Days of Deerledge

Happy 2012

2012-01-15T13:00:00.003-05:00

I checked my blog today and this is pathetic! I can not believe I would let 6 months go by without putting a post up. Okay - I have chastized myself and vow to do better.

2012 is starting off just pleasant. Homeschooling is going super and Hannah does a great job and loves it. I enjoy it too and we spend a lot of time together. She starts a session of homeschool cooking classes this week. They run every other week until the middle of May. The groupd of kids she cooks with are fun and she seems to enjoy it. On Wednesdays, she rides at the stable for a couple hours.

Summer 2011

2011-06-20T14:36:00.002-04:00

As sporadically as I post, I'll just title this one Summer 2011 and add to it over the days and keep updating it. Here's Gary and Josh as they kicked ass and took names at the 2011 Father's Day Classic on Androscoggin Lake. Josh even did it with bleeding eyes after attending a wedding and staying up until all hours of the morning doing God-knows-what....after all - he isn't 30 yet. He can still party all night and go fishing all day the next day. We party all night and have to take 3 days off to recover. Who am I kidding? We don't party all night. If we stay up past 10:00pm we announce the next day to anyone who will listen how we "stayed up waaaay late!"

My brother is doing pretty good. He had aweek of not doing so good but we've moved paast that and continue to take his sobriety one day at a time and today is good.

Brotherly Love

2011-03-27T20:24:00.002-04:00

My brother moved into our extra space in our home for a short while. He is needing to get his life back on track. He has hit rock bottom concerning his health, wealth, and pride. Things in his life are at an ultimatum right now.....you drink....you die. It's that simple. It's not a shade of gray but a stark black & white. Either, or, neither, nor....there's no exception. He spent a week in the hospital, clinging to life the first couple days and starting to heal the rest. I will do all I can to help him. He's my brother. I love him and hope he stays strong. So far, he has. It's like watching a person come alive again, though. A shell of a man moved in here....broken, sad, alone. Almost 2 weeks later, he continues to get stronger, a smile crosses his face a few times a day and a sparkle can be seen in his eye once in a while. He will never be in the health he once was.....his liver is barely able to support his existence. I say a prayer that he finds peace within himself and finds his worth. Life is good and he can be part of it again. Some of the people he called friends before are not true friends. They were enablers and didn't care about him. He could have died for all they care. I will not enable him and I do care. This is tough love to live.

Giani Kitchen Project

2011-01-17T12:20:00.007-05:00

I haven't posted in FOREVER but I started a new project in my kitchen today and wanted to makes sure I blogged about it. I like to do things like this so I can look back and say "oh yeah, that's when we did that!".

Before I get to the project, I do want to say that everything is going fine. Gary's health is good. He's all healed up from his surgery last February and feels wonderful. I still want to write about his surgery and have tons of pictures to post about that. It was the most amazing thing and his recovery....well....it took a lot of patience to handle. Wore my ass out! We are homeschooling Hannah this year (7th grade) and that is going well too. We bought a house in Tennessee last December,after we sold our company. We are trying to sell our house here in Maine so we can move down there permanently. The housing market in our area tanked last year as it did it most parts of the country. Thank heavens, we don't have a mortgage on our new house and Gary has work here for now. Jeez, maybe I do have some stuff I could write about!

We have been wanting to change our counter tops for quite a while now and have been pricing out different options. The prices we were coming up with were giving us (more!) gray hair....upwards of $1500 just to do the counter tops. I've been checking this Giani product have been liking what I see and read. Of course they don't sell it anywhere in Maine yet, so Gary and I scooted over the border to NH and picked some up. We purchased both the Sicilian Sand and Chocolate Brown kits.

Today, I started the primer coat and here are the before and after pictures of that. Please note that I am only doing half of the counter tops at a time so we can still use our kitchen during the dry and curing times. Its a couple days before you can place anything on the counter after it's complete and two weeks for the top coats to fully cure.

Island before:

Island after black prime coat:
Applying the paints to the island:
Island completed: Part 2 of the kitchen tapes off and primed:Applying the mineral paints to part2 of the kitchen:Finally! Completed! It looks wonderful.

Quadruple Bypass Surgey

2011-01-16T19:14:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share some pictures and information in the hopes that someone else might find it helpful. I know when Gary and I were looking online for pictures and first hand knowledge of the procedure any bit of personal experience with the surgery was most helpful! As the wife of the patient, I wanted to know what the recovery was going to be like but I really had a hard time finding real information. Please be aware that some pictures might be a little graphic in nature and I apologize for that but they are necessary to tell the story.

The first picture is intake day. We had to be there bright and early as Gary was the first operation of the day for the cardiac team. First a few nurses came in to take vitals and make sure that Gary was who is said he was and not some person off the street there to get open heart surgery for kicks. lol - like that would happen!

Then the blood people come in to get samples and put an IV in.

A nice male nurse comes in to announce that Gary has to be shaved. Any hair from the neck down on the torso and legs is coming off. Gary said it wasn't so bad - more ticklish than anything but very humbling. That whole process took about half hour and used 4 cordless razors!

After getting him all ready they give him a shot of something to relax him. Word of advice: be sure to say your serious goodbyes prior to them getting this shot. After the shot takes effect, you might as well be a clown floating in a snowglobe....that's how much aware of you they will be. I'm glad Gary and I said our good-byes, love you's and all that prior to this. Pretty soon after "The Shot", he is wheeled away to the operating theater and I stand there and cry and pray.

I'm told it will be a six hour operation and they give me a beeper that works in the hospital. When Gary is almost finished, they will beep me and I am to come to the waiting area and the surgeon will come out to see me. My friend, Regina, comes and waits with me but I am not very good company. My mind is totally focused on Gary and praying that everything goes well.

5 and a half hours later. My beeper goes off and I am already in the waiting area. About 30 mins later, the surgeon comes in and smiles at me. Instantly, I feel better and relieved. He told me that Gary did wonderful. He came off the heart/lung machine without needing further help. I don't really know what that means except that when Gary's fixed heart was supposed to start beating it took off like a champ. The surgeon told me that he was being finished getting closed up and would go to cardiac ICU. Once they got him settled, they would beep me again and I should go there.

Another 30 mins later, the beeper went off again and I hurried to the ICU to see him. I was told that cardiac patients are allowed to wake on their own and not be brought out of anesthesia as they are with other operations. So the first time I saw Gary - this is what I saw. He was all swaddled up tightly in warm blankets with a breathing tube still in. I put my hand on his shoulder and it was cold. His body felt so cold... it was freaky. They assured me this was normal. Still, I did not like to see him like that.

When he started to wake up they called me back in again. He was awake but very drowsy and mumbling incoherently. Again, they assured me this was normal. His skin still felt cool. He kept asking me if I was okay and where was Hannah. He wanted to see Hannah so I brought her in for a moment but she didn't' like seeing him like that. He was not allowed food or drink yet.

This is how his sternum area looked in the ICU. It was bandaged up and very clean looking. He had a catheter and three big tubes coming out of his upper stomach area that were draining fluid. The fluid was draining at a good volume. He mostly slept for the first 12-18 hours after surgery.

This is his left leg right after surgery. It looks very orange/yellow from the wash they use. They harvested vein from his ankle to over his knee on the left leg in order to get the appropriate amount of good vein they needed.

Here is the right leg. Vein was harvested from the ankle to mid calf. Very good vein here.

Here is what his neck area looked like. There was a pic line going into the top of his heart and into his neck. He said this was uncomfortable in a more annoying way than anything.

Here is a picture of the 3 tubes he had for draining. On the morning after his surgery, the drain tubes need to come out. The volume had decreased to an acceptable point and rather than further risk infection, out they must go! The nurse readies the area by removing the tape securing the tubes.

She then got the cinch strings ready. It appeared that at each spot a tube entered the belly, there was a basting line of medical string. She told us that after she pulled the tubes, she would cinch up these draw strings, sealing the holes. She told Gary that when she pulled the tubes out it would feel like he was being kicked in the chest. They practiced a couple times...one, two, three, deep breath and hold it, pull, cinch....one,two, three, deep breath and hold it, pull, cinch. "Are you ready?" she asked him. "As ready as I'll ever be" he said. She was a tiny nurse, so she put in right knee up on the bed to get leverage, twisted the three tubes all together around her arm and gripped near his belly. One, two, three, DEEP BREATH AND HOLD IT, pull hard (very loud moan from Gary), and she quickly started cinching. This was the only part that make me queasy at all. I think it was because I could tell it really hurt to have it done and the tubes were up in the a good 12-15"

All cinched up!

When his bandage came off that morning, this is what the incision area of his sternum looked like.This was the day after his surgery. He was sitting up and able to take a couple steps from the bed to the chair. When the physical therapist came in, it was always a flurry of activity. He had breathing exercises to do and flexing of his legs. He was so happy to get the catheter out. The day after his surgery he was going to walk about 25 feet. I know that doesn't sound like alot but believe me, it is. It will wipe them out. A walker is needed, oxygen tank wheeled along and a wheelchair following close behind in case its needed.

And there he goes. Baby steps....baby steps....but he did make it the 25 feet. I think he slept for a few hours after that. Here is his left leg on day 3:

And right leg on day 3

Here is what everything looked like on discharge day. Overall, everything went pretty smooth in the hospital. Some things to be aware of:

Appetite is almost non-existent. Gary has always been a big eater so to see him take 2-3 bites of food and say he couldn't eat anymore was scary to me. His appetite took a good month to come back.

Going to the bathroom. Of all the indignities he had to endure with this procedure, the worst for him was not being able to wipe his own butt. I assured him that I wouldn't enjoy it either but lets get through it with humor and know I was helping him out of love for him and Huggies baby wipes. Please make sure you have lots of baby wipes. The hospitals have this bodywash, no rinse stuff that is wonderful as well. We used Convatec Aloe Vesta and it was a butt saver.

Take it Easy - Gary spent the first month home in flannel pants and white t-shirts. He puttered around as much as he could but also rested in the morning and the afternoon. As soon as he felt like it, he was on the treadmill walking a few minutes a day at a very slow pace.

No driving was hard on all of us because he was cooped up inside. He had a couple friends come pick him up and take him places like Cabelas but he really couldn't walk around a lot without having to sit down frequently.

Here is Gary's incision taken 1/26/2011. Almost one year later.

Hello Again!

2010-08-09T09:17:00.002-04:00

I've had a few people ask me what is going on? Why are you not updating Deerledge anymore? Truth be told, I suck so bad at writing! In my head I come up with things to write about and then life goes on and I don't get around to putting it down. My last post was about Gary and his bypass surgery. I still am going to put that down in writing... I think it would be important, especially if it helps another person. Gary is doing fine though, by the way.

More later!

Quadruple Bypass..... What to Expect.

2010-02-17T08:25:00.005-05:00

I've been searching the Internet looking for information about quadruple bypass and what it really is like.... for the patient and spouse. I know there are tons of articles written by doctor sites and the American Heart Association but I was looking for real stories from people who have had it done. I have so many questions that I couldn't find the answers for. Gary has agreed to let me document and write about his procedure so someone else might find an answer they are looking for. I'll take pictures of his incisions and the subsequent healing. I'll take pictures of him as soon as I am able to see him. We'll talk about the pain, the healing and the feelings.

Tomorrow is surgery day. Tonight, Gary has to shower with a special soap and then again tomorrow morning. No eating or fluids after 6pm. We have to be at the hospital at 6am and surgery is scheduled for 8:15am. Gary has four blockages that are going to be bypassed. The surgeon will be using his Internal Mammary Artery(IMA) to bypass his Left Coronary Artery and Gary's saphenous vein from his leg to graft and bypass the other 3 areas. I'm told the operation will last between 4-6 hours and Gary will be in a cardiac ICU for most of tomorrow until he comes out of anesthesia and the breathing tube comes out.

