B&W photos taken by Kate over Thanksgiving

Word from the west coast is, Ani is bored stiff being out of school and can't wait to go back. Grey rolled over for the first time. The other night when I was on the phone with Amanda, he reached up and pulled a toy out of her hands and put it to his mouth.

Being so far away from the little ones it tough, but it helps to have some great shots on my desktop. Thank you, Kate, for the beautiful work you do!

Update 1/2/2009 - Amanda wrote:

"Greyson was having tummy time last night and he pushed his chest up off of the floor. He was also kicking his legs like crazy and fussing. It looked like he was trying so hard to crawl. And he slept for nine hours straight last night. He's getting so big."

Wedding Pics

Sean & Tiffany's Wedding CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS!!!

Mr. Sean and Dr. Tiffany Finnegan

On December 13, 2008, the Finnegan family added a Doctor to its ranks. The only way that was going to happen was to snag a free agent! (thanks Sean)

It was a fantastic weekend in historic Williamsburg, VA, as family and friends gathered from 14 different states + the District of Columbia to witness Sean & Tiff get 'hitched.' Kate & Sherm win the prize for traveling the furthest--2812 miles from Mill Valley vs. the 2570 miles flown by the Brewster contingent from San Diego.

I left the photography to others this event. Judy just pointed me at a few great shots from the reception and night-before party at the Corner Pocket.
http://pomarole-flahertyfamily.blogspot.com/2008/12/sean-and-tiffanys-wedding.html

We are all extremely grateful to the Harvey family for their generosity and hospitality. Best wishes to the newly weds!

Thanksgiving week 2008

Home again, and immediately longing for the West coast. We got an awesome kid-fix, first in SD seeing Anastasia, Chris, Maddie and Toby...then on to Whidbey to see Ani, Greyson, Matt, Amanda and Kate. Here's a few pix, to serve as coming attractions. More soon.

Here's Toby and Greyson. Which is which? You guess!

Newest member of Red Sox Nation!!!

Greyson Matthew at 2 months old!

Obama Supporters

Tobias Scott Brewster

"I better learn to like him. He looks too big to put back."

Weighing in at 9 lb 14 oz, Toby Brewster came into the world on October 22, 2008. We got the call Wed night that he was here, and we put some quick plans together to fly out of Manchester Thursday morning. We are bleary eyed from exhaustion and teary eyed by the beauty of this little boy. Anastasia is doing great. They came home from the hospital less than 24 hours after he made his debut! Clearly, the Finnegan clan comes from hardy stock :-)

Click on the photo below to see a few shots from his first day.

Tobias Scott Brewster

Happy one month birthday Grey!

Greyson Shauck at one month - 10 lbs. 14 oz.

Really cute YouTube video

Someone posted a comment on a blog entry I had made back in May (where I showed a picture of Paws with an Obama button on). They suggested I check out the following youtube video. Wow! If I had a motorcycle, and I could do this without completely sending Paws over the deep end, I would give it a try.

Canvassing for Obama

On Sunday, a picture-perfect New England day, Richard, Pat, Judy and I went to work for the Obama campaign up in Southern New Hampshire. We were sent off to neighborhoods in the Plaistow area to visit the homes of undecided voters to promote Barack Obama, and two other Democrats: Senatorial candidate Jeanne Shaheen for Senate and Congressman Paul Hodes. I'll remember three things about the day:
Outrageously beautiful foliage against a bright blue sky,
Really long driveways,
Friendly, staunchly independent voters

Much to my relief, we were received well by most of the folks we visited, the majority of whom expressed support for Sentator Obama and the other Democrats on the ballot. Thanks to Pat for suggesting and encouraging our participation, and to Judy for lending us the cool wheels (we borrowed her Prius!). Here's a picture of Richard enjoying a cup of coffee on the porch across the street from the Obama headquarters.

Milton, GA

Last week we completed a retro fit in Milton, GA which is about an hour from Atlanta. The facility is own by Performance Food Group (PFG). The installation went very well and we even were able to get out of there a day early. We would have been able to leave even sooner if we received the correct parts and the parts on time. Neither of which happened. So about 3 hours wasted and $500 extra dollars later, we were able to finish the job and head home. The two guys pictured are Jason and Clark. Jason is a good old Virginia boy and Clark is a 20 year old trapped in a 42 year old body from North Carolina. Both guys are fun to hangout and work with. We drove back Wednesday night and Thursday morning and there were gas shortages all the way back. Apparently the hurricanes that affected Texas and Louisiana closed down the refineries for a few days and stopped the Southeastern pipeline from fulfilling its quotas. We had to do a little searching at times, but we found enough places with gas to make it back without any major delays. I'll be headed up to Minneapolis, MN this next week and taking a quick trip in the middle of the tour back to Virginia for Tiffany's cousin Nicole's wedding next weekend.

