Blue skies, shining on me

I think this post will finally catch us up with the last set of pictures we've taken. This past weekend we stayed home on Saturday. One of Loren's classmates (actually on-again, off-again classmate -- he aged out of her class a couple months ago) and his younger sister came over for a playdate. They live several blocks north of us so we frequently walk home together. Once the kids had all gotten their fill of Loren's toys and looking for the cats hiding under the bed, we went up on the roof to enjoy the gorgeous weather.


On Sunday, we decided to take a drive out on Long Island to Robert Moses State Park. Curt and I had been there once before, but he had a hard time remembering it because it was in the pre-digital camera days (by a month or so). We hiked on the boardwalk through the dunes to the Fire Island lighthouse. Loren walked a good bit of the way there by herself, but hitched a ride back on Curt's shoulders.




Yes, I am looking a little chunky these days. If all goes according to schedule, Loren is going to be a big sister in mid-to-late January!

Weekend in NJ

Here are some belated pictures of my trip to NJ with Loren while Curt was sailing. We went pumpkin-picking at Dearborn Farms on Saturday, and took part in the American Heart Walk on Sunday with the team from the hospital where my mom works. Much thanks to Jen and Andy for serving as photographers for most of the weekend. On Saturday I forgot my camera, and on Sunday I was too busy supervising Loren at the Heart Walk to take many pictures of my own!


Loren's first pony ride!


On the hayride

Andy and Jen


With Grandma


Loren in her team shirt for the Heart Walk (no kid's sizes available!)


On the boardwalk in Point Pleasant


Decorating pumpkins while waiting for the start


And her first moon bounce

Stardate 62786.48 - Block Island, Picture of Me

Here are some pictures that Terry took and recently posted. I selected ones of me, naturally!


At the helm.


On the scooter.


Wondering if the rain will start.


Driving the dingy!

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Stardate 62782.21 - Block Island, Days 3 and 4

First, I should point out that most of these photos are Jay's, because on Saturday the rechargeable batteries in my camera died unexpectedly (I had just charged them before I left on Thursday), so thanks, Jay!

On Saturday conditions were perfect for a sail, so Thomas stayed ashore and I took the boat out with the fearless crew for my first solo skippering adventure. (We called Thomas when we were even with the town and he took the above photo of us as we sailed by.)

We departed at 1030 and made it back to The Great Salt Pond around 1530, having completed a circumnavigation of Block Island. Winds started out around 10 knots with 1 foot seas. As we were sailing around the southern part of the island it was so level we brought out food and ate lunch in the cockpit. In the photo below Ed is on the helm as the skipper (me!) keeps a close watch.


Here is a photo I took of the chart-plotter below in the cabin with our position clearly indicated.


These excellent wind and wave conditions did not remain for long, however, and as we cleared the northern tip of the island (staying well outside the green buoy as to avoid the reef), winds increased to 25-30 knots and we had a bit of a pounding as we close hauled back down to the entrance to the anchorage. After clearing the northern-most buoy we once again turned the engine on (just like on Thursday) to speed up our return.

That evening, before we left for dinner, Terry was sitting on the stern seat and the light was so perfect we all posed for photos there before getting into the dinghy for the ride to shore. Here is your intrepid skipper, resplendent in green!


Here is Terry and the photo that inspired many copies!


Jay takes his turn (I think this is his Facebook profile picture now!).


And finally, Ed strikes a pose. I'm not sure why Thomas didn't pose, but maybe he hadn't gotten back in the dinghy yet from his day spent on the shore.


At the Inn where we ate our final dinner of the trip there were bagpipes - the Scottish heritage in me loved it!


And we had a fantastic 2-lobster dinner, which was the perfect topper to a most excellent weekend!


Sunday there is not much to tell - we got up and ate breakfast in the rain. Once it stopped we started our return trip to Newport, but the winds were below 5 knots so we motored the entire way back. The rain picked up a couple of hours outside Newport and while the crew tried to tough it out for a while, only Thomas and I had suitable gear for standing in the cockpit in the rain (and my gear is really summer gear and so I was a bit cold by the end of the trip). Luckily, it stopped raining as we were off-loading the boat so that wasn't too bad.

Terry left to go to his parents' beach house for the week, Jay left for Boston, and so Ed, Thomas, and I ate lunch in Newport before driving back to the city. Thomas dropped Ed and me off at a car service in Queens near his home and Ed and I shared a car back into Manhattan. I think I got home by 8:30 PM.

