A few months ago, my dad suggested we (us, my parents, my sister’s family) take a vacation before J & I hit the trail. So we (I) planned it all out to coincide with the kids’ spring break and to take place up in the White Mountains of NH. My sister kept saying, “why can’t…
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With 7 weeks until trail time, we are up to our eyeballs in gear for the trail. Buying, sorting and packing. We already owned enough gear to open our own little shop, but of course, we bought more toys for the trail. We got a number of gift cards to REI for Christmas and beyond,…
DetailsLots of people are asking us, “can I/we send you something on the trail?” The answer is, yes you can, pleaseandthankyou!! We (translation, I) carefully laid out specific towns where we will plan to pick up packages versus towns where we shop and resupply at the local grocer. Here are some guidelines if you plan…
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We did some major spring cleaning through our belongings this weekend to prepare for the arduous task of packing up our lives and dispersing it to several locations. But, we couldn’t let the weekend go by without getting outside and enjoying the sunshine and spring weather (finally). So we went biking with Paul & Kristen…
DetailsThe town is talking … here’s an article in our local newspaper about J’s departure. Something I haven’t mentioned on the blog is that since J gave his notice, there’s talk about changing his position, cutting the hours. J does not want to see that happen. He thought by giving so much notice, they could…
DetailsLots of questions coming in about our big adventure, so I put together a trail FAQ page. It’s long, but very informative. I can always add to it, so if there is something that needs explaining, let us know! Enjoy your education! What are you doing?We are attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) Southbound…
DetailsI am switching up these weekly posts from week 43 of unemployment to 9 weeks until the AT because the focus has now shifted! Holy cannoli, 9 weeks to go!!!! What a big week. As I said, J gave his notice, which was both sad, exciting and scary. We are (translation, I am) making progress…
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Here is our backyard on Thursday. Here is our backyard on Friday.It is spring!
DetailsWell, it’s official. We are planning to thru hike the AT this summer. J handed in his resignation letter yesterday. Today he told his rec committee. Tomorrow he tells the seniors. His last day is May 13. We will start hiking June 6. It’s both sad, because J loves his job and the town he…
DetailsBusy week again, which included J getting a root canal and an interview on Monday for me. This was for a contract writing project that would start immediately and last about a month. Perfect! The subject matter is Medicare. Did I just make you vomit in your mouth? Sorry! But I love writing about health…
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In true New England fashion, most of our snow melted last week and this weekend, and then we get a late-spring snowstorm today. I think it will only amount to a few inches and the hope is that warmish temps return and melt it down. P. to the S.Town meeting was only 5 hours long…
DetailsAwhile back, probably somewhere around week 26 of unemployment, I resigned to the fact that my roses were just not blooming. Not literal roses, silly, but the seeds I planted in my job hunting. I wasn’t even getting rejection letters. I was just not hearing back at all. In the words of Stephanie Tanner, “how…
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There’s a new study out from the CDC that says there’s a risk of transmission of some life-threatening diseases when your pets share your bed. You know, diseases like the plague, Chagas disease and rabies. Things that make you go Hmmm. Mr. McKinley tends to sleep in between J and I, head on pillow, under…
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You wouldn’t know the first day of spring is in less than 10 days here. Sure, there are patches of grass in some places and we reverted to daylight savings time starting today to give us more hours of sunlight, but we still have a crapload of snow on the ground. On Saturday, J &…
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First things first, my second interview went great. It’s hard to tell where they are in the hiring process. I was interviewing with 3 people who I would potentially work with, but they are not making the final decision. And when I asked questions about the status, they had no idea. The one guy did…
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This weekend was pretty boring. Aside from J’s concerts (BTW, he got to Boston with no problems tonight!), we didn’t have much going on. We just did some errands and more AT planning. But, a few weeks ago, we did something really fun and I forgot to mention it. We took a couples cooking class!!!This…
DetailsNot a bad week work-wise for me again. I like the new project I’m working on and if all goes well, I’ll have it completed by next week. And good news for the nation. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.9%, the lowest in nearly 2 years. Not sure what that means since everyone I know…
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I know I already said our 27-inch flat-screen TV kicked the bucket, but J wanted to give it one more try. My husband is quite handy, but his resume stops when it comes to electronics.Now it’s safe to say the TV is 100% a goner. But, we lucked out. We visited J’s dad this weekend…
DetailsI’m happy to report another busy week between our houseguest, the magazine and my old company. Next week I’m hoping to start on my new project, so it’s looking like it will be fulfilling too. Woo hoo!