Christmas 2009 in Florida

We had a wonderful week in Florida with H&B. Perfect weather, great company, and plenty of delicious food. Spent a lot of time on the beach walking and reading. Saw 'Avatar' one night ... as Bryan says, "It was good but they ripped off 'Fern Gully'" - a popular kid's movie years ago. True!

As usual we went to The Sailfish Marina for our first breakfast. Here's 'casual Santa' with Bryan, Dad, Carolyn & Don:

And we were back to the Sailfish for a stroll on the piers on Christmas Eve, looking at boats worth more than our house. The palm trees were all lit up - very pretty.

Out to dinner on our last night in this last photo. Don showed up minus some facial hair that he'd had for years and years. Here's Don, Mom, Bryan, Carolyn, Dad and me.

Hope you all had a great holiday with family and friends too.

PSU canning weekend

This weekend 10 wonderful kids stayed with us for their PSU fundraising weekend. Most are from NJ and PA, one is from MD, and one is from Cleveland, Ohio. There were 8 guys from the same Frat as Bryan and 2 girls who are in nursing.

As canning weekends go, apparently it wasn't the most successful in terms of collecting donations. They seemed to be competing with the Salvation Army and the weather. About mid-afternoon on Saturday it started to lightly snow, then just dumped down on us for the next several hours. It was still relatively mild so the snow fell in huge fluffy flakes. Pretty to watch; not so pretty to drive in.

Chilling and napping in the family room after fundraising: Rush, Bryan, Brian, Nick, Andrew, Mike & Kyle.

Breakfast group: Brian, Mike, Julie, Nick, Rush, Nicole.

They're all back to school for the last week of classes, followed by a week of exams. Then, home to their families for the holidays.

Bless you!

Sneeze and the whole world says, "Bless you!" Die coughing and no one says a thing. Why is that?

It amazes me how quickly people (even complete strangers) are programmed to say "Bless you!" after a sneeze. Since I am a multiple sneezer this has always been a bit embarrassing. I sneeze once and 20 people say "Bless you" ... but I'm just getting started. Those who really know me don't say "Bless you", they count, "One, two, three, four, ... ten, eleven ..." You've got to really hang in there if you want to bless me.

From wikipedia:
Bless you, or God bless you, is a common English expression addressed to a person after they sneeze. The origin of the custom and its original purpose are unknown.

An alternative expression to Bless you that is sometimes said after a sneeze is the German word Gesundheit.

A legend holds that it was believed that the heart stops beating and the phrase "bless you" is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating.

Workin'

Most days you can find me sitting at my laptop working, emailing, surfing and facebooking. And sometimes Cathy joins me.

PSU weekend in the snow and rain

Last weekend we drove to Penn State to see Bryan and catch our yearly football game. Always an amazing experience at Penn State. This year, due to the snow (arriving a month earlier than usual!), there was no parking permitted on the grass around the stadium. The weather didn't lend itself to tail gating anyway, so we went out to lunch and hung out at Bryan's frat until the game. It was also Homecoming weekend so the frat was ship shape awaiting the return of their alumni that evening.

The game was good - I mean there were two teams running around and jumping on each other so it looked normal to me. PSU won 20-0 against Minn. (I think.) What's with the gopher mascot??? Gee, he looks menacing. No wonder the Nittany Lions won. Roar.

As usual, a few pics:

Those people running around on the field. I was disappointed we didn't get to see the half-time show. It is usually spectacular. Watch this! But Joe Pa wouldn't let them onto his soggy field.

Those people in the stands: Marian, Don, & Dave. (Friends from town also with us - they have a freshman at PSU.)

Snow-filled stands ... my legs, boots, and scarf tassels (purchased at a market in San Gimignano for 8 euro - good buy. Not at all relevant to this post but maybe of interest to the non-football readers.)

Thanksgiving weekend - Canadian style

Last weekend, Oct 2, 3, 4, and 5th, we hosted the Gill Canadian Thanksgiving! Both of Don's sisters and their families motored on down the NY turnpike into NJ for a weekend of turkey eating, scavenger hunting, birthday celebrating, anniversary celebrating, sightseeing, shopping, cocktailing on the beach, coloring and picture taking.

In the month of October there is lots to celebrate with 4 birthdays and 2 anniversaries in the Gill family, as follows:

Oct. 1 - Michael's 5th Birthday
Oct. 3 - Barb & Doug's 11th Wedding Anniversary
Oct. 5 - Cathy & Don's 24th Wedding Anniversary
Oct. 10 - Brandon's 15th Birthday
Oct. 11 - Kathy's Birthday
Oct. 26 - Don's Birthday

In the dining room, from L to R going around the table: Michael (5), Brandon (15), Carolyn (17), Kathy, Don, Bryan (19), Me, Adam (18), Eric (7) and Barb. Missing is Doug a.k.a. Uncle Buck! And 2 birthday cakes.

Cheers to my sisters-in-law, Barb and Kathy!

These are the scavenger hunt teams: Michael & Adam, Eric & Bryan, Carolyn & Brandon. Who won? Well, they were all winners, right Brandon?

Empty Sky

Today Don and I took a drive in to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It is directly across from lower Manhattan so there are amazing views of the city, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day today. We walked along the Hudson River and enjoyed watching the busy harbor and the other walkers, joggers, cyclists and bladers along the waterfront.

A gaping hole in the cityscape is, still, the World Trade Center. They have an interesting memorial planned for Liberty State Park, which is to basically frame the location where the WTC was, and to list the NJ people who died that day. In the meantime there is a hedge representing the 2 walls for now. Here's the current view and the plaque with photos of the 'before 9-11' and 'proposed memorial'.

After our long walk we shared a few appetizers at the Marina restaurant, gawked at the many yachts, and enjoyed this perfect fall day. (Tomorrow is our 24th wedding aniversary.)