Happy New Year!

Sandy and I are at a friends house, celebrating the end of this sucky year. Here's hoping 2009 is a great one for everyone!

Don

Merry Christmas

Ten of us celebrated Christmas Eve here in Scotia with a Swedish smorgasbord, plenty of good cheer, and for a change, sunny and calm weather! We sincerely hope there's a promising year ahead for all the Buonos!
Harry

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone is enjoying the day with family and friends.

Cheers,

Don

Family Pics

Hey Don,

Are we ever going to get the family photo links back? I never got a chance to save the pics of Great-Grama and Great-Grampa that were there. Or can you send me a copy of the disc you sent Mom? Or I guess I can get a copy of all of them from Mom when I'm there......

3 more days to go until we leave!!

Cheri

You're welcome!

Glad to help, Lorraine. Your mom called us last night to wish us a Merry Christmas. That was very sweet of her. I know she will be thrilled with her gift, as she will be having her family close during the holidays. Speaking of photos from the web site, this is one of my favorites:

It is of my aunts Lola and Marion, and my grandmother in the foreground. If you get the chance Lorraine, ask your mom if she knows the story behind this photo. We're off to dinner and some live music later tonight, doing our bit to keep the economy running. Everyone have a warm and cozy winter night!

Don

Thank You

Thank you so much for sending those pictures Don. I didn't realize there were that many. There are alot there that Mom doesn't have. When she sees them on her new digital frame she's gonna flip.

We had a bit of an ice storm here today. But just on trees and shrubs. Pretty much missed us. I know NY was suppose to get hammered. But haven't heard any reports or talked with anyone at home.

I'm glad you made it through pretty much unscathed Harry. It could have been alot worse. I remember some of those ice storms we had on Long Island. Those were nasty!!! Glad to hear the kids made it through the storm too.

Everyone pitched in and sent Cheri and Aaron money to come home for the holidays. They're going to be here about a week. They haven't been home in a long time. I can't wait to see John. Well, Cheri and Aaron too.

All's well here.

Thanks again Don.

Love,
Lorraine

Snow in Vegas

I guess, for a day or so, what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas.

Sign of the Apocalypse

Snow closes Las Vegas Airport
http://lasvegassun.com

It's coming this way!

Don

A Winter Weekend II

Pete & Beth also lost power--and heat--for a longer time. They finally got it back Monday afternoon. Meanwhile they stayed with Beth's folks, who are also nearby and who never lost power. Though much of Massachusetts was affected, Boston escaped trouble, so Mark & Steve never had a problem. It was interesting, walking around our neighborhood and seeing all the snapped power poles and tree limbs leaning on power lines (and in some cases having fallen onto houses). It was a major inconvenience but, happily, with only a few exceptions, very little loss of life or injury. And some of the sights of ice coating every branch and twig were breathtakingly beautiful.
HW

A Winter Weekend

Hello All,

We lost power, phone & cable at 5 AM Friday and got it back at 11 AM Sunday. Our furnace's thermostat is powered by a self-contained millivolt system that works off the pilot light, and we have steam heat, so no need for power to circulate or deliver the heat. Bottom line...we had heat all through. Sandy & I cooked on the gas grill, put food outside to keep it cold, and played Scrabble by candlelight. We went to a movie theater that had power, and when a power surge temporarily shut the projector down we got a bunch of free movie passes! (We saw "Australia". The scenery is fabulous--the story is OK, if you like C.B. DeMille-style sagas.) Yesterday I got my chain saw out & cut the large tree limb that fell onto our street, into firewood.

All in an upstate winter weekend, I guess. Tomorrow, we put the tree up and trim it, so a measure of normalcy is returning.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!
Harry

Massive Storm Grips Northeast

How are the snow Buonos doing? Hope all is well. Here's a photo of a recent sunrise. Sun comes up tomorrow!

- Don

Pics and stuff

I have a boatload of pix on my MySpace page if anyone wants to see them. It's www.myspace.com/scud1974

Good news & Bad....

