Debbie's Blog

I am ready to start cleaning....

2012-02-14T21:49:00.002-05:00

When I got laid off from work I thought I would spend the winter cleaning and organizing my house. I can't believe it is mid February and I haven't done anything substantial; just bits and pieces. Today I started my systematic approach, starting in the bedroom. I'll keep you posted!

Colds

2012-02-13T21:43:00.001-05:00

This is the kind of day that both Paul and I had today. The only good thing was that I didn't have to call in sick to work, and it was Paul's day off. Yikes. You forget just how miserable a cold can be!!

Sunday...

2012-02-12T14:25:00.005-05:00

Today was a rather weird day in that we were supposed to go to Janelle's mom's house for dinner today. We decided not to because most of us have colds! Instead we had dinner here and had a very laid-back day. I didn't really take any pictures of the day except I took an Instagram picture with my phone of Valentne M&M's, and a picture of Marley's Valentine cards that she was working on for school.

I hope everyone out there is staying healthy!

Valentine's Dinner

2012-02-11T14:18:00.003-05:00

Tonight we had our annual Valentine's Dinner with friends. Sometimes we go out, but this year Carl and Gladys had it at their home. Carl (above) was the chef, cooking a wonderful prime rib!

We had a lot of fun, as usual. Thanks Carl and Gladys!

Dolfin Tale

2012-02-10T13:27:00.004-05:00

This is Marley and Mason watching Dolfin tale tonight.

What a cute movie. I think we may need to buy this one!

Mason and grandma at the hairdresser's

2012-02-09T13:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had a hairdressing appointment. We have taken Mason with us before since Mark has been in school and he is fine there. He is still not feeling well with this cold and tonight he was very clingy. He didn't want to sit with Baba so he sat on my lap while I was getting my hair washed (Paul took this picture and I can't believe I'm sharing this). He eventually did go sit with Baba during the cutting and coloring part.

I don't like him being sick, but it is nice to have him be cuddly. He is usually to busy for that!

On another note, I cleaned at Kris and Toby's today and took this picture of Sunny sitting on the couch. He had to go to the vet this week. He had a "thing" on his stomach that looked like it was growing. Marley was so nervous that it was something bad. I guess we all were. The vet said that it had been a little wound that he was "too aggressively" licking and that it should be fine. Thank Goodness. We love you Sunny Man.

Talking Tom on the iPad

2012-02-08T13:18:00.000-05:00

Mason usually goes to Junie's daycare on Wednesdays, but today he had a cold and a cough. Mark asked if he could come here and of course I said yes. I felt so bad for him today, none of his usual energy, but he was entertained by Talking Tom on my iPad.

Crop at Janice's

2012-02-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

Janice announced last month that she wanted to have two crops in February. They are usually on Saturday, but I suggested having one during the week since none of are working.

She made a nice brunch for the four of us. I love scrapbooking and I love having crops at Janice's. Thanks Janice!!!

Keyboard tray

2012-02-06T13:04:00.000-05:00

My hands have been bothering me lately, mostly my right hand. I have been spending more time at the computer and Paul thinks my discomfort is from the mouse and the fact that where we have the computer is totally not ergonomic. We eventually need to get a new computer and table, but for now we got a keyboard tray that pulls out from underneath the table. The jury is still out as to whether I like it, and whether it will help!

Are you ready for some football?

2012-02-05T12:59:00.002-05:00

Mason is ready with his Patriot's shirt on.

Super Bowl Sunday. The kids all came for dinner, but then they scattered to other places to watch the game, which just left me, Paul, and Big Baba to watch the Super Bowl. I was just as happy, as watching it with the boys would have been very nerve-wracking, especially as it turned out. Oh well, there's always next year.

Abington

2012-02-04T12:17:00.007-05:00

Today we took a ride to Abington, MA. I have been on a roll going to all of my Uncle Bob's pastorates. Abington is the last one. I think they went there in 1965. I have to get dates from either my cousin Lynda or my uncle. They started out in a very old parsonage at 124 Bank St. Later on in their pastorate they move to a newer house at 314 Groveland St. Through a series of unfortunate events after they left Abington, there is now no Assembly of God church in Abington.

We had fun trying to find all of this out. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a picture of the church or the old parsonage, but we did find the new parsonage. We had the address (my aunt Ettie was one number off which threw us off for awhile) and I had a picture from the last time we were there - Thanksgiving 1972. This is my grandmother and my two aunts on the front steps of the house.

This is the house in 1972.

Today.

Then we went to Hingham to try and visit Paul's aunt Eleanor (Big Baba's sister). She lives in an assisted living place. We found her apartment but she wasn't home. It was around 4:00 and we found out later that she goes to dinner at that time.

Then we drove to N. Quincy where Paul's grandparents lived. We found the church that they used to go to, took pictures of that, and then drove by the old house.

This picture is at the end of the street that they lived on, Billings St. It comes out to Wollaston Beach. It must have been nice for Big Baba to be able to walk to the end of his street (although it is a pretty long street) and be at the beach!

After that we drove to Natick and had dinner at Kelly's. We took the old road home until Sturbridge and then got on the Mass Pike.

What a fun day. I love days like this, looking for things that we once knew!

Paul says our next adventure can be Flushing Meadow where the 1964 World's Fair was that I went to with my aunts and cousin. Can't wait for that.

****Another Post Office - Weymouth, MA

Are we still in Agawam?

2012-02-03T11:51:00.000-05:00

Sometimes lately since Mark has been in school, on Friday nights it is Marley, Mason, MARK and the Babas. This afternoon he came over a little early so that Mason could play in the backyard. Mason just loves to kick the ball around with Mark.

Just to backtrack a little though - Mason has been learning to say his full name, Mason Jofuf Rackey is what it sounds like! He also knows that he lives in Springfield, and that Grandma and Baba live in Agawam. While he and Mark were kicking the ball around, it went into our neighbor's yard. He and Mark crossed the fence and went into the neighbor's yard to get it. Mason asked his Dad, "Are we still in Agawam?" Too cute!

It was too cold out there for me today, but Paul took some pictures of them playing in the yard. Warning - lots of pictures. I just couldn't decide which ones to post so I posted most of them!

All that is left is the tree....

2012-02-02T11:27:00.004-05:00

Believe it or not, today I put away the rest of our Christmas decorations. Everything except the Christmas tree, that is. The Christmas tree needs some repair work. Some of the branches have broken off from the central stem and need to be either hose clamped, or zip tied. The hose clamp list is a story for another day, but Paul has a list of all of the things he has hose clamped. It usually brings gales of laughter to whoever he reads it to!! I think zip ties are taking over repair jobs lately though.

Anyhow......everyting else is put away. I decided to leave my new Willow Tree nativity out this year. I just can't put it away yet.

Wednesday

2012-02-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

Well, today I forgot to take a picture! Back in November when I got laid off I decided to take a picture of something that I did for the first year of my "retirement."

No picture...but it was a pretty normal Wednesday ~

- The Atrium called saying that Dot was quite anxious about wanting to leave there, she wanted to go for a walk and could we come and take her out for awhile? So, Paul and I went there and went for a walk with her. It was such a beautiful day, high 61degrees. Maybe she had Spring fever and just wanted to go for a walk by herself. She used to do that all the time at her home. Then we took her for a ride to get Mason at Junie's daycare. We got her home just in time for dinner. She seemed fine going back.

- Prims with Mason. He hasn't been there for a few weeks because Mark was on Christmas break. It's going to take a few weeks to get him back to where he doesn't want to be held the whole night.

