Life is Good

Each day I count my blessings and it is probably trite at this time of year, but I found myself doing it again today. We have a wonderful new house in Vermont, all of my extended family are well. My son is newly engaged and my daughter is on the trip of a lifetime with her aunt, uncle and 2 cousins. I LOVE MY JOB, in case you have not caught that in the tone of Intuit blog posts. I do have friends who are going through tough times; cancer, divorce, estrangement from family, deaths. Who knows why we are dealt the hand we are dealt? Who or what gave cancer to one and not another?

At times like this I always wait for the other shoe to fall. I wait to have some hand dealt to me that it hard to handle. But for now, I count my blessings, and look forward to the New Year with anticipation and reluctantly say good-bye to this one. It has been a very good year.

How did we get here so fast? New Year's resolutions

Is it really December 29th? I love this limbo week between the 25th and 1st. Work is really quiet, the harassing of the 25th by the media is almost done with. There are all kinds of articles and shows about looking back over the last year and planning for the next one.

So, I have had my New Year's resolution identified for a few months now. The important part of these is making them a habit. DUH! My new habit for 2008 was to use reusable bags. It worked. I only used plastic 5-6 times during the year. If I forgot them in the car, I made myself go back out to the car. I also bought more reusable bags several times when I did not have them with me. Even my local yarn store gave me one this week. Free advertising.

So this year, 2009, I am going to use reusable mugs and glasses. Rather than take the Starbucks or Peets paper cup and plastic cover, I am going to hand them my mug. I have been practicing this and it is not that difficult. I really have already broken the habit of water in bottles. It is so stupid that we drink water out of plastic bottles, except if we are in areas where the water is not drinkable.

Back to bags, when I see people use plastic I wonder if they are reading different articles than I am about how bad they are for the environment. I want to lecture them and say, "It is not that difficult. I made a New Year's resolution last year and followed it most of the year." But, I should not butt in, maybe just gently suggest.

These are both very small gestures for the environment and at the rate of one a year, won't make that big a dent, but they are a start. A really difficult one would be to turn off all of the electronic machines in my house. When I walk through in the dark, all these little lights are still on. I would need support from other family members on this one, but maybe I could just do a few of those as well for 2009. We are thinking of a new car, and I can definitely purchase one with high gas mileage.

OK, on to the 1st and a trip to Vermont for 5 days. Yum, Yum . . .

Crazy Busy past 24 Hours

In the last 24 + hours we have:

• Dropped Bee at the airport with her aunt, uncle and 2 cousins to go on their trip to Egypt and Greece
• Played 4 or 5 games of Settlers with Tom Dau Sarah Meg Crick Rod Mike Peg
• Made a meal for more Settlers with 4 friends
• Saw Aurelia's Oratorios at ART in Cambridge (very interesting BTW)
• Walked into town twice to the yarn store and Peets, once for Judy and once for Peg
• Etc, etc, etc

This is a busy time of year, but extending Christmas this way does keep it alive beyond the 25th

What we have NOT done is:

• Head to the mall for "those deals"
• Eaten too much food
• Have regrets about the holidays
• Travelled (although the Vermont contingent did bring their young adults down to leave from Logan)

As an aside, George and Judy are taking their nieces and nephews on a trip during their college years as a way to show them countries and cultures outside the US. Bethany is going with Frances and Grady. It is a really great group and their aunt and uncle are incredible to give them this experience.

Some day I want to repeat their trip down the Nile . . .

Nearly Perfect Christmas

Yesterday was nearly perfect. Why not perfect? Well, maybe it was perfect after all. George asked me yesterday if there is anything about my job at Intuit that I don't like. "It is not in Vermont." was my answer.

What made it perfect. Having family around, even though it was only part of our family. Perfection for this extravert would have been ALL of our extended family, Russells and Lowes and Moores and Mayos and a Swartzbaugh, and a partridge in a pear tree.

The breakfast of eggs benedict is a must. George did the eggs which is always the hardest part for me. Judy made the hollandaise sauce and our friend Marilin did the english muffins. Bethany did the ham, and what did I do? Orchestrated . . . What did I do now that I think of it?

Our stockings were hung on the hearth with care and were stuffed. I love the stocking part of Christmas the best. There were very few presents under the tree and the tree is perfect this year. We had enough time to make some presents this year. Only one was a WIP. George wondered why I Santa gave him a partially finished pair of socks in his stocking.

The theme this year was Smart Wool socks. At least 3 if not 4 of the Santas in our house were giving them and no duplicates. Our feet were very warm.

We ventured out for a 6:30 showing of Doubt. It was very good, back to hot cider and a game of Settlers with a new twist, a fishy thing that George gave us as an addition.

BTW, George also gave us a travel version of Settlers that is going on a wonderful trip to Egypt and Greece with George, Judy, Frances, Grady and Bee.

So, yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and the perfect Christmas is not on the TV screen or in the ads in the newspaper. It is in your heart and with the love of your family and friends. It is a day to pause and count your blessings and to have family and chosen family around. It is a carrying on of traditions and the making of new ones.

What do I want for Christmas next year, Peace on Earth and Obama administration success. I can help out on both of those in a small but powerful way.

As promised - Our Holiday communication

and the letter . . .

A Capsule of Our Lives 2007 and 2008

Hello to everyone. Just as we finished writing our 2007 letter our computer died on us so it never did get sent out. So this will be a two year flight through our lives. Put on your reading glasses, we have a lot to cover.

The last two years have seen many significant developments in our household. Sally started a new job, and Bethany is now in her second year at Hampshire College. Rodney and Sally have bought a holiday/ weekend/ retirement home in Vermont, Chris got engaged to his girlfriend Meg, and Rodney has sent off his papers applying for American Citizenship.

2007 started off with Sally ending her consulting career as she started working for Intuit, a software firm with its HQ in California. She loves working for this company that is recognized as one of the great places to work. It is amazing to see her morale stay high, when the work environment is a great one. She has made ½ a dozen trips to the West Coast in 2 years, including combining a long weekend to rendezvous in San Diego with Kathy, a friend who moved to Hawaii a few years ago.

Bethany ended her high school years on a high note as our house seemed to be filled more and more often with more and more young men and women simply enjoying one another’s company. They arrive back within minutes of her arrival home from college.

Rodney still works at Fidelity and in 2007 was embarking on an exciting project to replace the database he has spent most of his working career supporting in some fashion. At the end of 2008 the project is still keeping him employed but as we end the year with financial markets melting down into a monetary roué every week things do not anything close to certain he’ll be employed at Fidelity next year.

We bought the Mini Cooper for his commute to Merrimack NH.

On the health front, Sally had arthroscopic surgery to trim a meniscus in her left knee. Rodney had a trip to the doctors office as one of his two kidney stones decided to make its way out, the other is still in there and he awaits its appearance with trepidation and a supply of Vicodin close at had.

Riding remained a focus through the last two years. Bethany competed on Autumn while still in Eastern Massachusetts and took him with her to Hampshire last year. She joined the pretty new Hampshire equestrian team and the team surprised lots of competing better financed college teams by doing pretty well. Rodney started riding again last year before Autumn went off to college last year and when her returned this summer. He stayed here this fall, not the least, because he had damaged his eye. But now he has recovered and Rodney is looking forward to riding him again.

This year Sally and Rodney independently stumbled upon a house online that they ended up buying in March this year. They named it CONISTON after the street Rodney grew up on and after one of his favorite places in the English Lake District. It in South Hero on the southern most tip of the Lake Champlain islands in Vermont. As we write this it marks the first time that Rodney has been away from the place for more than two weeks. Our first summer/fall we have had a flurry of visitors up there. We want people to know where to find us once we move. The Sisters came for 2 weeks in September, and we drove them straight to Coniston for 5 days. One friend named our front floor to ceiling windows that look out on Mt. Mansfield, Camel’s Hump and Lake Champlain, “Channel 1”. So far, we have resisted having a TV in Vermont.

Rodney and Bethany went down to work in New Orleans with the church youth group last year, and Rodney and Sally went down with the youth group this year. The appalling state of the city has to be seen to be believed, or not believed. Bethany also went down this year with a fellow youth group friend to work in Plaquemines Parish in an area that was almost obliterated from the earth by Katrina in 2005.

Things that continue to sustain us are our UU churches, VT and MA, Star Island (the family has a new ballerina), family, friends, General Assembly in Portland and Ft. Lauderdale.

Our travel and vacations in the last 6 months have been to Coniston. We travel there every other week and sometimes drive back early on a Monday morning to be able to spend one more night there. While up there this last weekend, the wind from the South was absolutely wonderful. The snow drifts in the driveway accumulated pretty quickly. Fortunately we have someone who plows when there is 4 inches.

