Farewell to my ex-BFF...

I remember the excitement of our first meeting. It was 6 years ago, and I had been longing for an easy, no fuss relationship.

We met at Hecht's (now Macy's) in the housewares department. I caught a glimpse of you as I was searching for some trivial household item. My heart skipped a beat. I could not believe my eyes. I knew, that surely I was reading you wrong.

I didn't allow myself to get to close that day. Knowing, that looks can be deceiving, and not ready to commit to what could turn into a messy relationship, I left.

You were not far from my thoughts though. I told Mark about you. He thought you sounded too good to be true... a waste of time and energy. We agreed, I should put you out of my mind.

I tried...oh, how I tried. But, I could not resist your allure. I found myself drawn to you again and again... constantly looking for reasons to return to the the third floor of the department store...trying to figure out if you were as good as your pretty packaging made you sound.

Mark, indulging husband that he is, agreed to check you out. Usually the skeptic, and harder to win over than I, he too was intrigued.

Finally, after two more long weeks, I decided that I was willing to risk the disappointment...if it turned out as good as we hoped, the risk would be worth it.

I brought you home to meet our friends and family. You were well received by all. I had made a good decision.

For 6 years, we have been friends. You, provided me with comfort and warmth, helped me to become a morning person and overcome spells of lethargy. You were relatively low maintence...especially when compared to your High Maintenance predecessor. You were truly, my BFF.

You had your moments of course. Sometimes not responding to my gentle prodding, and at other more rebellious times, pouring yourself out in unbecoming ways. In the grand scheme of things, your less than stellar moments were easy to overlook.

Until now. I have a new BFF. A BFF that is willing to be at my beck-and-call. One that doesn't require maintenance...and is always ready with a fresh cup of steaming goodness. One without beans, without grinders and grounds and filters that need constant cleaning. One that isn't quite as LOUD.

Now, don't worry Cuisin Art Grind and Brew, you aren't being kicked to the curb...so to speak. You'll still have your moments to shine...when we have company and need mass produced caffeine. We can still be friends. Can't we?

A still house and spelling wonders...

I am really missing this one...


Forrest is in Savannah, visiting his grandmother and cousins. The house seems more...still...without him here. Three more days...

In other news, Chloe can spell now. Really.

Chloe: Momma, Daddy, I can spell now.
Mom: You can? (asked in a chirpy voice)
Dad: That's good ChlO. (same chirpy tone)
Chloe: Yes, I can spell DVD... See...D-V-D, I spelled DVD.
Mom/Dad: (laughing) Yep, you sure can.
Chloe: I spelled it right, too.

Things discovered in New England:

1. The moss is gold, not green. Once we noticed this, we looked and looked for green moss...none.

2. The seagulls are very dexterous. This one landed atop the flag pole while the ferry was in motion and the wind was gusting incredibly hard.

3. New Englanders LOVE Volvo Cross Countries...we saw HUNDREDS. Literally, 1 in 3 cars was a Volvo Cross Country. I wonder why they like them so much?

4. With the exception of Plymouth, they have an incredible sense of history, and work hard to preserve it.

5. They are very proud of their boats.

6. There are no "garbage cans" or "trash cans", instead, they have:

7. It smells SOOOOO good...roses grow wild...everywhere...and they smell heavenly.

8. Things grow better in the East Coast climate.

9. They LOVE their rock walls. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of 4' tall rock walls. I wonder who built them...how long it took...I think they should be the Eighth Wonder of the World...really, they went on forever.

9. It is impossible to find real iced tea. Now, I knew there would be no Southern Sweet Tea...but, no brewed tea??? If you ask for tea, you will get that nasty lemon-flavored Nestea. Ick.

10. My husband is silly.

There you go...New England in a nutshell.

Regarding strange paragraph breaks...

Blogger has a mind of it's own. So if there are too many spaces between paragraphs...or not enough, it is blogger. I have tried to correct it, but, well, it won't let me. So, please try to ignore them, and know that I do know the correct usage of paragraph spacing, lol.

Onward to Boston...

After our whale watching adventure, we had lunch at a small restaurant that has been operated as a pub/restaurant since 1895. In that time, it has only had 4 owners. At this point, we were over seafood, so Mark had a HUGE cheeseburger, and I had what had to be the most fantabulous reuben ever made.

