Christmas 2008

This had to be one of the best Christmases in recent years, for me. Everyone was festive, happy and are in good places in their lives. Christmas Eve was spent with George's kids and grandkids at his son Jon's house. We had a wonderful time. It was a request by Jon that we all come together after a rough year and give thanks that the family was still intact with 2 additional members so everyone put their differences aside and we had a pleasant evening. George and his ex wife have always been civil but things could have been rough with her new boyfriend there. Pete was there and everything went just fine. George is happy in his life now and Donna seems to be happy with the choices she has made so there is no reason we all can't get along. The grandkids got tons of gifts and of course were the life of the party. We had a Yankee Swap which was fun and there was plenty of food and drink for everyone.

Christms Day we spent with my family at my parents house. My kids arrived and my neice was there with the new baby. My brothers, nephews and of course my parents were there too.
We ate, drank played cards and exchanged gifts. Everyone had a great time.

I got lots of things for Christmas. I got 2 of the books from the Twilight Series, candles, gift cards, cash, some CD's and a series of books on CD by Stephen King. I also got a beautiful pair of gold earrings from George. It was a great holiday.

I've posted a few pics for you to see.

It's New Year's Eve and we are going to visit George's brother Ray and his wife this evening. I don't think we wil be staying until midnight, which is fine with me. I'm still trying to shake off a cold that I've had most of the last week.

Happy New Year Everyone!


Matt Nicole and Alex on Christmas Eve




Callissa and Alex


Callissa with her new hoodie


Sara and Hunter on Christmas Day


Pep bribing Hunter


Eric and Jessie checking out his Bruins Jacket


BRUINS TICKETS!



Group shot
In the back:my brother Dave and Brad
Then: Sara, Me, George and my brother Henry
Then: Eric and Jessie holding Hunter

Snowfall Pics

A few pics of my deck after the snow on Saturday.













I took this from inside the house later in the afternoon.



It's a bright sunny day today but really cold still. I will post a few more pics of my decorated Christmas tree and the front yard at another time.

Off to decorate the sugar cookies.

Crazy Christmas Shoppers

People are crazy...that's about all I can say. LOL
I spent the last 5 hours driving in and out of the strip malls around Concord today, stopping at certain stores to purchase my last minutes gifts. I found pretty much all I needed except the handheld GPS I was going to get George for Christmas. They were all out, just my luck. The sale is on until the 27th so I decided to purchase a gift card so he can go to the store and possibly buy it after Christmas. At least he will have a couple of things under the tree to open.
Anyway, back to the crazy people. I am guessing we got about another 10 inches of snow yesterday, on top of the foot we got Friday night. I do realize that it is the first major snowstorm of the season, but come on people...if you have lived here for even one year you should know how to drive when there is snow on the ground. You cannot do 30 going around corners, and it is really a good idea to slow down, even if there is only an inch of snow on the ground. There is most likely ice underneath. The roads were actually pretty good today, considering I was out fairly early. The plows had been out all night and except for a few of the back roads, they were in good shape. I was behind a school bus so I was going pretty slow but the 4 wheel drive vehicle behind me was quite impatient. He rode my bumper the entire 6 miles to town, even after I tapped my brakes a few times to back him off. As soon as the school bus turned down another back road, the 4 wheel drive passed me, illegaly I must add. A mile or so down the road, I saw his rear bumper sticking out of a snowbank and he was spinning his tires to get enough traction to get himself out. I don't know how he made out, I didn't stop. Serves him right for being an idiot.
Idiot #2 reared it's ugly head by the Mall. I believe in common curtesy and often at an intersection, I will let someone trying to make a left hand turn go because when there is a line of traffic coming, I know how much it sucks to be stuck when no one will let you go. I could see there was a break in the traffic so I motioned for this woman to cut in from of me and make her turn into a gas station. Idiot #2 behind me started honking his stupid horn at me. I tried to ignore him but he leaned on his horn for a solid minute. Now it took the woman in the car only 5-6 seconds to go in front of me and enter the gas station. Certainly no reason for the dumbass to go ballistic. I shook my head and continued on my way. He followed me into the parking lot of the sporting goods store and drove by me when I was getting out of my car and called me a few choice names. I gave him the one finger salute and wished him a Merry Christmas.
By this time I was pretty much ready to go home. My patience was wearing thin so I finished up my business at the store and headed home.

We are going to go shopping tonight after supper to finish up. All we have left are the gifts for the grandkids and I need to go to Kohl's. I drove right by there today and didn't feel like going back once I realized it. George has to work today and tomorrow but then he will be off for 12 days.

I just put a cake in the oven and I think I'll make a turkey pot pie for supper tonight. We cooked a turkey yesterday and have plenty of leftovers. Time to finish the laundry.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful day.

Winter Wonderland

It looks like we will definitely have a white Christmas here in New Hampshire this year. It began snowing yesterday around 2pm, just after I got home from work. It was a light fluffy snow, but it was piling up pretty fast. We decided to venture out around 5 to pick up a few more Christmas gifts and to grab something to eat. George's boss gave him a gift card for the 99 Restaurant so we decided to go there. The roads were snow covered but it wasn't too slippery. It was kind of fun riding the back roads in the snowstorm, in fact we were reminded of the days when were were teenagers and we drove along the back roads in George's jeep.

After dinner we picked up a few gift cards and headed home. I would say we had about 5-6 inches of soft powder on the ground by 7pm. This morning I am guessing there has to be a foot of snow and it is still coming down. George is out right now snowblowing the driveway. He has to go to the dump before noon but all other plans we had for part of the day will be put on hold until tomorrow. Laer this afternoon we are going to his daughter Nicole's to have supper and visit. It's been awhile since we've played with the grandkids and we both miss them. They only live the next town over so we should be able to get there with no problem.

I haven't had much time to complete my Christmas shopping. Last weekend we had the ice storm and that pretty much crippled most of the State for several days. We were lucky to have gotten our power back after 18 hours but many people are still in the dark 9 days later. I should be able to get out for awhile tomorrow to finish up. Mostly we have to pick up gifts for the grandkids and I have to stop at Kohl's for a gift card for Sara and something for my brother. I will venture out on Monday and finish up my shopping for George. We agreed to only exchange something small since we are planning a cruise in February and we want to purchase a couple of recliners for the living room. I got him a pocket watch and he needs some jeans and a couple of shirts for work. I want to get him a hand held GPS for hunting but I think I will purchase a gift card from the sporting goods store so he can actually pick out the one he wants.

My Christmas cards are all in the mail but I haven't decorated the tree yet. I am hoping that I can get that done tomorrow also after we get back from shopping. I have all of next week off so I have plenty of time to get everything wrapped.
We are going to get another 8-10 inches of snow starting around noon tomorrow. Oh JOY! I can hardly wait. Hopefully the snow will be light and powdery like it is today.

I took some pics earlier of the snow on the back deck and will post them as soon as I can find my cable and upload them onto my laptop. I still haven't got my desktop computer set up in the office. Everything is in there but nothing is set up or arranged the way I want it.

