Christmas 2008
Welcome one and all to our Christmas 2008 Newsletter on our new blog! We hope this finds you well and happy. We’re trying a new, more casual and interactive format for our newsletter this year and we hope you like it. Since we’ve just started our blog, we’ll have to get you up to date all at once, so here we go!
The year started out on a humorous note when we went to see Monty Python’s Spamalot at Proctor’s on January 12th. This was our second time seeing the show (we went to the original Broadway production with Tim Curry and David Hyde Pierce shortly after it opened in New York). The Proctor’s production was quite good, but we were a bit concerned when a fire alarm went off & brought the curtain down on the performers in mid-scene. They quickly recovered and a good time was had by all, especially us. Bring out your dead!
Shortly after the start of the New Year, we decided to undertake a couple of home improvement projects. Easier said than done, as we’re sure most of you know. We chose to remodel our master bathroom and our basement, simultaneously. This proved to be a “what were we thinking” kind of thing, but it all worked out in the end. The bathroom renovation went exceptionally well; although it took about 10 weeks, we were very pleased with the result.
The basement remodel took much longer (about 10 months, due to a sluggish contractor) and Gary ended up doing all the finish work on nights and weekends (yuk!). He did a great job and now we have some usable space downstairs.
It wasn’t long before we felt the need to get away from all the hammering, sawing dust, so we decided to head out to a couple of sporting events. We started with our annual visit to the Big Red Freak Out hockey game at RPI on the 2nd. The Engineers lost, but we had a great time anyway, all dressed in red and cheering on our team. (Let’s hope they can win next year…). We followed up the Freak Out on a more serious note, with the Breast Cancer Survior’s women’s basketball game at Siena College, in support of our dear friend Linda. We were so happy to share this night with Linda and the other survivors. It was a great evening for a worthy cause.
Those other sports notwithstanding, the most important event of February had to be the NY Giants victory in Super Bowl XLI. Check this out and tell us if you think Gary was excited that his Giants finally won:
By the time April rolled around, the indoor construction projects were partially completed and we had a bit more free time. We were excited to attend an evening with celebrity chef, author and TV star Anthony Bourdain at HVCC. If you have seen any of his TV shows (Cook’s Tour on PBS or No Reservations on the Travel Channel) or read any of his books (Kitchen Confidential is our favorite), then you know his sense of humor and philosophy of life make him a very interesting person. During the Q & A session following his lecture, Jean actually got to ask him a question, which he graciously answered. It was all great fun, and at the book signing afterward, Gary got to meet the chef.
As if that weren’t enough of a thrill, before the month was out Gary had his biggest ever accomplishment in bowling—a 300 game on April 15th at Del Lanes! Gary got his 300 in his third and final game of the night, and received the traditional 300 ring to mark this milestone. We’re so happy he finally got his 300, and hope he has many more!
As if that weren’t enough of a thrill, before the month was out Gary had his biggest ever accomplishment in bowling—a 300 game on April 15th at Del Lanes! Gary got his 300 in his third and final game of the night, and received the traditional 300 ring to mark this milestone. We’re so happy he finally got his 300, and hope he has many more! 
As the cold temperatures began to give way to spring, we resumed our outdoor construction and landscaping projects. Our masonry team reappeared and continued the painstaking, laborious work of building a new patio. You can see the progress here.We were also able to plant some new shrubs and trees, which we hope will attract more birds and butterflies to our yard. Although the landscaping is still not completely done, we now have a finished patio and a place to entertain our family and friends. We hope you can join us for a cookout next summer!
May turned out to be another eventful month for us, when we spent Mother’s Day weekend with Gary’s mom at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Gary took their Enthusiast’s class in Italian Regional Cooking, where made some great new friends. We got to tour this beautiful school and sample some delicious food in several of the campus restaurants. Jean took Mom shopping while Gary was in class and later we had a special Mother’s Day dinner in the American Bounty restaurant. We visited the FDR National Historic Site and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, both in Hyde Park. This was a wonderful experience, especially since we got to share it with mom.
Once summer was in full swing, we were glad to be able to spend some time outdoors. July proved to be a very busy month. In addition to hanging out by the pool, we spent 4th of July at Sacandaga, with our friends Kerry, Lee Ann and their boys, to celebrate Lee Ann’s birthday.
A couple of weeks later we decided to host our first Bar-B-Que to christen our new patio. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we were able to grill up some steaks and enjoy those great summer salads and veggies. Can’t wait to do it again next summer!
At the end of the month, we traveled to friends Marcy and Jeff’s new home in Port Kent, NY (near Plattsburgh) for Marcy’s 50th birthday party. Marcy is an interior designer and their home is absolutely beautiful. The birthday bash was held in a tent on their back lawn, with a view of Lake Champlain in the distance. Marcy is the hostess with the mostess and we had a wonderful time at the party.
