End of a Decade

My children, have both lived through their first decade. They are getting a lot of amusement out of that fact today, and I am feeling.. well.. a little old. I was trying to remember back to what I was doing the last time we ended a decade, and then I remembered. I was still shell shocked from our fire that November. I don't remember how we rang in the new year, or the new decade, and quite frankly, I'm ok with that.

This decade has had both it's ups and downs. We bought a house, both got new jobs, welcomed home new pets, new family members through both marriage and birth and said goodbye to loved ones. I am ready for it to be over, quite frankly and look forward to the promise of a brand new one.

I wish you all.. and your families a very safe and happy new years!

Well I'll Be Damned...

Somehow, it my rather short (ahem) life.. I've managed to land myself a 15 year old child. 15 is 6 months from driving with an adult in the car, 1 year from a licence, 2 years from adulthood and halfway to 30. Half. Way. To. Thirty. I'm only 35... so for almost HALF my life, this person has been part of it. How cool and weird and OMG you're kidding is that??

My MIL just called a bit ago. When he got off the phone with her, he said to his father, "You should be proud of your mother. (insert eye rolling from me here). This is the first year she didn't give me the whole story of my birth, just a brief bit of it." To which I promptly replied, "Which is crazy because SHE WASN'T THERE!" OK, moving on.

Christmas Cheer

Today is the day we have our classroom parties at school. Last school year I bought a book at the Scholastic Book Fair called Hello, Cupcake! and you might remember that I made sunflower cupcakes for my birthday, and corn on the cob cupcakes for Mr. Man's graduation party. So when S asked if I wanted to make anything for our classroom party, I blurted out before thinking, "I want to make ornament cupcakes." How hard could they be I thought? Frost, roll in sprinkles, decorate. If only life were that simple. First I had to prepare the candies. Snip the licorice, cute the black licorice into usable strips because we couldn't find black laces to use, cut up fruit by the foot, etc. etc. etc. Turns out, that was the easy part. The cupcakes weren't hard to make, but it was time consuming. It took me over 3 hours start to finish to get those cupcakes frosted and decorated. 3 hours that I had planned on going to a Jazz Band Christmas party, but am glad I skipped. 3 hours of which part of I had intended to be working on a Christmas gift I wanted to give today. It was so worth it.

"At the end of the day, there are some things you just can't help but talk about. Some things we just don't want to hear, and some things we say because we can't be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say, they're what you do. Some things you say cause there's no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. And not too often, but every now and then, some things simply speak for themselves." Grey's Anatomy

Finished... sort of

I knew going into working on this room that I wouldn't be able to actually finish it. Paint and labor are cheap, new furniture and storage items are not. I moved some things into my room that will stay there, and some things are just in there temporarily. The walls are bare, but at least I have curtains. My mom made the curtains for our apartment in Manchester and I think they work out nicely with the new paint scheme. I moved the Papasan chair I bought for out in the front room in here temporarily so we could put the tree up in the other room... but I have to tell you. I REALLY love it in here in the corner. Perfect for cozying up with some knitting if you ask me.

In Which We Paint The Floor...

and by we.. I mean ME. The floor was in rough shape... too rough to sand down and refinish, so we decided a few coats of a good floor paint were in order. I went armed with the plug plate from the room which I planned to reuse, and matched the paint to the dark brown that I knew would match both the yellow and the green in the next room which is connected by the same ugly arse rug, and an open doorway. As you can see.. the floor was painted before, several times.. with this big bare spot in the middle where I'm going to assume was a rug, that just got painted around? I can't even fathom.

You Had To Know It Was Coming....

I really didn't plan on re-painting those walls. I wanted the room done, "fast", "now", "yesterday", and painting the walls was just going to make the whole process go longer. There were holes to be patched, cracks to fill in, washing the walls with TPS, primer.. and on and on and on. Taking out the closet was the clincher. The closet never got painted the first time. I was too intimidated by the shelves and the small space and who really was ever going to see inside it anyhow? When my mom left for the convent, she gave away all her belongings to family and charity and what have you, and one of the few things I asked her for (which there were not a lot of, as she started life over after my dad and I already had the few things that I really wanted) was this pitcher that lived in her kitchen.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Closet...

