White House Garden!

How cool is this???

What an awesome example...

Eating Local - what's it all about?

I'm resurrecting the blog to, I hope, chronicle the Eat Local Challenge I am planning for the month of October.

Basically what this means is that, with very few exceptions, I make a commitment to eat only food whose origins are in a 250 radius of Manchester, NH, for an entire month. I will blog more about why I am doing this as I go along, for sure.

The first I heard about this challenge was in late September of last year, when I stumbled across this blog. As it was much too late to embark on such an undertaking with only 3 days to prepare, I follwed this brave blogger through her Eat Local adventure. She has 2 little kids and a husband as well. I only have to feed me!

Anyway, inspired to at least start looking around and paying attention to where the food I eat comes from, and looking for local alternatives, I decided to participate in October 2009. OK, but want to hear something funny? I thought the Eat Local Challenge was some big national event that people from all over the country were doing! Um...I was wrong. In fact, a visit to their website shows that it hasn't been updated since March 2009. Where are you local eaters?

I have to say I have done pretty well with finding local sources of some of my food. Note the "some" part. I gotta lotta work to do in September folks if I am going to pull this off!! Now, I do have a rather extensive file I have been compiling of sources of things like flour and oats that I need to sit with and place orders for anything I might need shipped to me by 9/15. I'd like to not do that though, but realistically, I might have to. I will post a blog entry which I will update as I find more, of all the local products/resources I have found so far. And if anyone out there can add to this list, PLEASE leave a comment or email me!!

OK, true story. Tonight I decided to get on Google Maps and find my 250 mile radius. I figured I would mainly be making my purchases from NH and ME, which was good because everyone knows most of our potato crop comes from northern Maine, right? Right. And guess how far away Houlton, ME is? over 300 miles. Seriously Maine people, that is one big ass state you have there. And, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that. I was reminded of a few 8+ hour trips from Boston to Presque Isle chain smoking in my dads old Dodge Dart - but that is another story! So, first lesson learned tonight is that my 250 mile radious extends, if you can believe this, all the way to NYC!! (248 mi, I kid you not). However, I am drawing the line at the Connecticut border. Rhode Island and Massachusetts also make the cut. That said, I am going to try and keep it within a 100 mi radius if at all possible. My local Farmer's Market is going to be very profitable in the next 6 weeks!

So, I have alot to do, and alot to write about in the next 30 days prior to starting my challenge. If you want to do it too, let me know. Oh, and on top of this, I have also been tracking what I eat in an attempt to eat healthier (it's working, I've lost 7.5 lbs) and I'm exercising ALOT more and feeling really great!

Over dinner last night, my daughter was asking me about how my prepping for this challenge was going. I said good, but that I was stressing a little bit over getting enough protein, as local sources were kinda pricy, so I would have to budget carefully. I mentioned a few other things, and this horrified look crossed her face and she said, "Mom, you're not going to starve, are you?" I assured her that no, I would not starve. I seriously think I could barely eat for a month and live off the fat of this here land. Although with my luck, my body would manage to store fat anyway! (If there is one thing I have learned in the last 4 weeks it's that my body really WILL drop the pounds if I eat more).

I will leave you with this thought...over the weekend, a friend mentioned that movie, Food, Inc (which I am going to see this week) and asked "why would you want to know where your food comes from?" My answer - why wouldn't you?

The Lost Week

I was just putting away my laundry. I don't have a clothes dryer, and so in the winter my clothes hang out on racks in my bedroom for a couple of days to dry. I've gotten used to it, and honestly, clothes take quite a beating in the dryer, so mine stay in better shape. And yes, every now and then I mooch off a family member and do "real" laundry. I digress. What I realized as I put away the clothing I had washed over the weekend is that, with the exception of 1 sweater, and 1 pair of jeans, it was all pjs and sweats. I literally did not wear any "real" clothes until I had to go out in public late Friday afternoon. I lost an entire week of my life to being sick. Wow.

I'm fine now. My energy levels are back to normal, just in time to have a party tomorrow night followed by a couple of vacation days with a visit from my brother. Yes, that's correct. A party. A Lia Sophia party (jewelry). Which is really kinda funny 'cuz I'm so not a girly-girl, but all of a sudden I like jewelry. If you've met me in real life, you know what I mean. But let me tell you this - I clean up nicely, and can get dressed up when I have to. And honestly? The biggest reason I dress the way I do is not out of comfort. It is because of my feet. They are man feet. Seriously. It literally takes me a couple of weeks of trips to multiple stores to find a pair of dress shoes that work with my feet. Let me restate that - a pair of shoes that I can AFFORD. If I want to spend $100+ for a pair of dress shoes then yes, there are more options. So, my shoe wardrobe consists of a limited amount of Dr. Martens and sneakers. And Birkenstocks and Tevas in the summer.

