Jacqueline & Craig

2010-11-22T12:50:00.001-08:00

Maroon 5

2010-08-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

We are at the Maroon 5 concert in Raleigh. The venue is odd. Like a
concrete slab in the middle of the city.

Fishlips

2010-08-03T17:01:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner is courtesy of Fishlips. A bit pricier than last
night. We will see if it is worth it.

Grills Seafood and Tiki Bar

2010-08-02T17:12:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner is at Grills Seafood and deck. Nice place. I am going
to have the fish sandwich. Tonight's fish is tuna or mahi.

Summer office

2010-08-02T10:39:00.001-07:00

Roberto's Cuban Cafe

2010-08-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Tonights dinner is at Roberto's Cuban Cafe.

The Green Room

2010-07-31T13:11:00.001-07:00

2010-07-31T13:10:00.001-07:00

Lunch/dinner is at The Green Room. It is a vegetarian/vegan place. Looks good! Details to come.

Multimedia message

2010-05-07T14:54:00.001-07:00

It's real!!!

LLS Man of the Year

2010-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today begins my campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma's Man of the Year. It is a 10 week campaign that will end June 9th. Basically, he who raises the most money, wins. Below is the intro to my LLS letter. For the 2 of you who read this page, you already know.

In 2008 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.I will never forget the phone call I received on March 27, 2008. Jacqueline and I were leaving for our annual vacation in Florida that evening and the PA called me at 1pm. She said she hated to do this over the phone, but she felt like I should know as soon as possible. She told me that I had Lymphoma. The shock turned to fear. Not fear for my life, but how I was going to tell Jacqueline. 10 years prior, Jacqueline lost her father to cancer. The next three weeks were hell. I went from test to test. Every day was a new test. With each test, we had hoped that they would find out that they had made a mistake and I didn’t have cancer. But with each test, it only reaffirmed the fact that I did have cancer. I spent the next six months going through 12 rounds of chemotherapy. I lost my hair, I lost my eyebrows, but I didn’t lose my will. It was a very trying time for our family. My only hope is that your family will never have to go through the same experience.
http://nce.mwoy.llsevent.org/pledge/index.cfm?mid=CRAIGBRODSKY

Multimedia message

2009-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Look at all my legroom. We are on southwest and didn't board until group B. We ended up with 2 seats in the exit row. Go Gators!!

Ready to fly

2009-10-15T19:57:00.001-07:00

We are packing for our trip to Gainesville and our cruise. I packed way too much of the wrong thing and probably not enough of another. Since we are flying Southwest, we do not have to worry about checking any bags...bags fly free. It's crazy to think that if we were flying a different airline we would spend over $100 to check our bags round trip. It is such a rip off. Check back if you are interested in the trip. I will try to update from points along the way.

We might be

2009-08-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Far away. It is still an amazing concert.

Elbow

2009-08-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

As u cam see from the picture, Elbow is performing. We can't find a
place to sit. Everyone is in our seat.

Live from the back of Dave's truck

2009-08-06T16:14:00.000-07:00

Jacque and Misty are hanging out before the concert.

On our way to see Coldplay

2009-08-06T14:49:00.001-07:00

We are going to see Coldplay with Dave and Misty. We are running a
little late. We have lawn access, so we might stand the whole time.
Text us if you are there.

Sent from my iPhone

After the game

2009-08-02T16:40:00.001-07:00

Jacqueline and Catherine are done interpreting the bulls game. We are at the Mellow Mushroom for dinner and a beer.

Durham Bulls and Progress

2009-08-02T13:19:00.001-07:00

Only the Bull used to stand in the way of the blue sky. Now it stands in front of an office building.

Jacqueline is working with her work at the game. There seems to be a lot of deaf people that showed up. She is interpreting the National Anthem for the deaf kids.

Lunch in Albany

2009-07-11T10:45:00.001-07:00

We slept in. The hotel has thin walls so were up at 7 anyway. The housekeeping person was knocking on the door at 11, and Jacque said no thank you andthe woman responded, "I am next door." having lunch at JJ Rafferty's after driving throught downtown Albany.

Live from Game 6

2009-05-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Jacque and I are here at the RBC Center for game 6!

LIVE from hockey central

2009-05-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Tony and I are at the RBC Center for the Hurricanes playoff game
against the Boston Bruins. CENTER ICE!

Final Sunset on our Key Largo Vacation

2009-04-10T19:04:00.001-07:00

As the sun sets on our final night in Key Largo, we find ourselves back at Sundowners. We really enjoyed the food the first time, so we had it again. It was very good. Derek did not have his usual $30 meal. He went with a fish sandwich like the rest of us. At dinner, we had the pleasure of dining with Oscar. He is the restaurant's daily patron. His picture is at the bottom of this post. He shared my tuna sandwich and Jacqueline's Mahi sandwich. He sat patiently while we fed him. He was sooo cute.

On the way to the Sundowner we had a HUGE and LONG Iguana cross our path. He darted across the road like his life was in danger....IT WAS. Luckly, no iguana's were harmed in the writing of this blog.

In recap, here are things that happened:
>>We went to Hobo's the first night. We ate outside, which meant that all food was in to go containers. Also, Jacqueline asked for a piece of lettuce and was told, "No", but he would bring her a salad. I got lettuce which I gave to her. It was funny.
>>No Tower of Pizza. I know I have only been there once years ago, but it stuck with me.
>>Smurf is a great dog. He didn't bark much, and pooped so we couldn't find it.

Another day, Another sunset

2009-04-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

As Thursday comes to a close, we are enjoying another sunset. We had dinner last night at Sundowners. It was a great meal, and great atmosphere. The sunset from there was amazing. I have a picture that I will upload later. Tonight's dinner is at Islamorada Fish Company. We eat here every year. We always leave here with a story. Whether it is a missing umbrella or the Aoli sauce that doesn't contain mayo.

The weather today was very nice. It was about 80 degrees with a 10-15 mph wind. Derek and I played football, Kadima and Badminton. Most of it was a challenge with the wind, but fun. The girls laid out and looked great doing it. I will post most of our picture on Flickr. Let me know if you are not added to our friend's list.

