First Snow of Winter

Go Wildcats....

My friend John and I (proud University of New Hampshire Alums) went to see our Alma Mater play Villanova in the second round of the FBS Divisional Playoffs. As you can see, the weather was less then desirable. Luckily we found some UNH fans in the parking lot and we were able to tailgate under their nice tent. Unlucky for us, the bad weather didn't give our boys from up north any advantage and 'Nova's Cats dismantled our Cats in less then 5 minutes...

Thanksgiving in PA

Kate and I (and Bear) spent Thanksgiving in the Poconos this year. We took a nice Thanksgiving Day hike in the Delaware Water Gap. These pictures are from Dingman Falls.

Mr. Bojangles

Bear turned 5 years old this month. Can't believe it has been 5 years. He has been one of the best dogs I have ever had! Mr. Bonjangles was the name he was given as a puppy by the breeder. Kate and I gave him the name Bear after we saw him for the first time. He was so little, like a tiny teddy bear. We thought it was a good name and sort of an oxymoron as well. It only took one visit and we were putting a deposit down on Mr. Bojangles. Best purchase I've ever made...

A view of the Lehigh Valley from the Appalachian Trail

Bear is ready for Winter

Almost winter...

This is a view down our street. Some leafs are still hanging on, but they can't hold on forever. Eventually they will fall off and become victim to a leg lift from Bear. For some strange reason, Bear loves to pee on leaf piles. So watch out kids...

It was fairly warm this past weekend and I noticed this guy crossing my driveway.

New Roof

The new roof...

Yeah, yeah I know... I am painting the fence next spring...

New Master Bath Attic Question for Jim

PASSED!!!

Kate passed her SEE Exam! This is one of the first hurdles in her quest to become a CRNA. After a tense week of waiting for the results in which she of course thought she did poorly, she passed with marks way above the national average... I knew she would!

If you talk to her make sure you congratulate her. She has worked so hard and done extremely well, but she still has exactly one year to go today with a few more big exams on the horizon. I am so proud of her and know she will continue to do well!

New Office

A guy retired so I got to move into his office. Windows! It is great! Natural light! I get a nice view of the Lehigh Valley and the planes flying in and out of ABE... I face to the west so I get to enjoy some great sunsets since the sun is setting now around 5:00 PM...

Killer B

This is what happens when you make pretend vermin noises in a downspout. Killer terrier instincts takeover...

Random Photos

All these photos were taken with my Blackberry...

Waterfalls near Weston, PA. I went Hobbit style and climbed some of the falls for this shot. Yes I am in this photo. Look for the blue shirt...

Bear with a new toy... It was de-sqeaked in about 10 seconds. I'd like to say that is a record for him, but it's not.

Hobbit style = no shoes.

The statue named after me...

Lake Winnipesaukee in August... ahhhhhh...

Patriots vs. Eagles - Yeah it was preseason, but the Pats still won... GO NEW ENGLAND!!!

On my way back to work one afternoon I got this shot. I thought we were going to get a twister from this one... I wish I got a certain billboard we have in my town in this shot. It is a picture of a twister touching down in a town with the National Guard saying "we're always ready". Luckily we didn't have to test them that day...

Glen Onoka Falls

We took a nice hike around Glen Onoka Falls in Jim Thorpe, PA. The hike was few miles up a gorge in some extremely humid weather, so a quick dip under the falls was a great way to cool off. These falls were surprising since we were expecting to see one and it ended up being about 7 distinct falls. The hike got off to a bad start when Kate ran into one of her slithering friends about 5 minutes in. She screamed like a murder had just taken place which made me temporarily deaf in the right ear... Luckily for me and my ears she didn't see any more snakes the rest of the hike...

Top of one of the falls... This was as close as I was willing to get since the rocks were very slippery. Over this ledge was a good 50-60' drop...

Bottom of one of the falls...

A quick shower in one of the falls...

Lake Winnipesaukee

Kate and I just got back recently from our 10 day vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. We had a great time with our friends and family. I got a ton of pictures, but I thought I only add a few on here. The picture above is from the top of Rattlesnake Island. To keep active on our vacation Kate, Bear and myself hiked the 2 mile trail around Rattlesnake every morning.

