Some pics ....

I promised some pics from Christmas ... so you will find two new albums up on our Picasa site

One from Christmas and one with some of Tika's art.

Let us know if you enjoy them

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to post this yesterday, of course, but if I did I was afraid I would give something away. The picture was one the girls did for Laura as a Christmas gift. Growing up the girls always liked going to see the same Santa so I asked the girls if they would want to go see him one more time and get a picture done for Laura. They were all very enthusiastic and got all dressed up - suspiciously so as Laura was wondering why they looked so nice that night at dinner. I then went out and had a bigger version of the picture made and we framed it and wrapped that as one of Laura's gifts. She loved it - and the tears showed it.

I guess it is a good holiday when there are lots of tears of joy and we had a few occasions of that yesterday. The girls were excited about all their presents, Laura in particular loved the art work she received, originals from Matthew Johnston and Andrea Moore, and I loved the thoughtfulness of the girls and Laura and our families. Laura got a bit sneaky and made one of my presents. We have been keeping corks from wine bottles ever since we knew each other - and yes there are a few corks. So she decided to sneak out of the bag some of the more significant ones from special bottles we had at very memorable times - a sandwich picnic in Switzerland overlooking Lake Zurich, our first New Years Eve dinner that I cooked and many others and made them into a tray. I loved it - it brings back such fond memories.  I will get some of the pictures up on our Picasa site but to give you a flavour - Martika painted this for Laura.

Outside of presents we had a wonderful Christmas holiday. We got to talk to the Bridger's in Sydney twice, the Moore's in Newfoundland and with everyone of the remaining Bell family in Texas we had an opportunity to talk to all of them. The Girls came over for lunch and after we opened presents we headed out to Mala Tang for lunch. It is a Sichuan Hot Pot restaurant. The food and service was great and every one had fun. The girls then had a big dinner with their Mom and their Uncle Keith, Aunt Lynn and cousin Sidney.

We hope all of our friends and families had an equally wonderful holiday - Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah

Love Gary & Laura

Morning Run - Different

So this AM I went out for my morning run a bit later than normal as I am off for the holidays. Two days before Christmas it is 48 degrees - but that was not the different part. The different part was that as I ran by the Community Center a bald eagle flew low overhead. One of those nice things to see on any day but on a sunny, clear day in December - it was great.

Untitled by tricdn at Garmin Connect - Details

Thank you Jim........

I received very sad news today. A very dear friend of our family, a kind man, a father, a caring doctor for 38 yrs is very ill. He will likely pass away very soon. I am thankful that Jim and his family openly embraced ours when I was very young. In the summer we played with his kids while my mom and his wife wrote songs together. He was our first doctor. He delivered both of my nieces, Ashley and Brittni, waiving his fees knowing that Lisa and her husband were young and had many challenges ahead. He also delivered her cancer diagnosis. Cervical cancer. Many of you are unaware, my sister was diagnosed with cervical cancer at only 35. From my perspective looking back, she was devastated and lucky. What a contrast. From my work, I know the severity of her diagnosis. Lucky- he caught it early- not wanting to take any chances he ran additional studies normally not performed. That is Jim. I have no doubt that if it weren't for Jim our lives would be very empty.

Now you know my motivation. My sister Lisa. I think of Jim often and I have always hoped that he would be proud that I grew up and became part of his team. Lisa tells me that he always wanted an update on my work, and yes he was very proud.

I think Leslie said it best, given that he has been so connected to this family we feel such warmth and respect for him. He is such a kind gentle soul and will be greatly missed.

With kindest thoughts and deepest thanks to him for everything he has done for our family. In my heart he saved my sister.

Laura

Excited ...

So I know I am a lucky man ... a wonderful wife, great kids, good genes from my parents .... but I am excited today because I have also been lucky with getting into the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race. I have entered the lottery 3 times and all 3 times I have gotten in. It is usually quite a crowded field and I end up complaining that I cannot get running quick enough because of the crowds but hopefully this year it will be a good chance to do an even better run than last year.

So now I am looking forward to April for more than just some warmer weather :-)

Morning Runs

Some people call me a morning person. I guess in some ways I am. I am not the person that gets up and needs coffee to be able to go - not that there is anything wrong with that (and no I am not saying that just because Laura's first thing when she wakes up is her cup of coffee). I just find myself able to get up and do things - so I guess that makes me a morning person.

One of the things I find that gets my day going well is my morning run. Some days I get up and 3 miles is enough. Now I do not mean enough to get me going I mean I hit 3 miles and I am feeling done - usually I have too much on my mind those days. Some days, like this morning, I get up and I could run forever. I got back to near the house today after running 6 miles, with hills, in mid 20 degree temps, and I felt great. In fact I felt like taking another loop - but I also have real work to do.

But it is funny that some days I am more of a morning person than on other days. Now I will go eat and get my cup of coffee :-)

Laura's Cool Christmas Ornament

Laura has two of these, that she loves.

Christmas Ball

Twas Three Weeks Before Christmas ....

.... and all through this house ..... things are running at a million miles an hour.

It seems like it used to be the holidays were a time to relax ... well ok shopping was not all that relaxing but it was a pleasant pressure and these days with online shopping it has gotten easier. But the last couple of weeks and this one is just stressful ... work, work, work. It can be hard to find time to stop and enjoy things.

But .. this weekend we did. Saturday myself and Laura went out and found a nice Douglas Fir for our Christmas tree - we got it home and got it up. Sunday the girls came over, all of them were here as Tika was home to work on a project, and we decorated our tree. It is funny how much fun that can be. Trying to figure out how to put on the lights and then what ornaments to hang. It honestly is fun as with many years of ornament gathering we have quite a variety and with many come interesting stories and histories.

Needless to say it was an afternoon of laughing and in an odd way relaxing.

I hope over the next couple of weeks we can start to off load the stresses of work and focus on our family and enjoy this wonderful time of year. I know I am looking forward to doing my best at doing that.

Happy Birthday!

So today is my little sister's birthday. We will not divulge the details but we will just leave it at the fact that there is not a significant age difference ;-)

Seriously though it is nice when I get to see her and we can sit down over a coffee or a glass of wine.

Both Laura and I wish her a VERY Happy Birthday!