- I should have taken a picture of Miss Pat. Her birthday was last Sunday. She turned 70! You would never know it. She is a very young 70. It must be because she is around kids so much. In addition to doing Prims, she also is a substitute teacher for 1st grade on Sunday, works in Super Church, and teaches Junior Bible Quiz. Happy Birthday Miss Pat!

Trying to relax

2012-01-31T22:35:00.003-05:00

This is Mark and Mason "relaxing" after dinner tonight. It didn't last long though. Two year olds aren't much for relaxing. Ha Ha!

Mission Impossible IV, Ghost Protocol

2012-01-30T22:26:00.003-05:00

Monday, Paul's day off. We decided to go to Abington, MA. This was one of my Uncle Bob's pastorates and I have a project going to take pictures of all of them.

On the way we decided to have lunch at Kelly's restaurant in Jordan's Furniture in Natick (great roast beef sandwiches). While we were there we looked to see what IMAX movies were playing. Mission Impossible IV, Ghost Protocol, was playing and since we had gotten such a late start for Abington, we decided to switch plans and go to the movies. It was really good. We both enjoyed and it wasn't crowded at all like the last time we were there on a Saturday to see Avatar. Another fun day. I'm getting used to being "retired!"

Marley's room, before and after....

2012-01-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

Marley asked me if I would help her clean her room. I told her the next Sunday that Mark, Janelle and Mason were not coming for dinner that I would. Today was the day! Toby and Kris made dinner, and Marley and I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned.

This is before,

and this is after.

Marley was a real trooper. She worked right along with me the whole time. Later, on the way to Bible Quiz at church I asked her if she was tired. She said, "No." I was exhausted!

Her room looked really good though.

I think she was happy!

Scallops, the Beach, and Nancy Drew

2012-01-28T21:54:00.012-05:00

Our goal today was to go to The Book Barn in Niantic, CT to look for Nancy Drew books, but to also go to Lenny and Joes, a seafood restaurant that my friend Joanie had told us about the last time we went to this area.

We went there for lunch, which was absolutely delicious.

Then we drove around Hammonasset Beach for awhile. We got out to see the beach but it was freezing and very windy so that didn't last long.

Then we drove down Rt 1 to the Book Barn. This place was huge. My friend Dora at my old job told me about it awhile ago. There are three locations in Niantic. One was, I think, the main one that looked like an old mill. There was Book Barn Downtown, and Book Barn Midtown.

All of the Nancy Drew books were $1 and they were having a sale so we got them for .70, all 58 of them! That should take me awhile. I'll be starting #12 in a day or so. Only 164 to go!

What a fun day.

****Another Post Office - Westbrook, CT

P.S. Today is my cousin Lynda's birthday. I sent her a card with this picture on it. It is of us at the 1965 World's Fair in New York. Good memories. Happy birthday Lyn!

Another Friday night with Marley, Mason, and the Babas

2012-01-27T09:31:00.005-05:00

We added a new twist to playing with the "bugs." Mason asked if we could put the coffee table upside down (Paul did that with him a couple of weeks ago). We put the bugs in there and then got out the blocks and made a maze for them. What fun!

And yes...those are crayon marks on the bottom of the coffee table.

Imagine our surprise the first time we turned that over. That was probably done by our kids years ago. I had thought when our kids were grown that maybe we should refinish this table. I'm glad I didn't.

Grandma, I want a donut!

2012-01-26T19:58:00.002-05:00

We took Mason to the grocery store with us tonight and he asked for a donut. Sometimes when he is at my house he says, Grandma you got any donuts? So, of course, grandma bought him a donut. It was a chocolate covered with LOTS of sprinkles.

Doesn't he look like he is enjoying it? He ate almost the whole thing.

Marley's band concert

2012-01-25T19:42:00.006-05:00

Tonight Marley's school had their annual Arts Block Presentations by the 4th and 5th grade students. There was Drama, Sports and Fitness (which we didn't go to), Dancers, and Band and Chorus. Last year Marley was in the Drama and this year she is in the Band and Chorus. She started out the year playing the trumpet but switched to the Baritone Horn two weeks ago. We all thought she did very well for only playing two weeks.

Mark is back in school so Paul and I picked Mason up and met Kris, Toby and Marley there. He was so good and sat through all of the presentations.

I love going to functions at her school, especially since I went to Junior High there. Believe it or not, the auditorium hasn't changed in all those years, except for being shortened to make another room at the end of it. It probably hasn't changed since my Dad and aunts went there!

We went out for our traditional ice cream afterwards. Such a fun night!

One more Instagram collage

2012-01-24T22:19:00.003-05:00

I am now up to date with my Instagram collages. These little pictures taken on my iPhone are so fun to take that I won't be caught up long! Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE my iPhone?

Instagram Collage 2 and 3

2012-01-23T21:28:00.006-05:00

Today was a really weird day. Paul is still not feeling back to normal (day 13 of a bad cold) so we decided to just stay in all day; the first Monday since I have been laid off that we have not had something that we have had to do or gone on a fun ride. I spend most of the day organizing my Instagram photos and making two collages.

I had made my first Instagram collage on December 15th, and today I did the second and third ones.

This one is with Christmas Instagram pics.

This one is with LL Bean weekend photos.

The reason it took me most of the day was because I really don't understand Photoshop Elements and it took me a long time to figure the template out, again!

Marley wins second prize!

2012-01-22T17:21:00.008-05:00

Marley's Sunday School class has been having a contest this month. They have been saving their "pennies" for Pennies for a Purpose. This is to benefit The Jubilee Market that Missionaries from our church are involved in.

Marley won a prize for the second highest giver in her class. Her prize was this Sari headband, made by women in India. She was quite happy about this!

Bugs

2012-01-21T17:42:00.015-05:00

For Christmas, Marley got a couple of "bugs" in her stocking. She brought the smaller one over on Christmas Day and Paul was really taken with this bug. The cats liked it too. Over the next week he bought several of them. People at work had him buying them. It was unbelievable! All they are is a little battery with a bug body over it. The vibration of the battery makes it move.

Today Paul put two of them on the floor and I decided to try to take a picture of the cats with them. I think they are a little afraid of them. Here are some pictures.

One of the bugs went under the dry sink.

This is Paul and the cats trying to see the bug.

Paul eventually "helped" the bug get out with a yardstick, and this is how it came out, still running - Ha Ha!!

At first, Mason was afraid of the bugs. He would have nothing to do with them. Now he likes to look at them but he still won't touch him.

We were babysitting for him for a couple of hours today. Mason got a new Lego table recently (that Marks says is now their coffee table - LOL!) It has a square in the middle that comes off with a net underneath to hold Legos.

Mason and I played with the bugs on the table. We started off with just one bug on an empty table,

but eventually we had both bugs and roadblocks all around the table to keep the bugs from getting off. Those sneaky little bugs kept going right through the roadblocks. Mason just squealed with delight when then fell off! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the roadblocks.

I just love this age. He is so much fun!

Tom....

2012-01-20T16:32:00.006-05:00

"The world lost a superhero today." This was what Tom's son posted on Facebook on the day of his Dad's death.

Tom was only 61. He had been battling cancer for a little over a year.

The thing that I remember most about Tom was his big smile; he always had a big smile.

This picture is of (l to r) Mark, Andy, and Tom's son Jason in the summer of 1991.

This picture is of Kristen and Toby's wedding in 1995. Tom's daughter Heather (second from left) was in their wedding.

We went to Tom's wake tonight. Some things are hard to understand. All I know is that we have to trust that God has our lives in his hands.

Seeing Zeus!

