more Feb, March and April

In my Feb 4th blog there are pictures of the visit I made to Albuquerque with my 2 youngest grandchildren(Cate and Finn) and their mothers. Two weeks after that visit, my mom suffered a minor stoke. I was glad I had made the trip for her to meet her newest grandchildren. I returned on Feb 15th to be with my sister Dorothy and prepare for what we believed was my mother's death. She was going to be 97 years old on the 25 of February. My sister Rita had arrived earlier for a visit and was there when the stroke occured. In two weeks my mom had gone from a lively active woman to someone who didn't recognize her family or surroundings.


The beginning of a very sad week was spent preparing for the worst. But, when I left to go home on the 19th, having set up the plan for mom's death, funeral and burial in NJ. She was outside saying 'Cheese" for a picture with my sister Dorothy. Mom, I guess didn't believe it was her time. But, I was back to Albuquerque the first week of March after a fall resulted in a pelvic injury and left her bedridden. She was in bad mood following the fall but made a firm commitment to get better and ultimately get back to walking.
The good news is she celebrated her 97th, is looking forward to next year and is getting a little better everyday, uses a walker which she hates because she believes people will see her and think she's old. There's even talk of a NJ visit this summer.
In between the work and visits to ABQ, Erinn celebrated her 30 something birthday on February 12th. I made the chocoholic a 'From Scratch' Chocolate cake. ("Mom's Best Chocolate Cake"-Joanne Weir)

A delicious cake and another great event.

Ronnie had her spring break-2 weeks off from March 8-21. We booked a week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from the 12-19 with our former Murphy Drive neighbors and good friends Mike and Babette Morgan. This was our 3rd trip back to The Iberostar Bavaro Resort. We had been there in 2002 and 2005. It is the BEST! All inclusive and very relaxing with warm sunny weather and friendly staff.

Cate couldn't wait to try on her native skirt from the island(over her Pj's)

Later she did a little art work on the stair spindles while her mother was busy cleaning. Those are Kotex panty liners. She was very proud of her work.
The weather in NJ was rather nice while we were in Punta Cana so when we got home we took a day trip to the Jersey Shore. Poor Kat had to work so she didn't join us. Lunch at Mr Shrimp and dessert at Strollo's made it a great day with the kids.

Ronnie had a birthday on the March 31. It was a quietly celebrated birthday. I can't seem to find any pictures, probably because most of the grand kids were sick. But it was a nice day(I think-no, I'm sure)
Meg had the family in for brunch on Easter Sunday morning followed by an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Tiernan Patrick and Cate are waiting by the back door waiting for the start signal. Another delicious fun day.

My monthly week in Vegas was April 5-9. It has become a very reasonable place to get a hotel room. The crowds just aren't what they used to be and hotel occupancy hangs around 50%. I don't usually stay downtown because I don't like the casino hotels. However, the MGM has a non-casino hotel -The Signature adjacent to it's Grand, it is a non smoking suite hotel and it's now about $99 a night- one block off the strip. A very enjoyable Las Vegas destination and one I'll book again. Here are pictures from my 38th floor balcony looking west to the Strip and looking down at the pool.

The street performers need a license in Vegas and one of the soldiers from ToyStory was being cited by LVPD.

I had a trip 14-18 going from Trenton to London Ontario to Orlando then Miami. It was a rather disappointing stay in Florida-rainy and cool for the 5 days. I was glad to get home and spend a non flying week with the grandchildren and do some work on the lawn and at the beach house. Approaching the end of April- Patrick, on the left, Finn,center and Tiernan posed reluctantly for a before and after haircut photos Patrick is turning 6 on the 26th, Finn will be 2 on July 30, and Tiernan was 8 on Feb 5th.

Snow Snow Snow- Rain Rain Rain

The Blog Title pretty much covers the weather in NJ during February and March. photo of my Pennington home and the street after the plows made it through. February set the NJ record for the most snow fall in 1 month since the start of recorded weather (circa 1850). Mar set the rain record for NJ . A nice time to be somewhere else.

The digging out gave me the unfortunate opportunity to see the tires on my daughter Kat's car. That's her car in the foreground of the 2nd picture. Needless to say the digging-out ended with the purchase of 4 tires and an alignment. I think I also heard something like "wouldn't it have been money better spent as a down payment on a new car for me?"

The day after the digging out I was in Turks and Caicos for President's weekend-did I ever say how much I love my job! Yea that's an outside bar and it's 85 degrees, The beer is Turk's Head and it's the same temp as home -just above freezing. That's me waiting to leave paradise.

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Business has been good for my company. We have some new contracts working in California and Vegas, some pending in Rhode Island, and Southern California. The shots above are approaching Long Beach Airport, California on the ramp in Reno, NV, and overflight of the new Hoover Dam bypass on the way into Vegas.

There are several more February events I'll cover in the next blog.

My month of practice retirement.

My last blog ended with the new year flight to Nassau for a dinner which was disappointing to all.
The passengers were disappointed with the meal. I was disappointed with the whole plan. As you know, I had an 8AM flight out of Philly which started with a 5 AM wake up at home. Southwest Airlines to Fort Lauderdale, rental car to Opa Locka to get the airplane, which I had flown to Opa Locka, Florida on Dec 27th, ready for a 5pm flight to Nassau. Passengers went to Graycliffs, a 5 star restaurant. My co-pilot and I went to Twin Brothers restaurant at "the fish fry" section of Nassau, where the locals eat.

