Oh, Yeah!

No pictures again today for which I am sorry because they add interest to almost anything. Still, yesterday was too interesting to say nothing about it.
The morning was fairly uneventful. I did go for a walk. I went up Birches to Ragged Hill, up Ragged Hill to Cross, across Cross to New Templeton, up New Templeton to Birches, down Birches, and home. Took me seven minutes longer than normal because the upper part of Birches was like a skating rink with grade. Sometimes quite a bit. That was fun. Actually, I enjoyed the whole walk with the exception of that part. Cedric's bus passed me three times--once going up New Templeton, once going down, and lastly on the bottom of Birches. Pretty exciting that was.
When I got home, I took Amena and Cedric over to Joanna's and picked up Seth, Joseph and Laura. I'd kind of forgotten that Julia and I were going to go visit Amy Troop so I had time to do one PiYo segment and then it was time to get my stinky self off to Gardner for Julia and then Ashburnham.
That was nice.
Then I was on my way home. On the way home, I noticed a State Police car with lights flashing leaving route 2 into the rotary I was entering. I pulled over to let him go by and proceeded on my merry way. I was at the stop light by the Shell station and Salvodor's when another State Police car went by with flashing lights (and siren). I wondered what was up but they were far ahead of me and by the time I got past Walmart and whatever-the-name-of-the-street-is-we-usually-turn-on-but-don't-remember I was just hoping they hadn't had any reason to go to my house.
Then I got to Whitney. I could have gone either way but I'm not familiar with the road to the west so I went east because I knew I could get around and down via Old Westminster, etc. Everything was fine until I caught up to two cars whose drivers very obviously did not know where the heck they were going. In their defense, the roads around here lead those who are not familiar with them to wonder where the heck they are going on a regular basis. In my defense, I knew where I was, where I was going, and I had an agenda that I was running out of time to accomplish. I kept following these two cars because they kept going the way I needed to go and we were on the hill that leads up to the stop sign at the top of Morgan and they stopped and asked a truck going the other direction where to go (it was obvious due to hand signs, etc.). That's great except for the small fact that it was on a hill that we were going UP and it looked something like Birches where I'd been skating already. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME????!!!!!! There was a line of cars behind me and I was headed uphill on a sheet of ice. It took me three tries to get going but I did and those cars are darn lucky I didn't catch up with them and wasn't in the truck. Idiots.
That took 40 minutes to go what usually takes about 15. Yeah, I was thrilled.
The reason? It seems that someone barricaded themselves into their house and was threatening to blow it up. Wow. Really?
Then I took a shower and got ready to go to scouts with Joseph. That was fun and I don't have time to tell you about it because I'm running out of time for this and still have more.
Joseph and I got home and picked up the Legos that Seth hadn't. Paul got home with Amena, Cedric and Seth. Everyone got to bed except Cedric who noticed a car at the bottom of the hill just before you get to our house. I went outside and could hear people talking but not what they were saying. Cedric went to bed (but kept getting up). I was knitting and drinking hot chocolate because although I needed to go to bed, I didn't really want to. I was also washing some laundry and doing this and that. At one point, a guy knocked on the door and wanted to know our address so he could tell someone he was on the phone with. He said that someone ran into a tree. Oh, boy! There were flashing lights approaching and then more lights and then a tow truck. The flashing lights of red, blue and green were rather pretty and I thought about taking a picture but my phone was upstairs charging and the camera wouldn't have taken a very good one so I didn't.
Eventually I decided it was time to get myself to bed and went upstairs to get the rice pack to warm it up and I noticed there was a missed call and a message. It was the hospital. There was a girl in and could I go in? Well, of course I could. I didn't really want to because it was a first-time mama so I figured I'd be there all night but I went.
The last car left the scene of the tree as I was getting ready so I was able to drive out the way we usually do rather than going out through Templeton so that was nice. I got to the hospital around 11:00 and was home by 3:00. This particular first-time mama did a great job and didn't waste any time. I'm glad I went even though I only got two hours of sleep and really wish I could go back to bed now. Nice way to begin the day, anyway.
And that is that. I do need to mention that one certain daughter is afraid that some people might get the wrong idea from a comment I made yesterday about a dress-that-shall-not-be-named (or whatever the heck I said). This particular daughter greatly dislikes dresses so purchasing or making one of any kind is a big deal in spite of the fact that it isn't. So, don't get any strange ideas. A dress is a dress. :)
Have a splendiferous day and stay warm!