Our drive back from Islamorada Fish Company was a bit of an adventure. They are doing major construction on the road. Because of all the bridges, there is only one road. The road was closed to one lane for about a mile. It is one of the busiest weekends with Spring Break and Easter. Traffic tomorrow should be awful. Good thing we have our own beach.

Crabs

2009-04-08T11:20:00.001-07:00

This crab has been stalking us for days. He is a small blue crab.

Tuesday at Key Largo

2009-04-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is Murphy. He is enjoying some down time in the shade. Tuesday was windy and cool. We went to breakfast and did some shopping. Not really a beach day. We had pizza for dinner and watched Dodge Ball. Nothing too exciting. Unless you count Jacqueline getting hit in the face by a football. Derek has since retired from football.

Wednesday started out cool and windy. It was about 60 degrees at 10am. As of 2pm the wind has died from yesterday's 40mph. It is now warmer and hot in the sun.

Sunset in Key Largo

2009-04-06T16:32:00.001-07:00

As the sun sets on another beautiful day in Key Largo.

Key Largo

2009-04-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

We finally made it to Key Largo, via Jacksonville and Coconut Creek. It was a journey that started Friday at 6pm. We stopped in Jax for the night at 3am, Friday/Saturday. Then continued on to Coconut Creek. We spent time with my mother, grandma and grandpa. It was great to see them. Grandpa looked great for 90. Grandma is still recovering and hopefully on her way to better health.

Key largo is everything we expect. Dawne, Derek and Alicia are here. Our first night was quite and uneventful. Oh, almost forgot about Murphy. He is lying next to me each every branch and stick he can find.

More to come.

One Year that changed my life

2009-03-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

It was one year ago today that I received a phone call telling me that they think I have cancer. I remember it so clearly...I was standing downstairs by the pond behind the office. It was a sunny and warm day. There was a nice breeze that made me have to cup the phone so I could hear. The call came in at 1pm and was from the PA I saw the day before. She told me that lump on my neck wasn't from a fall, and was most likely Lymphoma. I didn't know what to think. We were leaving for the Keys in 5 hours. So much to do before we leave, but at that moment, my world stood still. My first thought was, "What I am going to tell Jacqueline, and when?" The PA recommended that we go on our trip and try to relax and enjoy. She would work on getting me an appointment for an Oncologist. She recommended an Oncologist and said he was the best in the area. She told me not to worry and that they would do everything they can.

I told Jacqueline in the car on the way to the airport. We had about an hour ride to the Greensboro Airport. We had just passed the intersection of Brier Creek and were traveling west on Hwy 70. She looked stunned. Her mouth laid open, but nothing came out. I remember laughing and telling her it was no big deal, and that everything was going to be alright. It was a long ride.

Looking back at the posting from the Keys, I read where Jacque and Dawne went for a walk that lasted an hour and a half. On that walk, Jacque told Dawne. I was not aware, and Dawne hid it well for the whole trip.

It is amazing to think that most people never saw me during my treatment. I look fine now, and I looked fine when I started my treatments. I have a picture from a conference in July 2008. It was towards the end of my treatment and I looked like a cancer patient. I had no eyebrows, no hair, my skin was always pink. I looked rough. At the time, I thought I looked normal, just without hair. I guess I was the only one who couldn't see the change. There are a handful of people out there who only know me without hair. It is weird when they tell me that they have never seen me with hair.

I have had 2 check ups since I finished treatment. I am in remission and only time will tell.

Going to see Dave

2009-03-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

We are waiting in line to see Late Night with David Letterman. Mary Tyler Moore is his guest.

Waiting for tkts...Ave Q

2009-03-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

We are in line for TKTS to see Ave Q. How exciting to be in Duffy Square.
We got our tickets for Ave Q. On our way to the theater, we saw the naked cowboy. Jacque thought it was funny. I thought that there has to be a better way to pay the bills.

In the Bahamas

2009-03-14T17:44:00.001-07:00

We decided to go to the Bahamas for dinner. The weather in NC is cold, and the Bahamas are hot!

Video and pics to follow.

Sent from my iPhone

Live from the Carolina hurricanes

2009-02-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

It's a nice view from the GM's box

The Flying Biscuit

2009-02-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Flying Biscuit has come to Raleigh. It is our favorite breakfast place in Atlanta. The biscuits are awesome and the apple butter is amazing. It is not Candler Park, but it will do. Jacque is contemplating what to eat. That is our waitress in the background, Betsy.

Tilt Shift

2009-02-10T06:54:00.000-08:00

I found this website, http://tiltshiftmaker.com/. It takes your pictures and gives them a miniature view. I was trying to find a picture that would work for an example, but I couldn't find one I liked at work. Here's an attempt:
Before:

Miniaturized:

Pretty cool. Their website has some great examples.

Busy Sunday

2009-02-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Misty and David had their baby!!! His name is Evan Anthony. He is named after me and David's Brother. (I am just assuming that he's named after me because they do not know another Evan...plus, I am pretty cool.) He was born at 3:11pm, 7lbs 1oz, 19 inches. He is cute, which makes life easier for the rest of us. Nothing like having to pretend your good friend's child is cute when he really looks like a baboon's butt. Pictures to come.

In other Sunday news, Jacqueline's good friend Dorothea is moving to Raleigh. It is almost definite. She currently lives in Atlanta, so we are doing some of the legwork to find her a place in Raleigh. Even with the market being soft, this seems to be a good time to buy. Interest rates are low, and people are motivated to sell. We saw one really nice townhouse that was decorated by the show Trading Spaces. I have never seen the show, but really liked some of the artwork in the house.

PMP Class

2009-02-07T05:20:00.001-08:00

This is what I will be seeing for the next 5 saturdays. I am taking the project management certification. Wish me luck...good luck.

IT'S SNOWING!!

