180 miles or so, and traverses mountains, farmland, and windy flat stretches. I rode it about four years ago. In the rain. And this year Amanda has made the commitment for this American Lung Association benefit ride.

In addition to the rides she goes on during the week, she has been steadfastly practicing her yoga--in fact she is doing it right now! The Goldsmiths love yoga--I know that, personally, it has enriched my own running and riding very much!

I am really proud of Amanda for making this commitment and sticking with it, even though she is a hardworking mom of three kids (I am the third). Riding 180 miles is not easy, but I know she will kick butt!

Jon is riding this year for like the 61st year in a row, and yesterday the youngwillards came over to see the kids, have dinner, and go for a ride. Amanda and Jon had a windy, yet invigorating ride, and I was able to snap a couple of pictures of the spandexwillards before they left.

June will be a busy month for the Goldsmiths. Amanda has her bike ride, and I have my half marathon. I am looking forward to the Trek for two reasons: a) I am not participating b) Callum, Maira and I get to be Amanda's "TrekSlaves," driving her around and supporting her in any way possible--logistical, emotional, etc....perhaps we will get tshirts made.I will drink a lot of coffee, probably.

 Callum is totally going to want to ride this event......

This blows

Insulation, that is....this machine does, I mean....

As you will see from the next photo, the insulation in our attic is next to nothing--and we are definitely starting to notice. Truthfully, I had never any reason to go up there, and I took the home-inspection goofball's word when he looked up there and said "oh yeah you have plenty of insulation." Perhaps he was on drugs, because this is what it looked like before Sally and I took care of business......

The stuff you are looking at is an old style of insulation called Vermiculite, which looks like ground up mica, glass, stone,, and other useless crap. I say useless, because it is. They dont use it anymore because a) it is not a good insulation and b) some of it may contain asbestos (I'm blowing in more insulation asbestos I can!!!) There was hardly any "R" value to this--you can even see how in some cases it wasnt even deep enough to cover the studs (that's what she said). Actually, they are rafters...but I couldnt make a joke unless I said studs. So yeah.

We were literally throwing money away by having this insulation like this--we were noticing the hosue wasnt holding heat very well, and we also noticed that each time it snowed we would immedately get "bare spots" on the roof--a telltale sign that heat was escaping.

Home Depot has a deal that if you buy ten bags of the loose filled insulation, you can use the ATTIC CAT (pictured above) machine for free. Other than sweating and being cramped and not being able to stand and sweating more and getting covered with pink stuff and having to vacuum for four years, this really was an enjoyable experience....and I mean that. Amanda brought the kids to Grenda's, and we thought of it as a "home improvement date," which was surprisingly a lot more hot than it sounds (pun). It was a great exercise in communication, teamwork, and camraderie, and every couple should insulate their home....haha

Here I am getting ready to blow (by the way, this loose filled stuff is great....not itchy or nuthin'....and supposedly it never "settles" and loses its R VALUE....

Amanda loaded the insulation into the machine, and inside the machine were these big propeller things that fluffed up the insulation....then it blew it out through a hose that I used up in the attic....it was actually kind of beautiful to watch--it looked like a big, pink blizzard, and only I was invited...


Kind of a tight area.....

And, finally, the finished product: I think we'll be well insulated now.

Moxie Falls part 2

More pictures from Moxie Falls....above, Amanda and Maira check out one of the cool swimming spots JUST ABOVE the huge waterfall I showed in the last blog post.....


After the little jaunt, we drove down Lake Moxie rd to the actual FORK of the Dead and Kennebec Rivers; here, there is a little park and a couple of neat bridges--one for vehicles #miaspeak going over Rt 201, and the other especially for snowmobiles and ATVs (both of these conveyances are HUGE in this part of our state...so much so that they get their own infrastructure!). As you can see, Callum is one happy little boy, and this makes me glad. I hope Amanda and I can give our children the peace and happiness every child should have.