Grey Shauck

Welcome to the world Greyson Matthew Shauck!

8 lbs. 6 oz. born 9/18/2008 at Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA. Amanda and Grey are doing great. Everyone is exhausted and extremely happy. Click on the link below for a few more photos.

Greyson Matthew

Maddie turns 2. Ani prepares for Baby Brother

Somehow the summer came and went in a blur. We have been amazingly fortunate to share so many good times with the kids on the west coast. In August we celebrated Madeline Grace's second birthday and helped Aniela prepare for Bubba's arrival. I uploaded a few pix that include onsie art work, a trip to the San Diego dog-beach with George, and Maddie's party.



We just got back from D.C. over the weekend (thanks to the generous support of the Wheaton resort and day-spa). Sean participated in the Nation's Triathlon which included a 1.5 mile dip in the Potomac. (ick-better him than me!). Then he had to bike 20 miles, which we have no proof of because Tiffany was in charge of the bike pictures and didn't catch him on film despite the fact that we saw him twice on that part of the race. Then he ran a 10k. Yeah Sean!!!



Big News:
We'll be heading out Wed night to meet our very first grandson, as yet nameless, who is due to arrive in this world Thursday morning. From there, down to San Fran for a couple of days to check out Kate and Sherm's new place.

First day of kindergarten

I went to lunch for the first time. I had music class. I played the harp. I played sand blocks and these bells. And I played with these sticks. I went to recess three times. I had a pretzel and some graham crackers for snack.

Done with Florida!

So after two months of the Florida heat and the ingestion of polyisocyanurate insulation day after day. I am finally finished working in Florida. Next week I will working in the Lyndhurst shop and following up the next week by heading down to Georgia to see what a typical service call is like. For my last tour in Florida, I managed to lose the key to the high security lock that allows access to one of our storage containers. Given that we were loading up a truck with everything inside of it the following day, we had to act fast to get the lock off. After a few drill bits, we finally resorted to a cutting torch and burned our way through the lock and was able to bang it off with a sledge hammer. Needless to say, I am sure that I am going to get rassed for this in the future.
After breaking two scissors lifts in the ice cream room and working until midnight, we were finally able to complete our installation in there. Apparently, certain scissor lifts are unable to perform at certain temperatures. The room we were working in was about 8 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. By now, it is sure to be pulled down to the desired temperature of -20 degrees. I'm certainly glad we have no work left to do in there.

Cousins' weekend in Maine 2008

Here we go. Finally I got a minute to get some of my pix together from yet another amazingly fun cousins' weekend in Maine. We pretty much lived out the theme..."How to be in Maine" (from the very informative bathroom artwork of the same name):

• Eat
• Drink
• Sleep
• Repeat

We did plenty of that and added a few other activities:
Gamble, Bounce and Party! (oh yeah, and dirty scrabble too ;-)

I also got a clip on youtube of Becca's big moment. Enjoy. Hugs and many thanks to the everyone who made this possible.

Maine ~ The way life should be

In the News

Walter turns 85

Uncle Walter expressing his sincere thanks to Aunt Ann for planning the festivities!

Here's a Picasa slide show from Operation Orlando. Email me Ellenmfinnegan@aol.com if you want a CD of these pictures.

Life as an Insulator

After two tours (4 weeks total), I have almost started feeling somehwat more comfortable with this insulation business. Slapping some Styrofoam on a bunch of pipe sounds easy enough, but ensuring the right joint compound, glue, tape, and other materials are used along with following the proper procedures to apply all of these can be quite daunting. Luckily for me, the job specs were written clearly and an 11 year insulation veteran was sent in to help out. The insulators aren't your typical group of guys since they are three boys (19 years old) from West Virginia. Just to give you an idea, one of the guys came back from one weekend without one of his front teeth due to a mud bogging accident! They are admittedly straight redneck country boys. Hard workers and fun to hang out with.
There have been a lot of issues with supervising the insulation portion of this job especially since I have no experience with it. The biggest thing that I have run into is receiving the incorrect materials whether they are the wrong size, color, or type. There tends to be a lot of gray areas between using the given materials and modifying them to complete the job or incur a delay and reorder the correct items. For instance, the picture to the right shows a couple valves that don't quite match up with the styro that was ordered for it. Instead of making a case about the issue and sending it back, we simply modified the material by cropping out part of the center section and recreating the mold. From what I am learning, all that matters is that the job gets done. I would like to take it a step further and add that the job gets done ... correctly.

