I first met Rob Tardik when my regular guitar player bailed on a gig in order to get married or have a baby or something.

Oh wait - he had to Feng Shui his garden, that was it.  Anyway, Rob was beckoned to take over and I could tell immediately the boy had some serious chops. Man, talk about flying fingers!

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February 14. Valentine's Day. Sappy cards, lovey-dovey cards, anonymous cards, silly cards.  Long-stemmed roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, expensive dinners, maybe even diamond rings.
Meh.

I am an avowed hopeless romantic and I for one do not much like Valentine's Day. I adore Christmas, Easter is nice, Mother's and Father's Day present a beautiful opportunity to express appreciation (are you listening, son?) and birthdays are the bomb (bring on the cake!). But a day devoted to love? And not just love, but romantic love?

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One of the best aspects of renovating an old house in a new town is that you can make friends quickly - because you hire them.

And since we were determined to keep our business local, and because I suck at hammer-and-nailing but am a talented phone-caller, I immediately hired new friends.

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