What a Sunday

My February trips seem to be presented with challenges. Last year this time our neighbor had a burst water pipe the day I was leaving for Nashville and then when I got to Nashville I had to come back to be with Laura as her father had just passed away. Hard to believe it has been a year since that day ....

This year a lot less tragedy but still challenging...

Laura had just come home from the gym and normally on a Sunday I would go to Caribou and grab a coffee before heading to get the girls. Laura went upstairs to throw in some laundry and grab a shower. This Sunday I decided to make coffee and sit and read the paper in the sunroom off the kitchen. As I was reading the paper I heard a gurgling in the sink - but really did not worry about it. A minute later I heard rushing water and my first thought was the washer was upstairs overflowing. I dropped the paper and headed towards the stairs but as I passed the powder room I saw soapy water gushing from the toilet. I yelled to Laura to turn off the washer, I grabbed a mop and towels and we started to assess what happened.

Luckily we got the water stopped and I sopped it up before any damage was done - thankful I did not go to Caribou. We called Vikas and we arranged for a plumber to come over even though it was a Sunday. At this point we could not use any water so laundry would need to wait and so would that trip to the bathroom. The girls came over and we watched "Easy A" (btw - a fun movie) while we waited for the plumber who would show up around 5:30.

It turned into a bit of an ordeal - a 50 ft snake did not free it up from the kitchen or the powder room so they had to bring in a 100 foot snake. After a couple of tries they did break through - 96 feet out. We must have been right at the mainline intersection. The guys cleaned up and even did a better job of putting the sink back together than was done before.

So now my kudos goes out to Vikas for finding these guys and to Liberty


Plumbing out of Chantilly and Reston. These guys are great - plain and simple. If you need a plumber CALL THESE GUYS.

And I know I appreciated my shower this morning :-)


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The Man vs Food Chase

So the story gets a bit convoluted but here goes ....

Early last week Tika called and said she needed some supplies for school. She emailed me a list of things for art glass including the standard glue, tape, pens, jigsaw, drill, combination square, plier stapler .... WHAT? My first thought was she was taken a class in construction but then when I looked at the list I could see all of this stuff being used for building sculptures, frames for canvasses and the like. Anyway, she asked if I could help her get the stuff so we figured Sunday would be a good day to take her sisters and head down to Richmond, do some hardware shopping and just enjoy the day.

Sunday myself, Sam and Kris headed down to Richmond. Sam riding shotgun and Kris in the back with her headphones on - but at times listening. When we made it to VCU we decided we wanted to eat and I thought that since I had not been to any Man vs Food restaurants in Richmond then we should do that. For those that do not know, Man vs Food is a Travel Channel show that myself and Laura love. Turns out a lot of other people do as well. Adam, the host, travels around visiting areas where he tries a number of restaurants and then has some sort of challenge - eat the worlds hottest curry or eat 5 pounds of hamburgers in 40 minutes. The show is entertaining and I am finding some great restaurants as we watch it. Sooooo I have been trying to hit a Man vs Food restaurant as I travel the country. My first was a German restaurant when I was in Minneapolis early last year. Myself and Tika then went to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo this summer followed by a trip to Ben's Chili Bowl in DC with Sam and Kris this fall. Richmond had 3 options but one had vegan food and was a block from campus so off to the Black Sheep for lunch.

If you are in Richmond seek out this place - FABULOUS sandwiches and not expensive. Tika and Sam shared a 24 inch Vegan sandwich while myself and Kris had 12 inch sandwiches. They do not call them subs but instead call them battleships and name them accordingly. Tika and Sam had the USS Wyoming, Kris the USS Monitor (meatballs) and I had the USS Virginia (fried Chicken Liver). These sandwiches were meals in themselves with slaw or other accompaniments on them. Tika's friend Lindsay joined us and went with a salmon burger. This is DEFINITELY place we will go back to - Kris loved her grape NEHI and Sam her Abita Root Beer.

Not the bugs - the USS Virginia

After the great lunch we did some shopping at two local hardware stores, Lowes and an old style hardware store that reminded me of home. After that we wanted some dessert. Tika had always talked about a little chocolate shop in Carytown so we headed over there.

