Another Year Passes

This has been a full year.  People say you slow down when you hit 50 .... I did not see that.  Work has been busy, the kids have been active with their lives, and then Laura and I decide to move to the mountains of western North Carolina.

And it has been an adventure. First finding the house for us in a snowstorm in February, taking possession of the house in April and then beginning the work of making some changes we wanted, like gutting the basement and putting in hardwood floors.  This of course while working full time, plus some.

The move was an adventure. Arranging the move and then finding out it would take two days to pack the house and get it in a truck and then take a week to get here ... the same day I had to leave on a business trip. I got back to a house full of boxes, a pool pump I needed to replace and then having to leave again a day later.

Well finally I was able to be home for a couple of weeks. We unpacked,  most things, got the pool up and running and started to get used to WNC.

And as soon as we started to settle down we found Nala. But that is another story.

Our New Adventure

We are beginning another chapter in our book ... a chapter that will start in a new location in Western North Carolina. Laura and I are VERY excited about it, especially since it means we have bought our first house together. It does come with some work though .... some planned and some unplanned.

On the planned side I gutted the room in the basement so we could make it "ours". It was a comfortable room but the color and the carpet were not ideal and there was a "bar" that was more like a kitchenette that was on a raised platform.

I spent a couple of evenings tearing that down a few weeks ago. It was motivating as the "bar" area was so well built that it gave me a good feeling about how well the rest of the house is built. I tore up the carpet and underlayment and then dismantled the "bar" area, saving the cabinets and the fridge for a local friend who updates places so he can rent them. He even was able to find a use for the sink.

Starting

What I took out 

And what I was left with was a big empty room that needed some new paint and a new floor. Byron, who built the house, lived there for 7 years and who we bought to from knew someone who could paint it for us at a great price which meant one less trip for me so when I went down last week I was able to spend my days working from home and spend my evenings working on our home. 

Over the week I was able to replace the valves on the pool system, two of which were past due to replace, build a small screen for the pool equipment, then put in the new underlayment and the new floors, and of course do some general cleaning etc. 

In the end I think it was a great week. I found that working from home is very productive and I was able to get a lot of things done in the evening. I also found time to go out and enjoy a great dinner with Byron, his wife Iris and his daughter Hope. 

For those that want to see the new place you can check out a couple of you tube videos. This first one is one of a wild turkey that was in our backyard and the second is a walking tour of the house.

We hope to have lots of people visiting us ... and I will be doing a better job of keeping the blog up to date.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Or is it Happy Thanksgiving?

Oh ... it is actually both!

It does seem appropriate ..... we are very thankful that you are here for us and very thankful for all you have done over the years. You have always tried to guide us, sometimes with the little push, but more often with your wisdom and sensible view on life.

Thank you for everything you have done and we hope you have a wonderful birthday week in Ottawa.

Love Gary & Laura

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is the 91st anniversary of my Dad's birth. 90 of those years the world got to be part of his life but that doesn't mean we have forgotten.

We miss you ... and still love you

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY .... to me :-)

So my birthday this year started out with a bunch of surprises .... a wonderful bottle of bourbon and a birthday cake that Laura had made for me but I was also told that we would be going away for the weekend.

Well the hard part of going away for the weekend was not knowing what I would be doing or where I would be doing it .... all I had been told was to pack a bag and be ready to load up the Jeep.

Friday morning came - I was packed and the Jeep was packed and I was told to drive north ... myself Laura and Chris were going to Ottawa to spend my birthday weekend with Sam and Tika. Having done this drive so much I could almost do it blindfolded.

Chris spent the weekend with her sisters and Laura had booked a two bedroom apartment that was owned by a Cordon Bleu chef for us. The apartment had the kitchen to uphold that standing. We had everything we could possibly need - from a beautiful Italian made gas range to every pot, pan, knife etc imaginable. Laura had found a perfect spot for us and the outdoor grill just added to it. It also made our arrival on Friday night easy as I could just grill up some supper :-)

Saturday morning the girls came downtown and we spent the morning and early afternoon in the market and visiting the Ottawa U campus and having some traditional Ottawa food (now that is shawarma). Saturday evening myself and Laura spent having dinner with Malcolm and Lynne. Great food, great company and great wine - it was a fantastic evening. Sunday myself and Laura did some shopping and just relaxed - Laura knew Monday would be a busy day.