2009-01-20T07:28:00.001-08:00

We woke up to two inches of snow on the ground. It has not stopped, and as of 10:30am, we are up to 4". Ben wanted to go outside. So we let him walk around. He didn't like the snow and hid under the table. I didn't think that was fair, so I toss him into the middle of the backyard. He stood there for a moment and then LEAPED out of the snow. In 3 huge leaps, he was at the back door. I will post some pictures on flickr, and maybe a video. After the inauguration, I will go sledding.

Leaving Brooklyn

2009-01-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

We are on our way to Newark. This picture is of us crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.

A Giant Loss

2009-01-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

I guess it wasn't meant to be. I have yet to see the Giants win at Giant stadium. We will go back to Brooklyn for a Giant loss beer tasting.

Ps. We can't seem to get out of this garage. 30 minutes and counting.

Sent from my iPhone

Giants on D

2009-01-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Giants D caused a safety on this play. Eagles still lead 7-5.

Inside Giant Stadium

2009-01-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

We are inside on the 20, 25 rows off the field. The energy is growing. Uncle Michael is predicting a 14-point victory.

At Giant Stadium

2009-01-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

We made it to the stadium. Traffic wasn't bad. Just a little congestion in the garage.

Frozen start

2009-01-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

We are leaving to go to the Giant game. It is about 25 degrees and the car is frozen over with ice. Uncle Michael went to get a paper at Eagle. More to come.

Beer tasting in Brooklyn

2009-01-10T16:13:00.002-08:00

Here is the picture of the beers we tasted last night. They were good, some better than others. Tonight is Belgian Ales. You can check it out at nybeerbaron.blogspot.com

Sent from my iPhone

National Chompions

2009-01-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

WE DID IT! I say 'we' liked I played. I feel so elated that we won. It is amazing feeling when you win a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! We had 185 people hanging out at Oh' Mulligans. It was better than being there since Jacque was able to attend. Who can sleep after a win like this. (I can). See you in the morning, NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

National Championship or BUST!

2009-01-08T14:08:00.001-08:00

Tonight, the Gator's go for their third National Championship and second in 3 years. We will be down at Oh' Mulligans with the rest of the local Gators who do not have tickets to the game. I will post updates from Oh' Mulligans for those of you who check this blog. Which doesn't seem to be very many people. I am predicting a Gator victory. I feel that our defense will present problems for the high octane Oklahoma offense. Oklahoma's offensive and defensive lines do scare me. They are big and experienced. If we win, Tebow's speech after the Ole Miss loss will be part of folklore history. I also feel that if Major Wright has a good game, and doesn't make any mistakes, we could be victorious.

Heart attack

2008-12-06T16:15:00.001-08:00

Gators can win. The nation believes! Go gator nation!

Can it be true?

2008-11-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Driving back from my meeting in Burlington, NC, I saw a sign...a sign for cheap gas. Here is the proof. If you can't read it, it says $1.77 for unleaded. I would have bet the farm that gas would never be back below $2. I am never so happy to be wrong.

UPDATE: We went to dinner and I paid $1.84 for gas. It was exciting.

Halftime

2008-11-16T14:34:00.000-08:00

Duke is down by 1 at the half. 34-33. This pictur is of jump rope team. We saw Bobby Knight. He walked right past us. I didn't know he was a jump rope fan.

Update: Duke won by 3. Rhode Island lead until the final 30 seconds. They still had chance to tie with the last possession.

Courtside at the Duke game

2008-11-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Jon was nice enough to take me to the Duke game against URI.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Don't I look pretty? Too bad I am a boy.

This didn't last long. Just long enough to take the picture. We won't
try to put it on Pieces. She's already colored like a candy corn.

Civic Duty

2008-10-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

North Carolina has early voting. Jacqueline and I took part and we are happy that we did. The line wasn't too long. Rumor has it, Tuesday is going to be a nightmare at the polls. Below is our picture after we voted. It was taken on the iPhone, and picture number 6. There are many things great about the iPhone, taking self portraits is not one of them. (On that note, the camera on the iPhone is not good...nope...don't like it.)

We hope everyone gets out and votes. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain.

Walking around our house

2008-10-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

The iPhone has an application called Trailguru. It utilizes the GPS functionality to map out your course. Jacqueline and I use it on our walks. It is great to know how far we are really walking. Here is one of our two courses:

HG Walk (Hiking) Raleigh, NC 27613, USA

Dinner at Parizades

2008-10-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

We are at Parizades for dinner. We like it. We were here last year
with Uncle Michael. We saw Larry Brown here last year. Check back for the review after dinner.

Dinner was great. The portions were small compared to the price. Our appetizer only had 2 tortellinis, and the salads were petite. Jacqueline had shrimp and scallops over Orzo, and I had a lemon rosemary chicken over pasta.

Nice day for an outdoor nap

2008-09-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The weather here and the cats, Pieces and Ben, wanted their picture take outside. Who would have believed that they would be able to co-exist? Not us. The first 6 months were a nightmare. Not to imply that they are buddies now, but at least Pieces is not trying to kill him.

And then there were none

2008-09-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Had my LAST chemo treatment. It feels like only yesterday I received the phone call telling me that I had cancer. Now I am done and in remission. I did not think about my next treatment in between treatments, so it has not sunk in that I am done. I do get my port removed on the 29th of September, and that will probably give me some closure. Beside the crappy side effects to the chemo, the port has been the most stressful and taxing. I will be glad when it is gone. Let's hope the scar is not that big. Thanks to everyone for their get well wishes. Now begins the next stage of life, cancer survivor.

Stuck

2008-08-12T17:08:00.001-07:00

We are on our way to see Jack Johnson. We just parked and we hope the car is here when we get back. If not, oh well.

Update: we are inside and it is packed. We are sitting far back to the right of the stage. We can see and hear, that is all that counts. Jacqueline went to get a pretzel. Next up, Jack Johnson.

Final update: great concert. Jack played for almost 2 hours. Our car was there when we got back...Yippeee.

No Hawk

2008-07-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

So, the mohawk was short lived. I decided to shave it today because it was getting too long. Jacque thinks it looks good shaved. I think I look like a cancer patient. Either way, there is no going back. There is not enough glue to put it back. Maybe Ben will sit on my head when I go to work.
PS this photo was taken with my iPhone. It is soooo cool.

