Running away with triplets.

I've decided to discontinue posting to my blog. The reasons are multiple, but the major reason is time. I've decided I would like to replace the time I've used creating posts with other things.

Thanks to those who have taken time to read my posts and those who have left comments also.

Sarah, as you know, continues with her blog. (She does mention my name here and there - LOL.)

I may re-open at a later point in time, I'm just not sure yet. Until then, all the best.

Pictures.

I was looking through some photos last night...this is Anna last year, stretching to play a tune:


This picture was taken in the morning, after an overnight snowfall. The lighting is off, but I still like the photo because the girls' curiosity is obvious.

Not want we wanted to hear.

I took Anna to see her pediatrician this morning - today's visit was to check her weight and get the two shots. Her weight was a concern of the pedi the last visit.

We decided I would take Anna and go into work late. Sarah also went into work a little later than usual because we also had someone coming to fix one of our kitchen cabinets, which was basically falling off the wall (future post). Anyway...off to the pedi Anna & I went.

We got there almost 2o minutes early, took our time getting into the office, and we were actually there before the pedi. I don't think we had gone up 5 or 6 steps until Anna figured out what was going on - she wasn't too thrilled, but was immediately distracted by the toys in the waiting area.
Good morning, sir - how are you?" said Mr. Pedi.
"Good thanks, you?", I said.
"Good, weight check today?"
"Yes, plus she needs a couple of shots."
"Right."
"Okay, down to diaper and I'll be right back."
We put Anna on scale - 19 lbs and xx ounces.
"Put her back on, let's try again".
Same reading.
Doc tells me her weight actually decreased since last visit. I think to myself, "no way". It was extremely identical to the scene a couple of months ago when Anna goes to see her urologist for a check-up and he finds a hernia. I'm kind of in shock because Anna chows - she eats well. Anyway...Mr Pedi wants to hook us up with the ____ Nutrition doctors at ____. Great, another set of doctors for Anna to see. Not want we want to hear.

I ask him a question or two, he gives me his answer(s). He hands me a slip of paper with the orders for the blood work. I think to myself "how much is too much for my little Anna?"

Yes, Sarah & I are extremely grateful that Anna is doing VERY well. Yes, her condition, given the prognosis given at the first ultrasound and the first few months, is much much better than the doctors had thought. But, I'm not sure there is any pain worse than the heartache I feel. Anna now has to come face to face with a new doctor's office, the unfamiliarity of a stranger examining and probing her. AGAIN.

It kills me. I hate it.

Hopefully this is the last time we hear words from a doctor that we don't want to hear.

(For the record, Sarah and I are not overly concerned with Anna being a little under weight at this point. However, we have, and will continue to, put our trust in the half dozen or so doctors who have helped our little Anna for the past 22+ months.)

The Grammys and Justin T.

This is going to be a fairly short post because:

1. I am getting old, need my sleep and need to get to bed early tonight.


2. The Grammys are on and I want to catch some of the show.

I started this post after watching Justin Timberlake perform with Al Green, which I thought was pretty good. Justin's introduction of Al Green was pretty lame, though. What was with the "General Store" joke, anyway?

There was a Grammy special the other night hosted by Katie Couric - did you see it? Couric interviewed Justin Timberlake. While watching the interview, I said to Sarah "I don't get him (Justin T.) - he does nothing for me...he has no character, etc." Sarah's response was "...well, he is 26, hon - you are 4o something - what do you think?" and "...not many performers have done what he has done at his age..." "...I am not questioning his success..." was my response. I know he is extremely successful, etc. My problem was him, not his success. What does he do, what makes him tick?

Well, it turns out Timberlake is a golfer, a pretty damn good golfer, actually. I love to golf and believe there is something to be said about a man who golfs. So, as we continued to watch the Katie C. special, they had my attention. It also turns out, Timberlake sponsors a golf tournament every year to benefit The Shriner's Hospital - now I can at least say Justin T. does something besides make money and perform.

Then tonight, he did what I thought was a great rendition of Let's Stay Together with Al Green. You have to admit most performances on the awards shows are all lights and distractions and the vocals and performances are usually lame. Tonight's Al Green and Justin Timberlake performance was a nice change from the sorry stuff I've seen on TV lately. So Justin T. is okay in my book, but I will take Al Green's music over Timberlake's.

On a somewhat related note - I saw Whitney Houston, who presented Jennfier Hudson with a grammy tonight, perform at The Berklee Performance Center many years ago - back when she released her self-titled album (late 80's?). It was a great show - Whitney had an incredible voice and gave a very memorable performance that night.

I feel bad for Whitney. Are her and Bobby Brown still together? I always thought Bobby was the bad apple that ruined Whitney. But, I heard from someone who knew Bobby B. (and the other members of New Edition also), that Whitney was no princess herself!.

