Friday, May 29, 2009
The Farmer Graboskis' are ready for Summer, armed with tomatoes
Wow--not sure what to make of two whole days in a row without going to work! I have been working pretty much straight the last three weeks. Looking at my house, you can tell. Fortunately, due to all the lake sand, no one is permanently stuck to the floor.
The garden is planted--27 tomato plants, 12 sweet peppers (red and green), 7 cucumbers, 3 winter squash, acorn squash, Brussels sprouts, peas, green beans, wax beans, beets, cabbages, lettuce, carrots and pumpkins! Barring any disasters (of the pest and weather variety) we have embraced gardenhood. (Gentlemen: GET YOUR CANNING JARS READY!!!!!!!!)
Today I am going to go pick up a couple peonies I put on order--I love them so much, and have planted them at every house I have owned, only to move away before they became established. I was really missing them this Spring, and was very sad that the plant place was out of them. Good thing I was moaning out loud about it, because the lady overheard me and said it was very easy to get them for me! Plants are my new crack.... and now I have a dealer.... (hee hee hee) After I came back from that plant run I discovered a peony about to burst in our hedgerow! I had not noticed it before--ever since we cleared that out of all the overgrowth all kinds of things are popping up. Much of the cleared space we slathered in wildflower seeds--if they actually bloom it will look really....well....wild! Once the weather clears up (it has been raining for four days straight) I will have Alannah take some more pictures of the yard to keep you all up to date on our "farm".
Scott mulched the flower beds around the edges of the house. We discovered that the beds are very shallow, and mostly full of sand, gravel and concrete from the foundation which must be from an addition put onto the house at some point. There were a few plants in there, like a run on Hasta--we tidied it up and moved some of it around so it looked more polished. (I say we...it was really Scott and Aidan that did all the work!) We have one more place around the walkway up to the house that needs a make over, and then our house will really start to look like a home rather than the rental property it was for so long. Some other anticipated projects are powerwashing the house, painting the deck and exterior doors, and putting up gutters. (uggh!) I keep looking at the windows and thinking there would be some kind of shutter treatment that would add some interest.... thoughts, anyone? (Scott is rolling his eyes.....) Oh yeah--we, er, Scott, has had to mow the lawn three times already!
Other than gardening, we have managed to squeeze in a lot of socializing: Last weekend we entertained a couple who just moved in down the road from us. He works with Scott at Fuel Cell. They are both my age. They are very fun people, and we really enjoyed their company. Sunday we attended at BBQ at our neighbor's up the street. The kids enjoyed their new pool, and we received an open invitation to imbibe all Summer. (yay!) I attended another craft class at the home of Scott's friends from high school. My community choir concert is coming up in two weeks, and Scott is having fun with the golf league he organized. I am SO EXCITED that Scott's family is going to be coming to visit this Summer too--we are looking into all kinds of stuff to do, although loafing around the lake is ever so nice too! :) My family will be coming here quite a bit too, with many things to attend to like Alannah's 8th grade graduation, Father's Day and all our Summer birthdays: Dad--6/11, Alannah--6/27, Aidan--7/17 and Eva--7/26...oh yeah--Mom and Dad's 40th wedding an. is 7/12! I am probably forgetting about ten more celebrations...so...bear with!
The girls are still doing very well in school. Alannah received her high school schedule, and I am REALLY happy about what teachers she will have. (ha ha ha--they are all the TOUGH ones) She is taking Latin and a Design Intro course along with all the usual required stuff. I wish now that we had squeezed an Acting course in because the English teacher I worked for the past two weeks is teaching it--I really hope that Alannah gets her for a teacher at some point. Aidan got accepted into a special day camp program this Summer that will give her the opportunity to explore the health care field. She will get to "play" nurse and dentist for a week. Susie and Dan are looking forward to the end of school. Susie is really doing well with piano and gymnastics. Dan is VERY ready for kindergarten--I hope he isn't bored when he gets there! His new thing is entertaining a bunch of loose teeth. All the girls are registered for sleep away church camp on Seneca Lake in NY this Summer. This is Susie's first year going. The dog (I guess he belongs in the kid paragraph?!) is still growing--he still has tons of loose skin to grow into! He is all "fixed" now, and seems to be fully recovered even though Scott commiserates with him about it. (giggle) He weighed in at over 75 pounds--he is only 7 months old--yikes!