Stay tuned for postings of his progress.

Happy 2010

2010-01-10T23:16:00.003-05:00

A few clicks and I am in touch with my sister (Sue!), friends in Maine (Regina! Melody!) a friend in Hawaii (Hi Lauren!!!), an awesome friend down south (Hi Jean!!), a cool column writer (Hey Mike Todd!) and others around the world. That is what Facebook has done. It has made my life so much easier than Blogger, especially because I am not a writer anyway. Facebook doesn't require me to think up giant posts to write to let people know how I am doing... just a short status update and I am on my way.

Things are going well. Here are a few pix of the new Tennessee house.

Business Sold: check
House in Tennessee bought: check
Quadruple bypass: check
Freaking the F out: check

More Shelly

2009-10-19T14:31:00.005-04:00

I know it has been forever since I last did a blog post so I thought I'd do a quick update.
Shelly is adjusting wonderfully into the family. She's really sinking her teeth into anything she can get them on. I've titled the picture below, "Good Morning - I've been patiently Waiting for you to come downstairs and feed me." Chloe and Shelly get along very well. Thank God we have a king sized bed because by the end of the night, both dogs are in bed with Gary & I and are exercising their full right to stretch out and get comfy.

Camp has closed for the season and everything is put away until next May (or April if Mother Nature co-operates).

Our house is on the market but we've only had 2 showings. Things are really slow around here.

Fall in the Air

2009-08-30T09:40:00.002-04:00

It's a start. The summer had flown by. We didn't have much of a summer here in Maine. What we did have was a ton of rain. I think the entire month of July and most of June were rain. August has been hot and muggy but it's starting to improve. The days are a little cooler and the nights a little colder. It is also dark at 7:30pm now. Some trees are starting to have a little color in them.... especially the ones growing around swamps.

School starts next week.

The summer that wasn't

2009-07-11T09:18:00.002-04:00

77 days after the rains started, it stopped and the sun came out. My lawn sprung into action, the moss on the roof cried in pain and mosquitoes the size of small pickups came out of the woods to feast on any human they could find. The past couple of days have proven to me that we actually might have a summer after all. There really is a sun in the sky.

Going to Greenville next week for a wedding and some family time. I promise I will try to blog more. I am on Facebook if anyone is interested. I'm there alot.

It's Shelly

2009-06-02T11:10:00.001-04:00

Well... we couldn't stand it... we had to get another dog. Here's Shelly. She and Chloe have the same dad just like Chloe and Cinco did. Shelly even has that funky left ear thing going on.

Welcome Home! Hannah is on cloud 9!

Back in the Saddle

2009-05-26T13:31:00.004-04:00

You know I can't stay away for long.

The skies are blue, the grass is green...oh so green and lush with a million dandelions. We used to pick those fuzzy ones and tell Hannah to blow them to the wind. Now we are paying for that foolishness. I offer her 25¢ for every dandelion scalp she brings me for my coup belt but instead we spray Roundup™ all over the yard.

We miss Cinco so much. Grief is such a strange thing. At first, it was if all I could do was think about him and be so very sad. Yesterday, I realized that the entire day had almost gone by before I thought about him and I felt disloyal. Hannah and Gary have been talking about Shelly and how they can't wait for her to join the family. Shelly is the name they have picked out for our next member. I am not ready yet. The brunt of the training and taking care of a new puppy falls to me and I am just not ready to take that on.

Getting ready for my first garage sale this weekend. I had no idea we had so much crap in this house.

Hiatus

2009-05-15T12:46:00.001-04:00

Will blog again soon. Taking a hiatus right now.

I hope everyone is doing good! Let me know how you are.

Cinco De Mayo De Man

2009-04-23T07:19:00.005-04:00

All I heard was Chloe barking and barking and barking. This isn't unusual.... she barks at things sometimes. Suddenly her barking sounded frantic and and I jumped up and ran to the office door to call to her. She came in and had a bleeding spot on her hind quarters and was trembling. I went outside and called to Cinco. I called and called and whistled and called some more. He didn't come.

We found him in the woods, laying by a stream. A coyote had attacked them and Chloe was able to get away. We are all devastated over the loss of our little tough guy. He had such attitude and determination and was such a joy in every way.

R.I.P little buddy. We will miss you so much.

Cinco De Mayo de Man May 5, 2008 - April 22, 2009

TieDye Cake for Lime

2009-04-21T13:59:00.005-04:00

If you like tie-dye things you'll appreciate this cake...... (House of Lime, this is in your honor!) Hannah and I had a blast making it and it was pretty tasty too!

Start out with a totally messy and clutter filled counter top. I mean seriously, the more crap you can have all over the top of it.... the better. It helps make trying to do anything on the counter...super fun! Take it from me... someone who knows. Good times!

Mix up the batter and color it. The colors we use came out nice except for the purple. I don't know what school you went to but when I learned Kindergarten Color 101, blue and red always made purple. However, in cake batter world blue and red make Putrid. I know, I know, it defies all logic to me too.

Layer the colors in the pans and bake them. I've only done 3 of the 6 colors so far in this pan.
The colors are done in reverse order in each pan. I guess this is so the amount of batter works out correctly or the earth doesn't tip off the axis.... whichever comes first. Whatever.... it works.
After it cools, slam the cakes together with some frosting and put some sprinkles you find in the cupboard that you didn't know you had and are dated 2004 but they tasted okay.
Ain't that purty?

Cinco

2009-04-18T09:20:00.004-04:00

Hannah loves to play with Cinco. She holds him like a baby and he hates it. He squirms, he growls, he announces his displeasure. He sounds like a Tasmanian Devil snarling and growling. If you didn't know they were playing, you'd expect that he was being tortured from sounds he makes.

Easter After

2009-04-13T10:33:00.005-04:00

Yesterday's Easter celebration was wonderful! We had an awesome dinner (HAM!) with some family and the weather was beautiful. Gary called in the middle of dinner to tell me he is on his way home and will be here before Hannah gets home from school today.

I am so happy to finally put away the Easter tree that was on the dining room table for the past few weeks. It's a white wire tree with tiny egg and bunny ornaments hanging on it. One of our cats decided to make it her personal mission to destroy the tree every chance she had. Usually in the middle of the night. Here's a picture of the evil witch cat herself... Princess.

Only 17 more days until the campground opens up for the season. It can't come soon enough. My sister is coming for a visit for my mom's birthday around the 23rd. Can't wait to see her!

Easter Eggs

2009-04-11T19:20:00.003-04:00

Our day started out like this. I was never a big fan of dyeing eggs. Actually, when I think about it, I'm not a big fan of doing anything holiday related... especially decorating and all that. Hannah loves it so we do it and she has fun. Here is everything at the start:
Mom gave us her quilting tape... which is 1/4" masking tape to mark off the eggs. Hannah is peeling off the tape after dyeing her patriotic egg.

Most of the eggs completed.

They didn't come out too bad.

2009-04-07T09:53:00.004-04:00

Gary is leaving for Nashville or Memphis or Flippin, Arkansas or wherever his boat is right now. He and Josh leave Wednesday about 3pm and will drive through, pick up the boat if they can find it and fish for a couple days before heading back north. Gary is hoping that Ranger can get his boat to Memphis and then Dick might be able to scoot over and pick it up for him. Gosh - so many crucial details!! Secretly, I am glad I am not going on this road trip because he is on such a mission to get his boat there will be no time for anything else. *note to Jean: Sorry Jean! You're on your own with the psychosis that is Gary and his boat. Bless you.

Tomorrow I am picking up 10 lobsters, cooked and packed on ice, for them to bring to Dick & Jean. Jean is going to make a lobster stew for the guys. Maybe she'll have enough to make herself a lobster roll as well.

Gary, Hannah and I have big changes coming in our lives within the next year or so. I can't say what they are yet because nothing is concrete but as details unfold... I will document them here.

End of March 09

2009-03-24T13:35:00.006-04:00

The calendar says it is spring but mother nature isn't listening... at least not up here in the still frozen tundra of Maine. Today is very windy and cold. Not below freezing but the wind has a bite to it. The snowbanks are melting and giving forth the prizes they collected over the winter. Bits of mangled trash, a crumpled cigarette pack, an old paper coffee cup, a single, sad glove with no match. We discovered why the Christmas lights on the trees out front stopped working in late December.... the snow blower operator had cut the extension cord clean in two pieces. A tiny bird's nest blew out of a tree and Hannah caught it. All winter we have been watching the final, dried leaf on one of the red oaks that line our driveway. It clung gallantly on those windy, cold days of December, January and February. It hung on through an ice storm and a blizzard and torrential rain. This morning it was gone.

The tulips are poking through the ground and so are the daffodils. I've tried to warn them to not be anxious. "No!" I tell them, 'Stop growing! It's a trick! You know she is going to give us at least another foot of snow before this is over!!" Every year she does this to us. Teasing us to get out there and rake our brown grass and sweep 47 bushels of sand off the driveway...... only to awaken one morning to a fresh blanket of snow and heavy sighs of defeat.

37 more days until the campground opens.

Florida Trip 09

2009-03-04T18:22:00.005-05:00

I thought I'd share a few pictures from Gary's trip to Florida. He always has such a good time and I'm glad he gets a chance to go fishing with his buddies.... like he never* gets to do THAT. *insert snort

Here's Dick... he's the one who brings his boat down from the Nashville area and picks up the guys at the Orlando airport. It's about a 12 hour drive for Dick and he and the guys time it so he just swings into the Orlando airport, picks up the Maine men and head off to their rented place and fish for a week. A week later, Dick drops them back at the airport and drives back to Nashville. This year, they had a little extra wait for Dick so the Maine men passed the time at Hooters because it was the only restaurant in Orlando near the airport. Really? Who knew?

Here's my guy... who assures me that only homely girls work at Hooters. HA! He sure loves to fish. I'm such a good wife to let him fish so much... don't you agree?

I mean is it really this much fun? It looks like the same fish to me... but it's not.
Nice fish.

Here is where it gets interesting. Gary caught a tiny gator on a Senko (a soft plastic bait) and Jerry wanted to hold it. Here is Jerry with the tiny gator which they released after taking pictures. I love Jerry's wind blown hair that is sticking straight up!

Speaking of interesting.... my blog was reviewed, rather scathingly here. I tried to take the criticism with my big girl panties on but it still smarted. I knew I was boring but it still hurt to have it blasted over the internet. I did make some changes to my blog because I didn't want to make anyone ill with the dreadful colors I had, or the loser header or whatever else the reviewer said. Oh well.

I can't tell you how many times in the past 5 years of blogging that my blog has come in handy when I need to recall when we did something. If only for that... my blog has been indispensable for me.

2009-03-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

Whatever.

On a Beach Somewhere

2009-02-11T15:53:00.004-05:00

So..... I want to be here. I'm not saying this place will solve my problems.... but it sure will make them easier to cope with. My doctor told me I need the white sand treatment and soon.

sigh

Man vs. Woman

2009-02-06T11:20:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I was in my office with Gary and our employee, John , when another alarm company owner from town came to pick up some parts. The three of them were sitting around ~~shooting the breeze~~ talking and I was at my desk working and listening in on their conversation.

First, I have to say I had no idea that men and women can be so different. Take the way they greet each other for example. If I see one of my friends or acquaintances, we usually greet each other with a "hello" or "How are you doing?" I chuckled when I heard a hearty "What's up dickhead?"