Some pictures ... Thanksgiving in Woodinville

Thanksgiving in Woodinville

A Great Thanksgiving ...

Next year when I sit around the Thanksgiving table and I am asked what I am thankful for I think I will need to start with ... I am thankful for Woodinville, WA and the people at Willows Lodge. What a great trip .... and that would lead me to my second thing to be thankful for, well actually it would be my first, Laura who planned the trip. We had a fabulous time. The hotel - beautiful; the staff everywhere - fantastic; the wineries - wonderful; the food - fabulous. Ok we did have a hiccup with some dairy induced pizza crust but outside of that we had a great time. I even got to get out and run 3 days and two of those I saw bald eagles as I ran.

The area is great. It is still maturing but it is getting there quickly. In the picture we stayed at the green star. All the dots are wineries. The furthest on this map - a couple of miles - most walking distance. The weather was cooperative. It rained Sunday but not the whole day. It was cool and damp but hey it is the northwest coast.

Will we do this again - ABSOLUTELY!

Thanksgiving in the Northwest

Thanksgiving Day myself and Laura headed out to the Northwest. Laura had booked this as a combination anniversary/Thanksgiving trip. We had found this wonderful hotel in Woodinville on our honeymoon last year and that would be our destination for this trip. We arrived in Seattle Thursday afternoon and were in our hotel by 4. Our first night was a great drink at the hotels bar followed by a great dinner at the Barking Frog. The service there is wonderful. We let them know about Laura's intolerance to dairy and they went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful meal of duck and pork - ok not traditional Thanksgiving fare but delicious in every sense. The next morning I woke and headed out for a quick 6 mile run while I let Laura sleep in. The trail was a bit slick but it was a great run and I even got to see a bald eagle in flight. We spent Saturday touring 3 local wineries and had lunch at the Red Hook Brewery - all of this a 5 minute walk from our hotel. The Chateau Ste Michelle won the "best of" contest of the places we visited. We will be posting some pics on our Picasa site when we can. When we arrived back at the Lodge they had finished decorating the lobby for Christmas and it looks wonderful. Today has been a day to relax, for me that meant a 4 mile run where I saw two black eagles and one bald, but outside of that we are just laying back until 4 when we hit the spa. It has been a wonderful couple of days with another couple left to go.

Happy Thanksgiving

A brisk but sunny Thanksgiving here in Virginia so it was good to go out for a quick run. I needed it after such a great meal last night with all my girls. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with the girls as myself and Laura will head out in a couple of hours for our Thanksgiving in Wine Country.

We did have a great meal last night. Laura had suggested that we should do a vegan meal as normally we do a regular meal and make a vegan dish for Tika. So this time we switched it around - except no carnivore food. I was a bit nervous as Sam enjoys here lamb and beef but she also always picks at Tika's plate. So I picked up a vegan roast, and I would recommend it - it was fantastic - Field Roast Stuffed Hazelnut Cranberry Roast. With it I did a platter of roasted root vegetables, potatoes, squash, carrots and onions; added some sauteed green beans and made a mushroom gravy. I was surprised to look down the table and not see any food left on any plate. Tika only had a couple of slices of roast as leftovers. I surprised the girls with some Red Velvet cupcakes - vegan for Tika and Laura but regular for the other girls.

We did have a lot of fun as - a lot of laughing and story telling. The girls had helped prepare things or helped clean up, so it was truly a family affair - the way Thanksgiving should be and I am thankful I have such a wonderful family to share it with.

Happy Thanksgiving to all from Gary and Laura

More Art

Last year when we were in Dundee on our honeymoon Laura saw a beautiful painting that she immediately fell in love with. We both love art and since this was something that caught her eye right away I had to buy it for her. We had it shipped back to Virginia and it came a few weeks later.

Almost a year later I decided that this painting, that Laura so loved, needed to be somewhere other than the original packing so I took it to a local framer who Laura has used before for wedding photos. The framer loved the piece as well and we worked together to find the perfect combination of frame and mat. I wanted to float it since it has rough edges and is on this wonderfully heavy material. Well it is a big piece and it took longer to frame than I thought so it turned into a late anniversary present. It is now hanging in our bedroom - right where Laura wanted it.

Balancing Exercise

Many people do not know this but I have had to really try and balance exercise. This has become even more true as I have gotten older. My best shape has been when I was competitive in Karate or Triathlons. Those days I was hovering 170-175, very fit and very healthy. Before that I could easily get to better than 200 lbs and since I have had to give up both Karate and triathlon I have gotten up to just under 195.

Running has helped in the last few years but to get running well I need to lose weight and I have a hard time starting slowly so even with my running layoff I have been very good about getting in cardio and watching what I eat. I am back under 180 so that has me happy but it is a lean 180 so now the other side of the balance comes in.

When I start to go to the gym to lift, to tone and strengthen the auxiliary muscles, I end up putting weight back on. Now do not get me wrong - it is muscle weight so not a bad thing from a health perspective, but it does make running more of a challenge as more weight to carry and thus more risk of injury running. So I am back to trying to figure out the balance between weight training for fitness so I can do other things and making sure I keep a healthy and efficient weight for running.

I guess I could have worse problems .... but to me it is still a problem ... and one I will eventually figure out.

Nice to be ...

running again.

I started back nice and slow the weekend before Halloween. It had been 9 weeks since I had been running. People who are not runners or who do not enjoy the outside will not understand how hard that is. Yes it is 34 degrees out when I go out - and yes I am still wearing shorts when I go out. It is hard to describe how relaxing it is - the fresh air - the fall leaves - the sky - the sun when it shines down on you or as it makes that silhouette of you running - these were all things that I missed.

Of course I do need to be careful - so no I am not doing 40 mile weeks - in fact they are more like 10 mile weeks right now until I make sure everything is ok.

It was weird starting back the week before Halloween as that was the week before the Marine Corps Marathon. MCM was something that was hard to give up this year. I was 90% ready to run it with the leg fracture and Lyme disease. But common sense got the better of my desire and I gave my bib to a young Marine who was just finishing up basic and had just gotten to the area from Parris Island. Since I did not ask if I could use his name I won't but the Pfc did a great job in what was his first 26.2. He sent a picture of himself and his Marine buddies that ran together - he is in black and when I see him I think of an old quote by Rear Admiral Stark, USN: "Marines I see as two breeds, Rottweilers or Dobermans, because Marines come in two varieties, big and mean, or skinny and mean. They're aggressive on the attack and tenacious on the defense. They've got really short hair and they always go for the throat."

