Love those late openings

For the past two nights we have had just enough snow so that the morning commute is slippery enough for the schools to call for a delayed opening. Yesterday it was two hours, today 90 minutes. I LOVE late openings. I just looked out the window and I see that it is snowing AGAIN. So maybe another late opening tomorrow? The strange thing is, when we have a delayed opening the day seems longer and just seems to drag on and on even though our work day is shortened. Thursday night we are expecting one of those nasty wintry mixes of sleet, snow and freezing rain and then on Friday lots and lots of rain and wind. Ugh. I can tell that spring is coming. You can smell it in the air and hear it in the songs of the birds.

Reading: "Savage Beauty", a biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Really great book. It is very long, over 500 pages. Of that I am glad because the book is so good that I want it to go on and on. What I find interesting is what a narcisstic person she was. Very "me" oriented woman. I wish we would have a snow day, or maybe snow week, so that I could do nothing all day but curl up with that book.

Where have you been all my life??

I made lentil soup this afternoon but I tried it with red lentils instead of those brown things. Paul said, "What are those things?" I never even knew there was such a thing as red lentils until I read the new recipe I was trying out today. And they are SO GOOD. So much better than those brown things. The color is much better. The taste is much better. I love the texture. They cook up softer. I will never use those ugly brown things again. Red lentils, where have you been all my life??! Yes, old dogs can learn new tricks.

It's snowing out. Wonder what it will look like tomorrow morning.

Plunging into darkness

I guess it wasn't my imgination last night. There really was a flash in the sky. A car hit a pole and blew a transformer. As I was sitting in my basement working on my computer the world went black. They had to turn off the electricity in our area while they repaired the problem. And just as I was thinking about taking a nice hot shower and relaxing in bed with a good book and the wind roaring outside my window. So much for that pleasant thought. First I had to light one of our kerosene lamps. After feeling our way in the dark to find them we found that it had been so long since we had used them that the kerosene had evaporated in every one of them. So I had to flounder around in the dark looking for more lamp oil to fill one of the empty lamps.

Mission Accomplished


Than I had to climb into bed unshowered. Ew. Ugh. I have probably only done that twice in my life (not counting camping trips). I simply CANNOT go to bed unless I shower first. How does one do this and feel relaxed? I felt dirty and uncomfortable and cold and restless and tense. To add to my misery I couldn't read before going to sleep. I tried to read by the kerosene lamp but these old eyes just couldn't see the words. Not being able to follow my normal bedtime routine was just killing me. I had a restless sleep. The "camp" smell kept waking me up. Our electricity came back on at 4:30. It woke me up like a shot. ZZZZTTT..........my bedside lamp blazing. What a shock.

So now I'm going to take a hot shower and go to bed and relax and read. This time I mean it...I hope.

My February Friends

Eamon didn't have nursery school this week so Kara decided to drive down from Boston and spend a couple of days with us. Unfortunately I did have school so I wasn't able to spend as much time with them as I would have liked, but it was so nice to be able to come home at night and see those sweet little faces at my door.


Kara took Eamon and Elizabeth for a ride in the sled. Yes, that pink and yellow blob in the front of the sled is Elizabeth. Her enthusiasm for sledding just doesn't seem to match her Grammie's. Eamon doesn't like sledding as much as his Grammie does either.

He would much rather do some riding on his Grampie's tractor.


Or some hot maneuvering in Grampie's BIG monster truck.


At night E & E enjoyed snuggling in the big bed in the Blueberry Room and listened to stories read by Mom. What a great way to end the day.

We had wine by the fire in the gathering room before dinner. Then we moved into the Belly Acres room for nice long dinners by the stove. I found out that Eamon LOVES brownies and ice cream for dinner, better than spaghetti! It was just nice nice nice to have them here. We had a little snow last night so school was on a 90 minute delay this morning. How perfect. I gave up my usual Friday morning breakfast with my breakfast club so that I could spend the extra time with my family. When I came home this afternoon they were gone, back to Boston-town. The house seemed so very quiet. This was what Sean had to come home to while they were gone. Poor Sean. I still haven't picked up their toys from where they left them. It makes me feel like they are still here.

Tonight is wickedly windy. The roar makes it sound like we are sitting on the edge of the railroad tracks. When I was watching tv I was sure I saw a huge flash of yellow light outside and a small boom. I wonder what that was all about.

Going to snuggle in bed with a good book. It's a perfect night for that.