Engagement photos.

My aunt Cheryl had been dying to take engagement photos of Sean and I since he proposed, but hadn't been able to nail us both down in the same place (both showered and in decent clothes :-P) until this weekend. Here are a few....

PVD-SAN-SEA-BOS

We just got back from the West Coast Progeny Triangle Tour. With about a half a zillion college credits in graduate English, you'd think I could do this on my own. But NO. I'm at a loss for words describing Aniela Malia and Madeline Grace. So I plugged my initial thoughts into thesaurus.com, and voilà:
Synonym Collection v1.1 Main Entry: clever Part of Speech: noun Synonyms: acumen, adroitness, bel esprit, bon mot, child prodigy, cleverness, dexterity, discernment, esprit, gumption, ingenuity, inventiveness, resourcefulness, whiz kid, wunderkind
Synonym Collection v1.1 Main Entry: adorable Part of Speech: adjective Synonyms: charming, cuddlesome, cute, delightful, divine, irresistible, lovable, lovely, precious, sweet, winsome
Synonym Collection v1.1 Main Entry: talented Part of Speech: adjective Synonyms: able, accomplished, adept, artistic, clever, gifted, skilled, smart

Corny? yes big time. But the truth is I am totally blown away by how much fun we have with the kids just goofing off. Madeline's vocabulary seemed to expand exponentially during the time we were there. She is a keen observer, and has a heck of a sense of humor. She can dance like there's no tomorrow, and runs directly into a rough surf, buck naked and without fear.

The rationale for our trip to Whidbey was Ani's recital, but what I will always remember is hanging out with her in the yard spinning yarns about what fantastic things might take place in the moonlight at Deer Lake when we're all tucked in asleep. We spent an hour trying to outdo each other...Raccoon marching bands and Coyotes playing on the slip & slide. I had the best time evah :-)

As far as the recital goes, I can honestly say I missed the first of her two dance numbers. When the curtain went up there were a half dozen little girls in pink tutus with fairy wings and tiaras dancing ballet to "When you wish upon a Star." I completely lost it, sobbing uncontrollably for reasons beyond me. I rallied to catch a few photos of the second number, a little tap routine set to Tarzan music. Of course, I'll cough up the money for the video. I'm sure Island Dance relies on the grandparents as a sure source of revenue.

Here's a few pix from the trip.


Link to Picasa web album

New Address

Tiffany and I signed a lease this week on a townhouse in Charlottesville, VA. She will be headed there this weekend to start her new job at UVA! I will be around the next weekend to help move everything down. We're just renting a uHaul truck and hire help to load and unload it. Hopefully we can have everything in the house by Saturday. We are really excited about getting out of the city and get our lives a little bit more settled.
I posted a map below that shows the closes intersection to the house. On the satellite view, you can see where the subdivision is being built between 5th St SW and Welk Pl. The homes are all about a year or so old. The actual address is:




107 Old Fifth Circle
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4330






The house has 3 bedrooms and Tiffany is going to be lonely this first year with me traveling for work so you better come visit!


View Larger Map

News Flash from Whidbey Island

It's a Boy! Ani will have a little brother sometime the end of September.

(click photo to enlarge)

Finnegan's foray into the political fray

Letter to the Editor - Boston Globe
5/28/08

Life as an Electrician

Going from a sedentary lifestyle in Cubical Land to on your feet for 12+ hours a day climbing up and down ladders and across pebble covered rooftops all day long can be quite the transition. Despite the new challenges that I have come to face with starting a completely new job that I have no experience in, I am truly enjoying myself as I am learning valuable skills and the culture of the company and construction industry.

The day starts around 6am, wake-up, and grab some continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn. Drive 2.4 miles to the job site and start work at 7am. 15 minute breaks at 9:30 and 4:30 and a half hour break for lunch at 12:30. We work until 7:30 and head back to the hotel and typical go out to dinner or relax and veg out until you go to sleep. Not all that exciting of a lifestyle, but you are constantly busy and the days go by quickly.