Well, the judge finally made a decision in my comp case. The good news is that he's ordered the authorization of my elbow surgery and he's also ordered AIG to start paying me my comp bennies again. The bad news is that AIG is claiming a HUGE credit, based on a prior award to the tune of about $34k. What this means is that they can choose not to pay me at all until they recoup the entire credit, or they can take a portion of my weekly benefit check until it's gone. The problem being is that according to the paperwork I have, they shouldn't have a credit at all, and good luck getting my attorneys to explain to me how and why they have a credit. It's kind of like pulling teeth to get them to answer anything. Or to get them to answer emails, come to think of it.....So, now we're waiting to see if they're going to appeal, since the judge threw out their entire medical position stating that I shouldn't have had anything covered under comp since '97, including all my surgeries since then and all of my other medical treatment. This should be fun to wait on, since living on one paycheck is not cutting things around here, and the comp board didn't bother to send a copy of the decision to AIG's attorneys, which is a hoot, but might hold things up even more.

As soon as I have definite word on what's going on, I'll let y'all know!

Love and miss ya all!
Cheri

Hi, just a quick request. I need updated mailing addresses for Lorraine, Jenny & Jon and Cheri & Aaron. Can I get some help? Thanks.
Harry

The Great White Hunter

I couldn't figure out how to post pics, so I had to post again after I smartened up. Aaron got a huge (for GA) 7-point buck a few weekends ago. It's the first deer he's shot in almost 15 years! Gave us 150 pounds of venison, which we are all grateful for and excited about, since we all love it, including John. He's going back out this weekend if the weather holds, but now he says he wants to try for feral pig, of which there is a surplus all over the country. I told him good luck with that and that he was taking THAT one for processing, since it took us an entire weekend to butcher the deer. Not only that, it's one of the few decent pictures of Aaron that I have, dead deer not withstanding, so those of you peering at our family photos can actually see what he looks like.

To respond to a few....

Hey Buonos!!

Yes, it's me, I'm finally here! Sorry it took me so long, haven't had reliable internet service for awhile.

Harry, if you ever get around to making copies of that tape, I would love one! I barely remember Great-Grandma and would love to see her in some new shots. Also, it's always good to be able to laugh at your second cousins as they get older when you can actually say you've seen them in diapers!

Don, I got to spend Thanksgiving with the ex-wife, her husband and kids and Aaron and John of course. Talk about crowded! 4 adults, 2 teenagers, a pre-teen and 2 adolescents all in one very small house.....but, I didn't have to cook anything this year (we usually do holidays at our place, even though there's fewer of us, we always have a bigger house, go figure), and John did a very selfless act I was totally proud of! He just had his 9th birthday, and had some of his b-day money left, and he insisted on buying dessert for all of us!

I'm still not working and I'm still waiting for NYS Worker's Compensation to decide my case. Been in and out of a long arm cast for the past 6 months or so, waiting on my elbow surgery authorization and my pay. Hopefully, I'll hear something in the next week or so, the judge is supposed to be making a decision now that all the legal arguments are in.

We moved farther north in Georgia to a town called Calhoun, we're alot closer to Aaron's work here, and he's able to carpool to the plant everyday. John's loving his new school and he's actually pulling an A- average here! He's got great teachers that care about him and his special problems and everone's working together, unlike his last school. I sit around bored out of my mind, reading alot of books and playing on the puter and trying to get the housework done.

Other than all that, not much new from here. I'll keep you all updated on the decision, and now that I have access to this place, will keep in better touch.

Love to all!
Cheri

A bunch of things

Don,

Cheri asked that I contact you to let you know she still isn't able to compose on the blog site. I know you'll take care of it.

Glad to hear the fires missed you guys again. I always think about you and Sandy and the "boys" and Aunt Lola and Uncle Chuck and the "girls" when I hear those reports.

Not much is new here. Job is going very well. Got back from San Francisco about a month ago. Had a great time, albiet a wet one. Just finished composing our website. Didn't design it. Not that handy.

Well, gotta go. Will come back soon and write some more.

Love to all!!!

Lorraine

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have all had and are having a great Turkey Day. Even in the midst of economic tribulation, we have much to be thankful for. Here's Garrison Keillor's take on one of them: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/13/opinion/edkeillor.php

And here's what will be on the table very soon now:


And we'll wash it down with these:

Other pictures after the guys get here, if they will hold still...




