Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
After a little break from playing tennis, I am back at it. I played last night and again this morning. I’m a little sore.
I didn’t think I would ever get back, with the way things were headed. I remember missing one clinic for one reason or another, and then the snow hit. Come the holidays and my schedule was all messed up. Personally, I’ll play tennis on Christmas morning, it’s everyone else who wants some time off. Oh, they probably want to play too, they just aren’t telling anyone.
I lost the match last night and two tie-breakers this morning. When this happens and I’m on the court, I hang my head in shame. I make up all sorts of excuses and increase my level of smack talk. This is all just to mess with my competitor’s head. Even though I look like I’m upset, I’m really not. You see, I have a method to my madness and I’ll tell you what it is.
When I play tennis, I play to lose. What? Seriously. I play tennis to get better and if I’m not hitting the ball with all my heart and missing my target, I’ll never be able to hit the ball with all my heart and hit my target. Practice makes perfect. Well, in tennis, no one will ever be perfect, especially not me.
Let me use a little a little analogy to help explain. Say I was a race car driver and I practiced all the time. Now say that the usual speed of a car race is 200MPH. If I practiced at 40MPH, I would never win a real race. Got it?
I do miss a lot of shots though and that’s what usually makes me lose. It doesn’t help that my partner runs every night and he can get to every damn ball I put over the net. He has a nasty habit of now hitting to my forehand (my weak stroke). He fears my backhand…that’s right, FEARS it. And he should.
Tennis ball
This is a tennis ball that I have kept for a while. It rolls around the back seat in the car. I’m not sure why I keep it. Paul might recognize it from when we used to play catch in the office.
I have an issue with losing steam during the second set. It happened last night and it happened today towards the end of the clinic. When it happens, I completely lose whatever motivation I had to play. There was only one time where I kicked butt all the way through and that was when I ate dinner and two candy bars and then played. All that juice kept me going. I am going to start doing that more.
“It’s the little things that make all the difference.”
That’s what I said today, while trying to improve my forehand. My buddy said, “You know that’s true. That applies to a bunch of things in life too.” We are very introspective while on the court.
Oh, tennis is one of those games. If you love it as much as I do, you’ll know what it feels like to never be satisfied. It’s like I said today, if I keep losing, then I only have one place to go from here…up.
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Friday, December 26th, 2008
We did it. We really did it. For the first time in our lives, we didn’t exchange Christmas gifts. It was a bold (and more difficult than expected) move, but one that we thought we needed to do.
If you haven’t noticed, the exchanging of Christmas gifts has…well, lost something throughout the years. I notice it more and more as time goes on. Throughout each year, we seem to take quite good care of ourselves, which leaves little to be desired towards the holiday seasons. Instead of falling into the cyclical trap again this year, we decided that it would be best to enjoy a relaxing evening together. No presents, no stress, no guilt. All we wanted was to go someplace nice for a quiet dinner to talk amongst ourselves.
That is exactly what we did.
Last night, I decided to make this one of those really long posts. When I woke up this morning, I felt the same way. There really is so much to write. As I sit now typing away, I think I am going to cut it short. The reason I am going to do this is because I have quite a few pictures, and I don’t really want to dilute my message; the message about our dinner. Perhaps I will discuss our trip through Southbury, Woodbury and Washington another day. I’ll still include the few photos I took of those areas in this post though.
Okay, so we took off around 4PM for our 6PM reservation at the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT. Washington, CT is probably most famous for the Mayflower Inn and the Gunnery. The Gunnery is a private 9-12 private school and is located across the street from the Mayflower. When I look at the area on Live Maps, I always confuse the two, because of the similar architecture of their main buildings.
The ride was pretty non-eventful getting out of the Hartford area. One thing I did notice was a ski mountain that I never knew existed. It’s right next to where 691 intersects with Interstate 84. I’ll have to find out the name to that one. We made it through Waterbury and got off the Southbury (Rt.6) exit.
Now, this drives Laura absolutely nuts. A long time ago, we drove over to Southbury, CT to check out a motorcycle I thought I wanted to buy. It was dark outside, but the location has been festering in my mind ever since. The area was really nice and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. We drove around a bit last night, but I could tell that I was boring my lady, so I stopped the search. This all happened on our way back, so we were probably more interested in getting one the highway anyway.