To quote Bethany “our faith in humanity was renewed” at 11pm on November 4th this year, or 10: 57 if you were watching Jon Stewart. We have never watched an election with so much passion and excitement.

Last year marked the end of our annual First Foot celebration. It did throw a few people off, but we intend to replace it with something, sometime, somehow.

If you feel inclined to contact us more personally our email and cell #s are: (removed since this is open to the WWW . . .

Or friend us on Facebook.

Electronic presents

A few days ago I was thinking that more than the past years, there will be treasures that people share in various social media sites. It started this morning when I discovered that my sister and I posted similar youtubes of a musical group "Straight No Chaser". That is on my Facebook profile now.

I just read a colleagues blog and there is a wonderful joke and I am sure these will continue over the next few days. Social networking has grown so much in the last year and there has to be a limit to how much time we spend on those sites. Part of the reason I blog is for myself, so that I can go back a year and see what I was up to. Also, I store important urls here, in case I forget them. A few times, I have emailed a link to someone because of something in my blog.

Yesterday I got an emailed Christmas letter from my cousin which confirms my earlier post, that next year we are going electronic.

OK, off to finish a few things at work, head home and make some more Christmas . . .

I have kept over the years a hard copy of 12 letters responding to the gifts of the 12 days of Christmas. I think I could find that online and recycle my hard copy.

You can find almost anything online.

Malls - the Antithesis of Christmas and Holidays

OMG, unfortunately due to a series of decisions, I spent 3 hours in traffic yesterday. I had a work lunch at the Burlington Mall, and tried to run an errand 1.5 miles away from the mall before the lunch. I was 35 minutes late for the lunch. FIRST HOUR IN TRAFFIC. I thought I would be very clever and run one errand at the mall, my Christmas PJs, and then got in my car to leave. The police man would not let me leave to the left, so I literally circled the mall and left at the other end. Traffic was so bad that it even was backed up in Lexington, 3 miles from the Mall. I was on work phone calls for part of the 3 hours, which was a good use of the time.

OK, so I am going to stay in the Christmas spirit this year. When I got home Bee was making dinner. I love her. She always knows when to pitch in. That freed me up to make Lemon Poppy seed bread, which is my traditional gift to people at work and at home. I also was able to paint the star decorations and start a bracelet which has a due date of Christmas Eve. So the last 3 hours of the day were the best part of the day.

I don't go to the Mall outside of the holidays and I darn well try to stay away during the holidays. Who thought it was a good idea to have a work lunch at the mall on the 22nd of December? Never again.

Ho, Ho, Ho . . .

One Year Notice

OK, so this will really only be effective for my blog readers and in that case I am preaching to the choir. Next year, I am going to make an attempt to go GREEN with our Christmas letter routine. I know, the USPS may go out of business eventually if more people like me do this.

Working for a technology company where we talk a lot about social networking, I think web is the way to send this out next year. If you really think about it, my BLOG readers, I love you guys!, have way more information already than our letter. The letter is very cathartic for us to realize what we did in a year, or in the case of the current letter, the last 2 years. That is another story.

So maybe I will experiment this year and post our picture collage and letter here, and you guys can give me feedback on the experiment. Spenser if you read this, you are a key person to input into this decision, because you will have to direct your Mom and 2 Aunts to this blog next year. What do you think? I guess we could print a few out for those who just won't come here. I will discuss with Rod and Bee and Crick and Meg and see what the consensus is.

Happy Winter (I see now, why she is named Winter Lola)!!!!!

Candle Extinguished

I guess I knew it could not last forever, but one can hope that it will. What the hell am I talking about?

Our Christmas Eve service ends with all of us lighting candles, after we have put on our coats, and we walk out of the church with lit candles, singing carols.

OK, so it is very dangerous, all that flame and hair and jackets and close proximity to the same BUT for me it is the magic of Christmas. To look at all those people I love and some who I barely know. To see the candle flame reflected in their eyes, and to see the children for who this is even more magical than it is to this 54 year old sap.

So, this year we will extinguish our candles before we go outside. Part of the challenge at FPLEX is to get home with your candle still lit. Silly, but yes many of us try to do this every year.

This year George and Judy are coming for Christmas and I was really looking forward to sharing this experience with them. SO, I guess we will bring matches and light our candles once we are out of the 150+ wooden building.

It makes sense, but are we going to end up in a society where we are so cautious about everything that we don't take chances to experience magic? NO, I don't like change when it is done to me and affects my favorite 10 minutes of the church year. Rev Bill also changed the Christmas Eve service in a year when Bethany and the Senior High always lit the candles in the service, and his first year, other younger kids and adults lit the candles. I was crushed about that one as well.

Some of my thoughts last night were:

• Shall we just leave our candles lit
• Go to another church, Bethany talked me off the wall on that one
• Sit in the balcony, where you have to extinguish them anyway before you come down
• Try to get it changed.

In the end, it will not be changed, and I should not expect to have it changed. It would have been great to know this a few months ago when it was decided so I had some time to absorb it, but we don't communicate the tenuous stuff well do we?

I will get over it and no one can extinguish my candle forever, just temporarily until I get outside.

In the end I emailed the Minister and Board Chair asking if there is anything I can do to get this changed.

My virtual candle will be lit, and I will still make eye contact without the most important part of the lit candle. It will not be the same. I cannot control everything especially when I have been so detached anyway. Just remember that I am often the canary in the coal mine. I am not the only one feeling this way, just one of those who expresses it.

Taking things for Granted

While talking to several employees who have been without power for 5 days now, I quickly started counting my blessings. Somehow the problems with our toilet at Coniston seems less drastic; it flushes. The wind that I wrote about last, was incredible but we did not lose power. And if we do lose power, we have a wood stove which can heat the house and I guess we could cook on the wood stove.

Again, Intuit is a fabulous company. I am running a meeting at 2:30 today to brainstorm how we can help those employees who don't have power. I am offering showers and laundry and a hot dish brought to your house. People are going to lend generators and get batteries, or large quantities of water in containers to use for flushing. There is no doubt but all of us would offer these things. Mountain View is getting involved as well, by publishing on the corporate intranet that employees can donate with matching funds to the Red Cross.

Yes, at this time of year, I am counting my blessings and reaching out when I can to help others. This after all is the message that Jesus taught us all.

We are in for some Wind

I am sitting here in the living room at Coniston, listening to the wind. I don't think it has let up at all since midnight last night so for 18+ hours there has been a south wind blowing off of the lake. Our driveway this morning has a pretty big drifted bank of snow near our new septic mound. The plow guy plowed at 10am and when Crick and Meg left at 11am, only 1 hour later (after Rod won the most incredible game of Settlers) they had to accelerate through a new snow bank. The plow guy came again at 4pm and plowed quite a bit of snow so Rod and Bethany could leave. I left my car at the end of the driveway just in case we have enough drifting to create another impassible bank.

So for those who keep asking me "Have you spent a winter up there yet?" rest assured that this wind situation is very exciting for me. I am sure we will get snowed in a few times and we may have to reposition our driveway because I think where it is currently positioned, is the most drift prone part of our cleared 2 acres.

Growing up in Colorado, some of my best memories were when we got snowed in.

This weekend gave up the opportunity to meet a few neighbors. Rich took care of the situation this week where we lost water. We had to hire a diver with a dry suit to go see what was wrong with the pump, that is in Lake Champlain. Apparently we/they also lost power for 2 days this week.

Yes, this is going to be an exciting place to live and I am up for the challenge. It is a great weekend to test some of the inclement weather that we will be experiencing when we live here full time. Rich was surprised that we are spending New Years up here.

We also met Laurie who is one of our closest neighbors. We took over our check for 7.8% of the snow plowing. They calculate it on our far down Phelps Lane your driveway is. She served as the treasurer for the snow plowing.

We also heard some of the neighbor relations. I guess we are pretty ignorant at this point, so will invite all of them to our New Year's party and sit back and observe.

Saturday morning, a non-Phelps Lane neighbor arrived walking down our driveway with a shovel. Could he shovel our pond, so his kids can skate on it? Sure. Now we need to buy ice skates so we can skate as well. It was pretty funny, that he arrived with the shovel. I think he would have shoveled it, even without asking us.

So, yes we are up for the wind, and drifts, and snow and fire. We also got connected to the internet this weekend.

What we bring up to Coniston

Last night, as I was falling asleep, Rod was packing a box of books to take with us this weekend to Coniston. He has already taken several boxes up there.

Walking around at work it got me to think about what I want to bring up there and leave. Unfinished knitting projects. To get them out of the way? NO! To make room for more unfinished projects? NO!! Because at Coniston, I have more time and might finish them with less distractions around.

I first thought of bringing up some of my stashes e.g. yarn, fabric, craft books. However, if I start splitting those, then I might need something in MA that is in VT and visa versa.

So I might start bringing up projects, put in bags of unfinished knitting projects and then start finishing them up there.

