Fleeing Winter

Okay, we admit it. Last weekend we fled impulsively to Puerto Rico for a long weekend to escape the miserable wet, raw winter we are having.  We didn't tell anyone, because the news at the time was all full of earthquakes in Puerto Rico, and we didn't want anyone worrying. In truth we almost canceled. Thank God we didn't! What a beautiful place. And for the record, as to those earthquakes, to a one every local we talked with said something more or less equivalent to, "The damned media is killing us." No issues. Was alllll goooooood.

This was the "lobby" of our hotel.

And this was the view from our room.

"Two weeks of hot pilates, and mom's butt has its own abs!" -- Sylvie

We were on the ground floor.

This is where we found Syl every morning.

This was our "front yard."

Breakfast on the patio looked like this.

One of the best things about our hotel: surf lessons!

On day one, Luis had Syl jumping 180s on her board. No joke. She's a natural.

The water park was super cool too! On Saturday, that's what Syl and I did while Mom hit the spa.

Spa face!

Evening bike ride...

...interrupted by a sudden downpour. No problem!

Of course, Syl boogie boarded.

Melissa ate lots of ceviche.

On day 2 of surf lessons the ocean was SERIOUSLY whipped up.

Time after time, Syl got up on her board briefly, only to dump into the ocean.

Melissa and I kept expecting her to get frustrated, and maybe even quit.

Her teacher, Chris, brought her into the beach and gave her some tips.

When she turned and marched back into that ocean, I was so proud.

And BOOM, there she was, up on the board, surfing some serious waves.

Those breakers you see behind her are actually way off in the distance, and were the size of small buildings.

Back to the water park.

Melissa LOVES a lazy river.

And she got her butt abs stuck in a tube.

Fresh coconut milk, right from the source!

One last bike tour...

"No bad days" indeed. What a great impromptu trip!

All the rest of our photos are at this link.

Indian... autumn?

I know it is Indian summer when an unexpectedly summer-like day pops up in autumn. So when an autumn day arrives in January, is it Indian autumn?

In any event, it was nearly 70 degrees out today, and gorgeous. This shot sums it up...

Some recent art

Syl has been doing these “Draw it in Your Own Style” things on Pinterest. This is her latest. The bottom left is the original prompt, posted by someone else. The other two are Syl’s takes.  I like that she has multiple, varying “own styles.”

She has also continued focused work on eyes. Eyes are apparently skill tests for artists. :)

First Sprinklr party!

Just because my office is in NYC now, doesn't mean we can't host an occasional work party! Turns out there are roughly 20 "Sprinklrites" who live and work in the Boston area, mostly in sales. So when I got an invite recently to a Sprinklr NE holiday celebration, "location TBD," I checked with Melissa and then offered up our place.

Sly even agreed to wear a dress!

This is Melissa's way of "preparing."

It was a good crew: about 30 employees and spouses, including my pal Liz and her husband, Jake. Liz started with us this month!

We have used this crew from Sensational Foods for five parties now. They are great!

Turns out this young lady grew up in Holliston!

A bunch of my new colleagues showed up in t-shirts, reacting to my usual office attire. I like these people already!

Here we are with Liz and Jake. Syl and Melissa were glad to have some familiar faces, I think.

A really good group.