Weekend Highlights

Since last Thursday night until yesterday, my mother was visiting. With J's program and E's talent show night on Saturday night, it was a good weekend for her to visit. She vegged which she needed to do and if I had known she was prepared to do some work for me I might not have cleaned and washed as thoroughly. Other wise our weekend was quiet with some shopping on Saturday and the talent show Saturday.

E did a terrific job playing her guitar and singing Counting Crows "A Long December". She has a sweet, low voice and I was really proud even if she only sang it to 12 people. Yeah, it wasn't the best attended talent show in the history of the Tri-M club. Blah.

Rain, rain, rain. Flooding, flooding, flooding. Achievement test, achievement test, achievement test. On a bright note it's 60 degrees and climbing to 70 and all my little seedlings of spinach, green onions, mache`, beets, lettuce blend, sweet basil, oregano, and parsley are poking up. My fern roots and cannas I planted up in pots are peeking out too. All the bushes , trees and bulbs are blooming, budding and otherwise making a butt-load of happy for me. That's my botanical comment for the day.

Hope my number of visitor AND commenters will increase as my self-esteem is directly associated with the visits. You all KNOW that!

An International Evening

Dad with E and J after the presentations...all 41 of them..

I was really proud of J. He wasn't nervous in the least and showed a fair amount of poise. Must not be my child...

The illustrious cookies- none were left.

J with his board. He was much more particular than I supposed he would be. It was very neat and precise for my boy.

During J's PowerPoint.

The Sixth grade gang.

We have from left to right, Japan, Philippines, Greece, Egypt, Georgia, and Tanzania.

A Quickie

Spent yesterday at home due to tremendous head pressure, sneezing and all the bad stuff associated with those maladies. This morning I feel much better, thanks. No need to call the paramedics.



Tonight my mother will be arriving and J is presenting his nation, the Philippines, at The Night of the Nations along with the other 25 kids in the gifted program. All the kids do a PowerPoint presentation, prepare a tri-fold board with info on their country and serve a regional food. J researched Filipino and let's just say we choose something American instead. No-Bake chocolate cookies are now- TA-DA! "Mt Pinatubo Cookies". Pics later.

I went to speak with the guy that purchased the local apple/peach orchard . He called asking me to talk about some of the projects he was starting, namely building a restaurant inside the apple packing house, starting a truck garden and about the orchard and vineyard. He told me about the amazing lack of respectable, earnest workers he has experienced with relation to this undertaking.
We discussed the possible gardening aspect of the business, about his ideas to have an area adjacent to the building designed for outdoor events (weddings, reunions) and a remote events area amongst the apple trees, a micro winery possibility and his ideas on selling of produce from the garden.
He already has a successful restaurant business which will be what moves to the new building.
He knows what he is talking about. He just needs some help with the right contacts.

I'll be posting more on this as I have some wild and crazy notions. I spent sleepless hours after talking to him trying to sort some out. I thought it was the decongestant at the time.

Later: I've just walked from the Kindergarten building to my office through a shortcut outside and it is 75 degrees at the very least! This is exactly how we lost the state's crops of strawberries, peaches, pears, and many other crops last year. Along came 20 degree weather for a week and killed all the blooms.
Things have popped out in just 3 days of warmth around here. I have my fingers crossed there will no frigid weather.

Head feels like a balloon. Decongestant ingested and waiting for it to work. Blah...

The start of testing has been moved back a week due to so many days out of school for weather. The teachers feel we would benefit from putting it off. I guess I like the idea. I can't get too excited one way or another.

I'll be back later with more tantalizing details of...I'll think of something.

Here Comes the Sun

I had help from this new friend...









doing this....

I feel lots better.

Fairy Tale

Fairy Tale

One day, long, long ago, there was this woman who surprisingly, did not whine, nag or bitch........




But it was a long time ago.....
...and it was just the ONE day.


The End

A Tale

I went searching for them, the glossy black ones. I yearned for the comfort they would afford me as they served as a barrier, preventing me from exposing too much of myself to the world. Their high black smoothness would hide me like no other could while helping me with the fantasy.