7 down

2008-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

So, 7 down and only 5 more. It seems like only yesterday Jacque and I started on this journey. I might have to get radiation after the chemo is done, but not sure yet. Had my first CAT scan since I started chemo. The results came back great. The chemo is working and I am in remission.

I did get a new toy to pass the time. I am typing this entry from my new 3G iphone. Yippeeee!

5 down, 7 to go

2008-06-12T20:31:00.001-07:00

I had my 5th Chemo treatment today. This one went okay, but not as smooth as the others. I felt nauseous right after, which is unusual. I get a lot of nausea medication with my treatment. I guess each treatment is an unknown adventure.
We have the Race for the Cure this weekend. Thank you so much for all your stories, well wished and donations. Jacqueline has raised $300, and her goal is $500. (Give me a little help so I don't have to write a $200 check.)

I'm tired and ready for bed.

Race for the Cure

2008-05-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Jacqueline and I are doing the Race for the Cure. It is a great cause. Click this LINK and read our own personal page.

Key Largo/Ft. Lauderdale

2008-04-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

We spent our last to vacation days with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Frieda. They both seem to be doing well. Grandma is recovering well. It is hard to believe that she was in a major car accident not to long ago.

Our trip home was long. Our flight was not until 11:26pm. We arrived at the airport about 10pm. This gave us plenty of time. When we got to the gate there were people in line and people boarding. We noticed that the time on the flight was 11:12pm, not 11:26pm. All the signage at the gate showed, "Greensboro". This was at 10:15pm. A bit early to board, but, what do we know. We asked someone if they were doing priority boarding, and they said yes. So, we walked to the front and handed our tickets. The women tore off her portion and said, "Have a good flight". While we halfway down the jet way, the gate agent started yelling to us and asking us to come back. She informed us that this flight was for Columbus. The agent said she never said this flight was to Greensboro. We "informed" her politely, that all the signage said Greensboro. She didn't know what to say. Now, looking back, I did notice a number of people with Ohio State sweatshirts and hats. Jacqueline was glad we were not wearing any Gator stuff. I, on the other hand, would have loved for any of THEM to say anything. It would have been a spirited exchange. Our plane was delayed until 12:15am...and we didn't get home until 4am. (The Greensboro airport is about 1 hour from the house.)

All in all, it was a great trip. Check out the pictures on Flickr.

Key Largo--Day 5

2008-04-03T20:01:00.001-07:00

We were on the road by 10:15am. Not bad. (Alicia was out of the house by sun up...or at least it seemed early...GOODBYE ALICIA!! sorry we didn't wake up to give you a proper goodbye.) We cleaned the cabin, said goodbye to the ibis and squirrel, and set off the bug bombs. Nothing to exciting to report. We are going to Grandpa Mike's and Grandma Frieda's. It is going to be nice to see them.

Thanks Dawne!!! We had a great time at the cabin.

Key Largo--Day 4

2008-04-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a lazy day in Key Largo. Most of us were at the water by 11am. Dawne showed up around 12:30pm. We are all a bit red, so we only stayed out until 2:30pm. We made our annual trip to Shell World. We got some neat stuff for our powder room. After that we went to dinner at Islamorada Fish House. There is a Bass Pro Shop out front, so we did some shopping there. After we had dessert at Dairy Queen. It was SOOO good. Our plan is to be on the road by 9am tomorrow. We are all packed.

Key Largo--Day 3--Key West

2008-03-31T05:49:00.001-07:00

We are going to Key West today. The drive is only 95 miles, but it usually takes 2.5 hours. The speed limit ranges from 55 down to 35. It's always fun to cross the 7-mile bridge. (We hope to leave soon. Jacque, Alicia and I are up at 8:30am. Maybe we should just carry Dawne to the car.)

Went to Key West. We walked up and down Duval street. Had lunch at the Banana Cafe. It was a nice French restaurant. Keeping with the traditional French culture, the waitress was obnoxious. She turned her nose up at everything we ordered. We left a traditional French tip...zero and headed down Duval. We stopped by the southern most point...pictures to follow. We walked for hours.

We saw the sunset at Mallory square. It is one of the top things to do before you die.

Dawne played a mean trick on me. We were looking at a few stray cats and she exclaimed, "Look, a 6-toed cat!" To my dismay, it was NOT a 6-toed cat. It was very hurtful...I hope she is sorry.

We spent part of the day hunting for a picture Jacque saw years ago. It is a something that we hunted for last year when we were in Key West on Dawne's wedding cruise. We still haven't found it.

We walked past a crazy drag show on our way out. Nice to see the 6'2" drag queens roaming the streets of Key West.

Key Largo--Day 2

2008-03-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

We all slept in until 10ish. I have been told that is late around here. The girls are usually at the water by 8:30am. While they lounged, I mowed the grass. I did get a blister from the mower. I was told to "man-up". I have to pull my weight around here. The rest of the day was spent in a chair by the water or on the hammock. Jacque, Alicia and Dawne are going on another walk. Let's hope it's not another marathon.
We went to the Fish House for dinner. Everyone enjoyed the food.

Key Largo--Day 1

2008-03-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

We made it to Key Largo yesterday evening. It all started with a flight out of Greensboro, NC to Ft. Lauderdale on Skybus. The flight was non-eventful and the airline was okay. The flight attendants were young, probably in their early 20's. We found out they made tips as part of their pay. Not only did they sell food on the flight, they sold duty-free like items. We arrived at Dawne's house around 1am. We had a great night sleep on her futon.
Friday, we awoke and I worked for the day. Jacqueline and Dawne had breakfast and packed up the car. We didn't leave until late in the afternoon for our 2 hour drive to Key Largo.
We arrived at the cabin around 7pm...it is Jacqueline, myself, Dawne and Alicia. Jacqueline and I got one bedroom and Dawne and Alicia got the other. We went out for dinner and grocery shopping at Publix. Just as we got on the road, I got pulled over. Seems as though Dawne's tail lights are out. The cop was nice about it. We went back to the cabin and switch cars. The Chinese food we had was less than stellar, and the waitress was scary. She did get the order right, but we were afraid to ask for any changes or substitutions. We were waiting for a, "NO SOUP FOR YOU!"
Today was all about lying on the beach and relaxing. Jacqueline and I did a little shopping and I fixed the tail lights.
It's about 5:30pm now and some people are going for a walk...
Jacqueline and Dawne didn't get back until after 7pm. Alicia and I were a bit worried.
We went dinner at Snappers...their Turtle Club. It was good. We met a retired Navy guy, Lance, and his wife, Bonnie. Lance was charming the ladies, while Bonnie and I discussed HL7 coding and WORK. 1500 miles from home and I find someone who is in a similar industry. She does own her own business and travels the world selling her electronic interface for genetic research.
We got back to the cabin and listened to music while Alicia and Dawne played Scrabble.

