Conundrum

Disclaimer:  The following may be the shallowest blog post ever...but since I live in a house of men, I have to share.

We are leaving for NYC next week so I'm trying to decide what to pack and get as many things done ahead of time as I can.  We will be taking the train from Maine to NYC so everything I take has to fit in a wheeled carry-on.

I have no idea what to take....

I did find this super bargain....$6.99 on the Old Navy clearance rack

This has been my favorite outfit lately...but I just read that you shouldn't wear ripped jeans after 40 (sorry but they are my favorite jeans)

Mmmm, this outfit also features the off-limits jeans

This is the comfiest outfit yet...but somehow I feel like a circus performer when I wear it (and not in a good way)

The real question is...how to make these, my favorite footwear, look stylish (not possible?)

I kept walking in to Scott's office wearing each different outfit...discussing the pros and cons...he looked rather bored and remarked "You need a daughter". Yeah, that's for sure.

I think the problem is I spend most of my time here......and a down filled coat and rubber boots just don't translate to..........

here.

It was a beautiful weekend to.....

Take pictures of clouds

Take a drive to pick up these "new-to-him" drums that Isaac bought from Kijiji (the Canadian equivalent of Craigslist)

Our drive took us by this...the longest covered bridge in the world

Naturally  I had to stop for a couple of pictures

including one as we drove over (through?) the bridge

It was also nice to notice (as I stood on the balcony hanging out clothes to dry) that the ice had melted in the lake...finally

The maple sap is still running...which means more boiling...more maple syrup..

To be used on french toast (with a side of "crazy" eggs)

We also made home made maple ice cream...yum

It was also a good weekend for some yard clean up...

a very good weekend to be a cat

to stack some wood

a great weekend for drying clothes on the line

And as a bonus I received this cute little pillow from a friend who used  this pattern.  I love it.
So...how was your weekend?

Birthdays = Highly over-rated

  

Today is my 43rd birthday (gulp).  I stayed overnight at my sister's house last night after attending book club in her town.  This morning when I got home Scott had baked me this cake.  I was so surprised....he is more of a "scrape your windshield off, carry in your heavy bags, build you a shelf" husband...than a cake baker. Maybe he's trying to make up for this.  For some reason....I felt teary (which is embarrassing even to type).  

Do you get more hormonal the older you are?  Last week I teared up over an advertisment on tv.  This is not good.

Suddenly I find my birthday makes me melancholy....is that a sure sign I'm old?


When I was a kid I looked forward to my birthday for months.  Mom would make a money cake (where she wrapped quarters, dimes and nickels in wax paper and baked them right in the cake batter).  As you were eating your cake your fork would hit on one of these little wax paper bundles and you would get to unwrap and keep the money.  OK, I am old.....can you imagine baking disgusting, germ-laden money into cake and feeding it to kids?  Not to mention the choking hazard.  Also on the birthday menu were boiled hotdogs with steamed white buns and tall, glass bottles of grape or orange soda (God bless the 1970's health oblivion). 


Inevitably some kid would puke before the party was over.  Mmmm...maybe adult birthdays are not so bad.

Monday news

We had an exciting weekend with news that my nephew Jeremy and his wife Natacha are expecting a baby boy in August.  Jeremy is only 10 years younger than me so he is more like a little brother than a nephew.  I need to search out some cute knitting patterns and get busy making presents for this little one.

In other news our friends brought home Stanley, a 14 week old Chow puppy.

He is adorable and surprisingly heavy for a puppy.

Season 5 of Mad Men started last night.  I am a huge fan.  Don Draper...you scoundrel...I have a huge crush on you.  The part at the party where his new wife performs for him...uhm...awkward.

Scott and I are headed to NYC next month for a little getaway.  We are taking the train from Portland Maine, through Boston to NYC.  I'm excited....I went to NYC with my parents when I was 17 but that was a l-o-n-g time ago, and Scott has never been there.  We are staying at a hotel on Park Avenue...that is all I know.  Any tips on where we should go and what we should do...and most importantly where we should EAT?