Here's us from left to right, Stepson Andy, his partner Ryan, Stepson David, Me, and Chef extraordinaire, Sandy.


Salud!

Don

That video tape

Harry,

Sounds like that video would be worth commiting to DVD, or MPEG, for posterity's sake. Plus, I'd like to see it too. :-)

-Don

Harry -

The Ambiguity Police will be after you! :-)

-Don

Correction

Of course I meant Cousins Bobby & Buddy.

Random Thoughts

What a cutie Logan is!! That looked like a happy 4-generation gathering. Congrats, Jenny & Jon! Take it from an old Dad, these years are priceless, so enjoy them well!....I was going through some videotapes the other night and found one with old home movies that Roy had put on tape & given to me several years ago. They are of various members of the Buono clan from almost 60 years ago. The stars of the show are Alphonzo & Maria, with little Mary & Margie on their laps, circa 1950 or '51. Also appearing are Uncles Ralph & Felix, Aunts Connie, Lola, Marion, Bobby, and (I think) Buddy. The quality isn't great and there aren't many frames, but they're still heirlooms. Cheers.

Morning Buonos!

It's the weekend before the long weekend. We're gonna putter around the house today, probably go out to dinner, and tomorrow: Golf! What are all y'all up to?

-Don


P.S. I added some family links over on the right side of the page. If you have any you want listed, let me know and I'll put 'em up.

Ugh...

Sorry for how the previous post looks...I can't seem to go back and edit it to make it look nice. :(

Random things

So Logan did really great on the trip to NY this past weekend. He slept most of the way there and back, so that was good! He was good with everyone and wasn't shy at all (I know that will probably come later, though)! I thought I'd include some pics, but as always, you can check out www.myspace.com/jsprunk for the majority of them. The first 2 were just taken this past week at home. What a cutie! :)

Fire Update

In northern Orange County, 10,475 acres burned, 150 homes lost to the flames. Winds are calm here in Irvine this morning, but forecast calls for more Santa Ana winds as the sun comes up. This is a by-product of suburban encroachment into the brush covered foothills in Orange, San Diego, and L.A. counties. The more development, the more houses there are to burn.

While we are not threatened by these fires (unlike last year, when one fire came within a mile of our house), we have an odd connection to this story. Three of our favorite golf courses have been affected. Green River in Corona, Black Gold in Yorba Linda ( clubhouse destroyed), and Birch Hills in Brea have been, or remain in the path of the flames.

LA Times story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocfire16-2008nov16,0,339111.story

- Don

We're Still Here, Yup....

Thanks for the poke in the ribs, Don, and howdy to all!! Thanks for the update on the fire. We're glad to hear you guys aren't in any immediate danger. We're all fine--yes, even despite the Red Sox' falling a bit short this year. In family news, Sandy retired last spring, and was honored at the Children's Museum's annual dinner this past Friday as Teacher of the Year. (She doesn't want me to noise that about, but I do it anyway--she deserves the recognition.) Mark recently accepted a position as a web-design manager with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. That appears to be a safe port in this economic storm, as his former company had hit hard times. Pete & Beth continue to get settled into their house, with renovation plans aplenty. Steve's still with Compete, Inc. in Boston, & that outfit seems to be doing OK. I spent four rewarding days in New Hampshire working as an Obama/Democratic volunteer. What blast on election night! And Mom had a great time recently visiting Aunt Lola & Uncle Chuck in Jamul. We'll be heading back to NH to spend Thanksgiving at Gail's place in Moultonborough, with a probable side trip to Maine to visit Sandy's aunt & cousins. I'll try to keep in touch more often. Cheers!

Another wind storm, another fire

Well, it's that time of year again. Santa Ana winds have brought another conflagration. This time its Corona and Yorba Linda areas in northern Orange County, and Sylmar in Northern L.A. County. So far, nothing near us. Last year, a brush fire came to within about a mile of us. Many homes have been destroyed.

-Don

It's Friday!

Don'tcha just love the sound of that word? Two glorious days without conference calls or people wanting stuff. We're doing our part to keep the economy from stalling by heading out to dinner tonight, and then maybe golf on Saturday. I still have vacation photos to process, which will occupy part of Sunday. So my weekend's planned out.

