Beach day

Growing up in the midwest, beach vacations were a special treat. Especially in our family because most of our vacations were spent at Maidstone,
we didn't go to the beach all that often. Now anyone who knows me at all knows that I'm a happy, happy girl whenever water is near. Lakes, beaches, whatever. So the best moment of any beach vacation was the first moment I stepped onto the beach, feet sinking into the sand and the salty, ocean breeze blowing in your face...seriously, this is bliss!! This was always closely followed by the first time you stood in the sand and let a wave roll up the beach and over your feet, then as the wave rolls back out taking the sand with it and sinking your feet into the wet sand. These moments never get old, but what I never considered until today is the FIRST time you have these particular moments. The sights, smells and sounds must be a little overwhelming. So, I took the nugget down to the beach today, and while I'm sure he has been on a beach before, he just started walking during the winter, so he has never walked himself onto a beach. The whole experience was comical, first he wiggled his little feet a little in the dry sand on the top part of the beach, then as we walked closer to the water we hit the wet sand and it started all over again. He felt the sensations, considered the positive and negative, and decided this was awesome and then we moved on. Then I totally blew his mind by pulling the shovels out of the bucket and starting to play in the wet sand. He was tentative at first, then as you can tell by the picture, he totally committed to play time on the beach. I will have to say though, that the best part was when we actually walked to water's edge to clean up a little before heading home. It took a little convincing to get him close enough to let the water touch his feet, but once we did and the first wave rolled up on his feet it, literally, took him out at the ankles. It was like he was so shocked by the sensation he didn't know what to do, so he just fell backwards with the natural flow of the water looking completely awed by what was happening. It took a couple waves, but once he got the hang of it, the nugget officially fell in love with the water. I anticipate a fun summer with much beach time, but am slightly concerned his love might cause me some stress as he heads for the water like a bull to the cape time after time. But really, who could blame him?

Breakfast Hike

Last weekend we had an almost idyllic weekend, weather wise. The winter was a cold and dreary winter which led into a couple pretty severe rainstorms, there was flooding everywhere, including my apartment. This, of course, had people all over New England ready to enjoy the sun and warmth. After spending at least an hour, both Thursday and Friday, out walking along New Hampshire's seacoast with the peanut, my motivation was in good shape Saturday morning when I asked my cousin, Maria, if she wanted to go for a walk. I was thinking we would walk down the street to the lake, but Charlie had other ideas. He suggested we go on a breakfast hike by Stonehouse Pond. So we packed up some coffee in a thermos, stopped at the bakery to pick up some bagels and headed to the pond. The path was somewhat undefined, shall we say, and we had trouble keeping to it so we did a lot of bushwacking. We took turns playing Sacagewea, Lewis and Clark, which seemed to fit our group pretty well. About halfway around the lake there is a sudden and steep uphill climb. We climbed to the top of the rock, took five minutes to catch our breath, and then relaxed and enjoyed the view. It was perfectly warm, but not too hot. The sky was blue, the sun was out and the coffee was still hot. It was perfection, one of those moments that makes you appreciate the small things in life. We spent about an hour soaking in the sun and enjoying the view before continuing down the other side of the rock and the rest of the way around the pond. I don't think we actually ever found the path on the other side, so we spent a lot of time pushing branches out of the way and hopping rocks across small brooks, until we reached the road to the car. There really is no more fantastic way to go "out" to breakfast.

