CopaKetic

And Then I found a Kitten!

2011-07-05T23:03:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

See? An actual kitten. Who is now named Cooper. Since Schmee drives one and I work in a Co-op, we found it fitting. We spent the morning of the 4th weeding. I was in the vegetable garden with our house, and Schmee was in the seed garden. I'd taken a break after an hour to go get my forgotten hat, and also to pick up water for everyone - so I'd taken the car back down. As we were driving back, we saw a mother cat drop her kitten on the dirt road and run. So we went out to look.

The kitten is a fluffball, but obviously past the age that it should be having it's eyes open at...which they weren't. This equaled a moral quandary for us...because if we didn't take the kitten home, it was doubtful it would get better. So, we did. After many phone calls to many houses (it apparently takes a village to raise a kitten as well!), we got some good advice on cleaning it's eyes (which popped open, only to get gunked up again after it sleeps...sometimes giving it a pirate-look) and also made a formula for it, as best we could.

Anyhow, it's squeaking, so I need to go feed it..again. Dropperful at a time. Vet visit tomorrow to see what kind of sneezels it has, and to confirm the sex maybe...
Hope all is well,
Steph

Buttermilk Banana Pancakes!

2011-07-01T08:26:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Obviously I'm well aware it's been over 3 months since my last post, and to be honest, at least 6 months since my last post of any interest. Not that my life has gotten any less riveting, I assure you, but responsibility and friends tend to eat up your life. The village hasn't gotten any smaller, and ripples of excitement still flood our pond of existence, but I find myself a little removed and part of the bigger picture now.

So, where exactly am I at?

In a week Schmee will be leaving to go home (fortunately only 1.5 hours away) for the next few months to be on jury duty and then move to New Hampshire for grad school. Baker will remain in the house until the middle-end of September. I really have no idea what I'm doing yet - I've asked to stay another year, but only in a position of really supporting the co-op. There's not really a precedent for this: I'd be attached to a house and still be a volunteer, but have evenings for studying for the GRE and looking for grad schools. So there have been many meetings and I'm hoping to hear soon. I'll be out of my house by August 1st, when one of the new house team members moves in. Not sure where I'd be going yet. We'll see.

I went on vacation at the beginning of June. It was very low-key, family-oriented and busy. Saw my one of my cousins, volunteered/rode at the barn, made a German feast, shopped, went to my brother's college graduation - and had him move only 40 minutes away for the summer!, played cards and saw lots of other family. It was a good trip, if a little short.

I have still been working in the glass shop once a week and loving jumping into new projects. New co-workers have been arriving - but none for the co-op yet. This also means others are leaving...a bittersweet experience. Calvin leaves next week, which just seems surreal to me. We have acquired two young staff kids (10ish?) at the co-op. One is doing a lot of errands and the other comes in 2 afternoons a week to clean. The one in the morning is full of the dickens, and must be kept occupied every second or mild chaos can ensue. Good kids though.

We're also starting our switch to the electronic point of sales system (ie, barcode scanning into computer instead of writing items in a book). Not sure if this will complicate or simplify things, but the answer for the short-run is obvious.

Anyhow, about that Buttermilk Banana Pancake recipe: it started with a base recipe from Deborah Madison's cookbook, but I then modified it.

Steph's Buttermilk Banana Pancakes Serves 6

Combine and set aside for at least 10 minutes:
(Buttermilk Mixture)
2 c. milk
1 c. yogurt (or milk, if none available)
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar

In a separate bowl combine:
1 1/2 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
1/2 c. oat (or any other) flour
4 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Nutmeg (opt)
4 TBSP sugar (opt)

Combine in a second bowl:
5 eggs, beaten
1 mashed banana (option, but very recommended!!!)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 TBSP oil or melted butter
Add "Buttermilk Mixture"

Optional: Berries or chocolate chips

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat sparingly, until just mixed with no large lumps.
Cook over medium-low heat (gas stove, cast iron pans...otherwise, your best guess, but lower is better) in oiled pans. Pour batter onto pan and sprinkle with optional item (berries or choc. chips), when small bubbles begin to form around edges, or steaming occurs, flip pancake. May lift edge to "peek" to see if done - a light golden brown is desirable. Cook until batter is cooked through - will be moist due to bananas.

Enjoy!

Hope all is well,
Steph

Iced In

2011-03-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

So, last Sunday evening we had a nice huge ice storm that Schmee and I got to drive home in from her parent's house. Trees were so weighted down with ice that several came down low enough to hit the car, one was even swaying back in forth in the lane and we had to dodge it in a maneuver vaguely reminiscent of a video racing game. We made it home shortly after 11, and I was just going to bed when the power flickered several times and went out. Starting around noon the next day, we got a generator, which was our only source of power until about 5:00 Wednesday evening.

So, that was an adventure. I was worried constantly about the Co-op. Apparently we used to have a generator strong enough to run the fridge and freezers, but last time a house's generator broke and so it went to the house. But they never got a new one....so the whole time I was freaking out that we'd lose a couple thousand dollars worth of food. So that was a huge relief that temps stayed OK. Not ideal, but ok to prevent food spoilage. We also had to cancel the Carnival celebration, as there weren't enough generators/good enough planning to heat the hall. : (

We had moments of humor waiting for power, Schmee had some good quotes from both then and the previous week. The previous week, during cooking for a villager's birthday, she asked if we couldn't just bake the hamburgers. Apparently my face gave her the answer. A few days ago she asked "How do we give the cat a bath? You know, for when she gets really dirty..." Have I mentioned that she's only ever had a dog? She carts the cat around (who mostly tolerates it), and treats it pretty much like a dog, but she's learning - one bite at a time... That was a fun conversation, though.

We also had a profoundly sad moment. A special co-worker (son of a longterm coworker who never left the community, he'd been here for over 30 years...), passed away completely unexpectedly...apparently a aorta aneurysm. Obviously it's a huge blow for the community, and devastating for his mother. We'll all be attending the funeral tomorrow.

Anyhow, I think that's about it for now.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Stay On the Sunny Side

2011-02-26T23:25:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

So as I sat on the train to NYC yesterday (drying out from the downpour that kept me hydroplaning on the way to the station), the thought arose "This could be the biggest interview of my life", followed by "I sure hope not!". Because, honestly, I hope that I'll never have to look back and be able to find a single moment that is able to define my entire life. Sure, if I get the JET position I'll definitely walk a much different path then if I don't. But, if it's meant to be, it's the only path I can be on. I'm honestly at a very good point of equilibrium, if I get this position, I think I could be up for a great new challenge. If I don't, there's obviously a different place that I'll just have to find my way to.

After a minute of misdirection, (and one of the grossest bathroom changing experiences Grand Central could offer), I was able to find my way to the cleverly hidden Japan Embassy on Park Ave. I was greeted at the desk where I became I67, led upstairs with a guard escort in a group, walked through a metal detector, handed back my penny, met some recent JET returns, listened to some very hyped-up other interviewees and fought a minute of inferiority. Both JET returnees insisted that you didn't have to know Japanese, but both had some. One of the guys had been there before and became smug, while the other whitened a shade and desperately looked for an in for the conversation. I had a moment, but I realized that I was there and had represented myself honestly, and was good enough so far. I went in, shook hands, and was utterly me. I gave an honest account of my experiences and opinions on why I wanted to go, and got to demonstrate my horrible drawing skills. Not the brightest moment, but it was still fine. When I found myself back in the lobby I wasn't terribly relieved, except that now I've done all that I can. They seem to know what they're looking for, and hopefully they'll be interested in what I have to offer.

Now I get to sit and wait.

For 6 weeks.

On the bright side, I'll probably catch up with seminar soon. Hopefully. It was a busy week. Monday found me balancing a garage door (light, pull down) on my shoulder, with a 70+ villager hanging off the handle. "Dolly" lives in my house, and is the doll that her name implies...she's got a great sense of humor but is always into something (getting up early doing harmless things like denuding a dying houseplant to the not-so-harmless putting a ribbon around the cat's neck and locking her in the bathroom. When another villager commented that Dolly had been up since 5 and we asked how she knew she answered that she'd come downstairs to use the bathroom. Why? Because the cat was shut in the upstairs bathroom. Now that we've discussed that there's no litter tray and we'd rather not have a repeat of the kitty poop in the sink incident, this may stop. We hope. Anyhow...story). She has a thing about closing doors, which is limited to 1 in the house. Apparently she always closes the neighbor's garage door. This isn't very safe as she has to walk on the icy path by their car, plus she's been requested not to do it. This was the first I'd heard of it...so I picked my battle. She came back after her first attempt, but I stoically held my ground and repeated it was time to go to work and no, this wasn't our door to close. She went away a bit weepy, but was consoled by her friend.

When I returned home from lunch, she seemed to be in fine spirits. Wanting to make sure that she knew this wasn't personal, I asked "Are we ok about that door?"

Dolly leaned over, with a glint in her eye and said "Yes...I closed it! Heh heh heh" She cackled.
She got it on the way home.

It's a start.

She really keeps us smiling though, so it's easy not to take it personally.

I walked up behind her and rubbed her shoulders (she's a hugger and very affectionate), and she suddenly proclaimed "Don't undress me!" And then burst into laughter...

What can you say to that?

Anyhow, a villager passed away this week. It was an interesting experience. I didn't know this one, (which is surprising, but they were sick for a long time since before I even came to the village). It wasn't a big surprise, and the end came painlessly. But a loss is always felt throughout the whole community, and I attended the funeral with Schmee and the house today because it felt like the right thing to do and to support the house. The funeral wasn't what I expected, but the music was beautiful and carried a sense of peace.

This week had quite a few ups and downs. Lots of nightmares filled with death and stressful situations, but also wonderful experiences. We were having dinner Thursday night and the phone rang. This is annoying, since no one is supposed to call during meals (although we'd been interrupted at breakfast and resthour that day, so it was becoming a trend. Baker answered it, and when I asked who it was he whispered the name. I wanted to know which one, since we have 2 in the village, albeit with a great height difference, so I pantomimed the question. Short or taller? He shook his head and gestured REALLY tall..."Don't be silly, that one is in Germany!"

Nope, he wasn't.

"HE NEVER SAID GOODBYE!"...yes, he did hear that on the phone.

I also said it again when he came to our living room and flung myself at him for a hug. His response?

"Well, I didn't say hello yet either..."

Smartass.

Anyhow, it was wonderful and unexpected to see him. But disappointing, because he'd come over to get a ride from Baker to go back to NYC that evening. BUT, he was in town until Monday, so I got to make plans for after my interview to get together for dinner.

So, after my interview (and another gross Grand Central bathroom-changing experience) we met up. I put him in charge of navigation and we went to Chinatown/Little Italy and walked around talking until we found a place. It was pretty authentic...forks were not provided, and Dusty laughed at my feeble chopsticks attempt. Something I'd work on if I get accepted by JET. Anyhow, I was the one laughing when he realized that the panfried noodles were going to prove a big challenge.

We managed.

So, that was such a nice surprise. This year is kind of a dud. We have a TON of couples, and we don't have an "organizer" like last year. Also, everyone isn't anywhere close to 21, which limits our after-nine activities. It's much more cliquish. I think that part of the problem is that an American could step up and organize things, but we're all pretty over-committed and simply don't have the time. (Or possibly patience). Anyhow, it's late and I need my sleep. I took a later train back last night, and it took me an hour to get home, as the rain had turned to snow and ice. Most of the roads were fine, but I was (gratefully) behind 2 snow plows, and the last few miles were actually quite bad. But I made it.

And now I need sleep.
So, hope all is well,
Steph

PS. Might've watched "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" tonight with Schmee...

The Cat Pooped in the Sink Today

2011-02-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

I really wish that it was April first. But, it's not, is it? I have numerous approaches to looking at this...first: BAD. Julia had come over to say hi, and was desperate for a bathroom - and since the downstairs one was being used, she ran upstairs. Of course, she noticed right away, and so I was able to get some gloves on and take care of it. Memo: house needs bleach. On the other hand, it could have been worse. I mean, there USED to be a litterbox in the bathroom, and maybe the cat was locked in accidentally. It was the bathroom, so in the right neighborhood. Additionally, she might be pissed off that she doesn't get to go into rooms or outside at night and may be a little disgruntled. Still, it was just one of those kinds of days.

People keep asking how it's going, as if they're expecting us to proclaim it's a catastrophe. It's nice to hear people are concerned, but it almost makes you paranoid when you can say things seem to be going fine for the most part - at least with everyone currently living in the house. Sure, there are some hiccups and things that we're still learning about each other. We have different styles and different needs that we have different approaches to fulfilling. But people seem happy, and we have lots of laughter around the table. Schmee, Baker and myself see how it is and know where we'd like to get it to be, but are aware of our limitations and that some things will just take some time. But I think we're all up for the challenge.

Yesterday we had our first neighborhood meeting, which was certainly a different experience from my old neighborhood, and it was just a small gathering due to it being our first meeting. It's interesting to watch the power dynamics.

It was also Franklin's birthday recently, and so I went out with my old house to celebrate. We had dinner and a movie, and it went as well as it ever did, but we made it.

In other exciting news...my interview is only 8 days away. I've been brushing up on facts on Japan, and investigating their education system a bit. Little things just seem to be pointing to this being the next step. I'm not a huge "It's a Sign!" sort of person, but this just feels right somehow. Time will tell, but I am happy and honored that I even made it to this stage.

Anyhow, as things get settled in I'll try to post more, but no promises. My stress level is definitely up and I'm spending most of my time trying to relax or study. Seminar is marching on and I'm letting it go loosely, the interview is priority. Surprisingly, Valentine's Day was completely a non-issue this year. In years past it was always a bit romantic when I was with someone, or a bit wistful/hateful if I wasn't. But this year I was just grateful that I didn't have to worry about it. Plus, I got some good Valentines from a few friends and a very cute one from my father.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Exxxxxxxxxxxhale....

2011-02-10T21:45:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

So...changes again. I moved into a new house yesterday afternoon, but only managed about 45 minutes of unpacking. Schmee has been here about 3 weeks already (super excited to be running a house with her and Baker!), and she was great help for keeping me company while I tried to figure it all out. I was so exhausted after yesterday I fell asleep at 10:30 and was out hard. I've spent a little more time today unpacking and arranging, but I went from lots of shelves to 6, plus a huge closet. I'm actually put off by the whole notion of a "walk-in" closet (although it narrows in the back withe eaves), but that's probably just laziness of not being able to just stand in front of it. Pathetic, I'm sure.

The last few weeks have been a blur of getting everything wrapped up in my old house (2 audits, plus trying to file all the old financial records that have been rotting in various drawers...still might've not found them all!), going on an outing to NYC with a few people from the house for a benefit concert for a neighboring community, coping with the fact Calvin AND Buttercup ended up taking vacations at the same time for about 8 days, having a delivery pass us by, having it late this week because he had an accident, seminar, various meetings, etc etc etc.

Oh, did I mention I got a JET interview?

Yup. Still haven't gotten the letter for when, but should be at the end of the month. So, my days off will be filled with writing seminar papers and studying up for the interview.

So Steph's stress level has been pretty impressive.

There was a lot of shifts and changes and stress surrounding the actual move, that it's simply an incredible relief to be here. It's strange, as Schmee put it, because we know what we have to do...just not the details for how to do it with the people we're with. So, there's a good learning curve.

Anyhow, here's a good quote for you...backstory first: our truck driver got delayed in one of the many snow storms last week that happened on Tuesday. He called the co-op early Wednesday morning, and someone answered. He said he'd be there around 9, but might need directions. Work was off in the village that morning, but I was there waiting. At 10:30 I finally called the company. The transportation office claimed they tried to call to ask about road conditions and when they didn't reach us, had the truck bypass. They know our hours of operation, and if they called when I was on the line, surely they could've tried again or deduced that someone was there...But apparently not...

The proud-American delivery guy I have in the morning asked me about it:

"So when did the truck come in?!?!"
"Uh, it didn't..."
"Why not?!"
"Um...because they're (hold back, Steph...)...nincompoops!"
"What the hell is a nincompoop!?"
"Idiots...they're idiots"
"Oh - like you! Hahahaha"

It was pretty funny...

So, my brain is still pretty dead, so I'm about to turn in soon.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Full Circle

2011-01-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

So, one must be rather careful for what one wishes for. True, I got the 3 feet of snow, but the ice "storm" (it rained...and froze) was a bit much. It WAS gorgeous to look up and see the tree branches waving and scintillating in the sunlight, with a beautiful clinking like delicate glass chimes in the wind until until they ice pieces slid off to dash themselves against the grown, but it got pretty treacherous and I ended up on my butt once. Everyone uses the "yak traks" here, but I mostly do just fine in just boots. Thanks to Benny. Anyhow, it looks like a proper winter now.

In celebration of being here a year, I finally got myself a dentist appointment. I don't want to talk about it.

On a more positive note, Julia celebrated her birthday. I met her on the night before her birthday last year, and it's amazing how our friendship has grown. She was typically gushy, but explained she wasn't going to apologize because, after all, it was her birthday. I got invited to her birthday table, and it was lovely. First time having steak (in steak form), in the village as well. Yum! I'd found a book called "How to Repair Food", which is quite funny - and incredibly useful. I mean, who knew you could turn sour cream back into cream??? This led to an interesting story about south africa, where apparently it's cheaper to buy butter, freeze it, and then thaw it and put it through a machine to turn it back into cream when you need it. Weird, huh?

Anyhow, it was a lovely evening, and a good end to a very long weekend. I'd had to get re-certified in a course that was held at a neighboring community at the lovely hour of 8 am. We got done 1.5 hours early - would starting at 9 kill them?!? It was a good time though. We had cafe and giftshop duty, because we'd swapped with a house having a christening. I had to change my off time on Sunday, because I ended up having to do giftshop on that day as well. Paled in comparison to eating glass though.

Somehow, many (quite large) splinters of glass ended up in the 1/2 of a cheesecake that we were going to serve at cafe on Saturday. Luckily, for others, I had a piece/bite and discovered this. Unfortunately, half of the cheesecake had already been served the prior week....and not thrown away! So that was fun.

Anyhow, for the big news: on Saturday the house went out to dinner and I informed them that I'd be moving on the 7th to help co-run a house (with Schmee and another young co-worker!) whose houseparent needed to step out for a while due to health reasons. No one seem too concerned. This is pretty typical, as people get used to comings and goings - and I'm not even leaving the village. I think Beau will be the most upset, and he's the one I will miss the most. I'm leaving on good terms with Hum and Hather, and knew that this day would be coming months ago. It will certainly bring some new challenges, but I find I'm mostly excited. The weight of it is still settling, but I have hope.

