SNOW!

This past weekend we went to RI for my niece's bat mitzvah. H even came along. Since he is not Jewish and had not met any of my family, this was really trial by fire for him! My sister really went all out on the bat mitzvah planning. Everything was perfect and beautiful for the 100 or so guests. The luncheon and party afterwards was a lot of fun, complete with a DJ, a kid handler (to make sure all those 13 year olds had the time of their lives) and lots of loud partying and dancing. H got to meet my siblings and several cousins. H was such a sport. Even though I don't think he was feeling great (he had a terrible cold), he was helpful and patient with all the goings on. I think this one is a keeper.

The bat mitzvah was on Saturday. By the time we got there, it had started to rain a little. By mid- afternoon, the snow started and the nor' easter started heading in. The timing was good - the party was already starting to break up anyway - so we headed back to CT to stay at my sister's house before we were to leave to come back home the following morning. By the time we got to my sister's house, the snow was in full force and there was already several inches on the ground.

We made it up the hill to her house. At the end of the cul-de-sac, my sister had just pulled in as well and ran out to tell us to go to a hotel because it was too dangerous. Trees had started to fall all over the place. She didn't have any power. As we sat in the car and listened, about every minute we would hear craaaack, craaaaack....trees and branches breaking. Some were already resting on power lines. It was REALLY spooky. The kids got very scared and e even started to cry a little.

H, the trooper that he is, ran inside the house and got all our stuff (thank goodness because we would have had a very difficult time getting it the next day!) and we went and stayed at my brother's house instead. Even though he lives less than a mile away, he did have power. We all camped out there for the night. He lost his power, too, around 2 am but since he has gas on his stove, we were all able to have a nice breakfast. Throughout the night, the snow got heavier and the situation worsened. I've never seen anything like it. By morning, there was about a foot of snow and hundreds of trees and branches down. Across the street, one large branch was straddling a power line...it was pulled taut, but had not snapped yet. Apparently, the cul-de-sac where my sister lives was full of trees and branches. If we had stayed, I'm sure our car would have been hit. H went out to help clean up the driveway and cars so we could get out and E and e, of course, went out to play in the snow.

We finally got on the road around 10:30 am. As we drove out, we went down several streets that we could just barely get through, with all the trees and branches down. We saw a few power lines down and even ran over a couple (dead, of course). It was unbelievable. Every single yard was full of large branches and trees. We didn't see any houses that were hit, but did see one car that got a little crushed. As we drove home, it was well over an hour before we could find an exit where the restaurants had power. The highway crews must have been out in full force all night because there were lots of trees on the side of the highway - many of which had been cut to make travel safe.

All in all, a very interesting weekend!

Pets

The baby bunnies in their nest

So, last month we found some baby bunnies in our yard. The mom had built the nest just a few feet from our driveway, so when I saw all the dead grass all over and didn't remember the patch being there before, I moved it aside to reveal five, very cute, baby bunnies. At the time, I'm guessing they were just 3-5 days old. I did a lot of reading about them and learned that you can, in fact, handle them and the mother will still come back. She only comes back about once a night to feed them and leaves them alone the rest of the time so she doesn't attract attention to them. So, the kids had a great time visiting with the bunnies every day. And, boy, were they cute.

Holding the baby bunnies

Then the rains came. The nest got flooded out. I came out to find some of them sitting in a cold puddle in the nest, not knowing where to go. Everything I read online said that the nest could be moved to about ten feet away and the mom would still find it. So, we moved the nest up the hill a little bit, out of where the water was gathering. I also put a box over the hole to help keep them dry since all the grass that was covering them was now wet and/or gone. The mom apparently was coming back and the babies were doing fine. Their eyes all opened and they were getting lots of fur and starting to jump around. Then two died with all the rain....Very sad to see them out there, but we got rain and cool weather for about a week and they just couldn't make it. I had also read that only about 10% of the wild bunnies survive because there is so much going against them. Another one died a couple days later and another one ran away (at least that's what I told the kids...it was very active and I'm guessing it just attracted attention to itself). The kids had been pleading and pleading to keep them, so when it came down the the last one, we took it in. Thumper did well for a few days, but then died - unfortunately while under the care of a girl next door (and her party pals - I'm hoping we didn't create any psychological scars!) while we were away....