This weekend feels very empty already since it will be the first weekend in a long time we haven't had Susie and Dan around. :( I am waiting to hear from the "boss" as to what we will be doing...... :)
Hope you are all well, and staying fairly dry! Happy, happy, happy June!
OH YEAH, last, but not least--GO PENS!!!!!!!!!! They begin their final Stanley Cup Playoffs Series this weekend, a repeat against Detroit from last year......... wooooooo!!!!!!
The garden is planted--27 tomato plants, 12 sweet peppers (red and green), 7 cucumbers, 3 winter squash, acorn squash, Brussels sprouts, peas, green beans, wax beans, beets, cabbages, lettuce, carrots and pumpkins! Barring any disasters (of the pest and weather variety) we have embraced gardenhood. (Gentlemen: GET YOUR CANNING JARS READY!!!!!!!!)
Today I am going to go pick up a couple peonies I put on order--I love them so much, and have planted them at every house I have owned, only to move away before they became established. I was really missing them this Spring, and was very sad that the plant place was out of them. Good thing I was moaning out loud about it, because the lady overheard me and said it was very easy to get them for me! Plants are my new crack.... and now I have a dealer.... (hee hee hee) After I came back from that plant run I discovered a peony about to burst in our hedgerow! I had not noticed it before--ever since we cleared that out of all the overgrowth all kinds of things are popping up. Much of the cleared space we slathered in wildflower seeds--if they actually bloom it will look really....well....wild! Once the weather clears up (it has been raining for four days straight) I will have Alannah take some more pictures of the yard to keep you all up to date on our "farm".
Scott mulched the flower beds around the edges of the house. We discovered that the beds are very shallow, and mostly full of sand, gravel and concrete from the foundation which must be from an addition put onto the house at some point. There were a few plants in there, like a run on Hasta--we tidied it up and moved some of it around so it looked more polished. (I say we...it was really Scott and Aidan that did all the work!) We have one more place around the walkway up to the house that needs a make over, and then our house will really start to look like a home rather than the rental property it was for so long. Some other anticipated projects are powerwashing the house, painting the deck and exterior doors, and putting up gutters. (uggh!) I keep looking at the windows and thinking there would be some kind of shutter treatment that would add some interest.... thoughts, anyone? (Scott is rolling his eyes.....) Oh yeah--we, er, Scott, has had to mow the lawn three times already!
Other than gardening, we have managed to squeeze in a lot of socializing: Last weekend we entertained a couple who just moved in down the road from us. He works with Scott at Fuel Cell. They are both my age. They are very fun people, and we really enjoyed their company. Sunday we attended at BBQ at our neighbor's up the street. The kids enjoyed their new pool, and we received an open invitation to imbibe all Summer. (yay!) I attended another craft class at the home of Scott's friends from high school. My community choir concert is coming up in two weeks, and Scott is having fun with the golf league he organized. I am SO EXCITED that Scott's family is going to be coming to visit this Summer too--we are looking into all kinds of stuff to do, although loafing around the lake is ever so nice too! :) My family will be coming here quite a bit too, with many things to attend to like Alannah's 8th grade graduation, Father's Day and all our Summer birthdays: Dad--6/11, Alannah--6/27, Aidan--7/17 and Eva--7/26...oh yeah--Mom and Dad's 40th wedding an. is 7/12! I am probably forgetting about ten more celebrations...so...bear with!
The girls are still doing very well in school. Alannah received her high school schedule, and I am REALLY happy about what teachers she will have. (ha ha ha--they are all the TOUGH ones) She is taking Latin and a Design Intro course along with all the usual required stuff. I wish now that we had squeezed an Acting course in because the English teacher I worked for the past two weeks is teaching it--I really hope that Alannah gets her for a teacher at some point. Aidan got accepted into a special day camp program this Summer that will give her the opportunity to explore the health care field. She will get to "play" nurse and dentist for a week. Susie and Dan are looking forward to the end of school. Susie is really doing well with piano and gymnastics. Dan is VERY ready for kindergarten--I hope he isn't bored when he gets there! His new thing is entertaining a bunch of loose teeth. All the girls are registered for sleep away church camp on Seneca Lake in NY this Summer. This is Susie's first year going. The dog (I guess he belongs in the kid paragraph?!) is still growing--he still has tons of loose skin to grow into! He is all "fixed" now, and seems to be fully recovered even though Scott commiserates with him about it. (giggle) He weighed in at over 75 pounds--he is only 7 months old--yikes!