Either way, the Southbury, Woodbury, Washington area is really fun to drive through. Woodbury is antique central and offers those great sidewalks that sit back from the road. It’s a great walking town and is truly New England. It sort of reminds me of Ridgefield, CT. Washington is situated so far back in the woods, it actually hard to find. If you are wealthy and privacy is your middle name, Washington is your town.
We have been to Washington many times, but have never taken Washington Road from Woodbury to get there. Let me tell you, it was quite the trip. At one point, I didn’t think the mountain we were climbing would ever end. It doesn’t matter which way you get there (from New Milford, Brookfield, New Preston or Woodbury), you are bound to drive through some pretty tight roads. The darkness of winter doesn’t help much. The good part about the trip is that when you finally arrive, it is usually a pleasant surprise. It never gets old and there is always something new to discover.
We pulled in the parking lot of the Mayflower Inn at about 5:20PM. I snagged a sweet parking spot right up front and we climbed out of the car to head inside. The first thing I did once we got out of the car was to pull out the camera. I took a quick shot of the walkway going up to the spa.
Mayflower Inn walkway
What’s very nice about the Mayflower is the service. I don’t think we have ever been there and haven’t had the front door opened for us. Although, all of the “Hello”s, “Merry Christmas”s and “Can I get you something”s puts me a little on edge. It is really very welcoming, but being the home town boy that I am, I am just used to doing it myself. It’s still hard for me to let anyone do anything for me, even if it is their job.
Since we were a bit early, we decided to head straight for the library. I mentioned my love for the library in one of my previous posts. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I’m sure the fireplace, warm colors and cozy seat below the large window helps. I took a few pictures of it, since I knew you would be just dying to see what I am talking about.
Mayflower Inn library
Me, looking all spiffy
My favorite seat - under the window
Looking in the library from the porch
Mayflower Inn library
It felt great to relax in there for a little while. The best part was that no one in the entire inn came into the library when we were there, before and after dinner.
After checking out some books for a few minutes, we wandered over to the bar area, where we ordered a Samuel Adams Oatmeal Stout and a Victory Donnybrook Stout. I liked the Outmeal Stout, while Laura enjoyed the Victory Stout. That may have been because those are the ones we chose.
We sat and talked for a while and decided to do a little exploring. We got up and walked out to the porch. It’s a bit odd walking around on a completely heated porch in the middle of winter, but really cool at the same time. The inn encased the entire porch in double paned glass to keep it heated and cooled year round. There were tables and chairs set up for the entire span.
Mayflower Inn porch
Mayflower Inn porch
After we wandered around for a little while, I decided to go back up front to grab a few quick shots. Dinner was about to begin, so I had to put the camera away. Here is what I got.
Mayflower Inn lobby, staircase and Christmas tree
Room leading to the library
Mayflower Inn staircase and Christmas tree
Sitting and relaxing room
Okay, I got that out of the way, so we were ready for dinner. We walked in the to main dining room and sat at our usual table. It’s the one in the right, rear corner. During the day, you can look out the window at the garden. At night time, you face the seats so you are looking at the rest of the dining room.
I am not going to say much about dinner, except the fact that it was delicious. The only complaint that I had is that I couldn’t have another…everything. The dessert was especially annoying to finish. I kept scraping the plate with my spoon in an effort to get every last bit. It was good. It’s rare to find food that good, it really is.
About an hour and a half later, we left the dinging room to head back to the library. Once we got back in, Laura spent her time browsing the walls for some good books to flip through. My eyes kept wandering around to see how the fireplace worked and how everything was put together. At one point, I picked up a few books myself. I found a set of really neat books called, “The Historians’ History of the World.” These books were very thick and very ancient. By ancient, I mean 100 years, not a million. I decided that someone should buy me the set of these; they looked very interesting. It would make for some good bed-time reading.
If you’ll notice, I didn’t drink a glass of Scotch. That might be because I haven’t found my flavor yet or because I didn’t want to smell like a bottle of liquor while driving down the road. Either are good excuses.
After a while, we decided it was time to head up to Washington and take a little tour. We got in the car and made a right out of the parking lot. We made it to the top of the hill and didn’t see a soul. It’s a very quiet and well behaved town on Christmas night, I suppose. We made a quick left, when I thought we should turn around. As I was turning, I looked to my left and saw an enormous church. I had to take a picture of it, so you would see what I am talking about.
The First Congregational Church, Washington, CT
Now, this is a serious church. They aren’t messing around. This is like the “center of town” church. I thought it looked really cool, especially being that is was Christmas night.