Christmas Eve we are going to George's son's house. We are all bringing food and having a Yankee swap, it should be fun. I am really looking forward to it. We will meet my kids and my brothers, neice and nephews on Christmas Day at my parents house. Another round of good food and there we are doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. I have a lot of baking and cooking to do yet. I think I had better start making a list of chores or I am going to run out of time.

I hope you are all staying warm and dry. I'll try to post a bit more in the next few weeks since I will be off work and have a little more free time (I hope.)

Winter Woes

The sun is shining but dang it's C O L D!

Those of you who watch the weather channel or follow the weather throughout the country already know that the east coast was hit with a major ice storm on Thursday. I left work at 3PM and it was raining but just above 32 degrees so I had clear sailing for at least part of the ride home. I now live 45 miles North from where I work so I knew my luck wasn't going to stick with me the whole ride home. I was correct. About a mile or so North of Concord, the temps must have been below freezing because the road was getting slick and many cars were now crawling down the highway no faster than 30 mph, which was fine with me. I could see the ice forming on the hood of my car and I wasn't about to go any faster. I did have to stop at the pharmacy so I called George and asked how the roads in town were. He was just getting home and he said to just go slow and I would be fine. The pharmacy is about 6 miles at the end of our road, but it would be safer than the highway at this point. Right before I got to the exit, there were a couple of cars off the roadway and being towed out of the median and ditch by wreckers so I was anxious to get off the interstate.
I made my way to the pharmacy and picked up my medicine with no problem. I was right, the back road home was far easier to navigate and even with the little hills and turns, the road was well treated with salt and sand. I got home with no trouble and made it down the driveway from hell in one piece. I parked my car in the garage and that's where it was staying. I had already determined that I wasn't going to attempt the drive to work in the morning. We were all home safe and sound.

The evening was uneventful but the power went out sometime after midnight. As it turns out, over 400,000 people would lose power during this storm which will go down as one of the worst in the State. George had the foresight to buy a generator on his way home from work on Thursday so he and Patrick got that powered up Friday morning so at the very least, we had heat. We all know that in the country, no power means no water either. A shower will have to wait. We also have an electric stove so that meant I couldn't cook, but we had plenty of sandwich fixins.

Friday evening we were still without power so George and I decided to go out for a hot meal. We ended up at a local pizza joint since all the other restaurants were either without power or full of people who couldn't cook at home. The ride was awesome though. The rain had stopped mid afternoon and the sun did come out briefly before it got dark but we were treated to a bright full moon and the light from the moon glistening on the ice that coated the trees was absolutely gorgeous.
When we got home, George decided to hook up an additional extension cord so we could plug in the heater for the aquarium and he also attached a cord to the tv and dvd player. Just as soon as we were all settled to watch a movie, the power came back on. All I could think of was...how long before the water in the hot water tank gets hot enough for a shower?

We were about 18 hours without power but there are still a lot of people who are in the cold and dark tonight. My son is one of them. We have extended an invitation for him and Jessie to come up here and spend the night. Still waiting on an answer. They were waiting for the generators to be delivered to the Sears store in their town the last time I spoke to Eric.

This morning, after about 7 failed attempts to get up the driveway, we finally made our way into town. We had a lot of errands to run and some Christmas shopping to do. We stopped for breakfast and then headed to my almost vacant house to see if there was any damage there. The house was still standing, but there was about an inch of solid ice in the driveway and covering the stairs. I noticed that there were numerous tree limbs covered in ice and bent over the power lines all over town and a lot of places were simply closed. There was only one gas station in town that was open and the lines were pretty long at the pumps. The bank was open but only because they had a huge portable generator powered up. I was surprised to see that I had electricity in my house. I have the furnace still running and the thermostat is set at it's lowest possible temperature so that my pipes don't freeze. The house was cool but everything was in order. I know, I am very lucky.
We bagged up some trash and packed up 4 boxes of kitchen and bathroom stuff, filled the trunk of my car and took out 3 bags of garbage. I checked the oil tank, still have plenty of oil for a few more weeks, and we headed to the Mall.

I checked off a few more on my Christmas list and we have a game plan for more shopping tomorrow. Looks like we will get a good majority of our shopping done this weekend. I hate shopping...and this year I have whittled down my list considerably. George and I are going to buy a couple of recliners so we aren't buying individual gifts this year. I already have what I want anyway. :-)

It's a good thing I decided to not go into work yesterday because I would have been really ticked off if I had driven all that way and found that there was no electricity. I've been there 6 years and they have never closed because of a storm. My boss just called and she is still without power and she and her family are now staying at an EconoLodge in town. It could be days before their power comes back on.

George's friend Jim called earlier and we are going to lend him our generator. He is still without power and he has small kids in the house. I offered our shower too, not sure if he will take us up on that but we have plenty of hot water.

The news is reporting that there are still 400,000 people without power. It's been so cold that the ice on the power lines and on the trees hasn't melted at all.
We have assistance coming from as far away as Ohio to aid the power companies. Trying to see the positive through the negative, Mother Nature has provided us with some fantastic winter scenery the last couple of days.
Another night of extreme cold and then up to 50 degrees by Monday. Keeping my fingers crossed that we will be out of this deep freeze and in the light soon. The calendar says it isn't even winter yet.

I hope you all are warm and cozy and thanks for the prayers and warm thoughts.

Hugs

Santa, Squash and a Sleeping Baby

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did. The entire year has been a year of change not only for me but for my whole family and we have a lot to be thankful for. We all took a moment this year to reflect and give thanks.

George and I had dinner with my family this year. My kids were there along with my brothers, my neice and my nephew, and my parents, of course. We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal and we played cards before and after dinner, like we usually do. It was a really nice day.

Before we arrived at my parents house, George and I went to visit his brother Ray and his family. I got to meet George's nephew Keith, who is 21 and a whole lot of fun. He is a radiology student and also works at the local grocery store. I think he and I are going to get along just fine.

Last Monday my neice Crystal had a baby girl. She was 6 days early but the baby weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. and she is 21 inches long so I would say she was more than ready to make her debut. She is a perfect little girl, so pretty and just precious. She slept the entire time she was there. Crystal had a very easy delivery which is unusual for a 1st baby. Momma and baby are doing just fine.

Things have been very busy at work but I am not complaining. With Christmas around the corner, I can use the extra money overtime brings. I want to cut back a bit on Christmas gifts this year so we are going to do a Yankee Swap with George's family and a Secret Santa with mine. We drew names for the Secret Santa after dinner on Thanksgiving and I think I am going to have a little trouble finding the right gift for the person I chose. But I have my thinking cap on and hopefully I can come up with something soon.

Sara and Brad are all settled into their new apartment. I am hoping to get down there next weekend to see their new digs. Eric and Jessie are not quite as happy with their situation but they are making the best of it. They were supposed to move into Jessie's parents house and live there rent free while Jessie's parents were living in Florida (that's where they worked). They were only planning to come home a weekend every other month or so to visit, pay bills and generally check on the house. But as soon as Eric and Jessie gave up their apartment and started moving in, Jessie's parents both got laid off from their jobs and are now up here in New Hampshire, hanging around the house 24/7 while they wait for another contract. It could be a matter or a week or several months before they get work and having them around all the time in what was supposed to be Eric and Jessie's 'house' is taking it's toll. They have zero privacy and are now thinking that living there rent free isn't such a good trade off. Besides, the parents are really pushing now for them to get married and neither one of them is in any way ready for that. Jessie is also concerned that if they don't conform to what her parents want, they will also pull the tuition money that they have offered for Jessie to continue with college. Of course that might happen anyway if they can't find work soon, but I can certainly understand where she is coming from. I have left the offer of them renting my house on the table for now. But after the holidays, if they haven't decided, then I am going to put my house on the market for sale.