I guess it was timely to get this picture from him on Remembrance Day weekend. It is a good opportunity to thank him, and all the Marines, Captain Ashley Lincoln (I am told it is now Commander Lincoln - Congrats), and all the Air Force members and all the other service members here, in Canada and in the NATO countries who serve.

I am so lucky........

Some would say that I am lucky to have a career that allows me to travel. I certainly would not argue- driving the autobahn in Germany and touring cathedrals in Switzerland were amazing opportunities and working in China was hands down the most unique experience I have had on many levels, both personal and career-wise. However, none of this compares to stepping off of the plane to the sight of my sweet husband waiting for me, eyes anxiously searching the crowd of arriving passengers with a look of anticipation that still makes me tear up. My coat tucked under his arm, my gloves in his hand. Protective. He didn't want me to be cold. Yes, I am so lucky.

The weather changed while I was away. So much changed while I was away. The leaves- the color snapped into place in what felt like a blink and a quick breath. I missed winter's arrival- the first snow. It felt unfair that the leaves didn't wait, that the snow forgot I wasn't at home and fell anyway. Tucked carefully into the jeep, bundled up on the drive home I sensed the same longing from him, without words. So much had changed. He wanted the moments I opened my eyes wide, covered my ears, explored, laughed, scrunched my nose, awkwardly wielded chopsticks, and hid away from the rawness and the newness tucked into bed eating oreos and drinking wine from a teacup. So much changed while I was away- I could tell that he felt the same unfairness that the world didn't wait, that the world forgot that we weren't together and life happened anyway. I am so lucky...........so lucky to find someone who also wants the snow, the leaves, the wine and oreos.... together.

I am so lucky.

Laura

Happy Anniversary .....

or should I say Happy Pancake Day :-)

So today is the anniversary of mine and Laura's first date. I call it Pancake Day as pancakes is something that we had in common - one of many things. For those of you that know - Laura shares the appreciation of pancakes as engraved inside my wedding band is "Pancakes Forever".

This Anniversary is especially nice as Laura has just gotten back from a week in China and even though she came back to a substantially colder Virginia I know she is happy to be back .... and I am happy she is back home.

So today being the anniversary of our first date Laura made sure to make it special having two roses and a bottle of our favourite Amarone to greet me when I went downstairs this morning. It is those things that she does that make every day special. And I do not mean the things that she does for me - but the things that she does - her caring for others - her generosity - her efforts to make sure her work moves ahead - her diligence to things around the house. They may seem like small things but they are small things that I notice and they are things that make me see how very special she truly is. All of those things also make me work to make sure that I pay attention to the little things as well - taking care of myself - my work - the things around the house that will make her life more enjoyable and easier.

The day that Laura asked me to join her for breakfast changed my life and that November 1st, when I first sat down across from her, sealed the deal for me. I know she will tell the story to the kids on "What not to do on a first date" and it is even those stories that make me smile.

I love you sweetheart - thank you for all you do for me :-*

Not only has it been a weird week ...

....but it has been a long one.

I cannot believe it is only Thursday afternoon. Two more days before Laura makes it back home.

I think she will readily admit that she was very nervous in heading to China. Yes the travel was going to be long. Yes it was a very different environment for her than her past travels in Europe, Australia and Canada. But I think the biggest thing was she did not know what to expect from a work perspective. That combined with the other elements made the week leading up to the trip very stressful.

Arriving there late at night, after a delayed layover in Beijing did not help. With very little to eat that day she crawled into an uncomfortable bed - now two things that she valued were also missing - food and a comfortable bed. In the morning bad coffee did not help. I know that she was thinking "Get me out of this!". But then ..... her colleague Qin took her out for some lunch - and as nervous as she was about eating in China this was the eureka moment. The food was tasty and healthy. Dinner the same evening confirmed that lunch was not a fluke - again fresh, tasty and healthy. Adding to this was that Qin was able to take her sight seeing and she was able to find some stores that had some of the things that she was looking for - fresh fruit, familiar wine - the trip went from "Oh My God - get me out now" to "What an adventure!".

I am of course ecstatic that Laura found her rhythm in China and now she seems to be having fun - at least her pictures show that - check out the China Album.

I cannot wait for her to get home and I know she feels the same way about coming home but until she does I hope she enjoys her adventure.

This will be a weird week ...

This morning I dropped Laura off at the airport. I have never been the one dropping off - at least not sending someone off for work travel. In fact everytime Laura has travelled for work I have gone with her. Now however she is off to Shenzhen in China. I know she will do great there but it will be a long week.

Daddy-Daughter Day

So Laura has always encouraged me to spend time with the girls individually, and I have always liked this as well as they are all so different. Sam for example would rather do just about anything before going to an art gallery while Kris and Tika would be first in line at a Picasso exhibit. So when Kris asked if we could have a Daddy-Daughter day I was all set for it. So yesterday, myself, Kris and her friend Bree headed down to DC.

Kris has a favourite restaurant in DC and since Bree had never been there we headed over to Teaism. Teaism is a very neat place - good food, good tea and a very comfortable atmosphere. After lunch we headed up towards Connecticut Avenue to the National Zoo. We spent the next 3 hours at the Zoo - covering just about every open inch of it. I like the zoo. The open spaces and hundreds of trees just add to the atmosphere. A sunny day did not hurt either. I do not think there was an area we visited that was not a favourite.

At Amazonia there is an open area that is intended to feel like the rain forest. As soon as we walked in there was a small monkey sitting in the tree - a few feet away from us. By the way - at this point there are no cages so he was actually a few feet away from us. We headed to see the big cats where the male lion and tiger were apparently trying to see who had the louder roar. In the Think Tank while everyone was watching the orangutan that was sitting high on a rope very few noticed the one that was hiding flat under a sheet in the corner.