2012-01-19T13:25:00.002-05:00

Zeus was my Aunt Dot's cat. When she went to The Atrium, Zeus went to live with a co-worker of mine. It has been almost 8 months since I have seen him. Barb has been telling me how good Zeus is doing and tonight I got to see first hand for myself. He looked wonderful! I think he remembered me, he was very friendly. Then again, I think cats know cat-people.

I was happy to see how good he is doing; it makes me feel a little less guilty.

The Baritone Horn

2012-01-18T12:49:00.004-05:00

Marley has decided that she is going to now play the Baritone Horn in the school band. She told me that she didn't really like playing the trumpet and her band teacher suggested the Baritone Horn. He said he had a couple of them available.

Today was the first day that she got to bring it home and she played what she knew for me tonight after church.

So....there is a band concert next Wednesday night. I'd say she has some practicing to do.

Look at that case.

She is going to get some arm muscles carrying that thing around!

It's beginning to look a little like winter

2012-01-17T13:35:00.004-05:00

This morning we woke up to some snow, not much though. This is what my street look like during my walk today, slushy.

It is about 30 degrees warmer than it was two days ago. I think the high for Sunday was about 10.

It is supposed to rain today, so the snow will probably be gone by tomorrow. Mind you, I'm not complaining. It's just weird!

Spending the day with Marley....

2012-01-16T13:09:00.000-05:00

Today, being a holiday, Marley spent the day with us as both of her parents had to work. We had plans to go to the Connecticut Science Center today, but Paul was on the tail end of a pretty bad cold and just wasn't up to it. We had a little more laid back day and went to the movies to see The Muppets. Oh my goodness, I loved it. We all loved it.

Then we went out for dinner at Local Burger in Northampton. Kris, Toby and Marley really like this place and so we decided to try it tonight. It was really good and fun to let Marley "show us the ropes."

I so glad that she still likes to spend the day with Grandma and Baba!

Mason the hockey player

2012-01-15T13:26:00.001-05:00

Mason loves sports already. Part of it, I'm sure, is because Mark plays sports with him, alot. He recently bought him these little hockey sticks and little hockey "ball." They were playing in my kitchen this afternoon.

Note the hockey "gloves" that Mason has on (Mark's gloves from work).

I have a feeling that our family is going to be going to a lot of sports games!!

Little People Nativity

2012-01-14T20:58:00.003-05:00

So...I have been trying to put my Christmas stuff away...little by little. I know, I know, we are two weeks into January. I don't know why we can't be like normal people and put the tree and decorations away on New Year's day or thereabouts. I don't know. It's been like this for as long as I can remember. When we had real trees, we would water them every day and end up with new growth at the end of January. One year I cut off little limbs with lime-green new growth and put them in water with valentine's stickers on them.

Anyhow, it's coming down slow but sure, but I can't put this Little People Nativity away yet. Isn't it just so cute? I just got it this year, in keeping with my wanting to collect nativities.

Maybe some year I will just put up nativities, who knows.

I'll keep you posted (or blogged, hehe) when everything is finally put away!

Cleaning....

2012-01-13T10:04:00.000-05:00

I decided when I got laid off in November that I would spend the winter cleaning my house!

This food closet has been bugging me for awhile. I spent the last few days cleaning it out and now it makes me happy!

Nan

2012-01-12T16:56:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about my grandmother today. Today is her birthday; she would have been 111 years old. I can't believe she has been gone for almost eleven years although sometimes it seems longer.

There was no date on this picture but I think it was some time in the 1940's. She looks so young and happy.

Happy Birthday Nan.

Snowmen chaos in Prims

2012-01-11T16:26:00.008-05:00

Oh my goodness. Who would have thought that 11 little 7-8 year old girls would have such trouble making a Snowman On a Stick. "Miss Debbie, my bananas are melting." "Miss Debbie, I just stuck my finger with the stick." "Miss Debbie, the pretzels won't stay in the bananas." Miss Debbie, can I eat the bananas?" "Miss Debbie, can you help me?" Miss Debbie, Miss Debbie, Miss Debbie.........Yikes. We did this two years ago and I don't remember so much trouble.

In the end, most of the snowmen made it to at least be eaten.

I knew I hated crafts...even edible ones!

White roses and Alpaca scarves

2012-01-10T10:07:00.005-05:00

Paul came home from work with these beautiful white roses for me. He does that every now and then, brings me flowers for no reason. Aren't they pretty?

Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, Kristen is in the midst of tracking all of her knitting projects and, in the process, finishing up some old ones. She gave Mark part of this scarf for Christmas 2010. She does that sometimes, gives you something that isn't finished and then takes it back to finish!! Anyhow, she finished it and gave it to Mark tonight. It is so soft; Alpaca wool. It looks good on him, don't you think?

Monday....

2012-01-09T17:08:00.003-05:00

Today, being Monday and Paul's day off, we took a ride to Bellows Falls to go to the scrapbook store and Fat Frank's. On the way home, we stopped at the Grafton Cheese store for their 4 Star (four year old) cheese ends. Here, Paul is looking through the ends for the 4 Star. If you like sharp cheddar cheese, the 4 Star Grafton cheese is the BEST!

Another Post Office - Westminster Station, VT.

Also, Places That Are No More #12 - Friendly's in Greenfield.

I really hate it that Friendly's is closing some of their stores!

Kristen's knitting projects

2012-01-08T16:57:00.003-05:00

Kristen has started up her knitting blog for the new year to keep track of her current projects and is also in the process of trying to track some of her old projects. Today she wanted me to take some pictures of our socks. She brought her sock blanket and we matched up the socks with it. In the picture above, she is trying to explain her tracking system to Janelle!

Here is the sock blanket, her computerized tracking system, and Paul and my socks!

Now, if she would only learn to darn (I got my first hole in my oldest sock!!).

Dave's 70th birthday party

2012-01-07T16:53:00.000-05:00

Today Paul went to a 70th birthday party for a good friend of ours. I wasn't able to go because I had a scrapbooking crop that had been planned for a couple of months. These guys have been friends for a long time. Happy birthday Dave!

P.S. I must have Paul trained pretty well. He knew I would want a picture, so he had one of the wives take it for me!

Fred's LL Bean pocket watch

2012-01-06T16:32:00.001-05:00

In 1994 Paul and his mother bought this LL Bean pocket watch for Fred. Paul happened to see it in the LL Bean catalog. It is the pocket version of their field watch. Fred has always worn pocket watches and Priscilla wanted him to have a nice one that would last awhile.

A couple of months ago it stopped working. He took it to a jeweler and they fixed the watch, but a couple of days later the back fell off. The jewler did not have a back that would fit this watch and LL Bean doesn't sell pocket watches anymore. While we there this past weekend Paul talked to them and they happened to still have that part and they mailed it to us. The part came today so Paul took it back to the jeweler and they put it on. Fred seemed very happy to have his watch back in working order!

In other news....tonight we made a tent for the first time with Mason. He didn't really want to get way under, but liked to stick his head under. Marley, on the othe hand, loves to get into the tent. We are going to have to come up with another type of tent, though, because she is way too long for this type of tent, LOL!

Sending my camera to Canon

2012-01-05T21:00:00.003-05:00

While I was taking pictures on vacation last week I noticed that there was a spot that was showing up on my camera pictures. Paul called Canon yesterday and they suggested that we mail the camera back for repair. It's a good thing I have a few other cameras!

Getting ready for the "crop"

2012-01-04T16:45:00.001-05:00

I spent the better part of the day today getting ready for the scrapbooking crop at my friend Janice's house. Always a fun time!

