See Buddy

SEE BUDDY. 

BUDDY IS A GENTLE, LOVING WHITE BOXER WHO IS HAPPY AND PEACEFUL ALL OF THE TIME.

SEE AMOS.

AMOS IS BUDDY'S BROTHER AND ALPHA MALE IN THE PACK. ALTHOUGH AMOS IS ABOUT THE QUARTER OF THE SIZE OF BUDDY, HE IS MOST DEFINITELY THE BOSSY BOSS.

AND THIS BOTHERS BUDDY..LIKE A LOT. SO MUCH SO, THAT BUDDY THINKS AMOS IS A BIG, FAT, PAIN IN THE ASS. 

SEE BUDDY SLEEPING.

AT NIGHT, BUDDY WOULD DREAM OF WAYS TO GET EVEN WITH AMOS. HE SECRETLY WAS HOPING FOR ALIENS TO COME AND ABDUCT AMOS. 

SEE AMOS WAKING UP.

AMOS ISN'T EXACTLY SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM LAST NIGHT, BUT HE HAD CRAZY NIGHTMARES ABOUT BEING MEAN TO BUDDY. ITS LIKE HE SUDDENLY KNOWS HE BETTER BE NICE TO BUDDY OR ELSE...LIKE SERIOUSLY.

BUDDY, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS NO IDEA WHY AMOS IS ACTING SO SUBMISSIVE...MUST BE BUDDY'S SWEET AND CHARMING PERSONALITY. 

YES,THAT MUST BE IT!  GOOD BOY BUDDY! 

Now That's A Fire!

It was a great weekend here, but Sat night was a bit chilly. It got down to the high 50's in some areas and we had invited some friends over for a cookout. After we had feasted on just about every grillable delicacy imaginable, we retired to the fire pit for some fun not knowing if the cooler temps would keep us at bay. The fire pit pictured above is almost identical to ours and every seat was taken as we piled on the wood to create the heat that would allow us to enjoy the elements. It did not disappoint. It was perfect fire pit weather and everyone enjoyed the relaxing vibe and great conversation.

I love a nice fire and My Guy and I really love our fire pit. We labored a bit over the decision to make it natural gas or wood burning and I'm so glad we went old school. I'm a pyro, by nature, and My Guy laughs at me when I pile on the wood and stir and stoke the fire like it's a bowl of homemade soup. He enjoys stacking the wood and keeping it supplied and he's even added a bluetooth device that plays Pandora from his phone that sets the mood and keeps us all entertained.

The interesting thing about a fire is that it brings out the good in people. My kids love to sit out there with their friends and sometimes they will even invite us! It's amazing, the things the kids will talk about when we are sitting around the fire, and some of our best memories have been made out there. I've had heart to heart talks with some people and we've even solved a few problems and dreamed some big dreams while sitting out back at the fire pit. It's also the ideal place to create a perfect s'more. We have gotten to be  s'more connoisseur's, as we have tried them every way possible. 
(QUICK TIP*the smaller the marshmallow, the better the toast and the better the "ooze" when you eat it. The big marshmallows look amazing and aren't bad, but they are really messy and take longer to toast all the way through) 

Fire is good, and I'm happy to be able to enjoy a night under the stars with the hum of the crickets, a roaring fire and the people I love. I ask you, what could be better than that?

Tips And Tricks For Cool Kids

So a friend of mine sent this to me and I loved it! I sooo wanted to share it with you.

Hull strawberries easily by using a straw.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes

 This one is my favorite.Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will  be no more hunting through piles for a match.          

 Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone or iPod in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than clutter up the floor.

Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a
stocking over the vacuum hose.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can find them in just about every hotel.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

Very cool sunburn relief!  

There you have it bloggers! I'm sure you found something helpful among these tips! 

Creature Comforts

While reading New York Magazine, I spotted these incredible homes that were converted from the most unimaginable things.

This one? Was once a Stable:

The front entrance has a minimalistic beauty unmistakably unique.

The view from the street.

The family/living room has a coffee table fashioned from recycled bowling alley wood.

This is amazing. This was once a cathedral.

Gorgeous family room. Check out the choir loft over a wet bar.

Is this what heaven looks like? I'm loving the stained glass windows.