I have a rough 2 weeks to get through first though. Both Calvin and Buttercup are leaving on vacation, meaning that I'll be very short and work and at home - since I'll be picking up 90% of Calvin's work. Plus packing in there.

Need I mention that I'm sorry I've been a little too overwhelmed to blog lately? I hope things will settle down soon, although Seminar events are picking up and I'm rather behind. And rather unmotivated. It will come. Plus, I'm waiting to hear back on my Jet application, which should happen within the next week. So, a little more stress.

Basically, I'd like to sleep the next 2 weeks. A mini-hibernation.

It will get better.

Hope all is well - at least I'm healthy!
Steph

Frozen Mice

2011-01-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Yes, I can't wait for the hits that this blog title will probably get. Anyhow, it's been a busy 8 days...like always. First news is to explain the post: in the co-op we have lots of interesting lists that we see. We get a fair amount of German, some Korean, and sometimes completely nonsensical if the villager was entrusted to write it (and can often read it, so fair enough!). However, we got a very nice, small and neatly written list. Buttercup started to laugh and silently handed over the list for me to scan. Check, check, check...frozen mice. As clear as can be. Okkkkkk. Upon a follow-up call, where we were adamant that we chucked out any mice that stumbled into our traps, we discovered that it was supposed to be frozen maize. We did have frozen corn, but the joke has been running. Tasty little appetizers, with tails just right for slurping...

The co-op was an interesting place this last week in general. We haven't had internet for a week (found out our router was kaput, while the light fixture simply needed a new bulb - embarrassing, but the damn thing has had parts replaced the last 3-4 times, so we weren't going to touch it!) and so I had to order in Hudson at a cafe on Sunday. We had a nice little blizzard and got about 8-10 inches of snow and had work canceled on Wednesday. This was great, as I and Buttercup still went in and we had the order finished by Wednesday. Wonderful! We also got our new ramp in (courtesy of the wood workshop) and it worked beautifully. So that was nice.

Last Saturday Calvin, myself and another co-worker took the house into the CITY. It dawned on me in the train, after a horrible 15 minutes fighting with the ticket machine..., that I was kind of running the show. After a little directional confusion we got right into the flow of things. We had an early lunch at "Ellen's Stardust Diner" - where the music by the Broadway wannabes was totally amazing. It was better than the last time I went, because I think they were stretched thin during the holidays. It was a more relaxed atmosphere. We went for a walk down Broadway afterward, looping into Central Park a bit. We had a snack at an amazing gelato shop: Grom's uses recyclable napkins and dishes, and biodegradable spoons. It has all organic components, with free trade and single origin ingredients. It was obviously insanely expensive, but totally delicious! In fairness, it was cheaper than the restaurants close to the Colosseum, and all that was special there was the view! Then we went to the 2:30 showing of "Million Dollar Quartet" and it was phenomenal! The Elvis was the understudy, but the musicianship was amazing. It was a great time and everyone loved it. We got back to the trainstation in time to buy a quick dinner to eat on the train. Beau managed to lock himself into the bathroom ont the train (second time that day, really, since he did it at the theater too), trying to get out. The "ductor" (Marie) thought this was rather funny. We got home by 8:30 and everyone had a fantastic time.

Marie has been a bit trying this week. Clothing has been a problem, long underwear even made an appearance OVER jeans one morning. And Calvin screwed up when I asked him to tell her to put her clothes into her hamper when she went to bed: she put all her DIRTY clothes into her closet instead. SO that was fun. But you can never actually stay mad at her, there's too much joy in everything she experiences. A humbling experience. Makes you feel like you should be a better person. That's not always not annoying though...who likes to see their faults?

Today I told one of the class mentors that I needed to report co-worker abuse. I was in the glass workshop this morning, admiring the newly-and-painstakingly-restored large piece that was getting a final once-over by the workmasters. They're exactly what I want. He teases, but obviously adores her. And she rolls her eyes and chides, but adores him right back. And they've been married for probably over 40 years. So happy it makes you a little sad. Surely they've had horribly tough times, but that love has endured and is so plain. Anyhow, I digress. They were in the middle of some banter about the piece, and the wife didn't notice me come up from behind. She exclaimed "Oh...Henry!" and took a little absentminded swat at his general direction, but missed. Hitting me lightly. She was completely oblivious until I squeaked from surprise, and then it was her turn to look astounded. It was priceless. "Henry", of course, found this hilarious, and we were soon all laughing. "Henry" was bored today, and later was terrorizing us all by flicking giant rubber bands around. I almost got him back though...

A good morning in the workshop.

Anyhow, changes are on the horizon, but I can't really share yet. I'll keep you posted...
Hope all is well,
Steph

PS The almost-2-year old, came out of the bathroom as I walked by today and cheerfully announced that she had stuck her hands in the toilet. She was quite happy about this...

A New Year, Another Year

2011-01-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

I can't wait for the Holy Nights to be over! True, I've gotten a few good naps in, but I'm more tired than ever, it seems. Of course, some of that is self-inflicted.

New Year's was a quiet affair. We met as a neighborhood with a fellow neighborhood and had a dinner of Chinese and Pizza take out together. We played some silly games, and I witnessed the most ridiculous 2 rounds of musical chairs known to mankind. The usual things happened during the rounds: people forgot to get up, people wandered away even though a chair still existed, and people doubled up. The first round it came down to Sally (exuberant cat-lover from next door) and a house father. Sally went crazy around the chair, and looked like she was defending it from making a pass. So naturally she won. The second round, the housemother from next door was pitted against a young staffkid. Under 10, definitely. The housemother thought the music was ending so she slid towards the chair, and in the process hip-checked the girl to the floor...and the music played on...needless to say she didn't make much of a struggle when the music finally ended. Pretty hilarious.

After then night's festivities, I drove Calvin and his girlfriend to Hudson and we watched Black Swan. I only had to cover my ears a few times. Afterward, we met up with the Korean contingent at Applebee's, and I got drilled on why I didn't have a boyfriend. That's a fun conversation with a language barrier. Then we rang in the new year (my first time watching the ball drop in the correct time zone) and wished the Koreans happy birthday, since they legally get a year older every Jan 1st. I had to giggle when I explained that we do the same thing with horses, they did find that amusing.

The next day I finally had a day off. I got to sleep in and then headed off to Kingston with one of the Koreans. We poked around Barnes and Noble and the mall, and got dinner out. I think we'll be meeting occasionally to have English conversation practice. I've asked several of the Koreans what they do for fun/hobbies. I've heard music and practice/study English. Obviously, they're the party animals of the community.

I also had to say a goodbye this week, which really drove home the fact that (as of today!) I've been here an entire year. The other girl actually came a bit later than I did, but she's one of the last people that came when I did/ from the previous year's group of people. It's sad, the number is dwindling. Luckily, four people did stay for additional time, but those goodbyes will be even more brutal now, I'm afraid.

The future is starting to pop up in my mind now. It's both exciting and a little scary. I know I'll need to get out for a while, but would really prefer to have something that I'm looking forward to going to for when I do leave. It brings up other key life questions as well, but I'm not going to bore you by going into them. I'll wait until I'm in a proper mood for it!

Anyhow, I hope all is well - and happy new years!
Steph

I Hope You Had Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

2010-12-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

A mere 10 days, it's looking up, hmm? Keep in mind that I spent at least 30 hours of that last week in play rehearsal. SO GLAD that it's OVER. Not that I didn't enjoy it, I mean, it did involve singing in public. To a crowd of over 200. And I messed up the first song, like I always did in practice. Anyhow, the show was still hailed as being a success and I really had a great time being in it. I would say I'm never doing one ever again, but it's a requirement/built into the seminar course thingy I'm doing.
However, I do have some good quotes stored up, and the first relates to something the four year old said when I came home from the first dress rehearsal/small performance crowd, with traces of my glittery "angel" makeup on me:

"Steph...whys you got...sprinkles on your face?"

Cute.

Another quote came from our Christmas day meal of Turkey. Hum asked Franklin where he wanted his gravy (potatoes, meat, veggies...) and he replied:

"On Top!"

Fair enough.

I went to the gas station and picked up tobacco for Hum, and was carded. The foreign cashier looked long and hard at my ID, and finally asked:

"Is Minnesota a part of the United States?"

Um, yup. Right next to N and S Dakota...Honestly, we are closer to Canada than MN currently, so I shouldn't be quite so surprised.

Last quote (other than the 1.5 year old adorableness, which involved her patting me on the knee and saying "What's wrong, Tephanie?" with the most earnest expression ever)

Maria seemingly discovered her leg hair...
Me: "Yup, we ALL have hair: arms, legs, heads...everywhere!"
Her: "...Like a gorilla, right?"

Pretty much, yeah.

Anyhow, I had a really nice Christmas. Gifts kept coming, which was a joy and slightly mortifying. I like to really put thought into my gifts, and I kept being surprised. It's much easier when you have a real budget to work with. Anyhow, I got LOTS of chocolate (yummmmm!), and some very practical gifts: I was honestly extremely happy to get 7 pairs of socks! I also got some beautiful things, including a wonderful pashmina from my parents, a salt lamp from the house parents and a gorgeous pair of earrings from my brother. I was pretty much thrilled with everything I got: my mother even sent my stocking, which was packed full with Sixlets and other goodies.

But Christmas really isn't about the presents, is it? Hum asked our newest villager how his first Christmas away from home was, and I asked Calvin about his, and then referenced mine. It was fine to be here, but had a little bit of an emotional disconnect. I really missed being with my family, the talking, teasing, games and tasty food. I suddenly really got the whole "I'll Be Home for Christmas" song, and the emotions behind it. It was my first Christmas away from family, and probably won't be my last. But I hope that they will be few and far between, because it's just not the same without them.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Wait Until I Get to the Wookie

2010-12-16T19:07:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Yes, yes, it's been a long time. Last time I tried to blog it was on the second half of Thanksgiving break...
This was:

Hi all,
So, the rest of the trip to Maine was fabulous...I did have to leave at 6 am to get back around noon on Monday, but you can't have everything. That was the start of my "Bad Things Come in 3" justification.
Things were going great, I was able to go shopping with Buttercup and get things all together and not too late to pick her and one of the guys up. The other guy was an hour late. This posed problems...

My computer then crashed, as I discovered the power outlet I was using wasn't working. Anyhow, we were about 1.5 hours late to getting to the resort, and the other people had made plans to jet out of there. Needless to say, they didn't do an extremely good job of making the hand-over, and I ended up doing a serious double-dosing of someone's meds. I had to call the nurse on duty, who called poison control. Luckily, it wasn't as serious as it could've been and we just had to skip the next day's dose. Talk about a stress. The next morning ( I was sleeping on the pull-out bed...long story) and was wide awake early in the morning, as the 2 people downstairs had walked through to the bathroom at least 12 times during the night...with one proceeding to get lost the first 4-5 times...it was straight shot...

I had realized that if we wanted to get pies AND the turkey done (it was Thanksgiving), that I had better get started ASAP. Unfortunately, while I was preheating the oven and opened it to adjust the rack a huge billow of smoke rushed out and set off the fire alarms. Good Morning Everyone! So that took a bit of airing out, and was the third stressful occurrence.

But we had a wonderful time. A great (and completely amazing) Thanksgiving meal happened, with only a few corners cut on pie crusts and stuffing. Buttercup was in charge of the turkey and she pulled it off despite it having no "dummy button" and no meat thermometer. It was mouth-wateringly tender and we had enough leftovers for soup for several days. No one was disappointed. The rest of the week was comprised of shopping on black Friday, Tangled 3D, several museums, going out to eat, swimming, news watching, and smorgasbord breakfasts. We did pancakes, french toast, clafouti, cinnamon rolls, eggs...you name it.

We had a few memorable instances...

We made pizza one night, and we were going on seconds. The guys were dishing up seconds, and I'd asked for the one last piece (of the not so fresh stuff) several times. Buttercup re-announced my request to them, as she was further down the table. Yet one of them still scooped it up and put it on someone else's plate. This guy is a horrible listener, and just likes to tune people out from habit. So I yelled at him in (regrettably poor) German. Well, THAT got his attention. He was genuinely bewildered at first but then had the grace to look chastened. And then he almost causes another outrage by scooping the piece onto my plate. We averted that crisis. The other German guy thoroughly enjoyed this little exchange and remarked that we should have more conversations in German. Buttercup, who gets pretty pissed when they go off in German in front of people (it's explicitly frowned upon/forbidden in the handbook), was rather ok with it.

Another event was at the dinner table - it really was our center of activity and conversation. We usually had the same man blow out our candle. Once, however, he did it with such great gusto that the wax (it was a 3 inch diameter tower candle...) flew everywhere! Luckily it flew around his face, but a good portion flew across the table and even coated his water glass somehow. It was a little one of those "you had to be there" moments, but was somehow hysterically funny.

We got everyone home shortly before 3 - lunch took longer than anticipated since my GPS insisted that the restaurant we'd chosen at random (first chose closed for Christmas Decorating...arg) that the restaurant really was in that empty field...behind the industrial section. So we went to Olive Garden.

Since getting back a lot has happened. I've frantically been scrambling to get Christmas presents together...and lots will probably get there late. I got myself involved in the Christmas play...ending up as the Angel...who yes, has to sing 2 short solos. The original score calls for me hitting (and sustaining....) a high F. Yeah, right. That's now been turned into a D. Much better for my alto voice. The practices have been brutal, and have lasted up to 3 hours. Didn't get done until 11 on Tuesday.

Plus, I've been sick.

My mother and grandmother and aunts came to NYC for the first weekend of December. Months ago I'd arranged to have it off and I arrived on the train around 12:30 on the 4th. I started walking with no real plan, but was overjoyed to see the NY public library. Even better, they have a coat and bag check, so I was able to wander around for a few hours unladen with my backpack. I toyed with the notion of getting a card, but it wouldn't be very practical and I'd be hard pressed to assert my NY state residency, as I'm maintaining my MN one. My license photos is simply too nice to happen again by fluke, so I'm making the best of it!

Anyhow, after a few hours there and a few pastries from a Japanese restaurant/supermarket, I trouped down 5th street and found my way to the condo my family was renting. They were running a bit late, but the receptionist allowed me to sit in the lobby until they came. We went up the condo, which wasn't exactly what they were expecting (like toilet paper and hand towels, for example) and tried to formulate a plan. It's nice just being along for the ride. Or walk, as that's what we did.

We went to dinner at Famous Dave's (not everyone is an experimental eater) and then wandered around trying to plan hitting a show or visiting Ellen's Stardust Diner. We didn't do either, due to crowds, but we took in the window displays on 5th Ave and saw the Rockefeller tree. We then walked back and had a glass of wine and played cards. A lot of fun.

At some point in the early morning, I got to re-experience dinner. It seems I'd caught the stomach bug that had gone around in the village during break. I struggled through the rest of the day, mostly non-nauseous. I managed to eat at Ellen's SD Diner, which was pretty fantastic, and a fun experience. Then we went to the Cirque du Solei "Wintuck" performance. I had a separate seat, and it was pretty full. The plot line wasn't the strongest, and I wasn't feeling the best, but I still really enjoyed all the amazing acts. Annoyingly, the man in front of me was incapable of using his neck to turn his head, and I had to zig zag mine so frequently that after intermission I found a seat in the back row (3-4 rows back) that was open and I was able to watch in peace. We walked to Time Square, and I wasn't feeling very well again. So I said my goodbyes and my mother sent me back in a taxi to Grand Central Station to wait for my train. I languished in the Starbucks for a while, and was happy to collapse into fitful unconsciousness on the train. I made my transfer, and found there was another person from the village coming back. It's hard to say if the next part is funny or not.

It wasn't especially funny at the time, but I still managed to laugh at the situational humor. After 15 minutes of waiting, it became apparent that both of our rides had forgotten to come pick us up. Now, I'd been feeling bad, and had forgotten that I should perhaps call and remind Julia to come. It was 10:05 at night, after all. The poor other girl didn't even have a cell phone. Since I'm not sure if the house numbers are in the payphone telephone book, it might've been an extremely bad night for her. I ended up calling Julia and she said "Oh my gosh! Do you need a ride? And **** forgot to pick her up?? I'll try calling him to see if he's on his way!"

He wasn't.

So, we ended up trapped in the unheated shelter (made of 90% glass windows...great!) until 11:30. The other co-worker is from South Korea, and had barely seen snow before. So the poor thing wasn't properly dressed and I had to instruct her to keep moving...especially her toes. She would've just curled up on the pavement otherwise ( did I mention there weren't any chairs either??). So, that was fun.

Julia, like a saving angel, arrived with another co-worker to pick us up. It was such a relief, after every 5 minutes in the cold had seemed like an eternity. She went on a mini spiel of "I can't believe he forgot both of you!..."
"Uh, well, he didn't..."
"Well, who was supposed to pick You up then??!"
"Um...you?"

Then she felt terrible.
But really, I should've called, I know that everyone has a lot on their minds...myself as no exception...I probably would've forgotten as well.

We both spent the next day in bed - and Julia was wonderful, bringing over DVDs and her hot water bottle. My symptoms went more into "cold/flu" mode, and though I dragged myself out of bed, never really got better. So yesterday morning I went to bed, and have pretty much been there ever since. I have a nice cough, and a sore back from coughing. But I'm feeling quite a bit better from before.

Now, to end on a lighter note.

This last Saturday I was on, and house cleaning went well. Hum had been sick for the last 3-4 days, and still wasn't up - battling a more serious case of what I have. The 1.5 year old got quite bossy and told me exactly how I should mop. It was tremendously cute, actually, until I turned around and caught her drinking the mop water. I had to tell her to stop, twice. Eww. I also turned my back for ten seconds to answer the phone, only to discover her making a puddle the size of a large hula-hoop spanning 2 rooms. So then I shut her out of the kitchen.

Sunday I had off and Buttercup and I went to a silly paper-cutter's exhibit (much promise, failed to impress) and we went out to a cafe. I was back in time for some play practice and then we went to "Love and Other Drugs" which was actually quite good. Quite depressing if you're single, but good. We also ate at the little diner in town. It was a nice day off.

At the seminar dinner on Tuesday night, one of the more "enlightened" members of our group was going on about how we had 100% freedom living in the community. Several of us who have been here longer rolled our eyes. Freedom is a concept that you more willingly give up, in a concept of working based on "need". To make matters better, he ended with a quote from Obi-wan in Star Wars "You must do what you feel is right". I quite randomly blurted out:

"Shave the Wookie!"
(Because honestly, what do you think a bald Wookie would even look like?)

