Chet

snowshoe

Little hike through the Notch last month.

Flight 1549

About 2 minutes before flight 1549 went into the Hudson, probably right about the time the birds hit the engine, I was above the Hudson, in a US Air plane, in an approach to LGA, taking the below shot of ground zero. We landed at LGA at almost the exact time flight 1549 went into the river. The airport was strangely calm and normal, despite the PA announcement that "all flights were grounded due to an incident at the airport" and the TVs in the bar in the terminal showing the breaking news. I got on a plane an hour later to head to Florida. It was oddly normal.

MMJ MSG NYE

New Year's found us in New York for a rocking My Morning Jacket show at Madison Sq Garden. Although the musical highlight may have been the LBJ freestyle on the subway out to Brooklyn. As always, one of my favorite parts of New Year's is the lazy day that Jan. 1 is.

Christmas 08

For this first time, we stayed in VT for Christmas. It was great. My mom and Paul came up. We headed over to S&B's on Christmas eve.

Blog problems...

Two reasons we have not posted in over a month:
1. Facebook
2. Our really outdated ibook.

We'll get back on it soon. Check back in early February.

Babysitting, take one...

In celebration of Felix's six month birthday, Shannon and Benjamin spent the afternoon at the movies and left Felix for his first solo afternoon with Jay and I. It was awesome! Isabel was a little unsure of the whole thing at first, but eventually she wanted to do nothing but lick Felix's face. He didn't seem too bothered by her. I'm pretty sure they are going to be best friends soon enough. Jay fed Felix his first taste of zucchini and was proud that he actually got half of it in his mouth. Felix's new favorite album is Garcia-Grisman's "not for kids only," but he also enjoyed some raver dancing. The diaper changing was not too graceful, but we pulled it off. Pretty much, Felix loved it here we are already looking forward to his next visit.

slackers-

As you may have noticed, Jay and I are really slacking on the blog-posting front. I think facebook has monopolized my computer use lately, so there hasn't been much blog action. Between that and our new wii, blogging just isn't a priority. In short, things here at the Curley house are going well. I have a new found interest in holiday decorating, which Jay is not too thrilled about. We cut down a tree last weekend and even put some lights on a tree in the front yard, which look awesome. Winter has finally arrived here, and it is a bit of a mixed bag this year. Neither of us have really cheap passes to the mountain (as we've had for the past few years), so it's kind of been a tough transition, but we're working through it and trying to get to the mountain soon enough. Otherwise, we are looking forward to holiday visitors and celebrating Isabel's first birthday. Hopefully we'll get back on the blogging train on a more consistent basis soon.



v

Isabel on Animal Planet

Last night on a show called Dogs 101, Isabel was on TV for a few seconds. The show featured a few breeds including a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. One of my co-workers has one and was featured. In the process they showed a bunch of dogs at Ben & Jerry's including Isabel. So she's pretty much famous. If they show reruns, it will probably be listed here.

An endorsement

A Single Pebble.











Tonight we had dinner at A Single Pebble. A Chinese restaurant in downtown Burlington that gets rave reviews, but I've always steered clear of. I must say, I now understand what all the hype is about. Very interesting and delicious dishes like Mock Eel and braised local beef with noodles. Here is the key to this place... You must go with at least six people (who are not picky eaters) that you can all share all the food. True family style, they even had a big lazy Susan in the middle of the table. This evening we had the pleasure of dinning with Shannon and Benjamin, along with Benjamin's father, brother, and sister - excellent company that really made the food taste that much better.

Halloween

After stressing about what to be for Halloween for weeks, I ended up being an i pod commercial. It was a bit strange to be covered in black paint and a little annoying to have a giant piece of foam board attached to my back but, all in all it worked out pretty well...I didn't poke any eyes out or break any expensive collectibles in Lloyd and Kelly's new house. More importantly I made friends with Lance Black (Jay's costume), who made his first appearance when we were in college and let's just say we didn't really get along back then. Lloyd and Kelly's new house is great and the party was a blast. The prize for the best costume goes to Little Sean who didn't make it to the party but was showing off his costume for the family at lunch the next day.

Smell My Mule

Last night I ran a food drive a the Gov't Mule show at the Flynn. Warren and crew rocked it and I forget how awesome the sound is at the Flynn. One note on Mule fans and food drives, you have a real mix of hippies, red-necks, and bikers - kind of all rolled into one. They would much rather spend $30 on a lame tee shirt or Mule rolling papers, than pay $10 for a limited edition poster. Oh well. Ted did a great job on the poster (Jake, Cole, and Greg - I've pulled one aside for you).

wedding season 08...

short of any shot gun weddings in the next two months, jay and i are officially done with wedding season 08. since april, we have been to five weddings and had to say no to one other. i have to say, i loved all five of them but i am glad we have some time until the next round begins. to officially conclude wedding season 08, we spent last weekend in preparation for wedding season 09. greg and beth, who will be married next october, had a fabulous engagement party at their home in belmont, ma. it was great to see friends and witness an epic family dance party in the living room. their wedding should be a blast given the dance moves that were brought out at the engagement party. jay and i forgot our camera, so these photos are compliments of greg's sister's boyfriend jim (thanks jim).

Trey is back

Yep, last Sunday night, Trey rocked out at Higher Ground. He's back.

Urban Golf

Last Sunday we held the first annual Burlington Urban Gold tournament in the south end. We explored some of the lesser known and more industrial areas of the city. What's urban golf? Check out a video here or another site here, but it's basically just like it sounds. It was great time and we ended up at Franny-O's for a few beverages.

Leaf peepers

Last Sunday was a great day for a hike with the family.

Happy 30th to Vermont's Finest

Stacy and John's wedding

Last weekend Stacy and John were married! It was an amazing fall Vermont day in the mountains, it could not have been a better setting. We had a little too much fun, but it was a beautiful evening. Pictures below:


Full gallery here.

Vacation!!

Jay and I spent last week lounging on the shores of lake champlain with some old friends and some new ones. It was just plain awesome! Highlights include: outdoor fires pretty much every night, amazing sunsets, great meals with great people, board game craziness, lakeside reading, llamas, an impromptu beer and cheese tasting, a visit to a local winery, Isabel's first canoe trip, white wine spritzers (Jay's new fave), swimming in the freezing cold lake, photo shoot with Felix and I in matching outfits, discovering cha-cha, and trying to play trivial pursuit with the first set of cards ever made (impossible!!). Hope to do it again next year. Better yet, we are saving up so that some day, we can own our own piece of paradise on the lake. Thanks Cleary and Amanda for organizing the trip! Enjoy the slideshow but, be forewarned that there are lots of shots of sunsets.



Full gallery here.

Niki & Tim

Niki and Tim rolled into town this week for a wedding and I had not seen them since we left Denmark seven years ago. It was great to show them a bit of VT and catch up. Niki also thought Isabel looked great in her scarf.