Tummies full, we were on our way to Boston.


Let me just say...people in Boston...CAN NOT DRIVE!!! Seriously, they are crazy. Blinkers are purely optional...I mean, why let the other people know what your thinking, let them guess and slam on the brakes. Red lights...merely a suggestion...if you think you can make it...GO!


It was quite a shock to the relaxed senses. We had spent a week choosing "Use least amount of highways" on the navigational package, meandering, enjoying the scenery, etc. and we'll Boston wanted to re-immerse us in Urban Transportation.


We had dinner in the room, Mark watched some TV and I finally had a chance to read.


Saturday morning (Mark's Birthday), we had breakfast and found a tour trolley. We didn't have much time to explore because Mark had to work...yes, on his birthday...yes, while on vacation. We did get off the trolley and walk a short part of the Freedom Trail. We visited the church where Paul Revere had the lanterns lit..."One if by land, two if by sea", and we got to tour another cemetery.


While Mark was at the convention, I took a nap and read some more. Afterwards, we walked around downtown Boston for an hour or so, then decided to hop a cab to Little Italy for dinner.


Boston's Little Italy is home to 105 independently owned/family operated Italian restaurants. We picked one, and got our name on the wait list. We opted to wait outside because the weather was so nice, and the hostess stood outside the door of the restaurant.


When we walked in to be seated, we were a bit surprised. The restaurant was 15 feet wide by 20 feet deep. We were sat at a table for two that was 2 inches away from another table for two..really, it was more like a table for four where we didn't know our companions, and therefore tried to ignore each others conversations. Across the aisle from us was another set of tables like ours...they ran like this from front to back...if you actually had 4 in your party, they just scooted the tables that extra inch together.


The aisle that ran down the center of the restaurant was so narrow that the relatively small waitresses had to shimmy sideways down through it.


But the food...MMMMMMMM...the BEST Italian food I have ever tasted...ever.


After dinner, we retrieved our rental car and our luggage, and headed to Hartford. We stayed near the airport, and caught our plane right after breakfast.


The kids picked us up at the airport. They we were so excited, and so were we. We've never been away from them for that length of time.


We did forget how LOUD they are, lol.


So, one more post on New England, and that should wrap it up.

Whale Watching!

After rising very early, loading up the luggage, eating our light continental breakfast, we headed for the harbor. We boarded "The Prince of Whales".

Two hours later, with chilled ears and near frozen fingers, with not a speck of land to be seen, we began to see the "signs" that the marine biologist had told us to be on the look out for. Birds diving into the ocean, relatively calm waters, jumping fish and, as a bonus, crill.

Crill is a shrimp-like creature. It swims through the ocean in huge conglomerations. Evidently, it is usually spotted twice a year in New England, and then, in relatively small quantities. For some reason, the crill were in the millions this time. Wave like masses swimming furtively in serpentine paths just below the surface of the water. Some popping slightly out of the ocean like fizz from a coke...amazing.

And just a few moments later, a puff of water in the distance. More like steam or mist than an actual fount of water. A whale, breaking the surface of the water.

I squealed. Yes, loud. Yes, like a small child. Yes, with my husband laughing at me...I squealed.

In all, we were able to see three types of whales, first the Minke whale, then a Finback and finally, a Humpback.

The Humpback comes back to the feeding grounds yearly. The biolgists have named her Owl.

If you look closely, in the first picture, you can see the puff of mist spouting from Owl's blow hole.

In the second picture, note the scar on her back. It is one of the markings that allow the biologists to identify her.

Even though my equilibrium was quite disturbed, and Mark almost threw up, and the fact that we both tried to sleep through the two hour ride back to to the dock and wished that we had bought the .59cent Dramamine...and even though she teased us and didn't flip her tail or burst from the water like the whale in "Free Willy", it was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.

My God, my Creator, made this awesome creature and the waters in which it dwells and the heavens that look down upon it. Amazing.

Newburyport...

On Thursday, we decided to skip breakfast at the B&B. The B&B was beautiful. It is only a year old, but was constructed to blend in with the century old homes that surround it. Our room was on the third floor, and offered a view of the harbor. While the bed was the best of the 3 inns that we stayed in, the breakfast was the least appealing. It was more of a continental breakfast...no protein or conversation with inn keepers.

