Vacation part 1

A view of the lake from someone else's private property... the joys of trespassing...

Tomorrow I go to VA. That means my vacation is officially half over. It has been good so far! I went to the lake on Sunday. I haven't been up there much this year due to my icky work schedule. It was nice weather, mostly sunny. Not too hot, a nice breeze. Ahhh... relaxing. I ended up going to Wolfeboro for some shopping and just to go. I ended up finding a pair of earrings to go with the dress I will be wearing to my brother's wedding. And, I found a really pretty bracelet to go with it! Of course it is solid sterling silver (I love silver), has a nice swirl... makes my tan look more tan like. I love it! I will even wear it after the wedding!
Monday I convinced my dad to go kayaking down the marsh up by the lake. I never even knew there was a boat ramp there! It was so pretty. I saw a big snapping turtle, some baby fish, and lots of other turtles. Saw a beaver dam and a few beaver huts. We even saw a heron catch a few snacks! We were out for about 3 hours. I would go back again in a heart beat! After lunch I decided that I wanted to go for a hike. So, I got Dutch to put on his harness and off we went to explore our way up to Devil's Den. We didn't make it all the way as Dutch was very tired and dragging. It must be his aging body because his will was there. At one point I stopped to check my GPS to see how far we had gone (testing the "high quality" walkie talkies I got last year) and a Geocache was about 400 feet up the trail. Yay! We met a dirt biker on the trail who just moved there from Colorado. Very nice guy. Dutch was very upset that the guy had a helmet and goggles on and kept trying to "protect his mommy"... good boy!
Tuesday and Wednesday have been just putzing around the house, doing chores and preparing to go to VA tomorrow morning... very early morning (5 am flight).

Dutch found a comfy spot to sit.

Fall is upon us... the big maple in the front yard at the lake.

Me and my dad heading out on the marsh.

Pond at the half way mark between the lake and Devil's Den... a tiny bit away from my surprise Geocache.

So on the way to Devil's Den this book was not here. On the way back it was... freaky.
Ok, so this is hard to see... but this was some sort of structure. I found it in the woods off the trail. It has that opening you can see in the upper middle of the picture. The trench is square, is defined by the rock wall and goes all the way round the center island... perhaps something for water?

There are bricks under the tree roots in the above mentioned island. This had to be here for a while.

It finally might be dead...

I moved into my house 25 month ago. At that time I knew that a few things needed to be done to the house, such as a new roof (got money at closing for that) and the water heater would need to be replaced in a few years. Well, apparently it has been a few years - time creeps up on you faster than you think!

I have a gas powered water heater and it makes a distinct, yet faint, noise when it kicks on. I kept hearing that noise over and over again (every few seconds) last evening. So, I went to inspect the water heater. I found that the temperature of the water had gone down by 40 degrees and that the flame wasn't igniting. Super!

The sad part is that I knew this would be coming. Two days prior, while telling my room mate reasons why I needed to find another room mate, the water heater came up in discussion (that it would be needing to be replaced and I didn't have the money for it). Sometimes I really think that I have psychic abilities.

The repair guy is coming today to tell me the verdict. Either DOA or that is it worth reviving. I have the sneaky suspicion that it is too late for this water heater.

On a good note I discovered how much water you save when you boil a small pot of water to take a sponge bath instead of a shower! More to come when I get more info from the repair guy.

How could I forget?!?!

I started to blog about Katie's bachelorette party but never finished it! How could I forget such an evening?!?! It was a fun night had by all. No strippers, thank God! But, there was plenty of alcohol to go around for those who wanted it. We started our night at the Liberty Hotel (great choice Debby) where Katie had a suite for the evening. It was pretty!

We had some wine and sparkling wine at the hotel room and then ventured out to 75 Chestnut. Very yummy and very strong pineapple martinis. I had one and I was not able to butter my own bread (thanks for helping me out little sis). The food there was excellent so please give them a try if you are in Boston. We then went back to the hotel to change for a night out on the town. Well, they changed and I stayed in what I was wearing.

Alibi is a club in the Liberty Hotel. It is apparently very hard to get into so Debby made reservations. It was kind of stuck up for the kind of partying that Katie wanted to do (club dancing and karaoke). So, after one round we hit the pavement, the T (subway system in Boston), and the pavement some more and ended up at a bar in Faneuil Hall. Katie seemed upset that we were not at a club per say, but at a bar. But, she came around and was dancing and having a grand old time! I had a great night and I am so happy that Katie will be part of the family in only a few short weeks!

