2004 Rose Family Website Archives

*2004 Rose Family Events Archives...*
01/01/04: Happy New Year! Well, here we are in a new year! I'm going to arrange this page in ascending order from now on. To see the latest news, you will have to drop to the bottom. I've had some requests from folks who get out of touch with us for awhile, and want to catch up that it was confusing working backwards. Ok. No more confusion!
02/03/04: Break in weather! We have had some brutal weather over the last few weeks. There was a week where many days the temp was 20 and 30 degrees below zero with the wind chill, and there was a rugged Nor'easter that blew through followed by a couple of days of heavy wind.
02/12/04: Peter Accepts New Position! Peter accepted an offer today from L.L. Bean in Freeport, ME for a position as a Senior Software Engineer. He begins work March 1st. The commute will end up being just about 15 minutes longer than his previous commute to Burlington, MA and without bumper tag at 80mph on Rt. 128 to contend with.
02/23/04: Family vacation to Loon Mountain! We managed to get a condo for school vacation week of 02/23 at the Village at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, NH. Marissa's goal was to spend the entire time snowboarding and since Colin really had no interest in tumbling down the hill that much, she invited her friend Corey to come along. Pat brought everyone up the 21st then drove back with Colin as I switched with her on the 25th. Select this link for more pictures. It was a bittersweet time, however, as it was the last full family vacation there will be.
03/01/04: Peter starts new job at L.L. Bean! What a change heading North on 95 instead of going South to Massachusetts! It is a beautiful ride and for the most part, quite relaxing. And Freeport, ME is a beautifull Maine village. Now if I can just get the time to wander around! But it looks like they will be keeping me pretty busy so not sure about any sight seeing for the foreseeable future...
04/01/04: Marissa Makes Varsity Lacrosse Team! Marissa never even knew what Lacrosse was until early this year but decided that was going to be her game. Turns out she is so talented that as a Freshman she made the varsity squad! Unbelieveable...
*04/10/04: Colin Launches Job Site!* Day before Easter and a beauty it was! Colin just couldn't take it and had to get his 18' boat Job Site launched — new name for it. He got his friends Alex and Isaac to help, and the 3 of them spent most of the day roaring around, even going all the way up to the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor's 2KR bouy. They were just a little cold by the time they got back in - it's not that warm out yet!
05/17/04: Marissa Doing Excellent in Lacrosse! Marissa has been doing so well in Lacrosse that she is among the top high goal scorers on the team! I've gone to a couple of her games and she is all over the place. I never realized how fast paced and tough Lacrosse is. And she's right in the thick of it all the time.
05/21/04: Peter Hosts Mini Spring Disciple Karate Retreat! A few of my martial arts disciples were going to get together for a Spring retreat but due to circumstances only 3rd degree black belt Carl Parker from Spokane, WA was able to make it out. But that was fine with us and we had a marvelous time at the Misty Harbor Resort in Wells, ME. Great indoor pool and hot tub, excellent onsite resturant, and beautiful resort made it just great despite a rather rainy weekend.
*05/27/04: Marissa Launches Rascal!* A quick break in the weather from so many days of chilling rain was all the excuse Marissa needed to get Rascal into the water. That old New England Winter just didn't seem to want to let go! But she's in now!
*05/29/04: Colin has engine problems with Job Site!* After noticing a loss of power in his 110hp Johnson, Colin pulled the heads off of Job Site's engine to see what was going on. Piston had broken and sent ring material all over the place so he's busy making repairs with the help of his friend Rich Benn of Benn's Marine. "You really did it good this time, Colin..." was all Rich said as he shook his head. "Fixable, though. You have to pull this bolt..." - as he directed Colin in the rest of what had to be done to tear the engine down.
06/11/04: Peter Closes On New Condo! I had been looking for months for a 3 bedroom condo. I found one a few weeks ago and closed on it today. Saturday is moving day with some of my friends and there will surely be a party to celebrate!
06/16/04: Marissa's Lacrosse Awards Dinner We all trooped up to the Dover High School for the Lacrosse team's awards dinner. Marissa was recognized for being a Freshman on the Varsity team and for doing so well.
07/04/04: Happy 4th of July! Nothing really planed. Just hung out and worked on the condo arranging stuff.
