Current happenings

Spring has arrived.  I am so thankful, what a long cold winter it was.

 I am working on a few projects, one of them is a knit blanket for a brand new little nephew that will be born in August.  The blanket I made for Jericho, his big brother to be, was pretty... but we didnt know if Sarah was having a boy or a girl when I chose the yarn, so I made it from a variegated baby yarn in pale blues, purples and white.  The new blanket is definitely different, it's going to be very bold. 

The yarn for Parker's blanket.

 

Jericho's blanket

 Maddy is doing well with the homeschooling.  Right now I would say that World history and Latin are still her favorite classes.  We need to start lining up her materials for next year, but I still have lots of time to find just the right stuff for her.  Tentatively next year she will be taking English, Geometry or Algebra 2, US History, Latin 2, another lab science as well as some "fun" classes.  Fun being the point... so it will be totally Maddy driven.  We have some local art classes, including stained glass, pottery, as well as things like Karate etc.  She will also be getting a part time job in the fall... and sometime over the next year will be taking Driver's ed through a local program.  We will also be utilizing a SAT program to help her get ready for that in the spring of 2014. Her Junior year is going to be a busy busy year for us.

In July, the husband and I will be going on our first vacation (alone without children) in 23 years.  A group of our friends, that we met online, get together every year in July for a weekend.  This year the stars all aligned and we are able to go. *knock on wood*  Its also the year of our 25th wedding anniversary, so we decided to extend our trip past the weekend and visit the area.  I am so excited, and nervous, and excited, and just can't wait, and excited...

Eileen has moved into a new place with her young man.  He is a full time culinary student as well as a  full time sous chef at a local restaurant.   Eileen will be returning to college in the fall. She is also working full time as a pharmacy tech at the state's biggest hospital.  She is a pretty busy young lady but she knows what she wants to do with her life and is moving herself that direction.  I am very excited for her.

Its a lovely day outside... there is a soft breeze and the sun is shining.  Its a very nice day and I hope you are having a great day as well.

~Regi

Hello from great beyond

Well no... I am not dead.  But you would think I had fallen off the edge of the planet with the length of time since I last posted.

 Just kidding, but things have been a bit busy and my life at the same time seemed a bit boring.  I just didnt think I had anything to share with my one or two loyal readers.  *grins*

Since my last post we have sort of settled into our new home.  Our eldest daughter ended a 6 year relationship and came home so we could help her heal her broken heart.  She then found a new job, a new place to live, and a new love of her life.  Funny thing...this guy actually seems to want her to be happy.  Who would have thought such a thing possible eh?  We have also started homeschooling Maddy again.  Which, come to think of it, was why this blog was started in the first place, to document our homeschooling journey.  I have also left my job at Walmart.  While I miss my friends at the store, right now my place is here.

So anyways...that's whats up with me... in part anyways.  I will try to remember to pop in from time to time.


*hugs*
Reg

Changes

Isn't Jericho the cutest.  Look at those little toes. I can't wait to spend more time with him.  Which brings me to my next topic.

Lots of stuff changing around the old homestead.

 We are moving from the country back to a city.  Back in 2008 when we moved here, I was so excited about the peace and quiet... I so had it set in my mind that I was a country girl at heart, that I didn't allow myself to be unhappy with the way things were.  So what if it took 30 minutess to get to the nearest grocery store, or there was no delivery for pizza.  I wont mention the first 2 years here struggling with an antenna so we could pick up 3 channels, 2 of which were the same programming but different stations.  There wasnt a single cable company that came out this far and the landlords at that time were very anti-Dish.  Who cared that if we lost power we had no water or working plumbing.  You just had to walk across the road to the lake and get water to flush the commode.  Anyways... after almost 4 years here we are moving again.  This time to a city larger then the one we used to live in.  Waterville Maine... home of the Waterville High School Panthers and oddly enough the same city my sister and her family live in.  We definitely didn't plan it that way.  We tried to find a place nearer to the husbands work.  They have a fantastic high school there and we were so excited about Maddy possibly going to that school.  We had no interest in buying a house with the economy the way it is... and the job field, we didn't want to tie ourselves to another community the husband would have to commute from.  Been there done that and its not fun.  So... we were looking for a house, not an apartment, and one where we would be happy for the next 3 years at least.  Once Maddy is out of high school we will have a better idea about the future of this new company the husband is working for, and just might be ready to buy a house or some land.