Thumper in the fire engine

After that ordeal, and seeing how well the kids handled the bunnies and the whole lifespan thing, I figured they were ready for a pet. After doing a ton of research, I decided to get E a couple dwarf hamsters for his birthday. I don't have any pictures of them yet, but they really are fun to watch and are very cute. I told him that we needed to figure out a way to tell them apart. He put them next to each other and said that one was fat and one was skinny. So, guess what he decided to name them? Fatty and Skinny. I know, very creative. He is a really happy camper with them.

His birthday party was a huge success. I LOVED the place where we had it. All I had to do was show up. Unfortunately, it was a really windy day, but not too, too cold, so it wasn't too bad. We had the party at one of the local farms. The kids played in the hay barn, went on the slide, and in the corn maze the whole time. I didn't have to lift a finger. I had 13 kids there and they supplied 40 hotdogs with buns, 20 cupcakes, two huge bags of chips, lemonade, and tons of supplies to make s'mores. They built the fire for us and tended it. LOVE that. The kids had a great time cooking their hotdogs on the fire, making s'mores and running around in the corn maze for three hours. I want to have a party there every year!


After E's party, we went to a Halloween party at a friend's house. The mom gets the hostess with the mostess award from me, that's for sure! She had a dozen kids in her basement, she had decorated the place with Halloween stuff all over, had plenty for them to eat, and a list of probably a dozen games that they played throughout the afternoon. This was one of my favorites where they had to try to eat a donut on the end of string without touching it. Of course, E won for the boys.


Yesterday, we joined some friends to see a local reptile exhibit. We really love this place, too. The dinosaurs move and roar, and one of them even spits at you! I loved how they put a fake arm in the T-Rex!

October Happenings

It's hard to believe that my little boy will be eight years old tomorrow! Where the heck does all the time go? I have a party planned for him over the weekend at one of the local farms. Lots of fall stuff to do there like the corn maze, slide, pumpkins, hotdog roast. All fun stuff. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a nice day. So far, the forecast says we will be cool, but no rain. Phew!


Last weekend, the kids had a great time at Sunday school decorating the Succah and making their own candy Succot. This is really a fun holiday for them.

And, did I mention we did the artificial skydiving again last month? WHAT fun! e still wasn't up for it, but she watched as E and I pretended we were superheroes!

I Really Need to Stay on Top of This Better....

The whole reason for starting this blog was so I could remember all the great things the kids and I do together...well, that doesn't help, if I don't keep up with things! So, a brief update on what we've been up to. Before school started back we went camping at the family camp near Pittsburgh for a week. I always enjoy that time. It's SO relaxing for me and the kids have a blast. E took horseback riding lessons and e and I did a lot of kayaking. I did the zipline, too, but got stuck! They had to come rescue me because I didn't make it all the way to the end. Oh well. Still a lot of fun. The kids and I took long bike rides in the woods almost every night after dinner, too. Great bonding time with them.

We've been busy doing a lot of other things, but of course I don't remember a whole lot right now! So, I'll give you an update on the man situation. I'd love to get your thoughts. I really like this guy. We've been seeing each other for about seven months now. He's wonderful with the kids and he's great around the house. I enjoy spending time with him. Neither of us have uttered the "L" word, but I think the feelings are there. A couple weeks ago we spent the day together (just he and I) at a football game. The kids spent the night at a friend's house so H was able to spend the night at my house for the first time. About a week earlier I had mentioned to him that I wanted to take the relationship kind of to the next step - meaning have him stay over once in awhile. I'm not really sure how to make this transition with the kids, so it worked out well that the kids went on a sleepover that night. Anyway, when I said "next step" he thought I meant marriage! Well, I'm in no way ready to get married, but I thought I'd want to work towards that.

So, on the way home from the football game, we had a long talk and he said he never wanted to get married again (burned badly in his previous marriage of 20 years). I told him at that time that I did want to work towards that and that I would have to move on. Now, I don't know...I mean, what is really the purpose of getting married? I'm already established financially, I have my own kids, if we did get married, we probably wouldn't live together for awhile since he built his house himself and I would never ask him to sell it...besides he loves it there and he's close to his own work (about 40 minutes away from where I live). And, I live a mile away from my office in a great neighborhood for the kids that is about a quarter of a mile from all the schools they will attend through high school. So, what really is the purpose of getting married? Especially at my age (47)? Is it just so we can say we're married and have some financial benefits that go along with that? But then we are totally entwined...financially and otherwise. And things get complicated....now I'm thinking why can't we just have a committed relationship without getting married? I don't know...I always thought I'd like to get married someday, but now I'm just not sure what the benefit is. I'm not even sure the kids need a "dad" so much as a father figure...H is great with them and a wonderful role model...isn't that really what we all want? Is that enough? Chime in at any time....