Other than that, things are rosey. Hunter and I have settled into our new home quite well and we're both very happy.

I've added a few pictures taken at Thanksgiving.
Have a wonderful weekend!

My nephew Sean holding his new neice


My brother Dave, Jessie and Eric



Crystal and Kendall


Sara holding Kendall

Kendall

It's ME

It's freeking cold outside, that's all I can say. Two weeks ago it was in the 60's during the day and now we have barely made it out of the 30's. I guess I better get my winter stuff out, cos I don't think it's going to warm up until April.
Just three days of work next week and we are going to have a nice long weekend. I can hardly wait. I've been working 10+ hrs a day the last few weeks and I swore I was going to back off on the hours once I moved up here. I feel like a mole, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark.
Thursday we are having brunch with George's brother Ray and Ray's wife Diane. I imagine Diane's family will be there too.
Then we are going over to my parents house for dinner later in the afternoon. I am looking forward to seeing my kids and my parents. My neice is about ready to have her baby too. Maybe she will have it in time for Thanksgiving? If not definitely I will be a great aunt by Christmas.
Sara and Brad have moved into a new apartment and they love it. Living with Brad's family took it's toll on Sara and I can see a difference in her already. She is much more chipper when we talk on the phone and she just seems happier. Living with an alcoholic is very difficult and Brad's mother needs help but her husband and her sister are both enablers so she doesn't realize she has a problem.
Eric and Jessie have also moved but they have moved in with Jessie's parents. Long story but I suspect it won't last long. I'll talk more about that later...I really have to get dressed because we are heading back down to my other house to finish up cleaning it out.
George will be back any minute and I haven't done a darn thing. LOL
Hugs!!

Will You Be My Loving Wife?

That was the question proposed to me by George last Sunday evening in front of all of our kids and the 2 grandkids. We invited all of them over for what I thought was to celebrate a few of the birthdays that had passed by, Eric and Jessie's last month and Patrick's this month. Little did I know it was going to be a surprise engagement party. That George is pretty sneaky because he had it all planned with all of the kids and they all knew about it for weeks. I was the only one who had no clue and never caught on until the cake was set down in front of me with the ring on top of it. I've enclosed a few pictures of the event for you all to see. And of course, I said YES!! :-)







Brad and Alex


Sara and Lissa


Hunter, Jon and Lissa


Nicole, Matt and Hunter


George and Alex


Things are going very well here and Hunter and I are settling in quite well. Today we went back down to my old house and put as much stuff in the truck as we could fit and brought it all up here. I have been unpacking and rearranging for the last hour but I am not sure where else I can put all this stuff. The spare bedrooms are getting filled up pretty fast. I think George is going to have to start cleaning out the basement to make room for the rest of my things.

Sara and Brad are in the process of moving into a new apartment so a good majority of her things are finally gone. I think we will only have to make a few more trips and my house will be empty. One of George's friends is going to take my living room furniture off of my hands and put it in his "man cave". He already took my dining room table and chairs for his weekly poker games. Then all I will have left will be my bedroom set and I can probaly sell that for cheap if I put an add in the paper or something. Once the house is empty and cleaned up, it will go on the market but I don't expect to sell it until spring. Then again, you never know.

I will try to catch up on everyone's blogs within the next few days. I think I am settled enough to get back into a routine but it certainly isn't a 'normal' one for me. However, all is well and I couldn't be happier.
Hope you are all great!
Hugs

Things Are Changing Like The Leaves

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...just trying to settle into my new home. So far so good...still have a lot of work ahead of me at the 'old' house but we're working on it.
Will post a real post soon, I promise. Time is short and I haven't got my own PC up and running just yet. Hope all of you are doing well!
Me

It Was Dark And Stormy Night

We had a really bad storms last night. It rained so hard and for so long I thought the rain was going to come through my roof. The wind was also gusting to 40-50 MPH. It was a bit scary for awhile. The power went out sometime after midnight and didn't come back on until 8 this morning. My back yard looked like a war zone this morning with tree branches down and the remainder of the leaves fallen down all over the yard and porch. The For Sale sign that was in my neighbors front yard was in the middle of the road in front of my house. Both my car and George's was completely covered in leaves and debris. I knew we were supposed to get the rain but I didn't know we were going to have tornado like conditions. With the power out, I didn't have any heat but we didn't need it. It was pretty tropical like outside this morning.

It cleared up pretty nicely and we had a very warm and sunny day. I managed to get a lot of sorting done this afternoon, cleaning out another dresser and packing up the things that were in my entertainment center. George took up a load of stuff when he went home this afternoon including Sara's computer and stereo, and I will pack up a lot more for him to take back with him on Wednesday. Friday night I am going to go up there after work and take all of my clothes and personal items. George's grandkids are coming over that evening to show us their trick or treat costumes so I don't want to miss that. Saturday we will then come back down here and pack up my computer, books, bookcases, kitchen items and whatever else we can fit into our cars. Most of my stuff will be there by the end of next weekend. Then it will just be odds and ends. I get pretty overwhelmed when I think about it so I try not to. I had a hard time sleeping the other night because all I could think about was how I was going to get it all done. George is very patient and easy going and calms me down, but I can tell he just wants it all over with too. Thankfully he is an understanding man.

While going through my 'memory box' I came across some items that I should have gotten rid of long ago. There were items from a previous and often painful relationship and I took some time to read the cards and letters and looked at the pictures before I tossed everything into the trash. I realized while reading some notes and letters that I had a weird idea of what love was supposed to be. I can't believe I put up with some of the crap that took place during that time, and I thought I was happy? Not even close. The good thing is I have since learned from my mistakes and I won't ever go through that again. Even though I am no longer in touch with this man, I hope he will one day find peace, happiness and maybe a little mental stability.

I dropped off 6 Fall and Winter jackets at the Goodwill bin this afternoon. I also filled up another large trash bag with clothes that I no longer want/need and dropped that off as well. I have another bag half full and will drop that off tomorrow. I can't believe I had that much stuff just collecting dust in my drawers. It will go to someone who really needs it, that's for sure.

I also rolled $52 worth of coin to be deposited into my savings account. That will be my gambling money on our cruise. Hopefully I can turn it into a bit more cash, but if not, I will at least have fun trying.

Time to call it a night. I am going to watch some TV before I crash, but I have a feeling I won't see a whole lot. It's been a long day. Hope everyone is doing great!

I've Been Tagged

OK here are my answers. I think everyone's been tagged already so I won't subject you to it all again.


My 4 Wishes
1. World peace. I know it's repetitive but can't we all just get along?
2. That people would think before acting. A little common sense goes a long way.
3. I wish we all could be pain free and healthy.
4. This one is purely selfish...that some moving fairies would pack up all my stuff and move it while I am sleeping.