So that got plenty of chuckles, although the more serious end of the table was ignoring us (I'm not often on that end...) and someone blurted out loudly:
"I really don't agree!"

(Too good to pass up!)
"Well, some people like them hairy!" I nonchalantly remarked to my end.

"Are you calling me hairy?" The perplexed girl asked, looking somewhat stunned...

"And, who knows, maybe some would prefer we: Wax the Wookie!"

So several of us lost it for quite a few more minutes. Eventually I explained, and of course, it's never as funny the second time round. But now we can obliquely reference it, and probably get all sort of disgusted looks if we lean over to whisper:

"Have you waxed your Wookie?"

Hope all is well - and healthy!
Steph

Vacation Time = Posting!

2010-11-23T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Once again, I'm aware of my negligence. The last few weeks have been the whirlwind of every day life, mixed in with a seminar retreat, the completion of an Americorps project, several doctor's appointments, Martinmas, and a scramble to help throw the Thanksgiving trip (plus my own vacation!) together.

So here I am, sitting on the coast of Maine, on a nice little island thoughtfully equipped with internet. No, it's actually a bunch of quite nice homes, and I'm visiting my former housemom. It's wonderful. The children have changed a fair bit in the last six months. The youngest is still his sunny self, while the middle has definitely found a place for herself and now it's the older who is in those tough pre-teen years. But they're all quite lovely still. And housemom is still housemom. Hard to describe really, except she's definitely a lot more relaxed and healthy looking... must be the island air?

I arrived Saturday night, managing not to strike any moose. I was welcomed warmly and enthusiastically, and after a good chat with housemom I snuggled down with the kids on the couch to finish the rest of the film "The Secret of Roan Inish"... which brings back childhood memories of my own. After a lovely dinner and bedtime for the kids, housemom and I sat around for hours talking about life changes, friends of ours, the future, etc. I think we both were up until about 12:30!

The next morning we had blueberry clafouti for breakfast, which was amazing, as usual. Then housemom did something I hadn't ever seen...she whipped out her guitar and soon everyone was singing. Housemom had mentioned she'd had time for music now, and I could see how much she missed it. Afterward, we bundled up and went to the local (huge) toystore, to drop one of the kids off for a play date. Then we went to their cafe, and then I finally got to go to the illustrious prison shop. The program's been going for 80 years, and it makes me wonder why all states don't have a program...it helps support the costs of the prisoners, gives them a skill and a trade that is valuable in the outside world and produces nice products at a very affordable price. Then we went over to the grocery store before finally picking up the kid.

We went home and a music friend of housemom's came by to practice a few songs. Their voices complement each other well, and it was fun to listen to. We had a nice filling dinner of stew and bread, and had some more chatting before bed.

I slept in ridiculously late (10:30! It was so quiet!!!) while housemom took the kids to school and did her morning job. I got up and had some breakfast and did some reading, and then ended up curled up on the couch with Callie. Who's a complete snuggler, so we stayed curled up (she likes to tuck her face against things...like arms...or the floor if nothing else is available) and were quite comfy for a 1.5 hour long nap. Such luxury I have missed! And a good choice too, as Max, the other cat is recovering from a recent skunk-spraying and is still rather fragrant at close proximity! We went for a nice, rainy walk around the island and then picked up the kids, after playing and dinner we tucked them in and waited for the sitter. We went out to one of the local bars for a Blues band. It was pretty good, although the average demographic was 60 and slightly toothless, so we got a lot of laughs in. A personal highlight for housemom was the 60+ plus guy in a kilt...oh dear.

Anyhow, I suppose I could catch you up on my Americorps project: I took one of the villages (an especially endearing friend of mine) to the local community college to talk to 2 classes about the village and Americorps. Now they both want to take tours! In between the classes we went to several of our suppliers and had lunch. It was Veteran's day, and so we saw some interesting men, one had his mustache twisted out 6 inches...an impressive sight, I must say. We had a good day and got back in time to help close the co-op early for the Martinmas celebration...which was a short skit and a lantern walk However, completing the project now means that I can exit the term and re-enter on my second. Which I will do shortly.

Strange to think that I've been here for almost a year...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Dear God, it's only 3 AM!

2010-11-06T20:11:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Lately, the very thought of blogging put me into overload...I had all my home stuff to do and everything just kept piling up and up and up...so I give up. You can see from the pictures that I had an amazing time at home, I cooked a German feast, was surrounded by the friends and family that I love. I got to go riding, I visited my grandma and got to cuddle with her dog and make/tear lots of lefse. I ate pie for breakfast. I said goodbye to my brother who was leaving to basic. I visited some friends. I lived.

And then I came back.

Drama, drama, drama. Most of it not concerning me. However, the Co-op has been having trouble with people using it outside business hours as a snackatorium and leaving messes. So Buttercup (yay...a name for my co-op partner, who also really loves Princess Bride!) and I went to the higher ups. And we got attention. And so we've been having meetings and meeting and more meetings in the past few weeks. On top of this I've been trying to help organize the second half of the Thanksgiving trip, plan my "vacation" the first half to see Housemom, arranging my external Americorps project and being a part of other more normal meetings for village life and Americorps...

Did I mention the Dr. appointments???

I was thrilled to get a GPS from my parents as an early Christmas present, and I hope they really realized it. Anyhow, I had done a visit to the neighboring community to make up a paper that I missed the week I was gone (ah yes, 1st year seminar is in full swing!), and Hum hadn't realized - despite a conversation earlier and my signing out the car for the agreed time - that I'd have the car back in time for her to do the school pick up. She hadn't scheduled the appointment with enough time beforehand to do the school run. So I spent the next hour calling around to various houses to find a van for us to use. I was taking Maria and Franklin to an eye doctor appointment, but I couldn't get a signal for the gps, so I headed out in the direction that Hum had told me it was in. The GPS kicked in 20 minutes with that fatal phrase: "As soon as possible, turn around". So yes, after some sorting out, it turns out we were actually supposed to go in the OPPOSITE direction...so we were a 1/2 hour late. But it worked out. Except I didn't get any lunch, and went straight to work when we got back.

I thought that the week's drama was behind me, but I found out not so the very next day. Maria's dentist appointment had been re-scheduled since it occurred when I was at home on vacation. God forbid they attempt to find someone else to do it. I had contacted a co-worker about letting them know when I had to pick her up, but the message wasn't carried through, or they plain forgot. I was there on time, and there was NO Maria. Shit. So I went from green house to green house, to fields to finally back to the co-worker. We found her in the barn, of all the stupid places....near the door so she wouldn't gag a bunch - perfect for right before a trip to the dentist!

So we were 10 minutes late, because I took the back road. 5 minutes in the waiting room and I was called back...NOT standard operating procedure! Well, she was freaking out...not holding still, gagging before they even got close to her mouth...so I had to talk her through it. They finally put on a movie - but it had a dog like her's at home. She was so happy that she burst into tears...bewildering the poor and frazzled technician. Then she forgot that she was happy and wondered why she was sad if she was crying...Sigh. We had to have me sing, bring up Michael Jackson, keep a running dialogue and keep telling her to lean back and open up, all to get the minimum cleaning done! We were all at our emotional wit's ends by the time it was all finished. The technician then presented me with a free toothbrush!

Needless to say, we needed some therapy after that...we cranked up the radio and hollered along..."The tide is highhhhhh and I'm hollllllldin' onnnnnnnnn...."

Fantastic.

However, I had the great fortune to go on a quick overnight camping trip with Julia last night. We stocked up on junkfood and liquid refreshment and went and set up her tent in pitch darkness. Daylight revealed us to be next to a veritable junkyard of tetanus-inducing farm equipment with a treacherous slope (and evil picnic bench...ouch) with ginormous fire pit, near a slimy water pit thing. In the dark we built up a beautiful fire, talked our heads off...destressing, ranting, and LAUGHING...a typical us experience. It was wonderful...and then we went to bed...before 10. Cheap dates, the both of us!

We tossed and turned all night long on the extremely cold, hard and slightly tilted ground. The only thing I'd forgotten was my contact case. We were both awake at the same time, when she had to go out to the bathroom ( past the scary lived-in 15 seater converted van...) I looked at my watch and exclaimed in dismayed tones: "It's only 3!" We both lost it...and continued to toss and turn. At about 4-5 my feet started to get cold, and I was more than happy by the time 8 rolled around. We packed up in record time, laughing and relieved. We'd been woken several times by car doors slamming - apparently it's deer season here. Julia heard someone remark that they weren't sure it was ok for us to be there, but she refrained from chiming out that we'd gotten express permission from the park ranger. All in all, quite an experience that we polished off with a large brunch.

Then I came home and slept for 3.5 hours. And then did seminar homework and tidied my room, doing laundry. I will reward myself (and everyone else...) with a shower soon...very exciting.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Pictures from Home and Today...

2010-10-26T23:55:00.000-04:00

New Living room

Stocked Fridge! Obviously in Empty-Nester Denial Mode

Fluffy Butt!

SCHNITZEL!

Spaetzle...MMM

Schnitzel Cook!

Reunion!

No Complainers...

Iides

Maternal Cow...Not. The Farmers Picking Up The Slack Today!

In our Mailbox....Arigope...Harmless to Humans

Mostly She pulled it along by its tail...

Iides

Parfait.

Trail Ride!

Ecu, Boss and Mom : )

11 Days of Not Posting...

2010-10-25T21:15:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

So, I'll admit, it was a completely blissful 9 days home. My flights went smoothly, and I arrived in time to even drop of my dress with Ecu before the rehearsal dinner! Yes, I'm realizing that I don't have nicknames for some of my closest friends because I'm usually far away from them! Anyhow, Kit's rehearsal went smoothly and it was very simple. We went to the groom's parents for a catered/cooked in meal. It was fantastic...along with the open bar. Actually, the most divine aspect was the coconut jumbo shrimp...to die for!

We left relatively early, although Ecu kept me up until 1 or 2 trying to figure out how we were going to do our hair. That sounds incredibly girly. I was pretty much a girl that weekend though, so you'll have to pardon me. We were up bright and early the next morning with Ecu and I working out way to wear our hair (she almost panicked and went to a salon...) and we ended up not going with Kit when she got her hair done. We wouldn't have had time! Ecu did my makeup (see!?!), and she was busy also doing the flower girl's (9 going on 24) nails. We had time for a few quick Bellinis, which made the 3 hour photo shoot seem a lot shorter. After more primping and yanking (depending on how well one's dress was altered...), we were ushered here and there, in and out, for many photos...which I don't possess. But I will soon! (ish).

The wedding itself breezed by (literally, my brothers timed it in at 18 minutes: short and sweet), and soon I was surrounded by the entire family (minus pets). So naturally we now have this Christmas' card picture. We then boarded the stretch Hummer Limo, and I discovered the joy of blueberry hard lemonade. We then took more photos, but more casual ones, so they were fun. We finally ended up back at the hotel where we promenaded in and took our spots at the head table. Fortunately, we got to eat soon, as there'd been quite a few drinks on an empty stomach!

The rest of the evening was a few short speeches, and quite a lot of dancing. And it was only semi-awkward. I got to rock out with all my brothers, and spent a lot of time with the family. It was precious, not knowing the next time that will happen. Makes for a bittersweet memory.

Then next morning I brunched with the family before driving back home with Ecu. We only got semi-lost and I met an interesting potter.

Ok. That's enough of the weekend recap...a quick funny story from today:

An older villager lady: I just went to work..but no one was there!"
Me: "Ah, well, I'm sure they'll be back soon! You can just wait a few minutes there..."
"Why? They weren't there!"
Me "Well, if you don't go back...they might get worried about you..."
"WHY? I'm not worried about them!"

Fair enough.

But she still went back to work.

Hope all is well,
Steph

I'm Going Home

2010-10-14T22:56:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I can't tell you why I haven't been blogging. It's a combination, I think, of many factors. The need to put myself out there in order to vent has diminished as my familiarity has waxed on village life. I have a better support system now. The house is no longer complete chaos. It's still hard, but you adjust. Also, things aren't new, and so the wonder it takes to inspire me is harder to find. Not that I don't find a lot of joy in the day-to-day things, but I think that would probably bore you all. The trees do look as though they've caught on fire here, the oranges and scarlets are a true wonder to behold. Breathtaking.

I've been busy hounding Wisp to finish altering my darn dress. But it's finished, packed up as neatly as possible in my carry-on and as good as it'll get. I finished the jewelry last weekend. The earrings are super cute, and after the wedding I'll upload some pictures.

I've been busy learning a lot too. We had our first full day of "Seminar" which was a writing workshop. It was weird to have that semi-school feeling again. It was nice, but too long for sitting. Not used to it since high school! We've also been having care courses on Wednesday evenings, which are pretty much a "better late than never" sort of thing for me and Schmee. But it's with the seminar group, and I've been enjoying them as well. There's so many aspects of life here that I've noticed, but not had explained to me.

Anyhow, I need to go to bed now...up early for the plane tomorrow!!!
Hope all is well,
Steph

It's Not Much, But it's Something

2010-10-06T23:11:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Things that Irritate Me:

The boot-room being a total mess.
Slick being a typical 17 year old with few social boundaries.
The fact that my dress isn't finished being tailored yet...
The updated blog format...the line breaks are annoying.
OATMEAL. Blah.
Money.
Being a bad blogger.
Neighborhood meetings instead of rest time.
Not knowing what I'll do the first half of Thanksgiving break...
THE RAINNNNNNNNNNNN
(dear god, will it ever stop????)

Things I like:
Feeling a bit more on top of the co-op.
Finishing up on the wedding jewelry...yes, pictures WILL come...
My amazing fellow co-op worker...name to come...
Slick when he's being helpful.
Calvin...he's come so far and is really helping things stick together.
Waking up a few hours before my alarm and getting to snuggle back into the covers!
Crunchy leaves of brilliant autumnal colors.
Getting to start to plan leading the Second half of the Thanksgiving trip.

GETTING READY TO GO HOME!

All in good time,
Hope all is well,
Steph

Dragon Tales

2010-09-29T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

Happy St. Michaelmas day!

Yes, it was a crazy-long "festival day" = more work! Got to sleep a bit later but made up for it with pie baking and organizing things. Everything got done, although it was weird. We were told it would be a community meal, but each house just ended up eating the food they brought. How community-minded...not.

Anyhow, the play went well, with the kids stealing the show as the forces of evil. The teen girls enjoyed themselves immensely, apparently. We got to sneak peeks through the curtain, as we'd never rehearsed everything. We had one miscue, but it turned out fine. I almost wish there was a video, as I'm sure it was quite amusing and cult-ish seeming. Eurythmy and the whole nine yards. But it was a relief to have done it well and to a receptive audience.

Now, the boys played a "dragon" and this caused lots of questions later on.

Maria: "Do dragons bite?"
Me: "Maria do dragons bit-"
Maria: "If you stick your finger in their mouth they'll bite!"
Yup.

Then the 4 year old (who had missed this conversation) also brought it up:
"Mommy, why didn't the dragon bite the people?"
Hum: "Well, maybe he was a good dragon" (he was pretty much Satan...so no...)
"Why wasn't he hungry?!"
"He just wasn't?"
"What do dragons eat?"
-Everyone chimed in with "Ham, sheep, etc"

His dad then wandered in and was asked (he's German...)
"Dragons eat knights"

"What is knights??"

He was then told he would find out in Kindergarten this year. Priceless.

Hum then related a conversation from the falls, where they were high above another group of people:
"Mommy, look! Little People!"
"Yes, I see them..."
"...Are they - real?!?"
"Yes..."
"...Do they live in Gnomey houses?!"

Obviously a Waldorf child!

That's all. We had to eat on hay bales, which made me itch and now I'm totally stuffed up and ready to call it a night...

Hope all is well,
Steph

I'm Getting Terrible, Aren't I?

2010-09-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I know, I know, 6 days. I could make the usual excuses (ie, I'm holding the house, going to practices and basically hoarding sleep as a precious commodity), but I'm just going to get on with it!

Notably, I was asked by D'Artagnan to drop him off at a retreat center that his gf is working at. It was about 9:30 by the time we left (the house went out for dinner and a movie - the owl one - Legend of the Guardians, the Owls of Ga'hoole - in 3D!), and it took about 40 minutes to get there. We went down a back road, which was twisty, but seemed simple how to get home.

It wasn't.

After a half an hour of driving lost, I drove into North Park...a town I'd never heard of. There was no map in the car, and so I tried calling Calvin. No answer. Then Schmee. No answer. So I'm afraid I left slightly-hysterical messages on their phones. I hate being lost - especially alone and in the dark! If I'm not driving, I become the logical one and I'm usually ok. But it was almost 11 and I just had to succumb to a few tears. 5 minutes later I determined which way was north, and continued on a road I'd at least heard of. A few minutes later I saw a "Taconic Parkway" sign, and knew I'd be ok. A very concerned Schmee called me soon thereafter and googled my location and said I should be ok as well. I hit an accident area (and was helped by a policeman to find the right route back onto the road...think I might've once again sounded a bit hysterical...should probably work on that...) but was soon on the Taconic. It took me 1.5 hours to get home...

The next morning took the cake, however, as Slick, the 17 year old German doing a "Practicum", which is like an internship that Waldorf students do, asked how drunk I'd been the night before. Apparently Yeshe had poor reception and played the message at a large gathering and had decided that I must've been drunk and lost. Obviously I wasn't pleased. I'd told him where I was going, and even if I was lost and drunk, a friend should still try to find you! Even more so! But he's young and hasn't had a lot of experience in that area, and promised to rectify that rumor. We'll see...

Saturday we did a bunch of cleaning and I had play rehearsal. I also did the flowers in the hall. Totally not my thing...but they didn't look horrible. Then I covered dinner so the family could get out. They got back late, and the almost 4 year old only made it 2 steps up the stairs. His mother was a little frustrated (the baby had cried the entire time...and she was already carrying the 1.5 year old) and so I swooped him up. I think the cuteness of sleeping kids is probably the only thing that keeps their parents from murdering them...

Sunday I was in Hudson in the morning and then stayed in the house the entire day. I worked on the last necklace and made TONS of phone calls. I probably spent 4-5 hours on the phone catching up with some people. And still didn't connect with everyone! But it was a really great way to spend my day...out in the hammock at times! Those days are drawing nearer to an end, as the leaves are quickly changing and fluttering down. My poor tomato plants are practically dead...

Today I was busy doing the order in the morning and ended up having an Americorps meeting that lasted through a lunch provided. It was fine, but I felt bad dumping on the co-worker that's in the co-op now. I really need to find a name for her too...sigh. Anyhow, I took Slick (who spent part of Saturday in the ER, as he'd sliced his thumb open trying to cut a pumpkin: 14 stitches... = new workplace...) with me to Hudson to pick up stuff from 2 of our smaller suppliers. It was nice to have company for the ride, although his taste in music conflicts terribly with mine. He likes "experimental techno beat" or something like that. So that was interesting.

