December 18, 2008 Cool video that says it so well....

http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/

December 13, 2008 Christmas shopping and Healthy Children's project

So Mike and I started off yesterday morning (Friday) by dressing and feeding Dan and sending him off to school. Emily had already gone off to work and with 3 hours to kill and no Christmas shopping done yet, we decided to head for Falmouth to get some done. Gotta love Walmart. We browsed, and purused each and every isle looking for appropriate and fun Christmas gear, and came away with nearly everything we were looking for except some Wii games of which Walmart was dreadfully lacking. We got in the van, looked at the clock and realized it was only 10:15am, still another hour and forty five minutes before we could pick up Dan so I suggested we drive into Woods Hole and find a coffee shop. Mike and I aren't generally the fru-fru coffee type but he agreed and through the cold mist we made our way into down town. Woods Hole is a quaint little town, much like Newport with less access which makes me dread it in the summer....you couldn't pay me enough to go there in season. But on December 12th it felt like a fine extravagance. We quickly found a parking spot and coffee shop and went in.
Working at Dunkin I've "done" coffee for years. Working there recently taught me the difference between Lattes, cappachino's, espressos, etc. I stay away from all of them at work. But this coffee shop was different and offered about 12 different flavors of Latte's and decided it was time to try one. I chose Chocolate mint, and with the first sip of froth from the top new this was my new favorite thing in the whole wide world. Mike ordered a Sumatra regular....a tough thing to do in a fancy coffee shop, we found a quiet banquet by the windows, I leaned up against him with my feet on the bench and enjoyed the luxury of my latte. We talked, laughed and drank for 20 or so minutes before getting back in the van for the 30 minute ride back into Mashpee. On the way we noticed that one of the shopping centers had a new game shop and decided with 20 minutes to spare to stop in. They had used games, cheap and buy one, get one so Mike and I deliberated the choices and purchased three.
We made it to school just in time to get Dan, who excitedly showed Daddy around. Then we went to Bobby Byrnes (Danny's favorite restaurant) for lunch to celebrate him starting school. A quick stop the toy store and we headed home so the boys could nap, and I could go out for a run before our warm wet day turned into a cold dry one.
While checking e-mail later I noticed one from a woman I hadn't talked to in ages and all of a sudden light dawns on marble head. Zoe worked at the center for breastfeeding with the healthy childrens project way back when Dan was a baby, and since we spent so much time at their playgroups became good friends. Well, Dan out grew them and we moved on. However way back in 2005 I took a course through them and became a Certified Lactation Councelor. Thinking back I decided to e-mail Anna the head of the program and Adjunct professor about any job opportunities she new of and although she didn't have any right now, she said she'd keep her eyes and ears open. Also, my CLC cert is due to expire the end of the month and she encouraged me to file for an extension then take one of their courses in March to fill the requirements for the recert. It's a field I love, one that coincides with my future midwifery training and one I'd forgetten nearly all about. As much as I like working at D & D, now that Dan has started school and will go to full time Kindergarten in the fall a real grown up job would be nice, while doing my training. I also sit as one of the board of directors for the Academy of Lactation Policy and Procedure, based through the Healthy Childrens Project, although at last meeting I think we voted to disolve it into the Healthy Childrens project. I might have to look into that more! http://www.healthychildren.cc/

December 11, 2008 70lbs lighter !

Here I am on the left on May 28th, 2008 weighing in at 212lbs wearing size 18 pants.

...and on the right December 11th, 2008 picture taken by Danny weighing 142lbs wearing size 8 jeans.

Exactly 70lbs later. I feel great, and have so much more energy! I figure a few more pounds (my ideal weight is 136 BMI 22) and I'll try on my old size 18's and see how they fit now!

December 10, 2008 GED Results, Preschool

We recieved Emily's scores in the mail yesterday afternoon. This is how they break down. Keep in mind she needed to score at least 410 in each of the 5 areas. 200 being the lowest, 800 the highest.
Language Arts-Reading- 670
Language Arts-Writing- 450
Mathematics - 440 -
Science - 560
Social Studies - 500
for a total of 2620 which averages out to 524. She had to have at least a 450 average.

