Holiday Party

Jen and Tom hosted a grand holiday party on Saturday. It was exciting to have so many friends from the country come into the city. (You know...Jersey, Long Island, Rockland...the country.)



Holiday cheer was shared by all...maybe a little to much by some...but by all accounts, fun was had by all. The tuna tartare went over well. As did the bruchette and Tom's guacamole. Apparently, there could have been more pigs-in-a-blanket.

Jennifer came across a quote that seemed to be appropos to the mood of the party...

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand,
martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
and screaming 'WOO HOO - what a ride!'"

Thanksgiving at the Gordon's

Jennifer and Tom's good friends, Greg and Lisa, hosted a sumptuous pre-Thanksgiving feast at their Union Square home. Friends, family and a load of little children shared a traditional turkey, cranberry sauce and all the fixin's.

Baby Keesler's Baptism

Good friend's Jim and Debbie Beth Keesler invited Jennifer and Tom to joint them in the celebration of their son Cary's baptism. Skull and Stephanie stood as Godparents. Skull also had the special responsibility of holding the sacred baptism shell.

RPI at Army

Later that night, a bunch of us went up to West Point to see an RPI hockey game. While Jennifer is a long time Army fan, it was nice to see RPI win for a change...even though Jeanette says we stink. Apparently, just not as much as Army.



Along for the game were Roger, Mark, Skull, Jeanette and Rob. A special guest appearance was made by Brian "Biggles" Jones, famed radio personality.

Go take a hike...

This week's adventure took place in Harriman State Park just north of the city. Along for the walk were Skull, Jeanette and Rob, newlyweds Donny and Sue...and of course, Jennifer and Tom.



The hike starts off on 7 Lakes Drive, just off of Route 17 near Tuxedo. The fall colors were great, although the cloudy skies dulled some of the pictures.

Good Morning, Boru

Memory Walk 2004

This weekend was the Alzheimer's Association's "Memory Walk 2004". Thanks to our very generous friends, we were able to raise $1,245 (of the $408,000 raised at the event). Very impressive for a first try.

Norman, Jennifer's dad, complained the whole way. It was cold and he constantly threatening to call a cab. If you know Norm, this is just his way of saying he's having fun.



We were even able to do some celebrity sighting. To those of you familiar with New York's new radio 1010WINS, we now know what Alice Stockton Rosini looks like. We also got to see David Hyde Pierce (of Frazier fame) whose father and grand father were victims of Alzheimer's. I grabbed a photo as Jennifer attempted to "lap" him on the walk.

Once again, thanks to all of our friends and family who donated to the cause. Hopefully, we will some day be able to lick this horrible disease.

Boru and the X Prize

Boru couldn't keep his eyes off of SpaceShipOne as it attempted it's historic flight. He obviously is a fan of space flight.

Skull's 40th

Delinquents and SigEp's (of numerous generations) converged on Skull's place to help celebrate his 40th birthday. The traditional backyard BBQ took place on a beautiful day and was only interupted once when the local klaxons went off...apparently calling the volunteer firemen to action in order to help extingiush the candles on Skull's various birthday cakes.


click for more pictures

Susan and Donny's Wedding

Our friends Susan and Donny (finally) got married this weekend. Susan and Donny's courtship has been intertwined with Jen and Tom for most of their relationship. Donny was actually in the group of friends with Jennifer on the night she and Tom met. Donny and Susan rekindled their relationship at Rob and Jeanette's wedding...where Tom was a last minute invite only because he proposed to Jennifer on time for the mailing.



They are off in Hawaii now. We send them all our best!

Go Bucks!

People in Ohio are crazy. Crazy about Ohio State football. It is simply amazing. Marsha and Matt took Tom and Jen to see an Ohio State football game. There was talk of "tailgating", but I don't where they expected to do this...cause with so many people there was no place to park, let alone camp out.



We couldn't get tickets to see the game from inside the stadium, so we talked about watching from one of the neighborhood bars. Matt kept mumbling something about watching from Marsha's cousin's apartment, but this didn't seem like too much fun.