We made it back to the co-op by 4 and got a little work in before going home. And that was pretty much my day...

Hope all is well,
Steph

NYC Chaos

2010-09-21T20:44:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

So, after all the chaos of home, the chaos of NY was perfect.

The 6 am wakeup, however, was not. But I made it into Hudson with another person where we joined up with Schmee, Carey and one of Carey's friends who was visiting. We drove to Schmee's parent's house for a quick visit and then hopped on the train to the city. We made it about twenty minutes before 11. We met up with another previous co-worker and a friend of one of the new Germans who was with us. He'll get a name eventually...yup.

We wandered to Bryant Park, and then decided to split off for a while. My group of Schmee, Carey and her friend - later to be joined by a friend of that friend (complicated, I know, but we were a pretty great group!) at the MET. I'd never been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art before, although it was familiar to the Museum in Boston that I'd been at. I had trouble getting in at first, as they found my bottle of ginger brew. So I had to sit outside and drink it.

When I came back in (and for another bag-search), I got sucked into conversation about my "Dune" - Frank Herbert - book.

"Hey. That looks old"
"It is old..."
"First edition?"
"Um, no idea...it says it was printed in 1965 and doesn't list previous printings..."
"...You interested in selling it?"
"You interested in buying it??"
"Ah. Uh, I only got 12 dollars on me...don't suppose that would do it?"
"Nah, but thanks anyway..."
"Ok, worth a try. Check your bag around the corner please"

Now, I've since discovered that it is not a first printing, but hey, I haven't finished it yet! Had he offered me more money, I might of considered it, but once again...I haven't read it yet...

A girl has to keep her priorities in check...

We were really close to Central Park, so we had lunch there - picnic packed. It was a good time, sitting in the grass and discussing things beyond village life. The friend of the friend even let out a shriek, which was hilarious. A kid had gotten clocked by the base ball glove his dad had tried to toss to him (he was like 3, and it knocked him right over), I'm pretty sure everyone in the little field heard! We then wandered around the park for over and hour, and I suddenly realized that this was the best part of NYC. I could literally move to the city and have a once-weekly blog entitled "Saturday in Central Park". People watching was awesome, and where else could you find an association for dancing on skates?

We went down to Broadway and enjoyed the street fest going on there, swinging by Daffy's. We had fun browsing and all ended up with a pashmina. Have I ever mentioned my love of pashmina's before? Yup.

Then we went to Chinatown, but steered clear of an extremely packed Little Italy. We picked a Thai/Malaysian/Chinese restaurant for dinner which was both reasonable and tasty. We then did a quick trip to Time Square (where Carey traded a hug for a CD with a rapper claiming to be going on tour with Kanye and Justin Timberlake...although he may need more than 39 seconds on his demo...yup) and got turned around getting back to Grand Central Station to ride home. But we made it...with a whole 2 minutes to spare...

We got home late, but luckily I got to sleep in the next morning even though I was working - since I was doing brunch.

But that was my great day in NYC. I'll try to get photos to stream at some point...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Smokey Plum Jam

2010-09-20T22:13:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

It sure sounds better than: "I burned the crap out of the plums-jam" right? Unfortunately, you can definitely taste it. So that's about 15 pounds of plum jam no one is going to enjoy. Sigh.

So, yeah, been almost a week since I last posted. Sad, right? It was a horribly hectic week. Chaos at the workplace and disorder at home. It really starts to get to you. It's exhausting to get up at 6:55, do breakfast, have a quick rest after breakfast, but do teeth and send off, go to work, come back and finish up lunch (Calvin's still got a lot to learn, but at least he's willing!), rush off to play practice, go to work again, come home, make dinner, and then put to bed about 1.5 hours later. Or, make jam. At any rate, it's pretty crazy.

Work was really frustrating this past week. The apples I ordered through a local farm didn't get delivered correctly and so it took about 5 phone calls to figure out a maybe. I finally got them 4 days later, mostly by accident. MESS! I spent the rest of that afternoon on the phone talking to suppliers. One had been giving us consistently crappy produce and had made a costly substitution, so I really laid it out for them about our expectations. Well, something like that. Then we had a call from the bakery - one of their flour bags had bugs in it. A call to another supplier. Finally, the gouda that we cut into had mold: a third supplier. So, nothing actually even got done that I had on my list and I felt pretty useless afterward.

But someone had to do it!

The next day someone came in to help show me how to do profit/loss reports. His example worked out beautifully, but when I tried to do the next month's it was completely off! He came back today to ask how things were going, and I was somewhat relieved to find out that something was wrong in the system, so it wasn't actually that I was too stupid to do it. So that was somewhat reassuring.

And I'm not even going into the craziness of Calvin Friday night...I was majorly peeved!

So, need I say how happy I was to have Saturday off?

So, after all that chaos, I went into NYC for some more. I decided one could have a blog called "Saturday in Central Park" and probably get a million hits.

However, I will hold you in suspense about my day off until tomorrow.

I need sleep.

But it was awesome*

Hope all is well,
Steph

*OOoooooh, a cliff-hanger!!!

Wrapped Up in My Own Little World

2010-09-14T21:07:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Don't feel bad if you feel as though I don't have time for you anymore - I don't have time for myself either! Today was incredibly hectic, but I suppose productive as well. I had to go to a gathering (that will be singing in the weeks to come) at 8, which knocked out my morning rest time. We played games, and minus one good slip and flattened-on-the-floor moment, it went pretty well. You could tell the purpose was to unify. We played a reverse game of "Never, never have I ever", and at the end, I asked "Step into the middle if you've been feeling homesick". While I'm excited to go home and see people, I wouldn't consider myself to be. It was surprising (well, not so much as the Germans have been here a shorter period) that only an American and some of the South Koreans and a Japanese person stepped into the middle.

At any rate, then I went and helped set up a bank account with Carl, and went to work for a while. My old workmaster has very graciously offered to help out on Tuesday mornings so we can get the deliveries in while the trainings are happening in the next 3/2 weeks. Anyhow, before the truck came I did have to go in for renewing my CPR test. While it took about 3 hours total for my first aid/CPR class last time, this time it took at least that long for the CPR. But it's always good to get a refresher. We did the choking maneuver as well, and of course I got partnered with a giant. I could barely (with much struggling and blanket sliding) get him turned over!

I had about an hour for lunch and resting, although the house was out for cafe lunch (oh yeah, I got the money prepared for that too...) and so I made myself a cheese/tomato omelet. Not too bad. But not really much time to relax. I'd had to call houses to tell people to come later (although one didn't pass on the message...sigh, cranky villager...), and was contemplating leaving a few minutes early to post a sign when I got put on band aid duty for Beau. Poor man keeps sanding his fingers - but refuses to wear gloves and does it so sporadically that it never becomes a real issue.

I went and worked on getting the 1000 pounds of dry goods (and the rest of the order) into the storage room at the co-op when I got back at about 3:30. We got it all in eventually and I got things priced and mostly put away (although just the fridge and freezer and a few things we were totally out of) by 5:30 - just in time to do meds for dinner.

Although Calvin is finally a medicine giver, and he's a great and enthusiastic help.

We were supposed to have a learning agreement meeting with the house and a neighbor housemother, but we are all simply too exhausted to do it tonight. So we'll try again for Thursday.

Yesterday I had a play rehearsal for the Michaelmas play (yes, I don't know either...google it for Pete's sake) and it was really hot - I was sweating the the sweater that I'd needed in the morning. And then it poured in the afternoon = welcome Fall! Anyhow, Monday was certainly less busy with me getting a lot of ordering and billing/paperwork accomplished now that we have several co-workers. It seems like it will be a totally viable work situation - although I had trouble with one of the villagers in the afternoon, who got into a bit of a snit. But we all have our off days, and many tradeoffs with our various personalities.

Sunday was (see, I'm going backwards here!) pretty calm. I was up surprising early and after some laundry I went and hung out with Lana. I'm a little sheepish that I've never mentioned her in my blog by "name" before, but we're seeming to bond together a bit more now that most of the people we've known (she came in February) have gone. We had tea and I made a cheesecake for D'Artagnan - whose birthday was on Monday. (They've both moved houses and now Lana is living in Bean's old room. Kind of weird...)

I talked to Bean recently and it's weird that she actually has a life now. Y'know as much as a life one can have while living with parents. But it's just a phase and she has plans beyond it, so that's pretty cool. I admire that she's really putting herself out there and plans to go abroad to teach English.

Anyhow, Sunday afternoon I took a group of the new Germans (6, to be precise) to Hudson. They all had their cameras, and I'm afraid it was a tad bit disappointing for them. We walked the downtown area and then did the ever-needful Wal-Mart run and then had dinner. We had to be back in time for a 7:30 meeting (on my day off = crankiness!) for a skit thingy and presentation of the classes.

And that's been that last few days...
Hope all is well,
Steph

I'm Just Here for the Money

2010-09-10T20:40:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Yes, yes, you may stare at your screen reproachfully. But I'm Catholic and thus immune to you guilting me. In fact, I even have a t-shirt idea about it. But I can't tell you or someone will steel my sheer-brilliant design, it's just that good.

Anyhow, I digress.

We had an orientation session on Tuesday and got to play a rousing round of "interview your partner". This is always more fun with people who are non-native English speakers. One of the first pairs declared that his partner had come to get away from his girlfriend. The other retorted that the other guy wasn't into the women here. I think that was quite a surprise for at least one girl in particular. Ha ha ha....Nope.

My partner and I were ready to go:

"Should I go first, or would you like to?" He asked.
"Go for it. I don't mind"
"That's right...men first!"

So I promptly launched into his introduction. I really just didn't find it terribly funny, joke or no!

In retaliation, he summed up my explanation for how I came to the village by coming through the Americorps program as: "She's just here for the money".

However, I was also described as "The feminine core of her family". Which is one way to put it, I suppose. Although he clearly doesn't know me and my sometimes slightly aggressive tendencies. Three brothers will cultivate that in a girl...

I also got to hear a conversation between Carl (new villager= name!) and the 3.5 year old. I came in on the phrase: (well, I was in my room...)
"Only boys have penises!"
3.5: "I know! My sister has one"
"No she doesn't! She's...female....That means she's a girl - and girls don't have penises!"
"But...I saw her pee on the floor!"

Apparently girls can't pee because one needs a penis to pee.

Good to know.

Anyhow, the house has been crazy this week, with houseparents out of the loop pretty much. Calvin (name!) has been struggling valiantly to do the best he can, and his cooking has been far from inedible. A lot has to be learned for time management and house-running, but I know it definitely took me a while - plus I had housemom there for support - until I nicely asked her to just let me cook. He'll get there too.

Anyhow, I have a meeting I have to get too. I shall endeavor to post a bit more often...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Eat, Spit and Make Music

2010-09-06T22:44:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Before addressing today's title, I'd just like to note the glorious day off I had yesterday. I managed to get a load of laundry done, a little crafting and a lot of reading. I also fled to another house to hang out for most of the day. Just getting out is fantastic. Also, Julia came back Saturday night, so that helps a lot too. It's disconcerting to be around so many new faces...again!

Today started at nine for me. I got up and while throwing together pancake mix, I realized I could also make quiche. So I did. One of the household is allergic to a crapload of things, but I managed to get around all of his allergies. True, it had to have a rye/oat flour crust, but it was definitely not terrible. I didn't have time to fully bake it before putting the liquid/bacon/onions in, but it still turned out quite tasty. New co-worker (hey, it's hard to think up names...I don't want to give him a bad one!) helped come down and finish pancakes o time, and so we had brunch by 10:40. Not so bad, I think! We also had berries and whipped cream, and so it was truly quite the feast. Then we had a nice long rest time.

Afterward, we went up the seed workshop and I helped chop up yellow watermelons. Since we had the day off for Labor Day, a whole chunk of the community showed up in order to eat (and spit out seeds from) watermelon, in order to get seeds for next year. The watermelons were a yellow variety and had an excellent flavor. There was also a special "bean dancing" where we were invited to stomp on bean shells in order to get the beans inside out. Of course, I have pictures, and should probably get them up. And the Boston trip pictures too, sometime.

Sigh. It'll be sometime soon.

I hope.

Anyhow, after everyone glutted themselves on watermelons, the new German co-workers all clustered together for safety. We bite, you know. No, I can remember being intimidated when I came but things will redistribute once seminar and the different groups sort themselves out. With the responsibility I've undertaken, I find myself in a unique position. I can understand house parents a lot better now, but still have a perspective from someone with real little power to change things. I'm also kept incredibly informed through many sources (working in the co-op alone does that) and so I often have the answers that people are looking for. Obviously I try not to blab personal things, but relaying on meeting times and such makes me seem on top of the ball...

Anyhow, it was a lovely afternoon. Beau had fun hanging out with the musicians who brought their instruments to play on while people "bean danced" and improvised on a watering can that he alternately banged with a stick and pretended to water with. Connie walked around "asking"/demanding people to take pictures of her, Maria ate watermelon and hovered while Franklin was his usual social self and hung out with a good buddy.

We had a joint barbecue with one of the neighbors for dinner, and then I had a skit practice. And now I'm going to bed...finally.

Hope all is well,
Steph

...And then I Ran Over the Squirrel...

2010-09-04T21:17:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

So, it was an eventful last few days. Thursday was pretty much a day for traumatic events. I went to an important meeting that I somehow got myself lassoed into, although it opened up some very interesting dialogues and we didn't get yelled at once. Imaginations can be deadly.

Then I went to a Dr's appointment with Franklin, and as one of the nurses so succinctly: "He has the bedside manner of a troll". I think he traumatized me worse than Franklin, thankfully, but it was the last thing either of us needed. We got home to lunch on time, but lunch was then late. So I had to run to my next meeting and give my account of the confusingness that is the co-op currently. (Not to mention the state of co-workers...But at this rate I'm just accepting that people are coming and that the work group will sort everything out eventually - and it gives me time to do papers, inventory stuff at the last minute, ordering and trying to organize finances...)

The co-op was blessedly uneventful and after doing dinner I had a few minutes for myself. I went to the glass workshop and finally got to do some more work on my project. More tomorrow is on the line, as I get a day off. Which I 100% need at this point! Anyhow, I had to run into town to do a bank deposit and then went to the hall to lock up. And found a nice spurting leak from a hot water boiler. My mind went blank and I ran next door (because turning knobs is equal to potential exploding things in my mind...) to get help and call the guy for maintenance emergencies. So that was fun.

Then I tried to go to the swim pond for a potentially unmodest dip, only to be thwarted by a huge group of people - most new. And by this point I was completely overwhelmed. And then there was the snapping turtle. I splashed at the hump in the water and it disappeared, so I'm going with turtle and not ginormous water snake. Yup. Then I went home and crawled into bed...and fervently hoped Friday would be better.

It started out ok, and I picked up our new co-worker's gf at Hudson during the afternoon rest hour. We were almost home when a squirrel darted across our path. I've never hit one before, but I slowed down a little - gauging that it would make it no problem. It then turned around, but still had plenty of time. It was back to the grass when it made a kamakazi dive towards the car. I braked but it was too late: thumpedy thump thump. I was extremely surprised- squirres always get out of my way! Then I looked over and saw tears leaking from the gf's eyes.

Crap.

The absurdness of the last 24 hours caught up with me and I had trouble not laughing. What are the odds of me hitting an animal with someone so tender-hearted that they'd actually cry? At somewhat of a loss, I asked "Oh, you must be a vegetarian then?" Nope, she's too picky of an eater to give up chicken. This really was a struggle to maintain a somber expression and I resigned myself to deliver her in tears. The last part was, as she was about to get out of the car, she asked in a horrified tone if I thought it could still be wedged in the tires. Since both the wheels had thumped, I was pretty sure we were safe, and tried to tactfully tell her so. So that was also great.

D'Artagnan said that I should do an audio blog so people know my speech mannerisms and can fully appreciate the flavor of my words. So, maybe, when the fiber optic system comes in (supposedly December...?) I could do that. I suppose I could do it now, but at the upload pace, it'd probably take that long anyway.

Today I cleaned...and cleaned...and cleaned. From about 8:50 to 10:50 when we went to the hall to clean for another hour. Hum was incredulous about what all I'd managed to do by myself and the house. We got the downstairs completely vacuumed, the kitchen mopped, the stove wiped, both bathrooms done, cubbies cleaned, a under-the-weather-Beau looked after and hydrated, some walls wiped, plants watered, a few loads of laundry done and a few outside tasks done by Hather. But I still ended up doing lunch meds and bringing up Beau's lunch.

After a too-short rest hour, the new co-worker and I (even though it was his day off...his gf left) went to the Columbia County Fair with Franklin, Clyde (look...finally a new name for the newest villager...) and Maria. We had a treat, I rode a rickety "Zipper" ride with Clyde (and only screamed a moderate amount...), moseyed around the animals and watched a sheep show. There was one unfortunate girl who could not keep her sheep under control. Although, if I was also a novice 4H sheep show-er, I would've been in the same place. It got completely out of control at the end when it bolted and slipped the rope halter she had on it and the judge had to lunge after it to get it. Poor girl.

It was exhausting and I'm glad I didn't go alone...wouldn't have worked out well. We got back shortly before Franklin was due to go out for bible supper and managed the rest of the evening uneventfully. I locked up the hall and was getting concerned about not hearing from Julia and when to pick her up when she was dropped off by some friends. So it was really nice to see her!

And I had a really nice time with Schmee and Carey last night - it was pretty much exactly what I needed...a nice girl's night in.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Good Thing My Heart's Like Taffy

2010-09-01T08:19:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

So, everyone's been gearing up to leave. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but Bean and Sam are both gone now. This is slightly bewildering. Julia is having a week down in the city, so I feel a little like a jellyfish. But I'm not a hermaphrodite.

Anyhow, I have been scribbling down things of note, but I can't find it. But here are 2 gems from yesterday.

Cafe lunch: the legacy continues.

I sat at a table with 3 complete live wires. One decided to reach for my plate after I'd switched to my salad (the greens were WAY salty...) and so we had to have a little talk about how asking if someone was done and if they could have their food before making a snatch for it. Moments later, she did the same thing with the lady across from her. So I made her ask...
"Aooooolll dooooone with Tomatoes! Alllllllllllllllll done!" Complete with tomahawk chopping motion...

To which the third lady - without missing a beat - solemnly declared: "Amen."

Lunch proceeded as usual.