They sat down and talked about the weather, the election and the economy (oh boy - I can't even repeat some of the stuff said in regards to those). I continued to type away at my desk but was still intently listening to what they were saying. I learned that no matter how much schooling and experience the meteorologists on our local news channels have, they are still barely one step above a full blown moron. I also learned that Nancy Pelosi couldn't think her way out of a wet paper bag.

There was a lull in the conversation and Gary looked over at one the other guys and said, "So, how's that Weight Watchers gig going? It doesn't look like it's working too well." Internet, I shit you not! These words actually came out of his mouth to another human being.

I must have looked like a fish gasping for air because my mind just couldn't wrap around that fact that he just said that to someone. "Gary!" I screamed "I can not believe you just said that!!" Gary replied back to me, "Well, look at him, Sheri! Obviously, it's not working!"

The person he said it to started laughing, patting his belly and agreed it wasn't working too well. I think his words were "Yup, I'm still a fat fucker!"

Honestly, I would've been in a heap on the floor, bawling from the insensitivity of it all.

Heavy Snow

2009-01-27T16:35:00.004-05:00

I always feel like I need to post more.... especially since I fall down the list over at Mike Todd's. It's embarrassing to be listed as the blog who was last updated 6 friggin' days ago. ouch!

Not much going on here at Deerledge. Just shoveling snow and more snow. When we finish with that, it's time to shovel again.

I have no idea where all this snow is coming from, especially since we are experiencing global warming. I mean seriously. An ice sheet falling in the Antarctic almost compares to what is on my roof right now. My plowing guy was here today with a tractor moving snow with the bucket so he would have room to plow more snow tomorrow.

Here's a happy bedtime story from our local news channel. Thanks guys.

Inauguration

2009-01-21T10:01:00.003-05:00

I watched the inauguration yesterday. I could not NOT watch it. CNN and Facebook did an amazing job of streaming the events and the sidebar of instant commentary by thousands of Facebook users was certainly a highlight for me. I found myself in tears a few times.... both from American pride and peals of laughter. People from all over the world were with me, in real time, watching and commenting on the events.

A few times I caught myself daydreaming and wondering what could have been going through the minds of the Obama's as they became the first family of this country. I truly wonder what the First Lady was thinking about now:

Just Diggin' It.

2009-01-14T21:42:00.002-05:00

I know the burning question in everyone's mind is "How are those ants doing? Are they still digging tunnels?"

Well, here is the answer.....

We Have Ants!

2009-01-08T08:00:00.006-05:00

Is it wrong that I think one of Hannah's Christmas gifts is the most cool thing EVER? My mom gave her AntWorks. Hannah opened it to find a Plexiglass box filled with this weird looking blue gel. The concept is based on a 2003 NASA Space Shuttle experiment to study animal life in space and test how ants successfully tunnel in microgravity. The experiment was designed and developed by students from a high school in Syracuse, NY and you can read about it here.

We had to order the ants from Utah as they did not come with the kit and we've been ~~frothing at the bit~~, ~~pacing the floor~~ , patiently waiting for them to arrive. Yesterday, our mail carrier screeched up the driveway and tossed this box out the window with a look of sheer panic on her face. It did not state what was live in the box and she probably had visions of snakes or spiders or God knows what else attacking her on her mail route.

The ants (about 30 Harvester ants) arrived in a small tube, wrapped in a synthetic heat pack to keep them warm. They were still all sleepy and dopey acting, some actually looking dead, so I nonchalantly took the lid off the AntWorks and popped the lid off the tube. Instantly, the ants started to go nuts, trying to climb out of the tube. My ick-factor detector shot off the chart and I quickly dumped them onto the gel and slammed the lid on. I threatened Hannah with a beating if she so much as dared to take the cover off in the house. I hate bugs.

Here are the newly housed ants checking out their new digs.

After about three hours, they had settled in and where getting down to business. All the ants are females and they sure look like they know what they are doing and are extremely organized. I guess in the ant world all the workers are female and the few males are produced for breeding only and die shortly after. Whatever....works for them.

They started by excavating the side of the gel out. A couple of brave sisters went deep down the side of the glass and started burrowing. They tossed up little chunks of gel and other ants started carrying them up to the surface where a different ant would take it and move it to the other side of the habitat. Such organization and teamwork!

This little sister worked all by herself on the far side of the excavation. I'm guessing her job was to just stack up the gel chunks as high as she could get them.

When we went to bed last night, most of the ants where in one big pile on the top of the gel. It appeared that they were sleeping. A few ants still labored on the side excavation area.

This morning, we discovered that they made quite a bit of progress overnight. They reached the bottom of the gel and have started upward again.

All in all, I think this is a fabulous way to observe a small part of the animal world. The kit and ants cost about $30 all together and so far, we have really enjoyed watching them and discussing the different ways they work in harmony. Actually, I'm enjoying it so much, I'm thinking of ordering one for my desk so I can watch them while I'm at work. This gift gets a HUGE two thumbs-up from us!

New Years 2009

2009-01-02T20:39:00.004-05:00

I'll start this post off by saying Happy New Year to all! I hope 2009 brings you all much health and happiness and winning scratch tickets. We went to a NYEve party up in Leeds.... a quiet affair with a few other couples and Hannah. We had a wonderful time!

Here is Princess.... aka The Kitty Who Shoots Fire With Her Eyes.
We hadn't been at the party for five minutes yet and Gary was on the floor already. Cindy had mentioned that her oven wasn't working and that she had called a (gasp! horror! shock!) repairman. Gary hates the word repairman because that means that someone might know something he doesn't. Thus, onto the floor he went, yelling for a straight slot screwdriver. He didn't let that fact that Cindy was trying to get ready for a party, in her kitchen in less than in hour. He had to fully disassemble the entire oven before he was satisfied. He just had to make sure a real repairman was really needed. One was.

We played games of LCR. Such a fun game! We had 8-9 people playing per hand so the pot was $24 to $27 each time. I won twice! woohoo! Hannah is showing her best one eyed pirate face.

Henry really liked winning! He was seriously laughing like an evil fucker when I took this picture.

Steve carved up the ham and what a fine job he did.

We really enjoyed some great food and rang in the New Year and then went to bed.

Flying

2008-12-30T11:29:00.002-05:00

Booked flights to Orlando this morning for Gary & crew to attend their annual fishing week with Dick. This year they are flying JetBlue. After lasts years first class drunken fiasco, AirTran has probably banned them for life so I didn't even want to go that route. It was something about having to be helped off the plane in a wheelchair? Grown men? Go figure.

Bunny With A Pancake

2008-12-23T08:49:00.006-05:00

It's one of those days....again. 9 million things to do and not an ounce of desire to do them. Thus, I blog instead.

I've been listening to Christmas music in my office all day, everyday, for the past couple weeks and I've finally come to the conclusion that Dominic, the Christmas Donkey is the most addicting, annoying song ever (click the link to the song and listen for yourself...but you've been warned!). Once I hear it, my brain starts repeating it over and over in my head, complete with braying donkey noises for the rest of the day until I have driven myself insane. At that point, I look at the following picture and it makes perfect sense to me:

Artificial Tree

2008-12-21T15:55:00.004-05:00

Here's my tree this year. Hannah did most of the decorating and I think she did a fine job. I know I've written in the past about how much I love my tree once I finally get it put up but at the same time find it so frustrating to have it in the house. It drops needles and drinks 47 gallons of water a day. I still find pine needles all over the house and have no idea how they get where they do. Every year I scream that I want an artificial tree so this year I bought one. I love it!

On a different subject, check out this painting of Cinco at Neiley Harris' blog. She's an artist who lives in Maine. The painting is sold because Santa bought it.

Yesterday afternoon, my family came over for appetizers and drinks. We had a great time and it was a ton of fun. Actually, Gary had so much fun, he drank way too much and told the porcelain God all about it a few times. I slept on the couch.

Christmas Lights

2008-12-08T16:34:00.000-05:00

Thank you dear, I am so impressed with your light hanging abilities..

Back Home

2008-12-02T08:29:00.002-05:00

We are back home and settling into our routine. It is so much fun to go on a trip but always a relief to be back home again.

Hannah and I put a few decorations up around the house and if the sun stays out this afternoon and warms it up a little, we will put some lights up on a couple trees out back of the house. I bought a timer so the lights will come on automatically.

2008-12-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

It's Lovely! I'll Take It!

Just Humor Me... Mike Todd

Mark Leslie

Melissa Morris - May - December

Cecily - Uppercase Woman

Puppy Poop Problems

2008-11-25T09:29:00.004-05:00

Remember those puzzle games where they show you pictures and you have to guess what it means? Well, here is a few that depict our Nashville vacation so far.

We brought Cinco with us and although he travels very well..... his delicate little digestion system can't handle all the movement, water change, time change, strange house, strange dogs in said house AND cats with large claws. in said house.

Needless to say, when we arrived at our destination and I saw the very, very light beige, almost white, carpet of the room we were staying in... my hiney cringed. I truly had no idea that a 12 pound dog could hold 73 pounds of poop.

Not Too Much Going On

2008-11-12T16:45:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted and there really isn't too much going on.

We are getting ready to go to Nashville for Thanksgiving. Chloe is going to stay with Mom and Cinco is going with us. He's too young to put in a kennel for 11 days and I think my mother would go absolutely bonkers if she had to watch him. We affectionately call him the TrainWreck. He's continually on a search and destroy mission.

I think I'm going to take a break from blogging... I honestly don't know what to write about anymore.... other than my boring life which has zero curb appeal. El zilcho. Let me know what you think about this.

Colonial Days

2008-10-31T20:20:00.002-04:00

Today, Hannah's 5th grade class visited Old York Village in full costume. They were planning to spend the day as children in Colonial Times. This is how she looked before getting on the bus this morning. Mom did a wonderful job making Hannah's costume.

Hannah said they made butter today and used the buttermilk to make biscuits, which she said were "totally gross, Mom!". They also made their own lunch which was a vegetable stew with ham on the side. They played colonial games and spun wool into yarn. All in all, I think it was a wonderful experience for her.

The days have been getting shorter and it is getting darker much earlier. I miss the days when it was light until 8pm. Now, after supper, it's dark already and we still haven't set the clocks back. The leaves have not all fallen off the trees yet but there has been some hard frosts in the mornings.

I can not wait for this election to be over. Seriously, it has brought out the best and worst in people that I know in my life... including online. As I told someone by email today..... whether the candidate I have already voted for (absentee ballot) wins or not... the earth will still spin and the sun will still rise. I might not like it... but I will cope with it and support whoever earns the right to be called President. I don't' have to agree with or like everything he does, but as an American, I feel it is my duty to support him, chosen by the majority of my countrymen, while he is in office.

United we stand.

Divided we fall.

I don't get it

2008-10-26T19:23:00.003-04:00

The tv infrared sensor does not seem to be working correctly. "Can you go to the Vizio site and find out why?"

Unfortunately, I was the last one to have my hand on the remote, so I must have done something to F it up.

Ruby Slippers

2008-10-17T15:59:00.001-04:00

We made our own ruby slippers. Halloween is coming. Guess who Hannah is dressing as?

Jeff & Ariel's Wedding

2008-10-05T13:18:00.012-04:00

What a fun filled, busy weekend! I had no idea so much detail and planning went into a wedding. There was a man named Tim at the The Nonantum Resort who was amazing in helping make Ariel's day spectacular. No detail was left undone.

Friday, I helped my sister Sue set up the Westerly for the rehearsal dinner. Dinner for 65 was haddock chowder and lobster rolls. She had rented all the dishes, silverware, linens, tables & chairs. It was a wonderful dinner and everyone had a great time. I had such a good time helping my sister get everything ready.