White House weekend

We had the best time in D.C. this past weekend! Sean's friend Rob arranged a private tour of the East Wing of the White House. Coincidentally, the date fell on Susan's 18th birthday, which made it extra special.

After enjoying a scrumptious birthday dinner with the Judy and the kids the night before, we left Manchester uber-early on Saturday morning. Sean met us at BWI and we drove downtown to meet up with Tiff and her parents, who had driven in from Gloucester, VA for the occasion.


We are all immensely grateful to Rob to provide this tour on his day off. His narrative not only introduced us to the art, history, and artifacts of the historical rooms we visited, but also offered some insights into the duties White House Social Aides perform during official functions. I got a major kick out of seeing the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington that Dolly Madison rescued during the fire during the war of 1812.

The tour was fantastic! This photo was taken just after the tour. From left to right, Richard, Susan, Ellen, Mike, Charlene, Tiffany, Sean, and Rob

After the tour, we walked and walked and walked and walked and...well, you get the idea. We saw the World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall. Saturday night, we enjoyed dinner at Chef Geoff's, and celebrated Charlene and Susan's birthdays. The next morning we visited Washington National Cathedral.

There was a lot of running around, but also some much needed down-time which allowed the new 'in-laws' to get acquainted. Here's a slide show with a few more photos:

Bassets for Obama

Hooray! Obama wins N.C.

As you all know Richard and I are passionate Obama supporters. And, our enthusiasm seems to have been contagious. Here's Paws hanging on Tim Russet's every word waiting for late results from Lake County, Indiana.

Paws was quoted as saying, 'every dog has her day, but it's over for Hillary.'

Go Obama!

Save the date!

Tiffany and I spent last weekend down in Virginia searching for the perfect venue to host our wedding ceremony and reception. By the end, we picked a place, date, and Tiffany even bought her wedding dress. She'll have to describe it to you since I wasn't afforded the opportunity to see it yet.
Our ceremony and reception will be held on Saturday, December 13th at the Ford's Colony Country Club in Williamsburg, VA. They have a large banquet room to hold the wedding with a covered pavilion to hold the reception. All I have left to do is order my coffee ice cream with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cake(s). jk, not about the cake, but that there is still much more to be done. Like order the pizzas!

Engaged!

On April 11th, at sunset, on the cliffs of La Jolla Cove, I asked Tiffany Lynn Harvey to marry me! Better yet, she said YES! We had dinner at George's on the Cove. We had a great table in the corner over looking the cove and the ocean and enjoyed some great seafood. At one point during the dinner, Tiffany mentioned that she needed some dental floss. I told her that I had some in the car (this little fact will become important later). After finishing dinner earlier than expected, I stalled by asking Tiffany if she wanted to look in some shops. We checked out a few stores and also grabbed coffee and desert at a nearby cafe. We then strolled along the cliff's sidewalks and checked out the seals. At just about sunset, we reached a little patch of grass up on a bluff that had a great view of the breaking waves and rocks below. I babbled for a little bit about how great Tiffany is and how we will spend the rest of our lives together. Tiffany started to get some thoughts in her head of where this conversation was going. I then mentioned to her that I forgot that I had the floss in my pocket the whole time. Once I pulled out the floss, her thoughts changed gears. That is until I cracked open the floss case and pulled out the ring! It was random that she asked for it during dinner and I had only decided to put it in there a few hours before as I was walking around the hotel room looking for a smaller case than the one it came in so that it didn't look obvious in my pocket. Needless to say, she was very surprised and very happy. We'll be sure to keep you posted as we look to set a date and do all of that other marriage preparation type stuff. Thanks to Anastasia and Chris for letting us spend some time with them and Maddie this weekend. We had a great time.

Vince & Celia

My cousin Anni's kids - Vince and Celia Mermelstein - are growing with leaps and bounds, and they're are just weeks away from welcoming their new sibling into the world!
http://pomarole-flahertyfamily.blogspot.com/2008/04/vince-and-celia.html

Me and Cooper

Thought you guys would want some more pictures of me and Cooper. He likes to chew on things and he gets kinda crazy when he knows I am around and he can't come get me. I am taking him to Petsmart training class tomorrow morning. Here's the pictures