07/28/04: Condo Ceilings Painted! After a lot of research and study, I had determined that I wanted a Tuscan villa look to my condo decore. My plans are to faux finish the walls in the living and dining rooms and entryway hall. Everything is currently white and very contemporary. Have to change that. Change my life, might as well go all the way... Since ceilings should be done first, I had a friend come in and paint the whole downstairs area for me in a color tone selected by my friend Linda Williams. A few weeks ago, she and her husband Scott - one of my black belt karate students of many years - came over for dinner and to see my new place. We got into the Pinot Grigio and I piked her brain about colors and faux finishes. Linda has a Master's in Interior Design and teach art so I didn't argue with her when she suggested a color for the ceilings. Two rules: don't argue with a woman, and particularly don't argue with a woman who knows more than you do about something. And I really wasn't all that sure about that color she selected. So, today it's going on and I'm excited to see how it comes out.
07/29/04: Ceilings Done! Amazing how the color Linda suggested just really warms the rooms up so much even with the white walls! They came out beautifully: check it out. Now, Saturday the 31st I start my faux finish work on the walls! Yikes!
07/31/04: Second Thoughts About My Faux Finish Work! I had gone over to Scott and Linda's for dinner a couple of weeks ago to get a heads up on how to do a faux finish and to work with some paint samples that Linda had to pick the exact colors. My first wash-on coat was supposed to have been a rich sienna cut 50% with water. I am not a color person by any stretch of the imagination, but after several hours of work today I wasn't seeing the sienna base that I had expected. Here is a picture of the start of the first coat application. It was more of a brick-rust; very pretty, but far from sienna. But I pressed on and finally shut down after over 11 hours of work. Marissa had spent the day helping me tape and actually did the entryway all by herself. But now, to bed...
08/01/04: Pressing On! I was so wound up about this unexpected brick-rust base color that I got up at 3am to go down and check it out; just couldn't sleep. Well, it looked great but it was really red so I wonder how the second wash on - which is a rich Tuscan mustard-gold - will look over that. Anyway, up early and tested a small area area with a 50% cut of the mustard-gold and it was h-o-r-r-a-b-l-e. It looked like mud. It was awful! I got all pissed off and complained about the whole "red" look to the rooms, but Marissa thougth they looked really good. Well, the work was really good, but I was totally disappointed about the color. So I stormed out of the house threatening to return with a couple of gallons of white paint and start over. But when I got back, I thought I'd try washing-on the mustard-gold full strength rather than cutting it and if that didn't work then I'd just cover everything with the mustard-gold as a new base and then wash-on the brick-rust as the second application. I did a large section with the full strength mustard-gold and it looked really nice; exactly the "old feel&quo; look I was looking for. Unfortunately, because of the full strength application, I was only able to cover 4' of wall per hour vs the over 6' with the half cut finish. I worked until I was sick of it and then took Marissa to dinner, rented a couple of movies, and just "vegged out" for the evening.
08/02/04: Looking Good! As it turns out, the full strength mustard-gold effect on top of the brick-rust was stunning! And I mean: stunning. Unbelievable! I didn't get too far yesterday; just the half separator wall between the kitchen and dining rooms and just short of half way down the long wall of the living room. Here's an in process shot of the work so far.
08/07/04: Marissa Takes On The Guest Bedroom! Well, this is going to be another weekend of painting. Marissa had decided that she wanted to decorate the guest bedroom. She wanted to do a Beach House type look, and had picked out a beautiful soft yellow for the walls. She spent all weekend working up there and here is a picture of her efforts. She did a fantastic job. It took 4 coats to cover the existing harsh colors, and she put 2 coats of white on all the dark wood trim. The room is really bright and airy. She picked out the bedspread as well. Good going, Ris! I still have a lot of work to do to finish the main room walls, though. 4' an hour is all I'm doing and I really don't feel like making a 10 day of this everytime I set out to do it so just taking it in easy steps of 5 to 7 hours at a time. I'll get it done. Eventually...