Since, after finding out she'd passed, I didn't feel I could deny her anything we took a trip into Hyannis to the mall, to wander. Emily bought a couple of necklaces. Dan and I bought a couple of new pairs of pants and a new shirt for the first day of school. Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, he loves it. On our way home Dan asked if we could stop at Cape Maid Farms our local pet store. They have all kinds of cool animals including hairless hampsters, all kinds of snakes, lizards, spiders, and rodents, and this time we found a very nice feeder who brought out one of the ferrets for us to hold. Danny had a good time playing with them by putting a brush into their cage. Since they're were six young ferrets in there it didn't take much encouraging for their cage to turn into tumbling and nipping chaos. They had a great time, as did the kids and I. We might have to make visiting there an event we do more often. Em, Dan and I went home long enough to get our books together and head out to the Sandwich Library, where we returned and checked out more books and movies before meeting Mike at the British Beer Company http://www.britishbeer.com/local/sandwich/ for a celebratory dinner honoring Emily for her GED achievement. Em ordered Buffalo chicken tenders for an appetizer, Dan had Pizza, Mike had the French Dip, and I had a Greek Salad, one of the best I've ever had. It was a great night...

This morning Daddy woke Danny up a little after 7am and said Danny, you have to get up for school. That made Danny smile. Em and I will take him to school then go over to the Superintendents office to submit her GED results so she can be taken out of the their system. At 10am I have an appointment with Dr. Mann, my ENT then I have the rest of the morning for some Christmas shopping. I'm not sure I remember how to do that by myself !

Update: Unfortunately I forgot my wallet at home and since it was a 30 minute ride home to get it ran out of time for shopping before it was time to pick up Danny. He saw me, yelled "Mom" and ran into my arms. I'll take this over the clingy, whiny little boy I've spend so much time with lately. The teachers said he had a good day, and told him they looked forward to seeing him Friday....then a funny thing happened. As we walked to the van I asked Dan how his morning was and he said "not good" surprised I asked him why not. He said he couldn't do anything, they didn't play, they didn't go outside, nothing...in a very somber mood. I asked him if he was going to go back Friday and he said yes....now I'm confused. I asked him if he wanted to call Daddy and he said "not yet" Weird I thought. the teachers had mentioned that it was science day today so I prodded him further about what science he learned, at which time he got very animated. Told me all about the planets and how the "orbit" the sun. He said he had a great day, they played outside, he made lots of friends. Apparently he learned how to fool his mother in that very short 3 hour seperation! I'm glad he had a good day.

Emily's exit from the Mashpee School system was uneventful. We met Ellen Bankston at the door, she congratulated both of us, made a photocopy of Em's results and wished her good luck in whatever she chooses to do. Since she's being laid off just after Christmas I think she's scheming a ride down to Virginia with Mom and Mo to visit Vavo and Kathy for a while. From there who knows, maybe fly to Florida, and wait for us there, or fly home and make the trip with us. Whatever she chooses I think taking a semester off to do some traveling is the right choice for her. Carpe Diem honey!

December 9, 2008 Big News!!!

Within 24 hours I have one child newly emerging from the public school system, and one entering.

Emily passed her GED. Not only passed it but averaged a score of 525, when she needed 450. I am so pleased, and feel completely justified in the decision I made to take her out of school. It was absolutely the right decision. She recieved her diploma today and will walk the stage at Cape Cod Community College on June 9th.
We haven't recieved the scores yet, but I did call the school to make sure, and the Director said she really did very well, I'll post the scores when I get them.

Danny and I checked out a couple of preschools on Monday and found one we liked. I brought home to paper work, filled it out and returned it this morning. Danny can be very charming when he wants to be and asked the secretary very nicely if he could start school tomorrow. She said Yes. Danny will be attending the Kids Klub in Mashpee on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am-12pm starting tomorrow. He's thrilled and was so excited to pick pretzels as his snack.


It's been quite a day!

December 7, 2008 Christmas trees/parties, midlife crises', more hiking

First off I'd like to comment on the comments made by anonymous'. One referring to whether or not Emily passed her GED, and the answer is we don't know yet. Good question though since I've had a profound lack of blogging motivation lately. The second questioning about whether I might be in the throws of a midlife crisis makes me laugh, aren't I too young for a midlife crisis? I will not blog about personal matters but if your truly concerned, please feel free to e-mail privately and I'd be happy to discuss it with you further.

Lots has happened. Mike celebrated his 41st Birthday on Thanksgiving day this year. Dan gave Daddy a Lion Webkin he named Max, and we gave him the World Tour game for Guitar Hero. Mike, Dan and I enjoyed a late fall letterboxing adventure at Crocker Neck Conservation area in Cotuit named Dr. Doolittle. http://www.atlasquest.com/ Then we started cooking and joined Mike, Laurie, Janni, Chris and Matt at their house for 5pm dinner.