Four places I want to travel
1. I would love to jump into a Winnebago and travel to every nook and cranny of the good ole U.S.A. I want to meet every one of my online friends on my travels too.
2. Nova Scotia in the early summertime. It's been over 30 years since I've been and I have always wanted to go back!
3. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to take a shuttle ride into space? Yeah...I wanna do that!
4. Spain to visit my pen friend Anne and her family. She came here in 1999 so I owe her.

Four careers I want to try
1. Cruise line entertainment director
2. Teacher
3. Movie critic
4. Animal Groomer

Four things I want God to say at the gates of Heaven
1. You did good, kid. You've earned your wings, welcome.
2. Your Memere has been saving a spot for you and she made donuts.
3. You're going to love the cloud I picked out for you.
4. I'm just kidding. Turn around and go back.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I had today off and thought I would get some packing and/or tossing done. I got started on the bathroom cabinets and filled a kitchen sized trash bag with out dated medications, bubble bath, creams, shower gels and hair products I no longer use. It's amazing how much junk you can accumulate and just hang on to...in case. I also realize I have way too many towels for one person but they will definitely come in handy at George's house, especially since his ex took all the good towels when she skipped out. I did notice the last time I showered there that he was in need of bath and bed linens...and since I once had an addiction to Bed Bath and Beyond, I can accommodate.

The heater in my car has been acting weird so I called the service station to see if they could get me in on Monday. The service manager said he had a cancellation at 11 and if I could get there pronto, he would pencil me in. So I took the car in and they found my thermostat wasn't working correctly so they replaced it. I also had some fluid leaking from a rear wheel cylinder so they went ahead and replaced that as well. The total for repairing these two items was over $400 but I wisely purchased an extended warranty when I bought the car and both were still under warranty. I still need to have a tune up but George's son Jon will do that for me in the coming weeks as I get my car ready for winter. It's nice to have a mechanic in the family. :-)

The car repairs took a couple hours out of my day so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. I did manage to get my banking done, filled my gas tank, picked up some groceries, and I got a couple of loads of laundry done. George and I went out for pizza for supper and when we got back to my house, we finished cleaning out the linen cabinet. I sent him home tonight with most of my towels and a couple of blankets. He also realized that I have a nice blanket chest at the foot of my bed and he asked me if I was planning to bring that with me. I hadn't given it much thought but since his ex is taking her hope chest tomorrow when she removes the rest of her things, my blanket chest will come in handy. I bought it unfinished and it remains unfinished, so we can stain it to match his bedroom furniture and it will fit in perfectly.

Last weekend I cleaned out my dresser drawers to make room for the clothes that never seem to make it into the dresser. A lot of those clothes I haven't worn in a long time so I put everything that I no longer wanted in a pile and bagged them up. They are now in my trunk and will be dropped off at a Goodwill bin in the morning. I have another dresser to go through and my closet so I am certain there will be another bag or two of clothes to be donated. I also am going to drop off the kids old coats and jackets that have been hanging in the closets now for several years. Someone who needs them can still get a lot of wear out of them. I have several twin sized blankets and comforters that I will be donating to the veterinarian's office. They have served me and my pets well over the years so I figured they could use the blankets in the hospital or in the boarding kennel.

Little by little things are getting done around here. I still don't know what I am going to do with my furniture but once I get what I want out of here, I am thinking of having a moving sale and just take best offers on whatever I am not taking with me. I've asked the kids to come and take what they want but so far the only thing spoken for is the rocking horse my friend Roger made for Eric when Eric was a year old. Coincidently enough, George has a rocking horse just like it at his house that was made for his daughter Nicole when she was just a baby, by the same guy. (Eric and Nicole are just 8 months apart in age.)

Tomorrow we have to clean out Sara's room because a friend of George's wants to purchase her bed but it is right now covered with boxes and books. I've been hoping she would come home and get some of her stuff out of here but she doesn't have any room at Brad's house for it either. They are on a waiting list for an apartment but I think she's going to have to get a storage unit and move her things out of here. I won't be comfortable leaving her things here in an otherwise empty house. I hope it doesn't happen but empty houses are good targets for break-ins and it would be a shame if her things got stolen or vandalized.

I can't seem to keep my eyes open so I think I will call it a night.

Work Stuff and Stuff

It's been a rough work week this week and even though I don't usually bring my
work home with me, this week the stress kind of followed me home on Wednesday.
For those of you who may not know, I am the line co-ordinator of a production line. We manufacture weapon sighting systems for the military. The product on our line is called a BoreSight and a soldier will attach it to his weapon to 'sight it in'. We use infrared lasers to do this and they have been around for quite some time and are very popular with the soldiers.
Our line has 7 production personnel and a Supervisor and we meet our schedule of approximately 800 units a month, usually by the skin of our teeth and some overtime. Last Tuesday we were told that Jasmina, who was on loan to us for awhile, was being called back to her department because they are ramping up production. A couple of hours later, Leah, who has only managed to work a 40 hour week maybe 3 times since March, was going to be out for the rest of the week (reason-personal so unknown to me).
(My personal opinion is to let her go permanently and hire someone who WANTS to be there, but as far as I know, she will be back eventually.)
Then Naza, who is 4-5 months pregnant, is having a rough pregnancy and has to go on bed rest for probably the remainder of her pregnancy. So...that leaves us 3 people down and we are almost at the end of our shipping month. I don't normally get stressed out but Tuesday was one of those days. I couldn't get home fast enough by days end.
Wednesday was a 'sell off' day which means I get to sit with a government inspector who comes to our facility and picks a random sample of finished product and I have to go through the testing procedure with him. He's a nice guy and we usually chit chat about his grandkids and the books we are reading while I run through the tests. If he likes them, he accepts them and they move onto shipping. We haven't had a failure during the 'sell off' since I have been there and I am the person who tests the units in the first place so I know they are all good. Since we have such a good record, the inspector told Tim, the Quality Assurance guy, to sit with me and he could sign them off in his place. Easy enough...Tim and I are friends and he knows he can trust that the product is top notch. Tim was so confident, that he allowed me to get started while he was busy elsewhere. I actually finished the post testing well before Tim even got out there and I made the huge mistake of calling an inspector to stamp off the units. That is the normal procedure but I forgot to have Tim sign the paperwork before calling an inspector and they questioned whether or not he was even present during the testing. (Which he was not) I was in over achievement mode and I skipped a huge step, that could have gotten Tim and my whole line in BIG trouble. I sweated it all day, waiting for the email or phone call beckoning me to my Managers office for a tongue lashing. I laid low all day but it was on my mind the whole afternoon. I went home Wednesday night mentally exhausted.
Thursday morning I went into work and left a message on Tim's voice mail to page me when he got in. He called me around 8am and I went into his office to talk. I apologized for getting him into trouble and he said that I didn't, nothing came of it and I shouldn't have been worrying about it at all. He is quite sure they cannot do without him anyway. (LOL Just like a man). I felt the stress leave me at that moment. I really did think he would be in some major trouble for my blunder and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if he had lost his job because of something I did.
Thursday night I was able to sleep and boy was I tired. George said he has never heard me snore as much as I did that night. I managed to get a great night's rest though and felt pretty chipper on Friday morning.