Friday update

I don't know what is with the weather here but after a snowstorm that cancelled school last week the temperature shot up to 27 C (82 F) all the snow melted in 1 day and I found myself outside reading....and I got a sunburn.  What a crazy March.  Let's talk about the "Hunger Games"...I admit I hadn't even heard of it until this month...and I was skeptical...it didn't sound like a book I would like.  A friend from book club lent me her copy...yeah..I was hooked on page 14.

Please ignore the paint-spattered green plastic lawn chair...our lawn furniture is still stored away in the barn and this was all I could find in the shed.

While I was outside on this lovely day I heard the window open and Scott popped his head out of his office window....I told him to get back to work, he was interrupting my reading...ha ha

Wednesday I went to the NB College of Craft and Design to give a workshop.  I was very nervous but it was fine.  The only problem I had was that I prepared a slideshow and put it on a memory stick and just to be safe I brought my laptop as well (I didn't want to be the old lady that can't handle technology)...I felt confident.  When we got to the lecture room there was a Smart board (yikes) and no way to connect my laptop to it....so I had to use the college's Mac (sadly...like the ads on tv, I'm a PC...not a Mac) but with the help of one of the students I got it operational.  I now will have to have a bit more patience with my mother when she calls me (constantly) with computer questions.

I had such a great day at the college, it is in the historic part of downtown in a beautiful old brick building and part of the classrooms and library are in this building:

It was a former soldier's barracks in the 1800's.  Each floor of the building houses a different speciality; clay, metal art/jewelry , textiles, photography and graphics.  I had such a great day seeing all the amazing projects the students are working on. FYI...I think I was the only person there without a tattoo, piercing or technicolour hair.

Well I'm off to do exciting things like clean out the fridge and go to the grocery store...have a nice weekend everyone!

Spring has Sprung....finally

Finally the weather took a wonderful turn here with temperatures of 23 C ( 75 F) which melted most of the snow and made everyone want to be outside.

We finished boiling a bit more maple syrup.

I finally found a good use for the bits of snow still hanging around.

The "redneck" sap boiler made another appearance and we kept the fire going all weekend boiling down the maple sap we had collected all week.

Scott and I entertained ourselves sitting in the sun in lawn chairs watching water sap boil...we are exciting like that.

We celebrated Isaac's 17th birthday by "donutting" him on Sunday morning...

It is hard to get a laugh out of a 17 year old...but we succeeded.

Sunday was also Isaac's last hockey game of the season so our weekends will be a lot more laid-back.

The birthday boy

Cameron came home from university (sporting a beard and braces...strange combo) to celebrate his little brother's birthday.

It was a lovely full weekend and the warm weather is staying all week.  The snow has almost completely disappeared and I'm very keen to get some seeds started because I know gardening season is almost here.  I'm spending Wednesday at the Art College as my presentation last week was re-scheduled to this week...I'm still a bit nervous about this but excited as well.

Oh no, not you again.

Just when I thought we were done with winter we woke up to this:

School was cancelled and the presentation I was to give at the art college was re-scheduled until next Wednesday.  The ground is covered again which is depressing considering I was out in my rubber boots last weekend (in the mud...but whatever)

I"m sure the snow will disappear by the weekend because the forecast is beautiful and sunny 17degrees C (or 63 F).

In other news my dear mother-in-law emailed me the following picture of the stray cat she adopted recently:

Now this picture may not be shocking to you....but you don't know my mother-in-law.  She has never been an animal lover....and she is a complete neat freak...in fact we call her The Javex Queen.  Her house is immaculate....I never in a million years dreamed she would take in a cat....let alone take a picture of it on her table.  The cat came to her door on a stormy night this winter and was very nervous and hungry...she warmed up chicken broth in the microwave and would set it on the step for him every night.  Eventually he got brave and came into the house.  Now he spends the evenings on the couch with her watching Jeopardy...and she named him Timothy.

My husband's sisters keep calling me and wondering what's happened to their mother.  I think she fell in love, with a redhead...named Timothy.