Meghan and I getting on the T near her place in Medford.

The group of women after dinner. We think Cousin Brett and the woman in the green on the left would make a good match. We will work our magic at the wedding.

I have been so bad!

I couldn't pass up a picture of me with jail bars. This is as close I will ever be to anything resembling a jail due to my sweetness and innocence.

We didn't go to a club, but Katie did end up on stage.

Take me out to the ball game!

For those of you who didn't know that I won the PSNH green seats for the Fisher Cats' game last night - I did. Thank you to George for nominating me for my efforts to make TRU a more earth friendly company and my work with Autism Speaks.

We had great seats. Now, when I say we I mean Dave (my boss), Matt (my co-manager), Sandy (a BRU store manager) and myself. I took them because they busted their humps for the remodel and I thought it would be a nice way to say thanks! The seats were right behind home plate! Dave took us out for pizza at Sal's before the game and we had some beer and snacks at the game. What fun! I have never been to a baseball game before - not including one in high school. It was pretty fun but I was distracted by different things going on - like the passing trains! It was a great time.

Chicken Man!

Pretty good seats!

Look, a Fisher Cat!

Sandy, Dave, and Matt... my guests.

Sandy with yours truly.

I am crafty!

It was my friend Anna's birthday last week. Our friend Jen had a great idea that we should go to a place where you make your own stained glass. I am not normally a creative/artsy person but this was so much fun and we had a great time helping each other complete their pieces. It was also BYOB so we could enjoy some wine to go with the crafty fun!

I made this for a special someone - I will get it to you when it is done, Mem.

The birthday girl and her masterpiece.
The crew that went to show off our artistic abilities.

After the fun at the glass shop we went back to Jen's beautiful house and watched a few movies and got to know each other a bit better. It was a ton of fun and I highly recommend this activity to any of you looking for something to do with a group of friends for any reason... such as a shower, birthday, or just because!

Back to "normal"

I never thought the day would come where I could say that the remodel is done. I still can't say that it is done but it is pretty dang close. We are still waiting on a few replacement fixture pieces and such but other than that we are done! We had our grand opening celebration Friday 7/25 through Sunday 7/27. We are now the current record holder for the number of credit applications processed on a grand opening weekend - we beat the last record holder by 3! I am not sure if we beat any other records but I know we were close on % increase vs. LY numbers.

We had a great time at grand opening. We had characters, a radio station, cake, giveaways... it was so much fun. Lots of work, but lots of fun. Here are a few pictures!

This is the view of the "finished product" complete with balloons.

The BRU DM and district team sent us a cookie basket!
The customary picture with Geoffrey (Pat from BRU did a good job).
It looks so pretty now! I love this dusk photo.
Having a drink with the BRU promo support team!

So that was the biggest event of the past few weeks. Other than that I also finished my class. I got an A for a final grade, of course. I loved that class and felt that I learned so much. We didn't use a book, we used current articles. It proved to be very effective! I only have two more classes to go to get my certificate. I think I have decided to go ahead with taking a class this next term even though it will be during season. I need to get this done and I will just have to deal with the stress and lack of sleep to reach my goal.

Today was my first day off in around two weeks and I had the best day off! My friend Dottie and I went to the lake to do some kayaking. Well... we ended up going around the entire lake! It was a nice work out, we got to see parts of the lake that I have never seen before, and Dottie saw a live loon for the first time! The weather was perfect! While kayaking I was shocked to learn and see that the tornado that was in the state actually hit a few hundred feet from my parents' house. Trees on top of houses, windows blown out... not good.

My zucchini plants have produced 3 good sized zucchini so far, with a few more growing. I am not sure if they are going to produce a lot more zucchini but the ones that are now in my kitchen look full and healthy.

Katie's bachelorette party was this weekend as well. I had a great time and I think Katie did as well. Pictures to follow!

In the home stretch...

... I can see the finish line!

The remodel is over! Soft opening is Monday morning - 10am. Grand opening is just a few days away - Friday 7/25. The ribbon cutting is at 9:30am. The mayor and his two kids will be there and we are hoping for the Governor and former Governor Shaheen. It is going to be awesome! The best part of all of this is that we can return to a "normal life" as much as we can while working retail. This week will consist of me living at work minus time at school and a few hours to sleep.