Last night George and I went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua at Smitty's Cinemas. What a cute movie. I really have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Chloe, the main chihuahua, looks exactly like my Huntababes. I definitely will get it for Sara when it comes out on DVD. She will love it for sure.
Smitty's is a cool place with tables in the theater and they have a full restaurant there. We had dinner while we watched the movie and it was a new experience for me. Very relaxing, comfortable and it kind of felt like you were watching the movie on a big screen from the comfort of your own home.

George is now out with Jon picking up the new kitchen table and chairs we bought. Donna came to get some more of her things the other day and she took the kitchen set because it originally belonged to her parents. I hope she comes back soon to get her corner hutch and all her Precious Moment figurines. I have big plans for that space.

OK time to get the bathroom cleaned. I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Pics And Stuff

I know you are all thinking..."wow finally a post". It's been a very busy and interesting week so grab your tea or coffee...cos I hope to get you all caught up.

I have pics and I will attach them at the end of this post. They are all foliage pics from last weekend's trip up to the North country. The foliage colors aren't all that bright this year probably due to all of the rain we had over the summer but we are having a wonderful Fall so far. It's been chilly at night and warm and sunny during the day, except for last weekend when it was cold and not very sunny all weekend. It's already 61 degrees this morning.

So...last Sunday on my way home from up North, I got a phone call from Sara. She was in tears and very very upset. Sara spent the weekend at my house to dog sit her precious Hntababes (yes her dog lives with me). Anyway, sometime during the night as she slept in my bed, the dog got her $140 Coach purse that was sitting on the kitchen table. He dragged it onto the floor and emptied the contents of her bag, then proceeded to chew off part of one of the handles. She found it that morning, contents of the bag strewn all over the living room and kitchen and about 2 inches of leather strap missing. Mind you, he is a Chihuahua, about 10 lbs in weight and blind. Not a big dog at all. She searched all over the house for the missing strap and had to conclude that he must have chewed it up and swallowed it. (I have since found 'evidence' that that is indeed what he did.) I don't know what she wanted me to do or say at that moment. I reminded her that she should have known better since he can be destructive if given half a chance and if he is pissed off about something, he will act out. Perhaps he needs a doggie shrink, but we'll discuss that at another time. LOL I personally don't think it was a personal issue, he just could smell the leather and decided it would make a nice chew toy. Sara, however, in her irate mental state, believed he is 'faking' is blindness. That had me laughing but I didn't dare let her hear me. I asked her what she wanted me to do about it, since the dog doesn't get an allowance and therefore cannot repay her for her loss. She didn't think I was very funny and ended up hanging up on me. I called her back a bit later and she was still upset but had calmed down some. I asked her why on earth she spent $140 for a pocketbook anyway. I mean, that's just crazy. She said it was a gift to herself that she purchased when she got her income tax check and she felt she deserved it. OK whatever...I certainly can think of better things to spend that kind of money on but it's her money. I let her know I was almost home and we would discuss what to do when I got there.
The dog wasn't in any kind of distress, in fact he was jumping around and playing, wagging his tail and looking like he hadn't a care in the world. I am really glad he didn't get into any of her make up or medications that were also in her bag. I am happy to report that he's fine. Pieces of the strap have been observed during the early part of the week and I think we've seen the last of that. I asked her if she wanted me to save them for her but she wasn't amused.

Wednesday was George's court date for his divorce. He had mixed emotions about it all. First he just wanted it to be over with and second he was unsure how things would go. Donna was not asking for anything although she could have had half the equity of the house and half of his retirement. She was adamant that she didn't want any of it but the judge sent them both a letter saying they were both expected to attend the hearing which went against what the initial letter said.
During the hearing, the judge questioned her several times regarding the items she was entitled to have and wouldn't leave it alone. She also was pushing them to go into counseling and asked if they have done everything in their power to reconcile their differences. Since they filed under irreconcilable differences and not adultery, I can understand her wanting them to answer that question. George simply said that what transpired between them has been going on for a long time and it was time to put an end to their misery and move on with their lives. The judge asked Donna one more time if she wanted any of his retirement and she said no. I guess she got the message and finally signed the papers. So that's that...divorce is final!
He couldn't wait to call me and tell me the good news! It's like a huge burden has been rolled off of his back and now we can all move on.

George's kids have been wonderfully supportive through it all. I guess it's good that they are all adults and can fully understand why things are the way they are. They've all accepted me and now tolerate Donna's boyfriend so things are moving forward. George's son Jon emailed all of the family with his thoughts the other day and he is just a remarkable young man with a big heart and a lot of insight. He's just like his father in many ways and I let him know that.

So...that brings me to today. It's Saturday and I just finished cleaning my kitchen and living room. Laundry is in the dryer and I put together an apple pie which I will be taking up to George's house later on to bake. His daughter Nicole and her husband and kids will be going over for dinner tonight and it has been awhile since I've seen them so I am looking forward to that. I am also bringing up all the ingredients for pizza and I'll get Alex and Lissa to help me make them. Should be fun.

Ok so now for some pics. Hope you enjoy.


This was the view from the kitchen window in the cabin, I took the photo during breakfast.


Looking across Lake Francis. Not a glimmer of sunshine all day.








Just a little color

Franconia Notch


Yup, that's snow on Mt. Washington.

View of Mt. Washington taken in Twin Mountain.


So there ya have it. Some Northern New Hampshire foliage pics. Not the best colors this season but the leaves are just at peak here in Southern New Hampshire so maybe I can grab a few more around here.

I'm Back!

We're home...had a great time and got a bunch of pretty nice foliage pics. I will upload them to my PC tomorrow and get them posted. I'm too tired to do it tonight and I still have to catch up on some things before I call it a night. I know it is only 6pm but I didn't get much sleep last night. I am going to bed right after The Amazing Race, if I can even stay up long enough to watch it.

I love our time up in Pittsburg and this weekend we stayed in a different cabin than the last time we went there and the bed is lousy and the futon isn't much better. I would sleep for an hour and wake up and try to get resituated but the bed is small and I always manage to wake George up in the process. So when I try not to move, I just end up uncomfortable and awake to the point that I just say screw it and get up. On Friday night I moved over to the futon around 3am and stayed there until morning. Last night I knew early on I wasn't going to torture myself and decided to just sleep on the futon. That's when George decided he would open up the futon and sleep out there with me. Bad move. It's smaller than the damn bed and as much as I love him...I need some space. I know he meant well and ya gotta love the gesture but all I could think of was how much I wanted my bed! It was warmer in the living room with the furnace on and all but I got even less sleep than the night before. When the sun came up, I was watching. Oh Lordy I really hope my mattress will fit on his bed when I move up to his house.

Hope you all had a nice weekend and have a wonderful week.