The place that we ended up breakfasting at was in a diner that dates back to the 1700's. The food was fantastic, and the atmosphere was charming.

After breakfast, we drove to Strawberry Banke. The city was named by the founders due to the strawberries growing wild along the bank. A few years later, the name was changed to Portsmouth...evidently it better summoned the image of a busy port city at the mouth of the river that led to the ocean. Hmmm. I like the image that Strawberry Banke summons, but, they didn't ask me.

In Portsmouth, there is a section of town that is still called Strawberry Banke. This part of the town was bought by concerned citizens in the 1950's. Urban Renewal was the new buzzword...which meant the destruction of historic districts across the country. The townspeople joined together, and formed a working museum.

There are houses that represent hundreds of years of history. The oldest, dated back to the late 1600's. Here's a pic of the restored exterior...

And, here is pic from inside the Pitt Tavern.

The tavern was built in 1766 and was frequented by George Washington and John Hancock.

After dinner at a waterfront restaurant...where Mark was served the funniest lobster...oh how I wish I had taken my camera to dinner...we went to bed early. Hmmm...why would we go to bed early while on vacation...no, not just for that reason, keep it clean please, lol. We went to bed early because we were planning on going...

From Falmouth to Plymouth

Sorry to have fallen off the Blog wagon mid-way through the trip. I'll pick up where we left off...in Falmouth.

After checking out of the "Inn on the Sound", we decided to rent bikes. There is a 7 mile bike path that runs along the ocean from Falmouth to Woods Hole. The path was once a railroad line. When the railway abandoned the route, the city paved over the line, and turned it into a bike/walking path. Here is a bit of the scenery along the path.

After returning the bikes, we headed for Plymouth. My guide book warned me that "Plymouth Rock" was not the looming boulder one pictures when thinking about the Pilgrim's landing. Somehow, I still expected a bit more than the "Plymouth Stepping Stone" we found awaiting us.

The original rock was 13 feet long by 3 feet wide. Evidently, someone thought it would be a good idea to move Plymouth rock. Somehow, during the move, the rock broke into two pieces and the executive decision was made to leave one piece behind. When the remaining piece was moved back to it's semi-original position in Plymouth, this my friends, is what was left.


And, here is a pic of the Mayflower II.

This ship was built in the 1950's. It sailed with a small crew to Plymouth rock and remains docked there. Now, the great thing about this ship, is that it really helps you to understand what the Pilgrim's had to endure in order to get here. The ship is much smaller than I expected. It looks like there should be room for approximately 30 people. In actuality, it held 104 people (half of which died during the voyage), as well as all of the provisions they would need for the 3 month journey.

The not cool thing about the ship (which is not the ships fault, of course) is that there is much more hype about "The Mayflower II" in Plymouth than the actual Mayflower that contained the pilgrims or the famous rock that they landed upon.


Two thirds of the displays and diagrams were about the Mayflower Jr (our new name for the ship), all of the magnets and postcards in the gift shop sported the words "Mayflower II" not, "Mayflower". I am sad to report that Plymouth seemed to be the Panama City Beach of New England. The poor Pilgrims would be disappointed.

Oh, one other cool thing. The weather on the New England coast was 20 degrees below average. The day we arrived in Plymouth, it was a lovely 52 degrees. There were sporadic showers throughout the day. It lent an authentic feeling as we toured the ship. The weather would have been similar when the Pilgrim's reached the rock.

Halfway point...

We are halfway through our vacation (I'm sure this is reassuring to our sitter...who is doing a great job, by the way).

Yesterday, we took the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. When we arrived, it was raining, so instead of biking, we bought bus passes...good ole public transportation. We rode the bus out to Edgartown and had lunch on the dock.

Afterwards, we wandered around the town, admiring the homes and churches built as early as 1740.

At this point, we were a bit disenchanted with the bus (standing room only), and although we really wanted to see the clay cliffs, a 2hr. roundtrip bus ride was not appealing to us. We planned on heading back across to Falmouth.

Instead, when we reached the ferry, we spotted a car rental place, and rented a jeep. We spent the next two hours exploring the island. The drive out to Aquinnah (where the cliffs are located) was beautiful.

We wandered through two cemetaries (I am fascinated by old cemetaries, and I have inspired Mark to be, too) where some of the headstones dated back to 1712 and the writing was still intact.

The cliffs were unbelievable.

