Paul's new chair (again)

Well, the exciting news of today is that Paul bought a new chair, again. If you remember, last May we bought a leather chair and couch for the family room.

To backtrack, Paul has always loved the leather chair that they used to have at L.L. Bean. Every time we went there, he would always sit (and sleep) in that chair while I shopped. This picture was taken back in 2003.



He used to say that maybe some day he would buy that chair. A few years ago L. L. Bean stopped selling that leather furniture. They came out with a new Ultralite series, but Paul really didn't think it was comfortable. When we decided to buy a new chair last year, he called the manufacturer of the L.L. Bean chair to see if he could buy it anywhere. They said it was a style that they specifically made for L.L. Bean. So, we ended up buying a leather couch and chair from Bob's. I love the couch, but Paul has never been really happy with the chair. He says it's great to sit in but not to fall asleep in,LOL. He wakes up stiff and sore.

To our surprise, when we walked into the Home Store at L.L. Bean, there was the same leather chair. After much back and forth, we finally bought the chair and ottoman and it is in our car. We are going to use the other chair in our family room and put one of the Morris chairs in the living room.

Who knew that this day would turn out like this. I'm really happy he finally has this chair.

In other news, we have been having a very relaxing vacation, riding around our old haunts, shopping, eating and just enjoying our little getaway.

Happy New Year! (from Maine)

Today was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny and 47 degrees. We took a coastal ride to Orr's Island, Bailey's Island, and Harpswell Neck, including Lookout Point where we had kayaked. It was so nice that we were able to have the windows open at times. This is where these pictures of the little doors were taken.


Little doors














Back in Freeport, we had dinner at a new place called Bucks's Naked Barbecue (the reason they call it naked barbecue is that the meat is served without BBQ sauce and you have your choice of four homemade sauces on the side). Paul considers himself somewhat of an expert on BBQ and he thought it was really good. It's funny, the building that the restaurant is in used to be a shoe outlet and at one time it was the LL Bean outlet store.





We (I) spent the evening shopping at LL Bean.

365/365 - New Year's Eve at L.L. Bean

Today we left for a weekend getaway to Maine and L.L. Bean. I can't believe that we haven't been here since August of 2009. It will be interesting to see what has changed up here; there is always something different at L.L. Bean.

We spent the evening at L.L. Bean. There certainly were a lot of changes. The coffee shop is now downstairs along with books and pet supplies where the kids clothes used to be. I think Paul is really going to like it. There are lots of comfortable chairs. For years their coffee shop was called the Dew Drop Inn and it was in the middle of their furniture department and book department. This made it really convenient for Paul to read until he fell asleep in a comfortable chair. Then they added their Hunting and Fishing store onto the main building and things got really changed around. The coffee shop was put in a little corridor. Anyhow, this new change is really good. I hope it stays like this for awhile.

L.L. Bean was decorated outside so beautifully for Christmas. Here are a few pictures.

364/365 - Last Christmas picture, I promise!

Since Christmas Day, I have had a Christmas slideshow going with old and new Christmas pictures playing. I happened to walk into the room and this picture was on. It is me and my Aunt Dot in the 1950's. It made me a little sad to think of how she is now, but she still has a lot of the old Dot still left in her, and I am thankful for that.

363/365 - Prims reindeer Christmas decoration

This is the reindeer Christmas decoration craft that we made at the Prims Christmas party two weeks ago. We had one left over so I brought it home tonight and hung it on my tree. Isn't it cute? If all crafts were this easy to make, I might not hate crafts so much!

362/365 - Meeting Naboo

Marley has been wanting a rodent for awhile; as in a rat, hamster, gerbil or guinea pig. Kris and Toby were going to surprise her with one for Christmas, but then decided it might be fun for her to pick it out herself. So, on Christmas morning she got everything for the rodent; cage, bedding, traveling ball, etc. Today they went to Petco and got Naboo. He is a gerbil. Tonight Naboo came to Grandma's in his traveling cage. Mason calls him Boo (of course he is at a stage now where he says BOO, and you are supposed to looked scared. He looked at the gerbil and said BOO. So he is Naboo, Boo for short).

The cats were like magnets to him....





Marley seems quite happy with him. He is going to live in her room (along with their cat Sunny who spends a lot of time in Marley's room). Hopefully they will all live together in harmony :)

361/365 - First snowstorm of the season

I should have taken a picture of the snow on my way to work this morning but I forgot.

This is a weather report on MassLive.com from Dan Brown, abc40 meterologist:


A PVTA bus traverses through the snow on Main St. in Springfield Monday morning

The snow totals may not be as impressive as first forecasted, with between 6-12 inches of snow piling up across the Pioneer Valley, but that does not take anything away from this storms strength. In fact, the central pressure is now down to 968mb making it as strong as a category 2 or 3 Hurricane. Impressive!

A dry slot of air kept us mainly dry for a period of time overnight but now we are dealing with more falling snow. The snow will be winding down by mid-morning but the wind and blowing snow will continue throughout the day.

It will remain cold, too, with highs only in the middle and upper 20s. Winds gusting over 40 mph combined with temperatures in the 20s will make it feel as though it's in the single numbers and teens.

If you hate all this cold and snow, hang in there — it looks as though we have a decent warm-up on the way. It will remain cold and windy both today and tomorrow however as we close out 2010 temperatures could be well into the 40s and perhaps even over 50! All this snow could be gone by the New Year!

Have a great Monday!
Dan Brown

360/365 - Crayola Explosion Glow Dome

Marley got this Glow Dome for Christmas. You draw on it. She drew a tree on the inside pane, then drew raindrops on the outside dome. You turn it on and it lights up and turns. It is really cool!

359/365 - Christmas Day

This was our table for Christmas dinner today. Janelle's parents, Stacia and Joe, and her sister Amy were here, along with Big Baba, aunt Dot, Mark, Janelle, and Mason. Kris, Toby and Marley went to Toby's family, but came for dessert.

Here are a few pictures from the day. Mason had fun with his toys.



Dot seemed to enjoy all the festivities.




Marley played Santa and handed out all the presents, with help from Mason!









Somehow this bow ended up on Mark's head - it made for a good picture.



It was a very nice day. Good food, good friends and family. I wish my Dad and Marge could have been here. Hopefully they will both be feeling better soon.

358/365 - Merry Christmas (Eve)

I am trying to remember, during this busy season, that Jesus' birth really is the reason for the season.


(picture from 2006 Bethany Singing Christmas Tree)