Happy New Years

I suppose i should write a bit about our Christmas. (I will eventually post some images too)

we had a nice, peaceful day. Chris and I woke before the boys (okay.. really Chris did and was kind enough to wake me and make us tea) so we were ready for the race to the living room. While Santa did not bring many presents the boys declared that this was the best Christmas ever (I know.. they say this every year). The biggest surprise was the that Santa was able to supply them with the object of their desire.. a Wii!! Not sure if it was a fluke or miracle but it's here and my boys are in heaven (I am leaning towards the material miracle).

Now we are waiting for Deb, Courtney, Clyde and Mickey so we can ring in the new year with our oldest, dearest friends. As a special bonus for me, I am going to get together with Deb and Lisa!!

Happy New Year!! I hope 2008 is the best year yet!

Noi amiamo Emitalia!!

Emmy and Eddie leave for Italy tomorrow.

Good luck! have fun! we love you!

Merry Christmas!!!

My favorite time of the Holiday season is around 4pm Christmas Eve. All the shopping has been done... food has been made (or ordered)... Chris is home... all we have left to do is enjoy the holiday.

Today Michael, Karin, Dad and Judy were here. was so much fun! now the boys are getting ready for bed (by watching the Chargers game) and I am tired with wine and blissful after being with family.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

2007

I know it's not over but I have been thinking about the last year. We've has some big changes, some surprises (which I still cannot write about) and some sadness (Cancer sucks).

For the most part I think it was a pretty good year. Max started high school (loves the school though strongly dislikes his peers.. ), Aidan loves middle school, Ari and G are happy as can be. I took a bit of a different route career wise and did more gallery/museum work than commercial (is that what you'd call it?) while Chris stayed on his same path.

Not sure where I am getting at with this... just rambling I suppose. Thinking back....dreaming of the future? maybe. what would i want? I really would love to go back to Italy. Emmy and Eddie will be there for some time (so exciting!!!). Venice seems to have made a big impression on me. i really hated it at first, now I find it is always on my mind. The other day we watch the YA movie, The Thief Lord which takes place in Venice and that didn't help. How can a place I've only visited once now seem so familiar. oh cripes.. I am pining away for a city. Deb is having similar reaction to Namibia... I think she will get back there before I return to Italy.

I would be greatly relieved if this high school drama was cleared up. There are few options but which is right for him? He has friends at both places who are putting a lot of pressure on him to join them. Actually, I went to a school event the other night and was told by one of his freinds that he was changing schools this january and going to join him at his school. that was sort of funny, sort of not. Is it even the right choice to remove him from where he is? All these questions!!

I'd like to learn Italian tehn get a job that takes me there often. with my family of course. notice that I didn't mention what kind of job. I really dont' care. maybe that's what I want for Christmas, a good italian program.

Karin, Dad and Judy are coming on Monday!

I really do not like to post photo's of me but here are a few.

Yesterday went well. The show really looked great and it was highly attended.

Saturday night Karin had a surprise for Emmy... Me! We went to a holiday party @ Jane's fabulous Union Square condo and stayed out until 2am. Haven't' done that in a while. I have to say, after a bit of limoncello I felt quite at ease. Didn't do much to squash my desire to move though.

Yesterday, the boys, Janice and I met Deb and Mickey before the show. Her Africa photo's are amazing. AMAZING. truly unbelievable Amazing.

After I posted my whining session I felt so much better! really...whining is good. try it!

Can't wait to see the show on Sunday!

Holiday Whine part 1

- I do not like winter. why do i live here
- It is too cold. I Hate it.
- Someone parked in my spot last night. I wanted to call them a bad name.
- oil is so expensive and my house is drafty. my fingers are cold
- some people overact at the thought of not getting their fleece when they wanted it. They're stupid
- gloves are easy to lose.



okay... I think that's it for now. thanks for listening.

If you have some cash in your pocket

and would like to add some art into your life. A few opportunities are on the horizon.

On 12/8 is the annual Photo a Go-Go . Why did I submit this image from 1998 you ask? Because it was already framed and I since I missed the official deadline I didn't have time to prepare anything else. This image is also up at S. Maasch but it sold (which is good...I'm not complaining) so now I have none. sort of odd.

Then on 12/9 is the party at Fuller Craft Museum . The exhibit runs from now until March so if you miss it...don't worry... there is plenty of time.

Ethan sure does have a funny little brain. Got some good laughs out of these:

- when thinking about where he will go when he is 10, "I think I'll go to Italy... or maybe I'll watch a long movie"

- My mom, looking for something for him to wear on the car ride home, said, "hmmm this is dirty, but....." before she could finish he said, "did you just call me dirty butt?"