Enough gossip for tonight - gotta catch some more of the Grammy awards before catching some zzz's.

Photoless Saturday.

Since Sarah posted all the pictures, here's my rendition of the first part of today:

I started this post just past the halfway mark of this partly sunny, cold, February Saturday while the girls were napping...here I sit at my computer, somewhat at a loss. Feeling kind of empty today. It seems as though any positive feelings are tucked away inside me somewhere, not wanting to show themselves....anyway, you don't want to hear my sad story, so I'll tell you about our day:

Sarah and I both had somewhat normal work schedules this past week, so the girls have both of us all day today.

The day started a little early for me - I was awake and could not fall back asleep, so I got out of bed ahead of Sarah. I went downstairs and got set-up for breakfast. The girls woke up happily about 20 minutes later so I went back upstairs to get them changed, etc. They were laughing and being silly, which was nice because they can sometimes be cranky in the morning. They have kicked it up a notch on their eating as of late so this morning they chowed on two pieces of toast between them, and a good size bowl of cereal (Cheerios)! Sarah was up to help with breakfast - two people makes it so much easier.

We hung out for a bit watching Baby Einstein, "reading" magazines and reading the Valentine's Day cards from their Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Michael. (Allie insisted on stuffing the cards back into their envelopes - not sure where that came from!).

It was time to get out of the house so we announced to the girls "we are going out" and Em starts getting all excited - her and Allie kept saying "cah - cah" (car).

"I'll go warm up the van" I tell Sarah. I go out to start the car, come back and tell Sarah "we may not be going anywhere, the van will not start..." We hadn't used the van since our dead battery episode two weeks prior. I had better luck today and I was able to get the van started by using jumper cables. Note to self: be sure to start the van at least once per week during winter months. Off to Target we go.

We get there, get the girls in the stroller and carriage (see Sarah's blog for pic) and head in to Target with our eyes focused away from people as to avoid the comments. Come to think of it, I didn't hear one triplet comment while we were at Target!

We split up in Target, as we usually do. I had Allie in the carriage, Sarah had Em & Anna in the double. Allie & I are doing our thing, having a good time - she was well behaved and in a good mood. About 15 minutes into shopping, Sarah appears "..hon, I need the carriage..." "OK" I say, in my usual even-keeled demeanor. Sarah says again "...I need the carriage.." OK, I'll follow you. As we walk toward the baby section, Sarah informs me, in somewhat of a whisper, that she found diapers on clearance and "we need to hurry". I think she was afraid all the other triplet families in Target that morning were going to beat us to the boxes of Huggies. LOL.

Long story short: we walked out of Target with over 700 diapers! (See Sarah's blog for the details.)

The remainder of the day contained what we have come to expect from our girls, plus more of course!

Peace.

Strawberries.

This picture was taken in February of LAST year. The strawberry hats were made by Betsy, my uncle Walter's wife. Not sure the hats still fit my little beauties!



They are forecasting temperatures to hit 50 degrees on Sunday - yes!

Blizzard of '78.

Tomorrow marks the 31st anniversary of the Blizzard of 1978, which officially started on February 6, 1978 and ended two days later on February 8th. If you are not from the area, The Blizzard of '78 was historic. The City of Boston and surrounding cities and towns were crippled
for days.

My mother has all the pictures from then - I'll have to get some copies for myself because you really have to see the pictures to believe it. I found the "Certificate of Survival" below in my scrapbook the other day. I forget where I got it - maybe from The Boston Globe, not sure.

You are probably not able to make out what it says:

• President Carter declares Federal disaster area.
• National Guard and US Army sent in.
• Worst winter in 105 years.
• 27.1 inches of snowfall in 24 hrs - a record.
• Record school closings.
• Record winds of 79 mph.

I remember it taking days (maybe a week) for our street to see a snow plow. I also think we didn't go to school for three weeks (Feb. school vacation was in there) - there was no place to put the snow! Buses, trucks and cars were stranded on a highway/road less than 1/4 from our house.

I also remember pulling our toboggan to the grocery store. Our neighbor, Mr. H., borrowed our toboggan, took orders for booze from all the neighbors and went to the closest package store to stock up!

I doubt I'll see another storm in my lifetime with the same effect as The Great Blizzard of 1978.

