Boston in late fall - Another blessing is added

It's been a long time since I've blogged. Life certainly has a way of getting in the way of the things I want to do.

I had another glorious trip to meet my girlfriends in Boston except this time I was even more lucky because I got to bring along my eldest daughter and she got to meet these friends that I talk about with anyone who will listen to me fawn all about them.

My daughter and I are the same in many ways. We are goofy, love to laugh until we howl, love to take silly pictures of ourselves, love to shop and generally have a great time together. In other ways, my daughter has things figured out SO much better than I did at her age. She is confident in herself and what she believes in. She may be dingy sometimes (which is actually quite endearing), but no one is going to mess with her more than once. She thinks too much of herself for that kind of crap, and for that, I am SO thankful.

So of course when we arrived at the hotel, I immediately had to find where everyone was "meeting" because I had hugs and hugs and hugs & even some kisses stored up and ready to give. I was so happy we didn't hit the usual mad traffic on the highway and we pretty much sailed right up. We found "the room" and the love that hit me in the face as soon as the door opened was absolutely delightful! I was awed that nothing changed. Time and space had done nothing to diminish the love these beautiful, talented, wonderous women have for me and the rest of their friends. What astounded me even more was that in turn they showered Bec with the same affection. How kind they all were to her - a mere 14 yo child - during what is most definitely a child free time.

My daughter was surprised by their easy manner and their immediate generosity towards her. She loved everyone, but was most taken with Sophie. Sophie was also there on a mother-daughter jaunt although their jaunt was a bit more extensive than ours. ;) Becca loved Sophie from the instant she opened her mouth. She loved her outspoken way and her accent and just about everything else. In fact, when Sophie left us at dinner on Saturday evening for a night out with George, Becca mumbled that she didn't like George too much and wished Sophie could have come back to the hotel with us instead. :)))) I understood her disappointment, but she did ok back at the hotel eating Lindt truffles and refilling the wrappings with paper to fool her friends back at school while we got to host a few brave women back in our room.

I wish she could have met G...and Michelle...and NewMichelle (who really isn't new anymore) and Jackie. I wish we could have ALL been there although I must say I could certainly feel their spirits hanging out with us. Someday all the LFFs will be together again. I don't know when or where or how, but I know if it is within my power to make it happen, I will do whatever it takes. These women are not just my friends, they are my sisters. They are part of who I am...part of my soul. Each one of them is important to me and their friendships make me wonder how in the world I got so lucky that this group of women got together on the internet, became friends and then picked a city so close to me that I've got to hang out with them twice. Seriously.Mind.Blowing.

Now we are home and back to the same old, same old, but the nice thing is that we're didn't come back the same as when we went. We came back with SO much more...new friends, lots of love and more memories to hold in our hearts that are great to pull out when things aren't going so well. Knowing there are women out there who are the best cheerleaders, wittiest jokesters and the epitome of what friends should be can get you through just about anything.

I love you guys...and so does Becca :)

WTF?!

Headline on Google News:
Florida Teen Commits Suicide Live on Webcam

Are you kidding me?!
And it took 12 flippin' hours for someone to alert authorities and have them check the kid out who was of course dead by that point.

The real kicker? People laughed at the live feed. Laughed. The amount of hard heartedness in this world astonishes me on a daily basis. How can you laugh when someone has died? Even someone you didn't know. How? How can a heart be so cold to someone's obvious sadness and lack of hope especially when the person is TELLING YOU WHILE STARING INTO A FREAKIN' WEBCAM? This type of thing makes my heart hurt.

Whether I know someone or not, I still feel a human connection. A deep down connection that, for me, has to be from the Master Creator. A tie that binds us all together, if you will. We are all part of the same human race and while I believe that there are evil doers among us, for the most part, I think we all strive for the same things in life. We all want happiness, love, someone to pick us up when we fall...

I just cannot fathom what went through the minds of the people/teenagers who sat there watching and doing nothing and then laughing when it was apparent this young man was dead. If nothing else, I believe that karma catches up eventually...whether it be here on this earth or on the day of judgement...how you treat others is how you will be treated.

Mmmmm, Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. Yes I do. Wanna know why?