Summer Vacation #2

Last week we made our annual trip to New England to visit my siblings. While I understand that it's nice that I can go there and visit everyone in one shot (and do so every year), it still perturbs me to some extent that my siblings rarely make the trip to visit us. It's about a five hour car ride to get there and we usually end up spending a week visiting everyone and doing some touristy stuff.

Every year we stay at my sister's house. She has the biggest house and two of her three children are now living away from home, so there's lots of room. My brother lives just a mile away and my other sister lives about an hour and a half away. My sister is always after me to come visit and stay with her but when we get there, I always feel like I'm intruding. I don't think she really likes having little kids around....I'm not even sure she likes to have company for extended periods of time! Yet, I don't really have an option. So, whenever we visit, I do my best to stay out of her hair. We always spend some time with her, but most of the time I try to get out of the house early and return after dinner sometime so we're out of her hair. I'm am also constantly trying to make myself useful while there -- cleaning up the kitchen and doing whatever laundry I see that needs to be done...I never get a thank you for any of this, which makes me feel like I'm almost expected to work while staying there....I don't know, maybe she just doesn't know that I'm doing all that work around her house.

Anyway, we spent a day with my sister on her new sailboat. Lots of fun going out, but no wind. Still, it was a nice day. The next day we went on my brother's boat...actually it was not a great day, weather-wise, so we ended up just going up and down the river near his yacht club on his dinghy. The kids had a great time swimming and scooting around on the little boat. So did I. We then spent a few days with sister #2 at her house. She's a lot more laid back and the kids had a lot of fun. Then back to sister #1's house (with a day at Mystic in between!) followed by another day of fun on my brother's boat. This time, a perfect day with lots of swimming, crabbing, and walking on the beach. E even got to do some tubing on the back of the boat.

The last few days were spent in upstate NY for an aunt's funeral. She actually died in March but the ground was too frozen to bury her back then. So, the family decided to wait until the weather got warmer...Where has she been for the last four months, you ask? Well, I wasn't sure either! I thought maybe she was on ice or in a drawer somewhere...but she was on my cousin's mantle. I guess this whole process was good for closure for her (her mom was well into her 90s when she died but lived with my cousin and her husband for the last several years...if not almost my cousin's whole life!). It was also good to see some other cousins that I haven't seen in probably forty years.

After all the driving, though, I'm really glad to be home. Vacation #3 coming up in a couple weeks....then school is back in session!

NO TRAINING WHEELS!

The kids have been avoiding their bikes forever. I bought E a bike a couple years ago or so and I don't think he ever rode it. He asked me to take the training wheels off it last year but was still too afraid. e also has had a really girlie bike for a couple years or so and has never ridden it. Maybe a couple times with the training wheels, but the two of them usually opt for their Razor scooters, instead. They are certainly experts at using those!

Last week, for some reason, one of them (I think E, but I can't remember) asked me to get the bikes out without training wheels. e, of course, had to have hers without the training wheels, too. So, off the wheels went. In the past, I've always kind of pushed them along and held on. Well, I took a new approach this time. Our driveway has a little bit of a hill to it. So, I told them to just go down the hill and lift their feet off the ground, and once they felt comfortable with the balance to try to pedal. It worked! Literally, within a few minutes they were both riding great! Now, every night when we get home, they want to ride on their "two wheel bikes." I haven't had a bike in years, so I'm looking to buy one so I can keep up with them! I also had to get E a new bike because his was too small. I gave his old one to a neighbor and we went out right away for a new bike for E (I didn't want to lose the excitement of the moment!).