- Watching Henry and Tommy do their fighting-play-thing that they do he said, "... ooohhh... their going to kiss out"

- His description of a vampire, "things you plug in the wall and suck out all your electricity"

Nothing to do with Ethan.... this is my favorite sculpture

yippee.. we made it through Hannaford's. horray... Karin and Kari are coming, Yay Yay... school conferences went extremely well.

I will be working day and night soon (if you'd like you can sing dolly partons 9-5 song when you think of me. just change it 10-2 then 7-1) . may not update blog a lot, not like I have been.

all is well up here in Maine.

oh.... Deb's new picture book is out. Dedicated to me and Aidan.

ooohhhh.... Project runway. I was so excited. didn't' like any of the outfits last night but there are some characters I am looking forward to love/hate! fun fun fun

Happy Day

My house is clean!
Deb is back from Africa with AMAZING photo's!
i like today. the boys are outside playing and I am still feeling the joy that being outside brings ( Yesterday we took a hike with some of our better Portland friends).

I will most likely never blog about Italy... I'll just post random photo's


loved this sculpture in Florence. my second fav. first of course it he Rape of the Sabine Woman. I have a few photo's but I keep working on those...will post at some point.

the rules of Piazza San Marco

Our apt in Venice is the 3rd door on the left

loved seeing this Colosseum in Verona. I knew it was there but was completely blown away when I turned the corner. It was amazing. they ahve opera's there now. all i can say is wow wow wow

Today Karin and I went by the gallery to look at the photographs again and check out the portfolio's. I am really blown away by how amazing it looks. I feel really happy to be involved with such talented artists.

It's been a busy week (is there any other kind?). we did the book fair at Longfellow so I got to hang out with Ms Fabulous Meg which I always look forward to. Plus, I got to catch up with superstar Jen a bit too which always makes me happy... Tomorrow we are going to see her show at Edith and Edna. the only that would have made it better was if Moira was there and we had a nice bottle of wine in front of us.

Karin has been here since Tuesday which I love. Today we were able to spend some time together at the New England Museum conference ( i volunteered so I could go for free), it always amazes me how many wonderful and creative people and programs there are in the world.

I was to work the book fair in the am but was so wiped from bean last night I just needed to sleep. that is sad. My other sad story is that we missed Aidan's event at school. We found out about it on Tuesday and were already booked. I hate missing school stuff.

The boy are doing well. Will be doing better since Chris brought down there winter coats. hmmm... winter coats is sad.

this was pretty cool...
this was Donatello's sculpture that Michelangelo used as an inspiration for his David





To think that he was standing right here

I didn't like the pigeons so much. this one was sort of cute though

My Dad, Emmy and Eddy came up last night. Was so great seeing them. The turn out at the opening was huge... very overwhelming. Dad had to leave but Emmy and Eddy stayed for a while. Made me home/Boston sick... I miss my peeps!

Happy Birthday Aaron!!

I know I have been really quiet about the trip. It had such a huge impact on me that I am having a hard time processing it. well... I am processing it, just not into blog words. Bottom line, it was great. We had a blast.

One major event was we met a relative

and learned a bit more about our Italian ancestors. I have mentioned to many of you that my great grandmother was a countessa and she married a commoner and that's why they came to the US. Well, we have just scratched the surface on the research but turns out that the family was a bigger deal that we anticipated. matter of fact our ancesters our buried here

right next to Dante's tomb.



It was really shocking. The woman who was giving us the tour was so excited...she had a friend of hers who is a local historian do some research and was calling with updates as we were walking around. lot's of stuff...

aahhhh...

I asked Aaron how Portland looked to him after being in Italy. He said, "like home".

what a good idea

we should go to a medival town without a map. on a train in a country where we do not speak the language. great idea. better if it is done in the rain. yes?

siena was amazing. we had quite the adventure though. this is our last night in florence. we are up at 6am and on to ravenna. not sure if i will have computer access. will try too. riding the trains has been the biggest cultural obstacle thus far. tomorrow should be interesting!

greeting from florence

we are here (obviously). right now aaron is sitting on the couch knitting. he has been eager to get to this yarn shop we heard about. now that we found it he is content.

all is good. today we had the tour, the woman was an art historian so it was very interesting and filled with details I am sure to forget. but it was well worth it all in all. Florence is a amazing city... since we do not have a lot of time here there is just so much we cannot do. we keep saying that we will have to come back. in the staw quarterss we put a coin in the pigs mouth then rubs his nose, lore ensures us that we will return (with rest of family of course)

the trip over was long. the ride to paris was nice. much better food than aerlingus. time in the paris airport was annoying if anything... so much perfume in the air my allergies went nuts... security made me put my film through x ray... just that type of annoying things. our trip from paris to florence was nice, we went over the alps, but the ride was about half turbulance... felt pretty sick by the time we landed!

italy has been great. great food, art, people. I wish we had siesta in the US. we really miss our family. luckily they call often. I just got off the phone with Max and Aidan.

now...

why didn't I think of this !