Lots of marshlands, swamps, and river outlets abound off "Old Canada Highway," and we are always on the lookout for moose. As I was driving back, I thought I spotted something moving around in the water, and I was right! This moose watched us closely as WE watched HER. Generally speaking, moose dont give a care about you at all....haha.

For more about moose safaris in the area, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhtcF59OHY&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLEC35DDD2E3F79489
This guy is based out of Bingham, the town right before the Forks. He seems like the kind of guy I would love to share a good cup of coffee with early one morning....

Ahhh.....the peace and quiet of a nice ride home, listening to the new Wynton Marselis live album I picked up at the Winslow Public Library

First trip of the season to Moxie Falls....

 We went this past Tuesday, and I am being honest when I say this was one of the nicest days I have had in a long time--it was simply a WONDERFUL day. Moxie falls, pictured above, is a gorgeous spot--very secluded and not very touristy--up in The Forks (a. yes, this is the name of the town b. it has a year round population of 30). The Forks, as I have mentioned before, rivals Springpond woods and even Seawall as my favorite place in Maine. Moxie falls is a stream that meanders its way into, eventually, the Kennebec River, and, by default, the Dead River as well (that is why the town is called THE FORKS, since two rivers converge at this point).

We took of on Tuesday morning, when it was a bit cool outside, and travelled the 50 minutes of so up Rt 201. Here are Callum and Amanda, absolutely awestruck, at the magnitude of the falls, even though we here in Maine are in the midst of a drought and there has been NO rain for some time!

To get to the falls, you park off Lake Moxie Road and hike in about a mile or so; there are lots of steps and ramps, and the trail is well maintained. The kids--both of them--really enjoyed hiking in, climbing up rocks, going under fallen trees, collecting leaves and pine cones, and just generally enjoying life, in Maine, on an absolutely gorgeous spring day (someone quote me on this: I used the words GORGEOUS and SPRING in the same sentence!). Below is that "Maira Face" I wrote about in the last post; she makes this face whenever she is excited/in disbelief over what she is doing/has just done. Here, it is standing on a rock. The picture cracks me up.

Here we are about half way in, where they decided to put the sign telling you where you have been walking for 800 yards....I think my Nana Courtney would love it here, even though the acrid carbonated beverage does not fall 60 feet from rock slides into little pools of water....

Beginning our day, walking into the woods. There are few things I enjoy doing with my family more than heading AWAY from other stuff--whether we are heading into the forest, or shoving off from land into a river or lake. I just like getting away with them. I am really hopeful that this will be the start of a great spring/summer season spent outside in the canoe, in our hiking boots, and in the driver's seat of the ATV. I want my kids to "grow up" outside. This is why you, Brad, need to assemble a daddytrip to this venue. The girls can crapbook or sew or make snacks for us....or they can come.... 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please note Callum carrying "Joey," his stuffed kangaroo, which Upbob bought him a while back. Joey is the animaloftheweek.....

I need to do a PART 2 of this trip, since there were so many more little adventures and stories we shared on our trip to Moxie Falls. If anyone ever wants to join us, give us a call. It is great because:
a. it is not far from our house
b. it feels like it is because it is truly a different world
c. the hike in is very flat and easy
d. in the summer, you can hike down and swim in the little pools
e. the ride is beautiful
f. there is a microbrewery ten minutes away

Dirty Weekdays....

First, check out Callum's crazy hair......

okay. So this past weekend was Dirty Weekdays:The Pilot Episode. Since when Jay and I (and John and Tim) all get together we call it dirty weekEND, we figured that if we ever got the kids involved it would be weekDAYS. John and Tim arent man enough to have kids yet, so Jay and I have yet another alliance with fatherhood. JJ, who is my Godson, is a couple of years older than Callum....but the two had an absolute blast with each other. JJ was EVER patient with Callum and his "youngness," which still extends into the sharing realm, etc.