Friday the bridal party had manicures and a pedicure. The next morning, Hannah went to the hairdressers to have her hair done. Her hair is so thick and it took 97 bobby pins to secure her hair in a beautiful up-do. Gary made her promise not to mess her hair up by rolling around on the floor with the dogs afterwards.Ariel was also having her hair done at the same time. She was so calm and collected on her special day.Here is Hannah's hair with her tiara being put on. Here's my girl all ready to go. The shawl was a gift from Ariel and it is made of silk and cashmere and is the softest thing ever. I think I will steal it from Hannah.
The chuppah (or bridal canopy) at the church was a big hit. My mom spent many hours constructing the chuppah for Jeff and Ariel. She incorporated pictures of all the family members into the chuppah. The chuppah symbolizes the new home of the bride and groom. It was on display during the reception so everyone could see it up close. Here is a picture of the chuppah up closer. The back of it has night sky fabric on it.

The wedding party waiting for Ariel to arrive. She was escorted by her parents and so was Jeff. It was a beautiful ceremony. Full of traditions... the chuppah, breaking of the glass, signing of the Ketubah. The wedding party celebrates!

Hannah danced with Sandy at the first dance. How cute is that! The dancing at the reception was so much fun! The Hora, or chair dance, was very boisterous! A few strong and brave guests hoisted the bride and groom high above the crowd on chairs to the infectious sounds of "Hava Nagila". Friends and family dance around, clapping and singing. Even my sister and her husband went up in the chair amid much laughter. Hannah danced so much and had such a great time she actually was crying when the day came to an end. She announced it was the best day of her life ever.

Look at how pretty Hannah is! With the makeup on her face... a glimpse into the future... Ariel and Jeff.

My Sister Sue and her husband, Earl. The happy couple. Mazel Tov!

Race for the Cure

2008-09-24T08:58:00.003-04:00

My sister, Sue and her girls, Ariel and Martha participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure this past weekend. They walked in honor of my mom and Ariel's fiance's grandmother, who are both survivors of breast cancer.

Imagine the day when celebrating another year won't seem so miraculous.

Ariel's wedding is in 10 days and all the arrangements are complete. Hannah's dress is having the final alterations done now and will be ready later this week. She's got her gold shoes and tiara all ready to wear. I know it's going to be a beautiful wedding. Ariel was 15 months old at my wedding and screamed her head off through the entire ceremony. I'm hoping she can hold it together better at her own!

The pig roast is this weekend at camp. Even though we are supposed to have a few inches of rain... the show must go on. I'll be sure to share pictures!

I love Texas but....

2008-09-12T14:33:00.003-04:00

I do love Texas very much. We've visited four times in the past 3 years and it's one of my favorite states. Sometimes, I wish I lived there.... the people are so friendly, the food rocks and the weather in the spring is gorgeous. However, I would not live on the coast of Texas right now for all the tea in China.

Hurricane Ike is bearing down hard towards Galveston. Residents are and have been warned to get the hell off the island or face most certain death. You can read that horror story here. Of course there are those who won't leave. I just don't get it.. Read about that craziness here. I found in amusing that most of the people saying they are staying are pounding back the alcohol. I guess alcohol gives you courage.

9/11

2008-09-11T08:34:00.004-04:00

DON'T FORGET

I remember the day as being a beautiful day..... the sky was so blue and the air was crisp. Just like today is outside. We had just returned home from Indiana where we had visited family. I was doing some housework, Hannah was playing on the floor and my mother called to tell me to turn the tv on, that something horrible had happened in New York..... I hollered to Gary to come watch as I pushed the ON button on the remote.

"omg... how horrible... what a terrible accident, " I remember thinking. Suddenly, another plane slammed into a tower. Shock and disbelief at what I just saw surged through me. "What are the odds of two planes having an accident at the same location?" I asked Gary. He said "Sheri, This is no accident. Someone is deliberately doing this." I couldn't begin to understand what he was saying to me.

And so began my vigil of being glued to the tv screen for the next hours, days, weeks as our country attempted to figure out what happened and why.

Today, I light a candle in remembrance of all those people lost that day. Lives, dreams, hopes....gone. I won't ever forget.

In 2006, I participated in a huge blogging project honoring each person lost on 9/11/01. It was amazing to read all of the entries. More about the project can be learned here and my tribute to Joseph John Pycior Jr. is here.

This made me cry too.

Gum Under the Table.

2008-09-08T09:12:00.004-04:00

Hannah likes to check for gum under tables.

In all the places we've traveled and dined with her, she ALWAYS checks under the table where ever we are eating. And do you want to know something gross??? There is ALWAYS gum stuck to the underneath of the table, regardless of how nice or expensive the restaurant is. She'll look under there and count how many there are. gross, gross, gross. This skeeves me out to no end. Just thought you might want to check under the table of the next place you eat out.

RBOC

2008-09-05T09:28:00.002-04:00

The ~~hell on wheels~~ new puppy is doing real well. I've forgotten how much energy a puppy has! Cinco keeps us entertained and Chloe is really warming up to him. The cats would rather scratch his nose off and have tried a few times.

I don't have a lot to blog about today so here comes the RBOC...... random bullets of crap...

The Election. Holy Moly is this gonna be good! I'm leaning towards McCain right now but am still studying and contemplating Obama. There's still time to make up my mind and I want to see the debates and interviews that are sure to be coming.
Hannah started school and seems to really like it so far. She adores her teacher and is looking forward to starting up in the resource room on Monday.
We bought a Oil-less Turkey Fryer. It's wonderful! We cooked a prime rib in it last weekend that knocked our socks off. YUMMY
Next weekend is the big tournament at Sebago Lake. We are going for the weekend. Hannah is looking forward to it because we are allowing her to bring a friend with her.

I told you I didn't have much to say. How boring, huh? Off to camp later today. Hurricane Hanna is supposed to bring some rain. Blech

Cinco de Mayo de Man

2008-08-26T14:45:00.003-04:00

Not too much to post about this week. We have a new puppy named Cinco de Mayo de Man. He's adorable and ALOT of work. I will post pictures of him soon. As soon as I can stop wiping up puppy pee in my kitchen and stop yelling "Cinco.... NO!!! Quick, Hannah!!.... get him outside!"

Gary's stress results were positively glowing! All heart fuctions and blood flow was normal! I am soooo happy to hear this.

Edited to add a picture of Cinco de Mayo de Man (Cinco for short). His birthday is May 5th.

Chinese

2008-08-15T23:09:00.005-04:00

Late this afternoon, we were sitting around the camp. Gary had just lit a nice fire and we were just enjoying the quiet of the day. I had cut some sausage up for Gary to grill for supper but was secretly was hoping he'd opt for something else.

Regina said she was hungry, I agreed and the word Chinese was said. Oh boy, out came the phonebook, the lap top, and the cell phones as we frantically tried to find a place fairly close and that also had scorpion bowls. We found a place called Wei Li Restaurant and headed off to supper.

On the way to supper the Great Falls Balloon Festival was winding down it's first day of festivities. The balloons were amazing and of course, my camera was back at camp. My cell phone takes crap pictures but you can get the idea.

I'm so glad we tried this new restaurant. Wow! It was delicious and not too expensive. Here's a picture (again with the crap cell phone camera) of my meal and scorpion bowl. Hannah loved the dumplings and my U Shang Chicken was superb! Regina and Rodney liked it too and Rodney even got a little daring and had a bowl of wonton soup for the first time.

Tomorrow, we are going to see a magician perform and then to a ham supper tomorrow night. Gary is fishing both days this weekend. More later.

Cool Hunter

2008-08-06T19:12:00.004-04:00

Today in the mail, I received a magazine called Lucky and included was an issue of Fashion Rocks. This magazine had all the coolest clothes that all the hippest people are wearing. Let me just say, dear Internets, that I must live an extremely sheltered life.

Usually, when we go hunting up in Maine, we wear the appropriate blaze orange so we can be seen by others in the dim light of November.I truly had to chuckle at this picture. We all should look so cool while hunting. The dude is wearing a friggin' $850 turtleneck and her striking skirt is a mere $2450.

Paris Hilton for President?

2008-08-05T21:36:00.000-04:00

Sea Monkeys

2008-07-30T09:45:00.004-04:00

I have always liked to read. I can remember laying on my bed in my room and reading every single night before going to sleep. The heat from the woodstove in the kitchen below my bedroom would be rushing up the stairwell.... causing my bedroom to be very warm and cozy. I would lay there and read... drift off to sleep and usually dream I lived in some far away place.

One of my favorite books to read as a child was The Witch of Blackbird Pond and I also adored Island of the Blue Dolphins. Both of these books took me to places far and away.... to experience a life I would never lead. The first one is the story of a lively, free spirited, young girl from Barbados who ends up living with her distant family in the drab, puritan, witch burning New England. The second story is of an Indian girl who is left behind on an island for many years until her rescue.

I also would read some comic books... mostly Archie and Richie Rich. I don't remember much about the comics themselves but I do remember the ads. OH those ads and the things I would think about!

Can you even fatham having your very own nuclear submarine? 10 day free trial! Big enough to hold two kids! Shoots real rockets! I just knew my brother and I could take on anything in this sub. Seriously.

Owning a ranch in Texas was another favorite of mine. Here I could have my own farm and garden... that I wouldn't even have to weed if I didn't feel like it. I guess I should have read the whole ad.

100 Toys soldiers! Packed in a foot locker! I had a foot locker that I used when I went to Girl Scout camp. That's what I imagined these 100 soldiers would be in. And look... their guns shot and blew up ships and everything! What fun I had imaging the battles I would win with these amazing toy soldiers.
And finally, not to be EVER forgotten was the Sea Monkeys. Look at this happy family! I just knew this family never fought, slammed doors, screamed obscenities at each other or got divorced. They were perfect and I could TRAIN them! The mother monkey looked so happy and the dad discreetly covers his privates with his tail. Plus, in the little picture, the sea monkeys were so captivating in their bowl, the entire human family is compelled to gather around and hug and smile while they watch them. Cue the Kum-bi-ya.

Curly Sue

2008-07-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

Do you remember Curly Sue? Gosh, I used to think this movie was the cutest thing ever. I love Jim Belushi and Kelly Lynch and I thought the girl who played Curly Sue was adorable. Imagine my surprise to come across this Youtube karaoke video of Alisan Porter singing CryBaby. Wow - what a set of vocals on this girl.

Rock the Hula

2008-07-26T15:39:00.007-04:00

Today at camp is Carnival Day. In a nutshell, that means I ate fried food and lots of it. Fried dough, french fried,a meatball sub and a fried oreo. Than an hour later, an ice cream social was planned which of course I had to force myself to eat. Wow..... am I stuffed.

This is Donna. She's a wonderful, fun lady that I met this summer through Rodney and Regina. Donna is the other half of Mark and Donna... her husband, Mark, is so much fun too. Hannah adores Donna. Donna takes bike rides with Hannah and goes for walks with her. Donna is very health conscious..... walking everyday, eating healthy and overall being a good example of how I should be living my life.

As I was sitting in the pavilion stuffing my face full of fried food.... here's Donna rocking the hula hoop. When I use a hula hoop, I perform something close to a full body dry heave and Donna makes it looks easy. I can't keep the hoop going for more than a couple seconds. Believe me, my problem is not because of a lack of hips to hold the thing on.... it's lack of co-ordination.

Donna has a heart of gold. She has a great family (I was lucky enough to meet them a few weekends ago) and she really goes out of her way to make you feel comfortable. She and her husband, Mark, are very caring towards each other. It's refreshing to see. He is working nights this weekend and he came to camp to see her. He came down to the pool to see her. As I watched him tenderly kiss her goodbye, tell her to have fun and that he'd see her later, I smiled a contented smile. I'm glad to see others in a loving, caring relationship. Plus she kept the hoop going for a good 45 seconds so we know she's got the moves!