But, I am excited that all my friends from all my circles are coming over tomorrow night. It is going to be a BLAST!

Random thought: Just what exactly is American Cheese? Here's what's in Kraft Singles. Not so bad really, I guess. Here's what's in Velveeta (gag). And these are the ingredients in Cabot Cheddar: Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes. Must be all the other stuff that gives American that plastic quality. Seriously - how many of you love the American cheese? How many of you won't touch the stuff?

Ah, Spring!

swiped from Surviving Grady. Thanks!

Self-Love - a great concept!

Fabulous is celebrating Self-Love Day. Go here for more info on this.

It's a great idea! How many of us truly love ourselves? I mean, every little flaw and quirk? The best lesson I have learned, and it's only in the last couple of years that I have put it into practice and really learned it, is that I HAVE to love myself and cultivate a healthy relationship with MYSELF before I can have that with anyone else. Bottom line. And how many of us take the time to cultivate this important relationship with ourselves? It is essential.

So, today I am taking myself out for the day. I am including my favorite-est person in the world, the beautiful young woman I am blessed to be a mom to, and we are going to go laugh our way through Cambridge and have a yummy lunch somewhere and visit lots of shops.
So, if ya wanna play too, the rules are really simple.

1. Post a banner on your blog - there are a couple to choose from.
2. Post one nice thing about yourself……then ask others to post one thing that they really like about you.
3. Enjoy yourself!

OK - so, here is one nice thing about me... I care very deeply about people and will pretty much do anything for anyone in need.

Much love to you all today!!! xoxoxox

Pilgrimage

I don't recall ever having been in the vicinity of Fenway Park in the winter. I'm sure there must have been trips to Lansdowne St. - to places like 15 Landsdowne St and Spit back in the early 80s, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't paying attention to the silent church of all that is Red Sox across the street. No, I'm pretty sure my focus was on those important things like guys (gasp, yes, there was a time I was all about them) and would we meet any good ones at either establishment.

I digress.

Today I wandered over to Kenmore Square, after depositing the offspring back at school. It really is a matter of 5 minutes or so drive to Fenway from there, when there is no traffic. I was on a mission. I am taking part in a Red Sox Traveling Scarf over on Ravelry. What that means is that a group of us each cast on and start knitting a scarf in any manner we like (there are some guidelines) and then every couple of weeks we mail the scarf in progress to the next person. After it is knitted on by everyone participating, the scarf you started comes back to you, and you are now the proud owner of a good mojo Red Sox scarf that has been a-travelin'. So. The first "scarf" I have received from Christine is the one she will end up with. She lives in Kansas City, but in reality, she is from New England, and a displaced Sox fan (though the Cardinals have Chris Carpenter, from Londonderry, NH, so that at least is something! ). So. I decided that since Christine is not likely to have a chance to bring her scarf to Fenway Park anytime soon, it only seemed right that since I had to go to Cambridge anyway, that her scarf go and visit Fenway!
I pulled over on Lansdowne St. (it was FREEZING) and I see this woman walk by my car, with a camera, and proceed to take pictures. I walked over and asked her if she would mind taking my picture, with the Fenway sign in view, and then I pull out the scarf. She turned out to be a charming British gal. I asked her if she was a Sox fan and she most certainly was!! She graciously took a couple of pics. I walked around a bit, and then back to the car - did I mention how cold it was? I circled around to Yawkey Way and tried to get a pic of the Fenway Park stone entrance, but it was too dark by then. I did get some awesome pics of the Citgo sign though, and these were from inside my car!
It was so weird to be there on the empty streets. I keep picturing a sunny warm afternoon where the sidewalks and streets are just burting with life. Soon...

Touchdown Jesus!

If you've ever heard me utter those words*, here is the inspiration!

*no disrespect meant to my Christian friends

Good News, Fingers Crossed...

"A baseball source tells The Boston Globe that the Red Sox have made a contract offer to the veteran catcher and team captain. Without citing specifics, the report states the proposal given to Varitek's agent, Scott Boras, may include a second guaranteed season."


insert happy dance here.

and later today, I shall be making a pilgrimage - details on that later...

