Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, hope all is well around the globe. We are spending today quietly at home with just us, roasting a bird and making all the fixings. We were actually invited to a friend’s house, A&J, but it was just a couple of days ago that the invite was extended, and we had pretty much prepared for the day at home, so we declined but expressed our deepest appreciation. It was very nice of them to think of us, and of course I feel bad for saying no. They are our good friends, but our lives have been a little crazy lately, and it would be nice to just stay home for a change.

So that’s what we’re going to do. Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and thanks for reading, and thanks to martha_chapa95 for the pic.

Hopefully Not Like Last Year

I think I’m finally over this awful flu, sort of (I'll keep my fingers crossed, winter is just beginning). I was beginning to think it was 2012 all over again, where I was sick for about 6 months. This is not an exaggeration, I was coughing for half the year, and I was not alone. This time around, I felt a similar malaise, but it seems to have tempered after a week, and now I’m feeling about 90%. At this stage of my life, I can’t ask for much more. Now that I’m feeling a little better, I can direct my attention at that pile of firewood, not to mention my hockey league - I’ve missed three games, what a bummer.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Bianca for the pic.

Job Hunt

I am currently on the hunt for employment, but it’s not as simple and straightforward as it might be for your average job-seeker. I need to find a job that pays me the big bucks but ideally lets me work from home, gives me flexibility, and is a lot of fun. Is that asking too much?

I know I could find a job at the drop of hat in research, they are always looking for people, but that would mean a drastic change in our lifestyles, i.e., I could no longer be the domestic spouse. This is not an outrageous concept, indeed most families operate like this, but we are pretty comfortable in our setup. I have definitely settled into domestic life, with R being professional at large. Embracing a reversal would probably be more difficult on R, because going back to work wouldn’t take a huge amount of adjustment, but for R to take on all the cooking and cleaning, not to mention transporting kids to activities and socializing with other parents would make it challenging. Throw in coaching hockey and taking them skiing, which I acknowledge are fun activities, but being the parent means it’s not all about fun.

Either way, we like things the way they are, and I enjoy being a big part of the kids’ lives. Now all I need to do is make the big bucks. Piece of cake, right?

We shall see. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to T Hart for the pic.

Getting Ready For Winter

As amazing as it may sound, I think we’re on the verge of being read for winter. It seemed to be a bit of a scramble trying to get things done before the snow comes, not to mention finding the time in between job hunting, hockey, and parenting. Factor in really short days and inclement weather, and it’s amazing that we’ve even arrived at this juncture, but arrive we did. If it were to snow tomorrow, I’d be disappointed, no doubt, but at least some of the big things are taken care of.

First off, I managed to squeak in one last mowing of the lawn, and don’t ask me why this was so significant to me, but it had some definite symbollic importance. Have you ever had a million things to do that really weighed heavily on your shoulders, and yet you do the less important thing because you know how and are comfortable with it?  This is the story of my life, and despite the fact that there is a barn to finish and firewood to split and stack, not to mention a glorious freelance career to kickstart, I seem to fall back on mowing the lawn, because I know I can do it, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Does anyone really care about the lawn? I guess I do, because on the flip side, when the I have no time and the lawn starts to look unkempt, it really brings me down. Strange how the mind works, is it not?

The final mowing was relevant in the sense that it gave me a chance to properly store the lawn mower, which entailed running the tank dry and clearing the carburettor (I never knew how to spell this word). My understanding is that you want that carburretor clear in storage so it doesn’t gum up and become clogged. I’ve experienced this firsthand and had to have the the thing cleaned. I’ve been told it’s because of the ethanol additives in fuel, it really harms high-revving engines like mowers and chainsaws. With the chainsaw it’s easy because you just tilt the saw and pour off the gas. You can’t do that with a mower, so you have to use a syphon.

Speaking of chainsaws, I also cut up some more wood and prepared that for storage, as well. Same deal, you need to clear the carb, which I managed to do. Now all our heavy gas powered equipment is stored and we are ready for winter, sort of.

There are still the issues of firewood and the barn, but they are not as time sensitive, sort of. In my ideal world, I would have all the trim done and all the firewood split and stacked before the snow, but who lives in their ideal world? The barn is in progress, I’m happy just to have the siding on, and the firewood for this year is all set. I have about 4 cords that need to be relocated and split and stacked, but again, if I can’t do it, I’ll live. Maybe having the flexibility isn’t such a good thing.

Either way, things are better than worse, if that makes any sense. A week ago I was fretting over the lawn and the power equipment, and now that’s all done. Of course, there is still some raking that needs to be done, but that could be the one thing I put off until spring.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Dave Olsen for the pic.

