Crazy week so far...

Well, I got up at 2:30 AM Sunday to take Katie to Portsmouth to catch a bus to South Station and from there another bus to King of Prussia, PA. I got back a 6 AM and slept for 2 hours, then went to church and also taught Sunday School. We went out to eat with some people and then I came home and crashed for an hour. I had planned to go to bed early, but the Patriots-Eagles game interrupted that...but it was a worthy cause (GO PATS!). Monday AM we had a 2 hour delay at school due to icy roads - yeah for resetting the alarm. I only stayed for part of One Voice practice Monday night and then came home and crashed. Tuesday was actually a normal day - well all is relative I guess. I woke up with a sinus headache this AM and was dreading getting out of bed. I took some Excedrin at 5:00 AM heated a rice pack and grabbed and ice pack. The dreaded alarm went off at 5:45 AM and I promptly hit the snooze alarm. At 6:00 AM the phone rang - it was ALERTNOW (I love that new system the school uses). I was shocked and dismayed to learn that our school had been broken into AGAIN! This time no one was to come to the school, not even to help clean up. As much as I hate the fact that this has happened two times in 3 months, I was delighted to go back to bed. Pippin was thrilled to be my bedfella (haha). When I finally got moving I accomplished a lot. All the Christmas decoration boxes have been pawed through and most of the decorations are where they belong. I hope to finish tomorrow.

I went to a superb concert put on by REACH OUT (40 voice childrens group from the Lakes Region). They presented "The Mystery of the Manger". It was wonderful. The kids were trying to prove to a reporter that God's Word was true and that all the promises about Jesus in the Old Testament had come true. I had to smile though - one of the songs was a blast from the past - reminded me of Northern Lights Youth Choir days. The kids sang Steven Curtis Chapman's..."A promise is a promise and a fact's a fact..." It was great!

My sister adopted/rescued a chocolate lab a few months ago and I helped her name him - WONKA! She sent pictures and I just decided to honor this chocolate with a page of his own. He's been through a lot the last few months, but he has a wonderful owner to love and care for him now - nice job Melodie. Pippin will have a chocolate playmate when we see them this summer.

Quickpage - ALPS Love in Bloom

As far as I know there is school tomorrow....

The Days in a Nutshell...

• Hilary arrived safely Tuesday - lots of homework
• Katie arrived safely at 6:15 AM and was surprised when Keith (beau) came with me
• Jack and Marge arrived safely on Wednesday
• Baked and baked etc. for Thanksgiving
• Jack broke his dental plate Thursday AM - Rite Aid had a repair kit and it worked so I didn't have to use the food processor on his turkey dinner ;0)
• Great fried turkey dinner
• Katie left with Jess R. at 4:30 AM Friday to go to Portsmouth shopping
• Jack broke his plate again Friday AM and Jack and Marge went home Friday
• I cleaned closets and spent a LONG time organizing CDs with the 100 Selector by Discgear - still not done, but almost
• Brought up Christmas stuff and set up Christmas tree - will finish tomorrow or Tuesday...then to prime and paint the dining room/kitchen...
• I leave at 3 AM tomorrow to take Katie back to Portsmouth to catch the bus to Boston and then back to school - Dan Edwards will be riding with her
• Hilary will leave after church to head back to Quincy
• I will take a LONG nap Sunday afternoon
• The Christmas Tree is missing Lindsey's touch, but here is a very poor photo of the tree and me
  
  

Busy Bee - - - ME!!!

Today:

• Played keyboard at church
• taught Sunday School at church (part of VeggieTales Madame Blueberry, "A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart...") and made Quirky Turkeys with the kids
• picked up odds and ends for baking for Thanksgiving
• picked up a Steak Bomb and a wonderful steak and cheese sandwich at R & L Subs - which were thoroughly enjoyed by me and John
• LINDSEY - all of the following were done while listening to Christmas music - figured that would make you happy...LOL
• baked Christmas Sugar Cookies and used the wonderful Food Saver to package and freeze them for Christmas
• made a double batch of Party Mix for Thanksgiving munching
• tried a new recipe - Alton Brown's White Trash recipe (cereals, m & ms, pretzels, nuts, dried cranberries in a white chocolate mixture) - not bad - makes a HUGE batch but I'm sure it will be devoured while everyone is home for Thanksgiving
• did 3 loads of laundry
• typed up blocking sheets for One Voice
• WATCHING Patriots vs Bills (GO PATS!!!)

