Twin Super Skates

 I resisted initially. Really, I did.

Last Friday evening I found two supercharged Mk1 MR2s on Craigslist for $3750 and immediately called to learn more about them. The bodies were in rough shape, but both engines were strong (one rebuilt with only 400 miles!). One was an original supercharged 1988 car (one of less than 2000 imported in to the US); the other a converted 1987 N/A model with a supercharged engine. After learning much more about the cars, having my mother stop to take pictures on her way down to Boston, and having the seller (Jonathan) send me his book of receipts and pictures of the engine build, I decided that I didn't need another project(s) in my life. These were hard to pass up but I told the Jonaathan that I didn't have time even though I wanted the cars. He thanked me, said I really sounded interested and that I was "the only person who was truly serious", which I took to mean that I asked good questions. I sighed some relief knowing I wasn't going to have to figure out a way to get two un-driveable cars back to either Vermont or Somerville. 

Then I got a text.

Jonathan: "if the price is a problem we could work something out if that was one of ur factors"

David: "Man, you are making it hard for me. What would prevent me from driving the one (that was running) home?"

Jonathan: "Well to tell u the truth fuel leak, charging, and registration. But if its delivery ur worried about I could work something out I think. Could I give u a call back?"

To quote priceline, "the deal was just about in the bag." I hemmed and hawed about how low I should offer, and Jonathan and I agreed on $3200, with one car delivered to Somerville and one to Randolph, and it needed to include the "racing" (decent shape) seats. With the "average" value of the supercharged car coming in at $3,500 and me not able to find any running versions of the car below $3,000, I figured I ended up with a decent deal! Now I just need to figure out which one is going to be my winter car for next winter, and which one is going to be sold.

Some pictures are below. The cars aren't in awesome shape but in relation to what I saw for sale on the internet they aren't bad. Tech specs here (look at the supercharged version): http://www.megaboost.co.uk/mr2/frames/techinfopage.htm

Pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/117598496317711140914/albums/5702357182283261489?authkey=CLbtluiL7rjUbw

Aquarium & dinner date

This past Friday David took a half day at work so that we could go into Boston and redeem our Living Social coupon for the aquarium as well as our Eversave dinner coupon for an restaurant in the North End. Around 2:00 we took Ash for a nice long walk, then we hopped on the T at Davis Square to start our adventure! 

The aquarium was fun, but the tank in the center was not nearly as tall as David and I remember it being when we were kids! We both commented on how when we were there before it seemed that we walked around and around and around and that it took quite a while to reach the top of the tank. On Friday we learned that, in fact, it's not that tall at all! It was still very cool to see the huge fish, the sharks, the rays and the big turtle that has been living there forever. One of the coolest parts was that the staff was in the tank feeding the fish while we were there, and it was neat to watch the ray suck the fish into its mouth. The sea lions lounging around outside were also adorable, and kind of reminded us of Ash.

We finished at the aquarium earlier than expected, so wandered through Quincy Market, and then over to Mike's Pastry to get dessert to bring home. We've had Mike's before that our friends have brought back, but never actually been to the shop ourselves. It's a popular place! The tasty cannolis we had once we got back home reminded us why everyone loves the place so much. 

After picking up dessert to go we went over for our dinner date at Antico Forno. We gorged ourselves on delicious soft bread, followed by a sausage and ricotta pasta bake for David and a bowl of gnocchi for me. Both were delicious! 

We were pretty excited to get home because we wanted to see Ash. He'd been alone for about 5 hours, with one visit from Christine when she got home from work. That was the longest amount of time we've left him alone in the house, and we were braced for potential damage when we walked through the door! Luckily our puppy behaved perfectly and the only evidence that he'd been left alone was our rearranged shoes and his toys strewn about. He was certainly excited to see us!! 

We enjoyed our desserts from Mike's while watching an episode of the Cosby show. It was a very fun afternoon and evening, and it was great to take a break from the house and relax! 

Bath time!

This week I decided to give Ash a bath. This was his second bath with me, outside of going to the groomers. The first time, Ash managed to get me as wet as I got him, and he proceeded to avoid me the rest of the day. This time went much more smoothly - he only tried to crawl on me once, he didn't continually try to jump out of the bath tub, and he seemed to recover pretty quickly after the experience was over. He looked pretty cute while he was "drying" himself off, so I thought I'd share.

Random photos and videos of Ash

Ash and Caroline running down the road at Burke.

Ash eating peanut butter out of a kong.

Playing outside with David

Sleeping in Grandpa's truck

Why am I wearing this?

More importantly, WHAT ARE THESE?? I CAN'T FEEL THE GROUND! WHERE ARE MY FEET? (Ash didn't move a single step while wearing these, they were purchased in attempt to protect his feet from the salt, but will be returned.)

Nothing better than a pile of toys!

Except maybe Caroline's PJ pants.

Where did my hair go?? (Ash after being groomed.)

This life is pretty good :)

This is comfortable.

Time to wake up. Do we get to go outside?? 

They dressed me up for Christmas...

Unwrapping presents is exhausting.

