Marty January 6th, 2008
It’s been a long year. I don’t know that I have ever worked this hard day in and day out to make it through a year. But at the same time, I gave me the opportunity to do a lot of great things. Among the highlights: Continue Reading »
Marty October 11th, 2007
Well, it’s official - my wife is a professional photographer. Continue Reading »
Marty August 28th, 2007
Well, we’re back from our vacation in Topsail Island, NC. Every year, my family gets together in August at my parents beachhouse there, and we hang out on the beach, body surf, drink margaritas, play games/cards, etc. Every year, it’s been a different cast of characters, but it’s always been fun. This year was a little more mellow than some of the past ones, but I still had a good time - I just wish it was longer.
Marty August 3rd, 2007
I barely know you, so I wouldn’t think of rushing to judgments. I don’t know what happened - it isn’t relevant and is none of my business. What’s done is done. But I had to say, that regardless of everything else in this loopy world we live in, Van is probably the most devoted father I have ever known. Continue Reading »
Marty July 18th, 2007
This past weekend was my wife and my five-year anniversary (yep, hard to believe that we got married 5 years ago). On July 13, 2002, I stood on the beach at Namale Resort outside of Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji. As I stood, barefoot, on the beach waiting, the sun was making a break through the frequent clouds that had covered the sky until only 15 minutes before. Then, my wife came walking down the vine-covered steps, resplendent in colorful flowers and her beautiful dress. We wed at sunset, barefoot, to a chorus of native Fijians.
Originally, we had planned to go back for our fifth anniversary - but funds weren’t available at this time; instead, we decided to spend a long weekend down in Cape May, NJ for some birding, beach time and relaxation. It had already been a long two weeks of work, so I was very ready to get out of town and start doing some relaxing by Thursday night when we left.
Shari had made reservations at the Angel of the Sea bed and breakfast, which was supposed to be one of the best B&B’s in NJ, and one of the best in the country (at least by people who are the experts). I didn’t know the place from anywhere else in the area, since I had only been there twice before, while Shari grew up in that area and seemed to know everywhere and everything. I trusted her judgement, though, so I packed up and went along for the ride.
We got there fairly late at night, and wanted to get out and do some walking on the beach. It was a little chilly, but I had a really good time as we walked down to the ‘boardwalk’ (a 3-block set of concrete along the main ocean boulevard, then through the nearby neighborhoods to the ‘mall’, where we picked up some books for Shari and some ice cream. It was a good night to start our trip as we admired the architecture and she told me about her time down here when she was younger. It was great to hear her reminisce about her younger days.
The next morning, we got up early and began our daily excursions out for birds, butterflies and - for me, at least - dragonflies. Over the next three days, we’d go to Higbee Beach, Cape May Meadows, Cape May Point and the Cape May beaches themselves. It was a great time as we ran around seeing great things like Common Wood Nymphs, Piping Plover and Least Tern chicks, Black Skimmers skimming the waters, and a huge group of darners (big dragonflies) swarming in one particular nook of the forest at Higbee Beach.
While we were there, we tried to eat healthy but we were also treating ourselves. We had to do a quick snack on Thursday night on our way in (which included some peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt). We had planned our big romantic dinner for our actual anniversary night - Friday the 13th - but Shari wasn’t feeling well so we put it off until the next night. No sense wasting a big dinner, right? But the place we went - Bella Vida Cafe was fantastic, too. Our waitress was bubbly and friendly, and even if she didn’t know what ‘fresh mozzarella’ really means, it was still fun to have her serve us. The food was delicious - tilapia for me, and a seafood pasta dish for Shari - and we enjoyed some romantic time talking and relaxing. Saturday night, we did our belated anniversary dinner at The Mad Batter. Shari had been there for their famous brunch, but wasn’t sure about their dinners - but the reviews were promising so we set it up. It was worth it. Her dinner was better than mine, but overall it was still very good. Again we had a great dinner and enjoyed looking around at the scenery, people-watching and relaxing.
Unfortunately, whatever bug she had came back later in the evening, cutting short the planned festivities which were to have included - in no particular order - miniature golf, skee ball, getting fudge and/or soft ice cream at one of the 1,000 places available and a walk on the beach. Instead, we retired early. It was a shame, because she was a trooper for the whole weekend despite not feeling well at all. She was sick, and worse, she was frustrated because as she put it, “this wasn’t the big, romantic weekend she had planned.” I felt really bad for her - so things didn’t go as planned, but I know that I had a great time anyway, and I think that she did, too, for the most part. I can’t say that I didn’t wish that she felt better, because that’s obvious, but I still enjoyed the chance to relax and spend some quality time with my wife without worrying about housework, my job, the dogs or pretty much anything or anyone else.
It had been a particularly tough two weeks lately, and I was bushed. We haven’t had a whole lot of quality time together, either. So, i took it for what it was - an opportunity to sit back and enjoy a little beach time, some togetherness and some time to just be with my wife, celebrating our first 5 years together (and the fact that she hadn’t killed me yet). In that respect, it was a GREAT weekend.
On Sunday, we packed it up and decided to hit a few more places on the way home. We stopped at Cape May Meadows and Cape May Point, stopped by Stone Harbor (where we had a fantastic lunch at Polly’s that more than made up for the fact that Stone Harbor had none of the birds we had expected to see) and then went up to our old stand-by Forsythe NWR. We had hoped to see the Roseate Spoonbill which has made an appearance there, but we were out of luck on that one. We did, however, get to see a lot of really cool stuff including a pair of Clapper Rails with 9 chicks, black skimmers running along the waterways and an aberrant Glossy Ibis (it had a white cap that doesn’t normally exist in the species). It was a little windy, but we still had a good time. By the time we got home, however, we were both exhausted - not that we would have had any time to unpack because the menagerie was there to great us with licks, tail wags, meows and offered toys of greeting.
So, things weren’t perfect this weekend - they were still great in my mind. Shari wants a do-over, and I’m never going to argue that one. For me, however, our fifth anniversary did what I wanted it to - reminded me why I married her in the first place, and why I’m looking forward to the next 5 years - and more.
Marty July 2nd, 2007
I wrote last week about visiting my grandfather, and how concerned I was about him. I wasn’t the only one, so when my cousin Bill was coming down from Rochester with his family, I floated the idea that instead of going to a restaurant, we should do a barbecue at my grandfather’s house, that way we could all get together and have space to actually have fun (my grandfather’s property is about 10 acres near West Chester, PA). Continue Reading »
Marty June 25th, 2007
My grandfather has always been the patriarch of my father’s side of the family, the sometimes abrasive and always-loud leader of the family name. Father of 5 kids, he was loved and feared in equal doses when they were children, although he has mellowed greatly in the time I remember him. Continue Reading »
Marty June 20th, 2007
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to post anything - part of it because of being so busy, and part of it because I got lazy over the weekend during my few hours off for father’s day. Continue Reading »
Marty June 14th, 2007
Well, it’s official - Wordpress 2.1 broke my blog, or rather the blog theme I chose. The theme I was using - Hemingway - isn’t fully widget-capable and/or ready for Wordpress 2.1, and the modifications I made were even less so. So, there’s a lot of fixin’ necessary to make it right. So, assuming I have a free moment this weekend, I’m going to have to tackle the problem so that my links, etc. work. Continue Reading »
Marty May 24th, 2007
*this is a somewhat NSFW post*. You may want to skip it if you’re faint of heart or easily offended. Continue Reading »
