Leap Day

Today is leap day, February 29th, and what a day it was; slushy snow all day. After not having any measurable snow, really since the weird snowstorm at the end of October, today seemed out of place. It has been almost like Spring lately with temps in the high 40s and 50s. We got around 5 inches. Hopefully it won't stay around too long.

Visiting Dot

Paul, Mason and I went to The Atrium to visit Dot tonight. She loves it when I bring Mason. It takes him a little while to warm up to her, but by the end of the visit he is talking and laughing with her. He always gives her hugs and kisses when we leave, and then he waves at the door to all of the other residents. They all seem to light up when he comes. Who doesn't love a toddler, especially one as cute as Mason!

Classics Illustrated Comics

Paul has recently been thinking about his old Classics Illustrated comic books that he had as a kid. He Googled them to see if they were available on the Internet and found out about a guy who had a store in Easthampton where he sold them by appointment. Paul set up an appointment for today at 3:30 to look at the Classics. When we found the place it was in the old Stanley Home Products factory now called Eastworks, which has been converted to hold small businesses. The comics store was on the second floor in a huge warehouse type place. The guy must have millions of comics, all separated and in cardboard bins. Paul ended up buying about 12 of the ones that he used to have. He said that when he was a kid he used to get comics for 10 cents, but these Classics were 15 cents so he didn't get as many.

After that we had dinner at Pizza Hut. I have lots of good memories of eating there with the kids when they were young. The place looks pretty old inside now. We hadn't been there in a long time. I looked up Pizza Hut on the Internet and found out that it was started by two brothers and a friend in 1958 in Witchita, Kansas. They called it Pizza Hut because the sign that they purchased only had enough room for nine characters and spaces!

Also, my friend Linda, who is spending the winter in her condo in South Carolina, e-mailed me these pictures of little doors! She knows that I love little doors and have been putting them on my blog, LOL. The first one is from her condo,



and this one is from her neighbor's condo.



Thanks, Lin. I love them!

Pummelos

Paul, Marley and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from church today. I usually let Marley pick out something that she wants, and almost always it is some kind of fruit. Today she picked out this pummelo. I had never heard of one. It is like a big grapefruit, just not as sour.

The white inside is very thick.





This is the mess that Marley and Kris left after eating the thing. These girls! They need so much training!

Pandora

Today we took a ride to the scrapbook store in Bellows Falls. A few weeks ago we discovered the Pandora app for my iPhone. I don't really quite understand it, but you type in some music that you would like to listen to. We put in The Drifters from the '50s and '60s. It will then play a song by the artist that you put in, but it also plays other music of that genre. It was so much fun. We listened to it all the way to Vermont. Of course, lots of back roads in Vermont don't have any cell phone connection, so it would go in and out. If you like any of the music you can actually buy it from iTunes right on the phone. Technology - it blows me away!

On the road I saw a little door in Jacksonville, VT.




And a post office in Wardsboro, VT.

Marley's haircut and color streak!

Marley was with us again today and I took her to get a color streak in her hair. She has had this done a couple of times and wanted to have it done again. Kristen was going to do it on Wednesday, but at the last minute Marley ended up going to the Boston Aquarium with her other grandfather, aunt and cousin. So, I told Kris I would take her today. I asked her what color she was going to get and at first she said orange. Yikes! I so glad that at the last minute she changed it to green. Much easier to handle! The hairdresser asked her if she would like some long layers and she said yes.

I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product. It was still wet when we left the hairdressers and I never did get a good picture of it dry. It looks cute on her. Of course, as a grandmother, I would still like to see her with ribbons and bows, but I have to remember that she is getting older!

Journey 2 at IMAX

School vacation this week. Marley slept over last night and we wanted to do something special with her. Because of the fact that she had walked all around the Boston Aquarium yesterday, and she and Paul still had colds, we decided to go to the IMAX theater in Natick to see Journey 2 in 3D, which would be more low key. We left the house about 1:00. We had lunch at Kelly's and then walked around Jordan's Furniture. Marley loved the big room with library books and lots of leather sofas and chairs. She said she was going to have a room like that when she grew up and while we walked around she picked out the furniture that she would have.



Then we headed upstairs to the IMAX theater. I told her she had to come into the Ladies Room with me but I wouldn't tell her why. The first time I went in there I was so surprised. The stalls have mirrors for doors on the outside and windows on the inside. While you are sitting there you can see people washing their hands outside. It is freaky! She got quite a kick out of that.



We all loved the movie.