We continued down the hill to pass the entrance to the Gunnery…
The Gunnery, Washington, CT
After that, we made a few wrong turns, but eventually made it back out to the main road.
I’m almost done, but there is one other photo I took that is pretty neat. On the way back, we passed by the Woodbury Ski Area. Now, you know me and I can’t pass up an opportunity to take a picture of something so lit up as this. Here is a shot of some night time skiing.
Woodbury Ski Area
Well, there aren’t many people skiing, but I am sure you can imagine what it would be like if there was.
That’s my Chirstmas post. I hope you liked it as much as we liked living it. Till next time…
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Thursday, December 25th, 2008
I think that’s what it’s called. I burned the box last night after we put the beer in the refrigerator, so I’m not quite sure. What I do know is that there are 12 beers total, two of each winter classic.
This isn’t my Christmas post. Unfortunately, that will have to wait for tomorrow, since we just got back a few minutes ago. I wanted to quickly get on so I could write about two tasty new beers we tried last night on Christmas eve.
Okay, so we went food shopping last night. We thought that would be a good idea, because no one else on earth couldn’t possibly be out on Christmas eve. Wrong. It seems that everyone else was out. They were all at Whole Foods in Glastonbury. For the first time, we drove in the parking lot and had to actually drive back out and circle around to find a parking spot. We ended up parking at the bank next door. It was pouring rain, so we got a little wet walking over to the store. Yes, I know, this is just a continuation of yesterday’s post. I’ll get to the point.
Laura sent me over to get one of those boxes of clementines that seemingly are only available at Christmas. I thought that was a neat idea, so I agreed to the order. I was in the produce department already, which made hunting for these boxes all the easier. I walked to the back of the department, found some stacked 12-packs of Sam Adams Winter Classic beer, grabbed one and walked back to Laura. I didn’t even look at her. I just rested the box of beer on the edge of the cart and said that I couldn’t find the clementines. She really didn’t seem to mind because I think she had beer on the brain.
I asked a fine gentleman who was working in the produce area where the clementines were and he pointed over to the front of the store. We walked over, but since this post has absolutely nothing to do with clementines, I will move on.
When we got back to the house, Laura was kind enough to chill and open two bottles of beer. The first one was Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic and the second was Samuel Adams Holiday Porter. She poured half of each beer in two glasses and the other half in two more glasses. That way, we could both enjoy both types of beer.
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
I must say, I really enjoyed tasting two different types of beer at the same time. It was like another mini tasting. I dug it.
Both beers were very good, but the Cranberry Lambic was a hint too fruity. If it just had a bit less sweetness to it, it would have been perfect. The Holday Porter was awesome…right up my alley. That’s my kind of beer. Neither of these beers were all too heavy, but they really hit the spot.
The beer, the sushi, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman made for a wonderful evening.
Merry Christmas and be sure to stop back tomorrow. I am going to post all my pics of tonight dinner at the Mayflower Inn.
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Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
This post is dedicated to my good friend Robert, who, as it turns out, is a Scotch man.
The other day, I wrote a post telling you that we were planning on traveling over to the Mayflower Inn, in Washington, CT for Christmas dinner. In that post, I described how I was going to finish eating, order a nice Scotch and walk over to the library to look out the window. Well, just as luck would have it, my friend Rob read that post.
Just yesterday, Rob called me up and started talking about how much he likes Scotch whiskey. He asked what kind I prefer the most. I said, “I don’t.” “What do you mean? I thought you were going to drink Scotch after dinner on Christmas,” he replied. I said, “Yeah, I am, but I am not sure I have ever actually tasted Scotch.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have a long history tasting various types of whiskeys and I am sure I bumped into Scotch along the way, but for me to remember what I was actually drinking would be difficult. It’s been kind of a long ride. With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to study up on various whiskeys and even taste a few.
Today, Laura and I headed up to Whole Foods to get a bunch of delicious stuff to eat tonight. Oh man, we got sushi and various types of cheeses and all sorts of goodies. It’s going to be fun. When we finished shopping and loading the food into the car, Laura suggested that we cross the street and visit Glastonbury’s finest liquor store (or at least one of Glastonbury’s liquor stores). I agreed and we began walking across the street.
Upon taking two steps into the store, I was faced with two distinct boxes that had the name, “The Glenlivet” on them. I said, “Hey, that’s Rob’s favorite Scotch right there.” I was pretty surprised because I thought it would be a more challenging find. Guess not; I’m sure Christmas brings the expensive Scotch out front and center.