At dinner, the 3.5 year old started talking to his mother:

"We're going to heaven soon..."

"Um, no we're not..."

"We are if we don't eat any food."

"But we are eating food...right now."

"Oh."

Came completely out of left field.

So, I really don't have to throw a little self-pity party here for myself, right? You can feel that slightly-panicky-sinking-stomach-breath-caught-in-throat feeling when I think about missing Bean and Sam, right?

Yup.

Hope all is well,
Steph

A Bouncy Baby Girl...and Only a Mere 10.5 pounds...

2010-08-24T21:29:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

So yes, my house now has a new addition. And definitely a way easier time to experience living with a newborn without having to have it myself! (Yurg.) Hum went in and the baby was born sometime this morning/afternoon. The kids already got to meet her, and apparently both are doing well. Seems hard to complain about my day being eventful...

But it's my blog.

Sooo. After breakfast I went with the new co-worker...yes, I still need a name for him...and we went to the vegetable market. Then I went to work and waited until the delivery truck came. At 12:15 I got a call from another lost and new driver, although he was relatively close. He showed up about 10 minutes later. It was just myself and a guy - a villager who wasn't supposed to lift much - and over 5,000's worth of food. So that was a wonderful 2 pallets to unload, containing about 1400 pounds of bulk dry goods alone. Yup. It took us until 12:50, although I called the cafe to save me a plate. I hadn't done money, so charged us all and sorted that mess out tonight - and then did meds when I got back.

I was a little overwhelmed by the huge order, but luckily Sam dropped by and said he could probably get off work to come help. So a majority of the order did get done and the bakery came and picked up 1200 pounds of what they'd ordered. So that was really great. The workmaster also came back from vacation, and stopped in briefly - luckily he'll be there tomorrow. Dinner was a lot of fun, we had jokes running the whole time. I think the stress of waiting for the baby's healthy and safe arrival had weighed on everyone a bit.

After dinner, I had the neighbor keep an "awareness" for us, and Sam, myself and the new co-worker went to the young co-worker meeting. It was nice to see the new ones, although we were missing a fair amount of people. Nothing too interesting was discussed, but it was good to discuss some minor things and feel people out.

Sam is leaving in a week, which means we should probably plan something for him. Or, rather, that I should. Not really sure how I can fully include everyone if Hum will be in the hospital until 5-6 days from now. We will see...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Honestly, I blame the Internet

2010-08-23T22:13:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

The internet was down for a good day or so. I wasn't able to post yesterday, though I actually tried. It rained all of yesterday, stopping only when we went to see "Eat, Pray, Love" - with Julia's house. It was a pretty good film, and had an elephant in it, so Maria loved it. Beau and Franklin are both apparently huge Julia Roberts fans, and Beau loves anything centered around food. We had 9 villagers between us (hello? Although I only had 3/4 counting Maria, but poor Julia!), so that was a little chaotic. But we survived, and then had dinner next door. My first official meal there. We made cheese bread with tomatoes and a little watermelon. It was actually a very nice afternoon!

In other news, the baby still hasn't come, although he/she will be making an appearance tomorrow, I believe. When you have nearly 11 pounds of baby to deliver, it's not something you really want to put off.

Oh, and I'm tired.

Not that that's likely to change anytime soon, but I thought I'd put it out there. The house will not be a lot more work to handle, and we have lots of friends to lean on.

Oh, and the Bridesmaid's dress is in the mail...yikes!

Hope all is well,
Steph

Hum is Overdue...and Not on Library Books!

2010-08-21T20:44:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Hum's due date has come and gone now...and she's really ready to have this baby! Actually, I think we all are. People keep asking me if she's had it, and when I say "No, not yet..." they immediately ask "Well, when is it coming?!"...whenever it wants to! We also had a random conversation that somehow wasn't so out of place...

Hum "Well, apparently you're the opposite gender in your previous life..."
Me: (because I genuinely was curious..) "Uh, what does it mean if you're a hermaphrodite?"
Hum: "Oh don't go there! I don't know! It probably means you were...a jellyfish then! Really Steph..."

I then took the opportunity to share my knowledge (gained from the public library!) that a group of jellyfish is called a smack. The next day at lunch we had our Thursday regulars and she asked if the baby was a boy or a girl. When Hum said it had to be one or the other, I couldn't help but to quip in:

"Unless it was a jellyfish last time!"

Luckily, she found this somewhat humorous.

Things have been somewhat crazy lately. We got our new co-worker who will be Sam's replacement, and so far Beau has really taken a shine to him - even playing little jokes with him. I hope he keeps that good frame of mind when Sam leaves. : (

I've also been pretty much alone in the co-op, except that the new co-worker has been temporarily helping out. He helped with some stuff and to keep the villager that's in on afternoons right now on task, and I tried to order. Talk about failure. I ended up (after 2 long, drawn out attempts) to just order from my laptop for next week. It'll be a big one!

I also took a while longer to get over the jetlag. But I've been busy in my evenings as well. Wednesday night we played Apples to Apples and I met some of the new co-workers. Thursday night I gave a co-worker (female) a haircut. It was...interesting. But I did a pretty decent job, but her hair bounced out funny when she washed it the next day and so she pretty much shaved it down to 1/2 inch. She still looks beautiful - she's just one of those people!

Last night I did ordering "fun" and met up with a co-worker in the co-op that I seldom see. We had a good discussion and I once again realized that the co-op is really a community place and it's nice to be able to see people that you normally wouldn't!

Today I had the day off and so I went for a hike this morning with Julia and then we chilled at Guilden Pond. It was not an extremely nice day, so we didn't end up swimming. I went to go with Bean swimming, but it was too cold and we ended up in a restricted (but beautiful) area. Unfortunately, there was a special event in the area and the rangers were super-vigilant. So that was slightly awkward...but a good adventure. Honestly, if you know it's dangerous but it's public property, I think you should be allowed to take your own risks. There were some nice and calm pools for swimming (although ungodly cold!) and so I was slightly resentful. Oh well.

And of course, we went and got ice cream.

Hope all is well, and I try to be better at posting!

Steph

PS I got my first ripe tomato! It was delicious!

I'm Back in the Country

2010-08-17T22:48:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

And I'm trying not to feel to bad about it. However, I'm rather jetlagged right now and so this will be a quickie (20 hours of traveling yesterday, got back to the village at about 12:45...yup.)

Got surprised when picked up by Sam and Julia because our new co-worker showed up 4 days early. Found out through the village newspaper thingy. Met him at lunch time at the cafe, seems to be a nice guy. Will need a nickname, I suppose. Hm. Anyhow, ate lunch with D'Artagan who is settled into his new (temporary) house. He was sitting next to a woman who started to flip out and said "He's going to bite me!" So we switched seats and I told her I would bite her if she didn't mind her manners with him at the table. We got served lunch, which would've been ok had not the zucchini patty things not been severely charred. The same woman declared: "It's ok. I Like them burnt! They're healthy for me."

After relaying this story to Bean (who works with the same woman in the garden) she told me a story where the woman use to blame all the farts in the garden on the basil plants. She less charmingly now blames them on Bean.

I hung out with Bean a little bit tonight, which was nice. But now I'm really tired and feeling the jetlag...so goodnight!

Hope all is well,
Steph
And yes, I may recap parts of my vacation later!

Hofreite-Schnitzel mit kochkäse

2010-08-08T14:19:00.005-04:00

(OOOH! PHOTOS!!!)

Hi all,

You may have no idea what that means, but it was delicious. True, I skipped a beer in order to avoid a harder time with jetlag (slept for 12 hours last night, but woke up tired because it was 2am NY time...), but it was pretty much perfect. Oh, and the 'German Art' - which I was told not to call it - was sitting on our table...

Anyhow, getting to Germany was a 24 hour affair. Because of a last minute offer, I was able to leave the village at 6AM, taking the 6:50 commuter train. I actually have a little written about it...as I was in Iceland for 7 hours. Or the airport, at any rate. So maybe I'll just post that later! Anyhow...Benny and his sister and father met me at the airport - after a long wait for my suitcase - and it took us a mere half hour to get to their house. Which is very nice - and the third German house I've been in.

I was able to stay awake until amost 9 pm. At first there was quite a bit of English, which was appreciated, but we slowly lapsed into German. Even though my accent is terrible and my endings almost always wrong, I can get my point across. And of course Benny can always translate when we get stuck. When my brother arrives tomorrow, we may have to do a bit more English, but probably not as much as he thinks! Anyhow, we had fun talking, getting to know eachother, and I handed out presents. I also got a sweet t-shirt - and Sam's suggested plaid shirt was a HUGE success for Benny although mainly his girlfriend : p

We were up by 9 today to eat breakfast to leave at 10. We picked up Benny's aunt and little cousin (cute as a button) and went with his mother and sister for a riding lesson. I will be feeling said lesson for the next week, I believe. Ow. That's mainly the instructor's fault though, she had us sitting for the trot for WAY too long instead of posting. I thought it was weird at the time, and found out later that it was. I've only ever ridden English a few times, so I wasn't sure. Benny's sister assured me the lesson would be given in English (since it is an English riding lesson), but apparently not. This would've gone better if my horse - Gaston - hadn't been the strongest lead horse. I found out that I definitely can't concentrate on German and riding a new style at the same time. Oh, and I'd never used a whip before either. But it went all right:

We got back around 1 and had lunch. Then Benny asked if we could play spoons. So we did...for over an hour. So much fun. Then they took me out to a nice restaurant (with the cousin) and I got to have the schnitzel. YUM.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to stick it out another hour or so before bed...we will see!

Hope all is well,

Steph

They call Me "Deth"

2010-08-03T21:39:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Ok, so "they" is actually the 1.5 year old. And it tickles me pink. Anyhow...Sunday recap...

Hum had serve-yourself-breakfast and the service send-off, so I got to sleep in a little bit. Hum and Hather and the kids went out for brunch and the afternoon. I took us out to the Cupcake deli restaurant and we had a great bunch. At a 4:1 ratio, it wasn't very ideal, but since I know 3 out of 4 really well and the fourth seems to be a sweetheart for the most part, it worked out great. We then trekked over the Guilder pond trail - although the car ride there was a lot longer than I recalled from with Julia. The weather wasn't ideal so we only spent about 45 minutes there total. Then we went into Great Barrington to the SoCo Creamery and got icecream. We got home around 4ish.

Then I became a barber. I took out the clippers because Beau had been pointing to his head and asking for a haircut. So naturally Maria wanted one too. And then the house further away in our neighborhood's housemother came up and asked if I'd do one of their ladies as well. They've all gotten compliments from people who didn't know I did it, so it must not've looked too shabby!

On Monday things got a bit crazy. I was in the Co-op in the morning, after running to the bank and all around the village to get news out about karaoke and about getting a ride for Friday morning. I had to hurriedly do an order list, and I know I forgot one or two things...but it was the best I could do. I processed the bad bananas into bags to freeze for banana bread in the afternoon and did some billing. In the evening I showed my crazy side. Around 7 I went over and got the lowdown on jam-making. Since we had 40 pounds of peaches, this was important...

After about 15 minutes I felt informed (the housemother nextdoor is a canning-goddess!) and started making applesauce (because it has high-pectin content and is good filler with the peaches) - slicing, boiling until soft and then putting them through a hand-cranked mill. We have lots of apples, and Hum was happy to see them being used. Bean came over shortly before 8 and jumped in with her jars and peaches. We ran them through the dishwasher and then started blanching the peaches. Yeah. That was painful. After a while we stopped to peel and then chop/squish them. We got about 20 cups and mixed in 5 of the applesauce. We brought it to a boil with lemon juice and the calcium phosphate powder and then added 7.5 cups of sugar with 19 tsp of pectin mixed in and brought that to a boil. And then the shit hit the fan...

We were having an interesting time with taking the "sterilized" jars out of the oven. We then poured the peach mixture into them (or Bean did, rather), and then pressed the tops on and then screwed them down with the round things. The first two went beautifully, the seal was inverted. The next two popped immediately. Frustrated, we tried again and again, until remembered we needed to wipe around the rims to make a good seal. Still didn't help...So when Sam and another co-worker came in, we were having a slightly-hysterically funny semi -break down thing. Between our 4 degrees...Anyhow, we then realized that they would seal themselves with the heat...duh. And sure enough, we had 19 little jars this morning with perfect seals! Which Hum very nicely labeled...good for the house. Not so good for poor Bean who had her named mispelled and was planning on labeling them for Christmas presents. But a very appreciated gesture. Oh, and they taste good.

But it was a little crazy.

Anyhow, today was along a similar vein. Sam went to help the vegetable gardeners to harvest, and so I made the muesli. It was extra-yummy with peach, coconut and a little applesauce in it. After breakfast I did cafe money and generally ran around. I went to the Co-op and saw my workmaster and we went over some more ordering information. It's slowly coming together. Thankfully, he informed me that he will be phasing out, but it wont happen until after Septemberish - at least totally. So that's quite reassuring. After a quick cafe lunch I went to a Dr's appointment and got back at around 4:15. With a quick Walmart run for paper bags and small cups for tonight.

After dinner I ran to the hall and co-op to get things ready. Thankfully, Sam had already gotten the machine set up - so I only had to get the popcorn going. I also had some help. Commun(e)ity karaoke was a huge hit, or so I heard. I did a little singing with Maria and Sunny (both times interesting), but between the music, dancing and snack there was a lot of fun going on.

Now I'm tired...after a quick dip with Julia!

Hope all is well,
Steph

PS Still have to pack...

I'm Tsking Myself, So You Needn't.

2010-07-31T19:35:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Sooooooooo. Saturday night we went to Lala Rokh. It is a Persian restaurant, although my mom ordered a "Scheniztel" or something, that was, indeed Schnitzel. However, the food and the beer were delicious. We then decided that we should have a night cap. Preferably some Hennessy. So, after wandering a bit, we ended up in an Irish pub. Which only served beer and wine. Very disappointing. So we hiked up a few more streets and found a tavern. We made it back in time for the shuttle. Which then didn't show up. After a long and drawn out situation involving 15 passenger vans, budging and my mom almost losing it (and justifiably so), we finally got back to our hotel room.

Sunday morning we got up and started hiking the Freedom Trail. We did the cemeteries, the churches, the old state house, and a few other monuments. We had lunch at a great little Italian family restaurant - which I have a picture of but you can't see. Ha. Anyhow, we then went and got gelato. I also picked up a t-shirt and some sunglasses, because I 1. Didn't have any and 2. They Match my Houseshoes - and I enjoy the irony of that.

After some more walking we ended up back at our car and went to a special treat - a movie! We say "Despicable Me" and it was pretty cute and funny. We then drove back to the commun(e)ity and settled for the night. My parents left Monday morning and flew back home on Tuesday, and I hope they had as great of a trip as I did!

The next day I met one of the German's brother's and mother. They all looked alike, spoke similarly ("I'm TOTALLY confused!") and had good senses of humor. There was a dinner for one of the German girls who was leaving, and afterward we had a game night. Since there were about 14 people, I suggested 1/2 play the fun "Jungle Speed" game, and the other half play spoons. No one else knew the game, but soon our half were laughing hysterically - everyone ended up enjoying when we switched games! So that was a super-late night. Or felt like it, anyway!

On Wednesday, it marked me taking over the co-op as my workmaster started his month-long vacation, although he'll be back for a day or two next week. It seemed to go smoothly. Connie also left on her month-long vacation, so that has been a big energy shift. On Thursday I finally got to have my chiropractor appointment, which was great. I know there are things from Wednesday and Thursday...ah. Thursday I found out that the inventory that we did months ago was actually needed...by this upcoming Monday. Good thing it got recycled last week finally, huh? I did manage to get all the bills out though, and last night Bean helped me do most of it while I concentrated on ordering. Phew. Plus, I'm now done with cooking for the most part, and will be switching over to the co-op in the mornings, and hopefully the glass workshop a bit too. See how it shakes down though initially.

However, during cooking yesterday, there were some good quotes.
The older child saw me carrying a giant zucchini and proclaimed with awe:
"WOW! That's a giant bikini!!!"

Also, we had pancakes yesterday and the younger child (less than 1.5 years) ate 4 pancakes. I was good with 2...She then ate a second breakfast when Hather came back from the farm. He put some peanutbutter and jelly on it and she said (imitating her brother) "Oh my god!" - she loved it so much. Pretty much her longest phrase yet.

In other exciting news, it was my day off today. I was up around 9 and ready by 10 when Bean came to pick me up. We went to the Claverack library and then out to Love Apple farm in order to get me some food. So then we naturally had to pick 20 pounds of peaches. Of course, because we're going to make jam now. But I am really excited about it...just need a recipe!

When we got back I had a phone message from D'Artagan. He was planning on exploring Rhinebeck, only to find out that today Chelsea Clinton was getting married there. Poor timing. Everything was a mess, so we ended up going to New Paltz, where he ended up spotting Paul Sr from Orange County Choppers. Since his hometown is listed as Yonkers, NY, it could be? Anyhow, I'm going to extend my movie watching (and a day-off activity marathon!) to seeing Inception tonight. But I figured I owed a blog post first...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Blackout

2010-07-26T22:24:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

No, no. Although it's true that I managed to fit a good amount of wine, beer and even Hennessy in, I do remember everything from my family vacation. I just was looking for the fuse box tonight and accidentally shut off the power for the house. It explains why the "opening mechanism" on the "fuse box" was so complicated. Whoops.

My parents arrived at about 5 on Tuesday. I swept them off to Hudson where we ate at Baba Louie's. Great salad. We chatted a bunch and I got back in time to help Maria go to bed. My mother had brought this ultra-light cot, which I elected to sleep on. Yeah, so that didn't work out so well and I spent my nights on the couch. It's brand new, so it was hardly a burden. I also went to Pix's going away affair in Hudson. It wasn't too hard, since I'll be seeing her in Germany in just under 3 weeks!!!

Wednesday morning they met everyone in the house and observed their first house meals. Then I shipped my dad off to the Co-op and my mom stayed in the house to cook. We got done in plenty of time between us and Okiwa. That afternoon I shipped them off to the Norman Rockwell Museum. They came back for dinner and I took them out for another walking tour of the village. I also went to Pix's going away affair in Hudson. It wasn't too hard, since I'll be seeing her in Germany in just under 3 weeks!!!

Thursday my dad went to the Healing Plant Garden and my mom stayed with Hum to cook. Hum was full of fun facts from the time spent with my mother. Nothing too embarrassing, I hope! They then went to the FDR estate in Hyde Park. They were getting pretty worn out at this point. My dad didn't have the energy to go out to Karaoke, by my mom tagged along. She even had a rather wasted man urge her to sing. She came up for a group number. It was a pretty fun time, even though it was a small group that went that evening - we were missing the German contingency!

