Big Head Todd & The Monsters

This my friends is Big Head Todd and the Monsters. An absolutely great band that I have only been recently introduced to. BHTM is the #1 Band according to Donna. And as luck would have it they were playing two gigs in Vermont during February. Donna got two sets of tickets for Xmas.
The crew above is the group that accompanied us to the Higher Ground show in South Burlington. Me, Donna, Don Whipple, Louise Whipple, Mike Perrin and Lisa Perrin.

Todd Mohr seen here led the Monsters for two straight hours non-stop mixing newer stuff with some well worn classics of theirs. All were really new to me only having heard the older stuff just recently. What a show the put on, just straight forward, rocking, soulful music, purely for the fans.

Don and Louise
Brad and Donna

Mike and Lisa

BHTM at the Pickle Barrel in Killington....one week later. An even better show than Burlington.

Donna and I arrived and had a lite fare dinner and then scored a great position at the balcony. The crowd was very into the Monsters, think everyone sang along with most songs. Donna had brought her camera and scored almost 500 images. She also increased her obsession for Mr Mohr....wink, wink.

Todd seduces the crowd with his fantastic voice range as well as his mastery of the lead guitar. His skills blew me away, in person he just wails, period!!!!!

Heres a funny note, while waiting for the show to start in Burlington, Donna leaned over and said "I think my cousin just went into the bathroom". We staked out the door and sure enough out she came. What a surprise. Not only her but a whole crew of her family was there.

Want to sample what we heard....www.bigheadtodd.com.....even better BHTM gives away their music, how cool is that.

Valentine's Day 2008

Valentine's Day this year was celebrated on a budget.  Donna got me my favorite sweet treats I haven't had in more then a year a whole bunch of photos on magnets for my locker at work.  Donna had been hinting all during our card games that she would like a new deck of Phase 10 cards. So like any man in a relationship, you try, key word here TRY to listen. I got a deck of new cards but also wrote a poem to go along with it.

The Game of Love........

by Brad Hale

Our love is like the cards we play, We play the hand we're dealt

deal and draw and discard, for a wild card to show itself

Everyday we cut the cards, finding where we stand

Are we high of low for the day, we check the card in hand

When in love we play to win, some just like the game

Hand after hand we raise the stakes, going for glory and fame

Its not a game of solitaire, but a give and take between two

We ante up the stakes get high, but whoever wins, I love you!

In the afternoon we ventured south to Manchester to see Caitlyn and take her out for ice cream after school. We went to Friendly's and had a treat and here she is opening a Journaling program for her computer pen she got for Xmas

Miss Whitney McNeil's Birthday!!!

Sunday brought an adventure. Leaving Vermont in a near blinding snowstorm, we were New Hampshire bound. You see, the young lady pictured here is Ms. Whitney McNeil. A freshman at SNHU and who just happened to be turning 19 on February 10th.

La La Lola is patiently waiting for her piece of cake, even foregoing all the attention she was receiving from Whit's dorm mates. Lola also garnered many invitations for sleep overs with all of the ladies.

The birthday girl blows out her candle. We can only wonder what the wish was?!? But the best things about wishes is that you must keep them a secret to come true.  We hope yours does Whit!!!!!!

Posing with the birthday girl is the Birthday Queen. Donna makes all birthdays her mission!

Whitney and Lauren! Living the dream (in a closet)! Amazing what a little decoration will do for a walk in closet!   

Before leaving, the redheads share hair secrets.   Happy Birthday Whit.....We love you.

Lola's play date

So here I am on my first play date. Mommy and Daddy

had to be gone for the day and asked Auntie Beth if I 

could over to her house and play with Remy and her 

new sissy, Harper.

This is my Daddy and baby Harper!

Oh my gosh!  I had SOOO 

SOOO much fun!!

I hope I get to have another play date soon.  It was such much fun to be around doggy friends!!

I LOVE the snow!

I have the BEST Mommy and Daddy!  They take me outside everyday to play in this WHITE stuff they call SNOW.  I just LOVE it!  

Daddy throws it up in the air and I try to catch it but I never can seem to get it all.  Mommy took some fun pictures today of me playing.

Lola in the Snow

Kodiak 1997-2008

Words can not express the loss we feel. This wasn't Kodiak's time to go and we are just heartbroken. There is a void in the house that all of us feel.

Girls Weekend!

For the first time in more years then I want to admit the RISP Girls got together for a weekend in Williamstown, MA. We had a day of spa stuff, a night of drinking and feasting and a day of shopping! What more could 4 women ask for! Hard to think it has been 17 years since we were all together at Rhode Island School of Photographer. I am so proud that we have kept in touch all these years (I can prove it with my phone bills, LOL!). There hasn't been a year go by that I havn't been able to see each of them, but to have all of us together was a treat for sure. We are all still doing photography. In fact each of us having our own businesses. I took the easy way and didn't have children. Kathy has TRIPLET girls, Beth has 2 boys and 1 girl and Heather has three boys. Needless to say to get all of us to land in the same place for 2 days was an awesome event!