My class is also over this week. I just finished my exam and my group project is just about finished. I loved this class and hope that I can have my prof. again for another class. My newest dilemma is if I should take a class next term. It starts at the end of August and goes to December. My concern, obviously, is time for school with my work schedule during the Christmas season. Just because I work on the BRU side does not mean I get it easy during the Christmas season. One of the courses that I want to take is available online so I might take that one to still get a class in and have less pressure about missing a class due to work. After I finish my current class I will only have two more classes to be done my certificate. The sooner I finish that the better!

I am growing a garden in the back yard using 5 gallon buckets. We have 2 tomato plants, 1 green pepper plant and 3 zucchini plants. I checked the plants about 3 days ago... had a few buds on the zucchini plants. Now I have full blown zucchini growing!

The "garden" growing strong!

My lone bell pepper. There are a few more buds on the top now, but the rest were knocked off by the big wind and rain storm we had earlier in the week.
Beautiful zucchini plant in bloom. I love that color!
The first zucchini of the year!

Megan and Jason sent me a picture message of "the bug" - which is what we are now calling their little baby in the works. It was cute! I can't wait to be an auntie again!

I also got my hair chopped off. I like the cut, but the color didn't come out quite as planned. Once it is how I want it I will post pictures. For now, people need to stop calling me carrot head!
More to follow once this week is over!

And on the 7th day...

... Sarah rested. Well, for the most part. I had a great day at the lake!

I met my parents at their house for 7am and off to the lake we went. My mom made lots of yummy breakfast food for the crowd to enjoy. After breakfast it was time to head out on the kayaks! It was extremely windy today (normal July day up at the lake) so the wake was a bit high for only my second time out in the kayaks. I decided to get out of the kayak at the spot where one of the springs comes into the lake. I walked up the spring a bit and decided that it might be a great spot for a new geocache! I then went swimming and enjoyed some great conversation with my future sister-in-law Katie and her BFF Debby. It doesn't sound like a very exciting day but it was what I needed!

Here are a few highlights from the day:

Oh my gosh! My mom made everyone's day by providing us with Potato Sticks! Everyone but Katie seemed to be overly excited.

The group of people that was at the lake for the weekend.
My Dad put together the new toy today! Yay for outdoor fun!
Dutch was tired on the car ride home. Poor baby!

How many toppings...

... can you put on ice cream before it is too much to handle? In my book... up to 3 flavors of sauce and all the topping you can pile on. I tend to like as many toppings as I can fit in the bowl.

I am so thrilled that most of my close friends could come by tonight. Jason still came even though Megan was at home feeling icky due to the bundle of love in her oven. Yep, the Blodgetts are expecting their first child. That means I will be an auntie again! Yay!

Back to the ice cream party... so we had a good time. Mike's 6 year old daughter was here this weekend so she played outside with us. I got a badminton/volleyball set and we enjoyed it for about an hour. It was fun to get outside and play on the freshly mowed lawn, complete with trimmed edges. Emma had a great time and gave us all hugs before she went to bed. Jason gave her the best hug of all of us - he is going to be a great daddy!

So much has happened since my last blog. The store is almost complete - the deadline for "100%" is getting really close and there are so many loose ends to fix. I will be at work at least 6 days a week for the next 2 weeks probably. We are all fed up with the remodel and each other and we all can't wait until it is over so we can get back to normal! School is going really well. I love my new class and I hope that I get to have my prof again for another class. She is great! Pretty soon I will have my master's certificate in HR and that will hopefully open new doors of opportunity for me.

I am looking into working on the front yard tomorrow. I would like to redo the mulch/garden area that is next to my drive way. I yanked out the old trim today and am thinking of putting up a small wall but am not sure yet. I have a few bricks to experiment with tomorrow and will save the project for next weekend. My goal is to not have a junky looking front yard by next summer. The big project that I need to save for is the repaving of the drive way and new steps... and a new water heating system and new fridge... ahh, the joys of home ownership!

Mike and I have decided to grow some crops this year. We have a few 5 gal buckets in the back yard housing green bell peppers, two varieties of tomatoes and zucchini! So far we have one green bell pepper forming. The zucchini plants have doubled in size over the past two weeks so I am hopeful that we will have quite the zucchini harvest!

I will try to be better at updating my blog, but with so much going on right now it is hard to spend time writing! Grand opening is the weekend of July 25th. After that life should be back to "normal"!

It's working!

So I have been on antibiotics for my acne problem for about 3 weeks now. I was warned that my skin would get worse before it got better and not to expect to see any results any time before 6 weeks. I am happy to report that my skin is looking significantly better already. I just went through a time where I normally experience an increase in acne and I didn't get one new blemish! So, I think I will be looking much better for my brother's wedding. I have even started wearing mineral make up because I feel pretty and want my skin to look great. Hopefully this will keep my skin clear and I will never have to deal with this again!

gov't happenings... neat site!