Checking In

Yeah, yeah...I missed you too. I've thought about you alot, I really have, and I would have all these great things to say, but then life would get busy, or I'd be tired, or want to do other things...I know! You probably don't even come visit anymore do you, because I am never here!

Life's good. No complaints. A pretty good balance of work, fun and leisure. I'm grateful to have a job and I'm not going to complain, even though I could. Been feeling these little nagging thoughts that say "what about doing something for a living that makes a difference in the world?", so I am starting to have that conversation.

Holidays were fun, over so fast! But, that means baseball is coming and I can't wait!! Knitting is still happening, and one of these days I will post some pics.

For now, I will leave you with these, and I promise I'll be around more often!

I wish Rusty could just RELAX!!

Nubble Light, York Maine

Late December Beach Day and yes, my feets went in the water!



Working at home with Zuni's help.

Heartbreaking...

I'm dealing with the loss. We had a good year, alot of injuries, we had our great moments, and the Rays earned the title, we made 'em fight for it. And just like that, it's over. Another season. My constant companion since March, gone, left town, see ya in March. And I can deal with that. It will be a strange few nights, but my thoughts will turn to trades and looking ahead to the 2009 team. But this. This I cannot even think about. Tek. He is my guy. And he is a free agent. It's a very short clip. It makes me sad...

The Great Pumpkin Pie Bake-off of 2008 Part 1

This is the one thing from my childhood that I will not part with. It's a sifter that has seen better days, for sure!

My mom was a terrible cook. Thank god we were a "meat and potatoes" family, for the most part, and that, combined with frozen veggies and rice, got us by. I never even knew what garlic was until I left home. I know!!!

But the one thing my mom was good at was baking cakes. And a few other desserty things, but it was the cakes that we always did together. There were two things that were my job. The sifting of the dry ingredients, and the coveted batter remains after the cake pan was filled. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but trust me, this was the one thing we managed to connect with , no matter what else. My mom and I, well, on a good day, we were miles apart. But the baking, that was special.

Then there was my gram, my mom's mother. That woman could bake. She got by in the cooking department (she and I would never agree on the definition of "rare" when it came to meat. To gram , it meant "cook the ass off it". But the baking more than made up for that. I was fortunate enough that she always lived within walking distance of our house. And I was also fortunate enough that I could show up there anytime, no need to call ahead, and I could stay as long as I wanted, which was often days that turned into weeks until finally the phone would ring and I was told I ought to go home. (But I thought I already WAS home). And there was always pie at her house. Always. Honestly, I can't ever remember showing up at her house and there not being at least 2 kinds of pie for the choosing. My favorites were apple and pumpkin. Especially in the fall, because the apples were the freshest and the pumpkin was in season.

Fast forward to Fall 2008. We got 2 sugar pumpkins from the CSA. I offered to take them both and transform them into pie and roasted seeds (the first handfull of which I am munching on right now - yum!). Yesterday I roasted the pumpkins in the oven, and made pumpkin puree to use in the pies.

The first pie has been baked. It is the tried and true recipe I have always used, from the back of the One Pie can. Since I was using fresh pumpkin and not canned, I decreased the evaporated milk to 10 oz. It's out of the oven, and still cooling, but the little itty bitty piece I snuck tastes AMAZING!!!

I had some help though. The pie making thing? Yeah, that comes from my gram. And the sifter? I know not where it came from, if it was something handed down to my mom, or something she acquired. What does matter is that for a little while tonight, 3 generations gathered in my kitchen and created some pumpkin goodness. And I wonder - how might all of our lives have been transformed if but for one afternoon the 3 of us had gathered for some serious pie-making way back then? That I will never know. I do know that I have lots of pie-making and pie-savoring moments to treasure of me and my gram. And that is good enough.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Bake-off tomorrow night!

The Balance - we findz it...

After arriving at the place I was at yesterday - end of week, once again burned out and exhausted and irritable - and after neglecting to pry myself away from my work yesterday long enough to go enjoy some of the beautiful day with my doggie, I decided that today was going to be all about him.

After a yummy breakfast at Jewell and the Beanstalk with the beautiful Jericka, I came home, changed my shoes, and me and Rusty headed off for an adventure.

Massabesic Lake is a treasure every city should be lucky enough to have. The water I am drinking right now comes from that lake. Of course I can't find the information on-line now, but I remember reading a couple of years ago about the history of how the city had the forethought to buy up all the land in and around the watershed. As a result, it is a wonderful place to enjoy a beautiful day anytime of the year when you don't feel like driving a great distance. I can get there in 10 minutes or less from my house.