I saw them, sitting high on a shelf surrounded by other eye-catching extreme fashion statements. As I reached for the pair that would do, it was as if they could read my intent from my bright eyes and fairly leaned out toward my outstretched hands. I gently set them on the desk and paid the high price for my dreams. Now, as I walk out with them in my cozy grip, I start to quiver with anticipation....

---

That's right...MUDDERS!

Time for another sump pump. It looks like 2 years is all I can expect out of one before problems occur. I won't bore you but this is an ongoing fight for dominance in this house. Me or the sump pump. I intend to win but it sure does test my fortitude.
Rain and flooding here in a major way. I haven't had anything pumping out water for 12 hours. I wonder what will short out first when the tide rises to greet the utilities. It's a race to see if I can get to the hardware store and replace the old one in time. (Too bad it wasn't evident the thing wasn't going to work until last evening.)

Next I'm calling a civil engineer.

Cheers!

#1 daughter has the flu.....Ack.

I'm Putting on More Green(Y) Than Usual

Thigs often get out of hand here in the U.S. on St.Pat's but can you imagine being here?

Anyone care to tell their inevitable St. Patty's Day pub crawl story?

You first.

Saturday's Project

Even though it was 40 degrees, yesterday I spent the afternoon working by myself here at the farm. This is the setting for the gardening venture Andrea and I have set out on.

This house is over 100 years old and the homestead of Andrea's MIL. She and Jeff lived here until they built a log home just down the drive from where the bottom photo is shot. It needs bu coos of work. It may serve eventually as the sales building and perhaps canning and processing of veggies for sale. It's far in the future and things have already morphed in different directions since we started thinking about this.


This is directly behind the house to the west. Some of those trees in the yard, just yucky silver maples are going. I am not one to cut down trees willy-nilly but these have to go to make room for fruit trees and asparagus beds.







The wad of tree sprouts, also silver maples directly over the top of these chair is what I worked cutting down although the three largest ones were in the fence line and no matter what way I was going to saw, they were going to fall on the grapes trellised so I left them for now. They will have to come out since we are adding more grapes in there. Note the decrepid outhouse covered in ivy.


This big expanse of lawn that is present in all pics was once the garden area so it should (fingers crossed) be fairly good dirt. I'll get a soil sample today. This is where the raised beds and blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are going in.



To the left across the drive is another piece of lawn that could eventually hold a high tunnel with strawberries. Not sure yet if it's feasible since the woods encroach a bit.

Today looks to be a very nice day with sunshine and temps in the 60's. Yay!

Whoa, DUDE! I just spent a half hour reading some of my old posts and man, was I happier then or what? Saying things like "CHEERS" at the end of a post and "find your enjoyment where you can" and crap like that.
Hehe. I am happy, just worried a lot and my expectations are maybe a wee too high for my own good. Wouldn't it be so wonderful if we could limit our worry when we really needed to? I mean without having to consume pleasing amounts of alcohol?
Wow, really the only worry I continually deal with is my children. I know you all do too. I do feel alone in this although I think their dad is doing a bang-up job stepping up. I wasn't sure about him a while back. And I feel certain if I needed more than I ask from him he would be there as would his parents who love the crud outta these kids. They actually tolerate me pretty well too so that's a plus.
I will, on my honor, be more upbeat and positive in the coming months. I know I was going to look into the spirituality of our/my existence back at the beginning of the new year. I should really do more of that.
And it's easier now that Spring is coming. Maybe I should look into going into suspended animation- you know- the freezing process- during winter and come out of it sometime in Spring. Make sure I get froze be-for Christmas, k? What a load off that would be, eh?

Note to self: Stop watching downer movies like "Pan's Labyrinth" and maybe that sad, cynical mood would dissipate.
Cheers!

Day One

I'm sipping my second cup of coffee of my Spring break. What to do, what to do?
I currently have 5 big bags of potting soil in my car trunk waiting to be potted, spread in a raised bed or otherwise used in a dirty way. However the rain set in overnight (who would have guessed?) so an alternate plan might have to be followed. Gosh, it's so dreary out there (peaking out thru the curtains).
The children are either off with their father (J) or in another town attending a BETA convention (E) . The house is blessedly silent. There will be a time when this will bother me but this isn't it.