I was doing some online research for my new class starting today and came across a particular bill that was introduced which would give private sector employees the option to receive comp time instead of overtime pay for any time worked over 40 hours per week. The current law is from 1938 and the time constraints of that era are very different from today's society. Today people not only have to worry about themselves and kids, but also about their parents... along with employer expectations. Granted, back in 1938 the work week was higher than 40 hours, but many times only one parent worked. Anyway, this bill seems quite interesting and will change the way many of us live if it passes... It will allow employees to basically pick between a paycheck or time off. I think I like it.

Anyway, this website WashingtonWatch.com shows all sorts of neat stuff going on in our government. What really is going on in Congress and the House and what bills are being looked at. You can even vote on if you think the bill is a good idea or not and add commentary. Membership is free and only takes a few seconds to join. Check it out!

My vacation week in review

Today is Sunday, the supposed last day of my vacation... but yet due to my new school schedule I am off from work until Tuesday afternoon! So, another day and a half to go. I feel like this vacation was very unproductive. It was super scorching hot for the first half of the week. I had a big list of outdoor stuff that I wanted to get done this week and got 3 of those things done. The lawn got mowed, my hanging baskets got planted, and the carpet got put on the deck. I didn't scrape and paint the trim, didn't replace the trim around the side door on the garage, and my weed trimmer ran out of the wire stuff half way through (thank you to those who borrowed it and didn't replace the stuff that you used). I did get some stuff done in the house though. My room is super clean. I finally got all of my papers sorted, shredded, thrown out. I went through all of my drawers and cleared out so much stuff. I was so happy to sleep in my clean room the other night. Dutch even seemed to know that I was happy in my clean bed and took it upon himself to sleep in his own bed for once! I had cleaned the kitchen (I even stripped the floor late last week), bathroom, and basement. I cleaned the kitty room. I did laundry and ironed. I did all the stuff that I have to find time to do during a regular week.

Fritz spent most of the hot part of the week sprawled out under the table.

Zee thought it would be appropriate to sprawl out on top of the table (she is not allowed on the table or counters).

I also had my last day of my first class on Wednesday. Monday night I had my group come over for dinner and to work on the project. It was so nice to hang out with the gals and get some work done while talking about our daily lives. I really miss those times with my friends (male and female) in VA and the friends that I don't see much of up here. This made me think of how much I put into my friendships and how little I feel that I get back. I understand that people change, they are at different parts of their lives than I am (spouses and kids), and we don't all live close together anymore. However, I don't think that is an excuse to ignore the people that you were close to. I tend to be the one that reaches out to all of my friends. Once in a while someone will call me or IM me to see how things are going, but the effort really isn't there. I mentioned this to one of my friends and that I planned on laying low because I was done putting the effort in when others don't. He basically said that I was being lame and to get over it and was questioning if I was "testing" my friends. I just feel that I bug people if I am always the one to say hi. But, as my sister put it, some people sign on to an IM service and don't use it. It is just up. So, at this point I am in the middle. I am not going to go out of my way to contact people but if I feel like saying hi I will do so. I don't believe in the "I am busy" excuse that most of my friends give me when I finally hear from them. We are all busy. I am going to school, taking care of my house and pets, and remodeling my store... I know busy. But, I still do my best to make time to keep up with my friends.

This brings me to Thursday morning. I was still feeling kind of depressed over this lack of contact with my friends. So, I came very close to getting in the car and driving to VA. I miss my best friend and my godson and they always make me feel better. I was just in the mood to drive. I actually packed a bag. But, before I got in the car I checked my bank account and a trip to VA for 4 days was out of the question. So, I stayed home and did some more stuff around the house. My best friend randomly sent me an IM about 30 minutes after I decided that I wasn't going, which was a nice surprise. She didn't even know I was going to come down to see her.

I was so desperate for a pick me up that I drove to the airport to see if my flight instructor was there. Nothing makes me smile like a good flight so I thought it would be a good thing to go for a few s-turns and stop and gos. Unfortunately for my spirits and fortunately for my bank account, she was not there and I didn't get to go for my flight. Friday I paid my tuition for class that starts on Monday and traded in my books for my new ones. Then, off to the lake.