As we were taking down the bottom trim, so that I could paint the floor and not have to worry about mucking it up, I decided I might as well paint the inside of the closet, which I had not done the first time I painted the room. I went into the closet to take the shelves out, and The Boy took the trim out, and while I was in there, I realized that there wasn't a whole lot holding that closet up. It was a rather poor closet, in the way of closets, and mostly it just housed my knitting books, a 3 drawer thing-a-ma-bob that housed gifts and misc. stuff and my school stuff that really had no home anywhere else. We talked, and decided to take the closet out. The boy thought we should take out the ancient electric heater, and the shelves he built me over the heater in front of the chimney, but I love the shelves and wanted to keep them.

What I've Been Up To THIS Month..... where it all begins

Every year in both the spring and the fall we clean our big, ole' house top to bottom. Due to jobs and such, it takes us several months to get this all done, as we have 3 rooms, a bath and a hallway upstairs and 8 rooms, a bath, a double level storage room and the porch downstairs. It's a big house, and I love it to death but weekly cleaning only takes you so far, and eventually you need to get out the bucket and rags and give it a good scrubbing. One weekend several weeks ago, we set out do our "weekly room" and I decided we should do the guest room. The guest room is a fast/easy clean as it contains mostly walls that needed washing, windows and blinds that needed cleaning and bedding that needed washing plus a few things that needed washing down. Piece of cake, we could do it an afternoon.

Where I was last month.. Pt. 3

Every fall, we go apple picking. We lost our favorite orchard, and have taken to picking at another local orchard that is always busy and not quite as nice as our original orchard. Granted, that one was always busy also.. but we just liked it better. This year we went on a cool day, after an afternoon football game. It was a nice day all around, and we got plenty of apples, of which I'm still turning into applesauce. Apple picking is one of those things I love, but always seems to go by too fast. When we pick blueberries, it takes a long time to get the amount of berries that you desire.. but apples are picked quick and then it's over.

Where I was last month.. Pt. 2

I wasn't in the band, nor did I ever date anyone in the band. My HS boyfriend ran track, and so I went to track meets, not football games. I think in my entire HS career, I went to maybe 3 games. Maybe. The Boy, however, was a band geek. He was a drummer, and was tickled that this year Mr. Man would be playing in the marching band and therefore we would be attending football games. I don't really understand football (yes, I know the basics of how it works) and much prefer to watch hockey or baseball. On top of that, all the games were scheduled for Friday night. Not my best hour.

Where I was last month.. Pt. 1

Of all the Middle School field hockey teams in our "league", our school's team was the smallest. They had the least amount of players in total, which meant that at our games, all the girls played for almost the entire game. We had 2 subs at most games, and at one game we had 3. Every other team was able to sub out girls on a regular basis so that their players weren't exhausted by the end of the first half. We may have had the smallest team, but our girls had the most heart.

In Which We Find an Adventure

Sometime last month I was in the grocery store and I picked up a copy of Yankee Magazine's September October issue. While I was flipping through it, I noticed they did an article on Rt. 100 in Vermont, which they claim to be the "Most Scenic Drive of All".. 200 miles through the heart of Vermont. After a discussion with The Boy, we deiced we'd go find out for ourselves. We've seen all there is to see around here after all, having lived out here since Fall of 2001. Even though the color is spectacular this year due to all the rain we got this summer, it's still the same old places.

No Turning Back Now

Lewis Carrol said, Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop." This has always been one of my favorite quotes. It is very powerful in such a simple way. You might remember that last August I started running. I followed the Couch to 5K program, and was running 2 miles when I finished instead of 3. I was proud as hell for just that.. and have worked up to 3 miles since. It's hard to run around here for any distance, and not do a bunch of hills. On my 3 mile route, I run up 3 hills and that's already 3 too many. I try and run 3x a week, which is easier in the summer, although I enjoy running a lot more when it's cooler. I have a busy schedule and daylight working against me.

In September, the band boosters sponsored a post-half marathon cookout that I worked at. Several people I know ran in the race, and one of my co-workers who is also a runner worked at it with me. She mentioned that in October there was a race for a local teacher who is a runner who has come down with lung cancer and asked if I'd consider running. She told me it was 4 miles, part of the half marathon they were running that day, and considerably flat. It was a month away and I thought, sure why not.