Well, it turns out that Marsha's cousin Jimmy has the drywall concession for Ohio State...and has done quite well for himself. The apartment is actually something like a private "Hooters". The place is just amazing. He has taken a one bedroom apartment, mounted 5 or 6 TV's from the ceiling, added an industrial strength beer cooler and woohoo! Jimmy wasn't even in the aprtment when we arrived. But 60 of his close friends were. Jimmy was on the 50 yard line at the game. He's now one of my favorite people!



And as much as they love Ohio State, they really despise Michigan State...

OU BBQ

On Friday evening, several of Jennifer and Marsha's friends from college arrived for a backyard BBQ. Beth and Terry (and their daughters Millie and Maddie) along with Teresa and Jason were there. Everyone had a ball...and lots of hamburgers and hotdogs.

Fore!

Friday morning, the Frightening Foursome hit the linx at the Marysville Golf Course. It was Marsha's first time out (and only Jennifer's second), but they both did very well. Jennifer's new putter worked wonders...as did Marsha's magical fairway tees.

Harvard on the Hocking

Jen and Marsha met while attending Ohio Univeristy in beautiful Athens, Ohio. They were sorority (technically, fraternity) sisters at Phi Mu. Here they are in front of their house.

Goal!

Upon returning to Columbus, our host's daughter Emily had soccer practice. And besides, Marsha was the coach!

Escape from New York

Jen and Tom had no intention of staying in New York during the Republican National Convention (let alone the US Open, and homegames for the Mets & Yankees). It was determined that Ohio was far enough away.

Jen went to school in Ohio and swore that she would never return. But she had gone too long without seeing her friend Marsha and her daughter, Emily.



Tom, on the other hand, had actually been begging to visit Ohio. Specifically, Sandusky. Not for the corn, but for the roller coasters at Cedar Point. So exciting are the world famous coasters, that Jen and Tom's friend Skull had to come along for the trip (at least the three days in Sandusky). Our host Matt also joined for one of the days.

Jersey Golfin'

Oru friend Elizabeth seems to get really excited about golf...that is until she gets off the first tee. But that seems to be the lot for golfers. She'll learn that soon. We all seem to get one shot per outing that reminds us why we like chasing a tiny white ball around with a stick.




Here, Tom is showing off his prowess with a driver. After this shot, he changed to using a 2 iron.

Clear Ice

Several months ago at a business dinner, somehow, the coversation turned to the topic of "ice". My friend Greg educated us all on the wonders of "clear ice" and how it differed from the typical stuff found in our freeze.

Audrey's Baptism

August 1st marks the day that Audrey McMillan was welcomed into the Catholic Church by her new parents, our friends Bill and Karen McMillin. It was a great family event.

Sick Friend

Our friend Penny Pasta is sick. Her pets, Richard and Meredith are very concerned about her. Apparently, she has had acute kidney failure and has high levels of toxins in her blood. The vet thinks she might have been poisoned...but there is little likelyhood there would be anti-freeze in her NYC apartment.



It looks like her blood tests indicate that she may be doing better. Our prayers are with her and her family.

Hiking. (Isn't that exercise?)

Jen and Tom's friend's Jeanette and Rob wanted to do something "outdoor-sy" this weekend. Eventually, we settled on hiking in Harriman State Park in Rockland. Friends Steve and Sanja decided to join us.



The hike started out on warm (ok HOT) day, but it seemed much cooler under the canopy of trees. About two hours into the hike, following red-on-white blaze marks, we stopped at Pine Meadow Lake (I think) for lunch.

After lunch we started back to the visitor center. A couple of minutes into the hike, a very welcome rain started to fall. Soon, this stopped...and was later followed by a torrential down poor. Except for the need to later buy dry clothing, a fun day was had by all.

King Family Reunion

Each year, the "King" side of Jen's family has a get together in Jersey Shore (Manalokin). The overcast skys couldn't damper the festivities...even though some critics would have encouraged a cancellation of the singing competition.

We're famous!

It's about time Elke came to her senses and put our wedding photos on her website! (Elke Rosthal was out photographer).



And she thought Norm was cute, too.

Opera? In Cooperstown?

Jennifer and Tom drove out to Cooperstown, not to see baseball or to visit the Hall of Fame...but to see an opera. Imeneo, to be exact. At the Glimmerglass Operahouse just outside the famed baseball capital.



