Goodbye Ridgewood

Well, after 6 years in the condo for CJ, and 5 years in the condo for me, it was time to make a break to bigger and better digs.  Mostly just bigger digs.  We had been looking for 2 years, me more me than CJ, and had seen a house a couple of years ago that we loved.  The house was out of our price range then, but with the financial times, we finally were able to own it.  This meant getting the condo ready to rent, as the market was not favorable enough to sell at this time.  We enlisted the help of my parents to help get things touched up before the new renters moved in.  Here is Piglet, doing the edging.  She said she was really good, but mostly she took breaks!

My dad insisted on climbing up on the ledge to finish the ceiling.  We have determined that he is a perfectionist and will not quit until the job is done.  Guess that is why he is great at what he does.  
  

And finally, this is the last shot of the condo before we did the final move out.  We love the new place, but are missing the bustle of the uptown area a bit.  Pix of the new place are to come, so keep coming back for more.  

PS.  Good news...  We have new renters that just moved into the condo as of July 3rd.  Some of the stress is now relieved and we are ready to settle into the new place!

Prom of your Dreams 2009

In May, we held our annual Christmas/Work party.  We decided to have a "Prom Of Your Dreams" party and it turned out awesome.  CJ and I were on the party planning committee and we had a great time.  Here I am with a couple of my favorite work peeps with their 80's prom attire.  Mine is actually a real throw back from my prom 1995.  

Here are CJ and I posing for our authentic prom photo.  I appear to be straddling the first 0 in 2009.  Just more evidence that a great time was had by us.  

The Godfather

In April, Chris and I took at trip to Miami.  Chris was asked by his "besties" to be the "Godfather" for their son, Alejandro.  Below is the view from our hotel on South Beach.

One night, Chris and I and Terry and Jorge hit the clubs.  Here is Chris and I sitting on an outdoor bed.  It was about 11 seconds before the waitress came over to tell us the bed minimum was $250.  Yep, we got up really quick and headed to a cheaper place to have a drink.

And finally, here is a pix of CJ with his new godson, Alejandro.  The party afterwards was great with authentic Cuban food.  We had a blast and I am already thinking about our next trip to Miami.  PS.  This is the way CJ thinks all kids should be held.  It's obvious to the "parent"  that he has no child of his own.

Washington DC

At the end of April, we went to visit Chris's mom, Karen to view the cherry blossoms.  They were at their peak when we were there.  This picture was taken in a neighborhood in D.C. that seems to go on forever with all of the cherry blossom trees they have planted.  There were tons of people and cars lined up to drive through the fancy hood.

This was a blossoming cherry tree in a park we went to in the middle of Georgetown.  It was amazing and they also had a hidden grove of cherry trees.  

This was a picture of Karen and I at the tidal basin in Washington DC.  It was beautiful, but also PACKED with people.

  

Welcome back!

Thanks for coming back to see us.  I just checked and it has been almost 3 months exactly since we have updated the blog.  That doesn't mean we haven't been busy, in fact we have been VERY busy.  It just means that we haven't downloaded the camera in 3 months.  After digging out the downloading cord, we are back in business.  After a trip to Washington DC to see Chris's mom and the cherry blossoms in April, we followed up with a move to Plymouth and a cruise to Alaska.  In the next couple of weeks, I'll try to do some pix uploads for you to check out.  This picture was taken just after we found out our final offer on the new house had been accepted.  We were stressed, but also super excited.  

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This past weekend we ventured up to Alexandria to celebrate my Grandma's 79th (really 80th-she's in denial) birthday.  Here she is coming in to the loudly decorated kitchen and living room area.

Here we are...  Three generations of women.  I don't think we look too bad.  
Here is Grandma with her birthday flowers.  She loves lime green, so we made sure they had plenty of her color.
And, once again, here are the best friends.  With my dad not having much work to do over the winter, he and his best friend had a lot of breakfasts together.  
After a great birthday dinner of steaks on the grill, we had a rousing game of bingo from the new bingo ball purchased at Fleet Farm.  Happy Birthday Grandma.  Hope you had as much fun as we did.  

Hello Birds!

The porch has been used for many good times in both the winter and the summer.  With the recent snow fall, our bird feeders have been packed and we even have 3 pigeons out there eating.  As you can see, this has brought on many sleepless mornings and afternoons while the kittens figure out how to get out at those birds.  This is Milo standing on his hinds taking a look.

After howling for 30 minutes, the kit cats get their way and head outside.  This is their bird watching station on the window ledge.  They still can't figure out why the birds don't fly into the feeders when they are out there.  Doesn't mean they want to go outside everyday to see if there has been a change.  I'll be happy when spring and summer come again.  

The Other Woman!

We've had Trinny Snowpants for almost 2 years now and she has always been kind of independent and shy.  This is no longer the case.  CJ decided a few months ago to let her sleep with us and since then, they have slowly kicked me out of the bed.  Trinny can often be found sitting with her "daddy" at night time just watching tv.  

The other night, I came home from work around 4:00am and found Trinny in my place with the mattress pad heater set at 2 bars.   She was tucked under a blanket and there was obviously no room for me.  I was forced to the guest room.  
As you can plainly see from the photos, I have been replaced by Trinny Snowpants!

Happy Valentines Day-A little late!

Chris and I were both working on Valentines Day this year, but we still made time to celebrate.  Here is Trinny Snowpants enjoying the sunshine and her new valentines day flowers from her daddy.  I think she really does think they were for her.  

Copper Mountain

The first weekend in February, CJ and I took a trip to Copper Mountain in Colorado for a "Medical Conference".  We had a great time and loved Copper.  The only problems we encountered were headaches for the first couple of days and extreme shortness of breath for Megs.  By the time we left though, I was finally feeling normal. 

Here's CJ and I on one of the many "green" runs that he stayed to ski with me.  
Here's CJ heading to a harder run, while I decided to loop back to the chalet for another hot chocolate.  I think I took more breaks than I actually skied, but still had a great time.  
Here's the road heading out of Denver and heading into the mountains. 
We had a great time and would love to go back next year.  Hope they decide to have another fun conference there!

Clean Laundry!

So much for clean laundry with a dirty cat rolling around in the basket.  Milo likes to bury himself in clean laundry.  He likes dirty laundry too, but he much prefers the clean stuff.  Thanks Milo!

The Atlantis Resort-Bahamas

Towards the end of November, CJ and I took a trip to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.  We had a great time, but the weather was a bit cooler than we would have liked for a warm weather destination.  We are sick and tired of the cold weather and short days.  I think I'm ready for another warm weather trip.  

And you just can't get any better than the ocean.  I always take the one handed photos and these turned out pretty decent, if I do say so myself!

Trinny vs Squirrel

Even in the winter, Trinny loves to spend time on the porch.  This particular day, she was faced with a squirrel.  I thought we were going to have a fight on our hands, but she was so scared, Chris had to put his shoes on and go out and get her.  So much for a fearless kitten, it seems we will probably have to pay for kitten counseling after this encounter.  

Over the holiday, my mom won the Plaxico Burress Runner up Trophy for her fantasy league.  She was pleased, so I thought I would put her online and make her famous.  Nice work Pigs!

I bought Chris and I a pair of snowshoes for X-mas, but the only people who have used them so far are my mom and I.  I was always under the assumption that having snow shoes keeps you on top of the snow so you don't have to work so hard.  As you can tell from the photo, there was no "on top of the snow" in my parents back yard.  We were about a foot deep sunk in the snow and then on a trail in the woods, we heard gunshots and had to head home.  So much for snow shoeing for the season.  We agreed they were fun, but kind of more work than was anticipated.