BlogHer

2008-07-24T16:07:00.003-04:00

Well, BlogHer '08 happened and from what I've read, it was entertaining, educational and fun for those who were lucky enough to attend. I could never dream of doing anything like that.....so, I lived vicariously through my blogging pals, Cecily, Sarah, and Bossy. Check out some of their posts about the trip.

It's been raining all day here. Giant gobs of rain complete with thunder and lightening. We were going to go to camp today but have decided to wait until tomorrow in hopes the rain will stop. Tonight we are going out to dinner with some friends who are visiting from Nashville and another couple. It should be fun.

More later.

Moosehead

2008-07-20T18:47:00.003-04:00

We are back from a long weekend at Moosehead. We visited with friends, attended an engagement party for my niece (my sister puts on a good party!), relaxed and Gary fished. This is a picture of a 6lb 4oz smallmouth he caught in the Lily Bay area.

We missed being at camp this weekend though. It really felt weird. Gary wants to go a couple weeks earlier next year so we will probably plan to be there over the 4th of July.

Bullets of Crap

2008-07-01T12:39:00.003-04:00

I don't know how I am going to make it through the summer.

Gary went to a new cardiologist yesterday who wants to do a stress test right away. Lovely.
Hannah hates rec and does not want to go this summer. We paid the $500 to sign her up and now have to beg for a refund. Lovely.
Gracie, our male chinchilla (just found this out for sure) has an infected eye ($96.85 at the vet's office this morning) and will be attending camp with us over the holiday weekend so I can put drops in his eye twice a day. He squirms. Lovely.

Grace and Piper, our female chinchilla (have always known this) have been doing the naughty and probably we will have babies in 140 days. Lovely.

My pool needs to be vacuumed. Lovely.

I've got raging PMS. Lovely.

June 26th

2008-06-26T08:14:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

June 25

2008-06-25T10:35:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is Hannah's birthday. Where did 10 years go? She's having four friends over for burgers and hotdogs on the grill. It's not an organized party... just some friends over to play and have dinner. We'll still do gift bags for the kids and have cake and ice cream. This weekend we will have cake at camp again.

Flushing Away

2008-06-19T20:41:00.005-04:00

This can't be good. Gary is on an excavator and Carl is in the hole with blue rubber gloves on. I only heard a slight scream once and Gary hollered "Paper towels! STAT!" I threw a roll at him and didn't want to look at what they needed them for.

This used to be my front lawn. They finally got it fixed around 3:30 this afternoon. We are flush again and I am in some serious need of some grass seed.

Pumping the Sewer

2008-06-18T08:49:00.004-04:00

Yahoo - Here's what is in my yard right now pumping out the septic tank of 2 years of God knows what is down there. I don't want to know. The man they sent to pump our septic looks like Paul Walker, I shit you not. I told ~~Paul~~ the guy doing that sweet job that I would be in my office when he was ready to pick up the check. I just hope he wipes his feet off. **Updated to add that we have a broken line from our tank to the D box or whatever that thing is called. Oh God, I wish I was on town sewer when stuff like this happens. We've got 3 giant holes dug in the front lawn.... one of them an oozing, muddy, smelly mess. Joy. Tomorrow, Carl is coming to put in a new line and then we'll be able to flush ourselves away.

Hannah's 10th birthday is next week and she is having a few friends over for a cookout and to play outside. Hannah is really into horses right now in a huge way, so out gifts to her are horse related.

Father's Day 2008

2008-06-14T16:13:00.003-04:00

Gary's Birthday

2008-06-12T20:47:00.005-04:00

Today is Gary's birthday so I wanted to try a new recipe for Matambre and BBQ Cabbage. Matambre is basically a rolled flank steak stuffed with sausage, cheese and vegetables. Step one is to assemble the ingredients. Some of the recipes I found called for using hard boiled eggs.... but I decided to skip those. I was too lazy to boil eggs.

After ~~butchering~~, ~~hacking~~, butterflying the meat, I cut up smoked ham, smoked sausage, carrots, celery, Romano cheese and red pepper into strips about 1/4" wide.
Then I placed some center cut bacon down on a large piece of tin foil and put the meat on top of that. Salt and pepper the meat. I also sprinkled some Italian seasoning on it because it fell out of the spice cabinet and I said, "Sure! What the hell!"
I placed all the veggies, cheese and meat strips in alternating order on the meat, leaving the last 3" of meat plain. Let's not discuss the fact that there is hardly 3" left. I never said I knew what 3" looked like. I couldn't take pictures of the next step because I was so frustrated that I didn't have an extra set of hands and I didn't want to get bacon grease on my camera. It was difficult to roll the meat AND keep the bacon from falling off. This is where I should have gotten the toothpicks out to stab the bacon and hold it into place. Next time, I'll do that.

After rolling it all the way up like a jelly roll, wrap the tinfoil tightly around it and twist the ends closed. Poke a few small holes in the foil to let the steam out (really this lets the bacon fat drip out onto the grill, causing a huge flame up and me to freak out thinking I've burned dinner beyond recognition).

At this point it is time to get the cabbage ready. Take the core out by slicing at an angle towards the center all the way around.

Make a tinfoil circle to rest the cabbage on while it's grilling. All the cabbage calls for is BBQ sauce and butter. I also put some crispy bacon in with the sauce. You can use whatever BBQ sauce you want, we just happen to like anything with Jack Daniels on it. Can't go wrong with Jack! I took a picture of the whole stick of butter but holey Toledo.... I only used about 3 tablespoons cut up.

Grill the Matambre over medium direct heat for about 1.5-2 hours (for a 1.5-2lb steak). The cabbage uses the same amount of time but indirect medium heat. We have a grill with 6 burners, so we did the cabbage on a side with no lit burner under it. Does that make sense? Anyone?

Here's a picture of the finished meat. It was delicious! The only thing I will do different next time (and there will definitely be a next time!) is to tie the roll before wrapping it in foil and pound the meat thinner.... then it will have more 'roll' to it.

Give it a try!

Amazing Tool Chest

2008-06-12T11:20:00.003-04:00

So.... we are at Lowes and see this tool chest. Amazing. We could buy one and live in it. Seriously.

It has a fridge on the lower left and a Pioneer stereo built in at the top.

We wiped most of our drool off it before we left.

Taken Over By Trash

2008-06-03T10:35:00.004-04:00

I most likely am the world's worst blogger. Every single day I think... "Today is the day! I am going to put up a blog post!"..... then suddenly, life happens and I don't get to it. Oh well.

I just found out that Hannah won't be getting her free tutoring this summer. The grant for it did not come through this year. Okay... we can deal with that. She will still have her extended services through her IEP which will be about 3 hours per week of reading and math.

My house is a friggin' disaster and somehow... I just can't/won't/don't care. I wish I had one of those perfectly neat homes where everything was in it's place. Instead, my house always looks like it's at Defcon3. I spend a day picking it up and getting it looking halfway decent and then it's shitted up again in 10 minutes. We have so much stupid crap and junk everywhere. I'm beginning to think that most of it is Hannah's and I'm wondering if I did a trashbag sweep through the downstairs.... how loud would she scream? It can't be much louder than the screaming I do in my own head when I see all the clutter and junk.

Beautiful camp fire

2008-05-24T23:02:00.008-04:00

What a wonderful campfire Gary built tonight!

Mark brought some copper tubing and Randy had some old garden hose... the combination makes for some beautiful colors in the fire. Blues and greens and reds galore.

I spent the day putting some shelves together, hanging lights and going to the garden center for some plants. I will plant some containers tomorrow with flowers. I'm betting it will look pretty!

Gary helped me hang the lights around the site this afternoon and they look great. Rodney and Regina put up a fabulous new gazebo/screenhouse that we affectionately will call The Taj. They got a smoking deal at Home Depot for it. It will be wonderful to have their table under cover for dining, playing cards, chatting etc....

Tomorrow morning, we all signed up for the campers breakfast. We are sleeping in a little, going to breakfast, then fishing, then trashcan turkey.

More later!

Turkey Day Again!

2008-05-23T09:02:00.001-04:00

Off to camp today. Regina and Rodney are doing a trashcan turkey this weekend. I'm going to make some beans to go with it and other people will bring some side dishes too.

Not Much

2008-05-20T19:27:00.002-04:00

I've got one million things tho do around the yard and I don't want to do one of them. Not a single one. WTF is up with that? I don't want to mow, rake, pull, weed, mulch or seed. I just want the magic yard fairy to come take care of it all. Oh, and I hope she takes care of the pool too.

Random Thoughts

2008-05-14T09:46:00.004-04:00

I can't believe how quickly the time goes by between my posts. Sorry about that Internets!

Not much is happening here at Deerledge right now. Just basically working and going to camp on the weekends.

Gary should be getting his boat back this week from Arkansas, where he was having warranty work done over the winter. Thank all that is Holy because he is lost without that boat.

My neighbor, Carl, brought us a half cord of wicked sweet firewood yesterday and he and Gary loaded up my trailer to take to camp this weekend. It's all maple and oak and nicely seasoned.

Hannah is playing miniature golf today after school and the Baltimore oriels have returned for another year.

1st Weekend at Camp

2008-05-03T16:44:00.004-04:00

We came to camp yesterday to start opening it up. We moved to a new site this year so there is lots of work to do. Gary and I leveled the camper and hooked up the power and water. Then we realized that we had used 2 of our deck pieces as a platform for our shed last fall. Just great. Now we couldn't put the deck together and as it happens that Gary is fishing a tournament today.... so the deck will have to wait until next weekend. Plus, it's raining right now. Just great. So Hannah and I are watching Jumanji and watching the rain. We tried to build a fire but the rain just pissed on it. Just great. Gary called and they finished 7th in the tournament. No money, just great. Okay, that's enough of my crabbing and complaining for today.

Here's the things I am happy about right now:

Regina shared her awesome cruise pictures with me. It looks like it was a ton of fun and I'm so glad they went and had such a wonderful time.

My mom is doing better each day. I can't wait until she can get her drains out and really start moving around more easily. And I know she'll be thrilled to finally be able to take a shower instead of a sponge bath.

Even though it's raining, I love to be at camp. I'm so happy to see everyone, take walks with Hannah and sleep in my comfy bed.

I have good cell service at camp and the Internet is working great.
I see that the rain is starting to slow down. Gotta go!

Cancer Survivor

2008-04-27T17:13:00.003-04:00

Breast Cancer sucks.

My mom is doing well. She's home from the hospital and has begun the long healing from her bi-lateral mastectomy. She's full of tubes and drains. Our town nurse is coming to the house twice a day to change dressings and check and empty the drains. She also checks her blood pressure, oxygen levels and for swelling. The nurse spends a few moments just chatting with mom, which is nice.

Wednesday, I take mom back to the surgeon's office to see if the drains are ready to come out.

Crankbaits

2008-04-23T08:53:00.004-04:00

In the name of all that is holy, how many crankbaits does one bass fisherman need? Mind you, this is only small portion of all his crankbaits and then we have stick baits, rattles, soft plastics, spinnerbaits and jigs still to sort out.

Cat Engineers

2008-04-21T15:24:00.001-04:00

I found this quite funny too!

The Cuss-o-Meter

2008-04-21T07:30:00.003-04:00

Created by OnePlusYou

EEEEKS! I had no idea I was so fresh mouthed. Thanks to Jules for this nifty little test! The average cuss on a site is 9% so I'm glad I'm above average in something. Try it!