Forget you Milan

We're going to Paris.

a new airlines.. time frame (much better)..more cash. but we are getting there.. word is the french airline may strike. hoping not.

oh my...

the Italian airlines went on strike. we can get to Milan but will either have to wait until 8:30pm (we arrive 7:30am) for an alternative connection to Florence or take a train. We will take a train.

Needless to say this adds a bit of adventure to our trip. From Malpensa will take a train to the train station and on to Florence. From there I believe we can then walk to our apt.

It will be 1am our time. This is fun, right!?

Aidan's school makes national news.

yesterday we were driving in the car, talking about this issue. Max pointed out a girl walking by that he went to middle school with (so she's about 14/15 years old) who is 6 months pregnant. He said this is the first pregnancy she is keeping.

"Obviously, Dick Cheney is sort of the black sheep of the family."

this cracked me up. not sure if it's really funny or I am just way over tired.

I saw her on John Stewart. He did a good job being courteous and honest. I was sort of impressed with her for going on... talk about walking into the line of fire. think that there may be some serious political spinning behind that move.

She brought John a Darth Vader doll. odd duck, I'd say.

17 years

we've been married for 17 years. it sounds like such a long time. damn... it IS a long time.

We didn't' have a very festive day... Just so much going on... football, photo stuff, Italy, a pretty girl cat pooping on our bed (yes. your read that right. anyone want a cat?). I am thinking that she feels that she has not conveyed just how much she hates Tommy. she keeps trying new tactics. sigh....

oh... I am going to send out an e-mail regarding the show at the local gallery on the 2nd of November for the photo book. I am adding it here in case I do not get to it.

what else? boys are all doing well. were very happy this morning when the cat poop was not on there bed. We met and loved Judy. Walked around downtown and the Old Port. Had dinner at Flatbread. Yum. Papa is very happy. life is good. I am a bit freaked about Italy. Not so much about being there.. getting things ready here before we go. I also forgot to learn Italian. I just say I'm Canadian and all will be forgiven. Si?

Trippin'

We leave in 9 days. My Mom came up the other day and we laid out the trip. Here it goes:

we arrive in Florence and spend the first two days roaming the city. She did organize a 2 hour personal tour for our second afternoon. There were longer group tours but it sounded like it would be too much for Aaron. This way the tour guide will gear it toward our interests.

on our third day we head out to visit Siena . Which I hear is an amazingly beautiful city. I first saw it in the movie My House in Umbria , let's just say it was love at first sight. then we are back to Florence and on to Ravenna for two days. My Mom has set up a tour guide here too. This the city where her Grandmother is from, we are hoping to find out a bit more about her. My Mom and aunt Paula went to Kingston MA yesterday to do some research. I know that they did find out that there is a 700 page book (written in Italian I believe) written about the family in the Harvard Library. The people historical society were pretty impressed and said we will find the family name all over Ravenna.... that's all I know so far.

From Ravenna will then head up to Venice . I am very excited about Venice.. I do hear it's very expensive and hard to navigate though, luckily my Mom set up a tour for Venice too. One form of advice we received was that if you are walking down and alley and it opens up into water just shrug your shoulders, turn around and walk the other way. Sounds like a good plan to me. My only concern is that we need to be @ the Venice airport by 5:30am, so we will need to get a water taxi around 4am. not sure how that's going to pan out.

our last day in Venice we will take a day trip to Verona . Aaron has wanted to go here ever since they studied Romeo and Juliet last year. Word is that this is where my Great-Grandfather comes from.

movies

I have been reading books & seeing movies that take place in Florence or Venice (I have Verona imaged by Romeo and Juliet...don't want to mess with that and not many take place in Ravenna that I know of)...a very fun task. Last night I rented a movie that takes place in Venice, In the Company of Strangers, yikes. did not love it. I liked that it was not an American made, isn't' Italy perfect and glorious, film but it may have been a little too dark (even for me). we are not talking to ANYONE nor going to there home... no matter how beautiful it may be. It did make me excited to be in Venice (during the day minus crazy killers)

any book/movie recommendations?

to blog or not to blog...

i am getting ready for the 2 shows (yikes, yikes), Italy (yikes) and finishing up some jobs (yikes yikes yikes) haven't' been on the computer much except to work... boring.

