Miscellaney

Just poppin' in to catch up here  a bit w/ some of what's been happenin at my end. Nothing too exciting really....but since this blog serves as a journal of sorts, I feel compelled to make an effort to catch up before I get too far behind :)

- Just before leaving for St. John my husband learned of a potential job opportunity in NY & while we were away he learned that his company laid off several people - tho' thankfully my husband wasn't among them.  Long story short, after we got home we visited NY & gave the job there some careful consideration.  We've moved a lot over the years and have lived here longer than anywhere else so it seems bc of that "rhythm" we've been in for so long, we all feel kinda overdue for a major move and we were excited about the prospect of moving to NY ... but when we visited there, for whatever reason, it just didn't feel right for right now -- so we've decided to stay put at least for little while longer.

- Strike turned 14!

We celebrated luau style w/ family, friends, food & fun....badminton, night-time/light-up frisbee at the school down the road and wound down & warmed up around the fire pit.  She put her b-day $$ toward a brand new guitar and is teaching herself how to play w/ some help from a friend and you-tube. Playmaker & her boyfriend made her cake from scratch (the neck is chocolate cupcakes from a box mix) and Playmaker carved out & decorated it the next day.  Pretty cute & clever, huh?!

- There are sure signs showing up to indicate that indeed spring has sprung here in New England. Green grass! Blossoms on trees. It's freezing cold one day & warm the next and rain off and on. After spring cleaning I took a BIG load of stuff to the Salvation Army - felt SO good to clear/clean out. And - I planted some summer bulbs -- Light green gladiolas and deep purple lilies.

- We enjoyed an interesting visitor yesterday.... I'm thinking it's a hawk or a falcon of some sort. Maybe some birder out there will see it & know for sure?? Looks like it was feasting on some unsuspecting critter here.

- A friend from church is allowing us to sorta "share-crop" on a parcel of his land this summer. I'm SO excited about the prospect of having a REAL vegetable garden!!

- I recently read this first book in the Mark of the Lion Trilogy ...

...and am now reading the 2nd book:

It's an incredible story (you can click on the pics above to learn more if interested) set in Ancient Rome and I'm amazed how much I'm learning about Ancient History from a fiction book and struck by numerous parallels/similarities between Rome just before its fall and America today.

Last but not least, Playmaker is turning 17 this week! To celebrate her birthday and our ongoing 25th Anniversary celebration we're taking the train into Boston to see Blue Man group!

and we've got tickets in the Pancho section! - Yikes!

That's all for now, folks.  It's good to be back.