This Day Is Forever

I can remember that morning in my head so clearly, that it hardly seems like it could have been 8 years ago already. When people ask me when we moved to Troy, I answer "Labor Day weekend, 2001"... but in my brain, it's followed with, "right before 9-11". It was the first defining thing that happened after we bought out house, and I've forgotten the entire 2 weeks before that in my memory. I know they involved unpacking.. and Corey starting a new school.. but I don't have those memories. I remember buying my house, and I remember standing there in the family room after K called, with Ashley who's 4 year old eyes were huge.. watching those towers burn and crash to the ground. As the Pentagon burned, and those brave people in PA took that plane down in a lonely field.

In Which We Start Anew...

In my mind, September is kind of the start of the year. When you work in Education, you tend to think in "school year" terms, instead of actual year terms. When January rolls around, and people start talking about the new year, we are half-way through our school year, and I always think, the year isn't new.. it's half over!

September brings new supplies, new students, new challenges.... and every year I *try* to get into new routines that make my life easier. Last year I started planning my clothes for the whole week on Sunday and doing all my ironing. I'm happy to say this is working out great. I've tried to get into the habit of making my lunch at night, but this is still proving to be a challenge. This year I've started to go to be earlier. I tend to stay up until 11-11:30, out of habit, watching 10:00 shows I like, then doing the "getting ready for bed" junk that needs to get done.. and watching the weather. I'm tired looooooong before that, so this year I'm going to bed at 10:00. So far this is working out really good. I'm going to Tivo the shows I want to watch at 10, and catch up on them during the weekend. (this part I'm going to have a hard time.. I just know it).

This fall brings football games that Mr. Man will be playing with the band.. and Ms. Thang signed up for Field Hockey, so this month and next month will find me sitting in the bleachers for 5 home games watching my girl try something new. Not all change is bad.. and I'm looking forward to this. It's no secret that fall is my favorite season... and soon we will be right in the throes of it. I'm ready.

.... And So Does He

Because the High School and Middle School kids are all in the same building... the High School kids all get one extra day of summer vacation. They let the younger kids have a day back to get their lockers, find their classes and be in the halls without the booming population of large and noisy H.S'ers.

Today, I sent my 14.5 yr old son off to his first day of High School. It's so weird to think that he's old enough to be in High School, or that I'm old enough to have a child there. I'm not ready for these next 4 years to fly by, and I remember that once you get to H.S... that's what happens.

He has so much potential.. and he's very intelligent and funny. He is realizing that he might actually have to start studying this year (or maybe he won't).. and if he applies himself he could score himself a 4 yr paid scholarship to anywhere he wants to go. Somehow sending him off was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I think I'm ready.

And So It Goes......

..... and so does she.

I just watched this beautiful young lady get on a large yellow school bus for the first time in her school career, and take off down the road to drive the 10 miles that will bring her over to the Middle School/ High School in the next town. She is nervous, and excited and I will admit, she was a little giggly. She is dressed in an outfit she bought with her birthday money, and wearing makeup for the first time (well, to school). She joked about how it's my turn to wear the skirt to school next (she bought a size M, cuz they didn't have a S.. so she has to tie the belt tight, but of course it totally fits me too.. so weird to think about sharing clothes already), and I joked back that I wasn't wearing her makeup too.

She will do just fine "over there" at the big school. She is a good student, she is friendly and kind and makes friends quick and easy, and she is just an overall good kid. It will be weird to walk to school every day without her. When Mr. Man used to walk with us, he was always in front of or behind us (mostly behind).. but her and I always talked on the way to school. This year she will either talk to The Boy in the car, or to her friends on the bus.. and I will walk alone. I already miss her.

You Have a What Now?!

So Mr. Man is starting H.S. this week. Last week he went to school every day at 12:30 and stayed until 8:00 for band camp. He's pretty damn good at band, and was in the March-Off every single night. On Friday, the kids have their parents come at 4:30, they show off their half time show, get a bit of ice cream treat, and go home after a long week of work. Last week it was HOT here in NH. Summer finally showed up the party, just in time for it to be over. I am talking so hot and humid, I only went running on Tuesday. It was bad. So needless to say, by Friday the atmospheric conditions were perfect for a storm. A big storm. With lots of lightning and pouring rains. Ash and I went to the H.S. ( The Boy was already there working) for 4:30, and dashed in amongst the first of the rain. The lightning continued to crack down around us and the rain could be heard throughout the building.