Lot's of people bring their dogs there, so I thought Rusty would like going there. We hadn't been there in a long time, but that is another story.

I like it when my mom brings me places. There is so much to sniff here!! I really hope I make alot of friends today.
What was that? You hear it? Maybe it was a deer!

We came to a clearing and found this amazing uprooted tree...


I've never seen ducks here! (maybe 'cuz no one feeds 'em? public water supply and all that...)

No clue what this means, but I thought it was cool!!


We walked way farther than we ever have before. We crossed Rt. 121 in Auburn and came upon this trail.



At this point I put the camera away for a while, as we were leaving the lake. I know there are other trails that go around the lake, but we will save them for another day. We walked for probably a good half hour before we turned around.

I was thirsty, and very happy when we came back to this little stream. My mom let me go in and it felt really good.


This was the view downstream from Rusty's drink.


I have lived in New England my whole life. Believe it or not, I have never taken foliage pictures. This the first fall EVER, in my whole LIFE that I have loved - yes, that's right - LOVED fall. That little sunlamp thing has made a huge difference in me. Even my brother says he can't believe the difference. Seriously, it's as though I am experiencing fall for the first time in my life and it just takes my breath away. I am grateful.



At long last - friends!!


What a great fall day. We just got wrapped up in beauty for a couple of hours. I even left the phone in the car!

and the greatest of these is love...

The balance thing. I'm not quite there yet. I'm better. But, here it is Friday night and I am wiped. Too pooped to, once again, go to knitting. I'll get there. I need to learn to let the workload slide a bit. I'll get there.

So tonight I did go out to go to the grocery store. And, since I was glued to my chair working all day and didn't even take a time out for some Rusty fun, I decided to take him "shopping" too. First we went for his after dinner walk. I stopped to talk to my friend Scott, hadn't seen him in a while, and he hasn't been having an easy time of it. So Rusty played with their dogs and we had a nice chat. Came home and we piled in the car and went off to Rusty's favorite store, Pawsitive Pet Nutrition on Candia Rd. I didn't need anything, just felt like visiting my friend Gail who owns the business and spoils Rusty rotten. Had a nice visit with her. Left and realized I did not have the wallet with me, so had to come all the way home, then back out to the store.

I overheard something in the store tonight. Maybe it was just being so damn tired that made me have to really fight not to cry. Or maybe it is just the general energy on the planet right now making me more sensitive. Anyway...this group of people were talking in the grocery store. They were standing in a kind of in the way place - right where the meat counter starts - but people still managed to get by. Anyway, there was an older man in a wheel chair, a woman pushing the wheel chair, and another older woman talking to them. I heard woman #1 explaining that "he has dementia now and is in the wheelchair all the time.". I assumed she was his caretaker and just went on my way. You know, in that almost semi-conscious way we have of taking in a snippet around us, assigning it a story, and moving on. I made my way up and down the aisles and they were still there talking. And then I over heard woman #1 say "what else am I gonna do, he's my husband and I love him." And those words followed me around for quite a while. They just touched on something deep in my heart. Perhaps it was the heartfelt sincerity they were spoken with. Perhaps it was the look in his eyes when I walked by them again and smiled. I hope he is aware of how loved he is. And I'm also glad to know that in this upside down world I live in, that they have each other.
I think I must be pmsing.
Another hour til baseball. And it's the weekend. Boy, do I need the weekend. Breakfast with a dear friend tomorrow, drinks with another Sunday night, and in between lots of fresh air, Rusty and Zuni time, and exercise!!!

I'm over it...

I just can't stand the corporate world. I'm very unhappy there. Love my job, love what I'm doing, but I do not belong in the corporate world. I've never worked for a large public corporation. I've always worked for smaller, privately owned companies. You wouldn't think there is that much of a difference, but let me tell you, for me anyway, there is.

I can't talk specifically about where I work, or what is going on there. And truthfully, it's not a bad situation. It's just not me.

I had this realization today. I chose to work from home. At home, I can just put my head down and do my work and not rub up against the corporate thing. I just don't care about org charts and mergers and metrics and buzz words.