  The new place we are renting is nice... I can't wait to get moved, but the journey there is going to be a bit long and a bit rough.  It will work out though, just have to keep telling myself that, and all will be well. The best part... it's in a city.  They have actual coffee shops, grocery stores and a big old library all within a minutes drive or walk.  We will be 45 minutes closer to the eldest daughter, and the husband will be 25 mins from his job.

We have decided that the night we move in, we are going to celebrate by ordering pizza and getting it delivered.  Ahh... the good life.

*grins*  I guess I am a city girl after all.

~Reg

Jericho is here!

Jericho Michael was born on March 28 at 12:39pm.  He, his momma, daddy and Mimi are doing well. My sister is beside herself in love, and I don't blame her at all, he is totally a sweetheart. I got to hold him yesterday, smell him and just stare into his little face.  Everyone says he looks so much like his daddy but I can definitely see Sarah in him.

This is Jericho and his mommy.  Sarah looked incredibly tired but so happy to have her little man with her finally.

My youngest daughter holding the newest member of the family.  He grabbed right a hold of her finger and with that a piece of her heart.  She told me later she had never seen a baby "so brand new." She seemed to think it was pretty awesome.

Welcome to the world little Jericho... we are all so glad you are with us.

*hugs*
Reg

Jericho's sweater... wip.

Jericho's sweater in progress (sorry for the horrid picture!) I have separated the right front and back onto stitch holders and am working on the left front. Its coming together quickly and I am in hopes the rest of it goes as smoothly... *knocks on wood*

Its been a lovely week so far, temps in the 50's and today we are getting a bit of rain to wash away more of that cursed snow. Bring on the spring!!! 

I am off to work... I wish you a wonderful day!!!

*hugs*
Reg

In progress...

Started a new project, because you know.... its not like I have don't have enough stuff going on. *grins* I swore after the baby blanket that I knitted for Jericho, that I would never knit another thing. I even warned my girls that knit blankets for their eventual children were out of the question, and yet I find myself casting on stitches to make little Jericho a baby sweater. I found the pattern at the Lion Brand Yarn website and its very sweet. I got the yarn yesterday, its Caron, Simply Soft and the color is Ocean. Its a very pretty dark blue... almost a dark denim color. I think it will be very sweet and manly lol... My only concern is that it calls for two little buttons. Can I secure them on tightly enough that they dont present a choking hazard? Or should i try to find a different way to close the sweater. So far I have about an inch done... the yarn is so soft in my hands and almost silky. I am enjoying the texture of it so far. Here is a picture of what the final project is supposed to look like.

 

In other fronts, work is going well, we are all adjusting to the husbands coming home on weekends, and staying up in that area during the week.  Maddy is doing well in school, and the eldest has decided to get married in the fall, though she has no details picked out.   The weather was glorious yesterday, in the high 50s with a warm wind, a hint at what is to come and it was so refreshing.  I can not wait for spring even though it brings the mud.  hehe.  

Guess thats all for now... still haven't found the camera or its cord, might splurge with some christmas money and get myself a new one.  

*hugs*

Reg

ps... as much as I love this yarn I bought for Jer's little sweater... how I long to use pink.  I definitely need a little girl to knit for.

Two Pips down... a million billion to go!

I am happy to report that two of the pips on my list are completed.  The first one was Eileen's fleecy blanket.  We got the fabric and then she said, "Mom, would you mind if I made it myself?"  I hemmed and hawed... looked disappointed.  "Sure Eileen, if thats what you want," I said... "its your present." 

Ok ok... i know thats kinda cheating but a pip is marked off my list  *grins* and hopefully she didnt see me cheering as she drove away with a large stack of fleece. 

The second one is Jericho's blanket.  I am happy to announce that it is complete and in its new home just waiting for Mister Jericho to be born.

I am sure glad to have that little blanket done.  I did a simple pattern.  I knitted 10 rows, then for the body of the blanket I knit completely across on the right side, and on the back side of the piece I knit 7 stitches, purled across and then knit the last 7 stitches.  I did this until the blanket was a comfy size and then knit the last 10 rows.  When adding new yarn in I always did it on the wrong side at the beginning of a row.  I used a pretty variegated yarn and it ended up with 8-9 purple stripes.  Its not the best picture above but I was trying to get everything ready for the shower when i realized i hadn't take a photo yet. 

Superbowl Fun

We had a lot of fun watching the Superbowl last night.  The game was riveting.  Unlike years in the past where we would watch a bit and then do other things and come back for the commercials and halftime show, we watched every minute of it.  I did manage to get some knitting done but for the most part we sat glued to the tv.  I do wish the Patriots had managed to win, but my hat's off to the NY Giants... it was an awesome game and they totally deserve that win. 

