Butch came to visit

Butch could not wait for Matt to get back from Wal-Mart. He and his mother and Mert came to visit today. Butch is excited about the new pool, as we all are.

Go Esther!

When I was a little girl I wanted to be the next Esther Williams. She was pretty, sassy, looked great in a bathing suit, and got paid lots of money to go swimming. My parents endured long hours of listening to: "watch me stand on my head in the water" as I tried to imitate her. She could have been an Olympic medal winner, much like myself, but her Olympics got cancelled due to World War II. So she became a movie star instead. In a couple of days, I'll be able to do my Esther Williams impression again! Thank God our pool is secluded.

Could everyone please stop bitchin about the heat ?

Things could be worse! As Maine humorist Tim Sample states, "A Maine Winter is like a colonoscopy, "it's not the most fun you have ever had, but you will survive it."

Hey Dad

This is the Japanese Maple we planted last year which also needs to be moved to make way for the pool. We certainly have our work cut out for us today and nobody is moving too fast after Ray Charles night.

Ray Charles night in Carmel

Swimmers ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The twins moved the stairs to make way for the pool.













We have about 8 feet of garden to move for new pool.












We added barn bling

WTF PIC

Pool ready

I have all these pictures I took tonight and am not able to post them. Pissin me off, so I must sign off. Will try later.

A Day on the Links!

Last Sunday Special O of Maine hosted a day on the links at Bangor Municipal Golf Course. We had a great day at the course and our golf prefessional and instructor, Brian Enman, was great! He spent time with each athelete developing their individual golf swing styles and provided great tips. Here's some views on the day!

It's a cookout!

Last Saturday the Penobscot Area Special Olympics hosted a barbeque and dance honoring the Team Maine athletes who went to National games. The cookout was held at Bangor Mental Health Institution, oops excuse me, it is now called the Dorothea Dix Psychobabble Center. You could call it Disney World and it still looks like an old mental institution to me.
Everyone had a great time and the media were present. It was great to hear the atheletes talk about their experiences in Iowa.

Eat your heart out!

These are the two bronze medals me and Christina each received as unified partners!

My favorite bocce partner

This is me and Christina, my bocce partner. We took a break from bocce and watched a soccer game.

Bloomin

Off to the games

Bocce

Today 26,279 Special Olympics athletes from 93 Special O Programs compete in bocce. Bocce is a very old, yet re-energized game, has grown in popularity with Special Olympics atheltes and fans over the past few years. The game's balance of skill and strategy has been key to its resurgence. The object of the game is for one team to get as many of their balls (boccia) closer to the pallina (the smallest ball) than the opposing team's closest ball. Anywhere from 2 to 4 to 8 players may compete for each team. To start, each player is given two balls. Each player must then take turns rolling the ball toward the pallina ball which has already been thrown onto the field. The players are given points for the balls rolled closest to the pallina ball. Players may also throw on the fly striking the ball to move the point balls. Balls, including the pallina, may also be displaced by the balls of the other player. In Unified Sports bocce, a doubles team would consist of one Special Olympics athlete and one partner. As in all Special O sports, atheltes are grouped in competition divisions according to ability level, age and gender. To see where I played bocce at national games go to www.2006nationalgames.org go to the photo gallery and click on bocce of course.