Holidaze

It's been an up-and-down few days. I'm glad to be home.

Catching Up

Sooo I've been busy and therefore I haven't blogged too much in the past week or so. Here's what's been going on. . . .

Friday night I went to see the Five Alpha Beatdown/Brent Gorton/the Orange reunion show at Valentine's. The show was excellent. 5ABD covered "Under Pressure" and it was SO awesome! It was good to see a whole lot of old friends out and about, too. (I kept on hearing from each of them: "Yeah, I never really get out anymore." It's funny that people who don't "get out anymore" always seem to go out on the same nights and to the same places as each other. Hehe.)

Saturday and Sunday I was home in the Southern Tier/NEPA to see my family and, of course, to do laundry. On Sunday we had a nice big lunch that half of us considered Easter dinner and half of us considered a nice big lunch on Sunday. Gotta love blended families.

Monday night I took my Little Sister to see Meet the Robinsons in 3D--it was so much fun! Here's Diamonique looking very fashionable in her glasses.

. . . and I got some really terrific news over the last few days, and to celebrate, Amie sent me a beautiful bouquet of pink carnations. Thanks, Ame!!

Spellings and Such

I grew up in a very small town in Northeast Pennsylvania called Susquehanna. A whole lot of people have had a whole lot of trouble spelling the name of the town in my experience (of course, no one who's actually from the town has any problem). However, I learned today, the spelling of the town used to be much more complicated. According to Wikipedia (and they know EVERYthing), the spelling used to be Sasquesahanough (that's how it was spelled on the 1612 John Smith map).

So really, when you think about it, we got it pretty easy.

Holiday Lounging

Mitch and Kathy hang out by the fire.

My brothers and I busy doing nothing at Dad's place.

And To All a Good Night

Back from celebrating the holiday with friends and family in the lovely Southern Tier. Pictures, details and more are soon to come, but for now, I'm completely beat. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and the like. . . I'm going to bed.

Too Cute

A few weekends ago we went home and stayed with Ben and Colleen and the puppies again. The puppies are growing like weeds, of course. This pic was too cute to not blog.

Thanksgiving 06

Joe and his sister Ang out at the bars Thanksgiving Eve. . .

. . . Laura on Turkey Day . . .

. . . Mitch and his girlfriend Kathy on Turkey Day . . .

Us, at dinner with mom and Terry.

More family pictures to come once Dad sends 'em along. . .
Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday!

Sunday Morning in Pictures

The puppies drink from the puddles in the driveway.

Colleen makes home-made hash browns for breakfast.

Ben caulks the front stoop. He's so handy.

Joe contributes to breakfast by throwing some sausages on the grill.

Todd and Jess come to visit and to meet the new puppies.

Puppies!

Colleen with one of the puppies.

Joe cuddles the new pups.

Joe and I went and spent the weekend at home in the Southern Tier. We stayed with Ben and Colleen, who were perfectly gracious hosts, at their beautiful home in Apalachin. They just adopted two cute-as-a-button golden retriever puppies, Blue and Kismet, who got pleeenty of attention from us while we were there. It was a picture-perfect weekend, and I hated leaving.

Joe Go Fest

I went home (well, to Binghamton/Vestal) over the weekend to visit the fam and to participate in what was affectionately dubbed the Joe Go Fest. Joe (in the blue T-shirt below) is moving to the City at the end of the week, and to celebrate the move, all his friends got together for some parties to see him off. A very fun time was had by all--for the most part. Thursday was fun and games; Friday night got a liiiiiittle out of control for some (you know who you are).

From the top: Laura is very animated as she explains something to me--of course, I forget what. . . . Next, the stepsisters pose for a pic. . . . Todd and Michelle hanging out at Dillinger's with a NASCAR-themed Miller Lite (yes, I was drinking them too--they were $2!). . . . The man of the hour: Joe with a smoke, looking a bit confused. . . . Joe being trashed with his friend Heather. On Friday we met Canadians, Seattle-ites and hometown peeps. Good times. Many thanks to Laura for prolonged use of her apartment (love you!).

Other notes from the weekend home:

--Dad tried to set me up with a hippie (egads)
--Mom bought me a 4-disc set of hits from 1956-1959 that I LOVE
--Took Dylan to lunch, and then to the bookstore where we bought The Lion King soundtrack
--Had dinner with Holly, Dad, Laura, Dylan, and Holly's dad and stepmom, Jim and Mary
--Got stuck in traffic at the toll on the way home, which means that college kids were comin' back into town

Goin' Out in Binghamton

I was home this weekend and hung out with Laura and our friend Joe on Saturday night. I swear Laura has the whitest teeth in history. That day, I took Dylan to out to lunch, and then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean (and loved it!).