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