In Which We Find ... The End of Summer

Well, I have thought about it, and researched and decided I just don't care enough to not blog. There's some old saying that eavesdroppers never hear good things about themselves.. and that's the attitude I'm taking. In the meantime.. I've gone hiking, blueberry picking twice, sat out in my chair and enjoyed the sun and read... have played in my garden, done some knitting (don't you just love that hat? I'm making her a sweater to match), taken a trip to the mall, seen my niece who just keeps getting cuter and played steel drums. The weather these past few days has been muggy and rainy and stormy and so I've been cooped up inside and I feel like I have cabin fever. I'm kind of looking forward to going back to school tomorrow, and at the same time I'm not ready for summer to end.

Well Now...

If you had told me that by August 4th, I wouldn't have posted my 800th blog post, I would've told you that you were crazy. I mean hello.. I blog all the time. Except for when I don't. See, first we had that situation way back in the spring that had me sad and out of sorts. I would like to report that the situation is 100% better, and I'm glad that it's behind us. Then came the whirlwind of the school year ending and the fence being built and the tower going up and I was just plain exhausted. Which doesn't really explain though, why I haven't been blogging much all summer does it? I was thinking about it in the shower today.. where I do my best thinking.. and all of a sudden it clicked. See that man-child mowing our neighbors lawn.. mowing for the first time in his life.. doing his first real job? He is an ornery sort of child, and upon discovering that I was a blogger, Googled until he found my site. I asked him not to read it, as this is MY blog. My place to go and vent and say what I need to say. I haven't ever shared this link with ANYONE in my family, or The Boys for that matter because I don't want to ever wonder that I might hurt someone's feelings or share something that is going to upset anyone.

Observations From The Campground

We left Wednesday to go camping, much like we do every summer, with the intentions of staying through until Saturday. (we don't always leave on Wed., I just meant we camp every summer) The weather was gorgeous and the forecast was calling for Thursday and Friday to be nice with a chance of rain both days. The Boy is a bad luck charm when it comes to camping, and without fail, every single time he's ever gone camping in his life, there has been torrential rain. Not just a passing shower.. a storm! This year was no different. We had a sprinkling rain Wed. night and briefly Thurs. morning, but other than that we had gorgeous weather. Friday however, we started to hear about severe thunderstorms coming through over night and into early Saturday morning. Of course, I thought, just in time for us to pack up all our gear. Friday we went to the lake and spent the day, and then came back around 5pm-ish. I was listening to NOAA again, and hearing things like gusty wind, and hail... and decided it wasn't worth staying. So I mentioned to The Boy, that we should start packing up, have dinner and a camp fire, and then around the time we'd be heading to bed, just head home. He thought that was a fine idea... we had spent the day... the morning we leave is mostly just get up, have breakfast, pack up and leave anyhow.. and then our stuff would be dry.

In Which We Find... Tall Ships!

I came back from a meeting Thursday night, to The Boy asking if I wanted to go to Boston on Saturday to see the Tall Ships. With his parents. I love Boston, and I have always wanted to see the tall ships.. so I figured what the heck and agreed to go. We called them back and it turns out my MIL had an apt that morning and blah blah.. so we decided we'd go down early, have lunch and meet up with them in the afternoon.

Saturday was a gorgeous day! There were people out in Boston in DROVES. One women who was waiting in line behind me to use the bathroom in Quincy Market commented to the women behind her (they were both from out of state) that she overheard it was the first nice stretch of weather.. and I piped up with IN MONTHS! I told them how cold and rainy it's been and I wasn't surprised at all the people out and about, because we all have cabin fever. They both laughed and then proceeded to tell me about how gorgeous it's been where they live.

Anatomy of a Fence

Someday it might stop raining and I'll have something new to blog about.. but until then I will keep blogging about old things that I haven't blogged about yet. Like my new fence. Our fences, as you might remember from here, and here, were 30 plus years old, rotting and falling down. In 2006, we removed the part of the back fence that ran between our yard and your neighbors yard before a winter storm took it out. We have been working on replacing it since. Last summer, we had the pine trees in the back yard taken down. Over the winter I talked to the prior owner of our house, who sells "organic lumber" now (he's a character in a half) about coming out to measure how much lumber we'd need to build a new fence and giving us an estimate. He not only came out to measure, but said in exchange for some computer work from The Boy, he'd help us build the new fence. I could do a whole blog post about him and how wonderful he's been to us since we moved here.. but that's another day.

