i'm on a roll, so i may as well catch up best i can. it's been crazy these last two months. i've met up with J's neighbours a few times- Jen and i went to a couple of those mini- concerts at Barnes and Nobles- one was an open mike night and a delightful variety of people performed. a memorable performer, Johnny Earthquake, was this savvy old man with long and flowy hair, a beard down to his belt, a red high top and a green high top, and of course a pirate hat. he played some rockin' tunes that underscore the eventual demise of the government and we tapped our toes and flipped through books of ridiculous road signs.
on a dreary note, we've been have ridiculous amounts of snow the last month. it's been building up in piles. there was an icicle hanging outside my window that was longer than i was. i prayed it wouldn't fall when someone was beneath it- it would certainly pierce someone from stem to stern. my days have been consistently engaged in chiseling my car out of ice or shoveling snow from the driveway. naturally the snow plow would come just as i was making any headway, pushing all the snow back where it was to begin with.
it was on such a snowy icy day that i made my way to work. i was in a caravan of several slow-moving vehicles when a black cat ran between my wheels. all i could do was try to swerve but of course i hit him. if i'd stopped, the car behind me would slide into me, resulting in a domino of cars smashing into each other. of course i had the radio on and just at that moment came the line "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens" and i just bawled into my steering wheel.
i don't like this cold.

on a cheerier note, i met up with Aaron Cali. holy crapola, batman! i hadn't seen him since college. he was my first boyfriend back in junior high. we were part of a little group that played truth or dare around the lunch table. we had nicknames for each other and were as nice as we were catty. i think everyone had a crush on aaron, although i secretly had a crush on rex ames. aaron and i were paired up a few times by dares from our friends. i think he went out with half my friends. oh, the good old days. now he's a dad with four girls and a lovely wife that i haven't the pleasure of meeting. he happened to be in town to teach a few classes. i headed out to meet up with him in boston, and got so lost, i missed out on meeting him for dinner. we did manage to catch a bruins game and we cheered them on as we talked about old times, new times, and recipes. it was great fun. parking cost $30, but the reminiscing was priceless.

That boy Oscar!!!!

Craig, that cute boy that plays pool

the Other gals: Leslie, Claire, me, Martonne

(below) Jeremy and Katrina, Jared and Claire











(far west) Louie and... rats. her name escapes me. Louie and his Gal friend.


and... Martonne, of course.

J pickin' noses that ain't his

Claire and Thorwald
Ammon Starr- reunited post-mission after... well, let's just say it's been many many years.
Cheesy gals- that's Amy, me, and Rachel.
Leslie, Thorwald (the side of his head, anyway), Amy, and Chip

Ma and Carter

Pa and Carter


Chase and his nametag










J and I with the troll...
Seattle skyline

kaesha and her baby (even crabby, he's cute!)








jared as cyclops









chase, goofy as always







joe and brandon



kaesha's step-squirts, kedyns and kaylani

the family gather with blurry vision and googly eyes




i'm fearfully behind in posting, so i'll get some photos out of the way, then conveniently backtrack.
J and i went to seattle for a few days and spent some time with the famdamly. it was post-thanksgiving, pre-christmas, and we were celebrating the birth of K's little squirt, carter. hilarity ensued as all the anjews siblings got together. dad made J learn 500 and every evening we played cards.

the boys be hungry!


i got a day up in seattle where i dragged J to pike's place, the pirate store, and ye olde curiousity shoppe, where he miraculously seemed very unamazed. then to claire's for some gossip and a quick trek to see aurora's troll. finally, an evening out where i met up with my nearest and dearest, with only a few beloved faces
missing. we ate at FLAME, which closed unceremoniously at 8pm. they let us stay until quite late, however, as our numbers packed their little restaurant. martonne convinced J and i to stay up even later and we partied hardy until i couldn't keep my eyes open so i drove us home and that was that.
the last fully day we were there, we had quite a bit of snowfall. undaunted, my family met at K's house, then drove out to the Key Arena where we watched the transiberian orchestra perform. although we were 20minutes late, we enjoyed a brilliant show. all stops pulled. the only exception to the joy was the woman behind me who Kept Answering Her Cell Phone during the performance. much as i would ordinarily love to hear how aunt betty is managing with her third ulcer, i was gnashing my teeth at the nerve. still, i loved the show.



chase and carter and kedyn