A Peek At Spring.......and retirement.

Yesterday was bitterly cold and windy. We were in a deep freeze. Today there was a hint of spring in the air. The high got up to 50 degrees. Ice was melting. I went to TJ Maxx for an unsuccessful shopping trip and the young men in the parking lot were experiencing a dose of spring-related testosterone as they revved up their motors and spun their tires, spewing gravel all over. What a difference a day makes. We should enjoy it while we can because it is going to get cold again with a little bit of snow and ice.

We have three days off from school this week and I have been savoring every second. I am slow to get out of bed. I take a long time with breakfast. I have a long cup of tea and take the time to read every article in the newspaper, luxuries I don't have when I'm rushing off to work. I'm not rushing anywhere today and tomorrow. I'm taking the time to sit down and read a book. I do a little shopping. I pick at the piano. I look out the windows. I watch the birds. I take a deep breath and relax. I'm not on a time schedule. I'm my own boss. Is this what retirement would be like?? If it is, I would be there in an instant if I could afford it. But, of course, I am MUCH too young for that yet! For now, I will grab the peaceful pseudo-retirement days when I can and enjoy.

Homecoming

Today Brett and Megan brought their new family home. Brett said they had their first feeding, it was nice to be home but things were a little disorganized. Anyone who is reading this who has ever brought a new baby home knows the feeling, especially the first time. It is pretty overwhelming. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to bring two little babies home for the first time. I don't think I will ever ever EVER forget bringing little Kara home.

There I am shortly after arriving home (how about those 60's curlers and the hair net!) I can remember being so overwhelmed. I was a nurse. I had taught Pre-Natal and Parenting classes. So why could I not remember a dang thing I had been teaching these women? I can remember sitting in that rocking chair shortly after coming home from the hospital, holding a shrieking Kara in my arms. The phone rang. Paul answered it, talked for a few minutes and then said to me, "It's Ken and Judy. They want to come over and see the baby for a few minutes." I looked at Paul and, I couldn't believe I was doing this, but I burst into tears and shook my head no. I had never been a hormonal person at all, ever. But I suddenly seemed to have become one when I turned into a mother.

Those first few weeks were tough. We were moving in six weeks and I was packing up the apartment. We only had one small bedroom so Kara slept right next to our bed in a cradle. Nursing wasn't what I envisioned it would be. Neither was motherhood. Kara wanted to eat ALL THE TIME. Kara cried ALL THE TIME. When this picture was taken it was probably one of the VERY few times she was silent. When she would cry Paul would encourage me to nurse her because "she was hungry, of course". I nursed. She cried. I nursed. She cried. I cried. I nursed her so much that she eventually returned it, like Old Faithful...........all over me. Then she would start crying again. I looked at Paul in dismay and asked, "Why is she crying now?" He answered, "Why do you think? She's hungry of course. She just spit up everything that you fed her". And so the cycle went. But slowly Kara started to sleep between feedings and slowly the time span between feedings lengthened and I had a few quiet moments.

And then something wonderful happened. Kara smiled at me. A sweet smile. A REAL smile. She was connecting with me. She loved me. I loved her. She wasn't "just" a baby any more. She was MY child. That's when I knew that I would go through anything for her. Even sleepless nights of nursing marathons. Motherhood isn't easy but it is really good.

And so, Brett and Megan, you may have sleepless nights and frustrating moments but it is only a brief blip in a life of wonderful moments. It's not always easy but it does get better.........and better and better and better. Enjoy it all.

Images of joy!!!

We drove to Providence today to meet our new grandsons. We met Kara there. The fact that we were able to do that was a happy event in itself! It's wonderful not to have her all the way across the country in Albuquerque when we have these happy family events. Below are some images of our happy afternoon! These two little guys are really a precious happening.

Grammie meets Baby B (the little blondie)

Auntie Kara meets the tall, dark and handsome Baby A.
" I can't believe this little guy with all the black hair is really mine!!!"

The proud father and Grammie with "the troops".

What a week. With the snow storm, sick day from school with a nasty tooth issue and the exciting twin birth it seems like it's been about a month long. I am tired. Three days off next week and I am SO ready. I am going to go nowhere and do nothing, with the exception of a visit to the endodontist on Monday. I am so looking forward to the time off because next comes March, the longest month of the year, with no holidays or days off. That's the month when we welcome a snow day!

