Here I go....

Today is the day that I leave or Vermont. I have to admit that I am a little nervous now that it is here. There will be plenty of pictures when I get back.

This Saturday is a big day for Ed. He is riding his 20th Pan Mass Challenge! It is a great fund raiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The brave riders go 192 miles in 2 days. Good luck Ed!

YAY!

I can taste my strawberry guava yogurt!!!!!!!!! If you are picky about yogurt, you've gotta try this stuff, it's the only brand I will eat.

On a better note.....

That cute little pig there dozing is Lars. His preschool class at Perkins
put on the play, "The 3 Little Pigs"! It was the cutest thing ever and I was so glad to be there!

Bored

I am trying to just chill out before working tonight. I am babysitting from 4:30 until around 1 a.m. I am guessing. The following pictures are as follows:
1. my array of drugs for this fun virus (prilosec is to off-set side effects from the meds.)
2. all natural/organic alternative to gatoraide (the drugs cause faster dehydration)
3. what it looks like when I try my hardest to smile.

Facial Update

Things are about the same here. Chewing on the right side of my mouth is sort of difficult. Drinking requires small amounts at a time to avoid leakage. It's quite the pretty site. Tasting is getting a little better, but I don't have much of an appetite. On the positive side I got on the scale this morning and weighed 128.5! That is down from 146 in February. I'll take that! Today I've pretty much got by on Vitamin Water and graham crackers.
I have had a lot of sleeplessness which sucks. Everything that I read says that even though you don't feel sick the more rest, the better. Kind of hard to do with 1200 mg of steroids racing through my body.

Not Again!

Some of you remember about 12 years ago when I had Bell's Palsy. Well.... I am one of the lucky 4-9 percent of people that gets it TWICE! Yes, it's back. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, click on the "Bells Palsy" above and it will link you to an info page. I am putting up a picture of a girl from a google search. This is pretty much what I look like if I try to smile . I am not sure if I am brave enough to put one up of me yet. We'll see.

It's Official....

I'm going camping. I know, I'm shocked at it myself. Everyone I have told so far has laughed at me. So, feel free to leave your harassing comments, but helpful tips will be better appreciated. I will be somewhere in the Vermont woods (with no cell phone reception!)from next Tuesday until Saturday with Lisa, Andey, Joa, and Lars. Wish me luck!

Down on the farm

After a great breakfast and a walk on the beach Ed and I stopped at Russell's Orchard. They are a great local farm that's been around forever. They are an organic farm currently in the process of getting the actual USDA organic seal. Besides their own line of wine, yummy foods, and other great stuff there are animals roaming. They were all very friendly. Here are some pictures of them. There was also a pig named Big Boy who is around 1,000 lbs.!!!! Definately the biggest pig I have EVER seen!

Plum Island Beach!

This is a beautiful beach that Ed and I visited Sunday after breakfast. I believe it will be my new place to "beach". It's only $6 to park all day! Way better than the other ones that are $20! I love the ocean!

Birthday Part 2

1. Julez and her cane
2. Yummy dessert for all to share
3. The curtain aisle at Target-where else would you spend your birthday?!
4. Lisa enjoying the selection

Thanks to all who joined for dinner at Cambridge Common!Those wonderful folks would be Ed, Lisa J., Lisa K., Julez, and Kirsten (I hope I spelled that right!) It was a great time.

Birthday Part 3

1. Presents from Ed:
gift cards to all of my favorite places
2. My birthday breakfast (sunday) at Mad Martha's on Plum Island. Well, it's actually where my yummy chocolate chip pancakes were before I devoured them!
3. Looking at Mad Martha's from the beach

birthdaypart 1

the first part of my birthday was last night (friday). meg opened up her new house to host dinner, cake, and presents. here are some pictures from all that goodness. thanks to everyone there for the food, gifts, and wonderful company

In my 25 years.......

I thought I would make a list of the things that I have done up to this point!
In no particular order they are:
1. graduated from college and finished 1/3 of graduate school
2. lived in 3 states- OH, NY, & MA
3. visited 10 (or maybe 11) countries
4. sang with a professional opera company for 5 years
5. won 2nd place in a collegiate singing competition with participants from 2 states
6. sang the national anthem at my college graduation for an audience of about 5-6 thousand
7. flew on a really high trapeze in Jamaica
8. become an aunt, 6 times over
9. learned a decent amount of sign language
10. made countless friends, none of which i could have done these things without

***please feel free to add to my list in the comments section! i would love to hear your thoughts =)

Awesome Chick!

Maybe this is something that our sad country that is plagued by its obsession with material goods should try. Hmm..how do you really feel, Michelle??
Click on the link to see the video!

OLYMPIA -- Talk about down-sizing! One woman is living in a house that you really have to see to believe. "It's 84 square feet, so roughly the size of a parking spot. Actually, smaller than a parking spot," says Dee Williams, who decided it was time to move. She was living in a 1,500-square foot home in Portland, but decided the house wasn't small enough - yes, small enough! Dee built the tiny cabin herself out of salvaged material. She picked the door out of a dumpster and retrieved the floors from a house fire. Dee's new tiny home sits in her friend's backyard. "In exchange, I do work on their house," she says. It takes Dee five steps, sometimes four, to get from one end of her house to the other. "Two steps through the kitchen and you're in my living room. Two steps into the living room, you bang into the wall," Dee says, laughing. Two solar panels provide electricity. A tiny propane tank allows Dee to cook in her $10,000 home on wheels. Do her friends think the 44-year-old hazardous waste inspector is crazy? "A simpler life, time, more money. I don't have a mortgage. I don't have a big utility bill," Dee says. Her monthly heating bill in the winter is $6, less in the summer. "I'm able to offer money to my family if they need it, (and to) my friends if they need it," says Dee. To get to her bedroom, she walks up a step ladder to her loft. "Every night I look at the stars and watch it rain over and over again. So this is it. Not much to it," says Dee. And that's the point. Not much to it. Simple. Small. A dream house tinier than a parking spot.

Ahh...back home

I spent my first evening back with Lisa, Joa, and Lars. We went to a great outdoor concert in Manchester-by-the-sea. Afterward we walked on Singing Beach until the mosquitoes declared war.
It was so nice to be back by the ocean. The pictures are of the sand on my feet and a gigantic bug bite. Yes,it's really that big!

Swimming with Averie

We decided to take a trip to Averie's pool. Unfortunately, it wasn't that warm out, overcast and the pool water wasn't that warm. Oops!

more pictures

 

 

 

 

Mimi and baby Mercie
Mimi and Champ
Beth, Averie (not enjoying the butterfly house much), and Baylor
Emma and Mimi

 

 

 

 

1. my bunnies
2. Taylor in the botanical gardens
3. Mimi and baby Joseph
4. my beautiful butterflies

Day at the Toledo Zoo

 
 
 
 

Here are some pictures from our day at the Toledo Zoo. It was Janet, Mimi, Emma, Ella, Taylor, Beth, Averie, Baylor, Kim, Andrew and Joseph!

1.gazing at the elephants
2.Emma scuba diving
3.Ella and soccer
4.brushing the goats

New Pictures!

 
 
 
 

1. Mimi and Hope
2. Emma
3. Shoe Shopping!
4. upside down Ella