The Ponticelli males arrived on Sunday afternoon/evening, and I had been smyoking a hyam on the BBQ. The crowd seemed to love this. Then we just kind of hung out outside, played a bunch of football, keepaway, etc. On Monday, we went on a wonderful canoe paddle on the Messalonskee Stream (after, of course, a proper breakfast at The Flatlanda) #kingofbreakfast
 

Here are the two goons as we prepare to paddle. Check out the boots....

The paddle was great. and the weather was even better. We saw countless painted turtles sunning themselves on logs, etc. AND, we saw a gargantuan snapper turtle hanging out just below the surface of the water. This actually marked the first of two snapper turtles we would see that day...the second one was seen on a "nature walk" we took across the street from our house, back on the trails that lead to the ball fields and snowmobile trails #star'splaygroundswamp

Neither one of the boys actually wanted the ATV "on" cuz it was too loud (how they would know this, I dont know....). So, instead, the took turns DRIVING in the garage.....JJ was driving so fyast that he made his dad very ascared....

 Callum just got such a kick out of Jay and his silliness....Callum laughed pretty much nonstop the whole weekend....and you can tell he really looks up to JJ, cuz JJ is an "older" kid. For example, JJ slept on the futon in his CARS sleeping bag. Now, since Sunday night, Callum has slept in HIS sleeping bag. JJ and Callum were referred to not by their names all weekend, but by their NICKnames. JJ's nickname is JubJub (i dont know why....his dad calls him that). And Callum's is peppep, since Callum, in many ways is  like an old  Pepe grandfather in the way he is always so darn cautious about everything...he loves to give people directions and feedback while he WATCHES the other people work, and he loves to "organize" the logistics of how we will race, play ball, etc....

 Miaira had a blast with the Ponticellis too....let's not leave her out. This was the first time Jay had gotten to meet Maira, and they immediately bonded...she, too, thought he was funny. Maira was outside with us all weekend, playing on her pink scooter and pushing around her "vacuum." The face she is making below is the new "Maira Face," which is made when she is doing something she KNOWS is very funny....she, like her brother, is getting to be quite the ham

The Winslow Warrior

Last Friday I participated in a fundraiser for Winslow's Project Graduation (a safe after-graduation party alternative!). One of the parents had a connection to the NAWA--North Atlantic Wrestling Association. These guys might be amateurs, but they are pretty serious and pretty legit...they do "shows" all over the country--and even in South America/Puerto Rico where I guess amateur wrestling is pretty big....I had a blast. Conner Bourgouin was my "manager" and "cheerleader," and my tag team partner was a guy named Sonny THE ITALIAN SUPERMAN Roselli. The above photo is me after my big win....

Here I am getting ready to finish off "the Back-Country Dog," who was a hairy guy wearing a chain around his neck....he was...well...a dog. But I am getting my "revenge" from when they "jumped" me at the beginning of the show....Sonny bodyslammed the dog in the center of the ring, and my job was to finish him off for the pin....I FELT like I did a great job....and then I saw the video (oh yes, a video exists...) and Jezsin pointed out my "inadequacies" in wrestling...hahaup against the ropes...I was "B-slapping" this guy all over the place....haha

Getting ready for the jump....and please notice the OFFICIAL Winslow High School wrestling "singlet," which I think is guy-speak for UNITARD. Why do I feel like these pictures are going to come back to haunt me someday....(look at our decorated WHS gym though....my school is made up of CHAMPIONS!)I got to school 1.5 hours early to hone my skills,, and here I am practicing a "Goldsmith Elbow Drizzzop." It is a signature move of mine.....So the whole "act" was that I was supposed to MC the event and thank everyone for coming to this great fundraiser, yada yada...THEN, the dog and the "Purple Pimp," aided by their manager "Beavis," interrupted my monologue, played loud music, and marched out WWF style and both verbally and emotionally abused me, making me VERY upset (haha). They started trashing me saying this was "their" world and school is over and I have NO PLACE in a ring, yada yada....THEN, Sonny came out with a folding chair, took care of business, and VOWED we would take our revenge later on!!

I do a lot of neat things that no one ever sees.