It was a take on Jules Verne's book Mysterious Island. It was the second movie in that series, and Toby said they actually had the first one -Journey to the Center of the Earth, so we stopped at their house and watched that movie when we got home. What a fun day we had!

Blog banner fixed

Today Paul fixed my blog banner picture. Blogger changed something months ago and my banner picture has not been sized right since then.

It looks so much better now!

At the mall

When we picked Mason up today we went to the mall. I needed to get some glue type stuff for scrapbooking and Mason loves the mall. Telling him he was going to the mall was almost enough for him not to fuss when leaving his daddy!

We did my errand, and then we went downstairs to the food court to get ice cream. Mark had told me a few days ago that Friendly's was closed! I think Friendly's has been there since the mall opened. I can't believe it's gone. I meant to take a picture but I forgot. I hope I can get one before something else goes in there!

After that we went to Target - another one of Mason's favorite places at the mall. They have lots of good things there, little cars, motorcycles, and Lego men! After a few minutes of looking, we found some Lego men that he was happy with. He played with them almost all afternoon and evening, with a little time out to play with his "iPad."



Marley's little chair is just perfect for him to work at!

Back to Lenny & Joe's

Ever since we went to Lenny & Joe's last month, we have been wanting to go back. It's a fun ride and the seafood is great, so that's what we did today.

After eating, we took a ride along the coast. We stopped at West Beach, a pretty little town beach in Westbrook, CT. You can see Long Island in the distance. It was a bit too cold and windy to walk on the beach but I did take a couple of pictures.





Then we drove along the coast to the Book Barn in Niantic. This is where I got all of those Nancy Drew books. When we were there it was dark, so today I wanted to take a picture of it.





This picture shows where you can bring books to sell. I might do that some day.



We decided that rather than backtrack, we would drive along the coast to Misquamicut State Beach and then go home from there. The whole beach area was really deserted, which I guess it would be at this time of year. We saw a very pretty sunset.



When we got home we stopped at Redbox and rented a movie, Sarah's Key. It was a really good story taking place during World War II; sad, but a really good movie.

Dinner in Woburn with Stacia and Amy

Last Sunday we were supposed to go to Janelle's mom and sister's house in Woburn. It got cancelled because most of us had colds. This Sunday, even though we were not all 100%, we went and had a wonderful day. Janelle, Mason and Marley went down Saturday night (Mark had to work) and the rest of us went Sunday afternoon. Stacia made a wonderful Italian meal; baked ziti with meatballs and sausages, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. Marley made and decorated (all by herself except for putting it in the oven) the Valentine cake (pictured above). It was delicious.



We also had make your own sundaes, the "ugly hugs" that I made, and cannolis. Amy had gotten a new cotton candy machine and she let us play with it; that was a lot of fun. It was right up Kristen's ally!




Needless to say, we were wonderfully stuffed! Stacia invited Marley to stay overnight again as Mark, Janelle and Mason were staying until Monday (school vacation and President's Day).

Thanks, Stacia and Amy, for a wonderful day!

Getting out......

After almost a week of not being out of the house except on Wednesday night, it was good to go up to Barnes & Noble tonight. I'm feeling almost back to normal, and Paul is doing a lot better. I really hope we can stay healthy for the rest of the winter!

Ugly Hugs

Today I planned on making some more "Hugs" to take down to Stacia's on Sunday. Apparently I was not working with a full deck as I really thought I set the oven for 200 degrees. This is what happens when you set it for 300 degrees!

I took the first batch out of the oven and decided to let them "sit" for a few minutes while I finished unwrapping the rest of the hugs. When I tried to put the M&Ms on them, the hugs were hard. I figured that I had let them sit for too long. Back in the oven for another minute or two. Same thing - hard hugs. I had to really push the M&Ms on top of the hugs, which made the melted insides squeeze out. What is going on I wondered? That was when I noticed that the oven was on 300, not 200. Evidently that 100 degrees makes a difference, LOL. It "cooked" the outside of the hugs. So........now I have "ugly hugs" to take to dinner on Sunday!

Another one of Izzy's weird places

Izzy sure has some weird places to sleep. She has a thing for Paul's shoes. She lays on them a lot. Some of it, I'm sure, has to do with the fact that the heater is right in back of them. But, even in the summer she lays on his flip flops. Today I found her with her face just about inside his sneaker. She is a character!