I am slowly updating Michael's blog. mostly @ 1am.

that's all my news.

this is pretty cool. you need to scroll down to find the info on the exhibition I'm in.

Last night Jen and I had a photo shoot with Barbara Bush. A pretty bizarre place to find myself. She was very very nice and afterwards gave a (rather good) speech and volunteering, family and community. Was very odd to see her talk about honesty and humanity knowing that her son is well.. the president. (by the way.. she is tiny and her son has her nose). Despite this, i liked her.... maybe like isnt' the right word but saw her as a human. she did make one joke about her family knowing they are not perfect except for one member.

Now that that job is done I am just getting ready for the 2 shows, finishing editing some photo's and getting ready for Italy. Aaron is getting pretty excited.

Our plans thus far:
day 1 arrive in Florence
day 2 visit Sienna
day 3 day in Florence
day 4 arrive in Ravenna
day 5 day in Ravenna
day 6 day in Ravenna
day 7 arrive in Venice
day 8 Venice
day 9 Verona
day 10 Venice

or somehitng like that.

You could win...

(please imagine game show music playing)

behind door number one a 50" plasma tv, door number 2 an 8 GB Ipod nano or behind door number 3 $100.00 cash!!

And... YOU would be supporting Portland Youth Football.

fine print:

tickets are $10.00 each or 3 for $25.00. contact your local PYFL dealer for offer details.

I have added another few letters to Michael's blog.

not so happy about the gas think. I do think our forces need competent people to handle the money but must they put him through this?

A few nights ago we went to parents night at Max's school. I am feeling so happy that he is there. (Who knew that inside my son was a prep school boy) I know that Chris's Jesuit education really had a positive impact on how he sees and interacts with the world. Knowing that Max's is going to get such a solid education and makes me happy. also, I really thought (though Chris told me over and over it was not true) it was a Catholic school like I went to. while the Jesuits are Catholic they are ultra educationed and socially/emotionaly aware. In one of his classrooms there were signs off all the major religions and how they express/work towards peace.

pretty cool really.

Michael

I have started a blog for Michael. I am posting letters as they come in. Please pass it on to other family members and friends http://michaeltg.blogspot.com/ I will post on my blog when I update.

whew...

All the first days of school are all done. Max is loving school, I am so relieved and happy. Aidan is in heaven, in the same house as most of his friends, is with his bff (see how hip i am with tween lingo, at least according to tv commercials) for all classes. Aa and G are sort of blase about school. no big changes.. just getting back on the horse.
so, all in all life is good.

i know you want a funny story from the subculture of my house.

Tommy has cooties. How do I know this? Because I must ad lib through their actions. Mica and Henry hate him. the other day Tommy gently touched Henry's face, Henry swiped the spot with his paw then rubbed his entire face on the rug for about 1 min. If he could speak human he would have been saying, "ew... Tommy cooties.. get 'em off me...get 'em off me.. Mica.. help...get me a towel, soap and water.."

I wave the white flag

I can resist sports any longer... I am surrounded. I surrender. I still may not understand football but I will try to enjoy it. A, A & G have their first game today (max next Friday)...G was in full uniform at 8am (his game is @ noon)... Aaron half in his. If it makes that this happy it must not be that bad. yes?




and....
last night a red sox pitcher pitched a no hitter.. even max, whose dedication to the Padres still stands strong, was excited. The realization that the sea dogs signed poster that chris brought home the other day was signed by this guy AND papa was at the game just escalated the excitement of the moment . Aidan was out of his little mind....

* oh me gosh... I was just writing down some last min items I need to get for Max and I wrote white sox rather than socks... I think my surrender took immediate effect on my brain.

Help Me

Michael

Since my dear brother is away at boot camp (how I feel about my brother joining the national guard is a subject worthy of it's own post. Since I do respect him and his choice to do what he believes I will not. He is going into the accounting dept so he should be fine..fingers crossed)

he is sending mail and Karin and I are posting it on our blogs so the family can all keep up him. Karin posted his first letter here . If you want his address e-mail me or Karin.

sorry I have been an absentee blogger lately. just been going so fast haven't' had time to write nor even process what going on. big things... max starts school on Tuesday.. everyone else on Thursday. I will really really miss them. I started bean. not so much fun but will help pay for Italy (my mom got the tickets...we leave on the 21 of October and get back on the 30th) and holidays.

