New Title, New Outlook

It is December 26th, 2008. I am sitting here, at my computer in the basement of our Athens home, trying to wrack my brain for some topic of news that may interest myself and anyone else who happens upon this blog. Nothin'. Like winter in Northeastern Pa, my mind seems frozen, barren, dull, and quiet. I thought maybe if I changed the title of my blog, it would give me new perspective...maybe jump start the lifeless motor of my senses so I could at least type out something substantial. *sigh* Maybe come spring...

Regardless, I still changed the title and it seems quite fitting actually. Because everything I post here will be some tiny window into the life I'm leading...which, currently, seems very slow and turtle-like. :) I can't help that I'm not cut out for this gray, cold, colorless weather!

Things to look forward to...
Spring
Colorado in May
California in August
SUNSHINE!

Fall is On its Way...

Although we've had some warmer, mild days, the colors are changing rapidly! Below are some pictures of Greg and Abbie and what I would call the "fire" tree. The colors are beautiful...

September Chaos

Back to school. Back to work. Braces for Greg. Rochester for Paul. Volleyball for Jessi. Student Council nomination speech for Abbie.

It's all good.

Well, most of it anyway. It's been hard having Paul away and he won't be home until the 3rd weekend of September for a couple days, then it's back to Rochester for another 5 weeks. Seems like forever, but I'm sure we'll all survive. Below is a mosaic I put together of Greg. Yep...he has braces now. :)

Family Trip to Acadia National Park

Our trip to Maine definitely had its highs and lows. Our first day of travel made it all the way to Portland Maine where we stayed one night in a hotel. The next morning we decided to take the coastal route up to Acadia National Park and see all the small Harbour towns along the way. Unfortunately, this route took us a lot longer than expected, but the sites were fun to see and we stopped at a beautiful state park along the way right on the ocean and the kids spent hours digging for shells.

We rolled into our campground later that evening, cooked up some soup and grilled cheese sandwhiches, had a bonfire, and hit the sack.

The rest of the week turned out to be a lot of wet and gray! We spent a lot of time in the car driving around Mount Desert Island (where Acadia National Park is located); took some hikes -- one in which we got separated from each other and me, Jessica, and Greg waited around for about 2 hours until Paul finally found us with the car; tasted some great seafood chowda (spoken w/ a New England accent), and tried not to let the weather get us down.

On our last full day the sun finally burst out and the whole world changed! It was beautiful. We took a fishing boat trip out into Frenchman's Bay and everyone in the family caught a fish except for me. We went back around to all our favorite places on the island that we had discovered so far and took pictures. Below is a slideshow of pictures from the trip.

We are finally home and although we miss the salty air of the wide open sea, we are happy to be in our own comfy beds! :)

Hugs and Handshakes

Most people who know me know that I’m not a “hugger”. It’s not that I don’t know how to hug or that I can’t hug, or that I don’t necessarily want to hug (although this may often be the case) it’s just that I’m not a hug initiator. I rarely make the first move for a hug. They tend to make me feel self-conscious and vulnerable and oftentimes they infringe on my personal space.

But that’s all besides the point, because this is not about me not being a hugger but more about my pet-peeve of people who don’t know HOW to hug correctly. It’s sort of like when you go to shake someone’s hand and their grasp is limp and lifeless. You wonder, “what in the world was that?!” “What kind of character/personality does this person have? Do they have any character/personality at all? Why can’t they give a real handshake? What is this limp and lifeless form I’m holding in my hand and trying to squeeze in a “how do you do” greeting or a “nice to meet you” greeting. Just shake my hand like you mean it!” (Yes, these are all thoughts that go through my head).

And then I started to think about hugs in the same way. Have you ever hugged someone who just loosely puts their arms around you without barely touching you and pats you on the back in a lame sort of ta-ta way? I again find myself wondering, “what in the world was that?” Do I have cooties? Is that the best you can do?” Maybe they have attachment issues or don’t like me too much, but then…why even hug me in the first place?!” It’s weird and I’ve decided that I’m not going to let that happen again. The next time someone hugs me like that I’m going to call them on it. I’m going to SHOW them what a real hug should be and then if they get all weirded out by that I’ll just tell them we can do a nice handshake or a nod instead (not everyone likes a hug, ya know).

I mean, there are different ways you can hug and mean it. For example, the side hug (which I prefer); you can put your arm around someone and squeeze like you mean it (it’s sort of like the “man hug”) and not have to give them the full frontal hug (which I don’t prefer). It can pack the same, “I love you, I’m going to miss you, you mean a lot to me” meaning and not infringe on your personal space too much. The full frontal hug, when done correctly, should be strong (not weak and ta-ta-ish) and it requires that almost all of your upper body touch their upper body. There should be NO patting on the back! This is a sign of weakness and “I’m out of my comfort zone-ness". Yes, the full frontal hug is more intimate and mostly reserved for people who you are VERY comfortable with, but it is a powerful hug when done correctly and with sincerity.