A very cool small box

Today while cleaning part of the bedroom I dusted this little box on Paul's desk. He has had it as long as I have known him. He said that it was in his mother's family but he doesn't know anything about it; whose it was originally or even what it was used for. He said he used to play with it when he was a child. I tried to Google it, but I really couldn't come up with anything except that I think it is covered in something called parquetry, a thin veneer of wood strips in a mosaic pattern. There are three little boxes inside. I think it is very cool. I wish someone in his family had told the story of this little box!

I am ready to start cleaning....

When I got laid off from work I thought I would spend the winter cleaning and organizing my house. I can't believe it is mid February and I haven't done anything substantial; just bits and pieces. Today I started my systematic approach, starting in the bedroom. I'll keep you posted!

Colds

This is the kind of day that both Paul and I had today. The only good thing was that I didn't have to call in sick to work, and it was Paul's day off. Yikes. You forget just how miserable a cold can be!!

Sunday...

Today was a rather weird day in that we were supposed to go to Janelle's mom's house for dinner today. We decided not to because most of us have colds! Instead we had dinner here and had a very laid-back day. I didn't really take any pictures of the day except I took an Instagram picture with my phone of Valentne M&M's, and a picture of Marley's Valentine cards that she was working on for school.




I hope everyone out there is staying healthy!

Valentine's Dinner

Tonight we had our annual Valentine's Dinner with friends. Sometimes we go out, but this year Carl and Gladys had it at their home. Carl (above) was the chef, cooking a wonderful prime rib!

We had a lot of fun, as usual. Thanks Carl and Gladys!

Dolfin Tale

This is Marley and Mason watching Dolfin tale tonight.



What a cute movie. I think we may need to buy this one!

Mason and grandma at the hairdresser's

Tonight I had a hairdressing appointment. We have taken Mason with us before since Mark has been in school and he is fine there. He is still not feeling well with this cold and tonight he was very clingy. He didn't want to sit with Baba so he sat on my lap while I was getting my hair washed (Paul took this picture and I can't believe I'm sharing this). He eventually did go sit with Baba during the cutting and coloring part.

I don't like him being sick, but it is nice to have him be cuddly. He is usually to busy for that!

On another note, I cleaned at Kris and Toby's today and took this picture of Sunny sitting on the couch. He had to go to the vet this week. He had a "thing" on his stomach that looked like it was growing. Marley was so nervous that it was something bad. I guess we all were. The vet said that it had been a little wound that he was "too aggressively" licking and that it should be fine. Thank goodness. We love you Sunny Man.

Throwback Thursday - Abington, MA

Last week we took a ride to Abington, MA. I have been on a roll going to all of my Uncle Bob's pastorates.

I think they went there in 1965. I have to get dates from either my cousin Lynda or my uncle.  But I found this information out from my aunt Ettie. They started out in a very old house, 124 Bank St. There was a bank on the main street, Washington St., and the house was on a side street behind the bank. The church was behind the house, Centre St., kind of like a square. Later on in their pastorate they move to a different house at 314 Groveland St, same church. After they left and went back to Salem, NJ, the new pastor of the Abington church built a new church (the bank wanted the property of the church and old parsonage) at 422 Summer St. Then he got out of the Assemblies of God denomination and went independent. He eventually sold the building to the Senior Center. There is no Assemblies church in Abington now.

We had fun finding all of this out. Unfortunately, as the old church and parsonage have been torn down, I wasn't able to get a picture of the church or the old parsonage, but we did find the new parsonage. We had the address (my aunt Ettie was one number off which threw us off for awhile) and I had a picture from the last time we were there - Thanksgiving 1972. This is my grandmother and my two aunts on the front steps of the house.



This is the house in 1972.



Today.



Then we went to Hingham to try and visit Paul's aunt Eleanor McInnes (Big Baba's sister). She lives in an assisted living place. We found her apartment but she wasn't home. It was around 4:00 and we found out later that she goes to dinner at that time.

Then we drove to N. Quincy where Paul's grandparents lived. We found the church that they used to go to, took pictures of that, and then drove by the old house.

This picture is at the end of the street that they lived on, Billings St. It comes out to Wollaston Beach. It must have been nice for Big Baba to be able to walk to the end of his street (although it is a pretty long street) and be at the beach!





After that we drove to Natick and had dinner at Kelly's. We took the old road home until Sturbridge and then got on the Mass Pike.

What a fun day. I love days like this, looking for things that we once knew!

Paul says our next adventure can be Flushing Meadow where the 1964/65 World's Fair was that I went to with my aunts and cousin. Can't wait for that.

****Another Post Office - Weymouth, MA