This is a picture from the falls at Castle in the Clouds. It was a nice spot to hike and sight see, but the Castle was a bit of a let down. We had a nice lunch on a terrace over looking the lake, but never made it to the actual castle after finding out that they wanted to milk another $7 per person just to take a trolley a few 100 yards up to the castle.. Forget it! Been there, ate there, got the t-shirt... later!

This is me at the top of Mount Major overlooking the lake. This was about 1,700 FT climb. Kate and I really enjoy hiking. It is great excercise and I like it much more then running all the time... I think Kate and I will be doing quite a bit more hiking in our future around PA. My goal for next summer is to attempt Mt. Washington (6,288 FT). Our friends just climbed it and had a great time. I saw a few of their pictures and I need to do it myself. Can't wait for our return trip next year....

4th of July

Kate and I spent our 4th of July in Plymouth, Massachusetts as you can see in the pictures above of Plymouth Rock and the replica Mayflower. I don't think I have been to Plymouth since 4th grade when we went on a field trip to Plymouth Plantation. It turned out to be a nice day and we had a great lunch on the water. I was able to feed my New England appetite for seafood with a clam roll. Haven't had one of those in awhile and it was well worth the wait. Overall we had a great 4th spending time with my in-laws and seeing friends who we don't get to see as often since we moved to Pennsylvania. We'd love to be back one day and plan on making it happen sometime.

A little over 3 weeks until our summer vacation and I can't wait. Kate and I need a vacation in the worst way...

Bear vs. Nerf - Bear wins...

Summer Jobs

I’ve been doing quite a bit around the house lately since my last post. One of the major additions was removing the old door that led into the back patio with a slider. The old door swung open and hit the kitchen table, not to mention there was a storm door on the other side. Opening 2 doors was a pain in the butt to get outside. It wasn't very convenient at all. The new slider is perfect. It is much larger which lets in more light and you can leave it open without fear of the wind whacking the door into your table. Installation was not as hard as I thought... Now I need to do a few windows...

The other major project was fencing in my back patio. There was a decorative fence around the patio (as you can see by the weathered grey cedar) that had 3 openings. It looked nice, but we like to let the dog out on the patio and not worry about him running off. I had placed chicken wire at the side attached to posts and narrowed the middle opening to accept a baby gate. Again, not very convenient… With much appreciated help from my father-in-law and 2 days of nice weather over Memorial Day, we were able to install the missing fence sections around the patio complete with a latching gate. It was an adventure digging post holes around the roots of a cherry tree and through Pennsylvania clay (concrete)...

Beautiful Weekend...

It was another gorgeous weekend here in PA. Kate, Bear and I got to spend a majority of it outside. We played Bear's favorite game with the Frisbee. I got to listen to my birthday presents out on the patio. Kate grew up next to the ocean so a fountain was the best I could do for her in PA. And finally our cherry tree has blossomed and while it is pretty, it will soon lose all its flowers and cover my patio and furniture with a blanket of petals. Not fun to clean...

Spring has Sprung...

Kate and I spent our lovely Sunday planting Arborvitaes and mulching around our entire house. As you can see we need some sort of border to block our neighbors swing set.   We planted 8 trees which we hope will grow into a mighty natural fence.  In all honesty we could have planted another 8 since we have more spaces to block, but if that happened today we would have had to dug a 17th hole to bury me in... I am beat!  I can go to the gym for 3 hours, work out and run on the treadmill for 3 miles and not be as tired as I am right now.  I guess it is an entirely different set of muscles when you are doing manual labor.  But as you can see, Spring is definitely upon us. From here until October I'll be spending my weekends mowing and keeping up with the few hundred of SE Pennsylvania’s invasive weeds...     

Rabbits. The Squirrels of PA.

I found this bunny stuck down in one of my basement windows thanks to Bear. Bear and I like to walk around my yard and since Bear is a Terrier, he is very attuned to small vermin (smells and sounds). He checks every hole, bush, and downspout. So when I saw Bear run up to the basement window and stick his head down the hole, I knew something was in there. Under the leaves I found this guy. I had to pick up this little guy since I was pretty sure it could not jump the 3 FT to get out. Although I was extremely tempted to keep it since he/she was so cute, it is wild and should stay that way. Good luck little bunny and watch out for cars and predators!