like a ghost thru the fog...

"and to those that i love, like a ghost thru a fog, like a charmed hour, and a haunted song..." - s. nicks

susan and kristi came to visit. it was so good seeing friends. catching up. sipping wine. being happy. jason made wonderful meals, fresh bread and wild berry cobbler. we bought antique hats, made an entrance at an art show, invaded a local winery, ate rita's chili, toasted a 67 yr old survivor, sent dinky dog off to her new home, and watched the sun set while the fog rolled in.

now they are gone. the bottles are empty. the sink is full of dishes. the dogs are sleeping. and the fog lingers as it has and always will. old timers say that for every day of fog in late summer, a day of snow that winter. it's been foggy for 30 days. i'm afraid.

me, kristi, emily (a 67 yr old survivor we picked up at the 12 west martini bar), and susan

kristi & me

amber adopts dinkerbell

mmm... bread!

what's wrong with me?

for memorial day, jason, amber and i drove up to ohio to visit the doczy estate. i discovered two things about myself on this journey: 1. i am a lush. 2. i take more pictures of animals then family. which is also evident from the lack of people pictures from this weekend when we attended the annual rook family reunion.

yes, that's me with my head in a wine glass.

my dad took this of me torturing his dog.

my sister in law's dog from reunion day.

if it weren't for the damn fence, blue boy would have attended the reunion.

going to california.

"took my chances on a big jet plane

never let them tell you that they're all the same

the sea was red and the sky was grey

wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today

the mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake

as the children of the sun began to wake"

from going to california by led zeppelin

tomorrow i leave for san francisco to attend the 4th annual sisters in survivorship retreat. i can't believe 4 years ago, i had chemo hair! looking forward to seeing my sistahs. looking forward to drinking some wine. looking forward to having a ball and laughter ringing up and down the hall.

our first wedding anniversary.

this weekend jason and i celebrated our first wedding anniversary. we both went traditional (paper) with our gifts. i got jason a rare 2nd edition of "spring & all" by william carlos williams. carlos williams is jason's favorite poet. we used a quote from "spring & all" for our wedding favors. and jason gave me a $1000 (cash, small bills - that i'm holding in the photo) shopping spree! jason knows i am frugal. and i never spend money on myself. he wanted me to go hog wild this weekend. get a new wardrobe. eat lobster. whatever i fancied. it was a lot of fun. i came home with a bunch of new clothes, sunglasses, an antique chair, a new quilt, and more... and the food! oh we had lobster and crab and champagne, and filet mignon, and imported belgium chocolates. we ended the weekend with a toast from a bottle of chianti we bought in italy on our honeymoon. perfect.

cleaning and moving and moving and cleaning.

the next week will be spent cleaning our new place, moving boxes, finishing the wall we knocked down, polishing the floors, more packing, more moving, painting and cleaning our old place, more moving... it's hard to see an end. jason and i are very tired. we both work full-time jobs and then come home and work all night at home. we keep telling ourselves in a little over one week from now, we will be moved for good! i can't wait for our first night in our new place. when i can relax with a nice bottle of chianti, turn on the record player and listen to sly stone's "everybody is star" as it dances thru the walls and doors and floors and settles somewhere perhaps by the fireplace making itself at home.

as of today, we don't have phone or dsl at our old place so you might not hear from me in a while. i'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.

see you on the otherside,
larissa

footprints.

jason's mom got us "just married" flip flops for the beach. here are our footprints in the sand in castiglione della pescaia. i am still wearing my flip flops, longing to be back in italy on the beach sipping chianti and eating olives.