Home Again

2008-04-11T11:01:00.004-04:00

We arrived home Tuesday night and slept in our own beds. I kept Hannah home from school on Wednesday so she could sleep in. She did not even wake up until 9am.... that was so unusual for her so I guess she needed the sleep.

Our past night in Phoenix was quite an adventure. We had asked a couple of local people who worked at the hotel where to go for a great steak dinner. They recommended Cartwright's an upscale eatery about a 30 minute drive away. We took showers and gussied up for our last dinner on vacation. Twenty minutes into the drive onto Highway 74, I heard a small bump sound at the back of the minivan and about 10 seconds later Hannah said, "Does that noise sound normal to you?" I could hear the unmistakable sound of rushing air. I replied "I don't think so" and Gary hollered "What noise?" (he can not hear for shit) . However, we all heard the dashboard make a dinging sound, the tire low pressure light came on and the van sort of lurched as it came down to rest on the rim of a totally flat tire. "Just friggin' lovely" said Gary.

Did you know that in a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan the spare tire is under the console between the front seats and you had to release it from the floor of the inside of the van with this do-hickey tool? Neither did we. Thank heavens the serviceman that AAA sent out knew where it was and he was such a nice person. I can't say enough nice things about AAA. They had a repair truck there in less than 10 minutes. The lady I spoke with on the phone said the highway we were on was rated a red flag priority due to unsafe roadside conditions (oh yes, that made me feel so safe) so help would be on the way ASAP and it was. The serviceman sent us to Discount Tire and they fixed the flat for free. Yes, I said FREE. Can you believe that? It was our lucky day! We continued on to Cartwright's and had the absolute BEST dinner. My filet mignon could be eaten with a spoon... that's how tender it was. The service was fabulous, the atmosphere superb and the food delicious. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful vacation.

So, here it is Friday.... we've been home since Tuesday night and I still have 3 suitcases full of stuff to put away. blech. I hate unpacking.

Arizona Days 4 & 5

2008-04-06T00:31:00.006-04:00

Two more beautiful blue sky filled days. How do the people who live here stand so much sun? I love the sun but back home, we do have rain for days at a time....days where you just want to curl up with a book, turn the heat up to dry the air out in the house and make a corn chowder. Then when the sun comes out... it almost seems to make us more grateful. I guess if I lived here I would take the sun for granted. It does eliminate a whole topic of our daily conversation that we have back in Maine.

"Did you watch the weather? Did you see what Saturday is gonna do?" Gary could ask me. I might reply, "No, I missed it this morning but yesterday, they were saying partly sunny with light winds out of the west." In Arizona, I'm guessing you don't even have to ask what the weather is going to be because more times than not... the sun is out.

Also, we left a bag of Tostitos OPEN on the counter for TWO days and they still crunched when we bit one. Gary and I were staring open mouthed in amazement at this little ditty. Back home, two days on the counter would've brought on a gagging fit as a soggy, stale chip was spit back out. This is what lack of moisture in the air can do. I am also having straw growing on my head this week, thank you very much. And poor Hannah, let's not even talk about trying to comb her hair... it's so dry that when I put conditioner on, it friggin' disappeared into her hair. There was nothing to rinse out... I shit you not!

Friday, we rode up to Sedona and rented a Tomcar and took some trail rides. It was a blast! We didn't want to go on a guided tour because, well, if you know Gary, you already know why. This is the man who won't go on a cruise because he can't drive the boat. Anyhoo..... we piled into the Tomcar, were handed a trail map and given 5 hours to explore.

The scenery was amazing. The red rock of Sedona was spectacular... and like the Grand Canyon, hard to describe so I'll share some pictures. It's hard for me to imagine the people that live in this area looking out their windows everyday and seeing stuff like this and not losing track of time just enjoying the view. I can not get over the blue of the sky. I've never seen such blue sky EVER.

The trail riding was fun. We could go up, up, up the trails while we (meaning Hannah and I, Gary just laughed) screamed in glee and laughed going over the rocks. We were buckled in pretty tightly and a few times I had to remind Gary that we were sightseeing... not Mickey Thompson Off Road Racing. He LOVED driving the Tomcar and announced he wants two of them. Some parts were a little frightening, but exhilarating at the same times. After touring around for a few hours, I had to go pee. This was something I worried about having to do out in the middle of no where, but Gary assured me there was a bathroom near every cactus. He lied. What he meant was... you can go to the bathroom near a cactus... just try not to sit on one. Here is my allotted pee break spot.

We thoroughly enjoy our tour of the desert and after we returned the Tomcar, we headed to a spot that we saw on the way to Sedona to have lunch. After we saw this sign, we knew we had found the right place to eat. It was bad ass too! Yum!!

Today (Saturday), we met up with Wayne, Amy, Nathan and Maddy. Wayne and Gary visited at the MacDonald Ranch while Amy and I went with the kids on a trail ride. My horse's name was Micky and here is his head. I felt bad for Mickey carrying my fat butt around for an hour but I really wanted to go and I promised him some extra oats when he returned to the stable.
He kept stopping to eat on the side of the trail and trying to get my camera out of the bag, I dropped my sunglasses into a prickly cactus. I hemmed and hawed and wondered if I should humble myself and hollar out to the guide to stop so I could get them and the Yankee in me won out. Since I had just spent $50 on them, I couldn't leave them laying in the dirt for some horse to step on. The guide had to come back and get them for me because we couldn't get off the horses. Oh yes, I felt like a moron.

Here is Hannah on her horse named Skittles. Hannah really enjoyed the ride and so did her cousins. After we went riding, the kids played in the pool at the hotel while the rest of us visited. They wore themselves out because as I type this, Hannah is zonked out cold in her bedroom. Tomorrow, we might go to a 3 acre flea market we found to look around. We are meeting Wayne & family around 2pm for some bowling and then dinner.

Hannah really is loving it here.

Things to remember about this trip:

Cheap sunglasses give me a headache.
My allergies are non existent in Arizona.
My skin is so dry it is cracking.
We are snapping and cranky after 5 days of vacation.
I love the hotel bed.
I hate my bed at home.
Hannah can go three days without pooping and I just can't wrap my mind around that.

Arizona Day 3

2008-04-03T21:13:00.006-04:00

Today we enjoyed another day with a beautiful blue sky. This was after we awoke at 3am AGAIN. It's very hard being 3 hours behind the east coast because as I type this it is 6:30pm and I can hardly stay awake.

We went to the zoo after breakfast and I am pretty sure that every child under the age of 6 in the entire state of Arizona was at the zoo today. The zoo was very nice. We took a train ride around the entire zoo with a guide so we had a lot less walking to do. I found the zoo to be very open... without much shade. When we went to the Nashville zoo last November, the zoo was very shady, with pergolas and vines covering most of the walkways and the animal containment areas had many, many areas of shade with plants and trees.

Tomorrow we are renting a Tomcar and going out to the desert on our own. This ought to be fun! Gary has promised he won't drive us over a cliff or anything so I hope to be able to blog about it tomorrow night. Saturday, we are planning to meet up with Wayne and Amy and their kids. Hannah really wants to go horseback riding and I think it would be great if Nathan and Maddy could go with her. Sunday I think will be a family day and Monday we have booked a day fishing trip for Gary.

I'm not sure what this beautiful hanging red plant is. I think it is a Bougainvillea or some sort of Azalea. Whatever it is, when I saw it my heart smiled.

I don't know about you guys, but this looks very suspiciously like a place a 3 hour cruise went very wrong.

Arizona Day 1 & 2

2008-04-02T23:11:00.009-04:00

We are here. It's beautiful and warm. The sun is very intense. Actually, it feels like we are on ultraviolet overload. The constant pure bright light is almost overwhelming to our naked winter retinas. It's like we fell asleep in March and woke up at noon in July. Very strange. I think I counted a total of 2 clouds in the sky today on the ride to the Grand Canyon!

Our flight was uneventful. The food was pretty good... Gary had ham & eggs for breakfast and Hannah & I had cereal with banana. We all received yogurt and fruit cups. Lunch was a steak burger, minestrone soup and fruit. The stewards were very attentive and it felt great to be sitting where we were. Oh and I stole a little pillow from the plane. Our hotle is really nice. We have a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite with a full kitchen and livingroom. Hannah thinks she's real uptown because she's got her own room with a tv... "And it's a flat screen, Mom!" she announced to all who would listen.

The decent into Phoenix was a little rough. I don't know if it's because of the mountains that we felt like we lost altitude quickly. It was just different than any other landing in a plane I've done. It also might have been because my happy flying medication was wearing off and things just seemed more extreme to me. The rental car is decent... they let us pick what color we wanted and we chose silver for our Grand Caravan. Hannah promptly jumped in and turned it into our rolling dumpster for the week. Who knows why she needs all the stuff she carries around. The speed limit is 75 here which means Gary drives at 85. Add to that some 6%-8% grade of hills and bumper to bumper traffic moving at 90 mph and I am white knuckled. It really freaked me out to see these signs that said "Runaway Truck Ramp." Sweet Jesus and all that is Holy... that last thing I ever want to see on the road with me is a runaway truck. Good times.

I was so excited to see the Grand Canyon and I was not dissapointed. It's hard to describe what it was like. Huge and overpowering are two words that come to mind... yet it was peaceful and majestic too. As I stood on the edge I was trying so hard to drink it all in and no matter where my eyes lit, there was something new to see. It was the most amazing place I have ever seen. It wasn't like we could see it in the distant as we drove to it either. You can not see it until you walk a little pathway, enter into a clearing near the edge and it unfolds and takes your breath away.

Phoenix Vacation

2008-03-31T15:48:00.003-04:00

I am all packed for our trip. I've printed out our E-tickets and am thrilled that we are flying first class. We get to use that special roped off area that has the words Elite written on it. woohoo!

We arrive in Phoenix tomorrow in the early afternoon and return next Tuesday night. I'm going to try and blog about my trip as it happens.... hopefully I'll have lots of great pictures to share and fun stories to tell. Stay tuned!

My Star Interview

2008-03-26T10:27:00.008-04:00

The ever popular interviewer of the stars, Ms. Ann Thrope, over at Color Me Complicated has requested that I answer a few questions designed especially for me! Well, not really... I volunteered because I thought it might be fun.... plus she told me to get off my ass and do it! However, I did not have any inkling of the amount of brain strain this would put on me.....

Question #1. You find a wallet containing $10,000 dollars. Assume you DON'T immediately go on a shopping spree (as I would!) and contact the owner. The owner tells you that he's richer than fuck, and he'd like you to GIVE the money to someone truly deserving of it. BUT, he says, you can't just give cash. You may make more than one bequest. Tell how you would distribute the money, to whom, and why. Can't just give cash? When Gary and I were going through Hannah's contested adoption we needed money, badly, for attorneys. We had used every available dime, including an equity loan, we had to fund the initial adoption. We agonized over how we were going to pay because the attorney bill kept mounting up. If you've never had an attorney work for you..... wow... you have not lived. The minute they pick up a pen or the phone on your behalf, the $ clock starts ticking and loudly. I loved our attorney and I think she did a fabulous job but she was expensive. We wrote a letter to our family and friends explaining our situation and asking for any monetary help they could provide. Most everyone helped out and some more than others but one person really helped out and I know they pulled money from their retirement fund to do so. They willingly gave the money with no questions asked. I was and continued to be amazed of the generosity of some people. I would pay this person back. I can't do it is cash, according to the question, so I would buy gold with the money and give them the gold.