After pancake breakfast, the garden/meat market and a quick gift shop stop, we were on our way to Boston! We checked in with my dad's friend when we got there in the afternoon, and discovered the apt that she'd thought would be empty wouldn't be. So we found a hotel. We had just enough time to go out to dinner - to have it absolutely pour on us. My shoes just dried out today! We at dinner at The Barking Crab, which must have no over-head - you got paper plates and a roll of paper towels as napkins! It was crazy to see lobster for sale for 23 dollars a pound, when I'd seen it for 3.99 in Maine! However, we went with other seafood options and I had some great shrimp scampi!

We went to bed early and were up by 7:30 to start off the next day. We took the Charlie to the Boston Commons and picked up the Old Town Trolley Tour and rode that for about 1.5 hours. Our tour guide, "Eck", was great. It was hard to snap pictures from the Trolley, but I managed on Friday. We took the Harbor tour as well, and wound up wandering around the USS Constitution - "Old Ironsides". USA's oldest warship. Nice.

We had lunch at a local cafe, and it was nice to get out of the blazing sun at that point. However, as it wasn't raining, we certainly weren't going to complain. We went to the Museum of Fine Arts, and spent about 2 hours wandering around. It was nice to see some of the masterworks. The mummies were interesting, as were the cylindrical seals. It was also interesting that I was able to pick out some Turkish tiles. I wish I'd had more time to spend in the Chinese publications section, and the musical instruments as well. As it was, we had just enough time to zip through the gift shop.

Well, I'm beat and need to go to bed now. I'll continue with Saturday dinner and hopefully get some pictures up tomorrow...

Hope all is well,
Steph

You Can Has Blog Post?

2010-07-23T20:44:00.003-04:00

NO!

Mwhahaha.

Really.

My parents are here and I'm on vacation.

See you Monday!

Hope all is well,
Steph

Well, I'd Never Done THAT Before..

2010-07-16T21:38:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Today I ended up falling asleep (like I do nearly every morning and afternoon rest hour), but set my cell phone alarm to wake me up in time to send people off to work this afternoon. Uh, yeah, it was on vibrate. So I woke up at 2:50 and was extremely confused. At first I thought I was late for breakfast. Then it was a "SHIT!" moment. Luckily, everyone had gotten to work except Beau, who was happily sleeping still. Luckily, I'd already made his snack, so I just had to send him and myself off. I think I looked a bit frantic, as I was quickly assured that it was fine, and no problem that I was a half hour late. But I still felt bad.

My workmaster took yesterday afternoon off to do other things, but forgot I'm coming later now and that he should open up. I had to help do Beau's feet (a bit scary, some of those toenails!), and so I was a half hour late to let people in. I then discovered that a whole "tote" from our order hadn't come. So I tried to call the workmaster to see who I should call...So, remember that whole "Steph learned how to pay bills" on Wednesday? Well, one of the bills was the second month phone bill (as the last month got shuffled in some paper), and apparently they don't give notice. So I was only able to call the company and emergency services. Whoops. So I called, found out I didn't have a pin and talked to a lady who had to call the administration office (because I couldn't, duh...), and had a 1/2 hour runaround. And never got the order sorted out.

I had to walk to the cafe today to do it. Our phone should be up and running on Monday or Tuesday. Crossing my fingers...

So yesterday was eventful even before got home to make dinner with no bread (hello bakery...good thing they had extra!), and then attempted to go to Barryoke. We ran a bit behind, and then found out that he wasn't there! So we came home.

Hum finally got "tested" for giving meds and can do them now. So now I have a total freedom on my day off, because she also watched me help Maria through her evening routine and can do that now too. When I told her I thought maybe I should get tested for lymes because it seems I'm always exhausted - and not keeping insane hours - she said it's just because I'm doing so much, and assured me that would change. It's a nice sentiment, and I hope it's true. However, it probably won't be anytime relatively soon. With the new baby, a new co-worker and other variables in the future, it will definitely be busy.

Steph really needs a vacation!

Luckily, I'm getting one. My parents are coming next week and in August I'll be going to Germany. So that should be really great. Of course, it means lining up more stuff. One day at a time. My personal triumph today was running errands and managing to schedule a chiropractor appointment for the 26th...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Sisssssssssssssssssssy!

2010-07-14T22:24:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

So, yesterday I welcomed summer by getting my first sunburn in a swimsuit. It may be the first summer in 2 years, but I did it. Monday afternoon Hum asked if I would take a group, including the new villager, to the neighboring community for a waterpark outing. Sam can't drive, so I felt semi-obligated to say yes. It was pretty much what I expected. Except for someone having to go to the hospital (one young person's father after a rollercoaster ride...hopefully ok...) as a precaution.

It was pretty disorganized, but I only really had to keep tabs on Maria and Connie, as the new villager was assimilated back into his old friend group. We first went on a kiddie train and then on a "gondola". Which was pretty much a ski lift. I sucked it up and sat next to Maria, who after a first 15 seconds of nonstop questions decided to really just go with it. I was just happy she didn't wet her pants and me by default. This thing moved SO SLOWLY, about 1/5 as fast as your typical lift. However, when she started bouncing around to YMCA, I told her no bouncing. Then she turned to me and said: "Sissy! Sissy!" while laughing.

This is the same girl who wouldn't go down a waterslide 5 minutes later. Frustrating. So We had to park her at the bottom so I could do rides with Connie. We did something called the "Tornado" which was awesome. Shaped like a large funnel, you get dropped from about 15 feet to build up momentum and then careen back and forth as you go down it. Crazy.

It was a long day though, but we made it through with no major hitches. I went and watched Amelie with Bean and a few other co-workers and enjoyed it. Funny to realize that I'm now supposedly older than Amelie. Sigh.

Today Okiwa came again and as it was raining this morning (and everything was soaked...), neighborhood lunch was canceled. This makes thing easier, not having all the deals to try to manage with just Julia. We were both relieved. So I taught Okiwa how to cook millet and we made a variation of the millet cakes with zucchini. They fell apart and hissed in the oil a bit more, but were really good. Frankin had an appointment this morning, so I watched the oldest child (who ran next door to visit and freaked me out...) and managed the other villager who comes in. She had one of her days where she cries because she says that her house has no food, so I taught Okiwa the trick of pretending to call her house and have her overhear me affirming that they have food.

Neighborhood meeting was fine and pretty short. Connie's still having a really rough time, and everyone has different advice. I know that once the neighbor house parents come back from vacation that things will level out a bit. I hope.

Anyhow, I'm really tired and am going to bed!

Hope all is well,
Steph

Monday Survival Mode

2010-07-12T22:51:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

It was a bit of long day, but I made it through! Due to the fact that our new co-worker won't arrive until August 20th, (Sam's replacement) a mere 10 days or so until Sam leaves, it was decided that we would temporarily get another co-worker to come in and learn how to cook. So, we got Okiwa. Okiwa has been here a mere 3 weeks, but is older than a typical co-worker (late twenties) and seems very nice. Her English is better than she thinks it is.

I thoroughly enjoyed the irony of "teaching" her how to cook the tofu recipe I use. There was another older co-worker who visits during the summer (her "vacation" from the village she comes from!) who was going to help her out - apparently they missed the notice that I would still be here until she felt comfortable. We discussed the tofu a little, and she expressed her surprise in finding it in America. Considering the fact that I'd never cooked tofu until just months ago, who exactly is teaching who?

So cooking will not be a problem for her. We worked together and I tried to give her space, I think she was the most anxious about me possibly getting upset with her. Not going to happen! Anyhow, I think the toughest thing is just learning how to run the work crew smoothly and going with the weekly rhythm. So hopefully within 3-4 weeks I can transition over to the co-op. This was good news for my workmaster, and helped to let me ask if I can have tomorrow to take a group from my house to a waterpark with a neighboring community.

We got our newest villager today. I don't have a nickname for him yet. However, he seems very nice, and Hum and Hather know him from living with him before . So that's great. He, Maria, Connie and I will go tomorrow. Connie has been in a real snit lately and terrorizing Maria, who has been working in the mornings with her because her house is gone. The concept of the golden rule of doing unto others is something we're slowly trying to pound into her...

"You have to stop being so mean to Maria"
"Why do you say I was mean? I wasn't mean..."
"You told her to shut up and made her cry. Is making someone cry nice?"
"Uh. No..."
"Is it mean?"
"...Yes..."
"Ok then."

And so on and so forth.

So, the theme of our work is "Soul Growth" and social niceties. Also including that lying in wait for someone outside of a bathroom door for 5-10 minutes is not appropriate. And that knocking is imperative before entering someone's room. And the whole sacredness of Steph's resthour thing too. That's a bonus one.

Anyhow, tired tired tired (detecting a theme here?)

Hope all is well,
Steph

"I'm Sure You're Pooped..."

2010-07-11T22:55:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Those were Hum's parting words to me tonight. Then we both laughed, even though it wasn't actually funny. Since I'd been up until about 3:30 last night/this morning cleaning up a poop trail running over 2 floors. So that was fun. Poor Sam had to come get me at 1:30. I think he was slightly traumatized as all he could initially spit out was: "I have a huge problem...it's so disgusting...". Honestly, it was gross, but I just felt really bad for Beau.

So while Sam cleaned him up, I started on the rest. When we finally finished cleaning up everything as best as possible, I left a note for Hum and Hather. And then slept in. So I got about 5 hours of sleep, maybe.

LONG DAY.

I did brunch (Clafouti and corn muffins) and did some calling during rest hour. We did some house stuff shopping in Great Barrington and had a nice, but rather late dinner. And then I went swimming with Julia (divine) before discussing the new villager's diet restrictions. Many and varied. He arrives tomorrow. More chaos.

Hope all is well,
Steph

PS I still love my job. Repeat.

Mostly Not a Day Off

2010-07-10T22:35:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

But of my own choosing. I slept in (amazing!). It was wonderful to wake up to the sound of pouring rain...although it's still really hot now! I was finally able to leave with Connie at about 12:30. I decided we should have a good time together in order to make her feel loved (which is hard to remember during all this stress!) and supported and to keep the house as pulled together as possible. So we went to the library, out for lunch (my treat), and then on a crazy hunt for a yarn store. But we got there and home with only one short turn-around. So, a successful venture. And some good bonding time.

We had about 1.5 hours before the house left to go out with our closest neighbors. We went to Baba Louie's (urg, another eat-out...need to do some more walking!) and then bowing. Beau really loved it, and had his own granny-technique, but carefully didn't go over the line. Unlike my previous experience of bowling with Germans (maybe only Bavarians are bad at it???), Sam whomped us all - the only one out of 11 to break 100 - although Julia was at 99. Oh, and we were using bumpers... : p

When we got back, it was late. And everyone is gone saying goodbye to Dusty and another co-worker. I hate goodbye parties at this point, and also the bar they're at. This, with everyone already being gone and no car available = Steph is not going out tonight. Just popping a movie in for a bit until I fall asleep.

Hope all is well,
Steph

I Pushed the Button

2010-07-09T23:28:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

But that is not why my internet is working. Hather called the local tech guy who ascertained that he'd plugged it into the wrong port. So apparently he didn't put things back where they were. Which led to the last 6 days or so with only internet stolen from the neighbor's network in 5 minute chunks. Although the 2 Macs in the house managed just fine.

Yesterday evening Sam decided he would drive a friend's car to Hudson, so I asked if Bean and I could come with. We could do a craft night with Schmee. Although it didn't really work out that way. Schmee was a bit shellshocked (and not surprisingly) because a deer had attempted to jump their yard fence and gotten it's leg horribly mangled. They called the police (it was about 8 pm) and it took them a long time to get there. When I called, they still hadn't arrived, so I volunteered Sam and myself to take care of it if the police didn't come. I felt even worse when I found out the poor thing had probably been there since dawn, but since it was in a secluded corner and quiet, no one on the street had noticed. Although I think we could've put the poor thing out of it's suffering, it really is better that the police finally came, and brought a back hoe. They had just dispatched it when we drove up.

Today I didn't have much time to think about it, however, as the morning was slightly chaotic. I tried to make yogurt, but the milk must've been a little off. When I cooked it, it turned all spongy. I strained it and decided to try anyway. 7 hours later it was a mess. So, luckily I have some reserved in the fridge and can try again Sunday with fresh milk. However, I think the cake I made for the fundraiser dinner tonight turned out ok (turned out that we made too many, and mine wasn't even cut up!) and the pesto was great. I did a lot of non-stop cooking, and the biggest challenge was the 3.5 year old who always wants to "help". But then won't keep doing what you find for him to do. Which, ok, not much of an attention span there. Not usually a problem, but when the morning is super-tight, definitely.

Luckily, he idolizes Sam, who is great with him.

Lunch was a nightmare. Connie was in full-out tyranny mode even before I served her. After countless reminders and then warnings - from all of the co-workers..., I finally "pushed the button". When I asked her to leave the table, she made the fuss I knew she would. Unfortunately, the amazing neighbor houseparents closest to us are on vacation. So I had to call someone else. Connie followed me out of the kitchen and trapped me in the pantry. I wasn't as intimidated as last time, even when she made a grab for the phone. Luckily, Hather came quickly and told her to back off and backed me up. Hum came too and took the phone (which made me nervous, I didn't want Connie to unthinkingly harm her...the whole pregnancy thing makes it worse...) and we got her to go up to her room. Sam stayed with and kept the table calm - Beau had been scooting his chair back during the meal and was perturbed by Connie's behavior. And then Connie took it out on Maria.

After a talk with an intervention person, Connie was saying she wanted to switch houses and not share a room with Maria. When I talked with her morning workmaster (Maria has also been there in the mornings this week because the house she goes to is on vacation and didn't set up something different for her!), I found out that Connie had been in a mood all morning and made Maria cry several times. So this made it even better. Sigh.

I guess no one said it would be easy.

Obviously moving houses isn't an option, I'm afraid no one in the village could/would take her - it's a delicate balance. The combination of post and pre-next-vacation stress, new houseparents, broken listening habit and the baby and new villager coming is taking its toll. So tomorrow on my day off we're going out to lunch and to the yarn shop. I need her to see the effort that I'm trying to take with her, and that I'm not trying to be mean. I want her to have the same peace that she was having before. She's so tightly wound right now that she can barely get her words out. It must be so frustrating to be trapped like that...

Tonight was the benefit dinner to raise funds for a truck repair. It raised about 600 dollars and was well received. Even better, it really pulled a lot of the volunteers together in a show of camaraderie and support -and with zero percent involvement of house parents. Although, a lot of them are on vacation now, or stayed home with those who didn't go.

Anyhow, tomorrow must be better,

Hope all is well,
Steph

No Internet = No Blogging

2010-07-06T23:06:00.001-04:00

Hi all,

I know you have been feeling bereft of my presence, but I must blame Hather. Saturday I found the router unplugged (why???) and when I asked him about it, he said “oh, yeah”. So I asked if he might re-connect it…ok. Anyhow, I’ll probably have to mooch off of the neighbor’s internet in order to post this. However, as I’m typing in the kitchen, I will see how things go in the aftermath of cheesecake baking – workmaster’s birthday tomorrow!

Saturday I kept the house to task with cleaning – pretty easy because we only had our two most capable villagers around. We got a lot done. So that was nice, but ate up the morning. I heated up leftovers for lunch and we had a long resthour until they went to the café for goodies at 3. I then threw the hamburgers and all of our picnic stuff together. Hum still wasn’t feeling very well and had decided to stay home with the younger child. We were ready to leave at about 5:05, although the neighbor’s car wasn’t properly gassed up. We could’ve made it there and back no problem (ahh, the wonder of Prius’), but since I was going on to Albany to pick up Sam I didn’t want to take any chances. I’d already reduced chances by taking Pegasus with – a big thank you to Bean!

At the picnic, the hostess (it’s a separate but related property, and she runs a workshop in the village), came up to me and warmly greeted me: “Schmeeeeeee! It’s great to see you!”. The look on her face made her immediately realized she’d screwed that up. I had to tell her in the end. Keep in mind that I’ve interacted with her many times in the past 6 months, especially when I was almost sent to her workshop! It got better as the evening went on, as a villager also mistook me for her. In all fairness, he asked about her houseparents and didn’t know either of our names when we stood side-by-side.

The gathering was good fun. Hather did our grilling and there was music, lots of conversation and I even (with another girl) dared to join the pick-up game of soccer. And I scored. Good for my ego. Anyhow, the fireworks were lack-luster as the “Great view” we’d been promised turned out to not be. The tree-line obscured all but the highest fireworks, and even those partially. Luckily, I don’t think anyone had set extremely high standards.

Afterward, I used Pegasus to plot the course, but then got caught in small-town-post-firework-traffic. So I was 10 minutes late picking up Sam. I’d gotten a frantic message from him when my phone was off – as if I’d forget! He was full of chatter and anecdotes, and I’m glad he had a good time – including meeting my next-younger brother. Apparently they’d hit it off as well as I’d predicted. Good deal.

I had Sunday off, which was nice as we didn’t get home until 12:30. I was up at 9, as Bean planned on collecting me at 9:30. She got held up while delivering papers (sometimes “help” is not really all that helpful…), and made it around 10. She’d also forgotten that I’d moved my room, so I got a confused text. We went out to Golden Harvest to pick berries, although only ended up touring the distillery there, as they only have pick-your-own apples in fall and just sell other produce. So we wound up at Love Apple Farm, where we both picked a pound of black raspberries. Yum.

We made it back to Schmee’s house in time to have brunch with them (and freeze most of our berries) and picked up Pix. We went to the Saugerties Lighthouse, which due to the 4^th of July, was actually closed. Bean had researched some local highlights the night before, because I was busy with picking up Sam, and so we moved on to the next one.

We wound up at “Wing’s Castle”. It’s pretty hard to describe, so check out the link. The bottom line is that 40+ years ago some non-conformist (OCD) guy and his wife dug a big pit in his father’s picturesque field with a borrowed bulldozer and then spent the following years scavenging treasures and building supplies from wrecking companies in the Hudson Valley area. Very interesting, but very imperson-able. I believe his wife usually runs the tour. But, they were open and willing to do ($10…!) tours on the 4^th…

Then we found some ice cream for me.

We went back to Hudson and dropped Pix off. We went out to dinner at Baba Louie’s – whose lunch menu is much better than dinner… - and went back to the village. We watched most of a comedy show and then called it a night.

Talk about a full day!

Today I because a Twilight vampire again – I was grinding down pieces for my next piece. I managed not to butcher any of the pieces. Nope, I lied…just 1 this time…I’m improving. Anyhow, I’m trying to learn what amount of space between pieces is ideal. Not that I can always make it happen. One piece is a bit too small. Luckily I have a tendency to cut big as a rule.