>

November 30th I drove down to Middletown to meet some old highschool friends at Holly's house for a mini reunion. It was good to catch up with Kristy, Selena, Sarah and Holly. Afterwards I met some former -Dunkin friends in Dartmouth for dinner. We had a terrific time catching up, we'll have to do it more often!

I went to see Dr. Mann again two or so weeks ago and since the no salt regime didn't seem to be making much of a difference he prescribed for me methozolamide (a diuretic) and after only the first few days noticed a significant improvement. School for me is going great, three tests down, 1 to go, and an extra credit paper passed in last week.

Mike and I have enjoyed two holiday parties so far this season, one for the woodturners, the other the annual Progeny party which was held in Warwick, RI on December 5th. Mom watched the kids while Mike and I spent the night at the hotel...very nice. Mike, the kids, and I drove down on Friday and since we were there decided to get our tree at Sweet Berry Farm. http://www.sweetberryfarmri.com/ We talked Mom into joining us, not as bad an experience as she remembered I don't think. Mike and I had a great time at the Progeny party, late night but we had a beautiful room this year and the food was terrific. Mike headed home @ 9am Saturday morning to Green Briar for a wood turning demonstration while I enjoyed a lazy morning at the hotel. Actually it wasn't particularly lazy considering I was in the fitness center at 5:30am, and in the Jacuzzi by 6:15 which is where I stayed enjoying the quiet morning with my book until I deemed it a reasonable hour to wake Mike up for breakfast. I went to RI to pick up the kids. Since Em, Taylor and Mom wanted to go see Twilight I thought it would be a perfect time to take Dan up to the Norman Bird Sanctuary to climb hanging rock. He'd never done it and I was excited for him to have the experience. http://www.normanbirdsanctuary.org/ He had a great time and was pretty excited to call Daddy from the top to tell him where he was! We made it home in time to unpack quickly, and for me to kiss everybody good bye for work. It was good spending some time in RI, I definitely miss it sometimes!

Emily is doing great, working, and driving. She's very responsible, and we've not once had to limit her adventures. She has become juggler along with Mike and I instead of a jugglee. She's such a big girl now.

Dan's doing well too. I think we've come to the realization he's just not getting enough interaction with me here during the day, and even though we try to stay busy, he's not spending enough time with kids his own age. He's outgrown many of the programs he used to enjoy and with the weather so cold we're just not getting out enough. Tomorrow morning we're going to talk to the intigrated preschool that's run out of the K-2 program at the KC Coombs school to see if they have any openings.

Even still, Dan and Daddy have a pretty cool crystal experiment they've been working on and is actually starting to produce. Dan's happy to see something finally happening.

Sunday morning found us all ready to get into the Christmas spirit, Mike brought our tree in just as the rain started to turn to snow, Mike the kids and brought up the Christmas decorations, turned on some Christmas music and quickly realized we couldn't find the tree lights. We did what we could and decided on a road trip to Hyannis to pick some up. Kmart had just what we needed and since it was lunch time we decided to go to our new favorite restaurant Sam Diegos. http://www.samdiegos.com/ I always thought it was a chain restaurant so wasn't

much interested, but after the woodturners party there Wednesday night I was hooked on their fish tacos. One of the woodturning members owns the restaurant and gave us a very impressive tour of the kitchen during the party. Mike and I were sure the kids would love it as well, and weren't disappointed. We came home with full bellies and quickly set to decorating the tree before the 4:15 Patriots game and 5pm work for me.

November 25, 2008 Hiking, Emily's GED

Already the end of November and as I browse through my blog that I haven't looked at in a week I notice that my SIL isn't updating hers as often either. I wonder if it's something about the time of year. Things here have been mostly quiet. The weather has been unseasonably cold and for a few days we were going through1 to 2 bags of pellets a day. Dan has lots of energy these days, is no longer napping on a regular basis and seems to have a never ending supply of energy. We've found that if we don't make a concerted effort to get him out running around for an extended period of time every day he's unbearable, so we've started hiking alot. Thankfully, we have lots of great hiking trails around. He can comfortably hike for about 2 miles without stopping. Mike, the dogs and I are all benefiting as well. I'm down to 148 lbs and still losing. My goal weight is 136 so I'm just 12lbs shy. Redoubling my efforts in light of the upcoming holidays.
Emily took her GED last week, which seemed to go well. She wasn't optimistic that math or writing went very well, but she seemed comfortable that she passed the other subjects. It'll be a couple of weeks before we find out her scores.