Food: Maine vs Mass

ABOVE: Tim, who is a construction superintendent, built the Honey Dew behind him....

My dad and I got talking about food (big surprise that the two of us would talk about food, right?) the other day, and the disparity that exists between food "up here" and food down in Massachusetts. Although not "too" far away, you would be surprised at the huge differences in quality AND availability that each state offers. I thought I would try to categorize some of the things that Mass SCORES with as far as food goes--and, for a brief moment, even reflect on things I miss from my time in Massachusetts. Obviously, I welcome your feedback....

BONE IN CHINESE SPARE RIBS: Down in Mass, at places like Maui and Cheng Du, you always had to specify if your spare ribs were to be bone in or without the bone. And, actually, until I was a teenager, I dont even remember there BEING that many boneless ribs. Today, in Maine, that is ALL you can get. In fact, I cannot find one Chinese restaurant up here that has REAL spare ribs

BREAD: While on the topic of Chinese Restaurants, bread must be a mass tradition too. Whenever you went out to eat at a Chinese Restaurant, the waiter ALWAYS brought over bread and butter before your meal came. It was always as hard as a rock, but I didnt care. I have such fond memories of dipping the bread into the hot mustard, and then having my dad yell at me that I was rude and gross for doing so.

NEWBURG SAUCE: A bit hit down in Mass, at all the "Capey" and "Plymouthey" places; even at Edmunds, the restaurant at which I worked in high school, Newburg sauce was always a constant on the menu! It is one of my favorites, and you NEVER see seafood newburg up here. In fact, what got me thinking of this whole post to begin with was my telling Hank that The Senator had seafood newburg on the buffet on Easter....

FISH: This is a mass thing: You see fish advertised on menus as sCrod....or sCHrod. The one with JUST the c in it means that the fish you are eating is a small cod. The one with the "ch" in it means you are eating "catch of the day" and it could be pollack, haddock, cod, or the like. Growing up, my mom and nana always used to get broiled scrod or schrod. Up here, I dont think I have EVER heard the term....

LINGUICA: The most amazing sausage known to man. Score one for the Portuguese. Down in southern NE, like Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, you have your pick of the spicy sausage. Up here, even at Joseph's butcher shop, finding it is impossible. Kevin at Josephs told me "I dont order it...folks up here dont like it...."

PIZZA: The pizza up here just sucks. It is really sad. .Even the places everyone RAVES about up here as having the best pizza are borderline "average" when you consider Massachusetts places. The BEST pizza I have had up here is a "normal" one by Mass standards. Score one for Timmy and MummaandPuppaKappa: The Greeks down in Mass know how to do pizza right. Alas, rednecks do not. It is like in that movie "Pleasantville" when all of the sudden everyone could see in color?? That is what it would be like if my central Maine friends came down and went to Lindo's or Papa Gino's or Town Spa, or such and such...

COFFEE SHOPS: Dunkin Donuts rules up here...there are a splattering of Starbucks, surprisingly. Personally, I do my coffee at Hillman's. BUT, if we had a HONEY DEW donuts, that would all change. Honey Dew remains the STRONGEST thing I miss about Mass. The best coffee. Jay doesnt know how lucky he is to have Honey Dew in his byackyard. And this place has donuts that...well...are actual donuts. And they usually have hot girls working there. And their mascot is a cute bear. And yeah

HASH: No,, not that kind. I am talking corned beef hash. It isnt a quality thing necessarily...it is an availability thing. My friend Wick always said "you can always tell how serious a place is about breakfast if they have hash on the menu." He is right. Butcher's Choice used to have it regularly. And I think the Flatlanda has it on special sometimes. But, other than that, you dont find hash that much; it remains a CONSTANT on Mass breakfast menus though. Mel's Diner always had the best hash, as I remember. Jay, you will have to chime in and tell us where to get the best hash. Jay is the hash man for sure.