At one point Maddy started talking during a commercial and her father and I both said "Shhh Maddy the commercials are on".  She looked at us like we were insane and said "wait wut?"  I told her, "its the superbowl... if you gotta talk... do it during the game but please be quiet for the commercials" and she just laughed.

Personally I enjoyed the halftime show, although the reviews seemed to be mixed.  It was filled with pageantry, old and new artists alike (forgive me Madonna for calling you old)  *grins*  dancing and familiar songs. 

We had lots of yummy food,  most of which the husband had prepared while I was at work.  He is such a good egg, I might keep him for a bit longer. *wink*

All in all we had a very good time.

This morning we got him all packed up for another week at his job.  Its been tough with him living up there during the week and only coming home on the weekends, but we are managing.  We are both so grateful he was able to find this job.  He seems to be enjoying his co-workers, and the job is a nice challenge which is always a good thing.  He says he is meeting some really nice people and he has even found some co-workers with kids Maddy's age, and has found at least 2 that will be Sophomores with her next year at MCI.  Its going to be a challenge to help her adjust and fit in at the new school and yet help her keep her ties at the old one but we are going to try our best.  Its only an hour away and with FB, Twitter, texting etc she will never be too far from her friends at all.

My job is going well and I have made some nice friends there.  I am not sure how feasible it would be to continue working in the Augusta store after we move but I would sure like to try.  Even if its only a couple of really long shifts a week, as it wouldn't make any sense to drive 45 minutes to work for a 4 hour shift.  Oh well... we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

In regards to my crafting, I still have some work to do on Jericho's blanket, and my sister has given me a cross-stitch bib to work on for her.  She will be coming over sometime this week with her sewing machine in order for us to sew the backing and binding on the baby quilt she made.  I can't wait to see how its going to turn out.

Guess thats all for now.  Hopefully I will get at least one more post in before March.  lol

*hugs*
Regi

... And it's November!

Time sure flies when you are having fun!  *grins*

I have been getting between 32 and 34 hours a week at work and I am really getting into the swing of the job.  One of the CSMs told me last night that everyone has nothing but nice things to say about me... so that was good to hear.  I will have my 3 month performance review the first week of December and also my discount card.  That will be nice!!  Things have been getting busier and crazier at work as the holidays approach.  The weekend before Halloween everything was orange and black... costumes and scary themed food and candy.  I worked Halloween night and it was really dead.  I had a day off and when I came in next there were Christmas decorations up, Christmas trees in the entrys and Christmas music playing.  I felt a bit disoriented lol.

My niece, who got married in August, is pregnant.  Well technically, she was pregnant at the wedding, but it was early on yet and very few people knew.  She now has a baby belly... although its a little one and she finds out on Wednesday what the gender of the baby is.  I keep reminding her that not all babies want to share that info right off... but she is confident her child will behave and show the appropriate bits hehe.  Boy does she have a lot to learn about being a parent lmao... i cant wait to see it all unfold.  I hope her child is as much a joy and handful as Miss Sarah was for her parents.  I am trying to figure out what to make for this little one.  My sister is making the traditional (well in our family) cross-stitch blanket.  My eldest has stated she is making a quilt, so either i make some clothes for the child or knit something.  I may just go ahead and make a quilt too... a baby cant have too many quilts, but we will see.  I found a very cute pattern for a knit hat... it resembles a small berry, pattern can be found on Ravelry here.  Also found a pattern for a little knit blanket with a waffle pattern that looks adorable.  I think I will wait till we know on Wednesday (or dont know for that matter) before i finalize my plans. 


Paul and I had a long talk yesterday... he told me he fully intends to take the new job in Jan.  Its going to be very hard for the family to adjust but its going to be a good thing.  The pay is wonderful for this area, we will have medical insurance for the first time in a very long time... 401k, etc... and the town this business is in has a wonderful highschool.  Its actually a private boarding school but families that live in the town get to send their high school kids there.  Maddy will have the opportunity to get a fantastic education which will only benefit her in the future... and its half way between my sisters town and the town my eldest daughter lives in.  I just found out today that the library there is a Carnegie library.  That's exciting!  They also have an Egg festival in July... a week long festival of egg stuff.  >.>  hehe.  It will be nice to be part of a town again.

I guess thats it for now... i will try to post pictures of the projects I am thinking about doing for the baby.