Here are a few pics from the Vineyard.

Note to kids:
Forrest, hope you had a great time at camp...love you! Chlo, Cam, have a great day! We love you.

Mystic and beyond...

After check out, we headed to Mystic, Connecticut. On our way, we stopped at the beach in Niantic. It was a gorgeous day. Mark found "perfect skipping rocks" and perfected his skip while I searched for shells.

The seaport at Mystic was awesome. The city has preserved the original town of Mystic which was a ship building community. We watched as the preservationists worked on restoring a clipper ship from the 1800's, toured several ships, watched someone demonstrate how they climbed the rigging to mend sails (scary) and ventured into shops and workshops that show how and what people did in a seaport city at the turn of the century.

After Mystic, it was time to find our way to Falmouth. Our B&B is quaint. It was built in the 1850's. I'm writing this while having breakfast in bed and watching the boats through the window. Here is the view at sunset from our private balcony.

We are going to get dressed and find a place to buy sweatshirts...it's a bit overcast and chilly out today. Then, we are taking a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. We're renting bikes to tour the island.


For the girls:

Chloe-belle, Little Muffin, we love you! Have a good day at school today.
Love, Mommy and Daddy

New England...Day 1

We arrived in Hartford, safe and sound. On our way to Niantic, Connecticut, we stopped to tour The Mark Twain House. I never realized what a character Mark Twain (Sam Clemmons) was. The tour left me with many questions about his life, so now, I want to read his biography.




Next, we headed to the 14 Lincoln St. B&B. The B&B is a converted church built in the mid 1800's. It's nestled among trees on a street lined with quaint cottages. Our room is very pretty, and so calming (which is a good thing since I barely slept last night).



After checking in and touring the rest of the church, our Inn Keeper recommended a seafood restaurant on the water. We watched the sun set as we ate clam chowder (New England style of course) and grilled lobster.

Observations from day 1:

1. I love riding on planes with Mark.

2. Mustang convertibles are too small for 6'4 husbands and wives that need a different pair of

shoes for each day of an 8 day trip.
3. Volvo SUV's are a much better choice. (Yes, we traded the convertible for a Volvo).

4. The rocks are beautiful here...no limestone...it makes a difference.

5. If you tell your 5 year old to call you, she will, 10 times.

6. Mark Twain was cool.

7. There are no brick houses in Connecticut...LOTS of siding and shake.

8. The weather here is fantabulous...'70's.

9. I prefer lobster tails to whole lobsters.

10. Vacations are a very good thing...but you do miss your kids.

Note to kids:

Bug, Muffin, we miss you. Be good girls. Love you! Mommy and Daddy

Four years ago...

Happy Birthday big girl, I love you the heffalump most!

Summer toes:

Just because...

...she saw Chloe's picture on the "computifer", she wanted to see her picture too.





After several tantrums, a few fits and much whining from this one today, it did me good to see this reminder of how sweet and charming Miss. Muffin can be.

It doesn't seem possible...

This one...

...had to be registered for kindergarten today.

I have never been an "over-the-top, overly emotional, extremely sentimental" type of mom. Maybe it's because the first three were independent from the beginning. It could be the fact that the last three were born within a three year period, and as soon as one was moving out of a phase, another was entering it.

Chloe has always been the clingy one. The one to hang back, want help, need guidance... and now, here it is, tangible evidence that she is growing up.

And, I find myself emotional and sentimental.

(She's a very cute big girl, though...if I do say so myself).

Motivation...

I have entirely too much to do... and absolutely no motivation to do it. So, here are a few reasons for me to get with it:

http://www.innonthesound.com/
(We're staying in "Great Harbor")

http://www.14lincolnstreet.com/
("Starry Night Suite")

and...

(Suite 5)
http://www.compassrosenewburyport.com/exterior.htm

To blog or not to blog...

Hmmm... well, this is odd. Trying to think of something to type...something witty, something catchy, something interesting. Hmmm...still drawing a blank.

So, why start a blog with nothing in mind to write about, you ask.

Well, because we are going on vacation in exactly one week and twelve hours... and we are hoping that this will help Chloe and Cammie adjust to us being gone for a week (read: not be too whiney. read: make us feel less guilty during check-in phone calls).

Besides that, I have been thinking about it for awhile, and well, I read enough of them, might as well join in...right?