House Update

This is a "before" picture of our painted brick house. As we have learned, brick is not meant to be painted as moisture can collect behind the paint and cause damage to the brick. So, we had the exterior paint removed by the professionals at Abstract.

Here is the transition phase when our house was covered by a large plastic tent as various chemicals were applied to remove years of paint.


Here is a current photo of the front of the house after the paint stripping. We think the original brick looks great. (If you look at the bottom of the photo you can see where we have a new basement window and a rock window well being installed.) Our next project will be the front porch. Alas, the list of things to do never seems to decrease.

On to the interior house project. . . These are a couple of "before" picture of the interior walls that separated the dining and living rooms from the small second bedroom.

This photo is during the transition phase when Rob and I did a lot of demolition to the drywall, carpet and subfloors.

Here is a photo taken the day after our carpenter/ finisher/ house remodeling guru, Dave Villella, finished securing an attic beam that replaced the interior load bearing walls. There is so much more space in the main living area now. It feels really open and will make it much nicer for entertaining in the future. We're really thankful that Dave is working with us as he has given us many helpful suggestions and done such great work.

San Francisco weekend

A friend I know from back in the day in Boston got married recently in Muir Beach, CA. Rina and I had planned a long weekend to attend the wedding reception and visit some other Cali friends, but unfortunately Rina's mother's husband, Chuck, died the prior week so she had to change her travel plans and return to Florida to be there for her mom. I flew solo for the weekend, staying in Mill Valley.
The morning of the wedding I ran a 30K trail run (Pirates Cove) that is part of the Pacific Coast Trail Run Series. It was spectacular! The course was on beautiful coastal trails in Marin on the headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Chilly to start, but as you can see it didn't keep the die-hard surfers away. I would recommend any of these races if you can ever swing it.

Chilly enough for a ski cap just before the start. Gorgeous sunrise over the lagoon, though.

Rodeo Lagoon at sunrise. You can see the surfers with drysuits and helmets in the background. Last year the race ended by running across the sandy beach. Luckily that was changed this year.

This guy made everyone chili after the race. I wasn't really in the mood, but it seemed to go quickly.

Judy and Brian got married on Mt. Tam with close family present, then hosted a cozy reception at the rustic Muir Beach Community Center overlooking the beach. It was really well done. Great food, music, and people.

The view from the deck overlooking the beach.

The happy couple on their wedding day.

The following day I met up with Jason & Diane and we had breakfast in the city before going on an exploratory walk through the Presidio and by Baker Beach. Looking across the bay you can see the headlands where the race was held and near where the wedding reception was. We saw a dog on the beach whose tail had such a kink in it that it almost looked like someone had slammed it in a door and it kept the impression of the door jamb in it. Diane tactfully walked up to it and snapped a photo of it. Dog didn't seem to care.

Mill Creek Yurt Trip #2

Slow and steady up the trail with that big pack, girl.
Walking a little more cautiously after rolling over in some animal smell and being unable to right herself. She struggled for a minute until she realized the pack was too bulky, then just gave up and gave us a look as if to say "a little help here!"

Lucy, Rina, Jeremy, and Jodi make their way up to the yurt.

Lucy, Zelli, and Jeremy catching the sunset on Big Water Peak. Thanks to daylight savings, we managed to get in a short tour here after getting to the yurt and unpacking.

Zelli looking cute as ever


Lucy getting face shots on a bluebird spring day. I guess that hard work to get up the canyon was worth it.

Lucy, Rob, and Rina atop Big Water Peak on the second day. We toured over to Reynolds Peak as well before returning to the yurt. Only the shaded north facing slopes still held the soft snow and we found some sweet turns.
Zelli, Jeremy, and Jodi enjoying the view.

Touring through the aspens en route to Reynolds Peak

Two well exercised dogs taxiing for take-off.
Only 4.6 miles down to the car girls!