I love brining my turkey. Thank you Alton Brown for giving me a clue. I don't think I will ever NOT brine my turkey (who is actually happily in my freezer right now waiting for his salty bath next week!) It is so worth the extra prep work...really, you should try it if you haven't before.

I love cornbread stuffing. Thank you to The Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten for the most fabulous recipe on earth. It's ok that I have to quadruple it because it came from your T-Dinner for Two episode. It's THAT good and I don't mind doing it.

I love finger jello. No, no...not those dumb "jiggler" thingamabobs...those are disgusting. No, FINGER JELLO. The kind you "pass" like a football at the Thanksgiving table. It is tradition and you can't break tradition! Thank you to my sister for teaching me the fine art of finger jello passing. :)

Black olives. Love these. Love to buy the JUMBO olives and put them on every finger. Yes, this happens at the table too. Jeremy & Becca usually do the same. You guessed it...another tradition!

Pumpkin pie. Do I need to say more?! The youngest boys love helping me put one together and everyone loves to eat it except for hubby. That's ok. We make him a banana cream.

Lemon Meringue. I make it. Not as good as my Mom's used to be, but Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete with out it. My SIL Kathy and I love it...tart as tart can be. Needless to say, this pie I bring to my IL's for dessert.

I love stuffed celery. YUM! Cream cheese & green olive stuffing, thank you very much.

Broccoli casserole. Ok, so this isn't my favorite. It is Jeremy & Chris' favorite though and again, it is tradition.

Ahhhh, party potatoes. Yes, starch is my world. I love party potatoes. This is a recipe from Chris' nana. Boiled whipped potatoes mixed with cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder dotted with butter and baked in the oven. DIVINE!

Gravy, turnip, butternut squash & cranberry sauce....wouldn't be the same without them!

And the crowning glory of the meal is the homemade potato crescent rolls with homemade honey butter.

Yep, can't understand why I am falling asleep before the meal is over...it couldn't be the CARB overload, could it? It is good that this meal only happens once per year. I mean, it is so much food that I have to use the buffet with hot plates because the table simply isn't big enough! Once per year I cook for a week and it's over within an hour!

And let's not forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without seeing the giant Snoopy flying past! Someday I'm going to give up the cooking for once and see the parade in person. It's on my list of things to do before I die.

So if anyone is up for CARB overload and wants to come share a meal with us crazies here in the Quiet Corner, let me know...there are still 3 leaves stored in the table that I can pull out in a pinch!

Goofiness is totally under-rated

I think goofiness is under-rated. Why? Well because it makes you laugh. You can laugh at yourself and your friends/family and it's all good because, well, it's goofy.

I am an extremely goofy person around my hubby & kiddos. I tone it down quite a bit around others because I don't want anyone to think that I am very weird. Although, since meeting the best friends a girl could ever have this past summer, I have started to let little pieces of me that I've hidden from others shine through. I'm not ready to go public on Facebook with how goofy I am, but I figure here is a good start.

First off, I like to take goofy pictures...especially of my daughter Becca. In fact, she is the best person in the house to be goofy with and she embraces her goofiness which I think ROCKS. She in turn likes to take goofy pictures of herself...or just self portraits.

So on Halloween, we were both pretty punchy and silly - even before the candy. Here are a few of our goofy selves....

Taking pictures of Becca with an upside down camera from the front seat while Chris is driving

And here are a few self portraits that Bec took of herself while we were saying our goodbyes to our old neighbor.

And yes...even I joined in and had a ball while doing it. Silly self portraits of yours truly while driving in the car on Halloween night.

And the ultimate goofy pictures of me....

Yep. I'm goofy. And damn proud of it!

19 or 22 years

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary, however, it is also marks the 22nd year I've been with my hubby. 22 years is far more than 1/2 my life and by the time I was Jerm's age, I was with Chris. I can say with total honesty that I knew Chris was my soul mate by the time we were together for 4 months or so. It just felt right and we both felt it & talked about it frequently.