November 18, 2008 Relay Fundraiser, Gallery opening, Cuddles, and Bubbles, snow

I haven't blogged in so long I feel like it's going to take forever to catch up. I guess things here were pretty uneventful until Friday afternoon when Em, and I drove down to the Relay for Life fundraiser. After Dan's drama on Tuesday night we decided it might be good if he sit this event out. An old friend Brian Cook was DJing and it was good to see him again. It was a good turn out and a fun time. Kristin, Alicia and all the kids did a great job! The fundraiser ended and we went back to Moms house. I woke up at 5:30am, ran up to Newport Hospital, down Bliss to Green End Hill and back to Mom's via Valley Rd. It was a great run and I was thrilled to be able to get out even though it was still dark. It was nice to be back in the city! I met Paul at Blue Plate diner at 8pm, had a nice quiet talk, and a spinach and mushroom omelet. It's been too long and good to catch up. Hopefully we'll get another chance before he spends the winter in Key West. I drove home, but Emmy decided since she didn't have to work until Tuesday that she wanted to stay in RI. It made me wonder what she'll do when she's old enough to decide. Stay on Cape, or move back to Middletown. Mike worked in Middletown on Monday and brought Em home with him Monday evening. Tuesday Emily asked if she could take Danny to see Madagascar 2. She's driven with him in the car loads of times, but never without me and although I didn't think I'd be nervous I was. I told them she could, but she had to call me when she got there and before she left to come home. They had a great time and made it there and back safely. Saturday night Mike had a meet the artist at the gallery where he has 17 pieces. Dan behaved beautifully, and they had a great turn out. If you look in the background of the picture above you can see one of his platters over his left shoulder and a small bowl to the left of Danny's head. It's all very exciting and we're very proud of him...now how about making some Christmas ornaments......Mike?.....Oh Mike?
Mike and I didn't formally celebrate our anniversary this year, we did go out to dinner which was great, but we were definitely in need of a night out so we asked Em if she thought she could handle watching Danny over night. "Sure" she said. Mike and I spent the night at the International Inn a.k.a cuddles and bubbles a couple of years ago and had a terrific time, so after some coordinating we decided on Sunday night. Mike would take Monday off, and Em already had it off. Em, Sarah, Dan and I went to the mall 11am ish, did some shopping. I was thrilled to find a very form fitting knit dress perfect for dinner, and Emily a bright yellow shirt from Hot Topic she loved. At 3pm we checked into the room, stripped Danny down and filled the jacuzzi, where he had a great time splashing, playing and swimming. We got him dressed and I sent the kids home. Mike arrived a little while later and we enjoyed a nice quiet evening alone together and a fabulous dinner. I had the lobster imperial that was terrific, Mike had the prime rib, one of the best he's ever had. http://www.cuddles.com/ . We woke early and checked on the kids, they were actually still sleeping when we called. They drove into Hyannis to meet us for breakfast then Emily set off for the mall while Mike and I took Dan back to the room for one final jacuzzi swim before check out. We had a great night and are pretty psyched that for a small fee Emily will babysit for us overnight! It was definitely the right move on her part, considering she's been petitioning to go to a friends 16th birthday party in the Catskills and wants to take a friend, another family and our van. She's shown such great responsibility, and maturity that we told her she could go. Of course she took the first part of her GED tonight, I'm somewhat hoping we don't get those scores back before her trip on December 5th.

For the record it's 10pm, 35 degrees outside with a light 6MPH North wind and we've been having light snow flurries for the last 20 minutes! I think that qualifies as our first snow!