We had a great 3 hours and a great afternoon overall. I am looking forward to see what Sam wants to do on her Daddy-Daughter day

An Extra Photo

Laura took this one the day after our Anniversary and sent it to me with the title "Our Anniversary Table"

It does a lot of justice to the colours that she has brought into our house.

Our First Anniversary Weekend

I know this is a bit late .. but it has also been something that I have been writing while waiting to get the right pictures to include .... not an excuse but anyway ..... the reason we are here .....

So this was not just an anniversary weekend as Laura started making sure I knew she thought about me by bringing me home some beautiful roses the week before. So that was a good indication that the house would quickly fill with flowers - Roses mid-week, tulips on Saturday (as we all know that Laura loves tulips) and Monday I made sure I had a nice bouquet of Cala Lilies. So as you look at our dining room table, even today there are four very full vases.

Of course flowers were just a part of things. We both wanted to make sure that we spent the weekend remembering the events a year ago last Monday. I will readily admit that there were lots of things that just flew by so walking back in some of the places that we spent time at in October of 2010 was a nice way to bring back some beautiful memories. Well it turns out that my wonderful wife also had moments that she could not recall - I think she used the phrase "wedding coma" at one point.

Saturday I treated Laura to a nice lunch at Hunters Head Tavern. Kaye will remember the quaint patio out back in this little pub in horse country. We have always liked it and this Saturday was perfect for it. Not too warm but warm enough that we could sit outside and enjoy the air. A wonderful afternoon was followed with a nice steak dinner.

Sunday we spent with the girls and Sammy needed to do some shopping. She was only too enthusiastic when Laura said she would take her to Victoria's Secret to do some shopping. Dad was relegated to waiting outside but was able to help her find some Jeans afterwards - so yes Dad can contribute things other than a credit card. :-)

Monday was the special day. We both had the day off and Laura had a few places she wanted to see. But before we kicked off the day I gave Laura a book I had made with pictures from our first year. The tears were a good indication that she appreciated it and the laughter a great indication that I have no future in editing.

Meanwhile Laura surprised me with another beautiful painting from the other Laura, Laura Edwards. Laura Edwards was an artist we had met some time ago at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. For a wedding gift my Laura had gotten me one of her paintings but the matched piece had eluded her. Never to be deterred Laura had painter Laura come out to the house and take a bunch of picture of our original and she had her paint another partner for it. I have yet to hang it but when I do I will make sure to let everyone see how well these two paintings go together.

Well need less to say we had a great day - a trip to DC to see a Warhol exhibit and some wonderful tapestries - a drive out to Morven Park to see where we were married and a stop at Vintage 50 for a quick drink. Then a dinner of pan seared duck breast and a wonderful bottle of Oregon Pinot topped off with Laura eating the majority of the wedding cake that we had saved just for this night.

It truly was a wonderful weekend. I am so grateful to have Laura in my life. I hope I will get to tell you all about the many more anniversary weekends we will have.

Thank you Sweetheart for all you do for me - I love you.

Happy Birthday Mom

So it is a little bit odd that my last two posts have been birthday wishes for my parents. Well part of that is that their birthdays are 8 days apart. Yes there is another big day in between and yes there will be a post on it but I needed to get some things together to do that. But that not withstanding ... this post is not about this ... this post is for Mom.

So today Mom starts another decade. I will not say which, largely because I am sure she would have me hunted down, but also because everyone I know, when I tell them which decade it is they do not believe me. They have always said how much younger my Mom looks. I guess I never thought of it ... she has always been Mom. But when I sit back and think about it Mom really looks the same as I have always seen her. She makes me happy when I see her. She makes me smile when she calls or when I call her. If it was not for her Laura would probably be eating a lot worse because it was Mom, whether she knows it or not, who taught me to cook. For those things, and many more, I will always be grateful.

So today, I know I am far away on such a special birthday, I want you to have a relaxing day but one that brings you much fun and entertainment.

We love you Mom.

Gary & Laura

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I never stopped to think of it until now but a few years ago I passed the point where my Dad was always better than twice as old as I am. As Costello would say - "I guess that means I am catching up".

Seriously though I wanted to wish my Dad a VERY HAPPY Birthday! We all love you dearly and hope you have a great day!

Love Gary, Laura and the girls

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

So I ran out of skittles in the car

....my usual approach to facing my fear of the ferry. I know that the ferry crossing will be over in 4 skittles. I don't like the orange ones, neither does Sam, so my husband eats those when he gets in the MINI like it is his marital responsibility. How to have a happy marriage? Eat the orange skittles for your wife :-) Okay, back to the point. I ran out of skittles and decided to take photos of things in the car as a distraction. Some iPhone "skittles" from my day in the car, and the lab, on September 26th........no orange ones. Laura

The Artistic Side of the Family

As you all know Martika is off at Art School. She does get home occasionally, often to get more money (just kidding), but she is not the only one that is artistic in the family ... but I will get to that in a second.

This weekend Tika was indeed home and the National Book festival was going on in DC, along with a dozen other things, so with Sammy reading so much lately we headed towards DC for a visit. On the way we stopped in Arlington and had some great burgers and lots of laughs at BGR - a very good burger joint. After lunch we headed down to the Mall where the girls got to see the Magic School Bus and tour around the Book Festival. It was not quite what we had expected, so after a short visit we headed over to the Botanical Gardens so Tika could get some base work for a project she has coming up. I did not have my camera but I did manage to take a few shots with my cell phone and put them up here.


It was a great afternoon and we had lots of fun. Now to my first comment on Tika not being the only artistic one. My very adventurous wife has been finding all sorts of things that she can do with her cell phone - including creative photography and I think they are very good. A couple of recent ones you can see here. But she has more and as I get them I will post them up on our Picasa site so keep an eye out. Maybe one day we will get her selling some of these - maybe she will be famous for her photography as well as for her research mind. I will say it is wonderful learning new things about her - especially when I did find out that she is actually ticklish :-) Don't worry Sweety - I won't tell.

Cooking with the girls

Some times when I am thinking about what to cook I recall where I have traveled and what I have eaten. This will lead to either thinking about something exotic or, as in the case last night, something akin to comfort food. Last nights comfort food was not what I would call traditional American, or Canadian, comfort food but something that I found to be comfort food from me from Cuba. 