2. In your spare time, you've written a tell-all story about your family and friends. Assume that somehow, a publisher gets wind of it and ASSURES you it will be a best-seller. You'd make a fortune! You realize that many people will be hurt and angered by this book, but at the same time fame and fortune are whispering sweet nothings in your ear. What do you do? I would not publish the book, sell the movie rights or anything else. No amount of money would be worth hurting my friends or my family. They'd all disown me and I'd have no one to share my fabulous wealth with. A fortune would only be worthwhile if I had my family and friends to share and enjoy it with. I still wouldn't do it if I was assured of anonymity because nothing is safe these days and it wouldn't be worth the risk. I'm a weiner I know.

3. Assume I am a complete dunce in the kitchen. (Trust me, that isn't such a stretch!) Teach me how to make your most awesome dish. (This question serves two purposes. I get a cool new recipe and... well I can't remember the other purpose, but I'm sure there is one!!) I'm all about the comfort food so here is my favorite meal for ease and tastiness. Take a few pounds of country style spare ribs and brown them in a skillet. Put them in a 13x9 pan with some carrots and medium sized whole, peeled, potatoes. Whatever amounts you desire. Cover the meat, potatoes and carrots with a bag of sauerkraut (not canned!). Shake some salt and pepper on top and cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake in a 325 degree oven for at least 2 hours or longer. The longer it cooks, the more tender the spareribs get and the better it tastes!

Easter

2008-03-24T08:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we had a wonderful Easter dinner at our house. Not that the dinner was anything spectacular... it was the same stuff we have on Easter.... ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, coleslaw, rolls and Mom made a great lemon cheesecake for dessert. What made it a great dinner was the amount of fun we had. Everyone was in a super mood.... my nephew Sean had his neck brace off for the first time since right after Christmas when he broke his neck snowboarding. It was nice to see him laughing and talking and having a good time. We played a dice game that had everyone roaring with laughter and I was sorry to see the day end. It was one of the nicest family holidays in a long time.

Only one more week until we leave for Arizona. I realized this morning that I have no idea where any of my summer clothes are. Let the panic begin. We rode up to the camper this past weekend because I needed to get our bathing suits that I left up there. We kept breaking through the snow crust and going way up over our knees in snow. Hannah could walk on top of the crust so we sent her across the site and into the camper. She could barely get the door open and of course, she had no idea where the suits were... so I had to keep hollering where to look. I could hear her slamming doors and drawers looking for them but she finally did. Back across the crust she came and we left. I'm guesssing we will not return until the snow is gone up there.

Update

2008-03-18T19:54:00.003-04:00

I was going through my emails today and getting rid of junk mail when I realized that I had sent junk email to myself. wtf? How can this happen? It appeared to be from my address but when I clicked on the properties of the address..... I could see it was from some freak in Sri Lanka. oh well.

Here a fairly recent picture of Hannah with some of her pets.

March 6th

2008-03-06T09:07:00.003-05:00

Only 25 more days until we leave for Arizona. We are really looking forward to this vacation... we get to see Gary's cousin Wayne and his family. It's always fun when Hannah has the opportunity to visit with cousins she doesn't see very often and that are her age.

Today is my 44th birthday. Of course, my dad called me early this morning to tell me for the 44th time about the day he brought me home from the hospital in his shirt pocket, while a blizzard raged and he and my mother had to walk through deep snow to get into the house. I've always loved that story.

Growing up, I always requested tuna casserole on my birthday... much to the dismay of everyone in my family. I love the taste of pasta, creamy sauce and tuna mixed together and have withstood years of ribbing about it.. However, this year I am mixing it up a little... I requested... Shepherd's Pie! I know, I know.... I'm living on the edge aren't I?

The Wedding

2008-02-22T19:56:00.004-05:00

Hannah has been invited to be in my niece, Ariel's, wedding. I hope Ariel knows what she's getting into. This will mean that Hannah has to wear a dress and comb her hair. We are just asking for a major meltdown to happen. Hannah will be 10 when this spectacular event happens because Ariel and her fiance, Jeff, do things the proper way. They get engaged for a year or so and have all this time to plan a fabulous wedding. Not like Gary and I ... we called my mom and said "Can you throw together a small wedding for 30 in the next day or two?". Bless her heart... she did. Ariel is planning hotels and functions for her guests. Shes even secured the town trolley service to shuttle her wedding guests to different spots around town to avoid anyone having to drink and drive. Let's be serious...... my family is a long line of drinkers and party goers. We will probably be utilizing that trolley for half the night. Ariel and Jeff have the most awesome website for their wedding. You can visit their totally cool site here .. please visit and leave them some good wishes and your best advice for a successful marriage! Awwwwwww..... to be in love and young.....

My mom had her lumpectomy today and is about a pound lighter in the boob department. She'll meet her oncologist in the next couple of weeks and as soon as she's healed, will start her radiation treatments. Wish her well.... please!

Did I tell you that Gary, Hannah and I are visiting AZ in April? We are so excited to go and last night, I upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite at a brand new hotel! woohoo! I am beside myself to see the Grand Canyon. I have read so much about it and I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself. My online friend, Cecily, has been visiting New Mexico, the Canyon and all kinds of neat places this past week and has been providing an online detail of their journey. I hope to do the same when we visit AZ. Gary's cousin Wayne, his wife Amy and their 2 children live outside Pheonix, in Mesa. We are looking forward to spending some time with them too!

Tomorrow night, Gary, Hannah and I are going to the Auburn Riverwatch to spend the night and swim in the pool. On Sunday, we have the campground seasonal dinner. It's going to be wonderful to see all our friends from the campground. Only 65 more days! (not that I'm counting!)

A Valentine MeMe

2008-02-18T18:59:00.004-05:00

I havent been tagged for a meme in so long! Thanks to Sheila, you, dear readers, get to hear this one! If you haven't had a chance to check Sheila's blog, you won't be dissapointed when you do. She's my hero... 8 children and another little girl on the way... happily married and they just built a home together and are still happily married.

Without further ado... Here's Sheila's Valentine meme:

How long have you been together? This past January was our 24th anniversary of the first time we got married. You can read about that here.

How old is he? 45

How old are you? 43 for a couple more weeks. Compared to my pals, Melody and Regina, I'm still a baby! hee hee

Who eats more? I guess it depends on what we are eating. If it's liver and onions... Gary wins hands down. If it's pasta with butter and salt... look out... I'm taking that honor. On a day to day basis... I'd say Gary probably eats more than I do.

Who said "I love you" first? Honestly, I have a hard time remembering who did. I think he did but I KNOW I was thinking it and as soon as the words were out of his mouth, I told him the same and then jumped his bones.

Who is taller? Gary is taller and I am wider.

Who sings better? I'm pretty sure that I do because I never hear him sing. He always whistles and he can do that waaaay better than I can. He can even do that ear piercing whistle with his teeth that I try to do and only spit on myself. When I sing, he tells me to please stop.

Who is smarter? This is the exact question that we have been trying to answer for 24 years. I say that I am and Gary knows that he is. He is definitely much smarter when it comes to geography, math and history. I rule when it comes to home ec, music and study hall. English is a toss up between the two of us and God help us if we are asked a chemistry question. I don't think Gary ever took Chemistry and I pretty much could blow most of my high school up at any given moment.

Who does the laundry? I'm horrified to say that neither of us do. My mother does 95% of the laundry. I know how to do laundry but she enjoys doing it. When Gary was in Florida, he called to tell me he was going to do his laundry and could he use Cascade to wash it with? Holy Christ!

Who does the dishes? Hannah clears the table and I load the dishwasher.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the right side of the bed and sometimes get up on the wrong side of the bed.

Who pays the bills? I do the actual payment of the bills but the money comes from both of us.

Who mows the lawn? He does the big part of the lawn and I do around the trees and the places the riding tractor can't get to.

Who cooks dinner? Usually a local resturant, my mother or Gary cooks on the grill. I am in charge of condiments.

Who is more stubborn? He is the most stubborn person ever and he has so graciously passed this trait along to our daughter. God help me.

Who kissed who first? Oh he gave me a lip lock first, but I asked him to.

Who asked who out? We never 'went out' on a date. We just hung out every moment together.

Who proposed? He did.

Who is more sensitive? I am definitley more sensitive. However, his soles of his feet are more sensitive than mine.

Who has more friends? Gary has a hard time admitting he has friends. I think it makes him feel vulnerable. He has (what I define as a friend) many friends. I do not have as many friends as Gary but I think my friendships are more meaningful than his. Does that even make a shred of sense?

Who has more siblings? I do with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. He has 3 sisters.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think we're pretty equal in that department, but I think he looks better in the pants.

Ramblings

2008-02-11T09:48:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that I am still here! Wishing I was someplace warm today though.... it is so f'ing cold. The wind chill has to be around -20 today.

Speaking of warm, Gary is in Florida this week. Doing... yup... you guessed it.... fishing. He called me this morning to have me look up the phone number of the florist in town. I'm wondering if I am supposed to call and order myself some flowers for Valentine's Day? I'll let this one ride and see what he does. I'm just thrilled that he remembered. Or, did he? He is with 3 other married guys so maybe one of them were talking abut sending their wife some flowers and Gary jumped on the bandwagon? We'll see.

I hate this time of year. The holidays are over and spring seems so far away. The ground is frozen and the snow is deep. It seems we have snowstorm every three days and you can't plan anything because of the stupid weather and wondering what the driving conditions will be like. No, I'm not bitter about this.

On the 24th, the owners of the campground have a big get together for all the seasonal campers. We are really looking forward to that and seeing everyone. It's time to start picking up a few things here and there for the camper and site. Guess that means I can go shopping!

I think I've been eating too many snacks at my desk because everytime I type a D or a J on my keyboard, something crunches under it. Maybe some Chex Mix crumbles?

Hannah has a Chinchilla now. I know, I know... how many more pets do we need? It's the most adorable little creature and her name is Gracie Jones. I'll take a picture of her to share but she looks like this little critter. Hannah and I ordered a new cage for her that is supposed to come this week while Gary is gone. We didn't tell him we did it. shhhhhhhh

Wine Rack

2008-01-31T19:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Gary and I went grocery shopping for our get together we are having this weekend. We picked up a few more bottles of wine and I tried to cram them into the liquor cabinet or in the cabinet with the dog's food. No luck. They wouldn't fit, no matter how much I pushed and swore. My friend Regina has this smart little wine rack that came from Ikea. ...similar to this: I screamed and carried on how I wished I had a simple wine rack. Gary quietly left the room and went to the garage. I heard drilling and hammering and about 20 minuutes later, he came in with this. "I know it's nothing fancy," he said "but we can store 11 bottles of wine in a few inches of door frame space. " Amazing! I love it!
Here's Stephany, Gary's oldest daughter having her 1st lobster. She really dressed for the occasion.... making sure her shirt matched the cooked lobster. She came from Nebraska last weekend to visit for a few days. We had a nice relaxing visit with her and both her and Gary were thrilled to see each other.

Cracking Up

2008-01-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

So funny. I can't help myself but crack up everytime I watch this.

Things have been going ok. Am still around and reading blogs but haven't had time to post anything. Here's a couple of pictures of the new office.... still moving in and whatnot. Excuse the shopvac in the middle of the floor.

The Family Heirloom

2008-01-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

Back in 1955, my father in law worked for a farmer in Southern Illinois along the Ohio River. He and a co-worker were sent to Chicago to pick up some equipment parts. They went to Chicago to pick up those parts and stayed at an "affordable" hotel.

Upon checking into the the room, my father in law found that the chimney cover plate had fallen off the wall and a frightfully, cold draft was coming into the room. He pushed the bureau against the wall and climbed on top of it to reinstall the flue cover plate. Reaching up to secure the plate to the wall, this is what he found inside the wall:

It has now become a family heirloom and the topic of many conversations

Where did the gun come from?
Why was it hidden the wall?
It was manufactured from 1951-1970.
What do you think the owner of this gun did and why was it hidden?