Concert update

2008-03-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

We saw James Blunt last week in Asheville. The show was good. The audience was very weird. It seemed like there were a lot of people there that had no idea who James Blunt was. During the opening act, we heard the ladies in front ask if that was James. On the other end of the spectrum, there was a group of women in the front who would sit down or shut up. They screamed during all of his songs. Except when they were asked to sign along, then you didn't hear from them. The venue was small and refined. He did mention that his 2 hits off his first album were the number one wedding song, "You're Beautiful", and the number one funeral song, "Goodbye My Lover". Ironically, You're Beautiful, is about him seeing a woman on a train who was with her man. He saw her from across the train and knew he would never see her again. PLUS, he was high, so who really knows if she even saw him...maybe his moment with her was all in his drugged mind. Goodbye My Lover is about him being dumped by someone he still loves. He got her to go out with him while she was on the rebound...or in love with someone else. And once she came to her senses, she dumped him. SOOOO, people need to listen to the words before selecting songs for meaningful occasions.

Kathy, Jacqueline's mom, is coming next week. She is staying for 6 days...I think. Hopefully the weather will be nice and warm. Nothing like coming from cold upstate NY to cold Raleigh. We are going to Easter lunch with Adam and Tiff at Michael Dean's. It is something we have done for the past 4 years. Jacque, Kathy and I mentioned it to them 5 years ago and they liked the idea. So, the five of us will be dining on a HUGE buffet. Aunt Jo and Brian will be in MA, so we will have to get a doggie bag for them.

We are getting psyched up for our trip to Key Largo. It will be nice just to sit and relax by the ocean. The cabin doesn't have a TV, so the real world will have just pass us by.

MRI & James Blunt

2008-02-28T06:28:00.000-08:00

Jacqueline's neurologist recommended that she get an MRI. The last one was about 5 years ago and they would like to have a current one on the record. We received the results back and they were normal. That's great to hear, but we are still not any closer to understand why she has migraines. 26 years of migraines and huge leaps in medical advancements, and our only solutions to date are trial and error. The MRI did reveal that 3 of her 4 chambers in her sinus cavity are blocked at 100%. That would explain the extreme pressure under her eyes. (That area is the maxillary sinuses which are contained in the upper jaw beneath the orbits.) We see an ENT on Monday.
Monday should be a good day. We are heading off to Asheville for the night. We have tickets to see James Blunt. We saw him a 2 years ago in DC and it was great. At the time, he only had 11 songs, so he played all of them...and a cover of another song. Our tickets seem pretty good. Orchestra Center, 16 rows back.

Comedy or Die

2008-02-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Jacqueline and I went to see the Gator Gymnastics team beat up UNC. Our group, the Triangle Gator Club, was mentioned on the UF Athletic Association website. There was about 50 Gators...out of about 300 fans. There was a group of Gator students who traveled all the way from Gainesville. Here is a picture:
We could only stay for about 20 minutes because we had tickets to see WILL FERRELL at UNC. We have been looking forward to the show since the end of December. It was well worth the wait. The comedians and skits were funny. We sat right by Roy Williams and Tyler Hansbrough. My highlight was seeing Ron Burgundy in person. Ron interviewed Roy Williams. I took only one picture, but 6 videos. I will post the picture and one of the videos. The picture is of Will on a Jazzy scooter. He rolled around the stage and answered questions from the audience. There was a group of guys dressed up like the cast of Anchorman and asked if they could sing Afternoon Delight with Will. Will was all for it. Will started singing, but the guys didn't know the words...so Will stopped. That would have been cool to hear the song.

More Pictures

2008-02-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

I am continuing to add pictures to Flickr. I am also adding descriptions. This would have been easier if I added the descriptions right after the trip...instead of 3 months later. Check the Flickr site often...if you like.

Craig

Added Pictures

2008-02-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

I joined Flickr. I have posted some of the pictures from our Guatemala trip. You can click HERE for the website. I have also successfully added a slide show to this blog. (I amaze myself sometimes.) So, check back often. I will spend my remaining days uploading images to Flickr.

And back again

2008-01-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

We are recovering from an extended vacation that took us on a 2500 mile round trip. Details to come...with pictures.

Day 8--Saturday

2007-11-24T09:32:00.001-08:00

We leave today. Spent the morning packing...not done yet. Steve is calling to take us to get cafe, but we are not ready, so I will let him leave a message.

I will update the blog tomorrow with our Tikal visit. So many pictures to go through. We met many people from all over the world...and some from Durham, NC. How crazy is that?

Thanks to Nancy and Nancy...Nancy for reading and commenting on our blog. And Nancy for watching the critters. She hasn't mentioned that Ben has peed on her, but maybe she is just trying to be nice.

We are home, safe and sound. No real issues with the flight or getting our luggage and car. One note. We did meet a fellow Gator in the Guatemala airport. He's class of 2006. He lives in Albany.

On a cat note. Ben did mark Nancy 3, (yes, THREE), times. So sorry Nancy...Ben just really, really likes you.