The little ones are doing great and are so cute. Click here for a link to Brett's blog if you want to see some pictures.

The wait is over......welcome to the world, Cortesi twins!

They are finally here, those sweet little boys. Our phone rang at 4:30 this morning to let us know that the little ones had safely entered this world, about 3 weeks ahead of schedule. One weighed in at a little over 5 pounds, the other at a little over 6 pounds. Megan had a C-section and is doing just fine. The proud papa is fine but pretty tired. The smaller baby is in the NICU right now. It's blood sugar was low (most likely due to the stress of labor and delivery) and it is getting a tiny itty bitty little IV to boost the blood sugar level. Brett said he looked so alone in there so he went in and held his little hand. He should be able to join his big brother soon. Brett said they are really handsome little guys. We are going to the hospital on Saturday to see them. I cannot wait.

The waiting game............

We have no school today but lots of sleet. Brett woke me up this morning at 6:30 to tell us that he was taking Megan to the hospital. Her water broke at midnight. I asked him how she was doing and he said, "Gooooooooood. She just made me a sandwich!". How many women make their husbands a sandwhich on the way to the hospital to deliver twins?! So now we wait. The phone has rung so many times today, but nothing from Brett yet.

No one wants to read anymore.

We have been doing some very necessary weeding of books in the Media Center. We have a collection of over 13,000 books. Probably half of those books are very old, ugly or outdated (i.e.....a book on computers where the pictures show computers the size of refrigerators). Some of the books we are tossing because the students have no interest in reading them.

As I look at the books that we are tossing for that reason I have come to the realization that the reading level of students has sadly gone down over the years. We find that we are ordering books at a lower and lower reading level. When students ask for a "good book" today they mean they want a book that is 100 pages or less. Anything longer is too difficult. I felt so sad today as we tossed Jane Eyre. We checked the circulation statistics and no-one had read it in years. I remember reading that book when I was 13 and also "Rebecca", and loved them both. Never once did I think of it as too difficult. "Little Women" was everyone's favorite back in my day. Today it is never read. We have a copy of "Gone With The Wind". It gets checked out occasionally but you could bet your life that it will be returned within a day. Certainly not because they are super-fast readers!

I think I was 12 when I read that book and how I loved it. Oh my! Our copy had photographs from the movie and I fell in love with Rhett Butler over and over again. I can remember redecorating my room in "Tara" style. I found some truly horrifically ugly giant-flowered material somewhere in the house. I dragged it to my room and dramatically drapped it over my windows, southern plantation style. I would then flit around my room, a la Scarlett, acting out the most dramatic scenes of the book. I'm sorry, Lauri, that you had to share a room with me and endure the pathetic interior decorating scheme. I have to say that I was so very lucky to have a mother who endured my split personality episodes. She didn't gasp in horror at my room transformation and request I remove all the trappings of that other life. She let me enjoy being me.....and whatever other person I was at the time.

Maybe we read more in "the old days" because tv and video games did not play a part in our lives and reading was our entertainment. Whatever the reason, I find the trend very disturbing. It shows in the lack writing and spelling skills of the students. To all parents today.........READ READ READ to your children and give them plenty of time to READ READ READ to themselves as they get older. Make the library their second home. Limit tv. It will all pay off.

What I'm reading now: Hal Borland's "An American Year". It's an old (1946) book that I bought at a used book sale. He writes an essay on each month of the year. It makes you realize how fast we go through our days without noticing the small things. I like to read each essay slowly, sort-of like sitting in my adirondack chair and watching the wonderful world change through-out the day.

Speaking of wonderful.........winter storm watch for Tuesday night through Thursday morning. I hope this one doesn't go out to sea like all the others. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I like this kind of baby-sitting!

I never used to travel this far for a night of baby-sitting when I was in high school! Paul picked me up at school yesterday afternoon and we took off, like a shot, for Boston. When I say "like a shot" that describes Paul's driving perfectly. I felt like I was being shot out of a cannon. I couldn't figure out why my left wrist was so sore today. I finally realized it was because I was jamming it down into the car seat so hard in an effort to control that which I really had no control over.