I hate when my family splits up so much. tonight I am off to Vermont, Ai, Aa and G to the Cape and Chris and Max will stay here. bowes of all over new england.
hmmm.... why am I so anxious 'bout such things? Do I think that my children will never leave me? Do I have a secret desire to clip their wings? Limit their life experiences to what we do together? not good.

in case you were wondering

This is what a 12 year boy looks like


This is what Aidan would look like if he was a monkey in a tree

This is what my silhouette would look like if I was really wearing giant bell bottoms

This is what a 14 year old boy looks like when he tells his girlfriend that she can dress him up

these are some shapes i liked at the playground

Happy Birthday Aidan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer

Can summer really be over? Really we have a few more weeks but with the school notices coming in and football starting it seems like it is time to hang up the bathing suits and bring out the sweaters.

I think that this year I am sadder than most. Maybe because I am no longer chasing a toddler, spending time with the boys is less like work. I look forward to working more (making $) but not ready for the daily gruel that school brings. I hate the idea of saying good-bye to my children for 6 hours a day. So many changes... Max, high school, Aidan, middle school, (Michael, so far away). In the words of Clyde from year ago... No Likey!

Memories

when you remember back do you see it as 3rd person or through your eyes?

Max and I were talking tonight about this. we both view our memories through 3rd person.

Harry Therapy

sorry for the late warning. on Thursday night (8/16) I am hosting a book 7 talk at the bookstore @ 7pm. Figure those of us who read the book need to talk. My friend Lisa C. and Phyllis came up with this when we were feeling sad about it being over. never mind all the questions we came up with.

the good:

-tonight Aidan and I saw Harry Potter. we both really enjoyed it...was just fun sitting in the theatre with him.
-Tomorrow we are meeting deb & co, Paula & co and my mom and Ethan in Harvard Square. we'll let the kids play a bit then deb and I are off to get some work done. why is the idea of work sound so luxurious to me?
-A friend of Max's family owns a few parking lot's and they worked the lot's for the baseball game and made some money.
-Max is learning some good skills at work study.. like how to strip, buffer and coat a wood floor. (can you hear what my brain is thinking?)
-Ari went to robotics camp and LOVED it. he was able to build and program a lego vehicle.
-G is in love with Tommy. he does need to learn some boundaries though...when my mom saw him licking Tommy she made him wash his mouth out with salt. he then asked if it was okay to lick him paws. ewww
-I took the boys and Ethan swimming the other day. as I began to go over the pool rules with ethan he yelled out, "i know the rules...don't drown". the lifeguards thought it was a very good rule.
-we had a nice time seeing Chris's family. chris was able to swim with the boys in favorite place in teh world, the saco river. Everyone was doing well.. Barbara and Carol are in Boston latin (would be one good reason to live in Boston)... bet Trisha will end up there too. smarties!
- Aidan is almost 12!!!!!

the ugly:

- Zachary had a seizure. they think it was a fever seizure and don't expect any long term issues. but still... it was scary and I hate it.
- Aidan retinas turned out okay but we are no closer to finding out why he is getting these flash headaches and seeing lightning out of the corner of his eyes. I hate this too.
-took the car in for the state inspection and it turned into a 750.00 ordeal. pretty major stuff too... like bad tires and brakes. If I was 5 I would have pulled a tantrum and ran to my room screaming how much I hated everyone. since that wouldn't' help I called my dad, am proud that wasn't' crying. (tada... dad to the rescue)
-Michael leaves for the national guard.

a few visual examples of our last few weeks.

how the boys spend the book release party (this photo is not offering you much... they ran up and down Exchange Street in the rain)


they were very excited to touch the books before 12:00 (where's Max?):

drawing on the windows during the HP party

Ari has been trying to raise money. This is just SO not goign to work

When Karin asked me to send some images for her museums juried member show I did so without much hope. I mean.. it's a museum... a museum that has some really great art in it. well... 2 of my photographs were selected. I am floored. I would have never imagined. And... Karin had nothing to do with the decision process (it was by a gallery owner who is not involved with the museum).
I now have to print, frame and price them. I bet there will be a party to go to also. After the book release party I have decided that when you are part of something but not the focus of attention a gathering can be loads of fun!
These are the two photographs that were chosen.

the heat is back. I thought is was going to rain this weekend and I don't think I was alone. last night I stood in line at videoport with many Portlander's preparing for staying in doors watching movies. Instead we are off to the beach.

Chris and I did watch Running with Scissors last night. wow....

I am determined to start taking photo's again. I am always taking photo's but to take photo's for me. I think I am freaked out at the prospect of hte next show here in Portland. I need to have an image from the book and then another Portland image. I am so bored with my past photographs I don't even want to look at them. that's my story of the day.

oh Harry!!!

i finished. will not post anything just in case. dying to talk about it though.

I think I am going to host a Harry Potter therapy session at the store next week. I just walk to talk about it!!