Can you tell I'm feeling better?

John painted the bathroom for me - hooray! Tomorrow we can hang my new shelves! NEXT project...paint dining room/kitchen, but that will wait until after Thanksgiving. John said he'd paint for me if I'd prime the walls. I want to have it done before Christmas.

Well, the football game is calling.

MIA and Delayed Stress Syndrome...

So, I've been out of the loop for awhile. We didn't have school Friday and Monday of last week so I had BIG plans for things I wanted to do...my body on the other hand decided it was time to be sick. I spent Sunday afternoon and Monday in bed. I went to school Tuesday and Wednesday, but by then knew it was a sinus infection. I see my Doctor Monday, so they agreed to call in an antibiotic. I stayed home from school and in bed on Thursday. That felt weird - it was the first time I've called in sick to work in 13+ years. I felt SO much better on Friday and am back to 98% now. Thank goodness. John took advantage of my being under the weather and went golfing Monday while I was in bed. It was warm enough to golf Monday and we had snow flurries yesterday...

I had great plans for cleaning and baking and freezing some things last week, but it just didn't happen. This morning I made Hermit cookies for John and some Peanut Butter Cookies (wanted those all week). I have sugar cookie dough mixed up, SO, if I can keep the energy level up, I'll make sugar cookies when I get back from One Voice and freeze them for Christmas.

When we took Lindsey to college we all bawled. When we took Hilary we all cried. When we took Katie things got a little crazy when we had to leave and she had to go to a meeting, so we didn't really have time to cry. I shed a silent tear, but that was about it. However, I suffered from Delayed Stress Syndrome while waiting for my prescription this week. All of the sudden the Jack Johnson song, "We're Better Together" starting playing in the store sound system. I wasn't hearing Jack Johnson though, I was hearing Katie and Johnny (Gallazelli) singing it and gentle tears started to flow. Thankfully I had myself back together when my prescription was finally ready. Anyway...

It is getting cooler here, but not bad. I have 2 days of school next week and lots of things to do before the girls arrive (minus Lindsey -boo) and John's folks are coming in Wednesday. If I don't get back on until after Thanksgiving I hope y'all have a wonderful day and please celebrate all the blessings God has given you.

Poor Baby...

So, my "baby" girl loves to dance. She joined Ethel's Swing Dance Club at Eastern and is loving it. We bought her black/white wing tipped swing dance shoes and sailor swing dance pants. She is learning all kinds of new steps and moves. She has also been to the ER today and has a stress fracture...She has to call an orthopedic doctor tomorrow and make an appointment...amazing that you can't get a real cast in the ER anymore...SOOO, the question is, how does KT get back and forth across campus on crutches? Just keep her in prayer and pray that she can get in this week to she the doctor. Love you Kate!

Life in Pictures...

I found someone to take Sunday School for me today, SO I got to go to S. Portland Church of the Nazarene to hear A Capella sing and to see Hilary! Yeah! The concert was great and I was surprised to see friends that used to live in "The County". Lindsey and Hali were friends in elementary and middle school. The Sirois' moved to southern ME when we moved to CT. I had not seen or heard from them in 7 years, yet here all 5 of them were plus the son-in-law! They call this church "home". God has richly blessed them and it was good to see that. I took a picture of Matt and Hali for Lindsey. This is a short week at school and I am psyched to have "me" time later in the week! The Pats gave us a huge scare tonight! John was screaming at the TV and Lindsey was on the phone screaming in my ears. Then Hilary got in on it through text messages! AGHHHH!! At least the Pats are still undefeated!

So, once again there are pictures. The first three Hilary took last weekend. I like them all, but the one of Andrew is my favorite - there is something "dreamy" about it.

Hali & Matt Fortin

I'm BAAAACKKK!

I am back up and running - our modem had died. I'm not sure why this is blue and can't get it to go away...oh well. I've been busy, but will just share photos of my kids that I have borrowed from facebook. Going to Portland tomorrow to hear Hilary sing in A Capella. Will catch you up later. Until then, enjoy the photos.

The birthday girl

Lindsey's small group had done something special for the guys who do all the set up at her church. They returned the favor by fixing a meal for them and they gave each of the girls a rose...aww....

Tinkerbell with pockets full of stuff..

Tink and Roomie

Tinkerbell and Peter Pan

Hook, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

Great orthodontics on this vampire - thanks Dr. Greg...

Braveheart anyone?