Our goal was to reach Kara's front door by 6pm. That means we had 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete a drive that takes us from 2 and a half to 3 hours. This appeals to Paul's desire to vicariously live the life of a race car driver. We lost a little time with the usual traffic jams going through Hartford. Then we got in the EZ pass lane at the Mass Pike toll booth. Only problem was that we don't have an EZ Pass. (Yes, Damon. Now you know why you did the same thing once. It's genetic) So Paul did a quick U-turn (yikes) in the middle of all those cars coming and going to and from the toll booth and screeched to a halt (with white-faced, frozen with fear wife next to him) in front of the Turnpike Authority's Office. He explained what happened and they gave him a "special" ticket to go through the toll booth in the opposite direction from where we had come. We had to go down the road 2 exits, get off and come back on again and go through the proper booth. I think they are still trying to figure out how he made it all the way across those lanes to their office.

We JUST made it to Kara's house in time. The two precious ones had their little noses pressed to the window looking for us. Elizabeth's cute little pony-tails were poking out from the side of her head. We pushed Sean and Kara out the door so the fun could begin. We made dinner with help from the little elves. Eamon insisted I had to roll out the corn meal that I put on the soap stone for the pizza. "What do I roll it out with?" I asked. "A pin-wheel!" Eamon answered, so seriously!

We had fun playing with them and reading to them before and after dinner. I gave Elizabeth and Eamon each a gift of a personality appropriate plate, dish and cup set. Elizabeth: Cinderella and Snow "Wipe". Eamon: from the movie "Cars". Eamon was so excited he screamed "Lightening McQueen?? Oh, I love you, Grammie". We gave baths. Elizabeth refused to take her pony tails out and Eamon said I shouldn't because they make her look so pretty. So I let her hairwashing go for one night and left them in. Grandmas can do that once in a while. Mothers can't!

After the bath we snuggled in bed and read books. They love their books and listen so well. Then it was off to bed. They both went to bed so quietly and beautifully. They are SO good!

This morning we all bundled up and took a walk to "Sweet Sue's" for breakfast. It's a tiny little restaurant but it has the BEST food. And it has a neat little toy nook where the kids can play when they get bored. I ruined my anti-cholesterol run with a huge omelette and home-fries (the best ever) and bacon. I can't wait to go back and try their waffles. We walked back home and let Paul wander around the house looking for things to fix. He's not happy unless he can fix just one thing!

After a high G-force ride home which left my body outline forever imprinted on the car seat I am ready for a hot shower and bed. Tomorrow there two UCONN games in a row. The perfect end to a perfect weekend.

C - O - L - D..........

It is c - o - l - d, bitterly windy and cold, and I am loving it. It feels so refreshing to be outside. It makes your body tingle. I certainly wouldn't want to live like this all year, but this is winter and I love it when it feels like winter. But we are really lacking the snow. I am so jealous of Oswego County in New York where they have 70 inches of snow. 70 inches??? What a snow lovers haven!

Now that we have no heat in the library at school it is surprisingly......warm! When the heat is supposedly "on" it feels like a meat locker. But now that the heat is "off" it feels normal and comfortable. For the first time EVER someone walked into the library and said, "Wow. It's nice and warm in here". No one has EVER said it is warm in the library. Maybe the reason is that the vent fans are off so the cold air isn't blowing around. We put a thermometer under one of the fans once and the air coming in was 56 degrees! Maybe they should leave well enough alone and not turn the heat back on.

Tomorrow we are driving to Boston after school to babysit for Elizabeth and Eamon. What fun! We'll be spending the night and driving home on Saturday. This is so much easier than logging all those air miles out to Albuquerque. What a blessing.

A moment to shine

Everyone has to have their one little moment of fame to enjoy, however brief it may be. I'm still waiting for mine. Damon just got his. Click here or here (click on "video" under "Wi Fi security"...this one is a little clearer) or here (Damon's blog) to take a peek at his fleeting entry into the tv world. That's my boy! A man who is really happy with his job.

Flooded out

This morning at 6am the custodian at school came into the back door of the library, through our workroom, and left our newspapers on the circulation desk. He went back out the same door, down the hall and around the corner and came back in the main door of the library and sat down at a computer to get his email. As he was sitting there he heard an ominous "drip drip drip" from the back room that he had just left. He opened the door and was greeted with water dripping from the ceiling. (Not an unusual occurance in THAT school....we had 87 leaks during the first rainstorm after it was built). This was a little different. We haven't had a rainstorm. Not even a lot of snow. He moved the ceiling tile and was met with a deluge of water from a ruptured heating pipe. WHAT A MESS!! They couldn't get it stopped for 3 more hours. Water water everywhere. On books and videos we were waiting to process. On books we had borrowed from other libraries. On the counters. In the cupboards. On the floor. They add antifreeze to the water in the heating system so our library smelled just like an overheated car. Yuck.