Holiday fun

 David was home two weeks for the holidays. The first week we spent finishing up Christmas shopping and working (me on research, him on loose ends from his previous week at work). We also squeezed in a bit of cleaning and organizing, as well as Christmas cookie baking :). For the beginning of the week Katie and Susan were with us as Katie had hip surgery in Boston and needed a near by place to recuperate for a few days (her apartment, while close by, had a lot of stairs so would have been a challenge!). After they left Harvie came down for a night so that he and David could build shelving for the basement. 

Our Christmas tree, imported from VT!

While David was doing some cleaning/organizing, Ash found a new bed

He grew tired of the photo shoot quickly

On the Friday before Christmas we drove to VT to celebrate Christmas at Joe's Pond with Grammy Jane, Dad, Christine and Alex (Donna was also there for a bit on Saturday morning). We had a great time! A very tasty dinner of steak, chicken, salad, cheesy mashed potatoes, asparagus and flourless chocolate cake (completely gluten free dinner for Christine!). On Saturday we drove down to Randolph to celebrate with David's family (Katie, Susan, Harvie). Dinner of roast beef and veggies and some present wrapping on Christmas Eve, and a morning of presents and cinnamon buns on Christmas day! It was a very relaxing and fun time, and we all witnessed Ash open his first Christmas present!

It was also fun to see the grin on David's face when he opened his surprise 3-piece Craftsman toolbox :)

Coming downstairs with piece #1 (didn't know #2 and #3 were on the way)

"I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! Ah, it’s great to be male!"

Around lunch time on Christmas day we left Randolph and drove to Andover, MA to have Christmas dinner with Grammy Pat, Grandpa John, my mom, Tommy, Dan & Purvi et al. and Christine. Ravioli from Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville and pot roast! After so many fantastic meals, we were starting to feel pretty full :) The rest of the week we spent split between Randolph and Burke (with a couple trips to Montpelier to celebrate with Grandpa George and Linda), and did our best to relax a bit. Overall Christmas this year was perfect - everyone loved their gifts, and we came home with some awesome new toys ourselves! 

The day before New Year's Eve David and I drove down to Manchester, NH to pick Khush up (my friend from IL). That night Khush and I made a feast of home cooked Indian food (yum!!) and the next day the three of us went skiing with Matt, Christine and Dad. Even though there were only a couple of trails open at we had a great time, and the snow was surprisingly nice! Our vacation ended Sunday night with a movie and dinner, and we are now back into our normal routine. We are very excited to see that, since coming home, Ash seems to have even more confidence than ever! He is doing great, and from what we can tell really loving and enjoying life. As I type this he is in the process of relocating all of his toys, and some of my laundry :)

Ash & Coal, reunited!

On December 10 my mom and Tommy adopted Coal, Ash's brother. Coal had been available for adoption on and off on the Poodle Rescue Vermont (PRVT) website as his first couple of families had young children and the stress of a new situation combined with the energy of the kids made it difficult for Coal to adjust. When my mom learned that Coal was up for adoption again she submitted an application to PRVT. Only a few days later they had a home visit scheduled, which David and I happened to be in VT for. Coal ran around the house meeting the other dogs, and was much less timid than Ash. While it's impossible to know if he and Ash knew they are brothers, it seemed as though they at the very least remembered each other. 

Ash and Coal playing during the home visit

Considering mom and Tommy already were parents to three labs (one yellow named Neo, one chocolate named Stella, one black named Belle) and a cockapoo/beagle mix named Brandy, it is certainly debateable whether they were in need of a fifth dog. However, the visit with Coal went very well and his foster mom was able to leave him with us that very day. Coal has now adjusted very well to his new family and gets along great with his "brothers and sisters", as well as with his real brother Ash during visits. He is very well loved by Mom and Tommy as well as his extended family, and is hopefully settling in and feeling confident that he has found his forever home. David and I are certainly really excited to have Coal in the family! 

Adoption photo

Ash and Coal at Grammy Pat's house

Ash and Coal, #2

Over the holidays David, Ash and I had several opportunities to hang out with Coal! He is super cute, and very different in personality than Ash. He is much more confident, and comes immediately when called. He LOVES to be held, and will run up to you and put his paws on your legs to be picked up. Once in your lap he falls right asleep and turns into a rag doll. He barks a bit more than Ash, as if he is defending his space. He is very smart and learned "down" in our first training session. It's fun to watch Ash come out of his shell when he is around the other dogs - he is much more outgoing and is eager to join in the mayhem.

Ash and Coal seem to really enjoy being together, and tend to follow each other around in the house. If one is napping on the couch, the other is napping close by. For short periods of time we have put them in a crate together (the crate is too small for two dogs so we don't keep them in there long) in hopes that it will help make Ash feel more comfortable in that environment (Ash has decided he likes his crate as a "nap" zone, he just doesn't like having the door closed - Coal doesn't seem to mind either way). The night before Christmas Eve Coal joined us at Joe's Pond for our celebration with Dad and Grammy Jane. He went to sleep in bed with Christine, which happened to be in a room without a door. Not 30 minutes later Coal had migrated two floors down in the house and hopped into bed with David, Ash and I! We were pretty sure he just wanted to be with Ash, because other nights when they are in the same house one or the other tends to wake up early to go looking for the respective brother.

They are both awake here, but usually they curl up and go to sleep :)