I picked up one of the boxes and started looking at it. Then, I picked up another brand that was resting close by. I kind of fell in love with the other brand because the bottle was in a really cool tube and it looked like an extremely clean piece of jewelry when I looked through it. It twinkled in my eye and was simply marvelous. I informed Laura that this bottle of Scotch was indeed the bottle that I intended to crack open when we got situated on the couch tonight. She jumped on board and walked with me to the counter to pay up.
When we reached the counter, I was forced into a quick decision making situation. Right behind the lady at the register was a whole shelf full of those little sample bottles of all different types of liquor. I thought, “Should I keep the one big bottle of Scotch that I had in my hand or should I get a few different types to try them out?” I especially needed to see if I liked them or not. I thought it would be a wise choice to put the big bottle back and grab a few of the little ones.
Here is what I bought…
Mini Scotch bottles
We walked back to the car and Laura could see the excitement on my face. It isn’t very often a man like me gets to find a new favorite thing to love. I was wondering if Scotch would be one of them.
When we got back to the house and after we unpacked the groceries, I couldn’t help but to stand the little bottles up on the counter next to each other. I did that and they looked really great. A few seconds later, I began thinking to myself that since they were all just standing there, they really should be opened for an official tasting. Laura is always right next to me for things like this. I believe she was just as curious.
I opened up all three bottles and picked up the Johnnie Walker Red. Now, Wikipedia tells me that this type of Scotch is meant for making mixed drinks. Oh well, because today it wasn’t going to be mixed. I brought the bottle close to my lips and when it was about an inch away, I immediately had a flashback. The flashback was of many, many moons ago. I won’t even got into it, but let me tell you that Johnnie Walked Red smells just like good ol’ Irish whiskey. Man, oh man.
I took a small sip and handed the bottle to Laura. I kind of shook my head a bit to get used to what I had just tasted. Laura took a sip and then we proceeded to try the Johnnie Walker Black and the Glenlivet. Laura immediately chose the Johnnie Walker Black as her favorite. I told her that I didn’t have a favorite because I really didn’t see myself continuing to drink any of them.
I don’t think Scotch is my drink. It reminds me way too much of whiskey, and whiskey was really never my thing. You might say, “Well Jay, Scotch is whiskey you idiot.” I might respond, “Yes I know that, but thank you for pointing out the obvious.”
We both gave the bottles another round and I informed Laura that if I had to choose a favorite, it would be a toss up between Johnnie Walker Black and the Glenlivet. They both seem to have more of a distinct taste and both offer different advantages.
We agreed that if we were to relax at an inn with a few good friends, Scotch would be perfect. If we were planning on staying over and were allowed to let the liquor work its wonders, Scotch would definitely bring us to the place we needed to be. I say this while recognizing that I am simply a boy who performed a very small Scotch taste test this afternoon.
I would like some feedback. I am sure there are many people reading this right now who have some pretty strong opinions on liquor, one way or another. Please fill me in on your favorites and what you choose to avoid. I am sincerely interested. I have come to embrace the fact that I am a sweet liquor kind of guy. I have a bottle of blackberry Brandy on the kitchen counter that has been serving me well. I love after dinner drinks, so I guess I will stick to what I like.
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Monday, December 15th, 2008
I just got off the phone with the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT. You really should see this place. It has to be one of the nicest we’ve been to.
I did notice that their prices have risen and their menu has shrunken. I actually had the fellow I spoke with over the phone email me the Christmas menu. I want to make sure there are enough “meatless” items to choose from. I just received it and from what I am seeing, we need to talk.
One year, a long time ago, I took Laura to the Old Drovers Inn in Dover Plains, NY (please see comments below) for New Years dinner. It’s a very nice restaurant and while I was making the reservation, I was assured that the chef was very accommodating to vegetarians. Well, I must confess, we sat there for much of the evening staring at very large plates with a few small items on them. Their definition of “accommodating” was, “Sure, we’ll slide the steak off the plate and leave the pea.” Of course I am exaggerating…well, actually I’m not. To me, “accommodating” means making butternut squash soup with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. That’s accommodating. If they are offering bacon vinegarette, offer me another dressing without the bacon.
I am quite excited about this dinner. I do love the Mayflower Inn and really like the various rooms one can hide in after eating. This year, I am going to carry a nice glass of scotch into the library, turn off the lights, sit down and look out the window. With any luck, we’ll have some snow.