*hugs*
Reg

Thankful thursday on Saturday

Its been a crazy week in the Smart household.  =)

On Sunday Irene hit and we lost power until Tuesday.  It is the longest we have been without power here in this house and for that we are very fortunate.  There are still people who are waiting to have their service restored.  Living out in the country means we are on a well... and the electricity powers the pump that brings water into the house.  A situation that many many people are familiar with, but it was eye opening for me when we moved here 2+ years ago.  I will never forget, shortly after we moved here we were pulling into the driveway and our landlord was by the barn and said in a very matter of fact way... "we have been without power for 4 hours or so now.  If you need water for the commode you can get it at the lake" and he pointed down the road.  I had no clue what he was talking about until we got inside the house and realized without electricity we had no water... and no ability to flush the toilet.   I think it hit me wicked hard at that moment how very different our lives were going to be in this new home.  Hahaha.  Since that time we have had bats in the house, a snake that likes to come visit the sun room.  Beavers swimming feet from us at the lake... deer behind the house, stopping and waiting for turkeys and all their babies to cross the road lol.  Very different from living in perhaps Maines second largest city, coffee shoppes at every corner... a library with 3 branches and a grocery store within 5 mins.  Anyway... we got our power back Tuesday afternoon and we were so very happy.

Maddy started high school the next day.  She is now a freshman... its so hard to comprehend... my baby is in high school.  It definitely didn't hit me as hard when the eldest was a freshman.  Wednesday the school was open to only Freshmen and Seniors... the upper class-men were there to help the younger students acclimate.  Then Thursday and Friday all the students were there and Maddy is loving it so far.  She adores her English teacher, the woman has a System of a Down poster on the wall that Maddy thinks is wicked cool.  They are reading the Odyssey next and when Maddy raised her hand and asked... "What if you have already read it"  The teacher was very excited, even more so when Maddy shared at the end of class when they were doing a "lets get to know each other" exercise that she loved Shakespeare.  My daughter is going to love her English class.  They did an experiment in her earth systems class already and she was so excited about that... and very disappointed that some of the kids in another class were being idiots as she put it.  When handed a globe and asked to pick out a country and give a fact Maddy said " This is Australia... here (she pointed) is the great barrier reef and blah blah blah something about sharks." ( Maddy loves sharks and has since she was maybe 7 years old)  Another student pointed to Canada and said " this is Canada... Justin Bieber comes from there." and another said " this is Florida, its hot there."  She is already being driven insane and we got a lecture in the car  about idiot students.  *sigh*

Then on Thursday I went in for an interview for a job, but after waiting almost an hour they asked if they could reschedule it due to the computers being down.  That evening the husband had a phone interview with a new company that does things just up his alley.  The interview was over an hour long and afterwards I could see how very excited he was about the possibilities.  Its a company here in Maine that does some similar things to his current company, but they will be able to use his test engineering background.  The problem is that this company is almost an hour from the house and we are locked in to this house for another year or so.  Maddy has just started  high school... I dont want to rip her out of it... but on the other hand the husband seems so very intrigued by this new company... and the current company is getting ready to go through another set of layoffs.  His job is safe for the current time but during the last round of layoffs another manager that had been there longer then Paul got demoted with a paycut in order to keep her job.  We have already been through a layoff (before we moved to this area) and it took him 6 months to find this position.  If the current job hadnt shown up we would have had to move out of state which I wouldnt have minded but would have torn him up.  =(  Next step is a visit to the facility including meetings with HR, owners, and other engineers.   I just want him to have a job where he is challenged and where he absolutely enjoys his work.  I would also like to have health insurance again... its been sometime since we had that.  This new job has a fantastic benefits package which would be lovely.

Friday I had my interview (and boy was that nerve wracking) and they offered me a job as cashier, but only if I passed the pre-job screening and a background check.  Later on in the afternoon they called (which I missed because I didn't have my phone with me) and said everything looked good and I needed to call and set up a time for orientation. 

This weekend the kids (Eileen and Shaun) want to come visit us on Sunday, we also need to get down to visit Paul's parents, borrow the truck from them (until we can get another vehicle) and the landlords want to do their yearly walk through and get a list of things that need to be worked on.  Busy busy busy.

So... back to the thankful thing...

I am thankful for..

~ opportunities that are coming our way.
~ cool english teachers who inspire my 14 year old.
~the fact that my daughter will never conform to fit other kids ... but in fact will continue to march to the beat of her own drum.
~ the lake at the end of the path that allowed me to get water each day we were without power so we could flush the commode ... hahaha.
~backgammon =)

~Reg

A family affair

We are going to a wedding tomorrow. My niece Sarah is marrying the love of her life, Zach, in a small simple ceremony at his parents house. He will be going off to boot-camp at the end of the month, so at the last minute the two decided to get married before he goes.