Leaving LL Bean

2012-01-03T18:32:00.001-05:00

We left Freeport about 11:00 today and took Rt 1 through Portland and stopped at all of our favorite places, Old Orchard Beach, the Gottier cottage, Ocean Park, the Salvation Army Camp, Wormwoods at Camp Ellis, and then down to York Beach. It was really cold today, much colder than the day before. No walks on the beach today!

Lobster trap Christmas tree

The Pier at Old Orchard Beach

Flo's

Nubble Light at York Beach

While I was taking pictures from the car of York Beach I saw my reflection in the rear view mirror and took a picture of it. I changed my profile picture on Facebook to this. I think it looks neat. It reminds me of how much I love taking pictures and telling the stories that go with the pictures!

Another lobster trap Christmas tree.

We finished up eating at Bob's Clam Hut, always delicious.

Then on the highway and home at 8:15.

Wonderful getaway!!

***Another Post Office

Wells

****Little doors

Camp Ellis

York Beach

York

Trip to LL Bean - Day 3

2012-01-02T12:46:00.013-05:00

Another beautiful day so we headed out to Popham Beach, which is absolutely the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. The temperature was about 42 degrees and VERY windy. We took a walk on the beach, but walking into the wind was difficult. Paul said between the bundling up and taking pictures he wondered if I had even seen the beach, haha!!

The days go by so fast here; probably because the daylight is short now and we don't leave the motel until around noon - but that is part of relaxing, right?

We had supper at Derosier's and then headed over to LL Bean. I always like to take our picture right inside the front door where the welcome sign is. This means setting up the tripod (a little one). Paul is so good - he really doesn't like to do this, but does it for me.

There is a huge fish tank with all different kinds of trout. There is a bubble type thing on one end where you can climb under and come face to face with the fish! I like talking to them.

The Hunting store has a beautiful room with a fireplace and leather chairs; so relaxing!

We got back to the motel around 9:30. We were both tired, probably from that walk on the beach in the wind. Home tomorrow - bittersweet.

Another Post Office - Phippsburg

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:23:00.010-05:00

Today was such a beautiful day, 42 and sunny; unbelievable for Maine in January! The picture above shows a kayaker enjoying the sunset. We took a ride to Lookout Point on Harpswell Neck, and then we went to Orr's and Bailey Islands. I took pictures with my phone and posted them to Instagram and Facebook. I love doing this!! Here are a couple of my pictures.

This was what our Garmen looked like at one point. We were completely surrounded by water. Absolutely beautiful!

Around 4:30 we got back into the Freeport area and ate at Amato's. Dulicious (as Mason would say)!!

We went to LL Bean for the evening where I shopped 'till I dropped!!

Here are some Post Offices that we saw today.

Harpswell

Bailey Island

Orr's Island

New Year's Eve at LL Bean

2011-12-31T21:00:00.006-05:00

I love coming to LL Bean on New Year's Eve. The decorations are so pretty. We must be getting old though; we were back at our motel by 8:30!!

The only thing we bought tonight was a new jacket for Paul. Tomorrow is another day though!!

Dinner with Chris and Joel

2011-12-30T08:01:00.005-05:00

Tonight we were all invited to have dinner at Chris and Joel's house in Pittsfield.

Chris moved to Springfield in the summer of 1970. She came to help out in the Music Department of Bethany. She knew Pastor Berkey from Pennsylvania; she was from Coraopolis, and he was from Johnston. We became close friends during the late '80’s when Kristen and Mark were teenagers. Her house was always open to the kids from our youth group, and she and I spent many hours around her kitchen table.

Chris has since remarried and moved to Pittsfield. Kristen e-mailed her to get her address so she could send her a Christmas card, and Chris said she would only give it to her if we would all promise to come to her house for dinner.

So tonight Paul, me, Kris, Toby, Marley, Mark and Mason (Janelle had to work) went to her house and we met Joel for the first time. They have been married for five years. I have seen Chris a few times when she has come down to Bethany for one reason or another, but it has been a long time since we have all gotten together.

We had a great time. Chris is a wonderful Italian cook and she made manicotti with meatballs and sausage which was delicious. We all really liked Joel; they are just perfect for each other. It was nice to sit around her table and talk like old times.

Look at these cookies she made over the holidays!

One of my New Year's resolutions is to not let so much time go by again. Life gets so busy, but I want to try to remember that friends are important and we have no guarantees that they will always be around.

Holiday Party at the Atrium

2011-12-29T20:33:00.003-05:00

Tonight we went to the Annual Holiday Party at the Atrium. There was a holiday buffet, and then entertainment with a piano player and a saxophone player. We were also served from the dessert cart as we were enjoying the music. A lot of the residents were wearing various types of Happy New Year hats. It was very festive. It seemed so nice to see them interacting with their families. It was also nice to be able to meet family members of the some of the residents that we are getting to know. I just can't say enough about the Atrium.

Small group in Prims

2011-12-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

This is the smallest group that Pat and I have ever had in Prims; four girls (and Mason). Mason didn't want to sit in the story circle this week. Maybe it was too small a group.

It was actually kind of nice; a little rest before the "new year."

Cheeeeeese!

2011-12-27T14:38:00.005-05:00

Tonight I took these pictures of Mason and I realized, Wow, he looks older to me. He is starting to lose that real baby look. I can't imagine how much older he will look when he gets his hair cut. Maybe I'm not really ready for that (I won't tell his parents though. We have been giving them the business about his hair, ha ha!!).

Such a cutie pie!

Trip to the American Girl store

2011-12-26T14:45:00.014-05:00

Marley's Christmas present this year from me and Paul was a trip to the American Girl store in Natick, MA. We went today......along with three million other little girls, ha ha!

Actually we had the best time today. We really got into it, even Paul.

Marley brought her doll "Amanda" and they wore their matching outfits.

After a rather frustrating traffic jam getting off the turnpike and then negotiating the parking garage at the Natick Mall, we arrived with time to browse before our lunch reservations.

They had little chairs that hooked onto the table for your doll, and they brought a little plate and cup! How cute is that?

Marley said Baba looked a little out of place in all this pink! He didn't mind a bit, in fact, he enjoyed it. The food was actually really good.

We watched them doing the dolls' hair at the salon, and Marley decided that she wanted to have Amanda's hair done.

Marley chose the hair style that she wanted. The "hairdresser" was so nice. She talked about how to care for the doll's hair, trimmed the ends, and styled her hair. It looked adorable. I wish I had taken a more close-up picture.

After lots of shopping and trying to make choices, I think we are all set.

What a great day. I'm so glad we did this now; she won't be at this stage much longer. We are already planning our next trip for her birthday!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T12:53:00.015-05:00

What a great day today was. After about a month of planning, Christmas came and went so fast. Even though I still wasn't as organized as I would have liked, I really enjoyed today. You would think that since I have been out of work since November 1st that I would have been super organized. Not so. I'm using the excuse that it has been a crazy two months and hoping that next year will be calmer and not so hectic. We'll see.

Anyhow, this year we had Mark, Janelle, and Mason; Janelle's parents Stacia and Joe, and sister Amy; Big Baba and Dot. My Dad and Marge were not feeling well and weren't able to be with us. Kris, Toby and Marley were with Toby's family for dinner but came for dessert.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Amy and her dad Joe.

Mark, Dot, and Big Baba.

Could this be Santa coming down from the chimney?

I guess it was just one of the grandpas.

Stacia, Mason and Janelle. Mason started off the day with cute little tan corduroy pants but didn't seem to want to keep them on!

Opening presents was chaotic as usual.