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Sunday, December 14th, 2008
Today was the day to get in the car to go for a drive up north. We have been planning for this drive ever since we came back from Thanksgiving dinner. We are basically looking for someplace to have a nice Christmas dinner.
The original plan was to drive up to Woodstock, CT to visit and eat at the Inn At Woodstock Hill, but we arrived kind of early. Dinner service started at 5PM and we were standing in the lobby at about 2:30PM. I knew we were early, but we wanted to check it out anyway.
We took a quick look around and decided to we would get back into the car to drive around for a bit. Since dinner didn’t start for a good long while, we had the time. Unfortunately, my stomach was growling. I was very hungry.
We headed back south a bit and stopped by the Mansion At Bald Hill, thinking they offered dinner service a little earlier. I liked the mansion’s website and thought it looked like a great place to visit. This time, we didn’t even see another car in the parking lot. Okay, moving on.
We continued to drive and ended up at the Harvest Restaurant in Pomfret, CT. We walked in and asked what time dinner service started and were pleased to hear that they began serving at 4PM. By this time, it was already 3:30PM. That was good enough for us. We sat in the waiting area, just bickering away.
Finally, the time came to be seated and to start eating.
We ordered our traditional Guinness and browsed the menu. I really hadn’t expected the restaurant to be so charming (how often do I use that word?), but it really is. They sat us next to the fireplace and were very attentive.
Harvest Restaurant fireplace
We ordered and then talked a bit. The food came out of the kitchen fairly fast and was really good. Towards the end of dinner, I was telling Laura that I had a very nice time. I expressed that I was happy, because we didn’t have to do any work. People just kept coming by asking us questions about what we wanted. It was refreshing.
I took some photos of the restaurant. They are the best I could do without getting caught. Yeah, I’m the guy with the camera.
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Harvest Restaurant wine rack
Harvest Restaurant Christmas tree
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I think I am going to give the Mayflower Inn a call for Christmas dinner. If they have the room, we’ll go over there. If not, we better get up and boogy to see if we can eat at the Mansion At Bald Hill before Christmas. I like to see what I am getting into before we go somewhere for a big occasion.
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Saturday, December 13th, 2008
As I wrote in my last post, we did a bunch of stuff this weekend, but what I didn’t mention was what we did exactly.
Do you know of Duran Duran? If you are over the age of…let’s see…4 years old, you probably do. Duran Duran is one of those groups that everyone loves. They have been around forever and have tons of great songs. Believe it or not, they are still rockin’ and rollin’ and traveling all over the place making people go nuts.
There was a day a few months ago when Laura told me that she would be satisfied if she could see just one more band in concert. That band is Duran Duran. I kind of half listened because she has seen about a zillion bands in concert throughout her lifetime. I am guessing that she has made this claim many times. I did tuck the thought way back in my head though.
About a month and a half ago, I was lying in bed one morning, debating on whether or not to get up. I know I was awake, but I wasn’t too sure if the person I was laying next to was. The radio/alarm was sounding and I knew I had to so something soon, or else I would fall back to sleep.
A few minutes later, the DJ started talking about how Duran Duran was going to be playing down at MGM Grand at Foxwoods on December 12. My ears perked up, because I am always looking for a good surprise to spring on someone. I hopped out of bed to check out the MGM Grand website and sure enough, Duran Duran was scheduled to play that evening.
I didn’t just go ahead and purchase the tickets. I waited and tried to learn if we had, or were going to have anything planned for that time of year. Who knew if we were doing something important in December. I kept my mouth shut and cleverly began my investigation. Oh, I was good…asking questions here and throwing out ideas there. I was executing all sorts of strategy to get the lowdown on December 12. It was like a game of cat and mouse.
It took me all day to get the facts, without giving my grand plan away. You should have seen me; I kept rubbing my hands together like I was an evil magician.
The next day, Laura walked up to me and told me that she bought three tickets to see Duran Duran down at MGM Grand at Foxwoods. What?
I guess she was awake.
Okay, so yesterday was the day. I won’t rehash the story I told you the last post. I will just start with the fun stuff.
We arrived in the parking garage of MGM Grand. I was a little nervous, because I have never been there before. I have driven by, but have never gone inside. MGM Grand is actually only a few months old. Foxwoods built it right next to the original casino. I had no idea if the parking situation was going to be far away in some secret parking lot somewhere or what.
