Anna Grows

 September 25 marked Joe & Theresa's 17th wedding anniversary.  It was a lovely weekend, so they went for a local hike (very fitting considering that is how they first met).  That evening, they decided to dust off their shoes and go out for a nice dinner.  "Dust off the shoes" was accurate as they quite literally had to dust off their shoes.  After 80 pandemic weeks, there really has been no need to dress up to go anywhere, so some dust has accumulated.  In addition to the dusty shoes, there was some discussion about what to do if Joe wore a dress shirt as several local dry cleaners closed (it was decided it would go in the washing machine and Anna could use the opportunity to work on her ironing skills).  At last, they made it out (with their masks) to Nostros, a nice local Greek restaurant. Another observation from the restaurant was the state of fashion.  Like everything else, the pandemic disrupted the fashion industry and everyone's decision about what is acc

 It has been nearly 2 years (Thanksgiving 2019) since the Virginia Fagellas saw family in New York.  A milestone birthday celebration for Uncle John on September 18 marked the perfect occasion for a long overdue gathering.  Joe decided to make a longer trip out of it to visit some long time friends and see his sisters.  Since Anna and Theresa had school/work, they stayed behind and Joe headed up I-95. The first order of business for Joe was to sign-up for AirBnB so that he could reserve a place for a couple of nights on the east end of Long Island.  Now, Joe is not one to sign-up for things (social media, mailing lists......he is all about minimizing giving people his data).  Usually Theresa handles all of the sign-ups (she has concluded that due to various data breaches, most everyone has her data).  Since Theresa was not going on this trip, Joe needed to access the system.  He found a beautiful place right on the water.  He also found a place that had the most rules (no shoes in the

 This week, we commemorated the 20th anniversary of 9/11.  It seems so long ago but at the same time not long at all.  While Joe and Theresa have vivid memories of where they were that fateful day, Anna's entire life is post- 9/11.  Her history teacher discussed it in class along with the significance of it.  Joe and Theresa discussed it with her as well, but it is difficult to convey how the event changed the world as we knew it. So what did we do on 9/11 this year?  We went for a hike at Great Falls park.  Ironically, it was a picture-perfect day  just like 2001.  The other item of note is that it will be 20 years since Joe & Theresa met (the weekend after 9/11 on a hike) and their first date was a hike at Great Falls Park.  Lots of symbolism to the outing - at least for Joe & Theresa.  Anna was more interested in whether there would be a chance to get ice cream at the conclusion of the hike.  As many times as we have visited the parks, we continue to discover new things.

Anna & Friends  Anna celebrated her 15th birthday on September 3!  What better way to celebrate than with a day off of school and a long holiday weekend?  Anna decided to celebrate with a pizza party and movie night with 8 of her friends.  She requested that her dad make the pizza, which he was glad to do (he had a bounty of tomatoes from the garden that needed a purpose). Anna also decided she wanted to make her own cake this year - a six layer, rainbow vanilla cake.  Theresa whipped up homemade ice cream to go with it.  The food was a hit and there was lots of laughter coming from the basement as they watched the movie, had  nerf gun fights, and just hung out.  After the past year, it was great to see Anna doing normal teenage stuff with her group of fully vaccinated friends (a prerequisite for the party). The Rainbow Birthday Cake The other big item for the week was that Theresa started her new job.  Since most of the workforce is still working remotely due to the pandemic, Ther