Alas, no more sailing until maybe the spring!

And here are some more pictures of me from Terry's collection.


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Stardate 62777.18 - Block Island, Day Two

On Friday we got up and checked the weather and the winds and sea were still pretty high so we decided to spend the day on Block Island. After a leisurely breakfast we walked into town.


We found a moped rental place and rented 4 mopeds to drive around the island. I'd never ridden one before, but they were pretty easy. They usually did about 35 miles per hour although I had mine up to 40 once going down hill. Jay and Terry pose below as we were forming up our gang, "Heaven's Angels".



Most of the morning looked great, but by afternoon it really looked like rain. Luckily, apart from a very short and mild sprinkle it didn't rain.


We found a person to take a group picture. Below left-to-right are Jay, Ed, Terry, and me.



Once back in town we turned in the mopeds and caught back up with Thomas (who wasn't feeling well and elected to remain in town) for ice cream.


Here is the downtown view.


And we had a nice sunset that evening.


Days Three and Four

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Stardate 62775.63 - Block Island in October, Part One

Back in May I took a sailing trip to Block Island with Thomas and another crew member he found. We were supposed to have more people but everyone canceled at the last second so we were a bit shorthanded, and I wrote briefly about our experiences in a previous post. I knew Thomas wanted to go again in the October time frame so I prodded him in September and he put together a crew. Somehow I convinced Cheryl to take care of Loren without me for 4 days (two of which she was in NJ with her parents, brother Andy, and his wife Jen), and the trip was set for Thursday through Sunday, October 2-5.

It was Thomas who chartered the boat, me as skipper, with Jay, Ed, and Terry as crew (Thomas knew Jay and Ed, and Terry is a co-worker of mine). Jay took some fantastic pictures (in fact all the pictures from this post are actually his). Our boat was Summer Dreams, a Beneteau 42 from Bareboat Sailing Charters in Newport, RI.


The trip down to Block Island was a bit rough, with 7 foot seas and 30 knot winds. (That's me in the red and black jacket at the helm, above.) It started off pretty easy, but by the time we rounded Point Judith we were in the thick of it. You can see in the picture below how far over we are heeled based on Jay's stance.


Once we got down to the entrance to The Great Salt Pond things were a bit calmer, and Jay posed for a Captain Morgan's picture. Apparently I'm still a little concerned about getting into the anchorage, based on the expression on my face.


Once we got the sails down it was a quick motor into the calm, protected Salt Pond where we picked up a mooring for the night.


That night we went ashore for some much-needed food and beverage after a physically-demanding sail. Our waitress also posed for the picture. Terry is standing beside her, I'm in the green shirt, Ed is next to me, then Jay, and Thomas is all the way on the right.

Click Here for Day Two.

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Children's Museum

We're a bit behind on posting but it's been a pretty packed week. Last Tuesday, Loren and I broke our Ramadan fast... well, not really, but we did take advantage of our day off (I posted last year about the fact that I work for one of the few employers in the US that has two Muslim holidays as official holidays) to go back to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. This seemed like a brilliant idea until I realized that Tuesday also happened to be Rosh Hashanah, and the NYC public schools were closed. So lots and lots of people had the same idea I did and the museum was pretty packed. But Loren again enjoyed the Dora exhibit -- here she hangs out in Dora's room.

Since the weather was still warm, the outdoor water play area was open. Loren loved it. She would have spent hours, but I was getting pretty hungry so I dragged her off for lunch.


We went back to Artie's Deli on Broadway for hot dogs (Loren) and pastrami reuben (me). She spotted the sprinkle cookies in the bakery case and managed to hold out until after lunch (because it's very important to eat your healthy hot dog before you can have dessert).

Stardate 62749.45 - Whiteboard

My sister Tracy gave Loren a drawing station a Christmas or two ago, which has a whiteboard on one side and a chalkboard on the other as well as a tray to keep pens and chalk handy. Loren has recently really, really gotten into drawing on it and we purchased a bunch of whiteboard markers for her to use in a variety of colors. She also likes to have Cheryl and me draw with her.



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Stardate 62749.44 - Paper Paper Paper

Went to Sears to get bags for the vacuum and the amount of paper receipts and coupons and crap spit out by the register was unbelievable. Here, for your comparison, is one of the three packages of the bags, alongside the stack of paper I was handed upon check-out. The bag of bags is smaller than the sum total of the register receipts.

Am I the only person who finds this to be crazy?

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