I shopped for Easter items after leaving J off with his dad. Does anyone else purchase Beef Jerky for Easter basket stuffing? Poor J. I really have some work to do on him if I want to send him out in the world with any class. Maybe he'll grow out of it or I could just refuse to buy him that horrid stuff. That would ensure he would buy his own stash, though. I'd find beef jerky wrappers under his mattress and under his liner paper of his sock drawer.
I did buy the usual chocolate items- chocolate bunny (solid), chocolate money, Reeses PB cups(slobber), M and Ms in sweet Easter colors, chocolate underwear -SCREECH- whoops, that's mine. And I got E a tub of cocktail peanuts. Come to think of it, I should buy them each a six-pack of beer to go with their snacks.
Ah, that makes me think of my dad who would come in from work and pour enough peanuts to fill the lid of the can and have a beer with them while he waited for supper and I would join him. Those were the first beers I ever had legally in that house. Heehee. My mom would grouse about him spoiling his supper. *Smile *

As you all might have found out, the photos I posted of the ice wave were indeed real photos not of Michigan but in Antarctica. I searched it on snopes and found out the proper info. Blah.
I ended up with over 100 hits to my blog since my post. Most were from Michigan.

Oky doky, time for a biscotti with my last cuppa. And I'm off.
Thanks for joining me for a chat.
Hope your weekend is tremendous.

Coming Clean

I have been posting really lite posts lately, in the "lite beer" vein. Not much substance, something you can't really sink your teeth into or enjoy or take away anything like a buzz from. I of course, know I am popular as a very in-depth conversationist so I apologize for not giving you a "fix" even now.

Things I have been avoiding talking about to any great depth:

• Losing our fabulous elementary principal, 10 years my junior, a personal friend who has turned the school around. I'm really mad at him for taking a job out of the district, leaving us after just 2 years. Of course I realize he owes us less than he owes his personal ambitions. It still feels like he is tossing us aside.
• My daughter and her health/ depression issues. Not sure if it's just hormonal or normal teenage girly issues. This is one place I happen to not have fallen prey too much to so I can't figure out how to help her. I was depressed at this age but I got over it fairly well. I wasn't in any relationships, I didn't have dramatic friendships, I was alone. She has all of those and she feels tired, depressed, out of sorts, angry, sensitive to everything. I work very hard at enforcing a schedule, meals on time (within reason), no extra late nights during the week. Blah! I think it's just being overly stressed but I have a DR's appointment soon for her and J. Her dad was very emotionally challenged during his pubescence as was his sister. They sound like, when I listen to the stories, they might have benefitted from some medicinal help. Both take anti-depressants now. It bears looking into now. But I am reluctant for that for E. And I am not sure I don't enable her to act this way. On the other hand, my mom made it plain she had no time for that nonsense which didn't help me and I don't want to send that message to E.
• School-wide testing coming up. Enough said.
• My job needs and changes. My college transcipts are in my sweaty little palms but I haven't made an appointment to meet an advisor at any university in the city. I hesitate because of the changes inevitable for my kids and me. I don't want to be away from them. I am the only one watching out for them. How can I let that go and move forward? I do love the thought of striking out in the educational arena. I feel stagnant. This is a very multi-dimensional issue.
• Perimenopause...sniff, sniff...crying, wiping tears, laughing hysterically and .....calm....

I'd Pay To See This

Is this not the most amazing thing you've seen in a while?!


An Ice wave from the floor of Lake Huron near Mackinaw Island..... Michigan has had the coldest winter in decades. Water expands to freeze, and at Mackinaw City the water in Lake Huron below the surface ice was supercooled. It expanded to break through the surface ice and froze into this incredible wave. I've seen pictures of this wave phenomena in Antarctica, but in Michigan? Yes, it's been quite a winter!

Cubicle, Sweet Cubicle. What it lacks in space and amenities, it more than makes up for in morning sunlight.

Mornin'

Ahhhh, the bed was so comfy it made it hard to get up this morning. You know that feeling of wonderful sleepiness and ease of falling back asleep. I fell back asleep twice this morning.
Finally I rose and slurped down coffee while I tried to focus my eyes on the stack of to-do's on my place mat and finally found some energy to walk and not stumble outside to a beautiful starry sky with a fingernail moon. The robins greeted me with their arduous peeps.
It's nice to be sleeping more soundly these days.

