Stage 1

I am very happy to announce that Stage 1 of the Beer Run Trifecta was a huge success! Although the pre-run picture below only shows four of us, we had one late arrival who quickly joined in.






We enjoyed a few laughs and some pep talks prior to the start, then we all took off at our own paces. I discovered that Jason runs at a nice pace, and for the first time ever in my running history, I was able to enjoy some conversation while running. I have to say it was rather nice. It totally takes your mind off the run, if only for a brief few seconds.

It didn't take too long before we had all reached our destination. We quickly grabbed some cold beers and shared some stories of our respective runs. We all agreed that we could have done without the exfoliating scrub we received from the windswept sand, but it didn't take too many beers to forget about that!



I am hereby recommending participation in the next stage of the Beer Run Trifecta which will take place sometime in mid-July. Check back for more information. Oh...I almost forgot to send a shout out to our support vehicle driver, Rich Garfield! Thanks, Gar!

Beer Run Trifecta

Two of my favorite activities include drinking beer and going for a run. What could be better than pairing these two activities together...not in that order though. Some are already aware of my "Beer Runs". I like go for a run from my house down into the Forks to 20 Main. I walk in and Sherry, the friendly bartender, will take one look at my attire and say, "Bottle of water and a Bud Light?" It puts a smile on my face every time. After a beer or two, my husband drives down to pick me up. No way I'm running back after a few beers!

Anyway, I have been talking about making this more of a group event, but haven't found many more people who were willing to join in on the fun. Jenny did it with me once, but no one else has since last summer. Well, recently my sister and I had a discussion about this, and she helped to develop the idea of a Beer Run Trifecta. Three different runs, three different bars. Here they are:

My sister's house on Roscoe Rd. in Lewis to The Cobble (approx. 2 miles)
My parents camp on Whallons Bay Rd. in Essex to The Old Dock house (approx. 3.5 miles)
My house to 20 Main (approx. 3.5 miles)

Now none of these runs is meant to set any distance records obviously, it's for the fun, friendship and the many laughs that will inevitably take place. We have tentatively set the date for the first Beer Run this Friday afternoon (6/26) if anyone would care to join us. Keep in mind this is not a race, in fact, my sister is planning on doing a walk/run to get there. Someone else I spoke with might be riding a bike (bad knees). It's about getting a little exercise prior to enjoying an icy cold beverage in an effort to alleviate any guilt about the icy cold beverage.

I am hereby encouraging anyone to join us. The more the merrier! If you want more details, just reply to the post and I'll fill you in!!

Busy Weekend...continued

It is currently 7:05 on Sunday evening. I have officially survived. I think when I left off the last time, I was about to take a nap in order to re-energize myself to do it all over again. Unfortunately I did not sleep very well during the day, and was dead tired when I headed off to wrestle with the farm animals again. I must have gotten my fifth or sixth wind by then, because I finished my chores in record time. Either that or the animals could sense my fatigue and were extremely cooperative.

I headed home, showered quickly, and we hit the road yet again. We decided that we needed dinner, so we stopped at the Hometown Deli for a 30 pack of beer and some ice cream. Not the most nutritious dinner, I know, but it was necessary at the time.

We got to The Old Dock house with time to spare, and actually got to relax and hang out for a few minutes. It was during that time that Sierra showed up. A complete surprise, because we weren't expecting her. I'm not at liberty to discuss why she wasn't able to join us on Friday night, but she had an acceptable excuse.



Sierra couldn't stay long, because she drove the motorcycle down and didn't want to drive after dark. Soon after her departure, the rest of the crew arrived. Lauren showed up with Bob and Pam, Jenny and Jason arrived right after them, and last but not least were my parents and their friends Bill and Do.








It really was quite a fun evening! Lauren was the designated driver for Bob and Pam, so they relaxed quite a bit, if you know what I mean. My parents even got a few dances in. Laughs were in abundance, for sure.

After we broke down and packed everything up, Davey, Scott, Mike and I headed to camp for the night. Needless to say, snacks were vital at that point!



After we had celebrated the end of an active and successful weekend for a bit, it was time to turn in. That was the last I remember until Davey popped his head in to say he was taking off. Mike and I packed up our stuff to get a greasy breakfast and head to my sister's to pick up Ri.



Once home and with full bellies, it was truly nap time. BAM! I was out for a good 4 hours. Mike woke me up in time to head to Hollywood Theatre for a matinee. Mmmmm...nothing like hot popcorn after a very long nap.