November 5, 2008 Em's road test, Ed's election, President elect Obama

We've been very busy since the last time I blogged! Monday pretty much went as scheduled. Other then driving Em back and forth to work it was a pretty quiet day, which was good because Tuesday promised to be extremely busy. Mike and I both got up early Tuesday morning, took showers and headed to the polls to vote. I didn't vote for McCain because I wanted him to be President, I voted for him because I didn't want Barack Obama to be. He makes me very nervous and I felt that I'd rather have more of the same over the unknown.
Mike and I arrived home only minutes before Mom and Mo arrived. Em drove Mom to the registry while I drove with Dan in Em's car. We arrived right on time, walked up to the road test desk, checked in and were told to drive around the back and wait. Mom drove up so Em could use her car but her insurance information wasn't on her registration and rather then the registry calling the insurance company to get it we decided that Em would just take the test in her car, with Mom as her sponsor. The instructor told her it would be about 20 minutes so while she waited Dan and I went over to Shaws to get an embroidery needle so I could finish my poncho and decided while we were there we'd get a card for Em, and a couple of "congratulations on your new car and license" gifts. We bought armoral and glass wipes, a $15 gas gift card, and a couple packs of her favorite gum. Then we waited out back, camera in hand, for the test to start. The instructor asked Em to turn on her high beams, but she turned on her windshield wipers with spray instead...good thing the instructor had a great sense of humor and instructed her to where the high beams probably were. The rest of the test went well, Em did a great job and passed with flying colors. $60 and a signature got her a temporary licence and we were done. I'm very proud of her. She drove home following us down Rt 28 from Yarmouth and flinched for just a minute as we passed the Cape Cod Mall. She's been coveting a sweatshirt at one of the shops and Mom and I thought just maybe she might get brave and go her own way. She didn't and followed us home until she got to Pimlico Pines then she took the first road and pulled into the driveway just before us at which time Mo knew she'd passed the test. Mo took Mom's car home and Emmy drove Mom, Danny and I to Sweet Tomatoes to celebrate. We had an incredible Pesto and Feta pizza, and a Cesear salad before Em drove us to RI. Our first stop once in Middletown was to check on Fran who was working the polls at Middletown High School, then up to Sachuest Point for a walk where Dan was excited to see two white tailed deer, then stopped in at Royal Plaza Hotel to see how Ed was doing and ended up staying there for the rest of the night. The hotel was closed except for Ed's party. Ed had a room right between the lobby and the lounge where the party was being held, and invited the kids and I to spend the night. We agreed, brought in the bags and settled in. Dan ran around and eventually knocked over a huge bar and broke the lamps that were on top. Thank you Kristin and Alicia for cleaning up the mess! He had a small cut on his hand but was otherwise unharmed. Darned kid! People came and went and as the night progressed the excitement rose. Paul stopped in to say Hi < and have a drink with me. Yes, I am drinking on occasion and am really trying to learn moderation. It was good to see him and catch up but between the noise in the room and Dan's bar tipping fiasco we didn't really get a chance to talk. Glad we'll have a quiet chance to catch up on Saturday. Ed's friend Jonathan arrived and treated me to one of the best hugs I've had in ages, it was good to see him as well.
Em helped Alicia pick up the pizza's and a Sushi platter that was incredible. I ate more then my fair share. We watched as the results come in and were thrilled for Ed when he came in 3rd place. http://www.ri.gov/election/results/2008/general_election/middletown/ He shared the win with some of his favorite running mates, which should make for a very effective council. Ed and Zach hopped in a limo for the ride up to the Biltore in Providence to wait for the national election results as Alicia, Taylor and I cleaned up. Emmy decided she wanted to spend the night at Mom's house rather then stay at the hotel. We kissed her and Mom goodnight and told her to pick us up at 7am for the ride home. Dan sacked out immediately but I tossed and turned for a while. I finally fell asleep but awoke at 2am probably curious about the Presidential race and was saddened when I turned on the TV to see Obama giving his acceptance speech. I was pretty sure he'd win but was holding onto hope. He spoke well and I was impressed with his promise of a brighter tomorrow. I can't tell you how much I hope to be wrong about the man. I eventually fell back to sleep only to awake at 6am, I put the news back on and watched the RI state winners and losers scroll across the screen. Rather then shower I decided to dress and pack up. At 6:55am I woke Dan up and told him it was time to go. Em pulled up right outside, jumped out of her car and walked toward the lobby doors. She disappeared only to reemerge pointing to the door. I walked out to the lobby and noticed everything was dark, no lights, no front desk person and upon trying the doors found them locked. Hmmm.....very strange. Then it occurred to be, the hotel was closed for 3 days except for the party. I wonder if the manager didn't realize we were there! Dan walked out in his PJ's and I started trying doors, then noticed a release on the window in our room and figured if nothing else we could leave that way. I wasn't exactly thinking straight. But the window was blocked and although it would open it was only about 4 inches wide. Enough room to pass some of the stuff out to Em, and possibly get Dan out but certainly not me! I finally took a deep breath and stopped to think. There must be an emergency exit here some where and started making my way down the dark hall. Sure enough we found an exit, tried the door which opened sans alarms and promptly left via the back of the building. Whew! I was having a Bates motel moment! Dan, Em and I made a quick stop at D & D for breakfast sandwiches, juice, coffee and hash browns before Emmy drove us home. We made it home just in time to drop Dan and I off so Emmy could go to work. Dan and I showered, and changed and went to story time at the Sandwich library. It was teddy bear day and their craft was to make nature crowns. Dan had a good time, but was ready to be home. We passed Emmy, who didn't have to work till 1pm due to schedule confusion, on our way home. She had both dogs and was on her way to meet us at the library. It's strange having a child with so much independence but it feels good too. I have school tonight, and Mike has a wood turners meeting so Em will be babysitting Dan. I wonder if they will stay in or go out....