Monday was the day that Laura and the girls had planned. We had packed a picnic lunch and we headed up to Camp Fortune to the Adventure Aerial Course. The course is set high in the trees in Gatineau Park and you spend 2-3 hours negotiating sets of obstacles and then zip-lining in between other trees. At times it was challenging but we all got through in one piece and I think all of us learned that we can do it if we put out minds to it.

The picnic place

After the course we stopped in the park for the picnic lunch before heading to Nordik - a Scandinavian Spa in Chelsea where Laura had booked massages for us and we set the kids off to the saunas and pools. After our massages we joined the kids and just relaxed for a couple of hours - soaking in the saunas, pools and the sun. After a quick cleanup we headed home and out to dinner. We had walked by this restaurant on Saturday and myself and Tika commented on it so we decided that it was a good place for a birthday dinner. We were right - Brothers Beer Bistro had the perfect combination of great food, great atmosphere and great service. Even though we were all a bit full we waddled over to Spin after for dessert. Well - Sam, Kris and I had dessert - and I did not finish mine - I was at the point of food coma .... but it was a good food coma.

Tuesday was the drive back ... yes it was hard to leave as Laura and the kids made the weekend wonderful but all those great memories will be with me forever. After we got back - it was just two days later that we heard that Sam had gotten her first job ... maybe we were her good luck charms :-)

I wanted to thank the kids and especially Laura for arranging the trip - it was a great birthday and one I will always remember.

Happy 50th to My One and Only!!!!!

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!!!!!!

You have been such a blessing in my life. You truly are my best friend. Now lets celebrate!!!!! Pack your bags, throw the kayaks on the Jeep,and get ready to par'tay. We leave at 7am Friday..........many surprises are planned to mark this milestone :-)

Love you- Laura

A Fun Weekend

With Sam getting ready to head off to college I wanted to do something with her that would just be fun. One day while I was looking at the race results for the Marine Corps Historic Half I saw a notice for registration for Run Amuck, another of the Marine Corps Race series. I asked Sam if she would want to do that. Well Sam has never really ran but I think she figured I would like to do that ... and it was Father's Day weekend so she said yes ... and so I registered us.

Pre-Run Amuck

Well little did she know what she was getting into. The course is an all trail course with 18 obstacles. The first couple are just introductions ... inflatable tubes and walls, slip and slide and a few a-frame walls and pull-ups. When it got to the first mud pit ... actually 3 pits in a row with no way to know how deep they were ... she was ready to go and she jumped right in. The Marines that were monitoring the pit told everyone to attack it like Sam did and to be like her and not use the ropes for support.

Post-Run Amuck

Eventhough she hit the energy wall she did not give up and kept going and attacked those obstacles one after another. At the last mud pit, one
you have to army crawl through, she was laughing and just enjoying herself ... and so was I. Neither of us was worried about time or anything else and we just enjoyed the 4 mile course.

At the finish line you are treated to a very cold shower, courtesy of the Quantico Fire Dept. It was great to get a layer of mud off but IT WAS COLD!!!!!!

After our run we headed home for lunch and then we had a relaxing afternoon. While myself and Laura went out to pick up a few things the girls decided to bake me a Father's Day cake ... which Sam decorated ... and that is another funny story.

All in all it was a great Father's Day Saturday.

Sunday Laura decided to treat me .... a wonderful bottle of Scotch as a Father's Day gift and then she took me to the Alamo for a movie. The Alamo is a great place for a movie as I can have a beer and pretzels as I watch a great movie. After the movie she made me supper ... and I had to enjoy some more of the cake that the girls made me.

Lots of great things to make my Father's Day weekend memorable.

BTW .... I did mention the Marine Corps Historic Half but I did not really do a race update from it. Well the weekend before the race I pulled my back ... it was bad enough that I went to the doctor and a chiropractor who both sort of laughed when I told them I had plans to run a half marathon 6 days later. The Saturday before the race we went to packet pickup. I still was not sure I could run a race but decided to go just in case. Sunday morning came and I felt good enough to start and would decide on the course if I needed to bail.  It was hard not to go run as the temperature was great for a run, it was sunny and very little wind ... a great running day. Well once I started I found the run was actually very helpful and I finished in 1:48:52, about 52 seconds off last years. It put me as the 713th finisher of the 6647 who finished the race. Which given that I debated running even that morning made me feel pretty good.