Abiding...

It's official...

I'm old. This morning instead of wearing the very pretty, sexy shoes that matched my outfit, I chose the comfortable, boring ones. I've been dreading this day.

The new me

I have no idea where the past three (or was it four) weeks have gone. Sheesh. I thought once the kids were grown up life would slow down. Well, it hasn't. I'm happy about that. I much rather be busy than sitting home wishing the clock would start going backwards.

Both of the older boys were home on Spring Break recently. That was great! We took a few days and traveled to Clemson to take Jordan back to school. The trip was short but a lot of fun. I found out that neither Ben or Jordan are going to be home for the summer. They're going to spend the summer at Penn State working and taking classes. I understand why they want to do that but it's still hard to fathom them not coming home. After their breaks when they had both returned to school, Jacob asked me when we would all be together again. I couldn't answer him. That's sad. Very, very sad.

Let's see what else has been going on? Oh the play! It went very well and I loved doing it. I loved it so much that I auditioned this week for another one. I found out yesterday that I got the part. It's a much bigger part than the first play. There are only two characters in this one. I play the part of a very uptight, fuddy duddy who meets a man who is, well...rough around the edges. At one point he refers to me as "Miss Repressed Virgin 2008". In my attempt to convince him that I'm not worthy of that title, I stand in the middle of the stage and do a very loud and obnoxious chimpanzee imitation. Good times for sure!

Here's my new look:

I hope you like it.

*UPDATE - I can't believe I forgot to mention the new kitchen. That thing took MUCH more time and work (and of course money) than I thought it would. I'll post some pictures soon.

Hectic times

There's not much blogging going on for me this week. Life is a little hectic right now...hectic, but fun. We're in the middle of our kitchen makeover which is much more work than we ever thought it would be. I know...I should have realized. I'll post some pictures once it's done. I think it's going to look fantastic. Jeff and I are also in a play that's being produced by our local Community Theater group. We're having a great time but it's also very time consuming. The play is "The Outsiders". It's based on this novel,

In our spare time we're trying to work. I know work should probably come first. Don't tell anyone.

So much for a plan

Jeff and I woke up Saturday morning and decided to go shopping for a new refrigerator; something we had been planning for a while. You would think that would be a fairly simple task but we have a tendency to complicate things. By the time we left the store we had purchased:

This...

And this...

And this...

And last but not least this handy little microwave/convection oven to go above the range...

So much for having a plan. When we got home we began looking at our kitchen and decided that our cabinets would look much better with the new appliances if we painted them. So, we did a little research on colors and then headed to the paint store. We have a large kitchen with a lot of cabinets. Painting them is no small task. Once we started painting we realized that the color of the walls would look better if they were different. Again, we have a large kitchen with a lot of cabinets AND a lot of wall space which means this is also no small task. A couple of hours later the light bulbs started flashing again. In an effort to be brief let me say that the next bright idea is going to involve a carpenter moving this cabinet there and changing this and that portion of counter top. Hopefully he'll be able to do this task by the end of the week since the appliances are being delivered next week. All of these bright ideas have left our kitchen in a huge mess. I think I'll take a few pictures tonight to be able to compare the before and after. With any luck the after will look like the vision Jeff and I see in our minds. At least we're both seeing the same thing. At least I think we are. Who knows, maybe we'll end up with a line drawn down the middle of the kitchen with one side being mine and the other side his. As long as he ends up with the side that has both the sink and the dishwasher, I'll  be happy.       

No more complaining

I spend a lot of time complaining about winter. The cold, the snow, the lack of daylight hours. Here in the Northeast winter lasts a very long time. There are years when it arrives in October and doesn't depart until April. Ugh. I decided last year that it was time to stop whining and instead use my energy to start enjoying this very long season. Before the kids came along we used to ski. Jeff loved it. I tolerated it. When the kids were young we spent a lot of time sled riding. We all had such a great time and as an added bonus after a day of sledding everyone would be exhausted and fall asleep early. Any parent of young children knows what a blessing that is! Now that the kids are grown up we don't have anyone to take sled riding. Except for ourselves that is. Here's a short video clip of one of last year's sledding adventures:

 

This past weekend was the annual Winterfest event here where we live. We were able to grab out sleds and join in on the fun.