ROLLS: Of the potato variety, I mean. Martin's Potato Rolls. They arent even made in Mass; they come from PA, I think. But they are a big deal down there. Cant get them up here. Nice, buttery, soft rolls. A burger isnt a burger without one. Whenever I see my dad, he always gets me two things: A pound of Honey Dew coffee and a few packs of Martin's Potato Rolls.

Your comments?????

Happy Easter 2012

Our day started off like it usually does on Easter Sunday--except this year I did not help cook the breakfast as I have done in years past. But we got up and the kids checked out their "Easter surprises" from US and NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT the Easter Bunny. This was Callum's request, and we are fine with this; the kid is intensely afraid of the Easter Bunny and did not want him (or it) anywhere NEAR our home. No prob.. The Easter Bunny has got to be one of the dumber modern creations anyway. #oldcrotchedyman

Maira got her own pack of crayons and some puzzles. Callum got a Mickey Mouse record he had been eyeing at The Record Connection, and he got a new shovel and hoe for digging outside. We headed over to the breakfast at church at 830, and then, at 9:28, my Sunday school kids and I ran the Easter egg hunt for all the church kids...it was a blast as it always is.

After a beautiful service and fitting sermon from Pastor, we made our way over to BaBa's house at about 12:30. He always has an Easter Egg hunt for "the kids" and this year Maira participated a bit...I will post pics of this next time. We had reservations at The Senator Inn restaurant in Disgusta for 330; BaBa took everyone out for a great buffet, and all I have to say are three words: Braised. Lamb. Shanks.

Here's the kids with Mee Mee and Stephen King...


And with BaBa....(note Callum's PINK tie)BaBa has this big inflatable Easter Bunny that I guess is older than I am--he brings it out each Easter. Last year Callum was petrified of this, but this year both he and Maira THOROUGHLY embraced it....literally! They were having a blast with it, and this bunny needed to be in most of the family pictures we took that day....

Three generations of women who drive me crazy.....

800th Post!!!!

Wow! 800 posts .I wonder if anyone has read all 800! Continuing on with the Easter post from yesterday, here are some other "Easter Season" pictures (these were taken yesterday) when Callum and (kind of) Maira dyed some eggs. Callum did a spectacular job; he took it seriously, listened very well, and didnt make a mess! I think he has some artsyness (is that a word?) in him...and I dont know from where he gets it. Well, I guess Amanda can draw a bit. I cannot. At all.

Here, Callum and Lupine dye some eggs. Each one of the mugs was a different color, and Callum started combining colors, etc. While he was doing this, Maira and I were playing chase around the house....

Like I said, he followed directions very well; after each one was dyed, he gently rolled it in a napkin so the color wouldnt bleed onto anything else....

Dont you just love Maira's shirt? Callum ended up eating three hard boiled eggs in a row. Maira, as you can see, is content to look at the pretty eggs. She thinks they are BALLS, and calls them as such. Her big things lately are balls and balloons. Also, she loves to say EYES and GLASSES and GO OUTSIDE!!! Finally, she likes to sneak up on you and say ISEEYOU!!! Obviously, none of these utterances sound like they are supposed to....

One happy kid with a legit supply of beautiful Easter Eggs!

Oh, and here I am in my "Easter Pyants." No, that doesnt mean they are the pyants I bought for Easter! Rather, they LOOK like the color of an Easter egg. I found them at Mardens for 2.99. Naturally, I had to get them. Johnny Crockett probably wears pyants like this on a daily basis since he is a Reno hipster

Smiles/Easter #1

I was looking through some of our recently downloaded pictures tonight, and it came to me: Our kids really have great smiles.....and, they smile A LOT. This is amazing to me. I love this. The fact that they smile so much must mean they are happy; it makes me feel like maybe I am actually doing something right as a father. (but I dont want to push it TOOOO far....)

Anyway, here are some great pictures of our kids smiling during the Easter season, like this one taken during the trip to the Fitzpatrick Easter party last week....they even smile in the car! (maybe cuz they are in a Volvo turbo, and those things are awesome!)

