Whew!

Well we made it through Labor Day weekend--it was busy but nice.  Weather was OK with some exceptions.  Huge storm last night but Linda had already grilled the steaks before torrential downpour and high winds arrived.  One of those dramatic Silver Lake storms, which I enjoyed watching with friends.  Everyone loves to see those wind "waves" across the surface of the lake.

I went to Jenica's wedding on Saturday.  Dropped the dogs off at 7:30 at the kennel, went home for a few hours, then left for southern Vermont at 10:30.  Easy trip, it turned out.  I checked a ton of map sites, plus my print map (which I love, and which I find much easier to follow than print-outs of online routes).  I ended up going down the western part of the state, which was an easy trip, then over to Rte. 7.  Went to Manchester because I got to the wedding park too early.  Bought my mother socks for Christmas (don't tell her) and myself a pair of shorts that are too tight but are really nice anyway.  I can hang them on the wall as incentive to lose the weight I'm planning to work hard on losing.  Wedding pictures on Facebook show just how tubby I look.  Well, wait, I LOOK?  No, I AM.  I gained 7 pounds over the summer, mostly during my 2 weeks in RI, eating delicious seafood and the Italian cooking of my sister.  So now I must get into a routine of eating better and walking.  Yes, get out there and WALK.

Anyway, the wedding was fine.  It was in a very pretty state park and was a nice, relaxed affair.  The "ceremony" was short but lovely, and both Justin & Jenica were sooooo happy to get married.  I had good visits with Deb, Jenica's mother, whom I hadn't seen in 9 years, and with some Potsdam friends of J&J's.  All good.  I left a little early, not really worried about my trip home but apprehensive.  The trip was fine but a bit rainy.  I took a different route home, which turned out to take just as long but not longer than the route going south.  So now I've mastered western Vermont and southern New Hampshire, after these 2 weddings.  And now I'm home.

I had dinner with friends on Friday night, hosted a cocktail party on Sunday night, and had dinner with friends last night.  See?  It's all about food and drink.  It's lovely to see all of these people, I truly enjoy being with them.  Now we settle in to the end of the season, with only Linda and Joe still here, while we watch the already-turning leaves light up the air.

I'm back at work after what seemed like a long, long break but was only 3 days.  I picked up the dogs on Sunday and heard about Treasure's antics ("she showed her true colors"--uh-oh).  Deb (kennel owner) separated my 2 dogs because Treasure was playing too hard with Rocket, another visitor, and Tess was getting bumped around too much.  It's very hard to think of Tess as The Old Dog, but she is 10 and starting to show her age.  Treasure needs to SETTLE DOWN. She really is full of energy these days and is very active.

This week I have a few things going on--appointment with my psychiatrist this morning.  I'm on a 6-month schedule now, which is sort of like graduating from a very long and intensive program.  This means I'll only see him twice a year, oh my we'll have so much to catch up on.  Weds. I'm having dinner with friends, tonight I'll see Jim & Pat, but really it looks pretty quiet.

I had a colonoscopy last week with great results--no polyps or abnormalities.  The doctor spoke to me--well, really just waved at me after the procedure, telling me all was well and he'd see me in 5 years. Hah!

Dogs are fine.  Tess has been suffering from her annual ragweed allergy attack but is now on Prednisone and doing very well.  That stuff makes the dog pretty perky but mostly it's benefit is that she no longer itches and wiggles every time you touch her.  Treasure seems to think peeing on the floor INSIDE the house is the way to go.  Not sure how to deal with that, except shut both bedroom doors and hope it doesn't get too hot.  There's only 1 window that opens in my bedroom--one wall is pretty much all window, which is why I stay in that room, and we put very few windows on the north side of the house. 

So now I think I'll have a quiet spell in my life, which will be pleasant.  We'll have a busy Columbus Day weekend, as always, then Jim, Pat & I settle into our winter routine.  Joe will be here longer than usual and that will be a treat.