It is interesting to think about what we want to take and leave up there, and what we want to keep around us the majority of the time.

Milestone achieved

So yesterday was Crick's birthday and he asked his girlfriend of 5 years to marry him and she said YES. It seems like the perfect timing for them. I have felt since I met Meg and saw them together for the first time, that they are perfect for each other and belong together. She beats him at video games, loves playing games as much as he does and they often launch into dialogue from a movie. I am usually clueless about the movie since I don't remember details, but they have their own private laugh about the movie dialogue and I love it. They share a lot of the same values and want the same kind of important things in life. Needless to say, as a parent I could not be happier. One can only hope for your child to be happy in their marriage and to marry someone who you know makes them happy.

This is the first engagement in the Russell/Swartzbaugh family of the next generation of cousins.

I love all of the reactions from my siblings but the best is from my sister. "Another girl, Sal"

Yoga only lasted for my body not my mind this morning

OK, so I go to yoga at 7:20am in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I usually leave pretty relaxed and focused on the day. Today the mind part did not last long. Last week we sent out an email to the office describing the inclement weather policy. We did it proactively to avoid any confusion. Bottom line "You are a manager. Unless the state closes, we are open, and use your judgement with your employees." An ice storm is due so one manager emailed last night wondering when we close. DID YOU NOT READ THE EMAIL? I was talking about this with the site manager on my way to work, and a moron in back of me starts flashing his lights at me. I cannot see an obvious reason other than the fact that I am driving a flashy Mini cooper with a union jack on top. My first meeting was one with a lot of excitement about a press visit tomorrow.

So, my body is still relaxed and focused but my mind had a few ups and downs prior to 9:30am.

It was still a worthwhile yoga class. I am working on having muscle memory so that these classes help calm my mind, stretch my body and in general help me with the ups and downs I might unexpectedly face.

OH, and for the jerk who was flashing his lights at me a few bits of advice:

1. You actually cannot occupy the same space as my cute little mini
2. There is only one lane ahead so I don't know where you want me to move
3. If you are trying to send me a message other than the top 2, try another way to send me a message
4. Merry Christmas

Honest - we were good parents

Saturday night, December 6th, 2008

"Wow, I love this picture of Bethany with the case of beer!"

Silence while Rod logs into Facebook . . .

"Oh, that picture, I thought you meant a recent picture."

I remember so clearly this photo. We were returning the empties (I think there are 3 boxes of empties, did we really drink that many?) to the store and our little jewel loved boxes, full or empty. She was always a ham in front of the camera and smiled in just the right way for this one.

I can see that there might be some misunderstanding from some about this picture. Ask Rod some time about pouring beer all over his stepson shortly after we were married.

It is currently her facebook profile picture.

Sock knitting maniac

I love knitting socks, and this time of year is a great time for knitting socks. As I knit away at a pair today I remembered a particular year in college. I don't remember which year it was but 73 or 74. We were going back to Colorado for Christmas. The prior year our first Colorado cousin had gotten married and we were in Colorado for that, so the parents decided that we should come back for Christmas. That year I knit socks for everyone. I cannot remember how many pairs it was but it was possibly a dozen. They were easy to pack, fun to make and everyone would like them. My cousin Clay always reminds me that I make the best socks of anyone.

Last year, I knit Christmas stockings for my new nephew, his Mom and brother.

This year I find myself one again making LOTS of socks for Christmas.

At this time of year, it is a comfort to have needles in my hands, wool between my fingers and the magic of socks appearing off of the needles. Back to the knitting. I have a few orders for after Christmas as well. There can never be enough hand knit socks around.

Fairly common rant - I am sure

OK, so 3 months ago, all the media could talk about was the price of gas, but now all they can talk about is the economic crisis. These are both very short term news trails, but occupied gobs of time on the TV. OH, sorry they had the Hilary Obama show to report on for a long time, and then the Sarah Palin show and the "Will we ever elect a black president?" show. Honestly, if they don't have something to report on, they make up something.

So, as I get more depressed about the Dow Jones I have to remind myself, they have to report on something. I guess the best strategy is to not listen to the news, and to keep the long term in mind if you do listen to the news too much and get depressed.

I always wonder why we cannot report on good things happening. Don't we as human beings love a happy ending? I do.

So, for sanity purposes, less news, more happy stories and don't let the turkeys get you down.

December 2nd - time to get stressed about the holidays

Tonight was way too relaxing. After all, the TV tells us to be shopping and creating that perfect Christmas. We will have a perfect Christmas because George and Judy are coming, and we have decided to only do stockings with them.

This really is a strange year for the economy. I hesitate to look at the Dow Jones Average, because what can I do about it anyway. That is not why we are simplifying this year. Material things are not where it is at.

What is important for the holidays are: family and the gathering of the same, stockings, making things, Christmas eve service, snow, lights, cookies, eggs benedict, staying in PJs until after noon, carols and caroling,

What is NOT important for the holidays are: rushing around, getting stressed out, going to the mall, huge amounts of food, traveling long distances, tons of presents to wrap, being stressed about getting our Christmas letter out (we might do it this year, but maybe not)

I remember blogging last year about this same topic. Each year we get even simpler in what we keep in our lives at this time of year.

OK, back to making things . . . and to relaxing on the couch, and to not letting the media get me cranked up about making the PERFECT holiday. It already is prefect.

December 1st - RABBIT RABBIT

When we were growing up, on the first day of any month there was a very strict routine. You woke up, did not speak and jumped over the end of your bed and said "Rabbit, Rabbit!" The early birds in the house would always tried to catch those who don't wake up as quickly and get them to talk before they said it. Weren't we mean? I think you were supposed to have good luck for the rest of the month. I think our birthday month was a really important one to do the Rabbit Rabbit thing.


I say there were strict rules because you could not jump over the side of the bed it had to be the end. You could not whisper. The spell was broken if you said anything. The entire family did this.

While on my walk this morning, I remembered that it was the 1st, so I said "Rabbit, Rabbit!" Qammi said "Where?" in her dog way. I have given myself a lot of slack as I grow older and this one on my walk counted.

I have met a few people who have this routine and understand me when I say "Rabbit, Rabbit!" but just a few.

So big birthdays today are Carlton Warren is 100, and brother Ted and friend Liz turn less than 100 today.

4 Days off

It has been a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend. B was home on Tuesday night, her Lexington friends came around that night and the following night and a friend from Amherst came by yesterday and spent last night with us. They just departed on their way back to Amherst, with the bunnies who also spent the long weekend with us.

The nicest part was that we had very little planned, did not travel and the entire holiday was very low-key. Don't get me wrong. I always miss my family on the holidays if I am not with them. When you grow up with 6 siblings, then holidays are LOTS of family around. I did connect with most family on Thursday and the remaining ones on Friday so at least I had contact.. .

I knit a lot over the last 4 days. B reminded me that I promised her roommate a pair of socks, and those are nearly finished. And I am knitting on a BEAUTIFUL sweater for myself. Guess what the colors are? Pink, orange and dark orange.

I made a to-do list of projects that I want to finish for Christmas. A few pairs of socks, a few bracelets of beads and some felted slippers. I always have too many projects planned, but you do what you can do. N'est ce pas?

So, because I love my job, I don't have that Sunday night misery going on and feel really rested.

There was not enough playing Settlers over the 4 days. There are only a few Russell family members who are as addicted as I am and one of those is coming for Christmas.

Onto the next long weekend of a holiday and try to keep that peace and serenity as we approach the commercial holiday of the year. We have scaled back even further this year, and with George and Judy are just doing our Chritmas stockings. As Judy says "You can fit some really nice things in a stocking."

Hilary - electing a woman president?

At dinner last night with 2 friends, K and K, we talked about Hilary. The conversation started when K. asked why if the female population is 52%, we seem to not be able to elect a woman president. I must admit that K and K have thought a lot more about this than I have so I absorbed a lot more than I contributed. Most intriguing for me was to discuss some of Hilary's actions during the 8 years of the Clinton administration. They proposed Health Care reform and appointed her to run it, but not much happened. When the Monica stuff was happening, she must have been very humiliated, BUT she stayed with him.

I think she ran a horrible campaign and was too cocky. Apparently she spent a lot of her money in the beginning expecting to be the leader.

Face it, Obama ran an EXCELLENT campaign, and had incredible organization (Thank you brother George and friend Kathy and friend Ben, and every one else who organized, called rang doorbells and helped elect him). Would you guys have done the same for Hilary?

So either, this was the wrong year to try to run, or we might have trouble ever electing a woman. As a woman I hope in my lifetime to see a woman president for my daughter and grand daughter.

Coming home for Thanksgiving

In talking with college age parents, and a lot of first years, everyone is exicted that their kids are coming home. I am one of those who is excited that my kid is coming home for Thanksgiving; a second year.