I went to the café for lunch and finally had a really good meal. Well, I ate everything anyway. Since I’m also making pesto pasta for the neighborhood lunch tomorrow, it wasn’t quite perfect…

I had my massage at 2 and got to work around 2:50. It was SUPER hot today. About 95. Yuck. Luckily the co-op stays pretty cool. We had a rather productive day and got a lot of things bagged. Sam did dinner and so I got to relax after work a little bit. After my walk with Connie, I went to a Young Co-worker’s meeting. It was a much smaller group as many couldn’t get away, but still had some great discussions. We will be hopefully having a dinner Friday night…

Anyhow, my cheesecake is done…hopefully this will post!

Hope all is well,

Steph

I Get Around...

2010-07-02T22:43:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

No, no no...not in that way. Far too much gossip happens in this village for me to be even tempted to do that. Anyhow, I spent a majority of my day in the van today. After making pancakes by myself - : ( - I did the garden market/meat run and got back to send Connie off to work. Then I took Franklin with me to the doctor's office, then we zipped into the IGA (or Eye-ga as poor Hum thought...), post office, pharmacy and bank. And we got back before 10:30. Nice.

After a tea break, Franklin did some jobs while I whipped up a really good spaghetti sauce. I browned a garlic shoot thing, onion and then the hamburger, and the 3.5 year old helped add the mushrooms (and was very put-out later when he couldn't find them in the sauce...lol). I sloshed some red wine in and put a cover on it. Then I browned some zucchini, added a little wine and fresh herbs from my pots outside. Several forms of basil, oregano and rosemary found their way in. And some garlic powder. Then I added the crushed tomatoes with basil, tomato paste and finally 6-7 chard leaves. Then I added the meat. It was pretty darn good. I didn't do bread today, but I'm saving my sanity.

Lunch with Connie was a disaster. We had 3 guests and she wouldn't stop talking, breaking her just 'listening' rule that we've had in place successfully for months now. Some of it is post-vacation stress, some is the new family I'm sure. However, it was very hard. Hum thinks it's kind of mean (but I am making time for her in the evenings now, and she wasn't here for the bad months!), but it's truly a slipperly slope. You can't just have one meal where you engage her and expect her to go back to listening. Or ask just 1 question and not open the flood gate. Unfortunately for me, Hum seems determined to learn this lesson the hard way. Maybe she'll find an even better solution though, I'm trying to look on the bright side!

Dinner went little better. I was late, as Franklin had a routine doctor's appointment over an hour away. So we both missed afternoon work. We had time to got to Target quickly and have a tea break at Barnes & Noble. It was nice to get out and we had a good time. Mostly because of Pegasus - Bean let me borrow her GPS again. I'll need it for tomorrow night when I go and pick up Sam from the airport in Albany. Urg. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. Hum is feeling a little better, but the younger child has lymes. Not good, but she's been on treatment for a while now. Although if I get lymes, I'm going straight for the allopathic drugs. Sorry.

Anyhow, it's been another long day.
Enjoy the pictures.
Hope all is well,
Steph

Too Busy to Blog

2010-07-01T07:53:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

For sanity's sake, I let it slide the past few days. Hum has been getting sicker and sicker, throwing Dather and myself together. Tuesday morning she managed to get a cake made for a neighborhood house father's birthday, and also ran the morning crew, but I think that's about it. It must be frustrating to be such a go-getter and be stuck in body (with another body...) and unable to do whatever you want. On would argue that a child is pretty good for recompense, but we all know that's debatable. : p

Really though, there are benefits to living with children. Like when they drag in the single flower that they cut and need a place for it, likewise for the wriggling worm. Pretty darn cute.

Anyhow, Tuesday morning I attached the chain I made to my piece. It took a little wrangling, but it now hangs almost absolutely straight. Not that I have anything to hang it on, but it will look nice in my window eventually. It's nice that they let me keep it, but I'm pretty sure it's not sale material...But I'll get there.

I also started on my new piece, which will feature an agate slice in the middle, and various shades of purple. One day I'll hit the warm colors...

Tuesday afternoon I brought Hum's cake and some peaches I'd cooked down in syrup to the neighbor's. The house had cafe lunch, and I'd made a delicious feast of noodles with garlic, greens and chard sauteed in butter with some parmesan cheese after I'd done the peaches. Yum.
I wasn't able to stay long, but appreciated Franklin and his friend's ridiculous vibrato...longest rendition of "Happy Birthday" ever.

I then had my first "rhythmic massage". It was less then idyllic, however, as the basement it's in is currently under construction and it's not reassuring to have dust falling through holes in the ceiling when all you're dressed in is a sheet! I'm not sure about the method either, but it definitely didn't hurt anything!

When I got home for dinner at around 5:30 - things always run late on Tuesday - nothing had been started for dinner. Dather seemed surprised at the thought that he could've started the proceedings. Sigh. It's going to take some time. I whipped up some pesto and had everything ready by 6 anyhow.

At 7:30 we had a mandatory meeting about some events that had transpired, but it was relatively painless. We had a good group discussion afterward, and I think we have a chance of getting a series of monthly (/bimonthly?) meetings out of it along with planning community events. We hope to have a karaoke night within the next 2 weeks. It could be ridiculously awesome...

I had a chat next door, due to some house drama and then went out with Julia. We were going to do a walk...but that was transformed into "Let's drive into Cupcake and get icecream!" Unfortunately, the drive was blocked off and the restaurant was closed. However, we realized that the restaurant was being filmed in - a commercial perhaps? - but since it's such a neat restaurant (think 50's diner), it could definitely be for a movie. We suppressed the (very mild...) urge to go and ask if they needed extras.

We returned and got ice cream at the co-op. Supporting the village and organic ice cream. Probably for the best...

Wednesday was interesting from the start as I'd planned out the day, only to have it broken to pieces when I found out that we'd be having a neighborhood lunch. I ended up making Mexican millet for 20 people. Long story short, I also threw together Julia's vegetable stir fry as she was cleaning up projectile vomit that also happened to hit her. It was a tad bit crazy. The lunch went fine, however, and the meeting as well. It was a gorgeous afternoon, with beautiful clouds.

Last evening I took a walk with Connie, and we've decided to make it a weeknight tradition (minus Thursdays, because of activities) for the summer. It's easier to listen to her when we're walking, I think the movement helps and she's more relaxed. She's also not disturbing me when I'm trying to concentrate on cooking or doing meds or such, which is also good.

Then I went and said goodbye to S&B friends (not Bean...who's finally back from vacation again...), and we had tea and made s'mores in the toaster oven. They're leaving me...one by one...

I then popped over to another house around 9:30, and had good timing - they'd just began the film "The Perfume". I didn't think it could be as disturbing as the book, but I have to say that they got close. It was good to be out and around people last night, even if it was almost midnight by the time I got back. Tonight I really need to work on and finish some tomato planters, so during the activity night I'll be with Bean.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Today I Did it All

2010-06-28T21:21:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Really. I'm not even joking. I'm 100% serious. I got up and did Breakfast/wakeups. I did the morning send-off. I cooked while finding jobs for the 3.5 year old to "help with" (this made vacuuming a much longer ordeal), but lunch was made and on time for the guests we had. And the one that didn't show up. Then I did the afternoon send off and went to work. Then I went to the neighbor's and gave meds, then came home and gave meds. No one had started to get dinner together at this point (5:35) so I did that too. Then I went and housesat down at the neighbor's. (Although, I had help/didn't have to do dinner or lunch dishes...so maybe not quite everything...). Oh, and I have a cake to make tonight. (That's my own fault.)

Hum was feeling pretty bad today, a summer cold that's been lingering on with the children has hit her. Plus it was muggy and awful here today, kept waiting for the rain that never came. So really, a very long day that's not over yet, and I'm already ready to crawl into bed. But I just got some ice cream - funny how that can lift your spirits...

There were some good positives for the day. Lunch was delicious (although a bit too salty for my tastes, and the carrots got a little smooshy from all the greens in the stir fry), and I got the chain finished for my stained glass piece. I may even take a picture of it tomorrow. Not that I will manage to post it probably, but, y'know...

Anyhow, I bushed and hoping that the housefather comes back relatively soon - it's his birthday cake, after all!

Hope all is well,
Steph

I May Have Slept in Until 11 Today...

2010-06-27T21:26:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

After a week of breaking my sleep habits, I finally really did it. I managed to sleep past 7, 8 and even 9 (to say nothing of 10). It was slightly glorious, and I enjoyed basking in it. However, Franklin came home very early (supposed to be around dinnertime), and was somehow under impression that he was moving to a different house. Well, his dad seemed to think that housemom had told him that. So Hum got to sort that all out.

After a quick peach I spontaneously called Schmee and ended up going to her house - just in time for lunch. Nice, right? After a short rest hour I followed them out to the "Omi Sculpture Fields" - which features huge works of modern art. However, at 90 degrees with about 90 percent humidity in overgrown fields, this wasn't much fun. So we stuck it out for about 35 minutes. An interesting sidetrip, but I was glad we hadn't drove more than 15 minutes for it...and that it was free!

And yes I have a few pictures, but no, I have not uploaded them yet. And Sam didn't give me the lobster pictures before he left. So we are all bereft together.

I made it back in time to put dinner together, and whip up some chocolate avocado mousse for dessert. Franklin went out for a movie night at another house, so I've mostly been bumming around. And calling my parents.

Hope all is well,
Steph

The: 'Oh Crap it's Almost Midnight' Post

2010-06-26T23:55:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Today I spent a lot of the morning cleaning with Hum. We were working on separate projects (more window washing and general tidying up for me, then some vacuuming) and it seemed to go well. It does look nice with everything clean, and she was working a full hour or two before I got up this morning. Good that she's also committed to clean, I guess.

Afterward I got a quick shower before we went into Great Barrington for lunch and to go to the kitchen store. Well, I ended up sitting with the 3.5 year old in the cafe while Hum went to the store waiting for him to finish his lunch. I didn't mind too much because it was nice to sit and he's pretty good-natured.

In the afternoon I went to the Co-op for about 3.5 hours to finish up unpacking some orders and to start the order list, which I finished. Although I didn't get the order put into the computer yet. I might tomorrow. It was actually very relaxing, except when a group of staffkids and their friends came in and left a bottle of vodka on the counter. It turned out to be a bottle with water in it, so that was good. Otherwise it would've been a hassle.

Anyhow, I have most of tomorrow off - at least until Franklin comes home in the evening. I plan to do some arty stuff (need to make a design for my next glass project attempt and a chain for my first project...still!), and work on the long-neglected necklaces and of course, more tomato planters.

And I missed midnight.

The highlight of the day was when I was driving D'Artagan to the trainstation and right outside of Cupcake we saw a bunch of hot air balloons. D'Artagan joked that the whole town of Cupcake was evacuating...I would love to go up in one...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Thawsome.

2010-06-25T21:38:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Today was my first official work day with Hum. It proceeded much like yesterday. We did some laundry (and I rescued one of Sam's curtains from a different room...weird...) and then we took apart the entire pantry. I will admit that it looks much better organized, and we had a good laugh when I asked: "Can we organize it by...grain of the day?". She thought I was going to say alphabetically. Lol. It looks a lot emptier now, which is probably a good thing. We didn't quite have enough time to get it put back together before lunch, but Hum managed in the afternoon.

Hum asked if we would mind eating out at other houses today, and so I pretty much just invited myself over to the house where Schmee is staying temporarily. She and another house combined because of so many people missing, and so I enjoyed her peanut-sauce tofu stir fry today. It was delicious. I then got a quick nap in before afternoon work.

My workmaster had been the only one in during the afternoon on Mon-Wed, and between that and no work on Thursday he was unable to get most of the order unpacked. So we did most of it. We got a very unpleasant shock though when someone notified us that things were apparently thawing out in our walk-in freezer. Apparently when the repairmen were working on the door yesterday, they did something. The heating coil is working...but the whole refreezing part of the cycle is not. Whoops.

So we had to set about immediately - it was almost 5 and unlikely that a repair team would come - and certainly not in time to prevent everything from thawing out. We fit as much stuff as possible into the smaller storage cooler and then rallied a team. We had about 5 people helping, one brought a van and we loaded it up and took it all to the bakery freezer. So I was only about 1/2 hour late coming home. A slight adventure that would've been better off not having, but definitely not the end of the world.

Anyhow, tomorrow will be filled with more cleaning - although we may soon come to the end of it. I have to report in by 9:30 to start, and so sleeping in will be nice. Sam left on a week vacation tonight, and so now things are feeling very empty and strange here.

On that cheerful note,

Hope all is well,
Steph

When One Door Closes, the Windows Get Opened...and Cleaned...

2010-06-24T22:39:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

It was miserably hot and sticky today. I got up late because there was no work for St. John's day (apparently missing a rather cultish-looking gathering in the morning...), and after breakfast I did a co-op run. When I got back I baked brownies for the neighborhood BBQ and started cleaning the windows in the kitchen.

I know that when people move in they want to make their new house into a home for themselves. I also know that being extremely pregnant is not a great amount of fun and that you're limited in what you can do. So I'm trying not to feel resentful about Hum's (/Steph we=you need to do this...) house-cleaning operative. It's fine that she wants to go through every single drawer and pull out stuff we won't need. Heck, it's even ok to clean out the spice cabinet to get rid of the old ones. However, to re-order it according to a vague scheme not related to how I cook - I did speak up - was a little touchy. Because this is still my home too.

I know that she's not trying to replace housemom and is trying to feel out the house. I think she'll really try to see how things are before implementing any huge changes. And some will be for the better, when they come. But it's just stressful during this time to deal with this sudden change and looking ahead to the upcoming ones. We will get through it, we'll find a balance. And I'll try not to complain too much. I hope.

Anyhow, so I cleaned all the windows in the kitchen. Since most of them have double layers, that works out to 4 surface areas per window, plus screens. The equivalent of about 8-10 windows. I also tried not to take it personally when the 3.5 year old then decided to spray them with the hose. Sometimes... Afterward I made the hamburger patties and got the picnic things together. And then I took a much needed shower.

During this afternoon time period I missed another event - a guest speaker in the hall. The best part came when my favorite dinner guest, Wendy (think Bahummus...), got up in her walker and decided to exit the room by walking across the front of the audience. The speaker asked where she was going "To get a drink of water!" she exclaimed...
"Oh, I have some water right here, would you like some?"
"NO! You're boring!"

Well, she tried to be tactful...so really he got what he had coming.

Apparently he laughed - what other choice did he have? - and wrapped his talk within 5 minutes after that point.

Back to me. : p

We got down to the neighbor's at 5:30 and had all sat down while some of the guys worked on the grilling. And then the clouds rolled in again...and another downpour happened. Luckily we got everyone and the food inside in time. Also, most of the houses were down a few people so everyone fit in a cozy manner. The food was good and the brownies were a hit...although they were too spongy and not fudgy enough in my mind.

Afterward we cleaned up and I went to the musical gathering. It was nice, although songsheets would have been very helpful. I ended up next to Sunny, who I haven't seen very often since she no longer comes to meals. Sunny gave me lots of hugs and kept announcing to everyone that I was her housemother. And that Sam was the housefather. Hoping to rupture her logic from within, I told her that we simply weren't married.

"I don't know..."

Was her response.

It's pretty much a lost cause.

I don't know why she's latched onto this fantasy, but I'm stuck with it for a while. When Sam leaves, she'll no doubt saddle me with his replacement as a housefather. Lucky guy.

Anyhow, I'm tired and it's back to "normal" work tomorrow.

Hope all is well,
Steph

Hard To Say Goodbye

2010-06-23T19:57:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Although there was internet at the new house, I didn't get my laptop out. But me recap...it all starts Sunday night...

During the icecream social with the neighbors we heard a crashing out the window. Deer! But we couldn't see anything. At about 11, I was curled up in bed when housemom came knocking on my door:

"Steph! Are you still awake?!"
"Of course...what's up?"
"I heard a deer outside..." (she wandered into the living room) "...but when I came down...it's huge!"

Yup. Definitely wasn't a deer. It was a cow. Happily munching away on our strawberry patch. "What do we do?!?" housemom wanted to know. Well, it wasn't going to eat tomatoes. That's for sure. So I went outside and started to approach it. It sniffed my hand (I'm used to horses, ok?), and ambled off down the road a bit as a car pulled up. Thankfully, it was Sam and one of the farming co-workers. He was not pleased. He asked me to go get a rope and then freaked out a bit when I started to walk up to the cow, until we turned the flashlight on and he saw which one it was. (Apparently some are not so nice, and 4 have a calf.)

So I went and opened the gate and he shooed it in. Then we found the second cow. And Sam found the hole in the fencing, shortly after almost being run down. So I went with the farm co-worker to get his boots, and then a new battery and more electric fencing. I'm not exactly sure what all happened (he did get a good hand-numbing shock from the car battery, and was running around the pitch-dark field with a headlamp on...) but by 11:45 the situation was called ok. As I told him: at least this will give me something to blog about.

I may have turned into one of those types of people. Oh dear.

Anyhow, we managed to leave at 10:40 Monday morning. During the next 8 hours we listened to 2.5 books on tape (Magic Treehouse and 2 Boxcar children...), I doled out countless snacks, we took several potty breaks, went through 2 states with tolls, had the younger cat meowing off and on - the older one was napping within 5 minutes, old pro - and sang along to a children's cover of Beatles' songs. Yellow Submarine twice.

Meanwhile, Sam and the other co-worker drove in the quiet, but bouncy moving truck.

It got to be a little much at the end - everyone was ready to get there! And we did. And it's ginormous. Which spellcheck has accepted as being a real word. Anyhow, it was a bit past 6 o'clock and so we unloaded the bare essentials quickly. We walked to their little beach nearby and took a very quick dip in the ocean...brrrrr! Luckily, as we'd run out the door in the morning, I'd realized that we'd forgotten to grab the meatballs and sauce that I'd prepared for dinner. While housemom was cooking dinner, Sam and I went out to buy some "beverages". It would've taken 35 minutes had we made all the right turns.

Obviously, we didn't.

I was driving and got directions from the main road. Unfortunately, it started out with a wrong turn before we got there, about 5 minutes lost. We found a store and everything was going great until we couldn't find that main side road. We eventually found it, not having driven past it. We turned onto it and drove. And drove some more....and more...and yeah. After about 20 minutes we turned around and called to say we'd be rather late. We were at an hour at this point. Then we proceeded to look on the wrong side of the road for about a half hour, missing the turnoff at least 3 times. It was hysterically funny, and we were cheerfully cracking jokes the entire time. I usually hate being lost, but really, what could we do? We knew we'd find it eventually.

