2007, The Year in Review
Michael, Kerry and Kristie

2007 was a very busy and challenging for Mike and the girls. We had a lot of very big challenges to face, yet in the end, everything had a way of working itself out for the best. So as the year comes to an end, we can be happy to move forward, but to also look back at some great times as well as some times that will make us all stronger in the future!

Winter, 2007

We started the year off great, Mike and Laura had a great New Year's Eve together at her brother Scott's house. Great party, fun night! Although It was difficult to have Kerry away at school in Kansas, I was happy at the time because I knew that Laura and me would be visiting her later in the month and that she'd be coming home the following month in February.

Me, Laura, Natasha and Todd went to the Patriots/Jets playoff game together and had a great time watching the Pats make the Jets look like, well, the Jets!

January, 2007

Me and Laura then had a great visit with Kerry during a wonderful long weekend of snow and ice in the lovely town of  Salina, Kansas We watched the Patriots demolish the Chargers and move onto the AFC Championship Game with the Colts. (That's all I have to say about last season!).Wh440

See Lots more Pictures from Kerry's journey to America's heartland by clicking on this gallery link!

In addition, you can see a really cool video on YouTube that Mike and Kerry Made as we headed out of Delphos for the last time.

We all had a great time at Natasha and Todd's place to celebrate Alex's 2nd Birthday

Rather than going away on a warm cruise, the three of us went skiing up at Mt. Tremblant in Quebec, Canada. We had a great trip and stayed in an awesome condo, right in the village at the base of the mountain. The skiing was excellent and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys great downhill skiing!

We had a great night out to celebrate Natasha and Kristie's birthdays. We met up at the Border Cafe in Saugus.

In April Mike and Kristie got in one more weekend of skiing in up at Mt. Snow in Vermont. Skiing in  April can be a real gamble as far as the conditions go. But, as you can see from these photos, it was like the middle of Winter!

Kristie was at another season of Lacrosse now that Spring had arrived.

 Me and Kristie out to dinner after a Lacrosse game

The Red Sox season marched on and Mike had the "pleasure" of chaperoning 5 teen/tween-agers to this early season match-up. The girls all had lots of snacks and then wanted to leave early!

Mother's Day arrives in May. Mike, Kerry and Kristie went up to New Hampshire to visit "Grandma Lee Lee" and Bob. The grown -ups had a couple of Mai Tai's to mark the occasion!

Is This a Real Picture or a Post Card?                          

Even though we moved in May, it was a partial move as the Norwood house remained on the market as a furnished home. It was not until October that the house sold and we could then move our actual furniture to our new house in Westwood. We're now getting close to being settled!

Flowers in the back yard of the house in Westwood                  

After moving we decided to stay local during the Memorial Day Weekend. We spent a fun Holiday at "Pins" in Milford where Laura and Gavin live. Later in the Summer we also hit the Drive-in in Milford. When was the last time you went to the drive-in???

We spent Father's Day at Laura's hanging around the pool. It was a struggle, but we managed to hang in there!

Kristie "chillin" in the pool                                     

In July Mike went down to Bermuda with Laura and Gavin and stayed with Laura's parents in St. George where they vacation every July. We celebrated Laura's birthday while I was there.

In July we also got into Kayaking. Laura got her first Kayak and we could finally head out for a cruise on the Charles River together. She liked it so much that she went out and got a double kayak so that she and Gavin could go out on the water together.

As the "Dog Days of Summer" we upon us, we mostly relaxed and took things slow during the heat. Below you'll see a picture of a little tailgating that Laura and I did before heading into the Download Festival concert. That was just one of many shows that Laura and me went to during the year. Click Here for a list of who we got to see play Live in 2007.

On the right, Kristie enjoying a leisurely weekend breakfast at her favorite eating spot in Westwood, Vello's.

In August Mike & Laura spent several days in New York City. - Click on either Picture below for pictures from this trip.

Labor Day week was vacation-time for Mike, Kerry and Kristie. We flew to Hawaii for 10 days and went on a 7-day cruise that brought s to the Islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui and Kauai. The beauty of the islands was something we'll remember forever!.