The new man has been working on my house lately....last week, he put up lattice work around my back deck...the next project is to redo the railings on the deck so it looks completely redone. I'm excited about how it's looking! And, what a great guy to be doing all of it for me. He really seems to enjoy helping me around the house. Usually by now I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with a guy...I haven't figured out anything about this one yet. He has a really laid back attitude and likes doing all the kid stuff with us. Maybe we just haven't spent enough time together! No arguments yet, though...we'll see how things go once we have one!

Back to it!

Well, I've neglected this spot for way too long! I got really busy during the end of the semester trying to plan our Italy trip. Putting together all the details for two weeks there was a LOT of work! But, we ended up having a great time. We took 12 students along and fun was had by all. Most of it went pretty smoothly, surprisingly enough, since for many of the days I planned, I wasn't totally sure how long it would take to get to our destination, or even how we'd get there, and if we could fit everything into the day as planned. My kids were also great. Given that we were climbing and hiking much of the day on most days, they didn't complain much and seemed to love the trip. I'm posting some of my favorite shots (if anyone knows how to flip some of these the correct way, please let me know!).

E and e with the gelati...which we consumed just about every day!

This lake really is that blue!One of my favorite spots on top of a mountain by the lake
That was in May. The weather while we were there couldn't have been more perfect....low to mid 80s everyday and very little rain. I got to spend some time with a couple of my friends who live over there, too, so that was a lot of fun.

We also went to our local family camp for Mother's Day weekend. As you might remember, I'm making this a family tradition -- this was our third year. In August, we will go for a whole week - another family tradition that I have started. It was a little cold while we were there, but we had a great time. E and I tried the high ropes course. He fell off several times, but I think that's only because he wasn't afraid to fall! I really did NOT want to fall and trust my harness. I have a brand new appreciation for tight rope walkers. I have no idea how they do it.

The guy I was going out with last year and into the first part of this year is completely out of the picture now. He finally got the hint that I just wasn't interested anymore. We're still friends, but it was very clear to me that we were in completely different places in our lives...he just seemed very "old" to me...watched a lot of black and white movies, sat on his butt most of the day (that REALLY drove me crazy), and after a while seemed to be bothered by having little kids around (HUGE red flag). There were other things, too...he seemed to live in the past...always reminding people of his military service (over 40 years ago!) and his corporate accomplishments (he's now retired, so who cares what he did back then?). There was more, but I won't go into it too much -- maybe I've already bored you with what I've said so far! I guess the good thing is that no bridges were burned and we'll still be friends.

So, back to M*tch.com I went. AND there's a new guy now...I met him on M*tch and we corresponded for about a month before actually meeting for lunch. His correspondence was always very casual and unassuming, which I really liked. To be honest, I was actually just lukewarm about him for awhile. Good looking guy, but wasn't corporate or anything. For some reason, I had it in my head that I had to find a man that made a ton of money, was very driven and successful. I know, I CAN be pretty shallow at times.

Back in the beginning of March, we met for lunch. It was a very nice time, I found him attractive and the conversation was easy, but I was still lukewarm. Besides, his profile said he wasn't really looking for a relationship right now - just friends (but he clearly was not on the friends with benefits search). We went out again a couple weeks later. During that dinner, he did something kind of stupid. I didn't think a whole lot about it, but I was still lukewarm about him. Nothing was persuading me NOT to go out with him...I enjoyed his company, but I think the fact that I knew he wasn't looking for a relationship made me not look towards him...So, back to the stupid thing he did...again, I didn't think a whole lot about it, except that it kind of verified my lukewarm feeling towards him. BUT, the next day he sent this incredible flower arrangement to my office with an apology. Well, that got my attention! And, it made me think that maybe he IS interested in something more.

Anyway, to make a long story short, he just kept coming back...it was also clear to me that he's actually a pretty smart guy and very driven (built his own house and built a very cool car)...he starts projects and actually finishes them, he's really great with my kids (sometimes I think he likes playing with them more than he likes playing with me!), he fixes stuff around my house (major bonus there) practically every time he comes over. He didn't even try to kiss me until we had been going out for about three months. So, he kept growing on me with all the little things he kept doing. And, he had a lot of patience for me to figure out whether I wanted to be in a relationship with him. He is now at my house usually three or four times a week. It's nice to have the company. He also really likes to work on my Honey-do list! He doesn't sit on his butt at all - he constantly stays active helping me around the house or with the kids. We'll see where it goes, but so far, so good!