So earlier this afternoon I took the dogs outside and I brought my spindle and some roving. It was a bit windy out, not too bad, and it felt nice just sitting in the sun. This spinning thing is kinda frustrating for me. I don't get the drafting thing. I don't know which hand is supposed to do what, which hand actually pulls out the fibers, and then there is my tendency to clamp down on the fiber to much and that makes it hard to draft. I think I might have found the drafting triangle. And so on this went for about 30 minutes. I'd get it for a little bit, then it would all go to hell again. The thing I really like about spinning on the spindle though, is that I think about things I wouldn't normally think about. I thought about how nice it would be to be sitting out in the sun in the country somewhere near a field and a lake with no sounds of civilization. No sound of cars, no planes. Just me and the sun and nature sounds. And I thought, well that's something I can easily make happen. Then I got to thinking about the spinning itself and I thought that 200 years ago that a woman much like me took a break from her chores and sat out in the sun in her dooryard spinning on a spindle. And that brought me back to the absolute one thing I would give anything to be able to do. And that is, boys and girls, have a farm. Seriously. If I had the money and the skills, I'd do it. If I had the money to BUY the skills, I'd do it. And I've been thinking about it the rest of the day. How it makes me feel when I think about that as a lifestyle, and how right it feels to me. And who's to say it can't happen? I believe in the law of attraction and that anything is possible. The only thing really standing in my way are my own self-imposed limitations and fears. In my heart I know that this would be right work for me. So universe - show me the way, I'm paying attention.

See, you never really know where .5 oz. of roving and a spindle may take you. I liked today's journey, and it is a good reminder for me to create more of these little moments in my days.

Substitute Blog Post*

*The title originally planned for this space was "Red Sox Take Back First Place in the AL East". You know what they say about plans. I didn't even stick around for the post game - something I always watch because I love hearing Tito answering the media, especially when they ask him stupid questions. Nope, last night the TV was off before they could say "stay tuned for Tom Caron and Extra Innings".

So it's a good thing I have a back-up plan. For some unknown reason, I decided I needed to take a ton of pictures last night to put up on Ravelry. Well, the ton ended up being a dozen or so...and they haven't made it to Ravelry yet...but it made me realize how little knitting really was accomplished this summer!! Anyway, here is some rare fiber porn for your enjoyment...

This is the Lisha Lace Scarf, designed by my friend Gina. I absolutely love this pattern, and the yummy yarn I am knitting it up in makes it even more pleasurable. It is Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere.
Next is the Monkey Sock ( it does have a partner) done in Spunky Eclectic's Skinny Sock in the Peacock Colorway.
Love the pattern, the yarn is soooooo soft..but...they are a little big, especially in the heel. I am hoping they will still be comfortable to wear though.

This is the Cascading Leaves sock, my third time doing this pattern, and the yarn is Knit Picks Essential Tweed. I love this yarn, this is my third pair of socks knit in Essential.

This is my favorite yarn buy from the summer. Purchased at the New Boston Farmer's Market. It is handspun Corridale and the dark colorway is from a sheep named Corey!
This will become a hat and mittens for a gift!

Finally, I have been slowly learning how to spin my own yarn with a spindle. The spindle is a new purchase, it is a Cascade spindle, and I love it. I finally gave up on using my crap roving to learn on and have moved on to the good stuff. This is also from Spunky, more Corriedale, in the Mahogany colorway. I have made peace that it will be thick and thin homespun and I'm sure I will come up with something wonderful to make once I get it done.
So, that's it on the knitting front for now. I'm hoping to finish up the socks I have in progress (I also have a pair of Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn that I am knitting in the Oak Ribbed sock pattern from Vintage Sock Knitting by Nancy Bush.

What a gas...

I find it so interesting that as soon as the new announces that the price per barrel oil price has risen that the price at the pumps, overNIGHT increases. Yet lately we have had many, MANY announcements that the price per barrel has gone down...yet the prices at the pump do not reflect this. Case in point, from my local news station:

Oil Price Decline Takes Time To Reach Gas Pump

Gas Prices Still Higher Than Last Time Oil Was As Cheap

The price of a barrel of crude oil has continued to slide, but many drivers are wondering when those savings will trickle down to the pump.Crude oil slipped to $92 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest it has been since last November. At that time, gas cost about $3 per gallon. But now, it's about 50 cents higher.

Loose Ends...

Having one of those nights when I just can't figure out what I feel like doing with myself!! There is a list a mile long of things that need doing, like cleaning, dishes, coloring my hair...nope, not happenin'. There is this other list of things I like doing like knitting, spinning, surfin', watchin' tv or a movie - nope, don't feel like any of those either. I KNOW - knitting?!? I am always knitting!! Just feeling a little out of sorts for no particular reason. Maybe I will go curl up with a book. No baseball tonight, can ya tell??