So there you have it. I want my hugs and handshakes to be strong and sincere and I think the way a person does either of these is a testament to their strength of character. So ladies, especially, don’t hug like you aren’t sure of yourself or the other person, and don’t give any limp handshakes. I mean, there are people out there, like me, who tend to pay very close attention to these things! :-)

It's Been A While....

Yes, baseball and softball have taken over my life. Days are consumed with practices, games, and travelling. Both Greg and Abbie are playing All Stars this season. They are both subs for the team and don't get as much playing time but the extended practices and exposure to the game have helped to improve their skills so much. In fact, Abbie's team just played their last game against the first seat for Division Champions. Our team lost to theirs, but we gave them a good game and came in second in our division. Below are some pictures from the season...

Greg at bat


Jessi with a hit!


Abbie at bat

Weekend in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

We had the privilege of meeting my Uncle Bob, Aunt Janice, Grandma Kurtz, Cousin Renay and husband Paul and little baby Madeline in Niagara Falls this weekend for a wonderful Mother's Day get together. Saturday at the Falls was spectacular -- we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was sunny, the perfect temperature, and hardly a cloud in the sky.

At first, I was a little anxious about driving all the way into Canada with just myself and the kids for the very first time and not having passports. The drive up was beautiful though -- we took a short cut that went along some rural highways and through a lot of beautiful country. It only took us about 3 1/2 hours door to door. Getting through customs was pretty simple really. She took my ID, our birth certificates, asked me a few questions, and we were on our way.

When we parked close to the Falls to meet up with everyone, I soon realized that I had to exchange some currency to pay for parking! It was the first time I've ever done anything like that and I found out that Canadian money is much cooler looking than U.S. money -- at least, in my opinion.;-)

The entire weekend was a feast for the eyes with all we saw. The tulips and flowering trees were in full bloom and you wouldn't believe the colors. Amazing! We also visited the very quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and that place was amazing too.

It was wonderful to spend time with family seeing all of those sights for the first time and I feel blessed that we were able to do that. A ton of thanks goes to my wonderful Uncle Bob and Aunt Janice for their generosity and kindness this weekend.

Here's a slideshow of some of the pictures!!

A Mother's Day Surprise

Greg's class entered a local contest in which they each had to write a story about their mom for Mother's Day. The stories were submitted to the company and they chose a winner. He only had one day to write his story since we had been in California and he missed a whole week of school. Regardless, Greg's story was chosen as the winner and because of that, I was delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers along with a copy of Greg's story. Below is a picture of me and Greg with the bouquet. His story will now be submitted in the national contest for a chance to win $25,000 and a new car! Wouldn't that be cool?! Below the picture is a typed version of his story.



My Caring Mother
by Greg Beck

My mom is the #1 caring mother in the world which feels like the universe. I feel this way because she is like a mother bird and I'm a baby bird and she is protecting me from the outside in the neverlasting land. She gives me food of healthy parts of the food chain so I can reach my goal I'm now proceeding in. She is a very trustworthy mom and never lies. Never before did she lie to me. She will not spoil me, which if she did, I would be a selfish little brat. That is why my mom is the number one caring mother in the whole world.
*isn't that SOOOO cute??!!!

Spelling Bee

This is a picture of Greg receiving his certificate after the Spelling Bee


The Athens School District puts on a Spelling Bee for local 3rd and 4th graders as preparation for the "official" Spelling Bee that 5th graders are given the opportunity to participate in (the one where they can go all the way to D.C.). The top 2 "spellers" in each 3rd and 4th grade class across the district are brought together for a Spelling Bee. Greg received the most points in his class after a series of mini spelling bees and was chosen to represent his class along with the second highest scoring student. The Spelling Bee for all the district classroom "champs" was last Wednesday. Out of 37 students, Greg came in 8th. His word was "longitude" and he missed the e on the end! He was so close! Had he spelled that word correctly, I'm positive he would have went on to be in the top 2 or 3. Below is a video clip of Greg spelling "frequently".

Back from Cali

We just returned from a week long trip back home to Northern California. The weather was beautiful and it was great to see family and friends. Below are a couple pictures from our trip and I've posted more on my Flickr. Tomorrow is back to work and the day to day grind of getting up at the crack of dawn. Ugh!

Taken on Table Mountain near Oroville, Ca.



A shot of Burney Falls