It brought me back to when I came home from College, all 17 miles. By Thanksgiving I had just gotten into a pattern and a groove. The trip home disrupted that pattern although I was glad to be going home. I had a lot of studying to do, so I took books home and with all good intentions tried to study, but too many distractions. My younger siblings were really glad to see me, and I was glad to see them. My parents were also glad to see me, the house was full again.

Some years we traveled to MacLean to visit Mama, but most years we stayed in Brandon. It was usually a really nice break before the sprint to the end of exams.

Thanksgiving is a pretty uncharged holiday. The spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving prevail.

We are "coming" home for Thanksgiving, meaning we are sitting tight in Lexington. We have an invitation to join a family for THE MEAL, which means we don't have to do a ton of work.

A few years ago, we had a family reunion at Stowe Flake and most of the family was there. Meg first met a lot of the family during that weekend. That was a great Thanksgiving memory, along with the others from prior years.

I am glad to be "coming" home for Thanksgiving, and glad she is coming home.

New Recipe - Carmelized Onion Risotto Pie

We are in Vermont for the weekend and have friends coming to visit. I made an onion pie recently and in surfing the web I found another recipe for onion pie that I wanted to try. I just finished making it, all ready for the oven and Coniston smells really wonderful right now. Onions, cheese, wine. I really love trying new recipes and this is the prefect place to try new ones because it is so relaxing. It reminded me of when I first started cooking in my first house and inviting people over. I always made spaghetti and when Charles remarked on that I branched out the the next time he came to visit. I made spaghetti pit. I thought that was different enough from regular spaghetti. So now I am on onion pies.

At work on Friday we were standing around talking about cooking. We decided to share our favorite recipes to add a bit of inspiration to our meals. I do sometimes get stuck and cannot figure out what to make for dinner. It would be so easy to open my notebook of recipes but sometimes there is nothing there I want to make. However, this week I made 2 recipes from there that I have never made, a cheese soup from Peg and a lentil soup from Marilin.

So far today, I have left the house twice, to take Qammi out and to go see if there was lots of smoke coming out of the chimney. It is almost noon and the other things I have done today are:

• make 2 cups of coffee
• bath
• Knit my new project which I love
• reading
• stoking the fire
• sitting on the couch
• listen to Car Talk and Wait Wait Don't tell me

I am pretty spoiled I must admit to have this wonderful place to relax in. It brings out the best in me and is a wonderful recharging place.

I think the pie will be a success. It certainly smells and looks good. It might become another page in my recipe notebook for inspiration when I cannot think of something to make for dinner.

Retiring to Vermont - Yes I have spent a full winter there

With the purchase of Coniston in Vermont more than a few people have asked "But, have you spent a full winter there yet?". I looked at the first few people with a questioning look, like "What do you mean have I spent a full winter there yet?" I think even my lovely husband has said "But we have not spent a winter there yet". In conversation with my friend Cindy we talked about the fact that some people retire to Florida or North Carolina and some people retire to Vermont. It is a very good thing that we are wired differently otherwise we would all be retiring to the same place and be on top of each other.

So yes, I have spent 22 years of my life living in a wintry climate, Colorado and Vermont. I love the snow, I love being snowed in, and blizzards. It might explain why at the first blizzard I get out in the car and drive in it. I took both of my kids out snow driving when they first got their licenses, so they would know how to drive in the snow. So that part of Vermont is clear, I love snow and driving in it, and yes I have spent 22 years in that kind of climate.

Now on to mud season. This morning I was thinking about it and kids love mud. They love to walk in it, get really dirty and squishy. Well maybe not all kids, but this kid does. As long as you can clean up and have the right boots mud season is tolerable. We looked at Coniston for the first time in March, during mud season. We could not even see the driveway for the mud, and we will made an offer a few days later. So, I don't mind mud season, because it ends and then the glorious spring and summer and fall arrive.

As long as we have heat, and layers, and snow shoes, and wood stoves and our Channel 1 then yes, I can spend a winter there.

It is a very good thing that we are all different. I would never be as excited about a sandy beach as a snow bank. If they could only invent a way to play golf in the snow then it would be paradise, this "Vermont in Winter" thing.

Yoga, Yoga, Yoga

For a variety of reasons, I have not been to yoga in months. Don't ask me why just rest assured that the rationales were pretty ridiculous. So Saturday morning, we are in Lexington and I trek to the YMCA for a yoga class and this morning I headed out for my regular 7:20am class. I don't forget how good I feel after yoga in the months that I don't go.

It helps center me, it helps keep me flexible, it stretches out the muscles that I am building by weight lifting and the muscles that are sore from other exercising.

Just like anything else it is a habit and it is also a habit to not go.

So, unless there is a really good reason I am going to return to Tues and Thur 7:20 am classes and 9am Sat when I am in Lexington. I am also going to try to find a studio in Vermont so I can get to a class on the weekends that we are at Coniston.

My blogging has changed

OK, when I started this blog, it was my only social media, it was the only way I was communicating to anyone who happened upon this url, about what I was thinking and what I was doing. It was the only place I posted "public" pictures.

Then, I discovered Facebook. Yeah, Yeah, it is almost 2 years since I discovered Facebook but only in the last 5-6 months have I really been using it a lot. Go to my facebook account, friend me and see how much I have posted. If you really want to know what I am up to in small bites, Facebook is the source. If you want to know what I am thinking about more deeply my blog is the source.

It is funny to talk to adults about Facebook. Some look at me like I have 2 heads, when I tell them I have a facebook account. Others shyly say "me too".

OK, so about 6 months ago, Twitter entered my computer. I can update my Facebook status from Twitter. I can use my mobile phone to update twitter and Facebook. I just discovered that Plaxo has my facebook updates. So I have resisted using Twitter a lot, since I really want one place to update but I have 2 now. So for the immediate future, Facebook for small sound bites, my blog for longer maybe not deeper thoughts.

I am contemplating not having a Holiday letter and picture collage for the second year in a row. If you want to know what I have been up to for the last year, read this blog and go to my Facebook account. Maybe we will do a picture collage and post it here and there.

Change is hard, maybe Twitter will become indispensable to me . . . but not today. Go to Facebook for now.

Intuit - Great Place to Work - Chapter 200

Ok, so after my crazy day yesterday, see previous post I am having a pretty relaxing day today.

Our Site leader sent an email out to the site yesterday alerting them that we are #22 on the Globe 100 Top Places to work. At 5:22 am our CEO sent an email congratulating us. My HR Leader sent an email last night "YEAH WALTHAM", and he forwarded it to his peers in HR. I just got the latest, "Congratulations Sally!".

Awards like this are to be celebrated, from all levels of the organization, but at Intuit it feels so genuine. It is not just going through the motions. Even in the craziest of times we stop and recognize and celebrate, and we mean it.

Don't get me wrong, I have had to deal with a few messy situations today as well, but somehow when there is genuine recognition and support it makes the messy ones easier.

I am going to have a very hard time ever leaving here, unless I can find the same kind of environment.

Yes, we are a great place to work, and need to step back occasionally and bask in the recognition.

A Day in the Life of ME

I just scanned my Inbox for today and realized that this is my life, although today seemed a bit more extreme than normal. This is only my business email Inbox, to say nothing of my personal email Inbox. I try to keep the 2 separate.

Here Goes my day:

• Because we drove down from Vermont my 9:30am meeting was 1/2 on the phone and 1/2 live. We covered over 10 agenda items at this meetings.
• Our company placed #22 on the Boston Globe Top Places to work so there were details today that I handled around that
• An employee only got 1/10 of his paycheck and I had to help him trace that down
• 3 VPs are visiting from Mountain View this week, so those logistics were discussed
• We organized an ice cream social to celebrate the Boston Globe award, and we needed to make sure that did not collide with the 3 VP meetings
• We ordered prizes for the Christmas party
• I was on a phone call for 90 minutes with all the other HR people who support Marketing
• I checked to make sure our quarter mobility data was correct
• An employee stopped by dissatisfied with his role
• We checked and some of the organizational data for our Annual Employee Survey, which started today, could have been confusing, so we try to sort that out
• blah, blah, blah

My point is that some days are very predictable and steady and I can actually tell you what I will be working on and some are like today where a lot of my day was eaten up my unpredictable stuff.

I should plan for the unpredictable ones, which I guess would not make them unpredictable . . .

It does not help that I could not sleep last night and when the alarm went off at 5am, I said "Well that is not good news!"

I love my job, and thrive on days like today because I can handle this many things at once without letting any of the BIG ONES drop to the floor. I will sleep well tonight.