One of the gifts that Mark really wanted Mason to have was this football helmet and jersey. He said Mason "needed" it because he kept trying to get his Build-A-Bear's helmet on. Someone said he looked like ET running around with this on! The helmet was big so half the time he couldn't see where he was going.

Izzy kept getting into the bag of wrapping paper. Minnie kept her distance all day.

***About the first picture, the Nativity...

A few years ago, my friend Liz from work drew my name for the gift exchange for our Christmas party. She gave me a Willow Tree figure, the angel holding a ball. I loved it, and believe it or not she drew my name the next year and gave me the figure holding a lamb (the tall one with the green robe on the left). At that point I decided that I loved these Willow tree figures and I wanted to collect them. Over the years the kids have given me several of them, some of which I recently found out are actually part of the whole Nativity set.

Last year I thought it would be nice to collect the Nativity, maybe one figure a year. Kristen checked into this and found that you could only buy the starter Nativity as a whole. She asked Toby, Mark and Janelle if they wanted to go in with her and get it for me for Christmas. I absolutely love it. I think that I am going to keep it up all year! Thanks, everyone (including Liz).

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Photo Ornaments

2011-12-24T23:22:00.005-05:00

Paul framed the Christmas photo ornaments today. It's quite a job deciding what size to print the picture and getting it to look right.

He does a good job. This is what one of them looked like.

Today was another busy day, wrapping, grocery shopping and cooking. I know I say this every year, but next year I am really going to try to be more organized and not leave so much until the last minute. Really!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas tomorrow!

The start of Marley's Christmas vacation

2011-12-23T22:37:00.002-05:00

What a busy day today was. Marley had a half-day of school and I picked her up at 11o'clock. We did some last minute Christmas shopping, and had lunch at the mall.

When Marley came out of school, she had a paper bowl of bread dough that her teacher had given her with instructions on how to bake it. When we came out of the mall, the dough had risen and was leaking out of the bowl. She wanted to bake it when we got home. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but we gave it a try. Now, I have never baked bread before, but I really didn't think it looked quite right. It was supposed to make 4 1 lb loaves. We put it in two loaf pans and still it didn't look like enough. It didn't rise too much when it was baked; not sure why. Marley seemed happy with it and we had it for supper. She said it wasn't quite as good as what they had at school. I'm sure!

After supper we made Reindeer cookies for Santa. Marley did this basically by herself. They were cookies that you just slice and bake. The cookies were supposed to be 1/2 inch thick and I got a ruler out to show her what that looked like. She was so funny. She used the ruler to cut each slice!

We got silly making the cookies and decided this one looked more like a hampster than a reindeer!

In the end the cookies turned out okay, albeit rather big.

In between all this baking she wrapped presents for me. So thankful for that!

We ended the evening watching Elf with the Baba's. Like I said, quite a busy day!

Brunch at On the Hill

2011-12-22T22:20:00.001-05:00

On Christmas day our friends Ralph and Linda (the couple to the right of Paul) will be "going South" for the winter. They have a condo and many family members in South Carolina. Paul was the only one of our friends working today, so we met at On the Hill so that he could join us during his break.

This is Ralph and Linda's second winter doing this. I'm going to miss them.

See you guys in the Spring!

Mason's Christmas tree

2011-12-21T21:46:00.004-05:00

Tonight when we brought Mason home after Prims, he was so excited to show us his Christmas tree. "It's decorated", he said.

It is probably the smallest real tree I have ever seen, but it is just perfect for their small living room ~ and Mason loves it!

Christmas Photo Shoot

2011-12-20T21:25:00.005-05:00

Tonight I really wanted to get a picture of Marley and Mason with Santa hats. For the past few years I have been making tree ornaments for Kris and Toby, and Mark and Janelle. It hasn't been easy with Mason. The first year wasn't too bad because he couldn't go anywhere. Last year was difficult, but I thought maybe this year would be a little better. Not so...well, maybe just a tiny bit.

At first he really didn't want to put the hat on. Then after he saw Mark put Paul's Santa hat on (I have three different sizes, LOL), he wanted that hat which was really too big for him, but you take what you can get, right?

This was the first picture I got. Not bad, but I didn't really want those little things he was holding in front of Marley's face.

The second picture was better (top picture).

I decided to try one more. Things started to deteriorate, so I was content with what I got.

Maybe next year I'll get the perfect picture. I'll keep trying anyhow!

Career Point

2011-12-19T21:13:00.003-05:00

On November 26, 2011 I received a letter from the Department of Unemployment Assistance stating that I needed to attend a Career Center Seminar, and that it was mandatory.

So, today Paul and I went to Career Point in Holyoke. You and Paul??? I can hear you asking. Yep, I'm a big chicken. I didn't want to go alone, so I made the appointment for a Monday, his day off.

It was about 2 hours long. I had to sign up for one workshop, so I signed up for a refresher course in Microsoft Word. I figure it can't hurt. They actually have a wealth of resources to help you to return to work.....

Then, it was off to Nick's Nest for lunch!

Toby's birthday

2011-12-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Toby's birthday. I felt bad that Mark and Janelle couldn't be here, but today was the only time we had. Janelle went home to Woburn for a Christmas party, and Mark was studying for his final.

Marley gave him a cute little felt star that she had made herself. How cute is that?

Marley and her mom certainly don't get their love of crafts from me, as I am certain most of you know.

Marley and I made Toby's favorite cake, and Toby had tea in the birthday mug.
Good time. Making memories.

Happy birthday Toby!

Bennington Potters and Yankee Candle

2011-12-17T10:48:00.003-05:00

Christmas shopping was a good excuse for a nice ride to Bennington Potters and Yankee Candle. Both of them are decorated so beautifully at Christmas time. Bennington Potters in Bennington, VT is located in an old factory which they now use to make the pottery. There is a building next to the factory, an old schoolhouse, which is the entrance to Bennington Potters. The picture above is a little alcove when you first walk through door. It is so cute. The moose and the cow look like they have their heads through the windows.

I took this picture on our way out. I thought it looked so pretty.

Then we headed to Yankee Candle. It actually wasn't too crowded since we got there at 7 o'clock and they close at 8 o'clock. The Bavarian Village was so pretty; "snow" every 4 minutes!!!

Paul took some pictures of the villages that were set up.

It was a fun day, and I actually did get some Christmas shopping done.

I also took some pictures of post offices along the way. I am amazed at just how different they all are!

Worthington, MA

Planfield, MA

Buckland, MA

Charlemont, MA

Christmas Party

2011-12-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went to the Christmas party at On the Hill. Paul wore his traditional Santa hat.

These little oil lamp decorations on the tables and booths were really pretty. The restaurant looked so festive tonight; quite transformed!

We did a Yankee Swap for the Christmas presents which was really a lot of fun. We ended up with a gift card to Dunkin Donuts - which is always a good thing.

Fun time!

Instagram

2011-12-15T13:14:00.003-05:00

One of the best things about having an iPhone is the apps. The Instagram app lets you take a picture, put different filters on it, and then either e-mail it or send it to Twitter or Facebook right from your phone.

Yesterday I was at Kris and Toby's cleaning and I couldn't resist taking a picture of their fireplace all decorated for Christmas. It looked so pretty. I had to sit on their couch to get far enough away to take the picture and their cat Sunny made it nearly impossible. He jumped on my lap and kept getting right in front of the camera, LOL! I was going to call Kristen and ask if she minded me posting her fireplace on Facebook, but before I knew it, it had already posted. I guess I need to learn Instagram a little more! Good thing she didn't mind!

