Adam and my friend Erin raced the Muddy Moose in Wolfeboro, NH this weekend.  It’s a interesting race because of the muddy aspect.  I did the 4 mile option last year and there was huge sections of knee deep mud. The entire course is pretty much mud puddle after mud puddle. Adam and Erin did the 14 mile option.

They said it was a lot of fun partially because they got to play in mud puddles like little kids. Because of the mud the times are slower than regular races. I highly recommend it for any runners interested in doing it next year.

A Chevy Chevelle in Hooksett

Those who know me in real life know that I’m addicted to older muscle cars.  I not only love their classic lines but the love the owners put in to painstakingly restoring the cars to their former glory and the care they put into keeping the cars running and gleaming.

So one of my great joys in Spring is seeing the Classic cars coming back out of storage.  I love the look of pride on the owner’s faces.  And I love looking at my “car porn”.  I can’t wait to go to cruise nights and talk to the owners about their prides and joys.

*Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures, I was just excited and needed to take pictures with the cell phone.

A Chevy Malibu in Hooksett

Erin and I went skiing for the last time this season on Sunday. While flowers are blooming and grass is turning green in Southern New Hampshire, Sugarloaf in Maine (4 hours from home) still has enough of a snow base layer to be open for skiing.  Although the snow is more like mashed potato slush. And some of the lower slopes require path finding skills in order to not run into grass. My ski did find a rock at one point.

There was also RaggaeFest going on while we were there, so that was entertaining when I called it a day and let Erin get some more runs in.

I think they are open for a couple more weekends… if you like skiing in bad snow and don’t mind the occasional exposed rocks or gravel.

IMGP8056, originally uploaded by mbarsalou.

So I was in Quebec this weekend. I got to visit my father’s side of the family in a large family Easter reunion. My aunt gave me a very special belated wedding present, a painting she painted based on a picture from my wedding.

At my wedding reception

I’m very excited to put this painting up. Not only is it painted by my aunt, but it has a story, it’s a painting based on me and my very cool wedding dress.

Waimea, originally uploaded by mbarsalou.

Saturday my husband took me out climbing for the first time of the season. We went to a place in New Hampshire called Rumney Rocks. We didn’t climb the cliff above. That’s the impressive Waimea. You’d have to be a more advanced climber to do those routes. We did some of my favorites next to Jimmy Cliff, the super easy 2-pitch Clip-a-dee-doo-da and the Lady and the Tramp. After climbing my hubby decided to demonstrate how easy it was by soloing (no rope) the route. I just enjoy doing it for the practice in rope management. Of course my feet being painful still keeps me from really climbing much anyways.

On Sunday I bribed my husband into going to the New Hampshire Maple Producers open house with me. We went to Folsom’s Sugar House in Chester. How did I bribe him? Maple Syrup Sundays… YUM.

We listened to the owner talk a little about how he produces the maple syrup but the place was packed so we didn’t stay long. I guess they had a good weekend because they were sold out of bottled syrup and packaged treats by the time we got there.

I did find the steam coming off the boiler to be a fun photography subject. I probably took 10 or 15 pictures of the ceiling. The owners probably thought I was crazy.

I really liked the rustic looking sugar house. It reminded me of stories my grandfather used to tell me about when he was a kid growing up in Gaspesie.

You may wonder why my husband is dressed so funny. Well it has to do with why I had to bribe him. I got him to agree to stop at the sugar house on our way home from the Eastern States 20-mile Race.

He ran 20 miles in the pouring rain along the cold coast on New Hampshire breaking his personal best. It was a little difficult for me to take pictures of him though. Between the wind and the rain I had a hard time keeping my camera safe. It’s usually such a fun race for the spectators because you can hop in your car from beach to beach waiting for your runner to come by. But it was a miserable day, and I wasn’t running around. But I’m so proud of him so I put up with it. I am glad that he finished almost 1/2 hour faster than last year.