So last night I made the girls a big plate of rice with black beans, Cuban pork chunks and plantain. 

I am always anxious when I cook something new - and in this case the pork and plantain were both new - but I was very happen with all of it - and were the girls. The pork melted in the mouth with lots of flavor. I was actually surprised at how much they ate. And the good news - leftovers.

Martika's Video

So I promised ....

So this morning I promised I would put up some of Tika's work. Below is a combination of pictures that she has taken over time - between last summer and this summer. I also included a poem that she did.

I am for an art

I am for an art that makes you think.
I am for an art that needs no prior knowledge.
I am for an art that needs no understanding.
I am for an art that is universal known.
I am for an art that stands the test of time.
I am for an art inspired by other art.
I am for an art that inspires a generation.
I am for an art that can be read and understood across all cultures.
I am for art that inspires a revolution.
I am for an art that changes how we think.
I am for an art that is strange and new.
I am for an art that offends, compliments, and reassures.
I am for an art that shows the beauty of man and woman.
I am for an art that is fun.
I am for an art that has no meaning.
I am for an art that means more than the viewer will ever know.
I am for an art that is ambiguous.
I am for an art that is super realist.
I am for an art that makes one question their morals
I am for an art that is simple.
I am for an art that is complex.
I am for an art that transports you.
I am for an art that is disgusting and beautiful.
I am for an art that is unfinished.
I am for an art that is unknown.
I am for an art that will never be in a museum or gallery. 
I am for an art that moves people.
I am for an art that makes me feel I will never become a successful artist.
I am for an art that needs or has no words.
I am for an art that is all around me.

I think she really progressed with composition and feeling. I am also going to try and post up a video she has done separately. It was hand painted on 35mm film and then she edited and added music etc .... I think it is really good - but it is big so I will try to post it but no guarantees.


Of course she has also been painting and drawing but we will leave that for another post.

A quick update

I know it has been a while since a post .... but it has been a bit crazy for both of use with work and things in general so I thought a quick update is needed.

Tika is doing great at VCU. She has her own blogger site and has been doing some cool things. I will hopefully steal some things off her site and repost them he so all can see.

Sam and Kris are actually enjoying school, mostly. They each have less than favorite classes but in general every time we are all together they are talking about what is going on in school and it is largely good. Kris of course is getting day to end her high school career and so that means a lot of thinking about college etc so we need to get her moving on some things there.

Myself, Sam and Kris went to see The Help yesterday - a great movie. Sammy had just finished the book and was so excited with the book I had to take her to the movie. It was sort of funny in that they we the only teenagers in the theatre and in fact I felt kind of young in there - which was a good thing :-)

We have also been doing some active cooking in the house since we got our lamb a few weeks back. Beef-lamb burgers, beef-lamb meatballs with home made spaghetti sauce, lamb kabobs, and the girls and their mom even made lamb stew. it has been a lot of fun but I need to limit the lamb to maybe once or twice a month as it was a very well fed lamb.

Ok - like I said a quick update. I will get some of Tika's work up, hopefully tonight, so all can see what she has been up to.


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So a few weeks back ....

My brother made sure to let me know that on my birthday I then became the same age as him. Well I get to return the favour and then some. Today he adds to that last digit and becomes a year older than me. More fun will be two years from now when the first of those two digits will tick. Of course I know that 11 months later it will for me as well but I will live with the knowledge for those 11 months.

Seriously though .....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAYNE!


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A Difficult Day

I would like to take a moment to express our deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of a close colleague who lost their new baby girl on September 2nd. On this rainy cloudy day I cannot even grasp the pain they must be feeling as they bury their newborn baby.

In remembrance of Mackynsie Abigail

Laura and Gary

A Great Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day is usually one of those awkward weekends .... the kids are anxious about going back to school while summer ends and we have to start thinking about fall and winter. Well one of my friends, Dave, makes the transition a bit easier by throwing a big barbecue for his friends and with his wife Jill they do throw a great barbecue  Dave has been doing this for the last 3 years at his place in the Catoctin Mountains. He has lots of space and a nice pool in back. His two great kids and two wonderful dogs just makes for a nice relaxing atmosphere. Of course it does not hurt that Dave has trained as a chef. This year including some wonderfully smoked brisket, chicken, chicken and pork kabobs, ribs and of course the traditional hot dogs to end the summer. The side dishes and desserts are of course too numerous to mention but it did make for a very wonderful Saturday afternoon/evening.

On Monday myself and Laura had a relaxing day to ourselves. Not that Sunday with the girls was not relaxing but myself and Laura needed some time just to go out and enjoy things we have always liked to do. We started the afternoon with a trip to the National Gallery to see some of the changes they had made in the exhibits. Some of the impressionists galleries had moved around and a new exhibit from the Chester Dale collection had been put in place in the West Building. This exhibit included some pieces we had previously scene but also included some things we had not seen before. Impressionist work is something we both enjoy and I know Tika would have loved this exhibit - maybe when she comes to visit next I will have to take her.

Another exhibit that was immensely interesting for me was from John Taylor Arms. The level of detail in his work is just astounding and if you get the opportunity his Gothic work is something to go and see.

All in all it was a great weekend. So good I had to take today off so I could catch up on my household things that I need to take care of. I guess I can handle the 3 day week :-)

A Rough Week

OK if you saw the title you would likely awesome that the hurri-quake week for the East Coast was the reason for the headline. Well thankfully neither the earthquake nor Irene delivered any damage to our families. A few friends were/are without power and some lost some trees but we have not heard of any major damage or loss so we are thankful for that.

No - this has just been a rough week - and part of the reason I have been so quiet on the blogging side of things. Work has been very hectic with new things added on top of an already busy work life. To add to that - two years after my bike accident I have been still having pain in my hand so I had my doctor refer me to a hand specialist who determined that I have inflammatory arthritis in my right hand - well technically the lower joints of my right thumb. And if that was not enough it looks like I am going to have to drop my dream of running in the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon. I am not sure if it was the combination of running with Lyme disease or what it was but I have developed a stress fracture in my right tibia. I had been ignoring it for a while but I did finally go to my doctor and she is certain that it is a stress fracture even though it has not shown in an x-ray. She said I will not know for certain until I get a follow up x-ray in a few weeks but until then she says no running. Now I was going to ignore that last part but Laura is making sure I do not.

