Life Keeps Getting in the Way

It always amazes me how quickly the days go by between some of my posts. It’s not only the days but the years that have been flying by. It’s not that our life is so full of fascinating things that I have no time to blog, its that life is so full of laundry, chores and working that I have no time to blog. I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about. Getting back to the years flying by… January 18th marked a milestone for Derek. He turned 20. We had a simple celebration with just us. For those of you who know Derek you know that since he was a baby he was never without a quilt. Twenty years has not changed that.

A Worthy Cause

Back in October I did a post about a classmate of Emily’s that died in a car accident. Undeniably a horribly, tragic loss for the family and the community. The kids snapped into action and ran numerous fundraisers to raise money for a scholarship in the young man’s memory. Sadly, not everyone is honorable and the money, or most of it was stolen. That did not deter the kids. They organized another fundraiser and enlisted a local restaurant for help.

Last night we had dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. We had a flyer put together by the students and the Roadhouse agreed to donate 10% of the meal to the scholarship fund. Some of the kids manned a table at the entrance where people could donate cash.

This was our first time dining there. The atmosphere is casual. The country music was a bit loud making the conversation throughout equally louder. Every so often the waitress would form a line and do a country dance to music. The food was good although we all agreed a bit salty for our tastes.

The main point of the evening was to keep Michael’s memory alive through a scholarship fund. The other lesson learned for the kids was to never give up… no matter what.

Happy New Year!

Greg has been with GE for almost 30 years (this summer to be exact). One of the many perks is he has a lot of vacation time. Typically he takes the last 2 weeks of the year off. It gives us time to prepare for the holidays, enjoy some time while the kids are still in school and enjoy time with them while they’re home.

This week we went out to breakfast, just the two of us, on Monday and Tuesday. Monday we went to the Agawam Diner . They have been in business for many years. Here is a link if you’d like to know a little more about it. Agawam Diner  Tuesday we went to Kathy’s Country Kitchen. Their food is homemade and wonderful.

Getting back to Monday, after breakfast we decided to take a scenic route home and headed to Newburyport. Visible from our route was this wind turbine. We drove to it’s location. It was the first time I’d seen one up close. It was huge, looked very futuristic and didn’t make a sound.

As we headed home I snapped a photo of this rainbow. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I’m taking it as a sign of good things to come in 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There has been a full moon this week. I find I’m superstitious about these. Being a nurse it has been my experience that people get a little crazy when there is a full moon. They are beautiful and it always amazes me how they illuminate the night sky. I took this photo yesterday morning from the bathroom window.

In the afternoon we picked up about 3 inches of snow. Enough to shovel easily and enough to make everything look magical. This woodpecker was kind enough to pose for me.

I wish for everyone a calm and peaceful New Year filled with only the best of things.

Christmas Reviewed

Every family has their holiday traditions. One of my favorite is the little advent tree to the left. I got it many years ago at Sam’s Club. It has 24 tiny draws in the base each holding a simple ornament. Every day starting on December 1st the kids put on an ornament, come Christmas morning it’s all decorated.

Another holiday tradition is coffee cake. This is a time honored recipe Sheila, my mother-in-law passed on many years ago. It’s fairly simple and enjoyed by all.

 

 

 

As many of you know our middle son, Derek is a music major at University Massachusetts Lowell. He is a percussionist. Below is a present he received from a friend. I suspect he will accumulate many percussion related items over the years.

 

The other event that makes Christmas doubly special for us is that it’s Mark, our first born’s, birthday. This year he turned 25. It’s hard to believe. You may have noticed that many of our posts are devoid of people pictures. My family is very camera shy starting with me. We’ll have to work on that in 2010, just one of the many resolutions I have rolling around in my head right now.

We’ll Have a White Christmas

Before I go any further Emily received notice on Saturday that she was accepted into her #2 pick, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, MA. It’s in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains. We’re still waiting to hear from #3 Hofstra and #1 Champlain. Hofstra really doesn’t matter at this point because it’s #3.

Sunday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. All told, we got close to a foot of snow. The Cape took the brunt of the storm with many locations nearing two feet. Fresh fallen snow always makes for some beautiful photos.

Even though the snow was fairly light it was still enough to warrant breaking out the John Deere.

 

Derek needed to get back to school because he had one more final on Monday. This particular one was a jury. He had to perform preselected pieces by a panel of judges. It’s a common practice throughout his music education.

Even Abbey seemed to enjoy being out in the snow. She’s over 13.5 so just getting up every day is an accomplishment for her.

A snow storm is the perfect time to make Christmas cookies. Maybe even Martha Stewart would approve of these.

Percussion Ensemble

Monday, December 7th was Derek’s Percussion Ensemble. The group is very talented. Photo above left shows Derek in black on the right and his housemate Dave to the left in the blue shirt. The group performed 6 pieces. Derek was in 4 of them. Below are links to 3 performances. The pieces are not typically something you can hum along to but I think the kids had a lot of fun playing them.

Rupture in Nature

One Eyed Jacks

The above piece was conducted by Dave. He is a senior this year with a major in Music Business.

Music for Pieces of Wood

Derek did not perform in the above number but it was an interesting piece if you like rhythm. The students have a high level of participation in that they conduct, create and perform in the pieces. One of the students did performance art during a piece he composed. It was too long to post to utube so you’ll have to take my word for it.

All of the kids are very dedicated to their craft and their passion for music is very clear. A pleasure to watch.

Our New England Village

Every year since 2000 we have been setting up our New England Village after Thanksgiving. The first piece we bought was entitled Steen’s Maple House. We started with that piece because of the maple syrup production started by Norm and carried on by Gary and Paula. It seemed appropriate to us. Each year we added to it until it has taken over our dining room table. Last year was the first year we didn’t add to it. Click on the photos for a closer look see.

 

 

 

Joseph, our rabbit, loves this time of year. In the fall the plants I keep out on the deck come inside and in December the tree goes up. He loves to hang out underneath it. I think he feels like he has a forest habitat.

I can’t believe Christmas is a week from Friday. Where does the time go…