Lainie Is AFK

My cabin in The Great North Woods is waiting. I'll be unavailable for the next few days, no phones or computers allowed. Going back up to Pittsburg, NH with my honey to be one with nature. Don't get excited...I didn't say I was going to a commune or nudist camp. (Too freeking cold for that) But I plan on taking lots of foliage pics and perhaps I'll get some more moose pics.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Bon Jour, Mon Amie's

I survived my trip to O Canada last weekend. The weather was great, the family was wonderful to me, and I had a wonderful time. We got to our hotel around 9pm on Friday night after 5 hours on the road. We met up with George's brother and his wife who were staying at the same hotel and spent a little time in their room before calling it a night. I was very happy to jump in the shower and crawl into bed.
Saturday morning we drove over to Uncle Cleo's and Aunt Sylvia's, where I met pretty much the whole family. Cousins came out of the woodwork, aunts and uncles galore. George's mother was one of 18 children and although half of her siblings are now deseased, it still leaves a very large family.
The guest of honor arrived around noontime. He is Uncle Leonid, 90 years young. Uncle Leonid is a missionary in Peru and this was his last visit home. He is really too old to travel but wanted to come home one last time to say goodbye to the family. He plans on remaining in Peru and will eventually die and be buried there. He has been a missionary for over 60 years and considers Peru his home.
The entire afternoon was full of stories and memories, and the event had a bittersweet feeling to it. Everyone was happy to have this last time together because usually the only time people come together like this are at funerals. Uncle Leonid was thrilled to be able to celebrate his life with everyone. But at the end of the day, there were tears both happy and sad. Even I was bawling and I had just met the man. It was very easy to get caught up in the emotion because they all have a very strong sense of family and I could see that even though many live hundreds of miles away, everyone is very close.
George's cousins took pity on me and most of them speak a little English so it was easy communicating with them. George's cousin Diane has a 14 year old son and he asked if he could sit beside me during lunch so he could practice his English. What a remarkable young man. His name is Jean Pierre and he is already training to be a pilot. He is in the Canadian Junior Air Corps and will be able to fly a plane in a couple short years. Part of his training requires him to be bi-lingual and his English is really good. Much better than my French, that's for sure. It was a pleasure to talk with him.
George's cousin Denis also thought it was his duty to teach me the most important words in the French language. Unfortunately for him, I already know all the dirty French words. LOL
Lunch was served in a small restaurant below the apartments in the apartment building where Uncle Cleo lives. We had smoked salmon on a bed of lettuce with onions and capers and fresh fruit to start. Cream of Cauliflower soup followed and then a choice of either chicken with a mustard sauce or salmon in a citrus sauce for our entree. George and I both chose the chicken, which was delicious. That was accompanied by mashed potatoes and a mix of vegetables. For dessert we had a wonderful cake with peaches and mango and a buttery demi glaze. Everything was very yummy.
After lunch we visited and chatted and posed for pictures. The party broke up around 6pm and George and I went back to the hotel to relax but that didn't happen. His brother Ray and his wife Diane wanted to go out for a late supper so we joined them. Once we got back to the hotel we were joined by a couple of Aunts and Uncles who were also staying at the same hotel. It was a very long day and a late night but I had a great time and I crashed out once my head hit the pillow, even though the bed was miserably uncomfortable.
Sunday morning we all met for breakfast and George and I were on the road by 10:30. Another long ride home, but I could tell George was very happy that I had accompanied him. (Apparently his wife was not one to make those trips with him.)

I also took time last weekend to get to know George's sister in law, Diane. She's a wonderful person and very funny. She has been through a lot in her life but she has an awesome attitude and never feels sorry for herself. She has been in a wheelchair for 15 years because the Muscular Dystrophy that she's had since childhood has affected her legs. Several years ago she had surgery which was supposed to help her but is was a temporary solution and consequently left her speech affected so now she has a hard time communicating verbally. She does get a good part of her point across but sometimes gets stuck so she has to resort to writing things down. She and I got along beautifully and we share a sarcastic sense of humor. She is very quick witted and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. She calls me her new sister so I guess that means I am now part of the family.

The street signs in Quebec are in French but luckily for me, just about everyone there is bi-lingual to some degree. The menu's in the restaurants are also written in both French and English and I was able to find some television channels in English. We didn't get a chance to see much of the city but Quebec City seems to be a very happening place. Our hotel was surrounded by night clubs and there are malls and shops everywhere. We are planning to go up again in the spring so we can actually enjoy Old Quebec, which is rich in history and very beautiful. I wish we had more time because they are celebrating Quebec's 400th anniversary and it would have been fun to take part in that.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. For some reason I am having trouble downloading them onto my laptop and once I figure out how to rectify that, I will get them posted.

It's a cold and rainy day today so I had to turn the furnace on this morning to get the chill out. I may have to turn up the heat, my hands are freezing.
Have a great weekend!

This and That

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Not a whole lot to post, just the day to day stuff like work and such. My life lately has been full but not full of interesting things. Just busy but I have been trying to keep up with everyone's posts and figured I'd better let you all know I am still among the living.

Things around here have been a little chaotic. I've been trying to purge this place, getting rid of things I don't need in order to make my move a tad bit easier. It's not a simple thing, I've been living in this house for almost 19 years and I have accumulated tons. I am willing to part with most of it, so I've been making side trips to the nearby Goodwill and the town dump. My neighbor had a yard sale this past weekend and after looking at her 'junk', I know I can get rid of a lot by doing the same thing. I have a lot of 'good junk' that I won't be needing to take with me. George's house is well stocked with all the essentials and I can sell or give away all of my small appliances and things of that nature. I have a bedroom set to sell, a couch to give away, a couple of desks, coffee tables and end tables and a couple of TV's and phones to dispose of too. The washer,dryer, stove and fridge are staying with the house so we won't have to worry about moving that. I kind of want to take my china hutch with me but there's no place to put it in the kitchen/dining area. I might just pack up my china and sell it. I do want to take my everyday dishes though because they are nicer than what he has. Donna left him with a partial set of old dishes and some even older pots and pans. They have a court date in a couple of weeks and once the divorce is final, I will be able to start moving my things in. Hopefully I will be all moved in and have my house cleaned out and closed up by Thanksgiving. Eric is still interested in renting my house once his lease is up so I will probably just close the house up for the winter and have it waiting for him when he is ready. Anyway, that's what I have been doing in my spare time.

Last night we went to a Pampered Chef party. Eric and Jessie hosted the party which was attended by Jessie's parents and her aunt as well. It was fun, and Jessie sold a lot of items so she will be able to get a lot of things that were on her 'wish list'. Her parents also bought a couple of things on the list so they will have quite a few new things in their kitchen.

Next weekend George and I are going to Quebec City in Canada for a family reunion sort of thing. His Uncle is a missionary in Peru and is coming home for a visit. It will probably be his last visit home since he is around 90 years old so the family wants as many of the family to be there as possible. He is George's favorite uncle so naturally he doesn't want to miss seeing him. George's brother and sister in law are also going up and will be staying at the same hotel that we'll be at so I am looking forward to having them there as well. At least there will be 3 people there that I know. And they can all help me with translation since most of the family speaks French and not much else. I can understand a lot if people speak slowly but you know that's not going to happen. I also think that everything is written in French there too so I won't be able to read menus or street signs. I am looking forward to the whole Quebec experience. I should have plenty to blog about when we get back.

