Monday, November 25, 2013

When kids don't listen

Several weeks again as Dolores and I were approaching our significant birthdays, we told our daughters we didn't want a party. We had made plans to go away for a weekend to Portland, ME and would schedule a family dinner to celebrate.

Saturday, Nov 23rd turned out to be the date among the various calendar commitments that worked for the six of us to go out to dinner. Carolyn and Dan would be home from Boston. Allison's travel for Assumption would be finished. Brad didn't have a game event to go to. All would work out well.

Saturday arrived, Dolores and I divvied up the chores and then we got to our errands. Dan's parents were going to meet us for a drink and late lunch at British Beer Company. We'd come home and be ready for dinner somewhere local with reservations for 6:30 PM.

The day flew by, the chores were accomplished, the meeting and conversation with Dan's parents went well so we left (just before 5:00 PM) with time to spare to be home and then go to dinner. Why we even had time to add a few steps to the walk across the parking lot to Stop & Shop to get some Molly McButter as that had been on the list for shopping and two stops were unsuccessful. The third time was going to be the charm!

As we walked across the parking lot, Allie texted to let us know that Carolyn and Dan had arrived. Good. I replied back that we were about to stop for the Molly McButter and then be home soon. We did get it, drove home and as I was unloading the other items from our earlier errands, Allie was on the landing waiting for me to get to the stairs. Did we stop and think there might be something up? No. She was greeting us as we came home. She had done so before. However as the door opened, there was a shout of "SURPRISE!" and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!...

Yes, the girls as well behaved and such good upstanding young ladies as they are had not obeyed our instructions. No, not at all. So instead of a quiet dinner for the six of us at a local restaurant, we walked into a host of family and friends, many of whom had traveled some distance to surprise us.

Surprised? Yes, we were. I certainly was. I had no clue.

The party had a fifty's bowling theme to it and was a combination of home goods, crowd sourced and catered food and drink. Plenty to go around for all. we had taught the girls well!

Dan and Cassie at the ice cream soda fountain

One of the better parts of the evening was that there were no gifts to be brought. Instead, we were honored to collect over 100 pounds of food goods and over $150 for the Franklin Food Pantry!

the collection for the food pantry
So when your kids misbehave like this, what would you do?

I had tears in my eyes as I thanked them many times!



Note - there will be additional photos to share. A slideshow was put together of Dolores and I through the years. Many gems to be seen there!

Friday, November 22, 2013

remembering





Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Deja Brew: Band of Brewers at it again

Another 6 kettles were lined up for the 'Band of Brewers' on Monday evening. The winter and holiday beer selection was as follows:

Evil Santa's Ale High in alcohol and hoppiness! A new type of hop for us
Fuggle Ambrosia Nothing but Fuggle hops! Light, sweet, potent.
Goibniu A Great rendition of a true Scottish Ale
Hearty Christmas Ale A hearty Ale, spicy, flavorful and inviting!
Llevar Porter If you like Ravell , you’ll love this one. Vanilla accents
Winter Jubilee Barley Wine A nice, smooth easy to drink year round Barley Wine

This batch puts us at 236 kettles overall with 121 unique beers brewed.

12 pounds of grain draining for the Goibniu
12 pounds of grain draining for the Goibniu

For more about Deja Brew you can visit their webpage  http://www.deja-brew.com/

or check the archives here for the exploits of the 'Band of Brewers'
http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/search?q=deja+brew&max-results=20&by-date=true


Friday, November 08, 2013

in the middle of changing seasons





Saturday, November 02, 2013

Dean College Hosts Early Childhood Education Training on Nutrition


The Dean College School of Continuing Studies will be hosting a free training for early childhood educators on the topic of nutrition. The event will be held on Wednesday November 20, 2013 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM and participants will earn two hours of nutrition training from the Department of Early Education and Care.  Seating is limited. 
Highlighting the schedule is a presentation from Pam Mele, titled "Growing up Healthy: A nutrition seminar for early childhood education providers", Pam is an adjunct faculty member and expert in the field of Early Education with over 30 years experience working with young children and educators. 
"On behalf of Dean College's School of Continuing Studies, I am pleased we are able to support the professional development of early childhood educators in our community on such a critical topic as childhood nutrition," says Veatrice Carabine, Dean of the School of Continuing Studies at Dean College. 
The training will take place in the Golder Room, located in the Dean College Campus Center. Attendees are asked to park in the Campus Center parking lot, at 109 West Central Street/Route 140. 
To register for the event, please call 508-541-1629 or email vcarabine@dean.edu. For more information, please visit www.dean.edu  

Friday, November 01, 2013

high wind warning