I had Grouper, my copilot had Conch. Our dinner cost was only 5% of the cost of the limo that took our passengers to their disappointing meal. Left Nassau at Midnight and had to fly into Miami-only Customs office open at that hour. 30 min to clear customs and relocate to Opa Locka for next day flight. Got to hotel at 0230, almost 23 hours after wake up for the day. Plenty of opportunity for cat naps during the day. Home on the 3rd with airplane and principal. No more flights til the 6th.

Took the time to visit the Jersey shore and see if the Marina was as ready for me as I am for it. How many days til summer? TOO MANY!
Next time you see a picture of this dock, my boat and I will be in it.

The beaches took a toll from the many noreaster's that hit the Jersey shore. This is the Avon beach with snow fences and mounded sand, trying to keep what's left.

Here's the place I start my mornings when I'm not flying. Tiernan's giving his brother a hug before he leaves for school. I try to get to E's in time to drive Tiernan to school. After I drop T at school I stop at Meg's for a cup of tea and some time with Cate.

Cate has a tent/tunnel (a Christmas present) set up in the dining room and it's her get away spot. I can't fit into the tunnel. She enjoys it.

I had a day trip to Lawrence, MA on the 6th and not another flight scheduled until the 18th. So, I was at Cate's 2nd birthday party. Cate loves parties! In fact, Cate loves any event. She sings and dances and thoroughly enjoys herself.

Cate and her mom and dad. Princess for a day.

The week following Cate's party, I just enjoyed doing very little other than enjoying Tiernan, Patrick, Finn and Cate. But all good things eventually come to an end, and I had a week of flying scheduled 18-22 January. The trip actually ended on the 21st and resulted in 7 days of work for the month, and a title for this month's blog.

The scheduled week in Vegas was miserable. I've been flying to Vegas for about 10 years, during all times of the year and I have never encountered a more miserable week of weather. There was more rain in the week of 18-22 Jan, than there was during the whole of 2009, and temps were only in the 40s.

Somehow I got involved in a travel bear project for the Antheil Elementary School in Ewing. The bear gets handed off to people and the kids track how far, and where it travels from Jan-May. I thought I'd just let him travel with me on the airplane and send postcards from the various destinations. Had a day trip to Reno during its week in Vegas and it gave me an opportunity to take the bear on a tour of the west. The business meeting in Reno was a good one and the boss told us they had just locked in a new energy project in California. Looks like trips to Imperial Valley California will be in my future.

The bear, Reno hangout for the day, and a somewhat humorous sign in the men's room at the airport in Reno.

Here's my Hawker anxious to get airborne.

Now, I failed to mention that on the flight to Vegas on the 18th, I was reading a novel and laid it on the pilot's side panel during a call from Air Traffic Control. Well, when I picked my book up to continue reading, I accidentally activated the passenger oxygen mask deployment. I didn't realize it until the noise from the passenger compartment exceeded my ability to focus on my book.

This trip was slow westbound and rather quick coming home. The following picture is the pilot's multifunction display and it shows 158 knots (175mph) tail wind with 20 min to go for the 200 miles remaining to Trenton. The trip from Vegas was only 3:50 min. (a personal best).

It was nice to leave Vegas. It's my least favorite place when the weather's nice and with the weather this week it was miserable. Even the long time Vegas residents were surprised with the weather. I took this picture from the restaurant at Henderson Airport.

The following photo is a picture of the fog hanging in the valley where Vegas is situated. The airport folks at Henderson said they have never before experienced fog.

I got home and celebrated my birthday early( it was the 28th) on the weekend of the 23. This is a shot of me with my favorite gifts.(l-r Patrick, Cate, Finn, Tiernan)

I followed this celebration with a trip to Albuquerque, NM with Ronnie, Meghan and Cate, Erinn and Finn. My mom who is going to celebrate her 97th birthday on the 25 of Feb hadn't yet met the newest grandchildren. We were going to surprise her.

Cate and Finn doing a little video viewing prior to bed.

It was a fun dinner at Sadie's in Albuquerque, with my NM family.

We were introduced to some of the best margarita's(Sadie's Presidential Margarita), and a quick game of margarita pong.

Brian(my niece's husband), me, Ronnie, Erinn and Finn, my nephew Andrew and his mom(my niece),Jamie, my sister Dorothy, Meg and Cate

My mom and Finn.

We had a minor emergency on our second day in Albuquerque- Cate ran a fever of 102 and we made a trip to the emergency room of the Presbyterian Hospital.

It was a very positive experience-great care provided. Cate had a viral infection but didn't let it stop her from enjoying the trip.

Here is mom, with E and me and Finn.

Had a birthday dinner celebrating 5 birthdays: mine- Jan 28, Tiernan-Feb 5th (he wasn't there, but we celebrated for him), Erinn-Feb 12th, Jamie-Feb 20th, Nanny-Feb 25th. That represents 244 years of birthdays. You can try to figure out how many for each person.

Meghan and Cate with Brian, Jamie and Andrew.

Erinn, Nanny, MeghanTwo great shoppers leaving Jackalope's in Bernalillo, NM

Andrew and Cate resting after dinner at Sadie's.

Dinner was followed by a stop at the local Dairy Queen. My sister Dorothy, who always enjoys a good laugh had plenty of opportunities during our visit. It was too short and much fun.

Before closing, I'd be remiss if I didn't say what a miserable flight-provided by Continental Airlines out of Newark-was had by all. Having made the trip on Southwest out of Philly on several previous occasions, we were lulled into thinking it would be the same on any airline. It isn't. Never again-Newark or Continental. I'm not sure there are any employees associated with Continental Airlines who know anything about customer service. I do know none of the Continental employees I encountered on the 4 legs of this flight, had a clue.

And finally Happy Birthday Tiernan.

Tiernan on his last day as a 7 year old.