Had a great time at the book release party last night. Was so nice to see the photographs and photographers. Wish I had more time to talk to people Channel 8 showed up and was nice but took up a lot of time. Not complaining...

Maybe I'll post more later. feeling very tired right now.

funny story... we were in Target buying some stuff for Michael. G bit Karin's hand (in play) and we noticed that his teeth marks were odd looking. Karin mentioned that he may be grinding his teeth at night, she does and her bite looks like his. of course we all had to test it out... we all go so into the mark our teeth leaves we didnt' realize that we were standing in the middle of the aisle in target biting ourselves. My friend happened to call & when I looked up to answer the phone I saw that there were some people were standing there looking at us like we were nuts.

I like being around my family.

Talk about temptation

Today we revieved 30 boxes of the new Harry Potter book.

yup...all those books just sitting in the basement. bet they're lonely... just wanting someone to free them of their prison and hold them.

What a shitty day

I just talked to Susie and am told that Grandma passed free of pain, fully aware of what was happening and at peace. That is good... it is selfish that I am consumed by sadness. I should be with family (bad thing about living so far away) celebrating her life. we are Irish after all. maybe some alcohol is needed.

local online mag the bollard gave the book a mixed review. on which side the review leans depends on the reader I guess. While I do expect some negative press I did not expect it to be so snarky. besides disagreeing on the basic feel of the book (i feel this book is for the people of Portland...sort of doubt many tourists would be interested) a few truths are hit upon. But... I am really curious to how many kids the reviewer thinks I have. Seriously.... I must have the reputation of the biggest floozy in Portland. In truth, I asked the photographers to submit photo's from their portfolio's. I did the same for myself and I have a lot of kids in mine. not all my kids. maybe i am the mother of all Portland's children .. maybe I'll get a parade. there were many good comments but I am sad today so will only focus on the negative. Grandma's funeral is this weekend. will not make it down. So happy we went down in the spring.

With G this April

Grandma and Henry 2007

with a few grand and great-grand kids

Mary D. Goodfellow

i survived

thanks for David and John I survived the interview.

will post if I can figure out how.

I am such a bundle of nerves. Tonight I am on WMPG @ 8pm to talk about hte book. I do not speak well. if you know me, you know that. Luckily another photographer will join me. He is comfortable in such situations.

cross you fingers for me (please)

Aaron is in metal smith camp this week. a perfect fit. Aidan is doing summer fun again and Max, G and I are just chillin. not much to report. well... I guess there is a lot going on but I'd have to think about it to write about it and that's just too much work.

Last night went to movies in the park and that was really fun. sometimes all one needs is to sit out in the open a kids movie on a cool summer night.

here's the schedule:

July 16- The Incredibles (Family/Animated)
July 23- West Side Story (Musical)
July 30- Ghostbusters (Action/Adventure)
August 6- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Comedy)
August 13- The Quiet Man (John Ford- Drama)

My friend Meg has a good link on her blog about how you can obtain happiness through cleanliness. check it out... it is life altering.

Book release party

is 7/19, 7pm at the Domaine Gallery in the Old Port.

poor henry

has been so sick. I think the docs at bracket street finally figured it out. he hurt his neck. we are giving him muscle relaxers and he should be on bed rest (how does one bed rest a dog?)

he is so sad and sweet, a bit on the clingy side. Understandable so, I think this was really scary for him. Max thinks that his visit to the emergency vet left him feeling scared and depressed. i know it has that effect on Chris and Max. sounded like a horrible place. plus they charged us lot's of money and misdiagnosed him.

they did a little news peice on us. check it out

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=65557

not sure where they got hte fresh food and flowers though.

Starts tomorrow... runs through 8/28.

update:

it went well... we had 11 vendors. 4 did not show which is sad since they paid. Seemed at the end of the day all the vendors were happy. we didn't' have loads of traffic but not bad for the first time. At least everyone made their space fee back. I heard from one person that most of her customers were tourists. I did have a good amount of people interested in being vendors and heard that the talk about the market was positive (hearsay of course but why would they lie). I do wish we started a bit later but i fear it is too late to change that.

on a different note. last night we were watching movies of the kids... they were SO cute. still are but it made me sad and want another baby. don't' worry... not happening, but still...

Right now Chris and Max are bring Henry to the vet emergency room. he is acting really off. scary off. fingers crossed.

I am not sure which image I should use for The Domaine Gallery & State House show.

I am thinking either this one



or this one




I am also COMPLETELY overwhelmed. The Saturday Markets starts this weekend. It runs from 9-2. Chris will be working, (hopefully) the store will be too busy for him or Stuart to leave, I have to pick Aidan up from his friends camping b'day party at Bradbury Mountain (1/2 an hour away) and get him for his 2:30 game. How am I going to do this? I am so behind in everything...we have no food...no money...the house is a mess... and... now the the book is done and the market happening I have no big project going on. breathe....

okay.. I needed to vent.