Here's Callum and his little friends giving the THUMBS UP for the Easter Bunny....although, in 3.8 years of life, I have never seen my son more acutely terrified than when the lovely Siena Fitzpatrick manifested herself as one E. Bunny.. Kid. Was. Petrified.
Callum and Mia are becoming such great buddies. This makes, in turn, mommy and daddy smile. The Fitzpatricks are such wonderful people all around, and each time we get to be with them is a gift. The things that happen while I am at work: Callum enjoys his special K chocolate bit cereal with Rover, the LL Bean duog. As you can see, Rover enjoys the cereal as well. I guess this hyappens each morning.

Dont worry....there are lots of Maira pictures to come...but here is CS getting all his food colorings ready for Easter Egg Dyeing. The kid was a PRO at this. And he loved each minute of it. And Maira will too....in time.....But wait til you see the next picsRight now, as I write this, I am drinking one of Amanda's ciders I got for her at Joka's today....she is at Crap Mart finalizing the Chinese crap we will get the kids for Easter....then, when she gets home,I will kick her butt in cribbage, he. said.

MeAnDeRiNgS 72

1. We have Disney on ice, Sesame street on ice, and everything else on ice. What about VIDEO GAMES on ice? I'm surprised we dont have these....how funny would this be? Picture Super Mario Bros on ice, where the whole thing is just these little koopa turtles on ice trying to get a little Italian ice skater, and he constantly is skating away from them. Or Call of Duty on ice, where basically its just a bunch of misfit high school kids, who have learned to ice skate, and are playing air soft, wearing burger king drive thru headsets, while they entertain kids eating popcorn. Hilarity.

2. When I tell Amanda: "We're having split pea soup for supper" and she says "OOH....SOUNDS GOOD!" How can food SOUND good? It can smell and taste good. But can it SOUND like anything? I guess bacon frying SOUNDS good. But I dont know. Whatever.

3. Is one solitary candy from a bag of Reeses Pieces call a Reeses PIECE? Or a Reeses 'PEESEE?' I'd like to think it is pronounced PEESEE; how often in our lives will we otherwise get to say it. Join me.

4. Sometimes movies are rated R for "Suggestive Adult Behavior." What does this mean exactly? So, they are 'suggesting' I try this 'behavior' on my own, if I am really to be an adult? Are they trying to teach me something? Is it like "hey..I dont know what you are up to later, but why not find a girl and try this, ya know? Just a suggestion..."

5. Every single time we see "heaven" in pictures, movies, or TV, we see angels, playing harps, standing around on clouds. BUT, if heaven is supposed to be a "perfect" place, then shouldnt there be NO clouds? Wouldnt it always be blue skies and sunny? HA! CAUGHT YA!

6. The word "rejoice." We think this means "be happy and celebrate." But what if I am already happy, and NOT sad? What if I dont have to REdo it again. Can I just "joice" and call it good?

7. Coming soon to a theater near you: "Negative Relationships: A Math Romance." Shut up.

Annoying male food show hosts....

