I left Friday afternoon for ***River Vale, New Jersey|http://www.rivervalenj.org/*** to visit my dear friend ***Jennifer|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com***. It was an uneventual trip south and I only met a little traffic on the approach to the Tappan Zee Bridge.

A major component of most trips to NJ is the visit to the Paramus IKEA, and this weekend was no different. We persued the display floor and rode the carts in the warehouse, had yummy soft serve and left with a few good bargins.

Saturday night the ***Ridgewood Gilbert and Sullivan Company|http://www.dancaster.com/RidgewoodGandS/index.htm*** had a performance of the Pirates of Penzance. Jennifer gave a fantastic performance as one of General Stanley’s lovely daughters. I also got to meet some of Jenn’s friends and co-workers, including fellow blogger, ***Marisa|http://nortonthedog.blogspot.com/***.

Sunday was filled with Family Galore. I made it to Sunday Dinner in Worcester just in time for the macaroni to be served. YUMMMMMMM. I had some nice chats with Grammy and the aunts, pitched a couple whiffleball innings with the boys and was on my way.

I met Peter at North Station in Boston and we headed over to South Boston to celebrate my Grandpa’s 84th birthday with the Lowe clan. Burgers, hotdogs and a narrated tour of our trip to Russia rounded out the night.

We got home around 10:30, a late end to a long and very fun weekend!

On Sunday evening a very good friend of mine passed away. He was my first sunday school teacher, my first ‘date’, a practical joker and a strong man of God.

Charlie and I were born on the same day, January 10th… 58 years apart. We spent 15 of our birthdays together…having dinner at the Riverside Restaurant in Milford, New Hampshire.

This January we didn’t get to have dinner. Charlie was in the hospital and it was becoming clearer that although he had been ill for a while, this was much more serious.

I think that most people who knew him would tell you that his suffering was now over and that death came as a respite from a long disease. He was a wonderfully humble man who’s concern for others went far beyond his concern for himself. Now, upon his death, his wife has passed along the message that he did not want calling hours or a funeral service. Humble even in death.

Over the years Charlie has taught me much about life and love and faith. He is continuing to teach me lessons. I am learning how to react and go on when a loved one dies. I’m learning that there isn’t always a convenient opportunity to say goodbye.

*edited to add link*
Here’s the ***article|http://www.townsendtimes.com/Stories/0,1413,112~6019~2701051,00.html*** in the Townsend Times.

Have you ever been to a party where you know the host and maybe one or two other people, but not the majority of the other guests? It can be uncomfortable trying to strike up conversations with folks you don’t know anything about. Sometimes a little information can make it alot easier.

Maybe the “friends” links on the left side of this site are like party-goers that you don’t know. Maybe you might click on a name if you knew a little bit about them. I’m here to provide that information today.

***Amy|http://waltondammerunprwdot.org/g/*** is a high school friend of Peter’s from Mount Vernon, Ohio. Since attending Hillsdale College she has resided, with her husband Josh, in Rancho Cucomonga, CA.

Peter has known ***Arthur|http://kizoku.blogspot.com/*** since he had really long hair. They have been roomates, classmates and co-workers. He plays guitar and drums and lives a few blocks away here in Beverly.

***Bob|http://bobgolding.blogspot.com/*** falls into the catagory “Friend of a Friend”. He attended Hillsdale with ***Will|http://pulchersentio.prwdot.org*** and is now in Law School. He has given us some helpful car advice in the past.

Somewhere on the World Wide Web Peter ran into ***Chad|http://jayseae.cxliv.org/***. He shares Peter’s love of the computer. His site gives us a glimpse into Charlotte, NC life. Peter’s note: I first ran into Chad when I started using the ***Bloglines Toolkit|http://jayseae.cxliv.org/bloglines_toolkit/index.html*** Firefox extension.

I met ***Corey|http://corey.prwdot.org/*** about 24 years ago… in the Maternity Ward. He’s been my baby brother ever since. He’s into skiing, biking, and his new Mini. He doesn’t have a blog, but the site has pics and stuff on it. Check it out.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet ***Hope|http://www.hopenatalie.com/***. I’ll have time, though, she isn’t even a month old yet. Her daddy, Chris, works with Peter and is a Gordon Grad. Find more of their story ***here|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/002293***.

***Jackie|http://jway.blogspot.com/*** has blogged on both the left and right coasts of this great nation. She is a family friend from years past and is back in the area studying at Suffolk University in Boston.

I don’t know much about ***James|http://drjames.blogspot.com/*** and ***Jeff|http://gentry13.blogspot.com/***. They both work at CBD and live in Beverly. It is nice to read other reports from others in our fair city.

***Jennifer|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/*** is one of my closest friends from my college days. Before I met her I used to see her around campus wishing that she was my friend. I thought she was so cool. Then, our sophmore year, luck was with me and we ended up living on the same floor. We met, and have been bosom buddies ever since. She teaches Music in New Jersey.

***Jenny|http://www.ljcfyi.com/*** is a gal who’s site I came across on the web. I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me, but her blog fascinates me. She has a fantastic sense of style and keeps herself busy with crafts and taking care of her husband, house and pet pug, Oscar.

***Jenny R|http://www.livejournal.com/users/raingirl3179/*** is another pal from Gordon. Peter and I both knew here individually before we knew each other…but Peter was closer to her. She’s an English teacher in New Hampshire and is into LoTR and she writes fan fiction. Peter’s note: Jenny was one of my crazy friends from Ferrin Hall at Gordon. We spent many hours watching ***Neon Genesis Evangelion|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion*** and other Japanese anime, as well as playing cards and hanging out with other members of the close-knit Ferrin crew (***pictured here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/our_reception/DSCN1071***)

***Jeremy and Angela|http://www.thebiggspicture.org/*** are our close friends who live on Cape Cod. Jeremy and Peter were roomates at Gordon and in Woburn and they were in each other’s weddings. The happy couple are currently planning their escape from the Cape while being entertained by their two cats.