The good news of this week has been Tika is back at school, safe and sound, and settling in with her roommates. She is rooming with three other girls in a house just off campus and even with the little problems she seems excited by it all.

I guess there is always some silver in the clouds - we just need to remember to look for it.

It started with a toilet plunger and a tennis ball.....

.....and ended with a Karate weapon. Mission accomplished- dead bug.

Now, that is love :-) ........Laura

On my actual Birthday

Well you now know that Laura did everything she possibly could to make this a wonderful weekend and she did not stop with Friday and Saturday but the girls and Laura made my actual birthday special as well.

First off she made sure that I was to relax all day ... well relax for me since I always like to be doing things. The girls came over just before lunch and we had a great barbecue with some local lamb sausage, that I had just picked up, some hot dogs and vegan sausage, grilled portobello mushrooms an all the trimmings. Laura and the girls came out singing Happy Birthday with a beautiful vegan chocolate cake that was oh so delicious and oh so rich.

The girls had made sure that I was prepped for cooking by replacing some of my worn out baking sheets and adding to my barbecue tools with a pizza stone for barbecueing pizza. We cracked open a DVD set that Mom had sent for my birthday. For those from Newfoundland you will be familiar with Republic of Doyle. For those that are not it is a great way to see the sites and sounds of Newfoundland. We spent the afternoon relaxing and laughing and watching RoD. After we dropped the girls off I cracked open my Wasmund's Single Malt and Laura made supper for me, after which I got to have more cake, leftovers from my carrot cake, and a glass of port.

This was the best weekend I have had in a very long time - I think since October 10th. Laura truly outdid herself in making this an extra special weekend and I will always remember it.

Thank you sweetheart.

My Birthday Weekend

Laura went out of her way to make this an absolutely wonderful birthday. Laura had told me to make sure I was able to have a short day at work on Friday and told me to have an overnight bag ready along with a jacket and tie. She gave me no idea where we were going or what we we doing.

So at 3 PM we hopped in the Mini and she started to give me directions which took us southwest from home. The drive was great as we headed towards Shenadoah. I had driven this way many times before to head to Old Rag for hiking but still had no idea where we were going. We eventually turned off to head into Washington VA and pulled into the Foster Harris House, a small bed and breakfast run by Chef John MacPherson and his wife Diane. John was very gracious and took us to our room which had a fresh bouquet of flowers and a wonderful bottle of Côtes de Rhone. We unpacked a bit and relaxed with some of the wonderful wine before Laura suggested I get ready for dinner.

Dinner - what can I say. Laura had made reservations at the Inn at Little Washington. This is not just one of the best restaurants in the DC area but one of the top restaurants in the country (in fact rated in the top 10 by numerous magazines). This is somewhere that I have always wanted to go for dinner. I could not begin to describe the meal but it was perfect. Three courses with little teasers in between. Between us we dined on fresh beets, lamb carpaccio, foie gras, squab, veal and beef. Some wonderful Pinot Noir and Merlot brought it all together. The service was wonderful and the setting beautiful. After such a perfect dinner I was unable to decide on a dessert but Landry, our waiter, suggested that maybe there was something special in the kitchen. Along with a wonderful port he then brought out a small birthday cake. Laura had spoke to the pastry chef days before and arranged to have them make me a carrot cake, just as I liked them, with no pineapple. It was delicious and one of the most thoughtful things anyone has done for me.

Saturday morning we woke up to John and Diane's wonderful four course menu. They truly outdo any bed and breakfast with the food and presentation. After such a great breakfast I was ready to head home but Laura was not finished. Once we checked out of the B&B she directed me west again on 211 towards Sperryville. I immediately thought of all the wineries in the area but she had bigger and better surprises. We pulled into the east side of Sperryville and turned in by a sign for Copper Fox antiques. What I did not know was right next door was Copper Fox Distillery.

Run by Rick Wasmund, Copper Fox produces a single malt whiskey and a rye along with some pure spirits. They have been doing this for 10 years and have been getting rave reviews in the industry. Over the last two years they have gotten 91, 93 and 94 ratings on their whiskeys. Rick was there to give us a tour which was very informative and entertaining. Of course we left with a bottle of single malt and a promise to be back.

It has been a wonderful weekend so far and this was all the two days before my birthday.

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Happy Birthday Honey!

I never thought I would be so blessed as to have you and the girls in my life. Thank you for bringing such precious gifts to my world, all which outshine anything I could have ever imagined.

I love you-

Laura

Our Friend's Wedding

This weekend myself and Laura were lucky enough to see our friend Tangela get married. For those of you that do not know Tangela has been a friend of Laura's for a lot longer than I have known her. I was lucky enough that Laura had her as a friend since Tangela did make a big difference at our wedding handling a lot of little details and getting the site all decorated.

This weekend was Tangela's turn to be the center of attention. And although Tangela is not a person that likes to be the center of attention she certainly deserved it as this was her day and she looked wonderful. Every time I saw Tangela on Saturday she had a big smile and she looked so happy. And we are happy for her. At one point during the service I glanced over at Laura and I saw a tear in her eye - and I knew it was a tear of joy for her friend.

I also had reason to smile as my wife looked ... maahvelous ....

I know Tangela will not see this post until she gets back and hopefully we will add some more pictures over the next couple of days so you can see just how good she looked. In the meantime we are hoping that Tangela and Ricky are enjoying their honeymoon and we wish you all the best.

We love you .....

A busy couple of weeks

The last few weeks have just been hectic - vacation - extra running - work - trips to Richmond and Baltimore - and then all the regular stuff - it has just been busy.

But that is not to say it has not had it's share of fun.

It was great being home in Newfoundland and it was great to introduce Laura to some of what Newfoundland has to offer. I know we will go back for a longer trip in the not too distant future. It was interesting that the week after we left the city of St. John's filled with people for the George Street Festival include people like Russell Crowe who was in town to play at LSPU Hall, vacation with his family and to film an episode of Republic of Doyle.