After the marriage ceremony we will be having some yummy food and a wedding cake his mom is making. I am bringing a large tossed green salad (with three choices for salad dressing) and a couple different types of cookies I make that Sarah likes. No-bake cookies and peanut butter blossoms. Since my sister "borrowed" my copy of the family cookbook I am going to use the Hershey's recipe for the peanut butter cookies.

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal (quick oats)

In medium saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients and bring to boil over medium heat and then let boil for 2 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat, add in peanut butter and oatmeal. Drop on waxed paper. Let stand, turn and let dry completely. Store in refrigerator or place in ziploc bag.


Peanut Butter Blossoms (adapted from the Hershey's website)

48 Hershey's kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsps milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl till well blended. Add in the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugars, beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beat well. Sift together (or stir with fork in glass bowl for those of us without sifters) flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie, cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Home at last..

Its now Wednesday and I think I am finally recovered from the camping trip. We had a wonderful, splendiforus, awesome time. The weather was beautiful, when the rain hit it was the middle of the night while we were all snug in our sleeping bags... and then it drizzled a teensy bit the day we left but all that did was stop us from dragging our feet and we managed to leave the camp grounds when we planned instead of being lulled into staying just a bit longer.

For food we had the following: Saturday we had grilled hamburgers and chips, cut up veggies followed by smores and margaritas for the adults. Sunday we had pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast, sandwiches, chips and veggies for lunch, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, rolls and butter for dinner followed by more smores and margaritas. Monday morning we had cold cereal and leftovers for breakfast and then we packed up and left.

We swam, played cards, used a paddle boat, fished, played ladder ball, read books, wrote in journals and reconnected. It was very relaxing.

We did have a few injuries and mishaps... my niece fell on a path and got a scrape.. my nephew burned his hand on a metal fork while trying to roast an apple over the campfire, my brother in law cut himself while setting up the tent and my crew got sunburns on Sunday because we were silly and didn't wear sunscreen when we went to the lake. Sunday night when it rained I found a leak in our tent in the middle of the night. I rolled over and landed in a puddle of water on my air mattress... I was too tired to do anything but move over a bit and fall back to sleep. We will definitely have to either see if we can rain proof the tent more or better yet take the sucker back to Beans because the two times we have used it... it has leaked. But... all in all we survived, and the good times far outweighed the bad.

In regards to the promised photos... I think I took maybe 2 pictures the entire weekend, we were all having too much fun to stop and find the cameras... least that was the case with me. I will have to see if my eldest took any photos I can share.

Anyways... I had a blast and can't wait till we go again. I'm definitely not going to wait another 9-10 years to camp again.

*hugs*
Reg

We are going camping...

Woohoo...This weekend we are going camping. I can't wait, its been a long time. You would think, living in the great state of Maine that we would take each and every opportunity to get outside but really I'm an indoors kinda gal. I can't stand bugs, don't like being cold or wet, and i prefer my food on clean plates and eaten in front of a lovely TV program. So... what about camping appeals to me? All those things I just listed would mean camping wasn't for me you would think. But... camping for me is all about spending time sitting in front of a campfire with s'mores in hand. Getting up early before the birds are awake and breathing in the chilly air and just being thankful for such an opportunity. Whittling away at a stick for no other purpose then to make it smaller... playing cards with friends and family with no object except to talk to them.. who cares who wins or loses as long as we are doing it together.




I have been kind of lonely since we moved a few years ago. Its very different then how life used to be for us. Everyday I would see my neighbors and it wasnt uncommon for the talks in the driveways to lead to talks over coffee or tea in someones house. I couldn't go to the library or the store without bumping into someone i knew. Here though, our nearest neighbor is over a mile away and people seem to keep to themselves a lot... we don't shop in a neighborhood grocery store but in a large store in the state capital( we live way out in the country), and unfortunately most of my college classes this semester are going to be online ones. Now that I have most of my general education classes done for my degree, the rest of them are online. I could swap to a different degree program which would require more on campus classes, and I am actually contemplating that for a few reasons. I really enjoy going to class and having that interaction with the other students and the professor. I am also looking into finding a job which will get me out of the house, bringing in a bit of cash and hopefully some form of health insurance.