PPA in Tampa

What a BLAST we had in Tampa! Now that I look at the photos of me with all the GUYS, why wouldn't I have had a blast! PPA convention is such a jump start for the year. I always come home with great idea's, great products and lots in my mind from all the classes. It was AWESOME having Brad there. The first day he picked out stuff he would do when I was in classes, but as it turned out he ended up spending more time in the Trade Show then me. He found some cool stuff for the studio and was soooo helpful to not just me but the others as well!

The guys having fun at the FREE parties!

You can always find food in the area with Kevin

We are just a little tired from the hustle of the Trade Show!

We got to see Mary and Ken long enough to have this photo taken. They were both working the trade show. I think I talk to both of them more when I am at home then I did that week!

Our first flight INTO RutVegas! No shit! we got to fly from Tampa to Boston to RUTLAND. Got to LOVE Jet Blue

New Years Eve 2008

So we woke up on the 26th of December and decided that if Brad was going to go to Florida with me and we were going to have time to see my Dad and Doris that we needed to leave the next couple of days. So after a few phone calls and lots of luck, off we were to MA. Jenny Wideawake drove us to Nancy and Peter's house, where we stayed for 2 nights to have Xmas with them. Then Nancy took us to the airport on the 30th and off we were to Florida. My Dad and Doris were generous enough to let us stay with them for the week. We had tons of fun in the sun and at the flea market.

New Years Eve was one to remember! We were getting ready to go out when Brad got a call that Caitlyn was going to the hospital. Thank goodness it turned out to be nothing. The rest of the evening was spent at a dance at the club house where Dad and Doris live.

All smiles for me! We had lots of entertainment watching the retired couples party down.

If you ADDED our age together we were the average age of each person in the room. But their age didn't seem to matter because they could have won any dance competition against Brad and I. We certainly had LOTS of laughs that night, at OURSELVES!

My Dad and Doris, certainly know how to cut a rug!

Our Christmas

This year for Christmas we got to have Cait with us. She was here for the week before and Christmas as well. Brad was finishing up his last few days at Manchester and we were busy playing with the puppies and all the company that stopped by. We got to go see my parents on the 22nd and Brad's family came here on the 23rd. Christmas day we had to a BIG breakfast, and opened LOTS and LOTS of gifts. Brad had to leave for work at 2:30, but by then Cait and I were ready to veg and watch a movie. It truly was a VERY special Christmas for us.

XMAS 2007

New Job

After 6 months wading through a hiring process like I have never been through before the news came. At 10:00 am on December 24th I received the call from Lt Geno of the Rutland City Police Department that I had been given the job of Communication Operator there. I think the whole neighborhood heard my yell of triumph. I was in Manchester within the next few hours tendering my resignation with the Chief.

Of course Donna and I celebrated that night with a bottle of champagne!!!!

I had been a dispatcher for the Manchester Police Department for over 18 years 15 of that full time. After moving to Rutland City the commute was getting long and the schedule at Manchester allowed little time to be with Cait.

The news could not come at a better time, what a Xmas present. Also It allowed Donna and I to sure up our plans to vacation in Florida and attend her National conference in Tampa between jobs.

Our Visitor

This little gem was a guest for one night before christmas. Our friends Paul and Shelly got this little girl for their son for Xmas. She is a English Mastiff just 8 weeks old and already heavier than our Lola who is 7 months old.

Here they are picking her up to take home. She was to stay with us until christmas eve but they could not wait and took her the next day couple days before Xmas. Merry Christmas!!

Extended Family

This is Vince and I with our Godson, Jelani. Hard to think that he is already 8. It just seems like yesterday that Mark and Tina asked Vince and I to be his Godparents. I LOVE being his Ninang (means Godmother in Filipino). He is just one of the sweetest young men you could meet. Mark and Tina have done an amazing job teaching him to be a gentleman.

This is Jelani's mommy, Tina. This is where

Jelani gets all his sweetness from!

Here is Mark, Jelani and Vince. Jelani gets all his athletic ability and smooth talking from these guys!

Vince is one of my longest RutVegas friends. I can't tell you how many times my phone has called his number to help me in some way. I know that I can always depend on him!!!

These guys couldn't be anymore family then if they were of the same blood!!!

Pia's Cookies

Who is Pia you ask? Pia is my adopted german daughter. She is a wonderful 21 year old blue eyed 'strassenkouterblond' which literaly means street dog blonde or dirty blonde. This gem stayed with my family for three weeks in 2004 on an exchange trip from Luedinghausen, Germany. And as luck would have it we visited her in Germany in 2005 for 4 weeks. To let everyone know Pia loves american chocolate chip cookies with nuts. I send some whenever I can.

Before christmas this year while Cait was staying with us we decided to make a batch of cookies to send over as Pia is attending University in the Netherlands and every college students needs care packages from home.

The results of Cait's and my labor are below

Lots of chips and nuts and a whole bunch of LOVE

After cooling we packed the cookies into a tupperware bin each individually wrapped. It weighed over 4 pounds. I have heard back from Pia who is the envy of her mates for having an american dad who bakes her cookies. I hope she shared them!!!!

Just a note here....usually with divorce there is a lot of negativity, but luckily I have been able to do alot of these little projects and spend time with Cait more than I did before the divorce. I love you Cait.