After that, it was time to head back to the farm for one last shift. All went smoothly. I am now showered and not obligated to do anything other than go to bed again. What an incredible weekend. Thanks to all who participated!!!

Busy Weekend

It's currently 9:14 on Saturday morning, and I'm a little behind the previously posted schedule. Oh well, I figure the worst of it is over. Next on the agenda is sleep, so life can't be all that bad.

Friday evening went off without a hitch. It all started with Ri heading off to a dance for his first "date".




Shortly thereafter, and with bass guitar in hand, Mike headed out the door for NSA's graduation. He was headed straight to 20 for the gig after that.



I enjoyed a little alone time before full on craziness started, then headed down to set up before picking up Ri and the sitter. Ri apparently had the time of his life at the dance, and was quite chatty when I brought him home. Once I had the two of them situated, I headed back into town.

Now I have to tell you something that you probably already know, but being in a band is just plain fun. It's a buttload of work, but definitely fun. I quickly discovered that it's way more fun when your best friend is part of the band. You see, Mike recently rejoined the band after about a five year hiatus. We needed a bass player, and Mike was willing to give it a whirl.



Of course The Ladies were there as well. Lauren was sporting a rather stunning straight hair look...

...and Jenny kept a smile on her face as the designated driver.


We had other faithful friends there as well, and all in all it was a long, but pleasant evening.







I had finally finished the "evening" at about 2:45 a.m. with the daunting task of leaving for the farm in the near future. I set the alarm for 4 a.m. I figured an hour of sleep would keep me going. Well, as you can well imagine, Mike and I were oblivious to any sounds after that point, and I completely slept through the alarm. Luckily my brain is pretty much trained to wake up at 5 a.m. so I didn't oversleep by much, but late enough that I didn't have time to make coffee. Oh yes...an hour of sleep and no coffee. It wasn't pretty as you can see for yourself....


Well, there's nothing like the smiling face of a goat to keep you going, and I did indeed survive.


Tonight should be a bit easier, as we aren't playing as late, and I don't have to work at the farm in the morning. The band will be playing at the Old Dockhouse in Essex, and The Ladies (or at least some of them) will be there. Stay tuned!

A Weekend Spent in Survival Mode

The month of June has finally arrived, and with it the fun and adventures of summer begin. I'm just letting everyone know (all seven faithful followers anyway) that this weekend should prove to be quite challenging. The following is a schedule of events:

Friday
8:05-3:30 Spend the day touching the lives of elementary school kids
4:00-8:00 Keep Ri entertained until it's time for the babysitter to show up
8:00-10:00 Band set-up and sound check at 20 Main
10:00pm-2:00am Play music
2:00am-3:00am Break down equipment and load

Saturday
5:00am-8:30am Wrestle goats, pigs and chickens at the farm
8:45am-2:00pm SLEEP
5:00pm-7:30pm Wrestle goats, pigs and chickens at the farm
7:35pm Drive as fast as I can to Essex
8:15pm-9:00pm Band set-up and sound check at The Old Dockhouse
9:00pm-12:00pm Play music
12:00pm-1:00am Break down equipment and load
1:00am Drink like a fish because it's almost over

Sunday
All day (until 5pm anyway) Recover
5:00pm-7:30pm Wrestle goats, pigs and chickens at the farm

So anyway, the reason I'm letting you know this is because the other Ladies will participate in the weekend's activities at one point or another. Please stayed tuned, as I will be taking lots of pictures!!!

Pleasant Evenings

Well, once again tonight was a night that has inspired me to share. Actually it wasn't just tonight, but it just happens to be the first chance that I have had to sit down and reflect on it all. I'll try to keep it as entertaining as possible...

It all started Thursday morning at 1:30 am when the alarm went off. You see Mike was hitting the road again, and his flight was scheduled to leave Albany at around 6 am. He had to go to some USSA congress or something. I'm not sure, it seems so long ago. Anyway, he leaves and Ri and I have a busy day ahead of us. School for both followed by a doctor's appointment for me immediately after. Ri was extremely patient in the waiting room too. Once that was over, we headed for Susan Serino's house for a cocktail (not Ri, just me, the cocktail that is). As luck would have it, she had enough dinner to share, which saved me a whole lot of work. I was then headed to a PTO meeting. Ri stayed behind with the boys while Sierra and I headed to do our charitable contribution at the school. A long day indeed, but it wasn't over yet.