What's everyone else doing?

We know that Lorraine and Jenny are taking Logan on his first road trip (I'm making an assumption here, and of course not counting the trip home from the hospital).

Cheri - Are you able to author here yet? I re-sent the invitation... maybe your spam filter is grabbing it?

So one more day of work left this week. I'm off to the American HQ of a certain Japanese auto maker, whose sales are tanking like the rest of the industry. Suddenly, they are interested in our IT cost savings recommendations. Go figger.

Cheers,

Don

Takin' a trip...

Mom and I are headed up to NY to see Grandma and the Schubert gang this weekend...hopefully it won't be too much work (although I'm pretty sure it will be). Just packing for Logan is going to be a major chore, I think. It's ok though, Gram can't really travel, so we'll have to bring the boy to her!

Unfortunately, Jon can't come, as he used the rest of his vacation for the year when we came home from the hospital (he works weekends), but Mom has volunteered for the middle of the night bottle! HAHA!! ;)

We'll take some pics while we're there, I'm sure. Keep a lookout here and on the myspace page! :)

Saturday Night in Beverly Hills

Hey all -

Last night Sandy and I drove up to the Coronet Theatre on La Cienega to see Dave Alvin perform. Sandy's review is over at our travel blog, http://bluepaperflowers.blogspot.com/2008/11/dave-alvin-largo-at-coronet-110808-trip.html

Hope you all had a good weekend,

Don

Hey Harry

You out there? we need a Willis branch update! Sorry 'bout the Red Sox, but, thanks for Manny!

Cheers,

Don

Speaking of San Francisco

Last month Sandy and I spent a long weekend at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It's become an annual tradition for us. We meet up with some friends, and spend the weekend in the park with about 300,000 other folks:

We saw some great acts, like Alison Kraus and Robert Plant:

And a reunion of the Desert Rose Band, a country rock outfit led by former Byrd and Burrito Brother Chris Hillman:

It's a great festival, and its free!

Cheers,

Don

Back Home

Hey All,

Got back from San Francisco on Sunday night. Totally beat. I think I'm still on PST. Hate the long flights. But, it sure beats driving.

Was very busy all week with meetings and training sessions. Got to walk around a little, ended up in Chinatown. That was so cool. Had to walk up two 45 degree hills to get back to the hotel. Needless to say, I was out of breath and my calves and shins were in pain for about a week. Weather was miserable. Rained the whole time I was out there. Hadn't rained for 4 weeks, but the minute I get there...... Went to Muir Woods and Saulsilito (I know I spelled that wrong Don).

I know you can't see it in the pictures Jenny posted. But, Logan's got the Buono dimples!! It is so cute when he smiles.

I hope your gout is better Don. Don't ya hate getting old? LOL

Take care everyone.

Love,
Lorraine

Good day (so far)!

First of all, not that it looked like it was going to be a real contest or anything, but yay for Obama! This country needs a good kick in the pants, and he just might be the guy to do it.

We went to bed pretty early last night, around 10:30 or so. Logan fell asleep maybe 45 minutes earlier than that, so say 9:45-ish. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard him crying, so since Jon always gets first shift, I assumed it was my turn, got up, changed him, grabbed a bottle and sat down to feed him. This was around 2:30am. Jon comes into the living room and says, "Thanks, babe...I didn't even hear him". Me: "Um, what do you mean...is this the first time he's woken up tonight?" Him: "Yep, sure is". YAY!! So far, 4 and 1/2 (almost 5) hours is the longest stretch of sleep all three of us have gotten at night! Maybe the kid's turning a corner...*fingers crossed* :)

Sunday Morning Agonistes

Not to complain or anything, but this drizzly Sunday morning I find myself:
1) recovering from a bout of gout, an 18th century-sounding ailment that, on the plus side, gives me something in common with Ben Franklin. It's painful, and makes me hobble around like Granpa McCoy, and is literaly a royal pain, and;
2) Time addled by the end of DST.. feeling like I've been up for a week already, and;
3) Managed to knock over my barely-touched coffee cup, flinging cofee over family room furniture and carpet, and ;
4) Obsessively watching cable election coverage, and pouring over election poll analysis on the web. Will this ever end?