The parking was great. It’s very light and safe. The parking garage is probably close to 10 levels. I am guessing here, because I didn’t walk up to all of them, but the garage is pretty high.
We did our thing and hopped out of the car, but first, I grabbed my camera. I always forget to bring my camera to concerts like this. I think they are going to stop me at the gate and make me put it back in the car. Then, after I get in, I see thousands of people snapping away with their cameras all evening. I get so mad because it happens every time.
This time, I had planned on hiding it in my sock, but the gate was very informal and we weren’t frisked like we usually are.
Let me tell you about dinner first.
We decided to get to the casino at 6PM, so we could have a nice dinner at Shrine restaurant. This was important to us, because it wouldn’t be a really great evening if we didn’t eat and get a little drunk first. I will bypass all the food mumbo jumbo and get straight to the neat pics I took inside the restaurant.
Tables at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Candle on table at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Glass on table at Shrine - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
The dinner was great, but let me warn you…it’s expensive. They have you as a captive audience and charge like it. It’s pretty good food though, especially the appetizers.
After dinner, we had about an hour and a half to burn before the show started. To use up the time, we decided to do a little gambling and take pictures of the inside of the casino (some with me in them).
We walked towards the slot machines and got all sorts of excited. I stopped, puffed out my chest and pulled $20 out of my pocket. I handed it to Laura and told her not to spend it all in one place. Then, I said, “Wait, I am coming with you. That’s for the both of us.”
C’mon guys. I’m not an idiot. Does anyone seriously sit there and hand over more than $20 to a casino?
We played the machines. We kept changing between nickle and quarter bets. We felt like high rollers and laughed a lot, which is good. Then, it happened. You have to check this out.
Winning slot machines
Have you ever seen that before? Yup, we took our $17.63 and bolted. We cashed out and brought the winnings over to get some coffee for $4.25 each. Well, we didn’t exactly win, as you can tell from the $17.63, but we did come back from being way down and knew when to get the heck out of there. Yee haw.
We had some time left, so we decided to walk around a bit and take some pictures. The ladies had fun with the camera. So much fun in fact, I had to delete many less mature shots.
Ceiling lights at MGM Grand
Me, giving a fashion pose, in front of the huge Christmas tree
The lobby fountain at MGM Grand
That was fun. I think I had 75 pictures on my camera and narrowed it down to 5. Nice job.
After that, we went in to grab our seats in the theater. As I mentioned above, nobody hassled me about having my camera on me. Inside, they did tell us that flash photography wasn’t welcome and one time, a guy came over to tell me that I couldn’t take pictures during the show. Whatever. Here they are.
Before Duran Duran came onto stage
Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
Duran Duran in concert - MGM Grand at Foxwoods
The group put on a good show. I’ll leave it at that, because I am sure you have all heard about how great bands are when they perform. They are all pretty good.
One thing that surprised me was how many times I kept saying, “Oh, that is their song too?” I kept forgetting how long these guys have been around and how many songs they have out there. It’s not very difficult for them to pick the good ones.
After we got back to the house, we had a few sips of the wine Laura’s friend bought us. That made us all tired and we went to bed.
I think I need a nap.
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Thursday, December 11th, 2008
I just got off the phone with Rob. When I told him that we were setting up our Christmas tree, he sounded so excited. For some reason or another, Rob is adamant that we enjoy the season. You should have heard him huffing and puffing the other night after I told him we weren’t going to hang any Christmas lights outside. About five minutes after our conversation ended, he was heard stomping around on his roof hanging his own. Awww, buddy, if I were there I would have handed you a beer. That’s what friends are for.
By the way, I can write this stuff about Rob because I know it will never get back to him.
I think Rob has turned himself into a fine young man. Since he gave me a stern talking to a few nights ago, Laura and I have decided to jump into the season head first. Today we picked up a beautiful Christmas tree and Laura even talked me into hanging some lights outside. It’s like I am a stick in the mud that people need to persuade into doing these types of things.
I’m really not that bad. Once I get up and go, I am almost unstoppable. Perhaps unstoppable is too strong a word. Maybe I am more like, “Alright, let’s do it. Giddy up.”
Enough of this chit chat.
I would like to present to you, my loyal readers, our 2008 Christmas tree.