It will be several days until they can get it fixed. Until then we will have no heat in the library. Brrrrr. This couldn't be worse timing since we are in the middle of a wind chill advisory and are expecting bitter cold all week. They are planning on turning up the heat in the hallways hoping that some of that heat will make it's way into the library.

It will definitely be a long-john day tomorrow.

Sunny Sundays.

I really do love my weekends. Especially Sunday mornings. Especially if the Sunday morning is sunny. I love to walk into my Belly Acres room porch and be greeted with the blinding, eye-popping sun. What a lovely wake-up call. I cook some eggs (the organic omega-3 kind, of course) and then cart the eggs, juice, toast and two newspapers out to the table on the porch and sit in the sun and slooooooowwwly eat my breakfast and sloooooowwwwly read the papers and sloooooowly linger over my tea. My laundry and housecleaning are all done on Saturday so I have nothing pressing to do on Sunday morning except to enjoy the moment. And I do. I look around and can hardly believe that this is mine. Or at least I like to think it's mine. Gladys Taber said in one of her Stillmeadow books that we really don't own a house......it owns us. And this one certainly owns me.

Today was blustery and very cold. This afternoon I sat in the quiet sun and read and enjoyed my Edna St. Vincent Millay book. I found that the home that she loved and lived in is not very far from here, in Austerlitz, NY. It is not open to the public. They are in the process of renovating it and eventually it will be open. I will have to keep an eye on this because it would make one terrific day trip. Maybe when you move back here you and I can meet there, Lauri? And Emily? And Sarah? And Kara? And Ellen? Anyone else??

When I was in high school and extremely dramatic and pitiful, I used to climb to the top of our hill, look out at our "3 long hills and a wood", flop down on the grass and act out her Renascence poem. I even tried to write my own version of the poem but I was limited by my lack of creativity and the poem went no further than my bedroom. Thank goodness.

Looking forward to a VERY cold, windy and invigorating week. It finally feels like winter.

It's here.

YEEEE HAAAAAAAAAA!!! We have snow! At last at last. The first measurable snow of the winter. Okay. I know. I know. It's not much. It's only a couple of inches. But it is still snow. And it's so pretty. Light and fluffy. The sparkly kind of snow that looks like it's full of tiny diamonds.


We had a very boring low cholesterol, low fat vegetarian dinner tonight. But we had it in front of the fire in our Belly Acres room by candle light. Atmosphere IS everything! We turned on the outside porch lights so we could enjoy the snow falling past the windows.

After dinner we watched "Little Miss Sunshine". What a great movie. There was a scene in the movie where the little girl is competing in a beauty pageant. She was so totally pathetic. As totally pathetic as I would have been in that situation at that age. I could SO identify with her. At one point she had to prance out on the stage in her bathing suit. The other girls were so "barbie doll" in their little bikini's (at 7 years old) and perfectly coiffed hair and made up faces. Then she walks out in her very pathetic, Plain Jane, one piece bathing suit. That was me....that was me. Oh, the pain of thinking back to my Slave Auction experience. If you have forgotten or have never read about my Slave Auction experience you can go back to this page and read the pitiful "Welcome Spring, at long last" entry. As Uncle Frank said to his nephew in the movie, "High School, those are your prime suffering years. You don't get better suffering than that".

And now I'm going to burrow in my bed with thoughts of snow falling outside my window. It's been a long long time.

Out to sea..........again.

Here we go again. Another snow storm thwarted. What a frustrating winter for me. Two days ago we were told to look forward to 6 inches of snow. Now, once again, the storm is going out to sea and we might have a few flurries tomorrow. Aaarrrggghhh. Just once this winter I would like to enjoy the soft, quiet world of a snowy day. I would also really love to use those snow shoes that I bought for Paul and I last Christmas. Maybe I should have bought roller skates.

I may not be able to enjoy a winter wonderland, but the full moon was a lovely sight tonight. (Of course, it would have been even nicer reflecting off a snow covered field) We ate dinner on the porch in front of the fire. After dinner we turned our chairs around and watched the full moon rise behind the cold, skinny branches of the hickory tree, with the gentle sound of "The Elegance of Pachelbel" in the background. What more could you ask for.......except maybe a little bit of the white stuff.