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Conventional New England wisdom says that this is the time of year to be headed south. Well, so much for that wisdom. Today we will be headed north from Cape Cod to Maine. We get to visit with our family up there over the next week or so and enjoy time with them
It is raining/snowing this morning, so hopefully it will all be clear by the time we leave this afternoon. At least that is what I am hoping for. I would like to leave early so that I can make the entire trip in daylight, but on the other hand, I would rather not be driving in rain and/or snow.
I know DW and Shy are excited about the trip. Right now they are probably home packing and just sitting around waiting for me to come home and get the trip started, but right now is not a good time to leave. too much rain and it is snowing up north.
Normally the number of school cancellations would be a good indicator of how much snow they are getting up that way, but today, very few schools are in session anyway as they have all started their Christmas break. So I guess we will just wait until hopefully it has passed and then be on our way.
As far as the conventional wisdom goes? We will have to wait until February when we head to Florida for 4 days and then into the Caribbean for an 8 day cruise.
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Should I or Shouldn't I? If so, when?
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Like that title? Anyway, before I go there......
Tomorrow we will head up to Maine to spend time with Amy and Kari and their families. I know DW is really looking forward to it. She does really miss both of them, but mostly she misses our grandson. I do too, so it will be nice to get up there and spend a few days.
Shy is also looking forward to it. She really loves her sisters. They are so nice to her and they spend time doing things that she likes to do. Shy loves getting up with Amy in the morning and baking muffins or anything else Amy wants to bake. I am told that Amy may have bought her an Easy Bake Oven. I can say that here, as Shy doesn't read this blog. She actually doesn't even know it exists.
Hmmmmmm. I wonder if it would be something that will be good for her to read when she gets older. I bet it would be. I'll have to go back and check it out, but I don't think I ever wrote anything in here that would bother or upset her.
I think she would definitely want to read it when she got older. I wonder what age would be the right age? I guess I'll just play it by ear and see. Maybe 18, or maybe 21. I don't know. What do you think?
Shy, if you are reading this, did I wait too long to tell you about the blog, or did I let you read it too early? Or did your sisters tell you about it before I did? Maybe your mom told you. Anyway.....
I am looking forward to the trip tomorrow afternoon and I know DW and Shy are as well. I don't know if I will have much opportunity to blog while I am there, but if I do, I will fill you in on everything.
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Like that title? Anyway, before I go there......
Tomorrow we will head up to Maine to spend time with Amy and Kari and their families. I know DW is really looking forward to it. She does really miss both of them, but mostly she misses our grandson. I do too, so it will be nice to get up there and spend a few days.
Shy is also looking forward to it. She really loves her sisters. They are so nice to her and they spend time doing things that she likes to do. Shy loves getting up with Amy in the morning and baking muffins or anything else Amy wants to bake. I am told that Amy may have bought her an Easy Bake Oven. I can say that here, as Shy doesn't read this blog. She actually doesn't even know it exists.
Hmmmmmm. I wonder if it would be something that will be good for her to read when she gets older. I bet it would be. I'll have to go back and check it out, but I don't think I ever wrote anything in here that would bother or upset her.
I think she would definitely want to read it when she got older. I wonder what age would be the right age? I guess I'll just play it by ear and see. Maybe 18, or maybe 21. I don't know. What do you think?
Shy, if you are reading this, did I wait too long to tell you about the blog, or did I let you read it too early? Or did your sisters tell you about it before I did? Maybe your mom told you. Anyway.....
I am looking forward to the trip tomorrow afternoon and I know DW and Shy are as well. I don't know if I will have much opportunity to blog while I am there, but if I do, I will fill you in on everything.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Remembering
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This time of year it is common to look back over the last year and take stock. This year it is taking on a different look for me. Today would have been my father's 87th birthday, but unfortunately, he passed away in February.
So the different look is that I am looking at things that my father missed out on. Things that I know he would be really proud of. Things that I wish he was here to see. Things that I really hope he can see from wherever in the cosmos he is.
There is my new job. I think he would have been proud of that. I think he would have been happy that I came back to Massachusetts. Even though he spent 20 years retired in Florida, he always considered Massachusetts his home.
I know for sure he would have been proud of his only grandson making the move from Birmingham, AL to Portland, OR. He really did love my son, and he was always happy when Barry called him to talk about the Red Sox and other sports related issues. He works behind the scenes in television and making the move into a top 25 market in Portland would have certainly impressed his Papa and made him very proud.
I know he would have been so thrilled to hear how well Shy is doing in school, and how she has adjusted to her new school and friends and house so well. He would have been happy to hear how she was reading and writing, and I know he would be looking forward to seeing her in February when we go to Florida.