I am increasingly annoyed by the way my species gender is portrayed in television food programs. Have you noticed there arent that many male "chefs" anymore--and the ones that are, if they arent non-Caucasian, are typecast into barbeque type segments? Alas, males on food networky types of channels have been emasculated to merely VISITING other restaurants, being loud, and annoying people while they eat. Have you seen these? Here is the formula they use: First, find the most unhealthy, off the beaten path, obscure, and gimmicky (while at the same time being world famous) restaurant, and tout it like you discovered it yourself. This makes them look "grungely hipsterish." Second, they hang out outside the restaurant, yelling and screaming about how awesome the restaurant is. Then they go inside and interrupt EVERYONE'S day--the cooks, the patrons, the servers, etc (Oh...sorry...before they go into the restaurant, they make sure they have enough hair product in). Once they are in, they go into the kitchen and kiss the cook's behind, telling him how awesome it is that he combines (pick one) mayo with hamburger grease with fried onions with glazed donuts with four types of cheese with a specially baked roll with fried bologna with some type of secret sauce, etc. Then they take a bite of whatever the stupid gimmicky artery clogging bacon laden item is, and react in a way that is more cliche than pink Redsox hats on girls in April. OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD, they say, while simultaneously wiping their soul patched chin of cheese AND giving the cook a cool "manly" handshake and calling him "one crazy bro," or something of the like. Then it is off to annoy the customers--JUST as some innocent retired looking man is about to take a bite of his tunajiveymozzarellabomb, the overweight TV host gets all up in their face asking them questions like HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMING HERE? and WHAT DID YOU GET? and HOW WAS IT? and WHY DID MY PARENTS HATE ME AND FORCE ME TO GET ATTENTION IN THIS MANNER? and WHEN THIS SEGMENT IS OVER CAN I SIT WITH YOU AND CAN WE BE FRIENDS FOREVER? What annoys me even more are the behemoth cases of ethnocentrism they patrons have about their silly, backwoods grotto of a restaurant....and it is usually about totally NORMAL and BORING items (we have the best peanut butter and jelly in the south!) or items that seemingly would be the same anywhere you go (we SPECIALLY boil OUR corn on the cob here....) The bragging is just ridiculous. I will never go to your restaurant. Ever. (mostly cuz no one would sit with me, however)

The ongoing emasculating of my male species. Now playing on food network....

Nannie has fun with a scanner.....

My mom must have found out how to use a computer scanner, because today she sent me 7 of the most excellent email attachments I have seen in a long time....

You undoubtedly can tell what this is......right?

DUH!! It is an OWL!!! What is wrong with you? How could you not tell that? This photo dates back from 1989 (I think) when I attended Camp Squanto for summer boy scout camp, and took the class to get my "woodcarver's merit badge." I used to be really into wood carving, and my dad used to let me use his knife to "whittle" sticks into....well....skinnier sticks, I guess. This was my project for that merit badge, and obviously I OWNED this class. I should try to auction this off on ebay. .Consequently, I cannot. Callum laughs uncontrollably whenever he sees this picture (he has asked 13 times today) and Nannie told him HE can have it (my own three year old...making fun of me....jeesh...)

Okay. This one. Seriously.

What. The Heck.. Is this sweater. I cant even tell you how much I wish I still, somehow, owned this sweater. The things I would do with it....

Also, this was taken on Christmas Eve. We were at my dad's house, and this was right before going over to Evelyn and Al's Christmas party where I met one of Barbara's second or third cousins named Tammy, and she totally had a huge crush on me. Besides Amanda, this makes the second girl of all time to have a crush on me. It must have been this sweater. Kris, you dont look too bad yourself, girl! (Oh yeah...I remember I also got rollerblades for Christmas that year...)

I never even knew this existed until today:

Consequently, Mrs Armstrong is the only teacher I ever had who called my house to speak to my parents because I was, in her words, "floundering" in English class. I know I got a C minus in her class in seventh grade...I didnt like her very much. Actually, I didnt like English (or school) very much. Tough year.

I really love this photo here:

This is me and my Papa Goldsmith. I not only love this because my legs look awesome....but also because, come to think of it, I dont have very many pictures of my grandfather and I. My Papa Goldsmith was an extraordinary guy, whose story, as my dad will attest, seems to keep getting extraordinaryer (yes, this is a word....okay...it isnt....but I dont care...), because we keep finding out new things about him--bootlegging, going to Wentworth Institute of Technology, being an amateur arborist and planting a bunch of fruit trees at his old house, being a really good speed skater in Boston, etc. Also, we share the interesting bond in that I officially went into remission from cancer on the day he died of cancer. The list goes on and on.....

This was a picture taken of my mom and I at the L.A.Gear Hair Products Symposium '92. The next day was the "frosted jeans" National Summit, so I think we were around for the whole weekend. Wow. My mom tells me this was taken at our friends The Shaw's house (?) I dont remember the circumstances. But I have on a Michigan sweatshirt because I was a total bandwagon jumper and everyone else work Michigan stuff.. Good times.