A peaceful space for a kitchen.

This one isn't a tree house for a kid:

A peaceful shangrila in the master of this tree house. 

Party any one?

Sometimes its nice to envision a life lived in the unconventional. Don't cha agree?

From The Mouth's Of Babes

It all started innocent enough.

One night last May, Frick and her friends were sitting around my kitchen island chatting. Frack's old buddy from her Girl Authority days had come to see her in the school play that night and we were reminiscing about old times together. We were laughing and chatting and she uttered the words that have continued to haunt me since that night. She said,

"I love coming here. It still has the same warm feeling. Nothing has changed since we were kids. Even the bowl with the fake fruit is the same."

I realize, that in actuality, this was a huge compliment because she was saying that coming to my house gave her a good, comfortable feeling and her message was not lost on me. Still, I couldn't help but look around and think that she was right. In the 12 years that I have lived in my house, my kitchen remains unchanged. A year later, those words innocently offered up as a compliment continue to nip away at me.

My kitchen is not too far off from the one pictured above. As a matter of fact, it's pretty damn close, beside the obvious layout differences. Nonetheless, same cabinets, hardware, countertops and hardwood floor. When I step back and look at it, I realize that it is still very modern, still very unique but I'm not listing my home for sale. I'm living in it for everyday life. She was right, nothing has changed in a decade.

So what am I to do?

My first go to change would be to paint the walls. Obvious choice, but will it give me the change I so desire? I'm not so sure. Next would be to buy new furniture. A new kitchen table and new island stools would be sure to give it a jolt back to life, but I somehow feel like it would be an imposter, just masking the modern, sleek way it used to be. I'm thinking if I'm going to make change, it's got to be complete and that means new stone counters or new cabinets. Is that crazy?

What is the expiration date on kitchen couture?

Either way, it's going to be a challenge and an expense. The easy thing to do would be to start with the walls and then go from there.

But something tells me this isn't going to be a $$imple $$olution.

Baby It's Cold Outside

So I built my house precisely 13 years ago. At the time I was a bright eyed, young ingenue with nothing but hope and pride for my new project. I had a great general contractor and a great architect and I was able to incorporate some fabulous design elements into the home. We sub-contracted everything out, so I was mulling over every bid for every job daily. It was a wonderful experience.

Did I mention that I was young and bright eyed?

Ya, cuz they saw me coming a mile away...I'm talking about my Viessman heating system. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't say I wasn't smart, I just said I was young and hopeful. At the time I chose the Viessmann European system, I had done my research. It was the newest, brightest, most energy efficient system money could buy and I drank the Viesmann Kool Aid heartily. When my shiny new system was installed into my fabulous new home I practically patted myself on the back!

If I remember correctly, it wasn't until the second or third year I began to run into some serious problems with my Golden Boy system.

• Problem: When the temps outside reach epic numbers, ie: -Minus Zero or above 100 degrees, the system struggles to keep up with the demand. And I mean struggles. 
• Problem: The original guy that installed it quickly went away...he closed up shop and moved to God knows where, leaving me to find a new repair service. Easy enough right? Wrong. I cant tell you how UN-funny it is to have service company after service company tell me, "Golly gee lady, that boiler sure is pur-tee, but I reckon I ain't knowin how 'ter fix it."

Long story short, about 9 years ago I found a company that works with the system. They have only one guy that works with Viessman, and he comes to my home twice a year to maintain my unit. 95 percent of the time I am in good shape, but the other 5 percent is a bitch and only happens when the temps get extreme. Like this past week in frigid cold temps.

Efficient my ass...

Tell that to the pockets of cold areas in my house. 

PT Barnum would have LOVED me......

Throwing In The Towel

Ok, so here's something I bet you never really thought about. I know I never did until it was time...

The Back Story:
I moved into the house I currently live in about 11 years ago. When you move into a new house, the operative word being NEW, you buy  lots of NEW things for the NEW house. NEW towels for my bathroom being one of them. Flash forward ten years later: said NEW towels are no longer NEW, in fact they are looking pretty tired and OLD. Throughout the years they became less soft, stained with bleach stains, and here's the straw that broke the camel's back, they shrunk. I know they shrunk because you see that decorative band on the towels pictured above? It is now shrunken tight so that my towels look like they have ruffles on either ends. Accordion pleats on bathroom towels?  Not good, or good looking. It was then that I knew it was time.