Post Election thoughts

And this is why I love my husband, he wrote this email on November 5th to our kids:

"Crick, B,
1. I'm starting my citizenship papers tonight, since a pretty good number of you Americans have fended off what was starting to look like a fundamentalist Christian government.
2. That's largely due to a large number of young voters like you coming forward to take the country in a new direction and that can only bode well for future elections. Those over 64 are one of the few demographics that stuck with McCain and they will start to die off with ever increasing frequency. You young folks will shift the balance if you stick with it.
3. Just in time, we are going to have a president who can restock the Supreme Court with younger progressive judges to replace the older ones who will retire (as they surely will during his first term). With any luck he may need to replace one of the older judges of the opposing persuasion.
4. The resounding victory has given him some pretty good coat tails, that leaves other legislators indebted to him somewhat, while they helped sweep others out of power. So all of his initiatives should have a "relatively" easy passage.
5. I will be able to listen to a presidential State of the Union, or other public message without cringing or being embarrassed.
6. I can look forward to:
*A better Supreme Court
*An economic fix to our current problems, based in reality, Recognizing that a huge deficit means me and my older compatriots are passing on our debts to you two and others of your age group
*A stimulus package that shifts large parts of the economy towards addressing the crisis of climate change and rotting infrastructure
*A healthcare system that becomes a civic right rather than a profit center
*Civil discourse within our country, strong accords with our partners overseas, and even a dialogue with those who the current administration has demonized

Of course its not all a rosy picture, but I'll save that for after the inauguration speech, when its clearer what "change" #44 is talking about.

With love - Rod, Dad "

I am also attaching a youtube video that was taken at B's college after the election winner was announced (the screaming OMG is my daughter, honestly she makes me so proud):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pe_aI7bSK4

My most pressing thoughts right now are how we make sure Obama is successful. We were all with him all along the way and supporting him so we cannot let our foot off the pedal now. We have to act and press on to make sure we overcome and win.

This is an amazing time, and a scary time. The alternative to Obama would have been a lot more scary.

Press on . . .

Tentative BUT Excited

OK, no more late night pundits, no more SNL skits, today is the day.

Being a Boston sports fan, I am nervous, and tentative and after 2000 and 2004 anything can happen. Nonetheless I am very excited about voting this morning at 7:15 and waiting in a 20 minute line to vote. I have never had to wait to vote before . . .

This could be a very exciting evening. I can only imagine what the Obama household must be like. I read an article online today about what it will be like to have 2 young girls running around in the White House.

I have probably jinxed everything now by writing about it, kind of like a no hitter. Don't tell anyone but I am very excited about TODAY and this election

Mass MoCA

This weekend we went with some All Star II friends to the Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA. Go if you are in the area. We had a docent which is really the only way to visit I think. Without the docent I would have just walked by many of the installed art, without considering many of the aspects and details that the guide pointed out.

The museum is an abandoned mill building. Don't you love what is being done with old mill buildings?

Because of the wall space, they are able to install really BIG pieces of art. I realized as we were on the tour, that I really like museums like this. I am OK with walking through salons that have "Classic" art, but I like better modern artists.

There were some marble sculptures of freeway intersections in LA with all of the trees, houses and cars carved in incredible detail. There some biospheres, where you put your head up inside of the greenery. There was an installation of what looked like jersey barriers gone wrong. In fact they had to reinforce the floor to put this installation in.

Anyway, it was a great weekend with the past chairs of All Star II. Since we are directors of our conference, we HAVE to meet to do business. It really is a chance to see a subset of our Star community another time during the year and to catch up on everybodys' lives.

It was a beautiful drive back from the Berkshires, and now I am sitting on the couch taking advantage of that extra hour we got today.

Some days I just Plow through

WOW, it is 3:40 EDT and I cannot believe how much I have gotten done so far. No need to detail all of that, but as I was finishing a few tasks just now I realized how today was really good and very different than other days. It might be the alignment of the moon and stars, it might be conquering procrastination, it might be pressure, it might be a lot of other things. I have had a pile of papers to file at the office for WEEKS, no MONTHS. Part of what stood in the way was how much time I estimated this task would take. This morning, and it was not planned, I arrived at 7:30 and by 9:30 I was done. I also had some meetings on my calendar which I needed to change the occurrence of. Please don't ask me why I was procrastinating on this tiny little task, but I was. It took me all of 3 minutes to make the change.

What I am thankful for is that there are days like this BUT not all days are like this. I would be a wreck if I worked at this pace every day. OK back to work to take advantage of this focus and energy

Lining up my knitting projects

It is like clockwork, when the temperatures dip, I start lining up my knitting projects for the winter. I am nearly done with a sweater that I started last December. It is a jacket in garter stitch with some green yarn that BEL gave me for Christmas last year. For a long time, this project was stalled because the cast on is a really weird, but this weekend, on the car trip to Vermont I broke through. It is nearly done, but that does not mean that it might not sit unfinished for months.

I have wanted to knit wool slippers for Coniston and have been thinking about a Lopi yarn pattern for slippers. Tonight I browsed through my binder of sock patterns, found the Lopi pattern and off I go. I am obsessive so I will probably be knitting a few pairs of these over the next month or so. After all, guests at Coniston during the winter need their own pair of knitted slippers, n'est ce pas?

After that, I want to knit myself another Jaegar jacket and Judy has been making a pattern of a basket weave sweater that I want to use.

It is winter, and the projects are lining up.

World Series - rooting for the Phillies

Yes, I am a fickle fan. When the Red Sox were losing to the Rays, and it was really intolerable, out of frustration I said "That's it, I am going to be a Rays fan now." So last night watching the game, and rooting for the Phillies, Rod reminded me that I had declared myself a Rays fan. Not anymore, I said because they beat the Red Sox.

Growing up, all of my brothers were Red Sox fans, so being a rebel, I rooted for the Yankees. I did not even realize the extent of that choice. Now as a Red Sox fan and living in Red Sox Nation, I do.

So, I am rooting for the Phillies tonight because the Rays beat the Red Sox. Make sense?

Channel 1 - what is it?

Our friend Dave was at Coniston this summer for a week, and at the end of the week he dubbed our front windows, Channel 1. The name has stuck. We don't have a TV in Vermont so instead we watch our 3 front windows, or Channel 1. This morning, I got up at 7am fully intending to go back to bed, but the sun was about to rise, so instead, I watched that on Channel 1. It took about 30 minutes until I could actually see the sun, but the faint light behind Mount Mansfield, and then the orange, turning to REALLY orange and then the sun was unbelievable. I now understand what the prior owner meant about the sun rises over Mount Mansfield. It is pretty pathetic that I have not see the sun rise yet, except as a digital image on Rod's camera.

Channel 1 changes, and you cannot click to get the "show" that you want. I have been waiting since August for the deer to come back. The wild turkeys did not show up on Channel 1 but they did run around the back of the house for Rod's sisters when they were here, all 9 of them.

I know when we live here full time that we will have a TV, but for now we have Channel 1 and this is exactly what we need for our relaxation when we are up here.

The leaves are still turning, the summer folks have gone home, the full-timers are getting ready for winter and some where in between summer folks and full-timers is where we are; "Watching Channel 1"

Cobwebs

I have been thinking a lot about cobwebs lately. Why? Because there are a lot around. Coniston has a lot of cobwebs and coz we leave Lexington most weekends, the cobwebs there grow as well. The clincher for me though was the cobweb in the bathroom at church this morning. "I am not going to clean that one up too!" I said to myself as I sat there. (BTW, I did clean up the one which was a yard long connecting our ceiling fan to the ceiling after Rod pointed that one out!)

This reinforced my opinion about cleaning which is: Why bother, it is just going to get dirty again! I guess some could judge that I am not a very good housekeeper if there are so many cobwebs around.

Cobwebs are not only bad however. This summer at Coniston there was the most beautiful one on the outside of our round window, with dew on it. We turned just one light on and took some pictures of it, because it was so beautiful. Cobwebs also collect bugs for me, so I don't have to chase them around and catch them. They are kind of like bats who collect the mosquitos.

Someone this summer said cobwebs are the sign of a healthy house, so let's leave it at that, we have too very healthy houses and the church bathroom is pretty healthy too.

"Sisters Weekend"

Last weekend was Sisters weekend at Coniston. This idea came from Sara who gets together with her sisters and sisters-in-law regularly. This was our third time getting together and it was perfect. Of course, we missed those who could not be there for a variety of reasons.

What did we do? Talked, walked, feed each other, sat around in our PJs, rubbed each others feet, watched "channel 1", sat in "channel 1", admired rainbows, read the Sunday paper, biked to the Grand Isle ferry, fed the stove, got the stove started etc.

It really was a wonderful time and one that will be remembered. It was a great weekend to have before my business trip to California. Tomorrow I fly back to Burlington to spend another wonderful weekend at Coniston. It is Applefest at South Hero this weekend.

"Sisters" are pretty special.