Basketball

I am a pretty random person, I enjoy being thrown into unknown situations. After all, they often lead to the most fun. So when my cousin, Brian, asked me if I wanted to go to a Celtics game with a bunch of people I either barely knew or didn't know at all, after the original person had to back out, I said absoloutely. We headed out from Maine semi-early with some coffee and anticipation. We picked up the next two in our group in southern New Hampshire and then headed into Boston to meet up with the rest. Once we dropped our stuff off at our new friends' place and immediately headed out in search of food. We found ourself smashed into a corner booth of a pizza joint called Regina's. There is no better icebreaker then eating really good pizza while sitting, almost, on top of each other. The group went from cautious strangers to a bunch of goofy, laughing friends within an hour. We shared funny stories, made business plans and so on and so on. We spent the rest of the pleasent afternoon over some cocktails at their very cute apartment in Boston's north side before heading to the game. Unfortunately, the Celtics got their asses handed to them by the San Antonio spurs. However it was still a fun event. Cincinnati never had professional basketball, so I don't know much about it and don't follow it at all. I found, though, that my love for virtually all things sports definitely extends to basketball. I could probably even get into being a Celtics fan, it was that fun. Overall the trip was well worth four hours in the car, and the two hours of sleep I got before heading to work the next morning. Anything in the name of a new adventure, haha...

Goodbye Winter....Hello Spring:)

For most of February I prayed against the abnormal weather that was melting what little snow we had and causing rain storms instead of snow storms. Mostly because our Mother/Daughter crew had decided to do our cross country skiing in New England instead of West Virginia to ensure snow, hahahaha. So of course the snow in New England was barely there while West Virginia, like much of the middle east coast, was racking up record breaking snow fall most of the winter. When the crew flew in Thursday not only was it not snowing, but rain was falling steadily. Discouraged we decided to spend Friday shopping and sightseeing. We headed north to Mt. Washington, which is where I worked in the summer of 2003, the hotel is stunning and a solid piece of the area's history. That far north we were excited to see snow on the ground as well as coming from the sky. The next day we woke to snow cover in Jackson, but even so decided to head north again to Sunday River, Maine to make sure we had good skiing. There was tons of fresh snow, and we had a great day skiing up and all around the mountain. We had enough ridiculous falls and hilarity coming down ungroomed trails that other skiiers coming up the mountain stopped to ask what was going on. After such a great day on the trails we headed to Nestlenook Farm where my cousin Tasha and her boyfriend Isaac took us on a sleigh ride, we started the ride huddled under furry blankets and drinking champagne, stopped to feed the european deer, and took in the stunning scenery. The farm is lit up with over a million lights and is looks like it's straight out of a story book. Honestly it was amazing, much thanks to Tasha and Isaac. After one last day on the trails in Jackson, we headed back south to my place, and shortly after the girls headed out of town. Me, moms and sister on the Veranda at Mt. Washington Hotel
Linds, Megan and I on the trails
Waiting for our sleigh ride

You would think we were little girls while we were feeding these deer, it was so exciting

That Monday my prayers for snow came to an abrupt halt, and by that weekend we had that first hint of spring that is always so magnificent. When the temperature hits 50 degrees and the sun was shining, and we stayed outside all day doing everything we have been deprived of since that first snowfall in October. It happens every year, even though we shiver a little, we ignore it because even though the weather is starting to turn, everyone knows its a tease and we will be forced indoors again before we can really start to enjoy spring. I'm not worried though, it's coming :)

Olympic Memories

With the closing ceremonies in Vancouver last night another Winter Olympics came to a close. As usual there were moments that surprised, saddened, stunned and impressed. All the things I look forward to. Stars were made and broken, often all in one event. And as usual, the team representing the home country stepped up and created history, as well as some of my favorite moments. Here is a list of my top 5 Olympic moments from Vancouver.
5. USA vs. Canada for the Gold medal in hockey. Hockey is one of the few sports I don't follow really at all, but I truly enjoy watching the fast paced game. The final game was thrilling with the US coming back from 2-0 to tie up the game with seconds left. Canada ended up winning the Gold medal in overtime, and while I am an avid fan of the US olympic team, this was okay with me. For the Canadians to win at the sport they most identify with, on home ice, on the last day of the Olympics is a moment that will go down in history for them. I'm just glad the US put up one hell of a fight :)
4. Bode Miller shows up to the Olympics. Miller has spent a lot of his career not quite meeting his potential. He has an outrageous amount of talent, but never had the work ethic necessary to really push himself to his best (according to all the experts). Many trashed the young man for not taking it all seriously enough, and even as a fan I was disappointed in his inability to buckle down and pull it together for the biggest winter sports stage. So I was ecstatic to see Bode show up for the Vancouver games with a different attitude. Even, by his own words, not in the best shape due to late decision to try for the Olympic games, Miller showed some of his best stuff and walked away with a medal of each color. Which, of course, makes me wonder what he could have done at his best physical fitness with this new attitude...3. Chinese gold in pairs figure skating. This story has all the good makings for a movie. Two people working together, platonically, for years. A devastating injury puts all they have worked for at risk, but more importantly brings them together in a new, romantic way. United in every way now, they decide to come back and try for Olympic gold at the advanced ages of 31 and 36. The performance they put out in the short program literally left me a little breathless, giving a new definition to the words, "in unison". Aside from the stunning physical show they put on was the couple themselves. You could see they joy they got just from being around each other and I think it translated itself onto the ice which contributed to the eventual gold medal win. They were happy just to be skating together, and their vow to have "no regrets" if they walked away with less then gold, made them an easy couple to root for.