OK time for me to get the laundry done and then I can kick back and watch some football! Have a great Sunday.

Weekend Update (Labor Day Edition)

OK Styxie I can take a hint. I was going to wait until tomorrow but I suppose I better get this done now. LOL

So, the long Labor Day weekend is now a thing of the past. All I can say is there never seems to be enough time in the day lately.

Friday I had the day off, giving me an extra day to do whatever needed to be done, or whatever I felt like doing. I spent the morning doing laundry, getting groceries and making Avon deliveries. Luckily I only have 5 customers in town so that didn't take very long, but I also did my banking while I was in town. I then came home and put the groceries away, folded laundry, and took care of some chores while I watched a few soap operas. Yes they are a guilty pleasure for me since I usually only have every other Friday off and that is the only time I can really watch them.

George came over after he got out of work and we went out to Applebees for supper. They had a pizza party at work for lunch so he didn't want pizza again for supper. Can't say that I blame him there. There aren't too many places around here to eat a decent supper so we went to Applebees. No complaints, both of our meals were very good and we didn't have to wait for a table.

Saturday morning George ran his errands and then we booked our vacation for February. We will be going on a 5 night cruise to Jamaica, Grand Caymen and some other port that escapes my memory at the moment. We will be leaving out of Miami on Valentine's Day. I am very excited since I have never been on a cruise and it is something I have always wanted to do. Once we got that squared away, we headed out to Concord to meet Rose and Steve at Olive Garden. (We were supposed to attend Big John's Pig roast that afternoon but I could tell George's heart wasn't in it so we decided to not go. According to a few who did go, we didn't really miss much.)

The weather had been pretty good all day, I would guess 75-80 degrees and sunny but as soon as we got in to Concord, it clouded over and started to rain. It came down pretty hard for about 5 minutes and then the sun was back out and except for the puddles, you would never have known it had rained. When we got to the restaurant, there was a huge line of people outside waiting to be seated and I thought we were going to have quite a wait on our hands. But I saw Rose in the crowd and she had the foresight to go on inside and get a buzzer (or whatever you call those alien looking things). We waited about 15 minutes and Rose started to vibrate so it was time to go in and get some food!
We were seated and a nice looking young man named Colin came over to tell us he was our server for the night. We ordered drinks and started yacking away. Rose makes me laugh so much, it is hard to study a menu or make any kind of decision but we managed to finally order. The guys got steaks and Tuscan Potatoes, Rose got Seafood Alfredo and I decided on the Tour of Italy which consists of a very nice piece of Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan and a portion of Fettucini. This also comes with the most delicious breadsticks known to man and your choice of soup or salad. I chose the salad as did Steve and Rose. George went with the soup since he does not eat his veggies, but only had a couple of spoonfuls before deciding he would wait for his meal. My guess...he didn't realize there were going to be veggies in his soup, too. LOL He is a very fussy eater, strictly a meat and potatoes kinda guy.
We talked and ate and talked some more until we were all full. I really LOVE Olive Garden. :-)
After supper we went over to the Steeplegate Mall and walked around for an hour or so, just talking and window shopping. I didn't spend a penny. Now had we gone to Wal-Mart...

Sunday we got up early and had breakfast, then got ready to go to Massachusetts. I was pretty excited to finally meet Brad's family and I wanted to make a good impression so I dressed up a bit instead of wearing my usual jeans and a tee shirt. It was a nice ride down there, about 90 minutes, and we found their house with no problem at all. We were greeted by Sara and Brad and Brad's dog Gizmo in the driveway. We made our way to the back yard and met Deb and Wayne, Brad's parents, and Brad's Auntie Laura. All are very nice people, very gracious and I felt quite comfortable right from the start. Brad's brother Joe and his wife Karen arrived a bit later and they brought their yellow lab Riley with them. Well so much for me dressing up, Riley wanted to play ball and I got selected to be the ball thrower. She dropped her dirty wet tennis ball right in my lap, and kept nudging me until I gave in. Oh well...cotton washes pretty easily. LOL
We all took turns playing with her and did our best to tire her out. The guys played horseshoes and frisbee while all the ladies gabbed away out by the pool. It was very relaxing.
Wayne was the chef for the day and he made a delicious meal of lemon pepper chicken and roasted potatoes on the grill. He also made crabcakes and bbq kielbasa and there was a variety of salads to choose from as well. Everything was so good and we really did enjoy the day getting to know them all. Deb was having way more fun than all of us though and she got really trashed. It was kind of embarrassing and I really felt bad for Brad and Wayne, who kept apologizing for her behavior. I will say she is a quiet drunk, not at all loud and obnoxious like some can be. But still embarrassing, nonetheless.
We were invited to stay the night but I thought it best that we head on home. Those poor people were humiliated enough. We left around 8:30 and I was home and in bed shortly after 10pm. I don't know if Deb even remembers we were there. LOL Sara said she hasn't even mentioned us being gthere. Probably too embarrassed to bring it up.

George went home late Monday morning so he could beat the traffic and I did a little cleaning until noonish. Then I went to my parents house to wish my youngest brother a happy birthday. (He is now 43) I stayed for some cake and then headed home so I could relax at least a little bit before having to go back to work on Tuesday.
I was pretty tired actually and ended up going to bed quite early. There's nothing like your bed after a very busy weekend.

This week has been fairly quiet except for one little bit of drama. Sara called me on Tuesday to tell me that Brad's dog Gizmo passed away sometime during the night on Monday. He was 14, deaf and had cancer. The docs had orignially given him 3-4 weeks to live some 5 years ago, so I would say he did really well. I'm glad I got to meet him on Sunday. He was a cutie that's for sure and will be greatly missed by the family. (Oh and they called him Gizmo because he was a Papillion and looked just like Gizmo in the movie Gremlins.)

Ok all caught up on the week. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and have a wonderful Friday!
Later!

A Quickie

Just a quick post this morning while I have a few minutes. What started out as a relaxing do nothing weekend has quickly shaped up into a very busy weekend. This afternoon we are going to a pig roast for awhile at the home of a co worker of George's. Normally George doesn't socialize with people he works with because of his position at work. Sometimes people see you as a friend/aquaintance all the time and forget that you are their supervisor at work. But the guy who is having the pig roast (his name escapes me at the moment) is not one of George's employees and he's been inviting him for several years now, so we are going to make an appearance for awhile.
Later this evening we are meeting my best friend Rose and her hubby Steve for dinner at the Olive Garden. We've been planning this for some time now and something has always come up on the weekend of our dinner plans. But not tonight. I am looking forward to seeing her because I think it was Memorial Day weekend when we last saw each other. That's way too long to go without a Rosie fix. Not sure what we will do after dinner, maybe just go back to one of our houses and chat or walk around at the closest Mall.

Tomorrow afternoon we are heading down to Massachusetts to see my sweet daughter and her boyfriend. It will also be meet the parents day as I have yet to meet Brad's family. I am looking forward to meeting Brad's brother and sister in law also. Apparently Sunday is family day at their house and the whole family shows up for a BBQ, drinks and hanging out by the pool. The weather is supposed to be really nice all weekend so it should be a lot of fun!
On a little side note, Sara loves her job and has been talking about going back to school to become a dental assistant. I knew it wouldn't be long for her to tie her Anthropology degree in with a dental skill of some sort. She is looking into whether or not the dental office will help with schooling. I am betting they will.
It's really nice to hear the joy and excitement in her voice again.