I guess 10 years is a pretty good life span for a towel, but they were becoming an embarrassment, to me especially. So what to do and where to buy? Should I go to an off price store like TJMaxx, be a Maxxionista and buy a cheaper brand? Or should I go to a fine department store and invest in a better quality cotton that supposedly will last a lifetime.

Guess what I did?

Invest being the operative word here, because we got suckered into the "better" brand. Good news is, I LOVE my new towels. They are plush and gorgeous and they all match and when I reach for a new towel  form the neatly folded pile in my linen closet, it makes me smile. We got matching hand towels and face cloths (does anybody really use these any more?) and I'm ready to start enjoying them for the next twenty years. Bad news is they cost around $500.00.

Are we crazy or smart? I'll let you know in ten years.

While I pondered the question in my head, what came to mind immediately was this:with all the problems in the world; starvation, global economics, devastation and plague, am I really wasting my energy worrying about my bathroom towels and how much I paid for them and how long they will last.? I'd be better served to just shut the old pie hole.

I'm going to thank God for making my life simple. On this topic, I'm throwing in the proverbial towel.

You're Not In Kansas Anymore

So we had a tornado hit Massachusetts yesterday. In fact we has more than one tornado hit Massachusetts yesterday. It was some wild stuff, I gotta tell you. This is how it went down for me:

5 PM: I'm at the store and I get a call from my mom. She's worried and telling me to get home, as they just issued a tornado warning for our county until 7pm. I am scheduled to meet a friend for dinner, so I, of course, pooh pooh her pleas, laugh, and think to myself that it would never happen here.

6 PM: By now everybody in the store is talking about the tornado warnings and watching the TV news. Western MA has been hit by these fast moving storms causing severe damage. I call my friend and tell her that I'm going to go home and wait till 7, because they are also reporting that traffic is at a standstill. I tell her I would wait to see what happens and that I would stay in touch.

6:30 PM: The news stations are showing all weather reports with heavy rains and wind and hail moving close to our area. They are also reporting that there is more than one area that has been hit with funnel cloud tornado's. In all 19 communities have been affected and at least one death has been confirmed.

7 PM: Nothing has happened where I am so I decide to go meet my friend, to which My Guy says, "Are you nuts?" I, again, laugh and decide to think for a minute whether or not I should risk it. The TV news reporters are talking about emergency preparedness, going into the basement or the lowest level of the home, turning up the TV and staying there. The Emergency Broadcast System is popping into the telecast about every five minutes with that annoying beep, notifying us that in the event of an emergency....blah, blah, blah.

7:15 PM: I decide to cancel, to which my friend laughs, but it's no big deal. We re-schedule. (in hindsight, we would have been FINE)

7:30 PM: We are transfixed on the TV because now they are showing live shots of some incredible devastation in the Springfield area. It looks not too different from some tornado pictures of Missouri last week. What the? This is New England. Stuff like this never happens here. I thought it only happened in other parts of the country.

7:40 PM: Gov Duval Patrick comes on TV declaring that MA is in a state of emergency, and that Springfield has been devastated by tornados. A reporter ask him about whether or not this is the worst weather the state has ever seen, to which he replies, "Well, it's not over yet. These storms are still strong and the threat is still very real."

8 PM: I switch to the Bruins game. I got my priorities, ya know. But during the commercials, we were flipping back to the news. One of the huge storms is headed in our direction. We figured if we were in danger the Emergency Broadcast System would keep us posted, but we have one eye on the game and one on the news.

8:50: The dogs are going berserk, the light show outside my window is amazing coupled with some nasty, banging thunder. I see rain beginning to hit my window in a way that is not ordinary.

9 PM: Full blown wind and hard rain are now pelting my home. We are still in Bruins mode, but the outdoor events are hard to ignore. We are now watching both the storm and the game.

9:30 PM: We see blue, flashing lights go by the house and turn onto the street where my parents live, then go right into their driveway. Red lights then follow up the street, as a fire truck then pulls into my parents driveway. Their phone goes right to voicemail. My Guy gets a call that my parents alarm went off at their house, so we waste about a nano-second getting into the car to go check it out. It's still whipping rain and wind.

