Friends

Adam took this picture of Shelly and I at Fr. James 25th anniversary of his ordination back in February.

Getting ready to eat

Sue

Susan and Karen

Nancy hates having her picture taken but I was able to sneak one in

Gathering At Sue's

Last night we had a get together at Sue's home over in Falmouth. What a fun time! Good food and great friends--it doesn't get much better than that!

Sally

Susan and Sue

Charlotte and Connie--Connie loves being retired

Charlotte and Connie

View of the bay from Sue's living room--what a gorgeous site, even through the fog

Donuts

The Crew

Theresa Lane, Mavis Gardner Martinkovic, Steve Lane, Taylor Lane, and Shelby Lane

Taylor, Mavis, and Short Bus

On Monday (Memorial Day) each year, my cousin Rod and his wife Ada have a sort of birthday/welcome summer celebration at their camp on Ambejejus Lake. Rod makes chocolate donuts (fried in lard of course and very healthy), and family gathers to not only welcome summer but celebrate my Dad's cousin Mavis's birthday. This year Mavis will turn 91 and is still going strong. This was also the first year that I have been home to attend and we had a wonderful time, even though it was a wee bit chilly.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend was a busy weekend for us. I traveled to Millinocket so that we could have my Dad's interment service at the cemetery, and at the same time we buried my Auntie "M". While her real name was Harriett, I called her Auntie "M" because for much of her life she lived in Massachusetts. It was a very nice service and essentially we "killed two birds with one stone". Okay, that was gauche, but you all know me...and that's exactly what we did. I was surprised at the number of people that were there but I guess I shouldn't have been. There were some of Dad's friends that had not been at the funeral because they were in Florida at the time he passsed, and of course the family. Dad's cousins, my cousins on both sides of the family because Auntie "M" was Mom's older sister, and of course my sister and her hubs, as well as the remaining aunts and uncles.

Spent the week after finishing up the cleaning out of their home. I don't know how many contractor bags of trash we moved out of the house but there were a significant number. My sister took a fair amount of "treasures" to sell in a yard sale (I HATE having yard sales), I packed up some for our Christmas Sparkles fair, and some of course we saved. It seems strange that 80 years of life comes down to what is left that can be put in boxes, sold, trashed, or given to Goodwill. While my sister was there helping me sort through stuff, we were able to laugh at many things, marvel at the amount of bric-a-brac collected over 60 years, and we even had a few surprises. When I was alone with Art on Thursday morning, getting ready to come back to Portland, it felt strange to be leaving my childhood home for what might be the last time. So many memories, both good and bad. A bit of nostalgia as I remembered running down the stairs going to our bedrooms, carrying my sister (she was 2- I was 9), falling, and having her look at me and say, "that was fun! Can we do it again?" The back porch, the front porch....the basement seances, Julie and I watching the boys drive up and down the street from the kitchen and of course jumping up to see who it was every 5 minutes. It made for an interesting and thoughtful drive back to Cumberland that day, believe me.

More semester pics

Missy
Paula

Missy

After the final exam

Before the final exam

Semester Pictures

Victoria working hard

Tori

Renee

Okay, where's all the good stuff?

Buddies

Deb Poirier takes her camera everywhere with her during the semester so she can keep a record of what is happening with our class. These pics are of the second semester Freshman class from 1/09 to 5/09. Thanks for sharing, Deb!

Over a Month

Hard to believe that it has been over a month since I last posted anything on the blog. With school winding down, end of the year "stuff" has gotten in the way of taking any time to update things. Now though, most of the school things are done and it's time to take a couple weeks, wind to relax before I start getting next semesters curriculum together. As far as we know I will be one of two instructors starting a new satellite program in Bath, Maine this semester but nothing is ever 100%. We started interviewing new faculty this week and once we fill these positions we will have a better idea of where faculty will be placed. It is hard to believe that we're going to bring everything together in just 12 or 13 weeks to make this happen but when I look back at what Karen, Lisa, and I did to get York College ready for our first class 3 years ago in just a few short weeks, I know we'll do it. We graduated our first class in December and of 10 students, 9 have taken their NCLEX exams and passed.

Graduation was last week and 4 of our students that graduated in December were there which made us very proud. Here are a couple pictures of Lisa and I at graduation lat week.

Sunday April 19

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at Wendy's new home in Levant at a housewarming party thrown by the realtor that sold them the house. Good friends, awesome family, and a great time was had by all. Will put more up about the party once Wendy sends me some pics!

Pushin' the season aren't you, Rod?

Ada and Rod went to camp the other day to see how things were holding up. Rod saw water and got a bit excited.

Yes, folks..that's ice

Anyone wanna go canoeing?

Visiting Gram's

Grammie Birt

Harold Birt

Gram's

Aunt Jackie

Cleaning up

Short Bus

Taylor's got talent!

Brenda Angotti, Ada Angotti, and Wendy Lane-Doiron

More Family Pics

Shelby, Taylor, and Dianne

Justin and Aunt Marianne

Wendy's hubs, Jerry

Ada Angotti

Family Pics from after the funeral, March 14, 2009

My cousin Jane and I....this day brought back so many memories

Steve, Theresa, Shelby, and Taylor

Jane, her mother (my Aunt) Jackie, Brenda (Rick's wife)

Smooth move, Rick!

Rick Angotti, Me, Rod Angotti.....cousins...these guys taught me everything I know. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Been awhile

Hi all...it's been awhile since I published anything. Just after I published the picture of James that Adam took at his anniversary celebration, things got very busy for us here. As many of you know my Dad had been residing in the Katahdin Nursing Home (along with his brother, my uncle Red) for the past year. Just a few days after I last published, Dad had a stroke from which he never recovered. Dad passed away on March 6. Art and my cousin Jane, had been with him shortly before he passed. His passing was as comfortable as it could be but, I know he suffered a bit. On the upside, while this was stressful for our family, I am so happy that he is now free from the sadness and depression that he's had for the past 10 years. Anyone who knows him, knows that these last 10 years since he had his first stroke have not been pleasant for him. The loss of his independence, his craft and ability to perform that craft took a large emotional toll on him. My aunt (G)Nat, had told me a while after Mom passed away that you're not an adult until your second parent passes on. She was right--it is such a weird ass feeling knowing that NOW I'm the one who "knows it all". Sitting in church on Easter and seeing both their names on the altar flower memorial list, was weird and it actually started to make an impression that as a child, I am now truly alone. The good part though is that I still have my sister, a wonderful husband, two wonderful sons, and an awesome family. And for them, I thank God everyday.

Fr. James celebrates 25 years

On Friday, February 13, our Parish was able to help our Rector, celebrate 25 years of the priesthood. It was a wonderful service and reception with lots of good food, friends, and family. Adam took pictures and here is a sample of those pics.

The Baptism of Jett Campbell Morrison

Jett's family gathers outside the church

Jett and his Mommy

Julie and Jett

Alex, Julie, Fr. James and Jett

Alex and Julie had Jett baptised on December 28 at The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin where Jude was baptised just 3 years ago. It was a wonderful celebration of Jett's birth in Christ making our Christmas season that much more special. Here are some pics.