Anyway...That's what this camping trip is all about. We are going with Pauls sister and her family. So there will be 4 adults, 2 college students, a 14 year old, a 10 yr old and an 8 year old. We are going to spend the weekend just reconnecting, eating good food, swimming, laughing, and playing silly games. The weather is starting to look like its going to cooperate, we still have all our old gear and only need to replace a few things and I just need to finish getting us packed up.

I will try to take some pictures while we are away... I wont promise to post them though if they turn out horrid. hehe... all that said... I can't wait.

*hugs*
Reg

ps... these are not my photos.. I snagged them from google images. hopefully i have will have some to share on Monday.

Thankful Thursdays

I have noticed that my posts have fallen off just a wee bit lately, and while I do subscribe to the whole "blogging without obligation" premise... I also recognize that if i don't post every so often, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a blog. Its supposed to be a place I explore myself...which let's face it... is kinda hard to do if i don't post at all. *grins*

Soo.... Welcome to my first Thankful Thursday post. Lets get the biggies out of the way first.

I am thankful for my husband, who is my best friend. <3 We have known each other for 24 years... married for almost 23 of them. We met when we were both in my best friends wedding, where I was the maid of honor and he was the best man. The date was August 12th and I remember thinking he was very quiet, and that he was way too tall. One year and 2 weeks later we were married and have been going strong ever since.

I am also very thankful for my wonderful girls, who let me see the world through their eyes. I am so, so very thankful that we were blessed with them. Sometimes I wonder how these intelligent strong young women came from the two of us.

I am thankful for us... we have had some real ups and downs as a family and somehow have weathered them all. Sure we have gotten a bit dinged up... but we are still strong and we have each other.



Paul and Eileen.



Paul and Maddy



Its not the best picture of the husband and i but a wonderful one of the girls... (We were at my father-in-laws retirement dinner). From left to right its the husband, me, Eileen and Maddy.

I am very very thankful for my family.

~Reg

My loves...

Miss M. and Leen. My girls!

Weekend update...

The weekend was fun stuff... The homecoming game was a blast, I really enjoyed watching my niece in her element. She loves to cheer and she works hard at it. It meant a lot to her that we could come and watch. The team lost the game but the cheerleading was pretty awesome.

I really enjoyed the time we had while the eldest was home from college... when she and her sister werent being snarky with each other that is. I had this image in my head of us all being a happy little family and actually enjoying time together. Forget that the girls squabble a lot... and hubby had to work.. and the eldest was missing her boyfriend... but heck... how could i have been so delusional... sheesh. All in all it was a wonderful time, we went to the game... went to hubbys parents house for dinner on sunday and spent time with family, the girls and i watched movies on monday... and leen and I went to have coffee with my sister on tuesday while maddy was in school and made banana bread. All in all it was nice (when i wasnt wincing from listening to one or the other roar)

We are waiting to hear back from the real estate dude about our house down south. He is going to call and discuss what he thinks we can get for it if we put it up for sale. I hope he hurrys... I am tired of waiting *smile*

Guess thats all from this neck of the woods...

Wishing you a day of peace...

~Regi

Where has the time gone?

Ok I see by the date on my last post that its been some time since I updated this thing. Do I feel badly about that? Yes and no, yes because there is so much to tell you and it will take forever to get it all out. The highs and lows of the move, how it felt to take my firstborn to college and leave her there... the drama of being pulled over by the state policeman... how well Maddy is adjusting to being back in a public school atmosphere... and the joys of living in the country. The no part is due to the whole "blogging without obligation" thing i have going on in my sidebar... who ever thought that up was a sheer genius *smiles*.

The move:

Hah... i say that so calmly... as if its done. Well get that fool idea out of your head right now, the move is not over. Oh we had a good start, tons of boxes, two trips with the moving van, gosh we were so exhausted after that weekend, but a large percentage of our stuff was up here in the new place. However... we still have a basement and garage full of stuff. We are going to attack that in a 2 part effort... another rental of a moving van... and the rental of a dumpster. The dumpster will only be on the premises for 10 days, and we will fill that sucker as full of crap as we can. Not that i have crap in my house... but, well ok... after 11 years in the same place... we had some crap. Then the moving van will take care of the remainder.

Selling the old house:

We have a bit more work to do to get it ready for sell... at this point I am almost willing to just let the thing go to the first person who walks by with a 5 dollar bill and mild interest. Ok ok thats a bit of an exaggeration there... but I dont plan to hold out for top dollar in this economy. Hubby on the other hand is expecting a bit more and unless one of us is swayed over to the others point of view I forsee stormy clouds heading our way. But like many storms I know we will eventually sail out the other end into blue skies and so on... (after he finally figures out that his brilliant, adorable, incredibly talented wife was right all along. hahaha) Just a bit of mild humor there... ahem!

