Last night we got back from a three-day trip to Oriskany, New York, surely not the most exciting vacationing spot in the Northeast. :) We went there to spend a few days with Jean’s aunt Ceil who is incredibly sharp and agile for an 87-year old. As I have said previously, if Jean and I could sign up right now to be as good as she is at that age, we would do so unhesitatingly.

While we were there we painted the front of Ceil’s house, cleaned out some of the junk in her garage, did some gardening, went out to dinner twice *yummy*, saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and visited Sylvan Beach where Jean's family owned a summer cottage for many years. They sold it when Jean’s father died, since it was built by Jean’s grandfather in 1907 and needed an incredible amount of work, nor was it close enough for us to visit regularly.

Yesterday we drove Ceil to Syracuse Airport for her flight to Colorado where she will spent three weeks visiting her son, three grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. Afterwards Jean and I met Andy at Crossings Outlets in Pennsylvania where we shopped until we dropped. I finally bought a new stereo system, a Bose self-contained Wave unit, as well as *sigh* a book.

When I got home, I had 6 cds waiting for me from BMG’s annual Buy One-Get 5 Free sale. The highlight is The Decemberists’ acclaimed album The Crane Wife which is an absolutely wonderful progressive rock album.