I am hoping Monday I can do laundry and relax for the rest of the day. We have been invited to spend the night at Brad's parents on Sunday if we want to, but I think I will feel a little uncomfortable there since I hardly know them all. But we will see...it's about a 90 minute drive from their house to mine. I guess it all depends on how much fun we are having (and how much we are drinking) on Sunday.

I hope you all have a great long holiday weekend!
Enjoy!

Lainie

A Few More Pics

I have a few more pictures from last weekend that I wanted to share. Along with a short story. LOL
The ride up to Pittsburg from George's house was about 3 hours long. We stopped for supper along the way in Twin Mountain, NH and that took just about an hour, so for approximately 4 hours, we talked while we rode and never turned the radio on once. This is typical for us, I finally found someone who talks as much as (or more than) I do. LOL Anyway, along the ride, it came up that we would be passing a beautiful waterfall that sits right along the side of the road. Since I have never been up there, I didn't know where it was, but I figured since George mentioned it and spoke about it for some time, it must be a spectacular sight. I was looking forward to seeing it. Well that waterfall went by in a flash, because we were talking about something else by the time we came upon in and he had pretty much driven by it by the time he pointed it out. What kind of a tour guide was he anyway? LOL He promised to stop there on the way home so I could have a good look and on Sunday, we did stop and enjoyed the view.

This is Beaver Brook Falls in Colebrook, NH The falls drop over approximately 70 feet of ledge to a little basin at the bottom, then flows into the Beaver Brook. You can walk up the right side of the falls on a small path that eventually changes to a slick and muddy climb, which I wasn't about to undertake. These pics were taken from the road and parking area in front of the falls and there is also a picnic area to the left and a very well manicured grassy area to just sit and enjoy the view.





We stopped there for about a half hour then continued on our way home.

Along the way, we drove by Cannon Mountain. I thought it was kind of cool to see the slopes without any snow on them so I snapped this pic as we drove by.


Note the chair lift in the center of the pic and the canoe in the Profile Lake below. There were two people fishing from the canoe.

This is a pic of Franconia Notch. Usually I am up there when the leaves are turning so it was neat to see the trees still all green. I will be going back this way in October so I will be able to get a shot when they are all colorful.



This is a picture of what used to be The Old Man in The Mountain also called Profile Mountain. There was a group of 5 Granite ledges that jutted out and appeared to be the profile of a man's face. The face was carved out naturally by glaciers thousands of years ago and was first discovered in 1805. The face collapsed in May of 2003 due to weathering. I pulled a pic off the 'Net to show what it did look like and the next one is the one I took of what it looks like now.





Doesn't look like much more than a big pile of rocks now. :-(

I also snapped this photo of Profile Lake as we drove by it. I just pointed the camera out the window and took the shot from behind so I was impressed at how well it came out. LOL



It was a really nice weekend and we are going back up the first weekend of October. Looking forward to getting some good pics of the foliage. Better charge up my camera!

The Land Of The Pointy Trees

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go WAY up North to what is often referred to as "God's Country" here in New Hampshire. Pittsburg, New Hampshire is about as far north as you can get before reaching Canada. The region is affectionately called The Great North Woods and that name fits perfectly. I've lived in New Hampshire all of my life and I have never been that far north, so I thought it was high time I go.
George found a place that rented log cabins and he made a reservation for the weekend. It was the cutest little place in the middle of nowhere. The folks who own the cabins (I believe there are 8 cabins in all) are retired folks and they really cater to the people who like to rough it with comfort. LOL I mean, that place had everything you can imagine. Here you can see the living area, all comfy and cozy, and there was even a VCR by the television and movies to watch.



The kitchen was well equipped also with every appliance necessary. There was even ice already frozen in the ice trays in the freezer. Notice the Captain Morgan on the counter. (OK I had to bring that myself.)





The bedroom was roomy but if there was one negative about the place, it had to be the mattress on the bed. Just too hard for my taste but very well stocked with extra blankets, pillows and plenty of storage.



There was a second bedroom which was very much like the one we used, except there was an alarm clock in that one. Since I had no place to be in the morning, there was no need to move the clock.
The bath included a large shower stall, a pedestal sink and a commode, all relatively new. Plenty of storage also for towels and personal items.



We spent a lot of time that Friday night outside on the front porch. Here are a few photos of the glorious view.





We were even treated to a nice full moon that evening.



As the moon got higher in the sky, I was watching some clouds passing in front of it. Doesn't it look like the moon was sliced in half?







Saturday we spent a good part of the day riding around to all of George's favorite haunts. He spent a lot of time up there as a teenager hunting and camping, and he swore I would see a moose before the end of the weekend. So that was our quest, and it took many miles of riding the back roads trying to accomplish that.

Here is a pic of George by Indian Stream.



Another pic of the stream.




We saw clouds rolling in and we could hear thunder off in the distance so we went back to the cabin to wait it out. I got a nice shot of the of the storm clouds over the First Connecticut Lake.



After the storm passed I just knew there would be a rainbow. I took these from the porch of the cabin.





Once the storm passed, we headed back out to "Moose Alley" to see what we could find. I had my eyes peeled as we drove along the roadside, looking into the woods and the fields as much as I could, to spot that moose that had been eluding us all day. One moose...any moose, that was all I wanted to see. We drove up to the Canadian border and turned around at the customs building, and I thought it was going to be a fruitless day of moose hunting. George was trying to pacify me by promising me another trip up there soon. I know he felt badly since he was so sure I would see a moose. I even started singing a song I was making up along the way about how there are no moose in moose alley. It was all a ploy, a conspiracy if you will, to get the tourists up there. I had begun to call the road "Mooseless Alley" and right about dusk, a couple of miles from the turnoff to where we were staying, we came upon several cars lining the side of the roadway. We pulled over and there in the bog, was a MOOSE!!! I got my camera ready and started clicking away. In my excitement, I apparently didn't get my settings right because the pics came out pretty dark but there he is in his splendid glory.





George estimates he is a young bull moose around 700 lbs. I think he's so cool.

This is a better shot taken with George's camera.



There were quite a few people there all taking pictures and it looked like the moose was getting a bit irritated so we decided to get back to the car and get out of harms way before he got really mad. I didn't care, I was happy, I finally saw a moose in the wild. I was like a kid who just got a huge birthday present. I was excited and very happy.
We went back to the cabin and sat outside on the porch, watching the full moon again and the stars. It was a really great way to cap off the day.

We left on Sunday morning after breakfast. I was a bit sad to go home, we had such a peaceful and wonderful weekend. I am thinking that would make a nice place to go next summer during our vacation. It's quiet and relaxing, and to me, that is what taking a vacation is all about. I know George had a good time, too. He said numerous times that he could easily spend a week there and not get bored.

I've got a few more pics from the weekend but will save those for another time.
I really should get in the kitchen and make something for supper.

Hugs!