College:

We tried our best to do everything we could to get Eileen ready for college. We went to summer orientation, read everything we could get our hands on, discussed meal plan options with her... supported her in her course choices... everything. We listened to her fears, cheered with her when her roommate called... stayed up with her when she couldnt sleep... but we forgot something kind of important.

We forgot to get ourselves ready for having a child go to college. We forgot to prepare ourselves for that long walk back to the car after leaving our firstborn in a strange environment. We didnt think about what that long drive home would be like, the sleepless nights wondering if she was sleeping well, staring at a plate of food wondering if she would like anything they served... looking at the carton of soy milk in the fridge and knowing that none of us would drink it and she wouldnt be here to do so. Its like a part of you has gone missing...

6th Grade:

I loved homeschooling Maddy. Sure there were days that we both ended up frustrated... but all in all it was a rewarding experience. The decision to put her back in public school was an incredibly hard one. We have overall had a wonderful experience. Ok so the whole getting up at quarter to 5 to catch a bus that got her to school 30 mins early was a bit of a headache... but over the past several weeks we have done what we could to make it all work for us. For the time being Miss Maddy is driven to school and home again. I dont have a job yet and this allows us some extra time in the morning to sleep in a bit, and not have to be on anyone elses timeframe except our own. (with the exception of course of being at school before the bell rings) She has an awesome advisor team... and her core teachers and I are feeling our way about... its kind of strange... but we will make it work.

Dah State coppah:

long story short... over due inspection sticker... drivers side window that was stuck... his little visit with me on the side of the road cost us 133.00 bucks which led directly to a new car. weird eh? See I tried to get the dang thing inspected and it was going to cost us 2300.00 bucks... there were so many things wrong with it. Now we are driving a toyota corolla and loving it.

Life in the country:

So many things different. Cant run to the store real quick anymore to grab something i forgot... its an hour round trip and thats if i dont get out of the car lmao. If we lose power... we lose water... and we lose the ability to flush the toilet, though our neighbors were so very helpful on this front. " take a bucket down to the lake and get water to flush the toilets" hahaha So now we have bottles of tap water under the sink in the bathroom for just such an occasion... we labled them "potty h2o". We get all of 5 channels on tv with the antenna... and on a sunday afternoon we get football, football, baseball, lawrence welk and one other station and i dont remember what they were playing. Its a bit like culture shock I guess... Wheres the green mountain coffee at the gas stations... Wheres the flipping food channel? ...what do you mean no pizza delivery?

There is so much more to tell you but I am drawing a blank... and i seriously do need to get something posted...

~Regi

Post weekend...

Dang I am tired....

On Saturday my sister came down to visit with her eldest and the bf... (boyfriend as opposed to bestfriend) Teengirl had plans and was gone most of the day... but the maddster was here and the kids spent some time wandering a local beach and then playing on the wii. The two 16 yr olds actually seemed to have a good time hanging out with the 10 yr old... no fights... no screaming... no slamming doors... well until the 18 yr old came home, then all hell broke loose. *sigh* I guess its normal... some sisters just dont get along. I never used to get along with my sister either...and look at us now. So I am in hopes that eventually the two girls will love... like... be able to be in the same building without sparks flying out of their eyes and nasty words spewing out of their mouths. A mom can dream eh?

So anywho... my sister didnt leave until almost 10 oclock at night... we ate homemade pizza for dinner and played several rounds of Assassin (incredibly fun game) and then the jerks got me hooked on yet another freaking "reality" tv show. America's top model or something like that. Its not like I dont watch enough of that stuff... american idol, survivor, the amazing race, big brother, top chef, project runway, Hell's kitchen... I love all these shows, though currently I am sort of ignoring survivor and AI and barely keeping up with BigBrother (thank god for tivo or the fake version my cable company offers). Also on Saturday my mother in law called and made arrangements to pick up ms Maddy on Sunday, so on top of watching the show with my sister, making dinner, intervening when bloodshed was looming with the girlz... i was doing laundry and helping the youngest decide what she would take to grammies house.