Path of Least Resistance

Today I volunteered to drive and get lunch in the pouring rain. Pulling into the driveway of the sub shop, I could either park right in front of the store or park in a quieter part of the parking lot and get wetter. I chose the quieter part of the parking lot. That is when the topic of this blog came to me but I really have no idea where it is going.

I find myself taking the path of least resistance as I get older. Someone cut me off today and I just let them do it. I wasn't even really angry, I just figured they needed to be somewhere sooner than I did. On Waltham Street tonight, a moron stopped IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET and put her blinkers on. I did not even honk at her. What was she thinking? The guy in back of me pulled around me and the pulled around her and then honked at her. At least I hope he was honking at her. It did not even occur to me to honk at her.

Maybe it is time to move to Vermont. When we are up there I have to consciously drive slower and not be so impatient. There are a lot of reasons in the news lately to move to our retreat in Vermont and get away from the chaos. Is that the path of least resistance? No that is the path to sanity I think.

Weekend by myself

Rod has spent this past weekend at Coniston with his men's group so I spent the time by myself. Actually, I had a birthday breakfast with some friends, and 6 people were over yesterday afternoon to sew. and today I went to church and stayed for a discussion on the upcoming election, but for me that is a weekend by myself. Also, because my car is still in the shop, I did not even have the ability to leave easily to go very far from my house.

I love to watch myself and what my thought patterns are. After sewing yesterday, I had plans to walk into town for a movie at 6:30. I rarely go to movies solo, but there was a part of me that wanted to keep busy. As the hour neared, when I needed to start walking into town I stayed here. Instead of going to the movie I stayed here, and puttered and surfed the net. One of the women who came to sewing turned me onto some great websites for quilting so I had lots of surfing to do. So my first inclination was to keep myself busy, but instead I stayed put.

Today, I started a quilted jacket that I cut the pieces out for last spring. It is spring colors, but hopefully it will be ready to wear for next spring. I am going to be proactive this fall and winter and get some projects going in both the fabric and yarn arena so that I have something to work on when it is dark outside. It is worth a shot as an antidote to the lack of light. It is so silly that the days have actually been getting shorter since June 21st or 22nd, but I don't start noticing this until August sometime.

I have a feeling that being up in Vermont for the fall will help with my seasonal depression. How can you possibly be depressed in the middle of the fall foliage? We have a screen saver on this computer which cycles though the pictures on the computer. Whenever one of Coniston comes up a tiny grin comes across my face. This was a really good move to buy our house in Vermont. My next weekend up there is the first weekend of October when the "Sisters" gather.

It was a good weekend, but honestly, I would rather have been at Coniston.

It still feels like vacation

As we drove up last night to Coniston, it still feels like we are going on vacation whenever we come up here. The last 2 weeks, have been very busy with the SISTERS visit from England. That is why there have not been any posts. We spent 5 days with them here over Labor day, on vacation. It was great to share with them our new place.

Each time we visit Vermont I practice and try on living here. I know when the time is right we will live here full time. I still like a visitor and we have not really gotten to know the neighbors. It is not like Lexington where we plugged into a community through the school.

Tomorrow we are going to the Burlington Vermont UU church. Beginning of the church year and all, and we hope to plug into that as our community.

While we are on vacation, the Lexington house is suffering from lack of attention on the weekends, and Coniston got a really good cleaning today with a couple of months of accumulated cobs webs. Someone told me that cob webs are the sign of a healthy house. We have a very healthy house up here.

When it stops feeling like vacation, I guess we will be living here full time. Until then, we have a lot more vacation than every before.

Green - getting energized again

Not because it is a fad, but because this is my passion, I am involved at work, church and home in Green initiatives. Trying to wrap my arms around our Green Team at work, I am reviewing emails to find some nuggets for our site to focus on during this next fiscal year.

So personally, 2 websites that ACTUALLY WORK, and I feel good about are freecycle.org and catalogchoice.org

I started using freecycle.org a couple of years ago. We have recycled, to someone who wants them, many things over the past 2 years. Old stereo, fire wood holder, cat carriers, old LPs, kids toys, etc.

I am always surprised about how quickly I get responses from people who really want stuff, that I no longer need or want. I use Freecycle and would love to take it to the next level, and get more people to use it. One thing I do, which has no value at all, is to yell out my window to the pile of "trash(when people are moving)" by the side of the road "FREECYCLE.ORG!!!!!". It would probably be of more value to talk to the people who put it there.

The second thing which really works is catalog choice. When I started, every day I would collect the mail, and put the info for unwanted catalogs, into this website. We get very few unwanted catalogs any more. There are a few offenders, who refuse to STOP sending them, but for the most part, they have stopped. It was some work up front to input them every day, but very little work now.

So now I ask myself, what next? My New Year's resolution was to stop using plastic and paper bags, and that is going pretty well. A few times, I made myself go back out to the car to get my canvas bags when I forgot them, and a few times I bought more groceries than would fit in my canvas bags, so I had to use plastic.

Part of my new energy (pun intended) was hearing Al Gore last night. We have to do something, and probably on a bigger level than my few initiatives. Solar panels? Geo thermal pits? Prius? Nag everyone I know about freecycle and catalog choice?

I just Pick up the Phone now

When someone is ill or has just had a loss, some of us don't know how to reach out. Should we call, should we email or write?

A few years ago at Star, Vivienne, who was ill gave a wonderful service. Her main message was let the people decide whether to pick up the phone or open a card. They are in control of all of that, so reach out. Don't let the worry about intruding be a reason to not reach out.

I am not saying that it is any easier for me to reach out, since I attended Vivienne's service. It isn't easy and none of us like to necessarily reach out when times are bad.

Anyway, a few times in the last few months, there have been difficult times, as recent as today; and Vivienne's words are what encouraged me to pick up the phone. I don't do it every time, but I do it more often. Vivienne is no longer with us, after much struggle, but her words will always be with me. How nice it is to have teachers around when we are ready and people around who we will remember always even after they are gone?

Process or Product?

I love this question and it comes up all the time in life.

This weekend we played some Settlers (surprise, surprise), and it got me thinking about why I play the game. I know there are a ton of you out there who will violently disagree with this next statement BUT I play Settlers for the process first, and then the product WINNING, second. I love to set up the game, or watch Chris set up the game, I love the initial placements, I love to watch strategies unfold during the game. AND I love to be behind and figure out a strategy to win.

Why do I knit? Mostly, I knit for the meditation and the keep my fingers busy and mind quiet reasons. I have a stack of knitted products that are sitting in my sewing room waiting to be given away. Some of them have been there for decades. I love it when a sweater that I have been working on fits really really well, BUT I also love the knitting time too. Judy just finished a sweater similar to one I knit. We bought the yarn together 2-3 years ago. Yes, I cannot wait to see the 2 of us together wearing our matching sweaters, and in that case, it was a beautiful yarn and I really loved the process of knitting it. The whole time I was knitting it, I knew the sleeves might not be perfect, but I kept knitting because I love the feel of yarn. I love this sweater, and I loved knitting this sweater over several years.

Biking: When I get on my bike, and the pedal makes those first rotations, I get into the groove. As I bike down Phelps Lane and the wind starts blowing through my helmet, hair and clothing I am really enjoying the process of biking. OF COURSE, I love the end product of 8-10 miles on the bike, but this weekend with our guests, it was the sauntering on the bike, the conversations, the admiring of gardens, and the wind blowing across us on the causeway, (that this weekend will have a bike ferry running across the inlet so we can bike to Burlington) that were the most enjoyable.

Wait Wait, our destination yesterday was the lake and a swim, so is that product or process. The lawyers and engineers among you may find a flaw in my original statement. OKAY go ahead.

Quilting: Of course I love the final product, but I love choosing the fabrics and patterns, shopping in my stash, matching the thread, hearing the machine assemble the pieces and the final hand sewing of the binding.

NELS: This summer, and this week are the first time in 4 years that the first week in August in not spent on the Cape at NELS. I am definitely missing it, and going through my memories of 4 years there. The ultimate question of NELS is: "Do we need to focus on process or product?" and the answer is both, but people have preferences. Conflicts arise out of those preferences and the magic of NELS erupts. You have to experience this to believe it.

OKAY, enough Monday morning pondering (PROCESS) and off to get some work done (PRODUCT) . . .

Swimming in Lake Champlain and games

I grew up spending summers on Lake Champlain. In 1964, Mom and Dad bought Gardiner Island with my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. We owned the island from 1964-1976. Only 12 years, but summers = swimming in the Lake and playing games.

This Saturday, with friends and family we biked, got really hot, rode to a beach and swam in the Lake. I know some people love salt water, and the Cape BUT not me. We were talking this weekend that it is a good thing that some people retire to the Cape or Florida and some people retire to Vermont. Otherwise, we would all be in the same place. We can visit other places, but my heart is in Vermont.