This weekend feels very empty already since it will be the first weekend in a long time we haven't had Susie and Dan around. :( I am waiting to hear from the "boss" as to what we will be doing...... :)
Hope you are all well, and staying fairly dry! Happy, happy, happy June!
OH YEAH, last, but not least--GO PENS!!!!!!!!!! They begin their final Stanley Cup Playoffs Series this weekend, a repeat against Detroit from last year......... wooooooo!!!!!!
Wedded bliss
I am pleased to report that the wedding went incredibly well. I can't think of one thing that went wrong the entire weekend. Eva was a radiant, calm and happy bride, nobody got sick, nobody got in a fight and there were no cold feet. *ha ha!*
We left from Ct Friday am and arrived in time for the bridesmaid luncheon. It was the first time I met Josh's stepmother--what a lovely woman. We ate at Chat-A-Whyle, which is a charming little lunch room in Vestal, NY. It's big claim to fame are it's bread bowl soups--going strong LONG before Panera breads made it's appearance in Upstate NY. My aunt (Dad's sister) was there also--I always enjoy catching up with her.
After lunch we picked up Susie and Dan and got to have a couple of hours relaxing before the rehearsal. Even Dan hung in there through the church rehearsal and dinner--luckily there were some other kids there to keep him distracted from throwing a temper tantrum. (My son? Tantrum?) The dinner was so good--it was at the hotel where the reception was going to be, so we got to sneak up and peek into the ballroom while they were decorating. That was fun!
On Saturday all us girls had to get up really early and go get our hair done. I guess if there was any stressful moment it was that the last girl to "get done" (Susie) didn't get done until EXACTLY 9:59am, and the wedding started AT 10:00am!!!! Amazingly, the ceremony started pretty much on time. (as much as any wedding does)
The hair place shares the same municipal parking lot as the church. While the hair was getting done, I was running interference between the church, the various bags of assorted toiletries in the girls' cars and the hair place. During one trip I ran into Josh arriving at the church so I took the opportunity to tease my new brother-in-law: "Hey!" I stage whispered, "It's not too late for you and I to run away together!" He laughed. He's a good guy.
Everyone looked so nice! I do have pics, and will be putting an album together hopefully today. Every time I see the pictures of Alannah and Aidan I get teary--they look so grown up. Maybe it is better that in real life they are still a bit rough around the edges... Not sure the middle school could handle such lovely girls--no one would get anything done. Susie was adorable, and soooo into her flower girl role. Dan was adorable too, but it was more of a sacrifice. The amazing thing about him was that when he went for his tux fitting (about six weeks after he was measured for it) his pants were three inches too short! His shoes, which were a little big a month ago FIT perfectly the day of the wedding. I guess that is how boys grow. Luckily swapping out a new pair of pants was no big deal. He sort of stalked down the aisle--I told the church ladies not to push the act for him too much. Susie was the one who took the show blushing her way sweetly down the aisle.
The reception was very nice, and the girls had a lot of fun dancing. It is always fun to observe the blend of personalities when you get 4+ families and assorted friends together in one place. I was able to catch up with some people that I don't see often, including my foster brother and sister that lived with my family during the time Eva came to my parents as a baby until she was adopted at age five. They are neat kids, and so neat that they continue to consider us family. My favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with my sister Andrea and my brother in law. Not only have they provided me with a niece to spoil, they are just really cool people. Scott and I shared many laughs with them.
Including.... Saturday night after everything was "done" and cleaned up, Scott and I went out after the kids were tucked in to sneak in a rare little "date". While we were downtown I got a text message from Andrea that Christian was craving chicken wings, so we picked up a party pack and came back to mom and dad's with 2 dozen wings, a sheet pizza and a huge soda! (Not like we hadn't been eating all weekend....) We hung out until about 2am, laughing and talking. The next day our mother made the comment that "we were loud" (???!!!who, us?) I think she is sooo ready for this empty nest thing! (HAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Eva and Josh went off on a ten day honeymoon to Colorado where they enjoyed all kinds of hiking, site-seeing, etc.etc. Too bad they had to come back home to all this RAIN.