A few days at the lake was what I needed to do to regroup. I was there by 2pm on Friday and got home today around that same time. I did some pleasure reading, which made me do some serious thinking about how I live some of the parts of my life, did some walking with Dutch, some baking, a bit of geocaching (and picking ticks off of everything), and tried kayaking for the first time. It was also dockfest '08 - we put the dock in.

Driving the dock across the lake. Meghan is at the wheel and my Dad and Bryan Mc are on the dock.
Dutch is in love with the boat so the minute the dock was attached to the shore he needed to be on the boat watching people swim. It was about 7 am at this point.
Meghan and Bryan Mc enjoying a very early morning swim after getting the dock into place.

I am really not a fan of boating and water. I must have drowned in a past life or was permanently scarred from the knee boarding incident when I was 11. Either way, I never thought I would actually enjoy the kayak nor would I ever see myself crossing the lake in one. At first I started out a bit nervous. I stayed very close to shore. I was shocked to see how much more comfortable I felt in the kayak than I do in a canoe or rowboat. I think it is because I was low to the water. I discovered parts of the lake that I didn't even know existed. I crossed the middle of the lake in the kayak without having a panic attack or shedding a tear! All said and done, I covered half the lake on the kayak and gained lots of confidence.

Feeling out the kayak.Getting ready to go around the lake.

I returned home today to find my house with a foul odor or two... my roomie didn't take care of his rotting food scraps in the sink nor the knife he used 3 days prior. He didn't flush the toilet before he left for his week of training (we don't always flush if it is just pee to save water), and he didn't scoop the litter box before he left. I am a bit confused as to when he actually left because it appears that the cats were not fed on Saturday night either as they tore into their bag of food. So coming home was not exactly a pleasant experience. I don't understand how a grown man can have so much disregard for someone else's property.

At this point I am looking forward to going back to work.

I need a good...

... vacation! I am on my second day of vacation and I am planning on getting tons of stuff done around the house this week. Some landscaping, deck repair (more like covering the problem with outdoor carpet), scraping and painting trim, cleaning the garage and laundry room/storage room, perhaps painting the guest bedroom. I also have to finish one more group project for school and get my books for my next class which starts next week. No down time in grad school I guess. After this 8 week course I will only have 1 more class to go to earn my master's certificate in HR management. Then, I will be taking a few additional courses for my MBA with concentration in Organizational Leadership. I am finally going to finish this up once and for all! I am going to try to take a day trip somewhere to get some geocaching in as well. Perhaps something up north in the beautiful mountains or at the beach. If I play my cards right I will go fishing this week too!

So much has happened since my last post. My aunt Claire turned 50 and she had a kick butt party! I never expected this party to be so much fun! I am not a dancer, more of a wall flower. But, I was on that dance floor all night! And no, I was not drunk. Well, at least not for the first 3/4 of the party. My aunt loves Elvis. As a surprise for her, my uncle dressed up as Elvis and put on a show. Holy damn. I hope that I have a husband who will not be afraid to embarrass himself for me someday! It was so funny to see him up there doing that, but it was so sweet that he did!

I volunteered to get the party started with a game of get the ball into the basket. This is a pic of me getting strapped up. The video is of me trying to cheat to win.

This is me and my mom learning the Cotton Eyed Joe dance... which I really like. I have mastered the lasso part... one step ahead of my mom.

My aunt Lisa and I on drink number 4. I look like I am on drink number 4.

Elvis and Memere dancing.
Bryan and Katie... if you think this party was wild wait until their wedding!
Chicken dance Memere.
Emily showing Marc and Debbie what she is capable of.
No party is complete with out inflatable guitars...
Lisa is really into inflatable guitar playing. Rock on Lisa, rock on!
So, that party was the start to my very long and draining week. I was supposed to stay up that night after the party but due to the amount of dancing I did (4 hours or so) as well as the alcohol consumption and lack of friends coming over to keep me awake... I fell asleep just about as soon as I got home. Not good. I had to start night crew the next night! Sunday night started night crew. The fixtures were up and we had to merchandise it all in 3 days since we were a test store. I love being a last minute test store. Nothing goes to plan because they made the decision too late. But, after all was said and done we opened my half of the store for public eyes on Thursday morning! It was a lot of blood, sweat (5 trucks), and me cooking food for the crew but it got done and it looks amazing! Of course I forgot my camera on Thursday so all I have is pictures of a half finished store. Considering I got about 3-4 hours of sleep a night at the most, I am in some serious need of catch up sleep! I slept until 11:30 am today!