November 1, 2008 Emmy's new car....finally!

The morning started quietly and I managed to get out of the house for a run before anybody else woke. 2 runs in 16 hours and I was feeling very motivated. It's been exactly 4 months since my diet and lifestyle change and I've happily lost 60lbs. That's a Danny and a half! According to my Wii fit I'm now within a normal weight range for my height, it estimates my optimal weight to be 136 lbs so I have 16 lbs to go or be able to fit into those size 8 shorts for Disney, whatever comes first. Dan and I took Emmy to work for 1pm while Mike stayed home to do some turning. Dan and I stopped at the grocery store on our way home, then layed down for a nap. Mike woke me up about an hour later saying that Russ from Spirit Auto called and said the car was ready. It was just after 3pm and I had to work at 5pm. Dan and I jumped out of bed and hopped in the van for the ride over. The car was parked in front and ready to go when we got there. I installed Dan's carseat, Mike checked the repairs and put her plates on. In minutes we were ready to go. We got home just after 4pm. I ate, dressed and since Em didn't know we had the car decided I'd take it to work with me, and Mike would pick Em up in the van explaining that the truck was having repairs. I really wanted to be there when she got it. However Mike primed Dan about the surprise and Danny was just too excited to keep it, and spilled the beans. I still got to give her the keys, and see that smile you only see so often these days. Em drove Mike and Danny home and I finished my night. I worked with the Assistant Manager tonight, but it's the last time for the week. I'll be working with kids and my Assistant Manager wished me good luck. I'll be responsible for the money, I've seen this before.

We have a busy week in store. Em's working on Monday. Potentially the last day Danny and I will have to drive her there. Tuesday is election day, which I can't wait to have over and fear the results. Mike and I will vote first thing that morning. Then Em has her road test at 9am and since we didn't have a car that qualified for the test, Mom is coming up from RI so Emily can use hers. Assuming she passes it we'll have a quick lunch before heading to RI to support Ed in his town council re- election campaign.
Wednesday Dan and I are going to do the "we don't have to drive Emmy to work" dance, and gladly push her out the door at 8:15am. He and I will then go to story time at the library, then come home for rest time which we've had to put on hold since we've had to pick Emmy up at 1pm most days. Mike has a woodturners meeting and I school so Em and Dan will hang out Wednesday night.
Thursday is a quiet day for us. Friday Em's working till 1pm then the kids and I are going to RI for a Relay for Life spaghetti dinner fundraiser that Alicia, Ed, and Kristin have organized. We're planning on spending the night and I'm looking forward to it!
I've been in touch via e-mail with my old D & D boss Paul who invited me to join him for breakfast Saturday morning to catch up. We visited briefly with Paul and his wife Paula (cute, I know) a couple of months ago after the Progeny cookout, but we were on our way home and the kids were anxious to go so didn't really get a chance to talk. Mike and I loved Key West the last time we were there and would love to do a trip down there without the kids. Since Paul lives there he's the perfect person to talk to. He was a big influence in my life, and taught me a lot about myself. It'll be good to get together, if Mom doesn't mind entertaining the kids for me for a little while Saturday morning!

October 21, 2008 Happy Halloween!

Since Dad got home so late last night we decided to wait until this morning to carve pumpkins. We were a little slow getting moving but once we did we were on a roll. Danny picked a wolf pattern for Daddy to carve, Em chose a funny dinosaur, and I, a cat. They came out pretty cute, can't wait to see what they look like tonight!