A Day Off to Work

I know how ironic this may seem, but we had a day off from our busy schedule that allowed me to actually work and get some things done around the house (note the empty hammock). These are things that have been weighing on my shoulders for some time, and the problem I have is they need to be done before winter fully sets in, i.e., the clock it ticking. The really short days and stretches of lousy weather don’t help.

Thus far I’ve been given a reprieve from the weather in that there hasn’t been a lot of snow. This seems fairly normal to me. We’ve had unusual situations like last year when we got a foot of snow before Halloween, which meant that raking and mowing the lawn were done for the year. This year, I have been looking out the window wondering if I’m ever going to have time to do that last mowing and raking, and believe me, it really bugs me. Each passing day feels like I’m really pushing my luck.

Of course, I could just leave it and deal with everything in the spring, which has its merits, especially since I really hate raking leaves, though I feel it’s better to tackle some of it before the snow comes. Either way, we had a day off from hockey and other activities, so I jumped in with both feet and got some stuff done. First order of business was to cut the firewood. We have about 5 cords of uncut log-length, and my goal is always to get year 2 split and drying. Fat chance, but at least if I had the blocks cut and in the splitting area, I could split over the winter. One the snow comes and freezes the pile into one solid block, that wood is not going to be moved until spring. At this point I should stop cutting and just move the stuff, but I wanted to cut as much as possible, and I also need to run the saw dry before storing it. I am not quite there, but hopefully by the end of this week.

I also managed to take care of our burn pile, which is important before the snow plow comes. In years past, I had a pile of wood that I wanted to burn, but then it would snow and the plow would push it to the far end of the yard. When the snow melted, I had to gather it all back into a pile and burn it. Not this year. N and I spent a couple of hours burning the pile, and now it’s done. It was fun hanging with him and burning whatever we could get our hands one.

I also managed to mow part of the lawn, just the side yard. If I can finish the back, I’ll leave the hill for spring. It’s all crab grass anyway, so it doesn’t need too much care. There are a ton of leaves that need to be raked, so we’ll see if I manage to get to that. The final thing is to put the hoses in storage. I needed on hose to manage the burn pile, but after that was done, I drained the hose and it’s ready to put in the basement. Then I had to make supper, but what else is new?

I still need to haul about 5 cords of wood and rake the hill, but even if the snow came at this point, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Sure, I’d be disappointed that I didn’t get certain things done, but enough has been taken care of to get us through the winter. It just means a busier spring, right?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Jeff Kramer for the pic.

Go Climb a Rock

They held a rock climbing day at the local indoor climbing gym, and I was at first ambivalent about the whole thing, but eventually the kids seemed interested and it was a chance to hit the climbing gym, something we enjoy but never do. One issue was it was that it was designated as a middle-to-high school event, which would have precluded one of us, but after some inquiry they said we could all attend. Good enough for me.

We headed over the Green Mountain Climbing Gym and it was quite a scene. They rented the place for a couple of hours before they opened, but everyone could stay as long as they wanted to, which I thought was a cool thing. What was really nice about the event was that A&N got to see several of their camp friends. It was a happy reunion, and they really had fun. There must have been over 30 kids there.

This also meant that I could head out and do some errands. There were about a dozen parents there, and a few dads, which homeschool moms seem to appreciate. The kids got to climb for a few hours before we had to head off to hockey practice, but I’m glad we went. It was a nice chance to meet other families and re-connect with some that we don’t see that often. What more can you ask for?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Rob Lucas for the pic.

No Longer Board

Last night we had our annual hockey board meeting that the entire town and association is invited to, and I finally worked up the nerve and said that I was done. Fini. I will stay on as scheduler (which is a hard job!) and will work with the web site, not to mention being a coach on two teams, but I really did not enjoy attending those meetings. The argument can be made that it’s only one night a month, but whenever that night comes along, I kick myself for having volunteered for this. Plus, my job as scheduler does not require a board appointment, though I may have to attend an occasional meeting.

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy leaving the board, they are always in need of members due to the ambivalence of the community in regards to hockey. It’s a ski town, though so are Stowe and Middlebury, and they are hockey powerhouses. It helped that I joined the board by replacing a member who was stepping down, so I was essentially riding out her term, which ended yesterday. I was in essence up for re-election, but I declined. They tried to convince me to take a one year term but I held my ground, which I am not so good at doing. It worked out, however, because they were able to fill several holes on the board, including mine, so all is well in hockey board land.

At some point in the meeting, as it approached 9:30PM, I realized that not being on the board meant I could leave whenever I felt like it. Wow, what a liberating feeling. I felt the shackles come off and suddenly I was a free man, sort of. I’ll take it.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Victor M. Campos for the pic.