Christmas tree 2008
Christmas light
Now before you get all emotional (Rob), let me tell you that this tree was not set up without a few minor issues. Yes, it almost fell over twice. The first time, the tack that was holding the string popped out of the wall. The second time, I was leaning over and when I got up, the back on my head pulled the string, which pulled the tack out of the wall. Each time, the tree almost took a dipper, but was caught by one of us. Each time, I got mad.
I helped string the lights on the tree. Laura did everything else. I am sure she will enjoy that credit. Oh man, if I ever gave the impression that I helped with something that I didn’t, I would surely be met with a swift uppercut to the rib cage.
For some reason, I really get a kick out of writing about fictional scenes like that. I always tell her that I write this stuff. She must really wonder about me.
PS – the reason there are no ornaments towards the bottom of the tree is…yes, our feline friends tend to have a little problem with them.
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Thursday, December 11th, 2008
The time has come again. Time to get into the car and drive over to that place we saw on the side of the road that sells Christmas trees. Time to pick out and beauty and strap that beauty to the top of the car.
I really wanted to go cut down our own Christmas tree this year, but time didn’t permit. I am not sure anything would beat the last time we cut our own tree anyway. We had such a good time. I guess we are going to have to take a few more road trips around this area to see what’s out there. I did get some good advice about where to get a tree, but that advice has to be put on the shelf.
It has been raining for about three days, so I am not really sure why today had to be the day to go up the road and pick out a Christmas tree. I was informed that today was, in fact, the day, so I got up and did my duty. Just in case you were wondering what our little adventure looked like, I happily took some pictures. Did you expect anything less?
Looking at the Christmas tree selection.
Me, squeezing into another photo.
The place we went to had a nice fireplace inside.
Tree tied to the top of the car.
Tree set up in the living room. Simon is inspecting it.
Well, that’s it. The tree is set up. All done.
Oh, haha. I think we are going to decorate it tonight.
To get the ball rolling, I suggested that Laura make some hot chocolate and turn on some Christmas music. After I said that, I got a look. Okay, to be fair, I suggested that she do those things after she decorates the tree. After I said that, I got an elbow to the chest and a broken pinky.
After thinking about it, I decided that maybe I will turn on the Christmas music and help make the hot chocolate. Then, I will help decorate the tree. When that’s done, we can wrestle and call it a day.
I will post more pics tonight after the lights are on.
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Friday, December 5th, 2008
I have been meaning to do this for a while, but have been too busy being stuck in my little world.
Ever since our little episode up at the Red Lion Inn over Thanksgiving, my job has been not to only find places to eat, but to also find out what people are saying about those places.
I am happy to report that I have located two very helpful online resources:
1. Zagat
2. Tripadvisor
I am sure there are about a million other resources out there, but these two suit my purposes well.
I use the above websites for two reasons; one, to actually locate the places we want to visit for whatever reason, and two, to see what the rest of the world thinks of them.
I did a lot of reading through these sites a few nights ago. I found that many people’s reviews are quite helpful, but a lot of them need to be taken with a grain of salt.
The first type of review that I learned to be weary of is the “nothing is good enough” review.
A while back, Laura and I ate New Year’s Eve dinner at the Hudson House in Cold Spring, NY. It was the absolute best meal of our lives. If I could catch that chef and persuade him or her to come live with us forever, I would. Really, it was perfect…well, for most of us.
About half way through dinner, two young gentlemen sat down at the table next to us. There was nothing particularly interesting about them, but after they ordered their drinks, the complaints began. “This is too cold, this is too hot, this is just right, but I still don’t like it.” When the actual food arrived, forget about it. I am not even going to discuss that scene. What was strange about the whole thing was that the restaurant menu was fixed that night. We were all eating basically the same thing and stuff was flying out of the kitchen like crazy.
There was an important lesson learned that evening regarding various types of diners. That lesson was; we all go out for different reasons and we all vary greatly with what we think of where we are.
The other type of review I learned to watch out for is the “cheapo” review. It goes something like this, “Hoity-toity…extremely pretentious…must be an outpost for New Yorkers.” That is an actual review I picked up from Zagat. Out of 37 really very normal reviews, there was this one stuck in the middle. I told you about those Bermuda shorts people…
Armed with my new review filter, I have been able to pick up a few seemingly nice inns located up in the Woodstock, CT area. I was hoping to visit one of them for lunch this weekend, but my better half was non-compliant. She may need a bit of a nudge, and by nudge, I mean holding on tight as I throw her over my shoulder.
I am planning a nice Christmas dinner and will be sure to take lots of photos and tell you all about it.
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