We finished up the pumpkins and since we needed to go to Walmart in Wareham anyway thought we'd stop in at Spirit Auto and see what was going on. When we arrived the car was no where to be seen. Mike and I went in and found the car in their one stall garage. Apparently the alternator came in and was replaced so they sent it across the street for an oil change and the technician over there found a rust hole in the oil pan so they were waiting for that part to come in. The promised it would be ready Saturday morning. We stopped at Sandwich Pizza on the way home then declared it nap time. Dan and Mike fell asleep nearly immediately, I tried but failed and decided instead to go for a run. I came home, took a quick shower and woke Mike and Dan up to get ready for trick or treating. Dan excitedly suited up and thought he looked great. If you can't tell he's Leonardo the teenage mutant ninja turtle. Since it was Mike & Laurie's men's night we made our way up there with our supplies then went back out to do some treating. We have maybe 10 houses in our neighborhood that participate which is just about perfect...not too much, not too little. Dan made sure to tell everybody that if they needed anything he'd be there to help. Pretty cute.

October 30, 2008 Happy Birthday Marley, Emily's car, Halloween

Another day begins and I woke wondering if we'd pick up Em's car today...I'm not holding my breath. Dan and I took Em to work, then to our Thursday playdate at the Oak Ridge Playground. We met Marcial, Ana and Tony there, we haven't seen them in a long time and it was good to catch up. Ana and Danny are the same age and the last time Danny saw Tony he couldn't talk. Dan was very excited when he found out that now he could and wanted to play hide and seek with Dan. He's gotten so big! Marcial is a hospitalist at Cape Cod Hospital, and just a sweet affectionate guy. It's always a treat to catch up with him! At noon we headed home for lunch and then off to pick up Em at work again. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store. Em's direct deposit hasn't started yet so I taught her how to make a deposit to both a checking and savings account with one check. Then we shopped for the making of pizza tonight. Last weekend seemed like too far away from Halloween to carve the pumpkins but we forgot to take into account that I was working Monday and Tuesday night, had school on Wednesday night and Thursday was Survivor, as well as Mikey working late to try to avoid working on Friday. Dan and Marley both needed a walk so we picked up Laurie and did our loop around Cove, Aritsan, Shore drive into the woods back to our house. When we arrived home, Dan asked if we could clean the pumpkins and I said sure. I'd lured Laurie into the house with a cup of tea, but promptly put her to work. Thanks for the help Laurie!
Spirit Auto finally called at 5:30pm to tell us the part never arrived today and they expect it tomorrow, we've heard that before. At this point I'm glad Mike will be able to come with us to pick it up. If something fishy is going on he'll flush it out.

October 29, 2008 Emmy's car, GED, and Sociology

It's Wednesday and we were supposed to pick up Em's car today. Emily is still not feeling well but has to work. We're planning to pick it up after work, but on the way in she said " Will it make it easier if I don't go to pick up the car with you" at which time I said "absolutely!" She gave me permission to pick it up without her. Although this will make life significantly easier for me, I worry that I've pushed her over the edge and she's completely overwhelmed with all that happened in the last few weeks. Dan and I dropped her off at work and immediately went to the registry in Falmouth for what I expected to be a long wait. I was pleasantly surprised when my number was called before I'd even removed it from the machine. To my surprise I had all the necessary paperwork and marveled how the registry has changed since my youth when 3 hour waits and missing paperwork were the norm. Five minutes later we left with Em's registration and headed home to wait for the phone to ring. At 1:30 Dan and I went to pick up Emmy from work and since we still hadn't heard took her directly to 4C's to fill out the GED application that they only take on Wednesdays. Orientation will be Thursday November 13th from 4:00 - 5:30 and the test will be on Tuesday November 18th and Thursday November 20th from 4:00-8:30. Since hopefully she'll be driving herself around by then I showed her where to park and where the classroom for the test was. We left there a little after 3pm and since we still hadn't heard anything about the car decided to call. Russ answered and said they'd found that the alternator was bad and expected the part to come in mid-morning Thursday. We went home and enjoyed a quiet afternoon before it was time to go to school. By the comments my professor has made I've concluded he's a democrat and since Obama's 30 minute info-mercial was due to air at 8pm I wasn't surprised when he let those of us who had already taken test 2, go at 7:30. On the way out he gave us our scores. I smuggly waited for my name to be called sure I had scored no less then an A+ on this exam. I was sadly mistaken and scored only a B. I could find only a couple of things he considered errors and am beginning to question his grading policy. I intend to talk to him next week.