There is snow in the air and it's only 8 degrees out

What a not good time for my laptop to not feel well. Of course, it's my own fault that I have not taken it to the doctor in order for it to feel better. Hopefully whatever ails it will not worsen over time without care. In any case, I have so much on my mind that I had to get my sorry butt upstairs and into Paul's office so I could use his computer. There is an account set up for me and everything, I just had to utilize it. The biggest problem is that most of what I want to use a computer for, I really need my laptop because it has my files on it. Still, for now, this will certainly suffice.
Where to begin? Oh, my! How about car registration?
Yesterday on the way to Auburn, Julia got pulled over because she's had a neon flashing R sticker on her car since October 2013 (I know this because the State Police officer who pulled her over said so). That was funny for us but embarrassing for her. Still, he could have had her towed and didn't.
When we got home, Laura took off in the green car to look around for dresses/ideas/fabrics. She was on her way to Leominster and she got pulled over because the registration expired in October of last year. She didn't get the ticket, Paul did, but she was still majorly annoyed and irritated and was ready to spit nails when she got home. I don't blame her.
This morning when the ticket was brought to Paul's attention, he said, "They don't send notices any more so that they can get more money issuing tickets." Well, I agree. I think that it is wise to not send notices because that saves a bucketload of dinero and when you add on the tickets that get written for expired registrations, they not only SAVE money, they MAKE money (because even if the officers writing the tickets make $75/hour, it only takes a few minutes to stop someone and write the ticket--I mean, if Julia and Laura had gotten stopped by the same officer, he could have done it within half an hour and that would have been $155 in tickets which more than makes up his salary...or wages...or whatever).
Gosh. Anyone want to tell me how wonderful Massachusetts is right now?
This morning all is quiet on the homefront. Seth and Joseph went home with Joanna and Zak last night because Joanna doesn't have work today and since today is a half day of school, they wouldn't have gotten a whole lot done before Amena gets home. Paul left for work some time ago. Amena and Cedric are still at school (I like Cedric's teacher, by the way, she thinks these half days are ridiculous, too). I fed and watered the goats. I brought in three (or maybe four) loads of wood because I want to start a fire relatively soon. I got the fire ready to light. While I was doing wood, I was thinking about how my life will look when there are no children home compared to now.
It will be different. Some things will change but some things will not.
For example, if I use five cords of wood now to heat for the winter, I still will in 20 years. The difference is that I won't have children to help me with it. There won't be help to cut, split and stack and there won't be help to bring it in. I'm thinking that I need to talk to my prospective sons- and daughters-in-law about the fact that I will need them to live fairly close (and no, Laura, this does not mean I'm moving to Hawaii or San Jose) so that my grandchildren can help with these things.
Then I was thinking, well, if I get going on the midwifery stuff (which is one of my goals for today as well as a certain dress-that-will-not-be-named), perhaps I'll have significant others the help with these things because I think bartering is an awesome thing. Much food for thought.
In other news, I was pretty excited about going out for a walk today. I finished my second new hat since I finished the first new hat and it was too big so I gave it to Sister Buttars last week (I will provide pictures of both eventually but not until I am working with my laptop again). However, when I got up, excitement left me because it was so cold in the house. Then I went out to feed the goats and the hairs inside my nose froze and the excitement further left me. No excitement left for going out for a walk. None. Still, I might do it if it warms up above 15 degrees.
And that is about it for now. I do not make any guarantees as to when I will be back. I do appreciate being able to use Paul's computer but his desk is set up for his comfort, not mine.
Have a fantabulous day!

Cold

Good morning! It is currently 8° that feels like -5°. I haven’t been out yet, but it does not feel overly warm. In spite of six lovely burns yesterday afternoon/evening, it is still just 57° in the house. Our humidity is 81% and I just peeked at Yreka and Bonners Ferry; they are both 32°. They have humidity percentages of 76 and 100 and I’m pretty sure those are greatly influenced by the fact they have fog. I would be willing to bet that in three hours both places will be warmer than 8°. Such is life.