2. Canada's first gold on home ground. Alexandre Bilodeau competed in the men's moguls final, putting up one of his best runs ever left him in first place, unfortunately the favorite to win was still to come and a good performance would put Bilodeau in second place. The scores came down and this young man and the Canadian crowd there supporting him were up and roaring as Canada finally had a gold medal on Canadian soil. There would be many to follow, but this first one stuck with me. The excitement of the whole event gave me goosebumps everytime it was recapped or replayed.

1. Joannie Rochette's short program performance. I don't know how to describe how I felt about this performance. Watching someone go through the most terrible time in their life on a world wide stage should make you feel bad for them. Joannie Rochette didn't even give me the chance for that. Two days after her mother's death, she stepped onto the ice and delivered a brave and emotional performance. It was a tribute and stunner all at the same time. I watched with tears the entire, near perfect, performance and felt some of her pain when her face crumpled up as the music ended. The performance earned her a bronze medal and hopefully the beginning of some healing.

Aaaaannnd they're over

Today I turned 30. I'm sure there is an exact time or something, but we'll just go with the day in total. I have found the most commonly asked question when you turn, or are turning, 30 is some variation of "are you going to lose your mind because you aren't a 20-something anymore." I have been getting this question for approximately two months, and here is my answer, I feel that I got everything I needed and everything that was available from my twenties, and am as ready as ever to rock my thirties. This is not to say that I didn't miss opportunities and that my way of living is the recommended way, but it worked for me and I wouldn't change it. Here is some of what I learned,
In the year 2000, at the age of 20, I was a two time college drop out and certain that I didn't know how to be independent because I couldn't cut it away at college. So, I decided to spend a summer at Maidstone Lake. I spent the summer working at a country club with a bunch of kids my age just trying to make life happen. That summer gave me a lot, probably more then words can express. The fact that I not only never felt the need to go running home, but made friends and thoroughly enjoyed a new experience which helped me to regain a lot of self respect and confidence and probably was the event that set the tone for how I chose to live my 20s. I made mistakes and I definitely didn't follow any laid out paths, but damnit I had fun. I made more friends then I lost, including reconnecting with old friends. Following a pretty intense quarter-life crisis, I went back (at age 25) and finished that college education, for better or worse. I celebrated my friends marriages and the births of their children, knowing full well I wasn't yet ready for either. I did my best to be the best friend I could be, not always getting it right, but hopefully not repeating the same mistake twice. I found that I was lucky enough to be related to my best friends, and that my parents did a really good job. What I thought I knew at 20, I will probably never really know, and it's probably more fun that way. I partied too hard, but came out the other end with no permenant damage and some fantastic memories. I still don't want to know what I want to be when I grow up, or if I even want to grow up. What will I take to my 30s...all of it and then some, can't wait :)

The peanut and the nugget...