Hopefully no one is suffering too much from the whole post-wedding blues. Now the pics are pouring in, so I am sure that helps to bring back all the good memories of such a wonderful day.
We left from Ct Friday am and arrived in time for the bridesmaid luncheon. It was the first time I met Josh's stepmother--what a lovely woman. We ate at Chat-A-Whyle, which is a charming little lunch room in Vestal, NY. It's big claim to fame are it's bread bowl soups--going strong LONG before Panera breads made it's appearance in Upstate NY. My aunt (Dad's sister) was there also--I always enjoy catching up with her.
After lunch we picked up Susie and Dan and got to have a couple of hours relaxing before the rehearsal. Even Dan hung in there through the church rehearsal and dinner--luckily there were some other kids there to keep him distracted from throwing a temper tantrum. (My son? Tantrum?) The dinner was so good--it was at the hotel where the reception was going to be, so we got to sneak up and peek into the ballroom while they were decorating. That was fun!
On Saturday all us girls had to get up really early and go get our hair done. I guess if there was any stressful moment it was that the last girl to "get done" (Susie) didn't get done until EXACTLY 9:59am, and the wedding started AT 10:00am!!!! Amazingly, the ceremony started pretty much on time. (as much as any wedding does)
The hair place shares the same municipal parking lot as the church. While the hair was getting done, I was running interference between the church, the various bags of assorted toiletries in the girls' cars and the hair place. During one trip I ran into Josh arriving at the church so I took the opportunity to tease my new brother-in-law: "Hey!" I stage whispered, "It's not too late for you and I to run away together!" He laughed. He's a good guy.
Everyone looked so nice! I do have pics, and will be putting an album together hopefully today. Every time I see the pictures of Alannah and Aidan I get teary--they look so grown up. Maybe it is better that in real life they are still a bit rough around the edges... Not sure the middle school could handle such lovely girls--no one would get anything done. Susie was adorable, and soooo into her flower girl role. Dan was adorable too, but it was more of a sacrifice. The amazing thing about him was that when he went for his tux fitting (about six weeks after he was measured for it) his pants were three inches too short! His shoes, which were a little big a month ago FIT perfectly the day of the wedding. I guess that is how boys grow. Luckily swapping out a new pair of pants was no big deal. He sort of stalked down the aisle--I told the church ladies not to push the act for him too much. Susie was the one who took the show blushing her way sweetly down the aisle.
The reception was very nice, and the girls had a lot of fun dancing. It is always fun to observe the blend of personalities when you get 4+ families and assorted friends together in one place. I was able to catch up with some people that I don't see often, including my foster brother and sister that lived with my family during the time Eva came to my parents as a baby until she was adopted at age five. They are neat kids, and so neat that they continue to consider us family. My favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with my sister Andrea and my brother in law. Not only have they provided me with a niece to spoil, they are just really cool people. Scott and I shared many laughs with them.
Including.... Saturday night after everything was "done" and cleaned up, Scott and I went out after the kids were tucked in to sneak in a rare little "date". While we were downtown I got a text message from Andrea that Christian was craving chicken wings, so we picked up a party pack and came back to mom and dad's with 2 dozen wings, a sheet pizza and a huge soda! (Not like we hadn't been eating all weekend....) We hung out until about 2am, laughing and talking. The next day our mother made the comment that "we were loud" (???!!!who, us?) I think she is sooo ready for this empty nest thing! (HAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Eva and Josh went off on a ten day honeymoon to Colorado where they enjoyed all kinds of hiking, site-seeing, etc.etc. Too bad they had to come back home to all this RAIN.
Hopefully no one is suffering too much from the whole post-wedding blues. Now the pics are pouring in, so I am sure that helps to bring back all the good memories of such a wonderful day.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Work, work, work!
Hello! And here it is, weeks and weeks later that I get a new post up here.
I have been working almost every day at the high school, so bear with me. I only have so much energy.
I do love my "job", though. Tomorrow I start a two week "long term" for another English teacher who is going out for surgery. This time the kids are older--sophomores and juniors. I am teaching Aldoph Huxley's "A Brave New World" and finishing up "A Red Badge of Courage" with another group. The AP class is done, so they are doing a unit on Transcendental Poetry being taught by the English Department chair. I just get to "go along for the ride"... or THE RIDE--hahahaahha. That should be fun. My Brave New World kids are the General Ed kids who are Reading Phobic. I am trying to do a lot of extension projects like aromatherapy, art and technology to try and entice them into reading. I think it will be fun. It is quite a book, not very GOOD, per se, but a "classic", I guess, in it's own way. They are studying that time period in History, so I guess that is the connection.