Turn your laptop on its side or crook your neck for this one. I couldn't figure out how to rotate the video. That pack doesn't seem to slow her down on the downhill. She looks to be having a good ol' time.

Josephine turns 59 - again!

With a short 4 day trip to West Palm Beach from March 2nd to March 5th, Rob and I didn't want to waste any time. So, right after we landed at the Palm Beach International Airport at 6:09 pm, we headed straight to Cardello's Itialian Restaurant to have dinner with my Mom (Josephine), sister (Donna), and her husband (Eric), their daughter Tracy, Tracy's husband (Jay) and their two daughters Mariel and Ava.

Josephine's 60th birthday brunch. . . I mean 59th birthday (again) brunch. My brother, Thomas, was also able to take some time off from work and fly down from Hudson, NY for Mom's birthday celebration. The weather was quite warm and humid. But it made for a perfect time to spend outside enjoying mom's backyard garden. Some of the tomatoes are already ready to be harvested and it's only March!

Rob, Thomas and I went to the Lake Worth Beach for a walk along the beach and a very quick dip in the ocean. We saw a lot of these Man-O-War jellyfish washed up on shore and were very careful to avoid contact with their stingers.

Mom deals with the abundance of family and friends calling to wish her a happy birthday as we get ready to sing "Happy Birthday" at home.

Chuck (Josephine's husband of 8 years), Rob, myself, Thomas and Josephine getting ready to enjoy some birthday cake. Chuck was feeling quite ill in this photo as he had been battling with primary cancers of the colon, liver and lung as well as ephysema and congestive heart failure. A couple of weeks after we left West Palm Beach, he was placed in the Veteran's Hospital with pneumonia and then transferred to Hospice on Saturday the 15th. Sadly, he died this past Monday the 17th of March. Rob and I were thankful to have made this trip out to visit with Josephine and Chuck when we did.

Whistler Trip

Mill Creek Yurt Trip

On January 30th we went with our friends Jeremy, Jodi, Jen and Mike for a two night stay at the Mill Creek yurt.
Lucy loved running in the snow, even her pack filled with water and dog food only managed to slow her down a little bit.Jen and Mike managed to stay warm at the yurt by huddling very close.


Jeremy smiling with the anticipation of a day of powder skiing.
The yurt with snow approaching the roof.The outhouse held the constant threat of an impending roofalanche.
Jodi getting some turns in the powder.
Jeremy gets in some turns.


Mike gets his turns in the powder.

Lucy loving the snow and running fast as.

South Carolina Trip

Just a few weeks ago Rob and I took a 4 day trip to visit my dad in South Carolina. We arrived in Charleston, SC on Friday, January 11th at 9pm and stayed at the Andrew Pinckney Inn in downtown Charleston for the night.
That night, it rained hard enough to prevent us from walking around downtown any further than one block to FIG's which was a yummy locovorian restaurant. The next morning, the rain finally stopped about 10am and we had just about an hour to walk around before meeting up with my dad. This was Rob's first visit to Charleston and it was way too short, so we'll have to go back for a longer visit in the future. He did get to see the condo where I used to live and where I went to medical school (the Medical University of South Carolina).
My dad, Buddie, drove to Charleston to meet us that Saturday afternoon for lunch in Charleston before driving us to his house in Fairfax, SC. It's hard to say for sure but I think Rob was most impressed with the mounted deer heads Dad has accumulated throughout the years, which is just part of the sportsman's paradise he has created for himself.
Here we are with my dad going for a drive in the Ranger, which is kind of like a golf cart on steroids. Dad and his best friend, Mr. Goat (a.k.a. Francis Hills), use the Ranger to get around on Mr. Goat's 600+ acre property, the Eu-Ral. This is where they do most of their hunting.
Mr. Goat's dog, Nancy, decided to come along for the ride. We had a great time with my dad who has always had great love for hunting and fishing and is getting to enjoy that as much as possible during his retirement. I am ever grateful that Rob sacrificed a great weekend of powder in Salt Lake to take this trip with me.