08/28/04: First Faux Paining Project Completed! It's been a long haul, but I finished up with the living and dining room and entryway hall walls today; the last 4 hour effort. Over the weeks, I have been gathering accessories and placing them appropriately hoping when the walls were done that it would all "work". It did. It all came together fantastically. Here is are a couple of shots of the living room. The first picture is a view toward the entryway hall. The second picture shows the other corner by the kitchen walkway. There is still a lot I want to do: more throw rugs, pictures on the walls, etc. But I have a wonderful and relaxing living area. In addition, during this time I started work on the master bedroom as well as the downstairs bathroom. Both are looking good and have a warm inviting feeling to them. I'm very happy with the way things are coming along. Select this link to read all about it and see some pictures.
09/04/04: The Great 2004 Labor Day Backgammon Tournament and Spaghetti Feed! After karate class last Thursday, I asked if anyone would be interested in coming over to the house for a spaghetti feed and backgammon tournament. This was met with great interest, and so it was on. Select this link to read all about it and see some pictures. Of the 13 attending, 8 of us fought it out over the backgammon board.
09/12/04: Flute Recitel! I had never heard a solo flutist play classical pieces before so when I learned that Crystal McElhiney of the San Francisco Bay Area was going to be performing at St. Joseph's in Dover, I just had to go. As the winner of the Turlock Young Artist Competition in 2001 and an extensive list of featured solo performances, she showed great skill in playing a diverse selection from Bach, Piazzolla, Berio, and Kuhlau.
09/23/04: Vacation To Newport, RI! I had wanted for a long time to have Colin and Marissa see the great mansions of Newport, Rhode Island. Marissa, in particular, has really enjoyed visiting historic homes on previous vacations and when I told her about it she was really interested. Colin also showed a keen interest. So, I set it up with their teachers to miss a couple days of school so we would have enough time to do it justice. Check it all out!
10/01/04: Portland Museum of Fine Arts Exhibit! On the way home from work, I stopped off at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, ME. There was a showing of some of the paintings of Winslow Homer and others in what was described as "...relationship between European and American artists between the years of 1870 and 1950, an 80-year period that broadly coincides with the rise of modernist art, starting with French Realism and Impressionism and continuing through the advent of a truly international art culture. The exhibition, organized by the Museum, is comprised of approximately 80 paintings and works on paper by such artists as Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and John Singer Sargent." After that, I wandered around the general area for awhile stopping to listen to a live band concert in the open mall across the street from the museum. After seeing a quaint looking Italian resturant on the way out of town, I had a taste for Italian food and figured I'd just go into Portsmouth when I got down there. But after I had passed the Wells exit, I saw a huge cloud band covering the entire Southern horizon. By the time I crossed over the bridge into Portsmouth, the fog was so thick I couldn't see 4 cars in front of me. Not exactly spectacular weather conditions to walk around in Portsmouth, so I opted to just go home and fix spaghetti at home.
10/02/04: Frank Sinatra Tribute! After having a marvelous dinner at the Oar House in Portsmouth, I went to Seacoast Repertory Theater to see "A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra". I had no idea that Sinatra had recored 1300 songs in his life! That's more than "...paid for the space he took up." as his friend Dean Martin said. It was a great production and featured full and medley presentations of 56 of his songs.
10/03/04: A Star Wars Kinda Day! I was supposed to get a lot done today - even got up at 8am to get on with it. But Marissa had wanted to come over so got her on the way to go shopping around 2. She wanted to rent a movie for that evening so in a moment of weakness, I agreed to get two of the Star Wars movies. Of course, as soon as we got home she popped one in and I got captivated and that was my day. I admit to suggesting popcorn and sprawling out on the couch for the remainder of the day so I can't complain that I didn't finish my work. Colin came over late afternoon and watched the end of it and then we chatted while I fixed dinner. Then he had to leave as had "stuff to do". And Marissa and I watched the other Star Wars movie. It was a great time, of course, but little productive work got done. Ah, who cares! It was a fun day.
10/08/04: Black Belt Exam Given! Scott Williams has been a martial arts student of mine for 8 years and this was his weekend to face the fire of 1st Degree Certified Black Belt exams. It's just the student and me for 3 days of intense examinations; not something you'd want to casually wander into. We went up to Whitney's Inn in Jackson, NH in the heart of the White Mountains at the height of the Fall foliage season. It was spectacular. And I'm glad to report that Scott held up under the pressure and performed excellently and received his rank promotion to Shodan.
