When J & I finally thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (the AT), you all will get an education. There’s all sort of acronyms and jargon that goes with the AT. And you want to keep up with the blog, you’re just going to have to become familiar with it all (that’s an order!). One of the…
I got up at 6am this morning. I never even got up that early when I was working! It was all for the sake of volunteering. And for once, I was NOT volunteering for one of J’s events. I’ve spread my wings beyond, but I still am his number one sidekick when he needs me…
NH is a state of lakes and rivers, that’s for sure. It’s one of the main reasons we bought kayaks when we first moved here. But, we don’t get out nearly enough. Sad to say, but this week was the first time all summer we’ve taken the kayaks out! The Merrimack River flows 60+ miles…
This week I was on a little bit of a roller coaster. It could have to do with the fact that it is 90 hundred thousand degrees here with 400% humidity and we don’t have AC, so I am feeling quite lethargic. In any case, one minute I was feeling productive, the next useless, then…
So hell kinda froze over guys and gals. Remember that house in Danville we own? The one we’ve been paying a mortgage, homeowners insurance and utilities on for the past 3 years? It’s official. We have a renter in it. He’s been living there for almost a month and so far so good.I didn’t want…
Last year for J’s big 4th of July event, it rained. This year, it was 90 hundred thousand degrees. No happy medium Mother Nature? But still, we survived. And it was a big success! We had a root beer chugging contest:And a pie-eating contest:And a kiddie parade (which is my responsibility in the morning as…
I had another unemployment workshop to attend on Wednesday. This time there were 25 of us. Great. The numbers are increasing. But this was a special workshop. It was for the people identified as “likely to be unemployed for an extended period of time.” Thanks. Just kick me while I am down! And frankly, I…
This past weekend, Charlotte & PA Dutch visited! They vacationed in Maine the week before, and detoured to our house before heading back home to Philly. Since Vermont would be the only state they wouldn’t hit while road tripping in the New England area, we made it a point to venture that direction on Saturday.…
So it has been a week since my return form Colorado and it has been a busy one. My wife, “the blogger” has been bugging me to write a post so you all can understand the “Festival”! It was my sister’s (SILAdventure) 30th bday June 19th and I told her I would party with her…
Whenever I tell people I’m a writer, the first question is usually, “where can I read something you wrote?” Well, besides this awesome, awesome blog, there weren’t many places you could. Unless you are a doctor or pharmaceutical sales rep and subscribed to my former company’s publications, my regular writing wasn’t necessarily available to the…
I thought for a day or two that I broke my pinkie toe.On Monday night, my phone rang from the other room and it was J. I ran to get it barefooted. If you know me well, you know I hate to be barefoot. I love my slippers/slipper socks as much as I love hand…
I just returned from a trip to the Midwest where I attended the wedding of LilSis! LilSis is part of my Phoenix/St. Gregory’s crew. She was in 8th grade when I moved to Arizona for that volunteer program. My five roommates and I became very close to her because she lived right around the corner…
I turned 6 today. I feel old. Just look at all the white hair I have.
I went to an unemployment workshop required by the state today. Apparently one of many I will have to go to. While sitting in the room waiting for the presenter to come in, I counted. There were 15 of us. I don’t know why, but that number scared me. That’s 15 people who became unemployed…
My dad came out of surgery and is a-okay! I didn’t get to talk to him yet and I only talked to my mom briefly, but all went well so thanks for any good thoughts you sent our way. To lighten the mood, here is a picture of a “sit off” between Mr. McKinley and…
Unemployment is tough, but the jobs are coming in. That really is me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get paid for that gig. Once again, volunteer of the year for one of J’s programs. It rained all day, so we had to move the family entertainer and his cast of characters inside, but the kids still loved…
Did I mention I got laid off last week? So far the best thing about being laid off is not having to leave the house and make the commute to work. Oh wait. I never did that anyways! I am really okay with being laid off. Dare I say enjoying it? But of course, the…
“Some people are thermometers, some are thermostats. You’re a thermostat. You don’t register the temp in the room, you change it.” Mouth, my sort-of brother, got married this weekend. This is the quote (by Andre Agassi) his brother said in his best man speech. Mouth is definitely a thermostat. I lived with Mouth (and 5…
J and I spent Memorial Day Weekend 2010 apart. Purposely. We do that sometimes. Take separate vacations. This time, J headed to a weekend music festival in NY (The Mighty High Mountain Fest) with Uncle SlickG and a high school friend he recently reconnected with (and he didn’t even need Facebook for that!!). The big…
I think everyone knows that J loves Alaska. It’s in his top 3 (Me, Music & Alaska-in no particular order of course!). Part of the reason he married me was because I had family that live in Alaska. Last weekend while we were in Jersey for the awesome Indian wedding, so was my family from…