They spent the weekend at the Brook Willow Farm Guesthouse, a quant bed and breakfast just outside of town.

Skysuite

Business trips have had Tom spending a lot of time in Toronto lately. Usually, he just stays in a basic Marriott. This week, however, he stayed at the hotel attached to the Skydome and got upgraded to a "view suite". While baseball is Jennifer's sport...and the Blue Jays are not the league's greatest team, it is pretty cool to watch a game from your room.

July 4th at the Cape

Jen and Tom spent July 4th in Cape Cod with the Harder's (Jimmy and Dorothy). The extended weekend involved some golf, a party at Witchmere Harbor and some time in the stocks for Mark.

Out and about

Every once in a while, you just have to get out and wonder through the city. This time, Tom took his camera...

Another one bites the dust...

At Jim Keesler's annual birthday BBQ yet another Delinquent passed the big 4-0 milestone...

BSOD

It is not often that you are walking around NYC and see a "Blue Screen of Death" displayed above a subway entrance. But with the recent proliferation of animated ads, it was going to happen eventually...

Metronome has Evolved

The club where Tom and Jennifer had their reception is no more. Well, at least the building is still standing. But the restaurant Metronome has closed its doors and is apparenty reopening (or, as the website notes, "evolved") as "Strata"

Troy, NY

As everyone know, Tom went to school at RPI (Rensselaer) in upstate New York. Imagine how surprised we all where when we saw the name of Tom's home for four years up on a movie marquis...



(that's the movie "Troy" and "New York Minute"...just a coincidence)

Bosco and Susan at McSorley's

Tom and Jennifer's friends Bosco and Susan were in town for a couple of hours so we all got together at McSorley's. Bosco had told Susan many stories of his am Tom's adventures during high school at the famous New York landmark pub. Skull even came in from Rockland to see Bosco and raise a few in the old hangout.

McSorely's is hardly Jennifer's favorite drinking establishment. It probably has something to do with them not allowing women in until the 1970's. And it could have something to do with the 100 year old chicken bones hangin over the bar. Imagine her horror to see an issue of Opera News hanging on the walls celebrating the bar and it's patrons.

Over NYC

Tom was flying back from a quick trip to Kentucky and found himself flying over Manhattan. Didn't think they let you do that anymore...

Jennifer G's Communion

We were excited to be asked to celebrate the First Holy Communion of our friend Jennifer. A number of family and friends got together at Carucci's Restaurant in Saddle Brook.


click on picture for more photos

Winning the long distance guest award was Greg Ameres, visiting from Germany.

Stop and smell the roses

Well, OK, they are tulips...but Jennifer did literally stop to smell them during a Sunday stroll.

The Never Ending Story

Jennifer is a huge fan of opera. Over the years, Jen had dragged Tom to the Met to see a variety of classic works...The Marriage of Figaro, Faust, Carmen, etc. Jennifer gets a kick out of it when she catches Tom accidentally humming the themes from Tosca.

This week has been the Met's "Ring Festival". The Ring is a series of 4 Wagnerian operas...about 20 hours in all. Over four days.



So, yes, that is the inside of the Metropolitan Opera House...looking out upon daylight...as these operas start at 6pm...and go to midnight.

Tom must really love Jennifer.

Friday in Hoboken

Last Friday, a bunch of us got together for dinner in Hoboken. It seems to be a central location for our friends Rob and Jeanette (Hackensack), Donny and Susan (Long Island) and Patty (Mahwah). We started out at a restaurant called O'Neill's where we had way to many Stella's (even though only some of us could get the cool glasses.) We also plotted Donny's Bachelor Party...which is expected to now include people jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Afterward, we headed to another bar (name unknown) and had more Stellas.

Easter in Eastchester

This year Jen and Tom spent Easter with her cousin Anita. While we spent most of our time in adult conversations with Norm (Jen's dad), Anita, Anthony, Brian, Liam and Amanda...surprisingly most of the pictures are of Amanda and Liam's son, Colin.




Earlier in the day, Jen and Tom worshipped with the rest of New York city at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Afterwards, they participated in the Easter Parade, trapsing down 5th Avenue admiring all of the interesting headgear (yes, those are Peeps).