At about 10 pm I headed for bed. I awoke at 11 to Ri calling me in to the bathroom. He felt sick. My peaceful night of sleep quickly ended when he vomited for what would be the first time in a dozen. It finally subsided at about 5:30 Friday morning. Needless to say, neither one of us went to school that day. Fully exhausted, we peacefully coexisted, and Ri seemed to be regaining his strength. He even enjoyed some chicken wings for dinner! He hit the hay very early, and I had every intention of doing the same. I was just shutting off the television to head up to bed when I heard Ri cough this really strange cough. Oh yes, he threw up again. Only this time, there was no bucket...just the rug. Chicken wings. On the rug. I was headed to bed. I was so close.

Luckily it was a one time thing. He had overdone it, and his belly couldn't handle it. After that we both slept, but not for long. I had to go to the farm. Ri and I were up and on our way by 4:50 am. What a trooper that kid was. Of course he was extremely excited to head to Grandma and Grandpa's later. He was spending the night and going for a hike with Grandma. This of course leads to the title of this blog.

The plan was to have yet another ladies' night. Unfortunately Jenny had to go pay her respects to a loved one who passed, so it was only the three of us. We couldn't figure out what we should spend our evening doing, but we finally decided on having a late dinner at The Wilderness. The place was packed when we got there, but we managed to score three seats at the bar, which happens to be my favorite place to sit anyway.

June was working her magic behind the bar, so I quickly ordered an Old Fashion. Sierra proceeded to order what will definitely be my next favored drink, a dry dirty vodka martini. Lauren had a refreshing diet coke. What fun we had. Lively conversation with a smidge of gossip and a whole lotta truths. After we finished our Frannie Burgers and steak sandwiches we decided to head to Steinhoff's to check out the scene before the band Lucid kicked in. It was a little quiet to begin with, but by the time we headed out the door, things were really picking up.

The ride home was the most interesting. I have discovered that Sierra is a real animal lover. Remember the intense rain that we got on Saturday? Well that brings out the suicidal road frogs, and Sierra felt it was her civic duty to avoid hitting them at all costs. In fact, she even backed the car up at one point to see if she had avoided one. Crazy, I know, but incredibly funny. In fact the whole evening was full of laughs. Enough, even, to erase the last 24 hours of being in what I call "survival mode".

Tonight once again was an enjoyable evening. Sierra called me while she was grocery shopping and somehow it ended up becoming a plan. I had bacon and Corey had eggs. I brought my bacon down to his eggs, we fed five of us, and he agreed to watch the boys once Sierra came home so we could go out for a cocktail. Again, we ended up with a smidge of gossip and a whole lotta truths.

Mike comes home tonight. I survived once again with the support of friends. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. The official start of summer. The ladies always have fun in the summer. I can hardly wait!

Mother's Day

Because this blog is about friendship, I felt it would be extremely appropriate to chat a bit about everyone's very best friend...mom. I was lucky enough to spend part of my day today with, of course, my mom. I know I share this sentiment with many others who feel the same about their moms, but my mom is just plain exceptional. She really should be sporting a cape of some sort for sure. The things she taught me! I mean really, it is truly amazing what she can do, and all with a satisfied grin on her face.



I've joked around before that we really don't understand how much parents teach us until experiencing parenthood for ourselves. Think about it. We are not born with the innate ability to wipe our butts. We have to be taught. Who taught me to do it? I'm guessing it was Mom. How about brushing my teeth? I'm guessing it was Mom again. And how to cook? That was definitely Mom. Now I don't mean to short the dads out there, but they usually teach us completely different things. Moms have an incredible knack for teaching us how to carry on the daily necessities. Not glamorous for sure, but necessary nonetheless.

My mom went above and beyond the basics, and had me sewing my own doll clothes (on a machine no less) at a very young age. We would spend days in the late summer and early fall canning veggies from the garden that would last us until we planted the next year. Thursdays were bed sheet changing days. We pulled the furniture out every week to vacuum behind it. Now who does that anymore?

There are three kids in my family, and Mom always made it seem so easy. I have one son and I feel like I'm one of the hardest working mothers around. How in the hell did she do it?

My mom is now a retired elementary school teacher who weathers her winters with Dad in the Keys. She spends her time quilting, basket weaving, walking, cooking and spending time with her family. She's a beautiful woman who deserves all the love and appreciation in the world. Happy Mother's Day!