Anyhow, when I got home I got involved in ways to digitally scrapbook Instagram pictures and found a template just for Instagram pictures. Mark, Mason and Big Baba were here for the evening, and after they left I started trying to do the digital template. Would you believe I worked on it until 3 a.m. Paul fell asleep in his chair early on, or he would have figured it out a lot faster than that!

This is what I did with my first Instagram pictures.

Cool, although not worth staying up until 3 a.m.; hopefully I can remember what I did the next time I do it.

Girls Ministries Awards Night

2011-12-14T12:26:00.003-05:00

Tonight was Awards Night for Girls Ministries at my church. Pat and I got our "5 year" pins, which was a surprise. I can't believe it has been that long. Marley is in Stars 3 and she received quite a few awards (I can't take a decent picture in that gym to save my life, but she is second from left). We also had a little party for the girls with gifts and "cookie decorating."

Mason has been coming with me to Prims on Wednesday nights since September, as Mark has his "clinical" for school, which is 7am to 7 pm. He was excited to be going to a Christmas party. He sat with Aunty Kris and Uncle Toby because, as he told his father, "Grandma had to work."

He looked so cute in his little Christmas sweater.... which I got no pictures of. Just goes to show what a rather hectic night Awards Night is LOL!

Back to the mall

2011-12-13T11:34:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not it was back to the mall tonight; this time with just Paul and Mason. There were some things that I didn't get the night before. Luckily, Mason loves the mall. He had another meatball grinder (hey, at least he eats it), we took a walk by Santa and watched him for awhile, we looked at a motorcycle at the mall that was being raffled off, we walked around the toy store again and I did my errands. In the toy store we played with the Jack in the Box for awhile. He got so excited waiting for it to pop up.

and wanted to do it himself...

Janelle told me the night before that Mason loves riding in the little cars now. I asked him tonight if he wanted to ride in the "Bob the Builder" bulldozer at Babies R Us. He said yes, climbed right up onto it, knew where to put the quarters, but....
as soon as it started to go he dropped to his knees and wanted to get off. I tried to reassure him but in the end took him off and we watched the ride go without him!! Too funny.

Two nights in a row at the mall at Christmas time is exhausting!!

Christmas shopping at the mall

2011-12-12T14:03:00.001-05:00

Tonight Paul and I met Kris, Janelle, Mark and Mason at the mall to go Christmas shopping. Mason was very happy to have his "meatball grinder." This is something he asks for a lot.

The old Borders store has been turned into a toy store for the Christmas season. We spent a lot of time in there. In fact, it was a little difficult to get Mark and Mason out of there!

Singing Christmas Tree

2011-12-11T13:29:00.002-05:00

Tonight Paul, Marley and I went to the Singing Christmas Tree at Bethany.

This is the 37th year of the tree, and every year is different. This production was wonderful, with a lot of drama telling the story of Christ's birth. We have been bringing Marley since 2004.

As is our tradition, we went to Friendly's for sundaes afterwards. Marley had her usual "Build a Snowman" sundae. It was kind of weird in Friendly's tonight. Usually we go on the first night, a Friday night, and there are a lot of people from the tree there. Tonight, no one from church was at Friendly's, maybe because it was the last night and they were all tired, or maybe because it was a school night. It was still fun, but I missed the excitement of everyone coming in from the tree.

Back to the first Friday next year!!

Also......

Paul and I went to a Holiday Cookie Social at The Atrium.

They had homemade Christmas cookies and eggnog. They also had a little concert with a piano player singing Christmas Carols. Dot seemed to enjoy it, although she kept asking me how come I knew about this and she didn't. I just said maybe she was in her room when they announced it! That seemed to satisfy her.

The Atrium really goes all out to try to give their residents as good a life as they are able to enjoy, and I am thankful for that.

Building lighthouses and gingerbread houses

2011-12-10T13:02:00.003-05:00

Mason has been very interested in lighthouses for quite awhile now, "lighthouse on the hillside." He spots them everwhere (even when they are really churches!). Mark was looking for lighthouses on the Internet a while back and came across the Lighthouse Song on You Tube that Mason really likes. He can sing most of it (that is where the lighthouse on a hillside comes from).

Paul and I babysat for Mason at his house for a couple of hours this afternoon. He was so proud of himself for making all of these "lighthouses."

Also, Marley made this gingerbread house today at Grandma Barb's. She does this every year with her grandchildren, and this year she let the kids invite a friend. Marley invited her friend Daisy.

Isn't it cute?

The Gospel According to Scrooge

2011-12-09T12:37:00.004-05:00

Tonight Paul, Marley and I went to Evangel Assembly in Wilbraham to see the performance of The Gospel According to Scrooge. Oh my goodness it was wonderful. I don't know what I was expecting, but it exceeded anything I thought it would be. The acting and singing was all so professional! We were talking to some people we know from the church that were in it afterwards and they said that they start practicing in March for this (this is at least the second year that they have done this).

What a fun night! I hope they do this again next year.

If you get a chance, it is so worth it to go see it. They are doing it twice this Saturday and once on Sunday (click above on The Gospel According to Scrooge).

Winter Festival at Coburn School

2011-12-08T11:32:00.022-05:00

Tonight we went to the Winter Festival at Marley's school. This is a yearly tradition at Coburn. The whole first floor turns into craft tables manned by teachers with cute Christmas type crafts that the kids can make, the cafeteria sells hot dogs and nachos, there is a raffle and some other game type things. It is very crowded, very hectic, but the kids love it.

This year we had two surprises: Uncle Mark and Mason went with us, and the band and chorus performed.

The picture above shows the kids in Marley's class doing something "winter-ish." Marley is ice fishing (not sure why she has no feet!).

This was the cookie frosting table.

Marley made one for Mason too!

Paul can sniff out a hot dog a mile away.

Here is the band coming out to get into position. This is Marley's first year in the band. She plays the trumpet.

The 4th and 5th grade band. Can you spot Marley? (She is in the back row).

This band concert reminded me of the first band concert that Kristen was in, in the 5the grade. I remember it so clearly. It was in the cafeteria during the afternoon. When all the parents were settled, the band teacher came marching out playing some kind of instrument, with all of the 5th graders marching behind her playing their instruments. I remember having a really hard time not laughing out loud. It was hysterical. The teacher looked like the pide piper with all of the kids behind her. They had probably only been playing their instruments for a month or two and they were just awful. So, I said to Kristen after the concert was over that I thought they did better than Kristen's first band concert. She said, "Well they didn't have to march. It was the whole marching thing as we were playing that made it so hard." She's probably right!

Here Marley is showing Uncle Mark all of the kids in her class.

Making a bracelet.

Toby found Marley's handprint on the ceiling. We have been looking for it every time we come to her school for something. The handprints are of those children receiving a golden ticket. Golden tickets are recognition from the school for doing something noteworthy. She has received a few of them over the years.

You can see a bunch of them on the ceiling in this picture. They are all over the first floor.

Kris, Toby, and Marley (with her candy cane reindeer that she had just made).

Afterwards we all went out for sundae's. I was a little sad thinking this would be Marley's last Winter Festival at Coburn, but as Toby said, there will be new things to replace it. He's right.

Christmas decorations

2011-12-07T13:18:00.005-05:00

Today I started putting up my Christmas decorations, which is early for me. It seems so weird to be doing this on a Wednesday afternoon.

This manger scene is by far my favorite decoration. It was given to me by my mother-in-law years ago. I just love it!

Mason and Santa

2011-12-06T17:13:00.003-05:00

Today when Janelle brought Mason over, she brought pictures of Mason sitting on Santa's lap. Last year he didn't want anything to do with Santa and wouldn't go near him.

