Some Sad News

Some of you may know that the people who drive down Barnes Lane are often going quite fast. There have been several minor accidents on this road since I've moved here. This morning at 6AM we heard screeching tires & a loud bang. So we knew there had been another incident. Our first concern is to be sure that no one is injured. Then we leave it to the professionals to take care of the rest. Although the driver was unhurt this morning, I'm sad to say that Oscar did not survive. The driver was going very fast & swerved to try to miss him. He failed. He must have been going extremely fast, because his car continued another several hundred feet before it hit a telephone pole further down the road. It happened very fast & I'm confident that Oscar did not suffer. He probably didn't even see the car. Regardless, it's a very sad day & we will miss him dearly.

Back on track

I picked up our save-the date notices last week. They came out really well & I can't wait to send them out. I've spent many hours pouring over the guest list & trying to make sure I get all the details right. I think I've got most of the issues on my side of the list covered. That was the easy part! Now I have to work on Alec's side of the list. That's had to wait, though, as Alec's parents are out of the country. They will be back tomorrow. Yippee! Once Carol is home, I'll be able to go over the list with her & verify everything's correct. There are a lot of international addresses and I want to make sure I have the format correct.

Once that's all settled, it's just a matter of geting the stamps that I ordered on line from the US Postal Service and printing out the mailing labels. I picked up some clear mailing lables by Avery that I hope work out well. I didn't think these announcements were worth the extra printing cost for each envelope to be addressed by the printer. We'll save the niceties for the invites.

I've finally gotten motivated to get back into shape. I think it was the save-the-date notices that got to me. Anyway, I'm back on Weight Watchers. Today is only my third day, but there's already a noticable difference. I've not weighed myself since Monday & only plan to do so once a week. My clothes feel looser, though. Monday was the hardest day. I think my stomach growled all day. I snapped at Alec, too. He's always talking about food. I just couldn't take it anymore. Other than that, he's been really supportive. The real test will be when Chuck & Carol get back. It's going to be hard because Carol is always cooking such great meals. I'll just have to be careful about my portions.

I've also been exercising... which has been extremely hard as there has been a heat wave this week. I knew it was bad when the weather icons from my forecast fox browser plug-in turned into red sweltering thermometers. It was scary! Anyway, so most of my weight loss is probably from sweating! Ich!

Good news on the running front... I really should thank Laura Broenniman. She's the one who motivated me to get back into running. There's a half marathon in Ridgefield in October. I thought that would be a good goal. Right now, I can barely run 4 miles without dying. I'll get there. To think I used to be able to run more than 15 miles at a clip! I've really gotten out of shape! I'll get back though.

Laura & are are going running at the Mianus River Park on Saturday morning. I told her how out of shape I am. However, I don't think she completely understands how seriously out of shape I am. She's gonna find out! Hahahaha!

International Marketing Class

I had my first day of International Marketing class at Palisades today. The cases (Dell direct model v. IBM.com) are quite interesting. However, I don't feel like I've learned anything yet. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.

As is usually the case with these type events, it was really great to see some old friends & catch up on everyone's lives.

The food at the Palisades is really good. I need to have more self control. Oh, the will power!!!! :(

Party On!

So, I finally got around to sending out the evite for the big party. I need to take down the poll. I'll do that tomorrow. Hope we have good weather & good turn out.

More pictures of the house

So, now that I've finally been motivated, I have updated the site with some pictures that were taken around the property about 3 weeks ago. Life is getting back to normal...

Here's a really nice picture of Alec & his mom, Carol. 

Here's a view of the deck. 

Carol asked me to help with some of the gardening around the house. Here are some of the planters I made for her on the back deck. 

Carol is always putting fresh flowers around the house. I think it such a nice touch. 

Here's the table that Carol set for when my mom and her husband, Tom, came to visit. Isn't it beautiful? 

The Wedding Plant

I'm a bit behind on my posts... Here's what this whole site was originally about: Mom & Tom got Carol & Chuck a beautiful peony bush. The following are pictures of the final result. Chuck & Carol refer to it as "The Wedding Plant". We look forward to enjoying it's springtime blooms for many years to come.

 

 

 

 

I'm back

So, I'm back in the office today. I slept pretty hard about two nights ago. Still I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck. :(

At least I'm catching up on all the e-mail that I received while I was out last week.

Happy Hour in NYC tonight. I'm going to enjoy a well deserved Amstel Light.

A few thoughts

I have to admit that I was really floored by the loss of my grandfather. I know it must seem selfish. In all reality, it is. Gramps was one month away from being 94. He lived a long, fruitful & very happy life. This fact is best demonstrated by the fact that the body that was to be seen lying in the casket at the wake looked nothing like the man I knew. The simple reason behind that is that for all the 36 years that I knew him, he was always smiling.

Gramps had a beautiful smile. Just check out the picture posted below.

So, why was I so surprised? I'd just seen him about 2 weeks before he passed away. He was energetic, simling & joking (as always) and sharp as a tack. I remember commenting on the car trip home how that despite his age, he seemed healthy as a horse. It was amazing. I guess that's why, when shortly thereafter I learned that he'd been admited to the hospital for a bleeding ulcer, I really didn't think much of it. Afterall, Gramps had been through this before. His ulcer was healed by Sunday night. But I think he'd had enough. He'd been ready to go for a long time. I just wasn't ready to let go. I'm still not.

I feel amazingly lucky to have had him for as long as I did. He was a very special man, as was my grandmother. I prefer to think of them finally reunited in the afterlife.

There has been another thing that has floored me over the last several days. It's the pure generousity and kindness of those around me. For a man of 94, I really didn't expect too many people to still be around to send Gramps off. Boy was I wrong! I am truly touched by the consideration of those who took the time from their busy day to visit with Gramps & with our family. In an era where there is never enough time to do anything, the fact that so many were willing to put their lives on hold for a few moments of quiet with us did not go unappreciated.

Finally, I must say that I am so very touched by the generosity of my future brother-in-law, Chris. Despite the fact that he was in the middle of putting together a company celebration for Klipmart, he took the time to send me one of the most beautiful bouquets of flowers that I've ever received. This, as well as Alec & his parents attendance at the wake & funeral really made me feel so happy to soon become a member of their family. I love them all so dearly.

And just when I thought everything had quieted down, I received a lovely basket of houseplants & stargazers from my best friend Anne-Marie. Despite whatever difficulties she may be facing right now, she too, took the time to look out for me.

I feel so amazingly blessed. Thank you all.

Mary, Tracy, John, Jack, Natalie & Gramps at Natalie's birthday party, July 2004.

A goodbye to Gramps

My grandfather passed away last Sunday night. My uncle sent out the following e-mail about him today. I thought he did a really nice job of summing things up:

All,

On behalf of the Mitro family, thank you for your expressions of condolences and the beautiful flowers for my Dad, "Rocky" [aka Caesar Rocco Mitro].

For those of you who never met him, he was a simple man who lived a long life of 93 and 11/12th years, on his own terms, with humility, humor and love.

Although he was a man of very modest means, he was a very rich family man of life-long friendships. He was loved by all, and during his lifetime he loved and helped countless thousands of friends, neighbors, and strangers in ways we will never know.

As he told those who were with him on the afternoon before he died, ”I have lived a wonderful life, I have a loving family, and many friends whom I loved and who loved me. It’s now time for me to go”. And in spite of the protestations of those around him, he went to sleep that evening and passed peacefully without pain or reservation.

He will be missed, and as we mourn his passing, we celebrate his life and the joy he brought to all of ours.

God bless you Gramps!