I can guarantee he would have loved to have been there for his great grandson's 1st birthday. That would have been a thrill for him. I know my mom enjoyed it, and I am sure he would have enjoyed it too. He wanted a great grandchild for many years, and he was so happy when he finally got one. I was so happy he actually got to see Logan and hold him when he came up for Amy's wedding.
He would have been thrilled to hear about Amy's new home that they bought. He always wanted his children and grandchildren to be happy and that home has certainly made Amy very happy. That would have made him happy and proud as well.
Most of all though, I think he would be proud of the fact that we are all doing well and are happy and healthy and enjoying ourselves.....even if we do miss him...... a lot!
So, Dad, if you are able to read this blog, I just want to wish you a Happy Birthday and let you know we are all doing well. Love you and Miss you
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This time of year it is common to look back over the last year and take stock. This year it is taking on a different look for me. Today would have been my father's 87th birthday, but unfortunately, he passed away in February.
So the different look is that I am looking at things that my father missed out on. Things that I know he would be really proud of. Things that I wish he was here to see. Things that I really hope he can see from wherever in the cosmos he is.
There is my new job. I think he would have been proud of that. I think he would have been happy that I came back to Massachusetts. Even though he spent 20 years retired in Florida, he always considered Massachusetts his home.
I know for sure he would have been proud of his only grandson making the move from Birmingham, AL to Portland, OR. He really did love my son, and he was always happy when Barry called him to talk about the Red Sox and other sports related issues. He works behind the scenes in television and making the move into a top 25 market in Portland would have certainly impressed his Papa and made him very proud.
I know he would have been so thrilled to hear how well Shy is doing in school, and how she has adjusted to her new school and friends and house so well. He would have been happy to hear how she was reading and writing, and I know he would be looking forward to seeing her in February when we go to Florida.
I can guarantee he would have loved to have been there for his great grandson's 1st birthday. That would have been a thrill for him. I know my mom enjoyed it, and I am sure he would have enjoyed it too. He wanted a great grandchild for many years, and he was so happy when he finally got one. I was so happy he actually got to see Logan and hold him when he came up for Amy's wedding.
He would have been thrilled to hear about Amy's new home that they bought. He always wanted his children and grandchildren to be happy and that home has certainly made Amy very happy. That would have made him happy and proud as well.
Most of all though, I think he would be proud of the fact that we are all doing well and are happy and healthy and enjoying ourselves.....even if we do miss him...... a lot!
So, Dad, if you are able to read this blog, I just want to wish you a Happy Birthday and let you know we are all doing well. Love you and Miss you
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Girl Scout Cookies
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About, oh, I don't know, maybe 20 years ago DW and I said something along the lines of "Thank goodness that is over. We will never have to deal with Girl Scout Cookie selling again!!"
We were wrong. That's right. Shy has come home from her Daisy troop meeting yesterday with her girl scout cookie selling sheet and instructions. She is certainly looking forward to selling them, but I am not sure she has the whole idea down.
She said to me one box is $4.00, and 2 boxes is $8.00.
So I naturally asked, how much is 3 or 4 boxes. She said she didn't know. So when I asked what she was going to say to someone who wanted to buy 3 or 4 boxes, or maybe even more, she though a while and finally came up with the following answer:
"No, you can only buy 2 boxes"
So, I guess we have to work on her selling technique. We certainly don't want her limiting any prospective clients in their willingness to buy cookies from her, Of course I already put in my order for 10 boxes. So she will sell at least that many. After that, I guess it is a crap shoot. I did bring the requisite "short" form to work to see if anyone here is interested, so as far as I am concerned that lets me off the hook for dealing with people in the neighborhood. I will leave that to DW.
I don't know that she reads this blog any more so I guess I will have to bring that up carefully at home.
Anyway, if you have the opportunity to buy Girl Scout Cookies from one of your local scouts, be sure to support them. They are a real good organization and the cookies are delicious. (I love the Peanut Butter patties and the Caramel Delights myself!!)
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About, oh, I don't know, maybe 20 years ago DW and I said something along the lines of "Thank goodness that is over. We will never have to deal with Girl Scout Cookie selling again!!"
We were wrong. That's right. Shy has come home from her Daisy troop meeting yesterday with her girl scout cookie selling sheet and instructions. She is certainly looking forward to selling them, but I am not sure she has the whole idea down.
She said to me one box is $4.00, and 2 boxes is $8.00.
So I naturally asked, how much is 3 or 4 boxes. She said she didn't know. So when I asked what she was going to say to someone who wanted to buy 3 or 4 boxes, or maybe even more, she though a while and finally came up with the following answer:
"No, you can only buy 2 boxes"
So, I guess we have to work on her selling technique. We certainly don't want her limiting any prospective clients in their willingness to buy cookies from her, Of course I already put in my order for 10 boxes. So she will sell at least that many. After that, I guess it is a crap shoot. I did bring the requisite "short" form to work to see if anyone here is interested, so as far as I am concerned that lets me off the hook for dealing with people in the neighborhood. I will leave that to DW.