Yesterday Janelle went to the mall with Mason and brought him to see Santa. He told Santa that he wanted a notebook and a guitar, and also that he liked the band Tesla. Is that just too funny!

2011-12-05T16:40:00.006-05:00

Today I was on a quest for more Nancy Drew books. I have decided to read them in order, and there are 175 of them! I just finished #8, but didn't have #9.

We went to three used bookstores. This one was in Whatley, MA. It used to be an old school. Neat bookstore!

We also went to Raven Used Books in Greenfield, and Montague Book Mill in Montague. I got 10 books, but no one had #9.

So, we ended up at Barnes & Noble in Enfield to get a new #9.

It's one of my crazy "retirement" projects, to read all 175 Nancy Drew books. Luckily, Paul puts up with my crazy projects.

Marley's Christmas Card

2011-12-04T16:01:00.000-05:00

Today Kristen and I decided that we would try to get a picture of Marley for their Christmas card. Last year things got away from us and we never did a Christmas picture.

So, this afternoon we had a Christmas photo shoot. It started off a little rough. We started in front of our hemlocks.

Nice, but not great.

We decided to try a Christmas tree lot, but on the way spotted the gazebo that was decorated in front of Granger school.

These are some of the ones that we didn't choose (Marley wanted her doll, Gracie, in one of them.

This the one that we chose and had it made into the Christmas card.

I think it came out really cute!

Old Combustion Engineering offices

2011-12-03T14:46:00.000-05:00

Today we took a ride to the Connecticut shore. On the way we drove by the old Combusion Engineering offices in East Granby where Paul worked years ago. Now it is called Center Shops.

I had taken pictures of the first place that he worked at, the main site in Windsor here and here.

I also had taken a picture of the place in Bloomfield where he worked for awhile.

Today I realized that I had never taken a picture of the offices in East Granby, CT.

This was a strip mall that Combusion took over. The inside was all open with offices in the whole building. After Combustion left, they went back to a strip mall.

Santa Paws

2011-12-02T14:06:00.002-05:00

This morning I got a call from Kristen asking if Marley could spend the day with me. She came home from school sick on Wednesday. She is doing much better but she was just not up to going back to school. Marley brought this movie with her and we watched it together. She said that she loved this movie and it was one of her favorite Christmas movies. She warned me that it was sad in parts and, oh my goodness, I cried for the whole end of the movie. I thought it was a really cute movie, but the best part was watching it with a 10 year old who still sees the magic in Christmas.

Baba at work

2011-12-01T13:08:00.003-05:00

Today was my "cleaning day" (remember?) and time-wise it worked out for Janelle to drop Mason of at On the Hill at 2:30 when I would be picking Baba up from work (Janelle had to be at work for 3:00 and Mark was studying for a big test on Friday).

So, we watched Baba finish up his last bit of work.

Mason and the snowmen

2011-11-30T07:45:00.005-05:00

Mason likes the snowmen across the street from Grandma and Baba's house (good Carl's).

Also....

Here are a couple of pictures of Mason at Prim's during story time. He is so cute, sitting still the whole time Miss Pat tells the story!

Lunch at Noble

2011-11-29T18:17:00.004-05:00

Leslee had a checkup at Noble today so we (Leslee, me, Liz and Janice) decided to meet Dora and Barb for lunch today. I really miss the daily interaction with these girls. The above picture was taken of our department Christmas party in 2005.

Janice retired in 2006. This picture here is at her party.

Memories of a better time at Noble Hospital.

Facebook Phobia Class

2011-11-28T21:05:00.003-05:00

FACE YOUR FACEBOOK PHOBIA
Monday, November 28, 2:30-4 p.m.
Baystate Health Education Center
361 Whitney Avenue, Holyoke
Your kids and grandkids are on it. Your friends are
using it to connect with friends and family around the
globe. Are you missing out? You might be. Join Jay Lord,
eHealth analyst, Baystate Health, for a discussion and
demonstration about Facebook, the popular social
media website. You’ll learn how easy it is to stay connected
and protected, including do’s and don’ts, special
features, and how to “friend.” Many of your favorite
places, like Baystate Health and Health New England,
even have their own Facebook pages, offering you
another way to connect and possibly enhance your
health care knowledge. Refreshments served. To register:
1-800-377-4325. FREE!

When my friend Leslee from work first told me she was going to this I laughed out loud. Facebook Phobia Class. Well, I decided to go with her and it was actually fun. Most of what was discussed I already knew, but you can always learn something. We told them afterward that they need to have a more advanced class too. I haven't been able to do anything like this in years. I'm beginning to like being "retired."

Sunny

2011-11-27T20:55:00.004-05:00

Kris, Toby, and Marley's cat Sunny (a.k.a. Sunny Man) likes to sit on the stair bannister post.

Silly Sunny!

Shazam

2011-11-26T20:28:00.002-05:00

Kristen told me about a fun app for the iPhone called Shazam. It can identify music playing and give you the name of the song, and sometimes the lyrics. You can also download the song from iTunes. We went for a ride to Vermont today and I had fun playing with it. This song was Beauty is Only Skin Deep by the Temptations. So cool!

Pat-A-Cake

2011-11-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

Lately Mason has been saying Pat-A-Cake. He is so cute saying it and I really wanted to get it on video but it's hard enough to get him to stay still for a picture, never mind a video. Tonight Kristen was talking to Marley at Stacia's house and she put Mason on speaker phone. We asked him to say Pat-A-Cake for Grandma Stacia and Amy and since he was sitting in a chair next to Kris' phone I took a video. It's not the greatest quality and you can hear people talking in the background, but it's better than nothing, and you can hear his sweet little voice.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T19:48:00.008-05:00

Another Thanksgiving. It seems like this year just flew by. Today was a good day.

Mason arrived with a turkey hat that he had made at Junie's (daycare). I don't know where Junie gets her energy but she always has something cute for the kids during the holidays.

Marley is always asking me to tell her stories from when "mommy and Uncle Mark" were little. This week I was telling her about the hats that they wore one Thanksgiving. This picture was at my grandmother's house. It was 1977, so Kristen was 5 and in Kindergarten, and Mark was 3 and in preschool. Wow, that seems like so long ago.

We had Thanksgiving dinner from Memo's for the second year and everyone agreed that it was really good; a new tradition has definitely been made.

Izzy was very interested in our dinner when Paul brought it home.

It comes ready to heat up, with instructions on how long to heat everything and at what temperature. What can be easier than that?

There were 13 of us here for dinner including me, Paul, Dot, Big Baba, Kris, Toby, Marley, Mark, Janelle, Mason, my father, Stacia and Amy (Janelle's mother and sister).

Dot and my Dad.

This was the first time that Dot has been to my house since going to the Atrium and she was great. She was happy, social and interacting, and she stayed until 6:30, way after dark which she hasn't wanted to do for the last few years.

After dinner Mason, Marley and Mark (!?!) had a tea party. Mason loves the little Dora tea party set that Marley has at my house. Marley usually will play with this with him but today was special having Mark play too!

How come the men get to relax after dinner?

Poor Amy wasn't feeling good today.

I know this isn't a good picture but it cracks me up. Kristen called this the "technology room" - everyone was on some sort of computer, even my father! Too much.

Marley actually went home with Stacia and Amy tonight. Stacia invited her to make Christmas cookies with her on Friday.

We had a good day. I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Half day

2011-11-23T19:43:00.004-05:00

Half day of school. Parents working. Grandma not working. This is part of my new life; the good part.

Marley seemed excited to see me, another good part (or maybe she was just happy to have a half day of school!).