Things haven't always been easy or fun or wildly romantic. In fact, there are times that the only thing that has kept me here is the fact that I said a vow which I take very seriously and the fact that we have 6 kids. Of course, there is also the fact that while things aren't perfect, my hubby is comfortable. He knows me and I know him. I cannot for the life of me imagine being with any one else. I don't think I could open myself up to someone else in the way I have opened myself up to Chris in the last 22 years.

I think part of this comes from the fact that I was 16 year old when we first started dating. I was definitely more optimistic and starry eyed when it came to what life was going to hold for me. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine what it would really be like. And I don't mean it has been all bad. Many, many parts are even better than what I imagined. I just think that there is an innocence in being 16. You share more - you hold less back - your little girl dreams of marriage are still very much intact.

In all reality, Chris and I have grown up together. He knows me better than anyone else. I think this is the way it is supposed to be, but not having any good source to look to for marriage, I'm just guessing. You see, my parents were divorced by their 26th year of marriage. My siblings all have been divorced numerous times (in fact, my sister looks to be on her way to her 2nd divorce as I type). My mother's parents were divorced and although my father's parents were still together, we weren't close to them and there was plenty of dysfunction present there as well.

Chris' parents are still together - in fact, they will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in just 2 short years. While I think that is the coolest thing ever, I still don't look at their relationship as something I want to emulate. They are different from us and Chris and I are far more affectionate towards each other. It is almost as if they are married because that is what you do although I know they love each other...not sure if that makes sense or not. I guess I want more than what it looks like they have.

I'm proud to be married for 19 years. I think it's a pretty neat accomplishment and I hope that it sets a good example for my kiddos. They see that it isn't always easy, - they have friends whose parents are divorced or divorcing - but they see us hanging in there despite all the ups & downs. We might not have all the things other people have and we might not be able to take cool trips here and there, but we love each other and are committed to each other. I think that speaks volumes above anything else - at least I hope it does.

So happy anniversary to hubby and me...19 years ago today I was at my sister's house in Ellington having my pictures taken in my beautiful white gown and simple veil getting ready to say "I do." to the guy who was meant for me.

ETA - For those of you who are interested...19th wedding anniversaries gifts are supposed to be gifts of bronze (well, according the the "modern" train of thought). Me...I bought hubby a box of SHAMWOW at CVS. You know you're jealous.... ;)

I love where I live

Today as Em and I were driving to the grocery store, I was reminded why I love living where I do. As I took a right out of my road and drove maybe a quarter of a mile westward, I came across a young deer standing in a cow pasture with a mess of geese. As I drove past, two large dump trucks towing large equipment behind them came lumbering up the other side of the road. The young deer picked its head & ears up, but went about its search for sustenance.

I drove down the road a bit and turned around at the next road to go back and get pictures. The deer never flinched or looked concerned. I then turned back around and took more pictures including one which shows more geese coming in for a landing. If I thought it out better, I would have remembered to snap a picture of the amazing beaver hut on the other side of the street. It's been in the swampy area since we moved in over 3 years ago and it seems like it gets bigger each year. Even more amazing - the deer was still in the pasture when Em and I returned from our shopping trip 45 minutes later.

I like, no LOVE, living in our rural area. Sometimes I get stuck on the fact that everything is a 20 or 30 minute drive away and that it's been hard to make friends here, but then something like this happens and I am reminded what drew hubby and I here in the first place.

I love watching a flock of wild turkeys run across the road (and have you ever seen those babies fly? FUNNY stuff!). I love seeing deer all over the place and how many people do you know have sat in the sanctuary at church and watched a young bobcat chase leaves in a empty, snowy field in the winter? I love hearing the tales of the black bears that are sighted every so often and how there is a possibility that moose are even in these parts. I love the red leaves of the sugar maples every fall and I love knowing that when I drive a couple miles away, I am getting maple syrup that came from some of my sugar maples - that I can watch boil down while munching on free maple candy. I also love taking the big acorn caps and teaching people how to whistle with them. Something my own Dad taught me as a young girl.

It's a quiet pace here. There is only one traffic light in town and it crosses a major thoroughfare that links Connecticut with Rhode Island. I love that we have a park that was donated by land owners in an adjoining neighborhood and that neighborhoods are few and far between here. In fact, most people share driveways instead to cut down on the amount of disturbance to the land. I love that the roads are only plowed once maybe twice during a snow storm and that I need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get around in the winter. I think the biggest surprise about living here is the fact that when hubby and I got home from New Hampshire this past vacation, we didn't feel the same "scenery let down" as we did when we lived in our old house/town.

