FEB 1st, yikes! well at the very least it has been a great winter of snow and cold. I can't remember when we had this much snow and it stayed this long. The cross country skiing is great and the snowshoeing is awesome and it is all from just going out my front door. Jen, Dot and I are in training for a half marathon (Shamrock Marathon, March 21) in Virginia Beach so the weather hasn't been the best for running in but it is forcing me to get out on those days that I wouldn't otherwise. School is school, we are over half way and coming up on 100th day! The word is there won't be any cuts in jobs for this year but next year .... "it looks BAD" Guess I should really work on keeping any options open I possibly can.

Wow, December has come and gone and I missed it out on posting! It was an exciting month between family moving in when they ice storm sent power outage days into weeks. Mom came to stay with us for 9 days until her electricity returned (not before all her food in refrigerator and freezer had to be thrown out) and Jen and the boys came and stayed for 4 days after they lost electricity as well. It was fun because we all knew it was just a matter of time before everything would be back to "normal". I don't know how it happens but time keeps moving on whether I am with it or not. I hope to be better at journal entries this year. Christmas and New Year's were fun family celebrations and here we are into 2009. I am off to Kirpalu this weekend for a self imposed retreat to try and start this new year off right and find some direction and self confidence in what I am doing with my life. Jen, Dot and I are training for  the Shamrock Half Marathon in March at Virginia Beach, I am looking forward to it because we always have a good time together. Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving recovery

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Love this holiday celebration, it is all about just getting together and celebrating being together over a nice meal plus the added bonus is we have Friday off! We had family over but quite a few less than past years, this year we only had 14 people here with a 34 pound (home grown) turkey! BEST part of the day? A phone call from our son, Michael, who is in Iraq. He is doing okay and has just finished 2 months of his seven month deployment. Can tell the sadness in his voice when he talks about Heather (his wife) and Mackenzie & Killian (his two little ones back here in the States). We have so much to be thankful for and one of those things are the Marines and ALL of our service men & women who are willing to stand up for us. Life is good and I have plenty of projects to keep me busy. Wish all a great week and a happy upcoming holiday season!

Veteran's Day 2008

I just returned from our local Veteran's Day Parade and ceremony. This year they were honoring our World War II vets. I went after I read a piece in the local newspaper, Newburyport Daily News by a young man, Joshua Potts. Joshua served 15 months in Afghanistan.  I will write the following quote as it is written in the paper.

    "If you were to ask me one year ago if I had PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), I might have said no or maybe just a little. If you asked me if I dreamed about being in Afghanistan, I would have told you yes. If you asked me six months ago the same two questions, I would have said no because I have the love of a good woman. If you were to ask me today, I would tell you I have more traumatic stress from civilians that don't care about helping a veteran than I ever did because of fighting in a war.

I write this and tell you this because I think Veterans Day is not taken seriously by the majority of you. In your town, you have plenty of veterans to thank but you don't take the three seconds to walk over, shake their hand and say thank you. I see you in the airports walking by soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors, without a word of thanks for doing something you yourself could not do.

Why? Why not walk up and thank the man or woman? Are you scared of them? Is it not worth your time? You don't think that the American military man has done anything for you? Pick an answer please and tell me. Why do you not go out to a parade for five minutes and wave to a couple of veterans? It means a lot to them, let me tell you.

You live in a world that you take for granted. You live your lives, go to school then go home. Most of you don't think a single thought about what goes on outside your own front door.

There is one day dedicated to veterans. One day that was made for their recognition. It is your duty as an American, as a citizen, as a person in your community to recognize this day and these people, and not just because you get the day off, because they did something for you. These people have earned the respect of the nation. It is your civic duty to shake a hand, lend support, listen to a story, go to a VA and do something to give back to these the most deserving of people.

If you need help finding out when the parade in your town is, where someone to thank is, or where if you have time you can go to help some people out this Nov. 11 feel free to ask me. I might not know right away, but for you, I will find out."

As a Mom of a Marine, Sgt. Michael Hill, currently serving in Iraq (his third tour first was Afghanistan, second Iraq), while his wife, Sgt Heather Hill and their two young children wait back here in the States along with the rest of us for Mike's safe return I can only whole heartedly agree with Joshua and thank him for putting all of his thoughts into the written word and sharing it with the newspaper. Thank you to Joshua, Mike, Heather and ALL Veteran's, past and present, and their families who serve this great nation, God Bless them and God Bless the U.S.A.

Election Day

So great to see so much excitement and people involved in voting, pretty sad that all these people haven't exercised their right to vote right along but at least the numbers are coming out now. I am sad that the economy has so overshadowed the focus of our troops in Iraq as a point of interest in this election but as a homeowner I can understand why the economy is so high on everyone's priority list. Please keep our troops in your prayers and thoughts through all of this. I am excited to support whoever we as Americans choose to vote in as our new president of these United States of America. God Bless America and God bless our troops wherever they are serving.

Halloween is behind us! It is always an exciting fun filled week in elementary school. No time in my schedule this year to get into school to set up my activity centers for Halloween fun. I went through lots of guilt but had to let it go and find new ways to involve the students. We danced our little hearts out with Little Richard's Itsy Bitsy spider and Lee Campbell's Skeleton Square Dance--tied it into our literacy initiative with books to go along with our dances, worked out well even with little ones in their costumes.

Weekend in Maine

Spent time over the weekend on a hike in the mountains of western Maine with good friend Bonnie. Foliage is going by as leaves continuously fell from the trees as we walked & stacked firewood the last two days. Good chance to decompress the craziness of the beginning of another school year. We reminisced about our great trip on the Allagash this past summer. Bonnie is co-owner of Maine Explorations a wilderness canoe company that takes paddlers to the Maine wilderness for wonderful opportunities to connect with nature, it is tough not to be "in the moment" when you are surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors.