Wild Horses

So, Ryun and I really need a life. For the third or fourth Saturday in a row we are staying in and watching two hours of Trading Spaces on The Learning Channel. Yeah we're geeks.

But we're damn cute geeks if you ask me.

A horse walked through my yard today. Now I live out in the boonies of Middleboro but it's not that often that you see a horse wandering free. Actually, it's like never happened before. ;)It had obviously gotten loose, was saddled and roaming around my yard. Ryun was outside with the kids and I was inside playing interior decorator. Not only did he not come in and tell me but he didn't call the police or dog officer or whoever the heck you call when you see a random horse. I mean, I am sure someone was looking for him. Anyway, later, when I was going out food shopping, I saw the owners walking the horse down 28 so, obviously, they found him anyway.

Lets see...what else? Oh yeah, on the way to a Creative Memories scrapbooking class I drove by a grassy field in Plympton where I saw a deer and her babies(does, right?) playing in the field. I have my camera with me almost all of the time. Did I have it then? Of course not.

I hate missing a Kodak moment.

Winding down

Summer is winding down, and it doesn't even feel like it has started. June was literally a wash. The average rainfall in Massachusetts for June is 3.66 inches...this year we had 5.53 inches. And damn if those extra couple of inches weren't spread daily over the entire month. It rained just about every day. We had a couple of nice weather weeks in July, then a couple of rainy weeks. Our family camping trip was in July, and for some reason it always seems that the month we vacation in just flies by. August is more than half over and in just two shorts weeks, Emily will be back in school.

I think like a lot of people in this state, I feel I have been cheated.

Summer is supposed to be better than this.

Hopefully, the last two weeks will be nice. It looks good so far, but in New England, you never can tell.

Message from Above

Since I have moved to Middleboro about two months ago, I have driven up 28 North maybe 20 times, possibly more. I have gone at various times of day, from early morning right on up through midnight. At least 15 out of the 20 or more times I have driven up that way, I have seen the same person walking somewhat aimlessly in the direction of the rotary, in the Rock Village area to be more precise. The man is raggedy looking, has dirty, old clothes, hasn't shaved, and is always walking with a stagger and as if he has no idea where he is going.

Middleboro is a small town with a practically non-existent homeless population. Seeing something like the guy described above would be normal in a big city such as Boston, but in this small town, he seems just out of place. What strikes me as odd though is not the actual seeing him it is the fact that this man is always in the same general area nearly every time I drive by. And he always looks the same...old, dirty and aimless.

Me being me, I started wondering if this was like one of those movies with the proverbial " bum with a message." You know what I mean, the guy that carries a life changing message such as "Jesus Saves" that only the main characters of the movie notice or can see? The most recent example I can think of is in the movie, "Bruce Amighty" starring Jim Carrey.

I mean why would this same person be there, in the same location, almost every time I drive by? It's just weird. So today, just to be silly and confirm that I wasn't going crazy, I asked Emily if she saw him and she did.

I still think there's a message somewhere, even if I wasn't the only one to notice him.

A few random thoughts

So, my feet are still about three times their normal size and still quite red. I am debating going to the doctor. I think I probably should given that this happened on Monday and here it is on Thursday and they still don't look any better. I don't really have a primary care though and I depise going to the ER. Unfortunately, the gyn doesn't specialize in sunburned, swollen feet.

Have I ever mentioned here how much I hate feet? My own are fine and cute little baby feet are ok but anyone else's...ewwww. It's just a thing I guess...feet just disgust me. One time as joke, someone got me "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss. I wasn't too impressed.

Anyway, I have done absolutely nothing in the way of housework this week. My damn feet are in too much pain so I have spent a lot of time on the couch just chillin'. I left the house in perfect order before I went to the Cape though so it doesn't look that bad. About the only thing I have done is stack the dishwasher. I hate looking at dishes in the sink. That and coming home from work to a messy livingroom just drive me nutty.

I am thinking about sending Emily here. I was thinking that maybe it would be a good way for her to possibly meet some of the kids she will go to school with starting in September. Of course there is no guarantee that the kids there will be the same as the kids in school but it still would be a fun thing for her to do. It costs a lot of money but it is for two weeks, all day long. I only have a day to decide though since the camp starts on Monday.

Well, I am going to go update the Emily and Katie journal and then attempt to get something done around here.

10:02 a.m. - 2003-08-07

Chapin Beach

I am back. We had a great time...minus the injuries we all sustained! Let's see...Katie tripped over her own feet and now has a bruise the size of my fist on her leg. She also managed to scrape her elbow. Emily was playing with Maddy, quite possibly the best dog in the world and she forgot to let go of the leash when she threw the ball. Maddy is a good size dog(a chocolate lab) and she took off fast. Emily was at the top of the wooden ramp that comes off of the back deck and she got dragged from the top to the bottom. I thought for sure she was going to have a broken bone or two, possibly even need stitches. The fall looked terrible, horrible, much worse than it turned out to be. She ended up with a scraped up and black eye, a bruise on her knee and a good sized scrape on her arm. That was pretty bad but God, replaying the scene in my mind, it could have been a hundred times worse. It was scary to watch. It wasn't really the dog's fault or Emily's so yes, despite the fact that she hurt my baby, I still think she rocks, so does Emily.

Me, well my "injury" is in part thanks to the sun, in part due to my own stupidity. You see, I was being such a good girl, putting sunscreen all over my body...even my ears for Christ sake. The one and only place I forgot was my feet. And I am now paying dearly. My feet are really, really red and about three times their normal size. They look worse than they did during my last month of pregancy. Not the sunburn part but the swollenness. And they hurt, alot. I am usually so good about sunscreen. I am honestly not that concerned about skin cancer sad to say, but pain. Sunburns hurt and if simply putting sunscreen on can prevent the pain, then why the hell not?

Anyway, other than that, it was a perfect couple of days. The sun was out, the beach was beautiful, the water warm. Emily and Katie had so much fun. Steve cooked the best dinners and my mother baked her infamous Magic Cookie Bars for dessert. We sat on the side deck while the kids performed for us, singing and dancing, using the back deck as their "backstage" area. After they went to bed, we played board games, and consumed a drink my brother in law made called, "Blue Balls." I have no clue what was in it but it contained ungodly amounts of alcohol and it was good.

It was a very relaxing few days and we are already looking forward to going again next year.

Cape Cod

Katie is allergic to shellfish, cats, and dust mites. We finally had her allergies tested the other day. She was so good, and even went so far as to ask the nurse for another needle in her arm. What a weirdo, huh? But, sure beats her crying. Anyway, he gave her a nasal spray and she is taking Claritin. If those too things don't do the trick, he may end up treating her for chronic sinusitis as well. Oddly enough, I have also found out that hypoglycemic people(which she is) tend to have allergies as well. I had no idea about this until recently.

We, well the kids and I are leaving for the Cape tomorrow morning. My parents and friends of the family rented a house down there for the week, and we are going to stay until Tuesday. Ryun is working and since he just took a week off didn't want to take anymore time. 

Anyway, the kids are so excited. The house is right on the ocean...and it is just gorgeous. The sand is soft, the water is relatively calm, and with bright shining sun and a beautiful blue sky, it makes a perfect picture. They had such a good time last year(me too) so we are really looking forward to it.

I am working tonight and leaving tomorrow so don't expect to hear from me until at least Wednesday. I will be online this afternoon and probably after work but that's about it.

12:58 p.m. - 2003-08-02

Highlights of the Vaca

I have decided that rather than give you a blow by blow entry regarding the camping trip, I would just do the highlights. We were gone for eight days afterall, and we did a lot. Because I am lazy, and am somewhat of a list freak, I am doing this in list form. Not in any particular order.

Highlight # 1: Technically more of a "lowlight" if you will but worth mentioning, if not just to vent. When we arrived Saturday, Suzanne and I left the "manly men" to set up camp and we took the kids food shopping. Emily proceeded to throw up in aisle twelve of Shaws. Very random...she had been fine all week. Anyway, we cleaned her up and left(thankfully we were basically done shopping. When we got back, the boys had set up the two tents and were in the process of starting a camfire. I was back at the van unloading bags, when my sister Suzanne(arms full of groceries) came running back saying that Em was getting sick again. S,o I dropped what I had in my hands back in the car and ran back to her. When I got there, my poor little baby was there, all by herself, puking into the woods. Where were Ryun and John? Tending the campfire. I was pissed. I yelled, "She's over here hacking up a lung and you guys are worried about the fire? How about rubbing her back or holding her hair out of her face?" Maybe I was a bitch but that's my baby and she was hurting. Little love would have been nice. Jeez.

Highlight # 2: John's cooking... Ribs, steak kabobs...yummy. Seriously he should be a chef.

Highlight # 3: Listening to thunderstorms and pounding rain bounce of the mountains from the shelter of a tent. Yeah, it rained almost every night and into the morning which was a pain, but it sure sounded cool.

Highlight # 4: Katie and the rollecoaster/flume rides. Conversations went like this: Katie sees the rollercoaster/flume and says, "Wow that looks fun." Katie comes off of the rollercoaster/flume crying. Mommy says, "Katie did you like the rollercoaster/flume?" Katie enthusiastically responds, "YEAH!" Mommy says, Do you want to go on again?" Katie yells, "NO!" Silly girl.

Highlight # 5: The Canon Mountain Aerial Tramway. The best thing we did. It was awesome. An 80 passenger tram type thing takes you via cables to the top of the mountain. Incredible views and a great 20 minute hike around the summit.

Highlight # 6: Visiting with Ryun's grandparents. I love them...they are just the best. They live in Vermont and recently moved to a new house. The view from there house is magnificent.

Highlight # 7: Polly's Pancake Parlor: Read my last entry. It says it all.

Highlight # 8: Ryun's creativity...managed to set up the tarp in such a way that the tent did not get wet...at all. And it rained almost every night.

Highlight # 9: John and Ryun the pyromaniacs lighting the picnic table on fire. Yes, they really did do that.

Highlight # 10: Clark's Trading Post: fun, fun, fun. The bear show rocks and the circus was amazing.

And finally...# 11: The scenery...amazing, beautiful, indescribable. Pictures don't even begin to do it justice.