I don't know that she reads this blog any more so I guess I will have to bring that up carefully at home.
Anyway, if you have the opportunity to buy Girl Scout Cookies from one of your local scouts, be sure to support them. They are a real good organization and the cookies are delicious. (I love the Peanut Butter patties and the Caramel Delights myself!!)
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Good Ideas
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The Lego Menorah we made won a prize at Sunday School this week!! (OK so everyone won a prize, but still, Shyanne was excited). We won the prize for the best "Israeli Flag Design" We made it totally out of blue and white legos, hence the category.
Shy also had a visit with her play therapist on Saturday. She is doing quite well, and really seems to like this woman. I htink that things are going to go well. She enjoys playing with her, and this woman has a lot of great ideas for her.
Knowing that Shy takes dance lessons she gave her a dance solution to when she gets angry and frustrated. She just jumps between 5th position and 2nd position (ballet moves I am not toally familiar with). This allows her to burn off that energy she has and to calm herself in a much more appropriate manner then she has been.
There was even a time this weekend when she did it on her own. I am not sure what she was upset about at the time, but all of a sudden there she was jumping and she then told us why and more importantly, she said it worked. That is great news. Now, if we can just get her to use it all the time, and have it work all the time that will be wonderful.
The other idea we are putting to use is placing check marks in DWs calendar book when we catch her being good. She likes that, and she also likes counting the check marks. She is even counting the checkmarks by 5s and 10s. I guess it is a great math lesson as well as a behavior lesson. I love things that multi-task like that!!
So things are going well here. We will be going up to Maine on Friday to visit with Amy and Kari and their famies, so that will be fun. We are really looking forward to it.
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The Lego Menorah we made won a prize at Sunday School this week!! (OK so everyone won a prize, but still, Shyanne was excited). We won the prize for the best "Israeli Flag Design" We made it totally out of blue and white legos, hence the category.
Shy also had a visit with her play therapist on Saturday. She is doing quite well, and really seems to like this woman. I htink that things are going to go well. She enjoys playing with her, and this woman has a lot of great ideas for her.
Knowing that Shy takes dance lessons she gave her a dance solution to when she gets angry and frustrated. She just jumps between 5th position and 2nd position (ballet moves I am not toally familiar with). This allows her to burn off that energy she has and to calm herself in a much more appropriate manner then she has been.
There was even a time this weekend when she did it on her own. I am not sure what she was upset about at the time, but all of a sudden there she was jumping and she then told us why and more importantly, she said it worked. That is great news. Now, if we can just get her to use it all the time, and have it work all the time that will be wonderful.
The other idea we are putting to use is placing check marks in DWs calendar book when we catch her being good. She likes that, and she also likes counting the check marks. She is even counting the checkmarks by 5s and 10s. I guess it is a great math lesson as well as a behavior lesson. I love things that multi-task like that!!
So things are going well here. We will be going up to Maine on Friday to visit with Amy and Kari and their famies, so that will be fun. We are really looking forward to it.
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Friday, December 16, 2011
December 11th Came and Went
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I thought December 11th was going to be a memorable day in my life and an anniversary that would always be important to us. Apparently I was wrong, as it came and went without any fanfare. It was just another Sunday.
Even my blog on Monday morning couldn't come up with a title as I didn't know for sure what I was going to write about. So how does a day that seems so important at one point in our life, become so meaningless that we totally forget about its existence on the actual day.
I suppose I should tell you what December 11th is and why I thought it would be important. That is the day in 2007 when Shyanne first came into our life. It is the day we thought she was going to come and stay with us for a couple of months. It is the day we went to the DHHS building in Bagor, Maine and picked up this adorable little red headed girl who would change our life forever. It is also the day that prompted me to start writing this blog a year later.
It was a year later that her family was close to reunification and I thought we were about to have Shyanne leave our life. That is what started this blog. Dealing with her departure and then to talk about other children as they came into our life. Now, 4 years later, the day has become just another day. I guess her birthday is more important now as we don't even have to think about when it is. We know it like we know all of our children's birthdays. Of course Adoption Day is November 15th and we started an Adoption Day tradition this year that we hope will carry on for many many years to come. So that is certainly an important day.
Is it just with the Holidays and all, and now with Adoption Day, that December 11th is so unimportant that it comes and goes almost totally unnoticed by us? Or is it a day that we really don't want to remember because, in a way, it symbolizes what could be considered a sad day in the life of Shyanne's birth family?
I am not sure, but I just find it curious that the day comes and goes without any fanfare now and while it is certainly an important day in our life, I guess it isn't so important that it requires any fanfare. Just another opportunity for a hug and a kiss from the most beautiful girl in the world.