The book is now #1 on the best sellers. yahoo... I am hearing that people are confused by my using Goodfellow. Can't figure out who I am. sort of funny... Lisa and Bowe are both there also. it's like disguising yourself with a pair of glasses.

Our friend David now has a website for hoopleville.
not sure what we are going to do today... we all slept in.. Chris and Max are still sleeping.. love mornings like this. I sort of wish it was raining and we were going to spend the day reading, watching movies and eating. we may chase the sun and go to clay beach. update: only Max wandered further than our back yard today. We'll go see the fireworks in a bit though. I do not feel guilty at all. We needed this! I just started Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghost Stories. ohhhh...good stuff

these photo's are from a few weeks back.

G is such a good Daddy

not sure they should be playing catch with Tommy though

in case you weren't able to see just how cute Tommy is

I love Maine in the summer. Not sure why I would ever want to leave. Today we went with friends to a pond and then strawberry picking. it was such a carefree pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

We had a wonderful time at the museum. While the turnout was low compared to the winter event it was so much fun. I had only Ari and G with me, it was sweet to snuggle in Karin's bed with them and spend the day together. I guess together is a bad choice of words... we were in the same space but they spend most of the (8 hour day) doing origami. I think it's pretty amazing that we were there that long and they left happy and excited. My sun print event went well.... grownup's liked it as much a kids. the volunteers were having a great time with it! now that the museum event is over I am 100% focused on the Saturday Market. yikes... that's scary.

Ari doing origami

I liked this. there is a lot i like at this museum. much more than I thought I would. not sure why

some of the kids decided to use their hands for the prints.

a cute boy doing origami outside

that's me... helping a boy... I think he was doing his hand

Karin in her office

>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE>June 28, 2007>>

Media Inquiries:>Michael Herndon, 301-827-6242>Consumer Inquiries:>888-INFO-FDA>>>>FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Veggie Booty Snack Food>Risk of Salmonella Contamination>>>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat>Veggie Booty snack food, marketed by Robert's American Gourmet, due to>possible contamination with Salmonella Wandsworth bacteria that cause>gastrointestinal illness.>>FDA advises consumers to throw away any Robert's American Gourmet brand>Veggie Booty they have in their home. Veggie Booty is sold in a flexible>plastic foil bag in four ounce, one ounce, and one-half ounce packages.>>Veggie Booty is often consumed by children, so parents are encouraged to>watch their children, and seek medical care if they observe signs of>illness.>>Individuals who have recently eaten Veggie Booty and who have experienced>any of the symptoms described below should contact a doctor or other health>care provider immediately. Any such illnesses in persons with a recent>history of eating Veggie Booty should be reported to state or local health>authorities.>>This warning is based on 52 reports of illness across 17 states, beginning>in March 2007. Almost all the illnesses have occurred in children under 10>years old, with the most cases in toddlers. Most persons had reported>bloody diarrhea; four were hospitalized. FDA learned of the illnesses on>June 27 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which>conducted an investigation of the illnesses with state and local health>officials. The outbreak is considered likely to be ongoing.>>Salmonella typically causes diarrhea (may be bloody); the diarrhea is often>accompanied by abdominal cramps and fever. Symptoms typically begin within>one to four days after exposure to the bacteria. In infants, persons with>poor underlying health and those with weakened immune systems, Salmonella>can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections.>>States reporting illnesses include: California (seven cases), Colorado>(five cases), Connecticut (one case), Georgia (one case), Indiana (one>case), Massachusetts (three cases), Minnesota (two cases), New Hampshire>(two cases), New Jersey (two cases), New York (13 cases), Oregon (one>case), Pennsylvania (three cases), Tennessee (one), Texas (one), Vermont>(three cases), Washington (four cases), and Wisconsin (two cases).>>Robert's American Gourmet, of Sea Cliff, N.Y., which markets Veggie Booty,>and its contract manufacturer, are fully cooperating with FDA's>investigation into the cause of the contamination. Manufacturing and>distribution of this product has ceased, and Robert's American Gourmet is>recalling all potentially contaminated product, including all expiration>dates and lot codes. The product is sold in all 50 states and Canada at>retail locations and over the Internet.>>FDA will provide updates as the investigation progresses and more>information becomes available.

