Daycare room coming along!

Ashley is teaching Martina how to crochet!

I have been working on my daycare room almost full time. It is really coming along now. Ashley helped take my large desk apart and carry out the smaller parts then Glen helped me get both large parts out and his desk. He and I put together the new, much smaller desk. I got a beautiful new rug. Today I am going couch shopping. There is a large used furniture store in Geneva. I am hoping I will find something there. I am very excited about starting! I have never felt this excited about starting in the fall before. I have always dreaded the first day of school because it meant the first day of work too. It feels so good to actually welcome going back to work.

I am so excited for my niece having her first baby. You know what that means don't you? Baby knitting! I have already begun. I love knitting baby things. so I hope Paula likes home made knitted things.

*I have added a link to my daughters new Photography blog, "Through my eyes", she would like people to visit and comment.

I finished reading "Driving with Dead People" it was good but I wouldn't really recommend it to many people. There was alot of swearing, and it was very depressing. I kept hoping her life would get better - it didn't, I thought her life couldn't possibly get any worse - it did. If you really want to read a depressing book about someones horrible life - read "The Glass Castle" that was a very similar book but much better! Now I am reading a series by Lori Wick. the first one was "Cassidy" the one I am reading now is "Sabrina". The next one comes out in Sept. They take place in 1880 in the Montana territory. I love historical novels! They are probably my favorite.

My new "top 5" is - The top five women I would most like to meet (dead or alive).

1. Mary Magdalene (woman who dropped everything to follow Jesus, was the first person to see Jesus after he rose from the dead)
2. Annie Sullivan ("the miracle worker" teacher to Helen Keller)
3. Susan Butcher (Iditarod racer, 4-time winner, finished in the top 5 - 12 times, died of cancer Aug. 5 2006)
4. Rachel Scdoris (legally blind Iditarod racer, she ran three times only finishing once (in 57th place) Wrote a book "No end in sight".)
5. Anne LaBastille - (Adirondack "Woods woman", went to the Adirondacks, built her own cabin, lived there by herself and wrote a large number of books about her experiences - 4 of them I own.)

Please tell me who are the top 5 woman you would like to meet and why.

Last weeks poll was - Would you be a organ donor - WOW 100% yes, you guys rock! you didn't even have to think about it! What a great group of friends and family I have! I know where to go if I ever need a body part, I am holding you to this!
New poll - Are you basically happy with your life right now?

UGGGH! Jury Duty!

This picture I dedicate to Shelley in Mich. (inside joke, LOL) This was taken last year at our lake property in the Thousand Islands while canoing "our lake".

Well it has finally happened. I was called for jury duty. I go tomorrow to see if I can say something stupid so they won't pick me. Maybe if everyone who reads this blog prays for me I won't get picked! I just don't have time for this. I have a Daycare room to get ready.

I ordered a rug and a new desk for the room. Tomorrow we will be getting rid of our two larger desks. Glen has been surprisingly good about getting rid of stuff and cleaning out his desk.

We finally got our Stimulus (rebate) check from the government! Woo hoo! Glen and I have decided to go somewhere where there is a Cabela's (our favorite store) and spend the night in a motel and go shopping and sight seeing. I think we should go to the one in PA, because it is real pretty down there, lots of mountains, and there is bound to be a museum somewhere. There is also one in Scarborough, Maine, do you think I can talk Glen in going to that one! Ha, right. There is one in CT, we could visit Paula, Matt and Casey. But I think that one is alot farther. I will have to discuss it with Glen and make a decision. There is also one in WV, but that is far too. If we went to the one in MI, we could visit my new online friend Shelley. OOOOHHH, so many choices!
If ya'll have any say in the matter please leave me a comment.

Books - Casey asked me "how do you find time to read all those books?" my secret is, I read all the time! I read during the commercials of my TV shows, I read in between jobs around the house, I read in the car on the way to places, I never leave home without a book, You bet I will take one tomorrow to jury duty (would it be rude to read during the interview?) AND I even read while cooking! Glen came home one day to find me reading while stirring the pasta. He thought it was the funniest thing. So Casey - just read!
I finished "The Will of Wisteria" Really, really good book! I actually wrote to the Author (Denise Hildreth, I had written her before) and told her how much I loved it and if there was any chance of a follow up book. I told her I had to know what happened to all the people! She wrote back and thanked me! She is always glad when people really get into the characters. But - no sequel. Oh well I will just settle for another book.
Now I am reading "Driving With Dead People" It is a memoir. This girl has a very bazaar life. I like it OK, not my favorite.

This is my lovely daughter in her "new" car! It is a 2005 Ford Focus Hatch back. She loves it and it is a great car. It will be really good for her. This is what she has worked so hard all summer for. Well babe - It was worth it! You did a great job. For those of you who don't know, that is the back of our house.

Top 5 - This is the top 5 places I have never been but have always wanted to visit.
1. - Maine
2. - Alaska
3. - Oregon
4. - Washington state
5. - Antarctica
Remember to comment with your top 5 places.