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I thought December 11th was going to be a memorable day in my life and an anniversary that would always be important to us. Apparently I was wrong, as it came and went without any fanfare. It was just another Sunday.
Even my blog on Monday morning couldn't come up with a title as I didn't know for sure what I was going to write about. So how does a day that seems so important at one point in our life, become so meaningless that we totally forget about its existence on the actual day.
I suppose I should tell you what December 11th is and why I thought it would be important. That is the day in 2007 when Shyanne first came into our life. It is the day we thought she was going to come and stay with us for a couple of months. It is the day we went to the DHHS building in Bagor, Maine and picked up this adorable little red headed girl who would change our life forever. It is also the day that prompted me to start writing this blog a year later.
It was a year later that her family was close to reunification and I thought we were about to have Shyanne leave our life. That is what started this blog. Dealing with her departure and then to talk about other children as they came into our life. Now, 4 years later, the day has become just another day. I guess her birthday is more important now as we don't even have to think about when it is. We know it like we know all of our children's birthdays. Of course Adoption Day is November 15th and we started an Adoption Day tradition this year that we hope will carry on for many many years to come. So that is certainly an important day.
Is it just with the Holidays and all, and now with Adoption Day, that December 11th is so unimportant that it comes and goes almost totally unnoticed by us? Or is it a day that we really don't want to remember because, in a way, it symbolizes what could be considered a sad day in the life of Shyanne's birth family?
I am not sure, but I just find it curious that the day comes and goes without any fanfare now and while it is certainly an important day in our life, I guess it isn't so important that it requires any fanfare. Just another opportunity for a hug and a kiss from the most beautiful girl in the world.
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Lego Hanukiah
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This Sunday at Sunday School there is a contest for the most original menorah. Shy has decided she wants to make one out of Legos. Now she has not played with Legos a lot, but we have an abundance of them that were both handed down through the family and also bought when our son Barry was a young boy.
Last night we picked out all of the blue and white legos. I thought there would be a lot, but it turns out that Red is the most common lego color. (at least in our collection)
Unfortunately, all the white ones have a bit of gray associated with them and the blue ones are also a bit old and dusty. So, step one after sorting out all the blue and white was to place them all into a couple of serving bowls with hot water and Dawn. Hopefully, this will give us clean legos on which to place out candles. After all, the last thing we need is to start a fire from any dust and lint hanging around our Lego menorah.
In any event, tonight we will start planning the Menorah. We will have to decide how it will look ,and how big it will be. How to arrange the candles and how to make it useable. After all, a Menorah is no good if it isn't useable.
Now, to move on to this whole Menorah thing. Most people thnink that you use a Menorah for Hannukah. Technically, a Menorah is a seven branched candle holder and has been a symbol of the Jewish religion for centuries. The Hannukah "Menorah" actually has 9 branches for lights. As a result, it is actually called a Hanukiah. There is one candle branch for each of the 8 nights of Hannukah, and then a ninth branch which typically stands a little higher then the other eight. That is for the "Shamash". This is the candle that is used to light all the other candles.
I don't know why I mention all of that here, except that it is helpful to know exactly what you are making before you actually make it. So if anyone has any Lego Hanukiah ideas for us, we will start building tonight and hopefully finish it either tomorrow or Saturday so that it is ready to go Sunday.
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This Sunday at Sunday School there is a contest for the most original menorah. Shy has decided she wants to make one out of Legos. Now she has not played with Legos a lot, but we have an abundance of them that were both handed down through the family and also bought when our son Barry was a young boy.
Last night we picked out all of the blue and white legos. I thought there would be a lot, but it turns out that Red is the most common lego color. (at least in our collection)
Unfortunately, all the white ones have a bit of gray associated with them and the blue ones are also a bit old and dusty. So, step one after sorting out all the blue and white was to place them all into a couple of serving bowls with hot water and Dawn. Hopefully, this will give us clean legos on which to place out candles. After all, the last thing we need is to start a fire from any dust and lint hanging around our Lego menorah.
In any event, tonight we will start planning the Menorah. We will have to decide how it will look ,and how big it will be. How to arrange the candles and how to make it useable. After all, a Menorah is no good if it isn't useable.
Now, to move on to this whole Menorah thing. Most people thnink that you use a Menorah for Hannukah. Technically, a Menorah is a seven branched candle holder and has been a symbol of the Jewish religion for centuries. The Hannukah "Menorah" actually has 9 branches for lights. As a result, it is actually called a Hanukiah. There is one candle branch for each of the 8 nights of Hannukah, and then a ninth branch which typically stands a little higher then the other eight. That is for the "Shamash". This is the candle that is used to light all the other candles.
I don't know why I mention all of that here, except that it is helpful to know exactly what you are making before you actually make it. So if anyone has any Lego Hanukiah ideas for us, we will start building tonight and hopefully finish it either tomorrow or Saturday so that it is ready to go Sunday.
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