And we did.

The children had been put to bed (it was about 9:45 by this point...) and luckily it was a normal house - it had a microwave. Ooh, ahhh. Did I mention this is the first time in 6 months that I've been away from the village for more than 12 hours?! We were pretty tired afterward and went to bed after chatting with housemom for a while and abandoning a movie.

After a cold cereal breakfast we got to work unpacking the truck. Well, I ended up taking the children (2/3 anyhow) for about 1.5 hours to a small pond to fish - the 4 year old's obsession - and then to clamber around on the rocks down at the beach. This was apparently helpful, as most of the truck was unpacked by the time we came back at 11:15. I helped with the tail end of things and we were done by early afternoon with a lunch break. We then helped to arrange everything that couldn't be lifted by 1 person and were done around 5. The children were out with housedad so we were able to have some quiet constructive time.

Sam and I accompanied housemom to go buy fresh lobsters (yum!!!) while the other co-worker opted for another frigid ocean dip. We also went to a convenience store and picked up oats and another item. When we got back to the house we put the water on to boil (steamed them), got some veggies roasting and I quickly threw a peach/blueberry crisp together. I've never gotten to cook lobster before, and it was an interesting (and amusing) process. We took a lot of pictures with Sam's camera, and I'll hopefully post them on the slideshow sometime tomorrow. And it was delicious. I had a "softshell" lobster which are apparently sweeter. And I now know how to sex a lobster. Although the "eggs" in mine probably would've given it away...

It was a truly superb dinner.

The kids came in to help pick their mom's clean and to gobble up dessert. I had a nice time chatting with Sam while the other co-worker was reading about the islands around and housemom put the kids to bed. We all had a bonfire together and I roasted my first organic marshmallow. Gross. It had this terrible grainy texture when it melted, and was a bit like packing peanuts raw. I'll take Jetpuff any day...

Since the beds were set up differently, I ended up having a "sleepover" with the eldest child, in her extra twin bed. When I came down the next morning I explained that I'd been woken up with her creepily standing at the bed (I yelled "WHAT!? - Oh god, you scared me..." and mumbled on a bit apparently), but hadn't been sure if it'd just been an incredibly vivid dream and I'd woken myself up sleep talking. Nope, really happened. She'd apparently woken up confused and wanted to make sure I was the other person in the bed. So after we'd both been thorough confused and frightened we both fell back asleep.

I was up at 8 and after a nice pancake breakfast we were on the road by 9:30. The goodbyes were hard, but I fully intend on making a visit sometime. It may be a while, but I feel it will happen. We pulled up to the house at 5:15. It was a long haul to have 3 people scrunched into the cab, although I mostly was the one in the middle with no leg room. But we survived in good spirits, I think.

It's strange to have the new family moved in (new housemom will be called Hum, and housedad will be Hather (since Dum just sounds mean...)) and will take some arranging on both sides. The house will continue to run as before, but I'm sure changes will be made over time. At least we'll have some voice in them. It probably won't be easy, but the next chapter is ready to start.

I'll miss the children and housemom tremendously, and I'll appreciate the way that they've enriched and broadened my lifeview and carry them around in a pocket of my heart.

Hope all is well,
Steph

It'll be very strange

All Packed Up, Except for Me

2010-06-20T22:46:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

We got the ball rolling at about 9:45, and packed until 11:45 when I stopped to heat up lunch. I'd helped with carrying boxes that weren't too heavy - as my back immediately gave me a warning the first time I tried to heft something a bit too heavy. I've also decided that I should definitely find a massage therapist/chiropractor or masseuse to date. My back would love me. However, we had 3 strong backs and a few others that helped (although help was scarce...definitely would've been easier to find people during the week...). We were all packed up within 2 hours after lunch. Phew.

Well, minus the mattresses and some bedding and clothing that they need.

And, the backpack that will most likely stuff together tomorrow morning at 8. The targeted time to leave is 10, and we'll see how it goes. I'll be riding in the minivan, and it could be a long 6 hours with the kids - although between snacks and travel entertainment they should be pretty set. I'll bring along some metal working, as the tomato planters are just too messy. It should be fine.

I helped Julia make her "Green" dinner for the baseball game tonight. The garden is chock-full of green stuff (lettuce, various asian greens, spinach, etc), and the garden crew came up with the idea to have everyone bring a green entree and a salad for a salad-eating contest at the baseball game tonight. Obviously, they're really just checking up on our first aid training, because how great of an idea does speed-eating salad actually sound?!?

Then Julia and I did a dip in the swim pond, which was pretty lovely. If only it wasn't so murky at the bottom. Better than nothing, and a good temperature. I still had to go home and shower though, because it was hot and sticky (except for the last hour of packing, where it downpoured...). We went out to dinner in town because we didn't have the time, energy, nor motivation to make dinner. It was a bit of a circus with the children, but still nice. We got back in time for the ball game, which was smaller than average. I think the green meal scared people away, and lots of people are on vacation.

I borrowed Bean's house's vacuum since it's much newer, and once I removed a bit wood block from the head it worked great. But I didn't manage to vacuum up any basil plants.

: )

Anyhow, it was very sweet. The nearest houseparents brought over ice cream and we (housemom, her eldest and them and their teenage daughter and later son) had a little party. Sam was out being social, so he missed it. It was very nice. I'll miss the energy that the housemoms create.

On that slightly sad note...

Hope all is well,
Steph

Oh. By the Way, I'm Going Too...

2010-06-19T21:49:00.005-04:00

Hi all,

I managed (without actually meaning to) to get myself included in the group helping housemom and the kids to move. She'd tried to line up a few young guys to come, but the second spot kept falling through. Now, she'd never asked me (not a good idea with my back as is, currently), and so when I said "Well, you never even asked me..." she actually realized she hadn't and then considered it. So, though I won't be a help with heavy lifting, I can help with doing meals and moving boxes and getting things organized. Plus, the new family had arranged to have meals out and every villager from the house is on vacation, so I'm not needed there. My workmaster was great, and said I could go, and the neighbors endorsed the idea. So, I'm pretty much set!

Let's see now...Thursday. I went to the workshop and worked on the chain for my piece, it's coming along well. I left halfway through the morning to go to a meeting I'd been asked to attend (for input), and it was interesting to see how an official committee meets. I'm not sure I had much to contribute, but it's helpful for knowing what's going on behind the scenes, so to speak. Sam stayed home to cook, and it was pretty funny. I came in and gave him my favorite line (that he's used before, after a long morning in the garden..): "So, what'd you do today?? Cook? That's it?" It was fun to give him a little crap, and I think it was a good experience for him too.

I went out with housemom for karaoke, who has evolved her viewpoint on it. As a singer/performer, she used to feel that it was for people who can't sing, and are delusional about their talent level. Now she sees how fun it can be, and possibly therapeutic. However, we were the only ones from the village who went, but we still had a nice time. She brought down the house with a song, after a long line of people who really couldn't sing. A fun evening.

Friday morning Sam had asked if he could go watch the soccer game showing at one of the houses (who apparently have a TV...). Staunch supporter that he is, when I asked who was playing he replied: "...Something that starts with a 'P' I think...?"

So, practically Serbia, right?

At least, since he was in it for the social aspect he wasn't completely crushed when they lost. Just a little national ego bruised.

I was busy Friday morning running errands in and out of the village and then cooking the spaghetti lunch. The new house family (well, half of it "Hum" (new house "mum") and her oldest) had lunch with us, along with Julia from next door. It was very nice, and chaotic with the children.

The co-op time was mostly comprised of making the order list and starting to input it. Plus some stocking up and putting the new produce in. We had an extra helper, a co-worker from last year who is here on vacation who chose to come and help out. Made a nifty little sign for the free coffee samples. I asked if he'd come back next week in the afternoons, since I'd be gone. I think he will, so that'll be great.

I popped in some pizzas for dinner when I got home (the food processing group makes them here), but Beau left on vacation and Connie was invited out. Housemom and the kids were out late, so Sam and I were left with a pizza. We jazzed it up to make it a turkey hawaiian one, and it was delicious. Well, pretty good - and a nice change from "Bread and Spreads". Although I'm not sure I can honestly say that I've been missing soup!

I'd organized a big group planning to go out Saturday (tonight) night, and so I went door-to-door taking menu choices for pre-ordering. We ended up having 24 people I think, with most people pre-ordered. Crazy. Afterward (about 8:30), I made cake for housemom's informal farewell today - which no one came to because of bad timing - and then made meatballs.

I was on this morning until noon, so I did breakfast for Connie - who was quite anxious until she got picked up at 10:45. Then I did some errands and clean up for housemom. I had 2 whole minutes of being home alone today, until Sam came back at 12:30 to be on. I got to shower and relax a bit, and then tried to help pack up. Housemom was flitting from thing to thing, and being unusually decisive. I need a list, and when she finally gave me a project go ahead, I ran with it. We stopped around 4 to have some cake and I showed her the pictures I'll be burning for her from my computer. Some of them were really cute of the kids. She was pleased.

She also liked her going-away present from the house: we'd gone with a handmade broom. She'd mentioned one in the past, and she's leaving her broom at the house, so it made sense. Then it was time to pick up Bean's house for the restaurant...except one of her people was out wandering. We eventually found him, but were 15 minutes late. It worked out fine, and we had a great (though slightly chaotic) time. And of course the food was delicious.

And now, Steph needs sleep for tomorrow. Major packing starts at 9.

Hope all is well,
Steph

You DON'T Want Details.

2010-06-16T22:05:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I spent all day in bed and/or the bathroom.

You Don't Want Details.

But I have survived the (hopefully only) 24 stomach bug.

Hope you're well...
Steph

Staying Healthy is Hard Work

2010-06-15T20:54:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

Yesterday evening I was out with Flo printing pictures, and then hanging out with Bean working on (surprise...) more tomato planters. It was almost midnight by the time I went home, and so bed won out over blog.

Yesterday morning I made a baked spanish rice dish = lots of garlicky goodness. It was a busy morning and pretty much passed in a blur. During the rest hour I had to do the town run, and ended up once again at the car repair shop, dropping off some other co-workers to pick up their serviced cars. It was pretty uneventful, save for the fact that while driving Pixs around to find a cafe key we got stuck in front of the cows. Pretty sure the car didn't get any new dings, but not for lack of trying on one cow's part. As it moseyed past it really didn't mind where it brushed up against.

The co-op was pretty standard, although the butter we ended up cutting turned out to be the type we already had chunked, so we had to freeze it. And that was pretty much the excitement for the afternoon.

Urg.

I'm not going to share details of the last half an hour, but it wasn't nice. So, quick recap before I crash into bed hoping that sleep will help heal all. I went to the glass workshop and am almost done with my piece. It's ok looking. I went to Bean's house for lunch and she cooked some delicious stuffed green peppers. And I met her grandparents. I didn't get to work as I had another chiropractic appointment with housemom and the kids, and so didn't get back in time. I was feeling unwell for most of the afternoon and ended up sitting dinner out. I was supposed to go to craft night (and bring the s'mores cake..mmm) for Flo's going away surprise gathering. Hopefully he shows up. I ended up just passing the cake on to Bean and making my apologies. Just in time.

So, g'night and I hope all is well (and healthy!)
Steph

Of Course It Needs To Rain On My Day Off.

2010-06-13T20:59:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

I just hope this weather stops soon. I still need two coats of paint on the bottom of my planter, plus my tomato plants are starting to look slightly unhappy. But they're hanging in there (ha ha ha). Anyhow, I managed to sleep in this morning but still ate breakfast with the house around 9:30. I got my room tidied, and managed a load of laundry. I walked around the neighborhood, hoping to find a co-worker who also had the whole day off. No dice. So went off to Great Barrington on my lonesome.

I'm becoming quite the social-seeker recently.

I think it's because I'm dreading the fact that everyone will be leaving. If I must have an excuse, that's it.

Anyhow, I did a Kmart run for house stuff and then ended up going to a restaurant called "Naji". I'd initially spotted the coffee shop behind it, but the menu was hung up enticingly, and they had a roasted eggplant panini. I walked in, and was promptly handed a chunk of freshly baked baguette. I soon learned that the smiling man who handed it to me was the owner/operator/chef Naji himself. And I must say, he makes quite the dish. They're having a special for the rest of the month, so I've already started to organize group to go back to the restaurant next Saturday. Very excited.

I then popped over to the cafe, mainly for a place to read the newest Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse novel. Literary crack cocaine at its finest. Need I say I already finished it tonight? Anyhow, the smoothie I had was also quite good.

Oh, I've also officially become my father. Now that I'm on about 5 supplements plus allergy medicine, I'm overwhelmed and caved: I now have a pill organizer. I'm also pretty sure that no 22 year old should have one. At least mine is kind of cool looking.

Right.

Because you totally believed that for a second.

Anyhow, I'm off to sew some more tomato planters, in the hope it'll be warm enough to inspire me to transplant some more tomorrow.

Hope all is well,
Steph

It's Official - I have the Coolest Housemom

2010-06-12T20:55:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

Due to Karaoke and then a migraine last night (I was in bed by 8...), blogging just simply didn't happen. So...here's the run-through.

Thursday morning I wasn't able to get to the stain glass workshop because Beau had a dentist appointment. Sam can't drive (he's not insured here since he's here only 5 months), and so it fell to me to take him. Luckily, Beau was tally-ho about the whole thing, and barely rested during rest hour, he was so excited. He kept pointing to his teeth. His appointment took over an hour, so we basically just got back in time for lunch. He'd walk up to everyone and proudly point to his teeth. They do look very nice.

Before this whole excursion (goodbye rest hour in the morning...) I'd taken the neighbor housefather to go and pick up their car. It was a bad morning for squirrels...we saw at least 4 in the middle of the road. I was able to get my cell back (and had several missed calls and messages, as I hadn't blogged and had mentioned my allergic reaction...whoops), and that was nice.

I managed to conk out for 10 minutes (impressive, right?) and had a very intense dream where there was also a dead squirrel. Ah, my transparent brain functioning... This was kind of disturbing, but only got odder. As I was the only one (really... no one else was there from the work group!) one in the co-op, I lugged in the order that'd been dropped off early. As I tried to open the door - the oh-so-helpful delivery guy had gotten them too close - I see a squirrel run off. Probably the same one that jumped at my face. Anyhow, I finally get the door open and see that the clever bugger had chewed a flap on the end, slit down the tape, pried open and untwisted the plastic (without chewing a hole in it), extracted exactly 1 walnut, and had eaten half of it before I showed up. So, it was a strangely squirrel-filled day.

The other laugh I got out of the co-op was from the order sheet. I'd requested a sample, and at the bottom it stated: 4 oz sample: WTF and MUL. That's right, I got a free 4 oz sample of WTF. White Turkish Figs. It has to be a joke in the office. The MUL were mulberries, which I wouldn't recommend. Although I'd eat several ounces of WTF any day...

I missed dinner because I drove into Hudson to go to a chiropractor appointment. When it was practically too painful to get out of bed Tuesday (?) morning - I had to literally pull myself over to the chair and slowly shift to standing - I finally caved and actually called. The chiropractor set right to work - he's a spry, older gentleman who kept up the banter while giving helpful advice. Needless to say, the doctor's office has now given me fish oil...bleh, thankfully in capsule form. I picked up some packing tape for housemom at Walmart and then came home - feeling very light, as my back actually didn't hurt.

Thursday night was quite exciting. I got dressed up a little since housemom was coming out - Julia very graciously came and housesat for us. Sam was eventually able to get a car (long story...) and so I didn't need to drive. So I had a whole two drinks. Given my poor current tolerance, this was just perfect. It was also Flo's last Karaoke night, and Barry got a bit teary about it. Flo and I sang "Build Me Up, Buttercup", and I think everyone had a great time. We didn't get the typical German contingent, but there were still about 20 people there. Housemom said she'd probably never look at all the co-workers in the same light again. Need I mention that Bean sang (from memory, mostly) "I Like Big Butts"? Actually, there was a higher-than-typical amount of old-school rap, but it was still pretty fantastic.

We also pretty much dominated the scene, making quite the show for those 6-8 people clustered around the bar. Housemom mustered her courage, had a drink, and did some singing. She has a really nice voice, and a lot of people had come to hear her - and to say goodbye to Flo, of course. It was a great night.

Friday morning I was good to bounce out of bed and get the pancakes rolling. Housemom was chugging coffee all morning. I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, as I unexpectedly had to go to the doctor's office. Luckily, the reaction is almost gone, but I'll be taking some steps to hopefully keep it from returning. I also then did a co-op run with housemom. However, the meatballs, sauce, bread, noodles and salad all managed to get done in time for lunch. We had two co-worker guests and aside from the children being unusually loud and unruly, it was very nice.

Friday afternoon it was very busy in the afternoon with unpacking the produce order and the IGA order. I also made a UNFI order sheet, and learned how to put the order in. A very time-consuming process. Apparently you can use a scanning system (where you merely point, shoot, and request the number of cases based off the barcode and not the ordering number that you look up every time), but we haven't got it implemented. Baby steps towards electronification will be happening in the next year, especially if we end up using cards for foodstamps. Should be interesting.

I then horsed around with the 4 year old, using a shoulder ride as a bribe to get him out of the house, where he and the middle child were driving housemom up the wall. I surely paid for it this morning. My neck was SOOOOO sore. We have some topical stuff for inflammation and joint pain, and that helped, along with a heating pad. No more shoulder rides though.

Today we cleaned in the morning and had leftovers for lunch. I spent most of my resthour making calls. My house had cafe/gift shop rota, so I sat in the giftshop with Beau. We both had books (his picture album), and I tried a decaf something or another from the coffee shop (they needed practice...I thought it tasted fine, but I'm nothing that's close to a connoisseur!), and read "The Book Thief". Which I am thoroughly enjoying. It's also teaching me more slang and naughty German words - which I get to demonstrate to Sam.

We got back in time for us to prepare for Bible evening - something I've rarely done here. We had someone from outside the house come and run it, and it was a little different from how I've seen it before. Not to mention we were only 4 people. So it wasn't a bad experience at all - especially since she's quite an interesting lady.

Anyhow, I should probably clean my room so I won't do it tomorrow. I think I'll do a Great Barrington run tomorrow (although I have no one to keep me company), and then berry picking if weather permits with the house. It's rained every day I think this last week, and I'm ready for it to be done. Especially since it poured for a majority of the day today.

Hope all is well,
Steph

PS. And after an informal poll, it was declared that I do, in fact, have the coolest housemom in the village.