9:31 PM: My dad opens the door to his house, laughing. (thank God) Their house was hit by lightening and it set off the alarm. My mom said it was so loud that it scared the Bejesus out of her. They are fine. We check the house, like the fire department asked us to, for any smell of smoke or smoldering. Check. They are all set.

9:50 PM: The rain, lightening and thunder have stopped. It's over. We were lucky. Just some wild wind and rain and save from a few branches scattered around we got nothing.

4 confirmed deaths in the aftermath of the storms. The photos from Springfield are unbelievable. Unbelievable because tornados don't happen here.

It was some wild stuff, I gotta tell you.

Everybody Needs A Thneed

So there's a little debate going on here in my neighborhood. One of the neighbors has decided to take on a huge project at his home. He has cleared about a million trees from the front of his house, which has revealed the beautiful facade of said house and a beautiful piece of property. This house is enormous, with what seems like hundreds of windows. It's one of those homes that through the years has been added on to, and then added onto, and then added onto again. This neighbor bought the house about 3 years ago and he got it for a song.

I look out onto this house and I have to say, I think the clearing of the trees looks amazing. For one, it's a beautiful home. But now the property is not tree-covered and I have seen some of the most amazing pink sunsets behind that house. I look forward to seeing many more, especially now that I will be able to view them, unobstructed. So I meet one of my other neighbors at a party a few weeks ago, and I say, "Hey, doesn't 'said house' look amazing?" The reply was, "I'm not a fan, nor am I a tree killer."

Immediately my curiosity was peaked. I continued the conversation and found that there was no real reason for this neighbor to not like the result of the tree clearing, except for the fact that innocent trees were killed and that said house was now much more of a presence on the street. Herein lies the problem, I opined, they are JEALOUS. I could not come up with any other reasonable explanation. Funny, I thought, there still is that "mine is better than yours" sophomoric mentality going on.

I continued to poll the neighbors. My mom, who is one of the neighbors, agreed with me, and after her I found almost no one who could agree. While they all agree that it looks good, each one thought the neighbor was a little over zealous in his tree clearing. I soon dismissed the entire thing and chalked it up to good old-fashioned jealousy and went on about my life. Then, somewhere in the weeks that followed, The Once-ler, from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, moved into 'said house'. The killing of innocent trees hasn't stopped and continues as I write this; this very minute. The humming of the chain saw can be heard throughout the neighborhood as early as 7am and the drumming of the large back hoe, pulling up tree stumps, accompanies just about most days, lately.

The Once-ler has moved on to the woods beside his property and even I have to say, he's out of control. His property looked great, but now he is clearing the woods with a vengance and I can't quite figure out why. Is he going to build another home there? Is he trying to make his yard bigger? And what about the clearing of the woods? It made me wonder. What about the Barbaloot bears in their Barbaloot suits, who live off the Truffula trees Truffula fruits? And where is the Lorax who speaks for the trees? For not every one is in need of a thneed.

This is what it has become on my street, a children's tale. But fear not, because Karma can be quite a fickle bit*h. As I was leaving for work the other day, I noticed a strange car in my driveway. As I looked out to investigate, I noticed a woman walking on the street holding a camera, snapping pics of The Once-ler's home. She snapped a few pics and hurriedly got back into her car and drove away. I have no idea who that woman was, but something tells me The Lorax was not too far behind her.

Happy Halloweenie

Spooks and kooks abound, this is the weekend for the crazee's to hit the streets because for one weekend only, it's a prerequsite to let your freak flag fly!! (imagine what those crazees at Wal Mart are going to do??)

I am NOT dressing up for Halloween. I figure I'm freaky enough without any help from some elaborate costume, but I will be at the 50 yard line come All Hallows Eve, watching My Tommy kick the crap out of Brett "I didn't text that woman a picture of my penis" Favre and Randy Moss. Oh what a joy!

The picture above is of my kitchen table, today! I'm so fricken rock and roll...I can't stand it!!!!

Must be the new hair.....

Happy Halloween Bloggers!

This Sucks

Yeah, that's not my basement. But that's not too far off from what my basement looked like yesterday.

