Busy day Saturday

Today was a busy day. The boys had a scout bottle drive around town and at the transfer station from 8-12. Tim had a guitar lesson from 9-10 and then the boys had to grab a quick lunch and head over to Kent Pond in Killington for brush-up on their canoeing skills in anticipation of their big trip next weekend.

We’re back home and I’m exhausted. They, however, seem to have endless energy. Maybe I didn’t get enough coffee this morning.

Here are some pictures.

And here is the supervisor for the afternoon……

Friday night concert

These last few weeks we have been going over to Jackson Gore for their free summer concert series. This past week it was a reggae band, Spiritual Rez, that performed. The evenings are fun, free and a good chance to chill after a hard week at work and enjoy the music and catch up with friends and family. Everyone usually packs a picnic dinner and hangs out on the lawn for the evening. The concerts run from 6 p.m. until dark. They are indoors in the event of rain.

5th Annual Cow Appreciation Day

Okay, not that I have ever been a fan, as a matter of fact, I don’t think that I have ever even eaten, it, but I would love to be a fly on the wall at the Chick-fil-A stores today. Evidently according to this link today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A, which means if you come to any of their stores dressed like a cow, you get free chicken. People, this has got to worthy of good people (or shall I say cow) watching. Too bad that as far as I know, there’s isn’t one around our way here in Vermont. I do however have an image of the malls in NJ where I used to live, filled with people dressed in one form or another, as cows. Definitely – a fly on the wall would be fun today.

Here’s a good one

My friend Maria re-tweeted this link on Twitter. It explains a lot about our parents and grandparents’ sanity and why we feel so much more stressed out with our kids….

www.zmescience.com put this post online.

9 Reasons Why There Wasn’t Stress in the Good Old Days. Check it out, makes some sense why Tom kept suggesting the boys seemed like they were getting colds and needed Benadryl when they were little.

Party of 2

When I went outside this morning, it was sunny and I decided to lift the side on the greenhouse so that the bees could get in and do their work. (Yes, it has been that cool and rainy here that the plants in the greenhouse are doing much, much better than the garden and haven’t even shown any signs of it being too hot in there) When I lifted the side plastic, I saw my resident snake, curled up in my seed tray right on my plants, enjoying the warm weather. I went inside to get the camera, came out and noticed that the snake appeared to be much larger. No – the snake had morphed into 2 snakes, who were as you can see, quite comfortably lounging in my seedlings.

In addition to the snakes, we now have snow peas, hot peppers and little tomatoes. Finally, things in the garden are starting to bloom.

That “new kid on the block” feeling

There is something unsettling about being the new kid on the block. I have some deep seated fear of being wrong, or different or standing out – in a bad way. When I was a kid I would worry that maybe school really didn’t start today or maybe the clocks really didn’t go back or forward over the weekend and I would be late or I was wearing the wrong uniform ( in our Catholic elementary and high school, there were different uniforms for different times of the year ). I am sure that I could provide hours of analysis for some very bored psychologist or psychiatrist – and we haven’t even brought up the fear of dying by suffocation, yet.

Anyway, I must preface this with the fact that I have met some very welcoming people and made some very wonderful friends since we moved, but I still can feel like an outsider. How long does it take for one to feel that they “fit” in? I was invited to a home party event this evening and there were familiar faces and everyone, even the unfamiliar were extremely friendly, but when people start talking about “so and so” or “this family” or “that person”, I can feel very, very out of the loop. I don’t know who they are talking about, I cannot share in their amusement or astonishment or concern or anger. I have no idea and certainly no right to judge or even comment on that which I don’t know. So, I sit. Quietly. I take it all in, smile when appropriate, nod when necessary and wonder to myself – when will I be one of “them”? One who will know exactly who Jane Doe is when they mention her name and how wonderful she is at this or how sad it is that she is no longer doing that? With each new journey in life, there are challenges and for me, this is one of them. I guess that deep down, I need to feel like I belong – again, a psychotherapist’s dream, I am sure – and while I am working on it and I have some truly wonderful people to help me along the way, I am not there yet. It is hard to walk away from the comfort of knowing mostly everyone and everything – something that I just felt like I had accomplished after 15 years of living in the same town in NJ – familiar faces in church, in the grocery store, at the school. I guess that here I am so much more fortunate, as these people welcome you with open arms, open doors and open hearts. Different from NJ, better. I just have to get over my own insecurities and realize that making friends and acquaintances is a lifelong project, not something to be mastered quickly.

In numerical order

123456789

It was pointed out to me, and having kids that love all things math, that today, July 8th, 2009 is 7/8/09 and at 12:34 and 56 seconds, the time and date will form the numerical sequence 123456789 which is pretty neat. Pretty cool stuff!

Here’s a piece of history for you

Courtesy of www.nps.gov

On today’s date, July 8th in 1776 the Liberty Bell was rung during the first reading of the Declaration of Independence. When it was rung again on this date, years later, for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall, it cracked, giving it at least part of the look that we all know when we see it today.

National Blog Posting Month

July is National Blog Posting Month according to WordPress. It is encouraging bloggers to blog every day for the month. I usually try to blog everyday but, well, kids, work, visitors – sometimes it’s just not possible. I am going to make an effort to blog about something everyday. I am also going to make an effort to walk everyday also. We’ll see how this goes.

Now, a word about the weather – rain. Need I say more?

Beet Arugula Salad

This past weekend, my sister was visiting and we went to the Rutland Farmer’s Market, my usual Saturday haunt. We purchased some fresh beets and put together a beet arugula salad which was delicious. Finished up the last of it for lunch today.

Recipe

• one bunch of fresh beets – scrubbed clean, roasted in 1/4 inch of water for 55 minutes until fork tender – then peel the skins off and slice
• one half grilled onion – sliced or chopped
• one bunch of fresh arugula
• crumbled goat cheese to taste
• citrus dressing – 1/4 cup lemon juice, dash of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste mixed with a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

We layered the arugula, sliced beets, onions and sprinkled with the goat cheese and dressing. Delicious!

On again, off again

This weekend so far as been on again, off again…rain that is. As I type this, the rain is tapping at the metal roof again. It was a couple hours of no rain while we did fireworks. Prior to that, more rain and then earlier this afternoon, the temperatures dropped. So this evening, we sat to watch fireworks more bundled like we were going skiing than celebrating July 4th. This afternoon it turned downright cold and tonight is supposed to dip down to 40….BRRR. There was talk around the T’s house about actually starting a fire in the woodstove …. and that came from Tom, who is not known for feeling the cold., so you know it must have been pretty darn cool around here.

We were thinking of heading over to Plymouth tomorrow but, we’ll have to see how the daytime temperatures appear. Don’t think anyone is going to feel like jumping into a lake in this weather.

Welcome to July 4th in Vermont!

Rain, rain go away

The plans for the ark are well underway here. We have modified the original version a little bit and are installing the wi-fi and the satellite, because after all, this is the 21st century. We are amassing the two of each kind of animal and stocking up on food. I did see the Ahearn bull wandering the streets looking for its mate this morning.  We should be ready to launch by July 4th because I don’t think that any of this rain is EVER letting up. The garden is definitely well watered, but way soggy. Perhaps rice would have been a better crop to plant this year, doesn’t that grow in water? I do believe that in addition to the very soggy chickens wandering about the yard, I did see a dolphin go by while I was working this morning. Instead of waving to the neighbors as they drive by, we have resorted to waving to them as they row past the house. I do hear that the fishing is GREAT, though since you can do it right off your own porch in your pajamas if you like. Hey, there is an upside to everything, you just have to look for it.