The kids are all doing great. The half-way grade reports just came out for the 4th (and last!) term and both Alannah and Aidan will most likely be on honor roll again. This is so exciting for Aidan! They didn't get connected to any Spring extra-curric. stuff, but the weather is so nice we are going to the beach, fishing and playing with the puppy outside. Ahhhh Spring!
Scott built a fire-pit in our back yard, so when Susie and Dan were here this weekend we had a big bonfire with Smores that we managed to squeeze in before it started pouring. In order to burn anything in NY you had to have a barrel and a permit--In CT you can't burn anything in a barrel, but if you have a pit you can burn anything you want without permission. So Scott dug a big hole and dropped the barrel in--voila!
I am itching to get out and garden. The beds are all ready. I have planted peas and rhubarb, and a bunch of herbs. The weather has been so nice, and the weatherman swears there won't be any more frost... but... waiting another week or two is probably more prudent. I am so impatient! I really am aching for a big BLT. That little gift shop run by the lady we met this Winter making wreaths at the library sells bedding flowers and vegetables. She has the most gorgeous and unique plants. I was there drooling last week, and SHE warned me to wait until the end of the month. SIGH! :)
This week is THE WEDDING--everyone seems very happy and calm, which is great. It is hard to believe that it is HERE. The girls look so pretty in their dresses! Andrea found a little dress for Stephanie that matches perfectly. This is going to be FUN! :)
Hopefully I will be able to get the pics on here that I took this past weekend of our porch, firepit, flowers and Scott and Dan mowing the lawn. Otherwise, be looking for wedding reports and pics in the next week or two!
I have been working almost every day at the high school, so bear with me. I only have so much energy.
I do love my "job", though. Tomorrow I start a two week "long term" for another English teacher who is going out for surgery. This time the kids are older--sophomores and juniors. I am teaching Aldoph Huxley's "A Brave New World" and finishing up "A Red Badge of Courage" with another group. The AP class is done, so they are doing a unit on Transcendental Poetry being taught by the English Department chair. I just get to "go along for the ride"... or THE RIDE--hahahaahha. That should be fun. My Brave New World kids are the General Ed kids who are Reading Phobic. I am trying to do a lot of extension projects like aromatherapy, art and technology to try and entice them into reading. I think it will be fun. It is quite a book, not very GOOD, per se, but a "classic", I guess, in it's own way. They are studying that time period in History, so I guess that is the connection.
The kids are all doing great. The half-way grade reports just came out for the 4th (and last!) term and both Alannah and Aidan will most likely be on honor roll again. This is so exciting for Aidan! They didn't get connected to any Spring extra-curric. stuff, but the weather is so nice we are going to the beach, fishing and playing with the puppy outside. Ahhhh Spring!
Scott built a fire-pit in our back yard, so when Susie and Dan were here this weekend we had a big bonfire with Smores that we managed to squeeze in before it started pouring. In order to burn anything in NY you had to have a barrel and a permit--In CT you can't burn anything in a barrel, but if you have a pit you can burn anything you want without permission. So Scott dug a big hole and dropped the barrel in--voila!
I am itching to get out and garden. The beds are all ready. I have planted peas and rhubarb, and a bunch of herbs. The weather has been so nice, and the weatherman swears there won't be any more frost... but... waiting another week or two is probably more prudent. I am so impatient! I really am aching for a big BLT. That little gift shop run by the lady we met this Winter making wreaths at the library sells bedding flowers and vegetables. She has the most gorgeous and unique plants. I was there drooling last week, and SHE warned me to wait until the end of the month. SIGH! :)
This week is THE WEDDING--everyone seems very happy and calm, which is great. It is hard to believe that it is HERE. The girls look so pretty in their dresses! Andrea found a little dress for Stephanie that matches perfectly. This is going to be FUN! :)
Hopefully I will be able to get the pics on here that I took this past weekend of our porch, firepit, flowers and Scott and Dan mowing the lawn. Otherwise, be looking for wedding reports and pics in the next week or two!
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