Picture this; a cozy, quiet Sunday morning. A typical New England Nor'easter going on outside with rain and wind so loud, it woke me up in the middle of the night. No problem, it's Sunday, my day off, and with a break from the daily hustle and bustle we are having a quiet Sunday morning breakfast as a family in the kitchen. I decide to go water the plants. As I do so, I am gazing out the windows at the large puddles that have formed in my back yard.

Then it hits me.

Did anyone check the basement? I have lived in this house for 9 years and we have never had water in our basement from rain. We have a super-duper, heavy duty sum-pump (is that what it's called?) so we have been very lucky, so far. Not today, not this day. That photo above is almost exactly what we found when descending the stairs to the basement.

All I can tell you is that My Guy is my hero and I am brilliant for snagging him for my future husband, because he completely took charge. Let's just say that within four hours I had almost every drop of water out of the basement and four guys here ripping up carpets and stacking trash in the garage when no one could even get the Fire Department to help them. From what the Fire Department told us, it became a game of inches and he with the highest water total took priority. Try to call someone to help? Forget it. The town next to us was shutting down flooded roads, evacuating apartment complexes and taking people out on the lift of a front end loader.

The forecast is calling for rain all day today and tomorrow. We made it through the night dry, thank God. I've got the day off today so I will be holed up in the basement trying to salvage and restore whatever I can.

This definitely sucks, but I am grateful that is the most of it. Thousands of people in my state are without power and some have worse flooding than just a basement. I'm hoping the exercise equipment will be ok and so far the biggest loss has been my NEW ipod, which was on the floor in that room. Most of the important, irreplaceable stuff like photos, was off the floor on shelves in bins, so I think we were lucky.

Can you say, "Extreme Basement Makeover?" Where's Ty Pennington when you need him?

Scenes From A Batty Life

INT. Master Bedroom- Last night-10 pm

CANDY has just finished her nightly ritual of washing her face and brushing her teeth before retiring to bed. CANDY turns out bathroom light and enters Master Bedroom where MY GUY is awake, but drifting off to sleep in the DIMLY LIT room. DOG 3 is laying on the end of the bed. CANDY hears a slight PINGING noise in the hallway, and quickly does a mental inventory in her head. Everyone in the house has retired to their rooms for the evening and all dogs are ensconsed safely in their beds. Quizzically, CANDY focuses a look to the direction of the hallway when a small black arial creature DESCENDS upon her.

CANDY: (SCREAMS) Ahhhhh! Honey, there's a bird in the hous...oh my God, it's a bat!!!

(CANDY immediately DROPS to the floor)

MY GUY:(JUMPING out of bed and DROPPING to the floor) Holy Shit!! It is a bat!

The bat FLYS frantically around the bedroom, DIVING to ground sporadically, causing CANDY and MY GUY to DUCK thier heads repeatedly. DOG 3, neither MOVES or REACTS to event taking place before him.

CANDY: (LAUGHING hysterically while DUCKING) Honey, get it out of here!!!

MY GUY: I'm trying!!!

MY GUY brilliantly crawls over to two small french doors, that open to a small sitting perch outside the bedroom and carefully OPENS both doors creating a large area of escape for the batty intruder.

CANDY: (still LAUGHING hysterically) Is it gone???

MY GUY: (CRAWLING over to the bedroom door to shut it) Not yet...

Five minutes of the bat frantically FLYING over head and DIVING ensues. The bat finally finds the open escape route and FLYS out. MY GUY quickly SLAMS both french doors shut.

MY GUY: (now STANDING on his feet) What the F was that??? How did that get in here??

CANDY:(returning to her feet) Honey, you are my hero!!!

CANDY and MY GUY gaze at each other in relief as DOG 3 ROLLS over to continue his evening slumber, unfazed.

FADE TO BLACK

I Love My Wife

Every good woman deserves a good wife and I can unequivocally say that I love my wife. My wife is my cleaning girl, and I refer to her as my wife in the most loving and respectful way possible. She is truly my capable counterpart in this household.