In Honor of His Birthday.....

.. I present.... "THE TOWER OF DOOM."

A year or so ago, The Boy bought this radio tower from the estate of one our neighbors who had passed away and the family was selling the house. It's about 40 feet tall and aluminum, and I thought, "OMG, why do I want that thing in my yard?" I don't.. but he does.. and he's very agreeable to things I want.. so I didn't grumble. (too much, I admit.. I grumbled some). I must admit however, that now that it's up and in the back yard, I don't much notice it unless I'm out in the yard looking at it. The Boy has agreed that once it comes down one last time and gets retrofitted with things and cables etc and we bury the cement and put dirt around it.. I can plant vine type things up the aluminum frame. He also joked about putting Christmas lights up it in the winter, but that's just too redneckish and I told him under no uncertain circumstances would there ever be lights on that tower.

It Was a Little Corny....

... the party.. is OVER. Just between you, me and the fencepost.. I hate large social gatherings. I hate the noise, the chaos, the mess... and I hate it more when it's in MY space. For 14 years I have hosted family birthday parties twice a year.. and next month we will be having the last one. Then in 2 yrs we'll have another graduation party for Ms. Thang (8th grade), then 2 yrs. after that Mr. Man graduates from H.S. then 2 yrs after that Ms. Thang follows suit. I think I can handle one party in 2 years. I'm glad this one is over. I made corn on the cob cupcakes.. they came out awesome if I do say so myself.

In Which We Find A Few Endings....

:: blows dust off the ole' blog::

Been awhile eh? I have so many things to share with you.. stories and photos.. but they will all have to wait until next week. Tomorrow is my last day of work, and then I have a family cookout to get ready for on Sunday.. and on Monday I can kick back and relax. I hope the god's have a good weather day in store for Monday because this rain is starting to make me cranky.
I do want to share with you however.. how proud I am of both of my children. It's been a busy week here at chez not enough time to breath... and Mr. Man and Ms. Thang have both graduated and are moving up in their academic careers.

Yesterday we sat and watched as Ashley got up in front of not only her whole class, but their families and about 4 other classes in our school and gave the opening speech at graduation. She talked about her experiences at our school.. memories and teachers from each grade, what she learned, what it meant to her and ended with saying how much she'll miss our school. It was beautiful and she did a fantastic job. She also received an award for perfect attendance in band, which is given for showing up every week and having your instrument, and honor roll. I am going to miss walking to school with her every day next year and can hardly believe she's ready for middle school.

Garden 2009

I have been sorely neglecting my poor blog lately.. and I'm sorry. I have been so stinking busy, that it's just been easier to check Facebook, then to come and do a lengthy blog post at the end of an exhausting day. In case you are keeping track, 2.5 more weeks and school is over. T-minus 21 days until the big graduation party. No, I'm not ready. thanks for asking! But, the fence is done (blog post about this later.. actually.. it will take more than 1..).. the entire upstairs has been spring cleaned and I think.. just maybe.. we'll make it.

Let Them Eat... Cupcakes!

One of Ms. Thang's Christmas gifts this year was a 53 piece cake decorating kit from Wilton. She is an aspiring chef, and wants to be well rounded, and asked for some cake decorating items. Last night she let me borrow it so that I could make cupcakes to bring in to share with our class for my birthday. Let me tell you... cake decorating is not as easy as it looks. You have to hold the bag and the tip a certain way, and use the right technique... etc. I have a new appreciation for all the gorgeous cakes and things that our bakery makes. She doesn't charge nearly enough. I am so proud of them.. I thought I could come and share them here. I bought a cute book called "Hello, Cupcake!" at the book fair this year.. and these were inspired by that book, but not exactly from it.

I'm Not Your Princess....