For me, as a I slog through the week, what I will be anticipating is another swim in the Lake. I could have staying there for hours, and in fact tried to get a group to go for a midnight swim. Circumstances happened which prevented the midnight swim, but I suspect that there will be one this summer.

Playing games is the other summer activity which defined and continues to define my summer. For hours we would play card games, and board games. This filled in the time, when we were water logged, or it was not swimming weather. It is fitting then that Saturday included 2 VERY good Settlers games and a few more converts, I think.

Star was different this year

I guess Star is different every year, but since I just got back these are the differences for me this year:

• Our niece was with us, and it is nice to share with immediate family
• We stayed in Starloft, which is away from the noise (too quiet for me)
• I taught Jr Teens, and have not taught since 2002. It was too much time out of my day and I have gotten spoiled by being able to attend the lectures.
• Usually, I totally detach from the mainland, but this year, I had to attend some phone calls and actually booted up my computer a few times. YUCK
• The first 3 days were sunny but we were totally fogged in, could NOT see the mainland. I loved being in a cocoon for those three days
• The final 3 days were so clear, we could see individual cottages on Rye Beach
• I did not get to know all of the New Shoalers. We were joined by a wonderful family from First Parish and I think most of them want to come back.
• A certain family member, (male, and Chris was not there) gave a ballet recital
• Chris and Meg were not there BOOHOO

What was the same is that I did not want to leave. I never want to leave Star. I try during the year to keep the Star spirit alive. We always have a KEEP STAR ALIVE party the night after we leave the Island, and this year's was great, but there still has to be that last hug goodbye of shoalers for the year.

We Will come back, we will come back, we will come back . . .

Distracted

I checked a book out of the library a few weeks ago called, Distracted. At our fall NEHRA conference on November 5th, we have the author of this book as a speaker, so I thought I would check the book out and get a preview of it. These last few weeks have been really busy for me, both personally and professionally and I did not get a chance to read the book. I don't like to have overdue books at the library and I am going away for 10 days, so yesterday morning, I located the book in my house.

Somehow, in between having my hands on it, and the car, I misplaced it. It was pretty ironic that I had been distracted, put the book down, and could not find the book for a few minutes. I was laughing, really hard, at myself.

Distracted and put down the book Distracted, not able to find it! It is sometimes not easy living in my mind, and sometimes it is hysterical.

I need a chaplain

We got back Sunday night from General Assembly. This is the once a year business meeting for our denomination. Rod and I have been delegates frequently since we went first in 2000.

While there, I heard about the death of a friend of my parents. It was definitely a shock and as I walked out of the room, where I had taken the phone call, I ran into a friend who is also a minister. GA has lots of ministers so that was not unusual. What was unusual is that he was right there when I needed him. At first he did not believe me when I said "I need a chaplain." I don't ask for help often, but I did at that moment in time. I believe in destiny and that things happen for a reason. A chaplain was there at the exact moment when I really needed one. I am not sure I would have reached out to a minister who was a stranger. I am not sure I would have reached out to many ministers I know, who are NOT strangers. The universe does provide for us, whether it is a natural fireworks show, or a chaplain when you need one.

Works for Now - Monday morning commute

Today was the trial of coming down from VT on Monday morning. It worked in many ways.

1. We spent one more night there and watched, in the dark, from our living room, an amazing lightening storm for a couple of hours in the Green Mountains. July 4th early for us.
2. We watched the sunrise over the Green Mountains
3. I am a lark, so getting up at 5am is not a stretch. My owl husband slept until Woodstock.
4. I found an NPR station all the way, between South Hero and Boston (3 different ones).
5. There was no traffic on Route 3 or Route 128 at 9:20 and I got to work in time for my first meeting at 10am.

I am sure the list is longer, but my time to type has ended.

Disengaged - but not really coz I am posting this

So, buying Coniston happened at exactly the right time in our/my life. I did not know 3 months ago when we put an offer on this house, that I would need it so much in late June of 2008. As we drove up last night, the closer we got, the more I relaxed and detached. I actually sat and read a book for 20 minutes last night and 45 minutes just now with my first cup of coffee. The only time I get a chance to read at home is the 60 nano seconds after I get into bed, before I fall asleep mid-sentence of my reading material.

We don't have a TV up here, and I might not even listen to the radio today or glance at yahoo news as I am entering my email account. I am going to buy the Burlington Free Press and learn about news that way, but NO FOX TV for me this weekend, no more online article from the Brockton Enterprise.

I will miss a big breaking story, and more details of the Celtics and their celebration but that will all wait until Monday morning when I plug back in. We listened to the Sox game on the way up and they were describing the duck boats in Fenway Park carrying the championship Celtics. That was enough for me last night, the verbal description.

New York versus New England Sports Fans

Prior to the Red Sox 2004 World Series championship, I don't think I was really a true blue Boston Sports fan. Growing up, I rooted for the Yankees, because everyone else in my family rooted for the Red Sox. I am a rebel at heart, a contrarian and I don't want to be a square peg in a square hole. That series was absolutely incredible. Last night watching the Cetics, even when they were almost 35 points ahead, I still believed that they might possibly lose. With 2 minutes to go, and 35 points ahead of the Lakers, I could relax a little bit. Do we realize how lucky we are to have the teams we have? Patriots, Red Sox, and this year the Celtics. I have not watched this many basketball games since 1986, the last time the Celtics raised a banner to the rafters of the Old Garden. I am still not sure I am a Boston Sports family like many of the rest of my family, and certainly not as intense as they are. We have had many discussion lately about New York Yankees and Red Sox, and why we hate the Yankees and then the conversation goes into similar feelings about Vermonters and New Yorkers. The best comment if from Meg, "It is not that I hate New Yorkers, it is that I love Vermonters so much." I guess last night and the Celtics win made me more of a Boston Sports Fan. I certainly had no inclination to root for the Lakers.

She's back

Well, I cannot believe that my last post was June 3rd, but I can believe it as well.

I have had a roller coaster time in the last 11 days and did not realize how traumatic this was until my yoga class today. Yes, you are supposed to clear your mind for yoga, but unfortunately, that is near impossible for me to do. I actually thought (during yoga ooops), that maybe a ten day silent retreat would get me to the point where I could clear my mind. DUMB IDEA, but a thought anyway.

In a nut shell, I had a wonderful birthday and first weekend in Vermont at Coniston, with friends and family AND my work life has been in HR lingo "Clear your desk and take care of this crisis". That means that I have not gotten much of my normal work done and have been in high attention, and problem solving mode for most of 6 work days.

My yoga class today was just what I needed and I realized at that point, how much stress my body and mind have been in since last Friday, due to the work crisis. When I get really busy, I skip my yoga class and that is a really dumb idea.

So during yoga today I mentally made a list of blogs that I can write in the future. I put them here for myself to be able to refer to when I am at a loss for what to blog:

• You don't have to "beat yourself up" to improve
• Calm
• Why am I a Boston Sports fan?
• Disconnected from the media - pros and cons
• Yoga, mentally and physically a flood
• Big Rocks
• Mohegan Sun - huh?
• My Birthday - It was perfect
• You don't have to solve every problem
• I need a chaplain

TTFN

when will she quit?

I would vote for either Hilary or Barack, but hasn't she lost? I must be really ignorant of politics because from all I see, Barack has clinched the democratic nomination.

The talking head are calling her defiant and "Why would anyone expect her to concede?"

I would love to have a woman president and hopefully in my lifetime there will be one, but not this time.

Politics is really baffling.

My Ruby

Don't ask me why, but I am trying to keep finger nail polish on my nails since my first ever manicure 3 weeks ago. For someone like me this is near impossible which explains why I have never done it before. My so supportive husband is very doubtful that I will be successful. "You scratch rubies!" was his comment.

TANGENT ALERT: a few years ago, we both noticed a scratch on the top of my engagement ring. While it was getting checked out by the jeweler, he told Rod that this could not be a ruby and that it must be a rubellite. Rod freaked out and had it assessed. It is a ruby. "Your wife is very hard on jewelry." said the jeweler.

BACK from the tangent: Both of my also supportive children independently said with questioning in their voices, "You are wearing nail polish, I don't think I have ever seen you with nail polish . . . "

Rod and I were walking back from town yesterday, and looking for the earring that Bethany might have lost the day before. "If we can find your ruby at Wilson's Farm, we can find anything." was Rod's comment

Twice is 2 years I lost my ruby. The first time, I knew where I lost it and the facilities engineer at Polaroid, ripped out the Sheetrock in the bathroom, where it had dropped, and brought it to me. The second time, I was on the phone, reached down to touch my ring and ONLY PRONGS. I had just been to Wilson's Farm (their old smaller farm stand) on a busy Saturday. Rod arrived home just at that time and Bethany ran down the front walk saying "Mommy is very upset".