I like candles. For many reasons.They help get rid of unpleasant smells but they also add warmth in more than just physical ways.

Amena has already not missed the bus this morning which is always good news. Cedric is, as usual, getting ready. Joseph, Seth and Paul are all still abed. It’s a fairly typical morning in these parts. At least for us.

Seth opening something.

Last night I went to bed with warm feet and a warm nose and once I was in bed the proceeded to get cold. I wasn’t sure if I should go get a rice pack for my feet or not but didn’t really want to get out of bed because the rest of me was warm and I didn’t want to get any more cold than I was so I decided against it. I did raise the foot of the bed and fell asleep on my back and I don’t know when that was other than after Paul had gone to bed because his light was on. This morning everything was toasty. Big surprise, that.

Amena was pretty happy to get this since Joanna took hers with her. :)

Yesterday morning I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out walking because it was so cold but I knew I would warm up quickly so I got ready and went outside. It was cold and it was snowing and because it was cold the flakes were very small and very light but they did cover the ground. No big deal, I thought. Then I stepped out in the driveway where there is ice and slipped. Just a little but enough that I quickly rethought walking on roads that are potentially icy. I am not as familiar with the entire route I wanted to go so I wasn’t sure what would be icy and what wouldn’t so I went back in the house and did PiYo without walking.

Misty was having a grand time watching.

Today I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. I haven’t ventured out yet because I really don’t like to go out and feed the goats until about 7:30 and it isn’t that yet. Time will tell. PiYo at least. C2fk hopefully.

Zak, Joanna and Cedric. Zak is pretty happy because he can play Life and eat his fat pills. Joanna, on the other hand, has a remote control spider.

In other news, there isn’t really much to report. I’m still working on the hat I started for going out in the mornings. I’ve got about 2 ½ inches to go before I decrease but because it’s straight knitting and I’ll be working with two colors much of that distance, it shouldn’t take too long. I’d be happy to finish today but might not until tomorrow.

I'm not sure what my expression says. There are now four rolling pins in the house that I know of. This one I wanted not for baking but to add to my bag of tricks.

Tomorrow is Paul’s birthday. A week after that is my birthday. Twelve days after that is Seth’s birthday. Then we’re done at our house until Daniel’s birthday.

Gift cards are always good.

Dog’s stink. At least these dogs do. I wonder what would happen if their beds got moved to the living room. There is a spot at one end where they would fit nicely and they wouldn’t be too cold because one of the baseboard heaters is right there. I wonder if they would use them or still come back. I’m not sure I’ll really try it because Scooter is so old and blind she’d probably never get used to it but I sure don’t like having this smell so close to the table where we eat and where the younger boys and I spend so much of the school day.

Later this morning we will be venturing out and about to look for fabric. We are hoping to find better selection at a different Joann’s and will be going to Nashua to look at the one there. If we strike out there I’m not sure what we’ll do but a trip to That $1.99 Fabric Store and the Joann’s in Shrewsbury might be in order. But not today. We shall see.

Tonight we have stuff going on at church. Joseph’s den meeting for tonight was postponed to next Wednesday which is fine. That just means I’ll miss church stuff two weeks in a row instead of staggered. I can deal with that; hopefully everyone else can as well.

And that is all you will get from me today. Have a fantabulous day!

Two Day Streak!

Good morning! So far, so good! Here’s to hoping for a good one until the end.

It has been rather chilly here as of late with the exception of Sunday when we got up to the low-mid 40’s. Yesterday morning about 9:00 it was 29° and was supposed to only get colder. I think that was pretty accurate. Snow was not in the forecast, however, and we had a little flurry about 1:00 in the afternoon. That didn’t last too long; I think it was too cold. In the next ten days the highest temperature we can expect according to weather.com is 31° with the lowest low of -9°. Today, when the expected high is 17°, we are supposed to also have a 60% chance of snow showers. How on earth is this possible? I know—it’s because New England is special like that. I think I’m going to start tracking temperatures for other areas (and humidity) and see how this special place compares to other special places. I’ll keep you updated.