Meme Time!

Mathman! Yay! Thanks for tagging me! A minimalist memoir. A meme in six words.
Ok, Spring is here and with it the normal amount of people ready to break out and REVEAL! about them selves. I like it. It's quick, sometimes painful but necessary. Memes abound in Spring- have you noticed?

This is the quickest but perhaps most painful reveal of myself because I have to say it all in 6 words.

Do I say stuff in a quick 6 words? Hell no! I am woman -of- many -words-once-I-get-a-glass of -wine-in-me (official Native American title,BTW).

So while I was sipping, I came up with the meme. Here goes...are you ready?

Mostly Mom with giant nature dreams.

Ta-DA!

Really this is not a reveal of my WHOLE life obviously, just a 15 year sampling. I don't know if there are only six words to describe my whole existence.

Now can I managed to get the rest of the meme rules satisfied?

Tagged people which will be folks I haven't read much about and need more info on just for my mental fleshing out (I can't figure out how to make a link with the name, sorry)

Simon http://stmthoughts.blogspot.com/, Windblownbutterflyhttp://ramblingsofawindblownbutterfly.blogspot.com/, lisa p http://www.useyourwisdom.com/, John's son http://davinsorn.wordpress.com/ and John the truckerhttp://longmiles.blogspot.com/.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I started buying a brand of milk that comes in a glass half gallon bottle from our local grocery store. It's produced from cows that don't receive growth hormones or antibiotics, produced just up the road in a small town. Heck, a few of the guys who milk the cows are sons of one of my best friends. It costs $2.49 a tasty half gallon as opposed to the plastic gallon jug at $4.15.
We used to make it a week with our old plastic gallon of milk before we needed more. Guess how long it takes us to finish a half gallon of our yummy happy cow milk? 1 and 1/2 days.
I may buy my own cow.

Again With the Snow And Ice

Ack! Out of school today. Sniff. I'm fighting that feeling of depression very hard. I've got to come up with a plan to keep my spirits high. Maybe some crafting and seed ordering.
The Y is closed if the school is closed so that's not an option. It sure felt good yesterday to work up a sweat on the equipment. Then I came home and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Blah. God, maybe I really do need Geritol, no kidding. That's a depressing thought, for sure.

Why is it on normal school days the kids have to be wedged out of bed with hand tools but on snow days, they get up at the crack of dawn and bug the crap out of me?

Heehee, this still makes me snicker- I'm just that juvenile.








This past weekend while I was at my parent's, I went to see my dad in the nursing home. He laughed and laughed when he saw me which, we assume, means he knew me. I talked about it being time to make a garden and that I would like to go to Ashcraft's store to buy my seed if they were still in business. I talked about what I was going to grow and about the times we made a garden when I was a kid. I talked about taking him for his favorite thing- a ride, which I used to do every time I came home before he went in the nursing home. It's not as much of an option now but I still intend to try it come summer.
Anyway, he laughed and kept pointing to my mouth and chin. Don't know what that was about. He was engaged for a good deal of time. Then we walked around out in the fenced courtyard for his hall. He walks the perimeter like a dog in a fenced.
It was a good visit really. So much of the time, he sleeps. We have to make it during a time he is awake.
My sister has a great deal of trouble bringing herself to go visit Daddy. She IS soft hearted but usually realistic about stuff so her not going to visit him is not like her. I guess she just can't bring herself to see him in this condition. She may get better as time goes but I am afraid if when he gets closer to dying , she will not go then either and then she'll hate herself for missing her chance. Obviously, we haven't communicated about it either. I guess I could ask her about it, huh?
She went weekend before last when I was home. My brother and his family, my sister and brother-in-law, and I went to see him. She just teared up and couldn't talk. My brother and I usually joke around with him saying things like " Daddy, you ready to go hoe some cotton?" to which he replies " I don't want none of that". It's pretty funny because he was always ready to go out and hoe cotton when we were growing up. We were the ones saying we didn't want none of that.

Have a nice Tuesday and remember -

A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.

Wrapped Up

The weekend was superb.
The wedding was lovely. A simple but beautiful ceremony.
The families were intertwined and are on their way.







A sweet warm moment for J.









This was the best of the 5 taken.








Yikes!