Day 6&7

2007-11-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

Friday--We returned from Tikal safely. It was an AMAZING trip. Lots to tell and pictures to post. It is 11:30pm and we have been up since 4am. Early days and late nights. We met some wonderful people on our tour and at our hotel...and even in the van on the way to the airport. Oh, I guess it truly is a GATOR NATION. Our first tour guide in Tikal, Carlos, is a GATOR Grad. He graduated in 1982. Out of all the wonderful experiences to post, I picked that one. Maybe because it is the easiest to explain.

We leave tomorrow for home. Looking forward to sleeping in our own bed. We miss the critters. We have evidence now that Ben is royalty. Long story short, he is a reincarnated Mayan Ruler. It all makes sense now.

Check back for more...post comments so we know you are out there reading this.

Day 5--Wednesday

2007-11-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Buenas Dias. Today is a relaxing day. We got up and had breakfast downstairs. Jacqueline had a massage. She said she enjoyed it. This afternoon, Steve, a guy we met from Canada, is taking us to Antigua. We are excited. He is a contractor for Nortel and is from Nova Scotia. He has lived all over the world working for Nortel. He also stated an Auto Trader magazine in Guatemala.

Tomorrow we leave for Tikal. Our flight is at 6:30am, so the van is picking us up at 5am for the airport. The airport is 10 minutes away. We are staying overnight in Tikal at the Jungle Lodge. The lodge is inside the Tikal national park. We heard that they do not have power at night; from about 10pm to 6am. It should be interesting. We packed a lot, but forgot our flashlight. Go figure. Here is a LINK for the NY Times review. Here is the LINK to the official site. MORE LATER!

We went to Antigua with Steve and Joan. It was a great trip. We had a nice lunch and walked around the market. We bought some souvenirs...a blanket and some jade jewelry. Nothing fancy, just stuff from the local market. Here is a less than fabulous picture:
Our flight to Tikal is tomorrow. The service picks us up at the hotel at 5am...5AM. That is crazy. We found out that the airplane is a 20 seat puddle jumper. It should be fine, right? The weather in Tikal is very different. It's about 90 during the day, with 95% humidity. We are not sure of the itinerary once we get there, so we are trying to figure out what to wear.

Right now we are waiting for our sushi to arrive and then off to bed. It's going to be our earliest morning...which is preceded by our latest night.

Day 4--Tuesday

2007-11-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today we ventured off to Pacaya. It is an active volcano about 45 minutes from Guat City. Our tour guide Hector lead us on this journey. Hector brought along is 9 year old cousin, Joshua. I was worried that Joshua would have a difficult time on the climb. Boy was I wrong.

We left at 8:30am and arrived at Pacaya at 9:30am. As always, we were surrounded by children trying to sell us something. This time they were offering walking sticks. Hector bought one for 2 Q's, Guatemalan money, 1USD for 7.5 Q's. Being a sport I bought one for Jacqueline and I. The weather was very cloudy. Our climb began about 800 meters above sea level. The end was about 2400 meters. We began the climb and noticed very quickly that this was not going to be easy. It was very steep, wet and muddy. We were wearing sneakers, and should have been wearing hiking boots. The whole way up, locals offered Horse taxis to get you to the top. We declined. It would have been about 75 Q's. I didn't take any picture of the climb up. We spent most of the time trying not to fall. Most of the climb was walking through a rain forest. Not that I have been to a rain forest, but that's what it felt like. The last part of the hike was through an area where the lava has hardened. It was the exact opposite of our rain forest. The moment you reached the dry lava, you could feel the heat. This is an active volcano and as you will see in the pictures, there is lava below where we were. It was VERY windy. Here are a few pictures and a video:

We had to hose off when we got back to the hotel. We were covered in dirt, mud and ash. We will probably do some laundry. Tonight we are going to an Italian restaurant, Tre Fratello's. Until then, Buenas Tardes!

Day 3

2007-11-19T12:36:00.000-08:00

This morning we got up and got breakfast at Cafe de la Paix. It is the only other Cafe de la Paix. The other is in the Intercontinental Le Grand, Paris...where we were lucky enough to stay for 3 days. The breakfast buffet is huge. They have everything from made to order omelettes to made to order waffles. They have 8 different types of fresh fruit...meats, cheeses and cereal. Breakfast was followed by the gym. They have a nice gym here. A bunch of machines and free weights. We ventured to the pool on the 5th floor. It overlooks the city. I took a panoramic picture from the pool. I will download the photo stitching tool and add it to the blog.

Now we are getting ready and then going to Subway...across the street. Guatemala City is not very safe, so we don't venture too far from the hotel. We will ask the concierge for some recommendations. Dinner might be at the Sushi restaurant in the hotel. It is one of the best in the city.

We went for a late lunch at Schlotzsky's. Not a bold move, but most Guatemalan restaurants shut down from 3pm to 6pm. It was a good choice. The food was priced the same as in the US. Ironically, most of the menu on the wall was in English...there were just a few items in Spanish. We ordered with no problem...always a victory.

We went for a walk and ended up at the Westin Camino Real. This hotel is straight out of Las Vegas. It is a big hotel with themed walls. Their restaurants are themed as well. The Italian restaurant makes you feel like you are eating in wine cellar. They have a very nice pool. The gym is not as nice as it is at our hotel. (But they did offer free Gatorade, which I didn't sample.) What was interesting to us is that there were A LOT of Americans at the hotel and they were all there adopting Guatemalan babies. It seemed as though a baby came with the room. We heard that the hotel and one other are very popular for Americans coming to adopt. There was one family by the pool having a "birthday" party for their new baby. Everyone seemed very happy. I think only China has more adoptions to US families.

After a brief siesta, we headed to a bar called Cheers. We passed by it on our walk. I asked the owner, Mike, if he was going to be showing Monday Night Football. He said yes, and maybe some hockey. I knew right there that he was Canadian. The bar looks old and is dank. The posters on the walls are from the mid 80's. When we go back, which we will, I will take a picture of the inside. They have sports pennants all around, and they seem older. While we were there, we met a Canadian, Steve, and his fiancee, Joan. Joan is from Nicaragua. Steve works/contracts for Nortel and has worked all over the world. He has offered to show us around on Wednesday if we would like. We haven't planned out Wednesday yet, but it is a nice offer. Here is a picture of the 4 of us and the sign for Cheers:

Tomorrow we are off to the volcano Pacaya with Hector and David. We heard that the walk up the volcano is rough, and should take about 1.5 to 2 hours. I plan on getting as close to the top as possible. The van picks us up at 8am. Buenas Noches.