Our Christmas present attempting to give Cedric a big one! I was going to get some birthday pictures for Cedric and Amena but none of them really are all that great. I might take a more critical look tomorrow and have some for you or you might be stuck with more from Christmas.
 

Yesterday Laura, Seth, Joseph and I went to Leominster. Laura needed a pair of real snow boots and wanted to look at patterns and maybe fabric. The pattern selection for what she wanted was awful. The fabric selection for what she wanted was even worse. I don’t know what’s happened to Joann’s in the last six months but it isn’t good. The pattern I know we can work with. The fabric selection I’m not hopeful for.

Yesterday, since the chimney didn’t get closed the night before, we had a couple of burns in the morning before we left to go to Leominster. That helped immensely and made it easier to start the fire up again for the three we did in the afternoon/evening. Today I’m not sure what we’ll do but I sure do get tired of being so cold all day long and with such lovely cold ones outside, it’s hard to keep inside very warm. Right now the bricks are still warm and the inside temperature is 57°. I can handle that although 60° would be really nice. Much  better than yesterday morning which said 54° but felt much colder.

Laura stuck around to take Seth to scouts because I was going to the Round Table in Lancaster. I may not interact with people much there (too many people that I’m beginning to recognize but don’t really know yet), but I can certainly see the value of going. They’ve got all the current information, they’ve got good ideas, and they’ve got a very good appreciation for Star Wars. You really can’t ask for much more. I’m not sure how scouts went for Seth because I didn’t get home until after 9:00.

Once Laura came over yesterday, I went out to do my 2 miles and, like two days before, I was dripping when I got back. Saturday I didn’t really want to go out because it was so cold. But I did. And I’d already decided to go up Birches all the way, down (or up, I’m not sure which) New Templeton, across Cross, and down (this is down because it’s all downhill from there) Ragged Hill to the middle of Birches and home. It was something like 3.77 miles and I was really dripping after that. When I went to put my mittens on later to go to church, they were still very damp and cold on the inside.

This morning we are still doing well. Amena did not miss the bus although the driveway is so icy in spots she almost did. Cedric is up and ready. Seth and Joseph are still abed as is Paul. I had a hard time getting to and staying asleep last night. My feet were cold and my nose was cold. I’m thinking if my feet are that cold again when I go to bed, I’ll heat a rice pack up for them. My nose I can just keep under covers. The reason my feet were cold is because I was wearing shoes yesterday. Always happens. I should have known better.

Today we should have a fairly low key day. Just scout stuff to work on, a walk to go on, recess, Legos, and tonight at 7:00 a scout leader meeting.

I have signed up for a LOT of doula shifts the rest of this month. They are all night shifts and the reason I did it is threefold. One, women who go in in the middle of the night are usually serious. Not always, but often. Second, I much prefer working with women who are not being induced and if they go in in the middle of the night, they aren’t being induced. They might get some Pitocin augmentation, but they aren’t induced. There is no way a doctor is going to schedule an induction for 1:00 am. Third, Laura is here this month and if I need her to come over to keep an eye on the boys and help them with their work, she can. So, win, win. And in the meantime, I helped make a nurse supervisor very happy.

And now I think I am going to go. There is much to be done and I’m ready to get on with doing it. Have a wonderfully splendiferous day! And stay sufficiently warm.

Windy Day

Good morning! It’s a windy one around here. When I got up at 5:45 and came downstairs, I was amazed how cold it was in the house so I went to check the chimney. It was open. I thought it would be closed because Paul was home all afternoon/evening and he usually makes sure it gets shut. Not yesterday. I checked all the downstairs windows to make sure they were all shut because I could hear way too much noise from the wind. One in the living room was open just enough to make a lot of noise. One in the back room was cracked but that was nothing compared to the outside door which was wide open. Once everything was shut, it felt quite a bit warmer in here but it still isn’t very. I think a fire early in the day is in store.

A Christmas picture.They got pajamas made from old sheets this year. This is Cedric and Joseph, by the way. 

