Thoughts on the week

Well, I really pushed this "on vacation, can't blog" thing pretty far. So now, there's lots to say and probably few of you who actually care. Short version=rode in the car, met lots of family, saw, joked about and ate corn, ate lots of other foods, drank lots of spirits, repeated for 6 days, rested on Sunday. Returned to work. For more detail, please, read on...

Highlights
*Cooperstown: in the middle of cornfields (yes, cornfields in upstate NY, besides Bryan and every member of his family, who knew?) lies a picturesque town existing on the collective memory of a nation enthralled with the sound, sight and stats of a wooden bat and leather ball in the hands of amazing athletes teaming up for over 120 years to play this game called baseball. I fell in love with the place and enjoyed every minute of our visit. I didn't get to see the library as it's closed on weekends, but I did buy a few baseball books for the kiddies in the museum bookstore. And I had the chance to walk among the hallowed hall of greats who added to the mystique and character of the game I worship.

*Wedding: in the middle of the state of NY (aka nowhere) gathered a group of people many of whom and to whom I will soon be kin. There was drinking, groove-thing shaking and much merriment, and I enjoyed both meeting unmet family members and every joke about corn.

*Saratoga: back to civilization (no corn here), enjoyed our first trip of the year to the track though no one walked out a winner. We'll be back on Labor Day weekend so maybe our luck was just saving itself 'til then. We did get to sit on the beautifully refurbished Carey deck and watch Lauren eat a chocolate pudding pop. Mmmmm...pudding.

*Maine: got out of the car from NY just to get back in and drive to an idyllic spot just outside of Augusta on Lake Cobbosseecontee (I didn't actually look up the spelling so I don't want to hear about it if it's wrong - there are too many letters in this word anyway). Got to cavort once again with many members of Bryan's dad's family which affirmed my initial impression: this is one fun family, and they like to eat (full lobster, corn on the cob dinner) and drink as much as my own family. Give us 5 years of marriage and we'll be rolling one another to family events.

*Gloucester: showed off the church and reception site to Bryan's parents, ran into no one uncomfortable, and daydreamed about owning a house so close to the ocean. No corn in the ocean.

*Parental pow wow: friday's lunch was phase one of "meeting the parents" as o'connors met daddy jeffrey and LJ2 - delicious food and Smithwick's made their usual appearance and everyone got along swimmingly. Friday's dinner moved us into the 2nd and final phase as o'connors met momma j. et al. Again, eating, drinking and merriment ensued and by the end of the night all parental units had not only met, but seemingly liked one another. Mission accomplished. Not one mention of corn.

*Tax-free fun: Suffering from car lag, we roused ourselves on Saturday to travel the short distance to the mall to spend obscene amounts of taxless dollars. Wedding bands, an upgraded ipod and a receiver and speakers were all acquired by team O'Connfrey. We also saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was disappointing. I liked the actor who played Charlie, but Depp was disconcerting as Wonka and I felt plain uncomfortable watching him traipse through his factory dispensing naughty children up various pipes and down various holes. Ending was corny.

So, our first official vacation is over; it went by too quickly and brought a whirlwind of introductions and laughter (did I mention enough food (corn) and drink to feed a small nation?). It's now time to turn an eye toward the fall and the start of school and PS programs.

Congrats Colleen - we look forward to having you in the area!