We are all feeling pretty happy today.maybe because it's not so humid and we got a good nights sleep.. maybe because the rash on Aidan's arm wasn't a rare form of a skin eating disease (damn you... you brown moths)...maybe because my book # 5 on this weeks best sellers. maybe because the littles and I are going to see some of our peeps tonight.
dunno... but I'll take it.

Things are heating up

I am about to go to the final Saturday Market meeting...can't believe this is really happening... i hope of people come. The whole thing just makes me tired when I think about it.

The book is on sale right now at Longfellow's and Books Etc. the launch party on July 19th at Domaine Gallery. So far the feedback has been very positive. A local author extortioner bought the first copy then returned a day later to buy two more. I am taking this as a good omen.

This Saturday is the event at The Fuller Craft Museum... this is Karin's first event she that conceptualized and executed. I hope it is sunny so my event can happen ( i am doing a sun print workshop with the kids).

It's going to be hot today and our back door is broken. there will be no cooking in this kitchen.
Must figure out something fun to do with boys....

We have had a lovely time since i last updated. no more food fights, lot's of Maine summer fun. But the big story is the pet culture in our house. If you do not like to hear one tell their pet stories I recommend you stop reading now.

Tommy attacked Mica. Max and I are thinking that Tommy may be a bit on the stupid side.

Mica now needs extra attention.. Chris can often be found on the floor with Mica feeding her goodies. when she does venture into the house she cautiously walks around trying to avoid Tommy. If they are in the same room one of us need to be there in case a fight breaks out.

Henry has proven that he is the most mature of all beings under 5 feet in the house. The other day Mica and Tommy where having a face off in the dining room. Mica was hissing so (stupid) Tommy ran at her. Henry hit Tommy in the head and then stood between the two cats.

during another face off Henry started to play fight with Tommy. (he faux bites... never really shuts his jaw) Mica was jealous over this.. he usually does this with her. I think that it put Tommy in his place a bit. he ended up hiding under the radiator then scurrying from the room and peaking out to watch Henry behind the door frame.

yesterday there was another face off in the front hall. Chris, Max and I sat on the stairs in case we had to intervene. Henry joined us. I think he likes being the big bro.

Tommy is very curious.. we now have ot be careful when doing most basic household tasks... opening the fridge, he jumps in. going into he basement, he's been stuck down there a few times. getting eaten by the hungry dog, he likes to sit in Henry's food bowl.

Ta da....

I get really angry when people make assumptions about my house of boys. well... yesterday I did live in a house that those people imagine. After cleaning the kitchen I made A, A and G a simple lunch of pb&j, apple sauce and water then went in to straighten up the living room. I heard yelling and returned to a food fight. yes... a FOOD FIGHT. I was so mad that I just yelled out something like "I can't believe you'd do this" and ran upstairs and shut myself in my room (very mature, I know but I was really mad). by the time I came down the kitchen was cleaned up (meaning the applesauce was no longer in blobs on the floor but smeared all across the floor but I appreciated the effort). ah.... summer.

Mica still hates Tommy. She doesn't even want to come in the house. I was hoping that since was angry with us she would stop leaving us dead animals. no such luck. poor Chris began his day picking up one of her victims.

the first full week of summer vacation is in front of us! now that we/they have demonstrated our worse behavior I am visualizing 2.5 months of gloriously joyful times.

Tommy

Max caught this photo of Tommy, G's kitten. Papa, took G to get a kitten, it was love at first sight. G named him after Papa (i guess you could have figured that out)


Henry is afraid of him and Mica tried to kill him. great start.

cruel

I set my alarm for 5:30 so I could wake up and get a head start on all that I need to do today. Instead... I fell back asleep and dreamed that I accomplished everything . Needless to say when I woke I was annoyed that nothing was done and now I have to duplicate the work I did in my sleep. grrrr


We have had an emotional week. Aidan and Max have graduated. Two very large leaps. They both did great. It's all good, just a bitter sweet. I will post images later. Today we are having G's b'day party.

This past week was very hectic with the kids year end events and such. The weekend turned out pretty great though...I am really happy with the photo's from Saturday night... I hope the museum is too. this is my fav


It took us 5 hours to get home from the Cape Sunday night.. I felt like I was sleep walking all day Monday. Since it was Aidan's graduation on Monday I am feeling it may have been a good thing. I didn't cry. That morning when he mentioned that he was going to miss this friends (not all are going to king with him) and teachers I got a bit weepy. Not looking forward to Max's graduation tomorrow. high school....yikes

Michael showed us how to make sure he got hte biggest piece of cake.

Lucky for us G didn't try the same thing (G's cake was actually first so I guess it would have been impossible..unless he is psychic)

lovely faces
Here Dad was grilling up some lovely veggie kabob's that Georgia made... corn on the cob and asparagus. yum