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December Walk.

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

Today turned out to be such a lovely day that Earl and I decided we needed to get a little fresh air. We started the day by putting up the “little” Christmas tree, our white tree with green ornaments that we put in the front room. Afterwards, while in a somewhat festive mood, we both felt a little heavy after having a waffle and bacon for breakfast, so we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go for a walk.

We ended up walking about four miles along the historic Erie Canal, which is not far from our home.

We encountered a couple of cyclists, a jogger and several hunters, some of which were on their ATVs. Everyone was friendly and luckily we were not shot.

After the walk I had a few work-related chores to tend to. Tonight we’re going to put up the “big” Christmas tree in the great room.

I think the walk did wonders for our well-being. We need to get sunlight more often.

Watching The Snow.

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

Sometimes you just need to sit down with a friend and watch the snow fall.

Blogging Or Christmas Shopping?

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

I’m really trying to get motivated about Christmas shopping but I haven’t started yet. Earl and I have shopped a couple of times for the family gifts on our list, but I haven’t started buying Earl’s gifts yet. There are so many things that I want to get him but I’ve been told to keep it reasonable.

I was going to do some shopping online last night, but ended up working on my road website and going to bed early.

I thought the snowfall would kick me into holiday shopping mode, but it hasn’t happened. I’ll probably get it all done this weekend though. I really need to, if I think about it, so that I have everything here in time to get wrapped and such.

Maybe Santa himself will kick in and help me out.

12042006

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

This morning we awoke to a couple of inches of snow. Forecasters are calling for a little more, maybe three to six inches by the end of the day.

Now it’s beginning to look like Christmas. Since snowy holidays are all I’ve ever known, I don’t know how our southern friends get into the holiday spirit when it’s all green outside.

Olde Bryan Inn.

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

Earl and I decided to the bulk of our Christmas shopping yesterday in the upper Hudson Valley. I am not a fan of Christmas shopping by any means and for the past several years I have thanked the Universe for the popularity of the internet, where one can sit in the comfort of their own home and point and click their way to happiness.

I’ve had the “New York Counties” project going for a couple of years, where Earl takes a picture of me standing next to a county sign for all 62 counties in New York State. We have less than five counties left in the project, so we drove up to Warren County to take a photo along Interstate 87. Warren County is home to Glens Falls at the foothills of the Adirondacks, so we made their one mall, Aviation Mall, a Christmas destination.

Aviation Mall is your typical mall in that it has a Target and a JC Penney and a smattering of stores in between. Since it’s not in a terribly congested area of the state, the experience was not as irritating as I feared it would be. We picked up a bunch of gifts, knocking off half the entries in the list when we decided to continue our little journey.

We headed to Saratoga Springs where Earl took me to this wonderful restaurant called The Old Bryan Inn. If you’re in Saratoga Springs, you must stop here as it’s in it’s original building from 1773 and has a wonderful “George Washington Slept Here” feeling to it. The food was delicious and the beer flowed well, though I kept myself in check.

After Saratoga Springs we decided to go see “Shortbus” in Albany. It was a last minute decision but I’m really glad we went to see it. I really enjoyed the movie and I told Earl that we must see more independent movies in 2007 instead of heading to the megaplex to see what the latest blockbuster is going to be. The beautiful thing about the entire experience is that the audience was there because they really wanted to see the movie instead of using the venue just to kill time and talk on their cell phone. In addition, I really liked cinematography, the story and of course the unbashed approach to sexuality in the film. I actually shed a tear or two during the movie and I don’t think I’ve done that in a movie theatre before.

We then stopped for a drink on the way home, though that was really a waste of time, as the bar we stopped at in Albany made us feel rather obsolete. As usual, Earl and I were the only full bearded males in the bar. A couple of twinks seemed rather intimidated and quite frankly I was ready to head home after one drink.

Today it’s been all about the laundry, relaxation and my college paperwork. I’m on call again starting tomorrow, it should be interesting.

Thanksgiving weekend.

Originally uploaded by DJSuperCub.

So it’s Sunday night and our Thanksgiving weekend is winding down. My mom and sister are on their way back home after a nice casual afternoon and evening together. Earl is at a local poker tournament. The later he comes home, the more likely it is that he won. My on-call has been exceedingly light this weekend, which is good in many respects, but frustrating in one, in that I basically sat at home all weekend for no reason. I guess the positive out weighs the negative though, because we were able to get some stuff done around the house, I did some studying and preparing for school and we were able to spend some quality time with family.

I’m looking forward to taking the week head-on and feel ready to do so.

Pre-Dinner Relaxation.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I are in Buffalo for the night. It’s the monthly bear night at Buddies II, with this month’s theme being “Hard Rock Bears”. It should prove to be an interesting evening.

I mentioned to Earl on the way here that it seems like the weather has pretty much sucked during our last several trips to Buffalo. Last month we arrived in the middle of the crazy October blizzard that dumped two feet of snow on the city and knocked out power and downed trees everywhere.

This time it’s just rain. Lots of rain.

Oh well, we’re looking forward to getting together with our friends Tim and Steve for dinner and then heading out for a fun night on the town. I think I’m going to skip the beer and head straight for the vodka and cranberry. Let’s see how I handle that.

Saturday is Diner Day.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

One of our favorite little diners, right down the street.

Arizona.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Arizona? Yesterday the voters of Arizona struck down a constitutional amendment that banned domestic partnerships including civil unions and gay marriage. They’re the first state to do so.

Thank you Arizona for not being cowards.

Boston.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I decided to head back into Boston before heading home today. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we parked under Boston Common and then went for a walk through the park. We then headed over to Boylston St. and walked up to Massachusetts Ave., stopping at Au Bon Pain along the way.

Earl always cracks me up because when he says “Au Bon Pain” he sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher. I guess that’s his version of a French accent.

Once on Mass. Ave., we stopped at what I’ve always known to be Tower Records but apparently it had become a Virgin Megastore. And today was it’s last day of business apparently with everything 75 to 90% off. I used to always look forward to going to Tower on Saturday afternoons back in the late 1980s as I was always eager to add my growing 12-inch single collection. I got a little choked up to see that it was closing down.

When the walked up Newberry St. before jumping on the T at Boylston and heading over to Government Center. I tried to talk Earl into walking all the way to Government Center but he remarked that it was much too far. I reminded him that everytime we’ve done that exact walk he’s said it was much too far but I like riding the T so we took the T. We ended up at the Bell In Hand tavern on Union and Marshall for lunch before jumping back on T at Haymarket and grabbing the Jeep and heading home.

Truth be known, I wouldn’t mind living in Boston again. For now I’ll have to be content with visiting from time to time.

We’re going back in two weeks.