I have so much to blog about. The fence project, the tower of doom, my garden.. but I'm not going to blog about any of that tonight. I'm tired, I don't feel good and I plan to be in bed soon. Things are going OK on the home front. Slow and steady.. right?? Somehow, I am realizing that I don't speak my mind enough (if you know me, stop laughing..) and that it's better to just say things and deal with them then to let them build up. I haven't run all week long, due to the lousy weather, and the previously mentioned projects, and I am chomping at the bit to get out there. Now I have this sore throat from hell and a feeling that it's going to turn into the "funk" that is going around our classroom. This makes me sad. So anyhow.. I'll try and blog soon. In the meantime, enjoy this lovely photo I took on our field trip to Magic Wings today.

If It Makes You Happy.........

.. then why the hell are you so sad?! :: sings loudly with reckless abandon ::

In NO particular order, things that made me happy today.

1. These lilacs. I cut them off one of our lilac bushes yesterday while the fence was being worked on. I love lilacs, and I love that I saved that old cookie jar with the broken lid. It was the only thing I had big enough to put them into.

Say What You Need To Say

Growing up in a severely dysfunctional family, it has taken me 34.5 years to realize that it's not selfish to take care of yourself. It would seem kind of obvious, but really... it wasn't. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and right now.. the only thing I really want is to spend a day by myself. Away from here, and this, and all of it.. alone. If I had the funds, and he had the time.. I was contemplating a weekend trip to visit my best friend. I was thinking that some quiet time hanging out with my godson might restore my battered soul. The timing is bad all the way around, and so I kind of put the idea of being alone aside.

Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You better know that in the end
It’s better to say too much
Than never to say what you need to say again

*sigh*

Sometimes being a parent sucks. No one tells you when they hand you the cute little baby that your life with this small being will be hard, and difficult and challenging. No one tells you about the heartache, and the headaches and the arguments and hormones and all that other kind of crap that life hands you down the road. It's probably a good thing, because no one would ever do it again.

Just when I think I've made it over the latest hurdle, and things have settled down... another bomb drops into my lap and blindsides me. My son, is a remarkable young man. He is smart, and clever, and witty and all around he's a good kid. He plays in the the band, goes to jazz band rehearsal, is in the National Jr. Honor Society, and attends church and youth group with his best friend weekly.

'ello out there!

So, life has been kind of kicking my arse as of late. I've noticed a trend in my blogging.. that I find mildly disturbing as I look over the last bunch of months. I don't blog much when I feel down and out about stuff. Sure, when it's school crap or other mindless junk going on, I can come here and rant and rave with the best of them. But when it's more personal stuff.. I tend to stay away. I have come here very often during this kind of dry spell, opened up the compose window, and just sat here with an empty screen. I've thought about what I could possibly blog about.... and then I close it and let another day go one with nothing blogged. Sure I have come and thrown some mindless crap up... but that was just so there would be SOMETHING new to look at. Something up there that wasn't a month old post just gathering cobwebs.

This One Moved Me The Most.... enjoy

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Don't Worry

Playing For Change | Song Around the World "Don't Worry" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Laughter is The Best Medicine-click it bigger

Random Wednesday- click it for a bigger image

Sleeping Beauties

Back in the fall, when we were furniture shopping, I feel in love with this chaise. I can sit in it, with my laptop, and my lower back doesn't hurt, unlike when I sit in the other chair or on the couch. The only bad thing about it, is the lack of quality lighting over in this part of the family room. In fact, most of the family room has crappy lighting, but there is no light over here. Late at night, when I'm tired or the day has been too long, I can't knit, or read, or do productive things from my chair, because it's too dark. So most nights, I Ravel, or hang out on Facebook and chat. Mostly it's not a big deal, as it's late, but sometimes it bugs the heck out of me. But that's not where I was going with this.

Cheap Therapy

So in early March I bought a book called Wreck This Journal. It's supposed to inspire your creative muse, and my muse was in need of a good kick in the arse, so I picked it up. On each page there are directions of things you are supposed to do... to be taken however you choose. On one page, it simply said, "Crack The Spine." So after cracking the spine of my journal, I drew a spine and wrote all about how I used to see a chiropractor and her nickname (by me) was Crunch because of the sound it made when she did her adjustments. It's a fun book, but it had one page that I felt I couldn't do. One page who's directions challenged the very core of my being. It had a photo of a matchbook, and said, "Burn This Page." If you know me, or you've read my blog since the start, you'll know that in 1999 we had a fire in our apartment. As you can imagine, fire isn't something I take lightly and I wasn't too amused by this page. I went online to Flickr, where they have a gallery of pages other people have done, to see if anyone else "skipped" any. No luck.