My day to day life has changed so drastically in such a short period of time that sometimes I find myself trying to catch up. My work days alone are such an extreme opposite of what they were two months ago that I almost don't believe it. Where my work day used to include angry teenagers and taking verbal shots while trying to maintain patience and model appropriate behavior. These days I spend my days with happy (99% of the time) babies. I split my week between two families, one includes the nugget, a 1 year old boy with a sensitive and snuggly spirit who can turn around a bulldoze through anything in his way, he loves to be up and doing and makes me laugh all day long as he figures out the world a little at a time. His older sister spends her days at school, but gets to come home and play with us late in the afternoon and on school vacation days, she is an absolute sweetheart who wants to be, and strongly believes she can be, fully independent and at the same time loves, loves, loves, to take care of her little brother. The other days I hang with the peanut, he'll be five months old next week and he is quite literally the happiest baby I have ever seen. He wakes up smiling, laughs in his sleep and thinks the best part of his day is when you put him on a changing table. To give you an example of my job requirements, this week I have been a princess first escaping, then booby trapping the bad guys, played "not hockey", turned a 1 yr old into a superhero, I have made and painstakingly decorated sugar cookies with an easy bake oven, played 10 variations of catch me if you can, hide and seek and peek-a-boo, had a dance party, all while getting hugged, snuggled and kissy-kissed. And they PAY me to do this and listen to kids laugh 40+ hours a week. Granted I have always loved being a nanny, but after a year of being unhappy in my work to compare it to, the love is amplified by an unquantifiable amount. Here's the peanut hanging in his crib...

What I've been up to...

I have found that if I get a little behind on this blog its hard to know where to pick it back up. Do I start with the move to New Hampshire or possibly my nine day trip to Cinci, but that includes pieces of the Bengal run to the play offs, or I could start in the new year where my life has been busy with family, new friends and lots of big plans for the future (including a trip to Jamaica). Do you understand why I have had trouble starting again after a long hiatus? So in the spirit of my new motto on life, and my sister and my's New Years resolution, I'm not going to waste a moment of 2010 and I'm going to start with right now. So right now I this is what is going on in my life. I am glad to say that life is good, really good. I am as happy as I can remember being in recent history, satisfied in work, life and my pursuit of a dream that is undefined and everchanging, which makes the pursuit that much more fun. Very recently I spent the weekend up at Maidstone lake to help celebrate my cousin Karen's 60th birthday. I was like a kid at christmas while getting ready for the weekend, for two reasons, 1) I love a good surprise party, and I was on the inside track of this one, helping Maria to plan and prepare for what turned out to be a fantastic night. 2) I hadn't been up to the lake in the winter time since I was maybe 4 years old. I had a great time, getting the opportunity to cross two things of my list of things to do in life. Billy let me take his snowmobile across the lake and even with a helmet flying across the middle of a wide open space was cold, yet exhilerating. Let's just be glad I can't actually afford to own one or I would probably end up getting a little bit addicted to that particular activity. I also got the opportunity to go ice fishing, or I guess more accurately I got to watch some ice fishing. A goal of mine since watching Grumpy Old Men at a young age. Let's just say I was inappropriately dressed in jeans while everyone else was in snowpants, so it's probably a good thing that I had to cut my time outdoors short to get food together for the party. I do intend, however, to do it again with a fishing license so I can participate and get the full experience, because being outside in the fresh, crisp air and hanging out with family was a lot of fun.
Camp in winter, our little setup

Uncle Kev drilling one of 17 holes for traps

Aunt Natalie and I, super warm and cozy out in the middle of the lake

Happy Birthday Karen!!

soooo lame

I am currently the lamest blogger on the block. Before the holidays I moved from Vermont to New Hampshire, then quickly left to spend 9 days in Cincinnati for the holidays, then spent my first week back settling in and getting my apartment ready for a party this past weekend...and yes I am using all of these as excuses for why I have been remiss on my blogging. Aaaaannndd since my immune system is losing a war being fought on all fronts (sick kids at both houses, plus sick relatives visiting mine) I am going to keep this short, but promise to spend a lot of time catching up on my recent activities very soon. :) P.S. today is my blog's 1st birthday!