Day 2

2007-11-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Chichicastenango, Panachel and Lake Atitlan. The drive from Guatemala City takes about 3.5 hours. We had a driver and a guide. Our driver's name is David and our guide is Hector. David didn't speak English. Hector is a part time college student studying History. Hector did an exchange program 2 years ago with a family in New Jersey. They were very nice and informative.

Chichi is home to the largest market in Guatemala. We walked around the crowded market and saw 2 churches. Since it was Sunday, the churches had ceremonies going on. At the market, there was local merchandise, like baskets and clothes. They also sold food...chickens, pigs, pig parts, chicken parts...Jacqueline was disgusted. The smell was a bit much for both of us. There were ladies carrying big bundles on their heads. Also, carrying you pet chicken seemed to be the norm. Here are some pictures:

On the way to Chichi, we got stuck in traffic. There was road construction. They are widening the highway. The roads were nice, for the most part. They have buses that take people all over the country. The locals call these buses, "Chicken Buses". The reason is, they stuff as many people as possible. They also drive like crazy. There are many different buses that compete for patrons. The first bus there gets the people. There are people hanging on with the bus door open as they pass other vehicles. I have a few pictures of the buses:

Next stop was Panachel/Lake Atitlan. This was beautiful. They lake is enormous and has 3 volcanoes. Town of Panachel was nice. It had local shops with lots of souvenirs. We refrained from buying anything. On the way down the mountain to Lake Atitlan we saw a waterfall. The weather was beautiful and here are some pictures:

Overall, the best time was when we were in the van going from place to place. We really enjoyed the small local towns and seeing local people doing what they do everyday. I will put an album together when I get back of more pictures...if anyone is interested/reads the blog.

I wanted to thank Nancy for watching our little ones while we are gone. We can't thank her enough. Hopefully Ben doesn't try to mark her while she is sleeping....again.

We made it

2007-11-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

We just got to our hotel. It is beautiful. The city is interesting. I will add the video I took when we walked out of the airport, so check back. Forget the video, unless I can make it smaller. It is 121MB's.

We are hungry and have headaches. I am a little nervous about what to see and what not to miss. There isn't much to occupy us in Guat City, but between our day trips, we will probably need the rest. I think we are off to Chichi tomorrow.

Going to find food.

UPDATE: We ate at a Mexican restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was good. No need to experiment with the first meal.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow

2007-11-16T08:07:00.001-08:00

Well, we leave tomorrow for Guat, (that's local talk for Guatemala). I called the hotel and arranged for the shuttle to pick us up. They also said that they upgraded our room. It's nice to hear, but I don't think it will happen...maybe something is lost in the translation. --WE ARE SO PSYCHED!

I traded in my Cole Haan shoes yesterday. They were falling apart. The store gave me full credit for them, at the current price. I was able to pick out a new pair. The pair I loved did not fit my feet. My arches are too high. I was able to jam my foot in there, but the sales person talked me down. They were AWESOME. The shoes I got are very nice. They are a little contemporary. They are calfskin with rubber soles, instead of leather. Here's a link to them.

Jacqueline has a migraine. Hopefully it will go away before our trip. I know she is excited to go...we just have a lot to do before we leave.

So, no one but Jacqueline has joined my Zombie revolution on Facebook. The only person I can Zombie with is our friend Dan.

Guatemala

2007-11-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

We are leaving for Guatemala on Saturday. We are very excited, but haven't done much planning/packing. I did a lot of reading a few months ago when we booked the trip. Most of the literature stated that you should book your sight seeing tours when you get there. There is a lot of competition, so booking early isn't necessary. The hotel has offered to book our trips. We are staying at the Intercontinental Real Guatemala. We have a non-stop flight out of Charlotte. I am not sure what kind of Internet access we will have, so updates might be limited.

What's been going on:

2007-11-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

Long time, no post. Not sure anyone reads this, since no one seemed to mind that I wasn't updating it. I guess, like most, it is for my own therapy.

Jacqueline's job cancelled this morning and we went to breakfast. It was great. She usually leaves before I get up and come home on or around 8pm...everyday. So, having some quality time, unexpectedly, was very nice. Sometimes there isn't much to talk about, and the comfortable silence is enough.

So much has happened since my last post. Gator football has begun and is taking up so much of time. I am organizing the weekly football viewings, the website and half-time prizes. It's going very well, even though we have lost 3 games this season. I guess you can't win a National Championship every year.

Uncle Michael came to Durham in October. We went to the Durham Beer Festival. It was AWESOME! We had a great time. The session we went to was from 12pm to 4pm. There were about 150 different breweries...maybe more. We printed off the list and made our game plan. What we found out was there was enough time to go to all the tables. I took some video, which I will post...if I can figure it out. Also, I am going to add the beer review to Uncle Michael's blog, nybeerbaron.blogspot.com.

We went to see Maroon 5 in Columbia, SC. It was a great time. Jacqueline loved the band...especially the lead singer. I think I knew most of the songs they played. It was weird when between the two bands, the crowd did the "Go Cocks" chant...we were on the campus of University of South Carolina. It made me naseus.

My Cousin Nancy got married in New York. It was unfortunate that we were not able to attend. Her Husband is Henry Cavillones. My parents got to meet Henry's family and told us how great they are. It was a beautiful wedding...here's Nancy's website, http://www.sehacecamino.com/. Check out all her news!

We also went to Nikki T's wedding in Philly. It was beautiful. I took a ton of pictures. I will check with Jacqueline and see which ones I can post. We hung out with Jimmy and Wendy all weekend. We don't get to see them much. The food all weekend was great!

Filp was in town this past week. He was doing a shows in Asheville and Winston-Salem and had a week in between the shows. We hung out and had a relaxing week.

