Christine's colleges-and-cousins tour (Updated 4/1)

Christine and Andy pose with Vivien after dinner at
the BoatYard Grill in Ithaca on Tuesday.

This week Christine and family have been on a colleges-and-cousins tour across upstate New York. The itinerary gave Christine, a high school junior, a chance to see a wide variety of schools: small (Alfred and Skidmore), large (Syracuse, Cornell) and medium (Ithaca, New Paltz).

Visiting Julie's alma mater, Syracuse University.

Along the way, Christine and Andy (and their parents) got to spend time with their cousins' cousin Kathy at Ithaca College; cousin Vivien at Cornell; and cousin Liz at RPI. Here they pose in the lounge of Liz's sorority house.

On Thursday evening they got together with Aunt Pat for dinner out and a little visit at her home near Saratoga.

Another step on the path to teaching

Shanna is progressing toward her masters degree and teaching certification. The latest milestone: The state-required "content specialty test."

"I took the CST-multisubject exam last month and just found out that I passed! It is the second of three exams that I have to take in order to be certified as a teacher in New York State. I do not have a specialty since I plan to teach all subjects, so I was required to take the test covering all areas instead of just one focus," Shanna writes.

"Graduate school is going well and I am enjoying it. I am working my way through my classes quickly and although I still have to do student teaching next year, I hope to have my Masters in both early childhood and childhood education in May 2011. After that, I will be certified to teach infants-grade 6."

Nanette takes charge of new marinelife foundation

As executive director of the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Nanette has overseen its growth in recent years and its spring 2007 move into a new 12,000 square foot facility in Juno Beach, Fla. Now Nanette has been named president of the newly formed LMC Foundation.

"The foundation will be our fundraising and communications arm and will help us better accomplish our outreach and financial goals," the LMC's board chairman said in a letter to the center's supporters. "On behalf of the board, I'd like to congratulate Nanette on her appointment as president of our foundation, and thank her for her time served as our executive director. We look forward to having Nanette grow this division and communicate with you on a regular basis."

Nanette writes: "Fortunately, the LMC is financially healthy and I'm excited about the launch of the foundation. We are hiring additional staff and have just hired Cambridge 7, an exhibit design firm from Boston, to begin planning for expansion."

Check out LMC's Turtle Cam!

The Loggerhead Marinelife Center was in this news in January when thousands of sea turtles were stunned by unusually cold water temperatures. The LMC took a leading role in rescuing the stricken animals, rehabilitating and releasing over 400 green turtles.

Previous articles:
Loggerhead Marinelife Center cares for 'cold-stunned' turtles
Turtle update: 500 helped by LMC

Yay! The sun is out!

Xander out getting some vitamin D.

Another East Coast storm (Updated 3/15)

How did everyone make out with all the wind and rain this weekend?

At Birch Street HQ we ended up with a bit of a flood in our basement after our sump pump quit Saturday night. No disaster - just waterlogged rugs and some other wet things that needed to be dried out or pitched. But it made for a scramble late Saturday night to rescue various odd items from the inch or two of water on the floor - and to find a plumber who could pump it out in the middle of the night (luckily we did). Then most of Sunday was spent cleaning up.

There was a lot of street flooding around our town - including the closing of portions of busy Route 22. This photo from a local web site, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch, shows the westbound lanes of Route 22 submerged while eastbound traffic splashes by.

Got a storm story? Share it!

Brien wrote on Monday morning:
Most of the aluminum siding on the windward side of my apartment building got ripped off by the wind and sailed off or crumpled up. A lot of places are without power in Westchester, but I have power luckily, as do Mom and Dad and Kevin and his family.

Shanna wrote on Monday afternoon:
We were fine over here, just a huge tree branch falling in the yard. However a few minutes away in Eastchester, one of my best friends didn't have it so easy. Half of the roof blew off their house and they now are in the process of completely taking down every wall and floor because of the amount of water that they got inside.

Hugh & Dolores visit Doug & Lisa & Nevada

Hugh and Dolores paid a birthday-week visit to their son Doug and his wife Lisa in Las Vegas and took in some of the nearby natural wonders.

Their visit to Vegas followed their annual trip to Kansas City for the National Academy of Needlearts Assembly, where Dolores was a teacher and judge. Read Hugh's full account of their trip.Here they are at Calico Hills in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, west of Las Vegas. Click below for more photos from there and Valley of Fire State Park, northeast of the city.

Get all the details - Read Hugh's full account of their trip

Good season comes to disappointing end

Brendan scored 14 points but his Saratoga Springs High School team came up short in the sectional tournament on Feb. 25.

As reported by The Saratogian:

After surprising the Suburban Council and finishing with a 13-5 overall record and earning the No. 2 seed from the conference in the Class AA tournament, the Blue Streaks saw their campaign ended Thursday night after they were shocked by Queensbury, 84-67, on their home floor.

“It’s obviously a very, very tough pill to swallow,” said Saratoga head coach Mitch Snyder.

...While big man Brennan Haley did all he could (14 points, seven rebounds) to keep Saratoga (13-6) in the game, Queensbury eventually stretched its lead... (Read the full story here.)

Marking 98 years of Girl Scouting

Julie and Christine helped mark Girl Scout Week at our local town hall and our church.

March 12 is the 98th anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouts in the United States.

Julie, the Girl Scouts service unit manager for Fanwood and Scotch Plains, was joined by Christine and two Brownies at the Fanwood Borough Council meeting Tuesday night. The girls led the Pledge of Allegiance and received the mayor's proclamation of March 7-14 as Girl Scout Week.

A local news web site, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch, covered the event with an article and photos, including this one of the mayor happily receiving some cookies from the Brownies.


Earlier in the week, Girl Scouts wore their uniforms to Sunday services at St. Paul's Church in Westfield, took part in the presentation of gifts and afterward posed for a photo on the church steps.

Yes, Spring is coming!

Tish writes: I just had to send everyone a little bit of a Cape Cod Spring!

A break from the cold, a hike in the desert

On a break from her studies at Rochester Institute of Technology in snowy upstate New York, Becky is visiting her parents in Nevada. Here are a couple of photos Lisa posted of a hike in Valley of Fire State Park.

Photos to warm up the rest of us back here in the chilly Northeast!

Hockey fans, at least for a day

Among the estimated 27.6 million people in the United States who watched the USA-Canada Olympic gold medal hockey game on Sunday were an estimated 10.0 members of our family who happened to converge at the Midland Avenue house. It was a very exciting game even for those who aren't big hockey fans - an intense 60 minutes that ended with a game-tying American goal in the final seconds, followed by an overtime period and a sudden-death win for Canada.

Kevin was properly outfitted in a Team USA jersey from 2006. Genevieve was visiting from the land of the San Jose Sharks.