We drove to Wilson's. I did not want to go in to look, since I knew it would be impossible to find it, so parked in front while Rod went in. He came out a few minutes later with the ruby cradled in his hand, just like the Polaroid engineer the year before. He found it just in front of the register I had used, just lying there on the floor. At that time, because I didn't want to be disappointed again, I said "I don't want to wear it anymore, because I don't want to lose it." BUT I cannot not wear it. We had it reset a few years ago, with higher prongs.

I am very lucky and very hard on my ruby. BTW, I also lost one of the diamonds in my ring, and found it as well. LUCKY!!!!!

Trip to the Library makes me laugh

So here is the ENFP version of a trip to the library which is very similar to another post on grocery shopping.

I am taking a trip and was there to get airplane reading. I had reserved the latest Nora Ephron, so was picking it up AND I had recently finished a book "Loving Frank" about Frank Lloyd Wright so I wanted to read more about him and when I walked by the children's section I realized that I have never finished the Lemony Snicket series, so took a detour through that section to find it and while there picked up a children's bio of Frank.

I also thought I would try the adult bio of Frank and it was near the travel section, where I wanted to pick up a travel guide for San Diego. While in the travel section I spotted a small book on Lake Champlain. With our recent purchase I figured this was good reading.

So, I left with 4 books, none related but all neurons that fired as I was wandering through the library. The picture of those 4 books on my front seat really makes me laugh, like the picture above of me, that kind of laugh.

Short and Long Goals on the Minuteman Bike Path

Yesterday on the bike path, I came across this thought. Some days I can set a very long goal for myself and know that I will have no trouble accomplishing it. For instance, today it is to the Bedford end and back. Other days I need little tiny milestones/goals. For instance, to Bedford Street, and then to Dow Ave, and then to Bedford Street again.

I was trying to figure this out last night as I was in the middle of a "little tiny milestones" bike ride. I always worry that I will get a flat and be stuck, and BTW, I have never gotten a flat, so this is just needless worry. When I am time constrained, I do the little tiny goals

I think some of this is that my iPod is broken, and that is such a nice distraction and makes me feel like I can ride forever, because the music will never stop.

So it is like life; isn't it all like life. Yesterday my little tiny goals were to get a birthday card, check out the pay tool, and remember to ask Esther to sign the 3 new hires in on Monday. And my long term goals for yesterday were to continue progress on virtual work project, get ready for all of the calibrations that are coming up, and patiently wait until I can get up to Coniston.

The Food Project in Lincoln

Bottom Line - GO VOLUNTEER



Today, a group of us from work, as a "We Care and Give Back" project spent the morning in Lincoln volunteering for The Food Project. You can read their mission on the website so I won't repeat it.



Whenever I do a WCGB project, I return to work with a new perspective. Priorities are seen in a clearer light.



Some of the statistics they told us about are pretty depressing:

• US has more prisoners than farmers


• Less than 1% (I think that was the number) of US are farmers

When did we lose this connection to the land? Why do we need to have food shipped from California, or worse, from Asia of Europe? Do we really need to eat strawberries all year round?

So many question, so few answers.

Anyway, go volunteer at The Food Project. You will be glad you did.

Vermont here we come . . .

OKAY, the excitement in our house is unbelievable lately. We drive up on Thursday night to go to our closing on Friday.

Both Rod and I are so ready to move there permanently that I wonder if we can condense the time period. In the meantime, we are going to spend every spare weekend minute up there.

I have been riding my bike every night up and down the bike path, getting myself in shape to ride the Burlington bike path, we have packed 20 boxes to take up there, we are planning which weekend to take the beds and couches up, bought new silverware, etc.

Some key questions around milestones will be:

• When will we be there enough to buy sheep and chickens?
• Will this be our Thanksgiving / Christmas house?
• Where is Rod's tree house going to be?
• What yarn and fabric stash should "live" in Vermont (already made the decision to bring my Featherweight up there)?
• Should I have 2 piles of books that I am reading, one in Vermont, one in Lexington?

Oh, the never ending questions??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Why Coniston?

It is unbelievable to me how connected Rod and I are on some things, and how disconnected on others.

I proposed a few weeks back, that we name our house in South Hero. I always love driving on Long Point and seeing on the name's of the camps. Gardiner Island was where we spent summers from 1964-1976 on Lake Champlain.

So after a few minutes, I said "How about Coniston?" to which he replied "That is what I was thinking."

He ordered a Vermont slate sign for the house already, which we don't own until Friday. I don't believe in jinxes . . .

Coniston is the name of the street that his house was on growing up in Heworth. It is also the name of one of the lakes in the Lake District.

It just fits!!!!!

Planting Petunias

So for a few years I have planted petunias. I am not a green thumb at all in fact I am a brown thumb. Plants die as soon as they reach our threshold. Once we were given a plant as a thank you from church and we tripped with it coming up our front stairs.

But, despite all of that, I buy petunias and plant them. Yes, I am an extreme sentimentalist. Mom always called me Petunia. I don't know where the nickname came from, and in fact don't even know if she is the one who started it, but when she was really affectionate with me, it was Petunia she used. Why did she call Ted, SAM? Why do I call Bethany, Bee or BEES?

So I bought them yesterday, along with some PINK geraniums, and they are sitting on our front patio, in the rain waiting to be planted. Sue is an artist, and when I told her the story about Mom, she painted me a picture of a single petunia. Should I take that picture to Coniston (The name of our house in South Hero, and material for a later post), or leave it here?

When I walk into the house, all summer, I see the petunias and they remind me of MOM.

This year, I picked out purple and pink varieties. They are a really cool range of colors.

Happy Spring!!!!!! Happy Petunias!!!!!!

Sally or Bethany?

This picture was taken in Colorado in our playroom. We put it recently in the album for Mummy's 77 birthday and every time I look at it I laugh again. Every time Rod looks at it, he marvels at how much Bethany looks like me. My aunt, who knew me at this age, always replied to our Christmas card, with "How is Ditto?"

Other exciting news, is that brother Mike and I are attending a deGanahl wedding the end of this month. George and Judy have been so good about attending these weddings but they are at Sarah's graduation from Madeira that weekend, so Mike and I decided to go. It is in Memphis Tennessee.

So cool to be in sync

Yesterday I was driving home and George called to check in to see whadsup with dinner plans. It was his birthday, he and Judy are in town and we were going out for a birthday dinner.

I had made a reservation just 5 minutes before for dinner and while on the phone he asked "What is up?"

"Not to worry, I just made a reservation." But being the ENFP that I am I did not give him the details of the restaurant, although I had described the place a few days before to him as a Belgian chef.

I heard his voice drop on the phone, and on his birthday and I felt bad but did not know why his voice had dropped.

When I got home 5 minutes later, he asked "Where are we going for dinner"

When I said Scutra, he jumped for joy. Unbeknownst to me, he had been searching on Zagat's for a restaturant within 5 miles of us, and he had found Scutra, and was just about the make reservations as well. His bottom lip only had to quiver for only a few minutes on his birthday.


It was just so cool to be in sync with him and Judy and to spend his 55th birthda with him. He had Judy have lived out of the country for 8 of the last 10 years, and we didn't get to spend many birthdays with them, but that is all changing as we all "converge on Vermont" as my lovely daughter says.


BTW his gift was a Mary Oliver book of poems with Wild Geese in it because that is my favorite poem. And try to get to Scutra. The food is wonderful, the ambiance is wonderful and the parking is challenging unless you have a Mini Cooper.

The Drowsy Chaperone

We just got back from this play and it really was good. I don't know why I was surprised but I was. The best part is that there was no intermission. The actor even said exactly why I do not like them "They break the flow, they take you out of the scene that you have been in.

This is the second season that we have gotten season tickets with Ted and Margaret to Broadway in Boston. We eat at the same Indian restaurant, in the theater district and in makes sure that we see them regularly.

So, yes we will continue for our third season, especially if they turn out to be as good as tonight.

If you can see it , do that quickly. I think it closes in Boston on May 4th.

Lark or Owl? Definitely a Lark

By 8:50am this morning I had:

• Got up at 6:05 am



• Made my coffee



• Got to work at 6:45 am, not because of stress but because this is where I want to be



• Cleaned up lots of stuff in email and on my desk



• Met with Sarah to start our book group on an HBR article on integrating all of the parts of your life, not just your work part, in development and goals.
  
• Designed with Sarah a Leadership Bench Development series



• Returned to work and saw the clock said 8:5o am

As I got out of my car I said "I am definitely a Lark!" Yes, out loud and to who ever in the parking lot cared.

On the other hand, at 10:30 pm at night it takes me 20 minutes to keep my eyelids open in order to read 2 pages of my current book.

Do Larks always marry Owls?