It all comes back to that balance thing. I am realizing that I come home from work every day and I'm not really taking enough "me" time. In a way tonight has been good. I spent some time hanging out with the dogs and writing in my new journal. Then Lisa and Rico came by and we took the dogs for a walk. Sabre is spending the night as her dad is out of town for the night on business. She is very content up here. And there was ice cream.

Not complaining. It's always a hard time of year for me, this transition from summer to fall. Feel like I didn't get enough summer, you know? And yet, I do love fall. Just not for another few weeks, until I see the leaves turning and start digging out my favorite snuggly warm clothes and I love being outside in the fall...

I'm rambling. I miss my kitty, she is spending the night at the vet as she was spayed today and I felt awful bringing her there!!

Gameday Grape

Yesterday, before TS Hannah came to visit, I visited the grapevine in my backyard...


This approximately 1 pound of Concord Grapes
This approximately 3.5 pounds of Concord grapes.


This is the remaining poundage...
This is the bath...

These are 16 jars of Gameday Grape Jelly. Why Gameday? Because, aside from the picking of the grapes, everything else was accomplished while the Pats beat KC 17 - 10 and the Sox beat the Rangers 7 - 2. I also learned that I can stir a pot of jelly stuff and., as long as I remember to bring the remote to the kitchen, I can keep up with the games. There is enough juice in my fridge to make one more batch of 8 jars tomorrow night as long as I remember to pick up another package of pectin.


This is the most fun I have had gettin hot 'n sticky as a single person EVER!!

Out of balance...

That is how I am feeling tonight. And for a while now, though I hadn't really taken the time to think about how I've been feeling. Today was my last day of work and I am about to start vacation. My mind is still at work though, and I feel wound very tightly. Normally I am really good about separating work from home. The past month or more I have not succeeded at this. I take alot of pride in the work I do. When it is expected that I perform A, B & C by a certain date, and then they toss in D, E, and F, I will do what it takes to accomplish what needs to be done, because we do have deadlines and if things aren't done in time, it affects everyone else. Unfortunately, some of my coworkers do not share that belief. They instead complain that there is SOOOOO much work to do, and they spend time making excuses as to why they are not getting the work they are assigned done. It makes more work for everyone. Now, I don't mind doing more than my fair share of the work. I do mind though when I have planned out my time a month in advance, and said co-workers repeatedly don't get their work done, and I end up either doing some of their work, or not having enough time to do the final testing in the manner it should be done. The other issue is that we have been without a manager since February, there is division in the department, and going to work every day has become kind of like living having to live with your partner after you've decided to part company until one of you finds a place to live. Only you're getting paid to do it. Don't get me wrong - I really do love what I do. I'm just tired of the system that is in place that doesn't work. I'm tired of working with people who complain, make more work than is necessary, have no concept of how to prioritize and basically act like 5th graders. Hopefully a new manager will help. But there is still the issue of the division, and I don't think that can be easily mended. I just want to not think about that place for the next week and work on finding the balance. For starters, I need to stop coming home and logging into work to work some more. And I really, really, really want to be able to just move out of the office and work from home full time.
So, here's to a much needed vacation. I'm heading to Maine in the morning and then back to NH Wednesday. Not a whole lot planned, my brother is on vacation as well, and then next weekend is getting the kid ready to go back to school...I am craving a few days to myself to do absolutely nothing. I have a big chunk of time off at the end of the year and am definitely scheduling at least a 4 day stretch to myself. But that is months away. I will have to plan a 3 day weekend in the meantime.
Time to find the balance between work and play, activity and rest!

You can dance...

Went and saw Mama Mia at Chunky's tonight.

Meryl Streep can sing!! And she looks sooooooo hot in the overalls. And then she adds the toolbelt and the power tools...swoooooon!! OK, I admit it. I have always had a thing for Ms. Streep. I kinda forgot about it though. Then I heard about Mamma Mia and thought, yeah, I don't think so. Then I heard Meryl Streep was in it and I watched the trailer. Hmmmm...maybe I should check it out. So, off I went to meet up with the ManchVegas Knitters. The first 5 minutes I'm thinking - sigh - this is going to be one of those musicals that bore me to tears. After those 5 minutes? That there movie picked me up and took me on a feel good ride that had me smiling the whole way through. Yes, it is pure fluff. The story is simple and it is a pure escape from reality. Go see it. I'm going again, you can go with me!

I shouldn't be up. It's late. But I came home and worked for a while. I need to stop doing that!!

p.s. don't beleive a word Laurin says, I behaved myself the entire evening!!!