Where Has This Month Gone?

I apologize for my lack of posting these past few weeks. It's been right crazy around here between school and meetings and the kids.In between all that mess.. Ms. Thang sprained her wrist on Saturday. They thought it was broken, but it's a tendon sprain and she's lucky it didn't tear. She has to wear a brace/splint thingy until my birthday in 6 weeks and she's kind of bummed about the whole thing but taking it fairly well. Easter was nice. I knit this cute little bunny for my niece, but didn't get the last ear done in time. I bought it with me to knit in the car, and then felt car sick when I tried (happens once in a blue moon) so I bought it back home to finish this week. It was cold on Easter, so on the way home, when it was dark and I could knit, I made that little scarf out of scrap yarn I used in her blanket. I have it all bundled up to be mailed tomorrow.The color is better in the next photo, and I'm tickled with how cute it came out, even if I built it around the head being backwards. The pointy part seemed more nose like than back of the head like. This only caused issues with putting the eyes on.

We Hope You Will Enjoy The Show....

When she was in first grade, or maybe it was second (it's been a long time now, I can't remember)... Ms. Thang surprised the HELL out of me and got the lead part in the winter show. It was a cute little number about bullying, and she played Bully the Bullfrog in a show titled, A Froggy Day in Lindentown. Not only did she have speaking parts, she had solo singing parts and I was so damn proud of her. She has a natural talent for music, and loves to sing. When she told me that she had a solo in the spring show this year, I wasn't one bit surprised. The only thing she told me, was that it was for Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, and she was singing with Paige. I told her I'd stay far away from rehearsals, and skip the afternoon dress rehearsal so I could be surprised the night of the show.

The Journey of a Thousand Miles...

....begins with some new luggage!

In the 13.5 years we've been married, we've never bought luggage. We have some luggage that my dad gave us, but it's big and clunky and really doesn't suit our needs. We've made do with it over the years, and I appreciate that it was there for our use.. and now it's being banished to the attic. The kids will use it for their school trips, and whatever money my parents paid for that luggage (my parents bought that when they were still married if that tells you how old it is... they've been divorced for 10 years).. it was money well spent.

Random Bitching.... on a Thursday

1.That mole.. the one from last spring, that I spent all summer/fall trying to get rid of? Had an effing FIELD DAY underneath all the snow in my yard this winter. Moved into the FRONT yard, and left it's front door wide open for me to see. I am researching what I can toss down that hole to be rid of the damn thing. The part that kills me, is that it was in my flower garden also. I'm not sure how to get my yard flat again... because their are ridges everywhere. I can feel the unevenness under my feet as I walk through.

2. So after hurting my calf on the treadmill at the Cape, I didn't run for a week and a half. I waited, patiently.. letting my calf heal. I am not dumb. I've been here before. I ran on Tuesday with no issues. I ran today.. and the stupid calf on the OTHER leg did some wacky thing 3/4 of the way through my run. The nice part is that it's a different muscle than the other leg.... but hello.. WTF? Why does this keep happening? How am I ever going to get out and run regularly if I keep having calf issues. All I can say is it better feel better by Sunday... cuz like it or not, it's going running again cuz this is ridiculous!!

Eyecandy Friday

Saturday afternoon, after having lunch with my SIL H and her dh at Liam Maguire's (hey, if the food is good, why not go back?), The Boy, Mr. Man and I set off to explore. We wanted to check out Wood's Hole, which is a Marine Biology Institute tucked away in Falmouth, and also visit the shoreline.
After determining that while Woods Hole was cool enough, there was too much construction going on there, we hit the shore. We walked up this stretch of beach for a while, headed towards Buzzard's Bay.. in search of the "Knob". We were *almost* there when it was time to go back and get ready for my MIL's birthday dinner. What I loved about this bit of beach, was that it wasn't "beachy", and it wasn't all rocks. It was a beautiful combination of the shore the way it is naturally. I collected shells and seaglass, and we had a nice afternoon of it.

*Sometimes I forget that other people read my blog, because it doesn't generate a lot of chatter and comments. Thank you to those of you who have emailed me wondering if I'm OK. I'm fine, really. It's been a long, miserable winter and some crap that is going on has just gotten the best of me. I appreciate your concern more than you know.