Poll - Summer wins by a long shot. New poll - this should spark some thought, be honest!
Would you donate a body organ for someone close, to save their life if it didn't endanger yours?

Summer is half over!!!!!!

I love summer! I want it to be longer. I haven't had enough fun yet. I have been so busy I haven't really had time to think... "oh yeah, it's sumer, enjoy yourself." All I have been thinking is "Get as much done as you can!"

Well I think it is about time I tell you all what I will be doing now that I have quit my job, and what I have been doing all summer, so far. I have decided to start my own "before and after school daycare" I only want to have about 6 children (which I already have!) and I will only be working between 6:30am - 9:00am and 3:15pm - 6:00pm. Which is the same hrs. I had at the school. I am very excited about this. Glen has actually agreed to let me do this and I have been cleaning out "his office" to turn that into a daycare room. We are getting rid of both desks (if anyone wants them let me know) and buying a much smaller desk and a couch (if anyone has a couch let me know!) I am also in the market for a rug in very nice condition. I am hoping the room turns out real cute. I will take pictures.

This Fri. we are going to see "Oklahoma" at the Hanger Theater in Ithaca! I am so excited. We try to go to at least one play each summer. I love Oklahoma, it one of my favorite musicals! I will let you know how it was.

Books I have been reading - I read the most awesome book! It has actually moved into the #1 slot of my all time favorite books! It is called "Bittersweet Country" By Elaine Long (she also wrote Jenny's Mountain, which is my #3 fav. book) It is about a 20 yr. old college student who is totally dominated by her parents, she is not allowed to make any decisions in her life. To escape this she elopes with someone she barely knows and moves from her comfortable city home to Montana to start a sheep farm. They discover when they get there, the "farm" is nothing more than a shack, a falling down barn, and lots of sheep! This story is about surviving in poverty, learning to live with and love a new husband you don't know, and surviving lots and lots of hard work one can not even imagine! I could not put this book down! I can not wait to read it again!
I also read - "Heart Shaped Box" by Joe Hill, scary ghost story, pretty well done. and "Promise Not To Tell" by Jennifer Mcmahon, this was also a ghost story! which I did not know till I started reading it. I like this book alot! It kept you on the edge of your seat, very suspenseful.
I am currently reading "Will of Wisteria" by Denise Hildreth (same author as "Flies on the Butter" and the "Savannah series " that I loved so much.) I am only on the 3rd chapter and I love it already! I will tell you about it in the next blog.

I thought I would start something new in each of my blogs. Isn't a blog suppose to let others know more about you, get to know you a little better. So I decided to start a "weekly top 5 list" This will be my top 5 favorite... whatever. I encourage you to comment back with your top 5 favorite of the same. This will get us to know each other a little better.
Top 5 favorite books (not series, that's next week) -
"Bittersweet Country" - Elaine Long
"Tilting at Windmills" - Joseph Pittman
"Jenny's Mountain" - Elaine Long
"Lost in the Amazon" -Stephen Kirkpatrick
"The Glass Castle" -Jeannette Walls

Last weeks poll - where do you vacation - own a vacation home-3, visit family-3, different places-1, stay home & work-1, What vacation-1 (poor Ashley)
This weeks poll - favorite time of year, I know it is hard to choose, but DO IT!

Adirondacks

We just got back from spending the weekend at our cabin in the Adirondacks. We left Fri. morning and came back Sun. afternoon. It was a nice weekend. The cabin was not too overtaken with wildlife. There were no mice in the "mouse bucket" a trap system we set up, usually there is at least a couple. A friend of mine told me that peppermint oil keeps mice away. I did not get a chance to buy some before we left but when we go to our camper in the Thousand isles. I will get some because the mice there are bad. The weather was perfect this weekend. Not too hot and no rain. The first day there is always "setting up camp" putting away food, making the bed, cleaning the outhouse, cleaning up spiders, etc. On Sat. we drove into Speculator (about 20 min. away) to eat breakfast at our favorite diner. Then we walked by the lake there (Lake Pleasant) it was very peaceful that early in the morning. We went to the Speculator Dept. Store., I bought a new journal for our other place (I keep journals at each of our places). Then we headed for camp. After lunch we drove down the road and hiked into "G Lake" you will not find this on any of the internet maps! I looked! It is very small on a seasonal use rd. and is surrounded by state land. It is about a 1/2 mi. walk into the lake and it is beautiful! There were a couple of people camping there, older people. Usually there is no one! They were kayaking. This was their first time to the lake. We had been there several times and canoed it a few years ago. If you look between the trees of the second picture you can see a loon. There are always loons on this lake. The last time we went we saw Mergansers! What a treat.









Now that I am home, there is so much work to do! This is going to be a busy week for me.

Last weeks poll did not bring too many responses! This weeks is about vacations. Where do you usually vacation? Do you own a place, visit the same places over and over, go to different places, or do not take vacations? Or do you take them but do not go anywhere? Happy Vacationing!