Shortly after returning from the birthday party, we switched gears and began to prepare for our annual vacation in Cape May, NJ. Due to a weird scheduling glitch, we were set to depart for Cape May on 8/2, but Jean and Lee Ann had tickets to see The Police in concert at SPAC the day before and also tickets to see Coldplay at the Hartford Civic Center on 8/2. We made both concerts (the men went on ahead to Cape May without us) and had a fantastic time. The road trip to Hartford was great fun and seeing Coldplay in concert was well worth all the effort it took to rearrange our schedules. After the concert, we headed down to Cape May to meet up with the guys and resume the rest of our vacation. Cape May was as beautiful as ever, with absolutely perfect weather, good food and good times. We are so fortunate to be able to return there every year and look forward to our next trip.
Upon returning from Cape May, we went back to the daily drudgery of work. Jean is dealing with three huge projects on her job, including training a new person, canceling hundreds of periodical subscriptions (due to budget cuts) and transferring more than 3,000 periodical subscriptions from two different vendors to a single new vendor. There’s hardly any time to breathe at work, which does make the days go by faster! Gary’s still working from home and loving his job (although he does miss seeing people in person day to day). We are hoping that all remains stable with Bank of America during the current turbulent times ahead.
Towards the end of the month, Gary took a long weekend to go fishing with our friend David on Lincoln Pond in the Adirondacks. Our good friends Mandy and David own a camp on Lincoln Pond and the fish there were just waiting to meet up with the guys. Jean and Mandy drove up to Lake Placid on Sunday to enjoy the scenic town and join the men for dinner. Sometimes we forget what amazing resources we have right in our own area and each time we go to the Adirondacks, we feel restored and refreshed by the beauty around us.
The Labor Day weekend brought us to the traditional end of summer party at Sacandaga with friends Kerry, Lee Ann and the boys. Always a big bash, this year was no exception—lots of food, fun and games for young and old alike. The ring of fire around the lake at night heralds the end of another summer and though we’re sorry to see it go, we’re glad to be able to share this annual event with our dear friends.
A couple of weeks after the party, we decided to take Gary’s mom to Boston for her birthday. We visited the New England Aquarium (one of our favorite spots) and took a walking tour of Quincy Market and little Italy, in Boston’s North End. We had a great time and a delicious dinner in a little neighborhood joint (best tiramisu ever). We brought home lots of food--olive oil, sausage, pastas, pastries, pastries and more pastries!--and many good memories.
Early October found Jean and Lee Ann on the road again, this time with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. We drove down to Tarrytown and took Metro North in to Grand Central, where we had lunch and then caught a bus up to the Museum. The Met is so huge we barely got through a quarter of it, but we did get to see some favorite paintings, including the Dutch masters (Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer) and the Impressionists (Monet’s landscapes and Van Gogh’s Irises). We did a little early Christmas shopping in the Museum store, then had dinner in a great little place on the Upper East Side. It was a lot to do in one day, but totally worth it!
The rest of October was spent getting the yard and pool ready for the winter and preparing for Halloween (a really big deal in our neighborhood). We paused in our efforts to attend a thoroughly enjoyable reunion dinner with the gang from Fleet Bank, at Valente’s restaurant in Watervliet. The food was excellent—southern Italian, homestyle cooking—and it was so much fun to get together and catch up with our friends. Thanks to Sharon for organizing and hope we can do it again soon!
Halloween came and went with its usual flair. Gary’s mom came to help us hand out treats to the more than 200 goblins that came to our door. This year’s theme was arachnophobia and Gary was so busy getting the house ready that he didn’t have time to dress up in costume himself, but watch out for a ghoulish new host next year!
With November upon us, we celebrated Jean’s birthday over the weekend of the 15th with another trip to Boston. We did a little outlet shopping in Wrentham and then attended the hilarious Comics Come Home benefit concert at Boston University, hosted by Denis Leary. It was the 14th annual event, held to raise money for the Cam Neeley House (a facility for families and children with cancer who are being treated at Boston’s hospitals). We ended our weekend with a trip to the Whole Foods market in Framingham (the mecca for organic foodies) and brought home a cooler full of stuff we just can’t find around here.
Well, that brings us in to December. It’s amazing how fast this year has flown. We hope your year has been everything you’d hope for and next year, even more. We would love to hear from you, so let us know what you’ve been up to by dropping us a line on Email (gguyon@nycap.rr.com) or giving us a call (861-5768). Although we may not see you or hear from you as often as we’d like, you're in our thoughts and hearts.
We wish you peace and joy this holiday season and always.
Jean and Gary