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When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse.

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Sunday Secrets... Cape Cod Style

Closer To Fine

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
If I close my eyes, and lie in a dark quiet room, I can still picture it like it happened just yesterday. I can remember sitting in the car, with a cup of HOT Dunkin Donut's coffee in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. I can see the snow falling out the front window of the car, and hear the music that was playing on the radio. Time is a gentle healer, and can't remember what the song was anymore, but for years I couldn't hear it play without tearing up. I had on a tee shirt, and a black sweater that belonged to my friend Jason. He was off playing with the Navy, and somehow along the years I had ended up with one of his sweaters. It was a black turtleneck sweater that was made of cotton, but it was heavy and warm and he probably lent it to me during one of the infamous bashes we had at his house during the summer.

Maybe give me insight between black and white
I can still hear the fight I had with my mother before I left that day. Bad weather was coming in and she didn't want me out on the roads. My friend was moving to MA, from Concord, to be a nanny, and I offered my help because I had nothing better to do, and I felt bad because she had been staying with US and I thought I owed it to her. We yelled, as was the case, and because I was recently out of the Army and back home, I decided I didn't care what she thought and I was an adult and I left anyhow. Our plan was to be back by noon, which was early enough because the snow wasn't supposed to get bad until later. March storms never work out quite the way they predict, and the snow started earlier and fell much heavier than they had thought.. and it quickly turned into a blizzard.

Huh?!?!

There is a place of worship on the side of the road on the way into Keene from my town. I pass by it every week on the way in to do my errands. It has one of those "bill boards" out front that you can change the letters on and create catchy phrases. Typically, they have cute catch phrases about church, and God and such things. Sometimes it makes me smile, sometimes it makes me think.. and this past week and last weekend.. it has pissed me off.

The new slogan that went up late last week reads, "Marriage is God's way of protecting woman and children." Huh?!?! When I first read it, I actually said out loud, "WTF?" (the full phrase, no one else was in the car with me). I thought about it the whole time I was doing my errands, and then I read it again on the way back.

Real Food Rots

A while ago I was listening to the radio, or watching something on TV.. in fact it might have been a stand up comedian, and he was talking about the crap we eat and how most of the stuff people put into their bodies is, in his opinion, "edible food like substances." He want on to talk about real food, and made a statement that has stuck into my brain since that time. "Real Food Rots." Something so simple, and yet so incredibly profound. I know that I am just as guilty as everyone else of eating junk. Processed food. Boxed cereals (although I do eat Healthy Start which is supposed to be good for you). Nacho chips and jarred salsa. Bottled salad dressing. I like to put 2 sugars and 2 spoons of non-dairy creamer (full fat, thanks) in my coffee. I have a weakness for Tootsie Rolls. I like to have a beer with dinner a few nights a week. The list goes on and on. Does any of this make me a bad person? Certainly not.

A Welcome Break From Winter

Back at the end of the year, over our very long and snowy Christmas break, I decided that one of the things I wanted to do in 2009 was take a family outing every month. Go somewhere that we've either never been, or really love. January was a hard month, as my Grandma passed away and life was busy, but we did get to my brother S's house for a bash for our brother B's 30th birthday. That was fun and we counted that as our outing but decided we'd add another one into a different month. I decided at that same time.. that in February, during winter break I wanted to go to Magic Wings.

Hey Mista.. Throw Me Some Beads!

Last year, about this time... or maybe a few months past this time (it was a long time ago, cut me a break) I received in the mail a huge, heavy box. It was jam-packed full of Mardi-Gras beads from Sgt, (who hasn't blogged in a year) and not the fake kind either. Honest to God beads from Mardi-Gras. I waited all year long to wear as many as I could stand the weight of, to discover that Mardi-Gras falls during winter break this year. I'm so OK with that. My brother S is coming over on Tuesday and I fully plan to wear some beads and give him some to wear also. Why the heck not right? If I were more ambitious, I'd have planned on a Kings Cake, but I wasn't sure if he was coming on Tuesday or Wednesday. Someday in my life I'd actually like to go to Mardi-Gras, but I'm a bit weary of large crowds and not sure how that'd go over.