Jill and I have known each other for seven and a half years now!! She and I met during Freshman Orientation at Gordon and have been friends and roomates over the years. ***Jill and Ben|http://www.theholtsite.com/*** are currently revamping their website, but you can look forward to stories of their life in Bolton very soon.

Another Mount Vernon native, ***Jon|http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=thevalk*** is currently preparing for a new job in Columbus. He’s a Mount Vernon Nazarene University grad and likes to write poetry, song lyrics and dinosaur comics.

***Kathleen|http://www.rmfo-blogs.com/kathleen/*** is another friend of a friend. Our link is Gordon College. Her website offeres a peek into her married life and stories of her puppy Seamus.

***Laura and Johnny|http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=DimbyRVin*** are driving around the country in an RV. Laura and I were childhood friends who have recently reconnected. Their site fills us in on their journey and their search for the right place to settle down together.

Another friend of a friend, ***Megan|http://mego.blogspot.com/*** is a blogger from New Mexico. She likes riding horses, traveling to China and writing. She used to live in Massachusetts but traded up for a warmer climate!

***Michelle|http://mikao.blogspot.com/*** is a vetran blogger who’s site I found via Kathleen’s blog. If she didn’t live in Canada, and if I had ever met her in real life, I think we’d be good friends. I love having eyes and ears in another country and her posts are often entertaining and interesting. She’s always a good read.

I don’t know ***Mike|http://mike.refugeisland.net/*** but his website often has great links and interesting stories. Peter has chatted with him online, but we don’t know him in real life.

***Nikkiana|http://everytomorrow.org/*** is a prolific blogger who writes about technology, life, religion and everything else on her mind. I’ve met her once and Peter spent a day with her and her boyfriend in Boston. She’s a New Hampshire native who attends technical college there.

Last, but certainly not least, we have ***Will|http://pulchersentio.prwdot.org/***. Another Mount Vernon friend of Peter’s and brother to Amy (See above). Currently he is in Japan with the JET program. His site keeps us updated on his adventures there.

phew! That was harder than I expected it to be! I hope it gave you a little insight into the folks we link here at World Wide Wood. Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear them.

Our good friends, Jeremy and Angela, now have a blog of their very own! They have been tending it for a month or so now, cleaning it up and making it look nice, and now they are ready to be linked!

So, we’ve added them to our links list. Feel free to hop on over there sometimes and check out their site. They have a great photo gallery, cute entries and a whole lot of puns! Enjoy!

In other news, I’d like to point out all of the ‘Js’ that we have listed in our Links List. With the addition of Jeremy and Angela the total comes up to 11. I really shouldn’t be surprised. While in college most of my closest friends had names that started with J: Jennifer, Jill, Joanna, Joylene… Strange Coincidence, no?

This weekend’s ***Mystic Meetup|http://gallery.prwdot.org/mystic_meetup*** was great. I really haven’t had that much fun in a long time. It was terrific getting to hang out with Bob and Jeremy and to catch up with everyone.
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You may have noticed a couple new names in the ‘Friends’ links, Laura and Johnny. You may remember in October I ***mentioned|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/002071*** that we had dinner with them before they set out on their cross country adventure.

Well, they’ve left Maryland and are blazing a trail across the southern US. To keep friends and family informed of their whereabouts and to share their experiences they have made themselves a blog! You too can join me in pretending to toss aside your humdrum lives, buying a trailer and exploring this great country.

Check them out at their website ***Living in the Slow Lane…|http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=DimbyRVin***

{added note for those of you who weren’t in Mr. Goldberg’s 5th grade class…}
Crunchy = the name of a character in one of Laura’s stories… and a nickname she aquired for herself
“Crunchy”= an oft used term referring to those who live simply, off the land and eat granola. Synonym- tree hugger.

Last night I went to ***Chunky’s|http://www.chunkys.com/*** with Jeremy, his brother Justin, and Justin’s CompSci senior project partner Anna. We watched National Treasure, which was about as campy as I had expected it to be, but nonetheless we had a wonderful time.

I took just ***three photos|http://gallery.prwdot.org/chunkys_jeremias*** last night, in the theater and then a couple pics of Jeremy’s sweet little PocketPC/car stereo setup. Nifty, but not as nifty as an ***iPod|http://www.apple.com/ipod/***.

Poor Becky was at home sick last night! She is feeling a bit better now, but still is under the weather. So everyone send her some well-wishes!

So, I know it was a week ago, but I still want to tell you about the lovely weekend I had last week with Miss ***Jennifer|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com***.

I drove down to New Jersey on Saturday morning and zipped all the way to Jenn’s house with only one detour… at ***Baylor Massacre Park|http://gallery.prwdot.org/visiting_jenn_20041120/IMG_9578*** in River Vale. I’m a sucker for small, local historical markers 🙂

That evening was the obligatory visit to ***Ikea|www.ikea.com*** and dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Yum.

Sunday was drove down to Jersey City, where Jenn was performing in Iolanthe at the (currently being restored) Historic Loew’s Theater 🙂 ***Here’s|http://gallery.prwdot.org/visiting_jenn_20041120/IMG_9580*** the marquis pic.

Lots of fun was had. And also a large quantity of “Oriental Chicken Wraps”. yum yum. The complete gallery of pics can be found ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/visiting_jenn_20041120***