10/11/04: Lord of The Rings Marathon! Marissa decided that it would be great fun to rent the 2nd and 3rd of the Load of The Rings DVDs and make a day of it so that's just what we did. More popcorn. More pizza. Great fun!
10/16/04: Advanced Black Belt Promotion Awarded! James Nancarrow has been my friend and martial arts student and disciple since 1975. His outstanding performance this year at my annual retreat for my direct disciples was indicative of his grasp of the essence of the art that we have shared for so many years. His promotion to Sandan 3rd Degree Black Belt was unexpected but more than deserved. He showed true accomplishment and mastery over many areas of not only the martial arts but of life itself.
10/23/04: Annual UNH Fall Walkabout! Every Fall since 1972 I have taken a walk around the beautiful University of New Hampshire campus in Durham, NH. It's a nostalgic time for me as I kick through the leaves and recall fondly my short time here. This is a picture of my favorite spot on campus on a spectacular October 23rd Fall day.
10/31/04: The Great 2004 Halloween Backgammon Party! I decided that I needed to have another backgammon gathering and what better time to have it than at Halloween. This one was much simpler and free flowing than the last event, though. But, we'll do another one of those soon, though! Check it out at The Great 2004 Halloween Backgammon Party 10/31/04.
11/04/04: C&S Self Defense Association Master Candidate Review! It is my great pleasure to announce the promotion of Kerry Bushue of the Personal Protection Agency Lindale, TX and Joseph Larison of the Storm Dragon Dojo Effingham, IL to the rank of 5th Degree Black Belt Godan Master in C&S Self Defense association. They received their rank 11/04/04 at the recent Master Candidate Review held in Wells Beach, Maine.
11/13/04: The Great 2004 Thanksgiving Backgammon Party! Rick Downs and I had quite a few battles over the backgammon board Thursday night 11/10/04 after karate class. We had so much fun, I invited he and his brother Galen over Sat the 13th at 3 for more. And then I put the notice out to invite everyone! I figured, what the heck: make it a party: An early Thanksgiving party! Amazingly on such short notice, 8 showed up to battle it out. And what a great time it was! We played a lot of backgammon, I fixed a stir fry Chinese dish of great import, we drank too much beer and wine, and we watched some movies (Rick Downs brought Van Helsing and that was a great hit). Nothing special, but it was great fun! Check it out at The Great 2004 Thanksgiving Backgammon Party And Chinese Stir Fry Ordeal 11/13/04.
11/14/04: New Backgammon Activity Page! Since moving into my new condo in June, I have had so many great gatherings of friends and family over for dinner, movies and screaming backgammon that I thought it was about time to collect all of this activity in one place. So, I built a new Thoughts On Backgammon page on my website; check it out!
11/16/04: New Thoughts On Technology Page! One of the ways that I learn something is to write about it. As I have been involved in software engineering for over 20 years, I have done a lot of technical writing. Recently, I wrote some tutorials on a few of the object oriented design patterns and decided to post them on my site as I had so many ask to read them. Check it out: Thoughts On Technology!
11/25/04: Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! Despite being alone this Thanksgiving, I decided to go all out and fix Rock Cornish Game Hens the way my old friend James Haller from the Blue Strawberry restaurant in Portsmouth, NH did them. Marissa and Colin came by in the morning to wish me a good day. You can see a few pictures by selecting this link.
12/03/04: Alan Visits! My brother Alan came for a long awaited vist. It had been a couple of years since we had gone down to visit he and Abbie in Towson, MD so we really enjoyed the visit. Check it out by clicking this link!
12/25/04: Christmas 2004! Well, this is the first time I have spent Christmas day alone in 55 years. But the kids came by for a couple of hours in the morning and really made my day. Then we all headed up for several days to the Samoset Resort in Rockland, ME as we have for the last 10 years or so. It was a great, great time. Check it out by clicking this link!
12/26/04: Christmas Week Vacation At Samoset Resort! For about the last 10 years, we have gone up to the Samoset Resort in Rockland, ME over Christmas week vacation. We just couldn't pass up opportunity to do it again. Check it out by clicking this link!
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