Click on the Photo Below for a large gallery of pictures from this trip

After nearly 20 years at MEDITECH I decided that it was time to look at how I could continue to challenge myself with the knowledge and background I had gained working in the Healthcare Information Management Industry. Although the decades I spent at MEDITECH were very fulfilling, I needed a change that would allow me to broaden my horizons in a way that I could not envision happening working within the confines of MEDITECH.

After testing the market, it turns out that there are many opportunities to choose from. Although I have 23 years of experience in this industry, it is really one that is still in its infancy in terms of where it can go over the next decade.

After considering many opportunities, I decided to accept a position with a consulting firm based in Toronto named Healthtech. I split my time between working from my home office and working at customer sites in Canada. I've met a lot of great new people and have experienced many field-based situations with customers in the healthcare industry. Although I traveled almost non-stop from the beginning of October until a couple of weeks before Christmas, I enjoy the change of pace and look forward to working on many interesting projects in the future.

When I'm not on the road you can find me here in my very well equipped home office.

• A Fiber Optic Broadband Internet Connection with 15 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.
• A home network that includes:
  • 5 XP Desktop Servers
  • Three Wireless XP Laptops, one win98 laptop and one Mac Notebook
  • Blackberry Curve, World Edition
  • Palm Treo 700WX - Windows Mobile 5
  • Slingbox broadcasting Cable TV over IP
  • Media Lounge wireless media streaming
  • 5 Disc Duplicator
  • Dazzle Analog to Digital Media Converter
  • Nearly 2 Terabytes of Magnetic Storage!
  • Washer & Dryer!

Another great thing that September brings each year is the return of a new NFL season! Being the diehard Patriots fan that I am, I got my hands on a ticket to Opening Day at Gillette Stadium to see the Patriots in what was to be the big re-match against the San Diego Chargers who were out to avenge their playoff loss to the Patriots the season before. Less than a week into "Spybowl Gate" some thought the Pats would be distracted by the controversy. No such luck for San Diego as the Patriots slammed them 38-14!

Ah, Baseball in October is the Best, especially when the Red Sox reach the World Series and then Sweep all 4 games for their second Championship in 3 years. I got to go to Game 2 of the Divisional Series, Game 2 of the League Championship Series and then Game 2 of the World Series. The first time I've ever been to a World Series game! Me and Laura had a great time even though I arrived a little late as I was sprinting to Fenway Park after traveling home from Sault Sainte Marie in Ontario, Canada. Luckily, no delays so I got to see most of the game.

To see a video I took at the game during the now traditional playing of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". A song that has now become a tradition since the release of the movie "Fever Pitch". Click Here to see my Video on YouTube

In October I also FINALLY got to see Henry Rollins perform a Spoken Word show for the first time! I saw him at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. I took these series of photos at the show which was 3 hours long! I've already got tickets to go see another show in Providence in March of 2008. Click on This Link for a taste of Henry's viewpoint from his show on the IFC.
**Warning Viewer Discretion advised for uncensored, explicit language!**

So much of my view of the world lately has been from thousands of feet in the air. Here you can see the Boston skyline on the left and then on the right "Southie" as we were coming in for a landing at Logan.

I have also spent a fair amount of time in the city where Healthtech's expanding headquarters are located in Toronto. We had our company Christmas party in a beautiful section of the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Toronto. It was a great opportunity to see and meet most of my new co-workers. The pictures below were taken from my room at the Intercontinental Hotel.

A variety of pictures of Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario. I've spent almost five weeks there this Fall.

Most of my trips to "The Soo " have been through Detroit and then across the International bridge from Michigan into Ontario.

Pellston Michigan has been a stopping Point from where the trip up to Sault Sainte-Marie Ontario has been. Click on the Map for a harrowing video of landing there in a blizzard!

This is the Mackinac Bridge, 3rd longest in the US. It connects Michigan with it's Upper Peninsula. Click on the picture to see a video I took crossing the bridge at night in the snow!

I couldn't "Bear" the wait for my baggage!

The very "Regional:" Air Terminal at Pellston, MI. I wasn't sure whether to claim my luggage or go skiing!

Panoramic View of North Bay from the North Bay General Hospital

Whilst I was up in the north working, Kerry and Kristie went to the family Christmas get-together #1 for the season, held at Marc and Denise's house. They went with their Grandma LeeLee and had a great time.