I ain't no Holla'Back Girl......but.....

It was brought to my attention that my sister Andrea had done some serious blog-posting recently. Gotta love a good stir of the pot from mom.... so "hear" goes!

After reading the last post I wrote I could easily write DITTO--I didn't think all that much was going on in my life (Who can top cheese making and Eddie Coker concerts? And Farmer's Markets that have slides and sheep? I am shipping myself to TX!!!) But.... here it is: All things Connecticut!

First of all, I am covered with paint. That is from finishing up all the trim left for Dan's new room as well as for the taco costume. That's right.... I said Taco Costume. Not quite on the same holy-level as cheese making, but.... it's cute. There is a huge annual craft fair at the Ag high school in town, and one of their big fund raisers are these "walking tacos". Basically, you take a little snack sized bag of Fritos, open it and put taco toppings in over the chips, eat it with a fork or spoon. Voila--a walking taco! A good friend of mine at school has a daughter in the Ag program, so she asked me to (secretly!) make her a walking taco costume she will show up with in at the craft fair. It turned out really cute. She hasn't seen it yet--but I know she will love it.

Dan's room is coming along very nicely. Scott is really outdoing himself and it looks great. The floor is in and now it is trim time. There is A LOT of trim. Last night we measured, and Scott went off and bought over100 feet of various trims for the windows, doors and walls. This is where DIY construction turns down a dark and winding path... But it looks soooooooo good, it is worth it in the end. Aidan has been the trusty side-kick as Alannah and I have been busy with other things the past couple weeks.

I have been back to working quite a bit--this week and next not so much because it is the beginning of the second 10 week term. (if you can believe it) Probably after next week it will pick up and I will have steady 3 day weeks all the way through Christmas and January. Then the play will start, and I will be there every day anyways until April. Plus...I have been sewing for people--like taco costumes.... hahahaha

As far as the play goes, we are definitely doing Little Shop of Horrors--have the contract and the plant rented for the end of March. The rehearsal calendar is ready for the first draft to go to the school planning office, and my set design is almost ready to go to the tech guy. He will like it--it is built off the exact same design we came up with last year. (It is a very cool design that he is very proud of!)

The kids are super-excited about it. It is funny how some of them are totally kissing up to me, and others just kind of silently haunt me....I can feel their mental pleadings channeling sweat-ily across the halls..... Oh, the power of the director.... (evvviilllll laugh.......)

Other things I have been doing that also elicit some caliber of evil laughter is getting myself invited to the church leadership retreat. That was earlier this month. I felt good about it--I haven't been asked to DO anything with the church leadership yet--probably everyone on the retreat is still in therapy, but will ask me soon. (ha ha) It was actually a very nice retreat. You have done the work of one church, you have worked them all. Just like school boards and gubernatorial elections. (groan!) They are the same anywhere you go--same problems, same people, same drama. Amen for LOVE, GRACE, FORGIVENESS (and let's not forget beer and chocolate!)

giggle.

Alannah is doing great in school, but she is exhausted from all the hard work. I am really proud of her coming home every day and working hard at studying and homework. She is especially getting a lot of attention in Choir. Her director is giving her all of these extra things to do--she just finished up singing with an invitation-only regional choir last week. Next up is an audition-only choir. She has also been recruited for a special music school in Hartford along with a few other students. It is a major time and $$ commitment, so we are all thinking about it. I am not sure she loves singing enough at this point, but.... we shall see. It would be an excellent opportunity for her if she did. She is also still enjoying being in color guard. This weekend is Homecoming, and it will be the first time with the entire show being put on. Next week they have a major competition.

Aidan is doing well in 8th grade. It is already time to discuss next year--gotta love CT with it's endless choices for high school. Recruitment letters are pouring in, and Aidan is enamored by every one of them. I have a meeting with her guidance counselor today, so hopefully he can help us help Aidan make the right choice, and not be dragged along by the glamour of glossy brochures. (Yes-glossy brochures, special reception nights and recruiters visit the middle school--very, very different from NY)

We are actually considering sending Aidan to the Technical Arts High School down in Torrington. They have an architectural program that seems like it would be an interesting fit for her. I am not sure that the classical arts high school is right for her--I think she would do ok, but not necessarily shine there like Alannah does. They are different girls, different students. I am a little nervous sending Aidan to a school that is 12 miles down the road, but they do bus. (Around here that seems like a million miles away! Alannah's high school is only 2 miles away!)

Aidan (finally) joined the drama club on tech crew--we had to do some smoke and mirrors with her teachers, but they helped to draw her in. She seems to enjoy being there. The play is the beginning of November. Maybe after that she will be enticed to join some of the Winter things going on.

Scott has been busy and happy at work, which says a lot in this day and age. It is a gubernatorial election year here in CT as it is in NY. We are suffering through all these horrible slasher ads. Honestly. I alluded to it before, the local school district is having trouble--many school districts around here are having to deal with the possibility of consolidating and closing schools. Between that drama and all of the election drama it isn't much fun to watch TV anymore. (not that we have had much time to...even with football/hockey season upon us!)

The garden is done, sad to say, but it ended just about the time that Scott admitted he was tired of it, too. At least he was off the hook mowing for most of the Summer because it was so dry. He was debating whether he should do it at all before we have to clean up the leaves, but the neighbor guy went and mowed his lawn. Darn it! Guess we have to now.

We have millions and gazillions of quarts of all kinds of things made of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. The freezers are bursting. It was a fun and delicious Summer! Everything turned out really good. I am especially proud of my green tomato pickles. Scott will want me to mention he made an amazing Arrabiata sauce that we will be eating with hot sausage. I am not sure that the Habenaro Pepper sauce we made is legal--I keep thinking the meth-lab detection SWAT team will be investigating us.....That, or the EPA. It is pretty wicked. We will be trying that out in the chicken wing sauce one of these days--with the fire department and 911 on standby.

Let's see.... We have a couple more weeks to hit Six Flags. Scott attempted to take Aidan, Susie and Dan there a couple weeks ago but Aidan chickened out, so then Susie wouldn't go in the haunted house either. Poor Dan (and Scott) were very disappointed. I think we are going to attempt going on a date night there soon. I think I can handle it--I have two teenage daughters for heavens sake!

Susie and Dan are busy with piano and gymnastics. Susie is also taking Baritone horn and violin. Dan is in Cub Scouts. That is only a drop in the bucket--It makes ME tired to hear about it all. When they come here to visit they basically COLLAPSE!

The dog is adjusting to everyone coming and going again. Like me, he prefers the house to be full of everyone. This weekend he and I will be in our glory with mom and dad, Susie and Dan as well as football, friends and neighbors all here enjoying the fall weather!

Hopefully all of you are happy and healthy and braced for the holiday season hurtling toward us...........

God Bless! :)