Recently I have begun a new project that hopefully set me on the path of a new career, and it is taking up all of my time. By this time next week I hope to be able to reveal to you my new venture, but for now let's just say I've been busy. Extremely busy. My wife has been filling in for mom quite expertly, as she does it all. She does laundry, makes beds, vacuums, drives the kids if I can't, (which is rare) and takes care of the mutt-ly crew. I do all of the cooking for the family, but yesterday I had an all out, balls to the wall kind of day. I gave my wife a brief tutorial on what I had planned for dinner and what she needed to do, which of course was way too hopeful with what's on my plate right now, and she handled it. Dinner was not only FAB but was on the table, on time.

The thing is, my wife gives me the peace of mind to be able to tackle this new project without guilt. I couldn't focus if I knew that things weren't getting done around the house and the laundry was piling up. THAT would make me crazy and be a sure-fire formula for failure. I have also acquired a new skill that I was never adept in handling before-delegation, and one I will need to master in my future work. It's beginning to work for me, as my wife is a stellar student. She has worked for me for three years, and in those years, I have worked both outside the home and inside the home. I trust her completely and we have a mutual respect for each other and a sixth sense about sensitivity to each other's needs. She was always here for the basics, cleaning and laundry, but in the last few months she has taken on some new tasks and I think she is happier, and busier than she has ever been before.

The same goes for me. I have a calming peace of mind knowing that household chores are something I really don't need to worry about at this time and I can let my creativity blossom with a focus and a direction, because my wife's got it covered.

As I said before, every good woman needs a good wife and I love my wife.

For The Discriminating Bird

SUBURB OF BOSTON: HOUSE FOR SALE/RENT:

Clean, beautiful and spacious; this hip, urban, tri-level has three bedrooms, complete with outdoor patio perches and lots of closet space.

Set in a serene wooded area, the house boasts one of the best views in the quiet suburb. Voted one of BirdLife Magzine's Top Ten Most Desirable Locations, if residents don't mind a nosy, over zealous White Boxer, Pug and Jack Russell, or a few black squirrels to contend with occasionally.

Utilities, food, free parking and wireless internet included. Just a short jump to the lush branches of the many trees above.

Occupancy availiable immediately and squatters are encouraged and welcome.

A Porch With Screens:My Personal Shangrila

I moved into my house almost eight years ago to the month. It was a 40 year old home, in complete disrepair. It took one full year to design on paper and another to build; a complete rehab, down to the studs and drywall. During those two years, I was attending graduate school full time and was the mother to a five and a six year-old, and I had one full-on anxiety attack to show for my efforts. It was, and still is a labor of love, but that's a story for another day. Today I want to tell you about my screened in porch.

The house already had a screened in porch off the back, complete with fake, green astro-turf, turned black and moldy. I remember the conversation with my architect vividly. He was explaining to me how the existing porch was to be elongated, from the addition and reconfiguration of that area of the house. The floor, walls and screens all to be replaced and a new, bigger and better screened in porch would be the result.

"I'll never use it," I said. "It will be a waste of time and resources."

"There's already an existing foundation there, so rather than waste time and resources digging that up, we will make it better and more functional, " he said. "You'll love it."

That was an understatement, for the unwanted step-child of a screened in porch, quickly became my favorite spot in my home. Having just returned from my vacation to beautiful 85 degree weather, my first order of business was to get my porch in perfect working order. As you can see from the photo above, I wasted no time "pimping out" my space. Every year it gets better and better. This year, I bought a new coffee table, seat cushions and my favorite element, multiple lanterns for the candlelit twilight hours. I sit here now, typing these words for you, overlooking my lush green landscape and listening to a symphony of birds, welcoming me to their daily concert. I shudder at the prospect of my blase, youthful inexperience somehow convincing my architect to nix the plans for the porch, for I relish the time spent here.

We eat dinners as a family here. We share cocktails and stories with friends and relatives into the wee hours of the night here. We sit and read magazines, novels, newspapers and blogs here, never needing to talk; the heat bugs and Mother Nature's soundtrack consistently provided in the background. We do have important, deep, sometimes silly and trusted conversations here, and we create lasting memories here.

I welcome the inspiration that may come from sitting on my porch, lap-top in tow, dogs at my feet, creating Dandy's daily and commenting on yours. I will utilize the time my porch and I have, for it is fast and fleeting. After all, I live in New England, but for now I am content to sit and type and enjoy.

And for today, all is right with the world.