When we got back Kris was getting ready to head to Baltimore to see her friends and to attend Otakon. That meant a couple of trips to Baltimore over a few days but again it was fun.

It was a bit busy time and all five of us, myself, Laura and all the girls, had a hard time finding a day when we could all do something. This week we finally all managed to see each other at the same time. Thursday myself and Laura finally were able to give the girls some things we had picked up for them in Newfoundland, beautiful hand-painted scarves for Tika and Sam and a tea mug for Kris from a local artist (Kris loves hand done pottery). Sam was coerced to model Tika's scarf and even though she has not been feeling well lately she still looks good.


On Sunday we all went to see Crazy Stupid Love. A very funny movie that had us all laughing out loud. I think the funniest moment of the movie was during the trailer for Change Up when one lady, who obviously had never seen the trailer let out a VERY loud laugh. It had everyone else in the theater laughing.

Well I am not sure the next dew weeks will get any quieter - a wedding this weekend, Tika has to head back to Richmond to get day for next semester and the girls have to get ready to head back to school by the end of the month.

I am looking forward to a some quiet time this fall.


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Sunday in Baltimore

Yesterday myself, Sam and Tika headed up to Baltimore to pick up Kris. Every summer for the past couple of years Kris has spent the last weekend in July in Baltimore for Otakon. Otakon is a convention for fans of a variety of Japanese art forms including anime, Japanese music and much more. She travels to Baltimore and stays with a friend at her Aunt's house not far from the Inner Harbor. The girls always have fun and it usually takes Kris at least a week to come down from it. This year was no different - but she has fun, she thoroughly enjoys meeting new people that share a common interest and she gets to see a lot of friends that she does not see all that often.

So myself, Tika and Sam usually go up on the Sunday and pick her up. We always find a nice place to eat and try to enjoy the day in Baltimore. Grant it this year was a challenge to keep cool but it was fun. We did head into an interesting new store, well at least new to us as we had not seen it before. It is in the Inner Harbor area and it sells candy - and LOTS of it. 5 pound Gummi Bears, 1 pound Sugar Daddies and so much more. Tika found Vegan chocolate there that had pop rocks in it. That was quite a hot with Sam and Tika. Sam and Kris also found stuff that they loved and they enjoyed on the drive home .... I wonder how they slept last night?

As always we had a great day and now we are trying to figure out when to go to Baltimore again so we can go cruise on a pirate ship :-)

Laura's First Trip to Newfoundland

Well we are back from our first trip together to Newfoundland. I think it is safe to say we had a great time. It was not without adventure, I left one of my credit cards at the airport in Baltimore and we had other small things, but we made it home safe and sound with no major issues.

We did have a great time. The weather was great for this trip. It was far from the heat we were having here in Northern Virginia and we only had a couple of mornings with light rain, only one we actually were out in and it did not last long. As I mentioned before you do notice when the fog rolls in but we only had a couple of days when it came in quickly and left just as quickly.

We did get to do a lot, between seeing Mom, Dad and my sister Michelle and visiting many sites such as Signal Hill, Cape Spear (the easternmost point in North America) and some of the small areas outside St. John's like Brigus.

Church at Brigus

We ate some good food and even got to see one of the most popular shows in the province (and for Newfoundlanders outside the province), Republic of Doyle, getting film on a couple of different days. Laura said it reminded her of an Australian TV she saw when she was there called Water Rats.

We did get to take quite a few photos - some are posted here and we will post others later.

I know we will be back to Newfoundland - Laura even suggested that Brigus was so pretty that maybe we needed to retire there - who knows.

Lyme, Lyme go away .....

So it is the end of my second week of official training for the Marine Corps Marathon and now I know why I have been achy. The training has been going well. I had a nice 12 mile run in St. John's yesterday and felt good doing a hot 3 miles when we arrived back in Virginia today ... but .... I have been more than a little achy and I now know why.

I had gone for my annual physical a little over a week ago and when they were going through the planned blood tests I asked if they could also throw in a Lyme screening because I had been achy and had trouble sleeping. Well I got the word while in Newfoundland that my suspicions we correct and I once again had Lyme disease. Well now that I know I can treat it and hopefully the achiness will also disappear.

In regards to the MCM training I am going to start adding some pieces to my running page as an ongoing update. It should be fun given this weeks long run is 14 miles.


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Eating right is a good thing ....

Most of you know that my wife is an avid athlete. Growing up she always played sports and excelled at it. Since I have known her she has been someone to rise early in the morning to make sure she gets to the gym before her real day starts - and she does that 5 or more days a week. One would think with all of that exercise that when you look at her doctors records you would see everything perfect. Well it turns out that there are some things that have genetic control and for her one of them was cholesterol. We have not thought about it - we knew it was always high - and I do mean high - easily doubled mine. A couple of weeks back she had her annual physical and everything as always looks great and she was very nervous waiting for her blood work to come back - wondering how bad the cholesterol was. Well it came back and it was at a level that she had never seen before - It was almost half of what it had at one time been. Everything was a dramatic improvement.

So now the question .... why? We basically ate the same ... except we had taken dairy out of her diet (another story) and we replaced it with almond milk, olive oil and other dairy free substitutes. This presented some challenges in cooking but adaption was not hard and except for ice cream we have replaced most things with dairy free versions that we either have found or I make. Being the curious scientist Laura found out that Almond Milk is one of the 5 foods recommended for lower cholesterol. Yay for us. So if you are at a point where you do not want to take medicines to lower cholesterol try replacing your dairy with dairy free substitutes, use olive oil and drink almond milk. You may want to add in some extra vitamin D and calcium to make sure you get enough but outside of that it is fairly straight forward.

To help you along here is a recipe for Vanilla Pudding that is dairy free and easy to make. If you like your pudding firm you may want to up the cornstarch or add some gelatin - in the mean time - healthy eating :-)

Low-fat Vegan Vanilla Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup sugar (or artificial sweetener - we use Splenda)
• 5 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cups almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Gradually blend in the soy milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, stirring now and then.