I will be sad to see her leave this school.

Thanksgiving shopping

2011-11-22T20:19:00.005-05:00

Paul, Mason and I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. Mason was a big help keeping track of Grandma's list.

Can you tell he is saying "cheese" in this picture?

Memo's Restaurant

2011-11-21T12:55:00.002-05:00

Today Paul and I went to Memo's for "brunch." We haven't been there in years.

When we were first married, Memo's was open for dinner. Back then I got out of work at 4:30 at Wesson Women's Hospital in Springfield. Paul would bring me home to Agawam, and have to be back in Springfield for his part time job (he was still in college) by 6:00. So.....there wasn't much time for me to cook supper (which I was okay with) and we would stop at Memo's on quite a few days. When they stopped staying open for dinner we basically stopped going there.

My father-in-law raves about Memo's. We even got Thanksgiving dinner catered last year (and we are going to this year) from Memo's.

We both loved it there today. The food was great, service was great and the place was decorated so nicely. On the menu was the history of Memo's (which you all know is right up my alley) and also in the foyer there were some newspaper articles about when this new couple took over Memo's and moved the restaurant a couple of doors down the street. For those of you who are interested, this is the article.

P.S. Coincidentally, the girl went to high school with Kristen. Small world!

Marley at Bible Quiz

2011-11-20T20:47:00.002-05:00

Tonight when I went to pick up Marley at Bible Quiz, I could see her in the window of the church.

Alice's pig t-shirt

2011-11-19T19:09:00.000-05:00

Alice is one of the girls at the crop I go to every month. She collects pigs. Today she showed up in this pig t-shirt and announced that this was going to be her crop shirt (could it be because we basically eat all day while scrapping?).

Ready or Not

2011-11-18T19:07:00.000-05:00

"Ready or not, here come." This is what we heard from Mason after he stuck his head in the box. I'm not sure who he was talking to though!

Speed Cleaning

2011-11-17T15:21:00.005-05:00

Today I started my "every other week cleaning" of Kristen and Toby's kitchen and bathroom.

I brought this cleaning book with me that I bought a couple of years ago. It was kind of a challenge to "clean by the book."

It all started with me getting a new iPhone believe it or not. I had decided that I wanted to get an iPhone when the new one came out. This was before I knew that I was getting laid off. When Kristen heard about my impending lay-off, she said, "I think we need to barter." So......the deal is that I clean her bathroom and kitchen every other week, and she adds me to her family plan and pays my monthly bill.

Works for me!!

Leslee

2011-11-16T11:02:00.001-05:00

Today I spent a good part of the day with my (ex)co-worker Leslee. She needed to have a little procedure done at Noble Hospital and I brought her. My other (ex)co-worker, Liz, met us there. While Leslee was being worked on, we had break with the girls that we have had break with for 14 years (!) and I also had lunch with my lunch buddies. It was bittersweet. It was good to see everyone, but also a bit sad. I have such mixed feelings. I actually like being home, but then again, I miss the people. I guess only time will help.

I love clementines!!!

2011-11-15T07:14:00.001-05:00

My father-in-law brought me a surprise tonight. First clementines of the season. LOVE them!

Old trees

2011-11-14T10:16:00.009-05:00

Today was Paul's second Monday off since my "retirement." I had an eye doctor appointment in the morning, then we had to go to Noble to sign some papers. I had a hard time going there. It really hit me today that I do not work there anymore.

Then we headed off for a ride to Vermont; that always makes me feel better. The picture above is of really old trees on Rt. 112 in Worthington, MA. I love these trees. I don't know what they are, but in every season they are beautiful.

We took back roads all the way to Bellows Falls, VT. It was a very relaxing day.

More Post Offices......

Colrain, MA

Grafton, VT

West Townshend, VT

West Wardsboro, VT

I love doing this collection of post offices. They are all so different!

Ettie's visit with Dot, Day 2

2011-11-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

Last night Kristen brought Marley over to visit Dot, etc. and today Mark brought Mason. We had our own little "living room" all to ourselves.

We all really had a good time together. There were a lot of laughs and, when leaving, a lot of tears. I hope that we can do this many more times for Dot and Ettie.

Ettie's visit with Dot, Day 1

2011-11-12T15:08:00.004-05:00

My aunt Esther (I call her Ettie) came for a quick visit with Dot this weekend. She lives in Delaware, about 6 hours away, and doesn't make the drive by herself anymore, so her daughter-in-law Tammy brought her up.

Dot has been doing very well lately. She hasn't packed up her room or taken down her pictures in quite a while. Well.........today when we got there she said she was all packed up to go home...and she was. Pictures off the wall, closet empty, bathroom toiletries packed up. I couldn't believe it. I felt so bad for Ettie; I wanted her to see how well Dot was adjusting.

It was fleeting, though. They came around to get them into the dining room for snack, and by the time snack was over, Tammy and I had put her whole room back together, and Dot never mentioned it again for the rest of the weekend.

My family has always been known for being loud. Even when I was a kid my grandmother would go around shutting the windows in the summer because "what are the neighbors going to think." When my aunts and my father get together, we are loud. This evening during sing-a-long, we all got laughing because my dad and Esther were really getting into singing, but they couldn't hear the music well and were a couple of beats ahead of the music, which made the rest of us laugh. I think we were the entertainment for the whole place!

It was a good day!

Springfield Science Museum

2011-11-11T17:57:00.006-05:00

Today Paul and I went to the Springfield Museums with Mark, Mason and Marley. It was Veteran's Day and Mark and Marley had no school.

The first time we took Marley to the museum, I took a picture of her inside this Indian tepee. She was 18 months.

Each time we go, I take the same picture. Today, as seen in the top picture above, she is standing in the middle and her hand is coming out the top of the tepee. Yikes, she is getting tall.

The first time Mason went to the museum was last February. He was 20 months. He wouldn't go in the tepee to get his picture taken (he wouldn't go in this year either). But, last time he wasn't afraid of anything. This time, everything was scary. He didn't want to go into the dinosaur room. Marley finally told him to close his eyes and we would go through fast (to get to another part of the museum). Marley used to be afraid of this room and for years I had to lead her through with her eyes closed. The African room was "scary." Even the dioramas at the front of the museum with the stuffed animals was scary at first. By the end of our visit, he was okay with most of them.

It was an interesting day. For something like this, the age difference (10 and 2) is pretty pronounced. We ended up splitting up for a little while, but, all in all Marley enjoyed just showing Mason around because as she says, "I know this place like the back of my hand."

Here are a few pictures....

Scrapbooks

2011-11-10T10:37:00.001-05:00

This evening Marley asked if she could look at her scrapbooks. This particular page is about her first birthday party. She had fun reading about it and her first birthday cards. Even if I didn't love scrapbooking, this would make all the work worth it!!

Junie

2011-11-09T17:46:00.000-05:00

Today we picked Mason up at Junie's. She is the same day care lady that Marley had (and still has on occasion). On Wednesdays, since Mark is usually still at school, Paul picks Mason up and then goes from there to pick me up at work. Well.....since I am no longer working, this week I went with him. When I walked into Junie's, Mason looked up at me, smiled and said "Grandma, what you doing here?" Too funny.

Mason grocery shopping

2011-11-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

I babysat for Mason this afternoon and evening. We took him to the grocery store with us. What a good boy he was!

The Help

2011-11-07T10:58:00.002-05:00

Mondays are now Paul's day off, and we were going to do something fun but realized we had too many errands to go anywhere far. So, we went to the movies tonight to see The Help. Great movie, LOVED it!