I'm thankful for my almost 2.5 acres of land. I'm thankful that I can have a garden and fruit trees. I'm thankful that I've finally made some friends in this small town of just over 4000 people. This is where I belong.

A list

What I bought while in New Hampshire this weekend:

1. Bakugan
2. Pokemon
3. Talking Dora doll - Swiper, NO swiping
4. cords for the middle boys - did I mention I didn't pay more than $11 for any pair of pants for the youngest three boys?
5. jeans for the middle boys
6. jeans for the youngest boy
7. rugby shirts for the middle boys ($4.99 at Gymboree! STEAL!)
8. waffle weave shirts for the middle boys
9. yoga pants for naughty girl
10. long sleeve t's for naughty girl
11. black dress pants for me (reunion)
12. red & white printed shirt for me (reunion)
13. pointy toe black leather boots (reunion) - did I mention they were $70 and I got them for $25? Go me! Besides the $4.99 rugbys for the boys, my best deal of the weekend. :)
14. soft, furry purple bathrobe for Bec
15. Bali hipster undies for Bec & me (these are the BEST undies hands down...I bought one pair last year and they still look & feel brand new!)
16. nightshirt for me (half price because of the bathrobe purchase)
17. full zippered fleece lined hoodie for the jolly green giant's son
18. nike drawstring backpack for said son
19. Kleen Canteen for said son, again
20. pink nalgene
21. purple nalgene (what? a girl can never have enough nalgene)
22. tanks for Bec
23. 10 redlined items for $10 at Claire's - oh a bevy of different things. Mostly for Bec & my niece Olivia
24. Tinkerbell key chain for yours truly
25. Dora necklace & bracelet for naughty girl
26. fleece nightgowns for naughty girl
27. fleece pj's for youngest boy
28. new rain boots (same as ones purchased in Wrentham) for boy mentioned above
29. cool worker guy boots for same boy
30. Harry & David food stuff...for me...and for the reunion. but mostly for me, err, I mean the family
31. Lindt truffles. 2 bags. One for the reunion...one for me - I shared...promise
32. jeans for Bec
33. jeans for Jerm
34. unPetroleum chapstick in vanilla for me
35. I Make Boys Cry chapstick for Bec
36. long sleeve red t-shirt for hubby...in a large tall...Thank you Eddie Bauer for helping me clothe the jolly green giant & his son.
37. $9 pants for me, me, me...Again, thank you to Eddie Bauer & their clearance rack
38. hair clips for naughty girl (anyone who shopped with me before knows that I feel you can never have too many hair doodads for your daughter)
39. flip flops for the youngest 3 boys for next summer...for 1.99 a pair (of course, I was told that bright orange flip flops are a girl color and I've argued that they aren't. I may have a pair of bright orange flip flops next year :oP)
40. a very nice crudites tray
41. green plaid shorts for middle boys
42. Mario Bros. figurines - one for each of the youngest boys - Mario for Thomas, Yoshi for Daniel & Luigi for David
43. A Bob the Builder costume that Bec picked out in a size way too small for David - but the hard hat hasn't come off his head since he got it. Good thing we have a tool belt & a flannel shirt. We're all set for Bob & Halloween
44. a clearance black wrought iron towel holder missing its screws ($4.95)...I plan on attaching it to a piece of wood painted black for a base and putting paper towels on it for the downstairs bathroom. We don't use hand towels in there during the winter to cut down on germ spreading...it helps a ton!

Since coming home I've also gone shopping for hubby's reunion outfit. Hit Kohl's last night and got him a killer new pair of dress slacks for $7, a red crew neck sweater and a striped button down to go under it. Also hit Christmas Tree Shops for 4 wicker baskets (which came with chocolate brown cotton liners for $2.99 each), water crackers, Starbucks truffles and some small square dipping bowls in fall colors (all for the reunion baskets I was in charge of making).

I think I'm done shopping for awhile...well until December anyway ;)