Life is an interesting thing. I think it has always been interesting but I think it might be getting moreso. In today’s world you have to be careful, if you care about such things, what you say in order to not offend others. Being nice is great, and I do think we should be considerate of others but in my opinion, we have taken this way too far. If my opinion offends you, you should remember two things—one, it is MY opinion, and two, it is my OPINION. We have so many opinions-turned-fact out there expressed by politicians and celebrities that I really want to be sick sometimes.

fact (according to Encarta Dictionary: English): 1. something known to be true; 2. truth or reality of something; 3. piece of information; 4. actual course of events; 5. something based on evidence

opinion (also according to ED: E): 1. personal view; 2. estimation; 3. expert view; 4. body of generally held views; 5. conclusion of fact

I am pretty sure that I do not want to get into a long discourse about this but that 5 under opinion bothers me some. My opinions are generally based on my own experiences or things that I have learned by studying a subject and/or talking to others about it. I have changed my opinions based on new information that I receive and I think it’s perfectly fine to do so. What I do not think is perfectly fine is to express your opinion as fact. No politician or celebrity figure has, in my opinion, the right to do this and yet they do it all the time. If they have studied something out or, better yet, have a degree in something, sure, but it seems to me that this is not the case.

Today should be a fun-filled day. The younger boys will be doing scout stuff for school this week. Seth only has seven activity badges to finish in order to have earned all of them and the goal is to do so before he crosses over at the Blue and Gold Banquet which is February 12^th. I feel confident that he will be successful. While he is working on that, Joseph will be working on belt loops. That should be fun, too. The whole program is changing effective June 1^st of this year so all the belt loops they can earn now will be all they can earn period.

In other news, the bus just stopped to pick Cedric up and Amena did not miss the bus this morning. That is a good thing. I told her I would not be driving her to school. On these cold mornings, vehicles need to warm up and taking the time to do so means not being able to catch the bus and I don’t have time to be driving to Barre every morning. Therefore, missing the bus means missing school. In other words, I’m just really glad that she didn’t miss it this morning and hope it is the beginning of a streak of not missing it.

Joseph is eating toast for breakfast, Seth is upstairs letting his toast get cold. Paul, as one might expect, is still in bed. He must have had a hard time sleeping last night because he was tossing and turning much of it and I didn’t get much sleep as a result.

Right now I need to go feed and water the goats and then check the weather to see when I’ll be going out for my C25K jog/walk.

Have a wonderful day!

Incognito

Okay. I have no excuse for not writing earlier. I really don’t. Fifty lashes with a wet noodle, maybe? Maybe not.

This is fondant. The awesome, cool stuff that you cook. That on the left is the result of being distracted for about half a minute during which time the temperature went up almost ten degrees. Yikes! That on the right is perhaps the best fondant I have ever made. Oh my goodness!

Laura is here. She will be here for another month and four days as of today. I can deal with that. It’s nice having her here.

These are two of my helpers. Seth rolled lots of the fondant into balls and Joseph wanted to try his hand at dipping. They both did a pretty good job but looking at this stuff makes me want to eat some. Good think it's all gone.

Christmas was good. I’ve got some pictures to share but they are still on the camera so I have to deal with that first.

Pumpkin pie in the making. I just thought the bubbles were kinda cool.

I finished the socks I was working on for Joseph. They turned out good. I have a picture of them, too. On the camera.

Our stockings for this year. Amena helped with the cutting and gluing. It was fun and not such a bad idea. I'm starting the stockings for this year in a couple of weeks. :) 

I am now making a hat for myself because although we have about a million hats, I’m kind of picky about hats I wear. They have to be not too tight but not so loose that they fall off. Wool is my preferred medium and black and blue would be my preferred colors (that would go with my new jogging/walking duds J). I didn’t have any black or blue yarn so I’m using red and grey which are okay. I might have to make mittens to match because I can’t just wear a red and grey hat with blue and black clothes, can I? Ha ha, that’s almost funny. I’m not very well going to make it and never wear it, am I?

Joseph's socks. Aren't they cool? They were fun to make and went a lot faster than those I made for myself due to size and experience. And I don't know what the deal is, but the second toe always seems to go faster in spite of the fact that there are the same number of stitches and rows.

Laura and I are eating a lemon lime pie that I made earlier. The crust is really good. The whole pie is really good. However, since she is staying with Joanna, she needs a ride.

And the boys are now going to bed because tomorrow there is school. Yay! I’m not excited.

When I get back from taking Laura, I’ll do some pictures and post a post. See ya!