We had a great time but I did notice something. When the kids were little and we went sledding with them our focus at the end of the day was getting home, feeding them and putting them to bed. Now, when we're done sled riding, our focus is seeing who can be the first to grab this:

I'm not going to complain but my how times have changed.

Slop storm

When I did my snow dance, I think God somehow thought I was doing a slop dance. Today's weather has been ugly. Very, very ugly. I wonder what this says about my dancing?

Blown away...literally

I was literally blown off my feet this morning. Wind is impressive but I want a BIG, HUGE snow storm. We haven't had a good one all winter and I'm feeling deprived.

I think I'm going to take the afternoon off and spend time doing my snow dance.

Even when I'm an idiot...

Over the past few years I have relaxed about a lot of things.  I used to be one up-tight person. It's been a very welcomed relief to be able to gear things down a notch or two. There is however one area where I still tend to be a wound a little tight. That area is having a clean house. I like things to be clean and orderly. I just function better that way. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I do tend to become a little abnormal though when it comes to having people over to my house. I want things to be exceptionally clean when I know I'm getting company. I'd like to get past this because it makes it hard to actually enjoy company when you're so consumed with having things perfect. I'm working on it. Unfortunately something happened this weekend that has negated any success I've made in this area. Allow me to share the details:

I have a very good memory. I seldom forget things...especially when it involves someone relying on me. I have a group of friends who I greatly enjoy spending time with. Once a month we get together for "movie night". Last month I volunteered to host the January get-together. Someone else was coordinating the details via email. There was a lot of back and forth communication about the time, the food, the directions, etc. In my mind, movie night was the last Saturday in January which is next weekend. Right? The 26th of January. NEXT Saturday night. Clear as can be. WRONG. Jeff and I went to the mall on Saturday. We saw the movie Juno (which was wonderful!) and then did some shopping. I was standing in the middle of my favorite store when my son called. Jeff answered the phone and immediately appeared to be confused. He looked at me and said, "Movie night!” I said, "No, no...That’s next weekend". He said, "Well, there are people at the house right now." It was like time stood still. All of a sudden I realized that I was wrong. The 26th was that day. There were people at my house and not only did I not spending hours and hours cleaning, I wasn't even there. I was an hour away. The house was actually in very good shape but I was still in a panic. I couldn't believe I had been so WRONG. So very, very wrong.

The night ended up working out fine. This is why I like this group of people so much. They are wonderfully kind and exceptionally forgiving. They simply moved the party to someone else's home. Jeff and I flew back to Wellsboro and picked up a lot of food to offer as a peace offering...not that it was needed; it simply helped me feel a little better. They have even agreed to give me another chance to host next month. Imagine that!

I'm not sure what this whole debacle says about me. Maybe I'm getting old and my memory is going? Maybe I didn't want to admit that my son turned 21 on the 21st of January so in my mind the 21st hadn't happened yet? What's more likely is that I needed to be reminded that people can actually like me even when I'm an idiot.

I'm on a roll!

Two posts in two days. Wonders really never do cease. Now for an update:

The holidays were absolutely wonderful. All of the kids were home. Jeff and I took two weeks off from work. It just couldn't have been any better. We did a whole lot of nothing which was great. There was a day when doing nothing was not possible for me. I had to have an unrealistic list (or two or three)of things that had to be accomplished each day so I'd have something to beat myself up over at the end of the day. This was a list free vacation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I'm on to something!

I've been enjoying running, exercising, and cooking. I just purchased this and it's kicking my butt big time:

I'm hoping to do a triathlon this summer with Jeff. Hopefully I'll be able to move by then. Right now my muscles are revolting. I'm in fairly good shape but this P90X...it should come with a huge bottle of Advil.

Let's see...what else? My oldest son turned 21 this week. I found that to be both a joyful and painful occasion. He's became such a great young man. That's the joyful part. The pain part...one can't be a man and and a little boy at the same time. (I know that point could be argued!) In two years, all four of my children will be in their 20's. I know I've whined a lot here about the fact that my children are growing up. Don't expect it to stop anytime soon. (The whining that is, not the growing up.)

I suppose I shouldn't over do it. I need to gently work my way back into this blogging thing. It does feel good to be back.

I think I'll sing and dance

I've been away all week on a work related trip. I just returned home a few minutes ago. The first thing my son wanted to tell me about was the following video. Watch it...you'll be glad you did.