Remove the pudding from the heat and add the vanilla. Let cool for ten minutes, stirring now and then. Pour the pudding into a large serving dish or individual serving dishes and chill until firm, about 2 to 3 hours.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival - 2011

Over the last few years myself and the girls or myself and Laura have always visited the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which is held over a couple of weekends around July 4th. Every year they have different people representing different cultures or groups ad this year was a great combination. Internationally, Colombia was represented which of course brought some wonderful music, food and arts; as well the Peace Corps, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary, who brought with them winemaking from Georgia, weaving from Northern Kenya and many other elements of what they see every day. In between these two national environments was a celebration of rhythm and blues including some wonderful smells of North Carolina barbecue and some fantastic music.

Myself and Sam and Kris spent Sunday afternoon wandering through the event. We saw some great demonstrations, including a guy wood carving with a machete. We also enjoyed some really fresh watermelon - which was delicious and greatly needed to make the heat of a July afternoon in DC.

We all had fun - saw some interesting things and I know we will be back to the festival next year.

A Great Weekend

We had a great Canada Day/Independence Day weekend. Tika came home from Richmond late Thursday to celebrate both days (and to get her replacement phone). Myself and the girls went out to celebrate Canada Day. We had a lot of fun - laughing, eating, meeting other Canadians in the area - and lots of Canada paraphernalia.

Sunday we had a nice barbecue to celebrate Independence Day - some slow cooked ribs and Chicago Style Hot Dogs and then we went to see Bridesmaids. Another day of lots of laughing and fun.

On Independence Day itself myself and Laura took it easy - I made some homemade pizzas and surprised her with an Independence Day cake.

It was a great weekend and I cannot wait to do it all again.


.... cu

Happy Canada Day ... and ....

Today is July 1st and of course that means Canada Day celebrating the signing of the British North American Act and the founding of the Dominion of Canada 144 years ago.

I think I can safely say that the girls are excited to celebrate Canada Day today and I know Laura was smiling as she came into the office this morning with a Canada Flag tattoo on her shoulder. The nice thing for us of course is that we get to celebrate Canada Day today and then 3 days later we get to celebrate Independence Day.

RNR Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel, France

Of course for some Canadians today is not just a celebration of Canada Day but also a remembrance day. It was 95 years ago today at 8:45 in the morning that the Royal Newfoundland Regiment got called up to advance on German Lines at the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. At the time Newfoundland was part of the British Empire recognized as the Dominion of Newfoundland and fought alongside the British troops in the Somme. That fateful morning 801 Newfoundland men advanced - the next morning only 68 men of the RNR were available for roll call. The decimation of the Regiment was felt throughout Newfoundland then and for many years to come.

So today I will raise a glass for Canada to celebrate its birthday but will also raise a glass in remembrance of the past and current members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment - we will never forget your sacrifice.

The weirdness of Boston

I got to spend the last two days in Boston. The trip was worked related, a conference at MIT, but I did get to see a bit of Boston. Monday night we walked from Cambridge to St. Charles Street and Beacon Hill and on the way passed TD Gardens, home of the NHL champion Bruins. We had some good food down on Charles and visited the Cheers bar afterwards.

Tuesday morning I went for a run and in a period of 40 minutes or so I got to run down the Charles River, by MIT, run the last mile of the Boston Marathon course to Copley square, by Boston Commons and the State House. I cannot even mention all the cool architecture you see doing this - it is a great town to see. Some of the cool architecture included stuff on the campus of MIT like the Frank Gehry designed building on the left.


The people at the hotels and restaurants were great but I did notice that bikers and runners do not warn you when they are coming up behind you. This really throws one off. I will say some of the nicest TSA people I ever encountered are at Boston Logan. I know most people complain about TSA but it was not just one that was great - it was a bunch of them.

So Boston is definitely a place to visit and when you do I would suggest staying at the Marlowe in Cambridge. I know I will be back there.

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My Stabilizing Force.........

The past two weeks have brought crashing disarray and quiet victories. On the work front, my department has undergone "restructuring" as they say, and sadly my dear friend and fearless mentor, Paul, is no longer here to help me navigate what lies ahead for careHPV. Some of you may know him from our wedding, he flew in from Germany to read at our wedding, only to dash off to the airport and return for work. I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done for me on so many levels and I know that he will remain a part of our lives. Paul is the essence of careHPV. It's success will largely be a result of his persistence and dedication to helping others.

And in the midst of the chaos, there comes order, and quiet- which is always a blessing when it is your health. As my husband knows, I seem to be the "rarity", the patient that doesn't fit the profile, not the 99 cases out of 100. I was born with a congenital heart defect- 3 extra electrical pathways creating 3 heart arrhythmias that I was blissfully unaware of of until they decided to make me pay attention. Growing up I assumed that everyone felt the way I did. I certainly was not the picture of the "typical" arrhythmia patient, specifically with the severity that was hidden. I played every sport I could get my hands on growing up, and have always been at the gym 5 days a week, pushing as hard as I can (with a six pack to prove it). In September 2008, 6 weeks before I met Gary, I had a life-changing procedure, a cardiac ablation which essentially burned the pathways from my heart tissue. I walked out of the hospital and into a new life......worried that I couldn't feel my heart beat. I told my doctor that my heart was quiet, and he smiled. Quiet. Like when the power goes off and all of the whirring and background noise just stops. And you breathe. Then the other shoe dropped. Last summer I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. Not common at my age or outwardly evident considering my level of physical activity. We sought help with a wonderful Endocrinologist and so far so good- after correcting a severe vitamin D deficiency there has been no further bone loss. Gary went with me to see my primary care doc last week to give him the good news. Dr "Jo", as Gary calls him, has been with me through everything. He diagnosed my heart defect - the Cardiologist missed it- and the osteoporosis. He patiently coordinated my care never leaving any causes unexplored and always remaining calm. Always listening, never doubting, always caring. He looked at me last week and smiled big and said "you are doing great, you are stable" then turned to Gary crossed his arms and said "so, you must be the stabilizing force here". My sweet husband looked so proud, smiled and said "yes".

Yes, honey you are my stabilizing force. Thank you for loving all of my 1 in 100's , my noisy heart, and little bones :-) Thank you for going with me to every doctor's appointment, holding my hand, giving me magazines to distract me (Wine Enthusiast works best), and laughing with me at the one who shall be called "Dr Evil" (the doctor who didn't work out so good).

I love you-

Laura