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T21:34:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all the happiest of 2008 and I will be back soon. I promise. Something called Life is getting in the way of my blogging right now but I'll have lots to tell you about when I'm back in a few.

Peace.

The Crash of the Creche

2007-12-14T14:59:00.000-05:00

"Cannonball!" is what I hear. Over and over again I hear Hannah shouting this from the living room and then laughing. I peek around the corner and she's playing with the nativity set. My mom bought these figurines back in the 60's, from a W.T. Grant store, for pennies apiece. My sister, Sue had them for many years and then she passed them on to Hannah.

"Cannonball!" she hollers and the Baby Jesus jumps from the top of the manger onto the hay.... unceremoniously landing on his head. I chuckle. . My mother treasured these pieces and growing up, we were only allowed to look at them....sometimes we'd pretend play with the pieces when Mom wasn't looking but always tried to put them back exactly as we thought we had found them. She probably knew we were messing with it but figured as long as we were quiet and not destroying it or each other.... what was the harm?

I was saddened to see that after being in our family for over 40 years and having no ill come to them, it only took a few days for our dog, Chloe, to grab the cow and chew it's left ear AND horn off.

This morning while I was watering the Christmas tree for the 47th time in 5 days (I have no idea where all this water goes), I studied the nativity and how she left it. Here it is:

The wiseman behind Baby Jesus in a pose that I can only like to Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford, grabbing his chest yelling "I'm coming to you Elizabeth!"

That sneaky donkey is appearing to want to either nibble on baby Jesus' hair or whisper in his ear.

The angel at the front dressed in blue is totally off in her own little world.

The poor one horned, one eared cow is being stuck up and turning her back to the new babe.

What the heck is a beanie baby doing in Bethlehem?

Getting Ready for Christmas.

2007-12-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

Wait! What's this on the floor of my livingroom?

And there is much more of it in this paperbag.....

More carnage awaits me.... Oh no! One of my favorite old ornaments slipped from my fingers and smashed on the floor...
Finally... it's done. And I have our tree up about a week earlier than normal! woohoo!
Hannah asked me to take a cheerful holiday picture of her and the cats. She only had one tiny Santa hat to put on one cat at a time so Princess was elected to go first.

In this picture, Hannah looks so cute but Princess looks like she is ready to go ballistic.

Yup, she doesn't like the picture taking at all.

In fact, I think Princess would like to scratch an eye out.Here's Hannah with Sydnay. He behaved much better!

First snowfall

2007-12-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our first substantial snowfall of the season. And not a moment too soon. I was secretly thrilled to find that Hannah's ski pants from last year still fit her and so does her winter jacket! There is a God!

Yesterday morning, after hearing there was no school, Hannah jumped out of bed and was outside playing in record time. Even before she brushed her teeth or had her breakfast, When she came inside about 9:30, she was starving! Here's Hannah enjoying her first snow...

Mom saved our Christmas tree from last year. All the needles had dropped off over the summer and she put lights on it. I think it looks wonderful after the first snowfall.

Jiggity Jig

2007-11-29T06:12:00.000-05:00

Finally! It's weather tight and not a moment too soon. My brother and Jason finished the cedar shingles today and it looks good. The picture of the back of the building shows the area that Gary built on the back of the boat shed a few years ago. He did this so when he backs the boat in, the outboard motor fits into that section neat as a pin..... otherwise we wouldn't be able to shut the door. Because of the way it sticks out on the back of the building, Gary has taken to calling it the 'dink on the boat shed' because... well... I'm sure you know why. I need to call the propane company to have them set a 100gallon tank into that corner section. Should I tell them... "My husband wants it put in the corner, right next to the dink." I doubt they'll get it.

Speaking of garages..... I thought I'd show you my next project. My mom and I share the garage. She parks on her side year round and I park on my side in the winter only. Over the summer, my side of the garage collects 'THE STUFF'. THE STUFF is anything that doesn't have a permanent home yet that we've gotten over the summer and alarm equipment that needs to be put into the inventory shed. It looks like I've got my work cut out for me so I can get my Jeep into my side of the garage. I should just park in it year round and then this problem wouldn't happen every fall.
Mom's side above and my side below.
Hannah and I are still taking our violin lessons and we are enjoying them very much. It's amazing to me that we actually can make music. We have only progressed as far as learning notes G, D, A & E and those are all done open string so far. I'm think in the next few weeks, we might get to learn a note using a finger on the string! woohoo. How exciting, huh? When we start a new song in class... it is hysterical because the teacher just does a start count and we begin playing. It seriously sounds like a room full of cats having their tails stepped on.

Scranton, Pennsylvania

2007-11-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

Yup - you read that right.

Scranton, PA is where we are right now at a Courtyard Suites by Marriott with free wireless access. woohoo. We left Nashville yesterday around 4pm and drove until almost 9pm. We arose this morning and were on the road by 7am. After a stop at Cabela's where we hemorrhaged so much money that Gary declared he needed to sit on a soldering iron to cauterize the flow, we continued on and landed in Scranton about 5pm. Tomorrow we will finish the trip to Maine and begin the laundry and check out the new office progress.

I wanted to share a few pictures from the Ice! show we saw in Nashville. Here is Hannah at the beginning. The ice was amazing. The carvings were wonderful, intricate and COLD. Thank God they provided parkas for everyone to wear. It was about 9 degrees inside the building.

At the Whoville table:
At the end of the show, they had a life sized nativity scene carved in ice. It was so much more beautiful in person than this picture shows.
As we were leaving the Opryland Mall, Hannah spotted this. Her dream come true:

Still Nashville

2007-11-20T15:21:00.000-05:00

Having a good time so far. We put the security system in without too many arguments between Gary and I. I played my usual role of Gopher Girl.... going up and down the stairs for this and that. Today we took a drive around to see some of the town's sights. We haven't gone into the city yet... tonight we will because we are going to see Ice!. I hope it's not too crowded.

Yesterday, we rode over to Murfreesboro to drop the boat off at the Stratos plant. The security guard gave Gary a receipt and we were on our way. At a traffic light... we noticed all these blackbirds perched on the wires. They were on both sides of the road for hundreds of feet. I really wish they would've taken flight. That would be a sight to see!
My friend, Jean has this on her patio area which is outside the back door.
I probably have this out the back door at my house:

The foliage is still very pretty down here. Actually, the maples look like they are just going past peak now. This part of the country is absolutely gorgeous. Rolling hills, beautiful huge homes made of brick and most everyone has a horse grazing in their fenced in giant front yard. There is so much construction going on here. On every street we've been on, there are huge developments going in with homes starting in the $300,000's.
Here's just the neatest house I've seen so far. It sat perched on a hill and by the time I could get my camera ready we were almost passed it. A castle house! How fun!
Shortly after I took these pictures, we were sitting at a red light and got rearended by a minivan driven by a man who was so awestruck by our Maine license plate that he couldn't take his eyes off it. We are in a Dodge Ram 2500 which weighs about 10,000lbs and have a hitch sticking out the back of the truck. Needless to say, we are now the proud owners of part of a Chrylser Town & Country minivan's front grill. He hit us hard enough to lurch our big truck forward and for me to scream at Gary "What the hell are you doing?!" I thought he had dropped the transmission onto the road. No one was harmed and our trailer hitch is nice and shiny now.

Tomorrow we are piling into the truck and heading for Evasnville, IN (about 3 hours away) to visit Gary's family for the day. We'll be back here to spend Thanksgiving with Dick and Jean and then will head back to Maine on Friday. We plan to be home no later than Sunday monring.

I forgot to post this picture for Regina the other day. It was of a friend of hers from the zoo:

Nashville

2007-11-18T17:03:00.000-05:00

We made it to Nashville in about 18 hours but we did break it up into a 2-day trip. We spent one night in Hagerstown, MD at a great Springhill Suites hotel. It was a little pricey but well worth it! Hannah was absolutely fabulous on the entire trip down here... shes didn't state her boredom of being in the truck until Knoxville.

Gary went fishing today with Dick so Jean took Hannah and I to the The Nashville Zoo. What a wonderful zoo. It was so clean and the zoo employees were very friendly and helpful. Here's a few pictures from today.

The bamboo was fabulous. There was an entire forest of it.

Right after I post this, Gary is going to drive me over to the drugstore because we all know that I can't go anywhere without getting my period. I know my sister Sue understands this because it's a family curse. I could plan a vacation 3 years in advance and it always happens.

More tomorrow!

2007-11-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

We've got trusses now and a roof! We were a couple of sheets of plywood short on the roof but my brother, being the cool guy he is, will pick those up in the morning and get the rest of the trim as well. Hopefully by Thursday, we will have shingles on the roof! It doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

Here's the boom truck unloading the trusses. 26' wide with a 1' overhang, 12 pitch and a 60ppsf snow load.

The boom truck operator lowering them in front of the office.
Here's how the office looks this evening. I hate it that it is pitch dark at 6pm. That sucks.
Here's the inside.
Let me see if I can think of anything else that is going on around here.....some RBOC (random bullets of crap) to update:

I only have 2 more days of working at the school left.
We leave on Friday for Nashville.... it's a working vacation.... I'll be sure to blog all about that fun!
Gary is hunting in NH tomorrow and decided tonight that he needs a hunting license. Um..... ya think? Many irate calls later... he finally finds that Dick's Sporting Goods has them.
If you haven't tried a Vanillatini yet.... what are you waiting for?!? 2oz of Stohli's Vanil and 2oz of Bailey's Irish Creme. Pour over ice in a shaker, add some nutmeg and pour into a martini glass. Sip or gulp and enjoy!!

Here's an owl that Hannah spotted across the road yesterday. I had to zoom in on it and I'm sorry it's not a better picture.

Walls Are Up

2007-11-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

I know I'm probably boring the Internet to tears but I'm enjoying documenting the building of our new office. Today there was great strides made! When I left for the school this morning, Shawn and Jason had arrived and were setting up. It was about 27 degrees outside and I was glad I was working in a nice, toasty warm kitchen. When I came home from work a few hours later, the walls were up!
I know Gary wants to help as much as he can but sometimes it's just better if he hangs back and gets things as Shawn and Jason need them. I know what this feels like as when I help Gary.... I become Gopher Girl.I had no idea that Lowe's house wrap was so stylish! Finally this evening, we get to look out our new windows!Tomorrow (weather permitting), the roof is going to start coming off in preparation for the new truss system going on early next week.

1st Row of Blocks

2007-11-05T19:05:00.000-05:00

Today my brother, Shawn and his building partner, Jason arrived to start the office. Gary picked up all the materials except for the trusses. Those will be coming in a few days.

Here is the first row of block. I call it the first row but in reality, it is the only row there is going to be.

Here's the block from another view.... looking into the back yard. That's my baby brother, Shawn, on the right. He's a carpenter. My family is full of the trades and it comes in very handy sometimes.

I'll have to tell you about the time Shawn fell off a 3 story building's roof in New Hampshire in the middle of winter. He landed on a pile of debris and frozen ice... from 3 stories. First to go were his knees... which blew apart, then his femur bones in both thighs broke multiple times and then followed a shattered wrist and finally his face smashed. He looked pretty fucked up and was. He had pins and screws and operations and an infant baby at home. He recovered but still has problems with his knees and probably always will. Here's that coil of nails I was telling you about in the last post. They are used in a nail gun. Gary loves those things. and they sure make a job easier then swinging a hammer.
Here is the wood, shingles and other stuff for our office. This caused money hemorrhaging.
This is what they work for at the end of the day.