Carytown is a cute area in Richmond with little diners, boutiques, old theaters and this GREAT little chocolate shop called For the Love of Chocolate. So Tika exaggerated a bit - it was NOT little. This place had everything from Cadbury to Leonidas. Also Lake Champlain and many other types of chocolate. They also had a fantastic candy selection. Sam was struggling with what to get. She found a Big Turk like bar, so we each got one. Everyone picked out a big and small chocolate and Sam found something unique - chocolate bugs. No these were not chocolates shaped like bugs - they were bugs dipped in chocolate. She was hesitant but I said I would share it with her. So we bought our big bag of chocolate and headed out. We did not get out of the parking lot before Sam wanted to eat her bugs - so we shared them - I ate the worms and she ate the crickets. The worms were more like larvae - and not bad. Of course everything tastes good in chocolate :-)

So Richmond opened itself to all of us on this Sunday - good restaurants, cute shops an


d unique neighbourhoods .... and one more Man vs Food City taken care of.

..... cu

Thank you, I had a wonderful birthday!

I just wanted to thank Gary and the girls for a wonderful birthday weekend. It all began at 5am on Thursday with a photography slide show prepared by my amazing husband, on our television and set to music I should add, of photos of us and the girls since we met. I couldn't have been more touched.....until he pulled out a bag and in it I found an absolutely beautiful pen and matching business card case designed by an artist. Black and ivory and elegant. I have never had a "real" pen or card case- both are very special gifts. The girls came over that evening and we had cake #1, the vegan edition (yes, my husband baked multiple cakes for us) .......Gary decorated it with a hockey rink, complete with the Sens and Caps at opposing goals. The girls gave me a beautiful Coach scarf. Which now brings me to part 2 of my birthday weekend......you may have guessed from the photo of cake #2 , little black dress shopping on Saturday. I have definitely married a patient man, because I think I tried on at least 30 dresses, and he happily picked out and brought me more. We found the perfect one- he picked it out- simple, elegant, and classic.....and little ;-) And then the Grand Finale, part 3, the Sens vs the Caps hockey game at Verizon center on Sunday with the girls. First Gary treated us to lunch at a unique Portuguese spot he picked out in Chinatown and then we all headed to the arena. Tika and Sam made Senators signs, 3 I think, and immediately headed down to the ice signs in tow, and armed with Tika's camera, to watch the Sens warm up and get some photos. I watched (somewhat protectively I must say) as they pressed the signs against the glass and took photos. Tika admitted that she and Sam got some big smiles! It was Kris's first hockey game and she jumped right in and joined her cheering (okay sometimes screaming) sign waving sisters. I am certain that hockey is a chromosomal dominant gene possessed by all Canadians. Kris is my evidence, her first game she didn't miss a beat.

So there you have it. I had a fabulous birthday and couldn't imagine it being any better. To Don, Michelle, Audrey, Leslie, Lisa and Mom.....thank you for the birthday wishes and gifts.

To Gary, Tika, Kris, and Sam....thank you for a wonderful time. It is so nice to have a family :-)

Laura

p.s. the Sens lost....I am adding this as an after-thought because in my mind it was a win.....but I thought I should tell you

A Special Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!

Today is the first time I get to celebrate Laura's birthday as my wife's birthday. The fun part will be making it a birthday weekend ... with things planned from now until Sunday.

I hope you are looking forward to it sweety.

I love you

Just in case you missed it ....

We did some updates to the page. If you take a look to the right you will see a new section - "See what we are doing". This section will contain new pages that will tell a story all on their own. The first one is our 2010 year in review but keep an eye out for others.

Gary & Laura


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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!!!

Another year older ... and more and more changes.

It used to be that Sam would be shopping in the boys clothes section, playing soccer on the boys teams and wanting to play hockey with the boys when her soccer coaches wanted her to switch to girls soccer. I used to think it was because she was a tom-boy now I wonder if it was her way of figuring out the male species so she could dominate them later in life.

Have fun on your birthday.

We love you .... Dad & Laura