25 Random Things.

Here we go:

1. I climbed Ayers Rock back in 1989. Well, I actually only went partially up and turned around because I was terrified! My brother Don went to the top, though.
2. I go by "Rich", but my brothers and sisters call me "Rick".
3. Some friends and I snuck into Fenway Park one late night during the off-season - ran around the field, etc. One of my buddies ended up with a few seats from the grandstand!
4. I use Splenda in my coffee, not regular sugar.
5. I think long fingernails on a guy are disgusting - mine are always trim.
6. Growing up, we only had one bathroom in a house of 13 kids.
7. No multiples, no adoptions and the same father and mother for those 13 children.
8. I attended five different schools before entering high school.
9. I don't like to be rushed.
10. I was always considered shy as a child.
11. Although fairly athletic, I never played "organized" sports, with the exception of two years of LL baseball.
12. I practiced as a massage therapist for a couple of years after attending a massage school in Cambridge, MA. (founded by a man considered to be somewhat of a pioneer in massage).
13. I can do "The Electric Slide" dance.
14. I haven't had a drink of alcohol since 1989, thank God.
15. Both myself and my two younger brothers (Don & Chris) had very blond hair as kids.
16. Because I was so "shy" as a kid, another kid in the neighborhood used to pick on me (beat me up) until I snapped, fought back, and he never bothered me again. Lesson learned.
17. I have owned, or co-owned about 20 cars since I got my driver's license.
18. I have worked for 14 different companies since high school. This does not include assignments through temp. agencies.
19. My running PR (personal record) was a sub-seven minute per mile pace for a 10K. That was a few years ago (LOL)!
20. I did a tandem parachute jump out of a plane, thanks to inspiration from my brother Frank.
21. My brother Don & I snorkeled The Great Barrier Reef. The ocean was a bit rough and I turned to talk to Don and he was no where to be found. I thought he drowned or had gotten eaten by a shark until I returned to the boat and found him there, chilling out!
22. I still have pictures of ex-girlfriends/ex-wife. (Sarah told me to put this one on my list!)
23. I sleep with a pillow under my knees.
24. I've taken "Spanish" dance lessons - learned cha-cha, salsa, etc..
25. I've moved at least 13 times since my early twenties.

More snow?

I hadn't seen anything the last couple of days indicating snow for our area. But, in a conversation yesterday with a co-worker, she said "...more snow tonight..." and I thought to myself - whach you talkin' 'bout Willis!? Then, we woke up to dry pavement this morning. So, I thought my co-worker/novice forecaster had, as expected, been smoking crack when she indicated snow in the forecast to me.

About a half-hour ago, I checked the forecast on-line:

Flakes have begun to fall from a storm churning up the coast that is expected to bring wind gusts of 45 miles per hour and dump up to a half foot of snow by this evening.
Forecasters predict that the storm will intensify during the evening commute, with snow falling at a rate of 1/2 to 3/4 inches an hour late this afternoon.
"It could get pretty messy," said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. "You don't need 10 inches to wreak havoc."
The highest accumulations are expected on the tip of Cape Cod and on the South Shore, where up to 6.7 inches of snow is predicted.
Totals in Boston are expected to range from 4 to 5 inches by tomorrow morning. Wind gusts in the city could reach 35 miles per hour, Simpson said.

Ok, so my co-workers do not smoke crack - maybe I've been the one in never-never land the past few days.

Anyway, it's always an interesting commute home during a storm. We shall see what today's commute home brings...

Falmouth Road Race.

If you are a runner and have not run The Falmouth Road Race, I highly recommend it. This year's race, which starts in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is being held on Sunday, August 9th. Entries are drawn via a lottery. Or, you can run for one of the charitable organizations, such as The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). I have run Falmouth for CFF for about 9 years now.

The race applications will be available in May, but the oragnizers suggest checking their website (falmouthroadrace.com) in April.

I ran Falmouth for the first time in 1996 and was immediately hooked. Thus, I have run it every year since! I will be posting more about this awesome race in the future, but I wanted to put it out there as something to look forward to druing the cold winter months!

In the news.

When I got laid off about a year ago and was home for a few months, I subscribed to TIME to keep up on current events. Then, this fall, I ended up getting a free subscription to The Wall Street Journal. I usually read most of the TIME issues, not as much of the WSJ, though - mostly due to time constraints.

The WSJ is good for me to flip through daily, given that I do work in financial services. Outside of many of the dry, eye-closing articles, the newspaper does provide educated insight into many issues. The WSJ also has some decent, applicable personal finance articles. I will say though, I sometimes don't even read anything besides the headlines because it has been so depressing to me lately - all the layoffs, companies failing, etc. Some mornings I just cannot read anything else on the economy.

With TIME, at least there are color photos (LOL) and other "stuff" I find interesting - even a little trash about some well-known people.

Anyway...in this week's TIME, on page 14, there were some interesting numbers complied about President Obama's first week. Among them:

• $3,350: Cost of the enhanced-security PDA that may replace Obama's Blackberry.
• 3,300: approximate number of presidentially appointed jobs Obama will have had to fill.
• $61,000: reported cost of George W. Bush's blue and gold Oval Office rug, which Obama has decided to keep, for now.
• 3: Number of Washington restaurants Obama has visited since arriving in town-reportedly three more than Bush had visited since January of last year.

My WSJ will be dropped to my driveway again tomorrow morning. Somehow I think the front page news is not going to uplift my Monday morning mood.