Jeff is going to Iraq

It was a bittersweet weekend in Albany this past weekend. We got together to celebrate Jeff as he heads off to Iraq with his Marine reserve company. LCPL Messick leaves today and will be away for 10 months. His families threw him several parties over the weekend. Denise hosted a Friday party for him where friends and cousins wished him well. The next day Uncle Dan and Aunt Michelle hosted an afternoon at the pool for him and his wife Samantha. On Sunday Jeff was having a picnic with his dad's family. All I can say is that we hope the 10 months go quickly and that Jeff and all of the service people stay safe and get home and that this long war ends soon. We love you Jeff.

back from vacation

So Ned and I took a week off and went with friends to Provincetown, MA. We had a tremendously relaxing time. The weather was sunny and warm but not hot the whole week. If you have never stayed on the cape before. Much of the seashore is protected lands so even though you can swim, it's undeveloped (and beautiful by the way). In order to get to the beach we had a quite the trek through some wetlands and sand dunes but once we arrived at our spot it was positively gorgeous. The water was warm as well. Last time I swam in the ocean in 2005 it was pretty darn cold.

Oh and we saw some celebrities while we were there. We saw Martina Navratilova walking down the street and if that weren't enough she also went to Kate Clinton's comedy show and sat across the aisle from us. We were all cool though and didn't intrude into her space.

I also saw the actress who played Dawn Wiener in the extremely disturbing movie Welcome to the Doll House directed by Todd Solondz(sp?) I believe she was on board Rosie O'Donnell's family cruise ship that was docked for the day in the bay. Anyway here are a couple of pictures of our trip.

It's been a long time

So I was at another friends 40Th birthday party the other day when my friend Eric commented that i haven't updated the blog in many months and that he went to it once a month to catch up. I really have been quite lax. Lots has happened, family and friend's kids have graduated high school, friends are turning 40 and even 50. Poor Ned is already preparing himself for whatever psycho drama I create from my own 40th at the end of the year. we haven't even got up to the Pocono house that often due to all of the parties. Though that will change now that the weather is in the 90's. we will definitely need the trips into the woods for a bit of a cool down. Anyway here are some photos of my dear friends Susan and Marianne. Susan's party was in Memphis in April and Marianne's was this past weekend here in suburban Philly. I love them both as well as Susan's mom who came down and let us hopefully show her a good time in Philly.

a catch up post

So this what has happened since the last post. I will run down the list:
- I found out I will be a grand Uncle in January.
- Niece Stacey came for a visit before starting her freshman year of College
- Ned has started a new job locally, luckily, we were afraid we would have to relocate.
-Gaby and I went to see the Ritz in NY, which was big fun.
-the Pocono house was a great respite area for us during the hot Summer and we are looking forward to the fall and winter with friends and family by the fire.

a star interaction

We recently had the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival here in town . My friend Kelly who knows what a film buff i am gave me the heads up and arranged for me and my friend Patrick to go a private reception for Farley Granger followed by a screening of Rope and a Q&A between Farley and The Philadelphia Inquirer Film reviewer Carrie Rickey. I was so happy to have been a part of it.

Unfortunately I was a little nervous and didn't quite know to say to Mr. Granger. A few days before the event there was a newspaper interview with him. In the interview he said he partially left Hollywood for New york because he wasn't comfortable with the spotlight and limelight of being a star so I didn't want to overdo it. There were two chairs set up next to him and I hesitated to sit down as he was signing my copy of his autobiography and after I said what a pleasure it was to meet him someone (who had an oxygen tank) sat down not in the chair right next to him but in the second seat thus blocking my path next to him ( i didn't want to knock anything over or injure the fan with the Oxygen) so that ended our interaction. His Partner and co author Robert Calhoun was there as well. so anyway that was that. The rest of the evening was lovely and we had a great time at the party and the movie. I have included a picture of me sort of meeting Farley and one of the group at the party and then a decal i found in a shop in Provincetown over the week of Farley at the height of his Hollywood days.

By the way the book was a great read it was just amazing to read about parties where these icons of screen and stage attended and some of the back story to them. Of course I am a little starstruck anyway.

Vacation

We just returned from a great week in Provincetown. We had a great time as we walked through commercial street (several times), shopped, ate and had some drinks, saw a show, got massages and overall had a very relaxing time. There was talk of a tattoo or two but in the end no new tattoos were had. There was a John Waters sighting which was in sync with Hairspray! the movie musical which was playing and we saw while we were there. We rented a little house for the two of us but had the joy of our friends right upstairs. and you know what, People are just friendlier in Provincetown. Here is a picture of the tanned crew.

grass is growing

The grass is really starting to come in now. We have been diligent with one of us on the job to water and care for the new growth So here are some photos of our handy work.

Landscaping

So the house in the Poconos finally has some landscaping and it looks great. Unfortunately Landscaping is a very expensive home improvement. Living mostly in homes that didn't have a lot of land around it I had no idea of the expense even for basic things. But you know what, it looks terrrific and our job now is to maintain it. I hope it becomes not a chore but a hobby that one or both of us glam on to.

Here are a couple more the next day when the landscapers were truly finished.