Sunday- Mimi Linda showed up at noon to pick up the maddster... Maddy was so freaking excited and she did all the packing for her trip (10 minutes away lol) She took 3 pairs of pants, 3 shortsleeved shirts, 3 long sleeved shirts, unmentionables, pjs, 1 jacket, 2 movies, 3 books, one borrowed knitting bag with a project as well as her new knitting book she got for Xmas, 1 stuffed animal, her DS and all her games and her most important item... her new Rachel Ray cook book... "cause mimi and i are gonna cook up a storm" When i carried all the stuff out to the car i jokingly said this is the first load, and Hubbys mom laughed and laughed. The kid had one duffle bag, one back pack, one plastic bag of shoes and one knitting bag. Apparently Tuesday Mimi and Maddy are going to make up a menu, go shopping for ingredients, cook a meal and we are all going over for a fine dining experience.

After Maddy left I spent the afternoon trying to muck out her room. Her room is one of the ones we definitely need to paint before we sell the house.. maybe I mentioned already the dark purple walls with almost blackish purple trim... the list of friends in the closet and the writing on the ceiling. I would like to have the ceiling, and trim done at least before we pick up miss maddy... it would be nice if it was all done but at the same time we are working on the upstairs bathroom. right now its a upstairs hole. We are talking no floorboards... just floor joists... no walls just studs... plumbing pipes sticking up out of the floorless floor and wall-less walls. Its horrid. Hubby is working hard on it... and as soon as he gets a few more wall studs in we can call the plumber to come and start putting in the new plumbing and taking out the old icky stuff. I cant wait till this is all done... it feels like the projects have been going on for the last few years. We start we stop we start we stop... yanno? Life just gets in the way and before you know it you have been down to one bathroom for over a year and it becomes "normal" I dont remember the last time both bathrooms were working because before this era (of the upstairs bath not working) it was the era of the downstairs bath not working. Any ways... it will all eventually be done and we can sell the house and move to a new one where the projects begin anew. Yikes!

I didnt actually get a chance to pull out maddys quilt, when we finally were done with the days work, had dinner etc we took showers and threw ourselves in bed and were asleep in seconds.

Hope you all have a wonderful day... the teen wants to go driving, i want to start priming the trim and hubby... that rat is still sleeping.

Wishing you peace ...
~Regi

PS... Teengirl mentioned to me that she really misses Maddy. *shakes head*

changes

Since the last time I posted we have been through many changes in our family.

Our beloved "Ms Bear" has passed. The entire family was affected but Maddy who loved her bearbear best has had a pretty tough time of it. Bear had been withdrawing a bit and we thought it was because Jasper had been a bit rough with her. I went down to do laundry one day and found her laying in her kitty bed, she looked fine to me until i went to pet her. She was skin and bones. Ms Bear was an extraordinarily fluffy cat. Even sick as she was she was poofy. So when we would see her .. we didnt notice she had lost as much weight as she had. I called the vets office the next morning and took her in. They did an xray and discovered a mass in her lungs. The cat was struggling to breath. The vet was very honest that Bear was dying and encouraged us to have her put to sleep as she was suffering. We spent a bit more time with her... and then brought her back to the doctors office that afternoon to have her put to sleep. Paul and I stayed with her and stroked her and then went home to comfort our girlz. Maddy is having a really tough time of it... Ms Bear was her best friend ... and had been with Maddy since she was about 3 years old. We love ya ms bearbear!

Pauls hours were cut down to just two days a week shortly after my last post, and he and I started looking for work. He found a company in Central Maine that was interested in possibly making a position for him.. but in the middle of the talks, Pauls job was terminated. Just not enough business to keep him on ... and then the company in Central Maine decided that it was important that the third owner who lives in NJ meet with paul before any decision was made. Its a wee bit scary... neither of us working... bills pouring in... but we keep on going. We are both looking hard for postions... trying to keep things on an even keel for the girls.. trying to keep some semblence of normalcy in our lives. As long as we trust in each other... and that this is something we are meant to go through and that something better will arise out of it... it will be ok.

Time Warp

Wow I realize it has been just about forever since I updated this blog... almost like we jumped from September straight into January. Since the last time I updated we have moved from Pilgrims to Colonists... resisting math to loving math... a complete kitchen floor and newly refaced kitchen cupboards... a visit with Adventure girls and a Shamanic healer where we learned to dance and drum up energy and that we have a dolphin (Maddy) and an antelope (Regi) as Power animals... a newly accepted 2008 college freshman (fall) at U Maine... Thanksgiving, Christmas, a precious new baby in the family born on Christmas morning, New Years, and a wedding we just returned from. Amazing... and all in the blink of an eye.

Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours and wishing you joy in this new year..

~Regi