So, Jacqueline and I have been using Facebook lately. It has been fun. She definitely has more friends than I do. If I can figure it out, I will post a link to our respective Facebook pages.....Nope. Can't figure it out. Just look us up.

That's all so far...I think. Went to subway for lunch.

Superbad...Supergreat?

2007-08-21T07:24:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

Jacque and I went to see Superbad over the weekend. The way she described it was a "Chick-Flick" for guys. There were parts she thought were funny, but it was all for the guys. I thought it was great. I thought the actors were great and the dialog/story was just enough. They didn't try to do too much. Maybe I am reveling my intellect level, but dick and fart jokes are a way to my heart. If you saw Knocked Up and loved it, that doesn't mean you will love Superbad. The movies might have similar actors, writers and style, but the content is very different. Imagine 2 hours just of the brothers/friends from Knocked Up...all talking about women, nudity and sex (from the POV of a 17 year old HS student). If that is appealing, then I TOTALLY recommend Superbad.

I also saw the Simpson movie. I saw the other posts. After 18 years, I had to see it. I must say, I was disappointed. Maybe it was 18 years of expectations. After all those episodes, what was left to be done? It wasn't the "worst episode ever". It just left me thinking that maybe Seth McFarland will learn from this and does a Family Guy movie sooner than later.

Our Fuzzy Children

2007-08-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of our Fuzzy Children. The old story goes, people without human children believe that their pets are their children...and they are. Pieces is our first born. We became the purrfect family unit with the 3 of us. We were that contemporary, young and hip family. She helped mold us into the family that we are. Pieces is now 10 years old.

On April 27, 2007 we added Ben. Ben is our special little child. With Jacqueline being a sign language interpreter, we felt we could handle a "special" little one. He came to us, courtesy of the short bus...helmet on. Ben is 2 and a half years old. He has been a handful. He started by meowing all night and SPRAYING. He has sprayed us while we were sleeping. He is trying to wedge his way into our family. His older sister did not sign off on his joining our family, so she puts him in his place. He walks half way around the room just to avoid crossing her path. Pieces has gotten more tolerant of him, but still longs for the day of being an only child. Here are pictures:

PS In case you don't know, Ben is on Prozac. He has anxiety issues.

Fence Update

2007-08-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Tony and I cut the posts on the fence. The only thing left to do now is sand the scallops and get toppers for the posts. The backyard looks so much bigger now. Big enough to have a pool??? Here are a few pictures of the fence:

Here is a picture of Ben. He likes to escape and make a run for it. If you look closely, you can see the puzzled look on his devious little face.

Gator Meeting in Atlanta

2007-08-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

We went to Atlanta this past weekend for a regional UF Alumni meeting. Representing the Triangle Gator Club was Jacque, Gary and I. Gary drove down with us and didn't cause too many problems. He did mandate that we stop at the outlet mall on the way home. Gary LOVES the Polo outlet. There were about 30 Gators from our region at this meeting. It started with dinner at Maggiano's in the Perimeter Mall. It was family style and quite good. There was more food than we could eat. Saturday was meetings then a trip to the new World of Coke. (Not the World of New Coke...that closed years ago). The picture below is of the Coke Polar Bear. The picture doesn't do it justice...it was a great costume and the person inside did a great job. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The initial movie was short and cute. The rest of the exhibit is much like the old one. There were other movies to see, but we were pressed for time. (Long story, short, we took Marta with a few of the Gators and we go to the museum later than the main group.) We went to Max Lagers for dinner. Not bad, not great. It was free, so no complaints. It was a great Gator weekend. We got a lot of ideas of how to raise $30,000 for our TGC, Triangle Gator Club, endowment.

John Mayer Concert

2007-08-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

We saw John Mayer last night at Walnut Pavilion in Raleigh. It was a great concert. There were a few songs that we were hoping to hear, like Daughters and Wonderland, but we did hear some favs. David and Misty also seemed to have a good time. Dave was able to get us out of the parking lot quickly, which wasn't easy. The venue was pretty full, and we stayed through the whole concert. We did miss seeing James Morrison, but we could hear him in the parking lot. (Sorry James.) Also, Ben Folds was VERY funny and entertaining. Here is a set list from last night:

Vultures
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Why Georgia
Bigger Than My Body
Clarity
Belief
Gravity
Good Love is On the Way
In Repair
Waiting on the World to Change
No Such Thing
I Don't Need No Doctor
ENCORE:
I'm Gonna Find Another You

Phone Issues

2007-07-23T08:00:00.001-07:00

Hi all...well, our home phone stopped working last Monday. I sent an email to SunRocket. On Wednesday, I was on the Internet and deciding what to do. During my search I came across an article that stated that SunRocket has gone out of business. It was a shock. Not so much because I have to find a new service, but because they have our money. SunRocket takes payment once a year for their service. We just paid them for the upcoming year. GO FIGURE. So, long story short, we are back with Vonage. I am not sure it is the best choice, but they are not charging us for the equipment, shipping or the first 2 months. So we basically paid $200 for 4 months of service, (the 2 months with SunRocket and 2 months with Vonage). We thought about dropping our home phone, but we didn't want to lose our numbers, plus our cell phones do not have reception in our house. Let's just hope Vonage can stay in business.

Fence Update

2007-07-16T06:34:00.001-07:00

Jason came from Wilmington again....THANK YOU!! We worked on the fence this past weekend. It almost done. The only things left are cosmetic. Here are the pictures from the end of the day Saturday...all but the gates:

I forgot to take pictures on Sunday. The gates are on and functional.

On the Fence

2007-07-16T06:27:00.001-07:00

Awful pun, I know. We are building a fence around our backyard. I am not sure if we are keeping the cats in or the world out. Here are some pictures from last weekends work:

Before:

After:

In the beginning

2007-03-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

So, we used to have our wedding website up. Now that it is gone, we have to find another way to let the world know what we are doing. I am trying to figure out what has happened to our domain name, jacquelineandcraig.com. I know it was with Globat, but I have not heard from them in a while. I am hopeful that we still own it. If not, we will get something else. In the mean time. Come check out our blog.