New Hampshire

I am dreaming about New Hampshire now.....

I got a comment from my smart ass friend Fooseberry and now I can't stop thinking about going to New Hampshire. I absolutely love it up north, and she knows it.

Our family friends own a "cabin" in New Hampshire ( I say cabin but it's actually a house)

I've been going up there since I was 17 years old. Back then it was me, Susan and Lisa. It was always an adventure. I couldn't even get into some of the scandals that went on there, but we always had something to talk about after we got home. Lisa and Susan tolerated each other most of the time but they had some moments that I thought they were going for blood, and that left me running interference the entire weekend. Good thing there was plenty of liquor up there. Then the boyfriends came up. And there were fights and pissy attitudes and drama. Then we got it together, Lisa moved away and we all got married. I think the best part is that I got to get married there. I can't believe now I'm going to be bringing my daughter there...Time sure flies.

DANCING IN THE RAIN

Is it Friday yet???
I have been waiting for this weekend and dreaming of this weekend for half a month. The fact is I have NO plans!! I am just going to go with the flow and enjoy having no where to be and nothing to do ( except a million home projects but they don't count) We have no company coming, no parties to attend, no appointments to keep....aaah heaven!
My job has been really getting to me lately. We have a girl out on FMLA right now and I'm getting PORKED with all her work. I'm not really liking it, there's not much I can do about it and it doesn't look like she's coming back right away so I guess I'm stuck.
I spent 45 minutes ranting about my job to my husband last night and that's not like me. I'm so frustrated with the whole situation. I love my job when I can do MY job and not my job AND someone else's.
I need a vacation. I mean a real vacation...where I DON'T have to help my mother move or I'm not on Maternity leave running back and forth to Boston and trying to heal from an emergency C-section, a vacation where I can actually recharge and get a fresh perspective. Unfortunately I don't see anything like that coming my way any time soon.
I think I need to sit and draw more. I defiantly need to draw more...but when? Maybe this weekend I can talk Henri into taking Carlie and disappearing for a few hours while I sit and decompress with some paper and my favorite pencil. Having time to draw is like meditation to me. I can sit and draw and hours slip away without notice. Inspiration...That's what I need. I haven't been really inspired to draw something in so long it's ridiculous. Maybe I'll work on getting inspired today. I recently discovered a saying that I promptly posted at my desk at work. "It's not about making it through the storm, It's about learning to dance in the rain."
So today I'm gonna dance.

REMISSION!!!!

REMISSION!!! Mom got the news a couple of weeks ago. Her doctors are amazed at how well she tolerated chemo and at the fact that it worked so fast.

The following week she got a blood clot in her leg....life is a roller coaster huh??

Henri and I have been working on cleaning out some of the accumulated CRAP we seem to have compiled over the past 6 years that we've been in this house. How does it happen? I remember walking into this house completely empty and thinking...I'm never going to have enough stuff to fill all this space.....HA HA HA HA HA!!!!.... Oh how foolish.

I took 3 bags of old clothes and shoes out of the bedroom. We tore up the rug and rearranged the furniture a little. What a difference. NEXT is the basement (cue creepy music)

My daughter had her final evaluation by early intervention this week and has been labeled a perfectly normal child. Sweetest words anyone ever said to us. She comes up with a new word about every day which thrills us to no end, except the occasional swear...I really have no idea where she would hear words like that. Probably cable.

We had a death in the family....Bubbles got the Ick and died a week ago. Carlie hasn't seemed to notice and were on the fence about getting another fish or not. I asked about bereavement days but my boss thought I was joking.... go figure.

WE WENT TO THE FAIR!!!

For as far back as I can remember, my Mom has taken me to the fair. It was always the highlight of my summer. I loved the animals, the crafts, the smells, the people....I just love the fair. We almost always had an entry in some category or another. Mostly Chickens, ducks one year and rabbits a few times. We won a few, but mostly it was just being part of the fair that was the most important part for us. I remember one year we entered my rooster"Brandon" and my father "hypnotized" him by holding him upside down and gently stroking his throat and chest. He drew a crowd and the rooster was sound asleep. I thought I had the coolest Dad. I remember entering our Basset hound "Angel" in the dog show and winning first place. When I turned 12 I could volunteer and I did...every year in the chick hatching exhibit. I used to get such a kick out of handing kids the little balls of fluffy just hatched chicks, I loved answering questions about egg hatching and incubating and taking care of the newly hatched chicks.

Then I turned into a teenager...That was the end of my volunteering for a while. I would rather go to the carnival with my friends and "hang out", not be stuck in one place all day. When I was in my 20's I volunteered again for a few years but that was about it. I found other things to do and my allegiance to the fair started to fade. I skipped a few years, it's been sporadic ever since. But last night we went to the fair with Carlie....It was like seeing the fair for the first time all over again! Henri and I made a mad dash for the farm animals. We whisked her in to see the cows , the sheep, the turkeys....and she was TERRIFIED of all. NOT what I was anticipating. Oh well... maybe next year. She did hold a chick, but it was so F#$%^ing hot in there it was almost impossible to breathe. She did say "MOOOO" alot for the rest of the night, so I think she might have enjoyed the cows despite her reaction. We had "fair food" for dinner, Italian ice, fried dough, potato pancakes and a deep fried Twinkies. I wanted to get her a huge cotton candy but forgot as we made our way to the carnival side of the fair. I don't think I have ever seen so many people at the fair at one time. It was RIDICULOUS!!! It was going on 8:30pm, way past bedtime, hotter than hell and crowded loud and obnoxious. We had enough. Henri and I couldn't get to our car fast enough. both of us were dripping with sweat, it was so bad. In the end we decided it was a good time, but we were both glad it only comes once a year.