October 28, 2008 Sick and Title

Mike and Em both woke up this morning with sore throats, at which time we concluded they both have Dan's cold. Dan is feeling significantly better and is attempting to expend all the energy he's stored up in the last few days. Em didn't need to be at work so we spent most of the morning sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. The dealer we used doesn't keep his titles in house, and the Title was due to arrive sometime this morning. We were hoping it would be early, so we could run up to Needham to have the insurance started then back to the registry, then finally back to the dealer to pick the car up. But the phone didn't ring until nearly 1:30 so the kids climbed into the van for the ride to Wareham, Em and I signed all the necessary papers and left there 10 minutes later with the title and RMV-1 form in hand. Eric is supposed to come by tonight to stamp the form and initiate the insurance. Dan and I will take a ride to the registry tomorrow before we pick Em up from work to register the car, then it's just a matter of picking her up and coming home so Laurie can give us a ride over to pick up the car. I'm glad it's almost done, and we can move on to her actually passing the road test. Dan had a good time painting his turtle shell, we hadn't taken shrinkage into account but Dan's happy with it anyway. We're running a little behind in Halloween preparation but with Mike, Em and I all home on Friday I'm sure we can get everything done!

October 27, 2008 Dr. Bowers,

I had an appointment with Doc. Bowers, who is our Primary. I had a small unhealed dot on my back that he said should be removed and rather then go to see a surgeon I opted to have him do it in office. No big deal. It seems strange to me that someone can do something painful to you and for you not to feel it. He numbed the spot and I watched him cut into my skin, knowing it should hurt. Then I watched him take a scalding hot instrument and not only touch it to the open wound but rub it. I could see the smoke and smell the flesh, but felt nothing...absolutely bizarre. As I sit and type this I'd never know that anything was amiss back there.

October 29, 2008 Update - Dr. Bowers just called to say the biopsy was negative. Hurray, guess I don't have to swear off the sun just yet! Florida here I come!

October 26, 2008 Happy Birthday Jonathan !

We spent early Sunday morning just hanging around. A quick moving but strong storm moved through on Saturday night so although it was warm, the morning was overcast and damp. We were all invited to Green Briar nature center for their annual Volunteer Brunch, so Dan, Mike and I went over there for 11:30. The spread of food was amazing. Lots of vegetable salads, raw fruit, and an incredible tomato and aspargus casserole that was to die for. I was in heaven. We walked down to the dock and spied the swans through a beautiful red maple tree, and I wished I'd brought my camera. Our terrificly calmed morning gave way to a chaotic afternoon. Since we had men's night we were respondisble for providing the GAK for the days 1pm Patriots game. Well, we

were at the grocery store shopping for the ingredients at 12:15, the picks still needed to be put into the computer, and when we arrived home found out that our next door neighbor needed help with his dock and another neighbor's tree and telephone pole caught on fire the night before and wanted to borrow one of our generators which was strategically hidden deep within the shed. Mike started the GAK while I did the picks, then he went to help our next door neighbor with the dock while I finished the GAK, then we both retrieved the generator from the shed. He was headed up the road with GAK in hand at 1:10pm.

Em and I went next door to see Mr. Remsen who is also our insurance agent who quoted us a price of $1911.00 for insurance for Emily. We made a plan to meet him here on Tuesday night, but we're hoping that we can pick up the paper work from the dealer early Tuesday morning, take a run up to Needham to have the insurance started, then come back down to the registry and finally take delivery of the car Tuesday afternoon, before I have to be to work at 5. High hopes, Wednesday afternoon is probably more likely.

Since Sunday was Jonathan's 5th Birthday (Happy Birthday Jonathan!) the kids and I hopped in the car for the ride to Little Compton RI. We arrived early but Alyssa, Megan, Jami and Jonathan were gracious hosts and taught us all about chickens. It was great to be able to spend time with just them, I don't know any of them nearly as well as I should. They truly are a great bunch! Dan, Em and I learned about both the baby chicks in the basement and the full grown chickens out back. I'm in love and will try even harder to talk Mike into a small flock in the spring!

Jonathan's party was great. Kristin is a fabulous cook and it's always a pleasure to feast there. We had a great time catching up with everybody, and seeing how to kids have grown. It takes only a short time for some very major changes. My nephew Zachary was just a boy the last time I saw him, now he's well on his way to becoming a man. I think that fact alone makes Emily like to antagonize him even more.