But, on the bright side, I've reconnected with my fellow Buonos, the sun is peeking out, the polls look pretty good for our side, and we are heading out tonight for dinner and some live music. As the Bobster once sang, " The was music in the cafes at night, and revolution in the air"
Two days to go.

Cheers,

Don

Grinch-y Halloween

We're being real Grinches about Halloween this year. Don's been not feeling great (he's better now), his work has been crazy-making the last couple of weeks, and well..... we decided to pass on Halloween. So - the house will be dark, we bought no candy (my diet says *thank you!*) the cat will be under the bed (the doorbell or the sound of feet on the front walkway send her there) and we will be out. As in, we're going to a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican/surfer restaurant, Taco Surf, where a friend is playing/singing tonite. By the time we get back from fish tacos and music, the little hobgoblins should all be home counting their treats. Hope you all have a spooky good time tonite.

Sandy G.

P.S. Were I to choose a costume, I'd go as Sarah Palin - I've got the hair, the glasses..... and I can mimic that screech! (oops, no red leather jacket ....)

Photos!

OK, it took me a couple of days, but here are a few photos from our Sears sitting last Wednesday (Halloween-themed!). If you would like to see all of them, I post tons of pics on my myspace page at myspace.com/jsprunk. Have a look! :)

Hey, Buonos!

I missed our family page too, Don. Thanks for setting up something that gets us talking again! As Mom already mentioned, things have changed for us a ton with the arrival of Logan 9/16. We are slowly getting the hang of this parenting thing!

He turns 6 weeks old tomorrow and he's a smartie already! He's turned over twice, smiling like crazy, making tons of eye contact, and is now really starting to pay attention to the world around him and getting interested in his toys. He eats sooo much and is outgrowing clothes left and right.

It's pretty awesome having Mom so close...she gets to see the boy whenever she wants and I get a break on the weekends when Jon has to work! Luckily, his parents live right here in Harrisburg too and Logan's their first grandchild, so the odds of this kid getting pretty spoiled are extremely high! I just think it's neat he has so much family around him. Lots of us remember long trips to see grandparents or other relatives, so it's really nice!

I will add a couple of pics myself when I get home tonight. We had some Halloween shots taken last Wednesday and they came out super-cute! :)

Love,
Jenny

Hey!

Hey Everybody!!

This is so cool. I'm glad you thought about it Don. Sure it took the techie one of us.

I'm so glad to hear you and Sandy are doing well and enjoying life.

Well, things have changed for me big time.

I recently started a position as Administrator for a global organization of cpas and auditors based out of Hershey PA. Yep, I moved again.

It's a brand new organization, so I get to start from scratch. There's alot of travel involved and I'll be checking alot of things off my list of things to do. In fact, I'm going to be in San Francisco next week for a conference. I just wish there was a way I could see you guys. But, unfortunately, I just don't have the time. I'll suggest we do LA for a meeting and then make the time to see everyone. Maybe go in a day sooner or something.

Jenny had a baby!!!!! I posted a picture of him. His name is Logan Alexander. The best part is that I get to see him whenever I want. Now that I live closer to Jenny and Jon.

John's gonna be 9 in a couple of weeks. And because of being out of town, I couldn't go to Atlanta this weekend and take him to the race for his birthday. This is the first year I've missed and I feel guilty as hell about it. I miss him alot. Miss Cheri and Aaron too. I just wish both my grandsons were near me.

Oh well, gotta go to Jenny's. Talk to you all soon.

Love always,

Lorraine

John at Cub Scouts Logan

Franny! Lorraine!

Hey Cousins - Thanks for signing up on Day 1. It's been way too long. What have you guys been up to? Sandy and I had quite a summer. I travelled to Israel and Costa Rica on business, and Sandy and I spent 10 days in France in September. We had a blast. Pictures over at http://www.bluepaperflowers.blogspot.com.

Hope all is well.

Don

donk-donk-donk... Is this thing on?

Since what I miss most about the family web site is the discussion forum, let's see if using Blogger will do the trick. Everyone will have to have a blogger username/password to be able to post.

- Don